Chapter 5: Hopeful For A Chance Encounter
Marie is wide awake, she has been for an hour now and the time is 6:30 am. She has been contemplating the revelation that her sister told her yesterday, the Eds (Double D) are alive. She got up and walked over to her wardrobe mirror to take a good look at herself and compare herself now to 5 five years ago.
She was taller, had multiple piercings and a really big tattoo but aside from that she was hot; her confidence in her appearance has only increased over the years, but what about Double D? How much as he changed? Will he even like her? Wait what?
"Holy shit." She muttered before staggering back to her bed grasping her head in relative shock.
The realization hit that she has been thinking about him all this time, now that she thought about it, she started acting out of control since they announced his death 5 years ago. As if he meant so much of to her that the thought of a life without him caused her to be self destructive. The drugs, the alcohol, the one night stands with complete strangers and the general 'not giving a fuck' attitude was all because of him.
"No, that's bullshit!" Marie quickly stood up with an angry expression but it slowly softened. "Double D" Marie whispered softly thinking about him five years ago.
He was smart probably the smartest in the whole town, she was drawn to his cleanliness, most of all he was very apologetic to the point of seeming cowardly but she could see the hidden bravery in him. Out of all the Eds she could have seen him eventually accepting her then crush, the only problem she had with him was his pushover attitude and his athleticism or lack thereof. His cons would have been worked out by her (extreme, killer training regiment) if they had been together.
"Hmmm" putting her two fingers on her chin she began thinking and a bag of questions started popping in her head. 'How come his own parents announce his death? For Christ sakes they even had a funeral' she knows she was there (secretly). 'Why did he stay around the other side of the planet for 5 years?'
Now she was really curious to find out just what he's become now, she briskly walked into the bathroom. Even if she has to go to that place to see him, come hell or high water nothing is going to stop her from seeing her oven-mitt. Marie stopped her walk and started chuckling to herself at the thought of her childhood nickname for him before eventually closing the door behind her.
May was in her own room applying makeup, for it was today she vowed to meet Ed, she had to show him how much she's changed. Unlike her sisters who have moved on from their crushes in their own way, May has never really stopped liking Ed.
Her beauty and happy attitude could be compared to Nazz especially since they're both on the cheerleading team which also helps. She took the picture she had of Ed and herself when they were younger, it was just after she and her sisters tricked the Eds into 'marrying' them, she was hugging him while he had a terrified expression borderline screaming. She sighed dreamily before kissing the photo then placed it by the mirror.
May's attraction to Ed has always been well, weird to her sisters and to a further extent to Eddy and Double D as well. Ed wasn't a handsome boy (what with his yellowish skin and thick unibrow), he wasn't smart either, okay he was plain dumb (borderline retarded) and he had no personal hygiene what-so-ever, he was a slob, eats messy keeps his room messier (if you watched the show which I'm pretty sure you do if you're reading this fanfic then I don't have to explain Ed's room).
All of that is overlooked by May as she is too distracted by his personality; Ed is a really nice guy although he could be a bit oblivious but he is in tune with his environment.
Honestly he's always happy go lucky not to mention that he could put up with the worst of people *cough* Eddy *cough* and still maintain his happy demeanor. Yet he isn't afraid to stand up for his friends and his annoying brat of a sister who constantly bully him almost like she does with her sisters those years ago. So to May Ed is like a kindred spirit, she's attracted to him because it's something like faith or destiny, according to her at least (she reads a lot of romance novels courtesy of Nazz).
After a while she decided to go with a pink skirt that reached just above her knees, a white shirt that showed her mid drift and black shoes. May was the first downstairs because she made breakfast which she did while humming. Lee joined her shortly after she started sharing breakfast; she was wearing a regular red polo shirt with blue jeans and red shoes. They sat down to eat when Marie came down with her school bag in tow much to their surprise.
Marie wore a rather tight looking black shirt with long sleeves that reach her wrists (probably to cover her tattoo) but shows her mid drift, tight green jeans, black combat boots and to top off her hot topic ensemble she had black rings of different designs on each of her of her fingers except her thumb. She removed the beret in her hair so it would cover her right eye for a nostalgic look. She shared her own food and began eating only to momentarily pause
"Hey May you have my class schedule right?" She nonchalantly asked before eating again.
