Chapter 51: Valentine's Day

There aren't too many Valentine's gifts that work for three people. All the little lockets, hearts and "couples" jewelry were just that, intended for couples. I finally settled on two necklaces. They were the type that had two hearts intertwined, designed for you to break apart and each keep half. The problem was when to give them to the girls? Allison was no problem, and I could have just had Allison give one to Shannon, but that didn't seem right. The problem resolved itself when my mom suggested that the adults go out for a romantic evening of dining and dancing. Mark was still seeing Theresa from his history class; over two months later they were still together, I was impressed. Mark had asked her out for the evening. It's a good thing she drives. Since this left Shannon at home alone, they naturally dropped her at our house.

Allison was up to something. As soon as she arrived, Shannon and I were banished to my room for two hours before dinner. We played games, did homework, and took turns wondering what Allison was up to. At 6:00 there was a knock on the door, but when I opened it no one was there. Outside the door was an invitation to dinner. Shirt and tie were required. A separate note told Shannon that a dress was waiting for her in Allison's closet. Shannon kissed me and went down the hall to change. I went to my closet in search of a decent shirt, and then to my parents room to borrow a tie from my dad's closet. Allison was waiting when I came back out. She straightened my tie and kissed me on the cheek. I offered her my arm and we headed down the hall. We picked Shannon up and continued on to the dining room. Two candles lit the table and Allison had gotten permission to use my mother's china. Apparently Allison had saved up her money and then had Mom pickup dinner from one of our better local restaurants on the way home from work. She served the two of us and said she had a plate for herself as well, but that she was eating in the kitchen, a nice dinner together was her gift to us.

We even got wine. That surprised me but when I started to say something she raised her hand and said, "Don't ask, don't tell."

Dinner was wonderful, and so was Allison, of course we thought she was pretty wonderful all the time. When we were finished she bustled us into the living room and within just a few minutes she had finished cleaning up and joined us. Truthfully it was little overwhelming.

"Allison, this was amazing. How did you manage to do all this?" Shannon asked.

"I'm glad you liked it. Actually I had help. I mentioned to Mom that I wanted to do something nice for you both. I thought it would be nice to take you out to dinner but then one of them would have had to drive. Mom suggested doing it here. We just can't say anything to anyone else about it. Dad, Tom, and Karen don't know."

"You mean your mom knows about..."

"No," I interrupted. "In fact she is very careful to not know anything that is going on between us, you and me that is. She really doesn't know about you and Allison." I turned back to Allison, "This really was very nice, sweetie. Thank you." I kissed her on the cheek and then got down on one knee in front of her. "I have something for you, close your eyes." Shannon looked a little nervous but I quickly added, "You too."

Allison closed her eyes and asked, "Jimmy, what are you doing?"

"Shhh." I reached in my pocket and pulled one of the necklaces. I held it out in my hand between them and said, "Okay, open your eyes."

It was a very nice piece and they oohhd and aahhd appropriately. I broke it in half, took the half that said "Love", and reached to put it around Allison's neck. She leaned forward and I clasped it around her neck, carefully moving her silky hair so that it wouldn't get tangled.

Shannon reached for the other half, which said "True", and asked, "Is this one for me?"

There was no way to even joke about it without risking hurting her feelings so I just said, "No, silly. That's my half." I reached back in my pocket and said, "This one is for you," and I pulled a second, identical necklace out. I heard Allison's breath catch as I broke it in half and this time took the "True" half and extended it towards Shannon. She leaned forward and again I carefully secured the chain.

Now each of the girls had one half of a matching set of necklaces. Allison choked a little as she said, "I get it, no matter who we are with, the necklace is complete."

Shannon finished the thought, "And if we are all together then both are complete. Jimmy, it's beautiful." She threw her arms around my neck and hugged me close. Allison was right behind her and turned it into a group hug.

"Yes, and I get both the other halves, because I need both of you to be complete," I gave them each a squeeze and kissed their cheeks as I said it.

Shannon pulled away, "I feel bad. I didn't get you guys anything."

I kissed her hand, looked into her eyes and said, "I don't need a gift from you, Shannon. Having you in my life is all the gift I could ever want."

Tears were now leaking down Allison's cheek, but she did manage to choke out, "Me too." Then she hugged us both again.

The natural temptation to run back to my room and start tearing each other's clothes off was very hard to resist. But it was still a school night and we had no idea how long the 'rents would be out. We changed back to regular clothes and sat on the couch together to watch a movie. Somewhere in the middle of "Somewhere in Time," we all dozed off.

I woke to the sound of the front door opening. The girls were still asleep. Allison's head on my shoulder and Shannon's in my lap. Any other time it would have at least been worthy of a joke, but not tonight. I helped Shannon out to the car and then went back for Allison. Minutes later we were snuggled together fast asleep. I fell asleep thinking how much nicer it would have been if Shannon had been able to stay.

It's a good thing the evening had gone well, because the night went down hill from there. A mixed blessing if there ever was one. On the bad side, I guess I should have known things were going too well. On the good side, that was the night we got our first real break.

