East of Eden | Peter Parker

「ii. sides of a coin」

CHAPTER TWO : WEEK ONE

When Eden finally makes it to the cafeteria, it takes less than twenty seconds to find the table where Hayes is waiting just as invisibly as always. It's a new record for her and she's just a little bit proud of how good she's getting at spotting him even when he tries to fade away into the background. She makes a beeline for him as soon as she's done with her split second silent celebration, not wanting to be any later than she already is. Hayes is a real stickler about that kind of thing.

"What's up with the delay, Phee?" Hayes asks before she's even settled into her seat. Patience for the tardy is not one of his strong suits. "You usually get here right on time."

"Well hello to you too," Eden says through a sheepish smile. "Sorry, but I got held up in the library . . . I was actually talking to Parker."

Hayes perks up at the confession. He leans away from his food and grabs her arm, eyes overflowing with something Eden can't put her finger on. "Really? I guess I have to forgive you for being late then. Did you actually ask him out?"

Eden tries and fails to glare at him. He looks excited without apprehension and it's making her forget about her fear from the morning. "Obviously I didn't. I asked him if he could tutor me after school for a few weeks. He's undeniably the best smart person at this school, and I need some serious help with my algebra work. It has nothing to do with 'how cute he is'."

Because they definitely haven't discussed that before.

"Mhm, I'm sure that's one hundred percent all it is. You've got no ulterior motives whatsoever." Hayes says through a barely suppressed grin.

"I'm serious, Hayes. It doesn't matter what else there is to it. It's not like I could ever actually do anything about it." Eden's voice falls to a mumble at the end as she leans down to pull her lunch out of her backpack. Sometimes it's too hard to talk to him about this kind of thing. He's too close to Montgomery to understand. Complaining would only cause a rift between them, and that's the last thing she wants.

"Hey now, don't get all negative on me again to try and shut me up. That doesn't work with me anymore."

Eden shakes her head, trying for an incredulous expression to mask the resentment she's doing her best to bury. Hopefully he falls for it this time. "All I'm trying to say is that right now I just want Peter for his brain, which will hopefully save my ass when report cards get mailed out at the end of this semester. You know what my math grades look like right now. Is it really so hard to believe?"

Hayes shrugs dismissively, ignoring the undertones. "I guess it could be true."

"Thank you."

"But, it could also be total crap and you could be making out over your textbooks in just a few months. Or less if he's not a total moron about it. You never know with the school smart ones."

"You're hopeless."

He laughs in response, shaking his head like he knows something the rest of the world doesn't. Eden finds herself wishing she could do that too.

"You know, you're a real piece of work. I don't know how I put up with you every day. Especially mornings. There's not enough tea in the world to get me ready for you at the ass-crack of dawn."

"It's just who we are, Phee. You and me, we're the eighth and ninth wonders of the world. Two stars glowing on the ground. Proof that miracles exist and angles don't always have wings. The living embodiment of epic verses of poetry. Of lyrics that bring anyone who hears them to tears. Of musical notes and chords strung together to inspire people across the world, regardless of language. We're-"

"Shit, H, fucking stop right there. What the hell was in your breakfast this morning? Are you actually high right now in the middle of the school day?"

He loses the faraway look in his eyes and laughs. "No, no. I'm fine. You just looked like you needed a cheery distraction, and I, being the best and pretty much only friend that you have, delivered beautifully. Wouldn't you agree?"

Eden stares at him until she isn't sure whether she should laugh or cry. Apparently, nothing gets past him when he's focused, and she can't decide if she loves him or hate him. "You're a real piece of work," she says again softly.

"I know."

"I don't know how I put up with you."

He smiles until Eden is smiling too.

"I love you too, Phee."

Eden shakes her head and hides the look on her face behind a large swig of water. "Yeah . . . you too."

His smile grows until his whole face is glowing and Eden can't believe he grew up the same way she did. She can't believe he has enough love inside him for both of them.

"All right," he says, standing and taking his empty tray off the table with him. "Would you know how the time flies when someone shows up late? I've got to get to chem early now, so I'll see you tonight for pizza! Don't let the stray dogs bite!"

"Have fun, lunatic. See you then."

Eden finishes off the last of her grapes and watches Hayes' retreating back until it vanishes from sight. Sure, he sounded ridiculous and comical during his little, silly moment of poetry, but he wasn't entirely wrong. He really is a wonder of the world. Even after so many long years together, he still manages to surprise her. And that's just the tip of the iceberg of the mystery that it Galen Hayes.

She wonders, as she sometimes catches herself doing, if she'll ever understand him as clearly as he seems to understand her. And then she wonders if she really wants to. People are never as golden on the inside as they are on the outside. That's something she considers fact after everything she's seen in the last decade of her life. But if mankind's belief that the world was the center of the universe was eventually proven wrong by just few persistent scientific minds, how much – or how little – would it take to change one girl's mind?