Leap of Faith

1. All Grown Up

Peach Creek had not changed one bit in those 6 years, but the kids sure had. Most of them, save for Johnny, Jimmy, and Sarah, who were still juniors in high school, were preparing to head off to college; take the big leap and get out of their little pond. It was time to leave their quaint, familiar cul-de-sac.

Rolf had decided to go back to the old country for his education; he proclaimed he wanted to learn agriculture "the right way", and what better way to do so than by going back to the mammaland. Nazz had received a scholarship in the culinary arts for Peach Creek University; she never thought she'd be going down that road for her career, thinking of other things instead, like a nurse or fashion designer, but a few years into secondary, she realized that this was what she loved and she was damn good at it too. All those years babysitting the neighbourhood kids gave her the practice and knowledge of a healthy diet.

Kevin and Nat both got into PCU as well with their own baseball scholarship; the star athletes of Peach Creek High who, despite their natural talents, still fought hard to achieve their goal.

There were only a couple of days left until the older kids had to leave the cul-de-sac, so they decided to have a little reunion to say their goodbyes. The kids met up in the center of the cul-de-sac and then walked together to Nazz's backyard for one last barbeque party. Everyone was laughing, and having a good time eating their hot-dogs and burgers, when suddenly, Johnny piped up with the obvious question:

"Hey guys, has anyone seen the Eds?"

The kids looked at each other and shrugged. "Beats me dude. I invited them personally, though. I thought at least Double D would show up." Answered Nazz with her slanted lips showing her confusion, and perhaps even slight disappointment. The Eds weren't the most popular kids in the neighbourhood due to their scamming past, but over high school, it seemed as though they calmed down and decided to focus on other hobbies. They were at least a bit more well-liked by the others.

"My stupid brother just dashed out of the house without even saying a word, so I guess those three are together somewhere else." Said Sarah as she took another bite of her hot dog.

"I guess the Ed-boys would rather have their own time, yes?" Questioned Rolf.

Kevin gave a little sigh and shook his head, "Who cares? If the dorks wanna be on their own to say their goodbyes, then let them. They've always been their own little clusterfuck anyway." He took a sip of his cola and shrugged.

Nat patted him on the back and giggled, "Always the sentimental one this guy... I guess he's sort of right though? I mean, from what I've learned from you guys, they've been friends since like, the beginning of time, right? And they're not even going to the same place for college, so maybe reality's getting to them." Nat had been living in the cul-de-sac only since his sophomore year; he quickly befriended the other kids and found himself closest to Kevin by far.

The famous trio had always been somewhat of an enigma to him; he had met the three before, yes, but never really spent much time with them. Out of the three however, he was best acquainted with Eddward, the smartest and by the looks of it, most decent one. He didn't mind Double D, not at all. In fact, he thought he was actually pretty cool for a "dork", as Kevin would so commonly call them. He was super smart, nice, hard-working... His frame wasn't nearly as masculine as his or Kevin's, he had a sort of softness to all his features without necessarily being girly... And he always wore that silly black beanie on his head; coupled with his little gap-tooth smile and it was even... Dare Nat say it... Borderline adorable!

Nat found himself slightly blushing while staring into his own glass of lemonade as he thought of his image for the skinny little genius. Kevin snapped his fingers in front of his friend's face to bring him out of the sudden trance.