I was leaned back into Eddie's chest, grinning at all his nerds chattering on about the campaign he had set up. Eddie kissed the back of my head and readjusted me in his arms, leaning further back into his throne. I hummed happily as he started playing with my hair.
"You've got, like, four days to convince a girl to like you," Mike said, throwing a wadded-up piece of paper across the table at Gareth. Jeff cackled and punched Gareth's shoulder.
"How is it that Munson has a date to the dance, and you don't?" Jeff teased. Everyone laughed and Eddie squeezed me closer to him.
"Correction – she's my girlfriend," Eddie pointed out, his tone smug. I smiled and looked up at him. He was smirking at the group, proud of himself. He looked down at me and winked before kissing my forehead.
"Do you know what you're going to wear, Margot?" Dustin asked sweetly. I smiled weakly.
"I'm not sure," I answered meekly. I felt Eddie stiffen behind me.
"You haven't gotten a dress yet? How will I know how to match?" Eddie exclaimed, almost hysterical. I sighed and felt my face flush.
"I just haven't really made the time," I admitted. I looked up at Eddie, hoping he would understand my code.
I had avoided my friends for the last week or so. It was much easier than I thought it would be – I spent most of my time with Eddie or Hellfire. Lunch was easy and spent sneaking off with Eddie to different classrooms or the woods behind the school to trade kisses and spend time with each other (sometimes we would sneak off to his van to do a little more – Eddie was particularly fond of these excursions). Chrissy had tried to talk to me several times, but I had successfully evaded her. Eddie had managed to keep Jason away from me by walking me to every class, and I made sure to stay glued to his side.
We were still the focus of everyone in school – our decision to turn inward and be with each other most of the time had made our relationship even more mysterious and bewildering to people. Eddie was now regarded with a cool respect from people, something that he had never experienced before. He always managed to play it cool until we were alone, and he could fully geek out.
Eddie sighed and nodded before kissing my forehead. I looked back at the group and smiled.
"We can take you now," Dustin offered sweetly. I laughed and shook my head.
"You're sweet," I replied. However, Lucas was nodding excitedly.
"Yeah! We can go now, and you can get something! And then we make Eddie get a tie!" Lucas exclaimed. I laughed and was sure they were joking. I looked up at Eddie and saw his face – it was excited. I furrowed my brows.
"You aren't serious," I said. Eddie shrugged.
"You need a dress – and these boys could use a social outing," he offered. I watched him for a beat. He winked at me before kissing my cheek softly. I melted and decided to throw any hang ups out the window. I turned to the dorks, smiling at them.
"Alright, boys – you promise not to be too hard on me? I don't always have the best style," I teased. Mike scoffed and rolled his eyes.
"As if. Eddie has talked about your skirts for as long as I've known him—"
"That's enough, Wheeler!" Eddie nearly shrieked. I laughed and looked back up at him. He was bright red and nervous, one of my favorite versions of Eddie.
"Well, at least I know someone likes my style," I said quietly. Eddie buried his face in the back of my neck, trying to hide from me.
This was worth it. I don't even know why I had tried so hard to become New Margot when just Margot was what Eddie wanted. And loved.
Eddie kissed my neck softly and squeezed me.
"Alright, boys – let's get going!" he announced, standing up and helping me up.
The boys were excited all over again, chattering on and on about what they wanted to do at the mall. I pulled my bag over my shoulder and paused once I felt Eddie's hand on the small of my back. I looked up at him, my heart pounding at how close he got to my face. He pressed his lips to my ear, and I felt the hair on my body stand on edge.
"I promise I wasn't that weird about your skirts," he whispered. He pulled back, bright red and bumbling. I grinned at him.
"Sounds like they came up quite a bit," I teased. He cleared his throat.
"I, uh, I mean, I m-may have mentioned them a c-couple times," he stammered. I laughed and kissed him quickly. He smiled nervously.
"It's okay – I know you were obsessed with me," I quipped, poking his nose. His smile grew.
"'Were'? Still am, princess," he whispered, leaning close to my face. I felt my stomach flip and keened into his touch as he kissed me.
"Oh, my god – quit sucking face for, like, five minutes!" Dustin ordered.
I laughed and Eddie took my hand, leading me out of the Hellfire room. The boys were all around us – Gareth and Jeff poking fun at Eddie, the younger boys talking about the games they wanted to play at the arcade. Eddie snaked a hand around my waist and pulling me close to him. I smiled as he kissed my temple and leaned farther into him.
