Ball-Watching
“Maybe they’re not coming.”
“Maybe they don’t exist.”
“They do exist! I didn’t make them up!”
“You sure?” Steve Harrington grinned over at Tommy and shouldered him playfully. “Maybe you just have twins on the mind,” he suggested with a wiggle of his eyebrows.
“I always have twins on my mind,” Tommy laughed. He seemed to shake Carol at his side, probably proving his point, and Steve politely - quickly - looked away. “But I’m telling you, man. These twins were weird, absolute fucking freaks.”
“I mean, aren’t all twins like super freaky?” Carol asked, popping her gum that was almost the exact same shade of pink as her sweater. Huh. Neat.
“It’s like unnatural to have two babies at once,” Carol went on. “I read about two twins that only had half of a brain each.”
“You read something?” Steve asked, jumping on the chance to tease Carol. “Was it the National Enquirer?”
“What would you know about the National Enquirer?” Tommy snorted with his own shove to Steve’s shoulder. “Been hanging out with the band geeks again, Stevie?”
“Only Nancyyyy,” Carol said, moaning Nancy’s name and making Steve nearly blush.
“It’s not like that,” Steve told them. He smiled and knew it was a little dopey, sappy. But maybe he was in love, he was allowed to be dopey and sappy. “Nancy’s different, I think we’re hanging out again tonight. And she’s not in band either.”
“And by hang out he means…” Tommy turned and grabbed Carol by the shoulders so that he could make some dumb sounds before sticking his tongue halfway down her throat. Steve kicked the back of Tommy’s leg and turned away, not super interested in watching them neck for the next ten minutes.
They were supposed to be watching for the mystery twins that Tommy swore he saw in the school the day before. Everyone had been talking about them, half of the school was risking being tardy just for a chance to see them first. The last new person to arrive in Hawkins had been Billy freaking Hargrove, Steve just hoped the mystery twins were less douchey.
Billy Hargrove, Prince Douche himself, even waited out in the parking lot. He had one foot propped behind him on the door of the Camaro that Steve had seen him drive like a maniac every time he was in it. Hargrove caught Steve’s eye and seemed to deliberately blow his mouthful of cigarette smoke in his direction.
God, what a jerk.
Steve thought, he so stupidly thought, that when Hargrove started Hawkins High in August that maybe they might be friends. Hargrove played basketball, Tommy said he was a cool enough guy. Except Hargrove wound up being pushy and aggressive and Steve was pretty sure the guy had taken a personal dislike of Steve.
King Steve, he called him during practice one time, tossed out like an insult.
Hargrove sucked, that didn’t mean the new twins, if they were real, had to.
“Oooh! Is that them?” Tammy Thompson, over in her little group of cheerleaders, got everyone excited for nothing when she heard a car turn in the lot.
Steve almost felt bad for the sounds of annoyance half the high school made when it was only Jonathan Byers who pulled in. He was nearly late, Steve almost wondered what would make the guy late until he realized that he didn’t really care.
Maybe Jonathan found a pig in the woods and wanted to practice kissing. Maybe he started worshiping the devil and had to sacrifice someone. Maybe —
Maybe Jonathan Byers had to pick up two people who were definitely twins and definitely real.
Steve had lived in Hawkins, Indiana his entire life. Born, raised. Kind-of raised, definitely born. The point was, Steve pretty much knew everyone in Hawkins and the two people who climbed out of Byers’s car were definitely new.
“How the fuck did the freak find the freaks first?” Tommy asked Steve, loud enough that several people around them laughed. Steve started to smile, then caught Nancy Wheeler frowning at Tommy beside her friend, Band-Geek-Barbara.
Steve wiped his smile away and frowned too, elbowing Tommy when he knew Nancy could see.
“Not cool, man,” Steve said, making sure his chin was up and his arms were flexed. Nancy was a nice girl, not like Carol, she didn’t like when Steve called people freaks or geeks. And if Steve wanted to put his tongue in her mouth again…
Steve might not be the best student in the junior year, but even he could do that math pretty easily.
