It wasn't long before Adelaide fell into a comfortable routine. Robin had even helped her get a job at the local music store.

Her time was divided between school, work, hanging out with Robin and Steve at the video store, and spending time with her aunt. Dustin and his friends had had their last session of the campaign but Addie had decided to have a movie night with Robin and Steve instead. Dustin had mentioned the next day that Eddie had asked where she was, but Addie didn't think much of it.

Surprisingly, Addie had not skipped a single day of school yet. For some reason she found herself not wanting to disappoint her aunt, so she had been trying harder than usual.

It was now the first week of October. It was Thursday evening and Addie was working at the music store. Most of her time was spent stocking shelves, organizing the music selections, and dusting the instruments they also sold. It was never particularly busy, and it had been especially dead that evening. They'd only had a single customer in the past two hours.

There was only about an hour left in Addie's shift, and she was currently going through the records collection to make sure no one had messed up the alphabetical ordering system. The bell jangled behind her signaling someone had entered the store. She turned around to greet the customer and found herself staring at Eddie.

She nodded at him in greeting, "Edward Munson, I was wondering when I'd see you in here. Dustin told me you're quite the rock star."

Eddie cringed, "Let's not use that nickname."

Addie laughed and set down the record she had been holding, "And why have you decided to grace us with your presence tonight?"

He rubbed the back of his neck and looked around, "Honestly? I usually come in once a month to see if Dave's brought in anything new."

Dave was the owner of the store. He was very into metal and hard rock music as well, so he and Addie had hit it off very quickly.

"Ah well, I'm sure you know where Dave keeps the new arrivals," Addie nodded towards the section close to the cashier.

However, Eddie didn't move, instead he leaned against a display case and crossed his arms, studying Addie, "Why didn't Henderson mention you were working here?"

Addie shrugged, confused by the question, "Why would he? Do you boys gossip about me often?"

Eddie smirked, "You wish, princess. So is this why you weren't at our last session of the campaign?" Eddie would never tell, but for some reason he had felt disappointed when Addie hadn't shown up to their last session.

"No," Addie shook her head, "That day I was watching movies with Steve and Robin."

Eddie frowned and ran a hand through his hair, "Ah yes, your new best friends."

"Why?" Addie inquired, "Did you miss me?" She remembered now Dustin mentioning Eddie had asked where she was, but she had been too preoccupied to put much thought into it.

Eddie chose to ignore her teasing and instead walked over to the new arrivals section. Addie followed him; she walked behind the till and hopped up onto the back counter. "So was Dustin right?" She asked him, "Are you quite the rock star?"

Eddie paused for a moment, confused by the question, then remembered Addie's comment when he had walked in. He shook his head, "Henderson talks too much, but … maybe one day I could be."

"Oh yeah?"

Eddie smiled softly, "That's the dream. If I can ever fucking graduate and get out of this godforsaken town."

Addie fiddled with the rip in her jeans. Today she was wearing black ripped jeans with a plain white shirt. "So graduate then," she told Eddie, as if it was so simple.

He groaned at this and threw his head back in frustration, "It's not that simple. I just find it so pointless. Why do I need to learn algebra, or how to analyze a novel, if I want to be in the music business? Our education system is bullshit. It expects all of us to be the same; we should learn the same, think the same, go to college, and that's it. That's not what I want!"

"So why didn't you ever just drop out? If you think it's so pointless I mean."

"It's my uncle," he explained, "I would have left a while ago…but I can't let him down, you know? He's put up with me for this long, and all he's asked of me is that I don't end up in jail, and I graduate high school. You would think I would be able to manage two simple things like that."

After a moment of thought Addie asked, "Have you ever considered a tutor? Or even a study partner?"

Eddie gave her a look of incredulity, "Do I look like someone who would have a tutor? Or a study partner?"

"Not even if that study partner was a super cool, fellow music lover?" Addie teased.

Eddie's look changed to one of curiosity, "Are you offering to help me study?"

Addie raised her hands in a 'why not' gesture. "I mean it's not like I'm a genius like Dustin, but I get by."

Eddie looked as if he was considering her offer, finally he questioned, "What would you get out of this arrangement?"

She took a moment to think, Addie hadn't been wanting to get anything out of it. She just wanted to be nice. "How about…" she trailed off in thought. "How about you have to let me be a part of your next campaign?"

Eddie scoffed, "That's it? You want to play d&d with us? Why?"

"Because I've always found the game fascinating, and my ex only let me play one game ever and it…" she hesitated, "Well, it didn't end well."

She gave Eddie her best puppy dog eyes and pouted her lip, "Pleeeaaassee?"

He groaned, "Fine. Anything for you, Princess. But we just finished our campaign so it's going to be at least a month until we start another one. I need time to prepare."

Addie squealed in excitement, hopped off the counter and threw her arms around Eddie into a tight hug.

Eddie froze, his hands held out to the sides, but after a moment he awkwardly patted her back in return.

"You will not regret this!" Addie exclaimed as she stepped back. "I will be the best adventurer you have, AND the best study partner ever!"

Eddie chuckled, her excitement was contagious, "We'll see."

She pointed a finger at him, "Yes, yes you will! Okay yay! When do you want to get together?"

Eddie rubbed the back of his neck, "I guess Saturday will work, but I'm warning you, I'm a lost cause."

Addie just waved him off, "Have a little faith! Where should we meet? I'd suggest my house but there's no way you'll focus if Dustin's around, and no offense but you might scare my aunt."

"I guess you could come to my place," Eddie suggested.

Addie clapped her hands in excitement and had Eddie write down directions to where he lived.

It was Saturday and Addie was sitting on the couch eating cereal and watching cartoons with Dustin. This had quickly become their Saturday morning routine. Aunt Claudia worked on Saturdays so usually the two were left alone the whole day. Often Dustin would go hang out with Mike and Lucas, and Addie would hang out with Robin.

"What time are you going to Robin's?" Dustin asked through a mouth full of cereal.

Addie finished taking a sip of her coffee and told him, "Not going to Robin's today. I agreed to help Eddie study."

Dustin choked on his cereal and started coughing. Addie rolled her eyes, "That's what you get for stuffing your face."

"You're helping Eddie study? I've offered to help him so many times!" He exclaimed.

Addie snorted, "Oh yeah, I'm sure he would love getting homework help from someone who's like five years younger than him."

Dustin rolled his eyes, his throat finally cleared, "Where are you meeting him?"

"Uh, his house. He gave me directions but I have no idea where it is."

"Oh! It's in the trailer park," Dustin explained. "He actually lives right by my friend Max."

Addie looked at him from the corner of her eye, "How come I've never heard of this Max?"

"Uh well, we haven't seen her much recently. Her step brother was killed in a car crash last summer and she hasn't been coping very well."

"Oh…shit," was all Addie said in reply. She had never been great at handling emotional situations.

"Yeah," Dustin agreed, "Are you biking there?"

Addie had bought a bike last week with the money she had made from the music store. Well, not all of it was from her job. Her parents had given her an emergency money supply, just in case, and she had used a bit of that. She felt guilty using her aunt's van all the time, and wanted a way to get herself around. She hadn't needed a car back home; she usually walked, used public transit, or had Sam drive her.

"Yeah, I'll bike over in an hour or so."

"Just… go easy on him, okay?" Dustin asked.

"What the hell does that mean?" Addie asked, offended.

"It's just, you can kind of be a little pushy… and Eddie really isn't into school… so don't like, yell at him if he's slacking off."

"Oh my god," Addie laughed, "You make me sound like a drill sergeant! I promise I won't yell at him, okay?"

Dustin narrowed his eyes skeptically but turned back to his cartoons.