ɴᴏᴛʜɪɴɢ ʟᴀꜱᴛꜱ ꜰᴏʀᴇᴠᴇʀ ☆ ꜱᴛᴇᴠᴇ ʜᴀʀʀɪɴɢᴛᴏɴ

013.

[1983]
013. Annie, Annie, Annie

"You never said what I was saying." Nancy spoke towards Jonathan as they walked through the woods. The blonde girl turned to look at her.

"What?"

"Yesterday." She clarified. "You said I- we were saying something and that's why you took our picture."

"Oh, um.." Jonathan looked down, bag on his shoulder and baseball bat in his other hand. Nancy held the gun and Annabelle carried a crowbar. "I don't know."

"Come on, J." Annie grinned, skipping ahead of him, turning to face him, walking backwards. "What does the Jonathan Byers, amazing photographer, see?"

The boy chuckled at her antics. "My guess. It was the first time you looked free. You looked happy. I guess you were so engrossed in drawing, you were finally yourself. You weren't trying to help everyone. You were just you."

Annabelle looked down and joined beside Jonathan. The boy cleared his throat and continued about Nancy. "I saw this girl, you know, trying to be someone else." Nancy kept her gaze on him. "But for that moment... it was like you were alone, or you thought you were alone. And, you know, you could just be yourself."

"That is such bullshit."

The boy stopped, stammering out. "What?" Annabelle bit her bottom lip, looking down to avoid the confrontation between the two. She was never good with arguments. It just reminded her of the nights when her dad did stay. The moonlight shining through the dark sky while hearing her parents scream at each other downstairs then a loud thud as the door shut behind him. Then he was gone again.

"I am not trying to be someone else." Nancy turned back to the boy. "Just because I'm dating Steve and you don't like him-"

"You know what? Forget it. I just thought it was a good picture." He huffed, walking past the two girls. Nancy followed him but Annie didn't move just yet. She took a deep breath before following the duo.

"He's actually a good guy. Right, Annie?" The blonde hummed in agreement.

"He did leave his friendship with Annie freshmen year, but okay."  The girl looked to Annabelle who just shrugged back with a small smile and cached up to walk beside the Byers boy. "Yesterday, with the camera... He's not like that at all. He was just being overprotective. Even Annie agrees." Nancy was trying to get Jonathan to see the good in the Harrington boy.

"Yeah, that's one word for it." He scoffed and walked away. The Lewis girl didn't want to get into an argument. She didn't even want to hear this. "Oh, and I guess what you did was oaky?"

"No. I-I.. I never said that."

"He had every right to be pissed-"

"Okay, all right. Does that mean I have to like him?"

"No." The two stopped in front of each other, Annie sighed and slowly walked ahead of the two but still able to hear them. "Listen, don't take it personally, okay? I don't like most people. He's in the vast majority."

"Except Annie."

"Yeah. Except Annie." the boy confirmed and continued to walk. "You know, I was actually starting to think that you were oaky." The Wheeler girl called out, getting his attention.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Nancy nodded. "Yeah, I was thinking, 'Jonathan Byers, maybe he's not the pretentious creep everyone says he is'."

"Well, I was just starting to think you were okay. I was thinking, 'Nancy Wheeler, she's not just another suburban girl who thinks she's rebelling by doing exactly what every other suburban girl does... until that phase passes and they marry some boring one-time jock who now works sales, and they live out a perfectly boring little life at the end of a cul-de-sac. Exactly like their parents, who they thought were so depressing, but now, hey, they get it'."

She scoffed. "Well why don't you admit that you just don't like Steve because your in love with Annabelle and Steve is her friend. I see the way you look at her. It's always her, right?"

Jonathan looked to her and scoffed. "I do n-"

"Ahh!" A yell cut the boy of and panic flooded both of them. The two took off, trying to find Annabelle as neither realised she had walked off.

"Annie!"

When the duo finally stopped, they saw the blonde on the floor, holding onto her right foot. "What happened?" Jonathan shrugged the bag of his shoulder and knelt down beside her.

"I tripped over that stupid branch and fell. I think I twisted my ankle." When she pulled her her hand away, Jonathan eyes were trained to her ankle that looked slightly sore and with a small gash.

"Does it hurt?"

The blonde nodded and bit her lip. "I lost the crowbar to. I just got dizzy and wasn't looking where I was going. Sorry." He shook his head back to her, digging through the bag for a band aid or something. Nancy stood behind the duo, arms hugging herself as she didn't know what to do right now.

"Don't. It wasn't your fault."

He wrapped a bandage around her ankle, seeing it was also slightly bruised. "You should be okay. It might hurt for a while." The girl nodded and dusted off the dirt on her top. "My mom's gonna go crazy seeing this as the second time I've hurt myself in the last few days." She mumbled to herself, but the boy heard and furrowed his brows in concern.

"Why? What else happened?" Jonathan asked, helping the girl stand up. "I was at Steve's, the morning after the party, I was helping him clean up the mess and that same knife cut my hand." She showed the bandage over her palm, her other arm around Jonathans shoulder to steady her.

"I guess you really are clumsy." He let out an airy chuckle. "Can you walk?" Annie put all her weight on that foot, testing it. She yelped slightly but didn't move. "I think so." letting go of the boy, she stepped forward, limping ever so slightly. Jonathan picked up the bag from the floor again while Nancy grabbed the crowbar and passing it to him.