holly, jolly

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SCARLETT WOKE UP TO HER HEAD POUNDING AND EARS RINGING. She held her hand to her head as she slowly stood up, using her free hand to support herself on solid object as she stumbled to the kitchen in search of something to quench her unimaginable thirst.

She slumped against the counter, reaching for the cup that was so close yet so far away from her grasp. As soon as she grabbed ahold of it, she held it with a shaky hand and turned on the faucet, eagerly waiting for it to fill up.

The water touched the tip of her tongue, fulfilling her thirst but giving her an overwhelming feeling of throwing up. She didn't want to be a bad guest, by throwing up all over the clean floor, so she walked as quickly as she could to the bathroom without making the feeling grow stronger.

She slumped in front of the toilet, leaning towards the bowl. Scarlett clearly didn't keep track of the amount of drinks she had last night, but she did know she was irresponsible and took it to heart. She decided it would be safest to stick by the toilet until she felt a little better.

A commotion was heard outside the closed door of the bathroom as a pan clattered to the floor. "Fuck!" Steve Harrington yelled, fumbling with the pans that were now on the ground.

"Shut up, Harrington. I'm sleeping." Ben called to him groggily, not even bothering to open his eyes as he quickly drifted off again.

"This is my house?" Steve furrowed his brows, still holding the pans. He put them away and slowly made his way over to the bathroom. After knocking on the open door he let himself in, kneeling beside Scarlett.

"What if I was peeing." Scarlett mumbled, glancing over at the concerned boy. "And you just walked right in."

"Well you wouldn't have the door open, would you?" He let out a soft laugh, brushing the hair out of her face and bringing it together so it laid on her back.

"No." She rolled her eyes, failing to stifle a laugh. "Did Nancy leave?"

"Yeah, last night." Steve replied while nodding.

"With Barb?"

"Probably."

Scarlett slowly nodded, and they sat in a peaceful silence for a while. Suddenly, Scarlett's stomach flipped and she threw up into the toilet. Immediately Steve reached for her hair, holding it back as she emptied her stomach into the toilet.

"Jesus, Scarlett." Steve shook his head. "You drank a lot."

"Never again." Scarlett breathed out a laugh, leaning against the toilet. "I'm sorry, Steve."

"You don't have to be sorry, it happens to the best of us." Steve grinned, helping her up. "Come on, up. Let's get you some water."

Scarlett nodded, following Steve to the kitchen and sitting at the counter. He slid her a glass of water and she drank it gratefully. "Do you need a ride to school? Because I know for a fact Ben's not getting up in time." Steve asked her, leaning on the counter.

Scarlett thought about it for a moment, coming to the conclusion that her showing up to school with Steve Harrington would spark rumors throughout the whole school. She hated rumors, she didn't have time for them. "If you could maybe take me to my house that would be great, I might come in late today and I don't want you to be late because of me." She explained to him carefully. "And you know how people are. Thank you though."

"Oh! Yeah, yeah. Of course." A part of Steve desperately wanted her to take him up on the ride, and he couldn't help but feel disappointed when she turned him down. At least he'd drive her to her house, and be able to spend a little more time with her. "We'll go in ten, alright?"

"Sure." She nodded, finishing her water. Ten minutes passed by quickly, Ben barely moving as he laid on the couch in a deep slumber. Steve and Scarlett quietly left the house, being cautious not to wake Ben.

Steve instantly turned on the radio as they were driving, as if it was a reflex. A soft tune played on the radio, Scarlett's face lighting up as she realized what song it was. "Oh my gosh. I love this song." Stand by me played as the two sang along, wide smiles on their faces.

The song came to a close and Steve turned the volume down, turning to Scarlett with one hand on the wheel. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better now, water helped." Scarlett nodded, looking at him. "But I do want to change as soon as possible, my clothes are like.. damp." She looked down at her clothes in disgust, pulling them away from her skin.

