Authors Note:

Hello everyone, sorry for the delay! First super chapter of this story that had to be split. The next one will hopefully be out during the course of the week.

I hope you a re all enjoying it so far...it's only going to get crazier!

Chapter 10

As Eddy passed through the sliding glass door leading into the Statorowskis backyard, he took note of his surroundings. The yard was quite spacious, la ot measuring at one hundred feet square, consisting mostly of grass. The doors opened out onto a small patio, overhung with an awning and surrounded by a rought iron railing. Two steps lead down from the patio to a large decorative concrete surface, surrounding the Statorowski's brand new swimming pool. The concrete pool deck was peppered with several lawn chairs, a few tables, and of course the Statorowski's barbecue grille, where Chuck was in the process of drying up a few burgers and hot dogs for his guests,

The pool was of a rectangular shape, with dimensions of 25 feet long by 15 feet wide. The walls and bottom of the pool were lined in tiles of multiple shades of blue, providing a calm and tranquil appearance to the cool moving water. The depth of the pool ranged from three feet to eight feet, and was equipped with a diving board mounted at the head of the pool in the vicinity of its deep end.

Just as Lindsay had previously stated, all of the kids of Rethink avenue had found their way to the party and were currently occupying the pool; all wearing their typical swimwear. Sarah and Jimmy playfully splashed each other in the shallow end, as Kevin, Rolf and Jonny spent their time in the deep end, attempting to outdo each other with various diving stunts. The three girls, Nazz, Marie, and May occupied the center of the pool, hitting a beach ball back and forth as they happily conversed. As stated previously, the two Kanker girls had procured new bathing suits for the occasion; May had traded in her white tankini for a light green one of similar design, while Marie donned a black and yellow string bikini.

Behind the pool towards the far end of the yard was a large patch of grass, on which a regulation horse shoe pit was constructed. Tabby and Rod were engaged in a couples game with Lindsay's maternal grandparents, Mr. and Ms. O'Leary, who Tabby had not seen since the unfortunate and untimely passing of their daughter. Julia and Zeke had taken their place at the pit as well, working together to keep score as they waited their turn to play the winner. The two couples conversed happily as they tossed the heavy u-shaped metal objects, laughing as they playfully taunted each other.

As expected, Ed barreled down the stairs leading to the pool deck, and proceeded to jump into the water, causing a heavy splash. The large boy traversed underwater, honing in on the small, somewhat stocky frame of his girlfriend May. Upon locating her, he approached her from behind, and dove downward, placing her legs on her shoulders. As May emitted a slight yelp of surprise, Ed lifted her out of the water and into the air, smiling as he breached the surface.

"Princess May!" yelled Ed, "Have no fear, the Aqua Avenger is here to rescue you from the terrible monsters that lurk in the deep!"

May giggled as she gazed downward toward her boyfriend.

"Oh Ed," said May, "You really know how to make an entrance!"

The couple shared a smile, at which point Ed playfully tossed May backward into the water. May quickly surfaced and began a playful and competitive splash fight with the goofy boy, all the while shouting phrases pertaining to energy attacks from a famous action anime.

Marie gazed upon her sister with a smile, after which she turned her attention towards her boyfriend. Double Dee had taken a standing position adjacent to the pool, gazing upon the water with a slight air of concern as he used his foot to test the temperature. Marie giggled as she threw the multicolored beach ball into the air, using her fist to bat it in the direction of Nazz.

"Hiya Dreamboat!" yelled Marie as she swam over towards Double Dee's position. She placed her folded forearms on the edge of the pool, leaning her chin on top of them and kicking her legs as she gazed up into her boyfriends eyes in a flirtatious manner.

"Greetings Marie," said Double Dee, "You appear to be having fun!"

"Sure am Hun," said Marie, "But I'd be having even more fun if you got in the pool with me!"

"Certainly," said Double Dee as he reached into his pocket, retrieving a small pencil-like device from within. The boy proceeded to lean downward, as if to attempting to place the device into the water.

"Please allow me to test the pH balance," said Double Dee, "For I simply cannot bear the thought of all of the bacteria and..."

Double Dee could not complete his sentence, as Marie suddenly reached upward, taking hold of his forearm. She proceeded to pull him into the water head-first, causing the intelligent boy to fall under the waters shimmering surface with a splash.

After a few seconds, Double Dee emerged, popping up from underwater as if he were the cork of a champagne bottle. As he gasped for air, he turned towards Marie with an expression of distress.

"Marie, what has gotten into you!" yelled Double Dee, "You know quite well of my fondness for cleanliness! I must exit the pool immediately, and properly shower prior to entering as dictated by swimming pool etiquette and..."

Double Dee was once again interrupted as Marie planted her lips to his, silencing his words.

