Eddie!?! Seriously!?!

"Eddie?" I asked her for about the third time by now, "Skinny pale guy with a scowl on his face the whole time? Signed up for the LARP-"

"Yes," she laughed, "The very same. I know who he is."

"But Eddie-" I started, but she cut me off.

"He's cute," she told me, "Skinny in that he looks like he might be so angsty he just forgets to eat sometimes kind of way. And I mean talk about a challenge. Plus I don't think even you could ever deny the fact that he would be so grateful. Don't underestimate the appeal of a guy who is grateful. They are so fucking good in bed, you have no idea."

I blinked, listening to and registering all of this but still it was in one ear and out the other.

"But it's Eddie," I insisted.

"And what exactly is wrong with him?"

I mean nothing, ostensibly. Nothing except for everything but maybe a big part of that was only a problem for me. After all, I was the one with the history here, not her.

"Look," Rachel said, "I'm not saying that I'm going to marry the guy. Just looking maybe to have a bit of fun with him. I don't know what's wrong with that."

"Nothing," I said, giving in, "Nothing at all. And I... I think you should. I guess it's just surprising."

She smiled, "Well if you know one thing about me, after the week we've had, it should be that I can always surprise. I'm gonna go and you've gotta get busy, my friend. Thirty minutes, south gate, and you have to have three sign ups."

I nodded then watched her go.

I mean sure, on a certain level I guess I could see an appeal. Eddie was, if nothing else, a fixer upper opportunity here. He was a challenge and Rachel wasn't the type to turn down a challenge.

Sure I could see a whole bunch of reasons why he was a terrible option, but that was only because of my personal history here. All of the reasons, they were just mine. None of them had to apply to her.

Yeah, the Eddie I knew had a whole lot of baggage. But that was a different Eddie. That was an Eddie with more years on him than he had at this point.

Right now he wasn't quite so settled in his ways. Right now, well maybe a single person reaching out and trying to connect could change things for him.

Wasn't that what I was trying to do? Albeit in a little bit of a different way.

Yeah, maybe Rachel could be the one to make a difference and maybe Rachel could change things for him. Maybe she could help, even if it was inadvertently.

And maybe I could learn not to assume that just because he'd been one way, that history dictated he had to be that way forever.

Maybe Eddie could change. I mean I certainly had so why not him? I barely recognized the person that I'd used to be. And I think that these changes and new opportunities I'd embraced were really for the better.

Yes, everyone has the capacity for change. Everyone can make a better life than the path they were on.

No one is so set in their ways that they will always be the same.

Well... almost no one.

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