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"Higgins, Hill, partners… Hopper, Horowitz, partners… Horton, Hurst… partners…" The English teacher droned on and on, assigning partners by alphabetical order.
Joyce looked at the boy in front of her, Hopper, the teacher had called him, as he turned to look at her. She wrinkled her nose at him. He seemed like a friendly guy, but she wasn't here to make friends.
Hop turned to his partner, Horowitz. Joyce Horowitz, if he had picked up and remembered the name he had heard being yelled from the trailer next door. He faced her with a smile.
"Guess I'm with you, Horowitz." His eyes were bright, tinted with mischief. He'd seen her around the trailer park and never had or taken the chance to say hi before.
She gave him a clearly sarcastic smile, "Guess so, Hopper." The teacher handed out copies of the book they were doing the project on, Emma by Jane Austen. She took her copy and stuffed it in her bag as the bell rang. She stood to leave, heading for the door with no regard for whether she should probably figure out when they should meet up.
Dumbfounded, Hopper was left in his seat, mouth agape as he made a wondering gesture to the air and watched her go. Seconds later, he snapped out of it - namely when she rounded the corner out of his line of sight. He shoved everything into his own bag and chased after her. "Hey!" He caught her up. "What is your problem?"
He frowned at her, easily keeping her pace, bristling at her seemingly absolute disgust.
She kept walking, responding without looking at him, "I don't have a problem, school's over, I gotta get home." He was tall, he'd keep up if he wanted to, though she couldn't fathom why he'd bother.
Hopper brushed past people, angling himself to move through the crowded hall, almost never taking his eyes off Joyce, pissed that she was this passive aggressive towards him when they'd not even exchanged two words before. "No? Then how 'bout a 'Hey Hop, good to meet ya' or somethin'. You don't gotta give me sarcasm right off the bat."
She stopped abruptly outside the doors to the school, squinting up at him in the sun. "Hey Hop, good to meet ya or somethin'," She said, the picture of politeness, her hand stuck out to shake his. "Happy?"
"Ecstatic." He took her hand, deadpan, shaking it in his. He didn't know why it rankled so much, but unconsciously, when he'd seen her around the trailer park, he'd thought they might have made good friends.
Consciously however, he'd barely thought of her at all, so it was quite the surprise to find himself this annoyed. He let go of her hand, still looking at her. He nodded towards the school gates. "You goin' then?"
"Yup. Home sweet trailer park. Gotta take care of my little sister, so. Sorry, but I can't stick around for chitchat." She gave him a last look, who needed to be that tall? She cleared her throat, gave him a little salute sarcastically, and started to walk toward the middle school so she and Lucy could walk all the way home together.
He watched her start to walk away, adjusting his bag on his shoulder. He debated just going straight home, either overtaking her or giving her time enough to walk ahead. He walked behind her until they reached the school gates, and then rejected that option, falling wordlessly into step beside her.
She glanced sideways at him. "What are you doing?"
He glanced back at her and then looked straight ahead. "Walkin'."
Joyce narrowed her eyes, "Why are you following me, Hopalong?" She spotted Lucy standing by the middle school gate, and stopped walking before they got to her.
Hop ignored her question for a moment, not quite stopping when she did, but slowing so much as to only take one or two steps in front of her. "Isn't that your sister?" He looked back at Joyce as he gestured across to where Lucy stood at the gate, then turned to wave at the semi familiar figure he'd seen running around between their trailers.
She looked over at Lucy, the traitorous little thing, who waved eagerly back at Hopper and started to head over, no concept of stranger danger apparently. "I… yeah. How do you know that?" She put her hands on her hips, looking up at him.
He looked at her, smug, then turned to watched as Lucy bounded towards them.
As Lucy reached them, she tucked herself under Joyce's arm and slung her arm around her waist. "Hey, Joycie, I didn't know you two knew each other!"
Joyce looked at Lucy, who was barely short enough to fit under her arm anymore, "How the hell do you know him?"
