stranger things imagines.

serendipity: johnathan byers.

i had never noticed him until today.
i had heard about him,
of course,
considering the rumors that were once spread detailing of him and nancy,
but i had never seen him right beside me until now.
"i think you dropped this,"
he said,
handing me the money that was responsible for my meal.
"oh, god. yes, thank you,"
i told him while i tucked it back into my pockets,
though better secured this time.
"i appreciate you giving it back. anybody else would have run off with it."
"i was thinking about it."
at first,
i believe the words to be literal.
until i find his eye and see his smile that proves otherwise.
so i laugh along with him.
"would've been the smart thing to do, but a girls got to eat. so, again, thank you."
"no worries."
johnathan gives me a soft smile and leaves me with it.
i cannot help but to think about him throughout the day.
this was the boy who caused so much trouble?
that was johnathan byers,
the preconceived perv?
the deemed home-wrecker?
he hardly seemed like a bad guy,
considering he could have run off with my money and left me to starve.
what did he owe me to give me my money back?
i'd been careless enough to drop it,
stealing it for himself wouldn't have been so shocking.
then i am reminded that this is exactly how bad men deceive you.
like a fly finding it's merry way into the damning mouth of venus' trap;
so entranced by the promise of something grand,
only to be made into dust.
i know nothing of johnathan byers besides what i've heard.
are the words of some high school students enough to warn me away?
as much as i would like to say yes,
i know firsthand how spiteful my peers can be.
i've seen the lows they stoop to in order to embarrass and shame someone.
despite how things may seem,
what matters to them is that their justice is sought.
i wonder if johnathan has heard of me and if he's thinking these very same thoughts.
i know better though.
i am no one of importance.
the only time my name has ever been in the mouths of those around me is when the words:
"y/n l/n: hawkins whore."
were plastered against the school lockers in permanent ink.
no matter how desperately my fingers clawed at the obscenities in hopes of making them disappear,
they were ingrained in all their malignancy.
it had been the main course of gossip for weeks,
both my frantic reaction and the speculation of it all.
i thought i'd never live it down until that, too, faded and was replaced with something of better entertainment.
and like i had always been prior to that incident,
i was shoved to the back and named unimportant again.
my time to keep them pleased was up.
which i am glad for.
hearing whispers as i passed,
finding crude notes in my locker,
boys taunting me,
girls exiling me,
it is not worth it to be known.
i carry these thoughts with me until the school day ends.
i tuck myself away into the sea of bodies in the hall until i'm released free.
since today marks the beginning of the weekend,
i decide on making way to the empty field on the outskirts of town.
when the timing is just right,
i lie on the hood of my car and watch the sun melt into a golden glory and fade into the night.
and sometimes,
if i'm lucky,
i get to see the planes take off.
i like to imagine myself sitting in the aircrafts that pass overhead,
flying into a different, better life far away from here.
what a relief it would be to have a chance to start over.
but before i can make way to my car,
i bump into a hard figure and am sent stumbling back.
it is a bad habit of mine to look at the ground as i walk,
i'm learning that now.
"sorry. i wasn't looking,"
i say to the person before me.
and when they turn around,
i am met with johnathan byers again.
"oh...no problem. happens to the best of us."
i return his gentle smile with one of my own then take notice of the camera in his hands.
i also notice that in my error,
i knocked a photograph from his grasp.
i lean down to pick it up and find that the ink portrays a picture of a plane in the sky,
hovering over a field of grass that i know all too well.
"oh, my god. i was just headed here,"
i admit to him as i hand the polaroid back to its rightful owner.
"really? is that you i always see out there then?"
"more than likely."
johnathan tugs on his bottom lip as though he might be deciding on something,
then digs into his bag to find another photograph.
when this one is in my grasp,
i survey it to find the setting to be the same place,
but there i am.
in the middle of the photograph lies me on the hood of my car,
staring at the plane flying past me in desire.
"i never knew it was you. when i took this, i thought it was some tourist just passing by. i never thought i'd get to meet the muse."
i laugh into the palm of my hand while i gape at this picture.
"this is incredible."
i hand it back to him but johnathan never takes it.
instead,
he tells me to keep it.
"i think you should have it."
this feels quite like serendipity to me.
how johnathan and i just met for the first time today,
though we've known each other's names for longer,
and i am only just finding out that his place of picture is my safe haven;
that i was once his medium for a beautiful photo.
"are you busy?"
johnathan shakes his head when he answers with a simple no.
"would you like to come with me? you might be able to get some good photos in."
with a smile pulling only at the corners of his lips,
he accepts my offer.
