Mutual Future (Mungrove)

Dare To Change How You Care

Billy spent the entire weekend by himself. It took him that long to get through The Monster at the End of This Book. If he hadn't memorized it as a child, he probably wouldn't have even gotten that far, but he traced his fingers over the words on the pages as he recited it from memory. By Sunday afternoon, the words were starting to make sense. He started recognizing them more than just remembering them.

Sunday night before bed, Billy sat on his mattress with the Sesame Street book in front of him, and he read the book from beginning to end. He faltered several times as he tried to sound each word out in his head. But he made it through. And by the time he laid down to go to sleep, he did it with a smile on his face. He couldn't wait to start working on The Hobbit the next day. For a few minutes, he considered not even going to school. He just wanted to stay home and read. But in the end, he decided to go. More because he wanted to see Eddie than anything else.

At school, before the first bell rang, Billy sat in his car smoking a cigarette, The Hobbit open in front of him. It was frustrating as hell. Even sounding the words out, there was a lot of it that he just wasn't getting. He knew this wasn't going to be a painless process, and he knew it wasn't something he could do alone. He just wanted to give it his best shot though; see how far he could go on his own. Then he'd ask for help. He made it only through the first page of The Hobbit before he closed it and shoved it under his seat and got out of the car.

Inside the school, he saw Max and Lucas talking in the hallway with their other friends; the tall, skinny one, the toothless one, and the shy, quiet one. Max looked up and saw him, their eyes met, and instinct told Billy to go over and be an asshole to Lucas. But then the memory of his father punching him popped into his head and he cringed. Fuck Neil Hargrove. Lucas was harmless. And Max liked him. She was a good judge of character. Billy trusted her. So, he gave her a smile and a nod and headed for his locker.

As he rounded the corner in the hallway, he saw Eddie talking to Heather in front of his locker. He was used to Heather waiting at his locker for him, but not Eddie. He smiled again but tried to hide it. As happy as he was to see Eddie, he still had a reputation around school that he wasn't willing to let go of just yet. So, he set his face in something that resembled a friendly enough scowl and approached the two people waiting at his locker.

"Hey, Billy," Heather cooed as she slipped an arm around his waist and tugged him closer. He dipped his head and dropped a chaste kiss on her cheek. As he did, he stole a glance at Eddie and saw him trying to hide a frown. "My dad said you came by yesterday while I was at the mall."

"Yeah, I did." He stepped out of her grasp and closer to Eddie. "What's up, Munson?" Eddie just grinned at him. "I didn't know you and Heather knew each other."

"We don't," Eddie answered.

"We just met," Heather told him. "Did you know Eddie's in a band?"

"Yeah," Billy said. "I knew that." He fixed his face into his most charming smile and winked at Heather as he reached out and tucked her hair behind one ear for her. "Why don't you take off, baby? Wouldn't want you to be late to class."

"Okay." She went up on her toes to kiss Billy, but he turned his head, locked eyes with Eddie and mouthed 'sorry' as Heather's kiss landed on his jaw. Eddie just shrugged. "Are you going to be free during lunch?"

"I try not to plan anything that far ahead," he laughed as he turned her by the shoulders then swatted her on the bottom. "Go. We've got business to discuss." He and Eddie watched her walk away, and when she was out of earshot, Billy turned to Eddie. "So, what's up?"

"Nothing," Eddie answered coyly. "You don't make plans as far ahead as lunch time?"

"I like to keep my options open," Billy answered. "Didn't want to commit to anything with her until I find out if there's a better offer on the table." He gave Eddie a sly smirk as he winked at him. "You got a better offer?"