All day and into the evening, Eddie had been trying to figure out what made Kat hightail it away from school the moment her eyes met his. He tried to mindlessly watch TV, but his focus kept straying. He couldn't stop fiddling with his rings, his bouncing leg could never stay still. He ended up pacing around his trailer. Wayne made sure to warn him not to wear a path in his living room as he left for work.
The worst that could happen if he just showed up at her front door was she would slam it in his face. Did he have enough time to make her a mixed tape? At this point he didn't even know where to begin with that. Was she okay? Was she crying? Did she think he hated her? Did she think he was running away from her? So many thoughts were racing through his mind.
He pulled back on the cigarette he was smoking as he paced. "I could just go to her house. Just tell her I wanna see if she's okay. I could just drive by her house? No. Then I'm a stalker. Would I be a stalker if I went to her bedroom window? I think I could make it up there... No, that's just weird as shit. Fuck!" He said to himself as he put his head in the hand opposite the one holding his cigarette. Plopping down on the couch again, he let out a heavy sigh. He drummed his fingers on his restless leg, not able to contain an ounce of his energy. Taking one last deep pull from his cigarette and putting it out, he got on his feet and grabbed his keys. "Fuck it, I'm just gonna go."
He flung open the door and almost collided with Kat who was standing there with her fist poised to start knocking. Catching him off guard, he let out a little yelp.
"Uh, sorry? Um, is this a bad time? I can–" Kat's words were cut off as one arm wrapped around her waist, while he placed his other hand on the back of her head, pulling her close to him. Following suit, she wrapped her arms around his waist and nuzzled her head into his neck. The still lingering smell of his last cigarette clung to him as Kat took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry, Kat. I never wanted...They shouldn't attack you, because of me. I don't know why...I just– I'm so sorry," he whispered to her, stroking her hair. Having her cling to him made his heart break for her. It took all his strength to keep his composure.
Kat shook her head as she pulled back a little, so she could look up at him. "No, it's not your fault. It's not your fault, I'm more of a freak than you are," she softly laughed.
"Nope. That is impossible."
She shook her head again. "Nothing is impossible, Eddie. You don't– You weren't..." Kat didn't even know where to begin. Her bottom lip began to quiver. Tears started pooling in her eyes, threatening to fall down her cheeks. "I just...I had a really bad day," she said, her voice breaking as she looked up at him with her glassy, tear-laced eyes. He pulled her close to him again. Their embrace lasted only for a brief moment, before he grabbed her hand to bring her inside. She wiped the few escaped tears with the sleeve of her other arm.
They plopped down on the couch. Kat's eyes darted around the room as if she was searching for the words on where to even begin, chewing on the inside of her lip as she did so in an attempt to collect herself. "So, after everything at school... My aunt and I got into a pretty bad fight," she began.
"About?"
Guilt and shame took over Kat's face. "You..." She said timidly.
Eddie let out a soft chortle. "Sweetheart, you live on Loch Nora. We come from two different worlds. I'd be more surprised if your aunt wasn't, at least, skeptical about me."
"No, you don't understand. That's not... That's not even the worst part about the fight. It was... I don't know if you noticed, but I... I'm different. I'm not like other people. I can... When I get upset things happen and I– I can't control it. I mean it when I say I am a freak."
"You mean when by some magical force Jason froze just so you could beat the shit out of him? Or the way those girls couldn't move when you talked to them at the party? Or the guy 'falling' into the bush?"
Kat's posture became hunched, almost like she wanted to curl up into a ball to hide from this conversation. She looked over at Eddie, embarrassed. "Yeah... but this time... I don't even know how to describe it. Wait. How are you so calm about this? I'm literally telling you I can move shit with my mind and you're acting like this is a casual observation."
"Because I see how scared you are. Because I know it only happens when you're protecting me." He kept his voice level and calm in order to reassure her. She just shook her head.
"No. No. This shouldn't be something that's just acceptable. You should be kicking me out of here or– or– or running away screaming."
"Is that what you want me to do, Kat? Or do you just expect me to behave like everyone else has around you?"
"I don't know. I don't know!"
"What happened with your aunt tonight? How was it different?"
