"Mom and Dad are right," Eddy sighed to himself. "Sure, I've got time in college to decide on a major, but I don't have ANYTHING I like in school right now? How am I supposed to pick when there's no choices?"
The ringing of his phone disturbed Eddy's thoughts. He dashed to it, and picked it up. "Hello?"
"Hi Eddy."
Eddy gulped Dana! What did Dana want? Sure, they'd talked in school that day, but that didn't mean he wanted to date her again, if that's what she was thinking!
"Oh, hi Dana," Eddy replied.
"Look, I really need help with a project and I was hoping you could aid a friend in need."
Eddy sighed with relief helping with a project wouldn't be so bad!
"Sure, Dana, if you think I can actually help with something school-related."
"You'd be a great help," Dana assured him. "It won't take any brains or anything, just your presence and agreement."
Something was suspicious about this deal, but he figured it couldn't hurt any. "Yeah, okay, I'm in what do I have to do?"
"I need to take pictures of someone for my photography class I know you love to be photographed and all"
Eddy gulped again. "Yeah, sure Dana, that's okay."
"I'm so glad you agreed! I was in a real bind! Ill talk to you later when I have more details, okay?"
"Okay bye."
"Bye!"
Eddy hung up the phone and sighed what had he gotten himself in to? Sure, a photo shoot was cool, but one taken by his ex-girlfriend? There could be some serious problems there.
***********
"Wow, its a beautiful day for the beach!" Edna smiled at Spud.
"Yeah," Spud agreed. The two of them were spread out on a big blue blanket at the beach. The sun was beating down and the water was just the right temperature. But the best part, in Edna's mind, was seeing Spud in his green swim trunks!
"My mom wanted me to stay home and talk to Nazz when she comes," Edna frowned. "But I managed to convince her it wouldn't be the end of the world if I didn't see my least favorite cousin today."
"That's not very nice," Spud laughed.
"Well, all the guys in the cul-de-sac will be drooling over her anyway," Edna sighed. "Its not like she'll have a poor turnout when she gets home."
"Yeah, there was more than one guy waiting around when I arrived," said a sugary voice behind Edna and Spud. Edna rolled her eyes, and Spud smiled.
"Hey Nazz," Spud said. "Why don't you sit down?"
"Just for a minute," Nazz said, sitting next to Spud. Edna shot her a death glare, but she didn't notice. "I've got to go down the shore a ways to meet some friends, but I figured I would say hi to you two first Brian told me you two were here!"
"Dink," Edna muttered under her breath. "Wait til I get home" Nazz looked at Edna, and she smiled thru gritted teeth.
"So how long have you two been going out?" Nazz asked, and Spud blushed.
"Um, a few months now," he said. "Not very long."
"Three months is quite a while when the average couple lifespan is two weeks," Nazz smiled. "Congratulations, you guys. Well, I'd better go find my friends talk to you two later! Ill be here all weekend!"
"Bye," Edna and Spud said as Nazz dashed off. Spud's eyes never left Nazz, and Edna slapped him on the back of his head.
"Ouch," Spud laughed. "What did you do that for?" His smile disappeared when he realized Edna wasn't joking. "Hey, I'm sorry, I was just looking at her."
"Yeah, with your tongue hanging out," Edna spat.
"Shes nice to look at!" Spud exclaimed, and then clasped a hand over his mouth in horror. Edna felt as though she was about to explode, and she jumped up from her spot on the blanket. Spud stood up too.
"Edna, I'm sorry," he apologized.
"Don't tell me you're sorry!" Edna yelled. "I know you're not sorry! You've still liked Nazz all this time, and you weren't man enough to tell me!"
"No, Edna, its not like that at all"
"You can stop lying now, " Edna growled. "I don't want to hear what you've got to say. As far as I'm concerned, we're thru. I can't date a guy who wants to be with someone else."
"But Edna! Wait!" Spud shouted, but Edna was already running away.
***********
Ed doodled in his notebook during study hall Monday afternoon he knew he should be working on his homework, but the assignments were just a jumble to him, making little to no sense at all.
Suddenly, someone moved to the seat in front of Ed, and he looked up to see who it was. May Kanker's familiar big eyes staring down into his. "Hi Big Ed," she said.
Ed blushed. "Uh, hi May," he said, staring down at his notebook.
"I listened to that King Crimson CD you mentioned," May said. "It was really good!"
Ed perked up, and looked at her now, saying, "Yeah! Thats a great CD! Do you know any other good prog CDs?"
May shook her head. "I'm just learning," she replied. "But I found a really good way to discover some more."
"How?" Ed was always looking for a way to discover new things.
May held up two tickets to PowerProg 2000, a big concert with local and nearby prog bands playing to show off their music and sell CDs.
"Wow! Tickets to PowerProg!" Ed exclaimed. "I called Ticketmaster yesterday but they were sold out."
"I got the last two," May grinned.
"Boy, some guy is going to have lots of fun with you there, May," Ed sighed, not taking the hints she was giving. "Take pictures for me, okay?"
"Huh?" May was confused by Ed's own confusion. "I'm not gonna take someone else, I want to take you!"
"Oh, really?" Ed blushed. Sure, the concert would be great, but he didn't know if it would be fair to Penny Lane if he went to a concert with another girl. But, then again, Penny had been out of his life for the last two years. He told himself that he couldn't wait around for her forever, and then spoke again.
"I'd love go to PowerProg with you, May," Ed smiled, and Mays eyes lit up.
"Really, Big Ed? Wow! Ill even drive us there leave right after school on Friday?"
"That's good," Ed nodded. "Well do that."
The study hall bell rang, dismissing the class, and Ed gathered his books and dashed for the door. He had to find Edd and Eddy right away what would they say when they discovered he had a date for PowerProg with May Kanker. And what would Penny have said, Ed had to ask himself. But he tried to push the thoughts of Penny out of his mind and look forward to Friday night.
***********
Megan walked into the classroom with confidence today, she could finally hand in her History report shed been working so hard on! It had taken many strenuous nights but she had finally finished her 5-page report the evening before it was due. With all the research shed done, she hoped she would get an A.
Megan took her usual seat in the front of the room, and rifled thru her folders for the paper. She wanted to look thru it one more time to make sure she hadn't made any mistakes. Suddenly, a gasp escaped her lips, as she found her paper. Each page was splattered with a silvery nail polish streaks of it ran up and down and all across the pages. The report was impossible to read!
Tears welled up in Megans eyes. Who would do such a horrible thing? Now she would get an F for careless work! Her grades were so very important to her, there was no way she could let them slip.
Megan stared down at the paper in horror, unable to look away, until something near her caught her eye. Someone had walked by with nails unmistakably the same color. She whipped her head around, to see Sabrina sitting down a few desks back. Her nails were shiny with silver nail polish. When Sabrina caught her eye, she clasped a hand over her mouth in a small giggle, and then pulled a neat crisp report from her folder.
Megan turned back around, seething with anger. "Sabrinas going to regret this," Megan said quietly thru gritted teeth.
***********
Brian plucked out a familiar bassline, and smiled he had finally mastered it, after many days of intense practicing. Being the youngest person in Dry Rain, he felt he had to work twice as hard to fit in. And some of the songs were very hard! It had taken a lot of his free time, when he wasn't busy hanging out with Johnny and practicing with the football team.
"I guess that's enough practicing for tonight," Brian told himself, putting his cherry red bass back into its gig bag. "I should call Johnny he said he wanted to hang out tonight in school today."
But, before Brian could pick up the phone, he thought he heard noises from across the hall. This could only mean that Edna was home. "She's at home *again*?" Brian asked himself, walking into the hallway and putting an ear to her closed door. Sure enough, footsteps and grumbling were audible.
"She hasn't gone anywhere since her trip to the beach with Spud," Brian whispered, eyes wide. He took a deep breath, and knocked on the door. A few seconds later, Edna opened it.
"What do you want?" she asked impatiently.
Brian smiled. "Calm down I just want to talk to you."
Edna raised an eyebrow. "Okay." She stepped out of the entryway and Brian walked in and sat down on Edna's bed. She closed the door behind him.
"What do you want to talk about?" she asked, averting his concerned gaze.
"Why haven't you been out?" Brian asked.
"Didn't know I was supposed to be," Edna spat.
Brian sighed. "I didn't mean it like that. It's just strange you're always off doing one thing or another, but you've been home the last couple days. Is something wrong? You've haven't said anything about Spud lately."
"Thats cos hes a dink and a liar."
Brian chuckled, and Edna sat down facing him. "Yeah, Spud can be a dink, and sometimes he can be a liar, too but he's neither to you, Edna. He likes you a lot."
"He likes Nazz and I'm just keeping him busy," Edna frowned.
"Not true," Brian laughed. "He hasn't liked Nazz for a long time."
"He doesn't think I'm pretty either," Edna said.
"You're not," Brian said straight-faced.
Edna punched him in the arm. "Brian, you dink!" she yelled.
"Yes, I have one," Brian said, and Edna and he laughed and hugged.
"Dont give up on Spud yet," Brian said, squeezing his sister tightly. "He'll come around. He's a good guy, and he really cares about you."
"I hope you're right," Edna sighed.
***********
"Something got you down, Spud?" Edd asked, putting a hand on his friends shoulder. Another practice of Dry Rain was wrapping up, and Edd was glad to find a spare moment in which he could question his friend. All practice, Spud looked dejected and listless, as though he'd lost his best friend.
