Suffocate me so my tears can be rain
I will water the ground where I stand
So the flowers can grow back again
Chapter 37
The Seed #2
Edd sits down on the ground, panting heavily from the workout. Sweat is building up underneath his beanie, itching like insanity, but he dares not remove it in front of others, no matter who. He's been teased by it before and would rather not have to deal with that at the moment. Not that he thinks Mel would be the type of person to do that, but… looking up at the scene before him; Mel is standing with her hands on her hips as she talks to Eddy and Ed, neither of them adorning a happy expression on their faces. He sighs. Yeah... it would only take them so much time before they found them, it's Eddy and Ed after all. As much as he loves and appreciate his friends, as awful as it may sound; Not today. Today was supposed to be about Mel teaching him things he needs to know and learn in order for him be able to defend himself one day. Today was supposed to be a Mel-and-Edd-day. So just… not today. They hang out quite literally every day, so sparing one day to be by yourself or with a sibling really shouldn't be something you need to excuse yourself for. But, oh well, here they are. He sighs silently, rubbing his eye as it itches from the sweat. Looking back at Mel talking to Eddy and Ed, he can't help but get the impression that she thinks the same as him. The corners of his lips tugs upwards a little as he watches them. He feels guilty for thinking like that, but it helps a little to know that Mel (maybe) feels the same about it.
In the end, Eddy and Ed remained, though that doesn't mean Mel simply allowed them to "hang around". In a bit of a twist of the event, Edd now finds himself trying his best not to giggle at his fierce friend as Mel is quite literally hovering over him as he does push-ups, shouting at him like a horrifying personal trainer. At first it frightened Ed, but after hearing Mel explain the situation; 'if you want to stay you have to work out', he calmed down again and even joined Edd with the try-not-to-giggle-challenge. This naturally did little to calm down the already triggered Eddy, and his screams and complains about injustice and torture soon attracted the attention from the other kids in the cul-de-sac, much to Mel's dismay. He had to hold a hand over his mouth as he saw his sister facepalm and drag her hand down her face as even more children appeared, wondering what was going on only to want to join them once they saw. Oh well, here they are.
Taking control of the situation – and hoping that there will be no more surprises – Mel informs the kids that this is no playtime, it's workout and nonsense is not welcomed. While Sarah and Jimmy are obviously younger than the rest of them, Mel allows them to be by their own with Nazz keeping an eye on them, but the rest of them are in for the same experience and treatment that she had originally planned for Edd. Each one of the kids keep their attention locked on Mel (even Plank) as she shows them the different exercises and movements they need to perform. She does her best to keep her eye on all of them, making sure there's no fighting about to happen between any of them. Edd remains by Eddy and Ed's side while Rolf smiles brightly by Kevin's side and Johnny is focused with Plank next to him. She can't help but roll her eyes when Eddy yells out at Kevin to mind his own business, only for Kevin to respond with an insult.
"That's enough," she calls out to them, snapping them out of it and regaining their attention. It's obvious they don't like each other, but they need to learn how to tolerate each other's presence. Maybe that should be the focus in their training?
Moments go by without there being any immediate or direct disaster while they finish out the exercises Mel had come up with. It brings her some joy to know it went as smoothly as it did, and though she had more in store for Edd at this stage, she decides to move forward a bit, hoping to send them home as soon as possible. She tries to tell them that that was it for the day and that they can return home now. While Nazz and Johnny seem to be onboard with that idea, little nosy Sarah calls her out on her bluff.
"No way," she calls out with her arms crossed. "If that was it then why did you pack your bag with lunches and water bottles?"
They all look at Sarah, standing proudly and angrily as she always does whenever she's not getting the way she wants. Edd looks back at Mel, who seems to be just as surprised as the rest of them, though there's a hidden layer of annoyance and anger in her eyes that only he seems to be able to see. It worries him. Though he knows that Mel wouldn't hurt a child, there's nothing stopping her from "teaching them a lesson", especially when they search through her belongings without asking.
"You went through my bag?" Mel's question only confirms his worries, and he can feel the blood drain from his face. Sarah, what have you done?
"Yeah, so?"
Edd holds his breath. He's not sure how used to Sarah's attitude Mel is, but he knows that she has a very short fuse when it comes to nonsense, as she described it. Feeling a slight burning in his skin he scratches his cheek and notice that Kevin is looking at him, a question in his eyes. The only answer Edd can give him is the worried expression on his face which spreads onto Kevin's own. They both turn to look at Mel, only to find that her expression has gone from surprised to something sinister. Her eyes are narrow and there's a smile on her lips, but not a happy one. She's already begun planning something, hasn't she?
"You went through my bag," she repeats, "without asking for my permission?" She tilts her slightly forward as she speaks, making sure that everyone knows her attention is locked on Sarah, and Sarah alone. "That is not very nice, Sarah," she says, "in fact, to think that would be ok is what I would like to call nonsense, which I said at the start was not welcomed here."
"You should always ask for permission before you do something like that, Sarah," Nazz steps into the conversation, backing Mel up.
