June 29th, 1985

The Byers Residence

"You look tired, Nellie. Did you sleep okay last night?" Mom asked me as she placed a plate of pancakes in front of me, pulling me out of my thoughts.

For the past ten minutes, I had been looking down at the chipped corner of our wooden table in silence. The weight of the letter resting in my pocket stole my attention any time I tried to ignore its contents.

"I don't think she slept at all last night," Will muttered as he pulled apart his pancakes. My little brothers' accusation seemed to be all it took to snap me out of my trance, causing me to quickly pull my face out of the palm of my hand.

Letting out a scoff, I straightened up in my seat. "Shut up," I stated, launching some of the scrambled eggs off of my fork and in his direction. "I slept fine, actually, thank you. Just thinking about something I read this morning." I mumbled the last part out as mom stared me down. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked, placing a hand on the back of my chair.

"Is there anything you think we should talk about?" I asked, squinting my eyes up at her. "Is this about Steve?" She asked with a smirk as if she had cracked some mysterious code. "What? No, far from."

"Yeah, right." Will mumbled, looking down at his plate with a grin while Mom walked back into the kitchen.

"You used to be cute, you know that?" I groaned at my little brother who only shook his head in response. "Dustin's coming back from science camp today." He stated, quickly changing the topic. "Already?" I asked as I pushed the food around my plate.

"Yeah, the parties gonna meet up later to welcome him back," Will explained with a bright smile. I honestly don't think I've seen him smile like that all summer or even get this excited over something. With Dustin gone, Will had practically turned into the third wheel for the two couples that had formed within the party.

Mike and Will stopped hanging out as much since he'd rather be with El, and Will said he didn't like being alone with Lucas and Max since they always seemed to fight. "Maybe you can come with us? I even prepared him a welcome back campaign."

Frowning slightly, I looked down at my plate before slowly shaking my head. "Sorry, Will. I can't, I'm taking care of Erica today. But maybe I could join you guys next time?" My response quickly deflated Will's good mood. "Right, next time." He mumbled.

Usually, I wouldn't reject playing D&D with Will and his friends, especially since the party only seemed to cancel each campaign he had prepared over the break. But Saturdays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays are reserved for babysitting Erica, Lucas's little sister.

"You forgot to reset the alarm!" Nancy's muffled voice drifted from down the hall followed by a loud thump that quickly stole both of our attention, leaning back in my chair, I looked down the hallway and towards Jonathan's bedroom door.

Will and I stifled our laughter as Jonathan came rushing out of his room with his shirt messily buttoned and lipstick staining his cheek. "Morning!" He called out as he rushed past us and towards the door. "Wait up!" Mom called out, stopping Jonathan in his tracks as she came back out of the kitchen.

"I'll just eat at work. I'm late." Jonathan stopped her as she walked towards him. "No, your cheek." She stated as she wiped the lipstick off with her thumb. "All right, all right. I gotta run. See you later." Jonathan pulled her hand away before running out the front door.

"Okay.." Mom mumbled, turning around to look at the two of us with a confused glance. "Gross," Will stated, looking back down at his plate. "Is that so?" I asked, reaching over the table to ruffle his hair. "Hey!" He called out, his smile quickly returning.

"Well, I don't think you're gonna think it's gross when you fall in love." Mom grinned at Will as she took her seat at the table with her own plate of food.

"I'm not gonna fall in love." Will stated as he picked up the syrup bottle from the center of the table. "Why not?" I asked, continuing to move the food around my plate while mom got up from her seat and walked towards the fridge. "I don't know." He mumbled. "There's gotta be a reason-"

