Chapter 17: The New Year

There's something about coming back to school that first day, especially after the Christmas/New Year break that's even tougher than most. Beth was as down as I was as she dragged herself out of the house, plopped down in the car.

"Do we have to do this?" Not a good sign from someone who normally enjoys school, who thinks homework was just another challenging game. If my princess wasn't ready for today, what chance did I have?

"Yeah, unfortunately, we do, but look at the bright side—the year is half over."

"So you're saying the cup being half-full is better than completely full ... Nope, doesn't help," she sighed.

"The only bright thing about it is Thursday is auditions for The Music Man."

"And I suppose you're going to find some way to talk me into auditioning, right?" My girl doesn't do sarcastic well.

"Nope," I replied. "I know better than that, although you WOULD make a good librarian."

Beth just snorted at my reference to Marian, the show's female lead.

By this time my trusty steed had gotten us to the school parking lot. So, with sinking hearts—and no other choice—we joined the parade of the dispirited toward durance vile. If I sound as if I hate school I'm being a little unfair—I don't really mind going to school—I've got some interesting classes and some great teachers, it's just getting back in the groove that's tough.

Beth and I were walking to our home rooms and had stopped in the hall for a quick kiss before going our separate ways for the morning. Even the dull institutional green walls in the hallway brightened up when I had my lady in my arms.

"Mr. Randahl, is that appropriate?" Even without looking I recognized the semi-sneer Mr. Adams adopted when he thought he'd caught a student behaving in a way that wasn't within the confines of his definition of "proper school etiquette."

"The kiss, absolutely. The location, I guess not," I responded as I turned to face him, unconsciously shielding Beth.

"Don't get lippy, Mr. Randahl, maybe a trip to the office is in order for you."

I glanced back and gave Beth a nudge to get her out of the line of fire. Enough that one of us was in for some officious grief.

When we got to his office—institutional beige, this time, without even so much as a picture on the wall—Mr. Adams sat down in his desk chair and—without offering me a seat, of course— started in, "Mr. Randahl, you seem to be on your way to becoming a troublemaker around here. This is the second time you've been involved in a disturbance just this year."

I opened my mouth to correct him. After all, the first mix-up, the one with Jay, hadn't been my fault—well, okay I incited it, but Adams didn't know that—and he hadn't said anything to me about the incident other than to ensure I was okay. And to call a simple kiss in the hallway a "disturbance" was pushing things. True, there was a rule against overt displays of affection, but the only time it was enforced was if the couple involved were damn near humping on the floor. I guess Beth and I were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Apparently Adams was as unhappy to be back here as the rest of us.

I closed my mouth when I realized that anything I said wasn't going to help.

"You DO realize," he continued, "that displays like that aren't appropriate in a school setting, don't you?"

"Yes, sir. I..."

"Don't interrupt me. Not only were you behaving in an inappropriate manner, but your comment displays a blatant lack of respect for authority."

What was next? Accusations of espionage and terrorism?

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?"

I guess it was my turn. "Mr. Adams, I meant no disrespect and I guess my comment WAS a bit out of line. I was just trying to separate the act from the venue. One seemed appropriate, the other apparently was not."

"Are you turning into a schoolyard lawyer?"

"No, sir. I was just trying to clarify my original comment." Why did I get the feeling I was digging a big hole for myself?

"I think it's time to get your parents involved." He sounded as if the threat of parental involvement was supposed to scare me, but I knew my parents well enough to know I had nothing to fear. I hoped.

"You may go back to class, I'll call for you when your parents arrive and I've had a chance to discuss the matter with them."

My mother was waiting in the office when I walked in just before lunch. "Did you really do what Mr. Adams is accusing you of?" She sounded like he'd been painting me as a hard-core delinquent.

"Mom, I was standing in the hall and I gave Beth a quick kiss before homeroom and I guess I got a little smart when he asked if I thought it was appropriate."

"What EXACTLY did you say?"

I told her what I'd said, both in the hallway and later in Adams' office.

