Chapter One
A thick sea of green and gold filled the high school at 8:15 early on a Spring Friday morning. Hawkins High gymnasium was abuzz with an electric charge humming overhead the students, a surge of energy rushing through the lurid crowd of teenagers as they took their seats in the stands.
The cliques of the classes of 1986 were strong, tight knit groups established through generations of Hawkins family alliances, classism, and forced conformity– the jocks, on the court, roughing up with one another before the pep rally began with their cheerleader counterparts huddled close together nearby, their noses turned up and pointed into compact mirrors to perfect their lip gloss and eye shadow, the hair towered atop their heads and held with a dangerous amount of hair spray; the goths, far near the exits, like heavy shadows of the room, eager to leave and do anything other than fake pride for the Hawkins Tigers; the band kids on the edge of the court, loudly joking, snorting and chortling into their instruments, making whatever kind of discordant noise they could before showtime; the nerds– including The Hellfire Club's Mike Wheeler and Dustin Henderson– at the tops of the stands, excitedly discussing their plans for the epic conclusion to their Dungeons and Dragons campaign scheduled for later that evening.
It was a big day for everyone and the school was alive with it, hungry and thriving on the energy of the excited kids within.
However, the gymnasium was short a couple of students, including one of the guests of honor. The pep rally couldn't get started without the head cheerleader.
Chrissy Cunningham was late.
Chrissy was never late.
But she hadn't felt like herself lately and she wondered if this "late" thing would become recurring. She wiped her mouth and firmly vowed to herself she would get better about controlling herself– she couldn't keep losing a grasp on things, especially time. As she ran out of the bathroom and around a corner, her white cheer shoes squeaked loudly against the waxed linoleum floor.
Suddenly, her legs were yanked from underneath her, her ankle rolled, and she fell– hard. Crash landing onto her hip, Chrissy's bag spilled before her, her pom poms ruffling away from her like Hawkins Tiger-colored tumbleweeds.
A loud, iconic cackle sounded out behind her, followed by a ringing, "Wiiiipeout!"
Chrissy sat up slowly, looking down with hot, angry tears in her eyes- angry she was late, angry someone had seen her slip, angry Chrissy Cunningham had begun to stoop so low more and more it seemed every day. Whoever had seen her was coming over, their boots heavy and loud against the tile. She refused to look up to see who had witnessed her shame. She wiped her eyes quickly, brushing away the tears so they wouldn't betray her. She had a reputation to uphold after all. What would her mother say if she found out Chrissy was crying in the hallways of school? Late to a pep rally? She didn't want to imagine the ridicule she would experience.
The boy loudly knelt down with a jingle of his pocket chains and grabbed one of the green-and-yellow pom poms, plopping it atop his messy mop of long, black hair and gave it a a gentle ruffle. Chrissy snatched it back, and glared up– Eddie Munson, class flunk and an infamous Hawkins "Freak", was squatting beside her with a crooked grin and soft, brown eyes beneath long, dark lashes gazing at her sweetly. "You okay? That was quite the nasty spill."
"I'm fine!" Chrissy's anger was quickly replaced with embarrassment and something resembling fear- but not the fear she had felt in the bathroom just moments before. A deep flush creeped over her cheeks and neck, and she scrambled to gather her belongings. Her hands were trembling and a clammy sweat broke out over her skin. Her mouth grew dry. She anxiously glanced over her shoulder, a soft itch at the base of her neck. "I-I've actually been looking for you…lately…"
"Looking for me?" Eddie stood up and raked a hand through his hair, brushing it from his face and revealing a pale, angular cheekbone, before extending the hand to her. "What can I do for you, Ms. Cunningham?"
Embarrassed she was here, at Eddie's feet, about to ask him a favor, was nearly too much for Chrissy to handle. She scoffed at herself and brushed away his hand, determined to not need anymore from him than she already did. "I just heard-" And as suddenly as she had righted herself, her ankle blazed in a sudden spark of pain and the floor was headed towards her rapidly once again. She hugged her bag and poms tightly to her chest, careful to not lose all her belongings this time around. She hoped it wouldn't hurt as badly the second go.
"Woah," Eddie held his hand out and caught her shoulder, holding her steady. "Easy, Chrissy."
"My ankle…" She tried it again, this time expecting pain, and was able to put her weight on it. "I must have twisted it. It's okay." She gave it a wiggle, and sure enough, the movement was sharp and painful, but not unmanageable. She hoped her face didn't give her away as she tried to shift her weight more comfortably to her other foot. She wasn't usually so klutzy. "Can I– Can I see you after the pep rally?" She glanced around the hallway nervously; her skin still felt clammy and flushed. This was foolish. She shouldn't do this, she shouldn't be talking to Eddie; she should be at the pep rally.
She could feel the moments of time passing by, slow and dreadful.
Tick.
Tock.
Tick–
Eddie Munson's jaw dropped and his giggle brought Chrissy back into reality, and she smiled softly, a shaky laugh escaping her lips in response to his. What she was asking was pretty crazy, after all. "Me? You wanna see me after the pep rally today?" He stood with his arms crossed over his chest, a sly smile playing on the corners of his mouth, clearly entertained by her and the situation he found himself in. Slowly, he twirled a curl of his long, dark hair, his gaze heavy on her. "W-What for?" Eddie asked, dubiously, intrigued, enthralled.
With another anxious glance around the corridor, Chrissy whispered, "You know… business… I heard you…"
A loud laugh erupted past Eddie's lips and he covered his growing grin with his fist, biting firmly onto the side of it. "You heard I do business, huh? You know what, Cunningham– fine. You win. I'll meet you after the pep rally and you can give me some pointers on the upcoming English test." He snapped his fingers and pointed them- poised as a gun- towards her. "There's a picnic table in the woods behind the gym. I'll meet you there."
He began to jog backwards, in the direction away from the gymnasium, away from where Chrissy was. She felt an uncomfortable, now familiar, stirring in her stomach begin to grow.
Tick.
Tock.
He was a couple rows of lockers away from her when he shouted back, "Hey, Cunningham!" Her heart lurched and she looked after him. "It's $20!" To her confused expression, he exaggeratedly rolled his eyes and added, "for the tutoring, right? Don't worry- I'm good for it!" Eddie looked at her knowingly over the distance between them, gave her a wink, and within seconds had rounded the corner of the corridor and was out of sight.
Chrissy was alone again in the hallway, clutching her bag and pompoms, an uncomfortable– now familiar– stirring feeling growing in her the pit of her stomach.
She could feel a heavy gaze on her.
Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
Tock.
She turned on her heels and ran toward the noisy gymnasium, with her ankle aching and dread filling her heart.