Believe It Or Not (An Eddie Munson Story)

Cunningham

"Lucky Star" by Madonna bumps loudly through my car speakers and Chrissy and I beam at one another as we sing loudly and dance in our seats. I'm so glad she agreed to come over tonight. The girl time and distraction is definitely much needed with everything that has been going on with Eddie. He still has yet to come back to school and he hasn't come by my house since the argument. Sure, he has called a few times, but I don't feel like this is something we should talk about over the phone. 

Chrissy was excited when I mentioned a girl's night at my place. I think the idea of a night just relaxing really appealed to her as well. She let her hair down when we got to the car and her honey colored waves are flowing freely in the breeze as she bounces along to the music. 

We pull up to Family Video and I smile to myself when I spot Steve's car in the lot. I park in front of the store and cut the car off, reaching up to fix my own hair as we get out. 

"What genre are we thinking?" Chrissy asks and I shrug.

"Let's just look around and see what calls to us." 

The little bell over the door chimes as we step inside the video store and Chrissy and I survey the shelves. Chrissy's eyes immediately gravitate towards the rom-coms and mine drift over to the horror section. We agree to split up and I slowly trudge over to the horror section, my eyes drifting over the store in search of Steve. I pace down a few aisles, worried he is in the back when I finally see him. He's made a beeline for Chrissy and is talking quietly to her in the romance section. She smiles and nods sweetly up at him and the tension in my chest lightens. I turn my attention to the movies, wanting to give them some privacy. I pull some tapes from the displays, reading over the backs before setting them back down. I'm sure Chrissy does not want to watch a scary movie so I don't get too invested, but I note some interesting titles to come back for with Eddie. 

The thought of him makes my chest hurt and my fingers tremble slightly on the case in my hands, causing it to pop open. The VHS slides out and towards the floor and I move to try to grab it before it crashes to the ground, but a hand darts out and snatches it for me. I straighten and look beside me, my eyes wide and my heart in my throat. 

Eddie stands and holds the tape out to me with a small, timid smile as though my thoughts conjured him up. His eyes are soft and unsure and his free hand fidgets with the edge of his jacket as he looks at me. 

"That was close," he chuckles nervously and without a word I take the VHS and slide it back into the case. I put it back on the shelf and try to discreetly wipe my sweaty palms on my jean clad thighs. 

"What are you doing here, Eddie?" I croak before clearing my throat. I cross my arms over my chest and focus my attention back on the shelves and not on how much I've missed looking at him. 

"Steve said you might be here today with Chrissy," Eddie says and my eyes dart to him. He's looking down at his feet, sheepishly before he peeks back up at me making me blush. "And I had an overdue movie to return." 

I bite my bottom lip to keep myself from grinning. I've missed him so much, but I'm still hurt by how everything was left. I'm also upset that he has been avoiding me and school. There is so much we still have to talk about and I don't want him to charm his way out of a much needed conversation, like he always manages to do. We need to face this. Together. 

"So you can make it out to the video store, but not to my house or school?" I ask, turning my nose up slightly and he fidgets. 

"Ripley!" Chrissy calls, her blonde head poking around the corner and Eddie and I freeze. I slowly turn to look at her and Chrissy's face falls slightly. 

"Oh, sorry," she says. "I didn't see you there Eddie." 

"It's alright, Chrissy," he says with a smile and my stomach turns. Steve's comment about Eddie liking Chrissy comes flooding back and I do my best to shake it off.