Weeks and weeks passed, and Steve made no move to talk to Johanna. He was taking Nancy's advice, trying to get on the girl's good side before springing the news on her. Only problem with that plan is he didn't know how to do that. He knew he had to stop acting like an asshole, for one. And stop hanging with people like Tommy and Carol. Which wouldn't be a problem, considering he'd already decided to do that after the spray painting shenanigans. The whole thing had left a bad taste in his mouth to begin with.

He noticed that Johanna didn't come to school for a few weeks after the incident, which he assumed was because of her injury. He could still feel the aftermath of that for a while. His stomach had been sore for ages.

Walking through the halls of the high school, he caught sight of a messy head of blonde hair.

Jogging to catch up, he yelled, "Jonathan! Hey, hey Jonathan!"

The boy in questioned sighed, stopped, and turned towards the voice.

"How, uh, how- how is... She?" Steve asked awkwardly, bouncing on his toes in front of the shorter teen.

Jonathan raised an eyebrow. "You could ask her. She goes to this school, too, you know."

Steve rubbed the back of his neck. "No, yeah, yeah... I just- never mind." He turned on his heel and strode off down the hallway. That had been a waste of time.

Truth be told, he was too scared to talk to her. She hadn't even looked his way since they were in the hospital, and he was afraid she'd ask more questions about why he'd been there; which he wasn't ready to answer yet. He was too nervous to be around her, but if he didn't see her, how was he supposed to show her he was trying to change? He doubted she listened or cared about the school gossip, and even if she did pay attention, she'd probably just hear things about how he was becoming lame or losing his popularity or something equally stupid. He didn't care anymore about his image, which was surprising to him. He'd cared for so long how everyone else saw him, but now all he cared about was how she saw him.

Which brought him back to how she wasn't seeing him. It was all circles these days.

Johanna, had, in fact, heard the rumors about 'fallen King Steve...'

I walked to my next class, ignoring the clumps of people standing around and chatting. I caught a few snippets as I moved through, which is how I had learned that Harrington had ditched his old friends and was becoming something of a loner. Not that I cared. Although it did seem as if I was more in tuned to the Harrington gossip ever since the hospital. I guess because he had always seemed like one thing before- something I expected and was always right about. But now I felt as if my whole perspective of him was shifting. I was absolutely shocked that he had come to the hospital, much less stayed for eight hours and waited around for me to wake up. It seemed ridiculous, laughable even! Steve had always made fun of her and her family before and she couldn't understand how one incident had flipped him on his head.

I entered my next class, chemistry, which I shared with Jon. Sitting in my spot next to him, I dumped my books down onto the table.

"Harrington asked about how you were doing," He said in greeting.

"What?" I asked in surprise. "Why'd he ask you?" I asked in shock, looking at him weirdly.

Jonathan shrugged with a teasing smile. "I think he's scared of you."

I laughed. "Yeah, ok. Since when does Steve Harrington give a shit about either of us?" I organized my textbooks while we talked, pulling out my chem one.

Jon shook his head. "I couldn't tell you," he said but there was an undertone to his words as if he knew something she didn't. She opened her mouth to ask him, but the Mr. Beacher called attention to the front, and she had to put that thought on pause.

"'Sup, little bro?" I ruffled Will's hair with affection as he came over to the car after school. He had finally come back, but I knew he was still recovering from what happened. It had been traumatizing in ways none of us could imagine, and I worried about him.

"Nothing," he replied. His voice sounded more hollow than it used to, and I bit back my cringe.

"How was school?" Will's long pause only made me worry more. I knew how kids could be, and I figured they would take to what happened like they took to everything else they didn't understand- with taunts and bullying.

"It was fine."

"Come on, Will. You can tell me if it sucked ass. Lemme know how I can help you."

He sighed and leaned against the car with me while we waited for Jonathan. He had the keys.

"Everyone keeps avoiding me and giving me these weird looks. And I know they're talking about me, and I just..." He trailed off, leaving me to guess at how he was feeling.

"I know it's hard, bud, but you just gotta remember that you have friends who will never leave you. They care so much about you and were so worried, so just hold tight to them, alright? It doesn't feel like it, but it will get better. All they can do is talk shit, right? And it's all bullshit anyways. None of it is true, and the people who matter know that."

Will looked up at me with a tight smile. "Thanks, Jo."

I pulled him into my side for a half hug, catching sight of Jonathan walking over. "No problem, little brother."