A world in which Eddie Munson, who fought tooth and nail from K-12+ against his all-encompassing, incredibly annoying crush on King Steve Harrington, is leaving Starcourt one evening and is the only person around to see the King talking to Robin Buckley while trying to lock the back door to Scoops.
āRighty tighty, lefty loosey, Steve-o,ā Buckley drawls.
āNot for keys, Robiāwill you shut up?ā
Eddie is prepared to defend Buckley, whom heās always liked, from Harringtonās bitching, but the weirdest thing happens. She laughs. She touches his arm. Itās familiar in a way that makes Eddie say, āHuhā aloud to himself.
Heād thought Buckley played for a different team, but maybe The Hair transcends all.
Now, Steve is saying, āI will leave you in this parking lot,ā and Robin is laughing harder.
āIāll tell corporate you donāt wear the sailor hat.ā
āIt ruins my best feature, Robin! Why are you laughing?ā Steve sounds annoyed, which Eddie doesnāt get, because Buckley is cute, if youāre into that sort of thing girls.
āIt is my best feature,ā Steve grouses, and Robin shoves him lightly, but all that accomplishes is getting him to drop his keys. The toe of Steveās blue sneakers that probably cost more than Eddieās latest water bill connects with the silver glint of the keys and sends them arcing neatly across the parking lot and right into the toe of Eddieās own shoes.
Both Harrington and Buckley are staring at him, twin pairs of big eyes blinking slowly in the streetlights like theyāve never seen anything like him.
Eddie scoops up the keys and dangles them off a finger. āDrop something, Harrington?ā
For some reason, Buckley elbows Steve in the ribs. When he doesnāt move, she gives him another shove, which sends Steve stumbling forward a step.
Steveās face is slightly red, and Eddie figures heās embarrassed to be caught in his stupid nautical shorts, but then he says, āThanks, Munson,ā and holds out a hand to take the keys.
When their fingers brush, Steveās hand sort of spasms, and the keys clatter to the ground again. He scrambles to pick them up, then nods at Eddie when he stands again, like that was always his plan.
āSee you around, Harrington. Buckley.ā Eddie nods back and then keeps walking.
Behind him, he hears Buckley say, āYou suck, Harrington.ā
About a week later, Eddie runs into the pair of them again, this time, beaten and bloody and walking along the road near Forest Hills. Against his better judgment, Eddie calls out to them, and thatās how he finds himself listening to the very, very high ramblings of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb, who are bleeding steadily onto their white sailor collars and ranting about a spider made of people.
āYou could use it,ā Steve slurs, conversationally, āin a campaign.ā
Eddie is torn between amusement and worry that something got knocked loose in Harringtonās brain.
āYour dragons and dungeons,ā Steve says, then, smugly, āI know stuff.ā
Alarmed, Eddie tells them heās taking them both home to get them patched up. āEspecially you, Harrington. Iāll admit youāve got me worried, big boy,ā he adds, because Steve was staring at Eddie with the intensity of a bad trip.
At his words, Steve beams, which causes his lip to split open again.
āRobs!ā He shouts, gripping at her shoulder.
āYou rule!ā She crows with a fist in the air, and they both cheer. Eddie just shakes his head and helps them start walking again.
