&&*. THE COUNSELOR

naomi breindel. thirty-one. guidance counselor at hawkins middle and high school.

[naomibreiindel]

@papastevie

since monday, naomi had been stuck in her office most of the day visiting with students. most of them were confidential, since they didn’t want to admit their fear of the wild animal to their friends. but they knew they were safe in there, so they talked behind closed doors. however, she’d finally gotten a moment to get out and head through campus to one of the other teachers’ classrooms when she saw a familiar face. steve. she’d meant to call him into her office, but she hadn’t had a spare moment. she’d seen him the other day with a little girl in town, and she noticed how well he was taking care of her. then, as she thought back, she realized she’d seen him with a few of the middle schoolers from time to time, including will byers. then it’d hit her: she knew what path he should take. 

though in high heels, naomi jogged over to him. “mr. harrington,” she called softly, trying not to draw too much attention from others around, since she knew it was probably mortifying to have the counselor run after you and call you out. but she smiled when she reached him, showing him she was there for good purposes. “i have something to talk to you about. if you’re not busy right now, you can come to my office. i’ll get you out of class if you want.” she was a school counselor and professional, yes, but she also knew that sometimes you had to bend the rules a bit to achieve something better off for the students. she’d rather him find out his career path than sit in a class learning about geometry or history that he’d never use again.

[naomibreiindel]

benjineil:

@naomibreiindel

     the public library was closing in less than twenty minutes — a fact benji was being reminded of constantly, with marissa periodically glancing at him from across the room and pointing to the clock — but the teenager couldn’t leave just yet. in front of him was a massive pile of books featuring anything he could find about hawkins national laboratory; but, save for the news articles and other such notices since the lab was shut down, nothing really stood out to explain the recent attack. the lab didn’t seem to work with animals or animal testing, at least from what he could find. with a frustrated sigh, benji gets up from the desk, leaving the books temporarily unattended as he dived back into the aisles, hoping to find something new. what he found there was indeed ‘new’, but not quite what he was looking for, either. “miss breindel?” he sputters, incredulously, brows raised in surprise. besides the rather inconvenienced librarian, he hadn’t realised there was anyone else here. “isn’t it kinda late to be hanging out in the library?”

naomi had always been fascinated by the lab, but she’d never thoroughly researched it. sure, she’d read a few newspaper articles about it when it got shut down, and had been interested ever since, but hadn’t thought to look deeper. but now, since this animal attack, which was, coincidentally, right outside the lab, naomi was beginning to get more suspicious. and curious. so she took to the library for the first time ever to get to the bottom of the situation. hoping she wouldn’t see any of her students, she went right before it closed, but frowned when she saw all the books on the lab gone. maybe someone else was as interested as she was. she sighed in defeat and stepped out of the aisle, but paused as she heard her name, from a familiar voice. she turned around swiftly. benji. “h-hi,” she smiled, caught off guard by his appearance. surely not as much as he was by hers, but still. “oh, um... yes. i had a lot of paperwork to do today so this was the only time i could come. what about you? doing homework, i hope?”

[naomibreiindel]

riverclarke:

river smiled gently as she stood in the doorway. witnessing miss breindel stand her ground was actually pretty inspiring to her — something she had always admired so much about the counselor was how she actually gave a shit about the students, something that made her stand out against the rest of the high school staff. river had been visiting miss breindel semi-regularly the past few years to talk out the abandonment issues caused by her mother, but today was for something different.

“it’s no trouble, miss breindel.” she laughed softly, making her way into the room and sitting down. “so… uh. you know how i’ve been writing for the school paper? i… got a submission for the agony aunt column and i wanted to talk about it.” 

naomi smiled softly at river, tucking her hair behind her ears to appear more put together after her outburst at the dumbass principal. she was one of her favorite students, though she’d never admit it out loud. she was always just so positive, even though she’d been through some hard times. but it looked like today wasn’t going to be about that. “of course. what does it say?” she asked curiously, resting her elbows on the desk then entwining her fingers with each other, listening intently.

