𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 || eddie munson

CHAPTER ONE

october 11th, 1983

pulling up to school in the police chief's car wasn't ideal for june, but it wasn't like he had a choice. he climbed into hopper's car, way before hopper usually woke up, and put on his seatbelt. he turned on the radio and when a song he liked started playing, he turned it up louder. hopper gave him a look.
"what?" june asked sassily, giving his uncle the same look back. neither of them were having it this morning. hopper just grunted and began driving. "you stink," june commented.
"how late were you up last night?" hopper turned sharply around a corner, causing june to hold his backpack tighter.
"eleven," june replied. june was recording in his bedroom. he knew hopper heard it, it wasn't soundproof and the trailer was small.
"try to go to bed an hour earlier," hopper replied with a sigh. it this was three years ago, june would've been grounded, but hopper knew he couldn't really control june. he was just like his mother. plus, eleven o'clock wasn't so bad for a 16 year old who had to get up at 6:30.
"i'll do my best, but my staying up late wasn't intentional, uncle jim," he defended, looking out the window as they drove. "music took control, hours seemed like minutes, you know how it goes,"
hopper rolled his eyes playfully at his nephew. "i'll come in to warn you at 9:45, okay?" he suggested.
june sighed and slumped against the car seat. "oh, i suppose... can i walk home today, then?" he asked.
hopper thought about it for a moment, before shrugging. "sure, go ahead. stop by the station if you want a coke, flo bought them brand new.. just for you," hopper said, smiling. he didn't like june walking so far, for so long. it worried him. anything could happen. so, he hoped convincing the boy to stop in for something to drink might keep him until hopper got off work. then he could drive june home.
june knew this trick. he knew what hopper was getting at. while he appreciated it, it annoyed him most of the time. i mean, it's not like he was a little kid and completely defenseless. he was almost 18, he could take care of himself. he didn't need to be watched over like a hawk. "i'll ride home with jon, then. we can get a coke from the store," he said.
hopper nodded. "jon's a good kid," he said. june appreciated the approval. "how's his mom?" he asked.
"fine. good. fine, i think," he said. in all honesty, june didn't talk to joyce much, and that didn't have anything to do with his uncle's glaringly obvious crush on her.
"will?"
"he's good too," he said.
"good," hopper replied.
the rest of the ride was spent in comfortable silence. june sang softly to the songs on the radio, turning the radio up louder than hopper would've liked, but he didn't say anything.
hopper parked outside of the parking lot. june didn't ask him to, but hopper assumed he didn't want to have to get out of a police car to get to school.
"if you're hanging out with jonathan, please just be home before dinner," hopper said. june rolled his eyes.
"fine," he said quietly. he looked out the window, sighed, and unbuckled himself, opening up the door. it made a loud creaking noise, and those nearby turned around. so much for being discreet.
"see you at dinner, june," hopper said. his voice sounded a little thick.
"see you, uncle jim, have a good day at work!" june replied. when people weren't looking, he gave his uncle a quick hug, before running off to school.
jim wasn't normally an emotional man, but dropping off june at school always made him somewhat emotional. he remembered dropping june off at his first day of preschool, and jim cried like a baby, more than june did. diane had to console him, even though she was getting teary-eyed.
he sighed and drove off. he was already late for work, but it wasn't like there was much going on. he was a small-town cop, nothing really ever happened. flo would be on his ass, though, so he sped to work, entering the station at around 8:30 am.

