𝖛𝖎𝖗𝖌𝖎𝖓𝖎𝖆

𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚

𝖛𝖎𝖗𝖌𝖎𝖓𝖎𝖆 𝖉𝖗𝖎𝖘𝖈𝖔𝖑𝖑: 𝖆𝖓 𝖎𝖓𝖙𝖗𝖔𝖉𝖚𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓

ALYCIA DEBNAM-CAREY, CISFEMALE, SHE/HER. When’s the last time anyone heard anything about VIRGINIA DRISCOLL? Old friends remember them as LIBERATED & CONFIDENT but also MANIPULATIVE & SELF-CENTERED, no wonder they’re still known as THE FEMME FATALE around town. Today, in 2006, they are THIRTY-FOUR and some people say they remind them of THE MAKEOVER MONTAGE WHEN A GIRL TAKES OFF HER GLASSES AND PULLS DOWN HER PONYTAIL TO (SURPRISE!) FIND OUT SHE’S BEEN ATTRACTIVE ALL ALONG, STUMBLING DOWNTOWN WITH A BOTTLE IN HER HAND, MAKING OUT IN A BAR BATHROOM, BURN MARKS LEFT FROM A CURLING IRON, AND SPRAYING HAIRSPRAY IN YOUR EYES. 

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓: Virginia just stays being insane

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄: The Hideaway

Being back home was surreal. The vapid cheerleaders that had made fun of her in high school were stay at home mom’s, taking their kids to the Hawkins Community Pool (which hadn’t been eradicated for being a literal biohazard yet) and they had married their high school sweethearts, destined to a life of unhappiness, drowning their sorrows in the latest Nicholas Sparks novels they could get their ageing hands on. Virginia fed on it like it was her lifeline. She had it made. She was living in L.A. and had a career that they could only dream of. And it was her who made it a reality. So, call her vapid. She earned it fair and square.

It was late, days after that horrendous ordeal she had gotten herself sucked into at the high school. She was thankful she dipped as soon as Jonathan Byers started reading out his dead little brother’s gay ass letter (which just broke middle school Ginny’s heart). Yet, her body still felt heavy despite nothing impacting her. After all, a kid was missing and even Virginia’s heart hurt for his parents. Even if one of those parents happened to call her boobs fake. Which they like, totally were not! She sought solace in the dim lights of The Hideaway, nursing her vodka soda.

Never the one to like solitude, her eyes gazed around the bar looking for someone to talk to. After mentally excluding everyone she had gone to school with, she was left with either sleazeball #2 or that cute guy at the end of the bar. The latter seemed familiar after the other night. They barely crossed paths, but she could recognize a nice jawline from anywhere. She sauntered over, drink in hand, and leaned against the bar. “Hey, weren’t you at the high school the other night? Totally weird, wasn’t it? I thought it was going to be like, some cool lock in kind of thing on the old stomping grounds but did you hear that Wheeler kid went missing after?” She rambled, acting as if she had known him for years. 

Knowing her manners, she stuck out her free hand. “Virginia, like the state. Or like the total betty from Dune.”

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓: Virginia doesn’t really understand “grief” 

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄: Main street

It was strange being back in Hawkins. Virginia had made a conscience decision to stay far from her hometown for as long as she could. She was never particularly close to her family and she preferred the hustle and bustle of a city over a podunk town any day of the week. Yet, there was still a nagging in the back of her head that something in her family wasn’t right. Doris Driscoll was known as the local crazy old lady when she was still living and Virginia couldn’t remember much about her grandmother, except that the woman believed in aliens and government conspiracies. 

For most of Ginny’s life, she took it as fact that granny just died in the Starcourt Mall fire. It was a tragic accident. It wasn’t until Virginia was in high school that she questioned the legitimacy of it, but her dad was quick to shut it down. Either he knew something or, like everyone else in Hawkins, he just turned a blind eye to the weird happenstances that happened in town. Virginia was sure it was the latter. So, when Joyce Byers croaked, Ginny took it upon herself to come home. Play up that her and Will Byers were middle school lovers or some dumb shit like that to finesse her way into the funeral and grab intel. 

