Beverly inspected her fingernails as she waited for Chris to come out of the bathroom. The song that played had put her in a bad mood, so she wasn't up for anything romantic at the moment.

Nancy then came walking down the stairs, her hair all messed up. "Hey, Nance," Beverly greeted, startling the girl a bit since she hadn't seen her. "Whoa, sorry."

"Oh, uh, no. Y-You're good," Nancy stammered as if she were hiding something. They were definitely doing more than just changing up there, that's for sure, Beverly thought, almost grimacing at the thought of Steve being shirtless even though she kept thinking about it.

"Everything okay?" Beverly asked, a hint of mischievousness in her tone.

"Yeah, uh, everything's great. Did you see Barb leave at all?" Nancy questioned.

"Yeah, a little while ago. She went out this way." Beverly pointed to the back sliding door that led to the backyard and pool. Because of she was stuck on her little angry moment with Chris, she had no idea what had actually went on in the backyard just a few minutes prior.

Nancy nodded slowly. "And Chris?"

"Bathroom," Beverly answered before she smiled lightly. "So, how was Steve?"

Nancy practically choked on air. "Uh — uh, w-what?"

"How is Steve?" Beverly changed her question, trying not to laugh.

"Oh, uh, Steve...he's great. I really like him," Nancy told her, a little confused as to why Beverly was making an effort to talk to her. Whenever she had seen the girl around her house with Chris, all she would get was a little head nod if that. Nancy thought that maybe she was finally starting to fit in with the popular crowd.

"Really? He can be a bit of a douche," Beverly commented with a shrug, leaning back against her seat.

"Have you...have you been with him before?" Nancy queried, thinking that maybe the reason why Beverly hated Steve so much was because they were exes. Nancy was never brave enough to ask Steve that question, though.

Beverly laughed out loud before she realized that people were sleeping upstairs. "You're joking," she said, but Nancy slowly shook her head. "You're not? Whoa, I thought you were smarter than that — Uh, no, I've never dated Steve and I've never wanted to. I've practically hated him my whole life."

"Why?" Nancy asked awkwardly.

Beverly thought back to the Snow Ball before shoving the memory out of her brain. "One, his stupid hair. It's so obnoxious. Two, he friends with those two jerks, Carol and Tommy."

"Oh, they're not that bad," Nancy interjected.

"Come on, Wheeler, they both bully your best friend, you don't have to lie and say they're fine just for Steve's sake. I'm not even friends with them," Beverly called her out, making the girl swallow hard. "And three, I just hate him. He thinks he's this king of Hawkins High when he's just, well, a douche. Sorry to say that about your boyfriend, but..."

Nancy scoffed quietly, making Beverly arch a brow at the girl's sudden change of demeanor. "I've never said anything bad about you to Chris," she pointed out.

"Because there's nothing bad to say about me," Beverly countered with a slight smirk.

"Well, I just think it's a little unfair that you're judging Steve like this."

"Look, Nancy, I'm just being honest. It's never good to lie, so I rarely do it. Especially when it comes to pointing out Steve's behavior. I'm not judging you or anything for dating him, he can be quite the charmer when it comes to girls, but I wouldn't let him...change you. You don't wanna go to the dark side," Beverly explained, using Star Wars terminology since she secretly loved the movies.

"He hasn't changed me," Nancy quickly said. "If you hate him, then why are you dating Chris? They're literally best friends."

"Because I thrive on annoying the shit out of Steve. Chris brings me closer to him, so it's a win-win," Beverly revealed.

"Are you only dating my brother because you want to annoy Steve?"

"No. I like your brother a lot, Nancy. He just so happens to be best friends with my arch nemesis."

Nancy sighed quietly, knowing she wasn't going to be able to win this argument, or whatever this conversation was, with the girl. "Okay, well, I'm gonna go. Tell Chris I left."

Beverly smiled. "Will do." She hoped that girl would go back to Steve and tell him about the interaction so that she would have an excuse to taunt the boy.

✦ ✧ ✦

The morning after, everyone had left Steve's house and had driven to school. Beverly went about the day like normal, talking to her friends and boyfriend as the school day dragged on.

Then, it was the end of the day and she, along with with Carmen and Alicia, had gotten their cheer outfits on since a basketball game was happening soon. Chris was on the basketball game, so Beverly always liked cheering him on. Steve was also on the team, but Beverly always cheered the lowest whenever he made a basket.

