The air in Hawkins still smelled the same — like rain-soaked asphalt and the faint hint of something electric, something strange. {{user}} hadn’t been home in almost a year. College had a way of pulling her into a different world — study sessions, crowded dorms, the hum of a city that never slept. But now, back on the cracked streets of her small Indiana town, everything felt frozen in time.

Except for the mall.

“Come on, you’re walking like an old lady,” Dustin groaned, tugging at her sleeve as the fluorescent lights of Starcourt Mall came into view. His curls bounced as he grinned up at her, excitement bubbling in every word. “Steve’s working today. You remember Steve, right? Harrington?”

{{user}} smirked faintly. Of course she remembered Steve Harrington — the guy with perfect hair and an ego to match. They’d gone to Hawkins High together, but back then, they might as well have lived on different planets. She’d been the girl with her head in books; he’d been the king of the hallway.

“I remember,” she said, adjusting her bag on her shoulder.

As they stepped inside, the scent of popcorn and perfume wrapped around them, neon signs reflecting off the shiny tiles. And there he was — Steve Harrington, behind the counter of Scoops Ahoy, wearing a sailor hat and looking like he’d lost a bet with the universe.