Chapter 5: Forever Young
"Forever young
I want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever?
Forever, and ever"
December 25th, 1985
POV: Winter Reid
I zoom back in from the memory of our first meeting and turn to look at the boy standing next to me. Eddie takes a piece of casserole with his fingers and pops it into his mouth. I smack his hand and he looks up with a what's your problem? look on his face. Rolling his head, he drags his feet over to a drawer and pulls out two forks.
"Well, that was a lovely speech, truly one of your more coherent monologues," I say. "You should write it down, quickly, maybe it'll help you boost your grade in English."
He holds his hands up defensively and shuffles back to the table.
"Okay, you hate your namesake. I get it," he says. "I surrender to your hatred of Christmas. But I know you love The Gremlins." He sticks a fork in the center of the square of cheese and potato on my plate.
"God, I really do love those creepy little bastards," I exclaim happily.
We crash onto the couch. He tosses a blanket at my face. I pull it off roughly and my hair sticks up from the static. I spread the quilt over my legs and he pulls half of it over his lap as Phoebe Cates begins speaking on the television set.
"God, she's so hot," Eddie mutters with his mouth full.
I remember when this movie was released in theaters. Eddie and I bought tickets and sat in awe as Zach Galligan's mom laid under a Christmas tree and fought a gremlin off with a kitchen knife. We snuck back into the movies twice more to watch it again. I knew it so well by now that I let my eyelids flutter and I begin to fall asleep.
I'm just about to descend into my dreamscape when I feel something lightly pushing against my forehead. I reach out to swat it and my hand slaps against crumpled paper.
"Easy!" Eddie yells.
I squint one eye open and see him sitting upright. Our plates are gone and the TV is off; he must've cleaned up while I was dozing. He is holding a square package wrapped in brown paper. I open both eyes now, feeling confused.
"Merry Christmas, Winnie," Eddie says with a smile. It's a sweet smile. I blink at him and he pushes the edge of the present, once more, colliding it with my forehead.
"This is the part where you take it and say thank you..." He moves to push it in my face again and I grab it excitedly with both hands and sit up straight. Our knees touch but I don't think to move my leg away.
My fingers trace the front of the plain brown package. Spiky handwriting reads:
For Winter... because you hate Indiana.
I laugh and look at him inquisitively. His face pushes into his palm, his fingers grazing his curly dark hair. He shrugs his shoulders, acting as if he hadn't written the message. I purse my lips at his reaction, feeling a smile threatening to break across my face.
"Hmmm..." I say, turning the gift over to begin neatly pulling at the tape. "I wonder what this could be." I slowly pull the first piece of tape off and then fold the sticky sides together. I set the piece of trash on the coffee table so it won't fall to the floor.
"Yeah, no," Eddie snorts. "Who taught you how to open presents?"
He reaches over and with one swift motion, rips the paper in half.
"Hey! My present!" My arm reaches out and pushes against his chest.
I push one of his hands down, away from the gift, but his other hand continues to rip and pull. Pieces of paper scatter the carpet and couch. I look down at the mess, my mouth open. I'm fighting back a flood of giggles, trying not to give into his childlike behavior.
"Jeez, why must you be so aggressive?" I ask.
He looks giddy now and his knees are bouncing up and down. I realize he is excitedly waiting for me to notice what is on my lap.
I smile, unable to resist how adorable he looks. Pulling the square from the remnants of gift-wrapping, I read 12 Months of Wildflowers from California. My heart rises in my chest.
I glance at him; his hand is covering his mouth, trying to hide a huge grin. I turn the calendar over and look at the smaller pictures full of flowers for every month.
"Do you like it?" He asks impatiently.
Before I can even respond, he continues, "I wasn't sure what to get you. I know you're very obsessive and scheduled and you keep your little notes and stuff and it's almost the new year so obviously you need a new calendar-" My eyebrows knit at his choice of the word obsessive. "I saw it at the drug store and I said, yeah that's Winter if she was a calendar. It's California!" He points excitedly. "And it's wildflowers!"
"Yes, I can see that, Eddie," I say quietly.
I am deeply touched by the gift. It isn't something that someone gives you because it's the latest trend or some shiny charm bracelet you'll probably never wear. No. Eddie had thought about something I would look at everyday and use. He knew it would bring me some small joy to hang this on the wall of my bedroom, looking up at the vibrant colors and remembering my former home.
I turn to him, "I love it."
I open up the calendar to January and see orange poppies. Tears prick my eyes and I sniffle.
"You hate it." Eddie says, he sounds defeated.
I shake my head quickly, still staring at the poppies, more tears fill my eyes.
"I lo-love it," I say, my voice shakes.
"You're crying!" Eddie says, leaning in and watching the water leak from my eyes. "Aw, man. I thought maybe it was too small or too ordinary, but-"
My hand flies out and lands on his wrist, stopping his speech.
