I knew the room that the Hellfire Club meetings took place in because I'd had to wait there for Mike sometimes.

I peeked through the little window in the door and saw Eddie sitting on what appeared to be a throne, he was reading through something, no one else was in there yet.

Here goes nothing.

I knocked on the door before entering, Eddie seemed surprised when he saw me at the door.

"If you're looking for Mike, I don't know where he is." he tells me.

"I'm not here for Mike." I tell him, I glance around the dimly lit room and I'm not really sure where to sit.

"Oh."

"Mike's blackmailing me and he says I have to be here. I also might've lied to him and said that I know how to play D&D, which I don't, but he's gonna expect me to play. Is there any way you can get me out of it?" I ask.

"I think Lucas is gonna be here today so you won't have to play, don't worry. Sit wherever you want, just not my throne." he smiles slightly, "You're kinda early so you can either wait outside or you can stay in here, I don't mind."

If I wait outside then I'll risk someone seeing me waiting for Hellfire Club, if someone saw that and it got back to Jason then I'd be done for.

"I'll stay here." I nod, Eddie smiles to himself.

I slid his ring off my finger and placed it on top of his jacket that I'd folded for him. Eddie's face lit up as he noticed his jacket when I approached his throne.

"My beloved jacket!" he smiled, instantly putting it back on.

"Sorry about taking it, I forgot I even had it on when you dropped me home." I laugh and watch as he looks down at his ring.

"I was miserable when I couldn't find it, I didn't sleep at all that night." he sighs, shaking his head. "Kidding. I didn't even realise it was gone. Thanks for bringing it back though, Princess."

"I hate when you call me that." I cringe.

"Looks like I'll have to keep calling you it then." he grins, he holds the ring out to me,

"Keep it, it's got a crown on it. It makes more sense for you to have it since you're the princess of Hawkins High." he passes it to me.

I slid the cold metal back over my finger and laughed to myself at the way it slides up and down whenever I move my hand.

"Your boyfriend was awfully nice to me today." Eddie mentions, raising his eyebrows.

"He's not my boyfriend." I already knew he was talking about Jason, "And whatever he did, I'm sorry."

"He's weirdly protective over you for someone who's not your boyfriend." he glances towards the door, "All it takes is one guy looking at you and he's ready to beat them to a pulp."

"What point are you trying to make?"

"He treats you like his property. If he knew you were here he'd be after me and the club too, so I think it's better if we keep this between us."

I nod, I'm glad he also wants to keep this a secret because if this gets out then we're both in trouble.

"Just to be clear though," he begins, "you're welcome back here any time."

...

Somehow after watching hours of nerds playing D&D, I still didn't understand the game. Maybe it's one of those things that you have to practice yourself to get a grasp of how it works.

The way Eddie made the game exciting for the younger guys in the club was cute, I wasn't even watching but he had me interested just through the way he was playing.

Eddie and I shared a few glances when he was playing and I couldn't help but think about how much fun I'd had with him that night we spent together.

He's not that bad, he's just a little different from everyone else and I like that. He's literally a harmless nerd, a harmless nerd who is clearly a good friend to my brother.

When the club meeting was over, Eddie gave me one of those Hellfire Club shirts that Mike and his friends always wear. I was unsure on whether I'd ever come back to another club meeting but... I did have fun.

Mike and his friends walked ahead, except Dustin, he had went to find a vending machine, I think Mike wanted to walk home with them rather than me so I stayed back for a few minutes to let them get ahead.

"This was actually pretty fun, Munson." I smiled to Eddie.

"Like I said, you're always welcome back. See you around, Princess."

I shook my head at that nickname but couldn't help but smile to myself as I left the room.

It was night but the school hallways were still lit with those nauseating white lights, the type that gives me migraines. I kept my head down as I began to walk, that was before I noticed a shadow in front of me.

I stepped out of the way to let the person past, I was quickly pulled back by a harsh grip on my arm.

My first thought was to look at the hand grabbing my arm, then I saw it.

Jason's watch, a Hawkins High varsity jacket.

☆ ☆ ☆

thought i'd be nice and leave u guys on a cliffhanger lolol

i'd also like to specify the ages of the characters, eddie and valerie are both high school seniors so they're both around the same age (eddie hasn't had to repeat any years in this book)

also what star sign do u guys think eddie is? i'm thinking leo or sagittarius

feel free to vote if you enjoyed this chapter, it helps others find this book which really helps me out!!