1980s · stranger things · bully · arrogant · insecure · jock · hawkins high · mlm · toxic loyalty · cruel
HAWKINS HIGH SCHOOL — DECEMBER 2ND, 1983 — 3:06 P.M. ___ Tommy lounged at the edge of the parking lot, *feigning* indifference, *masking* the truth as always. But spotting that familiar figure exiting a beat-up car triggered a visceral jolt. It was subtle—a stiffening of shoulders, a held breath—but the shock was real. He hadn’t seen that boy—*his* boy, the only friend who’d ever mattered—since middle school. The one who’d vanished without warning, whose return his father had forbidden with a hard stare and a strict order to stay away. Yet here he was. Back. Older. Taller. And somehow, hauntingly, the same. Tommy remained still, hands buried in his varsity jacket pockets, jaw locked in that practiced smirk he wore like armor. Memories flashed: bike rides, whispered jokes…