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The Double-D Dare

Chapter Three

"Hey, Double Dee!"

Upon hearing his name being called, Edd shut his locker gingerly and turned, coming face-to-face with Eddy. The shorter boy leaned his shoulder against the row of lockers.

"Greetings, Eddy!" He regarded him with a jovial smile, holding his calculus book tight against his chest.

Eddy lifted an eyebrow. "Jeez, what's with you? Did you win the science fair or something?"

The taller boy let out a lighthearted giggle as they began to meander down the hall, side by side. "Eddy, the science fair is not until May!"

"Oh."

"So, what is on your mind?"

"Well," Eddy rubbed his hands together. "I've got a favor to ask. I know what you're gonna say-"

"I already don't like where this is going, Eddy-"

"Aw, come on, Sockhead. It'll be funny. Listen, meet me and Ed in the science hall during the assembly."

"But Eddy, that assembly is mandatory!"

Eddy waved a hand dismissively. "It's just a stupid pep rally for the baseball game tomorrow."

Edd opened his mouth to protest, but the two minute bell interrupted him with a monotone chiming. "Science hall, 11:30. See ya." Eddy slapped Edd's shoulder before disappearing into the crowd of students hurrying to get to class. With a foreboding sigh, Edd joined the horde.

"Eddy, is this really necessary?"

"Hurry up!" came the responding hiss.

"But this is theft! It's completely immoral! I cannot have a charge of theft upon my record!"

"We're just borrowing it. Now go!"

Eddy gave the teen a little shove and Edd stumbled into the dark classroom, clutching the plastic container in his hands. He stood there for a moment, simply debating on what to do, before moving over to the counter that held the class's insects. Each glass aquarium held different insects; magnificent specimens, but Edd bypassed the centipede, pill bugs and crickets until he stood in front of the final glass case. He removed the lid carefully and set it aside.

"My apologies," he murmured, reaching down into the spider's territory. "You will be returned to your home soon enough, I swear it." After a few agonizing moments during which Edd was sure he'd be caught red-handed, furry legs tickled his wrist and he lifted the spider cautiously. The creature ambled across the back of his hand and he admired it for a brief moment before nudging it into the container, feeling bad for the poor, innocent creature. He placed the lid back on the empty aquarium and retreated to the hallway with the arachnid in tow.

"Gross." Eddy bent over, his hands on his knees, to peer at the insect. "Perfect. Great job, Double Dee."

"We can name it Henry!" Ed declared.

"This is ridiculous!"

"This is genius," Eddy replied, creeping into the seemingly deserted locker room. Ed lumbered behind him, simply tagging along, while Double D trailed in last with the contained spider in his hands. Eddy made quick work of the stalls, determining that the room was, indeed, empty. The baseball team was nowhere to be seen.

As if Edd hadn't been skeptical enough when he'd heard the first half of Eddy's plan to capture the spider, he certainly was once Eddy revealed the entirety of his scheme. The victim of his prank was – some things never change – Kevin. Not to mention the happenings of Saturday night complicating things, but Edd also wanted nothing to do with Eddy's childish games of revenge. Yet, here he was, quite involved once more, and he wanted nothing else but to turn and run away before things became unpleasant.

"Bingo. Found it," Eddy declared, kicking Kevin's purple backpack with his shoe. "C'mon, Double Dee. Put it in there."

"Eddy, I can't simply-"

"Just do it." Eddy crossed his arms, obviously becoming impatient. With a grimace, Edd stepped forward as Eddy unzipped the bag. Edd hesitated, his fingers gripping the lid. "C'mon, hurry up!"

Just as Edd began to peel the lid off, the echo of voices sounded off the walls, alerting them to the unexpected – and unwelcome – visitors. They all froze, ears straining, half-hoping they were simply being paranoid. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The voices were growing louder.

"Hide!" Eddy hissed, grabbing Ed's sleeve and yanking him toward the showers. Wide-eyed, Edd stumbled toward a bathroom stall and shut the door, locking it just as the voices flooding into the large locker room. He pulled his feet up so they would not be seen, crouching awkwardly on the toilet as the spider crawled about in its cage.

"Man, those sprints killed me," a deep, unfamiliar voice complained.

"Yeah, coach seemed kind of peeved about something."

