Falling for the Freak - Eddie Munson Fix-It Fic Chapter 03
Hi, I’m really excited about this bit and couldn’t wait to write it, so here we go! It’s late and I’m sorry if it’s full of mistakes. Also for the purpose of this we’re going to say that Eddie also is the lead singer of Corroded Coffin.
ALSO! I have a title! It’s corny as fuck but I think it fits well with the concept of this fic. This is officially going to be titled Falling for the Freak! I hope you all like it!
Chapter 3
CHAPTER SUMMARY: In which the reader performs with her band at the Hawkins fall Harvest Festival.
“We’re so not going to be able to pull this together before tomorrow,” James, the lead guitarist of my band said as we fought our way through rehearsal.
We were in Aunt Claudia’s garrage and it was not going well. We couldn’t decide on a setlist - we only were given twelve minutes on stage - we didn’t have the proper set up in the garrage, and we only had one night to rehearse. I couldn’t let my bandmates think that they had come all this way for nothing though.
“Come on guys,” I said, “We have to do this. We’ve already said we would. We’re not backing down. Now come on, let’s stop wasting time that we don’t have. We’re picking a set list and we’re running it at least three times before we call it for tonight,”
“You’ve gone crazy,” Randy said from behind the drums.
“Cut her some slack, dudes,” Isaac, who we all referred to as Dizzy, called out from his place on the couch where he lazily plucked his bass. “I think you’re worrying about it too much. We’ve just gotta put our heads together and figure out what our standards are for cover songs. They don’t need originals, so let’s just pull out our best covers,”
“We need songs that go together,” I said, “Like ones that we can just roll through back to back, no stops. We’ve gotta use the time we’ve got,”
“Ok...” Randy said. “Like what are you thinking?”
I paused. Then it struck me. “I think I’ve got an idea that will ensure that we’ll melt some faces,”
“Let’s hear it,” James said.
---
I stood backstage with my bandmates waiting to go on for our soundcheck. We were told to arrive an hour before our performance time so that we could set our equipment up. I had spent at least three hours before that figuring out what I would be wearing. I had decided to go with a tight pair of high waisted black pants and a cropped corset style tank top. For shoes I decided to push my luck and go with a pair of cherry red stilettos. My hair was teased to the roof and my face was covered with so much make up and glitter that I hardly recognized myself. The outfit helped me become a performer though. I had always dressed to the nines for shows. It was the only way I could pretend it wasn’t really me on the stage.
“Ok, y’all can come get set up!” a burly man called from the stage. He was handling a bunch of wires and connecting them to a variety of different outlets. I decided to let him do his thing while we got set up.
“Dude this could be wild,” Dizzy said, looking out at the space for the audience.
The fall Harvest festival took place outside. The stage was a shamble of metal rods that they had screwed together and put a floor on. It looked fine, but standing on it and thinking about how easily it could blow over was a bit frightening. I took a breath and focused on the task at hand. We had an hour to share with Corroded Coffin as our time for soundcheck. We were going on first, so we got to soundcheck first. The members of Corroded Coffin hadn’t shown up yet, but I was eagerly anticipating their arrival. I wanted to get a good look at my competition. Even though we weren’t really in it to win this thing, our set had really come together by the end of the previous night. It had been a while since we had played together and it felt like putting the pieces of a puzzle together. I was ready to show off our sound to our rivals.
“It’s gonna be great,” I said with a grin. “Just play a bit louder, we’re outside, nowhere for the sound to bounce off of,”
“Sounds like a plan Stan,” Dizzy nodded.
We spent twenty minutes riffing around and testing out the equipment. We decided to save our real energy for the show. By the time we were stepping backstage, Corroded Coffin was arriving.
I noticed a familiar face in the crowd of rough looking young men. He looked a bit different with his hair frizzed up and decked out in performance clothes, but it was definitely Eddie Munson setting down his guitar case backstage.
“We’re done,” I announced. “If you guys want to head out there, the stage is yours,”
“Oh I know,” Eddie said, opening his case and pulling out his guitar.
“What do you mean?” I asked. He still hadn’t looked up at me.
“The stage is ours,” he replied, finally turning to me. “It is and always will be,”
“Wow,” I said, rolling my eyes, “somebody’s a bit over confident,”
“Nah, I’m just correct,” Eddie said and then paused. “Who are you and why do you look familiar?”
“I’m your competition tonight,” I said, “And we met the other day. Family video?”
“The Shining?” Eddie asked.
“Duh,” I said.
“Wait, no, Henderson said he got his cousin to compete,” Eddie said, shaking his head.
“Yeah,” I said, “He got his cousin to compete,” I added pointing to myself.
“No shit you’re related to Henderson?” Eddie said. “Good lord, didn’t see that one coming,”
“Come on Munson we gotta do soundcheck!” One of his bandmates called from the stage.
“Well,” I said, “you better go. Can’t wait to wipe the floor with you all later,”
“As if,” Eddie chuckled and then walked on stage.
---
By the time Corroded Coffin was finished with their soundcheck, my blood was boiling. I was seething inside. Who was this man child to tell me that his band owned the stage? We were going to destroy that crowd tonight. I felt it in my bones.
When the emcee called us out for our performance, my body felt like it was on fire. I strutted out to the microphone as the crowd cheered. With a withering look backstage where I could see Eddie watching, I signaled to Randy that I was ready to go and he rolled us in with the drums.
