Chapter 3

Fourth period was not one of Fred's favorites.

Oh, most of the seventh graders were fine. Eager to learn, or at least willing, It was February with no real big vacations coming up to distract them, so he had their attention for the most part.

But, that was part of the problem.

Fourth period had Sue in it.

As occasionally happened, this thirteen year old, new to the whole puberty thing, had decided she had a crush on him. She tried to get his attention as much as possible, wrote little notes on her tests, and tried to tell him things with her eyes. On the plus side, she studied like crazy and knew about the War of 1812 almost as well as he did. On the minus side...

It wasn't that there was temptation on his end. There wasn't. Not only was he not interested in young girls, no matter how adult she tried to dress and look, but he was a one woman type of guy and Lisa had him well satisfied. They'd past the six month mark together and were as happy as can be. No, the minus came from perhaps the best advice his father ever gave him.

You can't be friends with students.

Oh, you can like them. You can be friendly with them. But ... the line must be drawn there. You can NOT be their friend. Not now. Any friendly gesture, comment, or god forbid touch, had the chance to be misinterpreted. Not just by parents or his superiors, although that was always a risk in this era of pedophile mania. No, but by the child themselves. And, maybe yourself. If Fred in any way was nicer to this girl than he was to any other student, she would take it as confirmation that he returned her affection.

That would lead to an escalation that would either leave her devastatingly rejected, or worse, him truly having non-sexual affection for a young woman who wants, out of ignorance, to try out her body. One of his father's friends had gone down this path, and the results had been devastating for all involved. It never got to the stage of "rape", luckily, and managed to stay out of the media. But, his career was over.

No, if Fred ever wanted to have a happy kid hug him he'd have to have his own.

Fred was asking if anyone knew about which battle had a hit song written about it, trying to ignore Sue's hand, when there was a knock at the classroom door. Looking over, he saw it was Cathy from the office.

"Excuse me a moment, if you wouldn't mind. You can talk telepathically while you wait." This got some giggles as Fred walked over and opened the door.

"Yes?"

"Um, Fred, there's a call for you in the office."

He raised an eyebrow.

"From anyone I know?"

"She said her name was ... Mary Letty?"

He felt a coldness go through him. Fred stepped out into the hallway.

"Can you watch the class?" She nodded, and stepped inside. Fred quickly walked down the hall. His room was near the office, probably why they hadn't bothered to use the intercom. He would have had to wait for someone to come cover for him regardless. About a minute later he was picking up the secretary's phone.

"Fred here."

"Oh, Fred ... um, it's Mary, Lisa's mother. I wasn't sure if I should bother you, especially at work, but..."

"It's fine. What happened."

"Lisa's OK, but we're in the hospital. She had a blood clot in her leg."

"Blood clot?" What the hell? Fred knew about blood clots. Knew about them all too well. His mother, during her chemo, had been in and out of the hospital with them, constantly on blood thinners or thickeners or whatever else was needed to counteract the last thing they had given her. Why would a healthy twenty five year old be getting them?

"Yes. I just got her checked into a room at ECMC. She didn't want to worry you, but ... I thought I should call you." She sounded ... actually concerned about him. Maybe that birthday card had done the trick.

"Thank you so much, Mary. Lisa just knows I hate hospitals, after the past couple years. She'll be OK?"

"Oh, yes. They just need to get some blood thinners into her then observe her for a couple days."

"OK. Can you give me the room number?" He wrote it down. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. I ... I know how much she cares about you."

"The feeling is mutual. Goodbye."

Fred hung up, thought a moment, then looked over at the secretary.

"Do you have the number of a Buffalo Florist handy?"

"Knock knock"

Fred walked into the hospital room. It was a double, but the second bed was empty. Lisa sat up in the bed by the window in happy shock. Her mother, sitting next to the bed, wasn't quite as happy but gave a slight smile and a nod.

"Fred! Thank you for the flowers!" He had called to have a basket delivered, and it apparently arrived. Lisa had put it on the table between her and her mother, which he found amusing. No symbolism there, surely.

"Glad you like them. I also have this for you." Fred pulled a small blue teddy bear out of a bag, and handed it to Lisa. The twenty six year old redhead grabbed it and gave the bear a great big hug, looking like a big breasted twelve year old in the process. She looked up at him, her eyes moist, and as he leaned in she met Fred half way with a tender kiss. Not bothering to look at Mary, he straightened and gave his love a stern look.

"OK, what have you done this time?"

Holding the bear in her lap, Lisa gave a disgusted sigh.

"It's the stupid birth control pills. Blood clots are one of the rare but fun side effects."

Fred's eyes widened at that.

"You're kidding."

"Nope." She lay back down and let her head fall back onto the pillow. "They said if I change pills it should be fine, so that's the plan."

Fred looked around for another chair, and pulled it up next to the bed. He noticed Mary not looking at all happy about the talk of birth control. He wasn't sure if this was with regard to Catholic theology or just the thought of him and Lisa doing things. Probably both.

"There are other options," he said, although being male he had never bothered to study up on much beyond rubbers. She shook her head.

"No, it'll be fine. It was just a fluke."

Fred looked at her ... and shrugged.

"OK. Whatever you want. So ... what are you going to name the bear?"

Lisa walked out of the bathroom, and Fred for the millionth time admired her as he lay on the bed. Her red hair, cascading over her shoulder, those green eyes behind the round lenses of her glasses, her wonderful large pillowy breasts, the red triangle of hair pointing the way to her womanhood...

"I don't mind using a condom for a week or two," Fred said as she approached the foot of the bed. Lisa shook her head, and stood looking down at him.

"No ... I don't want to feel anything between us. Not with you." She started climbing onto the mattress, then over him. "I can use the sponge till the new stuff kicks in." Looking down into his eyes, she lowered herself onto him...

FLASH

"What the hell?"

Lisa lowered the book and looked up. Seeing Fred with the camera, she scowled.

"What are you doing?!?"

"Taking a picture of you in your native habitat," he smirked.

"You mean naked on the couch!"

"That's what I said!"

"Gimme that camera!"

FLASH

"Make me!"

Her face getting a crafty look on it, she lunged for him...

They walked hand in hand, over the deck of the warship. The wind coming off Lake Erie was cold, but the sun was warm that spring day as they enjoyed the waterfront. Fred stopped them as they got to an anti-aircraft gun, and they looked back over the other ships at the Naval Park.