Hawkins is a small town, which means that at some point or another, pretty much everybody knows or has heard of everybody.
Chrissy is a couple of years younger than Eddie Munson and honestly? She doesn't really know who he is.
She hears the name Eddie Munson when she's about eight years old when her mother talks about the poor boy whose father skipped town as soon as possible and whose mother died from cancer , leaving Eddie with his dad's brother, his paternal uncle. Chrissy is so young when she overhears her mother gossiping about this to her father that the words pretty much go in one ear and out the other.
Then his name is just one of hundreds of names in Hawkins Middle School. Sure she's probably seen his picture in the school yearbook, and yeah the name floats past her in the hallway every now and then. It doesn't mean she pays attention to it. She's more focused on coordinating her outfits and bringing the best sugar cookies to school for the class Christmas party ("But make sure you don't eat any, Chrissy, don't want you getting fat now!" ) to care about the older kids. Especially the boys.
It's in sixth grade that she puts a face to the name for the first time when a group of eighth year boys trudge up on stage with instruments to perform for the talent show alongside her and her group of friends. They've started a semi-official middle school cheer squad and have been asked along with the eighth grade boy band to get the show started. The principal wants to liven up the crowd and kickstart the whole thing, and Chrissy and the girls have spent days developing and practicing their routine.
"Hey guys, welcome to the Hawkins Talent Show! Tonight you'll get to see exactly what our school has to offer, but to start us all off we're Corroded Coffin!" A boy named Jimmy something says, garnering a round of half hearted applause from students and cautiously optimistic ones from the parents.
Her attention lands on one of the guitarists, a boy with a buzz cut and wide dark eyes who grins happily out at the audience, and she lingers, not recognizing him, before bringing up her store bought pom-poms to shake.
Kind of cute, she supposes. If someone was into the whole musician thing that is.
It turns out the band isn't half bad, which is good because she'd hate to perform to music that sucks. They are loud though, and she tries not to cringe too obviously at the volume on stage as she waves her arms and kicks her legs out beside the drummer, keyboard player, and guitarist. Jenna is improvising some moves with the lead singer and Chrissy looks around at the people she shares a stage with and catches that same guitarist's eye.
He winks at her quickly, making her smile in surprise, before his attention goes back to the unimpressed crowd in front of them.
They finish their set to half-hearted applause. Whatever, she thinks towards the crowd as the principal comes on after their opening act to thank them as her parents cheer loudly in the otherwise fairly unenthusiastic audience. They did great, she can feel it. Plus, she had fun. That's what counts, right?
The guys from the band all bow and Chrissy and the girls link arms and follow their lead before bouncing off. Instruments are hurriedly shuffled off and cleared for the next act in the show, but Chrissy hangs backstage with the girls instead of rejoining her parents to watch. They have another set coming up in a bit and she'd rather stand back and talk to them than go and sit out there again so soon.
They devolve into excited murmurs and congratulations, their group sitting a few feet from the boy band they'd just performed with, and Chrissy feels like she's thrumming with excitement as they discuss their performance.
"What are you talking about, you did great!" That guitarist is sitting nearby and she overhears him speaking to one of his bandmates, the drummer. When she looks towards them he's clapping his friend supportively on the back. "Like, rocked their socks off great, man. Did you see the looks on some of their faces? Our lyrics totally blew their minds. Right guys?"
"Totally," the keyboard player repeats and the lead singer nods.
Again the guitarist happens to look over at her, completely by chance, and this time she looks away quickly, embarrassed at having been caught eavesdropping.
Soon she and the girls are called back up to do their next routine. It goes without a hitch and Chrissy balances in a slightly wobbling pose on Jenna and Larissa's shoulders with a bright smile on her face as the audience claps and calls out cheers that are far more genuine this time.
As they exit stage right she sees Corroded Coffin standing there, waiting to be called up to perform again after them.
"Nice set," the guitarist compliments her as she goes to walk past and Chrissy smiles at him shyly again.
"Thanks. Good luck out there; you guys were great earlier."
He grins back, bright and happy, and she returns it before hurrying off to join Jenna and the others.
"Oh my god, Chrissy, what did Eddie Munson say to you?" Larissa asks her eagerly, and Chrissy is soon pulled into a quick huddle. "Do you know him? He's an eighth year!"
"That's Eddie Munson?" She asks and Jenna nods frantically.
"Apparently, like, a lot of the girls in his grade like him."
"Oh." She blushes further. "I don't know him, he just told me we did a good job."
"Oooh!" The girls squeal, making Chrissy look around them quickly, hoping nobody heard.
"I've heard he's kind of scary." Larissa says. "Or just, kind of quiet."
"Those are two different things, L," Jenna sighs and Larissa rolls her eyes.
"I know! I'm just saying. All he does is stuff with his band."
Chrissy peeks back out to the stage to see the four guys playing their instruments and singing enthusiastically. "They're not bad."
"Yeah, but they're no Queen either," Maria says. "Come on, let's go change. I need to get out of this outfit."
The girls all agree and head off to the changing stalls. Chrissy lingers a second, watching the band play and letting the beat wash over her before she turns and follows them.
After the talent show a lot of the families go out for ice cream and she notices Eddie and an older man there too. They make eye contact and he grins at her which makes her blush and look away, the girls' words replaying in her ears.
Her parents go off to sit with some of the other adults and Chrissy finds Jason, Jenna, and Patrick to sit with them. Still, even amidst their conversation she notices when Eddie and his uncle just grab their ice cream and go, eating it in their old pickup truck instead of staying to talk to anybody. Then she completely forgets about the guitarist whose eyes she'd been meeting all night.
Soon it's time to go home.
After that she doesn't hear the name Eddie Munson for a while.
