twist of fate.
CHAPTER FOUR

' I guess he must've been really desperate then. '

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Cindy Newby hated being wrong.

     It wasn't that she always had to have the right answer, but as a perfectionist, Cindy liked for things to go as she had expected. She didn't like surprises and the halloween party that she had attended the night before ended up being a huge surprise for her. Not only did Cindy enjoy her time dancing and drinking with her friends, but she spent far more time with Steve Harrington outside of school than she ever expected she would.

     Despite Cindy's infatuation with the boy, she knew the type of guy Steve was. He was popular which made him arrogant and Cindy and her friends tried their best to avoid him and his posse. They had a few run-ins with Steve and Tommy H in the past, not that Steve was likely to remember, but even that wasn't enough to dilute Cindy's feelings for him. She knew he wasn't a good guy and there was no way the two would ever be friends, but that seemed to be changing the more Cindy got to know Steve.

The day that Cindy was told she would be tutoring a fellow student was one of the weirdest days of her life. It had never even crossed her mind that the student who would be coming to her for help would be Steve Harrington and so when she saw him walk into the library and head straight for her, she was shocked, to say the least. It took her a while to process what was going on and she was convinced it wasn't going to go well. There was no way a quiet girl like Cindy was ever going to get along with someone like Steve 'the Hair' Harrington.

Surprisingly enough, Cindy was able to see a different side to Steve. The side of him that she never expected for him to possess and one that he barely ever shared with anybody. Cindy was expecting him to be rude and abrasive, but he was the completely opposite. Steve was sensitive and sweet and to Cindy's surprise, she liked being his tutor. He was willing to learn and he had a determination to graduate that year that Cindy admired. Cindy's preconceptions about Steve may have been correct at one point in time, but they no longer held up and on this occasion, Cindy was actually quite glad she was wrong.

     After Cindy had followed Steve outside of the party the night before, the two of them spoke in a way that they never had before. Most of their conversations consisted solely of advice on school related matters and they never really got personal. It wasn't that they didn't want to have those kind of conversation with each other, but their friendship was new and they didn't want to taint it so soon by dumping all of their emotional trauma on each other. Cindy liked how much their relationship was growing as when she asked him if he wanted to talk about what had happened at the party, he didn't completely dismiss the idea. He told her what had been going on with him and Nancy — minus the details about the upside down and faceless monsters who killed Barbara Holland — as Steve drove Cindy home. The blonde just listened and allowed Steve to let his feelings out. She could tell once he had finished talking that he felt slightly relieved to get it all off of his chest.

     Cindy was by no means a relationship expert. She'd only had one relationship that she would consider to have been even remotely serious, but Cindy was good at giving advice to her friends when they needed it so she figured Steve would appreciate it too, and he did. She did her best to help him out despite the fact that she didn't know the truth about the whole situation. Steve liked the fact that Cindy was clueless to everything that was going on in Hawkins. It allowed him to feel normal for the few hours every other day when the two would sit in the library and just act like normal teenagers. The only difference was, Cindy wasn't acting, she was just a normal teenager. It was Steve who had to act like everything was completely fine when in fact it was the opposite.

Cindy sat in her biology class as she thought about her conversation with Steve. Biology was one of her favourite classes and she found it really interesting. Neither Natalie or Matthew were in her class which Cindy was sad about, but luckily this year she had been partnered up with someone who was actually nice. Cindy was sitting next to the brunette girl that she barely knew, but actually quite liked. Her name was Robin Buckley  and Cindy had seen her in some of her other classes before, but the two had never really spoken until now. They had briefly interacted with each other before being assigned lab partners when Matthew was in band. He had joined when he first moved to Hawkins, thinking it would help him make friends, but he ended up being ridiculed by some of the jocks around school so he quit. The only good thing that came from his time in band was getting to meet Robin.

     Robin was busy talking about something to Cindy, but Cindy wasn't too sure what the conversation was actually about as she had zoned out. Her mind couldn't stop focusing on Steve and it was annoying her. She couldn't concentrate on anything but him. Robin had to snap her fingers a few times in the blondes face to finally get her attention.

     "Hello? Is anybody home? Cindy?" Robin asked in between the snapping of her fingers. Cindy flinched at the sudden movement and looked over at Robin who was smiling sweetly at her.

