CONTENT WARNING: This chapter contains mentions of abuse.

Jenna's head was hurting by the time she and Janet arrived at Melvald's the next morning. She had on sunglasses to avoid the sun hitting her eyes. She let out a groan as she parked the car and got out, dragging herself to the entrance of the store.

"You really partied hard last night, dudette," Janet commented as they walked inside.

"Yeah, now I look and feel like shit," Jenna replied, though obvious reasons other than the drinking and dancing played a part in how she was this morning. She managed to vomit everything out last night. "I doubt Craig and Tina are feeling the same way after what happened last night."

"So I heard," Janet stated. "Word traveled fast around that house."

"Of course it did," Jenna mumbled, looking around for Carter, only to find him not at the front counter or anywhere else in the store. "Looks like Carter's already out back."

"You go ahead. I'll be out back in a minute." Janet waved her on as she headed towards the bathroom.

Jenna turned around and exited the store, going around back, ready to smoke a cigarette, as she hoped it would ease her nerves before she had to go to school and see Craig and Tina there. But before she made it to the corner, she heard mumbling back and forth between two people, which made her stop walking so that she could listen better, despite it being the wrong thing to do.

"Where were you last night?" Carter asked.

"I had to go trick-or-treating with Will," Jonathan Byers answered, which Jenna knew was a lie since she saw him at the party last night.

Carter let out a scoff. "Bullshit. I know you went to that Halloween party. You just couldn't resist going, huh?"

Jonathan huffed a sigh. "Okay, so I went to check it out for a few minutes."

"Right, knowing that we had plans," Carter retorted.

"Look, I was about to leave when I found Nancy wasted. Steve had already left, so I took her home."

"What a gentleman you are," Cater muttered in a bitter tone.

"I was gonna call you when I got home," Jonathan told him. "I'm sorry, Carter. I really am."

There was a short pause, then Carter continued. "But are you really sorry, Jonathan? I mean, what outcast wouldn't want to go to a high school party and be fucking normal for once?"

"Well, maybe if you got out more besides coming to work, then people might not think you're some freak, too," Jonathan snapped.

"Okay, you know what? I'm not what they call me. 'Carter the Cutter.' That's all I've been known for and it's wrong. It's so fucking wrong." Carter paused again, inhaling a shaky breath, before he kept going. "You wanna know the real reason I wear sleeves all the time? Why it looks like I'm a beat-up piece of shit all the time? It's because I am. My dad's a fucking psycho. He stays home, drinks all day, and then finds excuses to beat his own son. You know how fucked up that is? I lived that life. I hated going home. So instead, I started spending time with you, because you're the only person who doesn't treat me like the fucked-up freak that I am. I like spending time with you, because...because...because I like you, Jonathan."

Jenna's eyes went wide at his words, along with her mouth dropping in shock. She didn't expect him to say those things. While she knew about what his dad had done to him before going to live with Chief Hopper, his feelings for Jonathan was something that she had no idea about. Then again, she knew he still had a hard time trusting me, and she didn't blame him for it, given how she treated him over the years. Their daily morning smoke sessions weren't enough for him to tell her everything that was on his mind.

"Carter..." Jonathan began to say, trailing off. "Carter, I--"

"Just go," Carter cut him off. "Please."

Before Jenna knew it, Jonathan was coming around the corner, locking eyes with her as he walked by, looking startled to see me standing there. She was wondering how he felt about Carter's confession as he quickly hurried off, though she knew that she couldn't ask him. Jenna went around to see Carter leaned against the wall with a cigarette in his mouth, getting ready to light it.

Groaning, he rolled his eyes. "How much of that did you hear?" he questioned.

"All of it," she confessed, giving him a sad look as she took off her sunglasses. "Listen, I know we're not exactly close, but if you want to talk about it--"

"You're right. We're not close." Digging into his pocket, he took out the carton of cigarettes and threw them her way. "There's two left. Dana's not here, by the way."

She caught the carton swiftly, the expression on her face turning confused. "Where is she?"

He shrugged. "No idea. Probably at Eddie's trailer."

"And Hopper didn't think to check--"

"No, he didn't," Carter snapped. "Look, Hopper's got other shit to worry about, and Dana can take care of herself." He paused, huffing an annoyed sigh. "I don't have time to hear you bitching today, Howard. Just leave me alone."

