Chapter 9

The gym at Hawkins Middle sparkled underneath the large disco bowl. Tinsels, glitter, colored lights — it was hard to tell that this was the same room where nerdy kids like Jamie had gotten their asses handed to them in dodgeball. Soft music played on the speakers, all the known hits, and some kids were already trickling in, staring at the opposite sex like it was some new and foreign species. Jamie shuddered.

Somehow, Nancy convinced her to volunteer at the Hawkins Middle annual Snow Ball, a dance to commemorate the end of the semester before winter break. At least Jamie wasn't the only one suckered into volunteering by Nancy and she grinned over at Jonathan, who was in the middle of setting up his equipment for a photo-stand.

"I got my heart broken by Johnny M at the Snow Ball in 7th grade," Nancy mused while unboxing solo-cups. "He was my date, but then he ended up dancing the entire night with Cathy from the year below. I cried for like a week." She looked at the glittering letters hanging in the ceiling that proclaimed that this was indeed, the Snow Ball. "I'm pretty sure that's the same sign that they used back then."

"I never attended Snow Ball." Jamie tried the punch and grimaced. Needed more sugar.

"What? Why not?"

"Because it was just a combination of things I hated: dresses, soppy music and dancing in public." Jamie shuddered and accidentally added more sugar than planned. "Shit. No boys wanted to dance with me anyway."

Nancy smiled a secretive little smile. "You mean Steve didn't want to dance with you."

"Why am I the only one being judged by my middle school crush?" Jamie asked with a sour face. "You just admitted to going out with Johnny M, who made pictures on his desk using his own mucus."

"Touche," Nancy said and spread some tinsel across the punch table. They had spent the whole afternoon decorating, along with the teachers and other parents who were volunteering or chaperoning. Like the kids attending, they had dressed up. Even Jonathan wore a suit. Nancy looked pretty in a purple cocktail dress and Jamie had gotten away with wearing a silky deep blue jumpsuit with a belt. "Steve and Dustin seem to get along well."

"Like a house on fire," Jamie answered and tasted the punch. Too sweet. "He's driving Dustin to the dance. Volunteered to do it and all. Mom was super impressed."

"Maybe he's trying to impress you?"

"Huh?"

Nancy just shook her head. "Nothing." She seemed pleased with the punch table, at least for half a second, before she looked behind her and then underneath the table. "Didn't we have one more box with cups?"

"Probably at the back of Mr. Clarke's car," Jamie said and handed the punch-making equipment to Nancy. More and more kids were coming and she guessed they all wanted punch so they could have something to do with their hands, a feeling she remembered from the Halloween Party. "I keep making it too sweet and then too sour. You do the punch, I'll get the box."

Jamie tottered her way to the backdoor, cursing both her mom for convincing her it was a good idea to wear heels and the fashion magazines for making high heels the norm for women. Still, she managed, and found the box in the back of Mr. Clarke's car. Balancing it on one hip, she shut the car door with her other arm and noticed the deep blue Camaro sitting just on the edge of the parking lot. She hadn't seen it much the last few months, and rumor had it Billy'd lost his car rights after what happened the weekend after Halloween. Chief Hopper had insisted on paying a visit to the Hargroves after he'd been told what happened at the Byers'. Despite Steve's insistence nothing happened, there was no use hiding his messed up face.

As if she'd summoned him with her thoughts, Billy Hargrove suddenly appeared next to his car, leaning on its hood and lighting a cigarette. He caught her staring, a good fifty yards of parking lot between them, and gave her a nod. Her face twisted into something between amusement and disgust. As far as she knew, they were not on speaking terms. He might have given them a ride from the field, but he still hit her brother. She used her free hand to give him the finger. Even from where she was standing, she saw him laugh.

Just like she thought, Billy's presence also meant Max' arrival. She looked nice with her hair pulled back and Jamie envied her red jeans and striped pullover combo. Mike and Will were also here, all decked out in suits and looking miserable at a table, but Lucas and Dustin were still MIA.

"Can you manage the punch alone for a bit?" Jamie asked Nancy when she delivered the box. "I'm gonna go outside and get some air."

Nancy shrugged, because there wasn't even a line yet. "Sure."

The nights were definitely getting colder now that it was mid-December. It still hadn't snowed yet though. Winters never really hit Indiana until January, making those postcard white Christmases a bit hit or miss. The sleeves on her jumpsuit only went to her elbows and Jamie rubbed her arms absentmindedly as she tottered her way across the parking lot, all the way to the back.

"Didn't take you for a chaperone," she said in a way of greeting the Californian hotshot, who still hadn't learned to button up his shirt properly. How he could stand being outside in just that flimsy shirt and a denim jacket was beyond her, maybe he was warmblooded from living so close to the desert for so long.

