1. Obviously, I don't own anything from Stranger things. Just Jo.
2. I want to make sure everyone understands that the mentions of bullying and some words used towards Jo are NOT things I agree with or would ever approve of saying to anyone. I do, in fact, actually have Tourette's, so a lot of what she does will be based off my own day to day tiks. If anyone is uncomfortable with reading about bullying associated with this disorder, please do not read! I don't want to upset anyone with this.
JOHANNA
Jo tapped her fingers on the counter, her chin propped in the other hand. Mornings were always slow, especially during the week days. She worked at the Bradley's Big Buy supermarket almost every day, trying to save up as much money as she could for college the next year. It wasn't always fun, and sometimes it was downright awful when she was having harder days, but for the most part it gave her something to do other than sit around all day. Or become a creepy stalker by spending too much time at the mall's ice cream parlor.
An older woman came up and started unloading things from her cart onto the belt.
"Good morning, how are you?" Jo asks politely as she starts scanning items. The woman responded positively and they made small talk as Jo finished scanning and bagging her small order.
"Here's your receipt, have a nice day!" The woman smiled and nodded back, slowly leaving with her cart. Jo sighed and went to lean back against the counter when an annoyingly preppy voice catches her attention.
"Oh, look, it's the retard!" Carol Perkins says. "Maybe we should go somewhere else; we don't want her dropping our eggs." Carol made a face with wide eyes and downturned lips. Jo grit her teeth and took a deep breath. Even after they had graduated, Carol and Tommy somehow still managed to find her and ruin her day.
Jo carefully picked up the egg carton and scanned it, moving to place it on the other side of the scanner when Tommy clapped his hands together loudly. Jo froze and quickly set the eggs down as she felt the familiar itch start crawling up her spine.
"It'll be one dollar, please." She said through clenched teeth. Her head and shoulder jerked to meet each other as her eyes crossed. Tommy and Carol laughed as they threw a bill onto the counter.
"We'd like paper, please."
"Sure thing." Jo picked up a bag and opened it, grabbing up the carton and placing it inside before handing it over. Her right hand came up to her ear and shook as a spasm ran up her back.
"It's a shame how boring my days are now that I don't get to watch you make a fool of yourself," Tommy sneered.
"Awe, are you saying you miss seeing me everyday? I'm touched." Jo replied sarcastically, trying to hold in the following 'Whoop whoop!' without success.
Carol sneered at her as Tommy rolled his eyes and the pair left. She sighed in relief and propped her elbows up on the counter, dropping her head into her hands with a groan. Every time she saw them, she couldn't help but feel like the pathetic girl in school, being called names and mocked day in and day out. She told herself it's because they didn't understand; that they were insecure themselves and needed something to make them feel stronger. It didn't usually hurt her too much, it was mostly just horribly annoying and taxing on her patience. There was only one time she had been hurt by the taunts.
It was also the only time Steve had ever personally made fun of her.
She had been walking down the hallway one day in her sophomore year when Tommy, Carol, and Steve passed her. Tommy had elbowed Steve and pointed at her, laughing, and in response Steve had fake seized up, his arms coming up with his hands splayed in the air.
"Who am I?" He'd said, followed by obnoxious laughing from the three of them as they walked away. She'd gone and cried in the bathroom for the first five minutes of her next class.
He hadn't ever done it again, though. Sure, he stood by and watched as the others pushed her around, and occasionally laughed at their ribbing, but he hadn't ever personally done anything to her other than that. Jo knew that wasn't an excuse; that she really shouldn't be so attracted to someone who had stood by and watched as other people made her life hell, but...
She had known Steve before Tommy and Carol and the popularity got to him. He used to be so sweet, and funny, when they were younger. And since he ditched his shitty friends and started hanging out with Wheeler and the Henderson boy's gang, he'd seemed to really mellow out. Maybe even matured a little. And yesterday, when she had gone to see him at the mall, he had been friendly. He had even given her a little bit of advice. Not that she really needed it, but it was thoughtful all the same.
Honestly, she'd been crushing on him since the third grade.
It had been lunch time, and she'd been sitting with one of her other friends at the other end of the table from where Steve sat. He had seen her lash out and knock over her friend's carton of chocolate milk, and came over to help clean it up. When her friend had gotten angry, he told her she 'shouldn't cry over spilled milk, it was an accident.' He even gave her twenty cents to go buy another carton.
Since then, her infatuation had only grown and taken an even deeper hold on her. It didn't help when he hit puberty and shot up like a weed, and then started styling his hair and working out. It was no wonder they called him 'Steve the Hair Harrington.'
She was broken from her reverie when another customer started loading the belt up with groceries.
"Hello, how are you?"
As soon as she was out of work, she hurried home to change into a cute pink dress- putting nude shorts on underneath just in case (she'd learned her lesson, thank you very much)- with white lace up flats. She paused as she passed the mirror to fluff her wavy blonde hair and wipe the mascara smudge from under her eyes before hurrying from her house.
The walk to the mall was a bit longer than she was used to, but it was worth it. Plus, she was getting more hours at Bradley's now, so hopefully she'd have enough saved up soon to buy a used car. Walking everywhere wasn't all that bad, but it still wasn't very forgiving when she was running late or the weather was shit.
It was crowded inside again, and she slowed down her pace to not run into anyone. Jo kept her hands clutched on her purse strap to avoid from reaching out and shoving anyone, a tik she'd really rather do without. Her doctor had recommended getting a little laminated medical card, but her mother had refused when she asked, saying she needed to just 'cut her shit out.' A frown pulled at her lips as she thought about that, but she quickly replaces it with a smile as she turns into the parlor.
