.｡❅*⋆⍋*∞*｡*∞*⍋⋆*❅｡

"That's what shame does. It makes
him think he deserves it. The wards are
full of men who think they deserve it."
~Jill Baxter, It's A Sin
.｡❅*⋆⍋*∞*｡*∞*⍋⋆*❅｡

Otis Henderson put away the newspaper with a deep sigh. He took off his reading glasses and took a large gulp of his black coffee. "It's a good thing we left New York. That gay flue is spreading there." Judith carefully picked up the newspaper and read the article. "Those poor people," She whispered.

"I think your father's doctor might be one of those...." Otis trailed off and gestured towards the newspaper in Judith's hands. "We should get him a new doctor," Otis added. Judith pursed her lips and nodded slowly. "Yes, I'll call the hospital today." She folded the newspaper and put it down.

Floyd peered up from his comic, to his parents and finally to the newspaper. He shifted in his seat once. Twice. Thrice. He got up and put down the comic.

Otis turned his head to watch his son head for the door. "Where are you going?" Floyd hesitated and turned around. "Uhm, my friends and I are going to play some DnD," He lied. Otis grunted in response. "Okay, be back by curfew."

"Bye, Dad."

The door shut and Floyd started running. Not in a particular direction. He just needed to get away.

⊶⊷⊶⊷❍⊶⊷⊶⊷

The small bell chimed as someone entered the Sizzling Griddle. Scarlett dropped off a milkshake at the table with an elderly woman, before she rushed to the counter, where the new customer had taken a seat.

"Hello, welcome to...." She trailed off as she saw who it was. "Hi, Steve," Scarlett said with an eye roll. Steve grinned. "That's not how you're supposed to treat your customers." He grinned at her and Scarlett laughed and rolled her eyes before leaning on the counter. "What can I get you?" Steve shrugged. "I never come here, what would you suggest?"

Scarlett peeked at the menu card. "One brainy swirl coming up." The teen turned back and started making the beverage. Steve meanwhile played with the brown ashtray, before dropping it. He mumbled an apology before diving after it. Scarlett chuckled and set the tall milkshake glass before Steve.

The drink itself had a bright blue colour and was topped by various swirls of whipped cream with sprinkles. Steve raised his eyebrows at the drink. "What is this? Did a rainbow puke?" He laughed, slowly turning the glass around. Scarlett giggled. "It's good. I'm pretty sure you'll love it."

Steve hesitantly brought the neon red straw to his lips and started sucking. His eyes widened and he looked at Scarlett in shock. Scarlett in turn smiled and spread her arms.

⊶⊷⊶⊷❍⊶⊷⊶⊷

All friends welcome
Home of Will The Wise
Castle Byers

"Oh, hey Floyd," Will said as he saw Floyd crawl into the wooden fortress. "Hey, Will," Floyd mumbled. The brunet boy took a seat on a faded blue pillow.

Will reached over to a small box and pulled out some uno cards. "Let's play uno." Will started shuffling and Floyd smiled a bit and sat up, crawling closer to Floyd. "Thanks," Floyd whispered. Will shrugged dismissively before telling Floyd he could start.

⊶⊷⊶⊷❍⊶⊷⊶⊷

The door of Blake's door slammed open, revealing Gabriel in the doorway, rubber gloves covered his hands.

'What the fuck?" Blake exclaimed, jumping up from her bed. "Stay there!" Gabriel fumed, jabbing a finger in the direction of the redhead girl. Blake usually did the opposite of what her parents told her, but that one time she did what Gabriel Perkins said.

Gabriel tossed a black trash bag into Blake's room. "I want you out. Grab your stuff and leave this house."

Blake stared at the man she was supposed to call father for a few seconds. Her voice died in her throat before she could speak. Thus, she quickly started collecting her stuff and stuffing it into various bags she owned and the plastic trash bag.

Exactly twenty minutes later, Blake Perkins picked up all her stuff and beelined for the stairs.

