I created my own character, Anna, for a few parts of the story, but don't worry. She only appears a few minor times, just to keep the story going. I would have used Nazz, but she seemed too intimidating for the part. (Besides, I'm using her for something else.)

I DID originally start this story out in middle school, but many people have PMed me and asked to upgrade it to high school, and I kinda liked that idea better. So the story will be the exact same, except it won't be based after that one episode. Still gonna use references from the shows, though. Also, I trimmed some of the unnecessary/loose ends off the story, so it's gonna be a bit shorter, but it'll be more to the point.

I do not own Ed Edd n Eddy, nor do I own Nat Goldberg. These are other people's toys and I'm just playing with them.

It was one of those days where no matter how hard he tried; nothing seemed to go Edd's way. Within in the last few weeks alone, he had butted heads with his two best friends more than he wanted to. Also it seemed that he was slipping in his perfect attendance records. However this last time, Edd had really messed up his friendships with Eddy and Ed and he knew it. His so-called 'friends' had taken it upon themselves to prank the entire basketball team after school by oiling the court and the basket hoops and Edd had ratted them out on it, fearing what would happen if the team found out it was them.

Edd had been a part of this prank at first, however after consideration for his friends' well being as well as his own, he backed out, and told the coach what they had done. Not only that but their cul-de-sac neighbor Kevin was the captain of the basketball team. Edd both admired and feared the boy, and to keep him from getting hurt and taking it out on them, he had told.

While Edd faced a detention, the coach had forced Ed and Eddy to stay at practice with the team, who very grudgingly and not-so-gently played with them. Needless to say by the end of practice, the two Eds, mainly Eddy, had come back out with many a bruise and scrape. Eddy was seething at Edd when he came out and swore that the sockhead ruined everything, and big Ed was too oblivious to Eddy's rage to know that this was a serious problem. Since then Edd hadn't heard anything from either.

Edd believed that it didn't do any good to fight with the other two Eds. No matter what the risk or punishment was, Eddy could not stop trying to cheat and swindle people out of their money or to find some reason to put others down to make himself look good. Even now in their Senior year of high school, Eddy could not give up chasing that almighty dollar.

Lately, and more often than not, Edd found himself all alone at lunch and at recess. Although he had tried his hardest to regain Ed and Eddy's friendship many times, offering to help them do their homework, opening doors for them, etc...it seemed that he was failing miserably. Two nights ago, Edd worried himself sick over their fights and subsequently missed school the next day due to fever, which cost him his perfect attendance record.

Even though Edd was going through such a hard time, his mind was still focused solely on his grades. It was a fault of his, he worked so hard to achieve academic excellence that he often came off as uncaring and aloof towards the ones he cared about. After an entire three years of perfect grades in middle school, Edd was placed in all the advanced classes in high school. Due to the fact that he was so much farther ahead than the rest of his class, he was often the most bullied out of the three Eds, especially when Eddy and Ed weren't around to help him.

Presently, Edd was sitting in Literature class. Sitting beside him was his new friend, Anna. He didn't really have much to do with the purple haired girl except for the classes they had together. They had become friends one day while Edd was in the nurse's office, helping sort files. It was the first day after Edd had stuck up for Kevin and Eddy was giving him the cold shoulder. So Edd vouched for hiding in the nurse's office during the lunch hour instead of risking the chance of running into a hostile Eddy in the cafeteria.

In that time, this girl Anna had come in to the nurse's office needing a band-aid for a rather nasty paper cut. Edd tutted about cleanliness and helped sanitize and bandage the cut and since then, he and Anna always somehow found each other during the school day and chatted if only for a few minutes. Edd told her all his stories about every scam and every adventure that he'd had with his two friends in the cul-de-sac.

A poke in his right shoulder brought him into the present again and he turned to face Anna who was smiling brightly at him. This class had approximately 13 people, but Edd only knew 3 of them. Anna sat beside Edd in the row on his right side, and two seats behind Anna, sat Kevin. Beside Kevin sat Nat, and both jocks were surrounded by all of their football and basketball friends. Often times, Edd tried his hardest not to meet Kevin's gaze out of both fear and out of admiration.

He respected Kevin very much. If he didn't, he wouldn't have stood up for Kevin and the team, and he would still have his two best friends with him. However Kevin seemed to have long forgotten that Edd had helped him. Every day Edd would come in to Literature and Kevin and Nat would either fly paper airplanes that had DORK or Double dweeb scribbled all over it or would flick erasers at his head or would just sit with their friends and snort and choke on laughter, no doubt at Edd's expense.

