𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝𝐲 ⟿ s. harrington

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧

YOU'RE SORT OF STUCK WITH ME !

☀︎

INSTEAD OF LEAVING AS NANCY SUGGESTED, BARB AND ALEX HUNG AROUND OUTSIDE A LITTLE LONGER IN HOPES NANCY WOULD COME TO HER SENSES. Barb had begun to make her way towards the diving board while Alex had been kicking as many beer cans into the pool as she could. "Do you really want to wait here, Barb? I mean, if you wanna go, I can wait for Nancy and walk her home."

"Now you want to stay?" Barb laughed, taking a seat carefully on the end of the diving board. Barely dipping her feet in, she watched blood begin to seep through her bandage. "Don't tell me you want to stay for Steve too."

"Not at all," she scoffed. "Your hand... you should probably head home and have someone better take care of it. I'm no doctor."

"I'll just stay one more minute," she sighed.

Nodding her head, Alex kicked the last can in. "I'm gonna go use the bathroom then. If you leave before I get back, I'm sorry for the assholes, I love you and I'll see you at school tomorrow!" Backing up towards the door, she couldn't help but smile as Barb had given her a wave with her good hand. Slamming the door hard behind her, she had desperately hoped she had disrupted any of the action that was going on upstairs.

Trying to be quick in order to say one last goodbye to Barb, Alex had grabbed a snack on her way out before coming outside. Glancing around, her smile dropped when she noticed she was left all to herself. Eating her bag of chips, she walked along the edge of the pool once again, feeling an uneasiness with the woods not too far away. Often it had felt that more than just squirrels and deer were moving around in there.

Out in the woods, Jonathan Byers had felt guilty watching Steve's house. He watched carefully as his friend had dropped the empty bag of chips into the pool, knowing her well enough that she was leaving it for Steve to fish out later. It was more than obvious she had been upset but he couldn't help but see how real the moment had been and snapped a few pictures.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a light click back on from a room above. Nancy had been pulling on a sweatshirt causing Alex to divert her eyes away and took a seat on a chair, bringing her knees to her chest. Out in the woods, Jonathan had seen the vulnerability he rarely ever saw in her and snapped a picture before dropping the camera down. Embarrassed he had even taken the picture, he turned back towards the woods and took off.

Soon enough, Alex quickly gathered herself together, telling herself this was how it was meant to be because she didn't speak up and tell Steve to stay behind. Since Barb had gone and Nancy had been with Steve still, she headed out the back gate and back to the road for a long walk ahead.

Her shoes had hit the pavement roughly with every step as her frustration with tonight had gotten the best of her. Blind to this feeling, she had stepped into a pothole, completely unaware. Tumbling forward, she reacted quickly as her hands hit the pavement hard to catch herself. Taking a seat, her ankle had stung slightly and her hands had started to bleed from the scrapes.

This had only proved to her that this night was destined to be terrible. Staying home or going with Dustin to the Wheeler's would've been the safer option than ever agreeing to a party. Roughly rubbing her hands onto her jeans to wipe up the blood, a rustle had come from the woods opposite of her.

Swallowing hard, she allowed her mood to subdue as she looked into the darkness. Almost unseeable; an outline of what looked like a person had stood further back in the trees. Alex slowly stood up, preparing to head back to Steve's house if what she had seen was really there.

Slowly backing up, she kept her eyes on the outline, watching for the slightest movement. A twig somewhere in the woods had snapped just as down the road behind her, her name had been called.

Diverting her eyes away from the woods, she looked back to see Jonathan making his way in her direction with a camera dangling around his neck. Turning back in fear, she looked once more into the woods to see that there had been no outline. All she could consider was that it was only a trick of her eyes. Shoving her hands into her pockets, she quickly headed toward Jonathan.

"You scared the shit out of me," she laughed. "What the hell are you doing out here?"

In response, he held up his camera with a shy smile, "What about you?"

Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. "Steve had a party. Went as well as you'd think."

Jonathan hesitated as he looked her over. He had more than a good enough idea of how the party had gone. "Everyone ditch you?"

"Yeah, but Barb only left because she jacked up her hand so I don't blame her."

"I can give you a ride? My cars back there... I just saw you and thought maybe you'd like a ride." Clearing his throat, he pointed a finger behind him to show where he had been parked.

Sighing in relief, she smiled at him and nodded her head. "That'd be great. Thanks." The two had begun to head back towards where Steve's house had been. Starting to fall behind, Jonathan saw an opportunity to take some pictures of her as she walked the street alone. However, the moment she had heard the clicks of his camera, she whipped around with her brows furrowed. "Like the view much?"

"That's not what it's like! I didn't mean to— No!" he stammered, trying his best to defend himself. Seeing him struggle to explain himself, she took the camera from his hands and snapped some of him in return. "I'm just joking," she laughed before finding a way to tease him. "But if I was Nancy..."

"Not funny," he said sternly. Alex stopped in her tracks once more, waiting for him to get to her side before handing his camera back and walking alongside him.

"Why so serious, Byers?"

He shrugged his shoulder, his eyes trained to the ground beneath them. The look on his face told her he was hiding something. He had just been too ashamed to admit it no matter how much he had trusted her.

"There's something you're not telling me," she said playfully. "Come on, spill."

"Forget it. It was nothing. So how was the party?"

"Stupid. Tommy H. was there and he was... well, himself. Would've been fun if you were there though. I didn't know when you'd get home from Lonnie's otherwise I would've asked. But I know you hate all of them."

"Not all of them," he fought back quietly. "I like maybe half of you that went. You, Barb, and Nancy were there." He shook his head at the thought of him even considering going. "No one wants me there. I know what they call me."

"Don't know if you heard the rumor, but I'm starting to be recognized as the freak too.

"Well, they're wrong. Maybe if you stopped hanging out with me..."

"You say that like I have the option. As if I'd ever want to choose them over you. Gross." Forcing him to link arms with her, she pulled him closer to her. "You're sorta stuck with me, Jonathan."

Turning to her, he couldn't help but find himself smiling. Without Alex, he was certain no one would ever be willing to be his friend. As far as he was concerned, only Will would ever be able to stand being around him, and right now, he had been missing.