     "Sorry," Cindy said, shaking her head and finally coming back to reality. "Yes, what were you saying?"

     Robin repeated everything she had told Cindy beforehand and this time Cindy made sure to pay attention. She nodded along as Robin recalled the events of her attempting to find a job but having no luck. Cindy wanted to listen and try and help Robin in her endeavour, but her mind was elsewhere which it seemed to be a lot recently. It wasn't just because of Steve, but also her family life. Bob and Joyce were getting closer and Cindy had overheard her dad mention something about moving out of Hawkins. Plus everything that was going on with Will that she still didn't understand was making it hard for the blonde to keep on track.

Cindy was usually good at balancing her school work and her personal life so that she didn't let her grades slip. She was a straight A student and she strived to keep that up which so far she had been successful in doing. Every time Cindy would get a test back she would merely glance at the grade and move on because she always got an A, sometimes even an A+ if the teacher was feeling generous. However, as Mrs O'Connell placed Cindy's most recent test down on the desk in front of her, her heart stopped.

"Wait, I actually passed," Robin said from beside Cindy. Cindy briefly glanced over to see the letter C scribbled on Robin's paper. Robin was overjoyed with her result considering she hated the class. "What did you get?" Robin asked, curiously. She leaned over her side of the desk so that she could get a better view of Cindy's work.

"I got a B-," Cindy said in a whisper. She had never gotten a grade as low as that before and she couldn't understand what had gone so wrong.

"Nice," Robin replied, impressed by Cindy's grade, but Cindy was far from impressed. The grade she got was a good grade for any other student, but not Cindy. She knew she was better than a B- and seeing the red ink that suggested otherwise hurt her.

The bell rang out, signalling the end of class and the start of lunch. Cindy quickly closed her books and shoved everything into her bag, including the test that she wished she could throw away. Robin turned to say goodbye to Cindy but was surprised to see Cindy already rushing out of the classroom. Cindy felt bad, but she needed to get out of that class. She was trying to rack her brain around how it was possible for her to let her grades slip so drastically like that.

The lunch hall was already filling up by the time Cindy got there and she had to scan the room in search of Natalie and Matthew. She knew that they had last period together so they would most likely still be together. Eventually, Cindy spotted them sitting at a table, talking amongst themselves. Cindy stormed over towards the table, her two friends noticing her getting closer. They were both smiling but their smiles soon faded as they saw the upset look on Cindy's face.

     "Hey, what's wrong?" Natalie asked, her face showing concern. Cindy sighed as she sat down opposite them and reached into her bag, pulling out the test she had been handed back moments ago. She flattened it out and placed it on the table in front of them. Both Matthew and Natalie looked surprised as they saw the grade written in the top right corner.

     "Woah, looks like Steve Harrington's stupid is finally rubbing off on you," Matthew joked which made Natalie giggle to herself. Cindy didn't find it so amusing.

     "It's not funny," she told them as she grabbed the paper and shoved it back into her bag which she then let drop to the floor. "I've never had a B- before. What the hell am I supposed to do?"

     "It's not that big of a deal," Natalie said, trying to reassure her best friend. "Just ask to retake it." She shrugged and Cindy nodded. She knew she was over reacting, but the initial shock of the grade had sent her spiralling. "Besides, we have more important things to discuss."

"Like what?" Cindy asked, unsure of what Natalie was talking about. Natalie and Matthew both shared a knowing look before focusing their attention back on the blonde girl sat opposite them.

     "Like what happened to you last night," Matthew spoke up. He took a bite of the cheese sandwich that was in his hand, not even taking the time to finish swallowing before he continued to speak. "You bailed on us," he added.

     "I know, I'm sorry," Cindy apologised. She did just leave without really giving her friends a reason for doing so and she felt awful for doing that. "Something came up."

Natalie raised an eyebrow. "Do tell," she encouraged, folding her arms and leaning on the table. Her eyes were focused on Cindy as if she was trying to interrogate the poor girl. Natalie and Matthew both had an idea of what might've happened, but they wanted Cindy to say it herself.

