barb holland

[barbhxllcnd]

Barb piloted the book cart between the stacks, humming tunelessly to herself as she went. As far as things in Hawkins went -- and as far as she knew -- everything was back to normal, and she was in a relatively good mood. Sure, she still couldn’t explain any of the events following that stupid boat ride at the Fourth of July, but it hadn’t happened once since then. And sure, she was still afraid to sleep, afraid she would see that pool again, feel the volcanic rush of terror and helplessness and pain. And sure, sure, she had barely seen Nancy, or really anyone she knew, recently. But she was doing fine. Really, she was. She was humming, after all. Everyone knows you don’t hum unless you’re fine.

She turned the corner and had to stop short when she saw someone already standing in the aisle. “Oh, sorry,” she said, pulling the cart back to avoid running over their toes with it. “I didn’t realize anybody was here.” It had been pretty dead in the library this afternoon, which wasn’t really different than most afternoons. “Can I help you find anything?” She hoped they would say yes. She didn’t mind shelving books, but it was a lot less fun than helping someone pick out a book or find something they needed.

[barbhxllcnd]

afterlifeisdeath​:

WHO: anyone! WHERE: the hospital ( anyone who might be admitted or visiting )

Being short staffed at the hospital after an event like the carnival was to be expected. This wasn’t the first time Maria had to jump in and help out with the bodies. If someone died in Hawkins they’d eventually come to her at the funeral home where she’d prepare them for whatever afterlife they wanted for themselves. When they needed an extra set of hands for autopsies they’d call her and she was happy to oblige. This was the perfect opportunity to nose around, seeing what all she could figure out from the dead. They usually spoke louder than the living. 

She stood in front of the vending machine as it failed to produce the Coke she put in her quarters for. “Stupid fucking thing,” Maria grumbled before giving it a firm hit with the palm of her hand. Sure, it wasn’t much but she was in dire need of caffeine. The coffee here was burnt after being just unattended for such long periods and a cold Coke was the second best option. “Hey, you.” The first person she saw became her makeshift handyman. “Do you think you could get a coke out of this thing? It got stuck on the way out I think.”

-

Barb had been back and forth to the hospital since the carnival, trying to figure out what the hell had happened to her. It really wasn’t her idea -- but EMTs at the scene had insisted, and at the time, Barb had been so stunned that she hadn’t protested. So now she was stuck doing all these tests, which so far hadn’t produced any actual answers. She was starting to wish she’d asked to be compensated for her time. At the very least they could have sprung for a sandwich from the hospital cafeteria, in her opinion. 

She glanced around as she heard someone speak to her, her eyes widening slightly. “Yeah, I can try,” she said. She shoved her shoulder against the vending machine, hard enough to jar it, and then paused, listening. Barb did it again, a little harder this time, and blinked when she heard not one crash, but two. “Oh, well,” she said, peering down into the tray. “I guess you got a two for one this time.”

[barbhxllcnd]

evienotnicks​:

Being back in Hawkins under such awful circumstances was… well, awful. But Evie never liked to focus on the negative, which is why she’d taken the liberty of getting pleasantly stoned before opening. Melvald’s had been closed for a few days to pay respects to Henry, so she figured they’d be busier than usual as people stopped by to stock up on what they’d missed. 

She flicked the familiar sign to ‘open’ and plopped down into the stool behind the register, inconspicuously flipping through a zine she’d picked up at the airport under the counter. At the sound of the door chime, she picked her head up and offered a welcoming smile. “Welcome to Melvald’s, can I help you find anything?” She watched the other walk in and raised an eyebrow. “What’s up? Your vibe is…” Weird. “Off.” 

-

Barb actually liked grocery shopping. Although she wasn’t sure if going to Melvald’s actually counted as grocery shopping, considering the size of the store. It was more like…grabbing a few odds and ends, she supposed. But that was a mouthful to say, and it definitely didn’t seem as adult to say. A twelve year old could grab a few odds and ends for their mom, an adult was the one who went grocery shopping. At any rate, she felt a little more put together standing here in the store, a basket dangling from the crook of her arm.

She must have still been in a mental fog, though, at least more than she realized. Barb heard the girl’s voice and she looked up, a little frown of confusion touching her lips. “Oh, I…” She’d had a list before she left the house. Did she leave it? “I was trying to find vitamins,” she said finally. She remembered that for sure. “Like, um….just normal vitamins. For your health.” Maybe she wasn’t doing as well mentally as she thought she was.

