Chapter 16: Coming to Terms

"Derek, I'm still not completely clear what went on with Sandy," said Veronica Carson, before taking a sip of her breakfast coffee.

"Neither am I, Mom," said Derek, telling some truth. "All I know is that Mr. Fitzwater acted mighty strange when I told him that Sandy wanted to switch guidance counselors and then insisted against the change, even if the Turners wanted it. That made me suspicious and finally really angry."

"Still, son that doesn't excuse what you said to him."

"I know, Mom, but you should have seen how smug and manipulative he was acting. I was curious to see how he would respond and his response was too over the top to be Innocent. Mom, I think he might have done something to Sandy. More importantly, if he did, I'm not going to let him touch her again!"

"OK, Derek. Don't worry. I've suggested that Maggie and Paul have a sit down with Principal Hanson. She's has the reputation of being a fair person and I'm sure that even for the sake of appearances, Sandy should be able to switch to Nancy Seales. In the meantime, I've also advised them to have Sandy avoid Roscoe Fitzwater at all costs."

Derek frowned "But what if he insists on seeing her?"

"Her parents have given her permission to ignore his requests. Instead of seeing him, she would report to the office for discipline. Maggie and Paul would clear up any issues with Principal Hanson when they meet."

"So, what about my punishment?"

"Under the circumstances it is too severe. I hate throwing my weight around, but it really irks me that I am busting my hump trying to get the schools more money and how do they thank me? They unfairly punish my son for sticking up for his girlfriend when it is likely that she is being abused. Pete Seales is on my side. As the Chairman of the Board of Ed, he will lobby the Superintendent if Principal Hanson doesn't deal with this appropriately. I'd hate to see her stuck in the middle, but if she were doing her job effectively, none of this would have happened."

"Thanks Mom."

"Derek, you're still not blameless in this. You need to act more responsibly in the future, or we'll have to find a way to get you to see that. Do you understand?"

"Yes Mom."

"Now go to school. I don't want you to get into trouble for making you and the others late."

Derek hugged his mother goodbye, grabbed his backpack and headed for the door. He knew he had dodged a bullet. If his Mom had known all the facts about he and the others cutting school, there would have been a strong possibility that he would have really been in trouble. Still, he reasoned that it was Fitzwater who was really between a rock and hard place. He had a lot more to lose than Derek and Sandy. They would have to wait and see how the man would react to Sandy switching guidance counselors.

At the school, Ranna and Rogesh were talking in the hallway.

"Ranna, what is this double date thing all about," asked Rogesh.

"Hey, I don't like this anymore than you do. Sandra Turner insisted that you and I go out with her and Derek over the weekend. She also insisted on me being 'really good to you'."

"What does that mean?"

"Second base," she said glumly.

"What?"

"It means I have to make out with you and you get to touch these," she said pointing her lovely B cup breasts.

"Why is she doing this," asked Rogesh nervously.

"I suspect that Rachel or Devin ratted us out."

"Crap!"

"I tried to get my parents to pull the plug on the date, but since they've already decided that you should be their son-in-law, they insisted that I go."

"I could see if I could get my parents to stop it," suggested Rogesh.

"No, I saw how happy they were when they saw us together. Besides, Sandra will be even more suspicious if we try to back out now."

"OK. Ranna?"

"Yes." She said quietly.

"I'm sorry you are stuck with this. You really are a nice girl."

"Thanks. You're a nice guy yourself Rogesh. I know you don't want this any more than I do. But we're stuck, so I guess we'll just have to trust each other. What pisses me off was that I had a date with Paul Prescott and I was going to ask you to cover for me."

"Do you really like him?"

"He's hot and he's into me. Nothing personal, but I was hoping that it would be him sliding into second instead of you."

"As I said, I'm sorry..."

Ranna smiled wistfully. "It's OK Rogesh. It's not your fault."

At the end of second period English, Sandy saw Connie get up from her seat. "Martin, hold up for a second."

"Turner, haven't you done enough to screw with me? You knew I liked Derek and you took him away. Then you told me Brett was available..."

"Yeah, I confess that I didn't see that one coming either," chuckled Sandy. "As far as Derek, 'she who hesitates'..."

"But he's not even your type."

"Listen Connie. You don't know about our history. He's 'The One'."

Connie wore an expression that fell between shock and amusement. "What? You mean..."

"Yeah ... I think I've always wanted him."

Connie sneered. "While your confession is quite touching, it doesn't help me."

"Look Connie, I'm not going to make any apologies about Derek but I'm sorry about Brett. I want to make it up to you."

"Don't do me any favors."

"Hear me out."

Connie adopted an impatient expression. "OK, what?"

"Do you know Dean Flynn?"

"Yeah. Last year he went out with my friend Cindy Langdon."

"Didn't she move?"

"Yeah, to Ohio."

"Well he's available. Derek told me. He also thought that Dean might like you."

"Well he is a cute guy and he's a jock..."

"But he's pretty smart too, right?"

"Yeah ... he is," smiled Connie pensively. "I never really thought of Dean romantically..."

"But..."

"Are you sure he's available? Did he mention me?"

"Yes and no, but Connie?"

"What?"

"You're a beautiful girl. He'd be crazy not to go for you."

Connie laughed. "What's up Turner? Going lesbo?"

"I said something nice. Don't be such a bitch," laughed Sandy, but giving Connie a look that said she better stop.

"OK, but Turner?"

"Yeah?"

