The Test of Time

Twelve

          Eddy's stomach tightened. He willed it not to show on his face. He didn't even have the bliss of being ignorant anymore, he knew what he was feeling and what was going on. Eddy, say something. You can't pause this long, he'll suspect something. "Wow!" is all he could choke out. Well, that was stupid, Eddy, what the heck was that?  "Do you have a picture of her?" No! Eddy, you're supposed to say, 'I'm happy for you!' what the heck was that? "But, I'm not exactly happy," Eddy mumbled, trying to combat the voice in his head. 

           "Hm? Do what?" Brett asked. As he was pulling out his phone he had thought he heard Eddy say something more. 

           Eddy put on a convincing fake laugh, "What? I just asked about the picture."

           "Oh, yeah, that's right, sure, here," Brett said, handing his phone to Eddy. 

            Eddy stared down at a photo of Brett, all dressed up, beautiful eyes, perfect smile...with his arm around some girl. A gorgeous girl. She had eyes of amber, ruby red lips, gorgeous straight teeth, and black hair that fell to her waist. They were the perfect pair, Eddy thought. He smiled up at Brett. "She's beautiful, Brett."

            "Isn't she?" Brett asked. Misako was gorgeous, there was no doubting that. Brett was concerned, though, for he detected a hint of sadness in Eddy's smile. Brett tried to shove it in the back of his mind, instead, he asked Eddy, "So what were you mad at me about last night?"

             Eddy's mind raced. Brett wanted to go on a date with this girl, and there was no way he was going to let his own feelings get in the way. He swallowed hard, and raised his eyes to meet Brett's again, "I'm sorry. I wasn't really mad about anything particular," he lied, "I was just in a bit of a funk. I won't bother you with it again."

              A look of confusion spread over Brett's face. He was positive Eddy was lying, but this time he wasn't going to force Eddy to talk about it. He wanted the bright mood back, to get on with planning the tour. "It's okay, man...maybe once we're done here, I'll go home for an hour to get ready, then we can plan and film at your house. Does that work?"

             "Yeah, that works," Eddy said, surprised. Why would Brett even want to come over to plan anymore? He was just weighing Brett down, after all. 

             As Eddy walked back home, he thought about all that had just happened. He had almost convinced himself that he wasn't in love with Brett. That didn't work. Brett had almost read the texts from Mallory, and Eddy knew full well that if Brett had seen those texts, their friendship would be over. 

            Eddy pondered this. So, was he...gay now? Or simply bisexual? He had always been with girls, always. Now, though, he was attracted to...Brett. UGH! Why was this so difficult? He pulled out his phone. 11:27AM: Mal: Hey, Eddy. It's okay. I know that must have come as a massive shock to you. Then, 11:32AM: Mal: If you need me, just call. I can handle being hung up on.

          Instead of calling, Eddy decided to FaceTime. It wasn't something he did often, but it kind of helped simulate the person being there with you. 

          Mallory picked up, looking a bit confused. "Hey! you never FaceTime me unless, one, it's something very important, which you always tell me about first, or two, you're with Brett and one of you wants to make a stupid viola joke. So, what's up?" She asked, giggling. 

        "I can tell you didn't mean it when you said you could handle being hung up on," Eddy told her. He knew from experience that though Mallory was very tough, she did tend to overthink. 

        "Okay, you're not wrong," Mallory admitted, "I can, though, when people really need it...I was fine when you hung up on me all the time when I tried to talk to you about Jen after the breakup."

         Eddy rolled his eyes. That was true. Though Brett was his rock during that breakup, Mallory had helped a lot too, always answering calls, even if it was the middle of the night for her. 

        "So, what's new with you? I don't want this entire FaceTime to be depressing. We can talk about my overthinking skills another time. Preferably at night, when there's no one around to hear me," Mallory gestured to her left, and Eddy watched as two other people leaned into the frame. 

        Thank goodness Mallory was wearing headphones. "Mal, who are they?" Eddy asked. They were not mutual friends, as he didn't recognize them. 

        Mallory laughed, "These are my annoying best friends, who I am so lucky to get to live with for now. You would love them. The girl is Josephine, but everyone calls her Jo. She's a pianist. And, that one," Mallory scowled playfully, punching at the boy, "Is JP, aka, Mr. Annoying." 

       Eddy smiled and raised a hand for a wave, though he knew that JP and Jo could not hear him. He watched as Mallory stood up off the couch and walking into her room. She shut the door behind her, and Eddy got a peek at the walls. There were swords everywhere, typical Mallory. She loved to swordfight, and everyone knew that. There were a few all-black swords that lay on the floor next to the desk, which she sat down at. "What're those black swords, Mal?" He asked.

     "Oh these?" She asked, holding one up, "This is a katana. And this other one? It's a Bastard Sword, or, as I call it, a Hand and a Half sword." 

     Eddy facepalmed. "That's not what I meant. I meant, why are they all black?"

     "OH!" Mallory laughed, "They're polypropylene. Not as dangerous as real ones. JP and I murder each other all the time with these. But, now, back to you. What's been going on?"