✓ | I Hate You.

chapter five

CHAPTER FIVE: STEVE HAD IT ALL

The next day at school felt very uneventful for Cora. She hadn't seen Nancy at all, and she noticed Steve sitting by himself at the lunch table. It was an odd sight to see - the king of Hawkins High sitting alone at lunch.

Cora sighed softly before making her way over to Steve. The boy looked up in surprise when she sat down, setting her lunch tray in front of her without a word. "Hey, Cora." He greeted, hiding his confusion.

"Hey, Steve." She responded, taking a sip of her water before munching on some fries. She glanced up to see the boy still staring at her, causing her to sigh. "All the other seats were taken." She answered the question that he had yet to ask.

Steve glanced around, humming softly when he noticed that she was right. The only table with any extra seats was with Steve, who was no longer sitting alone now that she was there.

Steve turned back to Cora as he picked up his chicken wrap, "thanks for taking Nance home," he thanked her again, "she's not here today. She has a massive headache."

Cora hummed, "you're welcome." She shrugged, "but I don't care if she's here or not." She was lying through her teeth. The boy seemed to take nothing of it - it was typical Cora behaviour. He assumed that after last night, she'd taken back her tough act once more.

Steve didn't respond. Thankfully, it wasn't awkward. The two have never sat at the same table for lunch, and while they didn't have a choice this time, neither of them minded. "You know," Steve spoke up. "You're not so bad, Knight."

"Oh yeah?" Cora glanced up at him in interest, "what makes you think that?"

Steve chuckled, smiling as if it was hilarious that she didn't know why. "Because even though you tell everyone how much you hate Nancy Wheeler, you of all people made sure she got home safely. You didn't look for me or one of her friends, you took it into your own hands to do that." He took a sip of his orange juice, "not only that, you helped her clean up before you left. That wasn't so Cora Knight of you, either."

Cora thought for a moment before answering, "I suppose you're not so bad, either." He raised his brows at her, so she continued. "I guess I judged you before I really knew you. Whenever someone thinks of King Steve, they think, 'big house, rich family, spoiled kid'." Steve shrugged, nodding slowly at her words, "but you don't really live up to the expectations I had of you. You're actually kind of a nice guy."

Steve smiled in amusement, "you hardly know me." He pointed out.

"Yes, but whenever I spoke to you yesterday, you didn't sound like the asshole everyone made you out to be. You didn't insult me every chance you got, I mean, you invited me to your house, Steve." Cora laughed softly at the thought.

"Oh, actually, that was Nancy's idea." Steve brushed it off with the wave of a hand.

Cora furrowed her brows, "what?"

"It was Nancy's idea."

"But I thought you said you were just trying to be nice." She frowned.

"Yeah, because Nance encouraged me to be." He shrugged, "it was still her idea. She just wanted me to ask." Cora only nodded, letting the silence draw out. Neither of them spoke for the rest of lunch.

Cora walked up to the Wheeler household with her hands in her jacket pockets, slightly nervous as she did so. She then stood in front of the door and knocked after a moment or two. A woman with a bright smile opened the door, "hi, dear." She greeted. "Do you need anything?"

"Hello, Mrs. Wheeler." Cora sent her a smile, but it faltered slightly. Mrs. Wheeler didn't notice. "I was just wondering if I could talk to Nancy." The woman tilted her head, "oh, I'm Cora. Cora Knight. I'm friends with Nancy."

Mrs. Wheeler hummed, "she's never mentioned you." She pondered.

"Oh, we only became friends recently." Cora cringed inwardly, "I'm here to talk to her about a science project. We've been partnered up, and I wanted to let her know because she's been here all day." Mrs. Wheeler nodded, finally understanding. Cora felt guilty about lying, but what was she supposed to say? I kissed your daughter when she was drunk, we need to talk? Absolutely not.

"Oh, okay." She smiled once more, opening the door wider so Cora could enter. "Come in. Her room is upstairs, I'm sure you'll find it easily."

Cora smiled at her, "thank you so much." She nodded, causing Mrs. Wheeler to do the same. The woman was right, she did find Nancy's room easily. Not because it was easy to find, but because she's already been there before.

Cora knocked on the door softly, "Nancy?" She asked, loud enough for the girl on the other side to hear, but not too loud to worsen the headache that she probably still had. "It's Cora."

Immediately after, there was noise inside the bedroom. Cora backed away from the door as the door handle began to turn. She watched as Nancy opened the door, the shorter girl's eyes were wide, and her hair was a mess. She seemed surprised to see Cora, of all people. "Cora?"

The girl nodded, "yeah, I just wanted to check on you to see if you were okay." She frowned, "I know we don't really get along, but I was still worried." Her plan was slowly falling apart. She couldn't even speak to Nancy about the kiss, like she wanted to. She didn't even know if Nancy remembered.

Nancy seemed even more surprised than before, "oh." She breathed out, "um, come in." She opened the door wider, causing Cora's eyes to widen, but she did as asked anyway.

Nancy sat on the bed and pat the space next to her, causing Cora to sit there. It was silent for a moment before Nancy spoke up, "I... um, I remember what happened." She mumbled awkwardly, "if that's what you wanted to talk about."

Cora breathed out in relief that Nancy already knew what she came here to say, but panic quickly swept in and caused her heart to race. "Yeah," she nodded, "I just, I don't know, wanted to know what happened." She paused, "I mean, why it happened."

Nancy stuttered, "I- I was drunk." She brushed it off, scratching the back of her neck awkwardly, "it didn't mean anything."

Cora felt her heart shatter, but she nodded at the statement anyway. "Yeah, totally. I understand." She laced her hands together nervously, "I just wanted to make sure."

Nancy seemed relieved, but she still stared down at her feet in shame. "Great." She sighed, "we don't have to tell anyone, right? I mean, Steve would be really upset."

Steve.

Cora frowned at his name. She knew she had no right to hate him, but how could she not? He had everything that she wanted. He had a big house, a rich family, Nancy Wheeler. He had it all.

But none of that was his fault, so she pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind.

"I won't tell Steve." Cora finally said, "I promise." It was a promise that she didn't want to make, but she no longer felt the urge to upset Nancy Wheeler like she used to. So, she decided that she would keep her lips sealed shut.

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lizzie speaks...

this is about to get rly interesting