Crush Culture -E. Munson

FIVE.

That was a wink. A flirty one. Oh, Nick Henderson was so flirting with him while walking by in the hallway. And Eddie did his best not to immediately drool after the boy, grasping the sticker-covered door of his locker. But he still caught a glimpse of his handkerchief dangling out of the boy's right back pocket, complete with a new, navy blue one. It was a curse.
Eddie was painfully aware of every time Nick was in the same room as him, of every time he flagged cheekily, and every fucking glance in the metalhead's direction. It was hopeless, Eddie was the bee to Henderson's honey and at high risk of sticking to the boy. He was a slave to his attraction.
So he turned, right in time to see that ass in the tight denim walk around the corner while the wearer ran a hand through his golden hair and he was more than tempted to let out a desperate sigh but didn't. Instead, he bit his lip, staring at where the boy had just disappeared, imagining how it would be to be invited to follow him into some empty, dark room instead of into a full classroom where they would be parted by multiple rows of idiots.

While they had shared classes, Eddie had thought many times about simply grabbing the boy for a kiss, just like the men on TV did.
There had been a lot of opportunities when they had still talked in the woods. Every time Nick had looked at him with that smile on his lips, that glimmer in his eyes. But Eddie had never dared to touch the other without permission, had still had doubts about the boy's sexuality despite knowing whom he had slept with just the night before. Shaking the thought away, Eddie smashed his locker shut, not caring about the offended gazes the noise directed at him. He was the freak, he was supposed to do such things.

So he turned, a trademark maniac grin on his lips, and strutted past them all, giving them the show they all wanted with the confidence of a man who had nothing to lose. He wasn't the type to be early to class, especially when Nick was around he liked to make a dramatic little entrance, taking his sweet time to get to the right room, ignoring how the bell had rung already.
Exactly five minutes late how it was proper for someone with his reputation, Eddie rushed into the room with a fat grin on his lips, enjoying all the gazes settling in him a tiny bit too much why also being aware of a blue one in particular. Maybe the whole reason he liked to be late was that he would be greeted with the more than wonderful view of Nick Henderson looking up at him from his seat in the very front row, a sight his mind liked to be creative within his favorite dreams.
And Today it was even sweeter than usual as Nick actually and truly grinned back at him, fanning his pretty eyelashes while biting the top of his pencil. His bright, seductive gaze took the other boy in, unnoticed by their peers their eyes met.

It was hard to look away, but Eddie still had to deal with the glaring teacher who was more than annoyed by the boy's antics.
"You're late, Munson. Again"
"Terribly sorry", he purred at her, bowing like a jester at court, making her roll her eyes at that but gestured for him to sit down regardless.
And he did. But not without another grin in Henderson's direction, still eyeing him from behind as he sat down in his seat in the very back of the room. Whenever someone near Eddie was talking, Nick turned around just enough to look at the speaker, and due to that politeness, Eddie was able to meet his gaze a few times while he slouched in his chair, using his only pencil to draw little bats and devils at the sides of his book, decorating it in his favorite style.

