Gabriel nodded, remembering the colorfully dressed man with the slightly high-pitched voice.
"Well, he told me this and that, and I can tell you his life is not a piece of cake." She looked at him with regret in her eyes. "He had to overcome quite a lot and deal with a whole lot of people who deserve to know what it feels like to be excluded." A sudden smile lit up her face. "But he is happy now. He actually did find true love, and now they even are a family. Their son is now three years old."
Gabriel smiled. "That's great! Do you mind if I tell Jack? Maybe it'll help him."
"I don't mind. But I doubt that hearing this will help him right now. I think what will help him most are friends who stand by him no matter what." Again her eyes grew serious. "Are you prepared to do that? It isn't always easy."
Remembering how they had all stood together over the summer...for Hannah, Gabriel nodded. "I don't care. That's what friends are for."
Chapter 17 – Taking the Fall
Ever since Eddie had learned Jack's secret, he'd kept his distance. Not only from Jack, but also from their little group of friends. His eyes heavy with dark thoughts, he kept to himself, not even making eye contact. Whenever they happened upon one another, he would turn and walk down the way he had come. While Liam and Jordan, after learning the truth, expressed their anger about his behavior loudly, Jack simply slumped into himself, feeling at fault for having destroyed the connection they'd always had to one another.
Only Gabriel knew the whole truth though. He knew that Eddie hurt as much as Jack. He saw the sorrow in both their eyes and felt helpless because he didn't know what to do to help ease their pain. Both had sworn him to secrecy, binding his hands.
Occasionally he tried to talk to Eddie, but the once cheerful, always chatty boy had turned sour, silent and sorrowful. In his eyes, Gabriel could read that nothing he said made a difference. In a way Eddie was broken, and Gabriel didn't know what to do to put him back together.
On a Friday afternoon, just after sixth period, Gabriel step out of the classroom only to witness another stare-down between Eddie and Jack down the hall. A part of him urged him on to go and help. Maybe he could mediate between them. But another part felt so tired from trying over and over again that his feet just wouldn't move. Frozen to the spot, he stared at the former friends, and his own eyes started to fill with tears over the loss they had suffered.
While Jack's face held a silent plea for Eddie to go back to the way they used to be, Eddie's eyes burned with rage barely held in check. His jaw clenched and hands balled to fists, he stood paralyzed like a marble column. Until from one second to the next a spark of life returned to his body, and he spun around, striding down the hallway as fast as he could, while the rest of the student body moved in the other direction, heading to the front entrance and home. He brushed past Gabriel without seeing him and pushed open the doors that led to the back of the school building.
Gabriel could see the hurt in Jack's eyes as he turned and, accompanied by his sister and Liam, left for home as well. Quite unlike her, Jordan had an arm wrapped around her brother's shoulders, whispering into his ear, while Liam gave him a pat on the back. 'They are taking care of him,' Gabriel thought and turned to look at the doors through which Eddie had left. 'But what about Eddie?'
His mind made up, Gabriel strode down the now empty hallway and followed his friend, hoping to talk some sense into him once again. Leaving the building, he scanned his surroundings, but just as inside, the schoolyard lay deserted. Always amazed at how a school appeared like a buzzing beehive one second, but could feel like a tomb the next, Gabriel stepped forward, keeping his eyes open. After all, Eddie couldn't have vanished into thin air.
Checking the gym and the football field, Gabriel started to feel discouraged. Who knew which way Eddie had slipped away? He knew this place much better.
Then a shuffling sound reached his ears, and Gabriel quickened his pace. As he turned around the corner to the inner schoolyard, he froze.
Right there in front of him, Eddie stood among Principal Hall's cherished rose bushes, now overwintering peacefully. Grunts of anger and frustration rose from his throat, as he tore apart his future, stem by stem.
***
Walking into the schoolyard on Monday morning, Gabriel once again froze. Across the yard, he saw Eddie sitting in Principal Hall's office, eyes cast down and head hanging low between his shoulders. His view of the principal's office was unperturbed, partly thanks to Eddie's efforts the previous Friday. This late in the season not even overwintering rose bushes stood in his way, or anyone else's.
