Chapter 5

Monday morning started early and in the pool. Kevin still couldn't acknowledge what had happened Saturday night after the party, and he couldn't bring up why Edd hadn't come home that night either. So they ignored it and focused on their classes instead. And the first thing he knew he had to do was teach Edd to swim, even if it kicked his nerves into hyper drive again. He tried to focus on the teaching technique, rather than the half naked boy in front of him. He stretched and yawned widely, feeling his jaw pop with the strength of it. He hadn't slept well since Saturday, disturbed more and more often by dreams.

Edd eased himself into the empty pool. Gooseflesh rippled across his shoulders and chest.

"Double Dork, can you get your ass in the pool faster? I have an eight o'clock class and I'll need to put on actual pants before it."

"That would be a change," Edd mumbled.

"Hey, I don't have to do this. You said it yourself: I don't need the physical education credit between the soccer team and the baseball team."

"My apologies, Kevin. I do appreciate your helping me." He slipped fully into the pool again. "Where do you want to start?"

"Are you comfortable getting your face wet?"

Edd gave him a wary look. "Do I have to blow bubbles again?"

"Are you comfortable in the water?" he said gruffly.

He nodded and sunk down, submerging his shoulders.

"Okay then. We'll try floating, I guess. Come out here."

"Out there? It's deeper there. Mightn't I drown?"

Kevin sighed. "Do you really think I'd let you drown?"

Edd shook his head and carefully waded out to the impatient Kevin. His toes barely touched the ground with his head still above water.

"Alright, I'm guessing you don't know how to float?" He shook his head. Kevin demonstrated by floating on his back for a few moments before setting himself up right again. "We'll take this slow. It's really simple. Fill your lungs up with air, and pull your feet up."

Edd tried but as soon as he started to sink a little, he panicked, flailing and causing himself to sink faster.

Kevin put a hand under his arm and took him back to slightly shallower water. "Dude, you have to be more calm. If you panic in the water you're more likely to get yourself in trouble or hurt someone. Seriously. I've been a lifeguard for a while now, I promise you won't drown. Now let's go back out a little and try again, okay?"

He nodded again, still looking very worried about his prospect on living.

"Come back out. We'll do this like learning to ride a bike."

"How do you mean?"

"Just trust me."

Edd waded back out.

"Deep breath."

He breathed in as deeply as possible.

"Pull your legs up." When Edd compiled Kevin placed both his hands under the boy's back. "You can breathe, just make sure you keep some air in your lungs. And whatever you do, don't panic. If you hit me, I'll drop you and then we'll really be in trouble."

Edd nodded with his eyes closed but didn't say anything, seeming to focus on deep, even breaths.

His body was warm on Kevin's hands and he realized it was the first time he'd ever actually touched the kid, other than the occasional beating in their childhood. He had a hand on the small of Edd's back and the other between his shoulder blades. He could follow the line of hair down his stomach with his eyes and feel the breaths that kept the boy alive. Slowly, he removed his hand from the small of his back, careful not to startle him. When he maintained his balance in the water, he removed the second hand and stepped back a pace. Edd floated peacefully, seemingly without realizing that he supported himself entirely. Kevin let him float for another few minutes before stepping forward and replacing his hands.

While the pressure leaving his body hadn't alerted Edd to any changes, Kevin's hands finding their way back did. His eyes shot open, wide and scared. For a terrifying second he thought that Edd would start to flail again, but the nerd seemed to regain his composure and took another breath before attempting to right himself.

"How long did I do that for?"

Kevin glanced at the clock on the far wall. "I didn't time it or anything but I'd say about three minutes. But uh—speaking of the time it's seven-thirty and if I don't get going now—"

"Oh gracious! Of course. Let's go."

They left the gym and walked back to their dorm. Kevin immediate grabbed his shower supplies and quickly washed away the chlorine before heading to class.

Edd met Wilhelmina for breakfast at 8:30. While he waited at a table for her to arrive he reflected on the morning's swim lesson. Kevin's hands on his back had been a particularly nice surprise, even if he'd had to spend more time trying to control his body's reaction to the closeness more than the act of floating. He wondered briefly if the distraction had in fact helped him succeed.