[barbhxllcnd]

backtowheeler​:

— ✎ —

Normal. It was such a funny word now. What even was normal when you lived in Hawkins? Nancy’s normal was fighting monsters, but sitting around with Barb, on her couch, watching tapes? That felt normal. At least, that was her normal five years ago. Before a time of Demogorgons, before a time of the Upside Down, before a time when Barb had died. This wasn’t right. Barb shouldn’t be sitting right next to Nancy. Yet, here she was, chewing away on her favorite snack. Then, there was the night at the carnival. Barb wasn’t…. herself. She was cruel and had assisted in a planned attack. An attack that had left Nancy with a broken wrist.

Nancy had tried to pay attention, she really did, but she couldn’t get any of it out of her mind. It’s not like she could have shunned Barb. There was an expiration date on how long this would last, so Nancy tried to enjoy it as much as she could. She knew that one day when they eventually defeated the Doppelganger that it would inevitably rip Barb away from her, all over again. “Hm?” She looked over, shaking her head when the peanuts were offered to her. “No, no, I’m okay,” she declined. Really, she hadn’t had much of an appetite since everything began. It was hard to think about eating for anything other than sustenance when people were dying.

She furrowed her brows and shook her head at Barb’s question. “Um… I don’t know,” that was the honest answer. It felt like overnight, Hawkins had shifted. One moment she was trying to run away from her mom and smoke weed in her bathroom with Max Mayfield and the next she was waking up in a hospital bed. Nancy turned her body, shifting to look at Barb. “Do you… I don’t know, wanna talk about what happened? You know, at the carnival?”

-

Sitting here with Nancy made Barb feel like she was sixteen years old again. And there was something nice about that. When you were an adult, your teenage years were infused with a nostalgia — maybe not every moment, certainly not for people like Barb who didn’t fit precisely within the mold of a high school girl pumped out in movies. All the same, there were good times that seemed even better, even sweeter, when you looked back at them from your twenties. Watching tapes on the couch with Nancy were some of those good times. In fact, they were the majority of them.

But sitting here with Nancy also made Barb think of that horrible dream she’d been having. A dream so vivid that one might almost call it a memory. Except it couldn’t be, because it was so…so horrifying. So bizarre. It was the definition of a nightmare: frightening, inescapable, suffocating in its intensity. But it wasn’t just that she could recall every detail so clearly it might as well have actually happened. It was that some of it…had happened. Sitting by Steve’s pool that night. Feeling like she was losing Nancy. And then—

Nancy’s words pulled her from her thoughts. Barb frowned. “The…the carnival?” Her throat had gone dry at the very thought. “It — it freaks me out to think about it,” she admitted. “I don’t…” A shaky breath escaped her lips. “I don’t understand,” she said, and to her embarrassment, her voice cracked on the last word, tearing it raggedly in two. Under—stand. “I don’t know how I got out there,” she said. “I don’t know why I was standing by the fireworks. I don’t even like fireworks!” Her voice rose. “I don’t…what did I do?” She looked at Nancy helplessly. “What did I do?” 

[barbhxllcnd]

@backtowheeler​

Barb carefully broke the chocolate shell around the peanut with her teeth, letting the chocolate melt in her mouth before chewing on the peanut. Chocolate-covered peanuts were one of her favorite snacks, and she definitely needed the comfort of the familiar salty-sweet combo. The fact that she was enjoying them with Nancy after…how many years was it again? Three? Anyway, after such a long time -- and after everything that had happened after the Fourth of July. It was nice just to be able to sit there with her, watching a movie. Definitely nice, but undeniably…well, maybe everything just felt strange after whatever episode she had that night. 

But was she imagining things? Was Nancy sometimes looking at her like…like what? If Barb couldn’t even put a name to it, maybe it wasn’t the best for her to be thinking about it. Which didn’t stop her mind from circling back to it. Trying to understand why sometimes things felt so off. She didn’t think Nancy was the only one who looked at her that way, either. “Are you sure you don’t want some?” she said, peeking over at Nancy. “I feel like I’m hogging them.” She definitely was. But she really hadn’t been hungry since everything had happened.

She was curled on the couch next to Nancy, her feet tucked underneath her. The bag of chocolate-covered peanuts sat in her palm, and she held it out to Nancy as she spoke. “You okay, Nance?” she said, after a moment. She popped another chocolate-covered peanut into her mouth, glancing at the screen. Honestly, she hadn’t really been paying attention to the movie. But she hoped Nancy liked it, at least.

