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Juliet couldn't properly concentrate on the cheer performance she was giving. Her body was moving all the right ways, performing the tricks and moves accurately and with great precision, but her mind was a million miles away. She couldn't stop thinking about what was happening that night. About where they were going and what they were going to do.
"Do you have anything stronger?"
How had she not noticed her best friend had been struggling so much that she thought drugs were the only answer? Sure, she had known about the nightmares and the headaches. About the anxiety that enclosed around her almost every single moment. But had she been oblivious to how much this had all affected Chrissy?
She supposed she had chosen to focus on the times when Chrissy was fine. When they were joking around or cheering. She felt stupid for that now.
Of course, she had try to think of all the ways she could stop this. She could tell the police or Chrissy's parents, but she didn't want to get her into trouble and telling her parents would certainly cause more harm than good.
She had even searched the entire school for Eddie, planning to demand he not sell to her, but she hadn't been able to find him anywhere.
It seemed the best course of action was to not let Chrissy go through this alone. If she was going to do drugs, then Juliet was too. Whatever it took to make sure she was safe.
Even as they cheered on from the sidelines, she looked over at Chrissy and couldn't believe it was the same girl who was so desperate and so sad. She was cheering for Jason, the biggest of smiles on her face and she looked genuinely happy. In the moment, she probably was, but knew later it would all pass.
The ball was getting tossed about, Juliet barely keeping up with where it was and where it was meant to go. Though her mind was in cheerleader mode, as it so often was, and she's chanting and cheering with the rest of her team for the players on the court.
"Let's go, Tigers!"
"Push 'em back, defense! Push 'em back!"
There was only a minute left on the clock and the team were down. They didn't have enough points to win, they needed more. The coach dismissed them, the players spreading out across the court, but the next shot they took, they missed. The ball bounced off the rim of the hoop and landed in the hands of the opposing team.
Then out of nowhere, the member of the team who had never even made it onto the court before, Lucas Sinclair, was tackling the ball from the hands of a red jersey.
He spun on his heel, the ball leaving his hands and flying towards the hoop. It hit the metal, spinning around the edge agonisingly slowly until it finally fell through the net.
The crowd went wild, roaring in happiness as they hugged and applauded. Juliet, ever the perfect cheerleader, waved her pom poms in the air and cheered. She joined the rest of her squad as they ran over to the players, helping lift the Sinclair boy into the air as his name was yelled throughout the gym.
After the celebrations died down the students poured out of the gym. Juliet, who thought Chrissy was next to her, went to grab to her hand to see she had already gone.
"Crap," She muttered, dropping her pom poms to the floor and running out into the carpark outside.
"Hey, Juliet!" A voice called and Juliet turned to see Steve Harrington practically running out the school to speak to her. "How are you?" He panted as he finally reached her.
When Steve had been at Hawkins High the two of them had run in the same social circles. Both popular. Steve on the basketball team, Juliet a cheerleader.
"I'm good thank you." She smiled politely but glanced worriedly over his shoulder, noticing Chrissy was still nowhere in sight. The last thing she needed was to be stuck in a conversation.
"Good, good." He nodded, he himself seeming as if he had something else he wanted to say. "Your performance was great by the way. I forgot how talented you were! I can't even do a cartwheel and you're out there flipping around all over the place."
"Thank you." She laughed but then out of the corner of her eye saw the swish of Chrissy's cheerleading skirt as she ran towards the most rundown four door van that Juliet had ever seen. At the front of it, Eddie leant against the hood, staring intently at Steve and Juliet, an annoyed look in his eye.
"So I was, uh, thinking, maybe we could go grab a drink or some food together now the game is over?"
Juliet's focused was snapped back to Steve. "What?" She asked completely having missed everything he had said.
"Do you want to go and get a drink?" He repeated and Juliet frowned. "Aren't you with that girl over there?" She pointed towards a perky blonde staring daggers at them from the other side of the car park.
"Uh, yeah." He blushed and Juliet rolled her eyes. Boys were so typical.
"Nice try, Harrington. Maybe next time."
She strode off towards the van, where Eddie was still waiting. "Take your time." He grumbled sarcastically.
