Chapter 38

We left and Gina looked at me funny. “That woman is really your doctor?” she asked. “She doesn’t look old enough to be a doctor.”

“I don’t look old enough to be finished with three semesters of college,” I pointed out. “Victoria is exceptionally gifted. I’m sure she graduated well ahead of schedule.”

“You call her by her first name?”

“Sure. She’s not just my doctor. She’s one of my closest friends.”

“That’s cool. How long have you known her?”

“Since August. She saved my life more than once.”

We got back to the car and chatted on the way home. We dropped Tricia off at home and I got a quick kiss before she slipped inside since her father was home.

When I got back in the car, Gina wanted to talk. “Listen, about Jessie...” she started.

“It’s okay,” I said. “Lana told me that if I was going to date a cheerleader, she had one that she thought would be good to me and that I’d be good to.”

“She did?” she asked, stricken. “Did she say who?”

I smiled and nodded. “Yes she did,” I told her. “It wasn’t Jessie. She felt like Jessie would be looking past me to the bank account. She said you were different, that I could trust you. That’s why I was comfortable taking you somewhere nicer on Sunday. Jessie would have gotten somewhere like Olive Garden in the same situation. I’m trying to stay out of that situation with her though.”

She blushed furiously as she realized that we’d been on a real date and not just as friends. “So what does this mean?” she asked, shy all of a sudden.

“For now, it just means that I like you and you like me. Let’s go back to the house so you can study with Emma for a bit. She’s the head of the Sorority. She’ll make the decision in the end so the more time you spend with her, the more she can get a sense of whether you fit in with the rest of us.”

She nodded and we went home where I made dinner for the three of us while they did schoolwork.

Emma raised her head from her books and smiled at me knowingly. I returned it with a look of innocence which made her laugh and got Gina’s attention.

“What’s funny?” she asked.

“Matt,” she told her. “He’s trying to pretend to be completely innocent, like it’s a coincidence that he’s spent the last three evenings with you. Four if you were at the dance on Saturday.”

Gina blushed and then her eyes got kind of wide. “Six actually,” she said, realizing it for the first time. “I helped with his errands on Friday and we had cheer meeting here on Thursday.”

I cocked my head to the side and then nodded. She was right. That had snuck up on me.

“Six nights in a row?” she turned and looked at me with an arched eyebrow.

“Not all of them were nights,” I said in my own defense. “Friday, she dropped me off to have dinner at one of the other girls’ houses so we were really done before evening. Cheer was mostly afternoon too, but the past four have been solid evening hangouts.”

“Interesting,” Emma said. “Clearly, I am studying the wrong subject tonight.” She deliberately closed her books and gave Gina her full attention.

Gina wilted a little. “Should I be worried?” she asked and I shook my head with a comforting smile.

“Not at all. Emma is just saying that she wants to get to know you better. I’ve been badly hurt in the past, so she protects me from anyone she thinks might hurt me down the road.” I came and kissed Emma on the cheek before returning to the stove. “Think of her like a big sister who wants to make sure you’re right for me.”

“Okay,” she said, still uncertain. “Your big sister or mine?”

That made Emma laugh. “Which is less creepy?” she asked.

“Probably mine, but then you’d be making sure HE was right for ME, so I guess I’ll just have to ignore you sleeping with your brother.” She bit her lip and grinned, trying to hold in giggles.

I chuckled to myself while I gathered everything up and served both of them. I made up a plate for myself and gave them both a kiss on the cheek before I headed for the stairs.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Emma asked tartly.

“I was just going to give the two of you some space to talk,” I told her.

“I don’t think that’s necessary,” she said. “We can kick you out later when we get to the parts you don’t need to know yet.”

I returned to the table and sat between the two of them. “I’m okay with that,” I grinned at both of them.

The three of us sat and ate while we learned more about Gina and she learned a little about us. It turned out that her mother cleaned houses during the day and her father was an electrician. She had an older brother who was going to UCLA and staying with an aunt while he studied, a younger brother who wanted to be a vet some day and a cat named Oscar, who was named because they had found him in their garbage can one night.