[barbhxllcnd]

@rcbinbvckleys​​

Barb hadn’t quite wrapped her head around everything that had happened at the Fourth of July carnival. The real kicker was she hadn’t even wanted to go to the damn thing. She had never really see the whole big deal about fireworks -- they were noisy and bright, but so was a police siren. People didn’t camp out on the front lawn to see those go off, did they? But sitting at home had also felt depressing, for some reason, and she hadn’t felt right sitting at home, either. So she had pulled on a pair of denim shorts and an appropriately festive shirt, and she’d gone. She’d eaten popcorn, and drank lemonade, and the last thing she remembered clearly was getting off that Tunnel of Love ride.

What came after that came to her in bits and pieces. Standing by the fireworks. An explosion ringing in her ears. Screaming and sirens going off. She was pretty sure she’d seen people getting arrested, but it hadn’t been until days later that she understood why. Even then, the details meant so little to her. She knew there were puzzle pieces missing, and it was driving her crazy. Which was one way of saying it scared the absolute shit out of her. What the hell was going on with this town? What the hell was going on with her?

She was still half-zombie, shambling out of the library on her lunch break. Barb didn’t even realize she had bumped into someone until she had taken a couple of steps forward, and she glanced around belatedly. “Oh, I’m sorry--” She paused as the face rearranged itself into a familiar one, albeit one changed by a few years. “Robin?”

[barbhxllcnd]

ofredbikini​:

coming to / fireworks disaster 

It had happened again. Heather, suddenly standing there, with no idea on how she had gotten there. Sirens were blaring in her ears, screams of disgust, of horror - and yet she was in the middle of it. What the fuck had happened? Her breath felt like her own again, her fingers holding onto a matchbox, red fingernails shaking now because she couldn’t remember even seeing or owning the matches in her hand. Looking around, bodies on the ground, police tackling friends to their knees - what had happened? 

Eyes searched for anyone, anyone at all, to tell her, but she felt herself get thrown over, pushed slightly by the chaos of the crowd and she tried to get up, looking around. “What - what is going on? What happened?” 

“What did you do?” The words fell from Barb’s lips before she’d even realized she had thought them, but even as she spoke, she hardly recognized them as her own. In part because she didn’t even recognize her own voice. It sounded like she had been a chainsmoker for thirty years, which was particularly exceptional considering that was longer than she’d been alive. On top of which, Barb felt like her thoughts were so scattered and disjointed that they barely even qualified as thoughts. 

“I don’t -- I don’t know,” she said, looking around. Her neck felt oddly stiff, as if she had been tense for hours. “I…why are we over here? I don’t remember coming here. Do you?”

[mashadpotato-deactivated2023043]

barb is okay barb is living her cottagecore lesbian dream life in the upside down

[barbhxllcnd]

loverboymontgomery​:

Cole still hadn’t quite recovered from discovering that Family Video in Hawkins, Indiana had a copy of Maurice. That had been a few months ago, and he’d forced Max to check it out for him so they could ogle Hugh Grant together. Well, so he could ogle Hugh Grant and Max could sigh disapprovingly. Anyway, today he was on a mission to find Full Metal Jacket; some film major had told him that Kubrick was shaping up to be the ‘voice of their generation,’ or something, so Cole figured he’d give it a try.

But of course, he’d ended up wandering the entire square footage of the store. He was glancing at new releases when a familiar voice asked him a question. He hadn’t known Barb well in high school, given that she was a year above him, but he knew her as Nancy’s friend. Cole smiled warmly at her and peered around to see her options. He wasn’t much of a comedy guy, so he didn’t recognize many. “Hmmm,” he studied the shelves, then had an idea. He ducked into another aisle and came back with The Lost Boys. “It’s technically horror, but I promise it isn’t scary. Just… a cheesy vampire movie. It’s my go-to,” he said, holding the title out for her. “Other than that, I’m afraid I’m out of suggestions.” 

-

Barb’s eyes narrowed slightly as the guy smiled at her, as if she was trying to focus her vision. There was something familiar about him. She hadn’t really put herself out there very much in high school, even when it came to platonic socializing. With a few exceptions, Barb preferred books to people, and she didn’t think anyone had really minded. Because she assumed that no one outside her circle of friends had noticed her. And her circle had rapidly narrowed in high school to chiefly include one person. Which probably wasn’t good, for a number of reasons. Like the fact that she couldn’t put a name to this guy’s face for the life of her.

