35 Back At School

For the next week, all Arnold did was lay on the couch on his mother's lap and they watched her shows together. Kelly called after school every day and gave him his homework, which he did immediately, and Annie drove over to Kelly's place and dropped it off before supper. Kelly had tried to tell her that it wasn't necessary to do it every day and that Arnold could pass it in at the end of the week, and Annie wouldn't listen and delivered it anyway.

Annie had called the college and told them that Arnold would accept the job and they had sent over the paperwork by courier, because they had learned their lesson about sending an assistant to do it. Both Annie and Arnold went to the bank to set everything up. The account manager was happy to help them do it and had them sorted out in less than twenty minutes. He also set it up so that they could use the same bank card to access both accounts.

Amanda, the waitress Arnold had met at the half diner half restaurant, had changed shifts for a week to work in the evenings, just so she could camp out at the high school to look for him. She had looked pretty hard for him and was disappointed that she didn't find him. Her friend had been sure that he was in high school, especially after the newspaper article, and Amanda went home at the end of the week with her hopes dashed.

Surprisingly, nothing happened all weekend for anyone. There were no conflicts, blow-ups, fights, chance meetings, or encounters of any kind. Everyone had stayed at home and kept to themselves. Even Amy and Cissily had stayed in instead of going out to party like they usually did. They still drank like fish, except that they paid for the alcohol themselves.

Monday morning came and Arnold got out of bed when his alarm went off. He took a shower and brushed his teeth, then he dressed in his school clothes. He put on his full backpack and went downstairs to have breakfast.

“Good morning.” Annie said as he came into the kitchen.

Arnold walked over and took her into a hug and gave her a quick kiss. “Good morning.”

Annie served him breakfast and they sat at the kitchen table and ate in silence. When they were done, they took the dishes to the sink and washed them, then Arnold dried his hands.

“I think I'm going to miss having you here during the day.” Annie said and dried her own.

“Do you want me to get suspended again?” Arnold asked her.

“NO!” Annie exclaimed. “No, it's too close to exams for you to take any more time off.” She said. “Try not to get into trouble, okay?”

Arnold nodded.

“If Kelly's right, then either Brad or Kevin is going to try to talk to you today.” Annie said. “No matter what they ask you to do, I want you to say no. You can't give them the satisfaction of getting to you.”

“Okay.” Arnold said and turned to leave the kitchen when the phone rang.

“Just a second Arnold.” Annie said and picked up the phone. “Hello?” “What?” “All right. I'll tell him.” She hung up the phone and looked at Arnold. “That was the vice-principal. She wants you to go directly to her office when you get to school.”

“Okay.” Arnold said and walked to the front door.

“Did you write the report she wanted?” Annie asked.

Arnold nodded and opened the door, stepped out and closed it, then walked down the driveway and across the road. He didn't have to wait long for the bus. As he was climbing aboard, his mother came out of the house at a run. She was too late, however. The bus drove away before she could get the driver's attention.

“Oh, damn.” Annie said. “I just hope...” She shook her head and went back inside.

Arnold rode the bus to school and was oblivious to whatever his mother had wanted to tell him. The bus arrived at the school and Arnold easily fell back into his old routine. Instead of looking for Heather in the parking lot, he went right towards the front door of the school.

“Hello, sexy!” A girl said and waved at him exaggeratedly.

“Stop that! I don't want him over here!” The girl next to her said and pulled her friend's hand down.

“Hey, college bait!” A guy said. “You like yourself some dark meat, huh?”

Arnold ignored him and kept walking.

“You have some nerve showing your face here.” Another guy said and tried to step in front of him. Arnold turned and stepped to the side, resisted the urge to jam an elbow into the guy's side, and kept walking.

“Huh? What?” The guy turned around and hadn't realized Arnold was already past him. “Hey!” He saw Arnold open the front door of the school. “Hey! Wait up! I'm not done with you!”

Arnold ignored him and went inside, and was greeted by stares, a few leers, both good and bad, and a general sense of hostility. He ignored it all and walked right over to the school offices and went inside.

“Look, it's our resident celebrity.” A guy's voice sneered. “How are you liking all of the attention?”

Arnold ignored the guy on the bench and went to the desk. “I'm here to see the vice-principal.”

The woman looked at him and squinted her eyes. “She's been waiting for you.” She said, a little meanly. “It's the second door, and make sure you knock first.”

Arnold walked around the long counter and stopped at the second door, knocked exactly once, and entered the office and shut the door.

“Come i... oh.” The vice-principal stopped when he had already come in. “Arnold, have a seat.”