As she saw Chrissy open the door to the back, Juliet realised she was the one left to sit in the front seat and groaned under breath. She pulled open the door to see the seat littered with chocolate bar wrappers and empty beer cans. She shoved them to the floor before climbing in and slamming the door shut behind her.
"You know drink driving is a felony, right?" She said angrily as Eddie put the van into gear and began to pull away.
"It's only a couple cans." Eddie answered casually, but Juliet could feel herself still seething. "And? It's still incredibly dangerous. Not just to yourself but to others too. Your adrenaline is high and your reactions are lowered. It makes you a hazard. A selfish, irresponsible one at that."
Most things Eddie said got a reaction out of Juliet, but he had never seen an outburst of this intensity. Of actual passion and offence. He suddenly felt awkward and tense. "Uh, you're right." He stumbled over his words with the desire to put things right. "I'll stop. From now on I'll stop."
"I would expect so." Juliet retorted, ready to continue her lecture before Chrissy jumped in, poking her head between the gap in the seats. "So, Eddie. Do you have any music?"
He laughed. "Not that you'd like."
"I'd rather rip my ears off then listen to any of that metal rubbish you call music." Juliet snapped causing Eddie and Chrissy to send each other amused looks then chuckle under their breaths.
For the rest of the journey Juliet sat in silence as Eddie and Chrissy chatted back and forth. She instead watched Hawkins speed by. Occasionally, she would notice Eddie glancing at her as he drove. Eventually she was able to catch him in the act.
"What?" She snapped and Eddie flustered at being noticed, but he couldn't help it. The moonlight was reflected on Juliet's face, highlighting her already sharp but delicate features. To him, she looked like a work of art.
Eddie couldn't explain it. He supposed he never had been able to. Though he despised everything Juliet stood for and almost all the things she said or did, he was still drawn to her. Even in the moments he loathed her, he couldn't stay away. She was a magnet. It had always been this way, no matter how much he tried to ignore or change it. This unexplainable and invisible pull that he just couldn't resist. He wanted to speak to her, to be near her, even if it was just to irritate her.
He loved to mock and annoy every jock or popular person, but Juliet was his favourite target. Not out of spite or malice, but because riling her up really was his favourite form of entertainment. The way she would snap and insult him he found extremely amusing and he lived for it.
However this time, he had no witty or comic response, but was instead flustered and embarrassed. "Uh, nothing. Sorry." He stuttered quickly moving his eyes back to the road.
Then even more surprisingly, Juliet felt guilty. All the times she had snapped at or insulted Eddie never before had he ever actually been upset or embarrassed, until now, and it made her feel bad.
She couldn't quite bring herself to apologise, but decided from then on she would ignore any further glances. Fortunately, the journey came to an end soon after as they pulled into the trailer park.
As soon as Juliet stepped out of the van, her foot landed directly in the middle of a great big puddle. The water splashed up her bare leg and inside her now muddy shoe was an uncomfortable squelching sensation.
"Great." She muttered sarcastically, trying to shake off some of the dirty water whilst the other two climbed the steps of the trailer.
"This is my castle." Eddie announced, holding the door open for both girls to walk through first. "Sorry for the mess. The maid took the week off."
It was everything that Juliet had expected Eddie "The Freak" Munson's home to be like. Messy, disorganised, and full of weird knick-knacks. It seemed almost every surface of the trailer was covered either in clutter or ornaments and line of baseball caps highlighted the main wall.
"You live here alone?" Chrissy asked, drawing Juliet's gaze away from analysing the room. "With my uncle, but, uh, he works nights at the plant." Eddie answered, not looking up from the cupboard he was rummaging through. "Bringing home the big bucks."
"How long does it take?"
"Sorry?" Eddie questioned, finally looking up at Chrissy.
"The Special K. How long to kick in?" She repeated, fiddling with her hands nervously.
"Oh, well, it depends if you snort it or not. If you do, then, uh, yeah, it'll kick in pretty quick."
Eddie had a grin of his face as he spoke, but it was that sentence that finally alerted Juliet to the seriousness of what she was about to do and her nerves kicked in. She was about to take drugs, and not just take them, but snort them.
"You're sure you have it?" Chrissy asked Eddie, who was still frantically searching through cupboards and tins but coming up blank. "No, no, I got it. Um, somewhere. Uh... Be right back."
