Chapter 43

Ten minutes had passed since Lee was officially crowned the winner of the talent show. The student body president had delivered her final farewells, including a "good evening and drive safely", after which the main auditorium lights were activated, fully illuminating the large room. The majority of the spectators had cleared out of the auditorium and were on their way back to their homes, leaving only a few students who decided to linger in the interest of finishing up friendly conversations.

The main school corridor was quite busy, as individuals made their way to the school exit doors in droves on their way to the parking lot. While many individuals were on the move, many of the talent show participants remained stationary, standing with their friends and family. All were smiling as they shared friendly conversations, and received praise from their loved ones.

The Kanker family happened to be one of many taking part in post show celebrations, with Lee, of course being the center of attention. Earlier that night, Eddy had asked his parents to stop at the business district flower shop on the way to the talent show, the reason being to pick up a bouquet of roses to present to Lee at the end of the night. His parents had held onto them throughout the night for safekeeping, turning them back over to their son prior to their departure. Due to being up on stage, Lee was one of the last to exit the auditorium, and was quite surprised, and excited when she opened the doors to find her boyfriend holding flowers for her.

Lee was currently standing against the wall, still in costume, as she cradled her trophy in her left arm; and her flowers in her right arm. All of her sisters, their boyfriends, Rod and Eddy (still in costume) were gathered around, watching with smiles as Tabby excitedly snapped pictures of her eldest daughter using a camera brought from home. While Tabby appeared quite exuberant, Lee, being the cynical person she was, was less than enthused at being the center of attention.

"C'mon Annalee," said Tabby as she peered around the camera, "Would it kill ya to smile in at least one of these pictures? Jesus ya just kicked ass at your first ballet performance, I figured that would be something for ya to be happy about."

"Huh," said Lee, "I'll be happy when I can get out of this costume. And by the way, this is my first and last performance. I only did it to make sure she didn't get it."

"Seriously Lee?" yelled Marie, "Stop with the bullshit and enjoy the moment, you earned it!"

"Language Annemarie," said Tabby in a rather stern manner, after which she turned back towards Lee "But, she's right, suck it up and enjoy it."

Lee sighed, at which point the neutral expression typical of the tall red head disappeared. It was replaced by a genuine, radiant smile not unlike the one she displayed as she performed her post solo bow on stage.

"That a girl!" said Tabby excitedly as she snapped a picture, after which she turned towards Eddy.

"Hey Nutcracker Prince!" said Tabby in a playful manner, "Don't be shy, come get a picture with your Sugarplum Fairy."

Eddy smiled, at which point he slowly walked toward Lee. He took his place to the right of Lee, placing his arm around her hip, as Lee turned slightly toward him. Both teenagers smiled as Tabby activated the shutter, capturing the special moment with a flash. She and Rod then disembarked to retrieve Rod's truck, agreeing to meet outside of the school in a few minutes to make the ride home.

As Tabby and Rod made their way away from the group, Lee rejoined her friends, standing next to Eddy with her right hand on her hip. Double Dee decided to break the silence.

"Well I for one thoroughly enjoyed tonight's performance," said Double Dee, "I apologize in advance for my brutal honesty Eddy, but I must admit that I had my doubts regarding your ability to learn all of those beautiful and complicated techniques in time for tonight's performance."

Eddy opened his mouth to respond with an overconfident remark, however Lee had managed to beat him to the punch.

"You kiddin?" said Lee, "I always knew my Little Man could handle it. After all, I was his teacher, and that fact should have been enough to put all your doubts to rest!"

Lee playfully rubbed Eddy's head as she giggled causing Eddy to smile.

"Well, you're tutelage most certainly paid off," said Double Dee as he turned toward Marie, "Of course, I must once again praise Marie's amazing piano arrangement. It was a perfect compliment to Eddy and Lee's dance. It was quite boisterous without being intrusive to the dancers, a feat that is quite difficult to accomplish."

"Yeah," said Lee as she walked towards Marie, and playfully punched her in the arm, "That was a bang up job you did down there with the piano!"

At that point Lee leaned down, placed her hands on Marie's shoulders and brought her face to Marie's eye level.

"Thank's so much for doing that for me," said Lee with a smile, "You were great."

Lee then placed her arms around Marie, grabbing her in a tight squeeze. Marie slowly but surely lifted her arms, returning the embrace.

"Anytime Lee," said Marie, "I'm glad you liked it."

Lee pulled away from Marie and returned to Eddy's side. She slightly tugged on the shoulder strap of her bodice, after which she continued the conversation.

"Well one thing's for sure," said Lee, "I can't wait to get home and get this thing off."

"I know what you mean," said Eddy, "These tights are chafing me, and it's about time I ditched this coat, I'm sweating my ass off!"

