'86, Baby 〡Eddie Munson

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Quite some time ago Juliet Matthews had come to the conclusion that in every friendship there was the nice one, and the not so nice one, and when she met Chrissy Cunningham on her first day of high school, she was more than willing to take on the role of the latter.

Because being around Chrissy was like being around a ball of sunshine. She was happiness personified. If Chrissy was warm and bubbly, then Juliet had to be as cold as ice. Whereas, Chrissy would always have a kind smile on her face, there would be Juliet next to her with a judgemental frown.

Though they were both similar in appearances, light hair and matching cheer uniforms, in many ways they were polar opposites. Still, it was rather hard to describe Juliet Matthews because to describe someone, you had to know them, and to truly know Juliet Matthews was very rare.

Though, there were many things people were able to say about her.

She was on the cheer team, one of the most popular girls in school, her best friend was Chrissy Cunningham, she came from a well off family, her brother died in a car crash five years ago, and she was beautiful.

Her perfectly styled blonde hair was never seen out of place, her skin was practically flawless, and her bone structure remarkable. She carried herself with an air of grace that made it seem like she was gliding rather than walking through life. When she wasn't in her cheer uniform, her clothes were always of the latest trends and the envy of the school.

And lastly, she was cold. She looked like she was made of ice and acted like it too. Her voice would often be laced with bitterness, entangled with the sharpness and wit of her words. Her peers at school would part like the red sea when they saw in coming in fear of what she might say or do if they didn't. Juliet always said exactly what she was thinking, sparing no second to hold anything back.

However, if you looked close enough, behind the glossy sheen of her green eyes you could see the emptiness. The vast sadness of a hollow girl who felt like everything had been ripped from her from the inside out. The despair from two broken parents, the never-ending grief of her brother's death, and the fear she would slip back down to the bottom of the social pyramid, a place she swore she would never return to no matter the cost.

But there were moments when her walls would fall and the real Juliet Matthews would appear. The one that was unwaveringly loyal, would do anything for the people she cared about, and was actually incredibly kind. The one that could laugh so hard that she'd have to clutch at her sides as tears leaked from her eyes and be so dorky it was actually embarrassing.

The one who would go to her best friend's house every night after cheer practice to make sure she ate.

That Wednesday night, as usual, Juliet and Chrissy sat on Chrissy's bed and planned their evening.

"I'm exhausted." Chrissy groaned as she flopped down backwards onto the pink ditsy floral covers of her bed. "I really didn't think the team were going to win that game. I'm glad they did, but at least if they didn't we wouldn't have had to endure two hours of cheer practice."

"How much do you wanna bet that Jason is going to give some cheesy speech tomorrow about the mall fire victims inspiring their win?" Juliet teased. The basketball team were as predictable as they came.

Chrissy sat up on her elbows to scrunch her face up at her best friend. "You can't say that, Jules!" She scolded. "What happened last year was a tragedy and people are still grieving."

The fire that happened at Starcourt Mall last year was a tragedy, Juliet agreed, and her heart broke for the victims, but it seemed the whole town had now taken it on as their own personal sob story and used it as an excuse to gain even a slither of attention.