Impenetrable Pillow Fortress
She never realized how much she had yearned for such a gesture to be done unto her. Sarah inhaled deeply as her smiley face reflected the delight she felt over a plucked rose her boyfriend had given her. She couldn't help but to share her joy with her friend sitting next to her on the school bus.
"Jimmy's so romantic! He even took a couple of thorns to his fingers to get it for me! Isn't that sweet, Nazz? Nazz?"
Silence. The strawberry blonde turned around to see her best friend. Surprisingly, the blonde cheerleader of Peach Creek Jr. High had fallen asleep.
"Oh? Sorry, Sarah… I just…" She yawned. "… had a rough day, you know?"
"Don't sweat it", she said, her tone becoming dull. "I get where you're coming from. I've had quite a bit of homework to do!"
"You too?"
"Yeah. The only downside of having a boyfriend is that Jimmy reminds me to finish homework all the time… but still, what's with the teachers? We have a life too, right?"
The girl yawned again. "You got it, sister. I'm so crammed with assignments and cheerleading, that I barely have time to myself…"
Both girls sighed as they leaned back on the chair. Not a few seconds had passed by that the school bus arrived to its destination: the cul de sac. And yet, neither of them felt like standing up to leave as the other students passed their way.
"So what do you say, shovel chin? You bring the chips, I turn on the PsOne, and beat you up on Marvel vs Capcom all night?"
Kevin scoffed. There was something among the words Eddy said that held truth, but still he was annoyed. "Feh, it's not going to be so easy, shrimp"
"And I'll bring the soda!" Yelled Ed, making the two boys next to him cover their ears.
"You always bring the soda..."complained the short Ed.
Behind them, a boy wearing a beanie hat laughed while covering his mouth with one of his hands. Double D had always found his friends amusing, and this time was no exception.
"What's so funny, Double D?"
"Well, the whole situation, Jimmy. Eddy and the guys are so easily amused by video games."
"You aren't?"
"Well, yeah, but... I guess I'm more interested in the inner workings of them, rather than the game itself."
Jimmy smiled. "I always thought it was cool how a button press changes the position of a character on the screen, too!"
Just as the two boys were about to engage in a discussion of what functionality of game programming seemed the most interesting, Jimmy instinctively turned around to see his girl getting off the school bus. Next to her was the blonde cheerleader of the cul de sac. The slow pace and erratic steps, plus the tilted head both had made it look like the two friends were leaning on each other.
"Oooh, Sarah's finally out. We're having lunch at her house today, Double D. You wanna come with?"
"Sorry, Jimmy. I had prior engagements with Eddy and Ed, and then since it's Friday I'm going to play some games with them tonight as well. Maybe we could get together tomorrow?"
"Yeah, that sounds great! I'll see you then!"
Both boys said their goodbyes as the older of them ran to catch up to his friends.
He walked with his chest raised, a blue backpack on his back, and a pink one around his left arm.
"Don't worry, Sarah. We'll have some lunch, relax for a bit, and then we can hit the books!"
The strawberry blonde sighed, while dragging her feet, a few steps behind the boy. Her best girl friend followed suit, sympathetic of her pain.
"Here we go again... I wish we didn't have so much homework... It's the weekend! Can't we do it on Sunday, Jimmy?"
Resolute, the boy shook his head a couple of times. "But Sarah, if we put it off, we're not going to truly enjoy our free time! Besides, the sooner we finish, the sooner we can get to play!"
"Play? What's that? I haven't heard that word in ages..." Nazz complained.
Suddenly, Jimmy snapped his fingers. "I got an idea! We can finish the homework, and then we play games on my console! Just like Double D and the guys are gonna do tonight!"
Sarah sighed. "On your old SNES? Sorry, Jimmy, but you know I don't like those games... Can't we all do something we girls would like to do?"
Her eyes opened wide. How come she didn't think of it before?!
"THAT'S IT!" The blonde yelled, scaring her two younger friends.
"N-Nazz?" Sarah asked.
"What's it?" Jimmy asked, too.
The blonde, while enthusiastic, reacted at the sound of Jimmy's words. Her expression turned slightly wary, as she spoke to him.
"Jimmy, can I steal Sarah for a few seconds?"
The boy, unable to comprehend the situation, just arched an eyebrow. "… Okay. Sure."
"What's going on, Nazz?" Sarah asked, as she was dragging her feet from being pushed away from the young boy by the older girl, grabbing her by the shoulders.
"Not so loud, Sarah! He'll hear ya!" she whispered.
"Why can't he hear m–"
"Just… lower your voice a little" Nazz replied, as she hastily covered her friend's mouth. "I found the answer to our problems! Today is Friday, right? That means we have tonight, Saturday, and Sunday to do as we please! Well, as soon as we're done with homework…"
"Yeah, I get that. But what could you possibly have in mind?" Sarah spoke softly this time. Upon hearing her words, the blonde cheerleader of the cul de sac arched up a bright smile.
"Well, I was thinking my little bestie would love to have a sleepover tonight!"
Even though he found it heart-warming, Jimmy couldn't understand why both Nazz and Sarah were hugging each other and squealing merrily.
"Ok. I got it. Toss me that pin, May."
"Heads up!"
The blue head had to stretch to catch the pin her sister threw. "Not so high. Throw me another one."
"There you go!"
This time it was too far to the right. Marie stretched her arm to catch it but the pin flew past her anyways.
"You always had such good aim with the slingshot, how can you be failing at this?"
May shook her head. "Sorry, Marie! I've been thinking about the play… we have, like, a little less than a month!"
Marie rolled her eyes. "So? You've been practicing every day! You're gonna do fine, you'll see." She smiled to reassure the blonde.
"If you say so..." May eased up a little at her sister's support.
"Now, let's finish hanging this laundry..."
"Guys! Is this yours?"
Both Kankers turned around to see the cul de sac blonde rubbing her cheek, as she came along with the strawberry blonde shorty, sister of the tallest of the Eds.
"Sorry, Nazz! Yeah, I aimed too high..."
