(September 1973)

The pretty blonde girl dangles from the monkey bars with an almost practiced ease, her legs swinging beneath her as she moves towards where a group of girls wait beside a nearby swing set. They all look alike. Perfectly pressed dresses. Hair done up in ponytails with ringlet curls at the end. Wide, glittering eyes.

They're like little cookie cut-outs. Carbon copies of their mothers.

Eddie Munson had watched as every single one of them refused to join the blonde girl on the monkey bars. As they pleaded with her to just go to the swing set instead.

And now she is in the middle of the bars, her arms still hanging on for dear life, her gathering of friends so absorbed in watching her fingers to see if they will slip that none of them notice the other boy meandering their way with a mischievous grin.

Eddie knows this boy. It is the very same boy that always causes mayhem in class. The one who launches spit balls at other boys he doesn't like, and yanks on Margie Jones' hair every chance he gets.

Peter Simpson is now standing almost directly beneath the blonde girl, and Eddie can see her flinch as she realizes he has a perfectly good view of what she is wearing beneath her dress…

"Stop!" She exclaims, trying to angle her body away from the boy beneath her, though the act causes her right hand to slip on the bars, and she spends a moment dangling precariously before she extends that arm to latch onto the next bar ahead. Her leg kicks out, whether on purpose, or just as an instinct, Eddie cannot tell. But even though the toe of her shoe connects with Peter's shoulder, he doesn't budge.

Instead, he tugs at the hem of her dress, nearly causing her to fall for a second time, and Eddie is on his feet in seconds, the reality of how Peter has already beaten him up a time or two hardly registering at all.

"She said stop, dude."

"Who asked you, freak?"

Peter Simpson barely even looks Eddie's way, and seems to be entirely set on turning back to tug at the blonde girl's skirt again. Eddie can see the girl scrambling to try and reach the end of the bars sooner. Her friends stand, transfixed, waiting to see what will unfurl…

Before he can fully rationalize it, Eddie is latching onto Peter Simpson's arm, and yanking him backwards, his free hand arcing in a fist to collide with the kid's jaw.

The girls gathered by the swing set all squeal in surprise. Their friend hesitates for a moment, and then drops to the ground, seemingly unharmed.

Eddie only has seconds before Simpson is retaliating, the blow to his jaw knocking him into the dirt. A hand fists in the collar of his shirt, and another hit lands directly against his nose…

There is a sharp crack. The sound of pounding feet. A distinctly adult voice, and then Peter Simpson is hauled away from him. Eddie tries to sit up, but a sudden blinding pain flares inside his skull. And as he sags back against the ground, softer footsteps approach, a pair of worried brown eyes peering down at him while a tiny hand makes a grab for his own.

Eddie is absolutely lost in those brown eyes, and for a moment the pain in his nose—his jaw—recedes.

Of course everything bubbles to the surface again as soon as a sturdier pair of hands grab him under the arms to haul him upright, an embarrassingly loud whimper escaping as his head begins to pound once again.

"Alright, kiddo. Let's get you down to the office," A gruff voice says, leading Eddie forward and thrusting a handkerchief beneath his nose as blood starts to stream down to his upper lip, "Miss Carver, you can go back to your friends, now."

"No, I—I want to stay with him."

Eddie doesn't have a clue how on earth he got to be so lucky, but he manages a goofy grin even in spite of the pull of already bruised muscle and bone in his face…

That tiny hand slips into his own again, and he hears the man on his other side grumbling under his breath in protest, but right then Eddie decides he is the luckiest kid in the world.

Sadie Carver perches on the edge of the spare seat in the nurse's office, watching as the older woman tilts her would-be rescuer's head back to get a better look at his nose. She can't entirely explain why she is there. Why she hadn't simply followed her friends back to class.

She knows Jason will wonder where she is. He will probably tell their mother she went to the office with a strange boy. Her mother will then assume the worst.

Sadie emits a small sigh at the thought, but then she catches the boy looking over at her as the nurse leaves the room, muttering something about grabbing more cotton to stem the bleeding from his nose, his wide brown eyes tracing her features and bringing a faint flush to her cheeks in response.

