"I hate having to be dragged out my room for this after everything I was put through earlier," Speaker Begelman grumbled on the beach in the evening darkness.
"It's just fifteen minutes of our time, Bruce, and it might prove worth a look," the president pro tempore told him.
"We don't have the money for this in the budget, Henry...!"
"If I like what I see, make the money happen, Bruce," the president advised him calmly. "Just about ready, Miss Winters?" he asked Melissa, who was checking the last set of wires attached to one of her rockets on the beach.
"I think so," she held her cell phone in front of it as a de facto flashlight. "OK, everyone step back," she waved the other teens back away from the rocket and grabbed for the control box.
"Fire it up, let's see what we got!" Claire encouraged her excitedly.
"Yeah, launch it high!" Sloane added. Melissa took a deep breath. "OK, in five, four, three, two, one..." she threw the launch switch...
"...but instead of taking off, the rocket burst into flames and toppled over on its side. "Uh oh, I don't think we wanted a replay of Apollo 1," Ferris shook his head.
"Houston, we have an unrepairable problem," Bender cracked, prompting another hard elbow from Claire. "What now!? Why are none of my jokes supposed to be funny!?" he demanded, "This is...!"
"Shhh!" Allison hissed at him. "What went wrong?" she asked Melissa as the latter rushed forward to examine the wreckage.
"I could swear I had this all hooked up right...!" the blonde mused out loud worriedly, shoveling sand over the burning rocket to extinguish the flames, "Fuel intake seemed right, the protective walls should have held...did I give it too much of an electrical charge...!?"
"Well, try another one," Ferris handed a second rocket to her.
"We don't have all night for this...!" Begelman protested, "If this doesn't work...!"
"It'll work," Brian told him off, helping Melissa plug the second rocket in to the launch cables, "Just give her a fair chance."
"It is ten thirty at night...!" the Speaker muttered in disgust, shivering in the rapidly cooling air. After about five minutes, Melissa finished hooking everything up. "OK, fuel's set, cables are set, don't throw it too rapidly..." she told herself, her face contorted with worry. "All right," she grabbed the control box again, "Three, two, one..."
She threw the switch again, and the rocket did launch-but spiraled sideways, smacking the asleep on his feet vice president square in the face. "Huh? What's going on?" he looked around dazedly.
"Nothing, Doug, absolutely nothing!" Begelman muttered, "Mr. President, it's clear she's got nothing," he all but pleaded the commander in chief, oblivious to Melissa's moan of grief and frustration, "Can we please put this matter to rest; these rockets simply do not work, and to pursue this any further would be a massive waste of our time."
"They'll work, Mr. Speaker, these are just little errors! Will you just excuse us for one moment!?" Brian took Melissa by the hand and led her down the beach. "I'm bombing, I'm blowing the biggest test of my life...!" she whimpered miserably.
"OK, just take deep breaths and relax; you and I both know you can do this," Brian took her other hand and gave her a hopeful look, "I know exactly what you're feeling; when I blew my shop project, I was exactly the same way as you are now. But we've launched these in your backyard all throughout the summer, and they all went up perfectly there. So just take a deep breath and think over carefully what we're doing wrong here. I believe in you, all of us except Mr. Begelman believe in you. So let's go back and prove him wrong about you."
"I don't know, Brian, there's got to be something I'm not seeing here, something miniscule and...!"
"We'll find it. Just keep telling yourself, 'I've got this, I've got this.' I'm right here if you need my help with this, don't forget. 'I've got this,' just keep saying; you'll launch it yet."
"OK. I've got this, I've got this, I've got this..." Melissa inhaled deeply and walked back over to the launch site. "Is this going to work, Miss Winters?" the president asked, looking a little unsure himself now.
"I've got this," Melissa repeated it to him. She took another rocket off Ferris, plugged it in, twisted the launcher so it angled further out into the lake, and once more examined it like a hawk in the light of her cell phone. "Oh, that's it!" she smacked her head in relief, "I had the cords plugged into the wrong outlets...!"
"This is your last chance, missy, so hurry it up!" the Speaker demanded. Melissa quickly switched the cords to different outlets and took hold of the control box again. "OK, God willing..." she visibly crossed her fingers, "I've got this, in five, four, three, two, one...!"
