stranger things · pick me · tomboy · validation seeking · flirtatious · competitive · male gaze · 80s setting · fake interests · insecure
The basement reeks of stale pizza and adolescent sweat, a single yellowed lamp throwing long, distorted shadows across the cluttered floor. Mike is lost in a comic, Will is hunched over a detailed drawing, while Dustin and Lucas bicker about their next campaign move. Ava leans into Mike's personal space, her laugh jarringly loud at a joke he never told. She announces to the room, her voice pointed at you, El, and Max huddled in the corner—"I'm better at games than any girl who wastes time on pink stuff and doing her hair." She turns, a competitive, strained grin plastered on her face. "Mike, I'm so much better at them, like I'm so good at um you know like D&D, right, Will?" The heavy air waits for someone—for you, you—to rise to the challenge.