Chapter 2

Eddie didn't witness 'the breakup' but, he felt a surge of heat in his chest. That feeling told him Chrissy was in a raw emotional state, it was strong but, faded fast so whatever happened she wasn't dwelling on. If the heat had persisted he would have gone looking for her.

Walking out of his last class he overheard snippets of gossip. Her name being thrown around more than he was comfortable with. Catching up to Gareth and a few of his freshmen clued him in. Apparently, Dustin was looking for Lucas but, ended up in the wrong hallway. He, Mike and their friend Max saw the whole thing.

Dustin recounted Chrissy telling Jason he wasn't her Alpha. He helpfully animated the slap, a wide swing that nearly knocked Mike on his ass trying to duck. Not deterred he continued the story, "Then she turned and just walked away!" Laughing he looked at Eddie, "She's totally awesome, I didn't know Omegas could hit people. They all seem so sweet and passive, like my mom."

Eddie was quiet while listening, thoughtful before answering, "Well everyone's different… generally most Omegas are passivists who use their words to make a point. But that only works if the other person is listening so Jagoff Extraordinaire Carver probably needed to get hit. Hard."

Ignoring his friends, he hurried out of the school and to his van. His mind full of thoughts all revolving around a strawberry blonde.

On Tuesday Chrissy avoided her parents by extending her morning jog another 15 minutes. She rushed through a shower and didn't wait inside for her neighbor Amanda to pick her up, she walked to the curb and waited there. Amanda pulled up in her mom's old Pinto wagon, still half asleep and munching on a pop-tart she mumbled good morning before speeding towards school. The girls didn't talk much in the mornings, Amanda was not really a morning person and Chrissy didn't mind the girl's silence. Mostly because she knew Amanda since childhood and knew the other girl preferred not to talk unless required.

Getting to school Chrissy reminded Amanda that she had practice and asked her not to wait. Amanda nodded to show she heard and gave Chrissy a little wave before the girls parted ways.

The day went by slowly, people whispered, people stared. Some people asked her outright what happened and why she hit her Alpha. Chrissy didn't want to feed the frenzy, so she ignored these questions. A few times she loudly asked how boring was their life that they cared so much about hers. It really depended on who was asking and whether they were rude about it.

At lunch she sat away from Jason and the team. She sat with a few girls on the cheer squad that ended up a few tables down. The whole time she felt eyes staring at her and wasn't surprised to find Jason glaring her way. Looking around she noticed that Eddie's table was unusually quiet, normally he was a force to be reconned with putting on a show. But not today. Today he looked tired as he let the others talk around him. It worried her a bit.

After school she went to the gym for practice. Most of the squad beat her there and bombarded her as soon as she sat down.

"What the fuck happened yesterday?"

"Matt said Jason was uber mad. He missed all his shots at practice."

"Are you insane? You have the perfect guy and you're walking away."

"Is this to get attention, you know you didn't have to be so dramatic."

"Are you trying to get him to fight for you? Prove his love?"

"Are you okay?" This was asked by Melody as sophomore and fellow Omega. She ducked her head as the other girls looked at her, afraid of speaking up and having the attention on her.

"Thanks Mel, I'm okay. In fact, I feel a hundred pounds lighter." Chrissy smiled and Melody smiled shyly back.

She cleared her throat and clapped her hands together, "Okay everyone, let's get to work! Katie B. and Steph I want to see your backflips. Last time you were both veering off target, I don't want anybody getting hurt."

Practice continued but, it wasn't as relaxed as it had been before. There was a tension between the girls that sided with Jason, who thought Chrissy needed to apologize and get back together with him. While the girls that sided with Chrissy saw it as her personal choice, end of story.

As practice ended Chrissy found herself walking over to the band room. She stood by the door looking for Robin, drawing more attention than she wanted when she waved at the other girl.

Robin smiled and motioned for Chrissy to join her and her friend packing up.

"Hey, Chris this is Patrick a fellow trumpet player. Pat this is Chrissy… my friend." Robin awkwardly laughed a little as Pat nodded to Chrissy and she smiled back.

As the group left the school and Patrick realized Chrissy planned to walk home, he offered to drive her too. "I'm already taking this one." He thumbed to Robin who was putting her case in the back of his Escort. She thanked him and climbed in behind Robin.

Turning on the radio they were met with the voice of Steve Perry and Robin immediately rolled her eyes, "Gah! I'm so sick of this song. Every day they play it." In response Patrick and Chrissy started singing along 'Can't you feel it burnin' on and on! Oh Sherrie, our love, ho-olds on, ho-olds on!' Robin turned around to look at Chrissy with absolute horror.

Wednesday was similar except a few teachers pulled her aside to ask what happened and Ms. Kelly asked to meet with her. She told all of them the same thing, "My parents chose Jason for me. I know we're not a match, so I finally ended it."

