I'm back guys! And with a new chapter, no less! Hallelujah! Praise... whoever, I don't care. Praise me since I finally sat and wrote a new chapter! Yea, that works.
Ahem...
Anyways, I love all the reviews I'm getting, so keep them coming! I love hearing what you all think. It can be hard sometimes to write in the voice of another so I hope I'm doing Edd justice by trying to write in his voice. Also, another two songs in this one! Only brought in the lyrics of one, however, but listened to both of them on repeat while I worked on this chapter!
A little disclaimer here since I pulled in another character. I do not own the characters, only the story. The characters belong to their mutual creators.
So, without a further ado, enjoy chapter 7!
Chapter 7 – Just… Perfect
Nat gave a great big grin when he looked over to us as we walked up the steps of the school. "Well hello there Double Delish. What are you doing here with this late lugnut?" Kevin gave him a small glare and I blushed. Nat quickly turned back toward Kevin. "You're late dude. You are going to lose it when you see who Nazz is with tonight. I've been waiting to catch you beforehand since I saw myself. I had to take a second look because I couldn't believe my eyes." He brought his hand up to his face and gave a sigh. "Because you took so long, I've been away from my date. You have no class, Kev. None at all." Kevin's jaw tightened and he went to punch Nat in the arm but he missed and Nat jumped further into the school. "Well, come on then!"
Kevin walked in behind Nat, his hands in the pockets of his jeans. I followed them in, the music becoming deafening. "Oh, it is my fault, we are late, Nat. Do not blame Kevin, I was not ready on time as I had completely forgotten about this event in the excitement that happened yesterday." Nat looked over his shoulder at me with a small smile on his face.
"Aren't you just the cutest? Do not worry about it, Double Delectable. I know who is really to blame. Someone wanted to have you all to himself." He glanced back over to Kevin with a knowing look and I just looked between them confused. Kevin's jaw was still tight and it almost sounded like he was snarling.
"Just keep walking, dude. Shut up, and keep walking." Nat laughed and pushed open the door to the gymnasium where the music flew out with such force, I thought I was going to fall backwards. Curse my petit stature.
"I thought I heard someone's obnoxious laughter over the music." A figure was making his way over from the wall and glared over to Nat. "Why did you leave me like that? Why the rush off to leave me stranded here for twenty minutes?" Nat grinned and walked closer to the figure. I had a hard time seeing who it was in the colored lights that blinked on and off around us. The figure was dressed in a black sweater and black skinny jeans, not unlike my own, however his outfit made him appear slender and lean, almost mysterious. He had a pair of black-rimmed glasses on and his light brown hair framed his face. Nat walked over and put his hands around the man's hips and grinned. "Let go of me. What makes you think you can touch me so informally after ditching me like that?"
Kevin sighed. "Sorry Rave, its my fault. I was running late and decided to pick up this dork here. We got here as fast as we could." I looked over to Kevin. He was taking the fall for it, even though I was the one who had started to breakdown while we walked here. And who was Rave? I tried to look closer at the figure and blinked.
"James Castellano? Is that you? Forgive me, I did not realize you would come to something like this." James looked over to me and gave a small smile. He pushed Nat off of him as Nat's hand wandered a little lower past his hips. He walked over and stood in front of me and put his hand on my shoulder. His eyes went up to Kevin's. I blushed, realizing I still had Kevin's jacket over my shoulders.
"Call me Rave, Edd. And I could say the same thing to you. I would not have thought in a thousand years that these two meat heads would have been able to convince you to come to this dance." He waved between Kevin and Nat. It was obvious that Nat and Rave had something going on, but it was hard to tell what with the sharp contrast between their personalities. Nat was the football player and Rave was the artistic type. He actively took Creative writing electives, acted in the school dramas, and took at least two art courses a semester. That was probably why I did not recognize him as quickly as I should have. We had very little in common, including our classes. I think the only thing we had in common was our interest in football… mine clearly plutonic, of course. His, maybe not so much. Or maybe it was the other way around, what with how close Nat kept getting to Rave, despite Rave ignoring him to talk to me.
I smiled back to him, only partially faking it. It was mostly genuine, I think. If it wasn't, Kevin would have said something, right? "I made a deal with Kevin and Nat to come to both Homecoming events. Honestly, I had forgotten about the dance and that is why we were late. Kevin was kind enough to come and remind me and walk me back to the school." Rave nodded and looked back up to Kevin, who had now turned away and was looking out over the gym floor. He turned back to me and smiled and stood up and turned to Nat.
