Livin' on a Prayer/ OC x Eddie Munson

Chapter 1: Bloody Knuckles

      I woke up with a start. All the memories from the last couple of years have been haunting my dreams. Especially the memories of Billy and of Barb. Barb was my best friend since kindergarten. She, Nancy, and I were practically inseparable. That is until Nancy began dating Steve Harrington. Then Barb went missing after a party at Steve's house. Nancy and I searched everywhere for her. It wasn't until our brothers found a young girl who had escaped from the nearby Hawkins Lab. She has some kind of superpowers that allow her to travel interdimensionally inside her mind. Or at least she had those powers, they were gone now. That was when we learned what happened to Barb. From that day on none of our lives were ever the same. Nancy and I became close again. I even became good friends with Steve. The next year came Billy and his sister Max. While my brother and Lucas were busy vying for Max's attention I had caught Billy's. From the moment we met Billy and I were attached at the hip, or should I say the lips. Sure we would argue and trust me Billy had one hell of a temper but for the most part things with us were always amazing. Then about a year into our relationship I had noticed that he was acting weird. That's when I knew something wasn't right. Billy seemed almost like he was possessed. I hadn't seen anyone act quite like that since Will had been possessed by the Mind Flayer. Then everything happened at the mall. The police and the lab covered it up by saying it was a fire. There was never any fire. At least not until after everything happened. After Billy had sacrificed his life to save all of us from a giant monster made out of human remains. Yes our lives were anything but normal now. The nightmares about all of the people I had lost were a common and recurrent nightmare.

I heard a soft knock at my door as it slowly opened and Dustin poked his head inside. "Nightmares again sis?" he asked as he came to sit on my bed. I nodded and rubbed my face. I was halfway through my senior year now and had barely slept more than 3 hours a night since everything happened. Dustin sighed. "Well at least it's time to get up anyway. How long did you sleep?" he asked clearly noticing the dark circles under my eyes.

"Maybe 2 hours." I answer as I sleepily made my way out of bed and started to get my clothes together for the day. "I'll be okay though. Definitely need some coffee. Maybe an IV drip of it would help." I joked as I shooed him out of the room. "I'll be downstairs in a few minutes okay Dusty?" He nodded as he left me so I could get ready for the day. I threw on my distressed blue jeans, Hawkins High tigers tank top, and my well loved leather jacket. I fixed my hair and then went to focus on my makeup. I have gotten very good at hiding my dark circles. So much so that no one would ever know that I didn't sleep. After I put the finishing touches on my makeup I smiled a little and made my way down to the kitchen.

My mom was cooking breakfast and fussing at Dustin about his club meeting tonight. "I don't know how I feel about you being in a club called Hellfire Dusty. It seems like there is more going on there than just your dungeons and dragons game." she said as she placed the food on the table. I made my plate and was eating while Dustin tried to plead his case to mom.

"Mom I actually know some of the guys in that club. Definitely not the devil worshipping kind." I said in Dustin's defense. "Trust me it's harmless." With that I got up and grabbed my backpack. I turned to look at Dustin. "You coming Dustin or are you gonna bike to school?" I asked as I grabbed my keys. He shoved the last of his breakfast into his mouth and grabbed his stuff. "Bye mom. We will see you later tonight." I waved as we walked outside to the car. I sighed as I threw my bags in the backseat and started the car. Once we were well away from the house I turned to look at Dustin. "I'm gonna smoke on the way to school okay? Don't tell mom." I said as I pulled a joint out of my pocket. I was running low on weed and would need to find a way to procure more considering Reefer Rick was in prison. He nodded as I lit up. This always seemed to help after the nightmares and lack of sleep.

I pulled up into the parking lot of school and parked beside where Steve was parking so he could drop off Robin. I smiled as I got out of the car and Dustin ran to go find Mike. I waved at them and walked over as I put out the joint and sprayed some perfume on myself to try to help cover the smell. "Hey guys!" I said smiling. I caught up with Robin and Steve for a bit and told them I'd see them at work tomorrow. Then the warning bell rang. I grabbed Robin's arm and pulled her towards the school. "Pep rally time Ms. Buckley." I said as I pulled her towards the gym. I leaned a little closer to whisper in her ear. "Go try to impress Vickie. I know you like her and I have a feeling she likes you to. You just have to be yourself." I said smiling at her. Robin shook her head as she went to take her place with the band. It wasn't long until Jason had come out and began his speech as new team captain. When he mentioned Billy I couldn't help but wince. Jason was an absolute prick and knew that he'd get a rise out of me by mentioning Billy's death. I gathered my things and left the gym. I couldn't stand to sit there and listen to Jason say that he wished Billy was there to help them win the game tonight. Billy couldn't even stand Jason. All he did was hang on to Billy's every word and follow him around like a lost puppy.

I walked across the football field to the woods. That was the one place I knew no one would find me if they were to go looking for me. "Fuck that little prick Jason." I mumbled to myself as I made my way to the picnic table. I closed my eyes then punched the table in anger. "How dare he talk about Billy like he cared about what happened?" I was seething. I looked down at my hand where I had now full on punched the table multiple times. My knuckles were bleeding. That would be fun to try to explain to Dustin later. I sighed to myself. I know I shouldn't let my anger get the better of me but I can't help it. All of a sudden I hear rustling in the woods behind me. I stiffen in fear before turning quickly around with my fists up ready to fight whatever is behind me. I let out a breath that I didn't know I had been holding when I see who is behind me.

"Woah! I didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay?" the long haired boy in a Hellfire Club shirt said as he held his hands up to show me that he meant no harm. I nodded and plopped down on the bench of the picnic table and tried to get my heart rate back under control. "I saw you leave the pep rally and I wanted to check on you. I know you're Dustin's sister so I feel like it was my duty." He said as he sat down beside me on the bench. "What happened to your hand?" he asked as he furrowed his brow and reached for it.

"I'll be fine. I may have punched the table one too many times." I said as he gently took my hand into his. I winced a little in pain and could tell that my hand was already beginning to swell up. "I'm Jessi by the way. Figured I'd better give you my name or you'd just keep calling me Dustin's sister." I said as he grabbed his metal lunch box that I had seen him carrying around more than once. He pulled out some first aid things he had in there. I glimpsed some weed in there as he was trying to bandage my hand. "You smoke?" I asked.

"My name is Eddie and yes I do. I also sell. You in the market sweetheart?" he asked as he finished bandaging my hand. I nodded a little.

"My stash is getting a little low ever since Rick has been in jail. So yeah. How much?" I asked as reached into my bag for my wallet. Eddie shook his head and handed me the bag.

"Think of it as a gift. I can tell you've been having a hard time." he said with a little bit of a smile. I couldn't help but return his smile.

"Thanks Eddie. I really appreciate it." I said as I stuffed the baggie into my bookbag. I heard the bell ring and looked at my watch. "Shit that's the lunch bell. Dustin is probably looking for me. I'll catch you later Eddie." I said with a wave as I ran back up to the school.