The Hero
Miss Magillicuddy
Chapter 9
The rest of her month long grounding seemed to drag by at a snail's pace. Yes, she got to see Eddie every day at school, and afterwards at her house to study, but she missed being able to even just snuggle with him. That's not to say a lot hadn't happened in that time. One of which was the downfall of Jason Carver. Chrissy smirked as she imagined his face the day he found out he was expelled from Hawkins High. She thought it may not have happened if Mrs. Henderson hadn't caused such a stink. The Tuesday following the fight had seen the red haired woman marching determinedly into Principal Higgins' office with a stern glower upon her face, Dustin trailing along slowly behind her. He had told their table the next day at lunch in detail what had happened in the office.
"What are you going to do about that Carver boy," Mrs. Henderson had asked as she stormed the office. "He could have killed my baby, and he needs to pay for it."
"Now Mrs. Henderson," Principal Higgins had replied, "I'll give it to you that he should never have attacked your son… or Mr. Munson for that matter, but it happened after school hours and he is a starting player on the basketball team. Some concessions must be made."
"I don't care if he's the damn pope," Mrs. Henderson shouted, "he hurt my baby on school grounds at a school function. I will take this to the school board or the media if you don't do something."
"I can suspend him again," Principal Higgins stated, shifting awkwardly.
"Yeah," she snarled sarcastically, "because that worked so well before. He was already suspended when he attacked my Dusty and he tried to choke another student to death. Clearly that doesn't bother him at all."
"What would you have me do," He asked her, stress coloring his voice. "He's just a boy. Boys misbehave sometimes."
"Mine doesn't," she shouted, slamming her hands down on his desk in fury, "My son is a good boy who was just minding his own business when he was jumped by that psycho, and I would think seriously about expelling the little shit, if I were you. He tried to rape another student just a few months ago, that isn't just misbehaving, it's criminal! He is a stain on this school!"
"You can't be seriously suggesting that I expel our best basketball player," the man asked incredulously, staring at her in horror. "We would have no shot at the championship without him."
"I don't care about a basketball championship," Mrs. Henderson had sneered, before motioning to Dustin "I care about keeping that menace away from my Dusty. Look what he did to my baby! If you won't do anything about this, I'm going above you. What is the superintendent's number?"
"Please be reasonable, Mrs. Henderson," the man had pleaded back, a frustrated look upon his face.
"You be reasonable," she snarled back, "you're planning on keeping a criminal in this school so that you can win a basketball championship. Where are your priorities? The kids should be your priority, not sports. That boy could have killed two people Saturday, and you're not even worried about it."
In the end, her threats and pleadings were enough to get the man to agree to expel Jason. Chrissy had seen the boy cleaning out his locker the next day with red, puffy eyes and had given him a smug smirk and flipped him off as she passed him in the hallway. He had glared at her and returned the gesture as his father stood by his side glaring at her in disdain, stopping her with his words.
"You ruined my son's life," he stated as he glared at her. "We have to move two towns over to find a school that will take him with his record."
"He ruined his own life," Chrissy countered as she stared down the man in his stupid suit. "Maybe he shouldn't go around attacking people."
"He could do jail time," the man growled in anger, "all for some little fight. They said since this is his second assault he may get into more trouble. He's being charged with two counts of aggravated battery and attempted murder!"
"I guess he should have thought about that before he attacked me the first time, and my friends and I the other night," Chrissy glowered back, "He has been making my life miserable since I dumped him. No, he was making me miserable long before that. Since then he's just gotten worse. Your son is absolutely vile and not worth the ground under my feet."
"My son was going to be somebody," the man snapped back, "How is he going to do that with a criminal record and expulsion under his belt?"
"That sounds like your problem, not mine," she stated before batting her eyelashes and changing her tone to a sarcastic one. "have a nice day."
The news had been all over the school by lunch time, and there were whispers following her as she walked with Eddie to their table. She had heard through the grapevine that both Andy and Patrick were suspended for two weeks, and had been being berated by their parents as they left the school that day. According to Lucas, Patrick's parents had even made him stop and apologize to him before they frog marched him out of the school.
"Not that I accepted," the black boy had stated at lunch as he took a bite of his sandwich, "he can rot in hell for all I care."