"Hmph!" Sarah turns her back towards Nazz defiantly, arms crossed and mouth pouting. Mel narrows her eyes more, observing her behavior and thinking up a strategy of how to face it, how to correct it. But that's the thing, isn't it? She doesn't like being corrected.
"You know Sarah, you should always apologize when you've done something bad like this, even if you're caught or not." Sarah doesn't respond to her words, instead her eyes are starting to get tear filled. It's obvious she's been spoiled rotten and this is her respond whenever someone is "trying" to correct her. If only Mel cared about spoiled brats. "But you know what," Mel says as she stands up again, "something tells me you're not going to, which isn't just an act of nonsense anymore but bad behavior and that's even worse. Bad behavior is never welcomed, no matter what." With both hands on her hips she looks down on the redheaded girl, a single tear threatening to make an appearance if she doesn't stop with the correction NOW. "Go home."
Suddenly the tear is gone. "What?"
"I said 'go home,'" Mel repeats.
Sarah's face speaks volume. She doesn't know how to react, so she does the thing she knows always gets her the reaction she wants. Stomping her foot in the ground, she screams out "Why?!"
"Because you're behaving badly," Mel answers, silencing her with her words. "I told you that if you can't behave then you're not welcome to stay, so, you can go home now."
"But-!" Her head must be spinning at this rate, Mel thinks. Poor thing doesn't know how to handle an actual 'no'. "But I don't want to! I want-"
"It doesn't matter!" Silence follows after Mel's words. Yes, she was harsh, but if Sarah doesn't want to understand her when she's being nice, then she has to be harsh for her to understand. She takes a breath, "it doesn't matter what you want, Sarah. I'm the one who decided to do this today, and I'm the one who decides who's allowed to join me. Since you're behaving badly, which I said wasn't okay to do, you're no longer allowed to join." Sarah's silence might be weird for the kids to hear, but for Mel it's been long overdue. She's not seen or heard of this kid very often, but she can clearly tell that whoever raises her is not doing a good job, especially since she knows who her brother is. "Nazz," she speaks with a softer voice to the blonde girl, "could you be so kind and make sure Sarah makes it home safely?"
"Y-yes. Absolutely."
Sarah tries to throw another fit as Nazz gently tries to lead her on to leave, but as Mel refuses to give her the attention that she wants, she eventually stops and stomps home angrily with Nazz hurrying after her. Poor kid.
Clapping her hands together, she gains the remaining kids' attention once again. "Well then, since Sarah was so nice to present the idea, does anyone want to hang around a little longer for some more workout? If not, you're free to leave." She gives them all a big smile, eyes closed and hands still clapped together. They're too stunned to say anything at first – she didn't give in to Sarah's behavior. While Rolf, Johnny and Jimmy decide they've had enough for the day, Kevin surprisingly decides to hang around for a bit longer, much to Eddy's dismay. He eventually leaves too, after Mel reminds him that he's going to have to do workout if he wants to stay, and with him Ed goes too. It leaves Mel with Edd and Kevin. It's still one kid more than she originally planned it to be, but she guesses it could be worse.
Going back to the original plan, she introduces Kevin to the Envik tool like she previously did with Edd, showing him how it works and explaining what it does and whatnot. While Edd had been more cautious and hesitant with his approach and reaction to said tool, Kevin was beaming like a light in the dark of night, like a child who still believes in Santa does whenever they see someone dressed as Santa and gets to sit in his lap – innocently. It really didn't take long for him to get started with the training, making sure to switch hands frequently as to not strain either too much. In the meantime, Mel is showing Edd how to properly make a fist, how to tape your knuckles when sparring or when you've been hurt after a fight. She's both happy and surprised to see how he pays attention to what she's telling him and actually tries. It's a new side to him that she sees and she'd be lying if she said she didn't feel a hint of pride from watching it unfold before her. Like a flower just starting to show signs of blooming, ready to show the world its true color and beauty. She can't help the smile from growing on her face, especially when he doesn't back out from practice throwing fists at her hands as she holds them out for him. Yes, he was hesitant when she told him what to do and when he realized she doesn't have anything to put on her hands to protect them with, other than the tape, but she still managed to convince him to test it out. After all, how often to the opponents in a street fight wear protection of any sort? Nah, it's fist on fist, knuckles on knuckles, bones on bones. True that it's going to hurt more during training, but it's going to make actual fights seem less scary – at least, she hopes so. Truth be told, she just forgot to buy those protection things when she searched for boxing equipment. Oh well.
She doesn't know how long they train for, but the gurgling sound coming from her stomach tells her that it's been a while. Looking up at the sun, she thinks it's started it's path down again, meaning it's at the very least midday. Let's see… they went out here when the sun was rising, then the other kids showed up for a while, and then Kevin decided to remain a little longer… yeah, it must be about midday, if not more.