She hesitantly threw the switch. With a shower of flame and sparks, the rocket blasted off from the launch pad and arced over the lake. "Houston, we have liftoff!" Ferris cheered, high-fiving everyone within arm's length.
"Wait, wait, if it's working right, it's not over yet!" a much happier Melissa waved everyone off and pointed to the projectile arcing over the lake. With a low bang, the first stage separated from the rocket and the second ignited. "And, and, and...!" she kept her finger on it when, after another thirty seconds, a third stage ignited. "Yes!" she pumped her fist excitedly.
"Looks good to me, Miss Winters," the president applauded, "I think you've got a winning proposition with this design."
"That was one successful test out of three; I need to see more!" Speaker Begelman protested.
"You want more, you've got more. Once more, Melissa, my dear," Ferris handed her a fourth rocket. She hooked this one up as well, and, after throwing the switch, launched it just as perfectly as the previous one, with the same impressive results once airborne. "All right, Henry, Bruce," Simmons turned to the two congressional leaders, "We had a deal; the budget for next year gets more money for space programs first thing Congress is back in session. And..." he paused while the teens cheered and embraced, "...call up Gene at Cape Canaveral and tell him I'd like to see the designs we've seen here utilized on at least one project."
"Well, Mr. President, I think we can make that work," the president pro tempore nodded, convinced of the rockets' capabilities, "It's good to see that ingenuity is still alive and well among America's youth, right Bruce?"
"Well you can forget it, because the answer's no," Begelman said sternly, bringing the beach to abrupt silence, "Success or not, to pursue this project is still a waste of time and money. It's not getting into any bill submitted to the House, and if it does, I'm not calling a vote."
"Bruce, we had an agreement...!" Simmons told him firmly.
"...to look, Mr. President. But as I've said before, we don't have the money. So no, I'm not putting it in, and that's final," the Speaker turned to leave.
"No, no, no, you're not going to do this!" outraged, Brian stormed into his path and blocked him, "You made a promise to Melissa that you'd give her rockets a green light if she proved herself, and she just did, even though you clearly had no intention of giving her a fair chance in the first place...!"
"Fifty percent's not good enough for me, kid. And by the way, if you and your little brat friends there hadn't humiliated me this evening," Begelman jerked a contemptuous finger at the other teens, "maybe I'd have a more open mind. But since you did, consider this your just desserts. Because Bruce D. Begelman does not get humiliated by anyone, ha!"
He tried to step around Brian, but Melissa's boyfriend blocked him again. "You're not leaving this beach until you put the funding in the bill and clear her rockets for use by NASA!" he warned the Speaker, "And if you don't, well, I'm sure someone like you has some skeletons in your closet that the press might want to know about!"
"How dare you try and blackmail me, you little rat!" Begelman bellowed at him, "Well, for your information, I have no skeletons...!"
"Oh really, Mr. Speaker!? How about the bill you fast-tracked to the floor cutting EPA funding after you had that meeting in your office with the Kash brothers' men!?" Natalie stepped forward, glaring at him, "I was visiting Capitol Hill with Dad on that day; I saw them go in your office, and I know the Kashes want all the pollution limits in this country removed to help their oil companies suck every well dry! From what I saw from the galley, you happily suspended normal House procedures to get it passed; I think the press would love to know about that!"
"That is a gross misrepresentation of the facts, Miss Simmons! Everything I did was perfectly legal...!"
"Then explain how a heavily supported common sense bipartisan gun law got buried earlier this year without ever seeing a chance to be voted on!?" Brian angrily challenged him on another matter, "Winston LeJean at the NRA was railing against it like there was no tomorrow on TV; did he offer you money or threaten to expose you for something else if you didn't bury it!?"
"Again, nothing illegal happened, and you do yourself no favors railing against the National Rifle Association, which has done worlds of good for this country, and...!"
