"Dude, are you going to take Tammy to the fair?" An upperclassmen says to another as a younger teen in an orange dress shirt and black dress pants waits behind them in the lunch line.
"No way man, you know that that place can kill a dudes chances with a chick if it goes wrong. I want her around for prom." The second upperclassmen says as the younger teen tries to ignore the conversation in front of him.
'Interesting, a night at the county fair could really cause a lady to lose interest?' He thinks unable to tune the boys out.
"That place can just bore a chick to death." The second boy adds.
"But it can seal the deal too man. I heard Scott took an older chick there last year, and they are still a thing, you just got to know how to make it fun."
In an attempt to draw his focus away from the boys in front of him, the younger boy reaches into his black messenger bag and pulls out a multi-page pamphlet and starts looking through it. He's read the pamphlet cover to cover more times than he could count, but he wants to make sure that every bit of information it holds is in his head.
Just as he is about to start reading a shorter teen boy grabs him around the neck from behind. "Hey Sockhead, thanks for saving our spot in line." The shorter teen, in a yellow t-shirt and stone washed jeans, says pulling the taller one down.
"Eddy." The taller teen pushes his friend off, tilting the black ski hat on the top of his head to the side. "If you and Ed would just pay attention in class, you would not be held back by the teacher after the bell."
Eddy, the shorter teen, rolls his eyes. "That's what I have you for Double D, you're the brains, Ed here is the muscle." Eddy jabs the other boy that showed up with him in the side. "And I'm the idea guy."
Double D, also know by Edd or Eddward, repositions his hat on his head, his jet black hair sticks out from under if far more than it used to when the three boys were younger. "One of these days I am not going to be there to help you pass your classes."
"You are not leaving us are you Double D?" Ed, the tallest of the three of them in a green jacket and blue jeans asks, overreacting as he is known to do.
Edd returns the pamphlet to his bag. "I have no intention of leaving Ed, I only implied that there may be a time when I cannot help the two of you, and thus you need to be able to do your own school work."
"Yeah yeah." Eddy waves the current conversation off. "So when's your old man taking you for the test?" He asks changing the topic.
"My Father is taking me down today after we get out for the day to take the test." Edd could hardly control his excitement for the afternoon.
"Sweet." Eddy says rubbing his hands together. "This is going to change our lives."
"I am very proud of you Eddward. A perfect score as usual."
"Thank you Father." Edd says to the older gentlemen he is with as they walk out into the parking lot of the government building they have just spent the past few hours in.
"I think." Edds father says as he reaches into his pocket. "That it would be acceptable to have you drive us home." Edd's father holds the keys to his car out to Edd.
Edd takes the keys from his father, for the past several months since his sixteenth birthday Edd has been looking forward to the day that he would be able to drive. Being able to go to the library or bookstore without taking the bus or asking for a ride, running errands for his mother, traveling to the other side of the city of Peach Creek to look for new species of insects to add to his collection, and the responsibility the small piece of plastic he will have in three to five business days comes with has been all that his mind thought of.
"Thank you Father." Edd pushes the button on the keyfob to unlock the doors on his father's car.
The drive back to the Cul-de-sac was a quiet one, the only time Edd's father would ever turn on the radio would be to check his stocks when he drove, and Edd didn't want anything to distract him from the road.
Edd knows the Cul-de-sac like the back of his hand, so when he saw the slightly familiar green car parked on the road next to his family's mailbox, he became a little confused. "Is that, Grandfather's car?" Edd asks as he pulls into his family's driveway.
"I do believe it is, what a pleasant surprise." Edds father says as he opens his door.
It was in fact Edds Grandfather's car that he saw outside. Not only is he there to visit his son, daughter-in-law, and grandsons, but Edd's parents have also gone and bought Edd's Grandfather's old car as a gift for their son. The car is several years old, it still has a cassette tape player, but it has been taken care of very well. Edd thanked his parents and grandparent, and spent the rest of the evening going through the user manual for his new car.
The following day Edd is up an hour earlier than he normally would be for school. Over the past few weeks he has been acquiring a wide arrange of things for a car, and he is now putting them into his car as the sun rises. He has a First Aid kit, a small set of tools for basic and quick repairs, road flares, and reflective caution cones in the trunk of the car. For the inside of the car he has a detachable holder for his phone when he would need the use of the GPS, air fresheners to hang from the mirror, a tube of wet wipes, a spare charging cable and lighter plug for his phone, and an anti-theft lock for the steering wheel.
It didn't take him long to put everything away, and once that was done, Edd sits in the driver's seat and just looks at the car around him. Being able to drive is every teen's dream, and not only can he legally do that, he has his own car do so with.
"This is going to be fantastic."
A short time later Edd is sitting outside of his friend Eddy's house in his car. "I am outside and waiting for you Eddy." Edd typed out on his phone before sending the message to his friend.
A few minutes later Eddy walks out the front door of his family's house dragging his backpack. Eddy has never been much of a morning person, but when he sees Edd in his car he perked right up.
"Dude, what is this?" Eddy asks once he is close enough to the car.
Edd unlocks the passenger side door for Eddy. "Mother and Father purchased Grandfather's old car for me as a gift."
Eddy practically jumps into the car. "This is so freaking awesome Double D, we have to to cruising this weekend."
Edd turns the key in the ignition. " Will you be paying for gas Eddy?" He asks, checking his mirror as he readies himself to start moving the car.
"No." Eddy says confused as to why Edd would want him to pay for gas.
"Then you have your answer Eddy. Gas is not cheap you know."
After picking up Ed from his own home, who also had his own suggestion of going to a monster movie marathon at the old theatre downtown, Edd drove his friends to their High School. Peach Creek High has a small student parking lot behind the school, and just as the three boys pull into an empty spot, a car a few spots away doors open and the other teens from the Cul-de-sac exit the car.