For a girl on a mission, though, Virginia was never proactive and arrived in town only after Joyce’s funeral. Well, that plan was a bust. As she walked out of Jitters, slurping on an iced coffee, it seemed like fate fell into her hands. Jonathan Fucking Byers. The weirdo himself was walking down the street! “Yoohoo!” She called out, waving her hand about, catching up to him. “Remember me?” She teased, knowing good and well that she was still in middle school when he graduated high school. “You got hot,” the comment was swift and brief, before she moved onto her next course of action. “Virginia Driscoll. Ring a bell?”

𝐖𝐇𝐎: suzie bingham & @savethevirginia​​​​ 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓: girls being girls 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄: hawkins ymca!!! yuck! 

in college suzie had helped hold a study that proved yoga can approve executive functions, brain health, memory, and overall general brain functions. ever since then, it was part of suzie’s morning routine to do yoga, and the only place she was able to find on the hotel computer was the ymca. at the near crack of dawn, she woke up, drove her rental to the y, and plopped a borrowed mat down right in the front of the classroom. it wasn’t the most lifechanging yoga class she’d ever been too, but the company was nice. and funny. especially the girl next to her. while suzie had a big day of investigating planned, she still cornered the girl after class, coming on alarmingly strong. “hey, i’m suzie! we should get breakfast together!”  suzie scanned her expression and quickly realized she should probably add a little more context, “i thought you were actually really funny during the class, people at these things usually take themselves so seriously.” speaking of serious things, suzie had an excellent memory, and didn’t recognize this girl from the funeral. which was nice, because she didn’t have to be conscience of someone’s grief. figuring that was sufficient enough explanation, she reiterated, “so? breakfast?” 

—  ❤ —

Virginia wasn’t a California girl, but she had lived there long enough to pick up her very own Paris Hilton-esque accent, a velour tracksuit, and catch on to the health and wellness craze. Her face and body was quite literally her career and she’d be damned if she let it all fade away because she decided to make a pop up stop in Hawkins freaking Indiana. She was staying at the local Holiday Inn, which was a sight for sore eyes, but it didn’t stop her from attempting to make a green juice in the morning and looking for the first yoga or pilates class she could find. When it seemed like the only thing offered was a half assed yoga class was at the Y, she snickered at the sign in sheet and took it as an opportunity to just have a fun time. 

Tucking her yoga mat underneath her armpit, she darted towards the door, reveling in the sheer fact that she looked ten times better than half the stay at home moms she went to high school with. Sucks to suck. When she was cornered by the girl she was next to, Virginia looked at her - Suzie - like she had three heads. It was only when Suzie introduced herself that she lowered her guard. An out of towner. At least, they never went to high school together. Therefore, she didn’t consider Suzie a direct threat. “Virginia,” because Virginia was so much sexier and cooler than Ginny. “If you wanted to take me out on a date, you could have just said so, Sooz,” she teased, turning on her heel as she exited the building. 

While on the way to Jitters, the pair made small talk. Ginny learned that Suzie was also from California, albeit for a less vain reason than why Ginny was still occupied there. “So, California... and you’re like, a total tech goddess and you’re here right now? Please tell me your life isn’t that sad.”

WHO: troy walsh & anyone

WHERE: around hawkins community college, a drugstore  

Being back to Hawkins was a lot fucking weirder then Troy had anticipated. He didn’t regret it of course, he had no room in himself for regrets. It was a useless and pointless emotion ( his father’s words rang in his ears like a baseball bat against a wind chime, never back down, never apologize, the echo reverberated without remorse ). Troy recalled how weird Hawkins had been when he was only a kid, with it’s endless stream of death, nerds and property damage. Living in the place as an adult was a whole ‘nother story. Like watching Alice in Wonderland as a kid, and realizing as an adult Lewis Carroll must have been on shrooms.

