It wasn’t her fault honestly, she had checked before she had started to reverse her wheelchair out of the narrow gap between the library shelves, it was clear when she’d started to move and she was almost out when something or should she say someone collided with her wheelchair. The collision was hard enough to almost tip the chair so she could only imagine how much it actually hurt whoever it was.
The responding groan followed by a couple of winded coughs was enough to answer her question though as she came face to face with Eddie Munson when she turned to apologise. Sitting there with wide eyes as she felt her palms becoming clammy as she wondered how he would react, maybe he would yell at her as most people did when she got in their way. Although she uses the phrase lightly as her being in a wheelchair always seems to be such an inconvenience for other people despite it being a minor blip on their life compared to it being her way of life.
Eddie, for all people gossiping about him being a devil worshipper and a vessel for Satan, surprises her by doing the opposite. He apologises, profusely.
“Are you okay?” she asks, skipping over his apology even though hope blossoms inside her that maybe he’s not as scary as everyone makes him out to be. Eddie stops talking mid apology and stares blankly at her as though he didn’t hear what she just said so she repeats her question a little more slowly so that he doesn't miss it again. She can’t help the small smile that graces her face as she waits for his answer, although she does try to keep her mind from wandering to the fact that Eddie is adorable because she knows well enough that a guy like him would never be interested in her so there is no point getting her hopes up.
“Am I okay? I almost tipped you out of your chair should you not be yelling at me right now” he asks, disbelief written plainly across his face at how calm she is.
“Me? Usually I would be the one getting yelled at for being in the way in this situation” she replies with a laugh that he joins in with, both of them not quite sure what’s going on but both sure that they are making a fool of themselves. “I was serious though, you did get hit pretty hard” she asks again once the laughter has subsided.
“I’m good, m’sure I’ve had worse hits than that” he shrugs as if it’s nothing but it does leave her wondering what he means by it.
A silence follows as Eddie stands there awkwardly as if waiting for her to move, though he’s still kinda in the way and she’s not able to move without hitting him, again. Just as she’s about to ask him if he doesn’t mind moving so that she can move from between the shelves he speaks again, “Do you-uh do you need any help?” he asks, his brow furrowed as he brings a hand up to run it nervously through his curls. The smile falls from her face at his offer, she’s not annoyed so to say but she knows she’s more than capable of getting herself around without someone pushing her, and Eddie must realise what his offer sounded like as he is quick to clarify. “I didn’t mean I uh meant the books, I can’t imagine it's easy trying to get about while making sure they don’t fall” he says, his hand moving to rub over his face as his cheeks tint a pale pink colour.
“If you don’t mind” she smiles, offering the boy a lifeline and he takes the books from her with a smile, “and you’re right the school didn’t exactly design the library with wheelchair users in mind so it’s hard enough getting around with two hands let alone one” she adds, feeling at ease chatting with him as if she’d known him for years.
“Yeah well this school isn’t exactly known for it’s inclusivity if you get what I mean” he says with a roll of his eyes and she nods, she knows exactly what he means. A lot of students, even teachers, find an excuse to pick on those that are different and even though she and Eddie experience it in different ways it still seems like they have something to bond over.
Once they reach the desk Eddie places the books on top, ignoring the suspicious look the librarian gives him probably because in the whole time that he’s been at the school he’s been in the library only a handful of times and he’s been kicked out almost every time barring this once. Though once the older lady turns to her, she gives her a wide smile, chatting away about the last books she’d borrowed and Eddie took it that she was a regular in the library or unlike him never caused a scene and had to be removed.
“So do you need a hand getting them back to you’re locker” Eddie asked hopefully, his eyes shining as he flashed her a toothy smile, all his nerves seeming to have disappeared, “because you know I wouldn’t mind carrying them around for you all day, you just have to say the word” he teased, making her laugh.
“I’m sure you’ve got your own classes to be going to” she replied, placing the books carefully into her backpack so as not to bend or tear any of the pages, “besides they’re all packed away now so you’d just be stuck with me for no reason” she added, a small smile on her face in hopes of letting him know she was okay, that she didn’t need to be constantly looked after.
“Wouldn’t be a bad thing” he answered, his eyes widening as he realised he’d said it out loud and he cleared his throat quickly moving on before she had a chance to say anything, though he didn’t know that his words would repeat in her mind and leave her wondering if he actually meant them. “So I uh guess I’ll see you around then”
“You will Eddie” she smiled, biting her tongue to stop her adding that it was a small school so there was high chances of them seeing the other again. She had done it so that she didn’t seem rude but really she was just confused about the whole interaction and the resulting smile he gave her was almost blinding as he headed back into the library in search of whatever it was he was after before all of that happened.
Over the next few days it had seemed Eddie had made it his mission to find her in between every class whether it was just to wave and flash her a smile or when they had more time he’d always come and ask how her day had been. He’d even on some occasions walked with her to her next class and she’d found out later because of it he’d been late to his own class but he always brushed it off like it was no big deal.
“Eddie you can’t keep doing that” she’d tried to stress to him that he’d maybe have a little bit of an easier time passing his classes if he turned up on time so that he didn’t miss anything important but his reply had always been the same that spending time with her was just as important to him.
This along with other small things that she’d noticed he did when he was with her made it feel as if they were more than friends even though he’d never expressed that they were with words. Not that she had expected him too, her insecurities about dating and feeling wanted by anyone because she was in the chair always took over. She was always telling herself that it made her unlovable, not that it was true of course but the lack of interest shown to her by anyone she was even remotely attracted to, she put down to the chair it was an obstacle that not many people wanted to work with. So she hoped, hopes that she kept buried as she did every time to avoid the pain that came with the rejection, that Eddie would be different that he would want to put in the work.
“So I was thinking” Eddie’s voice came from beside her and she slammed her lock shut in surprise, the noise earning her a few glares from other students in the hallways but they were soon forgotten when she turned to find Eddie’s smiling face.
“Jesus Eddie a little warning next time so you don’t scare the shit out of me” she scolded as she looked up at him but the annoyance she felt didn’t last long when he looked at her with those big chocolatey eyes of his.’
“I’m sorry” his voice was genuine as he apologised but the smile on his face let her know that he still found her reaction to his unintentional jumpscare a little funny. “But I was thinking if you’re free on Saturday we could maybe go see a movie or something” he suggested, falling into a comfortable pace next to her as they made their way out of the building.
“A movie? It’s going to be a little bit of hassle with this” she pointed out, gesturing to her wheelchair as if he’d forgotten that she was in it. The thought itself had her anxiety building but she was also a little bit relieved that Eddie seemed to be proving her right that he didn’t see the chair as an obstacle.
“Well I mean the back row of the theatre will be out of the question” he teased, wiggling his eyebrows at her as she felt her cheeks heat at his insinuation, “but it’s not impossible right we can still have a good time no matter where we sit” he added, his playful manner giving way to something more honest that she couldn’t refuse no matter how hard she tried to resist him.
“Saturday is good” she said finally, earning her a rather large grin from Eddie that was difficult not to reciprocate and dispelling her intrusive doubts for the moment.
“Great it’s a date” he smiled, only half teasing as he disappeared into a crowd of students in only a way that he could, leaving her waiting on her lift with a surprising amount of joy bubbling up inside of her.