Head Over Heels for Eddie Munson

Ch3: Head Over Heels

His smile slowly widens as I wipe off my nose, this time getting some blood onto my white zip up hoodie. "Shit!" I whisper to myself, loud enough for him to hear. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asks. He jumped down from the box he had stood on and ran over to me, the worried look in his eyes makes it harder to keep him calm. He takes a few steps closer, towering over me just inches from my face, and stares into my eyes. He pulled the sleeve of his jacket over his hand and wiped the extra blood from my face. I feel his breath on my forehead as he exhales, taking his arm away from my face and backing away with a smile. I look down at the red spot on my cheerleading hoodie, accepting the fact that I'd never get that stain out. "Music?" He asks, startling me. I watch as he bends down and dusts off a cassette player. I go to the bag I had brought and start looking through my pockets, "Yeah, I have a mix we could listen to, if you want." I find the beat up mixtape that had obviously been loved and throw it over to him. It's nice to see that in times like these, through the traumatic experiences, we both can find some comfort by listening to good music. I was also happy to see a fellow music lover, someone else who uses songs to make them feel better—or just to feel something.

    His instant spike in happiness causes an interest in me, as I watch his brain paint the brightest of colors by just the thought of music. I hide my smile, hopefully now we can bond over something. Music has that effect on people. To bring even the most opposite pair together or to bring light into the darkest of situations. It has always been an escape for me and, looking into his mind, I could see it was also an escape for him. Eddie always had a way of making things better for people, whether he acknowledged that or not. His way of reading the emotions in a room came in handy during awkward moments like these. He catches the cassette perfectly and examines its familiar design, sticking it into the machine. "Your music better not let me down, Williams," He smiles brightly, turning up the volume and walking over to the left side of the shack. He grabs a few cushions and tarps, laying down what looked like a couch in the corner of the room. Then, he welcomes me to sit down, grabbing some leftover beer and sitting next to me. I waited in anticipation of what song would play first, hoping it wouldn't embarrass me too badly. Then, as if the universe wanted me to lose my mind, Eddie, My Love by the Chordettes starts. As I hear the first note, recognizing the familiar tune, I bring my knees into my chest and bury my face into my legs. I notice that he's stopped taking sips of his drink, turning his head towards me. His thoughts are so loud and I try to break it up by saying, "This was one of my mother's favorite! I can skip to the next one—I mean, we don't have to listen to this." I let out an uncomfortable laugh, collecting myself and starting to get up to change the song, but he grabs my arm and pulls me back down next to him. "It's alright, Williams. I am interested in hearing what you listen to," he smirks, extending his right leg out and bending his left leg to balance his arm onto. As those long two and a half minutes come to a close and my dignity has thoroughly been scooped from my body, I can't help myself from not singing along to the tune. I hum the last few seconds of the song, ending the torture perfectly as I sing along, "Eddie, my love. I love you so." I shut myself up, pretending nothing had happened and hear the next song start to play. To my delight, it was one of my favorites and I had a feeling Eddie would like it too. I watch as his smile previously painted on from the last song begins to stretch from ear to ear, "No way Williams!" He turns over to me, putting both his hands on my shoulders, "Black Sabbath, huh? I never expected that from Ms. Lori Williams, the preppy cheerleader!" He lays his head back on the wall and chuckles, I freeze over his touch and enjoy the opening to the song Paranoid by Black Sabbath. "Come on! Black Sabbath is such a classic," I laugh, "nothing too uncommon for someone like me." We meet eyes for a moment before he replies, "Then you either must be the coolest cheerleader or you are just a freak like me, Williams." I laugh at his remark and stare into my palms. "Hey, um, you don't remember, do you?" I say playing with my sleeves. He adjusts his body to face me and I mimic his adjustment, he stares in confusion. I scoff, "Yeah, um..." I begin to think of the real first time I met Eddie, "A year ago at the starcourt mall. You received the best music tape ever!" I wait for him to realize, but notice his blank expression and continue with my story, starting from the beginning. "Last year, I took a job at the Music Store in the mall. I was so excited to work there that I put together all of my all time favorites, deciding that I would one day sell it to someone. Of course, over the months I had worked there, nobody seemed the slightest bit excited by the tape. That all changed the day you walked in." I look up at him and smile as he still sits and waits to understand what I'm saying. "Wait, no!" He yells leaning back, covering his face, "That couldn't have been you! You sold me my favorite cassette tape a year ago?" We both laugh, reminiscing in our shared memory. "How could I forget you with a cassette like that? You know I still listen to that everyday? It is the perfect collection of songs! I knew your cassette seemed familiar," He pauses, "But wait you looked so—" I cut him off mid sentence, knowing exactly what he would say, "Different, yeah well my hair was much shorter and I didn't exactly dress like a cheerleader!" I laughed thinking back to my outfit that day—black pants, a Metallica shirt and a jean jacket with short rugged hair, "I guess a year ago I wasn't too worried about what people thought of me." I cover my face with my hands moving them down my neck and hugging myself. "You're alright, Lori. I never thought I'd be saying that, but you are not the stuck-up know-it-all people say you are," Eddie's compliment really meant nothing to me and I turned my head down, "Sorry, Lori! I'm sorry! I just don't know what to say! I've never met anyone like you, you know?" Our eyes meet again, and yet this time it's different. Something changed in the way I looked at him. In the distance, Head over Heels by Tears for Fears plays as he says this, I get excited not only by my favorite song playing but by what Eddie had just said. More blood drips from my nose which then leads to the conversation, "You are totally sure you are okay? That is a lot of blood!" Eddie's worrying flatters me. The song starts: I wanted to be with you alone. And talk about the weather. "Something about the weather, I guess," I laugh off any suspicion, "the cold must have something to do with it." I wipe off the fresh blood, my strength wearing off the longer I try to keep Eddie under control. "Whatever you say, crazy," Eddie replied. I chuckle, never noticing how much I liked the sound of his voice or the smile he puts on his face. The song continues and for a moment, we sit, look at eachother, and listen as I mouth the words to my favorite lines: Something happens and I'm head over heels. I never find out till I'm head over heels.

He looks at me like I am crazy and I laugh, holding my head in my palms. "I've never seen you this happy, Williams," Eddie stares at the huge smile growing on my face, "Are you always like this?" We both sit facing each other, laughing and singing along to the rest of the song. Is it so? Has something happened between us? Could I be head over heels? I became unsettled in the way I felt, a new emotion popped up that I was not familiar with. Eddie breaks the silence, "Have a drink, Lori." He holds up a new beer bottle, reading the discomfort on my face and hoping a beer would solve the problem. "I um," I scoff, "I don't drink." But as I think more of what has happened the last few hours and what will happen in the future, I grab the bottle and open it, my first beer ever enjoyed with Eddie Munson himself.
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A/N:
Omg you guys I'm in love with this chapter. I tried mimicking the conversation Eddie has with Chrissy in the woods to add a little something. So if you see the similarity, it's on purpose! Let me know how u like this so far, if there is anything you don't like or think makes no sense at all, I'm not the best writer! Thanks y'all, hope you enjoy, I have so many cool ideas for the next chapter.😉😉