"Well, I was talking to Steve, but then he had a fight with Nancy. I tried to stay out of it, but I saw him leaving on his own and I felt bad so I went to speak to him to make sure he was okay... and then I went home," Cindy explained, rushing out the last part of her retelling. She reached into her bag and pulled out her water bottle as the others tried to digest what she had told them. Both Natalie and Matthew processed this new information as Cindy took a gulp of her water. They seemed happy enough with her answer and Cindy was relieved they weren't asking for more information. That was until Cindy watched a puzzled look spread across Natalie's face.

"Wait, so you walked all the way home... by yourself?" Natalie asked. "Cindy, you live on the other side of town. What the hell were you thinking walking home alone in the dark?" she asked, concern for her friend evident in her voice. She was slightly annoyed that Cindy hadn't asked to stay over or at least let Matthew walk her home. It wasn't safe at that time of night for a young girl to be walking around on her own, especially not in Hawkins when kids seemed to be disappearing left and right.

"I didn't." Cindy shrugged and took another mouthful of water.

     "Then how did you get home?" Natalie asked, her eyes narrowing at the blonde.

     Cindy pressed her water bottle to her lips as she spoke. "Steve gave me a lift," she answered, her words muffled by the foreign object over her mouth. The bottle didn't stop the others from being able to hear what she said, however, and their eyes grew wide at Cindy's admission.

     "Holy shit!" Matthew exclaimed, not caring if half the cafeteria heard him. Cindy's eyes darted around the room as a few people looked over at what the commotion was all about.

"It's not a big deal," Cindy said, trying to dismiss the topic. On the inside she was grinning like a cheshire cat at just the thought of Steve.

"Not a big deal?" Natalie asked. "We are talking about the same Steve who you have had had a crush on since the beginning of time!" she added. Her hands were going crazy with exaggerated gestures as she tried to wrap her head around how Cindy could be so calm. If this had happened a few months ago, Cindy would be going just as insane, but now that the two had been spending more and more time together it just felt normal.

"That's the one," Cindy replied, nodding her head. A light blush formed on her cheeks.

"How are you not freaking out right now? I would be," Matthew said, his eyes still wide in shock.

Cindy shrugged her shoulders. "I was just helping out a friend who needed someone to talk to. We literally talked about his relationship with Nancy the whole time, so like I said, it wasn't a big deal," she told them, her voice faltering slightly as she mentioned Nancy. Cindy didn't have a problem with Nancy. The two of them were actually friends at one point when they were younger, but they grew apart naturally. When Nancy started dating Steve, Cindy felt slightly betrayed as Nancy knew of Cindy's crush on the boy. But Cindy couldn't hold a grudge because she knew it was ridiculous and she needed to get over herself. Still, it didn't exactly help every time she saw the two of them making out in the hallway.

Matthew looked pensive for a moment. "I don't buy it," he declared, shaking his head and leaning back in his seat.

Cindy let out a laugh. "You don't buy what?" she asked him.

"Well, when I'm going through something really shitty I want the people I care about around me. If I was in his situation, the only people I'd go to for advice would be you two," Matthew said, pointing between Cindy and Natalie. They were his best friends and he trusted them more than his own family. "I wouldn't go to my tutor unless I was really desperate or it was you," he concluded, looking directly at Cindy. Matthew had a reason to go to Cindy, but he didn't understand why Steve would go to her.

"It does seem weird that he'd go to you," Natalie added.

"Well, I guess he must've been really desperate then," Cindy snapped. She wasn't sure why she was so annoyed in that moment. It may have been because it seemed so crazy to them that Steve would ever be friends with Cindy which hurt her. Or it could've been because a part of her thought Matthew may have been right. What if he was just desperate for someone to talk to and Cindy was the only available person at the time? She hoped that wasn't true.

Cindy pushed her chair back and grabbed her things. She was mad at them for not believing that Steve could ever like her, but also mad at the fact that they may be right and Cindy was just another victim of Steve Harrington's charm.

The blonde turned around and left the cafeteria. Both Matthew and Natalie called out after her, but Cindy ignored them. They hadn't meant to upset her, they were just trying to look out for her. It was obvious how much Cindy liked Steve and they didn't want her to get her heart broken if he got back together with Nancy. Cindy was too nice for anyone to hurt her in that way and her best friends hoped it would never come to that.