Spud looked up at Edd and sighed. "Everything's fine," he mumbled, setting down his drumsticks.
"No, its not," Edd kneeled down. "Something's wrong." Edd hoped Spud would tell him something he tried to be a sympathetic ear to all his friends, although a lot of them didn't take advantage of it. Spud usually wasn't one to share his problems, and Edd sighed, figuring this case would be no different.
Spud surprised him, however, and said, "Edna and I are in a fight."
Edd recalled his discussion with Edna over chemistry homework not so long ago, and nodded. "Go on, Spud."
"There's not much to say," Spud said, standing up and adjusting his trenchcoat. "She thinks I still like Nazz. She thinks I don't care about her."
"You've been going out with her for three months, Spud of course you care about her don't you?"
Spud shoved his hands into his pockets and looked at the ground. For a moment, Edd believed Spud didn't care about Edna after all until he realized Spud had turned a nice shade of crimson.
"Yeah I do. A lot."
Edd smiled. "Well, I think she cares about you too. She'll come around."
"Hey, Double D." Edd's conversation with Spud was disrupted by a voice behind him. Marie was standing there, gesturing for him to come over and talk. Suddenly, Edd remembered he had his *own* problems to worry about as well.
"I'll talk to you later," Edd said, and walked over to Marie. She smiled sweetly at him and pushed a stray lock of hair out of her face. Edd wondered if these gestures were subtle ways of flirting.
"I was wondering if you wanted to go out for a burger or something," Marie asked casually. "I think there's a couple good movies playing at the Cineplex, too we could check one of them out."
Edds eyes grew wide he suddenly knew that everything he'd heard from his friends was true. Marie *did* like him. "I, uh, I cant," he stuttered, feeling incredibly nervous. "I really need to study if I want to keep my grades up"
Marie put a hand on his chest. "Oh, c'mon, you cant be studying *every* night, Double D."
Edd was mortified he had no idea what to say to that.
"Well, I am tonight," he finally replied, edging away. "I'll see you at the next practice, I guess." Edd turned and bolted for the door into his house, and opened and closed it behind him in a flash. "Why did I just do that?!" Edd scolded himself, slapping his forehead. "Marie's not the girl she used to be she's really nice now. I can't keep avoiding her forever"
Edd sighed. He wasn't ready to think about that yet. He trudged upstairs to his room and shut the door quietly behind him. Now that he had turned down the date with Marie, he figured he had better actually study. Dry Rain and his problems with Marie were certainly keeping him busy! There was no way he could let his grades slip he wanted to get into a good college.
He opened his Government textbook, and sighed wearily. "This is what high school is supposed to be a learning experience to prepare you for college," Edd sighed. "So why are there all these girl problems thrown in?"
***********
Wednesday, Eddy found himself somewhere he never thought he would be - in the library. He was sitting at a desk towards the back, surrounded by such titles as What Career is for Me? and A Guide to a Happy and Successful Life. So far, nothing he had read had helped him. Sure, there had been some good tips inside these little-read novels. But nothing in there told Eddy what was right for HIM.
"This is hopeless!" Eddy mumbled to himself, slamming another book shut. He was about to put his head down on the desk, when he was suddenly aware that someone was standing behind him. He craned his neck and looked up to see Lee's crooked smile.
"Heya Eddy," she said. "What's happening?"
Eddy frowned. "What does it look like? I'm reading up on career info."
Lee grabbed a chair and sat down next to Eddy. She read over his shoulder, and the close proximity made Eddy increasingly nervous. "Looks complicated," she said, practically breathing in his ear.
Eddy closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to regain his rapidly decreasing composure. He opened them again, and said, "So, Lee, what have you been up to lately?"
"Oh, not much," she said, edging even closer Eddy could feel Lees curly red hairbrush against him. "I've been busy with football, of course And Marie and May need to be kept under control"
Eddy gritted his teeth he could'nt take it anymore. "Would you please get a LITTLE farther away?!" he exclaimed, and everyone in the library turned to look at him. The librarian gave him a peeved "Shh!", and he blushed a bright crimson.
"Sorry Eddy," she said, backing away, and Eddy was amazed that *Lee Kanker* had actually listened to him! She even looked a tad embarrassed herself!
"Um, don't you have somewhere else to be?" Eddy asked quietly.
Lee sighed. "Yeah, I guess I should get back to class. I just came down here to return a book." Lee stood up and returned her chair to its rightful place.
"See ya later, Eddy," Lee said, and walked away. As soon as she was out of sight, Eddy sighed and rested his head on his desk. Perhaps he had been a little too hard on her. She hadn't been there to do any harm she just wanted to talk.
Eddy sighed. Things sure were complicated! Now, not only did he have to think about a future career, and Dana's photo shoot, but he had to think about Lee too!
***********
It was lunchtime, and the three Eds had once again assembled at their usual table. Eddy was the first to arrive, eager to eat quickly so he'd have time to smoke before fifth hour. He slammed his tray down on the table and quickly began eating.
Edd was the next to arrive, navigating carefully thru the masses of teenagers in the crowded room. He came close to dropping his tray several times, but managed to make it to the table without losing any of his food. He set his tray down gently, and collapsed into his chair, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Man It sure is hard to get to your table sometimes!" he exclaimed. "Anatomy class ran overtime and I knew, when I saw the clock, it was going to be a challenge to make it here with my lunch intact."
"Just eat your food, sockhead," Eddy mumbled.
Edd smirked. "My my, were touchy today, aren't we Eddy?"
Eddy narrowed his eyes. "I'm having a bad day, okay? So piss off"
Edd nodded, and said, "I'm not having such a great day myself."
"I've gotta do something to get my mind off this stupid career thing," Eddy exclaimed. "Its killing me! It's all I think about!"
Edd perked up, and looked around the lunchroom. "Say, where's Ed?" he asked. "I haven't seen him all morning!"
"Big Ed would never miss lunch," Eddy said, looking around as well. "Where IS he?"
Suddenly, Edd and Eddy saw Ed enter the lunchroom. The both gasped, when they saw Ed was talking to May! They looked completely engrossed in conversation, and both were chuckling softly.
"Is this the Twilight Zone or something?" Eddy pondered, eyes wide.
"Something strange is afoot," Edd nodded.
Ed and May went thru the lunch line, still talking to each other, and finally seemed to part ways when she headed off to a table with her sisters, and Ed walked towards Edd and Eddy.
"Uh, hi guys!" Ed grinned, and sat down. He dug into his food eagerly. "Mmm! Gravy!" he chuckled.
"What the hell was that?!" Eddy asked.
"What was what?"
Edd shook his head. "Well, you and May looked very engrossed in each other."
"I don't know what engrossed means, Double D," Ed replied.
"For chrissake, Lumpy, is there something going on between you and May?" Eddy exclaimed, his temper raging.
"You don't need to raise your voice," Ed replied calmly. "May and I are friends. We're going to PowerProg together."
"Ooh, a music festival," Edd grinned. "Sounds like a nice first date!"
Ed looked like he was about to protest, but then he nodded instead. "Yeah Our first date"
"You two will have lots of fun, I'm sure," Edd smiled.
"What do you see in her?!" Eddy raised an eyebrow.
Ed chuckled. "She's changed, Eddy. She's a nice girl now. She doesn't try to kiss me or attack me anymore. Now, we talk about music and school especially prog and her film class!"
Edd was intrigued. "Film class?" he questioned. "I heard about that"
"Yeah, she's taking a film class sixth hour," Ed replied. "She says they have to get into groups and make a movie! She is doing hers with Marie and Lee."
Eddys eyes lit up. "THATS IT!" he exclaimed happily. "THAT'S what we can do to get my mind off of the stupid career stuff! We can make a movie, and charge the kids at Peach Creek High to see it! I mean, cmon, when was the last time we tried a good scam?"
"The school carnival last year," Edd rolled his eyes. "Now THAT was a disaster."
"It would have worked if Lumpy here hadn't knocked down the makeshift stage!" Eddy glared at Ed.
"Sorry guys," Ed chuckled.
"Or no!" Eddy exclaimed, and it was clear he was on an idea roll. "Lets not make a movie Lets make a music video! Of Dry Rain!"
"That would be terrific!" Edd's eyes were shining. "We could use the publicity!"
"And well put it on videotape and sell it at the Homecoming Dance!" Eddy winked.
"Now, I don't think I can argue with that idea," Edd smiled. "What do you think, Ed?"
Ed gave Edd and Eddy a thumbs-up. "All systems gravy," he grinned.
***********
That evening, Marie Kanker was spread out contentedly on the couch, watching TV and daydreaming about Edd. She sighed happily, thinking about how much fun it was to sing in Dry Rain she could be close to him several days a week! She couldn't help but reflect on how cute his little goatee was, and his three hairs always looked so soft. Shed always wanted to touch his hair but she knew she couldn't yet if she was patient, perhaps she would soon have him wrapped around her little finger.
"I'll ask him out again," she smiled. "And maybe THIS time hell agree. He can be mine I just have to try a little harder. Maybe he needs me to be more aggressive."
And if only she could see him shirtless! She giggled, because she suspected there was a wonderful body under that reddish-orange shirt!
"Marie, are you talking to yourself again?" yelled a voice from the kitchen. Marie groaned Lee had terrific hearing.
"You're dreaming, Lee," Marie yelled back.
"Quit talking about your beloved Double D!" May snickered from the hallway. She bounced into the room and plopped down on the couch, right on top of Marie's feet.