Steve's laugh filled the car as he watched her pull a wet cigarette off her jeans. He reversed into her driveway putting the car in park. "Here we are."

The girl unbuckled her seatbelt and swung the door open. "I'll see you at school." She waved at him, stepping out and respectfully shutting the door. Rushing inside and to her room, she successfully evaded her aunt and cousins.

As she sat against her door, she couldn't help but think about Steve Harrington. He was confusing to her. Sometimes, or most times, he was a certified douchebag. But times like these gave Scarlett a glimpse of the genuine softie Steve really was. Maybe he was finally coming to his senses, and not trying to be Mr. Popularity all of the damn time.

She chuckled at the thought, rummaging through her dresser to find clean clothes for the day. Settling on a plain brown top and jeans, she grabbed her converse and laced them up quickly. She felt the need to take a shower as she stared at her frizzy hair in the mirror, deciding against it and washing her face and brushing her teeth instead due to not having enough time.

Instead of heading straight to school, she decided to stop at the Byers house to see how Joyce was. Joyce was like a mother to her, and seeing as how much she's done for Scarlett, she couldn't help but feel like she owes Joyce the world and more.

She pulled up to the Byers house, not failing to notice the lights illuminating the entire interior of the house. With a puzzled expression on her face, she approached the door, knocking twice.

A frazzled looking Joyce answered the door, her face lighting up as she recognized who it was. "Oh hi, sweetie! Shouldn't you be in school?" Joyce grinned, waving the girl inside.

"I mean, yes, but I'm going later, I just wanted to make a pit stop here..." Scarlett trailed off, observing the glowing walls of the house. Christmas lights lined every wall, window and door. She slowly spun around, noticing that even the ceilings were decked with lights, trailing down the hallway. "Cool... lights?" She said carefully, not knowing what the lights primary purpose was.

"Oh! Yes, yes." Joyce said, immediately slapping a palm to her forehead. Scarlett looked at the older woman, confusion crossing her face. It seemed like too many thoughts were rushing through her mind, causing her to end up forgetful and have delayed reactions. It was only a theory Scarlett came up with though. "Will.. He, um." Joyce started, not bringing herself to finish as she sat silently down on the couch with Scarlett.

Scarlett glanced behind Joyce, spotting a fried telephone sitting on a chair in the middle of the floor. She got up and walked over to it, picking up the burnt material and putting it to her ear, pulling it away, she observed it. "So this is what Jonathan was talking about, huh?"

"Yes, what did he tell you?" Joyce asked eagerly as she turned around in her seat to face the teenage girl.

"He told me about the phone call during the storm, and how it fried the phone. He said it was the storm that did it." Scarlett fumbled with the useless piece of plastic in her hand.

Joyce's expression dropped. "That's what Jim Hopper said too." Joyce didn't believe the storm was the cause of the fried phone. She believed maybe Will was the cause, and she waited for that phone call every night with a new phone, because when she got it, it told her Will was still out there somewhere. Alive and maybe okay.

A colorful reflection bounced off the phone, making Scarlett look up. A singular red bulb lit up, confusion bubbling in the girl. Soon, another light flickered on. Then another one, and another one. Soon enough, every single light in the house began flashing on and off at chaotic speeds, causing panic to erupt between the two. Except Scarlett was more confused, and Joyce was worried for the teenagers safety.

"Joyce, what the hell is going on with your lights?!" Scarlett yelled across the room at Joyce, who was frantically looking around at all of the lights. "They're not supposed to do this, are they?"

Joyce shot up out of her seat and rushed over to the girl, beginning to push her out of the house. "I love you Scarlett, but you need to leave. Now." Joyce said sternly, even shocking Scarlett a bit.

"Oh- Okay. Um, I'll see you later." Scarlett stuttered. After completing her sentence the door slammed in her face. Frantic cries for Will echoed through the walls as Joyce ran around her house. Scarlett walked back to the car, chills running up her spine as she heard Joyce cry out for her little boy.

