Chapter Text
HAWKINS, INDIANA
August 15th, 1983
Three knocks to Nancy’s open door had her turning her head to the voice she knew was waiting.
Holly and Mike usually just barge in, Mike would’ve yelled some excuse 50 miles a minute while Holly would’ve just toddled past the squeaky door. Her father, Ted, would’ve just waited for her to skip down the steps for dinner and ask her to stay for a minute as he had something to say.
That left one person.
“Nancy I told you we were leaving in five minutes,” her mother, Karen, stood firm by the door, back straight, hands on her hips as she looked over at her daughter disapprovingly. “Hang up on Barb, you can always call her back once we go see them.”
Nancy pursed her lips and nodded her head, the receiver of the phone shielded by a newly polished hand. “Yeah… yeah… just give me a second.”
Karen’s heels clacked as she walked downstairs, “Make sure to pick up the fruit basket on the table! I’ll be waiting by the door.”
She waited until the footsteps were far enough away that she could huff a breath, hoping Barb would hear on the other end. “God… she’s been-” she sighed again. “Anyways… um” Nancy looked out of her window, “you know the Taylors, right? Lived next door?”
“Yeah, yeah… my mom mentioned something about them… apparently the mom was like… uh never- never mind.” Barb whispers, “Anyways… you were saying?”
Nancy’s brows furrow but elect to ignore that in favor of ranting to her best friend before having to put up false appearances. “New people moved in, my mom is obsessed with bringing all the neighbours a housewarming gift since it’s rare for anyone to move in around here, so-”
“Young lady, I am waiting!” Karen shouted from below.
“Look, I’ll call when I’m back, alright?”
“‘Course, Nance. Bye.”
“Bye.”
Click
Nancy bit back a smile, standing up from where she had been lounged across her bed. Facing herself in the mirror, she adjusted one of the clips holding back her long, wavy brown locks.
“Nancy!” Karen shouted.
She whipped her head to the door, rushing out as she slammed it behind her.
“No slamming doors,” she heard her father rumble from the lazy boy sat across the TV, casually flipping through a newspaper.
It was Saturday, about a week before school started, and Nancy would be faced with dealing with the new people across the yard.
Passing her mother she muttered, “And of course Mike doesn’t have to come.”
“I heard that.” Her mother spoke to Nancy’s retreating form, continuing once she saw her daughter with the gaudily packaged fruit basket. “Michael is at Will’s today. And as far as I’m concerned, you are at home.”
Nancy shuffled in her old white heels, the sides nipping at her ankles. “It’s not my fault-”
“Enough. I am not having this conversation before we go see the Buckley’s.”
Nancy bit her tongue, she was already under practical house arrest after she snuck out last week to go hang out with Barb past curfew.
In her defense, it was because Barb had sworn that she overheard Steve was going to be at Tiffany’s Birthday and had an open invite. They weren’t even planning on going in! Just scoping out the scene to see if the possibility of what Steve had told her at the end of the previous year was real. That he had started to notice her over freshman year, and that he wasn’t planning on seeing anyone anytime soon.
All they had to do was snoop around to see if he’d have shown up with some bimbo blonde as a date, and Barb would shove it in Nancy’s face that he was just like the other dumb jocks that treated the high school hierarchy like it mattered.
But all it took was her mother opening her door and seeing the window open for her to jump down the Holland’s lines, both mothers desperately searching for the missing pair.
She’d been grounded until the school year and wasn’t keen on that getting far enough that they’d disconnect her personal line.
God, she couldn’t imagine not being able to talk to Barb about all the bullshit going on in her life. She always felt like all the family responsibility had been placed on her, meanwhile Mike got to coast along behind her, perpetually too young to be at fault for anything, so obviously the brunt of her parents had to be placed on her.
She was the nice girl.
She would fall in line when needed.
And unlike her siblings, she was apparently old enough to understand the consequences of a bad reputation.
But she knew that it wasn’t just reputation that kept her in an elevated position of responsibility, she was the oldest daughter, of course everyone would be on her neck, more than herself, to be the perfect little girl.
“-ncy?” Karen whispered, tapping the girl’s shoulder.
Nancy must’ve zoned out for the short walk because she only now grew aware of the splintered wooden door in front of her, the basket gone heavy in her hands.
