I used to think that I lived in a small, boring town, where everyone knew everyone. A town where nothing interesting ever happened.

The towns still small, but it's far from boring. Somehow, in this past year alone, our small town of Hawkins has seemed to deal some serious damage. From missing kids to a dead teenager, and the emergence of a strange yet powerful young girl.

All because of some laboratory that I never noticed in all sixteen years of my life. Everyone's life in Hawkins seemed to be affected, even if some didn't realize it yet.

Though, luckily, since the release of a "mysterious" tape, the U.S. Department of Energy has closed the foreboding lab, even taking partial ownership of Barb's death, stating that she had been exposed to a harmful chemical. Rather than telling the dark truth.

Though, I don't think they'd ever be ready to tell the world about what exactly happened within that lab.

December 6th, 1984

The Byers Household

"Light's out! Eleanor, I know you can hear me!" My mom's voice rang through the quiet house as she walked down the hallway and towards her bedroom. "You want me to strain my eyes by reading in the dark? Shame on you." I called back.

"Sorry for wanting you to get a good night's rest." She stated as she peeked her head into my room. "It's despicable," I stated, placing a piece of paper between the pages I was reading before closing the book. "You nervous about tomorrow?" She asked, leaning against the door frame.

"What? No, I'm fine." I said with a grin only for her to squint her eyes at me. "Should I not be fine?" I asked dropping my grin slightly, causing her to laugh at me. "I didn't say anything." She stated, holding her hands in the air.

Rolling my eyes at her, I pulled one of my pillows onto my face, "Okay, fine I'm freaking out. What am I supposed to do mom? What if he regrets asking me out, or what if I make a fool of myself?"

"Hey, hey, you won't make a fool of yourself." She quickly made her way towards me, sitting on the edge of my bed, carefully pulling the pillow out of my grasp. "If he can't accept you because of your flaws then he isn't worth you."

"Pretty sure he knows all of her flaws already, mom!" Jonathan's voice was slightly muffled by the wall between us. "I'd rather mine over yours, Jon!" I yelled back, elbowing the wall slightly, listening to the sound of one of his frames falling off the wall.

"Please stop that, I've glued that frame together three times this month already." Mom stated with a frown before standing up from the bed. "Tomorrow will be great, and if it isn't then we'll egg his car."

Rolling my eyes, I leaned over to click off my lamp. "Sure we will Joyce, goodnight," I stated before blowing a kiss in her direction. "Love you, honey."

~~~

As the house grew quiet, my impatience grew as sleep seemed to be the last thing my brain wanted to do.

Twisting in my bed, I laid on my side, staring at the window that allowed the light of the moon to shine through the still open curtains.

Letting out a quiet groan, I sat up in bed, glaring at the window, and silently blamed myself for not tying the curtains together before I laid down.

Sliding out of bed, I approached the window, grasping the two pieces of fabric in my hand before pulling them together only for a hand to slap onto my window.

Slapping my hand over my mouth to hold in my scream, I glared at the silently laughing boy on the other side of the glass. Pushing the curtains apart again, I raised an eyebrow at the still grinning Steve Harrington as he waved for me to open the window.

Pushing the glass up slowly, I rested my elbows on the railing to stop him from entering. "How many times do I have to remind you that we have a door?" I whispered, fighting the smile that was trying to spread across my lips.

"You don't have to remind me, I prefer this way." He stated, delicately tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "I wanted to show you something." He whispered, resting his hand on my cheek. "Should I be worried?" I asked, grinning up at him.

Shrugging, he leaned down to place a peck on my lips, "That couldn't wait 'til tomorrow?" I asked, my cheeks quickly heating up as he pulled away. "That wasn't it, I just couldn't help myself."

Moving out of his way, Steve carefully pulled himself into my room. "So, what's up?" I asked, sitting on the foot of my bed as he paced in front of me. "I finished my college essay." He stated, stopping in front of me with his hands tucked in his jacket pockets.

"Oh? Is it better than Nancy said it was?" I asked, quirking my eyebrow up at him as I remembered the awkward conversation over his poorly put-together essay that revolved around a basketball game that he somehow connected with his deceased grandfather.

"Ha-ha, yes it is." He stated, pulling out the paper from his jacket pocket, carefully unfolding it, and handing it to me. "My grades might not be the best, and it's way too late to submit but I'm proud of it." He stated, awkwardly playing with his fingers.