He dashed off towards the other end of the trailer, leaving Juliet and Chrissy alone in the lounge. "Look at this place, it's filthy." Juliet said, gesturing to empty pizza boxes she had just spotted on the sofa. "I mean, really? I've seen dumps cleaner than this place."
Chrissy rolled her eyes at her best friends complaining. "It's not that bad, just a little messy. Besides, Eddie is actually really nice. He's so funny."
Juliet scoffed. "You're too nice."
They fell into silence, Chrissy's mind beginning to drift far away and Juliet's agitation building. "What is taking him so long?" She groaned proceeding to march out the living room door and towards the bedroom she could hear Eddie rustling around in.
"What are you doing?" She demanded as she stormed through the bedroom door.
"Don't get your panties in a twist, Princess. I've nearly got it." He continued rummaging through the cupboard in knelt in front of, throwing out various objects and other strange looking drugs.
"You know, I don't know much about drugs, but if I was dealer, I'd probably store them somewhere easier to get to." Juliet couldn't help but remark.
"Got to make sure they're well hidden so they don't get stolen."
She scoffed. "That's reassuring."
"Ah-ha!" He cheered. "Found them!"
She rolled her eyes, turning round to leave the room but coming face to face with a pair of handcuffs dangling from the wall. She sighed. "I don't wanna know."
"What? You not into a bit of light bondage?" He smirked and Juliet audibly gagged. "You're disgusting."
They entered back into the room, but were both stopped in their tracks at the sight of Chrissy. She stood in the middle of the lounge facing forward but her body was completely still as if she was paralysed. Her eyes were shaking, flittering back and forth but glazed over with a grey film.
"Chrissy?" Eddie said hesitantly, edging slowly nearer the comatosed girl whilst Juliet stayed stuck in her spot. "Chrissy? Hello?" He waved his hand in front of her face but nothing. Even when he jumped nearer, aiming to shock the girl out of her state, she remained unmoving and unseeing.
"Hey, Chrissy. Wake up." His voice had lost its coolness, urgency rising in it's place instead.
The lights started to flicker, the room plunging in and out of light. The electricity in the house buzzed and Juliet felt her heart begin to beat rapidly in her chest. Something was wrong, seriously wrong.
"Time to wake up! Hello? Can you hear me? Wake up, Chrissy! Chrissy, wake up! I don't like this, Chrissy! Wake up!"
Eddie shook the girl, tapped her on her shoulder rapidly but nothing helped, nothing worked. As if she had finally been awoken from her own coma, Juliet walked forward, nudging Eddie out of the way and placing her own hands on Chrissy's shoulders.
"Chris, it's me, it's Jules. Can you hear me? Chrissy stop this please... Please." Her voice broke. Heat pierced her eyes and she knew they were filling with tears. She could barely breath, panic taking over every inch of her body.
Her hands began to rise and she realised it wasn't her who was moving them. They were being lifted up with Chrissy's shoulders as Chrissy's body rose into the air.
Juliet stumbled backwards, knocking into the front of Eddie who looked equally as terrified as Juliet felt.
Chrissy's body shot into the air, slamming into the ceiling.
"Jesus Christ!" Eddie yelled, crashing to the floor in shock. Juliet jumped backwards, hitting her back on the kitchen counter so a sharp pain jolted through her side though she could barely feel it, too traumatised by the scene in front of her.
It was the noise she noticed first. Crunching as though you were standing on a pile of fallen leaves in Autumn and then a loud snap. Chrissy's arm bent back at the elbow and then the other.
Crack.
Her ankles snapped, second laters followed by her knees which pointed in an unnatural way. Her jaw clicked out of place and sat unhinged from the rest of her face.
Juliet hadn't even realised she was screaming, Eddie neither. As much as she wanted to slam her eyes shut and stop the whole ordeal, she couldn't bring herself to look away. It was terrifying, but though she was in a trance. The sound of Chrissy's bones snapping and crunching overwhelmed her senses. Her sight, her hearing, her breathing, all of it was taken over by the sound of Chrissy's body breaking.
Then, horrifically, blood started to pour from Chrissy's eyes. It ran down her cheeks, dropping onto the carpet below, until eventually they disappeared, as though they had been pulled in from the inside.
