MATILDA, eddie munson.

001.

JANUARY 16TH, 1986
📍cunningham house
7:46 AM

tying her hair back into a ponytail, matilda stared at her reflection. eye bags were prominent and her skin seemed as pale as the snow that blanketed the ground outside.

she hastily grabbed her makeup bag and applied a dot of concealer under her eyes, blending it in with her fingers, some blush to the apples of her cheeks and a layer of mascara on her lashes.

she left her bathroom and entered her bedroom, walking towards her wardrobe to pick out some clothes settling on some black jeans, a white and grey striped shirt and a brown jacket overtop, paired with her usual converse.

she checked herself in the mirror again, making sure she was content with her looks. deciding she looked fine, she headed downstairs.

the first person she saw was her younger twin sister, chrissy, who was clad in her usual cheer uniform, despite it being the middle of winter. "morning, tillie," she smiled.

besides chrissy sat their mother samantha, sipping her coffee as she sewed. she looked up and pushed her glasses up so they were resting on her head. "oh, matilda, you should consider changing."

matilda looked down in confusion. "why?"

"it's just," samantha sighed, "those jeans are a little too tight, and well, that top makes you look huge."

chrissy looked down awkwardly, as matilda's breath hitched in her throat.

"have you been sticking to the diet i made for you?" samantha questioned. "because it doesn't look like it."

"i-" tillie began to talk, but her mother's next statement made her fall silent.

"i'm surprised any man would rape you looking like that," the older woman hissed. "if you even got assaulted, that is."

the girl began to blink back the tears that were forming in her eyes, and crossed her arms over her body to cover herself.

chrissy cleared her throat and stood up from the table. "well, uh, we better get going to school. don't want to be late do we, tils?"

tillie shook her head and wiped a tear that had slipped from her eye before her mother could see. she grabbed her backpack that was hung around the banister at the bottom of the staircase and headed out the door, chrissy following behind her.

fumbling around with her keys, the blonde managed to unlock her car door, stepping into the driver seat as chrissy got into the passenger one.

matilda cleared her throat to try and rid it from the lump that formed there, and started her car.

"you okay, tils?" chrissy asked her sister.

"fine," she nodded with a forced smile, plugging her seatbelt in.

"no, you're not," chrissy stated.

matilda sighed and leant her head back onto the headrest. "it's hard enough that i have to see him everyday and that no one believes me. why does mother always have to bring it up? and, why does she have to bring up how i look? assaulters don't give a damn about appearance, or age, or background, as long as they get what they want, they're happy."

"i'm really sorry about what happened to you, tils. but you know that i'll always believe you, even if mom, dad and the police don't. you'll always have me."

"thanks, chrissy," matilda said with a small smile.

"don't feel like you have to come to the game tonight, either," chrissy added. "i don't want you coming if you're going to be upset or uncomfortable, considering he's on the team."

"no, it's okay. i'll be there," tillie responded. "you've been talking about this cheer routine for weeks, i'm not going to miss it. i don't care if some horny asshole couldn't take no for an answer, i'm going to be there to support my sister."

chrissy grinned, before her eyes wandered to the watch on her sister's wrist. "we are definitely going to be late if you don't start driving, tillie."

— 📻🪐🏹 —

JANUARY 16TH, 1986
📍hawkins high school
8:34 AM

"good morning to all students and faculty. i hope you're all excited and eager to learn this snowy monday morning," the principal's voice echoed from the speakers, as matilda stood at her locker and put her school books inside, excluding the ones she needed before lunch. "also, a reminder; tonight there is a basketball match between our very own tigers, and the greenies from greenwood high! accompanied by of course, our very own cheer team! best of luck to our tigers and i hope to see the stands full of support."

matilda slammed her door shut, and began making her way towards her first class of the day: biology.

tillie was a particularly smart girl, getting a's in all of her classes. her favorite subject was probably english or history, however she hated chemistry and physics.

she received a lot of stares walking through the corridors, as she usually would. people didn't look at her because she was ugly or fat, or because her style made her stand out vividly. she turned heads due to her name. people couldn't believe how different the cunningham sisters were. matilda — introverted, sarcastic, cynical. chrissy — an extrovert, popular, kind.

taking her usual seat, tillie took out her textbook and a pen from her backpack, before resting her face on her hands and waiting for her teacher to begin the lesson.

"morning, matilda," nancy wheeler smiled as she took a seat behind the girl.

the two seniors weren't necessarily friends, but had had conversations due to being in numerous classes together. nancy had also asked her to join the hawkins tiger, however tillie had rejected the offer.

the boy seated next to her, named james, arrived and took a seat. "looking amazing today, tillie," he smirked. "as usual."

matilda rolled her eyes in response. james always tried to flirt with her. every goddamn biology lesson. and even though she had countlessly rejected him, he swore she was just playing hard to get.

"so, me and you. the movies tonight after the game. i'll pick you up at eight," he stated, leaning closer to tillie with each sentence.

tillie cleared her throat, "well, er, you see, i've actually scheduled a horrific migraine to kick in at seven thirty. so, i'm gonna have to pass," she said, feigning disappointment.

"i'm only being nice. i don't even think you're attractive," james scoffed, realizing her sarcasm. "bitch."

"okay, okay, let's settle down," thankfully, the teacher, miss larkin, began addressing the class. "can you all please turn to page twenty three, where we're going to be revising the cures for communicable and non-communicable diseases.."

"is there a cure for assholes?" tillie muttered, loud enough for the boy beside her to hear. "some people really need it."

— 📻🪐🏹 —

pretty sure tillie and eddie will interact next chapter, maybe the one after idk i haven't finished writing it yet!

also tillie and chrissy >>>
fav sister duo 💞

WORD COUNT — 1151.