~~~

The score is 64-42. It's the championship game with northeastern, and we're trailing by two. We shouldn't be here. We're mediocre at best but here we are with a chance to win the game. I, Steve Harrington have the ball.

The crowd goes wild, but I only hear my own beating heart to the clock tick down. I have to make a choice. Do I play it safe and shoot a two-pointer, or do I go for the riskier three-point shot to win it all?

I dribble past half court and I have an open lane if I want to make a layup, but the clock is nearing zero. I pull up at the three-point line and shoot the ball in the net

~~~

Stopping myself from reading on, I looked at Steve through my lashes only for him to wave for me to continue reading. This sounded eerily similar to the one he had shown Nancy.

~~~

And it was at this moment, I realized something.

This play is a reflection of my life.

Lucky to have the life that I have, yet still, I'm mediocre at best at everything that I do, and I see that now, but my life is in my hands, and I have the opportunity to turn it around.

So, do I play it safe or take the risk.

The safe thing to do, the route that my family has pressured me with my whole life, is to join the family business. Continue to have things handed to me without needing to put the work in.

Or do I take the risk and reach out for something that might just be out of my grasp, even if I put all I have into working towards it.

~~~

Smiling slightly, I nodded before looking up at him. "It's good, but I think it's lacking your war veteran grandfather," I joked before looking back down at the essay. "I'm proud of you, Steve. Really."

A noticeable amount of anxiety seemed to lift off of Steve's shoulders as a smile grew on his face again. "So are you gonna send it?" I asked, holding the paper out for him to grab. "I don't think they would accept it." He stated, taking a seat beside me.

"Sure, it's late but I'm sure they'd just charge you a late fee." I stated, "This could be really beneficial for your future." I pushed the paper towards him, only for him to close his hand around mine, "I didn't write it on a normal piece of paper..." He whispered.

Turning the page around, my eyes landed on the photo that Jonathan had taken last year of Steve and me. "I needed inspiration." He stated simply, his eyes darting from the photo in my hand and my face.

"There is something extremely cliche about this," I stated as I placed the photo beside me. "But for some reason, I can't help but love it." I finished with a grin. "Just maybe don't write on any more photographs in the future?"

It felt like an eternity as we sat on my bed, seeming to just stare into each other's eyes until I finally made the first move.

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pulled Steve towards me while his hands quickly found themselves on my waist, meeting me in the middle.

Besides the little pecks here and there, Steve and I never really had this much contact, or rather the opportunity to have this much contact. Sliding his hands down onto my hips, Steve slowly pulled me onto his lap until I was straddling him.

"What are you doing?" He whispered, breaking away from the kiss, a smirk gracing his lips as he locked eyes with me. "Nothing I don't wanna do." I whispered back before kissing down his neck. "Okay, I'm definitely not complaining." He chuckled lightly before pulling my lips back onto his.

~~~

December 15th, 1984

"Hey, you got it." I grinned down at Will as he clutched onto my shoulder with one hand and the other interlocked with my right hand as we danced in the living room in preparation for the Snow Ball dance. "Look at you, you're a natural," I stated, spinning us around the room while Jonathan circled us with his camcorder trained on us.

"Do you always have to be filming everything?" Will asked, staring over my shoulder at our brother. "Oh no, just the good stuff," Jon stated with a grin while I stuck my tongue out at his camera, he quickly returned the gesture.

"Are you sure people still dance like this?" Will asked mom as she watched us from her spot on the couch with a proud smile on her face. "No," I whispered to him, "Yeah. It's just what's happening." She stated.

"Is it what's happening?" Will asked Jonathan. "Yeah, yeah, it's what's happening." He stated with a smirk. "They love lying to you, Will. Now, spin me." I stated, twirling away from him just as the phone on the wall rang. All of us seemed to freeze at the sound.