Not wanting to try to talk with him anymore, Jenna turned around and put her sunglasses back on as she headed back around to the front of the store, running into Janet.

"Smoke session canceled today?" she asked, almost in a joking manner.

"We can get one cigarette in before first period," she said, holding up the carton.

"I'll never understand how you can smoke one right before gym class."

"Because I'm used to it by now," she replied as they headed back to the car.

She didn't say anything else about it as she opened the car door, changing the subject. "Anyway, what's Page's deal today? It doesn't have anything to do with Byers storming away just now, does it?"

Jenna was quiet for a moment, then shook her head. "No. Carter's just in a shitty mood this morning."

Janet scoffed. "When is he not in a shitty mood?" Pausing, she turned her head towards the back seat, furrowing her brows. "Where's Dana?"

"Not here. She's ditching, I guess."

She chuckled. "With Eddie, I'm sure."

Jenna shook her head and laughed a little as she started the car, driving out of the parking lot and down the street.

They didn't say a word on the way to school, listening to the radio the entire time. When Jenna pulled into the school parking lot, she turned off the car and got out, along with Janet, both of them leaning against the doors.

"So what else happened after I left the party?" Jenna questioned, handing her one of the cigarettes in the carton.

"You mean, when you and Steve left me at the party?" Janet corrected her, taking the cigarette and a lighter from her pocket. "Honestly, nothing much. But I had to get a ride from that new guy. Billy's his name, I think."

Jenna rolled her eyes in response, letting Janet light the cigarette. "I probably would've just walked home if he was my only choice for a ride home."

"If I didn't live on the other side of town, I would have," she stated, smoke coming from the end of her cigarette as she gripped the lighter in her hand. "But it was Steve's fault. One minute, he and Nancy were arguing over some drink, then he was rushing to get out of the house the next time I saw him."

Nodding her head, Jenna blew out some smoke. "Yeah, they got into a fight. It sounded pretty bad from what Steve told me."

Janet was silent for a moment, then continued. "Well, he's still gonna hear it from me. A bad fight with his girlfriend isn't a good reason for leaving his friend behind." She looked over at Jenna, her expression turning soft. "Speaking of fights, I meant to ask how you're doing with your breakup."

Jenna shrugged, trying to finish up what was left of her cigarette. "I don't know. I just wish it hadn't gone down the way it did." She wanted it to be a relief now that it was over for good. And now, she was going to have to walk in the school and see Craig and Tina being the happy couple that they so deeply wanted for the last few months.

"At least it's over," Janet told her. "Maybe you'll eventually feel relieved that you're not with that asshole anymore."

Jenna nodded her head. "Yeah, I hope so."

Once they finished up the cigarettes, stomping them onto the ground, the girls headed inside the school. Jenna already noticed the way some people were staring at her as she walked by. When Janet bid her goodbye and strolled farther down the hall, she rushed to my locker and hurriedly switched out books, checking to make sure her gym clothes were in her knapsack. Shutting her locker, Jenna took off her sunglasses and was about to start going towards the gym when she spotted Craig entering the school and walking in her direction. She froze in place once he saw her, with his expression blank as he came by, not saying a single word. He didn't even look upset, which bothered her the most about seeing him.

Inhaling sharply, Jenna just about ran to the gym and went straight for the locker room, where other girls were already changing into their gym clothes.

"So, Tina..." Carol's voice echoed as she came walking through the door with Tina beside her. "Wicked party last night."

"Thanks," she replied, smiling. "I had a lot of fun."

"Oh, I bet you did," Carol commented, smirking. She then turned towards Jenna. "Did you have fun last night, Jenna? I didn't see you with Craig much."

She fought the urge to roll her eyes as she put on her gym shorts, pulling the shirt over her head next. "I'm sure you weren't attached to Tommy the entire night, either," she retorted.

"Yeah, well, at least we're still together," she snapped, and Tina had to contain her laughter.

Putting on her shirt, Jenna stuffed her things in the locker and slammed it shut, heading out to the gym. She folded her arms over her chest and waited for the other girls to come out. When Tina and Carol saw her again, they walked to the other side of the volleyball net that was put up for today's class, snickering as they stared at her.

"Okay, ladies!" the coach announced, gathering the students around her. "I'm gonna split you up into teams for a few matches of volleyball. What I want is to see nice and clean sets from all of you. Got it?"

