We peeked out to check the concession table to see if any teachers or chaperones were around. Eddie wasn't too worried about seeing students, they were used to him and his antics and probably wouldn't care. We didn't want to get caught by any of the teachers who knew Eddie was banished from the dance. As if that was an actual punishment, he wouldn't be caught dead here normally. It was the fact that it was now off limits that was enticing and empowered us to come up with our plan.

"Here's what we're going to do," I said decisively. Eddie gave me a quizzical look, still questioning my sudden enthusiasm. "I'm going to go towards the dance floor and act like I'm looking for a friend. You head towards the punch bowl with both cups, walking parallel to the table. When you get close, I'll create a distraction. That should cause enough of a disturbance that people will turn towards the commotion. You dump the cups, and meet me back here. If it goes well, we move on to step two. If it goes wrong, you get caught and I just look stupid. Deal?"

"Where did this Annie come from? What kind of distraction?" he asked, a look of wonder and admiration crossing his face.

"I'll think of something. What, you don't like it?"

"No, I love it. Subtle with just enough chaos."

"We don't have much time so let's get going," I said, as I began walking out onto the dance floor.

I still hadn't really run into any of my friends at the dance. Only Grace knew of my plan to sneak Eddie in, but even she didn't know what our actual plan was. I was hesitant to tell my other close friends, Claire and Eve, knowing they'd judge me immediately. They already thought it was odd that I was even willing to tutor Munson. They considered him a lost cause, and a freak, just like everybody else. I hadn't been super honest about our budding friendship.

After a few moments of searching, I could see that Claire and Eve were hanging just on the edge of the dance floor. They were a funny juxtaposition that people always pointed out. Claire stood 5'11" and towered over all the girls, and half of the boys in our class. Eve was 4'10" on a good day, and tiny. She would probably be mistaken for a freshmen long after we graduated. Eve looked eager to join the crowd in their dancing , but Claire just looked bummed out. It appeared as though their dates, two juniors from the marching band, weren't too eager to actually dance. I decided to avoid them for now, there wasn't time for explanations. I pushed my way in the middle of the dancers, acting like I was looking for somebody. I took one glance back at Eddie and saw he was nearly at the punch bowls. Now was my moment.

I let out a blood curdling scream and grabbed at my hair, shaking it and flailing. "Spider! There is a spider in my hair!" I shouted, frantically batting at my head and pretending I was terrified. God I hope this worked, I felt stupid acting like a ditz.

It worked instantaneously, and a little too well. Just about everyone in a 50 foot radius turned to look at me. The only thing that didn't stop was the music.

"Annie? Are you okay?" I heard coming somewhere from my left. It was my friend Grace, and she hurried to my side. She was wearing a light blue silky dress, her dark hair in a high ponytail. It looked so tight as thought it was causing blood to rush to her head. And she didn't look pleased to see me. She had been counting on me to arrive before the other students and was willing to bend the rules for me, and I bailed on her.

Everyone was still watching me. I hope the embarrassment was worth it and Eddie was able to successfully spike the punch because otherwise I just looked like a scared idiot.

"Yeah, I'm okay. A spider hanging from the ceiling dropped onto my head! Thank god you're here Grace." I said, pulling her into a hug. Slowly, students around us realized nothing was actually wrong and got back into what they had been up to before the disturbance.

"But Annie, you're not afraid of-" Grace began to say.

"Shhh" I whispered into her ear. She was going to say I'm not afraid of spiders, which is technically correct, but there was no time to explain.

"Annie, you were supposed to be here at 7:45, I waited for you… what exactly are you and Munson up to?" Grace asked.

"I'd rather not explain…" I said. I saw the look on her face change from concern to apathy. Before i could ask why, I heard a voice coming from behind me.

"Have you ever considered a career in acting?" I turned around to see Eddie had joined me in the middle of the dance floor.

"Eddie!" I said through my teeth, pulling him into our little group trying to make sure no one saw him.

"I'll leave you two alone…" Grace said, waving her hand dismissively and turning to go. I knew she wasn't too fond of being blown off, and she wasn't afraid to show it.

"Gracie, wait." I pleaded. I knew I had been neglecting our friendship as of late and I did not want to keep driving a wedge between us.

"Hey, I get it," she said, giving me a sympathetic smile. "I'll see you on Sunday, right?" She asked. We had made plans to review each other's English papers on Chaucer.

