Teenage Dirtbag (Eddie Munson x OC)

So Blue All the Time

Jackie sat quietly in a pew. The striking light above her was starting to give her another headache, but she tried to remain focused on what was happening. She was seated beside a few of her old classmates and teammates, who kept looking at her strangely. Nonetheless, she tried to stay focused and straightened up her shoulders, a shaky exhale escaping her lungs.

Unfortunately, what she had feared had come true. Jason Carver and the entirety of the Hawkins High School basketball team were dressed in the same black suit and seated in the row of pews across the aisle. Occasionally, she could feel one of them glance over and stare in her direction, and she gulped nervously. It felt like they knew something. But how could they? As much as they know, Jackie has been off at Purdue until the funeral. She redirected her focus back onto the scene on the altar. Maybe they were just pitying her like everyone else. Maybe they were just sorry that this is yet another funeral they have seen Jackie at. That was the type of stare she was getting from everyone else.

In a way, Jackie felt bad for Jason Carver. He sat in the aisle seat on the pew, his hands clenched at his sides. Jackie was never a fan of him nor his relationship with Chrissy, but she couldn't help but pity him the way he was most likely pitying her. She's no stranger to losing someone, but Jason was until a few days ago, and she remembers the feeling of first losing someone close to you. It's incomparable and suffocating.

Nonetheless, she hated him for the way he needlessly judged people and never liked his relationship with Chrissy. She could feel her anger growing, for both Chrissy and Eddie, as she thought of the grieving boy one row over, and went back to focusing her attention on the closed casket.

Chrissy's mother, Laura, stood at the altar with her husband behind her for support. A large floral wreath stood to the left of the dark wood coffin, and a large picture frame was placed to its right. Chrissy Cunningham's smiling face stared at them, almost haunting. Her grin was once infamous around school, but now it was chilling. Her strawberry blonde bangs framed her face and a signature green scrunchie, symbolic of the Hawkins Tigers, pulled back her luscious hair. Chrissy was once beautiful, with her perfectly applied colorful eyeshadow and dimples. It made her nauseous to think of that same girl disfigured on the floor of the Munson's trailer.

"The Devil..." Laura's voice trembled from behind the podium. "Is here in Hawkins. I can feel his presence... growing stronger each day. But I know Chrissy's in Heaven now, smiling down at us. And I know she'd be happy to see all the lives she touched and brightened. But I know that she's frustrated and angry. Angry that the... monster that did this to her is still out there. Still, hurting others..."

A strange noise struck her ears. The sound struck her ears, ringing slowly and reverberating, sending chills down her spine. Jackie just figured that it must've been just a ringing of the church ball overhead or a missed note on the organ.

Then, she began to blink slowly. A certain wooziness and exhaustion began to get the best of her. Jackie felt her head begin to feel heavy on her neck, and eventually, her head slumped forward. To anyone else, it would've looked like she was just intensely grieving.

A whisper passed by her ears, causing her to pick up her head.

"My Dad," the voice whispered. "My Dad was a strong man. He wasn't everyone's favorite person all the time, I know. But a lot of people never got to see the side of him that I did- which was a protective person... changed by what he had seen and who refused to let anything happen to me."

Jackie looked straight ahead, seeing the scene at the altar change. Instead of Laura Cunningham, Jackie herself stood there. She looked different like she had looked back in the summertime. She wore a velvet, long-sleeved black dress that fell just above the knees with a satin sash around the waist. A simple strand of pearls wrapped around her neck and her dyed blonde hair fell at her shoulders.

"He was passionate and proud of what he did. He could be secretly caring, he was someone that took me in when I needed him most, even if it was against all rules, he didn't care."

Her brows furrowed as she watched the scene in front of her. This isn't how Dad's funeral went. Jackie gave her speech outside by the graves in front of the casket, standing on some wobbly podium in front of nearly half of the town that showed up in support. It was a hot August day, and yet nearly everyone was wearing long sleeves.

At Jim's real funeral, Jackie's hands were shaky. She held index cards tightly in her grasp, constantly looking down at them, but it was no use. She still came up short on what she wanted to say, stuttering and her voice trembling terribly. Her eyes welled with tears, but she didn't let them see. The heels she wore made her rock back and forth nervously. Shaky breaths escaped her lips. For someone who was usually put together and was wearing such a lovely outfit, Jackie looked like a hot mess.

This Jackie that she was watching was different. This Jackie was composed, not a glimpse of doubt in her eyes. Her voice was clear, dignified, carrying herself strongly. This Jackie stood scarily still, unwavering and unmoving as if nothing was wrong. Something was wrong.

"In a strange way," Other Jackie continued, her tone eerily optimistic. "I suppose that I am very lucky to be this upset. It means that I must've known someone really special."

It was exactly what she had said back in August in front of a crowd of people, except strangely emotionless, as if she wasn't grieving.

Then, the girl's stare broke away from the arched doors of the church down the aisle and stared directly at her. The two different versions of Jackie locked eyes, and the girl's eyes went white before she spoke. "Wasn't he, Jacqueline?"

Jackie flinched at the way the girl's appearance changed and her voice dropped drastically. "What?"

She looked around the room, but no one was there anymore. Everyone had disappeared.

Then, Jackie felt frozen in her seat. She tried to move, but she couldn't budge. Her heart rate began to rise, practically beating out of her chest, getting faster every second. It felt as though her eyes were about to bulge out of her face. A strange feeling fell over her face as if she were being grabbed by something, or as if something were pulling her in closer to death.

She tried to close her eyes, but she couldn't look away. The walls were about to close in when suddenly, the coffin plummeted into the floor with a loud crash.

Jackie's head snapped up as she began to hyperventilate and suddenly she was back at Chrissy's funeral. Her father's casket was gone, as well as the other version of herself. The other guests had reappeared, and Laura Cunningham continued her wailing.

"I just don't understand how someone could do this," The mother sobbed, covering her eyes.

Tanya, the girl seated next to Jackie, placed a hand on Jackie's shoulder. "Jackie, are you okay?" She whispered.

Jackie looked around the room, her crossed legs shaking as she nervously bounced against the church floor. Everything had gone back to normal. It was as if nothing had happened.

"Yeah," She assured Tanya quickly. "I'm good."

Tanya nodded and went back to paying attention to Mrs. Cunningham's speech.

Jackie continued to observe the church, and her eyes eventually fell on the row where the basketball team had sat. They all seemed relatively normal, despite the solemn faces, particularly that of the grief-stricken Jason Carver. They all seemed okay, except for one.

Patrick McKinney, a boy in the year below Jackie, stared off into the distance. He appeared to have been staring into a nearby closet. From where she was seated, Jackie watched his jaw clench and could see his shifty eyes.

The boy next to him tapped Patrick on the shoulder, breaking him from whatever trance he was in. It seemed like he gave his friend the same reply that Jackie had given Tanya, just a quick nod of confirmation. But as the other player turned away, Patrick began to look around the room.

Eventually, Patrick looked over in her direction. at the sight of Jackie's burning gaze, trying to decipher his every move, he was startled before anxiously turning back in his seat and watching Mrs. Cunningham.