Here's the first chapter of my new Stranger things fic! Our OC character here is Petal Carver. Jason Carvers cousin (same age) who's parent send her to live in Hawkins with the Carvers. Hope you enjoy! (I'm waffling on if I want monsters in this fic or not so review with your opinion!)

I do not own Stranger Things!

Eddie

The lunchroom of Hawkins High was a cruel environment for the first few weeks. Freshmen were like gazelle that were being picked off by the lions. No where to sit until you found your herd to keep you safe...Eddie didn't often add many Gazelle to his herd but this year he'd added more than usual, he'd added three. Three young gentleman who'd already known all about how to play D&D, eager for more people who played. They'd lost a player to the cruel fate of a moving van over the summer and were looking to expand the party, according to the curly haired one...Dustin. The school had begun its yearly song and dance three weeks before and the usual bunch were sitting at the Hellfire table when the rumors managed to find their way there. Lucas sat down tiredly and looked across to Mike and Dustin..."So there's a new girl here" He says conversationally, not really thinking.

"Really? How'd you hear about it?" Mike asked through a mouthful of his sandwich

"Jason's been telling people to be nice to her" He shrugs as Eddie shoots him a look. "Carver has been has he?"

"Yeah...they're like his cousin or something I guess"

"Another prissy cheerleader, exactly what we need" Eddie laughs mockingly. "How bad do you think she'll be boys?"

"Probably just as bad as Carver himself." Gareth shrugs, looking at his now empty Dr. Pepper can almost longingly. The rest of the table muttered their agreements and changed topics to their next Hellfire night. The new Carver girl was soon forgotten in favor of the newest enemy, the cult of Vecna. Eddie had been talking animatedly about some new element to a character class and one of his signature rings flew off of his hand as he gestured wildly. It'd been the skulls around the cross ring from his pointer finger that had slipped off. Eddie cursed and took a look around for it, but it was more than liKely lost to the crowd in the cafeteria. He'd been pissed but he wasn't going to let losing a ring dampen his tirade about D&D. The end of lunch approached and Dustin had left, claiming he needed to grab something for his next class. There were just a few minutes left in the period when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to find a girl standing there with a small shy smile on her face. She was very pale with dark red hair that was in twin braids. She wore a sea foam green sweater and a pair of white capris. "Hi, I think this is yours?" Her small hand held up his shining ring that had flown off.

Eddie looked at her strangely, the picture of innocence holding out his ring covered in skulls. "Thanks..." he took it and she looked down at his bare arm as he did. She gave out a small gasp "I love Master of Puppets!"

"You...you listen to Metallica?" Gareth had looked at her curiously as Eddie sat silently staring at her like she'd grown an extra head. The redhead rolled her eyes "Obviously...it's their song" The bell for the end of lunch rings through the room and she jumps at the sound. "Shit, it was nice meeting you guys" She gives them all a smile that could rot teeth before running off...back to Carver who looked to be grumpily holding her bright purple backpack.

Petal

She grabbed her backpack from Jason and hurriedly put it on before trying to walk away. He caught her arm suddenly "Why did you go over there?"

"He lost his ring...I was giving it back. It's not a big deal." She shrugged pulling her arm from his grip. "Stay away from him" Jason hissed in a low voice, trying not to call attention from his friends. Petal let out a short derisive laugh "Really? You're not my mother Jason. I can do what I like" She turned on her heel and left the room with Jason hot on her heels. Telling her about how awful those satan worshiping freaks were. She finally escaped him into her next class, calling that she'd walk home while he was at practice. The day speeds by as she tries to catch up on the work she'd missed already. By the end of the day she found herself weighed down by all of the books in her backpack. She left the school and was nearly out of the walkway when she noticed a boy wearing a Hellfire t-shirt, the same as the tall metalhead she'd met in the lunchroom. He was hunched over on the ground picking up a bunch of small...somethings that had fallen out of his bag. She'd have said they were rocks but they were too uniform and they had numbers written all over them. She quickly stooped to help him pick up the plastic things.

"Thanks" He says with a small smile on his slightly chubby cheeks. She gave him a grin in return, finding his sweet smile to be contagious. "It's not a problem...what are these though?" She asks with a laugh

"Oh! They're different kinds of dice for D&D"

"Oh dungeons and dragons!" Petal had an ex that had played the game at her previous school, though she'd never seen it be played.

"Exactly! Do you play?"

