Twisting and turning in his sleep , Edward slowly , inch by inch move to the edge of the couch then with one final roll , he falls off the couch , face planted into the floor , waking him up in a the worst way possible. He grunts in pain as he slowly gets himself up , rubbing his face to sooth the pain . Blinking his eyes to adjust to the dark room , he reaches for his phone on the table and finds it's still quite early in the morning. Feeling like he still need some more sleep, he decides to get back on the couch to continue his sleep but when he starts remembering his dream from before ,his face is filled disgust as he doesn't even want to think about it much less remembering it . Edward starts thinking about something else to ease his mind and he immediately thinks about Marie . Her cute glasses and innocent demeanor just makes him feel calm and relax as he slowly gets back to sleep .
Morning arrive at the Kanker family trailer, for real this time as Edward wakes up on the couch ,feeling much better after dreaming about Marie than that awful memory. Getting up from the couch , he starts to stretch his body a bit before going to the bathroom to start his days like any other day but today is not just any other day , today is his lunch date with Marie and he will need to be extra sharp for her . Taking his time in the shower , he starts cleaning his hair and notices his hair is losing its dark color again . He can't really dye his hair right now since it will take too long and won't look right if he tries to rush so he will need to keep his hat on or wearing a hoody when he is with Marie . Getting out of bathroom ,all clean and fresh , he quickly goes to the cooking station to prepare some breakfast for the family but when he was about to put on the apron, he hears someone walking toward him and from the moaning, alcoholic smells, dragging feet , he knows without looking back , it's his mother .
Mother : I couldn't even remember.. the last time ... I cooked for you , Edward.
Some moaning follow as she drags herself to sink to pour a glass of water to sober up .
Edward: Just clean yourself up , I will cook something up for you to get you ready for work .
Mother Kanker drink the glass of water half way before stop to laugh at Edward.
Mother : I always thought you took after me than your father but it won't matter , someone you think you can trust will fuck your life up and doesn't even bother to say sorry .
She throws the cup at Edward which he catches with his free left hand without even turning his head .
Edward : I don't want to talk to you when you are like this. Go get a shower then I will listen to whatever you have to say .
Mother : Or what ? You think acting like this , the father figure of this family will make you different than your dad ? News flash you little shit , you were a monster like him when you were just a toddler . You and your face just remind me of that disgusting...
Edward: I am not my father .
He turns around and shout at her , feeling angry and disgust . His mother laughs under her lips as she walk away , not before delivering the final word .
Mother : Keep telling yourself that , you are his son after all .
She disappeared into her bedroom to get dressed, leaving Edward on the verge of tears of their little talk . Edward goes to the sink and washes his face to calm himself down , letting the cold water cool his anger down as he gets back to cooking. With all the food prepared, he takes his share and leave early to the bus stop as he can't no longer stand being in that trailer after that talk. His relationship with his mother has all been tough , stem from how things went down with his father. How he hates his mother constantly reminding him how much he resembles the man he hates so much . Feeling the rage inside can't be contained any further , he stops just before existing the woods . Needing something to vent his anger , he starts to punch a nearby tree with his bare hands . He punches so hard that leaves dent on the tree but it also made his hands bleed from all the cuts . Dropping his bag down , he takes out some bandages to cover up his wounds as he remember he has a date with Marie and he doesn't want to bother her with how he hurt himself again. Wrapping his knuckles up , he does some stretches to test the tightness of the bandages. It hurts but it tell him, he has done a good job wrapping it up . Putting his bag back on his back , he starts walking again while pulling the sleeve of his hoody to cover his knuckle , using a paper pin in a his wallet to tie it up to make sure it doesn't goes up and reveal his hands to Marie . Arrive at the bus stop , he checks his phone and he is early , 10 minutes earlier than usual but it doesn't matter as Marie and her friends are the first one of the cul-de-sac teens to arrive. Hearing about their fun night together, he avert his eyes away as he doesn't want to be seen staring at Marie while keeping his hands inside his hoodie pocket . Marie notices him and can already sense something is not right, he is too early and sitting in a slouch position. Usually he sits in a very sternly manner and his eyes are often focused on his phone or something else but not today , he just look off in Marie's eyes.