"You guys, what happened over here?" Mom asked us as she knelt down next to the fridge where all of our magnets on the fridge had fallen off. "Don't look at me." Will and I stated at the same time as she placed the magnets back in their spots on the fridge.

~~~

The Hawkins Community pool is probably one of the last places I wanted to be at this summer. I think I'm one of the only girls my age to think that.

Something about the idea of sharing a small body of water with a bunch of strangers and their children honestly makes my stomach churn. And also the fact that it's always so crowded, the pool never sees a low day during summer break here in Hawkins, Indiana.

Sadly, the pool is one of Erica's favorite places to go when I take care of her, and since I'm such a great babysitter, I sadly agreed to take her twice a week. Erica's a sweet girl, she's smart and sarcastic and a little bit conniving for her age but she's a good kid. Plus her parents pay good money for me to babysit her, so I do as she asks.

But, I think the only thing worse than sharing the pool with strangers is the local mothers who tan along the sidelines of the pool just to gossip and glare at the passing women as if they're in competition with each other.

"She does know she can't get a tan in those clothes right?" Mrs. Archibald whispered to Mrs. Wheeler as I passed the women. "Good afternoon to you too, Margret," I stated loudly as I came to a stop in front of Mrs. Wheeler while the mother eyed my sundress.

"I was hoping I could talk to you, Mrs. Wheeler?" I asked trying my best to be polite as Mrs. Wheeler only seemed to look over my shoulder. "What was that Eleanor?" She asked, still not meeting my gaze as she sipped her coke through a straw, leaving a lipstick ring on it as she pulled away.

"I wanted to talk to you about possibly watching Holly, I'm trying to save up for college and I could really use the work-" One of the mothers snapped her fingers, cutting me off before I could finish.

The snap grabbed the other mother's attention as she pointed towards the lifeguard tower. "Ladies, she's coming down." She stated before sitting a bit straighter in her seat while the others quickly mimicked her.

"Sorry, Eleanor. I'm a bit busy." Mrs. Wheeler stated, placing her drink on the ground before adjusting herself in her seat as well. "And.. showtime." Mrs. Archibald muttered, seemingly to have perfectly planned out the entrance of the final reason why the community pool was the last place I wanted to be this summer.

He walked through the pool's entrance with a cigarette dangling loosely from between his smirking lips without a care in the world.

It seems like every teen in Hawkins decided to get a summer job this year and Billy Hargrove was one of them. At least he was kind of good at his job, I thought to myself as Billy blew on the silver whistle that hung by a red string on his neck, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and look at him.

"Hey, lard-ass!" Billy yelled at a child from across the pool. Okay, he wasn't the best at his job.

"No running on my watch! I gotta warn you again, and you're banned for life. You wanna be banned for life, lard-ass?" The kid on the other side of the pool shook his head quickly, fear written all over his face.

"Didn't think so." He stated before blowing on his whistle again allowing everyone to resume what they were doing before. Rolling my eyes at his mannerism, I turned my attention back onto Mrs. Wheeler who was gawking at the teenaged boy like the rest of the women beside her.

While Billy continued on his path towards the lifeguard tower, passing by the mothers with a smirk. "Afternoon, ladies." He tilted his sunglasses down to shoot them a wink. "Afternoon, Billy." They responded at the same time, their eyes scanning up and down his body.

"Is that Eleanor Byers I see?" Billy stated stopping beside me as I poorly blocked my face with my hand as he passed.

"Hi, Billy." I muttered, pulling my hand away, staring up at the smirking Billy Hargrove. "Long time no see." He stated, his eyes raking down my body causing me to awkwardly cross my arms.

"Yeah, purposefully so. You almost broke my nose the last time I saw you or did you forget about that?" My words didn't seem to have any effect on him as he looked around the pool.

"So, where's your little boyfriend at?" He asked, his smirk faltering just slightly as he looked back down at me. Shaking my head, I looked down at the toes of my converse. "Wait, don't tell me King Steve still hasn't made things official." He stated rather than questioning me.

"That's none of your business." I tried to sound confident but rather my tone sounded timid under his watchful gaze. "Let me guess... It's his commitment issue, right? 'Cause you two looked pretty cozy at school." He grinned down at me while I rolled my eyes.

"What? No, we're just taking things slow." I stated. "Nothing you would understand." Billy rolled his eyes at the comment.

"So, it was his call?" Billy asked as he took a step closer to me. "More like a mutual agreement." I muttered, taking a step away from him. "But not your idea, huh?" He asked while I stayed quiet. "I imagine you like things fast, right Byers?"

Rolling my eyes, I glared up at Billy. "Don't you have a job to be doing, Billy? Stop wasting my time." I shoved past him and walked along the edge of the pool and towards Erica where she and her friends were playing.

"Hey, let's get out of here and get some ice cream." I kneeled down in front of her, grabbing her towel from my bag. "You paying?" She asked, her eyes squinting just slightly as she looked up at me

"Yeah, of course. My treat." That was all the girl needed to hear before she pulled herself out of the pool and waved goodbye to her friends. "You're really good at negotiating." Erica grinned up at me as we walked through the exit of the community pool.

