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SPRING BREAK 1978 (APRIL 2ND)

“Steven! Time for lunch! Don’t make me call you in again!” a shrill voice yells out into the backyard

With a roll of his eyes, Steve pulls himself up the pool ladder to head inside, not because he wanted to eat, but more-so because he really gets tired of Maggie the Naggie. That’s his third nanny of the year, his least favorite from the bunch. He gets she means well, but boy can she really go at it.

Wet footprints follow him into the sizeable dining room, a squelch can be heard from his wet swim shorts as he sits at the end of the lengthy table. Sometimes he wonders why his parents got such a big table when they’re hardly ever home to eat dinner here anyway. Twelve perfectly varnished oakwood chairs, but only one seems to be more worn than the rest.

“Maggie, I’m gonna head out in a bit” he manages with a mouthful of eggs

“Where are you going? You know you’re not supposed to go places alone, what if something happens to you” the older lady says as she eyes him, hands steadying their motions as they wipe down dishes

“Did my parents tell you that?” he scoffs as he pours himself a glass of apple juice, “We both know they don’t give a damn where I go, plus it’s Hawkins, nothing happens here” he says between sips.

“Your parents care about you, Steven” she says sternly, carrying the clean dishes to the cupboard, turning her back to him.

“Yeah, they can tell me that themselves when they find the time” he tries to laugh, but it feels empty. Composing himself he tries to argue, “I’ll be back before 4:30, just in time to wash up before dinner”

The older woman sighs, turning back to face him. “4:30 sharp? Not a minute more?” with a raised eyebrow.

Steve pulls out his secret weapon, he smiles in a certain way that makes his cheeks look fuller, he thinks the ladies dig it. Well, older ladies do…

Maggie coos, “Alright then, you got me. Not a minute less, Steven” she warns as she takes away his empty plate and glass. “Hurry and wash up then, you smell like pool” she nags with the clinking of dishes.

—

Steve runs down the stairs grabs a baseball cap off of the rack before making his way out, “Bye Maggie, be back soon!” he yells out into the house before shutting the door. Not bothering to take the time to listen to what the older woman yelled out after him. He gets on his bike and makes his way to the park.

Popularity has always followed Steve around, well so far it has. Nearing 7th grade, he finds himself being admired already. It feels nice to be paid attention to. He recently became friends with Tommy Hagan, who he can admit is kind of an asshole, but the other kids seem to think he’s cool. So as the people pleaser he is, Steve spared no time in accepting Tommy’s invitation to hang out today in the hopes of trying to climb the rather short social ladder that exists in the 6th grade.

The park has more kids than usual, they probably wanted to hang out after church, considering it is the last day before school starts again tomorrow.

Ditching his bike at the racks, he makes his way to Tommy Hagan who’s been waving him over.

“About time, Harrington!” Tommy snarks as he playfully shoves Steve. Three other boys surround Tommy, Steve can’t be bothered to try to remember their names.

“Dave brought his new football” adds Tommy, “How bout’ a game of catch, first one to drop it owes the rest some milkshakes” he smirks as the other three boys jeer in agreement. “You’re on” challenges Steve as they jog over to one of the clear areas of the park.

While the ball gets thrown around, Steve notices a white moving van pull up to one of the houses facing the park. A navy blue Ford country following closely behind it. He snaps back into focus as he sees the football nearing his peripheral, he manages to catch it with a little fumble.

“C’mon, Harrington! Better pay attention or you owe us smoothies!” one of the boys taunt as they get ready for the next throw. Steve laughs as he fakes a throw towards Tommy, which causes him to stumble back a little.

His eyes drifted back to the household, he sees that a woman and two kids got out of the blue Ford, and a man was unloading the moving van. One of the kids catch his eye, a girl, most probably same age as him, holding what seems to be her little brother in her arms with great care. A radiant smile on her face as she talks with her mother. That smile could take out an army, Steve can’t help but be infected by the laugh that comes out of her mouth, a small smile making its way onto his face as well.

“Harrington! Think fast!” he hears before the football hits him square in the jaw, knocking him backwards into a wooden bench where he bumps his head.

“Oh shit! Dude, are you okay?” Tommy says trying to stifle a laugh, “Could’ve dodged that if you kept your head in the game” one of the other boys laughed as he grabbed the football as Steve still laid on the ground.

Ignoring the aching pain in his jaw and the back of his head, he tries to push himself using his elbows, annoyed that none of his ‘friends’ bothered to help him up.

