Chapter Text
Robin Buckley had always been on the outskirts of the popularity circles, being a band geek and all. This year however, was even more different. She'd found herself without anyone for the first time in a long time. Her favourite teacher, Mr Hauser had been forced to leave Hawkins after some jerk caught him with his boyfriend. It wasn't the first time he had to move. She'd stopped speaking to Milton and Kate after the creep Dash repeatedly tried to kiss her. She'd managed to convince Kate to dump Dash's ass but Robin and her never reconciled afterwards. Barb and Robin hadn't spoken since the start of high school, not after Barb decided to start hanging out with Nancy "The Priss" Wheeler. But Robin had moved past caring about all that this year. She finally felt free now that she'd discovered herself. She didn't feel like she had to fit in with everyone else anymore because how could she? No one else could understand her anyway, no one could understand what it felt like to be a girl who likes girls. So Robin stopped trying to fit in. She cut her hair with a pair of kitchen scissors before the school year started, painted her nails black, started wearing a simple yet striking eyeliner and shadow and skirts were so not her thing anymore. 83' was Robin's year, her year to be her authentic self, and be free.
Except it would be, if she wasn't stuck constantly competing for the top grades with Nancy. Ever since Barb became friends with her instead of Robin, she's felt this burning desire to constantly one up her, to "prove" to Barb that she's a better friend for her. Nancy being the "perfect" student she is, kept on upping her game and Robin had to challenge even herself to push ahead of "The Priss". AP English, Math, Chemistry you name it, every subject was a competition between the two, because Robin couldn't stand it if Nancy was ahead of her, and neither could Nancy. But there was something intriguing about her, the thrill she gave Robin. She'd never met anyone who'd matched her own wit before, I mean who else at Hawkins High could, most of the people here are idiots. I mean she hated Nancy's guts, but she gave Robin the drive to keep going in school when even she wanted to drop out. Hell at this rate, Robin will be going to MIT or Harvard, not that she'd want to though. The one thing Robin still has of her own that she still enjoys is band. It's a break for her from everything, where she can just feel the rhythm of the music she's playing and get lost in it. Band was the one thing Nancy Wheeler couldn't take away from Robin. Not that Nancy ever would anyway, she's not a band geek like Robin is. Robin's not 100% sure what this school year will bring for her, but she's sure as shit ready for it.
Nancy Wheeler had always been the top of her class, even dating back to kindergarten and pre-school. For years she'd sat comfortably at the top without so much of a challenge, I mean even the "nerds" in Hawkins weren't as bright as her. That was until she got to high school and met Robin Buckley. Nancy doesn't know why but she constantly found herself one-upped by Robin even when she was at the top of her game. She'd spend countless nights studying but sometimes it just wasn't enough. I mean sure, she'd gotten less study time in when she started dating Steve Harrington, the King of Hawkins High himself. Having a boyfriend and all that likes to climb and sneak through your bedroom window will do that. But he was charming enough that she didn't mind, or at least she thought she didn't, not unless she found herself slipping behind Robin, which to Nancy was INFURIATING. I mean how could this "rebel" girl who can barely keep her own nail polish from chipping and spends all day alone keep up with her?!!
"It's fine though", is what Nancy tells herself. It keeps her distracted from everything else going on in her life. Like sure, Steve is great, but she doesn't understand what he sees in her, and honestly, she doesn't understand what she sees in him either. He's not really her type, but she's not even sure on what her type is exactly, he's her first boyfriend after all. All she knows is, something's not quite right about how she feels about Steve, or any of the other boys at school. Maybe she's just dating him because it's what she's "supposed to do". What girl wouldn't wanna date the hottest guy in school? But she doesn't have time to think about that, no, she needs to keep pushing herself to be ahead of Robin, to prove to herself that she's the smartest in Hawkins. Barb tells her to ease up constantly, trying to convince her it's not that serious, she'll still end up at a good college no matter what. Nancy can't let this go however, she has to beat Robin. She's become almost fixated on her. She needs to figure out how to beat her. The best she's got so far is that Robin has band practice every Tuesday and Thursday after school. This gives Nancy a leg up in studying. Plus with Robin having to juggle both school and band, Nancy will surely get ahead. Nancy's thoughts have almost been entirely focused on this, on Robin. The way her rag tag hair looks, the way she's excelling at all the same classes as Nancy, the way she wears ripped jeans and a t-shirt almost every day instead of a skirt or blouse like every other girl in school. Nancy couldn't get Robin out of her head.