I do not own Stranger Things or it's characters, I only own Ella and Charlie Barrett.

This also starts at the beginning of the school year and not at Halloween like season 2 does. I want some extra time to work Ella and Billy's relationship.

"Ah, Ms. Barrett, so glad you joined us."

When Billy turned his head, up to that moment, he thought all the girls around this damn school were the same, big, poofy hair, brightly colored outfits, all the same style, but he was proven wrong when she walked in.

Long, straight and dyed pink hair sat on top of her head, her face void of any makeup that the girls seemed to cake on their faces. She wore an emerald green baggy sweater that was slightly tucked into a pair of denim shorts, a pair of black thigh high stockings that almost seemed to tease him with a sliver of her skin showing, and a pair of laced up black boots.

The girl smiled apologetically, slipping off the headphones that were attached to the walkman in her hands, "Sorry, running late."

The teacher sighed and gestured towards Billy, "Sit next to Mr. Hargrove, he will be your lab partner for the rest of the year."

Ella nodded without saying a word and adjusted her shoulder bag, walking to the empty seat next to Billy. Ella glanced, catching Billy's eyes for a quick second. She had to admit that he was attractive, no doubt about it, but with the way he smirked at her, she knew that he was like most of the boys in the hell she calls school; an asshole.

Begrudgingly she sat next to Billy at their shared lab table, placing her walkman on the surface and pulling out her notebook and pencil, focusing solely on the presentation that was being given to the class.

Of course, Ella focusing on the presentation apparently didn't sit well with the new boy that was sitting next to her, "So, who's the doll that I get to be lab partners with all year?" He whispered.

Ella raised a brow and glanced at him from the corner of her eye. He was smirking with those pretty lips of his, head turned to her and not even bothering to listen to the teacher. Ella didn't answer, huffing and went back to scribbling more notes on her paper.

Billy grinned. She was certainly different. Every single girl in this school was practically jumping at the chance to talk to him, hell, even stand within five feet of him, yet this mysterious, quiet girl next to him acted like he didn't even exist.

"If we're gonna be sitting next to each other all year, you could at least tell me your name. Don't wanna be calling you Barrett, unless you like 'doll'." Billy whispered again, leaning closer to Ella.

Ella paused her note taking and looked at Billy, unamused by his flirtatious nickname. Billy grinned, "You like that huh, doll?" Her eyes were a pale green… pretty.

Ella rolled her eyes and wordlessly pulled out a sheet of clean paper from her note book. No one looked over at the noise of paper tearing, Ella had a habit of pulling random sheets of paper from her notebook all through her classes.

She quickly scribbled on it and slid it to Billy, her eyes going back to the words written in chalk on the blackboards.

Billy raised a brow and slid the paper to him with his fingers. One word was written at the top with neat and small handwriting; Ella.

Billy smirked, "Ella…not much of a talker are you? Or are you too nervous to talk to me?"

Ella huffed again, a little pissed that this new boy was taking her away from one of the few classes that she actually enjoyed. She slid the paper back to her and wrote on it again. Annoyed, she slid it back to him once she was done.

Underneath her name was written; 'Nothing much to talk about. And no, I'm not nervous, I like staying quiet. Is that a problem, Hargrove?' Billy never thought a written sentence could give him so much sass.

Licking his lips, he grabbed a pencil from Ella's case that she had out, to which he was given a glare for doing. If this is how Ella wanted to play, Billy would happily play it.

He slid the paper back to her and his own handwriting was underneath Ella's. 'It's Billy. And yeah, I'd rather hear that pretty voice of yours than this stupid paper'.

Ella snorted, her lip twitching, fighting to smile. What. An. Ass.

Glancing up at the front of the class, she wrote again, not giving Billy any piece of satisfaction. Guys like Billy amused Ella. Just how self-centered can a guy get?

'Deal with it. It's paper or nothing.'

Ella hoped that would've gotten him to stop, but nope. He was fucking persistant. 'I'll get you talking soon, Ella.'

Ella looked at him, his smirk never wiped off his face and now he was biting Ella's pencil in mouth. It was hot. Fuck, it was really hot, but Ella knew it was a trick to get her hooked. To open her mouth and say his name. Too bad.

'Good luck with that.'

And with that, their little conversation on paper ended and Billy stopped any attempts to get the pink haired to talk to him. Though of course he didn't stop looking at her throughout the entire class.

She had little quirks that she did; fiddle with the chord of her headphones, itching to place the pair of headphones back over her ears, occasionally pulling at her ear lobe which had multiple piercings, playing the tiny pieces of dangling jewelry, and even ripping tiny pieces of the paper of her notebook.

She was quiet, reserved, and didn't even glance at Billy. Billy looked down at the sheet of paper and smirked at the words at the bottom. Ella was a challenge he was willing to take.

Ella shoved her headphones back over her ears, A Hazy Shade of Winter by The Bangles blasting in her eardrums. Her favorite song.

She was thankful that chemistry was over. She loved the class though now it might has well been her new place of torture with Billy Hargrove. Stupid Billy Hargrove with his stupid, pretty face.

