Eddie drove over to the Creel house, blaring heavy metal through his speakers. The sun was just setting over Hawkins as he pulled into her driveway, her bike was chained to one of the bannisters and he saw that the boards that had covered the windows had been taken down. There were pieces of cardboard and duct tape covering the windows that would need to be replaced- which was half of them. Some vines had been ripped off the house and stuck out of a nearby garbage bin.
He got out of the car and checked himself over, he had cleaned his Reeboks and wore his leather jacket with his battle vest. His Levi's worn in and distressed but they were the newest ones he had so they would work.
Another deep breath in and he jogged up the stairs, two at a time. He pressed the doorbell but then after hearing nothing decided knocking would be best.
He heard footsteps from the other side of the door and watched as the doorknob turned, he couldn't see her through the rose patterned stained glass door. Only the faint shadow of her silhouette.
She stepped out, wearing a pair of pants that looked as though they had once been two pairs of pants that had been ripped down the crotch and stitched back together, one side black and the other a faded green plaid. Her top was a ripped up Mercyful Fate shirt that had been turned to a tank top that stopped at her waist. Her busted up boots looked a little more shiny than the other day.
Had she been trying to make a good impression too?
She had her hair pulled back with a green bandana that she wore as a headband, the knot had its tails sticking out. Deep eyeliner surrounded her eye in a messy wing.
They awkwardly stared at each other for a moment, she had to crane her head back to look at him. She pushed a few baby hairs behind her ear and he itches his nose. Neither speak.
"Are you excited," Eddie looks nervous. "I know this sounds lame but I've never done this before so I'm a little lost."
She laughs, "I'm out of practice." And extends her hand out to him, "I think we'll figure it out. Wanna lead me to the van?"
He grabs her hand and does a slight curtsy which earns him a giggle. "This way, Milady, your chariot awaits." He opened the door for her and helped her in before getting into the driver's seat. With the press of his thumb the console between them opened up and cassettes jumped up.
"Lady's choice," she smiled and dug through, finding the perfect choice. "Nice shirt by the way. You have impeccable taste."
"So do you apparently," she pointed to the pin on his jacket, leaning to the dashboard and eyeing up his band memorabilia. She gave a nod of approval.
He parked and helped her out, eyeing up the stands and rides as they walked.
"Any ideas? What are we doing first?" He said excitedly, "My stomach says hotdog but my heart says Gravitron." She was so overwhelmed by everything she couldn't answer. Her eyes darted from one flashing light to the next. Her earrings picked up every spec of it.
"Now don't get me wrong I'm definitely gonna win you something-" he started. They stopped at the front of the Silver Streak, the cars went in circles in an almost hypnotizing way. Children held onto their parents screaming and laughing. He watched her stare for a moment before going for it.
C'mon Eddie he told himself, building up all his courage.
He smiled, grabbing her hand. "Let's get this started, Ellie! Gotta ready for the Gravitron!" He broke off into a sprint with her in tow and led her to the line. She laughed at his excitement. Eddie continued being a gentleman and helped her get into the car, she briefly put her hand on his chest to steady herself.
Her cheeks went bright red as he sat down next to her, the bar pushed into their chests as the ride started. Eddie lifted his hands into the air, the chains on his jacket shook.
She held onto the bar as the cars slowly trotted along the track, gradually it picked up speed. The wind began to blow through their hair and they looked at each other for a brief moment before the speed.
His eyes were so warm like golden amber, his smile sent butterflies to her stomach. She reached up copying him and held one of his hands, feeling the cold chains on his zipper on her wrist.
As they hit a turn, she slid into him. The blush appeared on both their faces as she scooted over, a tiny smile dancing across her face.
The ride began to slow and they exited, wandering through the fair. They ran to the Gravitron and got into the circular room, pink and purple lights dancing across their faces. They blasted metal through the speakers. She turned to him as he reached his hands into the bars above him, head banging to the song.
"I don't think I've been on one of these," she said as the operator spoke through the mic.
"We're about to go splat," he said ," grab onto something. Wait, can you reach the bars?" Slowly he felt his feet slide off the ground and his back felt more pressed into the metal wall behind him. Ellie looked unsure as she went up the wall almost as eye level with him. She grabbed his arm, laughing. Her stomach felt like it shot up into her chest but she couldn't tell whether it was the ride or from being so close to Eddie. He gave her a toothy grin, he could feel her nails digging a little.
The lights went off and everyone screamed, he watched her scream as the light flickered back on and off. He gave a loud scream as the speed picked up and they went further to the walls, his shoulder blades pushed into it. They both have their knees up, a hand on their bars, holding the other's hand. Their palms were sweaty.
The world slowed but their stomach's still churned as they slid back down the metal wall, trying to catch their breaths.
