CHAPTER FOUR
iv. THE CAMPAIGN

( ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* )

✧･ﾟCASSIDY AND STEFANIE LAYED ON THE FLOOR OF STEF'S BEDROOM. Loose-leaf paper, notebooks, and folders were scattered around the girls and three boxes of pizza sat stacked between them. A tall floor lamp illuminated the room from its spot beside the sage green curtains in the window and Stef's Siamese-tabby, Bambi, curled up on top of a small square napkin to bask in the glow of the yellow light.

Wednesday night arrived faster than expected and it was now the middle of the week. When Stef asked her to help prepare for the test, she studied all of her old Spanish notes; it turned out that Cassidy remembered a lot more than she thought she did. The girl only really knew the basics of the language, and some common words, but she would try to help her friend the best she could.

Stef hunched over her work, elbows digging into the floor's gray shag carpeting. Her wavy, medium length hair was pulled back into a messy low bun at the nape of her neck; the blonde hair dye she used had started to grow out, allowing the chocolate brown of her natural hair to peek out from the roots. The girl was scribbling away on the surface of the college ruled paper that she'd placed on top of an old algebra textbook. Stef had previously tried using her own wide ruled paper to which Cas responded with a horrified gasp, an exasperated rant about how college ruled is the only acceptable paper choice, and supplied her friend with a pack of a hundred that she liked to keep in her bag for emergencies. To say that Cassidy Steele was a stationary snob was a severe understatement.

Once Stef finished her writing drill, she handed the paper — a bit crumpled from all of the erasing she'd done— to her unofficial tutor and wrung her hands in anticipation for the verdict. Cassidy silently observed the girl's writing, a red ballpoint pen in hand to mark any mistakes to her best ability.

"How the heck are you conjugating these?" Cassidy wondered aloud as she looked over the few sentences that Stefanie had written. She especially furrowed her thick eyebrows at the sentence 'Tú bebemos mis leches.'

"I'm still learning," she pouted and took another warm slice of cheese pizza from the grease stained box at the top of the stack. She jokingly offered it to Bambi who didn't look very amused.

"Stef, these are the basics."

"Duh," Stef took a bite of her pizza and began to chew, "I said I'm still learning."

Cas stopped in the middle of writing correct sentences under the wrong ones, "No, like super basic present tense and conjugations."

She halted her chewing, "So?"

"So, you're in Spanish Two! How did you pass Spanish One?"

"We had a really lenient teacher last year that practically gave out passing grades, but he just got fired a couple weeks ago," Stef ran her hands down her face in exasperation, "That's why I need help. My new teacher keeps telling me that I'm doing everything wrong."

Cassidy definitely had her work cut out for her.

"Can we take a break? My brain hurts," Stefanie groaned and stuffed her face into a pillow.

"Fine." She didn't want to discourage Stef by overwhelming her with information, even if it was information that the girl should have already known. She sat the paper aside and gave her friend a reassuring pat on the back.

Cassidy started to neatly stack the papers that littered the floor, maneuvering around Stef who laid in the middle of the chaos. The soft pads of Bambi's paws would swat at her hands every time she went to grab a paper that was in the cat's vicinity. Cassidy shifted the pizza boxes aside to collect a spiral notebook, "Why did you order so much pizza?"

Stef removed her face from the pillow to speak, "I was really hungry when I ordered them so I thought we could each eat a whole pizza. When it got here and we started eating, I realized that I could only finish four slices tops and you only ate two."

"Are you just gonna eat the rest by yourself?"

"I can't, it'll just go bad in the fridge and my dad's allergic to gluten so he can't eat any," Stef whined, "I wasted so much money."

She remembered Jonathan mentioning something about a Dungeons and Dragons campaign that Will was really excited about. They usually ran pretty long and she figured the boy and his friends would probably be hungry.

"Do you wanna bring these extra pizzas over to Will? I'm pretty sure he's still at his friend's house," Cassidy proposed.

"Oh, are you talking about that Dungeons and Dragons campaign thingy?"

"Yeah," Cas neatly placed the notebooks and folders back inside her bag, pulled out a folded twenty to contribute to the pizza bill—Antonelli's, their favorite pizza place was pretty expensive— then tossed it over to Stef with her index and middle fingers, "Here, for the pizza."

"Thank you for your generous donation," Stef caught the bill and stuck it in the pocket of her green and black plaid lounging pants, "Who's house is he at? I don't wanna have to drive really far."

"Mike's," Cassidy replied. She zipped up her backpack and left it propped up against the metal post of the bed next to Stef's sonic grey Stratocaster.

"I don't like that kid," Stef groaned and pulled a grey Wrangler hoodie over her loose fitting t-shirt, stopping to toss Cas a black pullover to wear, "He's a sarcastic little shithead and I dunno why Will's friends with him."