A pause. Their meaningless chatter meant nothing to Edd; he just wanted them to hurry up and leave. 'Another one of Eddy's plans, foiled again.'

"You were smacking the shit outta the ball today, dude."

A snicker. "Thanks."

Edd stared at the slow-moving spider, eyes glazing slightly, hands shaking. There was no mistaking that voice. 'I was a second away from dropping a poisonous arachnid into his backpack! Oh, I'm so ashamed,' Edd thought, disgusted with himself. 'This will be the final Eddy-scam that I have anything to do with!'

"So, how'd the little date go? Did he do it, Mark?"

"Hell yeah he did. Saw it with my own eyes."

"No way!"

"Man, you're nasty!"

"I guess a bet's a bet, guys. Better cough up."

"Shit, I didn't think you'd actually do it, Kev. I bet he loved it. He looks like a little fag."

There was a pause. "Whatever, dude," Kevin finally said, his voice low. "Just hand it over."

"Ten bucks, right?"

"Yeah."

Tears blurred Edd's vision. He's heard enough. With speed he'd never known he had, he pushed the door open and ran blindly, side-swiping a tall blonde. The blow made him stumble, but he caught himself on the wall, the container tumbling to the ground. "What the fuck?" Edd turned, looking for the source of the unrecognizable voice, and unintentionally locked eyes with Kevin. His mouth was slightly ajar, eyes large, staring in disbelief. Picking himself up, Edd ran. He kept running until he was in the empty hallway again. Still, he didn't stop. He ran until he was gasping for breath and a sharp, stabbing pain in his side forced him to slow to a walk. He wiped his cheeks, frantically looking behind him, but there was no one there. He halted in the middle of the sidewalk, doubled over and attempted to catch his breath. The lump in his throat made it difficult. He looked up, able to see his house from where he stood.

It had been a dare. A bet, even. None of it had been sincere. 'Of course not. You were foolish to even think it was. It never could have been anything more than a joke.' A choked sob escaped him, and he covered his mouth with one hand. 'He hasn't changed at all.'

Standing up straight, an all-too-familiar sound in the distance attracted his attention. He whipped his head around. 'What are the chances that's...' His eyes widened as he turned and ran, despite his body's protests.

The distinct rumble grew louder as Edd turned the corner. As he loped up the pathway to his house, he saw the familiar figure pull into his driveway out of the corner of his eye. He didn't stop. The engine cut.

"Double Dee!"

His hand landed on the knob and he turned it, grateful that he hadn't locked it when he'd left for school. Pushing it open, he stumbled into his house and shut it hard, turning the lock firmly. He stared at the oak door, taking a step backwards and jumping at the sound of pounding on the door not seconds later.

"Double Dee, open the door!"

Edd swallowed hard, wrapping his arms around himself, and turned his head to rest it against the cool wall beside him. A frustrated groan came from the other side of the door. "C'mon, please?" Edd shrank into himself, remaining silent. It was another fifteen minutes before Kevin seemingly gave up and it grew quiet. Eyes puffy, Edd retreated upstairs to take a long shower.

His parents never came home, but he couldn't bring himself to care very much.

Edd lay in bed all evening, eventually falling into a fretful sleep. When he awoke, it was early morning. Feeling nauseous, he stayed home from class; something he had never done in his entire life. It was ironic, he concluded, that the day he wasn't truly sick was the first day he'd stayed home.

Truthfully, the real reason he didn't want to go was the possibility – and probability – of running into Kevin and having to face him after yesterday's incident. He couldn't allow Kevin to see him in such a state. Not only was he infuriated at the jock's insensitivity, but he felt as though Kevin had stomped all over his heart with metal football cleats.

Wrapping himself up in his blanket, he wandered downstairs to make himself some hot cocoa, hoping the warm, chocolatey taste would lift his spirits. Holding the blanket with one hand, he mixed the chocolate powder into the hot water with the other. Perhaps the worst thing about the situation he was in was that the happenings – as well as the incident itself – were no longer private. The entirety of the baseball team knew, as did Ed and Eddy. 'They heard everything. Every bit that I did.' Edd sighed and moved into the living room with his cocoa, curling up on the sofa and clicking the television on. Salty tears traced down his cheeks as he sipped from the white mug.

