the gate

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It had been a month since El had closed the gate, and now everybody was in the mood for the annual Hawkins Middle Snow Ball. Scarlett sat in Lucas' room, helping him get ready by sitting on his bed and reading comics.

"What about this one?" He asked, standing at the foot of the bed with a striped collared shirt on. When she didn't look up, Lucas clapped in front of her face, "Scar, helloooo?"

She jumped a little, looking up at him. "Shit, sorry." Scarlett took in his appearance, tapping her finger to her chin. "Oh yeah, that's the one."

"Are you sure? Or are you just saying that?" Lucas whined, unsure with his choice of clothing as he fumbled with the collar and sleeves of the shirt.

"Lucas, I'm not just saying that. You look great." She affirmed, shooting finger guns at him. "And also, just saying, she's seen you in worse. And she's heard your girl scream." She jokingly shivered, earning a scowl from him. Scarlett's hands shot up in surrender, "Okay! Okay. I'll be right back."

She exited the room, walking to her own to find Erica on her bed, playing in her bead kit. "Erica! What did I tell you about coming in here without asking me?"

Erica looked up at her with a bored expression on her face, "What? Scared I might find something extra weird in here?"

"No, I have nothing to hide. I just don't want you messing up my beads, I organized them. I'm sure you wouldn't want me messing up your Barbie's clothes and hair, would you?" Scarlett reasoned, picking out the misplaced beads and putting them back in their rightful spots. "We can go bother Lucas though." She smiled, watching the frown on Erica's face morph into a mischievous grin.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Erica hopped off the bed. "Come on!" She urged, running out of the room room with Scarlett not too far behind. They watched Lucas from the doorway with amusement as he talked to himself in the mirror.

"I love this song!" He grinned, then pointed at the mirror. "You?"

"Yeah, I love it. But not as much as I love you, Lukey." Erica clasped her hands together in front of her, putting on a mask of pure innocence and joy.

"Get out of my room!" Lucas spat, slamming the door in their faces. A frown plastered on both girls faces, huffing as they turned and leaned against the entrance to Lucas' room.

"You kind of have to know how to do the talking part before you can actually dance, you know that, right?" Scarlett teased, yelling from the other side of the door.

"That's what I'm trying to do!" Lucas groaned, kicking the side of his bed, "Ow!" He hissed, the small echo bouncing off the door.

Erica and Scarlett giggled to each other before Scarlett offered out her hand for Erica to take, which she did. "Let's go make some bracelets."

The two scampered to Scarlett's room, flopping on her bed and pulling out all the materials they would need. "Maybe we can make one for Lukey so someone will dance with him tonight." Erica said in a teasing tone, kicking her feet as she straightened out the string for her first bead.

"Oh, i'm sure he'd love that." Scarlett joked, placing the organizer that contained the beads in between them, so it was easy to access as they slowly created their bracelets.

"So, Ben isn't your boyfriend?" Erica blurted, glancing up at Scarlett who held a grin on her face.

"No, Erica. He isn't my boyfriend." Scarlett rolled her eyes and laughed, dropping another three beads on her bracelet.

"What about Steve then? You guys hang out a lot." The younger girl pointed out, not necessarily wrong about how much they hang out.

Scarlett hesitated for a moment, "We aren't either. Not every boy I hang out with is my potential boyfriend, Erica."

"They could be though." Erica shrugged. Scarlett shook her head before continuing on with her jewelry. The extra small beads were hard to place, but it was all worth it as it looked way better. About an hour later, they had finished making a total of seven bracelets. Three of their own, and one for Lucas.

They entered the living room, where Sue was taking pictures of Lucas in his dress clothes. "Oh, don't you just look adorable!" She exclaimed, earning a scowl from Lucas.

"Mom!" Lucas groaned, crossing his arms.

"Alright, alright. I'm done." The woman's hands shot up in surrender, letting out a laugh as she then put her camera down. "Scarlett, are you taking him?"

"Yep!" She nods, the car keys in her hand twirling around on her finger. "Whenever you're ready, Lucas. But first.."

"We have a present for you." Erica said with a mischievous giggle. She pulled out the bracelet and held it in front of her brother. "With this, you might be able to dance with a girl tonight, and not have to sit in a corner with all your nerdy friends."

"Shut up, Erica." He hissed, snatching the bracelet from her. His expression then softened, "With or without this bracelet, I'm dancing with someone tonight."

"Mhm. That's bold." Erica crossed her arms over her chest, staring intensely at Lucas. As both their stares intensified, Scarlett decided to step in.

"Alright, Lucas! Ready to go?" Scarlett clapped her hands together after pushing herself in between the two.

"Yeah." Lucas said, peering around Scarlett to lock eyes with Erica, narrowing his expression as he did so.

"Let's go then." She stared blankly at the boy, shooing him towards the door. Grumbling, he walked out with Scarlett, the two entering her car. As they drove, she noticed him fumbling with the bracelet Erica had given him. "You don't have to be nervous. Max will for sure dance with you."

