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CHAPTER TWO II. thedig dug culprit [ season 2, episode 1 ]
Lucia Delgado was friendless. Not a single friend in sight.
Honestly, if you were to ask, Lucia would tell you she preferred it that way. She ghosted through the hallways of Hawkins Middle School every day like an invisible cluster of dust, content with the revelation that absolutely nobody would go out of their way to strike up a conversation. Or even so much as look in her direction.
Most of the time, it was peaceful. But sometimes ── more than Lucia would be happy to admit ── her lack of friendships beyond the imaginary ones she had been carrying around since childhood could make her feel extraordinarily lonely. After school, she would sit up in her box-room, sketching meaningless things that she plucked from the darkest crevices of her mind, all while gazing out of the window at the chortling children whizzing down the ramshackle street on bikes and scooters.
Lucia envied it.
Her problem was, people found her to be intimidating.
When middle school first began, Lucia became a prime target for bullies ── what, with her braces and eccentric choice of clothing. A girl by the name of Rachel Sherlot thrived on teasing Lucia to the point she thundered out of classes, head cradled in her hands, tears streaming down her flushed cheeks. Rachel poked fun at absolutely everything the Delgado didn't have; money issues within the family was to blame.
Eventually, the cruel behaviour of her classmates became too much for Lucia to deal with.
She can still remember the encounter clear as day ── up in Mrs Zands class, English Literature, second floor. Rachel Sherlot had been assigned the seat beside Lucia, making matters revolving around the constant torment all the more insufferable. Rachel had been scribbling down demeaning notes about her table-partner, proceeding to fold the paper into small planes that she threw across the room toward her best friend, Helena Brown.
Of course, Lucia had been intrigued by the notes, having known the likelihood they were about her was jolted up the highest possibility. She happened to look down at the exact moment Rachel placed down her pencil, hands inching toward the note to fold it into a paper-plane. For a second, the brunette had a direct birds-eye view of the scribbled words, and her stomach sunk when she saw what it said.
