"The most stunning mornings to all of you at Hawkins high. This is Cassandra Park with your morning announcement, in hopes of making your day less dreadfully, soul crushingly boring." Cassie leaned on the counter as she spoke over the speakers. "It's my greatest honor to inform all of you that your feet should be traveling to the gym at this early morning glow hour, preparing your souls for the assembly that the basketball team will be hosting. A large, over whelming applause for our boys after taking the title of winners this past weekend. Especially the bench warmers, couldn't have managed without you."

The principle tapped her watch to show Cassie time was almost up. "Um, garlic bread at lunch today! My favorite subject to keep those head spinning, fall on your face in fear, vampires away. Go Tigers and don't do drugs!"

"Thank you, ma'am!" the principle called out, handing Cassie the stack of newspapers. "Loved your article this week."

"Thank you." her face lit up. "I'll be sure to throw together another lovable, face flushing paper for the tournament."

As Cassie walked out of the office, she waited till she was completely out of view, taking off in a sprint to get to the gym. Her hair flew behind her, pushing the door open before crashing through it. A newspaper or two flew behind her head as she crashed into the gym, barely late as the basketball team began to run from the torn paper. Her face lit up at the sight of Lucas, his smile making her happy. His eyes caught hers, waving in her direction. Cassie did in return.

"Hi, Hawkins High News Paper to uplift your day, soul, and mind." Cassie smiled, handing out the news paper as she walked down the line of bleachers. "Hi, Hawkins High News Paper to uplift your day, soul, and mind."

"Good morning, Hawkins high!" Jason called as Cassie made it toward her group of friends.

"Hey, Cas." Mike said, getting ignored and a dramatic head turn.

"First off...hey. First off, I'd like to thank each and every one of you. Without your support, we wouldn't be here. Give yourselves a big hand!" Jason smiled as he clapped his hands together.

The crowd mimicked his actions, the the band giving the crowd a beat. Mike nudged Cassie. "How many times do I have to say i'm sorry?"

"Until your tongue detaches itself from your mouth, hitting the floor ever so harshly, and I step on it as the shades of scarlet and ruby smack you in the face." she threatened with a side glare, Dustin giggled as Mike wacked his arm.

"Of course I have to give a special shout-out to the best and the prettiest fans of all time, the Tiger Cheer Squad!" Jason tossed his hands up, pointing toward the pretty girls. Cassie clapped for them, because they were all surprisingly very sweet to her when she'd attend all Lucas' games. "Chrissy...Chrissy, I love you, baby."

"How sweet." Cassie smiled. "I love high school romance that swells my heart and pulls my soul from my body, rolling it in flowers and red wine, then giving it back to me."

"Oh, I liked that one." Dustin nodded his head.

"You know... I think I can speak for all of us when I say it's been a rough year for Hawkins." Jason started to go on once the gym quieted down. "So much loss. And sometimes I wonder "How much loss can one community take?" In dark days like this, we need something to believe in. So, last night, when we were down by ten points at half to Christian Academy, I looked at my team, and I said, "Think of Jack." "Think of Melissa." "Think of Heather." "Think of Billy." "Think about our heroic police chief, Jim Hopper." "Think about each and every one of our friends who perished in that fire." What did they die for? For us to lose to some...some crap school? No! For us to return home with our heads hung low in defeat? No! Lets win this game! Let's win this game for them, and that's exactly what we did!"

Lucas met Cassies eye again, smiling at her as she smiled back. She reached over and held Max's hand, making her look over to get a comforting smile. While they had drifted, Max knew she always had Cassie, and Cassie knew she always had Max.

"We embarrassed those candy-assess in their own house, and now tonight, tonight, we're gonna bring home the championship trophy!" Jason shouted loudly in joy and pride.

"Tonight?" Mike asked in disbelief.

"How is that possible?" Dustin tossed his hands up.

"They call it a tournament. You win one game, you go on until there's only one team left." Max informed them.

"Wait." Dustin looked over as Cassies eyes widened. "Cass, no!"

"I can't help that they like my intelligent writing skills!" Cassie held her hands up. "Someone will replace my presence while I sadly, dreadfully, panic filled, painfully terrible, miss tonight."

"Cass, we need you." Mike shook his head.

"Oh, you need me?" she glared at him. "Fully heartedly thrilled you know what it's like to need someone, just for them to pull away from your bonded, lovable, happy promise to be newspaper partners!"

"I said I was s-" Mike started, stopping as Cassie walked off.

"You deserve that." Dustin rolled his eyes. "You hurt her feelings."

"It's been a full semester." Mike sighed.

"Hey." Lucas smiled as he met Cassie on the side lines. "Looks like you'll have more writing material tonight."

"Suppose I will." she smiled as they walked together, arms pressed together. "Did you get a lovely moment to read the latest article?"

"Oh, may I?" he asked dramatically, motioning to the new papers she carried.

"I suppose I can risk getting a full body pain from a paper cut just to pass you it." she sighed loudly, handing him the newspaper. "I think you'll enjoy the last article terribly so."

Lucas flipped, staring down at the last entry.

The Heart-Warming, Soul-Crushing, Importance Of Bench Warmers.

"You wrote this about me?" he looked over with a smile.

"Well, I wrote about all your teammates." she pointed out with a head tilt. "Suppose you were right up my alley when it came to the final, sadly, dreadful, last article."

"Cass, that's so sweet." he wrapped a tight arm around her.

"You have to get your thing demolished!" Dustin ran after the two. "Lucas!"

"Saw it coming." Lucas sighed, removing his arm from around Cassie. "I don't see what the big deal is. Just talk to Eddie. Get him to move Hellfire to another night and Cassie and I will be able to make it."

"Just talk to Eddie." Dustin scoffed.

