Chapter Text
Eddie’s first period that semester was his third attempt at senior algebra. His teacher, Mr. Miller was as engaging as a cardboard box. How was he supposed to focus when he was literally falling asleep?
As Mr. Miller began to write equations on the blackboard, the door to the cramped classroom swung open, the unoiled hinges squeaking and cutting through the monotonous drone of the lecture. The class turned their collective attention to the newcomer.
“You’re late young lady,” Mr. Miller said dourly.
In a swish of flowing skirts and sleeves the new senior at Hawkins High glided in.
“Sorry, I got lost on my way here,” she replied, her voice smooth and relaxed, the exact opposite of someone who would have been running late to their first day at the new school.
“Do you have your class schedule?” Mr. Miller asked.
She nodded, and pulled out a piece of paper from the bag that was slung over her shoulder, the various beads at the end of the fringed decorations clicking together with each movement.
This chick looks like the love child of Stevie Nicks and Kate Bush , Eddie thought.
“Alright Ms. Buckley,” Mr. Miller surveyed the classroom. It was already packed with around 20 students, each of the desks occupied, save the one seat next to Eddie. “Take a seat next to Mr. Munson. Mr. Munson raise your hand,”
Eddie made a face at the ridiculous request, he was literally the only one with an empty desk next to him, but after a moment of Miller’s dead eyed stare, Eddie raised his hand after rolling his eyes.
The new girl strode over, that same languid expression on her face. There was some murmuring among the other students, most likely about the new girl and how people pitied her for being sat next to the freak. Eddie was sure he was scowling at her, but she didn’t seem perturbed at all. She took the seat next to him before turning that easy smile his way. Eddie recognized the scent of lavender and leather as she took out a notebook and pen from her bag.
Eddie scooted closer to the window and pointedly ignored his new seatmate and the murmurs that swirled around them, doodling in the margins of his notebook.
He felt her eyes on him, but Eddie didn’t bother looking up. He was used to the staring. She’d eventually get bored and start ignoring him like the rest of the many seatmates he’d had.
“Hey,” he heard her whisper,
Wondering what she wanted, he turned towards the new girl with a brow raised.
“Yeah?”
“We both got animals,” she said, holding one of her hands out and showing a silver ring that had a goat’s head on it. She gestured to his own ring that had a pig’s head.
Eddie scoffed at the ridiculousness of her noticing something like that.
“Yeah, well mine’s got wings,” he said with mild braggadocio, turning the rings so she could see the detailing on the sides.
She giggled, loud enough for a few of the people sitting near them to glance over. Eddie shot them a glare and they quickly turned, though the whispers started up again.
“What’s funny?” he asked.
“When pigs fly,” she said, still giggling.
Eddie huffed out a laugh.
He’d never thought of it like that.
The class passed without any further interruption, and Eddie bolted out of there as soon as possible. He needed a goddamn smoke.
At lunch that day Eddie found himself scanning the cafeteria for the new girl. He briefly wondered what clique she would join. He doubted the jocks or preps would let her sit with them, sure she was cute enough, but the eclectic wardrobe wasn’t one that would win her popularity points in their school.
Finally he saw the familiar flowing outfit next to one of the band geek girls. She looked vaguely familiar but Eddie couldn’t place the name.
“You see Buckley’s cousin?” Gareth asked, following Eddie’s line of sight to the new girl.
Robin Buckley, the new girl had the same last name, made sense.
“What about her?” he was vaguely interested in what ridiculous rumours were already beginning to fly.
“They’re calling her the Witch. I heard it’s because she came from Wichita,” Jeff added.
Eddie snorted. “Wow, real original,”
“She’s hot for a witch,” Gareth said.
Eddie wouldn’t deny it.
“She’s in my math class,” Eddie told his friend, before taking a bite of his sandwich. “She’s in the seat next to me,”
Jeff let out a laugh. “Oh man, that's hilarious. You should totally ask her out,”
“What? Why?”
“Think about how much it would freak out the normies. The Freak and the Witch,”
Eddie snorted out a laugh.
“I mean, our party could use a Druid,” Mike interjected.
“Shut it Wheeler,” Eddie snarked good naturedly, tossing a pretzel at the freshman.
