I don't know what more to ask for – I was given just one wish

Chapter 12

What else is there?

First of all – I'm so sorry for the delay! Whenever I tried to log in on Fanfiction I was hit by an Error message. Not sure if anyone else experienced that, but I'm finally here and able to post this chapter! Hope you enjoy it!

Sitting by his usual desk, pen in hand and notebook in front of him. His thoughts are running wild in his head, making him dizzy, making him nauseous. In all honesty, he's not entirely sure where he is, or why. Monday has finally arrived – the very Monday he's been dreading; the one where Mel arrives back at school. So far things have been rather quiet, but something tells him that it's going to change drastically. He just doesn't know when.

The teacher's voice is but a muffled sound in the back of his head at this point. His inability to focus on anything has so far gone rather unnoticed by the old man, or maybe he just doesn't care? No, that couldn't be. Edd is by far the brightest and most energetic student there is – surely his lack of enthusiasm will be noticed by someone… anyone…? The class moves on, one slow second after another, without anyone saying or doing anything out of the ordinary. The "cool kids" sitting at the back of the classroom minding their own business, gossiping, while those who somewhat care about the lesson pay their respective attention to what the old man is saying. Eddy and Ed by his sides, acting like their normal selves for once; Ed playing around with his pen, Eddy throwing glares at Kevin in the back only to be ignored. It would seem the "fame" they gained from Mel's actions is based on fear and not popularity, much to Eddy's disappointment. At least no one truly bothers them anymore… even when they hear Eddy talk about scams and pranks. Some things never truly change, do they?

Leaning forward on the desk, he turns his head so that he can look out the window for a moment. No one seems to notice or even care that he's not paying attention in class anyway, so why even bother trying to act like it?

The bell rings out and everyone gathers their things. Not bothering to look back at the commotion, Edd continues to look out the window, at the sky and the clouds. Slowly but surely the sounds of the class get more and more distant, until it's quiet in the room. Did everyone leave? Probably.

"Hey Double-D." Eddy's voice says behind him. "You coming?"

Turning around to look at his two friends, he notices that they both appear to have a concerned look on their face. "Yes. Yes I am." He says and starts gathering his things. Noting how he's not written down anything, he can feel their eyes burn in his skin, but he doesn't say anything. "Let's go." He says once he's done and walks past them before they can speak their minds. Following him out of the classroom, they all head down the hallways to their lockers to put their stuff away and head towards the next class. Just one more before lunch… and who's to say nothing is going to happen then? Letting out a sigh, he momentarily forgets his friends are right there, next to him.

"Are you okay, Sockhead?" Eddy asks, now sounding worried as well.

"Yes, Eddy, I'm fine." He answers. "I just can't help but feel like something is going to happen… something bad." Turning around, he leans against the locker behind him and rubs his forehead.

"Oh, right… cuz' Mel's back." Thinking for a moment, Eddy eventually tries to cheer his friend up. Throwing an arm around his shoulder, he and Ed start leading him towards the next class. But y'know, I got a feeling that everything is going to go great! So why don't you listen to dear ol' Eddy here? Dear ol' Eddy is always right about everything." The sound of both his friends' chuckle and watching Double-D covering his mouth with one hand as he does – it makes him feel better.

Walking together down the hallway they pass some students having a discussion of some sorts. "No, I swear! The Kankers are coming back next week!" Coming to a sudden halt, they turn around. So much for things getting better…

They're all staring at her – they've been staring at her since the moment she entered the building. Casually leaning against the desk with her head resting in her hand, she stares into nothing as she pretends not to be bothered by anything – all the while she's observing everyone in the classroom, her surroundings. Whispers echo in the background, whispers about her, rumors being made up at the spot. She ignores them, pretends to not hear. What good would it do to confront them here, where there's an adult that will most likely put the blame on her for speaking up in class? No, let's wait till later – much later.

