Chapter 19

The alarm woke us all and we filed out of bed and into the shower. Hanna was delighted with the shower and she reluctantly took off the collar to get in with us. We had our shower and then went to get ready to face the day. Hanna wanted to put the collar back on and I asked if she wanted people at the gym to know she’d given her submission or she just wanted something sentimental to hold onto.

“Both,” she said instantly and I nodded and went to dig something out of the proper box. It was a simple stainless steel collar with an O-Ring attached. It locked with a tiny hex key. She loved it. It was ornamental, durable, obviously a slave collar and wearable in the shower.

I locked it around her neck and it fit like it was made for her. I kissed her and she grinned, starting to get ready. “You want to come by the gym before you head to class and I’ll stretch you out?” she asked.

“I’d love to, but I don’t think I have time for a round-trip this morning,” I said.

“No classes this morning?” she asked.

“No, I don’t go to campus. I use a virtual classroom.”

“Why? You’re close enough to campus that it’s not a brutal commute.”

“Have you heard of Dr. Saddler’s prized student?” I asked.

“His pet monkey? Yeah, everyone’s heard of that side-show.”

Emma made a strangled sound and Zoe looked worried that I was going to cane her for real.

I smiled dryly. “Is THAT what they’re calling me now?” I asked casually.

The blood drained out of her face. “You mean you’re that kid?!!? Oh fuck!”

“He’s not just the kid they call Epic,” Emma told her. “Show her the video.”

I got my laptop and opened up YouTube, playing the Halloween clip.

“You’re telling me, you’re THAT guy too?” she asked, skeptically.

I shrugged and went to my closet for the shield. I put it on and showed it off. “I actually hope you can help me with something, now that I think about it. I’ve got a thing coming up at the beginning of April. It’s sort of like a skills test. It’ll likely be athletic, possibly acrobatic, but definitely should involve the shield. Sort of like a version of American Gladiators.”

“What sort of skills test?” she asked.

“I kind of got into a Twitter war about who was the better Captain America with Chris Evans and we decided to fight it out with Scarlett Johansson going to the victor.”

I saw the look on her face and opened my Twitter, showed her all of yesterday’s traffic and there was even a note accepting my challenge if we could work out the details. “Stretching out with you is going to give me incredible flexibility. I take Kung Fu, dance and I’m signed up for cheerleading at SOMEONE’S insistence.” I shot a look at Emma, but spoiled it with a smirk. “I’ll need to work on strength and endurance and precision throwing, probably at targets.”

“Let me ask around. You might also want to talk to some of the history department. They’d be able to put you in touch with historical weapons experts if there aren’t any on campus. I think the football coaches could probably help you some, but they might not have time.”

“I can ask the high school coaches. Their season is over,” I said.

“High school?” she asked.

“I thought you knew about Carl’s pet monkey,” I said dryly before explaining. “I take my high school courses and attend the Harvard lectures by virtual classroom. It’s a pilot project designed to keep me with my peer group while nurturing my gift to it’s best potential. If it works out, it’ll become the model for how geniuses are educated in the future to grow their gifts and make them normal, stable individuals instead of maladjusted savants who can put a man on the moon but can’t get a girl to go to dinner.”

She shrugged. “So you don’t have to be in high school, but you’re there so you don’t get weird?”

“Yeah, I agree. It’s WAY too late for that. That’s essentially it. I could graduate by Thanksgiving if I started now. But instead, I’m taking four degrees while I sit in high school and not isolated from my age group which helps my emotional and social development. For the next four years, I’ll quietly finish everything I can do in virtual classrooms and try to arrange flexible schedules to do the rest.”

“Okay. I’m gonna pay in some really embarrassing way for that ‘pet monkey’ crack, aren’t I?” she asked, wincing.

“No, not really. I assume your opinion of the monkey is a little better than it was yesterday and that’s good enough for me. Feel free to abuse anyone that continues to call me that though.”

