BAD BOY GONE GOOD - A STRANGER THINGS BILLY+FEMALE OC MIXED FANFIC
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you to all those who faved, read, reviewed, and supported me to continue. Without you this fic wouldn't still be going. I appreciate it. :D
I do not own Stranger Things, Billy, or any original character from the show. This fic is purely for entertainment and is making no money and is completely free. The Duffer Brothers own everything and a big thank you to them for inspiring this. :D
Enjoy.
-BAD BOY GONE GOOD-
Chapter 2 - THE INVITATION - SANCTUARY INTERRUPTED
Summary:
Her friends try and talk her into attending a pool party. She NEVER goes to parties. The peer pressure is on for her to grow and come out of her shell, but she doesn't feel ready, even though they all made a plan to wear her down until she accepted.
She is avoiding the new boy as much as possible but he is EVERYWHERE as are his mindless female followers and worshippers.
She decides to spend her lunch break in the school library, a place she knows is her safe sanctuary, and to help Mrs Bannister as a part time librarian's assistant. Her friends surprise her with lunch in the library and Mrs Bannister okays it if they are quiet and use one of the study rooms. She's like a crafty Ninja!
Tucker and Alex's crazy antics are fun while Nikki wants to discuss only one thing ever: BOYS.
When Tucker asks for alone time to talk to Mandy he gets aggravated when he's not given the chance to say what he wants to say and storms off. This confuses all of them, Mandy the most, but she thinks she knows why he is acting so weird. It really puts a damper in their party.
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When the bell finally rang, and her nerves had settled a bit as the distracting boy sat silent for the remainder of the class, she sat there waiting for him to be the first to leave. She did not want him approaching her let alone talking to her and felt like he wouldn't as long as Nikki was nearbye talking her ear off at her desk.
Sure enough after sitting for a few moments, he got up without a word slinging his denim jacket over his shoulder and barely acknowledged Tina when she said hello to him on his way out. She followed him like a lost puppy regardless.
If anyone had a shot at hooking up with him here in this school it would be her. Mandy had nothing against Tina, she was sweet. She had never done anything cruel to her, not like Carol and the other popular girls.
Nikki always felt bad because she was torn between hanging with them but also since Mandy was her best friend of four plus years, she had to be loyal to her as well. Nikki wasn't afraid to be seen with her, just didn't know what to do or say whenever Carol and the others were ragging on her. She tried to stand up for her and Tina even did a few times as she was a neutral popular girl that didn't look down on anyone. Mandy admired her for that.
As she watched, she saw Tina lightly touch his shoulder before they exited the classroom together, Tina following him hopelessly out into the hall. He felt the touch and looked back at her but he didn't seem to mind too much and allowed her to follow. Mandy really hoped Tina would be careful with that guy. She would hate to see her get hurt. He looked like the type to stomp on a girls heart or devour it whole.
When Nikki and Mandy left the classroom and were in the hallway her friend immediately started firing questions and statements at her about what happened back there.
"Oh that was so close with the note! I almost ATE it to keep him from seeing it!" Nikki said laughing as Mandy almost dropped her books searching through her stuff in her bag.
They were standing at her locker and she had no idea why. Everything she needed was already in her bookbag so she figured she would just drop off her English textbook into her locker to make room for her new Biology one she would get soon.
She had her class schedule in her hand so she would know where her classrooms were. She had studied it a little bit before first period as they were talking about Billy being new to the neighborhood. That fun little conversation was what had made them so late to class in the first place. Emphasis sarcastically on 'fun'. She really just wanted to forget all about him and not discuss it at all but Nikki was persistant as usual
Mandy was lost in her schedule list reading what classes they stuck her with when she heard a familiar voice from down the hall. Deep. Gravelly. Seductive and slow. She already recognized it immediately.
As she looked down the hall not wanting to see who she knew was going to be there, she took in the sight of Tina and Billy standing at her locker talking with one another. He said something and Tina laughed putting her hand on his chest gently tapping it as if he was just the funniest guy in the entire planet. She was drawing her head back to show off her soft neck and shoulders to him. Her black curly hair was falling softly all around her face and her smile was radiant making her dark eyes sparkle.
He leaned in putting one hand on the locker getting close to her which made her instantly stifle her laugh and look up into his eyes speechless. He moved one hand out to touch one of her curls and lightly stroke her cheek. She looked like she was in heaven.
The whole display of it was just kinda sleezy to Mandy on the Hargrove boy's part. He was a shameless flirt who obviously preyed on girls using his good looks to wrap them around his finger.
Mandy could barely hear the conversation even if Tina's locker wasn't too far from her own and on the opposite side of the hall. Billy smiled at Tina seeing how easily amused she was while he leaned in to her as if he were going to kiss her cheek.
Mandy rolled her eyes and made a gagging gesture with her finger to the back of her throat and it made Nikki laugh.
"Wow... this guy is really getting to you, isn't he? I think you liiiiike him..."
She had said this in a sing song voice drawing out the word 'like' and Mandy shushed her with her putting her finger to her own lips. Nikki gave her a knowing look and Mandy didn't respond not wanting to even go there.
She didn't want to admit it to herself, or even to her friend, but she was slightly straining to hear the conversation between Billy and his newfound admirer.
Why did she care? Tina deserved happiness and was very pretty. So if Hargrove could give that to her then why should Mandy despise them and their connection for that? Tina was sweet and deserved someone to be with but she needed an equally sweet boy, not a walking talking hormone like this Billy guy. She just hoped she knew what she was getting herself into. Billy didn't seem anything less than a loose canon who constantly shifted his moods around.
She stared at the pair of them not sure what she was feeling inside but not liking a single second of it whatever it was for reasons unknown to her addled thoughts.
Suddenly Nikki was waving her hands in front of Mandy's face, her bangles jingling, seeing that she was far off again somewhere while staring at Billy and not paying attention. Nikki's metal bangles were clinking together noisily on her wrists in front of Mandy's face which made her snap out of it more than her friends voice did.
