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TW: MENTIONS OF UNDERAGE DRINKING

{November 1982 - Isadora}

I was furious.

No, furious didn't even cover it. I'd been angry for months, but this time, all of it – the frustration, the grief, the betrayal – it was all aimed squarely at my mother. She'd decided, without warning, that we were leaving Santa Monica to move to Hawkins, Indiana. Hawkins. The town where she grew up. It felt like punishment. I'd built my whole world here – the beach, the sun, my friends – and now she wanted to drag my halfway across the country to some small-town wasteland I couldn't even picture on a map.

I slammed another stack of books into a box, and as I did, Daniel Miller, my best friend since kindergarten, barely ducked in time to avoid a flying paperback.

"Isadora, I get that you're upset, but could you please stop throwing things?"

"Why are you even here?" I shot back, whirling on him.

He folded his arms, like he was trying to stay calm around a wild animal, "I came to help you pack, Dory."

I scoffed, "Yeah, right. Let me guess, Mum called you and told you to check on me."

His silence was enough of an answer for me.

"I just wanted to make sure you're okay. You haven't really been yourself lately. Honestly ..." he hesitated. "You've been acting like kind of a – well – "

"Say it," I bit out.

"— a bitch."

I dropped the books with a thud. Daniel had called me out for my attitude more than once in recent months, but I was starting to get fed up with hearing it, "Stop calling me that! If I'm so awful, then why the hell are you still here?"

"Because I don't want to watch you lose everyone who cares about you," he said quietly. "Can't you see? You have no friends left except for me, but if you keep this up, you'll push me away too."

"I have friends," I insisted, even though the words felt hollow.

"Who? The ones who ditched you after you got in trouble with the cops? Or your so-called best friend who slept with your boyfriend? Those friends?"

"Shut up, Daniel. You don't know anything," I snapped. "Why don't you just go back to your perfect little life and stay the hell out of mine?"

He let out a soft sigh, "No one recognises you anymore, Dory. Katie doesn't even want to be around you, and right now, I'm not sure I do either."

When he turned for the door, I wanted to call him back, to undo it somehow, but my pride won, and all I could was watch as he walked out, with the slam of the door echoing long after he'd left.

I blinked hard to stop myself from crying, shoved the last of my books into the box, and then stormed down the hall. When I stepped into the living room, Mum was there, surrounded by packing tape and half-sealed cartons.

"Why did Daniel leave?" She asked, concern creasing her face.

"He said he had somewhere to be," I shrugged. "I'm going out."

"Out? We're leaving tomorrow. Have you even finished packing?"

"I'm done," I nodded, slipping the silver flash I'd stolen from her bar into my back pocket.

"Please try to be home before dinner, sweetheart."

"Fine," I lied as I walked out, fully intending not to return home anytime soon. The door slammed behind me, shaking the frame of the house. Outside, the air smelled like salt and asphalt. I didn't know where I was going, only that I needed to get away. When I was far enough down the street to where I knew Mum wouldn't be able to see me, I pulled the flask out and took a long drink. The burn in my throat from the alcohol almost felt like relief.

I knew it was a stupid risk to be drinking in public, especially given that I was underage and had already been expelled from school for the exact same thing, but right now, I didn't care. I took a few more swigs, the world blurring slightly as I wandered aimlessly down the street.

As I turned a corner, the sound of music and laughter poured out from a nearby house, and as I got closer, I could see people scattered across the front lawn. A party, perfect. Without thinking, I walked straight up the path, pushed open the door, and made my way into the house.

"Jones!" A familiar and intoxicated voice called out as I stepped inside. I looked around before my eyes found her amongst the crowd and I hurried over to my best friend, Claire, who was standing by the drinks.

"You bitch! Why didn't you tell me about this party?" I shouted, throwing my arms around her.

"I thought you were leaving tonight, so I didn't think you'd come! Oh my god, have you seen the hot piece of ass over there?" She said, eyes gleaming as she pointed toward some guy in a leather jacket, with curls falling messily over his forehead. I glanced at him, unimpressed, as he lit a cigarette and exhaled a trail of smoke.

"We leave tomorrow morning, not that I really want to, and he's just some guy. Hey, Kyle's not here, right?" I asked, stomach twisting at the thought of my ex.

"No, Kyle's not here. I thought you two had broken up?"

"Yeah, we did," I muttered, as I looked down at my hands. "So, I don't want to see him. I'm gonna grab a drink."

Claire just shrugged and went back to dancing. I slipped into the crowded kitchen, found the liquor table, and poured myself something strong. The first sip numbed the ache in my chest just a little.

I was halfway back to the living room when someone slammed into my shoulder, making me spill the drink all over myself.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Watch where you're going, asshole!" I snapped, the alcohol amplifying my temper.

"Sorry, didn't see you there. Maybe you should learn to watch where you're going, Princess," the guy with the curls, the one from earlier, drawled, and I looked up to see him leaning against the wall, smirking.

"Don't call me Princess," I spat.

"You seem like a bit of a princess to me," he teased.

"You don't know me, so don't you dare make assumptions about me," I shot back, before brushing past him.

