Chapter 16
It had been a few minutes since the Eds, Marie, and May had finished their hot chocolate. May and Marie had made their way downstairs to prepare the "ballet room" for practice. The Ed's remained upstairs as the Kankers had requested their assistance in relocating the studio console upright piano, currently serving as a centerpiece in the living room, to the basement.
Double Dee was currently on one side of the piano, attempting to pull it towards the stairs, as Ed attempted assist by pushing the other side. Eddy stood next to the boys, sipping a soda as he watched them attempt to move the instrument with a cocky grin.
Despite the boys best efforts, the piano would not budge. Double Dee removed his hands from the wooden structure, flinging them around as if they were in pain.
"My goodness," said Double Dee, "I knew that pianos carry substantially more mass than the typical piece of household furniture, but I believe that the presence of wheels would alleviate the issue. They seem to be making no difference in this particular case."
Eddy placed his soda down on the coffee table.
"There ain't no problem here," said Eddy, "Ya just need a little elbow grease. Step aside, let a pro show ya how it's done."
Eddy walked over towards the piano, gently pushed Double Dee out of the way, and grabbed the side of the instrument.
"Alright Ed, let's move this puppy." said Eddy.
Despite Eddy's confidence in his own strength, his efforts to move the piano were no better than Double Dees.
"Bravo Eddy," said Double Dee sarcastically, "Your 'professional assistance' does not seem to be achieving any kind of positive result."
"Ed just ain't pushing hard enough!" said Eddy, struggling to get the words out of his mouth due to straining his muscles, "Come on Ed, use that crazy strength ya got!"
The two boys continued to struggle for a few seconds, at which point Ed glanced toward the floor. As he continued pushing with all of his might, he noticed that the lock on one of the pianos caster wheels was engaged.
"Eddy, I think I know why this isn't working." said Ed.
"Well Ed," said Eddy as he continued to pull, "Flatter us with your brilliant idea!"
"Okie Dokie!" said Ed.
Ed proceeded to kick the lever, disengaging the lock and allowing the piano to move freely. Unfortunately, Eddy, unaware of Ed's plan, continued pulling on the piano with everything he had. The result was the piano suddenly careening across the room, at what seemed like the speed of sound. To make matters worse, due to his position at the time of the release of the lock, Eddy had found himself pinned to the side of the piano, traveling with it as it hurled towards the stairs.
Double Dee and Ed watched as the piano careened towards edge of the stairs, Eddy hanging on to the side for dear life. The piano proceeded to "bounce" down the stairs, step-by-step, sounding an extremely dissonant musical tone with each hop.
Thankfully, due to the Kankers owning a split level house, there were only five or so stairs leading to the lower level. The piano finally reached the basement and collided with another object, emitting a loud dissonant sound as if all the keys were pressed at once while the dampers were released. This was followed by Eddy emitting a rather loud scream.
Double Dee and Ed wasted no time and proceeded to run down the stairs to check on their friend. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, the boys discovered the piano had traveled across the entire floor span of the Kankers den, had hit the opposing wall and bounced back toward the center of the room, finally coming to rest directly in front of the door leading to Ms. Kankers ballet room.
Eddy himself was laying on the floor with an expression of shock on his face. Double Dee ran over towards his friend
"My goodness Eddy, are you alright?" said Double Dee.
Eddy regained his composure and rose to his feet, dusting off his jeans
"Of course I'm alright," said Eddy sarcastically, "I just got ran over by a 300lb piano, no problem!"
"Thankfully, the same non-sensical laws of physics that applied to the show, for the sake of cheap slap-stick humor, apply to this fan fiction as well." said Double Dee, "Otherwise you could have been seriously injured."
Double Dee decided to deliver a joke.
"It may have just been your proverbial "final movement", even though it was only your first piano composition" said Double Dee.
Double Dee and Ed shared a laugh at Eddy's expense, at which point the door leading into the "ballet room" opened. Marie and May exited the room with smiles on their faces, and took notice that the piano had been successfully moved to the lower level of the home; they remained ignorant to the chaotic events that occurred during the course of it's transport.
"Thanks for moving the piano boys!" said Marie, "We got the room ready, if you guys can just wheel it in and put it next to the far wall we'll be all set."