We started with “Wild One” by Suzi Quatro. I screamed the lyrics out with a vengence. I banged my head to the beat so hard that I knew my neck would pay for it the next morning. I didn’t care though. I had to show Munson that he was playing with fire.
When our first song ended we shredded right into the next one. I heard the chords of “Blackmail” by The Runaways split the air and released a yell that I thought Joan Jett would be proud of. By this time, the crowd was eating it up. They were going crazy for us. I traded incredulous looks with Dizzy, Randy, and James as we plowed our way through the music.
The third tune in our setlist was “Barracuda” by Heart. This one really gave Dizzy and James a chance to show off. My feet were hardly on the ground anymore. I was high off the performance. This was good as we headed towards our last song because I usually was not as bold as I wanted to be when we performed it. We took a second between “Barracuda” and our last song to thank the audience for their cheers. Then we were off to the races. We had been working on a cover of Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” for ages and finally figured it out during our one rehearsal. It finally came together just the way we wanted it to and with my inhibitions gone, we ripped through it like we had something to prove.
As I screamed out the last few notes, I felt myself come back to Earth. There was a brief moment between when we stopped playing and when the audience began cheering where I felt like something had broken. Maybe we weren’t doing as well as I thought we were. But then somebody started yelling and then the entire crowd was screaming and clapping for us.
I wiped the sweat from my forehead and bowed. Each of my bandmates waved to the crowd and then we headed off stage. I made sure to drink in the shocked expression on Eddie Munson’s face as we made our way backstage. I even stopped and to pat him on the shoulder before saying, “Top that, Munson,”
He looked at me out of the corner of his eyes and gripped his guitar tighter. There would be a ten minute break before Corroded Coffin went on. I held myself together until we passed by our opponents and then began screaming out of excitement with my bandmates.
“THAT WAS FUCKING WILD!” Randy yelled.
“YOU KILLED IT!” Dizzy shouted in my face.
“NO YOU DID!” I yelled back.
“I can’t believe we pulled that off,” James said, shaking his head with a ridiculous smile on his face.
We all held on to each other and continued yelling in our excitement. Then I heard the emcee announce Corroded Coffin. We all froze and then shuffled over to the side of the stage so we could watch our competion.
I knew we were fucked when I heard the popcorn-like drum intro of “Hot for Teacher”.
“Oh we’re fucked,” Dizzy said.
“Yeah,” I said, watching as the drummer of Corroded Coffin fought his way through that brutal intro. Then I heard the guitar viciously rip out of the amps on stage. My attention turned to Eddie Munson, wildy playing guitar in the center of the stage. He looked up just quick enough to catch my eyes and gave me a wink. I felt a lump form in my throat. We were completely fucked.
Corroded Coffin was a capital G Good band. Their rhythms were tight. They all clearly were skilled on their individual instruments. Munson’s singing even was impressive. I knew by the time they finished their final tune, an original by the sound of it, that we had lost the competition.
About ten minutes after Corroded Coffin got off stage, we were all called back so the audience could vote for the winner with their cheers. We received a series of loud cheers but it was nothing compared to the absolute shrieks that our opponents got. I wasn’t surprised at all when the emcee announced that Corroded Coffin was the official winner of the Harvest Festival’s battle of the bands. This meant they got the honor of performing an encore.
As we began walking off stage, Eddie grabbed me by the arm. He pulled me close so he could speak directly into my ear. “Play the encore with us!” he shouted over the noise of the crowd.
I pulled away from him to look at his face to judge if he was kidding or being serious.
“I mean it!” he said, a wicked grin on his face. “You killed it. You deserve to be out here just as much as we do,”
“What’s your encore?” I asked.
“Rock and Roll,” Munson replied, “The Zepplin tune!”
“I know what it is idiot!” I said, “I don’t know the words well enough though,”
“What’s your encore then?” he asked.
“Dream On by Aerosmith!” I shouted.
“I know it!” he said, “Can’t hit those high notes though,”
“Well leave them to me then!” I said.
Eddie looked at me for a moment. Our bandmates were all crowded around us, watching the interaction. It was determined there wasn’t enough equipment to house two bands at once, but there was enough for at least another microphone.
“I can’t go on without you guys,” I said as my bandmates walked towards backstage.
“Yes you can,” Randy said, putting his hand on my shoulder.
“Go show them what a front woman looks like,” Dizzy said, nodding in agreement.
“You’re the one who put this all together anyway,” James said, “Go get your glory,”
“Give them Hell,” Dizzy grinned and shoved me towards the center of the stage.
With one last look at my bandmates, I made my decision. I walked out to meet Eddie at our microphones which now stood next to each other. He had his guitar strapped on his shoulder, the neck waiting in his hand.
“Are we doing this?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I replied. “We’re doing this,”
“Let’s go,” he grinned at me. He turned to the audience and waved. “We’d like to welcome a special guest for this last song!” he announced and the crowd cheered.
The performance was a blur. Eddie was a great front man. His enthusiasm infected me until I was headbanging along with him and screaming out those last few “Dream on’s,” The crowd went bananas when we finished the song. I was breathless and giddy as Eddie ushered me with the rest of Corroded Coffin off the stage.
I immediately met up with my bandmates and screamed and jumped with them until we all could barely breathe. When I had finished celebrating with them, I turned around to see Eddie Munson standing there watching me.
He smiled and chuckled under his breath. “Way to melt some faces, sweetheart,”
I returned his smile and pushed my hair out of my face. “Don’t call me sweetheart,” I said. “And thanks,” I added.
Previous Chapter: Chapter 02 Next Chapter: Chapter 04
