Fourteen. Girls and lies
Jen hadn't slept well. It was tossing and turning and no peace from her dulling mind all night.
She had gotten home last night, and Alex was at the door outside the trailer (waiting). Waiting for Jen. She's never done that before, it's always been the other way around.
Alex spoke before Jen was even fully out of her car. "Melissa Fairwell called. You weren't at cheer practice."
Why is she playing Mother right now?
Jen tried to ignore the girl, she really did. She was tired and had that photo rotting in her bag. She just wanted to be alone in the silence of her shit trailer room.
"Hello? I'm fucking talking to you!" Alex's eyes looked a little red rimmed. Jen wondered if it had been drugs or crying over the recent events surrounding the Byers'.
Jen's jaw seemed to tick. They had an audience.
They always did. The elders, who'd seen the world burn, loved to watch the Leadison's and their loud disasters [...] and it all had started with a dead mother in a tub of grey pooling water back in February.
"Jen!" The girl gasped as Alex's snatched at her arm, hard. "Where the fuck were you!"
Jen's darkened eyes flew like bullets into Alex's skull. "Let go of me! The hell!" Jen snatched her arm away as she shoved the girl with the other. Alex tripped back a little, her backside smacking into the trailer's exterior. "My whereabouts aren't your business, and never have been!"
Alex glared at the girl. She was gasoline. Jen was the dying trees. "I am your sister, Jen! Your older sister! I have the right to know!"
Jen gaped at the girl, too many emotions swimming in her honey irises. "You're my sister? Since when? Since when! We are not sisters, and haven't been for awhile! Stop trying to give a shit now, because someone you finally cared about died! That doesn't change anything! You still suck! You're still an addict! And you're still a fucking liar!" Alex flinched back as Jen shoved the photo into her chest. "You're a fucking liar, Alex!" She seethed.
Alex's eyes slowly looked down towards the photo before snatching it away from Jen's grasp. Alex's eyes widened and her lips parted. "Jen.."
Jen shook her head. "You both fucking knew she was pregnant. Didn't tell anyone. Especially not Steve. You knew she'd leave and drop that kid off with himâbecause she's not a good person! Never has been! And neither are you! He was a kid, who had good things ahead of him! You guys ruined his life! Was that the plan?"
Alex's eyes snapped back to her sister. "We were all childrenâ"
"No! You and Lowen stopped being kids when you guys turned fourteen and thought it was a good idea to get matching tramp stamps! You are not a child, and you weren't in that photo either! You're just a fucking liarâboth of you!"
Alex glared at her sister. "There's nothing you can do now anyways. Steve has the kid. You can't play Prince Charming, you fuck."
She shouldn't have. She really shouldn't have. But the sound of skin against skin was blood chilling. It felt like she could breathe again. It felt good.
Alex's head went to the side, eyes screwed shut as her lips were parted. Jen's never gotten that angry [...] but this was about another little girl in the world that had a mother that didn't want her. It wasn't fair. "You're the sick fuck, Alex. Fuck you!"
The trailer had been silent all night, and Jen still couldn't sleep [...] I mean, how could she after that.
The girl let out a sigh into her pillow. Her eyes gazed at the blurry red digits of her clock. It was four something in the morning.
The girl flinched a little at the engine of a car suddenly appearing in the dirt of Forest Hills. It went by her trailer quick. Jen sat up, eyes and fingertips peaking past her curtains. She sucked in a breath at the car.
Steve Harrington's BMW.
He seem to fly out of the car heavily. He slammed the door crazily and it made Jen flinch. He didn't go and pull out a child from the back. There was no Violet.
Jen never went to sleep after that.
He was alone, so far, yet so damn close.
She stayed in bed.
Will's Funeral.
Jen had to remind herself that this funeral wasn't entirely true. There was still a heavy chance Will was alive, somewhere. Her, Nancy, and Jonathan were going to figure it out. Hopefully.
"There's a lot of people here.. more than I would've thought."
Jen looked over at Alex. Those were her first words to her since last night. Jen huffed, "a little boy died. Some people care, Alex."
