Ed, Edd, n' Eddy; The Last Chance
Part One - Autumn Blues
CHAPTER TWO - Bruised Between
Eddward 'Double D'
Double D was in the cafeteria, barely able to remember how he had even gotten there. His mind was muddy, unclear - hands still gripping Marie's ice pack tightly like it would fly away if he let go. The world swam, his feet unsteady as he walked through the room with uneven steps. The adrenaline rush had, obviously, proven too much for his sensitive mind and he struggled.
Is this some kind of trap? Or maybe just a new torment? Have me let my guard down with a harmless kindness and then strike from the shadows?
It was only after the third call-out from Eddy that Double D's mind finally returned to the present, startled. He shook his head and moved towards them, shifting around a group of rambunctious jocks. At the last table, to the back of the cafeteria, was the 'Ed Table' - farthest from society and closest to the emergency exit. Against the wall was Ed, lounging lazily with a comic book in both hands. Backpack underneath his head and eyes ever focused on whatever overly-dramatic monster scene colored the pages. In contrast to Ed's reclined position was Eddy, hands pressed against the end of the lunch table, his face a scowl.
"What's up with you beanpole?" Eddy asked as Double D approached.
Double D smiled weakly and sat down at his usual spot, "Oh, nothing Eddy, just an eventful morning - that's all."
Eddy's brow lowered, caught somewhere between a look of confusion and concern - but mostly confusion. Then he shook his head, moving on from the strangeness of the situation and onto more pressing matters.
"Well whatever," he started, sitting back down. "I have some big news for you boys." Eddy shifted back, grabbing his noticeably deflated backpack from under his stool and placing it onto the table. He dug his hands in, shifting around the mess of papers and creased notebooks until his hands finally came across a short piece of orange cardstock.
"Ah, here we go - look!" Eddy said, excited
Double D sat up, curious as to what had gotten Eddy all riled up so early in the school day. In his hand, on the cardstock, was a hand-written invitation slathered in purple marker.
'House party! Tonight at 8pm, bring snacks' then it was signed with a name Double D had never seen before followed with an address. He turned his head, looking towards Eddy with confusion.
"A house party? You got invited to a girl's house party?" Double D frowned, something was definitely fishy.
Eddy shook his head, "no sockhead, we got invited to a girl's house party." His face positively glowing.
Double D shifted back with an uncomfortable grimace. First, it seemed overtly strange that anyone would invite even a single Ed to any kind of get-together - let alone all three of them. Second, from here, Double D could see towards the top that someone had scribbled out a large portion of the cardstock with a different black ink. In front of the scribbling was indeed their names, but in a different handwriting and different pen type.
Eddy pulled the invitation back, slipping it back into his bag and zipped it up.
'Eddy that seems…highly irregular, don't you think?" Double D asked.
Eddy looked back, a smile never wavering from his face. "Nah. Obviously we impressed someone last night with our party trick," he replied, jubilated.
Double D shook his head pointing in the direction of Eddy's bag, "That looks like someone added our names in after writing the note."
"Like I said, we impressed someone," Eddy responded, as if he had the answer ready for that very question. "They probably wanted to give it to someone else but realized we," he pointed to both Ed and Double D then himself. "...Would be more fun."
"But-" Double D started.
Eddy put his hand up, stopping Double D's protesting. "Dude, come on. Can't we at least go see what it's all about? If it's not what we think it is, we can bail, okay?" His face had deflated some, probably caught off by Double D's constant unease at the situation.
Double D relented.
Who am I to ruin his fun?
"Fine, Eddy, we can go look - but I reserve the right to walk away at any time, deal?" Double D responded coolly. In his mind though, the anxiety of the entire situation was almost too much to contain. Not only was he terrified of social situations but the strangeness of the invitation itself did not instill much confidence in the legitimacy of this prospect. Despite all of that, Eddy seemed so happy at the idea of finally being accepted into the school's social circles. Who was he to take that away?
Eddy threw his fist into the air like he'd just won the lottery, "Hell yeah! Let's do this." Then he stood up, snapping his fingers at Ed who had been preoccupied up until this moment. "Okay boys, let operation: Party Catcher commence!" Then he held out both fists to Double D and Ed, inviting them to fist bump him. Ed did so, loving the energy.
