Disclaimer: I do not own Stranger Things or IT. I only own my OC.

*Edited 05/28/22*

"She didn't understand how other people did it, how they just strolled right up to strangers and started conversations - how they made themselves into people strangers would ever want to meet. She wasn't shy, not exactly. She was afraid."― Katie Cotugno, Top Ten

Chapter 7: A new school

The last few days had been rather good for Gwen. Excluding her nightmares. Those still occurred. Thankfully her aunt and uncle didn't make such a big deal out of the nightly screams. Surprisingly neither did her cousins. Except Gwen did notice the lingering looks they would give her when she came up for breakfast. Mike out of all Wheeler family members stared at her the longest. His stare was one of curiosity and dare she say...concern? She couldn't fully tell because although he looked exactly like Richie, Gwen wasn't able to read him as easily. Besides, it wasn't like Mike ever actually asked how she was feeling after being awoken by her screaming.

The Tozier girl figured he was either minding his own business, or he simply didn't care enough to ask. She liked to think it was because of the first option. During the last few days, Gwen had spent a lot of time with Mike. Well, not only with Mike, but with him and his friends. Though that only happened when they played Dungeons & Dragons. The group of friends were now playing the game in the basement again. Just as Gwen told them she wouldn't mind them playing in there.

The fifteen year old knew that Mike was not a huge fan of hers. He made that very clear the first two days when she stuck around to watch them play Dungeons & Dragons. His dislike towards her didn't surprise her. Gwen could even say that she knew Mike didn't like her from the moment they met.

Even after apologizing for her outburst, his aversion towards her didn't change. Not really. Which was fine. Gwen was able to handle not being liked. A lot of people didn't like her back in Derry. Of course none of those people were family members. So of course it stung to have someone from her family not like her. She was human after all. However, Gwen wasn't going to let that get to her. She also wasn't going to make Mike like her. If his feelings changed towards how he felt about her it would be from his own free will.

It did make Gwen feel somewhat better that Mike no longer glared at her whenever she asked questions about Dungeons & Dragons when she didn't understand something. In the beginning she had trouble understanding things. So questions were asked constantly. Although the boys didn't have a problem with her inquisitive nature. Well minus Mike since Gwen was able to pick up on the fact that her younger cousin didn't like how much of a chatter box she was. At first the Tozier girl was going to keep her mouth shut. She did after all tell him, "Mum's the word."

Then Gwen at the last second thought about it, like really thought about it and decided...screw that. And away with talking she went.

True her rambling wasn't helping with how Mike viewed her but she wasn't going to change her personality to fit his. Sure sometimes with people that was needed but that wasn't what needed to happen between them. Now perhaps it was because his friends were growing fond of her the more time she spent with them, or maybe Mike got used to her consistent talking, but he no longer gave her the death stare when she spoke during Dungeons & Dragons.

That was an improvement. Also, her being allowed to sit next to Mike without him complaining while he and the others played was another good sign. Now if only she got to play then she would have known for sure that she was on her cousin's good side. However, Gwen wasn't about to ask. If that ever were to happen she knew Mike had to be the one to ask.

Now aside from hanging with the boys, Gwen spent time either by herself listening to music, and writing in her song notebook. She also did some town exploring. Well, if you can even call it that. By town exploring Gwen meant she usually went to the local town stores.

Gwen was usually greeted by Joyce, Will's mother, when she went into Melvald's General Store. Unfortunately, going there also meant having a high chance of running into Hopper. Not all the times, but weirdly enough the Chief of Police was always there whenever she was close to taking something. That didn't really bother Gwen, though. As it turned out, she no longer participated in shoplifting...in that store, anyways.

No, Gwen now did her shoplifting at Fair Mart whenever she could. It wasn't like she took a lot of things. Just a couple of candy bars...and a packet of cigarettes whenever she could. She needed her cigarettes. At first she wasn't sure that was a good place to do all that. She did after all encounter Steve (as she remembered his name) and his friends there. However, ever since that first encounter Gwen hadn't seen them. Thankfully. Hawkins was a small town though, and she knew she'd eventually see them again. Besides, according to what Mike and his friends told her, Steve was dating Nancy. So not running into him was impossible.

Speaking of Nancy...

Gwen even tried hanging out with her dear cousin. Tried being the operative word. Gwen tried being as friendly and open as Nancy was with her cheerfulness. Except that was a challenge considering Gwen wasn't the cheerful type. Not anymore. Then there was the sad truth that the cousins didn't have much in common. At least they were civil with one another. Their relationship was better than the one Gwen had with her cousin Mike.

