change of pace

ploy

chapter twenty four

Dad had a talk with me when I got home earlier this week from school about not saying where I was going. He wants me to at least leave a note if I plan on going somewhere. Its understandable, but I'm 18 now and I just want to be free. Hopefully he treats me a little different once I graduate.

Today's Lucas's first pep rally and I could sense the dread in Eddie. He hated being associated with anything like that, but he was starting to understand that this was important.

The cold autumn air was starting to take its toll so I covered up when getting out of Eddie's car with my baggy brown jacket I shoved in my backpack. Eddie sluggishly followed next to me as we walked into the building. He was hungover from his set last night. I tried to tell him to slow down, but he insisted on pounding another few cans. Something's gotten into him.

Eddie leaned against my locker with his dark sleepy eyes looking down at the ground to avoid contact with the lights. I opened my locker to empty out my backpack.

"You feeling okay?" I ask shoving in a notebook.
"Never better." he says monotone.
"Is this about the pep rally?"
"Why would it be?"
"Why wouldn't it be."
He pauses.
"Listen, Jess, I really don't trust that crowd."
"Oh, please, Eddie. Its a gym filled with teenagers and teachers."
"Its not that simple." Eddie raises his voice which I coil away.
"I'm...they just...you've seen the difference in how...they treat you since you've been with me." his voice goes quieter this time.
I look up at him and place my hand on his cheek. His doe eyes look at mine sympathetically.
"We're doing this for Lucas." I say and he sighs.
"He better be good." Eddie smiles at me.

Lunch rolled around and Eddie grabbed my hand tight as we headed towards the gym. A familiar voice called out our names from behind. We turned to see Dustin and Mike running our direction, backpacks loudly shaking.

"Hey! Can we sit with you guys?" Mike asks Eddie. Eddie looks at me.
"Of course! Let's go grab a good seat before everyone." I answer for him.

Student rolled in from the double doors crowding their way in to the bleachers. We found decent seats in the middle section. It helped that everyone wanted to avoid sitting near Eddie, unfortunately. I pushed down my skirt as I took a seat in the middle of Dustin and Eddie. Eddie scanned everyone on the way in and made sure to grip my knee once we sat down. I felt his cold rings through my black tights. I entwined my fingers in his to alleviate the anxiety that he had building up.

"Its okay, Eds." I whisper in his ear. He body loosens up.

The crowd starts cheering when the basketball team came out. They wore brand new jerseys and introduced each player which was then followed by a short game against some of the teachers and the team. Lucas lit up when he saw us in the crowd. Afterwards, we walked down the bleachers and Dustin and Mike tried to run up to him but he left with the rest of the team to the locker rooms. I felt Eddie's grip in my hand once he noticed that.

"That's where all the school's funding goes..." Eddie muttered under his breath once we reached outside.
"Eddie...it wasn't a normal basketball game." I say rolling my eyes at him.
"I suppose he wasn't that bad..." I hear him say refusing to look at me. I couldn't help but smile and stopped walking.
"What?" he asks confused. I pull his arm towards me tight to pull him out of the way of walking students on their way to the building for class. I grab his shoulders and kiss him which he responds to with the same.
"Thank you for going, Eddie. I know it was hard to, but I'm really happy that you did." I smile up at him and notice his face turning red.
"Get a room!" Dustin yells and Mike laughs walking past us which causes me to shove my face into Eddie's chest. He chases after Dustin to smack him in the head. Mike and I break out into laughter watching them running through the halls.

Once school ended, I made my way to Eddie's car to wait for him. I couldn't find him anywhere in the halls, so assumed maybe he was by the car. But he wasn't. I buried myself in my big jacket to hope for some warmth while waiting for him, but he was taking too long. After almost 20 minutes, I decided to look around campus for him. Its weird that he was no where to be found.

My sneakers got covered in mud as I headed into the field. No one was here. I looked up and saw the woods and started getting a bad feeling. It reminded me a lot of my dream. My mind slowly drifted into thinking about the dream and then I remembered the state Eddie was in. The worst feeling rushed over me and suddenly I was running over to the woods. Slow and quiet steps creeped my way into the cold woods as towering trees went above me. I heard laughter in a distance and decided to head there.

I felt anxious following that laughter. It was just like my dream and I hated it, but maybe it would lead me to the answers. I saw a familiar flip of curly brown hair and I sighed out in relief right before noticing someone else there sitting on a bench. It was a cheerleader. She was smiling up at him and laughing while he sat across from her telling a story. I felt like throwing up. His smile, his hands close enough to grab hers from across the table, the way he sounded to happy. Eddie was into her. Eddie was fucking cheating on me. I welled up with tears before running out of the woods.

Why the fuck would he do this to me? It makes sense why he was not listening to me last night and giving so much attitude. He's cheating on me. He doesn't even fucking love me. I ran as fast as I could home feeling empty.

My shaky hands slammed the door shut as I ran into my room. I crashed onto my bed and sobbed into my pillow. I felt like a fucking fool. Of course he wouldn't be into me. Of fucking course. It was all a ploy.