"Hey!" she exclaimed angrily. "Go sit somewhere else! I was here first!"
"I want the couch," May replied. "And besides, you can't deny it we know you're thinking about Double D!"
"As if you should talk!" Marie replied. "I know every spare moment you're wishing you could get inside that trenchcoat of Ed's!" May blushed, and Marie sniggered.
"Are you girls fighting again?!" Lee yelled.
"Yeah, were deciding whether May or me should get Eddy!" Marie replied, and May burst out laughing.
"You'd better be joking!" Lee raced into the living room, and Marie and May were in stitches.
"Oh yeah," May said between laughing fits. "We want Eddy so BAD!!"
"Shut up," Lee frowned. "So what if I like Eddy?! H'es cute, he's a rebel, and he's gonna be my date to the Homecoming Dance!"
This caused Marie and May to laugh even harder. "He is?" Marie asked.
"Well, I haven't asked him yet," Lee blushed. "But I'm gonna! And he's gonna say yes!"
"Good luck!" May replied, and Lee stormed out of the room angrily. May and Marie stopped laughing a few minutes later.
"That's funny," Marie said, wiping tears from her eyes. "But the couch is still mine."
"Oh not its not!" May replied, and the temporary harmony between them was broken, as they continued their fight for the couch.
***********
It was three AM, and Ed couldn't sleep. He had been tossing and turning in his bed all night, but just couldn't get comfy. "This is hopeless," Ed sighed. He knew in his heart the real reason he couldn't sleep, and it was definitely not a comfort issue.
Yawning, Ed sat up and stretched. He stood up, scratched his back, and walked towards his closet. Kneeling, he opened the door and pulled out the familiar box the one he had only recently broken. "Penny Lane," Ed whispered, as he pulled out the photograph of him with his young love.
"Penny," Ed sighed. "I don't know what to do. I miss you so much, but May has tickets for PowerProg and I cant pass it up. Besides, she's a nice girl and she's fun to talk to. But she's not you. I want to wait for you to come home, but I need to find new girls. I ca't wait for you forever."
A tear slid down Eds cheek, and dropped off his chin. It splattered on the frame, and Ed wiped it off with his thumb. "I'm sorry, Penny Lane," he said. "I miss you but I have to try and move on."
***********
Eddy crept back to his usual smoking spot, Thursday after lunch. "Please God," he whispered to himself. "Don't let Lee be there!" He poked his head around the corner of the shed and was relieved to see no one was there. He sighed with relief, but tensed up again when he heard a sound from behind him.
"What did I tell you about smoking?" Lee asked, and Eddy whipped around to face her.
"Why do you follow me here?" he snapped, running a hand thru his hair. "All I want to do is have a smoke"
"I just wanted to ask you something," she said, frowning, and Eddy suddenly felt guilty for yelling at her.
"Okay, shoot."
"Will you go to the Homecoming Dance with me?"
Eddy was so shocked he almost dropped his smokes. "Hell no!" he replied, laughing.
"Why not?" she asked, and Eddy laughed even harder.
"Well, you're You! You've been harassing me since we were preteens! Why would I go to a dance with you?" Eddy leaned against the wall and reached into his pocket for his cigarettes, but as he did, he glanced over at Lee. He couldn't see her eyes, but he imagined they looked pretty sad right now. He almost felt like apologizing, but Lee was already walking away so he decided against it.
"Well, at least I was honest," Eddy said, taking out a cigarette and lighting it.
***********
Edd was feeling pretty satisfied with everything Dry Rain was really coming together, and he had been jotting down ideas for the music video all week. They decided they were going to use Anthem for the Year 2000 as the song for this video, and Eddy was going to charge $5 a tape.
"Everybodys gonna want a Dry Rain video!" Eddy had promised Edd earlier, and he smiled at the thought. It was going to be great publicity for the band!
At the end of Dry Rains practice that day, Edd told his bandmates about the video, and all three agreed it was a great idea. They decided that the filming would take place on Sunday, which was perfect that's when Eddy and Ed had wanted to do it anyway. Saturday was completely out Eddy had said that he had other plans
"I feel so famous!" Brian joked.
After that, Edd told everyone that practice was finished, and he put his guitar back in the case. As he zipped up the side, he couldn?t' help but feel that someone was standing behind him. He silently hoped it wasn't Marie, but out of the corner of his eye, he could see a wisp of her familiar blue hair.
Edd sighed, straightened up, and turned around. "Hey Marie!" he said nervously,averting her gaze. "Um, what's up?"
"Not much," she replied, and she clearly looked nervous too! Edd looked over her shoulder at Brian and Spud, hoping they might notice and take pity on him. But, the two of them were engrossed in conversation and walking off down his driveway. There was nowhere he could turn he was going to have to face Marie this time.
"I was just wondering" Marie began, bravely looking up at Edd. "Um, I was wondering if you would go to the Homecoming Dance with me."
Edd turned beet red and tried to tear himself from her gaze. But, for some reason, he couldn't stop looking at her eyes. And for the first time, he wondered if an evening with Marie would really be so bad. After all, they were in a band together and got along well during the practices. She would wave at him or say hi occasionally at school. It seemed that she had changed a lot since their days of tearing around the cul-de-sac!
"Heh heh" Edd tried to compose himself. "That would be nice, Marie. I'd be glad to go with you!"
"Oh, really?" Marie looked surprised. "Great! I guess we can work out the details later I've got to go home now, I promised Lee and May I would cook tonight."
"Cool see you later!" Edd waved and turned to go into his house.
"Bye!" she said behind him, and he smiled as he walked inside. He sighed with amusement as he closed the door behind him.
"So I'm going to the Homecoming Dance with Marie Kanker! Who'd have thought?"
"It makes sense though," he continued quietly to himself as he walked into the kitchen to read the latest sticky-notes from his parents and grab something for dinner. "She's a nice girl, were friends And besides, who else would be asking me? I mean I guess I'm still friends with Megan and Sabrina - but they don't have any interest in me anymore, or what we had together"
***********
"Are you *sure* it wasn't a little foolish to destroy Megan's paper?" Leo asked Sabrina quietly. The couple was walking down the hallway after lunch, to their lockers, and Sabrina had just now told Leo the story of her act of revenge.
"You don't even know that she mentioned her good grade in front of you on purpose!" Leo continued. "It doesn't make sense to"
"I know you're jealous of Double D," Sabrina said, giggling. "But you don't have to be. Its all in the past we had a thing and it ended."
"I'm not jealous of Double D" Leo began, but sighed and dropped the subject instead.
"Oh, by the way, I got you a little something!" Sabrina winked. "Its in my locker" She reached down and fiddled with the combination on her locker, but to her surprise, it was unlocked!
"That's weird" she said, opening the door. She gasped, when she saw the mess her locker had become. Sabrina *always* kept her locker clean, but it looked like a tornado had whirled thru. Everything was scattered. Notebooks were ripped apart, pages stuffed in every crevice. Pencils were broken and stuck out of the mess awkwardly. Her peach lotion was covering everything, the bottle lying on the bottom shelf empty. The pictures she had tacked up were ripped or drenched in peach cream, except for one that was in perfect condition one that hadn't been there before.
Sabrina ripped the picture from her locker and stared at it, tears of anger running down her face. It was a picture of Megan and Double D together, from when they were dating, and they looked about as happy as two kids could.
"Okay now THAT was intentional. Believe me now?" Sabrina asked, ripping up the picture.
Leo sighed. "Yes, I believe you."
"Megan is so dead," Sabrina growled.
***********
By her last hour Photography class, Dana was so excited she could hardly sit still. All day, she had been thinking about her photo shoot with Eddy and how she was going to get him back. She was one of the first ones into the classroom (that was unusual!) and took her seat quickly. She had already begun writing down ideas of poses for Eddy, and she opened her notebook and jotted down a few more, giggling. Soon after, the bell rang, and all the students took their seats.
"Good afternoon, class," said Mrs. Brandt, the Photography teacher. "As you know, your roll of film must be completed and ready for developing on Monday"
Dana began daydreaming, and blocked out Mrs. Brandt and the rest of her class Saturday was the big day, and she had already imagined many possible scenarios a few bad, but most good. She had decided that asking him to date again right away might scare him off, but maybe she could ask him to the Homecoming Dance, and see where it would go from there!
"Mrs. Darley!" Dana was shocked back into reality, and stared at Mrs. Brandt blankly. "Are you paying attention?"
"Yes," Dana grumbled, and as soon as the focus was off her, she was back into a daydream again.
***********
Brian plucked out the final notes of Anthem for the Year 2000 that evening, and smiled, satisfied with his practice. He wanted to have this song perfect for the music video shoot on Sunday. He sighed - he felt he had to work twice as hard because he was the youngest in the band by two years.
"I hope everything goes well," he muttered, as the phone rang. He figured Edna or his parents would get it, and put his bass carefully back in its case.
"Yoo hoo! Its for you, Squirt!" Edna called from outside his door. Brian groaned, and opened the door suddenly, surprising his sister.
"Don't call me Squirt," Brian punched his sister in the arm. "Who is it?"
"Ouch!" she giggled. "I don't know who it is some girl."
Brian blushed and grinned. "A girl called me? Um, okay"
Brian took the phone from Edna's hands and shut the door again. He could her laughing outside the door. Brian put the phone to his ear, and said, "Hello?"
"Hellay," said a voice that was female but even lower than Edna's.
"Um, hi," Brian said, recognizing her. "Is this The Morg from sixth hour?"
