Subject: Zero - Flaming_Star - Stranger Things (TV 2016) [Archive of Our Own] (2024)

The bell goes off, it's officially your very first class in high school.
Starting off the class was your run-of-the-mill introduction to what the class practices. Typical english class.. You'll be researching historical figures, revolution, something about war, and blah blah blah.. Stuff you probably knew since middle school. You couldn't help but yawn as the teacher gave that boring speech. Most students here would probably justify that yawn- Considering a lot of them are yawning too. One girl is painting her nails, another guy is listening to music! Yeah.. Definitely justified. As you listen to the teacher's never-ending rambling, you can't help but notice an empty seat to the left of you. Empty..? That can't be good. Looks like someone's really late or they didn't bother showing up.. Or, yknow, they're dead. A grim thought, but you consider all possibilities. Who might be this tardy mystery person who will soon be sitting next to you? You hope that it isn't someone stuck-up or someone with a large ego. That would derail everything you've planned to keep yourself in a peaceful environment. Or at least, asomewhat peaceful environment without being bullied. You pause and focus your attention elsewhere, you didn't want to stress over something so small. 45 minutes had passed until the teacher finally wrapped up the class for today, which consisted of.. Nothing but talking and getting textbooks. Great, more stuff to carry around. You sigh out of relief, class was finally over.. For first period. Robin notices your small moment of relaxment and speaks. "Not to burst your bubble or anything, but like, this is only first period. We got a loooong day to go." She said with a chuckle. You sigh at the sudden comment. It was harsh, but sadly true. You check your schedule and see you have science class next, you look to Robin to ask which class she would have, only to have your question already answered. "I have math class next if you were about to ask. I'll see you there if we both have it!"Robin said with a friendly smile as she picked up her bag. The bell suddenly goes off, we were all finally able to leave. You wave to Robin as she leaves first, quickly zipping up your bookbag with your heavy textbook. You put on your bag and make your way out, but not before turning to face the empty desk from before. You couldn't help but wonder if there was just an empty slot left, or if someone was supposed to be there today for class. It's an itch you can't quite scratch off and might never scratch unless answered. Though, that's for another day you thought to yourself, walking through the crowded hallway once again. You decided to make a quick pit-stop at your rustic locker and drop off your textbook, you didnot want to hoard that around all day with you. As you approach your locker, you notice the blood-stain from the cut the rust made to your hand. Huh.. You look down at your hand and remembered that you were injured, sh*t! You're really feeling it now, the burn is really prominent and from how big it was it could easily get infected. That Robin girl had a point about tending to it early on, maybe you should've gone to a nurse while you still had the opportunity before classes started. Seeing the time, you formed a quick plan for yourself. Your first move is to drop off any luggage you don't need for the rest of the school day- Which included that heavy textbook. After the drop-off, you'd rush yourself to the nurses office in hopes that they can tend to it well enough. As embarrassing as it was to you, going to the nurses office the first day of class, you didn't want things to get worse with the wound. You've started overthinking about germs now.. Damn Robin! Now she has you all paranoid about infections and gross viruses getting into your gash. Moving on, once your wound is (hopefully) tended to, you'll rush to your second class. All of this should be done within the first 10 minute period of your second class.. Probably. With no time to waste, you go to your locker and put in your lock code.. Only for it to not work. You raise an eyebrow, you hadn't realized the rush of it all made you mess up your lock code not once, not twice, but three times in a row.. There were certainly many witnesses to that, some giggling at the sight of you tugging at the locker. After your third attempt, the locker swung open and you quickly stuffed your textbook in with a big, frustrated huff. You wasted 3 minutes doing that, which leaves 7 minutes left. Your class starts in 2 minutes, but if you're quick enough you might just be able to get to class early. That's what you'd like to believe anyways. You race down the hall