She loved her parents, put up with her brothers and said that she preferred the cat to her older brother. “Not that he was bad to me REALLY, but he didn’t have much to do with me except when we got in each others way. Oscar splits his time between me and my little brother, Hector. Hector really is good with animals, so maybe he’ll make a good vet after all.”

She talked some more and learned about us and some of the things that have happened. She heard about the surgery and the malpractice, the study and, regrettably, she heard the ‘little boy’ story.

“I thought you wanted to live that down,” I reminded Emma with a poke in the ribs.

“I’m over that now,” she said. “You’re not so little where it counts, dear.”

“Gee, thanks!” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “guys don’t worry enough about size without comments like ‘not SO little’?” I pointed out.

She laughed. “I apologize,” she said patronizingly. “Who’s my big boy? Are you my big boy? Yes you are!”

“And now baby talk,” I said dryly. “Yes, that’s much better. I’ll leave you two alone. I’m gonna go sulk.”

Gina was turning red-faced she was laughing so hard. I kissed her on the forehead and then stuck my tongue out at Emma before going downstairs. I finished the painting and the sketch, did my stretch and reviewed all my coursework for the day. I was mostly bored, so I went out to the pool table, shooting a few racks. I thought if I could figure out the more complex shots, I might have a chance at learning how to make throws with the shield.

I put the cue away after a couple of games and put the painting away before checking on Tricia. “Hey, Sweetness,” I said with a smile. “How’d you like your first trip to the science lab?”

“It was cool,” she said. “I told Dad a lot about it. That was the man who’s dying of cancer, wasn’t it?” she asked gently.

I nodded. “That meeting at the end was for us to pick out someone to continue the work when he can’t.”

“I’m glad I got to meet him. Can I go with you again sometime?” she asked and I nodded.

“You can come with me every time if you want,” I told her. “Except once a month I go for a longer test that takes a lot of the school day to finish so you wouldn’t be able to do that.”

She grinned, delighted to be allowed to come along. She needed more of my time. “You’re always allowed to come with me except to my appointments to Dr. Spencer’s office.”

“You called her Victoria earlier,” she pointed out.

“I make the distinction between when she’s talking to me professionally as a doctor and when we’re outside our appointments,” I said lightly. “I generally think of her as Victoria.”

She nodded. “So I can go to cheer practice with you?” she asked sweetly.

“Of course,” I said lightly. “I didn’t think you had any interest in it or I’d have invited you along.”

She shrugged. “I’m curious about what you do there, but I’m not really interested in joining or anything like that.”

“That’s cool. It’s not like Coach Mullins who went mental at the thought of someone watching her practices. I rent the gym and I pay the coach. I reserve the right to have you around to watch.”

“I might not want to go every time, but once in a while would be nice,” she said and we talked about more mundane matters, like what had happened at school that morning and what it would mean that Vance was coming back to school in the morning.

When I went back upstairs, the girls were chatting and laughing together on the couch.

“Okay,” Emma said lightly. “I like her. You can keep her.”

“Do either of us get a say in this?” I asked, amused.

“If you didn’t want her, she wouldn’t have been here,” she pointed out, dismissively. “And she and I talked. Once she has her last test results back, she’s good.”

“That should be in about three weeks,” I told her. “We go get them all done on the 12th and the results should only take 72 hours barring weekend delays.”

She nodded. “We discussed that too. She also told me there’s another cheerleader trying to attract your attention. That one doesn’t meet with my approval.”

“Mine either,” I said. “Lana warned me that she was in it for the money. Not what I want in a girlfriend.”

Gina nodded. “I can’t say for sure that’s what she wants, but I don’t think she’s interested in you as much as she’s interested in what you can do for her. Whether it’s the money or she just wants to be close to you because you’re the most famous person in the school, she wants something from you.”

“If she just wants to be close to me for the attention, sitting with us at lunch should be good enough.”

“No, I think she wants to be the center of attention like Tricia was on Saturday,” Gina clarified.

I was suddenly reminded of Manda, Collie’s old roommate. I should find out from Collie how that went for her.

