July 1st,1986

Hawkins, Indiana

Ackley Record Shop

It was a hot summer day; so hot that waves seemed to emit from the street outside. The town pool was on the other side of town but everyone looked like they had just taken a dip in the chlorine filled oasis.

Eddie was feeling it, his black cargo shorts giving him little relief. The small fan on the counter twisted back and forth, pushing the few strands of hair that weren't caked to his face away. He couldn't even be bothered to wear his denim vest in the heat. Eddie had spent hours last night, consistently pricking himself with the sewing needle as he put on a new Metallica patch.

The bell on the door rang as he pressed his head against the glass on the counter. No one ever came to the shop; not since the mall in the next town opened up. The shop was dingy, harsh fluorescent bulbs hit the labels and brown water stains clung to the ceiling tiles. He had spent much of his time counting the old and dried muddy footprints that stained the grey carpet. There were fifteen.

The sound of someone flicking through the vinyls caught his attention. It was on the other side of the store.

His section of the store. All of the alternative and metal albums laid there in perfect condition. He had dusted it, made new labels for each band and reorganized those boxes three times since he had gotten this job. He traced all of his favorite bands' logos to make those labels until his wrist had started throbbing.

That had been a little under two weeks ago. He'd been busy.

But now one of the uneducated masses of Hawkins was fingering his babies. He felt a pang in his heart with each noise.

"Tsk."

Another thump from the vinyl slapping into the one behind it'

"Tsk," it was a girl's voice and followed up with a long sigh. "Fuuuuccckkk, where is it?"

He was shocked to look up from the counter to see a face that he didn't know.

She was small with big loose black curls and he could see a dangling gold ankh earring shine under the lights as she pushed her hair back behind one ear. Hoop earring went all the way up her ear. He watched as she pulled out each case.

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. The Smiths. Eurythmics.

Not awful but not really his thing. He could respect it though. It was a nice change from watching the newest Madonna fly off the shelves while everything in his section collected dust.

Krokus.

Yuck, he thought to himself. Anything but Krokus.

She snapped her fingers and drove in for the next vinyl, she pulled out Master of Puppets.

She turned to him at the desk; she wore smudged eyeliner, he wasn't sure if it was like that on purpose or from the heat melting it, and burgundy lipstick. A ripped up Black Sabbath t-shirt and leather shorts with a busted up pair of boots.

She was definitely not a Hawkins' regular.

She placed her records on the counter gingerly. He watched her hands, the nails were shaped to a point with blood red nail polish as she pushed her hair behind both ears and then went into her back pocket to grab her wallet.

The logo to Siousxie and the Banshees was drawn on it in silver sharpie.

"You're new around here?" He asked as he typed in the cost of each vinyl on his calculator. She nodded, pulling two crisp twenties out of her wallet.

"Yeah, I just moved to the outskirts. First time in town; just needed some new music to paint to. The house is something." Her eyes widened slightly as she shook her head.

He itched the corner of his nose with his thumb, sniffling a bit. The whole store just smelled of dust.

"Well, sorry to hear that. Hawkins is a quaint little slice of boredom for someone like you." He said. She eyed his Ozzy shirt.

"I guess you'd know." He chuckled and clasped his hands together with a smile.

"I'm Eddie," he went into a drawer and pulled out a flier. "My friends and I have a little band that play at the Hideout on Tuesdays. Which if I'm not mistaken is tonight," he emphasized. "I think it might be something you'd like. Given, ya'know. " He gestured to her appearance and to the albums on the counter.

"Corroded Coffin," she read outloud. "Sounds pretty dope." He shook his head.

"I'd say it's better than dope, really," he jokingly argued. He picked up the Krokus record. "Now, looking at you, Miss-" He urged her on for her name.

"Ellie."

"Miss Ellie, being the gentleman I am, I'd hate for you to waste your good money on this album. Now while I understand they are metal they're just not worth twelve dollars." He took it and walked up over to the boxes, placing it back in it's section. "Now maybe some Slayer would be a better way to spend it-"

"They're kinda like Venom right, like super heavy," she mused, placing a finger up to her lip. "I've never really listened to Krokus but I heard someone say they're good." She shrugged. "

"Trust me," he said with a hand over his heart. "May God strike me down if I was lying to you, Milady." He boomed, arms outstretched and smiled as she giggled, her cheeks flushing pink. "Krokus is hot garbage when it comes to metal and I think you're gonna love Slayer. Much better way to spend twelve bucks. No one does it like Kerry King, just kills every riff, and Venom is the original Slayer- I can't argue that Slayer just knows how to stay at the top."

She carefully took the record from him, looking over the art and song names.

"Ya'know," she paused for a moment trying to remember his name," Eddie, right?"

He nodded, "well, Eddie, I think I'm gonna take your advice and rock out to some Slayer while I paint my room tonight. Still love my Venom though." His heart thudded against his ribs when she said his name, the way it rolled off her tongue.

