Chapter 21

The sun had just begun to set when Eddy declared that the boys were finished mulching Mr. Jenkins soil. After an inspection, and his approval, Mr. Jenkins had declared Eddy free of his debt. The boys walked out of the yard for the last time, and headed for a long overdue shower, well at least Double Dee and Eddy.

"Thank God that's over," said Eddy, "Who the hell keeps all of that crap in their yard for all of those years."

"Eddy, you must understand, Mr. Jenkins is a senior citizen, and may not be able to adequately take care of his personal belongs. Thus it is our duty as young, thoughtful citizens to assist him in any way possible."

Double Dee turned to face Eddy and raised his voice slightly.

"And NOT just because they are on punishment."

"Whatever sock head," said Eddy, "Man I freakin' reek of manure and funk, I definitely need a shower."

"I second that notion." said Double Dee

"Plus I need to finish my homework, with that stupid math teacher and his detentions every time I miss an assignment." said Eddy.

"I'm glad to see that you finally have motivation to complete your academic work, even if it's not to get a detention," said Double Dee .

The boys reached the middle of the cul-de-sac and parted ways, each headed to their respective house, with promises to see each other in school the next day.

Double Dee walked into his house and closed the front door. He quickly walked upstairs and went straight into the bathroom, where he promptly warmed the bath water up to a comfortable temperature. After spending around 20 minutes in the shower, ridding himself of the unbearable filth he was forced to endure, he slipped into pajama pants and a white t-shirt, not forgetting to cover his head with his black ski hat.

Double Dee had not had quiet time like this in awhile, after balancing time between Marie and his friends. He thought it would be a good opportunity to return to his studies and to get started on his science fair project; he had entered himself Ed and Eddy without telling his friends only because each group must be three or more students. He knew that he would have no problem doing all of the work.

Although Double Dee was multiplying binomials in his notebook, the only thing his mind could think of was his girlfriend. He wondered what she was doing at the very moment, and if she was thinking of him. His pencil slowly slipped away under his hand, and eventually stopped as he slipped into a day dream.

He was quickly roused, when he heard the familiar sound of the doorbell chimes, which indicated that someone was at the front door. His father had left that afternoon on surprise trip to Guam, and his mother was at the hospital on call. He knew he had to be the one to answer it.

He ran down the stairs and opened the front door. No sooner than he had opened the front door, Double Dee felt a pair of moist lips press themselves against his. He was taken aback until he realized that it was none other than Marie. Marie then placed her arms around Double Dees neck. Double Dee was still dumbstruck by what was happening but couldn't resist doing the same back to her.

After pinning Double Dee to the wall directly next to the stairs, Marie pulled away, grinning into his eyes.

"Hey, handsome," she said in a seductive voice.

"Hello, Marie, this is certainly a surprise," said Double Dee blushing.

"Hey, I said I'll see you sooner than you think." said Marie, as she pressed her lips back into his

"It's been so long since I kissed you like this." said Marie, as she jumped up onto Double Dee, wrapping her legs around his waist, while keeping her arms wrapped around his neck. Double Dee nearly stumbled over with the addition of Marie's weight, while instinctively grabbing her buttocks for extra support; this maneuver embarrassed the naturally shy Double and accordingly caused him to severely blush.

Marie leaned in closely to his ear.

"I really missed it." she said, she then looked down and smiled,

"I can tell you have too." She giggled, as Double Dee began sweating. Marie was being especially amorous this evening, a side of her Double Dee still needed to adjust to.

Marie quickly retouched her lips to his, as the two continued their passionate kiss, with Marie still having her legs wrapped around Double Dees waist .

"Just to make sure, I already checked for your parent's cars, no one's home right?" asked Marie looking at Double Dee.

"No, nobody's home." said Double Dee, astounded that Marie had known what his parents cars looked like, she of course knew this from stalking him for a year and a half.

"Good, then let's go." said Marie

"Go where?" replied Double Dee nervously.

Marie groaned,

"Do I have to do all of the work?" said Marie jokingly as she placed her feet back on the floor.

"Pick me up under my knees and put your other hand under my back."

Double Dee did as she told him to, barely able to hold her weight in his arms.

"Okay, now take me to your room." said Marie.

"What?" said Double Dee nervously

. "Relax Double Dee, I'm not looking for anything too risqué, just a little something more, ya know to turn up the heat a little."