Lee : Man , luckily those homework were easy , otherwise we would have missed out on that MMA fight on TV last night.
May : Yeah , I hoped those guys get some superhero roles on TV as I hate how fights are so CGI these days .
Marie : I just don't find them appealing, not to mention the long term brain damage these fighters will have to deal with later on in their lives . It just upsetting to think about it honestly.
Lee : Whatever, Friday is football day , any of you girls gonna watch the game ?
May : I'm in .
Marie : I will join you since I don't have any other plans for that day .
Edward hears this and thinks about going to the game since his brother will be playing also . He pulls out his phone and write in an event notice for Friday . With his brothers walking toward him from the distance as well as the other kids starts to gather up at the stop , Edward puts his phone away and just wait for the bus to come . Ed and Eddy arrived and not a moment too soon as the bus stop to pick up the teens .
On the bus , like usual, everyone is in their respective groups.
Eddy : Yo what gives D , you left early and didn't wake us up . We could have been late man .
Ed : I'm fine though , I woke up after hearing our neighbors yelled at someone.
Eddy : You doofus , we don't have neighbors. Those horror movies finally messed up your brain cause I slept like a rock . D , could you believe this idiot?
Edward is sitting with his head resting back as he tries to think how he can even go home after what happened this morning, before Eddy asked him .
Edward: I don't care about what he heard but Ed , take it easy on those movies . Got it?
Ed : You got it bro , thank for the dinner last night as well , can you buy me one if we win on Friday?
Edward: Sure , I will watch the game with Eddy .
Eddy : Whatever.
Ed : Yay .
The three brother do their separate things as the bus continues to drive them to school . The rest of the ride was uneventful as the teens exits the bus and head off to class . Edward shares some classes with Marie but he worries she might finds out about his hands , so he opted to sit at the back of the class while Marie sits in the middle with May and Lee . Marie is curious on why Edward is being so distant today , he would often glance at her but not only that , he doesn't even want to do anything. She hopes he hasn't forgotten about their lunch together as she avert her focus back to the lesson at him . The hours went by as Edward continues to worry about Marie learning about his hands but his concern only make Marie worry about him even more so when lunch arrives, she enters the cafeteria with Lee and May to buy lunch only to find Ed and Eddy wait in line without Edward. She scan around the room to find no signs of Edward so she decides to text him to check in on him. Up on the roof , Edward is just sitting alone with his lunch next to him , untouched. Sitting down , clutch his knees together as he contemplate what transpired this morning . Every time he and his mother have a talk , the usual outcome is both getting angry at each other or one more than the other . He just hates how his very being is an insult to his mother , the way he resembles his father . It's the same hatred that drove him to dye his hair dark black to at least hide part of him away , to ease his mother hatred but it was for nothing as her hatred is still burning hot . Now he is just doing it for himself, to ease his suffering. He remembers the day he turned 4 , the day when his father became his worst enemy. Just thinking about him made Edward want to punch the ground again . Physical pain is secondary to him as his heart is bleeding from this hatreds. His mind starts to flash back the conversation with his mother .
Mother : You are his son after all.
Those words echo in his mind ,last like an eternity as Edward slowly lose his composure then finally he snaps . Standing up , he goes to the stair door and punch square into the aluminum door . It left a dent in it but also rupture his healing knuckles, causing them to bleed even more this time as Edward goes back sitting beside his lunch , letting the pain numb his mind . Focusing on the pain , he doesn't even acknowledge the fact that his hands are bleeding through the bandages and now are soaking red .
Marie : Edward, are you OK?