Nazz just arched her eyebrows slightly. "No worries. How are you, girls?"
"We're fine. Doing some chores. Wassup, shrimp?"
Sarah smiled. "Not much, mop head. How are you?"
Both blondes could only stare at each other, weirded out, as their respective companions laughed until the trailer door opened.
"Well I'm going... Hey Nazz, Sarah. Whatcha doing here?" Lee was dressed in an orange suit with a brown apron on the front.
"Hey Lee! We're having a sleep over tonight at six, and wanted to invite you three. What do you say?" Both cul de sac girls smiled, expectant of the eldest Kanker's answer.
"Well, take it with those two. I have to work tonight..." Lee answered. "But have fun!" She said her goodbyes as she walked towards the main street, en route to the mall.
Still enthusiastic, Nazz turned to the remaining sisters.
"What about you two?"
Sarah could see through Marie's face that she was hesitant. And, while May seemed to relish on the idea, she still looked a bit uncertain. After a good few seconds, the blue head decided to speak.
"Oh, come on, May! One night that you don't practice is not going to kill your performance!"
"But..."
"Is this about the play, May?" Nazz asked, to which the blonde Kanker nodded.
"I heard you practice, and you're good! Marie's right, one night of no practice won't hurt, May. Come on, say you'll come"
"Yeah, May, we'll have a lot of fun!"
Hearing the strawberry blonde's words, May smiled brightly.
"Aww, alright! I've actually been looking forward to this!"
The two girls cheered just as Marie finished hanging the last of the clothes.
"What about you, Marie? Are you coming, too?"
A pause. Once again, Sarah observed hesitation in the girl's eyes. She wasn't sure how, but the blue headed ex-bully had grown into her, ever since her meddling on her love affairs actually brought her closer to her best friend, now boyfriend. She figured if her own insistence worked on May, then it may very well work on her...
"C'mon, Marie, you won't regret it!"
But instead, Marie simply smiled as she addressed Nazz. "Sorry, Nazz. I hope you guys have fun, really, but I can't. There's something I gotta do tonight..."
And with that, the girl headed back home. "You guys don't want some soda?"
"... No, Marie. Thanks. We were about to leave anyways..."
Silence enveloped them as the two made their way back to the cul de sac. It was only after reaching the park that the older of them decided to speak.
"Cheer up, Sarah. One is better than none, right?"
"... Yeah, you're right..."
"Wait upp!"
Both girls turned around. Stopping almost right in front of them, May struggled to catch her breath.
"Am I glad I caught up to you, girls..." May said, panting.
"What is it, May?"
"I'll get Marie to come to the sleepover, don't worry... but we're gonna have to show up an hour or so later..."
Nazz laughed. "That's no problem at all, May! You could've just called though"
It was the other blonde's turn to laugh, as she slapped her forehead. "I never did ask for your number..."
Everything seemed peaceful, as the three girls laughed... everything that is, save for the pair of alert ears that had listened to their conversation.
His health bar was low, and he found himself in danger just as the commentator had declared a few seconds ago. A tornado-like thrust of sharp claws made its way to his character as he managed to form a transparent beam shield at the last moment, which parried the attack he was sure to get.
And yet, just as his bulky character dropped to the ground, Double D could only watch as Eddy's character squatted and brought both of his arms to his chest while forming an X and looking up. Immediately, cleaving sounds of metal against metal echoed in his head, as his own character contorted to the punishment he received.
Finally, Eddy's character dealt one last hit, slashing Double D's character across the chest as he leapt forward. Weapon X was completed as War Machine fell down to the ground, defeated, leaving the last sequence of the fight to be the slight clashing of Wolverine's adamantium claws.
"Oh, for the love of science..."
"Gotcha again, Sockhead!" Eddy yelled, ecstatic, as he laughed. "That makes four to one!"
Double D could only roll his eyes as Eddy stood up and started to dance, rubbing his defeat on his face as much as he could.
"Eh... Ed? Do you know where Kevin might be?"
Eddy laughed, guessing Double D's unwillingness to keep losing.
"I don't know, Double D!" Hearing his words, Double D sighed and covered his face with his hands. "But I bumped into him as I was getting here, and he said 'who cares'!"
He couldn't have raised his head any faster. "What do you mean?"
"Kevin said he's got a raid to take care of, and that he was gonna be busy all night..."
"Arrgh!" He complained, a more characteristic behavior of his shortest friend. "Now you tell me!" He could definitely see it. Eddy would challenge him to match after match of button mashing, on a controller which was by no means clean, and thus he would almost effortlessly win.
Double D sighed again. He was growing weary of his current situation. "I think I need some air. If you would excuse me gentlemen, I'll be outside for a bit..."
Ed turned to look at him, just as Eddy sat back down.
"Who cares about that shovel chin? C'mon, Ed! Let's have a round!"
"Yay!"
He closed his best friend's front door, and stretched himself as his hands pointed to the sky. Why, it's still too early! I could have gone anywhere else, and come to Eddy's later. Double D mildly scolded himself, as the setting sun and golden-orange sky indicated to him there was much more to do on the start of a weekend than to stay in, stuck to a television set.
Still, his mind replayed the last fight on his head over and over. Maybe I should have kept jumping instead of defending... But the developers made War Machine too slow! Why, he has thrusters! I'm sure I could've improved on the maneuverability of...
What's the point? The boy walked a few steps away from Eddy's front door, as he envied the luck of others. Kevin was supposed to come, but apparently he's got things to do, what with his raid and–
Wait a minute...
It was then that he realized it. He reasoned, not only was Kevin not involved in any gang, despite his bully-ish attitude, nor was he some sort of law officer that would bring down criminal cartels smuggling contraband. Slowly, he turned around and went back in...
"Ed, what did you mean when you said Kevin–"
Too late. Eddy was too focused mashing buttons, cleaving green flesh and muscles that would relentlessly move forward, as Ed struggled to advance to position his huge character on the most appropriate position to land a good whack. Shaking his head slowly, Double D stepped outside again.