"Madge," he said and took a long pull from his cigarette. "Fancy seeing you here." Billy flipped the cigarette in his hand and proffered it to Jamie.

She scoffed. "Do I look like I smoke?"

In one smooth motion, the cigarette was back between Billy's lips, bobbing as he spoke. "I'm not sure what you look like." He leaned further back on his car, resting on his elbows. This made new muscles on his chest flex and dance. He gestured to her outfit. "Nice color."

"Tha-" Jamie saw the glimmer of amusement in his eyes and realized she had inadvertently dressed in the exact same shade of blue as his car. "Huh. You know, I don't think I would've managed that if I tried."

Billy said nothing, and somehow that was even worse than if he'd made fun of her. He just looked at her, smiling his little smile, sucking on his teeth or doing something else weird with his mouth. Like he and he alone was in on the joke.

"Are you gonna cause any trouble tonight?" She posed the one question that had been on her mind when she came out here. This was a special night for the boys, and the two girls, and she was not going to let him ruin it.

The smile flickered, even for just a split second, but she saw it. "Only if you want me to." When she said nothing, he rolled his head back and sighed deeply. It was like his own private form of hypnotism, that had to be why he wore his shirts like that, to distract anyone careless enough to look while he moved. "Don't worry, Madge, Max got me plenty whipped. I'm only a chauffeur tonight, not a chaperone."

"Good," Jamie said while hugging herself. He had a tiny knick in his right eyebrow, the only proof of their altercation last month. Time healed all wounds and even Steve's face had returned back to normal. It was hard to remember how bad it had been, and Jamie found her eyes dragged to Billy's knuckles, permanently worn and red from countless of altercations like that. Knuckles that had knocked her baby brother out and split his lip.

It had to be hypnotism, she thought, because she had not noticed him moving before it was too late. He snuffed out his cig, took a few steps closer to her and shrugged off his denim jacket. "Cold?"

Before she could answer, Billy swung the jacket across her shoulders. He tugged at the collar, to make the fabric cover her arms as much as it could, and she had to admit that she was a lot warmer. It could have been the jacket,that was still seeped with remains of his body heat, or it could be the burning flush that worked itself up her spine, en route to her face.

Billy's hands still rested on the opening of the jacket, but she was spared his intense gaze as he looked upwards instead. Jamie followed suit and blinked when a single snowflake landed on her eyelashes. It was the first of several, and tiny white particles began to settle all over the parking lot.

"Now would you look at that," said Billy with what seemed like genuine joy. It occurred to her that he might not have seen snow before. He laughed that gravelly laugh of his and opened his mouth to catch some of the drizzling snowflakes on his tongue. Inside, a slow and romantic melody played and spilled out of the open front doors onto the parking lot.

Snow piled on top of Billy's mullet, weighing down the curls and counteracting all the hairspray he had probably used on it. She wondered if Billy also used the Farrah Fawcett-spray, the same kind Dustin had guilted her into buying for him. Speaking of which, she hadn't seen him arrive yet. Had Steve forgotten to pick him up?

"If you're looking for your boyfriend," Billy said slowly, causing her to stop scanning the parking lot for the familiar red BMW. Billy's pink tongue swiped at his lips, as if it was searching for a cigarette. "He just drove off, after dropping off your brother."

A goddamn fool. Jamie shrugged off his denim jacket and dropped it on the ground, letting it soak up the wet snow. Billy couldn't hold back a smirk and laughed as she strode off.

"Enjoy your evening, Madge."

She threw up her arm, middle finger flying high. "Asshole."

The enhanced hearing was both a blessing and a curse, she could hear him light a new cigarette and snickering to himself until she was on the steps of Hawkins Middle again. Billy had, of course, made sure Steve had seen her get wrapped up by him, this douchebag who had beaten Steve half to death, tried to choke Jamie and even assaulted both Dustin and Lucas. Stupid stupid stupid. She thought she had gotten over the notion that guys like that ever changed. Max' words came back to her, how her step-brother was so angry all the time, but it was no excuse. She thought she knew that. Obviously not.

"Everything okay, kid?"

A large dark figure stood next to the stairs leading into the gym and Jamie yelped loudly. Chief Hopper skulked in the shadows like some common criminal, smoking one of those foul-smelling cigarettes he always did.

"Jesus," she said, clutching at her heart, and wondered when she had turned into Joyce Byers as that was her signature move. Hopper nodded towards the parking lot, as to repeat his question. "Yeah, yeah, it was just- yeah, everything's fine."

Chief Hopper nodded, a small smile penetrating his beard. "Looked kinda cozy."

"If I tell you to bite me, would you arrest me for slander?" Jamie asked tiredly and leaned against the middle bannister.

