Chapter Text
Steve Harrington was not very smart, or at least that’s what everyone else said, anyway. His so-called friends, his teachers and even his own father believed him to be this way. Never amounting to anything, destined to become just another employee at the family’s real estate firm. He couldn’t get into any colleges, couldn’t get his thoughts out on paper. The belief that he would amount to nothing eventually festered deeply enough in Steve’s mind that he decided to prove them all wrong, he wasn’t a failure. He was Steve Harrington, he could do anything he wanted, be anything he wanted. So, he decided to try again. In the fall of 1988, Steve Harrington was enrolled in college.
Much to his best friend Robin’s dismay, Steve was setting off for College of Indiana on a campus just outside of Indianapolis. Robin wasn’t like Steve, she didn’t have the money or means to drop everything and leave, so she stayed. Logging VHS tapes and tending to customers alone at Family Video, she used her short breaks to call him from the phone sitting idly on the returns desk. They’d call at least once a day while Steve was attending college, sometimes more than that if the two of them were feeling clingy. When she’d get home, Robin would beg her mother to use the phone for more than ten minutes at a time. They assumed she had a boyfriend, but they couldn’t be more wrong. She had a best friend who she missed more than anything who she couldn’t reach, only able to contact through short phone calls. Robin was never going to let him live abandoning her down, and Steve knew that from all of the comments he listened to during their time together. She was glad he was pursuing something new, but not for the reasons and motivations he had to do so. She missed him, and he felt the same.
The first semester wasn’t too bad. Confusing, but not impossible to understand. He ended up pulling a few strings and getting a recommendation letter from one of his father’s friends at the firm, making up random qualities about him that would guarantee his success, especially with the high acceptance rate. Steve and his mother rarely spoke before college, and his father chose to speak in bank statements as soon as he left. $600 per month and a paid tuition was the settled agreement since Steve chose to go by himself, not having to be taught a lesson this time; because of his father’s status and way with words, he got his son a one-person dormitory, and that was the end of their communication during the start of the school year. It was barely enough to get by, but Steve knew being broke was better than being on the streets. He was glad to be accommodated, but he still felt so empty, desperate and alone. It should feel like you’re on the top of the world when you’re finally away from the hellscape otherwise known as Hawkins, Indiana, but the seclusion and desperation only made him feel worse.
Wake up, work out and stretch, attend classes, grab some processed slop from the dining hall, go back home to study, go out if you have time, snack on something in bed, call Robin, go to sleep.
That was the average day for Steve Harrington in college. His major was a lot more complicated than he originally believed it to be. He thought he’d just be learning about medicines and methods to treat athlete injuries, but there was an entire world he had no idea about. He had to study and make notes of the entire musculoskeletal system, medicines and their chemical breakdowns. It was like he was in high school again, stressing over a test he didn’t study for. He lost some time with Robin to study, which was unfortunate for the two of them, but he didn’t want to fail and seem like an even bigger disappointment. He continued to attend classes and try his best on assignments, and then, there was Spring Break.
It only lasted a week and a half, but he was more than excited to see Robin. His parents didn’t bother asking when the break was, or asking anything at all for that matter, so it wasn’t a topic of conversation. They continued going about their everyday lives thinking their son was still studying in college, but in reality, he was in town. He visited old friends who had since grown into the age he was when they first met. Between the time spent with Robin, Steve talked to Dustin, Lucas, Max and all of the other kids who knew he was back in Hawkins.
They shared laughs and updated each other on what life was like in the months he had been gone. Dustin had grown a faint mustache on his upper lip, Lucas was offered an athletic scholarship that he’d follow up on when he graduated Hawkins High and Max was sporting a new, shiny wheelchair that she and Lucas had saved up for individually. He caught up with the others eventually, and he was so glad to see they were doing well. As happy as he was for all of them, it made his heart hurt to know that everyone was still leading wonderful lives without him in the picture.
For the rest of the break, he and Robin spent every day together and he eventually drove her home when the sun went down. He’d annoy her by asking her questions about what she had been up to in his months-long absence, to which she responded with,
“Steve, we called every day you were at college. You either have a memory problem or don’t listen to me if you don’t know what I did while you were gone.”
“Hey, I listen! I was just making a joke.” He said.
“Sure you were. If you are truly wondering, I spent a lot of time working and missing you.”
“No updates on your love life still?”
“Sure, no… maybe. You? Any cute people?”
“Vague, but okay— and no. I’m just as clueless as you.”
“I am not clueless, just painfully socially awkward… and maybe there’s a girl, but I’ll tell you about her later.” She said.
Steve didn’t bother prying after that, he was too exhausted from poor sleeping arrangements and the stress constantly taking up his mind because of college.
“So, you’re seriously not gonna see your parents before you leave me… again?”
”Oh stop, Rob. I’ll come see you again soon! At least you actually like having me around, if I visit my parents, I’m sure they won’t have anything nice to say.”
“I know the feeling, but, that sucks like… majorly. I mean, I just couldn’t imagine the feeling of rejection and disappointment if my own parents weren’t even slightly enjoying seeing me after I was gone— sorry, not helping.”
“Harsh… but you’re right. I’m sure they’d just find something to pick on me for if I went to visit them.”
”I’m sorry, Steve.”
”Don’t worry about it.”
On the final day of Spring Break, Robin decided to take Steve to a drive-in theater to watch the movie they had talked about the most when it came out years ago. He had to drive, of course, but he had no idea where they were going until they arrived. There, on the large screen surrounded by tens of cars, was Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
“Fast Times, really? Didn’t that come out like… five years ago?”
”Six, and just because something is old doesn’t mean it’s bad. Animal House is still one of your favorite movies.”
”That’s a classic, though!”
“And Phoebe Cates’ boobies aren’t?”
“Hey, you were the one who told me to stop saying boobies.”
“Whatever, I take it back! Boobies!”
“Boobies.”
By the end of the night, Steve was gone. With a final tight hug and a promise to see her again as soon as possible, Steve looked at the dim road in front of him. He had a nearly two-hour long drive back to campus, and he didn’t feel like going to bed extremely late. The college allowed students to return the night of the final day of break as an alternative for those who traveled and would have to drive back in the early hours. As much as he didn’t want to leave Robin and everyone else behind, he had things to do and classes to attend the following day. Life was hard with so much responsibility, but he felt he had to continue on this path in order to prove a point to both himself, his father and the world. He was Steve Harrington, and he was not going to let anyone think he wasn’t smart.
He eventually made it to his dormitory and took off nearly everything he was wearing before hopping into bed. The clock read 11:54PM, and he sighed. He had a long day ahead of him, and he already felt his eyes begin to droop. As the desire to sleep took over his body, Steve thought of only one thing.
I am Steve Harrington, and I am going to graduate college… eventually.