The twins didn’t seem to hear Tommy, but Steve was sure that Byers had. Byers had his shoulders hunched up beneath his denim jacket while he walked with the boy and girl. The twins were really freaking weird looking, from where Steve was standing.
Their clothes were baggy, old and faded. The one with the short hair had his head ducked while he walked, the one with the long waves of black hair had her head swiveling around so much that Steve couldn’t see what she actually looked like.
They were kind of small though, skinny. Steve didn’t think that either of them would be trying to join any sports teams and, judging from how much they were being giggled at, Steve also didn’t think that anyone at Hawkins High would complain about that.
“Ugh!” Carol plugged her nose when Byers and the new kids made to pass them. “Someone smell something?”
“Smells like ass,” Tommy said, sticking his foot out immediately to try and trip Byers. Byers tripped, nearly hit the gravel, and Tommy blew a raspberry while the girl was quick to help Byers.
“Are you alright?” she asked Byers. Steve - Steve kind of liked her voice, it made him curious about what her face would look like if she ever turned toward him. Her voice was different, maybe like a movie star when they weren’t faking accents for films.
“Fine,” Byers said, brushing off the dirt and ignoring Tommy’s insults. “It’s cool, I’m good.”
“Notice how he didn’t say ‘it’s good, I’m cool’?” Tommy asked, jostling Steve to get a laugh.
“Notice how nobody has ever said that you’re cool,” the girl snapped. She flipped her hair over her shoulder, turned to glare at them, and - huh.
She was pretty, like really pretty in a sort of alien way. There were green eyes that were maybe a little too big for her face glaring at Tommy and there wasn’t any makeup covering them, not like almost everyone else had been wearing since before sixth grade. She was pale, super pale, but pretty.
Pretty and pissed.
“Forget it,” Byers muttered, actually looking kind of miserable about all the attention he was getting. “Let’s get inside.”
With a final glare at Tommy, the girl turned and started following Byers again, her head held a little higher than before. The brother, had to be the brother because Steve noticed then that he’d been holding hands with the girl since they got out of the car like some creepy security blanket, never once looked at Steve. Steve didn’t think he had looked at anyone.
“Oh, my God.” Carol started laughing like crazy when the new kids were inside with Byers. Everyone else burst in loud conversations, swapping gossip and questions in the last few seconds before the bell.
“What freaks,” Carol said. “Ugh, did you see them holding hands? What are they? Like five?”
“Judging by their height…” Steve trailed off when Tommy laughed at the joke.
There was something kinda sad about the whole thing, really. Two kids showing up at Hawkins, to a place where everyone had pretty much gone to kindergarten together, looking and sounding like they would never fit in? It didn’t help that they showed up with Byers, who was as weird as Hargrove was douchey, but still…
Steve thought about the old clothes, how hard it would be to be brand new to a town in high school, and… yeah, it was kinda sad, really.
Weird too though. Who held their sister’s hand in high school?
Steve and Tommy had English together, which meant Steve had to race Tommy to the classroom and didn’t have time to do much more than wave at Nancy as he ran.
Nancy smiled shyly and raised a hand, which shouldn’t have given Steve lame butterflies in his stomach, but it did. Nancy didn’t hang around Steve’s friends, she was a sophomore and she was quiet, smart, sort of geeky. She was pretty though, sweet, and the best kisser in Steve’s list of kisses.
Everyone in first period was distracted with the gossip to pay any attention to the essay that Steve definitely needed to start soon. Everyone who didn’t see the twins wanted to know about them, everyone who did see them wanted to describe them over and over.
“The girl did not like Tommy,” Tammy said loudly, snapping her gum in Tommy’s direction only because Carol wasn’t there to scratch her eyes out for it. “I think she’s like totally in love with Byers.”
“Ugh, gross.” Lisa Demarco scrunched her nose while she twirled her hair around a finger. “Byers is such a sleezeball, she could do sooo much better.”
“You don’t even know her,” Tammy said.
“So? I know him.”
Steve laughed with the rest of his friends - or the people who played basketball and cheer and went to the same parties. Tommy was his friend, they had been hanging out since they could walk, both of them went to the same church and played basketball after service while their parents talked.