She smiled with some relief. We went upstairs and I made breakfast for the girls before they left for school and work. Lilly came downstairs while I was serving it up and I asked if she was eating with us or next door.

“I would, but I’m sure Patty and Dan are waiting for me,” she said, taking in the four of us.

“Okay. Have a good day and I’ll see you later.”

“Sister?” Hanna asked and I nodded.

“Her name is Lilly and you should probably assume that anything said to her will be repeated next door.”

“Best friend?” she asked sympathetically.

“Not exactly. Two of my ex-girlfriends live next door. They got custody of Lilly in the divorce.”

“There’s a story there,” she said shrewdly.

“Yeah, but now’s not the time for it. After work?”

“Sure,” she said. “I have a lot to find out about you.”

“We’re all still learning things about each other. That’s not a bad thing though.”

“True. I’ve got to run. I’ll see you when I’m off.” She kissed each of us and then was out the door, hopping in her jeep and taking off for work.

“I can’t believe the change in her today!” Emma said softly when she was gone.

“I know. I wonder if she’ll be the same as usual with everyone or if she’s going to have a teddy bear day where everyone gets to see her inner softy,” I mused. “You two coming after school?” I asked hopefully.

“Sure,” Emma said and Zoe nodded.

“Other than Kung Fu and dance on Sunday, I’m totally yours until Monday morning,” I said with a smile. “I’d skip dance, but I only have another few weeks of it before I have to choose between that and cheer.”

“Don’t skip it. We’ll come with you.”

They left and I packed for school. I checked my phone and had a couple of texts. One was from Lilly saying she’d go right upstairs when she got home and the other was from Tricia letting me know she had a new phone and this was the number.

I texted Tricia back right away and told her I’d had my phone shut off last night for the thing with Hanna, but I’d see her at school and I wished she’d been able to be there with us last night.

I also Tweeted back to Chris Evans. “Skills comp? Get sponsors with proceeds to kid’s cancer ctr. Need judges, events and sponsors. #Capoff”

Then I went to school, figuring I’d hear from him later in the day about it.

I was just sitting down to eat lunch when I got the call.

“Hey, Matt?” came a voice I knew all too well.

“Speaking. Chris?”

“Yeah. I got your number from Pratt. You seriously want to do this? It might be pretty rough.”

“I’m fourteen and cocky. I also set it for five months away so that I can train for it.”

He laughed. “I suppose. I’ll talk to some folks. You have anyone in mind for judges?”

“Chris Pratt, Scarlett Johansson and Robert Downey Jr. would be my first picks, but no one’s been around the character longer than Stan Lee. If one of them can’t make it, I’d want him making the final call on what makes a good Cap.”

“Pratt’s gonna love that,” he laughed. “But the shield stuff is all done in post production.”

“Yours is,” I said. “Mine was good looks and charm. The shield has to WANT to come back.” I laughed a little.

“Yeah, Pratt’s been talking to you for sure,” he laughed with me. “April second. I’ll call you when I find out something about sponsors.”

“Sounds good. Thanks for all this. I can’t begin to tell you how much it means to even get a mention on Twitter, let alone phone calls from you and Chris Pratt.”

“Any time. That video is pretty amazing. I’ll see you in April and I’ll talk to you soon. I’ll post to Twitter, accepting your challenge and I’ll see who else I can get to repost the video.”

“Thanks again. I really appreciate it.”

He hung up and I made a new contact for his number. When I looked up, the whole cafeteria was looking at me. The lunchroom staff was staring.

“Were you just talking to Chris Evans?” one of the cheerleaders I’d worked with yesterday asked.

“Yep,” I said. “We just set a date. We’re gonna fight for Scarlett Johansson. April 2nd.”

“Bullshit!” someone declared.

I shrugged. “Check Twitter,” I told them. “You just heard me make the arrangements for judges. He should post sometime soon that he’s accepted.”

My phone chose that moment to ping. I looked at it and held it up. “There it is! Challenge accepted! You heard it here first.”

