The sound of Jenna's alarm clock going off woke her up the next morning, making her groan at the ceiling as she slammed her hand on the clock to turn it off. She reluctantly got out of bed, making her way to the dresser, rummaging through some clothes to wear for school. Jenna exhaled loudly, thinking about her make out session with Craig last night, which made her smile and her heart skip a beat.

"Jenna! Breakfast is ready!" her mom called out from downstairs.

"I'll be down in a few minutes!" she called back, hurriedly getting dressed for school.

Once she was dressed and her teeth and hair were brushed, Jenna grabbed her knapsack with all of her books and hopped down the stairs. Her mom was putting two plates filled with eggs and toast on the table as she sat down.

"So, how did studying go last night?" she asked.

Jenna nodded her head casually, picking up her fork. "It was good," she lied smoothly, beginning to eat the scrambled eggs on her plate.

Oh, yeah. There was some chemistry going on last night.

"Yes, I'm sure Craig Bennett was very helpful."

She spat out her scrambled eggs, trying not to choke on them. "What?"

Dorothy shot her a stern look as she sat down across from her daughter. "I'm not dumb, Jenna Howard. I went up to your room right after you left."

She bit her lip in guilt. "I'm sorry, Mom. But it was--"

"Craig Bennett, I know." She grinned at her. "I'll let it slide this time. You've been pretty good these past few months."

"I'm always good." Jenna gave her a smile, even though what they both said was a total lie.

She laughed. "Yeah, okay, just eat your breakfast."

And so the two sat together and ate their eggs and toast, then got some orange juice for Jenna and some coffee for Dorothy. Jenna liked sitting down and talking and laughing with her. It had always just been the two of them, so they were pretty close. Dorothy did a lot for Jenna, working at Melvald's General Store all the time, making sure that they had whatever they needed. The two were best friends.

"Well, I'll be working late tonight," Dorothy stated, taking their empty plates to the sink. "You better get going or you'll be late for school."

Jenna sighed, standing up and slinging her knapsack over her shoulder. "Okay, bye, Mom." She gave her a hug and left for the front door, closing it and then heading off to school on foot. They only had one car and her mom used that to get to work, which was fine with Jenna. She didn't mind the walk to school. To her, it was relaxing the majority of the time.

The walk there was quick, which Jenna got used to. Before she got to the school, three kids on bikes rode past her, going to Hawkins Middle School. She made her way to Hawkins High School, strolling in the parking lot, when a Chevrolet almost hit her. The man slammed on the brakes as Jenna jumped back, thinking she was gonna get hit.

"Watch it!" she yelled at the guy, realizing that it was Chief Hopper, which caused her to resist the urge to flip him off.

A girl with short brown hair came out of his car. "Be more careful, Dad," she told him, slamming the car door, then watched him drive off, waving an apologetic wave at Jenna before leaving the parking lot. The girl sighed, looking at her. "Sorry about him. He's just had a bad morning."

"Don't worry about it," Jenna said, walking away from her.

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, looking back at the girl, who was still staring at Jenna.

"I see you've officially met Dana Sellers," Janet Attaway stated as she approached Jenna, her short hair bouncing, looking tired but not enough to let it bother her. "Apparently, she's the Chief's long-lost daughter that just moved here a couple of weeks ago. I have her in English."

"Oh," Jenna replied, nodding her head, clearly uninterested.

Janet Attaway was an interesting person, and pairing her with Jenna, they made one hell of a duo. Though the two weren't really best friends, they both understood each other and liked to have fun. Plus, they had the same friends, so the girls always hung out a lot together.

They entered inside the school, observing the students as they walked down the hallway, going to their lockers. Jenna and Janet were about to head for their lockers as well when the two spotted Steve Harrington stuffing a piece of paper inside a locker that was definitely not his.

"Well, well, well, it's the one and only Steve Harrington," Janet announced as they strolled his way, observing his long-sleeved collar shirt that was all tucked in his khaki pants. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, you know, delivering a message to someone," he replied, stuffing the note in between the spaces.

"Is that someone Nancy Wheeler by any chance?" Jenna asked, raising her eyebrows as a grin came upon her face.

"Maybe," he replied, smirking, then leaning against her locker.

Janet huffed a sigh, shaking her head. "Really?"

"What? We've made out a couple of times."

She raised her eyebrows. "Well, I mean, Steve..." Janet's voice varied from its usual cavalier tone, earning a sarcastically arched brow from Steve. "Nancy, of all people? Come on, she's...such a prude!"

"Oh, come on, don't get jealous, Jan," Steve joked.

