Maggie Fulmer loved her job. Her coworkers were downright good people, who made her shifts pass quickly. She liked the customers, Dolores with her white hair cropped short who always arrived with her posse of her elderly friends and an endless stream of Hawkins gossip, nearly every day of the week. Baxter and Kevin, the electricians who never failed to come in for their morning coffee and refused to leave until they got a smile out of her. She especially enjoyed the chatter and hubbub that always spawned once Hawkins Middle School let out just up the road and the students with sticky fingers that cleared them out of muffins and brownies without fail. On top of all of that, her job was a good distraction from everything going on outside of the muggy warmth of the cafe, plus she could usually rely on good tips on top of her mediocre wage. 

Working at the Hawkins Bean was routine. There was a structure that rarely faltered and hadn't changed drastically in the last two years of Maggie working there. It was Peter Fulmer who had first generated the idea in Maggie, the sort of freedom and autonomy getting a job would give her, and it hadn't taken much persuading once she saw her sister get a job as well. Anything Kaira Fulmer did, it didn't take long for Maggie Fulmer to follow. It was a fault that had stemmed from when the two sisters were children, an annoying habit that Kaira had appreciated in Maggie, she liked having a mini-me. 

In fact, it was Kaira who had gotten Maggie the interview in the first place, her friend being the manager's daughter, who was desperate for an extra pair of hands to help a few days a week. Now since graduating almost a year ago, Maggie worked constant shifts, open to close, six days a week, her manager refusing to let her work the full seven days, reasoning that she had to have a day to herself. It was something that Maggie didn't entirely agree with, yet appreciated, with all the money she made going straight into the Fulmer's bills and rent on their trailer. 

As much as she appreciated the routine that her job and staying in Hawkins granted her, her life had once been destined to be quite different. Eleven months ago, both Fulmer sisters had places at college, Maggie off to study film and media with Kaira off to study business with the hopes of returning back to Hawkins and starting up her own business. Now, such dreams and hopes were crushed, following Kaira's death and graduation, it hadn't taken much for Maggie to give her place up, hoping it would end up with someone who needed and deserved it more than her, resigning herself to a life trapped in Hawkins for the sake of her father. And boy was Hawkins one hell of a town to be stuck in. 

"Have you seen the news?" A voice said, clutching onto Maggie's arm as she walked past the table, the stack of cups and plates in her hands clinking together slightly. It was Dolores who gestured up to the small, rarely working TV that was installed in the corner of the room with shaking hands. 

Usually, the TV cycled through daytime TV on the occasions when it was actually working, yet since Maggie had arrived at her shift that morning, it was stuck showing repeats of the same story and the same backdrop that was way too familiar to her. 

The first sign that something was wrong was the sudden wave of sirens that streamed into the trailer park in the early hours of the morning, waking anyone who wasn't already up. Maggie had just stepped out of her front door, about to begin the trek to work, with gas being too expensive and besides she didn't have her license when the cluster of police cars gathered outside Eddie Munson's trailer. 

It was a trailer that Maggie had once known as well as the back of her hand, a trailer that seemed almost unfamiliar as her eyes fell upon the scene of the crime that lay just inside the door, the younger Munson nowhere to be seen. 

There was a body there, awkwardly posed, but a body nonetheless. Maggie shook her head, moving away despite some part of her wanting to search for more answers. She had washed her hands of anything involving the Munson's a long time ago, it wasn't her business. 

Yet once she had arrived for her shift it seemed to be the only thing anyone could talk about, the constant coverage on the TV only spurring fear and gossip. Once more a death had Hawkins in a chokehold, less than a year since the last series of incidents that had left everyone scared. 

"It's just terrible what happened. A Hawkins High School Student. This town just can't seem to catch a break." Dolores continued, clutching onto Maggie's arm tighter and tighter. 

Maggie nodded in agreement, shifting her grip to balance the plates more evenly. "But I'm sure you have nothing to worry about, Dolores. The Hawkins Police are all over it." She assured, gesturing back to the TV, but even she wasn't too sure. 

By the time her shift had ended, her key twisting the lock shut, Maggie had heard every possible theory, opinion and thought about the newest development in Hawkins' twisted history, it was all anyone could talk about. 

"Will you be alright getting home?" Lou, her coworker asked. The two often the closing pair. "I can give you a lift if you want." 