looking for the nurses office, it didn't help that it felt like a sea of students was washing through the halls, and with each turn you took you started to feel lost. Some of these signs lead you elsewhere, whilst some take you nowhere! As you make your way through, the bell goes off and the crowd of students slowly dissipate. You have room now, but you'll be late for class moving forward. You hesitated on going to the nurses office in risk of the teacher calling you out on your lateness, but there was no turning back now. You frowned and grit your teeth, you started to feel that anger emotion again.. But before you blew your lid off, you finally managed to come across the nurses office! Very, very convenient. You rush in and look at your watch, another 3 minutes wasted, that leaves you about.. 4 minutes. You sigh and realize you wont make it to class within the 10 minute frame, hanging your head down. As you walk into the office, the nurse looks up towards you. You swallow the lump in your throat and held your breath, glancing away at the nurse in embarrassment. "Hello." You said quietly. The nurse got up from her seat and walked up to you."Oh- Hello! My, it's the first day and I've already got tons of students coming in!"she said in a surprisingly happy tone. She would notice your reserved and embarrassed nature and chuckle."Oh, that's not a bad thing dear. Accidents happen when you least except them- And I'm guessing you had one too looking at that gash on your hand."she'd point out the gash in your palm that's gotten slightly darker. There's still blood coming out, but most of the old blood stained the outer cut. Knowing that you arent the only student who's gone to the nurses office today makes you feel slightly better, prompting you to talk more. "I umm.. Scratched it on my locker." you say to the nurse. "When I closed it, the rust cut my hand." The nurse nodded"Ahhh, now that makes sense! That old rustic locker- I've told the school to fix that damned thing for ages now." the nurse muttered as she opened a drawer with medicine, bandages and other medical supplies. She took out a bottle, cotton pads and a bandage. You couldn't tell what the liquid in the bottle was, but you watched as the nurse put it onto the cotton pad."This is gonna sting a bit, but it'll be quick, okay?" the nurse said to you. You felt a sense of panic for a quick moment, what did she mean by that? Before you could think on it, you felt a sudden harsh burn against your gash and winced. You raised your hand with a small shriek as the cotton pad suddenly went flying up against the ceiling. You looked at the nurse, who was looking up at the cotton pad, and felt a wave of guilt rush over you. "I-I'm so sorry- I didn't mean to-!" you say frantically, the nurse looking back at you."Oh it's fine- This happens most of the time anyways. Though, no one else managed to throw the cotton pad up on the ceiling."she said as she went to go get another cotton pad. Your gaze meets up to the cotton pad you threw on the ceiling, the realization kicking in that you'd accidentally let your powers loose for a moment. Damnit.. You have to be more careful! That was one slip-up, you're lucky you didn't send the nurse herself into the ceiling. The nurse comes back your way with a new pad, holding your hand with the gash."I couldn't get all of the cut so we have to do this again, and lets try not to throw anymore cotton pads away, okay?" You nod at the nurse as she slowly placed it against your gash again. It burns, but you hold back the urge to jump away or move at all. After a few seconds of holding it down, the nurse takes it off and applies different medical remedies on the gash. Before you knew it, you now had a bandaged wound and couldn't feel much pain like before. The feeling was slightly there still, but not much to notice."Alright, you should be set. This was probably the one time I actually treated a wound! Usually I just give students ice packs and send them off." The nurse chuckled. "Anyway- I've written you up a late pass for your teacher so you'll have an excuse. For the hand you should refrain from squeezing or using it for a while. If you can, change the bandages every one in a while and check the progress to know when it's fully healed. If you don't know, then my door is always open." The nurse smiled as she went back to her desk. You smile back and thank her before quickly exiting the office. You've realized that all your worries were simply the effects of overthinking, how embarrassing.. You're just thankful that your gash is all fixed up now. Though, it's still making you nervous having to go to your next class, even with a late pass. You sigh and walk through the hall, looking for your second class.