May was bewildered and confused "Y-yeah, just let me go get it" she stuttered before getting up and going upstairs.
Lee was looking at Marie with a raised eyebrow; Marie noticed this and gave her a scowl
"What the fuck are you looking at Lee?" she growled loudly.
Lee just gave her a coy smile before she continued eating.
Meanwhile at Ed's house…..
The Galatas family was enjoying a good breakfast and Ed was smiling happily, Sarah was eating while ignoring him, his father Jack was behind a paper and his mother Jill was eating but noticed his expression and stopped.
"Why are you so happy this morning Ed?" She asked in a way only a mother could.
"I'm going to try out for the football team today." Ed uttered giddily.
Sarah and Jill were surprised to hear this and for perhaps for the first time in Ed's life Jack actually put down the newspaper to give his son some attention.
"W-well Ed..I mean football….it's..so.." Jill stuttered.
"That's great Ed." Jack happily stated to the shock of everyone at the table. "Make me proud son." He said as he smiled at Ed.
Somehow Sarah could sense her place in the house dwindle and her hold over her brother slip, it made her gut wrench a little.
"What are you talking about Jack? Ed's not doing that sport for ruffians." Jill stated firmly expecting him to be submissive.
Jack on the other hand shot her a frown "What do you mean? Ed's 17 years old if he feels he wants to play football then I say let the boy do it." Jacks tone was higher.
"Let him do it so he can end up in the hospital a vegetable? I saw what happens to those players after a few years and that is not happening to our son." She shouted.
"What about Sarah and cheerleading huh? What if one of those kids mess up a routine and she ends up with a broken neck!?" Jack shouted back. Sarah actually held her neck at the mention of that.
"T-that's different and you know it. They know what they're doing after all th.."
"They are 15 year old kids Jill and Ed is 17 years old!" Jack stood up "Ed just came back from God knows where after surviving a plane crash and he comes home actually wanting to make something of himself instead of following his friends around like an idiot causing trouble and you won't even let him have that!? What kind of mother would do that to her own son?!" Jack's voice rang through their shocked ears stunning them into silence.
With no opposition against his words he calmly took his seat and took up his paper "Give those guys hell at tryouts Ed." He said while reading his paper. Ed gave him big toothy grin, Sarah was still reeling from what he said and now Sarah knew that her holding in the house was halved at best after all Ed being a second year is a shoe-in for a spot on the team. Her head hit the table while Ed happily gobbled up the food eager for his journey to school.
At School…..
"You should have seen it guys, dad was fighting mom for my honor. Mom was all like 'no Ed you can't try out for football' but dad was like 'Ed's 17 years old and if he wants to tryout he should.' It was coolest thing ever guys!" Ed shouted ecstatically.
"My.. Ed you lead an um, interesting home life." Double D awkwardly commented.
Eddy just took his fingers out of each ear "Whatever." Was all he simply said, evidently still bored with school.
"Well Eddy maybe this will uplift your spirits a bit." Edd gestured to the notice board filled with flyers for different clubs. "Perhaps an extra-curricular activity will brighten your dreary outlook on school life."
"Whatever you say sockhead" Eddy said dryly as he looked over the possible clubs. After a moment his face brighten a bit, he pulled off a flyer to take a closer look, he did a sly grin.
"This looks good." Ed and Double went behind him to look at it.
Double D made a confused expression "the Boxing Club Eddy?"
"Yep" He replied before tossing the paper in the air and walking off.
Double D caught the falling paper and pinned to the wall before catching up to Eddy and Ed who walked off with him.
"Eddy don't you think joining the boxing club would reveal how skilled you are?" Double D asked sternly.
"First of all sockhead, I don't really care if people know I can fight, as long as they don't screw with me, I won't have to get violent. Second, I'm not going to join the stupid club."
"Then why?"
"That's simple, they have equipment sockhead, punching equipment." Eddy clenched his fist and shoved it in front of Edd's face.
