Chapter 20: #Can'tGoBack, #MustGoForward

Song: Michael Franti and Spearhead – "Do You Feel the Way That I Do?"

Calvin and Susie returned to the tree house's living room where Jimmy, Cheryl and Hobbes sat in the comfy chairs. Calvin sat down in his own armchair while Susie went to the minifridge.
"How'd it go?" Cheryl asked, sipping a glass of red wine.
Calvin shrugged. "Moe's not going to be a problem for much longer. This is high school anyway. When we get out in the real world, jerks like Moe won't be nearly as scary any more."
"What are you planning to do anyway?" Jimmy piped up. "I've never heard you talk about your future."
Calvin jerked in surprise, and changed topic at the speed of light. "Have you been practicing using your imagination?"
Jimmy set his face in concentration, and a second later; he had created a whiteboard on a blank space of tree house wall. As Calvin watched in shock, a stick of chalk floated up and wrote the words "Don't change the subject."

Calvin grinned wryly. "Nice one, Sauchak."
Jimmy nodded. "I figured I should get my message across somehow."
"Well, that's pretty impressive," Susie cleared her throat. "But you're avoiding the question again. What do you want to do with yourself?"
Calvin sighed. "I don't know. I've got so many people telling me different things to do with my life."
"You should listen to yourself," Cheryl interrupted. "It should be your decision what you want to do with your life, not anyone else's."
"But that's just it!" Calvin exclaimed. "I don't know what I want to do yet, and I'm scared of starting down the wrong path and wasting my time. If I'm not a thousand percent sure about my future, I can't commit!"

Calvin got up from the chair and paced around the tree house, still talking. "Jimmy, you know what you're doing; that engineering course at NYU. You're gonna be designing technology and inventing to your heart's content. Cheryl, you've got a scholarship with Martha Rogers' acting school in New York. Even you know what you want, Susie; you're studying to be a lawyer already!"
Calvin sat back down heavily and sighed. "I just don't know. I know I'm good at art, but I don't live and breathe it like some people do. And that's gonna make it really hard to get a career in the art world. Everyone's just so damn competitive."
"Why don't you study to be a mechanic instead?" Jimmy asked.

Every head turned to Jimmy in surprise. "What?" he asked innocently.
Calvin put his chin in his hand and took on a very thoughtful look. "I never thought about that."
"It's pretty obvious," Jimmy replied casually. "I mean, you built your bike from practically nothing."
Susie nodded. "He's right. I remember I laughed at you when you brought that wrecked frame to your house. I thought you'd just give up with it." She blushed. "I'm glad you didn't though."

"Not to mention," Jimmy continued, "You fixed it perfectly after Moe ran it over. I can think of lots of auto shops that would have just written your bike off as scrap."
"That's actually a good idea," Calvin nodded. "I can't believe I didn't see it was right in front of me this whole time."
"You'd be surprised how dense you can be sometimes," Hobbes grinned from his chair. Calvin stuck out his tongue at the tiger.

Suddenly a thought occurred to Calvin. "Since you gave me that inspiration, Sauchak, I'll give you some too."
Jimmy's face turned from confusion, to understanding, to shock, to sheer panic in the time it took Calvin's head to turn towards Cheryl.
Calvin cleared his throat. "Cheryl, Jimmy and I were discussing something a few days ago."
Suddenly, cartoon-style gloved hands appeared and slapped themselves over Calvin's mouth. Calvin looked indignantly at Jimmy, voice muffled.
Jimmy shakily stood up from his chair and walked over to Cheryl's.

Cheryl watched Jimmy trying to form words for a few seconds, and smiled widely. "Yes," she nodded. Calvin's eyes narrowed over the glove that still held his mouth shut, and Cheryl rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on," she smirked, "was it supposed to be some big surprise? Yes, I would love to go to the prom with you, Jimmy."
Susie and Hobbes clapped excitedly.
"You're lucky you asked me now," Cheryl continued. "I was going to ask Calvin if you didn't, but since he's going with Susie, Hobbes was always an option."

The next three seconds' stunned silence was broken by Cheryl cracking up laughing. "You should have seen your faces!"
Jimmy began to look around wildly, and Cheryl calmed down and stood up, taking his hand.
"I'm joking," she said quietly. "I'm really glad you finally asked me."
With that, Cheryl stepped forward and pulled Jimmy into a deep kiss. Calvin and Susie smiled. "About time," Calvin whispered.

Song: Blackbear – "Slide Thru"
Some time later, the four teenagers and the tiger were celebrating in a booth at Bob's Booze Basement. Everyone shared a bottle of champagne and a pitcher of Bob's famous cider. Cheryl snuggled into Jimmy's shoulder while the genius blushed red. Hobbes smirked. "What's the matter, Jimmy? I thought you and Cheryl were already a thing?"
"We didn't put a label on it until now," Cheryl explained. Jimmy nodded. "I guess I was just a little nervous."
"Well," Susie grinned, "Me and Calvin are happy for you."