Edward doesn't even notice Marie opened the door as he was too occupied with his suffering. Marie was walking up the stairs to find him but she was startled by a loud bang up top . Thinking Edward may be in some sort of fight ,she rushes up and when she finds the damaged door, she stops and fears the worst . She slowly presses her ears into the door to may hear what is going on the opposite side but after a minute of total silence, she slowly turn the nob and see Edward is sitting by himself with trails of blood leading back to where his hands stand . She asks him with a concern voice as she open the door completely and slowly walk up to David but seeing him unresponsive to her calls ,she gets up behind him and touch his shoulder. The touch brings some life back into Edward as he turns around and see Marie , saddened with concern.
Edward: Marie , I , I, mm , I'm sorry if I forgot about our date, I was ..
Edward stands up and dust himself, unknowingly revealed his injured hands to Marie .
Marie : Oh my God, Edward , your hands ,what happened?
She immediately reaches for her pocket to retrieve her wallet, pulling out some small bandages.
Marie : Edward, how did this happened? Who did this to you ?
She asks him like she wants to cry while trying to remove the wrapping, to see the true extent of the injury. Edward is lost for words as somehow, when she touches him , he feels so mortal . The pain begins to set in as he twitches with every roll she remove but it pale to comparison to how warm and comforting her touches are . Right then and there , he knows she is special to him , the one that can make him feel so normal and mortal . When she finally see the full injury, she was horrified.
Marie : Edward, we need to get to the infirmary.
Edward: Sure , anything for you .
Edward seems so relaxed compared to Marie and it's not like arrogant, he is just at ease when he is with her . Marie starts pulling him from his right arm , away from the roof and down to the infirmary.
Edward: Wait , what about our lunch together?
Marie : I can't eat knowing you are hurt like this .
She sounds so certain as she means what she said , she can't stand him being hurt which moves Edward. They got down to the infirmary on the second floor and immediately barges in , startling the nurse who was sitting by the desk .
Marie : Mrs . Lightyear, he needs some help .
The nurse gets out of her seat and goes over to the two teens . She immediately notices how badly injured his hands are but when she turns to look at Edward, the boy is just dead focus on Marie . His face is so relaxed compared to the situation , nothing scream " I'm in pain " is written on his face . All she sees is this boy falling hard for the girl next to him . She escort the two to the nearby bed as she goes to retrieve some bandages and disinfectant. Marie sits Edward down while still holding his hands up by his palms to avoid the injured areas. She inspect his hands and asks.
Marie : Edward , how did you get injured like this ? You were fine yesterday.
Marie didn't hear an answer so she asks again .
Marie : Edward ?
She didn't hear anything again so she turns to look at him and then she finds him , staring at her beauty. He is so relaxed when she looks at his eyes , she is lost for words as they got lost into each other eyes , till .
Nurse : OK, let clean up that wound shall we ?
The nurse pluck his hands from Marie and starts cleaning his wounds with disinfectant. Marie first snaps out of it as she looks back down at his hands . When the alcohol hit the open flesh , it stings as Edward immediately reacted to the pain .
Edward: Ouch , ouch ouch ...
Edward looks down at his hands as the nurse apply some antibiotic ointment which ease the pain a bit before the nurse quickly wrapped everything back up with clean gauze. Everything is tied up under 5 minutes as she goes over to her desk to write in some information. While she was it , the two finally talk to each again.
Marie : Edward, what happened?
She asks him , her lips tremble , telling Edward how worried she is which he doesn't want to keep her in anymore so .
Edward: I lost my cool and hurt myself, I didn't want you to worry about it so I didn't answer your calls .
Marie: You usually are very calm and collective, what happened?
Edward: It's very ...mmm... personal. I don't want you to get involved in it .
The pause indicates that this is a very personal issue for Edward so she has to be careful
Marie: I respect your privacy, Edward but you need to take care of yourself otherwise I will have to get involved.
Edward is touched at how concern she is over him .
Edward: It's alright, I will be better so how about we finally have lunch together.
Marie has completely forgotten about that as she scurry around to Edward's confusion.
Marie : I , mm , I may have forgotten to buy lunch for myself.
She blushes like a tomato as she realized her mistake. Edward chuckle at her to her embarrassment as the nurse return with a note pad in hand .
