𝘿𝙤𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝘿𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨- 𝙍𝙤𝙗𝙞𝙣 𝘽𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙭 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧

𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣- 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨

Robin entered school the next day with a certain nerve. The talk with Milton last night had made her feel very small inside, like she was sensing something that was unacceptable in her own body.
Her brain was slowly rejecting her hearts feelings, but at the same time it didn't know why.

Having arrived to school a quarter of an hour early for morning lessons, Robin decided it would be best to refer to Mr Hauser for help with her troubles.

"Morning, sir" She greeted while pushing open the door. "Is it okay if I sit in here until first period?"

Mr Hauser looked up from his paper and lowered his glasses. "Ah, morning Robin, and yes of course."

"Thanks Mr Hauser. You've had a good morning so far?" She asked as she headed towards the nearest desk-chair combination.

"It's been alright, actually, Thank you. Bit rushed, but then again, when is it not in Hawkins high?"

Robin huffed, knowing exactly what he had meant. She was used to the days which seemed extremely rushed but at the same time painstakingly slow. It was quite depressing to think about, actually.

"Are you ok, Robin?" Mr Hauser asked when she didn't respond. Even though he had asked a rhetorical question, his student usually had an answer to the acceptance of someones wellbeing.

"Yeah just a bit tired, I guess."

Robin was, in fact, very tired. Not necessarily physically, but mentally. Last night had bought a lot of new thoughts to the front of her mind. Everyone around her seemed to be either in a relationship, or had previously been in one. Robin however, had never had that experience. She didn't even know if she wanted one, actually. The thought of being romantic with a boy physically disgusted her, and the thought of being with a girl- even more so.

It's not that she didn't support same-sex relationships, of course she did, but it's the stereotypes that surround them. Gay was a sin, and nothing more. That's what the community had taught her. The only people who didn't seem to think badly of it were her parents. They always talked about people in same gender relationships like they were still people, still members of society. But that's them, Robin guessed, free spirits. Never cared much for stereotypes.

The rest of the town however? Small minded hypocrites.

"Did you not get a lot of sleep?" Mr Hauser snapped Robin out of her train of thought.

"A considerate amount. I've just been doing a lot of thinking recently- Trying to figure things out, that's all."

She took a deep breath and reached into her bag for her Sony Walkman. "I'm just going to do some french revision, if that's ok Sir? You can tell me to shut up if you need me to."

"Go right ahead, I don't mind." Mr Hauser chuckled as Robin placed the headphones onto her head and clicked the start button.

Languages were always her escapism. Being able to think her thoughts in different tongues-having people unable to figure them out, made her feel powerful- Like she could be herself every once in a while and not need to worry about her carefully thatched disguise fading away.

The woman's soothing tones flowed into Robin's ears as she started repeating module one.
"Module un- Module one." The woman begun softly, slowly.
"Partie un, les salutations- part one, greetings.
Repeat after me- Bonjour, comment vas-tu?"

"Bonjour, comment vas-tu?" Robin said out loud, zoning out into a world of her own.

"Ca va bien merci" A deeper voice replied. Robin didn't remember hearing that in the recording previously, so she lowered her headphones.

"Did you say something?" She asked, her headphones dangling around her neck, letting the french words evaporate into the atmosphere.

"Ca va bien merci. I'm fine, Thank you." He repeated, smiling.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"You asked if I was okay, so I said 'I'm fine, Thank you."

"Ohhh," Robin realised. "You were responding to my french."

"I sure was."

"Didn't know you knew any. Thought you were supposed to be an English teacher." Robin replied cockily, making Mr Hauser stifle a laugh.

"You really do have a reply for everything, don't you Miss Buckley?" He smiled.

"I guess I do" she smiled back just as an ear-piercing bell echoed through the hallway. "Well, that's my cue. See you later, Sir."

"Until next time, Robin."

Quickly, she packed up her work and headed out of the door over to her morning science class.