She looked pissed, but I couldn't tell if it was at me or Adams, "Okay, I'll talk to him again and see if we can straighten this out. I'll see you at home after school."

I got to the lunchroom just in time and after I got my tray, headed over to our usual table. "What happened, Tommy?" Beth sounded worried.

"Adams seems to be having a bad day and we were just on the spot marked X.

"He called my mom and she wants to talk to me right after school. Can you catch a ride with Cindy or someone?" I asked her.

"Sure. Are you going to catch it when you get home?"

"I don't know. Mom wasn't happy, but I don't know if it was with me or Adams."

"Do you want me to talk to him?" Beth offered.

"No! Don't do that. Right now I'm the only one in his crosshairs. No sense in dragging you into it. It'll probably blow over by tomorrow anyway."

"Well ... okay, but I still think I should talk to him."

"No, please don't. That'll just get him sniffing around for something else to nail me with."

I could tell Beth wasn't happy but was willing to go along.

When I got home, Mom was sitting at the dining room table waiting for me, "What really happened this morning? It sounded like you really lipped off to Mr. Adams."

"Well, I guess I did, a little. Like I said before, when he asked if I thought kissing Beth in the hallway was appropriate, I said that the kiss was, but doing it in the hallway probably wasn't. Why? What did he say?"

"He said that you were behaving in a totally inappropriate way, kissing and fondling a young woman in public and that you were insolent when he spoke to you."

"Well, I guess from his perspective, I was. But it didn't seem like anything big enough to earn getting dragged down to his office.

"Um, what's going to happen now?" It didn't sound like I was in a lot of trouble, but you never know.

Mom looked at me, "I promised Mr. Adams that I'd see you got the "appropriate" punishment. So here it is: Don't get caught again, okay?" I could see a little glint in her eye. According to my Grandma Joan, Mom had been a bit of a rebel growing up and I think she was happy to see a bit of the same spirit in me.

"Okay, punishment accepted. Can I go do my homework now?" She just grinned.

That was pretty much the end of the Great Randahl Rebellion. I tried to stay out of Adams' way as much as I could after that, just to be on the safe side.

"THOMAS GEORGE RANDAHL!" Oh oh, all three names is never a good sign, even when they're spoken by my special lady. Or maybe ESPECIALLY when they come from her. "You set me up again, didn't you?!"

Here we go again, Tommy's lost once more. "Beth what did I do this time?"

"You talked to Mr. Franks, didn't you!? He caught me in the hall and asked me to audition today, and just like you did last fall, you talked to him didn't you?"

"No, I didn't! Did he say I did? 'Cause I swear I didn't!"

"Well he told me with my voice it would be a shame if I didn't audition. How did he know if you didn't tell him?"

I had to think about that for a second, then it hit me, "Beth, remember the Halloween party? Where you sang a song from My Fair Lady? I'll bet the word got back to him from somebody else at the party."

"But who?" she wanted to know.

"Beth, it was a theater group party. It could have been anybody."

"So you really didn't talk to him?"

"Beth I swear I didn't. Did you ask him who suggested you?"

"No, I didn't. I just assumed you did. I'm sorry, Tommy, I should have known better. Please forgive me for thinking it was you!" Beth seemed really upset.

"My Princess, I couldn't be mad at you. And it was a good assumption. But this time I'm innocent."

Beth gave me a little grin, "Not guilty maybe, but never INNOCENT!"

"So. You gonna do it?" I was just a bit more than interested in the answer.

"Oh, I KNEW you were going to ask me that! Part of me wants to and the other part is scared to death! What do you think?"

"I think you should ask the girl in the mirror," I half-kidded her.

"Oh, shit, that bitch always gets me in trouble!"

I just chuckled, "Beth, auditioning doesn't mean you're going to get cast, you know. Why not go up there and give it a shot."

"You going up there with me?"

"As long as I don't have to sing!"

She hit me!

So after school we were in the theater listening to everybody sing and read a few lines from the script. Beth was fidgeting until it was her turn.

"Give me a kiss for luck," she said as she stood up.

I always do as I'm told.