I felt my stomach drop when I saw Jason come from the athletics hall, Chrissy under his arm like I was with Eddie. I looked away when he glanced at me, and Eddie pulled me closer. I looked up at him and smiled, happy that he was able to read my thoughts. He kissed my forehead softly. I glanced over at my friends and saw that Chrissy was watching me sadly. I stared ahead, refusing to give in.
We got out to the parking lot, and the younger boys begged to ride with Eddie and I. Eddie wanted to say no, but I convinced him to let them come with us. Eddie helped me into Shelob, but before he closed the door, he looked me square in the eyes.
"You can't let these nerds change your opinion of me," he said lowly. I laughed and set a hand on the side of his face, tracing his cheek with my thumb.
"If anything would change my opinion of you, it would have been how creepy you apparently were about my skirts," I teased. He turned red and pressed his forehead to mine. I grinned and kissed him quickly, prompting him to get in on his side. He groaned and closed my door, trotting over to his side. He got in and closed his door, taking my hand before starting Shelob up. I smiled at him, content in his van, holding his hand, and listening to his nerds gabbing on and on.
---
I still wasn't comfortable bringing Margot around Hellfire – they managed to be so dorky in front of her, sharing things they shouldn't share with her and embarrassing me non-stop. Margot didn't care – she never did. She would laugh her perfect laugh and then look at me, her eyes crinkled and gaze sweet and smile at me, insisting that whatever horribly embarrassing thing they had told her was actually very cute and endearing.
But I could tell she enjoyed being around them and that they had filled a gap in her life that her friends once filled. I could tell how much more relaxed around them. She often gave them her real smile, the one that only the real Margot gave. I was initially jealous – I loved when I knew I was the only one who earned her real smile – but learned to accept sharing it with my dorks. So, because of this, I sacrificed my ego to make sure she was happy.
"Why is there a mattress back here?" Dustin asked, leaning over the back of the seat. I looked at Margot and smiled when she turned red.
"We use it when we go to the drive in," I answered, kissing her knuckles. She smiled bashfully at me.
"I want to go to the drive-in," Mike whined. I winked at Margot.
"You're not old enough to see the movies we see," I teased, making Margot squeak with embarrassment. I smiled and squeezed her hand, turning into the mall parking lot and pulling into a spot. The boys were getting rowdier, practically falling out of Shelob, and I went to Margot's side to help her out.
"What color dress do you think you're going to get, Margot?" Dustin asked as she got out of the van. She took my hand and grinned at him – I could tell that Dustin was her favorite of the group, even though she was kind to all of them. She shrugged, leaning into me.
"I'm not sure – I like purple, or green, or red," she answered. I felt my mouth dry at the thought of Margot Patterson in red. Mike pointed at me and nudged Lucas.
"I guess we know what Eddie's vote is for," he teased. I felt my face flush and swiped his ankles with one of my boots, almost making him trip. The attention was suddenly focused to him and not me, and I was relieved. I looked down at Margot, wincing as she looked at me disapprovingly.
"You need to relax," she insisted, elbowing my side. I smiled nervously and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pressing my lips to the top of her head. I was still so nervous that she was going to suddenly come to her senses and remember who she was. That she would go back to her friends and blame our relationship on a psychotic break she had.
"Oh, my god they're doing a re-release of Flight of the Navigator!" she exclaimed, pointing to the poster outside of the movie theatre that was part of the mall. I grinned and pulled her closer.
As soon as I would get so nervous about her suddenly wising up, she would do something to remind me what a nerd she was.
We got into the mall and the boys were practically feral, acting like banshees and cackling. I was trying not to get overly parental, stopping myself from telling them to calm down. Margot wrapped an arm around my waist, and I calmed at her touch, grinning as she set her head on my shoulder.
Margot was leading the way, walking us towards the fancy dress shop I had often walked by. We all came in, and I was aggressively aware of how out of place me and my friends were. I cleared my throat and felt vulnerable as soon as Margot dropped my hand to sort through the dresses. The boys scattering, each of them committed to finding something for Margot.
I, on the other hand, felt incredibly out of place, and settled on stuffing my fists in my pockets and following Margot around like the stray puppy she always insisted I wasn't. I watched her as she wrinkled her nose at different dresses, making me smile as she held up different dresses. She looked up at me, bashfully holding up a red dress, asking for my opinion. My eyes widened and I nodded excitedly. She grinned and put it over her arm, adding it to her stack of dresses to try on.
