I got the idea for this chapter in an 8 hour long car ride. I am exhausted. Anyways...hope you enjoy!
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Several Weeks Later...
Ellie
Max is draped over my bed with her head upside down, staring at me from the other side of the room. I am doing homework/studying. Multitasking. "Are you going to prom?" She blurts out after a solid 10 minutes of silence. "I'm not sure." I ignore her question. "What do you mean?" "I haven't talked it out with Eddie yet." "You have to go! You only get one prom!" "Okay." I pinch the skin on the bridge of my nose. "Ellie!" she shouts. "What do you want me to do?" I shout in annoyance turning around to face her. "Ask him if he wants to go!" Max suggests. "Okay, whatever."
I would tell Max to go back to her room, but she been so bored lately. Her mom is still missing and I don't know whether I should contact the police. What will they do though? Probably put Max into foster care or with her ex step-dad.
I have to pay the rent for the spot that the trailer is sitting on. I learned the hard way how rent works around here. Plus, water and electric bills! On top of that, I have to pay for groceries and basic necessities. I had to learn how to save money properly. I had no help or guidance. I hardly make $3.50 an hour. (Note: Average minimum wage in the 80's is about $3.15)
I hear a knock on the front door and Max goes running to open it. I follow behind her, however walking. She smiles when she sees Eddie. "May I come in?" he asks Max with a massive smile on his face. When he looks at me it looks like he has never seen me before. Like he's amazed all over again. He's dressed up nicely. His hair is brushed and a little damp. Then I see he has flowers in his hand. "Aww," I take them from him. He hugs me. When we break the hug, he kisses me. "Can I take you on a date?" Eddie asks me his hand still on the small of my back. "Of course," I smile. "Max can come too." He leans down and whispers in her ear, she smiles. "Okay," she masks her excitement. Max runs to her room. "What's this all about?" I raise my eyebrows. "Nothing," he smirks.
We walk into my room where he tells me to wear something dressy. I pull my shirt over my head and look in my closet. I grabbed the red dress Eddie bought me when we got home from our trip. Eddie looked up at me and then smirked. "Well, put it on. I wanna see how it fits." I pulled my jeans off and slid the dress over my head. I feel his hands slide around my waist. "I will never forget ripping this off of your body," he whispers in my ear. My head instinctively falls back on his shoulder and he kisses my neck so softly.
When Max knocks on the door me and Eddie are making out on the bed. "Come in," Eddie pulls away. "He's almost here," when she says this he nods. I am so distracted by Eddie that I can hardly put two and two together of who we are waiting on. "Meet me by the car in ten," Eddie nods and Max shuts the door. Eddie crawls back on top of me before kissing my neck.
When Eddie walks me outside, Lucas and Max are waiting by the van doors. "Took you long enough." Lucas snickers. "They're in their honeymoon phase," Max giggles. "We aren't even married." I exclaim. "I know," she smirks. I roll my eyes and she sticks out her tongue. "You're such a child."
I end up sitting in the front. (What a surprise.) Eddie's hand lies between my thighs and I feel the emotions all over again. Do they ever go away?
An hour passes and we end up in front of a weird building. Like really weird. "Eddie where the fuck are we?" It looks like a fast food restaurant mixed with a barber shop, although I can't see inside. It's very...hippie. "Patience." Is all he says. He lets Lucas and Max out of the back. Max is wearing a black dress that is ruffled. Eddie opens the door for me and we step inside to a massive looking building that looks insane. There's books on the walls and a part of a school bus. The ceiling is painted. If you look far enough back, you can see a table that looks like it's made of crayons. The waiters are dressed up as movie characters or cartoon characters. "Wow," I mutter under my breath. "This is the weirdest yet coolest place I've ever been to," Lucas tells Eddie. I cling to Eddie. "Table for four," Eddie tells a waiter who is dressed up like the bad guy from the Goonies. "Really? What am I your servant?" Shit, he sounds just like him. He turns to the other waiters, "should I let them sit?" They shrug. "All right follow me." We follow him down the long hallway past all the tables that are decorated. One like space, another in a circle shape, there's the other piece of the school bus. The entire bus is a table! We end up sitting at one that looks like an acorn. "All right take a look at the menus, I will be back in 7 million years." I sit between Max and Eddie with Lucas across from me. "Wow this place is so cool." Max announces. "I know!" Eddie rubs his hands together under the table, "one of my buddies recommended this place at my job." "I forgot he's working," Max eyes me. I just smile. I'm glad he's trying to be productive. "I enjoy what I'm doing, even if I don't like the work itself I'd rather be useful." Eddie sits back.
