the weirdo on maple street

✄ - - - -

"SCARLETT?" An urgent voice rang out from outside her room. The door slowly creaked open as Jonathan Byers stepped in. Scarlett was laying down in her bed, a blanket wrapped tightly around her.

"Hi, Jonathan." Scarlett responded quietly, rolling over to face him. It was apparent that she hadn't gotten much sleep, and it was true. The girl sat awake in her bed all night, her blanket enveloping her in what she felt was a safe space. She thought for hours about the creature she had seen, regretting staying out after Jonathan left.

Jonathan approached her, crouching down to view her face. A concerned expression grew on his face as he took a seat next to Scarlett, turning to face her.

"Are you.. okay?" He asked, examining her face.

"Just peachy." She answered quickly, adjusting herself to look less lifeless. "What brings you here though?" She grinned and nudged him, changing the subject.

"We got a phone call." He bursted, grabbing a hold of his friends shoulders and slightly shaking her.

Her eyes widened as the words tumbled out of his mouth. "Who was it? Was it Will?" She asked, a hopeful tone to her voice.

"Mom said it was, she said it was his breathing. She knew it was his." Jonathan fumbled with his zipper as he spoke.

Scarlett's expression faltered as she listened. "Was it just breathing?"

"Breathing and.. whimpering?" Jonathan noticed a change in her tone as she became less hopeful. He was just glad she still believed him and was listening.

"What happened after? Did he hang up?" She continued, attempting to learn more about the experience Jonathan and Joyce had.

She just prayed no one was cruel enough to prank call them.

"Um, not quite. The phone sparked and... burnt." Jonathan answered hesitantly as he recalled the night prior. "Hopper said it was the storm, but I don't think a storm could fry a phone like that."

Scarlett thought on it, reflecting back on her previous night out by Hawkins Lab. "I believe you." She nods.

"You do? I mean, it could've been something with the wire, maybe rain messed it up? I don't know, I'm just thinking." Jonathan rambles on, running through his reasons.

"Jomathan! I believe you. But we can't rule out the fact that this might be bigger than either of us." Scarlett cut off his babbling, staring out her window at the flickering street light. She shook her head. "But um, you know. Could've just been the rain."

Jonathan hesitantly nodded along, quirking an eyebrow at his friends apparent change in demeanor since the last time he saw her. "We can worry about this more after school, alright? Let's go before we're late."

Jonathan's usual bright voice was dimmed. To no fault of his own, he wasn't the same Jonathan as before. He believed that it was his own fault that his little brother had vanished, and it weighed him down tremendously.

Scarlett hustled to get ready as Jonathan scrambled towards the toaster to shove it pop tarts. "Hurry up, Scarlett! We're gonna be late!" Jonathan yells, immediately apologizing as he heard a loud groan of disappointment from Mrs. Sinclair.

Scarlett's aunt was very laidback, but she did have a few house rules. Like, no yelling in the house.

"Coming! Coming." Scarlett struggled to zip her bag as she caught the flying pop tart Jonathan had tossed her way.

The duo rushed out of the house, Jonathan quickly unlocking his car and putting a large stack of papers in the back seat. Scarlett slid into the passenger seat, her expression faltering as she noticed the 'missing' posters he had just moved into the back seats.

Jonathan watched her stare at the posters in the back, clearing his throat as they drove off. Jonathan had a tendency to mask his hurt, hiding behind a brick wall until he felt it was safe to come out.

He never hid behind that wall with Scarlett.

Approaching the school, Scarlett watched the commotion of the people around her, watching as they stared at Jonathan, the 'freak' Byers through the car. They showed not one drop of sympathy, their faces contorting as they looked at him.

"Do you need help with the posters?" Scarlett offered, causing Jonathan to ease his grip on the car wheel.

"No, that's alright. Thanks though." Jonathan turned down her offer, parking his car and quickly swinging out.

Scarlett was left with confusion, shrugging and exiting the car. She waved goodbye to him, unsure if he actually saw her, and walked into school.

Approaching her locker, she pretended not to notice Nancy and Barb strolling her way. She also pretended not to notice Steve Harrington standing right next to her locker. She slowed down significantly, hoping his girlfriend would catch his eye. She was right, Steve swiftly snatched the flash cards out from Barb's hands, causing the two girls to rush after him.