Lucas looked over at her, "Even after that thing with her brother?"

"Lucas, that wasn't your fault. Billy's just psycho and wants to destroy everything in his path. Trust me, just be yourself, and ask her to dance." Scarlett pat the boys shoulder as they pulled into the middle school parking lot. "I'll be right outside whenever you feel like leaving. Have fun."

Lucas nodded and slipped out of the car, "Thank you!" He blew her a kiss, watching as she caught it with a big grin on each of their faces. He walked into the building, bracelet in hand, ready to ask Max to dance.

Scarlett waited until Lucas was in the building before parking just around the corner. She was sitting in her car, listening to the beats of the music while reading comics when an oddly familiar car pulled up next to her, jolting her out of her daydreams and back into reality.

Leaning over his wheel and peering through the window, was a smiley Steve. She couldn't help but reciprocate the contagious smile, rolling down her window. "Didn't think you were coming." He exclaimed happily.

"Well, I drove my cousin. Did you come here with, um..." Scarlett began, trailing off as she really wasn't sure if he'd get upset or not.

Steve immediately realized who she was talking about, his eyebrows raising and lips curling into an 'O' as he shook his head, "No, no. I drove Dustin, gave him some tips." He got out of the car, leaning up against the hood.

"Ooh, I really hope you didn't give him those bullshit tips you told him earlier." Scarlett joined him, imitating his actions.

"No, I gave him better advice. From the best there is." He nudged her, causing her cheeks to bloom bright red, immediately her hand flew up to cover the tint. He chuckled, not failing to notice her antics. "You remember our Snow Ball?"

She grinned, "How could I forget?"

"I asked you to dance-"

Scarlett put a finger up, cutting him off. "But you had threatened Ben earlier that day."

Steve crossed his arms over his chest, furrowing his brows as he looked at her. "I was getting there!" He paused a moment before continuing, "I asked you to dance, but since I had said some stuff to Ben earlier, you said no.. and threw your punch all over me."

Scarlett laughed and leaned against him, "Yeah, you were a douche."

"And you were insanely stubborn. You still are." Steve held the smile on his face, kicking a rock gently.

"I didn't even feel bad." Scarlett shrugged. "I mean, you asked me in front of the punch bowl, what did you expect?" She laughed.

"I mean, anywhere else you would've probably thrown a table at me." The two teen's laughter continued.

"And I probably still wouldn't regret it." Scarlett joked.

"I went home and cried that night, you broke my little seventh grade heart." He placed a hand on his heart, pouting.

Scarlett's eyes softened, "Aw, don't make me feel bad now." She looked up at him, shaking her head. From inside the gym, Every Breath You Take by The Police began to play, catching Steve's attention as he quickly glanced over at the brick wall that held the gymnasium.

He cleared his throat, looking back down at the girl in front of him. "Well, since there's no punch.. or tables around.." He paused, taking a moment before holding out his hand. "May I have this dance?"

Scarlett felt her stomach flip, her face heating up as she processed his words. Trying to compose herself, she took his hand. "You may."

He pulled her in front of her car, which headlights illuminated the area in front of it. He closed the space between their bodies, the two pressed against each other as they danced, twirled around and dipped. Their eyes stuck to each other, grins plastered on their faces. The space between them was so small, one move from either of them would cause their lips to finally find each other. Steve could simply just lean in and kiss her, and easily tell her it was a mistake. But he didn't. Because, he was nervous and scared. Scared to lose her, nervous because he didn't know what she would do.

She made him nervous.

The girl stared at him with bright eyes and a warm smile, causing his jitters to fade away, reciprocating her smile, pulling her into his chest.

She laid her head on his chest, "This is nice." She sighed, listening to his heartbeat as they swayed back and forth to the rhythm of the music.

"Well, I'm definitely a much better dancer than I was in middle school." Steve laughed quietly, his head on top of hers as he fiddled with a strand of her long hair.

She felt everything inside her just melt. Her heart beginning to pound in her chest as she just nodded, hoping he didn't feel the best of her heart. She didn't know why she felt like this. No, scratch that. She knew exactly why she felt like this, but would stay in denial as long as she possibly could.

She pulled away from his chest and looked up at him. Staring into his eyes made her want to sink and drown and die. She felt overwhelmed with emotion, especially when she thought he might've begun to lean down.

If it weren't for Lucas Sinclair and the party
to come jumping out of the gymnasium, she'd like to think something may have happened. The jumped apart as soon as the giddy middle schoolers ran up to them, all talking at her at the same time. Physically, she was standing there. But mentally she was stuck in her head, running away from the thoughts that chased her in circles. The way Steve looked at her, held her, talked to her. She had so many questions. She felt his gaze on her and she looked over, locking eyes. The way he looked at her felt different.

Because friends don't look at friends that way, do they?

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bye bye season 2 i'll miss u dearly😓 it's all downhill from here