It had officially been a year since Billy Hargrove had moved to Hawkins, Indiana and although he had tried, it still didn't compare to California. The only thing that had made the year bearable was the opening of a gym in the centre of the town - it had became his only escape from his father and he had the time to go as he had been relieved of babysitting duties. Max and the Sinclair boy seemed to be an actual thing so she always left for school and came home from school with him, reducing the need fo Billy to chauffeur her anywhere.

As Billy left Hawkins High School that day, he lit a cigarette walking to his Camaro and threw his bag in to the trunk and got in to the car, speeding his way to the town centre. On the days he didn't have gym class, it was a gym day.

When he arrived at the gym, as usual, there were hardly any cars in it's parking lot. Hawkins was already a town for small big-shots who thought if they succeeded in their job, they had accomplished the world. That's what made Billy despise the town so much. All people cared about was being pristine and having a good job with good money to raise a good family. They didn't have any drive for anything else.

"Right on time as usual."

Billy entered the reception area where he was greeted by the gym's owner, Tom. Tom was the only person in Hawkins that Billy actually had time for. Tom wasn't from the small town either, so they were able to get along without an issue.

"Tom, how's it going today?" Billy asked, his hands twitching for his cigarette packet that was burning in his front right-hand pocket but he didn't dare to touch them. Tom didn't do smoking in 'a place of health'.

"Funnily enough, you're not our first customer of the day!"

Billy raised an eyebrow as the 30 year old, built like a tank man, grinned like a Cheshire cat.

"I know and what makes it better?" Tom asked, the grin remaining like a statue on his face.

"What?"

"It was a girl."

"A spinster?" Billy laughed.

"No! That's the best part. Said she goes to Hawkins High School, I reckon she's the same age as you. Was in at 6am this morning before school."

"Not my type then," Billy said and let his bag of gym clothes fall to the floor.

"You say that when you've not seen her."

"If she goes to school with me, I'll have seen her."

X

Adaline Rodgers sat in her kitchen, doing her catch-up homework given to her by nearly every class she had that day, internally cursing herself for not starting school at the start of the semester.

"Addie, I'm stuck."

Adeline looked up from her papers to her younger sister and brother, Ruby and Josh. Ruby had stuck her bottom lip out at her and was pushing her own homework to her older sister. Adaline glanced at it and slid it back to Ruby.

"I am almost 99% sure that you know the two-times table."

"She does Adaline, she's just being lazy," Josh stated, looking up from his own homework, which was the same as his sisters.

For being twins, the two couldn't have been more different from each other. Ruby, despite her name, had icy blonde hair, similar to Adaline's whilst Josh had the blackest hair anyone would have ever seen. Even personality wise, Josh loved school and whilst Ruby was smart - she was lazy.

"C'mon Ruby, the quicker we all finish, the quicker I can start making dinner."

"Mom would help me," Ruby muttered.

"If you don't do it yourself, you won't learn," Adaline replied, trying to remain calm. "We're not discussing it further, you can do it so prove it."

Adeline had the house in darkness by 10pm and crawled in to her own bed. She had managed to get through most of the homework she had been given, not that she didn't think she would manage it anyway. School was the one thing she was good at and was sure about - other than the gym. She had a chance in school - a chance in Hawkins. She sighed and closed her eyes, hoping that the days would only get better.

X

Billy pulled in to the school parking lot on Tuesday morning 5 minutes before his first class was due to start - calculus. Tuesday was his worst day in that place but he had the bonus of having gym class last. He finished his cigarette first before getting out the car, when he seen another car pulling next to him and it wasn't just any car. It was a Ford Thunderbird - driven by a girl. He got out his car slowly, cigarette hanging out his mouth and leaned his arms on the roof of his car.

The girl that got out of the drivers side of the Thunderbird had the blondest hair he had ever seen and the a better glow than the girls in California, never mind Hawkins. She got out the car hurriedly, two kids jumping out the backseat after her.

"Remember, 3pm on the dot!" Shouted after them as they ran towards the elementary school.

As she turned back to get her bag from the trunk, she seemed to jump as she saw Billy.

"Hi," she said quietly with a small smile. She slammed the trunk and ran off in to the school, probably trying not to be as late as Billy was going to be. He took the cigarette out his mouth and threw it to the ground and began walking to the school, still in awe at the girl that stood before him.

She was definitely new to Hawkins, he thought to himself. He would have recognised her before.