"Ready for your first day?" Patricia Andrews asked as her daughter trotted down the stairs buried in a faux-fur coat that they all knew was much too nice for this drab little town, but that never stopped Sloane before.

Sloane shrugged, grabbing a piece of buttered toast off the stack her mother made every morning. Hers was crispy around the edges but still a little soft in the middle with melted butter soaking the thing, just how she liked it. Her brother, Elliot, always thought she was crazy for liking partially burnt toast, but she couldn't care less.

"I just wish we could have moved a month earlier. Did you really have to pack up all our shit a month into the school year?" Sloane scoffed, earning an eye roll from her mother as Elliot came downstairs.

"Couldn't you have had your nervous breakdown a month earlier?" Elliot raised his eyebrows, earning a shove from the girl. He stopped himself from crashing into the dining table where their father sipped his coffee and read the newspaper like every morning.

Their mother glared at him, "Your sister's... incident was not the reason we moved. You know that, Elliot. Sorry, you couldn't finish your senior year with all your friends, but we all know this was for the best."

"Yeah, I just feel bad for all of Sloane's friends. Oh, wait, she didn't have any of those!" Elliot laughed, grabbing the only barely toasted piece and slathering strawberry jam on it. Sloane wanted to gag; Jam was a special hatred of hers and she had no idea how her brother ate it.

"Can you stop being such a dick? I'll walk to school if I have to," she snarled at her brother, trying to ignore the smug look on his face as she walked over to the shoe rack, holding her toast in her mouth as she pulled on some boots.

"Can you watch your language, please, Sloane? Ladies shouldn't cuss," her mother chastised, shaking her head at the girl.

Sloane sighed loudly and dramatically, "What is this? 1962? It's 1984, mom, let a girl say damn! Live a little!"

"What are you? A suffragette?" Elliot joked as he picked his backpack off the floor and tossed it over his shoulder. Grabbing his teas from the tin by the door, he shouted a quick goodbye to his parents and motioned for his sister to follow him out the door.

The one thing that hadn't changed in the move from California to Hawkins was the morning routine. Squabbling siblings, Sloane disappointing her mother, their father staying silent throughout the whole ordeal. Those five minutes in the morning were the only thing that felt like home these days. Sloane came up behind her brother and pinched his ear, causing him to wince and pull away from her, holding his ear so she couldn't reach it again.

"What was that for?" he questioned with a grimace as he unlocked his car. The two got inside where it was just as freezing as the October morning outside.

"For being an asshole! What's gotten into you this morning?" Sloane called out, slouching in her seat and crossing his arms. "Mom said you're supposed to treat me like glass, remember? I'm fragile!"

"You just say that so she won't tell at you for being a prissy bitch half the time," he spoke with a bored tone, but his words were cutting. Up until the past few days, her and Elliot had gotten along famously. Their neighbors wished their kids were that well-behaved with each other, especially since Elliot and Sloane were barely related. Despite their mother remarrying less than a year after Elliot's father died, there had never been any ill will when Sloane was brought into the family with Patricia's new husband, Daryl. Even as babies, they got along. For sixteen years they were picture perfect and then out of nowhere, Elliot was constantly rude and avoided her like the plague.

The blonde just slumped back in her seat, feeling defeated. A beat of silence passed, Sloane wiped a tear. She spoke, her voice shaky, "You are going to get nowhere in life by being an asshole. You should know that better than anyone. Need I remind you of a certain boy named Michael?"

"Don't fucking bring him up," Elliot practically growled, his grip tightening on the wheel. "Going psycho won't get you anywhere either, besides the loony bin. Which is where you should be."

After what felt like the longest drive ever, Elliot parked in front of their new high school; something they were both equally unexcited for you. As Sloane got out of the car, she spat one last statement to her brother who had yet to move since turning off the car, "Fuck you. I hope you're happy, Elliot."

As she slammed the car door, she took a deep breath and put on the fakest smile anyone had ever seen. She needed to have her fake face on because as she walked into the high school, all eyes were on her. She expected this, being the shiny new girl after all, but she felt as if everything was in slow motion as every student's eyes landed on her. Walking through the halls with her head held high, she pretended as though there weren't dozens of pairs of eyes on her as she walked towards the administration office. She was given her schedule and was out the doors in two seconds, but her walk was interrupted when someone stepped in front of her.

It was a girl with long brunette hair tousled into messy perfection, cherry red lips and a smile to match the twinkle in her eyes. Sloane thought she'd be the prettiest in this dreary ghost town, but it seemed there was some competition.

"Hi, there! I'm Abigail, but feel free to call me Abby, that's what all my friends call me," the girl spoke coolly and casually as though she were trying not to sound too excited about the presence of a new girl.

"Are you saying we're friends?" Sloane teased, looking down as the girl, Abby, held out her hand. She shook it, "I'm Sloane."

"We can be if you play your cards right," Abby laughed, which surprised Sloane, "Just kidding, yeah man we're totally cool as long as you're not a bitch. You don't seem like the type so I think we're good here. Wanna sit with my friends and I at lunch?"

Sloane was admittedly taken aback by the girl's kindness. People were never this kind to her in California. It was a nice change, definitely not an unwelcome one. "Uh, sure!"

Abby smiled, but was soon distracted as she turned to look behind Sloane, "Oh my, who is that dude? Why are we getting so many new kids all of a sudden?"

The blonde turned and unfortunately made eye contact with Elliot. He glared at her, said nothing, and kept walking past the pair of girls. She sighed.

"What was with the daggers he was throwing at you with those gorgeous eyes of his, damn. Do you know him or something?" the brunette scrunched up her face in confusion, her head turning to follow the boy down the hallway.

"Unfortunately, I do," Sloane sighed, "That's my brother. He's not worth it, trust me."

Abby was about to respond with something, but the bell for the first classes of the day interrupted the conversation. The brunette grabbed her schedule and pointed Sloane in the right direction before running off to her own class with a quick, "See you at lunch!"

For a brief moment, as students rushed around her, Sloane waited, standing still in the hallway. So this was her life now: The New Girl. She wasn't sure she liked it, but it is what it is. With a deep sigh, she walked to class. Welcome to Hawkins.

this ending SUCKED also i promise elliot is gonna get nicer he's just bitter because they had to move yeet but that'll alllllll be explained later!