Julian did hate leaving Sam to deal with Tommy and Carol, knowing how cruel and closed minded the two tended to be. He knew Sam was going to have a terrible night, but he was already late.

He could only hope that his father would be in bed at this hour, but he knew that it was wishful thinking on his part. Since Julian's mother left them two years ago his father's temper was unpredictable, he was more angry. Julian knew that the anger only came from the embarrassment that his father felt by his wife leaving him and his son.

Naturally the entire town found out that Michael Becker's wife left him and his teenage son to pursue some fantasy in a big city. Well, that was what the rumors became. What the people in town didn't know was that Melissa Becker fled Hawkins to get away from her alcoholic and abusive husband. Ultimately sacrificing her only son to her husband's abuse.

It was something that Julian resented, but he couldn't blame his mom for fleeing as fast as possible. If he could he would have left a long time ago too.

Closing the door behind him, Julian did his best to quietly go up the stairs. The house was dark and incredibly quiet and Julain actually found himself relieved that maybe his father was asleep or out in town with the rest of his asshole friends that worked for him at the Hawkins Post.

"About time you showed up. Does this house look like an Inn to you?" His father's voice echoed through the house causing Julian to freeze half way up the stairs, fighting the urge to simply run up and lock himself in his room.

But he wasn't even brave enough to do that. All he could do was remain motionless like a deer on the road, looking down at his feet not brave enough to meet his father's eyes. Or maybe he was just too tired to try to stand up to him anymore. "No sir."

His father approached him walking up the stairs to meet Julian's eyes directly because to him it would be unacceptable to have his son looking down at him. "Look me in the eyes when I'm talking to you boy!"

Julian looked into his father's eyes, not willing to give his father that satisfaction to think of him as weak, although that was undoubtedly still going to be the case. The fact that Julian had never excelled at any sports and refused to join the basketball or football team was one of many reasons why he was a disappointment to his father. At first Julian did try, but he simply wasn't made for sports or fitting into his father's idealised version of what it was to be a man. "It won't happen again."

"You weren't with that Sinclair girl with you?" He questioned accusingly.

It was impossible to miss his father's contemptful tone, a tone that immediately caused Julian's anger to flare up. Sam was the cause of many arguments between Julian and his father, so many arguments that never went anywhere because there was no reasoning with him.

The itch to simply snap was too great. But snapping at his father only got him a slap in the face. At this point he knew it was better to just tell his father what he wanted to hear.

It would save him from another bruise and another lecture from Sam who always warned him against starting any conflicts with his father. "Of course not sir."

"Good. That's good." His father muttered as he forcefully let his hand fall on Julian's shoulder, enough to cause his skin to sting from the force. But he didn't dare flinch as his father continued to study his face, possibly looking for any signs that Julian was lying. "She's bad news that one."

Michael Becker never made any attempts to hide how blatantly racist or close minded he was. Like some of the residents of Hawkins that turned away from the Sinclairs and other families of color Julian's father turned his own insecurities and self hatred towards simple minded ideas of being better simply because of the white pigment of his skin. There were many things that had caused Jullian to feel ashamed that he was Michael Becker's son

Seeing as their conversation was over Julian walked around his father before finally locking himself in his room for the night. Picking up a stack of books off his bed he placed them on the floor along with the other dozens of stacks of books that Julian had accumulated over the years. Sam and Viv always tended to tease him that he had yet to read half of the books that he owned, yet he continued to buy more whenever he had the chance. Now he wondered what he was going to do with all these books when he would eventually leave Hawkins.

Taking a seat on the edge of his bed Julian didn't know whether he appreciated the silence or not. He appreciated the fact that he didn't have to listen to his parents fighting every night, but at the end of the day there was no changing the fact that whenever he stepped a foot in this large and empty house that he felt utterly lonely.

Julian couldn't help but wish that he had siblings, even if he alway listened to Sam and Viv complaining about their younger siblings. But maybe being an only child was for the best, at least any potential siblings wouldn't have to endure what he had to do everyday with his father. And in some way Sam's family had accepted him as if he were a part of their family, and that was enough. Julian couldn't ask for more than Sam's friendship, because she not only gave him her friendship but also a place in her family. The only taste of what it was to be a part of a real family that he had.

But he and Sam had a plan.

That they would get out of Hawkins the first chance that they had. Sure Sam had her family that he knew was going to be difficult for her to leave behind, but there was nothing that was holding Julian back. One day he would leave Hawkins and never look back.

And he was counting down the days until that day came.

All he had to do was endure his father for just a couple more years and never see him again. That was the plan.

Viviane did the best she could to drown out the augment that was happening somewhere in the house between her mother and younger sister. Not that this was anything new or out of the ordinary. If they weren't fighting and having a peaceful night then Viviane would consider being concerned.

