our story 💫 (jopper fanfic) COMPLETED

then, he walked in.

a/n: young natalie portman as young joyce, young leonardo dicaprio as young hopper

october 1950

joyce horowitz was the type of girl that no one really noticed. she was quiet, and shy. she never raised her hand in class, even though she knew all the answers. she never talked to anyone, even though she desperately wanted to. she never shared anything to anyone, because she had no one to share it with.

joyce was an only child. her parents were divorced, and most of the time she would just be coloring in her brand new coloring books or reading her favorite book, curious george, while her parents were fighting in the other room. she didn't live in a big house, she didn't have a pet, or a big bedroom. but joyce didn't mind. she was grateful for her life, and that was all that mattered. even if she didn't have any friends, she was happy. she always tried to look on the positive side of things.

no one knew it, but joyce was smart. really smart. she was the smartest kid in all of third grade. she started reading chapter books by the time she was four, and was able to do long division and multiplication in her head when she was 7!she wished so much that she had somebody to share that talent with, because nobody knew. she wished so hard that a friend would come into her life. she wished over and over and over again, every night. after a while, she thought that a friend would never come. she was wrong.

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"class, settle down please, settle down." said joyce's teacher, mrs. cobalt. "now, we have a very special surprise today. this is going to be your new classmate, his name is james hopper."

then, he walked in. the second he walked in, everything felt right. she couldn't explain it, but, everything felt...right. he had blue eyes, with bright blonde hair and a soft smile. he was really tall, it sort of made joyce feel extra short.

"most people call me jim." he said, smiling up at mrs. cobalt. "well jim, you can sit over at the yellow table, next to michael and joyce, okay?" she said as she pointed to the table joyce was sitting at. he gave a small nod and a gentle smile, and happily walked over and sat down. during the first 10 minutes that he sat there, joyce tried so very hard to muster up the courage to talk to him. she kept telling herself "joyce, do it now!" and then she would go to do it, and nothing would happen. "hi." he finally said looking at her with that soft smile. joyce got so nervous, her palms started to sweat. she hadn't interacted with many people, and when she did, she would get all shy and embarrassed. "uh...h-hi." "i'm jim, by the way. jim hopper." "i'm joyce. joyce horowitz." "joyce. that's a nice name." he said sweetly. "thanks." she finally felt like she had someone to talk to. after all this time.

"so, um, d-did you just move to hawkins?" she still couldn't believe she was actually talking to someone. it was clear that her classmates couldn't believe it either. and not in a good way."yeah, i just moved here from new jersey." "oh, that's neat. do you like it here so far?" "yeah...but i miss all of my old friends." "i-i get that." but she really didn't. "speaking of friends...uh..." joyce said nervously. "would you...uh...maybe like to be...my friend?" she had finally done it. she had finally asked someone!! "i'd like that." jim said happily. "can i call you hopper by the way? i don't know, that's just a fun last name." joyce said giggling.

"yeah, sure! i've never had anyone call me hopper before! i like it."