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July 4th, 1985...
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Corroded Coffin practice had sucked all around. The vibes were off. The music lacking. The emotions all over the place. The sound completely disjointed. Eddie chalked it up to missing last week on account of Gareth being sick and them canceling. And while he truly had been and they couldn't practice together, they most definitely couldn't go on at The Hideout the following Tuesday now sounding like that.
Frustrated, the rest of the guys spilled out of Gareth's place, leaving Eddie behind with the drummer. Gareth had snatched two beers from the garage refrigerator, handing one to Eddie before settling down on a chair beside him. He whistled airily, toying with a drumstick.
"Heard you went to that Mayfield party. News is you're not the only super senior." From what he knew of Jude, she'd started school late, despite Gareth insinuating she was left behind. Some mixup when she began school as a child. Father missed the cutoff or something. Maybe it was a coverup for her shortcomings academically, but he was never one to judge. Especially when looking at his own history.
"I didn't go, I was working," he clarified, taking a sip of his beer.
"Heard you talked with her outside too," Gareth goaded, cheek twitching into a smirk. Smug little bastard, Eddie thought. He was going to kill Jeff. He'd only let it slip in passing he'd seen the birthday girl. "She's hot. Her brother sucks, but she seems nice. Not like the rest of those assholes."
He wasn't wrong. Jude was pretty. Eddie even acknowledged that. He found her as such, in the way he was certain many at school also did. Striking, with those blue eyes and freckled cheeks. The slight uptick in her nose, the natural pouted look of her lips. Flaming red hair. Those shapely thighs from hours of tumbling. He'd never seen her at any game—hell, hadn't even gone to a game at Hawkins. But he could tell she took the sport seriously. Muscles honed from hours of training. Discipline.
But it had been her eyes that night which bothered him. The way they narrowed before she looked up to the sky, head tilted up toward the stars. Inhaling deeply, like she'd been struggling to do so. He'd been perfectly content to linger in the shadows by his van. Hadn't initially planned to purposefully drop his lighter to draw her attention, without stepping toward her. Wanted to give her a moment to take in his presence and not spook the girl who already looked breathless as it was. That eloquent sadness within her gaze. She looked like she had needed a friend. And, since there was no one else around to be that for her, he decided he might as well be.
What he hadn't expected, however, were the words she spoke. Her disregard for the party. Desire to simply be elsewhere than there. He could relate in that regard. Hated having to put on airs with the same people who tried their hardest to make his life hell—to get a rise out of him. If only he'd cared. He'd accepted things as they were years ago. Understood for some people it was easy to settle into the spotlight, and for people like him...well, he preferred to slip away unnoticed anyway.
Jude seemed nothing like her popular counterparts who were loud and boisterous. Rude. Antagonistic and condescending. Instead, she seemed uncertain and quiet. Out of place in the booming room filled to the brim with guests and music shaking the whole block. Thorny in a way, what with her clipped speech and directness toward him. Until he made her laugh, and then he saw it: the glimpse she kept tucked away to herself. Vulnerability. Before sliding a mask back into place.
Who was Jude Mayfield? Did anyone really know?
But he felt like he'd seen her. Watched as she slipped back inside the home, shoving through the sea of party guests.
Lost.
Searching, searching, searching...and coming up empty.
Eddie settled for, "She's alright. Don't really know her."
—
Jude was convinced Max and the other kids were up to something. She hadn't seen them in days. Wondered what it was that the group could be up to at seemingly all hours of the day. She'd gotten frustrated trying to come up with alibis for not only Neil when he asked questions, but her own mother as well. When confronted with 'where is your sister?' Jude responded 'a friend's'. For another sleepover with 'Jane'—El's adopted name from what Jude understood of the increasingly confusing situation—which had satisfied them enough. When it came to Billy, she'd gotten a little more creative. Double shift at work. Date with a girl. Stayed over a friend's. Or simply put—she didn't know. Because she didn't. Because he hadn't told her. That was the weirdest part of the whole ordeal: that ever since the day after her birthday party, her brother had been out of sorts and seemingly nonexistent.
It wasn't like him at all. The man always had something to say. Be it to his father or sisters. Something rude, crude, or outright filthy was always being spewed from that mouth. It seemed all too quiet now. Eerie without a blame to pin everything to. But Jude knew it had to be something to do with the girls rooting through his things. Her most recent hypothesis being that Billy was in trouble with someone. Owed money or had done something illegal and was now being blackmailed. Was now trying to hide it and shutting everyone out around him to do so.
And yet, the more and more she stewed it within her mind...the more and more she questioned if her thought process was even remotely in line. She'd been distracted, to say the least. By her sister and brother being missing, the darker, nefarious plot she imagined he might be facing presently, and the mounting pressure of holding it all together while her siblings completely disregarded her own sanity within their family home.
Lost in her thoughts, Jude failed to realize her trajectory had her slamming squarely into an unsuspecting bystander of her stupor, nearly falling backwards onto her rear in the process. Stopped only by the hand which curled around her forearm and hoisted her upright. Swaying momentarily, Jude rasped out an apology, hands coming up in front of her face in embarrassment.
As her gaze trailed upward, heat burned in her chest. Because of course it happened to be him again. He seemed amused by it, regardless. Grin slowly sliding into place as she took a giant step back to distance herself, crossing her arms across her chest.
Eddie Munson.
He wore a simple white tee this time and a pair of equally tight jeans from the last time she'd seen him. Bare, tattooed arms fully on display to her now. Those newly familiar rings spanned across multiple knuckles, chain hanging from one pocket, keeping his wallet in place.