-

school had used to be something june enjoyed. he loved to learn, he loved science, math, english, it didn't matter what it was. if june could learn it, he loved it. middle school was when that changed, school got harder, and the challenge stopped being fun. now, he only goes so he can graduate.
just two years and he'd be out of hawkins. he didn't hate his uncle or anything, he just hated hawkins. he wanted to go off to college, meet people more like him. he had friends in hawkins, but they wanted the same thing too; to get out.
june had known jonathan byers since they were little. they were at the same preschool together and were instantly inseparable. they were like brothers. then, june's little cousin, sarah, was born and a little while later the family moved to new york. after sarah's death and jim and diane's divorce, june and jim moved back to hawkins, and jonathan and june were reunited. it was great, despite all the tragedy that had occurred over the last year or so.
the boys found each other again at a really important time. joyce and lonnie had just split, and he needed somebody. jonathan took on all the responsibility for a while, despite joyce's protests, and he needed someone to take care of him, which was what june did.
now they were older, coping, and able to take care of each other. it was nice to have a best friend. jonathan wanted to move away too, probably to california or new york. it'd been his dream since he was little. june wanted to move to california, attend a nice school, get a job, live life. they wanted to go to stanford, or the university of california. jonathan wanted to study photography, or journalism. june wasn't sure what he wanted to study, but he'd go wherever jonathan went.
june hadn't gotten to school early enough to talk to jonathan, so he headed straight for first period. he set his things down in the back seat, right by the vents. before class, it was the best spot to smoke near. he reached into his bag, sitting down on the floor with his knees pulled to his chest, pulling out the mint tin he always kept handy. he opened it and revealed two pre-rolled joints, two cigarettes, a baggy of white powder, and a lighter. everything was slightly crumpled, since june's only goal was to pack as much into the tin as he could, but it wasn't quite yet ruined.
he lit the end of his joint and took a long drag, blowing the smoke into the vent, which made most of it disappear. he took turns between blowing smoke into the vent and into his jacket sleeve. in the 5 minutes he got before class, he managed to take out half a joint, before putting it out against his jeans, packing everything into his tin.
"you alright over there, june?" ms click asked. june felt like she knew. there wasn't anything to go off, unless they asked to see june's bag, but june had never gotten searched. he owed her for that.
"yup! just dropped something, give me a moment-" he smiled at her, coming out slowly from behind the cabinets he sat behind. he moved his bag and plopped himself down in his seat.
when he did that, other students began piling in, the first few sitting as far away from june as possible. as more students entered, the ability to be further away from june lessened, so kids began sitting closer.
nobody seemed super pleased about it, except for one boy, unless the smirk on his face when he sat by june was permanent. he was dressed in a big leather jacket, tight black pants, and a white shirt that read 'hellfire club'. june rolled his eyes.
ms click began the class with first-of-the-year introductions, and the boy leaned over towards june. june scooted back.
"eddie munson, you?" he said quickly. he licked his lips.
june cringed. he didn't like this kid, at first. he smelled, mostly like weed, and beer, and cigarettes, and body odor. then june thought for a moment, and he probably also smelled like weed, and beer, and cigarettes. he sighed. "pleasure to meet you, eddie munson," he said. "june hopper,"
"you mind if i bum off you after class?" he asked. straight to the point, june noticed.
june looked back at his bag. his uncle wouldn't notice another pack go missing. "meet me outside, munson," he replied softly.
eddie grinned, and june couldn't help the grin that also spread onto his lips. the conversation ended and june turned back to class, taking notes and tapping his pencil eraser against his paper every so often. surprisingly, it didn't bother eddie, but it bothered everybody else around them. not like june cared much.
class finished, june told ms click to have a lovely day, and as soon as he had turned the corner to go outside, eddie munson was right beside him.
he was speaking but june wasn't listening much. he didn't really care. he let eddie blab until they were outside.
"and then, i was like-"
"eddie," june said. he pulled his altoid tin out and opened it. "joint or cigarette?"
eddie grabbed the joint and june nudged him. "we're sharing," he mumbled. eddie placed the joint between his lips and june leaned over to light it for him. he watched eddie inhale, exhale, and then pass the joint to june. june did the same and the two repeated the action until they finished it off.
the two were silent for a moment while june threw his tin into his backpack. he didn't bother trying to hide the smell. "meet me by the phones at 3:15," eddie said.
"what."
"if you don't mind trailers, then we can smoke in mine. free of charge," then, he walked away, leaving june by himself, confused.
the bell had run 15 minutes ago for phys ed, but june almost never participated, so there was no point in going. he decided to just stay outside, sitting in the grass outside. he let the sun shine on his face, closing his eyes. he put his headphones on and listened to the music on his walkman, before being interrupted by the 3rd period bell. june stood up, supposing he might as well show up to his next class.
he showed up, sat beside jonathan, and pulled out his sketchbook.
"you smell," jonathan commented softly, giving june a look.
"i went outside," june mumbled. "you'll never guess who asked to smoke with me,"
"who?" jonathan asked, lowering his voice as the teacher came into the room.
june looked up, beginning a small sketch of a cat. "eddie fucking munson," he replied.
jonathan's eyes widened. "you hung out with munson?"
"yup, even asked me to his house after school," june mumbled. jonathan snorted, shaking his head as he began taking notes.
"sounds like you've got a date," he replied. june scrunched his nose up at jonathan.
"date? as if," he scoffed. he didn't have a date with eddie munson- eddie munson wasn't even his type. eddie munson probably wasn't even gay. eddie munson just liked to get high and so did june. that was it.
"uh-huh," jonathan murmured. "he's like the only gay guy at school-"
"eddie munson's gay?"
"eddie munson is so gay, dude," june kicked jonathan's ankle. jonathan continued. "he's probably into you, so i'd say shoot your shot,"
june didn't say anything and just went back to taking notes while the teacher spoke. still, he couldn't shake what jonathan said. it bothered him. mostly since eddie munson wasn't his type, and eddie munson was a weirdo. june didn't like him. no one did, only his d&d freaks.