Yaaaaaay! Here's the long awaited party chapter! Chips and pop are on the table and the music's playing, so get ready for chapter 6! (Sorry about the wait, by the way. Forgive me? =)

Chapter 6

Where's the Party, Ed?

Slowly opening one eye and then the other, Double-D had to admit to himself that this was the big day. This was Saturday. He had secretly been hoping that the week had all been a dream. Ever since summer began, which had only been a week now, a time of relaxation had taken the form of one complication after another. The first scam of the season, which was a complete failure, the creation of the band, meeting the Jens, and now trying to combine the cul-de-sacs. In Double-D's opinion, the band alone would be a big adjustment, and quite enough on the Eds' plates, at least to start with.

He sat up in bed, still wishing he could just go back to sleep, but knowing Eddy would never let him. It was clear that Double-D was anxious about the evening to come; but was he anxious with reluctance, dragging his feet, or was he anxious with excitement? After a moment of thinking about it, he still couldn't decide, but he wanted to believe he was anxious with excitement.

While mechanically making his way through his morning procedure of getting ready, Double-D knew he still had nearly ten hours before his parents left and he, along with the Jens and the other two Eds, could start setting up. Still in underwear and socked feet, Double-D crept back to his room, ready to sort through piles of his CDs. Food was not a problem, as the Jens would be bringing it, and hopefully, the band would not be too terrible.

They had practiced "Girl Eyes" enough times for them to hear themselves playing it even when they weren't. And they didn't sound or look very professional; without any amplifying equipment, and Ed's pygmy drums. Even though their sound was sketchy, and their appearance was somewhat laughable, they were a band. That was enough for Ed, but Eddy and Double-D would always silently wish they had more glamour coming their way in the future.

"Little Sailor Sing-Along? How did that get in there? I thought I threw that away!" Double-D laughed at the title of the CD. Out of curiosity, he popped it into the player on his desk and pressed the play button.

"Heyyyyyyyy kiiiiiiiiids!" A voice called out, and a chorus of children yelled back in response. "Who here likes to sing? I'll bet you'll all love these fun songs! Ready?" Double-D was already in hysterics, seeing the humor in his first CD. "Michael roooowed the booooat ashore, halleluuuuuuuuujah, Michael roooowed the booooat ashore, halleluuuuuuuuujah!"

Tears came to Double-D's eyes, and his sides ached from laughing so hard. The song kept playing, but by the time it was about halfway over, he heard the doorbell. "I'll get it!" he shouted, still laughing so hard that he could barely stay on his feet.

The doorbell rang again as Double-D started walking down the stairs, trying to regain his composure. It rang several more times before he reached the door. When he reached the door, he put his hand on the knob, and opened the door about halfway. That was when he remembered he was still in his underwear.

But it was too late to go back up to find some clothes. Not that it mattered; it was only Ed and Eddy anyway. "Hi Double-D!" Ed greeted him with his usual enthusiasm.

"Oh, hello Ed." Double-D answered sheepishly, blushing slightly.

Eddy punched Double-D in the shoulder. "Nice tighty whities, Sockhead."

Rolling his eyes, Double-D moved away from the door to let Ed and Eddy in. "So you want to come up to my room?"

"Sure. Jenny called me last night. She says there's no room to move in Jen's dining room because of all the food they bought. Jen thought it was all just for her!" Eddy led the way to Double-D's room, chuckling about Jen. "Her and Ed will eat it all before anyone else even gets here!"

"Shhhh! Eddy, not so loud! Do you want my parents to hear you?"

Eddy was about to respond, but reached Double-D's room before he could. The room was littered with CDs, just as Double-D had left it, and of course, the music was still playing.

"There's a hooooooooooooole, There's a hooooooooooooole there's a hole in the bottom of the sea!"

Eddy was on the floor laughing harder than Double-D had been, even though Double-D had started up again. "What is that?!?!?"

Double-D flopped onto his bed, laughing too hard to answer.

"Every time I hear there's a hole in the bottom of the', I keep thinking"

"Yes, Eddy, I can imagine what you keep thinking." Double-D interrupted him, still laughing over the song. And even though he had a good idea what Eddy was thinking, he didn't want to hear about it.