Darkness; cold and darkness were everywhere. A flash like lightening split the blackness, an instant of light, which left an impression burned on the retina. But there was no thunder. I searched for meaning in the patterns of color it briefly revealed. Were those people? A street? From a new direction the flash again tore away the veil of night. The colors were different this time. Not so bright, motion and glimpses of blue and white. Before I could define them it came again. This time in the same spot, but lightening didn't strike the same spot twice, did it? The colors were the same but somehow something was different. I was in a dream, I had to be. My last memory was crawling into bed and the warm feel of my sister's body pressed against mine; her warm breath on my neck, one hand draped across my chest, my own arm protectively around her shoulder. But where was I now? Another flash, a pattern of colors that I felt I should know. This was not my room and Allison was not here with me. It was a dream. But where was I?

It didn't matter, it was a dream and dreams are my own special world. With a thought the cold no longer mattered. Though I felt no floor, I arranged myself tailor-fashion and assumed a relaxed, meditative pose. Closing my eyes I opened other senses, dreams are great for this sort of thing, and "saw" in 360. I waited. Shortly there was another flash and I froze the lightning in mid-strike. It was not truly lightning. More like a tear in the fabric of the darkness. I held the tear open and looked through. Daylight warmed a baseball diamond. I was in the stands at a softball game. Before I could find more detail the tear closed. I felt the edges being pushed together. I had not stopped the scene, merely slowed it down. I waited again. Another tear, I was at a small outdoor table, across the street was another, similar restaurant. A number of people were dining but the two girls drew my attention. The dark haired one was not important, but the blonde... The tear was sealed again. I was driving a car, following someone but before I could figure out which car I was supposed to be watching it was gone. Snatches of visions came and went; none lasted long enough to do more than tease my awareness. On and on it went and my frustration mounted. Not all the scenes were light. Some are nearly as dark as the blackness I sat in. I held one of the dark scenes tightly, forcing the darkness back as I struggled for some meaning.

Movement. It was a window, and beyond the glass someone was stirring. A girl rose and moved to a door across the room. White panties contrasted to her darker skin. A light flared and in the flash I glimpsed her tan breasts before she closed the door. Time jumped, and the door opened again. She reached for the light and I knew; suddenly I knew where I was. Knew without a doubt, because after she turned out the light, Maria Pena climbed back into bed, hugged an over-sized stuffed bunny and drifted back to sleep.

I jerked upright, no longer sitting in the cloying darkness. It was lighter and I realized I was back in my room. Allison stirred beside me; the sudden movement dislodged her arm and woke her.

"What's the matter?" she asked in a sleepy tone.

I glanced at the clock and it was almost 3:30. Dreamtime is subjective but I'd been asleep for over five hours. I lay back down and Allison arranged herself once more against me. The warmth of her flesh brought a comforting sense of peace and closeness. I lay awake in the twilight of my bedroom and thought about the images I had seen. Before I could make any sense of them sleep claimed me once more.

The alarm sounded and I once more jerked awake. I almost never slept all the way to the alarm. Allison groaned as I hit the button and the sound cut off. I rose and tucked the covers around her. She snuggled into my recently vacated warm spot and, eyes still closed, reached with her mouth for the kiss she knew was coming. I kissed her lightly and stroked her hair before picking up my running clothes and heading off to the bathroom. Five miles later I still hadn't come to any conclusions. I needed to talk to someone. But what could I tell them? It was just the same thing over again, wasn't it? What was different? The images were the same as before, they just weren't bundled together in convenient little film strips. I wasn't in the theater reliving... suddenly, it came to me; they weren't the same. I wasn't in the theater, some of the scenes were new... , and I had not felt them. There were no emotions accompanying the flashes. The scene at the window had not been the same as the scene from the theater. In that scene no one had moved. It had just been him looking through, presumably, Maria's bedroom window. There had been no mostly naked girl standing framed in a lighted doorway, and tonight, the girls had all still been alive. No images of torture or violence of any kind. These were all new images, similar to the first set, but not the same. Allison lay quietly watching as I got dressed. Something in the look must have caught her eye.

"What's wrong?" she asked, one hand playing with the new chain around her neck.

I moved over and sat on the edge of the bed staring down at her. "I'm not sure. I had a dream but I'm not sure what it means."

"I had a dream too," she said with a naughty smile. "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

"Mine had images of dead girls." That changed everything. Suddenly she sat up in bed, the sheet fell down revealing the most beautiful... I broke the momentary trance, forcing my eyes away and back to her face, which had gone white.

"Was it the same as before? Is there another girl?"

"No, this was different. I wasn't in the theater, and no one died." I began to describe what I had seen.

I was about half way through when a knock came on the door and a voice said, "You two better get moving."

Allison glanced at the clock and suddenly she was a blur of motion, "Oh my god, I've got to get in the shower or I'm going to miss the bus." She kissed my cheek and bolted for the door, calling back, "Talk to Bob, let me know what he says."