"Loosen up Oven Mitt," said Marie as she pulled away and wrapped her arms around Double Dee neck, bringing her body in contact with Double Dee's in the process, "It's a pool party, not a chemistry class. "

Double Dee began to blush as he felt Marie's bare abdomen make contact with his, causing Marie to giggle.

"Hey, that's one way to keep ya in the pool," said Marie as she began to swim back towards Nazz, "C'mon, let's have some fun!"

As Double Dee reluctantly followed Marie into the deep end of the pool, Eddy made his way to the far side of the pool, where the remainder of the guys were attempting to show off their best jumps. As usual, the redheaded athlete Kevin was the best diver, performing several classic swimming pool maneuvers such as cannonballs, can-openers, and forward somersaults. Naturally, Eddy's competitive spirit prompted him to interject as he approached the diving board.

"Ha! Amateurs..." said Eddy as he through his towel on the ground, removing his sunglasses from his face in the process, "Let a pro show ya how it's done!"

"Get real Dorkie," said Kevin, "You couldn't dive if your life depended on it! Remember what happened last summer at the swimming hole? Your stomach was red for days!"

Kevin, Rolf and Jonny shared a laugh as Eddy scanned his surroundings with an expression of determination. He soon spotted Sarah and Jimmy, who occupied an area of the pool within the vicinity of the diving board. The two children had brought with them a large pool float, red in color and similar to a long, floating reclining beach chair. At present, Sarah was currently holding the float in place, in an effort to allow her small timid friend Jimmy a chance to climb on top. Despite Sarah's help, the meek boy seemed to struggle, repeatedly losing his balance and falling back into the water as his friend continued to encourage him.

Eddy's eyes remained focused on the float for a few moments, at which point a sly grin appeared on his face.

"Oh yeah?," said Eddy, "Check this out!"

At that point, Eddy removed his white tank by pulling it over his head, finally revealing his now extremely well developed physique. He stepped onto the board, squinting his eyes while staring towards Sarah and Jimmy's location. In a matter of seconds, he took a few steps backward to build momentum, and proceeded to dash towards the end of the board. Upon reaching the halfway point, he performed a small jump towards the end, landing in the tip of the board and causing it to bend while emitting its characteristic woody sound.

Eddy was quickly propelled into the air by the recoil of the board, emitting a long drawn-out "Wooo-hoooo!" as he did so. The entire pool watched as Eddy flew through the air on a parabolic trajectory, performing a forward somersault as he did so.

Unfortunately for the unsuspecting Jimmy, Eddy's target was the float he was currently attempting to mount. As Eddy sprung into the air, Jimmy finally managed to successfully make his way onto the float. As he did so, he laid his head onto it's surface, closing his eyes in a relaxed manner as he did so.

"Worth it..." said Jimmy in a somewhat feminine intonation, "C'mon up Sarah, there's plenty of room!"

" Be right there Jimmy!" said Sarah, "Just let me get my glasses!"

Jimmy donned a pair of sunglasses of his own, and proceeded to turn onto his back, emitting a sigh of relaxation as he gazed towards the blue sky.

"Finally," said Jimmy, "I can work on my base tan!"

At the completion of his sentence, the sound of Eddy's obnoxious voice filled the air. This sound prompted Jimmy to turn towards the source, at which point he spotted an airborne Eddy on a direct collision course with him and his float. As he prepared for impact, he placed his hands on his head and emitted his characteristic high pitched scream.

In a matter of seconds, Eddy landed on the float as planned. He had landed on his back, adopting a relaxed stance similar to the one previously adopted by Jimmy. Unfortunately, Eddy's landing caused the float to dip slightly into the water, and the force of impact to distort the floats air pressure in a cartoonish manner. This action caused Jimmy to fly into the air, as if he were a missile, his high pitched voice continuing to wail as he soared toward the far side of the pool, eventually landing in the water.

Eddy laughed heavily as he turned back towards Kevin with a grin.

"There ya go Big Chin!" yelled Eddy, "The two for one special! Stuck the landing and launched the half pint!"

Unfortunately, Eddy failed to realize that Sarah had returned to his position, standing behind him on the pool deck as he continued to laugh. Without hesitation, Sarah placed her sunglasses on the deck, adopted a cynical smile, and reached downward towards the rear of the float; her target being the air fill valve. As Eddy goggled, the spiteful girl opened the valve with force, causing the float to rapidly deflate in a cartoonish manner, skidding wildly across the pool as it did so. Eddy, merely along for the ride at this point, emitted a long drawn out "WHOAH" as the float careened across the pool, eventually flinging Eddy off and into the water as well.

Kevin, Rolf and Jonny shared a laugh as Eddy surfaced, blowing a stream of water out of his mouth as if it were a fountain. The boy groaned as he gazed across the pool towards Sarah, who had jumped back into the pool, assisting Jimmy in making his way back to the shallow end. As he surfaced the redhead turned towards Eddy, sticking her tongue out as she did so.