By Thursday Chrissy was feeling the effects of losing her social status. Most of the cheer squad were dating guys on either the basketball team or the swim team. She really didn't have anyone to talk to that wasn't friends with Jason by proxy. The few girls that she considered friends were being pressured to avoid her and that was made clear at lunch.

Chrissy found that she wasn't welcome to sit with anyone she might have before Monday. So, she took her tray and walked out towards the band room hallway where she knew most band kids ate lunch.

As she left the cafeteria Eddie sat chewing his lip and tapping his rings on the table. When the door swung shut behind her, he lurched to his feet, "Oh, ye Hawkins best and brightest! Let you never leave your comfortable cookie cutter lives, after all bravery is not your strong suit. Best stick to tossing balls into laundry baskets and drinking yourself stupid every chance you get. We wouldn't want you to attempt an independent thought and make your little brains malfunction."

Jason stood up and charged towards him, "Hey FREAK mind your business, at least we have a future to look forward to. What are you, a two-time flunky and Satanist. You'll never be anything special." At that Eddie stuck out his tongue and made devil horns, spewing guttural sounds until Jason turned away muttering Prick under his breath.

Sitting back down with the Hellfire club he sighed and shook out his neck, "Conformity kills. Never stop being an individual kids." He went back to eating lunch, ignoring the looks from his friends. Particularly the annoying, knowing look he was getting from Dustin.

Eddie didn't know it but, Chrissy heard his speech, the door hadn't shut all the way before he loudly started belittling her former friends. It made her smile, even if he didn't directly mention her. He noticed their treatment of her since breaking free. As he commented on being independent from cliques, she could infer his speech was about her. Jason could make the same connection, so she wasn't surprised when he launched his own verbal attack. Eddie didn't back down from him though, he was his wonderful, odd self and stood tall.

On Friday Chrissy didn't bother staying in the cafeteria she went straight to the band hallway. A little surprised by the warm reception, she quickly smiled back at everyone. She stepped around kids eating, studying and caring for their instruments. It was inspiring to see people so invested in their art, it kind of made her wish she had something other than gymnastics she was passionate about. Something she could sit and share with those around her.

Sliding down to sit next to Robin she looked toward the doorway at the end of the hall and saw the young redhead from before. The other girl was sitting alone, with a Walkman playing as she wrote in a notebook. Chrissy nudged Robin and gestured towards the other girl, "Who is that? I've seen her around but, I haven't gotten the chance to talk to her."

Robin looked over and recognition crossed her face, "Oh, um, yeah. That's Max a freshman. She's friends with some of the guys in Hellfire."

Chrissy set her tray aside and patted her knees, "Well, I'm going to go introduce myself. Be right back!"

As she started to get up Robin stopped her, "Hey, whatever she says to you don't take it personal, she's had a rough couple of months. It doesn't help she has a natural habit of being totally harsh, especially if she thinks you're a ditz." Robin's eyes widened, realizing what she had just said. "Not you personally, just like anyone she thinks is a ditz."

Chrissy paused and bit her lip, "Good to know… thanks."

Getting up she walked over to Max and sat on the stoop next to her. She wrapped her arms around her knees and waited for the other girl to look up from her notebook. When she did Chrissy smiled big and mouthed Hi because she could hear how loud Max's music was playing. After Robin's warning she was surprised when Max shut off her Walkman and set it aside, giving Chrissy her full attention. Then Chrissy realized why, Max was an Alpha and had honed in that Chrissy wanted to get her attention.

"I – I'm so sorry to bother you, you didn't have to turn your music off. I just wanted to say hi and introduce myself."

Max was still blankly looking at her and said, "It's fine."

"Yeah, but, you're an Alpha. I shouldn't have entered your space without asking. I'm sorry."

At that Max snarled a little and finally looked away, "Just because I'm an Alpha doesn't mean you have to treat me differently."

"I know that, really. It's just considered rude to get in someone's personal space without knowing them. I didn't realize because, beca- "

"Because I'm using strong blockers."

"Yeah."

The girls sat in silence for a minute before Chrissy tried again, "Hey, can we start over?" Max nodded.

Taking a deep breath and sitting up straight Chrissy began again, "Hi, I'm Chrissy."

"Hi. I'm Max."

"It's nice to meet you Max. What are you listening to?"

Max glanced at her cassette player and said, "Kate Bush, have you listened to her?"

Chrissy looked embarrassed but nodded, "I've heard a few songs. My parents don't like 'modern racket' so I only listen to music when I'm with friends. What I have heard though is pretty cool."

The girls sat and talked through the rest of lunch. Much to the surprise of Robin and anyone that had been waiting for Max to bite the bubbly girls head off.

When the bell finally rang both girls felt they had made a new friend.

The song is Oh, Sherrie it was on the radio while my mom and I took a trip. She said, "Ugh, this song was really popular. They played it. All. The. Time." I liked it, wouldn't say it's my favorite song but, give it a listen.