Disclaimer: I don't own House of Anubis.
This is a AU three-shot that's centered on Patricia/Eddie but hints at Ben/Piper as well. Not sure when the next installment will come.
"Hey, Yacker!" Eddie waved and Patricia turned around, biting back a grin. She had known Eddie for three years now, and though they had their fights, he was a good friend. Her only one actually- after she left boarding school because of financial issues, Eddie was the only one remotely interesting in this town of deadbeats and dull people. Actually, no, that wasn't right…he was the only one willing to put up with her. Nobody had really cared for some girl who was always gone the whole year besides summer. Patricia had known Eddie before she started boarding school, but not the kind of relationship they had now. When they were eleven, their mothers were friends more than them…now, six years later, it was the exact opposite. After a brief three year stunt at boarding school from ages eleven to fourteen, Patricia had returned back to public school and become best friends with a boy she used to have to be forced to play with.
"Weasel," she teased, shoving his shoulder and smiling widely. The nicknames were affectionate most of the time and a symbol of friendship between them.
"You going to the dance this Friday?" Eddie nudged her too and Patricia rolled her eyes. Recently, the dance had been the cause of everything wrong. Her parents were telling her to attend and even her twin, Piper, who attended a private school, was insisting on her appearance there. It was really stupid- neither she nor Eddie had planned on going, deciding to retire to his house and watch re-runs of old shows on TV while eating everything in his pantry and discussing the new Sick Puppies album. Meredith, Eddie's mother, was used to seeing Patricia around and the redhead often escaped to Eddie's house when her own parents were getting to be too much.
"Of course not," Patricia rolled her eyes. "We're meeting at your house, yeah?"
Eddie nodded before smirking, "I mean, as usual, a million girls asked me-"
"Oh yeah? Who?" Patricia asked, scowling because Eddie's words were true. He made it a point to not show up at school dances, but that didn't mean girls didn't ask him. And it really did suck sometimes, because while Eddie was getting mobbed by girls, Patricia was standing alone, not even one guy glancing in her direction. Was she just unattractive? No…Piper got boys and they looked the exact same. Sure, Patricia could be a tad intimidating, but she wasn't necessarily boy repellent. The fact that she never had anyone liking her the way all those girls liked Eddie had indeed made her more self-conscious than she let on. Not to the point where she went home and cried over it or anything- oh, no, she wouldn't cry over something that stupid- but she did wonder sometimes. Wonder why she wasn't good enough.
"Uh, you know, Lily, Annie, Stephanie, Jamie, Madison-" Eddie started listing off on his fingers and Patricia rolled her eyes. Eddie had to be the most conceited person she'd ever known. Some days, she wondered why they were even friends. That was, until they had the regular food fight in his kitchen. Any doubts were gone by then.
"Yeah, I get it, Romeo," she muttered, feeling downcast. Hearing Eddie ramble on about his long list of waiting girls made her feel pitiful and insecure. Patricia hadn't even kissed a guy before- she was that inexperienced.
Eddie seemed to sense this and rolled his eyes this time. "Hey, Nightmare on Elm Street and Sick Puppies with you sounds better than some lame dance, got that?"
"We're going to watch Nightmare on Elm Street again?" Patricia whined. Whenever Eddie had a chance to watch a movie, it was that one, and she could never understand the obsession.
"Hey, my house, my rules," Eddie smirked. "And c'mon, Yacker, you like Nightmare on Elm Street."
"Not after watching it nineteen times," Patricia retorted, and Eddie held up his hands in mock surrender.
"The only other movies I have are my mom's chick flicks," Eddie shrugged, swinging an arm around her shoulder in what he hoped looked platonic. "So, unless you want to watch The Notebook, we're stuck with Freddie Krueger."
Patricia rolled her eyes, "Fine."
Eddie Miller hated dances more than anything else- or rather, he hated how everyone else simply loved them. All the girls in his school who surrounded him, asking him to go with them, pretending they even had a chance. Everyone knew he didn't even go to the stupid things, but they all insisted on making him change his mind. The only person that totally accepted him and his hatred of dances was Patricia Williamson, his best friend.
That might be one of the reasons he liked her.
Eddie had actually liked Patricia for a while, and at first, he had dropped hints about it, but she was oblivious as ever. Either that, or she just wasn't interested and was playing clueless so as to spare his feelings.
After a while, Eddie began harboring his crush in secret, no longer giving out the subtle hints. Everyone else would figure it out before Patricia did, and he couldn't have that. He had gone through the years at this school building up his 'bad boy' reputation, and he would not have rumors going around about how he had gone 'soft.'
The other thing he hated about dances was the boys. Though Patricia wasn't aware of it…there were many guys out there who actually did want to date her. Apparently, something about her intrigued them in the same way it did Eddie. Maybe how unattainable she was, the raw curiosity some boys felt? For as long as they had known, nobody had ever succeeded in getting Patricia Williamson to like them, which definitely raised an aura of mystery around her. An aura of mystery that some of the guys had taken a liking to.
Of course, with the dance coming up, there was always one person who would try to ask her out. One person that Eddie would have to stop and ward away to make sure that nobody started dating Patricia but him. Maybe it was wrong to scare the guys off, but he couldn't help it. They wouldn't treat her right- hell, they didn't even know her. The other guys didn't know how Patricia Williamson had a fear of feet, or was immune to all horror movies, or how she just didn't do restaurants. They would screw it all up.
Eddie placed his books in his locker and sighed. Patricia had stayed after class to make up some assignments, and he had promised he would wait up for her, but she was taking far too long. Even worse, he now noticed Benji Reed out of the corner of his eye.
