The Hideout, once inside, was precisely how Chrissy would have guessed it was; dingy, probably hadn't seen a good clean since the 70s, full of smoke and vapors, and a little claustrophobic. But, as she settled into one of the booths and took a good look around, she realized that the standoffish appearance from the outside was just a well-worn cover; in reality, this place made her feel more welcome than anywhere else. The people here were greeting each other with smiles and happy welcomes. The patrons were laughing with the bartenders. People were saving seats for each other. There was laughter over the jukebox's sound system that made her just feel like she was coming home to something.
It wasn't obvious. It wasn't in-your-face. Chrissy reckoned that if she'd never befriended Eddie, she would have turned her nose up at this joint like her fellow cheerleaders were doing now.
But Chrissy saw more.
She saw a place that welcomed those that felt left out, those that were unsure of where they fit in the world.
Chrissy wondered if, in time, they'd take her in too?
Jess went to get their drinks. She was the one with the most sex appeal (her claim, not Chrissy's) and figured that if anyone was going to turn a blind eye to these mostly underaged girls, it would be because of Jess. Only Donna was legally 18, but she looked like she was about 15 and had forgotten her wallet, oh so conveniently.
Tina gave a shrill, piercing gasp that had Chrissy whip her head around so fast that it hurt her neck a bit.
"Chrissy, oh my god," Tina whispered, her eyes wide, "Don't freak out with what I'm about to tell you."
"What?" Chrissy sighed, having decided since returning that Tina's whiny voice drove her up a wall. She wasn't sure how she ignored it before.
"That bad that Eddie's in. That weird one. It's playing here tonight."
Tina started gathering her things even as she spoke. The rest of the girls looked at Chrissy, waiting for her to say something. Their eyes were wide and their expressions were terrified.
She couldn't very well say she came here tonight specifically for them, could she?
"That's such bad luck," Michelle lamented, "You heard about this place from Jason, right?" She twirled a strand of her hair.
"I did," Chrissy confirmed. She pretended to deeply consider her options, "It seems silly to leave now, doesn't it, though? We all found an excuse to come out here. We've already paid for our cover tickets. And we're about to get drinks." She pointed to where Jess had convinced a tatted bartender to bring over their drinks on a platter, as she batted her eyelashes and giggled in his direction, "I'm fine." She said firmly.
"My God, where has this Chrissy been hiding?" Midge laughed as she reached for the tray of vodka-lemonades, exactly the type of drink Jess would have ordered them all.
"I just…" Chrissy swallowed, "I nearly died! And I realized that I might want to live a bit sometimes. And drink." She said. This was actually her first time tasting any alcohol other than sips of wine at weddings. If they knew that she was smoking weed on the regular, her team may have a heart attack. It seemed a bit strange to go in this order, didn't it? Weed then vodka?
She digressed.
"Three cheers to new Chrissy!" Jess giggle-hiccuped, an indicator she'd likely already taken at least one shot at the bar. All the girls clinked their glasses together, drawing attention to their table. Chrissy saw Eddie pop his head out of the curtain from the corner of her eye, and she forced herself to stare down at the table, reminding herself that if they figure out she wanted him, it would all be over.
She looked back up just as Eddie was retreating and she was sure she saw a stupid grin on his face.
"So does that mean you'll be getting wasted with Jason at his parties, then?" Tina asked, "He really misses you whenever you're not there."
"I don't think so," Chrissy scrunched up her nose, "One step at a time."
"Wonder if they're any good," Sharon said, looking over her shoulder at the currently-empty stage.
"They can't be bad, can they? It looks like they have a running gig with the bar every Tuesday." Donna pointed out, citing the poster they had hung up on the wall, "I don't think rock is really my thing, but whatever. As long as there's alcohol here…" She shrugged.
If all the things in the world didn't matter, Chrissy probably would have invited Cheryl. She imagined that Cheryl likely had more interest in these sorts of bands than any of her cheerleading teammates.