He even snagged the sheet of paper with their conversation and folded it into the pocket of his denim jacket. No doubt throw it in the trash or even save it to make fun of later with whatever assholes at the school he decided to become friends with.

With a sigh, Ella walked to her locker and opened it, already her mood souring. She could feel waves of jealousy crashing down on her by the time chemistry ended. Majority of the girls glaring her way, jealous that the quiet girl got to be lab partners with the new bad boy.

Ella rolled her eyes. She couldn't care less and her music washed away any feelings that were surrounding her and let her focus on her own. If she blasted her music any louder, her eardrums might've shattered, but it was necessary.

It was when a finger tapping on her shoulder was she pulled away from her world. Ella blinked and slid off her headphones, The Bangles still playing and echoing quietly from the tiny speakers.

Next to her was Tommy H. and under his arm was Carol, his girlfriend. Of course anyone with eyes would question why two of the biggest jerks and most popular ones would be seen near Ella Barrett, the quiet girl who kept to herself.

Once upon a long time ago, back in middle school she actually knew the two very well, of course, they all changed. It never stopped them from being a little insensitive to her here and there, nor did she really care. And there was only one reason why they or anyone in the school besides her brother would talk to her.

Ella raised an eyebrow at them and held her hand out, "Give it."

Tommy just snickered as he and Carol gave her each slip of paper, long lists of songs on each one, "Think you can get them done by tomorrow?"

Ella snorted, looking at the lists, "What? Think I can't?"

Carol rolled her eyes, "We wouldn't be asking if we didn't think you couldn't. You're the only one around here that can make mixtapes as good and as fast as you. We wouldn't even be talking to you if you didn't."

Ella scoffed, "Real sweet, Carol. Real sweet. Yeah, done and ready for the first period tomorrow. You know my charge, cash, no ifs, ands or buts about it. No negotiation, nothing." Ella grabbed the rest of her things for the rest of the day, and slammed her locker shut, making the couple jump, "Got it?"

Tommy nodded, his lips pressed into a thin line, "Got it, Barrett."

Ella shook her head, folding the papers and placing them into her bag. She walked away but not without hearing Carol call her a freak under her breath. Without a word, Ella just placed her headphones back on her head, ignoring them.

First Billy and now the bitchiest couple of the school, what more could happen?

Apparently a lot more. Unfortunately for Ella, Billy ended up having a good amount of classes with her. And each time she would catch him flirting with some girls and then ditch them the moment he noticed Ella was in his class.

She ignored him of course. Didn't look his way, tried blocking out his voice and even had to slap his hand away a few times when it got too close for comfort.

Ella thought lunch was going to be her saving grace. Her brother would be there and it would be the first half hour of the day she got some peace.

"You seem happy." Her brother, her twin for that matter, Charlie sat down across from her at the lunch table. A lunch table that was always except for the two of them, save Steve and Nancy that sometimes sat down with them.

Ella glared at her brother's easy going smile. Charlie shared the same dark brown hair that Ella chose to bleach the hell out of it. It reached his shoulders and had the same pair of pale green eyes. He wore his own jean jacket that he and Ella took the time to embroidery with a bunch of designs inspired by american traditional tattoos, a plain beige t-shirt, dark denim jeans and a pair of high top nikes.

"Hardy- har- har. Tommy and Carol asked me to make mixtapes this morning after chem."

Charlie shook his head, poking at his food from the cafeteria; if you could even call it food, "What do you expect? You make kickass mixtapes like that." He snapped his fingers to emphasize Ella's speed for making mixtapes.

"Truly a gift sis." He praised, taking a bite of his food and then immediately grimacing as it coated his taste buds, "Gross."

Ella smiled, for the first time today she smiled. She took a bite of her own food, her expression mirroring her brothers, "Disgusting. Anyways, that new kid."

"Billy Hargrove?" Charlie asked, pushing away his food and opting to hold off until Ella and him got home.

Ella played with her food, pushing it around with a fork, "You met him?"

Charlie shrugged, "Saw him hanging around sports jocks and whatnot with girls practically throwing themselves at him. Seems like a dick. Why?"

"He's my lab partner for the rest of the year. I got a good portion of classes with him. And you're right. He is a dick." Ella said, bored playing with the pile of mush on her plate, "Flirting with me and shit."

Charlie snorted, "Gave him the silent treatment?"

Ella smirked a little. Her brother knew her too well, "Yeah, he didn't like it. He was a little frustrated underneath all of his bad boy persona."

"Frustrated that you didn't talk to him?"

"Mmm hmm." Ella hummed, confirming Charlie's question.

Charlie grinned, "Nice."

On the other side of the cafeteria, Billy narrowed his eyes at the boy sitting across from Ella. They were chummy. She was smiling, laughing and talking way more to this single guy more than anyone else.

"Yo, Hargrove. What you staring at?" Tommy nudged the sandy blonde with his elbow and then chuckled when he saw what Billy was looking at.

"Ella Barrett? Dude, the freak?"

Billy raised a brow and faked a grin, "What makes her a freak?"

