The bell that signaled the end of first period had never sounded sweeter in Kevin's ears. He let out a relieved sighed as the students starting sliding out of their seats and making their way to the door for their next class. He started to get up himself, but suddenly felt a pull holding him back. Eddy had grabbed his arm, effectively stopping him, and was staring up at him with curious blue eyes. Kevin wondered how he'd even seemed to make curiosity look a little hostile.
"Where do you think you're going?" Eddy huffed, the way he said it made it seem more like a statement than a question. Kevin remained silent, waiting to see if Eddy elaborated on what exactly he meant by the statement. Finally he did, "aren't you going to help the poor, lost new kid find his next class?" Eddy did his best to feign a look of innocence, but Kevin just rolled his eyes. He jerked his arm away from Eddy's grasp and glowered down at the new boy. Eddy didn't flinch, he merely stared back at him, dark blue eyes staring piercingly back at him. While Kevin would love to just leave him sitting there, in the long run he knew he'd probably endure less torment by complying with Eddy's demands now. "Fine." He muttered at last. "What's your next class?"
"Forget it." Eddy replied nonchantly, as if Kevin had literally become the most uninteresting thing in the worl. "Just show me where Double D is. I'll have him show me."
'Double D...?' Something about hearing the nickname Kevin had specifically choose for Eddward coming out of someone else's mouth made Kevin feel uneasy, his stomach turned. He swallowed hard, trying to ignore the feeling. "Like I would know where he's at. We're not exactly friends." Kevin mumbled sourly.
"That so..." Eddy's voice trailed off but his expression became less hostile. He pushed himself up from his chair and made his way down the aisle to leave the classroom. "Guess I'll find him myself then. Later, dork." He casusally over his shoulder with his back turned to Kevin as he made his exit.
Kevin stared at the door frame for a moment subconsciously placing his hands on Eddy's desk to balance himself. He was trying to make sense of the small boys actions, trying to figure out why Eddy of all people would know Eddward's nickname. Edd must have told them at some point, know that Kevin thought about it a little more it did seem like Eddy and Ed had known Eddward prior to coming to this school. He also recalled Edward's relaxed attitude, definitely not the type of demeanor he would have with just any set of new kids. Kevin had been skeptical beforehand, but now it was obvious: the two new boys were probably connected to Eddward's drastic change in demeanor. There was a lot to process, and Kevin wasn't sure why he was trying to. Once again he reminded himself that him and Eddward were not friends, and they hadn't been for a long time. Finally he managed to shrug it off, deciding it wasn't worth the effort. A long sigh escaped his lips, his head was spinning, suddenly Kevin realized it was going to be very difficult to leave the past in the past. Just knowing who Eddward was had his emotions reeling now.
Finally Kevin manage to collect himself enough to leave the classroom. He stepped out into the slowly emptying hallway hoping the hum of the students' gossip might distract him, but an unplacable feeling pulled his attention elsewhere. His eyes trailed along the floor before slowly rising to meet Eddward's, who was leaning against the lockers staring intently in Kevin's direction. Edd turned his gaze away a moment after Kevin's eyes met his. Eddy had found his way to Edd's side again and seemed to notice when Edd turned his gaze away. He looked over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of Kevin, standing a little way off but looking in their direction. The second bell began to chime and the remaining kids started pushing their way passed each other. One of the kids bumped into Eddy, forcing him to look away and Kevin used this as his opportunity to slip into the crowd and make his way to his own class. Once Kevin was clearly out of sight Eddward pushed off the lockers and started down the hallway as well. "Coming, Eddy?" He called over his shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah..." Eddy replied, looking for Kevin's back in the sea of colorful shirts and hats but he didn't turn up. He clenched his fists for a moment before turning to follow Edd. "Wait up, Sockhead." Eddy called out before dashing to catch up to Eddward.
Days turned into weeks, and eventually everyone got used to Ed and Eddy. They had incorporated right into Edd's group. Ed was more physical than Eddward had ever been, and Eddy was considerably more greedy where money was involved. Eddy was always trying to instate some sort of ridiculous fee or cause some sort of disturbance or service where he could attempt to charge people. Before long the students found themselves wishing for Eddward's old bully-like tactics. Most of the time Edd hung back and let the two terrorize the other students at their own leisure but for some reason when Kevin and his friends were involved he was all too happy to join them.
Kevin trudged into the cafeteria holding his tray, even pizza day didn't do much to uplift him. He took his usual spot with his friends who all looked a little bit more worn than usual. He poked at his food with his fork, a piece of pink strawberry cake tempting him to relax and enjoy but Kevin had a weird habit of saving his dessert for last. He sighed loudly and rested his chin in the palm of his hand.
