Hurts So Good - John Mellencamp
☀︎
Bill took me home and I entered the window to an awaiting Freddie.
"BRANDY! IS IT ACTUALLY YOU!? WHO THE FUCK DID YOU LEAVE WITH!? I NEED TO MEET HIM!"
I was startled by him.
Bill was crouched next to the window on the outside, obscured from Freddie's view.
"Freddie chill out I was with Bill," I said calmly.
"DO YOU AND BILL HAVE A THING NOW!? WHAT ABOUT BEV!? BRANDY YOU CAN'T DATE SOMEONE YOUR BEST FRIEND LIKES! BILL IS OFF LIMITS!"
I rolled my eyes, "we literally just went to watch a movie. Nothing else! You know he's like a brother to me."
"Maybe, but I am a brother to you, and am suspicious why you snuck out with him! Why didn't he just come to through the front door!? I would have let you leave!"
"BECAUSE I WAS IN MY ROOM ALMOST IN TEARS AND I DIDN'T KNOW HE WAS COMING!" I retorted loudly.
"Fine," Freddie calmed himself down, "it's just Bill I guess. We've known him forever. I trust him."
"Th-thanks Freddie," Bill called inside from outside the window.
"No problem, bud. You can leave now. I'll take it from here. Thanks for checking in on Brandy for me."
Bill nodded, climbing down the tree. He got on his bike and rode back towards his house.
Freddie was about to walk out the door before he turned around to face me, remembering something.
"Oh! That kid... uh... I forgot his name. The wheezy one. He stopped by here to apologize or some shit."
Shit. Eddie was Wheezy.
"What'd you do to him?" I asked.
Freddie chuckled, "I skinned him and he's hanging in the basement now. Obviously."
I was silent.
"I'm kidding Brandy. He just wanted to talk to you. But don't think of sneaking out again to go talk to him! You can see him at school tomorrow," Freddie said sternly.
I nodded, "I won't leave. Don't worry."
It hurt. The way he had treated me that day made me want to curl up in a ball and just lay there, but it felt good to know Eddie wanted to talk to me.
Eddie wants to talk to me.
I didn't even know what to emphasize in that sentence, so I played it over in my head a couple different times.
Eddie wanted to talk to me.
Eddie wanted to talk to me.
Eddie wanted to talk to me.
Each way I thought the simple words felt just has happy as the last.
Maybe things would be okay.
☀︎
I walked into school the next morning, scanning for the person that my brother said had stopped by.
I found the boy in question and rushed towards him.
"Eddie!" I called.
"Hi Brandy," he said. He sounded sad, disappointed almost.
"Freddie told me you stopped by yesterday. He said you had something to tell me."