"What happened?" Liam asked, walking up to Gabriel with Jack and Jordan following close behind. "What did he do now?"
Gabriel exhaled slowly and, without saying a word, pointed at the remains of their principal's precious rose bushes. Liam's eyes popped open in shock as he understood what Gabriel was telling him.
"Oh God, he didn't," Jordan whispered, unable to tear her eyes away. "What is he thinking these days? I mean he's always been...weird, but this is...this is self-destructive." For the moment Gabriel detected no anger in her voice as she spoke about the friend that continued to hurt her brother on a daily basis. Fiercely loyal, Jordan had stood beside her brother, never considering Eddie's side. But now the memory of their friendship rang in her voice.
Only Jack remained quiet. With eyes as sad as they generally were these days, he looked at his friend. Although Eddie had voiced his anger again and again, rejecting Jack's friendship in the harshest possible ways, Jack held no grudge. Gabriel knew that his only wish was to somehow mend their friendship and that the thought of that not being possible hurt him more than any of them could fathom.
"We have to do something," Liam said, still shaking his head. "Things can't go on like this. We have to do something."
"Any ideas?" Gabriel asked, feeling completely defeated. "I've tried to talk to him...I don't even know how often, but he won't listen. How do you help someone who doesn't want to be helped?"
Silence settled over the little group as they watched Principal Hall exact her revenge. Eddie grew smaller and smaller by the second. Then he suddenly looked up and stared at Mrs. Hall, eyes frozen in shock. Whatever she'd just said had hit its mark.
***
It wasn't until days later that they found out what had happened in the little, cube-shaped office. Meeting after school, Liam was the last to join them. As he came riding his bike down the street toward them, Jordan looked up. "Where've you been? We've been waiting for you!"
"I know what happened," he called. As he reached them, he jumped off his bike, catching his breath. "I know how Principal Hall punished Eddie."
"How?" Jack asked.
"She banned him from the Writers' Workshop!"
"What?" the others called in unison.
Jack shook his head. "That'll kill him."
"It will," Jordan agreed. "Which is probably why she did it."
"Don't you think that's a bit harsh?" Liam asked. "He's been working on that for months. And now...nothing. Gone."
Jordan shrugged. "Well, it was stupid of him to do what he did. If he had only stopped to think for a moment, he would have known how bad her wrath would be. In case you forgot, he's not the first one to suffer it."
"I know," Jack said. "But..."
"But what?" Jordan asked. "There is nothing we can do about it. Maybe he can join again next year...if he doesn't screw up again, that is."
"He's probably really depressed right now," Liam said. "Have any of you talked to him since Monday?"
Jordan snorted. "Have you not noticed that he doesn't talk to us anymore? Gabriel is right. We can't help him until he is ready to accept our help."
Gabriel nodded. "Believe me, I've tried." Seeing the pain on Jack's face, he added, "But I'll try again. We won't give up on him."
***
While Eddie had evaded them successfully for the past few days, Gabriel was determined to not let him slip through his grasp when he fi
nally discovered him. To his surprise and shock, he found Eddie once again sitting in Principal Hall's office.
Once the paralysis over this discovery had worn off, he hurried across the schoolyard and entered the building, heading straight for the administration office. Waiting around the corner, half-hidden behind the water cooler, Gabriel wrung his hands, trying desperately to keep his curiosity in check while working out what to say to Eddie. So far nothing had worked.
When Eddie finally emerged from the Principal's office, he had a smile on his face. Gabriel felt like rubbing his eyes, unsure whether or not to believe what he was seeing. Eddie smiling, that was a sight unseen in the past weeks.
"What happened?" he asked without preliminaries when Eddie headed down the hallway.
At his voice, Eddie turned to look at him, and again his face darkened. "That's none of your business!"
"It used to be," Gabriel said, grabbing his arm when he tried to walk away. "We're friends, remember?"
For a second Eddie's gaze turned to the floor, then it shifted back to Gabriel. "Fine. If you must know, she told me I could apply for the Writers' Workshop after all."
