our story 💫 (jopper fanfic) COMPLETED

youre just too afraid to admit it, arent you?

april 1955, joyce's 13th birthday

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"shhhh, shhhh!! quiet everyone!!" hopper said while looking out the window. he crouched down and hid behind the couch. "she's here." he whispered to everyone. he was so excited. hopper had thrown a big surprise birthday party for joyce. she didn't really want a big birthday party, or a birthday party all at for that matter, but hopper didn't care. he wanted to surprise her. she was his best friend! and when she told him that she wasn't planning anything, he took the opportunity.

hopper asked joyce's mom to take her somewhere special after school so they could set things up for the party. in the past few years, joyce had managed to make a few more friends other then hopper; karen, benny, paul, luke, and matthew. they had all formed a little friend group together, and joyce was so happy to have so many friends. 

her closest friend other then hopper was karen douglas. it was really nice to have a girl around now. sometimes joyce needed to talk to someone other than hopper, especially about girl...things. hopper felt left out once in a while, especially because they had sleepovers every weekend, but he understood joyce desperately needed a friend who was a girl. even though joyce had a lot more friends then she thought she would ever have, none of them were like hopper. none of them cared as much about her as he did. 

hopper peaked through the living room window and watched joyce step out of her car with her mother. as joyce quietly opened the door, everyone rose from their hiding spaces and all yelled "surprise!!" joyce couldn't even believe it! "what?!" she shouted happily. she looked around the room at all the little decorations they had all set up and smiled. "you guys did this all for...me?" she never imagined that anyone could ever care about her so much to do all of this! "well of course we did!" karen said as she ran over and hugged her. "it was all hopper's idea though, just so you know." karen winked at joyce. joyce rolled her eyes. 

karen desperately wanted for them to become a couple or something, joyce didn't really understand it. hopper was more of her friend! besides, they were only in 7th grade! it would just be awkward too. joyce walked up to hopper. "you really did this? all of it?" she asked surprised. "what, you think we didn't want to do something for your big day?! you're a teenager now, hello!" he said laughing. "we also got a huge birthday cake for you!" he shouted as he pointed to it. it indeed was huge. it must've cost a fortune! all the icing was joyce's favorite colors, and it was all covered with little icing roses, with the message 'happy birthday joyce!' in cursive at the top. "hopper!" she nudged him in the elbow. "you really didn't have to do this!" he smiled. "i wanted to. it was for you." joyce smiled back. 

karen changed the subject. "okay! so! who wants cake?!"after they all ate cake, (which was of course, chocolate ice cream cake, joyce's favorite) karen pulled joyce aside away from hopper and the rest of their friends. "oh karen here we go again." joyce said as she rolled her eyes. she knew exactly what this conversation was about. it's always the same. karen had literally been bugging her about it since they met, which was in 4th grade. "joyce, he totally likes you!" she said excitedly, clapping her hands together. "karen shut up, no he doesn't!" karen smiled. "joyce, you see it, i see it, we all see it! and of course you like him back, isn't it obvious!?" "karen!" "you're just too afraid to admit it, aren't you!" "karen!" 

karen was so nosy, she always got into everyone's business. sometimes joyce just wished she would stay out of it for once! of course she wouldn't tell her that."you should just tell him how you feel, because he obviously likes you back! come on joyce!" "karen, i don't like him, okay?!" "okay..." karen said as she smirked at joyce. "oh shut up." joyce said laughing. "everyone can see it joyce, you two have obviously had chemistry since like, forever! sometimes i even catch you staring at him." she laughed. "what?! i do that?!" joyce asked embarrassed. "heck yeah you do! all the time!" "oh my god...tell me if you catch me doing it!" "maybe..." karen said. joyce shoved karen (in a teasing way of course.) "you're such a little asshole." "i know." karen said laughing.

joyce walked back up to hopper. "thank you for doing this, really. i never knew i could have as great as a friend as you. it means a lot to me that you did this.""are you kidding? i'd do it any day!" he said laughing. joyce joined in on the laughter, then took his hand. "thank you though, really." she broke free of his hand and skipped off to the other room where karen was in. as she smiled and her gorgeous brown hair flipped as she spun around, hopper smiled and watched her go. gosh, she was so pretty. if only he had the bravery to tell her how he felt.

a/n: sorry this chapter is kind of boring! the high school years are next and that's when things get real interesting hehe... (also, yes, karen is karen wheeler and benny is benny from benny's burger :))