"Well, good morning sunshine." A voice spoke up from next to her. The tired girl turned her head to see the boy who was talking to her. Her face lit up as she was pleasantly met with the face of Benjamin Clemson.

"Good morning, Benjamin." Scarlett couldn't help but grin at him. He returned her grin with a smirk, his eyes flickering up to Steve's group mischievously. Her eyes widened as she held up a finger. "No, no! Whatever you're thinking, no."

He scoffed, cheekily grinning and throwing an arm over her shoulder, practically dragging her over to them. "Hello, ladies!" Ben exclaimed enthusiastically, causing Scarlett to roll her eyes but continue to fake a smile and straighten her posture. "What are we talkin' about over here?"

"Well, you two arrived just in time." Steve said enthusiastically. He caught himself focusing on Scarlett, immediately redirecting his stare. "My dad has left town on a conference and my mom's gone with him 'cause, you know, she doesn't trust him."

"Good call." Tommy piped in, earning unamused glares from Scarlett and Ben.

"So are you guys in?" Steve looks between Nancy, Barb, Scarlett and Ben, awaiting an answer from them eagerly.

"In for... what?" Nancy questioned, crossing her arms over her textbook timidly.

"No parents.. big house?" Carol began hinting, her tone dull as if she thought Nancy was dumb. Scarlett's disgusted expression was enough to tell that she had a strong dislike for Carol. She reminded her of a carrot.

"A.. party?" Nancy suggested uncertainly.

"Ding, ding, ding!"

"It's.. Tuesday?" Nancy expressed, causing Tommy and Carol to begin laughing at and mocking her.

"Shut up, Tommy. It's too early for your shit." Ben tugs at his sweatshirt zipper, visibly annoyed with Tommy. He always was though, Tommy's annoying.

"It'll be lowkey. It'll just be us." Steve tried to convince them. "So what do you say? Are you in or are you out?"

Nancy hesitated, about to answer as Carol interrupted, drawing the groups attention to Jonathan Byers. He stood in front of a board, pinning a missing poster onto it.

"Oh god, that's depressing." Steve stood with his hands on his hips, a disgusted expression on his face.

That group used all their effort to pick on Jonathan, and Scarlett hated it. They thought they were better than everyone else, when in reality everyone's just human.

"Should we.. say something?" Nancy piped up. Scarlett whipped her head towards Nancy, eyes widened. This was the first time she had paid a sliver of attention to Jonathan, and it was a small victory in her books.

"I don't think he speaks." Carol replied.

"He's not a dog, Carol." Scarlett snapped, shoving her way through the group and walking towards Jonathan. She could feel their eyes boring into her back, causing her to shake her head in disappointment.

"Just.. let me know if you're coming or not!" Steve called out after her, earning no response from the girl.

"How much you wanna bet he killed him? Maybe Sinclair hid the body." Tommy laughed, earning a shove from Steve.

"Shut up." Steve replied, his jealous eyes still on Scarlett and Jonathan.

"Take a picture, Harrington. Might last longer." Ben shrugged, toying with a pen. "And Tommy, you know it's not nice to make assumptions about people." Ben shot Tommy a pouty face, stifling a laugh.

Nancy sent a disappointed glance towards the group, and began walking towards the two by the board. Approaching, she immediately caught Scarlett's attention.

"Uh, hey." Nancy spoke timidly, holding her books close to her.

"Oh, hey." Jonathan turned to her, managing a small smile. Jonathan was surprised to see Nancy Wheeler standing in front of him, he never would have expected her to leave Steve's side.

"I just... I wanted to say, you know, I'm sorry about everything." Nancy began, both Scarlett and Jonathan looked over at Steve and his friends, wondering if they had anything to do with this. It caused Nancy to glance back as well, noticing how it did look quite suspicious. "Everyone's thinking of you."

Scarlett nodded slowly, not believing a word Nancy was saying. She loved Nancy, but sometimes she did stuff that Scarlett knew wasn't her choice. She was searching for validation, and would do anything to fit in. Scarlett just wanted her to crawl out of her shell and be her own person.

"It sucks."

"Yeah."

