ED TEST

Chapter 2

After his phone conversation with Eddy, Terry called his parents and told them about the Vegas trip. He wasn't completely honest about it though. Terry stated that he entered the contest, won the trip and was giving the Eds his extra tickets. Eddy's parents approved of the trip as did Ed's and Edd's parents once they were informed.

The next day, back in Eddy's bedroom, Eddy had just finished packing his overstuffed suitcase. He tried to slam it shut by repeatedly jumping on it. When it finally closed, he tried to lift it but it was too heavy. The suitcase fell off the bed and landed on him. Then, it suddenly burst open, scattering its contents all over the room.

"Stupid suitcase," Eddy grumbled as he began picking up his items and putting them back in the suitcase.

Just then, the backyard door flew open and Ed entered the room while dragging his luggage, a sock with his belongings stuffed inside, behind him.

"I'm all packed, Eddy," Ed informed. "I got my undies, jammies, comic books, some buttered toast and my sponge collection."

"Whoop-de-doo, Ed," Eddy said sarcastically. "Where's Double-D?"

"Present," Edd called out as he slowly entered the room while carrying a heavy backpack. His back gave out and the backpack collapsed on top of him. "There's my exercise for the day."

"When does Terry pick us up?" Ed asked.

"He's on his way. He'll be here soon," Eddy answered.

"Eddy, I'm having second thoughts about this," Edd said as he crawled out from under his backpack and stood up. "As much as I appreciate Terry volunteering to be our chaperone, I'm not certain we can trust him. He's been known to mislead us in the past, for example, his so-called treasure map that led us to the trailer park."

"He was just messin' with us that time. He's a whiz at that," Eddy defended. "Just be glad we get to go and that he's our chaperone instead of our parents."

"That brings up another concern. I wish he hadn't lied to our parents about the contest,"

"It was the only way to get them to let us go. You know what they say, lies are just friends you haven't met yet,"

Terry entered the bedroom through the main door. "Hey, Pipsqueak," he greeted. "You guys ready for Vegas?"

"You bet!" Ed cheered.

"Vegas, here we come!" Eddy cheered.

"Do you have our tickets?" Edd asked.

"Picked 'em up on the way here," Terry answered, holding up the tickets in his fist. "Let's motor. It's gonna be a long drive."

The trip to Vegas began once the Eds and Terry left the house. Their plan was to drive to a hotel in Porkbelly, where they would spend the night. Then, they would drive to a nearby airport early the next morning and ride an airplane to Vegas.

The group of four were now in Terry's car. Terry was driving and the Eds were in the back seat. Edd, who was reading a book, was sitting between Ed and Eddy, who were fighting over a bag of chips.

"Ed, quit hoggin' 'em!" Eddy ordered as he pulled on one side of the bag.

"Say please, Eddy," Ed said as he pulled on the other side of the bag.

"In your dreams,"

"Say please with two eggs and a slice of bacon,"

"Gimme the chips!" Eddy ordered again.

"Do you mind?" Edd interrupted. "I'm trying to read."

"Wait for the movie, Double-D. C'mon, Ed, I'm starvin'!"

"Keep it down back there!" Terry interrupted. "I'm trying to concentrate on the road."

Suddenly, the bag ripped open and all the chips spilled everywhere. Some of them fell on Edd's book.

"Oh, look at this now," Edd complained. "Dried potatoes that may contain dextrose salt and saturated fats all over this recycled book I just bought."

Terry groaned in annoyance. Just a few more hours and I'll finally be rid of these twerps, he thought.

That night, the Eds and Terry checked into the Porkbelly Hotel. The Eds shared a room while Terry had his own room. Both rooms were across from each other.

The Eds had a TV, a single bed and a bunk bed in their room. Ed and Eddy were watching TV while Edd was placing labels on everything in the room. Ed was on the top bunk while Eddy was on the bottom bunk.

"So, this is The Loud House, huh? That Lincoln kid's got it rough. There's no way I could live with ten sisters," Eddy commented.

"Good thing I only have one," Ed added.

"Excuse me, gentlemen," Edd said as he walked over to the TV and placed a label on it.

"Quit turnin' everything into your bedroom, Double-D," Eddy complained.

"It's difficult for me to sleep in an unlabeled environment, Eddy,"

"What else is new?"

"Lights out, guys," Terry announced as he entered the room. "We're gettin' up at 6:00 and our flight's at 9:00."

"Alright, shuteye sounds good," Eddy replied as he grabbed the remote and turned the TV off.

"I'll set my alarm after I finish labeling," Edd informed.

"You don't have to do that. I'll wake you up," Terry offered. He was lying but the Eds didn't know that.

"Very well. Thank you, Terry,"

"Night, bro," Eddy said.

"See ya in the mornin'," Ed said.

Terry left the room and walked into his own room. After closing the door behind him, he picked up his cell phone and dialed a number.

"I'm at the hotel," Terry informed. "You on your way?"

"We're stuck in traffic," a voice on the other line answered. "It'll be a while before we get there."

"No problem. I'm waitin' for the twerps to go to bed anyway," Terry said. "You remember the plan?"

"Yeah. When we get to the hotel, we'll meet up at the parkin' lot and head off to the airport,"

"Alright, let me know when you get here,"

Terry hung up his phone and decided to watch TV in order to pass the time. When his phone rang half an hour later, he turned the TV off and looked at his phone. He received a text message that said, "We're here."

