A First Time For Everything
A MLAATR-Inspired Fanfic
By Shvique
Author's Note: Sorry for the long delay in posting this chapter, dear readers, but there's been a lot of things going on in my personal life this past year, which has seriously cut into my creative-writing time. Nothing serious or life-altering or anything like that; just extremely inconvenient. Nevertheless, I do intend to finish this story; I just can't say when or how frequent the updates will be. But I shall always strive to do my best with it, so please bear with me. And as always, thanks for reading.
-Shvique
Chapter 3—Encounters
Sheldon sat upright in the seat of his electric motor-scooter, just as proudly as a brave and noble king astride a mighty stallion, as he rode through the streets of Tremorton to school. He held his head high, with a broad smile upon his face. His mood this morning was bright and upbeat; energetic, and full of enthusiasm as his head teemed with exciting new ideas and plans for the future.
Life was good for Sheldon for a change. For the first time since he could remember, things finally seemed to be going his way and he was happy; truly happy. The days of his grounding were passing quickly and uneventfully, and it wouldn't be long before he'd be through with it, and free to resume his usual after-school activities. Even the extra homework, which had been assigned to make up for his partial absence one afternoon, had gone quickly and easily, completed in just a fraction of the time it normally would have taken any other student.
Even his mother's mood seemed to have improved considerably in recent days, no doubt aided to a large degree by the favorable reports she'd received from Mr. Bustoff and the other teachers, regarding his overall scholastic performance. Perhaps, Sheldon thought, after a few more days had passed, and his punishment was over, then maybe he could raise the subject of transferring to another school with her. It seemed like a good idea. There was still plenty of time—after all, Poly Tech certainly wasn't going anywhere. So he could afford to wait for a few more days at least…
Being grounded was certainly no picnic for Sheldon—being effectively under house-arrest after school was no fun for any teenager, after all. But it was easier for some teens to deal with than others, and for Sheldon, it wasn't too bad. For one thing, it had given him plenty of time to catch up on his reading, not only of his school textbooks, but also his recreational reading as well. He had a huge collection of science fiction novels, comics, graphic novels, and back-issues of Teen Tech Geek magazine to keep his mind occupied, and in the past few days alone, he'd already read through a good number of them. And from reading Teen Tech Geek, he'd learned so much and had gotten so many new ideas and fresh inspiration for future projects, that he couldn't wait for his punishment to be over, so that he could begin work on them.
Oooo, I can't wait to get started on that one new idea I had! He thought, with a growing, eager smile on his face. The solar-powered unicycle! That would be so cool! And so easy to do, I bet! And I'd be the only kid in the neighborhood to have one, that's for sure! Or that other idea I had, for a hydrogen-fueled internal-combustion engine! Just add water and it'll run like forever! That one oughta be a cinch! An engine that runs on water? How hard could it be? Or maybe…maybe I could even try again to build a working re-creation of a Keely Motor! Sure, I tried it lots of times before without success, but…just 'cuz I failed the first 1,798 times doesn't mean I'll fail this time! Sooner or later, I'm bound to get it right! Or…or that other cool idea I had! To convert a riding lawnmower into a hovercraft! Oooh, now that one's got definite possibilities! And if I could actually build it and make it work, it'd be way better than this poky ol' motor-scooter! The smile on his face widened and he felt a tingle of excitement, as he imagined the thrill of zooming around the neighborhood in an actual, working homemade hovercraft, and all the admiring looks he'd receive from his neighbors, all obviously impressed with his amazing technical expertise.
He approached a red light and slowed the scooter to a halt. As he waited for the light to change, he glanced down and checked the power-gauge for the battery. The needle had now dropped to an alarming level. Hmmm…that's not good, he thought. This battery's definitely not going to last much longer... Gonna have to do something about that, before I start on anything else… Probably end up having to buy a new one soon… I already made some modifications to this scooter to increase its efficiency, but it's still drawing an awful lot of power… Maybe I can do some more modifications…maybe rework the governor-circuitry or something… Maybe squeeze a few more miles out of it that way… Yeah…that might work… Or maybe…maybe I can even design and build a new battery myself! His thoughts now raced with fresh inspiration. I bet I can! After all, new materials and alloys and processes are being developed all the time…maybe I can use some of them to design and build a better battery! I'll just have to do some research online later on and see what I can find… If I try enough combinations of materials, alloys and chemicals, I'm bound to come up with something! Maybe something that'll not only hold a charge longer than the old battery, but maybe even one that'll take less time to recharge, too! Or maybe…maybe I could even design a whole new motor! Maybe even one that runs on static electricity! That way, I wouldn't even need a battery! I could just run it on atmospheric discharge alone! Free energy! Wouldn't that be something!
Just within the few minutes in which these thoughts crossed Sheldon's mind, he'd already begun forming some rough preliminary plans in his head for them. Each one would be challenging in itself, of course, but…still, he was sure that, given enough time, he would solve all the technical problems involved with each one.
The light turned green and he twisted the throttle. The scooter sluggishly accelerated, gradually picking up speed as it propelled down the street.
Even with a battery that's about to conk out, Sheldon thought, This scooter's still a big time-saver. I wonder why I quit riding it in the first place?
Then he remembered. He'd stopped riding it in order to allow himself some extra time and opportunity to occasionally catch a glimpse of—and even sometimes meet up with and walk with—Jenny.
Jenny…he thought wistfully for a brief moment…
But only for a moment.
No matter, he thought with a sigh. That's all over with now…
Now that he no longer felt the need to cross paths with Jenny every day, there was no longer a reason not to ride the scooter. And riding it definitely had some advantages after all. For one thing, the time it saved allowed him the relative luxury of leaving the house a few minutes later in the morning, and arriving home a few minutes earlier as well; time that would certainly prove useful, once he'd be able to resume working on his various projects…
As he rode along, he pondered other ideas too, one of which was a particularly-tantalizing one that had been on his mind for some time now. It was inspired by a chance remark he'd made to Jenny during their long, turbulent, emotionally-draining discussion one evening: The concept of a robot built specifically for kindness.
I wonder… he'd thought countless times in the days since. Is that even possible? To build a robot and program it for kindness…? Hmm…I wonder… Well…I suppose in theory it might be possible…maybe… And I suppose one way I could find out for sure is to try and build one myself and see! If I did, I wouldn't build it to try to do super-heroics like Jenny or anything like that… And I wouldn't build it to perform simple household chores, either. Any plain old, off-the-shelf household service-robot could do that. But just…program it to be friendly…and kind to people... That's all… Nothing else…
Could that really be done? He wondered.
The idea—even the possibility of it—definitely intrigued him. He knew that an idea so seemingly-simple in concept would also be so very difficult to actually accomplish in reality. Not so much the actual building of a robot—that was easy; any ordinary, everyday, run-of-the-mill, teen-genius science geek could do that. But to program it for something so ineffable, so very elusive, subtle, complex and uniquely human a quality as kindness…now that was something else again.
Could such a thing as kindness actually be re-created in cybernetics? He wondered. It's hard enough to find even in human beings, that's for sure! he thought.