It was close to the end of the school day, the clock showed 2:55pm and soon Edd would be on his way back to his empty house filled with chores scribbled on notes by his parents who were never around. His life was pretty monotonous, yes but still, it was his life. Only one more semester of high school, then he would be in college where, hopefully, things would be better. Anna brought him back to the present one more time by saying, "So, talked to Ed or Eddy?" Out of his peripheral vision, Edd could see Kevin stop talking with his friends to look over at the two and listen quietly, although he could not fathom why Kevin of all people would care.

Edd held back a sigh and forced a weak smile. "No, not exactly…I met Ed in the cafeteria today, however he simply made a comment about the lack of gravy on the food, then walked away." Anna shook her head and said "Gee, Double D. I'm awful sorry." The boy waved his hand nonchalantly and said "It is quite alright Anna. Thank you for your sympathy."

Just then the bell that signaled 3:00 and the end of school rang; and everyone got up in a rush to leave the room. Edd packed his bag and stood up to leave but his eye caught Kevin, who was still sitting in his chair, staring at him. For the first time that day, Edd turned and looked Kevin in the eye and smiled sheepishly. "Good day, Kevin." When he didn't get an immediate response, Edd took that as his cue to get lost. Anna was standing in the hall waiting for him and when he got out to her she asked him "Hey Double D, do you mind walking home with me? I live on the street that leads to the cul-de-sac so it wouldn't be out of your way." Edd gave her his usual gap-toothed grin and said "I would love to. It would be nice to have some company on my walk for once."

The two young teens set off down the street on the way to the cul-de-sac talking and giggling. Edd had used to ride the bus, but because Ed and Eddy ride the bus, he feared that it would only cause an awkward moment or something even worse. Even though it was quite a walk, Edd would rather do that than ride the bus at the moment. As the two walked down the street the yellow bus flew by them and they both looked up just in time to see Ed's face squished against one of the windows in a strained face and in the window behind him, Eddy was giving Edd the finger. Edd sighed and shook his head while Anna glared after them.

For a few minutes they walked in silence, then after a bit Anna opened her mouth and said "Well to be honest he's not really the kind of person you should be friends with, Double D. You're so much nicer and smarter than he is." Edd said nothing in response and they continued to walk in the quiet. After a few blocks, they came to a stop at Anna's. The cul-de-sac was still a few blocks away and the sky was becoming cold and cloudy. Anna looked up as she turned into her yard then looked back at Edd and said "Hey, you wanna come inside with me for a bit? It looks like it's gonna rain." Edd smiled his gap-toothed smile at her and said "You're too kind Anna but I think I will just keep going. I have much homework and a few inevitable chores to take care of. I do appreciate the offer though." He bid her farewell and turned to keep walking as she went into her house.

True to Anna's word the skies opened up a little more than a few minutes later and began to drop ice cold water onto Edd. Not that he minded, as he was lost in thought. He was extremely sad that he was not on good terms with the two people he cared most for in the entire world. He wished he hadn't told. He wished he would have just stepped aside and let Kevin and the team deal with them in their own way. Then maybe even though they would have had a few bruises and maybe a broken bone or two, they would still be friends. Edd would take that over the stone cold silent treatment any day.

A car rounded the corner and as it drove past him, a spray of the dirty water on its tires drenched him. Edd let out a loud groan of frustration and brought his arms up and crossed them over his chest to keep warm as he continued down the street. As he was walking, he could hear smaller tires coming up the sidewalk behind him. They were coming at him too fast for him to get out of the way to avoid being splashed again so he decided to just let it happen. However the tires seemed to slow down as they got to him and Edd turned to see none other than Kevin on his bicycle slowing to a stop beside him. Kevin was also wet, but had his black jacket zipped up and his hood pulled up over his cap. He scowled down at the wet boy and said "Get on, Double dork."

Edd was stunned for a moment and stuttered back "W-What did you sa-" Kevin cut him off and snapped in response. "You heard me. Get on before I change my mind." Edd didn't need any more assurance and quickly mounted the bike behind Kevin. Soon the wind and rain drops were whipping around them as Kevin pedaled faster around corners and over curbs towards their cul-de-sac. Although he was terrified of falling off the bike, Edd kept his hands firmly clasped together at his chest, fearing that if he even slightly touched Kevin, the jock would throw him off in a puddle. Kevin seemed to know what he was thinking and turned back to tell him "Hold onto my jacket, dork. I'm not slowing down." Edd did as he was told and leaned forward against Kevin's back and grabbed the hem of his black jacket.

For a moment Edd lost himself. Kevin's scent was unlike any other boy's scent that Edd had ever known. Even Eddy didn't smell as good as Kevin. The jock smelled musky but not too much. It was truly an intriguing scent. Kevin shifted a little against Edd and made a small noise as he readjusted. For a moment, Edd could have almost sworn he heard Kevin said "Sorry, dork." The rest of the ride was spent in absolute quiet save for the rain falling around them.