"Him and the whole basketball team can rot," Eddie said sourly from his position at the head of the table. "did you guys press charges against them for your attack?"
"Yep," Mike stated simply, "My parents marched into the police station on Sunday morning declaring that they wanted Andy charged. He's being charged with a misdemeanor assault. Dad says he'll probably plea out and get probation and community service."
"Patrick will probably do the same," Will said from next to him. "Hop said as much. He's thinking they can get Jason to serve some time, though. The State's Attorney's office has a lot of evidence on him. They have the photo's supplied from the night of the attack and testimony from the rest of the basketball players that were there that night. If that idiot decides to plead not guilty, then they'll probably have to depose us. It's more likely he'll plea to the lesser charge of assault and they'll drop the attempted murder charge. He could still do time for that. I'm not supposed to know all that, though, so don't say anything."
"We won't, Will," Chrissy promised, leaning over the table to ruffle his hair. "I actually wanted to talk to you about something that Jason said that night. It's been on my mind, when he called you a faggot. You know if you are gay that that doesn't change how we all feel about you, right? It's okay if you are. We love you."
"I-I,"Will paused and looked close to tears, "that means a lot to me… and I am. Gay, that is."
"I know," Chrissy stated, sending a warm smile his way, "but I'm proud of you for saying it out loud. We support you!"
"Yeah, for sure," everyone quickly agreed, Mike thumping him on the back with a grin. Eddie took her hand and pressed a soft kiss against her knuckles, eyes shining with pride.
"How did you know," he asked as his eyes brimmed with tears, "is it, like, super obvious?"
"Lets say its just girl's intuition," she replied, reaching across the table with her other hand and laying it over his. "Nothing too obvious for anyone else, I don't think."
"Okay, good," he replied in relief. "I'm fine with you all knowing, but I don't want the whole school to know. I don't want to get picked on more than I already am."
"I'll protect you from anyone that would harm you," Eddie promised, "but I'm not going to out you to the school, either. You should tell people on your own time. Does your family know?"
"I told them after the fight," he whispered, "they were all really cool about it and said that they had known for a long time and were just waiting for me to be comfortable enough to tell them."
"I was drunk when I told my mom," Robin stated, joining the conversation for the first time. "I don't know if I would have had the courage to do it if I wasn't blitzed out of my mind. I'd probably still be in the closet with my family otherwise. You had a lot of courage to come out to them."
"You too," Will asked, eyes wide.
"Me too," Robin confirmed, shifting awkwardly as the rest of the table, minus Eddie and Chrissy, looked at her in shock. "don't tell anyone?"
"Never," Will replied, reaching out to pat her shoulders, "us queer folk have to stick together."
"For sure," Robin grinned.
Later that week their midterm report cards had come out. Chrissy was pleased to find that she had made honor roll, even with all the craziness that had gone on during the first semester. If she was pleased with her report card, though, she was ecstatic with Eddie's. He didn't make honor roll, but he hadn't gotten below a C in any of his classes. He had even managed to bring his math score up to a B, and had an A- in history. The 100 percent they had gotten on their history report helped with that. Eddie had been on cloud nine as they drove back to her place that Friday, especially after Chrissy made him pull the car over so they could have a quickie. She had rode him in the back of the van until they were both crying out each other's names in ecstasy. Afterwards, they had hurriedly fixed their clothes and headed to her house where Chrissy proudly displayed their midterms for Beth.
"I'm so proud of you both," Beth had cried out, pulling first Chrissy, then Eddie into a rib-cracking hug. Eddie had pulled out of the hug with a beaming smile on his face, even as he looked down and blushed at the praise.
"I think I'm gonna frame the sucker," he had told her. "It's the first time since middle school that I haven't had a bunch of D's and F's on my report card. I don't even remember the last time I had an A."
"Well you do now," Chrissy said, smile breaking out over her lips, "You can look at that with pride and remember it forever."
"I will," he replied, "I actually can't believe I'm excited to do well in school. I thought I would barely pass if I passed at all."
"You're smarter than you give yourself credit for," Beth assured him, "You have proof of that now."
In celebration of their good grades, Eddie had been allowed to stay for dinner that night before the two of them headed for Hellfire Club. It was sad seeing Dustin not be able to celebrate his victory over Strahd. Normally the boy would have been jumping up and down, but with his current condition had to resort to just cheering along as Strahd was finally vanquished. Eddie looked pleased as punch as the group around him celebrated.