"No. My ex was going to teach me but they never got around to it before we broke it off." She pours her handful of dice into the container he was holding out to her. "That sucks, but my DM could probably teach you if you still wanted to learn!" His voice sounded eager as he shoved the box of dice back into his bag. "That's what Hellfire is kind of about! The DM Eddie would love to have more players! I think he'd probably let you sit in on a few games before jumping in though...so you could learn the ropes." He looks towards the parking lot. "I could introduce you to the group!" She giggled at his enthusiasm "Lead the way" She follows him out through the parking lot to a dark grey van.

"I'm Dustin Henderson by the way"

"I'm Petal" She chuckles at his double take. It wasn't out of the norm for it to happen, she knew her name was a little odd. "My mom was a former hippie." She shrugs. They finally get close to the van and she could see shadows on the ground just beyond it and talking.

"She probably heard us talking about Metallica in the hallway or something, no way she actually listens to it." someone sneered from just around the corner of the van.

"She's probably just trying to piss off daddy" Eddie had said as Petal came around the end of the Van with Dustin who's blissfully unaware that they'd been talking about his new friend.

"Am I?" She asks coldly and a look of understanding takes over Dustin's features. The group look at her stunned that she'd walked over with Dustin of all people. "Just how am I trying to piss off my daddy?" She steps past Dustin and glares up into Eddie's brown orbs.

He sighs almost boredly before answering "Well Princess I think I can guess a couple things about you from what I know. You're Carver's cousin right? Well he's just the biggest bag of dicks I think I've ever met. So it's safe to say his dad is the exact same way. I'm willing to bet that your mom or dad, is just the same as their sibling and raised their little girl with dreams of Prince fucking charming. And now that you're not so little anymore you want to rebel just a little. You don't want to change your adorable little backpack or hair, so what better than to date a teenage dirtbag?" He ends it with an almost charming smirk "Did I get it right Sweetheart?"

She shoots him a glare as she hears one or two of the others snickering behind her. "I can like Metallica and my fucking backpack. I can enjoy having my hair this way and still think tattoos are hot. You don't know a fucking thing." She turns, one of her braids whipping him across the chest as her eyes find Dustin again. "I'd still like to learn about your game...just not from him ok?" She pulls a cat pen out of her pocket and scribbles onto a piece of notebook paper. "Call me?" When he'd nodded wordlessly she shoots him a small smile before walking off and out of the group.

Eddie

"What the hell?" Lucas mutters as Dustin stares at the pink sparkly ink spelling out her name and phone number. "Did you guys meet her already?" He asks quietly

"She found Eddie's ring...and said something about his Metallica tattoo" Mike explains quietly

"So...the nice new girl found you your lost ring...and complimented a tattoo...so you decided to talk about her like that?" Dustin looked a little bewildered. "Not cool man...she wanted to join Hellfire...she's nice" He shoves her note into his pocket. "I'll see you guys tomorrow"

"Henderson" Eddie called exasperatedly "Come on kid, I didn't know she was listening...and look at her" he nods at her retreating figure "A girl like that listens to Metallica? I'll believe it when I see it."

Dustin rolls his eyes "Ok." He starts to walk home in another direction and Eddie couldn't pinpoint just why he had a sinking feeling in his gut. Henderson wasn't mad...he was disappointed.

Petal

Home had never been a place that Petal felt uncomfortable. It was always a safe haven away from the cruel world outside. But now home had changed. Her home had been boxed up and thrown out for the most part. She had slipped into the Carver house silently, hearing her aunt and uncle in the dining room talking. She pulled off her shoes and carried them up the stairs with her so they wouldn't make a sound on the hard wood. When she got into her bedroom she sighed. Her aunt had decorated it for her and while it was nice...it wasn't hers. The furniture was all white and pristine, the walls were a soft baby pink, and there was a closet just for her. Her aunt had turned her nose up when Petal had insisted on hanging pictures of her parents...they'd never been on good terms. On her bedside table was her favorite picture. Her mother was grinning, her long red hair was braided with a white ribbon through it and ended with a bow. Petal, only 10 in the picture had hers done in her twin braids in the same fashion. They were both wearing dark black and red t-shirts with the logo for Boneyard Tattoos her father's shop in the background. Her dad was holding her up in one arm. He hadn't changed much since then. Shaved head, long blonde beard, broad shoulders, heavily tattooed muscles, and a smile that could light up any room in her opinion. Charles Carver had been just like her uncle (Jason's dad) until he'd turned 19 and gotten his first tattoo. He'd discovered a love for the human canvas and began working to become a tattoo artist. He'd met her mother at a music festival a few years later when he'd given her friend a peace sign tattoo. Her mother had always said "Love at first sight...that's how you meet the one. Time stops, and the only thing you can see is them. Your father was exactly that Petal"

She dropped her backpack onto the desk chair and sat on the soft pink bed as she looked at the photo. They seemed so happy...but most people would assume they weren't. That her mother had gotten pregnant and trapped into a marriage with the burly tattooed man. That her mother and her were being abused by him...or that he was a drug addict...he'd never even touched cigarettes. All because of how they looked together. She laid down on her bed thinking through her day.

