Fright Night For Real

Eddie agrees to meet him at the coffee shop which is already an achievement. He has been ghosting Charley for some time already and it’s not like Charley wasn’t actively protesting. Eddie knew how to be difficult when he wanted to, and recently he has chosen that he really wanted to, it seemed. It’s only when Charley gets to the coffee shop that he realizes it’s an unusual place for Eddie to pick for a meeting. First of all, this particular coffee shop is very far away from the places they would usually go to, like the old Arcade or the Extravanganza Comic Book Store, with all the words written in capital letters. Second of all, he can’t remember Eddie being fond of coffee. And, third of all, coffee shops were for posers to quote Evil Ed himself. Eddie is sitting in the corner. There’s a big mug of coffee in front of him. Next to it resides the phone which Eddie is slowly rotating with the little finger of his left hand. “Hey. How are you, man?” Charley lets the backpack fall next to the table and plops into the chair opposite Eddie. “I am fine,” Eddie replies without even looking at him. He keeps on playing with the phone. “In fact, I am better than ever.” “Oh, well… great to hear that.” A few moments of awkward silence pass. Charley can’t get rid of the feeling that something is wrong with Ed, and he is trying to solve the mystery. He fails. “Wow, Brewster. Keep eye-fucking me like that and people will think we are in love,” Eddie stops toying with his phone and it’s only then that Charley realizes Evil isn’t wearing his glasses anymore. “And you’re kissing your mom with this filthy mouth of yours, Evil…” It is supposed to sound like a joke and it doesn’t. “Let’s keep her out of this, Brewster. It’s not cool, and you are so cool, aren’t you.” “What’s your problem, Eddie?” “I don’t know. A nervous breakdown, maybe. Too much stress at school. Too little help from my supposed-to-be friends. I don’t know, Brewster.” Charley feels the best thing to do right now is to get up and leave. Instead, he asks: “What’s up with your glasses?” “I don’t need them anymore.” “How so?” “Contact lenses, Charley. Welcome to the future,” Ed leaves his phone be and sighs. “Why did you want to meet anyway?” “I was worried.” “Oh.” Actually, it’s not the only reason Charley wanted to meet. After the dream he had… the one that left his feet dirty, he wanted to talk to someone. And it occurred to him that Ed was the only person he could share this thing with. He wouldn’t want either Mom or Amy to get worried over something he probably shouldn’t be worried about, or advise him to see a doctor. Jerry once mentioned that he didn’t like doctors of any kind, and Charley had to agree. The worst of all, he thought, were shrinks. He couldn’t imagine lying on the couch you’d always see in the office of an aspiring-Freud-to-be and talking about his dreams. He couldn’t talk to Mark either because that one would either mock him for being overly sensitive or accuse him of doing drugs and not sharing. But you can’t say it to somebody, right? You can’t say you are selfish and egocentric, and that when you need someone’s help, you kind of expect to get it, even though you didn’t offer it in return. Charley feels ashamed but that doesn’t change anything, and so he says: “You stopped coming to school. You didn’t return my calls. Or texts.” “Sounds familiar. With one little exception, though, now that the tables have turned,” Eddie looks at him with a smirk that has never been there before. “You didn’t like to be ignored, did you?” “I didn’t. And I am sorry, Eddie,” says Charley after a long pause. “I shouldn’t have…” “Forget about that. I don’t care anymore.” Charley knows that it’s probably a bad idea but he has to ask: “So… you don’t think anymore that Jerry is…” “A terrible name for a vampire? Yeah, I still think it is.” “Okay, and the vampire thing?” “Are you seriously asking me now if I still believe that Jerry Dandridge is a vampire?” Eddie looks at him with the expression of a person who has just discovered that there’s some dogshit smeared on his shoe. Charley remembers that one phone call he had to make. He remembers Mrs. Lee’s voice. How she said Eddie had a nervous breakdown. Probably, he is more of a dogshit than a person. “I am sorry, Eddie. I shouldn’t have said that.” “Yes. You shouldn’t have,” Eddie agrees, and suddenly Charley can see how different Eddie looks. How good he looks. It’s not only the physical appearance, it’s the way Eddie moves, looks, and smirks. Charely can’t help but think about the trope when a librarian with her hair in a tight bun and glasses that hide her face suddenly takes them off and undoes the ribbon, her hair is gorgeous and long, and she is sexy as hell. Ed is not a sexy librarian, of course, but Charley realizes that he is not the only one looking at Evil Ed. The barista, for example. “But I still think you should stay away from Jerry Dandridge.” “Do you have any other reason now, aside from him being a vampire?” It was supposed to sound cool. It was supposed to make him have the last word. It was supposed to be a joke. “I do.” “Care to share?” “I don’t want to share with you, Charley. Or anyone else, for that matter,” Eddie smiles and there’s something very unnerving in the way he does that. “If you came here to say you’re sorry, I accept your apologies. And I want you to leave me alone from now on.” “Jeez, Eddie, I am sorry! What else do you want to hear from me? You were acting like a jerk! And you are still doing it.” “Good old Brewster. He still can’t say sorry without accusing others.” “Fuck you, Eddie.” “Oh, you can try. And you won’t be successful, sweetheart,” Eddie picks his phone up and looks at the watch. “Are we done here? I have plans.” “Really? What are those plans?” “I am meeting someone. I know that hurts, Brewster, but I couldn’t keep waiting for you forever, you know,” Eddie smiles, and this is a beautiful smile. It makes Charley smile back at him, even though he is still angry. “What’s her name, Eddie?” “It’s not a she.” “Oh… Oh!” The realisation hits. Actually… everything is starting to make more sense, and Charley does the only thing he can think of. Charley Brewster shuts up. “Yeah. You’re so cool, Brewster, I can’t stand it… it’s a miracle you’re still alive with this little brain of yours,” Eddie shakes his head and leaves Charley to think it all over. The mug is still full of cold coffee. Untouched.