Eddie, you absolute idiot. Haven't you learned by now that pining after an untouchable will get you nowhere?
It didn't make sense, this newfound captivation with her. He told himself it was simply limerence, because he'd only had handful of conversations with Chrissy. Chrissy Cunningham, queen of Hawkins High. He was but the queen's entertainment, a troubadour with a broken guitar string. Sometimes, he would write campaigns that he never dared to present during Hellfire's game nights. They stayed in a separate notebook. The themes? The underdog getting the girl. His latest campaign involved the princess running off with the minstrel, leaving the prince to wallow in his defeat. It was pathetic, truly.
None of his friends understood why Eddie wouldn't skip the pep rallies. He blamed it on extra credit, which was partly true. During pep rally time, he was in Mr. Embry's class, who also happened to be the coach. He wanted to make sure his precious kitty cats, the Hawkins Tigers, had plenty of people cheering their praises. Eddie usually sat in the top of the bleachers. Most teachers wouldn't traverse that far, so it was usually a guarantee he could sneak a cigarette during.
The moment he saw Chrissy, pom poms in the air (he had to ask someone later what those were called, but now he knew), her bright smile that contained a tormented presence beneath the surface (or so he imagined), he just... lost control. He knew then he'd watch anything she did. Still, he had a reputation to uphold, so he never attended the basketball games. But game days were his favorite. Chrissy always seemed to have a bouncier aura on those days, which made her even more attractive to him. She was sunshine and fresh daisies, and he was a raging bonfire. It made zero sense.
But he loved the way she made cheering relevant to him. He never understood the purpose of the pom poms, or why tossing balls into laundry baskets required an extra ego push in the form of hot girls shouting memorized lines to guys who mostly didn't deserve it, but when Chrissy started her cheer routine... it was pretty cool, actually.
