Here is my newest Stranger Things fic, one of our main characters will be Odette Munson, Eddie's younger sibling (2 years younger) she's 17 turning 18 as we meet her. We're beginning our tale in June of 1985, Eddie fresh off of failing to graduate for the second time. I'm once again flip flopping over whether or not the Upside Down will be active here.
Eddie (Summer of 1973)
Eddie hugged his knees to his chest, leaning his head back onto the door of his bedroom so he could hear the muffled talking of adults in the next room. He could hear his maternal grandmother arguing with the nice lady that had said she'd come to help...Dad had been arrested that morning...he'd gotten caught hot wiring a nice car and when he'd been searched they'd found drugs on him. Eddie was 8 years old...but he wasn't stupid. He knew dad dealt. He knew dad stole cars...he'd taught him how to hotwire...He scoffed to himself quietly, he couldn't ride a bike but he could steal a car.
Eddie looked across the small room at his little sister's bed. Odette was completely out for the count, snoring softly into her yellow pillowcase with her dark brown curls in her face. She was 6...she didn't see dad as often as Eddie did. She was in bed when he got home...she'd be in the backyard playing or in their bedroom reading when he'd come home drunk or high. Eddie grimaced at the thought of her having to help their old man back into his room like Eddie did so often.
"He's a delinquent. Just like Hank!" his grandmother hissed in the next room, uttering their dad's name like a curse.
"He still needs a home ma'am" The nice lady's voice was soft and hopeful even through the door...he smiled slightly...so many of his teachers thought the same as his grandmother...that he was doomed to be a dealer and a car jacker.
"I won't take him! He's just like him."
"I'll take them both. When was the last time you visited?" His Uncle Wayne had piped up quietly, Eddie almost hadn't heard him. "They'd get a fresh start in Hawkins. Eds deserves that." From his tone Eddie could tell he was shooting looks at the old bitter woman in the room.
"You're not taking my granddaughter to live in a god forsaken trailer Munson!"
"She'd have her own room, same as Eddie. She'd make plenty of friends-"
"And what about when she starts her monthly? You'll be able to help her with that? Or will you bring home another truckstop whore to help with that?!"
Eddie bit the inside of his cheek as the arguing mounted in the next rom, he tensed as Odette shifted on the bed at the rising noise...but relaxed when she stilled once more, her snoring still the only sound in the small room. He could hear the nice lady speaking in her same low and calm tone...quieting the two other adults in the room. But their voices were now all so quiet they were only a murmur in his ears. He closed his eyes, trying hard to hear but knew it wouldn't work. He must have fallen asleep, the next thing he was aware of was the gentle shoving of the door as his Uncle Wayne tried pushing the door open, not knowing Eddie had been against it.
"Scoot kiddo" He whispers, Eddie moving groggily to sit on the bed beside Odette's sleeping form. "You're gonna come stay with me in Hawkins...that ok?" The older man gives him a half smile...sending a rock into the pit of Eddie's stomach "What about Detta?" he turns to look at her, not wanting to show the tears currently welling up.
"She's...we've decided it's probably better for her to live with your grandmother for a while. But you'll still get to write to her whenever you want...we'll visit as often as we can."
Eddie balled his little fist up in her white and yellow quilt, still staring at his little sister. "When?"
"This afternoon...your grandma is getting things settled here for Odette and they'll be driving back tonight." Eddie didn't reply, he didn't think he needed to. He knew there was no fighting it if Uncle Wayne had given up...he just didn't want to tell Odette. It wasn't long before she was woken and told to pack...he neglected to tell her that he wasn't going with her. He just helped her pack as she wondered aloud what the city would look like. After all Grandma lived in New York, surely it was a magical place like on tv...
It was only when Eddie and she were carrying their bags out that she realized his were going into the back of Uncle Wayne's truck while hers were going into their grandmother's white cadilac.
"Eddie?" She pulled on his jean jacket uncertainly "Wrong car?"
Eddie shook his head gruffly, his jaw shut tight as he dumped his duffel into the back of the truck. She pulled on his jacket more insistently now "You're coming with us right Eddie?!" Her small voice was beginning to sound panicky. He sighed shakily, throwing one of his arms around her "Uncle Wayne thinks...he thinks I'll be better off in Hawkins." She's shaking and tears are now pooling in her big blue eyes, her button nose was running.
"Then I'm going!" She goes to grab her bag from the trunk but their Grandmother snaps it shut before she can. "Get into the car Odette, we've got a long way to drive darling. "NO!" She holds onto Eddie's hand tearfully and glaring at the adults. "I don't wanna go!"
