Chapter 3

"Apparently you don't know the constitution either, Mr. Miles." Paul was pissed.

"Don't talk to me like that young man."

"Then don't trample my constitutional rights."

"What rights?"

"Just as I thought! Bill of Rights. Amendment IV. Illegal searches. Ring a bell?" Condescending? Dr. Paul Sheppard could teach Dillard lessons. "I haven't given you permission to look in my briefcase." Unlike today, 1950's students were not subject to searches. Their lockers were but not objects in their possession."

To his credit, Mr. Miles closed Paul's briefcase and handed it back to him.

Paul closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Mr. Miles. I shouldn't have been rude."

"Paul. You have never been in any trouble at school. What happened?"

"I don't know sir. I am sorry." How was Paul supposed to explain that he was just an asshole.

"You can't treat teachers that way. You can't treat me that way. You know better. What is your mother going to say? You've never given me any trouble before. I don't understand why you acted like this. You're old enough to keep your temper in control. You will write a formal apology to Miss Dillard. You're suspended for 3 days. Your suspension starts right now."

His mother grounded him for two weeks.

He met Ann for lunch on Friday and walked with her to class.

"I know that you don't like her Paul. No one does. But you treat her with respect."

"I know. I just lost my temper."

"You didn't lose it. She gave you an excuse to lose it and you took that excuse. We each have control over our tempers. You've been thinking about how it would feel to say something like that to her, haven't you?"

"Yeah."

"You're not better than other people, you know."

"I don't think I am."

"Yes you do. You think because you're a genius you should be treated differently. If you keep thinking that way, you'll start treating everyone the same as you treat Miss Dillard."

"What about the way she treats me? Am I just supposed to take it?"

"Yes. She's the teacher; you're the student. Act like a student should instead of a know-it-all and maybe she'll act like a teacher should. Now what am I supposed to do for two weekends."

So much for sympathy.

On his first day of freedom he drove his bike over to her house. He "tutored" her in trigonometry and physics under the watchful eye of Mr. and Mrs. Griffin. On Friday they double dated with Rachel and Steve Johns.

Haute cuisine at the Dog and Suds and then a drive to the ocean. Ann moved over to Paul's side of the seat and they kissed. Soon there were moans from the back seat. Ann peeked over the seat and looked away. She was clearly embarrassed. Paul opened the door without looking into the back seat, took Ann's hand, and pulled her from the car. As they started to walk down to the beach Paul began to moan.

"Stop that," Ann hissed. She then laughed and ran down through the loose sand to the hard pack below the high tide line. She took off her shoes and socks and shook out the sand. Paul did the same.

"How long before it's safe to go back?"

"I'd guess thirty minutes. Please don't think badly of Rachel. They've been going steady for a year."

"I don't. You don't think badly of Steve, do you?"

"You are so odd."

"We've covered that more than once. Haven't we?" he asked.

She turned and hugged him. "Yes I guess we have."

Paul pushed her back a little, leaned forward and kissed her.

"You didn't ask that time," Ann said.

"I don't have to ask to kiss you when we're alone. You're my girl friend."

She pulled him down and kissed him. "I don't either, do I?"

Paul stroked her cheek and let his hand slide down her throat to the top of her chest. He could feel the where her chest began to swell. He kissed her lips again and then kissed down her throat to her shoulder. She took his hand and moved it to her breast.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Will you stop when I ask you to?"

"Of course."

She pulled his head down and kissed him again.

Paul undid the button of her shirt and slipped his hand in. Ann let out a small moan. Neither of them could help it. They both started laughing. Ann pulled Paul's hand out. "I'm sorry."

"It killed the moment, didn't it?" He smiled and hugged her.

"I'm sorry," Ann whispered.

"You don't have to be sorry. It's not why I took you to the movies. It was a nice bonus," he laughed, "but when you say stop, we'll stop. It doesn't upset me. Come on, let's walk down the beach, and find a Portuguese Man-of-War for you to step on."

"Paul! You're bad."

"Is that worse than odd"

"I don't know yet, but I think so."

Paul dropped off Ann last. The kiss was chaste because Mr. Griffin had a telescope set up in the front yard. Paul didn't stay long.

Ann was disappointed that Paul didn't stay and talk to her mother and father. She wanted them to get to know him. Boys could be so dense. He had been so thoughtful at the beach. Now she knew what "Made my knees weak" meant. He had stopped as soon as she had wanted to and even joked about it. Not many boys would have understood.

She took her bath and went to bed. She thought about how his hands felt on her body.

This time no one heard her.

