A/N: Work has been killing me.

Sword: But you have to soldier on! For the romance!

Pen: Shut it. I didn't get any sleep and my head is pounding.

Sword: Fine, you lazy grumps! Ed, Edd, 'n' Eddy belong to Danny Antonucci and Cartoon Network. The story, Sword, and Pen belong to me. Please do not use without permission. K? Okay. Thankoo and please enjoy.

Chapter 5 – Ask and Ed Shall Provide

"How could you be so irresponsible?" Edd said, flailing his arms and pacing back and forth across the room. Once he had stopped reeling from the shock, he had hopped to his feet and launched into a tirade, stuttering and sputtering a string of flabbergasted questions at Ed. "Did I not make myself clear enough?"

"But Double Dee-," his larger friend tried, but Edd cut him off again.

"Did I not explicitly say that nobody else should know about this?"

"Yeah and-"

"Did I not repeatedly emphasize and stress the importance that not a word leaves the very tight-knit circle of trust that we established in this highly illegal endeavor for the sake of all of your academic educations and successes?"

Ed stared at him blankly for a few moments, the gears working overtime to process the entire sentence as he scrunched his face and chewed his tongue. Edd sighed and simplified it down to, "Did I not repeatedly tell you not to tell May or any of the Kankers?"

"Oh, yeah!" Ed said, flopping his head up and down. "And I didn't. Honest."

"It's true," May said, curled up on the bed beside him and running her fingers through his short hair.

"Then how do you and your sister," he pointed accusing fingers at May and Lee, who leaned against the door with Eddy staring at his shoes, "find out about this?"

"Maybe you should ask your other friend," she said.

Edd shifted focus to Eddy, who looked up once and returned to his shoes. But that was all it took. Edd immediately knew he was to blame. "Wha-But why?"

Lee pushed off the door and draped an arm across Eddy's head, leaning on him and pushing him further into the shag carpet. "This little weasel can't keep anything from me."

"It just slipped out," Eddy finally said, pushing Lee off him and shuffling to a corner. "We were talking and it came out. Big deal."

Edd couldn't believe what he was hearing and he suddenly felt like Ed just had, trying to work his way through words that he heard, but didn't quite understand. Here he thought he could place his trust in Eddy, who at least kept his mouth shut during their scams. Now the secret was out and it had compounded an already stressful endeavor with a new wrench in the works.

"Ed, I'm sorry," he said to his friend. Ed grinned broadly and Edd turned back to Eddy. "Everything I said to him, well, for you instead!"

"Yeah, whatever," Eddy said. "It doesn't matter anyway. We still got the same problem. Only one login, remember?"

In his rant, Edd had actually forgotten his computer, laying on the floor by the bed. All this time spent yelling and chastising could have been used to cycle through more footage. He cursed himself and picked up his laptop. "Yes, well, I haven't had any help looking through the cameras, have I?"

"Because you insist we study hard," Eddy said. "I'm seeing review questions in my sleep, thanks to you!"

"Woah, woah, what's all this about cameras?" Lee asked. "Eddy said you were planning to hack the computers, but that was all."

Sitting down and opening his laptop, Edd decided to explain their plan while he checked the footage. Once he finished, and again came up empty-handed for an entire hour's worth of surveillance, Lee chuckled, "Why go through all that trouble?"

"Uh," Edd looked up from his computer, "I thought that was fairly obvious. To change all the grades."

"No, I mean the cameras," she said. "The teachers aren't the only ones who know the passwords. The teacher's pets do too."

"But guys, we don't speak dog," Ed said.

"No, you inbred," Lee said, as May stuck out her tongue at the back of her head, "the teachers' aides. The students the teachers have help out. They put in grades sometimes too."

"But how would we get it from them?" Edd asked.

Lee cracked her knuckles and gave May a knowing look. "Us Kankers can be very persuasive."

Edd rubbed his chin, pondering the idea and going through any possible flaws. On one hand, they needed the passwords soon, but on the other hand, he preferred not to have to resort to violence. And there was another concern. "That would leave a witness," he said.

"We can be extra persuasive," May insisted.

He didn't want to know what that entailed, but seeing no other option, he agreed. "Fine. Do you know the teaching assistants for the Math and Biology teacher? Or the English and History one?"

"No, but change our grades too and we'll get you them and the passwords," Lee said, holding out her hand. "Have we got a deal?"

Rubbing his eyes, Edd groaned and, after arguing fiercely with himself for a few moments more, relented. "Very well. Just keep it quiet." He reached for her hand, then paused, a horrifying thought popping in his head. "Wait. Marie doesn't know, does she?"

"No," May said. "Eddy made sure to tell us that you didn't want her to know."

"And I want to keep it that way," he said, taking Lee's hand and giving it a shake. "She's got enough to deal with."

"We got you. Don't worry that little beanie of yours," Lee said, gesturing at May as they both walked to the door. "She won't hear from us."

Once they left, Edd faced Eddy, who scowled in return and crossed his arms. "What? Planning to yell some more?"

