𝙋𝙀𝙍𝙁𝙀𝘾𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 || EDDIE MUNSON

Mending

BY the end of the week Brandy had already memorized about six 'I'm sorry' speeches. She realized she probably needed to start thinking up excuses and apologies when she sat at lunch the day after her birthday. All she got was radio silence, a sentence or two from Chrissy, but mostly silence.

She could tell Jason almost took satisfaction in the fact that her friends were giving her the cold shoulder. And she was certainly sure he knew the reason with the gloating expression he wore every time he decided to glance over at her. She could hear his lectures about Eddie now, Brandy was sure that Carver thought she was a drug addict, or at least almost convinced. That's all he really saw in Eddie, a creep with a substance problem and strange demeanor.

It made her angry. No. It infuriated her. Years of biting her tongue, minding her own business. So why now did she just want to scream how she felt? To defend somebody who probably talked just as badly about her friends as they did him? Brandy's feelings confused her daily. If not hourly. But her feelings only festered and slowly agitated her the longer they rooted deep within her. Or maybe it was that arrogant look that she wanted to wipe off Jason's face. Maybe Brandy just had anger issues.

But now Brandy sat in the locker room, biting her lip as she tried to break the awkward silence between her and her friends. Chrissy wasn't ignoring her per se, but she certainly wasn't making an effort to include her in conversations like she normally did. Tracie would give Brandy odd looks now and again, and Tate was omitting her completely.

"I'm really sorry," Brandy pursed her lips in anxiety, looking over at the girls who huddled around the sink mirror.

The dread she felt in her stomach as she uttered those words were unmatched, or at least that's what it felt like in the moment. Her fingertips switches anxiously as she awaited their reactions and words. Brandy feared she had made herself an outcast, made herself unapproachable and intimidating as Eddie had done to himself for years.

Brandy's eyes watched their faces.

Their joyful conversation ceased, their smiles fading as they looked over at the blonde that sat on the metal bench. Tate's lips parted as a strange expression came across her features, like she didn't want to speak but felt obligated as such. Chrissy looked sympathetically at her, with big blue puppy dog eyes. And Tracie just looked shocked that Brandy had even said anything.

"For?" Tate asked monotonously, as if expressing any emotion would snap her guise of disintrest.

"Ditching you guys so much," Brandy looked down at her hands, "And using tutoring as an excuse." She glanced back up at them hurriedly, all just looking at her with blank expressions. "I'm sorry," She whispered. "I just don't want you guys to be mad at me, or at least just quit ignoring me-"

"Oh, Babydoll," Tracie sighed in pity.

"We're not mad, B.B." Tate shook her head. "It just hurt our feelings that you kept blowing us off for the freak-"

"Eddie." Brandy sharply corrected.

"For, Munson." Tate sighed quickly.

"We miss you," Chrissy told her. "We didn't mean to ignore you."

"Didn't feel that way," Brandy mumbled while running her thumb across the top of the ring on her neck. She was always one to fidget with jewelry when nervous, it's why she couldn't wear any loud jewelry when taking a test, always playing with it to calm her nerves.

"How about we all have a sleepover?" Tracie suggested. "Mom just got a bunch of new movies so we could have a film night." She schemed.

"You know," Chrissy smiled. "That doesn't sound half bad." The two girls looked at Tate hopefully.