"Hellooooo! Earth to Mandy. Come in Mandy. Snap out of dreamland, you can visit Hargrove there later in your sleep! I need to talk to you about something important before the late bell for our next class rings." She said laughing and blowing another bubble, the loud pop making Mandy twitch.
She honestly didn't know why this boy set her on edge so much. She didn't even know the guy so why was she making all kinds of assumptions about him? So what if he was a flirt? Did that mean he was a bad guy just because of that? She didn't truly know.
Mandy kept zoning out watching Billy smile and put his other free hand on Tina's waist still pinning her to her locker touching her face and rubbing it with his thumb. Tina's smiled was completely lost in him and she put one hand on his strong upper arm feeling his bicep over his denim jacket. He removed his sleeve of his jacket to let her feel it even better as it was exposed below his white muscle shirt. She made wide eyes at him and was clearly impressed.
"Huh?" Mandy said not tearing her eyes off of them but turning her head slightly towards her friend. Nikki gave her a smug little smile. It was a knowing smile and it burned Mandy up inside that she was using it on her like that. Finally she kept her eyes on her friend breaking her back and forth stare from Nikki to Billy.
"Shut it. Don't. Say. A word." Mandy gritted out through her teeth with her face feeling like it was on fire.
Nikki mocked zipping up her lips with her fingers but placed another piece of gum in her mouth and grinned on all the same.
Nikki changed the subject and started talking her ear off about some upcoming party at Steve Harrington's place. She heard most of it but then the details began to get fuzzy as Mandy faded in and out of paying attention to Nikki while watching the budding couple from down the hall.
Mandy watched Tina pull a pen out of the spiral wiring of her notebook and made like she was going to write it on a piece of paper and hand it to him. He stopped her and in a smooth move he offered his large hand to her instead insisting she write it there in order to foster more contact between them. He knew what he was doing alright. Every move practiced and calculated. Tina loved taking his large hand in hers to write it down smiling like an idiot.
"... so yeah I was totally thinking you should come. All the cute guys will be there and you need some social interaction in your life, girl. Mandy? Hello, are you listening? Oh, goodness, I've lost you again..."
Tina smiled after writing her number and looked up into his eyes a complete mess in front of him. She played with her own curls nervously as his face stayed close to hers.
"I'm sorry... what?" Mandy looked away from Mr Perfect and his new lady to concentrate solely on her friend and felt ashamed for tuning her out so much over a creep like Hargrove. She also felt ashamed of spying on their intimate moment which should not have been on such open display. Mandy felt wrong staring at them.
Nikki sighed putting her hands on her hips, her wrist bangles furious in their sounds, and started over.
"Get your head out of the clouds, Mandy, seriously. I said Steve Harrington is hosting a pool party at his parents house this weekend because they are away on a business trip. Lucky him, right? Like, God, when are they not away? They're ALWAYS gone and I want... no... I NEED you to go with me. I am NOT going to this thing alone without you."
"You''ll have Tucker and Alex, though." Mandy pointed out grinning knowing she got her there.
Nikki pouted and stamped her feet lightly. She was being adorably adamant about this. Mandy thought on it. She did have a pep talk with herself to spend more time with her friends this year. As long as Hargrove wouldn't be there she wouldn't really mind too much. But she was nervous and afraid to go at the same time. She was always awkward in groups and gatherings that weren't just her and her close friends.
"It's not the saaaaaaame. I don't want to go out to a party with only our guy friends, as much as I love them dearly, mind you. I need some serious girl time with you, Mandy, just us girls. And no, before you say it, Nancy, Tina, and Carol do not count. I spend almost every waking moment with them when I'm not hanging with you. Please... pleeeeaaaase?"
Mandy sighed at the sounds of her friend begging her. She really did not want to go. She remembered her pep talk to herself in her room earlier this morning and it was really getting to her. This was her chance to say yes and be spontaneous breaking all her normal rules in her life. Mandy weighed it and thought for a few moments.
Nikki's pouting face made her feel so guilty. Maybe she should go. But then she would feel so out of place even with her friends there beside her.
And besides, she would have NOTHING to wear and she was NOT putting on a swim suit and going into the pool. There was no way she would bare her skin in front of a bunch of random guys and strangers. She just wasn't confidant enough for that.
Even if she wanted to she didn't own a nice enough looking one for a party just her trips to the community pool which would make everyone there laugh at her. She hadn't bought a proper fitting lovely new swimsuit since two years ago. Her old one was getting tattered and snug.
As if reading her mind, Nikki grinned seeing the gears turning inside Mandy's head and was three steps ahead of her, as per usual.
"I have this super cute sexy black bikini you can wear that I just bought in case you said yes. It would look so good on you, Mandy, I promise. Please say you will go with me? I bet Steve and Nancy would be absolutely thrilled to see you! I will even do your hair and some heavy duty but nice looking waterproof makeup for you. Mmmkay? Kay?"
"Nikki... I'm not much for parties. I don't even like to go to BIRTHDAY parties. You know this. How long now have you been trying to get me to go to one?"
Nikki blew a bubble and put a defiant hand on her hip. "Uh, like, since forever ago? Like, since the moment we first met and became friends in the fifth grade?"
"Exactly. And how many times have you had me agree and go with you?"
Mandy sarcastically smiled at the adorable way her friend always tried to sucker her into going and hooking up with some guy. It was always about finding Mandy a boyfriend. She was beginning to think Nikki was simply desperate to also find a guy so she and Mandy could take their boytoys on a double date just for kicks.
"Zero. Because you don't have a single fun bone in your body. C'mon, pleeeease? I'm begging you. Just this once? Besides, Tucker and Alex are coming too and with me, Nancy, and Steve there as well it's not like you will be alone and not know anyone there. I will make you SOOOO drop dead gorgeous. I mean, no offense, not like you aren't already my sweet. But I can make a few... adjustments."
Her friends smile was infectious. It was hard to say no to her big blue sparkling eyes so full of life and freedom. Something stirred within her and she felt maybe she did need this after all.