The hour rolls by slowly, something most of the students have an issue with as they grow more and more restless by the second. The moment the bell rings there's nothing but chaos – everyone abandoning the ship without any hesitation. For a moment the teacher almost seem to be surprised, but that might just be her mind playing tricks on her as the lady is in the corner of her eyes. Standing up from the desk she leaves the classroom too.

Stares. Whispers. Glares. Everywhere she goes there's always the same thing happening. They whisper about her, spot her and stare, if they hate her they glare. How long will this cycle last? She's not sure, but she's going to survive it – she's been through worse. Much worse. As soon as she feels her skin burn she looks in a direction and finds someone staring at her. They always seem surprised when she makes eye contact with them, and thus they look away, frightened for being caught. Oh, they better be prepared on that fact – when someone stares or glares at her she will do the same thing to them without any hesitation. She's not a coward. She's not afraid. She can handle herself. With or without a weapon at hand – she will make them fear her…

"No, I swear! The Kankers are coming back next week!" An unknown voice suddenly speaks as she walks past a hallway. Wait… where is she…? Coming to a stop she looks around for a moment. Looking down the hallway next to her she spots a very familiar trio, having stopped in their own tracks for a moment before bolting away at the speed of light – probably to get to their next class before lunch as well. A bittersweet feeling grabs her as she watches Edd run away from her with his two friends by his side. He seems to be better, but the vision of him running away from her, even if it's not literal, hurts. It's cold.

The bell rings in the background. Welp, she's going to be late, being on the other side of the freaking building. Oh well. What do you do? Turning around, she leaves the hallway and heads back the way she came from, turns to get to her locker and switch her stuff before she heads towards the class. Obviously the teacher isn't too happy about her being a few minutes late, but she merely brushes it off. She's got more important business to attend. She's sharing this class with Sophie and company, after all…

The class ends before anything manages to happen…

Lunch time; the bell rings. Standing from his desk, he feels the worries burn in his guts like acid. He tried talking to Eddy and Ed about his worries on their way to the class, but it didn't help. If anything it made it all worse. He highly doubts he will be able to eat anything despite not having breakfast. Mel had questioned him about it, to which he had lied. She didn't seem to believe it, but his rumor of being an early bird had saved him – and the fact that they were running a bit late – somewhat. He's certain she will be on his tail about it if she finds he's not eating at school… or maybe even his neck for all he knows. He still can't forget about her speech about love and the other thing that reminds of it. After doing some research both in his books and online he thinks she might be talking about Obsession, though he can't be a hundred percent sure. Mel has proven to be a very wild card and highly unpredictable when it comes to things such as emotions, so who knows what she was actually talking about? Maybe it wasn't even love or obsession at all? No, that can't be right.

Eddy shakes his shoulder a bit, waking him up from his thoughts. With a weak smile he fetch his bag and follows them out of the classroom to put their stuff away before heading to the lunchroom. His belly twist the closer they get. It hurts, but he fears to tell them about it. After everything that has happened, as soon as he shows any sign of being hurt or in pain it makes them freak out. It's horrible – makes him feel weak. He knows that they mean well, but truly it does hurt more than the physical pain he's experienced so far. He's told them he's fine, so why can't they just accept that and leave him alone?

The volume of the distant chatter increases by every single step he takes, giving him a headache as they approach the lunchroom. Why didn't he eat anything for breakfast?! Oh wait, that's right; because his anxiety and worry wouldn't have allowed him to keep it. He kills a sigh desperately trying to escape him. Neither Eddy nor Ed seems to notice, thankfully. As they enter the lunchroom it's almost like they hit a wall filled with the scent of food. It's almost overwhelming for his senses, but he pushes through as to not give away any hints that his blood sugar is as low as it is. He does his best ignoring all of the people staring holes in the back of his head, focusing straight ahead. What will happen if he doesn't eat? Will someone call him out on it? He's sure Eddy might and that Mel most definitely will if she sees him. But what will happen if he does eat? With the way he's feeling right now he's certain he's going to throw it all up again – and what will happen then? Laughter? Booing? Mel to the rescue? Mel to the rescue…

Going on nothing but pure autopilot, he follows his friends to the line and gets himself a meal. Lord knows what he's going to do with it. Sitting down at the table Eddy chose, his two friends start eating their meals whilst he merely sits there staring at it. One moment or two, that's all it takes before Eddy notice… and for the rest of the observers to notice. Closing his eyes, he can hear them whisper about him, saying things that aren't true about him. Spreading lies about him… why did she have to do the thing that she did? Everything was much better before she knew about it all!