"I think... I didn't want her to be like my parents. I didn't think she would be so... judgemental. She started off by saying the neighbor complained about seeing your van parked at my house. Then she said how you're not 'good people' and how I always gravitate towards people like that. And I..." She took another deep breath, so she could collect her thoughts. "The only way I can describe it, is that it feels like my blood is literally boiling. There is so much energy surging through me. I have to– I have to expel it somehow. But I... Eddie, I wanted to hurt her. And not like I did with Jason. I wanted her to suffer. At the last possible second, I just– I crushed some cans that were on the counter. She looked terrified. I mean, I get it. I woulda been if I were her." Kat put her head in her hands defeatedly.
Eddie nodded and looked around his trailer. He got up suddenly and went over to the kitchen area. Kat watched him when she heard him shuffling around. He came back holding three empty beer cans in his hands. Clearing off the coffee table, he set them down in a row in front of her. "Show me."
"What?"
"Show me. Use your...Your magic powers just because." He nodded and pointed at the cans. Kat looked at him with such confusion and opened her mouth to say something, but Eddie cut her off. "Just try, Kat."
Sitting up straight, she steadied herself. She hadn't tried to do this since she was a pre-teen, swearing to herself she never would. Not after what had happened. However, she trusted Eddie. She felt safe with him. For whatever reason he was steadfastly by her side, so for him, she would try.
Staring intently at the cans, she tapped into the reserve of energy she felt within her. Steadily, she took deep breaths, concentrating. It was humming through her lightly, she knew it wasn't enough to do anything. The words from Linda echoed through her mind. Then the thoughts of her parents shipping her off to this town on multiple occasions (even if the first time she had mostly blocked from her memory). That was the key. The electric storm swirled inside her. She focused more intently on the cans, her face showed sheer determination.
And then it happened.
Simultaneously, the three cans folded in on themselves. Kat let out a sigh, aware of the familiar feeling of her nose running. She looked at Eddie, waiting for his reaction.
"Holy shit..." He whispered.
"I told you. I'm the freak. Not you." She got up and went into the kitchen, finding a paper towel to wipe the blood from under her nose. Eddie was completely still, processing what he just witnessed. It was one thing for him to offhandedly notice when it happened. Even though he encouraged her, it was another thing to witness it on demand. "I'll understand if you don't...if you can't– If it's too much for you," she said quietly.
Eddie whipped his head to look at her. "My whole life, I've escaped into fantasy worlds. Hell, I lead a whole role-playing fantasy game. I've dreamt of shit like this being real. I mean sure, it's weird for it to be right in front of me. But you," he pointed right at her, "you, Katrina Ramsay, are probably the best thing to have ever happened to me."
Kat tried to understand what he was saying. Why wasn't he running for the hills? Why was he just accepting this? "Why, because you now have a sorceress to defend you in battle?" Kat laughed sarcastically.
"Precisely. See? It's not so scary when you put it that way."
"It's still fucking weird."
"Are you kidding me? You're a certified freak." A smile crept across his face as he spoke. It was infectious as Kat grinned as well. His face turned quizzical as he asked "So, your aunt really doesn't like me?"
Kat rolled her eyes. "She based it off your family's reputation." She made her way back to the couch.
Eddie shrugged. "That's fair, I guess."
A momentary silence fell over both of them, before Kat asked, "Got a cig I could have?" Eddie nodded before getting up and disappearing into his room. Apprehension started to fill Kat as she realized they hadn't even spoken about anything that happened last night. She figured if he wasn't running from her because she could move things with her mind, she needn't worry about something as trivial as a drunken kiss.
"Here," Eddie said, handing her a joint. "I think you need something a little stronger than a cig after today."
"Thank you. I'm not sharing it though." Kat said as she took it and a lighter from his hand.
Eddie let out a short laugh, before pulling another one out from behind his ear. "And that's why I brought my own."
After a short while, Eddie looked over at her and said, "You know this means I have to meet your aunt, right?"
"Ha! Not until after I do some damage control," she retorted.
"Ah, m'lady, I am nothing if not a patient gentleman."
Kat just looked at him, playfully rolling her eyes. Finishing her joint, she leaned her head back on the couch. "Shit. I'm hungry."
"You wanna get food? I don't have shit here."
"Only if it's Taco Bell. Is there even a Taco Bell around here?"
"There's one a town over. But you...like...Taco Bell?"
"Shit, yeah. I fucking love burritos, man."
"Always an enigma." He said in his usual wistful tone he used when speaking of Kat like that. Getting up, he grabbed his keys. Kat followed suit and followed him. First she grabbed her purse from her car, before eventually climbing into her usual shotgun spot. "You left your purse in your car? Here?" Eddie questioned her. She just shrugged.