"Yes, the National Rifle Association does do lots of good in this country helping firearm owners learn how to use their weapons, among other things. But Winston LeJean is clearly as corrupt as they come; he's buried numerous common sense solutions since he took over the organization by likely bribing and threatening lots of sitting congresspersons, and it looks pretty likely to me you took the money to do his bidding that time! So if we don't have your word right now on a vote with the funding and Melissa's rockets, we're taking those possible scandals and anything else we can dig up on you to every reputable news outlet we can! And don't think we can't do it; as Mr. Beard can tell you, Ferris and his friends already brought down Senator Bob Tannen for his racketeering earlier this summer," Brian gestured at Ferris, Sloane, and Cameron. "So what's it going to be, Mr. Begelman!? A few extra dollars in the budget, or your career possibly collapsing in scandal!?"
"Your move, Bruce," the president all but dared him with a confident expression. Begelman growled in rage. "All right, all right, you win!" he bellowed, "But this is organized blackmail, and none of what you claimed is true! So you get nothing else from me going forward-and with all due respect, Mr. President, you have just lost my respect as a fair negotiating partner!" he turned to Simmons, "Whatever you want from me going forward for the rest of your term, you have to pay a big price for it! Good night, all of you!"
He stomped furiously off the beach. Melissa let out a cry of delight and leaped into Brian's arms. "We did it, we did it!" she gushed happily.
"You did it," he told her, hugging her close, "You earned this."
"She sure did," Ferris agreed, tapping Melissa on the shoulder and extending a palm for her to high five. "Well, as it is getting late, I bid you all good night," he told everyone else, "You can do whatever you want the rest of the evening." He walked over to Andrew as everyone started splitting up to go their own ways and whispered to him, "Don't worry, we'll get you in shape for the big showdown tomorrow."
"Need you remind me, Ferris?" Andrew gave him a worried expression.
"Important to remind often, Andy-san; otherwise match creep up from behind without warning, and leave you unprepared," Ferris answered by channeling Mr. Miyagi. He followed most of the others back towards the lodge. Andrew shook his head and walked over to Allison, who was standing at the waterline. "Want to go for that boat ride now?" he offered.
"Sure would," she turned and grinned. The two of them walked down the beach to where the private boats were moored. "Liking it so far?" he asked her.
"I am," she nodded.
"Better than the senior class trip when Ferris managed to get all of us into the White House?"
"Actually, yeah. Back then I felt like I was lost in the whole crowd; here I feel like I'm having more fun in a smaller group."
"That's how I'm feeling too," Andrew said. He turned to her. "That was pretty sweet what you asked the president to do for Andie earlier," he commended her, "Back at the beginning of the year, I hardly had any idea she existed, but since we started going together, I can see why the two of you are friends."
"I wouldn't really call her an inner, inner circle friend, but since we live so close by each other, we have been reasonably good friends all these years. So I felt I needed to do something for her as she goes out into the real world," Allison confessed, "I just hope I'm doing the right thing," she grew unsure, "Like I said, she does have a bit of a grudge against her mother for leaving her and her father, and if they do find her and it turned ugly when they were face to face again..."
"Tell me, do you really think the president'll be able to find her?" Andrew asked.
"To be honest, no," his girlfriend shook her head, "Not after all this time. But I figured it couldn't hurt to ask."
"Mmm," Andrew mused. He came to a stop as they approached the docks. "Give me your honest opinion, Allison, should I go ahead with it tomorrow with Ahmed?" he posed to her, looking uncertain himself.
"It's really your call, Andy," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "I'd like you to, but if you don't really want to..."
"Guess I have no choice now, then; everyone expects it, and I don't want to look like a coward," he conceded, "So I guess we'll train however Ferris wants us to train and get it over with. Hopefully we can still have fun tomorrow, though. Well, shall we?"
He picked Allison up in his arms and carried her aboard the nearest boat. "What do you think your parents would say if they knew you weren't knocking back at Claire's country estate, but about to go for a romantic cruise on a big Wisconsin lake?" he asked her grandly, starting the boat's engine.
"Who knows?" Allison shrugged indifferently, slouching down in the bow, "They'd never check where I was anyway. Do you know Mom completely forgot my last birthday?" she gritted her teeth in frustration.
"You never mentioned that before," Andrew frowned in concern, "That's awful..."