But she didn't on two accounts.
One; Vince had asked if she could bring cheerleaders. Chrissy was a girl of her word. It didn't take that much convincing; frankly. The closer every inched toward graduation, the more that people were dying to wreak a little havoc and rebel. All she had to say was 'alcohol' and half the team was down.
Secondly, Cheryl may not be the brightest school-wise, but she certainly had some raw intelligence that made her more street-savvy than Chrissy ever was. And she wasn't stupid. Chrissy knew that if she were in a situation with Chrissy and Eddie in the same room long enough, she'd no doubt figure out who Chrissy's secret man was.
She wasn't ready for that conversation with anyone else right now.
By the time the lights dimmed and someone killed the jukebox, Jess was on what appeared to be her third drink (and was reaching the bottom quickly) and other girls were nearing their second. Chrissy had been slowly sipping on hers, hardly halfway through. She didn't think this was the time to get drunk. She didn't trust herself, or what she may say in front of them, and honestly, the taste of the vodka was making her feel a bit sick.
If she did go for something else, she'd ask for different alcohol.
The band came out, all wearing shredded shirts with the name of their band, with leather jackets over top. Chrissy saw Eddie's eyes flicker around, and they paused, just for a moment, on her.
"I'm sure they didn't expect to see us here," Midge said, waving to the band as though they were all best friends, "You know, if they're not bad, maybe I could get used to this."
"You just like the cheap booze," Donna rolled her eyes.
"Okay, you've got me," Midge readily agreed, "Wonder if they have other live nights. Oh! Like a karaoke night!"
Chrissy laughed at the idea of many of these leather-clad and grumpy-looking dudes getting up and singing metal songs into a microphone. Or, even funnier, that half of them would get up and sing Celine Dion or Dolly Parton.
"Jason comes on Billards Night. He says he's practicing his game," Chrissy offered, "So there must be theming most nights."
"Ew," Tina said, "That sounds so boring."
Luckily, Chrissy agreed.
They opened with a song Chrissy didn't really know. That would be a theme for most of the night. Although Chrissy was certainly not a teenie-bopper as Eddie has so rudely assumed, it didn't mean her deep-cut knowledge of rock music was up to par either.
She had to say, though. She enjoyed this, enough to want to learn more.
She was relieved to see that the other girls seemed to be, at the bare minimum, somewhat enjoying themselves. Jess was very into it, though she was also very drunk, so Chrissy wasn't sure that her stamp of approval truly counted.
Donna seemed to know most of the songs, which shocked everyone. When in between a song Chrissy asked her, Donna shrugged shyly.
"My dad's big into this. I was sort of afraid I'd see him here tonight and have a lot of explaining to do," She said, "It's all I hear at home."
"It sounds like a racket," Tina decided, "I don't think it's for me. But it's been so long since the seniors on the team have been out together, aww, guys!"
And it was true. Even before Chrissy had nearly died, this group of seniors was only interacting at practice, if that. It was always an excuse; Chrissy hanging out with Jason, Donna having her Model UN club, Michelle working at her mother's beauty parlor after school…
While Chrissy wouldn't call any of these girls her best friends, she remembered how close they were freshman year when they all made the cut onto the cheerleading team. The fact they'd let their friendships get so fractured did upset her a bit.
She wasn't going to throw all her freetime at them, but they would all be off soon, to bigger and better things. At least a few nights with them to reminisce couldn't be terrible, could it?
"You know," Midge said, wiggling a finger, "Musicians are sexy. Doesn't matter what sort of music they're playing. They're sorta just…dreamy. And if they can play that with their hands," She raised an eyebrow, "What else can they play?" She said with a wink.
"Midge!" Michelle covered her mouth to stop a squawk, "That's so dirty!"
Chrissy had to laugh into her elbow because wasn't that exactly what Vince had claimed at the practice?
