Chapter 4: Firsts and Forgiveness (A follow-up to Chapter 1)
Rating: K
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Nerves were gnawing away at his insides; it was here, today was finally the big day. Eddie Miller was moments away from his first official race and the crowd of people in attendance only seemed to look more endless from the second lane.
He had spent his entire warm-up period scanning over every seat, desperately searching for a familiar face to lock onto. His heart sank a little more each time he had come across a stranger. They were all out of time, especially Eddie and they were no where to be found.
It was time that he accepted that they really weren't coming.
All seven of his competitors had already adjusted their goggles and climbed the starting block but Eddie had remained frozen in place still completely dressed in his track suit. He had known that Patricia was going to bail, but he had fully expected his dad to be there if for no other reason than he was the Headmaster.
"Lane two? Lane two!" a voice from behind caught his attention.
"Yeah," he tried to shake it off, "I'm sorry?"
"Unless you intend on forfeiting this race, I'm going to ask that you please get set."
"Oh right, sure," he agreed drably, the excitement for this moment all but sucked out of him.
He stepped out of his track pants as he tore the zipper of his jacket down. A wolf whistle from the crowd briefly gained his attention, but he didn't find the redhead he had hoped to find on the other end of it.
Whether it was a sudden burst adrenaline or the sinking abandonment that had finally kicked in, something snapped inside Eddie and he was more determined than ever to win this race.
He didn't need them to be here.
He had never felt more exposed than he did as he stood on the starting block in front of all those people wearing nothing but a tiny suit and a swim cap. Nevertheless, he pulled his goggles into place and got set.
The ready horn sounded and Mr. Sweet crowded in between two of his teammates behind the block just as the starting gun fired. Following the almost two minutes it took him to cover his allotted amount of times down the length of the pool and back, the image of his father on the phone was the first thing Eddie saw as he came up for air.
"Bravo!" Mr. Sweet was waving his phone in one hand and giving a thumbs up on the other. Watching his son compete for his school was exhilarating and he was unable to contain his excitement. "Well done, Edison! Marvelous job!"
Eddie's initial smile at seeing that his dad had made it after all had easily turned to one of embarrassment as he pulled his goggles off and got a full view of his behavior. He tossed a small wave to acknowledge he had seen him and Sweetie went back to his phone call.
As much as he didn't want to admit it, Eddie still felt as though there was something missing from this moment. And that something happened to have fiery red hair, a loud British yack, and would probably never be around to share this with him.
Patricia knocked softly on Eddie's door.
"Who is it?" he called from his bed, genuinely not recognizing the pattern of the knock.
"It's me… Can we talk?" that familiar voice muffled through the door.
He reluctantly stepped over but hesitated to open it. "We can talk through the door."
He heard her sigh but she didn't protest; at least she was making an effort.
"Well, I heard you did good in your race and I just wanted to come say congratulations…"
He smiled lightly, "Thanks, but uh, I don't think fourth counts as 'good'…"
"Well at least you weren't last, Doofus," she grinned before she caught herself. "Sorry. Guess we're not really doing the names anymore, are we?"
Her muffled voice was met with silence. His fingertips traced around the doorknob but got no farther than that.
"Eddie look, I'm trying here, okay? You know I wouldn't even do that if I didn't care. It's just…I really just needed some time to get used to the idea, that's all. I'm…sorry, okay? My big mouth got me in trouble again."
He jerked the door open to find Patricia's back against the door frame. His eyes were immediately drawn down to the name peeking from behind her red ponytail. His heart swelled ever so slightly.
"Nice shirt," he nodded when she whirled around.
She glanced down at the Swim Club's logo and shrugged slightly in embarrassment, "For good luck. But I should really get going, that's all I came to say…"
"Wait," he reached out to grab her wrist. "Dad told me that it was you on the phone…"
She looked down to his hand and he released his grasp allowing her to pick at her black nail polish.
"I sorta changed my mind and wanted to be there but that was the best I could do…"
A comfortable silence engulfed them for the first time in weeks before Eddie broke it with a grin on his face.
"It's actually a good thing you weren't there… This girl from one of the other schools was totally checking me out so you probably would've needed to be escorted out anyways."
"You didn't flirt back did you?" the edge in her voice appeared instantly prompting a laugh from the blond.
"No. I was too busy worrying about how naked I felt in front of like a thousand people."
This had earned him another glare.
"I'm kidding! I just heard her whistle and I was kinda hoping she was you…" Eddie ducked his head as his words tapered off in a mumble.
Patricia's face softened out before it snapped back into a playful smirk.
"Oh, don't flatter yourself, Krueger. Like I'd really cat call you."
He lifted his head and grinned back at her. It was as if the last week and a half and the t-shirt incident had never happened.
"Careful, Yacker. You haven't seen me in the pool yet…" He shut the door on her leaving Patricia's shocked face on the other side.
Both teens shook their heads and retreated back to their designated spots in the house with smiles on their faces.
A/N: I just wanted to say thank you to those who read and review every story of mine. I don't want to name any names so I won't leave anyone out. But I see you and I appreciate it, so thank you. And thank you all for following this story. I don't know when the next update will be but I have some ideas in mind. :)
