Chapter 2
As the classroom filled Vivienne started getting glaces her way as people gossiped in their little groups. She rolled her eyes and cracked open her latest book, Magician by Raymond Feist. Her friend Axle had gotten it for her as a goodbye present before she moved. He knew she liked epic fantasy and had chosen well. Only 3 chapters in and she could tell it was right up her alley.
The teacher cleared his throat as the final bell rang, preparing to start class. As the last ring finished a boy with long curly hair and a jean vest over a leather jacket ran in, using the edge of the door frame as leverage to turn into the doorway.
The teacher looked unimpressed as he glanced towards the boy. "Cutting it close there, Mister Munson." The teacher mumbled as he looked down at his clipboard.
"Sorry Mr. Andrews. Ran into traffic on my way in." He said as he locked on to the seat directly next to her in the back row. One of two empty desks in the room.
Viv locked eyes with the boy before quickly dropping them and going back to her book, trying to hide any interest she may have had in the metal head. She didn't need anybody getting any ideas today. She'd be lucky if she got away with her little stunt this morning.
"Good book?" a voice next to her asked. She glanced at the boy in question. His hair was a mass of curls, wild but well kept. He was leaning over the side of his desk as he dropped his bag on the floor next to him. He smelled like cigarettes, weed, and whiskey and his rings clinked against the desk. He leaned closer to her, trying to get a look at the pages of the book over her shoulder. She pulled away slightly, trying to hide the smile tugging at her lips at his interest.
She gave him a side eye before replying "So far," cooly, feigning disinterest in his antics.
"Heard you kicked the shit out of Jason Carver this morning princess." He whispered in her ear. His breath was minty with a hint of cigarette smoke. She instinctively leaned back a fraction before looking back at the boy. He was far too comfortable being in her personal space.
"I kicked a dick into some lockers. I didn't exactly care to get names." she quipped sarcastically, glaring at the boy.
He took the hint and sat back in his chair with a chuckle. "Well in case you care to get them now, my name's Eddie." he said, teasing slightly. "And I think you're a badass." he added in a low whisper.
Viv hid behind a curtain of dark wavy hair as she tried to hide the smile on her lips at his compliment. She'd be damned if he got any satisfaction from this interaction.
At her silence he took out a notebook and started doodling as the teacher began his lesson on the board.
Viv put her book away and grabbed a notebook of her own.
Their first Assignment was to read the first 3 chapters of Gilligan's Island and write a one page paper summarizing it and discussing motifs. 'Child's play' Viv thought to herself as she took notes on the prompt. She'd already read the whole book for another class last year. She remembered most of it and had notes on every chapter somewhere in her old school stuff. She'd have no problem getting an A in this class if it was all just going to be review anyway.
She jotted down some ideas for the paper she had in mind and packed up her things at the end of class. The boy next to her hadn't seemed to pay any attention to the teacher, just drew in his notebook while drumming quietly on his desk to some unheard song. She found herself hoping she never had to have him as a partner if they did group work. He seemed like the kind of guy who would let her do all the work because he didn't care if he got a good grade or not. The rest of the day till lunch was pretty uneventful. She had eaten outside under a tree by the empty football field, listening to her walkman, signing along quietly as she read her book and ate her lunch.
She had a free period for 6th period since she had tested out of the highest math they offered at Hawkins, so she made herself comfortable for the extended lunch, hoping to avoid any and all people. When the end of lunch bell rang about an hour later she glanced up and watched students file out of the cafeteria, one boy catching her eye. He walked in the opposite direction as all the other kids with purpose. He was striding in her general direction, looking at the dirt path at his feet. As he got closer she realized it was definitely the boy from her first period class that had been too comfortable invading her personal space.
Seeing movement out of the corner of his eye he looked up and they locked eyes.
Viv gulped down the bite of an apple she had been chewing nervously, and her breathing became unsteady.
He smiled and changed his trajectory, aiming for her tree instead.
"Hey princess." He said with a sultry tone as he came over. His face had a mischievous grin plastered on it. He had his lunchbox in one hand and his bag on his shoulder.
"Don't call me that." She scoffed looking down at her book to hide the blush creeping into her cheeks at his boldness. Ugh he was such a creep! How was he getting her flustered? Nobody could do that to her anymore, but this boy was somehow charming and she hated it.
"Well I'd call you by your name, but you haven't told me what it is," he countered coyly, squatting down to her level in front of her. "Which is pretty rude considering I told you mine," he surmised wagging his eyebrows at her playfully.
Viv rolled her eyes and lazily cocked her head toward him. "It's Vivienne." She droned out, her eyes hooded in a feigned boredom. "My friends call me Vix." she added succinctly.
"Vix." Eddie tested the name on his lips with a smile, nodding his head in approval.
