ROBIN STARED AT the spray painted word in shock as whispers and laughs began erupting all behind her.

She felt sick to her stomach, the slur on her locker taunting her. It was big and bold and everyone knew her secret now. At that moment she wanted to fall to her knees and sob, but she had to stay strong, seem unbothered, act like the insults didn't get to her even though they clearly did. She couldn't crumple in front of all these people— that was what they wanted her to do, and she wasn't going to give in.

"What the fuck?" The sound of Steve's furious voice broke Robin out of her thoughts. He was standing next to her now, staring at the word on her locker with rage flashing in his eyes. He whirled around to face the group of gathered students, all either whispering to each other or giggling behind their hands. "Who the fuck did this? Who?!"

People shrugged, their amusement failing to subside. Everyone found this hilarious, and that cut Robin like a knife.

"You all are the most pathetic assholes I've ever met," Steve seethed, and while he was simply terrifying when he was angry, nobody took him, the kind teddy bear in Hawkins, seriously. He was too nice for his own good, and everyone figured he was just fucking with them. Robin knew Steve though, and she knew he wanted to rip each and everyone's head off.

"What's the big deal?" Someone asked from the crowd, and Robin saw who it was, some guy she recognized from the football team. His shaggy black hair fell into his eyes and he was wearing a football jersey for the game that night. "She had it comin' for her. I mean, she's a fa— "

In one swift motion Steve had the guy pinned to the wall, his shirt collar clutched in his hands. "Finish that sentence, dipshit. I dare you."

The guy glared at him but didn't say another word. Steve released him and headed back over to where Robin stood, grabbing her hand and leading her somewhere else.

"Steve, where are we going?" She asked, sighing. She tried to keep her voice from cracking. She wanted to cry but refused to do so.

"The office, we're not gonna let the asshole that vandalized your locker get away with this," he said. Robin felt her heart double in size. If it weren't for Steve, she'd probably be dead by now. He was all she had.

Once they reached the office they stepped inside and Robin did a double take when seeing Nancy at the front desk, sorting through papers like she belonged there. The curly-haired girl looked up when hearing the door creak and an emotion flashed in her blue eyes, one that Robin couldn't detect.

"Hey guys," Nancy greeted them both. "Can I help you?"

"Hey Nance," Steve said, his voice somewhat calm now. "Is Principal Stevens in right now?"

"Yeah, you guys can go on back," she said, nodding to the hallway behind her. As Robin passed the desk Nancy gave her a sympathetic smile, and Robin knew. She knew that Nancy knew her secret.

She didn't know why she expected otherwise. Everyone knew. Word spread around Hawkins like a forest fire, and you couldn't run from it. It would always catch up to you.

"Why is Nancy at the desk?" Robin mumbled to Steve as they walked down the hall.

"She's an assistant," Steve replied, not offering anymore information. They reached the principal's office and Steve knocked once before slightly opening the door.

"Come on in," a gruff voice said and the hair on Robin's arms stood up. She'd never been in the principal's office before, nor had she met the principal personally. He was an old man with a beer belly and a greying beard. He reminded Robin of Santa Claus.

"You may take a seat," the man nodded towards the two chairs in front of his desk. Steve sat down and Robin hesitated before doing the same. "Now, what can I do for you kids?"

"A student here has vandalized my friend's locker," Steve informed him, not allowing Robin to do the talking, which she was thankful for. If she talked about it, she'd probably start crying.

Principal Stevens eyed them for a moment. "Do you know who the student is?"

"No sir, but we may have an idea."

—

AFTER THE INTERACTION with the principal, Robin was forced to go to class, and she felt eyes on her the entire hour. And the hour after that, and the hour after that.

She couldn't catch a break from the gossip or stares. It was all she could see, all she could hear. People just wouldn't stop talking about her. This was the exact reason why she was a wallflower— she didn't want to be talked about. She didn't want the attention to be on her. Why couldn't people just mind their business and move on?

Because it wasn't valid to be queer in the 1980's, that's why. It was wrong and sinful and it made her some kind of alien in people's eyes. She didn't understand why it was so wrong to love who she loved. She just wasn't attracted to boys, why did that matter? Why couldn't she date a girl and be happy? Why couldn't she kiss a girl without all eyes being on her? Why couldn't she just live her life the way she wanted to?

It was moments like these when she wanted to be normal.

When the last class of the day rolled around, Robin felt queasy. She thought about skipping but she couldn't go through with it— she knew the office would just call her mom anyway. So she had to make her way to history and sit down while feeling stares on her, including a stare that belonged to Nancy Wheeler.

Out of everyone at Hawkins High School, Robin was most afraid of Nancy's reaction. She didn't know why she cared so much about how Nancy perceived her, but she did, and she didn't want the girl to hate her. She most likely did now after seeing the mess on her locker. The thought of Nancy hating her made her want to vomit.

"Alright class, today is the day you turn in your projects I assigned to you last week," the teacher announced from the front of the room. "Hopefully you all got them done and I won't have to give out any F's."

Robin stared at the pencil on her desk, the eraser chewed because of her ADHD. She didn't care about the project because her and Nancy had already gotten it done a while ago. Nancy had the papers stapled together all nice and neat, so she just waited for the girl to head to the front and hand it in.

She tried not to watch as Nancy passed by her desk. She tried not to think about her curly hair or ocean eyes or pink lips. But as Nancy passed her again, their eyes locked, and Robin's heart skipped a beat.

Out of all people, why did she have to fall for Nancy Wheeler?