"Oh, we're nearly in college. It's not like all of you aren't thinking about it all the time," She huffed, "Except maybe Chrissy. Straight-laced virgin and all."
Chrissy hadn't told many people she and Jason had sex that one time and she was perfectly fine to keep it that way.
She just shrugged; she was in no rush to correct them. It would fair better if they imagined her to be innocent and naive. She figured that no one would expect that she had her eyes set on Eddie.
"It's super fun, you should, Chrissy! Do I need to give Jason some pointers?" Jess said, folding over Chrissy.
"Uh, no, that's okay. We're just waiting for the right time." She said.
"You nearly died! Live a little! Be slutty!" Jess whispered, or pretended to whisper, but in reality, it was quite loud.
"Jess, you might want to, erm, keep it down a little," Donna winced, "You're gathering attention." She said.
"Oh. Oops." Jess giggled, reaching for a drink. Not hers; Chrissy's. Logic told Chrissy she should stop her but she wasn't finishing it anyway. She was already starting to feel a little floaty.
"You know," Midge decided, scrutinizing the band, "Not terrible. I could go for one of them."
Chrissy sobered immediately.
"What?"
"I bet it would blow their mind to get with a cheerleader," Midge continued, "I'd be doing a civil service, basically. They'd be so grateful. Jeff-,"
"Is dating someone, so good luck," Chrissy said, feeling a need to protect not just Eddie but the entire band.
"How do you know that?" Michelle frowned.
"Evelyn, right?" Sharon spoke up, "They've been going steady since sophomore year. I can't believe you didn't know that."
"Oh, well," Midge shrugged, "I don't really take time to notice weirdos. Until now." She licked her lips, "I wonder if Eddie's as violent in bed as he is in real life," She whispered, her eyes never leaving his figure rocking out on the stage, "A think sometimes I'd like that; someone to just grab my throat and-,"
"Midge!" Chrissy stuttered, shaking her head.
"Super uncool Midge," Donna crossed her arms, "He nearly killed Chrissy!"
"Sorry," Midge said, face growing red, "I guess that's a sore subject, huh?"
Chrissy shuttered, unable to find a way to answer anything.
"I think he's defiantly off-limits," Sharon announced, "Because of what happened with Chrissy. Agreed. Midge?" She added sharply.
Chrissy let out a sigh of relief. Not that Eddie would go for Midge (she didn't think) but she wasn't prepared to have to fight someone over him.
"Fine," Midge pouted, "But what about the rest of the band?"
Everyone looked at Chrissy. Though she didn't want any of them getting too close to those boys, she didn't have a good answer why. The rest of the band had nothing to do with her near-death.
"Fine," Chrissy said, "Not like I care."
Why should she?
"I call that one!" Midge said, pointing to Gareth. Chrissy bit her tongue from correcting Midge from 'that one' to Gareth, because what business did she have to know any of their names?
"That just leaves the fat one," Tina sighed longingly.
"Well hell," Jess shoved Tina, "A boy like that at least knows the best places to eat. I can get down with that."
Chrissy was pleased to see a couple of other girls were staring at Tina with frowns as well. She bit her lip from jumping up and saying that Vince was actually really kind and sweet and sort of like a puppy dog.
As the night drew to a close, Chrissy was shocked it was nearly 11 pm. The girls stuck around, moving through the crowd. A few were chatted up by some of the audience members, and Jess was offered another shot last Chrissy saw her. She had half a mind to keep an eye on Jess until someone grasped her wrist and pulled her through a fabric-covered door.
She went to cry out, but someone put their hand over her mouth. She started to panic until she felt the body behind her and, without knowing for sure but somehow also being aware, she relaxed.
"Don't scare me like that!" She hissed, turning around to see Eddie in a dingy stairwell. He motioned for her to come outside into the warming air of the night.
"You came," He said, as though he couldn't believe it.
Chrissy shook her head, "Of course I did, Eddie."