I end up letting Eddie split a plate of something of his choosing. Max orders a salad and lasagna. Lucas ordered some sort of chicken. The meals itself aren't gourmet, it's the architecture. "Alright here's your food, would you like a refill of your soda?" The waiter asks me. I nod. He takes my cup as we all dig in. Now, I decide, is the time to pop the question. "Hey Eddie," I shove a spoonful of food in my mouth. "Yes, sweetheart?" He sets his fork down. I chew slowly so I can piece together my words. "What do you think about going to the prom?" Eddie thinks for a moment. "I don't know, the first one I went to was kind of boring." He pauses for a long time, then adds, "then again, I didn't have you." I stay silent, not knowing what to say next. Max eyeballs me, then looks at Eddie. He seems to catch her glare and understands. "Ellie, are you saying you want to go to prom with me?" I open my mouth to speak, however in that instant, I choke on my food. I grab for my neck. I remember my dad used to say 'it went down the wrong pipe', referring to my lungs. This just felt like my breathing, swallowing and thinking were all stopped. I grab Eddie's shoulder as I try to cough it out. Eddie's eyes were full of panic, and I wonder if mine are too. My throat tenses and tries to breathe, but nothing works. Eddie pulls me onto his lap and tries to do the Heimlich maneuver. It wasn't very pretty, and sure felt like he was squeezing all of my organs, but eventually, the piece of food flew out of my mouth and onto the floor. I took a deep breath and greedily stole all the air around me. I look up finally to see that Lucas was gone, and Max was sitting next to me rubbing my arms. I hear mumbling all around me but my thoughts have drowned it all out. Eddie pulls me into his lap and I calm my system. Lucas comes back with a server, and I hear everyone explaining what happened. I'm better now. Let us finish our meal. "Thank you, Eddie," I whisper under my breath. He smiles and says, "you're welcome."
I didn't eat anything else that evening. I sat there at stared at the piece of food that tried to kill me. No one cleaned it up. I bit the inside of my cheek. Eddie brushed his hand on mine and I snapped out of my trance. "Ellie?" Max is looking at me. I cough for a second to clear my throat. "What?" "Are you-" Eddie cuts her off, "we should get going." Eddie waves over our waiter, "can we get the check?" The waiter nods and leaves. "Rude," Max crosses her arms. Eddie eyes Max down. I stand up and dust myself off, even though there was nothing on me. I am unbelievably embarrassed. I feel uncomfortable and I just want to leave. I can hear Lucas whisper something in Max's ear. "See you in the car," Max tells us. "I guess I'll pay for all of us." Eddie grunts quietly. Lucas slides Eddie a 20 dollar bill as Max pulls him out of the restaurant.
Eddie stands behind me with his arms draped around my shoulders. I hold his hands, which are interlocked. We are waiting in line to pay for the bill. "I noticed you felt..." he pauses to find the right words, "uncomfortable." I shrug under his arms. "Are you doing okay?" Eddie asks me quietly, whispering in my ear so only I could hear him. I lean my head back on the opposite side of his head. Eddie takes the opportunity to kiss my neck. So delicately. "Answer the question," His hands don't move. I really want them to. "I just need something to distract me." "I'm good at that." Then, he lets go and walks to the front counter. I stand near the front door as I wait for him.