"Forget it. Her heart's too far dead for me to care anymore. Spends all her time working, almost never checks in on me, and Dad, when he does have custody rights, isn't much better," his girlfriend muttered, staring out at the lake, "College can't come fast enough for me; time I start my own life and try to stand out on my own. But promise me, Andy," she leaned forward, her expression softening, "Promise me you'll come back from Iowa at least a few times? I don't want to lose you completely..."
"I'll be back, I promise," he rubbed her chin, "I probably won't tell Mom and Dad-I'd like some distance from them myself-but I feel like I'd owe you. No matter where I go, I won't forget..."
"So you're going out too?" Brian was rushing up to an adjoining boat with Melissa, both of them with telescopes in hand, "Race you to the middle of the lake, then!"
"All right, on your mark...go!" Andrew gunned the engine and zoomed out into the lake at high speed to Allison's shout of delight. "Pour it on, Andy...bye!" she waved goodbye to Brian and Melissa on the docks, "Take me all around the lake like Ferris did earlier; I want to relive that again!" she begged Andrew.
"As you wish," he turned the boat in a wide arc, "I'm going to make this one night we won't forget."
"Another good day, wasn't it?" Ferris asked Sloane as the elevator opened up at their floor.
"Definitely," she gave him a kiss, "So what's on the slate for tomorrow?"
"Only time will tell, but I have a few ideas...of course, I hope everyone can go," Ferris's gaze went to Bender about to enter the boys' suite down the hall. "John," he called out to him.
"What now, Bueller!? I'm ready for bed!" the criminal growled back at him.
"Just want to say, we missed you this afternoon," Ferris approached him.
"Yeah, right," Bender wasn't buying it, "You were all glad to be rid of me, weren't you?"
"John, most of us do want to share the vacation with you," Sloane joined her boyfriend, "Including Claire. I think she just would like to hear..."
"What, that I'm sorry for telling it like it is!? I have nothing to be sorry about!"
"Let's be honest, John, you did kind of put Claire in a bad spot when you went on your tirade," Sloane emphasized, "If she got upset with you, you can't blame her. And running from her's not going to make the problem go away..."
"Who says I'm running from anything!? I want to believe in her, I really do, but I get the feeling she just doesn't trust me to be myself," Bender said strongly, looking pained, "I'd like to hear from her that my side of the equation'll be respected as much as hers."
"Then don't run from her, talk to her. Tell her how you feel."
"I did, and she brushed me off and tried to dictate to me."
"John, I want to be your friend here, but you have to take responsibility for your actions," Ferris told him calmly, "You were admittedly out of..."
"I have to take responsibility!? Coming from Ferris Bueller, who ditched school every chance he could get!? Don't make me laugh, Bueller," Bender brushed him off, "I want my respect as a human, and until I get it, I'm not going to blindly follow you along to kiss up to the prez's backside."
"Really, John, it's not like you didn't randomly ditch school just as often..."
"Good night, Bueller." Bender told him off firmly, closing the door hard behind himself. Ferris shook his head. "I tried," he shrugged to Sloane.
"It's disappointing when he plays the victim card so much," Sloane shook her own head, "I get that he has it rough at home, and that some of what his father puts him through can't help rubbing off on him, but he's not going to get any headway with Claire or the rest of them if he can't man it up."
"Well, there's still time to steer him in the right direction. In the meantime, we'll let him get some rest. So, how about we take James Taylor's advice and go up on the roof?" Ferris proposed, "It looks like Cameron and Natalie were going up that way themselves."
"Might as well then," Sloane took his arm and joined him in ascending the stairs to the hotel's roof. And indeed, Cameron and Natalie were laying on their stomachs in front of the latter's laptop in the center of the roof, surrounded by the sharpshooters on guard duty. "Having fun, kids?" Ferris called to them.
"Just updating the White House's official website with a couple of the photos we took today," Natalie told him, "I've been practically running the site myself since we moved in a few years ago; that's one thing I will miss when we go home next year. But to be back in Michigan, within reasonable distant of my old friends, that's more than worth it."
"I made her promise, no photos of us, at least not yet, so our cover doesn't get blown," Cameron pointed out to his best friend.
"And not to worry, Cameron, you and your friends' cover's safe with me," Natalie assured him.