"I'm sure he's fine. He's a smart kid." Nancy reassured. The bell rings, students began hustling to their classes. "I have to go, chemistry test." Nancy breathed out a laugh.

"Yeah."

"Good luck."

"Thanks."

Jonathan finished adjusting the poster, taking a step back to look at it. "What do you think about this?" He looked over at Scarlett, watching her nod.

"I think it's good. Very symmetrical." Scarlett approved.

A sudden announcement startled the two, causing them to jump. "Can we just go?" Jonathan said, not even bothering to listen to the announcement.

"Yeah."

✄ - - - -

Jonathan dropped Scarlett off at her house, per her request. Scarlett walked in, praying her aunt and uncle were at work and not home, she was not interested in facing them and their questions.

She walked into her room, opening her window after feeling the mugginess of the space. A boy on a bike caught her attention, watching him through her window with a confused look.

Mike Wheeler quickly threw his bike to the side as he rushed through his basement door, into his house. Scarlett knew something was up, Mike never skipped school.

She ran to his house, looking to see if there were any cars in the driveway. Noticing there weren't, she knocked on the door. A commotion was heard inside, a crash and yelp. Scarlett leaned towards the door, confusion plastered on her face.

She quickly backed up when the lock clicked, the door slowly opening to reveal a very scared Mike. "Oh! Hey, Scar. What are you doing here?" He asked nervously, holding onto the door.

"Just thought I'd come and visit." She said with a shrug, easily getting past him into the house. "Never took you for the type of person to skip school. Skipping school is bad, you know?" She laughed, observing the entrance of his house.

Mike was rushing her to the kitchen, when he stopped abruptly in his tracks. "Wait, aren't you supposed to be in school?"

"Um, yes but. Don't be like me." Scarlett joked, turning around to face him when she noticed a child peering out from behind the couch. "Mike." She said, eyes wide in horror.

"Yeah?" He replied innocently with a dry laugh, knowing he had been caught. He knew it was only a matter of time until someone found out, and he knew it would be difficult hiding a girl in his house. Especially since that girl barely spoke a full sentence. Oh, she also had a tattoo. He thought it was pretty badass but it would definitely not help his case.

"Who is in your house?" She said slowly, a slight aggression to her tone as she prepared to scold him. First, he skips school. Now, he's hiding a child in his house.

"Promise not to freak out." Mike said as he urged the person to come out from hiding. Scarlett slowly nodded as she glanced at the terrified kid.

"So, we found this girl last night out in the rain while looking for Will. We don't really know where she came from she just sort of appeared. She looked like she came from a hospital though, but she has no hair. She stayed in the basement, but my mom... doesn't know." Mike rambled on, trailing off as he mentioned keeping her a secret from his mom.

"What?" Scarlett bursted, holding her hands on her head. "You're keeping a girl, in your basement and you haven't told your mom?"

"I told you not to freak out! Please don't tell my mom, she'll kill me!" Mike cried out, shaking Scarlett's shoulder as the smaller girl went back into hiding behind the chair.

"I won't tell your mom, but she's gonna find out anyways. You'd be dead either way." Scarlett shrugged, walking towards the chair the refugee was hiding behind. "Now shut your shithole, I'm gonna talk to her."

She pulled her glare off Mike, her expression softening as she knelt in front of the scared little girl. "Hey." She started, the girls eyes slowly meeting Scarlett's.

"Hi." She spoke quietly and hesitantly, wrapping her arms around her knees tightly.

"My name is Scarlett, what's your name?" She asked. Scarlett believed basic questions like these were the key to getting people to open up. To calm peoples nerves.

She watched as the girl showed her the ink on her wrist. '011'. Scarlett's eyes widened as she turned to Mike, making quick eye contact with him as he shrugged.

"We call her El, or Eleven." Mike answered Scarlett's alarmed look. He knew she was thinking about the same things as him like, why does this little girl have a tattoo?

"Okay well, El. It's nice to meet you!" Scarlett smiled warmly, offering out her hand to shake. Eleven stared at it, then back up at Scarlett not quite knowing what to do. Scarlett let out a small laugh, gently picking up El's hand and shaking it.

"Fun." Eleven grinned, even giggling as she shook Scarlett's hand again.

