Two days later, Hawkins Middle School and Hawkins High announced that the school would be reopening, much to the children's dismay. While most see it as a curse, not being in the mood to study while living in the shelter, Eddie beams at the news. He considers it to be his opportunity to finally graduate and escape from Hawkins for good.
When Steve arrives at the shelter in the morning of the reopening, he feels a pinch in his heart as he notices that Eddie's already gone. He stands alone behind one of the tables, folding freshly washed clothes and arranging them in neat piles, one per family, so that their owners can pick them up later.
On days like these, when solitude reaches its peak, he curses himself for not applying to more colleges and focusing on his grades more in high school. Even if he'd have ended up bored in a large auditorium, at least he would've had more things to look forward to. He'd probably have made friends on his campus, although he isn't dissatisfied with the ones he already has. But ending up alone without Dustin, Robin or Eddie is particularly tough. Thankfully, he has the shelter to focus on, refusing to drop his volunteer work even if they went back to school. But it's not enough.
During lunch hour, some of the pupils and students come back to eat in a quieter place while their parents are working. But none of the Hellfire Club.
Somebody taps his shoulder while he carries a load of dirty laundry to the man of a nearby washateria, whose employees volunteered to collect and wash the clothes of the refugees for free. Turning around, his eyes meet Nancy's as she smiles, waving something wrapped in aluminum foil.
"Thought I'd find you here," she says. "Wanna have lunch with me?"
"Oh hi, Nance! Sure. Lemme bring this to this guy and I'll be all yours."
She nods and steps aside, biting her lip as she watches him bring the whole box with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Once the man takes over, Steve trots back towards Nancy and follows her to one of the picnic tables outside.
"Sorry, I didn't even think of bringing food today," he admits, scratching the back of his head.
"That's why I brought this," she says, handing him the aluminum-wrapped food she's holding.
Steve unfolds the foil and peeps in to find waffles covered with maple syrup. The corners of his mouth stretch from ear to ear as he sits down in front of her. She opens the flap of her bag and takes out two cans of soda, handing him one of them.
"You're spoiling me," he jokes. "Thanks."
"You're welcome."
She takes out her own lunch, unpacking a ham and butter sandwich. As they begin to eat, Steve turns to the schoolyard, swarming with students. He remembers being one of them, hanging out with Carol and Tommy on the hood of his car when he wasn't training with the basketball team. He also remembers the first time he watched Nancy as she walked by, chatting with Barb. He'd seen her before that day, in primary and middle school, but it's in high school that he truly noticed her. With her straight hair gathered in a high ponytail and her modest clothes, she was a wallflower to everyone else.
But not to him.
He saw those round and bubbly blue eyes rolling towards him, her eyebrows pointing a heartbeat, he fell under their spell, never to recover. Yet, he didn't fall in love right away, no. It took time to build this feeling he doesn't seem to be able to get rid of, even two years after their falling-out resulting in a breakup they never truly put a word on nor said out loud.
He admires her face as she chews a piece of ham, smiling at him. It's crazy how much she changed within those two years. Her self-confidence grew and she climbed to heights, becoming the best young journalist he's ever known, with courage beyond compare. And there she is, beautiful as ever, with her curly hair adorned with shiny hair clips.
"Are you okay?" she asks, tilting her head. "You've been staring at me."
"Sorry," he chuckles, blushing. "I was thinking about who you were just three years ago and how you've evolved."
The corners of her lips spread into a grin as she picks at the crust of her bread.
"You've evolved a lot yourself, Steve. You're definitely not the same anymore."
"The same douchebag who hurt you?" he adds bitterly, flashes of the graffittied cinema sign passing through his mind. "Yeah, I hope I'm past that."
"Hey, I wasn't good to you either. I should've been more honest. Been working on that."
"I know."
He smiles faintly and brings his waffle to his mouth, biting into the syrup and the soft dough. Nancy slips him a napkin from across the table, giggling as she sees the liquid dripping down his chin.
"Fanks", he tries to articulate with his mouth full. "So, how's your first day back going? Not too sad that Jonathan had to go back?"
He dabs the paper napkin at the syrup, cleaning himself up. As he crumples it in his fist once he's done, he notices her puppy eyes staring at him. All traces of joy or amusement have vanished from her expression.
"I've been meaning to talk to you, by the way," she starts. "I think you ought to know that Jonathan and I split up before he left."
About to take another bite in the waffle, Steve stops in his track and furrows his brow. His hands drop onto the table as he examines her expression.
"Shit… I'm sorry, Nance."
"It's okay, I… I think it was overdue. I mean, if he lied about applying to college, what else could he lie about?"
"I don't know, I don't think he meant bad, you know. With all the shit going down with Will and Joyce, I get that he wants to stay close. But that shouldn't come in your way either."
"I know. I just… I just don't think I could ever trust him again after that. Plus, something was off. He didn't want to come to Hawkins for the spring break, didn't want me to go with Mike either… I think we were just done and we kept pushing the talk away until it caught up with us."
Steve sighs and reaches out for her hand, closing his fingers around her smooth skin.
"I'm sorry, Nance. Are you doing okay? I mean… Who's doing okay after a breakup, right?"
She chuckles and strokes his palm with the back of her little finger, gulping as she gazes back at him.
"I'm okay. Just disappointed."
"You know that I'm here if you need me, right? I know I'm not the best person to comfort others, especially not considering our history, but it'd break my heart to know that you're suffering in silence."
"Thank you, Steve."
Nancy pulls her hand away and takes another bite of her sandwich. They eat in complete silence, both of them dealing with a tangle of thoughts and feelings they struggle to fight against. While she wonders whether it was a mistake to break up with Jonathan after everything they've been through together, Steve tries to push away Eddie's voice insisting that he shoots his shot.
He can't. She's still grieving her relationship. Plus, them breaking up doesn't mean that Nancy even has feelings for him, or that they can give their failed relationship another try, after they both gained more maturity.
The bell rings, pulling them out of their reverie. Nancy drags herself onto her feet, crumpling the aliminum foil and the can of soda she chugs dry.
"Sorry, I have to go."
Before he can answer or wish her good luck, she runs away, clutching her bag against her chest. Steve watches her leave with a frown, puzzled by this whole situation. He finishes his waffles and stands up, walking up to the trash can to throw the foil away, keeping his unopened can.
In the distance, he catches glimpse of Eddie, who sees him in turn. The metalhead, accompanied by his friends from Hellfire, waves at him, jumping up and down.
"Hi, Your Majesty!"
Steve scoffs and waves back.
"Go to class, dingus. It's supposed to be your year, remember?"
"Yes, mom!"
Dustin cranes his neck and waves in turn, before flipping him off and running inside, cackling. Steve rolls his eyes and heads back to the shelter, where he busies himself until the end of the day, when the students rush back in.
His head still full of questions after his conversation with Nancy, he runs outside, hoping to find her in the crowd. In his hurry, he doesn't see Eddie walking up to him, excited to tell him about his day and share a moment with him.
Eddie's grin fades away as he guesses the reason why he ran out. Dropping his shoulders, he shuffles his feet towards his cot, letting himself fall on top of it, burying his face into the pillow.
Why is it hurting?