Looks like it's going to be a while until I get through to them... Double D decided it would be best for him to spend his free time elsewhere.
Looking at the color of the sky again, the beanie wearing boy was reminded of his beloved. Smiling, he thought of heading towards the trailer park, opting to reach the place by walking past the park.
She looked at the clouds with slightly closed eyes, her expression that of deep thought while at the same time mild melancholy.
"I know... they can be really pretty..."
Out of her trance, Marie turned her head to see her younger sister had brought a chair to the backyard, and sat down next to her.
"May, don't you have to get ready for the sleepover?"
Without turning around, the blonde responded.
"I'm not going."
"What? Why, May? You said–"
"I mean, I'm not going if you're not going, Marie."
The blue head quieted down. Turning her head, she smirked but slightly. "So, that's how you're gonna play..."
"Why is it that you don't want to go, Marie? I know you've had your differences with Nazz, but–"
"Nah, it's got nothing to do with Nazz... 'Sides, I could beat her butt any day... I think..."
"Well, then why?"
Marie breathed in and out. "Haven't you ever wondered why you've always been alone in the evenings?"
"Uh... you mean, aside from having the TV to myself 'til 7?"
"Yeah... that..."
"Um... no. Why?"
Marie leaned back in her chair. "Ever since we got the trailer home, I've stared at the sunset every day... even back when we lived in Lemon Brook, and now here in Peach Creek..."
May widened her eyes in surprise. It all now made sense. Now she understood why she always spent the afternoons with no one to talk to, save for the imaginary voice of a dear friend of hers back in elementary, whose name she barely remembered. Maybe that's why she'd always get so excited as soon as the sun would set, and Marie would step back in to watch some silly show on TV.
"Every... day? I never really noticed..."
"I know... it sounds kinda obsessive, but then again, you didn't need to worry about those things..."
She could barely follow... "Those things..."
Marie lowered her head a bit. "You were too young. And-And your classmates were jerks to you. That was enough for someone your age, May..."
"What are you..."
"I have kept track of every single sunset ever since that day... You, Lee and I suffered in different ways, remember? We were all open to the misery of what this world is about... You were subject to bullying, Lee was heartbroken, and I..."
"... I lost sense of who I was, what life was... I had no father, and I lost my art professor... I was alone. I used to love looking at the sky... it was always sunny and so blue, and the clouds would always compliment the sun. But on that day, I saw the sun as the clouds covered it, how everything was darkening, and could only think of how anything nice in our lives is swallowed up by reality. I don't know why, but skies have always fascinated me since then..."
May shed a tear. Yes, the three of them had suffered. But it was clear. Just as she was told, some time after the deed, Lee got revenge on the slime that decided to hurt her. She herself had found someone wonderful who loved her. But Marie...
She's still hurting...
"Why are you so hard on yourself?"
Her big sister turned her head around to heed her. As she suspected, Marie's eyes were watery as well.
"The past doesn't need to, nor will it repeat itself, Marie. Not if I can help it. The girls, they like you, you know? They want to be friends with you. Didn't you notice how little Sarah was sad when you said you wouldn't go?"
Slowly, Marie's eyes started to widen.
"You have people who care for you. You are not alone any longer. So don't trap yourself in a prison. We can work together to avoid our horrible past from ever happening again. So, please. Won't you come with me to Nazz's?"
Marie was speechless. Her mouth opened and closed. She was unclear as to what words to say... so she said none at all...
"Ow, hey!... That–Ow, that hurts!" The blonde's head burned at the constant rubbing of her big sis's knuckle. Immediately after, she felt enveloped in her arms.
"You know I love you. Right, May?"
The girl just giggled. "Yah, I know!"
"Let me see what I can put on, and we're outta here! You should get some clothes as well..."
"Way ahead of ya!" She replied, and as they headed upstairs, Marie snorted as she noticed her little sister's clothes laid over their bed, as well as a couple of small duffle bags for the blonde and herself.
Once both girls deemed each other ready for the night, they stepped out, choosing to cover the distance to Nazz's house by jumping the creek behind Jimmy's house.
He kept wondering what he could do with her. Maybe I could convince her to let me hear some of her monologue for the play... or maybe we can watch–
Double D stopped his steps at the park. Strangely enough, he found he was not alone. Wearing his characteristic red cap, Kevin was squatting in front of what seemed to be something drawn on the muddy ground. In his right hand, he held a stick. His left hand was holding a sack, half full with God-knows-what, and, to his right, a quiet but curious Rolf listened intently
What kind of raid could he be planning that it involves Rolf as well?
Curiosity got the best of him as he made his way over to them.
"Ok, now. Being the girls that they are, they're probably going to spend a good deal of time in the living room watching TV, right here..." He said, as he pointed at it with the stick, "I'll take that chance to enter though the kitchen door and get to Nazz's bedroom. At some point, they're gonna go upstairs to the bedroom, so you're gonna be look-out"
"Look out? Rolf has to look out?" Rolf ducked even further, while at the same time looking left and right for an incoming object.
"No! No, Rolf... I mean, you're gonna signal me when they move."
"Ugh, that's a lot!"
"Why?"
"Have you seen Sarah? She runs around all the time... and Nazz, she's always breathing. Did you notice how hard she breathes sometimes?"
"You... seriously. How come you and Ed are not related?"
"Whatever do you mean?"
"I meant to say, you will signal me if any of them moves to where I am. They musn't see me or hear me, got it? You can see their living room from outside, so I'm counting on ya, man. I'm gonna go to Nazz's bedroom and get her..." He blushed. "... Well, I'll tell you later. If any of them moves to her room, you'll let me know"
"But, won't they hear me when I scream?"
"Yeah, which is why I got these..." Kevin opened the sack and took out a couple of walkie-talkies. "I haven't used them in forever, but they should still work. You press this button, and say, 'Kevin, Kevin! Leave, they're coming!' and I'll leave before they notice me"
"Ooh" Rolf took the communication device in his hands and looked at it as if it was purely made of magic.
"Excuse me, gentlemen. What are you doing?"
"Ah, Double D. You want in, man?"
