RUMORS•eddie munson

1

November, 1984
Everyone knew that Ziggy Zigova was going to be valedictorian in the same way that everyone knew Steve Harrington was going to be Prom King. It was just the way things were.
In a way, it could be said that there were three corners of Hawkins High School on a social level. In one corner was King Steve. He was held on a pedestal that only a select few could touch. Everyone pretended to love him, but deep down, most of the cliques that didn't mingle with him had a mild hatred for him.
In the next corner was Eddie Munson. He held the schools 'freak' title and he seemed to enjoy it. Everyone loved to hate him and the few that didn't would never show it. He had his own little clique and only the kids who were perceived as bottom of the barrel joined.
Finally, Ziggy held the third corner. She was smart. Everyone knew it. They didn't dislike her but they also didn't praise her in the way that she quite frankly deserved. She was the girl to go to when you needed a partner for a lab or to proofread your essay. However, her social interactions rarely went beyond that. If it wasn't academic, she really only talked to her brother. In a way, she was the middle ground.
"I'm telling you, Ziggy; Freddy Krueger would tear Michael Meyers to shreds...literally." Adrian squaked as he walked next to his sister. Her short stature made her seem to disappear in the sea of students, but Adrian stood at nearly six feet, so he found it fairly easy to squeeze by.
"Bullshit." Ziggy scoffed with furrowed brows. She and Adrian enjoyed debates like these; Adrian thrived off of pop culture and Ziggy was a wonderful debater.
"'Bullshit'? What do you mean 'bullshit'?"
"I mean there's no fucking way that Freddy could even touch Michael."
"Oh yeah, wiseass? I think his knife fingers beg to differ. One slap and that onesie little Mikey wears is done for."
"Adrian, when's the last time you saw Michael Meyers take a nap? The freak doesn't even sleep. They wouldn't even be able to interact." Ziggy stopped in front of her sixth period with Adrian trailing behind her.
"Well, if that's the case, Michael couldn't beat him either. We tie."
"Nuh uh. No way. I never said Michael would beat Freddy, I said there was no way Freddy could beat Michael." Ziggy shrugged with a cocky smile before turning into her next class, leaving her brother in the doorway.
"So you win on a technicality; that's just barely winning." He whined before walking away with his head held low.
Ziggy took her usual seat in the middle of the row next to the left wall of the classroom. She noticed there was a conversation being held at the front of the classroom, but when she sat down and got settled in her desk, she looked up to find Eddie Munson in all his metal head glory. Once he sat in his spot at the back of the classroom she brushed it off for the remainder of the class period. It was only when the bell had rung and her teacher called her up to the front to talk that their conversation had relevance.

