Chapter 1: First day jitters
Hawkins was a very small town, so it was no wonder the news of Chief Hopper's long lost daughter spread like wildfire. When it was time to publicly bring El out of her hiding Hopper thought the best way of doing it was introducing her to some locals as his daughter that he knew nothing about until recently, because her mother was not capable of taking care of her anymore. The first person he sold this story to, was Flo, who in hindsight was the best person for the job of spreading the gossip because she was a genuinely nice person and loved Jane from the get go. The moment El smiled her heart – warming dimpled smile, Flo was convinced Jim had done some good deeds in his past life to get a daughter like her. After that he took her to the diner where he all but announced her arrival to the city and her future plans of staying with her old man.
By noon of the next day, the entire town knew about one fresh faced Jane Hopper, daughter of Chief Jim Hopper, most of them were happy for the man for getting a shot at being a father and almost everyone was trying to calculate the timeline when Jane might have been conceived and whether or not Jim Hopper had cheated on his ex-wife.
Tomorrow was supposed to be Jane's first day at high school along with the others, she was enrolled after giving a test and some fake documents detailing her grades, which were way too modest for El's liking. She had taken to studies like a duck takes to water. For the last day of vacation, the boys and max decided to take El for an ice-cream. They all went to the ice-cream parlor and with everyone seated around a booth with their ice-creams in their hands they started giving El last minute tips.
"Don't shy from making more friends, if anyone acts friendly towards you, you should be friendly as well." Said Will, the wise.
Dustin snorted at this saying, "After all once they find you are our friend they wouldn't want to be your friend anyways. I swear to god, the middle school hierarchy will follow here, at least that's what Steve says."
El gave him a weird look and everyone hit him for making her worry.
"Don't worry, he is being stupid. I am sure you will have a great first day, as a matter of fact a great first year at school. Just remember all the things that we talked about for high school and if you need any help I will be there, and so will be everyone else." Mike tried to assuage her as everyone nodded their head in agreement.
El smiled shyly and nodded her head indicating she was ready for the next day.
They dropped El to her house which was the trailer Hopper lived in before meeting El, he moved back after introducing El to everyone, the cabin now a weekend retreat for the kids.
That evening at the Wheeler dinner table, the topic of discussion was what every mother's sentiments were when their kids either started high school or was graduating from it. Same was the case with Karen Wheeler.
"I cannot believe you are starting high school tomorrow Michael, it feels like as if it was yesterday when you were crying about not wanting to go to kindergarten."
Mike simply rolled his eyes.
"And Nancy, it's your final year of school, where did the time go? Huh Ted? I can't believe they are so grown now."
"Huh – time flies." Ted replied and continued eating. Nancy and Mike were acting the regular embarrassed teenagers by their parent's antics. Mike looked at his elder sister and rolled his eyes again as if begging for a topic change, Nancy got the clue.
"So mom, did you hear about Chief Hopper's daughter?" the moment Nancy uttered the words Mike's eyes bulged out of its sockets and stared incredulously at his sister. He tried kicking her legs under the table but she was sitting farther than he realized.
"Oh yes, yes I heard about it at the supermarket. It is a surprise, though a good one. He is a good man, I'm sure he'll be a great father. I heard her name is Jane – "
"Jane." Holly parroted.
"Yes Holly; Jane, that's a pretty name isn't it?" Karen focused on her youngest, as she got a nod in reply. Karen caught her other two kids smiling as well. "Mike, she'll be with you in the high school I've heard. Make sure to befriend her and help her if she needs it, I am sure she'll be the fodder for gossip for at least a few weeks. Being a new kid is definitely not easy."
Mike's face turned red at his mother's suggestion as he nodded his head in a yes, if only she knew how much he had already helped her for the new school year and how much more he'll be helping her. Nancy snickered at this and covered her laugh with a cough. This time mike was successful in kicking her legs.
Meanwhile at the Hargrove's, the dinner table had a similar topic of conversation, which basically indicated almost every dinner table throughout Hawkins' must have nothing else to talk about but Jane Hopper.
"I heard that there is a new girl in town, the daughter of the Chief." Susan said looking at Max through the corners of her eyes.
"I heard that too." Max replied, as if uninterested, when she was anything but that.
"So you will no longer be the designated 'new girl' anymore."
"Yeah, I guess I will not be."
"You should befriend her. I am sure you know how difficult it is to make new friends. And that way you'll at least get one girl friend apart from your group of friends."