"What? Why?"
Eddie shrugged. "Don't really know. Don't really care."
"Why would she suddenly change her mind?" Gabriel wondered, more to himself than to Eddie. "She never went back on her punishment for Jordan."
"I don't know. She said something about doing the right thing and standing up for yourself and not let others influence you in a bad way, or something," Eddie said, trying to remember. "That protecting others is not always a good idea. Honestly, I don't know what she meant." His face brightened. "But as long as I got a chance to go, I don't care." He turned to leave.
"Jack," Gabriel mumbled, and Eddie stopped. "It was Jack. He took the fall for you."
"What?" Eddie snapped. "Why would you say that?"
"Because it's true," Gabriel said, his mind racing to work out the details. Then his eyes turned to Eddie. "We both know you did it. You destroyed the rose bushes." Eddie's eyes narrowed. "I saw you. I know that you did it, but I guess Principal Hall didn't see it for herself. I guess she just suspected it was you, and then, when you didn't argue her point, she was convinced. And since it was you, no one else would have come forward to claim it was them. Why would they?"
"Then why do you think Jack did it?" Eddie snapped. "He has nothing to gain."
Gabriel shook his head. "That's not true. He did it because he is your friend." Eddie stiffened. "Whether you like it or not, Jack is your friend, and he will always protect you, even from yourself. He knows how much the workshop means to you. He did it to give you another chance."
Sagging against the wall, Eddie's head sank to his chest. In that moment, Gabriel saw the coat of anger he'd been wearing wrapped around his shoulders slide to the floor, leaving nothing but pain and regret. Exhaustion filled his eyes as he stared into the distance. "After everything, why...?"
"Are you really surprised?" Gabriel asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. As Eddie looked up, he smiled at him. "Don't feel bad. I know you would've done the same thing if your roles had been reversed."
Eddie shook his head. "Only Jack wouldn't have been such an ass!" Again his head sank down. "I don't know what to do now."
"What do you want to do?"
"I don't know." Barely lifting his eyes off the floor, he whispered. "I miss him. I miss all of you."
Gabriel nodded. "We miss you too. Why don't you just come back?"
Eddie shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not sure I can. And not just because of the others. I'm not sure how to deal with Jack...and my father. Everything is so messed up."
"Just promise me to think about it, okay?"
As Eddie rose to his feet, his eyes remained glued to the floor, but Gabriel thought he saw his head give a slight nod as he turned and walked away without saying another word.
Gabriel took a deep breath, watching Eddie’s figure disappear around a corner down the hall. “Please,” he whispered. “Please think about it.”
“Don’t worry! He’ll come around,” a small, yet authoritative voice spoke from behind him.
Gabriel’s blood froze in his veins as he felt himself turn around as though someone was pulling the strings on a puppet. Looking up into Mrs. Hall’s eyes, his own fell open and he couldn’t help but stare, feeling his cheeks flush hot, with fear or embarrassment he didn’t know. Maybe a bit of both.
Not looking at him, Mrs. Hall’s gaze still lingered on the spot where Eddie had vanished. “Edward is a difficult one to figure out, but he is not stupid. Far from it.” She nodded as though trying to convince herself. “He’ll come around.” Then she turned to look at Gabriel, and all softness was gone from her eyes. “Don’t you have a class to get to?”
Still unable to speak, Gabriel just nodded, then turned and all but ran down the hallway.
***
Days passed, and while Eddie had glared at them in the recent past, he now simply seemed to avoid them. Occasionally his eyes flitted to their little group, moving from one to the other, only to be returned to the ground before he would change direction and walk away. Before, it had been anger keeping him away, but Gabriel knew that that was no longer the case. Now, it seemed to be shame.
Remembering his own problem with his mother as well as Hannah's advice how to resolve it, Gabriel followed Eddie down the hallway after he'd turned away from them once again. "Wait up!" he called. "And don't pretend you didn't hear me!"