"Nah," Hopper said and winked. They had gone together, more than a month ago, to meet Doctor Owens at a diner. Hopper had helped her negotiate her deal, meaning he had made it abundantly clear to Doctor Owens what would happen if anyone — and he meant anyone — came after Jamie or her family, no matter the cause. He had also demanded Doctor Owens release Jamie's full medical record to her, even the shady stuff, and hadn't accepted Owens' excuse that the people responsible for Jamie's miraculous recovery had left and it would be impossible to retrieve them.

Doctor Owens promised he would find those records. The rest of the conversation was about Eleven, or Jane Hopper as she was now called, and Doctor Owens had pulled all strings he could find to let her live a normal life. He was, as he had mentioned with a wink, one of the good guys after all.

Chief Hopper reached into his breast pocket and produced a white business card. "It's a little early, but I heard you're spending Christmas in Chicago with your dad, so...Merry Christmas, kid."

"What's this?" Jamie asked before she made sense of the logo and phone-number on the card.

"Call that number when you get back after the break. She'll help you out."

The card had a single phone number and a simple, stylized logo that read: Kim's Martial Arts, established 1976.

Jamie still clutched the card in her hands when she entered the gym again. Now Jonathan manned the punch-bowl and Jamie scanned the crowd to find Nancy. She hadn't meant to spend so long outside. The middle-schoolers slow danced on the dance floor and Jamie did a double take. One of the dancing couples were her brother and Nancy. Nancy caught her gaze and did a half shrug when Jamie quirked her brow at them. Dustin looked happy enough, although she wasn't sure he should be now that the result of the Farrah Fawcett-spray was in full view of everyone.

Okay, well, she tried to find Mike, if they were supposed to swap brothers or something, but he was dancing closely with Eleven. That explained why Hopper was here. She saw Lucas and Max, both giggling and smiling and stumbling, and even Will was dancing stiffly with an unknown girl a couple of inches taller than him.

Jamie took her place next to Jonathan and nudged him to take a picture of the scene. She was sure Dustin at least wanted photographic evidence that he had danced with Nancy Wheeler. The slow song ended and was replaced with a more fast-paced one.

She nodded her head to the beat before realizing she knew this song. "Oh!" she exclaimed and snapped her fingers. "Okay. Right!"

Before Jonathan could ask her if something was wrong, Jamie strode out to the dance floor and located her brother, who was still thanking Nancy for the dance. He widened his eyes at her. "What are you doing? Dancing with my friend's sister is cool, dancing with my own sister is not!"

"Shut up," she said and pointed to the ceiling, meaning he should listen to this song. Her head still bobbed and her feet were tapping the rhythm."Forget about trying to impress anyone. Let's just show these sons of bitches how the Hendersons does it."

"Are you seri— oh, you're serious," Dustin said weakly as Jamie started to shuffle on the floor. She loved dancing, her whole family loved dancing, and they were good at it — even Dustin.

"It looks dumber if you don't move," Jamie sang and tried to get her brother to pick up his feet. "Come on!"

This wasn't a slow dance. This was a fast-paced, heels down, arms up, fun dance! With no right or wrong moves, it was all about moving to the beat. The speakers blasted and Dustin finally cracked when the chorus came.

"You spin me right round, baby
Right round like a record, baby
Right round round round!"

She sang along and shook her curls around while Dustin headbanged his new mullet-like 'fro. Lucas came moonwalking up to them, did a fast twirl and joined them in tearing up the dance floor.

Max appeared and unabashedly pulled some of the dance moves from the music video, her shoulders bobbing up and down to each word in the song. Nancy snapped her way into the circle and sang the lyrics as loud as she could, just as Jamie did.

They gestured to the others and Nancy grinned when Jonathan threw himself in the mix. That convinced Will, who did a very good version of 'The Running Man'. Eleven looked unsure about what to do, but Jamie and Nancy took one hand each and got her moving with a snake-like motion.

"You guys look ridiculous!" Mike called from outside the circle of enthusiastic dancers. Jamie relented Eleven to Nancy, and grabbed both of Mike's arms before he could escape.

"You spin me right round, baby, right round!" Jamie sang in Mike's face and forced him to either dance with her or say good bye to his arms. He stared at her, mortified and embarrassed like only a thirteen years old boy could be. Eventually he cracked too, even if he was rolling his eyes to show any onlookers that he was only doing this ironically.

The song ended with the final: "Like a record, baby, right round round round!" that Dustin did three sharp twirls too, snapping his fingers at the final chord.

"Yeah!" Jamie said and gave Dustin a high-five. She patted his back, out of breath and with painful feet. "Now go get 'em!"

Small filler chapter, sorry, but we need to catch our breaths for a second here. Song in the dance scene is Dead Or Alive with "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)".

I'll post the next chapter later this week :)