Chapter 37: Warren Lends A Hand

Warren and Sophia were at Sophia's house. They had been babysitting, so they weren't fooling around-just sitting on the sofa, watching TV, chatting.

"Pookie, I think there's something we should start thinking about," Warren started.

"What?"

"College."

"I've already started, a little. Just trying to find out schools with a good meteorology program that I think I could get into."

"Yeah, I've done that for pre-med. But that's not the big question."

"What is?"

"Are we going to try to go together?"

Sophia thought for a minute. "Well, I always assumed we'd go close, if not to the same school. To tell you the truth, I figured we'd both go in Boston someplace. But now, I'm not so sure I want to do that."

"I've been thinking about maybe going out of state myself. I guess the question is, do we want to do this together? Decide where we're going to go and if we're going to stay local or not together, as a unit? Or do we want to keep it completely separate, and if we end up a thousand miles away from each other, so be it?"

Sophia smiled at him. "I'll be honest, Warren-when I hear about a school with a good meteorology program, I make sure I check out their pre-med, too." Warren just laughed. "I would like to stay together, yes. I think our relationship would survive a separation, but I'm not sure my mental health would."

Warren laughed again. "Neither would mine. And our ice dance career would surely be toast. I'd much rather go together, myself."

"Well, now I'm glad you brought this up, because you need to think about this, Dear Heart. If you decide you want to go to the same school, you are restricting your choices for my sake. A lot more schools have good pre-med than meteorology. Plus, there are schools that you can get into that I won't. I know you've talked about Princeton-I could never get into Princeton, and I'm not even sure if they have a meteorology department."

"You might not be able to get in Ivy League, Sophia, but with your grades you'll be able to get into a very good school. I don't need to go to Princeton"

"But if that's your first choice..."

"Not if you're not going to be there, it's not. Look. Let's do it this way. Let's try to look together. Let's investigate it with the idea that we're looking for a school for both of us. If we don't find one, then we readjust our plans. "

"OK. That sounds fair."

"You have three things going for you. First, you have a drastic grade improvement. Second, you have a very attractive extra cirricular activity. Third, you have a boyfriend that's being actively recruited."

"You are?"

"Oh, yeah. With my grades, and where I go to school? You betcha. Letters, promises of scholarships, the whole deal."

"How does that help me?"

"I tell them we're a package deal. You can't get me unless you take my ice dance partner."

Sophia giggled, but then got sober. "I appreciate the thought, but I'd hate to get into a school on your back, if you know what I mean."

"I can see your point, but admissions to College are so arbitrary anyhow. I know a kid who's planning on going to Harvard. And he will get in. And, he's nowhere near the student that I am, and I'm not sure I could get into Harvard. He will, however, because his father's an alumnus who gives boatloads of money to the place. So, if he can use the 'son of rich Almunus' loophole, you can use the 'girlfriend/skating partner of favored recruit' loophole."

Sophia cracked up. "OK, I see your point. However, we use that as a last resort. I try to get in on my own, first."

"Deal."

"Quite honestly, I'm not sure I'd want to go to an Ivy League school. I'd rather deal with a more diverse student body, actually."

"That's a good point."

Sophia was walking into the Peer Counseling office. She stopped in to say hi to Mr. Doherty, and then to Mrs. Kincaid, the Biology teacher who was the other faculty advisor for the group. Mrs. Kincaid was talking to Doctor Gwen Sorensen, the psychiatrist who helped them out with some of the thornier problems.

"Hiya, Mrs. Kincaid, Gwen. How you all doin' today?"

"Hello, Sophia," Mrs. Kincaid smiled. "Gwen was just telling me of a problem she had."

"Shrinks have problems?" Sophia teased. Gwen laughed. Gwen and Sophia were very fond of one another, but that didn't mean that Sophia would ever stop teasing her about her profession.

