The next morning I expected to wake up to nice omelettes and a present. My dad was supposed to be coming in from out of town, but when I got downstairs, no one was there. Things have been lonely here since Dad got that new job, but I manage. I grabbed a bowl and poured some cereal and milk. I'm a terrible cook. One time, I was supposed to make a pizza for culinary class, but it turned out completely black and the teacher made me eat it. Ugh, every time I think about it, it ruins my appetite. I dumped my cereal into the sink and sat down on the couch.
I miss Marie. She is so amazing, so different. I had never ever thought about liking another girl until I met her. Maybe if she hadn't admitted she likes girls, I wouldn't like her now. But she's too beautiful not to like, I don't know how Edd treats her like dirty laundry. Those boys. I can't believe what they did to her yesterday! Yeah she might be a little vicious, but she's also really nice and funny. Hmm...
I locked the door to my house and sprinted to Edd's.
"I know you're in there Double-D! Open up!" I pounded on his door. Edd is always really nice to me, I think I'm closest to him out of all the Eds.
"Oh Nazz, what a surprise! Please, come in." His tone is either polite, or nervous. He's got his quirks, but he's still my friend. I walked in and just as I suspected, Ed and Eddy were sitting on his couch, scheming something up.
"Thanks Edd." I smiled as I walked over to the two boys. They had no clue what I was planning. Before they could greet me, I grabbed one of Ed and Eddy's ears and pulled.
"OWW NAZZ! CUT IT OUT!" Eddy shouted.
"Hehe, I kinda like it Eddy." Edd chuckled.
"Oh my, Nazz! What is it you're doing?" Edd rushed over to see why Eddy was screaming.
"I want you guys to show me where the Kankers live." I demanded.
"The Kankers?! Really?! That's what this is about?" Eddy grunted.
"You gonna do it or not?" I twisted his ear.
"What's in it for us?" He squealed.
"I'll get Kevin to stop picking on you for a week!" I should've expected Eddy would try to get something out of me. I tugged on his ear harder.
"Okay okay! Double-D, open the door and lead the way!" He knew if he'd lead the way, he'd just pull his ear even harder. Edd opened the door and we left toward the trailer park.
The trip was anything but silent. Eddy kept complaining about his ear, Ed kept giggling about how it tickled, and Edd was trying to calm them both down.
"Um Nazz, if you don't mind me asking, why is it you need to see the Kankers?" Edd asked.
"I just do." I replied.
"There it is!" Ed exclaimed. I pushed Edd out of the way with Eddy's body and ran to the door.
"Knock on it." I commanded Eddy. He pounded on the door and continued to complain.
"C'mon Nazz let go! You're gonna rip my ear off!" He shouted.
"Haha, I kinda like it Eddy, it's like a really hard massage but on my ear." Ed giggled. Uh gross. The door opened and it was like angels started to sing. It's like 7am and she still looked amazing. She had a little bedhead, but she didn't seem to care one bit.
"Uh, can I help you?" She raised an eyebrow. Wow, that's not the response I was expecting. It's like she didn't even want to see me.
"She forced us to show her where you live." Eddy squealed. "I don't know what you did to her, but you give us the old Nazz back!" I tugged on his ear harder and I could see tears forming in his eyes. What am I doing? These guys are my friends. I let them both go and they ran back in the direction we came from.
"How'd you manage that?" She laughed. Her attitude changed almost instantaneously after they left.
"I promised them my boyf-," damnit, "I mean brother would stop bullying them for a week if they showed me how to get to my new best friend!" I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed. I could run off solely the warmth from our hugs forever.
I could smell the delicious aroma of a home-cooked breakfast. This girl is amazing. She served me some bacon and eggs and I gobbled that down quick. All that torturing worked up quite an appetite on me. I was curious if she had found someone she was interested in yet, mostly because I wanted to make sure she was still single.
"So, found any acceptable lady candidates yet?" 'Lady candidates'? Ew, what was I thinking? I just winked and smiled.
"It hasn't even been twenty-four hours and you expect me to already have a girlfriend?" She laughed. No, I was just checking to make sure I've still got a chance.
"What's the wait then?" I practically inhaled the last of what was on my plate and stood up off the kitchen stool. "Let's go find you a hot girlfriend!" I chuckled, and then I heard the door open.
"A hot girlfriend?! For my sister?!" Her oldest, and meanest, sister Lee walked in and although I couldn't see how angry she was through all that hair, I could hear how badly she wanted to wring my neck.
"Lee, just calm down-" I'd never heard Marie speak in such a frightened tone.
"Marie shut up! You don't tell me what to do, that's my job and I say you don't need a girlfriend! We worked hard to get you Edd, be grateful for what you've got you...you...DYKE!" Oh my gosh. Did she really just say that? How dare she?! She can't talk to her like that! I looked to Marie and she looked really hurt by that. I really wanted to stay here and stand up for her, but I could tell this is something she needed to work out with her sisters.
"Maybe I should get going..." I started walking toward the door.
"Yeah and don't think about showin' your face around here again freak!" Lee shouted. Her voice made me jump. Wow. No one ever thinks I'm a freak. I walked out the door and walked back toward the cul-de-sac.
Poor Marie. I can't stand seeing her so sad. No one deserves to be treated that way, especially Marie. She's the sweetest, coolest, funniest girl I've ever met. Should I have stayed? Is she mad at me for leaving? There was a tree stump on the trail and I took a second to sit down and think. I can never go back there. My best friend of a few hours is being bullied by her own sisters. How could I just leave her like that? What if they hurt her? Oh gosh what have I done? She may only be my best friend of a few hours, but she's the best friend I've ever had. How could she ever forgive me? How could I ever forgive myself? I got back up and kept walking on the trail toward my house.
A faint sound rung through the trailer park. It sounded like my name, but I'm probably just hearing things.
"Nazz!" I turned back and there she was. An angel.
"Marie! Are you alright?" I could tell she was crying; her face was completely red and dried tears stained her beautiful face.
"Why did you come today?" She didn't sound mad at me, but the question made it seem like it was a mistake for me to come. I came because I miss you. I came because...I really like you.
"I just..." I stared down at the dirt and dug one of my shoes into the ground, "I just...missed you." Her hand met my chin, lifting my eyes to hers. Is she gonna kiss me? Oh God how I want her to kiss me. I can already feel electricity pulling our lips together. Please, please! Kiss me! I held her stare for what seemed like forever, and she broke it as she wrapped her arms around my neck and cried into my shoulder. There were small breaks between her bawls that sounded like laughter, maybe we're alright.