The first day of school arrive for the group of teen in the small of not so peaceful , Peach Creek . The warm sunshine hit the small cul-de-sac, piercing the darkness that put everyone in a deep slumber as Marie Kanker awaken ahead of everyone. The only daughter of a doctor and university teacher , inherited her parents great gift of learning , woken up with glee to the aspect of starting her first year in high school. New school , new things to learn , new friends to make and also make new memories. Getting up early has a lot of advantages, start with plenty of time for hygiene as she starts with a warm shower with her favorite lavender shampoo , some face cream while brushing her teeth . With everything smooth out , she washes her face and dry herself before getting dressed in her usual attire , black shirt and green cargo jeans with a thin jacket for the cold afternoon. She head downstairs to the kitchen to fetch some breakfast. On the fridge, she finds a note left by her mother ,instructing her on how to make breakfast by making some eggs or just have cereal. Marie picks cereal, having a nice bowl while getting some reading done as well.
On the end , Edward is still deep in his sleep , resting after a long afternoon shift at the junkyard. 15 years old and already work at a dead end job just to earn some extra cash is not a good start but since when in his life did anything start off well . He was the second child in a trio that are one year apart from each other, all raised by a single mother in cramped trailer home . The all three basic share the same bed with how little they have with everything is counted for down to the penny . He just hates everything about his life , only in sleep that he has some peace from the misery of the real world . His older brother Eddy is close to dropping out with how poor his grade is and his bad school record, not to mention his general attitude is not helping at all , with constant fights , bullying the lower students , overall being a shithead. Edward younger brother, Edmun is much more tolerable, dumb as a brick but at least he listened to his brother and mother , while being the most physically gifted among the three which landed him a place on the football team . His grades are a problem but Edward helped him in his homework and tests to make sure he stay on team in the hope of one day making it big and leave behind this hell hole . Edward on the other hand , his mind is gifted with a 140 IQ but he never has the taste for showing off , often hide it away , letting his high grades snuck under the radar . Being the smartest of the three , he often has to take care the other two school work on their mother request to make sure all three graduates high-school. He has a love hate relationship with his family, he loves Edmund due to how innocent he is while despite Eddy for his foolish behavior, but with all the fights and arguments, they are brother in blood and they have to stick together as it's all they have . Waking up to the annoying alarm clock by the couch as he didn't even reach the bed after returning home from work . He slam the alarm to turn it off before going to the bathroom to get ready for school. Removing the dirty clothes off his body , getting into the shower , washing off the stench with the cold water . He leans on the wall with his arms , letting the water flow through his quite lean body from all the heavy lifting at the junkyard. 5 minutes in the shower is enough as he exits in his underwear then goes to his quarters to fetch from clean clothes to start a new day . With all his hygiene taken care off , he goes to cook station to heat up some left over his mother brought home with the microwave . While the food is getting cook , he goes to wake up the other two for school then prepare everyone school bags. Hearing the bell ring from the microwave, he puts his bag pack on his back as he grab a slice of bread then sandwich some of food in it . It's not much but it something to start the day , he puts it in his mouth and start eating as he hear his brother getting ready to school .
Even when he is outside, he can hear his two brothers arguing about the even the littlest of things . He moves his hands in a familiar pattern but immediately snaps it , reminds himself he has school in 30 minutes , he takes his leaves and head to the school bus stop to wait for the school bus . The walk to the bus is quite long from where the trailer house is but with them not having a car , this is the only way to school for the three brother. He sits and wait , and as the clock went by , more and more of the cul-de-sac teens arrived to catch the bus as well . They avoid Edward which doesn't bother him as Eddy basically destroyed their relationship with the teens with his constant antics. Marie arrive with her friends as she catches up with everyone about their last summer day together. While she was talking to the others , she notices Edward is just sitting alone on the bench . She feels bad for him as she is the only one to notice Edward only has a bad rap due to his brother but never anything to himself so she decides to may be start a chat with him but before that could happen, the bus arrive along with Eddy and Edmund. Everyone rushes to get on as her friends pulls her on with her while Edward gets up from the bench , greet his brother before he three brothers gets on the bus and sits in the back while everyone sits in the front.
The ride is a bit noisy from the front as everyone is still high from their summer vacation. In the back , Edmund is just enjoying some comic books , Eddy is busy with list of possible get rich quick scam , as for Edward, he is just staring into the window with his headphones on . Marie occasionally glances at him but when Edward noticed, he looks back at her but she is too embarrassed to continue . He sigh a bit , remembering the days when he often tease and prank her to get her attention since he doesn't know how to speak to a girl but as the years gone by , Edward just stop on the notion he doesn't deserve to be with her and thinks she just hate him now . Edward wishes things could be different, he used to think so after punishing some of the people who bullied Marie, she hasn't made a move to thank him. Although he just wants her to be safe , the lack of acknowledgement does bother him time to time .
