my tears ricochet 𛲕 stranger things

chapter 12, the girl who knew too much

CHAPTER 12: THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH

So would you teach me? I'm the villain, aren't I?
Aren't I the one constantly repenting for a difficult mind?
— Stay Down, boygenius

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

November 11th, 1983: Davenport Home

SITTING IN THE BACKSEAT OF JONATHAN'S Ford LTD, Daphne shivered violently as she fought to summon heat back into her freezing skin. Jonathan had the heat in the car turned up all the way, but Daphne couldn't will even an ounce of warmth into her tired bones. It was as though her fear had evolved into something physical, which was now draped over her body like an icy cloak.

She kept thinking about that thing in the woods. It was terrifying; worse than the devil itself. But what was it? A monster created by Hawkins Lab which had torn her best friend to bits like it did the deer? Or could it be that her monster was her friend, demonised by an experiment gone wrong? Whatever the case, Daphne couldn't quite think which one was worse.

She fixed her hollow gaze on the two teenagers in the front seat of the car. Nancy was curled up into a ball in the passenger seat, Jonathan's jacket draped over her shoulders. She was still covered in slime and dirt; her wavy hair plastered to the sides of her face. Jonathan was in the driver's seat, shooting worried looks over at her whenever he thought she wasn't looking.

As though feeling the girl's gaze on her, Nancy glanced back to look at the defeated cheerleader. "Hey, Daphne," she said softly. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for letting us get separated tonight. You saved my life — I don't even know how to thank you—"

"It was nothing," replied Daphne distantly, her gaze falling from Nancy's face as she glanced out the window. "I wasn't going to just let you just, like, die. And I was the one who wandered off, remember?"

"Still," insisted Nancy. "We should have stuck together. If Jonathan and I hadn't been so busy arguing, we would have noticed you slip off in the first place, and—"

"And what, Nancy?" asked Daphne tiredly. She wasn't angry; her words came out soft but hollow. "Nothing happened."

"I know," said Nancy tentatively. "But it could have. And I never would have forgiven myself if something happened to you because I wasn't paying enough attention."

Daphne closed her eyes, and for a moment she could remember what it felt like to be best friends with Nancy Wheeler again. The two girls used to pretend to be fairies in their backyard, used to dress up for Mike's D&D games, and used to share everything with each other.

And then one day Daphne's father noticed that they were getting too close, and he decided that Nancy and Daphne's friendship must come to an end. He stopped her from hanging out at the other girl's house and started taking her to cheerleading practice to make friends with the other girls in the neighbourhood.

That's where she had met Meera and Heather, and where she had become the person she was today. She had never spared a glance to poor Nancy Wheeler, who used to watch them play from her bedroom window. Watched as they took her place.

"I'm sorry, too," said Daphne suddenly.

Nancy looked taken aback, as if she hadn't been expecting Daphne to apologise. It was true, the words 'I'm sorry' rarely left the other girl's mouth. But this time, Daphne was sorry for a lot more than just wandering off.