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THEY MARCHED through the woods until it was nightfall. Jackie's ankle was throbbing, though that hardly seemed like a problem compared to everything else happening currently, so she kept quiet.
She didn't know when it happened, but sometime during their walk, Eddie stepped into place next to her. "Have you always been blonde?"
Jackie raised a brow as they continued to walk. "No."
"See, I knew I recognized you. Your hair was, like, super red, right?"
"You're walking with me just to talk about my hair? If you need tips, I got them, just ask."
Eddie patted his head. "You can't tame this lion."
Jackie snorted, rolling her eyes. Steve turned from where he was walking a couple feet ahead, and she noticed the scowl take form on his lips before he faced forward again.
"You know, after I offered you that beer and joint at that party, I crashed it."
"That does not surprise me. I think I left right before it, though. Or in the middle. I dunno, I remember some commotion going on inside and my step-brother being a dick when Max and I got into the car. Well, more of a dick than usual."
"Yeah," Eddie stuffed his hands into his pockets. "It's a shame what happened in that fire, douchebag or not." He hesitated. "Do you miss him?"
Jackie felt her gaze fall onto Max, and then Lucas. He'd been so cruel them, but his reasoning had been different for all. For Max, he wanted to be controlling. For Jackie, he hated that she didn't bow at his feet. And for Lucas? The thought made her insides boil. Maybe the racist bastard had it coming.
"No," she said finally. "I wish things didn't happen the way they did, but I don't miss him. Maybe at one point I did, I had even felt guilty. But not anymore. He doesn't deserve to be missed."
"You weren't close with him?"
"We tried to be. I mean, at least at first. But he was impossible to be around. We couldn't say or do anything without him snapping. And I thought my temper was short." She sighed. "Anyway, what about you? Got any siblings?"
"Nah," Eddie shrugged. "Well, actually, I might. Not sure, honestly. Gets kind of lonely. I always wanted to know what it felt like to have someone look out for me."
Jackie nudged his shoulder. "You do. You have us."
It was kind of nice talking to Eddie. Easy. He wasn't judgmental or mean like she'd been expecting him to be. She felt bad for even considering him to be either of those things, when she had been perceived the same way when she first got to Hawkins. Although in her case, she wasn't exactly a sweetheart.