Her body crashed to the floor.
The lights calmed, the buzzing stopped. The trailer plunged into an eerie silence, the only sound came from the heavy breathing of Eddie and Juliet, their chests heaving up and down in terror. Neither of them moved for what like an eternity, but was really only a few seconds, until slowly, Juliet pushed away from the counter.
She crept towards where Chrissy lay on the floor, her hands trembling. Even closer she couldn't see her face, but her limbs were broken, pointing every which way and it was clear she was dead.
Juliet covered her mouth with her hand, muffling the sound of her scream and sobs. Her legs gave way and she fell to her knees next to Chrissy's disjointed body.
She cried, her body physically convulsing with sobs.
"We need to go."
Eddie's terrified voice broke her cries. "What?" She managed to choke out through her sobs.
"We need to go." He repeated. "It's not safe."
"We can't just leave her!" Juliet cried, looking up at Eddie. Whereas Juliet looked distraught, Eddie looked petrified.
"I don't know what the hell that was, but I know there's nothing stopping it from happening to us."
Before she had time time to react, Eddie had a hold of her arm and was lifting her off the floor. She understood what he was saying, but was still stunned to be pulled out of the trailer.
He dropped his grasp on her as he ran to the door of his van, but Juliet stayed where he had left her, planted in the middle ground between the trailer and the vehicle.
"What are you doing?" Eddie exclaimed, noticing she hadn't moved.
"We can't just leave her." She said again, though this time her voice was shaky and nervous, conscious of the neighbours who would be nosy enough to listen in on them.
"Juliet, we have to leave." Eddie begged, staring at her pleadingly. "We can't stay here."
"We need to call the ambulance or the cops or something!" She hissed under her breath. She wanted desperately to go, but there was no way she was going to leave her best friend alone.
"Do you really think they'll believe us? There's no way we can explain what just happened without sounding crazy."
"Us!?" She repeated back at him. "There is no us! I didn't even want to be here. This is your trailer and your drug deal, not mine!"
"Fine then," He panted whilst wiping his hands across his face in stress. "I won't be believed. The cops already come round here enough and this is just what they need to put me away. I'm the town's freak, I'll be suspect number one."
"Well maybe you should be!" She spat. She knew what she was saying made no sense, but suddenly she was scared again. She couldn't explain what had just happened inside the trailer. They only three things she knew for sure was that Chrissy had died in the strangest and most terrifying of ways, she was frightened, and that this had all happened in the company of Eddie "The Freak" Munson.
"Everyone knows your some weird devil-worshipper." She continued. "And that freakish club your in," She gestured to his Hellfire shirt. "is some fucked-up cult. You probably killed Chrissy for some satanic sacrifice. You did this! You killed her!"
Eddie's face dropped, disappointment overwhelming it. "I-I didn't. I wouldn't, I-"
"Just go away!" She screamed and Eddie jumped. He looked worriedly around the trailer park, knowing the neighbours were sure to have heard Juliet's scream.
He gave her one last look, tears brimming in his eyes. He pulled open the door to his van, started the engine and drove quickly away.
Juliet looked to the trailer one final time before she took off running.
Her sheer panic spurred her on. Feet pounding against the pavement, her chest burning, and her legs aching. Even as she ran her thoughts wouldn't calm.
Chrissy was dead.
Up ahead she saw a telephone booth and she sped towards it frantically. Pulling the door open, she crammed inside, picking up the receiver and dialling the infamous three digit number.
"911, what's your emergency?"
"My friend, she's hurt. She needs help. Please help her." She cried down the phone.
"Okay, where is your friend?"
"Forest Hills Trailer Park."
"Can I ask whose calling?"
She hung up.
She took a few moments to lean up against the side of the telephone booth and catch her breath and stop her tears, before she left and carried on running.
Juliet had promised she would never let Chrissy go through anything alone. She had joined cheer just because Chrissy was too scared to try out alone. She had driven over to her house in the middle of the night after a particularly bad argument with her mom. She had wiped the sick from her mouth after she had forced herself to throw up. She was even willing to do drugs if it meant keeping her friend safe.
It seemed death was the only exception to Juliet's promise.