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Chapter 4 - Beginning

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Friday at Arcadia High passed by in a whirlwind. Nobody, including the administration and the staff, wanted to be there, and so when the last bell of the day rang everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Joan headed home with Adam to load his truck and Helen headed to the Giradi house to pick up her and Joan's luggage. By 5 PM that evening, each armed with directions to the exhibit hall and the hotel, they set of with Joan riding shotgun with Adam.

The three hour trip passed quickly, with only a short stop for fast food on the way. Joan and Adam passed the time swapping stories of elementary school teachers and antics....

"Jane, you're kidding me right? You actually stood up in front of your entire third grade class and announced that you were going to be an astronaut?"

"Yeah, pretty stupid, huh?"

"Well given what I know about you now I'd say yes, but maybe I wouldn't have said that then. What made you change your mind?"

"About two weeks later I found out that astronauts needed to actually 'like' math and science. That was the end of my aspirations to be an astronaut. What about you?"

"In third grade, let's see, I think that was about the time Grace and I decided we wanted to grow up and become Butch Cassady and the Sundance Kid."

"Which one of you was going to be Butch and which one Sundance?"

"Grace has sworn me to secrecy, so I'll never tell. It's the 'code of the west' ya know."

"I can respect that. Though the thought of Grace at what, eight years old, that's something hard to imagine."

"She's changed quite a bit since then....We both have."

"That's normal though Adam, kids grow up, their interests change. Not hard to imagine over eight years. Sometimes significant changes can take place in just a few months or even weeks."

At her comment Adam glanced over from his driving and then back quickly to the road. He still hadn't told her that things between he and Iris were over. How would she react? Would she be ready to try a more definite relationship with him now? Or had he ruined that chance by pushing his relationship with Iris at her every chance he got.

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When they arrived on campus, the first place that both Mrs. Giradi and Adam headed for was the exhibition hall. Artists that were exhibiting had been asked to unload their works and move them into their designated areas before 10 PM that evening. While Mrs. Giradi completed the paperwork portion of Adam's registration, Joan assisted him in moving a few of his largest pieces into place. Mrs. Giradi had joined the two of them when she had finished with the registration and the work had gone pretty quickly after that. When 10 PM arrived the three of them, somewhat tired and frazzled from a long day, headed out of the hall and off to the hotel.

As they walked down the hotel hallway and reached the adjoining doors to their rooms, Helen offered, "I for one will be glad to get off my feet and to bed. It's been a long day."

"I'll agree with that," replied Adam. "For once I think I might be able to actually fall right asleep. Maybe it's the excitement of the whole exhibit thing."

"Adam, how about we meet up at 7:00 here in the hall to go down to breakfast," suggested Helen.

"Sounds good," Adam replied.

"Well good night then Adam," said Helen.

"Good night Mrs. Giradi."

"Joan, are you ready to go in?"

"Excuse me Mrs. G, but could I talk to Jane for just a minute?"

"Yes, yes of course. See you in the morning. Don't be long, either one of you. Tomorrow will be a busy and exciting day."

With that, Helen entered the room she was sharing with Joan and closed the door. Joan realized that she was embarrassed standing there waiting to say good night to Adam. Through all of that last conversation between Adam and her mom, she'd not said anything and now with her mom gone, Joan found that she still wasn't sure what to say.

"Jane?"

Joan looked up at Adam, and as it had happened so many times before in the six months they'd known each other, once their gazes met, there wasn't really any need to say anything at all.

After a moment and knowing her mom had meant the 'don't be long' thing, Jane broke the silence.

"Thanks Adam for asking me to come along."

"Cha Jane. You know that I wanted you to be here more than anything. I should be saying thanks to you."

Adam really wanted to say a lot more than just thanks, but he knew that right now wasn't quite the right time or place. The silence between them stretched out again from seconds to nearly a minute when all either could do was stare at the other.

This time it was Adam who broke the silence simply by offering a quiet, "Good night Jane."

"Good night Adam, I'll see you in the morning."

Then with just a shared smile, they each turned and went into their rooms.