People were diving for phones and I-Pads wanting to confirm. There was more shock as people read for themselves that Chris Evans and I were going to throw down on April 2nd for charity.

I pulled out my laptop and set up my schedule for the afternoon, spending the rest of the lunch period doing a programming assignment.

I had enough time to meet Tricia for a kiss and let her know about the call from Chris Evans.

“So you’re gonna do it?” she asked, letting me walk her to lunch.

“Sure. I suggested we do it for charity and that probably sold it for him. He gets great PR out of it, we raise money for the children’s cancer center at the local hospital and everyone wins.”

She went off to lunch and I went to class for the rest of the day. I met her after school and the two of us walked back to my place for a bit since her dad was still at work.

I rooted around the fridge and decided that we needed more food. I’d have to find out what Hanna wanted in the house since I suspected that she was going to spend a lot of time here.

We were sitting at the kitchen table, talking when the front door opened. I assumed it would be Lilly dropping off her books, but to my surprise, it was Tabby and Collie.

“Hi,” I said with a small smile. “Tabby, Collie, this is Tricia. Tricia, that’s Tabby and Collie.” I pointed them out, ignoring the irritated looks on their faces.

“Hello,” she said brightly.

“Hello,” Tabby said before rounding on me. “What’s this I hear that you collared a girl last night? You won’t even talk to us, but you’re collecting new girls like trading cards?”

I arched an eyebrow and waited for Collie to respond to Tricia, but other than a weak smile and wave, she held her tongue. “That was rude,” I told them both. “First off, Tricia is one of the girls that have become important to me. She’s my girlfriend and you were just extremely discourteous, dismissing her like she was part of the furniture. Second of all, Lilly STILL talks too fucking much and understands too fucking little. Third, I have talked to you every single time you approached me for a conversation and made you aware I still consider this house your home. Fourth, who I date and what circumstances I date them under are my business. Not Lilly’s, certainly not yours and you lost the right to have a voice in the matter when you threw me away. You can sugar-coat it to your heart’s content, but that’s what happened. I can understand you’re upset by the news Lilly delivered. Maybe now you understand why I don’t trust her. Her mouth knows no bounds. She was introduced to Hanna this morning. She didn’t ask what was going on, just got an eyeful and ran out the door to tell as many people as she could. I’m certain Beck and Lana are both devastated over the news she was only too happy to spread like butter. Finally, that comment that I’m collecting girls like trading cards? Isn’t that what Patty called the two of you the night she met you?”

Tabby had tried to interrupt several times during the calm lecture I was giving her, but I steamrolled her under, continuing to talk. Now I settled back and let her speak.

“You’re right. I’m sorry. She told everyone and we were both really hurt. We wanted to fix things and she’s telling us you moved on and we weren’t gonna get the chance to make it right.” She turned to Tricia. “I’m really sorry I was rude to you too. I was really upset by what his sister told me. It’s not an excuse, but I hope you understand and forgive me.”

Tricia shrugged. “You were the other two girlfriends he had?” she asked and they nodded. She surprised us all when she laughed. “The truth about you is way more interesting than the rumors ever were,” she told me. “We should get a picture of all of us in one huge group. Everyone would cry when they saw the girls you date.”

That defused a little of the tension and we all breathed a little easier for it.

“Tricia is the girl that I was supposed to have gotten pregnant over the summer,” I informed them. “She knows a great deal about everything that’s gone on. Not about Miranda yet, but that talk is coming soon. Please, join us. I clearly have a lot of misinformation to clear up.”

They looked at each other and took seats at the table with us. “So what really happened?” Collie asked softly.

“First off, Lilly didn’t even MEET Hanna. She saw her sitting at the table with a collar on and refused an offer to join us so she could dash off and ruin everyone’s day. She didn’t ask who she was, what she was doing here, who the collar belonged to or even say hello. She was out the door before I could even introduce her. So all the information that you got about the situation is speculation on the part of someone that’s not nearly as good at it as she thinks.”

I paused and let that sink in. They looked embarrassed, but they weren’t getting it.