She wouldn't say it to his face because he's a child, but Cassidy wholeheartedly agreed with her friend. Mike Wheeler was a sarcastic shithead. Even though Cassidy didn't hold the highest opinion of the boy, Will was one of the sweetest kids that she'd ever met. If he enjoyed hanging out with Mike, she knew there must be at least a few redeeming qualities that he kept hidden under his snarky exterior.

"He's so rude, too." Stef shook her head and animatedly gestured with her hands, "Remember that time he heard me tell you how my boobs are two different sizes and then he made fun of me?"

The kid didn't get under Cassidy's skin too much — he actually sort of reminded her of herself when she was younger— Stef, on the other hand, couldn't stand the boy; he knew exactly how to push the taller girl's buttons and it annoyed her beyond end.

Stef zipped up her hoodie and walked out the door, still going on about Mike. Cas grabbed the extra pizza boxes and the car keys that Stef forgot on her dresser, and with a swift scratch behind Bambi's grey tipped ears, the girls left into the night.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

It was only an eight minute drive from Stef's house to the Wheeler's residence. Stef parked at the curb in front of the driveway and turned off the radio, Tears for Fears halting their melodic serenade throughout the Blanchards' white midsized sedan. The girls exited the vehicle; the sky above them a brilliant mixture of orange and pink as the sun set in the distance.

The teenagers sauntered up the driveway to the front door and gave the doorbell a short ring. It had only been a few seconds until the girls were greeted by Mike's mother, Karen, who seemed a bit surprised to see them; it had been a little while since they had shown up at her doorstep last. The two smiled at the woman as if the taller one hadn't been bad mouthing her twelve year old son not even ten minutes ago.

"Hi Mrs. Wheeler," Cassidy waved.

"Hi girls, are you here to pick up Will?"

"Actually," Stef held out the boxes, "We come bearing gifts."

Mike's mom ushered the two inside and had them follow her to the basement corridor. They passed the living room where Karen's husband, Ted, sat in front of the television with a blank stare on his face. And from her peripheral vision, Cassidy could have sworn she just saw Nancy sneaking out through the back but shook it off as Ms. Wheeler proceeded to yell down the stairs, "Michael!"

"Mom, I told you we'll be done soon!"

"Someone's here to see you!" Karen shook her head and muttered something about manners; she went back to whatever she was doing before they knocked at the front door, leaving the girls alone at the doorway.

The two could hear the loud thumps of Mike stomping up the stairs and the door swung open, "I told you—"

Cassidy gave him a short two fingered wave as he stopped mid-sentence and the boy rolled his eyes.

Stef joked, "Hello Michael."

He rolled his eyes even harder, "What do you two want?"

"We bought you guys some pizza," Stefanie and Cassidy pushed past Mike and made their way down the stairs to the basement. Closing the door, the boy let out a few curses under his breath and followed them into the room. The curious faces of Will, Lucas, and Dustin looked up from their game board as the girls descended the staircase and Will's eyes lit up when he caught sight of his brother's friends.

"Hey, what're you doing here?" A confused expression overtook Will's face as he shifted his gaze between the girls, "I don't have to go home yet, do I?"

"Don't worry, we're not here to drag you away from your game. Just came to make a delivery," Cassidy moved the kids' extra die over with her free hand and placed the boxes on the edge of the den table, "One's pepperoni and one is cheese."

Cheers erupted throughout the room as the boys— excluding Mike— thanked them excitedly.

Dustin stopped his little happy dance to envelop Cassidy in a tight hug, "You're a life saver. I was so hungry, my stomach was about to eat itself."

She smiled and patted him on the back, "I don't think that's possible, but you're welcome."

He retracted his arms and gave a serious two fingered salute to Stef—who straightened her posture and saluted him right back—and rushed upstairs to grab some plates from the Wheeler's kitchen.

Stef crossed her arms, "Mike can't have any, though."

"What? This is my basement."

Mike's whines of protest were ignored as Dustin returned with a stack of ceramic plates in his arms. The boys flocked around him to grab them and proceeded to stack slices of pizza on their plates.

Lucas questioned mid chew, "Are you staying for a while?"

"No, we have to go. Stef needs to study for her Spanish test," Cas gently nudged the girl that just made herself comfortable on the sofa, "If any of you want us to drive you home later, just give us a call when you're done, okay? It'll be getting dark soon."

Cas and Stef ruffled Will's hair and bid goodbye to the boys before heading back up the stairs. The teenagers could hear the kids' voices talking about how nice Jonathan's friends are as Mike tried to get them focused back on the game. Stef pulled on the brass doorknob and through the waning crack in the doorway, Cassidy could see the radiant grin on Will's face as he was surrounded by his closest friends. With a content feeling, Cassidy left the Wheelers' home; she was glad that he'd finally found people he loved to be around and that liked him for who he was.

It was just a shame that he wouldn't be this happy for very long.

━━━━━ ★ ━━━━━

THANK YOU FOR READING!

i know the timeline is a bit different than
the beginning of the show, but it'll start to
line up in the next few chapters. thanks for
bearing with me and my terrible writing!