Jason had refused to let her walk to school, insisting on driving her so she could meet his girlfriend Chrissy and his best friend Andy. Chrissy had been pretty nice, talking to her about the cheerleading squad and how the try outs were in a couple weeks. Petal had decided early on though, that she didn't enjoy Andy's company. He was entirely too handsy and she assumed he thought he was being flirtatious but really, he was just leering at her.

They were sat at lunch and Jason had made her sit between him and Andy who'd decided she was his personal arm rest. His arm stayed around her shoulders no matter how much she'd shrugged it off of her. Eventually she just sat, poking at her plate of food with her fork...counting down the minutes before she could escape from his grasp. Suddenly, a bright silver sparkle flew through the air and bounced onto their table. It rolled a little and hit her tray, it was a silver ring that had a cross on it as well as four skulls. She picked it up, reminding her of some of her father's coworkers at the shop when it was snatched out of her hand by Andy "Who the fuck threw that?"

"The freak obviously, who else would wear that ugly thing?" Jason scoffed, turning back to his food. Petal looked in the direction of where it had come from and saw a table full of boys not too far away. The one sitting at the head of the table was looking around irritatedly as he looked for his ring. He turned to survey the room and her heart stopped. It was like the cafeteria had gone silent, she no longer felt Andy's arm weighing on her shoulders, she no longer smelled the food on the table. She could only take in his face, thin but confident, long wavy hair that reminded her heavily of Brian May from Queen. His eyes were dark and soulful even from so far away. It was only when he looked away that she felt like she could breathe again.

"I don't think he meant to toss it. It looks like it just fell off." She said quietly, holding her hand out to Andy to get the ring he'd snatched. "Freak deserved to lose it then" He shrugged and threw it towards a trash can, missing it completely. Petal pushed his arm off of her shoulders and went to get it, picking it up from the floor. She walked back to her spot at the table when Jason turned to look at her "Just throw it out Petal"

"Why? He obviously wants it back." She turned on her heel and headed over to the table not caring that she could feel Jason staring daggers at her as she did. When she tapped on the boy's shoulder she met his eyes and couldn't help but smile bashfully at him. "Hi..I think this is yours?" She holds out his rings and shivers when his warm fingers take it from her grasp. Her eyes travel down his arm and find the intricate tattoo there, a reference to Metallica's song "I love Master of Puppets" she gasps, not thinking. She wasn't ready for the odd look he gave her, or for the question his friend asked. But left all the same with the long haired student in her head for the rest of the day.

She laid down on the bed, running her finger down the framed picture of her family...wondering if maybe she'd been wrong.

Later that night

Jason had come home late from practice and knocked on her closed door. She opened the door "Yes?"

"Can we talk?"he asks in his usualy slightly condescending tone

"Go ahead." She sits back down on her bed, readying herself for whatever he was going to say. "I think you're wasting your chance"

"What chance?" She asks incredulously

"You're normal, you look normal. Hawkins is a place where you could be that. You don't have to hang out with the weirdo-"

"Don't start Jason. Do not start on that crap. Just because your dad wanted a cookie cutter life doesn't mean that my dad did or that I do." She snaps, pulling at her braids absentmindedly. Jason clenches his jaw tightly for a moment "Just don't embarrass me like today again. I don't want you around that Freak Munson. You've got a good thing going with Andy"

"What on earth do I have going with Andy?!"

"He thinks you're attractive. He's a good guy and I think-"

"I didn't ask you to set me up with anyone! I certainly don't need some big brute-"

"He's better than most choices you'll find."

"I'd rather take my chances Jason. I'm not going to be here long anyway." She turns to grab her backpack for her homework, anything to get her mind off of this. She hears him huff and walk out of the room. She relaxes slightly and closes the door. She buries herself in her work for the rest of the night, not slipping into bed until the early hours of the morning.