Eddie Baby

Chapter 21.

I caught up with Dustin. Lucas and Max went off by themselves; according to Dustin, they had to 'talk stuff out' after several minutes, and the two of them caught up to us holding hands. At least one good thing happened today.

"So, is everything okay?" Dustin looked over at me; by the forlorn expression on my face, he looked away, "Obviously not." We all walked on without saying another word. That's when I realized their bikes were still at the other end of the woods.

"Dustin, the bikes." I turned to him. It took a second to realize what I said, then his eyes widened, and all three of them ran back to get their bikes. It took a bit to come back, but once they did, Dustin gave me a sympathetic look. "Don't you dare look at me like that, Henderson; I don't need it right now."

"I'm sorry; it's just I talked to Eddie for a few minutes, and he seems really upset." I didn't care that he felt that way; it was his own fault.

"I'm not going back there." I point to where they just came from. The last thing I'm doing is going back to talk to Eddie and have us be friendly with each other. No, thank you.

"I get it; I'm not saying you should. It's just I've never seen him look like a lost puppy. He's always so headstrong; he's a leader. Right now, it looks like he doesn't know what to do with himself." Now Dustin was feeling bad for Eddie. Deep down, I felt bad for him, but I couldn't help.

"I'm sorry, I am. I told him how I felt, and said I didn't know him. And you know what, maybe he's right. Maybe I don't know him. I appreciate you doing all this, Dustin, but I knew it was a bad idea." I could feel the tears threaten to fall, but I wouldn't let them. I walked ahead of everyone so they wouldn't see how upset I was.

Dustin brought me over to his house, and Max and Lucas joined us. It was actually nice having another girl around and one who will actually not put up with their bullshit. The two of us talked while Lucas and Dustin were arguing about something.

"They do this all the time." She said quietly.

"I've noticed." I laugh.

"But you get used to it. I remember meeting them for the first time; they basically stalked me. And I wasn't going to put up with it; I totally confronted them about it and everything. Then they asked me to join their little group, but Mike wasn't very accepting of me. First, it took a while, but he finally came around. And El, Mike's girlfriend, ignored for the first few months of knowing her." Max went on about how they went trick-or-treating together, and she wore a Michael Myers mask and scared the living shit out of them. We laughed and laughed until Dustin and Lucas realized that the two of us were off by ourselves.

"What's so funny?" Lucas walked over, smiling. Just the way he looked at Max, you knew that he loved her.

"Oh, nothing, stalker," Max said, laughing.

Dustin walked over, and we all talked about they all met. There were moments when I felt terrible for Dustin because he clearly had a crush on Max as well, and Lucas asked Max out. But Dustin met Suzie at camp, and he fell for her, even though they don't see each other as much because she lives in another state. Everyone seemed to have a happy ending regarding their love life, and here I am, single, and it freaking sucks. All I wanted was to find someone who would love me for me, someone that could protect me and treat me right, someone I could trust with my whole life. I'm not sure if Eddie Munson was that person.

After hours of being at Dustin's house, I decided to call it a night and head home. Max ran over to me when I was exiting. "Hey, I can take you home."

"Oh no, it's okay. I can probably just call a cab," I was about to head back into Dustin's house to use his telephone.

"No, I insist. I know we just met today, but you're cool to hang around with. Don't get me wrong, I love hanging around these two nerds, but I think you and I should have some girl time and get to know each other better." Max smiled. How could I say no to that? I hate being alone.

"Sure, okay." Max got on her bike, and I climbed on. I told her my address, and we were there within twenty minutes. "Thanks for the ride, Max."

"It was no problem." She hopped off her bike, "Is it okay to come in?"

"Uh, yeah, that's fine." I unlocked the door and put the key back under the mat.

"Is that safe?" Max asked, arching her brow.

"My parents insist that I put it there. They work these crazy hours, and they're gone most of the day, and so when they get home, they don't want to have to knock and wake me up." Like they did the night I had that naughty dream about Eddie. No, don't you dare think about him. Max and I walked into the house, and I turned on the lights in the living room.

"Welcome to my humble home. This here is the living room." I acted like a game show host, pointing out everything and giving her a grand tour of my house. It wasn't much, but it's home.

"Looks homey." Max laughed.

"It is, but I hate being here alone." I wrapped my arms around myself as if I were cold.

"I'm here now." Max gave me a reassuring smile.

"Yeah." I smiled back.

I showed Max my bedroom, and before I knew it, we were both sitting on my bed talking about School, and she talked about her brother Billy who passed away Last year on the Fourth of July.

"It was a car accident." She said.

"Oh, I am so sorry." I put my hand on hers.

"It's okay. Billy wasn't the best brother out there," she shook her head, "I mean stepbrother." She corrected. "He was such an asshole. Billy's dad wouldn't put up with it, though, and when Billy died, his dad couldn't cope. He left a few weeks later, leaving my mom and me behind. My mom was so devastated about Billy's death and her husband leaving she started drinking."

"I'm so sorry, Max, I truly am."

She shrugged, "It's whatever; I don't like to talk about it very much. I've been seeing the school counselor Ms. Kelly, but it doesn't help."

"It's okay. We don't have to talk about it anymore."

"So... tell me, when did you start liking Eddie?" Of course, she would change the subject to something I didn't want to talk about.

"There's not much to tell." I shrugged.

"Oh, come on, what is it about Eddie that you like so much?"

"I don't know. I like his hair." That was the first thing that popped into my head.

Max furrowed her brow, "His hair?" I laughed; I didn't know what to say.

"Max, I really don't know. Eddie is a mystery, and I guess I like that. He seems dark and dangerous, but I know that all a facade. In real life, he is a very sweet guy." I know from watching him at school he would always defend the kids getting bullied.

"That's kind of...." Max took a minute to think of a word. "Sweet, I guess."

"I know it's so stupid." The both of us laughed. We talked some more, and this time not about Eddie. I looked over at my alarm clock, and it was midnight.

"Wow, time flies when you're having fun," Max said.

"Totally. Uh, if you want, you can stay the night. My mom keeps a spare room for guests. You can go in there and get some sleep, or you can stay here."

"Is it okay if I stay in here?" You couldn't tell Max was a vulnerable person, but at this moment, I could see it all over her face; she didn't want to be alone. She was like me, and I didn't even notice until now.

"Yeah, that's fine. I can get some extra blankets and a pillow for you." I got up and went into the closet in the living room and grabbed a fleece blanket and a pillow. "Here ya go." I handed Max the blanket and pillow. "You can lay on the other end of my bed."

Max placed the pillow on the foot side of my bed and laid down. "Thank you, (Y/n)." She said quietly.

"You're welcome, Max." And after a little while, we were both asleep.