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Hugging your knees, you shut your eyes tight and remind yourself that the school day is nearly over. You only have to get through the rest of lunch and then a few afternoon classes until you can finally go home and relax.
Sitting under the bleachers for lunch has become a normality to you, avoiding the terrors of the cafeteria and instead spending your time alone.
Although you always found it hard to make friends, you convinced yourself that in a new school, it’d be easier and that people would be more welcoming. But moving to a new town halfway through the school year didn’t help and none of the students seemed interested in getting to know the new girl. You tried your best when you first arrived in Hawkins, pushing yourself to be more outgoing than normal and striking up conversation with whoever was sitting beside you in class but no one was interested in being your friend. You weren’t the first new person to grace Hawkins High and you certainly wouldn’t be the last, so no one made a fuss that you were here now.
Lunch was the worst part of the school day. At least during class you can focus on the lesson and forget about how socially isolated you’ve become but during lunch that was unavoidable. Everyone had their own spot in the cafeteria, tables they claimed at the start of the school year. Each time you tried to sit down, you got the same response, students swiftly placing their bags on the seat before you could sit or people scoffing and saying that they were saving the seat for someone else. A couple of times, people were straightforward and told you to go away or that they didn’t want you sitting with them.
You didn’t want to be sitting under the bleachers for lunch, listening to the distant chatter of students as they quickly finish their food before the bell rings but where else were you supposed to go? Usually you can push through the day and try to ignore how hard things have been here for you but today is more draining. As soon as you sit down on the ground, tears begin to stream down your face.
Moving was supposed to be a new start but instead it feels like a nightmare you can’t wake up from. You try to wipe the tears away and keep your composure but you can’t hold them back anymore. After a measly attempt of trying to keep it together, you sigh and allow the tears to flow freely. Your breathing hitches involuntarily as your lip trembles, your thoughts turning dark as you remind yourself of how difficult life has been here for you.
You don’t hear the approaching footsteps nor does the person hear your quiet cries, ducking under the bleachers and not seeing you until it’s too late.
"Jesus! I didn't know anyone was back here" Eddie exclaims. For a moment his eyes go wide as he realises you're crying, quickly averting his gaze to the ground. Usually Eddie would say more but your tears catch him off guard.
He’s seen you around before, noticing you in the corridors or on the rare occasion you’d both arrive to school around the same time. You were pretty but there was something else about you. Unfortunately, Eddie never got the chance to talk to you before now. Whenever he would see you in the hallways, it was brief and by the time he would think of something to say, you were gone.
You were the newbie from some far off city, brought to the cursed town of Hawkins where dreams die and the most exciting thing to happen is either a pep rally or a funeral. When Eddie first heard about you, he didn’t give you much thought. New girl from the city? Yeah, he assumed you’d get along with the preppy kids who normally gush over big cities and the thoughts of getting out of Hawkins. But whenever he saw you around, you were alone.
In a weird way, Eddie found it fascinating that you didn’t fall into any cliques. On paper, you appeared to be the perfect person to fit in with a multitude of cliques and yet you kept to yourself. You were nothing like what he expected you to be, which was basically any stereotypical mean girl who thinks she’s better than everyone. If anything, you were the complete opposite and that fascinated Eddie even more.
Never in a million years did Eddie think he’d find you crying under the bleachers. As you try to hurriedly dry your tears, Eddie stays where he is as if he’s stuck in place. Although you wipe your eyes off your sleeve, new tears appear almost instantaneously. He isn’t sure what to do, debating whether leaving is the right option or if he should try to console you. Clearing his throat, Eddie scuffs his foot off the ground, awkwardly swaying closer to you as he asks “Do you need a tissue or something?”.
This isn’t how you imagined your first interaction with Eddie Munson. You’ve seen him around, your eye often wandering over to him on the rare occasion you enter the cafeteria, though you never stay long enough to get a proper impression of what he’s like. All the information you’ve heard about Eddie is from rumours, whispers in the corridors that have clung to him over time. He hung around the outcasts and some of the nerds, known well for his affiliation with the Hellfire Club.
You didn’t know much about the Hellfire Club, only hearing from other students that it’s based on some board game sorta thing. After being in Hawkins for a while, you actually thought about joining it in an attempt of making new friends but from the talk you’ve heard in the corridors, the Hellfire Club and specifically Eddie, didn’t usually take in new members with open arms and would make them prove their knowledge of the game… something you lacked immensely. And so to save yourself from embarrassment, you didn’t bother trying to join the club and once again, stayed by yourself.
You keep your head down in a pathetic attempt to hide your tears. Trying to keep your voice as steady as you can, you answer his question with a question of your own “Do you have a tissue?”. If you were going to be honest, Eddie didn’t seem like the kinda guy who’d carry around a packet of tissues with him.