"Sunday. Chaucer. I'm there." With that, she left, headed towards Eve and Claire.

I turned back to Eddie. "What happened to meeting back at the bleachers?" I asked, a little panicked.

"Mr. Clark was shooing people away, I guess some kids picked up that its a good makeout spot."

"How did it go?" I asked, regarding the punch bowl operation.

"Flawlessly. Your little stunt had everyone looking the other way. Oscar worthy performance, darling" he said giving me a little bow. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Who knew I had it in me, I felt incredibly silly doing it. Crap, Mr Clarke alert." I said. The science teacher was walking amongst the dancing students, talking and mingling with the doofiest smile on his face. He was an engaged and dedicated teacher, but unfortunately school dances were his bread and butter. It was sweet how much he cared about students, but also made me seriously question his social life outside of school. He was getting closer, so I did the first thing I could think of, and grabbed Eddie forward to pretend to dance. I put my hand on the back of his head and pushed his face down onto my chest to rest against my collar bone. The goal was to hide him from being recognized, and hopefully we'd blend in as just another passionate and hopeless couple. A slow song was playing already, and everyone around us was in similar throes of awkward teenage swaying.

Eddie assumed his position a little too comfortably and I began swaying us along to the music, his face firmly planted in the crook of my neck. "Crazy for You" by Madonna was playing over the stereo, and the lights in the gym dimmed. The song had come out earlier this year, and hadn't stopped playing on the radio since.

"He is way too into this whole chaperone thing" I whispered about Mr. Clarke. "It's like he finds this fun."

"I find this fun." Eddie said, his words mumbled against my skin. His face was inching lower on my chest as we rocked back and forth. I gave him a light tap on the back of his head.

"Don't get used to it, this is over as soon as I find us an out," I said playfully.

We swayed along to the song slowly as I kept an eye out for potential disasters. Mr Clarke was still hovering nearby, casually suggesting couples who were getting a little too frisky to separate themselves. I began to hum along quietly as Madonna crooned.

Slowly now we begin to move

Every breath I'm deeper into you

Soon we two are standing still in time

If you read my mind you'll see

I'm crazy for you

Touch me once and you know it's true

I never wanted anyone like this

It's all brand new

You'll feel it in my kiss

I'm crazy for you

"So you're a Madonna girl," Eddie said as a question, pulling his head up just a little to look up.

"My mom is a Madonna girl," I laughed, looking down at him. There was something solemn and sweet in his eyes. Like he enjoyed this simple moment dancing to a cheesy pop song more than he'd be willing to admit.

I broke his eye contact and looked up for a moment. Shit. Couldn't we have one moment of peace? Kurt had caught my eyes and was headed right my way. He looked pointedly disappointed that I was swaying with a boy who wasn't him, and he wasn't going to let it go.

"Shit shit shit" I said, turning our bodies so my back was turned to Kurt and pretending like I hadn't seen him.

"What is it?" Eddie asked, as I pushed his face firmly back in my collarbone.

"Kurt." I said, quietly. I tried to spin us as inconspicuously as possible towards the other side of the dance floor but it was futile. The area we were in was now packed with lovedrunk slow dancers and we'd have to push them out of the way to escape.

In just a few seconds, Kurt had made his way over. He stood right behind Eddie and face to face with me.

"Hey, you're dancing with my girl!" Kurt said, grabbing Eddie by the shoulders and plucking him forcefully out of my arms. You could tell immediately he was shocked to see that of all people it was Eddie Munson who was wrapped around me.

"She doesn't belong to you, man, and get your hands off of me." Eddie said through gritted teeth, ripping his shoulders out of Kurt's grasp. No one hated guys like Kurt more than Eddie. Still, he kept his voice low as to not attract any more attention.

"Annie, you promised you'd find me for a dance," Kurt said loudly, grabbing my hand and starting to put his other arm around my waist.

"Don't fucking touch her," Eddie said, his voice raised.

"What makes you think I won't kick your ass Munson?" Kurt said smugly. He had 100 pounds on Eddie easily, and he knew it. My hand was still grasped in his and he was squeezing it harder than I would have cared for.

"You fucking-" Eddie began, about to pull out every curse word and bad name he had stored in his arsenal, as he moved to get in between us. It wasn't worth all this commotion.

"Eddie, he's right. I did say I would dance with him…" I said with a slightly raised voice, resigned to dancing with the doof. I'd rather do that if it meant diffusing the tension. I put the arm that wasn't caught in Kurt's hand on top of his tall shoulder.