Wilhelmina sat down across from him with a bowl of cereal and two slices of wheat toast. "Still not sleeping?" she said by way of greeting.

He shook his head.

"You like him."

He nodded. "I'm pretty sure. But that doesn't really matter."

"You could just tell him. I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"

"He could reject me cruelly and request a room switch."

She laughed. "He's not going to get a new roommate. And I really doubt that he'll be cruel, even if he does reject you." He groaned. "But he might not reject you at all."

"Please, don't say that. We both saw him leave with that floozy. We can both guess where they went and what they did. The presence of a newly and extraordinarily cleaned room when I returned bespeaks that much."

"I know but…."

He shook his head and picked at the omelet sitting in front of him. "It doesn't matter."

"Edd…she kinda looked like you."

He looked up sharply. "That is cruel. She most certainly did not."

"She kinda does. I kinda know her. I mean, the resemblance isn't doppelganger or something but I mean…she has dark hair, green eyes, and she even has a gap between her teeth like you do."

He sighed. "Even still. That means nothing really. Kevin has a type. Every girl he dated in high school had dark hair, except for Nazz, but that was short lived. The other features are mere coincident."

She collected her things. "You ready for bio?"

He nodded and threw away most of his uneaten omelet.

Tuesday was the first day of Chemistry lab and as previously agreed upon, Kevin and Edd chose to be lab partners. In the first half of the lesson they went over basics in class of lab safety, where instruments were kept and how to clean them, and their basic functions. They covered what to do in case of chemical spills, burns, or any other mishaps.

Kevin found the lesson unbelievably simple and tried his best not to yawn through it. Edd, though taking notes rapidly, seemed equally bored. When they broke for ten minutes half way through Kevin stood up and stretched, leaning back. "I'm gunna go get a pop from the vending machine. Wanna come?"

Edd nodded and followed him. "What has you in this class?" he asked as they walked down the hall.

"Me? I want to go in to pharmacology. Be a pharmacist at the very least, though developing drugs is the ideal."

"Somehow that isn't surprising," he said dryly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He felt stung by the remark. "You know you've been really sassy lately. I've only heard you say stuff like this to—" It occurred to him he'd only heard Edd speak so plainly and with so much sass to his loser friends back home. He wondered what that said about their relationship. He pushed some coins in the machine and punched a random button, hoping whatever came out would have caffeine.

"I'm sorry. I oft times forget that you are not used to my humor. I mean no offense in it."

"No forget about it. I'm just a little touchy lately." The word touchy brought to life in him a fantasy from the pool that he wished it hadn't.

"You don't seem to have been sleeping well lately. I've noticed you tossing in your sleep."

"Sorry…don't mean to keep you up."

"Oh…you don't. I'm not sleeping well either."

They walked back in the lab while Kevin cracked open the pop can. "What's got you so wound up?"

"I—well, nothing. I just can't sleep."

With a semi-forced grin he said, "Well you could always try staying over with Willy again. I'm sure you'd sleep well then."

"Oh, no. That wouldn't—I mean, if you're implying that we would be physical—it's a false assumption. We're merely friends." The dork's face was so red Kevin worried he'd broken a blood vessel.

"Hooking up as friends? Nice."

He shook his head again. "No. Just friends. No physicality of any kind."

Hope blossomed unbidden in his chest but the professor started in on the second half of lab and he could pursue the subject no longer. After lab, Edd rushed out, mentioning a biology lab he had to work on over his shoulder. Kevin sighed and went back to their room to gather his things for soccer practice.

Edd didn't have a project to work on. He went immediately to Wilhelmina's room and knocked on the door persistently. A girl he hadn't seen before opened the door with an annoyed look. "May I help you?"

"Oh dear me. I'm terribly sorry, I'm looking for Wilhelmina."

She pulled the door open and pointed to her bed. "She'll be back soon. Take a seat if you want." Edd carefully took off his shoes before he climbed into her bed and curled up. "I should introduce myself, I'm Edd."

She looked up from her desk where she typed away on her computer. "Elle."