Double D gave Eddy a tired expression "Eddy, using club equipment without having any interest in joining is just…"
"Yeah, yeah I know immoral." Eddy imitated Double D. "You know what sockhead, I don't care, I haven't punched anything since I got here and you know they have punching bags and stuff. I mean unless you want me to start punching trees.."
"NO!" Edd interrupted earning a triumphant grin from Eddy.
Edd cleared his throat "There's no need to take out your need for violence on poor defenseless trees Eddy. But I still th-"
"Tell you what sockhead." Eddy interrupted. "Since you're not going to shut up about it why don't you try and find a club in this dump that I would actually be interested in."
Edd smiled "Right-O Eddy but I want you to promise me that you will give the club I choose a chance, agreed?" Edd held out his hand for a shake.
Eddy rolled his eyes and scoffed before reluctantly shaking his hand. "Fine whatever and it better not be something stupid sockhead!" Eddy quickly let go of his hand as they walked into their class.
Meanwhile the front doors flew open and the students in the hallway had expressions of confusion, shock and awe as the Kanker sisters roll through, this time instead of two all three of them walked the halls.
It was truly a sight to behold; May was on the right, she had on a bright smile and was beaming at the seams, every single boy practically melted. Marie was on the left, she had a scowl and seemed annoyed, everyone on her side made themselves scarce, avoided eye contact or pretending to be invisible. Lee was in the middle and had a neutral expression not really caring about the attention her sisters are attracting.
The three of them split up at a four way intersection, Marie looked at the schedule May gave her to find her locker. Eventually she found the locker and inserted the combination also inscribed on her schedule to open it.
The locker was completely empty so she threw her bag inside and shut it, as if she would actually go to class, curiosity may have gotten the best of her but there is no way that the mention of him would swoon her into taking school seriously.
As a matter of fact the only reason why she is even a sophomore is because their mother threatened to kick her out if she flunked and drop out. That was when she was sixteen, but now she had 'connections' of her own and could find a place to stay if she wanted to. Besides she was almost at the legal age to live on her own anyway not that the law would stop her from running away from the trailer never to return. Since she had nothing to do she might as well find a nice quiet secluded space and 'smoke one' until it was time for lunch.
After a few hours the bell rang for recess, usually the Eds would go to the cafeteria to eat lunch however that didn't happen today. One of the reasons was after yesterday's stunt they would be the centre of attention and if there is one thing they agreed on was the low profile rule.
The other reason would be that they had business to do: Ed needed to sign up for football tryouts so he headed for the coach's office, Double D made it his mission to find Eddy a club he would be interested in so his stay at school could at least be pleasant and Eddy himself wanted to find the boxing club's room also, a low profile aside he didn't want to eat the cafeteria food if he could help it, after all he spent 5 years forging his body like a sharp blade, the food served in the cafeteria will cause it to dull and frankly he didn't trust the food (he swore that burger yesterday had bone in it).
"Hey Double D" Eddy called out as his friend made his way to the notice board.
"Yes what is it Eddy?" Double D turned curiously at his now grinning friend. Eddy stretched out his hand and Double D raised his brow.
"Spare an apple, friend?" Eddy said in a fake pleading voice. Double D gave him a frown and folded his arms.
"And why should I disturb my perfectly balance diet by giving you an apple when you could easily buy one from the cafeteria Eddy?" Double D pointed to the direction the majority of the student body was filing into, which happened to be the subject of his point.
Eddy seemed frustrated "Aw c'mon Double D it's gonna take forever with so many of them and besides I gotta go to the boxing club, you know that!"
A smirk crept on his face "You're not really helping your case Eddy."
His expression turned from frustration to just plain bored. "Alright look, I don't trust their food alright especially the healthy crap, I mean who knows what they put in it and if you think I'm gonna risk losing this" he flexed his bicep which to anyone's surprise but Ed and Double D showed toned muscle "then you're insane!"
Double D narrowed his eyes giving a 'I don't know…' expression.
Eddy saw his point almost getting across and went in for the kill. "Be honest Double D would you buy and eat anything from there."