“Yeah, should’ve paid more attention, I got the milkshakes” he says as he rubs the back of his head trying to ease the ache.

“You’re the shit, Harrington!” Tommy H. says as he claps a hand on his shoulder before running back to position to continue the game without him.

He sits in pain for a while, he doesn’t know how long but at some point Tommy and the other boys decided to forget about him and run off to play baseball at one of their backyards.

He scoffs and thinks about how he could’ve stayed at home instead. Still rubbing the back of his head and jaw at the same time, his mind wanders off to the girl he saw earlier, he wonders if he’ll see her at school tomorrow.

It was if the heavens heard his wish when he heard a gentle voice cut through his thoughts, “Hey, are you alright? I brought you some cold water and a towel, our ice isn’t fully hardened yet since my dad just plugged in the refrigerator.”

Steve squints up, the sun casting a glare in his vision, but once his eyes focus he realized that he was being spoken to by his cause of injury. His heart does a little backflip when he finally sees your smile up close, he can’t tell if he feels lightheaded because of hitting his head or if it was your eyes looking at him with such care, though it was most definitely the former, he likes the say it was the latter.

No one would expect to feel such big emotions at twelve years old.

“I think you hit your head pretty hard there, did it make you lose your hearing?” you joke lightly as you slowly crouch down to sit with him on the ground. Long pale pink skirt getting stained with dirt, though you didn’t seem to mind at all.

Steve struggles to get a sentence out, embarrassed that a cute girl watched him eat dirt. You laughs as you listen to him stammer, dipping the towel into the cold water and handing it to him.

“Maybe start with giving me your name, don’t think you can mess that up” you smile, that smile again, even though he was already sitting on the ground he could still feel his knees go weak.

Bringing the cold towel to the back of his head, he lets out a sigh of relief from the sensation. “I’m Harrington, Steve Harrington.” he manages not quite meeting your gaze.

“Harrington?” you scrunches your nose. Steve raises his eyebrow, he’s never had such a reaction to his last name before.

“What’s wrong with my name?” he says dubiously, still holding the cold towel to the back of his head.

“Well, you just don’t look like a Harrington. But, you definitely seem like a Steve” you say playfully, holding up the cold glass of water up to him.

Steve furrows his eyebrows at you, glancing at the glass, dipping the towel back in to cool it off. “What’s your name then, since you’re such an expert” he says with a smile.

Something in him lights up as he hears your laugh up close, he hears your name roll of your tongue, now he understands why you’re such an expert. Your name matches you perfectly.

He repeats your name back to you with a smile, “Your friends are kind of assholes for leaving you here” you add as you look around the emptying playground.

“Yeah, I know they are” he tries to laugh but winces at the pain reverberating through the back of his head. He feels a killer headache awaiting him tomorrow.

“Do you go to Hawkins Middle School?” you ask him, eyeing his furrowed brows, you fumble with your pockets looking for something and grab his hand to put it in his palm.

Confused, Steve raises an eyebrow at you, ignoring the way he feels his skin heat up at your touch. He looks at his palm to see two tablets.

“That’s ibuprofen… I kinda figured you might need it soon, but I totally recommend you go see a doctor, you might have a concussion or something” you ramble looking away from his gaze.

“Concussion?” he repeats, trying to figure out what that meant. He didn’t want to seem like a total dunce in front of you so he just agreed, “Yeah, totally probably definitely have a concussion, maybe…” he adds.

“And I do go to Hawkins Middle, are you going there too?” he answers your previous question, stuffing the tablets in his jacket pocket.

“Yeah, I’m starting tomorrow!” you look back at him excitedly, “I was kind of nervous since it is technically almost the end of the school year, I figured it would be harder to make real friends this late” you sighed. “But good thing you got hit on the head!” you joke as you playfully bump his shoulder, apologizing when he squints his eyes and winces at the movement.

“Well, since you saved my ass today, I’ll save yours tomorrow then” he says with a smile, “I can show you around, show you the ropes” he tries cooly. Immediately regretting how cringey that sounded coming out of his mouth.

You probably thought the same with the way you laugh at his statement, something in him buzzes at the sound of your laugh. He can’t help but smile when you smile.

“I’ll take you up on that offer, Steve” you say with a grin, a voice yells out your name behind you. “Sweetie! Time to help your mom with dinner!” your dad calls out into the park.