"No, Eddie, I love it. Really. It makes me so happy." A tear rolls down my cheek, and he watches it, unconvinced. "These are happy tears." I manage to say. "Very, very happy tears." I touch the photo of the poppies affectionately.
Eddie's face pulls into a small smile.
"I'm very lucky to have you in my life y'know..." I begin to say. Eddie pulls back and groans, he hates when I tell him how much I appreciate him.
"No." My hand clamps down harder on his wrist and he freezes under my stare. "Really. You're my family."
He looks at me now, wearing a strange look that I can't quite place. I sniffle and set the calendar down on the couch.
I stare at him and knit my eyebrows together. "Warning-" I say. "I am going to hug you now."
He seems uncomfortable with this, but I lean in anyway and draw my arms around his neck. My chin presses into his shoulder. His hands pat my upper back lightly. I hold on, and after a moment, his arms wrap around me and squeeze tightly.
I breathe in his smell, tobacco and wild lavender. I can feel whatever residual tension I had in my bones drain from my body, and I feel him relax as well.
We draw apart, our cheeks brush softly for the briefest moment. Our eyes lock cautiously, but I turn my head and sink backwards into the couch.
"Thank you," I say softly. My index finger lightly traces the edge of the present.
"No problem, kid," he says. He has taken to calling me kid now even though he is only two years older and I am light years ahead in maturity.
I pull the calendar onto my lap and begin flipping through more pages.
Suddenly Eddie pipes up. "Hey! You're kind of like Persephone!" I balk, not loving this comparison. He clocks my expression. "No, hear me out. It makes sense. You love flowers and springtime, you hate the cold, and you're like... good." He leans back into the cushions, his shoulder presses against mine.
"Good?" I reply.
"Yeah, you're good. Like... you're nice to people and you see the best in everyone and you trust way too much and way too easily-" His hands are crossing in front of him, emphasizing how he finds it hard to believe that I could trust anyone.
"That doesn't sound positive," I mutter.
"I don't do that," Eddie continues. "I've always wondered how you manage to see the silver lining. You just… believe that people will be the best versions of themselves." I feel a little uncomfortable with him psychoanalyzing me, but I don't say anything. "Like how you see me. You always forgive me and you never get mad-"
"Oh, I get mad," I interject. "You and I are constantly bickering."
Eddie lets out a short laugh. "That's just you calling me on my bullshit, but you've never been mad mad at me. You just keep giving me chances to fix stuff, even though I'm reckless almost all of the time."
"You're being far too hard on yourself," I reply.
"See, there you go, again. You just... you bring the sunshine to the darkness. Like Persephone." I glance over at his face. His eyes are fixed ahead, lost in thought. I'm not entirely sure how to respond, but sarcasm is always a good option.
"Okay, Christmas is making you way too sentimental. I don't think you need a present anymore." I sit up, and move my shoulders back, working out a crack in my upper back.
He looks over excitedly. "You bought me a present?"
"No-" I say quickly.
"-Where is it?" He says at the exact same time and sits upright quickly.
I slowly look over to my denim jacket, which still hangs by the door. He follows my gaze. We lock eyes, then both pop up off of the couch at the same time. He puts an arm in front of my waist, hauling me backwards, then jumps over the coffee table. He rushes to the door and pulls my jacket from the hook, holding it now above his head in victory. I run over and reach for it.
"You were going to keep my present away from me?" He pouts lightly.
"Yes, I suddenly decided your ego is big enough and you don't need it." I snatch a hand out for my jacket, jumping pathetically, but it's out of my reach.
He holds my jacket in the air and digs into the pockets. His hand retrieves the small golden package.
"Argh, I have found the buried treasure!" He bellows.
My hands fall to my hips and he drops his arms.
He hangs my jacket back on the hook softly and holds the gift out to me on a flat palm, bending forward in a half bow.
"Was this yours, m'lady?" He asks.
My tongue pushes against the inside of my cheek as I try to resist smiling up at him.
I press his fingers forward, so they close around the small gift, and push it toward him.
"Go ahead. You may open it," I say. His face illuminates and he tears it open.
Inside the packaging is a smaller box. This he treats carefully, and he takes the lid off slowly. Wrapped like a snake inside on a piece of white foam is a simple, silver chain. He pulls it upwards and dangles it in his face. I twist my hands behind my back, suddenly feeling like he had just moments ago, waiting in anticipation for his reaction.
The silver chain swings slowly, and on its end is a red pearl guitar pick. His face slowly turns up to a smile.