I had already come to the conclusion that I needed to talk to Bob. From there I would decide if I needed to bother Rebecca. I grabbed up my scattered homework and stuffed it and my books all into my backpack, and headed down the hall to get some breakfast. Mom was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and a plate of toast.

"Talk to Bob about what?" she asked.

I poured myself a glass of orange juice and sat down. "I had a dream," I said, as I reached for a piece of toast, "not sure what to think about it."

She paled. "Not another one."

"No, nobody died, if that's what you mean. Just random images, mostly, it took me a long time to realize what I was seeing. Anyway, I was telling Allison about it when you knocked. Good thing, too, or we'd both be late. Thanks."

"You're welcome, dear. So this isn't anything I need to worry about? You're not going to try and run the marathon before school again?"

I chuckled. "No, nothing like that. I'd come to you and Dad before that happened."

"More likely you'd go to your sister," she answered. "How was dinner?"

"It was great. We all had a wonderful time, thanks, how was yours?"

"Don't thank me, all I did was make a couple phone calls and spend your sister's money, it was her idea. I'm glad you enjoyed it though. Ours was good too. I don't think we'll be doing that in the middle of the week again soon though. I feel like I need to go back to bed."

I glanced at the clock; time to go. I stood up and kissed her on the cheek. "Gotta run; I'll see you tonight."

I caught up with Bob, Susan, and Melinda at break. I thought Bob looked particularly chipper this morning and I had a suspicion as to the reason but I decided to just leave it alone. Susan sat quietly sipping a cup of coffee. She didn't look like her usual self. Her eyes had an almost haunted look about them. Melinda had a slightly embarrassed look on her face. Probably had something to do with the hickey on the side of her neck. That I just couldn't pass up.

"New curling iron?" I asked.

Susan spit coffee across the table, Bob roared with laughter, and while Mel's look probably wouldn't have killed me, I'm pretty sure it had serious bodily injury in there somewhere. She couldn't keep it up.

"Asshole," she said, shoving my arm hard enough to almost knock me off the bench. But she was laughing with the rest of us.

"Thank you, Jimmy," Susan said as she wiped coffee off of her chin and began toweling up the mess on the table with napkins, "I needed that."

"Me too," said Bob. "I hadn't figured out a way to bring it up without getting killed. Do anything special for Valentine's day?"

"Just dinner at home with Allison and Shannon, Mark had a date and the parents all went out, so it was just the three of us. How about you? Did you and Rebecca do anything special?"

I don't think I'd ever seen Bob blush before. Melinda was all over him.

"So that's why you look so smug and happy this morning; you sly old fox you," she said.

Susan just asked, "Who's Rebecca?" She poked her finger hard in his arm. "And how come Jimmy knows about her and we don't?"

Oops! I hadn't realized that I was the only one who knew.

Bob threw me a look. "Thanks a lot, pal. What ever happened to confidentiality?"

"Hey, who's the patient here? You never said anything about me not talking about you, just the other way around. I don't blame you for keeping her a secret though. I don't think she's Susan's type, but a woman like Rebecca, coach here might be tempted." I glanced meaningfully at Mel's neck again. "Nah, probably not."

"You miserable little..." She reached a hand to tickle me but I dodged away and slid a little further over. "I am going to rip your arms off, Matthews, right after I kill Lynn. I haven't been this embarrassed since I was your age. I've been getting 'point and giggle' from half the girls in my morning classes. Some of the others were even worse. I just can't wait for basketball practice," she said in a voice dripping with sarcasm and rolling her eyes. Then she stood up and said, "Almost time for the bell, maybe I can put a little cover-up on and tone it down a bit."

"No, don't hide it, it's a battle scar, wear it proudly," Bob said, he stood suddenly and held out his empty cup, "to Melinda Jenkins, who fought bravely in the face of overwhelming odds."

"There, you see," I said, "we're all proud of you, coach. At least I am, and I'm sure you gave it your best and went down fighting."

Susan gasped, blushed and slapped her hand over her mouth. Bob burst out laughing again and Melinda turned beet red before moving in to attack my ribs, tickling me hard.

"All right, that does it! I've had about all I'm going to take from you, Matthews."

Being trapped with my feet under the stone table I was at a serious disadvantage. I struggled but she's a grown woman in really good shape and my ribs were in serious trouble. Fortunately I was rescued by my guardian angel.

"Is there a problem here, coach?" Mr. Dennis's voice asked.

"No, Steve, no problem. Just minor disciplinary action with our resident wise ass here," she replied.

"Good. As long as you have the situation in hand I'll get back to work," he said. "When you're done though, you may want to see the nurse about your neck." That did it. She released me and rounded on him, blushing furiously again. Bob and Susan were in hysterics once more.

You could see in her face that she wanted to explode, but the whole thing was just too much. She stood frozen for a second, finger poised like a mother scolding her child. Her face looked like she was about to do one of those werewolf transformations you see in the movies. Muscles jumped and twitched as she fought not to smile. It was a valiant effort, but a vain effort none the less. Eventually the smile won out and then she could no longer contain the giggles. "I am so going to kill her when I get home. See you guys at lunch."