"Yes mom, I will see what I can do about making her my friend." Max smiled, knowing exactly how much she had done to make her, her friend. "I will not let her feel alone."
Jim Hopper saw how nervous his daughter was. She checked and re-checked her backpack and changed her designated 'first day' outfit at least thrice before deciding on the one she had picked out the first time. He knew she was trying to act calm but she was anything but that.
"Hey kid, dinner's ready." He called out
She came to the breakfast bar where there were two plates filled with food. Unlike the cabin they did not have a dining table here, no matter how small the last one was. She hopped on the stool.
"I can smell Eggos." She remarked at the smell in the air
"That's because you'll get Eggos after dinner, they are in the toaster, consider it as a treat because you start school tomorrow." Her face lit up at this development. Hopper smiled back at her and ruffled her short hair, though they were growing at an alarming rate, they were still short in general sense.
"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.
She looked at him with her wide doe eyes, clearly telling without speaking, but realizing what everyone had taught her to use her words she said, "yes, a little. I am scared at whether people will like me or not, because max told me no one really talked to her the first few weeks she came last year until the boys noticed her and wanted to be her friends."
"Yes, but Max and the boys are already your friends so you don't have to worry about that. Also if anyone does not like you or does not want to be your friend then it's their loss." He explained like a good father, his fork moving around in front of El's face as he gesticulated with his hands. She nodded her head in understanding.
"Hey, you know everything you have to do tomorrow, right? Get your schedule from the office and then follow it. Easy right?"
"Yes dad, we've went over this a couple of times." She rolled her eyes.
"And anyways I am sure if you need something Mike will be there. So I guess I have nothing to worry about." She knew he was clearly teasing, after the snowball and the entire summer she now knew what teasing meant and why everyone did that. She blushed.
"I'll keep that in mind." Her comeback made Jim smirk.
"Just remember to always keep the tattoo covered, either wear long sleeves or cover it with a band or bracelet or something…"
"Yes dad." She was tired of these directives.
"… and never, and I mean never under any circumstances use your powers. Only if its life or death do you get to use them."
"Yes dad." She sighed again
"And now you can go get your eggos."
The next morning she woke up earlier than usual, taking her time with everything, especially with her shower, she took almost an hour.
"Come on El, get your breakfast and then I'll drop you on my way."
El puffed out the breath she did know she was holding, picked up her backpack and stepped out of her room ready for the day, her new beginning.
After breakfast, Hopper dropped her to the school front.
"All the best, I am sure you'll do great. And if you need anything, anything at all get them to call me, I'll be here in a sec. okay?"
"Thanks dad. I'll be fine." He ruffled her hair and she made a face. "It took me half an hour to tame these." Hopper chuckled as she stepped out of the blazer.
All the boys and Max are standing near the bike rack and greet El with huge smiles.
"Good morning Jane." Lucas chimed, and everyone looked at him funny, "What? I am trying to say Jane so I don't slip up."
"Good morning Lucas." El smiled at him and they all made their way towards the office.
Will and El were the last to get their schedules.
"Are you okay, El? Jane?" Will stuttered with the name.
"Yes I am okay. Are you?"
"I guess just as nervous as you are. I never liked my middle school years, here's to hoping high school would be better."
"I am sure it will be, after all I am here now." They both laughed, El had come a long way from not even understanding jokes to constantly making them.
"My locker number is 733. Who is near me?" Dustin yelled when everyone assembled in the corridor.
"Mine is 735." Chimed El.
"Amazing, you are right next to me. Let's go we'll go and get our lockers set up."
"Hey wait, everyone compare your schedules at least, what all classes do we have in common." Mike yelled before everyone dispersed to their respective lockers.
For every class El at least had someone in her class and Max and Will were in most of them. Luckily all of them had lunch in the same period, which was rare as it was, they were all happy about.
Jane's first day ended up being smoother than what she imagined it to be, given how everyone already knew about her arrival to the city, most of the teachers didn't even ask her to introduce herself as the designated 'new kid'.
She loved chemistry and maths the most, which surprised no one in the group. She simply was just that good at grasping concepts.
Hopper was parked near the main gates of the school ground when the day ended,
"So how was it?"
"Easy." She said with a slight smirk.
Hopper chuckled, "See, I told you."
A/N: This was the first chapter, I want to make it a whole high school experience, because one year wait for season three is too much and I need my mileven fix.
Also I apologize if this is not how high school in the US works, my experience was vastly different and I am not from US.
Let me know what you guys think, and whether or not I should continue this plotline.
Reviews are appreciated.
Cyber XOXO