The brunette snapped out of her thoughts, turning from the car window to her father, who tilted his head in concern

"Were you listening to any of that?" The middle aged man asked, clear exasperation in his voice as she nodded.

"yeah of course dad. BASIC, computers, programming....so on" she scratched the back of her neck, knowing that wasn't all he said, but choosing not to speak about the rest.

"And, where are we going?" He asked. As much as he tried to help her grow accustomed to everything, Armani was as stiff as a brick.

"The Byer's house. movie night." she said, shaking her head lightly, and turning back to the window.

Bob Newby sighed, he just wanted his daughter to be happy but he couldn't stop his relationship with Joyce just for her.

"We need to talk about this, Mani" he looked back over at her, shaking his head before parking in front of the torn down house.

"Later." She responded. It was always later.

"Bob!" Joyce's face lit up as she hugged Bob, they shared a kiss, which made Armani stick out her tongue in disgust as she walked past them, stopping only when she saw Jonathan Byers standing on the porch. It was no secret that the two couldn't get along, the only one who saw them ever getting along, or at least pretending to, was Will.

"Staying the night here?" Jonathan asked, obvious annoyance in his tone.

She shrugged, "my dad wants to cheer up William. I have no clue how long i'll last in your company, though."

She spoke back, only letting her expression soften as she asked about Will. "Is he alright?" To which Jonathan nodded, "movie night always cheers him up"

Armani had spent most of her time on the couch, reading a book, that was until her dad shoo-ed her out of the living room, insisting she speak to the two Byers brothers as he and Joyce finished up dinner. She had begun walking down the hallway when Jonathan's door opened, he held three VHS tapes for movie night.

"What are you doing?" He asked quickly, cocking an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Calm down, Johnny, I wasn't snooping around your house," Armani rolled her eyes, "my dad sent me to socialize with you and William instead of leaving me in peace. So here I am."

Jonathan shook his head at the nickname, shoving the three tapes in her hand before opening to door to Will's room. "Hey Will, you have a visitor." Jonathan walked in, Armani right behind him. She nodded a silent 'hi' to Will before extending the tapes.

"We didn't know what you'd like, so we brought a variety, take your pick." Not looking up from what he was coloring, Will spoke, "whichever you want, Armani."

The girl looked over at the drawing, "zombie boy? That's awesome" she smiled.

Jonathan raised his eyebrows, "who's zombie boy?" He asked quietly. Will's expression turned unreadable as he answered, "me."

Armani and Jonathan turned to each other, exchanging looks of worry. "Will, did someone call you that?" She asked, stepping closer to the boy.

He remained silent, Jonathan scooted closer on the bed, "hey, you can talk to us. You know that right?"

"Yeah, whatever happened you can talk to us" Armani agreed.

Jonathan nodded, "yeah come on, talk to us–" he stopped only when Will looked up, "stop treating me like that!" He practically yelled, looking back and forth from the two who were shocked at the sudden burst of emotion.

"Like what?" The teens said simultaneously.

"Like everyone does! Like theres something wrong with me!"

"Woah, hold on, who's everyone?" Armani furrowed her brows.

"Mom. Dustin. Lucas. Everyone."

"Will sto-"

"They all treat me like I'm going to break. Like I'm a baby. Like I can't handle things on my own. It doesn't help, it just makes me feel like more of a freak!"

Jonathan shook his head, "you're not a freak"

"Yes, I am" Will protested, "I am."

Armani exchanged glances with Jonathan, before she nodded. "Yeah. You know what, Will? You're right. You're a freak." To which Jonathan and Will looked up in surprise, "what?"

Armani's eyes flickered to Jonathan, "No I'm serious. And so what? Do you want to be normal? Do you want to be just like everyone else?" The teenage boy nodded, understanding what she was doing, he spoke too. "Being a freak is the best, okay? I'm a freak" Will looked down, "is that why you don't have any friends?" He asked, causing Armani to have to stifle a laugh.

Jonathan looked from one of them to the other, "i-i have frie–I have friends, will" he chuckled

"Then why are you always hanging out with me? Armani doesn't do that." The young boy asked.

"Because you're my best friend, alright? And I would rather be friends with Zombie Boy than with a boring nobody. No offense Armani," Jonathan spoke quickly, turning to Mani who opened her mouth in shock.

"Right. Okay, look, would you rather be friends with Bowie or Kenny Rogers" Armani pitched in, Will making a face in mock disgust. "Exactly!" The two older kids said.

"See, no contest. The thing is, nobody normal ever accomplished anything meaningful in this world." Jonathan said softly, the little boy nodded before adding, "well.. some people like him."

"No. No one likes Kenny Rogers!" Mani chuckled, before being interrupted by her father who appeared at the doorway.

"Kenny Rogers? I love Kenny Rogers!" He spoke as he entered the room, watching the three kids exchange looks with one another. "What's so funny?" He asked, "nothing dad" Mani shook her head, handing him the VHS tape's.

"Mr. mom! Perfect" he whooped, leaving the room as the three fell into a fit of laughter.

Once the three were situated and ready to go to movie night, Will brought up his courage to ask what he has been wondering for the past months.

"How come you guys only act like you get along around me?" His question made the teen's faces drop and they struggled to find an answer.

"It's...hard, Will. It's just hard" Armani nodded, trying to keep it simple, she knew if Will had to pick he was with no doubt to pick his brother, and she couldn't blame him.

"Okay. I think you guys would make good friends. You both like photography" he simply nodded before getting out of the bed and heading into the living room, followed by the two older children.

"No chance" Jonathan muttered after his brother was out of earshot. Will didn't know what had happened the previous year, and he wasn't going to know.

"Yeah. I'm not a stalker" Armani shook her head, pushing ahead of Jonathanher spirits suddenly lowered as she came back to the reality that she was in.

As they sat and watched the movie, however, Armani's mind was anywhere but the low saturated screen. Mostly on how she would manage to live with Jonathan while also hiding her embarrassment from the pictures he had taken last year.

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