Cindy didn't see Natalie or Matthew for the rest of the day. They didn't have any classes together and in between each period, Cindy made sure to move as fast as she could to her next class in order to avoid them. She wanted to apologise for getting so upset at lunch, but she also needed some time to cool down. Their words were still fresh in her mind and the stinging feeling they brought was ever present.

Luckily for Cindy, she had made it to the end of the day without bumping into either of them. Cindy didn't have a tutoring session with Steve that afternoon as Joyce had asked her to meet Will after school. Bob and Cindy had gone over to the Byers house that morning and Joyce had mentioned that Will had AV club. She asked if Cindy would walk up to the school and wait for him and Cindy agreed. She knew Joyce worried about Will walking home from school alone, especially when it was later than his usual finishing time. Cindy had no problem meeting with Will and walking him home as it would actually give her some needed company.

As Cindy was walking out of the school, she could hear someone approaching behind her, followed by the person calling out her name. Cindy's heart rate raised as she recognised the voice. She stopped walking and turned around to face Steve who was jogging towards her.

"Hey, sorry for cancelling today," Cindy apologised. She had originally planned to go over Steve's essay with him, but now that she was on babysitting duty she had to cancel. "Something came up."

"What?" Steve said, completely forgetting they even had a study session that day. "Oh, right, yeah, it's no problem. I actually wanted to talk to you about something."

     Cindy looked surprised. "Really? About what?" she questioned as she continued walking. Steve had caught up with her and was now walking by her side.

     Steve lifted his hand and rubbed the back of his neck. "I just wanted to thank you again for last night. I really appreciate what you said to me," he told her and Cindy instantly smiled.

     "I'm glad I could be there to help," Cindy replied. "Have you spoken to Nancy?" she asked him, curious to know if her advice had worked and more importantly, if the couple were back together.

     Steve scoffed. "I think she'd rather speak to Jonathan Byers," he mumbled under his breath, but Cindy heard him. She knew Jonathan had a crush on Nancy, that much was obvious, but she never expected anything to come of it in the same way she never expected for anything to come of her crush on Steve.

     "Jonathan? Why Jonathan?" Cindy asked, turning her head to look at Steve's saddened expression. He shook his head, regretting mentioning the boys name.

"It's a long story," Steve said, chuckling slightly. He couldn't go into any detail about how it was possible for Nancy and Jonathan to be close without explaining everything that happened to Will and the upside down, something Cindy was still clueless about.

Before Cindy could question him further on it, Steve changed the subject. "Do you need a lift home?" he asked, noticing Cindy was headed out of the schools parking lot. She smiled at him appreciatively.

"No, that's okay," she answered him. "I'm actually on babysitting duty. Mrs Byers asked me to meet Will after school. He has AV club and she doesn't want him walking home alone." Cindy typically referred to Mrs Byers as Joyce, but she wasn't sure if Steve was aware of how close the Newbys were with the Byers and she didn't want to confuse him.

Steve nodded his head before pointing behind him. "Well, I should go. I'll see you tomorrow in the library?" he asked and Cindy nodded. "Cool. Bye Cindy."

"Bye Steve," Cindy smiled which Steve returned. She watched as he walked away from her and towards his car which was parked not too far away from them. It still baffled her how casually they just conversed these days, but she liked it a lot. She liked Steve a lot.

     Cindy turned back and continued walking in the direction she was originally headed. The middle school was just up the road from her so it didn't take the blonde long to reach it. Most of the students had already left the premises and even some of the teachers were departing as Cindy arrived. It had been a long time since Cindy last stepped foot in the large building and she was unsure of where AV club was being held.

     As she entered through the office, Cindy asked the receptionist where the club met and the elderly lady pointed Cindy in the right direction. The hallway was quiet as Cindy walked down it, her eyes scanning over the white walls that held posters of various clubs and activities occurring around school. She missed the days when she was in middle school. Everything seemed so much easier back then. Her whole life revolved around tests and grades now and she missed the innocence that came with being a kid.

     Cindy turned the corner at the end of the hallway expecting it to be empty like all of the others, but instead, she found a young girl sitting on the floor. She was fiddling with the doorknob, trying to open it while knocking on the wooden door. Cindy furrowed her brows, unsure of what the redhead was doing and if she was even in the right place.

