Chapter Text
“How about Saturday? Are you free then?”.
You would prefer to step on one hundred pieces of lego than go on a date with Andy, one of Hawkins High’s basketball players and faithful minion to Jason Carver. “I’m busy Saturday” you say blankly, not even glancing his way as you open your locker. You hope if you continue to act uninterested then he’ll leave you alone.
“Friday? I have practice but I can pick you up afterwards,” he suggests, winking as he adds “we could go to Lover’s Lake”.
Ew.
This is the third time Andy has tried to ask you out in the past month. No matter how many times you reject him, he comes crawling back and starts the same routine of pestering you until he gets bored or you hurt his ego. Although this time you’ve noticed he’s more persistent than usual. Normally he takes your initial rejection as a sign to fuck off but today he’s not getting the hint, going through each day of the week to see when you’re available.
Sometimes you wish you would just shout at him to leave you alone and to use his brain for once to realise you’re not interested but that’s easier said than done. After your interactions with Andy, you always come up with the best one liners and comebacks but when he appears and starts badgering you to go out with him, all of the witty quips you’ve thought of suddenly vanish and you go blank.
“I have plans on Friday,” you reject before quickly mentioning “And I’m busy Sunday too”. You pay no real attention to Andy, instead you concentrate on cramming another book into your already overflowing locker.
Andy huffs loudly, leaning back against the surrounding lockers. “Can’t you just cancel your other plans?” He rolls his eyes as if the answer’s that simple. Giving you a patronizing smile, Andy jeers “You know, guys like it when you prioritise them so maybe it’s time you start doing that for me”. You clench your jaw, his unsolicited advice making you dislike him even more. “Well I can’t do that so maybe you should go ask out someone else” you shrug, hoping he’ll finally get the hint and leave.
Andy thinks for a moment, trying to figure out some other way but he shakes his head. “Fine, I guess that’s it” he carelessly throws his hands up in the air in defeat, a scowl starting to form on his face as he turns to walk away.
You exhale deeply, grateful he’s finally gotten the message. But you celebrate too soon. “Tonight,” Andy stops, slowly turning back to you with a cunning grin plastered across his face “you have to be free tonight”. Shit.
At the end of the corridor, Eddie comes into view, chatting with Dustin about their upcoming Dungeons and Dragons session. As he approaches, your eyes quickly flick to him. For a brief moment, your gaze meets his. Unfortunately it’s only for a few seconds, Dustin nudging Eddie to get his attention again as he reluctantly breaks your eye contact. Eddie doesn’t know when it started but he usually scans whatever room he enters at school now, wondering if you’re nearby. He likes it when you’re close, mainly because it means he has an opportunity to impress you.
One time, while he was loudly monologuing in the cafeteria, Eddie saw you smile at one of his taunts aimed at the jocks. Seeing your smile made it all worth it but it definitely feels strange to see you speaking to one of these jocks now.
Eddie hasn’t spoken to you yet but he thinks about it. Usually he finds it easy to speak to people. Sure, they might find him weird or call him a freak but interacting with others isn’t something Eddie struggles with. So he doesn’t understand why it’s different with you. The furthest he’s gotten to actually interacting with you is whenever you’d both make eye contact with each other in the hallways or at the end of lunch when everyone is leaving the cafeteria. Sometimes you’ll both give a small smile to one another but other times your glances are so brief that there’s no time to.
Andy huffs again, this time more dramatically to get your attention back on him. “So?” he prods you for an answer.
“I have plans tonight” you lie, refocusing your attention on cramming this damn textbook into your locker.
“Seriously? Come on, just go out with me instead,” he needles “my parents are working late tonight so we’ll have the house to ourselves”. You suppress a shiver in response. It’s like you can practically feel your skin crawl with each word Andy says. “I told you, I have plans tonight” you repeat, weary of this conversation. Nevermind walking on one hundred pieces of lego, at this point you’d walk over hot coals if it meant Andy wouldn’t bother you again.
Andy persists, his tone becoming sharp with annoyance “Well then what are you doing? I can give you a ride and we can go back to mine afterwards”.
Eddie hasn’t heard all of your exchange with Andy but he overhears the last part, zoning out what Dustin’s saying to him as he walks past you. What he’s heard so far paired with the uneasy look on your face tells Eddie everything he needs to know.
“She already has a ride,” Eddie intervenes “she’s watching me play with my band tonight so shoo, the lady’s busy”. Dustin shoots Eddie a confused look before deciding it’s best to sit this one out and goes to his own locker a few paces away. Your eyes go wide as Eddie steps beside you. You stop trying to jam your book into the locker, his quick instinct to help you completely surprising you. Holding your book close to your chest, you watch on as Eddie and Andy glare at each other. Eddie tries to keep his expression calm, though that’s hard to do whenever he has to interact with morons like Andy.
“Yeah right, freak,” Andy says sarcastically “as if she wants anything to do with you”.
Eddie grimaces for a moment but not for the reasons Andy thinks. “Wow, it actually amazes me how ignorant you are” Eddie smirks.
“What’re you trying to say?” Andy puffs out his chest, balling his hands into fists “Now me and her are trying to make plans, so stop trying to interfere and fu-”
Speaking over Andy, Eddie simply says “Well how about we ask the lady, hm?”. Andy goes to say more but he stops himself, feeling confident you’ll pick him.
Both men look at you, awaiting your answer.
“Yeah, I have plans with Eddie tonight” you play along, nodding your head as you look to Eddie for reassurance.