Ever since the party I've known Beth could sing, but this time she blew even me away. She sang Wouldn't It Be Loverly again and when she finished the whole room was quiet until I heard Mr. Franks mutter, "I wonder if it's too late to change shows."

Beth came back to where I was sitting, "Did I sound okay? I was so nervous!"

"You sounded wonderful! Are you sure you don't want to be in the show?"

"Tommy, I just don't know anymore! Life was so much simpler before I accepted that ride from you!"

I just grinned at her, "Are you saying you wish you'd never met me?"

"No, just that life seems to be a LOT more complicated since that first Friday night."

I could live with that.

It was going to be a long week until the cast list was posted next Wednesday.

I walked in the front door after school, kicked off my shoes, dropped my backpack on the living room couch, and was headed for the kitchen when I saw books open on the dining room table. It looked like Kevin beat me home and was hitting his homework early.

But TWO sets of books? I was going to shout for him when I heard a noise from the family room. I walked over to the door and noticed a reflection in the window—Kevin and Gail were on the couch. He had her sweater and bra pushed up and was busy giving her a taste test. I quietly backed out of the room and walked back to the front door, opened it and slammed it shut, hollering, "I'm home! Anybody here?"

I wish I could have seen the flurry of activity as the two thirteen-year-olds scrambled off the couch and adjusted their clothes.

I walked slowly through the living room and got to the dining room just in time to see the pair of them sit down and try to look studious.

"Oh, Hi, Kevin. Hi, Gail. Busy studying, I see." Two very red-faced kids looked back at me and started stammering about how busy they were as I walked through and continued up the stairs.

Kevin came in about a half-hour later, "Um, Tommy, could we give Gail a ride home? I was gonna wait for Mom but she's gonna be late tonight and I thought you'd be late with auditions so Gail was going to call her folks but since you're here could you give her a ride so she doesn't have to call her folks?"

I hid a grin, "Sure. When do you want to go?"

"Can we go now?"

"Okay, let me grab my keys," I said as I made a mental note to talk to him about not acting guilty—nothing more incriminating than half a dozen sentences run together.

As we walked out to the car I noticed the two of them were making an effort to keep some distance between them—like a couple of strangers.

Kevin opened the door for Gail and then moved to get in the front seat. "Don't you want to ride with your girlfriend?" I prodded.

"Um, yeah," as he moved to the other door, got in, sitting as far away from Gail as he could get.

"You two having a fight?" I tried to keep a concerned look on my face when what I wanted to do was chuckle at their sham disinterest in each other.

"No, why?"

"Well, don't you want to sit a little closer to your girlfriend?" I chided. They both blushed and moved closer to each other. "You know, the mirror in this car is really weird—I can't see anything in the back seat. I should probably get that checked," hint, hint!

Kevin and Gail looked at each other and Kevin asked me, "Did you see anything when you came home, Tommy?"

"Just the two of you studying. Why? Was something else going on?" I asked innocently. I got no answer, just two very red faces.

When we got to Gail's house Kevin jumped out and ran around the car to open Gail's door and walk her up to the house. I grinned to myself. I guess he was taking a cue from the way I tried to treat Beth. My "little" brother was growing up.

After Gail went in the house Kevin climbed in the front seat and looked at me, "You did see something this afternoon, didn't you?"

I looked over at him, "Nothing worth talking to anybody about."

I got a relieved look in return, "Thanks, Tommy."

I was sitting in my room that night trying to finish a book report—what can you say about The Old Man and the Sea that hasn't been said before?—when Kevin came in and closed the door behind him. "Um, Tommy, can I, um, ask you, um, a favor?"

I'd never seen him so nervous before, "Sure, what's up?"

"Well ... I was wondering if..." He was getting more red as he went on. "Um ... well dyouhaveanycondoms?"

"Do I have any what?" Was my little brother really asking for rubbers? When did he get old enough to even know about them, let alone need any? I mean he's only ... oh, yeah, he's a teenager now, only four years younger than I am, and I remember when sex was ALL I thought about. Let's see, was that last week or the week before?

"Um ... you know! Do you have any?"