"Yeah," she replied. "Um I was wondering if you wanted to go to the Homecoming Dance with me?" She sounded really nervous, and Brian blushed.
"Sure!" he finally replied. "But why do you want to go with me? Especially after what happened with Sheet and the football players" Brian had been thoroughly humiliated a few days ago, when, as a joke, several of the football players had gotten a hold of Sheet (with Edna's help) and brought her to Brian's sixth hour class and paraded her around the room. Brian had figured he'd NEVER get a date after that.
"Bah, those football players are just asses. I have a blankie too."
Brian chuckled. "Well, okay I would love to go to the dance with you."
"Great!" The Morg replied. "I, uh, guess Ill talk to you in class tomorrow."
"Yep," Brian said and turned off the phone. As soon as he did, his bedroom door burst open and Edna came running in.
"What happened?!" she asked, nudging him with her elbow.
"I got a date to the Homecoming Dance," he replied, sticking his tongue out at her.
"Congratulations," she laughed. "At least you're going."
"You're not going?" Brian raised an eyebrow. "Just because of your fight with Spud, you're going to stay home. That's not like you you're always the life of the party."
Edna looked that the floor. "Yeah, well, maybe I don't want to be the life of the party right now." With that, she shuffled out of the room, closing the door behind her.
Brian sighed, and sat down on his bed. "Oh well, at least I got a date to the dance," he smiled.
***********
"Well, here we are!" Ed smiled over at May. It was Saturday night, and he and May had just pulled into the parking lot at the large building where PowerProg was held. He parked the car (and did a half-decent job of it this time) and they both got out and walked towards the building. As they did, Ed reflected on how well the evening was going already. The ride there had been pleasant May and he had discussed prog bands and events at school on the way, and Ed was impressed that May had dressed up slightly, as though this were a real date. He had just worn his regular clothes!
"Got your tickets?" Ed asked, and May nodded, as they handed them over, got their hands stamped, and entered the building.
"Its gonna start in five minutes so wed better hurry and find a good seat!" May exclaimed, and took Ed's hand. At first, he was surprised by her gesture, but then smiled and let himself be dragged into the large auditorium area where the concert was. The building was almost full, but Ed spied some seats towards the front. May and he raced down and snatched the seats before anyone else could.
"Wow, were gonna have a great view!" Ed exclaimed happily, and May nodded. Suddenly, the lights dimmed, and May squealed with excitement.
"Its starting!" she exclaimed, and grabbed Ed's hand again. He blushed, and began sweating, but May didn't seem to notice. As the concert went on, though, Ed got used to the contact, and after a particularly loud and heavy song faded into a quieter and more romantic one, Ed got up the courage to put his arm around her. She looked ecstatic when he did so, and Ed couldn't help but smile.
When the final group finished, there was a long standing ovation, and May and Ed were the most enthusiastic clappers. "What a great show!" May exclaimed, her eyes sparkling. "That was so much fun I hope we can do it again sometime!"
Ed felt a twinge of guilt as he thought of Penny Lane and the concerts he had attended with her, but tried to push it out of his mind. "Yeah!" he agreed.
"Say" May twiddled her thumbs and looked up at Ed nervously. "Maybe we could go to the Homecoming Dance together?"
Ed grinned. "Sure, May! That would be a lot of fun!"
"You mean it, Big Ed?"
"Of course." Ed took Mays hand and they walked out of the auditorium together, all feelings of guilt temporarily forgotten.
***********
Eddy ran the comb thru his hair a final time, and checked himself over in the mirror. He wanted to be absolutely perfect for this after all, Dana's grade did depend on it! Not to mention, Eddy was excited to have a roll of film taken of just him! "I guess its my devilish good looks," he said, and struck a pose.
The doorbell rang, and Eddy yelped. "Why am I nervous?" he asked himself, and mquickly regained his composure. "It's just a photo shoot with an old girlfriend." He opened the front door, and smiled at Dana.
"Hey Eddy," she said, and held up her fancy camera. "You ready?"
Eddy nodded, and gulped nervously.
"Um Are you going to invite me in?" she asked, and Eddy blushed.
"Of course!" He moved out of the way and Dana entered. "Um, where are we gonna start? We should get going"
"Calm down," she laughed. "I'm in no hurry are you?"
"Um, I guess not."
"Good." Dana smiled, and looked around Eddys living room. "Wow, it's been so long since I've been in your house! This is a great place for taking pictures Lots of good backgrounds! Lets start in here."
So, it went on like this for about an hour (with only one cigarette break) Dana found places and poses for Eddy and he pretty much did as he was told. Dana assured him that these were the most flattering to his face and figure, and he hoped she was telling the truth! But, it wasn't easy work for him, and he hoped her roll was almost out. Aside from the work, he felt unusually uncomfortable around him he wasn't sure if her efforts were unromantic after all.
"Okay, I've just got one picture left," Dana said, and Eddy sighed with relief. "Why don't I get one of you on your bed?"
Eddy nodded in agreement, and climbed onto his bed. He posed as instructed, and Dana adjusted the lens.
"No Wait, I've gotta get closer." Dana climbed onto the bed with him, and Eddy began to sweat. She stood up above him, and told him to smile. Eddy forced one onto his lips, and she took the picture. "Okay, that's it!" she said, and sat down next to him on the bed. "You were a great subject thanks for helping me out!"
"Oh, it was no trouble at all," Eddy replied, and nearly yelped again as Dana scooted closer to him she was almost on his lap now!
"Dana, maybe you should" But Eddy was cut off, because in an instant, Dana had grabbed Eddy by the shoulders and pinned him to the mattress.
"What are you doing?!" he exclaimed.
"Sorry, I don't know what came over me," Dana smirked. "Listen how would you like to be my date to the Homecoming Dance?"
Eddy was terrified how had he gotten into this situation! Most of the time, he would have taken advantage of such a situation but he didn't want to get involved with Dana again! He had to think quickly
"Um, I would, but I can't," Eddy replied. "I'm" A thought struck him, and it almost made him cry, but he knew it was the easiest method of escape. "I'm going with Lee Kanker."
Dana chuckled. "Yeah right."
"I really am!" Eddy exclaimed. "She asked me and I told her yes. It would be rude to change my plans now!"
Dana sighed, and released her grip on Eddy. "Whatever," she said, standing up, and Eddy could tell he'd hurt her feelings.
"'I'm sorry, Dana but I cant change my plans, not even for my ex-girlfriend."
"Yeah yeah well, thanks for letting me take the pictures," she said, heading for the door. She opened it, stepped outside, and closed it swiftly.
"Oh, man did I really just do that?" Eddy buried his face in his hands now, not only had he messed up his friendship with Dana, but he had set himself up for an evening of laughter and merriment with Lee.
***********
Bright and early on Sunday morning, Edd was waiting on his front step, for the rest of the crew to arrive. "What a beautiful day!" he exclaimed, looking up at the cloudless sky. "I couldn't have asked for better weather!"
"Heya Double D!" said a familiar voice in front of him. Edd smiled and waved at Johnny, who was walking by briskly, with a Walkman in his hand. Johnny paused and removed his headphones.
"How have you been, Johnny?" Edd asked.
Johnny smiled. "Pretty good! I got the lead part in PCHs fall production!"
"That's excellent!" Edd smiled. "Congratulations and only as a sophomore! You're going to go far, that's for sure!"
"Thanks, Double D," Johnny grinned. "Well, Id better go, see ya!" Johnny continued down the street, and Edd watched him leave. A familiar piece of wood was sticking up slightly from Johnny's backpack. Edd chuckled at the memory of their crazy antics with Plank.
"Double D!" yelled Eddy, who was running from down the street. "Am I late?" he asked, when he arrived in Edd's yard.
"You're the first one here, actually," Edd replied. "But I think that's Spud and Brian down the street." Sure enough, Spud and Brian were growing closer, and then they saw Ed leave his house as well.
"Glad you could make it!" Edd exclaimed when the four of them arrived. "All we need is Marie and well be ready to begin!"
"Present!" said Marie, and the five boys turned to face Marie, along with Lee and May. "My sisters came with to support us," Marie explained. "I hope that's okay."
"Uh, its fine," Edd replied, clearly surprised. "As long as they're not in the way or anything"
"Lets go make a video, guys!" Ed grinned, and everyone cheered.
"Wait a sec," Eddy said, as everyone was heading into the garage. "I, uh, have to talk to Lee for a minute. So, go and get ready, and I'll be there in a minute."
Ed and Edd stared at him with a mixture of confusion and amusement, but did as they were told and walked into the garage, with Spud, Brian, Marie, and May following.
Lee walked up next to Eddy, once again standing a little too close for comfort. Eddy swallowed nervously he knew what he had to do, but it wasn't going to be easy.
"Whats up, sugar?" Lee asked, and Eddy gulped. It was now or never he had to make what he had told Dana the night before the truth.
"I changed my mind," Eddy told her. "About, uh, what you asked."
Lee blushed. "You mean, you're gonna take me to the Homecoming Dance?"
Eddy distanced himself from Lee. "Yes, I'll take you to the stupid Dance happy now?"
"You bet, sugar," Lee said, and kissed Eddy on the cheek before dashing into the garage.
"Auugh!" Eddy shrieked, trying to wipe the ruby-red lip imprint from his cheek. But, after she was out of earshot, he chuckled at her display of affection. "Maybe it won't be so bad," he whispered to himself, and smiled. And with that, he walked back into the garage, because as Ed had said, it was time to make a movie.