"I like this song!" Ed announced as the first few notes of another song began to play. "Ooooh, whatcha gonna do with a drunken sailor, whatcha gonna do" Ed sang with the CD, dancing around, his hair flickering in the sun. He pulled his jacket off, and in his red and white striped shirt, he did look like a sailor. "Shave his belly with a rusty razor"

Ed was not willing to let Double-D stop the CD before the song was over, so when the Drunken Sailor song was done playing, Double-D took the CD out and put it back in the case. "So," Double-D tried to sound serious, but wasn't doing a very good job. "What's up?"

"I was gonna ask you the same thing," Eddy answered, lying on his back and looking up at the ceiling. "We came to help you get ready for your shindig!"

"Eddy, we won't be able to start getting ready until six, when my parents leave."

"Is Jen bringing the chips?" Ed asked. He was only interested in the food.

"Yeah yeah." And Eddy was only interested in the money. "So Double-D, how much should we charge for admission? Ten dollars? A hundred? A - -"

"I don't think we could charge that much for a party at my house."

"But can I get in for free?" Ed sounded a little worried, unsure whether or not Eddy would give him an exemption from paying.

Double-D stared at Ed with a, "Well, duh!" expression on his face. It seemed like Eddy had to put a little more thought into it. "Mmmm, all right. But only because you're with the band!" Eddy added, snickering.

As if Ed cared. It felt good to be part of a group. Each of the three felt that way, and knew what the alternative felt like. Until Double-D's parents left, there was little the boys could do; so their plans for the morning and afternoon were nothing more that laying low and relaxing. While they couldn't help feeling guilty as they imagined the Jens working hard to prepare for the evening, that didn't change things.

The truth, though, was that the Jens were doing the exact same thing.

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Jen was sprawled across her couch, yawning. She stretched, yawning still wider. Jenn and Jenny had gotten there about half an hour earlier, and wanted to go over to Double-D's. But it was obvious that that wasn't about to happen. With another tremendous yawn, Jen's mouth opened wide, like a snake unhinging its jaw. Jenny swore she could see Jen's tonsils.

"She's got a lot of energy, doesn't she?" Jenny asked Jenn. The two were sitting on another couch on the opposite wall.

Jenn giggled. "I think she should be classified as a liquid before ten A.M."

Once she realized she was the one being talked about, Jen twisted around onto her stomach. "Hey, I'm tired. I wanna go for the party now."

"Jen, you know we can't go until seven thirty." In an attempt to twist around back onto her back, Jen slipped and fell to the floor with a squeal. She landed on the floor with a shocked expression on her face, then laughed.

Jen jumped right back up onto the couch where she had been before. "I know. But I wish it was seven thirty now."

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The rest of the day progressed much the same way for the Eds and the Jens. The Eds sat in Double-D's room most of the day, just planning and listening to music. They had even managed to squeeze a quick practice into their busy schedule. The Eds returned to Double-D's room after their practice. By the time they got there, Double-D's parents had gone out, leaving a trail of sticky notes behind. When he stepped inside the door to his room, Double-D kicked his shoes off and dropped down onto the bed. Eddy hurriedly followed Double-D's example.

Ed stood just outside the door. Not so much as bothering with his shoes, Ed took a few steps back, then grinned. "Uh-oh" was all Eddy could say. Both he and Double-D knew what would come next.

"Dogpile!" Ed yelled as loud as he could, then took a running jump onto the bed, which sent the other two Eds a few feet into the air.

"E-e-e-e-ed!" Double-D tried to get Ed to calm to calm down, but it was a losing fight. Eddy was on Ed's side, anyway.

"Come on, Double-D, loosen up already. Only half an hour until the Jens get here! Relax!" Easy for him to say, thought Double-D. This isn't his house, his concern, or his life. To Double-D, this was another time when he would have to battle his anxiety to keep it from getting the better of him.

After a deep breath, Double-D grinned at Eddy. "You're right. But I've never been to a real party before; certainly not had one at my own home!"

"Yeah you have." Eddy snorted.

"Not a boy/girl soirée like this."

Eddy crossed his arms. "And that one at my house after our eighth grade graduation?"

"I don't recall a party at your house after graduation." Double-D tried to remember, but nothing was coming to him. "Do you remember it, Ed?"

Ed shook his head. "My brain has been munched." His expression was as blank as Double-D's or was that how it always looked?

Eddy opened his mouth, preparing to tell Double-D more about the eighth grade graduation party, but Double-D beat him to it. "Oh, I remember! Do you mean the one everyone in the cul-de-sac was invited to, but"

"only you and Ed showed up for. Yeah yeah, so it wasn't really much of a thing, huh? It did kinda suck.We couldn't really play truth or dare or spin the bottle with only the three of us." The thought of the failed party was a disappointment to Eddy. "You remember that, Lumpy?"

