Well, it has been a while, hasn't it? That new position that I was given when I was fired is a shift that starts at 1800 (military time), which is usually the time that I would sit down to write my story and get ready for bed for my previous shift. Thus, I have been adjusting and trying to get into a new groove on the other side of the clock. Also, I've started school and my family has some drama happening. So sorry for the wait for the update. I hope that this one doesn't disappoint too much. Without further ado, onwards! (200 pages on the word processor…wow…)
"I remember my first gentleman caller." Miss Miller looked up at the ceiling and seemed to have gotten lost in her memories. Brittany flicked some of the pot roast around her plate in a bored manner, Eleanor pinched the bridge of her nose in agitation, and Jeanette found herself staring with wide eyes at her folded hands in her lap. She was certain that her face was a vibrant crimson. Jeanette would have given anything to have her guardian stop mentioning in a round-a-bout way that the boys were gentlemen callers for her girls.
As Miss Miller continued her trip down memory lane, Jeanette glanced at the boys. Theodore, who was sitting next to Brittany, was looking rather confused. He probably didn't know what a gentlemen caller was, and Eleanor, sitting on his other side, was in no way willing to tell him. Alvin was sitting next to Miss Miller, using the elderly woman as a divider between himself and Brittany, had taken out his cell phone and was texting. Jeanette thought that his attitude had been rather rude the entire meal, but there seemed to be something between him and Brittany, since both weren't acting like their normal selves.
She steeled herself before glancing over at Simon, sitting right next to her. Her heart seemed like it was going to burst through her chest and the weight of the locket, resting so close to it, reminded her of her affections to the boy. His face was earnest as he looked at Miss Miller. "Then he scooped me up in his arms," Miss Miller droned on, and Simon seemed to narrow his eyes, causing Jeanette to start thinking that maybe, just maybe, he was thinking of her. "And that, dear children, was quite bold of him. But I allowed him to scoop me on to his skis and we raced down Mount Kilimanjaro together and we didn't get off the skis until we were ready to board the river boat that would take us up the great Mississippi. Or was it the Amazon? And maybe the mountain was Mount Everest."
Jeanette turned her face and looked in confusion at her mother before turning her head to Simon. He seemed to be wearing the same expression as he looked back at Jeanette, almost asking her to explain any of what her mother had said. But Jeanette had no explanations to give him, or any for herself. "My second gentleman caller was even more romantic than that," Miss Miller prepared to continue.
If someone didn't do something, then Miss Miller would hold them all captive with stories that were probably not true of all her lovers that were in her life. Jeanette's mind raced, struggling to find something to distract her mother or to stop her mother from continuing what she was so bound and determined to do. She did not want Simon to hear all this, especially since the guy was smart enough to figure out exactly what Miss Miller was implying. But Jeanette couldn't think of a thing to say or do.
"Miss Miller," Brittany absently interrupted as Miss Miller was regaling the crowd about her clown lover when she was traveling in a circus. "Aren't your shows almost on?"
"Heavens!" Miss Miller exclaimed, getting up from the table in a hurry. "Clean up, won't you girls? Boys, it was a pleasure meeting you and I do home that you will come and visit again."
And in a whirlwind of talcum powder, Miss Miller left the kitchen to go into her bedroom, which was the renovated old dining room. Soon enough, they all could hear the television in that room turned up at full volume so that Miss Miller could hear her shows. The six left at the table all breathed a sigh of relief.
"That was…ah…interesting." Simon muttered out, taking off his glasses and cleaning them.
"If by interesting, you mean insane? Then yea, I can agree with you." Alvin leaned back in his chair and pocketed his phone. Jeanette could see that Alvin had caught Brittany's eye, but then the two looked away from each other with straight faces.
"I didn't think it was that bad," Theodore piped up, getting out of his chair and helping Eleanor clear the table. Jeanette listened to Eleanor tell Theodore he didn't have to help and Theodore insisting that he wanted to help. She noticed the two share some sort of glance with each other with smiles.