Double D made a short surprised expression before sighing in defeat and searched for the apple in the messenger bag. Meanwhile Eddy made a triumphant grin as he swiped the fruit from his reluctant friend's hand.
"Thanks sockhead I owe you one." Eddy waved his hand with the apple in it as he walked before taking a bite. Double D sighed again before he walked to the notice board; at least this exchange gave him further insight into what club to choose for him.
May was just a hop away from actually skipping to the cafeteria the way she was going, she was briskly walking with a pep in her step, smiling while holding her books to her chest not even bothering to put them in her bag. Even though she had packed her own lunch, she had to see him, she saw her destination, her heart was racing, and her face flushed red, the smile turned into giddy grin as she pushed open the cafeteria doors to…
'No Ed' was her first thought, the feeling she had before all but dissipated along with the extra shot of adrenaline as her face became disappointed. She perked up a bit when the thought occurred to her that he might just be running late. With that she took a seat facing the doors and began pulling out her lunch, eating while eyeing the door. If Ed pass through those doors she would be the first to notice, a cute giggle escaped her lips to which the boys in the vicinity fell to mush but she ignored them and continued her wait.
Marie spent the majority of her time exploring the campus she even hooked up with a 'friend' for a smoke and bullied some poor nerd for his money. Now it was time to start the mission she came for, hopefully be disappointed and get the fuck out of school never to come back. She started with the most obvious place for him to be during recess, the cafeteria. She didn't walk briskly like her sister did, yet her steps had some kind of anticipation behind them. Was she anxious? Marie quickly shook her head to clear her thoughts.
She reached the doors 'alright let's get this over with' she thought as one of the double doors open and her head peaked through to scan the room. She met May's gaze that was perked up but when she saw the blue hair her perk vanished instantaneously to disappointment, Marie also had a surprised expression for a quick second before it turned to disappointment although not as bad as May. Both sisters sighed and Marie withdrew from the crowded room, well that's one place down. Where else could he be?
"The library" it didn't even take her a full second to answer her question before she headed for the place she was sure he would be.
Lee just came out of the girl's bathroom near the entrance to the football field; she was wiping her hands with a hand towel. She planned on meeting May at the cafeteria to have lunch. There was a trash can at the corner at an intersection that Lee threw the paper towel into before she rounded the corner only to be slammed against the wall by someone apparently passing.
"Watch it lady!" a voice yelled before turning the corner she just came from without her getting a good look him.
Now Lee was a strong girl so if someone managed to actually make her go off balance it was a feat in and of itself whether or not she saw it coming. The person would have to be bigger, stronger or moving really fast for them to get the drop on her. she gritted her teeth and stomped around the corner to see the 'dead man' and to her surprise it was a short boy walking casually with one hand in his pocket while the other one held something he was eating. She was surprised at first but that quickly subsided as she walked after him.
"HEY ASSHOLE!" she yelled angrily, usually this would be enough for them to at least turn around and look at her but the boy kept walking completely ignoring her.
Lee's fury built up even more as she took several more steps while glaring at his back only to see his hand whip over his shoulder without slowing or looking back. she heard something zip pass dangerously close to her face and landed in the trash can several feet behind her with a *Clank.*
Again Lee was flabbergasted not at the fact that he managed to land something in a trash can more than 20 feet from him while walking and not looking back or that he threw it over his shoulder and it flew so fast that she couldn't even perceive what it was.
No it was because it nearly grazed her face and he didn't look back once, now Lee was sure he was a dead man walking. She made a scowl and stomped towards the short boy who was now a long distance away from her and seems to be headed for a building.
'Doesn't matter where he's going or who he's meeting, that kid is dead!' She screamed in her mind with an expression showing how she felt. His features became more recognizable to her the closer she got and for some reason something grabbed her attention. It was the three antennae like hair sticking out of his otherwise smooth black hair, her expression softened a bit.
That's when she noticed that he had a chain hanging by his leg that looked to be attached to his pants. That's when the realization hit her and all of her malice towards the boy fell as she stared at his back and said almost in a whisper
"Eddy!?"
To Be Continued…