But if such a thing were possible, even theoretically, it would certainly present an enormous challenge to even the most gifted and accomplished of robotics and AI experts.
And Sheldon always did like a challenge…
…and this would definitely be a challenge worthy of his talents!
Besides, he thought with a resigned shrug. I suppose I really should get started on building a robot of my own anyway… It's way past time that I did… After all, Dr. Wakeman was way younger than me when she built her first robot!
He sighed, suddenly feeling like such a lazy slacker. After all, here he was, seventeen years old already, and he still hadn't even built his first robot yet! What kind of teen science prodigy was he, anyway?
Yet in spite of the daunting challenges involved, his mind nevertheless began racing at a feverish pace, as he imagined the myriad approaches he could take in designing such a robot, and in devising the necessary behavior-pattern programming-codes it would require…
One thing's for sure, he thought. This'll be nothing like Silver Shell. Silver Shell's really nothing but a big empty powered suit, after all. This would be something totally different, something much smaller, for one thing; a completely autonomous little robot with an independent mind of its own…something that can think and act and operate independently, and react emotionally, just like a person…something that can interact with other people and deal with them, just like a real person…
Kinda…kinda like Jenny… he thought with a brief tinge of lingering sadness. Only my robot will be a lot nicer…friendlier…kinder…!
Which, he realized, was the whole point, after all.
He sighed. Ah well, he thought. Maybe after school lets out for the Summer, I can get started on it then. Or maybe next year, after I transfer to Poly Tech… Maybe I could build it for a class project or something…maybe even get extra credit for it!
But, he quickly reminded himself, before he could begin work on that or any other new project, there was still that other matter which he had yet to make a final decision on once and for all: Namely, what to do with Silver Shell?
Although he had vowed in a fit of pique some weeks earlier to dismantle Silver Shell, he'd since come to have second thoughts about the matter. Now that he'd had time to cool off, reconsider and think it over calmly, he now felt that perhaps he'd been wrong and much too hasty in making that decision. As he thought about it now, he came to realize that perhaps Silver Shell might still have an important and valuable role to play in the world after all. And in Sheldon's own personal life as well.
For just as he'd come to reconsider and re-evaluate so many of his other opinions and conclusions, he now realized that he'd also been wrong to dismiss the value of heroes and heroism in the world. Heroes were important, he now realized, and so were all the values and ideals for which they stood. Just as he'd always believed in his heart that they did. Just because Jenny had failed to live up to those ideals herself, that didn't mean that the ideals themselves had no meaning or value.
After all, Sheldon remembered all too vividly the difficult years he'd endured while growing up, being at the mercy of various bullies, both in school and out, how often he'd felt powerless when confronted with them, and wished there had been someone there to protect and defend him. No doubt there were other people throughout the world who also felt the same way. People who needed protection when their lives were threatened or in danger, or whose lives needed saving in the event of disasters. And many, many other situations. Heroes clearly were needed in such cases, and played a vitally-important and necessary role in the world. There was no longer any doubt in Sheldon's mind about that now.
And now, for the first time, he began to seriously consider that, perhaps…just perhaps…it was a role which he himself might be able to play, as Silver Shell.
He could be a hero; a real, genuine superhero, capable of fighting crime, saving lives, protecting people from dangers and threats of all sorts. Things which he could never do as himself, as plain old Sheldon Lee…but which he could do as Silver Shell!
The very implication of it shook him to the core. He suddenly realized that he no longer needed Jenny to be a hero to him. He could be a hero himself! He could be his own hero!
Of course! It all seemed so plainly obvious to him now, that he wondered why he had never seen it before. Perhaps, dimly, he had been aware of it; on some deep, subconscious level in the back of his mind, perhaps he always knew that this would one day be his ultimate destiny in life, his true purpose in creating Silver Shell. If he had never seen it before, well, perhaps it was because he was so blinded by his unrequited love for Jenny, that he couldn't see what was so clearly obvious to him now.
But…that didn't matter; Jenny was now out of the picture, and so without her to distract him, he could see matters much more clearly now. And, similarly, it didn't matter that Silver Shell had proven to be mostly useless as a tool to win Jenny over, either. And it didn't matter that Shell lacked the advanced powers, capabilities and weaponry that Jenny had, either. No, he would use whatever powers he did possess, to be the best possible superhero that he could be. That was what counted.
So nothing else mattered to him then. All that mattered was that Silver Shell now had a much higher, more noble purpose to serve than he ever had before: to be a hero, a real, genuine and legitimate hero, and for the best and most legitimate of all possible reasons: because the world needed such heroes. And so he would be there to lend a helping hand, whenever and wherever he could, wherever he was needed, in whatever small capacity he could. He, by himself,could make a difference in people's lives.
He would do so anonymously, of course; the public would only see and know him as Silver Shell, never realizing that it was really Sheldon performing these acts. But that was perfectly all right with him; he didn't mind. After all, he wasn't doing this simply to boost his own ego—although his battered ego could certain use it. No, his sole goal and purpose were much higher, more elevated than that. And, so many of the comic-book superheroes he'd read over the years had a secret identity or alter-ego that they kept hidden from the public, too. It pretty much went with the territory, and was probably even necessary to some extent. And it no doubt had some advantages too, now that he thought about it. For one thing, it would allow him the necessary privacy to continue working on his inventions and researches safely out of the public eye.
And as for as those inventions, he even began to formulate new plans for those as well. Maybe I could re-create and rework some of the gadgets and gizmos that I was gonna give to Jenny, but use them with Silver Shell instead! he thought. Even though he'd deleted the files for them weeks ago, he might be able to reconstruct some of them from memory. And since Jenny never wanted or appreciated them, well then, perhaps Silver Shell could use them instead. That net-capture device, for example. He'd once offered it to Jenny as a gift, but…as with everything else he'd offered her, she'd had neither use nor interest in it. But it could easily be re-worked and modified just a little bit to be a perfect tool for Silver Shell to use.
But to be a super-hero! His thoughts returned to his new life's goal with renewed excitement and anticipation. To actually do it! For real!
The thought warmed his heart, as he imagined himself zooming through the sky as Silver Shell, performing acts of super-heroics all over town and all over the world, just like a character straight out of a comic-book. Super-scientist by day…robotic superhero by night! He thought with a beaming smile borne of growing pride and enthusiasm. Dr. Sheldon Lee…the Silver Shell!
Just then, he was jarred from his reverie and back into the real world by the suddenly realization that he was approaching the parking-lot of Tremorton High. He eased off the throttle, reducing speed, and pulled into the driveway of the bike-parking section. He squeezed the brake-handles and came to a full stop, then walked the scooter the last few feet to the bike-rack. As he kicked down the kickstand, he checked the power-gauge for the battery. Little more than a half-charge remained. Psh! Even worse than yesterday! He thought with a disappointed sigh. That's barely enough to get home on! Well…maybe it'll last for a few more days…'til I can get a new one, at least …or make one…or whatever…
He unbuckled his helmet and removed it, then knelt down and locked the scooter to the bike-rack. Once the lock was secured, he turned and bounded up the steps of the main entrance. He stepped inside, rounded a corner and strode down the main hall until he reached his locker. He opened it, placed his helmet and backpack inside and after a moment's thought, decided to take off his hoodie and placed it inside as well, hanging on the hook. It was a surprisingly warm morning already, especially indoors, a likely indication of a hot Summer to come. He took out his binder, notebook and some textbooks, then shut the locker and spun the dial. He then turned and headed off to his first morning's class.
