Beauty Queen ✿ Eddie Munson

CHAPTER ONE

Valerie plastered a smile on her face and squeezed her entire body as she got lifted into the air. The crowd at the pep rally whooped and hollered loudly as the cheerleaders did their routine. Val let herself fall forward into a prone position before tumbling out of the cradle. She continued the dance, clicking her tongue as she smiled wide to keep on beat with the band. She took a deep breath before loading into the basket toss that ended the routine. She had fought off Demogorgans with her favorite pair of heels, this was nothing, right? She waited until she could feel that she was at the very top before snapping her legs out in a toe touch and falling back into the arms of her fellow cheerleaders.

When the routine finished she waved and spirited to the crowd before taking a seat in front of the bleachers with the rest of the Hawkins High cheerleaders.

Eddie Munson stood off to the side by the gym doors. He would act like he was above going to these kinda things, but for some reason he had decided to come to the stupid pep rally. When he caught Val's eye and she smiled at him... it made all of the sickening school spirit worth it.

"What are you doing here?" she mouthed to him from across the gym, a smile still on her face.

He shrugged before turning and walking away, trying to keep up his reputation that he was above all of that. Val felt strangely disappointed, wishing that he had stayed.

"And let's hear it for your Tigers!" the announcer called as the basketball team jogged into the rowdy gym.

"Good morning, Hawkins High!" Jason yelled into the mic at the center of the gym. "First off, I'd like to thank each and every one of you; without your support, we wouldn't be here. Give yourselves a big hand!"

The crowd erupted into deafening screams again. Jason smiled, loving the total control he had over the packed bleachers.

"And of course," he went on. "I have to give a special shout out to the best and the prettiest fans of all time, the Tiger Cheer Squad. Chrissy, Chissy, I love you, babe."

The stands awed as Chrissy blushed. Val smirked at her best friend, nudging her shoulder. She wasn't Jason's number one fan, but she loved Chrissy and made her extremely happy and at the end of the day that's what mattered to Val.

Jason took on a more serious tone as he continued. "You know, I think I can speak for all of us when I say it's been a tough year for Hawkins. So much loss. And sometimes I wonder, how much loss can one community take? In dark days like this, we need something to believe in. So, last night, when we were down by ten points at half to Christian Academy, I looked at my team, and I said, 'Think of Jack. Think of Melissa. Think of Heather. Think of Billy. Think about our heroic police chief, Jim Hopper. Think about each and everyone of our friends who perished in that fire. What did they die for? For us to lose to some crap school? No! For us to return home with our head hung low in defeat? No! No. Let's win this game. Let's win this game for them' And that's exactly what we did."

The crowd cheered loudly again and Val had to suppress an eye roll. Jason certainly knew how to be dramatic.

"We embarrassed those candy asses in their own house, and now tonight, tonight we're gonna bring home the championship trophy! Let's go!"

The crowd cheered again as the rest of the basketball boys patted Jason on the back and exchanged high fives.

"Are you going to give Jason a goodluck kiss tonight?" Val teased, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

"Shut up, Val," Chrissy giggled. "You're such a toddler."

Val made kissy faces as the two girls continued to crack up laughing.

✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿

On her way to lunch, Val found Chrissy outside the girls bathroom looking shaken up. "Hey, Chris, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Chrissy lied. "I think I'm just stressed about cheering at the game tonight. There's going to be a lot of people there."

Knowing her best friend, Val gave her a look that said, 'tell the truth'.

Chrissy sighed. "I don't know, I just think I'm going crazy. I haven't been sleeping well and I've had a headache that just won't go away. I just don't know. I think I'm seeing things."

"What kind of things?" Val asked, immediately thinking of the Upside Down.

"I don't know," Chrissy shook her head again, trying to clear her thoughts. "I just wish there was some way to make it all go away."

Val smirked, having an idea. "Do you trust me?"

"Of course. You're my best friend."

"Good. Cause I think I know just the person to help us," Val said, pulling a notebook out of her backpack and scribbling a note.

As the two girls walked into the cafeteria, it was hard not to immediately spot Eddie Munson. He stood on the table, making a spectacle of himself as usual. "But as long as you're into band or science or parties or a game where you toss balls into laundry basket!"

"You want something, freak?" Jason called, standing up and ready for a fight.

Eddie stuck his tongue out and put his finger up in devil horns. "It's forced conformity. That's what's killing the kids!"

Chrissy and Val walked past him and he quickly stepped out of their way, winking at Val. "My bad, Princess."

"Creep," she muttered, discreetly sliding the note she had written into his hand.

Eddie sat back down at his table like nothing had happened. Under the table, he unfolded the note and tried not to visibly smile.

'Hi! Meet me at the usual spot. Chrissy seriously needs to get high. Thanks :)'

He could practically hear her voice in his head. And the little smiley face at the end? Adorable. Only she would write something like "my best friend needs to get high" and end it with a smiley face.

"Uh, Eddie?" Dustin waved his hand in front of his face.

"Yeah, uh, sorry, man," he cleared his throat, eyes wandering from Valerie back to Dustin. "What were you saying?"