"Never thought I'd miss the times where Eddward hung out with Jimmy and Johnny." Adrian mumbled, followed by a drawn out yawn. He shook his head a bit before he laid his head on the table and sheltered himself within his arms.
"I feel you.." Nazz chimed in, fixing her hair. Ed had given her a relentless noogie earlier. Although Ed never hit her or or taunted her the way he did the boys, she still wasn't spared from the teasing.
Kevin slumped over and sighed. "Sorry guys..." He apologized giving everyone a sympathetic smile. "I guess I just attract bullies." His friends all frowned in response. Nazz furrowed her eyebrows and piped up as encouragingly as she could.
"Aww, don't be like that, Kev!" She consoled him, placing her hand on his shoulder. "You know this isn't your fault. We just have bad luck. Ya know, together."
From a few tables over Eddward glared towards Kevin's table. His jaw was locked and his mouth was pulled into a deep scowl. Eddy and Ed were busying themselves tossing peas at kids that passed by. When they finally ran out of food to throw, Eddy elbowed Double D in the arm.
"What's eatin' you, Sockhead?" He asked, following Edd's gaze to Kevin's table. He rolled his eyes, not sure why he hadn't figured it out right off the bat. "Lookit that dork. All smug and comfy with his loser friends. Could he look any stupider, either?" He joked, grinning to Eddward, waiting for some sort of praise or approval.
"Be quiet, Eddy." Eddward huffed in response instead, his eyes still fixed on Kevin. Eddy glowered back at Eddward, he didn't take rejection lightly but the fact that Edd had damn near ignored him in the process really got under his skin. He ground his teeth for a moment, but when this didn't help to soothe him he grabbed Edd's shirt and pulled him down until he was at eye levell. This effectively shook Edd from his concentration and he finally seemed to pull his eyes away from the small red head long enough to glare at Eddy. Luckily, or unluckily depending on the point of view, Eddy was not shaken easily and merely returned Eddward's hostile expression. "Whadda you care, anyway? He's just some stupid loser who's not even worth the time a day. Ya said so yourself when we first came here." He growled defiantly. Eddward shoved Eddy's arm away and stared down at the table. "I don't care." He answered. "I just have a lot on my mind and your incessant bantering is irritating me. Do you really not have anything better to do than act like a juvenile day in and day out?"
"My what?" Eddy snarled in reply.
"You talk too much." Eddward reiterated, rolling his eyes. As if it wasn't bad enough having to repeat himself all the time in the first place, he found Eddy's simplistic knowledge of grammar was wearing on Eddward's already-spread-too-thin nerves. Ever since they arrived, everything felt like a constant battle to stay out of the principles office. Eddward enjoyed making a small commotion every now and again, but for the most part preferred greatly to stay under the radar, something he had been able to do since he had switched to this new school. Now it was all ruined, his rapport with the teacher's could only get him so far, and he'd spent several evenings in detention already. The stress was evident by the darkened circles under his eyes.
"Whatever." Eddy replied sourly. "If you don't care, why don't you go pour your milk on his head or something? Seems like a little stress relief would do you some good." He gave Eddward a mocking grin as he pushed the school tray towards him.
"Oh please. Do you really think we need to waste our time with so childish a prank?" Edd responded, waving his hands as if he were trying to bat away an insect. There was only so much he could do to protect Kevin and while he was usually able to deter Eddy's vindictive notions, he felt todays was a losing battle. On these days he could only hope to convince Eddy that he'd done enough damage as early as possible and spare Kevin some bruising or humiliation.
"Fine, Lame-o." Eddy snorted. "If you won't do it, we will." He looked over to Ed who gave a goofy grin and thumbs up in response.
"Gonna send the little fishies swimming!" He chuckled loudly at his own joke.
"Alright, can it, birdbrain." Eddy interrupted and Ed fell silent. The two of them stood up with their own milk cartons and started a slow walk away from the table.
"Eddy, please." Eddward called after them, standing himself. "Would you just come back here and forget about this foolishness?!"
"If you don't want me to do it, you could always do it yourself!" Eddy called back in response. Eddward locked his jaw for a moment staring at the shorter boy with a contemplative look. He hadn't even realized he had clenched his fists until his eyes trailed to his knuckles which had turned white from the pressure. Slowly he relaxed his fingers and stretched them out in front of him. There wasn't much time and the other two Ed's were still making their way to Kevin's table. "Fine!" He responded. Eddy's lips twitsted into a fiendish imp-like grin as he basked in self-satifaction. He hadn't quite pieced it together yet, but he was reveling in the idea that he could manipulate Edd through Kevin. Eddward stormed over to the two boys and jerked the milk carton from Eddy's hands, glaring down at the smaller boy before making his way to Kevin's table.