For the next week or so Eddie and his new seatmate sat in silence in their math class, though the metalhead would never admit to his friends that it was actually nice sitting next to someone that didn’t cower or look at him with disgust. The New Buckley simply took her notes or scribbled in a leather bound journal, the loops of her intricate cursive indecipherable. Occasionally she would engage him in smalltalk, but most of the time they sat in companionable silence while trying to stay awake during Mr. Miller’s lectures.
He occasionally saw her in the halls, but she was usually with her cousin surrounded by a small group of the band kids. When he did see her alone, by her locker or just walking around, he could see the general looks of disdain cast her way, or the mean-spirited jibes and giggles hidden behind hands or textbooks. Whether she noticed it or not, she had that same serene expression on her face.
At first Eddie thought she was just perpetually stoned, but he was the only supplier of the devil’s lettuce at their school, and he knew she wasn’t buying. He began to admire her zen attitude, especially when she barely bat an eye when one of Jason Carver’s goons tried to hit on her. Though interesting, he was sure the novelty of Hawkins’ so-called witch would wear off by the time they were doing their midterms.
As the semester wore on, Eddie found himself more stressed out than he would like to admit. Being the double repeat senior on top of the school freak was beginning to take its toll. His uncle Wayne would never explicitly say it, but Eddie knew that his guardian was worried about him. He heard the town talk, and virtually everyone already had him pigeonholed as a failure. He couldn’t fuck up this year. ‘86, he was going to graduate, get a job, have more time to focus on Corroded Coffin’s demo, and as soon as the opportunity came, he’d leave Hawkins in the dust.
One of Eddie’s many weekly rituals was a solo smoke session out by Lover’s Lake. At nighttime the quiet sounds and the scent of the forest and water soothed his ever fraying nerves. He’d drive out to his favourite spot, a large rock between the edge of the shore and the treeline, and lay down and smoke while listening to his walkman and looking up at the stars.
On a relatively warm Friday night in early October, Eddie drove out to his smoke spot. He parked his van, and began the short walk to his usual rock. The sound of sloshing water alerted him to a presence in the lake.
There, illuminated by the silver crescent moon, the New Buckley was wading in the shallows of the lake. The usual flowy skirt she wore was hitched up and tied at one side, the rest of her legs shrouded in the dark water. Every so often she would bend down, grab something from the bottom of the water, and drop it into a pouch that was secured at her waist.
Eddie had seen some weird shit in his life, but this was a new one. He was beginning to see some credence in the ever growing rumours of New Buckley being a witch.
He made his way down to the shore, his footsteps muffled by the grass, then the wet sand. As in sensing his approach, New Buckley looked up from her task and caught his gaze. She smiled at him, and not her usual serene half smile. It was a genuine, honest-to-god, happy-to-see-you type smile.
“Hey,” she greeted him, her soft voice cutting through the stillness of the night.
“Hi.” Eddie replied. “You uh, looking for something?” he called from the shore.
“Already got most of what I need,” she said, her voice trailing off and she checked the pouch at her hip.
“Actually,” she began, looking up at him once more. “Could you grab that jar over there?”
Eddie followed the direction in which she was pointing, to see a pile of her stuff under a tree.
“Uh, sure.” he said, still a bit bewildered by the whole encounter. He made his way over and grabbed the glass mason jar, before returning to the edge of the lake.
New Buckley made her way over to him so he wouldn’t have to get his sneakers wet.
“Thank you Eddie,” she said, giving him another one of her dazzling smiles.
Eddie blinked.
“Your name is Eddie right?” she asked, beginning to look a bit unsure.
“Y-Yeah I just- didn’t think you’d remember,” he stuttered, trailing off.
She laughed softly. “How could I forget? You sit next to me everyday,”
“R-Right.” God why was he being so awkward !
“Well, I don’t want to keep you from where you were going,” she said, making to wade further out once more.
“Wait!” Eddie called out, suddenly finding his usual voice.
New Buckley turned, the light of the moon catching the silver necklace she wore, illuminating her eyes in a light that Eddie thought was nothing short of true magic.
“You uh, you shouldn’t be out here alone. I mean- something could happen,”
She blinked at him.
