Ed, Edd and Eddy, all its characters and locations are © Danny Antonucci and Cartoon Network.

*I always proof-read before uploading, but if you should find a typo, don't hesitate to point it out!

*Thank you for all the reviews! They make me so happy.

*I'm so sorry this took forever. I took a couple classes about publishing and the assignments for them were a little time consuming. I also had to finish another [original fiction] story, which I entered in a writing contest. Also, I was finally hired and now I have a job. Money! Oh, joy! So, here's chapter two! Hope you like it and I will do my best to not have such a long gap between this chapter and the next one. I do love this story, though, and I don't like sacrificing quality for timeliness, so I make no promises.

"Pretend"

Ed and Eddy trudged down the hallway of Peach Creek High School and into their Applied Biology class. They avoided meeting the Kanker Sisters' gazes. They took their seats next to a very tense looking Kevin. Kevin was drumming his fingers against his desk.

"Hi, Kevin!" Ed greeted happily.

"Hey," Kevin replied. The tension was evident in his voice, too.

"What's up?" Eddy asked.

"I'm freaking out, man. If I don't pass this class, I don't graduate."

"How'd you skip it last year?"

"I didn't. I flunked. Bad. My parents are going to kill me if I don't graduate on time…"

"Double D can help you, Kevin," Ed offered. "He's real smart! He's taking all AP classes this year."

"All AP?!" Kevin echoed. "He's not going to have time to help me. Besides, I want to do this myself. I'm going to buckle down and focus. Focus…"

Eddy watched Kevin make his "Focusing" hand motion. The teacher hurried into the room. He made sure he had the class' attention and began talking.

"All right, guys; if you haven't had me before, my name is Mr. Carson. Last year, the school board and the PTA got together and had a discussion over the way you kids have been overheard talking behind peoples' backs. It's not just from kids in the more difficult classes, either. In fact, kids from every level have been badmouthing and even harassing each other.

So, the parents and the school board decided that it would be a good class unity sort of thing if we integrated the classes for a group project. You all will be working with the AP class and their teacher and I have already paired you off. The project begins Thursday."

When the final bell rang, the students of Peach Creek High School headed home. Eddy and Ed happily met up with Edd near the flag pole. Ed grabbed the hat wearing boy in a rough and tight hug.

"I missed you so much, Double D! It is just not the same not having you in our classes!"

"Ed…air…" Double D gasped. He flailed his hands, not wanting to touch Ed's questionably clean jacket. "Please…"

Ed let the smaller boy go, settling on just smiling at him instead. Edd gave him a an uneasy smile in return. Eddy rolled his eyes, motioning for his friends to follow him. They walked mostly in silence, sharing only the occasional word about their classes. Their breath simultaneously hitched in their throats when they saw the Kanker sisters heading up the opposite side of the street. They all let out a sigh of relief when the girls darted down an alleyway.

"Guess the Kanker skanks didn't notice us today," Eddy said. "C'mon, guys; let's stop off at the convenience store."

Inside, Ed looked around for his usual candies and cereals, whilst Double D flipped through a science magazine. He eyed Eddy carefully from the corner of his eye. The shortest boy was watching the clerk discreetly and standing near the supply of beer. Edd sighed, wishing a day would come when he wouldn't have to watch his friend so carefully anymore.

"Don't you dare steal from here, Eddy," he whispered harshly, startling Eddy when he was suddenly next to him.

"Ugh! Double D, dress in color, will ya? You're blending in with the anti-freeze."

"I mean it, Eddy! This is a family-owned business. The monetary loss of even one stolen pack of gum would be noticed and significant. I'm not about to stand here and let you steal from this family!"

"Then go stand outside! I bet you don't even know these people," the dark haired boy retorted quietly.

"You would be correct on that point, Eddy. I only know them from in front of the counter, but their hard work and dedication deserves to be rewarded with profit, not thrown back in their faces by theft!"

"Cool it, Sockhead! When are you going to loosen up?!" Eddy snapped. "Look at yourself! You scream laid back, but you're still wound up tight around mommy and daddy's sticky notes!"

Ed had been watching from behind the stacks of antifreeze and his brown eyes bugged out of his head; he knew Eddy had crossed the line. He grabbed his two friends by their jacket collars.

"Stop it, guys! You need to hug and make up right now!" he said.

Eddy and Edd could see he was getting upset, but neither of them were ready to let go of their argument. Edd slipped his arms out of his jacket to free himself and looked up at the taller boy sympathetically. Eddy was less gentle, opting to wrench himself free of Ed's grip instead. Ed rubbed his hand ruefully, dropping Double D's jacket. Its owner picked it up, shook the dust off and offered Ed some comforting words.

"Let it go, Lumpy," Eddy interjected. "The grown-ups need to talk outside."

"Eddy!" Double D called scornfully. He collected himself for Ed's sake, motioning for the older boy to follow him. "Come on, Ed. Let's head out, okay?"