Scar stood up, helping Eleven to her feet as she turned to Mike. "I'll be back when Lucas comes home, don't get into too much trouble." She joked, letting go of Eleven's hand and walking towards the door.

"Scarlett?" Eleven whispered sadly, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched her walk to the door.

"I'll be back! Don't worry." Scarlett said by the front door, walking out and towards her house. She was readier than ever for a long productive nap.

✄ - - - -

"Earth to Scarlett? Hellooo? Any day now." Lucas snapped in his cousin's face in an attempt to wake her up from her slumber.

Scarlett blinked her eyes open to reveal two hound boys standing above her. "Lucas, Dustin! Have you ever heard of personal space?" She swatted them away as she slowly sat up with a yawn.

"Personal space is fake. But, Mike told us to come get you before we could step foot in his house. I don't know why, he just loves you too much." Lucas mimicked kissing noises with Dustin laughing along, causing the girl to force herself up and out of the house along with the two boys.

As the three biked to Mike's, Dustin fumbled with the channels on his walkie talkie like it was a life or death situation. "Dustin, what are you doing?" Scarlett asked with an exasperated sigh.

"Trying to find the right channel, it's like it's not transmitting. It should be working," Dustin answered in frustration while hitting his handset on his bike handle. "I've been on the usual one! It doesn't change!"

Scarlett rolled her eyes, a smile creeping on her face as she called him a nerd under her breath. As much as they were obnoxious, they were like annoying little brothers. Her annoying little brothers. And she would do anything for them. Guilt slowly peeled the smile off of her face as she remembered Will was still no where to be found. Knowing that she could have simply watched him ride down the road, and she'd know where he went. The thought haunted her.

The bikes screeched to a halt as the three had arrived at Mike's house. They eagerly got off their bikes and scampered to Mike's front door, knocking on it. Scarlett felt like a kid again, becoming all giddy and excited just hanging out with them.

Mike answered the door timidly, rushing them inside and up to his room once he realized it was his friends. Lucas and Dustin stopped in their tracks once they reached his room, almost causing Scarlett to topple to the ground. "Shit guys, at least make it a little farther inside?" She trailed off as she looked over at the boys.

Dustin slowly shut the door, the two staring at El with a mix of shock and awe on their face. "Are you out of your mind?" Lucas blurted, taking his eyes off the girl to look at Mike.

"Just listen to me!" Mike said desperately, looking at Scarlett for back up. Scarlett replied with a simple shrug as Mike dealt with it on his own.

"You are out of your mind!"

"She knows about Will!" Mike cut Lucas off with his defending statement. All eyes in the room were now on Mike. Scar, Lucas and Dustin's jaws sat practically on the floor as they took in the new information.

"What do you mean she knows about Will?" Dustin stared at Mike, gaping as he nodded, confirming he meant what he said.

Mike picked up a small picture from their science fair, a picture displaying the four boys holding a trophy. He held the picture up so the three could see it clearly. "She pointed at him, at his picture. She knew he was missing, I could tell."

"You could tell?" Lucas and Scarlett said in unison, clearly not fully believing him.

"Just think about it! Do you really think it was a coincidence that we found her on Mirkwood, the same place that Will disappeared?" Mike continued rambling, trying to waver their opinions on the situation.

"That is weird." Dustin mumbled.

"And she said bad people were after her. I think maybe these bad people are the same ones that took Will." Mike's voice gradually became quieter as he explained further. "I think she knows what happened to him."

"Then why doesn't she tell us?" Lucas asked, becoming slightly angry. He approached her, Scarlett nervously shaking her head. She knew her cousin well, well enough to know he had a pretty short temper. She could only imagine how much worse it's gotten now because of what happened. "Do you know where he is."

All of a sudden, Lucas grabbed both her shoulders, shaking her. "Do you know where Will is?" He demanded.

"Stop it, you're scaring her!" Mike cried.

"Why do you have to be like that, Lucas?" Scarlett pulled her cousin off of her, getting him to stand a good distance away from her. He swatted her hands off of his shoulders.

"She should be scared! If you know where he is, tell us!" Lucas said, slightly calmer than before. When the girl gave no response, Lucas started to freak out again. "This is nuts! We have to take her to your mom."