She looked back at Karen from the side of her eyes, looking down as a taunt smile pulled against her cheeks. “Sorry- sorry… I was just… thinking. I’m fine”
Karen didn’t say anything, and Nancy didn’t want to look at her in fear of the same expression she’d worn since that night.
Disappointment.
Her mother knocked on the door, and Nancy waited with bated breath, as the lock clicked, and the door opened.
Stood in a loose-fitting white t-shirt and pair of cut off jean shorts, was a girl. Her hand tightly gripped a can of Coke and her brows furrowed at the two stood on her doorstep.
This is going to be so awkward.
“Hi!” Karen chirped, the girl giving Nancy a once over before looking at her mom.
Nancy only felt slightly miffed at the fact that the look she’d given her mother was a lot less venomous than the one thrown her way.
Asshole.
“Hi?” she asked, blue eyes warily regarding the fruit basket in Nancy’s hands.
Nancy felt silly standing there, watching with a painted smile as Karen explained that they were the neighbours here to welcome them to the neighbourhood.
The girl coolly sipped on her can, condensation leaving beads of water sliding down papercut filled fingers. There was a bandage wrapped around her middle finger, deep tan contrasting against pale skin.
“I’m Robin,” she finally spoke, taking a quick glance behind her. “My mom’s in the living room if you wanted to talk to her.” Chapped lips fell victim to the bite of her teeth, eyes never leaving Karen.
“Oh of course! Nancy, would you hand over the basket, please?”
Robin met Nancy’s eye again, and it was as if the world had stopped. The gentle afternoon breeze caused her to shiver in place, wind running through Robin’s dirty blonde bob. It must’ve been the remnants of summer that had Robin’s freckles exposed, nose wrinkling as the silence between them grew.
Nancy coughed, “Sorry. Right.”
Robin reached out to meet Nancy in the middle, the warmth of her hand melting into Nancy’s as they exchanged the basket.
Her mother had said some kind of platitude to the other girl, but Nancy’s mind was drawing a blank. Static buzzed in her ears, and it wasn’t until her mother reached out to gently lower her hands that were still stuck out in front of her that she blushed.
At least Robin’s head was hidden behind the basket, kicking the front door open wider, socked feet sliding against hardwood. Nancy toed off her shoes at the front and thank god she didn’t have to parade around in the too small heels any longer.
She’d already embarrassed herself enough as is.
Nancy had never visited the Taylor’s, much too young to have remembered them moving in. She’d sometimes see Mrs. Taylor when the neighbourhood moms would mingle at her house, thick rimmed glasses perched on a small nose. Besides that, however, there was nothing.
Their house was smaller compared to Nancy’s. The same 70s floral wallpaper flush behind various knick-knacks.
There were visible chips in the moulding, Nancy’s eyes falling on the still unpacked boxes sitting in the entry.
“Robin?” An airy voice called out to her, the trio walking into the living room beside the door.
The old wallpaper followed them here, except for where the edges peeled in the corners of the room.
A woman stood out of the worn brown couch, a familiar furrowing of her brows at Robin, Karen, and finally on Nancy. “Are we in some kind of trouble?” she drawled, loose blonde waves falling over her shoulders.
Nancy could recognize her mother’s fake laugh, stabbing holes into the stale air between them. “Oh please! We were just doing our neighbourly duties and checking in with you all! I’m Karen,” she gestured to herself, “and this is my daughter Nancy.”
The woman blinked, slowly raising a hand to wave between them. Nancy noticed the tassels in her vest swaying with the motion. A loose tie-dye shirt tucked into bell bottoms told Nancy all she needed to know about how different this woman was compared to her mom.
“You can call me Susan so long as you don’t call the cops on me.” She laughed, nose crinkling as she snorted.
Now it was time for Karen to look uncomfortable, Nancy taking far too much satisfaction at the look.
Robin placed the fruit basket on the center table, and Nancy stifled a laugh at how even in a home like this the basket looked out of place.
Susan clapped, “You’re always free to stick around if you’d like, we finally got the cable working anyhow.”
Karen’s toes pushed away a few loose papers from the floor, clicking her tongue in mild displeasure. “I- um… yes… yes…” She adjusted her jeans as she sat down, hands tucked carefully into her lap. “Nancy?”
Oh no.
“You and Robin can get to know each other if you’d like.”
’If you’d like’ was more of a formality than anything else.
“Ohhh!” Robin sighed, “So sorry… actually… I have to go…” and pointed her thumb at the door. She grimaced like she was actually upset at not being able to be forced to talk to her probably uptight looking neighbours.