Eddie pulled her into another hug, whispering into her hair that it would be ok. He could feel his dirty white t-shirt getting wet as she cried into him "I don't wanna Eddie!" He felt his heart drop and he wanted nothing more than to throw her into the back seat of Uncle Wayne's truck, but he knew they'd decided. She clutched at his shirt and jacket in her small fists as she sobbed brokenly into him. He feels a hand on his shoulder "We've...we've gotta go kiddo" Wayne grimaced, not able to look at the sobbing 6 year old girl. Eddie leans down and whispers into her ear that they'll write, they'll visit...that it wasn't forever. A sudden hand wrenches them apart, his grandmother picking her up by her waist, Odette beginning to scream, she was kicking the air and wriggling around to get out of the grip that held her aloft.
"Let her go!" Eddie found himself launching at the older woman, ready to hit her as hard as he could but he was stopped by Wayne's hands on his shoulders. "Don't...don't prove her right Kid." He whispers into Eddie's ears as he trembles with rage. "Please!" He chokes out after a moment. "Please...just a second" He moves forward to where she'd put Odette in the back of her car. He pulls her in again, kissing her hair "I love you Detta...I'll write every week...so you'd better get better at reading yeah?"
"YEAH!" She sobs into Eddie's shoulder...if she wasn't so upset he'd be mad for the snot she left on the collar of his jacket. "I love you Eddie" She whimpers after a long moment. She hiccuped and gave him what he was sure was meant to be a smile. He gave her something similar and pushed back his own tears once again. He stepped back from the car, not caring that the old woman had shot him a glare as she slammed the back door of the car. He leaned into Uncle Wayne's hand on his shoulder limply as the white caddie drove off, his sisters button nose pressed to the glass as she waved at him, her favorite stuffed dragon gripped tightly in her hand. Once the caddie was out of sight Uncle Wayne helped him get into the truck and drove them off to Hawkins, Indiana...it would be a few weeks before he'd been able to send his first letter to Odette, he'd filled it with the little things he'd done over the week. How he'd gotten a guitar from Wayne and how he was learning how to play even though it was too big for him. He'd talked about going camping with his Uncle...the friendly kids in the trailer park he'd met...little things.
Years would pass, Eddie almost never getting the chance to really see his little sister, he'd visited her once in New York when he'd turned 13...and she'd been allowed to come down once for christmas when she'd turned 14 (Eddie was 16 then) and he'd marveled at how tall she'd gotten. But every week without fail he got a letter from her. Hers were far more interesting than his ever were in his opinion. She usually talked about her friends from ballet, the little coffee shop where she went to listen to live music, later it was the coffee shop where she'd gotten her first job. That was when her letters started coming with little things tucked away in them. It was usually cash she'd sent for him to buy things for his birthday...but sometimes she'd send him sheet music she'd gotten for her favorite ballet numbers, begging him to play it on the guitar during a weekly phone call for her...He always did, although ballet music was a little lame...even on his baby. He never spent a dime that she'd sent him, instead putting it into a small box underneath his bed...he didn't know what he was saving it for...but he was saving it.
Odette had been his biggest cheerleader in the summer of 84' when he'd failed to graduate the first time. Summer of 85' had arrived and he'd failed yet again, he wouldn't have told her if she hadn't asked, but of course she had because she wanted to see if she could come see him walk across the stage. He'd had to tell her. He could tell that she was upset for him...but not at him. She'd cheerfully said "Well 86' is going to be your year!"
He'd told her he was thinking of just dropping out but she'd been adamant that he needed to do this. To kick those teachers in the teeth by passing and proving them all wrong. "Make them eat crow Eds!"
That had been the last time she'd spoken to him, almost two weeks ago. She'd said she'd be busy with school ending and getting back to work. That she'd call him when she could talk. He didn't dare call her, he knew his grandmother would probably throw a fit about it so he kept quiet but near the phone in the evenings...just in case. He was feeling melancholy lately, it didn't help when Wayne told him he had a thing he needed to go to for a couple days, "No more than two though kid, so don't burn the trailer down while I'm gone."
Eddie finally took off from being alone in the trailer, choosing to spend the afternoon with the boys from Corroded Coffin. Spending the whole day jamming in Gareth's garage certainly beat a second day alone in the trailer.
June 1985
Wayne Munson grinned to himself as he helped pack up the truck with everything Odette could carry. She'd become an odd little thing he'd decided...she was seemingly the only flower child in New York City, running around the small apartment belonging to her grandmother in a flowy green skirt and white off the shoulder number. Her wild hair looked too much like Eddie's metal mop, that and her dimpled grin were the only things signaling their shared parentage. Her grandmother sat in the armchair by the tv, not sparing a look for the teen packing her things up.
