The sun crept through the gaps of the blinds and reached my eyes, slowly waking me from my sleep. I opened my eyes slowly, my vision blurry. I could faintly see the dust and debris particles in the sunrays, floating in the air. I sat up from the bed and stretched, trying to make sense of my surroundings. I don't remember going back home, nor do I remember leaving the party. I looked down and realized I was only wearing my t-shirt. I grasped my arms with my hands and shivered. The cold grew on me, like moss; it stopped snowing and the sun was finally out but the cold never left. Winter leaves an unforgivable mark on Peach Creek. Long nights of cold breezes freezing our cheeks, ice forming over homes, cars, and our many senses.

Mine were barely returning to me, I rubbed and widened my eyes to get a clearer vision of where I was. Slowly, I looked at my feet and they were covered in multiple, heavy white sheets. I turned my head to the right and saw a desk with a laptop, with the chair tipped over. My heart sank as I came close to my conclusion, hoping that it weren't true. I quickly turn left and saw Nazz sleeping peacefully. I gasped and covered my mouth, trying not to wake her. What happened last night? I don't want to guess or know, all I wanted was to just leave. I got out of the bed and sat on the edge. I put my head down and placed my hands on my head feeling nothing but shame. I really wanted to wake her up and ask her what happened, but I'm afraid of what she'll say. Honestly nothing could have happened but then again in the back of my head, I'm assuming the worst. I walked over to the window but before I could reach it I felt a cold, silky sensation on my feet. I looked down and saw my jacket, sprawled on the floor. I closed my eyes and sighed before proceeding to the window. I looked out and saw that the sky was a gradient of dark blue, to light blue, then to a peach color and finally orange. The warm sun carefully crept over the horizon, letting only a few rays of light shine onto Peach Creek.

I squinted my eyes, and took in the warmth. I raised my hands over my eyes to block the sun as I continued to scan the cul-de-sac. Inches of snow seem to bury the whole neighborhood, covering cars and trash bins. My breath left a trace on the window, making it foggy and a bit difficult to see. I stared at the gray spot on the window as I cleaned it with my fist. As I took my hand away from the window, my eyes kept locked onto the spot. I fixed my vision onto what I was exactly staring at from outside the window, and saw Rolf standing on the sidewalk with buckets in his hands, with a disturbed look on his face, staring back at me.

I followed Rolf franticly, his footsteps were fast in the melting snow. I trailed behind him trying to get him to slow down, trying to explain.

"Rolf please stop for a minute I can explain." Rolf just ignored me and continued to walk towards his land. I could not know whether he was feeling anger or disappointment, but I didn't this feeling overall. He started to walk faster and I decided to jog in front him to get him to stop.

"It isn't what it looked like, please I can explain." He stopped to look at me, his hands readjusted to grip the buckets better. The sun shined brightly against the bucket, almost blinding. There was a silence, all I could hear was the trees moving in the gentle wind, and the echoes of the roaring cars from the nearby highway. Every time we exhaled it looked like small clouds left our bodies. He looked at me with a sigh and said with a low voice

"Ah Edboy.." He walked past me to where the gate entrance of his small farm was. I stood still watching him as he opened his wooden gate. I rushed to him and grabbed his shoulder before he could leave, pleading him. He turned around slowly, and looked into my eyes.

"Edboy it has already been explained to me. Why else would you be in Nazz's bedroom at this time? I knew you didn't leave the party early, I couldn't believe Nazz for some reason and Rolf's gut was right."

"What? What do you mean Rolf?" I asked.

"We all wondered where you and Nazz were last night, which raised many questions. Nazz came down about thirty minutes later telling us you were throwing up and were going to go home early. Everyone believed it but I was skeptical. She kept diverted us from going upstairs, and tried to keep us distracted. As people started leaving, she told us she was going to shower and go to sleep, and left in a hurry." He set his buckets down near the gate, and leaned his arms against the old wooden railing. He looked down at his shoes with a worried face.