Eddie smiles, relieved he read the situation right.
“You know I really tried to give you a chance,” Andy scoffs “but if you want to hang around with the freaks then fine, you’re loss”. Giving Eddie one last look of disgust, Andy leaves, muttering some choice words as he pushes himself off of the wall of lockers.
“Thanks for that” you breathe a sigh of relief as Andy marches down the hallway, feeling as though you can finally relax.
“I’m glad to be of service,” Eddie’s gaze slowly trails downwards and he gestures to the book in your arms “you need help getting that in there?”. He points to the book and then your locker, an amused smile tugging at his lips. “Oh! Yeah if you wouldn’t mind” you reply, moving to one side as you give your book to Eddie.
Repositioning himself in front of your locker, Eddie begins pushing some textbooks to one side until he finds a big enough space for your book. “Usually if you hold the book really tight and slowly ease it in…” Eddie concentrates as he applies more pressure on the books, shoving them against the wall of your locker so he has more space for this textbook. His tongue pokes out of his mouth, brow creasing until finally the book slots into place. “And voila” Eddie takes a step back so you can inspect your locker.
“Thanks… again,” you say, bashfully “you’re like my knight in shining armour today”.
“Well whenever you need rescuing from a goblin, I’ll be there, princess” he promises. God, Eddie hopes he’s not coming across as being cheesy. He never over-analyzes his words but he can’t help wondering how you might react to each thing he says. Why does he even care so much?
The corners of your lips curve as you giggle, finding Eddie completely adorable. A wave of relief washes over him, thankful he didn’t mess up his chances with you so soon. Finally closing your locker, your t-shirt catches Eddie’s eye. The large Metallica logo in the centre of your top makes him raise his eyebrows. Eddie didn’t think you’d be into metal but it’s a pleasant surprise.
“Nice shirt,” he hums approvingly “have you listened to the new album?”.
“Yeah, I have” you glance down at your own t-shirt, your cheeks turning a faint red at the amount of attention Eddie’s giving you.
“My band does covers of some of their songs and I gotta say, I seriously shred on the guitar for Master of Puppets” Eddie replies, debating whether or not he should take this one step further. Although you’ve just rejected Andy, he wonders if he’ll have more luck. Even though this is the first time Eddie has properly spoken to you, it feels as though you’re old friends, a natural chemistry between you both.
“Is that so?” You prod, your smile brightening at his humble brag.
“Oh yeah, the drunks where we usually play really love it,” Eddie boasts, an undertone of playfulness in his voice “One time a drunk thought we were a Kiss tribute band without the make-up…I’m not sure if it was a compliment or an insult but I’ll take it”. Squinting your eyes to get a better look, you jokingly say “Hmm, yeah, I can kinda see the similarities”.
“What? Similar nose? Eyes?” he plays along “because I know it can’t be the hair, right?”. Eddie swiftly flicks out some of his hair, feigning confusion. You laugh again, feeling completely at ease in his company.
As your laughter dies down, Eddie seizes his opportunity. Clearing his throat, Eddie lowers his voice to a more serious tone “I know we were only making that stuff up so that bozo would leave you alone but… I do actually have a gig tonight if you’re interested”. Out of fear of coming across too strong, Eddie stutters, his words starting to fail him as he backtracks “I-I just mean, since you like Metallica too, I thought you’d enjoy it but if it isn’t your kinda thing then that’s totally cool”.
“It sounds like fun,” you assure him “Think you could pick me up at seven? I would bike there myself but I have no idea where it is and I’m terrible with directions”.
“Yeah, seven,” he nods “I can do seven”.
Hoping to assess if Eddie could possibly be interested in you romantically or if he’s just being friendly, you casually reply “Perfect, it’s a date”. You hope that by saying it so nonchalantly, it wouldn’t be such a big deal if he doesn’t feel the same way. You’ve had a thing for Eddie for quite some time now, wondering if the lingering looks he often gives you mean anything.
Eddie’s chest tightens as you say ‘date’. He can’t believe this is happening. Trying his best to play this cool, Eddie ignores his racing heartbeat. “Yeah, a date,” he confirms “I’ll see you then”. With a small bow of his head, Eddie walks away. You walk the other way, hoping you're not too late for your history class.
Dustin, still pretending to be busy searching through his locker, wiggles his eyebrows up and down when he sees Eddie approaching. “What was that all about?” he asks, shutting his locker “and how the hell did you get a date with her?”. Dustin couldn’t help but overhear what you were both saying, his curiosity getting the better of him.
“Shut it, Henderson” Eddie replies, not wanting to make a big deal out of this.
“Oooh I could help! I can tell you all my tips and tricks that helped me win Suzie over,” Dustin continues, ignoring how Eddie exhaustively throws his head back “she really loves it when I-“.
“Dustin,” Eddie groans “the day I take advice from you and your imaginary girlfriend is the day I truly give up hope”.
“Hey! Just because she lives in Utah doesn’t mean she’s imaginary,” Dustin protests “besides when was the last time you were on a date? You need advice from the love guru”. Dustin makes a purring noise as points to himself with both of his thumbs… though his purring sounds more like a loud gurgling noise.
Eddie groans again but lets Dustin continue with his advice. As much as Eddie hates to admit it, maybe he will learn something from the self proclaimed love guru.
Eddie doesn’t understand the effect you have on him or why he already has an excited yet nervous feeling in his gut about tonight. It’s intoxicating to be around you and now to go on a date with you? Eddie has no idea how he got so lucky.