chapter 003 ,
nancy wheeler

AS SHE SLAMMED HER OPEN PALM ONTO THE butt of a plastic hippopotamus over and over again, Lucy wondered if the true point of Hungry Hungry Hippos was to achieve a worse hand injury than those she was playing against — which, for the record, were not opponents of her own choice. But that didn't necessarily mean she wasn't having fun with them.

     "Come on, you fat little hippo," Leo demanded. He, out of the six playing, was definitely winning the 'most aggressive button-pressing.' His poor hippo's neck was straining as far out as it could, trying to swallow down marbles while Leo forced its head in and out faster than the speed of light. "Get the marbles, shitbrain!"

"Language," Lucy chided, her focus not moving from the game. "You do know I'm still here, right?"

"Why are you here?" Lucas asked, giving up on his hippo and leaning back in his seat. "Don't you have other things to do? Big kid shit, and stuff?"

"Big kid..?" Lucy repeated, raising her eyebrows. She followed Lucas and decided to quit the game as well. "Do you even know how old I am? Look, I'm only here 'cause this guy's dick brother canceled on me" — she gestured to Will — "and I didn't have anything else to do. Plus, I love this game."

     "Shit!" Dustin yelled, suddenly gaining speed and aggressor as he slammed his palm onto the hippo's ass. Lucy leaned forward to see what had brought on the urgency: there was just one marble left in the center console, and Leo and Dustin's hippos were fighting over it. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit—Come on!"

Before Lucy knew it, Leo was throwing his hands in the air victoriously, as the rest of them sunk back in their seats in dejection. Leo had won again. Nobody was surprised, really; Leo was basically a god when it came to Hungry Hungry Hippos. Playing against him was like making a bet with a fortune teller.

"C'mon, Leo," Will said, "couldn't you let someone else win for once?"

"Nope," Leo said, picking up a cheese puff and crunching it in his mouth. A moment later, he belched loudly.

"Oh, my God, ew." Lucy stood from her chair and shook her head. "Okay, yeah, I'm leaving now. Have fun. And if anybody ever beats Leo, you guys let me know. I'll give whoever it is a dollar."

     The party shared a challenge look between the midst of them, then immediately jumped forward to empty the bellies of their hippos and pour out the marbles to begin again. Lucy stood behind them and watched for a moment, but when Leo immediately took the lead, she scoffed and turned to go.

"Leaving already, Lucy?" Mrs. Wheeler asked when she emerged from the basement's stairwell. The woman smiled at her and offered forward a bowl of pasta. "I'm just finishing up dinner, if you'd like to join us."

Lucy waved a hand. "No, I'm alright," she said, giving Mrs. Wheeler a smile. "Just hung around long enough to lose Hungry Hungry Hippos to my brother. Now I should get home and help my mom get dinner ready. Thanks for the offer, though, Mrs. Wheeler."

"While you're at it," Ted's voice called from the couch, "take your brother with you, will you?"

"Ted!" Mrs. Wheeler chided, putting a hand on her hip. She gave Lucy an apologetic smile. "So, how's your dad doing?"

"Oh, he's well," Lucy said, nodding politely. "His new girlfriend is pretty nice to us. She just surprised Leo with a new Transformer action figure, or something. And she offered to take me shopping, but, uh—"

"You don't think you're there with her yet," Mrs. Wheeler agreed, her head tilted to the side in sympathy. "Yeah, I get it. You know, Nancy's with Jonathan right now, but she should be on her way home; I could take you girls out to Main Street and—"

     "No, that's alright." Lucy tried not to sound too rushed with her reply, but the words slipped out of her mouth before Mrs. Wheeler could even finish her sentence. "Really, Mrs. Wheeler, I couldn't ask you to do that. It's alright. Um, did you say Nancy's with Jonathan right now?"

     Mrs. Wheeler nodded, turning her focus to tossing the salad in front of her. "Oh, yeah. She's good friends with him. Spends all her time over there, really. Poor Steve was actually just over looking for her a few minutes ago."

