Chasing Clouds [a trans steve steddie fic]

Part 5

Steve was laying on the bed he shared with Eddie, Eddie's Airpods in his ears, and a content smile on his lips. Freaks, by Surf Curse was playing, and he shut his eyes, letting his mind drift away. A memory surfaced, and he let it play like a movie behind his eyelids.

~flashback~
It was the first day of school, his first time attending J.F Burdenfield Junior High. The first half of the day went by fine, and he had already made a few friends. Recess rolled around, but for some reason, none of his "friends" wanted to play with him. He didn't question it, and wandered around the playground by himself. He noticed a bunch of year 8's cornering a short year 6 with a shaved head. The kid looked terrified, with shaking hands and wide, fearful eyes. Sandy approached, unsure if the kid was friends with these guys. "Please..." he whimpered. "What's this?! A ninja turtle lunch pail?! Don't you know Ninja turtles are for babies?" The biggest kid grabbed the kids lunch from his hand and threw it on the ground. It snapped open, and the contents spilled out. Sandy looked around, but no teachers were paying attention. The boys stomped on the kids lunch and spat in his face. The kid started to cry, and the older boys laughed at him. "Hey! Leave him alone!" Sandy yelled, shoving the biggest boy. The whole group looked at him with confusion. "Come on Buck, we'll get in trouble if we hurt the girl." One of the guys said. "Fine, but we'll be back." Most of the older boys walked away, but the biggest lingerd for a second, giving them an angry glare. "What a couple of freaks." He mumbled, turning and following his friends.

"Thanks. For saving me." The boy with the shaved head sniffled, shoving the remnants of his lunch back in the container. "Please don't eat that. You can have my lunch, I'm too nervous to eat anyway." Sandy shrugged. "Really? You don't have too..." "I want to." They smiled at each other for a minute. "I'm Edward, by the way. But my friends call me Eddie. Or, they would, if I had any..." he trailed off. "I'll be your friend. I'm Sandy." He held out his hand to shake. They shook hands, and they had spent every lunch together since.

~end of flashback~

Steve was pulled from his memory by a light knock on the door frame. He pulled the Airpods out of his ears and sat up. "You ready to go babe?" Eddie asked. "Ya, I am." He got up and they walked to Eddie's car together. They put all their bags in the trunk, and drove to the school. The bus was already waiting in the parking lot, and Robyn and Frankie waved them over. "Are you excited for the trip?" Frankie asked, jumping up and down on the spot. "Not as excited as you I guess." Eddie chuckled. It was the last month of school, and the whole senior year we're going on a camping trip. Steve predicted it was going to be a disaster, Eddie predicted it was going to be fucking awesome.

They put their luggage at the bottom of the bus and picked their seats. This trip was all Eddie had been talking about for weeks, and Steve was catching onto his enthusiasm. Oliver couldn't make it on the trip, so Frankie and Robyn sat together, and Eddie and Steve sat across the aisle. The bus pulled out of the parking lot, and Steve scrolled through his phone. Suddenly, Mr. Genger cleared his throat and held out his hand.  Steve and Eddie both groaned, handing over their cellphones. And all enthusiasm was effectively destroyed.

As the drive went on, the bus gradually got louder, everyone getting excited to spend a whole week  sleeping in cabins, swimming in the lake and roasting marshmallows on the fire. Steve wasn't very excited about the swimming part, but everyone at school already knew he was trans, so he hoped nobody would care that he wore a t-shirt. Other than that, he was looking forward to an escape from the world for a while.

The bus finally pulled up to the campsite, and the teachers attempted to get the kids to exit the bus in an orderly fashion. Eventually, they realized that was a shitty idea, and let the kids run to the cabin sign up tables. The cabins fit six kids, so the four would have to share with two strangers. The yearly senior trip wasn't just for their school, it was for highschools all over Indiana.

They got their cabin number, and made their way there, hauling all their bags with them. As they walked, the path started going uphill, and the cabins were getting a worrying amount of distance between them. After about fifteen minutes of walking, any sign of life disappeared. They walked up to the top of the hill, and found a little, run down cabin, with a porch overlooking Lake Michigan. "Are you sure this is it?" Frankie whispered. The windows of the cabin were boarded up, the paint was peeling off the door, and it looked like the whole thing could collapse at any given moment. "Yup. Cabin number 100." Robyn checked the paper they had been given. The cabin had the number one hundred written above the door. The numbers had faded over time, but you could see them if you squinted. They all examined it fearfully. "Oh well." Eddie shrugged, waking up the creaking steps and opening the door. The knob gave way, and then came off the door completely. "Well that's not good." He pocketed the doorknob and entered the building, dropping his bags on the floor. He turned to face the group, still standing in front of the cabin, and put his hands on his hips.

"Welcome home." He said with a smile. 

Have a good day :)