Part 23 (1/2)
Nate looked my way. I ducked farther back into the shadows just in time. I was still way too close. I slid into the laundry room as he launched into his hard-rocking chorus.
”Suc-suc-succubus
My rotting heart is covered in pus.
Suc-suc-succubus
The putrid corpse of the two of us. ”
I wondered which death would be less painful: running myself through the washer or the dryer.
”That guy is megatalented. How often do you hear the word 'putrid' in a song?”
It was Eddie Riegert. I wanted to disappear. ”You're not going to tell him I'm in here, are you?” I asked. ”Are you kidding? He's got the whole crowd with him. You think I'm gonna get in the way of that?”
Sure enough, all the party guests were singing along now. ”Suc-suc-succubus / My rotting heart is covered in pus...”
”I swear, he wasn't even interested in me when we were together,” I told Eddie. ”I don't get it.”
”He's e-mo,” Eddie said, dragging out the word. ”For emotional. He feels things deeper than the rest of us.” Then he looked at me and smirked. ”But you know all about that, right? That's your scene.”
From the way he said it, I had a feeling he already knew the truth.
”It's not really my scene,” I admitted. I waited for him to start asking questions, but he didn't. He hopped up to sit on the was.h.i.+ng machine.
”So tell me about yourself, Cara Leonard.” He eyed the six cups of snacks I'd put on the dryer. ”Hungry?”
I blushed and shook my head, so Eddie started snacking on the chips. He watched me, apparently waiting for me to start talking.
It was funny: I'd spent the past couple weeks dying for a guy to show even the slightest curiosity about who I really was. Now I was sitting with a Penultimate who was asking me to talk ... and I had no idea what to say.
”Um ... maybe we could take turns. You could tell me about yourself, too.”
”Sure. You first.”
”Ummm...”
Why were only the most random and bizarre things popping into my head?
”Okay ... I won't eat Hershey's Miniatures because I met the walk-around ones at Hersheypark when I was little and can't stand to see them hunted for food.”
”That's ... weird.”
What I really needed was the human version of an electric dog collar. Whenever I was about to say something stupid, it could shock me into silence.
”Your turn,” I said.
”I regularly scarf Hershey's Miniatures. By the handful.” ”Oh.”
”That was a joke, Cara,” he said.
”Oh. Sorry.” I forced a laugh.
”Okay, it wasn't like a laugh-out-loud joke. Are you always this nervous?”
”I'm not nervous,” I said.
”Whatever. How about we make it easier. You said you want to know about me?”
I nodded.
”Okay, grab a cup of snacks and settle in. Here goes.”
Eddie told me his whole story. He was the youngest of four, and his sister and brothers were all at least fifteen years older than him. He was the accident.
”When I was nine, my parents sat me down and said, 'Eddie, honey, we love you, but we're old. We're tired of parenting. You keep your grades above a C, you don't get any girls pregnant, we die happy. Everything else, you do what you want.'”
”They said that to you? Were you devastated?”
”Why? I thought they were pretty simple rules to live by.”
”You didn't feel like they were rejecting you?”
Eddie squinched his face at me. The conversation had gone much better when I'd stayed out of it. Maybe I'd invent that human electric dog collar myself.
”Tell me more,” I said.
He did. He said he played varsity football, basketball, and baseball and really wanted to get a sports scholars.h.i.+p to college. None of his siblings had gotten any financial aid for their education, and he wanted to give his parents a break.
”Oh, and I've already been married,” he said.
”You ... what?”
It was his sister Suzanne's idea. It had happened when Eddie was three and Suzanne was eighteen. Suzanne's best friend had a little sister Eddie's age, and the two older kids thought it would be fun to throw a wedding. They arranged a huge ceremony and reception. Suzanne and her friends catered, decorated, hired a band ... More than a hundred guests came, including Eddie's other siblings, who flew in for the occasion. Eddie wore a tux, the bride a gown, and the ceremony was performed by Eddie's uncle, a true ordained minister.
”Everyone played it up. My mom cried; the girl and I fed each other cake; people made toasts. The party went on till way after my bedtime. I seriously thought I was legally married until I was twelve.”
”That's crazy! Were you mad when you found out the truth?”