Just then, Bob the barman strolled over, holding out another pitcher of cider. "Can I tempt you guys?" he smiled.
Calvin shook his head. "No thanks, Bobby. We're just here for a couple drinks, and Jimmy's taking us home."
Bob nodded and walked to the next table. As he turned around, the axe tucked in his belt flashed in the bar's dim lights. Hobbes glanced nervously at the weapon. "Why does the bartender carry an axe?" he nudged Calvin.
Calvin smirked. "In case a homicidal psycho jungle cat comes in the bar."
Hobbes bared his teeth at Calvin, who quickly backtracked. "Or in case he needs to break up a bar fight."

Song: Humble the Poet – "#Can'tGoBack" ft. Sickick & Yucifer (lyric version)
As if to prove the point, a crash from the next table drew everyone's attention. A huge biker-looking guy had spilled his beer all over a smaller man wearing a t-shirt with a dog on it. The shorter man stood up and faced the biker down. "You son of a bitch!" he roared, letting loose with a wild swing. The biker crashed backwards into his group's table, and all hell broke loose.
Calvin and Susie threw themselves sideways to dodge a flying chair. The chair sailed past the table and smashed into the back of another patron. "That's gotta hurt!" Jimmy gasped.

A table full of men wearing black exploded into motion, fists and feet flying. Insignias on the backs of their jackets proclaimed them to belong to the Jim Jones School of Martial Arts.
"Hey!" Cheryl pointed over with a laugh. "What are the chances?"
The karate team was making short work of most of the drunken fighters, knocking people's heads together left and right. At the back of the pub, Bob leaned forward over the bar, serving beer to people who had wisely decided to stay out of the fight. Suddenly, a bottle smashed against the wall behind Bob's head, breaking another bottle full of aged whisky. Bob scowled, plucked his axe from his belt loop, and threw it full-force into the brawl.

A noise like a gong rang out and the entire bar fight froze. Everyone's heads swiveled to the far wall, where Bob's axe was buried in a Viking shield, right between the heads of two people frozen in mid-punch, looks of terror on their faces. Calvin and Susie nudged the others. "Time to go," Calvin muttered. "Before Bob brings out the crossbow or the sword." Soon, the four teens and the tiger were sitting in the leather seats of Jimmy's Camaro, on their way to Jimmy's house. When the black muscle car pulled into the driveway, Jimmy's mom opened her front door. "Jimmy, where have you been?" she asked worriedly.
"It's okay Ms. Sauchak!" Calvin called. "We were just at Bob's!"
Ms. Sauchak relaxed and smiled. "Hello everyone."
Just then, a shout echoed from inside the house. "Betty! Where the hell is my beer already?"
Ms. Sauchak sighed and turned back into the house.

"Jimmy?" Cheryl asked, "Who was that?"
"That's Mat, my mom's boyfriend," Jimmy replied sadly. "He's a…"
Calvin spat. "He sounds like a douche bag."
Jimmy nodded. "He is, but he's rich, so we put up with him. He doesn't know it, but I've been siphoning money from him so I can keep buying materials for my projects. He just thinks I sell my tech on the side." Jimmy finished the sentence with a nasty grin.
Calvin snickered. "Nice work Jimmy. I can think of a few people I'd like to do that to."
Susie followed Calvin over to where he'd left his bike next to Jimmy's garage. Calvin was already straddling the chopper, zipping up his leather jacket.
"See you guys at school," Calvin grinned, twisting the bike's ignition key. The black chopper's v-twin woke up with a growl, and Susie slid onto the seat behind Calvin.

Back at the Watterson house, Susie and Calvin dismounted the chopper, and Susie handed Calvin's helmet back to him. Just then, the front doors of both the Watterson and Derkins houses flew open. Calvin and Susie shared a look before both their mothers approached.
"Right on time, you two!" Mrs. Derkins beamed. "The tailors just called this afternoon; they said your prom outfits are ready!"
Calvin's mom jingled her car keys. "We can go for pizza or something afterwards."
Susie turned to Calvin and shrugged. "I'm game if you are."
Calvin sighed and leaned his bike onto its kickstand.

Song: Machine Gun Kelly – "Trap Paris" (ft. Ty Dolla $ign & Quavo)
The Watterson family's Mercedes G Class 6x6 cruised down the freeway, music pumping on the stereo. The two mothers sat in front, while Calvin and Susie sat snuggled up in the backseat. In the distance, the city's huge shopping mall grew larger in the windshield. Calvin's mom drove off the freeway and pulled into the enormous mall's parking lot. Calvin and Susie clambered out of the lifted truck, and brushed themselves off, getting ready to receive their prom outfits.

Meanwhile, Moe and his cronies hung out in his room. Moe's parents were both gone; his dad was out drinking and his mom was at the nail salon.
"You know how you're gonna get even with Watterson yet?" Mick asked, fiddling with a broken lamp.
"I'm gonna humiliate that little asshole," Moe growled. "I'm gonna mess him up so bad that no one will ever like him again."

Author's Notes:
I'm not dead. Life just happened, a lot.
Basically, over the course of three months, I lost a job, wrecked my car, found another job, lost that job, and generally went through some shit.
Hopefully I can get back to posting regularly, because I know people have been missing me and my stories. I'll try and put out another Last Firefly update soon.
Thanks for being patient while I try and get my life back on track.
-the Seacopath