Double D hesitated. "Ah right, of course," then he met Eddy's fist with his own, awkwardly.
"Okay, dork. We gotta work on that," Eddy laughed.
Brrng! Brrng! Bong!
Double D froze, realizing that lunch period was over.
Oh wait! I forgot to eat!
Somewhere along the way, Double D had forgotten almost entirely about Marie and the party situation - leaving him to enjoy the rest of his school day. When the final bell had rung and the task of cleaning up his materials passed, however, the feelings of anxiety started up all over again. He pushed it down, instead opting to maneuver his way through the throngs of eager high school students and into the parking lot with little event. That was until he saw a small sticky note stuck to his locker, pulling more anxiety from the depths of his mind. Without even reading it his mind had already created the fearful scenario of Marie Kanker plastering some kind of threat or torment all over the note to scare him.
He froze, hand reaching slowly to remove it from the door. Like time had stopped, he slipped the paper off the locker and into his hand, flipping it over to read whatever horrible contents awaited him. Here it was.
"We'll meet at your house at 7:30, don't be late - Eddy," Double D read aloud. He laughed, dramatically, placing the palm of his free hand to his forehead in embarrassment. He shook his head, trying to free the thoughts of Marie wielding a chainsaw from his mind before making his way outside.
Therapy sounds good right about now.
Boom! Double D recoiled, hand still on the handle of the door. Above the dark clouds of a terrible thunderstorm hung heavy overhead, rain spilling out like a waterfall. It was just then that Double D realized that if Eddy left a note then that means…
Another powerful crack of lightning shot across the sky in wide, white bursts of electric energy.
I have to walk home.
He sighed, watching the clouds with no end in sight for the deluge that assaulted the area.
After almost a half-hour of waiting for the rain to clear, Double D decided that he'd rather take his chances with the rain than potentially run into another Kanker sister. So here he was, trudging through the rain and wind like an Everest hiker scaling great peaks of snow. Even more unfortunate than that: it seemed as though the great thunderstorm was growing stronger and stronger as the minutes passed.
Double D climbed, slipping through the puddle-slicked main road - clothes soaked straight through to the bone. Still nearly a mile left to go before the mouth of the cul-de-sac and he was already more miserable than he'd been in a great long while.
The cold I'm going to catch after this will be horrendous.
Then he heard the sound of tires roll up beside him on the shoulder and honk. The truck beside him was green and ragged, but looked well maintained, if a little aged. Though through the rainwater assaulting his eyes and the fog of the windshield, he couldn't tell who was offering him a ride.
He hesitated, cautious to get in. Once again, the images of an ax-murder or some other unsavory individual flooded his mind. Another crack of lightning cut off his thinking, the wind picking up even more and threatening to throw him off his feet and into the ditch.
Screw it. At this rate I'd rather get killed than suffer this frigid rain any longer.
Double D hopped in, gingerly making sure not to bring too much mud or rain into the cabin of his saviors truck. Then the driver assailed him with handfuls of clean dry towels, tossing them at him and to him as he settled in. Thanking them graciously, he set about the work of drying his face and head with the loaned towels, removing his beanie from his head and drying his hair.
"Ya' know," the driver said. "I don't think I've ever seen you without your beanie on. Looks nice."
The voice was feminine, familiar - toothy as if the owner was smiling widely. Then it hit him like a rogue wave, drowning him in the sudden fear of knowing exactly who that voice belonged to. His heart raced, his mind running a mile a minute as he removed the towel from his face to confront the person he knew was looking at him.
Marie smiled, shifting her leg from the brake to the accelerator, jerking the truck forward.
Oh no, oh no - I'm-
"You're not gonna die, dreamboat. Not gonna hurt you," she sighed, still smiling.
Double D slid back as far as he could get from her on the truck's singular, cushioned bench and scoffed nervously. "F-Forgive me if I have trouble be-believing that," he retorted, eyes wide like a rabbit. He felt trapped.
"Yeah, well," she paused, removing a cigarette from her front pocket. "Believe what you want, but you looked like a drowned rat out there." With trained hands she guided the stick into her mouth and lit the tip with a small match. Swiping the match clear of any smoke she tossed it back into the small half-cabin of her truck and inhaled loudly.
