MT: Chapter 10

It was now Tuesday morning here in Peach Creek. We zoomed in on a neighborhood called Apple Lake Subdivision, where we could see Zoey getting ready for the day. After getting dressed, she walked towards her aunt and uncle's living room, where she could see them doing some chores.

"Oh, Zoey!" her uncle called out to her, "It's good you woke up early. We have good news for you!"

Zoey looked at them in confusion, "What's the news?" she asked.

"We talked with your parents last night," her aunt stated, "They said you can move back in with them, starting tomorrow!"

"What?!" Zoey muttered in shock at the news. She did not expect this to happen so fast.

"Yes! Isn't that great?!" her uncle stated with a smile, "You don't have to stay here anymore because of that girl, since she's been arrested."

"Everything has already been arranged for the move, since you didn't bring much with you," her aunt continued to say, "You'll be leaving tomorrow."

Zoey stood there for a moment in silence, stunned at what they said. This was all so sudden for her.

"… You should go say your goodbyes to your friends today," her aunt said, "Don't worry though, you can always come back to visit them, understand? You're always welcomed here."

"I-I…" Zoey stuttered. She could finally go home, but would have to leave behind her friends… She felt conflicted.


About thirty minutes later, we could see Ed, Double D, Eddy, and Jennifer hanging out around the playground, waiting for Zoey to show up so they could do what they had planned yesterday. They were going to visit Marie at her home in the trailer park. Obviously, the three Eds were cautious about the visit, especially Double D, but decided that it was the best thing to do; they were also forced to do it by Jennifer and Zoey. The two girls were not going to take a simple 'no' as an answer.

"Hmm, I wonder why Zoey is running late this morning?" Double D questioned aloud.

"I'm not sure either…" Jennifer replied, "This isn't like her."

"Maybe she came down with something bad?!" Ed gasped with worry, "Like a tummy ache or worse!"

Double D and Jennifer sighed at him, "I highly doubt that Ed," Double D replied.

Eddy, in the meantime, was silent to everyone. He had a weird feeling suddenly but did not know why. He then looked towards the direction that Zoey's neighborhood was in to see if she was coming or not, only to see her in his line of sight, she had just arrived. Eddy made a smile of relief at her, 'Guess it was a false alarm or something,' he thought.

"Hey guys," Zoey greeted everyone as she came up to them, "Sorry I'm late. My aunt and uncle wanted to talk to me about something before I left."

"That's quite alright," Double D stated, "We're not in too much of a rush."

While the others were discussing their plans with Marie, Zoey glanced towards Eddy for a moment, thinking about what her aunt and uncle told her earlier this morning.

'How should I tell him the news about my move?' she thought to herself, 'Should I say it now or wait until later?'

Zoey could tell that Eddy liked her; he always seemed happy when she was around, even when they bickered and teased each other.

She made a deep sigh, closing her eyes as she did, trying to calm her nerves down a bit, 'Maybe I should wait until later… There's no need to say it right now.'

"… Zoey?"

Her eyes opened wide at her name, "Huh?"

"You alright?" Eddy asked in confusion, "It looked like you zoned out for a moment."

"… Yeah, I'm fine," Zoey replied with a smile, even though it was the opposite of what she was feeling.

"Alright, we should get going now," Double D stated as he turned to the direction where the trailer park was located, "It won't take that long to get there."

Jennifer and everyone else nodded their heads, "Right."


It took the five teens about eight minutes to walk towards their destination, the trailer park near the Cul-De-Sac. Jennifer and Zoey were leading the group, with the three Eds walking behind them, still being very cautious about the whole situation.

"I swear, if any of the Kankers ambush us, you'll never hear the end of it from me that this was a bad idea, you got that?!" Eddy grumbled aloud to the girls ahead of him.

"Oh hush," Zoey sighed in annoyance, "It'll be fine," she then cracks her knuckles a little, "Besides, even if they try anything funny, they will regret it. But only as a last resort."

"W-Wouldn't that make things worse?!" Double D asked in nervousness.

"That's why I said last resort," Zoey replied, "I'm not looking for a fight; unless they give me a reason for one."

"… Again, I need to remind myself to never make you angry," Eddy stated aloud.

Jennifer looked around the area, trying to find which trailer they needed to visit, "Umm, which one is her house?"

"I believe it's the trailer in the far back…" Double D replied.

Jennifer and Zoey soon went to the trailer Double D pointed out and knocked on the door. It only took a few seconds for someone to open the door; it was Marie, "Hello?" she greeted before realizing who was standing there at her door.

"H-Hello again," Jennifer greeted back with a wave, "Do you mind if we can talk?"