"He lives right across from us, duh." Lucy grinned up at Hop with another wave.
He grinned at Lucy, waving back, even though the was right in front of him. He was finding Joyce's confusion, and even her distaste, highly entertaining in the face of Lucy's acceptance and cognizance.
She rolled her eyes and sighed, "Of course he does."
"Are you walking us home, Jimmy?" Lucy's eyes lit up, excited that her sister had finally made a friend.
Joyce looked up at Hop, tongue-in-cheek and a glint in her eyes, "Jimmy?"
Hopper looked back at her as if she were the crazy one. "Well obviously. Lucy, Jimmy, Joycie." He pointed in turn. "Gotta have the 'e' otherwise you ain't shit. Ain't that right Luce?"
He turned to grin at Lucy, reaching to knock her on the arm. "And sure am, kiddo. Can't do much else since we're all going to the same place." Then, he acted as though realising something, frowning as he asked petulantly, "But what's this though? No hug for Hop?"
Lucy grinned and launched herself at Hop for a hug as Joyce frowned at him. Honestly, she was struggling not to like the guy, he seemed nice enough, and Lucy obviously liked him. But she didn't need friends, she just needed to go to school enough not to be picked up on truancy and to take care of her family.
Hopper held steady against the force of being ran into, although even he was slightly winded by Lucy's enthusiasm. He hugged her back, smile wide as he looked down at the top of her head.
Lucy looked up at Hop as she hugged him and said, very seriously, "She's gonna get mad at you if you call her Joycie. Only I'm allowed, and sometimes Dad. Will you give me a piggyback ride home?"
When she looked up at him he looked back with equal sincerity, nodding at her as she explained. Then at the question, his eyebrows raised in surprise, glancing up to Joyce, who was frowning at him. She hadn't said anything though, so he looked back at Lucy, and couldn't figure out why he would refuse her this, or anything.
"Sure. If you want." He dutifully slung his messenger around to his front and crouched down. "Hop on."
He was endearing and she hated him for it, but she helped Lucy, who was grinning ear to ear, hop up onto his back.
"I'm too big for Joycie to give me rides anymore. We're almost the same size." Lucy said, matter-of-factly.
"Lucy Goose is growing like a weed." She took Lucy's bag, putting it over one of her shoulders.
"I'm gonna be taller than you, just you wait!" Lucy replied.
"Not hard to do, Lucy Goose," Joyce rolled her eyes fondly as she started to walk home, figuring Hop would follow with Lucy.
Hop hid his smile at the two of them, hoisting Lucy up a little, then took a few longer strides to fall into step alongside Joyce. Lucy began chattering, and Hopper did his best to fade into the background, as much as he could while being this tall and carrying one of the two people he was with. Still, he let Lucy catch Joyce up with the events of her day, being a silent carriage for her unless he was called upon for an opinion. He did his best to not even look across at Joyce, and gauge whether or not her glares held any heat behind them, focusing instead on the road ahead. He listened to the conversation, easy and warm as they made their way to the trailer park.
Lucy was content to chatter on and on about her day, talking about all her friends and what they'd done in class, swinging her feet as Hop carried her. Eventually, she ran out of things to talk about and asked, "What about you, Joycie? What did you do in school today?"
She looked over at Lucy when she asked, catching Hopper's eye for a second. "Not much, normal stuff. Met Hopper 'cuz we got paired on an English project." She shrugged. "I didn't realize you lived right by us," She said, addressing Hop directly for the first time unprompted. Not an apology for being gruff when she thought he was following her, but as close as she planned to get.
Hopper caught her eye and immediately looked down at the ground, until she spoke to him. He saw her comment for the olive branch it was, despite almost rolling his eyes at the fact it didn't cover her standoffishness from the beginning. He let her previous brusqueness roll off his back, only keeping hold of what he could potentially tease her with later, looking over with an amused smile on his face.