From the other car two teen boys and one teen girl emerge. "Double D?" The girl asks. "When did you get a car?"
Edd opens his door as he addresses the girl in her cheerleader outfit, there is a sports game of some kind that day Edd remembers. "Yesterday, it was a gift from Mother and Father."
The boy that drove the other car tosses his letterman's jacket over his shoulder, he has a white dress shirt and tie on, solidifying the fact of the sporting event later that day. "Nice, now you got that freedom."
"Rolf is also happy for the brainy Ed boy. It is how you say, fetch to have a motorized contraption of transport." The other teen boy says as the first locks the doors on his car with a push of a button on his key ring.
The girl turns to Rolf with a raised eyebrow. "Fetch? What are you talking about Rolf?"
"Is that not the right word? Trendy Nazz needs to help Rolf with these things, yes?"
Nazz holds back a laugh. "I'll see what I can do to help Rolf, but for now just say cool."
"Cool, yes Rolf will remember this."
"Well I'd love to stay at check out your new car Double D, but Student Council calls. Walk me to the library Kevin?" Nazz asks the other boy.
Kevin holds his hand out to Nazz. "Sure thing Nazz."
And with that Kevin and Nazz walk away from the cars and towards the school.
"Man, what does Kevin got that I don't?" Eddy asks as he watches the most popular couple in their grade walk away.
"Well let's see, he is part of several different sports teams, has better grades overall, his own car, and has about a foot in height." Edd says counting off on his fingers.
"I'm not that short!" Eddy yells, his height has always been a touchy subject for Eddy.
"Don't worry about that Eddy, I like you just how you are." A voice speaks from behind the Ed's and Rolf. The Ed's freeze and Rolf turns and runs for the school, they all know who just showed up at the school.
Slowly the Ed's turn around, and there only a few feet away are the three sisters that have bullied the Ed's for years. "Kankers." Eddy says under his breath as the fear of the sisters overtakes the Ed's.
"Would you look at that Marie, your man has a ride now." The tallest of the sisters, in a white t-shirt and old jeans with curly red hair, says to her blue-haired sister on her right.
Marie, the blue haired girl in green cargo pants and a sleeveless black shirt grins wide. "I see that Lee, you know what that means May?" She asks looking to her sister on the other side of Lee.
May, the youngest of the three sisters, dressed in a gray hoodie and red basketball shorts, looks from Marie to Lee. "Um, he can drive places now?" She asks, coming up with the best answer she could as she plays with her platinum blonde hair.
"Close." Marie says as she grins wide at Edd, her personal target of tormentation. "It means my Dream Boat can take ME out to make out point now."
"Ooo, good idea Marie." Lee says. "When you getting some wheels Eddy, I want my date."
"Like I would ever go anywhere with you." Eddy says as the Ed's take a step back away from the Kankers.
Lee grins. "You say that now."
"I say that forever." Eddy says before turning to Edd and whispering; "We gotta book it man, your car locked?"
Edd nods to Eddy, not wanting to vocalize the plan to get away from the sisters.
"I want Big Ed to take me out too." May says batting her eyelashes at Ed.
The mentioning of Ed spending time alone with May was the all Ed needed to hear to scare him off. "Ahhh no!" Ed yells as he turns around and runs away at top speed.
The Kanker sisters all start to laugh at Ed running away. "Well." Lee says stopping the laughter. "I guess just our boyfriends want to spend time with us Marie."
"Mmm, I'm good with that. My man knows where he belongs." Marie is the first to take a step towards Edd and Eddy.
Lee takes a step herself. "I want my man to get me that nice jacket all the jocks give their girlfriends."
Eddy's eye twitches. "Shut up Lee." Eddy knows what she is doing, Eddy tried and failed to get onto the football team for the year, and Lee has used that as her way to torment Eddy sense.
"Aww, I think you made him mad Lee. Why don't you show him how sorry you are." Marie says, not taking her one uncovered eye off of Edd. Marie has her bangs swooping over her right eye, blocking it from view.
Lee cracks her knuckles. "I like that idea." Lee turns to her youngest sister, who's looking a little sad that Ed is gone. "May, go make sure our bathroom is empty. And get me a soda."
With that, May rolls her eyes and walks away. The bathroom at the far end of the school is always empty, it is known as Kanker territory by the whole school, so Lee is just ordering May around for the sake of doing it.
Edd nore Eddy move as May walks past them, out of fear that she might jump one of them as she passed.
"Now then." Lee closes the gap on Eddy. "Come here lover boy, let me make you feel all better." Lee tries to grab Eddy's shirt, but he jumps back out of the way.
"Bail Double D!" Eddy yells as he too runs away from the sisters.
Lee gives chase leaving Edd by his car, and Marie three feet away.
"Well, um, Marie." Marie takes a step to Edd. "I do believe the bell is going to ring any minute now." Edd backs away from Marie until his back is to his car. "We should be getting to homeroom." Sweat starts to run down Edd's neck out of fear.
Marie gets closer. "Aww, are you offering to walk me to class? That is so sweet of you." Marie closes the gap more, leaving inches between them.
"Yo-you know we do not share the same homeroom Marie." Edd grips the strap of his bag with both hands.
Suddenly, and without warning, Marie slams her hands down onto Edd's car, trapping him between her arms. She looks from the hood of the car to the trunk. "Nice car Double D." She says slightly seductive. "I do want that ride, and soon." She playfully nips at his nose before taking her hands off the car and walking away, leaving Edd in s state of panic.
A few days later Edd is walking to class alone, A.P. Math is far too advanced for any of his friends. It is a Friday and he is looking forward to taking his car out for a drive after school, he is of course going to take Ed and Eddy, he wouldn't be a very good best friend if he didn't.