It was nearly 3pm when the doorbell rang. Edd, who had drifted off to sleep in the midst of Animal Planet's Shark Week Special, was jerked awake by the sudden noise. He rubbed his eyes groggily and arched his spine in a small stretch, perking up as the doorbell rang again. Planning not to answer, he remained seated on the couch until he heard a familiar voice.

"Double Dee, are you in there?"

The voice was unmistakable. Standing and abandoning his blanket, Edd went to the door and opened it warily. The owner of the voice stood on the other side, brightening at the sight of Edd's face.

"Double Dee!"

Ed lurched through the door, enveloping the smaller boy in a suffocating hug. Chin trembling, Edd simply stood there. Then, before he knew what was happening, he was crying against Ed's large chest, sobs racking his frail body. Ed began to pat his back in a comforting manner.

"Why is Double Dee so upset?" Ed questioned, obviously confused. Edd drew in a shaky breath, attempting to get ahold of his emotions. He began to pull back, but Ed's strong arms crushed him against his chest once more. "Don't be sad, Double Dee. Eddy says that Kevin is a jerk and even though you're different, you'll always be our friend no matter what!"

Ed's words tugged another sob from Edd's throat, though this one was of relief. "Oh Ed... Thank you," he managed, able to step back and wipe his cheeks on his sleeve as Ed released him. The large teen turned to yell out the door.

"You can come in now, Eddy!"

Within a moment, the shorter brunette traipsed into the house, hands stuffed in his pockets. "Are the waterworks over?" he mumbled. He shut his mouth, catching sight of Double Dee as he nudged the door closed with his elbow. There was an awkward pause between them, which Ed predictably broke.

"I told him, Eddy!"

Edd offered a small smile. "Thank you, Eddy," he whispered.

Eddy looked down. "Yeah, well... I gotta admit, I kinda saw this one coming. Not with, well, him, but..." He shrugged. "You're our friend, Double Dee. Always have been."

With a quivering smile, Edd stepped forward to embrace Eddy. With a begrudging smile, he lifted a hand to return the hug. Ed squished them both. "We love you Double Dee!" he proclaimed with a goofy grin.

"Hey, Nazz?"

"Hmm?" The blonde girl looked up from her dictionary. Kevin stood beside her table, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. She shut the book. "What's up?"

"Uh... Can I talk to you?"

"Yeah."

"Like, right now?"

"... Yeah?"

Kevin grabbed a chair and haphazardly sat backwards, glancing around uneasily. Nazz lifted an eyebrow, turning toward him, and rested her cheek against her hand, propped up by her elbow upon the table.

"Dude, you're acting weird. Spill it."

Kevin tugged at the collar of his shirt anxiously, and then rubbed a hand over his face. "Nazz... I screwed up."

"Bad?" she asked, though, judging by Kevin's appearance, she already knew the answer.

"Yeah."

The girl surveyed the library; there were only a few other students seated at the table across from them. "C'mon." She grabbed her things and stood, leading the way to the off-colored couches placed in the middle of the library; a halfhearted attempt to encourage students to spend more time in the library. She flopped down, watching her friend sink to sit beside her. "Okay. I'm all ears."

Kevin glanced at her nervously. "Well... the guys on the baseball team kind of dared me... It was dumb. But it turned into a bet." He sighed, sliding down in his seat until he was slumping. "They dared me to take, uh... Somebody out on a date."

Nazz rolled her eyes. "Classy." Kevin winced. "So, did you?"

"Yeah."

"Lemme guess. They found out."

Kevin turned to her, amazed by her ability to interpret him. She smirked. "I can read you like an open book, Kev." She shrugged. "So what, do you feel bad or something now? Who was it? Stacey? You've been trying to sleep with her for ages."

With a gulp, Kevin looked down. "Well, it's... hey Nazz, you know how you... You date guys, but you're into girls too?"

The blonde shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah, so?"

"Yeah, well..."

"Oh my God." She leaned forward. "It was a dude?"

"Yeah, but it was just a bet-"

"But now you feel bad because you realize that you actually like him!" Kevin groaned, his head falling back. "Oh man, Kev, this is like a bad soap opera or something."

"Nazz, it's not like that-"

"So who is it?"

"..."

"Come on, man. No judgments. Remember when I told you? It's no big deal."

Kevin sighed. "Yeah, alright. It's... one of the last people I ever woulda thought-"

"One of the Eds?" Nazz covered her mouth, speaking through her fingers. "Please tell me it's not Eddy."

