Andante

CLXII

Over the last few weeks his mother had pretty much been back to her normal strict self, but somehow Eddy found that he could deal with it a lot more easily now. He guessed that had a lot to do with what she had said to him on the day of the recording, when she had found him crying into his pillow. He hadn't forgotten what she had said, and he certainly hadn't forgotten what he had seen in her eyes. That afternoon had changed something very profound between them. But despite that, he still didn't talk to her very much. There were too many secrets, too many giant glaring secrets to make that comfortable, so he still mostly kept to himself when he was home. 
He was managing to talk a bit more with other people though, ever since that fantastic day when Brett and Lily had thrown him their surprise bubble tea party. Which was exactly the reason why he was taking out his telephone now, as he walked to school, his backpack bobbing up and down on his back. 
Steven picked up on the second ring. 
"Hey, Eddy! You okay, mate?"
Eddy smiled to himself. Yeah, he got why Steven wouldn't necessarily be expecting him to call, especially minutes before school. 
"Hey, mate. Yeah, I'm good, how are you? So... I know it's almost time for school, but I just wanted to talk to you when Brett wasn't there to overhear."
Steven was quiet, but he could feel the question marks rushing over the phone line. 
"Erm... so I was wanting to throw Brett a surprise party for his eighteenth birthday, in a few weeks. And I was thinking you might know who else I should invite from your school."
"Mate!" Steven gushed straight away. "That's a fucking awesome idea! He'll love that. He may be all quiet and shit, but I know he loves a good party."
Eddy grinned. "Yeah, he definitely does. But I can't take credit for the idea, he surprised me with a little party of his own a few weeks ago when I turned seventeen."
"Did he? Well, lemme think for a moment." Steven said. "You know, we've got a pool house at home, d'ya want me to ask my folks if we can have it there? And I can invite his friends from school on the down low, if you want?"
Eddy was speechless for a second. Whoa, what? This was all going a lot more smoothly than he had thought it would. 
"Wow, really? That... that would be awesome, Steven! Are your parents going to be okay with that?"
"I dunno, but I would have thought so. Won't hurt to ask 'em, no?"
"No, it definitely won't hurt to ask them!" he enthused. "That's so cool, Steven, thanks."
He could basically hear Steven's sphynx-like smile. "yeah, well, Brett's a cool guy, so I'm happy to do it."

Brett's a cool guy. Yeah. That was the understatement of the year, but he appreciated the sentiment anyway. 
"Okay, so I'll ask some people and my folks and I'll call you in the evening? Is that good?" Steven asked.
Eddy nodded, even if he knew Steven couldn't see it over the phone. "Yeah, that's great! I'll be studying for my math test all evening, so you can call any time. Just... make sure everyone keeps their mouth shut, yeah?"
"Of course. Talk to you soon."

Eddy put his phone on silent as he walked onto the school square and he shook his head incredulously as he put it back into the pocket of his black jeans.
Wow. So it sounded like he was suddenly throwing Brett a for real party, by a pool, with Steven? Like... a full blown party? Even though a big do like that was very much not his vibe, he knew it would be Brett's. In fact... it was perfect for Brett. 
Now he'd just have to invite their joint friends, and get both their parents to be okay with it all. And of course wait and see if Steven got the okay for the pool from his parents...
Wow. He shook his head again in amazement. 
"Hey, Lily!" he called at the familiar shape he saw in the corridor up ahead. "You'll never guess what."