If she were to really think about it and compare what she was seeing, it seemed as if the three pairs of friends were on completely different levels. Brittany and Alvin had something happen between them that made them not even want to fight with each other right now. They were pretty much ignoring each other the best they could. Theodore and Eleanor were obviously getting closer to each other and Jeanette was struggling not to call them a couple, in case they weren't. Then there was her and Simon. With all the problems that Simon had been having with his own traumatic past and his inability to get over it, and the fact that she was so shy and had such a low confidence level…he also might be gay, so there seemed to just be an awkward, one-sided love in their own mix.
Soon, and barely realizing it, both she and Simon were up from the table and helping put away dinner and clean up. Brittany and Alvin were content with just watching their siblings do all the work. But with the four working together, dinner was completely cleaned up in no time and they were all sitting back at the table with each other.
"We have to talk low, or else Miss Miller will hear us," Brittany started, putting her elbows on the table and leaning on them. "But we need to get a few things cleared up before any more time passes. First and foremost, what does Darren want from you?" Brittany directed her stern eyes at Jeanette. Jeanette flinched back. She didn't think that anyone knew that Darren had been talking with her.
"N-n-nothing! He was just talking with me, that's all." Jeanette took a shaky breath in and out, wrenching her hands and unable to look up at anyone from the table.
"Uh-huh, right Jeanette. I just so happened to see a whole bunch of flirting in the hall today, but I must have imagined that. Just like I am imagining you lying to me right now."
Jeanette could just die. She could feel all eyes on her at the table. And she really could feel Simon's eyes on her as well. She hated that she couldn't lie as well as the others and she was beginning to regret all that had happened with her and Darren. She knew that he had been involved with Brittany, so she was going against a sister code. But Jeanette couldn't help it. She had been feeling so lost and unwanted with her dealings with Simon that finding a boy willing to flirt with her was a breath of fresh air and made her feel pretty for probably the first time in her life.
"We're waiting, Netta," Brittany prompted.
"I…um…" Jeanette began to stutter out. She was praying that the subject would drop or that something would happen to interrupt them, but there didn't seem to be anything to save her. "He asked me out for Valentine's Day." She glanced up at the faces.
Brittany had rose from her seat, biting her lip hard, and staring with wide and angry eyes down at her sister. Alvin was looking very suspicious at her. Eleanor and Theodore were wide-eyed and in disbelief. Finally, she looked at Simon. She thought that he looked hurt, but perhaps that was just the concern in his eyes.
After a while of silence, Brittany regained her composure and released the death grip that her teeth had on her lip to keep herself from exclaiming loudly. "And you said?" Brittany continued the conversation.
In almost a whisper, Jeanette sheepishly replied. "Yes."
The pattern then repeated again. Brittany was up out of her chair and all the faces looked exactly the same, except that Simon's face was now showing a new emotion that Jeanette couldn't quite place. Perhaps it was jealousy? She dismissed the thought quickly. He wouldn't be jealous. What was there about her for him to be jealous about anyway?
Once again, when things calmed down, Brittany looked pointedly at Jeanette. "You need to go back to him and turn him down."
"But Brittany, I already told him I would go with him."
"He's bad news, Jeanette!"
"I-I know that you don't get a-along with h-h-him anymore, b-but he seems n-nice."
"I broke his nose for a reason. He's pushy and just wants to get into someone's pants. He only goes after popular girls, but now he wants to go after you?"
"Maybe he sees me for me and not what I look like."
Eleanor had been growing concerned with this rapidly, and Jeanette couldn't figure out why Eleanor would be looking as if everything was dangerous. "You are beautiful, Jeanette," Eleanor put in. "But after what happened with Theodore, I'm beginning to think that something else might be up."
"What do you mean?" Alvin finally stepped into the conversation. Theodore nodded to her.
"That needle was going specifically to Theodore and no one else. What if it was a personal attack? I know that you don't exactly get along with Darren, Alvin. You pissed him off. So what if you did that to someone else in the school and they decided to get their gang to go after Theodore. The attacker would get back at you by going after something you really love. Darren could be doing the same thing."
Alvin had listened intently. Jeanette could see it in his face. By the end of Eleanor's speech, his eyes narrowed and he was clenching his jaw. "Or it could be the same person. Darren is involved in a gang, but I can't figure out what gang that is."
