A/N: Oh my gosh. I'm sorry this took so long but college has been a pain in the arse. But celebrate heathens for I've come bearing 10 pages of... words. Not too much fluff. That's for the next chapter :3

Cheesus. This was just supposed to be some short drabble but it's progressed so far already! ; - ; I seriously can't stop now. Well, even if it isn't like that anymore, I hope you'll stick around for the ride anyways!

Disclaimer: I do not own EENE.

Hope you enjoy! ; - ;

"Some hats can only be worn if you're willing to be jaunty, to set them at an angle and to walk beneath them with a spring in your stride as if you're only a step away from dancing. They demand a lot of you."

-Neil Gaiman, Anansi Boys

Today was proving to be most confounding for Edd. At every twist and turn of today's events, he was continually left stumped; astonished; bewildered; constantly at a loss for words; and the list goes on. He, for one, was never fond of spontaneity. If anything, having routine disrupted made him irritable and bothered. Besides, he finds the monotony of an everyday lifestyle to be somewhat comforting and any form of deviation was unnerving, to say the least. In plain sight, one could clearly see that the greatest change that had occurred today was the attention. Those who had once treated him like dirt lower than dirt itself were now all pleasant and cheery, greeting him with warm smiles and praise. And although this certainly was an improvement, he couldn't shake off that feeling of impropriety.

It was just a little after second period and Edd was fetching his chemistry book from his locker. He was thankful for the opportunity to temporarily leave all that commotion behind. People were swarming him as if they were flies and he, a fresh rancid pile of garbage. And it was because of this attention that he barely made it to History. He even considered calling Kevin or Eddy for assistance but decided that taking such measures would seem a tad bit desperate. And he wasn't that desperate. Not yet, at least. His gratitude is instead accredited to the teacher for giving them that pop quiz that had allowed him to leave earlier than the rest.

Edd sighed. This day was turning out to be more tiresome than he had expected. Sure, did he expect a reaction? Yes, of course. But he only expected one or two heads turning and words spoken behind his back. He hadn't expected it to become a full-blown issue. It wasn't even halfway through the day and already he found himself wanting to head home, change into his jammies and help himself to a warm cup of cocoa Mother brought in the other day. Edd supposed that the only silver lining to his day was Eddy's er... "promise" to treat him to lunch later; a compensation of sorts for the ruined hats. And of course, the walk home with Kevin.

"Hi Double D!" a brunette chirped as she passed by him in the hall, her shrill voice effectively snapping him from previous thoughts.

Edd did not even know who this harlequin was! He wanted to sigh. He opted to just politely smile and wave at her. 'Double D.' He had no recollection of who this girl even was and yet she had called him by his cherished nickname. Not that he truly minded but it felt a bit uncomfortable for complete strangers to even utter it. It held a certain familiarity that only the Eds and the cul-de-sac kids could ever call him that without it sounding so...offbeat. Oh and Nat, of course. Honestly, in a learning institution such as this, he'd much rather be called—

"Eddward?"

Edd turned to the voice and was surprised to see a flashy young man he's never seen before peering at him with curious eyes. Standing at about at least a foot taller than Edd was a rather handsome blonde boy. His angular face, excellent bone structure and proportional features had lead Edd to believe that perhaps he was some sort of model? Toned muscles concealed themselves behind a grey v-neck tee. ('Hiding' was a bit of an understatement seeing as the boy's chiselled chest was practically on display) Said tee was neatly tucked into his jeans. The material clung to his every curve of his lower body greedily, almost... erotically. In stark contrast to his overall neat appearance, his short golden hair flew out in all directions, curling at its tips and giving him a complete bed-head look; though if you looked closely enough, you can see that it had actually been styled that way.

"You're Eddward...right?" the boy asked again. His sea-green eyes seemed intently focused on Edd's cerulean ones. Edd was unable to look directly at those intense eyes. It made him feel uncomfortable.

"Yes, I-I am indeed. May I be of service to you?" Edd said trying not to let his anxiety show. Instead, he put on his best toothy grin.

The guy chuckled, much to Edd's surprise. Another deviation but this was a much more pleasant one. Instead of the usual mocking tone that he was accustomed to, this person's laugh was... playful. When he was done laughing by himself, the guy looked up and flashed Edd his set of pearly whites. 'How blinding.' Edd thought.

"Wow. I've heard the rumours but..." the guy said. He leaned in closer, lips just barely brushing the tip of Edd's ears, and whispered in a low raspy tone,

"...I didn't think you'd be this cute."

"E-Excuse me?" Edd said, obviously surprised. He alarmingly took a step back from the boy.