[naomibreiindel]

officerdeluca:

paul nodded. he had expected as much, given everything that had happened in the last two years. the attack at hawkins lab was only a drop in the bucket of the danger that surrounded hawkins. still, news of a dead body being found was always tough. “i just hope we figure this out soon. the quicker it’s over, the sooner people can start feeling safe again,” paul said, tiredly rubbing his eyes. he hated that so many people in this town were scared right now; he wanted to reassure them in some way. if they found the animal that had done this, maybe that could put people’s minds at ease. “do you want me to give you a ride?” he offered, concerned for his friend’s safety. “not to the lab, no. i’m mostly patrolling residential areas.” paul shrugged. he hadn’t been assigned anything monumental, and he doubted that would change. after all, he hadn’t been a cop for that long compared to some of the others on the force.

naomi watched him sympathetically, reaching over to place a gentle hand on his knee as he tiredly rubbed at his eyes. things must’ve been crazy down at the station. hawkins never did stay quiet for too long since will’s disappearance last year. she squeezed his knee in an offer of consolation, then smiled a bit at his offer. “sure,” she replied softly, nodding her head. “a ride would be great. thank you, paul.” he was so selfless and kind. surely he’d been working hard trying to keep this threat from happening again, yet he still offered his help to her. she nodded again and sighed in relief. “good,” she replied. she wanted him to have a big role, sure, but she didn’t want him to get hurt. she was terrified of that happening. “still, though. be careful out there,” she told him with a raised brow, as if he wasn’t already. “do you have any ideas of what this animal is?”

[naomibreiindel]

officerdeluca:

nodding in understanding, paul gave the brunette a small smile. he was a natural worrier, especially when it came to people he cared about. that applied to naomi, one of the few close friends he had. with the body that had just been found, he figured her job had only gotten more stressful. “not this time,” his face was grim as he settled into the chair in front of her desk. “technically it’s not official police business at all. i just wanted to see how everyone’s handling the news about larryreynolds,” he knew it had to be hard on people. regardless of if they knew the man or not, with the lab being hit by an animal attack only a month before, people had to be scared. “how are you?”

naomi let her expression turned serious as she nodded slowly, sitting against the edge of her desk and crossing her arms over her chest. she sighed. “a lot of them are scared. even if they won’t admit it, i can see it in their expressions when they talk about it,” she replied. she was scared, but just never told anyone. it was her job to listen to other people’s problems, not talk about her own. so it was a pleasant surprise when paul asked her how she was doing. “it’s... it’s a little concerning,” she admitted, biting the inside of her cheek. “there’s a late meeting tonight at school and i guess it’s a little scary to think about going home.” she shrugged slightly. “but how about you? tell me you’re not going out there looking for this thing.”

[naomibreiindel]

billyroadrage:

“uh oh - busted.” he honestly knew that at some point, naomi was going to find out about bambi. their date was coming up, and she had seemed conflicted about it. it was a given that she’d come to talk to the guidance counselor about it. “you’re not threatened, are you?” he smirked again before moving closer and planting a kiss on her lips before she could answer. when they pulled away, he let go of her and took a seat on the sofa in front of her desk to talk to her properly. 

“yeah. busted,” naomi whispered with a sarcastic smirk. of course it’d bothered her. at first she’d been scared that her reaction had given away her relationship ( if you could even call it that ) with billy, but over time, she realized how much it really annoyed her. she raised her eyebrows at his question and let his lips touch hers for a moment before sliding her fingers between them then pushing him to sit down in the chair. she sat down on her desk and crossed her legs, sighing lightly. “i guess i didn’t know what to expect.”

[naomibreiindel]

billyroadrage:

he could pinpoint the exact moment she had started to let her guard back down. billy was the cockiest guy around, so he knew she couldn’t resist a visit from him during school hours. “oh, i have somethin’ to talk about,” he replied, bringing his face close to hers. “you see, i really like this girl and it’s stopping me from focusing on my studies. the other thing is, she’s also the guidance counselor.” he smirked, grazing his lips against hers as he did so.

“oh?” she whispered when he admitted his ‘problem’, letting him step forward. she closed her eyes as their lips brushed together but then opened them again to look up at him. “well if she’s so distracting from your studies, then maybe she should stop seeing you.” again she quirked an eyebrow as she wrapped her arms around his neck, tilting her head to the side. “actually, from what i hear, you aren’t having any problems finding dates, so maybe you don’t need this counselor like you think you do.”