Eddie walks over to me a minute later. He grabs my hand like a child with its parent. Eddie leans over, his lips so close to my ear that when he moves them it brushes against my ear, "I would take you into the bathroom then and there, but I decided you deserved better than a quick bathroom fuck." The butterflies. Holy shit. Honestly, I wouldn't care if we were in a port-a-potty. Although...gross.
Eddie bangs on the side of the van to warn Max and Lucas we were here. I already know they were making out or...more. Eddie opens my door and helps me in. He kisses the top of my head, then waddles to the other side. Max whispers in my ear, "what happened?" I'm shocked that she's a good whisperer. I scrunch my eyebrows to show her I'm confused. "Don't, the look on your face says it all. He obviously said or did something, just tell me!" she whispers. "I will tell you tonight...or tomorrow." "Why suspense?" she says aloud. I shrug, "just how it works. You'll understand when I do." Eddie looks over to me and does a goofy face. I smile and look out the window. Max leans back on Lucas' chest. I could see Max in the rear view mirror. She stared at me and mouthed, 'tell me'. I put my middle finger up to my eye and pretended to scratch. She rolled her eyes.
When we got home Max and Lucas ran inside. Eddie didn't park yet, so I waited on him. He was deep in thought, however turned to me after a minute. "Want to grab a snack first?"
I nod and rebuckle up.
We stop by a gas station and Eddie backs into a parking spot. I look over to him as he starts getting out. "Will you just grab me a bag of chips? I'll stay here," I play with my hands. "Sure," Eddie says before kissing me. He rolls down my window before turning off the car. I smile, staring at my hands in my lap.
I hear a crinkle, from a bag or something, so I look up. A gun is swaying in my face. I don't have time to look up at the person holding it. This is a dream, it must be. Things like this don't happen in small towns like Hawkins. "Get out of the car," the guy says. He's already opening the door through my open window. I'm breathing heavily until I can no longer breathe. I step out slowly, watching the window of the store, hoping just maybe Eddie might spot my kidnapping. I feel the cold gun pressed to my back as I am shot back to reality. "Go!" He grunts. My hands are behind my head and I try to walk as slow as he will let me. He shoves me in the back of his red car. He gets in his seat and child-locks the doors.
~
Eddie
I walk out of the store with two bags of chips, some cookies and a box of condoms. I open my door and slide in my seat and somethings is wrong. Ellie isn't in her seat. I look in the back. I get out of the van and pace around it three times before heading back into the store. "You haven't seen a girl walking around here? About this tall?" I put my hand up next to me. The lady shrugs. I feel my eyes dampen when I realize what happened. I get back in the van and slam my fists on the steering wheel. Then my head. I see her bracelet on her seat. She wouldn't have just left, I tell myself. "Shit, Shit, Shit, SHIT!" I curl over and try not to cry. But that's an inevitable thought. Ellie is gone.
I beat on Max's door. "What the fuck, Ellie?" Max shouts. She doesn't open the door. "Max get the hell out here!" I shout, twisting the locked door knob. Max eventually opens the door, "what the hell do you want?" She hardly has a t-shirt on. Lucas is sitting up shirtless staring at me. "You haven't seen Ellie?" I ask her, even though I know the answer. "No, explain to me what the hell is going on!" Max demands. "I think Ellie was kidnapped." I state blankly. Her expression instantly changes. "What do you mean? How? Where were you? Did you call the cops? Was there anyone near by? Answer me Eddie!" She grabs my shoulders and shakes them. I collapse into the chair behind me. "I was getting us snacks at the gas station and when I got out she was gone. No trace of her except this bracelet." I hold it up for her, "I was going to call the cops after talking to you." Max soon collapses into a chair too. Lucas sitting next to her. "Who would do this?" She asks herself. "There are plenty of evil people in the world," I remind her. It's more to myself though. I have the same question. "They must have had a gun, or Ellie would've fought back." Lucas blurts out. I nod in agreement. Ellie isn't a coward, but also isn't stupid.
A long three hours worth of police investigation and yet no leads or suspects. No video surveillance. No witnesses. If only I would have looked out the window.