"Nat, go get us something to drink and why don't you ask the DJ to play something more up beat? I'm sick of what you made me listen to in your absence for twenty minutes." Nat gave him a cheeky grin but conceded and walked toward the DJ's booth. Rave walked over to Kevin and tapped the back of his hand on Kevin's chest and pointed across the gym floor to where two figures were standing and talking, swaying to the music slightly. "I believe they are what Nat ditched me to tell you about." I followed their gaze and my eyes went wide.
Across the floor stood a bubbly blonde girl, who could only have been Nazz. And standing with her was a shorter man with his hair slicked back. "Is that… Eddy? With Nazz? She actually agreed to come with him?" I stared at them from across the hall, completely forgetting how rude it was to stare at another. I could feel the tension radiating off of Kevin.
"Why would she come with that scam artist? Clearly he just wants something from her, the little twerp." His words were slow and thick with venom. I knew Kevin and Eddy had a bad history but it still hurt to hear him say those things about one of my best friends. He looked back over to me and instantly softened. I suppose my sadness was clear on my face, so I tried to mask it like I always do. A reflex, I suppose. "Double D, sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." When I smiled up at him and shook my head he sighed. "Listen Dork, what did I say about that?" I stopped, blushed, and nodded. Something about his tone was commanding, and somewhere inside of me, I liked that he cared so much.
Rave watched us as we exchanged looks and discussed Eddy and Nazz briefly. Kevin sighed. "Alright, I'm not going to worry about it right now. We're here to have a good time. Not going to let a midget of a dork stop that from happening, right? Where is Nat with those drinks?" Rave shook his head at Kevin but turned to look around and smiled as he saw Nat coming over with a handful of plastic cups with punch inside. He handed one to Kevin and then one to me. He held onto Rave's cup and grinned.
"You have to do something to get this first." Nat waggled his eyebrows and Rave's eyes narrowed darkly onto him. Nat grinned and handed him his cup. "God you are just the cutest when you are so uptight." At that, Rave swiftly punched him in the arm and took a sip of the beverage. I giggled at their exchange while I drank mine. We had moved deeper into the gym by this point, and found a table for me to sit down at. Nat looked down at me. "Why are you always sitting at parties? You should be up showing off your cute little self in that outfit. I could just eat you up on the spot." I blushed and Rave motioned like he was going to punch him again, but Nat moved just in time to make him miss. Kevin however, did not miss since Nat moved in perfect striking distance, and Kevin got him in his opposite arm.
"Stop being a creep dude. Didn't you talk to the DJ about the music?" Nat put his cup down and rubbed his arm where Kevin had punched him. He gave a sharp nod.
"Of course I did, brute. Good lord that one hurt. I was not being a creep. I was only speaking the truth." Kevin cracked his knuckles as if he was ready to throw another punch.
I giggled at the two of them. "Are you two always like this?" Rave sighed and nodded, a hand on his forehead.
"Unfortunately, yes, they are. Even when under my supervision, they are both like this. Sometimes I feel like my presence simply eggs this one on." He motioned to Nat and shook his head. At that moment the beat of the music picked up and Nat grinned down at me seated in the chair.
"I chose this one for you, Double Delectable. I thought you'd like it. Why don't you listen to it a little bit. Maybe something will click." I blinked up at him, confused. What was that supposed to mean?
Mistreated, misplaced, misunderstood
Miss 'No way, it's all good'
It didn't slow me down.
Mistaken, always second guessing
Underestimated, look I'm still around
Pretty, pretty please, don't you ever, ever feel
Like you're less than fucking perfect
Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel
Like you're nothing, you're fucking perfect to me
I blushed as I listened to the song. Kevin looked down at me and pulled me out of the chair I was sitting in. "Come on, Double D, let's dance."
You're so mean (so mean) when you talk (when you talk)
About yourself. You were wrong.
Change the voices (change the voices) in your head (in your head)
Make them like you instead.
I nodded and stood up with them. Rave grabbed Nat's hand and smiled. "Good choice, babe." Nat nodded, proudly.
"I thought so too. I don't know what it is, but Little Cutie over there needs to realize a few things." Rave sighed and pulled him out to the floor as well.
"He'll learn in time."
Kevin and I danced for the whole song, he never left my side the whole time, even while I shook, the emotions behind the song hitting me a little harder than I thought they could. Kevin looked down at me. "Make sense, Dork? You gotta get out of your head."