"Still have that ice pack I gave ya, right?" She asked. Her eyes were focused on the road, but she seemed intent on carrying on a conversation.
Double D shook his head, clearing his head to answer calmly. "Y-yes, how do you know?"
Marie looked over just long enough to check his face. "'Cause that bruise looks worse than before, need to bring down the swelling," she answered a-matter-a-factly.
Double D reached out, testing out the edge of the bruise with his index and middle finger. The pain was pretty strong, dull but radiating and he pulled back instinctively.
Wow, it is pretty bad.
"I wouldn't be surprised if Kevin messed up your socket," she replied, watching his display.
Double D focused, brows furrowed in confusion, "how did you-"
"Babe, I'm your worst nightmare, remember? I know everything about you," she laughed, bending her head down to give a mischievously evil look.
Double D froze, barely breathing. Marie shook her head with a smirk.
"I'm messing with you, I saw Kevin's hand earlier and it looked pretty beat up," she chimed in, putting her right index finger to her own temple. "I'm a lot smarter than I look, muffin."
Double D shook his head, opening his mouth to say something. He thought better of it and looked away. He felt calmer, not comfortable, but also not in abject raging terror anymore like he had been before. He reached down into his bag and took out Marie's ice pack from a neatly organized pocket and activated it. Then he placed the now freezing package gingerly to his face and sighed.
Better, cold - but better.
Marie glanced over at him, but said nothing. Instead she smiled a small pleasant smile and finished off her cigarette. After a few more minutes of driving Marie pulled to a stop in front of Double D's house.
"Bus rides over, oven mitt," she smirked.
Double D, still reeling, gave a curt 'thank you' before exiting the vehicle and stepping out onto the street.
Marie yelled to him through her rolled down window, catching his attention just as he was walking away, "Nice to actually talk for once." Then she sped off.
Double D stood stunned, face no longer pelted with the sharp and incessant splashes of rain water. He watched her drive off until the tail lights of her truck turned left and out of sight. Then he went inside, freezing cold and wet - still clutching the ice pack to his face.
It was only after checking his temperature for a fever and taking a nice warm shower that Double D's mind finally slowed down. He sat at his desk, towel wrapped over his head and a pencil in his hand working on a new set of physics assignments. Yet for every one question he solved, two questions about Marie would pop into his head.
Was she always like this? Did she change?
Double D laid back, pushing the headrest of his desk chair back far enough to let him comfortably recline. Mindlessly he read the room, watching the small labels of his various items and reading them out.
Rhopalurus junceus, red scorpion. Latrodectus hesperus, western black widow. Scolopendra heros, giant desert centipede. Orange shirt.
All these names beneath the pale amber glass of preserved insects neatly arranged in a row atop his insect table. Double D paused, standing up from his desk to take the black widow stone off the table and examine it. She was beautiful, at least to him, her wiry black frame suspended in amber-colored glass. He pondered it, the meaning of his eyes landing here specifically.
She is like this black widow, isn't she? Dangerous but…
He shook his head, letting the rest of the sentence fall away into silence. Placing the insect back on her spot on his desk and sat back down - there was still work to do.
Yet the questions still persisted, set aflame with worry and anxiety and uncertainty.
Double D groaned, unable to focus after nearly an hour of trying to make his work go somewhere. He resigned instead to complete the work the following morning and stood up to stretch.
6:45 PM, the clock on his nightstand read.
Almost time.
Fetching himself a nice looking button up shirt, he began the task of picking out his party attire. A distraction seemed appropriate now and it seemed that the only one readily available was the upcoming house party with his friends.
"Perhaps…," he paused quietly, placing a tie against his neck. "A night without study or cleaning would do the mind good?"
No Marie, no Kevin, no menial tasks - just light fun with peers of the same age.
He moved to the bathroom mirror, gently adjusting his clothing with idle hands and a thin smile. Besides the horrible black and purple void of bruised skin latched to his face, he looked altogether pleasant.
"A night on the town sounds good!" Double D chuckled, adjusting his beanie and exiting the bathroom with a springy bob.
The night was cold, the wind chilled further by the sudden rain hours before. House lights blurred between streaks of rain, creating a kaleidoscope of vibrant colors and moonlight. It was so beautiful that Double D had barely noticed the stink of the sickeningly wet carpet squishing between his sneakers.
