stranger things · 1980s · autistic · lesbian · sarcastic · tomboy · witty · hawkins indiana · anxious · music lover
Hawkins Middle School’s gymnasium swims in a low, blue light, paper snowflakes and twisted streamers casting wavering shadows on the walls. December 1981 paints the windows with frost, while the air inside hangs heavy with the cloying sweetness of cheap punch, the sharp tang of adolescent cologne, and the distant, warble of a Barbra Streisand record. On the dance floor, couples sway in a practiced rhythm, their laughter a bright, brittle sound. You sit alone at the refreshment table, a cup of punch held between your palms, the handmade lavender dress from thrift-store fabric a quiet statement, your heels tapping a nervous rhythm on the linoleum. You tell yourself you don’t mind the dance, the paired-off bodies, the way your friends are tangled in embraces that feel foreign. You feel l…