November 1984... Hawkins Town Library... "Well, another failure." Nancy tore open the envelope and unfolded the letter inside. Seeing the words "We regret to inform you" at the beginning, she immediately hung her head in despair, burying her face in her books, her fists clenched tightly in frustration.
She had prepared for three full years of schooling, only to find she still didn't meet the admission standards for her dream university. How could she not be depressed?
Of course, she couldn't be entirely blamed. If the events of The Upside Down hadn't left her with a psychological shadow, it wouldn't have taken her half a year to slowly adjust her mindset. Her studies had suffered during that period; otherwise, with her excellence, this wouldn't have happened.
"It's okay, Nancy. At most, you'll just prepare for another year," a bespectacled girl with a tall, full figure sitting beside her comforted her softly.
"Ah, but then I'll be behind you, Barbara, my darling." Nancy turned and threw herself into the girl's arms, her face shifting restlessly against her.
Feeling Nancy's mischief, Barbara's face flushed. She pushed her away in annoyance and adjusted her glasses. "Behave yourself, you little brat."
"Hehe." Nancy smiled, her gaze sweeping over Barbara's mature figure. She said with some envy, "I'm serious. Look at you now—not only did you successfully lose weight, but your figure is smoking hot. Every boy in school is drooling over you. Plus, you successfully received an admission invitation from your dream school, Miskatonic University. Everyone says I'm the winner in life, but I think it's you."
Nancy lowered her head gloomily. She was indeed serious; this was her main trouble so far. Everyone considered her successful, but never because of her own abilities. Instead, it was because she had become the girlfriend of the only son of the Harringtons—the richest family in town—and one of the town's top ten outstanding young entrepreneurs.
No one wants their success to be tied to their partner. Such success isn't pure and doesn't stem from personal ability, which was painful for the competitive Nancy.
Hearing this, Barbara saw Nancy's disappointment. Although Nancy's praise made her a bit shy, she was more concerned about Nancy's mood. She said, "I just got lucky... and... I don't exactly feel like everything is going smoothly."
Nancy looked at Barbara in surprise, noticing her helpless and troubled expression. She quickly asked, "What's wrong?"
Barbara blushed and whispered, "Chade... he doesn't seem to have any reaction at all to my changes."
"...That guy has always been weird. Like he says, his 'brain circuitry'—yes, that guy's brain circuitry is completely different from a normal man's." Nancy facepalmed. Now, Barbara's figure was at a level that even she, a woman, found alluring. Her face was also above average. Combined with such a figure, her best friend's looks didn't lose out to A-list Hollywood stars at all. Yet, with such a great girl, Richard, that guy with a heart like a steel plate, seemed completely unmoved.
Nancy sometimes got angry watching this. Although she felt the way some men looked at girls' bodies was too perverted, she sometimes really wished Richard could be a bit more of a pervert, so as not to make her best friend feel sad.
After working hard to lose weight for nearly a year and exercising to get this figure, wasn't Barbara just hoping Richard would see her in a new light and give some kind of reaction?
"No, dealing with a steel plate like that, you can't passively wait for Richard to fall for you. You have to take the initiative." Nancy clenched her fists, more energized than she had been for her university applications.
"Ah?" Barbara was stunned and asked humbly, "Take... the initiative? But how do I attack?"
Nancy narrowed her eyes and leaned into Barbara's ear, beginning to instill some incredible knowledge... "El (Eleven)!" Mike and the others, the four boys, arrived at Chief Hopper's doorstep and shouted to the girl inside the wooden cabin.
Over the past year, Mike's 'freak squad' had gone from five members back to four. The temporary fifth member, Troy, had moved out of town with his family after The Lab was burned to the ground, deciding to transfer schools and start over.
Troy's departure didn't make Mike and the others feel much regret; it was more of a well-wish. Anyway, Troy didn't really hang out with them to begin with; it was only 'The Upside Down' that had briefly connected them. After all, he had bullied them before. Their willingness to generously accept him when everyone else ostracized him and be his friend was already quite remarkable.
Hearing Mike and the others' voices, a figure with long flowing hair pushed open a window from inside. Seeing the four smiling faces, the girl was a bit happy but also a bit helpless. "Hi, everyone."
"We're here to play with you again!" Mike said with a grin, then asked a bit timidly, "Is the Chief home right now?"
"No," Eleven shook her head.
Mike breathed a sigh of relief and then smiled. "Can we come in? We brought a lot of drinks today."
"And snacks." Dustin shook his backpack, which was filled with the rustling sound of vacuum-packed food clashing together.
"And our favorite DND!" Will looked excited.
"Battle until dark!" the dark-skinned Lucas shouted.
Eleven was quite happy to hear the first part about drinks and snacks, but as for DND and everything after... she really wasn't that interested. However, she still forced a smile and said, "Okay, everyone come in."
