I can't stop thinking about imaginary friend Eddie...
Only he's not actually imaginary...
Like... what if your family moved into the Forrest Hills Trailer Park while you were little and that's when you first met Eddie.
No one else ever seemed to see him, but he always kept you company. He'd tell you the very best fantasy stories and was always happy to play prince/princess with you.
One Halloween when you got a little older, some kids told you about the cult murder spree that started in the trailer park where you lived and how the suspected killer was never caught. Eddie had been with you when they'd started telling the story, but he'd disappeared by the time they'd finished. That night was the first time he ever failed to appear when you'd called for him.
In fact, he'd stayed away for a whole week and when he showed back up, he acted like nothing had happened; changing the subject when you tried to ask him about where he'd been and why he'd stayed away.
As you grew and your friends' imaginary friends started to disappear, Eddie stayed with you.
You didn't even think to question why he was still around until you mentioned him to one of your friends and they scoffed at the fact that you still 'pretended to see him.'
You asked him what they meant, but he'd been quick to dismiss their comment.
When you began puberty, your relationship with Eddie began to change as you started to really notice just how handsome he was. You found yourself comparing every boy your friends said was cute to him and none of them ever measured up.
You were able to keep your blooming feelings at bay until you finally snuck a boy into your bedroom in your senior year. Things were starting to heat up with the boy until he froze as the two of you passed by your mirror on the way towards your bed. The boy mumbled out some ridiculous excuse before he nearly tripped over himself in his haste to get away. That's when you saw Eddie's reflection and realized that, somehow, the boy must have seen him standing there.
Tears pooled in your eyes as you rounded on your imaginary friend and landed into him; letting out all your frustration about how you'd finally found a boy who liked you that you'd somehow managed to not subconsciously compare to Eddie and Eddie had just scared him away. How you thought you were going to end up alone because no one measured up to your imaginary friend. How you'd wished and prayed for years that Eddie could somehow be real- be alive- because you just knew he was the one you were meant to love.
As you'd been so focused on yelling at him, you hadn't noticed Eddie approaching you and you were stunned when you actually felt the sensation of his hand cupping your cheek.
"Princess... I am real... but I haven't been alive for a long time..."