"Yeah, well. Guess I just lucked out." He meant it genuinely; he liked Lucy, and if he'd had to part ways with Joyce at the school, then who knows if they'd ever have broken the ice. He had a feeling it would have been a damn sight harder that's for sure.
It only took a moment for him to realise she could well take it as sarcasm if he didn't add something, tacking on "Ain't that right, Luce?" in a hurry. He grinned up at Lucy, and when he looked down at Joyce this time, he didn't look away when he met her eyes, slight smile still on his face. He hiked Lucy up a bit. "Kind of impressive really. I'm not exactly hard to miss. Woulda made more sense if I hadn't seen you." He looked down at her pointedly, humour shining in his eyes.
Lucy giggled, and Joyce snorted out a laugh, “Yeah, yeah, Joyce is short, Joyce is tiny, like I haven’t heard that before.” She gave him a smile back, letting down her guard for a moment, surprised at herself for it. Maybe she could have one friend and it wouldn’t hurt. Her dad did say they were sticking around this time, and she wanted to believe him. She couldn’t risk actually being friends with Hop if they were just going to pick up and leave again. He was too nice, it would hurt too much if they got close.
His smile grew at seeing hers aimed at him. He'd seen it around the trailer park, aimed at Lucy. He knew she could smile, but he hadn't yet been on the receiving end. He kinda felt proud of himself for achieving it.
"Yeah, well, everyone is short to me. Don't take it so personal. You ain't special." He cocked his head and looked her up and down, as if sizing her up. "Although now you mention it, 're you gonna ask for a piggyback next?"
She chuckled, "No, I think I'll spare my dignity on that one and walk, thanks. We're almost there, anyhow." She nodded ahead at the trailer park, just in view. She looked down at her shoes, adjusting her and Lucy's backpacks on her shoulders. "Plus, you can't exactly put Luce down now," She pointed out; Lucy had fallen asleep, her head lolled against Hop's back and her feet swinging.
Hop looked over his shoulder, a slightly futile attempt, but he could feel the dead weight Lucy had become. "You got a point."
"Don't worry, she'll wake up when we get there. Or you can dump her on the couch and she can nap there. She can sleep anywhere, I swear." Joyce reached up and brushed hair off of Lucy's face, unconsciously walking a lot closer to Hop than she had been.
"Fine by me." He looked down at his feet, not wanting to point out that he'd have to be invited into her trailer for that, for fear she'd retract the suggestion immediately. "She went out like a light, that's for sure. Feels like she was talking two seconds ago and now she feels like lead."
She laughed, "Yeah, she's such a ball of energy all day, she usually zonks out for about half an hour once she gets home. Guess she just went out early because she wasn't walking." She looks at him for a second. "It was real nice of you to agree to givin' her a ride, Hop. I appreciate it. Like I said, she's a bit big for me to carry now."
Hop looks over at her when she laughs, smile widening on his face. He brushes her acknowledgement off. "No problem. Like I said, we're all goin' to the same place. She's not too heavy. 'sides. Me and Luce go way back. Probably a whole month even. She said hi, I said hi, we introduced ourselves. Shook hands. You know, like normal people when they introduce themselves," Hopper couldn't help the little dig at Joyce as they approached their trailers. "This you?"
"Okay, don't feel special, she said hi to everyone in the trailer park, everyone knows who she is." She stopped in front of her trailer, fishing her key out of her pocket, "Yeah, this is us." She opened the door and headed in, holding it open for him as an afterthought, realising it would be difficult for him to hold it and Lucy at the same time. "Welcome to our humble abode."
He stepped in, not entirely elegantly being so large and having no hands to steady himself as he came up the step and through the small door.
"'s nice."
He looked around, taking in the small trailer. It wasn't tidy, couldn't be with a small child in such a small space, but it felt like a home. It felt lived in. He liked it. "Where should I…?"
He swung around, Lucy still on his back, exaggeratedly looking for a place to put her down.
"Couch is fine."
