You Give Love a Bad Name (EddiexReader)

Fighting, VHSs and the Scoops Ahoy kids

    The next day was Friday, which meant the Hellfire club would meet to play. It was still going to be a one-shot since the campaign was still in development. At school, I turned the essay I was working on and went to all my classes as usual. But something was not normal. Whenever I approached Eddie in the hallway, he would refuse to look at me, chatted for a while and then he'd make up excuse to leave. I knew exactly what was going on with him and planned to talk to him when I saw the chance. But he made it so difficult trying to avoid me. He was deeply hurt. It was the second time something like this happened, and I was going to fix it for good.

At lunch the Hellfire club gathered. Conversations filled the table, but Eddie and I barely participated in any exchange. He focused on the food in front of him, while I stole tiny glances at him.

I need to fix this. How the hell do I-

My thoughts were interrupted by a figure standing next to my seat.

"Hey. You're Y/N, right?" A tall guy with a smug face had approached me.

He was wearing the Hawkins basketball jacket over a black shirt. He smiled in that jock-kind of way and placed one. I looked behind him and saw other kids from the team snickering and whispering. Lucas was there too, however, he just stared with a serious look on his face.

"Yeah. That's my name. Can I help you?" I asked confused while my friends watched in silence.

"Actually, babe, I came here to help you. I just thought that a pretty girl like you shouldn't hang out with..." He looked at the boys at my table and half whispered, "freaks."

"That's it." I heard Eddie say as he abruptly stood up. Fortunately, Dustin, with the help of another kid, managed to stop him.

"Come on, girl. Let me take you out on a date. You don't have to put up with losers."

I stood up from my chair and quickly eyed Eddie. His hands were clutched in tight fists. The only thing holding him back from beating the shit out of this dude were our friends' hands grabbing his shoulders. I looked at the jock in the eyes and smirked.

"Man, you've got some nerve coming here and insulting my friends on their faces." I felt my blood boiling in my veins. And for once, the shyness in me dissipated. "You're fucking crazy if you think I'm going to say 'yes'. Your attitude reeks big time, man. And you look like something I drew with my left hand. Let me tell you something. Being a dick won't make yours any bigger." His eyes filled with anger as his friends murmured. "I'm sorry if I looked interested. I'm not."

"Fine. Keep swimming with the trash. I thought I could help you, but you're truly the biggest freak here." He started walking back to his friends. "You'll regret this."

"Way to go, Y/N!" Dustin patted my back as we sat back down. I received approving affirmations from everyone except Eddie.

At the end of lunch, I separated Eddie from the group by grasping his arm as we moved through the hallways. He looked at me emptily, which made my stomach drop.

"Munson, I think we need to talk."

"About what?" He answered.

"Eddie... you've been acting different today. I'm worried-"

"I'm fine." He jerked his arm, realizing it from my grip.

"At least let's meet after school. I have some things I have to tell you."

"I'm busy. I'll see you at today's game." Eddie disappeared into the crowd.

    The rest of school was torture. I needed to talk to Eddie. I needed my best friend to know that it didn't matter what people thought of our friendship. I couldn't concentrate and ended up being scolded for not paying attention in class.

    After school I wanted to distract myself from everything that was happening, so I headed on my own to the bookstore. I found so much comfort in that place, so I visited it frequently. I didn't buy books often, I just liked to look at them. Today was definitely a day to buy something, at least to make myself feel a little better. I looked at the considerable number of options and decided to take 'The House of Spirits' by Isabel Allende home. I kept walking through town and found myself in front of the VHS local. I decided to go in to see if they had any new releases. A small bell rang as I opened the door and walked in.

"Hello. Welcome to-" A tall girl with short honey colored hair greeted me. She was carrying a bunch of tapes and had been putting them back in shelves. "Hey, I know you from school. You're the girl that made a scene today at lunch. I mean, not made a scene, just kicked that dude's ass."

"I guess that's me." I chuckled.

"That was awesome. Very badass. I'm Robin." She introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you, Robin. I'm Y/N."

"Well, Y/N. Were you looking for anything in-"

"Robin! What's taking you so long?" Someone yelled from the back of the store. "Come help me with this damn thing."

Robin just rolled her eyes and yelled back. "I got a costumer here, Steve."

"Just let them choose a movie on their o-" He peeked from one of the shelves and immediately shut up. "Hel-lo," Steve abandoned whatever he was doing and approached us. "Is there anything I can help you with, miss?"

"I was already helping her. You can go back to ordering tapes." Answered Robin.

"Actually, Robin, it looks like you have your hands full. I'll help..."

"Y/N."

"I'll help Y/N here look for a movie of her liking." He walked away and looked at me inviting me to do the same. Robin went back to placing VHS tapes on shelves. We walked deeper into the store. "So, we've got the romance movies here."

"Actually, I'm more of a 'The Shining' kind of person. I do like romantic films though."

"Really? And don't you get scared? Or do you have a boyfriend to watch it with?" He smiled.

"No, I actually watch them with Dustin."

"Wait, you know Dustin?"

"Yeah. He's kind of like my brother."

"Oh my god. Yeah, he told me about you. I've heard some wonderful things about you. I just didn't think you would be so pretty."

"Thank you." I giggled softly. "I've also heard wonders of you. That kid loves you."

"Well, it looks like he replaced me with that Munson dude."

The mention of Eddie made my heart drop. I smiled apologetically. "He did not replace you, Harrington. He just found comfort with Eddie too. That doesn't mean that he doesn't like anymore. Believe me, he mentions you an inhumane number of times a day." I joke.

"Thanks, Y/N." He chuckled.

"So, I was looking for something I could watch with him. Dustin, I mean. Has 'Back to the Future' arrived yet?"