I'm sobbing while writing this. I really needed Eddie's POV because of the set up... Also, sorry it's in first person. It'll be back to normal in the next chapter.
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I tell Dustin to meet me in the bathroom. I'm about to full on cry. "Dustin, what do I do." "You're right, something is wrong." "Whatever it is, it's getting worse. How am I supposed to know if she doesn't tell me!" Then, I do start crying. Dustin has almost never seen me cry. "Oh, Eddie," he goes in to hug me. "I'm sorry, Dustin." "For what?" "You don't need to see me like this." "Eddie, I don't care." He hugs me tighter. "What do I do?" "Go to Max. She's the only one who knows. Until then, support Ellie." "Fuck," I look in the mirror, "I look like a baby." "Eddie, shut up." Dustin laughs. "Come out when you're ready."
I wait in there for a moment. My eyes slowly go back to normal and I come back in. Ellie looks confused and starts rubbing my back. "You ok?" she asks. I stare at her full plate. "Until you answer me, I'm not answering." She looks down and I feel kind of bad.
I sit through the next class and I put my head down and cry. Ellie isn't in this class, so I don't have to worry about her questions. I hate crying, especially at school. I don't want to come off as weak. I just want to curl up in a ball and cry. My next class was a free period, instead of hanging out with Ellie, I tell her I have to go to the office.
"What did you do?" She asks worried. "Nothing, I promise," I start walking to the office. "Hello, Munson," the office lady says, "what'd you do this time." "Nothing, I swear." She gives me an eye, "what are you here for then?" "A family emergency came up, and I need to contact Max Mayfield." "Why? What happened?" she asks. "I was asked to keep it private. Could you send her up here, please?" "Sure, as long as it's quick." I can't believe that worked. Max comes in a few moments later and when she sees me she looks pissed. "Could we discuss this privately?" I ask politely. The lady points to an empty room.
I pull Max into the room, shut to door, and explode. "Max there is something seriously wrong with Ellie." "You didn't notice that before?" "I mean yeah, but it wasn't too bad!" Max just kind of looks at me. "I think it's about her dad," I say looking at the ground. Max's face turns pale. "We can't talk about this here." she says looking up. I look up, it's a camera. "By the way, you don't need to wait for me today, I'm walking home with Mike, Lucas and Dustin." "If they ask, your grandma is in the hospital." Max nods and we walk out of the room.
"Are you ok?" the lady asks. "Yep," Max says, faking a tear, "it's just my grandma." The lady gives her a hug, and I slip out of the room. I race towards to parking lot and hop in the back of my van. "FUCK!" I yelled. I feel hopeless! There's nothing I can do. I sit there for at least thirty minutes, and then I remember I told Ellie I'd pick her up. "Fuck," I race towards the gym, and she's standing outside of the doors.
"Where the fuck were you?" she slaps me. I cover up my red puffy eyes with my hair. "I'm sorry," I make up an excuse, "stuff got in the way." "So your deals are more important than me." "It wasn't a deal!" she rolls her eyes and goes to change. What is wrong with her? She never acts like this.
She comes back out and ignores me. We get in the car and she starts playing with my metal lunchbox. "I want more," she says. There's no reason to say no. "Ok," I answer. When we get home, she follows me into the house and I teach her how to roll it up. She takes a hit and so do I. I pace around the room, waiting for Max to get back.
"I'll be right back, sweetheart," I say and she looks like she's out of it.
Max is outside, waiting for me. "Is she okay?" she asks. "For the most part," I look back into my window, "what happened with her dad." "Eddie," she says almost tearing up, "I'm sorry... I can't tell you. It's not my place. She would be absolutely destroyed if I did." "What am I supposed to do?" I yell, and Max covers my mouth. "Let me finish," she starts crying, "Eddie, I need you to promise me something." I go in to hug her. "Anything," I say gently. "When she does tell you, promise me you will be there for her, don't leave her side. She's going to want destroy herself and everything around her. Promise me, Eddie, promise me she'll be okay, promise me." She's breaking down. "I promise, Max. I swear on my life." "You need to tell her about Chrissy, too." I hug her for a moment and then go sit on my chair outside to calm down.
I'm really fucking mad. I want to break something. I grab a plate from inside and smash it outside. When I'm done outside, I go in my room to find Ellie. She's laying on the floor and she goes to take another hit. "Ellie how many did you take?" She starts counting on her fingers, confused. You take it away from her and put it out. "Hey!" she says sad. "Too many, that's how many." she glares at me and jumps on my bed. She sits up and I lay in between her legs. She starts playing with my hair, which I absolutely love. "Do you play guitar?" she says looking at my guitar. "Yeah," I get up to get it, "what's your favorite song?" "You already asked me, and I said I don't have one." she went back to playing with my hair. "I need to know." "Why?" "It doesn't matter." It brought me closure. Why won't she just tell me? I begin playing 'The Final Countdown' cause I knew she would know it. "You're really good!"
When I finish, I turn off the lights, close my curtain and lay in bed with Ellie. She was exhausted. I wrapped my arms around her waist and went to bed.