They took a split into silence just like that. Alex sparing her sister a glance as she walked away, towards Nancy and the other little boys that were Will's best friends.
Nancy sent the girl a small smile as she arrived. Her hand gently wrapping around Jen's, she squeezed it softly.
As the Pastor's words came to a close, everyone placed flowers down on the casket. White and Yellow. Joyce didn't seem to be responding to anyone, so her ex-husband, Lonnie, was taking all the words from people who showed they cared and wouldn't probably care tomorrow. It was interesting how the world worked.
Jen and Nancy found Jonathan after. The three taking a seat on a bench, a bits away from Will's casket. "This is where we know for sure it's been, right?"
Jonathan had a map, with the layout of everywhere this dark figure has been so far. Little red X's. "So, that's..." Nancy pointed down at the map, Jen nodded gently. "Steve's house."
"And that's the woods where they found Will's bike and... that's my house."
"It's all so close."
"Yeah. Exactly. I mean, it's all within a mile or something. Whatever this thing is, it's... it's not traveling far."
Jen and Nancy shared a look, before her gaze returned to Jonathan. "You want to go out there." The boy nodded. "We might not find anything."
Nancy shook her head gently. "But we found something." Her and Jen. Nancy and Jen.
Jen looked between the two. "Okay.. but if we do see it... then what?"
Nancy seem to frown, Jonathan let out a sigh. "We kill it."
Nancy and Jen shared a look as the boy got up. The two followed after him as he ran off to a car, his father's car. "What are you doing?"
"Just give me a second."
The boy picked at the glove box with the tip of a knife. "Jesus.." Jen mumbled as her and Nancy looked around, hoping not to get caught. This was the last thing they needed today.
Then the boy pulled out a gun.
"Shit.." Jen's eyes widened. She'd never seen one so close before.
Nancy gasped as the two girls stared. "Are you serious?"
"What? You want to find this thing and take another photo? Yell at it?" The boy closed up the give box and exited his father's car.
Nancy clearly wasn't one for guns. "This is a terrible idea."
Jonathan sighed, with a shrug. "Yeah, well, it's the best we've got."
Nancy didn't like this, her face showed it.
Jonathan sighed, trying to grab sense from the girl. This was the best bet they had. "What? You can tell someone, but they're not gonna believe you. You know that."
Nancy scoffed gently. "Your mom would."
Jonathan shook his head. Jen frowned. "She's been through enough."
"She deserves to know she's not crazy, like people think!"
Jonathan and Jen shared a look. "Yeah, and I'll tell her... when this thing is dead."
They had made a plan to meet up later, in a clearing of woods by Jonathan's house.
The girls and Jonathan split ways. "You should come back to my house." Nancy said gently as the two stood next to Jen's car. Jen paused, gaze falling on the pale girl. Her nose and cheeks were bitten red. It was getting colder in Hawkins. "Are you sure?"
Nancy nodded. "Yeah.. I mean, Jonathan has a gun. We have to have something too, right? I'm sure we can find something in my garage. Just go home, change, and come to mine. We'll leave from there."
Jen smiled small, with a nod. "Okay. Sounds good. I'll see you then." Nancy smiled softly, giving the girl a hug. "See you then." The hug was nice and vanilla.
Jen watched the girl jogged off to her family's car, the Wheeler's all piling in.
"Since when were you friends with Nancy Wheeler?" Jen looked over her shoulder. Alex now stood at the passenger side. Jen sighed. "There's a lot of things you don't know about me.. or anyone, Alex."
The drive home was silent.
As the pulled up to the trailer park, Alex was quicker than light to lock herself in her room. Jen rolled her eyes as she slipped into her own room. The girl grabbed at a grey shirt, jean overalls, and a thick jacketâit had belonged to her mother for winter. Apparently her father had given it to her mother on their first anniversary.
(Alex thinks that story is a lie. Jen has no problem in believing it. She wants to believe it.)