"I said that's what my friends call me." She scoffed. She really didn't understand why he was so intent on having her attention, but she did find it mildly amusing that he was trying so hard, and it wasn't like he was actually being creepy. He was just being overly nice which was a weird experience for her. Most people weren't nice for no reason, but she couldn't see what he had to gain from being nice to her. It wasn't like she had any status at this school to speak of.
"We might not be friends yet, but we will be. You won't be able to withstand my winning personality." He chuckled and raised his hands to his face, framing it in a mock 'im cute' sort of way. She noted that he had dimples and very warm eyes, like pools of dark chocolate. She averted her eyes quickly, feeling awkward for staring too long and pretending to go back to her book.
"Care to join me for a smoke?" he asked, breaking the tension, holding up a metal lunch box and raising his eyebrows in question with a knowing smile.
Vix couldn't help a smile as she saw the excitement in his eyes and bit her lip, nodding. She'd probably regret agreeing to such a stupid request, but she hadn't had a good smoke in awhile.
Eddie grinned wide and stood, offering her a hand after she had packed up her backpack. She took it and pulled herself up with a small grunt. He squeezed her hand and led her towards the forest at the edge of the football field without letting go. Viv considered shaking him off, but decided that was petty and kept hold of his hand.
"Is this the part where you murder me and hide my body in a tree?" Vix joked as she was pulled behind Eddie, he was moving quickly like he had somewhere to be.
He chuckled ,looking back to smile at her. "Blood freaks me out. I'd be a terrible murderer." he said shaking his head. "Just don't want anyone seeing us. This is my secret spot," He whispered as they walked through the tree line into the forest.
Vix found herself smiling as he led them to an old picnic table that had seen better days about 20 ft past the tree line.
"No one ever comes out here. We won't be disturbed." He said, letting go of her hand and shirking off his jean vest, which she noticed a Dio patch on the back of, and threw it down on the table casually. He took a seat at the table before motioning to the other side for her to sit. She bit her lip and sat across from him as he opened his lunchbox, taking out a baggie of weed and some rolling papers.
"What's your favorite album?" she asked, nodding to his vest on the table as he got to work rolling a joint.
He smirked and glanced up at her, pleased she seemed to know who Dio the band was. "Holy Diver of course." he replied as he licked the edge of the rolling paper to seal it.
Vix was mesmerized by how perfectly he'd rolled the joint in front of her. He was definitely showing off. She found that idea charming in a weird way. He seemed hell bent on getting her to like him, even after the sarcastic quips she'd thrown his way.
"Congratulations. That is in fact the correct answer." Her voice was a touch more impressed than she had meant for it to be and hoped he hadn't noticed. She hadn't decided if she liked him yet or not after all. She couldn't have him getting any ideas.
He pulled a lighter from his vest and handed her the joint. "Guests get greens" he said, readying the lighter in his palm for her. She took it with a sly smile and brought it to her lips. He lit it for her and she took a deep drag, holding it for a moment before blowing it out through the side of her mouth. She felt the buzz hit a few moments later as she passed it back to him.
He pocketed the lighter in his pants and brought the joint to his lips, taking a drag of his own.
"So where are you from Vixen?" He asked as he blew out. His eyes had a mischievous glint to them as he looked at her.
'This boy and his nicknames' she thought, mildly pleased. "Seattle." She replied as he passed the joint back to her with a smirk. She took it and gave him an incredulous look. She took another drag and blew the smoke at him with a cheeky smile. It hardly fazed him as he stared at her. "No wonder you're cool," he posited.
She laughed at that. "I'm not that cool." she said nonchalantly as she passed the joint back. Her head was pleasantly light. She'd missed this feeling. She hadn't smoked for months since she didn't have any contacts in Hawkins to get any weed. She knew her tolerance had dipped and felt her insecurities melt away. She decided then that she liked this guy. He was definitely her kind of people.
"Well I vehemently disagree," He said, taking a drag.
She couldn't form a reply and tried to hide her smile, biting her lip, a little embarrassed at his comment.
"I could tell you were cool as soon as I saw your t-shirt." he said, motioning to her torso with the joint tucked between his index and middle finger.
"I got their new album before I moved." she said excitedly, forgetting her embarrassment for the moment and pulling out her walkman. She quickly disconnected the cord for her headphones and pressed play. Run for the Hills began playing out of the dinky speaker on the side.
Eddie's smile widened. "Their best one yet." he said in a low voice. He looked at her like she was some kind of puzzle he was trying to figure out.
"This is my favorite song of theirs," she replied, pulling a piece of her hair in front of her face in mild embarrassment as she realized she was totally nerding out in front of this boy.
He leaned back and crossed his arms, amusement playing on his face as he looked her over.
"You know, not many people here care for good music. They'll call you a satanist," He sighed and pursed his lips. "That's what they call me." He gave a small shrug and took another puff of the joint before handing it to her.