I didn't look back. I didn't care how good-looking he was; I wanted nothing to do with him. I walked home, climbed through my bedroom window like I had a hundred times before, and peeled off my soaked shirt, tossing it straight in the bin.

I grabbed some clean clothes and then headed to the shower, and soon I was standing in the shower, letting the hot water run over my body and wash everything away, the smell of alcohol, the shame, the loneliness. When I stepped out, I pulled on my pyjamas and stood in the middle of my room, staring at the walls covered with posters and photos. Soon, this would all belong to someone else and that thought broke my heart.

Tears burned my eyes again, but I forced them back, finished packing the last few boxes, and finally collapsed on the roll-up mattress for one last night, and cried quietly until there was nothing left to cry. It took ages for sleep to come, but eventually it came, filled with half-formed dreams of the life I was leaving behind.

~*~

I woke up the next morning feel like I'd been hit by a truck. My head pounded. My reflection in the mirror was a nightmare; bloodshot eyes, tangled hair, the hollow face of someone who clearly hadn't slept in weeks.

"Mum's gonna kill me," I muttered, as I attempted to fix my appearance a little.

"Isadora!" Mum shouted from downstairs.

"Shit." I splashed cold water on my face, threw my hair up into a messy bun, and then ran downstairs to find her in the living room surrounded by boxes. "Sorry, I slept through my alarm."

"You were out late," she said, sealing a box without looking at me.

"Yeah, I went for a walk and just lost track of time."

She raised an eyebrow as she momentarily looked at me, but she seemed to let it go pretty quickly. "Katie and Cody will be here soon to help load the truck."

"Okay," I nodded, as I went to help her finish packing boxes. We worked in silence with Mum working on the rooms downstairs while I worked on the rooms upstairs. Every box felt like a piece of my life I was taping shut. I carried another box downstairs and as I did, I caught sight of Katie and Cody laughing in the living room.

"Hi," Cody said when he saw me.

"Hey," I murmured with a half-smile and walked straight past them, out to the truck.

When everything was packed, we stood in the empty house and the memories hit me all at once; birthday parties, sleepovers, family dinners, of laughter that still felt like it was in the air. I didn't even try to stop the tears this time.

Katie saw my tears and immediately pulled me into a tight hug, "I know we haven't been close lately, but I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you too," I whispered, holding on for as long as I could.

After saying goodbye to Cody, I climbed into the car beside Mum. As we drove away, I kept my eyes on the rearview mirror, watching my cousins disappear into the distance until they were gone completely.

"Hawkins will be a good change for us, Issi," Mum said, trying to sound optimistic.

"Yeah. Sure," I mumbled, staring out the window.

The coastline eventually disappeared behind us, replaced by flat stretches of highway and endless sky. The farther we drove, the more it felt like my whole life was being peeled away.

We ended up stopping overnight, then drove straight through the next day. Mum kept talking, stories about her childhood in Hawkins, her old friends and the places she used to hang out, but I barely responded.

Eventually silence fell again and Mum kept her eyes on the road, hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles looked white.

"Come on, Issi," she said after what felt like hours of silence. "I know you're angry, but I think you'll like it there. It's a good town."

"I'd rather stay in California," I muttered. "I don't even why we're moving."

She exhaled through her nose, that weary kind of sigh that said she was running out of patience, "Because after everything that's happened this year, we need a fresh start. I got a new job, and I want you to be somewhere safe. Somewhere you can actually be happy."

"I was happy!" I snapped, the words spilling out before I could stop them. "Santa Monica is my home! You took me away from my friends and my life!"

"Isadora, you nearly got arrested because of those friends of yours," she shot back. "You were expelled from school for drinking. Your life's a mess because of your own poor choices. I think Hawkins will be a good change for you."

"But I didn't get arrested, and my life is not a mess! I don't want to go to Hawkins; I want to stay in California!"

She glanced at me for a split second, her eyes flashing with anger and exhaustion. "Tell me, what exactly were you planning to do with your life in California, Isadora? Because from where I'm sitting, you've been expelled from school for drinking in the bathroom – three times, might I remind you – and fighting another student. You broke her nose, and you wouldn't even apologise. I had to do that for you."

The words hit like a slap. I looked down at my hands, "... it was an accident. She started it."

"Stop making excuses and take some responsibility for your actions!" She snapped. "You think the world's just going to forgive you because you're sorry? I've managed to convince Hawkins High to let you enrol there. You're lucky they even agreed. You are going to go back to school, and you are going to get your life back together."

I blinked back my tears as I turned back to the window, clenching my fists. The trees blurred past in a rush of green and grey until finally, a small sign appeared by the roadside:

Welcome to Hawkins.

My stomach twisted. Maybe Mum was right. Maybe this would be a new start, but as we drove into that tiny, unfamiliar town with its neat little shops and the smell of baked bread in the air, all I could think was how foreign it felt.

How much I already missed home.

And how little I knew that this place, this nowhere town, was about to change everything.

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Hello,

We're back with the prologue this time. I'm making some big changes to this book - most of the storyline will still be the same but there will also be changes.

Enjoy! Xo

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