She watched him duck into a different aisle, a little bemused, and when he came back, whatever his name was ended up being driven from her mind. Her first thought was Peter Pan, although after he described it to her, she supposed she wasn’t very far off. The vampires would never grow up, after all. “A cheesy vampire movie?” she repeated, raising an eyebrow with a little smile. Truth be told, she wasn’t a huge horror fan; real life contained enough horrors, like -- why did a swimming pool come to mind? “You know what, I’ll give it a try,” she said, with a little dry chuckle. She glanced over at him. “You went to high school here, right?” she said. “You look so familiar.”

[barbhxllcnd]

backtowheeler​:

— ✎ —

Renting had become a favorite past time of Nancy’s. It was the easiest way to watch new releases, or watch something new. The Wheeler’s had a fine collection of VHS tapes but they were mostly old home videos or children’s movies like The Goonies or Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory. Whenever Nancy wanted something more adult, she’d have to hunt it down at Family Video. She had come in for nothing particular, just something mundane so she could get her mind off of… everything. Comedy. That would be a good place to look. It wasn’t her genre of choice, but she needed a laugh. 

She turned into the aisle and it was like horror struck her. She was staring at Barb Holland. The same Barb Holland that was her best friend. The same Barb Holland that had been murdered. The same Barb Holland that she saw in the Upside Down. But now… here she was, asking about movies in Family Fucking Video. Was this a dream? Some sick dream she’d wake up from? That was it, she’d wake up in her bed any minute, drenched in sweat.

Darting to the next aisle over, Nancy couldn’t control the overwhelming emotions that came to the forefront. Tears immediately falling as she gasped for air, her legs suddenly feeling like Jell-O as she slid down, knocking Rain Man and countless other titles down with her. She sat there, hand covering her mouth to silence her sobs. This wasn’t happening. She was going to wake up. It wasn’t until two teenaged girls passed Nancy, snickering at her like she was insane that she realized this was not a dream. Far from it. 

She furiously wiped her eyes and then with shaky hands, attempted to pick up the movies she had pushed off the shelves, only for them to fall back out of her hands. She left them there, making a mental note to apologize to Steve or Robin (not Keith, though) as she stood up from her spot. First Melissa and now Barb. She should have turned around, ran straight home and cried into her mother’s arms or maybe run to the Byer’s house and tell Jonathan. That’s what she would have done at sixteen if her best friend seemingly came back from the dead. Now, at twenty-one, months away from securing her journalism degree, she had a different approach. She was scared, terrified, as she walked back around to the comedy section. 

Nancy could have burst into tears again, looking at her friend again. The last time she had seen Barb, she was mangled. Deceased. Rotting. Not herself. Nancy didn’t even know if this was Barb. If whatever was chasing them could turn into any of them, then what was stopping it from becoming people who had died? Still, if it wasn’t Barb, Nancy would cherish this moment. The one moment she could finally say everything she should have years ago. One more memory of Barb she could hold onto.

“You know I’m shit when it comes to comedy,” Nancy gave her a smile. It didn’t meet her eyes. What she would have done for one more conversation, one more hug, one more… anything. And now she had it, for better or worse. Then, as if out of her own control, she wrapped her arms around Barb. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I should have never left you,” meaning I should have never gone up those stairs with Steve, but to Barb, it probably just sounded like Nancy apologizing for moving to Boston. She pulled away, quickly diverting her attention back to the task at hand. Comedy. “Remember when we watched Animal House?” Nancy chuckled at the memory. She and Barb rented it once and they both hated the raunchiness of the film.

Then Nancy’s eyes landed on Sixteen Candles. It came out the summer after Barb’s death and when Nancy had gone to see it in theaters, all she could think was how Barb would have loved it. “What about this? We could go back to my place and watch it? Just like high school.”

-

Seeing Nancy made Barb’s heart start to pick up speed with a wrench, as if she had gotten a shock -- missing a step going downstairs, hearing an unexpected knock on the door in the middle of the night, someone grabbing your shoulder as you walked unheeding down the street. Somehow it felt like decades had passed since she’d seen her. It had just been a few years, hadn’t it? Maybe it was like dog years, living in a commune. One year translated into seven or something like that. But in the end it didn’t really matter. The point was, despite feeling as though it had been so long, Nancy looked just the same as she had in high school.

Well. That wasn’t strictly true. If anything, she looked even prettier -- but Barb didn’t really have time to appreciate that, before Nancy had darted to the next aisle, like she couldn’t stand the sight of her. Barb opened her mouth to speak, but what was there to say when your best friend just ran away from you without so much as an Excuse me? Was Nancy angry with her? Barb didn’t remember really calling much…or at all. Or writing, for that matter. She couldn’t even remember why she hadn’t. But in retrospect, Nancy had such a full life already. Surely she wouldn’t have missed Barb that much when she left town. 