Carol scoffed and the girls around her laughed as if it was one big inside joke, "Keeps to herself, doesn't talk to anyone but her brother, hell, she even hangs out with a group of middle school kids. Always listening to music too."

Billy raised a brow when one of the girls said something that peaked his interest. "I've seen her sneak around the school a couple times after hours."

"You gotta admit though," One of the boys spoke up at the table, "She makes killer mixtapes."

Everyone at the table begrudgingly agreed while Billy smirked a little at the tidbit of information. Even though Ella was all but dirt underneath all the popular kids shoes, they all agreed that Ella was the person everyone went to for their playlists for parties and events, and apparently even DJ'd for a few of them.

Billy turned his head and ignored them, watching as Ella grabbed all of her things, waving to who he now knew as her brother. He even smiled a little when the two of them flipped the bird at each other but with smiles gracing their faces.

Ella shook her head and threw her headphones back on, blocking out everyone around her and heading off to her next class early, wanting the day to be over already.

Ella was thankful that the rest of her classes went off without a hitch, no Billy Hargrove to bother her… but then the last period of the day rolled around; gym.

She didn't have the class herself, but her brother did. She didn't have it that semester and she was grateful for it.

Ella scribbled in her notebook, sitting in the bleaches and leaning back against them. She had her things ready to go, but she had to wait until her brother finished for the day. And of course, Billy just had to have gym with him.

And of course Billy just had to be on the skins team.

Ella groaned under her breath as she had one of the speakers on her left ear and had the right one off so she could listen to everything going on around her.

She glanced up, her eyes starring a bit too long at Billy's bare chest and torso. It was glistening with sweat and it shined when sunlight from the windows hit it. He was built, toned muscles and all. It could make any girl swoon.

And it did. Ella rolled her eyes as she heard the gaggle of girls watching on and giggling. Most of the girls had boyfriends and they were practically drooling at the sight of Billy. Ella couldn't tell if the boys were trying to be on Billy's level or trying to one up him. Probably both.

She also couldn't avoid hearing some hushed whispers of the girls about her brother, who was on the skins team with Billy. Your brother was fit as well, he and Billy were on par with each other.

Ella could tell Billy was impressed. Charlie was just as good as him when it came to basketball, and even though Charlie and Steve Harrington were friends, he was kicking his ass.

It wasn't even until Charlie waved at Ella did Billy know she was there. Billy grinned at her and sent her a wink, causing the group of girls near Ella to glare at the pink headed girl.

Ella just smiled in amusement and shook her head, ignoring the boy and returning her brother's wave. She was there for him, not Billy fucking Hargrove.

Even with Ella ignoring all of his advances, it didn't deter him one bit. It only excited him even more. The girls in this school are easy, and Ella wasn't. How refreshing.

"Played good out there, Barrett."

Charlie looked over as Billy took the shower next to him, turning on the water; they were the only two left in the locker rooms. Charlie rinsed the shampoo out of his hair and nodded, "Not bad yourself, Hargrove."

Billy grinned a little, starting to wash himself off, "Didn't think you were on the basketball team. You don't hang out with them."

Charlie just chuckled, "Nah, man. Stuck up, rich, assholes aren't my people. Don't need them blowing smoke up my ass."

Billy snorted at Charlie, "Can't argue with that… You're Ella's older brother right?"

Charlie paused his washing, tilting his head at Billy, "Technically Ella's older by five minutes. But yeah, I'm her brother."

Billy blinked, "Twins, huh?"

"Yeah… why? Got some interest in my sis?" Charlie asked, his grip on the washcloth tightening. Only one day in and he's already heard about his flirting. He didn't want his sister caught up in that.

Billy chuckled, ignoring Charlie's accusation, "She's my lab partner and she won't talk to me. Got any tips?"

Charlie set his washcloth on one of shower hands and finished washing off his body, "Look, man. My sister is not a big talker, never has been. Maybe, just maybe stop trying to get into her pants and maybe she'll talk to you."

With that, he turned off his shower, grabbing his towel and wrapping it around him, "Try music. It's her life. See ya around, Hargrove."

Billy watched Charlie walk off and smiled. Music, huh?

Ella and Charlie left the school parking lot before Billy even left the locker rooms. Ella had the window of her white 1954 Mercury Monterey, ashes from her cigarette flew into the wind as she drove, "You just had to tell him."

Charlie smiled, propping his foot up and fiddling around with her radio, "Would you talk to him if he did bring up music?"

Ella took a drag of her cigarette, "Number one, he is going to bring it up at some point, and number two, no. God, why would you encourage him?"

Charlie shrugged, staying silent for a moment, "I might not be an empath like you but… I saw some things in him."

Ella stayed silent for a moment, knowing what Charlie meant, "Yeah, wanna share with the class?"

Charlie just shook his head, "He's got some walls built up in that head of his and it's for a reason. Maybe he just needs a kind heart to help him realize he doesn't need to be a dick."

His sister said nothing, sitting on his words the entire ride home. Billy Hargrove not a dick? Hard to believe.

I'm dipping my toe in Stranger Things finally.

Feedback is my motivation.

Hope you enjoy!