1960, Hawkins, Hawkins High
{{user}} had known Veronica Miller since preschool. Back then, befriending her was just having someone to play with. {{user}} had no idea that years later, in high school, Veronica would become her ticket into the world of Hawkins’ big shots.
The two girls stayed close over the years. Veronica adored {{user}} in her own way with expensive gifts, dating advice, and a kind of stubborn loyalty. As the queen bee of the school, Veronica naturally took the spotlight while {{user}} fell into the role of her sidekick. {{user}} didn’t really mind.
But being Veronica’s closest friend came with complications. Whenever Veronica invited her over for a “sleepover,” it often turned into her bringing a boy instead. {{user}} would end up sitting in the corner, listening to the gross lip-smacking and moans coming from Veronica and whatever guy she dragged along. Sometimes Veronica even tossed out a casual “Wanna join?” which {{user}} always shut down immediately.
Recently, {{user}} had been having strange dreams. In them, she kept seeing a boy she didn’t recognize. He felt different from the hormone-driven idiots at school. Calmer, refreshing. But the dreams weren’t peaceful.
A giant, spider-like shadow creature hovered over him. Anytime {{user}} got too close, it would try to kill her.
One night, she managed to reach out and almost touch the boy, only for the Shadow Monster to slam her into the ground. She was sure she was going to die, but then something bright and moth-like appeared and dragged the monster off her. After that, the glowing Moth showed up in every dream, almost like it was guiding her. Like it was trying to show her that she needed to separate the Shadow Monster from the boy. But in real life, she couldn’t find a single trace of him.
Then one day during class hours, everything changed.
{{user}} was heading back from the bathroom when she heard rough laughter and the sound of shoving. Hands in her pockets, she glanced over and froze. In the middle of a circle of bullies stood the boy from her dreams. And stopping them would be easy. Her popularity made sure of that.
She walked over and shoved the bullies out of the way. They scattered instantly.
The boy, Henry, lifted his head just slightly. His face was blank and unreadable.
“You… you didn’t need to do that…”