The Freak and the Cheerleader
Chapter One: The Deal
"Honestly…I thought you'd be kind of mean and scary too."
"Me?" Chrissy breathed, an awed smile on her face.
"Oh, terrifying," Eddie said, grinning as he sat back down at the picnic table. And for the first time in this bizarre drug deal, Chrissy didn't look frightened like in the beginning, or delighted by remembering Eddie's middle school band. In fact, her sudden smirk was downright wry.
"No," she said. "You're thinking of Beth."
The pep rally could've gone better. Beth Forrester stood in the ladies' room, her green eyes staring intently at their reflection as she mentally reviewed the cheer routine and all the ways her damn squad let her down. Amber's chronic noodle arms. Stephanie's awkward body rolls. She guessed she should just be grateful the flyer didn't hit the gym floor like a sack of potatoes. Beth gently rearranged her auburn hair and rolled her eyes, suddenly remembering Jason's speech. Ugh, at least that's not on me. She'd rolled her eyes then too, and Chrissy caught her doing it, elbowing her like she was caught yawning in church. But seriously? Did Jason actually believe Chief Hopper died to inspire the basketball team? What Chrissy saw in Jason would remain a mystery. Speaking of…
"Chrissy? Are you almost done in there? We're going to be late," Beth said as a freshman wandered in and started washing her hands.
"Um…just a minute. You can go ahead." Chrissy's voice was quiet, almost shaky. Beth narrowed her eyes.
"Are you seriously doing what I think you're doing?" Beth asked.
"No…"
Bullshit. "Chrissy, just come out and let's go to class," Beth snapped. "What are you looking at?" she added to the freshman, who had turned her sullen eyes to look at Beth in the mirror.
"I'm fine, Beth. I'll just be a minute."
Beth huffed. "I'm waiting outside and if you're literally not out in a minute, I'm dragging you out myself." And with one parting glare to the freshman, Beth stomped out of the bathroom and leaned against the wall.
This, too, was a problem, but one Beth still didn't know how to tackle. The first time she found Chrissy throwing up, it was freshman year. Her mother had made some comment about needing to loosen a dress. Beth sighed. It was probably more than just that one comment. Nevertheless, Beth's reassurance that Chrissy was the second prettiest girl in the whole school ("Besides me," she'd winked) seemed to fall on deaf ears. And since then, Beth had witnessed both the passive aggressive "observations" from Mrs. Cunningham, and the resulting slow-motion self-destruction of her best friend. No matter how skinny her legs got, Chrissy never seemed to be satisfied. Where Beth never passed a mirror she didn't look into for a good five minutes, Chrissy avoided it like the plague. It infuriated Beth. And lately, Beth had noticed Chrissy seemed weirdly quiet. Yesterday Beth had to call her name three times before Chrissy finally turned, startled as if she'd been asleep. How long could a girl go without fully digesting a single meal, anyway? Jason, of course, was useless in this department too. She's perfect, he'd simply tell Beth. You're worried about nothing.
Beth realized the freshman who'd been in the bathroom when she left Chrissy was now several yards down the hall. How long had she left Chrissy in there? She walked back in, rapping the stall door with her knuckles. "Time's up, Chrissy!" There was no response. Beth leaned her head closer to the stall door, almost sure that she could hear crying. "Chrissy?"
The door opened, and Chrissy slowly drifted out. She looked around the bathroom as if she was expecting someone else to be there.
She looked like she'd seen a ghost.
Amid cheers and yelling, Beth walked briskly around the high school building, scanning the crowd for Chrissy. She still couldn't believe it—the Hawkins High Tigers, actual state champions. Beth smirked as she wondered what was better—their team winning, or Jason the glory-hog having to bow down to the freshman benchwarmer who got the winning shot. She couldn't wait to rub Jason's face in it at Benny's. But first she had to track down her increasingly spacy best friend. Beth rounded the corner and finally spotted Chrissy, standing alone near a van. Sighing, Beth jogged towards her. "Chrissy! There you are!"
Chrissy jumped a little, turning around. "Beth? What are you doing here?"
Is she…disappointed to see me? "Well, Tiffany told Jason that you told her that I was going to give you a ride to Benny's after the game," Beth said. "And apparently you forgot where I parked. Seriously, you're so weird lately. What is going on?"