"If you didn't piss him off, I could have figured that out." Brittany told Alvin nonchalantly.
"If I didn't piss him off, what would have happened?" He spat back. The two were now acting civil, but not putting in much emotion. "Listen, both you and I made him mad. He knows you love your sisters and its common knowledge that I support my dorky brothers." Both boys rolled their eyes. "So he goes out and attacks my little brother, being the one that he would like is less psychotic than the other." Simon glared at Alvin. "Then he goes out and is trying to get close to Jeanette."
"My weakest link," Brittany mumbled, nodding to herself. "I get what you're saying." Brittany took a deep breath and closed her eyes before looking pointedly at Jeanette again. "Ditch the date. This guy is trouble."
"There may be more to it," Eleanor put in, not allowing Jeanette to respond. "I have the suspicion that this might be an attack on the Vigilante."
"How do you figure that?" Simon implored, finally shaking whatever it was that had kept him quiet.
"It could be! Darren was begging me for information that I might have about the Vigilante," Brittany put in hurriedly.
"But how? If it was an attack on the Vigilante, then we would be pursued at the Vigilante."
"Maybe not. The guy just doesn't want us out on the streets. It wouldn't matter how he stopped us just that he did. And we can't exactly go all out in fighting people at school or dressed like this. We would be too conspicuous. We are the weakest the way we are now." Theodore frowned at Eleanor as he spoke.
"Then that's it. We'll all go out on Valentine's Day as the Vigilante. No dates," Brittany pointed her finger at Jeanette.
"Yea, we don't have time for anything like that, anyway," Alvin put in just a little bitterly.
Jeanette shook her head. "No, I gave him my word and I won't break the promise. If he really does have cruel intentions for me, I think I can take care of myself. A-and people change every day. I-it's not like I'm…um…unlovable or anything like that."
Brittany leaned closer, looking softly at Jeanette. "I didn't say that no one would ever love you. But this guy is worse than your last crush," Jeanette blushed fiercely. He was still her crush, and sitting right next to her. And he had been quiet for a long time and she had refused to even glance in his direction.
"I'm with Brittany," Eleanor put in comfortingly. "This isn't the type of guy you want. Just because someone asks you out, it doesn't mean you have to accept it. You have a right to say no."
"Yea, all that and we're all going hunting that night." Alvin decided to chime in, looking at her with a bored expression.
"No, not all of us," Theodore put in. The conversation seemed to stop in its tracks. Theodore puffed out his chest and Jeanette could see the resolve in his eyes. "Eleanor and I are going on a date that night. So you'll have to go without us."
Eleanor beamed at Theodore and he smiled back. Simon seemed frozen again and in deep thought. He kept shifting his eyes over to Jeanette and then away from her. Alvin blinked a few times. "Excuse me?" Alvin said slowly and menacingly.
"We have a date that night. And there isn't anything that you can say that will stop us from it. That's final."
"Wait a minute!" Alvin began, his voice rising a little bit.
"Alvin, lower your volume," Simon cleared his throat. "Theodore has been wanting to take Eleanor out for a while now. You had a date with Brittany, so let Theodore go out with Eleanor. We'll just take another night off. It might be the last one for a while."
Alvin opened his mouth, but then slumped into his chair. He did get Theodore in trouble for that little stunt with the PA system, so he did owe Theodore one. He sighed and waved his hand, giving his consent in the way a king would. Simon rolled his eyes.
"Now that that's settled," Brittany looked again at Jeanette. "What are you going to do?"
"Since we don't have to hunt that night," Jeanette began slowly, "I'm going to continue on with my plans for that night." Seeing how Theodore had built up his resolved about something he wanted made Jeanette feel empowered. She may have had more in common with Simon, but her personality was more similar to Theodore's. At least, that's how she saw it.
It wasn't as if she really liked Darren. Jeanette truly cared for Simon and she felt that she would nearly die if he ever showed the slightest inkling to an attraction to her. But she also didn't want to be alone for the rest of her life. Everyone was finding their own partners and experiencing an important emotion. She was left with nothing. Before Simon even became a part of her life, she never felt lonely or unwanted. But now those emotions were pouring in to her and she was being forced to bask in them. And even if it meant worthless one dates with people she was certain didn't really care about her as much as they could, she still wanted to experience the romance of high school. Yes, she had made up her mind.