"Edboy please tell me what Rolf thinks isn't true." He looked back up at me and waited for my answer. I could feel the sun get brighter as it rose up into the sky. I look around before answering.

"Rolf I swear I don't remember anything like that happening. I just remember being in her room because she showed me her guitar and then-then we kissed-"

"Kissed? Agh Edboy!" Rolf pushed himself off the railing and turned around, looking at his farm. The snow covered every inch of his land. I could hear his animals in the nearby shed, next to his frozen tractor.

"I swear Rolf, that's all I remember. After that, I don't remember anything. It's like I went unconscious, no control of my own body." I hope he believes me. I really didn't remember anything nor did I feel like I had control of myself. It's like the adrenaline took control of me.

"I don't like the idea you have in your head either. I wouldn't do that to Kevin, I wouldn't want to complicate things."

"Edboy, this doesn't complicate things, this ruins things. If Kevin found out about this, I am not sure what he will do. I cannot imagine how he would take this." Rolf leaned his back against the railing, arms folded. He wore this large black winter jacket where the collar was high enough to hide half of his face. There was a zipper on the back of the collar that suggested a hoodie could be attached to it. His back kept it's direction towards me, making me feel unheard.

"Rolf I'm sorry look, I can talk to Nazz and we can find out what happened. I'm sure she understands how problematic this is as well." All I saw was his breath leave his mouth, the sunlight helping it be more visible. His head turned down to look at the snow. I could tell he was deep in thought by the lack of conversation he was making. All I could do was just wait.

"Come on, help me with this bucket." He grabbed one bucket with this left hand and started walking towards one of his sheds. I stood there confused for a minute before going around the fence and grabbing the last bucket. The bucket was heavy, and seemed like it was filled with water. Upon further inspection, I could smell a strong, sharp odor, like it was cheese. I shrugged and continued to follow Rolf.

Rolf opened the door to his house and I instantly felt warmth touch my face. His house gave a soft, applewood aroma that made the house cozy. Most of his furniture was old, and wooden. His living room was simple, having a couple loveseats and couches and that old, weird TV. He led me to the kitchen, which I was nervous about seeing because most of the time his kitchen is filthy and looks almost like a butchery. But as I entered his kitchen through an archway, I was surprised to see that his kitchen was clean. The aroma of applewood was even stronger, as if I was walking through a forest. I noticed that he redid his kitchen entirely, with new counters, cupboards, and even an island in the middle of it all. The material seemed to be entirely out of wood, which meant that he did all of this by hand. As I studied the kitchen he set the bucket on the island, implying I should do the same.

"I didn't know that you redid your kitchen, Rolf. It looks really good." I said. He walked over to the sink where he washed his hands, softly speaking back.

"Thank you Edboy. It took a long time to make the new cabinets and counters, especially the island. But it's nothing too complicated, my family taught me well. We are very, what you would call, old-fashioned. We are "village people" Edboy." He grabbed the buckets and brought them close to each other. He then went to the other room where he came back with various meats in his hands, and submerged them into the buckets.

"Edboy, Rolf knows you are a good man, you do not want to cause harm or any trouble for anyone. But this all complicates things. It doesn't matter if you had control or not, you still did it. You both did it. As of matter of fact, why did Nazz do it? She seemed so happy last night with Kevin. I thought that's who she wanted." He looked outside through the window, the sun was now high enough to light up all of Peach Creek. The old clock on his wall read 7:34 AM, making me wonder how early I got up. What he said made me wonder too. Why did Nazz accept me? All this time she was attracted to Kevin. Maybe she has feelings for me? She was never easy to understand.

"We need to talk to her. Or at least you need to talk to her. When we go back to school tomorrow, I know there will be tension between you all." Rolf explained. He was right. I needed to talk to her to get her to tell me what the hell happened.

The bright blue sky contrasted against the white snow laying on the cul-de-sac. I walked at a brisk pace, feeling my heart rate go faster. I was too nervous to talk to Nazz, I didn't want to confront her but I had to do it. I reached her house and stopped at her driveway. I looked up into her bedroom window, and shrugged. I rang her doorbell, and heard shuffling from inside. To my surprise, Nazz's mom opened up the door.