"Gran-"
"No. Odette, you've made your decision. You said so yourself. When you close that door you won't be back." The woman looked at the teen coldly, cigarette burning between her lips.
"I just...I want to be with my brother...he's important to me" Odette looked hurt, but he could see by the clenched fists in her skirt that she wouldn't be unpacking the truck.
"You're an adult, you're allowed to ruin your life girl...Hawkins has nothing for you but what a drug-" Odette finally snapped in that moment, she snatched the cigarette from the old woman's lips, snuffing it out into the nice leather of the arm chair. "Don't. Eddie is an amazing big brother! And I'm going to spend my senior year with my family that loves me for me...not for reliving their glory days." Odette turns on her heels, grabbing her purse and knocking over a small picture frame that sat on an end table. Wayne's eyes fell on the picture beneath the shattered glass, it was old. Black and white, a woman on stage in a prima ballerina get up...it didn't look like his sister in law had the few times he'd met her before she'd died.
"Let's go" Odette picked up the final object for the truck, a small white basket filled with tapes and a walkman. He grinned to himself when he caught sight of a Fleetwood Mac tape...oh Eddie would just love that. As they exited the apartment he slammed the door gleefully behind them, only when they got back to his truck parked on the street did Odette turn to speak to her uncle. "Is...is it really ok?"
He smiled slightly, wrapping an arm around his niece's shoulders "You and Eddie will have a place with me until I'm dead girlie. Now get in the truck. 12 hours to Hawkins, not a minute to spare." She grins at him, getting into the car with the basket still in her fingers "Burgers on me?"
He grinned "How can an old man say no to that?"
Gareth Emerson's house
Eddie leaned further into the couch, eyes closed and his fingers clutched around the can of Dr. Pepper Gareth had handed him. He sighed tiredly, he'd wailed on the guitar all afternoon and still felt...off. Maybe he just needed some rest...maybe it was that Wayne was outta town...maybe it was the fact that he'd be back in hell come the fall. He let out a huff, hardly noticing the knocking on the front door or Gareth getting up to answer it with an annoyed look.
Gareth opened the door, finding a sight he'd not expected at all. Instead of some guy peddling a local church or paper...it was a girl. She was short...maybe 5'3...dark brown curly hair and big blue eyes. She was a little curvy, but with long legs and pale skin. She grinned when he opened the door. "Hi!...Uh...is this the Emerson residence?"
"Yeah..." Gareth looked around to see if he could spot any familiar faces...this had to be some weird joke.
"Is Eddie Munson here?" She asks, not so subtly looking past him into the walkway of the house.
"Yes...why?"
"I need to see him." She gives him another winning smile, he noticed her earrings now they were bright white feathers with silver glittery bits. He looks unsure as he looks back towards the living room "Wait here?"
"Of course!" She settles herself against the wall of the house, clutching at her bright blue purse. He turned and closed the door hesitantly before going to the relaxing band in the living room. "Uh...Eddie?"
"What?" Eddie grunts, eyes still closed.
"Some...girl is at the door...asking for you." He says awkwardly shooting the door another confused look.
He shoots up looking at him suspiciously "What girl?"
"She's uh...short? And kinda hot in a flower power kind of way?" He shrugs "She's waiting on the porch"
Eddie got up from the couch, setting his soda on the coffee table and strides to the door with the same hard look fixed on his thin features. He pulls the door open to reveal Odette waiting boredly on the porch. She was pulling at her long hair absently when the door opens she turns and grins at him. "Eddie?!"
He stops for a full minute...it couldn't be-
She launches herself at him, wrapping her arms around his middle and burying her face in his Hellfire shirt "I missed you Eds" She whispers and he finds himself spinning her around before he even thinks of what he's doing. He's grinning and can't help it as he hears her slightly more grown up giggles as he does. When he puts her back down he finds her matching his smile with her own similar one. He catches sight of his three bandmates standing in the doorway of Gareth's house and looking curiously at the siblings. "Boys! This is my little sister Odette. But you can call her Detta" He throws an arm around her and theatrically gestures to the three males in the doorway. "This is the fantastic Corroded Coffin in the flesh...not to mention the best club in all of Hawkins High" She gushes over having heard all about them before and having all of the songs they'd played sent to her by Eddie. He stands proudly slightly behind her as she so naturally begins to interact with his friends...but he didn't like the fact that he saw both Gareth and Keith raking their eyes down her form every so often. His mind jumps back to how Gareth had described her...hot...in a flower power way...he'd have to nip that in the bud. She was still his baby sister after all.
