After school, I walked into the woods. I made sure no one was watching before disappearing between the trees. I know, kind of stupid meeting with someone you don't know that well, in a place far from society, and without telling anyone. It's being part of society 101. I just didn't think it was a big deal... although sometimes it is. I walked for a few minutes while I wondered where the hell in these woods was I supposed to meet Eddie. I stopped walking as soon as I saw the wooden picnic table with the long-haired boy sitting across it.
"Hello, Sweetheart. Nice seeing you here." Eddie said.
"Don't call me sweetheart."
"Well, you didn't tell me your name earlier. And if you don't tell me now, I'll use the nickname I want." He replied with a playful smirk.
"I'm Y/N."
"Nice to finally be properly introduced, Y/N. Do you mind if I ask for your last name?"
"Santos-Henderson"
"Huh... kind of like the kid a few years bellow us. Dustin?"
"He is kind of like my brother."
"I didn't know Dustin had a sister." He said intrigued.
"He didn't until very recently."
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing important." I answered as nicely as I could. "Hey, you said you were going to help me fix my project."
"I did not say that. I said I was going to make it up to you." He said with a smile on his face. "Which means, I'm going to tell you a secret about me."
"And how is that of any help to my current situation?"
"Well, you can do whatever you want with this information."
"No thank you. I'm good with the information I know. Nice meeting you anyways, Munson." I replied as I started to walk away. Who the hell does he think he is?
"Okay okay, Y/N! Come back! I'll help you with your art project. I'll help you fix it." He said as he jogged after me. "Come on, Sweetheart."
"I told you. Do not call me that." I quickly thought about my options. If I walked away, I would have Munson after me trying to find a solution for my problem all week. So, I thought the best option was to just let him help me with my project. "Fine. You can help me fix it. It's due tomorrow... so I guess I'll have to take you to my house to finish as soon as possible."
"Whatever you say, Y/N. I'm all yours." He replied as he made a small, princelike reverence.
"Don't get too excited, Munson." I guess we went from being curious to meet him, to wanting nothing to do with him.
He took me home on his... vehicle. Terrible driver by the way. And just before I died of a heart attack, we arrived home. Mrs. Henderson wasn't home, and Dustin was going to arrive soon since he used his bike. I unlocked the door and let mayhem into my home.
"Nice home you got here, Y/N."
"Thanks, I guess."
I led him into the table at the living room and brought my supplies down from my room. The project was about representing music through an artistic visual aid. I had chosen Bon Jovi's songs as the subject for my artwork. But now it was completely ruined, so I had to do it all over again and explain it to Munson. When I did that, his eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Do you listen to Bon Jovi too? I took you for a Prince fan."
"I do like some of Prince's songs. It's just that I feel a greater connection with Bon Jovi. Besides, everyone will make a similar representation to Prince's style. I wanted to go in a bit of a different direction."
"Oh yes, you wanted to be different."
"Take it as you want, Munson. I just wanted to try something else." I said without looking at him. "Please pass me that paintbrush. Not that one. Yes, that one."
Eddie glanced at the outdated project that lay on the table. He picked it up and looked closely. He looked at me and then back at the paper.
"Dude... this is really good. I see why you were pissed that I ruined it." He chuckled. "You're really talented."
"Thanks." I looked at him and smiled faintly. We were in silence for a bit. "Look, Eddie. I'm sorry if I was mean to you. I'm normally not like this. I swear. It's just that a lot has been going on lately and... the incident with my project was really the last straw."
"Don't worry about it, Sweetheart. It happens to the best of us. And again, I'm sorry I ruined your art piece." I let that 'Sweetheart' slide and smile wider at him. He glanced over at the table in the kitchen and saw Dustin's Dungeons and Dragons papers. He stood up, walked over there and grabbed them. I just gave him a confused look. "Wait. Are this yours?"
"They're Dustin's. He loves playing D&D."
"Nice! I'm guessing you play a too. I mean, no one who doesn't play calls it 'D&D'"
"I play a little. Dustin has been teaching me" I look back at my project and continue to work on it.
"How long have you been playing? Oh and, what class and level are you?"
"He's been teaching me for about six months. I'm a level three Bard." I say the last part almost too silent for him to listen. Being this low in the rank is shameful when you've been playing for that long.
"Then Dustin isn't a good teacher, because I don't think you're that stupid." He chuckled again. "Only if you feel comfortable with it, and let me, I could be your new teacher. I'm pretty good and could make you level ten like that." He snapped his fingers.
"I'll think about it." I replied as I caught his smile from the corner of my eye.
The front door swung open, and Dustin came into the house dragging his feet. He came into the living room and dropped on the couch exhausted.
"Tough day?" I asked him.
"Yeah. I hate high school." He replied. He looked confused at what I was doing. "Hey, didn't you finish that yesterday? Am I alternating universes or something?"
"No, you're in se same universe. I had to re-do my project. He ruined it." I tilted my head to where Eddie was standing. It was strange that Dustin noticed him only until now. However, he did look exhausted.
"Hey, man." Eddie walked over to the living room. Dustin stood up and they shook hands. "I was just helping Y/N fix her project."
"Cool. You're Eddie Munson, right? I've seen you around school. Wait... weren't you supposed to graduate already?" Dustin asked. I gave him a daggering look.
"Yeah. I was held back because I couldn't pass Spanish."
"Well, Y/N here is excellent in Spanish." Dustin said looking at me.
"Really? So, you're a great artist and a genius." Eddie replied in a mischievous tone. "Maybe you could be my salvation, Y/N."
"I- I guess I could give you a couple lessons." I said with a very faint smile.
"Hey, Y/N. I was heading over to Mike's. We're playing for a few hours. Do you want to come?" Dustin interrupted.
"I really need to finish this. Thanks though." I looked over at Eddie and smirked. "But you could take him. He says he's good."
Dustin's eyes widened as he glanced at Eddie. "You play D&D?"
"Level 15." He replied. "But I should really help Y/N fix her project. We should talk sometime though."
"Yeah. For sure, Dude." Dustin grabbed his papers from the kitchen and left the house.
"Nice kid you live with." Eddie sat next to me on the floor. His shoulder collided with mine. I glanced quickly at him and then returned to my work. He got closer and gently grabbed the hand that I was holding the paintbrush with. He moved it making a small paint stroke. "You missed this part of the logo."
"Thanks." I said quietly as he let go.
"Hey, how about we meet in the afternoons. You help me with Spanish and I'll help you with D&D."
That is how Eddie Munson, and I became friends.