"That's why we play, my friends," he had stated loudly, clapping Mike, who was sat opposite of Chrissy, on the shoulder and squeezing her hand so tight she thought it might pop. "Great job everyone. Next session we'll have session zero for our next campaign. I want everyone to start thinking of new characters to play as we start on The Cult of Vecna. We'll be starting at level 5."
Chrissy smiled as she remembered the exuberant look upon his face, which widened even further as he pulled to a stop in front of her house at 6:30 that morning. Beth had started inviting him to eat with them before taking Chrissy and Robin to school. She had also tried to give him gas money, which he had staunchly refused, but Beth had put her foot down and refused to let him reject it.
"You have been taking my girls to and from school for a while now," she had stated firmly, "It's the least I can do."
She ran out to greet him as he climbed from his van, a large smile on his face.
"Hey, baby," she yelled as she jumped into his arms. He spun her around in amusement and pressed a long kiss to her lips. "Guess what!"
"What, Princess," He asked, smiling at her indulgently.
"I'm ungrounded today," She cheered, and took him by the hand to lead him back into her house. "It's been a long time coming. Ma, Robin and I are even coming to your show tonight!"
"That's great," He said enthusiastically as she dragged him along behind her. He grinned at Beth as the two of them entered the kitchen to see her stirring a pot of her sausage gravy at the stove. His stomach growled in hunger and his mouth began salivating. "Oooh, biscuits and gravy today?"
"Yep," Beth chirped from the stove. "good morning, Eddie. How was your night, last night?"
"Morning, Beth," he replied, as Chrissy dragged him to the table and had him sit down next to her. "My night was good. After I left here I had band practice with the guys. I hear you're coming to my show tonight!"
"I am," She agreed, "I'm actually looking forward to it. Even if it's not my style of music, I still love watching my kids perform."
He beamed at her as she called him one of her kids. She had already pulled out the plates and started dishing out the biscuits and gravy and made her way over to place a plate in front of each of them. The three teens dug in with vigor as Beth giggled and returned to the stove to grab her own plate and a large cup of coffee.
"So, what's the plan for today," Beth asked as se took a large bite of her biscuits and gravy.
"School, band practice and then home so I can go with you to the hideout," Robin said in between bites.
"School, then work for Eddie and I. We'll meet you at his show," Chrissy replied, looking up at Beth with a large grin, "because I'm finally ungrounded."
"Are you," Beth asked in mock confusion, "that's only the fourth time you mentioned it this morning."
"Fifth," Eddie corrected, as he grinned at Chrissy, "she told me when we were outside."
"Oh dear," Beth replied with a laugh, "guess she's pretty excited."
"I am, too," Eddie told her, reaching to interlock his fingers with Chrissy's. "I've missed being able to spend as much time with her."
"You literally see each other every day," Robin commented dryly," how much more could you want to see her?"
"I want to be with her always," Eddie replied earnestly, squeezing their interlocked fingers, "the world isn't as bright when she's not around."
"God, you're so sweet with each other it makes me want to vomit," Robin joked releasing a faked gag.
"I can't wait until you get a girlfriend," Chrissy stated with a large grin, "so I can pick on you as much as you pick on us."
"Revenge will be sweet," Eddie agreed, sending a smirk Robin's way. She would have flipped him off in response if Beth weren't sitting right there grinning between the three of them.
"Eddie," Beth asked when a break occurred in the teen's conversation. "Are you coming to family board game night, Saturday?"
"Wouldn't miss it," he told her seriously, "Am I still allowed to stay over afterwards, or has that ship sailed?"
"You can stay," She told him, "but Chrissy's door will remain open, as will mine and Johns. He and I are light sleepers, so no funny business."
"Yes ma'am," he blushed to the roots of his hair.
After breakfast the three teens made their way out to Eddie's van and made their way to school. School was still going really well for Eddie since the midterms had come out a couple of weeks previously. Seeing his grades, some of the teachers actually started smiling at him when he came in to class. Mr. Clark had pulled him aside and let him know how proud he was of the work he was doing that semester and to keep it up. It was weird for Eddie, that he actually looked forward to going to school, now. At the beginning of the school year he had dreaded going in every day. He still didn't really feel comfortable answering questions in class, but his homework and test scores just kept improving with his girl by his side.
