Emma || Steve Harrington/Billy Hargrove

010. The Wheeler Kids

*Emma's POV*

My routine was pretty much set for the most part by the third week of being in school. I would go two to three days a week to look after school and the rest of the time I'd either hang out with Billy or Steve, mainly Steve. Things with Billy were still really weird, but I knew that in order for things to go back to the way they were before, we'd need to spend more time together until the awkwardness went away. Steve and I were bonding more and more every day. It actually amazed me how much we had in common and how well we clicked.

On this particular day, our english teacher had assigned a partner project and since Nancy was the only person in my class that I knew, I asked to be paired with her. We had to write a paper comparing two books we'd read during class and turn it in the next week. I was beyond happy that Nancy was like me in the sense that she liked getting her assignments done ahead of time. She invited me over after school so we could start knocking it out. I spent lunch on the hood of Steve's car as I did most days with him.

"So, what are we doing tonight?" he asked, "I was thinking we could work on homework, since you refuse to do anything before you finish that, and then we go to the arcade for pizza and pacman?"

"That sounds amazing, but I have to go to Nancy's to work on an english project," I frowned, "Raincheck? How about tomorrow? It's Friday and we'll be able to stay out later."

"No, we're doing Carol's party tomorrow," he said.

"Carol's throwing another party?" I asked, "Since when?"

"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you," he said," She told me about it yesterday." I let out a laugh at his forgetfulness. "But yeah, I decided those are our plans for tomorrow, so pizza and pacman will have to wait until Sunday because you babysit on Saturday."

"Right," I frowned, "Well then, I'm looking forward to Sunday night."

"How are you liking that by the way?" he asked, "Are you getting along with the kid?" I smiled and nodded.

"She's a sweetheart," I told him, "She's a little strange, but she's adorable and we get along pretty well."

The bell rang pretty soon after that, and we had to finish the school day, but it wasn't all that bad. Nancy and I ended up walking to her house since it wasn't too far. Her mom was home, and she seemed really nice, but I didn't really interact with her right when we got there. We went up to her room and got right to work. We took turns writing, and it wasn't turning out half bad.

"So, how are you liking Hawkins?" Nancy asked as I stretched out my tired hand.

"It's good," I smiled, "The people here are pretty nice. I still miss home though."

"I bet," she said, "this is certainly no sunny California."

"No it is not," I laughed, "But it's bearable. I think I'll be able to handle it one more year before we're off to college."

"Totally," she said, "So you hang out with Billy and Steve?" she questioned. I nodded. "How does that work out? Those two hate each other," she said in an amused tone.

"We never hang out all together," I told her, "I'd probably kill myself if I had to spend time with them in the same room." She laughed and nodded in agreement.

"I can understand why you and Steve would be friends, but Billy?" She asked, "I bet you've gotten that before."

"Yeah," I giggled, "I don't know. Bill and I were friends back home, and I feel like that's really why we're still friends here," I lied, "And Steve is just great." She smiled and nodded. "What do you think of them?" I asked, "You're one of the only people that hasn't jumped at my throat and told me I shouldn't be friends with one or the other."

"Well, Steve and I dated," she said, I nodded having already known that, "and I he's always been a total sweetheart, so I have nothing bad to say about that one, but Billy? He's kind of an ass. People around here like him because they're all the same, but he's not a good person." I furrowed my brows. She was one of the many people that had said that. I could understand if people just said they didn't like him, but straight up calling him a bad person was something else. I opened my mouth to respond, but I was interrupted.

"Nancy!" a kid with dark black hair said as he came to her door, "Mom needs you downstairs. Oh, hi," he added when he noticed me. I offered him a small smile and waved at him.

"Here, you can come to the living room, take a break," Nancy said. I got up from the chair and followed her down stairs. I went to the living room while Nancy helped her mom in the kitchen. To my surprise all the kiddos were in the living room too.

"Emma," the same kid with the crazy curly hair from the arcade said, "Hi!" I smiled at him and waved. "Guys, this is Emma, she's Steve's friend from the arcade, the one Will and I told you about," he told the rest of his friends.

"Yeah, you dingus, I think we kind of figured when you called her Emma as soon as she walked in the room," one of the other kids said, "Hi, I'm Lucas."

"Yeah, I'm Mike," the kid from upstairs said.

"Hi, I'm Will," the bowl cut kid from the arcade said. He was still my favorite by far. He was the cutest. I turned to Max and she smiled at me.

"I think you know me," she said. I let out a giggle and nodded.

"How's Billy? I haven't really seen him this week," I said. She scrunched up her face and shrugged. "I'm guessing you're on the same boat then," she nodded. "So, is this like the designated hang out spot?" I asked.

"Yeah, Mike's parents are the coolest," Dustin said, "And it's the only place with a big basement where we can play without any interruptions."

"That's pretty cool," I smiled at them.

"Hey, so we heard you're babysitting for chief Hopper," Mike said, "Is it true? Have you met the kid?" he asked.

"Yeah?" I said a little confused as to why he was asking, "You know them?" The kids all exchanged looks, leaving me just as confused and without an answer.