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cantstoptheimagines · 2 years

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Flying Colors (Eddie Munson | Stranger Things)

Part Two | Part Three Coming Soon!

Summary — The Hellfire Club is screwed if their fearless leader, Eddie Munson, can’t make the grade.

Warnings & Other Tags ➳ Cursing; the Upside Down doesn’t exist here; Eddie is kind of a jerk.

Notes ➳ Word Count is 1,698. ➳ This does not have a ‘Reader’ within the story. Instead, there is an OC named Jenny Campbell (she/her, 18). ➳ Eddie x Valedictorian!OC, a fluffy trope that I really need in my life, so I decided to write it on my own.

Ms. O’Donnell was someone who Eddie Munson could only describe as, well, a total hag. He was so close to finally passing her class, but of course, there was always something in the way. And now this!

“You’re not serious?”

He glared at Ms. O’Donnell and Principal Higgins. There was no way this wasn’t some sort of sick joke! And to bring the Hellfire Club into it?! God, he hated them!

Principal Higgins sighed, “Completely, Mr. Munson. Your grades haven’t improved, so we’ve all come to the conclusion that this would be a good way to motivate you.”

“We all really want you to graduate,” said Ms. O’Donnell, but Eddie couldn’t stop himself from rolling his eyes when she quietly muttered to herself, “believe me.”

“If you don’t get your grade to at least a D by the end of this quarter,” said Principal Higgins, “then your... club... won’t be allowed to hold meetings here any longer.”

Eddie scoffed, “I can’t believe this! What d’you expect me to do?”

He watched as Ms. O’Donnell and Principal Higgins shared a glance with one another. This is just getting better and better, he thought, crossing his arms.

“I mean, can you guys believe this?!” exclaimed Eddie, laughing incredulously. “I swear those assholes wanna ruin my life so bad!”

As he shoved another handful of tater tots into his mouth, his friends from the Hellfire Club gazed at him with worry. They could tell Eddie was trying to play everything off as nothing to be concerned about, but... they were.

If he didn’t get his grades up for Ms. O’Donnell’s class, they didn’t know what they would do.

Dustin Henderson spoke up, “Maybe getting a tutor won’t be so bad.”

Eddie scoffed. Of all things, a tutor was the suggestion that Ms. O’Donnell and Principal Higgins had given him. No way.

“Yeah, right, who’d wanna tutor me anyway, Henderson?”

“It can’t be that hard to find someone.”

Dustin froze as the rest of the Hellfire Club looked at him. Suddenly, somehow, he had put himself up as the one with all the answers for Eddie’s situation. Mike avoided eye contact with him, trying not to get roped into his friend’s new problem.

Dustin was so gonna get him back for that.

“You’ll get me a tutor?” asked Eddie.

As Eddie leaned back in his chair with raised eyebrows, Dustin felt the sudden need to prove himself. Eddie Munson was one of the coolest people he knew. And if Dustin could do him a solid, he’d probably be hailed as a king by the rest of the Hellfire Club.

Dustin looked at Mike again. His dark-haired friend slowly shook his head at him. Don’t do it, Henderson. Don’t.

Dustin finally returned his attention to Eddie, who stared at him expectantly, and then he smiled nervously, “Sure.”

Jenny Campbell.

Dustin stared across the library at who was simultaneously his best and worst option for being Eddie’s tutor.

Why was she the best?

It wasn’t even the end of the spring quarter, and Jenny had already been chosen to be the valedictorian for that year’s senior class. And she was the only one that was offering tutoring sessions at the moment, at least according to the guidance counselor he had spoken to earlier that day.

Why was she the worst?

As a freshman, Dustin knew that talking to a senior like her was off limits. That, and Eddie would probably hate her guts since she was known as one of the most popular girls in the whole school.

He whipped around to look at his friends from the Hellfire Club. Each of them stared back with crossed arms and raised eyebrows.

“I can not talk to her,” said Dustin.

“You dug this grave on your own, dude,” shrugged Mike.

“Lie in it,” said Jeff.

Dustin then turned to Gareth, hoping he would have some sympathy, unlike the others. Alas, his dreams were crushed when Gareth scoffed and shook his head.

“Seriously?!” exclaimed Dustin, throwing his hands in the air with an exasperated expression.

The boys nearly leapt out of their skins when the librarian harshly shushed them. She glared at them over the rim of her glasses before continuing to scan some books on her desk.

“Just do it before the old lady kicks our asses,” demanded Gareth.

Dustin sighed. They were right. He promised Eddie a tutor, so he was going to get him a tutor, damn it! The Hellfire Club was not going down without a fight!

Jenny Campbell blinked in surprise when the chair across from her suddenly screeched! against the floor of the library. She looked at the boy in front of her, raising her eyebrows when he smiled nervously.

“Hi,” he said.

Jenny waited for him to say more, but no more words came from him. A confused smile spread across her face as she closed the book in her hands, and replied, “Hey.”

