Chapter 1 “Hey, are you okay?” There was a girl in the bathroom, and she seemed to walk closer to the stall that Chrissy was in. “I’m-” She gagged. “I’m fine,” Chrissy put her hand to her forehead. She didn’t know who this girl was, but she needed to go away. “Are-Are you sure…?” She asked again. Jesus, I said I’m fine! “I’m fine, just, please, go away” Chrissy spit out. She closed her eyes tight. There was a bang on the door. Leave me alone, she thought. “Are you deaf, I said go away!” Chrissy immediately felt guilty for being so rude, but she was stressed and her brain was pounding against her skull. “Chrissy?” The voice was familiar. “M-mom…?” Chrissy was confused. She was at school. Chrissy’s mom was at her school. Embarrassing “Chrissy, I loosened the back of the dress for you, sweetie,” Her mom’s voice slightly distorted. “Open the door, come try it on,” Chrissy heard a wet squelch. She looked under the stall door. That was not her mother. It was something else entirely. She scooted back, in between the toilet and the wall. The door shook. “Chrissy, open the door!” The door shook, and the voice did not sound like her mother’s at all. It was distorted and terrifying. The door shook so hard the lock came loose. “Chrissy, open the damn door or I’ll gut you like the fat pig that you are!” One of the screws fell off from the lock. Chrissy thought that this creature was going to get to her. “Go away!” She yelled and slapped her hands over her ears. “Go away!” She repeated over and over, as if it would do anything. As if the monster would listen to her. As if it would go away. It was here for a reason. Her prayers had been answered, the creature was suddenly gone. The lock was screwed securely on the stall door. Like the whole thing never happened, just a nightmare. It was for sure a nightmare, but a living one. More than that. It all had to be in her head. Monsters and that, it’s not real. She felt like a little kid again, when she watched a scary movie even though her mom told her not to, and being terrified more than any other time, when she had to sleep in her mom's room for a month. Just this, this was worse. So much worse. It felt real. It’s all actually happening to her. Only this time she couldn't go to her mom. She couldn’t go to Jason, or anybody. They would all think she was crazy. She’s seventeen, having nightmares about monsters and stuff. Maybe she could go to Eddie Munson. Chrissy didn’t know how, but he was. People say he’s crazy, he’s a freak. Somehow, he was familiar. Chrissy didn’t know how, but he was. She stepped out of the stall, slowly and cautiously. To her surprise, there was nothing there. She was crazy. Actually, Eddie didn’t seem like such a bad idea… *** At lunch, their lunch table was chaotic anyway. With the cheer squad, and the basketball team, it was a madhouse. “-As long as you’re into band-” Eddie Munson stood up on his table and slowly walked toward the edge of the table. “Or science, or par-ties,” People at another table booed and flipped him the finger. “Or a game where you toss balls into LAUNDRY BASKETS!” Jason stood up from his seat. “You want something freak?” Eddie stuck his tongue out at Jason. Eddie turned around and started to walk back. “It’s forced conformity.” He jumped off the table. “That’s what's KILLING THE KIDS!” He politely stepped aside for a few passing cheerleaders, who quickly slipped past him, not wanting to get close to “the freak.” “Prick,” Jason said, and sat back down next to Chrissy. “Why don’t you have any lunch?” He looked at the empty space in front of Chrissy. “Oh, I-” Chrissy tried to find an excuse. “I don’t have any money,” She said. “I can buy you food,” Jason started to stand up to go get Chrissy lunch, but she stopped him. “No, no don’t-” “Why? You need to eat, Chrissy,” Says who, Chrissy wanted to say. “I’m not hungry, Jason. It’s fine, really,” Jason grudgingly sat back down. He put his hand over Chrissy’s. The lunch bell rang and Chrissy’s heart thudded. Jason and Chrissy had different eighth period classes, she had history, he had science. Jason tried to kiss Chrissy goodbye, but she turned her head, so he got her cheek instead of her lips. Chrissy tried to walk away, but Jason grabbed her wrist. “Hey,” Jason said and examined Chrissy’s face closely. “Are you okay?” Chrissy couldn’t meet Jason’s gaze. He was staring lasers in the side of Chrissy’s head. “ ‘M’fine,” Chrissy mumbled. She freed herself from Jason’s grip and walked away. She turned left out of the cafeteria towards the school exit. Chrissy walked outside the school’s entrance. There were a lot of people outside, one of the lunch periods is eighth. She tried to be inconspicuous, but someone was always watching her, looking at her, waving to her. People said she was the queen of Hawkins High, so of course people were staring at her. It was weird.
