EVE DIDN'T know why lunch was a thing. Eating, sure, she understood eating, but sitting alone at a table and playing with her food was not something she particularly enjoyed.

She hated to admit it, but she didn't have any friends anymore. Her grades were slipping, and at this rate, she'd be stuck at the same shitty table until the summer of 1987.

Although she hated every class she was in, lunch was definitely the worst part of her day, and the fact that her table was right next to the basketball boys never did her any favours.

She scraped at the food on her plate, making designs in her mashed potatoes as she waited for the bell to ring, signaling the end of lunch.

She wished she was doing something else. She wished she had decided to skip the rest of the day to smoke somewhere but unfortunately for her, she was being watched by Ms Kelly.

Eve was bored out of her mind.

She wouldn't be for long, however, since her attention was immediately drawn to Eddie Munson jumping up on a table, making her frown.

"But, as long as you're into band, or science or... parties." He dragged the last part of his sentence out as Eve turned her attention back to her mashed potatoes.

"Or a game where you toss balls into laundry baskets!" Jason, the captain of the basketball team suddenly stood up, looking in Eddie's direction, making Eve stand up to leave, but she stopped in her tracks when she saw Ms Kelly standing by the door.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding..." Eve mumbled, turning back around, only to find a familiar face.

"Fuck!" Eve whisper-yelled, slightly frightened by the boy sneaking up on her. "Mike, what the hell?"

The curly-haired boy stared down at her, something that reminded her of when he was still small enough for her to put her head on his when hugging him.

The boy looked slightly concerned as Eve stared up at him. "I... just wanted to make sure you're OK. You got the worst table to sit at." Eve nodded.

"Yeah, I noticed." Mike grinned slightly at the girl's sarcasm. "I wanted to ask if you... if you want to sit with us?" His tone made it sound like a question, but Eve knew it was really him asking because he wanted her to sit with them.

And as much as she loved Mike and Dustin, she preferred not to meddle with his Hellfire friends.

As if it couldn't come at a better time, the sound of the bell ringing made Eve's ears perk up.

"I actually have to go. Sorry, Mike. I'll catch up with you later." The somber look on the boy's face went unnoticed by the girl, who was in the hall faster than you could say boo.

In truth, Mike missed Eve. Even though he had Nancy, Eve was always with her. He could talk to the girl about nearly anything, but it all changed when Nancy decided she was too good for Eve.

Eve missed the boy too, but she would never admit it to anyone. Literally no one. In her eyes, there was no one in the world she could trust with anything.

In the hall, Eve prayed that she would not be stopped by Ms Kelly, and her prayer worked to a certain degree. Only, what was waiting for her was much worse.

"There you are." The familiar sound of Mr Martin filled her head, almost making her jump.

"Woah, haha, didn't mean to scare you." He chuckled at the girl's uneasy demeanor.

"Oh, hey Mr Martin. What's up?" Eve asked, adjusting her backpack strap as the man looked at her. "Oh nothing, I just wanted to know if you'd be up to helping me with some work. I have to grade papers, and you know... I need someone who has a good mind."

A good mind? Was this asshole being serious? "A good mind?" Eve asked, the tone of her voice slightly higher so it would sound amusing and not like she thought he was stupid.

The man nodded as Eve smiled slightly, trying not to look uncomfortable. "I would love to, but I don't have a free period now."

The look of disappointment on Mr Martin's face was enough to send shivers up Eve's spine.

"Ok, I'll ask someone else... thanks anyway, Eve." When the man turned around, Eve bolted for her next class, finding it already full by the time she entered.

"Shit," She muttered under her breath, hoping that no one heard her.

"Sorry, I'm late?" Eve nodded. "Yeah, sorry... I was caught up with Mr Martin in the hall." She could feel eyes on her as the boys sitting in the front of the class snickered.

"Fine. Find your seat, Ms Parker." Eve rolled her eyes, walking quickly to the back of the class as she heard people laughing and muttering 'slut' under their breath.

"Three years of classes and she still doesn't know my last name is Porter..." Eve spoke softly, but she managed to get the attention of one person in her class.

And it was not someone she was expecting.

"Well, uh, I don't think the teachers at this school care much about names. Heard Ms Kelly calling you Evie earlier."

Eddie Munson stared at the girl as she looked at him with a frown on her face. It took Eve a while to say something to him, mainly because she didn't know why he was speaking to her.

Where she sat was not her usual spot. Her usual spot would be all the way at the back of the classroom, where all the stoners and the freaks sat, but today her place was filled by one of the regular stoners who just wanted a nap.

To be honest, she didn't realize that she was sitting next to Eddie Munson until she heard him speak.

"Uh, yeah... She likes to call me that. I don't know why, though."

Eddie shook his head, a small smile on his face. "So that wasn't a mistake? She called you Evie on purpose?" Eddie asked.

Eve hummed in response as silence fell between the pair, the teacher in the front rambling on about something that had absolutely nothing to do with Geography.

It was then that Eve came to a realization. She never gave Eddie's mixtape back to him.

She quickly rummaged in her backpack, grabbed the mixtape, and handed it back to Eddie, who took it with a smile.

"Sorry, I wanted to give it back to you a while ago." Eddie shrugged. "No problem. I've never met a girl who listens to Black Sabbath."

Eve let out a soft chuckle. "Yeah, me neither." Eve looked at a boy who sat three seats in front of her, causing her smile to disappear as he stuck his tongue in his cheek.

The gesture made her grimace before she looked down, grabbing a pencil to draw something in her book as a distraction.

Eddie noticed the change in her demeanor almost immediately, causing him to frown.

"You OK?" He asked, but Eve ignored him, causing him to look in the direction of the boys, finding that they had not stopped 'demonstrating'.

"Oh..." He said softly as Eve's pencil broke from the amount of pressure she put when drawing.

"Motherfucker..." Eve muttered as she grabbed a sharpener to fix the pencil's point.

"Are they doing that because you were with Mr Martin?" Eve still ignored Eddie as she angrily sharpened the pencil.

"I don't wanna talk about it," Eve spoke quickly as her pencil slipped, cutting her hand enough to draw blood.

"Shit." She muttered as the bell rang, causing everyone to get up. Well, everyone except them, and the stoner who Eve could never remember the name of.

"Do you need help with that?" Eddie asked as Eve shook her head. "No, I'm fine." Eve threw her stationary back in her backpack as a drop of blood fell on the black fabric of her shorts.

"You sure?" Eve stood up, nodding once. "I said I'm fine." Eve began walking out of the classroom, and into the hall where she was almost run over by the same guy from her Geography class.

Tommy Redding, or Tommy R as he was better known. Although, he didn't need to go by Tommy R anymore since Tommy H vanished along with all the other seniors of the previous year.

"Hey, Whore-ter!" Eve rolled her eyes at his stupidity. "Fuck you, Tommy." Eve felt rage boiling up inside of her as he started laughing.

"Please just leave me alone for once." Tommy's laughing stopped immediately as he tilted his head slightly.

"Now, what fun would that be?" Eve attempted to walk faster to get away from Tommy, but she was slowed down by the door and ended up falling when he pushed her, causing her to scrape her knees against the grainy cement floors.

She could hear Tommy's laugh echoing through her brain at that point, making her stand up and shake herself off.

When she looked up, however, she was faced with none other than Nancy Wheeler.

"As if my life couldn't get any fucking worse..." Eve muttered before turning to walk home.

☆☆☆

a/n- interactions with Eddie :)