Tommy could be a dick sometimes, but he was Steve’s best friend.
“Bet ya I could get in her pants before Byers could,” Tommy bragged, kicking back in his chair and smirking. “Byers probably wouldn’t know what to do with a chick like that.”
“A chick like what? In love with her brother?” Steve asked, holding his own hand and swinging it around like a little kid would. “‘Oh, brother, come kiss me before Byers does’,” he said in his gayest and girliest voice.
“Eww! Steve!” The girls laughed and a few of them threw wadded up papers at Steve. If he picked any of them up, he wouldn’t be surprised to find at least one phone number.
Tommy picked up on Steve’s joke and they spent the rest of English ignoring their teacher and grossing the girls out while they made fun of Byers and the twins. It wasn’t nice, but it wasn’t like it hurt anyone either - Steve wasn’t doing it to their faces.
Algebra II was after English for Steve and he used the passing period before class started back up to find Nancy.
“Hiya.” Steve smiled his most handsome smile as he threw himself beside Nancy’s locker just as she opened hers up.
“Steve! Jeez!” Nancy’s hand flew to her chest and her eyes got real big for a second, she was so cute. She laughed shakily and pretended like Steve wasn’t charming. “You scared me,” she told him.
“I know.” Steve reached above Nancy and grabbed the book she needed, her French textbook, and proved how thoughtful he could be when he gave it to her. “For you, mademoiselle.”
Steve really hoped that meant pretty lady or something.
Nancy lowered her lashes and was grinning when she took it from him.
“Did you memorize my schedule?” she asked, a half-hearted accusation at best.
“What? No! Absolutely not! How could you accuse me of this?” Steve cried. He waited for Nancy to laugh before he winked, “Unless that seems like a romantic thing to do or whatever.”
“Yes, Steve, it’s so romantic to stalk people,” Nancy said. She wasn’t mad, she was flirting - Steve could tell.
“I wouldn’t have to memorize your schedule if you’d hang out with me later,” Steve said. He reached out for a lock of Nancy’s hair and played with it while he did his best puppy eyes. “Can I pick you up at six?”
“I can’t tonight,” Nancy told him. “I have to study.”
“I’ll help you study,” Steve offered immediately. He would too, if she wanted him too. Steve could hold flash-cards or something, quiz her on definitions. They didn’t have to go makeout in his car at the quarry, he just really wanted to.
“My parents are not going to let me leave tonight,” Nancy said. “Mike has his little friends coming over and I think I’m supposed to help babysit or whatever.”
“I’m a great babysitter,” Steve said, giving Nancy the smile that had literally made Lisa throw her panties at him during a JV game.
“Not tonight,” Nancy said. She didn’t say it very firmly, and she didn’t brush away Steve’s hair as he played with it. She just kind of said it, Steve thought he had all day to change her mind.
“How about this?” Steve leaned closer, close enough to smell Nancy’s toothpaste and see a little ink stain on her cheek. It was cute.
“How about you think about me helping you study or do homework or whatever you wanna do and then think about how, maybe, if I’m the best helper, you could walk me to my car at the end of the night… kiss me… maybe say how I’m the sweetest boy you’ve ever met before…”
“You are sweet,” Nancy said, Steve could see her melting in front of him. She giggled then, kind of ruining the moment, “I didn’t know King Steve was interested in so much romance.”
Steve held his smile, brushed off her comment, kept up the easy flirtation until the bell rang and they both had to get to second period. None of Steve’s friends were in Algebra II, Steve himself had barely made it in the class and he might have failed Algebra I better.
Or worse.
Whatever it was.
With nobody who really talked to him in his Algebra II class, Steve was free to slump down in the back of the class and kick himself for what he said to Nancy. Yeah, it would be cool if Steve had a real relationship with someone who wanted to do more than just makeout in his car. And what was so wrong with thinking that meeting Nancy’s parents and helping her study would be just fine? Everything didn’t have to be so - so much all the time.
Steve needed to chill, that was all. Nancy was interested in ‘King Steve’, she liked making out with that guy who played varsity basketball and hosted parties at his place. All Steve had to do was convince her to like him other times too. They’d get there, Steve was sure of it. Nancy wasn’t like other girls.