[naomibreiindel]

officerdeluca:

paul blinked in surprise, not used to hearing the woman so upset. he knew she was passionate about her job, she always had been. back when will byers went missing, naomi had been a huge help to the police department in part due to her passion for making sure each of the students in her care were safe and okay. he admired her for that. “it’s alright,” he returned her small smile, entering her office. “everything okay? that sounded kind of heated,” paul studied the brunette, trying to gage whether or not she was really alright.

paul was the one person her age she could actually consider a friend. after all the days they’d spent together last year when will byers went missing, they’d really formed a bond. she smiled softly and stood, smoothing her pencil skirt down. “oh. yeah, it’s nothing. i guess i don’t exactly see eye-to-eye with the administration,” she vaguely replied with a small smirk, moving around her desk and walking over to him. “it’s a nice surprise to see you here, though. i hope you’re not here because another one of my students went missing,” she joked, quirking an eyebrow. first will, then barbara holland. it was all a little... strange.

[naomibreiindel]

bambimontx:

   bambi nodded her head, not surprised at all that someone else her age had the same worry. when you live in hawkins long enough it becomes your biggest fear to amount to nothing and stay in the small town forever. it did help knowing she wasn’t going through the rollercoaster alone however, and she wondered if she could guess who the student was. before she could run through the list of names in her head, she watch the woman’s expressions fade, they bounced back quickly but for a moment naomi looked as though she had just seen a ghost. bambi trailed back in her head as to what she was talking about before the woman’s face changed. was it a particular theme or name that triggered her. it wasn’t her place to ask, but the blonde was too curious to leave it alone. bambi gave the girl a slight nod in response to her question about billy. “yeah- I thought he would be a little more mature than the hawkins boys because he’s not from here, but I was wrong. he’s been hanging outside my classrooms ever since, and I think I might give him a second chance, the mysterious new boy doesn’t seem like a bad pick, plus it helps that he looks like rob lowe”

naomi swallowed back all of the shock she’d felt to try to give bambi a real, solid answer that wouldn’t give away anything about her fling with billy. no one could know, especially not this girl who she felt so close to. “i don’t know him too well. he’s never come in before,” she explained. technically it was true. he’d never come in as a student asking for advice. but he’d been in here plenty of times after school hours. she chuckled slightly at the comment about him looking like rob lowe, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. of course she thought the same thing, but confirming or denying meant knowing what he looked like enough to make the judgment. “well to me, it doesn’t sound like he’s worth your time. like i said before, wait until college. the boys there are more mature and respectful. the older they get, the more emotionally mature they are. you’ll see.” it was professional, clinical advice that she’d give to anyone. it was just ironic given the fact that it’d been about billy. ironic and dangerous terrain.

[naomibreiindel]

bambimontx:

    bambi crossed her perfectly polished fingers and shook her head, she envied naomi, the woman always had an answer for everything. whenever the teen came in with an issue or a comment, it seemed that the guidance counsellor always had something intelligent and factual to say. she almost wished she’d known something about her that made her less perfect, something that humanised her. of course, that wasn’t what these session were for, they were for bambi and at the end of the day, she knew better than to expect a real connection out of someone who had authority over her. “I was thinking- maybe I shouldn’t go to school, maybe I should stay here and help my dad run the hardware store- at the end of the day it’s always something substantial and easy to fall back on. the enemy you know is always better than the one you don’t and I know hawkins. maybe that’s my destiny- to marry billy hargrove and raise a family in hawkins, indiana under the security of my family’s business”

“i had another student,” she wouldn’t release steve’s name, “come in recently and say the same thing. they don’t want to stay and work for their parent, but they feel like they have to. you never have to.” naomi smiled softly and reassuringly. but it fell from her face almost as soon as she heard a very familiar name leave the girl’s mouth. she made the connection almost instantly; billy was the one she’d had a date with, who’d stood her up. she didn’t dare let the distress show on her face, as much as she felt like standing up and pacing around the room, and instead hid it with a convincing smile. “you can always change your future. nothing is set in stone.” it was cliché, broad advice, but it was all she could offer through her shock and shame. she didn’t know what to think of the situation just yet, but she sure as hell couldn’t let bambi get suspicious of anything. “s-so billy’s the one you were to go out with?”