Finally stopping in his tracks, Eddie half-sacked, half-leaned against the wall. "What?" he asked, but his voice didn't hold the usual anger, and Gabriel felt encouraged to pursue his goal.
"I want to talk to you," he said, and, seeing Eddie roll his eyes, added, "You know things can't stay the way they are, don't you? Are you happy this way? You don't look like you are."
Eddie just shrugged, avoiding his eyes.
"I just thought you should talk to your dad."
At that, Eddie's head snapped up, and he stared at Gabriel.
Putting up his hands to stop any reply Eddie might find appropriate at such a suggestion, Gabriel hastened on, "Look, I know it's a scary thought, but believe me it works. It's the only thing that has a chance of working."
Eddie's eyes narrowed as he eyed him curiously. "How would you know? Your dad didn't run off with another dude!" Again Gabriel heard more pain than anger in his friend's voice.
"No, he didn't, but that doesn't mean I have no problems with my parents. Do you even know why they sent me here for the summer?"
Eddie shook his head.
"Not that they would have admitted it, but they wanted to get rid of me. They didn't know what to do with me." Saying it out loud felt liberating, Gabriel realized. Nothing good ever came from swallowing anger. "But it wasn't about me. Not really. It was about them and their issues, more precisely my mom's."
"How do you know?"
Holding his friend's gaze, Gabriel said, "I asked her. I wouldn't let her ignore me anymore, and...we talked. So much and in a way we hadn't talked in years. It felt so good and so...so simple." He shook his head. "Now I can't help but wonder why it took me so long to just ask, to just say that I wouldn't put up with being ignored any longer. Believe me, talking to your dad will give you at least one thing."
"And what's that?"
"Answers," Gabriel said. "Understanding why your parents are the way they are helps. Hannah once told me that adults are just older children, that they too make mistakes and get scared, and that sometimes it is us who have to take the first step and help them along."
A fleeting grin crossed Eddie's face. "She was some Miss Smarty-pants, wasn't she?!"
Gabriel grinned. "She was, but a really helpful one!"
Chapter 18 – Heart to Heart
"Gabriel!"
Hearing his name called, Gabriel turned around, searching the sea of faces in the school yard until one he recognized approached him. "Hi Eddie, how are you doing?" he asked, se
eing the tension on his friend's face, and wondered what had happened.
"Well," he started, shifting from one foot to the other, "I wanted to ask you something."
"Sure, what?"
"I...eh...I called my dad."
Gabriel's eyes flew open. "Really? That's great! What did he say?"
"Nothing yet," Eddie said. "But he's coming here, so we can talk." A faint smile illuminated Eddie's features for a second. "He sounded happy that I called, and he offered to come right away."
"That's good," Gabriel said, patting Eddie on the back. "You did well! You can be proud! That wasn't easy."
Eddie nodded. "It's just...I don't really know how...I mean, I don't...would you mind coming?" His eyes were focused on the tip of his shoes.
Surprised at Eddie's request, Gabriel felt a little shaken. He wanted to help his friend, and yet he didn't feel comfortable about direct confrontations, especially since he didn't know Eddie's dad. What kind of a help would he be? What if neither one of them knew what to say? But seeing Eddie squirm uncomfortably before him and knowing the courage it had taken to even ask for his help, Gabriel agreed. "Sure, I'll be there."
That Saturday Gabriel accompanied Eddie to the Dive. Eddie had picked the spot because he felt at ease there, and, at this time of year, it lay deserted, so they would have privacy. Arriving early, Eddie flung stones into the water, kicked up dirt while pacing the water's edge and pulled leaves of nearby bushes. All the while Gabriel tried to distract him, but nothing worked. When he had confronted his mother, his own nerves had been on edge too.
Eddie looked about ready to throw himself into the icy water when his dad finally arrived. Tall, with a straight face and round, open eyes, he came walking through the tall grass. As his eyes fell on his son, a smile spread across his face, but Gabriel detected a hint of fear lying in his eyes. He seemed as nervous as Eddie, and once again Gabriel had to think of Hannah as he greeted Eddie's father with an easy smile.