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~x~
Eddie knew he had liked Liza when he first met her. It was a crush on first sight kind of thing. Everything about her drew him in; her smile, the sparkle in her ocean blue eyes, her voice, her style. She was someone he had only seen in day dreams, a fantasy girl who would appear in his dreams at night. When she stood in front of him, Eddie swore his heart was going to beat out of his ribcage. When she laughed he wondered what he would have to do to hear her do it again.
He wouldn't call it love though. How could you love someone off of one conversation based around her asking for a lighter? No it was only a crush, the kind that filled your every waking day with thoughts of the person and made you want to do anything just to have them around. Liza was a crush that would ultimately go away in a month's time because it was highschool and you rarely liked one person for long.
Weeks had gone by since the day Eddie had met Liza and she was everywhere he looked. He would see her in the halls, passing by and smiling at him before her face fell back to its cold mask. He saw her in the cafeteria, waving at him from where she sat alone or rolling her eyes when the jocks or popular kids were louder than they needed to be. Every time he wanted to talk to her but his nerves got in the way, he would clam up and all he could do was smile or wave or laugh.
After a month of silent communication he finally was able to break the ice with a joint at a secluded picnic table behind Hawkins High. Liza had been there when Eddie showed up, she seemed shocked to be found and went to leave but Eddie had offered to split the joint and Liza sat back down. He figured this was his chance to try and gauge if he could at the very least gain a friendship with the girl. It helped that the weed had wiped away any nerves he had previously.
However it seemed that Liza wasn't going to be anything other than an acquaintance. She danced around questions that were too personal in her opinion, gave only short answers to ones that didn't involve too much detail and tried to keep the conversation limited to small talk. Eddie couldn't blame her though, from what he could tell the girl didn't have any friends and seemed content in that decision. He was lucky to get what he got so he floated on a high of her laughter and her putting her hand on his arm as she said goodbye.
The school year went by at a sluggish pace, days stretching out to feel longer than they actually were. Eddie found his only bright spots were the Hellfire club and the rare days where he and Liza would share a joint or smoke at the picnic table. She had continued to keep him at an arm's length, only talking to him about school or his friends. Sometimes they would sit in silence, Eddie was happy to spend even just the smallest of time with her so he was more than fine with not talking if she didn't feel like speaking.
The last day before summer vacation rolled around Eddie slipped a joint and a note that read 'in case you miss our secret rendezvous' into Liza's locker, hoping she would see it and smile. He saw her leave at the end of the day, shoving her cigarette pack into her bag and the note in her pocket, her lips tugging up slightly and Eddie felt like he was king of the world.