     Lucy swallowed and forced a smile. "Poor Steve," she agreed. "Um, I'm gonna go now. Tell Leo to call me if he needs a ride home. Nice seeing you, Mrs. Wheeler. And, uh, love the new glasses frames, Mr. Wheeler."

     "Flattery never works with me, kid," he called after her, bringing a smile to her lips as the front door shut behind her.

     She fumbled with her keys on her way towards her car, eyes on her hands as she stepped off the curb in front of her car. Somewhere to her left, another car rolled to a stop, its engine cutting off as the doors opened.

     Speak of the devil, Lucy thought as Nancy and Jonathan stepped out of the car. Both of them gave her quizzical looks. Lucy waved at them, leaning against the hood of her own car as they made their way towards her.

"Lucy?" Jonathan said. "What are you doing here?"

"Well," she said, crossing her arms. "After you.. y'know, ditched me, I—uh, I decided to stick around with the boys and play a few games." She paused, then tilted her head to the side and added, "Which I don't recommend, by the way. They're all very competitive."

Nancy and Jonathan shared a glance. Jonathan cleared his throat, then dropped his head, his hands deep in his pockets. "Yeah, uh, sorry about ditching you, by the way. I tried calling, but obviously I had no idea you were here."

Lucy nodded, lifting her shoulders in a shrug. She sighed and stood from the hood of the car. "Yeah, well, I was just on my way out, so—"

"Um, hey, actually," Nancy said, taking a step forward. She turned to look at Jonathan over her shoulder. They seemed to pass some sort of unspoken message, because Jonathan nodded and moved to get back in his car. Nancy looked back to Lucy. She faltered, then offered a nervous smile, only making brief eye contact before clearing her throat and tucking her hands into her pockets. "Um, can we talk?"

     "Yeah, of course," Lucy said, crossing her arms. "What's up?"

     "I just, uh..." Nancy dropped her head, scoffing lightly, as if at herself. "I just want to know if that rumor going around is true."

     Lucy's head tilted to the side curiously. "Wh—what rumor?"

     Nancy laughed uncomfortably. "Um, you know.. the one Tommy was talking about today in fifth period chem?"

     "Oh, yeah, here's the thing," Lucy said, managing a faint smile. "I don't usually listen to anything Tommy H. says. It's this new thing I've been trying out called 'not caring.'"

That drew a laugh from Nancy's lips that actually sounded pretty genuine. "Yeah, uh, I mostly try to do the same thing, but this just kinda... took me by surprise. Um, what he said was that last night, at the party, you and Steve... um, you and Steve kinda.. kinda kissed?"

Lucy's lips parted in realization, and she immediately began to laugh, just out of surprise—but Nancy seemed to take it the wrong way, because she jumped to defend herself.

"I'm really sorry for asking, I just wanted to—I mean, Tommy actually said you guys did more than kiss—and I promise I won't get mad, because I'm sure you had no ill intent, or anyth—"

"No, Nancy, please," Lucy said, waving her hands to get the girl to stop her rambling. "I can safely say Steve and I did absolutely nothing at the party. And I can also promise you that nothing will ever happen between us again."

     "Oh," Nancy said, her eyebrows raising. She smiled, then pursed her lips, exhaling a scoff. "Why doesn't that make me feel any better?"

     Lucy drew in a deep breath, shaking her head. "My guess is because even if you know it's not true, people are still talking about your boyfriend with a different girl."

"Yeah, that must be it," Nancy agreed, though she didn't look too convinced of her own words. "How did you know?"

"Not my first time a rumor's been spread about me having sex," Lucy said, shrugging. "But, uh, if it bothers you, I can talk to Tommy about it and tell him to shut it down."

     Nancy's face scrunched up, confused. "How long has it been since you last talked to him?"

Lucy faltered, looking up and frowning in thought. "Huh. Probably... when I told him to go to hell last year after telling everyone about my parents." She simpered. "Something tells me he wouldn't listen to me if I told him to stop telling people about Steve and I."

Nancy laughed. "You know, Jonathan always goes on about how easy to you are to talk to, but I never really got to see it for myself until recently."

     "Oh, well, thank you," Lucy said, a blithe smile on her lips. "So, uh, you and Jonathan...?"

