Chapter 13

I walked to school with my sister the next morning.

"You seem extra happy," Sara commented.

"I am," I replied.

I still had a rush from yesterday. I turned a wrong into a right and the end result was better than I imagined. Not only was Mike gone but Lisa had his job now. She was the shift manager. So cool!

"So what did you do?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. Did you go spy on a girl?"

"No. I haven't done anything like that for a while."

"So what did you do?"

I shook my head. I wasn't going to tell her.

"You've been up to something the last few days."

"It's all done. I'll be home today."

"And you're not going to tell me?"

"No." I smiled happily. "You're just going to have to deal with it."

"I still haven't gotten used to what you can do."

She couldn't? She should try being me? I don't know if it was possible to truly get used to it.

Today felt very normal. I was comfortable with normal. During lunch I hung out with my fellow nerd friends Noah, Riley, Mallory, Tina, and others. I could be content once again associating with my old friends because inside I felt a special glow. Even if I was looked down upon and scorned by others because I was considered "uncool", I knew better.

I subtly looked at Mallory. I outright rejected her when Sara suggested I settle for her instead of pursuing Brianna. Now that Brianna was out of the picture, I noticed that if Mallory changed the style of her brown hair, used a little make-up to cover the small amount of acne she had on her face, and dressed a little sharper than her typical sweatshirt that she might look pretty. Not Brianna pretty but pretty enough to draw attention from guys.

It was a normal day yet it was a really good day.

I found an open bag of chips in a kitchen cabinet. I poured some onto a paper towel, grabbed a soda from the fridge, and relaxed on the couch. I turned on the TV. It was nice to have nowhere to go and nothing to do. I had no compulsion to film girls or find out what Brianna was doing. I was the good student again.

Sara was upstairs in her bedroom with Andy. They had sex all the time. I still wanted to experience it but right now I felt like I needed to just take it easy. There was no harm to returning to masturbation and whatever fun stuff I could find on the internet.

The doorbell rang about a half hour after I got home.

"Brianna," I said in surprise when I opened the door. Shock was more like it.

"Hi, Sam," she said.

"What ... are you here to see Sara?"

"Sara?"

"My sister."

"Sara is your sister?"

"Yes."

"Oh! That explains..." She stopped and chuckled. "Can I come in?"

"Sure."

I stepped aside and she entered.

"Can we sit somewhere?" she asked.

I escorted her into the den. I moved my food so she had room to sit and turned off the TV.

"So how did you do it?" she asked.

"Did what?"

"My mom. You helped her."

Oh, right. Duh! So that was why she was here.

"Yes."

"How?"

"Does it matter?"

"Why?"

"Did you see the note?"

"Yes but..."

"I did it because your mom needed help."

"I ... I don't understand."

"I did it just to do it."

"No," she contradicted. "You did it because you like me."

I shrugged and said, "Yes but I know you don't like me."

"How do you know that?"

"You told me."

She put her head down and looked back up. "Sam, would you like to go out sometime?"

"You don't have to have pity on me." I wasn't going to be her little pet that got a pat on the head for doing something good.

"I'm not. I want to know more about you before I decide how much I like you."

I looked at Brianna. I couldn't help but get my hopes up no matter how much I tried to squelch them.

I heard the front door close which meant Andy just left.

"I'm not smart like you," she added, "so if I'm not good enough for you I understand."

I smiled which caused Brianna to smile. The idea that Brianna wasn't good enough hadn't crossed my mind but now that she mentioned it, a stupid girl would not be that fun to talk with but I didn't think of Brianna as stupid. Of course, talking was not my original thought about Brianna. Could it be possible I wouldn't like Brianna? It seemed preposterous earlier but now it seemed conceivable though unlikely.

"I'd like to go out with you," I said.

"Oh, good!" She sounded genuinely excited. "Would you like to come over for dinner tomorrow?"

"Doesn't your mom work?" I asked.

She paused a second before she said, "It would just be you and me. We could talk."

