Summer in Hawkins

Prologue

Eddie bobbed his leg as he sat in the gym, listening as they made their way through student names, each in turn coming up to receive their diploma. He bit his thumbnail, half expecting Miss O'Donnell to have changed his D to an F at the last minute, and his name would be skipped. But when his row stood, and lined up for their diplomas, and he heard his name called, his face flushed. He looked out at the crowd, finding the Hellfire Club members, his comrades in arms, and it gave him all the confidence he needed.

When Principal Higgins read his name with much reluctance, Eddie crossed the stage, and took his diploma. Higgins' jaw flexed, and a Cheshire grin spread across Eddie's face as he lifted his other hand, flipping the bird. There was a smattering of applause, gasps, laughter, and murmurs as he jumped off the riser they'd erected for the occasion.

To Eddie's satisfaction, Principal Higgins begrudgingly kept reading names rather than stop the ceremony to reprimand Eddie.

As he found his seat again, Eddie stuck his tongue out, and pointed at Dustin, who sat next to his uncle. Henderson laughed, and his uncle Wayne rubbed at his neck and rolled his eyes.

Eddie sat back in satisfaction, laughing and soaking it in. He had done it. He'd finally graduated. And Chrissy Cunningham was turned around and looking at him, smiling and shaking her head at him.

Oh yeah. This was his year alright.

——

Chrissy removed her graduation cap as she sat at the end of her bed. Her mother had insisted she wear it for photos. She'd also fussed at Chrissy's hair, telling her it was too frizzy, wouldn't lay down right, it was too this, too that. If there was anything Chrissy was looking forward to after graduation, it was getting the hell out of Hawkins. She would be going to Purdue. And to her relief, Jason would be going to Notre Dame. It was only a two hour drive, but it was enough to put some distance between them.

Jason still thought they were going to be doing a long distance relationship, but Chrissy had other plans.

Chrissy looked at her watch, and decided to get ready for her evening out with her friends. Another house party. The parties all bled together, none more memorable than the last. But this was likely to be one of the last with her friends before her new life started at Purdue.

So as she pulled up to the next house in an endless rotation of houses offered up by friends for house parties, she held her head a little higher, resolved to enjoy herself. Even if it meant putting up with Jason as the night wore on.

They walked up to the house, Jason's arm draped around her shoulders. "Everything ok, baby?" he asked her, before he opened the door.

"Uh huh," she said, tucking her hair behind her ear. And that was enough for Jason. It always was. And it made her mad that it was.

As Jason and Chrissy entered the house, they were met by their friends calling their names, pressing drinks into their hands. Tears for Fears's Shout played on the expensive stereo system, and Chrissy found her girlfriends as Jason found his teammates.

"Can you believe what Eddie Munson did today at graduation?" her friend Cheryl said to the other girls, rousing Chrissy from her thoughts.

"What?" Chrissy asked.

"Eddie Munson," Cheryl clarified, flipping her brown hair back. "Flipping Higgins the bird..."

"I hear he barely made it to graduation," Tiffany said, throwing back the rest of her trashcan punch.

"How many victory laps was that? Three? Two?" Cheryl sniggered.

Chrissy's face flushed. Ever since she'd met Eddie in the woods that night, she'd looked at him with much kinder eyes. And now to hear people tearing him down...

"He's actually a really talented musician," Chrissy offered. She surprised herself, wondering why she'd said that.

"Ok..." Tiffany said, eyes widening.

"Yeah, he has a band, Corroded Coffin. I hear they get a crowd when they play." Chrissy said, omitting the other details Eddie had given her.

"Ugh, well, I'm sure he's no Bon Jovi," Cheryl said.

"God, he's hot..." Tiffany said wistfully.

"Eddie?" Cheryl said, choking a bit on her heavily liquored punch.

"Jesus, Cheryl, no! Bon Jovi..." Tiffany said, pouring herself another cup.

Chrissy drank from her cup to giver herself something to do.

"Well Hawkins can keep him. God, think of all the guys we'll have to pick from at Purdue. No Eddie Munsons..." Tiffany concluded, crossing an arm over her body, holding her plastic cup as if it was something finer than what it was.

"He's good for one thing though..." Cheryl continued.

"Cheryl, please don't finish that how I think you're going to..." Tiffany said, warning her friend with a sharp look.

"No, not that, but..." Cheryl continued, quieter, leaning in to both Chrissy and Tiffany so only they would be heard. "I kind of always... wanted to try smoking pot before we went to Purdue."

"You don't think they'll have pot at Purdue?" Tiffany asked, deadpan in her delivery.

"Well, of course they will, but I don't want to look like an idiot when someone passes me a joint at a party, and I don't know what the hell I'm doing," Cheryl reasoned, and looked into her drink.

The three of them stood, the sound of Hall and Oates' Maneater playing in the background.

"Well, you can be the one to go down to that side of town and knock on his door and ask for it," Tiffany said, some bite to her tone.

"What if..." Chrissy blurted, again surprising herself. Her friends stared at her until she finished. "I can get it," she concluded, suddenly resolute. It had just occurred to her then that unless she made an excuse, she was likely not going to see Eddie again before she left for Purdue. The only time they ever saw each other was school. And the idea of never seeing him again left a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"You can't be serious, Chrissy," Tiffany said, an incredulous smile playing at her mouth.

"Well," Chrissy continued, color rising in her face. "Cheryl has a point. I don't want to look stupid at Purdue."

Tiffany's eyes widened. "You buying drugs from Eddie Munson is not something I ever thought I'd see happen."

"Shhh, Tiffany, don't just tell the whole room..." Chrissy said. "But I'll get it. Just give me a few days."

Cheryl chuckled. "Is that your plan, to just waltz over to his trailer, bat those big blue eyes, and say 'hi Eddie, can I please buy some drugs?'"

Tiffany and Cheryl laughed.

Now Chrissy was starting to feel mad, and it made her want to see Eddie even more.

"Don't worry about it," Chrissy said. "Trust me."

The rest of the night ended just as house party nights usually did, save for one thing. As usual, the night ran late, no one helped the poor host clean up before their parents got back the next day, kids drove off just as Hawkins PD pulled up. But on this night, Chrissy faked a headache, and asked Jason to drop her off at home instead of going somewhere to park the car and make out.

As Chrissy made her way up her sidewalk to her front door, she couldn't help but feel relief at not finishing the night alone with Jason, and feel excitement as she thought about her plan to see Eddie.