[naomibreiindel]

billyroadrage:

a smirk grew on billy’s lips as naomi entered the room. he stood up to greet her, and once the door was closed he walked towards her slowly, placing his hands on either side of her waist. “what? i’m here to see the counselor. am i not allowed to do that like any other student?” he cocked an eyebrow, knowing that she had no real reason to ask him to leave. yes, they were at school, but he didn’t care. he honestly didn’t care if someone caught them, either. 

naomi rolled her eyes when he walked over to her, his hands replacing her own firm ones on her hips. but she let him move closer even through her annoyance, mirroring him by raising her own eyebrow. “you are. but you don’t have anything to talk about,” she murmured, placing her hands on his arms nonetheless. it felt so dangerous to do when school was in session, and everyone was so close by, but... somehow it made more fun at the same time. she finally let a small smile form on her full lips. “or do you?”

[naomibreiindel]

papastevie:

     he didn’t even lift his eyes once she sat closer to him, keeping his attention on his hands as he slumped. it wasn’t a usual steve look and he certainly wasn’t used to it either.  feeling so down was beyond him. the one time he actually spoke to his father he was disregarded; so it definitely made him feel worse. “if i’m struggling with high school, college shouldn’t even be an option for me.” why hadn’t someone told him it was pointless? other than his family. “i should just listen to my dad. waste my life away and work for him.”

“no,” naomi replied almost instantly. it was evident that his dad wasn’t exactly the best outlet when it came to talking about his thoughts and feelings. “you know that’s not what you want to do. just because you missed one deadline doesn’t mean you have to throw your life away. take a step back and really think about it. think about what you want to do. what careers are you looking to do? what schools do you want to attend?” she asked, lowering her head slightly to try to catch his gaze. she didn’t know a thing about his goals, and she had multiple different ways to help him if he started from the beginning with her. then over time, the trust would build.

[naomibreiindel]

papastevie:

     he was completely avoiding making eye contact and it was for good reason. he knew he’d lose it and probably start sobbing. it was the first time he was fully addressing everything and like she said.. he was safe to talk. “—i just feel like everything in my life is falling apart.” he whispered, blinking a few times in hopes that he wouldn’t cry. “i lost the most important person in my life, missed early college applications because i was — never mind, i missed it.”  he started ranting. “my reputation has been completely shattered.. my parents don’t give a shit about me — and i don’t know what to do with my life. i d-don’t .. it’s pointless.“

naomi’s eyes saddened as he spoke, tilting her head slightly. she knew steve, mostly from word of mouth. he used to be the ‘king’ of this school, the boy every girl fell for. but she didn’t hear abut him much anymore. instead it was all about billy ( whose name she tried to keep out of her office as much as possible ). it all made sense now. she stood slowly then moved over and sat in the chair next to his, making it a more personal and less officious conversation. “steve...” she said softly. her accented voice made for a calming and soothing tone that worked well with the students who were more distressed. “it is not pointless. high school is a difficult time. things are always changing. nothing will ever go perfectly. romances, college applications, all of it. but it is not the end of the world. i need you to understand that first. do you?”

[naomibreiindel]

papastevie:

     steve’s eyebrows were practically touching his hair as he listened to her yelling, curling his lips to keep him from laughing. “no.. it’s fine.” he shook his head, quietly closing the door behind him before he moved to sit on the chair in front of her desk, toying nervously with the thread of his jeans. “i don’t even know why i’m here.” he mumbled to the woman in front of him. well, he definitely did, but he didn’t know how to talk about it to someone. “—i asked my dad for help and he told me to come see the school counsellor… so i’m here.” it just showed his parents commitment to him, if anything.

naomi leaned forward, folding her hands on her desk, and knitted her eyebrows as he sat before her, completely turning into serious mode. her students always came first and foremost over everything, and she became especially concerned when they got serious like this. she let him speak, sensing his apprehension, then nodded slowly. “well everything you say in here is confidential. you can say as much or as little as you want. and if you don’t want me to say anything, if you just want to get it out, that’s okay,” she told him, her voice smooth and gentle. “whatever it is, you are safe to do it here.”

