Steve walks into Rosalyn's room to find her pacing, stopping once in a while to write an idea down. "Hey babe, you alright," He grabs her arm.
"Yeah, I'm great. Why wouldn't I be?" She pulls away from him to cross her arms over her chest.
"I don't know, I come in and Dustin tells me you're being obsessive. I find you here pacing with paper balls everywhere." He kicks a paper ball.
"I'm just coming up with alternatives." She walked over to the vanity to grab the paper and hands it to him.
"Seamstress, help mom start catering business, mechanic, partner up with Steve in whatever his parents do. What is this list?" He held the paper up.
"I'm brainstorming other options. It's stupid to be putting all my eggs in one basket. What if Vet Tech doesn't work out? I would be wasting people's time and money. I wouldn't be able to look Dr. Myung in the face ever again." She pulls at the ends of her hair.
"Oh, so that's what this is about you're scared to let your boss down." Steve let out a sigh of relief that he was able to figure it out.
"She's more than a boss. She's like a second mother. She saw a crying 14-year-old who didn't know how she was supposed to pay a pricey vet bill and gave her a job. She has stayed by my side throughout the years. She gave me as many hours as she could when she knew I need money for something. She's given me advice and helps out with my homework. I wouldn't have made it without her." She wipes the frustrated tears from her eyes.
"Babe, you torture yourself with this before. Sewing and knitting is a labor of love that you do for yourself, friends, and family. Mechanics is something you hate. You only do it to save money. If you have to go into business with your mom, you would lose your mind. I don't even want to do what my dad does. You love your job. I don't know anyone else who excited to go to work. We did a pro and con list and Vet Tech won by a landslide." He had walked with her through it all last week when she got her acceptations letter for the vet tech program.
"But, what if I can't do it, what if I fail all my classes?" She pulls at the roots of her hair.
"I'm sorry, when does Rosalyn Henderson fail at anything?" He let out a laugh.
"There first time for anything." She let out a puff of air.
"You got me, your mom, and the kids cheering you on. And Dr. Myung has already offered to be your study buddy anytime you need it. Most of all you have a passion for animals. You're not going to fail." He cups her face to wipe away her tears. She stares up at Steve, not remembering him ever looking as beautiful as he looks at that moment. She knew if she told him that, he would argue that he is handsome, not beautiful.
Instead of telling him and ruining the moment, she rises up on her tippy toes and pushes her lips on his. As always, Steve had an automatic reaction to her touching him. His hands went from her face to being tangled in her hair.
"OH, MY EYES, MY VIRGIN EYES!" Lyn and Steve pull away from each other to see Dustin rolling around on the ground with his hands over his eyes.
"Stop being a drama queen, you didn't even see anything," Steve scoffs.
"Your tongues were in each other's mouths." Dustin screeches from the floor.
"Shut up." Lyn bent down to hiss at him. She didn't want her mother hearing that. She didn't want to have another awkward moment like with the condom on Halloween night.
"Why did you just burst in here anyways?" Steve rolled his eyes at the boy still wiggling on the floor like he was in pain.
"Did you forget why you came over?" Dustin got off the ground and dust himself off.
"Oh, that's right, we're having a boys day. Bye babe." He gave Lyn a kiss before leaving the room with Dustin.
At the sound of paper tearing, Lyn looks down. "No Tews that is not a toy." She picks up the kitten that was ripping up the paper balls she left on the floor. She put her down on the bed and gave her a ball of yarn to play with while she picks up the paper balls. When she was done, she sat down on the bed and played with Tews.
When Tews got tired, she crawled into Lyn's lap to curl up for a nap. Lyn felt a tug on her heartstrings looking down at the sleeping cat. "No, I'm breaking the cycle of needing someone to always be there. I'll be starting college soon, so I don't have time for a pet anyways." She told herself when the idea popped in her head. She had been feeling a want in her chest when she watches anyone with their pets whether it be her mom, brother, or customers at work.
Lyn was staring down at her black glitter tights and black pumps. Her tassel hit her in the face when straight out of the green gown that was swallowing her. She moves the tassel back to the side.
"I love your hair, did you sleep in curlers?" Alice Hunter was sitting to her right. If they didn't separate the males and females, she would have been sitting by Steve. At least she was going to be on the stage at the same time as him.
"Yeah, I like your sandals." She nods to the other girl's feet.
"Thank you, so what are you doing after this?" Alice asks. Everyone else in their row stood up saving Lyn from anymore small talk. "Oh, it's time." The peppy blonde hops out of her chair.
Lyn stood up and follow the line up to the stage. She took a deep breath with every name that got called before her. She kept telling herself that it was simple. All she had to do was shake the teacher's hand, grab the diploma holder, and walk down the steps back to her seat. She couldn't get the image of her falling at every step of the process out of her head.