Her head had been fighting with her heart. The usual tango of 'do' and 'do not' with 'maybe' never coming in between to break it up and settle it. While her head was saying 'no, don't go, you will just make a fool of yourself and be awkward all night' her heart was moved to be bold, adventurous, daring even, and determined to do this.
There was also something about the way Billy was getting under her skin, how he had stared at her while she was walking. How he had breathed down her neck in class. And now how he was openly flirting with Tina in the hall occasionally looking her way with a smug look on his face. It made her feel like had an indirect influence on her decision too, and she didn't know why.
His presence seemed to make her feel small and out of control so she wanted to take some of that power back for herself and BE in control again. Be in charge and not be timid or afraid. She wanted to direct her own life and make her own choices. Not be held back while worried about what others would think say or do if she chose happiness for herself. She wanted to be more like Tina, Nancy, and Nikki.
She hated that she had never been to one single party all her life while keeping herself hidden away from the world because of other's teasing and cruelty. She could feel a slight rebelliousness gripping tight onto her as his blue eyes locked with her green ones from afar as if daring her to do it.
It was taking a hold of her and her curiosity was mounting by the second. The very prospect of having a good time and not being cooped up at home was indeed a temptation long time coming and a nagging need to for once in her life explore and let loose.
She looked to Billy giving his number back to Tina and still smooth talking her as he now wrote his on her hand. When he happened to glance over in her direction as Tina laughed closing her eyes she felt something inside of her snap. A resolve to be wild and impetuous.
His feral gaze drove her to this moment of clarity within herself. She longed to feel free and confidant like Tina was. To not be afraid, to laugh, to live, to have someone want or desire her and talk to her. She was tired of hiding and running. Despite this, when Billy looked at her, she hid behind her locker door and pulled Nikki closer to her hiding them both from his stares.
"O-okay. I'll do it. I will go. You win this time, Nikki. I will go. But you have to promise me something."
Nikki bounced up and down excitedly clasping her hands together eager to hear the condition she was about to give as her blonde hair was bouncing and whipping around everywhere.
"Anything. Tell me!" She said eagerly a grin from ear to ear.
"You CANNOT pressure me into talking to any boys. That is final. I want to choose that for myself. My own personal decision. Agreed?"
Nikki put her hand up like she was swearing on the Holy Bible in court and looked super serious but it couldn't mask her bubbling enthusiasm at having finally convinced her to come along.
"Deal. I wont pressure you to talk to any boys. I will MODERATELY... "encourage" you to speak to at least ONE boy?" She grinned wickedly at slightly altering the deal after her own fashion.
Rolling her eyes but laughing with Nikki she sighed. It was because she obviously heard what Mandy said but had to twist it just a little bit. A compromise.
"Okay. Fine. ONE guy. But please do not pick Hargrove, if he is there and shows up, alright? I have some weird vibes about him and I just want to steer clear. Besides, it seems he's wrapped up in Tina now so hopefully she will keep him busy."
Nikki laughed and smirked at her while poking Mandy in the stomach when she had mentioned weird vibes over Billy.
"Could those weird vibes be the beginning flutters of a budding attraction to him? Do you feel the butterflies over Billy Hargrove, Miss Hawkins?"
Her friend playfully nudged her and Mandy made a 'hell no' look at her with her hand on her hip. Nikki moaned with slight frustration but rolled her eyes and shook on it when she put out her hand to make her seal the deal with her own compromise added.
"Okay. Deal. I won't try to hook you up with Hawkin's new infamous bad boy. But I will choose SOMEONE for you to talk to at the party. MY pick, if I find a good one, so don't even think of backing out if it happens."
Mandy sighed at this and closed her eyes wanting to bang her head on her locker.
"I will find you a man, Mandy. That is my new sole mission in life. My eternal quest!"
That was her friend, Nikki the passionate match maker. She had tried to set her up once before with a boy but Mandy chickened out and didn't know what to say and simply walked away to hide leaving the boy laughing at how shy and ridiculous she was.
"I also promise that it won't be his Royal Hotness in case you get all weird and start talking nonsense to him single handedly undoing all my hard work of making you look good."
Nikki teased and grinned at Mandy waiting for her to explode at her statement. Once it finally sunk in Mandy looked visibly taken aback and confused as to what she meant by that.
"Weird? Nonsense? What do you mean get all weird?"
Mandy was tying to understand what she meant by that as Nikki laughed and began saying random silly stuff in a mocking imitation of her. The kind of stuff she had heard her say many times throughout the school year whenever a guy took notice of her and had approached.
"No silly pickups like this... 'Hey there... uhhh... so do you like books? What's your favorite novel? I love to read books. Did I mention I love books and to read them?'
Mandy blushed. She thought of it as an adorable quirk, maybe even a defense mechanism that kept her out of trouble, but Nikki shredded her mercilessly on it thinking it was hilarious to her. But the truth was inexcapable. Mandy did NOT know how to socialize or talk with other people. Especially to high school boys.
Nikki continued mocking as Mandy peeked around her locker door seeing that Billy and Tina were still there getting in some major face time.
For a brief moment she went wide eyed and then disappeared back behind her locker door. He had looked back at her to stare with a smirk as if he could hear every word while juggling listening to Tina gush at him trying to pay attention to her too.
She was trying hard to focus more on Nikki's teasing and not to think about him and Tina talking to each other on the phone later saying God knows what or planning whatever together. She turned back to her friend who was still making fun.
"Or how about this one? 'So, ummm... are you prepared for the English finals?' Oh, Mandy, darling, someone needs to teach you how to carry on a legit conversation!"
She teased with a bright sparkle in her eye. Mandy flustered listening to it but peeking back over she saw that thankfully Billy was no longer looking in their direction. Tina was in heaven as his full attention was on her. God, they needed to get a room.
As Nikki mocked her, Mandy gently shoved her with her hip and closed her locker up once it was finally safe to do so.
"Okay, I do NOT sound like that..." she defended herself but rather poorly knowing it was somewhat true.
