Chapter Four

"Marie!" Double D shouted as he stumbled backward and planted back down on his bed. There had to have been some kind of a mistake, a clerical error perhaps. This couldn't be right. There was no way his roommate for the next two semesters was Marie Kanker. His childhood tormentor, his biggest fear, his worst nightmare realized. He tried to swim through the typhoon of thoughts that stormed through his mind but could only flail against the hurricane force winds.

No this wasn't right, just some sick prank of Eddy's. There was no way she was his roommate. Maybe she was pulling a similar stunt as her sisters pulled in the common room. Yes, that was it. It was just some sort of joke that he didn't find funny at that moment but would laugh about in the coming years.

But when the figure across from him made no effort to move, but just stared back at him with a toothy grin and hungry eyes, he started to doubt that line of thinking.

"That's my name. Don't wear it out." she chanted in a shrill cadence.

It was a dream. Yes, that was it. He had drifted off into sleep the moment his head hit his pillow, being more tired than he realized. Soon the dream would dissipate, and he would wake up from this nightmare like he had done so many times in the past. This nightmare was just a lot more clear, grounded, and realistic than the ones he had in the past after a long horror movie binge with Ed.

They stared at one another for some time before Double D dared to move. His heart rate had yet to settle, and he could feel beads of sweat running individual lines down his back. He knew he would have to take a shower at this rate, and that was another source of anxiety for the young man.

As the seconds ticked by and Marie's Cheshire grin remained, and the reality of the situation settled like a feather floating down after a breeze he knew two things: that this wasn't a dream and that he would have to choose his next actions with caution.

He broke a wide smile, and shifted his eyes, "Well this has been a very pleasant conversation." he let a nervous chuckle as he pulled the blankets off his cot and settled in under them. "A very pleasant conversation indeed. But I think I need to get some rest. Early to bed, early to rise and all of that." he chuckled again and turned away from his new roommate, facing the wall wide eyed in terror.

"Are you just going to sleep…in like pants and socks?" she asked and cocked an unseen eyebrow. More curious than harboring sinister motives. Of course, if she got both itches satisfied out of the deal she wouldn't complain.

"Oh yes, of course!" he blurted out louder than he intended, "How else is one to sleep?"

"Comfortably?" she asked with her head tilted to the side.

"To each their own!" he said between wheezes and nervous chuckles, "I really must be retiring now. Good night!"

Marie pouted. This wasn't how she had wanted things to go, but then again, she had an entire semester to toy with her muse. She'd waited this long to get Eddward in a situation like this. She could stand dragging it out a bit further.

She flopped down on her own bed and flicked out the light, "Suit yourself. G'night, lover." she hummed. She drug out that last part and invoked some trembles from her roommate.

Yes, it was looking more and more like it was going to be a long pair of semesters after all.

The next morning met the new students with orientation. A larger gathering was due to occur in the gymnasium where the dean and some of his staff would welcome the students and give them the standard "do no wrong" speech peppered with phrases like "you're a part of the team" and "we're all here for you".

It wasn't something Eddy was interested in. He would have rather enjoyed his last morning before classes started by sleeping in and then having a late start to the day that would culminate in some mindless and idiotic activity with his two best friends. If Eddy understood one thing, it was the importance of cherishing free time while you had it.

Ed didn't seem too interested in the ordeal either, he was staring down at his phones playing one of the hundreds of games he had downloaded on the poor device, humming the muted tune to himself having memorized it long ago.

Even Double D seemed more on edge than intrigued. These were the sorts of speeches that inspired him and summoned a proud smile on his face. Instead, the intelligent young man kept glancing over his shoulder at something a few rows behind them up the bleachers. Eddy hadn't said a word to Double D since the incident last night and his friend seemed preoccupied with his own thoughts. Eddy shrugged it off, when he needed to know, he'd know, and it was as simple as that.

When the speech was concluded the freshman class gave a halfhearted round of applause and funneled out the door. Eddy was one of the more eager students to get the hell out of there. He needed to get caffeine in his system and the sooner the better. He called out to his friends who fell in step behind him, "Let's head to the campus café. I need a cup of Joe." he groaned.

"Sure thing, Eddy!" Ed replied with an earnest laugh. Exploring sounded fun and maybe he could convince Eddy in getting him a blueberry muffin at the café.

"Another time perhaps, gentleman." Edd excused himself, "I have some business to attend to, but I would be more than happy to meet back up with the two of you after?" he asked.

"Sure, sure." Eddy waved him off, "Then maybe you can tell us about what's buggin' you." he continued his march, dead set on his mission, one which did call for leaving men behind.

Double D jogged away from the two of them and made for the main building in an effort to try and either get a new roommate or find a new room altogether.

"What do you think's eating him?" he asked his taller counterpart.

"Woman troubles." Ed shrugged, keeping pace with Eddy but not looking up from his game.

Eddy couldn't help but bark a loud laugh that drew some glances, "Sockhead? You can't be serious?"

"Always three there are." Ed started, "No more, no less."