"Blake." Said girl turned to find Carol leaning against the creme wall. A few seconds of silence passed as neither sister spoke. "What is it?" Blake snapped. Carol's demeanour changed immediately and she crossed her arms. "Just get out of here and don't give me that gay cancer."

Not needing to hear it twice, Blake stormed past Carol. Carol turned and watched the door slam behind Blake. Carol took a deep breath before turning on her heel and returning to her room.

⊶⊷⊶⊷❍⊶⊷⊶⊷

Scarlett untied her black apron and brushed off her pink uniform dress. She said a quick goodbye to her boss as she grabbed her handbag. Steve got up from his barstool.

The two teens walked out of the diner and got into Steve's car. "Hey, thanks again for offering to drive me," Scarlett said as she buckled her seatbelt. "Don't mention it," Steve replied, driving out of the parking lot.

"Well, spending most of your day in a terrible diner, doesn't seem like a good birthday."

At Scarlett's words, Steve glanced at her. "It's better than my last birthday."

Scarlett's eyes softened and she rubbed his shoulder. "Well, eighteen is a special age so we're going to make it a good one." Scarlett beamed as she spoke and Steve frowned at her. "What?" He asked. Scarlett just smiled mischievously, making Steve repeat his question two more times before answering. "Just drive to your house."

Steve gave the brunette a few side glances before turning his steering wheel and making a u-turn.

It was quite odd, Scarlett and Steve had developed a friendship since Halloween. At first they thought it was because of their mutual connection, Nancy, but after Steve and Nancy had broken up, his friendship with Scarlett had remained. The popular jock and the quiet artist

⊶⊷⊶⊷❍⊶⊷⊶⊷

"What do you think kissing a girl would be like?" Floyd blurted out. Will, who had been toying with a demogorgon figurine, looked up. "Huh?"

Floyd fixed his eyesight on a small glass prism that dangled from the roof, the prism caught and curved some sunlight. A faint rainbow covered Floyd and Will's faces. "What do you think kissing a girl is like?" Floyd asked again, sitting up, making the rainbow on his face vanish.

"I don't know..." Will trailed off. He turned his head to look at Floyd. "I've never kissed one."

Floyd laid back down, lacing his fingers together under his head. "Me neither..." A short silence fell before Floyd continued talking. "I'm sure it feels amazing." He extended his hand, wriggling his fingers to allow the rainbow light to pass between his fingers.

"Yeah, Jonathan said his first kiss was great," Will added quickly, as he rolled over onto his stomach. Eyes drifting away from Floyd to the demogorgon figurine.

⊶⊷⊶⊷❍⊶⊷⊶⊷

Two sharp knocks against the car window, startled Blake. The redhead lifted her head from her steering wheel and peered out of the window. Her breath hitched lightly as she saw a teen girl her age. The girl had long dirty blond which had been braided messily, and wore an oversized flannel shirt.

Blake quickly rolled down her window. "Hi, Buckley."

Robin smiled. "Hey, Perkins. Are you doing okay?" She asked. Blake recoiled slightly and nodded quickly. "Yes, yes, why?"

Robin's lips pulled up a little. "Your puffy eyes and the red blotches on your skin say otherwise. So, tell me what happened." The dirty blonde leaned her elbows on the car door. Blake's mouth fell open for a few seconds, no words left her mouth. Slowly the redhead pursed her lips before she started to answer. "My parents kicked me out."

Just like that, Robin's gaze softened. There was no need for any further explanation. Robin knew why Blake's parents had kicked their daughter out, and she could also guess what had been the final straw for Blake's parents. That morning, Robin's parents had read the newspaper and Robin could remember one headline that caught her eye.

With new found determination to cheer Blake up, Robin skipped around the car and hopped into the passengers seat. Blake raised her eyebrows as she turned in her seat to look at Robin. Robin slapped the dashboard. "Go on. Start driving butthead."

"Where? And why?"

"I'm taking you to a concert."