Now the last time Gwen had hung out with Nancy, her Aunt Karen had been there with them. Her Aunt Karen had taken her and Nancy out for shopping. At the beginning Gwen was dreading going shopping. Past experiences with her mother were the reason for that. Whenever she had gone shopping with her mother, she always made Gwen feel insecure. The Tozier girl knew that her mother wasn't doing that on purpose, but she had a way (call it a skill) with making Gwen view herself in a negative way because of what she liked.

Surprisingly, going shopping with her aunt and cousin wasn't that bad. Her aunt hadn't been as openly judgmental as her mother, nor did she make faces with the clothing Gwen picked out for herself. It was obvious that her Aunt Karen didn't agree with her style but she didn't openly insult her choices the way her mother would have.

Nancy even complimented Gwen on a few of the clothing items she picked. Gwen's insecurities were trying to win over at the beginning, but before they could she was able to convince herself that both her aunt and cousin were being genuine with her. Her Aunt Karen, who although let her pick what she wanted, did show her a dress that she thought would look good on Gwen.

The dress was simple. It was grey and it went past the knees. It was also long sleeved. Gwen didn't see the dress as being too girly, even despite it being a dress. She supposed a better way to explain it would be that the dress was not at all like the one she wore on the last day of her Freshman year. The dress her aunt picked out was way more simple, casual. Her aunt ended up buying the dress for her, and Gwen, although not being a dress person, found herself liking the dress. She mainly liked how the dress covered her up.

So, yeah...the last few days (for the most part) had been good. However, that sense of peace was coming to an end.

Gwen knew that the whole relaxing at her aunt's and uncle's house (which basically meant hiding from the outside world) would have to come to an end. She'd have to start high school in Hawkins eventually. Later would have been preferable but that really wasn't an option. She couldn't hide forever. No matter how much she wanted to.

Now here she was dressed and ready to attend her first day at Hawkins High.

Gwen at first was just going to wear what she usually wore. A band t-shirt, jeans, her dark green military jacket, and Converse. Except the evening before during dinner, her Aunt Karen had gone on and on and how lovely she would have looked if she wore the dress she bought her. Gwen and Nancy seemed to be the only ones listening to her. Her Uncle Ted had been more focused on the meatloaf that was on his plate, Mike had been obviously tuning all of them out, and Holly...well, Holly just played with her food as any toddler would.

Due to how excited her aunt sounded, Gwen decided to wear the dress she had bought for her. If it had been her mother, Gwen would have decided to wear the dress too. The only difference being that if it had been her mother, Gwen would have worn the dress as a way to stop her passive aggressiveness towards her. Except that wasn't the reason why she decided on wearing the dress her aunt got her. Gwen decided to wear the dress because she knew how much it would have made her aunt happy and because...Gwen didn't actually mind the dress.

It was long enough to cover her, and it wasn't red. That to Gwen made the dress go on her list of, I don't mind wearing this every now and then. And although she was wearing a dress to school, Gwen still managed to pull it off as casual. For shoe wear she had on a pair of old black Converse, and over the dress she wore her dark green military jacket. She didn't care that her jacket and shoes didn't go with the dress. Gwen wasn't about to wear flats for shoe wear, and there was no way Gwen wasn't going to wear the jacket that reminded her of Victor Criss.

Gwen felt the jacket gave her extra confidence...and since she was starting school again, Gwen was going to need that extra confidence today.

When she went upstairs and walked into the kitchen (backpack in hand), Gwen immediately frowned when she saw the look Mike was giving her. He was sitting next to Nancy at the kitchen table. Her Uncle Ted was there but his eyes were on the newspaper he was reading. Gwen noticed that her Aunt Karen wasn't in there and she assumed she was with baby Holly.

Mike snickered. "Nice dress."

Gwen's reply was instant and she said it without hesitating in the slightest. "Nice face." She really should have thought of a better comeback. Really the dis wasn't a good one. Not to mention in a way dissing Mike was like dissing her brother Richie. However, Gwen at the moment thought it had been a good enough comeback for Mike.

Mike's face fell and from beside him Nancy let out a low giggle. Her Uncle Ted just turned the next page of the newspaper he was reading, totally oblivious. Gwen took a seat across from her cousins. She saw how Mike was trying to compose himself, ready to say something to her. Before he could say anything else to her though, her Aunt Karen walked in with Holly in her arms.

"Oh, Gwen, you look so pretty." Her aunt told her as she set Holly in her seat that was next to Gwen. Holly let out a toothy smile when she saw Gwen, and Gwen being the awkward person that she was just let out a low cough. She still had to get used to Holly's excitement towards her.

Remembering that her aunt had paid her a compliment, Gwen managed to give her a small smile. "Thank you."