Looking at Steve apologetically, “I didn’t realize it was 4:00 already” you say standing up from the dirt. You hold out your hand to him, he looks up at you confused, “Well are you gonna spend the night on the ground?” you raise an eyebrow at him.

Now understanding your gesture he quickly takes your hand to pull himself up. There it is again, that warm buzz of your skin on his.

“You better head home too, Steve.” you say to him as you look around the ground around you, bending down to pick up his Cubs hat covered in red dirt. Dusting it off before meeting his curious gaze. He slowly puts out his hand expecting you to hand it to him, but is surprised to find his heart stuttering when you carefully place it back on his head yourself.

The smile you give him after that is fully ingrained into his brain, he thinks that in this moment, he could look directly into the sun but it still would not compare with how bright your smile is.

All he can manage to say during his inner turmoil is a small, “Thanks” his pre-pubescent voice cracking around the edges. He watches you pick up the towel and glass of now lukewarm water, “Next time, I’ll invite you over for dinner, just gotta finish unpacking” you sigh.

“Bye, Steve! See you tomorrow!” you say as you turn to head back to your house. Your father already calling your name a second time.

Wanting to get the last word, “Thanks for helping with my- uh- percussion!” he says hurriedly. Fuck, was that the right word?

“Concussion!” you yell back, not looking back behind you as you wave him off with the back of your hand.

He feels he will never recover. From the football? No that’s long forgotten. From you? You just gave him a concussion for the rest of his life.

Looking down at his dirtied watch, he realizes it’s 4:18, it takes ten minutes to get home. Ignoring the pounding in his head, he gets there in eight minutes, just enough time to dodge another nag session from Maggie.

Also, enough time for him to reflect on how he thinks a football just made him fall in love with a random girl.

—

From then on, you and Steve became fast friends. With only a month left to the school year, you two were attached by the hip. Sure, you made other friends, but Steve was your most constant.

A year went by, his feelings grew. He always catches himself looking for you in the hallways during breaks, passing you notes full of nonsense during the classes you have together, and going out of his way to get you the juice you like during lunch before everybody else gets to it.

More time passes, you just became even more radiant from the day he met you. You were so sweet, never failing to make everyone around you feel cared for. He thanks the heavens every single day for letting him experience you.

Getting teased by all his friends about how soft he gets for you, he couldn’t bring himself to mind, he just loved spending time with you.

What he loved even more was that it seemed that you liked spending time with him too. Waiting for him at the school entrance because he gets to school later than you, making extra sets of notes for him because you knew he never really paid attention during class, and inviting him over for dinner every sunday.

For once in his life Steve felt wanted.

Now it’s the summer before sophomore year, you decided to join an all girls summer camp, despite Steve’s protests. This is will be the longest he will have to go without seeing you since you got chicken pox last year. (That was the most devastating week and a half of his life)

“Come on, you can’t just leave me here” he pouts while you pack your suitcase trying to hold in your laughter. He huffs as you eye him with your hands on your hips.

“Stevie, it’s only for a two months, you won’t even notice I’m gone” you roll your eyes as you turn around to dig into your closet.

“Trust me, I’m definitely gonna notice” he mumurs as he stares at the back of your head sadly. Just thinking of you being away for that long made his heart ache, he won’t act clueless as to why. He loves you, with every inch of his fifteen year old heart.

“At least it’s an all girls camp” he sighs absentmindedly, turning your head around you eye him, “So what if it’s an all girls camp?” you ask as you slowly turn your body to face him fully.

Realizing how his previous statement could have sounded to you, he stumbled over his words to try to salvage an excuse. “You know- Well- Boys are gross? Phew good riddance right?” he scoffs as his cheeks turn warm under your gaze. “Yeah you’re definitely gross” you laugh as you throw a sweater at him.

His eyes dart away from you trying to regain his composure. But if he just let his eyes stay with yours for a little bit more, he wouldn’t have missed the knowing smile that flashed across your face. 

The sun sets as you two immerse yourselves in conversation. Steve tried his best to ignore the tug in his heart every time he remembered that you would be leaving by tomorrow morning.

Setting aside the packed bags, you huff from exhaustion and throw yourself onto your bed, landing right next to Steve’s sock-clad feet as he rests against your headboard.

Steve mopes and fiddles with the loose thread on the sweater you previously threw, you nudge his arm with your foot to get him to look at you, “Don’t be all pouty on our last day, dickhead” you say as you try to comfort him.