"In on what?"
"The girls are gonna have a sleepover tonight, and we're gonna crash it! I brought some walkie-talkies, binoculars, and a flashlight. Did you get the worms I asked, Rolf?"
Rolf handed him a bag. "Here they are, Kevin!"
"Ok. I also got a flour bag in case things get ugly. But I still need something to scare them good! Do you have anything, Double D?"
Double D frowned in worry, especially when he noticed Kevin was smiling way too hard and wide.
"Um... no, I'm afraid not. And thank you, but I would rather not. I do hope you guys have fun, though..."
"Eh, you're no fun."
With that said, Double D resumed his walk to the Park 'n Flush trailer park.
"Are you certain this is a good idea, Kevin?"
"What? It's the best! Mark my words"
"I'll get it!" Nazz called, as she left Sarah over by the living room.
"Hey, Nazz!"
"Hey"
"Hi, May! Marie!" Nazz gave the blue headed Kanker a quick hug. May smiled to her sister, who was speechless. "I'm so glad you could make it!"
"... Yeah, thanks for inviting me."
"Come in, you guys! Sarah's already on the sofa."
As the girls walked, they passed by the living room, where Sarah was already eating some popcorn.
"Marie! May!"
"Hey Sarah!"
"Wassup, short–" Marie couldn't finish her words as she was mildly tackled, as Ed's little sister threw herself at the blue headed Kanker, hugging her. And yet, unlike Nazz, her arms didn't unwrap themselves right away. Sighing, Marie smiled as she caressed the strawberry blonde's head. May giggled. Her sister would have to get used to the attention at some point.
"Can we go up to your room, Nazz? We wanna drop off our bags"
"Sure! Let's go!"
As the two Kankers went upstairs, led by the blonde cheerleader, Sarah stood up and followed them as well. The living room was now empty.
"Alright, now's my chance!" A bush whispered.
"But Kevin, they have gone up to go-go Nazz girl's room. If you go now, they'll see you..." The other bush whispered as well, but not as softly.
"I know, I know. But for starters, I can prank them in the living room before they come down."
"Can you grab me a drink while you go in? Rolf is thirsty!"
"Dude! I won't have time for that! If I delay even one second they will find me!"
And with that, Kevin dropped off the binoculars aside and grabbed Rolf's bag and made his way to Nazz's kitchen. As Rolf watched Kevin slip away, he ruffled inside the other bag until he found the object that interested him. On and off the flashlight went, as the son of a shepherd had no problem illuminating his face with it.
After a little while, the flashlight started to get dim. Realizing the batteries were running out, Rolf opted for exchanging them with the walkie-talkie's.
That's strange... I knocked three times already, but no one's coming... Double D scratched his head as he wondered where the Kanker sisters would be. It was already dark out. He didn't want to go back to play video games with Ed and Eddy just yet.
So, as a last ditch effort to find her, the boy in the beanie hat turned around and made his way to the mall.
"Wait 'till you see what I've brought for us, girls..." said Marie, as she rummaged through her bag. As she did, clothes fell out from it.
"What's that?"
"Oh. My PJ's"
"Don't you think that shirt is a little small, Marie?" Nazz asked her.
"I always slept with it on, but yeah, it's been getting harder to put it on..." She shrugged. "Well, but that's not important! Look!"
As she removed her hand out of her bag, the girls could appreciate a DVD box. "I know it's not that new, but still I thought it would be appropriate for tonight..."
Sarah widened her eyes, worry starting to appear on her face. "Is that... the one from the lake…"
"The one and only" Marie smirked.
Nazz gulped, hard. And, while May wasn't too scared of him, it was the other guy who really horrified them.
"We already watched that one once… and his nails are creepy... Why do we have to watch it again?"
"'Cause it's fun, sis!"
All the girls shuddered. "Maybe for you..."
Left and right, left and right. He didn't know where to start. Kevin scratched his head as he thought of where to hide them. His eyes made way to the popcorn bowl…
Perfect… He smirked. He dug his hands in as he introduced one of the worms inside. Then, he put one on top of the remote, a couple more on the sofa's armrests, and in between the cushions.
Nervous, the boy heard laughter from above. Convinced that if he stayed too long he could get caught, he whispered to his device:
"Rolf, can you see them? Are they moving? Over..."
No response.
Nazz's living room was decorated in such a way that they only appropriate place to hide in was behind the sofa. This place, however, was easily seen from the stairs, through which the girls would come down. "Rolf, Kevin here. Are they coming? Over..."
No response again.
Frantic, Kevin whispered a little louder. "P-Press the button man, press the button. Over..."
He heard a static noise briefly, and held the need to slap himself. "... Press the button, hold it, and talk! Over..."
"Kevn, K...n! ...ve, they're... ...!"
"What?"
A slight change of batteries, and the blue headed boy spoke again. "Kevin, Kevin! Leave, they're coming!"
Shoot! Kevin ran, squatting as much as he could, to try to make himself less visible. Fortunately, no girl had made her way down. He found himself safe as he hid in the kitchen.
"What did you mean they're coming! No one is coming down!"
"Sorry, I though I saw–"
White noise. "Hello! Rolf?" Suddenly they lost collection. Realizing that he was in the kitchen, Kevin turned around, to see Rolf in the distance playing with the batteries. It was a no-brainer that the son of a shepherd wasted them!
Kevin slapped a hand to his eyes as he dragged it down to his mouth. Could this get any worse?! He just hoped his worms would produce the desired effect. Giving one last look at them from the kitchen, Kevin thought he had set up the perfect scare.
It's just rubber, but the screams will be worth it… He could barely contain his laughter as he stepped outside, snickering. Once out, Kevin instinctively wiped his hands on his pants as they were suddenly sticky. With as little noise as he could manage, the bike boy made his way back to his blue headed friend.
He dug his spoon once more on the pie slice.
"I thought they would be with you, Lee."
"Nah," said the redhead. "That Nazz girl invited us to a sleepover, so they must be with her."