"You really do, Gwen." Nancy brightly said to her.

Gwen took a better look at her cousin, and immediately wanted to tell her that she was wrong. That she didn't look pretty...not when comparing the two of them. Nancy was a bit more dressed up than Gwen. Her hair was slightly curled. Gwen didn't even style her own hair, it was just in its natural state of waviness. She wasn't even wearing makeup. Nancy had on makeup but not a lot like most girls their age would wear. She had the right amount on.

For her outfit, Nancy was wearing a pretty pink blouse with a white cardigan over it. Although she was sitting down, Gwen had no doubt that Nancy was wearing a long skirt and some fancy type of shoes. Really Nancy's outfit didn't surprise Gwen. That was just the type of girl Nancy was...the type that liked to dress up. The type that had the right womanly look to show off. Which wasn't a bad thing. It just made Gwen remember again how she'd never be as pretty as her. She wasn't built the same way in both personality and looks.

Nancy was like a delicate dandelion, while she was like a plain cactus. Nobody ever thought cactuses were pretty. She sure didn't.

Gwen pulled on her jacket, hoping that would make her feel better. It did, but just a little. She ended up nodding her head at Nancy, unable to find her voice. They all then ate their breakfast. Her Aunt Karen had prepared pancakes along with eggs and bacon. The usual morning routine then set in and pretty soon Nancy's irritated voice rang out. All those who were there knew exactly why that was.

"Ew! Mike!"

Mike, much to his older sister's annoyance, put syrup on her eggs. The Wheeler boy knew that his older sister disliked her food being messed with. He also knew that she wasn't a huge fan of syrup in general. One look from his mother got him to put down the bottle of syrup but not before he did the exact same thing to Gwen's eggs. He was expecting (or rather hoping) that Gwen's reaction would be like Nancy's. He was greatly surprised (and disappointed) by what happened next.

Gwen didn't look upset that he had put syrup on her eggs. She instead made direct eye contact with him as she used her fork to stab at her eggs. She then lifted the fork to her mouth and ate the syrup covered eggs without, not at all bothered. As she chewed her food, her mouth formed into a grin, letting him know he hadn't annoyed her at all like he did with Nancy. This was a sign to Mike. It was going to take a lot more than him ruining her food to irritate her. Not that she considered having her eggs covered with syrup as being ruined.

Mike let out a huff as he leaned more against his chair.

After he and the two older teens finished they got up, ready to leave. They didn't get far because Karen Wheeler called out for them. The three of them stopped walking to stare back at the older woman. She was handing Holly her refilled bottle of juice as she walked over towards them.

"Wait! Before you guys leave, let me take a photo with all three of you." Karen said as she was now opening a cabinet. It didn't take long for Gwen to see that she was holding a Polaroid camera.

Gwen let out a sigh. She kept her annoyance to herself...unlike someone else.

"Mom." Mike whined making a face. He knew where his mother was going with this. She often did this when something she considered to be important happened. He really didn't think Gwen's first day at the high school here was important. His mother didn't have to make such a big deal about it.

"Is that really necessary?" Nancy asked, trying her best to not sound as annoyed as her brother. She was eager to go to school already. She planned to meet up with Steve but only after helping Gwen with getting her schedule and showing her locker. The sooner they left the better.

Gwen continued to keep quiet, inwardly hoping her aunt would change her mind...alas she didn't.

Karen frowned, aimed more at her children than at her niece. "Yes. This is Gwen's first day of school here in Hawkins and I want to take a photo with all three of you. The happy cousins."

Happy? Gwen looked at Mike who was on her left. He appeared to be far from happy. Her cousin made contact with her before he looked away with an eye-roll. She almost let out a scoff right then and there.

"Besides, I want to send this to Maggie." Karen continued saying. "Show her just how fine things are."

That made Gwen's ears perk up. The photo being sent to her mother was actually a good thing. If her mother got the photo she knew for sure she'd share it with her father and brother. Despite not being in a photo mode, the photo would convince Richie that she was right when saying how much he looked like Mike. The photo would be proof. Gwen nodded her head.

"Okay." Her response made her Aunt Karen smile wider. Nancy did as requested and posed for the photo. Mike let out a sigh, reluctantly ended up doing the same thing knowing fighting his mother would be not smart.

"Closer, get closer." Karen gestured to her kids.

"Fine." Mike muttered as he got closer to Gwen. Nancy did the same but she wasn't unhappy about it as Mike.

Gwen ended up being in the middle with her cousins next to her. Karen smiled as she lifted the Polaroid camera.

"Say cheese!"