She sat in the front seat of her car for a few minutes, watching the lights in the house flicker. She watched as they came to an ease and took it as her cue to leave.

Pulling out of the driveway, her ride to school was understandably quiet. But pulling into school is where things got unexpectedly chaotic for the girl.

She noticed a group gathering around Jonathan's car, immediately growing concerned she rushed over, trying to figure out what was going on. "Uh, what do you guys think your doing?" Scarlett approached, ready to defend Jonathan.

"Ah! Look who it is! You know, Jonathan seems to like you a lot." Tommy H stood next to Carol, glimpsing up at Scarlett then down at the paper he held in his hands, flipping through them.

"What are you talking about?" Scarlett's tone was laced with confusion as she breathed out a laugh, looking between all seven of the people standing there. Tommy cackled, Steve pushing him back as he approached Scarlett with the stack of papers in hand.

She observed the people around her, noticing Nancy staring at a single piece of paper with a sad expression on her face, and Ben rapidly flipping through a few with anger in every movement.

"He was spying on us last night." Carol informed her with a smirk. "And clearly he loves taking pictures of you."

Scarlett glanced back at Jonathan, slowly and cautiously taking the stack of pictures from Steve. There were a total of eight in the stack. One of her in the pool with Ben, one of her standing by the woods with a cigarette, another of her with a cigarette but this time she was pulling her hair back, one of her shotgunning the beer, one of her inside as she slipped on Ben's hoodie, one of her standing by the window, a picture of her sleeping, and the last one was a picture of Steve pulling a blanket over her tired body.

"Um, wow." Scarlett slowly nodded, shocked at Jonathan and what he had done. She didn't quite know what his intentions were with the pictures, all she knew was it was seriously messed up.

"See, you can tell that he knows it was wrong but," Steve rolled a majority of the pictures up, slapping them to Jonathan's chest. Scarlett turned towards Jonathan, shaking her head in disbelief. "Man that's the thing about perverts, it's hardwired into them."

Steve continued on, messing with Jonathan's jacket. "You know, they just can't.. help themselves." He pursed his lips together, tearing the pictures into shreds. Tommy let out another laugh as Steve walked towards his bag. "So, we'll have to take away his toy."

"Steve.." Nancy whispered, looking to Scarlett for backup.

"No please, not the camera."

"Steve!" Scarlett said in an assertive tone, crossing her arms over her chest. He turned around to face her. "Don't touch his camera, that's too much."

"Don't worry. It's fine." Steve chuckled, bringing the camera over to him. "Wow, Jonathan. I have got to applaud you. Scarlett's over her defending you, after you stalked her all night." He turned to Jonathan, putting emphasis on 'defending'.

"Wouldn't be me if Tommy did something like this." Steve said, offering out the camera to him. "Here you go, man."

Just as Jonathan reached for it, Steve let it crumble to the ground, shattering into pieces. "Come on let's go, the games about to start." Steve said to his crew, who immediately filed out with him. Including Ben.

Ben passed by Jonathan, shoving torn pieces of paper into his chest. "I actually like you, man." Ben shook his head and jogged up to meet Steve.

Both Nancy and Scarlett stood above Jonathan, unsure of what to say as they watched him pick up the broken pieces of his camera. Scarlett shoved the pictures of her into her bag, sniffling. Nancy looked around, seeing as no one really cared she silently kneeled down and shoved torn pieces of pictures into her bag.

"Scarlett?" Jonathan said quietly, clearing his throat as he looked up at her from the ground. "Please, I'm sorry. I was-"

"No Jonathan. You want me to forgive you? Tell your mom what you did." Scarlett interrupted him, on the verge of tears.

Jonathan wanted her forgiveness, and he though just saying sorry would earn it. But the words spilling out of her mouth were like tiny arrows through his chest. They made him realize that what he did was really wrong, and hurt her and others. He knew his mom would be disappointed in him, and he hated that. But he hated not being stuck with Scarlett even more.