He looked at her more closely and thought he recognized her but couldn't be sure. She had dark hair and a full mouth but he couldn't place her. He tried not to stare and had almost placed her when the door opened and Wilhelmina walked in balancing a coffee cup on a stack of books.

"Hey, Elle. I grabbed the book from the library for you."

"Mina, there's someone on your bed."

She set her books down on her desk. "Oh, hey, Edd. Everything okay? Did you um—do what I suggested?"

He shook his head. "I got close but—"

"How about we go for a walk?"

He nodded. "It was nice to meet you, Elle. " She was looking at a chart on the wall, face in profile when it hit him where he knew her from.

Wilhelmina dragged him from the room before he could say anything.

"You said you knew her, not that you lived with her!" he hissed as they walked down the crowded hall.

"What did you want me to say? My roommate, who happens to be a really nice girl, hooked up with the person you may or may not like? I didn't quite expect you to meet her on your own."

"But—but—" He shook his head. "No I guess you're right."

She nodded sympathetically. "Now, you almost told him?"

He explained the exchange in chemistry as much as he could. "I wanted to just say it, but in class? The professor started speaking just as we were sitting down again and…I still don't know if I should."

She chewed her lower lip as they sat on the bench outside her building.

"What?"

"She…mentioned something about the…activities that night."

Edd groaned. "I don't want to know."

She nodded. "Alright. Do you mind if I?" She pulled out a pack of cigarettes, extracted one of the slim rolls, and lit one. "Sorry I don't usually but sometimes I just need one."

He sat quietly while she smoked, trying not to breathe deeply while she puffed.

"She said afterward, when he passed out, he talked in his sleep. And that he kept mumbling about 'double d's. She assumed he was into her tits but I know how you spell your name. I know you said you didn't want to know but it seemed like something you should know."

Color rose high in Edd's cheeks. "Her presumption could have been correct."

She tossed her dead butt in the grass and gave him a pointed look. "You really should just talk to him you know."

Edd stared off at the quad in the distance where some of the seniors were playing Ultimate Frisbee. "I've never done any of this before. I wouldn't know where to start."

Kevin returned from practice sore and exhausted. The last thing he wanted to do was work on a paper for his English class but it was due in the morning. Edd sat in his bed, reading from a textbook Kevin was fairly certain was not for any classes he had on his schedule. He went to clean up quickly and sat down to finish his paper.

Edd sighed and stretched.

Kevin finally said what had been on his mind since the afternoon. "So you and Willy are just friends?"

"Yes, that is what I said."

"So…Saturday night?"

"What about it?" Edd was starting to sound nervous.

"You uh—stayed the night with her. Or you at least didn't come back to the room."

Edd eyed him. "No, I stayed there. We were watching a movie and I fell asleep. But she was umm interested in other pursuits."

"And you weren't?"

"N-no. I wasn't. That is, I'm not. Can we drop this subject? I'm rather uncomfortable."

"Sorry. Can I just ask one more?"

He sighed loudly. "Yes."

"Why?"

"I don't understand your meaning."

"Why weren't you interested in her? She's hot and all. And you seem to like her."

Edd's face flushed. "I have affections for another person. She quite understood."

Kevin walked closer to Double D. "Who do you like, Double D?" His voice was huskier than he realized it would be, but it was too late to take back the words.

Edd licked his lips. "I'd rather not say."

"Why not?"

"You said we could drop the subject. Please, I'd rather not talk about it anymore. It is not important that we discuss my uninspiring love life."

Kevin nodded. "Sorry." He stared at the boy a moment longer. "Hey, Edd?"

"Yes, Kevin?"

Kevin didn't think; he acted. He took hold of the nerd's face, pulled him close, and pressed his lips to Edd's. For a terrifying moment Edd struggled in surprise and Kevin worried he'd made a huge mistake; but Edd responded by molding his own lips to Kevin's and placing a hand behind his neck, grabbing the ends of his hair.

When the kiss broke Kevin looked at the boy, flushed and slightly embarrassed. "I don't know if I should apologize or not—I've wanted to do that for a long time now."

"Why should you apologize? You were the person to whom I referred," Edd said, before leaning forward and kissing the boy gently.