~~~ To Be Continued ~~~
The ringing of his phone disturbed Eddy's thoughts. He dashed to it, and picked it up. "Hello?"
"Hi Eddy."
Eddy gulped Dana! What did Dana want? Sure, they'd talked in school that day, but that didn't mean he wanted to date her again, if that's what she was thinking!
"Oh, hi Dana," Eddy replied.
"Look, I really need help with a project and I was hoping you could aid a friend in need."
Eddy sighed with relief helping with a project wouldn't be so bad!
"Sure, Dana, if you think I can actually help with something school-related."
"You'd be a great help," Dana assured him. "It won't take any brains or anything, just your presence and agreement."
Something was suspicious about this deal, but he figured it couldn't hurt any. "Yeah, okay, I'm in what do I have to do?"
"I need to take pictures of someone for my photography class I know you love to be photographed and all"
Eddy gulped again. "Yeah, sure Dana, that's okay."
"I'm so glad you agreed! I was in a real bind! Ill talk to you later when I have more details, okay?"
"Okay bye."
"Bye!"
Eddy hung up the phone and sighed what had he gotten himself in to? Sure, a photo shoot was cool, but one taken by his ex-girlfriend? There could be some serious problems there.
***********
"Wow, its a beautiful day for the beach!" Edna smiled at Spud.
"Yeah," Spud agreed. The two of them were spread out on a big blue blanket at the beach. The sun was beating down and the water was just the right temperature. But the best part, in Edna's mind, was seeing Spud in his green swim trunks!
"My mom wanted me to stay home and talk to Nazz when she comes," Edna frowned. "But I managed to convince her it wouldn't be the end of the world if I didn't see my least favorite cousin today."
"That's not very nice," Spud laughed.
"Well, all the guys in the cul-de-sac will be drooling over her anyway," Edna sighed. "Its not like she'll have a poor turnout when she gets home."
"Yeah, there was more than one guy waiting around when I arrived," said a sugary voice behind Edna and Spud. Edna rolled her eyes, and Spud smiled.
"Hey Nazz," Spud said. "Why don't you sit down?"
"Just for a minute," Nazz said, sitting next to Spud. Edna shot her a death glare, but she didn't notice. "I've got to go down the shore a ways to meet some friends, but I figured I would say hi to you two first Brian told me you two were here!"
"Dink," Edna muttered under her breath. "Wait til I get home" Nazz looked at Edna, and she smiled thru gritted teeth.
"So how long have you two been going out?" Nazz asked, and Spud blushed.
"Um, a few months now," he said. "Not very long."
"Three months is quite a while when the average couple lifespan is two weeks," Nazz smiled. "Congratulations, you guys. Well, I'd better go find my friends talk to you two later! Ill be here all weekend!"
"Bye," Edna and Spud said as Nazz dashed off. Spud's eyes never left Nazz, and Edna slapped him on the back of his head.
"Ouch," Spud laughed. "What did you do that for?" His smile disappeared when he realized Edna wasn't joking. "Hey, I'm sorry, I was just looking at her."
"Yeah, with your tongue hanging out," Edna spat.
"Shes nice to look at!" Spud exclaimed, and then clasped a hand over his mouth in horror. Edna felt as though she was about to explode, and she jumped up from her spot on the blanket. Spud stood up too.
"Edna, I'm sorry," he apologized.
"Don't tell me you're sorry!" Edna yelled. "I know you're not sorry! You've still liked Nazz all this time, and you weren't man enough to tell me!"
"No, Edna, its not like that at all"
"You can stop lying now, " Edna growled. "I don't want to hear what you've got to say. As far as I'm concerned, we're thru. I can't date a guy who wants to be with someone else."
"But Edna! Wait!" Spud shouted, but Edna was already running away.
***********
Ed doodled in his notebook during study hall Monday afternoon he knew he should be working on his homework, but the assignments were just a jumble to him, making little to no sense at all.
Suddenly, someone moved to the seat in front of Ed, and he looked up to see who it was. May Kanker's familiar big eyes staring down into his. "Hi Big Ed," she said.
Ed blushed. "Uh, hi May," he said, staring down at his notebook.
"I listened to that King Crimson CD you mentioned," May said. "It was really good!"
Ed perked up, and looked at her now, saying, "Yeah! Thats a great CD! Do you know any other good prog CDs?"
May shook her head. "I'm just learning," she replied. "But I found a really good way to discover some more."
"How?" Ed was always looking for a way to discover new things.
May held up two tickets to PowerProg 2000, a big concert with local and nearby prog bands playing to show off their music and sell CDs.
"Wow! Tickets to PowerProg!" Ed exclaimed. "I called Ticketmaster yesterday but they were sold out."
"I got the last two," May grinned.
"Boy, some guy is going to have lots of fun with you there, May," Ed sighed, not taking the hints she was giving. "Take pictures for me, okay?"
"Huh?" May was confused by Ed's own confusion. "I'm not gonna take someone else, I want to take you!"
"Oh, really?" Ed blushed. Sure, the concert would be great, but he didn't know if it would be fair to Penny Lane if he went to a concert with another girl. But, then again, Penny had been out of his life for the last two years. He told himself that he couldn't wait around for her forever, and then spoke again.
"I'd love go to PowerProg with you, May," Ed smiled, and Mays eyes lit up.
"Really, Big Ed? Wow! Ill even drive us there leave right after school on Friday?"
"That's good," Ed nodded. "Well do that."
The study hall bell rang, dismissing the class, and Ed gathered his books and dashed for the door. He had to find Edd and Eddy right away what would they say when they discovered he had a date for PowerProg with May Kanker. And what would Penny have said, Ed had to ask himself. But he tried to push the thoughts of Penny out of his mind and look forward to Friday night.
***********
Megan walked into the classroom with confidence today, she could finally hand in her History report shed been working so hard on! It had taken many strenuous nights but she had finally finished her 5-page report the evening before it was due. With all the research shed done, she hoped she would get an A.
Megan took her usual seat in the front of the room, and rifled thru her folders for the paper. She wanted to look thru it one more time to make sure she hadn't made any mistakes. Suddenly, a gasp escaped her lips, as she found her paper. Each page was splattered with a silvery nail polish streaks of it ran up and down and all across the pages. The report was impossible to read!
Tears welled up in Megans eyes. Who would do such a horrible thing? Now she would get an F for careless work! Her grades were so very important to her, there was no way she could let them slip.
Megan stared down at the paper in horror, unable to look away, until something near her caught her eye. Someone had walked by with nails unmistakably the same color. She whipped her head around, to see Sabrina sitting down a few desks back. Her nails were shiny with silver nail polish. When Sabrina caught her eye, she clasped a hand over her mouth in a small giggle, and then pulled a neat crisp report from her folder.
Megan turned back around, seething with anger. "Sabrinas going to regret this," Megan said quietly thru gritted teeth.
***********
Brian plucked out a familiar bassline, and smiled he had finally mastered it, after many days of intense practicing. Being the youngest person in Dry Rain, he felt he had to work twice as hard to fit in. And some of the songs were very hard! It had taken a lot of his free time, when he wasn't busy hanging out with Johnny and practicing with the football team.
"I guess that's enough practicing for tonight," Brian told himself, putting his cherry red bass back into its gig bag. "I should call Johnny he said he wanted to hang out tonight in school today."
But, before Brian could pick up the phone, he thought he heard noises from across the hall. This could only mean that Edna was home. "She's at home *again*?" Brian asked himself, walking into the hallway and putting an ear to her closed door. Sure enough, footsteps and grumbling were audible.
"She hasn't gone anywhere since her trip to the beach with Spud," Brian whispered, eyes wide. He took a deep breath, and knocked on the door. A few seconds later, Edna opened it.
"What do you want?" she asked impatiently.
Brian smiled. "Calm down I just want to talk to you."
Edna raised an eyebrow. "Okay." She stepped out of the entryway and Brian walked in and sat down on Edna's bed. She closed the door behind him.
"What do you want to talk about?" she asked, averting his concerned gaze.
"Why haven't you been out?" Brian asked.
"Didn't know I was supposed to be," Edna spat.
Brian sighed. "I didn't mean it like that. It's just strange you're always off doing one thing or another, but you've been home the last couple days. Is something wrong? You've haven't said anything about Spud lately."
"Thats cos hes a dink and a liar."
Brian chuckled, and Edna sat down facing him. "Yeah, Spud can be a dink, and sometimes he can be a liar, too but he's neither to you, Edna. He likes you a lot."
"He likes Nazz and I'm just keeping him busy," Edna frowned.
"Not true," Brian laughed. "He hasn't liked Nazz for a long time."
"He doesn't think I'm pretty either," Edna said.
"You're not," Brian said straight-faced.
Edna punched him in the arm. "Brian, you dink!" she yelled.
"Yes, I have one," Brian said, and Edna and he laughed and hugged.
"Dont give up on Spud yet," Brian said, squeezing his sister tightly. "He'll come around. He's a good guy, and he really cares about you."
"I hope you're right," Edna sighed.
***********
"Something got you down, Spud?" Edd asked, putting a hand on his friends shoulder. Another practice of Dry Rain was wrapping up, and Edd was glad to find a spare moment in which he could question his friend. All practice, Spud looked dejected and listless, as though he'd lost his best friend.
Spud looked up at Edd and sighed. "Everything's fine," he mumbled, setting down his drumsticks.