Incidentally, just like in the original story, with the help of Dr. Owens, a death record was forged for Eleven. The report sent to the Federal Government confirmed her death, allowing Eleven to live in town under the new identity of 'Jane Hopper,' Chief Hopper's adopted daughter.
Because they feared the military wouldn't leave town so quickly, Eleven couldn't show her face yet. The news of Hopper adopting a daughter was also kept private for the time being. They needed to wait at least a year for Owens to 'socially complete' Eleven's new identity before she could slowly enter the public eye and attend school like a normal child.
However, at least for now, Mike and the others could come to play with Eleven. Eleven's freedom had greatly increased. Although she still couldn't enter crowded areas of the town at Will, she was allowed to move freely in small, less populated areas.
But it was precisely because of this increased freedom that Eleven slowly realized an important thing.
She had too few friends. To be precise, she lacked a female friend who could teach her what someone her age should be doing. Although she thought the boys' games were quite interesting, it was only at the beginning; later, she found them dull. She hoped more to do things that ordinary young girls would do, like makeup... girl activities.
Watching the group of boys playing DND in her home, Eleven had a smile on her face, but in her heart, she was crying out to the omnipotent Richard, praying she would find an interesting female friend soon!!!
"Hey little beauty, what would you like to drink?" Steve was serving his customers as usual, but this time it was a young, new face. Judging by her looks, she didn't seem to be from town. So, he patiently introduced the shop's products and the ordering method to the somewhat uneasy and impatient girl. "There's a menu here. If you're unsure about the names and items, you can also look at the product pictures hanging on the walls."
Hearing this, the girl's expression indeed relaxed a bit. She looked around at the pictures in the shop, glancing at the simple but elegant decor of Heihe Tea, and then ordered, "I'll have a cup of Boba Milk Tea."
"Okay. Would you like a medium or large cup? Iced, room temperature, or hot? You can choose 50%, 70%, or full sugar. Uh, if you're not sure, you can go with the shop's recommendation." Steve wanted to provide more detailed service, but seeing the look of irritation returning to the girl's brow, he quickly added that. He then muttered in his heart, 'Why is this little girl so impatient?'
The girl frowned slightly and said, "Just go with your recommendation."
"Alright, here is your receipt and your buzzer. You can find a seat and wait. When your order is ready and the buzzer rings, you can come and pick it up." Steve explained with a smile to the girl visiting Heihe Tea for the first time.
The girl held the small, disc-like object with her order number on it. Her eyes lit up slightly; it seemed this town was a bit different from the big city she used to live in, but not in a bad way—it seemed pretty cool.
The girl hadn't waited five minutes in the shop before she brought the ringing disc to the pickup area. Serving her was a young Chinese man with black hair, black eyes, and a gentle smile.
"To go, or for here?"
"For here."
Richard nodded with a smile, put a sleeve on her milk tea, and then handed her a folded square napkin and a straw. He said, "Welcome to Hawkins Town. Enjoy your drink."
"Thanks..." The girl was stunned for a moment as she took her milk tea. Although she really wanted to ask how he knew she wasn't a local, seeing the shop's booming business and the constant stream of customers, she felt embarrassed to press further and could only sit back down to enjoy her milk tea.
"Heihe Tea... hmm... huh?!" With a curious heart, the girl tasted the foreign drink for the first time. With just one sip, she fell in love with the flavor, becoming intoxicated by it. Her heart felt full of sweetness as she narrowed her eyes.
Beep beep—
Just as the girl was enjoying her afternoon, the sound of a car horn outside shattered her peace. She opened her eyes, and everyone in the shop looked out the window. An expensive sports car was parked outside, and a blond young man with an arrogant expression was looking into the shop.
The girl frowned, angry but also somewhat fearful. She looked at the milk tea in her hand, reluctant to throw it away. She gritted her teeth and walked out of the shop with the tea, approaching the sports car.
"Don't make me wait next time," the blond young man commanded calmly upon seeing the girl.
The girl gritted her teeth and said nothing. She tried to open the car door, but the blond young man controlled it from inside, locking the door. He looked at her with a cold smile and said, "How many times have I told you, my dear sister Maxine, not to bring food into my car?"
Hearing this, the girl kept her mouth shut, her lips twitching slightly. She turned her head away, not wanting to expose her aggrieved expression to the man in the car. Ultimately, she reluctantly threw the milk tea into the trash can. Seeing this, the blond young man finally opened the lock and let the girl in.
Sitting in the car, the girl pressed herself against the door, her body half-curled, facing outward, not wanting to have any communication with the blond young man.
"This trashy town smells like shit. I can't believe you can actually drink anything from here."
"Can you just shut up, Billy!" the girl exploded, her eyes red with anger.
The blond young man was unmoved. Instead, he looked with a grin at the girl who had finally been tormented into an explosion. He said, "So petty and excited. It was just a joke."