No Surrender | Eddie Munson

Chapter Nineteen: The Junkyard

CHAPTER NINETEEN: THE JUNKYARD

KASHMIR — LED ZEPPELIN

All I see turns to brown
As the sun burns the ground
And my eyes fill with sand
As I scan this wasted land
Try to find, try to find the way I feel

TW// Gore

——————

Steve surveys the battered fridges and rusting vehicles that litter the junkyard like a man on a mission, peering over his sunglasses. "Oh, yeah," he chuckles. "Yeah, this will do. This will do just fine. Good call, dude."

Continuing down the slope of sun-scorched grass, we dump the rest of the meat in a pile at the centre. A voice on the hill calls out to us, "I said medium-well!"

A grin immediately spreads across my face when I catch sight of Lucas. The girl beside him is not so familiar. I remember her red hair from that first day she had gotten out of Billy Hargrove's car but it is even more fiery under the setting sun.

"Who's that?"

But we already know. It's so clear. Dustin's crush.

The two boys duck behind an old car to talk, leaving the rest of us to bulk up the abandoned bus with any debris we can find. I join Steve when I see him struggling to lift a road sign. Muttering his thanks, he follows me over to the nearest scrap pile. "Do you really not remember the kiss?" he says after some time.

I frown and try once more to put my mind back to that night. Most of it is a blur. "No. I mean, are you sure it was me? I was wearing a mask. Maybe there was some other girl who looks a bit like me."

Some other girl kissing Eddie. That doesn't sit quite right with me for some reason.

Scoffing, he shakes his head. "From what I heard, it was definitely you. And he was certainly defensive about it when Hargrove brought it up during gym. Probably would've started a fight if Coach hadn't interrupted."

The new information only makes me even more anxious. I try to play it off with a laugh, "Please. I was with Eddie most of the day after. We had this whole 'honesty' conversation; he would've brought it up. And if he didn't, either it didn't happen or... he's too embarrassed to remind me 'cause he'll think he has to reject me or something — which is ridiculous because there's nothing to reject. We're friends."

"Number one lie. You realise how many idiots convince themselves of that? That's the kind of lie you tell yourself when you meet the person of your dreams but are too damn chicken to admit it, like—" His grip on the broken car door we carry slides a little and he comes to a stop. "Oh."

"'Oh'?"

He is quick to brush off whatever realisation he has just made. We move on again. "Forget it. Look, there's something between you and Munson. God knows why. I mean, he's a total weirdo. But you're a bit of a weirdo too, so maybe it works. Just cut the crap, okay? Or you'll end up with someone who can't give you what you deserve."

"I'm pretty sure that's the deepest shit you've ever said... but you're wrong on this one. Thanks, though."

He strides over to the others, mumbling something under his breath. I head over to the girl, who lugs a large bumper over to the bus. "You need a hand with that?"

She barely looks my way. "No, I'm good."

Smiling to myself, I step inside the vehicle to check its structure. Most of it is still intact, meaning it should be stronger. "I get why you're scared. When I first found out about this stuff, I was terrified. I had friends to watch my back, though. You do, too."