"No, its not," Edd kneeled down. "Something's wrong." Edd hoped Spud would tell him something he tried to be a sympathetic ear to all his friends, although a lot of them didn't take advantage of it. Spud usually wasn't one to share his problems, and Edd sighed, figuring this case would be no different.
Spud surprised him, however, and said, "Edna and I are in a fight."
Edd recalled his discussion with Edna over chemistry homework not so long ago, and nodded. "Go on, Spud."
"There's not much to say," Spud said, standing up and adjusting his trenchcoat. "She thinks I still like Nazz. She thinks I don't care about her."
"You've been going out with her for three months, Spud of course you care about her don't you?"
Spud shoved his hands into his pockets and looked at the ground. For a moment, Edd believed Spud didn't care about Edna after all until he realized Spud had turned a nice shade of crimson.
"Yeah I do. A lot."
Edd smiled. "Well, I think she cares about you too. She'll come around."
"Hey, Double D." Edd's conversation with Spud was disrupted by a voice behind him. Marie was standing there, gesturing for him to come over and talk. Suddenly, Edd remembered he had his *own* problems to worry about as well.
"I'll talk to you later," Edd said, and walked over to Marie. She smiled sweetly at him and pushed a stray lock of hair out of her face. Edd wondered if these gestures were subtle ways of flirting.
"I was wondering if you wanted to go out for a burger or something," Marie asked casually. "I think there's a couple good movies playing at the Cineplex, too we could check one of them out."
Edds eyes grew wide he suddenly knew that everything he'd heard from his friends was true. Marie *did* like him. "I, uh, I cant," he stuttered, feeling incredibly nervous. "I really need to study if I want to keep my grades up"
Marie put a hand on his chest. "Oh, c'mon, you cant be studying *every* night, Double D."
Edd was mortified he had no idea what to say to that.
"Well, I am tonight," he finally replied, edging away. "I'll see you at the next practice, I guess." Edd turned and bolted for the door into his house, and opened and closed it behind him in a flash. "Why did I just do that?!" Edd scolded himself, slapping his forehead. "Marie's not the girl she used to be she's really nice now. I can't keep avoiding her forever"
Edd sighed. He wasn't ready to think about that yet. He trudged upstairs to his room and shut the door quietly behind him. Now that he had turned down the date with Marie, he figured he had better actually study. Dry Rain and his problems with Marie were certainly keeping him busy! There was no way he could let his grades slip he wanted to get into a good college.
He opened his Government textbook, and sighed wearily. "This is what high school is supposed to be a learning experience to prepare you for college," Edd sighed. "So why are there all these girl problems thrown in?"
***********
Wednesday, Eddy found himself somewhere he never thought he would be - in the library. He was sitting at a desk towards the back, surrounded by such titles as What Career is for Me? and A Guide to a Happy and Successful Life. So far, nothing he had read had helped him. Sure, there had been some good tips inside these little-read novels. But nothing in there told Eddy what was right for HIM.
"This is hopeless!" Eddy mumbled to himself, slamming another book shut. He was about to put his head down on the desk, when he was suddenly aware that someone was standing behind him. He craned his neck and looked up to see Lee's crooked smile.
"Heya Eddy," she said. "What's happening?"
Eddy frowned. "What does it look like? I'm reading up on career info."
Lee grabbed a chair and sat down next to Eddy. She read over his shoulder, and the close proximity made Eddy increasingly nervous. "Looks complicated," she said, practically breathing in his ear.
Eddy closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to regain his rapidly decreasing composure. He opened them again, and said, "So, Lee, what have you been up to lately?"
"Oh, not much," she said, edging even closer Eddy could feel Lees curly red hairbrush against him. "I've been busy with football, of course And Marie and May need to be kept under control"
Eddy gritted his teeth he could'nt take it anymore. "Would you please get a LITTLE farther away?!" he exclaimed, and everyone in the library turned to look at him. The librarian gave him a peeved "Shh!", and he blushed a bright crimson.
"Sorry Eddy," she said, backing away, and Eddy was amazed that *Lee Kanker* had actually listened to him! She even looked a tad embarrassed herself!
"Um, don't you have somewhere else to be?" Eddy asked quietly.
Lee sighed. "Yeah, I guess I should get back to class. I just came down here to return a book." Lee stood up and returned her chair to its rightful place.
"See ya later, Eddy," Lee said, and walked away. As soon as she was out of sight, Eddy sighed and rested his head on his desk. Perhaps he had been a little too hard on her. She hadn't been there to do any harm she just wanted to talk.
Eddy sighed. Things sure were complicated! Now, not only did he have to think about a future career, and Dana's photo shoot, but he had to think about Lee too!
***********
It was lunchtime, and the three Eds had once again assembled at their usual table. Eddy was the first to arrive, eager to eat quickly so he'd have time to smoke before fifth hour. He slammed his tray down on the table and quickly began eating.
Edd was the next to arrive, navigating carefully thru the masses of teenagers in the crowded room. He came close to dropping his tray several times, but managed to make it to the table without losing any of his food. He set his tray down gently, and collapsed into his chair, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Man It sure is hard to get to your table sometimes!" he exclaimed. "Anatomy class ran overtime and I knew, when I saw the clock, it was going to be a challenge to make it here with my lunch intact."
"Just eat your food, sockhead," Eddy mumbled.
Edd smirked. "My my, were touchy today, aren't we Eddy?"
Eddy narrowed his eyes. "I'm having a bad day, okay? So piss off"
Edd nodded, and said, "I'm not having such a great day myself."
"I've gotta do something to get my mind off this stupid career thing," Eddy exclaimed. "Its killing me! It's all I think about!"
Edd perked up, and looked around the lunchroom. "Say, where's Ed?" he asked. "I haven't seen him all morning!"
"Big Ed would never miss lunch," Eddy said, looking around as well. "Where IS he?"
Suddenly, Edd and Eddy saw Ed enter the lunchroom. The both gasped, when they saw Ed was talking to May! They looked completely engrossed in conversation, and both were chuckling softly.
"Is this the Twilight Zone or something?" Eddy pondered, eyes wide.
"Something strange is afoot," Edd nodded.
Ed and May went thru the lunch line, still talking to each other, and finally seemed to part ways when she headed off to a table with her sisters, and Ed walked towards Edd and Eddy.
"Uh, hi guys!" Ed grinned, and sat down. He dug into his food eagerly. "Mmm! Gravy!" he chuckled.
"What the hell was that?!" Eddy asked.
"What was what?"
Edd shook his head. "Well, you and May looked very engrossed in each other."
"I don't know what engrossed means, Double D," Ed replied.
"For chrissake, Lumpy, is there something going on between you and May?" Eddy exclaimed, his temper raging.
"You don't need to raise your voice," Ed replied calmly. "May and I are friends. We're going to PowerProg together."
"Ooh, a music festival," Edd grinned. "Sounds like a nice first date!"
Ed looked like he was about to protest, but then he nodded instead. "Yeah Our first date"
"You two will have lots of fun, I'm sure," Edd smiled.
"What do you see in her?!" Eddy raised an eyebrow.
Ed chuckled. "She's changed, Eddy. She's a nice girl now. She doesn't try to kiss me or attack me anymore. Now, we talk about music and school especially prog and her film class!"
Edd was intrigued. "Film class?" he questioned. "I heard about that"
"Yeah, she's taking a film class sixth hour," Ed replied. "She says they have to get into groups and make a movie! She is doing hers with Marie and Lee."
Eddys eyes lit up. "THATS IT!" he exclaimed happily. "THAT'S what we can do to get my mind off of the stupid career stuff! We can make a movie, and charge the kids at Peach Creek High to see it! I mean, cmon, when was the last time we tried a good scam?"
"The school carnival last year," Edd rolled his eyes. "Now THAT was a disaster."
"It would have worked if Lumpy here hadn't knocked down the makeshift stage!" Eddy glared at Ed.
"Sorry guys," Ed chuckled.
"Or no!" Eddy exclaimed, and it was clear he was on an idea roll. "Lets not make a movie Lets make a music video! Of Dry Rain!"
"That would be terrific!" Edd's eyes were shining. "We could use the publicity!"
"And well put it on videotape and sell it at the Homecoming Dance!" Eddy winked.
"Now, I don't think I can argue with that idea," Edd smiled. "What do you think, Ed?"
Ed gave Edd and Eddy a thumbs-up. "All systems gravy," he grinned.
***********
That evening, Marie Kanker was spread out contentedly on the couch, watching TV and daydreaming about Edd. She sighed happily, thinking about how much fun it was to sing in Dry Rain she could be close to him several days a week! She couldn't help but reflect on how cute his little goatee was, and his three hairs always looked so soft. Shed always wanted to touch his hair but she knew she couldn't yet if she was patient, perhaps she would soon have him wrapped around her little finger.
"I'll ask him out again," she smiled. "And maybe THIS time hell agree. He can be mine I just have to try a little harder. Maybe he needs me to be more aggressive."
And if only she could see him shirtless! She giggled, because she suspected there was a wonderful body under that reddish-orange shirt!
"Marie, are you talking to yourself again?" yelled a voice from the kitchen. Marie groaned Lee had terrific hearing.
"You're dreaming, Lee," Marie yelled back.
"Quit talking about your beloved Double D!" May snickered from the hallway. She bounced into the room and plopped down on the couch, right on top of Marie's feet.
"Hey!" she exclaimed angrily. "Go sit somewhere else! I was here first!"