When the boys reached the cul-de-sac Kevin non-too-gently skidded to a halt right in front of Edd's house. As Edd dismounted the bike he gathered the courage to face Kevin and clear his throat. Kevin raised an eyebrow at Edd but was quiet nonetheless. The sock-headed boy finally spit the words out. "Kevin, did you…say something just a moment ago?"

Kevin just looked at the Ed in front of him. His instinct initially told him to just say no and leave, but as he looked at Edd, he found that he didn't want to just lie to him. So he reached up and adjusted the bill of his red hat a little lower to cover his eyes and said "Yeah, dork. Didn't you listen? I said that I was sorry."

This seemed to brighten Edd's face up a little and he said "Oh, whatever for Kevin?" Kevin shifted uncomfortably and said "You know… for treating you the way I did. Especially after you helped me the other day…" The rain seemed to lighten but the gray coldness of autumn still surrounded them. Edd continued "Well, Kevin although I am confused, I suppose I do forgive you. But I must ask you, why are you apologizing?"

Kevin huffed and turned forward on his bike and said "Don't worry about it, dorky." As Kevin was about to ride away, without thinking, Edd quickly spouted "You smell very nice, Kevin." Kevin turned to look at him with a somewhat shocked and slightly disturbed look. "What?"

Edd backtracked slightly; he brought his hand up to rub the back of his neck and laughed nervously. "Uh, what I meant to say was… your cologne smells nice." Kevin continued to stare and said "I'm not wearing any cologne." Edd's face paled and Kevin smirked to himself and shook his head. "Whatever. See you at school tomorrow, Double dweeb."

As Kevin pedaled away, he could feel his cheeks pinken. He really wasn't wearing any cologne or spray of any kind. The sockhead was incredibly feminine in that aspect, however, and the ginger found that to be incredibly adorable. Not that Edd would ever have to know.

As Kevin pulled up to his house, he found Nat waiting on his porch. "Where the hell you been, Kev? I've been standing here forever!" As Kevin pulled his bike into his garage he snorted and said "Quit being a drama queen. I was giving a kid a ride home." Nat, who stood over in the doorway, smirked then said "Oh really? Who?"

Kevin knew that Nat already knew who it was, because he was standing across the street watching the whole time. That's the wonderful thing about cul-de-sacs. "Don't play dumb, you know who it was." Nat snorted and gave Kevin a cheeky grin. "Yeah, but I wanna hear you say it." Kevin pushed Nat out of the way and walked into his house. "The dork was walking in the rain, I felt bad for him." The boys walked into the kitchen and as Kevin dug in the fridge for a couple sodas, Nat leaned against one of the counters and said "Yeah? Then what were you two talking about for so long?"

Kevin tossed a soda can to him and said "The dork told me that I smell nice and I blew him off." Nat cracked open his soda and gave Kevin another one of his famous smirks and said "Does someone have a crush?" Kevin quickly jerked his head in Nat's direction and quickly snapped "What?! No way, man! You're outta your mind. I mean, he's alright for a dork. But there's no way I would ever have a crush on a loser like him!" Nat tried to keep from bursting out laughing and said "I was talking about Double dweeb, not you..." Kevin immediately shut up and walked into the living room and flopped down on the couch.

Nat sat down beside him and as he lifted his soda up to his lips, he muttered just loud enough for Kevin to hear him. "Busted!" Kevin then put down his soda and said "That's it. Your ass is toast, bastard." Nat laughed as Kevin tackled him and the two wrestled around for quite some time in Kevin's living room.

Meanwhile over at Edd's house, Edd was putting clean dishes away and repeating what just happened outside in his mind. Oh, how embarrassing! Now Kevin had yet another piece of ammunition against him. He should have said thank you and gone about his business. Kevin would never let him forget it. Edd chastised himself "Oh, from this moment on, I will never speak another word to Kevin!"

Just then, the telephone rang. Edd quickly wiped his hands on a dish towel and went over to pick up the receiver. "Hello, this is Eddward." The voice on the other end greeted him "Double D, my little munchkin friend!" Edd's heart immediately warmed up. It was Ed! "Oh, Ed! It's so good to hear from you again. How are you doing? Are your grades okay? How is your school attendance? When is-" Ed cut him off by saying "I want to start swimming lessons for chickens, Double D."

At the stupidity of Ed's idea, Edd couldn't help but to smile to himself. He really did miss his friends. "Ed, that's ridiculous. Where are you going to get a chicken? Also, where would you give them swimming lessons?" Ed's voice seemed to glimmer with happiness. "Already ahead of you, Double D. I borrowed Rolf's chickens. They're at my house in my bathtub."

"…You WHAT?!"

I welcome any and all reviews, as well as CONSTRUCTIVE criticism of this story. :) If you like it, great! Happy to write for you! If you don't like it, tell me why and what I can do to make it better. Don't just say 'this is lame' and leave it at that. I delete those comments.