ten. you're just jealous  !
real life & imessages...

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IT WAS NOW WEDNESDAY OF NEXT week, and everyone was starting to get more and more excited for the weekend and the fun activities it would hold. there were only three more days until the dance, it was exciting and somewhat nerve racking for eden. she had no idea what her date looked like yet or even what he was going to be wearing, let alone what he was like. she was glad that they were at least getting together the day before, though she still felt like that wasn't going to be enough time for her. what if she ended up not liking him like she thought she would?

her phone suddenly lit up with the chime that came along with it, and it was almost as if her mind cued the text message. she looked at the notification and it was none other than the boy she had just been thinking about, shawn.

shawn 🤭
hey new girl 😏

eden (new girl) 😍
yk that gets old at some point 😭

shawn 🤭
yeah but it's cute now
anyways
i've been seeing u around in the halls
i was just thinking that maybe we should
get together before we planned?
i wanna get to know u

eden (new girl) 😍
okay...
what did you have in mind?

shawn 🤭
we can always go out to eat
how bout i pick u up at 5

eden (new girl) 😍
that sounds good to me :)

shawn 🤭
good then i'll see u at 5

eden (new girl) 😍
see you!

eden wasn't really feeling up to going out, but if she could meet the face of her pen pal tonight, she had to take that opportunity. as far as she knew, chris hasn't found out who's his was yet. and unless he discovered that before five o'clock tonight, he'd lose the bet.

she started getting ready, putting loose curls in her hair and even picking out a nice outfit to wear. she wanted to make a good first in person impression. this is going to be who she writes letters to for the remainder of the year, not that it should really matter about how she looked when they first met. after all, he's said that he's already seen her around school, so it wasn't like he didn't know what she looked like.

it shocked eden when her eyeliner surprisingly went on perfectly the first time, and even more when the outfit she chose actually looked nice on the first go. everything seemed to be working out perfectly for her. that was, until she got another notification on her phone. she hoped with every fiber in her body that it wasn't chris telling her that he figured out who his pen pal was. especially when she was this close to finding hers.

when she unlocked it, she was partially relieved. it was chris, but he didn't say anything about finding his pen pal. instead, he brought up how he was free and if she wanted to hang out tonight. she felt bad because she wanted to see chris, she really did, but the offer she had on her plate with shawn was too good not to take. she was going out to dinner and finding out who shawn really was.

eden 🤔
i'm sorry, chris
i'm going out to dinner with shawn :(
maybe some other time?

she didn't feel as bad after she sent the text, but the silence that followed was what made her question everything. he didn't seem to answer as fast as he usually did, but at least it gave her some time to finish getting ready.

though when she didn't get an answer by the time shawn was here to pick her up, she was starting to worry. chris never took this long to answer her.

"is there's something wrong?" shawn asked on the way to the restaurant, because she was staying silent the whole ride. it wasn't that she didn't have anything to talk about, it was because her mind was so clouded with thought after thought that she had forgotten to talk.

she let out a breathy laugh before she responded, "yep, just a little nervous," she hoped that was a good enough answer, hating that she just admitted to feeling nervous about all of this. of course she was nervous, this was the guy she's taking to the dance. what if she didn't like him? what if he didn't like her? unfortunately, she tended to focus on the second question the most.

"why? did you expect me to look different?"

when eden first saw shawn, she was partially shocked by his physical appearance. he didn't look at all like she had imagined, but that's not what really mattered. he was still a really good looking guy, and he tended to stay true to his personality over text.

it was just very weird for her to suddenly be face to face with the very man who was behind the few letters she's recently received. it was like he was this made up person in her mind before, she never thought he could actually be real. but he was, and he was sitting right next to him.

"no, no. you look perfectly fine." she let a smile grow across her face as she watched one form on his as well.

once they got to the restaurant, and ordered their food, eden awkwardly waited for the next topic to be brought up. she wasn't the type to just talk and say what was on her mind during dates, so she hoped shawn would think of something. until then she just stared at the small little things around the restaurant that she thought looked cool.

eventually shawn caught her attention by clearing his throat. he was getting ready to say something, and it put eden on edge. she had no idea what could possibly come out of his mouth. what if he doesn't want to go to the dance anymore? but her suspicions were shut down as he proposed the next topic, "so about this weekend..." as he spoke, he positioned his head on top of his arms that were currently rested on the table. he waited to see if she had anything to say. maybe bring up any plans she already had but she didn't, so he continued, "i was thinking maybe we could meet up at my house, take some pictures, and then i can drive you there? we can walk in together all hot and shit, you know?"

eden immediately imagined what genevieve's face would look like if she told her that getting ready together wasn't an option anymore, so she had to make that work somehow. the only other thing was, she was supposed to go with chris and all his friends. would they be upset with her if she technically ditched them for shawn? then again, that was just the plan before she got asked by shawn. would it be bad if she went with just him instead? they were going as a date sort of, so it made sense. and if shawn really wanted just the two of them to go, she would have to let everyone else know very soon.

"yeah. i'd like that." she smiled as she gave him the answer he was looking for.

"great!" he smiled for a second before bringing up another topic, "by the way, did you get your dress yet?"

the image of the dress she had just bought was floating through her mind, the way it looked in the mirror and how everyone hyped her up in it. a smile quickly grew again on her face at the thought of it, "yep! it's purple. not like purple purple but lighter purple."