"Ugh, gag me with a spoon, you ass." She rolled her eyes and walked away from Nancy's locker, followed by Steve and Jenna.

Of course, Janet was not entirely wrong about Nancy Wheeler. In Jenna's opinion, yes, in a way, she was a prude, always dressing up like she was heading for Sunday church. It seemed strange that Steve, a popular guy, would go after Nancy, who was close to the bottom of the social chain here at Hawkins High School. But whatever it was about Nancy that made her so desirable, it caught Steve's attention, but Jenna assumed it wouldn't last long, much like his other hookups.

"Well, enough about me," Steve spoke up as the trio approached Jenna's locker. "Let's talk about how Jenna hooked up with Craig Bennett last night."

Janet raised her eyebrows at her, clearly intrigued. "Craig Bennett, huh?"

Jenna scoffed in response, opening her locker. "Oh, please, we just went where Cornwallis and Kerley met and made out for a bit. How do you even know about that, Steve?"

"Because he was bragging about it with the basketball team, that's why," he replied.

"So how was it?" Janet asked. "I'm curious now."

Jenna let out a small laugh, getting some of her books from her knapsack out. "It was good. Really good, actually. But we were interrupted by someone."

"Who interrupted what?" Carol Perkins, another friend of Jenna's, asked when her and Tommy Hagan approached the three. Tommy H was also Carol's boyfriend and in their friend group.

"Someone interrupted Jenna's make out session with Craig Bennett last night," Steve explained to them.

"Don't sound so jealous, Steve. You have Nancy, remember?" Jenna retorted, raising her eyebrows at him.

Carol gasped. "Wait, back up. You and Craig Bennett?"

Jenna grinned, placing some books in her locker. "You guys are making such a big deal out of this."

"Because Craig is a douchebag," Tommy H stated.

Jenna rolled her eyes, closing her locker, when she spotted Craig walking their way, making her smile. "Speaking of Craig..."

"Hey there," he said, smiling back.

"Hey to you, too," she replied.

"How about we give these love birds some privacy?" Carol suggested, grinning at the others.

Steve rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I gotta go, anyway."

"For your make out session?" Janet retorted, smirking his way.

And so the four of them bid Jenna goodbye as they strolled away from her, leaving Craig and Jenna alone.

"So..." he started.

"So I really enjoyed last night," she said.

"I did as well. I just wished that we weren't cut short by..." Craig trailed off, looking over her shoulder. His expression turned from happiness to anger. Jenna turned around to see Carter at his locker, his head almost inside it.

"Hey, emo!" Craig shouted, causing everyone to look at them. When Carter didn't respond or look their way, Craig stormed over to him, followed by Jenna. "I'm talking to you!" he shouted again, shoving him. "I think you owe us an apology."

"Excuse me?" he spoke up, furrowing his eyebrows at Craig.

"For spying on us, you weirdo," she spat out.

"I wasn't spying on you two," he protested. "I was just taking a walk."

"At eight o'clock at night? Where did you even go, anyway? Were you trying to find a place to go cut yourself?" she retorted, making Craig snort.

He rolled his eyes. "Just leave me alone."

"Or what?" Jenna inquired, getting in his face. "What are you gonna do?"

Carter shifted uncomfortably. "Get out of my face, Howard."

"Make me, freak," she snapped, glaring at him. "When are you gonna roll up your sleeves for everyone to see? We all want to see the scars you've made."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Carter retorted.

Jenna balled up her fists, feeling the anger building up inside of her. She wanted to punch him so badly, have him feel her wrath. But that went away when Carter's locker slammed shut by itself, causing all three of them to jump back.

"What the hell was that shit?" Craig questioned in annoyance.

"Does it look like we know?" she retorted. "Come on, let's get to class, Craig." Jenna shot daggers towards Carter.

Craig glared at Carter as well. "Watch your back, cutter. Got it?" With that, Craig grabbed Jenna's hand and led her down the hall. "Aren't you glad that we're not freaks like Carter Page? Because I am."

Jenna let out a laugh. "I can sure as hell agree with that."

*******

Carter didn't even make eye contact with Jenna or Craig whenever he passed the two in the halls. She thought about how both her and Craig got in his face, how they taunted him in front of everyone. To her, it felt good, knowing that they had power over people like Carter, that no one was able to mess with them, no matter how hard they tried.

But by the time Jenna got to my last class of the day, she didn't feel so good. Instead, she felt like shit, complete shit. Her head was pounding like crazy and she felt my hearing fading in and out, sounding like echoes in her ears. She did her best to pay attention in class, but the pain kept getting worse.