Her younger sister, Sherlyn, always found something to complain about. The subject that came up the most was money as the Bennet's we're going through some serious financial problems. Since Viviane's father passed away a couple of years ago the family went from being one of the wealthiest families in Hawkins to struggling to make ends meet.

Naturally, Christina Bennet having been a housewife all her life and having no previous work experience found it difficult to support her two daughters on her own. Ultimately the family had no other choice than to leave their large home and squeeze into a two bedroom apartment that stripped away any kind of privacy for the teenage girls who couldn't be anymore different and tended to be at each other's throats constantly.

Viv had learned to accept their fate, believing it was both stupid and pointless to be hung up in the past.

"All I want is one little thing. But she can't even give me that." Sherlyn exclaimed as she let herself fall back dramatically on her bed. From the strain in her voice it was painfully obvious that her younger sister was moments away from crying.

Personally Viviane had already become immune to her sister's dramatics, there was a time when she attempted to sympathize with her but every day that passed Cherry made it more and more impossible to even try. Sherlyn had enough time to grow up and accept that their living situation simply wasn't going to be the same as when they were younger.

"And what is it that you want this time?" Viv questioned not bothering to look up from her book, but still curious as to what Cherry needed so badly that she was on the verge of tears. According to her sister their mother never bought them anything, when although maybe she couldn't buy her everything, she bought her what she could.

Cherry looked at her in disbelief as she walked to the other side of the room picking up her bookbag and holding it up for Viv to see. "I need a new book bag."

Now it was Viviane's turn to look at her sister in disbelief. She truly wanted to believe that it was a joke even though it clearly wasn't. "I bought you that bag as a present for starting your freshman year."

"All my friends got new book bags this week. I'll look ridiculous if I don't get a new one too."

Anger immediately rushed through Viviane at the fact that her sister wasn't even halfway done with her freshman year and the bag she had now looked practically new. What was even more irritating was the back that Viv still used the same backpack as when she was in middle school, having always assured her mom that getting a new backpack wasn't an immediate necessity. Now Cherry was complaining that she wanted a new bag simply to show it off to her friends. "Shut the fuck up Cherry. If only you could hear how utterly stupid you sound you would never speak another word again."

"At least I don't spend all my energy trying to be different."

"I don't try to be different, everyone else just tries too hard to act normal and perfect." Viviane replied as she slammed her book shut, now too irritated to even think about studying for that chemistry exam. Studying wasn't something that she absolutely needed as chemistry was one of her strongest subjects, where she struggled in subjects like history and English she excelled in sciences. Which seemed to work out best in her friendship with Julian and Samantha as history and English were their strongest subjects and they struggled in the sciences, in a way the three of them balanced each other out. "Like you pretending to have money that you don't have."

"I am so tired of you acting like you're better than everyone else!" Cherry exclaimed once again almost on the verge of tears. "If I had my own room I wouldn't be forced to see your stupid face every second of every day."

There was no part of Viviane that felt any kind of sympathy for her sister, but she wanted to save herself the headache that came from hearing her sister complain. With a sigh Viv picked up her textbook and backpack and stepped out of their small room and headed down the hall to the living room.

Her mom was already locked up in her room probably crying herself for not being able to give Sherlyn everything that she asked for. Praying to change a situation that was simply out of her control.

Just as Viv was about to settle down on the couch possibly for the rest of the night the flickering of lights from across the road caught her attention. Making her way over to the window and pulling apart the curtains she watched as the light at the Byer's house began to flicker.

Although it was odd Viviane didn't question it assuming that they probably forgot to pay their light bill as they also had similar financial struggles as the Bennets. Or maybe the youngest Byers kid was messing with the lights considering that he was just as weird as Sam's younger brother Lucas. The lights suddenly stopped flickering, enclosing the house in complete darkness again.

Dismissing the odd event Viv went back to being irritated at Cherry, who she didn't even want to call by her childhood nickname anymore even though Sherlyn preferred it. Her name being something else that Viv's younger sister always complained about even though it was their grandmother's name. According to her she hated it because it was exactly that, an elderly woman's name. Now Sherlyn didn't accept being called anything other than Cherry, which according to her sounded a lot cooler.

Ultimately there was no point in continuing to be angry at Cherry, it only caused Viv to feel even more bitter. And at the end of the day Cherry was right it was tiring to feel angry and bitter all the time expecting some kind of miracle to happen in such a forgettable and uneventful town like Hawkins.

AN: Sorry it took so long for another update but it had to go through editing even though it was already prewritten. These first two chapters are more of an introduction to who are going to be our three main characters. Very excited for you all to get to know my three babies. Enjoy!