❝'86 𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐘!❞

"Now, to inform every one of you, this research part of your projects will be due after spring break. That should be plenty of time for you all to find information on your topic," your English teacher smiled before reaching for the paper on her desk. "And that also reminds me that you guys will be working together. Ellie and Rhonda. Josiah and Elodie. Michael and Chris. Maggie and Eli. Mia and Shelly. Matthew and Danny. And last but not least, y/n and Eddie." Your teacher placed the paper down before letting out a blissful sigh.

You rolled your eyes in annoyance, shaking your head in disappointment. Of course, you had to work on the project with him, you always had to work on a project with him. It's either no one else wants to work with "the freak" or he's too stubborn to do the work himself, so, the teachers leave it up to you to set a good example for Munson.

And it's not only that, but in every class you have with him he always copies your work, quickly stopping you in the hall and frantically asking if you did last night's homework. He was annoying. But the time you spent talking with him, whether it was because of a project or because he needed to copy off of you, you've become acquainted with the freak of the school. Not friends.

You slowly look over your shoulder, staring at Eddie with sharp, piercing eyes. You were annoyed, to say the least. Eddie catches your glimpse flashing a mischievous smirk. You roll your eyes, looking back at your teacher. The clock on the wall ticked away, only seconds before the bell rang. "Alright, that'll be your assignment over spring break, make sure to work on it together! I do not want to hear a single person say they did all the work by themselves!" The teacher shouted over the school bell as the students packed up their things.

You exhaled, grabbing your notebook and shutting it, placing it into your bag, before zipping it up and tossing it over your shoulder. There was no way you were going to work on a project with Eddie again, he barely knew what he was doing most of the time and would always get distracted. You stepped up to your teachers' desk, staring down at her as she fixed her papers while seated, "Ms?" You spoke.

"Ah, y/n! How can I help you?" She smiled, looking up at you. "I was wondering if there was a way to switch partners. It's just I've been working with Eddie on each project this entire year and it would be really refreshing to work with someone new." You spoke softly, watching as Eddie walked past you and out of the classroom. "I'm sorry y/n but the partners are finalized. Plus, you're setting a great example for Eddie! His grade has gone up tremendously since working with you. The hard work will soon pay off. Now go enjoy your lunch!"

"Thanks." You mumbled, nearly storming out of the classroom. As you turned the corner you saw Eddie standing against the wall, waiting for you. "So, I heard you wanna get rid of me?" He asked, following beside you as you made your way to lunch. "That is correct, Munson." You inhaled, holding on tightly to the strap of your bag. "Is that so? Cause I think I'm a great partner to work with, unlike Maggie or Chris or Elodie."

"Well, how would you know? I'm the only person you've been working with the entire year!" You shoot him a look causing him to scrunch up his face. "Uh, because I just know." He scoffs. "Oh really?" You furrow your brows, stopping in front of the lunchroom before you turn to look at him. "Yeah."

"Listen, Munson, I'd rather get this research done and over with so I can enjoy my spring break without having to see you. So, I'm thinking after school, we head to the library and get stuff for our topic and then we can meet up tonight and both do the work together!" You say with a sarcastic tone, a small smile on your face. "Cannot do that." He winces. Your smile drops, "what?" You ask. "I have to be somewhere."

"You have to be somewhere? Where? Where out of all places could you be going after school?" You look at him. "I just have to meet with someone that's all, it's nothing too serious. And," he pointed his finger at you, "I have a meeting with the hellfire club tonight. But, you can definitely go to the library yourself and pick out those books for us!" He patted you on your shoulder before walking into the lunchroom, leaving you standing there in the hall. "Asshole."

You followed in after him, walking towards the line to grab your lunch for today. "Y/n!" A familiar voice hollered. You turned around, seeing your best friend Robin running up to you, a smile on her face. "Oh, hey!" You waved at her as she caught up with you. "I don't even know why I ran, I hate running." She panted, placing her arm on your shoulder for support.

"Speaking about the things we hate," you glanced at her as you moved up the lunch line, "guess who has to work with Eddie for another project again." You give a sarcastic smile. Robin groans, "again? These teachers must like hate you or something. You know, I really think you should say something to them and actually be serious, threatening even, that way they can finally listen to you rather than just brushing you off because I definitely would have said something-"

"Robin," you look at her, "you're rambling." You chuckled. "Was I? Shit, I'm just still really nervous about the test I took." She sighed, running her hands down her face. "No need to apologize," you furrow your brows. "But a test before spring break? What teacher does that?" You question. "My math teacher. But hey, I'd rather get it done now than wait a week and forget everything because let's be honest, who's gonna study over break?" She raised her brows, throwing her arms into the air. "True." You nodded your head.

"Next!" The lunch lady called out. You and Robin walked up to her, watching as she grabbed two trays, placing a handful of fries on both of them and a chicken sandwich. "Any sauce?" She asked, holding up honey mustard and barbecue. "Honey mustard please." You smiled. The lunch lady squeezed some onto the tray before handing it to you and Robin. "Thank you!" You both said in unison before walking away.