"i'd love to."
johnathan and i agree to leave behind our cars and simply walk the way there.
i figure it will give me enough time to feel him out;
to see if he is someone worth sharing company with.
"i'm y/n l/n, by the way,"
i introduce as we begin walking.
johnathan looks up from his feet to give me a smile when he says,
"i know who you are, y/n."
"of course you do."
johnathan quirks his head to the side before speaking,
"we've sat next to each other all year. it'd be a shame if i didn't know your name."
hot shame covers every inch of my body.
i had made it this far into the school year without having noticed him.
what kind of person did that make me?
"you never noticed, did you?"
i shake my head in embarrassment.
when i expect him to frown at my ignorance,
he simply smiles with a laugh.
"you don't pick your head up much, huh?"
"not really. there's just nothing to look at anymore."
"anymore?
johnathan questions,
keeping his eye on the road ahead of us.
"we don't have to pretend like you don't know."
at the mentions of it,
my heart hammers inside my chest.
i rub my palms against my arms as i attempt to soothe myself from feeling any worse.
"yeah...i remember."
the words refuse to take shape in my mouth,
so i stay silent.
"i'm nobody to judge, y/n. surely you know that."
i force myself to face him and find that his expression is stripped of any falsity.
"why don't we start over?"
he suggests.
"what does that mean?"
"i mean, why don't we forget any of that happened and start new? pretend like we've never known each other's names until now?"
i can't help but to smile at the offer.
it's all i've ever wanted in a friend,
is to be shed of that horrible disaster and able to prove myself better than what they've named me.
really,
all i've ever wanted is a friend.
"well, i'm y/n l/n. and you are?"
"johnathan byers. it's nice to meet you, y/n,"
he says while extending his hand for me to formally shake.
i wonder if he knows the peace he's brought me in this simple handshake.
"nice to meet you, johnathan."
my smile mirrors his and it doesn't disappear,
not even as we arrive to this abandoned area.
it's ours for the taking and finally,
i have someone to share it with.
someone who understands.
"do you come out here often?"
i ask once we find a spot to sit together in.
"not a lot, no. i kind accidentally came across it that day you were here."
"accidentally? how'd that happen?"
johnathan laughs at the memory of it,
it seems,
then relays it to my unknowing ears.
"i'd been wandering around, finding stuff to photograph, and walked out too far. ended up here and, well...you know the rest."
i take another look at the picture johnathan coincidentally took of me and find beauty in it all over again.
"what about you? how'd you come across this?"
an influx of air comes in through the part in my lips.
when i release it,
i begin to speak,
"when that whole thing happened, i tried to run away as far as i could. got here, broke down right in this spot."
i point to where my car is in the picture for reference.
"and i realized leaving would mean they won. then i saw an airplane fly above me and i promised i would be on the next one out, right after i'd overcome this."
"and did you? overcome it?"
i give him a sad smile when i say,
"i'm still here, aren't i?"
johnathan doesn't take his eyes off of me for a while after this.
it begins to make me rather self conscious,
like he sees something that i don't know about;
a stray hair,
a bug in the midst of crawling up my arm.
or maybe it's my nose he's paying too much attention to,
or perhaps my chin.
i tuck myself away from his sight to prevent any further thoughts of his being formed.
"y/n l/n...i think you're the most beautiful woman i've ever met."
i slowly turn my attention back onto him as a bout of nervous laughter bubbles into my throat and out.
"you think so?"
"yeah...i don't have a doubt about it."
i roll my eyes at his statement but am betrayed by the shy smile against my lips.
what a fool i have become beneath flattery.
"what's your story, johnathan?"
i ask to deflect.
he fortunately takes the bait and answers,
"i don't think i have one."
"everybody has one."
johnathan shrugs and begins pulling at the weeds beneath his feet.
"well...i don't know if i've ever fit in. i tried so hard to, when i was younger, but...then it just became something i had to accept. it only got worse when will went missing and-and my mom went..."
johnathan goes to find the words,
but they refuse to slip past the guard of his teeth.
so he settles for a change of topic,
"anyways, nancy and i ended up getting close because she lost her friend, too. but of course nobody could understand that, so they branded her a slut and me a...a perv."
he chuckles though it is without humor.
"but you knew that already."
"i don't know anything, johnathan. i've only just met you for the first time ever."
johnathan gives me a laugh at the ignorance we promised one another.
though there is truth to what i've said;
i am meeting him for the first time.
not the johnathan byers who was alive in impertinent rumors,
but the one who is full of passion and promise.
the man who loves in all the wrong ways.
much like myself.
"people are intimidated by what they can't understand or appreciate,"
i say as i lean over and shoulder bump him.
seeing his mood decrease by my question makes me hurry to fix what i've dampened.