~~~

Unable to stop thinking about the unpleasant conversation that had gone down between Billy and me at the pool, I couldn't help but think about Steve and I's relationship. Sure we had some awkward moments here and there and maybe a few arguments but that is what couples do.

Only we aren't a couple.

He had made it clear after our first date and multiple times after. Maybe he did have commitment issues. Or maybe I'm the issue.

Pulling myself out of my self-destructive thoughts, I quickly mustered up a smile as Erica and I walked into Scoops. The shop was full of happy customers talking amongst themselves as Erica and I weaved our way around the tables and towards the counter.

Steve stood with his back towards us while he talked to Robin through the small window connected to the breakroom. "You know, it's a crazy idea, but have you considered telling the truth?" Robin asked him only for him to responded in a hushed voice as she looked over his shoulder.

Erica let out a scoff before slamming her hand onto the small bell that sat at the front of the counter. "Hey, uh twelve o'clock, lover boy." Robin stated with a grin before pushing him away from the window.

"Hey, Nellie." Steve greeted us with an awkward grin as he leaned against the counter, something he only did when he was trying to act natural. "I didn't know that's how you greet paying customers?" Erica questioned him with a cocked eyebrow.

Letting a puff of air pass from between his lips, Steve looked down at Erica with a fake, customer-friendly grin. "Ahoy, ladies. Would you guys like to set sail on this ocean of flavor with me?" "Much better," Erica said with a grin while I giggled under my breath.

"Erica wants her usual," I stated as she leaned her elbows on the counter. "Extra sprinkles this time." Erica stated as Steve got to work on scooping the ice cream into a waffle cone.

"So, what was that about?" I asked while Erica ran towards a booth to sit and wait for her ice cream. "What was what about?" Steve asked, obviously evading the question.

"Robin was saying something about telling the "truth". What's that about?" I asked, leaning on the counter as he sprinkled some rainbow-colored sprinkles onto the cone. "Nothing, it's stupid." Steve quickly handed me the cone as I passed him my money.

"Do you think that I can come over tonight?" He asked as he looked down at the old register, punching in the total. "Yeah, of course." I grinned up at him as he moved his gaze away from the register and onto me.

Robin cleared her throat from behind him, quickly grabbing his attention.

Looking over his shoulder at Robin he held his hand up at her. "Seriously, what's that about?" I asked, holding out my hand for the change. "What?" He asked coyly, passing me my change only to drop it onto the counter by accident.

Muttering out an apology, Steve quickly picked up my change and tucked it in my hand. "You sure? 'Cause you look like you wanna tell me something." I stated only for him to shake his head in response. "I'll explain tonight." He stated with a small smile.

"Okay, I guess I'll see you later?" I said, glancing behind him at Robin who was in the middle of rolling her eyes.

Making my way towards Erica's table with a frown, I heard Robin say, "Doofus." from behind me as I sat down, before the sound of a marker squeaking. "And another one bites the dust." She stated.

"You are oh-for-six, Popeye." "Yeah, yeah, I can count." Steve stated with annoyance clear in his voice. "You know that means you suck." She stated amusingly. "Yep, I can read, too." "Since when?"

Rolling my eyes at their bickering, I handed Erica her cone before looking over my shoulder to make brief eye contact with Steve. "It's this stupid hat. It's holding me back." He stated simply while Robin shook her head. "Sure it is."

"So, you're just gonna watch this happen?" Erica's voice stole my attention away from the scene behind me. "Watch what happen?" I asked with a fake smile. "Don't play dumb, she's obviously flirting with your man," Erica stated judgmentally before licking her ice cream.

"She is not." I rolled my eyes at the idea of Robin flirting with Steve, I don't think I've ever seen her look at him without that piercing glare. "Plus he isn't mine, and I trust him." I stated with a shrug while Erica squinted her eyes at me, "Whatever, don't say I didn't warn you."

Chuckling lightly to myself, I shook my head at the younger girl's response. "How old are you again?" I asked jokingly. "Ten, but I'm mature for my age." She stated with a shrug. "Right, okay."