Stranger Things Imagines

Delayed Reaction

"You got this, Y/N." Max encourages me.

"Are you sure? Am I doing it right?" I ask in a panic.

"Yeah, yeah. Just bend your knees."

As a kid, I always wanted to skateboard and/or rollerblade, but I was always too scared to try it. I remember thinking Max was so cool when I met her - she is even more so now if you ask me. Unlike my brother, Mike, I've always liked her. Even after she warmed up to us, I was still nervous to ask her to teach me. Eventually, it came up in conversation and she agreed to help out. That's what we've been doing this weekend.

It hasn't been easy, and I've lost count of how many times I've fallen down over the past couple of days. I definitely have a few scrapes and bruises - but, oh well, I'll live. After a few hours, Max informs me that she has to leave.

"Yeah, cool, no problem. How am I doing?" I ask her nervously as I stand beside the board that Max picked out for me.

"Not bad. You just gotta keep practicing. I'm hanging out with Lucas after school tomorrow - and I don't know about the rest of the week - but we can do this again next weekend if you want." She offers.

"Yeah, sure, thanks." I smile and try not to seem so eager, though I'm probably failing.

"See ya."

"Yeah, see ya tomorrow." I call after her as she starts skating home.

Although I've been making progress, it's been kind of slow. Given my impatience and the fact that I'm not satisfied with where I'm at, I decide to keep practicing until I have to go back inside. As it gets dark out, I think I'm getting the hang of it. However, I get a little too cocky. That paired with my now limited sight, I soon crash and burn. On my way to the ground, I whack my hand on a wooden plank before hitting it on the concrete floor. Shit, that hurt like hell. Despite that, I shake it off and head inside and call it a night.

Waking up this morning, I instantly feel immense pain. I look down to the source of the pain. Immediately, I notice a drastic difference in my hands. I guess that fall was worse than I thought. Not really sure what to do, I suck it up and head downstairs for breakfast. I sit at the table with my injured hand hidden beneath it as I eat my eggos. A few minutes go by and the pain is only getting worse. I know I have to swallow my pride.

"Hey, Nance, can you drive me to the hospital?"

"You've been awake for, what, 10 minutes? What could you have possibly done?" She judges before she sees the state of my hand. "Jesus, Y/N, what happened?"

"Long story. Will you take me or not?"

"I'm sorry, Y/N, I can't. I just can't be late today. I'll see if Jonathan can take you."

I finish my breakfast as Nancy goes to call the Byers house. When she comes back, she explains that Jonathan will pick me up after he's dropped Will off at school. As she tells me this, my mom calls the school to say that I won't be in.

With Nancy now gone, I sit alone and wait. Eventually, my mother shouts me to tell me that my ride is here. I grab my Walkman and head out.

"Hi, Jonathan." I greet him as I climb into the car.

"Hi, Y/N. How's your hand?"

"It hurts, but I'm fine."

"You gonna tell me what happened?"

"It's a long story. It's not important."

"What happened?"

"Max was teaching me how to skate - she helped me pick out a board and everything. She's gonna help me again on Saturday. I was practicing last night because I wanted to impress her, but I fell and hit my hand on some stuff." I sigh and reluctantly tell him out of embarrassment.

"I'm sure she'll appreciate the effort."

When we finally get to the hospital - and after waiting for god knows how long - we finally get through to a doctor. After I recite the story of what happened once again, they fit a cast on. Great. I have to be careful who I let sign it. When we get back in the car, I make a suggestion.

"Hey, do you think if I turned up at Scoops like this that Steve would give me free ice cream?"

"Probably not."

"Can you drop me off there anyway? I wanna annoy him and get all the samples I can."

"I should probably take you home."

"You think my parents ever know or care about where I am?" I question. He looks at me, unsure what he should do. "Please?"

"Fine."

Cut to Scoops Ahoy

"Hey, dingus, one of your kids is here!" Robin shouts for Steve.

"Not a pairing I thought I'd see." He states as he appears at the counter. "Wait, why aren't you in school?"

"I had to go to the hospital." I say as I raise my hand - now in a cast.

"What did you do?" He asks and looks at me like I'm his dumb daughter. I then explained how it happened. "I appreciate the hustle, but that was a stupid move."

"I've got to go. Good luck." Jonathan interrupts before rushing away.

"What? Hey, don't just leave her here!" Steve yells as Jonathan leaves. Suddenly, he's gone. "Great, always the babysitter." Time to steal all the ice cream.