"Sorry I'm late," a voice boomed from behind Chrissy. Beth looked past her to a guy dressed in black pants ripped at both knees, and a raglan tee underneath the oddest combination she'd ever seen—a denim vest over a leather jacket? The tee was emblazoned with the words The Hellfire Club with a demon's horrific face in the middle. Eddie Munson.
Beth scowled. "Excuse me, Freak, but we're in the middle of a private conversation," she snapped. "You're being rude."
Eddie returned the glower. "Well, if it isn't Queen Beth the Bitch," he drawled, tossing his frizzy brown hair over shoulder. "Chrissy, you really should've run this by me."
"Run what by you?" Beth asked, striding intimidatingly toward him. "We're not even talking to you, why are you—"
"Beth." She turned around to see Chrissy struggling to meet Beth's eyes. "I have to…go somewhere. With Eddie."
"What?!" Beth's eyebrows shot upwards. "Why the hell do you need to go anywhere with Eddie Munson?"
Chrissy looked down at her feet. "I have to…buy something."
Beth took a step backwards, her breath escaping in a little huff. She couldn't even contain her laughter. "Oh, you can't be serious," she told Chrissy. "There's no way." Her best friend still wouldn't look up. "You know his weed isn't even that good!"
"And what would you know about my supply?" Eddie asked, one arm on the hood of the van. His van, Beth guessed.
She put her hands defiantly on her hips. "I dated Tommy Peterson for three months sophomore year. I asked him where he got his shitty weed, and he said it was you."
"Oh right, I remember Tommy. He was a real good customer those three months." Eddie smirked. "Now I know why."
Beth flipped him off, turning back to Chrissy. "Look, can you please tell me what is going on? This isn't like you," she hissed at Chrissy, bending down to try to meet her eyes.
Chrissy finally looked Beth in the eyes, fear written all over her face. "Please, Beth. I…I just need to do this. Please, as my best friend…you just have to trust me." A tear slipped down Chrissy's face. "Please…I just want to go."
Beth had never seen her like this before. She wanted to shake her, remind her that Beth would kill for Chrissy, if only Chrissy would tell her who she needed to murder. Beth closed her eyes and weighed her options. "But why do we need to go with him in his van to get the stuff?"
"Well, one, the 'stuff' is at my place," Eddie said, pushing himself off the van with one arm. "And two, you, Beth, are not going anywhere. You understand how parties work, right? You're not invited to this one." And with that, Eddie sauntered around to the drivers' side.
Beth barked a laugh. "You must already be high if you think I'm letting her go anywhere alone with you," Beth retorted, wrenching the passenger door open and clambering in, sliding to the middle of the front bench. "Come on Chrissy, let's get this over with."
"Get out of my van, Beth."
"No!"
"Get out of my goddamn van, Beth!"
"MAKE ME."
"Please just drive," Chrissy yelled, slamming the door shut and silencing Beth and Eddie for an awkward drive to the trailer park in East Hawkins.
"Chrissy, welcome to my castle," Eddie said, gesturing grandly at the dilapidated trailer they approached. "Beth…you can wait out here."
"Over my dead body," she protested, sprinting ahead of Chrissy up the steps and through the door Eddie held open. She ignored his growly sigh and tapped her foot on the floor. The quicker Eddie grabbed the weed, the quicker he could drop them off in the woods near Lover's Lake and Beth could once and for all make Chrissy tell her what was making her act so strange. She privately conceded that maybe the weed was a decent idea after all—Chrissy had never gotten high before, so this was sure to loosen her lips.
Beth looked around the small trailer. It was a trash heap. Every flat surface seemed to be covered with beer cans or fast food wrappers. Dishes were piled in the tiny sink and an overflowing laundry basket perched precariously on a washing machine. Eddie was rummaging around the place, apparently unable to find his precious supply of weed. Seriously, worst weed dealer ever, Beth thought. "How long does it take?" Chrissy asked, seemingly echoing Beth's impatience.
"I'm sorry?"
"The Special K…how long does it take to kick in?"
Beth's head snapped around to stare at Chrissy. "The what? I thought this was about weed!" she yelled as Eddie tried to explain the mechanics of ketamine. Chrissy strenuously avoided looking at Beth. "I rode all this way in that smelly van that he drives like a maniac because I thought you were just getting weed. But you're seriously talking about snorting ketamine in this shithole where he probably cooks meth—"
"God, put a muzzle on this girl," Eddie muttered as he walked down the hallway towards his room.