“I’m Dustin,” he said.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, everything coming together within her head. “Are you the one who asked for tutoring—?”

“No!” he interrupted, leading her to pause with a puzzled expression on her face. “I mean, yes—! Well, sort of—!”

Jenny didn’t have to respond before she heard a quiet voice mutter something along the lines of “Dude!” and when she glanced over her shoulder, she immediately noticed a group of boys by the library doors. Each of them wore the same shirt with the words ‘Hellfire Club’ written in large letters. She recognized two of them, Gareth and Jeff, from some of her classes. The other boy seemed closer to Dustin’s age, leading her to assume that he was a freshman.

When she returned her attention to Dustin, she quickly realized that he was wearing the same shirt as the other boys, “If you’re asking to join your game, I’m sorry, but I don’t know how to play.”

“It’s not that,” said Dustin. “Look, I need a tutor, but... not for me.”

Jenny’s eyebrows furrowed, “Okay?”

“If one of my friends doesn’t get his grades up by the end of this quarter,” explained Dustin, “Principal Higgins won’t let us have our meetings here anymore.”

Suddenly, everything made sense, leading Jenny to ask, “And you want me to help him?”

Dustin’s expression shifted into one of pleading as he clasped his hands together, and begged, “Please!”

After taking his request into consideration for a moment, Jenny gave him a smile, “Okay.”

Dustin looked up at her, and asked, “Seriously? You’ll do it?”

Jenny nodded, “I haven’t had anyone else sign up for spring tutoring, so... why not?”

With that, Dustin leapt up from his seat, knocking the chair to the ground as he cheered, “Hell yeah!”

“Mr. Henderson!”

Jenny looked over her shoulder at the librarian, who was giving Dustin a rather nasty glare. Jenny then quickly whipped around and covered her mouth, trying to contain her laughter. Meanwhile, Dustin was frozen with a fearful expression.

“Sorry, Mrs. Brown,” he muttered, slowly easing his arms back to his side. Before he left, he whispered, “Meet me by the cafeteria tomorrow?”

Jenny uncovered her mouth, still smiling, and answered, “Sure.”

Dustin grinned back at her, “Jenny Campbell, you’re, like, the best person ever!”

“Dude, Jenny Campbell is, like, the worst person ever!”

Gareth, Jeff, and Mike all shared exasperated looks with one another. It was the next day, and Gareth had accidentally let the name of Eddie’s new tutor slip. And Eddie was none too pleased by the revelation.

Dustin was nowhere to be seen even though lunch was nearly over. The three boys, without Eddie’s knowledge, hoped that Jenny hadn’t backed out of Dustin’s deal. But why would she? As far as they knew, she wasn’t even aware that Eddie was the one she’d be helping.

That, and Dustin had told them that she seemed rather nice for a ‘popular’ girl. In his experience with ‘popular’ girls, at least. After all, she didn’t insult them for wanting the Hellfire Club to continue like most of their classmates would have.

And she even thought Dustin was going to ask her to join them.

“Why?” asked Mike.

He really wanted Eddie to explain why he disliked Jenny so much before she and Dustin made an appearance. Correction, if they made an appearance.

“Oh, c’mon, Wheeler!” exclaimed Eddie. “That girl is the definition of forced conforming. With her perfect hair, her perfect house, her perfect car, and her perfect grades—!”

“Man, you really don’t like me.”

Jenny raised her eyebrows, watching Eddie’s reaction to her sudden appearance with amusement. Apparently, she had startled him pretty badly, because he immediately started coughing loudly, trying to fully swallow the tater tots he’d been eating.

Once he had regained himself, Eddie whipped around, his long hair nearly hitting him in the face. Dustin cleared his throat awkwardly when Eddie glared at him. There was no way he was going through with this.

“Guys, this is Jenny,” said Dustin. “Jenny, this is everybody.”

Each of the boys, aside from Eddie, greeted her quietly. Mike even decided to give her a small wave, and then asked, “Where’ve you been?”

“Oh!” grinned Dustin, gesturing to the girl next to him. “Jenny has a lunch pass, so she took me to this really cool burger place—!”

He was interrupted by a loud scoff. Eddie then stood up from his seat, straightening to his full height. He moved so he was standing toe-to-toe with Jenny. He gave her a once-over, and then asked, “How do I know you can even get me a D in this class, Campbell?”

Jenny tilted her head at him, and asked, “Do you wanna keep your ‘hobbit party’ open or not?”

Eddie scoffed again. He bit his lip in frustration when his friends glared at him. He could practically hear their thoughts shouting at him, Suck it up, Munson!

“Yes,” he muttered, returning his attention to Jenny, finally caving.

“Then you’ll just have to trust me, I guess,” she replied, allowing a smirk to slip onto her lips. “Don’t worry, Munson. I’ll make sure you pass O’Donnell’s spring exam with flying colors.”

And with that, their deal had been made.