"Why don't you just talk to your coach and get him to move the game?" Mike mocked him.

"Doesn't work that simply, Michael." Cassie rolled her eyes. "Oh, but, you'd accompany that knowledge if you'd have educated yourself alongside me before writing for the Hawkins High NewsPaper."

"Cassie, i'm sorry." Mike sighed. "I'm extremely sorry."

"This is the champion game." Lucas defended the basketball status.

"And this is the end of Eddie's campaign." Dustin argued with him. "A semester of adventuring has led to this moment, and we need the both of you."

"And, and the Tigers don't. You've been on the beach all year and there's more then one writer for the news paper." Mike agreed.

"That happens to not be you for painfully, soul crushing, obvious reasons." Cassie rolled her eyes, handing out the news papers to a few that they passed.

"And it's not the point." Lucas agreed with Cassie.

"Please, arrive at the point." Dustin begged.

"If I get in good with these guys, i'll be in the popular crowd, and then you guys will be too." Lucas gushed as he explained his elaborate plan to them.

"Has it ever occurred to you that we don't want to be popular?" Mike gave a dumb look.

"So you want to be stuck with the nerds and freaks for three more years?" Lucas turned to look at them once they reached his and Cassies first class.

"We are nerds and freaks." Dustin explained with a hand toss.

"Yeah but maybe we don't have to be." Lucas matched his tone. "Look, i'm tired of being bullied. I'm tired of Cassie getting bullied. I'm tired of girls laughing at us. I'm tired of feeling like a loser. We came to high school wanting thing to be different. Right? So now we have that chance. The two of us skip tonight, that's all out the window. So i'm asking you guys, as a friend, just talk to Eddie. Get him to move Hellfire. Come to my game. Please."

The bell rung, Lucas turned. Cassie stared at Dustin and Mike. "Rudes."

She followed Lucas in, sitting down in the seat next to him. "For the record of your brain, keeping your memory storied away in every sparkling crevice of your brain, i'd still come to your game if I wasn't on the school paper."

Lucas smiled at her with a small nod. "I know you would."

"Hey, Nanc." Cassie smiled as Fred and Nancy joined her on the side lines. "My brain didn't comprehend that there'd be more of us."

"Surprise." Nancy smiled. "Put our notes together at the end of the game?"

"Sounds happily joyful." she grinned, waving to Lucas as he sat on the bench.

"Everyone rise for the National Anthem." the man over the mic leaned down to speak. "Singing for us tonight, we have a very special guest. All the way from Nashville, our very own Tammy Thompson!"

Everyone started to cheer as a girl with a bright smile and curls walked from the doors, waving to each of them. Cassie wrote her name in the little notebook she carried, a new one after loosing her old. Tammy grabbed the mic. "O say, can you see-"

Cassie winced as the mic feedback whined. "Should we be including this painfully, in possible need of hearings aids, moment?"

"Uh..." Nancy trialed off. "I don't think so."

As Tammy sang on, Cassie winced at her bars, her voice rather terrible in her opinion. When she ended, Cassie clapped. "Go, Nashville!"

The game started soon after, Tigers doing okay but not necessarily well. Cassie smacked herself in the head. "How can I write a moving, educational, want to pull your eyes out because it's so stunning, chills in every part of your body, piece if they aren't giving me anything to work with!"

"Maybe it'll get better." Fred suggested in her direction. "You know...maybe?"

"Hey!" Cassie called out to the coach.

"No, no." Nancy tried to get her to stop.

"Whats happened to that young man?" Cassie pointed toward the limping boy. She then shoved a finger at Lucas. "He's fully, head in the game, loving filled open!"

The coach looked to Lucas, Cassie couldn't hear, but then Lucas stood up and walking to the court, she cheered and jumped up and down. "Yes! Give me some new writing material, Sinclair! I know you have it in that beautiful soul of yours!"

Lucas had the ball, blocking another boy, passing it to his teammate as they got a point. One more, then lost one. The other team had been two points above them, Cassie having the time of her life on paper now that they've given her drama to write about. More importantly, she was proud and thrilled for Lucas to be out there. The buzzer was getting close, they caught up, then fell behind, going back and forth. Jason called a time out, the team crowding together.

"I can cut my legs off and just float from the over powering joy of life right now." Cassie smiled. "Lucas has never been in before!"

"He's doing really good." Nancy nodded.

"Good?" the Park girl gapped. "More like sensationally, exquisitely, fantastical!"

They were back on the court in no time, the team doing everything they could to get Jason the ball. As he threw the ball, it bouncing off the rim and down onto the players. Lucas had it, running with it to be quite a few feet away before bouncing off his feet, throwing the ball with him. Cassie gripped Nancy's hand, her eyes widening by the minute, heart racing, the final buzzer went off as the ball was in the air, meaning if they scored, they'd take home the championship.

The ball went through the net.

Cassie yelled loudly, jumping up and down as she clapped and cheered and everything she could possibly do to show her excitement. She dropped her notebook at her feet, running into the court as Lucas cheered for himself, his team just as happy as Cassie was. She pushed through. "Lucas!"

He caught her in a hug, the pair stumbling as he spun her around in a moment of adrenaline. She held his face with a huge smile. "I'm so thrilled for you! I'm beyond proud! I'm on top of the world for you right now!"

"I'm gonna explode!" Lucas yelled.

"I'm also gotta explode!" she yelled as she jumped up and down, their shared evil laugh they once did at the hospital this summer, when they were scolded by a nurse, echoing before Lucas was hoisted in their air by his teammates and had his name chanted through the gym.

•

kylie speaks

i had the craziest moment
of deja vu when writing this
chapter, it made me think that
cassie and lucas are definitely
existing in another universe
together