The three cousins said the words but none of them really meant it. Nancy's smile out of all of them was the most genuine. Mike smiled but one could see it was forced. Gwen tried smiling as nice as Nancy but she had a feeling her smile came out more like a grimace.

When Karen lowered the Polaroid camera, Mike stepped away from Gwen. "Now can we go to school?"

Karen gave her son a pout as she lifted the Polaroid camera again. "Just one more, okay?"

Mike sighed and went back to his original spot. Much to his annoyance his mother ended up taking five more photos.

It didn't shock Gwen, nor did it upset her, that Mike left her and Nancy's side once they exited the house. But seeing Mike ride his bike did make her feel sad. It made the Tozier girl think of Richie and the others. It didn't help when Nancy told her (as they walked to school) that Mike rode his bike to school alongside his friends. That just made Gwen remember how she would ride her bike around the town of Derry with the Losers.

God...she missed them. Some more than others, but the point was that she missed all them.

The Tozier girl did her best to hide her sudden sadness at the memory of her dear friends as she and Nancy walked to school. Half way there Nancy's friend Barb caught up with them. With Barb's arrival Gwen was able to fully push away her sadness. She did her best to make conversation with the redhead. That really wasn't much of a challenge since Barb and her got along just fine. She was still more Nancy's friends than hers, so the awkwardness lingered.

Walking to school didn't take as long as Gwen thought it would. She realized the high school wasn't as far as the one in Derry was to her house. The high school was also located near the middle school where Mike and his friends attended. So the layout was similar to the high school and middle school in Derry as well. From the outside the high school seemed average size for being in a small town. Maybe just a tad bit smaller than the one in Derry.

Once arriving at the high school, getting Gwen's schedule and the locker combination didn't take as long as Nancy thought it would.

"So, it looks like you have Chemistry first period with Kaminsky." Nancy told her cousin as all three of them were looking over Gwen's schedule. "I have him too but in the third period. Barb has him first period with you, so that's good."

Barb threw Gwen a smile. "Guess we're Chem buddies."

Gwen felt her lips twitch, forming an almost smile. Nancy continued announcing her schedule.

"Then you have English." Nancy's eyes gleamed. "Oh, you have Mrs. Davis. She's nice. After English we all get our ten minute break." Her head tilted a bit with what she said next. "Looks like you have P.E. after so you're going to get your P.E. uniform there. Guess it's a good thing you decided on wearing your Converse. Then after P.E. you have―"

"I think I got it from here." Gwen interrupted her cousin as politely as possible. She took hold of her schedule. The Tozier girl didn't do this as a way to get Nancy to shut up in a rude way. But what was the point of having Nancy read out what she was able to read herself.

Nancy deflated a little before she was able to get a hold of her cheerful-self again. "Okay."

Gwen pointed further into the school hall. "I'll just go look for my locker before my first class starts. Room two hundred and thirty-seven, right?" She asked Barb. The bespectacled redhead nodded her head.

"I can help you find your locker." Nancy offered her help again. Although she offered there was a sense of impatience there in her tone of voice. She still had yet to meet up with Steve.

Not many people would have been able to pick up on that impatience...but Gwen did. She could tell her cousin wanted to be elsewhere.

Gwen waved her off. "Don't worry about it. I can find it myself."

"Are you sure?" Nancy asked one last time.

Gwen threw her cousin a reassured look before she walked off. Despite being happy that she was able to meet up with Steve, Nancy couldn't help but feel a bit awful. Once Gwen was too far away from being able to hear her, Nancy turned to look at Barb. "Do you think I annoy her?"

Barb frowned. "What? Why would you think that?"

"It just seems like I do." Nancy answered, shrugging.

"You're just being yourself Nance, and so is she." Barb told her best friend. "You two are just different, that's all."

"Yeah." Nancy quietly answered. She once again looked towards the direction her cousin had gone. "We are so different."

It took longer than expected, but Gwen was able to find her locker. Unfortunately she wasn't able to open it since she had found it the exact moment the morning bell rang. Thankfully she made it to her first class without any hiccups. She was actually the fifth person to arrive at the class. Not long after she arrived Barb made her entrance.

Now as she had come to find out the class didn't have assigned seating, nor did it have assigned partners. Despite that, Gwen knew the moment she spoke with her Chemistry teacher that the class was going to be anything but laid back. As Kaminsky was lecturing, Barb had been kind enough to let her borrow some of her class notes, saying she was going to need them for upcoming quizzes and tests.

That made Gwen want to pull at her hair. Yet another thing she would need to stress over.

It seemed so far that Chemistry was going to be her hardest class. English turned out to be a breeze. Not that she was actually expecting to have a hard time there. English had always been one of the subjects she did well in. The class did have assigned seating, and she got assigned to sit in the back. The teacher, Mrs. Davis, also made her introduce herself in front of the class, unlike Kaminsky...so that sucked balls.