Attending Hawkins Community College was a ride and a half. There was a swirl of dread in his chest at the thought of running into anyone he’d known before his family hightailed it from Hawkins. James, any of the dweebs, her— it was shit he did not need. A lifetime ago that Troy needn’t revisit. He was laser focused on the future now, and quite honestly fuck anyone who tried to get in the way of that. He needed to get good grades, get a bitchin job and take care of ma, something his dad had failed so spectacularly to do. 

Shopping in a Drugstore was groceries wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but it was far from Troy’s dumbest. It was closest to him at the moment, and he knew ma was probably already asleep at home ( hopefully she’d eaten, he’d try and find out when he saw her tomorrow ). He drudged through the aisles trying to think of something to cook with the very limited assortment of food the store offered. “Which frozen dinner is the least shitty?” He asked idly, not sparing the other shopper a glance. He doubted they would even notice him speaking, let alone provide an actual answer. 

—  ❤ —

Virginia was all about keeping herself busy, busy, busy. Her dad thought she was out job hunting, but in reality, sweet little Ginny was just running amuck Hawkins finding whatever she could. She’d stumble into stores during the day, spending her money on drinks, snacks, clothes, whatever she could grab a hold of and deemed important enough to buy. Then she’d occupy herself by either going to Skull Rock or to harass the Cunningham’s in the evening, only to go home that night and say daddy they’re just not hiring anywhere in Hawkins right now! So much for those degrees, Gin-Gin!

This time, though, Ginny had actually gone into the drugstore for a totally reliable reason. She was riding the crimson wave and had to pick up some lady products. But then she couldn’t help walking through the makeup aisle, picking up a brand new blue mascara. Then her little legs took her through the food section. There weren’t many options, but she could feel her stomach tightening from the lack of sustenance in it. With folded arms and a tilted head, she looked at her options. Ginny never minded TV dinners and had come quite accustomed to them in college. She didn’t even care that it was all Nanny Driscoll fed her whenever she was allowed to see the old bat when she was younger. 

Meatloaf... no.... Salisbury Steak.... no.... the mac & cheese meal sounded appetizing but she knew she’d just want to eat again in thirty minutes if she did that, until her eyes settled on a brand that wasn’t Swanson or Banquet. Lean Cuisine. The name alone perked up her interest and the chicken and vegetables option sounded much more appetizing than an unknown meat slathered in some gravy. She reached into the freezer and grabbed it, looking over as she heard a voice. Finally. Ginny craved a certain kind of attention that could only be fulfilled by talking about absolute nonsense.

“Honestly? I would just steer clear of Swanson’s international meals. The German inspired one? Tastes like hot garbage,” she said, leaning her back against the cold door of one of the fridges as she looked the guy up and down. “I don’t know you,” Ginny definitively decided. Maybe he was new, or just happened to be a few grades short of her graduating high school. Shoving her items strategically in one hand, she leaned up and pinched his cheek. It was almost like she had an act of cuteness aggression towards him. “Anyone ever tell you that you just look so adorable? Let me guess! You’re a little freshie?”

xx.

Evie placed her zine spine-up on the counter and watched her customer. Ginny fucking Driscoll. It’d been ages since she’d seen anyone, admittedly, but it’d been a few summers since Evie had been here, and Ginny had changed a lot. Externally, at least. “You look different, Driscoll. Suits you,” she greeted the other with a half-smile.

“Duty calls,” Evie gestured around at the store, her high potent enough to mask her grimace. With a playful eyeroll, she dismissed Ginny’s comment. “I had no idea, you got a copy of the Post?” Her tone was less sarcastic than it was casual. It was Evie’s speciality, keeping it casual. 

Quirking an eyebrow, Evie grabbed a candy bar for herself and peeled it open. The customer is always right. “Thanks, Gin. But I’m kosher– he’s already in another life, probably,” she gazed wistfully out of the window, chewing absentmindedly on the chocolate nougat. After a beat, Evie zoned back in and trained her eyes on Ginny. “Were you there? Or know anybody who was?”

—  ❤ —

“Don’t I?” Virginia sang, twirling around as she walked towards Evie. Ginny had changed, for either better or for worse. It kind of varied from person to person. Like, how her dad thought she always looked like a low grade hussy, but Jason Carver had told her that it was a shame that they never hooked up in high school. Eat your heart out, Chrissy Cunningham! 