"That was fun," she said in huffs, " like I felt so… floaty."
"I did that one high once. It was a-mazing," he sang the last word, laughing.
She looked at him, excitement flickering in her eyes. "Dude."
"I'm gonna do you something better. I promised Milady a stuffed animal and," he put his foot on a rock, striking a triumphant pose," I shall deliver!"
His head darted around looking for the nearest game booth. Everything made noise at him and lights flickered and the sound of buzzing hit his ears from some far off booth. He swore he heard her voice in the mix.
Somewhere in the back of his mind it hit him that she was holding his hand and pulling him along to a nearby ice cream truck.
"Hey, Eddie, you want ice cream? It's on me." He watched as pulled her wallet from her back pocket.
"No, no," he said as they got up to the counter, slamming some money down. "I got this then," his face got all red and flustered, it made her heart beat faster," then I'm getting you a prize!"
This was going to be as close to perfect as a Munson could muster.
He watched as she licked at her ice cream cone. Not trying to seem completely enamored by the way her tongue moved but his face flushed red and he shuffled lightly, trying to get rid of the uncomfortably tight feeling in his pants.
He took a deep breath in and went up to the fair game. Children and their parents separated as they walked to the counter.
Ellie didn't seem to care as she had her ice cream, she just watched Eddie stroll up to the booth. She was glued to him, her eyes taking in everything she hadn't noticed before. His sharp jaw, the way his eyes crinkled when he smiled down at her. The warmest amber eyes she had ever seen.
"Pick which one you want, it's yours, babe," he laughed, grabbing one of the weighted balls. "My skills are known far and-"
He threw the ball, winding up like a baseball player, and he missed. "Wide."
His brows furrowed and he licked his lips, concentrating. There were twelve metal pins while his grades were never good, he excelled in math and knew enough of physics.
In the corner of his eye he saw her staring with that half eaten cone. Her green eyes reflected all the lights and he could see himself staring back. She smiled.
"You got this," she said, squeezing the top of his arm cautiously. "You pick for me." She winked, ice cream dripped down onto her other hand.
"Shit," she began slurping it up and looked up at him, those bright bright green eyes.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck it!
He threw the ball and it hit dead center, knocking all of them down at once.
"Son of a bitch!" He exclaimed. The man running the booth cheered and Eddie picked out a large panda plush with a red bow. Everything else was in pastels and he didn't think she'd want the baby blue duck or the Mickey Mouse whose eyes were stitched on a little too far apart.
She threw her cone in the garbage and wiped off her hands with a napkin that had been wrapped around the cone. They continued to go on rides. They spoke about bands and went to the House of Mirrors. He got the hotdogs and sat on the grass with her, talking about growing up in Hawkins.
"Wait, wait, you went to a vocational school right?" He said between bites.
She was confused by the statement.
"I mean, yeah, school wasn't really my thing and all. I know you can relate but how'd-"
"My Uncle Wayne works at the plant, I mentioned you and you're a welder?"
"The actual term is Radiation Protection Technician but same difference," she took a bite of her hotdog, relish and ketchup dripped down the side of her face a little.
"So why that? You could do other stuff right?"
She wiped her face with a crumpled up napkin. "I was always weird, bit of a class clown and I couldn't for the life of me keep up my grades. Like everything was alphabet soup," she said "And like, I loved hearing people read and I understood what Fahrenheit 451 was about but I couldn't read the questions on the test so while I understood the symbolism of the salamander I couldn't answer the question! It was vocational school or I wasn't passing on time."
"Man, I get that I was in the trenches for the 'D' I got in Miss. O'Donovan's like I barely made it out! I was like this close," he pinched his thumb and pointer finger together, "to having to get a GED! I don't think vocational schools are really a thing around here. "
She nodded, "But look at us! You've got Corroded Coffin and I've got my thing going like it could be so much worse." She half-smiled, he felt like she was holding something back but he didn't want to press.
He smiled at her back.
"Am I doing good?" Eddie asked her.
"This has been wonderful," she grabbed his hand and held it. He squeezed a little. "Hey where do you get these cool rings? I like the cross with the skulls. It's dope."
"You like 'em?" He wasn't used to anyone noticing anything about him or complimenting him so it took him a minute to process it. "Uh, I get them from like this magazine sometimes. I'll show it to you next time we hang out- y'know if you wanna hang out again?" He itches his nose, waiting.
"This was fun, much more chill than the other day. I'm down," she could see the dimples in his face as he smiled. Her heart felt like it was punching her ribs, stomach fluttered as he looked at her.
She played with her hair, twisting it.
Eddie jumped up and reached out to her, pulling her up. "I've got one more surprise but we gotta hurry. Fireworks are starting and I've got another trick up my sleeve, baby!"