Beth flipped off his retreating back without looking away from Chrissy. "You are my best friend," she said, trying to keep her voice calm even as every nerve in her body seemed ready to combust. "I would do anything for you. But this? I can't let you do this. This is insane. It's like you've completely lost—"
"Maybe you should wait outside," Chrissy finally snapped, a look of pure anger on her face. For the second time that evening, Beth felt herself knocked back. When was the last time Chrissy got this mad at her? She could barely remember. Beth shook her head. Defeat wasn't in her nature, and there was more than one way to stop this. She turned and marched back towards the room Eddie had walked into.
"Um, yeah. We're not doing this," Beth informed Eddie as he opened drawers and cabinets in his tiny room. "Just drive us home now."
"I told you not to get in my van, you got in my van. I told you not to come into my house, you came into my house," Eddie snarled. "I guess I shouldn't be that surprised that now you're in my damn room."
"Trust me, I'm dying to leave. But we're not gonna walk all the way back, so…"
"Did Chrissy say she changed her mind?" Eddie asked. "Because this isn't about you. You don't get to just have your way because you threw a fit."
"You don't know Chrissy," Beth said. "She doesn't…do this. She won't even drink the Boones Farm I buy for parties."
Eddie turned to her, a look of derision on face. "Boones Farm?" he repeated mockingly, a smirk on his lips. "You're so cool, Queen Beth."
She wondered how many times she could flip this asshole off before the gesture lost all meaning. "Why do you even care about this? What, do you think you'll get lucky if you get Chrissy high?"
"Hey, there's no need to attack my honor, Beth," Eddie protested, his multi-ringed fingers dramatically thrown against his heart.
"Right, I'm clearly in the bedroom of a gentleman," Beth quipped, looking around at the posters on the walls. A guitar hung against the mirror, and the sight made her stomach drop at a distant memory. Now is not the time, she told herself. Focus on Chrissy.
"Did it ever occur to you that Chrissy is just realizing how stupid and boring all this high school bullshit is? All the constant smiling and cheering and pretending that a dumb basketball game even matters?" Beth's eyes rolled straight to the back of her head as Eddie continued his search and ranted, a reprise of the insane monologue he'd recited in the cafeteria earlier that day. First Jason and now this. Why do guys think groups of people want to hear their dumb opinions? "…and maybe if you tried some, you might stop being a bitch for five minutes-"
"I'm a bitch because I'm scared for my friend?"
The words had popped out of Beth's mouth without her thinking. Beth Forrester didn't get scared. She got results. Her entire high school career had been built on a foundation of confidence and the sheer force of will that made people give her what she wanted or get out of her way. She hated admitting even for a second that she thought she might fail. And she really hated the way Eddie looked at her now, his brown eyes softened into concern as he stood up from the cabinet he'd been rifling through. "I just…Chrissy hasn't been okay for a week. And she won't tell me why. And suddenly she's setting up drug deals and telling me to get lost? I feel like I'm losing my mind." Beth swallowed hard. She was not going to cry in front of Eddie Munson.
"Chrissy said the same thing," Eddie said quietly. "About feeling like she's losing her mind. That's why she asked me for something stronger than weed. And, I don't know if you've noticed, but people don't really think of me as…helpful." He shrugged. "I guess I just liked feeling trusted."
Beth looked down at her feet as silence hung over them. She never considered Eddie to have any altruistic tendencies. For years, he seemed to thrive on separation from the crowd, sneering at anything a group bigger than his weird little club found fun. Beth almost felt sorry for him, but protecting Chrissy was more important than Eddie's feelings. Certainly not the first time that's happened, she couldn't help but think. Finally, she said, "How much?"
"What?"
"How much was she going to pay you?" Beth asked. "I'll double it if you walk away."
Eddie bit his lip and considered the proposition. Beth looked him dead in the eyes. Come on, Freak. Name the price. I don't even care if you gouge me on this. "I was gonna charge her thirty."
"Okay…" She reached into her sweatshirt pocket for her wallet, but Eddie put his hands up.
"You don't have to pay me off. If you're really that worried—"
"I don't need you to do favors for me," Beth interrupted, pulling three crisp twenties out and thrusting them in Eddie's direction. "I said I'd double it, so I'm doubling it."
"If that's what you want..." The pity in his brown eyes made Beth want to scream.
"You can buy bleach or something for this place."
The pity quickly dissipated. "Okay, well, pleasure doing business!" Eddie bared his teeth in a fake smile as he snatched the money from her hand. "Let's never do this again!" He kicked whatever he pulled out of his cabinets out of the way as he left the room, saying, "But if Chrissy like, cries or something when I tell her, you're dealing with it."