"Steve Harrington." The principle called. She watches as a smiling Steve shook Mr. Crane's hand, grab the diploma, move his tassel to the other side.
"Rosalyn Henderson." The principle called next. She took a deep breath and with shaking knees, she walks over to Mrs. Gingham, the trigonometry teacher.
"Congratulations, Rosalyn." She hands her the diploma holder.
"Thank you." She took the holder before shaking the teacher's hand. She moves her tassel as she walks over to Steve. She hooks her arms with his and they walk down the stairs that were in front of the stage.
"Hopefully this wouldn't be the last time we walk down the aisle together." He winks at her.
"You're so cheesy, Steve. It's disgusting." Lyn turns her face, so he wouldn't see her burning cheeks.
"Yeah, that's why you're blushing." He kisses her cheek before separating with her to go back to his seat.
"Guess that makes me disgusting too." She chuckled under her breath as she went back to her chair.
"Okay, one more group picture and then I take this gown off. It's getting hot." Lyn announces to her family and friends that came over to her house after graduation.
"You can't take it off yet. I want to get a picture of you and Steve with your gowns on." Her mother whines.
"I'll put it back on when he gets here." She promises her. Steve was having dinner with his parents then coming over.
"Everyone gather up." Claudia waves everyone over. The kids ran to surround Lyn. Everyone else squeezes together to get into the shot. "Okay, the timer is on." Her mom put the camera on the stand and ran over to get in the picture. She was able to stand and smile next to Dr. Myung before the camera flashed.
"Alright, everyone time to eat." She claps her hands. The kids charge into the kitchen, where Claudia sets up all of Lyn's favorite foods in a buffet style. Lyn laughs and took her gown off to reveal a pink off the shoulder knitted dress.
"Hey, let the woman of the hour make her plate first." Joyce scolds them. Lyn stuck her tongue out at them as she went to the front of the line. She put a little bit of everything on her plate. When she sat down on the dining table, the doorbell rang.
"That's Steve, Lyn gets the door." Dustin points his fork at the door. She looks up from her plate to see that everyone was staring at her.
"Okay," She got up and walked to the door. "That was a fast dinner." She opens the door for her boyfriend.
"Can you come outside for a second?" He took a step back.
"Yeah, I can." She closes the door. He normally greets her with a hug, a kiss, and a corny pet name. So, to have him standing away from her with his hands in his jacket was nerve-racking.
"I know we said no graduation gifts, but this is not just from me. It's from your mom, Dustin, and me." He pulls out a tiny puppy that fits in the palm of his hand from his jacket.
"Is that one of Mrs. Crankshaw puppies?" Lyn remembers the old lady brings in the litter of Boston Terrier and Pug mixes to the vet for a checkup.
"Yup, she is the very one you were taken with according to Dr. Myung. I know you think a pet going to turn you into your mother. But, there is nothing wrong with wanting to take care of something. It's honorable and noble when you think about it." Steve rambled. She said she didn't want a pet, but he saw the look she would get when she watched her mother and Tews. She wanted that kind of bond and he didn't see why he shouldn't give that to her.
As soon as Lyn's eyes fell on the puppy every insecure of ending up like her mom went out the window, "I'm going to name her Zoey." She took the puppy from Steve and ran into the house. "Look what Steve got me." She screams holding the dog up. Everyone who already knew about the surprised acted faked shocked.
Steve laugh in relief, he thought it was going to be more of a fight for her to accept the dog. He grabs a bag of dog supplies from his car. He walks into the house to see Lyn sitting on the floor with Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Will, El, and Max. Zoey was in the middle of the group. She seems to like all the attention she was getting by how fast her tail was wagging. "Babe, come here. Dustin is showing us how he taught her to sit." She waves for him to come over.
"What, I taught her that!" Steve sat down next to her on the floor.
"Well, I was there when it happened. Really, it was a group effort." Dustin defends himself.
"What did you do, pass him the treats?" Lucas mocks him.
"How did you know?" Dustin asks, clueless to the fact that Lucas was making fun of him. It got a laugh from everyone else in the room. "What is so laugh? I'll have you know that the treats are the most important part. She only sits for the treat." He put his hands on his hips.
"Thank you for this." Lyn wraps an arm around Steve's waist and laid her head on his shoulder. "It was nothing. I had a lot of help from Dustin and the guys." He shrugs his shoulder. That was a lie; it was difficult to hide the dog from both her and his parents, who would have flipped out if they saw it in his room.
"Don't sell yourself short. This was an amazingly thoughtful gift." She gave him a peck on the lips.
"Not in front of the children." Joyce teased.
"Please, there two couples among them." Steve points at Max and Lucas and then El and Mike.
"What?" Hopper screams.
If you wish to see pictures of Zoey, you can see it on my tumblr: thegooddogpack