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