"Yes you do, oh my God, yes you do! I swear I am not making this up. You CAN'T make up stuff like this, it's golden!"
After playfully shoving each other they both jumped when Alex and Tucker ran up behind them and scared the living daylights out of them with a loud greeting and clapping their hands on their shoulders.
"Hey! Fancy meeting you two strangers here!" Alex grinned while Tucker was slightly breathless from the run over.
"So... did you... talk to her... about it... yet?" Tucker said in between breathlessness from his fast jog over to them. He put a hand up on Alex's shoulder to steady himself as he leaned over catching his breath.
Mandy folded her arms, Alex looked clueless, and Nikki chewed on her gum furiously knowing she was busted trying to look everywhere else except at Mandy.
"Oh come on, seriously you guys? You all planned this?" Nikki gave up and threw her hands up in the air nodding while also laughing it off as if it wasn't a big deal.
Tucker was feigning complete ignorance but very badly as if scripted ahead of time.
Alex gave him a slight kick to his ankle making him grab it it and rub it then glare at him for it.
As Nikki came clean about them having formed a plan to each whittle her down slowly until she could resist no more and accept the invitation Mandy saw Billy take Tina's hand raising it to his lips and kissing it gently making her blush horribly giggling all over the place.
"Look, it doesn't matter. As long as HE'S not going to approach me and talk to me if he's going to be there."
Looking back Billy was turning to leave arm in arm with Tina. Mandy didn't look over in that direction again once she saw that Tina and Billy were gone, having walked off with their arms intertwined together leaving the halls.
The bell rang shortly after and they all started walking to their next class. Mandy noticed Billy and Tina were gone now. It was safe to walk the hallways between classes once more and breathe easy.
Tucker and Alex joked the whole way there while Nikki picked up on how quiet Mandy was being now. She had tried to reassure her shy friend that even if he did show up to the party, they could always leave the immediate room and go outside or claim going the the bathroom to 'powder their noses' thus having an excuse to evade him.
Well, she could TRY at least to avoid and evade. Billy looked like the King of going after whatever or whoever he wanted and getting it effortlessly. So if he chose to pester her, there was no telling if she could get him to stop or go away.
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Time went by painfully slow the first day. The time gods were toying with her seeming to slow everything down to a crawl making the day last longer than usual. This was most likely because Mandy felt listless, maybe even slightly paranoid as she went through her day. Because of this her sense of the ebb and flow of time, of continuity, made her feel almost like she was having an out of body experience.
She was panicking a the simplest of things because not only had she agreed to go to the party, which just wasn't like her at all, but also because of the Hargrove boy practically living in her brain constantly while taking up residence there and kicking out all her other thoughts but ones about him.
The clock was taking it's sweet time tick on closer to lunch break so that Mandy could relax and get some solitude in the library. She needed some peace and quiet and not feel so uptight and stressed out. Not only was she struggling to adjust to a new schedule, her new classrooms, and new teachers, but she was also slightly paranoid with every hallway she walked down, every class she first walked into, and every pair of foot steps she heard behind her.
Everywhere she went she dreaded running into the blue eyed boy from California. She was praying she would not run into him around the campus or see him in any single one of her other classes. To her relief, so far the only one she had with him was homeroom English with Mr Watkins and that was bad enough.
Mandy could still feel the uneasy feeling she felt sitting in front of him. The feeling of just somehow knowing he was looking at her and staring with what she would imagine to be that lopsided boyish grin he had on his face earlier.
Her thoughts seemed to drift fading in and out unable to be anchored to anything as she got through second and third period classes. She was mentally exhausted and on high alert. Then, finally, time showed her mercy and moved on to her favorite time of the day.
Lunch break. In her mind she was waving the white flag begging for an end to all her troubled thoughts and asking for peace.
Mandy felt bad around this time because she always felt pressured to have lunch with Nikki, Tucker, and Alex in the cafeteria almost every day last year. That place was swarming with all the cliques and groups of the school, some not so nice, some nicer than others, some completely irrelevant, and it really amped up her anxeity to be there.
She had a lot of bad experiences in the past from being bullied and harassed openly without cause as she primarily kept to herself when her friends weren't with her. Milk dumped down her shirt. Tray being knocked out of her hands. Random jerks cornering her with their buddies to call her names and or say innapropriate things to her and about her. She would shake inside wishing she had the courage to fight back or to talk to someone about it but she never did. So she would just be forced to take it and try to keep her stride.
Her friends expected her to be there but she always made it clear to them she MIGHT show up to have lunch with them there, never promising to. She could never really promise them that as her sacred spot was calling to her and she would heed it's siren call above all else. Somehow Mandy just always managed to gravitate towards the Hawkins High library no matter what was going on in her life or during school.
She ultimately decided to avoid the cafeteria it at all costs and was happy she found the library to retreat to instead. She was also happy she had met someone like Mrs Bannister, the sweetest and most hilarious spry old librarian ever who shared her same love of books and of a zen like silence while enjoying them.
Every year she would sign up and offer to work there as a sort of temp Librarian to help students find, check out, and return their books. While Mrs Bannister didn't like her loud and rowdy friends too much, she had grown to admire and respect Mandy since she was not only the shy quiet type but also had an enormous love for reading almost anything she could get her hands on from her favorite subjects.
Each time she had gone there Mrs Bannister had recommended a new book from the genres she knew Mandy loved. Mandy guessed she liked that she handled them delicately even when turning the pages and never dog eared them while reading or got any food or drink on them. So she permitted her to eat in one of the study rooms in the back while reading if she didn't need Mandy's help for the day.
She often spent time in the quiet corners of the library or one of the study rooms to relax in while catching up on some of her favorite authors and listening to music. A wide vareity of tastes she was very keen to, but her special private interests she would go to the used book store in town to get and read at home. Such as her little secret love of romance novels.
So mostly, as the lunch break ticked on in perfect silence and bliss, Mandy could be found curled up with her favorite book whether it be in a quiet little room, or on a soft comfortable couch, and even at the very desk where she helped Mrs Bannister out with keeping track of the books going in and out as well as new orders.