Ginny peeled the wrapper back, taking a bit into her whatchamacallit, holding it in her mouth as she dug into her front pocket, pulling out a bunched up dollar bill. She laid it on the counter hoping that would suffice. “My dad does,” she shrugged, chewing. “Which like, makes no sense. It’s all about TV nowadays!” 

She didn’t even touch on Evie’s weird comment about being kosher or her gay granddaddy being in another life. Instead, Ginny just fed into it. “I hope in my next life that I’m like, a total Betty. The kind that’s as tall as Brooke Shields,” a girl could dream. She shook her head at Evie’s question. “I was there for a bit,” there was a sort of tonal shift in the air. Maybe it was the dead knowing they were talking about them or some equally spiritual bullshit. “I just grabbed some food, hopped on the ferris wheel and left before.... well, you know.” 

She turned her head to Evie, meeting her gaze. “Are you like, here permanently now or is this just a bus stop to the next destination?”

WHO: bev wildfire & anyone! WHAT: bev is bevving i fear WHERE: the scott clarke memorial @ hawkins middle

by some miracle, bev had died and come back. since she’d been back, it seemed she always felt an excruciating tingling in her temples, like she was reliving what it felt like to die, over and over, 24/7. she had missed out on the fun of the fourth of july carnival and rejoined the ranks of society from this alleged forest commune a couple of days after that mess. as if the last four years weren’t enough catching up for her to do, whatever forces that brought bev back thought might as well give her four more wacky days to add to the list. 

when her life ended, that was that. black oblivion. nothingness. there were some faint memories of a forest commune, but she quickly weeded those out as not her own. she’d never disappear into the woods, too many bugs. she had been lucky. she had gotten her second chance. others, like her old middle school science teacher, hadn’t. she didn’t care for mr.clarke, in fact, she was pretty sure she made fun of him a time or two in middle school, but looking forlorn over this sad little memorial at the middle school? well, it was the perfect way to spice up her night and grab some attention while she was at it. as footsteps approached beside her, bev threw herself into the other persons arms, fake sobbing when she did. like the perfect actress, she wailed into their chest “i just can’t believe he’s gone!”

—  ❤ —

Scott Clarke. That name hadn’t crossed Virginia’s mind since she was thirteen. Anyone who went through the Hawkins school system was bound to have Mr. Clarke at some point and she had been no exception. Ginny didn’t like mourning, no one did, but she had lost her grandparents when she was rather young. Not that it mattered much because she never really knew either, but the hurt was still there. The loss. She felt the same way about Mr. Clarke. The sinking feeling, the tightness in her chest knowing that she’d never see that person grabbing eggs at Melvald’s or playing checkers on the front porch again. 

So, she showed up to the memorial at Hawkins Middle. It felt nerve wracking stepping foot on the schoolgrounds, almost like someone would be waiting to pull at her pigtails or kick her to the ground. No one did that, though. Instead, she was met with how are you’s? and he was a really great guy, wasn’t he? from people she could distinctively remember bullying her from grade school to high school graduation. Such was the case as Bev Wildfire flew into Ginny’s arms right after Ginny finished setting flowers down at the growing shrine. It was jarring, but not enough to keep Virginia from wrapping her arms around her, squeezing her shoulder. 

A few years prior, she would have dreamed of this moment. Girls like Bev Wildfire just didn’t pay attention to her in high school and if they did, it was usually to mock her. Now, it just meant... nothing. I mean, what had Bev been up to? It’s not like she had heard that name since 1984. “It’s okay, he’s like, in that big bio lab in the sky. I think that was like, his ultimate goal,” so she wasn’t the most sensitive when it came to comforting others, but she was at least hugging her! She pulled away, looking at Bev. She was pretty, maybe even prettier than Gin last remembered. Her makeup wasn’t even messed up from her crying. “I have a compact in my purse, do you want it? It’d be so grody if you got all red and puffy.”

where: melvald’s 

what: virgina ?? i hardly know her

who: @savethevirginia​ + eddie.

