THE GOLD | b. hargrove

chapter six

The weekend had been filled with headaches, the sickly feeling of guilt and lot of sleeping it off. Harriet mainly stayed in her room, emerging only to use the bathroom and grab just enough food to dispel her hunger but not enough to turn her stomach. She'd spoken with Nancy on Saturday who had very little recollection of the events of the party, something Harriet wished for herself. Nancy had tried asking about her cousins night but was quickly shut down with short answers, dodging her questions in any way she could. It was weird for Harriet to not tell her cousin everything, with the girls being the same age they'd always been close and shared secrets like best friends do, but Nancy also knew to not pry. Harriet had been closed off when she first moved in with them, and had gradually come out of her shell again to where she is now. If she didn't want to talk, there must've been a reason and whatever it was,  was clearly private.

The two girls sat at the breakfast table, neither actually touching any of the food presented to them and barely managing sips of water as the time ticked on towards the start of school. The hangovers may have subsided, but the fear of the unknown waiting for them in the halls of Hawkins high that day was enough to keep their stomach tied in knots. Harriet glanced up at the wall clock for what felt like the hundredth time that morning, sighing at the sight of the time. "I don't think he's coming Nance." Her voice was hushed, not wanting to draw more attention to the pair who were getting to be increasingly late. She still didn't know the ins and outs of Nancy's Friday experience, though nor did the girl herself, but the absence of Steve's presence this morning wasn't a good sign.

"Right, we'll just walk." Nancy huffed, finally accepting that their ride to school was not going to show. She slung her bag on her shoulder and pushed out from the breakfast table, storming to the door. Harriet quickly picked up her bag and followed suit, closing the front door behind them as they began their trek to Hawkin's high.

The cold nip of the November air encouraged the girls to quicken their step, which meant they actually made it to school on time by the skin of their teeth. Their cheeks were bitten red by the fresh air, and despite the cold their lungs felt as if they were on fire after marching non-stop the entire way. "Tomorrow, we set off earlier." Harriet breathed out, having to force the words out of her heaving chest. Given they were on short time, the two went their separate ways to their respective lockers without another word.

As Harriet stood at her locker she pulled her long blonde hair into a messy ponytail, the feeling of it sticking to her neck after her unplanned morning cardio was already irritating her. Starting her day sweaty and exhausted was not ideal, but after dousing herself in some vanilla perfume she felt a little better. She quickly grabbed her books for English first period, deciding to not waste time planning for the rest of the day by trying to organise the mess of the locker and instead just getting her books as she went. After carelessly shoving the books into her bag, she closed the locker with a loud clang and turned on her heel to start towards the classroom but instead bumped into a solid frame that had apparently been stood behind her.

"Oh my god," She exhaled, placing her hand on her chest as she looked up at the person she had all but slammed into. Any normalcy that had returned to her heart rate was quickly taken away again as she was faced with her boyfriend whom she hadn't spoken to since their argument on Friday. She'd half expected him to call her over the weekend to try and make amends, but the call never came and she wasn't going to be the one to make first contact. "You scared the shit out of me Dan." A small laugh tried to cover the nervousness in her voice, but it was to no avail as she could feel the shakiness in her words.

"You went home with him." The boys words matched his cold demeanour. His eyes bored down at the blonde girl in front of him, and she could see the combination of hurt and rage in them.