She finally got out of the sight of any people and went down through the football field. She looked back every so often, to see if someone was following her. She felt like she was being watched, and it made her nervous. She quickly walked into the woods, wanting to get out of sight as quickly as possible. She ducked under branches, swatted at bugs, and stepped over logs. She looked behind her again, and when she looked back she walked right through a spider web. She coughed and gagged and picked it out of her hair. She walked forward, finally reaching the picnic table in the middle of the woods. She set her bag down and picked up a crushed beer can that was sitting on the table. No one came out here, huh. She swung her leg over the bench- Tick-Tock. Chrissy jumped. She stepped away from the table and followed the sound. Ding. Chrissy spun around to find a tree. The tree had a grandfather clock inside of it. What…? Chrissy walked closer to it. Tick-Tock. The delicate glass covering the face cracked. Chrissy reached out to touch the face of the mysterious, it looked like something was inside of it. Was this in her imagination? It had to be. She touched the glass, slightly cutting her finger on the edge. She brought her hand back, to look at the cut. She looked back at the clock to find that spiders were crawling out of the crack. Chrissy shrieked, and walked back, wanting to get as far away from this tree as possible. She backed into something with a thud and she shrieked. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” Chrissy looked behind her to find that it was not a thing, but a living, breathing human being. Eddie Munson. He looked at Chrissy and his smile faded into a look of genuine concern. “You okay?” Chrissy looked back at the tree, and Eddie followed her gaze, looking at the tree. The normal looking, clock free, tree. What the hell? Chrissy swore there was a grandfather clock in that tree. She looked back at Eddie, examining his face. He looked familiar. “I-I’m fine,” Chrissy said. She walked over to the picnic table. She sat on the bench and shook her knee. Eddie set a black chest down on the table, along with his jacket. He looked at her intently. “Relax,” Eddie said. “No one comes out here.” Eddie sat down across from Chrissy, giving her a concerned look. “So uh, it’s twenty for a half ounce. Should be enough bang for your buck.” Crack. Chrissy jumped and looked behind her, it was just a squirrel running up a tree. Eddie covered his face with his hand, and Chrissy noticed the sun reflecting off one of his many rings. “Look, we don’t have to do this,” Eddie dropped his hand and looked at Chrissy. He stared at her intently, looking at her blue eyes. “Just give me the word, and I’ll walk away,” “No, no I don’t want you to go,” Chrissy said, quietly. She set her hand down beside Eddie’s, their pinky fingers brushing. “It’s just-” She hesitated. “Do you ever feel like… you're losing your mind?” Eddie looked at her with an intense stare that made Chrissy nervous. Why was he staring at her like that? Was she really losing her mind? Maybe this was a bad idea. Just then, Eddie smiled. “Oh you know, just, on a daily basis,” Eddie was looking at Chrissy again, but this time his eyes were bright and smile big. Chrissy let out the breath that she had been holding, and laughed. Eddie looked down at his hands then back at Chrissy. “I mean, I feel like I’m losing my mind right now, doing a drug deal with Chrissy Cunningham, the queen of Hawkins High,” He said with a huff under his breath. “You know, this isn’t the first time we’ve… hung out…” Chrissy looked at him with a confused expression. He pretended to look offended. “You don’t remember me?” “I’m sorry…” Chrissy was trying to remember. He slapped his hands to his chest, throwing himself backwards.Chrissy shrieked and stood up to see if he was okay. He caught himself right before he hit the ground too hard. He stood up quickly, suddenly feeling dizzy. He started picking leaves out of his hair. He walked backwards and tapped a tree with his fists. “I wouldn't remember me either, Chrissy,” He said and looked at her. “Middle school, talent show. You were doing this, cheer thing…” He started to remember back and imitate a cheer routine. “And I.. I played with my band,” Chrissy’s face lit up. “Yes! You remembered!” “Of course! With a name like that, how could I forget?” “I don’t know Chrissy, you’re a freak,” Eddie was back to staring at her with those big eyes of his. But hearing her name out of Eddie “the freak” Munson’s mouth gave her the shivers. “No, it's just-” Chrissy hesitated the slightest bit, thinking back to seventh grade. “You- you played guitar, right?” Eddie nodded. “Yep,” He smiled. “Still do. You know, we play at The Hideout, every Tuesday, You should come see us. We’ve got a crowd, actually. Of about five… drunks.” He chuckled under his breath and Chrissy laughed out loud.