     "Hey," Cindy said, gaining the girls attention. The redhead looked up at Cindy with a startled expression. Cindy immediately recognised her as the young girl who would get dropped off each morning by the new guy. "Oh, you're Billy's sister, right?" Cindy asked, coming to that conclusion.

     "Yeah..." she replied, her voice trailing off at how the stranger in front of her knew that. "Step-sister, actually," she corrected. Cindy got the idea that she wasn't exactly a social butterfly, or maybe she just assumed Cindy was friends with Billy and therefore she wanted nothing to do with the blonde girl who was looking down at her.

     Cindy picked up on the redheads discomfort. "Do you know where Will Byers is?" she decided to ask. She figured she may have some idea where he was or at least have seen him.

     "He's in there but those assholes won't let me in!" she exclaimed, her voice growing louder at the end so that whoever was inside of the locked room could hear her. She hit the door, trying to get their attention but she still received nothing back.

     Cindy stepped forward and lightly knocked on the door. "Will? It's Cindy. Is everything okay?" she asked, hoping she might be able to get their attention. She could hear mumbling coming from the other side of the door, including someone trying to shush the others. By this point, the redhead had grown impatient and began picking the lock. Cindy didn't think it would actually work, but to her surprise, she managed to pry the door open, revealing the four boys standing the dark room.

     A look of terror washed over each of their faces as they looked down at the ground. Cindy soon followed their gaze to the thing that was darting across the floor in front of her. It was small and slimy and let out a horrifying noise as it skidded out of the room and down the hallway. Cindy jumped back as soon as she saw it, her back hitting the wall behind her, stopping her from falling to the floor.

     "Ew!" she squealed. "What is that?" she asked as the redhead beside her stood up. The four boys ran out of the room to try and chase after it.

     "It's Dart," Dustin told her and Cindy looked even more confused.

"Why did you let him escape?" Mike asked angrily. He looked to the redhead as he said this.

     "What's a Dart?" Cindy asked, not having seen or heard of one before. It was hideous to look at, some kind of slug-like reptile with legs protruding from either side of its body. It made Cindy's skin crawl just thinking about it.

     "It's my discovery, so we have to find," Dustin explained, holding off on any more detail than that. Lucas and Mike ran past them as they tried to locate the creature. A look of worry washed over Dustin's face. "Don't hurt him!" he called out to the boys before chasing after them, Billy's sister joining him soon after. Cindy was left in bewilderment as she tried to process what she had just seen. Will looked over at her, not sure what he was supposed to say because how was he even supposed to explain the unexplainable?

The kids all met back up at the end of the hall and decided to split up to look for the creature that Dustin had named Dart. Cindy figured she might as well try and help them find whatever it was. She knew Will would stay to help and she promised Joyce she would look out for him. Everyone had split up and were now searching the school, using their walkie-talkies to communicate to one another. As Cindy didn't have one, she joined Will as he walked around the school halls. It was quite as the two of them walked side by side. Cindy had so many questions, but didn't know where to start. Will also had so much to say, so much he wanted to tell her, but he couldn't.

"West is clear," Dustin's voice said through the small device in Will's hand. "Will?" he asked. Cindy and Will both looked at each other and nodded their heads. Will pulled the walkie-talkie up to his face and clicked the button as he began to speak.

"South is clear. Lucas?" Will spoke. They still hadn't found any sign of Dart yet, but there was still more ground to cover.

"Nothing here, man," Lucas answered and then it went quiet again. Cindy continued to follow Will as they searched their section of the school.

"You don't have to stay here, you know?" Will suddenly spoke up causing Cindy to look over at him. His voice was low, almost as if he was debating whether he should have said that or not.

"You trying to get rid of me too?" Cindy asked, a teasing smirk on her face. "I thought it was just Jonathan who didn't like me." Will cracked a smile, but it soon faded.

"Jonathan doesn't mean it," he told her, honestly. "He likes you, and Bob. He just worries about mom, about me."

"I get it," Cindy replied. She understood they were a close family and it wasn't easy for them to allow just anyone in, especially not after everything they had been through. Cindy just hoped they could grow to trust her one day.

