CHAPTER 001. BOYS AND GIRLS

LAURIE DANTE NEEDS TO BE PERFECT.

Ever since she was a little girl, she's always wanted to be the best of the best. Whether that be at spelling, or playing piano, or how to administer first aid.. you name it, she was probably trying to perfect it. She doesn't mean to sound cocky, but at one point in time, she was perfect.

Her family was great, she did amazing in school, she had enough friends any preteen girl could want, and even had boys falling in love - or what middle schoolers counted as love, anyways - with her almost daily. She found pride in earning as many gold stars, metaphorical or literal, as she could muster. Laurie Dante was and always will be an overachiever.

However, much like many child overachievers, she became burnt out during her Freshman year of high school. Freshman year was rough. The naiveness she once had was abruptly snatched from her when girls like Carol Perkins and Vicki Carmichael started picking on her for wearing "Prissy bitch clothing!".

She tried to pretend like it didn't bother her. She tried to pretend like maybe these girls were just trying to be funny. Laurie didn't fight back, and the girls just kept getting meaner and meaner. Of course that bothered her, because who likes to be slapped in the face with the realisation that life isn't always going to be peachy?

Laurie struggled to grasp this new view on life for a while, but she was always glad to have a family to come home to that would help her forget about the bad parts of her day. They'd play board games, watch Miami Vice or Family Ties, even have karaoke nights and laugh at her father belting the lyrics of Dancing Queen by Abba. They made her feel like she was special, even when other people didn't.

But that safe haven quickly dissipated when problems started bubbling up. Her parents started going through a rough patch in their marriage, her once kind little brother, James, slowly turned into a jerk who picked on students younger than him. For a while it felt like the Dante family were walking on eggshells around each other, scared that one wrong move might cause the entire family to collapse. So much for perfect.

But now It's the summer of 1985, and Laurie is sick and tired of her life being in a weird place. She hates change, but she hates not having control of the things she once did even more. She's 17, almost 18, and she's determined to get her life back to how it was- how her family was.

She knows it'll be a lengthy and tiring process, but she's willing to endure a little pain here and there if that means she can fix what's been broken. So, she's decided to start with one of the easier tasks on her to-do list; find a new summer job.

Laurie started waiting tables at her mom's diner when she was around 15 and she loved every second of it. Even with the occasional rude customer that almost brought her to tears, working side by side with her mother and the other waitresses always left her with a smile on her face. It was nice to be in a workplace with women who supported other women.

However, after the opening of Starcourt Mall, her mom's diner slowly began to lose its popularity much like the other small businesses in Hawkins. Laurie decided to quit and start searching for a new job, hoping that maybe her mom wouldn't have to fire any of the other ladies working there.

With Do Ya Think I'm Sexy by Rod Steward as blasting on her cassette deck, Laurie's best friend Robin Buckley is sat cross legged on her bed, nodding her head to the beat of the song. While eating the Cool Ranch Doritos they bought after her shift at Scoops and lazily flipping through the latest Cosmo magazine, Robin waits for Laurie to pick out another potential outfit to wear to her job interview.

"Okay, what about this?" Laurie asks her best friend, turning around to reveal a baby pink button down blouse on a hanger. The sleeves puff out, but cuff at the wrists, and there's a small bow at the neckline. It's not as dramatic as some of her other ones, but she thinks it could be a good contender. Robin looks up from the magazine and narrows her eyes at the shirt. After a moment or two, she shakes her head and averts her eyes back to the magazine.

"Too fancy?" Suggests Laurie, knitting her brows together.

After stuffing a few chips into her mouth, Robin shields her lips with her hand before mumbling, "It look like a grandma would wear it,"

"Really?" Laurie takes another glance at the button down shirt she's holding. She quite liked the blouse if she was being totally transparent. But one of the many perks of being best friends with Robin Buckley is that she's never been afraid to tell her the honest truth, no matter how brutal it may be. Once Laurie looks at the blouse again with that idea in mind, she comes to realise that she's definitely seen an old lady wear something similar to this a few days ago. She lets out a huff, "Yeah, okay, I guess so,"

She knows she's probably overthinking this, but Laurie really wants this interview to go well. She needs it to, actually. If she can control anything in this irritable situation, it's going to be whether or not she lands a new job or not, and she's going to do whatever it takes to make sure she gets it.

Her mom's diner is barely getting enough customers to stay in business, and it royally sucks. Laurie wants to help, she really does, so putting a bit of pressure on herself to ace this interview is going to make sure she does exactly that.