"awesome. i'll just have to get a corsage to match it." something unexpectedly changed in his demeanor the second he finished that sentence. though eden couldn't figure out what that change was exactly. his eyes seemed to wander towards the end of the sentence, and he started to toy with the random stuff on the table. it was like he suddenly lost interest in their conversation. it did seem like he was trying to hide it but something inside of eden didn't want her to miss it.

"you don't have to do that." she figured that if the corsage was going to be a burden, she didn't wanting him to worry about something he really didn't have to. she hardly cared for that kind of stuff anyway.

"are you sure?" the words in itself, were sincere, but the way he presented them, made them sound like he never offered the corsage in the first place. why was he acting like this? was it just eden? was she just reading him wrong? maybe she was being too care-free? did he want her to want the corsage?

eden shrugged, smiling in response, "yeah, i don't really need one." she hoped her smile was enough for him to not question it again, as well as a successful attempt of making him feel more at ease.

he took the opportunity, telling her, "okay then, less stuff for me to worry about." he shrugged, adding his own little smile like a weight had been lifted off his shoulder. and it only added on to the fact that the corsage was going to be a burden to him.

"yep." was all she said, and thankfully the servers finally came out with their food, ending the whole awkward setting that was starting to form.

after eden was full, she noticed how not a single one of them said a word the whole time they ate, and the idea of actually having to say something made her terrified. she felt so anxious that she had to excuse herself from the table, heading towards the bathroom.

she stood in front of the mirror for a solid five minutes, trying to figure out what was wrong with her. was it something she said? was it something she did? was it the pimple she tried to cover up an hour ago on her chin? or did she have on too much blush? was she just not pretty enough?

that one hurt.

noticing the passage of time, she wiped the few tears that fell from her eyes. using her other finger, she blended in her foundation a bit under her eyes, trying to cover up the fact that she was just crying.

and right before she was about to walk out of the little bathroom, her phone vibrated in her pocket. she pulled it out and took a peek at the screen, kind of hoping it wasn't shawn asking her where she went. though it was quite the opposite, with the name on her phone being the one she had been impatiently waiting for. so the last thing she checked before going back to her table, was chris's somewhat disappointing response.

goof 🥸
wait.
shawn cromwell??

eden 🤔
uhh yeah i think?
why?

eden didn't immediately get an answer, and considering she has probably been in here for a little while, she couldn't exactly wait on him. she tried to wait a few more seconds but her body was practically begging her to go back out. she has been in here for far too long now.

the second eden sat back down at the table, she felt her phone vibrating over and over again in her pocket as chris started blowing up her messages. she wanted to know why he was spamming her so bad, but it felt rude of her to go on her phone while she was on a date, especially if it was to text another guy. it seemed like a whole other level of disrespect to her.

she actually didn't end up checking what he had to say until they got back to shawn's car, in which she tilted her phone subtly away from him before she opened her text messages, clicking on chris's contact once again. what she read was the complete opposite of what she expected to read from him.

goof 🥸
you seriously need to leave
like right now
he's not who you think he is
he's a fucking weirdo...
sent 15m

goof 🥸
eden
eden
eden?
eden!!!
EDEN??!!
sent 14m

goof 🥸
eden.
i'm not fucking around answer me
sent 11m

goof 🥸
where are you?
give me your location
sent 3m

eden 🤔
calm down please?
i'm okay
he just bought me dinner and we're getting
ready to go home now
by the way i won the bet 🙀

goof 🥸
eden i don't give a fuck about the bet
you are in a car right now with shawn cromwell.
i've got a lot more on my mind than a stupid fucking bet.

eden 🤔
so i did all of this for you to not even care? 🫤

goof 🥸
yes. because you know what's crazy?
i already figured out who mine was
i wasn't going to tell you because i wanted
to give you a little more time
by doing that i didn't mean to go on a date
with SHAWN FUCKING CROMWELL

eden 🤔
it's not my fault that's who my pen pal
happened to be
i think you're just jealous 🤷‍♀️

goof 🥸
jealous of what?!

eden 🤔
shawn?

goof 🥸
i will never be jealous of that dick

eden 🤔
i think your green's showing chris 😬

goof 🥸
okay. go to the dance with him idc
i'm going with brianna aka my pen pal
read 5 mins ago.

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WHEN EDEN ARRIVED BACK HOME she was just relieved to be back in her own space again. it was a long day and all she did was beat herself up over and over again. it was refreshing to finally be able to take off her makeup and get ready to rest for the night.

once she was finished getting herself together for her to go to sleep, she walked over to her bed and pulled back the covers to slide into it comfortably. she left enough room on one side so her dog, baby, could make her own little spot next to her. as she ran her hands through baby's fur, she felt the comforting feeling of not being alone.

it was a refreshing feeling up until she started thinking again about what chris had said earlier because there was no way he could be talking about the same person. shawn seemed extremely nice and overall a fun person to be around. she was just having a rough time earlier, beating herself up about every little detail was something she tended to do anytime she met someone new. it was her fault the date felt weird and she's sure that he was trying his best the whole time. her brain just tried to make her not see that.

though, no matter how hard she tried to convince herself, she couldn't keep chris's texts out of her mind. eden worried because she really didn't know shawn that well at all, at least not as much as someone like chris would. it just didn't sit right with her because chris hardly seem to care about shawn until he found out that they were going on a date. of course, he was hesitant about the dance but never told her she shouldn't do it. was he actually jealous of shawn? is that why he was acting like that? or was shawn really not all that he lets on?

as her brain went back and forth between all the possibilities, her mind started to wander before she finally was able to close her eyes and fall asleep.

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nat's notes !

the word purple is weird.
umm two or three more chapters? 🫢

<3