She stood there, so frozen by shock and confusion that she probably couldn’t have moved even if a bomb had detonated. Should she go after her? Should she keep looking at movies like nothing had happened? Should she just leave? The latter option seemed like it would be the most embarrassing -- what if Nancy saw her? Then it would look like she was running away. Which she essentially would be. Still, it would be better than standing here like a slackjawed idiot, staring at the space Nancy had been as if she was still filling it.

And then Nancy was back, smiling at her. But it wasn’t right, her smile. It didn’t make her eyes light up like it usually did. Her breath caught in her chest as Nancy actually spoke to her. “Yeah, me neither,” she said, with a little laugh that sounded strangely nervous. She looked at Nancy for a moment as she spoke. The acknowledgement made it feel like she was filled up with helium, in danger of floating away. “It’s okay,” she said quietly. “I really missed you, that’s all.” She couldn’t help but giggle as Nancy brought up Animal House. “Yeah, God, unfortunately,” she said. “That movie is a joke, and not in the good way.” 

She glanced at the movie Nancy picked up, a smile coming to her face. “Oh, I’ve heard about this one, it’s supposed to be really good,” she said. Her heart lifted even further as Nancy went on, and she nodded. “That sounds great,” she said, offering her friend another smile.

[barbhxllcnd]

julieforeman​:

WHO: Julie Foreman & @barbhxllcnd​

WHAT: Julie…… can read?

WHERE: The Library

If you had told high school Julie that she would one day be close to earning a degree in Pre-Law, she probably would have told you to get bent. Twenty-three year old Julie was just glad to be almost done with her degree, honestly. As much as she hated the internship at the district attorney’s office, she did like getting to actually do applicable things. There was only so much one could learn from studying; getting to learn about actual cases was way more helpful. 

But, Julie had never been the best at sitting still or buckling down to study. She was bad at focusing, unless she was really involved in something and unfortunately, working for the Dark Side was not what she wanted to be involved with. So, when she had some case studies to read up on for her boss, she knew the most ideal place to look over them would be the library. After all, she’s probably be too embarrassed to be too disruptive in there. At least, that’s what she’d thought before she’d spilled an entire cup of coffee on one of the tables. But hey, it was an accident!

“Shit,” She swore quietly, moving her books to a nearby table to avoid them getting drenched in coffee too. “Motherfucking shit,” Julie whispered, looking around for the nearest bathroom that she could go get an armful of paper towels from. Unfortunately for her, she couldn’t seem to figure out where one was, but she did see someone who worked here. “I swear it isn’t what it looks like!” Julie tried to defend herself.

“Okay…. so it is exactly what it looks like. But I’m trying to clean up, I swear! That has to count for something, right? Could you tell me where I could get some paper towels?”

-

Barb had caught the scent of coffee before she even saw the spill -- definitely not an unpleasant smell by any means. If anything, it was one of her favorites. She had vivid memories of being a little girl, helping her mom make a coffee by carefully pouring in the creamer, stirring and stirring so fast that the spoon spun around the mug a few times when she let it go. As an adult, she had a cup of coffee every morning; on the weekends, she nursed a mug, while curled up in a comfortable chair with a good book. At least once a day at work, she had coffee in the breakroom. 

So not only was she familiar with the smell, but she rather enjoyed it. That being said, she wasn’t all that happy to be smelling it out here, in the main body of the library. Following her nose, she was making her way to the scent -- hoping against hope that no books had been too badly damaged -- when the girl, clearly frazzled, asked her if she knew where to find the paper towels. 

She found herself trying not to laugh. It was obvious that the other girl was clearly on edge and aggravated about the whole thing, which was better than her just brushing it off. “It’s okay, I’ll grab some from the break room,” she said. “Hold on.” She went down the hall and reappeared a few minutes later with the paper towel roll, grabbed from the counter. “Where is it?” she said, and paused. “You didn’t actually spill on any books, right?”

[barbhxllcnd]

sinclairss​:

.

it was about escapism, lucas thought. while the nightmares had gotten fewer and farther between the more time between now and the cemetery, he was wrestling with the confusing problem of wanting to kiss his friend while not making things weird. so movies were a good way to get out of his own head for a while…and they helped when the nightmares came back, too. 

since he’d been spending so many evenings on the living room couch or, when his parents were busy using that TV to watch dallas, on the crappy, tiny television he saved up his paperboy money three years ago to buy, lucas knew this store almost as well as steve and robin did. he’d just returned crocodile dundee (one and two) and was browsing the shelves for something he hadn’t seen yet when someone asked a question.

lucas had to move his headphones around his neck to hear her properly, which meant he missed it, but the person was looking at him so expectantly that he could…sort of figure it out. he cleared his throat and studied the titles in front of him before grabbing one of the tapes, then another, and held both up for her to see. “so this,” lucas lifted national lampoon’s vacation up. “is pure family comedy. and this…” he held up the other tape. “is about a teenage werewolf. pick your poison.”