All of a sudden, the bell rang, piercing her ears. As everyone quickly got their stuff and left the classroom, Jenna went at a slower pace, feeling nauseated as she stood up. Once she left the classroom, she found Steve and Janet leaning against the wall, their books in their hands.

"You guys didn't have to wait for me," she told them, heading for her locker.

"Well, considering the fact that you've been acting funny ever since lunch..." Janet replied. "I told Carol the meatloaf looked and smelled a bit funky today."

"And I'm only here because Jan told me to wait," Steve added.

"Aw, and here I thought you actually cared about me for once," Jenna said in a sarcastic tone. "I'm really feeling the love coming from you, Harrington." Once she reached her locker, she opened it and placed some of her books in there and stuffed the rest in her knapsack. "Just so you know, Janet, I don't think it was the meatloaf."

"Really? Because one whiff of that shit and I was ready to hurl all over Nancy," she stated.

Jenna snorted in response. "I would've loved to see that..."

Steve rolled his eyes and scoffed at us. "You two are so immature."

"Oh, and you're not?" Janet retorted.

She closed my locker and huffed a sigh. "Bye, you losers. I'm going home and sleeping off this headache."

"Need a ride home?" Janet asked.

"You don't even have a car," Steve pointed out.

"No, but you do," she said. "Speaking of that, can you give me a ride home?"

Steve rolled his eyes once again. "I always give you a ride home." He turned his head towards me. "Jenna, you coming?"

She shook her head. "I'm good. I think walking will help with my head." With that, she bid her friends goodbye and walked off, heading for the exit of the school.

By the time Jenna was outside, she spotted Carter again, who was walking towards the parking lot. She was so tempted to go and bother him again, but she didn't have the energy to make her way towards him.

Once Jenna was off school grounds, she began to slow down her walking pace. It was then she felt a pit at the bottom of her stomach, like something was just off. She quickly looked around, hoping that no one was following her. After scanning her surroundings, Jenna went back to walking, now getting to her house as fast as she could. She ran up her front porch and hurriedly unlocked the front door, getting inside the house and slamming the door behind her, followed by locking it.

Jenna huffed a sigh and headed for the kitchen, deciding to make some tea, hoping it would help with the headache. She put some water in the pot and turned on the stove, letting the water heat up for a bit. She sat down at the table and rubbed her temples, annoyed. Her hearing began to fade out once more, everything sounding like an echo.

What the hell was with this headache? They never got this bad before.

Jenna was getting more frustrated by how severe her headache was getting. She shut her eyes real tight, even though she knew it wasn't going to help at all. All of a sudden, a shrieking sound began to get louder and louder. That was when Jenna opened her eyes and realized that the water was done boiling. She shot up from the chair and turned the stove off, the noise dying down. She grabbed a tea bag and a mug and placed that bag inside, pouring the hot water in there from the pot. She put the pot back on the stove and took her mug, sitting back down at the table. As Jenna was about to drink her tea, a drop of something red fell in the drink. Then, more of it came down. She placed my finger to her face and noticed that her nose was bleeding.

"Shit," she mumbled, getting a napkin and wiping her nose.

Her nosebleeds were not uncommon. For as long as Jenna could remember, she always had them at the most random times. Dorothy took Jenna to the doctor numerous times for them, but even they couldn't figure out why Jenna had them so much.

Knock, knock, knock.

She got up once again from her chair, opening the front door. She raised her eyebrows in surprise when she saw who it was standing there. "Craig. What are you doing here?"

"I tried looking for you after school," he replied, furrowing his eyebrows. "Are you bleeding?"

Jenna looked at the bloody napkin and quickly wiped the rest of her nose, tucking the napkin in her pocket. "Sorry, it was just my nose. It happens sometimes. Again, what are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out," he said.

Jenna sighed. "I'm sorry, but I don't really feel too good," she said truthfully. "I have this headache and--"

"Oh, come on. A little ride in my car could do you some good." Craig grabbed her hands and pulled her outside. "Let's go."

"Uh, well, let me get my keys first," she said, going back inside and getting my keys. She walked back out, closing the front door and locking it. Jenna went with Craig to his car and hopped in. Craig got in the driver's seat and took off, that nausea feeling coming back to her. "Look, slow down, okay? I really don't feel all that great."

He shot her a concerned look and eased off the gas pedal. "Sorry. It was the meatloaf at lunch today, wasn't it? I think our school is trying to poison us with the food."

"It wasn't the meatloaf," she assured him. "I don't know what it is. It just came to me all of a sudden."

