Forfeit

Chapter 13

And after Rolf found that the fruit was past it's heyday, he refused to hand the feathered-foul over to the fruit merchant, earning him the respect of his elders," Rolf explained as he sat on the fence in the lane, Nazz on one side and Edd on the other. Kevin was on his bike, which he had stopped in front of the three of them; all three of them listened with a mix of interest and confusion to Rolf's story. Nearby, Ed ran around chasing Sarah, Jimmy, and Jonny in a game of tag.

"I don't get, so are chickens like money in your country or something?" Kevin asked, genuinely confused, causing Edd and Nazz to giggle.

"Rolf is afraid that you have confused chicken for the flints of stone that Rolf was talking about earlier. Rolf hopes that one of your age would know the difference between rock and foul, yes?" Rolf teased, causing Nazz and Edd to giggle further.

"Well, actually, Rolf, I will admit that your method of telling stories can be a bit... confusing," Edd said, hoping to spare Kevin further embarrassment at the hands of Rolf.

"Yeah, what he said," Kevin added quickly.

"You can't catch me!" Jonny called back to Ed as he ran down the lane, Ed close behind.

"I'm fast like a cat and heavy like a hippo!" Ed shouted before leaping toward Jonny but falling short and hitting the ground, allowing Jonny enough time to escape.

"Quick, hide while he's down, Jimmy!" Sarah said happily before pulling Jimmy behind a dumpster. Ed sat up and spat out some dirt before climbing to his feet and looking around for his prey.

"Roar!" Ed yelled before tackling a trash can, revealing Jonny to be hiding inside. Ed quickly tapped Jonny on the head with his hand. "I gotcha, Jonny!" Ed said in triumph before standing up and throwing his arms in the air.

"Nice one, Ed! But you better start running, because I'm a tag-maniac!" Jonny warned before jumping to his feet.

"Yo, guys, get over here really quick, I want to talk to you guys about something!" Kevin called out to Jonny, Ed, Sarah, and Jimmy.

"Rats! Well, I guess you'll have to see my mad tag skills some other time," Jonny commented as the four of them joined Kevin, Rolf, Nazz, and Edd at the fence.

"I hope you know that you interrupted an awesome game of tag, mister," Jimmy mocked lightheartedly.

"Sorry about that, but I just wanted to make an announcement," Kevin replied before straightening himself up on his bike. "It's a little spur of the moment, but I think everyone here will be totally into it: I'm throwing a party and I wanted to see if any of you guys wanted to join in on the fun," Kevin announced to the group of kids.

"A party?" Nazz asked, confused. "What's the occasion?"

"An occasion? Well, I just wanted an excuse to hang out, but how about we dedicate this party to the Eds, our new friends!" Kevin said as he looked over at Ed and Edd, who were both beaming.

"A party? Dedicated to us? Oh my," Edd said before blushing.

"Ed party!" Ed cried out before jumping for joy. "Ed party at Kevin's house!"

"Actually, I think it would be cooler if we spruced up that old abandoned home down the street and held the party there," Kevin suggested. Edd cringed at the thought; that old house had a bad memory for the Eds, even if it was a while ago. Even then, he knew he couldn't let one bad memory hold up a party, especially one dedicated partly to himself.

"That house still gives me the creeps..." Jimmy whispered aloud. "But I'm stillin!"

"Yeah, me too!" Sarah said excitedly.