Nancy Wheeler's Guide To Pissing Off Your Parents

Chapter 2

Eddie was met with Mike's deadly stare as soon as he set foot back into the Wheeler's basement.

He decided to ignore it and continue with the campaign, though Mike's death stare at him lingered during the rest of the game.

Once they were done, while everyone was in the Wheeler's kitchen eating the pizza Nancy had ordered, Eddie stepped outside, stood with his back against the drivers door of his van and lit a cigarette when he saw Nancy's thin frame standing in the doorway. She had put on a gray cardigan even if it was quite warm that night, though Eddie had also been wearing a leather jacket during most of the day even if the early summer heat was hitting hard.

"Aren't you going to join the pizza party?" Nancy asked once she was in front of him.

"Nah, I'm not really hungry. My uncle and I are having dinner over at my sister's anyway." He shrugged, and Nancy's big, pretty doe eyes went wide with surprise.

"You have a sister?"

"Yeah, I assumed you knew. Aren't you friends with Imogen?" Eddie almost saw the wheels turning in her head before she gasped.

"Oh my God! I totally forgot!" She looked embarrassed and Eddie chuckled. "Imogen and Isaac are your step siblings, Principal Martinez is your step mom, and Imelda is your half sister."

"Bingo." Eddie showed her a half smile.

He didn't blame Nancy for forgetting that he was related to the Martinez family, since he knew that he didn't look like he did. He and Imogen were friends and he proudly called her his sister, but they didn't interact much in school, not with Imogen always hanging out with her popular friends in the cheer squad while Eddie sat at the "Freak Table". He and Isaac didn't get along, they never had, but they were civil at school, choosing to just ignore each other's existence. Imelda, on the other hand, he completely adored the girl, believing that she was the best thing that had ever came out of his father. He and Imelda were two peas in a pod, thick as thieves, she was his little partner in crime following him around everywhere. They were so similar, both in attitude, aesthetics, sense of humor and music tastes. Imelda proudly called herself a Munson, while Eddie, the only reason he kept using that last name was out of respect for his uncle. He sometimes considered either starting to use his mom's maiden name, or coming up with something of his own, a "Stage Name" of sorts.

"I can't believe I forgot."

"Don't worry about it, Nance." He shrugged. "I get it. I don't think I would remember it, either. I mean, my uncle and I don't exactly look like we're anywhere near to be related to Imelda's family."

"Because you're white?" Nancy asked with a chuckle, and Eddie couldn't help but laugh.

«Yeah, because I'm white and have a Latina half sister, and also because Imelda and her family live in a house instead of a trailer park, all of them are talented and elegant, and they wear designer clothes to school instead of stuff from the thrift store. Also, none of them have been held back in high school.»

He hated when he thought like that, the little whisper in his head, because he loved Imelda and her family. Imelda was his right hand gal (as she proudly declared herself as soon as she started her freshman year in Hawkins High and started following Eddie around all of school with the rest of Corroded Coffin), Imogen, glamorous, beautiful Imogen was kind to him and gave great advice, Isaac... well, at least they hadn't argued since last thanksgiving, and Miriam, Imelda's mother, despite having divorced his dad years ago, was the closest thing Eddie had to a mother, specially since his had left a long time ago.

It wasn't any of their fault how different their lives were, the different upbringings the Martinez children had compared to Eddie. It also wasn't any of their fault that Eddie and Imelda's father had decided to lie to both of their mothers, have two families, and disappear from both of their lives as soon as the secret was out and the divorce paper were signed.