Chapter 3
Jonah grabbed a beer from his fridge and sprawled out on the couch. The Simpsons weren't on for another ten minutes, so he had some time to relax. He looked around his modest apartment and smiled at the organized chaos. Everything was as it should be. The 64" plasma TV and the X-box were the only things that most people would call clean. All the other furniture had various books, magazines, videos and food particles stuffed on them or in them.
He took a swig of his beer and thought back to the conversation he had had with Lauren yesterday about 'his folks'...or rather the lack of conversation. He lived alone, but that hadn't always been the case. When he first started going to Sierra High the Air Force had arranged for him to live with a local military family. The Blakes were a nice couple, but he and they didn't exactly get along too well. Ed had been in the Marines for over 20 years, and Lisa had been a successful pediatrician until she quit her job to raise their four kids. All they had been told about him was that he was a 15-year-old boy who needed someone to take him in, and they had readily agreed to do so.
In reality Jonah was a middle aged, disgruntled, special ops trained Air Force colonel, who had been forced to leave behind everything he knew, not a teenager who needed to be coddled. The Blakes, of course, were unaware of this fact and did not take kindly to his lifestyle...staying up all night watching TV, refusing to study because "he already knew everything he needed to know", and of course there was the beer...they wouldn't tolerate his drinking. He wasn't used to being treated like a teenager. Jonah had voiced his complaints to the Air Force, and after much negotiation it was decided that at the end of that school year Jonah would be allowed to move into his own apartment, provided he stayed in constant contact with the Air Force and that he would do nothing to compromise his identity or Air Force security. He was provided with an apartment and given a generous 'allowance' every month to take care of his needs.
Life since then had been quite predictable, which was of course a welcome change from the constant peril he was used to facing. Weekdays he went to school, a fact that he at first rejoiced at but now loathed. Granted, it was a lot easier this time around. But, there was still so much about it that he did not like. For one thing there was way too much homework. For another, he highly doubted most of his teachers knew what they were talking about. Lauren made it fun, Simon kept it interesting and Tito...well...Tito was just plain weird. On the weekends he hung out with Lauren whenever possible and Simon or Tito if it worked out. If he had had such friends the first time around, his life might have turned out differently. They ensured his high school days would be anything but uneventful. But, high school wouldn't last forever and he had of late begun to wonder what he was going to do after he graduated.
His thoughts about the future were interrupted by the phone ringing. The problem was, he couldn't find his cordless phone. After several minutes of hunting he discovered it under a stack of National Geographic magazines and tried not to sound too harried as he picked up. "Hello?"
He heard Lauren's sweet voice on the other end. "Hey Jonah, this is Lauren."
"Hey. What's up?"
"Well, I've been trying to study for that Chemistry test tomorrow and
I'm having trouble with the Stoichemistry. You know, the mass to mole
relationships and so on? I wanted to get to it earlier, but I had all
that Pre Calculus homework and... "
Her voice was filled with frustration. Jonah nodded sympathetically, although she obviously couldn't see it. He had never taken Chemistry in high school, but for some reason he had, according to his teacher, 'shown quite an aptitude for it.' As such he was given the opportunity to tutor Lauren every once in awhile. "Well, uh, do you want me to come over and give you a hand?"
She sighed with relief. "I was hoping you'd say that. My parents are out of town and I don't really think they'd want me leaving at this time of night to go someplace and study. And the library's closed and..."
"You're parents are out of town?"
Lauren laughed. "Is that all you heard me say?"
"Um...no comment?"
She laughed again. "Would your parents mind you coming over at this time of night?"
"Uh, no, they don't mind. As long as I'm in bed by midnight, they're pretty flexible."
He gritted his teeth through the lie. She sighed with relief. "Great. I'll see you in a little bit?"
"Yeah, absolutely."
"And Jonah...I really do need your help studying. We can't goof off."
"Of course. No goofing. I'll be right over."