Marie giggled while looking into Double Dees eyes. He felt the warmth of his blushing cheeks more than ever.

Marie jumped down from Double Dees arms and proceeded to walk toward the stairs.

"Are you coming, Double Dee?" asked Marie, in a seductive voice.

With a sigh, Double Dee followed Marie up the stairs to his room. He was extremely nervous at this point, as he had never been in such a predicament. However, he had put all of his trust in Marie, and knew that he could count on her to not make things too extreme.

Marie had beaten Double Dee to his room. When he approached the door, he noticed that it was cracked and the lights were out inside. Double Dees heart was pounding, he couldn't help feeling like he was doing something wrong; yet at the same time, what he was doing felt so right, and he couldn't resist the urge to enter his room.

"Marie, where are you I can't see an inch in front of my face." said Double Dee.

"I'm on your bed." said Marie, "Come join me."

Double Dee, nervous and jittery as ever walked over to his bed and sat down on the edge. Just as he sat down, he felt a leg pass over his hips and before he knew it, Marie was straddling him on the edge of the bed, once again with her arms around his neck. She touched her lips to his.

Reluctantly, Double Dee slowly placed his arms around Maries back. Double Dee had just gotten used to this new way of "expressing emotion" when Marie suddenly pulled him away and shoved him down onto the bed. She promptly laid her body down onto his. She moved her lips onto Double Dees and began kissing him once again.

They were now in an extremely suggestive position, in the dark, in Double Dees bed; although no one was home, Double Dee couldn't help but feel jumpy. Marie took notice to his nervousness.

"Are you okay Double Dee?" she asked, pulling away from him and looking into his eyes. At this time, Double Dees eyes were adjusted to the darkness, and he could see Maries face. In the midst of their moment, Maries hair had been swept out of her right eye, leaving it exposed.

"I am quite fine Marie, I just feel slightly jittery, that is all...I..I have never quite been in this situation before." replied Double Dee.

"Do you want to stop?" asked Marie.

Double Dee looked into Maries face. She was as beautiful as ever, and even though his stomach was filled with butterflies, he had come to a decision.

"Please continue, Marie." he said, smiling up at her.

Marie smiled back down at him, she leaned into his face, barley touching her lips to his. "I think it so sexy that you can still be so polite and proper, even at a moment like this."

Marie said as she thrust her lips back into Double Dees. The couple continued to passionately kiss for a few more minutes, after which Marie slowly pulled away, placing her head on Double Dees shoulder. After a few more minutes of silence, Marie began to speak.

"Double Dee, tell me a funny story." she said playfully.

Double Dee was stunned by her question, he had no idea what to say.

"Whatever do you mean Marie?" he asked.

Marie shifted her head so that she was looking up into his eyes once more.

"Tell me something funny that you did, like an embarrassing moment in your life." She replied.

Double Dee thought about her inquiry for a few minutes. After a few minutes of thinking, he finally came up with a humorous story to tell.

"Well Marie, there was this one time. It was a few days after we had first met you and your sisters. There was an intense heat wave. Ed, Eddy and I were trying to investigate methods of cooling ourselves when we ran into Kevin."

"Who's Kevin again?" asked Marie.

"He is the kid that always wears the red hat and rides the bike." replied Double Dee.

"Oh gotchya." said Marie.

"Well, continuing the story, we ran into Kevin and he informed us that he was attending a sprinkler party along with all of the other kids of the cul-de-sac. Now keep in mind, this is back when we were all hated due to Eddy's anti social behavior, so we Eds were not invited."

"So what happened then?" asked Marie with a smile on her face.

"So then, Eddy decided to take matter into his own hands. He decided that we should attend the party anyway. He took us back to his room, and made us change into these horrifyingly tight speedo swimsuits."

Marie giggled.

"Well, yes it seems quite amusing, but Ed and I could barely move our legs without torturing our private quarters. Eddy, being who he is, naturally thought we looked cool. He led us all to the party, where after a horrible sequence of events, the swimsuits exceeded their tensile strength and managed to tear. We were left standing naked in the middle of the yard."

Marie broke out into solid laughter.

"Damn it!" she yelled jokingly, "Me and my sisters would have died to see that last summer! I know I wish I was there to see you Double Dee".

