Chapter Text
Summer, 1979
Georgia Jones’s first time at summer camp was not going the way she had imagined.
Her plans had involved a summer full of adventures, endless fun, and unforgettable moments with her two best friends, Jonathan Byers and Hazel Henderson.
Instead, everything went terribly wrong.
In the end, both of them had to cancel. Georgia watched all her expectations sink as the familiar streets of Hawkins faded away, replaced by the dense forest surrounding the neighboring town where Camp SunnyVale was located.
Georgia knew she couldn’t blame them. With Jonathan’s parents’ sudden—though not entirely unexpected—separation, and Hazel’s father’s very unexpected invitation for his children to spend the summer with him, camp was no longer a priority.
Her first instinct had been to cancel as well, to stay behind and support Jonathan while they waited for Hazel to return.
Her parents didn’t agree.
They decided it would be good for her to change scenery, maybe even make new friends.
Georgia strongly disagreed. She was already perfectly happy with the two friends she had.
But being twelve meant you didn’t have much of a choice, even with parents as understanding as hers.
Everything pointed to a month filled with boredom.
Even if camp was supposed to be the perfect place for adventure, Georgia’s thoughts remained firmly anchored in everything she had left behind in Hawkins.
When she arrived at SunnyVale, she was certain it would be a miserable summer—and she hated every second of it.
At least, until the day she met Steve Harrington.
Like Georgia—who everyone called Gigi—Steve was there against his will. Unlike her, it wasn’t his first time. Whenever his parents traveled for work or decided they needed to “relax,” he was shipped off to camps or left with babysitters.
He lived caught between extremes: either deeply neglected or, when it suited his parents’ image, subjected to impossible expectations of being the perfect son in front of others.
Steve grew up learning that people only needed each other when it was convenient. That no one stayed unless they wanted something from him. As a result, his childhood was made up of fleeting friendships and a constant lack of belonging.
Still, he quietly hoped that someday, someone might like him simply for who he was.
Their meeting was completely unexpected.
On the third day of camp, Steve decided to follow a snake he spotted near the edge of the grounds, driven more by curiosity than anything else.
He never imagined that curiosity would nearly turn tragic—if not for Georgia, who had been watching everything unfold from the top of a tree, where she was hiding from the camp counselors.
Without thinking, she jumped.
To Steve, it felt as if a girl had quite literally fallen from the sky. She landed in front of him with surprising steadiness. Sunlight filtered through the leaves above, catching in her light hair, which fell loose around her face, soft and slightly tangled from climbing. There was something almost unreal about her, all wide eyes and quiet confidence, like a scene pulled straight from a painting. He could swear his heart stumbled in his chest, something that had never happened before.
Georgia landed firmly, carefully grabbed the snake, and tossed it back into the forest.
“You should be more careful,” she said, brushing off her hands. “If that snake had bitten you, you’d be dead.”
“You were incredible coming down from that tree,” Steve replied, far too enchanted to worry about her warning.
Georgia blushed.
“Thanks. No one’s ever said that to me before.”
Her cheeks were already turning red as she took a closer look at the boy she’d just saved. His eyes were a shade she’d never quite seen before. Brown eyes were common, but something about him felt different. Even then, Georgia knew he was anything but ordinary.
“If we run into each other again, I’ll probably say it again,” Steve added, clearly referring to the compliment. “I’m Steve Harrington. And thank you for saving me.”
He held out his hand.
“I’m Georgia. Georgia Jones,” she replied with a shy smile, shaking it. “If you ever need saving from venomous snakes again, just call me.”
Steve let out a long laugh and nodded.
“You’re from Hawkins?” he asked, curious. He was certain he’d never seen her before.
“I am.”
“Then how come I’ve never seen you?”
Georgia smiled to the side before reciting the answer she’d already memorized.
“I’m homeschooled. I know it’s not very common, and I’ll probably enroll in school soon, but my parents traveled a lot, so it was easier this way,” she explained with a shrug.
Georgia’s childhood had been full of constant changes because of her parents’ work—work she didn’t fully understand, beyond knowing it involved some very important research.