Now that he was back in everyday, mundane surroundings, other, more immediate plans came to his mind then, on subjects which had nothing to do with ingenious new inventions or bold dreams of super-heroics. The foremost plan in his mind at the moment involved approaching Bernice and asking her out on a date. He'd been thinking about it off and on for a few days now, hemming and hawing about it, before finally deciding that this time, he would do it, just bite the bullet and ask her out, and not talk himself out of it. Just as soon as he was through being grounded and free to leave the house again, of course; then he would ask her—and with a few extra dollars in his wallet from a saved-up allowance as well.
Hmmm…I wonder if she's into Trek Wars…? He thought. She might be… And if she is, then maybe we can go see the new upcoming movie in the series together! It's only a few more weeks 'til it's released… Maybe we could do that… I bet she'd like it…!
He sighed, wishing he could ask her out now, while the idea was still fresh in his mind and he felt motivated. But…no, he decided; he would wait. Wait until his punishment at home was over and he was in the clear; then he would ask her.
A smile of deep contentment formed upon his face and continued to grow. Both his present and future prospects seemed promising, and he took renewed encouragement from them. All things considered, he thought, life is good right now, and this day's going to be just great! I know it is!
This day stinks, and it's barely even started yet! Jenny fumed in silent, seething frustration, as she hurriedly tried to clean and polish herself in the bathroom. She had seriously overslept this morning, and was now running seriously, major-league late. Not that she'd had much sleep the night before—as it was, she'd barely even gotten a four-hour recharge before the dumb, stupid alarm-clock went off…
The night before had been one long headache for Jenny anyway. Just as she was getting ready for bed, an emergency call came through that she was needed downtown immediately, to thwart a robbery of the Dortmunder First National Bank. With a sigh borne of equal parts exhaustion and resignation, she charged downstairs and outdoors in seconds, blasting off and heading towards the center of town. Duty called, whether she was tired or not…
It wasn't the first bank-robbery that she'd ever dealt with, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. And naturally, it couldn't have been just any simple little rinky-dink, run-of-the-mill ordinary bank-robbery, by simple, ordinary, everyday, run-of-the-mill bank-robbers, either. No, naturally, this robbery had to be something different, something stupid, something crazy, just like everything else she had to deal with in this nutty little town!
This robbery turned out to have been planned and executed by none other than Vladimir, Dr. Wakeman's former lab-rat, and his gang of fellow lab-rats. Jenny had, of course, dealt with him numerous times in the past, and by now, she was getting just a little sick and tired of him and his silly, pointless capers. Doesn't this guy ever give up? she wondered as soon as she'd realized that it was he behind the robbery.
Still, she did have to give him points for originality this time. This time, Vladimir had come up with a method of robbing a bank that was…different, to say the least. Different…unique…novel…and altogether crazy! Even crazier than the time he'd tried to rob a million dollars' worth of nickels from the U.S. Mint. For this time, Vladimir and his gang had decided to rob a bank the hard way: by hauling it away…
Somehow, by some extraordinary and mysterious engineering means that Jenny could only guess at, Vladimir and his team had managed to raise the entire bank-building on hydraulic jacks, and then load it onto a heavy-duty 18-wheel trailer-rig, after which they proceeded to haul it down the streets of Tremorton at high speed with a diesel-truck. The plan was daring and audacious, Jenny certainly had to give it that, but subtle, it wasn't.
The building had been moved only a couple of miles from its original location by the time Jenny arrived, so spotting it from the air was a simple matter, made even easier by the fact that Vladimir had decided, for whatever bizarre reason, to "camouflage" the bank by painting it…hot pink.
So halting the crime in-progress, apprehending the criminal rats, and returning them all to custody was a cinch for Jenny and took only a few minutes. That was the easy part. Picking up the bank-building and moving it back to its original location…and trying to fit it exactly where it belonged, was the tricky part, as well as the most time-consuming.
Hour after hour, Jenny labored with the building, trying to position it in exactly the right place to satisfy the persnickety bank-manager (who measured its placement with a micrometer.) Repeatedly, she'd had to adjust and re-adjust its position by the most infinitesimal of micro-millimeters, only to have the manager take a measurement and raise an objection. "No, no, no!" he would exclaim. "It must be rotated exactly 2.73 mm more to the South Southwest! Try again!" To which Jenny invariably grumbled a reply, in increasingly strained tones: "Just so you know…this thing's heavy…! I'm just saying…!"
As a result, Jenny didn't finish the job and return home until well after midnight, and so weary and exhausted that she couldn't even remember exactly how she'd managed to get so scratched and scuffed on such a minor skirmish… Moreover, she'd been too tired at that point to even care…
But at least there's one consolation about it, though…! she thought with a weary smile. At least that stupid mega-improbability thing that Mom kept going on about must be over and done with and out of the way now, so I won't have to worry about it anymore!
With that final, reassuring thought and a wide yawn, she groggily trudged her way upstairs to her bedroom, her eyes half-closed in weariness. There she flopped into bed and immediately dropped into a deep, exhausted sleep/recharge mode for what remained of the night…
And so, after such a hectic, exhausting night, followed by an all-too-brief night's sleep, Jenny knew, from the moment the alarm-clock first sounded in the morning, that it was not going to be a fun day ahead of her…
"XJ-9!" Dr. Wakeman called loudly from downstairs. "XJ-9! Hurry up or you'll be late! XJ-9!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Jenny cried, as she charged out of the bathroom, still wiping herself with a hand-towel. "Cripes, Mom, chill! I'm not even dry yet! I barely had time to wash up this morning as it is!"
She took a sharp turn into her bedroom to grab her backpack and glanced at the bedside clock. Cripes! She thought in a brief panic. Look at the time! I'm really running late now!
"XJ-9!" Dr. Wakeman bellowed from downstairs.
"I know, Mom, I know! I'm coming!" Jenny charged downstairs and reached the landing in microseconds. "Cripes, Mom, why didn't you wake me sooner?!" she cried.
"I've been trying to do just that for the last twenty minutes!" Dr. Wakeman glared at her robotic daughter with her arms folded.
"Ohhhhh, I'm gonna be so late now, and Mr. Razinski is so gonna bust me!"
"Did you have breakfast?"
"No! I didn't have time! I didn't even get a full night's recharge last night!"
"Well, you'd better top off before you leave, or else you're liable to—" Dr. Wakeman said, holding out a bottle of high-grade jet-fuel.
"All right, Mom; all right!" Jenny said, cutting off her creator mid-sentence. She grabbed the bottle, popped the cap off, and downed the contents in several quick swallows without even breaking her stride.