Nurse: OK, I see that you are feeling better already. Can you give me your name , Mr ?
Edward turns to the nurse to answer her questions.
Edward: Kanker, Edward D Kanker .
Nurse: Alright then , I will write you a sick note since your hands are way too injured to even write at this point . No gym class especially and here is your appointment for a check up with me . With that said and done , you can go home if you the rest but if you are worry about your hands , you can stay here till school ends . Now go get something for lunch as your body will need food to start healing .
The nurse return to her desk as Marie gets up and extend her arms to assist Edward in getting up .
Edward: My legs are fine .
Edward answer with a bit of sarcasm.
Marie : Don't be a baby , I want to help you .
Marie can be heard chuckling under her lips from his response. Edward also chuckle as he has his arms out for Marie to slowly get him up . The two make their out of the infirmary , with Marie has her left arm in his right , making sure he won't fall and hurt himself. Marie pulls out her phone and check to see that they still 30 minutes to get lunch.
Marie : We still have some time left for lunch . I can buy us some if you need .
Edward: I might be poor but I won't ask for a free meal . I can pay for my own .
Marie : Even if I let you do that , you can't even use your hands to eat properly anymore, so suck it in and let me help .
Marie sounds so bossy , in a cute way , like a carrying wife to a loving yet stubborn husband .
Edward: Woh woh woh, hold it right there buddy . She isn't even your girlfriend, much less your wife .
He thinks to himself as Marie help him to the school cafeteria.
Marie : You can wait here if you want , I will go buy us some food and for the last time,my treats.
She smiles brightly at him before turning around and enters the cafeteria.
Edward: Oh my God, I'm in love with her .
He says quietly to himself as he pulls out his phone to check on what he missed . As expected, a lot of missed phone call and unread text messages,all from Marie . He is disappointed in himself for ignoring her but he wants to make it right . Marie enters the cafeteria and pick up a tray then starts loading her plates . Marie strange behavior caught the attention of Lee and May who was sitting not too far from her and Sarah , who always has her eyes on her since she want Edward for herself. After paying for the food , Marie immediately leaves through the front door . Smelling something is up , Sarah excuses herself from the table and follow Marie .
Marie carries the large tray of food with her as Edward walks beside her , holding his hands close to his chest to not build pressure on his hands .
Marie : I have salad , some grilled chicken so you can have some protein , some bread for the extra carb and a fruit mix for a healthy amount of sugar. What do you think ?
She looks over with a smiles on her face , feeling joyful , to be able to help Edward in his time of needs .
Edward : First , thank you and second , I'll pay you back later .
Marie : Enough with money already, I said it's my treat . You just focus on healing your hands , alright?
Edward smiles as he responds.
Edward: You are a wonderful person , you know that ?
The small compliment just make Marie blushes as she avert her face away to hide her blushes .
Marie : I'm just being a model student and being a good girl that's all.
Edward : Well , guess after eating all of this , I will have to study in the infirmary since I can't go back to class like this . I will be shark prey if anyone see me like this .
Marie smiles disappear as she looks at Edward.
Marie : Are you afraid of people picking you and your brothers ?
Edward sees her concerns so he answers calmly.
Edward: They are my family, we might seem dysfunctional from the outside but when things get tough, we will have each other back .
Marie: It's good to hear that , I don't know what I will do if I lose Lee and May , they are like sisters to me even though we aren't related.
Edward: Family is often who we made relationships with , not just the one that you are born into .
Marie : I will keep that in mind.
She ends her line with a smile to Edward who is also smiling. Continue to walk to the infirmary, they don't notice the fact that someone is watching them from afar. Sarah has been following them , staying undetected as she overheard the blooming lovebirds conversation. Although from what she heard, the two haven't made it official just yet but it's becoming clearer every passing moment they spend together that they are falling for each other, something Sarah is not happy about. After seeing those two heading the stairs to the 2nd floor , Sarah calls it quit for now as she already knows the situation and can't afford anymore time to be wasted on watching from the distance, she must separate those two now and secure Edward for herself.
