"She liked to disappear, even when she was in the same room as other people. It was a talent, as it was a curse."
― Alice Hoffman, The Red Garden
The scent of artificial butter and cigarette smoke clings to her dark hair with a vengeance. Working at the movie theater was not a luxurious job by any means, but they give her plenty of smoke breaks and let her take home bags of leftover popcorn just before they went stale. On top of T.V. dinners, the popcorn added some kind of spice to her otherwise mundane little life.
Andrea throws a handful of popcorn into her mouth, giving her co-workers a tired wave as she pushed past the back doors. The bulb above her flickers, its artificial orange light doing nothing to cut through the darkness of the parking lot. She slowly stops her crunching, her eyes scanning for her piece of shit Pontiac.
Her keys slot between her fingers, her grip tightening. Andrea's white sneakers edge into the darkness.
"It's just the dark, Andy," She whispers. "This is Hawkins. Nothing happens in Hawkins."
But she still speed-walks to her car all the same. Remembering her dad's words, Andrea sticks to the few working lamp posts, her eyes scanning the lot. The bulb she's just left behind snuffs out, casting the lot in inky shadows. Andrea hunches her shoulders and speeds up.
"Don't look back, don't look back," Andrea mutters to herself. "Get in the car and go."
Then another light flickers out.
One by one, the little light Andrea has is snatched from her. She drops her popcorn bag and bolts to the car, the keys sliding in with practiced ease. Clambering into the front seat, she shuts and locks the door behind her the second her feet are out of the way. Andrea glances around, hand trembling as she starts the car.
God, she should never have snuck into the night showing of Cujo.
And maybe Andrea should stop taking night shifts on a school night. But she desperately wanted out of Hawkins and going to college was expensive. Her headlights pierce their way through the blackness, revealing…
Nothing.
There was nothing out there.
Andrea slumped in her seat and backed out of the parking lot, her eyes never once leaving the rearview mirror. Music sputtered through the stereo, the ending chords of a Zepplin song tapering off. Her hand plays with the dials absentmindedly, glad for the distraction as she passed the main street and got onto one of the backroads.
Hawkins is a small town, all connected by a single road that runs through the town center and then spirals out into different neighborhoods. There were only so many turns you could take before you ended up right back on the main road. Rural towns like this have little in ways of entertainment but had patches of farmland that stretched the town out and made it seem bigger than it actually is. Wire fences and long stalks of grass lock Andrea in as she makes her way home.
Her dad had scraped together enough money to buy a three-bedroom split level close enough to the town's center, but far enough for people to get lost in the grass when they tried to find the turn-off. She peers out leaning against her steering wheel, bleary eyes threatening to close. Her headlights catch on a small figure, some kid on his bike peddling furiously.
Andrea cracked a smile. The closer she got, the more of the kid she could see. Will Byers waves at her. Illuminated by her headlights, little Will looks harried. Her brows pinch together and she slows to a stop. Of course, her window jams as she tries to roll it down, the damn thing catching. But the car coming to a crawl next to him gets his attention.
They both stop and Andrea finally gets that window down. "Littlest Byers! You alright? Want a ride?"
Another thing about small towns was that everybody knew each other. Will was one of the kids in Shannon's year and his older brother, Jonathan, was in a few of Andy's classes. The Prices lived only a few streets down from the Byers' house and Andrea has given both brothers rides home more times than she can count, much to Shannon's complaints that they'd give the Price girls cooties. But Will doesn't move to toss his bike in the back of her station wagon.
He glances around, looking at the stalks of grass. Visibly, Will's shoulders stiffen. "No, I'm okay."
Andrea stares at him for a moment. Pushing past the wave of sudden nausea she gets, Andrea, forces herself to nod. "Alright, little man. Stay safe you hear me?"
Will grins. "I will!"
Andrea rolls up her window and drives home, not knowing she'd be the last to see Will Byers that night.
Hell is on earth and has taken the form of High School, Andrea thinks as she climbs out of her car. Shannon tosses Andrea a wide smile, picking up her diorama of marine life and running off without so much as a 'bye'. Andrea rolled her eyes.
