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Kevin glances around the cafeteria with squinted eyes.
Something's fishy.
Dork, double dork and dorky haven't bothered him or the other kids yet, and lunch has been going on for a good 15 minutes now. It's suspicious. He knows they're planning something. It's just too convenient.
Oh well. He'll enjoy the peace for as long as it lasts. Before Eddy comes in to try and sell another one of his scams again.
Kevin grits his teeth as he involuntarily starts thinking about the little dweeb. He's just so annoying! Eddy thinks he's all that and a bag of chips, but unlike Kevin, he's totally not. He's obnoxious, a scammer, doesn't take no for an answer, cute-
The ginger rapidly shakes his head at the thought. No freaking way.
"So, Kev, as I was saying-" Nazz goes on, completely oblivious to the fact Kevin hadn't heard anything she'd just said.
Before the blonde girl gets another word in, the doors of the cafeteria are aggressively thrown open. Jimmy and Sarah run in, out of breath but looking excited nonetheless.
"What's up with you guys?" Kevin asks, not particularly interested.
"Eddy and Michael Toliver are fighting in the playground!" Sarah yells, jumping around like she just won the lottery.
"Whoa, Michael Toliver?? No kidding!?" Jonny cries out, clutching Plank to his chest nervously.
"No kidding!" Jimmy confirms.
"I heard he got expelled for beating up a teacher!" Nazz shares to the group.
Kevin gulps. He doesn't really care much for the kids at school outside of his usual group, but even he knows who Michael Toliver is. The kid is in his last year of junior high, but he looks like a senior in high school. He's even taller than Ed and bulky as a rock. Kevin sure wouldn't want to mess with a guy like Toliver.
"Eddy is in combat with that brute?!" Rolf looks doubtful about the whole situation.
"Yeah, yeah! We're not lying! Come and see for yourself!" Sarah impatiently beckons for them to follow her.
Kevin's not so sure he believes them. Sarah and Jimmy are known for often over-dramatizing things and if he's being honest, Kevin can't see a pipsqueak like Eddy getting into a fight with someone like Michael Toliver. Double D would've undoubtedly come up with a plan to avoid any actual conflict.
He follows them either way. Because there's no way in hell he'd miss seeing that dirty scammer get his ass handed over to him.
At the playground there's a huge crowd of kids forming a circle. Kevin can't really make out who else is at the center of the circle, but he sees Toliver's black hair sticking out above the people. Kevin pushes his way past the other kids to see what's going on.
"Holy crap...." He mutters in disbelief.
Sarah and Jimmy sure weren't lying. There was Eddy, being chased by Toliver and screaming his lungs out. Every time the smaller boy tries fleeing, he's pushed right back in by the crowd. Kind of like a rodeo.
Eddy sweats profusely, flailing his arms when Toliver closes in on him.
"Mikey, pal, we can talk this out!" Eddy puts on a wide and shaky grin, trying to appear casual.
"You stole my money!" Toliver growls, clenching his fists.
"I didn't know it was yours!" Eddy squeaks.
And hey, he really didn't. He just happened to be walking around the hallway when he spotted a couple of quarters resting on a trash can. Eddy didn't have one clue that those quarters belonged to Michael Toliver, who had apparently left them there for just a moment. How was Eddy supposed to know the completely unguarded money wasn't free to take??
"I can always pay you back!" Eddy offers, knowing he probably won't but giving it a try nonetheless.
"You spend it already, stupid! Or did you forget?" Well, darn. Apparently Toliver found out Eddy had spend the quarters on a jawbreaker already.
Eddy, to his credit, thinks it's worth it. That jawbreaker had been crazy good! He's not sure if the punches he'll get to his face will be worth the candy, though.
"I'm, like, a professional money maker! You'll get your quarters back in no time!" Eddy insists. He nervously looks around to see if Double D has returned with a teacher yet, but he can't really see anything with all the people standing in his way.
"You messed up! And you're gonna pay for stealing my cash, but not with money." A wicked grin plays at Toliver's lips as he cracks his knuckles loudly.
Eddy's pretty freaking sure he's not gonna get out of this one unharmed. If only Ed was here, he'd kick this guy's ass with ease!
But Ed was reading books about snails in the library right now, and not here to save Eddy's butt.
"H-HEY!" Eddy barely dodges the fist swung his way. He dashes between Toliver's legs, getting to the other side of the circle.
