RUMORS•eddie munson

9

     Ziggy and Eddie had settled back into the boathouse, creating games to occupy themselves. They had decided on their own version of beer pong, only the ping pong ball was a pebble and the cup was an empty can.
     "So, how many of them do you actually know?" Ziggy asked before pelting the rock on the ground, watching it tumble to the left.
     "Who is 'them'?" Eddie asked, taking his turn. His shoulder brushed against hers as he tossed the pebble.
     "Harrington, Robin, Dustin-" she listed off. Eddie cut her off with a small 'oh'.
     "Just Henderson. He's really close with Steve, though. I know Wheeler's brother, too." He replied, keeping his eyes on the can as her pebble bounced off. He hissed as she threw her head back in despair.
"Is he anything like Nancy?" Eddie scoffed at the thought.
"Nah, he's a little freak. Loves D&D and his girlfriend from California." Ziggy raised her eyebrow at the picture she had in her head.
"Then he probably doesn't have one at all. Sounds made up to me." Eddie drew his hand back, ready to launch his rock before freezing. He tilted his head in thought, turning to Ziggy with a look of suspicion.
"Ya know, Henderson has a supposed girlfriend from out of state, too." Ziggy let out a low whistle, raising her brows. Eddie chuckled, finally throwing the rock and landing it in the can. He snapped his fingers and chucked darkly as Ziggy rolled her eyes at his celebration. She turned to mock him when she heard something. Putting her hand on his arm, she halted Eddie's movements and enveloped them in silence. A car was pulling in the drive. Eddie looked at her before his eyes shot to the window. Quietly, Ziggy walked in a crouched position until she could peer out. Her breath hitched. Eddie crouched behind her, resting one hand on her back and the other on the window sill next to her head.
"It's Jason." She whispered, ducking down when he glanced their way. Ziggy scurried to his pile of belongings, fishing his walkie out of one of the pockets as Eddie fumbled with something behind her.
"Hello? Dustin? Or whoever can hear, are you there?" She mumbled into the walkie. Upon hearing no response, she tried again.
"If you're there, we need help. This is a code red, emergency, life or death problem! Hello?" She turned to Eddie in a panic.
"Eddie, they're not answering." She sounded like she was ready to cry. He crouched down in front of her and held her by the shoulders.
"Okay, we've gotta go." Her eyes widened, ready to shake her head. He cut off her movements by nodding his.
"Yes, we do. Get in the boat." She froze, eyeing the hunk of wood.
"Eddie-"
"We don't have time-"
"Eddie, I don't know if I can swim." Eddie froze at her uncertain statement. He tilted his head, leaning closer with a panicked expression.
"You don't know if you can swim, or you can't swim?" Ziggy hesitated, staring at the boat with fear. Eddie shook his head.
"Doesn't matter; I'll be careful, okay? But we have to leave now." With a shallow, shaky breath, Ziggy stumbled to her feet. Eddie held her by the arm and helped her climb into the boat despite her shaking limbs. He released the boat from its chain and pushed off, sending them into the lake. Eddie paddled the boat while Ziggy kept her eyes on the house. He had sent them a good thirty feet into the lake when she spotted two figures rush out onto the lawn. She reached her hand forward, clutching onto him by his vest.
"Eddie-"
"Hey, freak!" Jason yelled across the lake. Eddie turned around to face him, cursing under his breath. Ziggy lightly shoved his shoulder forward with a whimper.
"Keep paddling!" She instructed as Jason started to shed his clothing.
"Where do you think you're going?!" He jumped into the water, bringing Patrick with him as they swam after them. Eddie moved to the motor, trying to start it. He yanked the chord repeatedly as they drew closer.
"Fuck it." He grumbled, moving back to the front to paddle while Ziggy shifted behind him, pulling the chord herself in an attempt to get it to start. Jason was right behind them.
"Go faster!" She yelled looking behind her to glare at the back of Eddie's head.
"I'm trying-" Eddie glanced behind him, eyes widening when he saw Jason reach up. Eddie lurched forward, trying to grab a hold of Ziggy before Jason could pull her into the water, but failing. Ziggy let out a screech as Jason's hand yanked her into the water by her hair. Eddie stood in the boat and held his oar up in the air, ready to swing. Ziggy tried to kick to the surface on her own, but found herself unable to breathe until Jason pulled her afloat himself.
"Ive got your girl, freak. Where are you gonna go now?" Jason looked behind him, ready to ask Patrick for backup. Ziggy gurgled on the water as Jason lost focus on keeping her above the water.
"Patrick, let's go! We've almost got him!" Suddenly, Patrick fell beneath the surface. Jason called his name again, hoisting Ziggy up further. Suddenly, Patrick shot into the air. Eddie lost his balance, tumbling backwards into the water. Ziggy gasped as his limbs started to snap, just like Eddie had described. She held her breath until every bone in his body was broken and he was released, plummeting into the water. Finally, Ziggy let out an ear piercing, horrified scream. Jason let go of her suddenly, submerging her in the water as he swam to his dead friend. Water was sucked into Ziggy's mouth, choking her as she flailed around beneath the surface. Eddie dove down, grabbing her by her waist and pulling her up for air. As soon as she inhaled, she choked on a cough, sending her into a fit and water sputtered out of her mouth.
"Cmon baby, kick." Eddie mumbled in her ear, struggling to get them to the boat. He held her to his chest and did a backstroke, keeping her head above the water. When she caught her breath, she immediately began weeping at what she had just witnessed. Eddie clutched into the side of the boat, pulling her in close enough so that he could latch her hands onto the side. His arms caged her in as she faced the wood, tilting her head up to keep from swallowing any more water. One of Eddie's hands left the boat to cradle the side of her head, pressing a kiss to the other side.