"Bye!" She called after her sister, huffing a laugh when Shannon stumbled over her own two feet and had to use her diorama to catch her glasses before they crashed to the floor.
"Bye Andrea!" Shannon called over her shoulder before gunning it to where her friends were gathered. The girls there 'oohed' and 'ahhed' over Shannon's project, their youthful excitement so at odds with the gloomy day.
"Price!" Tommy yelled, his voice booming across the lot.
"And the wicked never sleep," Andrea mutters to herself.
If hell is absolute, Tommy Hagan is one of its minions. Tommy stalks up to her car, letterman jacket stretched across his proud shoulders, his hand already reaching out.
Her sunglasses perch on her nose to cover the dark circles under her eyes, the cigarette she just lit dangling precariously from her lip. Manilla folders piled in alphabetical order greet her when she opens the glove box. She pulls out the folder with 'h' neatly printed on the side and takes out a stack of papers. The big envelope glides across the back of Andrea's Pontiac, her fingers tapping to a tune only she could hear.
"About damn time, Price." Hagan sneered. "This better be good."
"It's always good. Fifteen bucks, Hagan."
"What? Steve said you only charged thirteen."
"That's because Harrington is a level six douche-canoe. You are a level bucks, you want it or not?" Andrea tipped her head away to blow out a plume of smoke, looking at him over the edges of her sunglasses.
"You're killing me here," Tommy muttered. "Fine, just give me the damn essay."
Andrea gripped the envelope before he could take it, her eyes narrowing. The cigarette between her lips jolted dangerously as she spoke. "Money first, Hagan."
Tommy rifles through his letterman jacket for the bill, slapping it down on the truck. "There. Happy now?"
"Ecstatic." Andrea deadpans, snatching the money and sliding the manila envelope over. "Pleasure doing business with you, Hagan. See you in fifth period."
"Man, whatever."
He's such a joy. Tommy doesn't waste time crossing the parking lot, his group of friends enclosing on him the second he gets to them. Steve Harrington gives her a half-assed wave that was faker than her great grandma's metal knee, his attention already back to whatever story Carol was spilling. Andrea stuffs the money into her back pocket with a wide grin.
"Hey, Andrea! How much for a study guide?" A voice calls over her shoulder.
Andrea looks back. A girl comes jogging over, her freckled face nervous but friendly enough.
"Huh? Oh, ten bucks. But don't tell them," Andrea nods at Tommy's group. "They'll never let it go."
If she could, Andrea would pay attention to what was saying. But it's nothing new. Not to Andrea. Hawkins High School is woefully underfunded and every course she's in, she could pass in her sleep. Admittedly, even if there were more advanced classes, Andrea wouldn't take them. More advanced classes meant more work, and worse- it meant higher expectations.
And Andrea didn't want that.
Her dad leaves her alone because he thinks she's got it together. If her grades started to slip, her dad would be sticking his nose in her business and would be demanding she called Dr. Wayne for another session. Performing in front of her family is much easier than performing in front of a licensed therapist. Just the thought alone was exhausting.
So, Andrea only pretends to pay attention, making direct eye contact with Mrs. Wake while her mind drifts off to anywhere else but here. It was scary how easily she could disconnect. Dr. Wayne said it was something called 'dissociating' but Andrea thinks it's more like floating away. Like a balloon that's been cut free from its string. Days like today, when the sky is dim and the lessons are boring, make it easier for Andrea to drift.
It's quiet, where Andrea floats away to. Not just absent of voices, but absent of any sensation. Her heart could be racing or her hands shaking and she wouldn't feel a thing. The best way she could describe is that it's like being wrapped up in a ball of cotton. Safe in the center with layers of nothing but fuzz to keep the rest of the world at bay.
Somebody bumps into her desk and her eyes snap back into focus like a rubber band. An echo of that cotton ball feeling lingers, the rest of the world just a second out of step. It takes her moment to realize Johnathan Byers had come into class late and had walked into the corner of her desk, his mumbled apologies going unheard.