Eddy, in an attempt to relieve himself from his own oppressive body heat, began unbuttoning the red coat he had worn as part of his costume for the last hour and a half. As he reached the last button, a familiar voice rang out from further down the hall.

"Yo Dorky!" yelled the voice of Kevin.

At the sound of Kevin's voice, Eddy's face donned a distressed expression, while simultaneously turning a bright shade of red. Due to his nervousness regarding being on stage, and his obliviousness to Kevin's change of attitude toward his dance, he had reason to assume that the red-headed jock had arrived to poke fun at him. Accordingly, the stout Ed boy slowly turned around towards the end of the hallway.

Kevin was not alone, rather he was accompanied by Rolf, as well as around five of his best friends from the school football team. Eddy remained still, sweating bullets all the while preparing for the inevitable humiliation he was about to endure.

"Yo man, awesome job!," said Kevin as he reached Eddy's position, holding his hand out to shake Eddy's, "I never knew you had it in ya!"

Eddy reluctantly returned Kevin's handshake, staring at the boy in a confused manner.

"You don't have to be sarcastic about it," said Eddy, "Go ahead, take your best shot. I've been ready for you guys to bust on me all night."

"No man, I'm serious!" said Kevin, "I never knew that ballet dancers were like athletes. You lifted your girl like it was no problem. Where'd ya learn all of those moves?"

Upon the realization that he was safe from ridicule, Eddy regained his overconfident composure. He adopted his typical sly grin as he completed unbuttoning his coat.

"You know," said Eddy, as he glanced toward Lee with a smile, "Around..."

At that point, Eddy removed the outer coat from his body, folded it in half, and hung in over his forearm. Underneath the coat, Eddy wore a black, form fitting sleeveless shirt; an article of clothing that happened to show off every aspect of his newly developed muscular physique. Kevin and the remainder of the football team instantly took notice, with Kevin being the first to comment.

"Yo check it out, my man got ripped!" said Kevin, "Hey dude, you gotta give us some pointers, we've been trying to gain some mass for next season!"

Lee smiled and giggled slightly as she watched her boyfriend strike poses, showboating in front of his friends. From afar, Double Dee also observed the boys playful antics, eventually deciding to make a comment.

"Well, it appears that situation remedied itself." said Double Dee as he turned towards Marie.

"Yep," said Marie, "I will never understand you men. One minute you're brutally teasing each other, and the next it's like you're in love."

"I believe the answer lies in an juxtaposition of human behavior with animal behavior ," said Double Dee, "In the animal world, testosterone, as well as the strong drive to obtain dominance, can cause individuals to express unusual and often undesirable behaviors."

"Right," said Marie, after which she giggled.

Double Dee paused for a few moments, observing Eddy having fun with the jocks. He turned towards Lee, currently standing around ten feet from the boys, watching her boyfriend enjoy being the center of attention. As he observed the events before him, he appeared to develop an expression of concern, at which point he decided to interject.

"While I am overjoyed to see everyone in such a great mood," said Double Dee, "I have a strange feeling that Lee's victory might be more trouble than it is worth."

"What do you mean Double Dee?", asked Marie.

"I am concerned that the feud between Lee and Lindsay will escalate to new heights," said Double Dee, "Lee's unexpected win may drive Lindsay to take drastic measures to usurp Lee as the winter ball queen."

"So," said Marie as she ran her fingers through her hair, "Let her try! Lee will outshine her just like she did tonight. No big deal."

"It's not so much my being worried about Lee achieving victory, as it is about the consequences of the feud itself." said Double Dee, "Lindsay has demonstrated that she is quite unpredictable, and manipulative, and I am afraid that she may attempt to use her excellent skills of persuasion to bring about chaos."

Double Dee glanced toward Eddy.

"I am also concerned regarding Eddy's well being," said Double Dee, "While I adore Eddy as if he were a brother, I will be the first to admit that Eddy is quite poor at decision making when he is under pressure. This was perfectly evidenced by his plan to use Rolf to drive a wedge between Lee and Lindsay, for which I cannot thank fate enough that he had come to his senses and abandoned it."

Double Dee paused.

"Still," said Double Dee, "Between Eddy's desperation to please Lee, and his ignorance to the true reason for her competition with Lindsay, it's only a matter of time until somebody's feelings get hurt."

Double Dee turned towards Marie.

"Marie," said Double Dee, "Perhaps you and I should sit down with Eddy and Lee, just the four of us, and discuss the issue at hand. Great communication skills are the foundations of a great romantic relationship, and I believe Lee keeping this secret for too long may lead to disaster. Eddy has been a completely different person since he became involved romantically with Lee, and I know you have seen a drastic change in Lee as well. Do we really want to stand by idly as we watch all of that potentially go to waste?"

Marie remained silent, at which point Double Dee placed her hand on her cheek, turning her head towards his.