Arnold sat down on the chair in front of her desk. The vice-principal looked at him for several moments and didn't say anything. It had been a standard 'sweating' tactic she had used for years to make the students in front of her more compliant and forthcoming with the truth.

“Normally, it's against school policy to ask a student about their private affairs...” The vice-principal took a breath at her unintended pun. “...but, it seems your personal life has had quite the polarizing effect on the other students.”

Arnold just sat there and didn't say anything.

The vice-principal took out a copy of the newspaper and put it on the desk. “I assume you've read this.”

Arnold nodded.

“What do you have to say for yourself?”

“It was a complete misunderstanding.” Arnold said, repeating the words his mother told him to say. “I had only just learned from Heather how to kiss someone goodbye.”

The vice-principal blinked her eyes for a moment. “Your ex-girlfriend taught you to do that?”

Arnold nodded. “I am not dating Amy and I am not starting a life with her at college next year. I accepted a summer job as a junior assistant and she is the senior assistant. I only kissed her goodbye and that was when they took the picture.”

“So, you weren't celebrating being out of debt?” The vice-principal asked.

“Not then. We didn't even know how much the life insurance was going to be.” Arnold said. “She left when the reporter came into the house.”

The vice-principal let out a sigh and the first bell rang for the students to get to class. “So, you aren't dating her?”

“No.” Arnold said. “My mother told me that she is a bad influence and wouldn't treat me well.”

“I've talked to your biology teacher and he confirms that.” The vice-principal said. “Unfortunately, everyone thinks you are dating her and they... aren't going to be kind to you for cheating.”

“Mom warned me to not cause any trouble.” Arnold said.

The vice-principal nodded agreement and then the second bell rang. Class had started.

“Should I tell you that someone spoke meanly to me or that a guy tried to stop me from coming into the school, or does that count as causing trouble?” Arnold asked.

The vice-principal closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. “Arnold, you're giving me a headache.”

“I wrote the report you wanted.” Arnold said and dug it out of his backpack.

“Put it on my desk.” The vice-principal said and heard a thump. She stopped rubbing her temples and opened her eyes to see a very thick report on her desk. “Arnold, that... it must be thirty pages!”

“Thirty-six, not counting the index or title page.” Arnold said.

“There's an index?” The vice-principal asked, surprised. “What the heck were you doing for two weeks that you could write this much? No, don't answer that. I'll read it and find out for myself.”

“Okay.” Arnold said and she flipped the title page and then the two index pages and saw the writing was small, clean, and precise. She could easily read it and nodded as she closed it.

“All right, Arnold. Now I have to give you a warning.” The vice-principal said. “People can be cruel. They can be mean and they can be vindictive. It's especially bad when it's someone like you that they all believe did a very bad thing.” She said. “These last few weeks of school are going to be very hard for you.”

Arnold nodded.

“They are going to pick on you, bully you, and probably make your life here a living hell.” The vice-principal said. “I abhor fighting, even in self defense. There are much better ways to solve problems than with your fists.”

Arnold didn't say anything in response.

“If they try to goad you into fighting...”

“You don't want me to defend myself.” Arnold said.

“What? I didn't say that.”

“If I'm not allowed to fight and they fight me, then I can't defend myself.” Arnold said. “What do I do then?”

The vice-principal opened her mouth to tell him he could fight, then stopped herself. No matter how I answer, it goes against school policy. She thought, angry at herself for painting herself into a verbal corner.

“Why is it okay for them to fight and not me?” Arnold asked. “Why do they have exceptions to your rules and I don't?”

The vice-principal couldn't answer, because that would be just as bad as admitting he was right.

Arnold stood up and walked over to her door, then turned around to look at her when he remembered that first fight with Brad. “What if you don't find out about it?” He asked. “If no one reports it, it's okay, right?”

The vice-principal's eyes widened slightly at what he was saying. No. Tell him no. Tell him he can't go looking for fights. Tell him! TELL HIM NO! She yelled at herself in her head, then remained quiet. Arnold let a small smile appear on his face and walked back across the room. The vice-principal watched him as he walked around her desk and bent over slightly to put his face right in front of hers.

“Thank you.” Arnold said and gave her a brief kiss.

“ARN-” The vice-principal stopped herself before she yelled. “You can't kiss me!”

“Why not?” Arnold asked as he stood up straight.

“I'm the vice-principal!”

“So?”

“What if I was married! Or seeing someone!”

“Are you married or seeing someone?” Arnold asked.

“No, but...”

“Is it against school rules?” Arnold asked.

“No, but... policy...”

“Did you hate it?”

“Not... really.”

“I don't have a girlfriend anymore, so what's the problem?”