"So, how is your friendship with Steve going? Is it fun having a new job with him?" You smiled at Robin, carefully holding your tray in your hands as you made your way to your desired seats in the lunchroom. "Yeah, it's better than slinging ice cream all day in a mall." She chuckled. "At least you guys can watch movies if you have nothing to do. Keeps you occupied for a few hours until you leave." You placed your lunch on the table before sitting down, tossing your bag to the floor.

"When are you gonna start working on the project with Eddie? I know he's not like the best partner or whatever but it's better than working by yourself?" Robin shrugged, an unsure look on her face. You stuffed a fry in your mouth, looking at her, "oh trust me, it's better working by myself. And I was thinking we could get it done and over with tonight but guess what?"

"Mmm, what?" Robin asked, taking a bite of her chicken sandwich. "The idiot says he has to meet someone after school and has hellfire club tonight, so there goes my luck," You shake your head. "I should just do all the research my damn self. It's better than with him distracting me-"

"Eddie has to meet someone after school?" Robin cut you off. "Yeah." You nodded. "Sounds...suspicious. Don't you think?" She tapped her fingers on the table. "It's definitely suspicious." You agreed. "Oh my gosh," Robin gasped. "What if Eddie has like a secret girlfriend or something and he doesn't want anyone at school to find out because it would super weird if the freak of the school had a girlfriend somehow and people would go bonkers! Like their minds would be blown-"

"Robin," you stop her, "I doubt he has a girlfriend. If so, I feel like he'd brag to every single person here that doesn't like him about it. It has to be something else. But, I'm not that interested in the idiot to find out his entire to-do list today, so, just leave him be." You shrugged, tossing a fry in your mouth. "Alright, whatever you say," she sighed. "I just feel like if we spied on him all day we'd uncover some really cool secrets that only we would know and we'd take it to our graves."

You and Robin both began laughing, nearly choking on your food. "...A game where you toss balls into laundry baskets!" A voice screamed. You and Robin both turned your heads to see Eddie standing on the lunch table, staring at the basketball group. "You want something freak?!" Jason, the head of the basketball team, stood up from his seat, looking back at Eddie. Eddie made devil horns with his fingers, sticking his tongue out at Jason before giving a smile. "What is wrong with him?" You muttered, watching as he jumped off of the table. "That's what's killing the kids!" Eddie shouted.

"Only he knows." Robin shook her head.

━━━━━

You grabbed one more book from the shelf, placing it in your arms with the other two books. "I think this should be good enough." You muttered to yourself as you walked over to the school librarian. You gently placed them on the desk, "I'd like to check these out please." You smiled at her. The librarian grabbed the books, adjusting her glasses, "name?" She asked. "Y/n l/n." You spoke. "Grade?" She asked, typing and clicking on the computer. "12th grade." You answered. She grabbed a stamp, going to the back of each book, and stamped it. "You're all set. You have a month maximum to bring it back."

"Don't worry, I won't need them that long. Thank you!" You grabbed the books, placing them in your bag before you walked out of the library, heading for the exit. Most of the kids have already left by now, some staying after school for their clubs and the cheerleaders and basketball teams getting ready for the game tonight. It was still light out, hoping to make it home before the sun begins to set.

You walked by the field that sat next to the woods, figures in the distance catching your eye. You slowly came to a stop, watching from behind the fence to see a student walkout, a cheerleader. You squinted your eyes, it was Chrissy Cunningham. And behind her, the one and only Eddie Munson. "Holy shit." You let out a breathy chuckle. So that's who was meeting with after school.

Eddie and Chrissy? Why the hell would they be meeting each other in the woods? The two of them are polar opposites of each other. The two stopped on the field, talking to one another but you were too far to make out what they were saying. Slowly backing up, you began walking away, looking back over your shoulder to make sure you didn't hallucinate the sight of Chrissy with Eddie. The freak and the cheerleader.

Maybe Robin was right about Eddie having a girlfriend? But it wouldn't make sense, Chrissy is dating Jason. Unless...no, she wouldn't do that to Jason. She's a cheerleader but that doesn't mean she's some mean, cheating bitch. Your brows furrowed as you looked at the ground, unable to think of a reason they were together in the woods.

━━━━━

You twisted the key to your house, pushing the door open. "Mom, Dad, I'm home!" You called out, closing the door behind you. There was nothing but silence. "Mom? Dad?" You walked towards the kitchen, notching a small note on the table. You picked it up, placing your things down.

Went to Illinois for the week to see your grandma. There are leftovers in the fridge and don't throw any parties! We'll see you when we get back! Love you!

You scoffed, crumbling up the paper and tossing it in the trash. This isn't the first they've gone somewhere without telling you the last second. They only let you know right before they leave, giving you no time to go with them. It's been like this from the beginning from what you could remember, always a babysitter but never your mother or father. Always I'm busy but never I'll make time for you. They were always gone. Always. Either too busy with work and going on business trips, or going on a vacation that their boss paid for. And it never included you.

