A/N: A one-shot followup to the 1969 film "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes" and it's sequel "Now You See Him, Now You Don't".
Patterns of Unnatural Behavior
"Man, Dexter, are you cursed or what?" Richard Schuyler asked his best friend Dexter Riley. "Look, I'm not the brightest guy around but I'm starting to see some things just keep happening here that, I don't know, shouldn't keep repeating themselves. The staff at Medfield College is always talking about how they're hurting for money, you keep getting into accidents that make some great scientific breakthrough, and at the end we're still just poor students in a small college where any girl interested in you keeps moving away. It's just unnatural. Oh, and we keep getting bothered by that A.J. Arno character too."
"Cut it out Schuyler, do you have to keep reminding me?" With all his friends average to below-average students at the college, Dexter would struggle along in his studies until circumstances threw him into an extraordinary adventure. The first time, the college had managed to get a computer donated to them by the businessman and organized crime figure A.J. Arno. An electrical accident with the mainframe had caused Dexter to have instant recall of anything he had ever read, along with data that had been stored in the computer previously - data on Arno's crime syndicate. His abilities were short-lived but lasted long enough to win a knowledge contest for the school and put Arno in jail when his criminal activities were exposed. His friend Annie had been one of his most staunch supporters and the two were growing closer, but after the semester she moved away with her family across the country.
Then he had another accident that produced an invisibility formula and using that they had brought down the plans of Arno again as he moved to foreclose on the college, which was still struggling financially, and turn it into a gambling complex. Arno went to jail once again, and afterwards Dexter's friend Debbie, with whom he was growing closer, had to move away with her family across the country.
"You have to admit, some things just seem to keep coming up like it's a formula that fate keeps following. And yet I don't think we're in a much different position than we were when we first got here. Things just keep repeating themselves."
"You already said that."
"I was...ah...doing it for emphasis; you know, ironically."
"Tell me about it. But a lot of the people around us are changing. Like we had a new professor last year, but I hear Professor Quigley is coming back."
"Miles Quigley? The guy that set up the computer?"
"Yeah, that one. But think about our friends: Bradley is gone, Henry's gone, Pete's gone and I don't know what happened to Myles. And did you ever notice that Druffle looks exactly like that guy that was on the Springfield team against us at the finals of the College Knowledge tournament, that Flanderka guy?"
"He doesn't look anything like the guy," Schuyler said, thinking back to the only time he actually knew the answer to a question. He was so scared to be on the televised finals that he barely even noticed there were other people in the studio besides his team and the MC.
"I mean before he was covered in bandages from the bumblebee accident."
"Oh...yeah, I think you're right. That's freaky, now that I think about it - I wonder why I never noticed that before. The Dean's always the same, though. And don't forget Arno."
"You don't have to remind me. After all I've done for the school, Dean Higgins still seems to keep coming down on me like I'm just a body soaking up school funds. And I don't know why they keep letting that Arno guy out - he gets out and the next thing you know he's causing trouble for the school again. The guy has a serious vendetta issue or something. And of course, if we go and tell the police we think he's up to no good, they just dismiss us EVEN THOUGH WE WERE RIGHT before."
"Maybe he's mad at the school because was a lousy student like us and never graduated."
"I don't know - if you stick around long enough, I guess you can get through anything."
"We've been here seven years."
"Yeah; maybe that's one of the reasons so many of the people have changed - they went and graduated while we're still here."
"We'll graduate one day."
Dexter smiled. "As Professor Quigley says, 'We live in hope' or something like that."
"So how do we avoid getting caught up in the same trouble again?" Schuyler asked.
"I don't know - if you see Arno anywhere, duck. Don't get to talkin' to any girls 'cause they'll only move away on you if you start to get friendly. Stay away from the lab, especially during storms and at night. Transfer to another college that's more financially secure, I guess. If all else fails, move back home."
"Oh Dexter, don't even JOKE about that."
"Nah, you're right - none of us have homes - I mean, you ever hear anyone talk about their parents?"
"What are parents? But speaking of things to avoid, I forgot to mention that I heard Arno was getting out of jail again soon."
"Oh great - that's all I need to hear now. And I was hoping to be a senior this year, too."
The End
A/N: The trouble with following a movie formula for a series is that some things do tend to get repeated; also, I couldn't help but notice that the roles for the female leads for the first two films turned out to be the last film for each actress. And as for Ed Begley Jr, at least he got a credit for the second film...