The three girls headed outside, getting some fresh air before they had to cheer inside a sweaty and humid gym soon. "So, I heard Tommy and Carol at lunch. I think Nancy had sex with Steve," Carmen began to gossip, licking her lips since she was always thirsty for the inside scoop.

"We shouldn't gossip about peoples sex lives, Car," Alicia scolded, shaking her head.

"Oh, but Car's right. I think they did. I caught Nancy rushing downstairs with her hair all messy and when I asked about Steve, she got really nervous," Beverly told them. "I think that was her first time."

"You think she's a virgin?" Carmen asked, her mouth parting slightly.

Beverly shrugged. "She's never had a boyfriend before and I never see her at parties."

"Wow."

"There's nothing wrong with being a virgin," Alicia said, giving the two girls a look.

"Oh, I never said it was. I would never say that until you're finally not a virgin," Carmen joked, making Alicia roll her eyes, but laugh nonetheless.

Beverly chuckled. "Speaking of sex, how's your 'guy friend'?" she questioned mischievously.

"His name is Rob and I'm not talking to him ever again. He started crying on the way home because he didn't want to make his mom mad that he was late," Carmen described, and Alicia snorted and nodded since she was also in the car. "And I think he called me 'mommy' when we were doing it, too, but I was trying to pretend he didn't."

Beverly scoffed in disgust. "Where do you find these guys, Car?"

"I don't know, ask the mothers that birthed them," she replied, making the trio almost collapse in laughter.

"But it does make you wonder how they're raised. I mean, my lab partner in physics, like, never does his work. And it makes me so mad because it's not even hard. It's like his parents didn't teach him discipline or something," Alicia pointed out, shaking her head in annoyance.

"Who's your lab partner?" Beverly asked.

"Eddie Munson. I don't know, I think he likes rock or something," Alicia told them.

"It's actually metal," Carmen corrected her and the two girls gave her a confused look. "I remember Eddie's band, Corroded Coffin, in middle school only because of Iron Maiden's mascot, Eddie."

"Huh?" Beverly and Alicia both said, extremely puzzled.

"Oh, uh...my dad listens to the band a lot and they're metal," Carmen quickly explained, licking her lips nervously for a second. "But, yeah, if he grew out his hair a little more, I'd definitely go for him," she revealed with a grin and shrug.

"Ew, seriously? He's, like, so disorganized and weird," Alicia argued.

"Are you seriously questioning Carmen's taste right now? I thought we knew she went for any guy with at least something attractive about them," Beverly cut in, raising her eyebrows.

"Right."

"That's exactly why I was called a slut today," Carmen added with a shrug.

Beverly stopped walking, her brows now furrowed. "Who called you a slut?" she asked, glancing at Alicia who nodded since she also wanted to know.

"I was arguing with these girls in class today and one of them called me a slut. I honestly don't even know their names because they're so irrelevant to me," Carmen explained casually.

"They're just jealous that you get guys and they don't," Beverly assured her.

"I don't need your assurance, Bev. It didn't bother me, it's just funny," she brushed off.

Beverly looked ahead of her to see Chris standing with Steve, Carol, Tommy, and Nicole — a girl in their grade. They all seemed to be discussing something important. "Hey! Shouldn't you guys be getting ready for the game?" she asked the boys as they trio neared them.

"We were, but then Nicole had to tell us something," Chris replied, and the three girls looked at each other in confusion. "Apparently, Tommy was right about Jonathan being a perv. He took photos of all of us last night and some of them were...inappropriate."

Carmen gasped. "Oh, my God! Did he get my good side at least?" she questioned, and they all gave her a look.

"Carmen," Alicia breathed out disappointedly.

"What? It's a genuine question. If he took of photo of me doin' the dirty and he got my bad side, then I'm gonna look ugly and he won't wanna jack off to it," Carmen explained with wide eyes and they all gave her another look. "Ugh, whatever."

"Slut," Carol whispered under her breath and Nicole laughed quietly. Beverly glared at them, seeming to be the only one who heard them.

"How do you know about the photos, Nicole?" Alicia asked, getting back on topic.