"I hope you're right about this one."

"Just meet me after baseball practice. Derek and I will arrange everything."

At the Nilsen home, Ilsa got the call from her husband that she had been dreading.

"So, it's final?"

"John said that he would talk to his wife, but it did not seem likely that any of the rescue operations would be inclined to take Sadie's case.

Ilsa Nilsen began to cry. She thought how hard her children and their friends were working to save Sadie. She realized how hard it would hit Suzanne in particular. She knew that the chances were that Sadie might not even survive the operation and it would be cruel to give them hope. Shadow had turned out to be a great dog, but getting him to that point had pushed Ilsa to the brink of a nervous breakdown, as her fairly high strung nature was pushed beyond her ability to cope.

Sven heard his wife's tears. "Honey, we've tried everything we possibly could. I know this is sad, but it is just a part of life. It is important for Brett and Tom to learn that," he said comfortingly.

"I know," she choked, "I just wish that things could be different."

Back at school in the Cafeteria, Sandy ran to Derek's arms and hugged him. She looked scared.

"What's wrong?" asked Derek.

"Fitzwater had me paged to go to the office. I told Mr. Dryden that my parents told me not to see him and that I should not miss any class time. Instead, after class I was to report to the office. I told Vice Principal Simmons that I refused to see Fitzwater with my parents blessing and I got a detention!"

"I figured that would happen. He'll probably try again."

"Yeah ... do you think I should..."

"You will not be alone with that man under any circumstances!"

"Derek?"

'What?"

"Is that an order?"

"Yes."

"Then I guess I don't have any choice," she laughed, as a tear ran down her cheek. Despite this Sandy felt a sense of relief.

"No. You don't," he laughed too, as he tightened the hug.

"Devin, why did you have to open your big mouth?" complained Rogesh at lunch.

"We didn't tell Sandra, Rogesh. She's not dumb, you know," replied Devin.

"Honestly, Rogesh, she figured it out on her own. All we did was confirm it," stated Rachel.

Rogesh grimaced. "Couldn't you have lied?"

"To Sandra Turner? Are you crazy!" spat Devin.

"Rogesh, there is no way we could have lied to her," said Rachel.

"But can't you see? This is making Ranna miserable."

Rachel looked at Rogesh and smiled. "You really care for her, don't you?"

"I do. She's a sweet girl."

Devin laughed. "She's pretty hot too."

"Yeah, Rogesh. She's a little hottie," agreed Rachel, saying it to Rogesh, but giving Devin a smoldering look.

Devin's eyes grew wide. "Damn Baby!"

"What, baby?" she asked innocently.

"You just looked like you wanted her more than I do."

Rachel grinned at him. "Would you like that Dev? Would you like to watch me kissing her?"

"C'mon Rach..."

Rachel looked back at Rogesh and saw the young Indian man looking quite uncomfortable. "Sorry Rogesh. It's a little game we play. The point is don't you think Ranna is pretty?"

"Of course I do. I just know that she's not into me. Do you want to hear something funny," he asked.

"What?" asked Devin.

"Her parents are practically already planning our wedding. They want her to marry an Indian man and they think I'm the most eligible guy on their radar. Ranna doesn't want to go with an Indian guy. My parents don't care who I go with. But the thing is..."

"You really like her, don't you?" observed Rachel.

Rogesh blushed even deeper than he did when Rachel and Devin were kidding. "I do. But she likes Paul Prescott. She wanted me to cover for her with her parents while she went on a date with him on Saturday. Now Sandra is making us double date with her and Derek."

Rachel thought about the JV Quarterback and his blond hair and blue eyes. She had dated him for about a week, but she broke up with him when he pushed her for sex on their first date. "Rogesh, honey? Paul's an asshole. He tried to fuck me on our first date. If you care about her, you don't want Ranna to go out with him."

Rogesh frowned. He had no idea what to do. He didn't want Ranna to get hurt, but he knew that she was really hung up on Paul. He wasn't sure what he could do.

"Mr. Carson, please have a seat," said the big man from behind his desk.

"Mr. Fitzwater, I'm not sure why you would request to see me. After all, Mrs. Seales is my guidance counselor," smirked Derek.

"Mr. Carson, let's cut to the chase."

"By all means, Mr. Fitzwater."

"Your little friend has not come to see me."

"And what little friend is this?"

"You know very well who I mean."

"If you are talking about Miss Turner, isn't it is quite obvious why?" frowned Derek.

"Well, son, I don't think you realize how much trouble the two of you are in."

"How am I in any trouble, other than the week of detention is concerned?"

"I was quite shocked to hear that several students I had arranged to attend a student leadership conference never showed up at it. You all skipped it."

"We both know there was no 'student leadership conference'. Sandra asked you for the afternoon off and you gave it to her for letting you maul her tits."

"So she did tell you after all," sneered Fitzwater.

"Yeah. So before you start talking about how much trouble we are in, you should think about your job and your pension, you old pervert!" glared Derek.

"Who do you think people will believe? A bitch slut and a truant or a respectable guidance counselor?"

"I know who my mother will believe."

"So? Parents are always biased for their kids. In the end, 'the respectable guidance' counselor always wins."

Derek knew that to a certain extent, Fitzwater's smugness was somewhat warranted. Still, he decided to play along. "OK. For arguments sake, what do you want?"

"I want Miss Turner to see me and honor our deal. If she does, I'll tell Vice Principal Simmons to cancel your detentions."