'There is that new botanical garden just past the courthouse, and the photoperiodism of the trees should be starting by now.' Edd is so lost in his own mind that he didn't see who he just walked past. 'But knowing Eddy, he would find some way to-'
*Wap*
Edd is tackled to the ground on his back.
"Hey there cutie." Marie says as she holds Edd down by his forearms.
You would think that after all this time of Marie bullying him, Edd would be wise to these kinds of attacks, but Marie is always so random he can never find a pattern.
"M-marie." Edd says as he looks at the blue haired girl on top of him.
Marie let's go of one of his arms and pulls her headphones off her head to rest around her neck. They are a very old pair of headphones, with very big speakers, with a thick cord running to a tape player attached to her pink belt. "Have you been intentionally avoiding me Cupcake?" She asks pushing the stop button on her tape player before taking ahold of Edd's arm again.
Edd being the gentleman that he is could never lie, not even to his tormentor. "No, bu-ut we do not share man-ny of the same classes... So we wou-uldn't normally see each other." He says stuttering a few of his words out of fear.
"Well then." Marie leans close to Edd. "You'll just have to take me out on that date you promised me. You know how much I love to ride in your car."
The fear from Marie's attack and confusion from what she just said askewed Edds thought process. "We never agreed to anything like that..." Suddenly his mind jumps to what he overheard days ago, that the fair could end relationships, could drive a girl away. 'It could work.' He thinks as he gets desperate. "I have a proposition for you." He blurts out just before Marie's lips touch his.
Curious, Marie sits up and says; "What is it?"
'I can't believe I am doing this.' He thinks, committing to the crazy plan he came up with. "I will take you out on a proper date, but, if by the end of the night I still have no interest in you, you will agree to leave me alone and forgo any and all bullying of me."
Just the thought of Edd wanting to go anywhere with her was enough to make Marie smile wide, but she had to know the other outcome. "But... what if you do like me?" She asks drawing circles on his chest with her finger.
Edd takes a deep gulp, there is only one option that would be fair. "Then. I will comply fully with being your boyfriend, and I will do all the tasks that come with it."
"Well, I should have seen this coming." Edd says as he watches his two best friends walk away from his car. Edd drove Eddy and Ed home after school, but he informed them that he would be unable to do anything with them for the evening.
"I am sorry gentlemen, but a situation has presented itself before me that I cannot look past." He told them when Eddy asked why they couldn't go cruising.
Edd locks his car door. "They will understand, once I am free of Marie." Edd lets out a long sigh. He can't fully believe what he is going to be doing this night. "All night with Marie at the fair, and this was my idea."
An hour later, Edd is sitting at his laptop printing out a single piece of paper from the printer at the end of his desk. "This is sure to work." He says looking at the rows of printed words on the paper. Edd is believed that if he can keep the night uneventful and as basic as possible, he is sure to bore Marie to the point that she loses all interest in him and he will be free of her aggressive form of affection. "I guess my unique ways of enjoyment will finally help me out in a social situation for once."
After a quick shower and a run of his electric shaver across his face, Edd is back in his car and driving the short distance to the front gates of the Park 'n Flush. He's never been through the front of the trailer park, there is a fence that separates the Cul-de-sac and the park that he would normally jump, so as he drives past all the other trailers he couldn't help but feel a small sense of pity for not just Marie, but all of the Kankers for having to live in such a place.
But that thought is quickly lost when he reaches the well-known sky blue trailer. Thankfully Marie is already outside the trailer sitting on the broken washing machine, saving him the trouble of knocking on the door.
Marie was looking up at the sky as she waited, but when she heard the sound of Edd's car she jumps off her sitting place, giving Edd a look at the clothing she's changed into. Marie has on a spaghetti strap black tank top and a red and black plaid skirt, showing off more skin than Edd can ever recall her doing.
Edd isn't in the same clothes he had on before his shower, but seeing that Marie changed up her attire made him slightly wish he had chosen something other than black dress pants and an orange dress shirt.
Marie smiles at Edd as she walks to his car, it is a smile unlike Edd has ever seen on her before. It isn't a malicious or evil smile, it a genuinely happy smile.
Marie didn't care to tell Lee or May about the date, if they knew about it Maire would never hear the end of it. "Hi ya Double D." She says as she opens the passenger side door of the car.
The sound of her voice sent waves of worry though Edd. "He-llo Marie." He says preparing himself for an attack from Marie.
But she didn't attack him, she just buckles the seat belt across herself. "Let's roll." She says, still smiling wide.
Edd shakes his head to regain his focus, when he saw Marie's uncovered legs his mind went a little blank. 'Stay focused Eddward.' He thinks to himself as he checks the mirrors.
On the drive out of town Marie starts to get board. Edd wouldn't turn on the radio so he could stay focused on driving, and they have nothing to talk about. But Marie didn't care, she is finally all alone with Edd and going on a real date with him. She knows that he is going to try and kill her interest in him, but little does Edd know what he means to Marie.
'You can't get rid of me Edd.' She thinks as she lets out a yawn and moves her seat back a bit.
The lack of anything to do nor anything to listen to led to Marie falling asleep. Edd didn't notice this until he stopped at a gas station to put gas in his car.
"Marie." Being in the car with her gave him a bit of confidence around her. "Did you need to use the-." He stops talking when he looks over at her and sees Marie asleep in the seat.
Looking at the young teen girl with her arm behind her head and eyes closed perplexed Edd, Marie looks nothing like he remembers. 'I need to add a spare blanket in the trunk.' He thinks deciding to let Marie sleep.
"Marie." Edd says as he turns the engine off. "We have arrived at the fair."
Marie slept for the whole trip after Edd discovered her asleep. But they have now reached the county fair and he has to wake her.