"What's your name?"

"Sadie. What's yours?"

"Eddie," The boy replies, smiling with a flash of white teeth and a small dimple appearing on his cheek, though the expression fades a bit in favor of a wince as the act pulls at the sore muscles around his eyes, "Ow."

"Maybe you shouldn't—"

"Shouldn't what?"

"I don't—I don't think I can say it without sounding—rude," Sadie admits, her flush deepening as she realizes she can't tell him not to smile. Not to talk to her, when she barely knows him at all. She frowns at the discovery, and averts her eyes to her lap, but then a laugh reaches her ears, causing her to look up at the boy—Eddie—once again, "What?"

"What were you gonna say?"

"I can't."

"Please?"

The surprisingly pleading look Eddie sends her renders Sadie momentarily speechless, and he is grinning again in seconds, clearly capable of ignoring the ache of his injuries, even with the nurse wandering back into the room with fresh supplies. And she wants to tell him what it was she had been prepared to say even less, now, with a potential audience in the room, her teeth digging into her lower lip while she ponders over what to do.

"I think we should be friends."

Eddie watches as Sadie's eyes widen in response to his sudden declaration, his brow furrowing as her attention flicks to the nurse for a moment, before coming back to him, instead. It almost seems as though she is worried what the older woman will think of her if she agrees. But Eddie quickly shoves that thought from his mind, not wanting to believe this girl could be as predictable as all of the other girls just like her. Not wanting to believe she will see him as a freak.

She is younger than he is, but Eddie wonders if that will make all the difference. If she won't be so trapped beneath the influence of what everyone else thinks. Says. Does.

He is aware of her watching him for another moment, her frown slowly fading, and when Eddie sees the first hint of Sadie's own smile, he feels something he hasn't known in a long time.

Hope. Hope that he won't always feel so alone.

"Okay."

"Yeah?"

"Yes," Sadie confirms, her eyes seeming to twinkle a bit, causing Eddie to crane his head around the nurse's body, much to the older woman's frustration, as she is attempting to cover a small scratch on his cheek with a bandage, "I—I would like that."

"Hold still, Mr. Munson," The nurse chides, sighing in exasperation as Eddie's grin only grows, his attention obviously still fixed upon the younger girl seated behind them in spite of the older woman's best efforts, "Just a few more moments—"

Eddie begrudgingly allows her to finish tending to his face, though the wounds hardly seem to pain him anymore given the radiant smile Sadie wears as she watches him without hesitation. A part of him wonders if her friends will ply her with questions over where she went. Why she felt the need to go after a boy she didn't even know.

He feels a pang of guilt over the potential consequences of Sadie's decision, but a still greater part of him is absolutely ecstatic to have a friend on his side. Some small reason to perhaps not need to spend the remainder of the year's recesses alone on the playground, watching others he will never be able to join.

And as the nurse finishes with him, and he hops down from the stool he has been sitting upon, Sadie stands from her own seat as well, her shy grin giving Eddie every reason to believe his decision to help the pretty girl swinging from the monkey bars may just have been the best choice of his life.

Hello there, everyone! Welcome to what I hope will become a collection of one-shots that will show Eddie and Sadie's relationship both leading up to the events in 'The Cheerleader and The Freak', and perhaps even some scenes that may fit in between the pre-established chapters of that story as well! The idea was prompted by a lovely review on TCATF from SailorErinViz95, so I hope I've done it justice with the first chapter featuring how Eddie and Sadie first met! For now, these chapters may be shorter than what you find in my stories, simply so that I can hopefully post things in relatively quick succession. Regardless, though, I hope at least some of you are along for the ride?

As always, I appreciate each and every one of you for taking the time to read, follow, favorite and review any one of my stories! I appreciate your time, and your support so, so much more than you can ever know, and it is my sincerest hope that you all enjoy this little collection of one-shots as much as I enjoy writing them!

Until next time, angels…

MOMM