"Oh, that sounds fun…"
Carefully, Double D dug his spoon once more and ate more pie, slowly…
Slowly…
Suddenly, Lee moved sideways as he spluttered.
"Watch it!"
"S-Sorry! You said, sleepover?!"
"Yeah."
"I-I gotta go. Thanks for the pie, Lee!"
The redhead Kanker was left with an eyebrow raised, should it ever be visible, as her customer left in a haste, his half-eaten pie forgotten.
"So, what do you say? Wanna watch it right now?" Marie said as she put the DVD on the coffee table and made her way to grab the remote.
Sarah frowned, but kept her composure. "Eh… Maybe later, Marie." The two blondes agreed with her.
Distracted, the blue headed Kanker stopped her hand millimeters from it. "What will we do before then?"
"At least wait until Teen Titans finishes…"
"Oh yeah!" May chimed in, ecstatic.
"… Yeah… That…" Nazz agreed just because, as she went back upstairs, passing by the blue head.
"You kids watch that stuff?" Marie complained. May just laughed. Sarah pouted, but she couldn't disagree.
"I think Robin's awesomeee…"
"Whoa, don't let Jimmy hear you!" At May's comment, the three girls laughed.
"Fine. But we'll watch my movie when it ends." Marie declared. "Pass me some popcorn, please." She said, as she sat next to her sister.
First, she bit onto a kernel, with little interest for the show. One after another, her arm reached for the snack in seemingly automatic procedures, until she slowed down.
Mmm… Not bad, I guess. The eldest Kanker in the room seemed to be enjoying herself. Resuming, her hand reached inside the bowl.
"M-M-Marie…!"
"Whadd?" Too late. Sarah watched in horror as her friend had a disgusting creature hanging from her mouth!
"A W-w-w…!"
"Hey, this is pretty good!"
Oblivious, the girl chewed and gulped as the strawberry blonde's eyes bugged out.
"May, try this! I should've mixed these two ages ago!"
Obedient, the blonde Kanker stuffed a worm and popcorn in her mouth. "Yummy! Where'd you get this? Wait, I found some more!" As if gathering treasure, May moved quickly around the room. When she sat back down, her hands were full of slimy fish baits. The two sisters proceeded to make short work of their bounty.
"Sarah? Don't you want any?"
Ed's little sister could only stare in disbelief. Wary, she held one in her hands. She was doubtful…
… But, seeing how both May and Marie were okay, she dared to put it in her mouth.
"Nazz! C'mon, you're missing the show! Oh, and thanks for the gummy worms!"
Confused, the blonde cheerleader popped her head out from the mountain of pillows she was carrying. "Gummy worms? But I thought…"
Nazz sighed, and smiled to herself. Her little friend had raided her pantry again. What am I gonna do with you, Sarah, you little glutton!
"WHAT?! THEY'RE EATING THEM?!"
"Rolf thought you said they couldn't hear you…"
Kevin slapped a hand to his mouth, then continued, but in whispers. "How could they be eating the plastic worms as if they were made out of–"
The bike boy paused. Tell me this isn't happening… Slowly, Kevin brought a hand to his nose to smell it.
He recognized the sweet scent.
"What plastic?"
"Rolf… tell me you didn't give me gummy worms to scare the girls with…"
Calm, and with eyes closed, Rolf responded in the simplest way possible. "Where else could I get worms, then? Papa just fumigated the yard…"
But, when he opened his eyes, he noticed his friend was red… even under such low lighting.
"Well… at least, Sarah did get a little scared, right?... Right?" Rolf said, smiling sheepishly.
Kevin sighed, as his shoulders slumped. "But that's not enough dude… We need something bigger…"
As his character fell, a slight press of the Y made it helicopter its way down to the floor, wary of every obstacle and banana along the way. One more, and a new balloon would pop up towards his life count. Jimmy was on a streak, his hands holding a controller, a half eaten bowl of chips (with a neatly folded, slightly crumbled paper towel) and an unopened bottle of grape soda by his side.
He sighed, unable to understand why Sarah found his game boring. Granted, he was bored now but he attributed that to being alone… Still, he couldn't refuse the promise of a hearty breakfast Nazz would make for him. Just as he was about to raise his flag, the doorbell rang.
"Who is it?"
"Yo, Jimmy! It's us!"
Jimmy opened the door to let the two boys in. Judging from the looks of Kevin, something rather important was going on. "How can I help you, guys?"
Rolf intervened. "We are on a quest to raid…" Kevin elbowed his friend, warning him to keep his mouth shut about the important details. "... raid… whatever it is Kevin here wants to raid." Rolf, said scratching his head, as Kevin slapped his face yet again. The son of a shepherd then focused his gaze on the glass container, holding a rather inviting substance. Quickly, his hands grasped it and disposed of the metal bottle cap as if it was made out of paper.
"Hey! That was mine..."
After a few seconds in which Rolf emptied the content of the bottle, he spoke again, but not without exhaling loudly. "Apologies to short boy Jimmy, Rolf was parched! But Rolf will make it up to you sometime. Could you help us now?"
Puzzled, Jimmy raised an eyebrow as he asked, "Okaay… I'm not sure I know about raids of… whatever, so why would you need me?"
Rolf was going to talk again so Kevin spoke before him. "Thing is, fluffy, we want to… prank the girls, and they're having a sleepover. I figured you could help us out, since you hang out so much with Sarah"
For all intents and purposes, Kevin would have expected the small boy to collaborate. And yet, his surprise was sizeable when he saw him snort.
"Oh, sorry. Forget about that, Kevin. I tried to scare them once, a couple of years ago, and the girls knew my every move! See, how do I put this: It's like trying to siege a well-guarded castle, with pillows, yeah! Like an impenetrable pillow fortress!"
Kevin was bug-eyed. "So, there isn't anything that could help us?" He pleaded to his young neighbor who was too caught up in merriment.
