Chapter Two
First Day of Class

The date of the first class fell on a Thursday at eight o'clock. The store was usually open until ten o'clock that night, but Rex decided this was worth the investment in time. So for the first time in ten years, he closed early.

The drive to the school felt odd during mid-winter's early nightfall. Rex always tried to be home when it was dark, fearing the dangers of being out alone. But it wasn't very practical. After all, danger didn't obey schedules…not the kind of danger he had in mind anyhow.

He was surprised at how few parking spaces were available. There was a basketball game being held and the vehicles of the spectators filled the parking lot, along with two busses belonging to the visiting team's school.

Rex was resentful at first, until he remembered his own high school days. The thrill of fierce competition was what gave a student pride in his school. Resentment turned into consternation as he discovered the only parking space was near the woods.

For a moment he considered calling the whole thing off. Just pull out, drive away and no one would be the wiser. He'd make his apologies to the instructor next week, when there were certain to be more parking spaces. But a guilty conscience pecked at his ears like an annoying little bird, telling him to overcome his fears and superstitions and get the little bit of education that would make his business more successful.

Rex took a deep breath and stepped out. The parking lot was well salted but with the rain and snowfall of the last few days that still left the slush, which never seemed to go away. Rex spent a few seconds wiping his feet on the rubber mats inside the doors.

He found the classroom without a problem and stood just inside the entrance for a moment. The computers were arranged along the wall so whichever way you turned you could see the animated symbol bouncing off the sides of the screen. Office chairs, the instructor's desk and a rectangle table in the center of the room were the only other pieces of furniture.

"Can I help you?"

Rex turned around and saw a woman standing in the doorway. She wore light gray khakis, a wool sweater with a flower pattern and wire-rimmed glasses that made her seem somewhat owlish. Her face was lined with years of experience and something about the look in her eyes gave her a sense of familiarity that Rex couldn't place.

"Yes," Rex said. "I am here for the Computer Literacy course."

"Okay. And you are?"

"Shepard. Raymond Shepard." Rex was used to his alias so that he didn't stammer on it so much.

"Pleased to meet you Mr. Shepard, I'm Mollie Sherman; I'll be your instructor."

Mollie went to her desk and began moving the little device attached to her computer.

"Did you have a hard time finding parking, Mr. Shepard?"

"A little," Rex said. "But nothing I haven't dealt with before. Big game tonight?"

"Not this time. This is only one of the little ones they play until they get to the big one. Unfortunately they still haven't expanded that parking lot. So, I have to apologize for any inconvenience."

Rex smiled warmly.

"May I sit down at any one or is there a process?"

"I need to set up an account for you," Mollie answered. "The computers are on a network, so once you have your account set up you can access your work from any terminal in the center."

"Amazing," Rex said sincerely. "I remember when it was just a piece of paper and a manila folder."

Mollie smiled. A few minutes later she handed him a piece of paper with his "username" and password.

Rex draped his coat over one of the office chairs, careful to keep his weapons concealed. As he sat down he tried to make sense of the subtle complexities of the machine in front of him.

The little symbol was still bouncing around on the screen. Beneath the table that supported the screen was a larger, elaborately colored object with buttons, blinking lights and holes that emitted a soft hum. The only thing he recognized was the keyboard, which wasn't so different from the typewriters he was familiar with.

Rex looked around as the other students sat down and watched as they moved a smaller device to clear the screen. He found his resting on the little pad next to the keyboard. Mollie must have sensed his confusion, so she came over and leaned in.

"Need some help?" She asked, keeping her voice low.

"Er…just a little," Rex answered, blushing.

Mollie leaned over and moved the mouse. The bouncing symbol was replaced by a blue background with a box that read:

Press Ctl. Alt. Del to Begin.

"Eh…" Rex felt more than a little awkward. He stared at the keyboard, trying to find the keys it specified.

"Don't worry," Mollie said. "I'm going to get everyone oriented so you won't feel weird."

Mollie went to the center of the room and called everyone's attention. Rex turned in his chair and gave her his full focus. As she gave an introductory speech, Rex cast occasional glances at the rest of his classmates, noticing that most of them were his age or "older".

"I'd like to welcome you all to this class. In this day and age computer knowledge can be as valuable now as typing skills were about a century ago. I want to assure you that I, like you, had to learn more about these things as they became a part of the teaching environment. Back when I was teaching students to use the typewriter-"

Rex lost the rest of Mollie's speech as he tried to remember where he'd seen her before. As she stood there, trying to downplay the confusion and insecurities of the uninitiated members of the twenty-first century, her name and voice seemed to recall old memories. The way she gestured, her hands moving about emphatically as she spoke, also seemed familiar.

"In this day and age, typing can be as valuable a skill now as it was a quarter of a century ago," Mrs. Kepler said as she walked around the room. A couple of the girls who had been chattering quieted down as she came near. "I want to assure you that I, like you, had to learn more about these things when I went to college. Back then they didn't run on electricity and you had to lug it around with you from classroom to classroom. These electronic devices that you'll be using aren't quite as problematic and at least you won't have to pay for yours like I did. But trust me-"

"-when you become more familiar with your computer it won't be as daunting as it was before." Mollie stopped and looked at the students. "Now, who here is truly a beginner."

Rex raised his hand along with four others. Among them was a woman in her mid-thirties, who seemed just as embarrassed to admit her ignorance as he was.