Power Over Me [1]

6

Edd listens to the song for the 74th time (his count) within the past two weeks as he walks into the school, Marie beside him listening to her own. Eddy watches the lately reclusive member of his forever trio before approaching, dragging Ed along with him. Double D smiles with his signature gap in the front before pausing the song and removing one ear bud.

"Greetings, friends! How were your evenings?" "Lacking in enlightenment. What gives, sockhead?! We're the three amigos but better! You won't show us your marks or tell us anything and you've shown shovelchin and our girls?! What gives?!" "Eddy, I-" "Lay off, short stack. Edd doesn't have to do shit because you ask him to. He hasn't shown you because you harass him!" "It's like when from the Inappropriate Pinchers From Beyond when the aliens showed up and started pinching people and farmers who didn't get asked and they didn't want it so they fought back with pitchforks and got heat blasted by the cyclops eyes of the green tentacle people except for their glasses." All eyes are on the tallest Ed for a moment, confusion flooding each teen except for the unibrowed one as he smiles in apparent triumph. Eddy is the first to recover by shoving Ed and groaning as he rubs his forehead.

"How you made it to high school baffles me to my core. Look, just show me your arm and I'll drop it!" "I'm going to continue to refrain from exposing my personal information to you. Either respect that or stop circling my arm like a fly waiting to be swatted down by an exterminating racket. Excuse me, I have to get to my locker before class." Double D shocks the trio around him by shoving Eddy to the side, walking right past him at a quicker pace than normal. Marie recovers first and runs to catch up as Edd forcefully pulls his locker open. Nat watches from a distance before approaching, a few others close behind. Kevin watches in pure concern as Nat struggles to keep from laughing.

"Woah, Double Darling! You got PHYSICAL! That's quite impressive, babe!" "Cease with this inappropriate banter, Nathan. I am clearly furthest from the mindset to be dealing with you as possible." "Nat, lay off. You okay, Edd? That was pretty intense, dude." "I'm quite alright, Nazz. Simply fed up. Rolf, I believe I allowed you to borrow a copy of my notes last week. They helped, correct?" "Rolf thanks you greatly for your sharing of wisdom with this son of a Sheppard!" Rolf gives Edd a quick squeeze before guiding him to their first class, which they both had a test in and was the reason for the notes in the first place. Marie watches with clenched fists, both worried and angry at the same time. Nazz gently squeezes Marie's bicep with one hand before guiding her to their class behind Edd and Rolf, Kevin silently following as Nat heads to his own.

By lunch, Edd has managed to calm himself down. Marie stays as close to his side as possible, shooting glares at Eddy every time they make eye contact. May sits on Double D's other side as Ed zones out beside her, wanting to show her support for the boy she considers a brother. Kevin keeps shooting concerned glances towards the genius as he seems to ignore his surroundings, choosing to present as numb over any other emotion. Eddy watches anxiously, knowing he should say something but doesn't know the words. He clears his throat as he looks at Edd.

"So, E-" "How was your lab, May? I heard you combined copper and nitric acid. What did you think about the color change?" "Oh, I liked it! It's cool to watch science work! It's nice to be able to keep up, especially having the best tutor in the school." "Always a pleasure." Edd shoots May his first genuine smile since his altercation from that morning and the energy at the table slowly relaxes. The rest of the half hour goes off without a hitch before the group disperses, leaving Eddy to walk Lee to her class with the feeling of guilt hovering over him like a heavy rain cloud ready to burst. The redhead exhales slowly and squeezes her boyfriend's hand a bit.

"Don't let it get to you. Just apologize, ya know?" "Yeah, yeah. I just hate him hiding shit from me. Me! His best friend since we were toddlers! It's kinda bullshit and I feel sorta betrayed." "Double D's a private guy. Yeah, he told us instead of you, but that was more because of Marie. He likes things controlled his way, can't really make him do things too differently. Remember, he has OCD and parents who raised him to be perfect, he's allowed his own shit that he can control." Eddy nods and sighs, hating when Lee is right and he's wrong. The taller girl smirks and kisses her boyfriend's forehead before entering her class, leaving Eddy to head to his own.

After the final bell, Eddy is trying to look for Edd to formally apologize. When he catches him with Kevin of all people, he stops and watches from a distance. Ed is supposed to help May with something so he knows he won't be snuck up on. At one point, Double D's sleeve rides up and his first two marks are visible. Eddy pulls out his phone and zooms in as closely as possible onto the marks through the camera, nearly dropping his phone when he sees the second mark.

Male.

Double D has a male soulmate.

Eddy pockets his phone and watches for another moment, noticing how friendly the conversation seems without knowing the context. He decides he's seen enough and leaves the school, unable to keep the slight disgust at bay of his best friend being with a dude.

Meanwhile, Edd laughs into his hand as Kevin stumbles again on his words as he tries not to laugh for the fifth time at something dumb he heard in his last class while attempting to describe a problem he's having.

"I swear I'm trying not to!" "I apologize for laughing at your struggles; however, I'm afraid I cannot help it. Though, in all seriousness, I'm willing to bet that Marie would help you." "Ya think?" "She's quite well inclined with tools, I've seen her fix Lee's car a few times and i know she takes auto-shop. Simply ask her and, if it helps, inform her that I suggested this. I'm positive she can help you with your bike." "Thanks, man! I've never heard the engine make that sound and I don't have the money to take it into a shop so I appreciate the referral." "My pleasure. This means you do not have a ride home, correct?" "Yeah, planned to walk it." "I'll join you, better than walking alone." "Sweet. C'mon, I gotta work on my history paper." "I finished mine if you'd like assistance." "Oh, really?! Rad! My place or yours?" "Whichever you prefer." "Stop at mine so I can drop off my football gear and head to yours? It's cleaner than my place and I know that you can get really uncomfortable around clutter and I don't want to agitate you." "I appreciate that." Edd and Kevin smile a bit before heading towards the cul-de-sac. The walk is quiet, but it's a nice kind of quiet. No need to fill the time with small talk, just bask in the energy that encompasses the moment. The sun doesn't get the chance to set until Kevin is leaving his house without his football gear and walking into Edd's with a hand between his shoulder blades.

((3:26 is the length of the song which I rounded to 3.4 since its less than half but more than a third for the math and multiplied by 74 to get 251.6 which I divided by 24 to get the number of days which was about 10.483 so that's why I say two weeks for the length since he can't listen 24/7. 74 was a random number I picked because it sounded like a lot lol))