Christine Wheeler sat in the front seat of her car, her head pressed against the steering wheel as she dreaded getting out. She could hear the blaring rock music from her car, the girl contemplating a way that she could get their attention through the music. Finally she sucked in one last breath of courage, the girl opening her car door and stepping out. It was an early spring this year, it hadn't even hit Valentine's Day yet and the days were in the 50s. Christine was donning a brown jacket, the wind pushing the temperature down to at least 35 when she stepped out.
She approached the garage, trying to figure out whether she should try the front door or just go straight for the source. However she spotted a handle at the bottom of the garage door and took that as a sign to start there. She reached down, sucking in a deep breath of courage before pulling, the door sliding up as she prepared for her discussion.
The door slid up, slowly but surely revealing the surprising figure on the other side. The music ceased as the band waited for the opportunity to see who it was, and the higher the door went the more confused they were. A very womanly figure was interrupting their practice, something that usually didn't happen. The bands leader furrowed his eyebrows, calling out to whoever it was as the door gave and went up the rest of the way.
"Hey! What the hell?! We're practicing here." He quickly regretted the words when after he said them, his eyes falling on one of the last people that he would imagine being here.
"Sorry I— Eddie? Is this your band?" Christine Wheelers voice was angelic to his ears, and Eddie Munson had to blink a few times before he realized this was reality and not some fantasy scenario he had cooked up in his head. His mouth dropped open as she walked inside, and he tilted his head a little to the right, confused as to what exactly was going on.
"Uh...uh yeah. Corroded Coffin. Yeah this is my band."
"Sweet." She said , her hands in her jacket pockets as she looked at the set up in the room. There was a silence between the two of them as Eddie nodded at her words, his face scrunched up in utter confusion as he tried to understand what she was doing here.
"Yeah...right—uh...I'm-I'm sorry, what are you doing here?" He said, gesturing towards her. She gave him a convenient smile, happy that he had brought it up.
"Well I work down at the station and someone called and put in a noise complaint. So they sent me down here to ask you to keep it down or whatever."
"Oh. Oh so you're like a cop or something"
"Yeah...yeah sorta. Why? You hiding something?" She joked, and he laughed a humorless laugh. His eyes gave him away, darting towards a bag in the corner, the tell making her lips turn up into an amused grin as she looked over at the bag. When she caught his eye again he looked a little nervous, and she thought it was funny.
"No."
"Right...like everybody in town doesn't know about your little side business." She winked at him when she said it, this action making his knees weaken.
Something that Eddie Munson would never admit was his large and overwhelming crush on Christine Wheeler. It had happened a long time ago, and it had never went away. His eyes were fighting to fall over her body but she was looking at him so intently that he knew she would notice. Her head slowly turned and she looked at the others, his eyes filling to the brim with a helpless expression of devotion as she looked over the equipment in the garage.
"Anyway you could turn it down...just a little bit?" Christine asked, opting for friendly instead of fussy. She hoped Eddie could appreciate that they were acquaintances and just do this without a fight. She watched him process what she said, the rest of the boys nodding their heads and then looking to Eddie. Slowly a shit-eating grin covered his lips, humor dancing behind his eyes.
"Yeah. Yeah we can do that... I appreciate you coming out. It wouldn't happen to be Mr. Conroe up the street would it?" Eddie asked, earning a wry chuckle from the girl. Her lips tightened into a smile, her eyebrow slightly raising as she asked him a question.
"What happens if I say yes?"
"Nothing. We'll quiet down. Sorry to inconvenience you. Have a wonderful day Christine." Eddies words weren't very convincing, the other boys already developing sneaky little grins at the thought of some intricately planned prank on Mr. Conroe, a multiple time complainer. Christine looked down at her watch, seeing that she really didn't have the time to try and warn them of not doing anything crazy, so instead just leaving it.
"So all is good here then?" She asked, earning a nod from the entire band before breaking into a beaming smile and giving them all thumbs up. "Great. Great! Alright thanks for making this so easy. I'll see you around guys."
She hurried out of the garage, excited that she had stalled long enough to now be able to go back to the station and sit for only an hour before she could head home. Eddie watched after her, painfully love struck as he watched her head towards her car. Her shirt untucked as she pulled at the door, Eddies head tilting to the side as he watched her pull it down, eclipsing her body and blocking her from view. She escaped back to her car, but not without encouraging Eddie Munson with something new. A stroke of inspiration. Their meeting would not be forgotten.
"See you." He said after her, scratching at the back of his neck as he tried to get himself together.
They had grown a strong acquaintanceship during that Algebra class, and she had even offered to help him out, an offer he was too intimidated to take her up on. He continued to think about her, how perfect she was, a personality that was so rare and a beauty that was unmatched. And then he was struck with a thought, remembering she was dating Steve Harrington. It was disappointing to say the least, knowing someone as perfect as her was dating someone as terrible as him. Eddie didn't believe the claims that he had become a better person, he just remembered how much of an asshole he was when Eddie had been paying attention.
Finally his band caught his attention, the thought of her lingering in his mind as they went back to practicing...a little quieter.