"Serves you right!" yelled Sarah.

Eddy, who had become much more accustomed and willing to be on the receiving end of a prank as much as he was willing to deliver, did not respond. Rather, he adopted a witty smile, and used his hand to splash Sarah with some water. Of course, this action angered the fiery little girl, causing her to chase Eddy up the ladder, and out of the pool.

The remainder of he kids shared a laugh as Eddy led Sarah repeatedly around the pool, teasing her with words as he used the diving board to jump back in to the deep end to escape her wrath. As they continued their horseplay, Marie, being in the mood for a soda, exited the pool and made her way towards the patio, where Lee and Lindsay were in the process of placing the finishing touches on their spread.

As Marie opened the cooler, retrieved a drink, and popped the tab, she took notice of her fingernails. She had painted them a bright shade of blue that morning, however, the combination of a quick application and the chlorinated water caused the color to fade and begin to run.

"Ugh," said Marie, "Stupid chlorine! All that hard work getting my nails looking nice this morning gone to waste!"

Upon hearing Marie's dilemma, Lindsay abruptly turned her head towards the black haired girl. The blonde fashionista was as compulsive and skilled regarding "manicure issues" as Double Dee was with science, and could not resist attempting to lend a helping hand. She quickly dropped the napkins she was holding, and dashed towards Marie's position, taking hold of her hand and holding it up for examination of her fingers.

"Hmmm, there's your problem" said Lindsay, "You didn't apply a final top coat of lacquer. I've got some stuff up in my room that will sooooo do the trick! I'll give you a bottle to try out, and maybe one day if you want, I can give you the full out Lindsay Stat mani-pedi package."

Marie adopted a somewhat surprised appearance as she slowly pulled her hand away from Lindsay, turning her eyes upward to meet the tall girls as she did so.

"I'll think about it..." said Marie in a soft manner, delivering her former nemesis a slight smile as she did so. Lindsay smiled back after which she turned, and made her way back inside to retrieve some plates.

As Marie leaned her elbow on the table, Lee decided to initiate a conversation as she continued to organize her dishes.

"See?" asked Lee, "She's still willing to help you even though you give her the cold shoulder most of the time. I gotta admit, I'm actually surprised you responded her offer...it was ambiguous, but it was still a response."

"Yeah, well..." said Marie, "How could I say no when she's giving us free pool time and food."

Lee sighed.

"It's a start," said Lee as she turned her attention back towards her task at hand. As she did so, Marie turned toward the pool, where Eddy and Kevin had decided to take turns performing dive stunts, flexing their muscles as if they were body builders as they did so. As Eddy stepped up to the board, Marie took notice of his defined pectoral and abdominal muscles and decided to play a joke on Lee as she twirled her right ponytail in a flirty manner.

"Wowza, Eddy's looking pretty ripped up there," said Marie, "I got an idea, maybe we should switch boyfriends. I'll trade you Double Dee for Eddy. You're both wicked smart, you'd be a match made in heaven."

To Marie's surprise, Lee suddenly whipped towards her with an expression of anger.

"No way," said Lee, "Eddy's my man! Why the hell would I ever want to switch when I've got everything I ever wanted and further more..."

"Alright, alright, calm down it was just a joke," said Marie, "Double Dee is the greatest and I would never give him up either...oh wait, I forgot, you are in looooooove with Eddy, that's why I touched a nerve."

Lee ceased stirring the centrally mounted crock pot containing pasta, and closed the lid as she turned toward Marie.

"I don't have any problem admitting that I love Eddy," said Lee in a stern manner, "I just have a lot on my mind."

"What, the car issue?" asked Marie, "It's no big deal, Chuckie Stats taking care of it."

"No," said Lee as she glanced across the yard in the direction of her mother, who was currently having an exuberant conversation with Ms. O'Leary, "Something else."

Lee continued to stare at her laughing mother for a few seconds, at which point Ms. O'Leary turned to refocus on her game. As she did so, Tabby, as if taking notice that she was being watched, ceased laughing and slowly turned in the direction of her eldest daughter. Although the two women were around 50 feet away, the two women locked eyes, both with serious expressions on their face. After a few seconds, Tabby began to shake her head slowly back and forth, as if signaling the word 'no'; while simultaneously lifting her smoldering cigarette up to her mouth for a puff.

"Alright Everyone!" yelled the booming tenor voice of Chuck from the area of the grill, quickly interrupting Lee's thoughts, "Hotdogs, burgers and sausage are done! C'mon up and take your pick."

One by one the children and teenagers exited the pool, making their way to the grill to enjoy their classic American barbecue alongside their adults friends.