[Tonight is the school Spelling Bee. As cars are parked on the outside, inside Kevin tests the microphone while Jonny rushes backstage with Plank. There, Edd is reading a book called "Spelling Bees for Advanced Spellers."]

Jonny: "You haven't got a chance this year, Double D. Plank's been training!"

[Jonny laughs. He and the others then notice in another spot, a haggard Rolf is training with Jimmy.]

Rolf: [trying to spell "watch"] "W...O...C...H. Wrist clock!"

Jimmy: "I can't feel my toes anymore, Rolf! We've been practicing for hours!"

Rolf: "What prayer does Rolf have against this-this too smart for his hat Ed-boy?!" [He grabs Edd.]

Edd: [escaping] "Yes, well, good luck, gentlemen, I'm sure all will be well."

[Edd enters the locker room, where Eddy is ripping pages from a dictionary and stuffing them into Ed's ears.]

Edd: "What are you doing to that poor defenseless dictionary!?"

Eddy: "What's it look like?" [He stuffs another page in.] "Ed's cramming for the spelling bee! Feeling smarter, Ed?"

Ed: [deaf] "What?"

Edd: "As proud as I am that Ed decided to participate, I fear the competition may be a tad over his, um, head?"

Eddy: "Aah, don't you worry your little egghead about Ed–" [he darts over to Edd] "–'cause you'll be going down in the third round. Right?"

Edd: "I beg your pardon?"

Eddy: "I made a big bet with Kev that Monobrow's gonna win in the third. So stick around a round or two so it looks good, then bam! Take a dive." [He undoes Edd's tie, resulting in him fixing it.]

Edd: "Surely you jest, Eddy." [The grin drops from Eddy's face.] "How could you ask me to disengage the rules of literacy? To squander the values of scholastic tradition! To spit upon the very foundations of what our language is built on!"

Eddy: "So you're saying you won't do it?"

[Edd leaves and lets the door swing shut in response. Eddy realizes the answer and panics.]

Ed: [still deaf and some pages come out as he spoke] "What?"

[The lights go down, applause is heard, and spotlights hit the stage. Nazz is announcing, and Ed, Edd, Rolf, and Plank are ready (or at least 1/4).]

Nazz: "Good evening!" [The mic squeals, and she blushes before adjusting it.] "Ladies and gentlemen, dudes and babes! Welcome to the Eighth Annual Peach Creek Spelling Bee!" [More applause. The contestants are shown up close; Edd blushes, Rolf cowers, Ed realizes he's sitting backwards, and Plank stays still as usual.] "Let's begin, shall we? Double D. Your word to spell is...sara? Sar-aa–"

Edd: "Nazz? Are you pronouncing 'cerebral'?"

Nazz: "Yeah dude, totally!"

[Edd makes his way to center stage.]

Edd: "Cerebral. C-E-R-E-B-R-A-L. Cerebral."

Nazz: "That's correct."

[Eddy falls to the ground, scared.]

Eddy: "I'm ruined. Tapped out. Busted."

Nazz: "Uh, Plank? Okay. Your word is...see-see...cida...sid-eye–"

Edd: "Pardon me once again, do you mean deciduous?"

Nazz: "Yeah, that's it! Thanks!"

[Plank is held up to the microphone by Jonny.]

Plank:

[A buzzer rings, signaling the turn is over.]

Nazz: "Oh, sorry dude. You ran out of time."

Jonny: "What are you, deaf!?" [perches on the microphone like a vulture] "He got it right! I got my eye on you. Wood-hater!" [He leaves the stage.]

Nazz: "Boy, that was creepy. [The spotlight on the microphone returns to the remaining contestants.] Next is Rolf. And your word is–" [Rolf begins to hyperventilate] "–um...col..on...ee–"

Edd: [as Ed begins to pick his nose] "Colonial?"

Nazz: "Right on, Double D."

[Rolf makes his way to the microphone. He is greeted with applause. Rolf breathes heavily into the mic.]