"Yes, it was quite a predicament," said Double Dee while he blushed at the thought of him standing naked in front of Marie.

"So what did you guys do?" asked Marie.

"We hid in the kiddy pool for hours until everyone had gone inside. We then made our escape under the cover of darkness." said Double Dee.

Marie continued laughing. "I'm sorry cutie." She said, "It's just thinking about that happening to you, and how shy of a person you are. That moment must have been priceless."

While slightly embarrassed about being laughed at over this incident, Double Dee couldn't help but enjoy seeing his girlfriend smiling and having fun. He resist joining in and sharing a laugh with her.

Marie and Double Dee continued their talk for hours, spending the evening together in each others arms in the darkness of Double Dees room.

As the happy couple talked about fun memories from the past, Eddy had just emerged from his peaceful shower into his retro, 70's style room. He stopped at the mirror to check himself out. As he was observing himself, and forming poses, a familiar face appeared next to him.

"Hi Eddy!" said Ed.

"Ed, you idiot!" yelled Eddy, "What are you doing here, I thought you were getting a bath."

"Ah baths are for losers Eddy, everyone knows that." replied Ed as he put Eddy in a headlock.

"I would rather be a loser than have to smell as bad as your pits do now." yelled Eddy as he wrestled out of Ed's headlock.

"Anyway Eddy, can you help me with my math?" asked Ed .

"I don't know how to do that crap, I usually just copy off of Double Dee." said Eddy as he slipped his night shirt over his head.

"Let's go get him," said Eddy, "I'm really not in the mood for a detention after this week."

Eddy began walking toward his door.

"Sounds like a plan, Eddy my man" yelled Ed as he ran after Eddy.

The two boys ran briskly across the street and into Double Dee's yard. They hopped the fence to his backyard and stared up at Double Dees window. Eddy took notice that his light was out

"Damn, the sock heads already in bed." said Eddy.

"Please Eddy, Double Dee has to help us. If he doesn't the teacher will call my mom, then mom will tell dad, and he will say 'not now honey, I had a hard day at work'." yelled a panic stricken Ed. "

Alright geez Lumpy." said Eddy. "Keep your shirt on, for all of our sakes. Give me a boost."

Ed lifted Eddy up onto his shoulders, at which point Eddy grabbed the drain pipe and began climbing up to Double Dees bedroom window. Eddy reached the glass window and looked inside.

"Is Double Dee sleeping Eddy?" Ed said rather quietly

"Nah," Eddy whispered while looking down towards Ed, "He's laying on his bed with some girl."

At those last words, Eddy took a second look into the bedroom. Sure enough Double Dee was lying in bed with a girl. Marie's black hair and different form of dress concealed her identity, as her face was turned away from the window.

"She's real, I don't believe it." said Eddy under his breath. "Ed you gotta see this!" said Eddy as he began climbing down the drain pipe. As he reached the bottom he motioned Ed to keep quiet with his index finger over his mouth, and used his hands to motion Ed up the drain pipe. Ed climbed to the top and peered into the window. After a few seconds, he climbed back down and stood next to Eddy.

"So did you see her?" asked Eddy.

"See who Eddy?" said Ed.

Eddy groaned.

"Never mind Ed." said Eddy, he was slightly infuriated, he began pacing around the yard.

"How does Double Dee, king of the nerds, wind up with a girl in his bed, before I even get a damn kiss."

Ed stood looking dumbfounded as Eddy began pacing around the yard.

"Damn it, this means Kevin wins!" Eddy groaned.

Suddenly a familiar voice rang out

"Kevin what?" said Kevin, as he and Rolf peered over the fence to Double Dees yard.

"Kevin!" Ed yelled, "There's a girl in Double Dees bed.

"Bull," said Kevin as he and Rolf hopped over the fence, "Let me see this for myself."

Kevin walked over to the drain pipe and climbed up. Eddy turned to Ed as Kevin was climbing up the pipe.

"Great." Eddy said quietly, "Thanks to your big mouth, I'm gonna have to pay Kevin."

"My big mouth gladly says you're welcome Eddy."

Eddy turned his attention back to Kevin, who was now looking into the window.

"NO FREAKIN WAY!" Kevin yelled in a breathy whisper, "Dude was getting some action!" he said as he laughed.

"Double Dee Ed boy is basking in the affections of a female in the private quarters. I must see this to believe it." said Rolf.