“I think I can set her on a different path,” I said. “It’ll really depend on whether it’s the attention or the money that she wants. If it’s the attention, there’s two different types of attention and she’s better off getting out of the spotlight if she doesn’t want both.”

“What do you mean?” Gina asked, worried.

“I mean Vance Waterman returns to school tomorrow morning. If he goes nuts and decides to attack me in the school, does she really want to be standing close enough to be caught in the attack when he comes for me?”

“That’s a good point,” she said. “I don’t personally care. If he attacks you while I’m standing there, I get a chance to kick him in the balls myself, but what if she’s after your money?” she asked, wanting to know how I was going to talk her out of that.

“If that’s her game, she’ll quickly find that I have most of it in investments. I don’t intend to give her access to the bank account. I also don’t intend to give her time alone with me to give her the hope that she can trap me into doing something to give her a basis to try to claim it.”

“I don’t think she’d do anything like that,” Gina said, frowning. “I think it’s more that she sees a rich, popular, famous guy in the school and thinks that he’s the perfect boyfriend.”

“I’m not so perfect,” I said dismissively, “but I do try.”

“You do okay,” Emma said approvingly. “You just need to stop letting yourself get roped into solving the world’s problems.”

“I actually turned down the school flat when they tried to get me to take a job as a peer counselor,” I told her. I told her about the meeting and played the recording from my phone.

She nodded. “Good. About time you stopped letting people use you up. You’re right though, you need three more hours in every day to get everything done and see all the people who want you.”

I shrugged. “I’m working on it,” I promised her. “I’m testing out of German so I can have a double lunch. That gives me another hour that I can spend with Tricia and others who want my time starting in January.”

“Won’t that hurt you for getting through your lectures?” she asked.

“Not really. I have about ten hours of lectures a day. I can listen to two or three of them at a time. I might have to devote an hour at the end of every second day to pick up the slack.”

She nodded. “That’s an hour at home that you could be using for other things,” she reminded me.

“It’s an hour I could be studying with you and everyone else,” I said dismissively. “I’ll still have time on Saturdays for Kung Fu and to visit the hospital, Sundays for dance class and Monday and Thursday for cheer. Those are really my hobbies. Hanna plays video games more than I do. I only draw and paint for special occasions right now and I have no interest in most sports. The bedroom Olympics are the only thing I compete in regularly.”

“Not as often as I’d have expected when I moved in,” she admitted with a smirk.

I laughed. “Wait ‘til you’ve been away for a couple of weeks,” I warned her. “My new years resolution is to make you walk funny for the first week you’re back.”

We all laughed about that and then Gina had to go. She said her parents would wonder where she was. We all hugged and then she was out the door.

“She’s nice,” Emma commented when she was gone. “She’s looking forward to getting her results back. Not just for the sake of getting into the Sorority, but to put it all behind her.”

I nodded. “I can understand that,” I said softly. “It’s been a lot to take in. I want to help all of them, but I feel like she wants me to be a more direct part of her recovery.”

“She’s not the only one. The Powers ladies are both holding out for you holding them,” she said. “Eventually, they’ll ask. Maybe not soon, but the longer they put it off, the harder they’ll find it to move on to someone else, unless you don’t intend to let them go?” she asked, with an eyebrow arched questioningly.

“I don’t plan these things,” I told her. “They just sort of happen when I least expect them. Lana found me at the mall after my accident, Beck was brought to me by Lana, Collie and Tabby were a gift from my father, perversely enough. Zoe, Tricia and Hanna were all random and no one could have predicted that we’d end up together after that first meeting,” I told her with a smirk.

She nodded and returned my smirk. “I suppose. God help us all if you ever decided to see how many girls you could tame.”

“I’m not even interested in taming you,” I said softly, sitting down on the sofa with her and pulling her close enough to cuddle. “I like you wild.”

“Perv!” she accused, but kissed me with a twinkle in her eye. “I want to do something with you some night when you’re inspired to draw.”

“Oh?” I asked, wondering how we transitioned from ‘perv’ to drawing. “What’s on your mind?”

“I want to make a vid for your channel of you drawing something with both hands. I think it’s kind of awesome to watch you draw like that. I think a lot of people would like to see it.”