The guy, however, was just hurled into another fit of cackling, this time with much more volume. Edd just awkwardly stood there, taking all that laughing in while a blush slowly fought its way to his cheeks. He was just about to turn on his sass when the guy suddenly looped his arm around the skinnier boy's shoulders and pulled him closer.

"Ahaha. It was a joke! A joke! Everybody here knows your Kev's little chaton." The guy said before gingerly tapping Edd's nose with his index finger.

"Erm, y-yes, well..." a red-faced Edd said, not knowing how to react to this situation. The guy certainly had zero sense when it came to personal space and to be honest, it was quite uncomfortable to be held close by such an eccentric stranger. The blonde boy noticed how tense Edd was so he courteously released his hold on him before bowing apologetically.

"Oh, excusez-moi. I seem to be forgetting my manners. I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable Eddward." The strange boy said before bowing apologetically.

Shocked by the sudden change in personality and also alarmed at the attention they were starting to attract Edd scrambled for a response.

"Oh— I...uh, no, no, please! There's no need to apologize so gallantly! T-though I assure you that the sentiment is much appreciated. And please, call me Edd." Edd said, waving his hands in front of him nervously.

The guy was still for a moment contemplating on this. He looked up at Edd again and said,

"Yeah, okay... But still. Are you sure? I mean, it must be hard on you. I heard all this attention you've been gettin' has been giving you some trouble."

Edd was surprised. He suddenly seemed so genuinely penitent. Maybe he wasn't such a bad person after, even if he was an ignoramus when it came to personal boundaries.

"It's quite alright, sir! Your actions have not done me any harm."

The guy's guilt-ridden expression was suddenly then replaced with an amused look much to Edd's confusion.

"Did you just call me 'sir'?" he asked Edd, chuckling to himself.

The boy seemed to have a knack for colouring Edd's cheeks with different shades of red.

"I a-apologize. I believe I didn't catch your name...?" Edd said wonderingly.

The guy snorted and looked at Edd, his lopsided smirk made Edd admit to himself that the guy was kind of charming. He was just about to answer when he found someone answering for him.

"Jonathan Matthews."

Both boys turned to a pretty blonde cheerleader in pigtails walking up to them. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her brown hazelnut eyes were shooting daggers at this Jonathan person.

"Nazz!" Edd exclaimed, too elated to notice the expression on the girl's face. Edd immediately ran over to herl, much to Jonathan's dismay, and they shared a tight hug.

"Nazz." Jonathan said, his voice steely. But yet again Edd has somehow failed to notice any of this.

After she released herself from the friendly embrace, Nazz crossed her arms once more and cocked her hips to one side, hostility still ever present in her actions. However, this was masked by a wide smile on her face.

"What were you guys talking about?" Nazz asked, clearly directing the question at Jonathan.

Jonathan mirrored Nazz's expression, not at all intimidated by the girl's obvious distaste for him. In fact, he even had the gall to wrap one arm around Edd's shoulder before answering, just to ruffle her jimmies.

"Oh, nothing! I just wanted to meet the infamous Eddward I've been hearing oh-so-much about." Jonathan said before turning to Edd and saying, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"O-Oh!" Edd said in surprise, "Likewise, Jonathan...was it?"

Jonathan grinned, letting go of Edd and extending his hand to him, "Please, call me Jon."

Edd, ever the polite one, firstly brought out the disinfectant from his bag and sprayed it on Jonathan's extended hand then graciously accepted the gesture by extending his own. Both gentlemen shared the friendly handshake. And this instigated a conversation between the two.

"Sorry if I made things awkward for a moment there."

"I apologize as well if I have contributed to that sort of atmosphere. I'm afraid I'm just terrible at interacting with my peers."

"Don't say that! You're pretty interesting to me."

"Th-Thank you very much, Jonathan."

"Hey I told you to call me Jon, didn't I?"

"O-oh, I'm so sorry! Please excuse me Jonathan. N-No— I mean, J-Jon."

"Hahaha! You are so fascinating."

Meanwhile, Nazz started grinding her teeth. Her patience was wearing alarmingly thin. Watching the two interact with each other was grating and with Jonathan secretly glancing over at her with that smug little expression of his did not help in the slightest. Nazz shook her head.

'Calm yourself, girl.' Nazz thought. She closed her eyes for a while then breathed in an amount of air before exclaiming,

"Oh wow, is it nine-thirty already?! Double D, aren't you gonna be late for class?"

Immediately, Edd snapped out of his conversation with Jonathan and looked at Nazz, horrified. But before he could even check his watch, Nazz pushed Jonathan out of the way and locked arms with Edd, and started to drag him down the hallway. It wasn't that hard, seeing as the boy was light as a feather.

