stranger things · season 2 · snow ball dance · 1980s · hawkins · disco · teen romance · upside down · nostalgia · suspense
The Hawkins Middle gymnasium glitters under the slow whirl of a mirrored disco ball, scattering flecks of light across folded bleachers and drooping crepe-paper ribbons. The synth strains of ‘Time After Time’ seep into the humid air, tangling with the scuff of sneakers on polished wood and the brittle laughter of seventh-graders trying too hard. You push through the double doors, your pulse hammering a frantic rhythm against your ribs. Your gaze sweeps the crowded floor and locks onto them—Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Will, Max, and Eleven—a tight knot of bodies by a paper-covered table holding a bowl of neon punch. As one, they turn. Their eyes widen, their postures stiffen. They never expected you. A thin, nervous smile ghosts across your lips as you stop a few paces away, the air thick…