Chapter Text
It was Eddie's first day at Home High School. He held his books in his arms, the heavy backpack over his shoulders weighing him down, straps digging into his shoulders. He had had that backpack since he was in sixth grade, and the bag had countless patches where his mother would sew it back together if it ripped. He had been asking her for a new bag for a while, but she argued that it was better to just fix up the bag instead of getting a new one. Less wasteful, according to her.
As he walked through the gates, he saw heads turning to look at him. His eyes darted to look at all the students, feeling small in their eyes. His shoulders hitched as he walked, fumbling over his untied laces and falling flat on his face. Many students looked worried and surprised, some awkwardly shuffling away, and others stifling giggles. Eddie felt his face heat up as he tied his laces and stood up, immediately feeling the weight on his back drop as the sound of his pencil case and lunch hitting the floor echoed through the hallway. He just stood there, wishing the earth would just swallow him up. Not even five minutes into the school year and he had already made a complete fool of himself. Noticing the prominent rip in the bottom of his backpack, he muttered under his breath, the southern twang in his voice not being unheard.
The cherry on top of this terribly embarrassing sundae came in the form of a certain classmate. Candice Cane. The girl meant well, but it really wasn't coming across that way. Eddie sat down in his desk when she had poked his shoulder with her pencil. When he turned around, she opened her mouth, and Eddie just KNEW something dumb was coming.
"I'm Candice, but everyone calls me Candy. What's your name?"
Surprised by the casual conversation, he smiled softly as he responded. "Eddie. Eddie Dear. Nice to meet ya Candy."
"You're from Texas, right?"
He quirked a brow but nodded nonetheless.
"Really? Where in Texas?"
Eddie thought to himself, not knowing where this was going. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as he thought it would be?
"Marfa." He said, and Candy smiled.
"Oh! I've never heard of it! Is it like, a small town?"
Eddie nodded. "Yeah, it's small, but it's real cozy."
He reminisced about his old house back in Marfa, and all the art he got to see. It was pretty different from where he was, in a big city with people he didn't know. He was snapped out of his daze by another comment from Candy.
"Aww! How quaint! I bet you had a nice farm!" She says a little too confidently, and Eddie raises an eyebrow.
"I'm not from a farm- My ma's a mail carrier."
"And what about your dad?" Candy asks, and Eddie sighs, turning his focus back to the whiteboard.
Candy's brow furrowed in apology as she whispered. "Well gosh Eddie, bless your heart."
Eddie's eyes shot open and he turned to a very confused Candy just as the bell rang. After class, he kept trying to ignore the annoying pink puppet trying to offer condolences.
That was when he saw them. They had a locker two or so spaces to the left of him, and were grabbing their science books. Upon hearing something Candy had said yet again, the grey puppet spoke up. "Candice, he's not interested. He's told you numerous times that he just wants to be alone without being bombarded with questions."
Eddie's head was swimming slightly with the wordiness of the defense, and how this other character was able to so eloquently tell someone to kiss their go-to-hell was beyond him. He probably would have just walked away at that point.
Candy seemed surprised and a little intimidated as she walked away.
Eddie extended his hand. "Eddie Dear. And you are?"
The grey puppet smiled slightly as they extended a hand to shake Eddie's. "Frank. Frank Frankly."