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Inspired by the lovely au created by @2ds-sleeping-powder (Go check him out!)
Henrietta didn't know how to approach the topic. It should have been simple, but things in her life were rarely such. She doubts Patrick would understand, and that's fine, he's normal. And that's a good thing, he probably doesn't care about the fact that he's a boy, he probably is fine with his name. Henrietta is not like that though, having issues with both factors of herself. She doesn't exactly know when it started, maybe when her parents decided she needed to wear more dresses like a 'good girl,' or when her parents had certain expectations based off of such simple features.
The only reason she even has to talk to Patrick about her feelings was because of the decision she made last night. Henrietta held a pair of scissors in her hand, clumps of hair decorated the bathroom sink. Her hair originally passed her shoulders by a few inches, now it laid just above her ears. She liked it that way, feeling a massive weight that originally laid in her mind fall off like water. A smile cracked through her face, running her hands through her now short hair. It just felt right. She now looked just like her superhero alter-ego The Scarlet Spider, she made him herself. Then there was banging on the bathroom door, it was her mother. Henrietta slowly began to back away from the mirror, her breath getting caught in her throat, her mother would not like to see this. "Henrietta Creel you will open this door!" Virginia shouted and Henrietta's fear only grew. She didn't want to even think of what Virginia's reaction would be.
Well it wasn't good, now Henrietta has to explain to Patrick why her hair is the way. She is still proud of what she did to an extent, her mother hated it though.
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Patrick is sitting in the corner of the cafeteria as Henrietta glances at her lunch tray, her appetite gone. She slowly walks forward, trying to ignore all the whispers and questions that she probably isn't meant to hear. Suddenly her pride in her new haircut drips away, leaving nothing but the shame her mother warned her about behind. She sets her lunch tray down next to Patrick, choosing not to look him in the eyes and face his confusion on the mistake she made. A mistake that felt so good. "Hen are you alright?" Patrick asks, his voice sympathetic and how Henrietta hates it. He shouldn't be so sympathetic to something like this, because she doesn't deserve it. Henrietta nods, trying to ignore the tears in her eyes. "I know you're lying," Patrick says holding his hand out to her. She sighs, not wanting to tell the truth. "I- Patrick, do you ever not like being a boy?" she stammers out, thinking of the rejection that will immediately follow. She closes her eyes, as if to mute out his possible reaction. But she isn't met with any of the fears circling in her mind, no, the opposite in fact. "Yea, do you like being a girl?" He asks, Henrietta shakes her head quickly, a small light flickering in her eyes, hope. On her high of confidence she asks another question, "Do you ever wish you could be a girl?" Patrick goes quiet as Henrietta mentally smacks herself for being so dumb, this is the end of it all now, isn't it? When Patrick decides that Henrietta is too weird, too broken to keep being friends with. What did she expect? For him to agree with her? "Yes, in all honesty, yea, I'd have a name like, Patty, Patty Newby!" Patrick says, splaying his hands in the air as if the new name is painted in neon lights. Henrietta smiles all fear she had before dissipating, "I mean, do you want to be called that? And on the topic of new names, I kinda like Henry." "Well, nice to meet you Henry," Patty says, holding out her hand to him. "Nice to meet you too Patty," Henry says, shaking it.
(Because Headcannons are all I seem to do now)
🦸♀️ She probably wrote her own comic at some point - where the main hero was her self incert
🦹♀️ This comic she made as an entire universe she created that mainly lives in her head, after befriending Henry, he also gets a character in this superhero universe
🦸♀️ After finding her mom in Vegas, her life becomes better for her after living with her mom, but she still wonders what happened to Joyce, Jim, and Henry
🦹♀️ Would probably visit Hawkins at some point in the future and be alarmed and sad to find out Bob is dead
🦸♀️ She probably starts singing more often, after moving in with her mom, now that she isn't forced into the church choir
🦹♀️ She probably slowly gained a record collection even though there was better tech at the time