Eddie & Chrissy: What Could Have Been

Chapter Eight: Run For It

"It's uh..." she swallowed and looked up at Jason who was glaring at her. Then she thought, "No, this is my life. I have nothing to be sorry about."

"It's Eddie Munson,'' she said. Jason's jaw clenched and his brows furrowed.

"Eddie, Munson?" Jason was almost looking through Chrissy. His gaze was hollow and Chrissy felt a chill go up her spine.

"Yes," She said confidently.

"Ok, Chrissy. We'll see about that." Jason was still staring off into the distance as he walked slowly past Chrissy and bumped her shoulder. Chrissy felt a gaping hole in the pit of her stomach. She hurried to her next class and made it just before the bell rang.

Waiting for lunch period felt like an eternity. She watched the clock as it slowly ticked by. "3..2..1.." she counted down under her breath. When the clock hit 11:30, she jumped up and was the first one to run out of the classroom. She raced through the halls to the cafeteria where she waited off to the side while scanning the crowd of kids making their way inside.

Eddie felt on top of the world. He walked to lunch without a care in the world. He knew that by now, Jeff would have told the rest of the guys about last night. "Whatever," he said under his breath. People were going to find out eventually. He was then suddenly pulled in a different direction.

"Jeez, you're pretty strong," he chuckled as he rubbed his arm.

"We have to get out of here!" Chrissy exclaimed.

"Ha, what do you mean, why?"

"Just, come on!" Chrissy pulled Eddie into the hallway and went up the first stairwell next to the cafeteria and stood on the landing while looking down at the doorway.

"Chrissy, what's going on?" Eddie had Chrissy by her shoulders and was staring into her big blue eyes.

"I, I told Jason about us..." she said nervously.

"You what!? Shit! Shit! Shit!" Eddie ran up the rest of the stairs and back down again. He then tried to compose himself with a smile.

"OK, Chrissy, I was not ready to deal with this today," he said sarcastically.

"Sorry, it kind of just came out," she shrugged.

"Hahaha," he laughed nervously. "OK, let's go." He grabbed her hand and pulled her down the stairs.

"Wait, where are we going!?" She whispered harshly.

"You just said we have to get out of here, so we're getting out of here!" Eddie continued to pull Chrissy down the stairs and out the emergency exit towards the woods. All Chrissy could think about in that moment was how safe she felt with Eddie and how rough and yet soft his hand was in her's. Eddie, on the other hand, was just not in the mood to deal with Jason's bullshit today or ever, so he ran.

There they were, in the spot where it all began. The picnic table in the woods behind the school.

"We have to stop meeting like this!" Chrissy laughed as she tried to make light of the situation. Eddie looked up at her from the furrow of his eyebrows and smirked. He sat there on top of the picnic table with his feet on the bench and his head in his hands. Chrissy felt bad, she didn't mean for anything bad to come of this. She just wanted to be honest. She slowly walked up to Eddie, stood in front of him, and put her palms on his knees. He looked up at her and leaned back onto the picnic table with his palms.

"I'm sorry," Chrissy whispered to him.

Eddie grabbed her by the waist and said, "don't be sorry, I knew that this was going to happen. It's worth it." he smirked and pulled her in for a kiss. All the stress that Eddie was feeling melted away in that moment. Chrissy too. This connection that they had was something that neither of them could explain. It was as if they were kindred spirits, or perhaps, soulmates. They just made sense together even if everyone else thought otherwise.

Eddie and Chrissy spent the rest of the school day in the woods, at their picnic table talking, laughing, and really getting to know one another. Eddie looked at his watch, "fifteen minutes till school's out. Let's get out of here." He jumped off the table and reached out his hand to help Chrissy down. She looked down at him and smirked. They walked out of the woods together towards the parking lot.

    Eddie looked at his watch. 10 minutes. He could see his van across the lot. Chrissy looked around making sure Jason was nowhere in sight. They were about ten feet from the van when Eddie yelled, "Shit!" and threw his hands in the air. All four of his tires were slashed and the word 'FREAK' was spray painted across his windshield.

"Oh no," Chrissy stood there shocked. Eddie sarcastically laughed as he circled his van assessing the damage Jason and his gang had obviously done. Chrissy, on the other hand, couldn't believe that Jason had done this. The Jason that she knew and once loved. Or, the Jason that she thought she knew.

"Two can play at this game!" Eddie shouted. "Come on!" He grabbed Chrissy's hand and they scurried between the other cars in the parking lot while checking the school's main entrance.

"Where are we going!?" Chrissy whispered harshly.

"Just follow me!" They hurried through a few more rows, "hello beautiful,'' Eddie said while smiling and placing his hands on his hips.

"Why are we at Jason's Jeep?" Chrissy was concerned.

"Oh we're just going to take her for a little spin," Eddie winked at her and opened the driver's side door.

"Eddie!" Chrissy was panicking, pacing in fact.

"What an idiot, he WOULD leave his doors unlocked. I'm surprised he didn't leave the keys in the ignition for me." Eddie joked to himself as he pulled wires from underneath the steering wheel. "Keep a lookout," he told Chrissy.

"Eddie! I don't like this!" Chrissy began to throw a temper tantrum but kept her eyes on the main entrance. The bell rang. "Eddie!" she yelled and clenched her fists at her side.

"Almost got it," he twisted a wire around another, put his foot on the gas and the engine roared. "Quick, get in!" Eddie looked up as he threw it into drive and he made immediate eye contact with Jason across the parking lot. "Ha ha!" he shrieked and sped out of the lot. Chrissy was slumped down in the passenger seat with her hands on her ears.

"This isn't happening, this isn't happening." She repeated.

"Oh, but it is!" Eddie laughed as he looked in the rearview mirror and saw Jason blocks behind them yelling and chasing them on foot down the road. "I'm a runner baby, when the going gets tough, I'm out of here!" Eddie laughed to himself. Chrissy sank lower into her seat and smiled painfully at him.

"This should be interesting," she said wearily.