As she finished the last of the fuel however, she froze in her tracks as she caught a fresh view of herself and her banged-up appearance from the night before. "Oh, Mom!" she wailed, wheeling about to face her creator. "Look at me! Just look at me! Look at all those scuffs and scratches! How can I go to school looking like this? Cripes, I'm a mess! I'll never hear the end of it from the other girls!"
"Oh, come, come, XJ-9. It's not as bad as all that. It's only a few little scuff marks, that's all. You can barely even see them. I can easily take care of them once you get home. A little dab of fresh paint here and there, a little waxing, some light polishing and buffing, and you'll look as good as new."
"Well, what about that dent?"
"Oh, that's just a tiny little ding—"
"Little?!" Jenny wailed. "You call that 'little'?! Cripes, Mom, look at it! It's as big as the Grand Canyon!"
"Oh, XJ-9, don't exaggerate! I can easily pop that out and smooth it over later, too. Just a few light little taps with a ball peen hammer and it will be just fine."
"Oh, mom!" Jenny wailed. It was hopeless! She was a mess, and she knew it. What was worse, there wasn't anything that could be done about it now; there simply wasn't time.
Time that was now running even shorter, she noted, as she glanced up at the clock on the kitchen wall. She would really have to hustle if she was going to make it to school on time now. If she was late one more day, she just knew that Mr. Razinski would really lower the boom on her this time…
With a final, frustrated sigh, she turned and charged out the front-door. Once outside, she tossed the empty bottle into the recycle-bin and blasted off, soaring high into the sky. "'Bye, Mom!" she called out from above.
"Good bye, XJ-9," Dr. Wakeman called back in reply with a wave. "Be a good girl now."
As Jenny zoomed over the neighborhood, she scanned the sidewalks below her, looking for her friends. To her disappointment but not her surprise, there was no sign of either Brad or Tuck anywhere along the way. No doubt they'd gotten tired of waiting for her and had already left for school without her.
Which, needless to say, did little to improve her mood. Yet, it seemed about par for the course for her this morning…
She checked the time on her internal clock and decided to kick it up a notch. She fired up her afterburners and rocketed the last few remaining blocks to school in mere seconds, arriving at the front doors in record time. As she stepped inside, she checked her internal clock again, comparing it with the clock on the wall and noted that she had a good seven minutes to spare until first bell was due to ring. She smiled with satisfaction. Made it! She thought in relief. Maybe this day's gonna turn out all right after all!
With that, she dashed quickly down the entry-corridor ("No running in the hallway!" called out the omnipresent, smarmy hall-monitor who'd spotted her, further annoying her.) No longer running now, but still maintaining a fast pace, she turned a sharp corner and into the main hallway. She was several yards away from her locker when she suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure in the distance, heading in her direction.
It was Sheldon.
All at once, Jenny's spirits lifted, her foul mood of only a few moments ago was now utterly forgotten, and she broke into a huge smile.
She approached him, and as she came closer, she immediately noticed something different about him this morning, obvious even from this distance. It was expressed in his general bearing, manner and demeanor. It was reflected in his posture and body-language, in his energetic stride, and above all, in the beaming, self-satisfied smile upon his face. In short, he finally seemed to be quite back to his old, happy, cheerful self, which came as a welcome relief, after so many weeks of seeing him in his uncharacteristically sour and sulky disposition.
At last! she thought. He finally seems to be in a good mood again! Now maybe he'll feel like talking to me again!
And as she drew closer to him, Jenny noticed something else that was different about him as well, something she'd rarely seen in him before. His entire manner seemed to exude self-confidence, which became even more obvious the closer he got. He held his head high, proudly, defiant and unafraid, as though he were ready to take on the world, come what may. Jenny couldn't imagine what could be the cause for this change in Sheldon, but whatever it was, she liked it. It was certainly a vast improvement over his attitude and manner of the past, which was often so pitiful, pathetic and clingy that it frequently became unbearable.
But now, with this obvious improvement in his mood, coupled with his new self-confidence, Jenny had good reason to hope that today, he might be willing to talk, to say something to her—anything—that would get a conversation going, and hopefully bring them back to being on friendly terms again. She even went so far as to hope that, as he so often had in the past, he would somehow say just the right thing to her to cheer her up and lift her spirits.
Just like he always used to…! She thought hopefully.
"Hey, Sheldon!" she called out cheerily to him with a wave and a smile as soon as he got within earshot.
Sheldon's head snapped up instantly at the call of his name, and he immediately froze in his tracks, his entire body stiffened. And the moment his eyes met hers, his entire demeanor also changed in an instant. His smile immediately vanished, his jaw clenched and the muscles of his neck and shoulders tightened. His overall reaction, in short, was exactly the same as any other student's would have been if they had just been caught doing something wrong by a teacher.
"Oh…um, hi…Jenny…" he replied quietly, guardedly, his eyes darting nervously away from her.
The moment Jenny saw his reaction, her initial enthusiasm at seeing him immediately plunged.
Oh, come on now! She thought in a momentary pique. Don't look at me like that, like I was gonna…! She shuddered and couldn't even finish the thought. Cripes, Sheldon, it's me! Jenny! Am I really so terrible? What am I, some kind of monster or something?
But even though his abrupt change in manner stung, Jenny decided to let it pass without comment or response. Instead, she forced herself to maintain her best, most cheerful smile. It wasn't easy, but she managed it.
"So…what'cha been doing?" she asked amiably. "Keeping busy?"
"Something like that," he replied evenly, as he resumed his pace, passed her by and continued on his way, barely making eye-contact with her.
Jenny blinked in surprise. "Wait, wait," she said, reaching out a hand as if to stop him. "What's your rush? Can't you stay and talk awhile?"
"Sorry, I…can't," he said, glancing quickly over his shoulder at her as he kept walking. "I…gotta get to class." He picked up his pace by another notch. "I still have some…homework and stuff to turn in." he added hastily.
"Oh, come on! We still have a few minutes left 'til the bell rings!" She quickly trotted over to walk beside him.
"I know, I know, but I…well, I still have a lot of material to go over with my home-room teacher, and…I gotta get it all straightened out by the end of the week." His pace now increased to a near-jog.
"Aw, c'mon! Just for a few minutes…" Jenny also increased her pace to remain at his side. "A few minutes won't hurt anything!"
Finally, with a resigned sigh, Sheldon slowed and came to a halt. He turned to face her. His expression was difficult to read, but he seemed vaguely…impatient, it seemed; almost annoyed, in fact.
"All right," he said with a faintly strained tone. "What…" he hesitated. "What's…on your mind? Is there something you…wanted?" His body remained tense, as though anticipating a response he wouldn't like.
Jenny blinked and suddenly found herself at a loss for words. Now that she finally had his attention, she discovered that she couldn't think of a single thing to say.
"Well, no, no, I just…" she paused. "I just…you know…wanted to…talk a little bit, that's all. We haven't had much chance to really talk very much lately, so…" She hesitated for a moment, then forged ahead. "So I…I thought…you know…we have some catching-up to do…" She smiled weakly as she trailed off, hoping he might take the hint and pick up the conversation from there.
