FIXATION

SIXTEEN

SIXTEEN: SECRETS
november 7th, 1984

The first thing she hears in the morning is ringing.

At first Rosalie thinks it's coming from her head, but when she lifts the pillow from off her ears she realize it's been coming from the telephone. She groans, rolling over in her bed until her hand stretches out to pick the loud phone up, "hello?!" She groan into the receiver.

"Rose, do you know what time it is?"

It's Steve's voice that causes her dream to ricochet through her mind. The skim of his tongue, the heat of his breath on her skin, his name rolling off the top of her tongue. She had a sex dream about Steve last night.

"Steve, what are you.."—

"Why do you sound so weird?" He doesn't give her time to answer, "are you sick or something? You better not be sick. Look, just crawl your ass out of bed, if I have to suffer through school today you're coming with me."

School. How could she forget about school? After yesterday's events she hadn't even considered the possibility of going to school much less know what time it was. Her eyes finally look across the room at her digital clock. It was nine o'clock, meaning she was late for school. "Shit, I slept in, I'll just come for third period before lunch.. I still have time, why are you blowing up my phone?"

"I was worried this might happen. Clearly you've suffering from brain damage after"—

"Um, rude"—

Steve continues to talk over her, in order to prove his point, "after yesterday otherwise you would know that today is daylight savings so it's actually eight o'clock meaning you have enough time to shower before I'm coming over to pick you up."

Rosalie stares at the ceiling for a while. Maybe she was suffering from brain damage. Yesterday had changed her, in what ways she wasn't sure, but she could feel it in her bones that something was different. For whatever reason - the exhaustion or remnants of her dream replaying in her head - she didn't want to argue this time and so she exhaled, blowing a loose strand from her face, "fine."

"See you soon," there's a click and then she's left with her thoughts. Her eyes close, exhaling all the anxious energy that was pent up in the way she held her shoulders up. As her muscles loosens she allows her brain to think back to yesterday. Barb. Dustin. Billy. Dart. Hopper. The kids. Tunnels. The Junk yard. Stitches. Joyce. Eleven. Dogs. Steve. The basement. Steve..!

She sits up and jumps out of the bed. It feels as if her hair sparks to flames when she realized that her dream wasn't truly a dream at all. It was a reality meaning she hooked up with Steve Harrington! The basement replays in her head, despite her wishes. She remembers the movement of Steve's lips against her skin when he spoke to her, his words coming much later. Her mind was trying to decipher which of the blurred images were true and in her dreams. "Oh my god..!" She hisses, shocked by the realization. Her hand covers her mouth as she gaps, letting her mind replay the previous night's events. Steve's hands ghosting her body, pulling at her clothes and gripping her hips. His lips. His hair. His bite. The way he whispered her name.

Now Rosalie's hands ghost over her neck before she races over to her dresser and looks in the mirror. Her jaw drops, astonished. At first glance her neck looks like she's been beaten senseless. Dark marks pepper from the left side and travel across her throat to the right side. The darkest mark lies in the crook of her neck, a dark purple bruise that seems to be laughing at her. There's pink small circles under her jaw, three on the base of her jaw. There's a long red line on her collarbone that almost looks like a bite mark. The marks take her breath away. Her skin feels hot. Her mouth turns dry. She can feel her palms getting sweaty as her heart beat increases in speed. Rational thinking is no longer an option because she still has to figure out exactly how to cover them up. Which is why she didn't think twice before screaming, "fuck...!" As if she were home alone, not a floor above her helicopter mom.