─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
THE WALK BACK UP to the school was anything but awkward; it was as if no time had passed since they last saw each other. eddie was trying to trip eve by stepping on the backs of her shoes and she was trying to grab the black skull bandana from his back pocket. why did i ever not want this? she wondered. she knew why though, of course.
no one ever stayed.
her grandmother was the exception, but everyone else was temporary. god only knew how much she hoped it wasn't going to reign true for eddie, but she knew to keep her expectations low. it stopped it from hurting so badly when they did end up leaving or disappointing her.
"hey, where'd you go?" eddie interrupted her thoughts, both of them coming to a halt at the edge of the woods. he wasn't ready to face the world yet, wanting to play pretend for a little while longer. to be with her. god, how he forgot how great she was.
"oh," evelyn blushed. "just thinking about how much i missed you, i guess. it's just been weird." and it really had been. eve had been learning from home with books that cost a fortune that mama lou graciously paid for. the girl didn't even really need to go back to high school. her intelligence was way past that of a high schooler's, but she figured it would look much better on a college résumé to have a diploma rather than a ged.
"awe, shucks, miller. i missed you too." the boy said, sticking his tongue out playfully. he looked down at his feet. why am i being so shy? this is not like me at all. i need to get my shit together, she's just little evie. eddie gave himself an inner pep talk.
"i guess we should head to class before someone realizes we skipped the pep rally." eve sighed. she really didn't want to go or have to make friends again, but it had to happen one way or another.
so off they went to ms. o'donnell's literature class, walking side by side.
when they arrived, the first bell had already rung and ms. o'donnell made a point to embarrass both of them. "ah, yes, the new girl and the trouble maker. thank you for choosing to show up."
her comment earned a few snickers from the other students. eddie slyly made his way to his seat in the back of the class, making sure to cause plenty of ruckus, drumming on the desk as he sat down. that boy didn't have a care in the world and eve admired that about him. he smiled at his new-old friend and motioned her to the seat next to him, to which she greatly appreciated. she would've hated sitting by someone she didn't know and been forced to... socialize.
the class went better than either of them expected. they were reading the great gatsby and eve loved that book. she had read it at least ten times through. what was one more?
what was even better was that they luckily got paired together for their class project due to being late. "since you two think it's okay to be late, you can work together on the assignment."
it wasn't much of a punishment at all, but they acted as if it was. eddie rolled his eyes playfully as eve scoffed back at him. both making the other laugh quietly, covering their mouths. they scooted their desks together and started working.
"okay, so have you ever read this?" eve asked excitedly. he had to admit, it was super cute seeing her like that. no one he associated with got excited over a book, not unless it was a new dungeons and dragons adventure guide or maybe lord of the rings.
"evie, be honest. do i look like someone who has read this on my own time?" eddie asked with a chuckle to which she rolled her brown eyes.
"well, it's a really good book, munson. so good that i've read it a few times..." the girl was definitely a bit of a nerd, but she took pride in that most of the time. "besides, it'll make this project easy for you. i'll do the work and you'll get an 'a'."
the metal head looked her over and and almost offendedly said, "well, i want to help. i need to get smarter anyways, right?" he tapped his head. "it's this fucking class that keeps me from graduating. so help me out, sweetheart?" eve tried desperately to hide her blushing cheeks. her embarrassment turned to annoyance when she realized how red she felt.
sweetheart? who does he think he is?
"only if you agree to never call me that ever again. it's weird." she wouldn't let anyone know, but him calling her that gave her stupid butterflies and she didn't want them. not at all!
eddie definitely saw the girl getting a little worked up and decided he would have some fun. "okay, but what about princess?" she glared at him and he laughed. "what? i haven't seen you in how long and i can't tease you a little?" his hand found his way to one of her red cheeks and he pinched.
she slapped his hand so hard that the entire class looked in their direction. she was more than embarrassed now, i'm not some kid! the dark haired girl hid her face in her arms on her desk. that was absolutely mortifying!
to be fair, the poor girl hadn't been in an actual social situation since she was fourteen. of course she was going to freak out at the slightest inconvenience.
eve stayed tucked in her arms for a few minutes while eddie sat in silence. this is his fault. not mine. but eddie was just sitting patiently waiting for her to get over herself and come back to earth.
when she finally looked up at him again, he was smiling at her with his stupidly adorable dimples. "you okay, princess?" that smug motherf-.
