React and Interact

Pair: Eddy and Jimmy (friendship)

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"Eddy?"

The called-upon Ed lifted his eyes from the book he was pretending to read and saw Jimmy standing in front of him, fidgeting and holding a packet of papers. "What d'you want, Curly Cue?" Eddy grumbled, dropping the book.

"Where… where are Ed and Double Dee?" Jimmy peeped, looking around as though he expected them to pop out (which, all things considered, was a distinct possibility).

Eddy shrugged. "Sock head's trying to teach Ed something and he said I was being distracting 'er something, so I left." He sounded nonchalant, though a frown was held on his face, "Why, you need 'em?"

"No…" Jimmy trailed off and glanced at the book Eddy had dropped on the ground next to him. "What are you reading?"

"Heck if I know. I'm just pretending so my parents won't come out and yell at me about not doing my homework." Eddy gestured to his house, which he had been seated against. "Are you here for something, or not?"

"Well… I need your help." Jimmy admitted finally, rolling the papers up and releasing them again.

"Oh, well why didn't you say so?" Eddy asked, brightening up. "It'll cost ya, though. What'd you have in mind?"

The younger boy took a breath before launching into his explanation. "You see, I've always loved the stage and so I decided to audition for our school's upcoming play. And I was cast as the Prince Charming in Cinderella." Jimmy struck a rather glamorous pose with a smile, but continued speaking when it seemed Eddy was not as enthralled as he was. "Of course, I need to practice my lines before the big night, and… well…"

"So, why don't you get Sarah to do it? Don't you two do all your other girly junk together?" Eddy asked, crossing his arms.

"I would, but Sarah simply doesn't understand the needs of a rising thespian. She's too nice-" Here Jimmy paused so Eddy could laugh for a full minute, "I need someone who will be brutally honest about my performance. Someone like you!"

There was a brief silence. Eddy didn't bother asking why it was he that Jimmy thought of first or even how much Jimmy was willing to pay for his service; the one thing that did cross his mind was this: "I ain't gonna be Cinderella."

"But if you could listen to me rehearse my lines and give me your unbridled feedback, no matter how cruel, that would be perfect!" Jimmy replied enthusiastically.

"Yeah, fine." Eddy grunted, settling back against his house and watching as the blonde boy began to perform.

Every so often, he stopped the boy with a "no, no, no," or a "you're doin' it all wrong!" and so on. By the end of the afternoon, Jimmy had burst into tears once and starting shouting another time, and Eddy had done more than his fair share of the latter, but the younger boy went home with a smile on his face.

Eddy returned to his faked reading and suddenly realized he hadn't even asked Jimmy to pay him before he left. Blaming it on fairy tale-induced insanity, he promised himself he'd shake down the boy for money tomorrow.

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Words: 532

Author's Note: Urg… I'm still not terribly pleased with this one (hence my lack of updating) but it's not terrible. On a related note, please excuse my temporary absence. Real life and personal criticism got in my way.