"Something's really wrong with Steve," Becca said, looking around the hallways to make sure her cousin wasn't within earshot before turning back to Anna. "Like... really wrong with Steve."

Since the Halloween party the night before, Anna hadn't been able to get Steve driving them home from the party out of her head. The look on his face when he'd come to find her to tell her they were leaving, his white knuckles against the steering wheel, and the catch in his voice as he spoke about his argument with Nancy.

While she'd managed to get a few hours of undisturbed sleep on her own, she felt much more run down than she'd been once she'd grown used to getting a full night's sleep again, and the weird jitteriness her brother had had that morning while getting ready hadn't helped matters much. As Dustin nearly pranced around the house proclaiming he was about to have a new scientific discovery, Anna had simply translated it in her head to mean he was fueled by a sugar rush after eating way too many Three Musketeers bars from his trick-or-treat stash, which she knew she'd have to break into later when he wasn't home to steal a few of.

"Has he said anything about it?" Anna asked, shoving her backpack into her locker and grabbing her books for Mrs. Click's class.

"He won't talk about it." Becca sighed. "Not to me, anyways. And I had just gotten Billy Hargrove to come talk to me when he interrupted and told me to go wait in the car." she rolled her eyes playfully. "Such a shame. But seriously, if he says anything, let me know, though? I'm worried about him, but I know you have a couple classes with him this morning, so maybe he'll talk then."

"Absolutely," Anna assured her, slamming her locker door shut as they parted ways for their first period classes. "I'll let you know if I find anything out."

Anna wasn't able to catch a hold of Steve during first period, the boy coming in right as the bell rang with his sesame seed bagel in tow, making a beeline for his seat without so much as sparing a glance in Anna's direction. When the bell rang for second period, he was the first one back out the door, though Anna had to go the opposite direction to get to her math class, rather than the path he would take to get to study hall. However, during third period gym, while running laps outside, Anna watched as the door back to the gymnasium opened and Steve and Nancy walked outside, ducking into the alley around the side of the building.

Anna tried to keep an eye on them as best as she could, making an effort to run faster when they were out of her eyesight to try and reach them again, but it was only a few minutes before Steve stalked back inside, leaving Nancy alone in the alley. It was a couple moments later that the girl walked back inside too, and Anna had a sinking feeling that even though they'd talked, something was still very, very wrong.

She tried to find him after the girls were sent back inside to change, quickly pulling back on her sweater and jeans in exchange for the Hawkins Physical Education t-shirt and shorts that had previously adorned her body, but Steve waited until the last moment to emerge from the boys' locker room back into the gymnasium, making a beeline straight for the exit as the bell rang overhead.

"Hey Steve, wait up!" Anna called as he ducked out of the gymnasium after him, and she hurried ahead to keep up with him before he got lost in the crowd. "Harrington!"

Steve paused as he reached a quieter spot in front of a few lockers, looking back at her with one eyebrow raised. However, there was something in his expression as he looked at her that Anna couldn't quite put a finger on, causing her eyebrows to pinch together as she looked back at him.

"I just wanted to see if you were doing okay, after last night." Anna explained. "I saw you go outside with Nancy during gym."

"Oh, so now you care enough to talk to me about last night?" Steve asked, causing Anna's heart to plummet into her stomach as she recognized the look in his eyes as one of hurt and anger, directed at her.

"What are you talking about?" she asked. "Of course I care."

"That's not what you said last night when you never showed up." he snapped. "I heard you loud and clear that you've taken Nancy's side about this whole thing and didn't want to be around me."

"I-" Anna began, but cut herself off when she realized she was at a loss for words. That, to Steve, the conversation they'd had with Becca in the car last night hadn't even happened, but instead that Anna's absence had been a message that she never meant to send. "That's not why I-"

"You know, I've worked so hard these past months to be a better guy, but I guess I'm still just King Steve to you." he said, his tone laced with venom. "You know, I even snuck back out and drove to your house last night, just in case you had too much to drink at the party and needed me to pick you up? I saw your car parked outside, but your bedroom light was off, so I took the hint. I'm the bad guy, right? I'm just bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. But I've been there for you every night for weeks, and the one night I needed you, you decided you didn't need me."

"Steve-" Anna tried, but he cut her off once again.

"I thought we were friends, Anna." he said. "I thought you were my best friend. But maybe you're bullshit, too."

With a sigh, Steve backed away from Anna, hardly giving the girl another glance as he stalked off down the hall, leaving her to watch him in her wake. How her attempts to give him a night off and the space she'd thought he needed had backfired so horribly, Anna couldn't be sure. She finally turned and forced herself to walk the other direction, as far away from Steve as she could get until lunch, when she knew she'd see him again.

Except, at lunch, Steve was nowhere to be found. Nor were Nancy and Jonathan, though after the night they'd all had, she was sure Nancy was skipping lunch to avoid Steve, and vice versa. However, the absence was filled by a new figure walking into the cafeteria with Michelle, a girl with dark blonde hair and light blue eyes, adorned in a black shirt and jeans who looked around the room curiously while following the Byers girl.

