Chapter Twenty Two
Double D sat watching the low embers of the fire pulsate as he poked at them with a stick. The heat radiated from the fire and engulfed him in an almost uncomfortable warmth. It was right in front of him, but he felt like he was miles away as the myriad of thoughts raced through his mind. It was the end of their fourth day at camp and sometime tomorrow Jonny would be around to pick them up, which meant he was running out of time.
He had managed to spend some quality time with Marie over the last few days, but his observations hadn't yielded the type of results he had wanted them to. He knew he enjoyed spending time with her, talking to her about a wide array of topics, and even something as basic as being around her seemed to elevate his overall joy. But this data wasn't enough.
He sighed as he pulled the stick out of the embers and examined the smoldering tip. He glanced around the empty campsite before plunging it back into the heart of the campfire with a heavy sigh. Ed and May were out stargazing in a nearby clearing and Eddy and Lee were doing no doubt unspeakable things in the community shower. This left him alone to soak in his thoughts.
Since the other's declarations about their relationships Marie had been distant from him. He couldn't understand why. Both of her sisters were over the moon about dating "their" Eds and Double D himself was thrilled that his friends were happy. So why wasn't Marie?
This experiment had proven to be more complicated and held more variables than he had first expected. She was an enigma. Something he struggled to understand. At least she was consistent in that regard. He could always predict for her to behave unpredictably. He chortled at his own joke before collapsing further into the canvas folding chair with a sigh of defeat.
He shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as the thoughts, fears, anxieties, and emotions flooded through him. He knew there was nothing wrong with feeling, it was a fact he had reiterated to both himself and his friends for years now. He also wasn't one to shy away from his emotions. He wasn't ashamed to show fear, sorrow, or even frustration in the heat of the moment. Emotions were beautiful and a wonderful part of the human condition. But even with his love of psychology, he wished that at that moment he could shed them for apathy.
It was all so complicated, so incalculable, so very, very illogical. It was messy and Double D hated messes. He felt a growing pit in his stomach and the all too familiar feeling of fear that matched that of walking a tightrope over an endless abyss. It was too late to turn around now, he knew that much. All he could do was continue on and make it to the other side or stumble and fall. Regardless of the outcome, he'd be moving forward into the darkness. The unknown. Contrary to what others might have thought, Double D was not a fan of classic science fiction. But he was reminded of an idiom from a show he watched with Ed a time or two.
Movement at the edge of the camp caught his eye and pulled him from his inner dialogue as the shadow of someone snuck out of the girl's tent and crept into the woods. It took his powerful mind nanoseconds to process the information. It couldn't be May or Lee, or their boyfriends for that matter, because they weren't around. That left only one possible suspect, and when his mind reached that conclusion, his interest was piqued. What was Maire doing sneaking around their campsite at such an hour?
He weighed his options before tossing his poking stick into the fire as he stood to his feet. Whatever she was getting into would be more interesting than what he was doing, and he needed a distraction. Besides, he needed to use what little time remained to get as much data as possible. This was a chance to observe her from a distance. See if she held any biases in her presence.
The stick caught fire as it rested atop the smoldering remnants. The light it cast swallowed the surrounding area in the hot summer night. Double D disappeared into the darkness that bordered the light cast by the flames as he followed after the girl that was haunting his dreams more and more. Desperate for a lifeline in the emotional typhoon he found himself struggling against.
He followed her through the darkness for some time. Only a few steps behind her as various twigs, leaves, and foliage cracked and brushed against them as they walked. It was dark, the light of the moon shown between the openings of the canopy above. It did illuminate their path, but it also bathed both them and their surroundings in an enchanting blue aura. She hadn't addressed him up to that point, but there was no way she wasn't aware of his presence as he strode after her making no efforts to conceal himself in the darkness or suppress the sounds of his footfalls.
He wondered why she hadn't so much as turned around to glance in his direction as they continued on. He chalked it up to another piece of the mystery that was Marie. Why was she so upset with him? Or was she upset with him at all? It seemed like it. He felt like she was avoiding him, and this was another example of weird behavior that had sprung up within the last few days. But for the life of him, he couldn't tell why she might have been harboring any resentment. Maybe this was all in his head. A manifestation of his insecurities come to life to haunt him in his waking hours having already invaded his sleeping ones. Perhaps he was looking too much into things, overanalyzing his situation like even he knew he was prone to do.