Tabby spoke up. “Okay, then who is she? What was she doing here? IS it your collar?”

Her name’s Hanna Smith. She’s a trainer at the Harvard fitness center and she’s helping me get into competition shape. What she was doing here was being broken and yes, the collar is mine. None of that precludes the chance for either of you to make things right or find your way back into my care. THAT was either your assumption or information told to you by a halfwit. It does set a rather disturbing precedent though. Do you realize this is exactly the second rumor about me to reach your ears? It is, stunningly, the second one you bought at face value and it’s the second one you acted on in anger. Sadly it’s also the second one that turned out to be baseless.”

They both looked horrified now that I’d pointed it out to them. Tabby recovered first though. “How is it baseless? It IS your collar.”

“Does that collar mean I’m collecting girls like trading cards? Does it mean that I’m not talking to you or that I won’t give you a chance to talk things out? Does her having a place threaten you having a place if we decide you belong here?” I asked these questions calmly, but inside I wanted to knock Lilly’s teeth out for causing this. “Collie, you, more than anyone should know the answer to that after our talk about Manda.”

That brought them up short. “No, it doesn’t,” Tabby admitted. “She was so sure...”

“That’s EXACTLY what you said about Lana’s insistence that I’d murdered Tricia’s unborn child. Word for word,” I told her evenly, making her wince. “I have to walk Tricia home soon, but the other girls will be here this evening if you’d like to meet them. I’m making macaroni and cheese for dinner. I’m sure Patty has room for you next door too. I won’t be insulted if you decide the food’s better over there. You’d be right.” I said it about as gently as I could under the circumstances.

“Sorry,” Tabby said again numbly.

I smiled and took her hand. “I know. At least you came to talk to me about it this time. That’s progress. We’re working up to you believing in me,” I said dryly.

“How bad did we fuck up?” Collie asked, cringing.

“Not nearly as bad as Lilly,” I told them. “Would you be so kind as to go next door and make sure that Lana, Beck and Patty all know that they’ve been misled as to the nature of things? If Lilly is there, feel free to let her know that me telling her I wouldn’t trust her with the details of my life doesn’t give her the right to invent details. Or not. It’s really up to you whether you tell her anything.”

“How mad are you at her?” Tabby asked.

“I don’t think I even really care any more,” I said with a grimace. “Giving a shit doesn’t stop her. It barely even slows her down.”

Tricia had been quiet during this whole exchange, but spoke now. “Why do you listen to her?” she asked curiously. She was looking at both of them.

“What do you mean?” Collie asked.

“Well, she seems to like spreading the most damaging things she can and likes to keep things secret when they could help. Why do you pay attention? It sounds like you’ve been led astray by her advice pretty consistently. Why not just tune her out or assume that she’s not telling you the full story?”

They looked at her and then at each other. “It just never occurred to us to treat her like she wasn’t trustworthy.” Tabby admitted sheepishly.

Tricia shrugged as if it made perfect sense. “Well, she’s the youngest around here, right? She probably feels like it’s the only way to get attention from everyone. I suppose she’d make a sensational gossip columnist some day.”

“So you think she’s doing it to get attention?” Collie asked, horrified. “That’s terrible!”

I shrugged. “And yet, not so far-fetched in this house,” I said sourly. I picked up the phone and called next door, putting it on speaker.

“I wondered when I might hear from you,” Patty said when she picked up. She didn’t sound pleased.

“Just as soon as I realized that Lilly’s inventing details of my life to hurt other people, I called to warn you. Tabby and Collie burst in here ready to skin me because she told a bullshit story this morning that made them flip out. It probably drove Beck and Lana out of their minds too. Care to tell me what damage she’s actually done since breakfast?”

“If Tabby and Collie are there, you already know how that went,” she said. “What’s the real story?”

I told her what had happened over here this morning and what Lilly had made up, what she’d guessed right and where she’d gone horribly off course. “Tricia has suggested that everyone stops taking her at face value. She says she’s probably doing it for the attention and right now she’s getting plenty of it. I wouldn’t discount the application of a severe grounding. There are three psychiatric patients between the two houses. What she did this morning created needless anxiety for all three of us.”

