It's common knowledge that a traumatic event can change the way a person sees life. These give human beings a new perspective and the possibility of rethinking what they're doing wrong and how to modify it.

This was what happened to Joan Harrington after witnessing the death of her last year's platonic love and, at the same time, discovering the existence of a dark world hiding beneath Hawkins. One, with which her big brother was more familiar than they both would like.

Joan understood the hard way that life was nothing more than a flame fragile enough to blow in any circumstance. And she didn't want to die before having the opportunity to start living.

She had wasted many years trying to achieve an impossible level of perfection. Trying to make her mother proud. Trying to make her father remember that she existed. Trying to turn into something she wasn't.

Allowing her mother to live through her.

The early death of Billy Hargrove and of so many others at Hawkins High School—and of the rest of the town—because of the Mind Flayer, a creature from the Upside Down, was what made her open her eyes.

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

And even though she was still going through difficulties leaving her mother's protective embrace, it was the survivor's regret that drew her to him.

There had barely been two weeks since the supposed fire at Starcourt, even though Joan, her brother, and their friends that were there that night knew that story was so far from being the truth. But, fire or not, Joan has not been able to stop thinking about it since then.

Billy's violent death was repeating in her head again and again. Occasionally, she would even wake up in the middle of the night after reviving that moment in her worst nightmares. Sometimes, though, it wasn't Billy who was impaled by those creepy tentacles of the Mind Flayer; it was her. And that was causing her innumerable nights of insomnia, where, no matter how much she tried to sleep and rest, she always ended up dreaming about her own death.

Initially, she tried to speak with her mother without mentioning explicitly what happened in Starcourt on July 4. But she never took her seriously and assured her that she would recover in less time than she thought.

That had obviously not occurred yet.

So that dark night, bored of the usual nightly routine, Joan climbed out of bed and, wearing some sneakers in a hurry, grabbed her walkman from the desk. Just in case, she put the pillow under the sheets to simulate being asleep, but she didn't expect anyone to realize she was gone. Her father was on a business trip again, her mother took pills to sleep, and her brother, Steve, had a sleep so heavy that he was capable of sleeping like a log through a tornado. So she had the opportunity to get some fresh air and take the bad thoughts out of her head.

The summer breeze hit her face when she got out of the house without incident. The town's streets were barely illuminated by a few streetlights, but Joan was no longer afraid of the darkness. Now, she was conscious that there were much more dangerous things in Hawkins than the human beings who might be hiding in the shadows.

Without thinking twice, Joan put on her headphones and turned on her walkman. The voice of Bonnie Tyler flooded her ears in seconds, singing to the rhythm of Holding Out For a Hero.

It was an irony, if someone asked her. Joan didn't believe there was a single hero in that cursed town. Who might be that knight willing to appear in the middle of the night on a blazing steed? Because Joan was sure that in Hawkins, there was none. Besides, who said she was a damsel in distress who needed to be saved?

It was then that, when the bridge of the song started, a bright light blinded her completely. Joan, surprised by the sudden appearance of a van out of nowhere, tripped with her own feed and ended up falling on her buttocks on the pavement. The music stopped abruptly when the walkman collided with the floor, while the van let out a thunderous noise when braking suddenly.

"Nobody has taught you to look before crossing the street?"

Joan stared incredulously at the boy with long, curly hair and a leather jacket who had just stepped out of the van.

"Are you joking?" she spit, wrinkling her forehead. "Haven't you seen yourself driving? Who was the imbecile that gave you your license? Because it's clear they have a loose screw."

The individual's face immediately transformed. Previously, he expressed annoyance and rejection towards the girl, but in those moments, his look was one of sheer perplexity.

And it is that nobody could ever imagine Joan Harrington, Hawkins High School's princess who carried an angelic face, could yell at someone. The blonde was fucking nice to everyone. It was more likely that she apologized for something that she didn't do than that she dropped a curse. That was what distinguished her from her brother, who didn't mind expressing openly whatever he was thinking.

"Are you going to look at me like an idiot forever, or are you going to apologize for almost killing me?"

Joan's voice drew him back into reality. She didn't recognize him until the boy approached clumsily to offer her a hand to incorporate, and the lights of one of the streetlights lit up his face.

It was none other than Eddie Munson, the boy who had spent more years in high school than any other student she knew. The same who was in charge of Hellfire Club, a place where a group of geeks played some fantasy role-playing games. The one who had formed his own band, with a very strange name, it should be said, which he submitted to the same talent contest as her and her cheerleader friend group years ago.

Yes, Eddie Munson. The one who despised all popular kids. And that included her.

Anyway, Joan took his hand and allowed Eddie to bring her to her feet. However, the boy looked peculiarly nervous, which contradicted the attitude he had displayed from the start and even less the one he showed at school. So he used more strength than was necessary, and they both ended up face-to-face, only a few deadly centimeters apart.

Joan quickly felt a burning in her cheeks because not only was Eddie so close to her, but he hadn't let her go.

"I'm sorry..." Eddie spluttered before getting away from her, as if the girl was carrying a mortal illness. "I guess I wasn't in my five senses until I... well, I almost ran over you."

Joan wasn't sure if she should yell at him for being stupid and driving under the influence of alcohol or marijuana or if it was better to chuckle because of the irony. That is, two weeks ago, she could've died. Because of a monster at least seventeen feet tall. Literally. Instead of impaling Billy Hargrove's chest, it could've been hers. And there she was fifteen days later, almost killed by a beast at the wheel, alias Eddie Munson, if she hadn't reacted in time.

She went for the second choice.

"What's so funny?" Eddie inquired, confused at hearing the girl laugh as if someone had told her the joke of the century. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Joan nodded with her head, still laughing like a little kid.

