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chapter twenty-five murderer
Hawkins Middle School resembles a prison even more at night.
There are plenty of things wrong with this picture: Number one: Alex is back at the place that leaves her with nightmare fuel that lasts days and inflicts her with emotional scars that will last forever, voluntarily. Number two: Two adults and two teenagers—all of whom have long since graduated from Hawkins Middle and should have no business visiting their former middle school—are all gathered in the dead of night. And number three: the school is good at keeping children in but bad at keeping intruders out.
They don't have time to gather and talk, as soon as every member of the group is out of the cars, assignments are passed out. Hopper and Jonathan find where the salt is stored. Nancy and Mike bring as many hoses as they can find. Joyce helps El with whatever she needs to prepare. Alex, Dustin, and Lucas bring the kiddie pool to the gym and start to set it up.
"We should look for test answers while we're at it," Alex suggests in a halfhearted attempt to lighten the mood. Her voice echoes through the empty gym.
Dustin lets out a small laugh but then grunts as he rolls the kiddie pool into the center of the empty gym. "This damn thing is heavy."
They work together to unwind the thick rope cord that keeps the kiddie pool together and watch as it unfurls across the gym floor. Alex stares at the plastic helplessly. She doesn't know where to start. She's never had the need for a kiddie pool—not when she has her own ground pool in their backyard—but Dustin and Lucas know what to do right away, gripping the edges of the pool. Alex stares down at her feet, face flushed with embarrassment but joins them.
This is where Alex's privilege starts, and it certainly is not where it ends. Although Alex has dreams, and although she does not want what the future has in store for her, she won't ever have to work as hard as other people and she won't ever have to worry as much as others. Her family can afford to live in a two-story house at the edge of town and never have to worry about where the food on their plates comes from. Her clothes don't come from second-hand shops, and the moment her shoes wear at the edges, they're replaced with a brand new pair. Her parents could afford to build their relationship out of bank transactions because of their status in Hawkins. It might not always be apparent, and Alex might try to ignore it, but nothing can change the fact that Alex is far more privileged than her friends.
Her place in the Upper Class of the socioeconomic status of Hawkins is another factor that sets her apart from everybody else in the small town. Most people stay in Hawkins because they do not have a choice. Most people in Hawkins cannot afford to leave. That is why the community is so tightly interwoven together because almost everyone who resides in Hawkins is also trapped in Hawkins. The Harringtons choose to stay in Hawkins. That choice is the defining factor that sets them aside from everybody else.
