Nancy tries adjusting to her new strange life. Weird nightmares of an intimate death, teen partying and her mother being clingier than usual. Please review!
A big golden moon and dark green sky. When she tried running away from the sounds of laughing and knives sharpening, the ground turned from rock hard to caked mud. Nancy's feet were stuck in the muck like quicksand. The laughter grew louder as did the sharpening knives. She managed to pull her slender body out of the filth but lost her shoes. No friction so she fell on the ground and slid down a steep hill that was not there before. At the bottom was a furnace, the kind from her school, an old, way out of date thing that shot flames. Nancy's eyes welled as she felt the heat tinge her pale skin. The flames consumed her in an endless orange abyss.
Nancy Wheeler's Garfield alarm clock rang. 7:30AM. She almost punched it off the bedside table but slammed her fist into the table instead. She winced and caught her hand. At least she didn't break it, as bony as it was. She looked out the window. No green sky or golden moon. Just a sunny normal day. Birds chirped and dogs barked. She both welcomed it and wanted to shoot it. She rubbed her eyes and got a look at some kids walking by. Some boys her age all dressed in leather jackets walking by the white picket fence were catcalling; not at her, she always referred to herself as a 'Plain Jane', nothing special. It was her mother they were after.
"Good morning, Mrs Wheeler!"
"I'll plow your garden later!"
Nancy's mother was watering her flower garden, nothing strange. What was strange was the fact she was doing this with a bathing suit on, flower pattern top to bottom leaving little to the imagination. She smiled and waved to the boys obliviously like she wasn't showing off her curves for them to see.
Ever since her husband Ted left with her other children Mike and Holly, Karen Wheeler had a total nervous breakdown. She started doing things out of turn for her. According to the family therapist, Dr Burke, Nancy was to treat her like normal no matter what she acted like. Nancy knew her mother was harmless, she didn't worry too much about her, she had more important things to worry about anyway like trying to hang out with Steve Harrington and his friends.
Karen caught Nancy watching her, she waved up at the girl like she was a princess in a high tower. She blew her a kiss. Nancy simply rolled her eyes and closed her curtain. This did not faze Karen the slightest.
Hawkins, Indiana wasn't your typical town. So strange things were the norm. It's best known to tourists for its 80's theme, like a 50's diner but the 80's and it was in town year round. It was stuck in constant nostalgia. Sure people had modern devices like cellphones and other technology but chose the fashion, the cars and the houses that people couldn't seem to shake. Nancy didn't really like all the glam, the hair and just atrocious choices some girls made but she had her fondness for some things about it. Her mother was never really all that into it either but since the divorce it seemed like her way of coping.
Nancy ran down the stairs to the kitchen. Her mother must've teleported because there she was bending over, looking for something under the sink. Nancy got a good eyeful of her large round behind, colorful flowers on the bathing suit bottoms made it look like its very own garden; Nancy was spotted immediately just staring.
"Oh, Nance! Good morning!" She got up and grabbed a plate of eggs and bacon.
"Uh, thanks but I think I'm gonna skip."
"But breakfast is the most important meal of the day."
Nancy drank from a carton of orange juice, something Karen would frown upon in the past but these days Nancy could get away with just about anything. She wiped some of the juice that trailed on her lips with the back of her hand.
"Very good, honey. Make sure to come right home because I'll be making you a very special meal."
Nancy cringed at just how she said that, like she was a little girl or something; 18 but she still had that youthful face she was cursed with and still dressed like she was in middle school. Nancy wanted to be treated differently, she wanted to break out from her good girl next door persona.
"Um...," Nancy always remembered the very first lie she ever told, back in 6th grade to a teacher, telling her that she wasn't feeling well and got sent home; maybe a half lie, she just didn't want to take a test. When Karen's brain was firing on most cylinders it could be easy to trick her into getting what she wanted but even with her new ditzy self she had to be careful she didn't say the wrong thing. "Barb invited me to eat at her house tonight. We're going to study."
Karen's smile was so forced, Nancy could tell she was disappointed but she couldn't say no to her baby girl. Nancy smiled back, forcing her lips to stretch back. "Oh. I had no idea. Sorry, Nance. I won't cook it until tomorrow."
"Uh...great!" Nancy exclaimed, hoping to get going.
"I suppose you'll be spending the night," Karen said, grabbing Nancy's lunch in a brown paper bag.
"Yes. A lot to study."
"That's great. Don't study too hard now. And don't you girls get up to any trouble."
"We won't," Nancy said, letting a real smile peek through. She took the lunch but Karen didn't let go of the bag, "Uh, Mom?"
Karen threw herself at Nancy, holding onto her slender body for dear life. Nancy had nowhere to run, this was normal according to Burke.
"Oh, you don't have to go. No. You can just stay here with me!"
Nancy's head was being cradled and body rocked back and forth uncomfortably, "Mom! Please! I have to go! I'll see you later!"
Karen surprised her with a kiss dangerously close to her mouth, Nancy acted disgusted, "What's wrong? You don't like that?"
"Yes! No! I mean...I gotta go!" Nancy took the lunch but was stopped when Karen moved the side of her head to Nancy, really moving her cheek in on her. Nancy rolled her eyes and reluctantly kissed her cheek and headed out; Karen noticeably blushed. "Bye, Mom!"
"Have a great day, Nance!"
Barb was waiting in her car for Nancy, she was well aware of Mother Wheeler's batshit behavior.
"Morning. Uh, is she going to be ok?"
"Just dandy," Nancy said, hiding her face as Karen stood on the front steps in full view of the neighbors waving to Barb, "Floor it!"
Barb moved the old Chevrolet her parents bought her out of there in not exactly record speed. Barb couldn't relate to Nancy's plight no matter how hard she tried. She assured Nancy that she wouldn't be sent to a nut house, maybe she just needed time to find herself and snap out of it.