once again, edward munson was a wanted man. well, he’d been released, officially. the charges against him and billy hargrove,  which had never actually been explained to him in coherent detail, hadn’t been dropped but they’d been free to go. ‘just don’t leave hawkins!’ callahan had called after them, eddie had scoffed. he wished. but for the time being they were stuck here. for the time being, eddie was, once again, stuck in a town full of people that thought he was the epitome of evil and juvenile deliquiency. a town that so quickly and willingly pointed the finger at him, there, it was, him, that freak, he did it!

eddie had abstained from, well, going outside much ever since his arrest. save for the frequent trips from and to the hospital to check in on steve, eddie stayed in his uncle’s trailer. in his room. he didn’t even dare play any music or aimlessly pluck strings on his guitar, afraid that any noise might prompt someone to call the cops on him, get him taken away. for good this time. so he stayed in his room most of the time, in silence, the muffled sounds of whatever cassette he had laying around playing faintly from his headphones. 

however much the people of hawkins hated him, though, that hatred sadly wasn’t enough to fill his fridge and so eddie now found himself stood outside of melvald’s with his head lowered, careful not to make any eye contact. he had his hair put up in a ponytail, had ditched his signature rings, leather jacket and hellfire shirt for a simple dark washed out pair of jeans and one of wayne’s old plaid shirts. anything to make him look less like .. well, himself. which only made eddie feel worse about himself to be honest. yeah, he looked a mess as he pulled open and quickly made his way into the store. unsure whether or not he was only imagining the feeling of dirty looks burning into his back, but  - 

no , someone was definitely staring. staring hard and long and eddie’s grip around the carton of milk he’d picked up tightened. fuck this. he whipped around. “is there a problem or something? i - ginny driscoll ? what the hell are you doing here?”

—  ❤ —

Ginny hadn’t been back in town long. It had only been about a month since she walked that Penn State stage and she had spent a lot of time catching up with her selected family and Cal. After all, they were the ones at the top of her list. Everyone else just eventually fell below that until she either ran into them or bothered to pick up the phone and call anyone who’s number she could remember. 

It was hot out on this particular day in Hawkins. Probably something to do with all that talk her dad did about global warming. After getting done with her shift, she went out of her way to stop by Melvald’s to pick up a few things, still in her swimsuit (with a totally appropriate pair of short on over!). Turns out, her dad didn’t exactly stay stocked up on Ginny’s favorite snacks. She had a basket in her arms full of chips, sugary drinks, and ventured into the dairy aisle to hunt down enough yogurt to sustain her for the next week.

She almost didn’t notice him, masked by pulled up hair and an uncharacteristic shirt, but she’d recognize Eddie Munson anywhere. Even in a crowd of a thousand people. Ginny had lost contact with a lot of people after high school, including Eddie. At one point in time, they had been close. In some ways, she’d still consider him one of her closest friends. They were both outsiders, losers, and while high school was one of the most miserable times in Ginny’s life, Eddie had made it... slightly tolerable.

“Now, Edward, I don’t think we have to have a lesson in manners, do we?” She teased, her face not moving from its cool state as she walked towards him. "I heard you’re wanted again,” she pointed out, as if he didn’t know. She had read the paper and seeing his name in big black letters surprised her. He should be in Chicago, slumming it up with the other like minded freaks of the world. “Please tell me that’s the reason for this sad ensemble,” she pulled at the collar of his flannel. “You can’t go changing on me.”

the hawkins’ community pool wasn’t erica’s favorite place to be at. she would rather be at the mall or at someone else’s pool, but since none of those options were viable at the moment, she had to give in and go to the community pool. she had only been there for twenty minutes and she had already yelled at kid who ran past her and almost knocked her down, but other than that, it wasn’t the worst day to be at the pool, she thought to herself. she quickly found herself a spot in the sun and put on her sunglasses, taking a book out of her bag and opening it. she could definitely do this for the rest of the summer. with her eyes on the book, she only looked up when she heard a familar voice coming towards her direction. raising an eyebrow as she saw ginny approaching her, erica closed her book and settled it on her legs. “ginny…” she greeted the other slowly, as she took the coke from the other hand with a smile.