During the ten minute break, Gwen went into the bathroom and remained there until the bell rang. She felt like such a...well, loser. Only this time the term was used in a negative way rather than how she used it when with Richie and the others. Being in a class filled with students was one thing, but after class? She just didn't feel comfortable enough yet to be around the other students at Hawkins. Despite having a more extroverted personality, Gwen, given what she'd been through, wasn't as social as before.

Really the only good thing that came out of that ten minute break was that Gwen was able to smoke peacefully while she hid inside the bathroom stall. If someone had smelt the cigarette smoke they sure didn't complain or report her. Now if only she had a drink, then that would have made things tens times better.

As she hid inside the bathroom stall making smoke circles, the thought of looking for Nancy crossed her mind. However, she decided not to search for her cousin. The dark haired girl figured she was with her other friends. She must have had other friends besides Barb. Nancy was pretty and nice. That alone would attract other people towards her. Gwen also didn't end up looking for Nancy because there was a huge possibility she could have been with Steve, and Gwen really didn't want to run into him.

She was still upset from the last encounter they had.

What an ass. Honestly, it still baffled her how Nancy was with someone like him. Just with that one encounter, Gwen knew how much of an idiot he was. Her cousin could do way better.

P.E. was Gwen's next class.

One she wasn't really looking forward to. Not so much because of the exercising that was going to be done, but more with the fact that she'd have to change...in the locker room. Not only was she self-conscious because of the damn bite mark IT left on her right shoulder, but her wariness with changing in locker rooms still remained. Of course that was because of Patrick Hockstetter. Even though he was gone, the memory of what he did, spying on her while she changed in the locker room, still gave Gwen the chills.

As she stood in that locker room facing her locker with her gym clothes in hand, in her head she could clearly hear his low laugh. The same low laugh that alerted her someone was in the locker room with her. She had to close her eyes and take deep breaths in order to calm herself. Not real, not real, not real. After repeating that phrase a few more times, Gwen was able to open her eyes, less freaked out.

Before she could change her mind, Gwen opened her locker. She set her gym clothes in there and then began to take off her jacket. As she did this something from the side caught her attention. Standing a few lockers away from her was a girl around her age. She had dirty blonde shoulder length hair, and despite the slight distance Gwen could see her freckles.

Gwen was surprised that she was able to make eye contact with her considering she was about to change. From what she saw the girl was already dressed in her gym clothes...but there she was staring at her. Gwen didn't find that odd. The girl must have seen her close her eyes and was probably wondering if she was okay.

Trying to be friendly, and also reassure her she was okay, Gwen waved at her.

The girl's eyes slightly widened, as if finally realizing her mistake of staring, and was embarrassed. Her cheeks warmed up, not that the Tozier girl noticed that detail. Gwen didn't think anything wrong with her staring. The girl quickly looked away before shutting her locker and walking off.

Gwen sighed at the girl's reaction, more upset at herself.

Way to go, Gwen...scaring off people with your weirdness.

She proceeded to change.

P.E. class went by faster than Gwen expected. Not that she was complaining. Although she had trouble changing into her gym clothes, changing back to her regular clothes wasn't as troubling. Though the insecurity was definitely there. When Gwen finished changing she noticed how the girl from before was practically racing to get herself dressed. Once again, Gwen couldn't complain.

She knew that feeling fairly well.

Once leaving the locker room, Gwen went to her next class. Which was Study Hall.

When Gwen attended high school in Derry she didn't have Study Hall. Francine did, and she had told her it was basically a free period. It was supposed to be a class for students to catch up on any work they had and to use the time to study. However, that rarely was ever done.

And as Gwen learned for herself, that her blonde haired friend had been right.

Study Hall was a free period.

From the moment Gwen walked in she knew it was going to be her most laid back class. The teacher (who Gwen honestly could not remember his name) remained up front reading a book. He was in his own world, and really Gwen couldn't blame him. What exactly could he do? Besides helping those who didn't understand something...not that anyone was actually raising their hands for help.

Most students were either sleeping, reading, talking with one another, or writing notes.

Gwen had been writing in her song notebook when she got the weird feeling she was being stared at. She lifted up her gaze and she was right away met with someone she had seen before.

Carol.

The damn girl she had bumped into with Steve and that other guy outside Fair Mart.

She was sitting a few seats up further than her but that didn't lessen the glare she was giving her. At first Gwen was going to back down but the dark haired girl quickly closed her song notebook and returned the glare. Carol's own glare wavered a bit but soon enough it steadied.