"And you brought…cheerleaders…" Eddie seemed less than thrilled at that, but snorted, "Vince nearly had a nosebleed when he saw."
"Well, needed a cover to come. Wasn't about to walk in here alone, get people talking."
"Uhm, I think people were already talking. Seven half-drunk cheer seniors at a place like this?" He motioned around, "I mean, I'm in my element- from the half-crumbling bricks to the bathrooms that smell like armpit, to the ripped leather seats. But you?"
"Call it a cultural field trip," Chrissy said, leaning back against the wall, "We shouldn't be talking. If someone finds us…"
Eddie sighed, "I know. I know. I just…"
"Didn't think I'd actually come?"
Eddie gave a half-smile, "Yeah, something like that."
"I should get back in. Before the girls start catfight over your bandmates."
Eddie laughed sharply then blinked twice, "Damn, you're serious?"
"Unfortunately. I think they just like the naughtiness of it." She said, crossing her arms, "Your band could do better."
"My, my, is Chrissy a bit protective of us? Us poor emo outcasts?"
She felt her cheeks blush as Eddie nailed it, "Perhaps a bit."
"They're big boys. They can decide for themselves," Eddie assured her.
Back inside, most of the girls had scattered by Chrissy (who came in a few moments after Eddie) saw Midge up and giggly next to Gareth. And Jess was drunkenly fawning over Vince, who looked like he'd won the lottery.
That is until Jess vomited all over.
At once, the bar owner was descending upon Jess and the rest of the girls vanished, leaving Vince, Eddie, and Chrissy to drag Jess outside to her car.
"I should stay with her," Chrissy sighed.
"Nice of the rest of 'em to leave you with her," Eddie grumbled, "You're a good person, Cunningham."
She dumped Jess in the back of the car and went over to the payphone outside of the bar.
"Man, start cleaning up, alright?" Eddie punched Vince's shoulder, "Good job tonight. I'll be in soon." As soon as Vince left, Eddie shook his head, "Jess talking to him I think made his entire year."
Chrissy frowned, not wanting to say she was just really drunk. Jess was sort of an airhead, but she wasn't cruel at least.
"You can leave," She said, tilting her head. She didn't want him to, but she had no idea where the rest of the team was right now, and if they saw them together-,
"If one of the cheer robots appears, you have permission to call me a bag of dicks and slap me," Eddie said, lounging against the side of the phone booth, "But I need to make sure you're safe too. Just tell 'em I was trying to apologize, but you really showed me."
"They would never believe that I would call anyone a bag of…" She couldn't even finish.
"Maybe I bring out violence in you. Who knows?" He shrugged. When she fished for her pockets and realized she had no change, Eddie gladly handed her a handful of quarters.
She called her mom to say she was spending the night with Jess. Her mother was thrilled she was reconnecting with her cheer team. It would have been alright if she didn't continue to say, "Dear, Jason was trying to get a hold of you. He sounded awful. You should call him back."
Chrissy winced hard, "Fine, fine, I'll call him." She said, "I'm just tired." she said, realizing how that sounded to someone else, how much she didn't want to call her boyfriend.
She dialed Jason next. Eddie moved closer to her, as though he was going to attack Jason via the phone if need be.
"We're supposed to go to view colleges tomorrow," Chrissy explained as the phone rung, "We applied to all the same schools, so…" She swallowed. Before, she had been so excited to continue her adult life with Jason. Now, she wanted to go wherever he wasn't going. But she still wanted to see the campuses to make the choice.
Eddie opened his mouth to talk but Chrissy shushed him quickly as Jason picked up.
"Chrissy…babe…" Jason did sound like hell warmed over. He sneezed so loudly that Eddie heard it too.
"What's wrong?" Chrissy asked, trying to sound concerned.
"I picked up a…" he sneezed again, "Flu. Mom says I have a fever."