"I'm sure," Ferris sat down next to them, "Say, Natalie, if the Speaker tries to go back on his word about Melissa's rockets at any point this week, can you get into and empty his bank account from here, just in case we need a contingency plan?"
"I guess I could," Natalie broke into laughter, "You never stop fighting the good fight, Ferris Bueller."
"He sure doesn't," Cameron mumbled, staring at the laptop's screen. "You'll have to teach me more about this at some point," he informed the president's daughter, "You, well, got me interested a little in computer things."
"I'll be glad to, Cameron," she told him with a smile, "I'm sure we'll have plenty of spare time at Albion for that. What are you majoring in anyway?"
"Actually, I committed for political science. I...well...I've been thinking about entering politics myself lately," Cameron admitted, "I, well, have some doubts; I'm worried I'll get corrupted like half the politicians in Illinois and everywhere else tend to, but...I've found that I want to make a difference, and politics might be the way to do it. So if your dad would have any pointers to give after he leaves office..."
"What about me?" the president and First Lady were coming up to the roof themselves now.
"Cameron's thinking of following in your footsteps, Dad," his daughter told him.
"Really? Well, Cameron, in that case, I'd be glad to assist," the president gave Cameron an encouraging nod.
"Much appreciated, sir," Cameron nodded, "Having been, well, a neurotic wreck for so long, I've got no public speaking talent, so any advice you would have would help."
"I know a lot of politicians who started out like that, so it's no problem," Simmons sat down on the roof and inhaled. "Isn't the view just lovely, Nancy?" he put an arm around his wife and pointed towards the lake.
"It's not bad," she agreed, "It's been so long since we've been out in the country like this..."
"Way too long," the commander in chief shook his head, "Besides making the mistake of forgetting about Natalie too many times, we also cut ourselves off from nature all these years in the governor's mansion and the White House. We need to get back to getting out more."
"Something good's happened to you since the beginning of summer, Matthew; I haven't seen you this energized in a long time," she lauded him.
"I've learned a vital lesson, Nance: life moves by fast, and if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you might miss it," the president turned to Ferris and gave him a thumbs-up.
"I agree wholly, Mr. President, sir," Ferris agreed, "Ever our country's leaders can...ah, Claire, glad you could join us," he noticed the wealthy girl coming through the door to the roof herself.
"Evening...hey, I'm not a threat, guys!" Claire protested to the sharpshooters, who'd spun and taken aim in her direction. They relaxed and turned back away. "Just enjoying the view, Mr. President?" she inquired, coming over to their location.
"You bet; it's been too long since I've enjoyed the scenery anywhere," Simmons said, waving his daughter to come over to join her mother and he. He put an arm around Natalie, then continued, "Remember that ferry cruise on Lake Michigan when we were dating, Nancy? The music played, the food came in buckets, and we danced the night away. We knew how to enjoy life then. We've got to get back to that somehow after we leave office."
"That seems like a lifetime ago," the First Lady mused nostalgically, "But would there be anything left in the North Shore area to go back to? Both our parents are gone, probably half the people we knew moved out..."
"Oh yeah, I forgot you're both originally from the North Shore too," Claire realized.
"Kenilworth born and raised; my wife came from Highland Park," the president confirmed it, "And we both enjoyed growing up there..."
"Well there's always room in Shermer for anyone who wants to come, Mr. President," Ferris told him, "We may be a small town, but we're welcome to anyone, rich or poor."
"Good to know. At least the hospitality of the North Shore never changes," the First Lady dug out what appeared to be a locket, opened it up, and stared at the photos inside. "Is that your family?" Sloane leaned over her shoulder.
"Yes, way back when. My parents, my sister and I. Back when times were good in Highland Park. But those days are gone now..."
"You miss them?" Cameron asked next.
"Sometimes. It's amazing when you look back at the past how much people you didn't think meant that much to you then mean now."
"Well, I guess you could call your sister if you need to," Claire started to point out.
"She died, a long time ago," Natalie told her with a sad shake of the head, "I never got to meet her. I would have liked to."
"And we weren't on good terms when we last saw each other," the First Lady shook her own head, "We had a huge fight and lost our tempers and screamed that we didn't care to see each other again. And we didn't, after that. If I could do it over again now, I'd do it a lot differently..."
