HEAD OVER HEELS x eddie munson

one

chapter one
SOME STUPID PEP RALLY

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SEAS OF PEOPLE PILED OFF THE BUSES surrounding the parking lot and everyone packed into the gym. there was some kind of pep rally or something - but mick couldn't care less. she stepped off the bus with her walkman, rock me amadeus blasting through the headphones. she tucked her hands into her jean pockets, looking around in the crowd.

she saw mrs. kelley directing students into the building and tried to avoid making eye contact with her. she did notice she was talking to max, so mick's eyes hung there for a second longer. she could tell max wasn't interested.

good, she's better off. she's been through enough that a school guidance counselor won't be able to do shit besides give her meaningless advice like "try getting your mind off things" or "i'm always here for you if you need to talk".

because that's helpful.

shimmying through, she made her way to the gym bleachers inside and scanned the crowd to find dustin. he was with mike, both of them dressed in those stupid hellfire club shirts. she snuck up from behind, throwing both of her hands onto his shoulders and causing him to shudder in fear.

"boo!" she shouted.

"jesus!" he turned around and lifted up his fists for a split second like he was going to punch her - until he realized who it was. "mick, i swear to god you do that again and a black eye is inevitable."

"oh yeah? like you could actually land a punch." she squeezed into the spot next to him on the row of bleachers.

"shouldn't you be bothering robin? perhaps smoking a cigarette somewhere?" he raised his eyebrows, gesturing towards the doors.

dustin never liked that mick smoked, so he takes every opportunity he can to throw it in her face.

"robin's in band, remember dipshit?" mick gave him a little shove and pointed towards the marching band setting up for the rally. robin was in there somewhere, probably trying to spark up a conversation with vickie. "and i told you. i'm quitting cigarettes."

"yeah but didn't you say that like, months ago?" mike interjected bluntly. jesus, this kid should just shut his mouth sometimes.

dustin's eyes widened in agreement, pointing back to mike. "see! i'm not the only one who sees through the bullshit."

"and i'm working on it. god, you guys are incredibly annoying." she crossed her arms and swayed back and forth a few times. she is most definitely not working on it.

the pep rally soon began. boring school spirit shit, nothing of her interest. the cheerleaders came out, doing their lil dances and mildly impressive stunting, the basketball team soon following as they burst through the giant hawkins tigers banner. after soaking in the applause, jason reached for the microphone. her eyes shifted to robin, and she shot her a sarcastic grin, with two thumbs up. suffocation.

mick was surprised she even made it through the entire, grueling, 30 minute rally - especially when about 25 minutes of it was jason's shallow speech about how the championship game matters more than anything else at this given time. yeah right. go sports i fucking guess.

everyone slowly began to filter themselves out of the gymnasium and into their classes for the day. dustin and mike were discussing the meeting tonight for hellfire, mick following loosely behind them.

then, out of nowhere, mick heard a familiar but sharp voice. eddie munson darted out from behind his locker door, grabbing mike and dustin's shoulders and squeezing them.

"fellow nerds!" he turned to both of them, patting them on their backs. this dude, mick thought.

mick had a few classes with eddie in the past, not that he always showed up or cared. he was quite literally the most dramatic person she's ever known, and like - that's coming from someone with dustin as her brother.

ever since dustin joined hellfire it's eddie this, eddie that...blah blah blah, mick's head was seconds away from explosion.

i mean, we're talking about eddie the freak munson.

"how are we feeling this morning, boys?" eddie grinned, continuing to walk with them down the hall.

"drained." dustin replied, "that pep rally was so —"

"stupid, i know. the pep rallies at this school are single-handedly rotting our brains." he poked dustin's head. "that's why i ditch em. you're better off stabbing yourself in the eyes with pencils, henderson."

he's kinda got a point.

"what'd you say freak?" jason countered, his back against his locker with his posse surrounding him. eddie halted the boys to a stop and pivoted towards jason with a condescending smirk.

"i said your grueling motivational speeches are rotting peoples brains." eddie attested, jason scoffing in his face.

"is that so boys?"

this cannot end well. mick slid off her headphones.

"you do realize half of these people couldn't give two shits about anything you have to say." eddie gestured to the crowd of people filling the hallway. dustin and mike standing there awkwardly, and mick deciding if she needs to interject.

"munson, you better watch your fucking mouth before i kick your ass, you understand?" jason threatened.

"oooh sooo scary." eddie let out a gasp sarcastically, eyes widening. "i'm just saying what everyone's thinking man, relax."

jason grabbed eddie by his hellfire shirt and pulled him close, eddie trying to resist and shake himself free.

"jason, just let him go." mick intervened. jason's eyes shifted to hers for a split second, but he disregarded her.

"let go of him you psychopath!" dustin started to move forward, but one of jason's friends shoved him against the wall. dustin lost his balance and fell to the floor.

"what the fuck is wrong with you?" mick raised her voice, picking dustin up from the floor and then jetting towards jason and his smug face.

"aw michelle, such a good big sister. why don't we leave this discussion up to the boys?" jason smiled, looking her dead in the eye - eddie still in his grasp.

"don't call me that." she replied with gritted teeth.

"but that's your real name right?" he looked at her inquisitively. "michelle?"

mick wanted to punch him across the face so badly, but she held back. not here, not at school. there was too many people. she couldn't believe she actually used to be friends with this dick. eddie couldn't believe she was standing up for him. mick henderson, the girl who really only exchanges eye rolls and sarcastic remarks with him. why was she doing this?

"let. him go." mick repeated.

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