Ben had been the first person Eddie had run into when he moved here a while back, and ever since that day, they hated each other. Whether it be conflicting personalities or something more neither could place, they simply didn't get along. Ben was arrogant, and devious, and just better in a billion different aspects that it made Eddie want to knock him out.
He didn't mean to overhear the conversation. Really, Eddie had just been innocently standing by his locker, waiting for his friend, when it had occurred.
"So, who are you asking to the dance?" One of the other boys prompted, and though Eddie didn't turn his head, he could predict that Ben had on his usual smirk.
"Amber, maybe?" Ben wondered out loud, before letting out an unsatisfied sound. "No, she's with Alfie." That was the worst part of it, Eddie figured. Ben was actually a good person- he didn't lie, or cheat, or do anything of the sort, and in comparison, Eddie felt worthless next to him.
"Patricia Williamson's single," one of Ben's friends offered, and Eddie paused. It would be hard to scare off Ben- he wasn't like Robbie, who, last year, was on the verge of asking out Patricia before Eddie came around. Not that the kid really would've had a chance anyway.
"Oh yeah," Ben said thoughtfully. "I suppose she is cute. Always hangs out with Milly, but everyone has their flaws." He chuckled a bit and his friends quickly mimicked him. "Good idea, Sven," he congratulated, as if this was an unnatural occurrence. And maybe it was- from his performance in class, Sven had already proved he wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. Maybe he would be better with Amber, the school's stereotypical blonde. "Yeah, I'll ask her out." Ben finished, and Eddie clenched his fists. He had scared Patricia's potential dates off before, but Ben was different. Ben was his equal and sometimes surpassed him. It would be hard to frighten him, but considering Ben did things quickly and didn't hesitate, Eddie had to move just as fast. Confident, cool, and charming, Ben would surely have asked her out by the end of the day if he had the chance. Which meant Eddie had to deal with him now.
"Hey, Ben," Eddie turned around and slammed his locker shut before striding over, tone casual. Ben looked over him, unimpressed, and Eddie rolled his eyes. Now or never, right? Patricia didn't know Ben like he did- she didn't know how manipulative he could be. Eddie was just protecting her…with an ulterior motive. "I heard you say you were going to ask out Patricia."
"Yeah," Ben smirked, crossing his arms. "Why? Problem, Milly?"
"Don't ask her out," Eddie warned lowly, the same voice he had used to scare off Robbie a year ago. "If you do, I'll-"
"You'll what? Knock me out? Because, if you remember correctly, we had a fight last year and I-" at this, Ben smiled, and Eddie felt his cheeks grow red. Last year, Eddie had punched Ben because he was provoking him, and it had started an all-out war that Ben had ended up winning. Eddie was still ashamed, even though Patricia had assured him last year that he'd 'win the next one'. "Won."
"Look, just don't date Patricia-" Eddie clenched his eyes shut in anger, knuckles turning white, ready to swing until…he heard it.
"What do you mean 'don't date Patricia?'" The girl herself had strode over, looking between Eddie and Ben confusedly. "Why would you be telling him not to- oh," she cut herself off as the realization dawned on her. Eddie's eyes filled with worry, while Ben seemed pleased with the trouble he'd caused. Of course, Eddie noted bitterly. As always.
"Eddie," his name sounded wrong on Patricia's lips and he winced, so used to be called 'Slimeball.' Patricia and Eddie had fights before, as best friends often did, but they were minuscule and not worth a day's attention. Knowing that Eddie had been scaring guys off would definitely qualify for some screaming. "Why were you just telling him not to ask me out?" It didn't even look like she cared for Ben, but her voice was dangerously low and angry, and Ben took the chance to pipe in.
"Yeah, Milly? Why were you telling me not to?" he acted innocent, but there was a knowing look in his eyes. His cronies, Sven and Sergei, had matching smirks plastered on their faces.
"Look, Yacker," Eddie started, but Patricia didn't seem in the mood to hear his explanations.
"Y-you slimeball," Patricia said, backing away the slightest, the nickname holding no affection this time.
"Oh, he's been doing this for a while now," Ben informed, wanting to cause more drama. "There are quite a few guys who would've dated you had Milly here not meddled."
"Yacker-"
"Who told you to interfere with my life?" Patricia asked, a fire in her eyes as she clutched her bag tightly, looking wary. "Why would you even-"
"Yacker-"
"Save it, Eddie," she spat, backing away even farther, a betrayed expression coloring her face. Her knuckles had turned white from holding her bag and her eyes burned with intensity as she walked away, to the lunchroom, blending in with a sea of students. Eddie sighed angrily, not even bothering to look at Ben as he patted his back and went into the lunchroom himself. Admittedly, he had screwed up. Eddie had an inkling of how Patricia felt during this time of year, when everyone started preparing for dances and getting asked out. How nobody ever approached her in class or after school to talk, say a friendly word, invite her over. How everybody in the whole town practically had a date except for her, how she had to watch everyone get excited and dressed up while she hung back in the shadows. Even Eddie was wanted- though he didn't go, there were many girls who still flocked him. And the guys Patricia had a chance with, he had scared away for selfish reasons.
But…it would blow over, right? Patricia was his best friend…it had to blow over. Was she still coming over to watch Nightmare on Elm Street? Was she ever going to talk to him again? Eddie had figured she might've been a little bitter, borderline insecure, about this, but not to the point where she'd shove him away for the things he'd done.
Right?
And that's where I'll leave it. Hopefully you enjoyed! Next chapter coming soon.