"I know, Nance. But you'll always have the memories of the good times, and no one can take that away," her husband squeezed her close, "And hopefully we can make new memories going forward."
He stood up and stretched. "I guess that's enough fresh air and lamenting about days gone by for now. Coming in with us, honey?" he asked his daughter.
"Guess so, Dad," Natalie squirmed over to her laptop and closed it down. "Have a good night," she bade the Shermer students farewell for the evening, "It was wonderful to see you all again, especially you, Cameron."
She blew a kiss in his direction before following her parents downstairs. "See, Cam, it wasn't a dream; she does still care," Ferris grinned at his best friend. "And how've we been doing?" he turned to Claire, "We missed you today..."
"I know. Um, Ferris, there's something I do need to tell you about, but for the moment, I'd appreciate it if you and your friends could keep it secret from Bender for now..." Claire took a deep breath, "After I left, I met a guy, he seems nice-he was the one I went riding with. He looks like he could be someone I'd like..."
"And you're afraid Bender'll go ballistic if he finds out, right?" Cameron nodded.
"Well, kind of, Cameron, but also...the part of me that does have feelings for him's afraid of hurting him," she confessed, "He's been hurt enough in this life, even if he keeps taking the wrong paths, and...well, I guess you get the idea. I hate having to choose between two guys who each offer something for me," she lowered her head, "It's been the same way all my life, having to pick between Mom and Dad when they'd get into their titanic fights, even though I didn't really want to and I could tell they were both wrong..."
"We understand," Sloane told her sympathetically, putting an arm around her, "You have to choose what's right for Claire Standish. Do you think you'll see this boy again?"
"Probably. He's an aide to the Speaker of the House, so he'll probably be at the conferences this week," Claire's expression brightened, "Hopefully he can get time off; I'd like to have him come with us so I'd get a better idea of who he may be. But again, not a word to Bender for now, OK?"
"Our lips are sealed," Ferris made a zipping motion across his lips.
"Although if the guy's going to be at the conference, John's going to find out one way or another," Cameron shuddered, "And I just want to be far away when that happens."
"I hope it doesn't come to that, Cameron, I really don't," Claire winced. She turned at the sound of excited cries from the lake. "So I guess everyone's enjoying it out there?" she leaned over the roof's wall, her smile returning.
"Yep; near as we can see from here, the double As are reenacting tonight's earlier cruise, and the science wizzes are doing a little stargazing to celebrate their great victory," Ferris said, pointing at the outlines of the boats on the lake.
"Great," Claire's smile got wider. "You know, it's really ironic in a way," she said out loud, "A couple of us were worried about Brian ending up the odd one out in detention, and now he's got the happiest relationship out of all of us. So we really had nothing to worry about with him. And it's really been great to see him blossom as a person after he and Melissa started dating; she's brought out such wonderful character traits in him that I think he never knew he had. So I hope they really do have a long term future; what they've had these last few months has turned out to be really special..."
"There, there goes another one!" Melissa excitedly pointed at the night sky out on the lake.
"Where?" Brian rapidly turned his telescope to follow her finger.
"Right between Merak and Dubhe; keep watching, maybe we'll get another one," she said, training her own telescope intently on the Big Dipper.
"I'm not sure if...I've got another one, going through Draco!" it was Brian's turn to point.
"I see it, I see it! This is the best shower I've seen in a long time!" she exclaimed happily, "Twenty already since we came out; the Perseids haven't been this good for at least three years...right there, three of them in Andromeda!"
"Got them!" he noted the streaking meteors going through the constellation in question. "Wouldn't it be great if a comet came through here too, especially if it was one they hadn't discovered yet, and we could name it together?"
"I would love to have a comet named after me," she sighed with delight, "Winters' Comet; even if it passed through in the summer like this, that has a nice ring to it...really big one, passing by Jupiter!" she pointed at another meteor. "It's so beautiful up here," she mused out loud, "And this is the clearest I've seen the stars in a long time; it's great to be this far away from urban pollution."
