FIXATION

TWENTY

TWENTY: MIND OVER MATTER

november 9th, 1984

Nancy is confused. Rosalie can hear that much from her end of the line. Her old friend's silence seems to say much more than words did at the moment.

"Nance can you just say something? You're starting to freak me out."

"Well, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that you can hear thoughts." Her voice sounds emotionless until she goes to a whisper. Suddenly her voice is muffled and much closer to the receiver when she hisses, "that and the fact that Ivy and Billy are hooking up, it's a lot to swallow."

"Yeah, tell that to Ivy."

Nancy's burst of laughter comforts Rosalie's previously anxious thoughts. The smile growing on her face feels nostalgic. She sits on her bed reliving the early days of freshman year when the laugh was normally followed by hers or Barb's. The shallow hole in her chest feels deeper thinking of Barb. It had grown three sizes since she learned the truth about her friend but the grief had shrunken since then. To Rosalie, it was becoming more and more apparent that Barb was the lucky one. "Funny Rose, but hey maybe this is a good thing."

"It's a good thing I can read Steve's mind?"

Nancy groans, "I can only imagine what he's thinking half the time..," a beat passes between the two and Rosalie isn't sure if she's asking or joking about what goes on in Steve's head. Luckily she follows up not too long after, "no, I mean this could be a good thing that you can read minds because now we have proof for Hopper. You can read his mind then he'll have to believe you."

Her nose turns up in disapproval when she thinks back to the Chief of disbelief. He made her blood boil. "There is no way I'm going back to that man. If he didn't believe me the first time, he's not going to believe me a second time."

"Rosalie you're not listening, this is proof!"

"So was the fact that I got clawed out by a demagorgan but he didn't listen then and he won't listen now!" Her ears perk when she hears the familiar pace of her mother walking through the door and the jingle of her house keys as she climbed the stairs. Rosalie scratches the back of her neck, "Nance I'm not going to argue about this anymore, I don't want to go back. End of story."

"Okay, I hear you. But I still think we should talk to someone. This is serious."

A knock on her door pulls Rosalie's attention from Nancy's worry. Her mother slips in just as she stands, "I've got to go. See you at school tomorrow."

"Okay, see you tomorrow Rosalie."

"Bye Nance."

"I thought I'd find you up here with Steve not on the phone with Nancy Wheeler of all people," Genevieve gasps sarcastically as she leans against her daughter's door frame. Now her head tilts with curiosity, a few of her locs brushing against her face. "What's the story there?"

Rosalie sets the phone on the receiver and shakes her head, "the story is a group assigned project for English class." She hated how easy it had become to lie to her mother. The last honest conversation they had had seemed like ages ago rather than weeks. Back when the world was right-side-up.

Genevieve hums with approval, "good to see fate putting two friends back together." Then her eyes take over her child's lazy attire. Now she stands from leaning on the door frame to gesture to her daughter's sweats and shirt, "you're wearing that to Aunt Fiona's dinner?"

At the mention of the one thing her mother reminded her of for the past few nights, she face palmed her forehead. How could Rosalie have forgotten? "Shoot, right that's tonight. I'll put on some real clothes." She stood from her bed to cross the room with various items littered on the floor. When she passed her desk and disappeared into her closet she could hear her mother sit on her bed.