“That might be interesting,” I admitted. “Not tonight though. I’m done with my artistry for tonight.”

“You have much left to do on it?” she asked.

“Nope. It’s done. It’ll be dry by morning and I’m gonna ask you to take me to get the framing done tomorrow.”

“Why me? I thought you’d prefer Gina,” she asked.

“Well, tomorrow is my appointments at the hospital. I’m not sure what time I’ll be done and besides, I promised Tricia that she could be with me any day of the week except Wednesday since those sessions are generally closed.”

She nodded. “Tomorrow night then. The art supply place in the mall?”

“Sure. They do framing there. We can grab dinner out for a change and do a little shopping for the holidays.”

“You still have shopping to do? I thought you had it figured out?”

“For you, Tricia and Hanna, I do. I have more people to shop for now. I’ll get something for Tabby and Collie, Lana and Beck, Patty and Dan, Mom and Lilly, my dad needs something nice for all that he’s done lately. I also intend to get something for Gina and Cheryl. Cheryl’s the girl who’s pregnant.”

“What are you planning on getting them?” she asked.

“Gina is a surprise. I’d already planned on getting you something similar, but it’s a gift she’d love too. Cheryl, I’m not sure about. I was thinking about getting her a spa subscription for the rest of her pregnancy. I know that there’s a lot of physical changes going on and some of them will be uncomfortable or even painful. Being able to go and get a full massage and pamper herself seems like something nice to do for her.”

“That IS nice,” she said, approving. “She’ll have some back pain likely and they’ll be able to ease that some.”

We chatted about Christmas gifts for a little while longer and then we went to bed. She took pictures of the painting and the sketches to show her family when she got home for Christmas.

“Should I do one of you for your parents?” I asked. “I can do it tomorrow during my session with Dr. Spencer and we can take it to be framed tomorrow night with the others.”

She thought about it and then nodded. “I think they’d like that,” she said with a smile. “Daddy would especially like to see how you’d make out in the workshop. He’s gonna be working on something interesting this summer. He always is.”

“Right on. Maybe I should start trying to figure out what tools he’d want me working with now.”

“Nope. You go in cold and you blow him away. Then we can tell him you’ve never even touched the stuff before.”

I grinned and we turned in for the night. We each had a long day ahead of us, so sex was out, but I did give her a very gentle massage, which put her to sleep before I was done. I chuckled and pulled her limp form to me as I settled in comfortably.

Wednesday was tense. We all knew that something was bound to happen once Vance was back in school. I’d been told in passing that he had restrictions on his release including avoiding me, the girls, drugs, alcohol or drugs, but to say I was skeptical about Vance behaving would have been generous. We all felt like it was a day we’d never forget. Little did we know in those moments as we went to our morning classes. All the girls had a look of grim determination on their faces and I had my eyes open the whole day. Vance had early lunch, same as I did and the lunch room was silent as the grave as people held a collective breath. As soon as I sat down, I was surrounded by the girls. Every one of them, not just the cheer team as usual. We took over one corner of the room and stuck together, watching Vance like a hawk. For his part, he barely seemed to notice. He was laughing and catching up with his friends. That put black marks next to their names in my head as much as the stares I’d been getting from them before.

I told the girls to watch out for each other and gave them my schedule for the afternoon. “If anything happens, call 911, get the school cop and send for me. I’ll be there right away.”

They all nodded and at the bell, I went to get Tricia and told her the same. “Pass it on to the other girls and come get me if he starts shit.”

“You worry too much,” she said and kissed me.

“I do, but it’s because I care. I have Lana dropping you off after school so you don’t have to walk.”

“Actually, I’m going over to Cheryl’s for a while this afternoon,” she told me. “Her mom is picking us up and then dropping me off at home after dinner.”

“Cool,” I said. “Give her a hug for me.” I kissed her and ran off to class.

The rest of the day was calm and I got Lana to drop me at the hospital. Victoria and I bantered quite a bit but our session was mostly mundane. I drew the sketch of Emma that I’d promised for her parents while we talked.

“How are things with Mom,” I asked near the time she usually sent me up to Samantha’s office.