she looked over at the other as she lied down on the free chair next to her, knowing that her moments of peace, even if they were short were over. but then again, she thought it could be worse. ginny wasn’t as bad as… everyone else, in her opinion. raising an eyebrow at the question, erica shrugged her shoulders. “why are you so interested in my freak brother all of the sudden? you didn’t… do anything with him, did you? if you did, please don’t tell me, i’m sure that i don’t want to know. that’s so traumatizing.” erica said, shaking her head slowly at that thought. she hoped that nothing had happened. “do you mean max? yeah, he’s still… kind of seeing her. i don’t know, it’s complicated and i have better stuff to do than keep up with my brother’s romantic life. because i can assure you, it’s boring.” she said, shaking her head slowly. “what’s up with you?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

—  ❤ —

“Um, ew, Erica,” dramatically, Ginny made a gagging noise to indicate that no, she was totally not into Lucas Sinclair. “No offense, because I know he’s like, your brother or whatever but I’m a professional,” because that’s what it meant to be a college graduate. “And I don’t think it’s like, so professional to get with coworkers,” okay there was the one temp lifeguard but she was temp! “oh, and I have a strict no Hellfire rule,” she tsked her tongue. “Again, no offense, babe,” and it wasn’t even a matter of because Hellfire was totally lame in high school. Ginny was just respectful enough to not go after any of Eddie’s little minions. And yes, that even included now. See, she did have standards!

“Sounds boring,” Ginny groaned, leaning back against the chair, eyes closed as she let the sun soak over her. “Do you want to know what’s wrong with my life? Let’s see, I can’t get a job past a fucking lifeguard gig, which is fine because it means I’m like, hot or whatever and my dad is like, so obnoxious. He’s just like blah, blah, blah, Gin when are you going to get a real job? And I’m like, blah, blah, blah dad lifeguarding is a totally reputable source of income. You know, I could totally move someplace warmer than Hawkins and make a living just from being hot and saving lives. How many people can say that?” 

She completed her rambles by opening one of her eyes, staring back at Erica, and then saying, “You don’t care, do you?”

🍻

another long work day at hunting & camping always led to another night out getting as drunk as possible for one chance cunningham. the urge to drink and drown out whatever it was that he was feeling had been particularly strong lately. he figured that was obvious given the state of things in his hometown. everyone had been traumatized, so everyone was looking for an escape. on this night alone, chance had already pounded some drinks at the hideaway, had stopped at a friend’s place for drinks, and lastly, he’d made an appearance at some get together skull rock.  

raised polite, chance was not one to show up to any gathering empty handed. immediately upon arrival, he dropped a 30-pack of beer on to the foldable drink table and began doing his rounds of greeting the guys and girls at this thing. his demeanor was still broody, but his hair was a bit disheveled and the light was off behind his eyes in a way that made him look just a tad more easygoing than he usually was these days. after saying hello to the key players at the party, chance posted up by the shitty table that was on its last leg to grab himself a drink. 

chance was all about efficiency. the beers were still cold, so he’d chug one immediately, and then nurse a second for the next thirty minutes. then he’d chug another. he was just about done with his first beer when he felt someone crash into his back. turning his head slightly, with the edge of the can still pressed to his lips, he heard a familiar voice. “chan-chan?” he scoffed, watching as ginny walked around until she was in front of him, “that’s not gonna work for me. think of something else.” 

annoying nickname aside, ginny looked good. to this day, he couldn’t fully understand how cal had bagged a girl like her. maybe it made more sense in high school, but now? she was way out of his league. any person with eyes could see that. his drunk thoughts were interrupted by ginny dangling her empty cup in front of him. “of course,” chance agreed, grabbing her cup from her hands and offering her a lazy smile, “what kind of guy would i be if i let a girl make her own drink?” without asking her what she wanted, chance made an assumption and poured some gin into her cup, followed by a mixer. “gin and tonic,” he stated as he handed it to her and picked up his beer again, “enjoy.” chance probably should’ve walked away right then and there, but he didn’t. instead, he asked, “you here alone or is calvin with you?” 

