Freak

Chapter 4

Tuesday

The next day rolled around and I woke up in the twins' room feeling oddly content. I thought I would feel nervous after Eddie's little outburst last night but all things considered he really just gave me a funny story to tell my friends.
I wondered how long their club had gone last night and what, if anything, Eddie had told his Hellfire gang about last night.
Probably nothing since he'd have to leave out the boner part of the story AND the choking thing.
Laughing to myself at how insane my first day at school had been, I got up and pulled on my clothes before waking the twins up. I didn't wanna be late for Homeroom to see the look of horror on Eddie's face when I walked in.

After we'd all dressed and eaten breakfast we ran outside and were greeted by Chris. He had agreed last night that he'd pick us up "as a precaution" for the next few days "just in case Mr. Munson has any ideas about seeking vengeance while you all are isolated."
I rolled my eyes at his dramatic tone but it was nice to have made some friends already that seemed to care about my well-being.
After about 10 minutes of the twins arguing with Chris about whether or not we should try to sneak back and investigate the Hellfire group any further, we landed on a hard "maybe" and pulled up to school. The twins waved and headed off to their classes while me and Chris walked side by side into the building and then into Homeroom.
I noticed as I made my way to my seat that Eddie was nowhere to be seen yet again. The difference today, however, was that Gareth was already sitting in his seat before the warning bell had even rung. Chris glanced around the room and also spotted Eddie's empty seat.
"I'll be right back y/n. Bathroom."
I nodded and he walked out of the room satisfied that I wasn't in danger of being accosted by an angry Eddie.
Thinking back to that night when I had entered the "dungeon," I remembered everyone else being pretty friendly to me except for Eddie. I guess Mike was a little pissy too but his question was valid at the time so really it was just Eddie being a prick.

As if reading my thoughts, Gareth tapped me on the shoulder.
"New girl. Have a seat," he patted his desk and pushed his chair out further so he wouldn't be right on top of me. I obliged and he nodded as if approving my decision to sit down with him.
I stared at him expectantly and he sighed as he settled into a relaxed manspread.
"I'm gonna level with you here while I have the chance: you need to stay away from Hellfire. Now if we're being completely honest," he leaned in, "I'd be kinda down to have a chick join us. Other than the fact that half those dudes are scared of women I don't see why we shouldn't include them but that's not the point. Point is..." he trailed off.
Exhaling deeply, he looked over at Eddie's desk and then back at me.
"The point is that you showing up caused a bit of a problem. Again," he held a hand up defensively as I opened my mouth to defend myself, "I had no issue with it and neither did the others. Dustin and Lucas actually wanted to invite you to sit with us at lunch today which is...crazy. And definitely not possible as long as Eddie's around."

"Okay pause and let me see if I'm understanding you correctly: I accidentally found your club and unintentionally interrupted your game for maybe 5 minutes and somehow I've caused a huge problem? How the fuck does that work?"
Gareth looked around the room to make sure we were alone before scooting closer and lowering his voice even further.

"Maybe you should tell me. Cuz Eddie was maybe a level 8 pissed off when you closed the door last night and then he walked out. Eddie doesn't walk out of his own campaigns."
I shrugged.
"I mean I believe you that it's weird but what does that have to do with me?"
"I don't know, y/n. What I do know is that when he came back to Hellfire a few minutes later he was fucking LIVID. Like I'm talkin level 20 raging mad. Closest I've ever been to actually being afraid of the dude honestly."
Oh shit.
"And I also know," Gareth lowered his voice even more as students started trickling in, "that I saw you outside walking to the parking lot when he opened the door to come back in."
I blinked slowly and tried to think of a lie. Or a version of the truth that would satisfy Gareth enough to stop asking questions.
"Well of course you saw me walking to the parking lot; that's where my car was," I smirked.
He looked me up and down and tilted his head as if he were disappointed in me.
"Oh I believe that. But here's the thing that's been bugging me since last night," he suddenly stood up and towered over me as he pointed a thumb at Eddie's desk, "You're here this morning and you seem fine. Eddie is not here and the last time Hellfire saw him he was the opposite of fine. So what I need you to tell me is what went down when Eddie walked out on Hellfire and I'd like to know sooner rather than later."
I scoffed and slid off Gareth's desk.
"O-kay you know what? Nope. I'm not entertaining this stupid shit anymore. I don't know what the problem is with that man and I do not care in the slightest. I've known both you nerds for less than 24 hours and you act like I invaded the goddamn Oval Office or something. Just...keep your weird dungeon leader away from me and try not to hurt yourself thinking too hard about connections that aren't even there."
With that I sat down and refused to acknowledge any further attempts on Gareth's part to get my attention the rest of class.