So, umm... hello. My plan to update this every two weeks kinda went down the drain when I got the measles. Yeah turns out I'm part of that lucky 1% of the population immune to the vaccine... how knew...?
Anyway yeah, so I nearly died and the only thing making me feel better right now is listening to the Jonas Brothers 'Australia' on repeat, which I will continue to do until my last day.

What do you think I owe you?
Haven't I given you enough?
Well, I can fill a room full of faces I don't know
But I can't see the ones that I love
I've always been so hard on myself
A piece of me in every song I gave…

Trophy Eyes - Count on me

Boxing day had started with every intention of being a relaxing day recovering from intense food comas. Somehow it had culminated in a movie marathon filled with giggling, junk food, and four completely different yet tightly bonded teenage girls. Allison and Nicole had spent the whole day on the couch napping and watching crappy daytime television, they both complained how their stomachs hurt while continuing to eat red vines and enjoyed each other's company until the phone rang at five-thirty.

"I can't do it anymore! I have twenty people in my house arguing about politics and if I hear one more of my creepy uncles say something racist, I'm going to have to run away from home and that just isn't an option in this snow. Girls night?"

Twenty minutes later Melinda threw herself onto the couch, lifting Allison's legs and placing them on her lap. An impromptu girl's night required all the troops so a few minutes later Nancy was sitting on the rug in front of Nicole's chair tossing her coat in the corner of the brown room and settling in her flannel pyjamas. "The scent of the boys was killing me if I heard Dustin and Lucas argue one more time, I was going to start murdering children. I needed this." She grumbled, stealing a red vine from the coffee table.

"I can't imagine the smell, god. I haven't seen Daniel all day and I'd wager that I probably won't see him till the day before school." Allison grins at the younger teen who groans in frustration. "So, what are we gonna do tonight?" Allison asked the room. No one seemed to have a definite plan, happy to just lay around until the sugar kicked in.

"You know in porn this is usually the start to a really good night." Melinda quipped, not removing her eyes from the T.V. Nancy and Nicole both laughed, shouting 'EW' as loud as they could, Allison tossed a pillow at her friend's head snorting when she claimed that a pillow fight was a pretty good indicator as well.

"If you or Nancy had of been a plumber with a pizza, we would have been in for like the best night ever." Allison quipped with a grin.

One terrible made for television show later and they all end up on the hideous brown scratchy rug, the coffee table pushed to the corner and the T.V on mute. Every pillow and blanket they could find had been used to make a ground zero. Snacks lined the setup and the girls sat in the middle in a circle; knees touching as they talked about anything under the sun.

"Do you think I'm making a mistake, wanting to go to Boston? A part of me feels selfish leaving Mom and Daniel, even you Nance… and Steve." Allison grimaced, finally admitting her best friend was one of the reasons she'd been worried about leaving Hawkins.

"I'll be fine, so will your Mom and Daniel. We all have each other, and I can't imagine your Mom, the teacher asking you not to go to college, especially if that college is Harvard." Nancy pat her friends knee gently.

Allison nodded in agreement, "And Steve?"

"What about Steve?" Nicole shrugged, a frown pulling at her thick brows.

"Wait have you met Steve?" Melinda turned to Nicole, who was on her right with raised eyebrows. Nicole nodded with a roll of her eyes.

"I've had what some would call the pleasure."

"Steve laid it on pretty thick," Allison explained with a laugh. "Nicole has decided to let him sweat a little, it's been very entertaining. He's so adorable when he's panicked because his charm didn't work." All the girls laughed.

Steve had been pretty insistent that he and Nicole would get on like a house on fire, he could not have been more wrong. Nicole had been on his bull the second she had seen his perfectly coiffed hair and decided no matter how much she ended up actually liking him she was gonna give him hell. Picking on Steve was a favoured past-time of Allison's so she understood.

"I worry about him," Allison admitted, circling the conversation back to her original question. "Every time I try to have a conversation with him about the future he just brushes it off, he won't tell me what he wants to do and I'm terrified he's going to let his potential pass him by because no one ever believed in him and told him its okay to want things."

All four girls are quiet for a moment sad on behalf of the popular boy who deserved more than people punching him in the face and shit parents. "If he stays in Hawkins, I'll do anything I can to put him on a good path. Didn't you say he mentioned that Hopper thought he would be a good Police Officer? I think that's an amazing option for him." Nancy said with a small smile at her friend. Allison smiled at Nancy gratefully.

"You know I'm so glad we did this," Allison grinned at each of her friends. When she thought about it, the only thing Melinda, Nancy, and Nicole had in common was her and she was so glad that not only were they all getting along but they seemed to genuinely like each other. "I knew Christmas was going to be hard for me, even before Dad. Being away from my home, from you Nic, I never thought I'd find you guys." Nancy grabbed her friend's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I'm so thankful to you both for everything you've done for me these last few months."

Allison looked at each of her friends and a warmth she hadn't felt in a long time overtook her. Nicole had been her best friend forever, she had formed the most unexpected friendship with Melinda, one that had started in the strangest of circumstances, and Nancy, despite everything; the doubts, the Upside Down. They had been able to meet in the middle and forge a strong friendship. Allison grinned resting her head on Nancy's shoulder, "Sorry, I'll stop being gross now." Nancy pet her shoulder with a soft smile.

"Us girls have to stick together! Especially us future Bostonians." Melinda grinned nudging Allison and then Nicole. "Sorry, Nancy." Nancy shrugged, a wry look on her face,

"Who says I won't be joining you in a year or so?"

"You would really leave this town? What about Jonathan?" Melinda asks, her eyebrows raised.

"Who knows where Jonathan and I will be," Nancy shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest. "All I know is that I deserve more than this town. Who knows maybe after all's said and done I'll come back but I'll be here because I want to be, not because I never left, I refuse to be the woman at the end of the cul-de-sac with two kids and a husband she kind of hates who wishes she'd taken a risk when she had the chance."

"Here's to risks," Melinda raised her soda in front of her, glancing at each of the girls with a small smile. "May we take them even when we're scared, may we embrace them with our friends, and may we cherish them when we're all old and grey."

The girls toasted and Allison smiled as her friends dissolved into giggles at something Melinda had said. She was so lucky, as she looked at each of her friend's faces, she felt a little more at peace. She decided then that she would hold them all close to her for as long as they would let her, sisters needed to stick together after all or something lame like that.