Raph was the first to notice Eddward's beeline to their table, his face quickly shifted into panic as he pointed at the taller boy to warn his friend of Edd's approach. "Remember, 'Hard times don't create heroes. It is during the hard times when the 'hero' within us is revealed!' " Kevin briefly wondered how Raph even managed to pull a situational quote out of his ass, truly an admirable trait all of a sudden. However now wasn't the time to be awestruck, Kevin snapped his head around to look at what Rolf was pointing at and saw Eddward, completely fixated on him, nearly tripping over himself to get to Kevin.
"This can't be good.." Kevin mumbled and for a split second a flash of Nazz being held by Jimmy while he stuck gum in her hair went through his mind. He quickly stood up, "Wait here guys..." He told his friends and quickly darted towards Edd before anyone could protest. Him and Edd met about halfway between their tables and just stared at each other for a moment. "Whatever you're going to do, just get it over with fast! I'm really not in the mood for your crap today." Kevin finally announced, the cafeteria fell into a hush as students stopped their mindless conversations and directed their attention to the two boys instead. Behind Eddward Kevin noticed Eddy was watcing the both of them intently, an accomplished smile plastered on his face. Kevin suddenly felt an unfamiliar rage in the pit of his stomach and glowered in Eddy's direction.
Eddward seemed to notice that he had lost Kevin's attention, he didn't want Kevin to do anything that might further provoke Eddy, or else he could end up a lot worse off than some spilled milk. "Oh Pumpkin, can't I just come over to extend my sincerest greetings every now and then?" Eddward responded with a smug smirk.
"No." Kevin spat in response, turning his gaze back to the taller boy.
Eddward frowned for a moment, but quickly regained his composure. "And here I came bearing a gift to show my appreciation for you." He teased, raising the milk carton in front of him. Kevin gave him a cold glare and Eddward froze, staring back into Kevin's eyes with another unreadable expression. He hesistated, his hands felt heavy like lead but he wasn't able to move them. His feet felt like someone had strapped him to a two-ton weight and told him to walk a mile. Eddward didn't want to embarrass Kevin in front of all these kids, and pour milk on Kevin's head? Where there were countless eye-witnesses to take into account? He would most definitely end up in detention this evening. Instead, Eddward suddenly lifted the milk carton up to his lips and chugged down the contents of the bottle. He held the now empty container over Kevin's head and let it go, making a hollow 'thunk' upon contact. Kevin stood dumbfounded for a moment as the bottle bounced off his head and hit the floor, causing another tiny thud. "I changed my mind." Eddward muttered. "I didn't want to share with you after all. Especially not when you look so ungrateful." He turned his back to Kevin and made his way back to Ed and Eddy, who was seething where he stood.
"What the heck was that, Sockhead?!" Eddy fumed, but Eddward just pushed his way past the two boys and headed for the doors to the cafeteria. The bell signifying the end of the lunch period rang behind him as the doors swung to close, and the students began picking up their trays and making their way out as well complaining about how overdramatic that had been for nothing at all.
Kevin stood in the middle of the cafeteria for a while longer, staring down at the empty milk carton in confusion. His friends came up behind him and ushered him out, while Eddy skulked away in the direction Eddward had gone. Kevin's friends waved goodbye to each other and Kevin continued to his next class alone. When he arrived at his next class, History in class 328, he was surprised to see Eddward leaning against the door frame.
"What are you doing here?" He asked cautiously but Eddward only offered a silent gaze in return. Kevin drew in a deep breath, "Thanks for that, Double D..." The nickname hardly more than a whisper. He looked at the ground, ready for some type of outburst or insult, instead there was only more silence. After a short moment Kevin chanced looking back up and saw Eddward flasd a small smile. If Kevin had blinked he was sure he would have missed it.
"Don't get used to it, Pumpkin." Ed finally responded, reaching his hand out and twisting Kevin's hat around almost playfully.
"Hey man, don't ruin the moment." Kevin laughed lightly, fixing his hat.
Eddward shrugged his shoulders. "Farewell, then." He offered before disappearing into the crowded hallways. Kevin watched Edd's back as it disappeared into the crowd, unaware of the slight flush across his cheeks.