To Catch a Falling Star (Steve Harrington)

(1.6) High School?

Eggs are good.

That is the only new thing I learned. They taste 'yummy' as Steve put it, and I agreed, even though I really didn't understand what that meant. We talked for a long time, well, Steve talked and I listened. He tried to understand me as best as he could, and he was good at explaining things that I didn't understand. The one part that took him a while to understand was the fact that I couldn't speak, and when I pointed out the scar he looked at it sadly for a long time, and throughout the rest of the morning I caught him looking at it multiple times. 

It was sad, I was sad, it was different than other times because this sad was worse. He didn't stop looking at the scar, and at one point, he noticed the scars on my hand (the ones that followed the shape of my fingers) it's like he got sadder. But I did my best to move past it, and let him teach me things about the house that we were in. So much of it was new to me, and I was excited to learn. We were in what he called a 'living room' (I didn't understand why this was a 'living room' when all the rooms could have people that were alive), but while we were in there he looked at a clock (something that I actually knew) and said 'shit.'

I was finally understanding what those words meant too. The ones that seemed just to aggressive to be used normally, Steve called them 'fowl.' (Not that that word rang a bell).

"I have to go to school," Steve ran out of the room quickly, and when he came back he had a bag on his shoulder. "School? You know, to learn?"

I was able to communicate from the beginning that I was in a lab, he called it 'Hawkins National Laboratory', and that I really had no idea about anything. He took it well, considering all things. I even did my best to tell him about Eleven, and the boys from the woods, and he promised to help find them. But he seemed to momentarily forget about all that, when he mentioned 'school.'

"Oh god, uh, I can't leave you here. But I can't exactly bring you, shit shit shit shit." He shouted a bit at the end, which brought me to take a step back. "Sorry Zero." He sighed, holding his hands up again, palms facing me, a motion that seemed to help calm me.

I nodded, relaxing a bit.

"Okay, you're gonna have to come with me." I look at him, twisting my head to the side. "I can't leave you here, you'll just have to stay hidden I guess." He shrugged. I wasn't so confident. He motioned for me to follow him, and we walked outside, it was bright and I had to squeeze my eyes shut for just a minute. I smiled, turning my face towards the bright sunlight with my eyes still screwed shut. I heard Steve's footsteps stop, but I didn't care, instead I soaked up the sun, my smile growing even larger if that were at all possible.

I heard Steve laugh, not a loud one, just a little one that was mostly air. A hand brushed across my elbow, and I opened my eyes looking towards Steve. Black spots danced across my vision but I ignored them, choosing to follow Steve to a red, a red, thing. Steve walked to the other side of the thing, and opened the side of it as I stood there watching with confusion written obviously on my face.

"Right," He closed the side of the thing, and walked around to the side close to me. "This is a car, you use it to get from one place to another."

He opened the side, and motioned for me to get in. I do as he says, and slide into the seat. Once Steve sees that I am all the way inside he closes the door, and for a second I panic, starting to try and open the door again. My blood is pumping fast and my breathing is hard as I push against the side over and over again. It doesn't budge, and as I start to hit it harder a flare of pain shoots across my chest from my shoulder.

"Whoa, whoa hey, it's okay, it's okay." Hands grabbed my arms, pulling me away from the door. I turn to find Steve's face inches from mine, "Breathe Zero, just breathe. If I had known you were gonna panic I would have said we could just walk. Watch."

He reaches across me, and turns a handle and before my eyes the wall starts to move. Steve explained earlier that they were windows. The window starts to go down, and once again I can feel the cold air of the outside.

"There." He nods, leaning back into his seat and starting the 'car.' I smile, at him, leaning towards the window as he starts to drive.

It was the strangest thing, the car could take us down the road faster than walking, but it didn't come close to my flying speed, but I did love it. Steve played something called 'music' the whole drive, and talk along with it. It was awesome (another new word that Steve taught me).

"Okay so," he pulled the car to the side of the road, I could see the school just ahead. "I'm sorry, but you are gonna have to wait here. Just, just stay at the edge of the trees, and I'll be back soon."

I looked at him, and tried to look confident in what he was saying. "Wait, okay, here," He opens the box in between us, and shuffles through the things that are in there. He makes a noise of excitement when he finds what he's looking for, and holds it up to show me. It looks like a bracelet, but it has a clock in it. He reaches for my wrist, and straps it to me. "There, when that says 2:00, I'll be back."

I look down at the bracelet, before looking back up with him.

"I promise."

I didn't know what that word meant, but the way that he said it made me believe him. Made me trust that he was going to be back. I nodded, and let him open the door for me. I smiled, and closed the door without touching it. He lingered for a minute, before pulling away and driving towards the school. I watched the car go, before turning and walking into the trees. I did as he said, and kept right at the edge of the trees. Far enough in that no one would notice, but close enough to still be able to see his red car.

I sat down and waited, watching for the light brown hair of the boy that was cute, and his red car that was fun.