1983 || Stranger Things

ғᴏᴜʀᴛᴇᴇɴ | ᴀ ɴᴏᴛ sᴏ ᴊᴏʟʟʏ ᴄʜʀɪsᴛᴍᴀs

𝑂𝑛𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟

      Christmas wasn't Julie's favorite time of year. Christmas in California was her favorite thing, though. It wasn't cold, and the weather was nice, so her and Billy would sneak out at night after Julie tucked Max in to go surfing. The pair would put red and green glow sticks around their necks, wrists, and ankles and ride the waves all night.

      To most people, Billy was an asshole, and he was, but Christmas was his favorite time of year, and he was extremely pleasant the whole of Christmas break. He would wake Julie up early every morning, even as a teenager, and they would surf and play in the sand all morning, and sneak back into their rooms before anyone would wake up.

      Of course, the main reason they would be discreet about their whereabouts every morning and every night was so they didn't face the wrath of their father. The fear he had bestowed upon his children was so gruesome and terrible that Julie wondered most nights how he got like that. The whole Hargrove-Mayfield house was unusually happy the whole Christmas week, and Julie cherished that time, even if she hated the holiday.

      Julie loved her Christmas break afternoons with Max. Billy would always be in his room, Susan cooking or doing things throughout the house, and Neil working, so the two of them did many things. Sometimes they would surf, other times Julie would read to Max, but mainly, Max would impress Julie with her skateboarding skills. Julie tried to skateboard once, but she fell on her ass and didn't try again.

      Now, being in Hawkins, Julie, had to rely on her memories to spend any time with her siblings. Julie had finally sent the letter she wrote to Max the day before Will's disappearance the day before, but she wasn't expecting an answer soon. She didn't want an answer, because she knew that Max would beg her to come home for the summer.

      Julie wanted to go home, but she didn't want to leave her friends. Will and the kids were better than ever, Jonathan and Joyce were happy, and Nancy and Steve were back together. Life was good, and life wouldn't be good for her in California.

      But on the other hand, Julie has felt guilty every day for being away from Billy and Max. Even though Billy was a major ass and dick, and Max was full of attitude, she loved them. Julie's biggest conflict was that she hadn't yet told the Byers of the invitation she had been given, and she didn't know how to bring it up.

      "Julie! Can you help me?" Julie's pacing in her room with her mind running a mile a minute had halted when Joyce called for her in the kitchen.

      She stood in front of her window and watched the snow fall with Chester's bark in the background, pulling her hair from it's braids and pinning half of it up. She smoothed out her dark red turtle-neck sweater and brushed off her black jeans. "Coming!" she called, stepping out of her room and walking to the kitchen. Jonathan and Will were in the living room, Joyce was in the kitchen, and Chester was trying to steal the ham.

      "Hey! No!" she scolded the large dog, pushing him away and lightly smacking his nose in punishment. Chester walked away sadly, and Julie joined Joyce at the counter. "What do you need?" she asked.

      "Can you put the beans in a bowl and bring it to the table?" Joyce asked, and Julie nodded. She scooped the vegtables as instructed and followed Joyce to the table.

      Waiting for them in the dining room was Jonathan, taking pictures of everything with his new camera from Steve and Nancy. "What are you... What are you doing?" Joyce asked, smiling at her son.

      "Documenting." Jonathan said, taking a close up picture of Julie's face.

      "Can you not document in my eyes?" Julie asked with a shrug, arranging the dishes on the table neatly.

      "Why are you documenting?" Joyce asked.

      "Because. It looks great." Jonathan said.

      "Oh, this is just so overcooked. And look, the potatoes are runny. They're so runny." Joyce said, and Julie had to admit that the potatoes were runny.

      Jonathan chuckled at his mother. "Mom, it's gonna be great." he said, sitting down in his seat. Julie sat across from Julie, who was in between her sons at the head of the dining table.

      "It's definitely an Atari." Will said happily, joining the other three at the table.

      "An a-what-i?" Joyce asked, and Julie chuckled.

      "The green present. It's an Atari. I felt Dustin's today, it's the same exact weight."

      "Really? You'll just have to see then, won't you." Julie teased the boy. Will looked at her and mocked her, making her hold her hand to her chest his fake offense.

      Will stood from the table, gaining everyone's attention. "Hey, no more snooping." Joyce said.

      "No, I forgot to wash my hands. I'll be right back."

      "Okay. He's washing his hands?" Joyce asked the teens softly, who both chuckled.

      "The Upside Down is a dirty place." Julie shrugged, and Joyce nodded, serving herself and her kids.

      Will came back quickly, and the four quickly dug into their food, which was actually really good. They started talking about the D&D game WIll and his friends had been playing, Will telling an animated and eccentric story about it.

      Dinner was a nice time, and by the time Julie was crawling into her bed that evening, she had made her decision. She was going home for the summer. She didn't want to miss out on any more time with her siblings. Regardless of how the Byers would feel, Julie needed to go home.