"Can you freakin' believe this?" Eddy asked, giddy with excitement.
Double D turned his attention from the window and towards Eddy with a ponderous look. "Believe what, Eddy?"
Eddy held an arm out in a dramatic fashion, while the other arm carefully guided the van's steering wheel as he spoke. "This whole thing, sockhead," he exclaimed, putting his hand down. "We're finally going to a party!"
Ed chimed in, cleaning the remnants of a used chip bag off his fingers with his tongue, "will they have food?"
Eddy snapped his head back, looking at the now empty bags of chips laying on the van floor. "Dude! Did you just eat all the snacks for the party?" Eddy scowled, frustrated.
Ed shrugged, picking up an empty bag, "no, there's still a few crumbs in here."
"I'm gonna strangle you," Eddy groaned.
Ed was many things, but malicious was not one. Dumb, friendly, oblivious - for sure, but he always maintained an air of good spirit even when he made a mistake.
"Now, now gentlemen - let's not fight," Double D chimed in, chuckling.
"It won't be a fight if I kill him fir- oh, there it is!"
In the distance, just a few car-lengths away sat the glowing lights of one particularly busy looking house. The house was short, green painted bricks against a black roof and completed with a small white fence. A picturesque home for a quiet little suburb tucked neatly behind the shopping district.
Double D felt the sudden tickling of butterflies running up and down his stomach.
Let's hope everything goes smoothly.
When the van had come to a complete stop at an adjacent curb the three boys hobbled out, a mix of excitement and nervousness filling the air. From even here, a few cars-lengths away from the house the deep throbbing bass of a stereo system could be heard through the October night.
"This seems…," he paused, adjusting his tie. "A little excessive."
"Excessive? More like…incessive?" Eddy retorted, unsure.
Double D trembled, turning his face to look at Eddy - who was combing the few hairs sticking out from his chin. "I don't think that's the word you wanted to use, Eddy," Double D pointed out.
Eddy frowned, rolling his eyes and shifting his Hawaiian-print button down. "Whatever, it should be louder - needs more bang ya know?"
It was then that the smell of roasting meats wafted across the suburb and directly into each of their noses. It was wonderful, like a chorus of savory flavors and barbequed goodness. Even Double D looked to the party, salivating at the thought of eating some delectable food.
"Man, I'm starving," Eddy said, sniffing the air.
Ed leaped forward past his compatriots - nearly knocking them to the ground as he did so. "Meat?!" Ed exclaimed, lips quivering with the desire to consume.
"Whoa, take it easy there lumpy," Eddy soothed, feeling the ravenous intent of a hungry Ed.
Then Ed shot off like a rocket, like a crazed animal moving in for the kill. Double D and Eddy stood dumbfounded, looking back at each other as the living freight train barreled across the street.
"It'll be fine right?" Double D asked.
Then the screaming started, confused and surprised.
"Uh, I don't think so."
The two boys took off towards the house, sprinting across the road and into the backyard of the party. The sight before them was incredible. They stood absolutely outstanded with the level of carnage a hungry man can cause in a few short seconds. Several patrons lay on the ground, their plates emptied by the rabid hands of a certain Ed. Tossed aside was a plate of what had once probably been marinated ribs picked and cleaned off.
Ed stood in the center of the buffet line situated towards the front of the yard, hunched over the table and grunting animalistically.
"Do something, sockhead!" Eddy yelled, panicked.
Double D scoffed, putting a hand on his chest in confusion, "me?!"
Then Ed turned with a mouth full of cleaned rib bones, eyes a strangely unfocused look of desperate hunger. "Hungry…," he groaned, getting down on all fours like a man-beast.
Well this is the scariest thing he's done since Polar Bears and Aliens 2 came out last year.
Double D cleared his throat, moving towards the food-addled Ed with both hands out. "There, there Ed - we can get you some food, but you have to let the rib bones go, okay?"
Ed perked up and grunted, strangely, and spit the bones out onto the ground. "Promise?" He said a look of docility coming over his face.
"Yes, of course Ed, now come away from the buffet table," Double D looked around. "You're scaring everyone."