"Isn't your next class aaaaall the way on the other side of the school? Oh my gosh, you're gonna be so late! Come on mister, move your butt!" Nazz rambled on all the while dragging Edd.

"I'll walk with you! You know, just in case the umm, uhh... the Kankers! They, uh, might ambush you or something. Come on!"

Edd was unable to protest as Nazz was a surprisingly strong girl that or he really just that scrawny. He did however manage to get a peek at his wristwatch and clearly, he was puzzled.

"B-But Nazz," Edd argued, "... it's only nine-fif— oof!" he was suddenly silenced by a sharp tug from Nazz.

"Well," Nazz said barely even turning to face Jonathan, "Sorry we had to cut the conversation short Jonathan, but Edd has to go so, I guess we'll just be on our—"

"Hey, what's the rush?" Jonathan interrupted. "Let me walk you to class too Edd." he said, trotting up to them.

"No, no, no, no, no, no!" Nazz said at once, earning suspicious glances from both boys. "I-I mean, don't you have to get to class too Jonathan? We wouldn't want to bother you or anything." Nazz said nervously, speeding up their pace even more. However, Jonathan was able to keep up easily enough.

"Nah, free period. And I don't really mind. What do you say, Edd?"

All three of them halted and then both blondes turned their attention to Edd. Nazz just hoped Edd could see the clear-cut opposition in her eyes. Despite the mediocrity of the situation, Edd couldn't help but feel the pressure placed on his shoulders. He started wracking his brain for an appropriate answer and the anticipation for both parties grew to the point of making them sweat.

"I-I suppose..." Edd started and Nazz held her breathe.

"...that it...wouldn't hurt...?"

The cheerleader inwardly groaned, her shoulders slumping in defeat. Jonathan, on the other hand, seemed rather jubilant. He put an arm around Eddward's shoulders and started leading him down the hall.

"Shall we?"

As much as Edd wanted to avoid attracting attention (he's had his fill for the day), he was, instead, barraged by a shitload of it. There was a sort of battle of the blondes going on between his two companions. Unfortunately, he was situated right in the middle of it. Curious on-lookers stared at the three and Edd had wanted nothing more than to disappear in a deep, dark hole.

A minute ago, they were just walking down the hall together. Jonathan's arm was around him but purely in a placid manner, of course, while Nazz tailed them from behind. He was just making small talk with Jonathan when all of a sudden, Nazz slipped in between them and hooked her arm around Edd's and shoved Jonathan aside for the second time that day. She started asking him about how he and Kev were doing lately. She then curiously emphasized the fact that they were the dating each other and not anyone else. Edd didn't really see why Nazz had to implicate that. She was one of the first few people who knew about the relationship after all. He hadn't at all seen the warning glance Nazz shot the other boy. Jonathan however, despite all the discouragements, did not let these things hinder him. He seized Edd's shoulders once more and pulled him in his general direction but Nazz had an iron grip on Edd and had not let go. It was an uncomfortable position for Edd to be in but he was unable to say anything about the matter.

Jonathan said that instead of talking about boring old news like his romantic relationship with the resident jock, he would much rather learn more about him. He ignored Nazz's protests and started bombarding Edd with questions. Where do you live? What clubs are you in? What are your hobbies? It seemed he had hit the jackpot when he had mentioned the state science fair. Edd's eyes twinkled as he unleashed a flurry of hypotheses, theories, procedures and personal inquisitions at Jonathan. The blonde boy smirked triumphantly. However, Nazz was not letting up either. She had suddenly gotten down to her knees and put a sweaty hand to her forehead. She made gagging noises at the back of her throat as the hand flew to her mouth. Immediately, Edd was on her, much to Jonathan's dismay, and asked what was wrong. She feigned innocence and said that she didn't know that she just suddenly felt dizzy and nauseous. She looked at Jonathan with that mischievous glint in her eyes. This had done well to irritate Jonathan.

"Are you okay, Nazz?" Jonathan said, masking his frustration with an overly concerned tone, "Baking something down there, perhaps?"

This time, it was Nazz's turn to look annoyed. Meanwhile Edd had looked up at Jonathan quizzically. What had 'baking' anything to do with the situation, he wondered.

"Oh, Jonathan." Nazz said in a perky voice that was teetering with withheld rage, "The only oven you have to worry about is your own."

'Fucking bitch.'

'Cocksucker.'

