Edge of Seventeen • Steve Harrington

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Wendy Hargrove had her Walkman headphones hooked over her ears with her legs casually tossed up on the front dashboard of their car, her skirt dangerously riding up to expose the expanse of her thighs. Her fingers were tapping the drum beat to For Whom the Bell Tolls to drown out the roar of the engine as Billy recklessly pulled them into the parking lot of Hawkins High School.

Her eyes roamed over the parking lot that was filled with teenagers, some of them stopping to stare at their car passing by them. Each and every person there looked like they were from a small town, and she could almost smell the judgement wafting off of them in waves.

Almost all of them, she thought, as she recalled the kind but guarded eyes of Eddie Munson. She knew that before the day was over, she would seek the teenager out, not only to discuss music but so that she would have a friend to talk to so that her brother wouldn't be her only friend.

Her body jolted as Billy pulled into the spot, the music from the car radio blaring into her ears as she ripped the headphones from her head.

"If you leave me, I will murder you." Wendy turned to stare at her brother, her eyes narrowing on the cigarette that was dangling haphazardly from his lips. She knew that his plan was to divide and infiltrate the school so that they wouldn't be known as the new kids for long, but Wendy had always struggled more with making friends than her charismatic brother. In fact, her brother had yet to mention his best friend from home and Wendy couldn't help but wonder why Harrison hadn't been to the house to tell Billy goodbye before they left. "I'm serious William, you can conquer the school after we get our schedules."

"Wen, I'm not going to leave you." Billy rolled his eyes at his younger twin, his eyebrows lingering on her outfit in concern. "Would it kill you to wear something that doesn't show off your legs to the rest of the world? I don't feel like knocking idiots over the head today."

"Billy Hargrove turning down the opportunity to start a fight." Wendy deadpanned, her hands tugging down her skirt so that it covered more of her legs. She moved her hands and turned down the mirror to check her eyeliner. "I think the world is ending."

Wendy ignored the grunt of irritation that left her brother's lips in favor of watching the small upturn of Max's lips from the mirror. She caught her stepsister's eyes and winked at her, a small smile tugging at her own lips at the fact that she had made the younger girl smile.

Her hands flipped the mirror up when she deemed her eyeliner worthy enough for the day and opened the passenger door so that she could leave the car at the same time her brother did.

Max climbed out of the backseat and rolled her eyes as people stopped to stare at her older siblings like the shiny new toys that they were. Her only reaction of happiness occurred when Wendy reached over and squeezed her shoulder for strength, but Max didn't acknowledge her in favor of tossing her skateboard down to head towards the middle school.

Wendy watched her younger sibling sadly, wondering how things in her family could rot so quickly. Something had broken her brother to the point of hiding behind snarls and his fists. Something had broken Max to the point of moping around the house like the world was ending. Something had even broken inside of her when they were forced to move across the country.

Wendy Hargrove used to be the life of the party. She used to be the girl that flocked to social gatherings like a butterfly flapping its wings and people would follow her because she was kind to everyone no matter what. That Wendy Hargrove died the moment she stepped through her front door to see her brother covered in his own blood and her father telling her that she would have to leave behind everything that she had ever known.

The Wendy Hargrove that was standing in the middle of the Hawkins High School parking lot had built walls surrounding herself that would take a battering ram to knock down. She would rather have one genuine friend than be in the center of the crowd. She was a little bit colder, and her anger could rival her brother's on her worst days.