Before you know it, you're already sitting down in your desk, listening to another teacher ramble on about the first day, what to expect, what THEYexpect ofYOU, and so on.. You look around the room, seeing most students either listening or sleeping. Sadly, you weren't able to spot Robin in your class.. She did say she had a different class. Oh well, you'll manage yourself. As the minutes went by, you decided to scribble in your notebook for the fun of it. You weren't doing anything by the end of the class anyways, and you already know every class will be the same since the first day of class is usually just teachers explaining what you'll be doing the day after. Without much else on your mind, you opened your notebook and held your pencil in hand. You look down at the paper, wondering what to draw as the class passes by.. You think back to that Robin girl from last class, you could try to draw her- Like a little challenge for yourself! That seems fun, you thought, your pencil pressing against the paper as it sketched out an oval shape. You have a style that infuses a tinge of realism with cartoon-like attributes, it's not the best but you've been practicing on it for a while now, it's been a liking of yours. You remember getting the urge to draw when you began watching cartoons with your father, the first ever show you watched with him was called "Scooby-Dooby-Doo." It was about a gang of teenagers and their talking dog going around in their van solving mysteries. You never understood why there was a talking dog, you knew dogs couldn't talk in real life which made you confused. That's when your father explained how when it came to 'fiction', you could do anything in it. You could make a story about talking animals, or talking items, or scary monsters! Anything, really. It fascinated you, and what made you even more intrigued was how some of these shows and stories had powers like you! There were comics about 'superheroes' saving the day, and one hero had telekinesis like you! It was crazy how in this world, even when the majority of the entire world isn't aware of superpowers existing, they still manage to make it come to life in comics and shows! Now you had the urge to draw superheroes.. How your mind seems to get off-track is beyond you, but it's given you an idea on what to draw now! You scribble away, drawing each shape carefully and erasing any mistakes you might find. Minutes pass, the teacher still talks away about the class subject and blah blah blah.. You're too focused on drawing to listen. A line here, some shading there.. And.. Done! You straighten out your back, the arching was starting to hurt.. But it was worth it! You had the brilliant idea to combine Robin and superheroes together since they were both on your mind- A bit of drawing later and you're given Super-Robin! A drawing of Robin with a cape and a mask, just like a superhero... Oh.. Umm..
You've slowly realized that you just drew a complete stranger as a superhero.. It's sunken in on how weird that sounds when you look at it- Hell, even just thinking about it. You want to throw it out, but you spent time on it! You can't just toss it.. Plus, technically she isn't a stranger, just someone you met and talked to.. Oh well, you'll think of what to do later. For now, you simply flip the page and scribble nonsense that pops up in your head. A bit more scribbling later and you can hear a loud ringing sound in your eardrums. Oh, the bell... OH! THE BELL! Class is over! And you didn't get any textbooks either, that's good. Though, that was just your second class. You have many more to go.. Next class, Science. Another boring lecture on learning. Same old speech. Next class, Gym. You were used to gym, you found it fun in middle school since you would run around doing track most of the time. But since it's the first day, you mostly sat around listening to the coach and being assigned a spot. The upside was that Robin was in your class, which made it more tolerable to say the least. The day goes on, you hear the SAME speeches from each teacher.

Same.. Same.. Same..-!!

(RIIIIIIIIIIIING!)

Lunch. Thank goodness!

You quickly grab whatever items you had and ran out of that horrifyingly boring classroom,carefully opening your locker this time to shove everything inside and thencarefully closing it again. You then made your way through the flooded hall into the cafeteria. So many seats..Full seats.. You now had the biggest honor of choosing which seat you'd like to sit at for the rest of your years in Hawkins High School! Wonderful. From one glance you could clearly tell that everyone was in groups. The Jocks, the Mean Girls dating the Jocks, the nerds, the Seniors, the band kids.. The list goes on and on, and you couldn't see yourself in any of these categories really. Though, there was the freshman group table. It was full of, well, freshmen! But they all seemed a bit too intimidating, throwing stuff around, being loud, throwing food, you did NOT want to find yourself in-between a food fight with them. As your thoughts trained through your head you find that time is running out. Seats are being taken quickly and people are starting to push you away from the entrance. Maybe you shouldn't stand there thinking for too long, maybe instead you could retreat to the bathroom stalls. As pathetic as it sounded, you'd be in solitary and quiet, cons are that it would smell. Really bad. That, and you would have to be very quiet to make sure no one found you there with your tray. If anyone were to find you eating in a stall? You'd be the laughingstock of the school for years. You could tell that Highschool girls were mean, and would do anything to perceive others as lower than them. As you made your way to grab lunch with a defeated sigh, a voice catches your ear to the right. "Hey! Y/N! Over here!" You could hear from one of the far-right tables, turning to see it was that Robin Buckley girl from your first class. You sigh a breath of relief. Thank god, it's you. Robin saved you the worry of sneaking off into the bathroom for the rest of your school years. You place your bookbag down as you sat next to Robin, giving her a small wave. "Glad I caught you a seat, right? Did you SEE that freshman table? I was NOT going to sit there- I'd rather eat whatever mystery meat they have here than sit THERE." She said with a huff, her arms crossed as she glanced at the table. You couldn't help but chuckle at her remarks and small mannerisms. The way she'd hunch her back as her voice got more pitched, the way her nose would scrunch every time she thought of something she disliked. Strangely, she reminded you of.. You, had you turned out normal. You could've been like her- Most likely- Had you lived a normal life as a normal child. You'd most likely be more open, more willing to speak out. Instead, you grew up in a more tragic lifestyle, desperate to put it all back and start anew. Though, still, you can't help but look back sometimes. You said so yourself that you'd no longer think of your past the moment you walked through those school doors, but it doesn't work like that, does it? You can't just put it behind you, you can't truly "forget" it. You have to live with it one day and not bury it completely, you have to FACE it! Stop running from it! STOP IGNORING IT! ...But, for now, you choose to ignore it. It's better right now to just put it away, you'll get there when you reach it, and it certainly wont be in this segment.