"Gareth, would you mind if I used your restroom?" She asks after a while, they'd migrated back into the living room and had been talking since walking in. Gareth points her to the bathroom and sits back in the easy chair he'd occupied when he feels Eddie's cold stare on him.
"Hot...in a flower power way?" Eddie scoffs, no humor in his dark brown eyes. Gareth swallows nervously before setting his drink down. "Sorry...didn't know she was your sister. I thought she was in New York."
"She was. But as long as she's here...she's off limits. Completely." He shoots a glare to the other two as well. "No exceptions. She's my little sister, so anyone tries something..." He chuckles humorlessly "It won't matter that we're friends"
Kieth and Gareth both hold up their hands defensibly as Jeff smirks slightly "And she knows she's off limits there Munson?"
"She's my little sister. She doesn't think about that kind of stuff." Eddie leans back, not expecting Jeff to scoff right back at him. He shoots him an unimpressed look "What?"
"How old is she Eds?"
"18"
"She's thought about it." Jeff smirks slightly, "None of us will touch her, just keep her out of everyone else's reach I guess" The conversation ends abruptly as Odette reenters the room. The afternoon ends when she states that she needed to get home to unpack.
"Unpack?" Eddie's grinning with a hopeful glint in his eye. She grins "Yep, Uncle Wayne unloaded all of my junk into the spare room...I don't want to live out of boxes this year." Eddie quickly excused himself to help his baby sister with unpacking, bidding his freshly threatened friends goodbye.
Weeks had passed, Odette getting used to living in Hawkins; notably the lack of things to do there in comparison to New York. Eddie had laughed when she said she wanted to get a job so she could escape the boredom. "What?!"
"You don't need one Detta, all you'll find is some shitty job at a place like the mall or a diner. Then you'll get to meet all my lovely peers." He chuckled as he leaned over his latest plans for Hellfire.
"I don't need one. I want one Eddie. I don't care if I have to deal with difficult people." She says slowly, drying the dishes thoughtfully as she waits for what she knows will be a negative answer.
"It's not like we're that strapped for cash Detta" He grunts, sounding annoyed with her now. She frowns at him "I didn't say we were strapped for cash Eddie. I said I was bored. I just want something to fill the days." She hangs the towel on the handle of the oven "I'm getting one Eddie."
He groans but relents, knowing she was just as stubborn as he was. She soon found herself working in a book shop in Starcourt mall but she soon discovered Billy Idol posters weren't holding her gaze anymore. Right across from the store was the cutest little icecream parlor and she certainly liked the looks of one of the employees there. He had fluffy brown hair that she imagined was soft and well cared for. She'd seen him walking in for his shift in his uniform one day and couldn't help the blush that rose to her cheeks, Madame Dubois would have called them dancers legs. Lean but strong. She'd not been able to look outside of the store for the rest of the day. She hardly had any interactions with boys if she was honest. Grandmother had insisted on sending her to a catholic school for girls and the academy only had two male students that she'd known of.
The next time she saw the boy with nice hair she'd plucked up the courage to buy an ice cream on her break from work. She'd been in the back of the line when she'd noticed his eyes, they were a dark chocolate brown that twinkled when he smiled. At least she thought so. She blushed when he'd winked at her but didn't say much. She just ordered a cone of chocolate caramel swirl and gave him a shy smile. It soon became a tradition for her, every shift she had she'd take her break and run over to scoops and get a single scoop of something, she usually didn't care what. One afternoon she came in and she was about to head to the counter when a group of younger kids barged in, one with a bowl cut began to aggressively ring the bell on the counter despite the other girl...Robin still being there.
"Dingus your children are here!" Robin calls, not breaking eye contact with the boy as her annoyed tone carried to the back where the other teen appeared to be. He opened up the window to the back, looking exasperated "Again? Seriously?" The boy with the bowl cut wordlessly hits the bell again. He waves them back and she hears muffled conversation, stern sounding on the older boy's end. She giggles a little and approaches the counter where Robin simply looks at her and raises a brow. "Are you going to finally talk to him or are you just here to drool over your cone again?"
Odette scowled playfully at her, on the days where Steve had been busy she'd started to form a playful friendship with the girl. "He doesn't even look at me like that Rob." She looks at the display case to avoid the rising heat in her cheeks.
"You sure about that?" Robin smirks at her slightly
Odette almost pouts at her, still trying to kick the preposterous thought from her head. "Pretty sure...he probably only dates cheerleaders or something. He's just nice to me"
"Let's put that to the test Detta!" Robin smirks knowingly and sits her at a table close to the counter, not bothering to take her ice cream order. Just handing her a raspberry ripple cone and making sure she was hidden from the counter by a plant. She raised her finger to her lips and winked at her. Odette sat there confusedly but at her ice cream quietly all the same. Only a minute or two passed before she heard the sound of the swinging door opening as he returned from whatever he did.
