Fright Night For Real

Ed has learned to cope with others pretty early. They used to be a musketeer’s trio, him, Charley, and Adam, and everything was alright in the world. The stayovers, the pajama parties, the late-night TV shows… the endless discussions on the topics that for some reason seemed important and valid, like who would kick whose ass, Batman or Superman, or what the essential difference between a ghoul and a zombie was. Charley used to be one hell of an arguer. He used to be fun to be around… or maybe he just used to be around, period. At first, Ed thought that it all had happened way too fast and he didn’t have a chance to stop the process. He told himself that Charley had changed suddenly, overnight, and if Ed had been given a chance, he would have changed everything. It was a lie, of course, one of the many lies Edward Lee had been telling himself over the recent years. Adam didn’t seem either surprised or offended when Charley stopped showing up at their meetings. He somehow seemed relieved when Brewster finally ditched them both for good. Probably, he was tired of the inevitable awkwardness of Ed’s efforts to keep three of them together. Good old times were in the past, and Edward Lee wasn’t ready to admit that. “People change, Ed,” he said once when Eddie had finished his monologish rant about that traitor Brewster. “Don’t fret about that.” The problem was he couldn’t play it cool. The problem was him, not Charley, as Ed had been desperately trying to convince himself. Ed has learned to cope with others but not with his old and stupid self who sobs in his pillow because Charley isn’t looking at him anymore. To be fair, Charley has never looked at him the way Ed wanted him to, but, at least, he used to have something… Now he has nothing, and Adam, good old Adam, isn’t stupid or blind. Adam knows that Eddie is upset. What Adam doesn’t know is that the reason Eddie is upset is that he can never be a blond girl with a juicy ass and bouncy tits like Amy. Hence, he can’t win Charley back. Charley never returns his calls anymore. His mom, Jane, keeps telling white lies about how Charley is out or busy or would call him back. He wouldn’t, of course, but Ed keeps pestering Mrs.Brewster via the phone because he doesn’t want to suffer or be embarrassed alone. Edward “Evil Ed” Lee starts keeping an eye on Charley. Not the creepy way, of course, not like that. He’s simply trying to find the right moment to talk to his friend. The one he once watched jerking off when jerking off was a new thing for all of them. Ed knew that Charley knew he was watching, but Charley said nothing, and Ed kept pretending to be asleep. Oh, those sleepovers at Eddie’s place! He watches Charley come back home, have dinner with his mom, and, very frequently, with that cow Amy, who joins the Brewsters as if she has any right to. The best place to watch them in the kitchen is from the house next door. The owners left and it’s on sale now. A common story in the suburbs of Las Vegas. Ed watches them from the empty and dark kitchen of the abandoned house and imagines himself at the table next to Charley who is most definitely laughing at the joke Ed has just cracked, like good old times. He isn’t creepy, he is just sad. He isn’t a pervert or anything. He’s just lonely. One night, he sees something he doesn’t want to. He runs back home to his parents with the haste of a person being chased by dogs. He skips dinner and tells Mom he’s unwell, and he is unwell — it’s not even a lie. Charley Brewster was kissing Amy Peterson, and they were not sitting in a tree, they were standing in the kitchen, well-lit and cozy, while Eddie’s vision was getting dimmer and dimmer, and the tears tasted salty in his mouth. Ed skips his new habit of watching Charley at home, and when he comes back a week later, the house he used to hide in is sold. It has a new tenant now. Ed is now watching from the other side of the street. But very soon, he stops watching Charley because the new owner of the house next to the Brewster’s house is called Jerry Dandridge. And there is something in Jerry Dandridge that doesn’t feel right.