Eddie & Chrissy: What Could Have Been

Chapter Fourteen: '86 Baby

Eddie's alarm went off and he nearly fell out of his bed in surprise. He reached over to turn it off, "Huh, so that's what it sounds like," he said to himself. Eddie stretched out his arms and rolled out of bed. He felt good, both physically and mentally, even despite the fight the night before. His life had been flipped upside down all in the matter of a week. It was as if he were in an alternate universe of some sort. But he wasn't going to question it. He had told himself that this would be his year and damn it, it was going to be his year.

Eddie grabbed the last Eggo from the freezer and popped it in the toaster. His wallet, rings, watch, and cigarettes laid on his nightstand. He grabbed all but the cigarettes and went back to grab his less than hearty breakfast and ran out the door.

Eddie pulled up to Chrissy's house and she was already standing outside awaiting his arrival. She stood there smiling with her backpack slung over her shoulder, wearing a pink plaid jacket and light blue jeans. Eddie, along with everyone else in Hawkins, Indiana was completely aware that Chrissy was out of his league. Chrissy, on the other hand, didn't think this way at all. She considered herself lucky to be with someone so compassionate and fun to be around like Eddie. Her nightmares and visions were gone and she knew that it was all thanks to him, her saving grace.

    They both sat quietly on the ride to school while occasionally sharing a smile. Each of them, coincidentally, thought about what everyone would say about the two of them being together. Eddie randomly said aloud,

"Fuck it! Who cares what everyone else thinks. Are you happy?" he asked Chrissy. Without hesitation she replied,

"Yes, of course I am!"

"Good, me too. And that's all that matters right?" He looked over and winked at Chrissy. She nodded happily.

Eddie pulled into the Hawkins High parking lot and parked in his usual spot. He scanned the lot, eyeing up his fellow classmates in their respective clicks. He landed his sight on Chrissy sitting there next to him in the passenger seat of his van. She was doing the same. She met her stare with his and all Eddie could do was smile.

"What!?" she asked Eddie and laughed.

    "Nothing at all, Miss Chrissy Cunningham. Are you ready?" he asked her.

    "More than ever," she replied confidently. They stepped out of his van and one by one, everyone stared in their direction. Chrissy looked over and smiled at Eddie as she held her hand out in his direction. Eddie reluctantly pulled her in under his wing and they walked through the lot, past all of their friends, enemies, and acquaintances with not a care in the world of what any of them thought. They strolled past Jason and the rest of the basketball team and Eddie nodded at Jason. Jason, behind all of the guys, nodded back defeated. Andy noticed this and turned around to face Jason.

    "What the hell was that? Is this a joke? We should beat the shit out of him, Jason." Andy was getting all riled up and bringing the situation to the other guy's attention.

    "Just drop it, Andy." Jason said sternly as he lowered his sunglasses from his head onto his face to cover up his two black eyes. Andy and the guys were confused but obeyed Jason.

    "Whatever..." Andy said under his breath.

    Eddie and Chrissy entered the building, she looked up at him and smiled,

"I think that this is going to be a good year." Chrissy admitted.

Eddie kissed her on the forehead and laughed, "'86 baby!" he said loud and proud and they both laughed as they walked down the hall together hand in hand.

Jason walked towards the school's entrance with his friends when he suddenly stopped.

    "You guys go ahead, I'll be right there. I forgot something," he called out to them. The guys nodded and proceeded on. Jason opened his passenger side door and reached into his glove box for a bottle of Tylenol and popped two. He hesitated and popped one more into his mouth before he returned the bottle to the glove box. He headed into school and instead of hearing the first period warning bell, he heard a loud, "bong" which was then followed by ticking.

Jason looked around and the halls were dark and vacant. Not a student in sight. He panicked and rubbed his eyes aggressively. Everything was back to normal. "Well, that was weird," he said under his breath. He shook his head as he walked down the long hallway. The overhead lights began to flicker...