"I was a little upset..." She mumbled as she buckled herself in. Eddie nodded after giving her a sympathetic smile.
Having left the radio on, "Take On Me" filled the small enclosed space as soon as Eddie started the van. Kat froze, eyes growing as wide as they possibly could given the circumstances. She avoided eye contact as if her life depended on it. Eddie reversed out of his home's parking area with a shrewd smile on his face. "Don't feel like serenading me tonight?" He quickly glanced at her, loving seeing her usual composure break as she couldn't hide how flustered she was.
"Uh... I– I–" Kat stammered as she frantically looked around trying to focus on anything else. Eddie let out a boisterous laugh. "Don't laugh at me!"
"Kat, everyone does stupid shit when they're drunk. It's okay." He said as he tried to multitask between driving and getting a cigarette. "Shit." He mumbled as he had to swerve to straighten out the van. Kat reached over and grabbed the pack, taking out two cigarettes, putting them both in her mouth. She took the lighter from his hand and then lit both of them, handing one to him.
"We...we're still friends right? You promised me..." She barely spoke above a whisper. His look questioned if she was serious.
"You're questioning if we're still friends, because of last night, and not because you just revealed to me you have magic powers?"
"Well, yeah. No. I mean– I'm questioning all of it. I still don't...ugh, look. You're my best friend, okay? I don't wanna ruin that by being a freak or by being an idiot."
"Sorceress," Eddie corrected. "Don't call yourself a freak. I don't like that. You're a sorceress. Not a freak." Verbatim he repeated Kat's words to her from last night. "I told you. You have my word. I'm not going anywhere."
Kat was about to respond, when "Holding Out For A Hero" started playing on the radio. Eddie, giving her an impish look, said "Come on...you know you want to..." And just like that, they were belting out the song they had a newfound fondness for.
"Okay so what are you getting?" Eddie asked when they were the next car in line at the drive-thru.
"Beef burrito with a Dr. Pepper, two of the Cinnamon Crispas, and... a Taco Bell Grande." Kat said, fishing through her purse.
"You? You can eat all of them?"
Kat pursed her mouth into a flat line, handing him a credit card. "I'm stoned and I crushed five cans today with my mind. Yes, I can eat all that."
Eddie laughed and shook his head, before he noticed the card. "What's that for?"
"Take it. I'm buying."
"Why?"
"Because I can. Jesus Christ, let me do something nice for you. You give me weed, I buy you food." She said, shoving the card into his hand.
"Alright! Alright! Fine."
After they had their food in hand, Eddie parked under a parking lot light. He had gotten himself a BellBeefer, grande taco without tomatoes, and a Mountain Dew. He fully intended on stealing some of Kat's Crispas. With a burrito in one hand, Kat switched the radio to play the local rock station. Midway through their dinner, or rather Kat's second dinner, "Into the Fire" by Dokken started playing.
"Oh my god, did you know after every Dokken show, me and my friends would go get Taco Bell? It was like a ritual." Kat smiled at the memory. "Do you know how excited I am for their new album?"
"Very?" Eddie said just after taking a bite of his taco.
"It's literally my only plan for my birthday. Or well, the day after. Like, I don't even care. I'm not going to school on the 19th, I'm just gonna go get that record. That's all I want."
"If that's what you wanna do. But you have to do something on your actual birthday."
"It's still a couple weeks away. And it's on a Monday, which is bogus."
"We'll think of something to do for you."
"We?"
"It's a Monday. We, as in Hellfire, can have a special meeting. Don't even try to shoot it down, something will be done for you, princess."
"But–"
"What did I say?" He shot her a look, his tone becoming stern.
"Don't shoot it down.." Kat mumbled.
"And?"
"You're gonna do something," she repeated reluctantly.
"Yes. Good girl." Kat brought up them being only friends out of sheer panic of the progression of their relationship. It was hard for her to not distance herself and run away the closer they became. Those words of praise from him, though? She thought her heart was gonna burst out of her chest. Taken off guard, she almost choked on a Crispas. As she grabbed her Dr. Pepper, Eddie smirked at her, fully knowing she would warm up to him in time and also knowing the effect his words of praise had on her. "Oh, these seem to be quite dangerous for the fair maiden. Something must be done to save her from a perilous doom." He said coyly, reaching over and stealing the last of her dessert, before he patted her leg, dragging his fingers across her thigh as he took his hand back.
"Jesus Christ." She said breathlessly. Eddie just laughed as he fully started the van back up.