⊶⊷⊶⊷❍⊶⊷⊶⊷

Steve yelped as his shoulder bumped into a doorway. Scarlett grimaced and whispered a quick sorry as she continued to lead him through his house. Steve groaned and tried to pry Scarlett's fingers away in vain. "Patience young Padawan," Scarlett sang, making Steve sigh deeply. "Are you ever going to stop with those stupid movie references?"

Within a second Scarlett's fingers jabbed into Steve's ribs. "AU! What was that for?!?" He whipped around and glared down at Scarlett. "Star Wars isn't stupid." Steve rolled his eyes. "Whatever... now, why were you acting like a crazy lady?" Steve asked. The girl only pointed behind Steve, making him turn around.

The regular brown sectional sofa was covered in a few blankets. On the coffee table there were three VHS tapes, some sweets and a bowl of popcorn. Steve's mouth opened at the sight, his voice died in his throat. What the average person didn't know, was that this was Steve's dream. A dream he had confessed over one too many drinks and cigarettes on a rooftop at three in the morning.

"Happy birthday!" Scarlett exclaimed, a wide grin on her face as she danced on the balls of her feet. Steve frowned. "How did you....." He trailed off. Scarlett walked past him and hopped onto the couch, already cocooning into some blankets and pillows. "I may have borrowed your spare key that you keep by your front door."

A laugh left Steve's lips as he sat down. "So, what are we watching?" He carelessly threw some popcorn in his mouth and looked over to Scarlett, who had just put on the movie. "Use the force to find out."

"That's a stupid movie reference isn't it?"

Scarlett just gave him that side smirk of hers where her eyes glinted mischievously. Steve groaned and hugged a pillow. "Do I have to read this text?" He questioned, most of his words were muffled by his pillow however. "You don't have to, it just gives a bit of backstory."

⊶⊷⊶⊷❍⊶⊷⊶⊷

The credits rolled and Scarlett peeked over to Steve, who was staring at the tv with an open mouth. "So, what did you think?"

Steve turned and blinked a few times before raising a hand in the direction of the tv. "Why didn't you make me watch these sooner?!?" Scarlett started giggling at Steve's words. "I don't know, Steve. Some people just won't be told." Scarlett rolled onto her stomach, her chin resting on her folded hands. Steve's eyes narrowed and before Scarlett could react, a floral pillow smacked into her face.

"Hey!" Scarlett retaliated, throwing her own pillow at Steve. "Watch the hair!" Steve screamed back. Scarlett's glasses fell from her face and Steve's hair became ruffled.

Laughter filled the room as pillows were thrown around. It was truly a sight to behold, there was Scarlett who was defending herself, her brown curls were frizzy and messy and her dress was very crinkled. Then there was Steve, his hair a bird's nest, his shirt had rode up and he sat on his knees while pressing a pillow to Scarlett's face.

"Okay, okay, I give up!" Scarlett cackled, prompting Steve to pull back his pillow. "I win!" He cheered, pumping his fists into the air. With an eye roll, Scarlett leaned over the edge of the couch, blindly searching for her glasses.

Nothing.

Nothing.

She furrowed her brow and leaned further, her legs were still on the couch but the rest of her body was dangling off of the edge. Steve halted mid cheer to look back at Scarlett. His lips tugged up and he shook his head before reaching out. "You have to be careful or you're going to fall of one day," He mused, while taking hold of Scarlett's waist. The girl finally grabbed her glasses and started to push herself up with the help of Steve.

"Thanks."

Steve winked at her and quickly brushed some stray curls away from her face. "You're welcome." The moment faded and they quickly pulled away before they could do anything else.

a/n:
okay so like the summer murder mystery was nice,
but i didn't have any motivation for that, so here you have some
hawkins based adventures. i hope you'll enjoy them!
also, yes, i will be talking about the aids crises in this book,
my research comes from shows, news and my dad who was
a teacher at the time. if you have some good info or ideas on
how to incorporate this in this book, be sure to let me know!
alsoo, if anyone has any chapter ideas in general let me know!

scarlett's uniform ^

funny post

date published: 6 july 2021
word count: 2171