Chapter Text
Chris had been pulling back into Hawkins after driving to Indie to get her hair re-dyed (something she had started getting done after all the Upside-Down bullshit started to regain some semblance of control over her life) when she first saw the group.
She had known that her girlfriend's dad, Chief Jim Hopper, had gone out of town for the day, but she didn't know for what purpose. Apparently, it was to pick up the angry blonde and his five friends. There was a Hispanic-looking kid with shoulder length hair, an Asian kid wearing a baseball jersey and a pair of jeans, a kid with a NASA t-shirt that she thought would get on swell with Dustin and Will, the curly blonde-haired kid, another kid with brown hair who was smaller than the rest, and a kid who looked like the paperboy that you saw every morning but didn't pay any mind to.
The group had all tumbled out of Eddie's van, which Hopper had borrowed to pick them up, seeing as his vehicle was too small to carry all of them. Chris had pulled up to the van and rolled down her window.
"Ay, Hopper! Where'd you pick up all of these teens? Adding to the growing collection of kids that Stevie-Boy has to mother?" she chuckled.
"Ah, no. Not quite, Christina. This is my nephew, Vance, and his buddies. They'll be staying with me in the cabin for the time being. But I'm gonna let them explore the town for the time being," Hopper explained.
"Aight, aight. Well, tell 'em to stop by Family Video to bug the hell outta my dearest cousin, wouldya?" she requested.
"Or... maybe you could give them a tour of Hawkins? I gotta head into work, but I figure, if you're already in your car, why not take the bunch around town for a bit?" Hopper chuckled nervously.
Chris sighed but nodded and pulled her car over to park in one of the parking lots nearby. The kids weren't gonna be able to all fit in her car, so it'd be better for them to all walk. Besides, it'd be better for them to get to know her now rather than later when she came by for dinner with Hopper and Joyce.
"Alright, man. But you've gotta get Jonathan to make that amazing baked pasta dish when I come for dinner, alright?" she requested, sticking her hands in the pockets of her jeans when she walked back over.
"Alright, deal."
"Cool beans," she responded, turning to the group who was looking at her like she had grown two heads.
She sighed, walking over to them. The kid with the NASA t-shirt was the first one to smile and wave at her, though it seemed timid. Vance, the fluffy blond-haired kid, was glaring at her like she was a creature from the hellscape under Hawkins. The Hispanic kid stood slightly in front of the NASA kid, as if he was itching for a fight to protect the dude. The baseball-playing Asian was the second to smile, a bit friendlier than the NASA kid's. The other two stared warily but didn't seem like they were lookin' to kill her or anything.
"Alrighty then. Guess I'm your tour guide of the wonderful Hawkins 'the Devil's Armpit', Indiana. I'mma need some names 'cause I can't keep making up nicknames based on appearances, my men. Other than Mr. Vance over there, your uncle already pointed ya out, man," she sighed, fidgeting with her Bowie t-shirt.
"My names Finney Blake, what's yours?" the NASA kid spoke up after a beat of silence.
"Oh, the name's Christina Johnson, but you can me Chris. Nice ta meetcha, Fin," she grinned, giving him a two-finger salute.
"Nice to meet you, Chris. My name is Bruce. Bruce Yamada," the friendly baseball player smiled, matching her grin almost perfectly.
"I'm Robin Arellano," the Hispanic kid spoke, inclining his head slightly in greeting.
"My name is Griffin Stagg, and that's Billy Showalter, though he likes to be called Paperboy," the kid that was smaller than the rest introduced.
"Aight, cool. So, we ready to start this 'tour'?" she asked.
All the boys except for Vance nodded and she started walking. She started off by showing them around the middle of town, where all the cool stuff was, then pointed out where the streets that the people they might wanna hang out with were.
"Oh! We also have a video store where you can rent tapes. I actually needed to return and pick up some new tapes, so we're gonna stop by there, kay?" she clapped her hands, bouncing on the balls of her feet slightly.
"I don't fuckin' care, so whatever," Vance grumbled.
"Oh! He speaks! You might wanna tone down the swearing, dude. Ole Hop hates it. He's takin' care of a girl who is... really impressionable, one might say, and doesn't wanna teach her any more swears. But I personally don't care," she shrugged, opening the door to Family Video.
"YO! Stephanie! Were you at cuz?" she yelled, receiving a groan from the horror section.
"You know that isn't my name Christina," was fired back at her by a male voice.
"Ey! Don't use my real name, dumbass!
"If you wanna call me Stephanie, when you know good and well my name is Steven, I'mma call you by your full name, Christina Allegra Byanca Filomena Johnson." the male, Steven, responded, playful venom coating his voice.
"You take that BACK!" she roared back, same playful tone coating her voice as she rushed around the shelves to find her cousin.
The group of boys trailed sluggishly behind the surprisingly speedy teen. When they found her, she had a guy with brown hair who seemed to be older than her by a few years pinned to the ground on his stomach, her elbow jammed smack dab between his shoulder blades.
"Perché cazzo would you spill my whole goddamn name, Steve? That's hella emabarrasing, cugino," she hissed out as the guy slapped the ground three times, tapping out.
She grinned, getting off of the man and helping him up. Then, she reached into her messenger bag and pulled out the copy of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark that she had rented.
"Robbie's up at the counter if ya wanna go return that, cugina," Steve pointed out, returning to shelving the tapes he had in his bin.
"Aight, man. I'll be back to snag that copy of A Nightmare on Elm Street, mkay?" she said, turning to walk over to Robin.
Steve hummed back a noncommittal noise of acknowledgement as she approached the counter and all but slapped down the tape. She could practically feel the weird stares that she was getting from the group of boys that she had kiiinda ditched in her journey to the front of the shop.
"Hey Robert-Bobert, care to return this tape for me?" she asked, grinning her signature grin.
"Sure thing, Christopher Robin," the female grinned back, taking the tape from off of the counter.
"Alrighty then, I'm gonna go bug Misses Stephanie over there until he lets me have the A Nightmare on Elm Street tape that he's in the middle of putting up and then I'm gonna deliver these lil' buggers to Hop's place and then I'm gonna go home and... freshen up, before dinner 'cause I've been in Indie all day and I smell like the city," she laughed, waving and walking away towards Steve.
"Oh, crap! Okay, so... uh... Kiddos! Just lemme bug my dearest cousin Steven for a sec and then we can head towards ole Hop's place, aight?" she said, turning to face the teens.