"Well, maybe some music will help," he suggested, turning on the radio. The Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go" came on, which made Craig put on a disgusted noise. "Hell no. I'm changing this." He began to change the station.

"I like that song," Jenna said.

"I don't," he retorted as he left the station on a band that she didn't recognize. "I've heard Jonathan Byers listen to it sometimes."

"How do you know that?"

Craig let out a chuckle. "It was what I heard when I ripped the damn headphones off of him."

Jenna rolled her eyes and looked at the radio. Suddenly, the station switched back to the Clash, which made the two of them jump a little. "What the hell?" she muttered.

Craig gave me a funny look. "Did you change it back?" he questioned, changing the station again.

"No. I didn't even touch it."

All of a sudden, the radio went back to the Clash again.

"What the hell is this shit doing?!" Craig yelled in anger. When he tried to change it for the third time, a static noise erupted. It was so loud that Jenna had to cover her ears. She could see Craig screaming from the noise, which made him slam on brakes.

Her instincts told her to get out of the car, so she did, followed by Craig. The static noise still rang in her ears as she felt more blood run down from her nose.

"Jenna? Jenna!" Craig shouted at me. "Jenna, are you okay?"

She responded by fainting on the street.

*******

"Jenna? Jenna, can you hear me?"

She groaned, resisting the urge to open up her eyes. "Hello?" she croaked.

"Jenna!" She recognized the voice as Craig, feeling him help her sit up in the back seat of his car. "Can you open your eyes for me?"

Reluctantly, Jenna fluttered her eyes open, her vision a bit blurry, which was adjusted pretty quickly. She saw the look of relief coming over Craig's face, clearing her throat before speaking. "How long have I been out?" she asked.

"Just for a few minutes," he replied.

"Where are we?"

"Your driveway," he answered. "I took you back here after you fainted."

Jenna sighed. "I'm sorry, Craig. I...I don't know what happened, I--"

"You don't need to apologize," he assured her. "Do you want me to take you inside your house?"

Jenna nodded her head and let him lead her out of the car and towards the house. She managed to grab her keys from her pocket and unlock the door, entering inside, with Craig closing the door behind us. He took Jenna's hand and led her upstairs and to her bedroom. She let out another groan as she sat on the bed.

"Thank you, Craig. This is so embarrassing."

"It's okay, Jenna," he said, sitting down beside her. "Are you okay? I mean, after what happened--"

"I'm fine," she quickly said. "Really, I'm fine."

Craig nodded his head. "Okay. Do you want me to stay?"

"Yeah, that would be nice." Jenna stood up and looked into the mirror, noticing the dried-up blood still on her face. She went to the bathroom across the hall and took a washcloth, wetting it with water and then wiping the blood off. Once that was done, she placed the washcloth back over the faucet and headed for her bedroom again. Huffing a sigh, she plopped down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling, trying to figure out why she fainted in the first place.

"Thanks for not leaving me there," she told Craig.

He laid down next to her. "You're welcome. I wasn't going to do that to you."

She turned on her side and grinned at him. "You can have any girl you want at school, but you chose me. Why is that?"

"Jenna, I think we went over this already," he said.

"No, you just said I was cool and hot," she pointed out. "Seriously, what else is there about me that you like?"

Craig sighed and turned on his side, facing Jenna. "Well, you're not like the other girls at Hawkins High."

She snorted. "That is such a cliché answer, Craig."

"But it's true," he replied, smiling a bit. "You're different from those snooty cheerleaders."

She grinned at his last comment. "Well, at least I'm a step up from them."

Craig grinned back. "You're also not afraid to speak your mind and you don't take anyone's crap."

Jenna nodded her head. "Yeah, I like to think I can stand my own ground."

"See? You're different from the other girls."

She sat up and looked down at Craig. "So...what are we?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, sitting up as well.

"I mean, are we a thing or...?"

Craig smiled a bit and gave her a peck on the lips. "We can be whatever you want to be." He took her hands, looking down at them with a puzzled look on his face. "What's this on your arm?"

"What?" she asked, looking down with him.

"Right here." He pointed at her left forearm at her scar.

"Oh," she said, laughing nervously as she covered it up with the other hand. "Yeah, I don't really remember how it got there. My mom told me when I was little I burned it on the stove."

"So you've had that all your life?" he questioned.

"Pretty much."

"Can I see it again?"

