Infatuation | Eddie Munson

12- Believe you

~

Clank.
The beer bottle slipped out of his hands, hitting the floor as he stared at me, looking frailer than usual.

"Tell me you didn't do it Eddie," I said, trying to keep my composure, a hint of anger and sorrow in my voice.

As he stared at me with his dark eyes, I realised they were glistening with a glowing light, maybe a little bit dull but behind his eyes said a thousand words, and I could see something was wrong.

He kept silent. It was obvious that his emotions and the pressure of this all was bubbling up like champagne, ready to explode at any second. It seemed like he had finally cracked, giving in as he stepped closer to me, suddenly wrapping his arms around me,
"I didn't do it, Florence," he croaked, an obvious lump in his throat.

"I know," I said, allowing him to feel my comfort as I let the boy embrace me, though I didn't hug him back.

"I want you to tell me what happened," I began.
"If you didn't do it, then what the hell happened to Chrissy?"

I felt him slightly jolt at the mention of her name, as he eventually broke apart from me, not making eye contact as he turned around.

"If I tell you, you won't believe me. You'll just think I'm even more of a freak," he said as he sat down, leaning against the boat, running his fingers through his hair.

"I dont think that's possible," I said in an oddly reassuring way, which seemed to have worked, because he looked back up at me, looking as if he was thinking of the right way to word things.

"She came to me. Saying she felt like she was going insane, so I made a drug deal with her," he began.

"You what?!" I said, my eyes widening.

"I was just as shocked, I never thought I'd be doing drug deal with the 'Queen' of Hawkins high," he said, his voice a low tone.

"But there I was. She was acting weird too, extremely jittery. She wanted more than weed, so I drove her back to my place on the night of the campaign," he explained.

So that's where she was going? I began to think that maybe if I didn't let her go so easily, maybe she'd still be here.

Eddie continued to explain the story to me. How he went to his room and suddenly came out of his room to see her standing there, her eyes rolled back into her head.

"Then she started like, levitating, or some shit," he looked as if he was trying not to have to relive the moment as he said this. "Then her bones..." He was looking down to the floor. "They... they starting breaking and going in all sorts of directions and-"

He didn't continue his sentence. My mouth fell agape as I sat in shock.

"Don't believe me right?" He said, a self-pitiful laugh coming through.

Did I believe him? Who would lie about this? But somehow I felt safe in his presence, no matter how much he annoyed me, I knew he wasn't a bad person.

"No," I began, "I believe you."

He looked up into my eyes, his eyes glistening with tears begging to be released, but Eddie was too stubborn to let them go. I walked slightly closer to him.

"Do they think it's me?" Eddie asked.

"I... I don't know," I said in response, fiddling with my own fingers.

"Why did you come here anyway? You're putting yourself at risk being here right now," he said in a serious tone.

"I just had a feeling you didn't do it, and I wanted the truth on what happened to Chrissy."