38 Stressed A Little

Kelly was pretty pissed that Eric had tried to approach Arnold. She was also very glad that Arnold didn't pound the hell out of him, because he didn't need another suspension... or worse, expulsion... just before final exams.

“I'm very proud of you, Arnold. You handled that a lot better than I did.” Kelly said and her eyes roamed over to her desk and the scattered books. “I still have some homework to do, so I better let you go.”

“I have to do homework, too.” Arnold said.

“Okay. I'll see you in the morning at school.” Kelly said. “Goodbye, Arnold.”

Arnold was silent for a moment.

“Arnold? What is it?” Kelly asked.

“How do I kiss you over the phone?” Arnold asked.

Kelly let out a laugh before she could stop herself. “You're so cute!” She exclaimed, then she blushed. “Um... well... you just make a kissing sound by smacking your lips for a second.”

Arnold smacked his lips three times. “Goodbye.” He said and hung up.

Kelly looked at her phone for a second, then she burst out laughing. She shook her head and walked over to her desk and sat down to finish her homework. She was in such a good mood that she easily went through it and before she realized it, she was done. She smiled and packed everything away, went to the bathroom and had a shower and changed, then picked up her phone and climbed into bed and laid down on her back under the blanket.

Kelly stared at Arnold's contact info and hesitated, then her thumbs moved and she typed up a quick message. 'It's just me, Kelly. I wanted to say goodnight to you before I go to bed.'

She sent it to Arnold and to her surprise, her phone beeped almost immediately.

'Do you want me to call?'

'I want to hear your voice but it's kind of late and that would be too loud on both our ends.' Kelly typed back. 'We have to settle for just texting for now. Goodnight.'

'Goodnight. (kiss emoji)'

Kelly smiled because he had figured out how to kiss her by text. She let out a contented sigh and put the phone into sleep mode, then hugged it as she rolled over onto her side and promptly fell asleep.

The next morning, her alarm went off and Kelly awoke with a start. She had rolled onto her back at some point and she looked down to see that her hands were empty. She started to panic and sat up as she ruffled through the messed up blanket and searched for her missing phone.

Kelly started to despair that it had been lost, even though she knew it couldn't have gone far, then her eyes caught the edge of the protective case. The phone was tucked under her pillow and she sighed as she picked it up. She hadn't missed any messages and it still had three quarters of a charge, so she put it on her desk by her backpack and tried to get dressed for school.

Then her mind went blank.

Kelly didn't panic, though. She was too smart for that. She decided what to do and left her room, still in her sleep clothes, and walked to the kitchen. Her mother was there, just like she was every morning.

“Good morning, dear.” Her mother said and then her eyes saw Kelly's dishevelled state. “What's wrong?”

“I don't know what to wear.” Kelly said.

“Oh, just grab something nice from your closet and...”

“I can't find anything to wear.” Kelly said.

Her mother gave her a stern look and then she clued in to the problem. “You want to dress for a boy!”

Kelly nodded and her mother smiled and came over to her, took her arm, and led her all the way back to her room. For the next twenty minutes, her mother did the searching and Kelly sat on her bed and waited.

“I think I have it.” Her mother said. “You want to impress him, don't you?”

“He doesn't really notice things like that.” Kelly said.

“You still want to look nice, though.” Her mother said and she nodded. “All right, then. Black leggings to keep your modesty, this nice blue mid-thigh skirt to show you can be a little racy and still meet the school's dress code, a black tank top to cover the midriff, then this long-sleeved tee that only reaches your belly button and has four inches of lace at the neck.”

Kelly looked at it and knew that if she didn't wear the black underclothing, she would be showing a lot of skin. A lot. “Mom!”

Her mother let out a laugh. “You caught on right away! Good for you.” She said. “The tank top will keep your breasts hidden under the revealing top and the whole outfit only implies that you could show off your body if you wanted to.”

Kelly just stared at her and didn't know what to say. She didn't know her mom could be that sneaky.

“Now, I know you had a nice denim half-length jacket around here somewhere.” Her mother said and dug back into the closet and pulled it out. “Ah, here we go.” She said and checked to make sure it was okay and didn't need sprucing up after being in the closet for so long. “Shoes, shoes.” She said and knelt to look through the half-dozen boxes on the floor. “I've been neglectful of your footwear, apparently. You don't have nice black shoes.”

Kelly sat there and watched her mother almost run from her room. A few minutes later, she was back and held out a nice pair of shoes with a two inch heel.

“Don't just sit there! Get changed!” Her mother said.

Kelly stripped off and put on the appropriate underwear and bra that her mother pointed out, then they both dressed her in the outfit.

“Now the shoes.” Her mother prompted.