She briskly walked in to her special place of peace and comfort with a huge excited grin, and set her bags down on the front desk. She watched as Mrs Bannister was busy sorting books on a rack her back turned to her. But as soon as Mandy made herself known, she greeted her with both surprise and yet expectancy to see her there again this year.
The woman was huddled over organizing when Mandy cleared her throat gently and affably, giving a small smile, her eyes lit up, when the elderly librarian turned to realize she was there.
"Oh, Mandy, my dear! What a nice surprise! So good to see you again. My, how you are growing up with each year that passes, I hardly recognized you! Have you come to sign up again as a temp this year?"
"Yes, Mrs Bannister, I would absolutely love to. I wouldn't have missed this place for the whole world. I'm actually doing really well. How have you been?"
She gave a sigh of content and asked if she needed help with the books she was currently working on. Mrs Bannister happily obliged and allowed her behind the counter to help with the books that needed to go back onto the shelves even before officially signing up. She just knew her that well. They had a very comfortable friendship and it was different from her connection with kids her own age.
Mrs Bannister thought of Mandy as wise and beyond her age so it was easy for them to talk about things she normally couldn't with hormonal teenagers. She also often came to Mrs Bannister for advice. She was like the grandma she never had but always wanted.
To everyone else she was gruff around the edges with a sassy old lady attitude and soft inside, but to Mandy she practically let her have the run of this place out of sheer trust and respect knowing she would never do anything bad. Good girl perks she supposed.
They made small talk as she sorted from genre to alphabetical in order to prep them for return to their home resting place on the shelves. Most of them were Science and History books with a few from the Mythology sections and those were locations Mandy knew very well.
"I've been just fine, sweetheart. Don't you worry about this bag of old bones. How was your summer? Did you do anything exciting during your summer break?"
Mandy thought hard about what to say. In all honesty it wasn't really too different from her last summer break. It was a blur of mostly caring for her brother, reading, and talking with her friends over the phone, hanging out at each others houses, or having sleepovers sometimes with Nikki or Nancy. They didn't care if they were in high school, sleepovers were still a thing.
There was the Hawkins 4th of July Carnival at the Roane County Fairgrounds hosted by the Mayor each year but other than that she spent most of her days idly lazing about with her favorite reads or went swimming at the local community pool to keep her figure from slipping.
Thinking back on all of this visualizing and looking at all of it as if written on paper it would have been a very short paragraph in her life and not chapters and volumes like everyone else's were filled with. Mandy's book was still being written, slowly, but she just guessed the fates had writers block not knowing what to do with her grande arc just yet.
She shrugged and ignored Mrs Bannister's somewhat sad look on her face which she quickly replaced with a soft smile at Mandy. She patted her on the shoulder softly and adjusted her reading glasses looking at her with her aged brown eyes. Even an elderly woman apparently had a more exciting life than her, she thought humorously, and laughed shaking her head.
"It was wonderful regardless, Mrs B. I had a lot of fun don't worry. How is Mr Bannister doing? Last I heard he was getting along well enough, and I know its been a while since I've visited you both, but I remember you telling me he was having difficulties."
A look of concern spread over Mandy's face and although Mrs Bannister tried to reassure her and play it down a little, she could tell Mr Bannister wasn't getting much better. His health had taken a nose dive at some point last season due to his age and that was another reason why she came to help her with the library since his wife had a lot on her mind and on top of that him as an unwell husband to care for.
Some nights Mrs Bannister would even trust her with the keys to lock up and secure the place before leaving the school grounds to go home to care for him sooner. Some days Mandy would come visit them at their home and sit to talk with them. It really brightened up their day to have a youth like her in their lives that cared deeply for them.
They liked that Mandy wasn't like most of the other high school girls who were too self absorbed in their own goings on and social lives that they didn't care too much for other people other than themselves. Mandy was a very selfless person, due to things from her past she often did not want to really talk about, and she was deep and affectionate. Kind and giving. Almost like a grand daughter the Bannisters never were able to have due to complications for having children. It just never happened. So Mandy was a Godsend.
"Oh, well, he is doing as well as can be expected, dear. We would love to see you and have you come visit us as often as you would like. I will even bake some of my famous cookies you love so much. That would be a grand time, yes?"
Mandy smiled and nodded but inside was deeply worried for her and her husband. How long until she would come home or wake up one day to find he had passed? She dreaded that day but would be there for her as much as she possibly could no matter what.
Mrs Bannister gave a soft light laugh, hiding her pain, that matched her fragile appearance and personality that she was deep down inside, and left Mandy to it. Since she already knew where everything was and had worked there before, she didn't have to explain much to her other than new orders of books that were coming in and how to sign for them and allocate them into the catalogue and the index that was stored on the computers.
"You take it easy Mrs B, I've got this under control. No worries." She smiled and finished her sign up sheet then turned to look at the new books. She picked one up and cracked it open gently flipping the pages fast with her fingertips then placed her nose along the inside of the spine to breathe it in. She always loved how a fresh book with nice clean pages freshly printed had smelled.
Mrs Bannister chuckled as she watched her do this before going back to her own tasks.
"You're a good sweet girl, Mandy. Don't ever let anyone tell you any different."
Mrs Bannister knew of some of the bullying Mandy had been subjected to the past three years. It was actually her that had chased off one that was bothering her and brought her inside the library getting her a cup of hot cocoa and just talking with her about it. Mandy never opened up to anyone about it, not even Nikki and the gang. It was then the arrangement they shared now had been made for her to help run this place at lunch and always able to come to her should she run into any trouble.
With a friendly wink to her she left to go take care of her share of the work while leaving Mandy to help clean and straighten up the front desk and input the new books with their locations putting the proper sticker markings on the spines of them and stamping the insides of them as the school's property.
She would do as much as she could before the first warning bell for lunch to be over would ring. Then she would sit and read in one of the rooms and indulge in her music on her walkman if she had time to before saying goodbye and going back to the mad hustle of her classes. Mandy felt a little bad for not seeing her friends but hopefully they would understand.