But Sheldon merely stared at her, blankly, as though he hadn't the slightest idea of what she was talking about.
She tried again. "Um…so…how have you been?" She asked, embarrassed at her feeble choice of words in her all-too-awkward attempt to begin a conversation.
"Fine…fine…" he replied, as he continued to glance nervously from side to side and shift his weight uneasily from foot to foot. After the one word, uttered twice in succession however, he again fell silent, his manner remaining uncomfortably aloof and distant.
"Um…got any cool new inventions or other gadgets you're working on? Anything special?" She continued with a forced smile and maintained an upbeat tone, hoping to engage his enthusiasm for a subject she knew from the past that he'd always loved to talk about. "I remember some of those ideas you were you telling me about a few weeks ago, that you showed me the schematics for, and they looked really impressive! Making any progress on those? Finish any of them yet?"
He frowned at her for a moment, utterly puzzled. What the heck's she talking about? he wondered. Then he realized. Oh, I bet I know what she means! She must be talking about those stupid gifts I was gonna make for her! That's gotta be it!
"Oh! Those…um…no, no…" he replied with a brief shake of his head and a faint frown. "I…um…well, I…scrapped most of those, actually."
"You what?" Instantly, Jenny's smile vanished.
"Yeah. Deleted the files and…everything."
"But…but why?" she asked, utterly aghast.
"Oh, I just…" he shrugged, still not looking at her directly. "I don't know…I'm just…not interested in 'em anymore. I just had to sort of…put 'em behind me…and move on. I can't explain it exactly, but…sometimes I have to do that with old…ideas once in awhile, in order to," He hesitated, then went on. "to move on, make a fresh start and…generate new ideas."
Jenny simply stared at him. She couldn't believe it, not for one picosecond. She knew that those gadgets were most likely intended as gifts for her, but that didn't matter. What troubled her was the fact that she knew how much they meant to Sheldon himself, how much pleasure and satisfaction he derived from dreaming up, designing and building them. She also knew how many hours he'd already devoted to them, and how much joy he took from the completion of each and every one, especially when one actually worked as intended. Even when an invention didn't work, or if it backfired in some way (as was often the case), Sheldon always took it in cheerful stride. "Oh well…at least I learned something new!" he would often say. "I learned why it didn't work, so at least it wasn't wasted! Now I can make the next one even better!" His inventions were such an important part of his life, his mind and his spirit that Jenny knew how much it must have torn him up inside to simply abandon them that way, so cavalierly, as though they meant nothing to him. It was reflected in his tone of voice as he spoke, and in a certain sadness in his eyes. Clearly, and despite his best efforts to conceal it, a part of him obviously ached inside to have cast aside something he loved so dearly, and into which he'd already put so much time, energy and effort.
She shook her head. "Oh Sheldon, how could you?" she asked sadly. "You worked so hard on those. All those ideas you had for all those cool new gadgets and gizmos and everything… They looked so promising, too."
He blinked at her, half in surprise, half in puzzlement, and frowned again, the way he sometimes did when confronted with a particularly difficult mathematical problem. Since when does she care about my inventions? He wondered. She never did before!
"Ah well…it doesn't matter," he said with a casual toss of his head, as though the matter were of no consequence to him. "None of them had any practical or commercial value, they served no real purpose, and…well, I just don't need 'em anymore. So…there's no point in spending any more time working on them." He concluded with a shrug.
Jenny continued to stare at him, not believing a single word he said. For even as he gave his perfectly reasonable-sounding explanation, something about it failed to ring true. There seemed to be something more to what he was saying than what he expressed in mere words. His subtly-altered tone, attitude and manner seemed to convey a hidden meaning that she couldn't quite decipher.
"Besides," he went on. "I couldn't work on them now, even if I wanted to. My workshop privileges are suspended while I'm grounded."
"Well…yeah, but…" Jenny countered. "But…you're not gonna be grounded forever, are you?" She tried to sound encouraging, in order to revive his former interest in his abandoned projects. "Couldn't you have…you know…gone back to working on them again, after you're through being grounded?"
He shook his head. "Nahh," he said. "There's no point. Like I said, they no longer have a purpose, I don't need 'em, and…well, they're just not that important to me anymore, that's all. I'm…" he paused, his gaze seeming to penetrate to her very core. "I'm…just not interested anymore." He paused again, then went on. "Besides, I have another—" he stopped abruptly. "Some other priorities these days that I want to focus on instead."
'Priorities?' she wondered with a half-frown. What the heck does he mean by that?
But before she could respond, the bell rang. "Anyway, I really gotta get going now, so—" he said as he turned on his heel and, with a quick wave of his hand, resumed his way down the hall. "See you," He called out just before he disappeared around a corner and up a flight of stairs, taking the steps two at a time.
Jenny sighed and slowly turned and walked back towards her locker, all the energy that had propelled her stride only moments ago now gone. Cripes, I only wanted to talk to him for a couple of minutes! She thought in a blend of frustration and disappointment. What the heck is with him these days? Why is he acting like this? He seemed so happy a moment ago, all smiles and everything, and then he takes one look at me & boom! He's back to being Sulky Sam again! What's with him? Or—or maybe it's me! Is that it?
She reached her locker, opened it and took out some books, then closed it again. She turned to head toward her first class of the day and happened to glance down at herself, taking a fresh look at the dings, scuff-marks and scratches that had gone untended from the night before. Those few minor imperfections in her normally-gleaming surface seemed even more enormous to her now.
Cripes! She thought, her eyes widened. I really am a mess! Look at me! I'm a total disaster-area! A walking junkyard! No wonder he doesn't want to be around me anymore! For a brief moment, she felt a strong impulse to envelop herself in a turtle-like shell, a nervous-response enclosure into which she sometimes retreated in times of extreme anxiety, embarrassment or mortification. She only hoped that she could somehow make it through the day—or the morning, at least—without her battered appearance attracting the unwanted attention of too many other students, particularly the detestable Crust Cousins. That was about all she needed at this point: for those two to show up and start making their usual snotty, catty remarks, comments and other assorted put-downs.
Yet despite her anxiety over her appearance, her primary concern still focused on Sheldon and his behavior just now. She couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that his distant, detached manner toward her had nothing to do with how she looked, and that the reasons for it went much deeper than a matter of mere surface details.
Because it had been the same old story all week long, and with each such encounter, Jenny became more hurt, confused and frustrated. Repeatedly, she had reached out and tried to engage Sheldon in friendly conversation, and each time, her efforts were callously rebuffed. She had tried to be patient with him, just as her creator had advised, but after several days of this, and his continued cold indifference to her, her patience was by now beginning to run out.