"No!" Mike cut Lucas off, earning a frustrated glare from him. "Eleven said telling any adult
would put us in danger."

"What kind of danger?" Dustin asked, visibly petrified.

"Her name is Eleven?"

"El for short."

"Mike!" Dustin brought Mike's attention back to him. "What kind of danger?" He demanded this time, raising his voice.

"Danger danger." Mike stated.

"Okay, wanna elaborate for us?" Scarlett said in an unamused tone, crossing her arms over her chest as she glared at the boy.

He looked at her before putting two fingers to her forehead in the shape of a gun. He slowly moved to Dustin, who looked like he was about to shit his pants. From Dustin he moved to Lucas, who smacked Mike's hand away from his face in less than a second.

"No, no, no! We're going back to plan A, we're telling your mom. I mean, I don't even know why Scar hasn't told her yet!" Lucas yelled, running to the door.

"Because I don't want to?" Scarlett said as if it was obvious.

Lucas shot a glare at his cousin as he began to open the door. An unseen force slammed the door shut, causing everyone to stop in their tracks. Lucas tried opening it for the second time, and once again the door slammed shut, locking. The four turned slowly to face El, with horror and shock on their faces.

The young girl stood, staring at them intensely with blood running out of her nose. "No."

"Holy shit." Scarlett said quietly, a grin creeping onto her face as the three boys stood with their jaws on the ground.

Scarlett and the boys turned their attention to the front door of the house slamming shut. Dustin whipped his head back to look at El, almost giving himself whiplash. "Did you do that too?"

"No, that's just Nancy." Scarlett said, peering through the door. "I'm gonna go talk to her, I'll be back."

"Are you sure? She's really boring." Mike grabbed her arm, trying to persuade her to stay with them.

"Yes, Mike. Also, Lucas? Stop being rude to El, she doesn't deserve that." Scarlett said, stepping out of the room.

"Shut up." Lucas groaned, not wanting to listen to his older cousin even though he knew she was one hundred percent right. He hated being wrong though.

"Just a tip!" Scarlett yelled from the hallway. She let out a soft laugh as she walked into Nancy's room, laying down on her bed. "Those kids are all doofuses."

"Oh, don't even get me started." Nancy laughed along, giving her friend a hug. "So, are you coming tonight?"

"I guess, I don't know. Do you know if Ben's going? He say anything at lunch?" Scarlett asked, looking over at Nancy.

"He said he would only go if you went. You might want to call him." Nancy answered, patting the spot on the bed nearest to the phone.

Scarlett nodded, punching in Ben's number and holding the phone up to her ear. After the phone rang a few times, he picked up.

"Hey, Ben!" Scarlett said with a fake enthusiasm. She didn't really want to go to this party, but she didn't want to let her friends down, she had too much love for them.

"Hey, Scar. What's up?"

"I changed my mind about the party, that's all. I'm going, with Nancy." She glanced at Nancy, who was nodding vigorously.

"Fuck yeah! Do you want a ride or do you just want to meet me there?"

"Uh, getting there, of course," She looked at Nancy again, who was mouthing 'Barb'. "Barb's driving us, so I'll just meet you there, alright?"

"Alright, see you there Scarlett."

She hung up the phone, flipping back onto the bed with a sigh. "I guess I'm going then."

"Yeah, but I do have to ask Barb for that ride." Nancy trailed off, sending an apologetic smile Scarlett's way.

"You didn't ask her?" Scarlett replied, alarmed by Nancy's words.

"Not yet, but I'm sure she'll say yes." Nancy attempted calming her down. The two swapped spots on the bed as Nancy punched in Barbs number quickly.

"Hey, Barb!" Nancy spoke into the phone, nervously laughing. "You're going tonight right?"

"No."

"What do you mean no?" Nancy exclaimed, surprised. Scarlett covered her mouth to stop a gasp from escaping it.

"Give me one good reason why I should go tonight."

"Well, we kind of already told everyone you were coming. Also that you were driving us."

"Doesn't Scarlett have a car?"

"Yes but-"

"So have her drive you."

"Please Barb, we don't want to go without you." Nancy said in an attempt to persuade her.

"What am I supposed to tell my parents?"