Rolf: "Rolf's mind goes blank." [He stares at the crowd.] "Colonial." [He continues to pant.] "POPPYCOCK! CURSE THIS MONKEY RITUAL OF ENGLISH WORDS!" [He knocks the mic over. This is greeted with some applause.] "Thank you Nana!" [runs off the stage with glee]

Nazz: "Um...Ed! Your word to spell is...eek-to-ma-plas-um?"

Edd: [long-suffering] "Ectoplasm."

Nazz: "I think so!" [Eddy peers at the stage.]

Eddy: "Oh, man."

Kevin: "Get ready to cough up, loser. 'Cause my boat just came in."

[Ed sits in his chair, not hearing anything. Suddenly, the words penetrate.]

Ed: "Oh oh I know! I saw it in a movie once!" [He lies next to the downed microphone.] "Ectoplasm. E-C-T-O-P-L-A-S-M. Ectoplasm."

Nazz: "Correct."

[Edd and Kevin look shocked. Ed and Eddy grin widely.]

Nazz: "Awesome! You two are like tied!"

Eddy: "Looks like that boat's on the other foot, huh Kev?"

Kevin: [under his breath] "C'mon, Double Dweeb, you pull through, man."

Nazz: "Okay, Double D, your final word is...gravy." [Edd grins at such an easy word.] "Hey, I got it!"

Edd: [faking sympathy] "Better luck next year, Ed." [He walks to the reset microphone.] "Gravy. G-R-A-V-I. No Y! Y is what I meant to say."

Nazz: "Oh dude, you know the rules. Over to you, Ed. Can you spell...gravy?"

Ed: [walks over to the microphone and moves Edd aside] "Gravy. G-R-A-V-Y. Gravy. Yum."

[Applause greets this statement. Someone throws his hat in the air. Roses are thrown on stage, and Nazz pins a blue ribbon on Ed.]

Nazz: "This year's winner of the Peach Creek Spelling Bee is Ed!" [She applauds, and flashbulbs go off.]

[The spelling bee has long ended. Eddy holds out his hand to collect his payment.]

Eddy: "Sure stinks to lose, huh Kev?" [Kevin hands over a dollar bill.]

Kevin: "You'd know, doofus." [to Edd] "Man, have you lost it! I lost a bundle on you, Double Has-Been!"

[Kevin leaves. Nazz follows.]

Nazz: "Kev? Wait up." [She passes a box trap set for her. Jonny peeks out after she goes by.]

Jonny: [bitterly pops next to the box from behind the curtain with Plank] "Wood hater."

[Edd stands in the middle of the stage, after everyone leaves. Nat, having stayed behind, walks up to him.]

Nat: "Double D are you ok?"

[Edd doesn't answer Nat, he just looks forward with a blank expression on his face.]

Nat: "C'mon I'll walk with you to your house."

[Nat takes Edd's hand and leads him out. They walk up to Edd's house.]

Nat: "If you need to talk I'll always be here to listen." [She walks away]

[Edd enters his house. He enters his room in his nightclothes, unhappy. He looks at the wall by his bed, where seven ribbons hang. There is a label for the eighth, but nothing sits there; it is with Ed this year.]

[The sun rises on Peach Creek Junior High. A bell rings, and the day begins. Edd opens his locker and finds Ed hiding inside. The weirdness of this is compounded by Ed's scared demeanor.]

Ed: "Don't say nothing, Double D."

Edd: "Ed, what are you doing?" [Ed peers out of the locker.]

Ed: "Oh-oh." [He ducks inside and slams the door.]

[Edd's locker door creaks open.]

Sarah: "There you are!" [She holds him by the ear and hauls him out and marches him down the hall past Eddy to Jimmy.] "Okay, smarty-pants, Jimmy wants to know if X is Y, how much is P?"

Edd: [confused] "Sarah asking Ed for academic assistance?"

Eddy: [senses a business opportunity and pulls Ed back] "Twenty-five cents or flunk, squirt!"

