Chapter 9: Behind the Bedroom Door

DAVID

I watched Julie give my bedroom a full evaluation. Fortunately, I had taken down a lot of my teenage enthusiasms, like movie and game posters and my shelf of “action figures.” My bed was rumpled but not wretched, and the sheets were blessedly free of Star Wars or Pokémon characters.

I did have a poster on the wall that I’d made. It showed Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf roaring “You shall not pass!” In the background behind him, I’d pasted in a picture of my high school, and added a mortar board academic cap—with tassel—to his wild head of hair.

Fortunately, my poster had Julie laughing.

“All those movies were really long, but I think I missed that scene. Did somebody—or something—make up this image for you?”

“Nope. It’s not A.I. or some other person. That’s my actual high school in the back, Julie. I put it all together on my PC and sent the image away to be printed on this large format.”

“So, you’re cute, funny, and talented. What other abilities were you thinking of showing me in this private bedroom?”

“Are you insinuating that I brought you here to show you my art as a pretext for something ... questionable?”

“David, I certainly hope so. But let’s put those spicy ideas behind for now, because we have more pressing issues to discuss.”

“Pressing?”