"I want the couch," May replied. "And besides, you can't deny it we know you're thinking about Double D!"
"As if you should talk!" Marie replied. "I know every spare moment you're wishing you could get inside that trenchcoat of Ed's!" May blushed, and Marie sniggered.
"Are you girls fighting again?!" Lee yelled.
"Yeah, were deciding whether May or me should get Eddy!" Marie replied, and May burst out laughing.
"You'd better be joking!" Lee raced into the living room, and Marie and May were in stitches.
"Oh yeah," May said between laughing fits. "We want Eddy so BAD!!"
"Shut up," Lee frowned. "So what if I like Eddy?! H'es cute, he's a rebel, and he's gonna be my date to the Homecoming Dance!"
This caused Marie and May to laugh even harder. "He is?" Marie asked.
"Well, I haven't asked him yet," Lee blushed. "But I'm gonna! And he's gonna say yes!"
"Good luck!" May replied, and Lee stormed out of the room angrily. May and Marie stopped laughing a few minutes later.
"That's funny," Marie said, wiping tears from her eyes. "But the couch is still mine."
"Oh not its not!" May replied, and the temporary harmony between them was broken, as they continued their fight for the couch.
***********
It was three AM, and Ed couldn't sleep. He had been tossing and turning in his bed all night, but just couldn't get comfy. "This is hopeless," Ed sighed. He knew in his heart the real reason he couldn't sleep, and it was definitely not a comfort issue.
Yawning, Ed sat up and stretched. He stood up, scratched his back, and walked towards his closet. Kneeling, he opened the door and pulled out the familiar box the one he had only recently broken. "Penny Lane," Ed whispered, as he pulled out the photograph of him with his young love.
"Penny," Ed sighed. "I don't know what to do. I miss you so much, but May has tickets for PowerProg and I cant pass it up. Besides, she's a nice girl and she's fun to talk to. But she's not you. I want to wait for you to come home, but I need to find new girls. I ca't wait for you forever."
A tear slid down Eds cheek, and dropped off his chin. It splattered on the frame, and Ed wiped it off with his thumb. "I'm sorry, Penny Lane," he said. "I miss you but I have to try and move on."
***********
Eddy crept back to his usual smoking spot, Thursday after lunch. "Please God," he whispered to himself. "Don't let Lee be there!" He poked his head around the corner of the shed and was relieved to see no one was there. He sighed with relief, but tensed up again when he heard a sound from behind him.
"What did I tell you about smoking?" Lee asked, and Eddy whipped around to face her.
"Why do you follow me here?" he snapped, running a hand thru his hair. "All I want to do is have a smoke"
"I just wanted to ask you something," she said, frowning, and Eddy suddenly felt guilty for yelling at her.
"Okay, shoot."
"Will you go to the Homecoming Dance with me?"
Eddy was so shocked he almost dropped his smokes. "Hell no!" he replied, laughing.
"Why not?" she asked, and Eddy laughed even harder.
"Well, you're You! You've been harassing me since we were preteens! Why would I go to a dance with you?" Eddy leaned against the wall and reached into his pocket for his cigarettes, but as he did, he glanced over at Lee. He couldn't see her eyes, but he imagined they looked pretty sad right now. He almost felt like apologizing, but Lee was already walking away so he decided against it.
"Well, at least I was honest," Eddy said, taking out a cigarette and lighting it.
***********
Edd was feeling pretty satisfied with everything Dry Rain was really coming together, and he had been jotting down ideas for the music video all week. They decided they were going to use Anthem for the Year 2000 as the song for this video, and Eddy was going to charge $5 a tape.
"Everybodys gonna want a Dry Rain video!" Eddy had promised Edd earlier, and he smiled at the thought. It was going to be great publicity for the band!
At the end of Dry Rains practice that day, Edd told his bandmates about the video, and all three agreed it was a great idea. They decided that the filming would take place on Sunday, which was perfect that's when Eddy and Ed had wanted to do it anyway. Saturday was completely out Eddy had said that he had other plans
"I feel so famous!" Brian joked.
After that, Edd told everyone that practice was finished, and he put his guitar back in the case. As he zipped up the side, he couldn?t' help but feel that someone was standing behind him. He silently hoped it wasn't Marie, but out of the corner of his eye, he could see a wisp of her familiar blue hair.
Edd sighed, straightened up, and turned around. "Hey Marie!" he said nervously,averting her gaze. "Um, what's up?"
"Not much," she replied, and she clearly looked nervous too! Edd looked over her shoulder at Brian and Spud, hoping they might notice and take pity on him. But, the two of them were engrossed in conversation and walking off down his driveway. There was nowhere he could turn he was going to have to face Marie this time.
"I was just wondering" Marie began, bravely looking up at Edd. "Um, I was wondering if you would go to the Homecoming Dance with me."
Edd turned beet red and tried to tear himself from her gaze. But, for some reason, he couldn't stop looking at her eyes. And for the first time, he wondered if an evening with Marie would really be so bad. After all, they were in a band together and got along well during the practices. She would wave at him or say hi occasionally at school. It seemed that she had changed a lot since their days of tearing around the cul-de-sac!
"Heh heh" Edd tried to compose himself. "That would be nice, Marie. I'd be glad to go with you!"
"Oh, really?" Marie looked surprised. "Great! I guess we can work out the details later I've got to go home now, I promised Lee and May I would cook tonight."
"Cool see you later!" Edd waved and turned to go into his house.
"Bye!" she said behind him, and he smiled as he walked inside. He sighed with amusement as he closed the door behind him.
"So I'm going to the Homecoming Dance with Marie Kanker! Who'd have thought?"
"It makes sense though," he continued quietly to himself as he walked into the kitchen to read the latest sticky-notes from his parents and grab something for dinner. "She's a nice girl, were friends And besides, who else would be asking me? I mean I guess I'm still friends with Megan and Sabrina - but they don't have any interest in me anymore, or what we had together"
***********
"Are you *sure* it wasn't a little foolish to destroy Megan's paper?" Leo asked Sabrina quietly. The couple was walking down the hallway after lunch, to their lockers, and Sabrina had just now told Leo the story of her act of revenge.
"You don't even know that she mentioned her good grade in front of you on purpose!" Leo continued. "It doesn't make sense to"
"I know you're jealous of Double D," Sabrina said, giggling. "But you don't have to be. Its all in the past we had a thing and it ended."
"I'm not jealous of Double D" Leo began, but sighed and dropped the subject instead.
"Oh, by the way, I got you a little something!" Sabrina winked. "Its in my locker" She reached down and fiddled with the combination on her locker, but to her surprise, it was unlocked!
"That's weird" she said, opening the door. She gasped, when she saw the mess her locker had become. Sabrina *always* kept her locker clean, but it looked like a tornado had whirled thru. Everything was scattered. Notebooks were ripped apart, pages stuffed in every crevice. Pencils were broken and stuck out of the mess awkwardly. Her peach lotion was covering everything, the bottle lying on the bottom shelf empty. The pictures she had tacked up were ripped or drenched in peach cream, except for one that was in perfect condition one that hadn't been there before.
Sabrina ripped the picture from her locker and stared at it, tears of anger running down her face. It was a picture of Megan and Double D together, from when they were dating, and they looked about as happy as two kids could.
"Okay now THAT was intentional. Believe me now?" Sabrina asked, ripping up the picture.
Leo sighed. "Yes, I believe you."
"Megan is so dead," Sabrina growled.
***********
By her last hour Photography class, Dana was so excited she could hardly sit still. All day, she had been thinking about her photo shoot with Eddy and how she was going to get him back. She was one of the first ones into the classroom (that was unusual!) and took her seat quickly. She had already begun writing down ideas of poses for Eddy, and she opened her notebook and jotted down a few more, giggling. Soon after, the bell rang, and all the students took their seats.
"Good afternoon, class," said Mrs. Brandt, the Photography teacher. "As you know, your roll of film must be completed and ready for developing on Monday"
Dana began daydreaming, and blocked out Mrs. Brandt and the rest of her class Saturday was the big day, and she had already imagined many possible scenarios a few bad, but most good. She had decided that asking him to date again right away might scare him off, but maybe she could ask him to the Homecoming Dance, and see where it would go from there!
"Mrs. Darley!" Dana was shocked back into reality, and stared at Mrs. Brandt blankly. "Are you paying attention?"
"Yes," Dana grumbled, and as soon as the focus was off her, she was back into a daydream again.
***********
Brian plucked out the final notes of Anthem for the Year 2000 that evening, and smiled, satisfied with his practice. He wanted to have this song perfect for the music video shoot on Sunday. He sighed - he felt he had to work twice as hard because he was the youngest in the band by two years.
"I hope everything goes well," he muttered, as the phone rang. He figured Edna or his parents would get it, and put his bass carefully back in its case.
"Yoo hoo! Its for you, Squirt!" Edna called from outside his door. Brian groaned, and opened the door suddenly, surprising his sister.
"Don't call me Squirt," Brian punched his sister in the arm. "Who is it?"
"Ouch!" she giggled. "I don't know who it is some girl."
Brian blushed and grinned. "A girl called me? Um, okay"
Brian took the phone from Edna's hands and shut the door again. He could her laughing outside the door. Brian put the phone to his ear, and said, "Hello?"
"Hellay," said a voice that was female but even lower than Edna's.
"Um, hi," Brian said, recognizing her. "Is this The Morg from sixth hour?"