"Oh, sure," I said comprehending. "I'd like that."

"Good. It's a date! See you then!"

Wow! I had a date! My first date ever! It was with Brianna, a cheerleader!

She stood so I did too.

"See you tomorrow. Come eat lunch with me."

"I will." That would be so great!

"Bye." Brianna gave me a quick kiss on the lips.

I looked at her in amazement. She willingly kissed me. On the lips even!

We looked at each other silently for a few moments.

"Oh, hi," said my sister coming into the den. She looked at Brianna and seemed as shocked as I was earlier to see Brianna here.

"You must be Sara," Brianna said.

"Yes," Sara answered slowly.

"I thought my secret admirer had two secret girlfriends but it turned out he was just being nice to his sister."

"Uh ... yes." Sara looked at me.

I shrugged. I didn't understand it. I didn't expect Brianna to show up.

Brianna said to me, "I'm glad you finally revealed yourself."

"Uh ... yeah," I said.

"See you tomorrow," Brianna said. She turned to Sara. "Nice to meet you."

"Yeah, same," Sara said.

I escorted Brianna to the front door.

"Tomorrow," she repeated.

"Okay," I said.

I returned to Sara in the den.

She said, "I thought you said she told you 'no'."

"She did."

"Then what happened."

"I helped her mother."

"How?"

I told her about Lisa and her boss Mike and the note I left Brianna.

"So she's just thanking you?" Sara asked.

"I don't know. I don't care."

"That was really nice of you. It's a lot better than secretly videoing girls and giving copies to everyone at school."

I nodded.

"You could do all types of good things," she said.

"I just want to be normal."

"You can't be. You know that. With great power comes..."

I cut Sara off. "That's just a movie!"

"Are you saying you would never help anyone else again? What if I was in trouble and needed your help?"

"I want to be as normal as possible."

"If you were your normal self, you wouldn't be going out with Brianna tomorrow."

Sara had a point I reluctantly admitted to myself.

"I can only do something if I hear about it," I said. "I can't be everywhere."

"Yeah, that's true. You couldn't help everybody anyway."

"Right."

"So what are you doing tomorrow with Brianna?"

"She's making dinner."

"So over at her place. That's nice."

I ran across Brianna between first and second period classes.

"Sit with me during lunch," she said.

"Okay," I said nervously.

"It will be alright."

Brianna seemed to know I would be hesitant. I would have eaten with my friends instead of going over to Brianna and friends.

At lunch, there was a space between Kendall and Brianna at the table. The girls usually sat right next to each other. Alex was on Brianna's left side and Alyssa next to her. A boy sat next to Kendall.

"Sam!" Brianna said brightly upon seeing me. "I have a spot for you."

My face felt warm. I would eat lunch sitting right next to Brianna. People would see me in close proximity to her. Sara was correct yesterday. My life was no longer normal.

I sat down and took out my lunch.

Kendall gave me a look and so did Alyssa. I did my best to ignore it.

I didn't say anything and simply listened to the conversation. It was challenging to eat lunch because Brianna gripped my left hand in her right hand keeping it under the table so I awkwardly ate lunch one handed plus my mind basked in the sensations of her warm hand.

When the bell rang, Brianna gripped my hand tighter. I looked at her worriedly. I needed to get to class.

The table emptied except for us and Alex. Brianna finally let go of my hand.

Alex said, "So you're Brianna's secret admirer?"

I nodded feeling a little fearful. I expected Brianna to keep it secret since I was a nerd boy.

"Hi," I stammered.

"You're not who I expected," Alex said.

I shrugged and thought about the phrase, "NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!" I got weird thoughts sometimes.

"No," Brianna said, "but you don't really know a guy until you get to know him."

I looked at Brianna. That made no sense whatsoever.

"Yes, that's true," Alex agreed.

True? It made no sense.

Alex asked, "So where are you taking Brianna tonight?"

I waited for Brianna to answer but she didn't so I said, "She's making dinner at her house."