"I remember I failed so bad! And, and, Sarah didn't speak to me for a whole three days! I think Nazz and Sarah were watching TV with the lights off, and I came out yelling to scare them, but then…"
"Oh, let's go, Kevin. We cannot get help from this one." Rolf said, as Jimmy had entered yet a new fit of laughter. The boy in the red cap agreed, and yet, there was something within the words Sarah's boyfriend had said that kept nagging at him…
The credits were rolling up on the screen. May and Sarah exchanged a wary but fearful glance.
"Well, show's over girls. Now we're going to watch the moviee…" Marie declared, almost with glee.
"Um-um, didn't you leave it upstairs? Why don't we go check?" Nazz asked, perfectly aware of how the movie ended up there
"I did?" Marie asked. She remembered bringing it downstairs, but there was no sign of it on the small table
"Y-Yeah! Let's go… check!" May seconded, catching up to the blonde cheerleader who was on her way up.
"Yeah, let's go Marie! Nice save, Nazz" Sarah said, as she grabbed the blue head by an arm, while whispering the last part to her friends ahead.
Seeing that she knew her room perfectly, the blonde cheerleader entered first, and rushed in to hide the movie under her bed. One by one, the other girls made her way in.
"Okay, okay! Where is that movie?"
"... What's your rush, Marie? We have all night!" May spoke, rather pleading.
"Yeah! This is a sleepover, right? Let's... um... change into our pajamas!" Sarah, like the other girls, was running out of ideas. Somehow, their fumbling and uneasiness seemed to entertain the blue headed Kanker.
"Well, I suppose you're right."
After a few minutes, Marie was ready. As she looked around, she saw that her companions weren't.
"Oh, come on, May. You're not five anymore, those buttons are all wrong!"
"Oopsies. I guess I have to do them all again."
A couple more minutes passed, and the girls were finally ready. The same trick would have been annoying twice.
"Ok, where did I put it? Why don't you two search over there as Nazz and I search over here?"
Fortunately for the girls, the eldest Kanker in the room didn't come up with searching under the bed. Time passed, and there was no sign of it. Marie was visibly disheartened.
"Well, so much for that movie."
"Cheer up, Marie" Nazz intervened. "We could always do other stuff, like... I know! Why don't we put makeup on ourselves?" She said, as she opened up her drawers.
"You use that? I always wanted to try it!" Soon enough, the blue head had entertained herself by allowing herself to remember her femininity. After they turned the radio on and decided to embellish themselves, the bedroom of the young cheerleader of the cul de sac was filled aplenty with laughter and cheerful chatter.
He was getting worried. It was the third time he knocked on the door, after having rang the doorbell twice, but no one answered! Double D didn't want the girls, especially May, to get in trouble with Kevin.
"But where could they possibly be? I've been calling for a while now–"
"Hey, Double D! You came after all, huh?"
The beanie wearing boy turned around to see two boys approaching him.
"So goody two shoes Ed boy is also attracted to the girls' un–"
"Huh?"
"Dude, will you keep quiet?" Kevin hushed, rather loudly. "So, you changed your mind? Are you gonna help us now?"
"W-Well, I wanted to make sure there would be no trouble so I was going to tell the girls–"
Kevin gulped silently. "Relax, dork," He said, remembering what Jimmy told him. "We're just gonna scare them for fun!"
"Oh, you will?"
"But Kevin, didn't you say that you wanted to take Nazz's–"
"I, er, wanted to take her by surprise! Yeah, I wanted to have a good laugh with her! So are you coming with us, or what?"
Thinking that he could rather be by himself at home or have to endure getting beaten to a pulp in Eddy's PsOne, Double D decided. "Yeah, I guess I could tag along..."
"Alright! You go on ahead. We lost the walkies and the flashlight thanks to this guy..." Kevin said, sternly, as he looked at Rolf, "so we're gonna enter through Nazz's kitchen, but then we have to hide and keep quiet..."
Having said that, Double D complied and walked towards Nazz's back door. The angry look the bike boy dedicated to Rolf made the taller boy smile uncomfortably.
"Just... let me do the talking, okay?!"
As both boys hurried up to catch up to Double D, they entered Nazz's house, leaving the kitchen door slightly open.
"Do you think this red would look good on me?"
Sarah frowned a bit. "No, May. That's too strong for your skin color. Maybe this one?" She said, as she handed her another one. "And how do I look?"
Ed's little sister stood in between the three other girls, smiling brightly. Both blondes smiled back, while the blue head took a step forward.
"Not bad, squirt! But I think maybe you'd look even better with some eyeshadow". Marie grabbed some from her personal supply. "Now, a bit over here, and some here... there you go!"
"Sarah, you look wonderful!" Nazz couldn't help but to exclaim. As the youngest of the girls looked herself in the mirror, she could see, besides the face she was familiar with, something in herself that made her out to be more mature, more like the woman she always wanted to once become.
"Thank you so much, Marie!"
As both girls hugged, May observed with warm eyes. She had always wanted a little sister, but she was ever happy to see how well her own sister bonded with the one girl who could very well fill that role best.
Oh, it seems like I can finally rest my head on something real, I like the way that feels...
"Ooh I love this song!" Sarah let go of Marie quickly and grabbed Nazz's brush, and started to sing along.
"She sings so pretty!" May praised her
Wait 'til you hear her sing Survivor!" Nazz replied, laughing
Sarah was so engrossed in the music that she would twirl and raise her arms. She was so caught up in the music that the brush flew off her hands during one of her twirls, falling right beside the bed. Being the one closest to it, Marie bent over to pick it up, lifting the bed skirt in the process.
"I'll get it, little diva... Oh, there's the movie!"
May's eyes bugged out as Nazz was flabbergasted, all while Sarah was sweating bullets...
"A-A-Are you s-sure we have to g-go through all this trouble ju-just to scare them, Kevin?" Double D complained, as the cold air from behind the fridge door was getting to him.
"J-just bear with it and keep quiet, Double Dweeb! They're due t-t-to come down any second..." said Kevin, his resolution vanishing slowly.
"It would be e-easier to keep quiet if Rolf could s-stop shaking..."
"S-Sorry... R-Rolf has to go to the bathroom!" Rolf said, shaking at the knees.
