I look around as a bunch of students start to leave the school, but my brother is nowhere to be seen.
"Hey, Shan! Want us to wait with you for a bit?" Robin asks as she makes her way over to me with Wren and Madison right behind her.
"Sure! I'd appreciate the company." I reply, which the three girls then sit on the bench with me. While they discuss different hairstyles and such they can try tonight, I don't really get involved as I focus on looking around for Steve. He said he'd be here to teach me the last two things I need before my driver's test...and we can't practice too late tonight because I made plans with Eddie.
"What about you, Shan? Are you in?" Madison asks, causing me to look at the girls.
"Huh? Sorry, I wasn't really listening." I admit.
"MJ and I are going over to Robin's for a sleepover. Are you going with us?" Wren asks. I pout and shake my head.
"I can't this time...sorry, girls. I already told Eddie I would go to his Hellfire club thing tonight. And Steve is supposed to help me with some driving stuff before I have to go to Eddie's place." I tell them as I check the time on my watch. "He should be out by now. I don't know what's taking him so long."
"Well, we have to be at my house in time for dinner. Are you going to be okay here by yourself? You can always use the payphone to call me at my place if you need a ride later." Robin says as she stands up.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. He's probably just talking to his friends." I say. Wren and Madison get up, ready to go get their bikes.
"We'll see you tomorrow." Madison says, which I wave at my friends in response. They glance at me worriedly before walking away. I stay seated on the bench, waiting patiently for Steve to come out and get me. But time continues to pass, and his car isn't even in the parking lot now that all of the other cars have cleared out. The sun is setting and I have no way home...I don't want to make Robin's parents come get me. Eddie probably started his campaign already, so he's probably upset that I ditched. Not that I meant to...I just got stranded here.
"What the fuck, Steve?" I ask quietly as tears fill my eyes. He's never left me like this before...so this actually hurts. If I find out it's because of Nancy, I swear-
"Shan!" Someone calls. I furrow my eyebrows and rub my eyes to push the tears away so I can see properly. It doesn't really help that it's pretty dark out already.
"Shanny! Hey!" The person calls again as a little light comes closer. But as they get close enough, I can't help but feel relieved when I see it's just Eddie on his bike. He pulls the breaks before getting off of his bike, letting it lay on the ground as he moves towards me.
"Eddie!" I exclaim happily as I jump up to hug him.
"What are you still doing here? I figured something happened since you were supposed to be at my place like thirty minutes ago, but why the hell are you sitting here by yourself?" He asks worriedly as he hugs me back.
"Steve left me without saying anything. He was supposed to help me with something...but I guess it doesn't matter now." I sigh. Eddie pulls away from me enough to look at me.
"Your brother is a douche." He huffs before moving to stand his bike up. "Come on, you can crash at my place for the night and then I'll take you home in the morning so you can get ready for school."
"Are you still going to have your DnD thing? I hope I didn't get in the way of that." I say guiltily as I get behind him on his bike.
"Yeah, we're still doing it. No worries, Shanny, the party goes on." He laughs as he starts to peddle away from the school, causing me to finally smile. I look around at the poorly lit streets as Eddie speeds down the few to the little house he shares with Wren and their uncle, Wayne. It's in a trailer park, but they at least each have their own rooms, however small they may be.
"Alright! Wait until you see what I prepared for tonight's grand adventure! I even made a little campaign booklet for you to read so you can keep it as a memory if you like it as much as I think you will." Eddie says proudly as he stops his bike in front of his house. I laugh lightly as I get off first.
"I'm sure I'll love it, Eddie. You never fail toamazeme with your surprises." I reply, causing him to grin at me. "So, did you try to appease my twisted, horror loving soul? Or did you choose the Star Wars adventure path instead?"
"Obviously I want to feed into your darkest dreams, Shanny! We have it all! Guts, gore, monsters, and death traps!" Eddie exclaims dramatically as he goes to open his front door. His band mates are already sitting at the dining table between the living room and the kitchen, clearly bored from waiting for me and Eddie. I smile when I see that one of the armchairs from the living room is set up by Eddie's seat at the head of the table, clearly meant for me as it's stocked up with pillows, blankets, and snacks.