The boys obliged, at which point Double Dee and Ed began rolling the piano into the room. Double Dee, nor either of his best friends, have ever been inside this particular room; quite frankly they did not even know that it existed, and had no idea what to expect.
As the interior of the new room came into view, Double Dees eyes widened. The space was quite large, around 12' wide by 25' long. The walls were a bright shade of white, and the hardwood floor boards were a warm red/brown color. The far wall contained a window near the ceiling, not unlike the one in Ed's room, looking out into the backyard of the house.
By far, the most distinguishing feature of the room was the long wall opposite the entrance to the room, the entirety of which had been converted into a highly reflective mirror. A single wooden railing ran the length of the wall at about waist height, serving as an anchor point for aspiring dancers to hone their balancing skills.
"My word," said Double Dee as he wheeled the piano to it's resting place, "I had no idea that your residence had a fully functional ballet studio."
"It comes with having a mother who is completely obsessed with ballet!" said Marie, "My dads been working on it for my mom since we moved in so that she could start dancing again. He finished it about a week ago, just in time time for us to use it!"
"I must say your father has excellent skills in craftsmanship" said Double Dee.
Marie proceeded to take a seat on the bench in front of the piano keyboard, adjusting it's position for optimal reach. Double Dee followed his girlfriends lead, taking a seat next to her. May remained in a standing position, resting her forearms on the piano lid in a crossed position. Her eyes were trained on her oafish significant other, who had removed his large green coat. He was giggling as he performed various body building poses in the mirror along with Eddy.
May sighed dreamily with a smile, after which she decided to pose a question.
"Do you think Lee will actually be able to teach Eddy how to dance in time for the talent show?" asked May.
"It is a lot to learn in a short period of time," said Marie, "But you know what they say...miracles happen most everyday! But don't expect a miracle unless you help make it to be."
At that point, Marie touched her fingertips to the piano keys and began playing a bossa nova pattern with her left hand, while overlaying a chord progression with her right. At the same time, she began singing in a smooth sounding voice, completely different than her rather shrill speaking voice:
You hope, and I'll hurry
You pray, and I'll plan
We'll do, what's necessary cause
Even a miracle needs a hand!
Marie ceased playing, after which she, Double Dee and May shared a laugh. The musical display attracted the attention of Ed and Eddy from across the room, leading both boys to approach the piano. Eddy remained unamused due to the joke being at his expense, while Ed giggled heavily.
"Haha," laughed Ed, "Do another one about Eddy!"
Marie giggled.
"Okay," said Marie, "Teaching Eddy how dance should be as easy as taking his first steps."
Marie once again touched her fingertips to the piano keys, and began playing a Broadway musical style shuffle pattern as she sung:
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you'll be walking across the floo-oo-or
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you'll be walking out the door!
Marie ceased playing once again, at which point she, Double Dee, May and Ed shared another laugh.
"I'm about to really walk out that door and say screw this whole thing." said Eddy in an irritated tone.
"Come on Eddy," said Double Dee, "Where's your holiday spirit? Is it really that difficult for you to accept a friendly yuletide joke?"
"Yeah Eddy lighten up!" yelled Marie, "It's just some holiday fun. Besides, if you want to be a grouch, I have the perfect song for you."
Marie placed her hands on the piano and played a dramatic, ominous sounding tune in the bass register, which happened to be an introduction to a famous Christmas tune. She followed it by a slow, jazzy chord progression, and deepened her voice to sing in a lower register.
You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch
You really are a heel!
You're as cuddly as a cactus
You're as charming as an eel
Mr. GRIIIIINCH!
The group shared heavy laughter as soon as Marie had played the last note, much to Eddy's chagrin. Eddy folded his arms, and leaned against the wall with a scowl on his face.
"Sorry Eddy," said Marie as she giggled, "It's just too easy and too funny to get you riled up!"
The group laughed once again, at which point Eddy finally decided to embrace the joke, smiling ever so slightly.
"So," said Marie, "What else should I play while we are waiting for Lee?"
"Ooh Marie," said May, "Play that one from the new CD we got, you know the one with the lady in the black dress on the cover."