"No," Edd said, working over how to keep this new complication in check while hiding this plan from Marie. "I'd just like to know how it happened."

"We were just hanging out," Eddy said.

"May said 'Making out'," Ed chimed in, earning a swift kick from Eddy.

"And we were just talking about grades and it sort of came up."

But as he talked, making half-excuses and adding how "it's not like it's never happened to you two", another realization struck Edd, this one better. This whole ordeal might be a blessing in disguise. In fact, it could be the solution he needed.

"Yo, Sockhead," Eddy said, snapping his fingers in front of him and bringing him out of his musings. "What's with the goofy grin?"

Edd continued to smile and shut his laptop. "Eddy, I think you may have just inadvertently solved a big problem."

As Edd knew the material that would be present on the final exams, he had taken to an activity he had often chided Ed and Eddy for doing in class: sleeping. It was the only way he managed to find any bit of rest these days and with his thick textbooks, and the absolute trust of all the teachers that he was paying attention, he was able to snag a few minutes here, fifteen minutes there. Of course, he normally woke up with a sore neck and spine.

It was during one such nap the next day that he was jolted awake, not by sudden worry that he had been asked a question or the textbook dropping, but by the bell ringing and a loud, gruff voice shouting, "I don't care! Forget it!"

Snapping to attention and nearly raising his hand to answer a question never asked, Edd glanced around at the leaving class. Among them, he saw Kevin, stomping off and pushing through the crowd, leaving Nazz behind, sulking anger etched on her face that slowly dropped the farther away Kevin got.

As the students and the teacher left, Edd gathered up his belongings, keeping an eye on Nazz. She slowly got to her feet, accidentally knocking a couple of pens off the desk. Edd snatched them up, handing them out to her.

"Thanks," she said, her voice thick like she had swallowed a stone.

"You're welcome," he said, circling around the rows and following her out of class. "Um, not that it's my business, but is something wrong?"

She quickly sniffed and wiped her nose. "What? Oh, no. It's nothing." She stared up at him and cleared her throat, easing the stuffiness. "I'm sorry about what happened the other night."

"Oh," he said, nervously chuckling, unsure how to respond. "Um, that's quite alright. I'd say Marie evened it out."

"Yeah," she said, a small smile breaking the misery on her face, then muttered, "Can't say he didn't fully deserve it."

"How do you mean?"

She bit her lip, turning to the lockers and staring down the halls they passed. Edd quickly backtracked and waved his hands. "Uh, nevermind. Like I said, it's not my business."

"No, it's fine," she said. "It involves you anyway."

Bewildered by this revelation, Edd scratched his head and stuttered, "S-Sorry?"

Nazz sighed, stopping at her locker and opening it, swapping out some of her books. "Okay, I'm sure you've noticed Kevin is being more of a jerk lately."

Lately? Edd thought.

"Well, he's jealous."

Edd waited for her to continue and when she didn't, he prompted, "Of?" She gave him an incredulous look that took Edd a few moments to put together. "Me?"

"Yes."

"But…why?" He couldn't fathom what Kevin could be jealous about.

"Because he thinks you're flirting with me."

Edd sputtered in shock. "But I have a girlfriend!"

"That's what I told him. That we're just friends. But with the free fries-"

"Because you helped me!" he said.

"-and being nice in general, he thinks something's going on. He's been like this with any guy I talk to. And last night was enough. That was unfair what he did to you and when I tried to get him to apologize today, he refused."

That explained the tail-end of the argument he had caught. "It's gone to his head and he's been sour for months now. And getting that stupid hall monitor badge was the cherry on top."

It felt like several pieces of a puzzle suddenly clicked into place. "It wasn't all bad," Edd said. "Marie got to burn off some steam."

Nazz shut her locker and chuckled. "That she did." As the warning bell rang, she peered down the hall at her next class. "Thanks for letting me vent."

"No problem." As she left, he figured he had better lie low around Kevin for a while. With what they were planning, he didn't need to draw any more heat to them, especially from a jealous hall monitor on a power-trip.

True to their word, Lee and May managed to round up the exact passwords by next afternoon. "Would've had them sooner if the toilets actually worked around here." Edd didn't press for more details, simply taking the slip of paper she handed him with the passwords.

Edd wished he had brought in the Kankers sooner. With two weeks now looming before the final exams, time was running out. He had hoped to test the passwords, but the ever-encroaching deadline left them no chance. "We'll just have to hope your fists did the job," he said once he had gathered the group together again after school. "All that's left now is to retrieve the cameras."

"Let me guess: while we're changing the grades," Eddy said.

"Exactly," Edd said. "Now, I have it worked out. Lee, you and Ed deal with the gym teacher's computer. You two shouldn't raise any eyebrows in there and you'll have a lookout to keep watch for the one on the computer."

"Eddy and May," he said, turning to the next pair, "you got History and English. If they ask, just say you're there for tutoring. I'll take Math and Biology. The class only has one door and I should be able to see anyone coming from long off."