"Here is your booklet, m'lady. Now-" Eddie starts as he hands me the written version of the entire campaign, but goes for one of his famous dramatic pauses. "The quest of the mirror hallshall begin!"
I get bundled up in my seat, opening a pack of MM's as I listen to Eddie's monolog about the campaign. To win the campaign, the boys have to defeat all of the enemies within the labyrinth of mirrors and save the Carnival Queen from the clutches of the biggestmonster lurking in the maze. Sure, the storyline is great. But Eddie's commitment to making the clubfeel like they're really in the situation is what captivates me. As one of his band mates is making his choice between finding a trick mirror they can walk through or continuing forward towards a corpse on the floor, Eddie takes a second to look over at me. The look in his eyes let's me know that he's really hoping I'm having fun, which his whole face lights up when he sees the smile on my face. I give him some of the MM's that are left, which he winks at me before tossing them into his mouth and turning back to see what's taking his friend so long.
"The corpse starts to contort along the floor, placing her rotted, bony hands on the mirrors on either side of her to help her stand up. Your time is running out as her dark, empty eye sockets burn holes through you...like she's waiting for you to just move even a little bit." Eddie taunts Gareth.
"Fuck it, I'm running into the mirror to my right!" Gareth shouts before tossing one of his dice onto the table.
"You run head first towards the mirror, only to find out it was a fake, closing behind you once you go through. Leaving Jeff alone with the corpse! The movement of Gareth running away has triggered her attack, she swings one of her long arms at Jeff!" Eddie exclaims before rolling a dice for the corpse girl. "Jeff takes five points of damage from her attack!"
"Damnit, Gareth!" Jeff exclaims. I laugh lightly and put the rest of the snacks Eddie put out for me to the side, curling up on my chair with all three blankets wrapped around me. The pillows behind me also increase my comfort, which I start to get pretty tired.
"I want to cast sunbeam!" Jeff shouts before rolling one of his dice.
"The corpse dodges your sunbeam and moves to grab you with both sets of bony fingers!" Eddie says before rolling a dice. "Jeff has been captured by the corpse, she will devour him farther into the maze! But what's this..? While escaping this fate, Gareth has stumbled upon the worst monster to be found in the maze, the Demogorgon!He can even see our beautiful Carnival Queen sleeping in the cage she's locked in at the end of the hallway!"
"I want to cast protection for two turns!" Gareth exclaims as he tosses a dice onto the table.
"You have successfully casted protection! The Demogorgon has yet to notice your presence, it does nothing but claw at its own hideous reflection." Eddie says as my eyelids start to feel heavy.
"I want to sneak behind it and put my axe into its back." Gareth says, which Jeff and Eddie watch with wide eyes as he tosses out a dice.
"You successfully attack the Demogorgon! You deal twenty damage, severely injuring the beast!" Eddie shouts. "It lets out an angry roar before turning to attack Gareth!"
"Come on...miss!" Jeff cries, still wanting to win the game even though he was taken off to get eaten by a corpse.
"The Demogorgon swipes its claws at Gareth, missing as it throws itself out of balance! It is disoriented for one turn!" Eddie exclaims. I yawn as I try my best to stay awake. Honestly, I really want to see if Gareth kills the Demogorgon.
"Fire breath!" Gareth shouts as he throws out his dice again. Jeff cheers and jumps out of his seat excitedly.
"You burn and kill the Demogorgon! At the cost of Jeff's life, you have saved the Carnival Queen! She thanks you for freeing her. You are captivated by her beauty...her long brown hair and large doe eyes. But she still seems sad. Without having to ask her why, she asks for you to prepare for another quest...a quest to save her husband, the Carnival King." Eddie concludes.
"Fuck! Of course she's married!" Gareth complains as I start to doze off...no point in trying to stay awake now that I know Gareth won. They start to pack up the game and I fall asleep before Jeff and Gareth even leave the house.