As you were having your internal debate with yourself and your trauma, Robin was looking at you perplexed, noticing how focused you were, lost in thought. She didn't want to start any physical contact, she thought it would be weird, and instead tried to snap you out of it by speaking to you. "Hey! You still there? You look really focused."Robin said, squinting as she looked at your face. Your pupils shift to Robin, your eyelids moving down to blink and focus you back into reality. You look at Robin with a tint of red across your face and slightly widened eyes, embarrassed of the small zone-out moment you had. "Sorry, I was- umm.. I guess I spaced out." You said honestly, straightening your back and fixing your hair. Robin waved it off, making a "Pshh!" noise with her lips and teeth. "Don't be sorry, I do that all the time! I'm gonna do that for like- Half the rest of my school year!" Robin said. She'd then get up from her seat, picking up her bag. "Yknow what Idon't want to do though? Go hungry when class starts. Let's grab something and hope it isn't bad!" She said, tilting her head to motion towards the Lunch line. You'd get up and leave your belongings on the table, following behind Robin. You notice that Robin left her things, yet took her bag. You look up at Robin with a slight eyebrow raise. Now is the time to be more communicative! "Hey.. Why did you take your bag?" You asked. "Oh! I don't like leaving my bag for grabs. They can take my boring textbooks though!" She'd joke. You couldn't help but stifle a small chuckle. "That's smart" you replied, looking to see that they were up next. You look at the selection given out to you and grab the tray, getting an array of slightly dry corn, fruit mix, a piece of burger bread? Two singular pieces of chicken and.. Milk. This is probably the WORST spread you've ever seen, but it was at least something. Robin could scream otherwise, turning to see her cringing face it nearly made you choke on air. As you sat back down at your seats, Robin had a few words to spew out. "Ugh! Is this seriously what high school lunch is?! This is the worst tray ever! I mean- They didn't even bother to try and make this appetizing! No wonder people buy their food outside instead! Ugh- It ALL makes sense now! It's no surprise why students here are getting sick-" Robin went on and on, you couldn't stop yourself from laughing more from her insane reaction. You looked at your tray and thought if the school really is poisoning students.. Then that'll be a lot of money going to your dad. You decided to bite into a piece of chicken, no fork, just bare handed. Robin let out another "Ew!" with a slight laugh, watching you eat the chicken. Surprisingly, it wasn't too bad. It made your mouth drier than a desert begging for an ounce of water, but it wasn't that bad. You and Robin spent the next lunch period talking together, slowly warming up with one another as you got to learn more about your pasts. You used your fake past, of course, but this made you wonder- If you ever trusted someone enough to the point where you'd hide no secrets, would you tell them? It was a big though, but one you ought to keep in mind. As you and Robin went on about classes, a suddenSLAM was heard on the end side of the table. You and Robin paused to see two other freshmen sitting down, all in semi-black attire. You were about to turn your head back to Robin, only to find another head beside you and Robin both at the end of your side. You jumped slightly at the new face who was looking at Robin.