"We were supposed to have a horror movie marathon." You muttered to yourself, grabbing your things off the kitchen table before running upstairs to your room. At this point, it barely phased you that they weren't around anymore. You've gotten used to it. It's when they lie to you, telling you that they'll spend time with you, even if it's for a day, and then they never do. They blame it on their busy lives. You couldn't think of one moment where you actually sat down and spent quality time with them.

You tossed your bag onto your bedroom floor, kicking your shoes off and tossing them into the corner of the room. You grabbed your notebook from your desk and an extra pencil, hoping to start and finish this research project. All you needed was ten facts that you were going to focus on about your topic. And those ten facts would be a major part of your project. And since Eddie wasn't here to distract you, you had the confidence to get it done quickly, with or without his approval.

Immediately opening one of the books you started skimming through the first chapter of contents, writing down possible facts that you wanted to brush up on after spring break is over. You let out a sigh, deciding that the completer silence that filled your house was a little too eerie for you. You sat up from your bed, walking over to your desk to grab your walkman, and grabbing the cassette tape of your favorite song, Rock You Like A Hurricane by Scorpions. You popped the cassette in, placing the headphones over your ears, and pressing play.

As the song started, you walked back over to your bed, continuing your research. You scrunched up your face, a familiar pain ringing in your head as you looked at the book. You've been working yourself too hard these last few months, waiting for all your acceptance letters for college. You wanted to make a good impression on each college you applied to, so you've been putting in extra work, doing extra credit, and studying extra hard for tests and quizzes.

You reached over to your nightstand, grabbing a bottle of ibuprofen, pouring out three pills. Placing your pencil down, you made your way downstairs to the kitchen, your walkman clipped your jeans. You bopped your head to the beat of the song, grabbing a glass and pouring water into it before guzzling it down with the three pills. Rinsing the glass out, you placed it in the dish rack to dry, heading back upstairs.

Sitting back down once again, you started skimming through the books again. The boredom began to set in very quickly, leaving you sighing as you wrote down whatever your teacher may find interesting even if you didn't. At least the research notes are based on completion. You bit the inside of your cheek, placing your pencil down on the notebook. Your promised yourself you'd finish it tonight, but you were going against your own word. You'll definitely finish it tomorrow morning or even in a few hours once you get your energy back.

Right now, you were too hungry to do anything. You turned off your walkman, taking your headphones off and leaving them on the bed as you went downstairs to grab something to each and watch a movie. Walking towards the fridge, you opened it up, grabbing your leftovers and popping them into the microwave as you shut the fridge door with your foot. The microwave hummed loudly as you walked into the living room, looking at the stacks of horror movies you had on VHS. "Nightmare on Elm Street." You smiled, opening the case and placing it into the VHS player.

You turned on your tv, the microwave beeping loudly to let you know your food was down. You excitedly jogged over to the kitchen, grabbing your food and a fork to eat with. You plopped down onto the couch, grabbing the remote and pressing play, the light from the tv illuminating your face while your eyes were glued to the screen.

━━━━━

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Your eyes fluttered open, the sound of someone pounding on your door waking you up. Bang! Bang! "Y/n?!" A voice calls out loudly. You groan, sitting up to realize you fell asleep during the middle of the movie. You rubbed your eyes, "I'm coming!" You shouted, shuffling your feet across the wood floor. Bang! Bang! "I'm coming! Hold on!" You shouted again rolling your eyes. You unlocked the door, your vision still hazy from just waking up. As you opened the door, your eyes widened. A panicked Eddie on your doorstep, panting heavily. "Eddie? What are you doing here?! It's late! I'm basically finished with the research." You said in an annoyed tone.

"I need you to let me inside. Please." His voice was shaky, his eyes staring into yours. You grew confused, "what?" You asked. "Y/n, please just let me inside! Please!" He begged, his hands shaking. You opened the door for him, starting to grow concerned, "yeah, yeah, come in." Eddie walked past you, pacing back and forth in the entryway as you locked the front door. "Eddie, are you okay?" You approached him carefully, gently placing your hand on his arm before he flinched away from you, "don't, don't touch me." He nearly said in a whisper. "Eddie, what the hell is going on? What happened?!"

Eddie just looked at you, his eyes wide and his skin pale like he had just seen a ghost. He leaned against the wall before slowly sliding down it, hugging himself as he stared into space. "Eddie..." You kneeled down. "I don't know what happened it just-she just-" His tone was broken as he covered his face with his hands, holding his head down.

"Eddie, you have to tell me what happened so I can help."

𝑨𝑼𝑻𝑯𝑶𝑹𝑺 𝑵𝑶𝑻𝑬:
Here is the first chapter of the Eddie fic, I truly hope you guys enjoy. And if you didn't read the introduction for some reason, this book will contain spoilers from stranger things! Hope you enjoyed!