Ed blinked. "No."

"That one where no one even showed up. After eighth grade. Do you remember that?" Ed's eyes locked on Eddy, listening for something that might help him remember. Nothing yet. But Eddy was persistent. "And remember when I dared you to chug a 2-liter bottle of Dr. Pepper? But I shook it first and then it sprayed all over you? That's something you'd remember." Ed shook his head, still not remembering. "And then we went out to buy jawbreakers."

Seeing the minimal success Eddy was having in jogging Ed's memory, Double-D gave it a try. "And then you tried to take your tie off, but you pulled on the thin end, and almost choked yourself!while you were eating your jawbreaker?"

"Do you remember?" Eddy asked, finally.

Ed put a finger to his lips. After a semi-thoughtful moment, Ed answered, "Are you sure that was us?"

That was is. Eddy's mouth dropped open. "You can't remember any of that? At all? Remember when dared you to eat some chili peppers? And then you drank from the toilet?" Eddy and Double-D were already laughing uncontrollably at the memory, while Ed sat bolt upright like a statue trying to think of it. "But that made it worse, and and you drank a whole jug of expired milk?" By the time Eddy and Double-D had calmed down enough to hear a response, they were only met with Ed's silence. "You don't remember?!?!? Damn, you're impossible!" Eddy flopped over on his stomach, defeated.

Double-D thought carefully. "Hmmm. Well, you did stub your toe as you came in the door to"

Suddenly, Ed's eyes brightened. "Wait, my brain is working! I remember!" Ed hugged himself.

"You're very special, aren't you?" Eddy asked Ed.

"Yes I am, Eddy!" Ed answered, not taking the slightest insult.

"How did we ever get on that topic, anyhow?" Double-D asked, curiously.

"I forget." Ed answered.

Eddy's eyes rolled like roulette wheels. "He wasn't talking to you. He knows better than to ask if you remember something!" Turning his focus back to Double-D, Eddy continued. "You said you'd never been to a party before."

"But do you think I'm really ready for this? This is a portal to adulthood Think of all it symbolizes! Tonight is far more than a party!"

"Yeah, but just think of it! This is how my brother got his respect! "

Double-D considered. "I'm not sure that your brother is the best role model. And I still say that was more fear' than respect, per se."

*Ding-Dong!*

The unmistakable ring of the doorbell sounded from downstairs. "That'd be the Jens! I'll get the door." Eddy bounced off the bed, and jogged out the door and down the stairs. Eddy raced down the stairs as fast as he could manage, but a near fall on his pant leg persuaded him to slow down. When he reached the bottom, Eddy flung the door open with his arms outstretched. "Hey Jenny! Come on oh shit" The words escaped Eddy's mouth as little more than breaths. For he wasn't looking at Jen, Jenn, or Jenny. It was "Lee Kanker? What the hell are you doing here? This isn't even my house? How'd ya know I'd be here? I told you I mean I've been trying to call you"

Eddy wanted to slap himself in the face. But he wouldn't give Lee the satisfaction of seeing that. Still, this is how it always went: Lee would track him down, for one reason or another; he would set off, bound and determined to get rid of her; and yet she would always get the better of him. She, as well as her sisters, had grown up considerably since their junior high days; although the Kanker sisters could hardly have been called students. Their attendance record was as sporadic as their moods; but their moods were generally anti-school. "Yeah yeah. Whaddaya think, May? Marie?"

"Wha- - -?" Eddy was shocked to see Lee's two sisters step out from behind her. Lee and Marie had let their hair grow long, and had cut it enough so their eyes were visible. They were wearing about ten pounds of make up each, which was one constant in their appearance. May had cut her hair to chin length, and almost looked nice, but the company of her sisters destroyed any element of comfort she presented. "Not again Look, Lee, this is not a good time for me, at all, so I will just talk to you later."

Lee was skeptical, and gritted her teeth. "Hell no. We settle this now."

"This was settled when we broke it off. Now leave before I break you off."

"Are you gonna let him talk to you like that?" May hissed at Lee in a stage whisper.

After considering, Lee grinned. Tossing her head, she turned from Eddy and stalked away, all sorts of thoughts running through her head. Eddy would pay no matter what "Let him say what he wants. Talk's as cheap as we are."

Marie chuckled to herself. "And no one knows that better than you do."