"It's all yours dude," said Kevin, as he climbed back down the drain pipe. Rolf began ascending the pipe.

"So Eddy," said Kevin, "Let's talk cash."

Eddy sighed.

"All's I have to say is you will have the 10 dollars on Friday." Said Eddy in a less than enthusiastic voice. Kevin snickered.

Rolf had finally reached the window and peered in.

"Hello." said Rolf as he looked in a smiled, "Alas the brainy Ed boy does have a lady friend."

Rolf began descending the pipe, after which he joined the rest of the boys standing in a circle. All of the boys were laughing except Eddy, who was ticked off because Double Dee had a girlfriend, as well as loosing 10 dollars. He had lost two things that were important to him that night, his pride, as well as his money.

"This is great, I didn't think Double Dee had it in him." said Kevin.

"Not so fast," said Eddy, "I want to know who this girl is."

"He already told us dork, her name is Maryanne, remember?" said Kevin.

"I say we follow her when she leaves to find out exactly where she lives. For some reason, I still suspect something." said Eddy.

"Oh come on Eddy, isn't him laying up in bed with her enough proof that she is real." said Kevin.

"I re-bet the 10 bucks, that she isn't named Maryanne, and that she doesn't live in Lemon Brook." said Eddy, desperate to get his money back.

"Dude, just admit that you lost the bet." said Kevin. "What are ya, chicken?" said Eddy as he grinned at Kevin, and began dancing around clucking like a chicken.

"Alright Eddy, if you want to play that way then fine. If she is not who he told us she was , you keep the 10, but if he was telling the truth, you owe me another 10. How does that strike ya?" said Kevin, grinning into Eddy's face.

Eddy remained silent for a few seconds. He didn't want to loose another ten dollars, but it was unbearable to have lost that much money in the first place. Without thinking any more, Eddy stuck out his hand and shook Kevin's.

"Deal." he said smiling at Kevin.

"Short stubby Ed boy keeps digging himself into debt.." said Rolf laughing.

"Eddy, your such a fool dude, you basically just promised me 20 dollars. I mean who else could it possibly be, and why would Double Dee lie about something like that." Kevin began laughing with Rolf.

"Hey it's possible." said Eddy, prompting even more laughter from Kevin and Rolf, Ed eventually joined in.

"Alright, shut up." said Eddy. "Let's all go wait in the bushes out front and wait for her to come out."

The boys all funneled out of the yard and took their places hiding in the bushes near the edge of Double Dees yard.

Meanwhile, inside Double Dees bedroom, the couple had realized that it was half past nine, and it was about time for them to say goodbye again. They were finishing up yet another funny story and were both laughing hysterically.

"So then Lee saw Eddy blushing and sweating, and realized that you guys were playing a trick on us, if he didn't screw up, you might have just wierded us out enough for us to leave you guys alone!" said Marie as she laughed.

"It was reverse, reverse psychology." said Double Dee, snickering.

"Well, I better get going. May told Lee that I got in trouble at school for graffitiing on the girls room wall, and that I had to come back to school after the professional development meeting to clean off all of the walls."

Marie laughed, Double Dee joined in.

"And guess what cutie," Marie said as she wrapped her arms behind Double Dees neck and stared up into his eyes dreamily, "Now that May knows about us, it won't be as hard for me to see you anymore. Lee is going to be out with my mom tomorrow night late, so do you want to come over to the trailer to hang out."

Double Dee answered immediately.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world Marie." said Double Dee.

"Great, May will be there, but she won't get in the way, I promise. I'll be sure of it." said Marie grinning at her last statement.

"That's perfectly fine with me." said Double Dee. The couple gave each other a hug and walked down the stairs towards the front door of the house.

Outside, the boys had been waiting for about twenty minutes when finally they heard the door unlatch. They all perked up to see what was going on. They saw Double Dee and the supposed Maryanne on the stoop staring into each other's eyes. Luckily for the couple, the boys didn't recognize Marie without her blue hair and punk rock style of dress.

"What are they saying?" whispered Eddy.

"I don't know, I can't hear them." replied Kevin.

After a few moments, the couple shared a kiss on the porch, not realizing they were being watched.

"Ooooh way to go Double Dee." said Kevin whispering. Eddy groaned furiously.

The couple gave each other a final hug before Marie began making her way out of Double Dees yard. The boys waited for Double Dee to close the door before they made their move.

