𝙋𝙀𝙍𝙁𝙀𝘾𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 || EDDIE MUNSON

Let's Play Pretend

EDDIE found himself continuously glancing to the back of the classroom, just trying to get a glance at Brandy. She'd barely spoken to him all week, much to his displeasure. Every time he went to speak to her she seemed busy, with friends, teachers, or he just plain couldn't find her around the school. He thought about calling her at home, but Eddie recalled something she said in passing about her mother disliking him, he imagined she skimped on the details in order to spare his feelings.

But it was Wednesday, his favorite day of the week. The day he got to spend hours with her uninterrupted. Sure he drove her home sometimes on Fridays, or ate lunch with her when she didn't feel like having a stick up her ass around her friends. The boy intended to weasel his way onto the time card she'd set for herself.

Now Eddie wasn't particularly skilled in wooing... But his flirty nature and chivalry had gotten him a decent distance with the blonde, it was just dropping not-so-subtle hints that were his issue. Eddie was naturally awkward along with his naturally flirtatious trait. The flirty teasing came from a place of his bumbling ineptness. He tended to ramble, with no clue where he was going most of the time, words just left his mouth before his brain registered them.

Over the years he found things that would defuse the awkward tension his lack of registering created, one of which being flirtatious comments. But trying to actually flirt was a different story, he could do it as long as she played along, it felt almost like second nature. But for him to engage first without provocation seemed nearly outlandish. Even absurd.

Yet Eddie found himself not caring about absurdity or folly words of endearment. He wanted to show her he liked her, outside of friends with a coquettish tension. It was a bit new to him, he knew what he liked, and how to get such things, though right now he wanted a relationship, a connection outside of sexual-orientated encounters. The teen had to admit to himself; it seemed difficult, but when he made up his mind about something he was too damn stubborn to let it go. Even if it caused emotional or physical turmoil.

When their class bell rang, signaling the end of a long and tormented day, Eddie bounded to the back of their class, his brain mush from all the equations. Brandy looked almost startled to see him, her eyes shifting and her body language reserved, but Eddie didn't particularly notice these little details like he normally would, his mind ran and blood pumped a million miles a minute with his brain trying to find anything to say to her.

"Hey," He said slowly, fiddling with the hair that hung over his shoulder. He wanted to facepalm himself, it was such a lame way to come up to her.

"Hi," Brandy gave a tight-lipped smile. "You ready to cram for finals?" She asked.

"Not really, but..." He sighed. "I'm sure you'll get the information into my skull one way or another." he rocked back and forth on his feet, waiting for her response. They hadn't spoken much other than when she was three sheets to the wind and severely hungover not a few hours after that. Maybe she was embarrassed, he thought.

Brandy nodded, standing slowly. "Let's go then." She smiled awkwardly. There was a certain tension that encapsulated them, so thick you could almost see it. So thick he could've tasted it. Eddie couldn't tell if the tension was that of the apprehensional or venereal variety, but the boy was determined and had bound his will to break through the misty covering of the perplexity of the entire situation that was currently at hand. "Hopefully, we'll get you on track with your English literature enough for you to at least get a C on the final?" Brandy hummed as she stopped by her locker, her eyes not meeting his.

"Hopefully does seem to be the operative phrase," Eddie chuckled deprecatingly. Brandy once again said nothing, she just pursed her full lips as she dug around her locker. "Hey, are we good?" Eddie asked.