—  ❤ —

Ginny had fully rebranded herself. She knew that and anyone with eyes could see that. It was all intentional. She saw girls like Bev Wildfire who were just able to get whatever they wanted in high school. It was the see something and take it mentality that Virginia always wanted. Then college happened and she had a realization. A realization that she could be her best self. The part of her that had always wanted to be free. In high school, she was too busy with her nose in a book to even experience the entire world going on around her, that she had a chance to be like the Bev’s and Chrissy’s of Hawkins High School, but better late than never, right? 

He didn’t like his Ginny mandated nickname. She didn’t expect him to. Considerably, she had grown slightly unbearable throughout the years. The kind of girl that could only be tolerated in small doses. “I’ll heavily consider it,” she wouldn’t. But, for the rest of the night? It wouldn’t come out of her mouth. 

Once that was settled, she lazily leaned against the dank table, making sure she didn’t put too much pressure on it to cause it to completely collapse. “I’d have to tattle on you if you didn’t. I thought that like, all of you Cunningham’s were conditioned to never leave a helpless girl high and dry,” and Ginny was helpless. She had no alcohol in her cup and that was as helpless as she could get! Gin and tonic. She chuckled, taking the cup back, and taking her first sip, her eyes staying on Chance the entire time, before definitively declaring, “not bad”. 

She would never say it out loud, because she did like Cal, but her head would always turn whenever she saw Chance. There was no arguing that he was attractive, maybe even more so than her boyfriend. Hearing Cal’s name snapped her out and she let out another laugh, one that was comparably more dramatic than her last. “Please. You can’t actually think he’s here,” they both knew that Cal and parties weren’t two words that went together. Ginny didn’t even think batting her eyelashes would work on him. “I’m flying solo tonight.”

Then she moved slightly closer to Chance, to survey the other partygoers. “Which one did you come with?” She asked, eyes scanning over a few girls that she thought maybe Chance could show up with, but none were sticking out to her. She glanced up at him, a hmph leaving her lips. “Weird. None of them seem your speed.”

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓: Val/Calginia on the dash :/

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄: Cunningham Residence!

Virginia Driscoll did care about Cal Cunningham. Sure, it had been up for hot debate if she lacked that part of the brain that made you feel empathy or compassion, but she would go to her grave saying she cared so much about him right down to the crazy family. Things were just different. It wasn’t like high school and now being together in the form of real life and not countless letters or phone calls? It was an adjustment. What could they talk about if not for school? What could they do other than rent movies? Posted up in Cal’s bed, she flipped over on her stomach. Thank whoever above for Laura Cunningham allowing her sons to close their doors. Otherwise, she’d have begged Cal to come to her dad’s.

“We should go see a movie,” she finally spoke up, looking over at him. “No offense, but if your mom asks me to help with dinner again, I might scream,” a little overdramatic? Maybe. “I don’t even know how to cook more than mac and cheese,” and that was why Cal’s mom never favored Ginny. She didn’t go to church with his family, wore clothes that would make anyone over the age of thirty-five faint, and never had the skills of a homemaker. In Laura’s eyes, Virginia Driscoll was totally and utterly useless. “I heard that there’s an early release of The Dead Pool playing at the Hawk and you know I love Dirty Harry,” she begged, giving him her best puppy dog eyes, accompanied by a pouted bottom lip. “I’ll even treat you to it.”

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓: Ginny learns that Jo is not a lesbian nor dead

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄: Lover’s Lake!

Virginia wasn’t too bummed out about the carnival. People died, aw, at least it wasn’t her! And who the fuck was Petey the Mall Cop? Not anyone of importance to her, that’s for sure! Okay, she wasn’t so heartless. She cared that there was an attack at such a beloved Hawkins events and that lives were lost, but there was no personal connection she felt other than how will this affect my uncle’s campaign? It’s why she didn’t feel some compulsive need to visit anyone in the hospital or attend some stupid candlelight vigil. It wouldn’t bring anyone back and what good would it do her? 

