1983 || Stranger Things

ᴛʜɪʀᴛʏ-sɪx | ᴏᴠᴇʀʟᴏᴀᴅᴇᴅ

      That Saturday night, as Julie was going to sleep with her seagull held tight to her, she listened to her music and let it lull her to sleep. Max was awake in her bed, and Billy was off somewhere probably having sex with someone. Julie didn't know it, but that conversation at the pool with Billy earlier in the day meant everything.

      As Whitney Houston's radiant voice soared through Julie's ears, she grew sadder and sadder. I Will Always Love You was Julie's favorite song of hers, because it used to make her think of Steve. Now, it made her think of everything she did wrong, but she didn't know where to begin.

      She hadn't really done anything wrong, besides express her feelings. She assumed that Steve felt the same way, given the way they were together, but she was very, very wrong.

      How could Julie have missed the fact that Steve was still infatuated with Nancy Wheeler? It seemed obvious, now that Julie thought about it. She just wished she didn't have to find out the way she did, because now she was miserable.

      Eventually, Julie took the mixtape out of her walkman, slamming it onto her nightstand and rolling over in her bed. As she listened to the sound of her own breathing to fall asleep, a whole different kind of sound could be heard in her ears. By the way the sound sent a chill down her spine, she knew that she was the only one who heard it.

      Screaming. Growling. Screeching. Fear. Agony. Pain. Horror. Every sound terrifying. Every sound getting worse and worse. The worst part? She recognized it like an old face you hadn't seen in a while. Julie thought it was done. She thought that once El closed the gate, she was free. She covered her ears, but it did nothing.

      It was close, but yet far away. Screaming. Growling. Screeching. Fear. Agony. Pain. Horror. Julie couldn't find the location, no matter how hard she tried. Her breathing picked up, and her body stiffened. If Max didn't notice something was wrong by now, Julie figured that she never would.

      It was a pounding in her head that wouldn't go away. Screaming. Growling. Screeching. Fear. Agony. Pain. Horror. The sounds seemed to be on repeat, never stopping and never giving Julie a chance to breathe.

      Then suddenly, it stopped. Julie uncovered her ears and her breathing went steady again. It was like a nightmare that was real, and more horrifying than it could have ever been in real life. It had to have been a dream. It had to have been. There was no other explanation.

      Even as Julie tucked her arms into her IUPUI sweatshirt and cradled her seagull under her blanket, she wasn't free from the sounds. It was going to happen again, but Julie wasn't ready for it at all.

•••

      Julie sat on the back porch of her house in the hot June morning. A cigarette dangled from her ragged lips, her fingers braiding her hair by instinct. She said she wasn't going to smoke again. She made that promise with Steve.

      But promises could be broken. And it was an escape.

      Julie blew smoke from her cigarette, not enjoying the feeling she got from it. She needed to get ready for work, but Julie had no motivation, and no desire to work anymore. She didn't want to walk into the mall, and risk seeing Steve. She couldn't handle it.

      The broken hearted girl leant her head against the siding of the house, closing her eyes as she finished her braids. She wondered if Steve felt as rotten as she did. If he wondered every second of every day what went wrong, even though he knew all too well. Selfishly, Julie wanted Steve to hurt like she did. She hoped he was.

      Since that day, Julie rarely spoke to anyone besides Robin and Max. She was too careless to bother communicating with her parents or Billy. Robin came over almost every day, distracting Julie and making her smile, while also talking through her feelings, even though Robin sucked at it. Max coaxed Julie into doing normal things. Putting makeup on, doing her hair even better than she used to. She helped her stay busy.