"… Talk?"

"Yeah," Zoey stated, pointing to the Eds behind them, "I think they have something to say to you."

Marie looked behind the two girls, "Uh, there's no one there."

"Huh?" Jennifer and Zoey gasped before turning around, seeing that the Eds were no longer behind them. Zoey made an irritated sigh, "Oh, for the love of…"

"D-Don't worry, we're still here!" called out Double D, who was peeping his head out from behind a car that was parked nearby, along with the other two Eds, "We'll stay right here for now, okay?"

"Yeah, we won't leave until you do!" Ed stated.

"You got this covered!" cheered Eddy, giving the girls a thumbs up.

Zoey could only facepalm at them, "Geez, so much for that."

"… Anyway, we can talk inside, if you wan to," Jennifer said to Marie, "Is that okay?"

"Y-Yeah, it's fine," Marie replied, stepping aside to let the two girls into her home. She then closed the door, leaving the three Eds outside.

The Eds all made a sigh of relief before realizing something, "Wait, was it a good idea to let them into her home?" Eddy asked.

They stood there in silence before they started to panic a little, running in place as they did.

"There's gotta be a way to see or hear what's going on!" Eddy stated.

Ed then looked back toward the trailer, "Why not try to listen to them through something?"

"G-Good idea!" Double D said, "I think there's a window behind the trailer, we should use that one!"

Meanwhile, inside Marie's house, Jennifer and Zoey sat down with Marie on her couch.

"You know, I don't think I told you my name yet, have I?" Zoey asked, to which Marie shook her head to say no, "My name's Zoey."

Marie made a small smile, "Nice to meet you," her face soon dropped the smile, "I assume you told them I was the blood donor, right?"

"Y-Yes, I did," Jennifer replied, looking down at the floor a little, "I know you wanted to remain anonymous, but…" she looked back to to Marie, "I-I didn't want them to treat you like that! Even if I don't know anything about what you or your sisters did to them in the past… It felt wrong to not say anything."

"I see…" Marie stated with a sigh, "That was kind of you, but I'm not sure it was the right thing to tell him."

"Why not?"

Marie was silent for a second at Zoey's question before replying, "I'm sure they mentioned my two sister Lee and May along with my name, right?"

"Yes, they said you three were sisters that bothered everyone in the neighborhood," Jennifer stated.

"Yeah, that seems about right," Marie chuckled a little, "The three of us were always messing with the others, especially with the Eds."

"… Usually, I would have asked what you three did to them to make them act like this to you," Zoey started to say, "But it's also none of my business, so I don't think I'll ask."

"That's… very nice of you to say," Marie stated, "Let's just say… Whenever your reputation goes down, it pretty much stays that way. It's always been that way with us."

"But… It doesn't have to stay that way, does it?"

Marie looked at Jennifer in confusion, "What're you saying?"

"You said your two sisters moved away two weeks ago, right?" Jennifer asked, "I assumed you came to visit me yesterday because you were lonely and to check up on Eddward."

"… Yeah, pretty much," Marie replied with a small sigh, "You see, my sisters and I are only half sisters, same mother, different fathers. So, when they both decided to move back in with their dads, I realized how lonely I was without them," she glanced down to the floor again, gripping onto her shirt a little, "And so, when they did leave, I thought about ways to improve myself, to help build my reputation back up to everyone. I wanted to start over, make a clean slate…" she then looked up to Jennifer, "But then, when I finally found the courage to try and talk to them for real, you moved in."

Jennifer widened her eyes in surprise.

"I decided to hold back on talking to them; I didn't want to get in your way of being their friend," Marie continued to say, "I did check on you all occasionally to see how you were doing… From a distance, of course. And… That's when I could see Double D starting to develop feelings for you," she bit her bottom lip, "At first, it made me jealous. I wanted to try and get you out of the picture somehow; that is until I realized I would be going back to my old self if I did that, which I didn't want. So… I just accepted that it wasn't meant to be. Deciding to leave you and the others alone after that."

Jennifer and Zoey were silent at Marie.

"Later on, I heard about what happened at the construction site on TV, about how the three Eds saved you both from some kidnappers… And that one of the boys was in critical condition," Marie started to tremble a little, "I couldn't believe that it was Double D… That he had been shot! I had to do something; anything to help him!" she looked towards the floor once more, "When I asked the doctors if there was anything I could do, they looked up my medical records to see if I could donate my blood to help. They said my blood type was the same as his, and it would help him a lot if I donated it, which I did… As an apology for all three of them."