As dense as he was, Edd had begun to think that perhaps this had nothing to do with baking. He too started to feel the tension building up. There was definitely something more to this than meets the eye but as to what remains a mystery. However, Edd refused to be left out of the fray so he considered them for a minute or two before his eyes finally widened with realization. But of course! How could he have been so blind?

'Oh Eddward, you can be so thick sometimes.' Edd thought, wanting to slap himself in the face.

These two... they obviously held feelings for one another!

Obviously.

The heavy atmosphere was probably caused by what most people refer to as 'sexual tension'; the desire of one person to come in close intimate contact with the other. The glares they were giving each translated to nothing more than 'I want you'. When he had reached this understanding, Edd realized how inappropriate it was to stare. Why, it would be just like peeping! 'Naughty, naughty, naughty!' Edd's face turned beet red before he respectfully turned his head away. He thought it'd be best to just stay out of it.

Edd has been so caught up in all the fuss, that he had failed take note of the time. It had barely registered in his mind when the sound of the school bell ringing reached his ears. The blood drained from his face as the severity of the situation finally dawned upon him. His eyes darted to his watch.

9:30. His class was still a building away.

"DEAR LORD!" Edd exclaimed, his hands flew to his head and for a brief moment he wondered where his hat had gone. It wasn't important, he thought. The only thing he should worry about right now was getting to class before second bell lest he be marked tardy. Or worse; absent. Edd cringed. He's never played hooky before, nor was he ever planning to.

Nazz and Jonathan looked at him in surprise. They haven't realized that the bell had rung until they heard him. Nazz was the first to realize this.

"Oh, dude!" Nazz said, knowing how neurotic Edd could be when it came to punctuality. "Oh my God, your class! Oh shit, oh man."

"Nazz, please! Languange!" Edd said, distressed as ever.

"Right! Right, not helping. Sorry. I'm sorry. Get to class Double D. Go. Go!" Nazz said, ushering him down the hall.

Edd nodded rapidly and regarded Jonathan with an abrupt goodbye before darting down the hall, lugging his thick Chemistry book with him. He ended up bumping one or two people and the occasional locker as he clumsily made his way to class. He didn't even care for the fact that he was running and would probably get scolded by either a teacher or a hall monitor. There were far more at stake here (namely getting his flawless, flawless records tarnished). So he ran, as fast as his scrawny legs could take him, and disappeared from Nazz's and Jonathan's sight.

Now that Edd was gone, there was a dead silence that enveloped the air around the two. Nazz still felt wary of Jonathan's motives concerning Edd so she decided to wait until he moved first before deciding on a confrontation or not. 5 minutes passed and they stood there silent and still. Students rushed past them in hopes of getting to class on time, much like Edd had moments ago. 10 minutes passed and the students grew fewer and fewer. By the time the second bell rang, the hallways became deserted.

'I hope Edd made it to class.' Nazz blankly thought.

"Well then..." Jonathan said, startling Nazz. The words weren't directed at her as it was to anyone really. It was more of an expression, much like how one would sigh upon finishing a strenuous task or when one would yawn when bedtime rolls in. He hadn't even spared Nazz a single glance before he turned his heel and started to walk away from her.

"Hold it." Nazz said. She saw how his shoulders flinched as he stopped in his tracks. His body half-turned and he looked at her with a bored/annoyed expression.

"Yes, sugar tits?"

Nazz looked about as ready to tear his eyes out. "Fuck you." She spat out the words like poison but it was as if poison was what Jonathan ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

"I'd like that sweet cheeks but I don't usually... double dip."

It looked like Jonathan had struck her hard and pretty low at that too. She looked frustrated but it was unknown whether it was towards Jonathan or towards herself. Her face twisted, brows furrowing, nose scrunching up. She was trying hard to fight back the tears that accompanied the frustration and she became unable to look at him in the eye. Jonathan just scoffed at her before turning his back and heading off again. But Nazz was stronger than this, she knew. So she swallowed that lump in her throat before he could leave and said,

"Wait. Stop."

And Jonathan did albeit with an exasperated sigh. He turned to her and this time he asked more impatiently.

"What?" he said.

Nazz felt shaken but only for a bit before strengthening her resolve. This wasn't about her; this was about her two important childhood friends falling prey to this grimy little bastard. She just hoped as she spoke that her voice wouldn't croak.

"Look, I don't know what the fuck you're planning here, Jonathan." Nazz said and pointed an accusing finger at Jonathan. "But get this, alright? If you ever even touch Double D again I'll—"

Jonathan cut her off with a sharp mocking laugh. Much harsher than the way he laughed when he was with Edd and much more... befitting of him. He moved closer to Nazz, still cackling, and then leaned into her face just as he finished laughing.

