Not Just Another Number

The Pep Rally

Sarah's POV

I park in front of Christine's house. I climb out of the car and lean against the door, waiting for Christine to come out so we can head to school. I reach into the car and honk on the horn once, letting her know I'm here. Pretty quickly, she comes racing out of the house, holding her bag over her shoulder as she waves back at her parents.

I climb back into my car, buckling up as she climbs in. "Morning Christy." I greet as she buckles up. She hums back, getting situated. I pull out of her driveway and begin driving to school. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Christine messing with her hair in my rear-view mirror. I smirk at her. "What's got you primping and preening?"

"Nothing, just don't want to look like a zombie at the pep rally." She answers as she continues to mess with her hair. I roll my eyes while I nod, looking back at the road. "Sure, there's totally not another reason why you're trying to look your best."

"Right. What other reason would there be?"

"Oh, I don't know." I say with a smug grin. "Maybe it's because you're going to see a certain someone in her band uniform play?" I tease. Christine's eyes widen as her skin darkens around her cheeks. She begins to stammer, trying to come up with something to say.

I laugh at her struggle goodnaturedly. Christine rolls her eyes and angles herself to look at me. "That is not the reason."

"Sure, and it's not the reason you rented 'Fast Times' two days ago just to visit her at work." I point out as I pull into the school parking lot. I park into the empty parking space next to Steve's car. I shut off the engine and look over at Christine. "I'm just telling you, you should make a move on her."

Christine shakes her head, not answering me. She instead opens her door and steps out. I lean back, still trying to talk to her. "Wouldn't hurt to try." Christine answers with a slam. I shake my head with a smile as I climb out of my car. Wish she could see just how much Robin likes her back. Maybe then, she would confess?

I stare up at the school, flooding with students trying to get to the pep rally. I groan inwardly at the amount of people, but I force myself to walk inside. I push past people in the hall, making my way towards the gym.

When I get there, bleachers are already filling up. The band is getting ready to perform. I spot Steve standing near Robin. He notices me and waves me over with a huge smile on his face. I climb the bleachers and meet him. He immediately raps an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close to his side. I kiss his cheek as a simple greeting. Robin fake gags at us. Steve and I laugh, while we wait for the pep rally to begin. Pretty quickly, Christine joins us, taking the space closest to Robin. As soon as she stands in place, the pep rally begins.

The band plays and the cheerleaders do their routines, making us all cheer loudly for them. They do flips and cartwheels, filling the crowd with energy. I pump my fist to cheer them on. And with one final flip, both the cheerleaders and the band finish, making us all cheer even louder. The cheerleaders skip to the bleachers, sitting on the floor while they wait for what comes next.

"And let's hear it for your Tigers!" An announcer cheers. From the entrance of the gym, the basketball players jog in. They are greeted with cheers. I look through the line of players and finally spot Lucas running with them. I cheer even louder for him, proud of him for getting on the team.

The team captain, Jason, jogs up to the mic in the center of the gym, with a big smile on his face. "Good morning, Hawkins High!"

He's greeted with more screams. He grabs the mic and walks closer to the bleachers, beginning his speech. "First off, I'd like to thank each and every one of you. Without your support, we wouldn't be here. Give yourselves a big hand." Everyone claps loudly, cheering more.

As it quiets down, Jason speaks again. "And of course, I have to give a special shout-out to the best and the prettiest fans of all time. The Tiger Cheer Squad!" He stares right at the cheerleaders as he shifts from one foot to the other. "Chrissy," he pats his chest, "I love you babe." People aw, and Jason's smile drops.

I raise an eyebrow as he steps back, taking a serious tone to his speech. "You know, I think I can speak for all of us when I say it's been a tough year for Hawkins. So much loss." My smile drops at his words. I look down at my feet and cross my arms, remembering all the people we've lost in the past few years. I lean in more to Steve's side, searching for the comfort he gives me with a squeeze of my shoulders.

"And sometimes I wonder, 'How much loss can one community take?' In dark days like this, we need something to believe in. So last night, when we were down by ten points at half to Christian Academy, I looked at my team, and I said, 'Think of Jack. Think of Melissa. Think of Heather.'"

"Think of Billy."

A sharp pain goes through my heart at the mention of his name. I failed to save him. I was so close, and yet I failed.

"Think about our heroic police chief, Jim Hopper. Think about each and every one of our friends who perished in that fire. What did they die for? For us to lose to some...some crap school? No." Some people in the bleachers say 'no' with him. I glare at the people who did. That's what you wanna do with the memory of the one's we lost. Use it to win some game?

Jason gets more pumped up as he continues. "For us to return home with our head hung low in defeat? No! No. Let's win this game. Let's win this game, for them.' And that's exactly what we did!" The crowd cheers for him. Steve, Robin, Christine and I stay silent, annoyed with how he's using their memory.

"We embarrassed those candy-asses in their own house, and now tonight, tonight, we're gonna bring home the championship trophy!" This causes the crowd to errupt with cheers.

I look up at Steve, meeting with his annoyed face. He shakes his head while holding me a little closer. "At least we don't have to deal with this over Spring Break." He says. I nod and look ahead at Jason as he hops around, trying to get everyone hyped up. At least I don't have to deal with him for much longer.

A/N
Hey guys, sorry about the lame chapter, but I promise, the more adventurous stuff is coming up soon! This was just kinda a filler chapter. Updates will usually be a chapter a week, but there might be a few more, so look out for those chapters. Hope you liked this filler chapter and hope you liked the small bonding moment betweem Sarah and Christine! Stay Curious~ Lunar