Chapter 26

"Whoops!"
Usual last word of an unsuccessful Bomb Disposal Technician.

"Chad, are you awake?" Traci asked.

That was the third time my girlfriend had asked me that question. I had heard her the first time (sound sleepers in the CYA usually equated to dead agents), but had chosen to ignore her. However, each time thereafter, Traci's volume and bouncing on the bed had increased. Abandoning all hope of trying to get a few more minutes of sleep, I opened my eyes and gazed upon my girlfriend.

The look on Traci's face was of pure excitement. I doubted I had seen Traci this excited since Christmas morning. While my recent escapades with her mother and sister had brought enthusiasm to Traci, there had been traces of fear and anxiety mixed in. This time, there was no trace of those emotions -- Traci appeared positively giddy.

"You need to get up. We'll be going to school early today."

Glancing at the bedside clock, I saw that it was close to a half-hour before our usual wakeup time. When I looked back at Traci, my gaze shifted from her face down to what she was wearing. Without too much sarcasm in my voice, I said, "Nice jacket."

I do not know if Traci did not pick up my burlesqued remark or had just chosen to ignore it. Instead, Traci got off the bed and did a quick twirl, proudly showing off my dreaded letterman's jacket. Traci also grinned and said, "Isn't it."

She then answered my unasked question of how she got ahold of it. "After you went to bed last night, I told Rose that you were going to let me wear your jacket for a week. Well, at first, she did not believe me and thought I was lying, so I told her a little bit about the reason why. I explained that you felt partially responsible for my behavior and that you were making it up to me by allowing me to wear your jacket. Well, that even confused her more, so I had to explain in more detail about our... disagreement. Anyway, after I finally convinced her that I was on the level, she made me wait in here while she retrieved the jacket. I swear, it took her ten minutes to get the jacket, but I think I heard the bed being moved in my room, and I could almost swear that I heard either your sister's bedroom door or mine being closed right before she came in with the jacket. She also made me swear to her one last time that I was not lying to her and that you were really allowing me the jacket before she handed it to me. Also, I told Lori and Rose that we would be going to school early today, so you need to be getting up and out of bed."

I blinked a couple of times and marveled at my girlfriend. It was not so much the speed that she delivered her oration, but the fact that Traci had taken only a couple of breaths during it. The energy that she emitted was contagious, though, and I found myself getting out of bed with a smile on my face. "As you wish," I said.

It had been a while since I had used our code phrase, but Traci quickly shot back, "I love you, too. Now get dressed!"

I noticed that I was not the only one amused at Traci's excitement when I joined Lori and Rose at the breakfast table. It was during the second time that Traci dashed back to the bedroom to find 'better' pants to go with the jacket that caused all three of us to laugh aloud. Marge came into the kitchen at that point and wondered what had caused our mirth, but she soon got her answer when Traci rejoined us.

"Dear, why in the world are you wearing a jacket to breakfast?" Marge asked her youngest daughter, hiding her amused expression behind a piece of toast.

Traci just ignored her mother's question and quickly devoured her remaining breakfast. After Traci cleared her plates and rinsed them in the sink, she stood impatiently in the kitchen, watching us eat. Everyone at the table picked up on Traci's restlessness and decided to eat at a more leisurely pace. Traci was having none of that.

"Come on, hurry up," Traci said with a slight whine to her voice.

Marge had picked up on Traci's tone and pushed all amusement aside when she scolded Traci. "Young lady, you can either rejoin the table and wait for them to finish eating or leave. You will NOT just stand there and grumble. Do I make myself clear?"

A subdued Traci rejoined us at the table, and Lori, Rose, and I ended up picking up our pace. I think we all felt a tad guilty at the chastising Traci had received. However, Traci's eagerness quickly returned when we finished eating; she got up, busing our used plates and utensils to the sink.

"Can you wash the dishes?" Traci asked her mom.

Rose's protests were cut off when Marge agreed to her daughter's request. Any annoyance Marge had had at Traci's earlier behavior had quickly evaporated at the signs of Traci's jubilation. Traci pulled her redheaded friend out of the kitchen, and the four of us were ready to leave the house in less then five minutes.

When I stepped outside, I noticed how cold it had become. I guess the recent warm weather spell had spoiled me slightly, and that morning's weather once again reminded me it was still January. "Brr, maybe I should wear my jacket after all," I remarked to Traci.

I did not even have the chance to stop my girlfriend, as she turned around and dashed back into the house. She returned less than a minute later, bringing my leather jacket. Since it was a relatively short drive to the high school, I went ahead and put on the jacket.

The drive to school was uneventful, save for the fact that Traci seemed to be willing the car to move faster. Since we arrived about a half-hour earlier than we usually did, there was ample parking and we were able to find a spot close to the school entrance. As soon as we were out of the car, Traci latched onto my left hand. I was slightly amused when Lori made a bold move and grabbed hold of my right hand. Traci, on the other hand, was not and told her sister, "Hands off. At school, he's all mine."

Lori grinned and released my hand. Once again, I had to remind myself that my letterman's jacket was not marking Traci belonging to me, but me belonging to Traci. The four of us entered the school grounds, and when we reached the library, Lori and Rose decided to go in there and do some studying. After bidding farewell to them, Traci and I headed for my locker.

"Won't people notice when you stop wearing my jacket after a week's up?" I asked.