I don't get it, I just don't get it! She silently fumed in helpless frustration. As her thoughts fired through her positronic brain at lightning speed, her pace likewise increased as she strode down the hallway, the floor and walls quivering with her every footstep. Now thoroughly consumed by thought and completely oblivious to her surroundings, she stared directly ahead of her, yet paying little attention to what lay directly in her path. Is he still angry at me or something…? I thought we made up! I thought we made a fresh start and were gonna be friends again and everything! So why doesn't he wanna talk to me? Why doesn't he at least respond? Doesn't he trust me? He acts like he doesn't even like me anymore! He acts like he doesn't even care! Is that it?! Why?! Am I that awful? Cripes, I'm trying, aren't I? I'm trying to be more friendly to him, just like I promised I would! So why doesn't he at least give me a chance? I know Mom said to be patient with him, give him time and all that junk, and I'm trying to do that, but it's just so frustrating! I mean, I don't want him to feel like I'm crowding him or pressuring him or anything like that, 'cuz if I do, then it's liable to backfire on me, and then I'll end up looking like a stalker, and I don't want to do that, 'cuz I know how it feels to be on the receiving-end of that, and I didn't like it when he did it to me, and I don't think he'd like it any more than I did if I did it to him, so if I pressure him too much, then he's liable to get angry at me all over again, and I don't want that, but on the other hand, I don't wanna let too much time go by either, 'cuz I want to show him that he can trust me again, that we can still be friends, and that this time maybe we can even—
Her rapid-fire thoughts were interrupted when she sharply rounded a corner at high speed, only to slam headlong into the familiar form of Brad, knocking him down, flat onto his bottom.
"OH!" she exclaimed in surprise as she stepped back, then reached down a hand to help him back onto his feet. "Cripes! Sorry, Brad, I'm afraid I wasn't—"
"OH! Heh heh, that's okay, Jen!" he said with a surprised chuckle. "No harm done—except to my pride, that is!" He took her hand and unsteadily regained his feet. "Nothing like slamming headlong into a steel wall first thing in the morning to wake a guy up!" He gave her a broad grin as he brushed himself off.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
"Yeah, sure, I'm fine," he replied as he brushed off the seat of his trousers, then looked at her. "But what about you?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "Are you okay? You look kinda zoned-out."
"Hm?" she replied as though caught by surprise. "Oh…yeah, I'm…fine... I'm just…a little preoccupied, that's all. Got some things on my mind."
"Oh… Nothing serious, I hope."
"I hope not…" she said in a low voice, as though she were speaking to herself and not to Brad.
"Say, where were you this morning, anyway?" he asked. "Me and Tuck waited outside your house for you, for like forever, but you never showed." He shrugged. "Finally, we left. We just couldn't wait any longer."
"I know, I know…" she replied, nodding. "I overslept this morning. See, I had a late-night call last night, and…" she glanced up at the clock on the wall. "Ohhhhh, it's a long story... I'll tell you about it later. I gotta get going before I get yelled at too badly!" She quickly turned and gave him a quick wave as she dashed down the hall. "See you!" she called out just as she disappeared through a classroom doorway.
The bell rang, signaling the end of Jenny's second class of the morning, and she immediately packed up her binder and textbooks and trotted out to the hallway without delay. As was so often the case when she'd failed to get a good night's sleep/recharge, she was jittery and on-edge, and constantly felt as though she were on the verge of falling asleep in class. She had, in fact, almost nodded off twice already, catching herself only at the last second before the teachers noticed. She'd better watch that, she told herself, or else she'd get caught and yelled at again. Which was the last thing she needed this morning…
Once she was out in the hallway, she immediately began scanning her surroundings, hoping to find a familiar, friendly face or two, someone with whom she could chat for a few minutes.
However, she had only gone a few paces before the alarm for her videophone sounded with its usual earsplitting volume, causing her to jump and halt in her tracks. From her thoracic cavity there emerged the telecom-screen, displaying the image of her creator's likeness. The other students in the hallway continued to walk past her without even so much as a second glance; by now, they were all so used to the sight that it scarcely attracted their attention anymore.
"Yeah, Mom?" Jenny said, mildly piqued at the unexpected interruption in her morning routine. "What is it?"
"I'm sorry to bother you while you're at school, XJ-9," Dr. Wakeman said. "But this is important. I just want to remind you that I still need a full report from you, about last night's mission."
Jenny sighed. "Yes, yes, Mother, I know. I didn't forget. I just I haven't had a chance to write it yet. I'll do it later."
"I didn't say anything about it last night," Dr. Wakeman went on. "Because it was so late when you got home, and you were so tired, but I still need it, in order to check it and cross-reference it against some data-readings I took last night, all of which I'll need for your upcoming performance-evaluation, and—"
"I know, Mom, I know!" Try as she might, Jenny couldn't entirely conceal the growing irritation in her voice. "I said, I'll get it to you later, all right?"
"When?"
Jenny sighed again, this time with even greater annoyance. "A little later this morning, all right? I've got a study-hall about an hour before lunchtime. I'll write up the report then and email it to you just as soon as I finish it. Okay?"
Dr. Wakeman paused before responding. "All right. Very well, then. But be sure to encode the message before you send it, for security purposes."
Another, even more annoyed sigh followed from Jenny. "Yes, Mother, I know!" Cripes, Mom, I wasn't activated yesterday, you know! Jenny thought, her initial, mild pique now blossoming into full-blown irritation. Cripes, she treats me like I was just a little prototype!
"Because the last time you sent me a report without security-coding, it ended up getting hacked into by a four-year-old hacker in Rio Linda, who then used it to—"
"Yes, Mother, I know! You don't need to remind me about that! I remember!" A couple of passing students briefly glanced at her, and she paused, struggling to regain her usual quiet, 'indoor' voice and remain patient. "I promise I'll remember to use security-coding," she said, in a much quieter tone. "Okay? All right?"
"Well…all right then. Just be sure you get it to me as soon as you can."
"I will, Mom; I will! Jeez!"
She was just about to hang up when she suddenly recalled the reassuring thought she'd had the night before, and decided she just had to share it with her creator. "Oh, by the way, Mom," she said with a wry smile, her initial annoyance now diminishing. "About last night? Well, I gotta admit, when you first told me about your improbability prediction, I had my doubts, but now I'm convinced! I mean, when you predicted a real doozy of an improbability, you weren't kidding! Last night was definitely it!" Her smile broadened into a wide grin.
Dr. Wakeman frowned, utterly bewildered by the statement. "What are you talking about, XJ-9?"
"You know; that mega-improbability thing your computer program predicted," Jenny's smile faltered a bit for a moment, but she went on. "The thing you were going on and on about the other day, that you wanted me to prepare for and be on Yellow Alert status for. Remember?"
Another moment passed before the light of understanding illuminated Dr. Wakeman's features. "Oh, that…" she replied, her eyebrows raised. "You mean the predictions of the Hasslein Probability Curve Program."
"Yeah, that!" Jenny said, one eyebrow dropping to a frown.
"Yes, yes…" A full frown, however, slowly crept across Dr. Wakeman's face. "I know what you're referring to now…"
"Anyway, you were right!" Jenny went on, ignoring her creator's grave expression. "As for a mega-improbability, that bank-job last night just had to be it, right? I mean, stealing a bank? A whole bank? Yeah, that's improbable, all right! Downright crazy, in fact! Nobody ever would've expected that in a zillion years! I certainly didn't!" Her smile broadened.
