Reality Check - A Huntric/Goldric Based Fic

The Party's not Over (CHP 8)

Learn a little, here and there. Weep and laugh and sweat and swear, hear a song and watch a stage, leave some words upon a page. Though I walk in blinded woe, back to bed I'm bound to go.

-Tv Girl

How the hell was Hunter supposed to deal with a crush? He didn't even know who to talk to about it. Luz would definitely make fun of him and he didn't know anyone else well enough! And he certainly was not going to talk to Edric about it... 

He felt so... warm and fluttery all of a sudden. He felt his cheeks go red ad his palms sweat whenever Edric even brushed against him or came within a few inches of him.  He hated it, he hated it. He hated it. 

And yet, no matter how he expressed the anger of how this whole crushing ordeal made him feel, he relished the rush it brought him everytime.

Edric believed their friendship was going great! 

Hunter was always really ready to help him with whatever he needed. And sometimes a little bit extra. He really enjoyed seeing Hunter try so hard to do the most he could. It made Edric laugh and his heart fluttery.  

It wasn't a crush though, absolutely nothing even close to a crush. 

Nothing about the way Ed loved the way his hair started to come undone by the end of the day, stupid or he got super frustrated when Ed was being absolutely s or the way he plainly insulted him was an obvious sign of him having a crush on Hunter. Absolutely not, it was completely, utterly platonic!

The Annual Mixed Camp dance was planned in a week from now. It happened once a summer and all surrounding camps gathered together for a semi-formal dance held at a different location every year. This year it was at Reality Check. Which meant there would be the local theater camp, band camp, art camp, regular, sports camp, and even the math camp would be coming up and spending the majority of an evening there at the camp along with the troublemaker kids.  What a grand idea.

And of course only Hunter and Edric were available to decorate so that's what they spent nearly the whole week before doing. They decided on orders and decor and even started decorating by the end of the week. It was so incredibly stressful, but it gave Hunter a lot of reasons to be close to Edric and Edric even more reason to smile at Hunter's antics. 

If you asked anyone of the campers about the whole process, they would have called it sweet and gushy, like an old couple dancing at a wedding.. even the occasional bickering was spot on. 

The only two who didn't perceive it as even slightly romantic were... well, Hunter and Edric. Everyone saw the way Hunter looked at Edric's eyes and Edric's lips and they saw the way Edric watched the way Hunter moved and talked. They were perfect for each other, in an incredibly cheesy, Disney-ish kind of way.

A week had passed... the night of the dance had arrived.

Hunter adjusted his jacket on his shoulders and slicked his hair back once more. He pressed the dark grey turtleneck against his chest, checking in the mirror to be sure his binder wasn't showing. He sighed in relief. 

Tonight was the night. He would ask out Edric and possibly ruin everything. Edric could always return his feelings, but he might not. He might reject Hunter, or he might be disgusted at the whole gesture. Or even worse. He might look at him dead in the eyes, awkwardness floating in the air and say two little words Hunter feared. 

"I'M STRAIGHT!"

Hunter was pulled out of his fantasy, peering out the window. 

Edric was standing there with Willow Park, who was attempting to fix his collar. 

"For the last time," he began. "I am straight, Willow! My back cannot straighten anymore until it literally snaps in HALF." 

Hunter sighed in relief; glad the statement wasn't what he believed it meant. But it worried him more. Now he knew what the words sounded like coming out of Edric's mouth. How would he deal with the rejection of the first boy he ever wanted to say yes?

Edric groaned, adjusting his arms. Willow was extraordinary with stylistic looks, especially formal ware. She herself was wearing a flowing silk dress with a tulle petticoat. It bent slightly off the shoulder. It was green and yellow and white and complemented her dark skin and curls perfectly. He noticed this and smiled. Edric had no fashion sense whatsoever. His go-to look was mostly neon Hawaiian autopsy shirts and khaki cargo shorts.  He had no fashion choice and normally Emira, his twin helped him pick out an outfit, but without her he was totally useless. Thank God Willow was like a smaller, younger Emira. 

Hunter walked out the cabin awkwardly, suddenly embarrassed at his outfit choice. Edric smiled and waved him over. Hunter smiled back, walking over. 

He looked at Willow, stuck intently on her work. She was pretty. REALLY pretty. And she was only maybe a year younger than Edric. He tightly clung on the cuff of the jacket, smiling at the two.

 "Ugh, Willow's trying to help me with this stupid formal shirt. Normally, Em helps but she's a four-hour drive away. Thank goodness Willow's so helpful." He laughed and Willow scoffed. 

Edric chuckled along. Hunter couldn't help but feel jealous.

Buses began to show up and kids began to pile off. First, band kids. Then theater and then math. 

The final was the sports camp and their counselor, a girl with long, flowing hair and pearly white teeth. She wore a tight, black dress that complimented her hourglass perfectly. She looked up from her diamond encrusted phone and looked at Edric. Her eyes widen and she began to run over and jumped into his half-open arms. 

"Eddy! Oh, how I've missed you!" She called out in a slightly British accent. She wrapped her arms around him, and Edric weakly returned the gesture. 

"Hi, Veronica..." He mumbled. 

She let go and smiled at Hunter. "Hi, I'm Edric's best friend, Veronica! I hope it's not a big deal I crashed." She smiled back at Edric and quickly took his hand into her two, perfectly manicured hands. "Edric!! You should be my date to this little shindig!"

"Oh? Yeah of course, Veronica... I'd love to be your date." He answered politely, yet hesitantly and incredibly unwillingly.

Hunter watched the interaction as his heart dropped and face paled. This wasn't supposed to happen at all. Edric was going to be his date; his hand was supposed to be intertwined with Edric's. He watched at the two walk into the venue, hand in hand, as Edric smiled awkwardly as she spoke.  

A tear fell onto his cheek, but he wiped it away and followed the pair in, a second thought compared to whatever they had just begun.

1124 words.