"that's staying, isn't it?" she groaned, trying to hide the weird smile that had creeped up on her face.
"well, of course. after throwing that cute little tantrum, it's gotta stay." he booped her nose and she went to bite his finger, barely missing. "and if you try to bite me again, i might let you."
he was flirting with her and she had no idea how to respond so she just stared at her book, "anyways... about this amazing book that we have the opportunity to read, let's do that." she flicked through the first few pages that were author's notes and dedications, stealing a few glances at the boy in front of her.
he was cute in a stray-animal-you-found-on-the-side-of-the-road way. kind of raggedy looking, but tamable—hardly. his hellfire club shirt sitting nicely under his leather jacket and denim vest she noticed earlier was oddly attractive on him. she was definitely curious about the infamous club that he was the leader of.
"do you know mike wheeler?" she asked.
"uh, yeah! he's a newer member of my... nerd club."
"nerd club? i thought it was a group of cultists." she joked. "no, i'm kidding. mike, he's my cousin. he's talked about you a lot. the kid and his friend kind of worship you." evelyn smiled a little and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear as she looked back down at her book.
"oh yeah, love that little dweeb." eddie laughed and the girl could've listened to it on repeat. "you should, um, come see what we're all about some time." it was weird for eddie to invite an outsider to sit and watch a campaign. they were sacred, but she was worthy.
glancing up at him, she nodded, "i've thought about it, but i was worried you wouldn't want me there and i have a lot going on at home, so it's hard for me to find time for anything other than—never mind." she felt as if she was rambling at this point, but the boy really did care about what she had to say.
"no, what?"
"just my grandma. she's pretty sick and i like to take care of her myself. she's all i have anymore." eve felt his eyes looking at her with concern, but she really didn't want to burden him with her issues. "it's just why i haven't been to school. that's all."
eddie sensed that she didn't feel like talking about it, so he just said, "well, that's pretty cool, miller. very responsible of you." he didn't want to push too much even though he was known for being a little bit... extra. he seemed to respect her boundaries to a certain extent and the girl really appreciated it. more than he knew probably and for that she trusted him.
"but, um, we should probably work on this more than just in the class room since there's a whole paper we need to write. i could see what my grandma thinks about you coming to work on it with me." evelyn offered shyly. she was very worried about letting him in to her safe space, but something told her that it would be okay. besides, if she ended up changing her mind, she could just blame it on mama lou; she was sure she wouldn't mind.
"that would be great, princess. let me know tomorrow?" eddie part stated and other part questioned. he really wanted her to say yes, to see what she was like in her own environment... almost like a wild animal.
it was weird that both of them thought of each other as these undomesticated creatures.
the girl nodded and the bell rang, cueing the next class and the remainder of her day which went by slowly with no exciting events.
evelyn couldn't wait to tell lou what had happened that day. she would be so excited for her, so when she got home, she told lou almost every detail of her and the munson boy's interaction.
"i knew you two would find your way back to each other." the woman said, earning an eye roll from the in-denial teen.
"he's just my friend, you crazy lady. it's my first day being a normal human again, anyways. don't be silly."
"whatever you say, dear, i won't say i told you so when it happens either." lou smirked. "now, will you put my show on and make me something to eat? grace quite doesn't make things like you do, i'm starving!" she was truly dramatic.
the girl kissed the elder woman's forehead and turned the tv on. "yeah, i can do that... on one condition," she fumbled her fingers together. "can eddie come over tomorrow to work on our paper?"
"you ask me like i don't want you to have friends, evelyn. of course, i'd love to meet that kid again. it's been too long." and yes, she was silly to think mama lou would say no, but part of her was hoping she would. not because she didn't like eddie, but because she wasn't sure she was ready to do all of that again. people take effort.
"thanks, ma. i love you. i'll be back with your food." eve stated as she walked out of the room, smiling as she did what she did best. taking care of lou. but she needed to learn to do other things again. she had to live her life for her.
and what better way to start than with a heavy metal nerd?
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
a/n: ahhhh! i'm in love with their dynamic already. and can we just talk about lou and her sassiness? love.
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