"Barb- Barb! It's not rocket science. You just tell your parents you're gonna stay at my place afterwards." Nancy explained.

"After what, after the party?"

"No, tell them we're... studying." Nancy suggested. The two girls attentions were drawn downstairs as Karen Wheeler called up to them.

"Girls! Dinner!"

"Coming!" Nancy yelled. "Look, I gotta go. I'll see you in an hour." Nancy said to Barb, hanging up.

The two teens scampered downstairs, taking their seats. The entire table sat silently, picking at their food. The only sounds heard were the forks against the ceramic plates and Ted's loud chewing. Scarlett glanced at him in disgust, reverting her gaze back to her plate as Karen looked around the table.

"Something wrong with the meatloaf?" She asked innocently, causing everyone at the table to look up at her.

"Oh, no, I had two bologna sandwiches for lunch." Dustin said with a smile. "I don't know why."

"Me too." Lucas nodded with a chuckle. Scarlett shot him a knowing look, she knew he definitely did not have two bologna sandwiches, he hated bologna.

"It's delicious, Mommy." Nancy sent a soft smile her mother's way, taking a small bite of the meatloaf as she kicked Scarlett's leg under the table.

"Oh yeah! Delicious." Scarlett agreed quickly, glaring at Nancy.

"Thank you, sweeties."

"So, there's this.. special assembly thing tonight. For Will, at the school field. Barb's driving." Nancy began. Scarlett mentally screamed to herself, of course Nancy hadn't asked her mom yet.

"Why am I just hearing about this?" Karen looked between the two girls, furrowing her brows as her cuts into the meatloaf became more intense.

"I thought you knew." Nancy batted her lashes innocently, attempting to charm her mother into letting her go.

"I told you, I don't want you out after dark until Will is found."

"I know, I know, but it'd be super weird if I'm not there. I mean, everyone's going. Even Scarlett." Nancy pointed at a confused Scarlett who nodded slowly.

"Should I be offended?" Scarlett muttered under her breath, making sure no one heard her.

"Just.. be back by ten." Karen gave in. The two girls shared a look of success, then Karen cut back in. "Why don't you take the boys too?"

Almost immediately, a chorus of no was heard from around the table. Karen looked at all of the kids, surprise sticking to her face. "Don't you think you should be there? For Will?" Mrs. Wheeler tried to reason, not understanding why the boys wouldn't want to go.

Mike was taking a sip of his milk, when suddenly he blew into it, causing it to bubble into his face. Karen looked in the direction Mike's view was pointed, Dustin catching what Mike was looking at and banging his fists on the table. The woman gasped, turning towards Dustin.

"Sorry.. spasm." He apologized with a nervous laugh, sinking down into his seat.

Scarlett cautiously looked behind Karen, spotting a glimpse of Eleven as she disappeared behind the wall. Her brown eyes widened as she whipped her head towards Mike, who was sulking in his seat. Karen was comforting Holly who appeared scared by Dustin's actions.

"Nice." Nancy shot a glare at Dustin, who sunk even farther down into the chair.

✄ - - - -

Music blared on the radio as Scarlett lounged in the back of Barb's car, listening to Nancy and Barb's conversation with closed eyes.

"Barbara, pull over." Nancy said suddenly, pulling Scarlett from her peace and causing her to sit up with a groan.

"What?" Barb asked, alarmed as she slowed down.

"Pull over!"

Barb shifted her car into park as she turned to Nancy, who sat in the passenger seat with a wide grin on her face.

"What are we doing here? His house is three blocks away!"

"We can't park in the driveway." Nancy said as if it was completely obvious why they sat in Barb's car, three blocks away from his house.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, the neighbors might see!"

"So what? They don't know your mom. And they'll see us anyways if we're walking." Scarlett exclaimed, annoyed with Nancy for the hundredth time today.

"This is so stupid, I'm just gonna drop you off." Barb shook her head, turning her car back on.

"Calm down." Nancy reached for Barb's shoulder, pulling her up. "Barb, come on. You promised that you'd go, you're coming. We're gonna have a great time."

"He just wants to get in your pants." Barb blurted, Scarlett had to stifle her laugh, cupping her hands over her mouth and falling into the seat.

"No he doesn't." Nancy disagreed, chuckling.