Traci shrugged and said, "I guess, I'll just have to keep wearing the jacket, then."

"A better solution would be for me to take back the jacket now before any more people see it on you," I pointed out.

Traci glanced at my face and saw the smile on it. "Chad Johnson, one of these days your teasing is going to get you into trouble," Traci replied.

Her comment stopped me in my tracks. Traci did not notice it at first and was pulled short by her determined grip on my hand. I did like to tease, but teasing was at the source of Monday morning's fight. I had done something that I swore that I would never do: I had inflicted pain upon the one person that I loved more than anything because of my childish behavior.

"What's wrong?" Traci asked concernedly.

"Would you like for me to stop?" I asked.

It took Traci a few seconds to figure out what I was talking about. She then grinned and said, "No, silly. Teasing is a part of who you are. I know that you are being affectionate when you do it, and besides, we all tease each other." Traci paused for a few seconds before adding, "Just try to use some common sense when it comes to teasing and try to avoid kidding me about you-know-who."

I nodded and had already vowed to myself that I would refrain from teasing Traci about Fran. Unlike my vow to curtail smoking, that was one that I intended to keep. We resumed our journey to my locker.

When we rounded the corner to where my locker was, I sensed something was wrong. I made a conscious effort not to change my grip on Traci's hand, lest she know that something was amiss. Since there were only a half-dozen people in the hallway, it only took me a few seconds to realize what was out of place; when I did, I let out the breath I was holding. I did not change my pace as we approached my locker.

"Hey, Elroy," I said as I arrived at my locker.

Elroy Jones looked up at me standing over him, then back at the locker he was trying to open. He rolled his eyes, moved over to the next locker to the right, and said, "Hey, Chad. Sorry about that. I don't know how many times I have tried to open your locker, thinking that it was mine."

'NINE TIMES!' my mind screamed, but I smiled and said, "No worries."

"What's wrong, you dyslexic?" Traci asked him.

Traci started to turn red when Elroy nodded. I found it slightly amusing since not even a minute had passed since Traci had mentioned using common sense when it came to teasing. I think that helped take the sting out of my foolishness. Whenever I had found my locker dial disturbed, I had automatically thought about the worst-case scenario, and had not even paused to consider a more likely explanation. It was when my mind started to consider that Elroy was a plant, somebody to cause me to let down my guard, that I was letting my paranoia get the better of me. As dangerous as high school life was, the chances of a bomb being planted in my locker were slim to none; and slim just left the building.

As I squatted down next to my locker, I unzipped the outside pouch of my laptop case and withdrew a black Sharpie permanent marker. I then marked the upper right corner of the locker until there was a triangle about half a square inch in size. It was against school policy to deface the lockers, but hopefully it would go unnoticed.

"You think that should help you?" I asked Elroy.

Elroy nodded and said, "Yeah, thanks, Chad. I should have thought about that. It gets so frustrating; I focus so much on the combination, that I forget to check which locker I'm at."

As I dialed in my combination, I reassured him that it was not a problem. I then stowed my backpack and laptop case in the locker before walking Traci to hers. Traci strutted as proud as a peacock, showing off her (I had already given up any claim of ownership) jacket. After securing her stuff in her locker, we ended up making a few circuits around the school. It was during the second time that we were passing by my locker that we ran into the Johnson twins.

"Hey, guys," Chuck said as we got within earshot. Fran smiled at Traci and me as she began rummaging through her backpack. We had pulled up next to the two of them when Fran pulled out an envelope and handed it to Traci.

Traci seemed surprised and grew even more curious when Chuck retrieved a similar envelope and presented it to me. After making sure it was okay to open them, we discovered they were birthday invitations. Chuck had informally invited me three or four weeks prior, but now it was official. It was one of the few occasions that my girlfriend seemed to be at a loss for words, but she quickly recovered and thanked the blonde Amazon.

Fran said, "Remember, the invitations are for you plus one, so feel free to bring a friend."

"Yeah," supplied Chuck with a grin on his face. "The more people, the more presents."

Fran rolled her eyes and quickly added, "You don't have to bring gifts."

Chuck let out a theatrical gasp and took a step back, as if Fran's words had stung him. "Ignore my sister. I'll be standing at the door, and I won't let anybody in unless they have a present -- at least, a present for me. Fran might not care about material possessions, but I do."

Traci and I laughed at Chuck's antics, while Fran just shook her head. Since Traci wanted to get at least one more lap around the school, we said goodbye to the twins and continued our trek.

The cold air mass also brought some rain clouds, and it rained off and on for the next few days. By Friday, it had started to clear up, and by Saturday, it was very sunny; the recent showers clearing the atmosphere made the sun appear all the brighter. With the end of the semester being the following week, we had agreed to make Saturday's lunch gathering into a study session. I was rather confident that I would do well on my tests, one of the advantages of having a photographic memory. One of the disadvantages it brought raised its ugly head about an hour before the girls started to arrive.

Rose and I were out in the front yard, doing some lawn maintenance. Since I had been insistent that a manual push reel mower be used instead of an electric- or gas-powered one, I felt it was only fair that I be the one to operate it. Of course, Rose disagreed with my logic, but in the end, I was able to convince her that I needed the exercise more than she did. Our work was interrupted when we saw a new Cadillac pull into the Caspars' old driveway, followed by a large moving truck that parked on the street in front of their old home.