She hadn’t stayed in one place longer than six months until they moved to Hawkins. Her parents had promised that this time would be permanent. And while she loved the adventures that came with new places, she had grown attached to the friendships she’d built there. She planned to grow up in Hawkins—and when she was older, to travel the world just like her parents, preferably with Jonathan and Hazel by her side.
“That actually sounds pretty cool,” Steve said. And he meant it. Everything about the girl who climbed trees and wasn’t afraid of snakes felt strangely fascinating.
In the days that followed, they became inseparable.
They jumped into the river, played at the camp’s improvised arcade, and shared secret picnics beneath the trees. Georgia told made-up stories; Steve listened as if nothing else in the world mattered.
At night, they sat on the steps of her cabin until a counselor chased them inside—and Steve never forgot to say goodnight with a loud kiss on her cheek, leaving Georgia smiling as she fell asleep.
Their closeness quickly became a problem for the SunnyVale counselors, especially after a daring escape to a nearby waterfall—an adventure that left Georgia with a permanent scar on her knee. In her opinion, it was nothing compared to the memories they made that day.
Day after day, they built something entirely new for both of them. They understood each other with nothing more than a glance, as if they’d known each other for years. They grew closer and closer, until, in the final week of camp, Steve realized that somehow, inexplicably, his heart beat faster whenever Georgia was near.
Georgia felt the same. Whenever Steve was around, her stomach refused to stay still, as if butterflies had taken flight inside her.
They discovered the feeling was mutual on a rainy night, after a clumsy dance brought on by one of Georgia’s playful dares.
“I dare you to dance in the rain,” she said, laughing, a challenge shining in her eyes.
He didn’t just accept—he pulled her into the rain with him. The dance was awkward and uncoordinated, filled with laughter and spinning feet. But when their eyes met, the moment shifted. A shy, tender kiss followed.
They didn’t say it out loud, but both of them knew they were connected.
When it was time to leave, Georgia hesitated.
“What if we lose each other?” she asked, her voice trembling.
“You don’t have to worry about that. I’ll always find you. That’s a promise,” Steve replied confidently.
“How can you be so sure?”
“I just know it’ll happen. I don’t know when—but it will.”
Georgia smiled, believing him.
After a long hug, she started to walk away, but Steve’s voice reached her a few steps later.
“If anything happens, come find me. My address is 133 Cornelia Street, the last house on the block,” he said, already stepping back, a smile on his face.
Only a few days before the end of summer, when Georgia returned home, she discovered something that would change everything.
They were moving.
Worse—they were leaving immediately. The moment she stepped inside, she saw her packed suitcase waiting by the door. Her parents presented the news as something she couldn’t refuse: a great adventure. They apologized profusely and promised it would be temporary, that they’d return to Hawkins once the research was finished. But it was last-minute, and they couldn’t turn it down.
Georgia was devastated, but she noticed how nervous her parents seemed. In the end, she accepted it without much protest. Two years without her friends—and without Steve—but full of adventures. And eventually, she would come back.
That same day, she crossed the street to say goodbye to her friends, then climbed into her parents’ car, heading toward the unknown.
The next two years were filled with adventures, as her family traveled across places she’d only ever dreamed of. And while she missed her friends and Steve deeply, she couldn’t deny that she was happy.
She kept in touch with Hazel and Jonathan through letters. She did the same with Steve.
No matter where she was, Georgia always found time to sit down and write.
Letters full of stories, silly details from her day, inside jokes only he would understand.
Each sealed envelope was a small piece of her sent back to Hawkins.
Each letter, a hope.
No reply ever came.
Still, she kept writing.
She imagined countless explanations, none of them making much sense. Yet she never found the courage to ask her friends for help—she was too embarrassed.
So she lived those two years filled with adventure, honing what she already loved most: training. Her parents had encouraged her from a young age to learn self-defense and related skills. In Hawkins, she’d had her own trainer. While away, she sought out every mentor who had something new to teach her.
