Chapter 8

Fredericksburg, Virginia 2012

"Who's that?" Dana's voice caught my attention and I looked up from my homework.

I followed her gaze to see a boy, or a girl maybe, getting out of a grey sedan. Whoever it was had curling black hair to the shoulders, a black leather jacket, ripped jeans and dull black boots. The person hitched an old army knapsack over the left shoulder and as soon as he ... she ... was out of the car, a cigarette between the lips.

"Beats me," I shrugged.

"Is that a boy?" Dana was staring and she was almost fifteen, half a year younger than me, and desperate for a boyfriend. She was cute enough, with her emerald eyes and red brown hair, but she liked to talk.

"He's pretty," I decided. "If he is."

"No shit," Dana bit her lip. "That's a girl."

"Go say hi and find out," I suggested. "Let me do my homework."

"Fuck that," Dana shook her head. "What's she doing here anyway?"

"She's probably wondering the same thing," I laughed.

"My dad's gonna have a meltdown when he sees her," my friend said. "Mom too."

"Oh, I forgot," I looked up. "Your mom wants you to get the clothes off the line."

"What?" Dana frowned at me. "Why me? Why don't you do it?"

"Cause I got mid-terms starting in three days," I reminded her.

"God! Why can't you be normal like everybody else?" Dana rolled her big green eyes.

"I dunno," I shrugged. "It's a mystery, Shaggy."

"It's a mystery why my mom doesn't use the dryer too," she grumped.

"She likes the fresh air smell," I smiled, tapping my highlighter on my textbook.

"They sell that stuff at the store," Dana said and she was getting up.

"What stuff?"

"Fresh air smelling stuff," she rolled her eyes at me. "See? You don't know everything anyway."

"What did I do?" I frowned and looked back down as the girl wandered off.

I actually had five minutes of peace.

"Good afternoon, Jennifer." Mr. Fox's voice made him sound like a British stage actor; it had that Shakespearean flavor, like every word he uttered was important. I hated that. He was small and old and distinguished; a dapper gentleman with grey hair and ice blue eyes and he made everyone else seem trivial just by his existence. He reminded me of God and I hated him.

"Hi." I didn't look up right away.

"How are you, my dear?" he wondered.

"I'm taking my medicine," I sighed. "You know that."

"Indeed I do." Mr. Fox was smiling, I could hear it. "I must say, you look so lovely sitting there. You've truly blossomed since coming east."

"Thanks." I smacked my lips and highlighted some random words just so I'd look busy.

"May I present Ronald to you?" he asked, like he needed my permission for anything. I glanced up, realizing only then that the boy was standing there and he wasn't all that pretty, just mostly.

"Sure," I breathed, like it was a chore, but this was the first time he'd ever introduced anyone to me, other than my caretakers. Maybe this Ronald was another one, but I doubted it, even Mr. Fox wasn't that sneaky. Was he?

"Ronald, this is Jennifer. The young lady I was telling you about," Mr. Fox smiled politely at my surprised look and gave us a little bow that would have seemed pretentious coming from anyone but him.

"Hi," Ronald said and he was very shy, or nervous, unwilling to look at me directly and I wondered what Mr. Fox might have told him about me.

"Hi," I said and there followed an awkward silence and I wished Dana was there.

"We were waiting for Mr. Steinitz, but it seems that he and Mrs. Steinitz have gone out for the afternoon," Mr. Fox told me. "Perhaps you would be kind enough to show Ronald into the house? I believe there should be a room prepared for him already."

"Uh ... Sure," I shrugged. "I don't know which one though."

"Why, the one next to yours, my dear," Mr. Fox smiled at me and I blinked at him.

"Okay, well..." I stood up slowly, grabbing my books and I smoothed the sun dress I was wearing. "Let's go this way."

"Yeah," Ronald sort of sighed and flicked his cigarette away. He gave Mr. Fox a look, but I didn't know what it meant. Wary? Maybe. Whatever was going on, he wasn't exactly thrilled to be there and that made me feel a little better about him. I didn't need any new friends.

"You just passing through?" I asked the boy, or young man really. He looked like he was nineteen maybe.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "What are you doing?"

"I live here," I laughed and glanced at him.

"Oh," he nodded.

"You didn't bring much," I said, eyeing his backpack.

"I never had much," he replied and he didn't have much of an accent either to my ears, but I'd lived all over the place too, so it was hard to tell sometimes.

"Come on. The bedrooms are upstairs." I led him through the house.

"It's nice," Ronald said, looking around. The place was old and more of an English Manor than a real farmhouse. "Your parents must be rich, huh?"

"My parents are dead," I told him bluntly. "So don't talk about them, okay?"

"Sorry," he swallowed hard and looked down because I was staring at him. "So are mine."

