The Freaks - Eddie Munson

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Munson

The car was too cramped for me. I might have liked the tight space better if it was Y/N that was sitting next to me instead of Henderson, and it was entirely illegal to fit four people in the back seat of a sedan. Myself, Dustin and Max with Y/N at the other window. I often glanced over at her as she gazed out the window. Why couldn't I stop looking at her?

Ever since I saw her playing her guitar, I needed to know her. I needed to be in her life one way or another.

I flew forward as the car came to an abrupt stop.

"Shit!" I yelled, overlapping curses with the rest of the backseat. "What the hell?!"

"Is that Nancy?" Steve said, jumping out of the car. We all followed suit, seeing Nancy speaking to a police officer. There were more than 10 cop cars surrounding the area.

Shit.

I reached into my pocket, shoving my pitiful plastic bag deeper into my pocket.

"Saw that." I jumped, turning to see Y/N behind me.

"Jesus H Christ." I whispered. She laughed, brushing past me. I let a smile creep up on my lips, following her and the group. I watched as Steve and Y/N talked with Nancy. She didn't look good. Not at all. She was on the verge of tears. I knew a lot of things, but how to act around a crying person, specifically a girl, was something I had no idea how to do. Y/N knew exactly how to comfort her sister, not too touchy but knew exactly where to rub her arm and exactly what to say. Anyone would be lucky to be comforted by her.

"So what now?" I turned at Max's voice, seeing the worried look on her face. I opened my mouth to reply before Dustin rushed up to us. I hadn't noticed him follow Steve to talk to Nancy.

"It was Fred."

"Who?" Max asked.

"What?" I inquired.

"He's dead. Just like Crissy. His bones..." Dustin climbed into the car, slamming his hand on the seat.

"LETS GOOOO!" he yelled.

"And can I ask where the hell we're going?" Dustin didn't give an answer as we climbed into the car. We all watched in awkward silence as Steve got into Nancy's car, and I looked over at Y/N to see a reaction. I'd always assumed she and Steve were...I didn't know what. She didn't seem vexed or upset by it. Mainly just as confused as the rest of us. It was common knowledge Nancy had a long distance boyfriend living in California.

"Where exactly are we going?" Y/N had climbed into the drivers seat, Robin taking the passenger. Shit. If only I'd known she'd be driving.

No answer came. We sat in silence before Max spoke.

"There's on similarity between them." she whispered, "They had the same therapist."

"How the hell do you know that?" Robin turned to her.

"Because she's my therapist too."

*

Hawkins High being empty on a Sunday night was expected. However, breaking into an office and get files illegally, wasn't really something I expected.

"Robin and I will keep watch while the rest of you bust in." Y/N proposed as we walked inside. Steve shook his head.

"No way." I turned to him as we spoke in unison, and the room went quiet. Y/N rolled her eyes at us. Her stubbornness would be something to get used to.

"We're just looking out for security. Not the Mind Flayer. We'll be fine, Steve." her comment being directed at Steve and not me pinched my gut a bit. But I brushed it away, not wanting her to think I was jealous.

Not wanting her to know I was jealous.

Steve took Dustin and Max down the hall, turning the corner. I glanced once at Y/N, about to say something before I closed my mouth and followed Steve and the kids. I didn't even know what I would have said. When I reached the room everyone was gathered in, they were already enveloped in the paperwork.

"Find anything?" I inquired.

"We're reading about the symptoms Crissy and Fred had." Dustin said before turning to me.

"They're identical." Max stood up, turning to me before walking towards the door.

"You okay, red?" I asked. I watched as she walked out of the room, in a kind of daze.

"Uh, guys?" They turned to me and watched just in time to see her turn the corner.

"What happened?"

"She was in a daze of some kind-" Steve stood up and pushed past me, rushing after her. Dustin followed. Part of me wanted to follow. The other part of me wanted to turn the other way.

I wanted to run and find Y/N to make sure she was safe. I wanted to run outside of the school and get away from Hawkins. Take her with me, away from all this curse shit and the Upside Down no one would tell me about.

"Shit shit SHIT." I whispered. I turned left, the opposite way Max had gone. Thoughts ran through my head as I ran. I'd have to come to terms at some point with the fact I was chasing a girl who wasn't interested in me. She probably hated me. So why did I keep trying? Why was I running like a mad man, trying to find her in this maze of a school?

I slid to a stop as I heard a scream. Silence followed, and I heard nothing but my unsteady breathing. I felt a pit in my stomach.

"Y/N." I whispered to myself. "Wheeler!!" I yelled, running towards the scream. As I turned the corner, I collided with someone, knocking the wind out of my and the floor out from beneath my feet. I let out a grunt as I fell on my back, whoever I'd collided with landing on top of me. I opened my eyes after the shock left me to see Wheeler on my chest, staring down at me with confusion. I smiled up at her with relief, letting my head fall back as I took steady breaths.

"I thought I heard you scream." I said, my eyes still closed.

"I did." she replied. My eyes snapped back open and I sat up as she slid off of me, sitting on her knees next to me. I propped myself up on my elbows, looking over at her.

"Are you okay?" I asked. The look she gave made me think the way I'd said it didn't sound genuine. All I'd done was flirt with her in the way I'd done for years with cheerleaders. "Are you okay?" I asked once more, reaching for her hand. She looked down at our hands, slipping it out of my grip.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Robin just scared me." I nodded, giving a small smile, which she returned. She stood up, and to my surprise, offered a hand to me. I accepted it, struggling to my feet. I lost my balance a tad, tripping into her. Our faces were close enough for me to lean forward and kiss her.

And I wanted to.

She pulled away, brushing my shoulder as she rushed past me, toward Max, Dustin,

and Steve.

*

Robin caught up to me as I chased after Y/N, looking for the rest of the group. We heard more screams coming from down the hall, followed by what sounded like Steve yelling.

"WHAT THE HELL, SINCLAIR??!" Lucas. We followed the sound of yelling to a dead end, where Max was being embraced by Y/N, and Dustin and Lucas stood yelling at Steve, who was holding a...lamp?

"Steve. Dude." he turned to me, his face bright red.

"WHAT." I held my hands up in defense, not answering. I watched as Y/N comforted Mayfield, talking quietly about something. We all waited for them to finish before Max stepped forward and shared with us all what was such a secret.

"It's me. I'm the next kill. Vecna wants me."