She tossed their backpacks under the old rickety dining table and pointed at the couch, moving into the kitchen and starting a pot of coffee, pulling out things to make PB&Js. "Want a sandwich? I always make them for Lucy when we get home, she'll be hungry when she wakes up." She opened up the fridge to get the jelly, the door covered in Lucy's drawings.
Hop was halfway through lowering Lucy onto the couch when Joyce asked, and it caught him by surprise; he'd been expecting a quick drop off and then a goodbye. He paused mid crouch, then lowered Lucy the rest of the way.
"If you're offering, yeah. That'd be great." He looked over to Joyce for a moment as she busied herself, then lay Lucy down and threw a blanket over her, putting a cushion under her head.
Standing up he stretched out his back, then took off his bag and rubbed his thighs where it had been hitting him as he walked. He looked around the small space and came over, looking to see if he could help.
"It's nothing special, just peanut butter and jelly. We've only got strawberry, because it's Lucy's favorite." It was her favorite, too, but he didn't need to know that. She hummed to herself as she put the sandwiches together. "You're not allergic to nuts or anything, right?" She spread peanut butter on some of the bread before running her finger through the peanut butter that remained on the butter knife, sticking that finger in her mouth and then wiping both the knife and her hand on a paper towel before sticking the knife in the jelly.
"Nope. Not allergic." Hopper leant against the counter, watching her spreading the sandwiches, wiping the knife against her finger and popping it in her mouth. He looked back down at the sandwiches she'd made, studying them. "Lucy's got good taste. Strawberry is my favourite. Blackcurrant is probably runner up."
He looked back up at Joyce, a slight smile on his face. "You need help with anything?"
"Haven't had that one, Blackcurrant? I'll have to try it sometime." She paused. She'd spent nearly the last decade since her mom left learning it was best to close off, to not bother with people, to stick to her family and not let anyone in. But something about his easy smile made her feel like letting him in, just a little. And hell, She'd already invited him into the trailer. "Strawberry is, uh, my favorite, too. Strawberry anything, really. You know those little candies, Mentos? The strawberry ones are my favorite candy. Something comforting about them, I don't know."
She looked up at him, "Uh, yeah. The coffee should be done in a sec, if you want to grab a mug for me? You can get one for yourself too, but be warned, Lucy will try to get you to give her some. We share a room, and if you give her coffee I will not hesitate to find you and make you pay for it later when she's bouncing off the walls."
Hopper nodded, looking about for mugs. He found two and got them out, watching the coffee pot and waiting to pour it when it was done.
"I'll bear that in mind."
He took note of everything she said, picked up the pot and started pouring. "Milk? Sugar?"
"Yeah, like… three spoonfuls of sugar and a splash of milk in mine. Thanks." She finished up the sandwiches, sliding one over to him on a paper plate and taking a bite of hers after wrapping the third in a paper towel for when Lucy woke up. "So you've lived in Hawkins a while? We just moved a few months ago."
He raised his eyebrows as he did as she asked, putting three sugars and milk in her coffee. He took the plate she passed him and slid her slowly induced heart attack across to her in exchange.
"All my life."
He took a bite of his sandwich, finishing a quarter of it in one go. He nodded with approval at it. She made a very good sandwich. "How'd you end up here?"
She took a sip of her coffee, made a face, and reached over to put another spoonful of sugar in it. "Dad got a job here." She shrugged, not really sure how to say more without spilling her whole dumb life story of moving around again and again for the almost the last ten years.
Hopper nodded. "Well, it's not the worst place to end up. Can't imagine it's the best either but - it's home. You found it okay so far?"
"It's fine, I guess. Mostly I keep to myself, so, not much to say, really. Lucy's made friends, so that's good." She looked down into her coffee cup, contemplating. It was easier to talk about Lucy than it was about herself, especially since Lucy was so easily endeared to people and settled into new places so well. She made friends easily, unlike Joyce, who couldn't wear her heart on her sleeve like that, had learned better. She was determined to let Lucy stay that way, though. "Dad said we're sticking around this time, so she should get to keep them."