Things at school had improved in the social sense, too. Ever since Jason had been expelled there had been less and less snide comments made about them and their friend group until now it was rare that anyone said anything to them. Their table was always the most boisterous at lunch, and after three weeks, Dustin was finally back to his usual, chipper self. His ribs had mostly healed by that point. He still got twinges every now and again, but told them that the doctors said that ribs can take anywhere from three to six weeks to heal. He seemed extra smiley that day, though.
"Mom heard from our lawyer yesterday," he explained around a bite of the schools apple crumble, "Jason did take a plea deal for the lesser assault charge. He's going to be serving a month of jail time, community service and will be on probation for two years. That bastard is going to jail. Someone should tell him not to drop the soap."
"I kinda hope he does drop the soap," Eddie joked from the head of the table. "give him a taste of his own damn medicine."
"That's dark, baby," Chrissy said, even though she was grinning.
"My kind of humor, then," He teased back, booping her on the nose and grinning. "In all seriousness, I wish he was doing more time, but at least a month is something."
"He'll look so ugly in orange," Chrissy commented as she pictured it. "Serves him right."
"I'm just glad he was actually expelled," Dustin stated, "I wouldn't want to see him in school every day. He'd probably still be going psycho on all of us any time we so much as sneezed."
"Did you hear that sneeze," Eddie imitated Jason, "they're trying to put a freak curse on me. Lets beat the shit out of them. Also, I have a tiny penis."
Chrissy, who had been taking a drink of her coke, snorted it out through her nose and went into a coughing fit as she choked lightly on it. She grabbed the napkin being held out by Mike, and was still giggling as she wiped her face and the spots on the table she had gotten the soda.
"Baby," she wheezed, "are you trying to kill me?"
"Never, Princess," he assured her as he rubbed her back up and down while she got her breathing back under control. "Are you okay, now?"
"I'm fine," she giggled as finished wiping up the spilled coke. "You're not allowed to joke when I'm taking any more drinks."
"I'll try not to," he stated, "but I'm a funny guy."
"Funny looking," Dustin joked, laughing as Eddie threw a peanut at him.
"I'll have you know," Chrissy teased, "I find him ruggedly handsome."
"That just says you must have bad taste in men," Mike joked back.
"Oi," Eddie shouted loudly, causing a few nearby tables to look at them. "you guys are gonna make me cry into my pillow if you keep joking about my looks."
"Sorry, sorry," Dustin placated, "I'll stop. We wouldn't want to make Princess Eddie cry into her pillow."
"Damn straight," Eddie stated, as he ate a few of his peanuts. He turned to look at Chrissy. "did Steve tell you he's wanting us to come over after Hellfire on Friday?"
"He didn't mention it," Chrissy told him. "who all is he inviting?"
"Same people as his Halloween party," Eddie replied, indicating the rest of their table. "and the freshmen's girlfriends are invited, too. Do you think your parents will let you and Robin come?"
"I'll ask," she told him, a small smile on her face, "it would be nice to go, since I didn't get to go to the last one."
"Me either," Dustin complained from the other side of the table, "my mom was still in hyper mode that week."
"Hopefully we both get to go this time, then," Chrissy stated. "Did I miss much last time?"
"Steve let us try beer," Lucas said, grinning nonchalantly.
"They're a bunch of lightweights," Eddie joked from next to her. "They were tipsy off of one."
"Well," Chrissy teased, "they do have little 14 year old bodies."
"I think I also got a contact high from all the pot Eddie and Steve were smoking," Mike stated with a laugh. "they didn't let us try that."
"You're too young for that," Eddie stated, sending him a strange look.
"How old were you," Dustin asked with a knowing grin on his face.
"That's not important," Eddie rebuffed, but looked like he was considering it. "Steve had a really nice bong we were using."
"ooh, I'll have to try that out if I can come," Chrissy told him. "I've only ever smoked joints."
"It's a different kind of experience with a bong," Eddie stated, "We'll do it together."
"Okay," Chrissy agreed easily, "I miss smoking. It relaxes me."
"I can get you some if you wanted to try sneaking it home, again," Eddie told her.
"Sure," She chanted quickly. "Robin and I were never caught when we smoked in my room."