The bus arrive and everyone quickly gets off the bus , getting into their respective groups as they join the crowd of students entering the school gate . The three brother exit the bus and immediately Eddy takes the charge in leading the three to their new year to the displeasure of Edward.
Eddy : Alright boys, New year , new student, new victims to steal from .
Edward rolls his eyes at Eddy , responding to his ridiculous intentions.
Edward: I doubt any students would even listen to your scam , let alone fall for it . Could you just make our lives easier by finishing school then do whatever you want to do .
Ed : I want to be a Viking warrior , Double D ?
Edward huffs in amusement.
Edward: You can be Ed , just do your best on the team then move to the land of the Vikings . You will be one day honored in their great hall .
Ed cheers in excitement as they get to their locker , Edward helps Ed get the books he needs for the morning classes while Eddy busy grabbing some of his props for his first scam of the year . Edward checks his clock and finds that class will start in 5 . He instructs Ed to go his class while he and Eddy goes their first class together. They don't share the same schedule due to the school baring Ed and Eddy being together since those two have an chaotic chemistry, mostly due to Eddy . This extends to Edward as well as when they walk down the hall , they often meet with disgust by the other students but none will raise their voice in fear of getting a pounding from Edward and Ed . The two enter the class room and they meet the usual faces of the cul-de-sac teens, none are happy to see them except for two . Marie is just glancing at Edward constantly but doesn't show any signs of displeasure, just curiosity while the other one is Sarah , the baby sis of the group who has a hard on Edward after accidentally catching him being a sweetheart at the city mall . He was working at a brand mascot for a quick buck and when Sarah come up to the try the product, she recognize Edward voice as he introduce her to the product . He didn't show any signs of annoyance when he was with her , rather show genuine care as he carefully tells her everything she needs to know about the product . She knows he has a soft heart ,covered by the cold exterior, as well as being quite the hot for his age does make her fell for him but she can't just greet him or talk to him just yet , she wants the time to be right as she wants him to join her group first to give him a standing in the school social ladder before being his girl .
The teacher enters the room and already he goes straight to business, telling the class to get their book out and start the lesson . Everyone quickly gets their book and notebook out to write down the lesson. Everyone except for Edward and Eddy . Eddy is just lazy , nothing to say much about it but Edward, he is smart and he already learned everything he needs before hand as he often self learn during his long work shift , to pass the time . He gets his notebook out ,only to draw and write down answers when the teacher start asking questions. He doesn't want to participate in class , instead drawing cars and flower on the pages . Marie sits next to him , still focus on the subject at hands but bothered by how little attention Edward is paying to the class . She worry that he might get punish by the teacher for not paying attention. Although she doesn't know what her true feelings for Edward, she doesn't want him to fail at school nor anyone really. When the teacher start asking quick pop quiz about today lesson , she worry that he might pick Edward. She is confident that she can answers anything the teacher can throw at her but not Edward. One by one , each student is asked a question , some fail , some pass , Marie is up next and she pass without hesitation. The teacher is standing by Edward desk and when he turns over to look at Edward, ready to give him a question, something make the teacher smile and turns back to the direction of his desk then walk while continuing his lecture. Marie is a bit confuse , he basically asked everyone he laid his eyes on but why not Edward, she asked herself. The class continues till the bell rings , the teacher gives out homework for those failed to answer his pop quiz while the rest is free for the day . Everyone immediately packs up their things and head to the hallway. Marie is packing up her things then she notices Edward is already gone but he left a piece of paper on his desk . Usually she respects people privacy so she would even try to read people notes but after what happened earlier, curiosity get the better of her as she leans over to look at the content of the note . It's Edward handwriting, containing every answers for the pop quiz in perfect detail.
Marie : How did he ?
She picks up the note and hurry off the classroom before other students arrive . At her locker , she review all of the answers on the note and surprisingly, it's like it was written by the teacher himself. Some of the details weren't even said during class but somehow, Edward already know about it .
Lee : Hey , what cha got there sis ?
Lee yanks the note out of her hand as Marie try to get it back but May come from behind and restrain her .
Lee : Nah, just some science shit , Boring.
Lee toss the note away which Marie immediately get free from May , trying to catch it as it flow throw the air . Not paying attention to where she is going , she inadvertently bump into Edward himself. She falls onto the floor while Edward remain on his feet . The impact garner the attention of everyone around them and not in a good way . Everyone begins to chatter about how badly she messed up while she is still on the ground . Edward noticed the situation and immediately grab her by the arm and pulls her up . Getting her attention by staring into her eyes , Marie regains some focus as Edward leans back a bit .
Edward: Next time , watch it scrub.
He walks and bump her in the shoulder , shoving her out the way as he makes his way to his next class . May and Lee quickly arrived at the scene to find a confused Marie while everyone is still chatting about her , Lee quickly escort her way while May picks up Marie's book as she follow along .
Lee : You okay , did that trailer trash hurt you again ?
Marie : I'm fine , although I prefer you don't call him that . it's not nice insulting people for things that they can't control.
Marie gets herself together as May hands Marie her books back .