"Marie." He gives her shoulder a gentle shake.
At his touch, her eyes shoot open and she grabs his hand. " Trying to sneak a feel are we?" She asks slyly grinning at him.
Red-faced and feeling very embarrassed at her accusation, Edd pulls his hand free of hers. "No never. I would never do such a thing Maire."
Marie giggles. "Aww, I was hoping you wanted to get a little fresh before we go in."
Edd's face grows redder. 'Stay focused Eddward, just one night at the fair. Alone, with Marie, on a date.' he still is having a hard time accepting this plan as his own.
Marie giggles again at Edd before opening the door and climbing out of the car. With Marie out of the car Edd was able to get his mind back on track. He reaches behind his seat and grabs the gray zip up hoodie from the back seat, the forecast claimed that it would be a cold night so Edd brought a sweater to keep warm.
Once past the ticket booth, where Edd and Marie were informed that it wasn't couples ride night, Edd pulls his list out of his pocket. The list is of all the things at the fair that Edd is sure to be the best things to see and do to bore Marie.
"What's this?" Marie asks taking the list from Edd.
"An itinerary for the evening." Edd says as Marie looks at the list.
Maire quick scans the list of things at the fair Edd though they should see before she crumples the piece of paper into a ball. "That is not how you do a day at the fair." She says tossing the ball of paper over her shoulder.
Edd watches the ball fly into a trashcan. "But that was the optimal experience of the fair."
"You know, if you're going to be MY boyfriend, you're going to have to learn that I don't follow a plan." Marie smiles at Edd before she grabs his wrist. "So let's get lost before the midway opens." Marie drags Edd off in the direction of the showroom building without a care in the world of what there could be.
As they walk through the first building, Maire immediately regrets her decision to not look to see what building is what. The first building they are walking through is full of merchants stands selling hot tubs, aluminum siding, as seen on TV things, and all kinds of different things adults well into their adult lives would care about.|
Marie lets out a groan as she hears the third person try to get her attention to try and sell her something. Edd hears the groan and lets's a quick smile cross his face, he may not have his list, but Maire is clear getting board.
But that boredom is quickly lost once they walk into the next building. The building they have just walked into is full of all kinds of arts and crafts.
Maire looks all over the building. "Holy crap." She says as her eyes fall onto a corner full of paintings.
Leaving Edd behind, she runs for the corner of paintings. "I didn't that the fair has paintings people have done." She says looking from one piece to the next.
"I believe the fair has a competition every year." Edd says once he caught up to her.
"Seriously?" Marie turns to Edd with shock on her face. "I could blow all these out of the water."
Edd's natural curiosity gets to him as he watches Marie look at the painting. "Do you enjoy painting Marie?" He asks as she looks at once peace with more detail.
"I guess, but graffiti art has been my thing lately." Maire says not taking her eyes off the painting she is looking at, the brush strokes are very precise on this one.
"Graffiti art?"
"Yep. Like spray paint and stuff on buildings."
The mention of spray paint on buildings triggers a memory in Edd's mind. "Was that you that painted the burning peach on the side of the school?" He asks as Marie steps away from the one painting.
Marie did her best to hide her grin as she looked at the next painting. "That person was never caught, so what would I know about them feeling like the school cares too much about its identity that they wouldn't see a fire happening."
Edd flashed a quick uncontrolled smile. "I think the artist needs to learn a bit more about symbology."
"Aw yeah, on to the good part." Marie rubs her hands together as Edd and her make their way to the midway of the fair. She is happy to be getting to the fun part of the fair, not to say that she didn't like looking at all the paintings, she just wants to have fun now.
As she is walking down the path, Maire notices that Edd isn't beside her, he is a good step and a half behind her. And now that she is thinking about it, he has been walking that far away from her all night.
Stopping and turning around, Marie asks; "Why are ya being so distant?" Putting her hands on her hips.
Edd stops walking. "Because..." He doesn't have a good answer for her, well one that wouldn't be rude. In truth Edd is keeping his distance out of fear, but he didn't want to say so because she might force him into something.
"Because you don't have a reason." Marie says giving him her own answer to her question. "If this is a real date, then you need to act like it Double D."
Edd feels a small amount of panic over what may come next from Maire. Wanting to find anything to change the subject away from what Edd is supposed to be doing on this date, he looks around and his eyes fall on several food stands. He may be trying to kill Marie's interest in him, but Edd is still a gentleman. "Would you, um, like something to eat?" He asks hoping to distract her.
"Ooo, food yes please." Marie says forgetting about Edd not acting properly on their date.
"Are you gonna get anything?" Marie asks as she takes her foot long corn dog from the cook in the stand.
"I am going to pass on eating, fair food is not very healthy." Edd says as he looks at the menu on the stand, everything is either deep fried or cooked in its own grease.
Marie starts pumping a lot of ketchup into the paper tray. "That's the point of fair food. It's meant to be super unhealthy." Marie has to set the tray down to continue pumping the ketchup due to the weight making the tray unbalanced. "Ya gotta eat something, a burger has some veg on it."
Edd is hungry, and she is right about the hamburger having tomatoes, onions, and lettuce on it. 'I could wipe off the grease with napkins.'
Marie really wants to win this challenge that the date offered to her, so she is doing her best to eat properly. And Edd sees this. She is using a napkin, chewing with her mouth closed, and is not taking big bites.
Edd couldn't help but admire Marie's table manners. 'I am sure she was not this proper when we were younger, I guess Maire has grown up since we met.'
"Whatcha looking at?" Marie asks shaping Edd out of his trance.
He didn't realize it, but Edd has been watching Marie eat.
Edd shakes his head and blinks several times as Marie smiles at him, she knows he was looking at her. "Sorry." Edd says before taking a bite out of his hamburger.