“You... you're too...” The vice-principal couldn't say he was too young, since he was eighteen and would turn nineteen over the summer. She definitely didn't want to say he was too young for her. When she tried desperately to think of a response that he would accept as a valid reason, her mind went completely blank.

“My mother told me that even though Heather taught me the goodbye kiss, when I use it on someone else, she believed I cheated on her.” Arnold said. “So, I asked my mother what cheating meant. She told me why some people see it as a betrayal and that others are okay with it, mainly because they didn't agree beforehand to be what mom said was 'being exclusive'.”

“You didn't agree to that.” The vice-principal said, barely above a whisper.

“I plan on telling everyone that we weren't exclusive. She didn't agree to it and neither did I.” Arnold said. “Will that change people's opinions about what I did or didn't do?”

“Yes.” The vice-principal said. “It's still bad; but, most of them will understand the difference. You didn't believe you were cheating.”

Arnold nodded.

“You need to get to class, even though there's not much left to it.” The vice-principal said and wrote out a slip for him. “Please, please stay out of trouble.” She said and handed it to him. “Goodbye, Arnold.”

Arnold leaned back down to put his face in front of hers again. “My mother told me that unless I'm dating them, I have to ask if someone wants a goodbye kiss instead of just doing it.”

The vice-principal caught her breath, because she had said goodbye without realizing what that meant, even after him saying he did goodbye kisses. She thought about what he said and opened her mouth to tell him that asking for a kiss removed the spontaneity of the act, then she closed her mouth instead.

“Do you want a goodbye kiss?” Arnold asked her.

The vice-principal looked into his eyes and she saw that all he was offering was a kiss. She discovered something that seemed a little better than spontaneity. Anticipation. She nodded slightly and he moved that small space and gave her a three second kiss. A very, very nice three second kiss.

Arnold broke the kiss and moved back slightly. “Goodbye.” He said and walked around her desk and over to the door. He didn't even look back to see her bright red face as he left the office.

The vice-principal took several moments to compose herself. She couldn't remember the last time she had been that shaken up by a kiss. It was just a kiss. She thought and looked down at the report on her desk. It was a great kiss, though. She stopped herself from smiling and sighed. Well, I might as well give this a quick read through.

She flipped open the title page again and skipped over the index and started to skim over the text. She got about five pages in when she gasped and her hands gripped the report. She read a little more and dropped it and let it flip closed. She stared at it for a moment, then picked up her desk phone and hit the button for the secretary.

“Can you move my next appointment to after lunch? I've got a report to read.”

“Not a problem.” The secretary said. “I assume it has to do with the scoundrel that just left your office.”

“Yes, and don't use that term to describe a student.” The vice-principal said sternly. “If you're angry at him for cheating on his girlfriend, they weren't dating exclusively.”

The secretary was quiet for a moment. “I'm sorry. I misspoke.” She said. “Your next appointment is at one o'clock.”

“Thank you.” The vice-principal said and hung up the phone. She picked up the report, leaned back in her chair, and propped her feet up on her desk. She hadn't read a good sex romp in a while and this one looked like it was going to be a good one.

*

Heather sat in class and turned her head to see Arnold's empty desk. She had heard that he did show up at school and was seen walking through the halls. He hadn't shown up for class when the bell rang and she wondered where he was. She had planned to have it out with him in person before class, so she could accuse him to his face, and that hadn't worked out.

I'll try looking for him after... Heather's thought was interrupted when the classroom door opened and Arnold walked in.

Nearly everyone in class gasped or caught their breath at him showing up late, since that had never happened before. He walked over to the teacher, who was also completely silent, and gave her a note. She read it, looked at Arnold and read the note again.

“All right, since you were with the vice-principal, I'll forgive you for being so late. This time.”

Arnold took out the homework he did for her and put it on her desk, then he surprised her, and everyone else, when he spoke. “I know a lot of you hate me for what I did.” He said and a lot of heads nodded, especially the girls. “I only want to say two things.”

Everyone stayed silent, since they all wanted to hear what he could say to make things better.

“First. I was only kissing a girl goodbye. We are not dating.”

“Ha ha!” A girl laughed. “A likely story!”

“Second. Heather and I were not exclusive.” Arnold said and several of the girls took in sharp breaths, including the one who laughed. “We just started dating and did not agree to only see each other.”

With his two statements spoken, Arnold's reputation wasn't restored; but, it wasn't as damaged as it was before and he walked over to his desk and sat down. Heather was at the desk beside him and her face was beet red and she gripped her pencil tightly in her hand. No one could tell if her blush was from embarrassment or anger, because it was a mix of both.