“She’s making a great deal of progress. She’s carrying a lot of guilt for the way things went between you and her, but every day is helping. Every visit is doing a little bit too. You’re having a very real effect on her progress.”

I nodded. “I’m here as much as I can be,” I said, wishing I could make more time. “Do you have any idea when she’ll be ready to come home?” I asked.

“That’s difficult to say,” she allowed. “I think she’s still got a lot of work to do before she’s well.”

“I do too,” I pointed out dryly.

“You’re a special case. I send you home to keep you from bedding half the hospital staff.”

I chuckled. “Only half? You used to have a higher opinion of me,” I said, sounding disappointed.

“I assumed you’d leave the male staff and the ones over 45 to fend for themselves,” she returned dryly.

“That’s true. I do have something serious to talk about along similar lines,” I said and I brought up Zoe and the issue that caused her break from us.

“She has valid concerns and you’re not going to resolve them by talking, only by waiting out the clock until they’re no longer an issue.”

“I know that. It’s why I’m generally in a better place than I was the last time I had a breakup. I’m just wondering what your opinion is of those laws in general and what you think of my case in particular.”

She nodded. “I thought we might have come to this conversation when you became involved with Patty,” she said. “I wondered why you didn’t bring it up then.”

I shrugged. “Because it didn’t matter. I wasn’t abused, I was asked by two people I loved to give one of them an experience we’d both treasure forever. There was no relationship coming from it. There was no chance we were going to end up together. It was sex between two people who love each other, but were meant for other people. The law didn’t matter to me.”

“But it does now,” she said gently.

“No, it really doesn’t. It mattered to Zoe and that created an issue. I don’t delude myself into thinking it’s the last time in the next two years that something like this will come up. I’m curious about your opinions.”

She nodded. “Those laws exist for a good reason,” she said carefully. “Without them, children would be taken advantage of. I’ve seen the axe fall both ways in different cases. The laws have been enforced to protect children, but they’ve also been applied brutally in cases similar to yours where two people who are just a few years apart are devastated when one of them goes to prison for cases of forbidden love.”

I nodded. “And my case in particular?”

“Your development doesn’t conform to any of the rules we subscribe to in modern psychology,” she said. “That’s not news to you. What it means is something none of us can predict. I believe you’re already capable of more rational thought than most people. I would certify you as able to vote intelligently, drink responsibly and drive safely. Unfortunately those laws don’t allow for cases like yours. You’ve done fairly well with the restrictions life places on you, but this one is gonna make you angry until it no longer applies to you.”

I shrugged. “Maybe I’m not as busted up because I’m generally okay with restrictions,” I admitted. “Honestly, I’m not even mad about the breakup, just sad. What pisses me off is that her objections basically call Emma and Hanna rapists. It’s one thing for a room full of dick-heads in their 60s to say it’s wrong. It’s another for her to say it when she knows the situation.”

She nodded and gave me a sympathetic look. “I’m afraid you’ll have to brave this kind of scorn. The nature of your relationship is such that people assume that you’re being abused.”

I shrugged. “So learn to keep my mouth shut or let Hanna and Emma go for their own good?” I asked sourly. “Great choices.”

“It’s not the first time that you’ve found yourself in a situation filled with bad solutions,” she reminded me. “Your mother is still staying here with us because of one of them. Patrick Waterman is recovering from knee surgery because of another one.”

I nodded. “Yeah. So I guess I’ve got a lot to think about.”

“You’re going to run into this problem with almost all your girls since you’re considered too young to give consent at all.”

I nodded miserably. “Yeah. If it got out...”

“The law wouldn’t care about who was dominant or who pursued who. Only age.”

“The laws in this state suck cock,” I swore. It wasn’t a habit I was in, especially here.

“I agree in many ways,” she said mildly. “Should I call Samantha and tell her that our session left you in a less playful mood than normal?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I’m in no mood today, really.”

She got up and made the call, expressing my regrets and a promise for next week if things were better.

“I’m sorry I haven’t given you better solutions,” she said.

“That’s not your job,” I said dismissively. “You’re just supposed to help me cope with selecting from the bad ideas I have to choose from.”