Edd: "Oh, never you mind him. I'll be glad to assist you both free of charge."

Sarah: "Yeah right, Mr. I-can't-even-spell-gravy." [She gives Eddy a quarter on the lip. He giggles with glee.]

Nat: "Sarah don't be like that!"

Ed: [reading the problem] "Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Yes, well. 2P or not 2P, that is the question."

Sarah: "That's the stupidest thing I've heard."

Eddy: "Says you."

Sarah: "Gimme my quarter back, you fathead!" [She holds Eddy by the shirt in one hand and raises her other fist to punch him.]

Jimmy: "Sarah Sarah wait, Ed is right! If you take the P out of the equation, the difference is the answer."

Eddy: [grabbing Ed] "He's mine! I saw him first!" [He carries Ed away.]

Ed: "Tickle tickle tickle!"

[Jonny creeps down the hall with a net. The bell rings, and he hides behind a locker.]

Kevin: [following Nazz] "Man, am I glad it's study period, like I got so much homework to do it ain't funny. And I'm like, totally working out."

Nazz: "Yeah, I heard you the first four times, Kevin?"

[Nazz spins her combination. Inside the locker, Jonny is hiding with Plank.]

Eddy: [appears dressed like a salesman] "Step right up, folks, and behold, Ed!" [He pulls out Ed, who is dressed like the stereotypical poindexter.] "That's one D, not two. This egghead al-grande shall dot your T's and cross your I's and get you A's and that's no lie. Just 25¢ per question. Cheap."

Edd: "Eddy, this is happenstance at best."

Kevin: "What, like we're supposed to listen to you? Burnout." [He kicks Edd away. Nat helps him up] "I'm in. I got some homework that needs doing."

Rolf: [rushing up] "Hello. Rolf needs assistance, yes?"

Nazz: "I could use some help too. Well, maybe a lot."

Edd: "Oh dear. Certainly there's something I can do?"

[Edd makes his way to the cafeteria, brown-bag lunch in hand. Nat is walking with him. He pushes on the door, but it refuses to open. He tries again, but is unable to make it open.]

Edd: "Locked?" [The kids are in the cafeteria.] "Hello? Anyone?" [He strains against the door.]

Nat: "Um Double D-"

Ed: "May I aid you? As I am a good speller. See? [spells the word letter by letter, but points at them from last to first] "P-U-L-L." [He holds the door open for Edd and Nat.] "Pull."

[Ed walks in, and Edd, despondent, follows along with Nat. He runs into Eddy's pointing finger.]

Eddy: "Egghead Ed helped you. Cough up a quarter."

Nat: "Really Eddy?"

Edd: "I reminisce those days when it was my intellect you exploited for your own monetary gain, Eddy. Alas, they're just bittersweet memories now."

Nat: "Double D-"

Eddy: "Yeah, yeah, just let me see the cash, Hamlet."

[It is the end of the school day. Nat walks in the hallway and sees Edd sitting in front of his locker. She sits beside him.]

Nat: "How are you feeling Double D?"

Edd: "Forget me Nat for I am not the helpful intellect you once knew."

Nat: "Double D that's not true you help me all the time."

Edd: "Please do not say things out of pity."

Nat: "But it's true! Remember when the art teacher didn't like one of my paintings? I was in tears and wanted to throw it away but you helped me feel better by calling it one of the best pieces of art you've ever seen, you even hung it up on your bedroom wall."

Edd: "Well...I suppose that's true."

Nat: "And remember the day when I was at home sick? You brought the homework to my house after school and even stayed to take care of me and helped me get better along with helping me complete the homework."

Edd: "Yes that is also true."

Nat: "And remember when I had to study for that big test but it was a day when my parents we're working late and couldn't help me? You came over and helped me study for it even though it was late and took all night."

Edd: "I also remember saying it was worth it as long as you understood the material."