In that moment the sliding glass door of the house flung open with a shhhhk! Kevin stood in the doorway, head hunched and hands clenched in anger.
"What the hell is-"
He stopped, processing the entire scene unfolding before him. It looked so bad.
"Uh, hey, Kevin," Eddy started, feet already moving back towards the edge of the yard. "There is a very logical explanation for what's-"
"I'm gonna kill you," Kevin said, his eyes a terrifying look of demonic rage.
"Run!" Eddy yelped. Then he took off, making a bee-line straight into the forest adjacent to the house. Double D scrambled away, narrowly escaping Kevin's clawing hands as he did so and after Eddy. Ed too pounced away - instead running off in the opposite direction towards the street and over the fence.
Double D cleared the fence, barely, and slipped down the embankment separating the forest from the road. His heart pounded, his face slick with panic-induced sweat. In the near distance he could hear Kevin's ravenous footsteps slipping around the fence and into the forest behind him.
"Kevin! I can explain! If you just wait-" Double D slid down a steeper hill and rolled.
"You can explain when you're dead, Double-dweeb!" Kevin shouted back.
Double D hoisted himself up, terrified, and sprinted off again - struggling to maintain his footing in the wet soil. It was a slow, awful ascent fraught with constant fear of sliding back down the hill and into Kevin's waiting fists. Finally he made it to the top of the hill, trees covering the region in a thick blanket of yellows and oranges.
"Psst!"
A whisper caught his attention at the base of a particularly tall oak tree and he looked up. In the crux of a larger branch and the trunk of the tree was none-other than Eddy, looking down at him. He was a mess, covered in mud and slicked with sweat and heaving unceremoniously from exhaustion.
"Hurry and get up here!" Eddy whisper-shouted.
In the distance brush rustled, the tell-tale sign of Kevin's signature grunting as he charged right towards them and up the hill. Double D jumped, wasting no time in scaling up the tree with Eddy's hand extended out to help him clear the height.
In the nick of time, Kevin rushed passed - scanning the area for the Eds and panting heavily.
Did he lose us?
"I'll get you!" Kevin yelled to no-one in particular. He shook angrily, his backwards red cap thick with mud and fallen leaves. Then he turned, back off towards the house, leaving one final threat in his wake.
"Wait till I get my hands on you," then he huffed back down the hill.
A long moment passed between Double D and Eddy as they sat on that large tree branch, eyes still watching the direction Kevin went. Just in case. Double D fidgeted on the branch, breaking off a particularly irritating twig and onto the forest floor below.
"I…," Eddy sighed, still panting.
"It'll always be like this, won't it?" Double D asked.
What was the point of all this? Why try, when everyone already dislikes you?
Eddy turned back, looking at his tree-buddy and deflated. The silence felt long, palpable and for several minutes they just sat there and stared out towards the house party they had run from. It looked busy again, filled with happy teenagers getting their fill of cheap soda and what was left of the buffet table. Music blasted from speakers and inaudible conversations passed beneath the crescent moon.
"Parties suck, huh?" Eddy grumbled after a while, still fixated down.
Double D shrugged, placing a hand on his scraped knee and sighed, "maybe just for us."
Eddy frowned at that and turned to look at Double D, his face a mix of anger and sadness. "It's just some bad luck, sockhead, we'll just-"
"No Eddy, I don't want to do this anymore," Double D shot back, feeling frustrated. "I am tired of going along with all these schemes of yours and for what?" He pointed to his black eye as he finished.
"To get knocked out, thrown out of a shopping cart, and chased up a tree?"
Eddy shook his head but said nothing. Instead he simply slid down the branch and onto the ground below and began the descent back towards the road. Double D paused, realizing his error and scrambled down to catch Eddy.
"Wait, Eddy, I didn't-"
"We're losers, Double D - that's how it's always been."
Eddy never stopped - just kept walking towards the street leaving only his words behind as he did so.
"We need to find somewhere to belong - then maybe we can stop running," he said before disappearing behind the undergrowth. Double D followed after him, quietly.
Is there any place like that for us?