-

Ziggy chose not to mingle with her peers, but that didn't mean she didn't know any of them. Even if she didn't know most, she would have to be blind, deaf, and non-anglophone to not know Eddie.
She didn't care much for the rumors she had heard, she simply thought he was stupid and lazy.
"Eddie Munson? You- you're really gonna tutor him? Willingly?" Adrian had stopped chewing mid French fry when he heard his sisters news.
"Well, yeah. Why wouldn't I?" Ziggy shrugged, not understanding what the big deal was.
"Why w- Ziggy, why would you wanna tutor him? This is his second time taking senior year, for christs sake." Adrian was hunched over the table with wide eyes and greasy fingers.
"Exactly; no one wants to fail twice. He's already taken the class once, so he'll be familiar with the material." Ziggy kept her head low as she worked on her homework. She liked doing her homework at lunch so she could have her lunch at home.
"No one wants to fail once, either. I really don't see what you have to gain from this." Adrian remembered having multiple conversations about Ziggy's distaste for the Hellfire boy. He was more confused than anything.
"Okay then, I'll lay it out for you. We're almost half way done with the semester. If I tutor Eddie until our marking period, I'll have more than enough community service hours for the whole year. Then I can focus on my own schoolwork and secure my place as Valedictorian. Easy peasy. I'd be stupid not to tutor him." Ziggy had tossed her pencil down on the table and stared at her brother blankly while he mirrored her.
"Okay then, when do you start?" Adrian grinned as his sisters face faltered ever so slightly. Her brows furrowed with a small frown.
"I don't know, actually. I haven't even agreed yet." Adrian's eyes slowly shifted to focus on the boy at hand stood across the room at his friends table.
"Well if I were you, I'd get it over with before he gets too riled up." As if Adrian could see the future, Eddie began his usual show of yelling and jumping around to entertain his friends.
Ziggy spun around in her seat with wide eyes. Upon seeing Eddie's theatrics, she scrambled to gather her things. Everyone knew that once Eddie got on a roll, it was useless to try to mellow him out.
While Eddie knew Mr Miller was looking to assign him a tutor, he had no idea who that tutor would be nor when said tutoring would begin. Ziggy wasn't sure what he knew or how he felt and if she was going to be the one to break the news, she wanted it to be before he went on one of his tirades.
She hurriedly walked through the lunchroom with her bag half off her shoulder. Her messy hair blew slightly in her face; a strand getting stuck in her eyelashes from the ever so slight breeze in the lunchroom caused by the bustling teens. As she neared the table she dreaded to approach, the man of the hour stood on his chair, extending his arms dramatically. It was only when she stopped to stand about four feet away from him that she made out what he was saying.
"Then it hits October first and suddenly, our little ghouls and goblins aren't so taboo! It's only okay to be a freak when ev-"
"Excuse me!" After clearing her throat roughly three times to ensure her voice wouldn't crack or waver, Ziggy cut Eddie off in the most professional manner she could.
Eddie abruptly stopped talking. His hands were still outstretched lazily as his head whipped over to look down at the short girl. His brows furrowed in complete confusion as his lips remained slightly parted. Slowly, his arms began to lower back to his sides. When Ziggy continued to stare up at him with wide eyes, Eddie looked her up and down before verbally acknowledging her.
"Yeah?" Eddie's response wasn't snippy or rude, simply confused. Ziggy cleared her throat again as she shifted on her feet.
"I'm Ziggy. We have English together." She projected so he could hear. Eddie stepped down from his chair to stand in front of her; still looking down slightly at their half-foot height difference. He glanced around the room as if it would give him a clue as to why she was talking to him.
"Alright...what's up?" A small, awkward grin sat on his lips at the uncomfortable interaction. Ziggy's hand tightened around her bag strap as she pulled it higher on her shoulder.
"Mr Miller wanted me to talk to you." She rushed the words out of her mouth, ending with a tight lipped smile in hopes he would get the point. Eddie's eyebrows raised slightly as he inhaled deeply. He frantically looked around in an attempt at preventing eye contact, slightly running his hands over his jeans.
"Yeah, we should- we should probably go do that." He quickly grabbed his bag, leading the way out of the cafeteria after telling his friends goodbye.
"We can go to the Hellfire room; no one ever goes in there." He wouldn't admit it, but when someone new started talking to Eddie, which was rare, he'd look for any excuse to take them to the Hellfire room in hopes of impressing them. He held the door open for Ziggy, giving her a playful bow as she walked in. Ziggy decided to stay standing as Eddie took a seat on his throne.
"So, I'm not sure how much Miller told you but I'm gonna tutor you for the rest of the semester. I'll help you with English, but if we finish your assignments early and have extra time, I wouldn't mind helping you with other class work. We will meet for three hours a d-"
"Woah woah woah, hold on. What are you- don't I get a say in this?" Eddie's waved his right hand in the air while his left elbow rested on his knee at his chest. Ziggy stared back at him blankly for a few seconds.
"No."
"What do you mean 'no' ? I'm the one being tutored here."
"And I'm the one tutoring you. I have a busy schedule; school, homework, chores, a job. I mapped out a whole plan that works around my schedule." Ziggy carefully pulled out a folder and carefully placed it on the table. Eddie looked up at her in disbelief.
"Okay, that's neat and all but I just so happen to have a schedule of my own; planning campaigns, Hellfire meetings, band practice-"
"You just listed three leisure activities." Ziggy's brow raised in disbelief. Eddie narrowed his eyes at her in annoyance.
"And what about it?" Eddie pushed himself up and out of his throne coming toe to toe with Ziggy.
"You have two months to raise your grade to a D. Otherwise, you're looking at a super senior Hattrick. I am more than willing to tutor you, mister Munson, but I have a lot on my plate. All I ask is that you cooperate with me." Ziggy looked up at Eddie with a small grin. He stood so close that his hair nearly brushed her cheek. Unlike the reaction Eddie expected from her, Ziggy stood her ground. Her voice became just above a whisper, still dripping in confidence.
"Being the President of a club will look good on your record. If I were you, I'd drop the rockstar act. You can be the next Van Halen in college." She stood under him for a few more moments, watching his eyes twitch in anger as his tongue poked out of his lips. Upon realizing she wasn't going to receive a response, she turned on her heel and left the room, hoping he would choose to utilize the phone number on top of the schedule plan on his table.
Luckily, her phone rang less than an hour after getting home from work.
"Hello?"
"Are you always that bossy, Zigova?" Ziggy froze in her spot next to the receiver, not expecting that response.
"I'm sorry, who is this?"
"The next Van Halen. You know, this little blueprint is pretty exhaustive. Five days a week?" Ziggy grinned as her eyes focused on a small smudge of dirt on her ceiling. She could hear the smirk in his voice.
"Five days a week." She confirmed. A moment of silence followed on the other end of the phone.
"You still there, metal-head?" She glanced down at the phone as if she could see him through the speaker. The dramatic sigh that followed answered her question.
"We start tomorrow, metal-mouth." The line went dead abruptly. She chuckled as she hung the phone back on the wall, running her tongue over her braces.

