Chapter Text
“Miss Cunningham, so good of you to finally join us.”
Chrissy comes to an abrupt halt in the doorway of the classroom, taking a minute to catch her breath while her teacher announces her tardiness to the rest of the class. “Sorry, Mr. Phillips.” Chrissy smiles innocently, her hands gripping tighter around the books she’s hugging to her chest. “I uh, I had a tough time getting out of bed this morning. It won’t happen again.”
The smug, balding man standing in front of the blackboard gives her a disapproving once-over before nodding his head in the direction of her seat.
Chrissy thanks him quietly and then walks quickly toward the only empty seat in the classroom. She wouldn’t normally choose to sit so far away since she’s been having trouble seeing but it was the only seat left. Especially since Mimi Jackson had decided to take Chrissy’s usual spot next to Jason.
Dropping down into the seat, Chrissy closes her eyes and lets out a tired sigh.
“Chrissy!” Mr. Phillips's booming voice startles Chrissy back to the present. “Since you think it fitting to not only show up late to my class but to take a nap as well, I think it’s only fitting of me to assign your partner for the midterm.”
Chrissy sits up straighter. “But you said we’d get to pick! Jason and I have already—“
“Well then,” Mr. Phillips cuts her off with a snarl. “That is very unfortunate for Mr. Carver, now isn’t it?”
Chrissy can’t even believe this! She looks over at Jason, only a few desks away from her, for support but he just shrugs his shoulders and turns back around.
“So, Miss Cunningham,” Mr. Phillips says, leaning back against his desk, his arms folded across his chest. “If you turn to your right, I think that you’ll find your new partner for the next six to ten weeks.”
He smiles smugly at her, almost like he’s proud of being an ass, and when Chrissy turns to the right, she finds an older boy staring at her with a questioning look. As soon as she feels the tears spring to her eyes, she notices his face soften and a small smile replaces the scowl on his lips. He glances up at the front of the classroom and once Mr. Phillips turns away from them, he turns back to her.
He leans forward with a smile. “I’m Eddie. Sorry, you got stuck with me.”
Eddie's warm smile seems to ease some of her anxiety and soon she’s smiling right back.
“I’m Chrissy.”
Eddie’s smile grows and he laughs quietly. “Yeah, I uh, I know who you are, Chrissy. We’ve been going to school together since we were twelve.”
Chrissy tilts her head as she looks at Eddie, trying hard to place his face but coming up empty. How does she not remember him?
“Don’t worry.” Eddie shakes his head. “I don’t expect you to remember me. It was a long time ago.”
The look on his face though, as he sits back and turns his attention to the developing discussion at the front of the classroom, makes her believe that maybe she should worry. She wants to ask if he’s alright because that feels like the right thing to do, but she doesn’t get the chance. Before she knows what’s happening, Mr. Phillips is dividing them into groups to discuss the weekend's reading and Eddie is scooting closer to the girl in the seat in front of him.
Chrissy isn’t sure how it got to this point, but now here she is. Eddie Munson is standing on her porch with his bag slung over his shoulder and his English books tucked under one arm. She looks him up and down, not really sure what to think, but after he clears his throat, she realizes that she’s yet to actually say anything.
“How did you know where I live?”
The look on his face tells her that was definitely not the response he was expecting.
“Sorry, that uh, that came out way harsher than I meant it to,” Chrissy stumbles through an apology, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear and dropping her gaze to his boots.
Eddie chuckles. “It’s fine, Chrissy. Like I said, we’ve known each other since we were like twelve. I think everyone in 7th grade knows where you live. You had that birthday party here with the face painting and the juggler and all that other carnival shit.”
The carnival. She barely remembers that party and it was thrown for her. How does he remember?
“Right.” Chrissy laughs a little at the memory. “The carnival. That was when I got my first set of Pom Poms.”
“Purple, Gold, and Silver,” Eddie says matter of factly. “I remember because your mom was so pissed that you were getting the glitter from them all over your perfect little princess dress.”
Chrissy smiles wider at the memory. “Yeah, that’s uh…that’s right. I don’t even…how do you remember all of that? I barely remember any of it and it was my party.”
Eddie’s smile falls and he shuffles his feet back and forth against the welcome mat. “I guess I just have a good memory is all.”
His response has her own smile falling but before she can think about it too much, she hears her mother calling from somewhere inside the house.