"Nance... seriously. He invited you to his house. His parents aren't home." Barb explained dully, Nancy sharing a confused look with her. "Come on, you are not this stupid."

"Nancy, are you serious." Scarlett slapped a hand to her own forehead.

"Guys, Tommy H. and Carol will be there. And Ben! And you two." Nancy defended herself.

"Tommy and Carol have been having sex since, like, seventh grade. It'll probably just be like, a big orgy." Barb laughed, shaking her head.

"Gross."

"I'm serious!"

"Alright, well. You can be like, my guardian. Alright?" Nancy said with a grin, beginning to take off her shirt. "Make sure I don't get drunk and do anything stupid."

Scarlett respectfully turned away but didn't hesitate to laugh when Barb pointed out Nancy's new bra. Nancy denied it of course, not wanting to admit to buying a new one.

The three teens filed out of Barb's car, beginning the walk to Steve's house. A majority of the street was just dark woods, a few houses scattered here and there.

The cold wind blew against Scarlett, her instant reflex causing her to hold her arms closer to her chest. She observed her surroundings, the dark woods making her stomach tighten and flip at the sight. Flashes of the lanky creature ran through her mind, sending chills up her spine.

The cold was unbearable as a low growl caused her to stop in her tracks, looking around but seeing nothing. A wide eyed Scarlett alerted her friends with a shaky tap to their shoulder. "Did you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" Barb laughed. "Don't try to scare us in these woods, you know I don't do well with scary stuff."

"It was probably just the leaves or something, no need to worry." Nancy comforted her as they approached Steve's house and rang the doorbell.

Scarlett shook her head slightly. She tried to convince herself that she was just hallucinating and there was nothing really there. Maybe there wasn't anything there last time.

Steve Harrington's voice pulled the girl out of her thoughts. She looked up at him, making eye contact and quickly reverting her vision elsewhere. "Hello, ladies."

Walking through the Harrington household, she wondered how much each item cost them. There were pearls and jewels, pure gold and silver decorations everywhere. She knew he had a lot of money and he probably never wondered how much the items in his house were worth. The thought most definitely never crossed his mind.

As they exited out the back door of the house, his pool came into view, as well as Tommy, Carol and Ben. Scarlett locked eyes with Ben, immediately lighting up as she ran towards him. The two enveloped each other in a tight hug.

Steve didn't know why, but he felt the urge to tear them away from each other. A pang of jealously shot out at him the longer he stared at them. He cleared his throat, turning his attention to Nancy.

"So you actually showed up, Sinclair." Ben laughed, swinging the girl around.

"Of course I did, Clemson." Scarlett tried wiggling out of his grip, smiling triumphantly as she did so. Somehow, all the thoughts of the horrifying creature so very easily slipped away. Benjamin Clemson took all her worries and shoved them down the drain, and she couldn't ask for a better person to be stuck with.

The pool seemed to echo the laughs of the group, while they were not quite laughing together, warmth radiated in the area. Although, the teens were completely clueless as to who was watching them.

Jonathan Byers sat in a secluded area on the opposite side of the pool, mouth agape and camera held tightly in his hand. He never would have expected Scarlett Sinclair to be sitting at Steve Harrington's pool. He especially didn't expect her to be within five feet of Tommy H and Carol outside of school. He spotted Nancy too, a good girl gone bad.

Steve stood up in front of the group, making sure to catch Scarlett's attention as he loudly stabbed a hole into a beer can, messily shotgunning. He clearly already had Nancy's, she sat in front of him with a smirk.

"Is that supposed to impress me?" Nancy asked with a grin.

"You're not?"

"You are a cliché, you do realize that." Nancy shook her head, moving to the edge of her seat as he argued back, calling her a cliché.

"Okay party girl, you wanna show us how it's done then?" Steve said to her, offering the knife to her.

"Okay." She answered chilly, grabbing a can and standing up.

"You gotta make a little hole at the bottom-"

"I got it." Nancy cut Steve off, nodding to him.

"Yeah, she's smart- You douche!" Tommy exclaimed. For once, Scarlett agreed with him.

Nancy jabbed the knife into the bottom of the can, shotgunning it as everyone cheered for her. Barb sat behind her, silent as she was extremely unimpressed by Nancy's actions. Nancy dropped the empty can while preforming a messy curtsy, causing everyone to start cheering once again.