"Ohh, poor baby," Chrissy said, trying not to look at Eddie as she lied over the phone, "I would come over, but Jess is super drunk and the rest of the girls took off and-,"
"You're so kind, babe. Always helping others." He coughed violently, "I know we were supposed to go college campus looking tomorrow. I'll rally, I'll-,"
"No!" Chrissy said a bit too forcefully, "I mean, you wouldn't get anything out of the tours. I'll report back which ones are best for us, okay? You just rest up. I'll come by tomorrow, I promise."
"Are you sure? You need to look at the sports programs, and I know those confuse you, hun."
Chrissy grasped the cord of the phone, pressing her lips into a thin line, "I'll manage."
"That's…okay…" Jason was no doubt semi-high on flu meds, otherwise, she had a feeling it would be a much bigger fight.
She gave him some barf-worthy terms of endearment before hanging up.
"Is it bad of me that I hope he dies from that flu?" Eddie asked sourly.
"A little, yes," Chrissy said.
"Okay, well, I still hope he does."
Chrissy called her house phone one last time, praying silently that the right parent would pick up. Thankfully it was indeed her father, who must have been on his way to bed.
She launched into a long, teary-eyed explanation about how sick Jason was and how she already had the tours set up and didn't want to lose any more meaningful school days by having to take off another day to re-tour the campuses, and couldn't he just let Chrissy use his car? She started to cry at the end, and she's sure that's what clinched it.
"I'm just worried about you all alone, dear," Her father said with a long sigh, "Jason going with you made us feel much better…"
"Daddy, I'm almost in college. I have to do things myself eventually, don't I?" She said, praying he'd agree, "It's just a day. I'll call you at every single campus, just to check-in, I promise."
There was a long silence before her father finally relented, "You will call at every gas station, every diner, every place you go that has a phone, I want you to check in Christina Cunningham."
"Of course, thank you, daddy! I'll have Jess drop me at home tomorrow! I love you!"
There was a laugh on the other end, "Love you too. I'm just glad you're so excited about college."
"That was…alarming. Please never use that pitch in front of me again. I think my it almost broke my eardrums." Eddie said as she hung up the phone and dropped the remaining quarters back into his hands. There was a moment when their fingers met and it lingered, just longer than it should have.
"I've always been a daddy's girl," Chrissy shrugged, "My mom would have never gone for it. Hopefully, I'll already be gone tomorrow before he mentions it to her." She looked Eddie up and down, "What are you doing tomorrow?"
"Going to school, like a good boy," Eddie said, then laughed, "Just kidding. Probably skipping the first period. Maybe second and third. Who knows?"
"Call in sick. Come with me."
Eddie gave a rickety laugh, "Uhm, Chrissy? Does a two-year repeat seem like college material?" He asked.
"It doesn't matter. I want a travel partner. Please?"
Eddie swallowed, "This seems like a terrible idea, Chrissy."
"No one's gunna know. I don't know anyone else who's going to view colleges tomorrow, so who's gunna see?" She pointed out, "And I don't really want to go alone. Despite what I just told my dad."
Eddie sucked in his cheeks. At Chrissy's pleading expression, he groaned, "You are a criminal, Cunningham. You know I can't say no."
"Perfect!" She resisted the urge to throw herself into his arms for a hug, "I'll see you bright and early, 7 am tomorrow!"
"That sounds literally awful."
"But you'll be with me," Chrissy said, nudging his side, "Bring a mixtape. School me on proper music."
Eddie narrowed his eyes, "You're devious, aren't you?"
Chrissy shrugged, sliding into the driver's seat. Jess was passed out, dead to the world in the back, "I'm trying to be. See you tomorrow morning!"
She drove off, peering back into the rearview mirror to see Eddie shake his head and laugh before going back inside.
An excitement she'd never felt before was bubbling up at the idea of spending a whole day with Eddie away from the judgment of Hawkins and all the gossip with it.