Chapter 4: Lot's of Questions

Well, sleeping was out of the question. So I got up and sat at my desk and started making notes. Was this the first time? No, definitely not. There was the episode with the fire that I wanted to ask Mr. Shelby about. That was the one that stood out the most. Were there others? As soon as I asked myself, I flashed back to the damsel in distress and having tea with the world's sweetest dragon. It was like a cascade from there. I had been in and out of Allison's dreams for years. Why Allison? Proximity? If so, then why not my mom and dad? Okay, simple really, I wasn't allowed in their room if the door was closed. And it was pretty obvious why when I thought back to the fire and what Mom wasn't wearing when I had burst in and gotten them up. Oh, I guess I had seen Mom's breasts before. I mean that lacy thing she had been almost wearing certainly didn't hide anything. But they still hadn't looked anything like Shannon's so the theory still held. She had grabbed her robe on the way out and then changed in the garage when she went back for Dad's truck. Anything else? What about Allison's nightmare when I was at Mark's 'camping'? An isolated event, but still it would explain a lot. After all, I'd had the same dream about waking her up that she had. This was too weird. How was I going to figure all of this stuff out? I certainly didn't want to tell Mr. Shelby that I had ravished my best friend's sister. Actually I guess it was the other way around but still. So not bringing that one up.

I must have dozed off because suddenly my neck was stiff and when I looked at the clock it was 5:40. Oh well, I was getting up in another twenty minutes anyway. I pulled on shorts, a shirt and my running shoes and headed off to the garage for my morning wake up routine. I glanced in Allison's room as I went passed, but she was still asleep. I blew her a kiss and then ducked into the kitchen for a bottle of water and to start coffee for Mom and Dad. A quick round of stretching followed by fifty jumping jacks got the blood pumping. I hit the garage door opener and headed out. I had been running in the mornings since sixth grade and had worked up a few different routes around the neighborhood to vary the scenery and the distance. I decide since I was up early I would take the Saturday run even though it was only Wednesday. You know, school starts after Labor Day; Monday was a Holiday, Tuesday was registration and a quickie in the garage with your best friend's sister. I had to laugh at myself for that one. <<Pretty good for first thing in the morning just don't EVER say it out loud>> twenty-five minutes later I had covered three and a half miles and was just coming back into the garage when the inside door opened. It was my dad coming out for his run. We had tried running together for a while but our paces aren't compatible so while we generally start together we rarely go the same route.

"Good morning, James, up early?"

"Yeah" I said between gasping for air and sipping from my water bottle. "I woke up about twenty minutes early so I decide to start early rather than risk waking up the whole house."

"Ahh" he said, "genius runs in the family. You can thank me in your next life. Well, see you in a few minutes. Don't use all the hot water. And don't wake up your sister. She doesn't have school until next week."

I finished my water on the way to the bathroom, stripped off my soggy clothes and hit the shower. I was out and drying my hair when there was a knock on the door. I thought it was my dad so I just opened the door. Oops! There I was, wearing nothing but a smile and holding a blow dryer to my head in front of my thirteen-year-old sister Allison. At least she had the good grace not to point and laugh as I tried to slam the door. I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around myself and tried to look as natural and nonchalant as possible.

You could see she was trying really hard not to say something. What finally came out around the smile was, "Good morning, Jimmy. I'm sorry to interrupt but I really have to go. Do you mind?"

I just calmly walked out and let her go in. Just about that time my mother came down the hall.

"Good morning, James. Do I want to ask what just happened?" The look on my face must have said it all. "No, probably not. Breakfast in twenty minutes! Try to come up with something appropriate to wear, your sister may decide to join you."

I stuck my tongue out as she went by.

The day was a bit of a blur. English, History, snack break (now there's a concept that I could get behind) Algebra, PE, Lunch, Spanish, and then at last, Psychology. Social Studies was the last class but Pysch was what I was waiting for. It was all the way across campus from my Spanish class so I was one of the last to arrive. I walked straight up to Mr. Shelby who was sitting on the edge of his desk waiting for everyone to arrive.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Shelby." I said, sticking out my hand.

"Ah, good afternoon, Mr. Matthews," he replied, shaking my hand.

He must have been waiting for it. From somewhere in the back you heard, "Suck up."

"Ah-ha!" He whirled on the class. "Take a seat at my desk for a second, Mr. Matthews, I'm going to use you for a stage prop for a second. Now then, who said that? Come now be bold. Don't make me guess; you'll regret it. No volunteers? Okay, here's the deal. If I guess correctly who it was, you, and that's the whole class, except Mr. Matthews, who is an innocent bystander in this, get extra homework. If I'm wrong, you get no homework today and tomorrow's class will be at the snack bar over milkshakes, my treat. Do we have a deal?"

There was a resounding chorus of "Right On!" "Cool" "Deal!" "Milkshakes tomorrow!"

"Okay then, here we go. Let's see; you there, second row from the left, all the way back, what is your name?"

His eyes got big and he sat up a little straighter. "Steve McGuiness."

"Mr. McGuiness, what makes you think that Mr. Matthews was 'sucking up' to me when he came in and introduced himself to me?"

"What? It wasn't me! Really it wasn't"

"Are you sure about that, Mr. McGuiness? Would you like to go double or nothing on tonight's homework, for the whole class?" There were a couple of what I was sure were growls and then someone said, "Busted!" McGuiness just smiled and shook his head.

"Okay, it was me, but I didn't mean anything by it."

"No offense taken, Mr. McGuiness. Would you like to know how I knew it was you? Out of all these fine young citizens why you were singled out as the culprit? What do you think? Racial profiling perhaps?"

Everyone laughed at that one. There were four black students, one Asian and two Hispanics. McGuiness was one of the other twenty-three white students.

"Actually it was quite simple to tell who it was. I knew the general area that the voice came from and the voice was male. If you look closely, Mr. McGuiness, the students immediately surrounding you are all members of that elite group of superior homosapiens known as 'Females.' Besides, when I was shaking Mr. Matthews hand I was looking at that mirror up there in the corner which you no doubt failed to observe, and I saw your lips move and you then dropped your head. A characteristic of someone trying hard to not get caught being a smart-ass on the first day of school." Again everyone laughed. "Welcome everyone to Beginning Psychology. Who can tell me how many of the topics we have just covered are related to psychology? Quickly; row one, number three, state your name and give your answer."