"I was in the dark room and I saw him processing the photos," she told her. Beverly wasn't sure if Nicole was just spreading rumors about the guy because of what was happening with his brother and if she was, that would be shitty. But if she wasn't...Beverly wasn't sure if she was allowed to feel sorry for him if the photos were really incriminating.

Beverly's eyes traveled over to Steve, who was sitting on his car staying silent. He had a pissed off look on his face and it was clear he was thinking. "You worried about those photos, Harrington?" Beverly questioned and he looked up at her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he responded, narrowing his eyes at her.

She shrugged, glancing at Carmen, who held in a laugh. "Just asking." She looked over at Chris, who purses his lips together and shook his head subtly. Beverly then looked over to see Jonathan walking over, unaware that they were all just talking about him. "He's coming over," Beverly whispered.

Steve hopped off the car. "Hey, man," he greeted with zero friendliness.

"What's going on?" Jonathan asked, looking around at all of them.

"Nicole here was, uh, telling us about your work," Steve began and Beverly sucked in a breath, glancing at her two friends who didn't seem to know what to do.

"We've heard great things," Carol spoke.

"Yeah, sounds cool," Tommy agreed sarcastically.

"And we'd just love to take a look. You know, as...connoisseurs of art," Steve told him.

"I bet he literally just learned that word today," Beverly whispered to her friends, making them laugh quietly.

It seemed like Jonathan thought they were gossiping about him, so he sighed. "I don't know what you're talking about," he replied, trying to get away before Tommy took his backpack off his back.

"Oh, no? Oh..."

"Hey. Please, give me my bag," Jonathan pleaded as Tommy tossed it to Steve. "No, just..."

"Man, he is, like, totally trembling. He must really have something to hide," Steve pointed out. "Here we go. Ah." Steve pulled out the photos. "Here we go. Oh, man." He began to look through the photos, making all of them move closer to him to try and get a look.

"Let me see," Tommy said, taking some photos. "Dude!"

"Yeah, this isn't creepy at all," Carol scoffed.

Tommy handed Carmen some photos and the trio looked at them. Beverly saw a photo of herself in the pool, face to face with Steve. If someone didn't know of their hatred for each other, they would have thought they were about to kiss. Beverly's lips formed in a thin line, looking up at Jonathan with a disappointed expression.

"I was looking for my brother," Jonathan reasoned.

"No. No, this is called stalking," Steve corrected.

Nancy came walking over. "What's going on?" she asked obliviously.

"Here's the starring lady," Tommy commented with a grin.

"What?"

"This creep was spying on us last night," Carol told her, and Nancy looked at Jonathan in confusion. "He was probably gonna save this one for later." She handed the photo to Nancy, who looked down at it in shock. Chris quickly went over to Nancy and looked at the photo over her shoulder. He then looked up, his face filled with anger.

He immediately started to walk over to Jonathan, probably about to fight him, before Steve grabbed his shoulder and held him back. He shook his head at him, not wanting to get in trouble for beating Jonathan up since they weren't technically in the wrong for confronting him.

Steve then clicked his tongue. "See, you can tell that he knows it was wrong, but...Man, that's the thing about perverts...It's hardwired into them. You know, they just can't help themselves," Steve explained before he ripped the photo in halves. "So...we'll just have to take away his toy." Steve threw the pieces of the photo onto the ground, moving back over to Jonathan's backpack.

"Steve..." Nancy trailed off, her arms crossed.

"No, please, not the camera," Jonathan begged, stepping forward only to be pushed away by Tommy.

"No, no, wait, wait...Tommy, Tommy. It's okay." Steve extended the camera to boy. "Here you go, man." Jonathan went to go grab it before Steve purposely dropped it on the floor, it cracking when it hit the concrete. Tommy and Chris both laughed, making Beverly shoot her boyfriend a look since it wasn't exactly considered funny. "Come on, let's go. The game's about to start."

"Boo," Tommy taunted in Jonathan's face.

"Bye," Carol said, ripping up some more photos and tossing them on the ground.

Beverly looked at Carmen and Alicia, not knowing what to make of the situation. She felt bad for the boy because of Will, but she also couldn't excuse his pervy actions either. They then began to walk back toward the school, not saying anything as their bowed ponytails bounced.

authors note
i just had to include
the mention of eddie heh
but let me know what you think
of this chapter!