“Chrissy, who’s at the door?”
She looks over her shoulder and then back at Eddie.
“Can you give me just a second? I’ve gotta let my mom know where we’re going.”
Eddie nods. “Yeah. I’ll just wait here.”
Chrissy smiles at him and then shuts the door as she makes her way back inside and into the living room. Her mother is sitting at the sewing machine set up in the far corner of the room next to the television. Chrissy clears her throat and waits for her mother to take her foot off the peddle before speaking.
“It’s just a friend from school. We’re gonna go to the library to work on an assignment for school. I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”
“Christine,” her mother warns in that accusatory tone that Chrissy hates so much.
Chrissy steps forward before her mother can say anything unsavory. “Momma, it’s just a school assignment, okay? I promise I won’t be out too late.”
The only response she receives is the sound of the machine starting up again as her mother returns her foot to the peddle. Taking it for what it is, Chrissy turns back towards the front hall and opens the front door. Eddie is waiting patiently on the front steps and offers her a tentative smile when he meets her eyes.
Grabbing her sweater from the hook by the door, Chrissy slips on her tennis shoes and grabs her book bag from where it’s leaning against the side of the couch in the living room. She steps out onto the porch and pulls the door shut behind her.
Chrissy smiles back at him though she’s sure it doesn’t reach her eyes. Conversation’s with her mother tend to have that effect on her.
“You ready?” she asks. “We should get going before it gets too much darker.”
“Uh, I brought my bike.” Eddie gestures to the motorcycle propped up in her driveway.
“We can walk. The library is only a few blocks away.”
She doesn’t give Eddie time to argue and sets off down the block in the direction of the library.
“So, what exactly is this assignment supposed to be about?” Chrissy asks when they reach the front of the library.
Eddie looks at her with a smile and laughs. “You really were not paying attention, were you?”
She shakes her head as he holds open the door for her.
“Well, if I’m remembering correctly, we’re supposed to choose a book that has a strong conflict and resolution. Each of us will pick a side of the conflict and talk about how we think that side is justified. Then I think we talk about the different resolutions that could’ve come out of this.”
Chrissy nods along with his explanation. “Okay, and did you have a book in mind or do we still need to decide?”
“We still need to decide.”
Chrissy leads them over to one of the empty study nooks along the side of the lower level and waves to one of the older librarians as she sets her things down on top of the desk.
The old lady peers over the glasses perched on her nose and smiles sweetly at Chrissy. “Hello, Chrissy dear.”
“Hi, Delores. Is it alright if my friend and I work on an assignment for a little while? I promise we’ll make sure to put everything back when we’re done.”
Delores shakes her head but chuckles under her breath. “Child, you really are going to be the death of me, you know that?”
Eddie watches as Delores fishes a set of keys out of a drawer from the desk in front of her and holds them up.
Chrissy squeals and runs over to the desk to snatch them out of the air. She leans forward and gives Delores a big hug. “Thank you, thank you! I promise that I’ll lock up when we leave. They won’t even know we were here.”
Delores clicks her tongue at Chrissy but just shakes her head and shoos her away with both hands.
Chrissy turns back to Eddie with a massive grin and jingles the keys triumphantly in her hand.
“How in the hell?” Eddie gawks at Chrissy as she makes her way back over to him. “That was very impressive Chrissy Cunningham.”
Laughing, Chrissy tucks the keys away in the back pocket of her jeans and shrugs. “It wasn’t really that impressive. I’ve just been coming here a lot and the ladies trust me to lock up if I stay late. As long as Mr. Murtaugh doesn’t find out, we’ll be okay.”
Eddie drops down onto one of the seats, his bag falling to the floor at his feet. Chrissy tilts her head at him and when he looks up at her, he tilts his head in the same way.
“Why are you sitting down?” Chrissy asks with a chuckle.
Eddie’s brows scrunch together in confusion and he turns in his seat, scanning the rest of the floor. “Am I not supposed to be? We’re working on this assignment, right?”
“Well yeah. But we sort of have to pick a book first, don’t we?”
He nods. “Right. Yeah. We should probably do that first. Lead the way, Chrissy my dear.”
Chrissy ducks her head to hide the blush she feels creeping up on her cheeks but she’s positive that she sees Eddie blush as well before she turns away to lead them up the stairs. This is certainly going to be an interesting experience.