GIVE EM' HELL - eddie munson [DISCONTINUED]

CHAPTER EIGHT - LOVER'S LAKE

It's gotten dark, but they're all still following Dustin. The boy bursts through a bush, "Something's happening." Eddie follows shortly after him, "Dustin? Can you slow down? Dustin?"

Astoria scoffs and runs after the two, the rest of the gang following behind. They get to the edge of Lover's Lake when Dustin says, "I think we're getting close." 

Eddie stops him right before he falls into the water, putting a hand over him. "Watch your step, big guy." Astoria stops by the water, glancing at Eddie for a second. 

"Oh man, you gotta be shittin' me," Steve says, panting. Max and Lucas follow, and Astoria can practically hear their disappointment. Were they all going to have to swim?

A few people mutter some things about the lake and how to get across. Astoria speaks slowly, "So there's a gate.. in the lake?" "That rhymes," Eddie says cheerily, she glares at him, hiding her smile and he makes a 'yikes' face in response.

"When the Demogorgon attacked, it always left an opening, maybe Vecna's the same way," Nancy says curiously. "Only one way to find out." 

Eddie removes the tarp from the boat, Astoria gulps at the sight of the tarp, the situation they had been placed in after he removed it. His voice echoes in her head:

Hey, they didn't come for us, they went somewhere, else, OK?

At skull rock:

It's fine. You're my friend now, I guess.

She feels uncomfortable with what almost happened. Which was weird, because normally she would only feel regret if something had happened. Like, at Halloween a few years ago she made out with Billy.

Astoria had cried for a week because girls kept calling her a whore because they liked him. But the weirdest thing was she had told Billy not to tell anybody, he obviously did.

So she punched Billy, got into tons of trouble. And Max for sure knows that. It's probably why it's sort of delicate between the two. Gulping, she walks closer to the water's edge.

Steve and Eddie place the boat on the water, arguing about how roughly Eddie put the boat in.

 Robin and Nancy get in, leaving Astoria by the shore. They all look up at her as Eddie gives her his hand, waiting for her to take it, and she does, muttering, 'thank you', before sitting down on the cold metal.

The boy gives her a tight smile as she looks up at him, but Dustin barges in on the moment by trying to get in the boat. A hand is held out by Eddie, "This thing holds four people tops, ok?" 

Nancy agrees, "It's better this way, you guys stay here with Max, keep a look out for trouble--" "You keep an eye out! It's my goddamn theory," Dustin protests, stomping his feet. "You heard Nance," Robin says.