“What sort of punishment are you suggesting?” she asked.

“I’m not suggesting a punishment,” I said softly. “I’m pointing out that I’m sick of her causing damage. I’m sincerely thinking about having Donald take her, but that’s something we’re all going to have to talk about.”

“That’s a little extreme, isn’t it?” she asked gently. “I was thinking more along the lines of chores.”

“Feel free,” I said lightly. “I’m only voicing my thoughts. This morning, she saw someone here and without knowing what had happened or even who she was, she bolted out the door to tell the news to the worst fucking people she could have spread it to. She’s our family’s equivalent to Fox News. I’m not getting involved in how this is handled. I personally want to insulate my life from her until she gets some idea in her head of how much she’s hurting people. Either she doesn’t get it or she doesn’t care.”

“I’ll talk with her,” Patty said solemnly.

“How much damage did she do over there, or should I just not ask in the interest of not wanting to know?” I asked, my mouth twisting sourly.

“You don’t want to really know,” Patty told me.

“Alright. I have guests coming for the weekend. We won’t be making time to socialize with Lillian,” I said, feeling like I’d really like one of my girls to bust Lilly in the face for this.

“She was very loud in not wanting to spend time there tonight,” Patty said gently.

“I think that’s for the best,” I said dully. “I’m gonna go for now. I want to walk Tricia home and then calm myself down before Emma and Zoe show up. I’ll talk to you later. Call my cell if she invents more lies I should know about.”

I hung up and put the cordless back on the charger. “Well that was pleasant!” I said with mock joviality. I patted Collie and Tabby on the shoulder. “Can you stick around until I get back just in case Emma and Zoe get here before I get back?” I asked.

“Sure,” Collie said. “We can do that.”

I thanked them and then we got our coats on and stepped outside. I took Tricia’s hand and kissed her on the cheek. “Thanks for speaking up in there,” I said softly as we walked away from the house and down the street.

“You’re welcome,” she said with a smile. “I’m surprised that you didn’t spot what she was doing before. You’re usually really good at reading people from what I’ve seen.”

“I have a bit of a blind spot for my family,” I admitted. “I’ve known them so long that the information is garbled in years of being around them. It’s weird, I know. I usually AM really good at this, but when they’re involved, it’s like there’s some static in the background that keeps me from tuning in.”

“Well what do you see when you look at me?” she asked brightly.

“Beauty,” I told her. “You’re not just physically attractive, but you’re a beautiful person on the inside. When I first met you, I thought you’d be the kind of person who’d feed stray cats and plant flowers for little kids to pick. You’d be the kind of person who’d find herself with a free afternoon and you’d wonder how you could use it to make someone else feel better.”

She crinkled her nose and laughed. “I don’t do ANY of that. I read,” she told me and I laughed with her.

“I didn’t think you did literally, but I saw that you were a good person and you wouldn’t think twice about going out of your way to make life better for someone if you thought of a way to do it,” I clarified. “You’ve certainly made mine better.”

“You’re really nice too,” she said and squeezed my hand.

I grinned and remembered something. “My doctor once told someone that I had an ‘incredible aptitude to make people’s lives better’. I think that might be exaggerating a little in my case, but I try to do something positive every day.”

“How does that work out for you?” she asked.

“Well today’s good deed was to invite my sister to join us for breakfast,” I said dryly. “Some days are better than others.”

“You did pretty good the day you introduced yourself to me,” she said. “I wouldn’t have gotten to go to the dance or get my first kiss, my first cum,” she blushed at that, looking adorable. “You’ve made a huge difference in my life.”

I grinned at her, my bad mood fading and I suspected that she’d decided to tell me that to lighten my mood. “See?” I asked. “You’re doing it again. You’re pulling me out of my bad mood.”

“By pointing out that you make me smile?” she asked.