"Hey," May said, pointing at her boyfriend, "why can't I go with Big Ed?"

Edd gave her a deadpan look. "This is to ensure there are no 'distractions'."

She crossed her arms and huffed, throwing a glare at Lee. "I better not catch you making out with my man."

"Then don't you dare make out with mine," Lee shot back.

"When are we doing this?" Eddy asked.

"The day before the exams," Edd said. Already anticipating the next question, he added, "Some of the teachers submit final grades as soon as they finish grading the exams. We need to get in there beforehand and change the grades. Then once the final exam scores are uploaded, we'll be in the clear."

"I wish we could change our exam scores too," Ed said, Eddy nodding in agreement.

"Well, as long as you've been diligently reviewing our notes from our study sessions, you should be fine," Edd said. His eyes narrowed as his friends looked away from him. "You have been going over our notes, haven't you?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," Eddy said, coughing in his hand. "Here and there."

Edd wiped his face as they started the long walk back to the cul-de-sac. Heaven help me.

The next week passed excruciatingly slowly, as if time in all its sadism enjoyed watching Edd squirm and sweat over what they planned to do. When he wasn't going over the steps in his head again and again to make sure no little detail had been forgotten, he was fretting over the cameras possibly being discovered before they could take them. And when he would finally calm those fears, they would be replaced with doubts that he should even go through with this at all, and instead simply keep their heads down, focus on exams, and do their best.

Thankfully, he still had time to spend with Marie, whose presence swept away those doubts and re-doubled his courage. However, he could barely contain himself around her, worrying he would let something slip. If the constant trembling and stuttering wasn't enough of a giveaway, she definitely sensed his inner anxiety more often, asking him what was wrong frequently. He kept assuring her he was fine until she finally confronted him one day after work in the backroom.

"Okay, what is going on?" she said, pushing him into the wall and jabbing a finger in his chest. "And don't give me that 'I'm fine', crap. You've been spacey all week and can barely say two words straight when we're talking. So spill it."

Edd wished that Eddy would burst in right away with one of his usual on-the-fly lies. Edd swallowed, searching for more time to think. "W-What, er, makes you say that?"

"Look me in the eye," she said.

With a heavy reluctance, he did. Her sole visible eye seemed to cut right through him, x-raying his body to search for any secrets. Drumming his fingers on the wall behind him, he attempted a half-smile, half-frown that he was sure made him come off as insane. "Y-You know. Just worried about you and your finals."

"There's more to it than that," she said, not letting him have time to build upon that. "What is it?"

He had the inkling to tell her and nearly did, until a sudden, harebrained excuse came to his mind. "Okay, okay," he said slowly, still unsure if this would work, but having no other cards to play, "the truth is, I've been thinking of asking to be held back."

That stalled her and for a few moments, she stared at him, allowing him ample opportunity to continue fabricating the lie. "What do you mean 'held back'?" she asked. "Like this grade?"

"Exactly," he said and took her hand, sealing it between both of his. "I know if you're held back, we'll hardly see each other. And believe it or not, I quite like being around you and don't want to lose that. So I'll repeat the grade with you."

Before he could seal the story, she yanked her hand out of his and pushed him up against the wall again, her whole body and face pressed into his. "Don't," she said through gritted teeth, "you even think about doing that!"

"W-What?" he stammered.

"You're not going to ruin your schooling just for me," she said, waving a threatening finger in his face. "Do you honestly think I want that? How do you think I'd feel if you repeated a grade because of me. You should already be in collegiate classes by now!"

Briefly, his inner voice told him this may not have been the best time to confess he had been offered that very chance at the beginning of the year, but had turned the collegiate classes down as well because it meant less time with Marie.

"You idiot," she said, slamming her palms in his shoulders roughly. "You handsome idiot." She grabbed him by the beanie, pulling his head down to her level. "You're going to go on. I want you to go on. And don't ever let me hear that you're planning to sabotage yourself like that for me, got it?"

"Got it," he said.

She pecked his lips, let go of him, and shook her head. "Repeating a grade," she muttered and swore to herself, throwing her backpack over her shoulders. Then grabbing his hand and dragging him to the exit, she added, "Just for that, you're buying dinner on the way home. And you better make it up to me for getting me all worked up. In fact, c'mere." He leaned in and they kissed once more.

"Better?" he asked when they parted.

"No, but it's a start," she said, hip-checking him as they headed down the sidewalk.

While the little spat had cleared Edd's head momentarily, it added another lingering fear in his mind. And don't ever let me hear that you're planning to sabotage yourself like that for me. Marie's words echoed as he wondered what her reaction would be if she knew he was jeopardizing his school career for her. Suppressing a shudder, he guided her to a nearby burger joint and tried to put off the upcoming week of finals.

A/N: I know, I know. This took a long time to get out. We'll try to do better. In the meantime, thank you for reading and please let us know what you think so far. Also, please stay safe and be sure to wash those hands.

Pen: *snaps on gloves and goggles* And stay far away from me!