"Good. Glad that's the plan, anyhow." He finished his sandwich and picked up his coffee, wrapping his hands around the mug.
"Yeah. Lucy's such a sweetheart, she deserves to keep her friends. And I'm tired of moving so much, so. Hawkins it is, I guess." She shrugged and took a bite out of her sandwich.
"Hawkins it is." He raised his mug and drank his coffee in a toast. He looked across at Lucy's sleeping form and then back at Joyce. "Yeah, she really is a sweetheart. Jury's still out on you, but - since we're neighbours I suppose I can act as a friend in the interim. Y'know. While you're settling in. Before you find something more permanent."
She raised her mug with a chuckle when he did, sipping at it after, then blinked at his offer, stunned. "You… you can? You would? I… you shouldn't, " She cleared her throat, looking down. "I don't know how to have a friend anymore, Hop… I'm not like her, I'm not… friendly, I haven't been able to make friends in a long time. I don't know if you wanna do that." She shifted awkwardly, feeling stupid saying it.
Hopper looked at her like she'd grown a second head. "Jesus Christ-" He mutters, "I'm not offering you my hand in marriage. I'm just saying we can acknowledge each other. We'll walk back together sometimes. You can offer me a sandwich, I'll make you a coffee with four fuckin' sugars, we can make fun of each others height from time to time. We're practically friends already. It'll be fine."
She blinked up at him, then inexplicably started to laugh. "Yeah, okay, alright, damn. Sorry, I just haven't exactly had anyone to talk to but my family in… a while, okay?" She grinned at him, kicking out her foot to poke at his shin. "Gimme some slack, here. 'Hand in marriage', jesus." She rolled her eyes.
He grinned back, eyes alight. "You want me to cut you some slack, you gotta earn it. It's the same both ways, Horowitz - I don't wanna see you goin' easy on me."
He grinned at her and then into his coffee, drinking it and letting it warm him through.
"Oh, believe me, I won't." She teased, finding it surprisingly easy to fall into this dynamic.
Lucy stirred on the couch, grumbling and calling for Joyce. Hopper finished his coffee as Joyce looked over at her, figuring that this was his time to bow out.
"Want your sandwich, Lucy Goose?"
He came over to where he'd left his bag, picking it up and aiming a grin at her. "I was your official cupbearer. Can confirm, 's not poisoned and tastes delicious." He turned to Joyce as he slung his bag over his shoulder. "'S it still a cupbearer if it's food?"
Joyce chuckled, crossing to hand Lucy her sandwich, "How would I know?"
Lucy shrugged, taking the sandwich from her sister and biting into it, talking with her mouth full, "Wha's a cupb'rer?"
"Royalty and fancy people pay other people to have a sip of their drink and eat a bit of their food first to check it ain't poisoned." Hopper leaned in conspiratorially. He shifted his bag on his shoulder. "Guess you're royalty now."
Lucy looked down at her sandwich, confused. "You bit my sandwich?"
Joyce doubled over, laughing silently.
"Nah. But your sister made me one too and it had the same ingredients. I watched. Like a hawk." He winked at Joyce.
It took Lucy a second, but then she nodded, "Okay. Good. Royalty? Like I'm a princess?"
Joyce grinned at him and sat next to Lucy. "Since when were you not a princess?"
"Exactly." He gestured to Joyce. "Now I gotta go, but if your highness wants an escort tomorrow, I'd be happy to assist. We're all goin' to pretty much the same place, like I said."
"Okay! See you tomorrow, Jimmy." Lucy said, excited.
Joyce nodded with a smirk, "See you tomorrow, Hop."
"We still gotta figure out our assignment, Horowitz. You ain't landing me with all the work." He headed to the door, pointing right at Joyce, turning to let himself out. "See ya both, bright and early."
He gave a wave as he shut the door behind him.
Joyce rolled her eyes behind his back as he left, then grinned at Lucy with a wink. Lucy smiled back at her.