"Hi, guys," Michelle greeted, taking a seat next to Landon, and the girl quickly took a seat on Michelle's other side at the end of the table. "This is Sandra Newby, Bob's daughter. Today's her first day. Sandy, this is Anna, Becca, and Landon."

"Hi," Becca and Landon chorused.

"Nice to meet you," Anna greeted with a warm smile. "Michelle's told us a lot about you."

"All good things, I hope." Sandy joked, smiling back at Anna gratefully.

"Classes going okay so far?" Becca asked, and Sandy nodded.

"Yeah, so far so good," she confirmed. "Kaminsky seems like he'll be a real hoot."

"He's tough, but not impossible." Becca assured her.

"And if you ever need any help, just let us know." Landon added.

"Thank you," Sandy said with a grateful smile.

"So Roberts," Becca said, turning her attention to the blonde boy on her left. "Spill. Where do you keep disappearing to at all of these parties? You vanished so early last night, and then Steve got in his fight with Nancy so we had to leave before I could find you. Eddie selling reefer was easier to find than you were last night, or any party we've been to all summer, that is. I did take advantage of that friends and family discount when I did find him, though, I'll be honest."

Landon exchanged a brief glance with Anna, and an image of her tripping into the couple against the side of the house the night before flashed through her mind, of the alarmed look on both of their faces at being caught.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Landon said, feigning nonchalance. "I went outside to smoke for a bit, and must've lost you in the crowd."

"On multiple occasions?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as she crossed her arms over her chest skeptically. "You really couldn't find me at multiple parties?"

"Yeah," he said, scoffing nervously, the boy's cheeks beginning to tinge pink at his horrible attempt at lying. "Oh shit, okay," he cursed under his breath. "Okay, but you can't tell anyone. We're not dating, but starting on the Fourth of July, a certain girl and I have been hanging out at parties after accidentally running into each other that night."

"Who?" Becca asked, and as Landon looked up at the jock table, she followed his gaze to where a few of the cheerleaders sat. "Audrey Kline?" she asked skeptically, furrowing her eyebrows together. "She's dating Andy."

"No, not Audrey." Landon sighed. "Behind Audrey."

Becca looked back again, catching sight of the blonde ponytail just peeking out from where she sat on the other side of Audrey, and her eyes widened as the realization clicked into place, turning back to her friend. "No shit!" Becca hissed, careful not to be overheard by anyone from the neighboring lunch tables. "You're sucking face with Chrissy Cunningham!"

"Yes, and I would appreciate it if that piece of information stayed between the people at this table," Landon confirmed in a low voice, shooting a look at his best friend.

"Hey, your secret's safe with me." Becca said, raising her hands up in defense. "Landon and Chrissy," she mused. "Roberts's got game. No fucking way."

The group was still laughing as their lunch period continued, though Anna's eyes found the empty seat usually occupied by Steve, feeling the weight of his absence, and she looked around the room once more in an attempt to find the boy, but he was nowhere to be seen. Wherever he'd chosen to eat lunch that day, he hadn't wanted either Anna or Nancy to find it.

When the bell rang to signal the end of lunch, Anna grabbed her tray, rising from the table and following her friends through the crowd to deposit it at the end of the room before returning to class. Sandy followed the group closely, not wanting to get lost in the near tidal wave on her first day.

"Hey, Henderson!" a voice called out from behind Anna amidst the lunchroom crowd, and Anna turned to see Jason ducking and weaving through the students before finally reaching them. "Anna!"

"We'll, uh, leave you guys to it." Becca said with a smirk, glancing between them and giving Anna a quick wink before guiding Landon, Michelle, and Sandra out of the lunchroom, leaving Anna alone with the jock. Landon glanced back warily, but she urged him forward.

Anna watched their retreating forms before she looked back at Jason, a curious expression on her face. Although he'd made several attempts to talk to her at the last few parties she'd run into him at, she had yet to actually interact with him during the school day, when both parties involved were completely sober.

"Hey," Anna said, clutching her Trapper Keeper a little closer to her chest. "What's up?"

"I was just hoping we could finish our conversation from last night," Jason explained, shooting her a grin. "Seems like we keep getting cut off by the Harringtons." he said with a chuckle.

"I'm so sorry about that," Anna said apologetically as they began to walk, out of the cafeteria and back in the direction of the classrooms. "Some stuff happened with Steve last night, and he was our ride home."

"It's okay," Jason assured her. "Don't worry about it. You've just always had to run before I can cut to the chase and ask if you maybe wanted to hang out sometime. Started thinking maybe you just always needed an escape." he joked.

"Oh," Anna said, her brain beginning to short circuit as she connected the dots that Jason Carver, the same boy she'd seen work his way up the Hawkins High food chain on the basketball team alongside Steve and was on his way to practically ruling the school one day, was now standing in front of her asking her to hang out outside of school. "Y-yeah, that sounds fun." she stammered.

"Yeah?" he asked, his smile widening as she nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "I'd like that."

"Cool," he said. "I'll pick you up tomorrow at six? There's a diner out in Cartersville, Gil's. It's not quite Benny's, but the food's pretty good."

"Six sounds great." Anna assured him.

"In that case, I'll see you then." he said as she paused in the doorway of her next class, nodding at him with a smile.

"See you then."