"Yes…well…you see, XJ-9…" Dr. Wakeman began, her subdued tone, along with her frowning countenance, a clear indication that she had something to reveal that Jenny wasn't going to like.
"What?" Jenny asked, her smile now beginning to dwindle, as she picked up on the meaning behind her creator's tone.
"Well, it's just that… Oh dear, how shall I put it…?"
"Put what?" Now Jenny also began to frown.
"Well, it's just that…" Dr. Wakeman hesitated. "Well, you see…it's this way. In checking over the most recent readings from the Hasslein Program this morning, it appears that…that the bank robbery last night actually wasn't the big mega-improbability we were expecting after all."
"It wasn't?" Now Jenny's face fell. Almost literally onto the floor.
"No, I'm afraid not."
"Are you sure?" Jenny asked, hopefully. "I mean, are you really, really sure? Maybe you read the charts wrong or something? Maybe…? Or maybe you input a couple of wrong numbers or something?"
"No, XJ-9, I'm quite sure. I've been going over the readings all morning long, cross-checking and verifying them to the Nth degree and studying them very carefully, and there's no mistake."
"But…but…" Jenny sputtered, still unwilling to accept what she'd heard. "I mean, come on, Mom! Come on! You've got to be kidding me! The bank-job had to be the mega-improbability! It just had to be! I mean, stealing an entire bank?! If that's not mega-improbable, then what the heck is?! How much crazier and more improbable can something get?!"
"Well, yes, but you see, XJ-9, that's just it," Dr. Wakeman replied calmly, thoroughly unfazed by her robotic daughter's increasing consternation. "Although last night's mission might, at first glance, appear to be somewhat…unusual, the fact is…" She momentarily turned away from the videophone for a moment, focusing her attention instead on the screen of her computer. "When you look at the actual readouts of the Hasslein Program, once they've been plotted onto a chart, that incident wasn't really all that unusual. At least, not for this town. By Tremorton standards, a bank-robbery—or rather, the theft of an entire bank—was, for Tremorton, really pretty ordinary; even downright commonplace, in fact. So ordinary and therefore so relatively-minor, that the Program didn't even record it at all."
"I don't believe it!" Jenny cried.
"See for yourself," Dr. Wakeman entered some keystrokes into her computer, and the chart for the Improbability Program appeared on the screen of Jenny's videophone. Jenny peered narrowly at the screen, examining the pertinent time-period indicated. There, before her own visual detectors, she could see the results. Sure enough, the crazy, far-fetched and highly-improbable bank-robbery/theft, upon which she'd devoted so many long hours of exhausting labor the night before…hadn't even resulted in so much as a tiny blip on the screen.
"And as you can also see," Dr. Wakeman continued as she warmed to the subject, as though she were giving a lecture to an audience at a science symposium. "Other indicators are still coming in from all over the world, all flashing red, and therefore all pushing the Improbability Prediction line even higher."
"So that means…that the doozy, the big mega-improbability…" Jenny began, but couldn't finish.
"…still hasn't happened yet." Dr. Wakeman concluded.
"And, when it does happen, it's probably going to end up being something a zillion times crazier than last night! Right?"
"In all likelihood, yes." Dr. Wakeman confirmed calmly, as though she were merely stating the result of a simple mathematical equation. "That would appear to be a reasonable assumption, given the present indicators and the rather limited available data with which we're currently working."
Jenny slowly closed her eyes and turned her face to the ceiling. "Terrific!" she grumbled. "That's just great! That means I still have that stupid thing hanging over my head, for who knows how long!"
"Yes, yes, I know it's disappointing news, XJ-9. I'm disappointed too, of course. I don't like to have to worry about this upcoming event—whatever it is—any more than you do. But let's remember this: The time-window in which this predicted event is likely to occur is a relatively small one, and getting narrower by the day. There is still a chance that it will pass us by altogether. According to the prediction and the various probability factors, we only have to worry about it for another week to a week and a half or so at the most. And if nothing happens by then…"
"Yeah…?" Jenny was almost afraid to hear the answer.
"Well, then…as I said before, it could just be because my calculations were in error, or were based upon insufficient data, or perhaps the data itself might have been flawed in some small way that I hadn't detected. Or perhaps the theory itself might be fundamentally—"
"Nutty?" Jenny couldn't help but finish her creator's sentence this one time.
"—Premature," Dr. Wakeman finished her sentence in her own words, glaring severely at her robotic daughter's unsolicited interruption.
Jenny sighed. "Whatever," she muttered in a subdued tone of resignation, by now barely even listening anymore. "Anyway, I gotta get to class now, so..."
"Yes, yes, of course. Sorry to be the bearer of disappointing news about last night, but…well, that's the way it is with science sometimes. One must learn to accept and live with disappointments from time to time, in order to—"
"Good bye, Mom," Jenny hung up the videophone, cutting her creator off mid-sentence, then turned and continued on her way down the hall, shuffling her feet dejectedly as she went.
Stupid mega-improbability program! She thought gloomily. That stupid prediction will probably turn out to be a big nothing! Or if something does happen, it'll probably turn out to be an absolute nightmare! But probably nothing'll happen…! But if it does…! Oooooh, waiting for this stupid thing is like waiting for a ticking time-bomb to go off!
The rest of the school-day passed by uneventfully for Jenny. As she'd promised her creator, she used her morning study-hall to write and submit her report, typing it up at her usual speed of 300 words per minute, and taking care to encode it, as she'd been instructed, completing the entire task in only a few short minutes. Similarly, her lunchtime-chat with Brad also passed quickly and pleasantly. She related to him the story of her previous night's mission, during which he listened in rapt attention, his only significant comment coming at the very end, expressing disappointment that he wasn't there to see it.
"Aw, man!" he said with a shake of his head. "I miss out on all the cool stuff around here! I sure wish my parents would let me stay out late the way you get to do!"
Jenny sighed and rolled her eyes, as her friend had somehow managed to miss the entire point once again…
The rest of their chat passed in a similar, amiable vein, although it soon became clear to Brad that Jenny's thoughts and attention seemed to drift elsewhere, and she seemed easily distracted the entire time. He simply assumed that it was the natural result of her having had too little sleep the night before, so he felt no need to comment upon it, as he had witnessed Jenny before in this overtired state from time to time, and for the exact same reason. He was more or less used to it by now, and paid it little thought. Had he been more observant however, he might have noticed her stealing occasional glances every few minutes at a particular lunch table in a distant corner of the cafeteria…
The rest of the afternoon also passed quickly and easily, and before long, the second-to-last class of the day arrived. It was a Calculus class, which Jenny shared with Sheldon. She sat a couple rows over and a few seats behind him, a perfect vantage point for discretely observing him from a distance. A few minutes of free time remained before the class was due to begin, and most of the students milled about the classroom, hanging around at each others' desks, chatting about various subjects and interests, school-activities, upcoming sporting events and the like. But Jenny merely sat alone, studying Sheldon intently, as he perused the pages of a graphic novel.
Should I…? she silently debated. Should I…go over and say something to him…? Try one more time…?