Edd tried to direct Maire to one of the slower, and more boring rides, but Maire wouldn't let that happen and quickly took over what rides they were going to go on.
The roller coaster was the first thing Marie wanted to ride, fast and crazy is how she likes fair rides. The line wasn't very long, so Marie and Edd didn't have to wait to get onto the coaster. Edd bought several ride passes when he paid for their entry into the fair.
"Thank ya Double D." Marie says as the bar to keep them in the car locks in place.
Marie is excited for the whole ride, every hill they went over she cheered and every corner she put her hands up in the air.
But Edd was not enjoying the ride like Marie is. He doesn't like the speed and kept closing his eyes throughout the ride. His heart is racing, and when they get to the top he starts to panic.
As they drop Edd grips the bar in front of him and closes his eyes as tight as he could. He feels very afraid as the air rushes past him and his stomach moves.
But as he waits for the ride to be over, he feels a hand on top of his. "Double D, it's over."
Edd opens his eyes, the ride is over and Marie has her hand on top of his and has a look of concern on her face.
Marie's hand feels warm and soft on top of his. Edd let's go of the bar and Marie takes her hand off his. "Sorry, I guess I am not meant for roller coasters."
Maire pushes the bar up and off of them so they could get off the ride. "Too fast and too out of control for ya?"
"That is a way to describe it."
They move onto a ride that is still fun, in Marie's eyes, but wouldn't freak Edd out like the roller coaster.
The line for the bumper cars is rather long, so Edd tries to start a conversation with Marie as they wait.
"So... how have you been enjoying school this year Marie?" Edd is getting more and more confident talking to Marie the more he is around her.
Marie stands on her toes to look over the crowd. "I can't wait for it to be over and never have to be forced into trying to learn again."
"You don't care for schooling?" Edd asks as Marie continues to look over the crowd.
Marie drops down from standing on her toes, they should be getting into the ride after the next group. "I can't stand it. Having to get up at the crack of dawn, and then sit around on my ass listening to the teachers vomit pointless stuff for hours. Who in their right mind would like that?"
Edd is in shock, never has he heard anyone speak about school and learning in such a way. "I happen to love school and learning." He says trying to get control of his shock. "Learning is the most important thing we can do in life."
"Learning to like read and write and math stuff yeah, but like stuff about dead people from years ago? That's just pointless." Marie says this all very casually, not knowing how deep she has just cut Edd.
"I... I will have you know Maire, that if we do not learn of our past then we will be destined to repeat it. We learn about the mistakes those before us have made so we cannot make them ourselves." Edd crosses his arms, the most aggressive stance he could make.
Edds point struck home with Marie. "You mean like someone getting with the same kind of guy three different times and expecting the second and third one to be different than the first?"
"That is one example of not learning from our history." Edd says uncrossing his arms.
"Hmm, ok, maybe there is some things worth learning." Marie says, accepting that Edd is a little right.
Edd smiles. "There are so many things, and I personally can not wait to attend college.
"I can't wait to get a job and my own ride."
In the bumper cars Edd is driving very careful and avoiding everyone, and this is driving Makes insane.
"Hit that guy Double D." She says pointing at one of the other cars.
But Edd didn't hit the other bumper car, he just continues to dodge out of the way of most of the other cars.
"You're making this no fun Double D." Marie crosses her arms and leans back in her seat.
Edd doesn't take his eyes away from his surroundings. "Driving isn't meant to be fun, being safe is the number one priority of driving."
"On the road yes, but going five miles an hour in a cage, you can be a bit more reckless."
Marie continued to try and get Edd to hit someone, but he didn't hoping to bore her and work on achieving his goal for the night.
As they are walking away from the bumper cars, a cold wind blows by sending a shiver through Marie.
Without thinking, Edd takes his hoodie off and drapes it over her. "Here." He says not wanting Marie to get cold.
Marie feels her cheeks turn red as a warm and fuzzy feeling wash over her as she pulls the jacket on. "Thanks." She says feeling sheepish for the first time ever around Edd as she zips the hoodie up.
How meaningful it was to give Maire his jacket was lost on Edd. "You're welcome Maire." Edd says wondering how cold she must be to have red cheeks.
As she looks at Edd, Marie sees something behind him and her eyes light up. "Come on Double D, we have to go on this one next." Marie grabs Edds wrist and pulls him off in the direction of what looks like an old house.
There wasn't a line, so Marie and Edd were able to get into the haunted house ride without a wait. It is an on-rails ride through a two-story house full of cheap mechanical monsters and old audio screams.
Marie is laughing at all the bad jump scares that they are seeing, but Edd being the kind of person that he is, is getting scared by some of them.
"Come on Double D." Marie says as they hit the stairs leading to the second floor of the ride. "That skeleton was totally fake."
Just as Edd was going to respond, a ghost made out of a bed sheet swings by scaring Marie.
She lets out a shriek and grabs Edds arm with both of her hands, holding onto Edd made her feel safe right away.
"I thought they were not scary?" Edd asks surprisingly not feeling bothered by Marie holding onto him.
"Hey now." She says recovering from the scare.
"Blarg!" A fake Frankenstein's Monster swings into view scaring both Edd and Marie. They both shrieked and jump out of fear together. But once the scare was over, Edd and Marie look at each other and they start to laugh together.
'Ok.' Edd thinks as Marie gets scared again. 'So maybe this night isn't so bad.' He thinks to himself admitting that he is having a little fun with Maire.
Once out if the haunted house Marie spots a funnel cake stand. "Oh damn, funnel cake." She says, her eyes getting wide out of desire for the fried cake.
Edd looks from Maire, to the stand, and then back to Maire. "Would, would you like a funnel cake Marie?"