"Hey Nance, Scar! Come on." Nancy scampered after him, while Scarlett just stood, staring at him. He watched her walk to her car without a second thought, mouth agape, he eventually turned his attention back to Nancy and shook it off.

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It was dark outside as Scarlett laid in her bed with the windows open, letting the cool air in. She curled her body into a tighter ball as she heard sirens pass by her house. After a moment she shot up in realization. "Oh my god, Will." She mumbled to herself, rushing through the house and almost bumping into an unamused Erica holding a pop tart. "Sorry!"

She didn't even bother grabbing her car keys, instead she grabbed her bike. She began to pedal as fast as she could, not about to let Will slip through her fingers again. After this, she wanted to be there for him even more than she already was. She hoped for the best right now though.

The girl followed the sounds of sirens all the way down a large lake surrounded by cliffs and the floor lined by rocks. She skidded to a abrupt stop, almost crashing into the boys and El.

"Oh my god guys." She wrapped them all in a tight hug, still trying to catch her breath. They were concealed behind a fire truck, because they most definitely were not allowed to be there.

"Shhh!" Lucas shushed her as they ran to the back of the fire truck, being able to see enough to observe what they were doing.

Scarlett felt her heart drop to the ground as they slowly pulled something out of the water. Once she realized they were pulling Will Byers body out of the water, she buried her head in her hands, fighting back the tears threatening to fall.

"It's not Will. It can't be." Mike shook his head, not taking his eyes off the water.

"It's Will. It's really Will." Lucas said with pain overtaking his voice. Scarlett could tell he was trying to be strong for his friends, but when one of them just was found dead, she knew it was difficult.

Mike turned away in disbelief, scoffing to himself as he turned away from the group. Eleven reached for his arm cautiously, "Mike?"

It angered Mike, causing him to hit El's arm away with all his might. "Mike? Mike what! You were supposed to help us find him alive. You said he was alive! Why did you lie to us? What's wrong with you? What is wrong with you?" Mike yelled in the little girls face, and she sat in front of him, taking it.

"Mike..." Eleven said softly, feeling the tears start to slip down her face faster than she preferred.

"What?" He snapped harshly, staring her down as she stood speechless in front of him, afraid one word from her mouth would anger him. She didn't want to cry in front of them, but she couldn't help the tears from streaming down her face. She let her friends down, again.

"Mike, come on. Don't do this, man." Lucas let his tears fall, glancing over at Mike before burying his head in his older cousin's shirt. "Mike!" Mike made a run for his bike, picking it up and beginning to walk away with it.

"Mike, where are you going? Mike!" Dustin cried out for Mike as he walked away.

"Mike come back, please." Scarlett yelled after him, trailing off as he walked out of earshot. Or chose to ignore them all. Scarlett brought the three remaining kids into her, enveloping them all in a tight hug.

"It can't be him." Dustin's muffled sobs of pain were heard from within the hug. Scarlett thought about how young they were and it made her let out another sob. Will didn't deserve to go so soon, and those kids didn't deserve to lose their friend when they were only in middle school.

"I'm sorry guys." Scarlett choked out, her eyes closed as the red and blue sirens muffled in her mind. She thought back to school, feeling as though she lost both Byers boys today.

She couldn't imagine how Joyce felt. She had lost a son that she so desperately hoped was alive. And Jonathan who had lost his only brother. The person who made him a big brother. And Mike, Lucas and Dustin, who had all lost a piece of themselves when they witnessed their best friend being pulled out of the water.

And Eleven, the scared little girl who didn't waste a second to help them search for Will. Even though she didn't know Will, she did everything in her power to find him. Even though she tried to figure it all out, Mike blamed her for Will's death, and it hurt her.

Scarlett wanted to help, but she didn't know how.

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3212 words.

yas will u slayed that