"Shh quiet, quiet! T-They're coming down..."
Her steps seemed to resemble those of a young girl at the fair. Marie was giddy with excitement. She found her movie, and now all the girls with her would get to watch it! Shortly after, every other girl made her way to the living room, uneasy and wary steps coming from each.
"You know… It's kinda chilly… I'll be right back!" Nazz said, as she escaped away upstairs again. Somewhere in the kitchen, a boy wearing a red hat cursed silently, a boy in a beanie hat wondered why, and a blue headed boy kept shaking his knees.
But no sooner had Nazz left than she had returned: This time, she was chock full of pillows and a couple of blankets.
"Oh and, um, let me see if I have any more snacks for us!"
Marie rolled her eyes. "Please, please hurry! I'll put the movie on"
May gulped, while Sarah covered herself up to the neck with a blanket. Noting this, the blonde Kanker scooted closer to her to cover herself as well.
"Shoot! She's coming! Close it, Double D!"
"B-b-but…" Double D complained
"Just do it, man! It'll only be for a bit!"
Double D breathed in, though he ignored why. Soon, the three boys were huddled up in ball like positions, next to each other in the darkness of the refrigerator space. Good thing Nazz's family needs to stock up, Double D thought.
That's weird… I'd swear I saw light coming from here. Nazz kept wondering why the kitchen seemed illuminated. Her thoughts traced themselves back to what she came in to do. Seeing that the girls had already eaten the gummy worms, she thought of putting some popcorn bags in the microwave. Her surprise was great when she opened the pantry.
But… I thought Sarah had already taken the gummy worms…? The bag she bought that afternoon for the sleepover was still there, and unopened! This is weird… whatever.
"Do you girls want anything to drink?" She said, as she walked towards the fridge. Inside, three boys held their breaths
"Nah. Maybe later, Nazz!"
And with that, the blonde cheerleader left the kitchen, a bowl of gummy worms on her arms. As soon as she turned off the kitchen light and walked away, the refrigerator opened rather unceremoniously, as Double D, Kevin, and Rolf came out of it rattling their teeth while at the same time rubbing their arms with their hands.
"Have some, Marie!"
"Gee, thanks… Now, sit tight, and I'm gonna…"
"Wait!" The last line of defense was brought forth by Sarah. "… Before we scare ourselves silly, can't we talk about something? We've never been all together in a single room before…"
Even the excited middle Kanker considered her friend's words. "Now that you mention it…"
But she kind of deflated as Nazz spoke up. "We could talk about boys!"
"Why are we heading upstairs again?"
"Simple, Double D. They're going to watch their scary movie right? As soon as they finish, we'll come down and scare them out of their wits!"
"Then why do you want to go to Nazz's bedroom?"
"Um… to hide? To hide! Right, Rolf?"
The poor son of a shepherd could only nod, as he was busy holding it.
"Okay, on my count, you're gonna sprint as softly as possible to the stairs," Kevin commanded, as he and the other two walked on the tip of their toes inside. "One, two…"
"Argh. Tell it to someone who has a love life, Nazz. Speaking of which, since you suggested it, why don't you start?"
Kevin could only slow down to a halt, as he had a clear view of the girl he liked. But what really made him stop was the words the blue head girl uttered next:
"What's your relationship with that bike boy, what's his name… Kevin?"
Slowly, Kevin turned his head to stare at Nazz. Every thought regarding the raid was cast aside.
"Why are you stopping Kev–"
Double D, too, got caught up in the trance.
"W-Well…"
May giggled. "Tell'er, Nazz, tell'er!"
Double D's cheeks turned rosy. Hearing the pure laughter and excited voice of the girl he loved, he couldn't help but to feel his heart flutter, as the fondness he had for her could only be accentuated seeing her on the clothes she would sleep with.
Kevin was going through similar feelings. All of his thoughts were focused on what Nazz would say, and how she would truly react, now that she was among girls, about him. The slight uneasiness he saw on the cheerleader's face could only work in her favor, as to him Nazz had never looked prettier.
Rolf had two hands close to his crotch, his bladder on the verge of popping.
"Well, you know… There's nothing going on between us… yet" she said longingly.
The girls laughed, having understood the blonde's feelings judging by her tone. The poor boy in the red hat, however, missed the last word she said, and couldn't quite comprehend why Nazz's voice sounded different. He was surprised, and rather left in the same limbo he had come in with. To him, everything was the same…
"Okay, okay. What about you May? How's Double D treating you?"
"He's been a perfect gentleman! And he always comes up with somewhere different to take me!"
Double D smiled. There was no need to hear what his girl had to say in confidence to her friends, for he knew her too well.
"And you Sarah?"
"What can I say? I love Jimmy soo much! Although sometimes he can be a bit of a perfectionist, he's always so good-natured…" Every girl laughed along with her. "Soo… is there anyone you're interested in, Marie?" The strawberry blonde dared to ask.
"Me? Didn't I just say I don't have a love life?"
"But that doesn't mean you cannot be interested in anyone, you know? Just because there isn't a boy by your side doesn't mean you don't want one to be with you, right?"
Both Nazz and Sarah turned around to see her blonde sister analyzing the blue head's response. Marie simply patted her forehead.
"Why do I even bother with you, you female Edd!"
"Wha?!"
All the girls laughed way too hard at the joke. Even Double D started snickering
"Tch! Be quiet, dork!"
"… Sorry…"
Finally, the movie had started. Every girl was sitting down on the sofa, two at each end of it, already watching the TV screen intently. Next to them, a small mountain of pillows laid around. Almost instinctively, each girl would grab a pillow from time to time and press themselves against it, as if to protect themselves. Kevin was speechless… it was something that Nazz had said about him that had almost completely obliterated his resolve. He couldn't stop staring at her and keep thinking on what was discussed that night.
"ROLF CANNOT TAKE IT ANYMORE! ROLF NEEDS TO USE THE BATHROOM!" Rolf exclaimed, thankfully remembering whispering, though a little louder, as he ran inside.