Beth closed her eyes and exhaled, feeling like she'd been standing on the edge of a canyon. Relief flooded through her body, and she pressed her fingers against her eyelids to fight off the tears that threatened to erupt. It's okay. Chrissy's going to be okay.
"Chrissy? Chrissyyyy…."
Beth walked slowly down the hall, following Eddie's voice. She watched in dread as he waved his hand in front of Chrissy's face. Chrissy stood stock still, her eyes rolled to the back of her head, eyelids fluttering rapidly.
"Move," Beth roared, shoving Eddie to the side and grabbing Chrissy's shoulders. They were completely stiff. "Chrissy? Can you hear me? Oh god what's happening…Chrissy?!" Beth shook as hard as she could, but Chrissy's eyes wouldn't open. Was this a seizure? "Eddie, call 911! Now!"
The lights started flickering as Beth desperately tried to wake Chrissy. Behind her, Eddie cursed loudly. "The phone just shorted out," he yelled. "It like, exploded in my hand! What the hell is going on?"
Water… "Eddie, take over," Beth ordered, letting go of Chrissy and dashing towards the sink. Plates spilled to the floor as she found a cup and filled it.
"CHRISSYYY, WAKE UUUP," Eddie yelled, patting her shoulders manically. "I DON'T LIIIIKE THIS, CHRISSY, WAKE UP…" Beth sprinted over with the cup and threw the contents towards Chrissy's face, but Eddie ended up getting splashed instead on the side of the head. "What the hell was that for?" he yelped.
"Why are you in the way?" Beth screamed back. She reached for Chrissy's shoulder again, but instead got her elbow. When Beth looked down, she shrieked. Chrissy's feet were hovering above the floor. She stumbled back against Eddie as they watched Chrissy levitate into the air. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god… Beth stepped forward one more time to reach for her hand, but Chrissy's body suddenly slammed upwards into the ceiling. Beth sprang backwards and screamed, knocking Eddie to the ground with her. They clutched each other in terror as they watched one of Chrissy's arm bend at a sickening angle until it snapped, followed by the other, followed by each of her legs. As Chrissy's jaw distended, Beth buried her face in Eddie's chest, her screams muffled against his shirt. I can't watch, what is happening, get me out of here, get me out of here, get me out of here…
"GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Beth screamed, only opening her eyes quick enough to see a crumpled body on the floor of the trailer before squeezing them shut again and curling back into a fetal position, shaking and hyperventilating. She couldn't think straight. She felt herself be lifted off the floor, and before she knew it, she was in the front seat of Eddie's van, feeling the tires screech beneath her as he sped away from the trailer.
Beth could barely track the events that led her here, a boathouse next to Eddie's friend's place on Lover's Lake. The drive there was frantic, Eddie's frequent profanity-laden screeches nearly drowned out by the squealing guitar pouring out of his car stereo. Beth felt numb. The only time she spoke was when she surprised them both by saying "No" when Eddie asked if she wanted to be dropped off at her house. So now she was in this shack, sitting in an old boat and staring into the middle distance. She thought she heard an odd splash in the distance. Moments later, Eddie walked through the door of the boathouse. Beth blinked. Had she realized he wasn't in the boathouse before? "Where were you?"
Eddie paced the floor. "Uh, well, I was thinking about how she's still back in my trailer, and the cops are gonna find her, and if they find her in my trailer, they're gonna think I did it, and-and-and I panicked, and I pushed my van into the lake."
This made as much sense as anything else that had happened that night. Beth responded by pulling a tarp over her head and curling up on the floor of the boat. She's still back at the trailer. The grip of terror had loosened in Beth's chest, but now she was left with the simple fact that Chrissy was gone. Eddie continued muttering frantically but it seemed miles away. She's dead. She's dead in a trailer. She's dead in a trailer and I left her there. Every time she closed her eyes, Beth could only see flashes of Chrissy. She pressed her hands to her mouth, willing herself to not make a noise, as tears welled in her eyes.
A knocking sound against the boat made her jump to attention, sitting up straight and clutching the tarp in her fists. Eddie knelt next to the boat. His eyes shone wet. "I…are you okay?" Beth felt a lump of rage forming in her throat. How could he even ask that right now? She opened her mouth to tell him how stupid he was, but instead a sob escaped. She leaned forward and wailed into Eddie's chest, his arms slowly moving to hold her.