Maps: a KevEdd Fic
Chapter Two
"Hey, Double D!"
A friendly smile greeted the boy as he opened the door. A few ashes from his cigarette fell to the pavement of the porch as he stepped outside to greet Nazz.
"Hello, Nazz. What are you doing here at this time of night? Did you walk here by yourself?"
"Well, I tried calling you, but you didn't pick up, so I assumed I'd just come here to talk to you."
Edd looked away in a flurry of flustering embarrassment. He had been so lost in his own thought that he hadn't picked up the phone for one of his only friends. Nazz laughed and shrugged it off.
"It's okay! I just wanted to ask if you want to hang out with me and Kev after school tomorrow! We're gonna go see one of our friend's bands play at the café down the road."
Edd pondered the idea for a moment. It was quite unlikely that he would have homework tomorrow, as his Thursday classes were all electives, and elective classes tended to treat seniors with a little more leniency. At the same time, he wasn't sure if hanging out with Kevin sounded that appealing. Despite this, he decided that joining Nazz for an outing would make his life a little less lonely, and that was fine by him.
"Of course, that sounds like a fantastic time."
"Alright, Double D! Meet us at the park around six tomorrow, okay? I'll text you to remind you."
"Thank you, Nazz! I'll be there!"
"Later, dude!" Nazz waved goodbye to Edd as she walked across his lawn and toward her own house.
Edd sighed, and with it he let out a puff of smoke, but this sigh was light hearted and filled with an aura of content. He couldn't explain why, but he was genuinely excited for the adventure that tomorrow would hold. It had been a long time since he had felt comfortable to go on any out-of-the-house excursion. Double D's heart fluttered at the thought, and when he returned to his bedroom, he put out his half-burned cigarette and prepared himself for a good night's sleep.
School had gone by in a blur, just like usual. Edd meandered through the students from class to class, ate lunch outside with Ed, and then went home. It was nothing out of the ordinary, and he hadn't even seen Nazz during school so he could babble about how excited he was.
Edd decided he would try to gussy himself up for the day's activities as an attempt to make himself feel better. He stepped into the shower for a few minutes, which was just long enough to wash off the school day's filth. As he came out from underneath the hot water, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror.
Edd was certainly not the worst looking boy. He still had a mild gap in his teeth, which led him to refrain from smiling quite often, but no one would notice as long as he kept his mouth closed. Other than that, there was not a freckle on his face. He shifted his attention from his face to the top of his head. Edd's hair was a different story all together. It was a dark, raven black, with bangs that fell bluntly across his forehead when he wasn't wearing his black beanie to which he had grown so accustomed. The hair itself wasn't a problem, though it had grown quite unruly in recent months, but the beanie meant the world to Edd.
Edd had awful allergies when he was younger which caused his scalp, along with the rest of his skin, to break out in the most irritating form of hives. From that point onward, Edd's mother kept the house absolutely pristine, and had forced him to shave his head constantly to avoid his hair from irritating the troubled regions of his skin even more, and Edd kept the beanie as protection against the potential ridicule from his peers.
Even though Edd seemed to have grown out of these allergies with age (as well as grown his hair out), he had become so attached to the beanie that he couldn't bear to part with it. He felt naked without it; he was absolutely exposed to the world when he wasn't wearing his metaphorical shield upon his head—it was a thought Edd couldn't bear.
Putting these thoughts aside, Edd finished drying himself off and pulled a white, v-neck style shirt over his head. The boy generally despised v-neck style clothing on his own body, but he felt that this particular piece of fabric was fitting for attending some sort of musical gathering. It was the perfect mixture of a nonchalant, casual boy's fashion statement, and a perfect, plain, and clean article of clothing. The lanky boy inserted his arms into the sleeves of a maroon fleece sweater, and pulled a pair of faded blue jeans over his legs. Finally, he secured his favorite beanie onto his head, making sure his hair was all stored tidily away. While there was nothing particularly out of the ordinary or interesting about his outfit, he hoped it would be acceptable enough for the musical gathering he was attending.
Double D had always dreamed of going to a live concert, but with his unhealthy smoking addiction, the money that his parents would leave him while they were away was only enough to cover a couple packs of cigs and the basic food groups. He felt a sense of elation from the idea of hearing live music. He pondered the genre of the band to which they would be listening. Edd hadn't even caught the name, he was so quick to accept Nazz's request. With these thoughts flying around his mind, he left the house, locked the door, and walked toward the park, an unlit cigarette in between his slightly parted lips.
Double D checked his phone one more time; he was nearly thirty feet away from the park, it was nearly two minutes until six, and Nazz hadn't contacted him at all. He considered calling her, but he decided that may seem too pushy, and he didn't want to scare her off. He instead decided to wait on a bench just outside of the park and wait. Unfortunately, Edd was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice the other body sitting adjacent to his own on the bench.
"Dweeb, you're almost late," said a deep voice, sending a mild chill down Edd's spine.
"Oh, Kevin!" Edd inhaled the smoke from his cigarette one last time before putting it out on the side of the bench and then placing the butt in his pocket, a habit he picked up in order to avoid polluting his surroundings while outdoors. "Sorry. I was thinking. A lot."
"Thinking is for losers," replied Kevin as he stood up. "We could have been late; you should be grateful Nazz even invited you."
"Oh, you seem to be in the most pleasant of moods today, Kevin," Edd mumbled sarcastically as he cocked his head to the side.
"I'm not the one with a pack of cancer sticks in my pocket, Anxiety Boy."
"My mental and emotional condition is not for you to question or use against me, you pompous jock."
"Well," scoffed Kevin as he turned toward the slender boy, "tonight should be fun, seeing as Nazz woke up sick today and won't be coming with us."
"You mean…?"
"Just you and me, dweeb."
"Great."
"Yup."
"Alright, then, Kevin," Double Dee began as he brought himself to his feet, "I suppose we should be on our way, so we aren't late."
Edd stepped in front of the opposing boy, both of them towering above the ground.
"You're just going to end our argument right there!?" Kevin tried to rekindle the heated debate, but his advance was quickly shot down by Double Dee.
"That's not worth my time. I'd rather enjoy my evening than argue with you."
"Did you just say I'm not worth your time!?"
And, with that, both boys walked toward their target location, each one shooting quick and snarky quips back and forth in small attempts to instigate the other.
