Three Worlds Collide

Chapter Thirteen

March 21, 1986

I take my seat beside Eddie at our designated lunch table with the other members of Hellfire, I begin nibbling on my food as Eddie reads from the magazine he brought with him. “The Devil has come to America.”, Eddie states aloud in a deep tone, I bring my eyes up to watch him read aloud the article his eyes are scanning. He begins to read an article about Dungeons and Dragons, going on and on about the propaganda the world has started about the game being evil. I roll my eyes as he reads, he stops to pause for a split second before slamming the magazine down, “Murder.”, I join in with the others in laughter at his theatrics.

I greet Mike and Dustin with a slight smile once they take the empty seats beside me, “Society has to blame something. We’re an easy target.”, one of the members grumbles bitterly. Eddie has his arms crossed over his chest and is slightly pouting, he begins to grumble about how we are freaks because we play a fantasy game. I jump slightly when Eddie slams his hands on the table and pulls himself up onto the tabletop, “As long as you’re into band or science or parties or a game where you toss balls into laundry baskets.”, he has his hands cupped around his mouth as he shouts the last part across the cafeteria towards the basketball players.

I hear someone call him a loser loudly from across the cafeteria, then I see Jason Carver stand up from his seat, “You want something, freak?”, he shouts back at Eddie. Eddie then moves his hands to make horns on the sides of his head while sticking his tongue out and makes a demonic sound. I laugh hard with everyone else at our table at the spectacle. “It’s force conforming.”, Eddie states as he walks back across the tabletop to his chair, “That’s what’s killing the kids!”, he shouts and hops down in front of an unsuspecting student. We all laugh more as he retakes his seat at the head of the table beside me.

Soon the group is thrown into an argument when Mike and Dustin suggest we postpone tonight’s session, he berates them because instead of finding a sub they want to postpone his campaign. The boys try to assure Eddie they don’t want to postpone, and mention that most of the subs for Lucas will be at the championship game, “Oh, it’s the championship game?”, Eddie whirls his head back around to face all of us at the table. The boys nod, “Yeah.”, they say meekly, “Can I level with you?”, he asks them, he begins to walk behind Jeff and Gareth, “Jeff graduates this year.”, he says, then points to Gareth, speaking of how much longer he has left.

“Me, I am army-crawling my way towards a D in Ms. O’Donnell’s.”, Eddie begins to do a little dance behind the boys that makes me giggle. “If I don’t blow her final, I’m gonna walk that stage next month, I’m gonna look Principal Higgins dead in the eye, I’m gonna flip him the bird.”, Eddie sticks his middle finger up in the air in front of him, “And I am going to snatch that diploma.”, his ringed hand snatches the air in front of him and shakes it hard. Then he states how he is going to run like hell out of there, I know he means the school and Hawkins. And he will be taking Steve and I with him. 

Dustin laughs loudly beside me, I watch Eddie with a big grin on my face before one of the boys states that he said that last year and the year before that. “Yeah, and I was full of shit. Because this year is different, it’s my year and I am going to graduate beside my lovely girlfriend and we are going to leave this hellhole behind together.”, he winks in my direction. I blush at the action, the others smile towards me, “ ‘86 baby.”, he smiles big at all of us. He returns to his seat beside me after sending Mike and Dustin to find a sub for Lucas, I take his hand in mine and smile at him, “We got this babe.”, I tell him. He returns my smile, “Oh I know, I can feel it. I fucking refuse to not graduate with you this year and leave this town with you..”, he leans closer to my ear, “And Steve. We can finally be happy away from Hawkins and be free of this place.”, he adds.