"Rolf!" Double D called, but the blue headed boy lost himself on the inside of the house, searching for the oh-so-coveted toilette. Fortunately, no one in the living room had listened to him. He picked up the bag the boy had left unattended.
And yet, someone standing up from the sofa put Double D on alert. "K-Kevin! Hide!"
The smart Ed had to pull his friend in the kitchen to avoid being seen by Marie.
She could barely move. That shirt was starting to annoy her again. Marie made her way to the bathroom to fix her clothes.
I guess this is the downside of having them grow… She complained to herself as she absent-mindedly took off her small shirt as she opened the door to the bathroom…
"Kevin, Rolf is not back yet… I suggest we think about leaving before we are caught!"
His friend's words put an end to his aimless thinking. Had he ever been a coward? No! Nazz wouldn't like a coward! He knew the consequences of his actions… But he also knew that some girls expected this sort of thing to happen at a sleepover.
"No, Double D. We're not going until we scare–"
"Don't turn around, don't listen to Freddy!"
The blonde's cries to the screen stopped the guys on their talking, as the two turned to see what was happening on the TV screen. Kevin smirked, seeing the bloodshed the hockey-wearing figure of horror was bringing forth with a machete. Maybe this is the perfect chance!
Slowly, ever so slowly, Kevin stepped forward. Meters of distance turned to centimeters, then it came to a point where the boy was so close, followed by Double D, that he could hear Nazz breathe, as he was right behind the sofa. Carefully, Kevin raised his arms...
"What are you guys doing?" A cheerful voice of a certain wood carrying boy broke the silence.
"AAH!"
"YAAH!"
"EEK!"
"GYAAH!"
No one had expected an ear-to-ear smile, one-eye-bigger-than-the-other face approach the five people from behind. Kevin and Double D yelled in fear, causing Sarah, May and Nazz to turn around and yell at seeing them, which in turn caused Johnny to scream. Scared, the lone boy ran away from the open kitchen door through where he entered, a familiar two by four plank of wood on his arm.
"BOYS!"
Both Double D and Kevin knew it. They were now dead. The smart Ed watched in horror as each lady grabbed a pillow (and May even grabbed a big one) and made their way to them, angry faces galore!
"The smoke screen, the smoke screen!"
"You mean..."
"The flour bag, Double D!"
"R-r-right...!"
His eyes were half-closed, he almost felt like whistling! The son of a shepherd was ever so calm, even more so than before considering he had finally relieved himself. He washed his hands slowly and with a smile on his face. Such was his state of complacency that he noticed the bathroom door opening too late. Rolf could only turn his head around sharply to see who was coming in...
... Who was, of course, bare.
"EEK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, YOU PERVERT!"
"Are those b-b-b..." It was all Rolf could utter, rather dumbly, as he was saluted with a barrage of slaps and smacks from a blue headed, red faced Marie. The tallest boy in the cul de sac entered a sort of trance-like state... but soon enough, his face was swelling up and the hits from the girl in front of him were starting to hurt... so he snapped out of it and made his way, running, out of the bathroom...
... Where he pushed Double D, who couldn't explode the flour bag in between them and the girls, and rather exploded it on Kevin. A wave of pillow hits, coming from two blondes and a strawberry blonde, fell upon the now white trio. All Rolf could hear was the yelling and whining of his two companions as the three of them slowly made their way out through where they had come in. In the end, the castle was not sieged, and Kevin went back home empty handed.
"Don't you dare come back, you jerks!" Nazz yelled, though not quite angered, as the boys ran back to their respective houses.
"Ooh, look! Spoils!" Sarah pointed to two hats on the floor.
May grabbed the black beanie on the floor and shook off some flour. "Double D's..."
"I'll keep Kevin's hat." Nazz declared. "Too bad we couldn't get anything from Rolf, right Marie?" Nazz spoke, seeing the blue head come out of the bathroom.
"It's not like I want anything to do with that tall pervert!" She said, rather angrily. The three other girls didn't understand why she suddenly looked helpless.
Nazz didn't speak to him the whole day. Sure, he understood that they wouldn't be talking to each other over the weekend, but not hearing from her even on Monday could only mean that she was mad. As the bus stopped on its way back to the cul de sac, he and Double D exchanged a worried glance.
As the boys were getting off the school bus, a blonde approached them.
"May? What are you doing here?"
The blonde Kanker pulled out a cloth from her pocket. "I wanted to give you back your hat... and talk about Friday."
Kevin gulped along with the smart Ed.
"Um... you can keep it. I have a few more..."
"Okay. Why were you guys spying on us?"
"Honestly, we were only trying to have fun scaring you... We didn't want to hurt you or anything..." Double D explained, rather nervously. A wave of uneasiness washed over Kevin. May sure sounds angry... Man, I guess I blew it for him. I'm sure Nazz must be just as mad...
But, contrary to what the bike boy was thinking, May wrapped her arms around Double D. Their embrace, which lasted for a few seconds, was undone by the girl, who smirked and spoke in a menacing but fun tone.
"Next time, we'll be prepared for ya..."
Double D smiled back, gulping, but he was rather relieved that any possible problems between him and his beloved were in the past now. Kevin only smiled sheepishly as May made her way to the other girls.
"We dodged a bullet, huh?"
Kevin sighed, turning to look at Nazz. "Speak for yourself..."
But, as May was animatedly talking to Sarah and the blonde cheerleader, this one could not help but to slightly turn her head to stare at the boy behind them. As she noticed he was looking at her, Nazz dedicated him a rather coy smile. Thereupon the three ladies made their way to her house, to have lunch and relax.
Excited, Kevin turned around to confirm if Double D had noticed what he saw, but this one had made his way to his Ed friends. Smirking, Kevin cheered himself up. Maybe things would be alright, after all.
Notes: It was rather interesting to write about Rolf, Double D, and Kevin working together. Given that Kevin is a bit similar to Eddy, and Rolf is on certain circumstances as dopey as Ed, this team seems to work well.
If anyone would wish to see more of them, please let me know.
Did you guess what movie the girls were watching? Please review!