【𝙁𝙊𝙂𝙂𝙔】... The Queen of Hawkins High. A heavy reputation, all thanks to her older brother, Steve Harrington, and their mother. In some ways, it was cause of the head injury Angelica received in eight grade, wiping almost all of her middle and...
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chapter thirty•̩̩͙*ೃ
⊱ ────── {⋅. ✯ .⋅} ────── ⊰
tw; blood, razors, scars
The ground violently shook with the same level of anger that was present within the strikes of red lightning. And suddenly the vision of green tiles and unfamiliar school halls faded. All Angelica saw was Eddie's concerned gaze, as his arm wrapped around her waist from behind and ultimately softened her spiraling fall to the ground. Rocks crashed all around the group of teens, drowning out the sound of their breathless gasps.
Through all the noise, Angel could hear Eddie's grunt of pain-- obviously from the crash of her weight on his ribcage. As the world settled, she placed a palm against his stomach.
"Oh my god. Are you hurt?"
"Nah. I've been needing to schedule an appointment with my chiropractor anyway." He slowly sat up, wincing.
She didn't laugh, and seemed to opt for a more puzzled expression instead. The image of her mother's horrified look seemed to be weaving in and out, as if Vecna himself was weaving these visions through a reality loom. Something snapped. Metaphorically, of course.
Suddenly, the confused girl couldn't tear her gaze from the scars on her wrist, even as the world around her faded into a domestic foyer, with emerald green tiles. And the image of a razor blade decorated with bright red splotches of blood became vivid. Except it wasn't in Angelica's hands.
The trudge to the Upside Down version of Nancy and Mike's house was rather silent. Or at least it was in Angelica's mind. It was static. Like when the TV at home would cut off and she and Steve would groan until it came back on. That memory alone was keeping the girl's mind from going blank, especially after what she saw. The betrayal she felt was to palpable, it felt like it didn't happen five years ago, but instead just now.
On top of that memory, Angel attempted to assure herself that Vecna had tampered with the vision. Altered it. For the sole purpose to scare her or something. That's what all the other visions of her mangled father and mother were, right? Figments of a sick entity's imagination.
Deep down, Angelica wanted it to be true. She didn't want to be the cause of the scars on her wrists, and that vision just gave her a reason to believe she wasn't. The story her mother told everyone had never made sense anyway-- 'Oh! Little Angie just hasn't been feeling herself,' was something Angelica had heard countless times at snooty dinner parties, along with follow-up whispers from her mother, and then a look of pity from whoever was on the receiving end of the hush-hush conversation. The girl had just went along with it, even with the nagging feeling of confusion. Angel knew herself-- to some extent, either way, she was never the type to physically hurt herself. It was all so suffocating, and yet it had happened years ago.
A cold hand slipped over her shoulder.
"You okay?" Eddie squinted, as if that was going to find the answer behind her stoic expression.
The girl blinked. Was her expression that reflective? Did her thoughts really project onto her face that vividly? Or had he been watching her? "Wha... yes. Why wouldn't I be?"
She tried to chuckle, to add to their ongoing inside joke, but it was obvious how dry the laugh was. It was obvious to Eddie there was something on her mind. And, part of her wanted him to ask further, so all of the thoughts could be words and all of the words could drift away. Away with the dead breeze of this other-worldly place.
"Dunno." He didn't pry. "Um... do you want a jacket? I was going to give it to your brother, but he seems to be liking the attention it's getting him."
Angel smiled, but shook her head. "No thanks. It's surprisingly not too cold out here." A cool gust snaked over her shoulder like it knew she had just told a lie.
Eddie awkwardly cleared his throat, and gestured to her white top. "Well, I wasn't necessarily talking about temperature."
The teen was about to ask him what he meant, before glancing down. Her gaze was met with an impeccable, crystal clear view of her bra. Her jaw slightly dropped and she shamefully wrapped her arms around herself. "Holy shit."
"I know, right?" He winked.
Embarrassed, she rolled her eyes and snatched the jacket out of his grasp, darting past him to walk next to Robin. The girl pulled it on, buttoning the denim garment at her breasts to discourage any wandering eyes. Jerk, she thought, a heat still prickling at her face. When she turned to see where he was now, he'd sauntered off to walk by Steve. An unlikely pairing, but she discreetly smiled.
a/n hey babes how are ya'll today? umm please excuse this long overdue update hehe. my exams are overrr and i'm feeling a lot more motivated lately, so buckle up ig? but i always say that and it could be march before i even begin a new chapter buttttt anways thank you for reading this and i love yall. ignore typos, per usual.