“Well, I like to think I help offer alternatives too.”

“Vance Waterman’s still alive. That wasn’t my first choice so it counts as an alternative you suggested.”

“He returned to school this week?” she asked delicately.

“Today,” I confirmed.

“That’s putting more stress on you. My suggestion is that you try to concentrate on what’s good in your life and let him get on with his.”

I nodded. “That’s the idea. I know he’ll show up looking for trouble sooner or later. I just don’t know when.”

“At a guess, I’d say that he’ll try when his brother is back on his feet,” she said casually, “if for no other reason than to have him around to watch the revenge.”

I nodded. “I guess that makes a lot of sense,” I said skeptically and got to my feet. “I should go visit Mom before I head home though.”

“Not Charlotte any more?” she asked, walking me to the door.

“No. She’s come a long way to get where she is. I’m hoping she can be home for the holidays, even if she can’t go back to work just yet.”

“I think I can arrange that,” she said. “Ask me again in a couple of weeks and we’ll see.”

I thanked her, like I always did and then left. I went to visit with my mother and we had a pleasant talk. I told her about just about everything that was going on in my life these days. I figured it might bite me in the ass. But she needed that chance at regaining my trust. I told her about Zoe and she was surprised and sad for me when I told her what had happened. I balanced that out by telling her I’d reached out to Tabby and Collie and invited them to come for Christmas.

“I’m sure that’s going to be fantastic for all of you,” she said with a smile.

“I fully intend for you to be there with us,” I told her and she beamed at me.

“You think I’ll be ready to come home by then?” she asked hopefully.

“There’s still a long way to go,” I told her, “but I mentioned it to Dr. Spencer today and she said she’d see if she could get you there for us.”

She smiled and she looked like my mother again, proud and loving. I thought she was ready, but then again, I knew better than anyone that damage lingered below the surface.

“I hope we can all be together for Christmas,” she said, thrilled with the idea.

“Me too, but we can’t get our hopes up too high just yet. For now, you and I should plan as if I’m gonna have to solo the celebration at the house. Not that I think you’re not ready, but after what happened this summer, I know that making progress doesn’t mean all the bad days are behind us. Either way, we’re going to make this Christmas bright and special.”

She smiled at me and I could tell that she believed me. It was humbling. I’d taken on responsibility for both of my parents this past year. I hoped to God that Victoria could get her home to us so I didn’t have to try to make this Christmas festive in visiting hours.

“I know you will, Matt. I’m so proud of everything you’ve become in the past few months. You’ve had to take care of so much and I wish I’d been there to help, but the last time I was there, I was the exact opposite of help to you.”

“It’s okay,” I told her. “We’re all moving on. Sometimes things work out the way they do for a reason. If that breakup hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have met Tricia or Hanna or Zoe and while Zoe didn’t stay long, she left her mark.”

She nodded. “So what are you doing when you leave here tonight?” she asked.

“Emma and I are going to the mall to get some things framed. I did a painting of Tricia’s family for her. Her mother died of cancer years ago and I did a painting of the three of them as if she had never gotten sick and had lived to see Tricia as she is now.”

“That’s an incredibly thoughtful thing to do,” she said softly. “I hope it doesn’t backfire.”

“Why would it backfire?” I asked, concerned at the thought.

“If someone were to paint a portrait of me and your father together, it wouldn’t have quite the same emotional impact that you’re hoping this will have,” she said gently. “I know you want them to love it and I hope they will. I’m just pointing out that it could go the opposite way too.”

“I hadn’t thought about that,” I admitted. “I hope they love it. I know she will. Her dad doesn’t really like me since I’m the most likely candidate to take his daughter’s virginity.”

“That’s not unique to her father,” she said dryly. “Most fathers object to that kind of behavior.”

I nodded. “I understand a little,” I told her. “I’m working on it though. I’m being honest with him without throwing it in his face.”

We kept chatting for an hour or so about little things. She’d made a couple of friends in there and wanted me to know a little about them. I got a list of things she’d like to have and promised I’d bring them for her. We finally said goodbye and I walked the distance home in the cold.