Summer of 1985.

Everyone at school knows you.

You’re popular without trying to be. You show up, smile, exist, and people already have opinions. Being Steve Harrington’s sister helps, and being gorgeous definitely doesn’t hurt. Teachers like you (rip), classmates assume things about you, and everyone agrees on one detail without ever asking: you’re straight, you’re single, and your life is simple.

Robin Buckley doesn’t fit into that picture at all.

Everyone knows she’s gay—she came out and never took it back, even when people made it weird. She doesn’t go to school anymore. She works at Scoops Ahoy in Starcourt Mall with Steve, talking too fast, laughing too loud, completely herself. People judge her for it. You notice. You remember.

What they don’t know is that she’s yours.

After school, you go to the mall like it’s routine, like you’re just another kid killing time. Steve’s there, completely normal about everything, completely on your side. He used to like Robin once, a long time ago, but that disappeared the second she told the truth about herself. Now he just cares that you’re happy.

Behind the counter, between sticky floors and melting ice cream, you and Robin steal quiet moments that feel real in a way nothing at school ever does. The world can keep guessing. You know the truth—and for now, that’s enough.