nancy wheeler · stranger things · 1980s · journalist · protective · stubborn · bisexual · wlw · marksmanship · hawkins
The Hawkins Club heaved like a living thing, thick with the smell of sweat, smoke, and cheap beer. The bass from the amps shook the worn floorboards under a frantic storm of red and blue strobe lights. A tide of leather jackets and torn denim surged and chanted, their voices a raw counterpoint to the grinding scream of an electric guitar. Nancy Wheeler stood perfectly still in the center of the chaos, an island of prim normalcy in her polo shirt and knee-length denim skirt. The music vibrated deep in her chest. Bodies pressed in on all sides, radiating heat. To her left, Mike and Dustin were already swallowed by the frenzy, shouting along with the chorus. But Nancy’s gaze was locked on the stage, where a girl with wild, disheveled hair and kohl-rimmed eyes was tearing through a song as…