"It's just stupid," pointed Joan without erasing her smile. Her voice broke as she continued talking: "I could be dead now, you know? Billy died like this!" She snapped her fingers to emphasize her point. "Seconds! And it's not just him; there's been years since people are dying in this trash town, and I'm still here. Me, and I'm probably the most useless of them all. The only thing I do is shake some pompoms and cheer as a group of hormonal teenagers throw a ball into a basket! Don't you think it's stupid? Because it's very stupid for me."

For the first time in his whole life, Eddie Munson, who always has an answer for everything, was at a loss for words. He wasn't insensitive—far from it—but he never would have thought that Joan Harrington was so... normal.

For Eddie, the teenagers that belonged to other nature, like the popular, weren't the same species as him and the rest of the Friki community. No, he was sure they led simple lives without worries. After all, they had never lacked anything, and that had to be a synonym for happiness. That is, what could they complain about? They were different, because, in his particular situation, life was constantly spitting in his face.

However, that night, he realized that people like Joan not only face adversities like everyone else but also harbor goodness inside them. They weren't the villains he thought they were.

"Ignore me," Joan asked, making Eddie realize he'd been staring at her in silence with an absurd expression for who knows how long. "I don't know why I'm telling you all of this if you don't care. I'm sorry; you should probably have your own problems to listen to me talk about my rich white girl's difficulties."

"You worked at Starcourt, right?"

The question made Joan keep silent and nod. She bit her lip, while her gaze was lost at some point in the night.

"First formal employment, and look how it ended," she said with a bittersweet smile. "Now my mother wants me to keep myself focused in my last year of high school and the transition to college. She wants me to think that is because she's afraid after the fire, but I know well that the only thing that she cares about is that I go to college and chase her frustrated dreams since she was a child. I don't see what's funny about forcing your children to accomplish things that you couldn't do when you were their age. It's egotistic."

She needed so much to get that off her chest that she didn't stop to think that she didn't even know Eddie Munson. However, and to her surprise, he listened attentively.

"Well, to be honest, your mother sounds like a pain in the ass. Eh, no offense..." he quickly added when he realized what he had said aloud. "She's probably not that bad. Yeah, she's probably a good woman."

But Joan just let out a genuine laugh. For the first time, Eddie noticed with clarity those emeralds that shone where her eyes should be.

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

"Ass" Eddie helped her with a warm smile.

Joan returned the smile. The truth is that she wasn't used to swearing; she didn't even stop to think when she started to curse at the start of their conversation. To Eddie, however, it sounded so natural that Joan didn't take it seriously.

"I have no idea how it feels to have someone care for you," the boy admitted, making a face while scratching one of his cheeks. "It's as if I have never had parents. I have my uncle, yeah, but still, I always had to stand up for myself. I wouldn't want to be a burden to him. You should try to do the same. Nobody should control your life like you were a simple viewer."

That night, Joan learned several lessons. Perhaps the most important one was seeing Eddie Munson for the first time for what he really was. He was no longer the freaky guy who enjoyed role-playing games, listened to metal music, and sold marijuana in the school's dark corners. He was more than that—much more.

She discovered that Eddie Munson was a good listener.

She also discovered that, for her, it was easier to talk about her problems with him than with anyone else. Even her old friends.

That was only the start of the most passionate and wild love story that Joan had ever lived. The beginning of a so intense feeling that none of them could control until there was no turning back.

At first, they became the strangest pair of friends that anyone could ever imagine. Even though no one knew, that summer Joan had decided to get away from her social circle due to the trauma of the events of Starcourt and the existence of a damn parallel world full of monsters. She pushed almost everyone away: her family, her best friend, and her former boyfriend. She made only two exceptions—well, three if you include her older brother. She could never get away from him, even if she tried.

The first to obtain that privilege was—no longer—little Max Mayfield, who was going through a similar situation because of the traumatic murder of her stepbrother. The second was the crazed Eddie Munson, who nearly ran her over in mid-July.

But that deranged driver became a rock for Joan. He was her person. They were meant to be; there wasn't any other explanation. And that was how, in record time, they became close friends, and in the blink of an eye, they were climbing to the top.

It was like an adventure—fun and exciting—that no one knew anything about. It was their little dirty secret that ended up being like therapy for Joan because her nightmares about Billy's death—or her own—were decreasing little by little. Eddie had provided her with a security she never thought she would find in another person.

Because it wasn't just about the spirited kisses and comforting hugs, among other things, Eddie really listened to her and was interested in knowing what was on her mind. Maybe he didn't understand half her words, maybe he didn't share the same passion for certain things (it wasn't Eddie if he didn't criticize the music taste so different from his), and maybe he didn't end up understanding the complicated routines she had to create as the captain of the cheerleaders practices; he observed her as if there was only Joan Harrington in the universe.

And like that, Joan didn't have any difficulty getting herself comfortable with this new level of 'friendship' that was developing as time passed.

After all, the same as Eddie discovered how wrong he was about some popular, Joan had been mistaken in two things: she did need a 'hero'. Maybe not to save her, but to give her the push she needed to begin to take control of her life and make her own choices. The second thing she discovered was the existence of the knight in shining armor, willing to appear in the middle of the night in his fiery steed. Just that it wasn't a traditional one; Eddie Munson was the friki in leather jacked that almost ran her over in his dilapidated van.

But he was her hero; that did exist in Hawkins, and he had saved her in the most peculiar way that a person can be saved.

I love this story, and I hope you all love it as well. My plan is to update every Monday, but I study, so maybe it will not be possible every week. We'll see.

Also, it's my first time translating something as big as this, so point out any mistakes that you see; I am happy to learn.