Gwen had to give her props for that. She didn't back down though and she intensified her glare even more. This time Carol did end up backing down but not before she sent Gwen a scowl. Gwen had to hold in the laugh she wanted to release when Carol turned around in her seat.

"What'd you do?"

Gwen was taken by surprise by the new voice. She was even more surprised when she saw who had spoken. It was the same girl from the locker room, the one that had been staring at her. Gwen was puzzled that she hadn't noticed she was in the class with her. Then again she had kept to herself and she had been having a glaring contest with Carol...a contest she won.

Now that the girl was a lot closer Gwen not only got a better view of her freckles, but also that she had pretty blue eyes. The girl also sounded and appeared less timid than the last time she saw her. She supposed locker rooms could do that to a person. Gwen herself disliked locker rooms...for an obvious reason. One that had to do with Patrick Hockstetter.

The girl's question finally clicked but Gwen's response was short.

"Huh?"

"What'd you do to get Carol to look at you that way?" The girl looked at her and then at Carol's backside. "She has resting bitch face twenty-four seven but she really seems bitchy today. And that bitchiness seems to be aimed at you." The girl's eyes gleamed with curiosity as she stared at Gwen. "So, I ask...what'd you do?"

She could have just lied to the girl, or told her it wasn't any of her business. Which it wasn't...but actually going through with that didn't feel right with Gwen. She was actually going to tell this girl (a girl that Gwen didn't know her name) the real reason why, and she found nothing wrong with that.

"I flipped her and a couple of her friends off." Gwen simply told her.

The girl's lips formed an amused grin. "Sweet."

"Yeah?" Gwen said relieved that the girl hadn't actually reacted negatively to her honesty.

The girl shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, it's Carol. I bet those friends of hers you saw her with were her boyfriend Tommy, and Steve Harrington." She rolled her eyes. "Or as people like to call him, Steve "The Hair" Harrington."

"Steve "The Hair" Harrington?" Gwen scoffed. "Seriously?"

The girl nodded her head. "Dead serious."

"That's stupid." Gwen commented, this time chuckling.

The girl reacted the same way after hearing her chuckle. "Tell me about it." Once she quieted down she stuck out one of her hands. "Robin Buckley."

Gwen shook her hand, happy to know her name. "Gwen Tozier." The dark haired girl smiled. "Nice to meet you, Robin." When she lowered her hand she tilted her head a bit. "I saw you in the locker room. We have P.E. together."

Robin cleared her throat. A part of her knew that would be brought up when she got the courage to talk to her, but another part of her hoped it wouldn't. Guess she'd have to go with what she practiced in her head. "Yeah...sorry about that. I just...I saw you and it looked like you were having a moment or something."

Gwen grimaced. "Yeah, I was. Locker rooms...they're just not my thing...you know?"

Robin right away nodded her head. Oh...she knew. "Yeah, I get you. Believe me." She got quiet but when she felt her ears warm up she spoke up again. "So...you're new." Way to state the obvious, she inwardly chastised herself.

Gwen nodded her head. "I am."

"How are you liking Hawkins?"

Gwen looked into her blue eyes and then down at her palms, one got more attention than the other. To Robin it seemed like Gwen was once again having a moment to herself, and she was. The only difference was it wasn't exactly like the one she had in the locker room. This time her thoughts were more bittersweet. Her thoughts were of a group of friends, friends she loved and missed.

"Gwen?" Robin called out when the dark haired girl continued to stay silent. She felt her heart race a bit when Gwen stared at her again. Those dark brown eyes were quite nice to look at.

"Can I get back to you on that?" Gwen softly asked her.

Robin nodded her head. "Sure."

Gwen gave her a small smile that had Robin returning one back. The Buckley girl thought right then and there that the Tozier girl was going to be a real interesting person to know.

As they figured out during their remaining time in Study Hall, Gwen only had that class and P.E. with Robin. That sucked but at least they had two classes together. It was weird but Gwen felt an instant connection with Robin. It wasn't like the connection Gwen had with the Losers but it was a connection that made Gwen want to be her friend almost instantly.

She had asked Robin if she wanted to eat lunch together but the blue eyed girl said she had a band meeting. As it turned out she was in the school band, which Gwen thought was cool. If her brother Richie had been there he for sure would have asked Robin nonstop questions about what it was like being in the school band. Her brother loved music but he had no musical talent. That certainly didn't stop him from living vicariously through the various students he liked annoying until they let him use their band instruments.

However, Gwen didn't want to bother Robin, so she told her she'd see her later. They both parted ways after Study Hall, with Robin going to her band meeting and Gwen...well, she at first had no idea where to go. Obviously she should have gone to the cafeteria since it was lunch but her nerves were getting the better of her. She thought of going back to the bathroom and hiding out there but fought against doing that.