“Aren’t you out here alone?”
Okay fair enough, he thought.
“Yeah well, I’ve lived here my entire life. You’ve been here a couple weeks.”
She shrugged one shoulder, the billowing blouse she wore, sliding down a bit with the motion. Eddie forced himself to stare at her face and not track the movement.
“Still, I don’t want to infringe on your time more than I already have,” she replied.
“No, don't worry, there’s no infringement. Absolutely no infringement at all!” he responded, his voice cracking a bit in his eager response.
Eddie felt a blush rise on his face and he hoped it was dark enough for her not to notice.
She chuckled. “Alright.”
New Buckley unscrewed the cap of the jar, and ran the glass along the surface of the lake, collecting the water. She shut the jar, twisting it three times for good measure.
“Well that just about does it,” she said, before making her way to the shore.
Eddie watched as she walked past him and back to her belongings under the tree. He walked over as she took out a towel from the bag she brought and dried off her legs.
“So what was all that about?” he asked. Looking pointedly at the tree bark above her, he wasn’t going to ogle her legs like some creep.
New Buckley pointed up to the sky and Eddie followed the motion.
“Water of the waxing moon,” she said. “It’s good luck,”
“Uh huh,” he replied. Still completely lost, and even more convinced than ever she was a witch.
“What about you?” she asked, pulling Eddie’s attention back from the sky and towards her once more.
“Oh, I just come here sometimes to hang out. Clear my head, smoke.” he replied.
She hummed in acknowledgement as she pulled on a pair of socks and short leather boots.
“Does Buckley know you’re out here?” Eddie asked.
She raised a brow.
“Robin,” he elaborated. “I heard you two are cousins.”
She hummed affirmatively once more. “Yeah I’m staying at her house. She’s at work now, so I don’t think she does know I’m here. But I’ll be home before her shift ends.
Eddie glanced down at his watch.
“It’s nearly midnight. Is Family Video open this late?”
Upon hearing the time, Eddie saw New Buckley's shocked expression for the first time.
“Oh no,” she murmured, her hand covering her mouth. She quickly shoved the rest of her belongings back into her bag.
“Hey don’t worry! I can give you a ride home,” Eddie offered.
New Buckley’s shoulders relaxed and Eddie felt some tension in his own posture release as well.
“Thank you,” she said, smiling at him once more.
The ride to Robin’s house was spent mainly in silence with only the sound of the radio playing Eddie’s favourite mixtape. Out of the corner of his eye he could see her slightly bobbing her head along, he felt a warmth in his chest.
They pulled up to Robin’s house. Eddie parked behind the car where Steve Harrington and Robin were standing outside in the driveway.
Upon seeing her cousin, Robin exclaimed in exasperation.
“Where have you been! Do you know what time it is?”
Eddie would have laughed at the scene if New Buckley didn’t seem so sheepish at her cousin’s worried tone.
“Relax Buckley, she's fine,” Eddie said.
Robin frowned up at him.
“What are you even doing here Munson?” she asked.
“Yeah, why're you hanging out with him?” Steve added, eyeing the other guy suspiciously.
Eddie scoffed.
“Jeez Harrington, I helped a lady in distress out of the goodness of my heart and now I’m getting the third degree. It guess they are right about that ‘no good deed unpunished shit,’”
“Birdie, I was out and lost track of time. I bumped into Eddie and he offered me a ride,” New Buckley explained.
“Birdie?” Eddie chuckled at New Buckley’s nickname for her cousin.
“Shut it Munson,” Robin snapped.
Eddie held up his hands in surrender. He’d never known Robin to get this agitated. Then again he didn’t really know her.
New Buckley rested her hand on Robin’s shoulder.
“I’m fine, really,” she reassured in her usual smooth tone.
Robin visibly relaxed, though Steve was still glaring holes into the sides of Eddie’s skull.
“Alright, fine. Thanks Eddie,” Robin said begrudgingly, before ushering her cousin towards the house. “Next time you tell me or Steve where you’re going so we can come get you,” Robin scolded.
Eddie watched as the trio made their way towards the front door. New Buckley turned and gave him one last smile and wave before the door was shut behind them.