Jonah grabbed a beer from his fridge and sprawled out on the couch. The Simpsons weren't on for another ten minutes, so he had some time to relax. He looked around his modest apartment and smiled at the organized chaos. Everything was as it should be. The 64" plasma TV and the X-box were the only things that most people would call clean. All the other furniture had various books, magazines, videos and food particles stuffed on them or in them.
He took a swig of his beer and thought back to the conversation he had had with Lauren yesterday about 'his folks'...or rather the lack of conversation. He lived alone, but that hadn't always been the case. When he first started going to Sierra High the Air Force had arranged for him to live with a local military family. The Blakes were a nice couple, but he and they didn't exactly get along too well. Ed had been in the Marines for over 20 years, and Lisa had been a successful pediatrician until she quit her job to raise their four kids. All they had been told about him was that he was a 15-year-old boy who needed someone to take him in, and they had readily agreed to do so.
In reality Jonah was a middle aged, disgruntled, special ops trained Air Force colonel, who had been forced to leave behind everything he knew, not a teenager who needed to be coddled. The Blakes, of course, were unaware of this fact and did not take kindly to his lifestyle...staying up all night watching TV, refusing to study because "he already knew everything he needed to know", and of course there was the beer...they wouldn't tolerate his drinking. He wasn't used to being treated like a teenager. Jonah had voiced his complaints to the Air Force, and after much negotiation it was decided that at the end of that school year Jonah would be allowed to move into his own apartment, provided he stayed in constant contact with the Air Force and that he would do nothing to compromise his identity or Air Force security. He was provided with an apartment and given a generous 'allowance' every month to take care of his needs.
Life since then had been quite predictable, which was of course a welcome change from the constant peril he was used to facing. Weekdays he went to school, a fact that he at first rejoiced at but now loathed. Granted, it was a lot easier this time around. But, there was still so much about it that he did not like. For one thing there was way too much homework. For another, he highly doubted most of his teachers knew what they were talking about. Lauren made it fun, Simon kept it interesting and Tito...well...Tito was just plain weird. On the weekends he hung out with Lauren whenever possible and Simon or Tito if it worked out. If he had had such friends the first time around, his life might have turned out differently. They ensured his high school days would be anything but uneventful. But, high school wouldn't last forever and he had of late begun to wonder what he was going to do after he graduated.
His thoughts about the future were interrupted by the phone ringing. The problem was, he couldn't find his cordless phone. After several minutes of hunting he discovered it under a stack of National Geographic magazines and tried not to sound too harried as he picked up. "Hello?"
He heard Lauren's sweet voice on the other end. "Hey Jonah, this is Lauren."
"Hey. What's up?"
"Well, I've been trying to study for that Chemistry test tomorrow and
I'm having trouble with the Stoichemistry. You know, the mass to mole
relationships and so on? I wanted to get to it earlier, but I had all
that Pre Calculus homework and... "
Her voice was filled with frustration. Jonah nodded sympathetically, although she obviously couldn't see it. He had never taken Chemistry in high school, but for some reason he had, according to his teacher, 'shown quite an aptitude for it.' As such he was given the opportunity to tutor Lauren every once in awhile. "Well, uh, do you want me to come over and give you a hand?"
She sighed with relief. "I was hoping you'd say that. My parents are out of town and I don't really think they'd want me leaving at this time of night to go someplace and study. And the library's closed and..."
"You're parents are out of town?"
Lauren laughed. "Is that all you heard me say?"
"Um...no comment?"
She laughed again. "Would your parents mind you coming over at this time of night?"
"Uh, no, they don't mind. As long as I'm in bed by midnight, they're pretty flexible."
He gritted his teeth through the lie. She sighed with relief. "Great. I'll see you in a little bit?"
"Yeah, absolutely."
"And Jonah...I really do need your help studying. We can't goof off."
"Of course. No goofing. I'll be right over."