"Yeah," she replied. "Um I was wondering if you wanted to go to the Homecoming Dance with me?" She sounded really nervous, and Brian blushed.
"Sure!" he finally replied. "But why do you want to go with me? Especially after what happened with Sheet and the football players" Brian had been thoroughly humiliated a few days ago, when, as a joke, several of the football players had gotten a hold of Sheet (with Edna's help) and brought her to Brian's sixth hour class and paraded her around the room. Brian had figured he'd NEVER get a date after that.
"Bah, those football players are just asses. I have a blankie too."
Brian chuckled. "Well, okay I would love to go to the dance with you."
"Great!" The Morg replied. "I, uh, guess Ill talk to you in class tomorrow."
"Yep," Brian said and turned off the phone. As soon as he did, his bedroom door burst open and Edna came running in.
"What happened?!" she asked, nudging him with her elbow.
"I got a date to the Homecoming Dance," he replied, sticking his tongue out at her.
"Congratulations," she laughed. "At least you're going."
"You're not going?" Brian raised an eyebrow. "Just because of your fight with Spud, you're going to stay home. That's not like you you're always the life of the party."
Edna looked that the floor. "Yeah, well, maybe I don't want to be the life of the party right now." With that, she shuffled out of the room, closing the door behind her.
Brian sighed, and sat down on his bed. "Oh well, at least I got a date to the dance," he smiled.
***********
"Well, here we are!" Ed smiled over at May. It was Saturday night, and he and May had just pulled into the parking lot at the large building where PowerProg was held. He parked the car (and did a half-decent job of it this time) and they both got out and walked towards the building. As they did, Ed reflected on how well the evening was going already. The ride there had been pleasant May and he had discussed prog bands and events at school on the way, and Ed was impressed that May had dressed up slightly, as though this were a real date. He had just worn his regular clothes!
"Got your tickets?" Ed asked, and May nodded, as they handed them over, got their hands stamped, and entered the building.
"Its gonna start in five minutes so wed better hurry and find a good seat!" May exclaimed, and took Ed's hand. At first, he was surprised by her gesture, but then smiled and let himself be dragged into the large auditorium area where the concert was. The building was almost full, but Ed spied some seats towards the front. May and he raced down and snatched the seats before anyone else could.
"Wow, were gonna have a great view!" Ed exclaimed happily, and May nodded. Suddenly, the lights dimmed, and May squealed with excitement.
"Its starting!" she exclaimed, and grabbed Ed's hand again. He blushed, and began sweating, but May didn't seem to notice. As the concert went on, though, Ed got used to the contact, and after a particularly loud and heavy song faded into a quieter and more romantic one, Ed got up the courage to put his arm around her. She looked ecstatic when he did so, and Ed couldn't help but smile.
When the final group finished, there was a long standing ovation, and May and Ed were the most enthusiastic clappers. "What a great show!" May exclaimed, her eyes sparkling. "That was so much fun I hope we can do it again sometime!"
Ed felt a twinge of guilt as he thought of Penny Lane and the concerts he had attended with her, but tried to push it out of his mind. "Yeah!" he agreed.
"Say" May twiddled her thumbs and looked up at Ed nervously. "Maybe we could go to the Homecoming Dance together?"
Ed grinned. "Sure, May! That would be a lot of fun!"
"You mean it, Big Ed?"
"Of course." Ed took Mays hand and they walked out of the auditorium together, all feelings of guilt temporarily forgotten.
***********
Eddy ran the comb thru his hair a final time, and checked himself over in the mirror. He wanted to be absolutely perfect for this after all, Dana's grade did depend on it! Not to mention, Eddy was excited to have a roll of film taken of just him! "I guess its my devilish good looks," he said, and struck a pose.
The doorbell rang, and Eddy yelped. "Why am I nervous?" he asked himself, and mquickly regained his composure. "It's just a photo shoot with an old girlfriend." He opened the front door, and smiled at Dana.
"Hey Eddy," she said, and held up her fancy camera. "You ready?"
Eddy nodded, and gulped nervously.
"Um Are you going to invite me in?" she asked, and Eddy blushed.
"Of course!" He moved out of the way and Dana entered. "Um, where are we gonna start? We should get going"
"Calm down," she laughed. "I'm in no hurry are you?"
"Um, I guess not."
"Good." Dana smiled, and looked around Eddys living room. "Wow, it's been so long since I've been in your house! This is a great place for taking pictures Lots of good backgrounds! Lets start in here."
So, it went on like this for about an hour (with only one cigarette break) Dana found places and poses for Eddy and he pretty much did as he was told. Dana assured him that these were the most flattering to his face and figure, and he hoped she was telling the truth! But, it wasn't easy work for him, and he hoped her roll was almost out. Aside from the work, he felt unusually uncomfortable around him he wasn't sure if her efforts were unromantic after all.
"Okay, I've just got one picture left," Dana said, and Eddy sighed with relief. "Why don't I get one of you on your bed?"
Eddy nodded in agreement, and climbed onto his bed. He posed as instructed, and Dana adjusted the lens.
"No Wait, I've gotta get closer." Dana climbed onto the bed with him, and Eddy began to sweat. She stood up above him, and told him to smile. Eddy forced one onto his lips, and she took the picture. "Okay, that's it!" she said, and sat down next to him on the bed. "You were a great subject thanks for helping me out!"
"Oh, it was no trouble at all," Eddy replied, and nearly yelped again as Dana scooted closer to him she was almost on his lap now!
"Dana, maybe you should" But Eddy was cut off, because in an instant, Dana had grabbed Eddy by the shoulders and pinned him to the mattress.
"What are you doing?!" he exclaimed.
"Sorry, I don't know what came over me," Dana smirked. "Listen how would you like to be my date to the Homecoming Dance?"
Eddy was terrified how had he gotten into this situation! Most of the time, he would have taken advantage of such a situation but he didn't want to get involved with Dana again! He had to think quickly
"Um, I would, but I can't," Eddy replied. "I'm" A thought struck him, and it almost made him cry, but he knew it was the easiest method of escape. "I'm going with Lee Kanker."
Dana chuckled. "Yeah right."
"I really am!" Eddy exclaimed. "She asked me and I told her yes. It would be rude to change my plans now!"
Dana sighed, and released her grip on Eddy. "Whatever," she said, standing up, and Eddy could tell he'd hurt her feelings.
"'I'm sorry, Dana but I cant change my plans, not even for my ex-girlfriend."
"Yeah yeah well, thanks for letting me take the pictures," she said, heading for the door. She opened it, stepped outside, and closed it swiftly.
"Oh, man did I really just do that?" Eddy buried his face in his hands now, not only had he messed up his friendship with Dana, but he had set himself up for an evening of laughter and merriment with Lee.
***********
Bright and early on Sunday morning, Edd was waiting on his front step, for the rest of the crew to arrive. "What a beautiful day!" he exclaimed, looking up at the cloudless sky. "I couldn't have asked for better weather!"
"Heya Double D!" said a familiar voice in front of him. Edd smiled and waved at Johnny, who was walking by briskly, with a Walkman in his hand. Johnny paused and removed his headphones.
"How have you been, Johnny?" Edd asked.
Johnny smiled. "Pretty good! I got the lead part in PCHs fall production!"
"That's excellent!" Edd smiled. "Congratulations and only as a sophomore! You're going to go far, that's for sure!"
"Thanks, Double D," Johnny grinned. "Well, Id better go, see ya!" Johnny continued down the street, and Edd watched him leave. A familiar piece of wood was sticking up slightly from Johnny's backpack. Edd chuckled at the memory of their crazy antics with Plank.
"Double D!" yelled Eddy, who was running from down the street. "Am I late?" he asked, when he arrived in Edd's yard.
"You're the first one here, actually," Edd replied. "But I think that's Spud and Brian down the street." Sure enough, Spud and Brian were growing closer, and then they saw Ed leave his house as well.
"Glad you could make it!" Edd exclaimed when the four of them arrived. "All we need is Marie and well be ready to begin!"
"Present!" said Marie, and the five boys turned to face Marie, along with Lee and May. "My sisters came with to support us," Marie explained. "I hope that's okay."
"Uh, its fine," Edd replied, clearly surprised. "As long as they're not in the way or anything"
"Lets go make a video, guys!" Ed grinned, and everyone cheered.
"Wait a sec," Eddy said, as everyone was heading into the garage. "I, uh, have to talk to Lee for a minute. So, go and get ready, and I'll be there in a minute."
Ed and Edd stared at him with a mixture of confusion and amusement, but did as they were told and walked into the garage, with Spud, Brian, Marie, and May following.
Lee walked up next to Eddy, once again standing a little too close for comfort. Eddy swallowed nervously he knew what he had to do, but it wasn't going to be easy.
"Whats up, sugar?" Lee asked, and Eddy gulped. It was now or never he had to make what he had told Dana the night before the truth.
"I changed my mind," Eddy told her. "About, uh, what you asked."
Lee blushed. "You mean, you're gonna take me to the Homecoming Dance?"
Eddy distanced himself from Lee. "Yes, I'll take you to the stupid Dance happy now?"
"You bet, sugar," Lee said, and kissed Eddy on the cheek before dashing into the garage.
"Auugh!" Eddy shrieked, trying to wipe the ruby-red lip imprint from his cheek. But, after she was out of earshot, he chuckled at her display of affection. "Maybe it won't be so bad," he whispered to himself, and smiled. And with that, he walked back into the garage, because as Ed had said, it was time to make a movie.
~~~ To Be Continued ~~~