"Oh yeah, that's a fun one!" said Marie, "Okay, I'll give it a try."
Marie placed her hands on the piano keys, and began playing a rhythm reminiscent of soft jazz music. She began singing in a sultry, seductive voice.
The Reindeer Fly
I wave goodbye
With a kiss
You bring me home
Stories of Rome
Paris and Madrid
And softly he tiptoes
When he returns home
And Whispers "Mrs. K"
Marie glanced towards Double Dee with an amorous smile and winked prior to delivering the last line.
It's Christmas time and Double Dee's mine hooray!
Marie, performed a final jazzy scale, and ended the piece with a smooth sounding chord as she and Double Dee shared a smile. A few seconds passed after which the sound of Lee's voice filled the air.
"Yo that's MY song and MY voice," yelled Lee playfully, "And who said you could screw around with the lyrics!"
The group turned toward the door to see Lee's tall frame standing in the threshold. Lee had tied her red curls up into a ponytail, with two loose strands hanging in front of her ears. She had removed her glasses, and had traded her pink shirt and blue jeans for a black skin-tight leotard that accentuated her beautiful figure. On her legs were a pair of grey tights, and her feet were covered with a pair of black pointe shoes. She stood with her left hand hanging towards the floor, with her right hand on her hip as she relaxed it to the right.
Lee wasted no time and walked towards Eddy's position.
"Alright Little Man," said Lee, "Ready to get started."
Eddy did not respond to Lee's question, as he was currently engrossed in checking out Lee's body from head to toe. He was sweating bullets as he always did when in the presence of an attractive female, and his face was turning red. Lee took notice and giggled.
"See," said Lee as she leaned down into Eddy's face, "I told ya seeing me in this would change your mind about ballet."
Lee stood erect once more.
"Alright, let's get ya ready," said Lee, "I left you some mens dance leggings and a shirt out in the den. Go get changed and we'll start with the basics."
Eddy continued staring at Lee's "assets", still not saying a word.
"Jesus", said Lee, "You can touch em' all you want later tonight, but for now get your little sweet ass cheeks out there and don't come back in until I can see them in those tights!"
Marie and May giggled openly at Lee's joke, while Ed attempted to stifle a laugh if his own. Double Dee stood with a neutral expression, somewhat blushing due to his discomfort around speech of a sexual nature.
At the sound of the word "tights" Eddy snapped out of his trance.
"Tights?" yelled Eddy, "Now? I thought that was only the night of the show?"
"You can't practice in jeans you knuckle head!" said Lee, "Be a good boy and go get changed, okay sweetie!?"
Lee smiled and winked as she completed the sentence, after which Eddy unenthusiastically turned around and proceeded to walk toward the door to get changed.
A few minutes had passed, at which time the door leading into the ballet room cracked open. Eddy pushed the door with a gentle flick of the wrist, causing it to open slowly with an audible creak. Behind the door, the stout adolescent stood with his hands by his sides, and an expression of annoyance on his face. He was wearing a white, skin tight tank top, a pair of black tights and a pair of black slip on shoes.
May and Marie watched with smiles as Eddy made his way across the room toward Lee. Double Dee maintained a smile on his face, out of joy that Eddy had somewhat embraced this teaching experience, while Ed giggled dopily.
Lee smiled amorously as Eddy approached, his face red with embarrassment. He came within two feet of Lee at which point he looked up into her eyes. She chuckled slightly and proceeded to speak.
"Much better," said Lee, "You look cute in that outfit."
Eddy looked down towards the floor, at which point Lee placed her right index finger under Eddy's chin. Her nail, currently painted black, dug slightly into the bottom of his jaw as she forced his face upwards. She leaned down until she was at eye level with Eddy, and moved close to his face.
"By the way," said Lee, "Thank you for doing this for me. You're the best"
Lee leaned in and pecked Eddy on the lips, causing him to smile briefly in a wistful daze. He quickly shrugged it off and regained his displeased expression, as he was still not completely satisfied with being in tights.
Lee placed her hands on her hips, and donned a serious expression.
"Alright," said Lee, "Time for a crash course in classical ballet! Let's dance!"