After sifting through her closet yet again, Laurie pulls out teal sweater that has a geometric pattern on it. She got a few years ago as a Christmas gift from her aunt, but hasn't really worn it recently. She turns to Robin and holds it against her torso, "How about this one?"

Robins face twists in disgust. "God, no. I hate that sweater,"

Laurie's mouth falls open. "I thought you loved this sweater," She comments, dropping the sweater from her body and shooting Robin a disappointed glare.

Robin changes the topic. "I just don't get why you're trying to hard, Laurie," She states, switching her position on Laurie's bed to lay flat against her floral duvet. "If they don't want to hire you because of what you wear, then they don't deserve you at all,"

"This is just how things work, all right? Presentation matters," She tells Robin, putting the sweater back on the rack in her closet. She starts looking through her shirts again. There has to be something in here she can wear, because she has no time to go out and buy something new. Laurie can hear Robin annoyingly groan in response behind her. "I need a job, Robin,"

This is starting to feel impossible. She has tons of shirts, dresses, and blazers, and yet it feels like she has nothing to wear. She hasn't been feeling all that confident in her body lately, so she doesn't feel like wearing something that hugs at her curves. But it's too hot for any layering. Since when was her wardrobe this complex? "Are you sure the blouse is-"

"I am not letting you leave this house dressed like an old woman, Laurie," Robin retorts before she can even finish her question.

Laurie runs her hands over her face in defeat before heading towards her bed and falling beside Robin. She's starting to realise that she might be taking this summer job idea too seriously. Getting a job is important, obviously, but she feels like she's going mad.

With her hands resting her stomach, she stares up at her ceiling, eyes flickering between the small glow-in-the-dark stars she had her father stick up when she was little. "Maybe I should just give up while I'm ahead," She jokes, "I think I'll just stay unemployed until I die of old age,"

Robin quirks a smile when she turns her head to look at Laurie. She asks, "Remind me again why you refuse to work with me at Scoops? You know you'd get the job,"

She lets out a small scoff. "Do you not hear the things you tell me? It sounds miserable, Robin,"

Robin just shrugs, rolling over onto her stomach to reach the Doritos bag at the end of the bed, "You know I have a tendency to over exaggerate,"

"I know," Answers Laurie, "But there's plenty of other jobs out there, and most pay better than a dollar-ninety an hour,"

"Yeah, okay, sure.. but none of them have me," Remarks Robin with a tilt of her head, crunching loudly on a chip.

Laurie remembers the day her and Robin met like it was yesterday. It was after the cheer team tried on their uniforms for the first time, and Carol had just made fun of the way Laurie looked. Embarrassed, Laurie ran behind the bleachers so she could cry in private. But, luckily, she wasn't.

Because there, knees to her chest and nose stuck in a book, was Robin Buckley. She was much more of a punk than she is today. She wore a lot more rings, chunkier necklaces, and much darker clothing. Robin enjoyed the time to herself, but when she noticed Laurie's tear stained face, she offered her a spot next to her, and the rest was history. Robin has, and honestly might always will be, the best friend she's ever had.

Laurie stifles a laugh, "Us working together is a terrible idea, Robin,"

Robin looks offended. "Why?"

"Are you kidding me? We'd get nothing done," Laurie retorts, eyes flickering over at Robin. Although when they're paired up in school, they work brilliantly together, she knows well enough if they were left unsupervised in a workplace, they'd get fired a few days later.

Robin likes to have fun, and Laurie is usually having to reel her attention back to whatever they're doing. That may be that part of why they work so well together; they balance each other out.

She sends Laurie a glare. "Okay, first of all, I'm very productive, and second of all, there's not that much do to, anyways," She rambles, "All we'd do is just scoop ice cream and make fun of Dingus all day,"

"Dingus? Who's Dingus?" Laurie knits her brows together. She's heard Robin refer to her coworker by that name before, amongst many others, but she's never once actually told her who he is. Laurie has definitely asked, but Robin usually gets distracted and forgets about the question entirely.

"You'd love it, Laurie," Robin assures her, nudging her shoulder ever so slightly, "It's so much fun, trust me,"

Laurie playfully rolls her eyes, "Getting screamed at by children for 10 hours a day doesn't exactly scream fun, Rob,"

The taller girl cocks her head. "Okay, well, yeah, that shit sucks," She agrees, "But seeing Steve fail to flirt with the female customers makes it all worth it,"

Laurie leans up on her elbows and looks down at Robin. "I'm sorry?"