This caused Eddy to stop in his tracks, the wheels turned in his head. It lasted only a split second, however, before Ed came crashing into him.

"You think Marie got to him?"

"Sure do."

"Damn Kankers." Eddy ground his teeth together, picking up his stride and fast walking to his destination. It was too early in the day to be dealing with their bullshit. What they needed to do was regroup and come up with a plan to throw the sisters off their tails for good this time. Before they ruined what was supposed to be the best remaining years of the young men's lives.

"Bastard!" Lee Kanker swore to her sisters as she spread out her supplies before her in her dorm room. She wanted to get a head start on preparing for the next day. "Can you believe what that little shithead said to me?" she seethed.

Maire sat on May's bed and let her younger sister paint her nails. "You answered your own question. He's both a bastard and a shithead, so of course he did." she said, disinterested in her older sibling's hissy fit. Who cares what he thought anyway?
"Acting like we can't survive in college. Who does he think he is?" Lee said. She monologued more to herself than having an active forum with her sisters.

"Are you listening to me?" Marie asked.

"Like we can't survive here!" Lee ground out, "Well, we'll show them."

"Uh…who?"

"Everybody!" Lee shouted. She turned her attention to her sisters, and caught both of theirs with her sudden outburst, "Everybody who thinks we don't got what it takes to make it in life."

Marie shrugged, "I'm with you, but I thought this was just a ploy to pin down our dreamboats. Make sure they didn't shack up with anybody else."

It was true, that had been the initial pitch. They didn't have much of anything riding on it after all. The semester was paid for thanks to income based grants that helped people like them in a less than favorable financial situation. But Lee had worked her ass off in high school, especially their senior year. What started out as an ideal fun excursion and one last hooray before adulthood had taken a turn. The three of them were given a chance here, and that wasn't something that came by very often.

"Oh, can it, Marie. If we were here just for tha boys then we wouldn't have wasted the sixty bucks apiece to take the damn SATs."

"You sayin' you're actually going to give this college thing a chance?" Marie asked, genuine curiosity in her tone.

"So what if I am?" Lee challenged, "I don't wanna end up like Ma. Only thing supportin' her's a line of child support checks from deadbeats who tried everythin they could to get out of payin' 'em."
Marie's retort was lost on her tongue. As much as she loathed to admit it, she didn't want to end up like that either. She'd gotten enough of that life over the past eighteen years and seen her share of downs followed by more downs and had the scars to prove it.

"And I don't want that life for either of you, so you listen up and you listen good. We're here to get our degrees, got it? We're gonna make something of ourselves and I'm going to make sure of it even if it kills me." Lee directed.

Marie couldn't help but smile. She didn't have the stubborn, ferocity of her older sister, nor the blissful optimism of her younger sister. She was more realistic, and she knew that at best this was a temporary arrangement. Either one of them would slip up and the school would jump at the opportunity to boot them, or they would snake out all three of them. It's how things worked when you didn't grow up in a nice suburban home with a two car garage, and two parents who worked in an airconditioned office or something. But she knew no matter when this ride ended, she was in it for the long haul. She would stand with her sisters no matter what. Besides, this was the nicest living arrangement she'd ever seen. Consistent heating AND air, warm water that lasted longer than a minute, and best of all, no cockroaches. She'd share a toilet with the rest of the school on that benefit alone.

The "we're here for you" phrase that was repeated and reiterated in the dean's speech seemed to be a fallacy to Edd as he sat slumped over his latte on the round table that hosted himself and his three friends.

There was nothing that could be done about his living situation, and he had made sure of that. The office employees seemed like they were about to call campus security on him when he kept bombarding them with questions and begged for their assistance in relocation away from Marie. The only options that were present were to withdraw from the semester all together or find somewhere else to live. And with Jimmy's aunt returning home from her cruise his options were nil.

When he told Eddy about his predicament his friend offered him a boisterous laugh in response and mentioned how "he thought he had it bad". Yes, it seemed as though Lady Luck had taken it out on Double D as there was nothing he could do except get used to it. Something he doubted was both possible or plausible.

Marie Kanker was a strange bird, that much was certain to Edd. She and her sisters had pursued the Eds into their young adulthoods and showed no signs of stopping if given the opportunity. A small part of Double D was glad they had followed them to university. He took comfort in the security of knowing Marie would make sure he wouldn't have to trouble himself with the highs and lows of courtship. That meant he could focus on his studies. But that didn't mean she wouldn't just bark up his tree. She'd cut it down with a chainsaw if she were given the chance. Still, at least he and his friends knew how to deal with the sisters or were so used to their shenanigans that they would weather almost any storm they brought to their doorsteps.

The topic of "dealing with them" had sputtered out and failed to launch when Eddy pitched the idea and none of them could come up with any real solutions. So instead, Eddy talked about how cute the barista was while Ed played his game and Double D sat in his own misery. He sighed and took another sip of his latte. At least in the morning he could dive headfirst in his studies and get the semester started off right, that was a problem he knew how to deal with.