You had only been in Hawkins for a couple of days but already you were getting a little sick of it. You'd only had a couple of days of classes at the High School and were already being pursued rather incessantly by Jason Carver. He had made it clear that he found you attractive and frankly that's all he needed and cared about to make you worthy of his pursuits. You barely knew him, but his hounding was enough to know he wasn't your type. The only relief you had was it was the weekend, and you didn't have to see him for two days.

Nothing could be that simple though. You had decided to go to the mall to get a couple of things you needed for classes and were likely still deeply hidden in the cardboard boxes that filled your home. Minding your own business, you walked through the mall, trying to find the store you needed when you heard your name called by the voice you least wanted to hear.

"Hey Y/N," Jason smiled. "How lucky am I to bump into you?"

You put on a fake smile, wanting to be polite and hope he'd move on quickly.

"I'm sorry Jason, I don't have time to chat," you said apologetically.

He raised an eyebrow. "What's so important, you've got to run off so quickly?"

You tried to think of a good idea that would push him away. You hated that using another male would be your best bet to rid you of him, but if it meant you could have a moment of peace, you would lie your way out of this.

"I'm actually meeting a date," you lied. "He's probably wondering where I am."

Jason didn't seem impressed.

"Who's your date with?" He asked, starting to see through your lies.

You hummed as you thought. You didn't really know anyone's name yet, having barely had a chance to meet people. You looked past Jason and there you saw your saviour. Walking in your direction was the guy who sat in front of you in maths and although you didn't know him personally, you hoped he'd play along.

He did seem a little intimidating with a resting frown upon his face, framed by his long curly brown hair and alternative style; but you had seen him laughing with his friends at lunch and you could only assume he was nice enough and disliked Jason enough to help.

"There he is now," you said with your fake smile, pointing towards him as he neared.

When he was close enough, you bounded to him wrapping your arms around him, confusing the life out of him.

"Please play along," you whispered in his ear before pressing a soft kiss to his cheek.

"Sorry I'm late, I got lost and couldn't find where we said we'd meet for our date," you said, peering out of the corner of your eye at Jason.

He took your hand, giving you a knowing smile.

"It's okay darling. We can go wherever you like; shall we grab some ice cream?" He offered.

"That'd be great," you said before turning back to Jason. "Nice seeing you, we better get going."

Before Jason could say anything else you led your date away and towards the escalator.

Once you were out of earshot you stopped, your face a little flushed from the nerves of having roped this poor guy into your lies.

"I'm sorry for that," you apologised. "Since I moved here, Jason's been laying it on pretty thick, I recognised you from math class and you seemed nice, and I panicked."

A chuckle rumbled through his chest as he raised your hand that he was still holding to his lips.

"I'm glad to be of assistance, Lady Y/N."

You couldn't help your smile.

"How do you know my name?" You questioned

"How could I not know the name of the new girl who was reading The Hobbit at lunch?" He grinned. "I'm Eddie by the way."

"You like Tolkien?"

He nodded his head, his free hand running through his messy hair.

"Maybe we could talk about it whilst we go get that ice cream?" He asked nervously. "Only if you actually want to though. No pressure."

You grinned in return. "I would love that."

~*~

Written by Charlotte.