"You're really making this a habit, aren't you?" Eddie mused, moving about in a slow circle. "I'm about to think you're stalking me."
"I am not stalking you," she muttered vehemently, waving her hands in the air in exasperation.
His cheek ticked. She wanted to wipe that smirk off his face. "Hey, it's okay to admit you're a freak. You're in good company here, after all."
"I will have you know I resent that statement." The grin tugging at her cheeks told a different story. She asked suddenly, "What are you doing here? I work here and I've never seen you come in."
She pointed to her cheery green shirt with the store logo printed across her chest. Had paired the shirt with shorts and tied her hair back in a messy ponytail. Suddenly felt very conscious of that. And then immediately stamped down the thought of even caring what she looked like in front of him.
"You see, sometimes people get hungry but realize they ran out of food. This was one of those times." He pointed to the shopping basket dangling from his arm.
Of course. Right. Wasn't like he knew she'd worked there. She didn't exactly broadcast it to her high school—that she worked as a cashier at a grocery store to try and scrounge up a little extra cash here and there. He hadn't come there to see her; that would be a silly notion.
"Does everything you eat consist of a TV dinner?" Jude laughed, reaching in to grasp one of the boxes, head tossed back in amusement.
"Don't knock them till you try them!" He knocked the box out of her hand; microwaveable macaroni and cheese clattered to the top of the basket, the picture on the box of the yellowy carbs blown up to look highly appealing. "Not that you asked, but since you are here, my day is going great. Here I am, just minding my own business, strolling along enjoying the sights and taking in all the wondrous smells when BAM—" He clapped his hands together, making Jude jolt where she stood. "I'm bulldozed by none other than Jude Mayfield. Almost lost my life there."
Jude rolled her eyes at his overacted tale. "Okay, now that's a little dramatic."
The dark haired man only continued, one hand slicing an arc in the air as he spoke, "All my memories just flashed on by. Split seconds but a whole reel of my life thus far, music playing and every—"
"I get it, I get it. If you must know, I was a little distracted."
"You don't say?" His eyes widened mockingly. "Working on the Fourth of July when everyone else is at that fair probably sucks, right?"
Jude rolled her eyes, rearranging the chips back into place as Eddie watched. "My manager, Robert, insisted we stay open at least half the day. You know—gotta make sure people have enough explosives for when they accidentally blow up their neighbors home. Or blow off their own fingers."
"I don't know, you sound sound really thrilled to be here," he mused, plucking one of the bags she'd placed and tossing it into his basket.
"Well, what about you?" Jude asked, turning to face him. "What are you doing today?"
"Picking some stuff up for my Uncle, and then probably just laying low with my band mates. For the band I'm in. Corroded Coffin—you should come out sometime." He babbled, seemingly proud of that fact. "We play Tuesdays at the Hideout. To a few drunks, mostly. But it would be nice to see a familiar face there."
Jude felt her cheeks as they warmed, fingers toying at the leg of her shorts. "I'd love that. I'll...yeah, I'd definitely check it out. Your band. And uh—so, I know I said it already, but thank you for that. I...was having a bit of a day."
He warmed for her. All bright smile and coy hair in front of his face. "What are friends for, Judy?"
Her head tilted. "Friends?"
"Yeah...it's this concept. Kind of not a new thing. You know, where two people enjoy the company of one another and call it a friendship." He smirked at her, tossing a jar of salsa into his basket. "I feel like it's only natural after you've bumped into me twice in a week—"
"It was an accident." But she had to admit...being friends with Eddie Munson wasn't the worst thing. Sure, he'd built an unfavorable reputation in the eyes of Hawkins; however, something had to be said for the man who made her feel lighter. Carefree. Not like every breath was a strangled one. Or like she'd been pushed beneath a microscope so every move, word, or action could be inspected.
He simply let her be. She liked that about him. Something about the relaxed way about him made her want to linger. To remain affixed to the spot as he casually leaned up against one of the aisle railings. And she'd wanted to linger. Truly. But the sight of her manager eyeing her from across the room had her stomach twisting tight in her belly. Groaned and pressed the heel of her hand into her forehead.
"I should really get back to restocking the shelves," she noted with a huff. "Before he fires me. Which wouldn't be the worst thing to happen to me this week."
Eddie tipped his head, moving backward slowly away from her. She rolled her eyes at the smirk tugging at his lips, the way his feet practically bounced as he moved along the way, completely careless of her manager watching them like a hawk merely a few feet away.
"I'll see you around, Judy. Turns out we're seniors together when school starts." He tossed another bag of chips into his basket before calling out, "'86 baby! Finally going to be my year."
Robert raised a finger to his lips and hushed them.
"You bet your ass, Munson!" Jude barked out a laugh, tears pricking at the corner of her eyes at the dark haired man. "It's going to be our year."
And then he was gone, leaving Jude alone with a very frustrated Robert. He glanced down the aisle at her, lifting his arms in exasperation. "What do I pay you for again, Judith?" He ground the words out, engorged belly straining against his own Big Buy shirt.
"To work?" she guessed sourly, chewing on her lower lip.
"Exactly!" He waved his finger at her. "Whatever that was...I don't pay you for that. So cut the crap and get back to it!"
Jude tried to keep her giggling to herself as he yelled at her, still thinking on the Munson boy. The yelling also did very little for the pain in her cheeks from smiling the rest of her shift.