He looked rougher than usual. Jonathan's shoulders slumped like the world was sitting on them, and the skin beneath his eyes was thin from lack of sleep. Frankly, he looked like a heated-up corpse and it made Andrea uneasy looking at him. She still remembers what she looked like after she'd lost her mom.
She had looked an awful lot like Johnathan.
Andrea's mouth opens and then promptly closes it. She may have given the guy a ride home a few times, but she doesn't know him that well. Just because he was going through a hard time didn't make them friends. It wasn't any of her business. So Andrea sinks back down into her seat and does what she does best.
She tunes out.
Andrea crouches, taking her shoelaces in hand and wondering why the hell they ever gave up on velcro. Sure, they were rough to look that, but then she didn't need to worry about re-tying her shoes what felt like every five minutes. Leaning against the alley wall for support, Andrea finishes up and promptly pulls out a cigarette.
This particular alcove in Hawkins High was infamous. Many smoke breaks were had here, and more than a handful of 'romantic getaways' took place in this very place. Unlike the bleachers where the stoners would hang out, this was secretive, sacred. Even they wouldn't dare to sell or partake on this hallowed ground.
It was only a forgotten alleyway, tucked away in between buildings. Once upon a time, the drama club would use it to store their bigger props, but now it was where all the broken props went to die. Andrea herself had helped drag the half-finished skeleton of a castle build to help block out the mouth of the alley. It was a rite of passage, if you wanted to use the alley for whatever reason, you had to be a part of keeping it trash-free and hidden away from annoying teachers who took themselves too seriously.
She'd done it the first day she'd gotten here, back in her sophomore year. Andrea stares down at her shoes with her cigarette still unlit. The crunching of gravel draws her eyes up to a familiar figure picking his way through the mouth of the alley.
"Thought I'd find you here," Eddie said, tapping the toes of her sneakers with his boot. "Need a light?"
Andrea looked up, mouth twisting into a smile as they made eye contact. Something about Eddie Munson made it easy to stay focused. To stay present. From his dark aesthetic to his big curly hair, he was a dark stain on perfect little Hawkins. It's part of what she liked about him. Eddie was unapologetically himself.
He also had a smile that made her heart want to crawl out of her chest and throw itself at his feet, but that was for Andrea's diary and Andrea's diary only.
"If you'd be so kind," She said, getting to her feet. The cool brick wall met her shoulder, her slouched form hopefully passing off as something cool and not as tense as she felt it was.
Eddie pulls out his lighter, the silver metal glinting in the low light of the alley. A flame flicks to life and he holds it out for her with a mockingly formal gesture. Carefully, Andrea leaned forward till the tip of her cigarette started to curl backward from the heat, her eyes on the flame instead of the boy in front of her. This close to him, Andrea caught a hint of Aqua Net, and the smile on her face grew.
"Be careful not to stand too close to your lighter, Munson. You might just go up in flames with all that hairspray you're wearing." She pulled away, inhaling and letting out a plume of smoke.
Eddie puts a hand over his chest, gasping loudly. "Harsh! And here I thought we were friends."
They are friends. Kinda. Could they be considered friends, if they didn't hang out outside of this little alleyway? Then again, Andrea didn't hang out with anyone else besides her family. Lunch was strictly spent in her car, away from the frantic energy of the cafeteria. After-school activities and weekends weren't much better. If it weren't for her dad's quiet instance that she be allowed to hang out at home if she wanted, Andrea was sure her little sister would have made a few dozen friends on her behalf.
Shannon was just the sun incarnated into human form, with her bright white smile and endless little factoids. If Shannon had it her way, Andrea would never be alone. It was a nice thought, the idea of actually being that close to somebody that Andrea spent all her time with them. But, like everything about Andrea, it was complicated.
Andrea was complicated.
A glass wall kept her separated from the rest of the world. She could look out, could press herself flush against the glass and pretend, but Andrea couldn't seem to cross the barrier into actually making friends. Eddie was the closest she's been since the move, and he was only as close as she let him be.
"Earth to Andrea," Eddie's ringed hand waved in front of her face, his face smiling but his eyes tight at the corners. "What are you thinking about so hard over there?"