Marie : Thank you , May .
Lee : Just be careful and don't mess with them , they aren't good for us anyway .
Marie thinks that over , she has a change of heart over Edward after she found him beating some students at the back of the school stadium, whom bullied her the day before . It's not clear he did it for her or just for the fun of it but after that day , the bullying and teasing stopped. Edward kind of left her out of his daily routine so she often wonder , does he has feelings for her .
They get to their next class and Edward skips this one with Eddy, chose to sleep in the basement hideout while Eddy his scam together for lunch . He is just too tired to care and he already study in advance so he doesn't have anything to be afraid off either . Marie is in class , sitting next to her friends and when role call starts , she notices Edward is not here . Role calls ends and 10 minutes passed , he and Eddy haven't show up yet . She worry about him skipping class but after what happened, she is afraid of encountering him again so she let it go for the time being . At their hide out together, Edward is enjoying his much needed sleep while Eddy is still busy with his phone and whatever he is trying to do . Some time passed , Ed enter the room the surprise of Eddy .
Eddy : I thought you were supposed to finished your classes , what's give Lumpy ?
Ed : Ed finds class to be boring , cant wait til practice though .
Eddy : Better get back to class before Double D wakes up , you know how preachy he can be when you skip your study .
Ed : Oh come on Eddy , let me play , I'm bored .
Eddy : Fine , just be quiet, D is sleeping like a rock right now . He won't wake up till lunch so just sit on the couch and read some comics in peace ,will you ? I have work to do here .
Eddy gets back to work while Ed takes a seat at the couch at the end of the room , far away from Edward to not wake him up . Edward, meanwhile, is dreaming about Marie . How she is with her glasses and braces , how adorable she is when she show her concerns for him . He chuckle in his sleep to the surprise of Ed and Eddy, who sneak over to see what they just heard . Edward smiles in his sleep , something they almost never saw when they were at home so Eddy noticed something is off . Edward dream slowly fade as his instinct is telling him to wake up so he does . Slowly regains consciousness as he wakes to see Eddy and Ed staring at him .
Edward: What the ? What are you? Ed , why are you here?
He yells at his younger brother as he sits up , standing over his younger brother.
Edward: Ed , you know how I feel about you skipping class . Eddy is a moron so I won't mention him .
Eddy : Hey , I'm your big brother.
Edward: Shut up .
He silent Eddy as he continues on Ed.
Edward: Go back to class and study then practice after school. Or I will take away your comics?
Ed : Please , D , I'm so bored back there .
Edward remain firm .
Edward: Ed , go back to class or no biscuit gravy after dinner and no comics as well .
Ed : No , not my gravy . I will be back to class , I'm on it .
Ed runs frantically out of the room , crashing through the door like it was nothing as he hurry off back to class .
Edward: That Ed .
He rubs his temple as he sits back down , rubbing his face to wash the drowsiness away .
Eddy : You don't have to be Mom when she is not around , you take away all the fun out of our childhood, you know .
Edward: I'm too tired to argue with you right now Eddy , I'm going back to class after the break . I don't care what you do right now , just be there when class start or I will sent you to do the laundry this weekend.
Eddy is about to argue back but drop after seeing his younger brother so exhausted like a struggling middle age father .
Eddy : Fine, I'm done here anyway . Mind as well take a quick nap before I go .
Eddy heads over to the couch to catch some sleep while Edward takes his phone out to scroll through the web about how to repair car and bikes as he will need something to drive from work to home soon . Is almost reset as Marie is busy with Lee and May in the classroom, studying . The teacher is handing out homework and she reminds everyone to notify those who missed class to also do their homework . Taking this as the chance to speak to Edward in a more civil and normal setting for once . She hasn't really talked to him after she found him beating the living shit out of the neighborhood bullies . He was like a monster , filled with rage as his hands were soaked in blood . She was amazed that the police didn't get involved but she feels something changed after that day. She leaves the class after the bell rings and excuse herself from the group to go to the bathroom when in actuality, she goes to find Edward. Knowing he doesn't really have any friends , she won't find him at a public gathering so at the back of the school will be a good bet . Edward leaves the hideout and goes to the back of the school for a quick smoke break . He has taken up some rather unhealthy habits to deal with the stress of his personal life. Despite putting up a tough wall for everyone to see and even willing to fight to reinforce the appearance, he is slowly falling apart inside . Leaning against the wall , he pulls out a box of cigarette and put on in his mouth . Lighting it up with a zippo he fixed from the junkyard , he breathe in the nicotine and it calm down a bit as his hands stop shaking a bit from the cold and stress. With another breathe , he already burn through half of a the stick as he let out clouds of smoke with each heavy breathe . Hearing footsteps all of the sudden , he quickly snub it out and uses a breathe cleanser to destroy the evidence. He quickly hides to see who is coming , to his surprise, it's Marie . Looking like she is searching for some one .
Marie : Edward, are you here ?
Edward says in his thought after hearing Marie calling his name : OK, now it's just weird .