You didn't get a good look at his face, or him at all. You felt too nervous to make eye contact with him, keeping your head slightly down. "N-No- And uhh, don't do that." Robin said with a slight stutter, just as surprised as you were. The male beside you raised his hands up sarcastically, leaning back with a smile, Robin unsure if it was genuine, threatening, or both. He slowly walked between you both "Good! Looks like we're gonna be pen-pals then." He said, leaning back down for his head to rest between yours and Robin's shoulder, his arms around both you and Robin. He shook you both before letting go and walking back to the other side. You could feel that his gaze was mostly on you during that brief interaction, your refusal of eye-contact seemed to have intrigued him more than Robin's judgemental gaze. You glance at the small group sitting across from you, from the way they dressed to their rough mannerisms, you guessed they were some sort of rebellious outcasts. Disconnected from the world, from the rules, they were free and doing whatever they felt like. You could tell that the one with black, curly hair was the leader. The other two were seated and looking up at him, listening to every word and letting them ring through their heads. He was the top-dog as they say. You then focused back at Robin, giving her a 'what just happened?' sort of look. She gave back an 'I have no clue' shrug to you. You both sit and watch the other group quietly, watching their movements and listening in on their conversation. You couldn't help but feel that their leader sounded familiar, but it was hard to remember where you've heard him. Regardless, after a momentary stalk with Robin, you go back to regular chat, blabbering about classes and teachers and other sorts of shenanigans that went on through the school year. As you talked, you couldn't help but feel that guy looking at you. You didn't have to turn around to see him, you could sense it. His eyes were looking into the back of your head, watching you for small moments before looking back at his friends. From how they acted out, they definitely weren't freshmen. That guy and his goons have been around for at least a year at best, they're taller, they keep to their own, and their ringleader seemed to dictate everything they did, but why go the extra mile to bug a duo of freshmen? What did he want? Why was he staring? Why at you? You wondered and wondered.. Until you heard a loud ringing in your ears. The bell, ah.. Lunch was unfortunately over. You look at Robin with a slight frown. "What class do you have next?" You'd ask Robin. She'd look at her schedule and reply with "Spanish.. I'm gonna sleep through it. We have like no classes left after anyways!" She'd giggle."Hey, I'd wait for you outside of school but I got stuff to do back at home and I'm REALLY sorry. I'll meet you tomorrow though! Sound good?" Robin asked with a finger gun pointed at you, grabbing her things. You nod with a slight smile. "Yeah, I'll see you. It was.. Nice talking." You say as you stand up. Robin gives a small nod as she goes off to her Spanish class. You go off to finish up whatever classes you had left. Before you knew it, the final bell rang through your ears, and school was finally over for the day. Surprisingly, it wasn't as bad as you thought it'd be, most likely thanks to your new friend. You look forward to seeing her again tomorrow, though that means you need to find more things to talk about, and you can't exactly tell her you came from a lab or anything of the sort. Not yet anyway. You step onto the bus and find yourself a seat that wasn't being covered by a purse or taken by someone. You sit yourself down in the back and lean yourself against the window pane, looking out at the wave of students pouring through the double doors. You see Robin run off somewhere, you watch a small group push around some nerd, then your eyes glance at another familiar face. It was that tiny group from lunch, they were meeting outside. You squint but can't make out the ringleader's face, he has his back facing your vision, how annoying. Will you ever get a good look at his face? Who knows since the bus started to drive off. As the engine started and the wheels turned, one of the group members noticed your stare and pointed you out. You couldn't hear what they said over the engine or through the glass, but it made the curly-haired one turn his head. You quickly turn away and straighten your back, focusing on the floor. Alas, he couldn't see you and you couldn't see him. Your one chance was gone.. But it's better that way. You then sigh and lean on the glass again as you began putting your headphones on, putting a track in, and listening to your music. "The Winner Takes it All" plays through your eardrums. ABBA was one of your liked bands, they never let you down. You watch the houses fly by as the bus drove past, seeing all the normal people living out their normal lives. You see a group of girls fly past with drinks in their hands and pretty clothes. You watch the neighbors walk their dogs together, the couples holding hands.. Something about the innocence of it all makes you smile. Before you knew it, you were arriving at your stop. You'd get up quickly and walk down with only a few other students getting off. You step out of the bus and start walking. ABBA puts a small skip in your step, you can't really help it. It's a catchy song!