harmony hall 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬

v.

THE ALARM RIPPED OPHELIA OUT OF THE SWEET RELEASE OF SLEEP SHE HAD ONLY FELT FOR A FEW HOURS. Hand slapping down onto the snooze button, she groaned as she switched the alarm all the way off. She was still blinking away images of red blossoming through blue, but they were slipping away as her brain woke up. With a sharp inhale, she sat up. A shower would fully wake her up.

Hair now damp, she again found herself in her bed as she finished brushing it. She was fidgety, occasionally standing up from her bed to pace around the room, change the radio station, or switch out a piece of the outfit she had already changed about twenty times. The dreaded 'first day of school' was upon her, but she tried to keep the negative thoughts swirling through her mind at bay. Maybe, it wouldn't even be that bad.

Tossing the brush down next to her pillow, she stood again, standing over the arduous outfit. Running a hand through her now naturally wavy hair, she finally deemed it fit to put on. It was simple, since she didn't really want to draw more attention to herself than she would already, being the 'new' kid and all. It consisted of a simple red t-shirt, the ends fraying from where she had cropped it in a blind burst of what she thought was good fashion sense. It wasn't, but she would be able to tuck it into her blue jeans. Paired with her white sneakers with a red stripe running down the side downstairs, she thought it was a pretty decent outfit. Not too flashy, not too casual. That's how she would wholly consider her wardrobe, but that didn't stop her from still contemplating changing again as she looked herself up and down.

She was now in the bathroom, thinking that if she looked at her outfit longer, she'd just psych herself out. Her stomach twisted as she twisted the ring on her middle finger, scanning her face now in the bathroom mirror. Drying it with a towel, she frowned deeply. She didn't usually wear makeup, but maybe today could be an exception. With a defeated groan, she rubbed the dark circles under her eyes.

"Yeah, me too." Dallas grumbled as he shoved his way through the door. His voice was still gravelly with sleep, so she could tell that he had just woken up mere moments ago. They had to leave in twenty minutes, but he needed to get all the precious sleep he could get. Both of their sleep schedules were royally screwed up and now with it being the first day of school, they needed to fix them fast.

Ophelia let out a pitiful laugh, leaving the bathroom quickly, since she could already hear Dally peeing as the door clicked closed. She trudged down the stairs, the lingering smell of coffee and toast hitting her nose. The familiar scent comforted her a bit as she hopped up to sit on the counter. Her aunt had already left for the school, but she had left a half drained pot of coffee in her wake. Ophelia skipped it to opt for toast, but as soon as Dally had changed and brushed his teeth and hair, he was pouring himself a large mug.

Ophelia rinsed her plate in the sink, washing off the breadcrumbs and bit of peanut butter that she'd missed her toast with. She turned to him, raising an eyebrow as he poured a hearty amount of creamer into the mug as well.

"You don't think that's a bit overboard, dude?" She chuckled as he stirred it with what looked to be her aunt's abandoned coffee spoon.

"Nah, gotta cool it down since we have to leave in," He glanced up at the clock, swearing under his breath, "Four minutes ago." He then brought the mug to his lips.

Ophelia then stared dumbfounded as he managed to finish the cup in a solid five seconds, before him slamming it down broke her out of her stupor, "Let's rock'n'roll."

"You're insane." She said with a laugh in her voice as they made their way towards the door. With their fully packed bags in their arms, they left the house, another wave of anxious nausea rolling through Ophelia's stomach.

She hopped into the passenger side of Dally's truck, the familiar sent of his cheap cologne and artificial new car smell settling her nerves yet again as he started the vehicle. She focused on the Def Leppard song that began playing through on the radio instead of her thoughts. It'll be fine, she'll at least know some faces.

The drive to the school was a lot shorter than Ophelia would've hoped, but Dallas was a natural lead foot and easily got them their four minutes of time back.

He pulled into the parking lot, swarms of students already littered everywhere in front of the high school and causing Ophelia's stomach to turn again. She tightened her grip on the bag in her lap.

Once the truck was off, Dally was quick to turn to her, arm over the back of his seat. He offered her a reassuring smile, "You ready for this?"

Ophelia tried to return the smile, but she kept nervously glancing at the sheer amount of teenagers around her, "As I'll ever be."

Her cousin reached over, patting her shoulder twice, before grabbing his bag from the tiny backseat. Ophelia didn't move for a couple more seconds as he got out, before banging on her window caused her to jump.

Sam's muffled laughter and shit-eating grin were the first thing she saw as she whipped towards him. Shoving open the door, his laughter fully met her ears when she stepped out, delivering a ripe swat to his arm, "Good morning to you, too, asshole."

"You shoulda seen yer face." He cackled as Dally rounded the truck, coming to stop next to his friend to deliver his own smack upside Sam's head.

"She's already freaked enough. Cut her some slack, dumbass." Talia piped up as she appeared from in front of them, not offering a smile as she yawned. She was probably taking the lack of sleep the hardest.

Sam rubbed the back of his head, before holding his hands up in surrender, "Fine, fine, I'm sorry, just couldn't resist. Ya looked like you were already considerin' skippin' the first day."

Ophelia sighed, frowning, "I can't say you were wrong." She glanced around once more, "There's a lot more people than I was imagining."

"Eh, don't worry, it just looks like a lot since everyone's just showin' up. Yer classes'll be smaller." Sam then offered her the same pat on the shoulder as Dallas, before shoving his hands into his pockets and turning away from her.

Just as he straightened, his shoulder collided with another boy's. He stumbled to a stop momentarily, tossing a dirty look at Sam. He had brown hair and his face was smattered with freckles. His arm was hooked with a pretty, red-haired girl, chewing gum abnoxiously with her mouth open. She looked Ophelia up and down, causing the girl's stomach to knot as she looked away. There was another, taller brown-haired boy behind them, frowning at Sam as well.

"Watch it, Bradbury." The first boy sneered, turning to face the four still beside Dallas's truck.

"Fuck off, Hagan." Sam bit back, taking a step towards the 'Hagan' boy. Dally just grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back.

'Hagan' just laughed, followed by a laugh from the girl and a smirk from the boy, "Better keep your dog on a leash, Castro, or I might have to put him in his place again."

Dallas narrowed his eyes, but kept his grip on Sam solid, "Just leave it alone, Sam. He's not worth it." He murmured.

The trio just turned, continuing their trek towards the school. Sam finally seemed to calm down after flipping off their backs.

"Who's that?" Ophelia asked, her nose wrinkling as she watched them walk away.

"Tommy Hagan, Carol Perkins, and Steve Harrington." Dallas answered, watching them as well, "Bad news, in all honesty, but popular. I'd steer clear of them as much as I could if I were you."

"Buncha assholes, all of 'em." Sam growled, hands shoved back into the pockets of his jacket as he kicked a rock with the toe of his worn sneakers.

Talia yawned once again, still looking thoroughly unimpressed with everything that had transpired this morning, "We better get inside and drop this one off at the office. You both know you're on thin ice for being late last year."

Sam just scoffed, rolling his eyes, in a completely sour mood now, "Whatever, mom."

ooh Shit there's some familiar faces !

we'll be meeting more of the same in the next chapter, so look forward to that ! and happy day after season four pt. 1 release ! stayed up Way to late to binge but it was totally worth it (and worth the wait). since i have the large majority of season two and three written out, i've got big plans for my characters :)))

thanks for reading and i still love u if u've made it this far

max <3