The next morning was mostly quiet, a thin overcast of soft clouds hanging over the sleepy town of Peach Creek. In the wake of last night's debacle, Eddy opted to stay home for the day - claiming to be sick. Leaving Ed and Double D to walk the two miles to school in virtual silence, save the quiet rustling of leaves beneath their feet. Ed was already a man of few words, but in the current environment he was like a church mouse, silently slinking about the day with no more than a 'hi'.
Double D felt the waves of the day before in his bones and as he approached his locker, the weight of everything that had occurred crushed him. It was all so much. The revelation of being outcasted by his peer group coupled with the fear of running into Kevin or Marie at every corner was wearing him down. Furthermore, fourth period was near and he knew that on days like this that he would have to eat lunch alone.
Ed hated the cafeteria when the group could not all be there together and so he opted to spend his time alone in the art room during that time instead.
So Double D prepared his bag, silently, before shutting the door to his locker with a thud. Maybe to some a quiet, slow day would be incredibly pleasant. For Double D, though, the lack of the chattering dialogue of his close friends left a hole in his heart and disquieted his mind.
A problem earned is a problem shared. He mulled the thought over with an idle mind, placing his bag over his shoulder.
In the distance, breaking up his thoughts, came the strangely loud sounds of many voices speaking at one. Perking his head up from the fog he found himself in he noticed a group forming in the hallway of the first floor science lab. He strode passed, taking note of the various faces he saw, trying to discern what had gotten everyone so riled up.
"Dude, did you see her?" One boy said, eyes focused towards the center of the mob.
"...no way he said that," spoke a girl towards the outer ring of the group with a stunned expression.
Double D moved closer, trying to get a good look at where the center of attention seemed to be. A curtain of blue, a red cap, a pale yellow streak - all colors but nothing substantial against the tidal wave of excited high school students.
"Take it back!" A feminine voice yelled through the din of hooting and hollering. It seemed so familiar and yet, filled with excess noise as to be unrecognizable. Finally at the edge of the commotion he spotted another flash of blue, only this time it looked like hair.
Wait, is that…?
Marie stepped back, slipping around an arm like that of a trained boxer.
He could see the scene now and his heart raced with anxiety. It was a fight. He pushed forward, eager to get to the bottom of such a clear violation of student protocol and stopped dead at the center.
Kevin was on one end, closest to the classroom door, wiping blood from a split lip off his chin and onto his shirt sleeve. Marie was on the other side, closest to Double D and her back to him - both arms up to her face. She bobbed back and forth, feet never staying in one place and her eyes never leaving her target. Finally in the corner nearest to the wall on Marie's side of the makeshift boxing ring was young May. Her eyes were red, puffy, like she had been crying - hands up to her eyes wiping tears away from her face.
Someone is going to get hurt.
Kevin lunged, speeding fast and trying to catch Marie off-guard. She quickly moved away, clearing him entirely and moving around the circle and to the other side. Her face was tense, more tense than Double D had ever seen her during all her years of tormenting him and it made him nervous.
She stepped back, opening her mouth to yell again, "Take it back, asshole!" Her voice was taut and hoarse, filled with emotions he couldn't quite pick out individually.
Kevin shook his head, pushing forward as he did so, a sneer across his face. "She took it from my bag, I ain't taking shit back."
Marie tightened up, bending her back and covering her stomach with her arms. She was ready to go and once they got started there would be no turning back.
Double D jumped out into the middle of the ring, eyes frantic and hands out. "Enough!" He yelled, louder than he had ever yelled before. "What will fighting solve?"
Marie gasped, the crowd gasped, and Kevin stepped back - slightly stunned. The silence hung thick, like a wave of mist over a rainy day as no one dared speak for those moments of disbelief.
Kevin's eyes narrowed, "You. I still owe you a beating for last night, dork."
Double D frowned, stepping forward between them, hands spread out towards both combatants.
"Butt out, goody-two-shoes," Marie started, eyes hostile and viperous. "He is gonna get what he earned after that little comment about May." She lurched forward, trying to ignore Double D's outstretched hand and close the distance between her and Kevin.
Reflexively he shifted his hand, pushing her shoulder back. She stepped back, stunned - caught off guard by his sudden forcefulness.
"I said, stop!" Double D screamed.
She is going to kill me for that.