When everyone nodded their heads, the coach assigned each girl to a team, and Jenna was glad that the woman didn't put her on the same team with Tina and Carol. Fortunately, they sat out of the first rotation, watching the other girls play a set. She couldn't help but turn her head to see if the two of them were still talking about her. Sure enough, it was nothing but chatting and laughing from them, and it only made Jenna even more annoyed.

By the time they were switching out teams, Jenna was hoping this game would go by without any problems. But she should've known things would go wrong very quickly with how every ball that was hit her way by Tina whenever she had the chance. With the running back and forth on the court she was doing, Jenna thought her lungs were about to give out, and a part of the reason was from the cigarette not too long ago. Maybe she needed to think about quitting for good.

Jenna watched as the ball went up in the air on the other team. When it came down for the second time, Tina jumped and spiked the ball right at her, resulting in Jenna getting hit in the face as she took a few steps backwards and fell on her ass. She could hear giggling as she groaned in pain.

"You're supposed to hit the ball, Jenna," Tina commented in a snarky tone.

"I don't need you to tell me how to play the game, Tina," she snapped, standing up and straightening out her shirt and shorts.

"Well, maybe I can tell you how to keep your boyfriend interested in you," she retorted, a smirk coming across her face. "Clearly, you need to work on that."

Her words made Jenna's blood boil as the ball was passed over to her side of the court. She shot a glare Tina's way, keeping her eyes locked on her for a brief moment before the ball was served over the net, watching the ball as it came towards Jenna for the third hit. Jumping as high as she could, Jenna arched her back and swung her hand to spike the ball down hard on Tina. It happened in just a few seconds, but Tina managed to move out of the way before she got smacked in the face, which frustrated Jenna.

"What the hell?" Tina barked her way.

"You're supposed to hit the ball, Tina," she said, mocking her.

"Oh, wow, you're so original," she responded sarcastically, walking towards the net. "No wonder Craig got bored of you."

Jenna raised her eyebrows and stepped closer to her. "What did you just say?"

Tina let out a chuckle. "You heard me," she said. "Or I guess you actually got bored of him, seeing as you and Steve Harrington are pretty close from what Craig told me."

"It's not like that. You don't know shit about me and Steve," Jenna told her. "So how about you shut your mouth before--"

"Before what, Jenna?" she asked, cutting her off. "What are you gonna do?"

"Ladies, that's enough!" our coach shouted.

Jenna kept her eyes focused on Tina as she went back to her spot on the court, already feeling her headache getting worse. Clenching her fists, Jenna took a deep breath as the inside of her body was beginning to get hot, which only meant one thing: She was having an episode. Only this time, with her hangover irritation being added into the mix, she knew this one was going to be bad.

But as her hands began to shake once the palms were open again, Jenna noticed the way Tina was starting to look sick in front of her. She watched as she used her shirt to wipe off her face, which was quickly covered in sweat. She began to pant next, using her hand to fan off her face.

"Hey, Coach?" she called out, her body swaying back and forth. "I think...I think I need to--" Before she could even finish her sentence, she fell to the ground, with Carol, the coach, and the rest of the girls rushing to her aid.

However, Jenna didn't move, and when she felt the blood running out of her nose and onto her shirt, she realized what she was doing to Tina. Inhaling a sharp breath, she tried to let go of all of her anger so that Tina's body temperature could return to a normal level. After a moment of seeing Tina in a panic state, Jenna was finally getting some relief as Tina sat up and drank the water that was given to her by the coach.

"Your temperature's going down, Tina, so that's good," the coach stated. "If it had gotten any higher, you'd be in serious danger."

Serious danger.

In other words, Jenna almost hurt Tina Miller to the point where she could've had a heat stroke. Or worse, she could've died right in the middle of gym class. Either way, it would've been her fault.

Before the coach could even dismiss the rest of the girls early to go to the showers, Jenna was already dashing for the locker room, trying to think about anything else other than the guilt that was growing at the pit of her stomach.

~~~~~~~

A/N: OOP, well, this was an interesting chapter (and one that I managed to write in 24 hours, look at me go).

Sorry that Steve was not in it. This is simply because I decided to split the idea I had into two chapters instead of making it one whole chapter (but I'm adding another Stenna scene in the next chapter to make up for it lol).

Comment, vote, more to come soon!

-A