-

Barb flushed a little when she realized that he hadn’t actually been paying attention to the world around him. “Sorry about that,” she said. “I didn’t mean to bother you.” Of course the cat was out of the bag now, so to speak -- she’d broken into his private little world without realizing it, the headphones somehow escaping her notice. For a moment she fell back into the wallflower persona of her teenage years, ducking her head with a little huff of embarrassment. But when he spoke again, she glanced up, offering him a little smile as he seemed inclined to help. 

She looked at the choices he held up, listening intently. The last comedy she remembered watching was Animal House -- she’d watched it back in high school, with Nancy. Speaking of her teenage years. There was so much in this town that reminded her of back then, although she didn’t know what else she had expected. She had grown up in this town, leaving memories behind, like dandelion seeds caught here and there after the wind had blown them away. 

Pulling her attention back to him, she hummed thoughtfully. “The teenage werewolf sounds good,” she said. “Talk about an allegory for puberty, huh? Which one do you like?” She had to assume he’d seen them if he was recommending them. Belatedly, she realized that she hadn’t actually introduced herself. “Oh, uh, I’m Barb, by the way.” He looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t quite place him.

[barbhxllcnd]

Where: Family Video Who: Barb & ??

Barb had become reliant on video tapes since she’d come home. She couldn’t afford anything beyond the basic cable package, and even then, the reception in the postage stamp she called an apartment wasn’t the greatest. So she’d been checking a lot of books out of the library -- even more than usual -- and renting plenty of video tapes. She had started out renting her favorites, like the 1978 version of Lord of the Rings, along with Grey Gardens, All the President’s Men, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. But in the past few weeks, she’d started to branch out. She started with political thrillers, because they were fairly familiar ground. Marathon Man, The Odessa File, Sleeping Dogs…from there she began watching action movies, like Jaws, Alien, and Star Wars: A New Hope.

Tonight, she was perusing the comedy section, which was definitely unprecedented ground for her. “Oh, shoot,” Barb muttered, as the movie she was looking at turned out to be rented already. Seeing someone out of the corner of her eye, she turned to look at them. It wasn’t like her to seek the advice of a stranger, but since she was already trying a new genre tonight -- why not? “Hey, would you recommend anything?” she said, gesturing at the shelves in front of them. “These movies aren’t really my thing, so…you could really tell me any one of these is great, and I’d sort of have to believe you.”

[barbhxllcnd]

drewcampbell​:

Who: Drew Campbell & anyone Where: Blue Quarry Mall food court

Drew hadn’t had a chance to fully scope-out Hawkins yet since moving in. So far, all he’d accomplished was unpacking and getting a new job, all while avoiding any interactions with his father — he planned to keep it that way, too. He’d lived in so many different places around the world throughout his life, such as Oregon, California, London, New York and, most recently, Texas. Each place had its own unique features, but Hawkins already stood out the most to him. It was such a small town, with a sort of strange aura that he couldn’t quite pinpoint. It didn’t scare him off though; he wasn’t planning on getting attached to the town, anyway.

Drew had a tradition to explore any new place they moved to, to familiarize himself with the area quickly before it was time to pack up and leave again. Though he didn’t know if it would be the same this time — whether he’d leave on his own terms, or just decide to stay here alone — he still stuck to that tradition upon arriving to Hawkins. The mall felt like a good place to start, he decided, as it was the perfect place to see what kind of people made up the town. After walking around to see what stores the mall had to offer, he stopped to get a snack from a nearby vending machine, only for the machine to eat his dollar and give nothing in return. “Fuck! Seriously?” He grumbled, giving the machine a hard hit in attempt to nudge the candy bar from its clutches. Noticing a stranger observing close-by, he decided to give them a warning. “Don’t bother wasting your money on this shit, I think it’s broken.”

-

The mall was brand-new in Hawkins -- or, to be more precise, it was brand-new to Barb. It definitely hadn’t been there when she left. She knew that she and Nancy would have spent hours there if it had been. Nancy would have looked good in everything she tried on, because she always looked good, and Barb probably would have bought a sweater or a pair of pants. She never really liked clothes shopping. It felt like the fashion world wasn’t built for everyone -- instead, it centered around girls like…well, Nancy. Petite and perfectly pretty.

