12. "Walk Like An Egyptian"

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"Ooh! Can we listen to my new Bangles album!" Stacy asks, hiking her legs into the air and spinning her body around in an effort to launch herself off the bed you're both lying on, stomach down. 

You roll your eyes and smile. "Sure" you reply with a layer of sarcasm. 

"Oh, come on. You listen to more than metal," Stacy laughs over her shoulder, taking the album out of its sleeve and turning toward your record player. 

"I know, I know. I've just been in the mood for metal lately," you mumble, trying not to smile. Stop smiling, you idiot, you think to yourself. You can't really explain why you've been wanting to listen to more metal...except Eddie. 

Your brain is telling you to run. To not trust. He's probably like all the others. You've known him for what? A week? You'll learn soon enough that he just wants to fuck you, whether you want to or not. 

But your heart. It seems to flutter around him. When he smiles. When you accidentally brushed up against him when you two were walking out of the library. The way his brows furrow together and he attempts to tuck some of his mane behind his ears to concentrate on his schoolwork during a tutoring session. 

And Stacy picks right up on the change in your voice. She turns on her heel, having put on "Walk Like an Egyptian." "I bet," she winks, sauntering to the music, back to lay down next to you on the bed. She plops herself down roughly on her stomach, bouncing you up a bit, making you laugh. "You've been hanging out with Munson," she adds, cocking an eyebrow.

"We're not 'hanging out,' Stacy. I'm tutoring him," you clarify, but a smile still seems to come back on your face. God dammit...

"In what, anatomy?" she sticks her tongue just behind her top teeth seductively. 

"Oh my god, Stacy. Get a new joke!" 

"Sorry, it's just been forever since I had a boyfriend...or anything!" she groans, flipping onto her back, looking up at her ceiling.

"Yeah," you say quietly. Of course you wanted a boyfriend. What high school girl doesn't? But you still feel like you have so much in your brain to sift through. 

Stacy had asked if you wanted to report it, but you said no. You didn't even know what you'd say when you didn't know who it was. You knew this was how people got away with things like sexual assault. But you also believed in karma.  You hoped they'd get yours and you would get your closure. Somehow. Someway. 

"Listen," Stacy said, softer now, getting you out of your head. "Eddie's a good guy, I think. It turns out Max is dating that Lucas kid in her grade and he's part of the Dungeons and Dragons thing. Turns out it's not a cult either. Just some shit that nerdy kids do." 

That made you laugh. Stacy always knew how to make you feel better. When you moved from Hawkins she always made sure to tell you the latest gossip about the people you had grown to hate: Jason and his crew who had allowed what had happened to you. It was Jason's party. You're pretty sure it was Jason's room. He must've known. And they said nothing about it. No "I'm so sorry that happened to you." No, "Do you need anything?" No, "We'll miss you" when you left. No phone calls or letters in the three years you were gone. Some friends... 

"You think so?" you say quietly. "You think he's okay?"

"Yeah, girl. After talking with Max about him, and she's a pretty good judge of character, she seems to deem him at least not a psychopath. But listen, why don't we just have everyone over my place at some point? When we get the new "Friday the 13th" movie into the store, Max and I will invite everyone over and we can both get a better read on 'The Freak.'"

You flip into your back, sighing, pushing your hair back off your forehead as you do. "Okay. Let's do that. That sounds like fun." 

"Sure. Showing a bunch of D&D cult freaks a movie about a serial killer. What could go wrong?" Stacy smiled, glancing at you out of the corner of her eyes. 

"Shut up, Hargrove." 

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