"I know, baby. I know." He mumbled into the side of her head as she let out a whimper. He wordlessly startled working her up and into the boat, where she laid her head down in her hands until he could manage to climb in after her. When he was settled in, he worked on getting them to shore and away from the scene where Jason held Patrick up in the water. He didn't say anything until they were on solid ground. Ziggy silently helped him pull the boat onto shore. Eddie stared at the ground with shaky hands, only looking up when Ziggy started to walk away from him with her hands on her head. He scrambled after her, wrapping his hands around her waist and pulling her back to face him.
"Hey, you've gotta stay with me." He quietly instructed. Her breathing was picking up. Ziggy's hands clenched into fists as she replayed the scene over and over again. Eddie shook her eyes open by jerking her shoulder.
"Hey, listen to me." He snapped in front of her, staring down at her in the darkness. She dropped her hands down to his shoulders, staring up at him.
"It's gonna be okay." She let out a sob, losing it again. Eddie's face dropped, pulling her into his chest where she could cry quietly. She gasped suddenly, covering her mouth with her hands and pulling away to look up at him in horror.
"Oh my god, Eddie, I'm so sorry." Her voice strained at the end, dying off into a squeak as the words caught in her throat. He had been telling the truth the entire time. He nodded, pulling her in closer again.
"It's okay. Now you know." He caressed her wet hair. When Ziggy's cries died down, she suggested getting away from the waterline, to which Eddie agreed. As they ventured deeper into the woods, Eddie began to recognize their surroundings.
"Hey, I think we're by skull rock." He mumbled. Ziggy clutched his arm as they walked, jumping at every small sound. Eddie lead the way, heading in the direction he thought the landmark was. He gasped when he found it, relaxing the slightest bit despite feeling Ziggy's trembling hands around his bicep and forearm. Eddie was the first to climb under the rock, spreading his legs wide enough for Ziggy to settle between them. She crawled closer to him, pressing her back to his chest as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her flush against his body. She had crossed her arms over her chest to keep herself warm, her hands finding Eddie's that were clutched to her front. As they sat on the cold ground, they started to shiver due to the night air chilling their wet clothes and damp hair. Eddie let go of one of her hands, making her panic slightly as she tightened her grip on his other hand, looking at him over her shoulder. Eddie shushed her, using his free hand to pull her hair over her shoulder. He leaned in closer, clutching her hand again and resting his chin on her warm shoulder as she looked forward once more.
     The silence made Ziggy think. She was always a thinker, but the revelation that everything Dustin and Robin had been talking about for the last few days called upon some reflecting.
     "I'm so sorry, Eddie." She whispered, letting her head fall back on his shoulder with closed eyes and a pained expression. Eddie shuffled his sprawled out legs, straightening his back against the rock he had been leaning upon.
     "For what?"
     "Everything. Not believing you, not talking about it, leaving you at the boathouse-"
     "Hey, none of this is your fault." He ran his hand up and down her arm, looking at her from the awkward angle. Ziggy shook her head for a second, stopping when she felt herself bumping into him.
     "I know. I just-I should've taken it all more seriously."
     "Yeah, well, it's kinda hard to take things seriously when everyone is talking about a dark wizard and little girls with superpowers." Eddie smiled softly, trying to lighten the mood. Ziggy's eyes opened, staring at the underside of the rock that was leaned above them.
     "Poor Chrissy." She whispered, thinking about the sweet girl who must have been so scared. Eddie frowned, pursing his lips.
     "Yeah, poor Chrissy." He nodded. Ziggy finally turned to look him in the eyes. She licked her lips in thought.
     "You've been dealing with all of this, and I was talking to you about college." Her voice seemed to falter at the memory, laced with regret and disappointment. Eddie furrowed his brows.
     "I'm the one who brought that up. I wanted to talk about other stuff. It helped get my mind off of things."
     "Even when we talked about sad stuff?" She questioned. Eddie's eyes shifted down to her pouted mouth and back up to her eyes.
     "Even then." They looked at one another in silence for a few moments. Ziggy's chest shook as she exhaled a deep breath.
     "When I told you to leave last winter-" she started, hoping that talking about 'sad stuff' would take her mind off of things too. Eddie gazed down at her with glassy eyes.
     "-I didn't actually think that it would be, like, permanent?" The end came across as a question. Eddie furrowed his brows, nodding for her to continue as her eyes welled up.
     "Like, I just figured that we'd end up talking again. Like the bullying would stop and we'd pick up where we left off, or we'd bump into each other after graduation or something." Eddie's eyes flickered down in thought.
     "But even when I thought it would only be for a little bit, I was so sad." His attention found her eyes again, finding a small tear run down her cheek. He brought his finger up to brush it away, keeping it rested on her face as she continued.
     "Because I wanted you with me right then and there. And then time passed and the bullying didn't stop. We never bumped into each other. Nothing happened. It was like I did all of that for nothing." Her chest shook as she tried her best to hold back her tears.
     "I was kinda relieved at the boathouse cause I thought that maybe I was right about it all and we were gonna make up and all of this would go away and we could hang out again. But-" she swallowed the lump in her throat, shaking her head in fear.
     "-but Eddie, this is so much more than I thought it was. I really might never see you again." Eddie shook his head, pulling her closer to his chest with a solemn expression. She cried into his arm as he pressed a small kiss to the side of her head.
     "It's gonna be okay. We're gonna figure it out." He reassured despite feeling doubtful himself.