She had been wandering the mall for a while, with no shopping conquests to speak of, when she heard the guy’s altercation with the vending machine. “Here, let me try,” she said, walking over. She shoved her shoulder against the vending machine, and with a little crash, the snack toppled into the grab bin. “I’m sure you loosened it,” she said, grinning slightly.

[barbhxllcnd]

yousuzeyoulose​:

who: Suzie & open!

where: Hawkins Public Library

Shockingly, Hawkins Public Library didn’t have anything resembling an internship program, but that didn’t stop Suzie. The first day she was in town, she’d walked in and explain why they needed her. And, upon further inspection, they really needed her. What library wasn’t already digitizing their catalogue in ‘88? They couldn’t pay much, but Suzie didn’t mind. She just wanted something to do while Dustin worked. 

The first few days of her faux-internship were spent setting up her workspace. Of course, they had a computer– but of course, it wasn’t rigged the way she needed it to be. Today, Suzie’s goal was to create a data entry program so she could easily grab and enter the library’s catalogue, and, eventually, they could check out books without writing or stamping. Ignoring the librarians looks of alarm, Suzie clocked in and got to work. After a few hours, she was ready to test her system. 

Suzie knew exactly what she wanted to use for her experiment, so she made a beeline to the fantasy section. On the way there, a patron stopped her which– given her Hawkins Public Library name tag– made sense, but she was still surprised. “Sorry!” she exclaimed, turning and facing the other. “What was that?” 

-

Barb hadn’t really known what to do when she got back to Hawkins, but the library had always been a place of comfort for her. She had gone there mostly for something to do, but when she found out there was a job opening for a library aide, she jumped at the chance. The pay wasn’t much, but fortunately, the rent for her apartment wasn’t too stringent, so it didn’t eat up much of her paycheck. It felt like not a lot had gone right for her recently, so she was grateful for this little boon. And definitely grateful for this job. So she was doing her best to be everywhere, doing all the little tasks asked of her and more.

She was in the middle of respelling books when she found that someone had shoved a half-eaten candy bar into the stacks. Barb let out a little yelp of disgust and drew her hand back, scowling. “That’s disgusting,” she muttered, but then again, it was typical of people around here. Specifically, the action brought to mind a careless high school student, and her imagination conjured up an image of the crowd that Nancy used to run around with. It definitely seemed to fit -- one of the brainless athletes, encased in his letterman jacket, taking a big bite out of the candy before shoving it into the stacks rather than finding a trash can.

“I was asking you if you could grab the trash can from the front desk,” she said, wrinkling her nose as she glanced at the half-melted candy. “I have to find cleaning supplies somewhere, I don’t know where the cleaning staff put them.” She gestured at the book shelf. “Some jerk shoved their snack here rather than make the effort to find the trash. Isn’t that nasty?”

[barbhxllcnd]

melissaia​:

WHO: Melissa Armstrong + open WHERE: Outside City Hall WHAT: Community car wash

     There had never been a time when Melissa was so lost in her life. Waking up after her own death to find that three years had passed, head filled with foggy memories of the time between that felt false but with no way to prove it, she was just left…adrift. She had been accepted to university before she disappeared; now she was quite suddenly a twenty-one year old with no college credit, no career and no clue how to get back on track. Well, in all fairness it had only been a few days and she was bound to pull her shit back together soon enough, but in the meantime she clung to what was familiar, what came naturally. Community service. As long as she could be of use to her town, she wouldn’t be entirely unmoored.

     “It’s five dollars for a small to full-size car, ten for a truck or van,” she automatically listed the prices for the fund-raiser car wash as somebody approached their hopeful operation, looking up from her clipboard with a bright smile and squinting in the direct sunlight. “All proceeds go to rebuilding Benny’s Burgers. Or if you’re here to volunteer your time, we could always use more hands and we have plenty of sponges to go around.”