"No, seriously, it's the funniest shit ever, Laur," Robin can't hold in her grin and lets out a small chuckle. "Like, sure, I totally feel bad for the guy and everything, but the looks on these girls faces- Pure gold,"

The only Steve Laurie can think of is none other than Steve "The Hair" Harrington, the previous king of Hawkins High. He's a total chick magnet, and Laurie would know. She had the biggest crush on him way back in Sophomore year, much like a lot of the girls in their year. God, the hold he had on Laurie without even knowing it.

Her stomach would do flips when she'd catch glances of him playing basketball while she was at cheer practise. She almost fainted the one time he smiled at her in the halls. However, after seeing how much of a douche he was when he hung out with guys like Tommy Hagan made Laurie lose her unrequited feelings. Since then, she hasn't really thought about him. The last she heard was that he was a lifeguard at the Hawkins community pool.

Robin must be thinking of a different guy, because in what world would Steve "The King" Harrington fail to flirt with girls? Laurie tilts her head before saying, "I don't think we're thinking of the same Steve,"

Robin looks confused for a moment. "Steve Harrington?" Laurie's eyed widen as she starts listing things off about him. "Total douchebag in highschool. Dated Nancy Wheeler for a while. Was the swim teams co-captain. Has luscious hair, as he likes to say,"

Well, she'll be damned. Maybe Steve Harrington isn't all that anymore.

"His downfall with forever amaze me. He says it's our uniforms fault- that it apparently covers his "best feature"," Robin says, making quotation marks with her fingers. "But we both know it's just because he's totally hopeless,"

Laurie still can't believe what she's hearing. "Totally hopeless?"

"Totally and utterly," She sends Laurie a smile. Then, a lightbulb goes off in Robin's head. She abruptly sits up and turns her body to face Laurie, before suggesting, "You should come in tomorrow to see it in person. Saturday's are our busiest days, so you're bound to see at least two rejections,"

"I don't think I want to see that if I'm being entirely honest, Rob," Laurie retorts, pushing stray hairs behind her ears.

"Oh come on!" Robin shouts. "It's hilarious,"

Laurie let's out a sigh. "Even if I wanted to, which I don't, I can't. I have an interview at Sam Goody's, remember?" She can't even be max at Robin, because she's had about 12 different job interviews in the past 3 weeks, and Laurie herself has been struggling to keep track.

Robin is nonchalant. "So come after your interview,"

"Just to see you make fun of Steve Harrington?" She asks Robin, who smiles.

"Yeah, duh," Robin drawls, getting on her feet to head for the pile of cassettes on Laurie's desk. "It'll be worth your while, I promise,"

"I'm not going out of my way to make fun of a guy I barely know, Robin," Laurie mutters. Would it be stupid to suggest that a part of her is scared to see Steve again? Maybe part of her still likes him? Even though he was a notorious jerk, she couldn't stop herself from stealing glances at him at school. Douchebag behaviour or not, Steve Harrington was a sight for sore eyes.

Laurie hasn't seen Steve since he graduated a few months ago, and the two haven't spoken to each other even longer. She knows her heart well enough that she can anticipate that somethings bound to happen the second she lays her eyes back on him. But she really, really, doesn't want old feelings to rekindle. That'll just make her life all that more complicated.

"Then just come after your interview to see me," Groans Robin, rolling her eyes momentarily. She turns to see Laurie, who's glaring at her. Robin puts a hand to her heart. "You won't be obligated to partake in making fun of hopeless Steve Harrington, I promise,"

This is a terrible idea. She should be focusing on fixing her life and getting a damn job, not wasting time to see her old crush fail at getting a girls number. They have all summer to have fun, after all. Robin notices her hesitancy, so she leans in close before whispering, "I'll smuggle you free ice cream,"

Laurie's best friend gives her a cheeky grin. How can she say no to a face like that? She can't help but to smile back before finally agreeing, "I'll think about it,"

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authors note!

chapter one finally! woo!

i lost inspiration almost immediately after publishing this story, but making funky little tiktoks about laurie and steve have given me my motivation back to start writing again!

i hope y'all don't mind the lack of steve in this chapter, because personally i adored writing laurie and robins friendship and am very excited for y'all to see their growth as bffs!

they're definitely errors in here, but it's almost 1am and i swore to myself i'd get this out by tonight. so if there's something incorrect, trust me, i know! i'll go through it again sometime tomorrow.

WHEN HE SEES ME © austrxlians, 2022.