Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE XXI. the devil in me [ season 3, episode 1 ]
Starcourt Mall. What a place. It was everything Steph imagined it would be, and more.
Neon lights of an assortment of different colours blared in almost every crevice, every nook and cranny, within the mall. Stores lined each side, as far as the eye could see. A crescendo of noise reverberated around the entire complex — an amalgamation of hysterical laughter, aimless chattering, footsteps, lofty music, and dinging tills; the noise of condensed happiness. And in the middle of the mall, a fountain had been erected, spilling sheets of water over an intricately carved mountain of marble stone, surrounded by benches and plants.
It looked like an arcade, but much larger and far more vibrant, if possible. The appeal was certainly aimed for the younger generation, to draw in children and adolescents with the age-appropriate stores, proven true by the congregations of high schoolers milling around, carrying shopping bags and cones of ice-cream.
Due to her unique sense of style, Steph had become accustomed to the intense staring and odd expressions thrown her way by members of the public. But here, it felt different. There were so many people saturated into one place, and it felt as though their eyes burnt holes through her clothing — a long skirt, the deep shade of imperial purple so dark it resembled a bruise, a shirt with long sleeves in the dullest sage-green colour, and her usual plethora of mismatched jewellery. The necklace Steve gave her on the night of the Snowball stood out amongst the rest as it was the most normal looking, simple and sleek rather than chunky and paired with odd charms. And she wouldn't stop fidgeting with the pendant, twiddling the carved silver between her fingers to provide a sense of comfort nothing else was able to elicit.
Veronica, on the other hand, had adapted a far more normal approach when it came to choices of clothing. Matching the vibrancy of the Mall, Veronica was clad in a neon-orange shirt, and a pair of denim jeans that flared out around her ankles. Her jewellery merely consisted of a wooden-bead necklace and some of the rings she had recently borrowed from Steph's collection.
Truthfully, in both disposition and appearance, Veronica was an entirely different girl to the one who walked through the Byers' door all those months ago.
"This way!" Veronica cried. She steered Stephanie in the opposite direction of a record store that caught her eye amongst the clutter of stores and thrumming colours. "Scoops is down here."
And it was. On the bottom row, nestled between two barren shops, was the ice-cream store Veronica had claimed as her pride and joy. For some insane reason, she recently confessed to the fact she loved working; couldn't get enough of it were her direct words. Seeing people, talking to people, and having fun with her co-workers filled her with glee — which seemed reasonable considering the difference between this normal, adolescent life in comparison to spending her days hiding in a shabby warehouse from authorities, alongside Kali and the other delinquents.
