September of 85'

     Almost a month had passed since the first day and Kat was really busy with school, work and band (When she could sneak out). She was also really grounded

   When her parents took a look at her that night they realized that she had been high. They didn't really care that she had weed, they mostly cared that she didn't tell them, so just like the last time she'd been caught they were furious, sought on grounding her till she moved out, however with Phillip's convincing they lowered the sentence to a month. Now that month was finally over.

    Being grounded meant her keys were locked up in her dad's safe, so the only way she could get anywhere was if she asked her parents or brothers. Everyday Kats' brother mark would pick her and max up to take them to school, then he'd take them home.

     They really only allowed her to go to school and work, except for the few times they let her hang out with her new friends from school. She had finally taken a good liking to Judith and Lori. Her cousin she was more tolerable then she thought she would be . She learned a lot more then she had known before, but her jealousy still got the better of her.

    Despite the jealousy, even though Kathryn really didn't want to admit it Cady was actually okay to be around, so much so that on one stormy Saturday in the middle of  September when Kat was still Grounded she was planning on asking her parents if she could go to the mall in the next town over with all of her friends. She head down stairs stopping in the kitchen before hand, extremely dehydrated. She hated water sometimes forgetting to even drink it. After grabbing her water it was then that she heard her brother Mark ranting furiously to her parents in the next room over.

      "Calm down mark. It's gonna be okay." Kathryn's mother soothed him down. He had been shouting, Kathryn hadn't heard him act like that since he broke his elbow at the lake tubing on 4th of July nearly 3 years ago.

      "What's going on?" Kathryn walked in the living room with her glass.

        "Mark and Amy aren't doing very well right now." Her father broke the news.

       "She fucking cheated on me." Mark was heartbroken. Amy was his pregnant, wife of only four months that he had known almost his whole life.

     "Holy shit." Kathryn replied.

     "Language the both of you." Their mother hissed.

        "Sorry, sorry. I just can't believe it, how did you find out?" Kat asked.

      "I walked in on her having sex with Daniel McPeterson." Daniel McPeterson was one of Mark's biggest competitors, from work, to hobbies, to family life.

      "You're kidding, where at?"

       "God I wish I was. At our house. She brought him into our home."

    He was sitting down on their couch and rested his arms on his knees before he buried his head in them.

     "How could I be so stupid, what if this baby isn't even mine?" He shook his head.

"Mark you are not stupid honey." Their mother rubbed his back.

"No son you aren't. That bitch is." Their dad fussed.

      "Robert!"

    "Dad!" Mark still cared about her.

    "Cheating is a bitchy move." Kathryn agreed with her dad for once.

     "I'm sorry I don't want dad to call the girl that I've been in love with since highschool a bitch." He frowned.

"That's fair im sorry."

"It's fine it's not like it's happened to you before."

     She couldn't deny that.

       She felt bad for her brother. In all honesty it made her feel a little less trustworthy about entering a new relationship, not that she wanted to.

     Amy was sorta just always in her life, like a big sister. She sang songs to her, made her bracelets and played dolls with her when she was little. To think that she'd do something like this was mind blowing.

      After the whole conversation her other brother Philip came over. They filled him in on what had happened. His reaction was pretty much the same that everyone else had. When everything finally sorta calmed down Kathryn decided she wasn't going to ask her parents to go to the mall anymore.

      Kathryn took her glass of water and went to her room and dialed Lori. She had gotten the number of her landline at the bakery and they called each often, staying on the phone till late at night talking about everything.

      "Lori I'm not going to be able to go. I have some family stuff going on." She told her when she answered.

      "Aw im sorry, maybe you can come with us some other time." She could hear the emotion in her voice even over the phone. Lori was too sweet and she could tell she was genuinely disappointed that she wouldn't be making it to the mall, that was one thing Kat liked about her.

"I will. I promise. And anyways I think it's supposed to storm tonight so you all be safe."

"We probably won't go if it does, but thanks. And-"
Lori went silent, but Kat heard chaos through the phone.

"Hold up sorry sorry I'll talk to you later, at the moment my grandmas trying to kill a mouse with the fly swatter."

"Okay see you later." Kathryn hung up like it was just a normal everyday occurrence.

Now that she wasn't going to the mall she was painfully bored just thinking about what she was going to do when it came to her. She was going to make a list of everything she wanted to do in Hawkins. A bucket list.

         She found a yellow note pad on her desk and her favorite markers.

          On the yellow note pad she started numbering down the page.

          1. Go to a party.

Sometimes she loved parties, loved the feeling of dancing in a room full of people, somewhere people wouldn't notice if she did.

          2. Get a large crowd at the hideout.

The hideout is where corroded coffin has always played. There weren't many fans except for the few local drunks that hung out around there. She wanted more.

          3. Have a karaoke night.

She thought it would be funny to hear Lori and Judith sing a duet to 'Total Eclipse Of The Heart' due to how dramatic they always were.

          4. Find a hangout spot.

She had some spots. Ones that she went to with her friends or her band, but she wanted one to call her own.

          5. Don't get grounded anymore.

During the time of being grounded she learned that she absolutely hated not having freedom to drive where she wanted. She wasn't going to do something stupid

   6. Go on a road trip with friends.

She's always loved traveling, especially with people she cares about. She had a whole separate list of places she wanted to visit: France, Italy, China. It was endless.

   7. Buy a bike

Her last bike she had was when she was a lot younger, but she wanted to have a back up ride just in case she found herself getting grounded again.

8. Get a tattoo

This one was the one her parents were going to hate, but she was already 18 so she could do it if she chose to.

     9. Dance in the rain

She grew up watching movies where the characters always danced around in the rain singing songs and enjoying themselves.

        10. Don't fall for a Hawkins guy

    After she wrote down the last one she realized it was more of a guideline or a rule to follow, but regardless she highlighted it.

           This one her only main goal in life she was absolutely positively certain of. Never fall for someone in the small town she hated. Falling for someone could lead to marriage or heartbreak.  Marriage could lead to being stuck in the place she didn't want to be in. Being stuck in the place she didn't want to be in could lead to living a life of a boring house wife caring for snotty nosed children. That was her worst nightmare. Heartbreak. Heart break was another story. She knew it could destroy her. She could be hopelessly in love with someone completely giving up her future only relying in that one person, before they hurt her. She saw it in her brothers relationship just that day and she didn't want that.

Her plan was to fall for a guy in college. An artsy boy who read poetry and liked classical music or a surfer with a nice tan and long hair. Someone so different yet so alike from her.

She had it all planned out.

If she could grasp away from the hold her parents had on her like she was trying to do, she was going to do exactly what she wanted in life. Nothing, or so she thought, was going to get in her way, except for two things: one the silly boy with long hair, tattoos, and an excessive collection of rings, who loved metal music and two: the person she didn't know existed in the upside down.

A/N: here's a short little chapter unedited right now just to fill in some things before the next chapter.. which I think will be a Halloween chapter.