PROM QUEEN, eddie munson

THE SORROWFUL SOLUTION

EDDIE MUNSON FELT LIKE HE'D BEEN camping by his telephone since he'd given the number to Sophie Harrington. The phone forever remained silent and still, no call, not even one. He knew it was a long shot. He would have to try even harder than he already was to pull Sophie from the world of social hierarchy and popularity.

She was so accustomed to it, she'd been brainwashed since Freshman year. He couldn't blame her for being scared to contact him. The only thing that kept Eddie happy was the fact that he could see that she didn't completely despise his company.

Eddie missed Sophie, he really did. He missed the intricacies of their friendship, he missed knowing her every single thought and how she felt at every given moment. They used to feel comfortable enough with each other to discuss those things. Eddie didn't believe in soulmates, but when he was twelve he used to believe that in some way their souls must've been intertwined.

He sat at the bench in the forest behind school, just thinking to himself. He questioned why he even wanted to know the Harrington girl again. She'd left their friendship without a goodbye, deserted it and basically designed its breakdown. She let those stupid jocks and prissy cheerleaders get to her. Get to them.

Eddie would often get angry at her in his head, but he never showed it, because no matter how much he hated her from his fifteen year-old point of view when he was confused and frustrated with the little care she put into their friendship, he would remember the truth.

He would remember that it wasn't just her that pulled away, he did too.

Eddie saw her become surrounded by people he didn't like and ultimately that ruined them. He saw her willingness to express her real self fade and he ran from her.

"Munson?" He nearly jumped at the gentle voice, it came from the very person he had been thinking of. Sophie Harrington stood infront of the bench, hair in a neat ponytail and cheer uniform covering her body. "What are you doing here? Getting stoned?"

He snorted with amusement, but he wasn't really feeling it, "always."

Her eyes shifted and she took a seat across from him. She peered at him through watered, blue eyes that looked close to gushing. "Are you okay?"

He very quickly became concerned just by simply looking at the crease in her eyebrows. Her eyes were dull, more grey than blue the longer he looked into them. Her lips were downturned, quivering with an emotion that he hadn't placed yet. "Yeah...are you?"

"I'm sorry," Sophie's voice cracked, her eyes darted all over the place. She couldn't look at him, she just couldn't.

Eddie could place the emotion now, he welcomed the guilt that radiated off her, absorbing some of it himself. "Why?"

"Just listen," she pleaded, "don't talk." Sophie gazed at her hands, heart breaking more than her cracked voice. "I'm sorry for everything," she started, "I'm sorry that I stopped being your friend, that I cared more about what people thought instead of caring about you." Sophie took a breath, "I was selfish and insecure and-"

"Sophie, it's okay," he told her softly. He didn't want to hear it if it was hurting her so much.

"No, let me finish," she replied, reiterating, "I was selfish and insecure and it cost me you," she chuckled amidst her sadness, "it cost me you."

His brown eyes were filled with adoration for the girl facing him. It felt like his heart was being swallowed whole, hearing everything it needed to hear in order to start beating properly again.

"I just...we could've had years of playing D&D and messing up your uncle's trailer," Sophie sighed, "I could've actually enjoyed my time in this shitty place," she was referring to the school. "I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry so that when I tell you," she cleared her throat, eyes welling up again. "When I tell you that it's too late, you won't completely hate me."