[The next day]
[Nat wakes up as the sun shines on her face, she stretches her arms and wakes up smiling. She goes to her window and opens the curtains.]
[As she opens her window she puts her head on her hands.]
Nat: "I've spent so long behind walls, that I have forgotten how beautiful the outside is."
[Nat lays her head on her hands.]
Nat: "Now I feel as though I've had a weight on my shoulders that's been lifted."
[Nat smiles]
Nat: "Good Morning Peach Creek!"
[Nat blows a kiss and goes to take her daily shower.]
[As Nat turns the water on and gets ready for her bath, she looks at her radio.]
Nat: "I wonder what's on today."
[Nat turns her radio on, as it plays, she hears a familiar song.]
Nat: "This is a good song!"
[Nat takes the bath brush from the tub.]
Nat: "You could never know what it's like
Your blood, like winter, freezes just like ice
And there's a cold, lonely light that shines from you
You'll wind up like the wreck you hide behind that mask you use-"
[The mirror in the bathroom fogs up. Nat draws on it.]
Nat: "And did you think this fool could never win?
Well look at me, I'm a-comin' back again
I got a taste of love in a simple way
And if you need to know while I'm still standin'
You just fade away-"
[Nat walks in the bathtub, after doing so, she reveals the mirror with E + N, a heart, and self portraits drawn on it.]
Nat: "Don't you know
I'm still standin' better than I ever did?
Lookin' like a true survivor, feelin' like a little kid
And I'm still standin' after all this time
Pickin' up the pieces of my life without you on my mind
I'm still standin'
(yeah, yeah, yeah)
I'm still standin'
(yeah, yeah, yeah)"
[Nat comes out of the shower. She dries herself and puts her clothes on.]
[Nat then opens the door and rushes outside.]
Nat: "Don't you know that
I'm still standin' better than I ever did?
Lookin' like a true survivor, feelin' like a little kid
And I'm still standin' after all this time
Pickin' up the pieces of my life without you on my mind
I'm still standin'
(yeah, yeah, yeah)
I'm still standin'
(yeah, yeah, yeah)
I'm still standin'
(yeah, yeah, yeah)
[Nat moves her arms up and down.]
Nat: "I'm still standin' (yeah, yeah, yeah)
I'm still standin' (yeah, yeah, yeah)
I'm still standin' (yeah, yeah, yeah)"
[Nat continues to dance. As she turns around, she sees the cul-de-sac kids staring at her, this causes her to stop in place.]
Nat: "Uhhh..."
[Nat then awkwardly smiles and waves.]
Nat: "Hiii..."
[After a few awkward silent seconds, Sarah speaks up.]
Sarah: "We were wondering if you would like to hang out with us."
Nat: "Hang out with all of you?"
Kevin: "Yeah, wanna hang with us?"
[Nat beams.]
Nat: "Sure!"
[Nat turns to walk away.]
Kevin: "Hey! Where ya going?"
Nat: "To go get the Eds!"
Kevin: "Whoa hold on! You can't bring those dorks!"
[Nat makes a confused look.]
Nat: "You...want me to leave them?"
Kevin: "Exactly!"
Sarah: "Ditch my idiot brother!"
Jimmy: "We'll keep you company."
Jonny: "Want to hold hands?"
[Nat is overwhelmed by the attention.]
Nat: (thinking) "This is it. This is what I've always wanted. To be with the other kids...but...at what cost?"
[As Nat is standing there with the other kids, the Eds are watching in the corner.]
Eddy: "I told you she wouldn't stick around Sockhead."
Ed: "But she is our friend!"
Edd: "I stand with my statement Eddy, she is special."
Eddy: "Give it a second."
Nat: (thinking) "They don't want me to bring the Eds, let alone hang out with them...but the Eds have been so good to me...am I betraying them?
[Nat turns and looks back, she then gazes upon a tree. Looking at the tree triggers a flashback...a flashback of herself. This causes her to realize something.]
Nat: (thinking) "I would be abandoning them...just like I was years ago...going with them...I would be just like them."
[Nat frowns, but after a few seconds, then balls her fists.]
Nat: (thinking) "But I'm not like them!"
[Nat turns back to the kids.]
Nat: "That's not who I am!"
[The kids are taken aback by the sudden outburst...even the Eds.]
Sarah: "What?"
[Nat crosses her arms.]
Nat: "I'm not going without them."
Kevin: "Are you serious?"
Nat: "Yes, the Eds have to come too."
Kevin: "No way!"
Nat: "Then I'm not going."
Kevin: "You'd rather hang out with those dorks over us?"
Nat: "That may be who they are to you, but to me, they are my friends who I think are very nice and who I care about and value very much."
[Nat walks away as the other kids stare in disbelief.]
Sarah: "Wow...she rejected us."
Jimmy: "That's never happened before."
Rolf: "Rolf have newfound respect for the Nat-girl."
[Kevin just shrugs.]
Kevin: "Eh, her loss."
[The Eds turn away.]
Edd: "You were saying Eddy?"
Eddy: "Can it Sockhead."
[The Eds turn back and see Nat staring at them. This causes Edd to be slightly embarrassed.]
Nat: "Um...how long have you guys been standing there?"
Edd: "Not long...just long enough to know that you rejected the offer."
Nat: "Oh...that...well...I was the only one invited, and you guys weren't, that just didn't feel right to me."
Eddy: "Look, I gotta know, why did you decide to stick with us?"
[Nat takes a deep breath, knowing there's no turning back.]
Nat: "Because...going with them...I knew what that would have made me."
[Nat makes a serious face.]
Nat: "I'm sorry they have trouble respecting you, but if you were to trust me now, I have no intention of being that person."
[Nat smiles as she then gazes at Edd, who smiles as well.]
[Ed wraps Nat into a tight hug.]
Ed: "I knew you were a new friend!"
Edd: "Ed!"
Ed: "Oh, sorry!"
[Ed puts Nat down.]
Edd: "We greatly appreciate your loyalty and selfless act."
[Nat slightly blushes]
[Edd looks at Eddy.]
Edd: "Right Eddy?"
[Eddy just crosses his arms, as Edd continues to stare at him, he eventually gives in.]
Eddy: "Alright fine! Maybe I was wrong about you...but that's all your getting out of me!"
[Nat just smiles.]
Nat: "It's more than enough."
Eddy: "C'mon! Let's plan that scam already!"
[Eddy walks away with Ed and Edd following behind, Nat simply smiles.]
Nat: "Right behind you."
[Nat catches up to her friends.]
After that, we've been inseparable. When I arrived it was spring break, so they and the other kids eventually had to go back to school, but I didn't mind, there was still after school and weekends and I got some time to myself with my books, although I was alone, this time was different, I was in a much happier place.