Soon after, the bell rang and the group parted ways. The rest of the day passed by quickly and before Chrissy knew it she was at the Hideout with Beth, Robin and Steve. The four of them found a table by the stage and Beth bought them all soda's glaring at the three of them when they joked about adding some whiskey into theirs.
"Not a damn chance," she muttered, "I still have half a mind to give that bar tender a tongue lashing. Serving alcohol to minors."
"Please don't, mom," Robin said, rolling her eyes, "He knew Steve before the drinking age changed to 21, he probably thought he was over age."
"I won't," she soothed, brushing her hand down Robin's hair.
"Mrs. Buckley," Steve asked, catching her attention, "would it be okay for Robin and Chrissy to stay the night at my house on Friday? I feel like it's been ages since we hung out outside of work."
"Will your parents be there," she asked, sending him a questioning look.
"As far as I know," he stated, crossing his fingers behind his back.
"Then that's fine," she replied, "as long as the girls want to."
"Yes," Chrissy and Robin chimed together as Corroded Coffin made its way onto the stage, Eddie leading the pack.
"This song goes out to my girl, Chrissy," Eddie said, as he sent a wink her way. "and to her mom, who decided to join us tonight."
Gareth started slamming his drumsticks together to count them in and the band started playing. Chrissy jumped up from the table as Eddie started crooning into the mic, while his fingers danced over the strings of his guitar. She loved watching him perform and felt like she could watch him for hours on end. She could feel the music flowing through her body, the heavy guitar sounds vibrating her sternum.
"Isn't he amazing," Chrissy asked, leaning over to mutter in Beth's ear.
"He's very a very talented young man," her mom agreed, grinning at Chrissy's exuberance. "Not really my style of music, but he does it well."
The four of them continued bobbing their heads along with the music until the set ended. Eddie thanked the crowd for coming out and set his guitar in the stand before jumping down from the stage to join them. He walked up behind Chrissy and pulled her into a hug, leaning forward to press a kiss to her cheek.
"What did you think," he asked, turning his gaze to rest on Beth as he and Chrissy swayed together as the bar was filled with the sound of the jukebox.
"You're very good," She told him with a grin, "It isn't what I normally listen to, but even I know talent when I see it."
"Thanks, ma," he said, grinning back at her. He held onto Chrissy for a while longer before Justin came out of the back and asked him for help loading up the drum kit. He pressed another kiss to Chrissy's cheek and told her he'd be right back before he climbed back on stage and grabbed his guitar and amp and headed backstage. Chrissy was mildly bummed that she wasn't able to go back with him, since her mom had joined them that night. He was back out 10 minutes later and immediately pulled her back into the embrace he'd had her in before he was called to the back.
"Do you think you'll come to another show," He asked Beth as he placed his hands over Chrissy's abdomen.
"Certainly," she replied, "Either myself or John will be coming anytime Chrissy and Robin do. At least until we trust them, again."
Chrissy winced slightly at her mom's statement, and Beth gave her a sad look. Chrissy hated knowing that she had disappointed the people in her life who mattered most. Not that that would stop her from drinking or smoking pot again. She was a teenager, after all. She just hoped that they would never find out about it. She titled her head back to look at Eddie behind her and pressed a kiss to the underside of his chin.
"We'll probably have to get going," She replied, turning in his embrace to face him completely and pull him down for a real kiss, "but I'll see you tomorrow."
"Okay, Princess," he replied, pressing a few chaste kisses to her lips. He didn't want to go too crazy in front of her mom. He looked at Beth and addressed her, "thanks so much for coming to my show. It means a lot to me."
"Anytime, Eddie," She told him, eyes softening as she took him in. "I enjoyed myself."
"I'm glad."
The three Buckley ladies left after that and headed home. Chrissy gushed the whole way about what a rockstar her boyfriend was while Robin and Beth shared a knowing look in the front seat. After they got home the three of them separated to get ready for bed. Chrissy slept with a large smile on her face as she remembered the night.
AN: just a shorter chapter tonight. I had D&D and wasn't able to write much, and I think one of my kitties is sick, so I've been worrying about him the whole time I wrote this. I'm hoping he'll perk up, but if not I'm going to have to take him to the vet. Yay, vet bills, she says sarcastically.