A tear slid down my face and he pulled me close and we continued to dance slowly to the song. I pulled myself away because I did not wish to publicly humiliate Kevin. He looked down at me with, was that pain in his eyes? He pulled me back close to him as he saw the water continuing to build in my eyes.
Pretty, pretty please, don't you ever, ever feel
Like you're less than fucking perfect
Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel
Like you're nothing, you're fucking perfect to me
(You're perfect, you're perfect)
Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel
Like you're nothing, you're fucking perfect to me.
He brushed away the last tear that had escaped my control and smiled down to me. He spoke so quietly that I do not believe I heard him correctly. But what it sounded like was "You're fucking perfect to me, Dork."
I turned to look up to him but he had stepped away as the song ended and was watching Nazz and Eddy. The two of them were laughing and appeared to be having a good time. I looked around for Nat and Rave, the safety nets incase something happened but they were nowhere to be seen. I assumed they had gone to get something more to drink.
Before I could stop him, Kevin had started walking toward Nazz and Eddy. I ran after him, his single stride equating to two fast paced steps of my own. "So this is who you decided to come with, Nazz? This twerp?" Nazz looked up to Kevin and glared.
"Seriously, Kev? You want to have this argument now?" She looked behind him and saw me coming up and she smiled slyly. "What does it matter anyways to you? You have your own date." Eddy looked between Nazz and Kevin and then over to me.
"Sockhead? You're here with Shovelchin? What the heck man, why are you here with him?" He sounded betrayed as he glared between Kevin and I. I shook my head.
"It is not like that! Kevin was simply making sure I made it safely here. I was running late and he was willing to walk me to the school. I've been talking to Rave since I got here." I shook my head, trying to figure out why I was defending myself to Eddy. "I only wanted to come and have some fun."
Eddy scoffed at me. "You seemed to be having plenty of fun out there on the dance floor. What were you doing? Crying out there? Into this jock's chest? You've got to be kidding me, Double D." I turned a deep red and Kevin stood between myself and Eddy.
"Listen here twerp, if you knew anything, you'd know not to be saying things like that! You have no idea what is going on." Eddy laughed at him.
"Look who's talking! You teased us as kids, Kevin! You don't know anything but how to be the jock asshole! What are you using Sockhead for? So he'll tutor your dumb ass?" I could see Kevin's whole body tense up as his muscles coiled back as he was readying a punch to knock Eddy right out. I did not know what to do. Physical altercations were not my forte. Luckily Nat and Rave came running up and pulled Kevin back, while Nazz stood in front of Eddy.
Nazz glared at Kevin, but her words were directed to both Kevin and Eddy. "Enough you two! What are we? In fourth grade?! Kevin, we'll talk about this later! Get lost!" Kevin pulled himself free of Nat and Rave's grasp and he spun on his heels away from Nazz's heavy glare. I looked between Eddy and Kevin. Nazz spoke first as Nat and Rave walked away after Kevin. "Maybe you should go to, Double D." I looked down, a wave of sadness washing over me. She walked up to me and ignored Eddy's words of disgust. "Don't worry Double D, I'm not mad at your or anything. We can't help it if the guy's we're with are total jerks, right?" I blushed deeply and shook my head.
"It is not like that…" She put her fingers onto my lips to keep me from continuing.
"Yes, yes, I know Double D. I've just seen how you look at him… and how he looks at you. He's just too proud to say anything so he gets angsty and acts like a child, much like he did just now. And I know you're too shy." I do not believe I could have become any redder if I held my breath and tried. "Listen, just keep an eye on him, okay? For me? He's going to be mad at me for a while because I didn't tell him about Eddy." I nodded slowly.
"Is Eddy… Is he…?" Nazz smiled and nodded.
"He's actually very charming when he tries to be. I'm having fun with him, Double D. Why don't you go make sure Kevin is having fun, too?" I gave a small nod and walked away. "Thanks, Double D."
I walked back to the table where Kevin was pacing and Nat and Rave were sitting, trying to calm him down and get him to sit. I felt myself tense up, as I got closer.
"That little twerp is going to hurt her, I know it! He can't be trusted!" I tapped Kevin's shoulder mid-step and he spun around on me but softened when he saw who it was that stopped his pacing.
A new song had popped up on the speakers and a lot of the students had jumped up to the dance floor. Nat grinned. "Ingrid Michaelson's "Girls chase Boys." Interesting choice…" He looked over to Rave and held his hand out. "Let's let them talk, yes?" Rave nodded, took Nat's hand, and they walked out to the dance floor.