He huffs and pretends to throw a fit as he looks out your bedroom window watching the sun set further. After a pause, he murmurs “Can you promise that you won’t forget about me?” still looking out the window. 

You nudge him with your foot again, “I’ll only be gone for a few months” you say as you laugh at his solemn expression. Noticing how his face didn’t lift, you add “As long as you don’t forget me, Steve.” as you smile at him.

“I couldn’t even if I tried” he replies gently, looking at you in a way that you can’t name. You could tell he was being genuine, but also that there was also something more there, you just couldn’t place what. Well, maybe not right now.

You smile, abruptly sitting up to face him which startles him enough that he jumps a little. “Pussy” you giggle at him as you pinch his side, you lean over him to reach the drawer of your side table. Your shoulder brushes against his chest and he feels it stop his heart, he could smell your shampoo from the top of your head just a few inches away. God, he was whipped.

His trance was shattered when you grab something and quickly sit back up to face him, tugging his hand toward you and wiggling something onto his wrist. “What are you doing?” he laughs as you slip what it seems to be a bracelet, shades of blue and white thread braided together.

“What’s this for? Where’d you get it?” he asks as he admires it, its a bit delicate for his taste but anything that comes from you is a treasure to him.  “Lots of questions there, Harrington” you joke as you slip on a bracelet of your own onto your wrist as well, now yours was like Steve’s but the roles of blue and white were reversed, there was more white than blue but they were braided together nonetheless.

“It’s for us, I guess they’re kinda friendship bracelets… But I wouldn’t consider us friends, you’re definitely more than that to me”, you say while placing the two of your wrists side by side. Steve feels his heart melt at your words, he could only hope you felt the way he did, but he can’t risk losing what you guys had just from assuming. 

“So like best friends?” he adds nervously as he glances up to meet your eyes, you pause as you look at him, feeling your heart tug. Honestly, you still wouldn’t call it that either, you know you love Steve more than anything but is it completely platonic? The way he makes you feel is different than what you feel for your other guys friends, that’s for sure, but now all you can do is slowly nod.

“Yeah… I guess” you smile softly at him. If Steve knew better he would’ve noticed the way the curve of your lips dont quite meet your eyes, but he doesn’t know better quite yet. 

Moving to sit next to Steve against your headboard, now the two of you were shoulder to shoulder, “Don’t worry your big head about it too much, Steven” you say gently, nudging his shoulder. Before Steve can retort, he feels a weight on his shoulder and glances to see you resting your head on it, giving him the sweetest softest smile. He feels his heart soar.

“You know I hate when people call me that.” he says slowly not breaking your gaze, he feels the heat across his cheeks. you laugh gently, “Well I’m not people.” Then, he feels your arms circle around his waist, hugging him tight. Your head now under his chin and he feels you let out a content exhale. He doesn’t waste any time to return the hug, wrapping his arms around you, “You definitely aren’t” he mumbles into your hair.

A few knocks resound from your bedroom door, “Come in” you call out unmoving from your position against Steve’s chest. “Honey, dinner’s ready-“ your mother was cut off from the sight before her. Steve couldn’t help but give her a sheepish smile, unsure if she would approve of the situation.

Your mother gives him a sincere smile back, his body relaxes when he realizes she didn’t mind at all. “We’ll be right down” your muffled voice replied. She laughs, “Don’t take too long, the food s’gonna get cold, I’m talking to you too, Steve” she points her finger in his direction before retreating back out the door. “Yes Ma’am!” Steve yelled out before she shut it. 

He rubs your arm as if to wake you, “You heard her” he whispers. When you don’t respond he resorts to gently shaking you, “Hey, are you good?” He asks gently, trying to angle his face down to get a look at you. “Yeah, I’m just taking my time” you finally say, voice still muffled.

He can’t help but snort at your behavior. You are absolutely everything to him.

Finally you untangle you arms from around him and sit up, he notices your eyes were slightly puffy and gasped incredulously, “Holy shit, are you crying” he couldn’t help but smile at your state. “Yeah, but don’t let it get to your head, asshole” you retort as you wipe at your eyes with your hands, still sniffling. 

Now, Steve could feel a tinge of burning in his eyes as well. You looked so sad looking at him with your glassy eyes, he feels his chest swell with emotion. “You were the one telling me to calm down earlier, now look at you.” He laughs as he sniffles back a tear.

