The Freak and the Cheerleader

Chapter Five: The Rogue

The night passed without incident. Once morning came, after a bit of debate, Beth agreed to venture into Hawkins. Eddie's argument was multi-pronged: Not only did he want food and other supplies, but it was a good idea for Beth to show her face at least a little bit to keep up the premise that nothing unusual was happening. "I've got the oar, I've got the shiv, and I've got the walkie," Eddie concluded. "I'll be okay."

"Well, we'd have food if you didn't eat all the beef jerky during your watchman shift," Beth had grumbled. Still, she had to admit he was right about being seen by other people, and she agreed to a one-hour tour around Hawkins to keep up appearances.

She arrived back exactly an hour later, satisfied with her productivity if nothing else. "You decided you needed a wardrobe change?" Eddie asked skeptically.

"If people saw me still wearing what I wore yesterday, they would have questions," Beth said. She'd ditched the sweatshirt and jeans in favor of a cute button-down blouse and a skirt. "The point is that I'm going about my day as normal, right? This is a normal Beth Forrester outfit." She handed him a paper bag. "Here. Sustenance."

Eddie opened the bag and frowned. "A salad? Are you kidding me?"

"It's a Caesar salad. It's got chicken in it."

"What happened to the beef jerky and beer of yesterday?"

"I needed a bargaining chip yesterday," Beth said. "You need to eat a vegetable once in a while." She took his last remaining request out of her backpack. "Notebook and pen. Because I guess you suddenly feel the need to catch up on your homework."

"You're crabby today." Eddie shoveled the salad into his mouth in large, sloppy forkfuls. "Three hours of sleep at a time not work for you?"

Beth crossed her arms as she leaned against the table. "Chrissy's funeral is tomorrow. Amber left a message on my machine."

"Oh. Shit." Eddie wiped his mouth with his hand. "I'm sorry."

"And in my absence, Amber took it upon herself to decide the cheerleading squad should go in uniform. Like we're the damn military. Can you imagine something so tacky?"

"Well…I guess she thought since Chrissy loved cheerleading…"

Beth rolled her eyes. "And why does Amber think she has the authority to make these decisions? I was co-captain with Chrissy. She should be waiting for my call on stuff like this."

Eddie hmphed. "So this is actually about control."

"No, it's about…Forget it," Beth said, shaking her head. "It's not important." She took a magazine out of her backpack and sat down to leaf through it.

"Come on," Eddie prodded. "You clearly have an opinion."

Beth sighed. "Chrissy died in her uniform," she said. "It just feels creepy to wear it to her funeral."

"Yeah, that's fair." Eddie shrugged. "So don't wear it. You obviously make your own rules anyway."

"I feel like I have to, though. I feel like not wearing what the rest of the squad is wearing will make people suspicious."

"Okay…so wear it?"

"Eddie. I'm not actually looking for advice here. Just eat your salad."

Eddie gave her a sullen look and went back to his food. In truth, most of Beth's annoyance had nothing to do with the funeral or what people planned to wear to it. Amber had also detailed Lucas's betrayal of the basketball team in the message. "Turns out he's been in league with the Freak the whole time," she'd said. "Can you believe he's protecting the monster that killed Chrissy?" Thank God it had just been a message on the answering machine. Beth's facade might not have held if Amber had said all of that to her face. She'd really have to keep it together for the funeral. Without a doubt, there would be whispers through the church about Eddie's involvement. It was unavoidable and Beth knew it. So why are you letting it get so far under your skin, she asked herself. You know it's bullshit anyway.

An hour or so passed, Beth flipping through the magazine while Eddie moved on from his salad and scribbled away in his notebook. She sighed. She was dying to put on the radio, but it seemed too risky, lest someone hear the music coming from the boathouse. She wondered how Max was faring, with the curse of Vecna apparently bearing down on her. Beth considered radioing the gang for updates, but given the volatility of the situation, they'd probably just be annoyed with her for bugging them. She looked over at Eddie. "What are you doing?"

