Valerie got a sudden twinkle in her eye as she addressed both questions. "It's time to take chances, make mistakes, get messy!" I had a sudden queasy feeling in my stomach while sitting there, in the school parking lot "My dear Jake, its time for a FIELD TRIP!" Valerie said as we both got out of my car. As Valerie approached the bus I saw when arriving earlier at the school, it seemed to come to life as if it were a living breathing creature stuck in the shell of a school bus. The doors to the bus suddenly opened on their own and Valerie ushered me inside. It looks normal in everyway, if of course you count seatbelts in every bench as normal I thought to myself. I took a seat on the bench behind the driver's seat as Valerie took the wheel and started the bus, all the while Liz stayed upon the shoulder of her mistress. Val took to the main street and everything seemed normal. I pressed for a more in depth answer to my questions, however the Frizz just smiled and I swore gave a wink to Liz "Ok bus, do your stuff!" Valerie said as she pressed a few buttons. I felt an odd feeling in my stomach as I suddenly saw the insides of our ride transform into something resembling a spaceship. The walls, floor, even the windows transformed! It was in that moment I realized several things…. First my clothes had changed, from a nice dress shirt and pants… to a spacesuit, second we were actually moving upwards into the sky, as if we were going to outer space itself. The third and final thing I realized before I passed out from sheer sensory overload was the fact that we were in space and this pair at the controls acted as if this thing happened all the time!

VAL'S POV: I turned around to announce that we had arrived in space, AND why I had chosen to show the young lad the solar system. It was then I noticed that the poor boy had fainted "must have been too much all at once" I said to Liz, who was in the process of checking on our guest. After giving me a thumbs up, I decided that we should head home and that Jake should be put in the guest room until he woke up and overcame the shock of what I was about to reveal to him. Upon arriving back at the house, I parked the bus and carried the still unconscious Jake into the house with Liz following behind. It was a bit of a struggle to get the young man into the house and upstairs into the guest bedroom, but that's the way the cookie crumbles I guess. I no sooner got him into the guest room, when Liz suddenly appeared with a pillow in her claws, as she hopped up onto the bed and sat next to Jake who was still down for the count. "Good idea Liz, keep our guest company while I make a few calls okay?" Liz nodded as I pulled up the covers on Jake and left the room. I wonder if what he told me was true… does he really have no family to speak of… maybe Murph could help me. I thought as I looked through my phone directory. A few button punches and I heard a woman answer. "Murph's Recycling Center, Murph speaking" "hey cousin, its Val, could you pull a few favors for me?" you see, Murph not only was an awesome Recycling guru, but in her spare time did work for the city courthouse and boy did I have a request for her! "I can only get basic information Val, they don't let me handle the big stuff you know" Murph reminded me "I just needed to know if a certain Jacob Padsworth, age 30 had any family to speak of, namely here in town" "I will do my best cousin. Whatever you have going on, I want to hear about over lunch next week. Promise me Val!" "I will Murph, you can count on it! Talk to you soon…. Bye" I hung up the phone and decided to check up on my guest. Jake was still out cold when I checked up on him, but his breathing was almost normal, so he was recovering decent. It was getting late, however I wanted to make one more call before Liz and I went to bed. RING… RING…. RING "Hello? Tennelli Residence, Ralphie speaking" I heard Ralphie say on the other end. "Ralphie, this is Miss Frizzle. Is your mom available?" I could hear his heart stop beating for a few seconds as he was most likely freaking out that his teacher was calling on a Saturday night. "Just a second Miss Frizzle" I heard Ralphie mumble as he called out "MOM, PHONE!" "Dr. Tennelli speaking" "Good evening Dr. its Valerie Frizzle, I was hoping you could make a house call tomorrow morning to my home? I had a date this evening and well, he fainted, he is in my guest room. I want to make sure he is ok before I let him go back home you see" I explained, careful to leave out the part about the trip to outer space. "You had a date this evening?" Dr. Tennelli seemed rather amused and I could hear Ralphie making loud gagging noises within earshot of the phone. "Well Val, I typically don't make calls on a Sunday, but if you don't mind me bringing Ralphie along, as long as he doesn't cause any problems" the last part being directed towards the child in question. I was more then amused by Ralphie's response of "Me? A problem? NEVER!" Dr. Tennelli told me she could arrive around 8am and that Ralphie would most likely be in tow. We said our goodbyes and I went to go check up on Jake one last time before I turned in for the night.

