~~~ MAY

A scrawny blonde leaned up against an ash tree, flipping lazily through the pages of the latest Evil Tim comic. Her pale legs stretched out in front of her and the greasy wrappings of a half-eaten cheeseburger stained her lap. Ed's jacket was draped around her shoulders, a box of cold fries hanging from its pocket.

Her boyfriend was sipping on a Slurpee they'd picked up at a 7-Eleven on the way to the remote cabin Eddy's brother had agreed to let them stay at for the week. He was reading Evil Tim #7, the prequel to May's issue. She had set aside the comic to finish her burger, so he leaned over and took a bite of it. "Almost done?" he asked, pointing to the open book in the grass beside her.

She flung the comic at him. "You can have it. You always finish before me." May enjoyed comic books, but Ed devoured them. "Give me some of your Slurpee," she demanded, grabbing for his cup. "Or I'll turn into a crab and take it from you!" She cupped her fingers and made a pinching motion, pouting.

He handed it over, already absorbed in the next issue of Evil Tim. She put the straw to her lips and they puckered at its taste.

Through strands of stringy blonde hair, May examined Ed's face. His features were big and masculine. A thick, jutting brow cast shadows upon his perpetually tired eyes as they lazily scanned the page. His expression was blank when he read, but May knew his brain was working like a machine. She scooted over and put her arms around him, planting a blue raspberry kiss on his cheek.

Instantly, his hand was tangled in her hair, pulling her closer. May was breathless, engulfed in his rugged scent. Ed kissed her sour candy-stained mouth and came away with a dark stain on his lips. Then his eyes were cast downward again, dutifully looking over the panels of Evil Tim #8.

May sighed, a smile playing across her lips as she looked over his body. She fetched his discarded copy of Evil Tim #7 and opened it in her lap. Ed took her hand in his and they read comics together until the sun sank behind the trees, robbing them of its light.

~~~ LEE

The gangly redhead was clearing the leftovers of their dinner from the picnic table when Eddy called her over to the cookfire, where he was stirring up embers with a stick.

"I've got it, Lee!" Eddy was a small man, but with his confident posture and wide, excited eyes, he seemed larger to Lee.

"What is it?" she asked, setting down a stack of dirty paper plates. Her boyfriend's schemes were always absurd, but she loved to hear him gush. In her heart, Lee believed Eddy was a genius. She was confident he would have his day in the sun.

"We can sublet my brother's cabin," he began. "If we're staying here, who says we can't invite our friends?"

"There are six of us sleeping here, Eddy. Are you gonna sublet some poor sap a mattress in the bathtub?" she teased.

"We can rent it out all year after we leave, as long as my brother doesn't come back!" He folded his arms behind his head, pleased with himself. "If he shows up, I'll tell him we had a party."

Lee shook her head. "We're only supposed to be here for a week." The thought was ridiculous; she couldn't play along at agreeing to rent out a property she didn't own. Besides, something about Eddy's brother had always seemed off to the Kanker girl, although she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"He'll let me stay longer." Eddy was sometimes too confident for his own good. "He's my brother."

"Not if he knows what you're up to. He could sublet the cabin himself."

The boy was unfazed. "That's why we won't tell him, duh."

"You think he won't find out?" Lee was skeptical. "What if he has like, spy cameras installed?"

Eddy guffawed at the thought. "Then we've already given him quite the show, huh?"

The redhead blanched. "He wouldn't really put up cameras, would he?" Her voice was a coarse whisper. Self-consciously, she began twirling a short curl of hair around her finger.

He slid over to Lee and intertwined their fingers, brushing his chest lightly over hers. "Not in the shower, I'm sure," he purred, pressing their foreheads together. He was staring to stiffen in his pants, remembering the feeling of her slim, soapy body in his hands.

His breath smelled of margarita and cigarettes. Lee couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, you're sure about that?" she teased.

"On second thought, the shower is probably where he would put a spy camera," Eddy mused, "if he had one." When he moved in to kiss her, Lee shoved him away.

The boy yelped in pain as his back slammed against the ground. Lee felt a pang of remorse; he almost landed in the firepit. She offered him a hand, which he refused.

Perhaps because he made such a show of clambering to his feet, she was surprised to find herself pressed beneath him on the picnic table with his mouth at her neck. His shirt was open and Lee could see a few sprouts of dark chest hair starting to come in below his collarbone.

"I know where there wouldn't be any cameras," he growled in her ear, slipping a hand up her blouse.

She let out a soft sigh as he deftly rolled her nipple between two fingers. "There'd better not be cameras anywhere, Eddy!" But she forgot her anger as he continued to work his hands over her chest, and soon she was shrugging out of her spotted sheer blouse.

~~~ MARIE

"There's one!" the blue-haired girl shouted, lunging forward to clap a glass jar over an iridescent beetle skittering up a tree.

"Excellent work," Edd observed, "and what a lovely specimen!" He shined his flashlight inside the jar.

It was so like her boyfriend to want to go bug catching on spring break, Marie couldn't help but laugh. He got so excited about his little science projects, and she loved to see the way his face lit up when he made a new discovery, but bottling beetles was not something the girl ever thought she'd be doing on holiday. Edd needed her in the field, though – he was likely to hurt himself out in the woods without her athletic prowess.

"Is it the one you were looking for?" As much as she adored the boy, her patience sometimes ran short.

Double D clicked off his flashlight, searching his pockets for an adequate lid. "Yes, dear. I've finally acquired the elusive strawberry marmalade beetle!"

Marie's relief showed on her face, but it quickly twisted into playful frustration. "Excuse you, I'm the one who caught it!" She stuck out her tongue.

Edd was unfazed as he sealed the jar. "You wouldn't have known where to find it, if not for me."

She sighed heavily, overemphasizing her exasperation. "Fine, we found it together."

He handed her the little terrarium. "As a peace offering, you can name her."

"It's a girl?" That interested her. "How do you know?"

"Males are typically smaller and brighter in color than females, and usually more orange than yellow," he recited on cue.

She lifted the jar to inspect the beetle. She was shiny and yellow on top with black legs sprouting from underneath her, and she clung tenaciously to the edge of the lid where Double D had sealed her in. The pattern on her back almost resembled the letter "K".

"Kara," she decided.

As the sun was swallowed up by trees in the distance, the sky around them turned from pink to deep blue. "We ought to head back," Edd suggested as the first stars emerged in the twilight.

Marie tucked the jar under her arm and took his hand.

They were halfway back to the cabin when she stopped to admire some birds swimming in the moonlight shimmering silver off the lake. She tugged at her boyfriend's sleeve, whispering in his ear, "Double D!"

When he turned to regard her, she pointed out at the lake. She had meant for him to admire the stars, the reeds, the beauty of the water, the shadows of the birds…instead, his eyes went to the muddy shore.

Edd's posture stiffened. When she followed his line of sight with her eyes, her heart seized in her chest. His hands were cold. Marie's legs went numb.

It didn't feel real until Double D gave voice to the fear clawing at her stomach. "That…that looks like…a body."

She doubled over and vomited.