"This, actually, is a shrink problem." Gwen smiled at her. "One of the things that I like to do with my abuse groups-like the one you run, Soph-is to have a guy talk to them. A guy who has had to, shall we say, pick up the pieces that an abuser has left. Someone who's helped an abused girl get better. Brother, boyfriend, good friend, anyone who has been close to a girl who has been abused."

"I have had a couple guys that have helped me the past couple of years, but they are both away at college, neither is close by, and they won't be able to help us out. That group that you work with, Sophia, the one with Meggan and Caroline and them-they could really use this. They need to hear from a guy like this. And I haven't been able to find one."

Sophia smiled at the doctor. "Gwen, that is a problem easily solved. This sounds like a job for SuperWarren."

"Huh?" Gwen asked.

"Warren. My boyfriend."

"He has this kind of experience?"

Sophia looked down. "OK. Gwen, I've never told you this, because I haven't wanted you to pull the whole shrink thing on me." Sophia took a deep breath. "Gwen, you've always said that I was one of the best boyfriend abuse peer counselors you've ever seen. Why do you think that is?"

Gwen looked at Sophia-and then her eyes widened. "You are kidding. How long ago?"

"Ended about two years ago. Started about two years before that, more than one guy, but the last one was the worst."

"How bad?"

Sophia reached into her pocketbook, and withdrew that picture. She handed it to Gwen. "Oh, about that bad."

Gwen gasped. "Oh my sweet Jesus." She blinked, and handed the picture back to Sophia. "Sophia, you are one of the most put-together young ladies I have ever met. Recovery to the degree that you seem to have is very, very rare. I hate to do the shrink thing"-Sophia just giggled-"but did you have therapy?"

"A little, but a few months after it ended, and I was well on the road to recovery by then."

"What happened?"

Sophia smiled. "What happened? Warren Kelleher, champion piece-picker-upper, that's what happened. And the pieces I was in were so jagged that he sliced his hands up more than once. And the dear heart never flinched. "

"Did he see this? Was he there?"

"He was there at the end of it. This-the really bad stuff, with this particular guy-started in October of my freshman year. I met Warren in January, at work-he's a Junior too, but goes to St. Mike's-and we became friends pretty quickly. Things deteriorated to the degree that you saw in the picture shortly after that. Warren lived through it all. Not only that, the asshole beat Warren up."

"Because he was your friend."

"Right. Anyhow, that's what made me realize a lot of things. Because I knew that Warren did not deserve to be beaten up. And if he didn't, why did I? Anyhow, I dumped Scott, we got the police involved, he's in jail right now, and a week later I asked Warren to go out with me. And he's been there ever since."

"Call him. ASAP."

"Right." Sophia whipped out her cell phone, and hit a speed dial. "He ain't picking up. There's a dead spot or two at St Mike's." She waited for the beep. "Snugglebear, it's Pookie. Call me when you get this. Love you."

Gwen was amused. "Snugglebear? Pookie?" Sophia just laughed.

Then her phone rang. "Hi, Snugglebear, that was quick."

"I was in the can, taking a piss. What's up?"

"I got a proposition for you..."

Gwen Sorensen stood in front of seven young ladies-the six members of the abuse support group, and their peer counselor, Sophia.

"Ladies, I want to introduce you to a friend of mine. He's going to talk to you today, to tell you about the other side of abuse-the side of the people who care about girls like you. He's been through it, and he's going to talk to you about it. Please welcome Warren Kelleher."

Warren stepped to the front of the group and took a seat. He was nervous-public speaking was not his favorite activity by any means-but he knew what he wanted to say.

"Good afternoon ladies. I want to talk to you about what I know about abuse. I know a lot about it, even though I've never been abused, nor have I ever been an abuser. You do not have to be abused to live through it. You have friends and loved ones who are living through it. Trust me on that one."

"Two years ago this January, I got a job. It was at the Dunkin' Donuts downtown, you all know where that is. Since half of Oceanview High sneaks out of school to grab a coffee there, you've probably all been there." They all giggled at that. "I was fourteen, it was my first job, they hired me to do maintenance."