Eddie

The 31st was going to be on a Friday this year which was perfect. We were into the first week of October, and already the leaves were falling and crunching through most of Hawkins, and Just was making a fortune with his leaf raking service.

He was saving up for a microscope and told me that if I'd drive him to his jobs, he'd give me gas money. I told him to hang onto his money since I was already going into town anyway to make the grocery run.

"Okay, but you still should get some of it, anyway," Just decided. "And if you want to put it in the goat jar, you can."

"We're close," I admitted. Currently the "Get Goats" jar held about eighty bucks, and the pair of pygoras that Misty wanted were a hundred and ten. I know for a fact that Wayne had been slipping extra ones in the jar when nobody was looking.

"Yep," Just agreed. "It means more manure, but we can use them to keep some of the kudzu down."

"That would help," I admitted, Wayne and I having fought a machete battle to save the back fence. It was fun hacking away for the first ten minutes, then it got old and hard and boring. Even pretending it was a monster didn't help, but it did give me an idea about a vine creature I might incorporate in our next game.

I dropped him off at the Swenson's house, wishing him good luck, since they had three big oaks, and the lawn was covered. He hopped out with the rakes and bags. "I'll be done in about an hour," Just estimated, waving as I drove off to Food Fair.

Lib had made the list, and as usual, she'd put doodles all around the edges—a loom, a cat's face, a little dancing pineapple. I grinned and grabbed a cart, making my way up and down the aisles, feeling pretty good.

From the ingredients, I figured someone at the house was going to be making pies, and that we were out of soap, kerosene, and dogfood. I was so caught up in finding stuff I almost missed Henderson, who was trying to choose cat food from the big display.

"Eddie!" he greeted me. "How's it going?"

"Good," I told him. "Plotting mayhem as usual. You?"

"Good," he responded, but I could see something was bugging him, so I tapped his cart with mine.

"Hennnn-derson?" I prodded a little, just to draw him out.

"Okay fine, I'm bummed about Halloween," he admitted. "I know I'm too old to trick-or-treat, but I'm not crazy about staying home and passing out candy either, and the stupid dance at school is gonna be . . . stupid," he sighed. "Streamers and a bunch of dorks standing around because nobody's ever gonna ask us to dance."

"Yeah, I was thinking about Halloween too," I told him. "I haven't talked to the house yet, but we might throw a little something for the night. Not confirmed yet, but some cider and tunes and maybe a haunted maze or something."

"Oh Eddie!" Henderson lit up like a Christmas bulb. "Seriously! That would be so cool!"

I put a finger to my lips. "Not official," I reminded him. "Gotta check with the fam first, but you'd be up for it?"

"Like a rocket!" Eddie high-fived me before choosing a couple of cans of cat food. "Call when you know, 'kay?"

I nodded watching him bounce off, and grinned. He, Mike, Lucas and Will were a good group to hang with. Younger, yeah, but they were scrappers too. Bullies hang out together, but so do their victims, and we'd all been one, that was for damned sure.

The next aisle over had toothpaste, tampons and a fair selection of condoms to choose from. I took my time and near the bottom of the wall, found what I wanted, tossing it in the cart with a grin.

No better time to test glow-in-the-dark than right before Halloween, right?

-oo00oo—

Lib

The worst thing about graduating high school is how everyone wants to know your future plans, like, right away. "Going to college? Which one?" "Oh! So what do you want to be?"

Like I'm not already something? I'm a girl trying to figure out what I want to do for a living . . . and I don't know. I like books . . . but I also like cooking, and crocheting, and a ton of other things. There's a lot and the social pressure doesn't help.

Currently I have a part-time job at the town library where I help Ms Longstreet from opening until about two in the afternoon, and I also prep up stuff for the farmer's market on Saturdays. Mom and I have a stall where we sell cheese, yogurt, eggs and some of the weaving she does. It's pretty good income, and lots of folks stop by for stuff or just to talk. Sometimes Mom takes one of the standing looms and works while we're there because we try to get the shady corner of the Town Hall lot near the trees.

Earlier in the year my cousin Leon died during the tornado that hit Hawkins. It was kind of suspicious but there wasn't much we could do about it beyond considering the lab responsible. That lab is two miles behind our house, beyond the back fence and across the creek that runs down to Sattler's quarry, and it's butt ugly as far as I'm concerned.

But they sent us Leon's remains and a 'final pay and compensation' check that even Mom couldn't turn down. It was enough to pay our property taxes for a few years AND start a college fund for Just as well as pay for some badly needed repairs around here. Honestly, the flooring was coming up in the kitchen, and keeping a cow in fodder isn't exactly cheap at the best of times.

Mom didn't push me about college, which was a blessing. "I went for two years and quit when I realized I hadn't learned anything I didn't already know," she admitted. "Tried a few other places but it wasn't for me, sweetheart. It may not be for you either. Or maybe just not right now," she added gently. "There's no hurry for some things. Not looms or life."

Which was nice of her, but not helpful. What I wanted to do was travel a little. See some place that wasn't Hawkins, if only for a while. I mean I love my home, but I wanted to see the ocean at least once in my life. I'd talked to Eddie about it, and he was feeling some of the same wanderlust too. We shared where we'd like to go, and yet it always came down to not wanting to leave Mom, Wayne, and Just on their own.

"I'd worry," I admitted. "And that wouldn't make the trip much fun."

"Yeah," Eddie admitted, "I know. I sometimes have nightmares about Wayne tripping on the basement stairs, or Just getting bitten by a cottonmouth or something."

"Thanks, something new to worry about," I told him, but I grinned.

Eddie's terrific. I know when most folks see him, they see a lean, long-haired metal fan with a gift of gab, but he's so much more than that. He's smart, he's funny, and he's my better half. We're partners, which confuses people.

"You're not a girlfriend," he told me once. "You're waaaaay more than that, especially to me. I'm not your boss, you're not my boss—we share. We do shit together. A team."

So, I introduce him as my partner. He introduces me as 'the hottie who puts up with me,' which cracks me up. The first time he said it in front of Robin, she giggled so hard I though she was choking. Steve just rolled his eyes.

Eddie does make life a lot more fun, though, so it's a blessing. I suspected he had plans for Halloween and I wasn't wrong.