After responding to the message, Terry left the room and walked over to the Eds' room. He noticed the door was closed and when he listened for any noise, all he could hear was snoring.

Good. They're asleep, Terry thought as he returned to his room. Now's my chance to sneak out.

Terry placed his phone inside his pants pocket and the Vegas tickets inside his other pants pocket. Then, he left the room with his luggage and made his way out of the hotel.

Once he was outside, Terry found a van parked beside his car. Inside the van were Gary and Jerry, who had been following Terry the whole trip, unbeknownst to the Eds. Gary was in the driver's seat while Jerry was in the back seat. Terry entered the van and sat in the front seat next to Gary.

"Alright, you made it!" Jerry exclaimed.

"You got the tickets?" Gary questioned.

"Right here," Terry answered as he pulled the tickets out of his pocket and held them in his hand. "I got an extra one though. Not sure what to do with it."

"We'll figure that out later. Let's go before your bro and his buds find us,"

"Wait. Are we just gonna leave them here?" Jerry realized.

"Yeah. We'll pick them up when we get back from Vegas," Terry confirmed.

"Isn't that against the law?"

"Yeah. What if they rat us out to your folks or the cops?" Gary asked.

"They won't 'cause I got dirt on them," Terry replied.

"What's dirt gonna do?"

"It's not actual dirt. I'm gonna blackmail them,"

"Oh, right,"

"You sure they'll be okay by themselves?" Jerry asked.

"They'll be fine," Terry assured. "They can live at the hotel and scam people for money. I can even bribe 'em if I have to."

"I dunno. We could end up in jail if we get busted,"

"It's either that or sneak 'em to Vegas and babysit 'em for the next two weeks,"

"I'd rather just ditch them,"

"Same here," Gary agreed.

"We're all in agreement then," Terry said. "Next stop, Vegas!"

The trio cheered as they drove off.

The next morning, the Eds were still asleep in their beds. Eddy was the first to wake up. He yawned, stretched and sat up on his bed.

"What time is it?" he asked tiredly. Eddy looked at the clock next to him and was immediately startled. "8:00? Guys, wake up! We overslept!" Eddy jumped out of bed and quickly began getting dressed.

Ed woke up and jumped out of bed, forgetting he was on the top bunk. After hitting the floor, he stood up and saluted. "Private Do-Not-Enter is ready for duty, Chief!" Ed exclaimed.

"Hurry up and get dressed, Monobrow!" Eddy ordered. "We're runnin' late!"

"Got it, Eddy!" Ed obeyed as he started getting dressed.

"What's going on?" Edd asked, waking up. He looked at the alarm clock and panicked. "Good lord! It's 8:00! We're supposed to be at the airport now!" Edd jumped out of bed and quickly began getting dressed.

"Tell me something I don't know, Sockhead! I thought you were gonna set the alarm!" Eddy complained.

"Terry told me not to. He offered to wake us up,"

"Well, why didn't he?"

"Perhaps he overslept too?"

"He better not have,"

Once the Eds were dressed, they rushed out of their room and over to Terry's room.

"Terry, open up! We're late!" Eddy shouted as he knocked on the door. There was no response. He tried to open the door but it was locked and he didn't have Terry's keycard. "Why doesn't he answer?"

"Maybe, he went to get breakfast," Ed guessed.

"Now? We were supposed to have breakfast two hours ago,"

"Maybe, the line was long,"

Eddy knocked on the door again but there was still no response. As the Eds continued to wait, they began to worry.

"Eddy, you don't suppose Terry left without us, do you?" Edd asked.

"No way," Eddy replied. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, he's not here, he didn't wake us up like he said he would and he's had our tickets all this time," Edd explained.

Eddy was starting to think Edd might be right. "Only one way to find out."

The Eds returned to their room. Eddy picked up his cell phone and dialed Terry's number.

"Bro, you forgot to wake us up!" Eddy panicked when Terry answered the phone. "We're supposed to be at the airport now. Where are ya?"

"Haven't you figured it out yet, Pipsqueak? I'm already there," Terry informed.

"You left without us?" Eddy shouted in shock and anger.

"Right after you guys hit the sack last night," Terry confirmed.

"Why? You said you'd take us if we shared the money!" Eddy reminded.

"Doesn't do me any good. They don't let kids in the casinos," Terry argued. "I was never gonna take you; I just wanted your tickets."

"You stole our tickets too?" Eddy shouted, even madder than before.

"Yep. I'm keepin' mine, I gave two of 'em to Gary and Jerry and I'm gonna scalp the extra one,"

"You jerk! Wait till I tell Mom and Dad!"

"You're not gonna say a word to Mom and Dad 'cause I got dirt on you, bro,"

"Dirt? What dirt?"

"They think I won that radio contest. You want them to find out what really happened?" Terry threatened.

Eddy was scared, knowing what Terry was insinuating. "You wouldn't."

"I would,"

"C'mon, Terry! That's not fair! We had a deal!" Eddy complained.

"Here's the new deal. You keep your mouth shut and I'll let you have some of the money I win," Terry offered.

"How do I know you'll keep your end of the bargain this time?" Eddy argued.

"How do I know you'll keep yours?" Terry countered.

"Fine. I guess I don't have much choice," Eddy said reluctantly. "You'll come back for us, right?"

"Sure, in two weeks. Enjoy your vacation, Pipsqueak!"

Terry laughed evilly and hung up.