"It's because you're always losing your guitar picks," I blurt, suddenly hating the silence. "You lose them like a girl loses hair pins. I'm pretty sure that you've even swallowed a couple. Anyways, I hate listening to you complain when you want to play, but you can't find a pick, and then you have to strum with your fingers, which you say corrodes the wire or warps the sound or something like that-"
He suddenly throws the box to the floor, causing my hand to flutter to my chest. Wordlessly, he pulls the chain over his head and lets it fall. He holds the pick softly between his fingers, admiring it. He slowly meets my gaze and I give him an apprehensive smile.
With a sudden grunt, his arms fly out around me. He squeezes me tightly and picks me up in the air.
My arms are pinned so I can't hug him back, but I manage to say, "So... you like it?"
He sets me down suddenly, and places his hands on my upper arms. He is grinning like a madman.
"It's perfect," Eddie says, his face full of glee. I smile too, relieved.
"Oh... good," I exhale with relief. "Merry Christmas, Eddie."
He stares at me with his hands still holding my upper arms. He looks as if he wants to say something else, but he can't seem to find the words.
I offer him a small smile and shrug out of his grasp. I step away and move toward the kitchen to gather the casserole dish I brought over earlier.
"Well, now look at us..." I say. "We're both prepared to go back to school after break. I'm going to go home with my new calendar and write down the date of every upcoming game and practice-" I rattle on.
"And now I can rock out whenever I want," he says and smiles down at the necklace. He looks up again, hesitating. He walks toward me slowly with his hands clasped behind his back. "So... you're actually excited to start the, rah rah, let's go tigers, thing?"
"Yeah, I think it'll be fun... or at least different," I say, hesitantly. "I don't know, things probably won't be that different, but... I think I'll regret it if I bail on cheer before I even try."
"Well, I think it's cool as long as you think it's cool," Eddie nods. He moves to lean against the front door to the trailer.
"When does the new Hellfire campaign start?" I walk toward him, cradling the casserole dish in one arm. I reach behind him for my jacket.
"Oh. I've started mapping it out a little bit. It's going to be hard finding a replacement for you though," Eddie says.
I snort, "Eddie I haven't played DnD with you for at least a year now and you have plenty of people in your party."
"Yes, but, I miss when we would play together. You're the only one who actively tried to sabotage me. I miss the thrill." His eyes widen and I laugh lightly. He helps me slip one arm into my jacket, and then the other.
I toss my hair out from under the collar. "Well I think those freshmen are going to give you a run for your money. I'll have to give Dustin, Lucas, and Mike a few of my favorite tips to get under your skin." I smile now and he smiles back. "Didn't you say you were so impressed with their acumen and that they're the future of Hellfire?"
"Yeah... they did alright during their tryouts. But this new campaign, man, it's going to destroy them," Eddie says darkly.
I giggle and turn around, realizing I don't have my present. I move to the couch and pick it up.
I hear Eddie speak up. "Crazy, man," he says.
"What is?" I reply, walking back toward him.
"Well... when I graduate this year - there won't be any founding members of the Hellfire Club left. I mean you with your newfound passion," Eddie holds a hand out toward me and I roll my eyes at his word choice. He points his hand back at himself. "And me with my degree, going on tour, moving to Canada or something." He shrugs. "I mean this thing started with just us, playing in my living room on the floor for hours at a time, eating junk food and not taking restroom breaks." He's motioning between us with his hand, connecting us.
"Everyone has to grow up sometime, Eddie," I say cautiously.
I know that he was smart enough to graduate two years ago, although his organization skills and academic diligence leave something to be desired. I think deep down, he likes to stay exactly where he is, playing DnD and being a teen boy in a band because he knows what comes next sucks.
Adulthood sucks. We both think that, and why wouldn't we? The only grown-ups we've seen are messes.
He nods his head thoughtfully, then slowly scrunches up his nose. I scrunch mine back in response.
Eddie smiles widely, "Growing up is a myth, Winnie, I'm going to be young forever."
I give him a small smile back I'm not totally comforted by his statement. He opens the door for me and I walk outside. When I get to my trailer door, I turn around to him and wave. He always watches me get to my door and go inside, just in case. He waves back in response.
"Merrrrry Christmassss!" He yells. His voice echoes loudly through the park.
Inside, I hang up my jacket and start scrubbing the casserole dish in the sink. As I'm rinsing and repeating, I think about Eddie. I think about how somber he seems about me pulling off into a different direction. He's hurtling toward the final moments of his teenage years, and I think he wanted everything to stay as it was.
If everything stays the same, maybe we can stay 16 (and 18 respectively), forever.
Author's Note:
In this fic, Winter is 16 going on 17 (her bday is in March), Eddie is 18 going on 19! I wanted him to have more time as a teenager & be closer to everyone's ages overall :) he deserves it :)
links for this chapter:
A Tree With Teeth – Gremlins (1984) Clip watch?v=sz8itUBsCTk
Eddie Munson loves Gremlins because it's about the dangers of commercialism during Christmas :) He loves the holiday for the joy & the nostalgia… not for consumerism.