One time, Nick caught him drawing, his tongue slightly sticking out in concentration and when he looked up, the boy was genuinely smiling at him. Eddie's heart bounced at that sight and instinctively, he stuck his tongue out surprisingly, Nick mimicked the action before turning back to the front. And yet again, Eddie was left staring at the boy's back, wondering if he was even aware of how he played the metalhead's feelings. Probably not, as while Eddie couldn't stop looking at the other boy, Nick never turned once just to exclusively look at him.
As usual, their encounters remained strictly random and that caused a screaming frustration in Eddie's stomach. How hard was it to gain and keep a boy's attention? Nick didn't even need to try. He was always swarmed with admirers of all genders. Nobody ever noticed Eddie. Not the one that mattered at least. Eddie sighed quietly as he doodled another little bat, his attention having slipped off the lecture long ago.
"Nice bats," a voice startled him, perfectly familiar but absurd at the same time.
When Eddie carefully peaked up, unsure if his imagination was playing tricks on him again, he was faced with Nick Henderson holding out a paper for him to take. Eddie's gaze flickered between the paper, the stack of identical ones in Nick's other hand, and finally settled on the boy's eyes that twinkled down on him in amusement.
"They're really cute," the boy added as a smirk played at the corner of his lips.
Out of instinct, Eddie huffed.
"They're not cute, they're metal. Like when Ozzy bit one's head off."
"Yeah, but they usually don't bite, right? Aren't most of them vegan anyways?" Nick asked as he finally gave up on Eddie taking the paper and placing it in front of him.
Eddie didn't need to look to know it was the homework assignment he wouldn't pay much care to anyway." Vegans can be metal," the boy shrugged, and much to his surprise, Nick chuckled at that. "I supposed. Isn't everything kind of metal what doesn't fit the norm?"
The other boy looked after him in pure astonishment.

Apparently, his bar for happiness was as low as Nick Henderson talking to him now as he was still in an incredible mood as he reached Gareth's house for band practice after school.
The garage door was already gaping wide open and the rest of Corroded Coffin was busy setting their gear up, the sound of cables plugged into amplifiers greeted him before the other boys even noticed his arrival.
"Eddie, you're late!" Jeff called out, strumming on his bass.
"A wizard arrives exactly when he intents to," Eddie hummed as he plugged in his guitar as well, then putting it beside him gently.
With a grin, he pulled out a scrammed piece of paper from his back pocket, unfolding it. 
"I got the last part of the verse," he announced, holding it up like a trophy.
"Sweet. Let's see," Gareth exclaimed from behind the drums and Eddie made his way over to give him the paper.
"Dude, you're supposed to hand that assignment in next week, "the boy pointed out with a chuckle, tapping on the printed letters.
"Who cares," Eddie pressed out between printed teeth, already pacing in excitement.
"Read it." Gareth sighed, frowning at Eddie's messy handwriting that was hard to decipher.
" I'm gonna wrap my darkness around you like the wings of a bat, tainting your light, devouring your des...despair?"  Eddie nodded.
"Dude, that's fucked up. Metal!" Jeff exclaimed and Eddie shot him a grin. Gareth shook his head, spicy hair strangely moving in a side wave.
"I don't know Eddie. Is this a threat or a love letter?" Eddie stopped and got in his tracks, eyes focusing on his friend who looked at him skeptically.

" Is heaven and hell a threat or a love letter? Can't you ask that question about any great song, Gareth?" he pointed out strangely calm.
"Yeah, probably. But you never write love songs," Gareth shrugged, accusingly pointing a drumstick at his friend.
That wasn't true, just something Gareth didn't. Knew about. Funnily, the boy really thought that he knew much about his older friend when in fact, he rarely knew anything. Eddie liked to keep to himself,  even his secrets had secrets. So he snorted. "Maybe I wanted to dig my toe into unknown waters or perhaps..."
he grabbed his guitar, letting its strap slide over his shoulder.
"Perhaps it is just a threat. Either way, the song is finished."

Eddie didn't want to talk about possible feelings about a certain boy he might have used as inspiration for his latest creation and sure as hell would he not confess to having written a love letter. And to be honest it wasn't a love letter, nor was it a threat. He couldn't place what it was, maybe this song wasn't even about his own feelings overall.
That was the beauty of lyrics, wasn't it? Eddie just knew they needed to rehearse the song to be able to perform it on their next gig. For this purpose only, he had added the line. Maybe that had been the wrong decision.
And maybe it belonged with the other fragments of songs in the box under his bed that were inspired by Henderson and all the boys who came before him. They would definitely never see the dawn of day.
His mind wandering, Eddie started to grip the chords, not actually playing them but getting the movement into his muscle memory.
This song was his best yet, it needed to be perfect. Every song needed to be perfect for Eddie. He was just wired that way. A chaotic perfectionist, a freak of nature.