Nat: "Right, so my point is failing at one thing doesn't define you as a person. Even though you didn't win the spelling bee this year your still the kindest, cleanest and smartest person I know and the one I can count on the most."

Edd: [blushing] "R-Really?"

Nat: "Of course."

Edd: "You do make some fair points."

Nat: "Thank you now will you please give me a smile?"

[Edd gives Nat a skeptical look.]

Nat: [smiling] "C'mon don't make me beg now."

[Edd still doesn't budge]

Nat: "Ok then I'll have Mr. Sock Puppet try to convince you."

[Nat reaches in her pocket and pulls out her sock puppet. She slips it in her hand.]

Mr. Sock Puppet: "C'mon Mr. Smart Guy give me and Nat a big smile!"

[Edd slightly smirks]

Mr. Sock Puppet: "Don't be shy now!"

[Edd makes a full fledged smile]

Mr. Sock Puppet: "There it is! We are now satisfied!"

[Edd giggles]

Edd: "Thank you Nat you've made me forget about my depressing emotions."

Nat: "Your welcome. You know I've been meaning to ask you."

Edd: "Yes?"

[Nat opens her backpack and pulls out a paper.]

Nat: "I'm having some trouble with my math assignment do you think you could come over my house and help me out?"

[Edd's eyes light up]

Edd: "Yes it would be my pleasure to help you!"

Nat: "Wonderful!"

[Nat helps Edd up and they proceed to walk out the door. Eddy runs outside, clutching his jarful of coins.]

Eddy: "I'm rich! Candy store, here I come!"

Ed: "Wait for Egghead Ed, Eddy!"

[Eddy rounds the corner and skids to a halt. In front of him are five angry kids: Kevin, Rolf, Nazz, Jimmy and Sarah.]

Eddy: "What?" [The kids hold up failing papers.]

Kevin: "We flunked out!"

Nazz: "All F's!"

Sarah: "We got ripped off!"

Rolf: "We failed everything!"

Jimmy: "Woe is me!"

Nazz: "Egghead Ed's a fake!"

Sarah: "He's just plain stupid!"

[Egghead Ed rounds the corner.]

Kevin: "Look! There he is!"

[Ed turns around and heads back in the direction he came. Eddy follows.]

Ed: "Run away!"

Rolf: "A lesson must be taught!"

[Ed and Eddy run through the fence and back to the school. Ed trips on the steps and lands facedown. The kids gather around and perform a smackdown as Edd and Nat watch from inside the school.]

Kevin: "Sure stinks to lose, huh dorky?"

[He drops Eddy in the school as the kids collect a refund from the jar.]

Eddy: [after the kids leave] "HOLD IT! I earned that fair and square! Double D, do something, willya?"

Edd: [smug] "Why not ask Egghead Ed?"

[Ed sits on a tomato.]

Ed: "Breadsticks hurt my gums."

[Eddy jumps on Ed's head and then takes off after the kids.]

Eddy: "Wait up, everybody! Let's–let's split the cash! Okay?"

[Edd puts an arm around Ed's shoulders.]

Edd: "Ed, I want you to know, I'm very proud of you and your performance at the spelling bee."

Nat: "And I'm proud of you Double D for letting go of your grief."

[Ed grabs Edd and Nat and squeezes them tight. Ed then carries Edd and Nat away.]

Ed: "Cookies at my house, Double D! With lots of mayonnaise."

Edd: [disgusted] "That's not really necessary, Ed."

Nat: "Actually Ed, Double D is helping me with my math assignment."

Edd: "Yes that is correct."

[They pass a hole. After they leave, Nazz's voice wafts up from it.]

Nazz: "Hello? Anybody there?"

Jonny: "Got you this time." [He peers into the hole.] "Wood hater."

Nazz: "Jonny! You scared me."

Jonny: "Aw, who could stay mad at you?" [He pulls Nazz out.] "You wanna hold hands?"

Nazz: "Ugh! In your dreams!" [She walks away.]

Jonny: [following] "What! You hate bald kids too?"