The Losing Game

act one. introduction

𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠. . .

HAWKINS, INDIANA IS A HICK TOWN in the middle of nowhere. A shitty, classic, coming of age movie type of town. There, life is carefree, with the biggest threat being the horrid math tests that are coming up. However, life in Hawkins is also dull; people dream of growing up and getting out of that stupid town. Most of the time, those same, foolish, kids would come back and become their parents. But it was their town. No one was allowed to talk shit about it but the people who lived there.

Back when Theodore Harrington thought the exact same thing, that Hawkins was like every other mid western town, his life wasn't so bad. He had his family issues, but everyone had their own shit. Life wasn't perfect, but it was his own little world and he didn't mind it. He used to hate Hawkins and all of the assholes who lived there. He hated his older brother and his shitty friends. There were a lot of things to hate. 

On the other hand, there were a lot of good things about living in that hell hole. Theo would spend his nights sleeping in the woods for fun back then. The stars always had a connection to him. The night breeze would sway his hammock back and forth, rocking him to sleep. He also loved bussing tables at his uncle's restaurant. It was a nice easy starter job, and the free fries were a big plus.

The most exciting thing to do was play Dungeons and Dragons in the Wheeler's basement. The place reeked of pizza and body odor. The smell was practically ingrained into the walls. Theo loved being with his friends, whom he adored and always looked after.  Their little gang and their dumb fantasy adventures were usually the highlight of his fall evenings. 

The party of five consisted of Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, Lucas Sinclair, Will Byers, and Theo Harrington. Well, sort of Theo Harrington. He had only begun hanging out with the group when his older brother Steve told him it would get him points with the lovely Nancy Wheeler. The only issue was that Theo, for the life of him, could not understand a single thing about Dungeons & Dragons. He could never grasp the concept, claiming it was 'too nerdy', but he felt really dumb for not getting it. He did help Mike with planning the story telling behind the campaigns, but that's about it. He didn't even have a character, but the boys loved having him over and Theo always paid for pizza.

Adopted as Theodore Harrington, the 13, almost 14, year old is a good friend of Will Byers. The two met after school one day because neither of their parents could pick them up on time. A lot of the time, Jonathan would try and pick up Will right as school let out. However, his job demanded he get in as soon as the school day ended. That was the biggest difference between the two. They didn't have the same style or living situations, but the way each of their brothers acted towards them is their true divide.

Steve Harrington had bigger things to worry about than his little brother. Like what he was going to wear to the next football game, or who he was going to ask out this week. Will didn't even know Theo had a brother until Jonathan asked him if he was related to Steve. The two of them looked very different so it was easy to be confused, and neither of them had been seen in public together since they were little.

When Theo had told Will some stories about his brother, Will offered his house as a place to stay. He ended up telling Jonathan about the situation without Theo's knowledge. Slowly over time, Jonathan grew fond of Theo. He had been a very good friend to his brother, and they even had similar music taste. Sometimes, it seemed Theodore was more of a Byers kid than a Harrington.

After Theo got a bike for his 10th birthday, he still stayed after school with Will until he got a ride. Will never found out about Theo's bike or that he waited after school with him. Theo played off getting a new bike when Will showed up with his own bike for the first time. During these first few months of friendship, Joyce would offer Theo rides home. Of course, Theo would always refuse. While the Harrington and Byers' residences are within close proximity, the road to travel from one house to another looped all the way around town. However, that never stopped Theo from riding home with Will on his bike after every game night to make sure Will got home okay.