"Can I help you find anything?"
I looked over and a pretty blonde lady was walking over to us, trying to understand our dynamic. I smiled nervously and glanced at Margot as she tossed her hair over her shoulders.
"Just getting my dress for our dance that's coming up," Margot answered as she leaned into me, making my heart pound. The woman smiled, surprised that Margot was going to be my date. She clasped her hands together.
"Well, that's so exciting! You're cutting it close to the dance, though, young lady," the woman admonished, making Margot laugh.
"That's what my boyfriend was saying – he's the one who dragged me here," Margot replied, looking up at me. I felt my heart skip and smiled tightly at her. The woman held her hands out.
"Let me get a dressing room started for you—"
"Make sure you include this one!" Dustin exclaimed, running over with a dress in his hand. Margot's eyes widened as he handed the shop girl a pile of lavender tulle. He turned to Margot, beaming at her. "You said you like purple!"
"Oh...I did, that's right," Margot stammered.
"I think that's the first one you should try on," I announced. Margot turned to me, her eyes flashing. I grinned and winked at her, making her smile. She cleared her throat and turned back to Dustin.
"Thanks, buddy – I appreciate you finding it!"
"It was a group effort!" Lucas interjected. She smiled – I wanted to laugh when I noticed it wasn't her real smile. The woman gestured for Margot to follow her, and they walked off towards a fitting room. Margot looked over her shoulder at me, making my heart stop with a wink and she waved her hand for me to follow as well. I floated behind her, plopping into a chair in front of the fitting room.
I bounced my knee as I waited, tuning out the sound of the boys screeching around the store. I rubbed my face, trying not to imagine Margot changing.
"Oh...my god," Margot said from the changing room. I hopped up, walking to the door. I knocked softly.
"You okay, Go?"
"Eddie...it's terrible," she said, shocked. I grinned.
"Now I have to see," I insisted.
"No!" she said too quickly. I laughed.
"Come on, princess!" I begged, knocking again. She groaned and I heard her shuffle to the door. I stepped back as she opened it, trying not to burst out in laughter.
She stood in front of me, bright red and in a fluffy, long lavender dress. The shoulders of her sleeves were huge and puffy, full of sparkles and tulle. I smiled at her, my heart skipping at how bashful she was.
"I love Dustin, but this...this is a choice," she said, gesturing at herself. I grinned at her, fluffing one of her shoulders.
"I don't know – I think you look like a princess," I teased. She glared at me.
"You're a menace," she replied before trying to close the door. I set my hand against it, preventing her from shutting it. I smirked and leaned close to her face, giddy when I saw how red she got.
"Need help changing into your next dress?" I flirted. My smile grew as she turned a deeper shade of red.
"Y-you are s-such," she stammered. I got closer to her face, our noses brushing.
"A menace?" I replied. She groaned and rolled her eyes, successfully shutting the door.
---
I tried to calm my racing heart, still coming down from the way Eddie always managed to make me feel when he flirted with me. I fanned my face with my hands, trying to calm down. I started taking the purple monstrosity off me, trying not to wince at the sparkles that were shedding from it. I turned to the red dress that had made Eddie turn red in the store, eager to try it on. I quickly shimmied into it, smoothing it out before looking in the mirror. I grinned. I cleared my throat.
"Shoot, Eddie – I'm having trouble with a button. Can you come help me?" I lied. I heard him get back up from the chair, tromping over to the door. I waited for him to knock before opening the door.
He was grinning, but his face turned to shock when he saw what I was now wearing. Before I could say anything, he shut the door behind him, trapping us in the small room together. He had his hands around me in an instant, pressing me gently to the wall and kissing me deeply. He started moving down my neck and I laced my fingers in his hair, grinning.
"I guess you like this one?" I teased.
"I never want you to take it off," he replied quickly, nipping at my neck. My smile grew.
"Never?" I joked.
"You know what I mean," he grumbled, coming back to my lips. I pulled back and smiled at him, brushing his curls out of his face. He grinned back at me and kissed my nose.
"I think this might be the one," I said, gesturing at the dress. He nodded excitedly.
"I agree, princess," he answered, kissing me softly. He winked at me and pressed his forehead to mine. "And, just so you know, I look great in red."
I smiled at him, and he kissed me again, getting caught up in one another.