They could have more, if she let him.
With his new plan to chill in place, Steve didn’t go pester Nancy after second period, instead he hung out with Tommy in the bathroom while Tommy smoked and complained about Carol. Steve didn’t understand why Tommy kept dating her when he acted like he could stand her half the time. They had been together since like freshman year, maybe it was time for something new.
“You’re saying that because you’ve never seen her naked,” Tommy said when Steve suggested that. He sighed loudly, always over the top and dramatic, when he flushed his cigarette. “Something’s got a hold of me, man.”
“Poor Tommy, getting laid whenever he wants,” Steve said, patting Tommy’s shoulder with mock sympathy. “I’ll remember this when I’m the best man at the wedding.”
Tommy went pale and Steve laughed his ass off before he had to rush to his third period.
Third period, Steve would never admit it, was kind of his favorite. It was Home Ec, a class Steve thought might be an easy A for his GPA. Tommy and some of the other guys made a bunch of jokes about it, how Steve took a chick class, but Steve liked it.
The teacher, Ms Pirtle, was nice and would sometimes let Steve do homework for other classes there if they weren’t busy. Steve liked the in-class projects they did twice a month, especially since most of them involved making a huge meal that they all got to share. Also, Steve was the only guy in the class… which was totally rad.
Or… Steve used to be the only guy in the class… until that day.
Steve entered the classroom with a joke he heard on TV the night before on the tip of his tongue for Ms Pirtle and instead found her occupied with two students standing at her desk. Steve recognized them from their black hair and clothes, he didn’t need Lisa waving at him and pointing to know who they were.
Hammond Twins, that’s what they were being called in Steve’s second period. Apparently the guy that owned Benny’s Burgers was their uncle and they were staying with them since their parents died or were murdered or were killed by Soviet Spies.
Gossip got hard to keep up with after it got going, like how Steve imagined a train would.
Steve took a seat at the table he usually shared with Lisa, Tammy, and Chrissy Cunningham. The girls were staring at the twins, leaning forward to try and overhear whatever Ms Pirtle told them. Steve leaned his chair back and balanced it back and forth with his foot while he waited for class to start.
It was because Hawkins never had new students, that was all it had to be. Hargrove had been the first one since like fifth grade so everyone was tripping. Twins were kind of neat though, Steve didn’t know of any twins except for the little ones he saw at the park sometimes.
“I heard they were like conjoined at the head,” Lisa whispered, not very quietly. “They had to be homeschooled until the doctors separated them!”
“Oh my God, seriously?” Tammy practically stood up to get a better look at them. “That totally makes so much sense! Do you think they’re like brain damaged now?”
“Tammy!” Chrissy shook her head at Tammy and actually whispered. “That’s so mean! Maybe they’re totally nice and cool. Their uncle is so nice, he fixed my bike one time when I crashed it.”
“What do you think, Steve?” Lisa asked, smirking at Steve with her hooded blue eyes that Steve used to dig. ‘Sex eyes’, that was what Tommy used to call them.
“What do I think about what? Chrissy riding a bike?” Steve shrugged, pretending to not know what Lisa was asking, and blew a kiss toward Chrissy. “I think if you need a ride you could tell me.”
Chrissy rolled her eyes and pretended to swing at Steve. She was nice, sweet, a year younger than Steve. He tried, once, to ask her out but they realized real quick that they didn’t really have anything in common besides her cheering at Steve’s games. Steve thought she was seeing Jason, one of the few sophomores on the varsity team.
“Class! If I could have everyone’s attention?”
Everyone actually went silent when Ms Pirtle stood up, probably only because they knew it was going to involve the new kids. Steve had his chair back on two legs, the toe of his sneaker keeping himself balanced, when Ms Pirtle introduced them.
“I’d like you all to give a warm welcome to our two newest students, Sirianna and Harry Hammond.”
Chrissy started clapping, like a freaking dingus, and Steve had been laughing at her when the twins turned to face the room and Steve got a good look at them both for the first time.
