A/N: Thank you all so much for reading! I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please review and let me know what you think!

Chapter 33

It did not take long for the news that Steve spent Thanksgiving with my family to spread like wildfire.

"Harrington was at your house?" Billy was following me from English as I headed to the library. I tried to ignore him. "Really, Queenie?"

"It's not a big deal," I said. "I ran into him and he didn't have plans."

He stepped in front of me and crossed his arms over his chest. He was wearing what we called a Canadian tuxedo back home. Denim on denim. "So where was my invite?"

"You had dinner planned with your family," I answered. It was worth it just to see the flummoxed expression on his face before he tried to hide it.

"How do you know that? Stalking me?" he asked with a leer.

"I ran into Max."

He scowled instantly. "You've got to be kidding me? That little shit saw you too?"

"Hey!" I stopped walking and glared at him. "Don't call her that. It's not her fault your parents decided to get together. She didn't ask for any of this either."

"She's a pain in my ass."

"And you're a pain in hers," I snapped back. "The two of you should be allies in this, especially against your shitty parents."

"I don't need her help."

"Get over yourself, Billy. The world involves more than just you." I pushed past him and continued on to the school library. I was late for study hall. Thankfully, he didn't follow.

I stood outside my car, considering if I really wanted to do this. I dragged the bag out of my backseat and hiked it up on my shoulder. This was going to be fine. It would be fun. The kid needed something to do that wasn't just watching tv.

I knocked twice, once and twice more, a signal Hopper made us set up. It was justifiable paranoia in my opinion. El was a cool kid. I didn't want to see either of us getting roped in and experimented on.

The door opened slowly and I hiked up the bag again before smiling down at El.

"What's that?" she asked.

"New project. Ready?"

She looked at me warily. "For what?"

I grinned. "We're about to have some fun."

She let me in and I opened some of the blinds to let in some natural light. The place was pretty grim without it. I dropped the bag on the floor and moved the small table that was in front of the tv out of the way.

"What are we doing?"

"Eventually? Probably cause some mayhem, but in the meantime, we're going to learn how to bedazzle."

She made a face, brow furrowed in confusion. "What's bedazzle?"

I grinned over at her. "Something that's very much in style. Come on, punk girl. If we do this right, you can make your own punked-out jean jacket. I'll even find some studs to put in it but let's start at the beginning." I sat down on the floor and motioned for her to join me.

She did so slowly, almost reluctantly. "Have you ever done this before?"

"Nope!"

The first adventure in bedazzling was a disaster. It didn't matter though. El was laughing hysterically as I accidentally glued part of the shirt I was trying to bedazzle onto itself. I had given El the machine I had picked up while I tried to do it freehand.

I pulled at the shirt, trying to see if I could get it to free itself without ripping it. I did not succeed. My eyes went wide at the sound of the fabric tearing and El fell back, laughing harder.

"Your face!"

I threw the shirt at her. "Alright, hotshot. Show me what you made."

Her laughter faded and for a moment she hesitated. She grabbed the shirt she had been working on and handed it over quickly. Combined with her hesitant expression, I wagered a guess that she was nervous about my reaction. I opened up the shirt and took a look.

It was hideous. Though, to be fair, the creation that I ended up destroying was as well. It was bound to happen when we were first trying something out.

I grinned at her regardless. "This is awesome!"

"Really?" she perked up slightly.

"Yeah! You're really getting the hang of this. I vote next time you get the glue and I get the machine."

Whatever she was going to say in response was cut off by a knock. We both looked at each other for a moment before the door opened and Hopper came in. He paused in the doorway, staring at the chaos around us.

"What's this?" He almost looked like he didn't want to ask.

I couldn't resist grinning at him. "We're bedazzling."

"I can see that." He looked around and paused, seeing El's face. "Just make sure to clean this...stuff up." He closed the door and headed for one of the other rooms. "And I better not find it on any of my stuff. The last thing I need is some jewels on my ass," he muttered the last bit. I hadn't considered it before but now I was tempted. I looked over at El and raised my eyebrows up and down. She started giggling again.

I waited until it was time for me to leave before I broached Hopper with the idea of Max.

"That's a good idea, what you did in there," he said as he led me outside. I could see El staring at us from the window.

"It's nothing," I said. "She needs something to do that isn't just watching Dynasty all day."

"Yeah," he ran a hand down his face. "I know. There's just...too much shit up in the air."

"Well, you need to find a balance. You can't keep her locked up like she's Rapunzel. Even if it's for her safety, otherwise she's going to get frustrated and lash out in some way. WE both know that." I gave him a pointed look. I had been a young girl before. This would have driven me insane. "Which reminds me...I need your permission for something."