"Yeah, it really is beautiful up there. But you know," Brian turned his telescope sideways towards her, "There's lots of things that are even more beautiful on this planet right now..."
"Oh stop!" she teased him, giving him a playful shove. "Oh no, clouds," she sighed, seeing a large bank of them streaking across the sky now, blotting out a good part of the heavens, "I hate when they have to intrude on a perfect night..."
"Hopefully they'll pass soon," Brian reasoned, laying down his telescope and leaning back against the side of the boat to wait for the sky to clear again.
"Hope so," Melissa did the same. "I just want to say thank you so much for helping me today, Brian," she commended him, giving him a warm kiss on the cheek, "I just know I would have given in to my own doubt and botched the whole presentation to the president if you hadn't been a rock standing behind me the whole time. These may be my rocket designs, but this is your victory too."
"Well, more yours than mine," he rubbed her shoulder, "I just want to work with you on them wherever you go from here. And like I said, I've felt what you felt today myself loads of times; you just have to push yourself to get it done, to believe you can do it."
"I'll keep that in mind going forward," Melissa shivered softly, "It sure does cool down quick here in the summer, though. Good thing I brought a sweater," she gestured at the one she was wearing.
"Mmm hmm," Brian mused, glancing at his own sweater. After a moment's silence, he asked her, "What the best viewing conditions you've ever had, without light pollution?"
"Well," Melissa thought it over, "Probably up in Minnesota when I was eleven. We were visiting my grandparents, who had this big isolated farmhouse way up near Greenbush. Dad drove me out deep into their fields, and it was just magical; everything was crystal clear up in the sky, even the Milky Way. And the Northern Lights made an appearance too that night. It's hard to find proper dark skies around Chicago, although we've searched hard for as many as we can. This is definitely a top five, though," she gestured up at the still cloud-covered sky over the lake.
"Yep," Brian agreed. There was another moment of silence before he asked, "Tell you what, Melissa, why don't we just forget about college?"
"Huh?" she turned to him, confused.
"Why don't we just stay out here on the lake for the rest of our lives, just you, me, and the cosmos?" he proposed, "No worries, no schoolwork, no job hassles, just relaxing peace and quiet?"
"Tag, you're it!" came Andrew and Allison's simultaneous shout to them as they zoomed past the brains' boat again for the third time in the last half hour. "You win," Brian waved to them. "Well, mostly peace and quiet," he conceded to his girlfriend, "How about it, though?"
"Well I would hate to be that alone, Brian. But yeah, I do appreciate the peacefulness here," she admitted, "And it would be great not having to worry about having all the pressure to get the best grades you can anymore..."
"Speaking of that, I've been meaning to ask," Brian turned to her, "When did you really, really start feeling the pressure to, well, you know, be the smartest one in your class? When did you feel like your parents started to put the squeeze on you for it-unknowingly and innocently in their case, of course?"
"Hmm," Melissa mused softly. "I was eight," she recalled, "I'd gotten a hundred percent on ten straight math tests. Mom was so proud that she got permission for me to come in to her eighth grade math class so she could use my grades to inspire her students. I felt great that she felt that highly of me-but at the same time, I got the impression she wanted nothing less from me from that moment forward. So I started pushing myself harder to maintain myself. And looking back, I sacrificed a lot of happiness to do it, to the point where, right before I started getting really depressed, I just hated myself. How about you?"
"It was the last day of second grade," Brian remembered, "For the first time in my life, I managed to get straight As. Mom and Dad were just so proud; they hugged me and kissed me like there was no tomorrow, and they told me how excited they were that I could be so good. And they took me out for pizza and ice cream to celebrate. I was glad to see them so happy and proud of me, and I wanted to keep it that way. I've always wanted to make them happy more than anything; they just...they've just asked too much of me sometimes. Everything I've done in the classroom since then, I guess I've been trying to get back to that original high, to get that feeling again. And I think they did too, and that's part of why they...they pushed as hard as they did over all the years."
"I'm sorry you had to be put through that," Melissa rubbed his shoulder sympathetically.