"Hell to the yeah I do. But, you don't have to Double D." Marie loved the idea of Edd wanting to buy her a funnel cake, but something in her head told her not to try and take advantage of Edd.
Edd starts walking in the direction of the stand. "It is not because I have too, but because I want too."
'You are too damn good to me Double D.' Marie is standing a few feet away from the funnel cake stand as Edd pays for a cake. Despite the times that Edd has bored her, she is still having a great night at the fair with him.
Looking away from her crush, Marie spots something just as Edd walks away from the pay window.
"He said it will be a few minutes to make the cake." Edd says walking up to Maire.
"Cool." Marie flashes a smile. "I'll be right back." She takes off away from Edd and the stand.
Edd, try as he might, he couldn't help but admire not only how Marie looks, but the seemingly endless confidence she has as she walked away. He wishes he could do and say what he wants as easily as she can. 'She is just so sure in everything that she does.'
Edd gets the cake and just as he sits down at a nearby table Marie shows up with a big cup in hand.
Edd looks at the cup. "What is that, if I may ask."
"I saw a lemonade stand over there. " Marie points with her thumb over her shoulder.
Edd looks past her and sees the lemon shaped stand. "I see." Edd says thinking she just wanted something to drink.
"I did just get it for me." Marie takes a drink from the only straw in the cup. "I got it for us to share." Just like that, the flirty side of Marie shows up.
Needing anything to change the topic to, Edd asks the first question to pop into his mind. "So what kind of art projects have you done Maire?"
"Besides not taging the school?" Maire asks back. "Nothing major, tagged the side of a wash a few days ago." She rips off a piece of the cake and eats it, still keeping with the table manners from earlier.
"So is graffiti art all you do?" He asks thankful that he chose a good topic.
"Na, just been my jam lately."
"Is there a form you prefer?"
"I am rather good at still lifes."
"Like portraits?"
"Like anything really. Birds, bugs, cars, people, buildings. Anything I think looks cool I'll try to draw." Marie's face lights up as she talked about her artworks.
"That sounds rather impressive Marie."
"Wow... look how high we're up." After they finished the funnel cake Marie wanted to go up in the faris wheel. "I think I can see your car from up here." Marie points off in the direction of the parking lot.
"I do not doubt that that you would be able to see that far." Edd doesn't look where Marie is pointing, he is holding onto the bar in the middle of the basket for dear life. The height isn't what he is worried about, he just knows how fast these rides are assembled and is worried about it falling apart.
Marie looks off in the opposite direction of the parking lot. "What is that?" She asks moving closer to Edd to get a better view of the large crowd at the other end of the fair.
Straining her eyes as best as she could, Marie makes out a stage behind the crowd and she figured out what it is. "I think there is a concert going on over there."
The fair does have a band playing, but despite wanting to go in and see who, Marie and Edd were denied entry. The show is a twenty-one and up only show.
"This blows." Marie says as Edd and her walk away from the gate.
"I am sorry that you are unable to watch the performance Marie."
Marie looks around to see if there are any of the security guards around. "I never said I was going to give up." She grabs his wrist. "This way." Marie pulls Edd down the fence away from all the people.
After a short distance Marie finds a pile of boxes against the fence. Letting go of Edd's wrist she jumps up on the boxes and looks over the fence. "Sweet we can see from here."
Edd looks back down the path they came from. "Marie, I do not think we are allowed down here."
Marie looks down at Edd. "No one is going to see us." She grabs his wrist and pulls him up onto the boxes.
On the boxes Edd can hear the music, but he has no idea who it is. All he knows is it is fast metal music with someone screaming words into the mic.
"Man, it's going to be so damn cool to finally get to go to one of these when I get old enough." Marie says crossing her arms on top of the fence.
Edd sets his own arms on the fence before looking over at Maire."What about being old enough to legally drink? I know that seems to be a big topic for a lot of other students at school." He asks remembering what he has heard a large amount of other students talking about.
Marie shakes her head. "Na, fuck that shit."
"Not a fan of it I take it?"
Marie rests her chin on her crossed arms as she looks back at the concert."May's dad was always drunk, so we agreed to never do it ourselves."
Edd realizes that after all the years of knowing Maire, he knows very little about her really. "I am slightly confused about that, what do you mean by "May's dad"?" Edd asks still looking at Marie.
Marie thinks for a moment, if there was anyone she would be able to let in it was probably the boy who's sweater she has on. "Well, May's dad is the only one I remember, mine bailed before I was even one."
"Right, because you each have a different father..." Edd feels guilty for not remembering this about the Kanker sisters right away, it was one of the very first things they told Edd and his friends the day they met.
"Yep, all I know about my old man is that he liked his whisky, according to Lee anyway."
"So if you each have a different father, that would me your-"
"Half sisters." Maire cuts Edd off, surprisingly it is easier than she thought it would be to talk about this stuff with Edd.
"I was going to say that you are all different ages, but that is also true too."
Marie closes her eyes and starts bobbing her head along the music.
Watching her enjoy the music made Edd feel bad for not knowing much about Maire. "I'm sorry Marie."
Marie opens her eyes. "For what Buttercup?"
"For not knowing these basic facts about you."
Marie shrugs her shoulders. "It's ok, I never gave you chance to get to know me."
Marie looks at Edd and their eyes lock, and they both start to smile at each other.
"Hey! You kids can't be back here!" A voice from the other side of Maire snaps both of them to attention.
They look over and from further down the path a big man is walking towards them. "Time to bail." In one fluid motion Maire grabs Edd's wrist and jumps off the boxes and breaks into a run.
Marie leads Edd out of the path and into the crowd, they run through people, trying to get away from the guard.
"In here." Marie pulls Edd into a small booth with a curtain. Edd is breathing deeply as he sits on the bench in the booth as Marie looks through the curtain.
