Chapter Text
Sometimes, with any luck, the dread that accompanies living in a town like Hawkins, Indiana, clears for one beautiful moment, and things seem tolerable. Mercifully, this is one of those times.
Light, sweet-scented summer air swirls past you on the gentle, cool breeze that breaks up the stagnant heat of the day. The gravel leading from the doors of the new mall, the one built on the ashes of Starcourt, crunches with every proud step as you march away from your fourth and final interview of the summer, thank God. ‘Struggling’ with unemployment feels like too kind of a term when it comes to your situation. Fast food, movie theaters, even Radioshack had shut you down without a second thought, so when you finally heard the melody of the words "you're hired," it felt like a pinch yourself kind of moment.
While schlepping vinyls for a corporate record shop isn't exactly a fantasy gig, it pays a little over minimum wage, and at four dollars an hour, it isn't out of the question that you might be able to get yourself out of this podunk town within the year.
The garage door rises, revealing the beat-up Chevy waiting and exposing your mom for coming home early to hear about your interview. Her nerves rivaled yours as you prepared this morning, answering her practice questions between bites of bagel. She’ll never admit it, but she needs you to have this job as badly as you do. Your mom wants to pay for your new start by herself, but there isn't a reality where that happens, and you both know it.
It crushed her when you couldn’t leave after graduating. You were on track for escaping, saved up enough for a car, and all, but the economy did what it does best, taking a turn for the worse. Mom's layoff came swiftly, the next round of bills wiping out her modest savings account in one blow. It took the rest of your savings and some long hours at a few jobs to keep up.
“How did it go?” she questions breathlessly, before you can lean down to take your shoes off.
You bury the glow threatening to radiate from you and drop your gaze, widening your eyes and quivering your lip as if you were about to cry. Without hesitation, she pulls you in for a hug, squeezing so tightly that the air is forced from your lungs.
“Oh no. Forget that place! You would’ve hated it anyway. You’re too good for any place that wouldn’t hire such a charming, professional young woman.”
She’s so gullible
“Mom,” you shout, wrestling yourself free from her grip and recollecting your breath. “I got the job!” You switch your balance back and forth between your feet excitedly, bringing the energy in the room alive.
She hollers, “I knew you could do it! You are going to love it there, baby! I’m so proud of you.”
You laugh at her contradiction from earlier, because she’s always told you what you want to hear.
Your celebration extends that night into pizza and a Miami Vice marathon that your mom falls asleep to two episodes in, par for the course.
With her asleep and dinner cleaned up, you lay an extra blanket over your mom before heading to bed to prep for a busy first day.
Sam Goody’s is hugely understaffed. No one wants to work their summer away, especially not in a mall, which is totally fair, considering the last one burned to the ground. Being understaffed is better, though, because it means you don’t have to wait. The manager, Tammy, said that another trainee starts tomorrow, and you two could start together.
Getting along with others hasn't exactly come easy in the past, so the idea is terrifying, but what's done is done, you remind yourself as you settle under your comforter.