"you aren't like them and that's something to be okay with. they could never be true to themselves the way you are. i hope you know that their taunts are only a reflection of their own self hatred."
"i see you've had time to psychoanalyze."
i laugh softly but i see my words have stuck.
his eyes that were once clouded over with disdain are beginning to clear now.
to be replaced with a look of admiration.
how beautiful it is to be on the receiving end of it.
"and your story?"
he asks now.
"the same as any other."
johnathan waits for me to continue,
but i only want to retreat within myself.
that is until i feel his hand knit itself into mine.
he has been vulnerable with me when he did not owe it to me.
what kind of person would i be to deny him a chance of understanding?
"i've always made the mistake of trusting the wrong guys. but that one time i ended up with the worlds biggest douchebag. i didn't...i didn't know he and his friends had made a bet to, like, get with me. we never even made it past second base. so, his claims of bedding me were wildly false."
when johnathan meets my eyes,
i see how saddened he's become in my favor.
"but what good was my word to any man's?"
"you can't believe any of that to be your fault...it wasn't because you were looking for love or-or because you trusted the wrong person. it happened because those guys are godawful people. they are to blame for their rotten hearts. not you...not when you're this accepting and authentic."
i feel the weight of his words release me from this prison of a burden.
i am free.
and finally,
i have been accepted and understood.
"you mean it?"
"i've never been so honest in my life, y/n."
johnathan brings our connected hands to his heart where i can feel the truth in his symphony of life.
"johnathan byers...i think you're going to change my life."
"y/n l/n, you've already changed mine."
***
maybe it was always destined for johnathan and i to meet one another.
or maybe it was by mere coincidence that we ended up where we are today.
whatever the cause may be,
i'm glad for it.
my lifelong search for an innocent love has come to an end.
i will no longer spend my nights alone with only the comfort of my own tears,
and johnathan will not have to spend his days in forced solitude.
our wandering souls have found way to one another.
a few weeks after our evening in the field,
johnathan and i became close quite quickly.
we spent hours with each other,
our limbs tangled together since we were scared to do much else.
then one night after a long conversation held on his bedroom floor about what our futures may hold,
johnathan picked his head up from its resting place on my leg and let the words of admittance tumble from this mouth,
"i'm in love with you."
i let him prove it to me that night.
after a fiery kiss that led into something more,
i had never known words to be so true.
i could feel johnathan's love for me in his every movement and i still do to this day.
he is a tender man with only the purest of hearts.
i had given up a life of protection to be vulnerable with him,
and i am reaping the rewards of my faith.
johnathan has taken a myriad of pictures in our time together,
both of us and only myself,
as a collection he's beginning titled:
"y/n l/n:
love in human form."
every chance he gets,
johnathan snaps a photo of me.
whether it be a candid or a posed shot,
he always seems to time it perfectly.
i have never felt as admired or beautiful as i do now.
in each of these pictures,
where i have become a muse,
i find myself coming to life under this love of ours.
my smile is brighter and much more true.
my eyes have a life in them that has been found in johnathan.
he has given me a chance to restart.
and i am forever grateful for him.
in the photos of both of us,
it is undeniable how in love we both are.
look at the glint in his eyes,
or the length of his smile.
even the creases beneath his eyes shine light on this love of ours.
johnathan and i have shed the skin of a life that no longer served us and created one deserving of our time and effort;
it is full of devotion and praise.
"what are you thinking about?"
johnathan whispers now,
smoothing the lines of my forehead down with the pad of his thumb.
i laugh at how well he's able to read me and say,
"only about you."
"hm. seems we're one and the same then."
"yeah? you're thinking about me?"
i tease as i give his lips a quick peck.
"are you kidding? you're all i ever think about. you're all i ever want to think about."
johnathan brings me in for a slow kiss this time while molding his hand around my cheek.
i can feel his caress as i become nothing under the spell of his lips.
it is now routine:
each friday night,
johnathan and i make way to the empty field to sit on the hood of the car.
and when the airplanes go by,
i know that soon,
johnathan and i will be on one headed to a life anew,
together.
but for now,
i lay in his bed with him wrapped around my torso and i fall into an easy slumber knowing i have found the better half of my soul.
there is no more time spent regretting and wishing.
finally,
i have everything i need.
—
an
it's 4am and i'm publishing this so if it's worded wrong or if there's mistakes,
that's why LMAO.
i will fix them in the morning (if i remember...)
so pls hang in there.
thank you so much for the love and support on this book already !!!
i love you all soooo much.
stay safe and healthy my loves <33
you belong!!
-e