Steve Harrington hated to say this but he missed her. He missed the way she chuckled at the stupid things he'd do to get her attention. He missed the way she would mock her brother and his friends but if anyone else were to do it, they would be dead...
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"Her hair is Harlow gold Her lips are sweet surprise Her hands are never cold She's got Bette Davis eyes"
Bette Davis Eyes By Kim Carnes (1981)
Valerie rubbed her eyes as she knocked on the door of her brother's spare room where she heard soft chirping and light snores. He must have fallen asleep on the couch. "Dust! Wake up." Valerie groaned before barging in and seeing her brother sleeping soundly surrounded by candy. Valerie then turned her attention to the cage where Yertle would usually be, only to find the small slug they had found last night. "Hey, little buddy." The creature continued chirping as Valerie stared at it before feeling something touch her foot causing her to let out a little scream before she looked down and saw a happy and carefree Yertle. "What, what!" Dustin yelled before throwing a book off of his chest and swiping the candy wrappers off of his pants. Valerie sighed as she looked at Yertle on her foot and quickly picked him up and put him in her arms, giving the cold-blooded creature some warmth.
"Yeah, that's Dart. He likes nougat." Dustin chuckled before picking him up and stroking the back of the slimy animal. Valerie scrunched up her nose as she looked at the creature, much preferring the tortoise that was currently trying to climb over her foot. "I cannot believe you kept that thing. What if it's dangerous?" Valerie stroked Yertle's shell as she cradled the poor tortoise in her arms. It had been through too much. "Dart is not dangerous. He's a sweet little guy." Dustin then turned and slipped Dart back into his ghost trap from his costume. Valerie shook her head as she rubbed her eyes. It was way too early for this shit. "Dust, what are you doing with that thing," Valerie asked in an exasperated tone as she watched her brother.
"I've got to show the party. You better get going, you're going to be late." Valerie quickly glanced at the clock on the wall behind her. "Shit!" Valerie sprinted out of her brother's room, running straight into her own and placing Yertle next to her own tortoise enclosure where her own tortoise used to be before it died. Quickly getting changed, Valerie ran out of the house and into her car before peering at the time again. 2 minutes to get to school.
"Shit!" Valerie swiftly pulled into the parking lot before rushing to her science class with Mr. Carter who gave her a disapproving look as she raced in and sat next to Jonathan at the back of the class where all the weird kids sat. "Where did you go last night?" Jonathan asked as he pretended to flip through his textbook. Valerie followed suit before answering, pretending like she was still interested in the class. "I got a lift home with Steve. I kicked someone after you disappeared." Jonathan's eyes widened and he decided not to pester her anymore as she quickly wrote down the notes that were on the chalkboard. She was so far behind, the school in Florida being much farther behind than what they were doing in Hawkins.
Valerie went about her day as she would do any day at her old school and last year. Shuffling through the halls, she bumped shoulders causing her to drop the three books in her arms. "Shit, Valerie. I'm sorry." Steve sighed, quickly scrambling to pick up all the books before smiling sadly at the girl. Still thinking about Nancy, Steve's emotions were a mixture of Sadness and Anger. Valerie smiled up at him before clutching the books to her chest.
"Have you talked to Nancy yet?" At the mention of his estranged girlfriend's name, Steve cleared his throat and ran his fingers through his hair. No doubt one of his more noticeable nervous antics. That and bouncing his leg, one that Valerie shared with him. "No, I didn't pick her up today. I'm not going to pick her up after what she said to me. " Steve bitterly chuckled, shaking his head and kicking the ground with his squeaky shoes. "Steve! C'mon she probably regrets it. Give her the benefit of the doubt." Valerie tried to reason to Steve's dismay before he started backing away slowly.
"I gotta go play some basketball." As Steve turned, Valerie quickly fastened her pace so she walked beside him towards the gym. "Mind if I watch?" Steve nodded before the two walked to the gym. Valerie sat in the stands, studying to make up for the time missed that morning. Every so often, she would glance up and flinch as she saw Steve get beaten by the new douche of the school. As he shot the ball into the hoop, Billy sent her a wink that made her skin crawl. Once he was back near Steve, the two looked up at her causing Valerie to feel very self-conscious and she quickly directed her attention back to her book. She lifted her head once again as she heard Nancy shout out for Steve and the two disappear outside the gym.
Valerie tapped her feet anxiously before bouncing up at the sight of Steve. A look of defeat on his face caused Valerie to run out of where he came from, only to find a confused Nancy. "Valerie, I--I should love him. I should've said I loved him. But I just couldn't. Why?" Valerie sighed before enveloping her friend in a hug and stroking her hair. Nancy froze for the first few seconds before placing her head on Valerie's shoulder and wrapping her arms around her torso. "We'll figure it out. We always do." Nancy sniffled a little bit before walking away from the girl who wore a solemn expression. One of regret and doubt.
As the shitty day progressed, Valerie couldn't find Nancy, Jonathan or Steve. Unfortunately, she saw Billy almost everywhere she went. Valerie ended the day by slowly walking outside of her school and taking a walk down to the Middle school from the street to find her brother. She sighed softly as it was almost silent around her, closing her eyes gently, Valerie began to take in the noises from around her. The Wind, the Distant rumbling of cars and sniffling.
Valerie opened her eyes to see a curly haired girl in a dark green faded coat a little bit ahead of her. Not paying much attention to it, She slowly walked across the road from the Middle school, deflated and clenching her fists. Valerie's eyes went back to the girl who stared right at her with her eyes staring at her blankly. Valerie gasped as her eyes scanned the girl's features. A sense of familiarity washed over her before it clicked in her mind as to who it was. But it couldn't be. They said she had disappeared. "El?" Valerie shouted causing the girl to go sprinting towards the forest. She watched as the curls on top of the girl's head bounced causing a bit of doubt to creep into her mind. She had only seen the girl bald, but Valerie knew it was her.
"Eleven! Is that you?" Valerie took a step onto the road before a car screeched past her, honking at her profusely. Valerie spun her head back to where the girl was moments ago, only to find an empty deserted space. Valerie didn't know what to think. Was she going crazy? Eleven was gone. Everyone knew that. She was dead and there was no changing that. Oh god, she was surely going mad. "Oh, my god. I'm going insane." Valerie continued her journey to the school before arriving at the front doors. As she placed her hands on the door, a car came screeching into the parking lot before Joyce hopped out, her aura frantic.
"Joyce? What are you doing here? I thought the boys rode back home after school?" Joyce walked towards the oldest Henderson with the same wide-eyed crazy look as she always had when she was looking for Will. "Valerie. Where's Will?" Valerie quickly replied with a shrug and the women went inside, shouting out for the missing boy. "He was supposed to have AV club. Will!" The women continued shouting until they heard someone else shouting out his name. Dustin and a redheaded girl rounded the corner, Dustin panting from the shouting most likely.
"Dustin!" Valerie shouted in surprise as he looked at her with round eyes. "Valerie? Mrs. Byers?" Dustin said as they neared each other. Valerie was very confused at that point as she looked at Joyce next to her who was frantic. "What's going on? Where's Will?" Just as Dustin opened his mouth to answer, he was interrupted by Lucas sprinting in. "The field!" He said and that was all it took for them to sprint out the doors where Will and Mike stood frozen on the field. Not again. No, everything was supposed to be normal. Will was supposed to be normal.
I just found the answer online to a maths problem that I needed to solve or else I'd fail and I don't know why but I am crying. Like it's trig and I am awful at maths so I just can't. Also 700 READS!!!! Thank you so much to all the people that have read, voted or commented on it. I really appreciate it.