They didn't ride horses the next day; Ann had to go to her Grandmother's house. That night at 8:00, Paul drove his bike up to the Dog and Subs. He plopped down at a table with Rachel, Steve, and Steve's sister Ellen near the jukebox. It was raining lightly and Paul's clothes were wet. Ellen seemed to be in a slightly better mood but it was small wonder that Ellen's boyfriend Dan was not around.

Paul imagined he himself had been something like Ellen the first time around. Not only was she unhappy, she dragged the people around her down with her. He stayed to learn more about Rachel. If she was Ann's best friend, he should know her. The cynical part of his brain told him to get on her good side. He hoped that wasn't all he was doing.

After a while he could stand no more, Ellen drove him away. He excused himself before joining two couples at another table. All four were juniors but he didn't remember much about them. They invited him to a party down near Ormond Beach but he passed. There was a chance Ann would get back before too late. If she did, she'd come to the Dog and Suds. He fought the urge to tell them to drive carefully. They would drive home drunk in one of the death traps that were the 1950's cars. Oh what the hell. "Drive carefully."

Rather than go back to Rachel's table, Paul sat down across from Joni Bell and a boy he didn't know. The boy was Kevin Overby. He lived in Deland. Paul and Joni had Civics together and shared their dislike of Miss Dillard. Kevin had no teachers like Miss Dillard but his Civics teacher drank all day long. She kept a bottle of booze in her desk and drank during class. Kevin spent most of his time in Civics making paper airplanes and throwing them from the second floor classroom. Paul and Kevin had a friendly argument about which teacher was the worse teacher.

Susan sat down next to Paul while he argued with Kevin. She didn't just look like Marilyn Monroe, she moved like her and like her she flirted with everyone. It didn't matter how dorky you were, when you were talking to Susan, you thought you had a chance. It was disconcerting.

"Hi Paul. Hi Joni. Who's your friend?"

"Kevin. Kevin this is Susan."

"Joni, I love your necklace." It wasn't what she said; it was how she said it. She didn't just flirt with boys, she flirted with girls too.

The conversation soon turned back to teachers. Which school has the oddest teacher; Deland or Palatka? When that subject ran dry? Which school has the oddest student? Paul maintained that he was the oddest. The others disagreed. Kevin did an imitation of a kid he swore went to Deland High School. It was so good that a crowd started to form around their table. If that was how kid talked, then he really was the oddest.

Susan began to lean against Paul when she would laugh. She was so use to flirting that she probably didn't even notice what she was doing it. That was what Paul told himself. She was leaning against Paul when Ann pulled into the parking lot. Dumb luck.

Paul pushed Susan away, stood up, and walked to Ann's car. She already had tears in her eyes.

"Ann, don't even think it. You're my girlfriend. We were just talking."

"You were doing more than talking." She drove off.

Paul was sitting at his desk, staring blankly at a piece of paper. He was trying to finish an English assignment but his mind kept coming back to Ann. Last time when he'd hear that someone was getting married he would always say that "Love doesn't just make one stupid. It appears to make two stupid." He had been right. More than half of marriages ended in divorce. So much for "until death do us part." The statistics didn't even include the murders and suicides.

"Paul," his mother called, "the phone call is for you?"

"Hello."

"Paul, its Rachel."

"Oh, hi Rachel"

"Well I can tell you're glad to hear from me."

"Sorry. I've got so things on my mind."

"Like what?"

"Oh come on Rachel, you know everything. You've probably talked to Ann for 3 or 4 times today."

"You should be glad I did."

"Why?"

"Because I was there; I could tell you didn't like Susan leaning against you. I think I've finally convinced Ann to forgive you. As long as you don't do anything else stupid, you may still stand a chance to make up with her."

"Forgive me for what? For talking to other people?"

"Paul, don't be a square. Think for a moment how she felt when she drove up there to see you and you had Susan all over you." Rachel was right, sometimes appearances are more important than the truth.

"Why would I want Susan? Sure, she's sexy, but so is Ann and Ann is smart, beautiful, cute, funny, and kind. Ann's the girl I want, not some bimbo like Susan. I could never love Susan like I love Ann.

"Did you just say that you love her?"

"I did, didn't I? Just my luck; I manage to fall in love with a girl who hates me.

"I'll call you back." Paul heard only dial tone.

If he wasn't so depressed he would find this hilarious. A seventeen year old girl was trying to patch-up his love life. He actually had a teenage love life. At least he had one until this afternoon. He'd find out in the next hour if he still had one. He didn't have to wait on Rachel to intervene but it was so much easier. She'd probably practiced for this her whole life.