"Uhh…" Eddie glanced up, suddenly looking shy. "I'm working on D&D stuff."

Beth raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

"Yeah. Not to sound insensitive, but all this Vecna shit happening…It's been giving me ideas."

Beth considered this for a minute. "How does…How does it work? D&D?"

Eddie looked up, putting his pen down. "Are you asking me to teach you how to play Dungeons and Dragons?"

"…Yes?"

"No."

"Why not?!"

"You'll hate it. It's too complicated."

"Are you saying I'm too stupid?"

"No," Eddie said quickly. "It's just…There's a lot to explain."

"Come on, Eddie. I'm bored," Beth whined. "Just give me your best short description."

"It's a fantasy roleplaying game," Eddie said. "The Dungeon Master sets up the premise of the game, and the players that make up the party determine the actions and try to win."

"That doesn't sound that complicated," Beth said. "So let's play."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes?"

"No."

"Eddie!"

Eddie shook his head. "First of all, we can't have a party of one. That doesn't work. And I don't have my manuals-"

"There's manuals?"

"Yes. There's all different kinds of characters, and lore, and abilities, and we don't even have dice-"

"Come on. I thought you were the King of the Hellfire Club." Beth gave him her best puppy-dog eyes. "Pretend I'm a little lost sheep." Eddie frowned, looking torn. "Are you saying there's nothing you can show me?"

Eddie bit his lip while Beth continued pleading for entertainment with her eyes. "Fine," he finally said, flipping to a fresh page in the notebook. "I will create a character for you, just to show you what that's like, but that's it. And it's going to be basic 'cause I'm going off memory…"

Beth grinned triumphantly as Eddie started writing things down. She peered over his shoulder, occasionally asking questions. Eddie answered some, but mostly told her to wait until he was finished. Soon, Beth was a level one Tiefling Rogue named Orianna with horns ("Just small ones?" Beth suggested) and a tail ("Non-negotiable," said Eddie), along with a small list of traits and abilities. A surprisingly good illustration of Orianna graced the right margin of the page. "Tieflings are basically humans whose bloodline got infused with the essence of the overlord of the Nine Hells generations ago," Eddie explained. "Rogues are sneaky and resourceful. They're good at exploiting their enemies' weaknesses. Put that race and class together, and you've got a total badass." He grinned at Beth, who smiled back. "And that's it. That's what a D&D character looks like." He tore the page out of the notebook and handed it to Beth. "Satisfied?"

Beth ventured what she hoped was a devilish smile worthy of this Orianna. "Weeellll…now that I have a whole character…"

"Roll for initiative."

"Why?"

"What do you mean, why," Eddie groaned. "That's how you do things in D&D."

Beth shook her character sheet at him. "I have excellent dexterity. You gave me excellent dexterity. How can I possibly need to roll for initiative right now?"

"Because—"

"All I want to do is open a door."

"That. Is how. You. Play," Eddie said through gritted teeth for the umpteenth time. "Roll."

Beth rolled her eyes. "I thought you said players determine what happens in the game, but fine. And I'm not rolling," she reminded him. "I'm picking a number out of a coffee can." Eddie raked his hand through his hair in frustration as Beth flourished her hand before dutifully picking out a slip of paper from the can. She read the number out. "One?!"

"Turns out the door is locked."

Beth growled in frustration. "Can I just pick a new number?"

"No," Eddie said, forcing a tight smile. "You can't pick a new number."

"You're being a Dungeon Tyrant."

"You're being a sore loser!" Eddie exclaimed. "You could do any number of things. You could look for a key-"

"I thought I could do any number of things, but apparently the Dungeon Master actually decides what you can do," Beth muttered.

"I can't explain this again," Eddie grumbled into his hands. "You have certain abilities, but the dice-"

"Slips of paper."

"Okay, that's it. We're done. No more."

