Chocolate Button Eyes - Joseph Quinn & Characters Stories

*Preview* Prisoner Of Your Eyes - An Eddie Munson Story

This is a preview of the new story I am writing alongside trying to finish my others so please take a look and let me know what you think!

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"Reminder students-" the PA system booms through the cafeteria, bringing all student chatter to an abrupt close. "-the annual Hawkins High talent show is taking place this Friday night. All acts are required to attend rehearsal in the auditorium this afternoon! And I mean all acts..." The second the announcement from Mrs Cooks shrill tones draws to a close, the cafeteria erupts into senseless chatter once again.
"We gotta ace this rehearsal boys and win this damn talent show!" Eddie barks as the other members of Corroded Coffin sit scattered around the table before him, eyes all fixed onto their overly ambitious leader.
"We don't stand a change, Ed. It's a total fix, metal will never win at this dump." Gareth sneers, slumping back in his chair and rolling his eyes so hard they risk popping from their sockets. He's not wrong, not at all. The metal music movement hasn't exactly taken Hawkins by storm, it still seems largely revered as satanic and demonic, something Eddie relished but despised in equal measures.
"Irrelevant my dear Gareth, metal or not, nobody can argue with our sheer talent!" Gareth and the guys exchange looks, knowing how god damn delusional Eddie sounds right now. Regardless of the towns opinions of the genre, they proceeded to the auditorium to sit through every single painful rehearsal whilst they await their turn.

Act after dreadful act takes to the stage in an attempt to wow the rehearsal audience with their undiscovered talent, it was a real melting pot of skill, talent and delusion. Band geeks showing their classical training through their violins and cellos, students with potential and pushy parents performing on the piano, questionable magicians, jugglers and comedians, some dancers and cheerleaders, and of course, some "on trend" pop acts give their renditions of the latest chart toppers until it was finally the time for Corroded Coffin to tear up the stage. Shredding and clashing their instruments along with Eddie's gruff yet smooth vocals as they perform an actually well written and composed song by Eddie. Of course, not a single person in the dwindling audience cared for it but to a trained metal ear - it was actually good. Their rehearsal draws to a close with not a single applause, except for Mrs Cooks overly passionate and kind of patronising celebration that she has offered to every act so far. A few snickers and jeers can be heard from the hushed sounds of crowd but Eddie is riding a high that can't be broken right now.

As they boys stand in the wings, packing their equipment, the final act takes to the stage to rehearse - the principles appointed closer of the talent show - before the school choir of course who will inevitably sing some crappy pop anthem selected by the principle, so naturally it's of zero interest to Eddie who focuses on packing his precious guitar away like a slumbering babe. The mellow sounds of an acoustic guitar pluck lightly in the background before they come together into gentle strums, into a tune vaguely familiar to Eddie almost freezes at the sound. A soft vocal begins to accompany the acoustic melody. "When I saw your face I became a prisoner of your eyes. And I would do just anything, to stay and be with you-" this is a song that Eddie is very familiar with, from a record he plays regularly. He starts to rise to his feet and step towards the edge of the stage as though hypnotised by the siren sounds of Judas Priest flowing from the angelic lips. "You know there are times when I let myself wonder. As I was going under, you pulled me back to earth." The Coffin boys try to pull Eddie's attention back to them with each call of his name failing to penetrate his transfixed state on the girl standing centre stage - a girl Eddie has never seen before, which is unusual as Eddie knows everyone in this school, even those who don't like him or ever even speak to him. He is utterly helpless, transfixed by the way her hair falls around her shoulders, the way her eyes softly close as she sings, the way a small peak of an obvious cheerleading uniform can be seen just below the hem of her oversized denim jacket.

"Don't you hear me crying Take me in your arms again. Tell me that you're trying. Or is our love a lie?" Thankfully she looks and sounds not a pinch like any other cheerleader he's ever had the displeasure of meeting and in this moment, her presumed status doesn't intimidate him or make his cautious. He heard whispers of a new girl, but given that most of his time was spent skipping class or getting high, he'd never noticed any new faces strolling the linoleum halls of Hawkins High until now.
"I think I'm in love, fellas." Eddie mumbles to himself and his comrades who raise brows and snicker amongst themselves as they watch their seemingly stern and menacing leader crumble to the sounds of a beloved metal track as they've never heard it before. 

"I don't care who she is... I just gotta have her."