Andrea blinks back into existence, mentally batting off the cotton ball feel. "A few things," She finally offers, dropping her half-finished cigarette and crushing it beneath her heel.
"Aw, come on! Throw a guy a bone, would ya? What's got you so far away?"
Andrea couldn't admit she was a strange little weirdo who didn't know how to be a proper human being. Not in front of Eddie, who while he wasn't popular, was decidedly way cooler than her. This guy did not give a single shit what Hawkins thought of him and everything about him screamed it out loud. There is no way she'd chase him off with her internal doom and gloom.
So Andrea lies through her teeth. "Got a calculus test coming up. Not sure if I can handle it."
"I've never once seen you sweat something as mundane and lowly as math," Eddie says. He leans in, his hand coming to rest next to Andrea's shoulder on the wall. "What are you really thinking about?"
What is safe for alley friends to even talk about? 'Hey, I'm paranoid and also think something is kind of inherently wrong with me as a person?' No, Andrea couldn't spill that.
At least she shouldn't.
But Eddie made her wish she could and that itself was a very dangerous thing. She looks away.
"Sometimes," Andrea starts carefully, unaware that he was hanging onto her every word. "Sometimes I think about how different my sister and I are. She's like a firefly, you know? Flickers from time to time but always goes right back to shining. It's a kind of magic, I think. And me? I don't think I can shine like that."
"Andrea-"
"Hey, I'm sorry, that was weird. You've got to stop getting secrets out of me, Munson." Andrea joked.
Eddie blinks, the sudden change acting as a sudden conversational curve ball. His grin is positively vulpine, the teasing warmth of him seeping into Andrea. "And what secrets have I've gotten out of you, Price?"
"I'll have you know that you were the first to know about my sudden need for a mullet," Andrea points out. "And about what I really do during lunchtime."
"So the oh so mysterious secrets are you changing your hair and revealing that you eat lunch by yourself in your car," Eddie deadpans, smiling incredulously.
"Big secrets," Andrea nods. "The truth is heavy, I know."
Andrea turns her head back to look at him, just noticing for the first time how close they truly were. Eddie looks at her like she's a puzzle he's desperate to solve. A moment of hesitation dances across his face and Eddie clears his throat.
"Big secrets aside," His lips twitch, "I don't think you need to worry about shining, Price."
"Eddie, just forgot what I said-"
"No, I won't. Cause you've got to know, Andrea. You may not shine, but you burn . You're the whole fucking sun."
Andrea's mouth clicks shut, her eyes going wide. His words didn't just bounce around her head. They seared themselves into her brain, taking everything she was feeling and throwing it onto a pyre to turn to ash. All she had room for was the sight of his earnest brown eyes and his words that burned her so.
"You're somehow both exactly what I thought you'd be and somehow totally different," Andrea mutters, schooling her face back into an expression she hoped wasn't too stupified looking. "I think I like it."
It was Eddie's turn to be surprised, his mouth falling open.
The crunch of gravel interrupted whatever he was going to say. A giggling couple bypassed the half-built castle, their hushed whispers of affection and devotion louder than they were obviously meant to be. A stay hand started to push its way past a belt buckle and Warmth crawled up Andrea's face. She stared at them with wide eyes, trying to telepathically tell them to turn around and see that they were not alone.
When her trial of telepathy failed, she pushed off the wall and coughed as loud as she could. The couple whips their heads up, revealing a stunned-looking Tommy and his girlfriend Carol. Immediately, Andrea started laughing.
"Okay, gross, I'm out of here," Andrea said in between laughs.
Eddie looked irritated, his narrowed eyes on the couple and his lip curled into a quiet snarl. She made her way to the mouth of the alley, turning in place and walking backward with her hands shoved into the pockets of her denim vest.
"Don't be a stranger, Munson. If you ever need anything, come find me during lunch."
Most of the annoyance bled from his face at that. "Don't tempt me, sunshine!"
The nickname was unexpected. She spun on her heel to hide the stupid grin on her face, carefully avoiding the couple still entangled together.