Nancy was allowed to be self-aware; she knew what people thought of her. She just didn’t care.
Robin began to walk backwards towards the door, the other women watching with equally confused expressions. “I- uh had an interview…”
Susan raised a brow, “And you just remembered, sweetie?”
“Yeah… it like totally slipped my mind…”
“That fast?” Karen asked.
“Oh… y’know…” Robin ducked forward, the hem of her crewneck sweater shifting as she plopped onto the ground to pull on her converse shoes. “I like to get things done.” She hopped back up, cracking open the door without a second glance. “I’ll be back by six!”
Slam.
The house was silent as the sound of Robin jogging against concrete faded away.
“Ah, well.” Karen cleared her throat. “She seems… lively.”
“That’s our Robbie,” Susan nodded. “Nancy, you can sit here with us if you’d like.” Susan gave Nancy a toothy smile, patting the seat beside her.
She was used to the stiffness by which the regular suburban moms would act around her. Afraid that if Nancy were to catch them off-guard, that their persona would shatter. But here lay Susan, all tanned and warm. Hands flying about while she told Karen some story about picking up the wrong kind of apples last week.
Susan could make a story about apples seem interesting. Karen could make Star Wars sound like something straight out of a textbook.
Nancy sat silently, letting her mother be the one to initiate all conversation, lest Nancy give Susan a bad impression.
Her mind drifted off again, to freckles and a cheeky smile. To wispy lashes and bitten lips. To-
“Nancy” her mother sighed.
What was that?!
“Nancy, honestly I don’t understand where in dreamland you end off going to.” Karen scolded.
“It’s alright, Karen,” Susan laughed. “I remember being a young girl once. Nary a day went by where I wasn’t daydreaming about something. What about you, Karen? What did you used to dream about?”
Nancy couldn’t believe her eyes at seeing her own mother flustered.
Ugh.
Karen averted her eyes, hands tightening in their clasp. “Anyways… Nancy, I was about to point out the fact that Susan just mentioned that Robin will be starting at your school next year.” The flush faded back into the faux rouge she’d tapped onto her cheekbones. “Wouldn’t it be nice for you and Barb to see if you girls have any classes together? Especially since the Holland’s are so far away, but Robin’s just next door.”
Oh joy.
Instead of just awkwardly having to introduce herself to these people and be done with it, now her mom was going to hold this stupid friendship over her head.
Nancy nodded, Karen and Susan smiling at one another.
Once Nancy had made it back home, she kicked off her shoes, sprinting up the stairs.
“No running.” Her father’s dull voice sounded from the living room again, but she couldn’t find it in herself to care.
Barb’s number was practically branded into her head, mindlessly tapped her number as she fell back onto her bed.
“Barb, I have a plan,” she started, twisting the wire in her fingers.
“Is that a good thing or bad thing,” Barb laughed.
“We just got back from visiting the neighbours. And, like… they’re fine… I guess… But my mom’s making me be friends with the daughter.”
“Oh shit.” Barb mumbled. “She’s our age?”
“Yeah, but like… she just ran away the second that my mom went all… y’know.”
“I do.”
“Anyways, the main point is that I think I have a plan for getting out of being grounded.”
“Oh?”
“If I want a decent chance of being able to date Steve this year without her knowing, maybe I just need to convince her that I’m friends with Robin. And if Robin’s mom is anything like mine, then Robin will probably be fine with us mutually lying.”
“Robin?” Barb asked.
“Yeah… that’s the daughter’s name…” Nancy hummed. “But anyways… I think that this could really work out. I’m so tired of mom putting all the punishment on me when Mike literally almost blew up the house last week” she snarked, rolling onto her front.
“Ooookay. Wanna explain that one to me?”
They both laughed, Nancy explaining the science experiment gone wrong.
It was like all the stress that had wound up in her body evaporated the second she got a hint of Barb’s quiet snicker.
Time faded faster and faster until Nancy’s mother had called her in for dinner.
She took one last glance out of her window, moving the curtain aside to watch the street below.
A whirl of motion caught her eye, and that’s when she spotted her. Biking down the street, hair tousling and baggy sweatshirt billowing in the breeze.
Nancy watched the girl until she was no longer in vision, eyes still staring at where she once was.
The new girl, the girl next door, the girl that would hopefully make Nancy’s future dating life a hell of a lot easier to handle.
Robin.