"Okay, I think it's time for a break," she says to the two boys, making sure both of them actually listen to her. She walks up to her bag and pulls out her cellphone – at least Sarah didn't steal that, or anything else – and confirms that it's actually rounding up to 1:15pm. They've been out here for about 5 hours already. Definitely time for a lunch break… oh right. She pulls out the two lunch boxes she prepared for them and three of the four water bottles. The two boys must be hungry, and they're both still growing. Handing them one lunch box each, she hushes Edd before he's able to say anything, knowing very well that he knows she only prepared one lunch box each – for him and her. Kevin being part of this wasn't in her original plan, but she's not going to complain about it. She can eat when they get home. In the meantime, she's just glad she packed four water bottles instead of just two. Water is more important than food after all. She'll live.
She watches the two boys siting on the ground eating, sipping on her water she can't help but wonder if they're becoming closer as friends or as rivals. Hopefully friends. It would be fun to see the Eds be more involved with the other kids, like today, without there being something bad happening between them. I guess only time will tell. Leaning against a tree she looks up at the sky through the leaves. The streams of sunlight sipper through the gaps of the leaves and branches, almost appearing like glitter in the sky or magic. Closing her eyes, she takes a deep breath and relaxes. She fails to see the two boys turn around to look at her from where they sit, looking at her over their shoulders before glancing back at each other.
"Is she okay?" Kevin asks, receiving a shrug from Edd.
"Hard to say," he answers, "there are many times I wonder that myself, but I never truly dare to ask."
"Oh? How so?"
"Well-"
"He's too shy to build up the courage to and he has a habit of overthinking everything, drawing conclusions that often end up making things appear darker than they are in reality," Mel cuts in, answering for him, "also, I can hear you. Just so you know."
"A-apologies!"
"Sorry."
She giggles at them, their responses. It truly doesn't matter how old kids are – for as long as they're kids, they think that everything they say to each other stays between their ears only, like no one else can hear them. It's adorable.
After the lunchbreak they rest some more, to make sure they don't accidentally vomit up what they just ate. Then they get back into training some more, though Mel makes sure they take it easier than they did earlier. They just ate, after all. But with the time having already reached afternoon, Kevin soon thanks for his time with them before he hurries back home. Mel follows him with his gaze, a sad smile on her face as she hopes he still remembers her promise and that it wasn't just for a one time only. Ever since then she has paid closer attention to the noises that comes from that house. It doesn't sound good, so she really hopes everything will end up well in the end for them. Though she knows better than to put her faith in the god known as Luck. If things don't get better or if they get even worse, something has to be done about it.
Sighing to herself, she turns towards Edd who seems to be in deep thought as well, though he's staring at her at the same time. She raises an eyebrow at him, only then noticing that her expression must've gone from sad smile to frown. Ah, he must be wondering what you're thinking about. What we're thinking about. We're in the same head idiot. Shaking her head clear, she puts on a smile again.
"You okay?"
She can see the frown melting away from his forehead as he snaps out from his thinking. I guess he simply has a resting "angry" face whenever he's in deep thought, like she does. Siblings, though they're not related.
"I'm fine," he answers with a slight shrug. A few seconds go by without any of them saying anything, but he eventually decides to break the silence and ask something he's been thinking about lately, "what made you want to learn this?"
"Huh?" She looks at him, question mark in her face, "learn what?"
"This," he says, spreading out his arms as to point out everything around them. "The fighting, self-defense and boxing, all that. Why did you learn it?" He looks at her, meeting her gaze as he waits for an answer, but she doesn't give him one. "Where you… forced to learn it?"
"Hm? No, no," she holds up her hands as if to pause that thought of his. "I decided to learn it."
"But why?"
"Because…" she pauses for a moment, thinking about it as if she's haven't in a long time. Edd waits for her answer, she knows he is, and even if he isn't the one to necessarily rush things out of you, he does have a timer like everyone else. A sigh escapes her as she thinks about the reason, the reason she's never really forgotten, but haven't thought about in a while. "I wanted to be strong enough to protect someone I cared about."
Edd's face fills up with admiration and curiosity, it glows beautifully in his eyes. "Wow," he says, "Wh-who did you want to protect?"
She's quiet for a moment, but finds no reason to hide it from him, "my sister."
"Wha-?" his jaw falls open, eyes big as saucers, "you have a sister?"
"Had."
"Huh?"
"I had a sister," she tells him, sad smile on her face, "but she's gone now."
Edd remains quiet for a moment, not sure what to say next. "I-I'm sorry… what… if I may ask, what happened to her?"
Mel is quiet. She lets out a sigh as she thinks back at the memory, looks up into the forest, searching for the glittering lights from the one thing that reminds her of… of… "She died," she says, her voice weak and hard to hear.
The words hit him hard, despite how weak her voice is. He looks at her, sees the pain in her eyes as she looks away into the forest. Curiosity takes the hold of him once again and he turns around to try and see what it is she sees. It takes him a while but he eventually sees the only thing that could be the reason her attention was stolen. He looks back at her, another question burning in his mind. "The creek?" He watches her expression, the way she tries to blink without triggering a tear to fall. "Wh-what… did she…?"
Mel nods. "She drowned."
Song: The Seed – Aurora
The thing with Sarah lasted a bit too long in my opinion, but it didn't work out well when I tried to cut it shorter. Hope you like it nonetheless!
