It had been a year since anything strange had happened in Hawkins, and to all appearances it had gone back to being the same boring small town it always had been. Nancy Wheeler kept trying to tell herself that boring was good. The biggest problem with her life was once again which boy to be with, and that was how it should be.
The most exciting thing to happen recently was the arrival of her new classmate Carrie White. It had been a few weeks, and Nancy still couldn't get a read on the girl. She hadn't said more than a few words at a time to anyone, and never seemed to look anyone in the eye. Nancy could understand being shy, but Carrie seemed to be on another level above what was normal, and she wondered if there was something seriously wrong with her.
Of course, she'd never be rude enough to actually broach this subject with her, so that left them to keep circling around each other, neither making the first move. At least today's gym class offered a possibility to know if Carrie was any good at volleyball, and they happened to end up stationed right next to each other. Just before the game started, Nancy whispered "Good luck." It seemed a safe enough way to start.
Carrie jumped a little, then visibly calmed herself down and whispered back "Thanks." Nancy was quite surprised by this; was even that bit of normal contact too much for this girl? Any further thought was put off by the ball being served. The team held their own for a bit, but Nancy couldn't help noticing that Carrie never seemed to put much effort into participating. Finally, the ball was headed right for them. Nancy could have hit it, but she decided to let Carrie go for it instead. The result was the ball flopping to the floor right between them.
The rest of the team immediately started shouting, and Nancy noticed with some guilt that Carrie was taking the brunt of their insults. Even with as little as most of Hawkins knew about the Upside Down, word still seemed to have gotten around that she wasn't someone to mess with, and now she was seeing a real downside to that.
In the showers after class, she struggled to get her mind back to her boy troubles, which were promising to come to a head sooner rather than later. But suddenly that was also interrupted by an ear-piercing shriek. Nancy spun around to see Carrie, a towel hastily wrapped around her, running frantically around the middle of the room and still screaming. She was staring at her hand, which now that Nancy took a closer look…
"Hey everyone, the new girl just got her period!" Nancy rolled her eyes as Carol inevitably made things even worse. And her reaction turned to horror as some of the other girls also started laughing, a couple even throwing their own tampons at the screaming girl and shouting "Plug it up!"
This was definitely a step too far. Nancy put on her own towel and marched out. "Everyone, just stop!" she shouted. "What the hell is wrong with you?" That was all it took for most of them who sheepishly walked away, though Carol shot her a withering glare on the way out.
Nancy knelt down to where Carrie was now quietly sobbing out something. After a few seconds Nancy recognized it: "Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name." But rather than continue the prayer, Carrie was just repeating that one line over and over like a broken tape player.
"Hey, come on. It's okay," she said.
Carrie abruptly stopped and looked her in the face for the first time ever. "But I'm dying."
Nancy quickly shut down the urge to laugh. "What? This is completely normal. Didn't your mother tell you about it?"
Carrie shot her gaze down at the floor again. "She's a good Christian woman, like I want to be. She'd never talk about anything like this."
Now Nancy was more confused than ever. Maybe this girl's living situation really was a problem that should be looked into. But for now, all she could think to say was, "Well, trust me, every girl goes through it. I mean, I'm not what you'd call an expert, it's only been happening for a couple years, but each month does get a bit easier."
Carrie looked at her again in shock. "Each MONTH?" And at the same time she raised her voice, a light bulb shattered overhead. Carrie ran out of the room, and Nancy was helpless to stop her. She was transfixed by the broken bulb, unable to think of anything but the only other person she'd ever known who could do something like that. Was it just a coincidence that it happened right as Carrie had gotten so emotional, or…?
As soon as she got home, Nancy headed right to Mike. "We need to talk."