Kelly slipped her foot into them and felt some resistance.

“I had to stuff a bit of paper into the toes so they would fit you.” Her mother explained and then dragged her over to the bathroom and waved at the mirror. “What do you think?”

“My hair is a mess.” Kelly said and her mother laughed.

“I'll take care of that while you do your make-up.” Her mother said.

Ten minutes later, Kelly was done and they both stared at her reflection.

“You look gorgeous, dear.” Her mother said and gave her a one arm hug. “I'll have some eggs and toast done in a few minutes, so don't stare too long.” She smiled. “You'll miss the bus.”

Kelly smiled back and looked at herself in the mirror. Her mom was right. She would never wear something like this if it wasn't for the leggings and tank top. The skirt and top were things that she had bought while out shopping with Heather, and they had hung in her closet and hadn't even been looked at in months.

Heather. Kelly thought and sighed, then she grabbed her backpack and cell phone and went to the kitchen. Her father was there and when he turned his head to look at her, the surprise on his face made her blush a little. She used a small plate and ate one egg and a piece of toast, went to the house bathroom to wash her hands and brush her teeth, then she grabbed her things and went to the door.

“Bye.” Kelly said and left. She walked down the street to the school bus stop and only had to wait a few minutes. The bus came to a stop and she climbed on, then the loud voices quieted as she boarded. Stares greeted her and they were very similar to her fathers. She sat down in the first available seat and was glad to sit by herself as she fought to not keep blushing.

The ride to school seemed to take forever today and Kelly was relieved when the school came into view. As soon as the bus came to a stop, she was up and out of her seat and out the door just as it opened. She moved off to the side to get out of the way of the other students and checked her watch to see that she had a few minutes before Arnold's bus would arrive.

Kelly stopped her sigh before it escaped and turned around to look into the parking lot and saw Heather's mother's car. She waved at it automatically, like she had every morning, then cursed herself for the lapse in judgment. For the first time since Heather had started dating Brad, she stepped out of the backseat and started to walk over to her.

Kelly hid her dismay at the thought of talking to her, especially after her accusations, snide remarks, and dirty looks.

“Hi, Kelly!” Heather said with exaggerated happiness. “You look great!”

Kelly sighed at seeing the fake version of her friend instead of the real one. “What do you want?”

“What makes you think I want anything?” Heather asked with a huge smile.

“You're giving me the 'I hate them and have to be nice' face.” Kelly said. “You know, the same face we used to use for Brad and his friends so they would leave us alone?”

Heather lost the fake smile and frowned. Kelly wasn't sure if that was an improvement.

“I got a call last night from my boyfriend.” Heather said.

Kelly opened her mouth to tell her that she had, too... then closed it.

“Apparently, Brad's offer wasn't conveyed properly to... Arnold.” Heather almost spat.

“You mean the thing I tried to warn you about last week and you said it wasn't your problem?” Kelly asked and Heather gave her a bit of a glare, then sighed.

“Yes. Now he wants me to tell you about it and get you to convince Arnold to play Fortune's Favour.”

“What made him think that you telling me would work?” Kelly asked.

Heather let out a sigh. “We've been friends for a long time...”

“I thought we were friends until last week when you started ignoring me.” Kelly said and barely managed to keep the hurt out of her voice. “What's changed now? Are you going to stop dating Brad so we can start hanging out again?”

Heather had noticed the change in her voice. “Kelly, I... I just wanted to...” She stopped talking for a moment and gathered her thoughts. “No, I won't stop dating him.”

Kelly shook her head. “You're going to regret it, you know.” She said. “Even more than you already do.” She looked at her friend's pained expression and sighed herself. “Tell me what the offer is.”

Heather explained about all of the things the group would give Arnold to start playing the game. Even though they were low priority drops, they were from high level players and it ended up being worth thousands of gold in equipment and loot, which any new player would probably kill for... or in Arnold's case, had to die for.

“Wow.” Kelly said. “They really want him to play, don't they?”

“Like you wouldn't believe.” Heather said. “Getting him in the game is all they talk about.”

Kelly knew what she meant by 'getting him'. “I can't promise that he'll play, considering he doesn't have a VR setup or a computer to...”

“You do.” Heather interrupted.

“...practice on.” Kelly finished. “He'll need hours of experience playing other games, just to learn enough to play through the tutorial for Fortune's Favour.”

“I'm sure that...”

“My dad hasn't met Arnold yet.” Kelly said. “He's not going to let him come to the house before that or let him stay and play games for hours at a time.”

“Why don't you invite Arnold over for supper tonight?” Heather suggested. “I bet your parents will love meeting him.”