"What movie are they seeing this time?"
"Back to the Future" He grumbles
"So the record store girl was in here again." Robin sounds like she was grinning at him.
"Ugh, they have the worst timing. That's the second time this week!" He groans and she feels her heart speed up a little but she doesn't move. She doesn't notice as her ice cream begins to melt down the cone onto her fingers.
"Well maybe she would have waited if you tried your moves on her." Robin's voice had taken on a sing song quality that Odette was sure was more for Steve's benefit than her own.
"She comes in for ice cream...not to be hit on by a guy in a sailor suit." She feels the heat in her cheeks reach up to her ears as she listened harder, not believing a word.
"Oh I don't know...she comes in an awful lot...you should ask her out next time she comes in. You might actually get a win with her."
"Nah, she won't go for it Rob. She's like...she'll probably go for a guy who's all into like...music and artsy stuff"
"And I'll have to deal with you moaning on and on about how hot she is" Robin groans theatrically, out of the corner of her eye Odette could even see her leaning over the counter dramatically. "And I don't know how much more I can take!" She feigns fainting as he scoffs "Come on, I embarrass myself enough with this get up."
Robin sighs dramatically again "You're going to be forever alone with that attitude Harrington!"
"Yeah yeah- Shit, we need more strawberry surf"
"You go get it" Robin laughs, Odette hears the swinging door squeak once more before she sneaks a peak at the counter. She lets out a relieved breath when she meets eyes with the smirking Robin. "Told you" She whispers as Odette flees the shop, her break having run long and her left hand now covered in melted ice cream.
Odette pulled up to the trailer on her bike, cursing herself for not having asked out Steve but soon found herself being glad she hadn't. She could hear Eddie from inside the trailer having a heated discussion with their Uncle.
"You can't just keep her cooped up son, it's not good for her or you!"
"She's too young for-"
"She's 18 for Christ's sake kid! How old are the ladies you've been dating if she's so young?" She could hear her Uncle's voice rising and she decided now was the time to break it up. She marched up the steps to the trailer and pulled the door open, finding her Uncle sitting on their couch, running his hand over his goatee while Eddie had stopped mid pacing to look at her. "Hey Detta-"
"Save it Eds." She mumbles, she felt her cheeks going red. She'd moved out, she'd gotten away from the snide remarks about her body and how godly or ungodly she was...but she'd still not gotten away from the whole "Boy's only want one thing" talks.
"Odette I just-" Eddie continued, following her to the small bedroom she occupied near his, she throws her bag onto the couch and rounds on her much taller brother. "I know you don't want me dating anyone. I know. I'm not dumb. I heard how you spoke to Gareth and Keith. I also know that they both avoid being in the same room as me if they can help it!" She glares at him petulantly, hearing her Uncle grumbling not too far away.
"Guys here in Hawkins-"
"Are no better or worse than the people in New York! You can't shelter me forever!" His face contorts from his forced face of understanding to the true pissed off visage he embodied. "You're my baby sister I'm supposed to chase them off with a fucking stick!"
"And I'm not a little girl anymore! I should be able to go out with a boy I like without worrying over how my brother will feel about it!" Odette slams herself onto her bed, crossing her arms and glaring at Eddie
"You don't know anything about men! You've never even had a boyfriend" She felt herself turning red at the truths being thrown in her face. "How am I supposed to learn about boys if I can't date?! Am I supposed to take a fucking class?"
He returns her glare with gusto as he sets his jaw, contemplating his answer. "I'm not comfortable with you dating yet..."
She lets out a puff of air, no longer meeting his gaze. "Will...will you at least wait a while?" Eddie growls out, sounding pained to be making any allowance for it.
"How long?"
"Graduation"
"Eddie! Come on, I'm not allowed to have a date to a dance? To prom?" She yells out, her voice ringing through the trailer. She could have sworn she heard their Uncle laugh at her outburst.
"Fine. Until after christmas. Final offer"
"Or what?"
"Any boy that comes calling loses teeth." She groans but nods, knowing he wouldn't drop it completely. He'd left in a huff after she'd nodded, slamming his own bedroom door closed behind him. She flopped down onto her back, glaring at the white ceiling grumpily as the sounds of heavy metal filled her ears. She groaned and turned over, burying her face in a pillow as she ran through the day in her head. She liked a boy...he liked her back...and her brother was being a giant dick.
