𝕕𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕕 𝕘𝕠𝕠𝕕𝕤: 𝕒 𝕓𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕣𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕗𝕒𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟚𝟡: ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕖 ℝ𝕖𝕕

Since Tommy's disappearance, Darcy had been invited to fewer parties, and after Carol's stunt at the pool, she didn't want something more than an ice cream cone dumped on her head. So, she found other ways to fill her time, mainly at home, while Dustin worked on the sensor.

In the three days since Billy's incident, she'd taken up aerobics, especially routines by Jane Fonda that her aunt bought on a VHS tape. Even though she couldn't really jog outside or take a stroll around the mall without risking her own safety or that of everyone else around her, it was nice to exercise and work up a sweat from the comfort of her living room.

Darcy was in the middle of a cooldown when the doorbell rang. She glanced at the clock in her living room: 5:06 p.m. Her aunt had already left for her night shift at the hospital, and she wasn't expecting visitors. Darcy began walking towards the door, thinking. Had Hopper and his crew finally poked around Brimborn? Darcy's hands shook as she opened the door.

Billy stood in front of her door, smiling crookedly with his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. Suddenly, Darcy wished she'd changed out of her lilac aerobics outfit and teal leg warmers.

"You look...active."

Darcy snorted. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Listen, why don't you join me? I'm heading to Tina's lake party."

Darcy shook her head. "It's best if I stay home. Besides, Dustin's almost done with the sensor. I can wait a couple more days."

Billy scoffed in disbelief. "There's hardly anything to do in Hawkins, and you choose to spend time at home? C'mon, I'll give you twenty minutes to get ready."

Darcy only stared after Billy as he returned to his car to wait for her. After processing his words, she closed the front door and sprinted up the stairs to her room. She knew that he knew it was a terrible idea to bring her to a party; surely this indirect invite wasn't from the kindness in his heart. If he had any. But Darcy couldn't deny the opportunity to abandon her self-exile, even for just a few hours.

Once in her room, she threw open her closet door. All of a sudden, she had nothing to wear. Each piece of clothing was either too colorful or outdated. She tossed multiple pairs of jeans and blouses onto her bed out of frustration. She glanced at the time; she only had 9 minutes to get ready now.

Finally, Darcy settled on a red blouse, for which she rolled the sleeves up and tied the ends, and an acid-washed jean shorts with studs on the pockets. Leaving her hair half-up, Darcy sprinted down the stairs with a pair of socks and her scuffed pair of Keds in her arms. Before bursting through the front door, she slipped on her shoes and applied Revenge Red lip gloss to her lips. She had expected Billy to ditch her, but she was surprised to find him leaning against his Camaro in her driveway, patiently waiting while finishing his cigarette.

Billy raised his brows at the sight of her, glancing down at his watch. "You had five more minutes to spare."

Darcy took a deep breath, steeling her nerves. "The second I feel my hands turning cold, I'm leaving. Got that?"

He nodded, flicking the cigarette butt to the ground and stomping it out with his boot. "I won't let anything happen. Not to the others, not to you."

His words were supposed to reassure her, but more doubt pooled in Darcy's stomach as she climbed into his Camaro. "Don't go jinxing it now."

Tina's lake party was already in full swing at Lover's Lake. People were cannonballing off the docks and into the water, smoke from a blazing bonfire curled through the trees, and music blasted from several boomboxes. Darcy climbed out of Billy's Camaro, heading straight for a tree stump to sit on and watch the party from afar without waiting for Billy. She ached to dance, wade in the lake water, and just enjoy herself; now she was only counting down the seconds until her next episode.

"Hey." Darcy glanced up to find Steve Harrington smiling down at her, offering her a drink. Even though she was homeschooled, she'd heard tall tales of King Steve and his reign in Hawkins High until Billy dethroned him. The last she heard about him, Steve was currently working at Scoop's Ahoy in the new Starcourt Mall.

Darcy smiled, politely declining Steve's offer. "No, thanks. Shouldn't you be throwing that at my head instead?"

Steve shook his head, sitting on another tree stump to Darcy's left. "Dustin told me about the sensor he's making."

Darcy pursed her lips, nodding. "You're friends with Dustin?"

Steve shrugged, taking a sip of his drink. "By circumstances, yeah."

She smiled wryly, toeing a pebble on the ground. "I could say the same, though I wish under different circumstances."

Steve leaned in close, talking quietly even though the sounds of the lake party drowned out their voices. "Is Tommy really...?"

Darcy nodded solemnly. "He...yeah. He's gone."

Steve crushed his soda can with his hands. "I wish there's something I could do to help, but things at the mall have been hectic lately."

She snickered. "You mean there's more to working at the mall than slinging scoops of ice cream?"

Before Steve could answer, a friend of his waved him over to the drinks table. Steve smiled apologetically. "I'll see you around, Darcy."

Darcy nodded, waving after him. She liked talking to Steve; he was easy to talk to, and she didn't feel her blood pressure rise unlike, whenever she talked with Billy.

Sitting by herself on the tree stump, Darcy sighed, propping her elbows onto her knees. Everyone was clustered in their own little groups around the lake. These people have probably known each other since kindergarten and she'd been homeschooled for as long as she could remember. When she was thirteen, she had asked her Aunt Elena why she couldn't attend school like everyone else.

"You are in school," Aunt Elena had replied. "You don't have to wake up early, and you have the bathroom to yourself."

Even though her Aunt Elena was not entirely wrong, Darcy wanted to experience having her own locker, the dread of a surprise pop quiz, and the thrill of being the first to hear salacious gossip. Why exactly did she have to be homeschooled? Surely it wasn't any cheaper than attending school in person.

Darcy sighed, standing up. Even though the dreaded chill had yet to return to her hands, she had no reason being here at this party. She began walking in the opposite direction, away from the lake party. It was if Billy had brought her here to torture her, to remind her why she couldn't be like everyone else.

Several screams from the lake party, followed by a growl, caught Darcy's attention. She took cover behind a bush, peeking through its leaves to see the cause of the commotion. People were running amok, overturning coolers and pushing other people out of the way, but Darcy still couldn't find the source of the roaring and growling. Bears weren't common in this part of Indiana, but at the same time, neither were spider monsters, which is what Darcy saw. Three of them were closing on a group of people. Darcy's heart dropped when she saw that of them was Billy. Without thinking, Darcy burst from the bush, sprinting straight towards the spider monsters.