"Alright boys, let's do it." said Eddy.

The group of boys briskly followed Marie around the corner and waited peering around the fence as she walked down the cross street.

"See Kevin," said Eddy. "She's not going to Lemon Brook is she? Feel confident now?"

"That don't mean squat," said Kevin, "Let's keep going."

The boys followed Marie as she turned into the construction site, and began walking toward the trailer park.

"Where the hell is she going?" asked Eddy as he looked at his friends puzzled.

The boys continued their pursuit. Inevitably, the pursuit led them to the trailer park where they witnessed the girl who they thought was Maryanne walk right up to the Kankers trailer.

"Kevin," said Eddy, "Is that girl walking into the Kanker's trailer?"

"Yes, yes she is Eddy." said Kevin, looking as dumbstruck as Eddy.

As the girl turned around to close the door behind her, Eddy caught a glimpse of her face. The freckles and the bangs over her right eye gave away her identity.

"Kevin, you won't believe it if I told you." said Eddy.

Just then, the sound of Lee Kankers gruff voice filled the air from inside the trailer.

"It's about time Marie! What were ya doing cleanin the toilets with your armpit hairs?"

"DOUBLE DEE IS DATING MARIE KANKER!" yelled Eddy and Kevin simultaneously

"No it can't be," said Eddy, "We must have followed the wrong girl. Marie has blue hair, and dresses in black. She doesn't take care of herself either, and that girl was pretty cute!"

"Eddy, I hate to break it to ya man, but what we saw was real." said Kevin.

"Oohhh oooh that reminds me." said Ed. "The other night when you asked me to push the wheelbarrow out to the curb, I bumped into Marie Kanker."

"Yeah, and what happened Monobrow?" said Eddy.

"Well she told me to keep quiet and to keep my mouth shut and that she was never there Eddy." said Ed.

It had finally clicked into Eddy's head why Ed had been acting slightly weird that night.

"Oh and guess what else." said Ed while reaching into his jacket pocket. He pulled out the signed picture of Double Dee that he had picked up the same night. "I found this on the ground."

"Give me that." said Eddy snatching the picture out of Ed's hand. All of the boys leaned over Eddy's shoulder and read the handwriting. Surely it was Double Dees writing, and sure enough it said, To Marie, From Edd.

"Ed why didn't you show this to us before!" yelled Eddy.

"I tried to Eddy, but you kept complaining about me not lifting that bag." said Ed.

Eddy groaned.

"I can't believe it. The lipstick stain, she was over his house that night of the carnival before we got there. And now it makes sense where he was coming from the night we bumped into him. Even when we were attacked in the lane, the day I got in trouble, he was acting!" yelled Eddy.

Eddy contemplated for a few minutes

"We have to help him." said Eddy, "We have to figure out a way to get him out of this. She probably has him brainwashed. I can't stand around and watch my friend fall in love with a Kanker. Boys I've got a plan, but for now we'll just play into his little game, and keep watching him, making sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

"Righteous dude." said Kevin, "We can't let this happen."

"We must save Double Dee from the evil clutches of the Kanker sisters!" yelled Ed as he began running toward the trailer. Eddy promptly grabbed him.

"Whoah Whoah Lumpy, not so fast. We have to play it cool and slow." said Eddy.

The boys stood in silence for a few seconds.

"Well, now that we all feel like hurling our guts up knowing that Double Dee had just kissed a Kanker out of his own will, how's about we all go home and get some shut eye?" said Eddy.

"I agree, all of these charades have really tired Rolf." said Rolf.

The boys walked back out of the trailer park and to the middle of the cul-de-sac, all still shocked from the discovery. Eddy realized something as they walked down the sidewalk of the cul-de-sac, and began to grin.

"HA HA! the bet's off Kevin" said Eddy, " She wasn't Maryanne, and she doesn't live in Lemon Brook."

"Fine, no skin off my nose, I don't have to give you anything." said Kevin as he walked down the path of his house.

"Don't be mad Kev," yelled Eddy as he walked towards his front door, laughing and joking with Kevin.

All of the boys bid each other goodnight and prepared for bed. As they were tucking themselves into their beds, Double Dee and Marie were currently doing the same. Within their minds were beautiful thoughts of each other; little did they know that their well-kept secret had been exposed.