"Sounds like a solid plan." He wrapped everything up in a brown paper bag and gave her the change.

"See you around!" She said as she walked out, giving him a little wave. The bell rang as the door closed. He watched as she placed the bag in the basket on her messily spray painted black bike. Some of the paint covered the brown bike seat. She wrapped a bungee cord around it carefully and hopped onto the seat before disappearing from his sight.

While Hawkins had its fair share of weirdos and nerds he had always felt alone. A handful of people would be at his show, a couple drunks but he still never felt like even belonged in that crowd. It was just what he expected from Hawkins.

It was too hot to think right now. He waited out his shift, cleaning the shelves, and bringing the fan with him as he went through the small maze of boxes. Around 6 o'clock Mr. Ackley came in to close up shop, he was an elderly man in his sixties. He shuffled through the store and approved of Eddie's work, the room smelling of cleaners. His attempt at vacuuming the old carpet was not noticeable but nonetheless Ackley thanked him for the hard work he had done. He locked up the front as Eddie grabbed the keys to his van from the back and slipped out into the alley behind the store.

His van was just around the corner but the sound of a car honk and a bike bell ringing obnoxiously caught his attention. Going straight to the commotion he saw the new girl, Ellie, bike on top of her and screaming at a blonde boy in a new red corvette.

"Maybe if you weren't so busy sucking your daddy's dick you could've seen me or the red fucking light!"

"Freaks like you don't belong here!" The boy, Jason, captain of the basketball team and winner of a scholarship from Penn State shouted back.

She rolled her eyes, was that really the best material he had?

"Oh, so that means you don't have to follow the law," she snapped back, getting up and picking up a can of paint. Eddie noticed her records were safe in her basket as he went up and helped her, grabbing the other can that had rolled down the street with a light jog.

He watched as she strolled up to the driver's seat, arms crossed as they rested on the ledge of the open window.

"Actually, it's good that you're here. While you take care of your daddy I could use a ride to help out mommy," she made a 'V' with her fingers and stuck her tongue out. "I know she's hurtin' for it. Daddy's just so busy with you." Venom dripped from her words. Eddie's jaw dropped as she smiled like a Cheshire cat. Jason looked almost as speechless.

Jason tried to open the door but she put her full weight against it.

"If you wanna play the tiny-headed small town moron, do it on your own time. Not mine," she said backing up.

"Listen here you satanic-" Jason began rambling. Eddie went up to her.

"Hey, do you know how to drive?" He whispered to her, placing his hand over his mouth in a half-moon so Jason couldn't read his lips. She nodded. "Black van down the alley, start it, come down here fast, open the back doors. I'll get your bike." He sneakily slid the keys to her, that would've been a crit for sure but also this dude would not have had a high passive perception score. Jason was still going as she turned around, grabbing a can of paint and sprinting off, his keys jingling in her other hand.

"Munson, tell that freak to get back here! I'm not finished with her."

"Now, now, Jason," Eddie interjected. "You did apparently almost commit vehicular homicide a moment ago so maybe the lady had every right to be upset." He stood in between Ellie's bike, one hand on it, and Jason's car. There was a good twenty feet between them, Jason must have been going fast to push her out so much. He heard the sound of his car's busted engine and slowly grabbed her bike and moved out of the mouth of the alley, against a brick building. "She's new in town, like, she probably has only been with your mom once! Twice, tops!" He shouted, throwing his head back in a laugh.

"Now thats fucking it, Munson-" he shoved his door open and charged but not before Eddie's metal tank of a van came roaring through the alley, blaring Immigrant Song. He leaned up against the wall of the building as she put the car between him and Jason, pushing her hair behind one eye with sweat on her brow.

She looked hot like Sigouney Weaver in Aliens hot, he thought to himself. The hormones and adrenaline in his body were running on all cylinders now.

"Eddie, let's go!" She screamed, honking the horn and staring down Jason then looking back at him as he flung her bike in his trunk.

"Bye bye, Jason!," Eddie snorted as he hopped into the back of his van and flung the doors closed.

She slammed her combat boot on the gas pedal, making the entire van jump up as she drove around Jason's corvette that had been parked on the curb. Eddie slid into the passenger's seat and braced himself, his hands on the dashboard and holding the handle on his side, as she went over the other side of the curb, her small frame bounced as the van flopped back down. It felt more like a tank at this point.

Jason screamed and ran to his car as she laughed, driving on the wrong side of the empty street. Eddie grabbed the wheel with one hand as they made their escape.

"Jesus H. Christ, Ellie!" She turned onto the next street and thankfully began driving on the right side of the street. "You're fucking crazy!"

"Damn, skippy, baby," she laughed with a wink as she pulled them onto the highway putting miles between them and Jason's corvette.