stranger things imagines {slow updates}

𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐜

"SHUT THE LIGHTS."

you stared so hard at the brightened bulbs that you felt your veins popping out of your forehead. out of the corner of your eye, you could see him getting frustrated. tired of your failures.

"i'm trying," you forced out, as you pushed and pushed to get your powers to activate. you were weak from trying all day yesterday, but still you pushed. you pushed yourself until there was no further to go.

"you are not trying hard enough, obviously. you're worthless, 013. take her back to her cell."

his words caused tears to prick at the corners of her eyes, and she closed her outstretched hand into a fist, ignoring the pain as she exceeded her limits. nothing happened.

as they pulled her away, she cried.

•••

"what is she doing?"

"i don't know, now shut up!"

"stop talking, both of you! this is a life or death situation here."

"you are all idiots."

mike, lucas and will all snapped their eyes to eleven, who was glaring at them with narrowed, annoyed eyes. they ushered her into their hiding spot and forced her to kneel, so that y/n wouldn't see them watching her.

she'd asked them not to watch, but here they were, spying on her from behind the cashier counter in the starcourt mall. how had they gotten here? they went from having fun with the new improvements to their town to hiding from an interdimensional monster.

y/n was new to the town this summer. this made her interesting, new - fresh. almost immediately, the boys had taken a liking to her. it was something about her demeanor that attracted them, and then it was her nerd factor that made them add her to the party. they all thought of her as their sometimes-annoying-mostly-cool sister, all except one : lucas.

of course, his crush on her was obvious to everyone but said girl. so, he was constantly bullied about it.

all that just to say that lucas was the one who convinced the others to peek in on y/n when she'd snuck off to a secluded area in the mall. she'd simply said 'don't follow me', and ran off. naturally, lucas, who was hopelessly in love with her, was concerned.

now, him and friends were watching y/n - whilst quite confused, to say the least - stare at the lights, her arms outstretched. veins were visible in her forehead, and they stuck out like they'd been drawn on her skin with markers.

"i don't understand. this is kinda creepy and seems like a waste of time since we're basically waiting on a monster to come kill us," mike commented, gaining sharp looks from the others and a gentle shove from lucas.

"something's happening," will whispered, enamored by what he was witnessing. the lights flickered, and suddenly three of the ceiling lights around y/n exploded in a sudden shatter.

"shit!" mike shouted, startled by the noise. y/n didn't even glance at them - she stayed focused, her eyes glowing with a golden sheen. was it a trick of lighting, or was it something else?

three more shattered, and it seemed a lot darker in the room. however, it quickly became brighter than before when y/n's eyes began to shine. it was like the rising sun - yellow, orange, pink, painted across the narrowed, seemingly angry eyes of the girl.

the power surging around y/n was incredible; that was, until she collapsed onto the floor and barely missed the shattered glass scattered around her. when she thudded against the tiled flooring, the four onlookers were knocked out of their mesmerized states and they raced toward the unconscious girl.

"what in the hell was that?!" mike exclaimed, kneeling beside her. lucas shook her shoulders frantically, feeling his heartbeat increase with every second that passed. when he heard her groan softly, he sighed in relief and clutched his chest.

his panic came rising back up when y/n opened her eyes, and they were gold.

"oh my god! your - your eyes! your seeing organs!" lucas shouted, pointing at her face as he backed away, giving her space to sit up. she rubbed her temples, as she had just woken up from a good night's sleep, rather than just fallen unconscious after making lightbulbs explode.

"stop freaking out. i'm fine, just a little woozy," y/n reassured, stretching. she cracked her neck and grinned, even though if her friends paid enough attention to her, they would've seen she was incredibly scared. she hadn't used her electricity powers in so long that she doubted her ability to keep them in control, but she had to do something. she wouldn't be able to live with herself if someone she cared about died.

"y/n, what the fuck was that?! you're a fucking superhero! lucas, your girlfriend is a superhero!" mike yelled, a wide, excited smile on his face despite the dire situation they were currently in. eleven gaped at the girl, knowing in the back of the mind that she was just like her. y/n sent her a look, and eleven nodded, half-smiling.

"no, mike, i'm not. either of those things. i take in the electricity and manipulate it - i'm not a vigilante. i'm like el,"she explained, hiking up her sleeve to show them her tattoo. sure enough, there were the numbers 013, which she had spent the majority of her life trying to hide. "this was as good a time as any to show you, 'cause we're probably gonna die."

lucas swung his arm around y/n's shoulders, smiling at her, and admiring the gold in her eyes. at first, it'd frightened him, but now he found himself thinking they were unequivocally beautiful. unique, just like her. in that moment, lucas realized - he had to tell her.

"speaking of. can i talk to you for a sec?" he asked, finally working up the courage. he'd been wanting to do this for a while now, and the adrenaline he'd just experienced was enough to push him.

taking the hint, mike and will backed away slowly, pulling a curious eleven along with them. lucas removed his arm from y/n's shoulder and took a deep breath, his eyes flicking quickly around her face. how could he get the words out, staring at her like this?

lucas. don't be an idiot. just do it.

and so he did. lucas kissed y/n, the girl he'd been secretly pining after the moment she appeared in town. what an unusual setting for his first kiss - surrounded by fear and death, he was able to feel that burst of warmth that only came with holidays and pure joy.

it was just a peck, but it was enough. it communicated his emotions so well that once he pulled away, lucas knew y/n was 100% sure of what he had meant. with a sheepish smile and gleaming golden eyes, y/n pecked lucas' cheek.

"make sure you don't die, sinclair. i've heard there's a good movie coming out."

and with that, she walked off, leaving a blushing lucas with a pounding heart. a tap on his shoulder made him jump, but he turned to see it was just mike.

"don't know about you, but i'm not scared right now. i mean, the mind flayer's kinda freaky and all, but... our girlfriends are basically x-men. i think we'll be okay."

lucas grinned as he watched y/n, who was sitting beside eleven, no doubt discussing their experiences in the hawkins facility.

"yeah. you got a charles xavier, and i got a havok."

"dude, that's not what havok does."

"would you shut up and let me have my moment?"