Dustin scurried towards the door to prepare for movie night, but he turned towards the counter as he backed out of the video store. "You're coming Harrington, right? I know you will, Buddy. Don't let me down. You too Robin. Both of you. Mike's house. Midnight." He let the door shut behind him before I answered, leaving my plans for the night somewhat ambiguous for the time being.

Robin and I still had an hour left on our shift at Family Video. The earliest part of the shift had flown by. Now, not one customer was lingering around the shelves. They were probably all out having social lives, or lounging in their living rooms ready to spend the evening inside. So, now that the evening rush was over, all there was to do was lean on the desk and wait for the time to tick away.

"I'm booored," Robin said leaning her back against the counter. She hung her head back to look at the ceiling. Her face was only a few inches from my own. I looked down at her and smiled. "What?" she demanded.

"You're always bored," I said. "You have to embrace the silence and the fact that there is nothing to do. You know, learn to enjoy it. This way, we still get paid, but we can clean up and get out of here on time for a change."

"So we can get to movie night on time," she teased. "Aww, is Steve worried his friends are going to start the movie without him?"

I straightened up and scrunched up my face. "What? No. I just want to-"

"What? You have other plans for the evening?" she asked. "Come on? Are we going to this movie thing or what? The kid seems to really want you there."

I looked at her. "I don't know. Ya, I guess," I stumbled. I held out a hand towards her in confusion and furrowed my eyebrows. "I didn't think you'd want to go."

She looked at me and shrugged. "I don't have any other plans. You have something better to do tonight? Itching to get home to your house and your angry parents?"

I scoffed at the thought. Robin had had more than an earful of my thoughts on my home situation these last few months. She knew better than anyone how much my parents were fighting and how much I had begun to loath stepping through my front door. Long gone was the refuge that my bedroom had been in high school. It had become a place that I needed to escape. A reminder of the slack-off kid that I was in school; the one that my Dad went to great pains to remind me that I still was. A failure that couldn't get into school and was going to amount to nothing. "Better get used to living on minimum wage. That's all you're ever going to get."

Movie night at the Wheeler's? Ya, that sounded pretty damn good right about now. I looked at Robin. She and I had spent a whole lot of time together since I finished school. First at Scoops Ahoy, then searching for new jobs when that one turned to rubble, then, slowly, out for dinners or weekends out walking around town. I'm not sure why I was surprised anymore when she assumed that whatever the Friday night plans were, unless it involved a date, that we would be doing it together. "Ya, Robin. Let's go to this movie night thing. Could be fun, right?"

Robin popped her head up and stood up straight, a smile spreading across her face. "So it's settled. We're going to movie night, Which means," she said, "we need extra snacks. Can't go empty handed." In a flash I watched her grab her jacket, suddenly full of determination. She went around the counter before I could figure out why she was moving so fast. "I'll just head next door and get a few. You man the store while I'm gone." She scurried towards the front door.

"Hey," I called as the door swung open, "was that just all a ploy to abandon me in here?" My voice raised the farther she walked. "Make me suffer alone?" The door shut before she answered. She turned to me and looked past the posters hanging on the window. She gave me a shrug as she walked sideways towards the convenience store next door.

"Dammit," I said, falling back on the counter and putting my head on my hand. Now I was bored, and alone to watch the store.

I mustered up the motivation to grab the vacuum while Robin was gone. I began to clean the back rows of the store. I was just finishing up the first strip of blue carpet when I heard the door swing open. I looked up, knowing it was too soon to see Robin carrying an armload of snacks. Instead, my eyes fell on Nancy. "Shit," I said under my breath.

Nancy Wheeler. Nancy Wheeler who was probably also going to be attending movie night later that evening.

Smart. Pretty. Compassionate. Kinda wild under the perfect exterior she presented to the school. My ex. Ya, we were in love once upon a time.

At least, I thought we were.

Turns out, I loved her, but I guess she didn't love me. It took a lot of spiked punch and one good argument in a bathroom to find that out. And when I did, it felt like a demodog had latched onto one of my limbs and gave a good hard yank. Know what I mean? ... Ya, I guess not. Let me try again...

I dated a lot in high school. Most of the time I never expected it to go anywhere. A date or two here and there, maybe an evening parking and making out – what can I say? I was having fun. Then I noticed this girl walking down the halls, head held high, armload of books always in her hand. She always had a strong opinion in our politics class, and never missed an answer in history or calculus. For everything I didn't do when studying for a test, she did the exact opposite. Always knew just what to say, just what to write. She seemed like the exact opposite of what I always looked for in a girl. But she was exactly the girl that I wanted. So I decided to take a shot. My idiot friends said she's never go for a guy like me, said that the first time we made out was a fluke and I should just get over her and move on to someone who didn't have such high expectations in life.

"She wants someone smart, someone who's going to go to some ivy league college next year, not some jock who walks around like he owns the place just because of his hair. Face it Harrington. You'll never get someone like that to stay with you."