"But, Double D-"

"It's okay, Ed. Is there anything else in here you want?"

Ed bit the inside of his dry lip. He wanted to see Edd and Eddy talk; see that it was just a brief squabble and everything would go back to normal again. Lately, the time between argument and forgiveness had been lengthening and it scared him. The thought of anything happening to their tight-knit group was too much for him to bear. They purchased their items and met Eddy outside.

All the irritation had gone from Eddy's face when they reached him. He greeted the pair with a smile and they headed on their way to Double D's empty house. When they got inside, they silently removed their shoes, as per house rules, and Eddy insisted they head up to Edd's room.

"Check out what I got us, guys!" he said excitedly. "It's a stout!"

"It's sturdy?" Ed asked.

"No, Mono-brow! It's a really strong beer!"

Double D bit back his strong suspicion that it was stolen. He gingerly reached out to take the bottle from his friend. He ran his thumb over the label, hating to touch the pilfered alcohol.

"Um, Eddy? This says 'Stott,' not 'stout.'"

"Your point being…?"

"It's not a stout. It's just regular beer. You were reading the company's name, not the item's."

"Are you kidding me?! Crap! I swiped that for nothing…" Eddy groaned. "Well, maybe I can sell it."

"Sell stolen beer?" Ed asked, quirking the corner of his brow.

"You can't sell something you stole! It's illegal!" Edd cried, voice growing shrill. "You're going to break the law twice in under an hour?! No! Three times, because you're a minor! Eddy, I'm drawing my line in the sand and I refuse to let you cross it. I cannot sit idly by and-"

"Jim's wilting, shovel chin! You better go check on him," Eddy said with fake sincerity.

The other boy folded his arms with a sigh, but still took a peek over his shoulder to be sure the cactus was doing okay. Eddy grabbed the beer and walked out of the house with a sly grin. Ed watched him go, then looked at an exasperated Edd. He wondered if there was a way to convince Double D to follow Eddy. Their days of scams were a thing of the past and he missed them. Sure, they got them in trouble with everyone else, but it was their thing. It was fun.

"We should follow Eddy into the great outdoors for adventure and merriment, Double D!"

Edd looked at him like he had five heads. Ed's statement was truly the last thing he had wanted to hear. The stress squeezed his lungs and he dug his inhaler from his pocket. He took a hit of the last of the medicine inside and forced himself to settle down.

"Not this time, Ed."

"But why not? We always go with Eddy everywhere…"

"…I know we do, Ed," Edd replied sadly. The adrenaline rush waned and a sad emotion he couldn't quite place set in. "We just…we shouldn't. Not this time."

"Get over Eddy taking the beer! He'll probably just throw it away! Let's go!"

Ed's frustration made way for stubbornness and he grabbed Double D's wrist, pulling him hard, but the smaller boy didn't budge. He turned to look at him. Double D's eyes were pointed firmly at the ground and his thin hands were clenched in tight fists. Slowly, he opened his mouth to speak.

"If we go with Eddy, there's a chance we could end up getting arrested for minor possession of alcohol and being minors trying to sell alcohol. That's a stupid risk that's simple to avoid. I refuse to take such a risk and I refuse to let Eddy drag you down with him."

"Shouldn't we try to stop him then?" Ed asked, voice shaking. He wasn't used to Double D's voice being so low and commanding.

"I'm not sure what the right thing to do is this time. A part of me wants to go get him and bring him home like you do, but the other wants to…let the police catch him," he trailed.

"Why? Then Eddy will have a record and he'll be in trouble for a long time and he'll have to get a job at the gas station, but since he has a record it'll have to be the bad gas station that doesn't sell pudding!"

"I think it might teach him a lesson. Believe me, Ed; I hate to see it happen. If Eddy's going to be arrested, I'd rather it happen now when he's still underage and there's still a chance of him being charged as a minor instead of an adult. If it happens now, this would be a long shot considering the offense, but there's also a chance that he could just do community service and then have his slate wiped clean," Edd said. Guilt for wanting Eddy to be arrested burned in chest, but the look on Ed's face told him that the taller boy no longer wanted to be involved in their friend's plans for the day. He felt better knowing he'd managed to protect Ed for now. He smiled brightly at his friend. "I need to have my medicine refilled, Ed. Care to join me?"

"Your inhaler is empty? Come on! We have to hurry before you have an asthma attack and can't breathe and I'd have to give you mouth-to-mouth!"

Ed grabbed Double D's wrist again, roughly pulling down the stairs and out the door. The thought alone of how Ed's breath would taste in his mouth made Double D feel severely unclean. He knew he'd be alright having recently taken the last of the medicine, but he still willed his asthma to control itself.

Up the street, they saw Eddy rounding the corner, clearly hiding the stolen beer under his jacket. Eddy pretended not to notice them and they did the same. They would avoid each other for the day, but all knew that when tomorrow came, it would be like nothing out of the ordinary had ever happened.

At least, they hoped this procedure of avoidance would stay an unusual occurrence.