"Get fucking lost, Munson." Kurt said, a smugness to his tone as if he had actually won this battle. Eddie gave me a look as if he couldn't believe I would actually be letting this happen.

"Go outside and do step two, and I'll meet you after," I said, giving Eddie a pleading look. I could handle this scenario with Kurt if he just calmed down.

I could see unhappiness was written all over his face at the idea of leaving me with Kurt, but he gave me a small nod and headed for the front door. He was moving quickly, pushing his way past the people in the way.

As soon as he was out of sight, Kurt roughly pulled me in closer. Somewhere in his dumb brain I bet he thought he was being charming fighting for the girl. I wasn't prepared to be flung around like a rag doll tonight, but I tried to calm myself down with a few breaths. I feigned no enthusiasm, but the least I could do was be pleasant.

"So what are you doing with the freak Munson anyway?"

"It's an extra credit assignment for French class, and he's actually been really decent tonight," I said, not trying to push the issue.

"Yeah, okay. The dude is a creep," Kurt snorted. I said nothing. "He failed senior year twice and I bet he'll do it again. What a loser."

"He's on track to graduate this year." I said quietly, defending my friend. Kurt didn't care. "I'm going out for a football scholarship to play at IU. If i keep it up, I'll probably have a full ride next fall. I'm the type of guy you should be going for Annie."

Once again, I said nothing. If I had, he would've been getting an earful of my true thoughts about him. My eyes scanned the crowd as I craned my neck looking for anyone who might recognize what was happening and interrupt us.

"You know," Kurt continued, emboldened by his "defeat" of Eddie. "When that Byers kid went missing a few years ago, I was sure it was that freak Munson that was responsible. Like he kidnapped him or something."

"Why the fuck would you say that?" I asked, rage building in my voice as I dropped my arms and began to disentangle myself from his grasp but he wouldn't budge. I don't even know why he would say such a thing. Everyone knew that Will Byers' disappearance was a sore subject and incredible tragedy for the whole town. Moreover, Eddie had nothing to do with it.

"Because it's true. He probably experimented on the poor kid until he decided to let him go because he got bored." Kurt snorted.

My hand moved faster than my brain, and without thought I slapped Kurt clear across his face. I was pissed, and my hand stung from slap. Whatever low cover I was trying to keep was completely blown. A few people nearby who saw the altercation gasped.

"What the HELL!" He screamed, grabbing his face with one hand and my other arm forcefully.

"Get the FUCK off of me, Kurt" I said in a curt voice. "What the fuck is wrong with you!" I squirmed out of his grasp as everyone around us once again stopped to stare. Look at me, attracting all the attention tonight. I wanted to scream.

I quickly turned and ran as fast as my heels would allow to the front entrance of the gym, tears welling in my eyes. My heart felt like it was pounding out of my chest, and I was seeing red. I didn't stop until I opened the front door and stepped out into the cool night.

I didn't know where Eddie was, and was fully prepared to just wait out the rest of the night at his uncle's car. I got past some of the students that were lingering at the front door and began walking into the parking lot. But it wasn't long until I saw Eddie across the way leaning against a car with his Hellfire Club buddies Gareth and Jeff, Mike Wheeler and Dustin Henderson.

Eddie had one of the blunts in between his fingers and he was about to strike his lighter when he saw me. We made eye contact and he could immediately tell something was wrong.

"Wait here a sec…" I heard him say to his friends, passing the blunt and lighter into Mike's hands before he had a chance to decline. I stopped on the sidewalk and Eddie jogged the couple of paces it took to get to where I was.

"We might need to get out of here," I said hurriedly with panic in my words. The tears that were building in my eyes spilled out and I quickly wiped them away. I would not allow myself to cry further, but I was still so angry.

"Why, Annie, what happened?" Concern was all over his face.

"I slapped Kurt Douglas in the face defending your honor." I blurted out, disbelieving my words or what had just happened.

After a brief moment of silence and absolute confusion on his face, he said "That's… a lot to unpack in one sentence." Then he let out a small chuckle and sympathetic smile. I was shaking my hands out, my wrist still stinging from hitting Kurt so hard. Eddie pulled me into a hug, this time pulling my head onto his chest and resting his hand on the back of my head to calm me down. "Atta girl" he whispered into my ear, and placed his lips briefly on the side of my head. I allowed myself to relax my body into his embrace.