000. | "HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO IN HAWKINS."

IT'S WELL KNOWN THAT A TRAUMATIC EVENT CAN CHANGE A PERSON'S POINT OF VIEW ABOUT LIFE. These give the human being a new perspective and the possibility of rethinking what they're doing wrong and how to change it.

That's what happened to Joan Harrington after witnessing the death of her platonic love for the past year and, at the very same moment, discovering the existence of a dark world that was hidden under Hawkins and with which her older brother was already more familiar than he would like.

Joan learned the hard way that life was nothing more than a flame fragile enough to go out under any circumstances. And she didn't want to die before even had a chance to start living. She had wasted so many years trying to master an unattainable perfection. Trying to make her mother proud. Trying to make her father attention. Trying to become someone she wasn't.

Allowing her mother to live through her.

The early death of Billy Hargrove and so many other acquaintances from Hawkins High - and the rest of the town in general - from the Mindflayer, a creature from the Upside Down, was what opened her eyes.

Joan didn't want to be the perfect girl from Hawkins anymore.

And though she still struggled to get out from her mother's wing, it was survivor's remorse that drove her to him.

Barely two weeks had passed since the supposed fire at the Starcourt Mall, but Joan, her brother and their friends who were present that night all knew that story was far from true. But fire or not, Joan hadn't been able to stop thinking about it ever since.

Billy's violent death replayed in her head over and over. Sometimes, she would even wake up in the middle of the night after reliving that moment during her worst nightmares. Sometimes, however, it was her instead Billy who was being pierced by those Mind Flayer's bloodcurdling tentacles. And that had been giving her countless sleepless nights where Joan, as much as she tried to sleep and rest, always ended up dreaming of her own death.

At first she tried to speak with her mother, without explicitly mentioning what had happened at Starcourt on the Fourth of July. But she never took her seriously and she claimed that she would get over it in less time than she imagined.

Clearly that hadn't happened yet.

So that cold night, tired of the same nightly routine, Joan got out of bed and, hastily slipping on a pair of slippers, grabbed her Walkman from the desk. Just in case, she placed the pillow under the covers to simulate her sleeping, though she didn't think anyone would notice her absence. Her father was away on business again, her mother was on sleeping pills, and her brother, Steve, was such a heavy sleeper that he could even fall asleep like a log during a tornado. So, she was free to get some fresh air and get the bad thoughts out of her head.

The summer breeze hit her face as soon as she made it safely out of the house. The town streets were barely lit by a few street lamps, but Joan was no longer afraid of the dark. She was now aware that Hawkins hid far more dangerous things than human beings, lurking in the shadows.

Without thinking twice, Joan put on her headphones and turned on her Walkman. Bonnie Tyler's voice filled her ears within seconds, singing to the beat of Holding Out For a Hero.

An irony, if you were wondering. Joan didn't think there was a single hero in that cursed town. Who could be that knight willing to appear in the middle of the night on a fiery steed? Because Joan was sure there was none in Hawkins. Besides, who said she was a damsel in distress in need of rescuing?

It was then that, when the bridge of the song began to sound, a bright light completely dazzled her. Startled by the sudden appearance of a van that seemed to have come out of nowhere, Joan tripped over her own feet and ended up landing on her butt on the sidewalk. The music stopped abruptly as soon as the Walkman hit the ground, while the van made a thunderous noise as it braked hard.

"Did no one teach you to look before crossing the street?"

Joan stared incredulously at the boy with long curly hair and a leather jacket who had just gotten out of the van. "Are you kidding?" She snapped at him, wrinkling her brow. "Are you even aware of your driving? Who was the asshole that licensed you? Because they have a screw loose."

The individual's countenance suddenly changed. Before, it seemed to reflect a kind of mixture between annoyance and rejection towards the girl, but now his expression was one of pure perplexity.

And it's that no one would have ever imagined that Joan Harrington, the princess of Hawkins High School who wore an angelic face, was capable of yelling at someone. The blonde girl was fucking nice to everyone. It was more likely that she would apologize for something she hadn't done, before shouting out expletives. That's what set her apart from her brother, who had no problem openly expressing whatever he thought.

"Are you going to keep lookin' at me with that stupid face, or are you going to apologize for almost killing me?" Joan's voice brought him back to reality, who didn't recognize him until the boy clumsily approached to offer her a hand to get up and the lights of one of the streetlights illuminated his face.

It was no one else than Eddie Munson, the young man who had been in high school longer than any other student she knew. The same one who was in charge of the Hellfire Club, a place where a group of nerds played fantasy role-playing games. The one who had formed his own band, with a rather strange name, it must be said, and with which he appeared in the same talent show as her and her friends from the cheerleading group years ago.

Yeah, Eddie Munson. The one who hated all the popular kids equally. And that included her.

Still, Joan accepted his hand and let Eddie pull her back to her feet. However, the boy seemed peculiarly nervous, which didn't fit with the attitude that he had shown in the beginning, much less with the one that he presented at school. So, he used more force than required and so they both ended up face to face, dangerously close by barely inches.

It didn't take long for Joan to feel a slight burning in her cheeks, since Eddie wasn't only too close, but he hadn't let go of her.

"I'm sorry..." Eddie mumbled before walking away as if she was ill with a deadly disease. "I guess I wasn't in my five senses, until... um, well, I almost ran you over."

Joan wasn't sure if she should yell at him for being an imbecile driving under the influence of alcohol or weed, or if it was better to laugh at the irony. Like, two weeks ago she could have died. By a monster that was at least sixteen feet tall. Literally. Instead of going through Billy Hargrove's chest, it could have been hers. And yet there she was, a fortnight later, about to be killed by a beast at the wheel, also known as Eddie Munson, if she hadn't reacted in time.