-

“Oh, I don’t…” Barb started to say, faltering in the face of the woman’s sunny optimism flowing over her with little provocation. She was going to say that she didn’t have a car — and for a moment, she wasn’t sure if she could even drive. Surely she’d gotten her license when she was 16. But she couldn’t remember driving since then. Or had she just wanted to get her license when she was 16, and had never gotten around to it? Maybe her parents were just too busy with work. It had slipped their minds...for five years. Of course, living in a commune, you didn’t really have a lot of reason to operate a motor vehicle. But that didn’t account for the time between 16 years old and—

She realized belatedly she’d been standing there like an idiot the entire time these thoughts were running through her mind. “I, um...yeah, I’ll volunteer,” she said finally, more to make up for her scatter-brained actions than from any real sense of civic duty. She looked down uncertainly at her clothes. “There’s not a dress code for this, is there?” Was it like painting, where you only wore clothes that you didn’t mind getting stained? Probably not — it was just water and soap, after all,  unless — Jesus, focus, Barb! What was wrong with her? She had never been like this before, but ever since she got back to Hawkins, it was like she couldn’t control where her mind went. It was really starting to freak her out.

[last-standing-byers]

WHO: Jonathan + Open

WHERE: The Strip Mall, SpinCity Laundromat.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jonathan never really knows how to spend his weekends. On Saturday afternoons, he’s generally stuck jamming quarters into the dented machines at SpinCity Laundromat – this weekend was no exception. Sitting on a vinyl chair, he watched his clothes mush through grey water and found himself thinking about whether Chinese or Pizza would be on the menu tonight. He was exhausted after a week of dealing with cranky customers at Melvin’s and it showed in the purple bags resting under his eyes. Hawkins has never been a major tourist attraction but the town always doubled in size over the summer as voyagers (with fat wallets) stopped in town while completing their trips to bigger and brighter places.

Jonathan crossed his arms and rested his head on the wall behind him, closing his eyes for a while before jolting awake to the beep of his dry cycle ending. He peeled himself from his chair and crouched to shove clothes in his laundry bag. The bell at the storefront went off as he closed the drawstring and turned towards the entry. His tired eyes widen when he sees [them]. Caught off guard, he opens his mouth but nothing comes out. "H-Hey" It takes him a second to figure out what to say and he glances back at Tara - the laundromat manager and only other person in the store - who is now looking up from their magazine to eavesdrop. One hand goes up to scratch the back of his neck. "I- uh, I guess you also do laundry on Saturdays?"

[barbhxllcnd]

byersphotography​:

WHO: Jonathan + Open

WHERE: The Strip Mall, SpinCity Laundromat.

——————————————————————————

Jonathan never really knows how to spend his weekends. On Saturday afternoons, he’s generally stuck jamming quarters into the dented machines at SpinCity Laundromat – this weekend was no exception. Sitting on a vinyl chair, he watched his clothes mush through grey water and found himself thinking about whether Chinese or Pizza would be on the menu tonight. He was exhausted after a week of dealing with cranky customers at Melvin’s and it showed in the purple bags resting under his eyes. Hawkins has never been a major tourist attraction but the town always doubled in size over the summer as voyagers (with fat wallets) stopped in town while completing their trips to bigger and brighter places.

Jonathan crossed his arms and rested his head on the wall behind him, closing his eyes for a while before jolting awake to the beep of his dry cycle ending. He peeled himself from his chair and crouched to shove clothes in his laundry bag. The bell at the storefront went off as he closed the drawstring and turned towards the entry. His tired eyes widen when he sees [them]. Caught off guard, he opens his mouth but nothing comes out. “H-Hey” It takes him a second to figure out what to say and he glances back at Tara - the laundromat manager and only other person in the store - who is now looking up from their magazine to eavesdrop. One hand goes up to scratch the back of his neck. “I- uh, I guess you also do laundry on Saturdays?”

-

Barb found herself at a loss upon returning to Hawkins. Her parents were just gone, with no note leaving a forwarding address at their old house. It felt like someone had just ripped the Bandaid off her old life, and she wasn’t sure how to take care of the new, raw expanse that lay beneath. It wasn’t like she’d expected that everything would be exactly the way she left it, with her room as a shrine to the daughter who had moved on…okay, maybe she had. At least a little. Was that so bad? She was an only child, and she’d always been close with her parents. If anything, she might have expected to come home to find it turned into a sewing room, or a home office, or something like that. But they were just gone. 

So here she was, working at the library, living in a tiny apartment above a deli. She’d scrambled to create some semblance of a life for herself now that she was back in Hawkins, and while she had always imagined she’d go to college -- become a teacher -- it seemed very vague now. As if it were someone else’s goal, one that she hadn’t even really paid attention to when they told her all about it. She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard a vaguely familiar voice. Barb raised her eyebrows. “Oh, uh…” It took her a moment to remember his name. “Jonathan, right? Yeah. I’m…you know, off work, so…” She smiled faintly, politely, and shrugged. “My place is kind of small. A washer-dryer would take up half the floor space.”