     "But I'm not going anywhere, Zombie boy." Cindy winked which made Will let out a chuckle. He appreciated her being there with him more than she'd ever know.

     A sudden noise from the boys bathroom to the right of them grabbed both Cindy and Will's attention. They shared a look before approaching the bathroom door and pushing it open. Will walked in first to make sure it wasn't just a student before Cindy joined him. They could hear something in the last stall, the same noise that Cindy had heard after the door was opened and the creature broke free.

     "What is it?" Cindy asked as they slowly edged closer to the noise. She was still unsure what it was they were actually trying to catch.

     Will lifted his walkie-talkie once again. "Guys... we found him," Will said in barely a whisper.

     "Where?" Dustin's voice bellowed through the device.

     "In the bathroom by Mr. Salerno's."

     "Copy that," Mike responded and then the line went quiet again. Cindy watched the small creature cowering in the corner of the stall. She was mesmerised by it as she tried to understand what it was exactly. Will looked petrified as Cindy moved closer to get a better look. Dart let out a blood curdling screech which caused Cindy to jump back. She turned to look at Will who was fleeing the bathroom after Dart's outburst. Cindy wanted to run after him to make sure he was okay, but she figured he'd just gone to find the others and Cindy didn't want to leave the creature in case it escaped them again.

     A few moments after Will had left the bathroom, Dustin came sprinting in. He looked up at Cindy who pointed down at the floor of the stall. Dustin immediately rushed over and crouched down on the floor, holding out his hands. Dart walked forward and jumped into his hands. Cindy watched puzzled as Dustin took off his hat and lifted the creature so it could sit on top of his head before he put the hat back on.

     Dustin turned to face Cindy. "Don't say a word," he said and Cindy held up her hands in defence. She had no idea what was going on, but she was willing to keep quiet for Dustin if he wanted. It was none of her business, after all.

     The others burst through the door a moment later and Cindy and Dustin acted as if nothing had just happened. "Where's Dart?" Mike asked and Dustin and Cindy both shrugged their shoulders.

     "I don't know. Not here," Dustin lied. "Maybe Will has him."

     "Where is Will?" Mike asked, his concern visible to the others.

     "He was outside the door. Did you not pass him?" Cindy asked looking between all of the kids. They all shook their heads. "Shit," she said before running past them all to go and find the boy. She knew it was a mistake to let him leave on his own, but it wasn't like she was expecting him to go very far. Joyce had asked her to watch out for him and she was currently doing a pretty bad job considering no one knew where Will had gone.

     The group split up again as they now searched for Will. Cindy felt awful for letting him get away from her. To make Cindy feel even worse, as she walked down the hallway along with Dustin and Billy's sister, who she now knew as Max, she bumped into a worried looking Joyce.

     "Cindy? Where's Will?" Joyce asked. When Will and Cindy hadn't arrived home at the time she expected, she had started to get worried. A quick phone call to the school had only amplified that after hearing that AV club had been cancelled. Joyce had driven down to the school herself in search of the young boy and the girl she had put in charge.

     "He was right here, I swear," she replied, slightly panicked. Just then, Lucas came running in, slightly out of breath.

     "The field!" he yelled and they all began running, following the boy towards where he had seen Will and where Mike was waiting for them.

     "I just found him like this!" Mike exclaimed as he stood beside the smaller boy who appeared to be in a trance. It was exactly the same way he had been the night Cindy found him standing outside in the dark.

     "Is he okay?" Cindy asked, panic laced in her voice.

     "Will! Will! Will! Sweetie, wake up! It's Mom!" Joyce repeated as she tried desperately to brake him from the trance. All Cindy could do was watch, hoping he would snap out of it like he had done last time.

     After a few minutes, Will let out a gasp for air as he finally came to. Joyce looked relieved as she pulled the boy towards her, hugging him tightly. There was so much Cindy needed to process and the questions she had had before only quadrupled. Cindy wasn't quite sure what was happening with Will, but his episodes combined with whatever was hiding under Dustin's hat was not normal. And Cindy got the feeling there was a lot more that she wasn't being told.

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AUTHORS NOTE
don't forget to vote & comment !
i hope you enjoyed!!

cindy & robin are going to
be besties by act three 😌 just y'all wait.
also cindy's in her big sister
era which we love to see