Lies

Chapter Twenty-Five

Monica's POV

I wake up with a pounding headache. I crawl out of what seems to be Eddie's bed. Why would I be in Eddie's bed after what happened last night? Why am I even here after what happened last night?

I stumble towards the bathroom and dig through the medicine cabinet to find some Tylenol. I then make my way to the kitchen for some water to help swallow the pills. I take the Tylenol and turn around to see Eddie sitting there on the couch. I can't even try to talk to him it just makes me upset and angry.

"It's too early don't even try to talk to me." I say heading back towards his room and closing the door.

I head to Eddie's room and go back to sleep. I sleep for another couple of hours. When I wake up, I feel better. My headache is gone, but I still feel a bit groggy. I'm also hungry. I head back to the kitchen, and I don't see Eddie in the living room. I peek out the window to find his van is gone which means he's gone. I relax a bit when I realize I have the whole place to myself.

I make a bowl of cereal and watch some tv.

When I get done with my cereal, I rinse the bowl and put it in the sink. I make my way back to Eddie's room. I walk over to the corner where my boxes have been staying for the last month or so. I reach for the smaller box that I had kept in my closet only to see that it's been opened.

God damn it, Eddie. I didn't want anyone to look in this box, but I guess it's not that big of a deal because it's all things that are from our friendship.

In the box was pictures of us from middle school. I pull one out and look at it. Eddie looked so different. That's why I didn't recognize him. He looks so much better now. The more I stare at the picture the more I think about everything that has happened since I came back to Hawkins. All the weird looks Eddie gave me when I would say things he already knew. It all makes sense. Why didn't he just tell me though? That's what I don't understand. I mean he let us sleep together and he still didn't tell me. He let so many things happen, and he didn't tell me. That's what makes me so angry.

I start to dig through the boxes that I pulled from the attic since I have no idea what's in them. I open the first one to find childhood toys and stuffed animals. It was a box I had packed a long time ago and just never unpacked, and eventually forgot about it. I go through the box and smile at each item remembering and easier and happier time in my life. I get to the bottom of the box, and I find my childhood stuffed animal. It was purple hippo I named Hallie. She was pretty dirty from me dragging her around almost all my childhood.

I move on to the other box that was in the attic. I open it to find some old blankets. I take them out one at a time until I reach the bottom. There's metal container at the bottom of the box. I grab the box and dust it off. I open the lid to reveal a bunch of unopened letters.

I dump he contents of the box out onto the floor. There has to be at least one hundred letters here. I start looking through them to see that they are all addressed to Eddie. These are the letters I had been sending him. He never got any of them. My parents. They did this.

I keep looking through the letters and I find some addressed to me. Eddie was writing back. He never stopped writing. My parents must have taken any that they saw. We both never stopped writing to each other.

I start pulling out every letter that's addressed towards me. I want to read. I want to learn about Eddie.

I find probably about 20 letters from Eddie. I lay them out so I can read them in order from oldest to newest. There is no way this is all he sent me, but if he thought I wasn't writing back then maybe it is.

April 12th, 1981

Hey Monica, it's Eddie. This is my first letter to you, and I'm not to sure how to write it or what to say, but I miss you. I miss hanging out and laughing. I know it's only been a week, but I really do miss having you around. Also, I'm already sucking in school without you.