I guess, in the end, they were right. I couldn't hold onto her. Did I completely screw it up? Just because I was worried that I would get in trouble for some stupid party? Or was it more than that? I mean, she was this brilliant girl, and I couldn't even write a stupid essay to get me into college. What the hell was I supposed to do with my life now? She wanted someone who was smart, someone who knew the answers to those questions on subtext and metaphors in English class, someone who could string a few sentences together to get them into school after Hawkins High.

Even with all of our differences, I thought things were going fine. I had fallen head over heals for this girl. And I thought she felt the same. Then...

"Bullshit."

I've taken a lot of hits these last couple years. And I mean serious, face smashed up, bruised and bleeding, needed stitches at the hospital beatings. (You should have seen the other guys...) I can say for certain that that conversation hurt worse than any punch thrown or plate smashed onto my head. (Ya, that happened once). That one word ripped my heart out.

"Bullshit.

"It's all bullshit."

I could still see her face when she said it. Still feel the crushing in my gut, the wind completely knocked out of me. "Like we're in love?" I asked her, not believing the words being slurred out of her mouth. Her eyes had just glared at me. "It's bullshit."

Not to me it wasn't.

Okay, so maybe our relationship wasn't the most pressing concern in the town at that particular moment in time. And ya, I know I was that guy before I started dating her. The one who fooled around with a bunch of girls. The guy who ruled the school and mocked and bullied anyone who crossed my path just because I could. I was a jerk. No getting around that. But this was different. I tried so hard to be better for her. I guess I just didn't know how.

I got a chance with this girl, and I wanted so badly to hold onto her. I had it all. Perfect hair. Perfect girl. King of the whole school. I tried. I did. I think I was a pretty good boyfriend to her, after a few bumps in the road. I guess I slipped up every once in awhile, letting the old Steve kick in. I did a couple of stupid things – not least letting my friends be the biggest jerks of all. But I thought things were going well. Then, BAM. Girl rips my heart out.

I even showed up at her house with flowers to apologize. I'm still not sure what I did wrong or what I was planning to apologize for. Nothing, maybe. Maybe the breakup was just inevitable given everything that was going on in this town. The town where nothing happened. The quiet town. The quaint small town America.

The town that opened a gateway to hell and let in the monsters. More than once.

Now, here she was, wandering into Family Video this Friday night. And not surprising, her new boyfriend wasn't far behind – back in Hawkins for Thanksgiving weekend. The whole Byers family came along for the ride. I watched Jonathan as he came in. He glanced my way briefly. We weren't exactly the best of friends. We were... civil. How can you not be after fighting monsters together? But no part of me wanted to sit down and have any long conversation with him that didn't involve saving Hawkins from the Upside Down.

He felt the same. He kept his distance, and we were fine. Nancy was another story. She tried to keep her distance at first too. The break-up was messy, and I think she didn't want to throw her new relationship in my face – but, given the circumstances, she couldn't really hide it, could she? Once Jonathan moved away, she was around more; picking up videos or other things from the plaza. We crossed paths more than I liked, so we had no choice but to let the ice between us thaw.

I watched her whisper something to Jonathan, then she made her way over to the counter. "Hey," she said tentatively.

"Hey Nancy."

"I just wondered if you were coming to movie night later?" she said.

"Ya, Dustin mentioned it. I'll be there."

"Oh, good. So you're coming? I just didn't want it to be weird," she said gesturing behind her to where Jonathan was pretending to study the back of a VHS box.

I shrugged. "It's fine, Nancy. We'll see you there later," I told her.

"We?"

"Robin and I."

"Oh!" Nancy smiled. "Oh course. Ya. Good. I'm glad you'll both be there. It'll be fun." I could hear slight relief in her voice. She was happy I was bringing a girl. She assumed I was bringing a date.

"Ya, well, you know Dustin," I said. "He wouldn't dream of letting me skip out on it."

"Good. Okay, I'll see you both later then." She wandered back over to Jonathan. I watched her lean over his arm and check the back of the box he was holding.

Her hair was shorter now than it was when we dated. She twisted a finger around a curl that fell over her face. She smiled and laughed after reading the box.

Nancy Wheeler. I'm so, so over her.

Jonathan put his arm around her and I clenched my fist. Movie night suddenly seemed like a really bad idea.

"Earth to Steve."

I felt a punch on my shoulder and I looked to my side. Robin was standing there with a bag full of snacks to bring to movie night.

"You okay?" she asked. She glanced over to Nancy and Jonathan, and then looked back at me. For all her joking and prodding, she knew when to back off. She knew Nancy was a touchy subject, even if I did claim to be over her.

"Ya, I'm just fine," I told her. My mood shifted, seeing her there. I managed a teasing smile. "I hope you got the good snacks," I said peering into the bag. "None of that Sour Cream nonsense you usually like."

Robin tossed the bag onto a chair. "Don't worry Dingus. There's plenty of that gross barbecue flavour that you enjoy."

"Perfect. We're all set for a night in with the kids then," I said. Then I scrunched up my face. "When exactly did I get so old?"

She laughed. "Come on," she said, pointing back to the vacuum that I had left in the corner. "Store closes in ten."