"Double-D?" Eddy asks carefully. "You uh… You gonna eat or…?"

"Are you gonna eat that, Double-D?" Ed asks, done with his meal and drooling as he looks at Edd's.

Feeling frustrated but nothing at the same time, he merely shrugs at his friends' questions. "I don't think I'm able to." He says, but just as he's about to continue someone sits down at their table, next to him.

"I'm not surprised, given what you had for breakfast." A very familiar voice says.

Looking up to his right, the first thing he sees is Mel. Caught by surprise he jumps in his seat, not sure how to feel about the situation. He knows something is going to happen – he just knows it! So then why… why is she appearing to be so calm?

Letting her gaze fall from him and down to his plate filled with food, she carefully reaches out and grabs his tray, slides it across the table towards a very eager Ed to let him have the second meal he wants. Feeling Edd's confusion turn into frustration, she reaches back and places the banana and water bottle she got for him on the table in front of him. He's staring at it not saying a word. "It's easier on the stomach." She explains whilst turning towards her own meal. "Just eat slowly and there shouldn't be any problems. And you have until the last bell to finish that bottle."

His surprise and confusion slowly blend together as he looks back at her, before they both vanish from his facial expression. With Ed happily enjoying his second meal and Eddy carefully observing their interaction, he hesitantly picks up the banana to eat at a slow and steady pace, drinking from the water bottle in between each bite. The lunch hour moves on rather slowly after that. She knows he lied about skipping breakfast… doesn't she…?

Grabbing a banana for Edd had been the first thing on her mind as soon as she entered the lunchroom. Sitting down with them at their table for the rest of the lunch had not been, but that changed as soon as she spotted some of Sophie's followers staring daggers into his back and even standing up from their table and headed in their direction. She can't say for certain that they were heading towards their table to do something to them or if they were just in their path, but she decided not to let it slide. Kill the situation before it happens. The moment she entered their line of sight they had backed off, frightened, so she's glad she decided to act when she did… though Edd might not have been too happy to have her there after the whole ordeal they've been through.

Silently she had spent her time at their table, letting them chat away as the three friends they are whilst trying her best not to get in the way in any shape or form as she stayed on patrol whilst eating her meal. She could feel the glares from all around the lunchroom burn in her skin, but the ones that hurt the most where the ones coming from a certain young boy sitting next to her. If looks could kill. As soon as the bell rang she left them alone, heading to her next class with the gentle reminder to Edd to drink his water. Hopefully her instinct was correct in giving him the banana instead of that massive meal for something to eat. Though it would be a smaller meal, it would be an easier meal for his belly to handle, thus decreasing the risk of him throwing up after. She still can't believe he actually skipped his breakfast and then lied to her about it… but then again; she doesn't really have anything to come with.

The day moves on and soon enough the final bell of the day rings. With a sigh of relief she collects her stuff and heads to her locker to get ready to head on home. Still ignoring all of the glares she receives for merely appearing somewhere, she walks through the hallway that leads to the school's entrance. However, before she manages to get there though she spots the same Sophie followers from earlier in the lunchroom. They glare at her, but just like everyone else they look away frightened as soon as she stares back at them. The thought of them heading towards Edd's table still hasn't left her mind, and the question on what they were about to do drives her to steer her feet in their direction – something that make them appear very unsure what to do, but they do their best to play it out.

"Hello there." She says once she's close enough.

"What do you want?" One of them snaps at her, crossing her arms and standing oddly. "Are you here to go 'crazy psychopath' on us?"

Cute. "Not this time. I was merely curious if there was something you wanted to talk about at lunch? You were heading our direction, after all, before suddenly deciding to go the other way."