Fuck.
The momentary mocking of Chrissy for her polite clapping and the twins for existing probably turned to ringing laughter filling the room when Steve had tilted his chair back just a little too far and fell backward. Steve popped back up quickly, grinning sheepishly as he quickly ran a hand over his hair then fixed the chair.
“Sorry, sorry,” he mumbled, casting a curious look to where the twins were being ushered to the table beside his.
Steve had seen the girl, Sirianna (a weird freaking name) that morning, he didn’t realize her brother would pretty much be her identical twin. Shorter hair, more bored expression - but basically identical. Their eyes… man.
“Trade me.” Steve was quick to move Lisa and her chair over so that he could replace his chair on the side that would be closest to the twins. Lisa gave him a dirty look, but Steve was already sitting down and smiling as charmingly as he had ever done before.
“Since our new students are getting settled, why don’t we take turns checking in on our projects today?” Ms Pirtle said. “One at a time now, come up and show me what you have started with your book.”
“Hi.” Steve didn’t jump to join the line, he left his recipe book, the big year long project they had, at home anyway. Instead, Steve offered Sirianna his hand. “Steve Harrington,” he said.
Sirianna looked at Steve’s hand and then ignored it, setting Lisa off in catty giggles beside him.
“Sirianna,” she said. There was a hard twist of her lips. “Though I’m sure you knew that.”
“And Harry, right?” Steve leaned past Sirianna to offer Harry the same hand. “I’m Steve,” he said again.
Up close, Harry didn’t look bored really, more… tired? He had the same softness to his eyes and smudges beneath them that Steve had seen his mom rocking on the few instances she was home. He had a scar too, just a real faint silver scar in the middle of his forehead, must have been something from when he was a kid.
Harry didn’t say anything, he barely seemed to acknowledge Steve at all.
“So where are you from?” Steve asked Sirianna, since Harry was apparently mute or something.
“Albany,” Sirianna said, her eyes locked on the front of the class.
“That’s cool,” Steve said. He scooted his chair just a little bit closer. “Do you like Hawkins?”
“Yes.”
“Cool, cool.” Steve tried to shift around some, get either of them to look at him again. When that failed, he thought up a new question. “Do you like basketball?”
“No.”
“Uh… cool,” Steve said. He tried to lean back, get Harry’s attention. “Do you play?”
“He doesn’t,” Sirianna replied for him.
“What are you? Like his mouthpiece?” Lisa drawled, setting Tammy off in giggles.
“Shut up,” Chrissy hissed, ducking some when Ms Pirtle looked directly at them.
“Your uncle runs that diner, right?” Steve asked once the coast was clear, refusing to give up so easily. People didn’t really ignore him, not like Sirianna was and definitely not how Harry was. All Steve wanted was a little bit of something… some sort of idea if maybe the twins were going to suck as much as Hargrove.
Sirianna sighed and looked at her brother before turning to stare at Steve with the same glare she used on Tommy that morning.
“Our uncle owns the diner. Our parents are dead. We like Hawkins. We do not play basketball, cheerleading, or football. No, we were never physically attached to each other. Yes, my name is hilarious. I am not romantically involved with my brother or Jonathan Byers. Does that answer all your questions?”
Uh… no. No, Steve wasn’t going to ask her or say any of that. Well, maybe he would have asked if she did cheerleading, she was probably thin enough for it under the baggy clothes she wore. It was cool that she wasn’t with Byers though, and Steve never really thought she was like with her brother, that would have been disgusting.
Harry chose then to peer at Steve past his sister, just long enough for Steve to think that Harry might have been echoing his sister’s annoyance.
“I was going to say…” Steve looked away from Harry and focused on Sirianna. “You have pretty eyes.”
Finally - finally! Steve got a small reaction from Sirianna that didn’t seem to be unfair dislike! She rolled her eyes, that were pretty, they were a little less green than Harry’s, but still really nice.
Nancy had blue eyes, almost grey. Lisa had blue eyes, Chrissy had blue eyes. Steve was kind of surrounded by blue-eyed chicks, green was new. Green was nice.
Pretty.