"Barb, you wanna try?" Nancy turned to her, offering the knife and a can.

"What? No." Barb said, alarmed as Nancy began shoving the items towards her. "No, I don't want to. Thanks." She warned Nancy, shaking her head.

"Come on.." Nancy urged, followed by Tommy, Carol and Steve.

"She doesn't have to if she doesn't want to." Scarlett called over from her spot on the pool chair next to Ben. She flicked a cigarette on the ground as she finished the last of Ben's beer.

"Yeah, Nance, I don't want to." Barb whispered to her, trying to inch away slowly.

"Come on. It's fun! Just give it a shot." Nancy offered the knife and can to her once again, and finally she accepted it. Scarlett rolled her eyes as she watched Barb get up, feeling pressured to do what Nancy wanted her to do.

"This is not going to end well." Ben whispered to Scarlett, shaking his head.

"So you just..." Barb attempted to jab the knife into the metal, shaking as it slipped of the rounded edge of the can, slicing into her finger. She gasped as she immediately dropped what she had in her hands and held her finger.

"Told you." Ben whispered to Scar once again. Scarlett slapped him on the shoulder as she reached for another cigarette.

"Are you okay?" Nancy rushed to her side, concerned for her friend.

"Yeah."

"Barb, you're bleeding."

"I'm fine." She said shakily, turning to Steve. "Where's your bathroom?"

"Oh, it's... It's, uh, down past the kitchen, to the left." Steve slurred, waving his hand towards the door. She thanked him and headed off in the direction of the bathroom.

The group was silent for a while, their minds elsewhere as they sat, drank and smoked. The silence was broken when Tommy H shoved Carol into the pool, her yelling as he dove in afterwards.

Steve took his chance to push Nancy in as she stood a little too close to the edge of the pool. He ended up diving in after her as well.

Scarlett looked over at Ben, who was already smirking at her mischievously. "No, no!" She held her finger up. "I know that look, don't do it!" She warned him, trying to get up. But, her feet were already lifted off the ground as Ben threw both of them into the pool. She shrieked as she hit the water, but soon began laughing as she resurfaced.

"You little fuck." She dunked him underwater, causing him to toss her right back in. "I hate you!"

"Aw, what a nice way of saying I love you! I love you too!" Ben grinned cheekily, swimming away from her as she began to chase him.

Suddenly, Steve stood in front of Scarlett, holding her shoulders and stopping her. "Alright, let's head inside before we all freeze to death." Steve laughed, keeping a hold of Scarlett as he helped her out of the pool and inside, followed by all the other shivering guests. Scarlett shivered looking up at Steve, visibly confused as he just stared down at her.

"Um, do you have any towels?" She asked him, pulling him back into reality.

"Yeah, yeah. Of course." He opened the nearest closet, pulling six towels for each of them. They thankfully wrapped themselves in the towels.

"I'm freezing." Carol pulled the towel tighter against her.

"Hmm.. Well, I hear his mom's room has a fireplace." Tommy grinned as he started up the stairs, Carol following suit.

"Are you kidding?" Steve called after them. "Okay, well you know, you're cleaning the sheets." He walked by Nancy, putting his hand on her shoulder. "You alright?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah?" Steve walked towards the stairs, motioning for her to follow him. "Well let's get you some dry clothes."

They left, leaving Ben and Scarlett in the living room. Visibly drunk, the girl wobbled to the couch, taking off her shirt and wrapping herself in one of the blankets. Ben followed after her, replacing his wet shirt with a dry one he had brought. He tossed her his dry hoodie and she was eager to slip it on. Ben was on the other side of the couch, knocking out as soon as laid down.

She laid her head down, her vision blurring as she watched Barb walked towards the back door. "G'night, Barb. See you in the morning." Scarlett slurred, her world fading to black as she drifted off into slumber.

Little did Scarlett Sinclair know she'd be the last person to see Barbara alive. She would not see Barb in the morning.

✄ - - - -

6667 words.

oh my gosh this chapter took so long to write, but it's motivating me to finish this season so i can get to the rest of them yayyy

^this was written like a week ago i finished this season🤭