Only a few days till season 3- can't wait! I really enjoyed writing this story. Huge thanks to all who have read, favorited, and reviewed. (Special shout out to the guest reviewer who said I'm a sh*t writer. Your opinion is noted). To everyone else, please leave a review. Thank you!

Chief Jim Hopper took one last puff of his cigarette and tossed it out of the window as he pulled his truck into the parking lot of Hawkins High School. He chuckled as he wondered how many cigarettes he'd put out on this worn pavement over the years, starting at around age 14. He laughed to himself, remembering a particularly amusing time when he and Joyce had been caught smoking, scrambling quickly to extinguish the evidence. Joyce had hidden behind him, embarrassed and scared their parents would be notified. A frown and furrowed brow overtook his features as the memory snapped him back to reality and the reason he was there. This time, he was the parent who'd been called to school. When Flo had told him the high school was on the line, his immediate reaction was fear, that something had happened to Jane. He was already reaching for his hat and keys, ready to sprint out the door, when he picked up the phone in his office to hear that his daughter was fine, but he needed to come to school to discuss an incident that had happened. He exhaled upon hearing Jane was okay but hurried out of the police station nonetheless, curious and concerned what this incident could be.

Now he was making his way into the main office of the school, fighting the instinct to go charging in full force to demand an explanation. Joyce would tell him to be calm, he could practically hear her voice in his mind.

"Chief Hopper, thank you for coming," Mrs. Jones, the secretary, greeted him warmly, getting up from her chair to inform the principal of his arrival.

"Hey, Hop," came a quieter voice from the corner of the outer office, where Will sat in a chair, a textbook open on his lap.

"Everything okay, son?" Hopper asked with concern, to which Will nodded, though his fingers twiddling the pages of his book showed his nervousness.

"Jane shouldn't even be in trouble! She was only protecting…"

His sentence was cut off by the secretary, who opened the door to the principal's office and said, "Come on in, Chief."

Hopper gave Will a reassuring pat on the shoulder and stepped into the inner office.

"Sir, sorry to interrupt your day, I know you must be a busy man," Mr. Weathers said, rising from behind his desk and shaking Hopper's hand.

"It's no problem, I'm never too busy for my daughter," Hopper replied. At that moment his eyes fell to Jane, who sat in a chair in front of the principal's desk, one hand holding a tissue to her nose, the other gripping the arm of the chair. Her glasses were askew, one side higher than the other and there were beads of perspiration on her forehead.

"The nurse said the nosebleed doesn't appear to be anything serious…" Mr. Weathers began, to which Hopper raised a hand and dismissed the man's concern, "Yeah, she gets those sometimes. I just want to know what happened."

"I'd like to know that myself, honestly," said Mr. Weathers. "There was some sort of altercation in a lab class. Two boys and Jane here involved. The boys have already been picked up by their parents. I've heard their stories but I'm interested in her side. Miss Hopper?"

Jane looked up anxiously at her name and swallowed hard. "Um, what did Mike say?"

Of course, thought Hopper, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. He'd already assumed Mike was one of the two boys involved. No shock there.

"No, it's your turn, so time to talk," Hopper directed. Jane squirmed uncomfortably.

"I will say, Chief, that it's a good thing no one was seriously hurt," the principal said. "Apparently the two boys were arguing and Jane tried to intervene. Then a burner in the lab ignited, not enough for a fire thank goodness, though no one saw any of the students tamper with it. Must have been a freak sort of accident."

"Accident, huh?" Hopper's stare focused on his daughter, who avoided his eyes."Mr. Weathers, can we get a few minutes alone?" His tone was casual but his body language made it clear the question was rhetorical. Hopper was standing at full height, staring at the principal.

"Oh, of course, Chief, I'll go check on that lab classroom…" Mr. Weathers hurried out his own office door. Hopper shut it behind him and sat in the chair next to his daughter. He sighed and looked at her expectantly.

"Alright, spill it. Don't leave anything out."

Finally able to relax, Jane broke down crying. Hopper sighed, scooted his chair a little closer to hers, and put his arm around her. She rubbed her eyes, knocking her glasses down her nose. He reached out and carefully took them, folding them on the principal's desk. He took the discarded tissue from her hand and threw it away.

"Ssshh, Janie, it's okay. You're okay…" he comforted her. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"Don't want you to be mad at me. Or Mike," she mumbled, looking down at her lap.

"I'm not mad, honey," he reassured her. How can I be, he thought, I have no idea what you did.

She nodded and sniffed, "Troy was being really mean to Mike, Dad. He kept pushing him whenever the teacher wasn't looking. Troy is a mouth breather!"

Hopper suppressed a chuckle. "Go on. Get to the part where there was an almost fire.."

"Well, Troy kept saying mean stuff and pushing Mike. So I pushed Troy, Then he told me to keep my freak hands off of him!"

Hopper was thinking of ways he could find to toss this bully into a cell and throw away the key, but kept his thoughts to himself.

"Then Mike tried to hit Troy, you know, because of what he'd said to me. Troy grabbed Mike and I was afraid he was really going to hurt Mike, so I screamed. I was just scared!"

"Let me guess, when you screamed, the burner on the lab table ignited, huh?" Hopper figured he should be glad no lights blew out or furniture shook. That would be harder to write off as a freak accident.

She nodded miserably. "The teacher saw Mike and Troy fighting and me screaming and sent us here. I'm really sorry!"

"I know honey. I'm not angry at you," he told her kindly. It certainly wasn't an ideal occurrence but he knew she hadn't done anything on purpose. Though he added, "I do want you to work on not losing your temper. You know what can happen when you lose control. What could you do next time?" Not that I want there to be a next time, he added in his mind.

"Tell the teacher. And take deep breaths to calm down," Jane answered immediately. Hopper nodded, "That's right."

At that moment, the office door opened and Mr. Weathers entered.

"The lab alright?" Hopper asked.

"Oh yes," Weathers replied "None of us can figure out how a burner could just light on its own though. Weirdest thing…"

Hopper decided to quickly change the subject. "Jane has something to tell you," as he nudged her.

She took the hint and cleared her throat. "I'm, uh, really sorry for screaming, And fighting. I know I'm supposed to tell the teacher." Then she added, "Troy was being a bully!"

"That's just fine, Miss Hopper. I figured that young man was the instigator. Though I don't condone fighting in a classroom, I think we can all put this behind us." The man looked relieved and undoubtedly still perplexed at how the whole thing had happened.
"Works for me," Hopper said, rising and shaking the principal's hand, eager to get his kids and go home. He retrieved Jane's glasses and gave them to her along with a tissue to wipe the lingering tears from her face.

A few moments later, Hopper was walking toward his truck, one arm slung around Jane's shoulder, Will right behind them.

"Dad, can we get milkshakes?" Jane asked hopefully.

Her dad's eyebrows shot up. "I get called to the principal's office and you think you get a treat?!" His voice sounded stern but the twinkle in his eyes gave away his amusement.

"You said you weren't mad! Please, can we get milkshakes? I was really scared, you know…" She gave him her best sad look, complete with pout. Will snorted and disguised it as a cough.

"I suppose that could be arranged. I'd better get Joyce one too. If I don't, I'll get a lecture about ruining you kids' dinner. Somehow that doesn't bother her if I bring her one too. Sound good?" Both kids nodded and gave each other a high five.

"Bitchin'," said Jane.