Mandy had been checking out books for a student and sticking a due back slip of paper inside of it handing it to them, then returning to her novel when her friends had decided to surprise her with a visit. They stopped by to bring her a little something to snack on and to drink while working. Mandy was nose deep in a book when they arrived and Nikki strode up silently to sneak up on her with Alex and Tucker in tow behind her grinning. Nikki tapped Mandy making her jump and then they all laughed.
"Oh... you scared me! Hey guys, what's up?" She grinned putting her book down shaking off the startled feeling happy to see them.
"So, this is where you've been hiding. As usual." Nikki teased and winked.
"Yeah, you know me. I just can't get enough of my books. Sorry I didn't catch up with you at the cafeteria, you know I don't like that place." She frowned but Nikki waved it off and Tucker and Alex didn't look upset at all.
"No worries, Mandy, we got you covered." Alex hoisted the lunch they brought and set it on the counter before her.
"I bet you now have a new reason for coming here, huh? Clever clever." Nikki grinned and resisted to pop her gum here. Mandy blushed back at her in response. Was she that easy to read? That transparent?
"Smart girl. Lucky for you his Royal Hotness will most likely never set foot in a place like this. He strikes me as the beatiful type blessed with all the looks who has a lot going on with his body and very little going on upstairs other than cars, partying, and women, if you know what I mean. But, oh god, that body though. Milk sure did his body good."
She winked and Mandy sighed not really wanting to talk about him but she guessed it was coming. Nikki knew her all too well. The only boys that would have access to her here would be the softspoken studious nerdy type within her range and league but boys like that had very little time for girlfriends and never really bothered her. If Hargrove was to come here, It was like to do so would be to taint her sacred space with something foreign to her world upsetting the balance and peace in her kingdom.
"How many more times are you going to mention him, Nikki? You're like a one track record I swear." Nikki stuck her tongue out and they laughed softly about it but she moved her hands to suggest they tone it down a bit not wanting to disrupt the other students or upset Mrs Bannister. Where had she gotten off to anyway? That woman was like a silent assassin, you never saw her coming and then BAM there she was.
Mandy walked around from the counter and greeted her friends with a hug. As much as she loved them, they could be a bit loud in a place like this, most likely causing Mrs Bannister to pop up from her work or from behind shelves and firmly place a finger to her lips ordering them to be more quiet. It was always random and caught people off guard especially if she gave her award winning glare gluing them into their seats and making them shut their mouths instantly.
Tucker nudged Alex grinning and spoke his mind about how he felt when it came to reading and studying.
"I know I sure as hell haven't been here before. Never once set foot in this place and I got by with my grades and classes just fine." He said with a hint of pride in his tone for someone who hated to pick up a book and read.
Nikki threw a shot at him for fun.
"Yeah if you consider D's and C's as just fine." Giving a small giggle she enjoyed the look on his face when she mentioned it.
Tucker turned a bit red thinking back on the outing of his report card fiasco from last year which nearly made his parents go through the roof demanding he upped his grade or he would be grounded all summer. He somehow managed to get them back up in time which saved his bacon and his parents eased off of him so he could go to the arcade with Alex as planned.
Alex prepared his own shot to take at him and winked at Mandy and Nikki while he replied preparing to shred Tucker.
"Yeah because, according to the rumors, I heard you hooked up with Leslie Sanders and went to her house for a sloppy makeout... I mean... STUDY session. Sloppy kisses in exchange for better grades? Tsk tsk. Wow, Tucker, where is your pride, man? Leslie Sanders?"
Mandy knew Leslie, she was sweet. So she lightly punched Alex's arm making him mouth out his pain and give her an apologetic look for making Leslie seem like a less desirable person.
He then turned back to continue taunting Tucker and made kissy face noises at him pucking up his lips as if he were Leslie and Nikki almost died laughing. Mandy wanted to laugh too as it was funny but she nervously fidgeted trying to politely get them to simmer down a bit as they were starting to get too loud. They apologized to her and lowered their voices to whispers once more.
"I did not. I told you my parents hired me a private tutor. Leslie is so not my type. Ew."
Tucker looked at Mandy shamefaced but shrugging and shaking his head no as if he had no idea what Alex was talking about. He tried to hide his reddening face by looking away at something else after he had given her a mild expression of humiliated horror of Alex saying these things in front of her.
He shuffled his feet and it suddenly dawned on all of them that the rumours were actually true and he couldn't hide it anymore. He outed himself by his embarrassment.
"Dude. That's just... shameful." Alex stared at him with his face all scrunched up silly and Nikki tried to supress a strong giggle.
Mrs Bannister, like magic and clockwork, popped out from behind a shelf while dusting it and was walking by eyeing her group of friends. She shushed them and placed her finger to her lips glaring which made all three of them stop and look serious down at the floor. Nikki bit her lip and Tucker and Alex put their hands in their pockets.
"Yes, Mrs Bannister..." they whispered to her softly in adherence and she went back to what she was doing quick as she had jumped out.
Mandy had seen the light wink she gave before disappearing letting her know she was only pretending to be grouchy and intimidating with her friends. It was part of her angry old lady act to keep the peace around here but deep down she was having fun with it. Mandy smiled at her.
"Alright guys let's go take a table in one of the reading rooms to eat. I'm sure Mrs B won't mind and if she does it'll be on me." Mandy smiled picking up the brown bag gracefully accepting the lunch her friends brought her.
When got in the room they turned on the light and closing the blinds locking the door behind them. Sitting down making themselves comfortable they all got their lunches out began to get their snack on.
Mandy opened the bag and lifted it's contents out slowly one at a time. A nice juicy apple, a salad in a plastic container with a fork and packet of ranch dressing, and a carton of chocolate milk, her favorite to wash lunch down with.
"Awww, thanks guys I really appreciate it." She immediately dove into the apple. It was sweet and juicy and red and Tucker couldn't help but notice how it made her look like Snow White as she ate it. He grinned.