"Kevin, is this about Gail?"

"Um ... yeah. I REALLY like her, and we were talking today and she said ... well she asked me if ... well she wanted to know if I wanted to do it and if I had any protection."

"Have you thought this out. I mean with your big head, not the little one? Are you sure you're ready? And are you sure Gail is? I mean have you really talked this through, and are you both ready to take your relationship that far? Or are you both just horny?"

He thought about that for a couple of minutes, "We've talked about it, a LOT. I mean, we've done some other stuff, but I don't want to do anything to hurt her."

I know I should have told him not to do it, but I just couldn't be that much of a hypocrite, "Kevin, I'm sorry, but I don't have any. Beth and I don't have any reason to have them." I was careful not to tell him WHY we didn't need them. Since he'd seen Beth do her Lady Godiva bit at Thanksgiving, I didn't really think I was fooling him, but I wasn't going to come right out and admit anything.

"Can't you get some from the school nurse?" Kevin sounded like he was getting desperate.

"Remember what I told you about never telling anybody anything about what you and a girl are doing? Well, that means I can't do that. Not from school. If I did, what do you think everybody would assume about Beth and I? I won't do that."

Kevin looked like he was thinking about what I said. Finally he asked, "Could you get some from a drugstore? I'd pay you for them. Um, do you know how much they cost?"

"You know, I don't have any idea. Like I said, Beth and I don't need them. I tell you what, let me see what I can do. Can you both wait for a couple of days?"

He turned red again, "Yeah. I guess waiting will just make it better, right?"

When I picked Beth up the next morning I told her about my conversation with Kevin. "Are you gong to get some for him?" She asked.

"I told him I'd see what I could do. Why? Do you have an idea? To tell you the truth, I'm not sure I'm gutsy enough to just walk up to a clerk with a box of condoms in my hand. Every time I think about it I remember that old movie The Summer of '42 and I wonder if I'd have the guts that kid did. With my luck the clerk would turn out to be someone I know."

"Welll..." Beth grinned, "You're not thinking. Remember, Cindy's dad's a pharmacist and she works in the store a couple of nights a week. We'll just ask her to pick some up for Kevin."

I breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh, you're a lifesaver, you know that?"

"Just one of my many talents," she grinned.

That Saturday afternoon I walked into Kevin's room and tossed the box on his bed. "Don't use them all at one time," I grinned.

"Thanks, Tommy," he said as he stashed the box in his desk. "How much do I owe you?"

"Don't worry about it. We'll just charge these off to Planned Parenthood," I kidded him as I walked out, feeling pretty good about being able to help out young love.

Beth told me that when she asked Cindy to pick up a box, Cindy immediately started grilling her about why we needed condoms when she knew Beth was on the Pill. My devious lady strung her along for a while before telling Cindy who they were really for. "I'm not entirely sure she believed me," Beth chuckled. "I think SHE thinks three is a very interesting number."

"Well, maybe we'll have to find out," I said, trying to keep a straight face

"Don't hold your breath, Buster," she said as I got an elbow in my ribs.

The next Wednesday we were walking down the hall when Greg came up to us and started singing about Madam Librarian. Beth turned around and looked at him. "What's that all about, Greg?"

"Oh, nothing, Madam Librarian," he replied with a big grin.

It took a couple of seconds for Beth to realize what he was getting at, "What? Do you mean Mr. Franks wants me to play Marian? B-but I just auditioned for the fun of it! I didn't want to get cast!"

"Looks like you're going to be in the big time, kid!" he chortled.

Beth looked it me with that deer-in-the-headlights look, "Tommy, what am I going to do?!"

"Ask the girl in the mirror?" I replied.

"The girl in the mirror?" Greg asked.

Beth turned bright red.

"It's a private joke, Greg," I said. "Who else is in the cast?" I said, trying to distract him.

"Tony Thomas is Harold Hill and Cindy got cast as Zaneeta, the mayor's daughter, and ... oh why don't you just walk over and check out the list yourself. You'll be surprised who's in the chorus." With that enigmatic comment and a chuckle, he walked off.