When she finally returned to Hawkins, she remembered that summer with Steve as vividly as ever, even after two years apart. She was thrilled to see her friends again—and eager to finally reunite with Steve, to understand his silence. More than anything, she wanted to believe it had all been a misunderstanding, that they could pick up where they’d left off—whatever they’d been.
The girl who once climbed trees barefoot now stood a little taller, more sure of herself. Her hair was longer, lighter, framing her face in soft waves, and her features had sharpened with time. There was something different in the way she dressed, too. Worn boots, fitted jeans, and a leather jacket she clearly hadn’t owned before. It suited her, matching the confidence she had grown into.
On her first day of school, the anxiety of seeing him again was overwhelming. Everyone assumed she was nervous about attending school for the first time, but the truth was very different.
Georgia was talking with her two best friends when she spotted Steve. He was laughing with a small group, carefree and confident. To her, he looked even more handsome than she remembered, and the familiar butterflies stirred in her stomach.
She couldn’t look away.
When her friends noticed where her gaze was fixed, their expressions darkened.
“There’s someone you’re going to hate,” Hazel said bitterly.
“What do you mean?” Georgia asked, startled.
“That’s Steve Harrington. The so-called King of Hawkins,” Hazel added, making an exaggerated, mocking bow. “The biggest jerk I’ve ever seen.”
Jonathan agreed, explaining how arrogant and snobbish Steve was, how he collected girls like trading cards.
Georgia was too shocked to react. And when she glanced back at Steve, she found him looking at her.
For a brief second, she thought she saw something flicker in his eyes.
Then it vanished.
Steve turned back to his friends as if she didn’t exist. As if he didn’t remember her at all.
Georgia forced herself to look away and focus on her friends, but the question followed her all day.
How could the boy she’d known have changed so much?
Part of her still believed maybe he wasn’t as terrible as they said. That was why, after school—while waiting for her friends—she decided to speak to him when she saw him heading toward his car.
“Steve,” she called.
He turned, facing her.
She waited for any reaction at all—and received none.
“Do you remember me? From summer camp, two years ago,” she said, hating the possibility that he didn’t.
“Uh… I think so. Gabe, right? How’ve you been?” he replied, barely looking at her.
The distance in his voice felt like a shock. This wasn’t the boy who once claimed he could listen to her talk for hours.
“My name is Georgia,” she said softly.
“Right. Good seeing you, Geiza,” he said, climbing into the car and starting the engine. Then he yelled to a boy running toward them. “Come on, Tommy! Eugene’s waiting for us!”
Tommy climbed into the car laughing—until he noticed Georgia.
“So, is she your new girlfriend?” he asked, giving her an unmistakable once-over. “Hot.”
“No. Gabriella’s from camp, you know. I mentioned her before,” Steve said, getting her name wrong again. “We barely knew each other.”
“Those loser nerds? Good thing you didn’t go back. Must’ve been a pain like you said. But she’s cute—if you don’t go for it, I will,” Tommy added, winking at Georgia.
For a moment, Steve said nothing. Then he laughed.
“All yours.”
The words hit Georgia like a punch.
Steve had reduced their entire summer to nothing. Worse, he’d told people the camp had been awful and full of losers. The boy she’d remembered for so long was now the source of her first real heartbreak.
“You’re unbelievable,” she said, bitterness replacing the sadness. His behavior explained everything—why he never answered her letters, why he’d vanished so completely. The Steve she’d known had been nothing more than a summer lie.
“What?” Steve asked, turning back toward her as he reversed the car.
“I said you’re a jerk, Harrington,” Georgia snapped. She kicked the car door with all her strength, leaving a visible dent. “Goodbye.”
She heard his shouted curses, but she didn’t stay. She left the parking lot, walking home and letting her anger boil over.
Georgia wasn’t surprised when a police officer later knocked on her door about the damage to Steve’s car. Her parents paid for the repairs—but for her, it was a declaration of war.
Over time, the memory of that summer faded beneath countless arguments and sharp words. Even more than a year after her return, nothing improved. Every chance Georgia had to sabotage Steve, she took. He did the same. They were always ready to fight, always eager to ruin whatever the other was planning.
Until the only thing left between them was anger.
And so, a summer love turned into declared enemies.