Kelly thought about it. “Brad wants you to have something to report, doesn't he?” She asked.

Heather wanted to deny it and couldn't. “Yes, I need something solid, Kelly. Please.”

Kelly looked at her friend's face and shook her head slightly at her own stupidity as she took out her cell phone and called home. Heather gave her a genuine smile this time as she listened to Kelly ask her mother if Arnold could come over for supper.

Just then, Arnold's bus pulled up and unloaded. Kelly turned and waved at Arnold as he stepped off of it and he walked over to her. Heather's face went as blank as his when he stopped and stood next to Kelly.

“He can?” Kelly asked, a little surprised. “Yes, he just got here. Hold on.” She covered the phone and whispered. “If she asks you to come to dinner, say you would love to. Oh, and if she mentions my outfit, tell her it looks fantastic.”

Arnold took the phone from her. “Hello?” He was quiet for a moment. “Yes, I asked her to be my girlfriend.” He paused. “Yes, my mother knows.” He waited for a moment. “It looks fantastic.” He said and waited. “I would love to.” He paused again, then held the phone out to Kelly. “She wants to talk to you again.”

Kelly took the phone. “Hi, mom.” She said and then held the phone slightly away from her ear as her mom talked both loudly and excitedly. After a few moments, she put the phone back to her ear. “Yes.” She said. “Uh huh.” She paused again. “Mom, I can't say that.” She said and her face flushed red. “I'll talk to you later! Bye!”

Arnold and Heather gave her inquisitive looks.

“She's happy to have you coming over tonight.” Kelly said to Arnold and turned to Heather. “I'll start setting him up on my rig while we wait for supper.”

“Thanks, Kelly. Really.” Heather said, gave her a sad smile, then walked towards the front doors of the school. Her mother's car slowly drove out of the parking lot and Claire waved to them. Both Kelly and Arnold waved back, and then the car was gone.

“Call your mom and let her know you're coming to my house after school.” Kelly said.

Arnold did so and Annie was just as happy as Kelly's mom at him staying over for supper. “She told me to call for a drive when I need it.”

Kelly nodded and took Arnold's hand. “Can I have a kiss before we go inside?”

Arnold gave her a quick kiss. “Is one enough?” He asked, because she had asked for a lot of them yesterday. They were well above the number he and Heather had taken a week to accumulate.

“One can never be enough.” Kelly said, barely above a whisper, and she put her arm around him and kissed him passionately. She broke the kiss a few moments later, a little breathless, and beamed a smile at him. She was happy that he hadn't reverted to his old style of kissing. “Let's get to class.”

Arnold nodded and they went into the school together, hand in hand.

*

The vice-principal stood near the building as she observed their interaction unobtrusively and nodded. Once again, she didn't want to involve herself in their personal affairs and was glad that the discussion between the two girls hadn't devolved into a cat fight. When Arnold showed up, she had expected sparks to fly. Instead, Arnold had remained calm and collected, even with his old and new girlfriends standing right there.

The vice-principal wouldn't normally keep that close of an eye on her students; but, the things she had learned about Arnold's behavior had forced her hand. She needed to make sure that he didn't do... certain things... with any of the other students, now that he was on school grounds and within her authority.

Have you stopped being a bad boy, Arnold? The vice-principal asked herself and went into the building. Or are you just biding your time and waiting for the right opportunity?

The vice-principal smiled at several students that greeted her and she made her way back to her office. She had a full schedule today and was only slightly disappointed that she had made herself leave Arnold's report at home. She couldn't have something like that just laying around in her office.

I need to give him extra credit for the report, too. She thought as she sat down at her desk, then she took out his file and wrote out the proper recommendation for him completing his suspension and for doing a lot of extra work writing the report. She also added that he understood what it meant to be suspended and had used his free time to full advantage.

The vice-principal smiled at her wording. She also made particular note of the sheer length of the report and that it was much too long and detailed to be included. With that done, she added the extra credit bonus to his file and put it away, then used her computer to make an electronic copy and filed it with the school board.

She knew the extra credit wasn't really necessary, because his marks were so high that he could graduate without even having to take the final exams. She just hoped that it reduced the mark on his record that the suspension for fighting had given him. There was a knock on her door and she saved up the file and put the computer to sleep.

“Come in.” The vice-principal said and a sheepish young woman came into her office. “Have a seat, Melanie.”

She had been caught smoking weed on school grounds, in clear violation of school policy and the law about having a controlled substance around minors. The vice-principal gave her the same stare and silent treatment that she had used as a 'sweating' tactic for years to make the students in front of her more compliant and forthcoming with the truth. The poor girl crumbled under the scrutiny and told her everything.

The vice-principal really loved her job on days like this.