"You'll what, Nazz?"

Nazz didn't know why but even though he was this close to her, with the tip of their noses just barely brushing the other, even though he was breaking their boundaries so easily like this, she had felt her weakness for him slowly but surely drain away. Her face became impassive, devoid of any emotion really. She levelled Jonathan's mocking gaze with a steady gaze of her own. However, she made no move to answer him

Jonathan scoffed and shook his head. "I thought so."

Nazz just shrugged her shoulders idly "You're right, Jonathan."

Jonathan smirked once more. This time, he was sure he had broken her. He was just about to pull back when she added something that had made his insides freeze over;

"You're right, I wouldn't be able to do shit... but I'm sure Kev would."

Jonathan's expression dropped and although Nazz had loved the way it did, she had kept her poker face plastered on. The two held each other's gaze for what seemed like eons. If there had been anyone there to witness them staring at each other like that, they could have made the same observation as Edd.

Sexual tension.

Finally Jonathan broke away but Nazz knew it was only because he started to grow bored. Once again with neither a word nor a glance, Jonathan turned around and finally left, for good this time. Once he was gone, Nazz sighed rather loudly. That had gone better than expected, she thought. Not entirely peachy keen but at least she had gotten away with it barely unscathed. Nazz shook her head and cleared her head before heading off the opposite direction towards the field. Although she was already late for cheer practice and would probably get scolded by Skye, their head cheerleader, she knew her priorities lie elsewhere. She whipped out her phone out and began texting.

When she was done, she looked through her contacts until she finally found the name she was looking for. She waited until the little check appeared on the envelope icon before she ran to her teammates, expressing her sincerest apologies.

Meanwhile, somewhere on the other side of the school, Kevin was taking a lovely nap during Algebra II when all of a sudden he felt his pants vibrate. Out of his surprise, he suddenly jerked from his seat and exclaimed 'I di'n do nuthin'!' His classmates burst out laughing while his teacher just shook his head disapprovingly. He gave Kevin a brief stern lecture to which Kevin had apologized before getting back to the lecture. He could still hear his classmates snickering at him but soon, they were absorbed back into the lecture. Whatever this damned text was supposed to be, it had better been worth that embarrassment. Otherwise, he'd give the sender an earful from him. With practiced ease, he slid his phone out of his pants and hid it under his desk, careful not to rouse the teacher's suspicion.

'Huh, it's from Nazz.' he thought, opening the message. It read;

saw matthews talking to DD. he looks 'interested'. be careful.

The content of the message had made Kevin's eyes widen in alarm and his stomach clenched. He didn't even realize how tightly he gripped his phone; its hinges began creaking under the pressure of his hand. He just wanted to get up and leave right there and then to go find Double D, unmindful of the fact that disturbing class again might get him into trouble. He was about to do just that when his hand suddenly vibrated.

'What the—'

It was his phone. Was it Nazz again? Was there something more she wanted to say? Something worse?

Then his heart stopped. The ID... It was from a different person. It was an unknown number but he was sure, as sure as he was that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, that it was him. Kevin gripped his phone tighter, as he began to read the message.

I'm sure a little birdie must have told you by now. Meet me in the boy's locker room in 5.

Immediately, he rose from his seat, rattling his chair and desk in the process and the class turned to him in bewilderment. He started heading out the door but before he could leave, his teacher had grabbed him roughly by his arm and asked,

"And where do you think you're going?"

Kevin just stared blankly ahead as if he heard nothing. Then, he turned his head to the teacher in a slow arc. His expression was dark yet otherwise unreadable.

"Bathroom." he spat, without even batting an eye. The teacher was so stumped by that answer that he had unintentionally let his grip on the redhead loosen. Kevin took this opportunity and shoved off the teacher's hand before making a mad dash down the hall.

End of Chapter 3

A/N: And so the plot thickens unnecessarily xD lol. AHH. That was nice. Writing that was a lot of fun. Sure, I've wasted precious sleep time writing it but was totally worth it. Also, I wasn't really planning on Kev making an appearance this chapter but he kinda slipped in at the last minute lol.

ANYWAY! THANK YOU SOOOOOOOO MUCH FOR THE 60+ FOLLOWS AND FAVS! (where are my reviews tho? Lol) Also, I almost shat myself when I saw that mama ac1d was one of those who faved and followed this story. I AM NOT WORTHY. ; -;

Thank you so much guise. I hope this chapter was enjoyable and wasn't too much of a turn off you. Still, hoping you enjoyed tho. (Am I coming off as a bit desperate right now? Okay, shutting up.)

More to come! Bye.