Eddie Munson was the “freak” of Hawkins, Indiana. He was a 20 year old super senior after having failed senior year twice, he was around 5’11” tall and he had a long, wild, curly mullet just like the musicians he admired had, big brown doe eyes, pale skin, dimples, safety pins through his earlobes, several tattoos that were done by himself in his trailer (including bats on his forearm near his elbow, a wyvern on his bicep, a black widow spider on his collarbone, a skull on the left side of his chest, and a puppet master to represent his favorite Metallica song, Master of Puppets, on his inner forearm), nails that were often painted black, and he occasionally wore messy guyliner. His outfit usually consisted of a denim battle vest littered with pins and patches representing the metal bands he adored and a large patch on the back of Dio, a leather jacket underneath with the sleeve held together by chains since the zipper broke, a shirt representing his Dungeons & Dragons club called Hellfire club, a belt with chains and a buckle made out of some old handcuffs, ripped up jeans, studded bracelets, a guitar pick necklace, many silver rings on his fingers, a black hanky sticking out of his back pocket just like musicians did on stage, and a ratty old pair of sneakers. Just by the way he looked, people thought of him as freakish. But that was barely touching the surface of what people thought of him. Multiple people thought he was a kid-sacrificing cult leader who worshipped the devil, but he was neither one. Sure, he had his own club, but that was simply a Dungeons & Dragons club called Hellfire Club that he DMed for and played with his fellow “freaks”. And all he did was dress how he wanted, lead a game that made him happy, and played guitar and did vocals in his very own thrash metal band called Corroded Coffin. What was the problem with that? He didn’t know what was so wrong with him that people didn’t take the time to actually learn about what he enjoyed instead of calling it all “satanic garbage”, and coupled with the fact that he was severely misunderstood, he felt lonely, even among his friends. He also worried that he would never get to experience real love just like most everyone else his age was. Sure, he had his friends, but most of the people he had ever crushed on never even gave him so much as a second glance.

One fateful day, everything changed for him. That was the day that a new teen showed up in town. You. You were 18 years old and into the exact same things he was. When Eddie saw you, he was instantly in love. And you fell for him back. You guys eventually became a couple, and everyone, including his friends and his main bully, Jason Carver, and Jason’s girlfriend Chrissy Cunningham, was in shock. The town freak found someone who loved him for who he was.

One night, a year after you both started dating, you and Eddie were in his room cuddling and chatting about everything and nothing all at once. You guys were listening to your song, the one that was playing on the radio in his van the first time you guys kissed. It was a song by Metallica. That’s when he pulled out a little envelope and gave it to you. You opened it and you were in shock. Inside was two pit tickets to see Metallica on their “Master of Puppets” tour. Eddie had worked overtime at his job at the local record store just to be able to afford them. You had wanted to see Metallica for the longest, and so did he. They were a band that both of you loved and bonded over. You looked up at him, eyes sparkling and in shock, and he smiled widely and said

“Happy anniversary, my love.”