Ten minutes of hiding was fine but thirty minutes? No.

Gwen decided now that she had time again that she could try opening her locker. She did after all have her Chemistry and English books with her. She still had yet to get her World History and Geometry books. It would be better now if she made room. As Gwen reached her locker she almost froze when she saw who was standing further down the hall from her.

Nancy...but she wasn't alone. Barb was there and it would have been fine if it was just her. Unfortunately it wasn't just Barb who was hanging with her cousin. Those jerks Gwen had run into outside Fair Mart were there. Steve, Carol, and as Gwen now knew Tommy, Carol's boyfriend.

Steve stood by her cousin, arm around her shoulder. He seemed to have said something to her, making the brown haired girl laugh.

Gwen let out a scoff and turned back around towards her locker. There was no way she was going to make conversation with her cousin while Steve and his friends were there. She was going to quickly open her locker, put her books inside, and then leave.

Putting the combination that was given to her by the office lady, Gwen pulled on the lock. Her eyebrows furrowed when the lock didn't open. She put the combination again and her puzzlement, along with frustration, grew. Gwen let out a huff. She shook the lock harder but it did nothing. The fuck? Why wasn't it opening? She did the combination again and became even more angry when the lock didn't open. Stupid lock. Open already so I don't have to encounter my cousin's stupid boyfriend and his asshat friends!

"You have to jiggle it a bit."

A quiet voice said from behind her.

Gwen let go of the lock and turned around. A boy her age with brown hair stood there. His feet shifting his weight back and forth. Due to his voice and the way he presented himself, Gwen knew he was more on the introverted side. She let her frustration wash away knowing it wouldn't do her any good when conversing with him. She gave him a puzzled look that said if he could elaborate more on what he said.

The boy stepped forward. "That lock's pretty old compared to the others." The boy pointed to said lock as he used one hand to make a turning gesture. "So you gotta jiggle it a bit." The boy then put his hand down to his side. His head also lowered a bit towards the floor. "That used to be my locker last year."

"Oh..." Gwen replied and then did just what the boy said and the lock opened without any trouble. Her eyes brightened, happy that the lock opened. "It worked!" She exclaimed." She turned around to face the boy again. "Thanks."

The boy nodded his head, bashful. "You're welcome." He began to walk off.

Gwen quickly caught his attention. "Wait, what's your name?'

The boy stopped walking, turning around to face her again. "Jonathan." He softly told her.

"You got a last name?" Gwen smiled a little, trying to be lighthearted with him. He seemed like the serious type and when it came to the serious type of people Gwen's lighthearted side (whatever remained) came out of hiding. She noticed Jonathan go quiet, and fixed his posture before speaking.

"Byers."

"Byers?" Gwen questioned as her eyes gleamed with a sense of recollection. "Oh, you're Will's older brother." The younger boy had mentioned his older brother to her a few more times since they became better acquainted with one another. He had nothing but good things to say about his older brother. Will once told her that if they met they would get along. Guess she was about to find out.

Jonathan nodded his head. "Yeah."

"I'm Gwen. Gwen Tozier." She introduced herself. "I'm Nancy and Mike Wheeler's cousin. I don't know if you know either of them. But I figured you would since your brother is friends with my cousin."

"Yeah, I know who they are." Jonathan responded somewhat timidly. "My brother mentioned you to me before."

"Really?" Gwen asked, raising her eyebrows. Really that shouldn't have surprised her. Will mentioned Jonathan to her, so him mentioning her to Jonathan shouldn't have been such a surprise. Yet it was.

A small smile escaped Jonathan. "He said you have great taste in music and that you're a fan of The Clash."

"I do like The Clash." Gwen excitedly confirmed.

Jonathan's smile somewhat widened at hearing her love for the band. "Yeah, me too."

"So, Jonathan, you want to eat lunch together?" Gwen suddenly asked, smiling. Things seemed to be going well between them. Like with Robin there was that connection there that made Gwen want to befriend him. Her smile fell when he saw how his eyes widened. "What?"

"You want to eat lunch with me?" Jonathan looked as if he had been the most complicated riddle of all that.

Gwen was puzzled by his response. "Yeah, why do you sound like that?"

Jonathan shook his head. "Sorry, it's just that I usually eat lunch alone...and away from the cafeteria."

Gwen pulled on her jacket's sleeves. "Well, we can get food there but don't have to eat in the cafeteria if you don't want to. You choose the location and I'll follow. Unless you don't want me there." Gwen let out a groan. "Oh shit, I basically just invited myself. How lame?" She continued to ramble. "You probably already have people to eat with. Sorry dude."