"I got it, mom can help you with the rest," I stated with a small smile while Will grimaced slightly as mom gladly stood from the couch and approached him.

Walking towards the kitchen, I picked up the phone. "Byers residence, Nellie speaking," I answered the phone letting it loosely hang from between my ear and shoulder. "Hey, Nell, it's Hopper." Smirking I twirled the cord of the phone. "I didn't steal anything Chief, scouts honor," I stated only to hear him let out a sigh.

"I need a favor, for El." He mumbled the name under his breath. "For an.. event." He struggled to find the right word, his tone shifting to one of annoyance. "I got some dresses and make-up if that's what you're trying to say." I giggled into the phone.

~~~

"Blue is a really pretty color on you," I stated as El sat in front of me with her eyes closed as I applied her eyeshadow. "Okay, look." I pulled the brush away and held the mirror towards her. "Pretty." She spoke softly with a smile. "Now, blush. It's vital." I stated, holding up the compact.

"Vital." She repeated, lightly tapping on the casing. "Exactly," I stated, popping the lid off before lightly dabbing the brush into the powder. "A little goes a long way, so we just carefully apply." I slowly brushed the light pink color along her cheeks.

"Of course, you don't need it but it's fun, right?" El nodded eagerly at my question before looking into the mirror with a small smile. "You spying on us, Hop?" I called out, spotting his lingering shadow in the mirror.

"No, just checking up. Is she ready to go?" Hopper showed himself, now standing awkwardly in the doorway before El quickly stood from her seat, brushing down the skirt of her blue dress. "Ready."

~~~

"Are you sure you wanna go in alone?" Hopper asked El from the front seat as she gazed out the window and towards the dance. The sound of the music from inside was barely muffled by the walls around it.

"I'm sure." She stated her voice sounding stronger than usual, El confidently met Hopper's gaze in the rearview mirror. "Cause Nell can stay with you." He tried, the worry growing in his eyes.

"She'll be fine, Hop. I'll stay close but she can do this part on her own." I stated, El nodding in agreement in the back. "Right."

Letting out a sigh, Hopper turned his gaze onto me, "Suddenly you aren't so helpful anymore." He stated with a frown before the sound of the door clicking open and shut sounded from behind us. "I'm helping El, what did you expect?" I asked, hopping out of the car as well.

Hopper drove the car just around the side of the school while El stared at the front doors with wide eyes. "Hey, you got this. Just go in there and find Mike, then everything will be fine." I gave her a small smile before she slowly trekked into the building, the music swelling as she opened the doors and then quieting back down as they slammed shut behind her.

"How did we both get stuck on babysitting duty?" A voice called out from behind me.

Rolling my eyes, I found Steve sitting on the hood of his car. "Beats managing the punch bowl," I stated with a grin as I made my way towards him. "Who'd you bring?" I asked, settling beside him. "Dustin, he's a good kid."

"They all are." I stated with a grin as 'Every Breath You Take' began to echo from the building. "You wanna dance?" Steve asked softly, looking down at me. Letting out a sigh, I looked around the practically deserted parking lot. "Definitely."

Wrapping my arms around his neck, Steve placed his hands on my waist, pulling me closer to him. "What are you doing after this?" Steve asked as I placed my head on his chest while we danced. "Probably watch a film with Will and mom, why?"

He shrugged slightly before answering. "I was thinking about taking you out again." Letting out a laugh, I nodded. "A second date? How romantic." I pulled away from his chest to grin up at him. "Very and it's gonna be way better than the last one." He stated, groaning slightly at the memory.

"I thought it was pretty adorable when you spilt your drink. Or when you called the waiter a sir instead of a ma'am." I giggled at the nightmare that was our first date while he squinted his eyes at me. "Why don't you come over and watch a film with us? I'm sure my mom would love to meet under normal circumstances."

"I think I need to work up to that." He stated with a smirk, pulling me back into his chest. "And Dustin might tag along with us for some of it, I'm his ride home after this." "Even more romantic." I joked, earning a scoff from him. "Right? Plus you get to see what I did to his hair." "Oh God, Steve. What did you do to the poor boy's hair?"