[naomibreiindel]

bambimontx:

    bambi nodded her head, boys were jerks and she knew that much to be true. she found herself imagining the type of guy naomi would go after, imagining him to be smart, put together and funny. she probably had no trouble finding the type of guy that every girl is looking for. bambi wouldn’t know for sure though, it wasn’t like they talked about the other’s life very often. bambi wasn’t sure if it was her place to be asking questions. the blonde shrugged at the question of her family, “same old, same old- dad’s running the hardware store and we can never pull him away from it and mom’s drinking heavily in the study, faking her way through family dinners” to be vulnerable in front of someone was to appear weak in bambi’s eyes, ms. breindel was one of the only people bambi shared her true emotions with. “you know I heard this phrase, ‘daddy issues’, is that the reason why I am so attracted to the jerks that stand me up?”

naomi gave a sympathetic look along with a gentle nod. bambi pretended not to care much about her family’s issues, but she knew that it was probably bothering her deep down. she gave a laugh afterwards at what she said, looking down at her desk then back up at her. “it’s actually normal for girls to like guys like that. they say playing hard-to-get is what psychologically attracts the other person. i think it’s all ridiculous.” but she knew deep down that she really didn’t. after all, it had worked with billy, hadn’t it? god, she hated herself for keeping this going with him. but every time he was around, it was like she lost all sense, and continued on with it. it was terrible, but she couldn’t help it. “where do you think you want to go to school? you’ll meet a lot better boys there, i promise you that.”

[naomibreiindel]

bambimontx:

    bambi thought for a moment, it was after all a loaded question- how she was doing. she offered a small shrug, then rolling her eyes at the question of her date. “we actually didn’t end up going- he called me last minute to cancel, which is so like high school boys. just, tell me it gets better please, the whole dating game, tell me it gets easier once they mature a bit” bambi wasn’t too upset about her date with billy falling through, but it was true that it was quite difficult for her to find someone that she actually liked. almost impossible. she assumed if she went after the new kid and someone who wasn’t born and raised in hawkins that it would be a different story, yet it had the same results. “i don’t know, school’s going fine, my friends are great, i have a paying job- it seems like everything is falling into place except for my romantic conquests”

naomi raised another eyebrow, but this time not in an entertained way. now she was feeling pissed. guys were jerks, and bambi was one of the sweetest girls she knew. anyone who stood her up was an idiot. “god, i’m sorry, bambi. guys this age don’t get it yet. they think they can waste time with whoever and be content with that.” just like her and billy. but, of course, she didn’t mention that. “one day they’ll wise up. give them a few years and it’ll be okay. focus on your grades and getting into a good college right now.” she nodded and offered her a small, comforting smile. she’d had a few boyfriends in high school, but it took growing up to realize that it’d all been a waste of her time. again she thought back to billy, and she kicked herself mentally. not the time to be thinking about that. “how about your family? how are they?”

[naomibreiindel]

bambimontx:

   bambi tried to visit ms. breindel as much as she could, she felt it was important to discuss her thoughts and issues out loud so she could get them off her chest and then move on. the guidance counsellor had always been a good sounding board for her, and something of a role model. giving a smile to the secretary bambi walked towards the office door, leaning against the door frame and waiting for the woman to finish her statement. when she was acknowledged she offered naomi a smile, books gripped tightly in her hands. “that’s okay, I actually agree- disband detention and create clubs and programs that encourage kids to study their passions and not just the passions of the curriculum, it’s not that hard” bambi pulled her backpack off and sat down on the chair across from the other woman. “how you doing today, ms. b?”

though she loved all of her students dearly, naomi rarely got consistent visitors. bambi was one of them. the girl was normal, of course, but they’d actually developed a close relationship over the months. she felt like an older sister, in a way, giving advice on everything from boys to body changes to school. and she adored bambi. “that’s what i’m trying to say,” she scoffed, knowing she could vent her frustrations to her. she was one of the only ones who she felt comfortable doing it too. but she chuckled anyway. “actually not bad, although it may look it. how about you? how was that date you were telling me about? and when can i know who the guy is?” she quirked an eyebrow then smiled slowly and teasingly, only messing with the girl. though close, she still respected her privacy if she didn’t want to tell.