Embrace Degeneracy

Chapter 5

After the school year ended and summer kicked into gear, Eddie fell deeply into the routine of waking up sometime after noon, listening to The Last in Line, Ride The Lightning, or Fistful of Metal on repeat, practicing with Corroded Coffin, smoking a little too much, the occasional sale over behind the high school football field, and drawing up plans for the next campaign with Hellfire. The more time he spent occupied, the better he figured his summer was going. It also helped distract him from thinking about the last day of school again, preventing waves of shame and embarrassment. His relatively consistent flurry of activity, however, did not stop his friends from reminding Eddie of it whenever the mood struck. 

Gareth would bring it up any time he thought about school since he had worked with her in class. Jeff would mention it anytime Eddie got frustrated with just about anything, because Jeff was a little shit. And Dougie, who was the worst of the three, would mention it if he spent as little as five seconds with Eddie, because he was the only one that didn’t get to witness the blunder, having been one of the many kids that didn’t bother to show up.

“I’m not saying that it’s not true,” Dougie started as he and Eddie made their way to Jeff’s, “I just don’t understand your reaction.”

Eddie shook his head and took a long pull from his cigarette, wondering if he might be better off going back to his trailer and smoking until Wayne made it home. It would be an easy task to turn his new old van around and kick his friend out. “Doug, you weren’t even there. Why are we talking about this again?”

His friend laughed, clearly taking joy in the discomfort the older one was experiencing. “Who is Gwendolyn Pierce? I just want to hear the story one more time, to put it all together!”

“And I just want to make it to Jeff’s without thinking too much about crashing this piece of shit into a tree.”

Dougie let out a laugh so loud that Eddie thought the whole van shook, but luckily the subject was dropped after that, granting Eddie a small chance to let the thoughts of the girl drift from his mind. Unfortunately that didn’t last long as the two pulled up in front of the other guirarist’s house. Jeff was standing just outside his front door, talking to the girl in question. She was wearing loose jeans and what looked like the same gray shirt she had worn that fateful day in the cafeteria, two books held tightly to her chest, messenger bag slung over her shoulder.

Eddie unconsciously held his breath as he saw her talking quietly with Jeff, frozen in confusion and a touch of fear. What was she doing over at Jeff’s place? Jeff had mentioned that he was getting started on a summer project for English, and that he would be meeting with his partner before they met up, but she was going into her senior year. Eddie had not been prepared to cross paths with the girl that disrupted his sense of self. Ignorant to the turmoil of the person in the driver’s seat, Dougie jumped out of the van slamming the door behind him. The noise pulled the attention of Jeff and the shy girl. Doug casually made his way over, a dopey smile on his face, not knowing this girl was the very subject of the previous conversation. 

Before Doug was able to make it over, and well before Eddie was even able to take his hands off the steering wheel, she gave a short goodbye to Jeff and turned away from them, loose ponytail flowing behind her. Eddie sat in his van, staring off at her as she walked, presumably making her way back home. It had only been a few weeks, and seeing her again had made his heart stop, and he wasn’t able to put a finger on why. It felt a little like shame and a lot like anxiety. At least Gareth was off visiting his grandparents in Indie and wouldn’t be joining the three. The youngest would never stop talking about if he'd been there. 

The afternoon progressed slowly, Jeff and Doug spending most of their time goofing off, but Eddie wasn’t as mentally there as the other two. Eddie had learned that Gwendolyn evidently failed her junior year, which was why she was working on a summer project with Jeff. They were doing a 1,500 word book report on a book they both agreed upon.