“Well, that was before I realized I won’t be here for your birthday” you say voice wavering slightly as you feel emotion get caught in your throat. “Geez, I think your period is coming, dude” He laughs pulling you into another hug. “How did you know?” You laugh as fresh tears run down your cheeks. “And I don’t mind if you miss my birthday, sure I’ll probably be pretty bummed, probably super bummed but as long as you have fun, I’ll be happy” he says wiping the tears off your cheeks with his thumbs. 

You feel your heart burn with affection at the gesture, it’s moments like this when you mean what you said earlier. Steve is so much more to you than a friend, you could only wonder what he thinks. You then reach out wipe a single tear that escaped his eye, he can’t help but follow your finger but he managed to let his gaze land on your lips. His fifteen year old brain just about short-circuits when he realizes how closed the two of your faces are. 

“I think it’s time for dinner, Stevie” you say, snapping him out of it. The look on your face makes him realize that you definitely caught him. His cheeks feel red hot when he coughs awkwardly, “Yeah, yup, yes” he says quickly clambering off of the bed, immediately making a beeline for the door.

You love this weirdo.

After dinner, you saw Steve out to his bike, he thinks his dad’s getting him a car for his birthday next month. You honestly wouldn’t be surprised, it’s the least they could do for him at this point. 

“You know what, I’m still coming over when you’re gone. I can not miss out on your Mom’s steak and potatoes.” He says before he lets out a burp. You scrunch your nose in disgust and nudge him with your shoulder with a huff. 

Now he’s standing in front of you in the middle of your lawn, rocking a little on his heels. “So… I guess this is goodbye?” He says gently. “It’s see you later, Steven. I’m not going off to war” you say deadpan, trying to disguise your sadness terribly. He huffs out a small laugh at your retort. 

He takes a few steps forward and doesn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around you again in a hug, it gets so surprising how tall he gets over a few months. You wouldn’t be shocked if he absolutely towered over you when you get back. 

“Promise you’ll write?” You say gently into his chest as you wrap your arms around his middle. “Of course, dude. Not like I got anything else to do with you gone.” He laughs into your hair. “Good.” He feels you smile against him. 

After a pause he hears you call out his name. “Yeah?” He asks, letting go of you now, allowing him to look at your face now. Your face is flushed, with a mischievous grin on your face. “What is it?” He continues, furrowing his brows at your expression. 

“Can you lean in your ear for me real quick, I got something to tell you” you say, trying to stifle your grin. “But we’re the only ones out here” he laughs unsure, not really trusting your intentions. He honestly thinks you might bite his ear off. “I’m not gonna bite your ear off if that’s what you’re thinking.” You add as you roll your eyes.

Steve huffs out a laugh at your ability to read his mind effortlessly. He hesitates but finally lets himself bend down to let you reach his ear, turning his head to the side so you could just say what you wanted. He feels the hair raise on the back of his neck when your breath fans slightly against his ear. Getting flustered, he impatiently prompts you to hurry, “Well?” 

He feels the soft air of your laugh, before he hears, “Don’t hang out with Tommy Hagan too much” you giggle into his ear. He furrows his brows, head still turned to the side. He thinks you’re going to continue on since that can’t be the only thing you want to say. After a few seconds of silence, he asks confused, “Is that it? That wasn’t even a big deal-“ before he could fully turn his head back to face you, he feels you place a kiss onto his cheek.

He feels every nerve ending in his body explode.

Goosebumps travel down his neck down to every other part of his body. His heart stutters when he realizes it isn’t a quick peck either. After a few seconds he feels the warmth leave his cheek as you pull away. 

Head still frozen to the side, it takes your fingers to pull his chin back towards you for him to look at you again. You giggle when you see that his face looked as reddened as your face felt. 

“I’ll see you in August, Harrington. Please behave” you say as you dropped your hand and started walking backwards, smiling at his lost expression. Trying to find his words, he stutters, “See yo- Good- Yea-, Goodnight” his voice cracking at the last syllable. 

You laugh as you wave goodbye, finally turning around to jog back into your home. Only glancing back at him when you open your front door. Giving him that same smile that always knocks him off his feet.

When you enter your house, Steve is still left reeling in your front yard. He lifts a hand to where you left the kiss, feeling his face still hot to the touch. Looking up to your bedroom window, hoping to see you one last time, but seeing the lights shut off. As much as he felt disappointed, he could still feel a lovesick grin forming on his face as he turned around to pick up his bike.

“August better be quick” he whispers to himself as he pedals home. 

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