"Oh," I frowned at that and felt bad inside. It was easy to forget I wasn't the only person who had ever lost anything.

"I didn't know them though," he shrugged.

"Well ... I knew mine," I said as we went up the stairs slowly. "I just don't like talking about it."

"What do you like?" Ronald asked me when we got to the top.

"School," I shrugged. "The bathroom's down there, end of the hall. The pills and needles in the medicine cabinet are mine. You're not like a junkie or anything, are you?"

"No," he shook his head.

"Anyway, don't touch that stuff," I told him. "And the red toothbrush is mine too."

"I got a blue one," Ronald offered me a little smile and I ignored it.

"This is my room. That one's Dana's, you'll meet her, don't worry," I told him. "And I guess this one is yours."

"Okay." He poked his head inside the bedroom as I stood in the hallway.

"You gotta keep it clean yourself. There's no maids or anything and Renee will get mad if you don't," I said. "She's nice, but kinda strict about that stuff."

"Sure, okay," he shrugged.

"How old are you?" I asked him.

"Almost twenty."

"I knew it," I smiled then, just because it was hard being mean all the time. "I'll see ya later."

"Hey, wait..." Ronald stopped me. "Can't you hang out a little?"

"I gotta study," I said, tapping my books as I held them to my body.

"Study here." He looked at his new bedroom again. "There's a desk."

"Why?"

"I just don't like being alone," Ronald said. "Do you?"

"Sometimes."

"Like now?"

"No, I guess not," I shrugged. "Just don't talk too much."

"I won't," he promised.

I tried to study at his desk and Ronald kept quiet, unpacking what little he had in his bag and it wasn't much. I mostly just watched him though, because having someone new around was a nice distraction in a place where things didn't often change and anything that had to do with Mr. Fox made me curious. It made Ronald special and I wanted to know why, despite my resentment at the intrusion.

"What are you reading?" I asked him, looking at the paperback book he tossed on top of his one and only change of clothes.

"Huh? Oh, Zane Grey. You like him?" Ronald asked, holding it up.

"Never heard of him," I shrugged. "Rider's of the Purple Sage?"

"Cowboys," Ronald smiled shyly. "I like westerns."

"That's cool."

"What do you like to read?"

"Me?" I lifted a hand. "I dunno. I used to read a lot of cosmology, physics, stuff like that. Now I read genetics mostly."

"Okay," he chuckled and I actually blushed a little. "I got no idea what cosmology is."

"Um, the study of the universe. Like where it comes from. Where it's going. Stuff like that."

"I thought it was just kinda ... out there." Ronald had sort of a thin scrappy beard, but not a full one, just some hair on his cheeks and chin like he'd never shaved in his life. It was hard to see, even though it was black like his long hair, and it gave him a dark complexion more than anything else. He rubbed his jaw and I could hear it scratching.

"Well, yeah," I nodded.

"Hey, there it is," Ronald held up his blue toothbrush. "See? I told you I had one."

"Heh!" I looked at him, smiling despite myself. "You got a razor too?"

"Nope," he frowned slightly. "Why?"

"You oughta shave maybe," I said. "You look ... scruffy."

"I do?" He narrowed his hazel eyes.

"Only a little," I said, just so he wouldn't be totally embarrassed. "A haircut too maybe."

"I dunno," he cleared his throat a little and he was turning a bit red.

"You got the rebel thing going, huh?" I teased him. "I mean, the leather jacket and all."

"Yeah, maybe," he looked up at me "You don't like it?"

"It doesn't matter what I like," I shrugged.

"What if it did?" he wondered, bringing his soft eyes up to mine, just for a split-second.

"Are you like hitting on me?" I giggled and he blushed hard and looked away.

"Hey!" Dana was there and she'd probably been eavesdropping for a while, waiting for a good moment to inject herself into Ronald's life like the cure for cancer.

"Hi," Ronald looked at her and this was a good time to go back to my book.

"What's your name?" Dana came in and sat on the guy's bed, sorta bouncing her butt on it. She had her tomboy thing going, wearing skinny brown cords and a boy's polo shirt over her slim body. Like I said though, Dana was cute; she just didn't know how to shut up.

"Ronald ... Ron."

"I'm Dana, that's Jen, we're not sister's or anything."

"Okay."

"I thought you were a girl," Dana said. "At first."

"No. I'm a boy," Ronald cleared his throat.

"Cool. You got a girlfriend?"

"No."

"I don't have a boyfriend either. Jen's got one, but he's in Utah," Dana told him. "She's totally in love too, even though she hasn't seen him in like five years."

"Just one year," I frowned.

"Oh." Ron glanced at me.

"She calls him every week, like Sunday nights, so you have to go outside."

"Dana!"

"Why's that?" Ron tilted his head.

"Cause if you don't, you'll just end up jerking off."