Sirianna mumbled a quiet thanks and Steve grinned once more before Tammy yanked him in conversation with the girls.
“Are her eyes soo pretty, Steve?” Tammy asked, fluttering her lashes at him. “I thought Nancy’s eyes were soo pretty?”
“And I thought the creeps were already shacked up with the Mega Creep,” Lisa added loudly.
Steve sunk down in his seat, his stomach twisting some when everyone laughed at the twins. It was shitty, and Steve was quick to apologize to Sirianna as soon as class ended.
“Hey, Sirianna, Harry!” Steve followed the twins in the sophomore hallway and stopped them before they could go to the cafeteria for lunch. It was already not surprising to Steve that they were holding hands then, somehow. He got used to weird shit really quickly apparently.
Sirianna raised an eyebrow at Steve and he wasn’t sure why he thought she looked alien that morning when she seemed like kind of a normal chick then…
“I wanted to say sorry, about earlier,” Steve said. “That wasn’t cool, all the jokes.”
Harry lifted his head and looked at Steve, only half as unimpressed with him as his sister clearly was.
“It wasn’t,” Sirianna agreed, tricking Steve into relaxing with her calm voice. “You know what would have been ‘cool’? You saying that earlier, when the ‘jokes’ were happening.”
“I…” Steve was flustered under the weight of Harry’s gaze and Sirianna’s cutting words. Yeah, okay, Steve didn’t tell anyone to shut up like Chrissy tried to do a time or two, but it wasn’t like he said anything either.
“Goodbye.” Sirianna turned away from Steve and stormed down the hallway, her back straight in what seemed like determined confidence. Harry walked with her, just a step behind her, his hand still linked with hers.
It made Steve wonder if Harry was like… disabled or something. He looked normal, but Steve hadn’t heard him speak a single word so far.
And neither had anyone else, as far as Steve knew.
Everyone at lunch talked about the twins, talked about how weird they were, how attached at the hip they seemed. The juniors and sophomores shared a lot of classes in the small school and so plenty of Steve’s friends had been in at least one class with the twins.
“Maybe he’s got like downer syndrome, or something,” Carol suggested when Steve’s group moved on to theories about what made the twins so weird. Carol waved her fork around carelessly, “Like that kid who screams at the pool?”
“He has Down Syndrome, and he screams because the other snot noses don’t like to play with him,” Tammy huffed, like she cared. “And Harry doesn’t like have the face for it, you know? He’s got kind of a cute face, if you ignore all the faggy shit.”
Steve hadn’t said anything about the twins, his stomach kind of hurt when he thought about Sirianna being all too aware of the shit everyone was saying. He couldn’t help but gaping at Tammy then though, how could she know that? Harry didn’t even speak!
“He’s queer?” Steve asked, his stomach twisting even more. God, maybe he should have stayed home that morning.
“I mean… have you looked at him?” Tammy asked, smirking when Tommy laughed. “Maybe he’s the one screwing Byers and his guard dog holds his hand.”
The entire table of juniors burst in loud laughter while Steve quickly looked around, checking to see if Harry or Sirianna had to hear what Tammy said. They didn’t seem to be in the cafeteria, neither was Byers.
Steve cleared his throat and pushed his tray to Tommy, not feeling much like eating anymore.
“That’s not cool,” Steve said. It was quiet, only Tommy heard him, but he said it.
Whatever.
Steve tried to work on some homework during his study hall, mostly blocking out Tommy and his endless jokes about anyone and anything. There were only so many queer jokes that Tommy could make about Harry and Byers before it stopped being funny, like when he used to say ‘Your mom’ in response to everything.
Sixth period was Spanish, which mostly meant nap time for Steve. It wasn’t like he was going to end up with an A, as long as he completed it with at least a C before the end of his senior year. Mr Charmichael didn’t bother him and it gave Steve time to nap before PE - it was a win-win.
It didn’t really occur to Steve until he literally walked into the gym for his last class of the day, but… PE was separated into two groups for guys and girls. Juniors also shared PE with sophomores every day, made it easier to hold practice for the coaches who didn’t want to stay late, which meant that Harry was in Steve’s PE class.