"We're just friends," Nancy was quick to say, her eyes wide in earnest. "Just.. good friends. I'm dating Steve. But oh, Jesus, of course you knew that, though—"

"Nancy," Lucy interrupted, laughing, "I get it. Sorry for even asking. So.. uh, I should go. My mom's probably waiting on me. I'll see you later, Nancy."

"See you, Lucy," Nancy agreed, giving her a wave before turning to head inside her house.

Lucy stood there in the street for a moment, hands in her pockets, a vacant expression on her face. She glanced around as if making sure the world around her was real. When she realized she very much was not dreaming, she blinked, then turned to get into her car. She sat there for a moment, then muttered to herself, "Did I just make friends with Nancy Wheeler?"

TO LUCY, BILLY HARGROVE LOOKED LIKE EXACTLY the type of guy she wouldn't get along with. She didn't know much too about him—just that he was rumored to be taking over the title of 'King of Hawkins High' from Steve Harrington. Lucy also knew just enough of Billy's personality to know that he was a complete and utter asshole, perhaps one even bigger than Steve.

Billy was not a good person, and Lucy knew that, but as she watched him steal the ball from Steve and trip him on the basketball court, she decided that he couldn't have been that bad.

As Billy whooped at his newly scored goal, Lucy cleared her throat and hiked her bag up on her shoulder, trying to build up the courage to call, "Harrington."

He froze, clearly recognizing her voice. She lifted a hand in a half-wave. Steve's brow furrowed. He glanced around for a second, checking to see if anyone would notice if he left—but altogether seemed to decide that whatever Lucy needed was more important than a stupid basketball game.

     "What are you doing here?" he asked, after she led him to an alleyway between the two school buildings. Lucy didn't know if she was making it up or not, but she sensed a bit of irritation in his tone. "What happened to never wanting to see me ever again?"

     Lucy pressed her lips together in a put-out scowl. "I'm not here because I want to be. I just need to ask you something. Nancy told me—"

"Nancy?" Steve repeated, raising his eyebrows. "You've been talking to... You're friends with Nance now?"

"Um, yeah, and I would appreciate it if you didn't cut me off right now."

He dropped his head, holding up his hands in surrender. "Carry on."

"Right." She shook her head and straightened her posture, then leaned back against the brick wall behind her. "Nancy said Tommy H. has been spreading... ah, rumors about us from the party. Do you—I mean... what I'm trying to say is: Did you have anything to do with it?"

Steve raised his eyebrows. He used the towel hanging around his shoulders to wipe his face, eyes squeezed together and jaw clenched. When he dropped the towel, he looked murderous.

"Are you asking me if I started a rumor that I hooked up with my ex in the bathroom at a Halloween party?"

Lucy huffed a scoff, rolling her eyes. She jumped to her own defense. "I wasn't asking if you started it, I was asking if you had anything to do with it. It's not like that's way out of line for me to ask; I know who you are, Steve. This is just the kind of thing you would do to get back at me."

"I don't need to get back at you for anything," he replied, standing up to his full height and glaring at her. "And if I wanted to, I wouldn't do it with a stupid rumor. You realize this is as bad for me as it is for you, right?"

     "And why is that?"

     "I have a girlfriend, Andrews!" Steve exclaimed, throwing down his hands like he was making some big proclamation. "And I love her!"

     Lucy raised her eyebrows coolly, her glare set icily on Steve. "Does she love you?"

     Steve faltered, clearly taken by surprise. "Wh—what?"

     She shrugged harmlessly and hiked her bag up her shoulder, turning to go. "Nothing," she said, without turning back around. "Better get back to basketball, Harrington; Billy Hargrove needs an ass to kick."

Steve stood there for a moment after she left, hands on his hips and head facing the ground. He scoffed to himself, then muttered, "Screw you, Andrews."

hello!
i hope you are all enjoying the story so far <3
unfortunately, i am off to a two week trip
in which i am not allowed to have my phone D:
that means that yes, this is the last update
for two weeks!!! i am so sorry to
have to put the story on pause like this
but trust that i will spam with updates
the moment i get back.
thank you all for your love and support <3
love you all