Bad Intentions (Book One)

Chapter 39

I went to the woods hoping to find Eddie there, maybe buy some weed off him but he wasn't there. So I just took a few minutes to relax before I headed back to the school. I was starving and thankfully I had lunch next so I made my way to the lunch room. I grabbed a slice of pizza, an apple and a drink and headed out into the dinning area.

I looked around the lunch room wondering where to sit. Normally I would sit with Billy but he was currently not talking to me. I saw him sitting with his basketball friends and their girlfriends which included Chrissy. So I wasn't able to sit with her. I looked around for Nancy, Jonathan, or Steve but I didn't see any of them.

I took one final sweep over the lunch room and noticed Eddie sitting in the back corner of the lunch room. He was sitting at the head of a table with his back facing the wall. There were four other kids sitting with him. They were all wearing the same white shirt with black sleeves and a red devil on the chest. I started to walk towards them and saw that the shirt said Hellfire Club written on them. That must be the name of their club.

"Hey Eddie." I said when I reached his table.

He looked up from the pasta dish he was pushing around with his fork and smiled when he saw me standing there. The other four looked at me with a shocked look on their faces. The big guy's mouth was actually hanging open.

"My Lady." He greeted me causing me to smile which caused the kid sitting next to Eddie with curly hair to shoot a surprised look at him.

"How can I help you this fine morning?" He asked me.

"I was just wondering if I could sit with you?" I asked him.

"Why?" The African American kids asked.

"Why what?" I asked him.

"Why would you want to sit with us?" He asked.

"Do I need a reason?" I asked him in response.

"Of course not." Eddie answered for him. "Gareth move." Eddie told the kid with the curly hair who was sitting next to him.

"Why?" He asked confused and he looked a little offended that Eddie would ask him to move.

"So Leslie can sit next to me." Eddie answered him in a tone that let Gareth know he thought his question was stupid.

"Oh okay." He responded as he grabbed his tray and moved to the other side of the African American kid.

"Thank you." I said to Gareth as I walked past him and sat in his seat.

I sat down and placed my tray down and looked around to the group who all still looked surprised I was sitting with them.

"Guys this is Leslie, Leslie this is the guys." Eddie said but the group still didn't speak up.

"Does the group have names?" I asked as I took a bite of my pizza.

"I'm Gareth" the curly haired boy who got up told me.

"Hi I'm Jeff." The African American boy next to him told me.

I looked over to the big kid who sat across from them and he still looked unsure of me.

"And your name?" I asked him.

"Freak." He answered.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"That's what everyone calls me so I figured why not." He told me.

"Do you like being called Freak?" I asked him.

"Yeah, they can't use it to make fun of me anymore. The work belongs to me." He answered.

I remembered back to hearing people call Eddie a freak and it bothered me so I don't know how I felt about calling him Freak.

"Well it's nice to meet you guys." I said then looked over to Eddie who was beaming.

"Why are you being nice to us?" Jeff asked.

"Is there a reason I shouldn't be nice to you?" I asked him.

"Yeah, you're the new girl. Everyone wants to know more about you. Plus you're a cheerleader." Freak answered me.

"When did you become a cheerleader?" Eddie asked me.

"Yesterday in gym class but I'm not a cheerleader anymore. My mom wouldn't sign the persimmon slip." I told him before focusing back on Freak.

"Well I may be the new girl but I don't like those people. I like Eddie, so is it crazy that I would like to get to know his friends?"

"Look, you're making him blush." Jess teased Eddie who was twirling his hair in between two fingers before placing it in his mouth when he saw me looking.

Then he fell still and spit out his hair as he looked across the room. I followed his line of sight to see Billy and his friends staring at us.

"He really does hate me." Eddie said as he sunk into himself a little.

"Billy hates everyone." I reminded him.

"After last night in the hospital, I'm pretty sure it's just me." He replied.

"You visited her in the hospital?" Gareth asked.

"Yes, and he brought me flowers. It was very nice. Even though Billy destroyed the flowers they were beautiful." I told Eddie.

"What the hell is going on?" Freak asked.

"You're making a new friend." I answered him. "So Eddie was telling me about your band." I said to the group.

"He did?" Jeff asked.

"Yeah, I am really excited to hear you guys play. I also heard you're looking for a new singer." I told them.

"Do you like heavy metal?" Gareth asked me.

"Of course I do. Why else would I want to listen to your band?" I asked him.

"Did you say you know a singer?" Jeff asked excitedly, obviously wanting to get off pulling double duty.

"Actually I'm a really good singer." I told him.

The guys looked at themselves and then started laughing. I rolled my eyes and grabbed my tray and stood up to leave. Eddie reached out and grabbed my wrist stopping me from walking away.

"Enough guys." He told the boys, causing them all to stop laughing. "Leslie is my friend and you don't even know if she can sing. She could be an amazing singer." Eddie told them.

"She's a girl." Freak said.

"Yes I have noticed." Eddie told him. "We should at least give her a shot."

"Look, just because you're dating a cheerleader doesn't mean we have to let her into our party." Freak told him.

Eddie let go of my wrist and stood up and looked down at his friends.

"First off we're not dating! Second, she's actually really cool so you're going to at least give her a chance at joining the band." Eddie told them firmly.

"Fine, what are you doing after school?" Gareth asked.

"Today?" I asked.

"Yes." He answered.

I looked over to Billys table to find that he wasn't paying attention to me any longer.

"I'm not doing anything. So where are we meeting?" I asked him.

"My house." Jeff answered.

"And where exactly is that?" I asked him.

"Don't worry about it. I'll drive you." Eddie told me.

"Thanks Eddie." I said to him as I sat back down next to him.

"I'm just going to have to tell Billy I don't need a ride home." I said, causing Eddie to look back over.

"I'm sure he will be happy to hear that." Eddie joked, causing me to laugh.