"No, don't apologize. It's okay." Jonathan quickly reassured her. "And I don't. I don't have people to eat with." He looked embarrassed admitting that to her. "I eat lunch by myself, but I'd like to eat lunch with you...and we can eat outside." A soft expression appeared. "I like eating outside. I usually take photos with my camera during lunch." He gestured to his backpack where he had his camera.

So he was into photography? That was cool. Gwen nodded her head. "Outside it is then."

"Let me just open my locker first." Jonathan told her. "I wanna switch out my books."

Gwen snapped her fingers. "Right, and I should do the same thing because that's why I wanted to open my locker in the first place." She said, and that made Jonathan laugh quietly.

As they momentarily parted ways, unknown to them, they had caught the attention of Nancy and the others.

"Why the hell is she hanging out with that freak Byers?" Carol asked scowling. Her scowl appeared when she had seen them interacting.

"I don't know." Nancy quietly answered. She too was puzzled as to why Gwen was hanging with Jonathan. Not that she thought he was a freak like the others. Her puzzlement had more to do with the fact that Gwen was hanging out with anyone else than just her and Barb. Her cousin did not seem like the type to make friends so fast, let alone easily. What puzzled her even more was the way Gwen had interacted with Jonathan. She was less guarded and her face lit up. Not at all how she'd be when at home with her and her family.

"No offense Nancy but your cousin has awful taste in friends." Tommy snickered. "I mean, she's a babe no doubt but a terrible judge of character."

"Dude!" Steve exclaimed with a frown. He let go of Nancy to push Tommy's shoulder.

Tommy didn't look the least bit ashamed with what he said. "What? Do you disagree with any of that? Especially the babe part." He looked towards Gwen's way. Her back was in good view as she was putting away her books into her locker. Although the dress she was wearing wasn't revealing, and even with her jacket, her curves still stood out.

Barb shook her head, finding his comment towards Gwen to be disgusting and disrespectful. Nancy glared his way and Steve saw that, causing him to give him another shove.

"Not in front of Nancy." Steve harshly whispered to him. Thankfully Nancy hadn't heard him say that. Her anger was still on Tommy. There was one more person who was just as upset but not for the same reasons.

Carol threw Tommy a glare before she hit him on the chest. "Stop calling her a babe! She's not even that pretty." She narrowed her eyes at the outfit Gwen was wearing. "I can't believe she's wearing that jacket again."

"She likes that jacket." Nancy was quick to defend.

Carol scoffed. "Well, it's lame. Just like she is."

Nancy's annoyance heightened. "You don't even know her."

"Oh and you do?" Carol raised a perfect eyebrow at Nancy. "Did you know that she flipped us off. Yeah, that's right. Your darling cousin did that, outside Fair Mart. Just ask Steve."

Nancy was shocked to hear that. That couldn't be true...could it? If it was then why didn't Steve tell her. She had brought up Gwen to him before. There were plenty of times he could have told her. She looked up at Steve, frowning.

"Did she really do that?"

Steve sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Yeah but to be fair we were being jerks."

"No we weren't." Carol rolled her eyes. "I was just telling her my honest opinion on her outfit."

"Who cares." Tommy replied, and the group looked at him. "She's hot when she's mad."

That comment upset Carol and she made her anger very clear. While the couple were arguing, Barb excused herself with an eye-roll, and Nancy and Steve dismissed themselves as well. Steve knew from the look Nancy was giving him that they were going to talk more about the encounter he failed to tell her that he had with Gwen. Before they turned the corner, Steve gave Gwen one more last look.

She was once again with Jonathan and they were turning into a corner. Jonathan was ahead but right before she followed him, they made eye contact.

Steve was shocked to see Gwen throw him a smile. He was almost compelled to do the same, and he almost did...but then Gwen's smile fell and she once again was flipping him off, this time with a glare.

Steve didn't say anything as he faced forward again.

Yeah...he should have never looked back.

A/N: I'm sorry but I had to add another scene with Gwen flipping off Steve xD I wanted to write it ever since that ask on Tumblr, and me comparing it to the scene in Spider-Man:Homecoming when Michelle flips off Peter. OMG that was funny. Anyways, it's a running joke now that Gwen officially expresses her feelings for Steve in that way. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I had a lot of fun writing it as you can tell.

Also, is it weird that I listened to the Midsommar soundtrack when writing this chapter? Mainly the score that's called Skin the fool. Yes, that's the name of the score. Oh, it is weird? Okay then.

The next story I want to update is Floating On Air and hopefully I can finish the chapter by next week or the following. No promises though.