EPISODE ONE
the hellfire club.

IT HAD been eight months since the battle of starcourt, and since then, nova had distanced herself from the group, barely speaking to any of them. she found herself replaying what had happened every night in her head, and sometimes she wished she had pulled billy back, or even swapped places with him.

neil and susan started to get into fights until he forced them to leave. he tried to get nova to stay, but susan wouldn't have it. she wouldn't allow the girl to spend another minute with him. so, susan took her in. nova was forever grateful, even though she didn't show it much. susan didn't mind, she knew she was grieving. they moved to a trailer park, it wasn't as nice as their old house, but it was nice enough.

nova had broken up with lucas. there was no easy way to put it, and she definitely didn't want to. but she couldn't give him the love he deserved at that moment in time. and because lucas had always hated billy ( which he had every right to ) he was with her all day and every day, but he wouldn't exactly comfort her whenever she would speak about billy. he did try, but there was not much he could say. nova understood though and she did not blame him. lucas never gave up, though. every day he'd attempt to speak to her, see how she was, she'd mumble a few words before walking away. but he wasn't going to give up.

she had became even more hot headed than normal, and she started to think that she was turning into billy, but she didn't have time to think about it. she was failing in everything, never got any sleep due to the nightmares and stress, and the constant fear that it would all come back to haunt her.

don't stop believin' played through her headphones as she stepped off the bus ( steve had offered to drive her multiple times every day, which she had declined each time ) with a blank expression as she moved the messy strands of hair out of her face.

she made her way to the gym for the pep-rally, hoping to avoid anybody possible, until the school guidance counsellor, ms. kelly,  called her over. "nova! come!"

she sighed as she walked over, putting her headphones off her ears and around her neck. "where were you yesterday?" she grinned.

"right. sorry, i forgot it was thursday." she lied. she hated going to the guidance councillor. "well, i'd like to see you today. come straight after lunch, okay?"

nova raised her brows as a nod, before walking away, putting the headphones back on. she saw max get off the bus and smiled slightly as her sister walked next to her in silence. max knew nova wouldn't want to talk anyway.

the two found a place next to mike and dustin, who were arguing over who's girlfriend was better, as nova watched the cheerleaders do their routine, she shook her head as the crowd cheered.

"and let's hear it for your tigers!" nova couldn't help but immediately look for lucas as the basketball team jogged out, waving at the crowd with smiles on their faces.

nova looked away when lucas waved at her, staring at the piece of string around her wrist as she sighed. in all honesty, she was so proud of lucas for making friends and being apart of the popular crowd, because if anybody deserved it, it was lucas. after years of being bullied, she was glad he was finally getting the recognition he deserves.

she hated how mike acted towards him now, the snarky comments, not going to his games, nova knew it was jealousy. but everything lucas did was for them. she wanted to wave back, and to smile, to tell him how she felt, but she wasn't ready. she had to admit, though...he did look good in his basketball uniform.

"good morning hawkins high!" jason yelled as she immediately groaned, not wanting to hear one of his not-very-motivating motivational speech this early in the morning.

she zoned out to what he was saying, staring at the walls, or the floor, until she heard billy's name, and then she felt hundreds of sympathetic eyes on her and max, causing her to grow uncomfortable.

jason continued on his speech, something about not letting them all die for them to loose a game which was complete bullshit, and then he announced the championship game later that night.

"wait...tonight?" mike widened his eyes, "how is that possible?" dustin exclaimed. "they call it a tournament." max spoke up, "you win one game, you go on until there's only one team left."

nova found herself smiling lightly as lucas high fived his team and clapped with them, seeing him happy made her happy. but then mike had to open his mouth.

"it's the same as eddie's campaign. lucas has got to cancel the game." mike exclaimed before he glared harshly at a smiling lucas who was with his team.

"you're such a dick, mike. remember who you were friends with first. surely your friendship with lucas, the one who's been your best friend since forever, means more to you than a stupid board game with a guy you haven't even known for a year." nova eclaimed over the loud cheers.

she shook her head at the look mike gave her before shoving past him and walking away, putting her headphones back on and heading out of the gym, ignoring the eyes of the group on her.

EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE by the police played through her headphones as she walked through the busy halls at lunchtime. it annoyed her that this song meant so much to her. whenever she listened to it, it just reminded her of lucas. but she never stopped listening.

she looked at the different people, the group of girls giggling with their friends, the couples kissing against the lockers, the ones arguing, and the ones who stared at her as she walked by.

her eyes landed on lucas who was with the basketball team by the lockers, he looked at her and froze, she held the eye contact, a blank expression on her face before she headed towards the guidance councillors office.

chrissy cunningham came out of the office, frowning and holding her arms as nova glanced at her, frowning before walking inside the office, not thinking much of it.

her leg tapped against the floor and she fiddled with the string around her wrist as she stared at ms. kelly who tapped her ears, "can you remove your headphones, please?"

nova pulled them off and put them around her neck, and pressed pause on the tape, "sorry." she mumbled.

ms. kelly was looking at her file with raised brows. "a c in english and a c-minus in spanish...and you've gone down from an a star to a c in art." she smiled warmly as nova nodded, slightly uninterested.

"well, that's not normal for you." she said after seeing the look nova gave her. nova shrugged, "if you say so." she looked away, down at her feet.

"how's ms. mayfield holding up?" she asked, nova shrugged. "she's fine. i mean, she hates our new place, which is, like...it's terrible, but...she's fine."

"is she still drinking?" she smiled sympathetically as nova looked at the clock necklace around ms. kelly's neck. "like, yeah, a little. but...she's working two jobs. so, it's not easy."

"well, it must not be easy for you either with your dad and brother gone." she said and nova began to grow agitated. "i'm fine. it's kinda better." she wasn't even sure if she was lying or telling the truth at this point. "my dad and my brother were assholes so. now, i suppose there's less...assholery."

"are you sleeping better?" she asked. no. "yep. fine." she nodded, "so, no more headaches?" nova shook her head slowly, another lie. "nightmares?"

images of billy's death and her screams filled her mind as she blinked them away quickly, shaking her head. "nope."

"nova...what you've been through, what you're still going through...it's a lot for anyone. and it's okay to not be okay." ms. kelly spoke as nova's eyes glossed over and she looked anywhere but at her, fiddling with the string, her leg tapping against the floor and a lump caught at the back of her throat.

"but i can only help you if you're truthful. if you open up to me." she smiled brightly, a hand on her heart. "yeah, i...i know. i'm being open." she said, looking up at her.

ms. kelly sent her a look and sighed as nova crossed her arms. "i'm being open."

she soon left the room, about to put her headphones back on when she heard somebody calling her name. "nova." lucas was sat on the floor waiting, and he got up and jogged after her.

"are you stalking me or something?" she asked, continuing to walk away. "oh, no. i...i just wanted to give you this." he handed her a slip of paper.

"what is this?" she asked, looking at it with a frown. "a ticket to the game." he said, a hopeful smile on his lips.

she turned back to him and scoffed, "no." she shook her head as he sighed.

"this one is kind of a big deal." he promised as she shook her head. "a big deal? you really care about this?"

"yeah, i...i do." he said softly, and she felt her heart sink at his tone. "maybe you should find something you care about too. like when you used to draw. you are seriously awesome at it...or when we played video games at the arcade? bring back supernova." he tried to lighten the mood, but she was still stuck on the first part of his sentence.

"what's that supposed to mean? need to find something i care about?" she crossed her arms as he widened his eyes, "uh...you're just...it's like you're not even here anymore. it's like you're a ghost or something."

"a-a ghost?" she scoffed lightly, frowning, "really?" he took a step closer to her and sighed. "nov. i know somethings wrong."

"right. something must be wrong because i broke up with you." she said and a hurt expression made its way onto his face. nova took one look at his face, and immediately looked away, she knew he deserved better than her.

"did i drive you away, nov?" he asked, voice breaking slightly and a heartbroken expression on his face. she felt her heart breaking at his words.

"lucas...." she began, sighing, "no, i know what you'll say." he stopped her. "nov, you think that distancing yourself will help but...i can see it isn't. you know but i'll always look out for you, nov. it's what i do. i'm sorry i wasn't there for you with billy...i promise i won't let you down again. so talk to me. please." he spoke as she sighed.

"you didn't let me down, lucas." she spoke, feeling her eyes water. he still cared. "...i-i just...people change, lucas. that's it...i-ive changed. i'm fine." she lied.

"good luck with the game." she walked away, but he noticed she had slipped the piece of paper in her pocket and headed into the bathrooms.

she placed her hands on the sink and sighed, wiping a tear that fallen before unzipping her bag and getting out a few pills she took to help with the severe headaches she got.

she frowned when she heard coughing in one of the stalls, and looked over, "hey, you okay in there?" she called out.

"y-yes...yes i'm fine." chrissy spoke between sniffles. nova frowned, not looking convinced. "uh...are you sure?"

"please, just go away." chrissy mumbled, nova looked at the stall hesitantly, before nodding, picking up her bag and leaving the bathroom.

welcome to season four :)))

i miss lova already.

do you think nova will go to the game? or do u think she won't, but will listen on the radio? 🙃🙃