𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐔𝐄! ✽ 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻

53

❝𝐆𝐎𝐃, 𝐌𝐎𝐌, 𝐘𝐎𝐔'𝐑𝐄 𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐎𝐎𝐑 𝐁𝐎𝐘,❞ sheridan groaned over the christmas record blasting from her living room. in front of the television were joyce and will attempting to waltz, the son and mother duo having about half a foot of dead space between them. jonathan chuckled from behind the camera as he recorded the entire endeavor. dani crossed her arms over her green turtleneck and leaned against the wooden doorframe. having taken one of her many cameras down from its shelf—something she apparently did around this time of year—she took the opportunity to snap a pic.

as the camera slowly spit out the polaroid, will sighed. "do you guys always have to document everything?" he inquired.

"no, no... just the good stuff," jonathan teased. a few giggles fell from his sister's lips as she waved the film in the air.

"and trust me, you're gonna wanna remember this one day," sherrie amended. as the black transformed into color, she peered down at the image. "and i'm gonna wanna show my nieces and nephews, of course." will rolled his eyes at his siblings and their taunting.

"are you sure people still dance like this?" the young boy asked of their mother. she shook her head, missing a step to answer the burning question, thus throwing the routine off entirely.

"yeah, it's just what's happenin'," she reassured. will's gaze flitted between jonathan and dani.

"is it what's happenin'?"

"i don't know if i'd exactly call that 'happenin''," sherrie joked once more. laughter erupted through the older girl's nose as she smiled down at the polaroid in her hand. "oh yeah; this one's a keeper."

✽

𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐋, a familiar bmw pulled into the middle school parking lot behind betsy. sheridan's lips curved into a wide smile as she peered into the back window, making out steve and dustin's silhouettes, both with incredibly high hair. coincidentally enough, her gut had told her to bring the polaroid camera—and she listened.

despite her clogs proving the task challenging, she tiptoed across the asphalt toward the passenger side. the window was rolled down although it was nearly freezing in hawkins. with her eye in the viewfinder, dani ran the rest of the way up to the car. immediately, once she reached the door, her finger pressed down on the shutter.

dustin and steve yelped, shielding their eyes from the flash despite the fact that it had already gone off. "jesus, dani!" the harrington boy cried as he wiped his eyes. infectious laughter bubbled up from her stomach as she peeled the plastic photograph from the camera.

"not cool, man! not cool!" dustin bellowed as he mirrored steve.

"whatever, you're gonna thank me for taking it one day," the girl responded as she shook the picture. "what're you two shitbirds doing just sittin' here? you got a girl to get to in there, dustin! a dance floor to tear up! punch to drink!" sherrie encouraged, her hand squeezing his shoulder.