She took it, the smile falling from her face. "Their opinion doesn't matter to me," She asserted. "I spent way too long giving a shit what other people think of me. It's such a waste of life." She thought back to before her father had died. She'd been so depressed, even thought of ending it all to escape. And everything she'd ever done had been to make other people happy. She hated thinking of all the things she'd missed for the sake of keeping up appearances. She never wanted to be in that place again. She shook herself out of the past and took another hit before passing it across the table.
"Couldn't have said it better myself," He beamed at her answer, his dimples making an appearance. He leaned closer and took the joint out her hand, brushing his finger tip across hers.
"Do you flirt with every girl this hard?" she pondered sarcastically. She was definitely getting more bold as she smoked, but the idea amused her. Maybe he had a bad boy thing going on with all the girls at this school.
"I don't really talk to any other girls," he disclosed. "Like I said they label you a satanist, but there are a few here and there that want a certain thing from me, Usually drugs." He posited between hits.
Vix gave him a disbelieving look. He was far too well practiced at getting under people's skin for her to believe he didn't do it with everyone.
Eddie shook his head smiling, noticing her suspicion. "Seriously, I just like throwing people off. Shows me who they really are, breaks the pretense." He chuckled and handed her the joint.
"So you're telling me you just like getting people all riled up huh?" She asked skeptically, her fingers bringing the joint to her mouth.
"That is exactly what I'm saying," He maintained. "Gets people out of their comfort zone. Plus it's just fun to watch you get all hot and bothered," he added with a cocky grin.
"I am not hot and bothered, you're gonna have to try much harder than that if you want to get me hot." she said nonchalantly, waving him away.
""Have you ever done blow-backs," he asked, with a wicked grin. He had obviously thought himself up to the challenge.
She hadn't but the implication of getting that close to him gave her butterflies in her stomach.
She hesitated before answering "No," then immediately mentally kicking herself for not lying.
"Do you want to?" he asked in a low voice, his eyes hooded and mischievous.
She bit her lip, considering it, and brought the joint to her mouth in a silent answer, inhaling and holding it.
He stood and cupped his hands on either side of her mouth creating a little tunnel as she exhaled. He breathed it in and slowly sat back down before blowing it to the side.
She felt a blush creeping into her cheeks and looked down at the table. Why was this so weirdly erotic? He hadn't even gotten that close to her. She felt like a total idiot.
Eddie had a sly look on his face as he took note of her red cheeks. "See, it's fun." he said, plucking the joint from her hand with a cheeky smile.
Why was the way he looked at her making her feel so warm? It was like a fire had started in her veins at his flirty antics.
She nibbled the inside of her lip as she glanced up at him before laughing at herself being so bashful. So what if this was dumb? It was fun, and she had resolved to do things she wanted to hadn't she?
Eddie started chuckling with her and bit his lip. He took another hit and beckoned her forward. It was her turn to stand and cup her hands around his mouth.
He exhaled and she breathed in the smoke. A hint of mint mixed with the weed, she noted as she slowly sat back down. She held the smoke for a moment then exhaled.
"So Vixen, what your deal? You're a badass chick who kicks Jocks around huh?" He leaned back, passing the joint back to her.
"Not usually, but I do when they think they can tell me what to do," She replied, taking a drag off the joint. She'd nearly forgotten the dumb jock and his posse from this morning after having so much fun during their rendezvous. She exhaled the smoke and passed the joint back.
"Carver and his little minions are dicks. He probably wanted to see if he could get in your pants," Eddie said with a shrug, a tinge of irritation in his voice. He took a drag and held it for a few moments before letting it go.
"Funny way to do it," Vix said, rolling her eyes. She'd had plenty of experience with boys trying to possess her like that. Better men had failed.
"He has a girlfriend, but she's a good little Christian girl. I feel bad for her because he most certainly sleeps around with the other cheerleaders. She's just a status symbol for him." Eddie said coolly as he passed her the joint. "He was testing to see if you could be a new plaything, is my best guess, but since you kicked him into a locker I doubt he'll give you too much trouble."
"That sounds way too familiar for comfort," Vix replied with a sigh. "Believe it or not I used to be just like her. Not the Christian part, but I was a cheerleader with a shitty boyfriend. He dumped me when my dad died and I quit cheer. Guess I stopped being useful to him," Vix tried to hide the anger bubbling up in her at the memory of Jackson telling her they 'were just too different' then seeing him make out with her best friend, at the time, at a party three days later.
"Fucking scumbag," Eddie replied shaking his head. His voice had a touch of venom in it and his lip curled up. He sighed and returned to his trademark grin. "Well too bad for him, he missed out on one hell of a ride I'm sure." He joked with a chuckle.