"N-No! We weren't!"

"Are you sure? I'm certain that I saw you head our way before looking frightened of something. Did something scare you to carry on with your merry ways?"

"Absolutely not! You must've been… seeing thing, like the crazy idiot you are!"

Adorable. "Well, if you say so. Just know that if you ever want to talk to me about something," She twists her lips into a smirk at the comment before leaning closer to her face. "I'm all ears."

Standing up straight and walking away, she leaves them where she found them, not bothering to check if she may or may not have scarred someone for life or not. She's fairly certain that they weren't, but if they were, it will be in their favor.

The whispering echoes end as soon as she heads out the door to the school's yard. Or rather; she can't hear them anymore as there are no walls for the sounds to bounce back and forth between. She walks as quickly as she can to the bus, taking a seat by a window and enjoys the fact that no one wants to sit next to her – a clear sign that people are beginning to understand that she's not one to be messed with or dealt with. She ponders for a moment how long this will last for. It didn't seem to end with her… other friends, as she had to officially leave them in order for her power over them to evaporate. Will the same rules apply to this scenario? I wonder…

The bus starts up, drives them home and lets them out at their respective neighborhoods. Mel's the only one living in the Peach Creek cul-de-sac, at least amongst the teens. She can feel the remaining students letting a breath out as she leaves the bus. It brings back memories from a different time… very different time.

She heads down the road to their house. A very tasty scent welcomes her home the moment she opens the door and she can feel her belly getting eager for the meal. Removing her shoes before walking in, she heads into the kitchen only to find Edd preparing a chicken in the oven. She has no idea how or when he learned how to make something that advanced in cooking, but she's currently not complaining about it either.

A timer beeps and he rushes to the oven. Taking the chicken out and placing it on the stove, he changes the temperature of the oven, picks up a spoon to pour the sauce over the chicken a few times before putting it back into the oven. Master Chef. That's all she can think about him right now. And with that she leaves him there to head up to her room to put her things away till later.

He nearly drops the pen when the door opens and he hurries to hide the notebook, just in case she decides to enter the kitchen and ask him what he's doing. Her footsteps are light but he can still hear them clear as day, heading up to the kitchen doorway. Deciding to pretend to be busy, he walks up to the oven to check on the chicken, waits for the timer to beep before taking it out and preparing it before putting it in again at a lower temperature. He hears her leave, most likely to put her stuff away, and lets out a silent breath. With the chicken in the oven again he can continue writing for a little while before starting on the rice, and so he goes to grab his notebook again.

'As much as I want to say that today ended on a better note than I first thought it would, I still cannot rid myself of the feeling that something is wrong… that something wrong was meant to happen during the day. I've yet to learn how Mel experienced the day, but I feel like it must've at least been similar to what we, or rather I, experienced during the day. I highly doubt Ed or even Eddy was able to pick up just how many people were watching us in the halls and the lunchroom, not to mention all the whispering I could hear from miles away. It's frustrating, to say the least, that people are still prone on spreading false information about us merely for the fact that Mel and I just so happens to be considered siblings, and for the decision she decided to see through that day.

Eddy did try to cheer me up once, which helped a bit, though it only felt worse after that I caused him to do just that; try to cheer me up. For whatever reason, ever since Mel forced them into this whole mess they've been a little… harder to handle. Not when it comes to their habits or the scams, bit whenever something has to do with my wellbeing. It's almost as if they see me as a mere infant that need constant care. I know that they mean well deep down, but it's frustrating. I can only hope that things will eventually get better with time.'

"No, I swear! The Kankers are coming back next week!"

'…'

'Never mind… I just remembered hearing a student talking about how the Kanker's will return from their vacation next week. How will that turn out, I wonder?'

Song: What Else Is There? – Röyksopp

Again; I would like to apologize for the delay! I'm not sure what happened that would cause the website to give me an error sign, but it did and now I'm almost two days late. I really am sorry. Though, if you look at it from the bright side you will be getting a double upload this month, right? – hehe?

I'm sorry.