BAD HABIT # eddie munson

VECNA AND HIS CULTISTS

"No, no she won't," Dustin exclaimed nervously, pointing a finger at Eddie and shaking his head. "What an offer, Henderson. What an offer. Well I can't decline such a pretty girl like you a seat, can I?" His voice was coated with sarcasm and mockery, which only fired the girl up more. She took a seat in the empty chair next to Mike, nodding hello to the boy and silently smirking at Dustin.

It was only five minutes into the game that she regretted this choice. After hearing Dustin nonstop talk about this game she thought she had it in the bag, but it required more skill than she'd imagined it would've.

"Things getting a little too hard for you, Henderson? You can always flee and leave your friends on the field." "I'm figuring it out, why don't you focus on the people that are a little harder to beat, you look a little pathetic giving all your attention to the beginner." Jeff and Gareth exchanged a glance, eventually being unable to hold in the snorts they produced.

Eddie's nostrils flared as he put on a thin lipped smile, starting to feel less goofy than ready to beat the shit out of Stevie's character (whom she'd just made up).

The game continued for about an hour and a half, and it was past 8:30 by now, but Stevie was too involved in the campaign to give up. Not that she really gave up much anyways, she was stubborn, no way around the word. "You're tired, you're hurt, there's only two of you left," Munson eyed both Hendersons as he spoke, referring to Stevie in his sentence and giving a look as if to say 'surprisingly' which only made her body angrily tense up more than it already had, "Do you flee, or do you fight Vecna and his cultists?"

Stevie and Dustin were the only two players left, the Holy Duo, as Gareth had mocked the pair. He gave a look over and shrugged, giving a small shake of his head. On the contrary, Stevie nodded, eyes flickering from the dice to her brother. "Don't be a pussy!" Mike yelled next to her ear, although it hadn't even been directed towards her, but her brother. The sound made her wince, and she instinctively picked up the die. Shaking the multi-sided die in her hands, she blew into the hole between her palms, and continued to release the small game piece.

It rolled over, and over, and over, until it finally stopped on an uneasy 11. "Shit!" The whole table yelled in harmony, letting out moans and groans for a dramatically long time. She hadn't played this game more than once or twice (bailing both times), but she wasn't stupid. An 11 was definitely not the number they needed to defeat the strong antagonist against the two players, and there was only one choice left.

"Dustin, don't fuck this up." Stevie whispered, handing him the die. "Thanks, real encouraging.." He sighed, staring at the die for a few seconds before shutting his eyes and seemingly praying to god, it was obvious because he muttered a little 'amen' before releasing the die into the air. It rolled as if doing a cartwheel, and along with it so did Stevie's stomach, anticipating the worst, as she always did.

"Holy shit..." The club room went silent as the die landed before breaking into the loudest cheer she'd ever heard in her life. Her eyes steadied on the number facing to the ceiling, a clear 20. "YES!" She shouted, giving an authentic smile for the first time this entire campaign. "What? What?!" Eddie giggled with no shame, clapping his hands and pointing at Dustin like he was God.

"That's why we play!" He shouted, watching as everyone started to pack up their stuff before looking over at the ecstatic Henderson. "Glad you played?" Way to kill the mood. Eyes dragging along, basically being forced to look over at him, Stevie burrowed her brows. "Yeah, with my brother. Had a real blast." She muttered with disinterest, reaching to grab the keys to her car, although a different hand was quicker to the catch.

"Um.." This was uncomfortable. This was really uncomfortable. Dustin, Mike, and Gareth had all left and made their way out of the school, awaiting their rides, which ended up leaving Stevie, Jeff, and Eddie alone in the room. Jeff was packing up the last of his stuff and finishing off the bowl of snacks, paying no attention to the two teenagers.

If looks could kill, Eddie would be on the floor convulsing by now. "Acting like you don't know me? You're mature, seriously." "Hey, you played along." "Yeah, because I'm not about to tell my brother in front of all his friends that his role model is a piece of shit." "So I was protecting you from doing so, because I'm just so sweet." The way he described himself made her gag. "Give me the keys or you lose the one ball you have left." "Charming, really." He sighed with defeat, dropping the keys into her outstretched hand.

"Are you gonna hold a grudge forever?" Eddie persisted, following her out of the room and into the cool September breeze. "Maybe, if I feel like it."

The truth is, when Stevie and Eddie were in middle school, they both had bands of their own. Of course Stevie's was a little less official, with only three members and one instrument. She was a little less confident back then, but still sour-tongued, and had managed to find some way to piss one of the Corroded Coffin band members off. So, the boy she'd offended made it his goal to get her off the stage before the talent show had come around. He succeeded, telling their superior a lie that Stevie had directly bullied him in some way.

That person was none other than Eddie Munson, and boy, she would never forget that name.

Nobody knew about it considering she hadn't told her mother or brother about the talent show, so it only invalidated her more, spurring on her rage towards the boy. Now come five years later and shes standing face to face with him, oh how he's changed.

Now they stood outside the green doors, abnormally close, the death glare they shared being one hundred percent mutual. "I've heard so much about you since I became friends with your little brother." "Like what?" "Like that you still own your first ever stuffed animal named Mr. Button, and that he still sits on your bed." Her jaw dropped, mouth fully agape. It wasn't really embarrassing to be sentimental, but what was embarrassing was that he had to hear it from her snotty brother.

"What else did he tell you?" "That you cry when you can't find him." "Bullshit. He's always in the same place." "Really?" She nodded, breaking the eye contact and getting ready to walk up to her car before he decided to get one last thing in. "He also told me you've shown up to more than one of my gigs. Is that true? I thought you wouldn't ever want to see me again after the last time I played in front of you." That really hit the spot.

"Sleep with one eye open Munson, or else you'll wake up looking like that bald prick from the seventh grade." He chuckled, walking away to his van parked a few spots from Stevie's ride.

One thing was for sure, Stevie Henderson absolutely hated Eddie Munson. (Maybe.)