Raising a hand to strike Marie, Lee wanted to free herself of at least a little of the anger she was concealing but somehow, she knew this wasn't the way to go about it. She had to admit to herself that Marie was right.

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Eddy slammed the door behind him, sliding slowly to the floor. He massaged his forehead, trying hard to get it all out of his head. Lee was on his trail again. And all because of his damned impulses To Eddy, the next few moments seemed like hours, as he was left with his thoughts and memories, dark halls full of cold portraits

The doorbell's ring brought Eddy out of his trance with a start. He nearly jumped out of his skin, and would have if his heavy, pounding heart hadn't been holding him back. In one quick motion, he was on his feet, looking through the glass panels on each side of Double-D's door. Instead of Lee, as he feared it would be, he didn't see a face at all; only a huge bag of popcorn on one side and an equally huge bag of Cheezy Chomps on the other. "Jenny" he began with a hint of tension in his voice as he opened the door.

But breathed a sigh of relief as he spotted Jenny's face peeking between the large bags. "We're here!" Jenny cheered.

"Mmmf mmf mmmmmmmf!" came a voice from Jenny's left.

"What was that?" Eddy asked, staring at the bag of Cheezy Chomps, which was moving as the muffled voice continued.

Jenny turned her head to see the other side of the bag. "Jen! How did you oh no!" Jen groaned about something Eddy still didn't understand, and dragged the other Jens into Double-D's house behind her. Now that Eddy could see the other side of the bag, Eddy understood what Jenny was upset about. Jen had torn a hole in the bag, and was sucking the Cheezy Chomps out like a leech.

Eddy scowled. "Jen! You're worse than Ed! Even he wouldn't well, yeah, he probably would do that."

From the top of the stairs, a voice boomed down, "I HEAR FOOD!" In seconds, Ed appeared, and he was sliding down the stairs.

"Ed, please be careful!" Double-D chased Ed down the stairs, and stared at the huge bags of snacks, which were now propped up against the closed front door. And of course, he noticed the leak in the Cheezy Chomps bag. "Why is there a" before finishing his sentence, Double-D noticed Jen with an orange ring of crumbs around her mouth. "Never mind. I suggest we put these in bowls."

"To hide the evidence?" Jenn asked, looking at the hole in the bag, then at Double-D.

"Exactly." He answered.

Jenny looked around the house. There was plenty of space for dancing, and a large table that could hold snack bowls. "So, are we gonna put any decorations up?"

"Nah, not enough time." Eddy sighed, wishing something could be done with the drab walls. "Well, it's not that big a deal. The lights'll be pretty low, anyway."

The Jens grabbed bowls from Double-D's kitchen and started to put the snacks in them while the Eds brought their instruments in from the garage. The bowls were then set on the table, and a glass bowl was filled to the rim with orange soda. The six of them stood back and looked around, satisfied with their work. Finally Jenn announced the verdict. "Well, it's not much to look at, but I think we've done well for ourselves."

Eddy nodded in agreement until his eyes landed on the corner table. "Double-D, bring down your boom box. And your CDs."

"Eddy, we could just use the CD player up there!"

"But your boom box looks cooler. Go get it." Heaving a sigh, Double-D trudged up the stairs for his boom box and CDs. He returned a few minutes later struggling to carry everything. After dumping it all unceremoniously down onto the couch, Double-D leaned against the wall panting open-mouthed.

Ed grabbed the boom box, and with the coordination of a six-year-old, began violently stabbing the buttons with one finger. Double-D looked up in a hurry at the sound of the abuse to his boom box, and Ed whining, "Double-D, make the music come out!"

Jenn rolled her eyes and plugged the cord into an outlet. "There, Ed. Satisfied?"

Ed glanced from the end of the cord to the boom box, where an electric guitar was screeching notes out wildly. Pleased with it, Ed plunked the boom box onto a table, and turned the volume up all the way. The Jens and the other two Eds covered their ears in an attempt to block out the sound. Ed enjoyed it, and danced around, pretending to be a guitarist. "- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -!" They could all tell he must have been saying something, but his voice was lost in the din.

Finally, Double-D raced over to the player and quickly turned down the volume. "Ed! Not so loud!"

"Music cool!" Jen shouted proudly, still obviously skulking around for the Cheezy Chomps.

Jenny was starting to get frustrated. To her, this wasn't working at all. Jen and Ed were bad enough individually, but when around each other, they became almost too much to handle. And there wasn't much time left, with only about another fifteen minutes before the kids were supposed to arrive.