Quickly snapping into action, Eddie drops his backpack next to you, stooping down to your level as he rifles through it. His sudden movement makes you tense though you soon relax when he pulls out a ripped piece of tissue paper for you to use. “Here… for your uh, yeah” he hands you the tissue, making sure to give you some space as he stays crouched down beside you.
It’s clear this piece of tissue has seen better days, ripped in half and barely the size of your palm. If you had to guess, you’d presume the tissue has been shoved down the bottom of his backpack for the past 6 months, collecting dust and who knows what else. Seeing your hesitation, Eddie blurts out “Actually wait!”. Plucking the tissue out of your hand, he drops it back into his backpack “I’m not sure how long that’s been in there… look, here just use this instead”. After a moment of rummaging through the various crumpled up papers and notebooks covered in doodles crammed into his backpack, Eddie takes out a black and red bandana and hands it to you.
“Are you sure?” you ask, your voice raspy “I don’t want to ruin it”.
“You won’t ruin it,” he assures, dismissing that idea entirely “if anything, you’ll be adding character to it”. Even at a time when you feel your lowest, Eddie manages to make you smile. He notices your smile too, a small sense of pride igniting in his chest. It’s been a while since he’s made someone smile. Sure, Eddie technically makes the likes of Dustin and the others smile during their Dungeons and Dragons campaigns but it isn’t him directly that’s making them smile, it’s the game.
He waits a few minutes before speaking again, giving you the time to properly wipe your tears away with his bandana. Eddie tries to keep his voice gentle when he speaks, hoping that’ll put you at ease.
“So you wanna talk about why you’re hiding under here?”.
You open your mouth to speak but words fail you. Trying to compose yourself, you take a shaky breath before answering “I don’t know how to put it into words without sounding like a complete loser”.
Eddie involuntarily smirks to himself and shrugs “Lucky for you, I know a thing or two about being a loser”.
For the first time since Eddie’s arrived, you look up at him, his eyes surprisingly soft as he meets your gaze. You could never tell what Eddie would be like to talk to and although you could tell he wasn’t as brash as the rumours claimed he was, you didn’t expect him to be so compassionate either. “You’re not a loser though,” your voice comes out quieter than you expected but you know Eddie heard you as he attentively listens to every word you say “you have friends, people who’ll be there for you when things get rough and hell, as stupid as it sounds, you have a place in a cafeteria and you don’t have to worry about people telling you they don’t want you sitting near them or pretending the seat is being saved for someone else”.
Looking away from you, Eddie nods his head “Wow…”.
Out of all the reactions Eddie could have had, this one surprises you. “Wow?” you repeat, creasing your brow “Wow what?”.
He tilts his head “Wow as in I’m amazed, I haven’t heard someone get something that wrong in a long time”. Eddie stretches out some of his words, putting extra emphasis on the ‘long’ part. Springing up onto his feet, he starts to pace in front of you as he airs out his thoughts.
“First off, I know a lot of people but that doesn’t mean I have a lot of friends, there’s a pretty big difference between that,” he clarifies “and you’re making a lot of assumptions here, I mean just because I have a few friends doesn’t mean they’re willing to come running to my rescue if I ever need them. Actually, it’s the opposite, you have no idea how many times they’ve left me to deal with a literal army of goblins when I wasn’t the dungeon master, I mean I know it’s something you’d presume would only happen once but nope! You’d be surprised how common that was”. Eddie throws his hands up in the air, about to continue his rant about D and D but he stops himself.
He clears his throat, suddenly feeling awkward again “Sorry, I uh… didn’t mean to start rambling about my goblin woes… but anyways, it doesn't matter how many people you have in your life or whether you get the privilege of sitting in the mouldy cafeteria that stinks of athletes, what matters is… well, ok I don’t know what exactly matters in this bizarre thing called life but it sure as shit isn’t any of that”.
It’s hard to tell if Eddie’s speech has really helped how you’re feeling but in the moment, it seems impossible to feel down in his presence. His passion oozes through his words, the way he mindlessly falls into ranting about past D and D games somehow making you feel at ease. Even when talking about how the jocks often stink up the cafeteria after practice, Eddie makes you giggle effortlessly and without realising it, your worries melt away.
This is a man known for his weirdness, often wound up like a clock with the ability to start monologuing about nearly anything. And yet that isn’t the person in front of you. Sure, you see some of those traits but he’s much kinder than what you’ve heard about him. Eddie feels your eyes watching him, turning to look at you again. “Not what you thought, huh?” he asks, dragging a few strands of his hair over his face to cover his smile. Breaking his eye contact, you gulp, trying to find the words to apologise and hope you didn’t offend him.