"You sleep ok?" Barb asked, noticing Nancy's frequent yawns.
"I keep having these nightmares."
"About what?"
Nancy felt dumb for even bringing it up, "Nothing."
School held her attention but Nancy was anxious about what her afterschool activities entailed. Barb knew all too well about her best friend's attraction to pretty boy, Steve Harrington someone she considered obnoxious, more so his circle of friends. They met at the Starcourt mall in the food court, everyone was sitting in front of the ice cream place, 'Scoops Ahoy'.
"Yo, Nancy over here!" Steve called, his hand up in the air., "Hey, Babs!" Barb rolled her eyes and followed Nancy reluctantly over to their table. Steve's friends didn't exactly like Nancy, most of them thought she was stuck up like some little priss but didn't let onto her face.
"You coming to Steve's? I'm bringing beer," Tommy Hagan said with a sneer.
"Uh, yeah, sounds cool."
"Sure your mommy will let you stay out?" Carol Perkins laughed, clinging to her boyfriend, Tommy's side.
Nancy laughed it off feeling a bit embarrassed, "Yeah no big deal."
Steve's third friend, Joan was on her cellphone that had a cover like an old NES controller, texting the entire time they were talking, "Sorry my cousin, she has these night terrors. She keeps seeing this guy in her dreams with knives or something."
Nancy perked up, remembering the dream from that morning, "Wait were they in quicksand?"
The group looked at her like she just belched in front of them; Carol was the first to laugh, "Sounds like someone needs to get laid!" They all laughed except for Barb who was really regretting being Nancy's ride.
Robin Hawke, the girl working over the counter at Scoops Ahoy overheard this and had quite the shake; Nancy noticed and approached her with the false pretense of wanting to sample some flavors. "Hey, are you ok?"
"Yeah, nothing just..."
"Are you coming tonight?"
"Nah, why would I be?"
"Oh well just that you and Steve work together and..."
"We're not joined at the hip," she scoffed, "Have a good night. Just make sure he's wearing a rubber, honey."
"Um, thanks?"
Robin was well known by now to be an open lesbian, one of the few in Hawkins; some accepted her but Steve's friends did not. Nancy hardly knew her but thought she was nice, she didn't think people would think she was gay for talking to her which Steve's friends ended up doing on their way to Steve's. Nancy wasn't Robin's type, she was more for Karen Wheeler like everyone else, the milf just did it for her.
"Nancy Wheeler? Isn't your mom like a space cadet?" Joan asked.
The group laughed at Nancy's expense again. They all sat around Steve's pool drinking Tommy's beer, Nancy and Barb were clearly newbies to the drinking world. While Barb was afraid of her parents finding out she was drinking illegally, Nancy had an 'Out of Jail Free Card'.
It didn't take long for the group to get rowdy, mainly Steve's doing. Barb had fallen asleep and Nancy was worried about her for maybe a minute but Steve grabbed her and tossed her into the pool before she could do anything. The next thing she knew she was in her crush's bedroom. She thought this was her chance to be sexy and took her shirt off for him with her lousy, unsexy bra underneath. Unfortunately Steve had passed out.
"Great," she thought this would be her first time now she just felt cold, wet and dumb, "Maybe I should've stayed home."
Karen Wheeler drew herself a bath and set over a dozen scented candles around the tub; most of her time alone had been resorted to Fantasy/Romance epics that she had envisioned a certain loved one in her life being the protagonist. She would fondle herself under the water as she read the very descriptive and graphic text. Next to the tub was a picture of Nancy with more than 10 lipstick smudges from 10 different shades all over the cute face.
"Yes, Nancy, yes my darling...oh yes...anything for you..."
She kissed the picture so hard this time that she almost made a hole in it, some she had, in her closet she had made a kind of shrine to her daughter ever since she started noticing her and how much she had grown. A 'Total Hottie' as she liked to call her or 'Little Stud Muffin'.
'RRRIIIINNNNNGGGGG' 'RRRRIIIINNNNNGGGGG'
"What the?..."
The doorbell at this hour. She was so relaxed and wanted to continue indulging in her very taboo fantasy world but this could be important, for all she knew it was the police and something dreadful had happened to her little stud muffin. Instead she found an employee from Scoops Ahoy on her doorstep.
"Um, hello? May I help you?" Karen hid most of her body in a bathrobe which was unusual for her but she had no time to barely cover her top or bottom in a revealing bikini.
"Hey, Mrs Wheeler," said Robin, trying not to stare, "I think Nancy dropped this." She showed her the brown bag Nancy had let slip out of her backpack at the mall; Robin used this as a perfect opportunity to see the milf in the buff.
Karen freaked and gladly took the bag, "Oh no! The poor thing must be starving!"
Robin smiled at her overly motherly concern, but then she saw something interesting on the doorstep that slipped away from Karen; the picture of Nancy she'd been fawning over.
"I think she's fine, Mrs Wheeler."
"Well thank you...uh...sorry..."
"Robin. I go to the same high school."
"Oh! Go Tigers!" Karen laughed, excitedly, remembering the old school mascot.
"Right. Go Tigers," Robin said, trying to think of what else she could do to distract the woman from her creepy photo, "You um...you ever need anything you just let me know ok?" She gave her a cell number, much to Karen's delight.
"Oh how sweet!"
Robin decided to leave the photo behind and let Karen back to whatever freaky fun she was having. In her car, Robin thought over and over again how awesome this was she could make one of her darkest fantasies come true she could get Karen and Nancy together. Maybe impossible but it was worth a try in her books just thought of that cougar sinking her claws in a kitten like Nancy made her engine rev.
To be continued!