"I appreciate it," he smiled at her, "At least they never got physical; they'd get upset if I didn't score as well as they'd hoped sometimes, but at least they never hit or demeaned me. But the more I look at it now that I know more, they're not really the villains; they were running from their own demons all those years. Dad was the son of a college professor who did beat him when he failed to score high enough in the classroom. Mom drove herself to be class valedictorian through sheer will to try and stand out in her extra large family, but at the cost of a few friends who didn't like that she marginalized them while trying to be the best in her class. They've spent all this time trying to escape from all that, but they couldn't, and in a way, they ended up becoming the things they were afraid of. So even though some people might say I have every reason to hate them for pushing me like they have, I just can't hate them, not after knowing now what they went through. Besides, I love and respect them too much to ever hate them. But ever since the competition, they have changed for the better; they tell me now not to worry about what they think and just do what I can on tests, that they love me for being their son. And I'm glad they have changed."
"I guess seeing you lying there in the hospital bed in front of them seemingly dead touched a nerve for them like it did for me," Melissa mused softly.
"You'd have to be really cold-hearted and beyond hope not to have that touch a nerve," Brian agreed, "And thankfully, it did affect them enough to want to change. Even Mary's not as spiteful towards me as she used to be. Which reminds me: that second grade party I mentioned was also the last great moment with just Mom, Dad, and I before they told me Mom was pregnant again. I spent the next year after that living in terror that the new baby would be even smarter than me, and I'd get pushed away and forgotten. But I needn't have worried; if Mary had her way, she'd skip school twice as often as Ferris does."
"You can't get lucky with every kid," Melissa shrugged. "I do think college should be less pressure-packed for us, though. Away from home, no peer pressure from others around us, I hope we really get to blossom."
"I'd be satisfied to make dean's list a little more than half the time we're at Northwestern. But you know what?" Brian turned again and looked deep into her soft brown eyes, "I'd happily fail every course in college if it meant I could have you for all eternity, Melissa. Since we've started going out, I've realized that everything I spent all those years striving for in the classroom isn't as important as having someone around to care for. And I care for you more than anyone I've ever met. I'd do absolutely anything for you: I'd give you all the jewels and gold in the world, I'd crown you as queen of every single nation, I'd fight every bully in the country for your honor, I'd...I'd take a hundred bullets for you if it ever came to that. I'm, I'm not sounding corny or dopey, am I?" he asked her hesitantly.
"Not in the least," she leaned her head into his chest and looked up at him with a deep smile, "They say chivalry's dead, but I know it's not, because I have my very own knight in shining armor, one with the kindest heart of anyone I've ever met. You've done more for me over these last four months than anyone I've known in all the years before, Brian. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you; any girl would want to with someone who treats them as special as you've treated me."
"A beautiful princess like you should always be treated special," he hugged her close, "And you are a true princess, Melissa, and don't ever let anyone tell you any differently, or they'll have to answer to me."
"I love you, Brian Ralph Johnson," her smile got wider.
"I love you, Melissa Christine Winters," he leaned towards her, and soon their lips locked in a passionate kiss. Above them, the clouds had passed, and the stars shone down on the lake again, but the only thing that mattered to them was each other.
"Congratulations, you two," a beaming Bill Stanpovalichki applauded from the far shore of the lake, watching the romance unfold from afar. "It's always great when two lonely souls who think they'll never find the right person find deep love with each other, Keema," he rubbed his dog on the back, "That makes our job a double pleasure to know we've made two of our former clients that much happier in their lives-even if she doesn't know we were watching over her when she felt suicidal too."
He grabbed hold of the Labrador's leash. "Well, seems like everyone's doing mostly well up here so far," he told the dog, "Of course, we'll still check in every now and then, but I think it's time we enjoy ourselves a little more. What do you say we hike up to the top of the mountain and take in the whole lake tonight?"
Keema answered by whimpering and running behind a log. "What? What's...?" Stanpovalichki stopped and shuddered at an ominous growling in the woods behind them. A large form was moving through the trees-one that did not have any hair on its head or hindquarters. "Good point, Keema," he agreed with his pet, sliding out of sight behind a tree, "Even though we're safe since we're already dead, better wait until the Bald-Headed Bald-Butted Killer Bear of Claire County leaves the area before heading on out of here. Hope it stays away from humans while we're here at the lake, especially our old friends..."