Sunday morning arrived in due time and I awoke at 6am as usual. On my way towards the bathroom for a shower I checked in on Jake and Liz as she insisted on staying glued to this young mans side through the night (I admired her for doing so) he was still asleep it seemed, so I went to take my morning shower and make some coffee for myself. Around 7:30 Liz came down the stairs and joined me as I read the newspaper and had my morning coffee. At 8am sharp I heard my doorbell ring. "Dr. Tennelli, Ralphie, please come in" I said as I greeted them at the door. "Liz? Would you keep Ralphie Company while Dr. Tennelli and I check up on our guest?" Liz immediately jumped into Ralphie's arms and did what I asked of her while I showed Dr. Tennelli to the guest room. "Just between us girls, how did it go?" Dr. Tennelli asked in a high-school first date tone. "It went well" I said, as I explained our date in great detail to Mrs. Tennelli. We arrived at the guest room and Dr. Tennelli excused herself as she went in alone to give her patient a full exam while I waited outside the room. About 15 minutes later Dr. Tennelli emerged and gave a clean bill of health, noting that it would be best we let him wake up on his own, which would be in an hour or so she thought. We both went downstairs and sat at the kitchen table chatting meanwhile Ralphie had challenged Liz to a game of chess (that of which amazed the Dr….. not the fact of Liz being able to play chess, but Ralphie playing a quiet game for once)

After 30 minutes of chatting and drinking coffee, Dr. Tennelli told Ralphie it was time to head home as he had a room to clean. I thanked them for their time and help in the matter and let them out. It was around this time I heard some noise from the guest room.

JAKE'S POV

I awoke in a strange bed in a very strange room. The last thing I remember I was on a spaceship…. I thought to myself. My awaking must have caused quite a commotion because the door opened and Valerie walked in "sleep well?" she asked as she opened the shade to let some light in. "what happened? Last I remember being on the bus, transformed into a spaceship and then next thing I know I wake up here" I sat up confused and still a bit groggy, thinking it was mostly a dream and that I yet again had too much to drink. "Well" Valerie started "You were on my magical school bus…. And yes we were in space….. Your not imagining things and you are defiantly not going crazy! You passed out so Liz and I decided to take you back here… My place and keep an eye on you" I was speechless because no-one had ever been that nice to me aside from my family. "Oh and before I forget, I had one of my students mothers; who is a Doctor stop by and give you a quick checkup" I was floored! "Valerie… you didn't have to go to all that trouble….." "Consider it nothing" she replied with a smile. Being that it was a Sunday, the two of us hung out the rest of the day enjoying each other's company while chatting about life and various other topics. By the end of the day Val drove us back to the school so I could pick up my car and head home. We each said our goodbyes and Valerie insisted we get together soon. I agreed as I had enjoyed myself. I got into my car and headed home, wondering what tomorrow would bring.

VAL'S POV

Over the course of the day I learned so much about this man it was almost as if I suddenly knew him better then I knew myself. We both shared several interests it was as if we were soul mates. For starters we both loved to read and shared love of Shakespeare none the less! The biggest thing we shared in common was a love of science and exploration. He admitted he had always wanted to start a family, but had put work first 90% of the time and therefore never had the time or energy to start one. We touched base on several subjects as childhood and school, and science was a subject we both had done very well in. he was poor in regards to math and history, but overall he seemed to have a decent grasp on the subjects. It got late and I figured it was time for him to get back to his home for the evening. As I drove the bus towards his car still parked at the school, we both agreed that we should get together soon, possibly even next week! We arrived at the school and bid our farewells for the day. As I watched him drive off towards his home I realized that this was no ordinary man, and things could only get better!

Monday morning started like all Mondays do, the birds chirping and the sun shining. By today it seemed that news of my having company over for a day had reached every student in my class. "Good morning class!" I said as I entered the classroom. I had I lighter bounce in my step and Arnold was the first to notice. "Gee Ms. Frizzle; you're in a great mood today!" "According to my research, it seems Ms. Frizzle's date went very well" I could always count on Dorothy Ann to research every subject thoroughly and it seemed my date was her focus today "So, when's the wedding?" "RALPHIE!" the class yelled almost in a fit of giggles. "So class, it seems that Ralphie has already clued you in about my weekend, now how about we talk about everyone else's weekend. Ralphie, lets start with you" Ralphie mumbled something to the effect of video games and chess with Liz. The rest of the class gave similar answers of games and hanging with friends. It was time to start focusing on the days lesson, DIGESTION!