"Eddward, how nice to see you." She said

"Hi, is Nazz home?"

"Oh no I'm afraid that she left with Kevin about half an hour ago; she'll be back around the evening." Great. My worries got worse, what if she is going to tell Kevin? What if she'll break up with him? My mind overflooded with worst-case scenarios.

"Oh okay, thank you." I marched off back onto the snow as I heard the door close from behind me. I didn't know what to do, I looked around and felt like I was the only human alive on Earth. The streets were so quiet, only the howling of the wind could be heard. I could try to find Nazz, but I don't want to ask in front of Kevin. I don't know what to do.

"Hey sockhead! What are you standing over there for!?" I looked to my right and saw Eddy shoveling snow from his lawn.

"It's- It's a long story, Eddy." I could tell he could sense my trouble, from the way he studied my nature. He propped the shovel up parallel to him with one hand, and leaned on it as he stood there watching me.

"Well, come on in. Ed's coming later. We were thinking of going downtown today." I nodded and started walking to his house.

We walked inside his house to his room, where Eddy flopped himself on his bed. He took out his phone and started scrolling through his social media.

"You seem off, Double D. What's up with you?" I just looked at him carefully. I didn't know if I wanted to tell him or not, I was scared.

"Uh, it's kind of complicated. Just a lot of weird stuff." He looked away from his phone and stared at me.

"A lot of weird things happen everyday, sockhead. What makes this so different than every other "weird" thing that's happened?" I stared back at him with a scared expression. I sat down on one of his chairs and took a deep breath.

"Nazz and I kissed last night. I think we went farther than that, but I don't know if we did I don't remember anything I just woke up and she was sleeping next to me and I got scared so I just left and then Rolf saw me and he got mad at me but then he told me to clear things up with Nazz but then she wasn't home and I don't know where she is, and I don't know what's gonna happen with Kevin and how he is gonna take this, I ruined something good and I-"

"Whoa, whoa, are you serious?" He sat up and started to focus more on me.

"Geez man, I didn't think you had it in ya." He said.

"Eddy come on this is serious, I ruined a good relationship. You know how good those two are."

"Yeah but, Nazz is also responsible, she should have stopped. She definitely wanted it. I just didn't expect her to do that." He spaced out as he went deep into thought. He isn't wrong, it's still a mystery to why Nazz did it. After all, Nazz kind of started it all.

"Yeah well, it still happened, and now I don't know what to say to her. I don't know if she'll tell Kevin or not." I replied. Eddy looked at me for a while before speaking.

"This will just ruin things. I know the right thing you can only do is tell him, but the outcome won't be nice."

"Yeah, I know." I looked at my hands in disappointment. I had to face the reality of things, and know this won't go the way I want it to. My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on Eddy's door. I can already tell it was Ed, by the way he knocked. I couldn't help but smile. Eddy got up to open the door, and Ed burst through with joy.

"Double D! You're coming with us?" He exclaimed. I chuckled.

"Yeah I am, Edd." His excitement turned into a frown, he could easily tell that I wasn't myself.

"What's wrong Double D?" He asked. Eddy walked up behind him and patted his shoulder.

"Yeah we'll explain that along the way. Come on let's go."

As fast as the sun came up, it started to sink down over the horizon. The blue sky started to fade to a dark, warm orange. I couldn't help but stare, the colors seemed so vibrant when it was clear. We walked the busy street of Downtown Peach Creek, with cars coming up and down, with a low amount of people filling the sidewalks. The lamp posts and trees were covered in Christmas lights, giving a festive feeling. The shops were highly decorated and had discounts painted on their windows.

"Look guys!" Ed said. He pointed across the street, and we saw the candy shop that we used to go to all the time. The sign looked worn out, indicating there hasn't been any maintenance in some years.

