Act II

Jonnys Oddysey  |  Mac Demarco

Eddie awoke with the blaring sound of his alarm clock. 8:00.

He had gotten a generous amount of sleep that night, mostly because he hadn't received the same from the night before (too busy procrastinating a due assignment). So last night he was relieved, to say the least, to plop onto his bed and sink into slumber after a shower.

He now suddenly cursed at his past self for being smart enough to move the alarm further away from the bed so he'd be forced to get up.

Eddie glared at the noisy machine, and threw a shoe at it. When it stopped, he sighed in relief and closed his eyes for a second more, till it abruptly resumed its obnoxious noise.

Eddie groaned and painfully decided it'd be best to get to school early today. Bill announced yesterday that he'd be introducing him and Ben to his new friend and his friend's friends. Not too difficult to grasp, the idea, but nevertheless Eddies mind swarmed with worry.

It was something only Eddie being himself could thoroughly do and hurt himself with. Worrying. One of his useless super-abilities. Meeting new people, attempting friendships with new people. God, the sound of it made his stomach squirm uncomfortably.

Eddie sat up and went to his alarm clock, snoozing it rather aggressively and proceeding to get ready for the day.

He picked out some clothes, a baggy blue sweater with a white collared shirt under, then some khaki shorts and his usual shoes and socks. This has to have been the thousandth time in a row that he's worn a baggy sweater to school. No surprise today.

Eddie wasn't much of a morning person, and breakfast wasn't really his favourite meal. He'd ignore it if he could, but he's heard from his mother that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. He's strict on himself when it comes to health and safety precautions. Mostly his mother nagging in his own head.

The best he felt he could do this morning was take an apple to eat on the way to school. He snatched one from the fruit bowl in the kitchen on his way to the front door, hollering a goodbye to his mother who was very much likely still sleeping. He slipped out, shut the door and locked it.

His bike was a rusty old thing. It was quite frankly much too big for him when he'd used it all through middle school, but he's grown into it these past few years. It's pretty much the only thing his mother allows him to do that is breaking the Kaspbrak safety rules. No helmet or safety gear needed, thank god, after he suffered through the embarrassment of years of school showing up with knee pads and a huge helmet. Adapting and compromising with his mom was the best decision of his life. She knows he's safe now.

He lifts the bike from its handlebars out from the bushes and mounts the seat as he begins riding off onto the street.

It doesn't take long for him to round a corner and see the sign leading out of his neighbourhood. He gains more momentum as he zips past the exit, finding is way to the real road and feeling the wind in his disheveled hair.

That was another thing Eddie had found to be against his mothers orders. His bleached hair; It was something Eddie had impulsively done on his own a few months ago, when he and his mother, Sonia, broke into a full on argument after she discovered he had been flushing his pills. Shouts rang across the kitchen at one another for minutes on end, surely loud enough for neighbours to hear, and once he had had enough, he stormed up the hall to his room with a slam of the door.

In a rushing fit of anger, bottled up inside and unsure of what to do with it, he was reminded of the bleaching kit from long before that he was sure had gone expired. But Eddie was so fuelled with adrenaline and the need to act out that he put it all in, following instructions on a piece of paper, and his mother banging and shouting at his door. "Eddie bear, don't you dare do it! Your hair will fall out! It can cause cancer!!". He ignored it.

It didn't take long for her to stop with the ruckus... for him to wash it all out and find his reflection gaping at himself, wide eyed and a radical sense of rebelliousness feeling it's way into him. He liked his hair. And he liked this new feeling.

Though, the next day, the two found each other apologizing. His mother admitted to giving him placebos, and that she now wouldn't pressure it as much, as long as he continues taking the truly necessary ones (which frankly Eddie wasn't sure if they were real either, but was so relieved to find that they weren't fighting anymore that he left it alone and compromised nevertheless). Then Eddie admitted that it was dumb of him to go all out and do this to his hair, and that he'd never do such a thing ever again (even though he was chewing at the inside of his cheek the whole time and not believing a word he spoke).

By now, back to present time, Eddie has already had one haircut and his natural roots show just a bit. His hair now shines white in the sunlight, but he still thinks that it's sick as fuck and doesn't regret a moment of it.

Of course, he realizes that he still isn't all that rebellious after all. Doesn't have the balls for it is all he knows. He still sits with the posture he was taught, still goes through a daily routine arranged by his mom, and still has the polite mannerisms he'd lived with his whole life. Those weren't just things he could get rid of, not that he'd want to try.

So lost in his own thoughts, Eddie hadn't realized he was already pulling up to Derry High. Mental autopilot mode while on his bike tended to to become a handy trick indeed.

He walked his bike to the secluded alley he usually hid it in during school days, dropped it off, then whistled on his way to the library.

It was their usual morning spot, for Bill and Ben and Him. Nearly every day, before the bell rang, they'd clamber into the library and shut themselves away together in the corner, where the comfy chairs and coffee table resides and where the long bookshelves hid them from anyone else. Whether it's finishing up homework or chatting their heads off, this was the place to go. And by the time Eddie had arrived, Ben and Bill were already there, waving him over happily.

"What's up, nerd!" Ben smirked, high-fiving Eddie as he made his way into his usual chair beside Bill.

"Speak for yourself" Eddie shot back, glaring down at Ben for half a second with a jokingly intense stare.

"Hey Ed-Eddie" Bill smiled. "You're earlier than usual" he said in his normal soft tone, one which never failed to make anyone within earshot feel at ease somehow.

"I'll take that as a compliment, thank you" Eddie smiles back, sitting down and placing his backpack onto his lap. "So what's up? You guys study for the new science unit? God it's so fucking confusing, I didn't understand at all".

"Today I'm ih-introducing you guys to muh- muh- my friend from art class" Bill replied, ignoring the subject. Eddie forgot that that was the reason he actually got up this morning. He fought a smile onto his face as he felt the anxiety set in again. New people.

"We'll come s- straight here during lunch, cool?" Bill raised his eyebrows at the two of them, seeing Ben nod curtly with a smile. Eddie nodded too, a second later, brushing away his worries for it.

It'll be fine, Eddie thinks. It'll be more than fine. In fact, it'll be so fine that the second the other party's eyes meet ours, we'll become an immediately huge group of good friends. That's how fine it's going to be.

————

Eddie suffered through his first period class glumly, in which he was good at, but always hated nevertheless. It didn't take long for him to get all jittery for the bell to finally ring so he could leap out of his seat and race to the next one. He hadn't even thought of what was to come next.

As he made his way around the halls, he was unsure as to why all of a sudden he felt his stomach flip and sink down. His mind was slowly piecing the puzzle back together. His feet led him to the black box, where just outside, leaning on the wall with a wry, sadistic smirk, was his worst nightmare.

The bell rang.

"Hey, you" Richie said, arms crossed over his chest, eyeing Eddie up and down. The halls emptied out, and now it was just them. Eddie rolled his eyes, sighed loud and hard for Richie to hear, as though to say 'oh god here we go'.

it's short, but here's an insight chapter into what eddies everyday life is like. rip to eddie lmao. gbye :)

love and light - author