"Let me out, you sadists!!! This is cruel!" He makes another attempt at climbing over the pests blocking his way, but he's once again kicked back.
"Get back here!" Toliver roars, yanking Eddy up by his collar.
"Eat my shorts!" Eddy yells back, never knowing when to keep his mouth shut.
"Wrong move."
Toliver draws his fist back and then lets it fly against Eddy's jaw like a catapult. He keeps Eddy above the ground, turning him into his personal boxing ball.
Kevin, at first, only feels satisfaction at seeing the little bastard get what he deserves. But soon it becomes a little too intense. Eddy is roughly thrown to the ground. The boy spits out a tooth, one eye squeezed shut as a huge bruise starts forming around it.
Toliver stands over the teen and sends a kick to Eddy's knee, making the other yelp in pain. Eddy glances up at Toliver through watery eyes, blinking when he sees the white T-shirt turn into a flannel. Toliver's black hair suddenly turns into a brown hat and there's a stubble forming on his previously clean chin.
Pain shoots through his body in all places. Eddy can't really fight back, so he brings his hands up to his face to protect himself from any incoming hits.
"OWW! UNCLE! UNCLE!" He screams, desperate to have the fight end already. He's way past the point of trying to talk things out, he just wants to stop getting hit.
Kevin can't watch it anymore. It was satisfying at first, but this is just cruel. Not even a nuisance like Eddy deserves to get hit this many times.
"Hey! Lay off him, man! That's enough!" Kevin's legs tremble at the thought of taking this guy on, but he doesn't back down.
"What're you gonna do about it, carrot top? Is he your boyfriend or somethin'?" Toliver mocks, towering over the football player.
Toliver kicks Eddy again, and that's when Kevin decides he's had enough.
He pushes Toliver back as hard as he can, making the other teen stumble a bit. The black-haired boy's anger is now directed towards Kevin. Toliver knocks him over with a shove of his own. Kevin lands on his ass, hard.
Now more ticked off than rational, Kevin kicks Toliver where the sun doesn't shine. The other boy's legs clamp together, expression immediately melting into that of pure pain.
Everyone, even Kevin, winces at the sight. Ouch.
At that moment a teacher conveniently comes in to break the crowd apart. Better late than never, right? Toliver is dragged off to the nurse and Eddy is still on the ground, probably a few seconds away from passing out.
"Crap, dude, he really got you good! Can you even hear me??" Kevin stands over the hurt teen. Eddy's sporting a giant black eye and his wrist is stuck in a weird angle.
Eddy sniffs and wipes at his eyes. Then, he huffs and looks the other way.
"I didn't need your help! I coulda taken him on myself!" Eddy lisps, the hole in his teeth comedically large.
Kevin rolls his eyes because, yeah, right. He sticks out his hand for Eddy to take.
"C'mon, dork, you're totally gonna die out here if we don't get you to the nurse." Kevin simply says, lacking the usual venom in his voice when he talks to Eddy.
The scammer hesitates for a moment, puzzled by the act of kindness. Maybe Kevin's trying to play a trick on him. He'll probably let Eddy's hand go while he's pulling him up so he'll fall back to the ground.
Maybe it's the distracting pain or maybe it's that Eddy will take any form of affection he can get right now, but he takes Kevin's hand despite his better judgement.
Kevin doesn't drop him, much to Eddy's surprise. Even crazier, he keeps an arm wrapped around Eddy's shoulders so he doesn't crash down again. He melts into the touch. He hasn't been this close to Kevin since......since he was Carl for a day.
"Man, I didn't think you'd actually get into a fight! I thought Jimmy and Sarah were just pullin' my leg." Kevin comments, still a little in disbelief about the whole thing.
"I didn't think you'd actually care that I got into a fight~" Eddy purrs, hoping to embarrass the other, if only to hide how shitty he feels.
Kevin pulls his hat down a little, cheeks reddening just slightly. Eddy takes pride in the small victory.
"Yeah, well, it wasn't a fair fight. That guy's ten times bigger than you." Eddy can't disagree with that logic. "And I'm the only one who gets to kick your butt, okay? Not Michael Toliver."
Eddy ignores how fuzzy the words make him feel inside, laughing like a maniac instead.
"Oh yeah??? Sounds to me like you're just jealous of 'im!" Eddy snickers when Kevin sputters in embarrassment.
"S-shut up, dork! As if!"