"Wow, ain't that nostalgic." Eddy said. Ed already was starting to cross the street, and we quickly followed. As we stood in front of the shop, we saw a couple of kids and parents there. There was little decorations, and everything seemed to look the same as always, except new candies. Ed walked inside, and as we followed I instantly smelled a warm aroma of a scented candle, which made me calm. I looked around to check what was new, until Eddy interrupted me.

"Hey sockhead, look." He pointed towards a large bin of jawbreakers, and I instantly smiled. We all walked towards it, and picked one up each. They seemed a bit smaller than I remember, but still was happy that they had them here.

"Oh Eddy can we please get some?" Ed asked.

"Yeah, yeah all right. You're paying for your own though." He smirked. We walked up to the cashier, and stared at us with dead eyes.

"That'll be $1.75 each." He said with a monotonous voice.

"$1.75 each? What happened to it being 25 cents?!" Eddy yelled. The cashier just looked at us with a blank face. Eddy took out his wallet grumpily, and paid for his jawbreaker. Ed and I did the same and headed out.

"These better taste like $1.75" Eddy complained. We popped the jawbreakers into our mouths, and waited for taste buds to process it. Eddy spit his jawbreaker out in disgust, Ed took it out of his mouth and I just frowned with disappointment, and threw it in the trash.

"What the fuck was that? Those don't taste like they used to at all." Eddy said.

"Yeah that's strange, it tasted so chalky and felt like a marble." I said. I looked over at Ed who was looking at the jawbreaker on the ground.

"That sucks guys, I was hoping for it to be good." I patted his shoulder to assure him.

"Come on let's just get food somewhere." Eddy said. He then stomped on his jawbreaker, breaking it into pieces. He took a good look at the candy shop before walking away, and Ed followed. I looked at the broken pieces of jawbreaker and reminisced our childhood, to where we would do anything for one of those. I put my hands in my pocket as I glanced at the window of the shop, and saw a familiar man checking out the chocolates on the shelf. He was wearing the same outfit from last night, that bastard. I started to walk towards the shop until Eddy shouted out to me.

"Hey sockhead come on!" I looked at him and shouted back.

"Yeah hold on!" I looked back at the shop and saw he was gone. Damn. I don't know if I am going crazy or not, but someone can't just disappear like that. I started to walk away slowly, still keeping my eyes on the shop.

We reached a small restaurant, called "Peach Diner". We walked inside where a waiter showed us a table, and we all sat down. The theme of the diner seemed old. It wasn't an exaggerated 50s diner, but more of what one would have looked like in the 80s. We read the menu to see what looked good to us. There was the burgers, sandwiches, fries, shakes, steaks, etc. But I felt like eating a nice normal burger with fries and a shake. For just a few minutes I want to feel at ease today. But I couldn't get the ugly thoughts out of my head. Ed and Eddy were talking about some movie that is supposed to be based on a comic Ed likes, and how Eddy think it'll flop. I just listened, but I didn't pay attention much. I looked outside through the big window pane, and started to see the stars come out. It was so clear that the moon was already starting to shine brighter than the sun. The lights of the cars, lamp posts, and Christmas lights gave the town an atmospheric sense to our surroundings, as if we were in a painting. As I looked around, I noticed how many bikes were parked at the diner. Some were old, and some were new. But my heart sank fast, realizing that the last bike parked was Kevin's. My eyes widened as I turned to Eddy, who stopped talking to Ed to ask me if I was okay. I said nothing, my mouth felt frozen, my body filled with fear. Ed looked worried, but then something seem to catch his eye from behind me. His eyes widened too, as he said in a low voice.

"Oh uh, hiya Kevin." Eddy slowly moved his head as well, and looked at me. I was too scared to look, I could feel him behind me, his shadow towering mine. Kevin moved to the edge of the table, where I could see another pair of feet next to him. I knew that was Nazz, from the type of shoes she was wearing. But I still didn't look up. My stomach felt like shit, I could feel my throat swell up from fear, and my hands were shaking. I slowly looked up, and saw his gleaming eyes stare into mine.

"How's it going, Double D?"