"Eugh, no." He recoiled slightly, and then glanced away. "It's not Lumpy either."

"Double Dee?" She dropped her hand from her face, seeming to contemplate that for a moment. "How'd he find out?"

"They were in the locker room when we came back from practice. He heard the guys talking about it."

Nazz tucked one leg underneath her. "Ouch. So... what are you gonna do about it?"

"I dunno. He wasn't in class today."

"Double Dee, not in class?" Nazz paused. Kevin stared, dumbfounded. "When was the last time Double Dee missed a day of school? Like, never dude! He must be pretty down about it."

"Yeah, well, I could just write him a note or something. The dork's gotta have email."

"That's it?"

"... What?"

"Kevin, you can't just do that! I mean, Edd's a sensitive guy. Don't you wanna keep seeing him?" Kevin shrugged one shoulder. "Well?"

"I haven't really thought that far," he mumbled.

"And why not?"

"... I mean, the guys on the team would probably-"

"Kev. Are you serious?" Upon receiving a blank gaze, Nazz groaned in exasperation. "You're an idiot." Kevin opened his mouth to retort, but she stuck a hand in his face. "No. Shut up and listen. You bullied that kid and his friends all through elementary and middle school, and I bet it took a lot of courage for him to even go out with you. Then he finds out it was all just a joke?" She shook her head. "Kev, you can be really dense sometimes. Now, do you care about him? You wanna make it up to him, right?"

"... Yeah," he mumbled begrudgingly.

"Then you go talk to him, apologize to him in person. Who gives a shit what anyone else thinks? If he makes you happy, then that's all that matters. And if you fight for him and he won't listen, then at least you know you tried!"

Kevin gazed at her as she finished speaking, the both of them ignoring the librarian as she shushed them. The backs of his eyes burned. 'Dude, are you gonna cry? Weak.' He lifted an arm to wipe his nose on his sleeve. 'I bet he's been doing a lot of crying.' Something within him snapped.

"Yeah. Thanks, Nazz."

She smiled slightly. "Anytime, dude."

"Bye, Double Dee!"

Edd turned to wave at Johnny as they parted ways. Oh, did Edd enjoy Thursdays. The Happy Cluckers meeting had gone exceptionally well, serving to lift his spirits. Despite the conflict raging within his conscience, he'd managed to put on a façade and, in some instances, even truly enjoy himself during the past few days whilst his mind was distracted. Still, when he was alone and allowed himself to become submerged in his thoughts, he was forced to accept the reality: he was an utter mess.

With a small sniffle, he pulled a tissue from the box stashed in his messenger bag and blew his nose, disposing of the soiled handkerchief in the nearest trashcan. The halls were quiet, as they usually were at such a late hour. The only remaining students were those of the baseball and track teams. Keen to retrieve his things and leave the premises before the baseball team's practice was over, Edd halted at his locker and entered the combination. He tugged the metal door open and slipped his books into the bag slung over his shoulder.

"Hey, Double Dee."

The voice was a soft, raspy, distinctive tone, and it froze Edd in his movements. He swallowed as he broke into a light sweat, but he didn't turn. Maybe the voice was just a figment of his imagination; a cruel hallucination.

"... Edd?"

At that, he turned, willing himself to be strong and not to break under Kevin's emerald gaze. But, the moment he met those eyes and his back pressed against the locker, the breath was stolen from his lungs. He stood, frozen, unable to do anything but tremble and stare at the ginger that stood mere feet from him.

Kevin looked apologetic; his shoulders sagged, head tilted to the side at a small angle, one hand stuffed deep in his pocket. After a moment, he stepped forward, holding out a cleanly folded note. Edd stared at it. 'Here we are, once more. At least he isn't shoving it between my teeth.' Hesitantly, he reached out to take the piece of folded paper.

"Same deal, yeah? Open it when I'm gone, okay?" He looked as if he wished to say more, but he turned and rounded the corner instead, leaving Edd's sight. Tears gathering in the corners of his eyes, he opened the note.

Double Dee,

You and me. Sat. night. But let's make
it 8 this time. We've got some stuff to
talk about, and I've got some making up
to do.

Kevin

P.S. You'd better come, 'cause I dunno
what else to do.