The girl grabbed her keys once more and jogged out of the trailer. Slamming the door with her side, before she ran around to the backside of the trailer. Her hands gaze at one of the hatches, she opened it up by turning the small handle to the right. The compartment door opened up slowly on its own, like it was being pushed by air.
The girls eyes casted upon the items.
Rakes. Baseball bats. A softball bat. And two axes.
Jen let out a little sigh of relief as her gaze landed on the axes. She grabbed at the bigger one. It was heavy in her hands. Her pointer finger gently ran over the thick blade. She held her breath.
"What the hell are you doing with that?"
The girl flinched, her finger digging in a little. Skin sliced. She balled up her fist, and hid the blood as she faced the voice.
Her light eyes casted on Eddie Munson.
His hair was thrown back in a bun, his bangs and some shorter rouge pieces withstanding. He had on a Henley Black Long Sleeve with a thick, aged jacket over it. The jacket wasn't black, like his baggy jeans with no rips. He wore his boots, that could stomp on her heart if he wanted.
Her finger burned pressed against her palm. "Um.. nothing?"
Eddie raised a brow, hands in the pockets of his jacketâit looked like one of Wayne's. "Are you telling me or asking?"
Jen sighed, she didn't have time for this. "What do you want, Eddie? I have to leave.."
The boy bit back a frown. "How was the funeral? I'm sorry about the kid."
Jen shrugged gently. "It.. was a funeral."
Eddie sighed as he ran a hand over his face. "Look, Jen, I miss you, alright? It's been a few days since I've seen you.. and Wayne said he saw the fight you and Alex had last night. I justâare you okay? You know you can talk to me.."
The girl frowned. Maybe her sister was right, Jen didn't need this older boy in her life.. right now at least. Plus, Jen would die if anything ever happen to Eddie. (Her mother might come and haunt her too if anything happens to him.)
The girl cleared her throat gently. "Eddie, I don't think we should hang out anymore.. I should focus on school. You should focus on school, you're a senior. You need to focus on graduating, plus, we all know I'm too soft for you. It's not going to work.. You don't want it to work. Thats okay. I'm fine with that." She smiled gently, but it was a rushed smile.
The boys jaw ticked. It's as silent for a moment. Her heart pounding before he spoke up. "Alright."
Jen's lips parted, that's it?
The boy shook his head with a small laugh as he started to walk away. He paused and looked back at the girl, pointing a finger at her. "You can try and act like you fit in with Wheeler and her Princess Harringtonâ but it's not gonna stick. You and I both know it."
Her finger really burned.
When Jen got to Nancy's, the pale girl looked on edge. Jen stepped out of her car, "Hey? You okay?" Nancy flinched a little at Jen's voice, she calmed once she realized it was her. She grabbed at a bat and jogged towards the girl.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay." Nancy got into the girls car, and Jen pulled out of the driveway. They started the route to Jonathan's locationâa clearing in the woods, by his house. "It's just.." Jen looked over at Nancy quick, before she looked back onto the road. "Steve came by."
Jen's lips parted. Her heart sank a little. "He did?"
Nancy nodded gently, her fingers tapping at the wooden bat. "He apologized.. for the whole thing. He got in trouble with his parents.."
That's why he was so mad last night.
"âAnd he asked about Barbara. Told him I hadn't heard anything new.. Then he said we should go to a movie, be normal for a few hours. I just, I don't know what I want with him anymore. He's sweet when it's just the two of us. I know he cares about me.. but, god, forgive me, I don't want to be someone's mother at seventeen. You know?" Nancy looked up at Jen.
Violet.. Violet. Violet.
Jen gently cleared her throat. "No, yeah. I get that. We're young. I wouldn't want to be a mother at this age either. We haven't even graduated high school yet." (Liar.)
"Yeah, see!" Nancy smiled a little. "I'm glad I can talk to someone about this.."
Jen pushed out a small smile. "So, what are you going to do.. with Steve?"
Nancy sighed gently, with a shrug. "I don't know.."
Maybe Jen was a liar too. (Definitely was.)