"It was Tucker's idea, actually." Alex bumped into him as he said this and Tucker mouthed the words 'shut up' to him looking back to Mandy shaking his head no as if he once more had no idea what Alex was talking about. This made Alex roll his eyes and Tucker kicked his ankle from under the table in response.
"Well, we just figured that since you couldn't join us in the caf we would bring the caf to you and chill for a little bit." Tucker said quickly to recover from Alex outing him for his thoughtfulness of her. It was all over his face. Mandy hadn't missed it. She had just ignored and avoided it and let it go.
She knew how he felt about her. To be honest, Mandy always had a feeling that Tucker liked her as more than a friend, but they just never crossed that line. She didn't want to make their circle of long time friendship awkward or ruin the good thing they had going. She smiled shyly and focused on her apple not wanting to make him feel uncomfortable by staring into his eyes for too long.
She was happy they could do this. Perks of being the head librarians pet, she supposed. Since she never caused trouble, Mrs B would let her do most things here she wouldn't allow other students to get away with and it felt awesome to have such a huge responsibility and sense of trust between them.
Mandy would never do anything to risk losing that trust either. She knew how easy it would be to do that if she ever did get a boyfriend. It was an intimate setting in here, especially with a lockable door.
She could only imagine how many other teens had come in here to makeout and it kinda made her feel gross to think about it so she shook it from her head and finished up her apple listening to her friends talk and laugh and tell her about their day in their classes so far.
They kept their voices low and felt the peace of this place with her, happy to just relax and talk for a few minutes with each other.
Instead of the breakfast club Mandy dubbed them the Hawkins Library Lunch Club and it made her giggle. She could see Tucker being sporto, Alex being the dork, her being the goth girl awkward in her own body and clothes, and Nikki being the princess. All they were missing was a Bender and they would be complete.
She laughed out loud at this and Tucker looked at her wondering what was on her mind. She shook her head as if to tell him not to worry about it. It was just funny to her how sometimes life immitated art and not the other way around.
It was nice to be here with them and she resolved to try and ask them to do it more often with her. Just so long as they weren't bothering other students who were trying to study and prepare themselves for their current curriculums and tests that would eventually filter in it shouldn't be a problem. Mandy thought of tests and quizzes and what they symbolized. Basically an image of them having to kiss goodbye the last remnants of freedom and their summer break. The pool party was actually sounding better and better to her now that she thought of it.
Her friend shook her out of her thoughts with a question aimed at her.
"So... what is it you exactly do here, Mandy?"
Nikki asked seated comfortably next to her and pulled out a home made neatly packed square piece of something wrapped in foil from inside her lunchbox. Nikki always had the coolest and most popular themed lunchboxes and no one thought it childish of her since she was up to date on all the trends and how to accessorize it with her current fashion.
Today she had a Tom Cruise Risky Business lunchbox complete with her idol in the t-shirt and shades. How it passed for PG in this school existing below the principal's radar was beyond Mandy.
Alex and Tucker pulled out their brown paper bags and looked through, often exchanging things they didn't want that came from home for things they coveted from each other's sacklunches in a trade.
This time Tucker swapped out his peanut butter, banana, and cheese sandwhich for Alex's Bologna sandwhich which was topped with pickles and mustard. They high fived each other and the girls stomach's turned at how they could eat stuff like that.
"What?" The boys said almost in unision then chowing down as the girls looked at them slightly turning up their noses but playfully.
Mandy answered her question while twisting her fork in the salad from the cafeteria and taking a small sip of her chocolate milk. She got a milk mustache and Nikki laughed pointing to it causing Mandy to wipe it off quickly and blush. She twirled her fork around in her salad some more while speaking low so as to keep her word to Mrs Bannister.
"Well, sometimes I organize books on the shelves because some kids put them back in the wrong spot. So annoying really. I dust and clean the shelves and replace books back on them when done. Other times I check in and out books for other classmates scanning their barcodes and putting the information into the computer that its returned or out. I also organize the periodicals and magazines, which is a pain sometimes because there are so many, you have NO idea. And when I am feeling particularly adventurous, I sit and read a book in a room like this one or listen to my walkman as I clean tables and chairs wiping them down then vaccuuming. It's a good job and I like it here."
She smiled and took a bite of her salad chewing softly and slowly. She was pleased with her exciting life and watched as her friends looked at each other and then back to her giving gentle teasing laughs and looks.
"My, my, Mandy Hawkins, what a dangerous and thrilling life you live, indeed"
Nikki laughed and dug into her mother's home made Lasagna after unwrapping it. It smelled wonderful. She offered a bite to Mandy but she turned it down rather opting for the healthier choice she was currently working on.
"I'd like to think I live a life of danger just as good as the international man of mystery, yes. Working in a library has it's pros and cons. Mrs Bannister is secretly my sidekick... she's an assassin. Like a ninja. And I'm the brains I guess. We fight crime together stopping one book thief or abuser at a time."
Mandy laughed at her little fantasy description of what she did here but Tucker and Alex exchanged glances about Mrs Bannister and had to nod and agree not being able to deny that one. She was definitely weird and good at vanishing then popping up out of no where, that much was a fact. The first time she did it, Alex almost had a heart attack and quickly walked out leaving the books behind he was trying to get. He had been talking to a girl flirting and had been a little loud so Mrs Bannister came out of no where and called him on it embarressing him.
"Yeah, dude, she's a strange old lady. I believe it." He said biting into his sandwich and enjoying it thoroughly savoring the banana and peanut butter flavor.
"God, your mom makes excellent sandwiches. May I hire her as my personal lunch lady?" Tucker glared and punched his shoulder as a resounding wordless 'no' and Alex laughed rubbing it.
Nikki went right into the heart of what she was most interested in.
"So... any cute boys worth mentioning that actually come in here for you to feast thine eyes upon?"
Ugggh, here we go again.
Why was Nikki always so desperate to hook her up with someone? She didn't even want to humor that one with words. Mandy shook her head 'no' while drinking from her milk carton and Nikki slumped practically giving up on this girl.
