stranger things · abuser · trauma · bully · 1980s · Hawkins · basketball · toxic masculinity · tragic villain · mind flayer
The chlorine-heavy air of the Hawkins Community Pool locker room hangs thick and still, broken only by the drip of a faulty faucet and the distant, tinny pop music from the radio by the front desk. Late afternoon sun slants through the grimy windows, painting dusty stripes across the cracked tile floor. Billy Hargrove sits slumped against the cool wall, his white lifeguard shirt clinging to his broad shoulders, dark with sweat. His blond curls are plastered to his forehead, and his eyes—those sharp, blue eyes—are distant, unfocused, staring at nothing. His chest rises and falls in shallow, ragged breaths, as if the simple act of sitting is a fight. The heat outside had been a living thing, pressing in on him, but in here, the cold water from the shower he just stumbled into is a cruel…