Jenna uncovered it and let Craig take another look at it. He ran his fingers along the scar, tracing it slowly. He then leaned down and kissed right above it, making his way up her arm. Jenna felt her heartbeat grow stronger by the time he got to her neck. That was when she pushed his face towards her and kissed him fully on the mouth. Craig responded by grabbing her face with his hands and kissing her back, letting Jenna pin him down on the bed. She sat up, grinning as she straddled him.

"Getting a bit excited, are we?" Craig asked with a smirk.

Jenna smirked back down at him. "Are you getting excited?"

"Maybe," he replied. "You wanna kiss me again?"

"Hell yeah, I do," she answered, leaning down to kiss him once more. Things were beginning to pick up when she felt a sharp pain on the back of her head. She immediately pulled away and sat back up. "Shit," she mumbled.

"You okay?" Craig questioned.

She nodded her head in response. "Yeah, I think so," she said as the pain died down.

"Well, then, let's continue, shall we?" Craig attempted to pull her down for another kiss.

After another brief moment, Jenna broke the kiss again, feeling the same pain again. "Sorry, but my head..."

"Look, Jenna, all you need is a distraction..." he told her, trying to unbutton her pants.

"No, Craig." She shoved his hands away and got off of him, sitting down on the bed again.

Craig huffed a sigh in annoyance. "You know what, maybe I should just go." He began to get up from the bed.

Jenna tried to stop him from leaving, standing up and attempting to grab his arm. "Wait--"

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" With that, he left her bedroom, the sound of his footsteps and then him opening and closing my front door coming and going.

Jenna couldn't help but roll her eyes in frustration as she plopped back down on her bed, looking up at the ceiling like before. "What the hell is wrong with me?" she asked herself before drifting off to sleep.

*******

What seemed like a long time was only a few hours when Jenna woke up. She got up from the bed and turned on the light, already figuring out that it was nighttime. She could hear the sound of the rain hitting on the roof, with the occasional thunder rumbling every now and then. Jenna rubbed her head, realizing that the headache was gone, which was a relief. She was about to go and get ready for a shower when she heard the front door opening.

Jenna froze in place. The door had been unlocked ever since Craig left.

Shit. Some stranger is entering my house.

"Jenna, how many times have I told you to not leave the front door unlocked when you're home alone?" the familiar voice of her mother called out.

Jenna let out a sigh of relief. "Sorry!" she yelled back, deciding to head downstairs to see her. When she got down to the kitchen, her mom was placing her bag and keys on the counter, letting out a long sigh. "Rough shift?"

She shook her head. "No, just long, like always." She looked at the clock above the sink. "It doesn't feel like nine o'clock."

Jenna sighed and sat down at the table. "No, it doesn't."

Dorothy went and sat down across from her daughter. "I have to tell you something, Jenna."

"Sure, what is it?" Jenna could tell she was being serious with her now.

"You know Joyce Byers, who works with me, right? She has a son your age. Jonathan."

Jenna nodded her head. "Yeah, I know them. They're kind of a weird family, don't you think?"

"Jenna, that's not important right now," she replied. "Anyway, Joyce has a younger son. His name is Will."

"Is he weird, too?"

"Jenna!"

"Mom, I was just asking!"

"Listen, I'm trying to tell you something, Jenna, and it's important," her mom said firmly.

Jenna nodded her head. "Okay, I'm sorry. You can continue."

"Thank you." Dorothy paused for a brief moment, taking a deep breath before continuing. "So, Joyce's son, Will, has been missing since last night."

Jenna widened her eyes in shock. "What? Did he just disappear from his house?"

"Well, that's the thing. He never came home," her mom explained. "I overheard Donald and Jeffery talking about it at work today." She sighed again. "Did you or Craig see him at all last night? I mean, maybe he could've ridden past you two on his bike or something."

"No, neither of us saw him," Jenna told her, remembering back from last night. She then thought about Carter hitting Craig's car. Unless it wasn't Carter...

"Okay, well, I want you to be careful if you go out," she said. "To be honest, I shouldn't even let you go out until Will is found..."

"Mom, I'll be more careful," Jenna assured her. "I promise."

Dorothy gave her a soft smile and nodded her head. "Okay. I'm going to go to bed. Goodnight." She stood up and grabbed her things from the counter, then came over to Jenna and placed a kiss on her head before heading upstairs.

"Goodnight!" Jenna called out to her, slouching in the chair.

She thought about Will Byers, knowing that his disappearance would be the talk of the town and also the start of potential chaos if he wasn't found as soon as possible. And the last thing Hawkins needed was something like this to interrupt the quiet town.

~~~~~~~

A/N: Ayeee, chapter two!

Comment, vote, stay tuned for more!

-A