I looked up to Kevin, the up beat music playing behind me. "She said Eddy is treating her well. You should be happy for her, right Kevin?" Kevin's eyes were piercing, but when I squirmed under his gaze, he visibly attempted to relax.
He sighed. "Alright. I'll talk to her about it later. As long as you think he won't try anything…" I nodded. "Fine. I'll leave them alone." I let out a heavy sigh that I did not realize I was holding. I listened to the song and swung side to side with the beat. Kevin grinned down at me. "You like this song? Its about girls going after boys." I rolled my eyes and shook my head.
"You have to think about it more than that Kevin. Its about finding what everyone wants. Its about going after what we want, since everyone wants the same thing, right?" Kevin chuckled and put a hand on my shoulder and leaned down to me.
"Maybe you're right, Dork. Maybe you're right." We started to dance to the rest of the song as it played and when it ended we both started laughing.
The night went on like that, laughing and dancing. A few more punches on Nat for one remark or another, but I realized I could not stop smiling. In a matter of a few days, I have found new friends. Hopefully I can repair any unseen damage to my friendship with Eddy, but having a new support system felt nice. Nat the rambunctious jock with Rave, the man of the arts. And then there was Kevin. I did not know what to think of him yet, but as a friend, he was very kind.
What a strange thought. To think of Kevin Barr as a friend of mine. At the beginning of the school year I never would have thought that this could happen. And that was only three weeks ago. Oh how so much can change, and how fast it all can happen.
When we all decided to leave the dance, the four of us left together and walked to our separate homes. Nat and Rave did not live in the cul-de-sac like Kevin and I did. They lived a few streets over so when it came time for them to separate we all smiled and said our goodbyes. I watched and smiled at how open Nat and Rave were about how they felt about each other, even with Nat being obnoxious and Rave pushing him away. I watched as Nat put his arm around Rave as they walked away from us with a wistful smile on my face.
"You comin', dork?" I turned to see Kevin smiling from down the street further from me. I started walking toward him but stopped when I heard something behind me. I looked around but did not see anything. "Come on, Double D. Don't want to get left behind, do you?"
I shook my head. "Must have been my imagination." I ran after him and he laughed. I looked up at him. "What are you laughing at, Mr. Barr?" He smiled down at me as he walked next to me down the street.
"Oh, no reason. Just funny watching you run after me as if I was actually going to ditch you out here." I glared up at him but he simply laughed at me again.
"Well I'm glad I can provide you with some level of amusement." He grinned and looked back up to the sky. I followed his gaze back up and smiled. The night sky was littered with thousands upon thousands of stars. "They are so beautiful. Such a clear night sky." When I brought my gaze down, I blushed. Kevin was watching me watch the stars as we walked. He stopped suddenly and I almost ran into him. "My, what is wrong Kevin? Why the abrupt stop?"
He grinned at me and pointed off to our left. "Your house, Dork." I blushed and walked down the small path toward the dark house and he followed me. I leaned over to the gnome on the corner of the garden and lifted it up to find my key, right where I left it. I unlocked my door and turned back to Kevin. He smiled down at me. "It was fun tonight. Thanks for sticking to your end of the deal, Double D." I nodded and blushed.
"It was fun, Kevin. Thank you for making sure I remembered." I walked back over to the gnome next to the porch steps on that side of the small garden and put the key back. "It is late, however, so I should probably be heading to bed.
Kevin nodded and looked back to his house across the street. "Yeah, probably should get home myself. Dad is probably staying up to make sure I get home on time." He shrugged and put his hand on my head. I panicked a little, thinking that he was going to take the beanie off, but he simply held his hand there. "Alright, I'll catch you later, Double D. See you on Monday."
I nodded and smiled up to him. "Yes, see you on Monday, Kevin." Kevin gave me a big grin and turned and walked away. Oh how I enjoyed watching him walk. Curse my hormones! I turned and walked into my once again dark house and shut the door behind me. I locked the door and smiled, resting my forehead against the cool wood of the door.
I walked back over to the couch where the book I finished this afternoon still sat. I grabbed it and flipped through it again. "So the whole package matters." I grinned, thinking back to my thoughts on the text earlier.
"You're fucking perfect to me, Dork." His soft, quiet words still rang loudly in my ears. Is that what he said? Or did I mishear him? What with the loud music, I could have misunderstood him. The blush I felt rise up from my neck told me otherwise, however.
"Hm. Perfect, huh?"