"What? Come on. Just—"

"It has been two hours, Beth," Eddie said, his voice ratcheting up a register in his frustration. "Two hours, and all you're doing is complaining because you don't like how the game works. A game you begged me to show you."

"One, I didn't beg," Beth corrected him. "Two, you misrepresented the game."

"How the hell did I mis—"

"You said the players decide—"

"This isn't just make-believe! There are rules!"

"The rules are stupid!"

"This is why I said no in the first place!" Eddie exclaimed. "I knew you wouldn't get it!"

"So you think I'm stupid now."

"Jesus H. Christ," Eddie whimpered. "You are ruining D&D for me."

"Well that's just mean," Beth pouted. "I was just bored to death and I thought—"

"Then why don't you go home?!"

Beth sputtered. "I can't go home, remember, I have to watch your back because of Jason-"

"It's been a day and a half since we found out Jason's looking for me," Eddie said, standing up to stretch. "He hasn't shown up yet. If it's so boring for you to be here, you can just drop by occasionally to check in-"

"No, I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because," Beth yelled, springing to her feet. "Every time I go home, someone's there telling me what a monster you are, and I want to rip their goddamn heads off."

They stared at each other for a minute, Beth breathing hard out of anger. Eddie's eyes were laser-focused on her, like he was trying to unwind a knot with his mind. Then, slowly, a wicked smile began spreading on his face. "Why is your face doing that?" Beth asked as Eddie started to laugh, a smug look in his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Eddie. What are you laughing at?"

"You like me."

Beth's face contorted. "What?!"

"You like me."

"That's—I just want people to stop calling you a monster, that's all," Beth said, her face flushing.

"No, Beth. You don't just want people to stop calling me a monster. You want to rip their heads off if they don't."

"You are being so egotistical about this-"

"And you are being so transparent," Eddie giggled. "You asked me to teach you Dungeons and Dragons."

"I. Was. Bored," Beth reiterated.

"Oh, is that also why you checked out my bare chest yesterday?" he teased. "When I was putting on the deodorant you insisted I use? Don't think I didn't notice, Beth. Did you like the tattoos?"

"Oh, my God," Beth muttered, turning away. "I'm not dignifying that with a response."

"And don't even get me started on last night." Eddie was now following her, practically skipping with glee. "You basically admitted you liked me in seventh grade-"

"So that means I like you now?"

"We almost kissed. And you still haven't denied it, have you?" Eddie poked her in the side. "Come on. Admit it."

Beth batted his hand away. "Don't poke me-"

Eddie was grinning away, now poking at her face. "You're blushing so hard, your face is going to catch fire-"

"Eddie, knock it off-" Her heart raced in her chest as she grabbed his wrist.

He used his other hand to wiggle a finger at her. "Beth likes me-"

Beth grabbed his other hand and pushed Eddie against the wall, pinning him there. Fear flickered in Eddie's brown eyes, realizing he might have gone too far. Serves him right, Beth thought. Still, she stood there, staring into his eyes as she huffed, her pulse thrumming through her entire body. Then, she reached up and kissed him.

Beth's hand found its way around the back of Eddie's neck, her fingers sliding up into his hair. He never actually said he liked me back, she nervously thought to herself, until she felt his arms move to wrap around her waist. They kissed for a few minutes, until she finally pulled away. Beth hadn't even realized how stretched her legs were, standing on her tip-toes to reach Eddie's lips.

"Well," Eddie said, smiling down at her. "D&D games don't usually end like that." The smugness was gone, and Beth smiled back. "Sorry for messing with you like I did."

Beth smirked. "Are you, though?"

"Mmm no, not really. I enjoy being right too much." Eddie laughed as she swatted at him.

"Listen…" Beth bit her lip. "There's a lot going on-"

"I know. This is possibly the worst time for this to happen."

"But I'm glad it did."

"Me too," Eddie agreed. They stood together, smiling and holding hands for a minute. "But I am never playing D&D with you again."

"Oh, trust me," Beth said. "Orianna is permanently retired. Never again."