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Somehow, despite the actual hell mouth that seemed to exist underneath Hawkins, Indiana, the week after your departure was the most intense week any Hawkins resident had ever experienced. The first day after it was discovered that you ran away, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Max, and Will found themselves facing detention for the rest of the year after they were caught spray-painting profanities on Carol’s car. By the second day, Nancy and Robin were suspended for a month for supposedly breaking the noses of everyone in Carol’s inner circle. By the third day, an investigation had been opened against Chief Hopper based on allegations that he had been having a sexual affair with you, and that it was the reason you left town in such a hurry.
The town split into two camps - those who believed you about Billy Hargrove, and who believed that your relationship with Hopper was innocent and platonic, and those who listened to what Carol and her cronies had to say. Since you weren’t around to fight your case yourself, it fell to Nancy, Steve, Jonathan, Robin, and the kids, as well as Joyce, all of whom corroborated your version of events.
Luckily, Mayor Kline seemed to believe Hopper, and he put a stop to the investigation against Hopper. He also got the schools to remove all blemishes from your friends’ permanent records, and made a big dramatic speech about how Hawkins was supposed to be a tight-knit community that believed in one another, not some catty place where we turn on our neighbors.
“It’s a sad day when one of our own leaves us,” he proclaimed, “but that is no reason to point the finger of blame at each other. This was a young woman who suffered an unimaginable assault, and apparently couldn’t cope with living in the town where it happened. Her parents assure me they have heard from her, and she is safe and in school, moving on with her life. We in Hawkins should do the same, and more to the point, we should do so with kindness, in her honor. I hope you will all remember this when next you find yourself in need of help, and Chief Jim Hopper shows up regardless of where you stood in all of this ugliness.”
And so, life in Hawkins returned to normal in your absence, for everyone except those who had loved you…
The bell rang, signaling the end of fourth period, and Steve grabbed his things in a daze, the same as he had since the day you left, heading for a bench outside of the cafeteria. Nobody came to join him, not even Robin; they had all given up on him weeks ago, after he took a swing at Jonathan when Nancy suggested he find a way to move on with his life.
Not that Steve noticed, anyhow; he was going through the motions of life, as was expected of him, but it was like he wasn’t actually alive. He wasn’t the only one, either.
Hopper was rushing out of the market, four boxes of Eggos tucked under one arm, a bag full of different flavored syrups, whipped cream, and chocolate candies dangling from his hand. He tossed everything into the passenger seat of the car, and sped off to the cabin; ever since you had left town without a word, Eleven had been more difficult to deal with, and if Hopper was even one minute late from when he told her he’d be home, he would find her curled up in his chair crying her eyes out.
Truthfully, he didn’t know what to do. It had been over a month since you vanished, and Eleven was still hurting like it happened yesterday. He was hurting the same as she was, but since he had to take care of her, he never once let himself feel the pain of your departure; he couldn’t let himself feel it when he told El about it, he couldn’t let himself feel it while he was under investigation for supposedly sleeping with you, and he couldn’t let himself feel it even now, when El was so skittish about him being home when he said he would be.
Throwing the car into park as soon as he was pulled up to the cabin, he scooped up all the supplies and ran up the front porch. Luckily, he was precisely on time, and Eleven was sitting on the couch watching TV; she turns to look at him, and breaks out in a wide smile when she sees the Eggos. “Dinner?” she asks hopefully.
“Yeah, kid,” he says, relief rolling off him in waves. “Thought we might go a little crazy with the triple deckers tonight.”
Eleven comes over and takes some of the stuff out of his hands, and heads over to the kitchen. While her back is turned, Hopper lets his shoulders drop for a second; she’s wearing the Hawkins PD jacket that had been yours, and it’s the only indication she’s giving him that today was another rough day for her. When she turns back at him, he smiles at her encouragingly, and she smiles back as she plugs in the toaster.
In Sessler, Illinois, the dinner rush was settling into their meals at the local diner where you were working as a waitress. The moment you got to town, you visited the high school you had sent your transcripts to, and arranged to earn your GED, realizing you would need to work more hours than you could possibly balance with school in order to continue to afford rent anywhere in the town.
You had passed the test within the first two weeks, and got a waitressing job immediately after; you also worked part time at the local Radio Shack; between the two jobs, you were busy enough you couldn’t dwell on Hawkins and everything you had left behind, and you were making more than enough for food and rent.
Tonight, as you were serving the Jacksons their usual Wednesday night meal of burgers and curly fries, the bells on the door jingled, signaling another customer waiting to be seated. You hurried over as soon as you set down the last plate, and grabbed a menu and a set of silverware.
“Hi, welcome to - ”
“No time for small talk,” Murray Bauman interrupted. “When are you off?”
You paused; Murray was a regular customer of yours at Radio Shack, but you’d never had longer than a five minute conversation with the guy.
“Uh, hi, Mr. Bauman,” you said slowly. “I’m off at closing, but I have a fifteen coming up in about twenty minutes.”
“Meet me in the back parking lot in twenty then,” he said, and promptly exited the diner.
“Okay….” you said quietly to yourself before plastering your customer service smile back on and heading to pick up your next order.