"Shut-up!" I stared at her and my face was turning red, Ronald's too.

"My dad jerks off every time. It totally pisses my mom off too," Dana said happily. "He like paces in the hallway, you know? And then he just goes into the bathroom and does it. Is that seriously gross or what?"

"That's enough! God!" I pushed my chair out.

"What? It's true anyway," Dana shrugged. "You oughta at least warn the guy."

"Don't listen to her, okay?" I rolled my eyes but I felt like I was going to puke. "She's just really weird."

"I'm the only one you can listen to," Dana smiled at Ron. "I'm the normal one. Jen works for the CIA."

"Okay." Ron wasn't looking at either of us and probably the guy just wanted to get away from here now. Stupid Dana.

"Hey, you're not a brainiac or anything, are you?" Dana looked at Ron closely.

"What? Smart? No, I'm definitely not one of those," Ron admitted with a self-conscious smile.

"Cool," Dana giggled. "Me neither. Jen's got like an Einstein brain though; it's four times bigger than a normal person's. That's why her tits are so big."

"Are you retarded?" I frowned. "My brain's normal, I just use it better than you."

"Yeah right!" Dana giggled. "She's gonna be a doctor before she even turns eighteen, is that weird or what?"

"How, um, how old are you now?" Ron looked at me.

"I just turned fifteen," I said. "Dana's gonna be eight next month."

"Screw you!" Dana shook her head. "I'm gonna be fifteen too. How old are you?"

"Nineteen," Ron nodded. "Almost twenty."

"Awesome!" Dana grinned. "You wanna go out with me?"

"Uh..." Ronald shrugged.

"Yeah, whatever," Dana frowned. "You probably do have a girlfriend, huh?"

"No, I really don't," Ronald shook his head.

"You ever had one?" Dana asked.

"No."

"Why not?" Dana narrowed her eyes. "You're pretty cute."

"I just ... I'm a little shy, I guess."

"Me too!" Dana laughed. "You wanna play truth or dare?"

"Dana, give the guy a break already," I rolled my eyes.

"What? We ain't doing anything else," Dana grinned at me. "You can play too."

"I don't wanna play," I sighed.

"Yeah you do!" Dana stuck her tongue out at me. "Ronnie's playing, aren't you?"

"I don't know how," he smiled and he did look a little confused.

"It's easy," Dana told him. "Sit down here. You gotta ask somebody 'truth or dare' and if they say truth, you ask a question and they can't lie."

"Okay," Ron sat down on the bed.

"If they say dare, you dare them to do something and they have to do it," Dana wiggled her eyebrows.

"What if they don't want to?" Ron asked.

"Well, duh!" Dana giggled. "That's the point!"

"Oh," Ron looked at me and I shrugged.

"It's a dumb game," I told him.

"It is not!" Dana frowned at me and then looked back at Ron. "I'll go first, just so you know how, okay? Go ahead and ask me."

"Ummm ... Truth?" he shrugged.

"No, bonehead!" Dana made a face. "Ask me truth or dare."

"Oh," Ron laughed weakly. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare!" Dana giggled. "Now you just gotta dare me to do something."

"Ummm..." Ron had no idea what to dare the girl.

"Just ... anything. It don't matter," Dana coaxed him.

"I'll give you a dare," I said.

"You said you weren't playing," Dana grinned at me. "If you dare me you gotta play."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Okay," Dana shrugged. "You dare me then."

"I dare you to go outside for an hour and stay there!" I giggled.

"What?" Dana gave me the finger. "You can't have any stupid dares!"

Ron was laughing though and smiling at me and I grinned back at him.

"You guys suck." Dana hopped off the bed. "I'm gonna go have some fun without you!"

Dana left, slamming the door behind her and I just shrugged.

"Is she gonna be mad?" Ron asked.

"Nah, she'll be happy again in half an hour, you'll see," I told him. "She's just like that."

"Kinda hyper or something."

"Yeah," I giggled.

"I'm gonna take a shower maybe," Ron said. "Can I do that?"

"Sure," I nodded. "Course you can, there's a little closet in the bathroom with towels in it. I'll, uh ... I'll go to my room."

"Hey, Jen?" Ron smiled as I was picking up my books. "Thanks for hanging out a little."

"Sure, yeah," I smiled and I was beginning to appreciate having a new face in the house. "Anytime, you know."

"Okay," he sucked his lips and watched me leave.

I opened the door to my room and there was Dana.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

"What's it look like?" she shrugged. "Nothing."

"You gotta relax a little," I told her, putting my stuff on my desk and she was on my bed. "That guy's kinda shy."

"No kidding," Dana rolled her eyes. "What's he got a leather jacket for if he's shy?"

"I dunno."

"You think he never had a girlfriend?"

"That's what he said," I told Dana, getting onto the bed next to her.