“Don’t worry, it happens,” he says before sighing dramatically, pretending to be sorrowful “I’m used to being a disappointment, I’m not the fully fledged demonic sadist the people of this godforsaken town take me for, nor am I a monster that steals candy from kids… well, I did once but I don’t think that counts”. A smile tugs at your lips as you laugh, watching on as Eddie defends himself “I mean c’mon, it was a baby, he didn’t have any teeth so how the hell was he supposed to eat a chocolate bar? I was doing him a favour, it was probably a choking hazard!”.
You appreciate Eddie’s strange but funny sense of humour. “I’m joking, I’m joking, I didn’t actually steal candy from a baby” he clarifies before smiling mischievously “…or did I?”. The more you laugh, the more confident Eddie feels, serotonin coursing through his body. To him, your laugh is like music to his ears.
You open your mouth to speak but the bell rings, signalling the end of lunch and the start of your afternoon classes. A sigh falls from your mouth and Eddie nods, knowing this means his time with you is over. “I guess that’s my sign to bid you farewell,” he says, trying not to look too disappointed “I’ll leave you to gather yourself in peace, besides I was supposed to make a quick business deal during lunch and I don’t think they’ll appreciate me making them wait this long”.
“Oh, I didn’t know you had people waiting for you, sor-” before you can continue, Eddie puts up his hand to stop you. “Don’t bother apologising,” he protests “I had a much better time with you than I would have with them so if anything, I should be thanking you”.
Wandering a few steps closer to the bleachers, he rests his arm on one of the metal beams, looking through the gaps and out at the woods just past the school’s property. You shove your water bottle and some notebooks into your bag, getting ready for your next class.
“Actually, there is somewhere else you could go whenever you need some time to yourself” Eddie glances over his shoulder at you and gestures for you to come closer. Getting up off the ground, you sling your backpack over your shoulder and approach him. There’s a scent to Eddie though you can’t figure out what it is. It’s not what the other guys at school usually smell like, which is either drenched in cheap cologne or as if they haven’t showered in 6 months. It’s hard to pinpoint what it is, maybe a mix of multiple scents or maybe it’s his own distinct smell. There’s only one thing you are confident in and that’s how appealing the smell is, though you try not to concentrate on it too much, not wanting him to notice.
You peak through the gap, following Eddie’s finger as he points over towards the dark treeline. “You see over there? That opening?” he asks, gesturing to the gap in the trees “If you go through there and walk for a few minutes, there’s a clearing. It’s kinda nice, not as spooky as you’d think it is and there’s a picnic table so you won’t be sitting on the ground”.
Normally you wouldn’t take the advice of someone you barely know telling you about a supposed quiet area in a dark woods but for some reason, you trust Eddie. “Thanks, I’ll check it out sometime” you nod.
Glancing down at you, Eddie takes the opportunity to quickly study your face while you stare out at the woods. You have a pretty nose and he likes the shape of your eyes but what Eddie likes the most about your face is your smile. It looks so effortless when you smile and yet he knows it’s a rarity. Eddie can’t help but feel special for being the one to make you smile today, just when you needed cheering up the most. Pulling your eyes away from the treeline, you look to Eddie and catch him staring at you. For a second, Eddie freezes before quickly clearing his throat and saying “Well, I should get going”. He gives you a quick, tight lipped grin before walking away.
Eddie walks a few paces, about to leave from under the bleachers when he suddenly stops and calls out your name. It catches you by surprise, until now you didn’t know Eddie knew your name. Looking back at you one more time, he adds “And for what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re a loser. You’re pretty cool actually”. And with that, Eddie leaves, hoping you didn’t notice how his cheeks had become a light shake of red.
Eddie doesn’t know why he hasn’t talked to you sooner. It was so easy speaking to you, as if you’re a friend he’s known for years. Of course he’s wanted to talk to you for a while now but Eddie never saw a proper opening to speak to you, putting more pressure on himself over time to make a decent first impression, something he never typically worries about. But now that he’s talked to you and managed to make you laugh too? A small, goofy smile forms on his face as he thinks back to the brief interaction he’s just had with you. Shaking his head slightly, Eddie tries to shake the smile off of his face.
You watch Eddie go until he’s out of sight. Well, that was someone you never expected to comfort you but you wouldn’t change it for the world. You were a stranger to him and he still made an effort to comfort you. Although a lot of other students judge Eddie from what they see on the outside, you never judged him and yet you still feel as though you’ve underestimated him.
You clench your hand, suddenly remembering that you’re still holding something. Bringing your hand out in front of you, Eddie’s bandana comes into view. “Shit” you mutter, completely forgetting to give it back to him. You feel kinda foolish for smiling at the bandana but it reminds you of him and it gives you hope that you’ll talk to him again soon, even if it’s simply to return his bandana.
Hearing some students pass by the bleachers, you snap back to reality and remember you have a class to get to. Shoving the bandana into your bag, you take a deep breath and leave, ready to take on the rest of your day.