Leather and Lace (Eddie Roundtree)

Something

"Something in the way she knows me/ And all I have to do is think of her"

Interviewer: Tell me about Eddie Roundtree

Layla Dunne: Isn't that getting ahead of the story? [Pause] Eddie and I grew up together, I was probably seven when he became friends with Graham. He was my first kiss when I was ten, on a dare [laughs]. He took me to the prom when my boyfriend broke up with me right before. He was always there. I guess... I felt very invisible when I was young, of course until I started doing everything to not be. But Eddie saw me regardless and I think everyone just wants to feel seen. Yeah, I loved him back then, in a way. I don't think I really knew how much I did. But we'll get to all that.

Interviewer: Tell me about Camilla Alvarez

Eddie Roundtree: Oh, uh, I don't know if I, I mean I don't [pause, looks down, clears throat, looks up]. Camilla and I grew up near each other, we used to walk to Sunday school together. You couldn't help but love her...even back then. But, uh, we didn't really spend time together until her and Billy started dating which was like fall of '69.

Interviewer: And what about Layla Dunne?

Eddie: Well...

1968

      Eddie was sitting on his bed messing around with the guitar. The band was doing well, he didn't like the way Billy controlled everything, but they were getting better. He was writing some music, though part of him thought Billy would never actually let the band play any of it.

Eddie and Billy had always been water and oil, even before the band, they just didn't mix. Eddie was close to Graham though, so he got used to Billy. Eddie and Graham connected when they were young over the fact that they both had fathers who were assholes up until they were nothing in their lives. As they got older they grew closer. So, Eddie figured he was stuck with Billy Dunne, and now with the band, he knew it.

Then there was Layla Dunne. When Graham and Eddie met, Layla was just the uninteresting baby sister trying to tag along. Eddie didn't mind her back then and grew to like her. But by middle school he started to see her as a girl and not as Graham's sister. When they reached high school and he had experienced all the things that make teenagers insecure, he began to get nervous around her. He began wrestling with wanting to be invisible and wanting to be seen by her. She wasn't just Graham's kid sister or some girl anymore, she was this cool, hot girl that everyone seemed to love. She was unapologetically herself. Now, that she was seventeen and he was eighteen, he was less nervous around her than he was at fifteen. He still had his moments but he was able to function around her. She was still Layla Dunne but he also got to see her when she was just Layla. No makeup, listening to her records while laying on the floor, Layla. Both versions were the real her, Eddie just liked that he got to see both.

As if thought caused her to appear, Eddie heard tapping on his window. He looked to see Layla on the other side. For all the times this had happened, he still swore he'd never get sick of the sight. He quickly got up and crossed the room to open the window.

"Well, funny meeting you here" the girl joked, sending him a dazzling smile.

"I was going to say the same thing." He joked back.

"Hi Eddie"

"Hi Layla"

For one short moment they just looked at each other.

"Come out with me, I don't want to be alone." It was more of a statement than a request.

"Me?" He asked.