Some Kind of Evil; 𝒆𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒏

prologue

゜✧*̣̩☽⋆゜

[ prologue ]
"Oh, what? Is your right hand not enough?"

゜✧*̣̩☽⋆゜

It had been about one week since school started, and Olivia Cunningham had already given up.

She made her way through the crowded halls of Hawkins High, out the doors and across the field to the forest. Stepping on the crunching leaves that signaled the death of summer and the birth of autumn, branches scratching at her exposed ankles. "Fuck me," she mumbled under her breath, annoyed.

"Woah, Woah! I didn't know this was going to be that kind of meeting."

Liv gasped and looked up from her feet. She wasn't expecting him to be early—he didn't strike her as someone who would be early to anything. And yet, here he was. Ten paces away, sitting on the picnic bench and smirking like an idiot. Eddie Munson. Lord of the Freaks.

She should be embarrassed, she should apologize for using that kind of language in front of him. But fuck that. Liv could hear her mother's voice in the back of her mind, "a lady does not cuss." Then again, a lady also didn't meet strange men in the woods to buy drugs and yet...

Plus, her mother was dead so how could she judge her now?

"Oh, what? Is your right hand not enough?" She said, keeping her tone smug.

She stalked right past him, dropped her bag onto the wooden table and opened it. He turned slowly, eyes shining with something curious. "Little Olivia Cunningham," he said mockingly. "Who knew such a pretty girl had such a dirty mouth."

Liv looked up from her bag, wallet in hand. "So, how does this work?" She asked, ignoring what he just said.

Eddie stood up from the table. "Well, you know, it's like any other sale. Except no receipts, for obvious reasons." He smiled, and she realized that she wanted to slap it right off his stupid face. "Sorry if I upset you before, I was only trying to lighten the mood." He raised his eyebrows then. "You kinda looked like you wanted to murder those branches."

He took the cigarette from behind his ear and lit it. When Liv didn't say anything, he went on. "Okay, so I was thinking ten for a gram and a half?"

Liv pulled out a crisp ten-dollar bill from her pink wallet and handed it over to him. As he reached for it, his hand lingered for a second too long. She could tell that he was studying her. Everyone did that now. She wasn't as good as her twin at keeping her shit together. To everyone else, Chrissy was like a polished porcelain doll; seemingly perfect. Liv though...Liv felt like a porcelain doll that had been broken and glued back together. Once perfect and beautiful but now tainted with cracks.

Eddie held the bill up to the sun as if he were checking it was real. It took everything in Liv to not roll her eyes. "I believe it's now your turn."

He snapped out of it and looked back at her. "Oh, right, okay."

There was a metal box, like the kind her dad used to store fishing bait, near the base of a tree and what Liv presumed to be his leather jacket and denim vest in a pile next to it. But on his way over to it, he tripped over a branch and fell in the dirt with a thud. Liv covered her face and tried to hide her laugh but she failed. Eddie looked back at her, a smile spread across that stupid face of his. "She laughs!" He looked triumphant like this had been his glorious plan all along.

Liv forced herself to go back to seeming indifferent, expressionless. It almost worked, until he returned to his bag, his back to her, and she started cracking up again—this time silently.

When he came back, he held out a little plastic baggy full of weed. As Liv reached for it, Eddie snatched it back. Another smile broke out on his face again. "I'm hoping this is for medicinal purposes. We wouldn't want to get the perfect Olivia Cunningham in trouble, now would we? Can I see your card?" He mocked.

Liv rolled her eyes. This freak was getting on her last nerve. "Yeah, it's right here," she said as she reached into her pocket. When she pulled out her hand, she stuck up her middle finger and then snatched the bag from Eddie.

"Someone's got a temper." But he didn't sound mad, if anything, he sounded intrigued. Like she was a movie he wanted to watch, over and over again.

Liv shoved it into her backpack and turned on her heel. "You know, you have terrible customer service. I might send a strongly worded letter to your boss." She said as she walked away.

Eddie caught up with her. "You really should, I think he might be into that."

The leaves crunched under her feet, and somewhere above them, a bird was singing its afternoon song. Liv continued walking until she didn't hear his footsteps following behind hers. She swiveled around, walking backwards now. "Does this time next week work for you?" She called out, luckily no one was close enough to hear.

"I thought I had terrible customer service!" He called back, he was standing in place, watching her walk away.

She smiled a quick smile, so quick it was over in a blink. "I'm willing to overlook that."