Vix scoffed at the thought and took a drag of the joint. It was helping all those bad thoughts melt away which was nice. She needed to forget about all that bullshit. None of those people mattered anymore anyway.
"What about you?" Vix asked, trying to change the topic from her dreary thoughts. "What's your deal?" she passed the joint back to him before he answered.
He took it and leaned back slightly. "My deal? I'm just some freak who likes metal and fantasy games," Eddie shrugged with a goofy grin, displaying his dimples.
"Well it's nice to meet a fellow freak then," She replied with a smile of her own. She felt like a cloud floating in the little clearing.
Eddie finished off the joint and put it out on the table before tossing it into his lunchbox. He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath, obviously feeling the effects of the weed himself.
In the distance Vix heard a ringing, but she was too stoned to realize what it was.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, resting his arms on the table and looking at her with glazed eyes.
"So good," she replied with a giggle. Her head felt lighter than it had in months. No worries or cares to be seen. She just wanted to sit here and stare at this boy's face for the rest of the day.
"You're totally baked," he noted with a chuckle as she stared hazeley at him.
"As a cake." she replied with a wide goofy smile.
"Well miss cake, that was the 7th period bell. You'd better get to your studies." he said in a jokingly stern voice.
"Ugh, it's just independent study." she moaned. "Will they really miss me that much?" she really didn't want to go all the way to the library just to pretend to do homework she'd already almost finished in her other classes. Not that she could get anything useful done in her state. She hadn't been this baked since the first time she'd smoked with Axel back home.
"Well if you want, we could just stay out here and shoot the shit." he said gesturing to the small clearing they resided in.
"Don't you have a class to get to?" she asked, mimicking his 'stern' voice.
"Nope, I passed one class last semester so I didn't have to repeat it this year. I have the rest of the day to fuck around as I please." He replied, leaning back and closing his eyes.
She noticed a tattoo peeking out from his collar and leaned up to get a better look. She was nearly on top of the table when he opened his eyes again. He pulled back, surprised before noticing where her eyes had focused.
He pulled down his collar to give her a better look with a smirk. It was a demonic zombie face.
'Very fitting' she thought with a smile.
"I have a friend a couple towns over that's apprenticing and needed to practice." he said as he took note of her smile. "Got it for free."
"Very cool." she said lazily, sitting back down.
"You'd look great with some sweet tatties" he said in a low voice, leaning forward slightly.
"I want them, but I'm not sure what I'd get," she said, shrugging. 'Something to do with music' she thought to herself.
"Well if you ever decide I got a guy." he said leaning back, obviously pleased with himself.
"Maybe if I show him my tits he'll give me a free one too," She giggled, she was so high. Why the hell had she said that? She wasn't normally so lude. 'Ugh high me is gonna be the death of me' she thought to herself.
Eddie laughed at her, taken aback by the sudden comment. "Oh I'm positive he would." He was obviously very high himself because he was laughing far too hard at that joke.
Vix found herself giggling along with him, at the absurdity that was this moment.
Eddie slowly brought himself out of the laughing fit and reached over to his jacket, grabbing a cigarette from his inner jacket pocket and lighting it. He took a drag from it and placed his hand on the table, looking at her with glassy eyes.
"You're more fun when you're not trying to dislike me," He quipped, his face still light and playful, but the words cut her deeper than she'd like.
"I wasn't trying to dislike you Eddie," she retorted. "I was trying to figure out why you were being so nice to me." her expression was irritated. "No one has ever been nice to me without cause. There is always a motive."
Eddie's face fell a bit at her admittance as he considered her words for a moment. "Well other than thinking you're cool and wanting to get to know you I'm not sure what else I could want from you." He posited with a shrug, taking another drag from his cigarette.
Vix had already considered that of course. He knew nothing about her. She wasn't rich, or popular, or connected in any way. The only thing he could really want was her time and possible friendship. It was an odd thought because the only real friend she'd ever had was Axel. He'd stuck by her side through everything that had happened, even after she'd treated him like shit for a few years when she'd become a cheerleader.
"Yeah I know. That's why I'm weary," she admitted with a shrug. Her high was certainly not as pleasant anymore now that her brain was circling that drain. She looked down at the table biting her lip in thought.
"Hey Vix." Eddie was bent forward, his neck craned under her hanging head, to try and catch her eye. "I promise I'm not gonna use you. I just want to get to know you and maybe be your friend if you'll have me." His eyes were concerned and his voice sincere. He slowly reached out to brush a lock of hair from her face with a small smile.
Vix lifted her head, her eyes remaining on him and she mirrored his small smile. "I guess I could stand to keep you around," she said, her smile growing as he threw a fist in the air.
"Hell yeah!" He exclaimed, his excitement contagious. He just seemed so full of life. It was something she wanted for herself, to be that excited about life.
He might be trouble, but he was the kind of trouble worth getting into.