In November of 1985, you move to Hawkins, Indiana for your senior year of high school. Having been an outcast at your old school and still dealing with the anxiety and depression that came with it, you're hoping for a fresh start. Little do you know...
"Shit, shit, shit..." is all that was going through your head as you ran upstairs and urgently got dressed and ready. You freshened up in the bathroom and then returned to your bedroom to get dressed. You threw on some jeans, a t-shirt, and an unbuttoned flannel since it was a little chilly out with it being early November.
You looked in the mirror, thought "Good enough", and ran back downstairs.
"You ready?" Eddie asked smiling.
"Ready as I'm gonna be", you responded with a light chuckle.
You waved goodbye to your mom and walked out the door with Eddie.
"So what did you have planned?" you asked Eddie curiously.
"Well, you're new to Hawkins, right? I thought that I could give you a little tour of the town" Eddie said with almost an embarrassed tone.
"That sounds nice" you respond reassuringly.
You get into Eddie's van and head out.
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As you drove, Eddie was pointing out different places that high schoolers go, places he likes, and places to avoid. The van approached a large run-down building. It looked ominous and you had to ask, "What's the building, Eddie?".
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"Oh, that's the old mall. Over the summer there was a bad fire there and a lot of people died..."
"Oh, shit." you said, not knowing what else to say.
"Yeah, it's still pretty fresh with everyone town, so be careful what you say about it to people. Especially Mike and Dustin in Hellfire, I think they were there when it happened or something..." Eddie said in a quiet and somber tone.
After this, you two drove in silence for a bit until Eddie went by the library, "Here's the public library, they actually have a good collection of fantasy books if you read at all".
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You quickly turned your head to Eddie in surprise and blurted out, "Eddie Munson reads?!".
"What? A freak like me can't read? What do you think inspired me to become a dungeon master in D&D?" Eddie questioned.
"I guess I just wasn't expecting it, but that does make a lot now that you say it. Sorry for doubting you", you said lightly with a smile.
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A few more minutes passed as you and Eddie drove around. You drove by a graffitied building with a lot of beer cans outside. Eddie could tell that you were curious about it and told you, "That's Benny's old restaurant, I used to go there a lot with my uncle. After Benny died, the jocks took it over as their post-game drinking space. It really upsets me to see it like this, but I can't complain. I make quite a bit of money when I go there to..." Eddie trailed off.
"What?" you questioned.
"Never mind. Let's move on shall we?" Eddie said quickly. You could tell he wanted to change the subject and you let him.
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Eventually Eddie started to run out of places to show you, but you didn't want to stop hanging out so you said shyly, "Can you show me where you live?".
"And why do you want to know that?" Eddie asked teasingly.
"You know where I live, it's only fair!" you rebutted.
"Well I live in the Trailer Park off of Kerly, but I can't take you there right now because my uncle is sleeping and I don't want to wake him up, he works nights at the plant" Eddie said almost disappointed.
"Don't worry about it, some other time" you said with a reassuring smile.
"Yeah, some other time" Eddie said while he looked at you and smiled. "Should I take you back home?" Eddie asked.
"I suppose so, thanks for the tour though, I feel much better about being in Hawkins now" you said genuinely.
