The losers and I are scattered at the table for lunch. Bill and Stan pick at their food, Richie shoves his hotdog in his mouth and Eddie shudders in disgust beside him.

I eat my apple, watching as Eddie tells Richie to "slow down". Bev mumbles something about "that's what she said". Ben laughs beside her.

"So this is what school's like?" Mike grumbles. "I hate it. How could you force me into this mess, Ally?!"

Laughing, I throw the apple's stem at him. "Oh, be quiet! It's better than having to kill sheeps." I point out, he nods his head. "Touché." I sit there for about 15 minutes joking around with everyone, then suddenly stand up.

"I'll be right back, I just remembered Betty wanted to give me something earlier." I state, beginning to walk away from the table. A hand grabs mine, tugging me to a stop. Turning around with a bit of a confused expression, I'm met with Eddie's eyes. "You'll really come back though...right?" He questions, a small frown resting on his expression.

A smile breaks onto my face.

"Of course!" Leaning down, as if to prove my point, I kiss him.

Hoots and wolf whistles echo from the football teams table, and squeals erupt from the cheerleaders. Eddie blushes when I pull back, looking towards the tables.

"Hey Flower, where's my kiss?!" Jonathan, #3 on the football team, calls teasingly. I flip him off with a joking smile. Eddie hides a smile, and lets go of my hand. With a blush, he turns back and continues talking to the boys as I walk over to the cheer table.

"Oh, Ally! You and Eddie are just too cute! At first I was like– 'that's a little weird'– but I take it back! You're both so cute!" Cherry squeals. I blush and try to quiet her down. "T-Thanks."

Betty laughs and hands me a slip of paper.

"Here's your pass to get out of class early. The pep-rally will be held during the last two periods of the day, and you'll be excused early to help get ready." She explains, saluting me as I walk away from the table nodding. As I'm walking back across the cafeteria, Josh calls me over.

"Hey! Flower, come here really quick!" He shouts. From the corner of my eye, I can see Eddie's head basically fly off his body as he turns to us. I giggle a bit and brush him off, walking towards the guilty looking football player. "What's up, Josh?"

"Listen, tell your boyfriend I'm really sorry about earlier. I had no idea you and the kid were dating!" He apologizes, scratching the back of his neck with an embarrassed blush. "I hope I didn't scare him off. I never expected you to date him of all people–I don't even know the kid's name– but, I mean, he seems nice. And I'm real sorry."

A wide grin spreads on my face as I imagine the victorious feeling I'll get when I get to tell Eddie, "I told you so".

"Sure thing, Josh. I'll tell him!" I smile. He grins and waves as I walk off.

Eddie is sat there with a pout, face rested on the palm of his hand.

"I thought you said you were just going to talk to Betty." He grumbles.

I stifle a laugh at his childishness.

"Josh just wanted me to tell you he was sorry. Like– REALLY sorry. And that he didn't have any idea we were dating." I state, watching as a look of realization takes his face. "O-Oh yeah? Well– w-well, why was he blushing then?" He argues, not looking me in the eye.

"He was blushing from embarrassment." I respond, sitting next to him on the lunch table. I try to bring him into a hug, but he won't even face me properly. "Please let me love you."

With a small laugh, he finally turns to me and wraps his arms around my figure. I give him a kiss on the cheek before burying my face into his neck. He shivers, and I can feel his face heat up.

"You two are gonna give each other crabs or something." Richie grumbles, bringing us out of our little moment and back into where we really were. Which, may I remind you, is sat at a table with the rest of our awkward friends. Eddie pulls away, rolling his eyes.

"Shut up, Richie." I grumble.

"Oh right, I forgot, Eddie already has them from sharing a toilet with his mom?"

Elbow

"I really am the punching bag of this damn circle, aren't I?!" He whines.

"Yes." Everyone agrees.