"I don't see him, but we should lay low for a bit." Marie says sitting down next to Edd.
Edd leans back, still trying to catch his breath. "That was insane."
Marie looks around the booth. "I live for chaos." She says realizing that they are in a photo booth. Marie smiles and pulls out the last five dollar bill she has and sticks it into the bill acceptor.
"Sit up Double D." Marie says pulling Edd up.
"Why?" Edd asks just before a flash of light comes out of the wall of the booth in front of them.
Marie times the whole picture taking process. The first three three pictures she makes silly faces, the third made Edd chuckle. But on the fourth picture she kisses Edd on the cheek, which made him turn to face her out of shock. And then on the fifth, and final, picture Marie leans over and kisses Edd on the lips.
The kiss shocks Edd, leaving him motionless as Marie grabs the pictures and jumps out of the booth.
The kiss was unlike any she has ever forced upon him, it was soft and warm, and he didn't hate this kiss like all the others.
After a minute of sitting in the booth Edd finally stands and leaves the booth.
Outside Marie is standing a few feet away looking at the strip of pictures. "Thanks for the pics Double D." Marie says stuffing the strip into the pocket of Edds hoodie that she still has on. "Come on, we got more fun to do." With that she turns and walks away from the photo booth with a very big smile on her face.
They walk back towards the rides, being quieter than they were prior to the photo booth. Marie is still grinning from kissing Edd, and Edd is trying to figure out how to get control of the night so he could try to get back to his plan.
"Hey look, carny games." Maire points at a row of carnival games.
Edd looks to where she is pointing and sees several different game booths. There is a ring toss one, throw darts at balloons, knock over milk bottles, and a toss a basketball into hoop game.
"Think you could win that one?" Marie asks pointing at the milk bottle game.
They stop and Edd looks at the game. It is five bottles stacked up and to win you need to knock all five over.
"Hmmm." Edd watches a few people try the game, and all fail. "How good is your aim?" He asks Marie.
"Good I guess, why?"
"The trick is to not aim for the middle of the bottles, but instead to hit the bottom middle bottle in the center, physics and gravity will do the rest." Edd says, solving the trick of the game.
"I'm game to try."
Marie and Edd walk up to the booth. "Try your luck and win your gal a prize." The carny says turning to Edd.
Edd sets a few bills down on the counter. "She is going to try."
The carny snorts. "Alright, some man you are." He says under his breath, taking the bills and setting three balls down on the counter.
Marie picks up one of the balls and tosses it up in the air, to get a feel of it. She takes aim right where Edd told her. "Here is what I think of your gender roles." She throws the balls with all her strength and it hits the middle bottle, knocking all of them down.
"We have a winner." The carny sets a very small stuff animal on the counter as the prize for winning.
Marie grabs the toy. "This totally counts as you winning it for me BTW." She says as Edd and her start walking away.
"But you are the one that threw the ball." Edd says objecting the claim of him winning the toy for Maire.
"Yeah I threw the ball, but you were the one that knew where. And it was your money that paid for it."
"I still believe that the act of throwing the ball is what counts as winning, but I will concede to you on this." Edd didn't want to try and argue with Marie. He has forgotten the plan of trying to bore her and is just trying to get through the night.
There is only one more ride Maire wants to go on, she saw it when they were in the ferris wheel earlier in the night.
"Ok so you have to close your eyes for this one and let it be a surprise." Maire says stopping Edd far enough away so he couldn't see the ride.
"How would I know where to walk if I have my eyes closed?" Edd asks noticing a little bit of devilry in Marie's expression.
Marie holds her hand out to him. " You'll have to let me lead you."
Edd looks at her hand. "What if, I do not fully trust you to not lead me into anything dangerous?" He asks feeling ashamed for not having trust in Marie.
"Well normally you shouldn't trust me at all. But tonight isn't a normal night."
She is very right, the night has been anything but normal. Edd has learned a lot of things about Marie over the few hours they have been together at the fair.
'She has behaved for most of the night, it would be unfair to not trust her for the rest of this evening.' Edd takes a big gulp, closes his eyes, and the slowly places his hand in Marie's.
His hand feels sweaty and she can feel the nervousness in him through his hand, but regardless her heart picks up speed as she cups Edd's hand with her own.
Smiling wide, Marie leads Edd over to the line and they stand waiting to get on the ride.
"May I look now?" Edd asks wanting to open his eyes.
"Nope, you gotta wait a little longer." Marie could let go of Edd's hand while they were waiting in the line, but she has no desire to do so. The feeling of his hand in hers, even if it still is sweaty, made her heart race.
It took them several minutes, but eventually they reach the front of the line.
"Passes." The ride operator says holding out their hand.
"Double D." Marie says letting go of his hand so he could dig out the last of the ride passes.
"Can I look now?" Edd has no idea why he has been complying with keeping his eyes closed, let alone holding Marie's hand. But there is just something about the events of the night that are drawing him to the blue haired girl in his hoodie.
"Nope." Marie sings as Edd holds the passes out to be taken.
"Watch your step." The carny says as Marie takes Edd's hand again to lead him onto the ride.
Carefully, Marie steps into the small two person boat and then directs Edd on how to get in, and once they are sitting Marie says; "Ok, you can open your eyes."
Edd opens his eyes and looks around as they start to move. "Where are we?" He asks as Marie gets closer to him.
Maire smiles wide as a pair of double doors open in front of them. "It's the tunnel of love."
Edd's eyes grow wide he could hardly believe that the county fair even has this ride. "Oh dear…"
Once inside of the tunnel, Marie leans against Edd and wraps her arms around his. "You know, you were the first person to ever be nice to me." Maire snuggles closer to Edd, getting comfortable.
Edd feels anxiety as Maire holds onto him. "What about your mother and sisters?" He asks trying to keep the conversation casual.