Sheldon meanwhile, casually turned a page and continued reading, wholly unaware that he was under scrutiny.
Seconds ticked by while Jenny silently debated. At last, after a final moment of hesitation, she rose to her feet and strolled casually over to his desk.
"Hey, Sheldon," she said, with a warm, pleasant little smile.
"Oh…hi, Jenny," he said, glancing up.
"How ya doing…?"
"Fine…fine…" His eyes lingered on her for a moment longer, then returned to the pages of the book. His manner displayed the same disturbing indifference to her that it had all week long, almost as though his past infatuation with her had never even happened. "And you?" he asked, not looking up.
"Oh, not too bad," she replied casually. "Whatcha reading? Anything good?"
"Oh, it's just…" he flipped the novel over, showing her the cover. "It's…part four of the five-part mini-series, Captain Crush on the Planet Ogo." He turned it back and resumed reading.
"Oh… Any good?"
He shrugged. "Not bad. It's a back issue, from a couple of months ago, but…still, it's okay, even on a third read-through." He paused for a moment, then added, "The stories haven't been quite as good since they changed writers last year, but…still, it's not bad."
"Mm," she replied neutrally.
Silence.
After a few moments, Sheldon glanced up again and was surprised to see her still standing there, looking at him. What does she want? He wondered. Why's she staring at me like that?
Come on! Jenny silently demanded of him. Say something! Talk to me!
Eventually, she spoke again. "Um…" she began tentatively. "I…I haven't seen you much on the way to school lately."
He frowned quizzically at her for a moment, but said nothing.
"Not so much this morning—'cuz I was running late anyway—but…I mean like yesterday…and the day before." she went on. "I looked for you, but I didn't see you anywhere along the way."
His puzzled frown deepened, as though he didn't quite get her meaning.
She noticed, and guessed the reason, hastening to add. "See, I just thought that…" she hesitated, as though reluctant to express what she was really thinking or feeling. "I just thought that maybe…you know…we could all walk to school together again… Like we sometimes used to…" For a brief moment, she smiled weakly. "Remember?"
Another moment passed before, at last, he finally grasped her meaning. "Oh," he said. "Yeah, well, I've been…riding my scooter to school lately."
Now it was Jenny's turn to regard him in puzzlement. "Oh? You have a scooter?" she asked.
"Sure. You remember it," he clarified when he caught her look. "That electric scooter I used to ride before. You remember. You've seen it."
Jenny thought back, all the way to the time when she and Sheldon had first met, and she retrieved a mental picture of Sheldon scooting around the neighborhood on some kind of moped or minibike something.
"Oh yeah…that thing…" she nodded. "I remember now… Crikey, you haven't ridden that thing in ages. I didn't even know you still had it."
"Yeah, you're right… I haven't ridden it in a while, but…well, lately I just felt like riding it again."
"Oh? Any particular reason?"
He shrugged. "I dunno…I just felt like riding it again, that's all."
Jenny looked at him. As before, she had the unsettling feeling that there was something unexpressed, something more that Sheldon wasn't telling her. Another awkward silence followed, as Jenny struggled to think of something else to say.
"Um…I guess it must've needed a good dusting and polishing, huh?" she asked, in a strained attempt to keep the conversation going. "I mean…since you haven't ridden it in so long…"
"Yeah…yeah, it did need some dusting and polishing, come to think of it," Sheldon replied, nodding. "And some minor adjustments here and there…a lube-job…the motor needed oiling…battery-contacts were a little corroded, but I cleaned them off easy… The battery needed a good recharge, too… I actually need a new battery, in fact, but…I can get by with the old one for now... And…well, a few other things needed fixing as well..." He shrugged. "Anyhow, it's running again and I can ride it now, so that's the important thing."
A sudden, vaguely-suspicious thought struck Jenny. "Wait a sec," she said. "I thought you said earlier you weren't allowed workshop privileges while you're grounded. So how'd you persuade your mom to let you do all that work on your scooter?"
"Easy," he replied. "See, this way, since I could claim I needed it to get to school, she figured I had a valid reason to use my workshop: so I could fix it up and get it running again."
"Oh… Yeah, that makes sense…" Jenny's voice sounded pitifully feeble as she spoke.
"It wasn't much, but…well, it was better than nothing. At least it gave me something to do for awhile to keep me occupied."
Another long, awkward silence followed, as Jenny worked up the nerve to speak again. It was odd, but she had never had this much difficulty speaking with Sheldon—or anyone—before, and she couldn't understand why it was so difficult for her now. But for some reason, she had trouble finding just the right words to express what was really on her mind.
"Sheldon?" she said quietly.
"Yeah…?"
"Is…is everything okay with you?"
"Um…yeah, sure, Jenny. Everything's fine."
"You sure? You seem awfully quiet these days," she paused. "Lately, it's like you don't even want to talk to me or anything."
He blinked, as if in surprise. "No, no, it's not that, it's just…I dunno…I couldn't think of anything to say, that's all." At least…nothing you'd be interested in, he thought.
"Are you sure that's all it is?"
He paused for what seemed like an eternity before he replied, quietly, "Well…I've just…got stuff on my mind these days. That's all."
"Oh?" Jenny said, her curiosity suddenly piqued. Now we're getting somewhere! She thought. "Like what? Anything you wanna talk about?"
"No."
The finality of his tone, like a steel door slamming shut and cutting off further communication, caught her off-guard, and she fell silent again, now regretting having said anything in the first place. Yet even though she didn't want to seem as though she were prying, she nevertheless felt compelled to probe further.
"Sheldon?" she said softly. "Is anything really bothering you…?"
"No. Nothing's bothering me. I'm just—" he paused with a sigh. "I guess I'm…you know…being grounded and everything, I guess I'm just not in the greatest mood these days."
"And that's all?"
"That's all."
She absorbed his words in silence for a moment. Then she responded with a small nod, as if finally accepting his answer.
"Well…all right… If you say so…" she said. "But you know…if something is bothering you, you know you can always talk to me about it…right? Like if a bully's picking on you again or something like that." She paused, her expression changing subtly. "Is that it? Is somebody picking on you? 'Cuz you know, if there is," She balled up a fist and patted it meaningfully against the palm of the other hand. "All you have to do is just say the word, and I'd be more than happy to—"
"No, no, Jenny, it's nothing like that. Nobody's picking on me. At least, not since you pulverized those three goons in shop class a couple of years ago."
Reflexively, she almost smiled at the memory. "You're sure?" she asked, as though still not quite convinced by his words.
"I'm sure," he said, with a tight, strained smile. "Everything's fine. Really. But…thanks for asking." He held the smile for another moment, then his eyes darted to the front of the classroom, where the instructor, Mr. Bustoff, approached his desk, about to begin class, and the smile vanished.
"Well…all right then… If you're sure you're okay…" Jenny replied, as she turned and reluctantly hurried back to her seat, settling in just moments before the bell rang.
She regarded Sheldon with a final, longing look just as the teacher began taking the roll. Something is wrong, though… She thought. I just know it is! Ohhhh, if only I could get him to just open up and talk to me, like he used to…!
End Chapter 3