Marie's eyes narrowed, switching her target from Kevin to Double D in a split second, face filling with red. May stepped forward, putting her hand on Marie's shoulder with a soothing look. Then she mouthed something Double D couldn't catch and stepped back. Marie huffed, backing down - hands at her sides.
"Fine," She started. "But if he says one more thing about her, I'll-"
"You'll what?!" Kevin bellowed, trying to push past Double D's other outstretched hand, swatting it away.
"What the hell is going on here?!" A male voice commanded, authoritative and loud. A teacher.
In the blink of an eye the crowd around them dispersed, scattering like cockroaches caught stealing. Marie stood stock still, eyes still locked on Kevin. May turned to face the teacher, who was now making a bee-line straight for them. Kevin folded his arms over his chest, casting venomous looks towards both Double D and Marie. And finally Double D removed his hands from their raised positions and stepped back, hopeful that the teacher would take care of this mess.
"Got lucky," Kevin hissed.
"Same to you, muscle-head," Marie retorted.
Double D had never, in his entire life, been subjected to the punishment of detention before. He hated it: the quiet, the strange looks from other associated parties, and the teachers' constant expressions of disapproval.
No matter how much he argued that he hadn't actually been in the fight, the faculty cared little for his pleas. He was a delinquent just like them and needed to be punished for disturbing the student body while school was in session. The system had failed him and he felt more crestfallen now than he had the entirety of the past two days.
On the bright side, nobody got hurt.
From the back row, Double D could see everyone clearly. He took note of Kevin wiping his lip - still piss-mad about the entire situation even hours later.
Well almost no one.
Marie on the other hand he avoided entirely, trying his hardest not to meet her hawk-like gaze as he looked about the room. He knew she was watching him, watching him intently and from what he could tell was waiting for just the right moment to spring on him.
Maybe I shouldn't have said anything.
Brrng! Brrng! Bong!
"Alright, get outta here before you cause more trouble, ya hear?" Said the detention monitor, placing his papers in his bag.
Kevin and a few others shot out the door quickly. Leaving just Marie, May, and Double D left in the room to ponder who would make the first move.
Without much thought, the monitor stood up and left - barely noticing the standoff that was occurring in the back of the room. When he was clearly out of earshot Marie made her move, quickly closing the distance between her and Double D with a slam of her hands on the desk.
Double D jumped, eyes looking up with fear and confusion.
"You wanna explain that little stunt back there?" She hissed. Her eyes were tense, mouth pursed, and knuckles white from exertion.
He grimaced at her outburst and put his hands out fearfully.
"I-I just…I thought-"
"Stop thinking, you skinny little wood stick," she growled. She leaned her face in close to his, putting her face inches from him with a rageful scowl. "I don't need you, or anyone to fight my battles - do you hear me?"
Double D nodded.
Marie pulled back, shaking her head as she did so. "Even after all that nice shit I did for you yesterday you go and throw it away for that steroid pumping jackass," she sneered.
A little fire flickered to life in Double D's mind and he frowned. For the first time in probably ever he felt nothing but anger overtake him. He stood up, quickly knocking the desk chair to the ground with a terrible clatter.
"Nice to me?!" He yelled, putting a finger in her face. "You have never been nice to a single person in your entire life, you blue-haired wombat!"
It was out now, all the pain and anguish and fear bottled up for the last couple days was being uncorked. Marie stepped back, brows furrowed in confusion.
Let her have it! She deserves it!
He slammed his hand down, cracking the table with a loud bam! "Don't you ever look at yourself in the mirror and wonder what kind of awful things made you this way?"
Marie remained silent, face red but entirely unmoving. Stunned.
"Don't pretend you grew conscious overnight, Marie! I am sick of you and people like you pushing everyone around and pretending it doesn't affect them."
"I know who I am, who the hell are you?" Double D finished.
He stepped back, the light behind his eyes giving way to sadness before taking his bag in his hand and dashing out. Surprisingly Marie made no attempt to stop him, instead she simply stood there in place, eyes wide and head down. Once he hit the doorway he took off, running as fast as he could down the hallway and outside to freedom.
After a moment to catch his breath and entirely sure that neither Kanker sister had followed him, he turned to walk home. His mind was scattered, disoriented, only two questions stuck to his mind as he walked.
What's wrong with me? Why would I say any of that?