"Well... maybe not cute to you, perhaps, I don't think you've ever thought a boy was cute. At least if you did you've never told me about it. But I might take a look around and give my honest opinion."
Nikki winked and finished off her food pulling out her chair and pushing it in to go outside of the room and explore.
While they had been talking about Nikki's favorite subject, the two boys were playing roshambo with one another out of slight boredom to amuse themselves and when Alex cheated, Tucker made a gun symbol with his hand and claimed to have blown away Alex's rock hand symbol. They got into a mild scuffle over who was actually the victor and one of them headlocked the other silently horseplaying but not getting too loud. They were like struggling mimes fighting over a street corner during a performance.
Mandy and Nikki laughed taken off guard by this for a moment but shrugged.
Mandy covered her mouth to stifle her laughter while watching then said okay to Nikki as she went to look for her heart's desire. Mandy stayed behind to finish eating hanging with her boys happily.
Mrs Bannister popped up outside the room in front of the window and eyed the boys. She made the 'I'm watching you' symbol with her hands to which both of them stopped dead in their tracks from playfighting. They were trying to act as if they were innocent and weren't doing anything at all. She stared them down, pretty sassy for an old lady then took off again. Mandy was laughing so hard it was difficult to contain it in her hands now.
"Uh oh... you've angered my sidekick, Silent Cobra. Prepare to face your doom." Mandy gave a mocking evil laugh talking about Mrs Bannister which made them laugh too and she shook her head grinning.
With Nikki gone, after a minute or so Tucker gave a weird look to Alex urging him to go bugger off and find something else to do or to help Nikki track down what she was looking for. Alex rolled his eyes and patted Tucker on the shoulder as if to say 'oh you poor, poor, kid' and abruptly left to go find their other friend who was most likely boy hunting checking off the cute ones like a shopping list. Alex opened the door and shut it behind him making a goofy kissy face at Tucker who glared at him until he left.
As they sat alone for a minute or so quietly finishing their lunch inside the room, Tucker finally spoke up breaking the silence between them.
"Hey, Mandy... there's something I've been meaning to ask you."
He nervously played with the sacklunch bag in front of him, balling it up and rolling it around on the table, and Mandy looked up from eating the last remnants of her salad. Sipping her milk she looked him in the eyes and he couldn't quite seem to finish what he wanted to say. Her green eyes held him captive and he nervously swallowed. She tried not to stare at him too much in case it was making it hard for him to get it out so she looked back down at her salad container. He stammered and lost his nerve trying to recover.
"What is it, Tucker? Is everything okay?" She asked, her big green eyes once more looking into his that somehow made him lose track of the question that had been burning in him all summer long. Unspoken and heavy between them.
"I.. uhh. I mean we... we've known each other for a long time. And... well, you're comfortable with me right?"
It was an odd question. Mandy wasn't fully sure what he was getting at, although she had an idea of what he meant by that. A somewhat deep down gut feeling and it was making her slightly nervous too. She felt it between them sometimes. Some unspoken thing. Mandy never really liked it though because she didn't want to hurt him should the time come that he got bold enough to ask. Her heart hammered in her chest hoping this wasn't that time.
"Yeah... why?" Tucker sighed and looked up at the ceiling for a minute unable to look her in the eyes and fidgeting horribly.
"Tucker... just tell me what's on your mind." She couldn't bear the tension any longer. It was really bothering her now.
As soon as he was about to make his case, Alex and Nikki came back into the room in a semi heated debate over who was more handsome, David Bowie, Billy Idol, or Jon Bon Jovi? They were keeping it down but she could tell they were heavily invested in this and neither one wanted to admit to the other's solid opinion. Tucker's face looked crest fallen. And then slightly annoyed and angry.
"Jesus, guys. David Bowie, okay? There. Problem solved." Tucker picked up his things grabbing his trash from lunch and stood up walking over to the door to leave. He paused with his hand on the knob. He opened it and stormed out muttering to himself.
Nikki and Alex exchanged glances and then looked to Mandy who tried to look just as confused as they did. Playing dumb would be better in the long run.
"What's eating him?" Alex said and Mandy looked hurt because she knew the truth but didn't want to tell them. Ever. He had almost asked her to be with him and her stomach was in knots over it. She couldn't help but feel upset and sad over it at the same time. Things were changing as they got older and she hated change.
Nikki sighed and said simply, "Ugggh. Teenage boys. And they call us the hormonal ones."
With that they said their goodbyes and took off after hugging her and cleaning up their mess at Mandy's request. They waved and headed to their lockers early before lunch break would be over in a couple of minutes to get a headstart for Nikki's Math class and Alex's computer class. He was learning programming and computers because his dream was to be a video game creator and designer.
Mandy sat there stunned into silence in the study room. It bewildered her at the abrupt change in Tucker's behavior and his noticeable frustration. She was shook out of her thoughts when Mrs Bannister suddenly placed a hand gently on her shoulder from behind her in a gentle reassuring way.
"I think that nice young man likes you, my dear." She winked and went back to whatever it is she had been doing before suddenly appearing out of no where.
Thank you, Mrs Captain obvious.
Mandy thought dryly. How did Mrs Bannister know? Where was she hiding to have heard the conversation and had she had her eyes on them for a while now without them knowing it? Could she hear through walls like a superhero all of a sudden?
Mandy laughed at her mysterious ways. Before Mandy could turn around to protest or respond, she had already vanished, very spry for her age. Maybe she really was a ninja, Mandy thought entertaining herself a bit and trying to take her mind off Tucker.
She found she couldn't however. Now she had two boys on her mind to worry about. When did life get so complicated? She never had ANY boy troubles because she didn't invite boys that way into her life. Now here she was confused in her little world and not sure what to do about it.
In the next few minutes she finished up what she had left to do for Mrs Bannister and grabbed her book bag sighing as she walked to her locker wanting to stray behind a little bit. She was sort of confused about what to say to Tucker or what to do about his off behavior the next time she would see him. But deep down she knew she would eventually have to confront him and settle things so they could go back to being normal again and good friends.
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