"I'll be alright. Thanks, Lou." Maggie responded earnestly. "I've just got to stop quickly by the Video Store then heading straight home."

"Alright, you be safe out there, Mags. Especially with an apparent murderer on the loose." Lou returned. "Would hate to turn up tomorrow to find you on the news."

"Oh yes, I'll make sure to take all the dark back routes home, just to tempt fate." Maggie joked. "See you tomorrow."

Waiting until Lou's car had pulled out of its spot, Maggie turned around and rattled the door handle one last time, making sure it was properly locked before she started down the path to the Video Store, a path that had become immensely familiar to her over the last few months. Although Spring had arrived, the weather still brought a great chill, something that caused her to pull her jacket around her tighter.  

The Family Video Store soon loomed into sight, Maggie pushing her way in, immediately pulling the backpack off her shoulder and placing her Dad's already watched tapes onto the counter. Behind the counter, three teens paced around each with a phone pressed to their ear. 

Maggie recognised Robin Buckley immediately, the girl giving her a small wave which Maggie returned. The redhead, Max, she also recognised, the two girls occasionally falling into each other's paths when taking out the trash. However, it was the curly-haired boy that although he had a certain air of familiarity around him, she simply couldn't place his name. 

"Ignore them." A voice called and Maggie turned to see Steve Harrington gesturing towards the pile of tapes on the counter. "I've never seen someone go through as many movies as you do."

"Well, you know it's all that free time I have." Maggie joked, both of them knowing the truth was very different. 

"Do you need any help?" Steve asked. "You probably know the movies in here better than me anyway but thought I'd still offer. Cause if you get stuck I'd probably offer Doctor Zhivago, it's double VHS so it would fill in all that extra free time you have." He began to ramble. 

"I'll be alright, but thank you." Maggie returned. "I have a pretty good idea of what I want so I'll be in and out of your hair as soon as possible." She added with a smile, before turning away towards the action section, Steve's eyes following her. 

"Hey, guys I might have a lead," Max called from across the shop, catching Maggie's attention who began to unintentionally eavesdrop, hiding between shelves. "Apparently, Eddie gets his drugs from some guy named Reefer Rick, and sometimes Eddie crashes there. I think it could be worth chasing."

"Where does Reefer Rick live?" Robin questioned. 

"No one knows," Max revealed, frowning. "He's more of a legend than someone that people actually know." 

"Last name?" 

"I don't know that either." 

"Bet the cops know the last name," Maggie could barely hear Steve mutter. "If this Reefer Rick is actually a drug dealer, I guarantee you he's been busted at some point. Means he's in the system." 

"The cops? Really, Steve? That's your suggestion?" 

"I think they should be filled in on what we know, what's going on."

"You think Eddie's guilty, don't you?" The simple question made Maggie freeze in her spot. 

"I believe in innocent until proven guilty, all that constitutional shit. I just, you know, don't think we can rule it out." Steve argued back.

"That's precisely what we're trying to do here, Steve." 

"And maybe we'd have a little bit more luck if you spent less time trying to find a girlfriend and more time trying to find Eddie." 

"Somebody has to attend to the customers." Steve insisted. 

"Especially if they're babes or certain waitresses, right?" Robin questioned with a wink. 

"Hey, not fair. Okay?" Steve argued. 

"Why are you guys looking for Eddie?" Maggie questioned as all eyes fell to her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop but you guys are talking pretty loudly in the middle of the store. This doesn't have anything to do with the murder at his trailer does it?"

"How do you know about that?" The curly-haired boy asked. 

"She lives at the trailer park," Max interjected, Maggie, giving her a small grateful nod. "I saw her around this morning. It's no wonder she knows." 

"So why are you guys looking for him? Knowing Eddie he'd be far away by now if he had actually done something, accident or not." Maggie continued. 

"We think he's innocent and are trying to prove it." Max returned. "Do you think you could help us? I know that you used to be quite close with him."

"Well, you guys have already worked out his connection to Reefer Rick. It's been a while but I could probably pick out the right house if I got a lift. It's down by Lover's Lake." Maggie revealed, a part of her already in the process of kicking herself for getting involved again.  

The small group quickly left the store, Robin pausing to turn the Open sign to Close, before they all piled into Steve's car, speeding down the road towards Lover's Lake. Maggie sighed, resting her head against the car window, what had she gotten herself into now.