Marie made another sigh, "So, now you know," she looked back up to the two girls, "It was nice of you to visit, really. But I think it's best to not hang around—"

"D-Don't say that, please!" Jennifer yelled suddenly in a rare moment of anger, surprising both Zoey and Marie, "No one deserves to be alone!" she made a sad face, "Yesterday, Eddward told me that his parents have been away for several months; not ever checking up on him, not even once! I could tell that he was not only bitter towards them, but upset and distraught," she lowered her head slightly, "I know he has Ed and Eddy for company, but I could also tell he was lonely without his parents," she glanced back to Marie, "I-I don't want anyone to go through that, not even you!"

Marie was speechless to Jennifer, not really knowing what to say back to her.

"… Well, there you have it," Zoey stated with a smile, holding out her hand for a handshake, "I guess we're all friends now, right?"

Marie sat there for a moment, stunned at what they were saying, "But, the others—"

"I wouldn't worry about the Eds, honestly," Zoey continued to say, "Pretty sure they'll come around when they notice you're not there to bother them like you used to do, and I'm sure the other kids will notice that too."

Marie could feel her eyes start to tear up a little at their offer, "I don't really know what to say… Thank you."

Jennifer smiled at her before noticing something strange; the three Eds had their ears pressed up to the window that was above them on the couch, trying to eavesdrop on the conversation, "Uh…"

"Wow, they sure are nosey, despite not wanting to come here at all," Zoey sighed in disbelief. She then got up from where she sat and faced the window, gently banging her fist up against it once to get their attention.

"Ahhh!" the Eds yelled in surprise, falling back to the ground from the window as they did.

Zoey laughed a little, "We should go check on them," she stated with a smile, "Do you wanna come with us, Marie?"

"… Yeah, I will."

Meanwhile, back with the Eds, all three of them got up from where they fell, "Geez, they didn't need to scare us like that," Eddy grumbled, "We couldn't hear anything they were saying anyway."

"… I will admit, I do feel a little guilty for trying to eavesdrop on them," Double D stated.

Ed noticed Jennifer and Zoey walking up to them, "Hiya!" he greeted.

"You know you guys could have just waited until we were done talking, right?" Zoey started to scold, "We were gonna discuss what we talked about with you three anyway."

"Geez, and this is the thanks we get for trying to check on your safety!" Eddy scolded back to her.

Double D and Jennifer only sighed at Eddy and Zoey while Ed made a big smile to the two, who continued to bicker to each other.

"So, umm… I assume everything went okay for you?" Double D asked Jennifer.

"Yes," Jennifer replied with a nod. She then turned around to say, "You can come over now, Marie."

Double D could feel his body stiffen up in fright again as he saw Marie walking over to them.

"Uh… Hey there," Marie greeted.

Double D swallowed his nerves before responding back, "H-H-Hello…"

A few awkward seconds passed by them before one of them spoke again, "I-I, umm… Jennifer told me that y-you were the blood donor that h-helped me," Double D started to say, looking down a little to the ground, "And I… I-I wanted to t-thank you."

Marie made a small smile to him, "It's no problem."

After Zoey calmed Eddy down from their bickering, the girls soon explained what they were discussing earlier with Marie. The Eds were surprised, to say the least.

"Whoa," Eddy started to say, "Never thought I'd see the day a Kanker had a change of heart."

Ed made a small gasp, "Did the Phantom Thieves steal your desires?!" he asked.

Everyone else started at Ed with a confused face before Jennifer spoke up, "Huh, I didn't know you knew about Persona 5. I'm impressed."

"A-Anyway!" Zoey coughed to get everyone's attention, "Now that we got this settled, what should we do today to celebrate?"

"Party at Jenny's place!" Ed cheered with a toothy smile.

"Again? We were there yesterday, Lumpy," Eddy sighed, "Though honestly, I don't mind hanging out there."

"I don't mind either," Zoey stated before making a small smirk to Eddy, "Maybe this time I'll win at Mario Kart against you."

"Ha! In your dreams!" Eddy laughed before going on about how good at Mario Kart he was, much to the other's dismay.

"I guess that settles that," Double D stated as he turned to Jennifer, "You don't mind us visiting two days in a row, right?"

Jennifer smiled to him, "I don't mind at all."

Marie only stood there before a big smile came across her face; finally, some friends that were not her sisters.


Author's Note (June 20th, 2023): Oh god, only two more days left until Final Fantasy XVI comes out! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! And yes, that's clearly one of the things I've been focusing on; and also why I'm trying to plow through this story a little bit more; gotta get it done in time! Though, if it doesn't get done in time, that's okay. Taking gaming breaks is important to do other things, like to eat and write more things down. :P