"Andrea," Carol said, stopping her with a hand on her wrist. Though Tommy looked more than put out, Carol carried on, awkwardness etched into her very being. "You should check with Byers, they think Will's gone missing. He didn't come home last night."
"What?" Andrea whispered. And just like that, Andrea was shooting out of the alley, jumping over old props like they were nothing. She ignored the voices calling for her, her heartbeat the only thing she could hear.
'He didn't come home last night'
But Andrea saw him last night. She drove right past him.
His tense posture and nervous face blare through her mind like a siren.
She didn't leave him to die.
She couldn't have.
Fuck.
Jim Hopper is a terrifying, lumbering bear of a man. Andrea will be the first to say it. He's taller than her dad who is already a decent six-foot, and he has this face he makes that quietly let you know you've displeased him. Right now, he looked very displeased.
"You're telling me you say Will Byers last night? What was he doing?" Hopper leans forward in his chair.
"On my way home from work, I saw him on his bike. He was also going home, at least that's what I thought he was doing. I pulled over because I've given the Byer boys rides before and asked if he wanted one and he said no. Since we were so close to our houses, I thought…"
"You thought?" Hopper pressed impatiently.
"I thought he'd be fine. I just went home after that."
"Why are you telling me this, Ms. Price?"
Everything that came out of his mouth sounded like an accusation. Andrea wondered if it was the uniform or the Clint Eastwood-esque stare-down he had going for him. David, her father, was much the same in that way. But David Price hardly used his infamous stare-down powers unless necessary. All her life, her father has tried to make himself look smaller. Less threatening, despite his penchant for leather and his wolfish grin.
Hopper didn't contain himself or tried to make himself less intimidating. He commanded the attention and respect of anyone he spoke with. It was hard not to squirm under his hard searching gaze but Andrea just about managed it.
"Because," She whispered. "I should have made him get in the car. I should have brought him home."
Hawkins after night was already an eerie place. For all that her dad let her do, the one thing he'd been clear about was coming home at a reasonable time every night. Despite being a safe town, the woods are dark and deep and there could be any manner of wild animal out there looking for a nighttime snack.
But her dad was not home to tell her no. And Shannon was off with her friends, who had much stricter parents and would not be letting Shannon out of their sight until David comes to pick her up. Andrea digs through the hallway closet until her hand hits metal. She grips it, pulling it free from the pile of forgotten shoes and heavy coats.
Before her father was a writer for the Hawkins paper, he worked in a coal mine. Why he kept his old uniform along with the ax, Andrea doesn't know. The miner's hat sits oddly on her hand, a few sizes too big and has to be strapped down twice so it doesn't slide right off her head. Superstitiously, she flicks it on despite having just switched the batteries.
"Jesus," Andrea hisses, blinking through the sudden flash of bright light before cutting it off. "Okay, so that definitely works."
Climbing to her feet, Andrea heaves the heavy ax and braces herself. A deep bark from behind jolts through her and Andrea jumps, the helmet banging against the door frame. Slowly, she turns to glare down at the culprit. Teddy, the Price's dog stands looking back at her. The black Mastiff nearly blended into the darkness and Andrea shook her head at once.
"No way, you can't come with me. If I lose your leash, I lose you."
Teddy whines.
"No. Go lay down."
Teddy lays down at her feet. She could practically feel his big brown eyes boring into her. Glancing around the empty hallway as if asking some invisible audience if they could see this, Andrea sighed.
"...You win this round, dog. Sit up, we've got to go."
His neon yellow leash, courtesy of Shannon, clipped to his collar easily. Teddy stands, his wide head coming level to her navel. At least with him at her side and with the ax in her hand, Andrea won't fear whatever lay in the dark. The duo left, the click-clacking of Teddy's claws against the floor the only sound as they made their way out of the house. Andrea locked the door, head tilting skywards.
"Looks like it might rain," She mutters to Teddy. "What do you think, Teddy? Think we might find Will tonight?...I sure hope so."
AN: I do not think Andrea would have the language for it in a small town like Hawkins in the 80s but I'd classify Andrea as genderqueer and any pronouns in the comments you use will work. In the fic I'll use she/her and Andrea's dismissiveness of being called anything else.