He instantly looked wary. Smart man. "What?"

"You remember that other kid that was there that night?"

"Which one? Place seemed to be crawling with them near the end."

"No kidding," I agreed. "I'm talking about Max. Same kid I called you about for her stepdad. She knows about what's happening in the town and was with us when we went to burn down the tunnels." Not that I had intended to join that party. Still, the past couldn't be changed.

"I remember. What's the favour? Stepdad a problem still?"

"Probably, but that's not what I want. I want to bring her to meet El."

His expression instantly shut down. "No."

"Yes," I stressed. I glanced over at El's face in the window and watched as she ducked down out of sight. "She needs friends."

"You're-"

"Her own age! And not just those boys. I'm sure they're great but she needs some girl friends, people she can learn to relate to. Otherwise, the social isolation is just going to get worse and you'll have less of an easy time to assimilate her into society and hide her in plain sight. It's the best choice. Max is good people. She knows what's going on and she's tough."

He still looked hesitant.

"I'm vouching for her and I can make sure that I'm around when they see each other so it's not just kids running around by themselves if that's what you're worried about." I tried not to sigh. "You know I'm right. This isn't seventeen-year-old Tammy talking, it's me, Kate. In all my twenty-eight years of experience. She needs to socialize with kids her own age. You trust me enough to let me hang out with her, trust me in this."

"Fine," he said, pulling out a cigarette and tearing off the end of it. He ignored the face I made as he lit it. "As long as you're here with them and keep them from doing stupid shit."

"Scouts honour," I said, holding up two fingers.

"You were never a scout. Don't bullshit me."

"I was a Brownie. That counts."

He gave me an incredulous look. "That's not a real thing."

"Oh, it definitely is."

Trying to come up with ideas of what to bedazzle was not as simple as I thought it would be. Christmas was coming up fast and I needed to figure out gifts for people. I wanted to bedazzle something for Erica, that kid was endlessly entertaining, but I didn't know what. It didn't help that I was having a bad day.

My shoulders felt weird and my arms did not feel as if they belonged to me. Even though I was holding the tray, waiting in line for food, it didn't feel real. It was as if my mind had taken a step back and I was only observing the motions I was making. It felt like there was no real control. It didn't help that the noise of the cafeteria was starting to get overwhelming.

"Fuck it," I muttered. I dropped the tray back on the stand and left the line. I needed to get out of here. I needed silence or at least space. Something so that I could actually try to find a way to feel like this was real again.

I ended up on the bleachers again.

I clenched my eyes shut and ran my nails down one of my arms. The scratch should have been enough to remind me that they were mine. Someone was mowing the grass and I could smell the scent of it around me. The sounds of the lawnmower faded in and out as they moved. The bench was ridged under me, the metal warm under the sun. And vibrating...as someone walked on it.

I opened my eyes and turned to see Steve coming towards me. I tried not to sigh. There was honestly no such thing as peace in this place. He sat down gingerly next to me.

"You okay?"

I didn't know how to answer that. It wasn't like I could tell him I didn't feel like the body I was in didn't belong to me. It didn't, not really.

"Here, I brought you this." He handed me a thermos.

I frowned slightly before opening it and sniffing. The scent of coffee wafted out and I felt myself relax slightly. I took a sip and blinked in surprise. "Is that vanilla?"

"Yeah! I took your advice actually-"

I tuned him out. Steve's voice faded slightly as he spoke, becoming almost background noise as I drank the coffee. I could feel the humidity of the air around us and the prickle of the sun threatening to burn us if we stayed out too long. The sort of exposure that you never realized you were facing until long after it had gone down.

I focused back, finally feeling a little more like myself, or at least as at home in this body as I ever would. Steve had stopped talking but he hadn't left. He seemed content just to sit with me. "Hey, Steve?"

"Yeah?" He asked.

"What time is it?"

"Uh...we got like ten minutes before lunch ends."

"Okay." I had Shop class next. I just hoped Tommy wasn't around. Maybe I'd be lucky and he'd skip. "Thanks for this."

"Oh, you're welcome. I mean, you're the one that gave me the idea. Least I can do is share the effort."

I didn't mean the coffee but I smiled at his response. "It's appreciated. Come on, I gotta get to Shop. What do you have?"

"Oh, Economics," he stood up with me.

"Gross. I'll wash this out and get it back to you later if that's cool?"

He waved me away. "Don't worry about it. It's not like anyone's going to miss it. Let's get to class."