"And furthermore," said Double Dee, "This feud between Lee and Lindsay is absolutely pointless, and does nothing but cause unnecessary emotional turmoil for your sister and her loved ones. There has to be something we can do to stop it."

"Double Dee," said Marie in a calm manner as she grabbed Double Dee's hand from her face, lowering it towards the ground, "I fully understand your frustration. I hate seeing Lee like this, but trust me, it's for the best and it is exactly what Lee wants. Besides I made a promise to my sister that I would not take any action regarding Lindsay, or tell anybody about their history. If you got involved, Lee would know I broke my promise and there is no telling how upset she would be."

Marie leaned closer towards Double Dee's face.

"And as for stopping the fight," said Marie, "I told you before, there is no sense in even trying. Lindsay is no longer the girl that she was back in kindergarten. She's not capable of kindness anymore, and fully accepts the nastiness that her mother instilled in her. She's learned to enjoy that lifestyle, and has chosen to embrace it by making those who she feels are beneath feel horrible about themselves. I will tell you one thing, I will never forgive her for what she did to Lee, or all of those times she made fun of my bad eye. The girl is pure evil, just remember that."

Marie pulled away from Double Dee, as her face transformed into a smile.

"Now no more thinking about that," said Marie, "Everything will work out. Trust me."

Double Dee said nothing, merely sighing as Marie delivered him a kiss on the cheek.

A few moments passed, after which the crowd surrounding Eddy began to disperse. Kevin and Rolf decided to remain with Eddy for a few more seconds after the football team dispersed to provide some final congratulations, and exchange amicable jokes. Kevin also provided Eddy with a mini DVD; while the red headed jock had intended to use his camera to humiliate Eddy, witnessing the small boys performance had changed his mind. He had instead decided to record the performance in the best quality possible, and provide a copy to Eddy as a memory of his first ballet performance.

Following the friendly exchange, Kevin departed to meet Nazz and her family, who he had made arrangements to ride home with. Double Dee and Marie had also made their way outside, as they had also arranged a ride home with the Van Bartonschmeers . While Double Dee was merely receiving a ride back to his residence, as he had to catch up with his all important science fair project, Marie had plans to spend the night with Nazz, doing yoga and other aerobic workouts. In addition, May had decided to ride home with Ed's family, for the two goofballs had made plans to spend the remainder of the night in Ed's basement watching a new special based on one of their favorite comic books.

After a few goodbyes and good nights, Eddy and Lee were the only two individuals remaining in the school corridor. After watching Ed and May run down the hall away from their position in an excited manner, Lee turned to Eddy with a smile.

"So Eddy," said Lee, "I know I promised to come over your house tonight for our little celebratory dinner date, but there's been a slight change of plan."

At that point, Eddy's eyes widened.

"Really?" asked Eddy, "So no dinner date?"

"No, our dinner date is still on," said Lee as she pushed a red curl that had come loose from her bun behind her ear, "But instead of me cooking, it's going to be the chefs at that new fancy Italian Restaurant that just opened in the business district. My Mom and Dad got reservations last night, and wanted to take us out to dinner to celebrate my first ballet performance. We're gonna ride home first so I can get changed, then you can ride with us to the restaurant."

Lee leaned down to meet Eddy at eye level.

"Don't worry," said Lee, "You still get your 'dessert', but it's going to have to wait until Friday night. And because you did so awesome, it's going to have a cherry on top!"

Lee giggled amorously as she stood up straight, leaving Eddy quite surprised and excited regarding the implicit innuendo that Lee had just implied. While Eddy was smiling, it appeared as if he was being weighed down by troubling thoughts. A few seconds passed after which Eddy decided to reply.

"Sure, I like spaghetti," said Eddy, "But instead of riding with you, can I meet you guys at the restaurant? I've got a few personal things I've got to take care of."

Lee was somewhat taken aback by Eddy's statement, wondering what possible personal matters Eddy could have to take care of. There was a brief pause, after which Eddy decided to continue.

"See, I have a special surprise I've been working on," said Eddy, "And I need to go make the initial arrangements to have it delivered. It turns out that tonight is the only time the person I need to talk to is available. It's only gonna take a few minutes, and I'll be at the joint by the time you get changed and ride over. I'm sorry in advance for being late."

Lee remained still, her face appearing as if it were made of stone. Eddy began to have doubts that the partial lie, regarding an unknown rendezvous, was not sitting well with the highly clever Lee. However, just as the small boy was about to begin sweating, Lee suddenly smiled.

"Eddy," said Lee, "For being an ex-con man you suck at keeping secrets. Don't apologize for planning my Christmas gift."

Lee giggled, leaned down, and kissed Eddy on the cheek. She proceeded to walk away from her boyfriend, who remained motionless.

"See ya at the restaurant my cute little Nutcracker Prince." said Lee as opened the steel exit door, and walked out into the bone chilling winter air.