He would have sighed to himself for another countless time that night, but he was distracted as they entered a clearing. He looked around and his mouth hung agape as he inspected their surroundings. They were in what looked like a small cove or lagoon where the larger lake came into a calmer, secluded, shallow section. The trees were dense but opened up along the shore allowing for a beach like appearance. All of it was under the full moon and stary night sky. The blue glow settled around everything, washing it in a dream-like radiance.
A part of him thought it could be another dream. Another romantic adventure that he would no doubt wake from in an embarrassed sweat and dumb stupor. But the rest of him didn't care. That remaining part of him was content to stand at the edge of the tree line and watch Marie step out onto the sand, kicking her flip flops to the side as she stepped into the deep blue water.
She stopped in her stride and looked up at the night sky above them. Double D hesitated for a moment before following her gaze up. He loved star gazing. It seemed to be a trait that both he and Marie shared. It was funny, he often found himself musing about how the two of them couldn't be more different. But still, despite the odds, had a number of similarities.
He stared up and admired the stars for a little while longer. Once he heard the surface of the water break did, he return his attention to the cove. Marie was well into the deeper waters now, keeping relaxed and steady strokes as she made for the center of the lagoon. The night air was hot and sticky, and he didn't blame her for wanting to cool off with a swim. In fact, the more he thought about it the more it seemed like a good idea to him. He stepped out onto the beach but remembered that in his current state of dress he lacked the appropriate swimwear. He came to an abrupt stop at the water's edge, entranced by the image of Marie floating under the moon.
He felt his bare ankles brush up against soft fabric, and once it registered in his mind he glanced down at the oddity. What he saw caused his body to freeze and sweat to form on his forehead. At his feet were all of Marie's clothes. Not just her shirt and cut off shorts, no it was both those and her underwear. He'd seen that particular pair enough times back at the dorm to damn near have the pink and black patterned undergarments memorized.
"Took you long enough." she called out from the water. "I thought you were just going to keep creeping on me all night."
His mouth was dry and any response he could have formulated was lost on him as he stared down at her clothes. She was naked! Skinny dipping! Was this sort of thing allowed? And why was he having such a hard time breaking his gaze from the mess of clothes at his feet and looking out at her…well he knew the answer to that one at least.
"Water's great if you wanna join." she said in a playful tone. A familiar sinister look on her face.
He glanced up at her, her body obscured by the dark water but the pale skin of her shoulders and face glowed under the moonlight, her hair shone. She looked aethereal. "I…" he heard his mouth say, "I don't have a suit." It was a lame excuse. He knew it given the circumstances and the discovery that was at his feet.
She smiled that damned Cheshire grin and rotated around in the water, facing away from him, "I won't look." she said.
Double D stared at her as she floated in the dark waters under the most beautiful night sky. The full moon cast its gaze on them. It was perfect, like a scene out of a movie. No, that couldn't capture its essence. This was more like a painting done by the most skilled of the romantics. The beauty captured in expert brush strokes. This was a masterpiece. Something that he knew he would carve into his memory and never forget.
But he was facing an impasse. He knew it, and as he glanced back down to the clothes at his feet. Two options. He could turn around now, and return to the camp and his precious campfire. It would need a stick or two of wood by now anyway. He could do that. That was the most logical and sensible thing to do. It's what he would have done a year ago. It's what he would have done a few months ago. But right there at that moment, the other option seemed like the better one to take.
Marie was about to give up. She'd been waiting for long enough and knew that in her heart her advances would fall on deaf ears. Double D would have turned tail and run at such a declaration. She was surprised that he had followed her this far, but she still had to try. She always had to try with him. Both of her sisters had managed to do the impossible and bag their Eds, but she was still struggling with hers. She didn't know what she was thinking, Edd was Edd after all.
Before she turned around the bask in her sorrow, she heard a splash and felt a wave of water knock against her. She spun around in the water wearing a surprised look that was painted across her face. Looking back at her, smiling, with the gap in his teeth on full display, was Double D clad only in his signature beanie.