"I know that you're worried about it. But I will be fine."
"I'm not dropping this." Brittany was looking menacing. Jeanette nodded and glanced over at Simon. He was clenching and unclenching his hands that were in his lap, scowling darkly at them, but obviously miles away. She hadn't seen that look on his face for a little while now. His monster had joined their conversation.
"Simon," Alvin called out. That broke Simon out of his trance and the boys locked eyes. They had one of their subtle and silent conversations for a little while before Alvin nodded. "You have my permission." Simon nodded.
The six sat in silence again. Then Eleanor excused herself, ran up the stairs, and then came back down again after a few moments. "There's only one more thing for us to talk about," she said, returning into the kitchen. She handed the needle to Simon, being careful not to prick herself in case it was a dirty needle. "Can you tell what's in there?"
"What is this?" Simon said, holding the needle to the light and peering at the fluid inside of it.
"That's what they almost put in Theodore."
"And you brought it with you?"
"I was hoping you could tell me what they were going to do with Theodore."
Simon examined the entire needle again. "It will take some work, but I think I can do it. It might be a good idea to know if they just wanted to hurt or to kill. I'll see what I can do."
Jeanette had leaned over and was looking at the needle herself. She knew that Eleanor had taken it, but she didn't know where Eleanor had put it. But it seemed like somewhat clear liquid and nothing else.
Shortly after, since the atmosphere between Alvin and Brittany was so weird when they weren't talking about their afterschool hobby, the boys got up to go home. Alvin led the way and ignored Brittany entirely. Theodore and Eleanor were chatting happily to each other and making plans on where they were going to go for their date. Jeanette was positive that a nice restaurant was in the plans. She walked quietly with Simon.
As coats were being handed out, Jeanette put her hand on Simon's forearm. He turned and looked at Jeanette. "Are you okay, Simon?" She asked very quietly. "You had a very scary face on at one point tonight." His eyes flickered. He was reading between the lines, the way that she wanted him to.
"I'm fine, Jeanette. Don't you worry," he patted her hand and then removed it from his arm so he could put on his coat. After the boys left, Jeanette could help but worry more. If the monster was starting to return again, he wasn't going to tell her. He probably didn't trust her anymore. She sighed and went to get ready for bed.
Oh my, so many reviews! Thank you! And once again, sorry for not updating sooner. I will not be one of those "takes months to update" types of authors, I promise. I also promise that I will finish this story. I guess I should reply to the reviews, then. :)
Cutie Mary—Alvin and Brittany's relationship is a little rocky right now. So I can't swing a real date. But don't think that means that there will be no Alvittany and all that good stuff. And I'm building up the fight scenes again. Please be patient and thank you so much for your support.
Chipmunkfan—Once again, a lot of stuff has happened in the last chapter too. I just don't know where to start in replying to your review. I'll just say thanks and thanks for the PMs and all that.
Bratette—I know what you mean about the Alvin and Brittany thing. I really want to have them all start dating and live happily ever after. But the flow would be totally messed up. And those two like to complicate things, at least in my mind.
Polina—I really really really want to write more Simonettes. And a really good one is coming in the next chapter or two. Just hang in there! And yea, the slow updating…it really does take a lot of adjustment from waking up at four in the morning every day to go to work to then having to stay up to four in the morning because of work. It's messing with my head.
Bookslover—I have some really good ones planned out. I just got to get there first. Haha
MMC—I wouldn't say that it's one of the best, but I know it's decent. Thank you for the compliment.
—Thank you for the great words of encouragement. I hope you like what I have in store for those two.
Finally, my dear 'Guest' readers—I'm updating today. Here it is. And hopefully I can update again real soon. Probably will keep writing tonight. It's only 11 pm and I have to force myself to stay up to about 2 or 3 am, just to straighten out my sleeping pattern.
Wow, this reply was long. Sorry about that guys. But I feel that if you take the time to review, I should take the time to reply. Thank you so much and I hope you like the next chapter better than this one. I hated this one, actually…