Eddie & Chrissy: What Could Have Been

Chapter Six: The Truth Will Set You Free

It was Tuesday night, so Eddie packed up the van, picked up the members of Corroded Coffin, and arrived at The Hideout. He walked in, equipment in hands, and exhaled, "Ahh Tuesday nights," he was looking forward to this all day. The regulars were in their usual seats, drinking the day's sorrows away. By the time that the band was set up, two more stragglers walked in and took their rightful place at the bar. That was, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8! "Hey! Three more than usual," Eddie thought to himself sarcastically.

Gareth patted Eddie on the back and startled him, "You ready dude?"

"Let's do this," Eddie replied and grabbed the mic, "We are Corroded Coffin and this is, Masacre of Mayhem!" Gareth counted on the drumsticks and they began to play.

Eddie felt the most himself when he was playing music. It was then that he could forget about everything and just let it all go. He closed his eyes as he shred the breakdown of the song that he wrote and felt at ease. He opened his eyes to look out at the measly crowd and there, sticking out like a sore thumb, was Chrissy, Chrissy Cunningham. She lit up any room that she walked into, but she really made this dark, dingy bar shine bright. Chrissy stood towards the back of the tavern with her light blue coat in her arms, smiling at Eddie while she watched him play. She was sad, but seeing him in his element put a smile on her face. They made eye contact as he noticed her standing there.

Eddie nearly messed up his own solo. He tried to keep his cool. Over on bass, Jeff was staring at Eddie wide eyed, mouthing,"What the hell!?" Eddie shrugged and continued to play. He didn't know how to feel seeing Chrissy standing there, watching him in awe. More than anything, he was confused. What did she want from him? She hurt him and whether he liked it or not, he knew that she was well aware of that.

The band took a break from playing after the first three songs. Eddie stepped down off the stage and walked straight up to Chrissy with his hands in his pockets.

"What are you doing here?" Eddie asked from a few steps back.

"Can we talk?" Chrissy gestured timidly to a small high-top table.

"Sure." They both sat down. Chrissy was visibly nervous. Eddie stared at her blankly. He reminded her of what she thought he would have been like before she really knew him, mean and scary.

"I, I just wanted to apologize."

"Oh yeah? For what?" Eddie put his fist under his chin pretending to be oblivious.

"Eddie, you know that this is hard for me. I..." she said nervously.

"And why IS that?" Eddie leaned forward and narrowed his eyes.

"I have a lot of people who expect a lot from me and expect me to BE a certain way," she confessed.

"Then what was this all for? You reached out to me Chrissy. I told you that socializing with me wasn't a good idea and you kept at it. Persistently, if you will. I thought that you were opening up to me, but you used me. You used me for,"

"I broke up with Jason!" Chrissy cut him off. She felt embarrassed for how she blurted it out, but also relieved to hear herself say those words. Eddie sat back and let his eyes trail off. He was perplexed at that statement. Eddie looked at her and could feel the table shaking from her knee anxiously bouncing. Maybe he was being too hard on her and jumped to a wrong conclusion.

This is not how he thought his third try at senior year would be going, in a love triangle with Chrissy Cunningham and Jason Carver. He gave himself the chills just thinking about it.

"Chrissy, what do you want me to say?" He put his hands on the table with palms facing up. Eddie knew exactly what she wanted him to say, and deep down he wanted to say those words as well. What he didn't want to do was be so vulnerable again. He knew just by looking at her that she truly was sorry, but did he want to put himself into this risky position?