Chapter 7: Wednesday Evening

Robert - Late afternoon

After getting out of the van, I walked in my house. My parents were in the living room watching TV nude. I saw a relieved look on their faces as they saw us walk in.

"We saw a news flash that your school was evacuated." Dad told us, "They mentioned that when the fire alarm went off most of the students had already gone home with only a few after school programs and the some of the athletic teams still in the building."

"Why did you not call?" Mom asked pointing to the PDAs on our wrists. "We got worried when we didn't hear anything from any of you.

"In the excitement I forgot to" I admitted to my mom. "I promise that will not happen again."

"Don't make promises you can't keep." Mom replied, "It will save you some trouble later on."

"How about we promise to try better to let you know where we are in case something like this would happen again?" Jason replied.

"Now that sounds more realistic." Dad replied.

"We were in the showers when the alarm went off." I said, "We got out ok and made sure that one of the coaches took our names and wrote down that we were headed on home before we went to Jason's van."

"I didn't see any smoke while Amanda and I were waiting for these four to get to the van." Jason replied.

"Today I tried to see Patricia and Roberta practice but the door was closed with a note saying closed practice. Only team members allowed inside." Amanda commented, "However, I could see through the window in the door that Robert and Patrick were inside as well.

"That is because Patrick and I were asked to be quote unpaid volunteer coaches end quote," I said.

"Whatever." Jason said, "Now since it looks like I am overdressed compared to most everyone else I am going to my room for a minute."

Watching him leave, Amanda got a small smile on her face and continued making small talk with me, Pat and my parents for a couple of minutes.

She then got up, put a finger to her lips and went upstairs. We heard a "What are you..." then after a pause some giggles.

We later found out that she had taken her clothes off in the hallway and entered my brother's room in the nude. He was in his underwear and was surprised by her entrance. She cut off what he had started to say with a kiss. The giggles occurred when she slid his underwear down and she saw his hardon.

Pat - Early evening

Listening to Robin and their parents I decided to call my parents to tell them how things were going. I told my dad about the fire alarm going off. I did make sure to also tell him that I had not seen any sign or smell of smoke before we left. I also told him that Robert and Patrick were on the volleyball team as well as quote volunteer assistant coaches end quote. Dad said that he wondered why Miss Chavez decided that but he would wait to ask her when he got back.

Dad told me that he and my mom had a nice trip up to Uncle Frank's. He was awake when they saw him, but his doctors didn't give him many days more to live. There was a last chance with an experimental nanoprobe shot but that shot in itself might kill him.

I asked Dad about trying out sleeping in different rooms, explaining that Robin was able to and the set-up that they had. When I finished, Dad had me hand my PCD over to Robin's Dad and they talked for a little while.

While my Dad was talking to Mr. Hamilton, I sat down to watch some TV. I saw an update about the fire alarm going off at Cooper High School. A prankster had set the alarm off and school officials were examining some security tapes to try to identify the person responsible for that.

When Mr. Hamilton handed my PCD back, Dad told me that he had talked to Mr. Hamilton about my question on sleeping arrangements. Mr. Hamilton would talk to the six of us teenagers about any changes in the sleeping arrangements. I told him that it had just come on the news that a prankster had set off the fire alarm and they were looking for a suspect.

Dad reminded me, "I want for you to behave as well as you normally do at your grandparents houses," before hanging up.

After talking to my Dad, I heard Robin's mom calling them to set the table for supper. I decided to help since that was something I normally did at home. With the four of us working together, it didn't take long to get the table set and the food on the table.

While we were setting the table, Mr. Hamilton had whispered something in Robin's mom's ear. The two of them went somewhere to talk. I don't know where my sister and Jason hid while we were setting the table. Since I had last seen them hand in hand, I suspect that at least part of any communicating they might be doing was of the nonverbal kind.

Robin called out "Food is on the table. Come and get it while it's hot."

When everyone was sitting down Robin's dad said that he had talked to his wife and my parents. With my parents consent, he told us that tonight there would be some changes in the sleeping arrangements.

Seeing our smiles he continued, "Robert and Patrick will sleep in one bed in his room with Roberta and Patricia in the bed in her room... Jason, you will be sleeping in your bed," and then he paused before continuing," but Amanda will sleep on the couch tonight. Since last night Jason slept on the couch it is only fair for the two of you to switch."

Noticing that our smiles had quickly gone away he laughed and said, "Just kidding guys, Tim, Mary, Susan and I agree that there really is not much we could do about your sleeping arrangements since if you really didn't like them you could change them as soon as Susan and I fell asleep."

"Fred and I each woke up a couple of times last night. We saw that you were where Fred had told you to sleep and we even noticed that the little door between Robert and Roberta's rooms was closed." Robin's Mom said, picking up where their Dad had left off, "Tim and Mary had talked to Fred and I about the sleeping arrangements last night while you were busy with your homework."

"We agreed on telling you guys to sleep in those places we told you last night." Robin's Mom continued, "Last night you proved that we could trust you at least a little bit. We had agreed that if we did see you not following the sleeping arrangements that we would not say anything to you, but on the other hand we would not change those instructions."

"Tonight you can sleep wherever you want to, even where I jokingly told you to sleep. Just remember, that if we have trouble waking even one of you guys up in the morning all six of you will go back to the previous arrangements until Tim and Mary get back." Robin's dad finished.

We agreed that we would not give them any trouble getting up in the morning. I overheard Amanda speaking to herself saying, "I definitely will not have any problem getting Jason up in the morning."

After supper, Jason and Amanda started clearing the table even before they were asked. Amanda was the first to move, but Jason quickly followed her example. My sister later told me she had seen Robin and me as we finished setting the table. She admitted that she didn't want to look less helpful than me. I think Jason just decided that the faster the table was cleared, the faster Amanda and he would have a chance for some fun.