"I'm sorry my heart's too big for my own good! I just want to be a good person!"
~
Theodore Chambers moves from his home in London to Hawkins and realizes this town isn't what it seems
Or
In which the new kid in town is thrown into all sorts of insa...
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chapter five; not a popularity contest
"Mike and Dust are looking for you," Teddy informed Lucas after the pep rally concluded as he waited for him outside the locker room... just him, just Teddy, waiting patiently while Lucas grabbed his bag and put on his sweats over his uniform. Mike and Dustin ran off to discuss their plan regarding Hellfire and the game, telling Teddy to meet them outside after he found Lucas. Of course, Max went off on her own to her first class.
Lucas expected to see his entire friend group, so his heart sank when he only found Teddy. His face dropped, but Teddy's bright smile and little wave made him chuckle and recover. God, he loved his friend—he was so glad they got closer recently. But Teddy's presence didn't make up for the lack of care from his other "best friends." Lucas let out a sigh. "I knew they would. They've got a problem with the game, don't they?" Teddy nodded in response, to which the other boy sighed again and let his head drop. The moment his team won the semifinal game, Lucas didn't think about possibly winning states. No. His mind wandered to his friends as he realized the conflict between the championship game and the final Hellfire meeting for their current campaign. "I know the campaign ends tonight but... this is huge."
"Championship!" Teddy exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "Our whole SGA meeting was about the plan for this game. They're doing face paint at lunch and if we win, we're trying to work with the town to have a parade! It's brilliant, really." Being very unathletic, he usually didn't care this much about sports, but with Lucas on the team, all Teddy wanted to do was participate and encourage the SGA board to go all out... all for his friend (and the team, of course, but mostly for Lucas).
A cheeky smile spread across Lucas's face. "Utterly brilliant, mate!" He mimicked Teddy, exaggerating the accent. That was the only thing he got from Teddy, how he said brilliant... but it was all in good nature.
"Stop."
Lucas chuckled, flinging his arm around Teddy's shoulder. The two boys couldn't wipe their grins off their faces as they started to walk out of the gym to find the other two party members. As they did so, Lucas slipped two tickets into Teddy's hand as he pulled his arm off.
"Oh, I would've paid at the—"
Lucas waved him off. "Don't worry about it, Chambers."
Teddy tilted his head. "Two?"
"For your dad. And teachers get in for free," Lucas explained. "I have Max's." He held up an extra ticket, a lingering sense of sadness and hopefulness in his eyes. He really wanted Max to come to the game. That's all he wanted. She went to his first one, just before they broke up, but that was it. He wanted to see his girl—was Max even his girl anymore?—he wanted to see her in the stands, cheering for him along with his other friends. That was all he wanted.
Teddy pressed a small smile, fiddling with the tickets. "I'll talk to her too, okay? I'll try to convince her to come. She misses you, you know."
