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🅴︎🅿︎🅸︎🆂︎🅾︎🅳︎🅴︎ 🅴︎🅸︎🅶︎🅷︎🆃︎ Ⓟ︎Ⓐ︎Ⓡ︎Ⓣ︎ Ⓞ︎Ⓝ︎Ⓔ︎
THE EXHAUSTING RIDE BACK TO Hawkins was set in a silence so loud a deaf person could feel it. They were sent home with a gift of vodka from Murray, and Jonathan drove with Kali beside him at the passengerʼs seat. She had her walkman plugged into her headphones, listening to Over and Over the entirety of the way. She wasn't sure why she was so obsessed with that one song, but ever since she'd heard it for the first time, Kali had felt strangely connected to it. Almost as though they were bonded.
Sitting in the backseat with all the luggage, Nancy watched Kali from the back of her head. She had so many things to tell her, but nothing could come out. Mosquitoes filled with anxiety stung her in the stomach whilst beetles of insecurity bit her in the heart. This morning, Kali had left the bed before she had a chance to wake up. They hadn't spoken since last night. Since those words were said.
Nancy knew Kali — she arguably knew her better than anybody in the world —, and she knew that being intimate with a person like that was hard for her, she knew opening up and being vulnerable the way she did was challenging. Nancy understood that, she completely understood why Kali would feel that way. After everything she'd been through, it would be strange for her not to behave this way afterwards. Of course she was going to be a little distant, possibly shocked. But Nancy just wished she'd say something. She needed her to say something. Anything.
However, other than their big night, another huge constant in Kaliʼs life had changed. She wasn't wearing her gloves. She was sitting in the car, surrounded by electric work, and she wasn't wearing her gloves. She wasn't covering herself at all, she wasn't pushing her veins in and preventing anything that was happening. Kali was in complete control of her body, for the very first time in her life.
All thanks to Nancy.
Kali Griffin was terrified of the way she felt about that girl. She was terrified of falling in love, she was terrified of it not being reciprocated; she was terrified of hurting her, she was terrified of hurting herself; she was terrified of having somebody by her side, she was terrified of not being alone; she was terrified of losing it, she was terrified of losing herself. Love was terrifying for a person who had only ever known hate. But it slipped out of her mouth. That stupid word slipped out, and she could never take it back. It was out in the open, and now anything could happen. Kali felt as though she'd been torn from her clothes, skinned alive and left for everybody else to witness. She felt more naked than ever.
"We'll stop at the lab first, since it's quicker" Jonathan stated. "My mom said she's there with Mike and Will."
However, Kali couldn't hear him over the booming of her darkest thoughts and the sound of her soothing music. For a moment, she glanced through to mirror to see Nancy, but the girl was already looking back at her. She shooed her eyes away and went back to watching the rain fall down onto the window.
