Different - An Eddie Munson Story

Chapter 4

Eddie begins the drive home focused on the road. Ila sits in the passenger seat looking down, playing with her backpack strap in silence. Eddie turns to her and notices her anxiety.

"You okay, sweetheart?" he asks, turning to look at her briefly, changing his focus between her and the road. She subtly smiles and blushes at the pet name she's been given, keeping her head down so Eddie won't notice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just feel bad."

"Why is that?"

"I don't know. My friends treat you so badly. I just wish they saw you the way I see you."

"And how do you see me?" Eddie asks with a smirk, fairly certain he already knows the answer but he wants to hear it from her. Ila looks up at him and blushes.

"Sweet, caring, charming. I know you put on a bad boy front at school, but I don't see it at all."

Eddie blushes.

"Yeah, I guess I just do that so people don't think I care. Truth is, it does bother me that people don't accept me the way that I am. All they see is a trailer trash drug dealing devil worshipper. And a geek. I just try to ignore it and pay attention to the things I like and my friends, people that matter."

"Well besides metal music and D&D, what do you like?" Ila asks, trying to dig a little deeper into the sweet boy that is locked inside the persona of a scary outcast.

"Well, for starters, I like horror movies. And honeycomb cereal. I could eat the whole box in one sitting myself," he laughs, looking at Ila, who lets out a small giggle. "And you," Eddie slips out, keeping his gaze on Ila to see how she will react. Her head snaps toward him, locking her eyes with his gorgeous chocolate brown ones.

"Really?" she responds, not breaking eye contact. Eddie pulls the van over and puts it into park.

"Really," he confirms.

"But you barely know me, Eddie. We just truly met each other this morning."

Eddie reaches over and puts his hand on top of hers.

"I know that you are kind. I know you aren't like the other stuck-up cheerleaders and jocks. I know you look at me as a human being. I know you see right through the front I put up. I know all I need to know about you. And it only took one day to tell. You are real."

Ila smiles and looks down at Eddie's hand resting on top of hers. She flips her hand over and intertwines her fingers with his, briefly admiring his rings.

"Well, I like you, too, Eddie."

His lips form into a smile. He lets go of her hand, reaching up and resting his hand on her cheek gently, lightly stroking her face with his thumb. They slowly lean towards each other, closing their eyes, and when their lips were a mere centimeter apart, they are interrupted by a voice coming across Eddie's walkie-talkie.

"Eddie, Eddie, come in, come in."

Eddie sighs in irritation that the moment has been ruined. He picks up his walkie-talkie and pushes the button down.

"Dustin, not now!" he sneers into the walkie, throwing it down on the floor beside him. He and Ila look at each other for a moment in awkward silence. Eddie sits there worrying about when he would get the chance to kiss her again now that her brother interrupted, but quickly dismisses his thoughts and decides to be bold. He leans back in towards Ila, grabbing her face with both hands and slamming their lips together. Ila grabs his forearms in surprise but slowly relaxes once she adjusts to what is happening, kissing him back gently while taking in his scent of aftershave and cigarettes. They pull apart slowly. "Sorry, sweetheart. I couldn't help myself. I had to do it," he smirks, earning a giggle from Ila. There was that pet name again.

"I'm not complaining," she responds, biting her lip which, unbeknownst to her, drives Eddie crazy. He takes her hand and locks eyes with her.

"Spend the evening with me," he pleads. "We can order pizza and watch movies. Have a night in at my place.

"Sounds tempting. Horror movies?"

"Only if you want to. We don't have to watch those if you don't like them."

"I will take any excuse for protective cuddles," Ila smirks, earning a chuckle from Eddie.

"Alright then. Fright night and pizza it is."

"You might want to let Dustin know that I won't be home for the evening so he can let Mom know," Ila says, prompting Eddie to pick up the walkie so he can see what Dustin wanted in the first place. He pushes the button.

"Hey, Henderson. You have impeccable timing. What did you need?"

Static cuts in and Dustin's voice replies.

"Ila isn't home yet, and I hitched a ride with Nancy and Mike. I thought you were giving her a ride. Is everything okay?"

Eddie jokingly rolls his eyes and smiles at Ila.

"Looks like you have a protector," he says to her and then puts the walkie to his mouth to respond to Dustin. "Henderson, everything is fine. We decided to hang out at my place. In fact, she just asked me to tell you so you can let your mother know."

"Hmmm," Dustin responds suspiciously, signaling to Eddie that he knows what is really going on. "So you're making your move, huh?"

Eddie's eyes widen as he turns to Ila, who laughs in the passenger seat.

"Jesus," Eddie spits out embarrassingly, realizing she heard all of that. He fumbles with the walkie to respond quickly. "Bye, you little shit!" he sneers back, abruptly slamming the antenna down and tossing the walkie in the back seat. He just knows Dustin is laughing on the other end of the walkie, proud of his little shenanigan.

"So Dustin already knows, huh?" she questions him with a smile.

"Yeah. He kind of caught me staring at you during your cheer performance today," Eddie responds, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I didn't have a choice, I had to admit it. He told me he approved."

"Aww, how sweet. See! You can't be a bad boy or my little brother would have NEVER let you get close to me," Ila responds.

"Yeah, the little sheep definitely can play matchmaker," Eddie laughs. "Anyway, we should get to my place for our movie night." He puts the van into drive and continues down the road, resting his hand on Ila's thigh. She smiles up at him and places her hand on top of his, and starts daydreaming about how her world was so unexpectedly changed in a matter of one day.