In the end, she opted for the second option.

"What's the joke?" Eddie asked, confused to hear the girl laughing as if she'd just been told the joke of the century. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Joan nodded, still giggling like a little girl.

"It's just stupid," Joan pointed out without erasing a smile. Her voice cracked as she continued to speak, "I could be dead now, you know? Billy died like this!" She snapped her fingers to prove her point. "Seconds! And not only him, for years people have been dying from one moment to another in this shitty town and I'm still here. Me, who's probably the most useless of all and all I do is wave some pom-poms and celebrate a bunch of hormonal teenagers throwing a ball in a basket! Don't you think it's stupid? 'Cause for me it's very stupid."

For the first time in his life, Eddie Munson, who always had an answer for anything, didn't know what to say. Not that he was insensitive by any means, but he would never have thought that Joan Harrington was so... normal.

For Eddie, teenagers who belonged to another class like the popular ones, were not of the same species as he and the rest of the freak community. No, he was sure that they led easy and carefree lives, after all they had never lacked for anything and that had to be synonymous with happiness. What could they complain about? They were different, because in his particular case life was only in charge of spitting in his face.

However, that night he understood that people like Joan not only went through adversity like any other, but also could harbor goodness within them. They weren't the villains he thought.

"Don't mind me," Joan told him, making Eddie realize that he had been silent, looking at her like an idiot for who knows how long. "I don't know why I'm telling you all this if you're not interested. Sorry, you must have your own business and not wanting to hear me talk about my privileged white girl problems."

"You worked at Starcourt, didn't you?"

The question made Joan fall silent and nod her head. She bit her lip, while her gaze was lost somewhere in the night.

"First formal job and look how it turned out," she commented with a bitter smile. "Now my mom prefers that I stay focused on my senior year of high school and getting into college. She wants me to think that it's because she is scared after the fire, but I know very well that the only thing that interests her is that I go to university and pursue the frustrated dreams that she has had since she was young. I don't understand what's the grace of forcing your children to do what you couldn't achieve when you were their age. That's selfish."

Joan needed so badly to get that weight off her, that she didn't stop to think that she barely knew Eddie Munson. However, and to her surprise, he was listening intently.

"Well, the truth is, your mother sounds like a pain in the ass. Huh, no offense..." he hastened to add realizing what he had just said out loud. "She's probably not that bad. Yeah, she must be a good woman."

But Joan only let out a genuine laugh. For the first time, Eddie clearly saw those emeralds glittering where her eyes should have met.

"Truth shouldn't offend," Joan pointed out, shrugging. "But in short, yes. My mother is just like a... a pain... in the..."

"Ass," Eddie helped her, smiling kindly at her.

Joan smiled back. The truth is, she wasn't used to swearing, she hadn't even stopped to think when she started cursing during the beginning of their conversation.

"I don't have the slightest idea what is like to have anyone caring about me," he admitted, wincing as he scratched one of his cheeks. "It's like I never had parents. There's my uncle, yeah, but still I always had to assert myself. I wouldn't want to be a burden to him. You should try the same. Nobody should handle your life as if you were a simple spectator."

That night Joan had learned several lessons. Perhaps the most important of all, was seeing Eddie Munson for the first time for who he really was. He was no longer the weirdo who enjoyed role-playing games, listening to metal music, and selling weed in blind spots at school. He was more than that, much more.

She discovered that Eddie Munson was a good listener.

And she also discovered that it was much easier for her to talk about her problems with him than with anyone else. Including the friends she had from a long time.

That was just the beginning of the most passionate and wild love story Joan had ever experienced. The beginning of a feeling so intense, that neither of them was able to control until then there was no turning back.

At first, they became the strangest pair of friends that anyone could have imagined. Although nobody knew it, since that summer Joan had decided to distance herself from her entire social circle due to the trauma caused by what happened in Starcourt and the existence of a damn parallel world full of monsters. She pushed practically everyone aside; her family, her best friend, her one-time boyfriend. She only made two exceptions... well, three if she counted her older brother as well. She could never get rid of him even if she wanted to.

The first one to earn the privilege had been the —no longer so— little Max Mayfield, who was going through a similar situation because of the traumatic murder of her stepbrother. And the second one was the crazy Eddie Munson who almost ran her over in mid-July.

But that crazy driver became a kind of anchor for Joan. He was her person. They were destined, there was no other explanation. And just as in record time they became closest friends, in the blink of an eye they climbed to the top.

It was like an adventure, fun and exciting, that nobody had the slightest idea about. It was their dirty little secret, which ended up being a kind of therapy for Joan as her nightmares related to Billy's death —or hers— were slowly diminishing. Eddie had given her a security that she never thought she would find in another person.

And it wasn't only about the fiery kisses and the comforting hugs, among other things, but Eddie really listened to her and was interested in knowing what was on her mind. Maybe he didn't understand half of her words, maybe he didn't share the same passion for certain things - he wasn't Eddie if he didn't criticize the musical taste so different from what he was used to - and maybe he didn't even finish understanding the complicated routines she had what to put together as captain for cheerleading practices; he watched her as if there was no one else in the universe but Joan Harrington.

And so, Joan had no difficulty getting used to this new level of "friendship" that was evolving with each passing day.

After all, just as Eddie found out how wrong he was about certain popular people, Joan had been wrong about two things: She did need a "hero." Not precisely to rescue her, but to give her the push she needed to start taking control of her life and make her own decisions. The second thing she discovered was the existence of a knight in shining armor willing to appear in the middle of the night on his fiery steed. Just it wasn't a traditional one; Eddie Munson was the leather-jacketed freak who nearly ran her over in her beat-up van.

But he was her hero, who did exist in Hawkins, and he had saved her in the most unusual way a person could be saved.