(The fifties were stringent in their gender expectations. The boys grew up and went to war, and the girls stayed home and cooked dinner. Those things were airtight for Eddie, and it had only been recently that he began to realize that girls could be much more than that. Unfortunately, he was struggling a lot more on the personal level, and everything that had to do with what boys were meant to be like. Then again, he had faced a life of bullying ridiculing how extremely non-masculine he was.

And a guy like Frank? Stacked with muscle, polished up with bruises, looking every bit like a soldier and the Ideal Man? It was a little shocking to hear him say that Eddie wasn't a girl for not wanting to do that. Enough that it shows on Eddie's face.)

...Really? (His voice isn't just quiet because of the town, but out of soft awe.)

I'm-. I'm good at fixing stuff. I fix Bill's bike all the time. Are you good at stuff like that? (Eddie, in some way, wants to be liked by Frank. Or impress him, maybe, he realizes.)

I like- learning. What other stuff do you know?