She walked in just in time to see Steve and Henderson do some silly handshake, and her grin grew wider. It had to have been the cutest shit she had ever seen. The smile that was on Steve's face was absolutely gorgeous, and it was so nice to see him acting like a little kid with the younger boy.
She didn't want to interrupt their obvious reunion, but Robin cleared her throat.
"Hey, Dingus, I gotta use the girl's room. Why don't you take the next order."
"Huh?" Steve said, looking up and around, eyes landing on Johanna. "Oh, Ainsworth! Hey, what's up?"
Jo steps up to the counter as Henderson steps to the side and Steve rounds the counter. "U-uhm... Nothing much. Just got out of work."
"You work at the supermarket, right?" He asked, surprising her for the second day in a row when she shouldn't be. She'd been working at Bradley's for a couple years now. It's a small town. Why wouldn't he know she worked there?
"Yeah, I do. How's your day going?" She replied, scanning the hand dipped containers in the cases.
Steve shrugged, hands gripping the counter and his arms slightly bulging. She tried not to get distracted. "Oh, you know. Another day, another penny."
Jo grinned. "Boss gets paid a dollar, I get paid a dime, that's why I shit on company time."
Steve guffawed and laughed loudly. "That's good, Ainsworth! Imma have to remember that one." He shook his head and chuckled again, saying, "Damn."
"Fuck, shit, damnit," she cursed, her cheeks turning red. She really hated that one. Not that she didn't swear a lot anyways, and in front of other people, but it was different when you just randomly spit out swear words at them.
Steve smiled abashedly. "Sorry." His smile dropped to a frown and he shuffled awkwardly. "Ah, actually, I'm uh... Really sorry. About all the other times. With Tommy and Carol."
Jo blinked at him a few times in surprise, shooting a look at Henderson who just shrugged back. "Oh, uhm. It's ok. Don't worry about it."
"No, no, it was really awful of me. I shouldn't have just stood by and let them torture you like that. How about this one's on me, huh?"
She blushed again, looking down at her shoes. "Alright. Thanks. And really, don't worry about it. I'm not holding a grudge, or anything."
Steve smiled brightly at her, and she thought it made him look like he used to when they were kids. "Good. What can I get for you?"
STEVE
Steve sat in one of the booths with Dustin as the younger boy dug into a heap of ice cream.
"No, no. No way. Hotter than Phoebe Cates?" Steve scoffed. "No."
Dustin hummed as he swallowed a bite of banana split. "Brilliant, too. And she doesn't even care that my real pearls are still coming in. She says kissing is better without teeth."
Steve pauses awkwardly, unsure if he's disgusted or happy for his little friend. "Wow," he says, trying to school his expression. "Yeah, that's great. Proud of you, man. That's ro- That's kinda romantic. That's like... Wow."
"Hm. So do you really just get to eat as much of this as you want?" Dustin asked excitedly.
Steve leaned back casually against the booth, excited to have someone who looks up to him with awe again. While he didn't miss his old friends or the stress of being someone he wasn't, Steve did miss the attention from everyone else. "Yeah. I mean, sure. It's not really a good idea for me, though. I gotta keep in shape for the ladies."
Robin broke into their conversation from where she was wiping down a dirty table. "Yeah, and how's that working out for you?"
"Ignore her," Steve said immediately, not even looking her direction.
"She seems cool," Dustin said with a shrug and a goofy smile.
Steve rolled his eyes. "She's not. So, where are the other knuckleheads?"
Dustin stabbed his ice cream with the spoon. "They ditched me yesterday."
Steve gasped like a girl who just received the hottest piece of gossip in her life. "No."
"My first day back. Can you believe that shit?" Dustin shook his head.
Steve leaned back again in surprise. "Whoa. Seriously? I swear to God..." He trailed off with a hum, feeling kinda bad for the little dude.
Dustin grinned again, looking smug. "They're gonna regret it, though, big time, when they don't get to share in my glory."
That caught Steve's attention. "Glory? What glory?"
So Dustin dove into the explanation of how he was trying to contact Suzie, and instead overheard a secret Russian communication, that, if cracked, would turn him and Steve into heroes.
As long as they could translate it first, of course.
"So... Who was that Ainsworth girl you were talking to earlier?" Dustin asked slyly as they listened to the recording and flipped through a book on Russian translations.
Steve frowned. "Just someone I went to school with, is all. She's a senior now."
Dustin made a weird humming noise before continuing with his questions. "What were you apologizing to her for?"
Steve sighed and ran a hand over his hair. "Well, back when I was an asshole, running the halls with Tommy and Carol, they used to bully her a lot. I never stepped in or anything, and I know I did the same shit to her at least once or twice. So... Yeah. I just- I felt like I should apologize. For being an ass."
Dustin nodded. "You like her."
"What?" Steve spluttered. "No, no. I don't. Trust me, Henderson. She just deserved an apology, that's all."
Dustin sighed and flipped another couple pages in the book he was intently staring at. "Alright. Sure. Why'd she get picked on, anyways?"
Steve, glad for the change in subject, frowned once more as he thought of how to answer.
"Uh, she's got this... To-Toh-? I actually can't remember what it's called. She's twitchy a lot. Sometimes she yells out swear words and shit, or knocks stuff around."
Dustin raised an eyebrow and looked up at Steve. "Tourette's?"
Steve snapped his fingers and pointed at Dustin. "Yeah! Yeah, that."
"Huh. Cool."
Steve hadn't ever heard anyone say that about Johanna Ainsworth before, much less about her diagnosis, but for the first time ever Steve looked at it through a different angle. It was kinda cool, he supposed. In a, 'I feel sorry that your life is difficult, but you make life more interesting,' kind of way?
Steve hit replay on the tape again, and they dove back into translating.