March, 1986

Ziggy ran her tongue over her smooth, straight teeth. She had gotten her braces removed a few months after summer break. She walked through the rows of books, putting them in their rightful spots on the shelves.
She had been working at the library since sophomore year. It was practically the perfect job for her. It was always quiet and peaceful. Until it wasn't.
Dustin Henderson slammed the front door open with such ferocity that it bounced off the wall and came back to hit him in the arm, only for him to slam it into the wall once more. Three teenagers ran in behind him, all four breathing heavily as Dustin looked around the building.
"Ziggy! Is Ziggy Zigova here?! We need-"
"Excuse you!" Ziggy's voice boomed in the large building, cutting off Dustin's screeching. The quartet froze in fear, turning to find Ziggy sending daggers at them from around the corner. Silence enveloped the room once again.
"I can help you four at the front desk." Her voice lowered to an appropriate level, remaining ever so menacing.
She walked towards the back of the room. They stood frozen for a moment before Max shoved past them, following Ziggy. Soon, they all met at the counter.
"Okay, what do you want?" Ziggy was monotone and unimpressed as she watched them all glance at each other nervously. It was only then that she recognized Steve Harrington.
"We uh, we wanted to know if you know where Eddie is?" Robin looked down at Ziggy with hopeful eyes. She watched as her face morphed from unimpressed to absolutely pissed.
"Get the fuck out of here." The groups eyes widened at her rash response.
"Woah woah woah, Ziggy listen-"
"Really? You came to my work to harass me? Are you kidding me, Harrington?"
"No! No, I'm not here about your relationship! We-"
"How many times do I have to tell you people? We weren't in a relationship. I was tutoring him for gods sake. We graduated a year ago and you're still trying to-"
"Something's wrong!" Dustin yelled once again, cutting off Ziggy and Steve's bickering. Ziggy's angry scowl faltered for a moment as she turned to the younger boy. She glanced around the group, Robin looking scared and Max letting out a small sigh.
"What happened?" She whispered.
"We're not entirely sure. That's why we need to find him before the police do. They're gonna come looking for you too." Max warned her with an intense tone. Ziggy furrowed her brows at the girl.
"Police? What do they want with Eddie? What do they want with me?" She was beginning to panic and their lack of information was not helping. She walked from behind the counter to come closer to them.
"When they hear about the rumors they're gonna question you, just like we are. The difference is, if you tell them, they're gonna arrest him for a crime he didn't commit." Dustin explained calmly, keeping his voice low. Ziggy stared up at him. Her stomach had dropped while her breathing picked up.
"What crime?" She asked, her voice shaking. Dustin looked back at his friends with an unreadable expression. Steve sighed, looking down before meeting Ziggy's eyes and licking his lips.
"Murder."