The Freak & The Cheerleader

The Damage Left

we all wake up to a soft knock on my door, I climb out of bed to open it. Steve is there and looks at Max right away when the door is opened.

Steve: "hey Max.. I got some bad news."

Max: "what could make this week any worse?"

Steve: "the gate at Eddie's trailer practically destroyed the trailer park.. Your mom is gone."

Max: "what do you mean she's gone?"

Steve: "she died."

Max's expression drops right away and her eyes gloss over. I rush over to her and pull her close as she silently cries into my shoulder. she did this for me last night, this is the least I can do for her. we all have to be there for each other now.

Max: "first Billy, now my mom? I have no one."

Y/n: "you have us... I know its not the same but we're not going anywhere."

Max: "I wish none of this ever happened!"

Dustin: "we all wish that.."

There's a loud knock on the door and I call down to Steve to see who it was. he tells us all to come down, we all get dressed and head down even though most of us have puffy eyes from crying. at the door is Jonathan, Will, Mike, and Eleven.

Will: "were back!"

Lucas: "yea we see that. nice to have you all back but its not a happy moment right now."

Mike: "I see that. jeez, who died?"

Max, Dustin, and I all put our heads down. Steve informs them about everything and Mike instantly regrets what he said and comes over to hug me which is surprising. he may be family but out family usually never shows affection. after Mike Will and the other two hug me and then go to hug the others.

"what does everyone want for breakfast?" Nancy asks, since mother is gone to the pool again.

"I'm good, not hungry." Dustin, Max, and I all say almost instantly.

"you guys have to eat." Steve says.

"would you be able to eat if you just lost someone? don't think so." I run upstairs.

I pull Eddie's guitar from my wall and sit down on my bed as tears start to fall again. I slowly try to learn the song "In The Stars by Benson Boone" but its hard. I hold his guitar and all I can imagine is his hands guiding mine like they did that one night. after almost two hours of sitting in my room with no disruptions I was able to finally play the song perfectly. someone barges into my room once I finished the song, I quickly wipe my tears away.

Lucas: "sorry for disturbing you.. don't forget we have the big game tomorrow."

Y/n: "I'm not going."

Lucas: "you have to! it's what Chrissy would have wanted."

Y/n: "yea? well Chrissy is dead and now Eddie is too."

Lucas looks down and exits the room, Jonathan walks into my room right as Lucas exits and sits down next to me.

Jonathan: "hey kiddo"

Y/n: "gross, never call me that again."

Jonathan: "alright fine. why wont you go to the final game tomorrow?"

Y/n: "there's no reason to."

Jonathan: "I'm sure Eddie and Chrissy would want you to go to it."

I lean Eddie's guitar back onto the wall and look up at Jonathan.

Jonathan: "I'm serious Y/n. Do it for them, it's the last game of the season. just get it done."

Y/n: "fine.. only for them though."

Jonathan leaves my room and walks back downstairs with the others. after I mope around for a few more hours I decide to head downstairs and sit on the couch with Max and Robin.

Robin: "well... you going to the game?"

Y/n: "I guess.. only for Eddie and Chrissy though."

Max: "I'm sure they would be proud of you for going."

Y/n: "I hope so"

Robin: "did you wanna try eating yet?"

Y/n: "no thank you.."

Robin respects my answer even though I can tell she is worried about me a little bit. Steve took Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and Will down to the basement so they could all try to distract Dustin from it all. there's another knock on the door so I get up and answer it. it ends up being Gareth, he looks a bit worried.

Gareth: "may I come in?"

Y/n: "sure.."

Gareth enters and shuts the door but stays near the door.

Gareth: "question, why hasn't Eddie been going to Hellfire? or Mike and Dustin for that matter."

Y/n: "well long story with Dustin and Mike.. but Eddie is no longer here."

Gareth: "what do you mean?"

Y/n: "he died last night, Dustin and I saw it first hand."

Gareth's eyes widen as he looks at me, I invite him to the kitchen table to talk more about it. once we sit down I decide to fill him in with everything that happened. at first he didn't believe it but eventually Dustin came up and confirmed what I said which caused Gareth to leave in a hurry. probably hurting now I'd assume.

it hits night and Lucas, Dustin, Robin, Steve, and Will head home. Jonathan stays the night since he hasn't seen Nancy in awhile and of course Max stays with me since she doesn't really have anyone to go to anymore.

we end up just sharing my bed rather than Max sleeping on the air mattress. its like a sleepover so we didn't care, we've shared a bed before anyway a few years ago so its no issue. once again it takes me some time to go to bed. the first time I closed my eyes all that played in my head was Eddie dying in my arms practically. it took me almost 12 times to fall asleep. luckily I got a little bit of sleep for the game tomorrow. it wasn't a lot, it was very few but at least I got anything at all.