"Well, they don't count."
"I see..." Edd tries looking around for anything that they could talk about. But all there was on the walls of the small tunnel is; red hearts, streamers, pink lights, and cartoon looking Cupids.
Maire lets out a long and happy sigh. "Yeah... even when I am mean to you and am a royal bitch, you never get mad at me, when you have every right to."
Edd looks over at Maire. "I am not a mean person Marie."
Marie opens her eyes and looks up at him. "I know. You are a kind, caring, intellectual who wants everyone to be happy and puts others ahead of yourself."
"I was unaware that you knew that much about me." Edd's anxiety starts to subside.
Maire grins her evil grin. "When you stock someone for as long as I have, you tend to learn just how amazing someone like you is, and how lucky any gal would be to have you."
"If that is the case, then why have you bullied me for years? We could have been friends all this time."
"Where would the fun be in that?" Maire asks back.
"I do not see any "fun" in our current situation."
"Do you mean cuddling in the tunnel of love right now? Or our everyday lives?"
"Or ev-ery da-ay l-lives." The thought and fact that they are cuddling made Edd studer.
"Oh, well that is because you look the cutest when you're afraid. Plus I am a bad girl, who likes to do bad things." Marie sits up, letting go of Edd's arm.
"You think I look cute?" Edd has never been called cute by anyone other than his mother, and even that was when he was a small child.
"You're not just cute, you are handsome, good-looking, and sexy too." Maire says naming off what she thinks about Edd's physical features.
Edd's anxiety is right back to where it was only moments ago, and he is feeling nervous. "Oh, well um... You are, that is to say, you... look... good, too Marie." He felt the need to return the compliment to Maire.
Quickly, Maire moves to sit on his lap. "Just good?" She coos at him as she rests her hand on his shoulders.
"Um..."
"Just say what is in your heart Edd." She whispers to him, getting closer to Edd, causing him to feel even more uncomfortable. But it is not the same form of uncomfortable she's put into him in the past, this is something different almost hormonal.
Edd gulps. "Well, anatomically you have an above-average form. Your iris coloring is a strong shade of blue. And despite the damage dye can do, your hair is well cared for."
Marie leans closer to Edd, they are only inches apart now. "Mmmm, talk nerdy to me."
"I I I, um, what?" Edd is very flustered.
"I love hearing you talk all nerdy Double D." Marie whispers just before she starts to nibble on his ear.
The feeling of Marie biting his ear sent a strange feeling through him, and he found himself liking the feeling.
They hit the exit of the ride and Marie is off of Edd and holding his arm like she was before, but is also holding his hand now. As they leave the ride and walk to the exit, Edd is in absolute silence. Even on the drive home he says nothing for the whole several miles back into town.
Once they reach the Park 'n Flush, Maire smiles at Edd before getting out of the car, she didn't want to say anything that might change the happy vibe she is riding.
As she is walking away from the car, Maire realizes that she still has Edd's hoodie on. She takes it off, and takes the pictures and her small stuffed animal out of the pockets, and walks back over to the car, but to the driver's side.
"Thanks for letting me wear it." Maire says holding the hoodie out to Edd.
Edd says nothing, he is still trying to process what happened inside the Tunnel of Love ride. As he is setting the hoodie down on the passenger seat Maire says his name. He turns around to look at her to see what she wanted, and is met with her kissing him on the lips for the third time that night.
"Thank you for tonight Edd. Best first date a gal could ever hope for." Marie pulls her head out of the car and walks towards her family's trailer.
The following Monday, Maire notices that Edd is awfully quiet, more so than he normally is. 'He's earned some time without me.' Marie thinks as she lets herself get lost in her music as Edd walked passed her in the hallway.
Later that day, after school is out, Marie is walking home from school, she is alone because Lee and May are mad at her for disappearing for the whole night on Friday. She has her headphones on and is ignoring the whole world, so she doesn't see the car that pulls up to the side of the road next to her.
"Hello Marie."
Maire jumps at the sound of her name and pulls her headphones down. She looks around and sees Edd in his car. "Hey Double D, what's up?" She asks, very happy to see him.
Edd looks away from her and then back after a quick thought. "I was hoping you had a moment to talk?"
Marie smiles. "For you? Aways?"
Edd clears his throat. "Well, you see… I do not feel as if I won our agreement for Friday, but, nor do I think I lost either."
Marie walks over to the car and leans down on the open passenger window. "Whatcha mean by that?"
Edd takes a deep breath to help him commit to what he has been thinking about for the past three days. "I think, there is something there. Something I find interesting about you, and I would very much like to explore into what that is."
Marie understands what he is getting at, but wants to hear him say more. "I still don't get it." She says playing with Edd.
Edd leans over and opens the door for her. "I would like to spend some more time with you Marie, to get to know you better. So would you like to have a late lunch with me?"
Marie gets into the car, getting really excited and happy. "You asking me out on a second date?"
Edd looks over at her, confident in his decisions now. "I am."
"You know." Marie buckles herself in. "A second date will make people think we're dating."
Edd starts his car. "Well." He puts the car into gear and they start to move. "What could be so bad about that?"
Marie leans over and gives Edd a kiss on his cheek. "Absolutely nothing."
AN: Remember how I said that the last Edd and Marie story was going to be my last, that I was out of ideas and wanted to do other things? Well here we are with a short one off about them, and I have ideas for another Edd and Marie story. I like doing these shorter stories, I don't have to try and come up with so much exstra stuff for side charaters, and I can leave some things open for your own interpitation. I don't know what will come of the other story idea I have, but I really want to try my hand at an all original story idea I have had floating around in my head for a while now.
But regardless of what I do, thank you everyone that read this one, and any of my others.
And as always, until next time, keep being awesome.
Linken88.