Without Sirianna.
Coach blew his whistle, starting class without making any big thing about the guy standing awkwardly to the side of the group in the wrong clothes for class.
“Five laps!” he yelled, spurring everyone into action.
Steve took off automatically, pacing himself to stay just ahead of Hargrove and Jason. It was only a warmup, but Hargrove had it in his head that everything was a competition between them. Steve turned at the end of the gym, looked over his shoulder to check his lead, and instead got to see as Coach snapped at Harry to start running.
The guy was just standing there, looking bored out of his mind, staring at Coach like he didn’t understand what he was being told to do.
“Watch it.” Hargrove shouldered past Steve - even though there was plenty of freaking room - when Steve had paused to see if Harry was going to start running. Hargrove smirked at Steve over his shoulder as he took the lead and Steve puffed before running to catch up.
Steve was so not going to listen to Hargrove’s shit if he ‘won’ warmup laps.
Hargrove put some speed in it and when Steve slowed down when he passed Coach and Harry, Hargrove got to ‘win’ anyway.
“Tommy H!” Coach yelled for Tommy, who was goofing with Jason and Andy while they ran. It kind of looked like they were trying to trip Byers, which was another old joke of Tommy’s.
“Yes, sir, Coach, sir,” Tommy cried, snapping a salute.
“Take Hammond to get a uniform,” Coach said. He pointed at the boots on Harry’s feet. “And find some sneakers, I got a lost and found shelf in my office.”
Tommy, Jason, Andy, and half the class started cracking up, like it was the funniest thing they ever heard that some kid from Albany didn’t know he would need sneakers for gym. Steve rolled his eyes and stepped off the track that ran around the gym, offering to do it instead. If nothing else, at least Harry wouldn’t get tripped on his way to get a uniform and shoes.
Tommy winked at Steve with a shit-eating grin, maybe thinking that Steve wanted a chance to bug the new kid himself. Harry didn’t say anything, only followed Steve when Coach pointed for him to go.
“What size shoes do you wear?” Steve asked Harry as he led him to Coach’s office. Harry didn’t say anything, so Steve looked at his feet and tried to guess based on his own size.
“Eight, maybe?” he guessed with no response. Coach’s office wasn’t locked so Steve let them in and opened the cabinet where the school issued gym uniforms were stored. Most of the guys had their own gear, from football or basketball or whatever, but some guys didn’t play sports.
“You’re probably… a small?” Steve grabbed one of the white shirts off a shelf and held it up, nodding to himself when it looked about right. He dug through the green athletic shorts until he found a pair that looked like they would fit.
Harry probably wasn’t actually like disabled or whatever, because he took the clothes when Steve handed them to him and followed him to the next cabinet to dig through the lost and found. Maybe Harry just didn’t like to talk, whatever. He could be deaf, might be easier to get through school if he was.
“Woah, cool.” There was a ton of cool shit in the lost and found cabinet… Steve found a pair of sunglasses that he pocketed, then a small tub of hair gel that he pocketed much more sneakily. There were shoes too, a bunch of them.
There was one pair that Steve thought might have been girl sneakers, but they were faded enough that he couldn’t really tell and nobody else would notice. It was either those or a pair with a huge hole in the toe, they were the only ones that Steve thought might fit Harry.
“You know where the lockers are?” Steve asked him. Harry shook his head, his eyes locked on the clothes Steve gave him. Steve sighed, but directed him to a place he could change. The locker room was empty, kinda creepily quiet when it was usually filled with noise anytime Steve was in there.
“Alright, you can put your stuff in a locker in here.” Steve found an empty locker, the one by Byers, and pointed at it for Harry. “Showers are that way, toilets are there. Cool?”
Steve didn’t expect an answer, he was already walking away and planning on how to ignore Hargrove during class. He was almost to the doorway when he got an answer anyway.
“Thanks.”
It was quiet, maybe kind of shy? Like Harry could talk but he didn’t do it very often?
It definitely took the sting out of Hargrove’s crap during PE and Steve’s mild disappointment that he forgot to ask Nancy again for a date that night.