Instead of moping, she found herself at Lover’s Lake. It was cloudy, a little hazy, and while Virginia could have wept that there was no sun out and about, it did feel nice to just jump in the lake for a few minutes without having to worry about sunblock or the egregious summer heat coming down on her. She looked to her left, spotting Jo Foreman. “Hey JoJo,” she cooed, tilting her head to the side. “Funny seeing you here. I like, totally thought you had run off to join one of those lesbian communes,” a pause. “Or like, completely died. Happy to see you’re still kicking, Foreman.”

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓: Ginny’s cunt era, I really don’t know what more to say!

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄: Downtown Hawkins!

Home sweet home. There was always something so strangely comforting about Hawkins. Well, if you overlooked the death and missing people and constant buildings that caught on fire! She had gotten off work about an hour ago and decided to venture into town to find something entertaining enough to keep her attention on. She walked down the sidewalk of Downtown, having just come out of Music Center. She was hoping to find a new cassette but nothing was screaming Ginny to her. How sad. She walked along the sidewalk, red lollipop in her mouth, stopping dead in her tracks when her eyes met anothers. Beth Fucking Richards. 

Once upon a time in a dorky land far far away, Ginny and Beth had been cordial. Friends, even. After all, the geeks had to stick together in order to survive high school. Then, like a viper, Virginia had snagged Cal out from underneath Beth. It’s not like they were anything, but Ginny had heard Beth talk about him, and well, it wasn’t many more months before Ginny sunk her own claws in. “Bethy!” She squealed, her tone raising to an alarmingly high pitch. They probably hadn’t spoke to each other since high school, but Virginia would pretend they were besties. 

She practically ran up to her and shifted the lollipop in her mouth to the inside of her cheek, so she could talk better. “Oh my god, are you growing out your hair? It looks so... cute,” the words slid off her mouth sweet, but there was a poison latched to them. Condescending, even. Without any consent, she picked up the ends of Beth’s hair, flipping them up to inspect them. “Yikes, split ends,” she tsked her tongue. She didn’t even look for split ends, let alone if Beth actually had any. “Let me guess, tooth school doesn’t allow for much prim and pamper time?”

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓: Ginny’s entering her villain era today (trademark pending)

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄: Skull Rock!

Hawkins would always be such a funny place to Virginia. It was like opening up a closet of skeletons and letting them all fall out one by one. Not that she didn’t like Hawkins, she often basked in the attention she’d get from boys who’d say they should have paid attention to her more in high school or the glares she get from the girls who got married at 18 and never led a life of their own and how awesome she felt when she’d gloat about that she made it out of Hawkins. She did it and they didn’t. She got out. She had fun. She was the life of the party now. And she would thank her stars everyday that she wasn’t a housewife already on baby #2 at the ripe age of twenty-two.

Ginny had the night away from Cal for the first time since summer began. Since coming home, she had been on her best behavior and proved herself to be an exemplary girlfriend. Yawn. There were only so many times she could play nice around Laura or Chrissy Cunningham before she wanted to tear her hair out (and she would so not look good bald!). It didn’t take but a bit of word of mouth in Melvald’s for Ginny to catch wind that there was a get together down at Skull Rock. Something about it being summer and getting some old classmates together and that was enough to rope her in.

Three drinks in, Ginny downed the last of her vodka mixed drink. She shuffled between people, making an attempt to get to the drink table which was just someone’s foldable table that had been set up. She followed the sound of Madonna’s Into the Groove blasting against someone’s boombox, shouting “I love this song!” out to no one, before colliding into a back. She clocked that it was Chance. “Oh my god, Chan-Chan, you should like come with some kind of warning!” She shouted, walking around him. Admittedly, she liked Chance over Chrissy when it came to Cal’s siblings. He was always just so cool in high school, something that Ginny grew to resent, but now? She’d argue they were on the same scale. “Are you gonna stand there like a brick wall all night or are you gonna like, make me a drink?” She asked, dangling her now empty red solo cup up at him, holding onto it by just the rim.