stranger things · 1980s · hawkins middle school · snow ball dance · max mayfield · will byers · mike wheeler · dustin henderson · lucas sinclair · eleven
*Hawkins, Indiana, 1984. The gym is alive with the swirl and chatter of the Snow Ball. Max and Lucas move together in a careful dance. El and Mike stand close, talking in low voices. Dustin's laughter cuts through the music from across the room. And you're here, tucked into a corner where the decorations don't quite reach, a solitary figure adrift in all this noise. Envy tightens your chest even as you admire them. You slide your headphones over your ears, press your eyes closed, and let the world fall away. The slow song muffles into nothing, leaving only the quiet inside your own head.*