Chapter 9

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Barbara Fowler was humming. It could mean only two things; she was either in a cheery mood, or the world was coming to an end because Barbara Fowler never hummed while she cooked. Amy doesn't even remember her mother singing her a lullaby when she was a child. Comfort, happiness, and fun were akin to punishments for Barbara. Her fun was to sit, scowl, and punish. So seeing her mother prepare a pot of soup while humming was like seeing a snake do ballet. But, Amy needed her as happy as possible because she was going to ask about her weekend outing with Sheldon.

Best case scenario: She was going to be allowed to go without her mother's supervision. Worst case scenario: She'd make both Sheldon and Amy have a sex lecture for 7 hours. And there was no middle ground with her mother. So Amy continued to sit behind the kitchen door going over in her head the best way to ask. The best decision she could imagine was marching in and demanding what she wanted. Not asking, but telling her mother 'Sheldon and I are going somewhere, I don't know where and you don't need to know. I'll be back whenever I feel like it. And you can't stop me because I'm grown.'

Get in there. She jumped from her place and barged into the kitchen.

"Mother!" she started strong and brash getting her mother's attention. Barbara stopped stirring and whipped her head toward her daughter. Even in a good mood her face was still militaristic and cold. All of the faux confidence Amy entered evaporated like the steam from the soup pot. "Ummm I uhh, need to ask you something." She nodded inviting her into the room. "The prom fiasco was almost three weeks ago and in those three weeks I have been doing a lot of reflection. And I have to say that I agree with you." Her mother's ears perked at Amy's confession of wrongdoing. The one thing her mother loved most was people admitting themselves wrong and her right. When Amy wanted her first microscope she gave her mother a list of things she was right about. She beamed in righteousness. "I do need to stop trying to be like everybody else. I'm not like them, and I need to stop trying to be. I should be around people who like me, and I think I've found someone who really likes me. As a friend! Someone who likes me as a platonic friend" She corrected. "And this platonic, God fearing friend wants to do a platonic, God fearing, scientific activity this weekend. And I was wondering if I could be able to go?" Barbara circled her spoon in her soup in a hypnotizing clank.

"What time this weekend? I have a yard sale to go to Saturday at 1."

Yes! Amy thought.

"Oh darn, the activity is Saturday at noon… Perhaps I could go alone?"

"No." Her mother quickly smothered that flame.

"What if I'm home by 3:00?" Barbara's shook her head no. "2:30?" Amy bartered. "2:00? Come on, Mom. That's barely any time."

"2 hours? It takes less than 2 minutes to get pregnant. In two hours you could turn into a junkie and a whore." Old Amy would have stopped the conversation now. She could never argue with her mother's comebacks. But this was new Amy, who went on non-dates, ate lunch with a boy, smiled at students, had friends, and stood up to her mother.

"Mother, I never ask you for anything, anything! Well not since prom. And I understand you are worried about me being ruined by the temptations of the world. But I learned my lesson of staying away from worldly temptations at prom. I get it. Loud and clear. You were right, I was wrong." Her mother's upright back softened at Amy's confession. "But I've moved on and I really want to spend Saturday with my friend. Give me another chance and I will prove that you have nothing to worry about." It wasn't an in your face demand, but it was getting the job done. She finally stopped tapping her spoon against the side of the bowl and faced Amy, serious and fixed.

"You will be home at 2:00, by my watch. I want a log from both you and your "friend" of everything you did and the times. When you get home, I want vivid descriptions of everything: bathroom, food, people. Everything. And if I decide to follow up and I find there are discrepancies you will stay in the closet so long you'll forget what daylight looks like. Agreed?"

"Agreed!" Amy must have been drunk from excitement because she ran to her mother and hugged her. The first few seconds were like hugging a board of plywood but as the moments passed she relaxed a bit. It was the first time Amy had hugged her mother since the funeral.

12:00- University of Eastern Texas main parking lot. The pavement is crunchy from loose gravel. The weather sunny, the wind of blowing from the east.

12:03- Milton Wheeler Science and Technology Center. Glass walls, tan floors, annoyed receptionist. Her name is Michelle, white 180 pounds, red curly hair, green eyes.

12:04-12:10- Sheldon and I are in the lobby near the coat and umbrella rack having a casual introductory conversation. He is wearing brown khakis and—-.

"Are you going to write in that journal the entire time?" Sheldon asked leading her up the stairs.

"Sheldon, I'm not joking. If there are any discrepancies in this log, she will literally lock me in the closet until my skin pales." He rolled his eyes and scoffed at her in derision. "If I say we rode the elevator to the top floor for 45 seconds. She will come here and time how long it takes to ride the elevator to the top. If her time is 30 seconds she'll assume the other 15 seconds were spent on you turning me into a Jezebel. She's crazy like that. I saw her count the grains of rice in her lunch when she suspected someone was eating her food. Crazy."

"Hm, sound like thoroughness to me."

"I'm serious Sheldon, please start writing in yours."

"I have an eidetic memory, I won't forget what we do today." It was Amy's turn to scoff at him in derision.

"Don't believe me?" He challenged. "At 11:58 I was sitting at the left window of the door watching you walk up. You look at your feet when you walk and barely noticed the red Ford barreling towards you," He turned and faced the window as if he were actually rewatching the scene."Luckily the truck was interfered by the speed bump, wherein you looked up and ran across the street bursting into the building. Which was why the receptionist was annoyed because you were disrupting her hard work of sitting and listening to radio soap operas."

"Impressive." She briefly raised her eyebrow. "What do you have planned for today anyway? I made lunch just in case."

"Something you'll enjoy." He smiled a devious grin.

"That's it? Come on, I swindled my mom from chaperoning us, I should at least get to know what we're doing."

"Very well. The activity today is one of the three options. 1, we are attending a lecture of a renowned scientist, 2, we are participating in an experiment or 3, we have a lab to ourselves for 4 hours."

"To do what?"

"Whatever we want to." She raised her eyebrow. Was his sexual inflection intentional or an accident. What do randy teenagers do when they have a room to themselves? Unspeakable things. Surely Sheldon wasn't insinuating they would spend their time making out.

"Oh, should I guess which?"

"I think you know which one it is. Isn't it obvious." Oh my! They were about to make out in the lab. What a remarkable story, Amy's first kiss would be in an empty lab with Sheldon Cooper. Rad!

"Wow! I must confess Sheldon, I didn't peg you as this type of person."

"You're right, but I felt an exception could be made this once. Why not? You only live once, right?" Her chest was pumping like a steam engine. When did Sheldon Cooper become such a Casanova?

"Well, where shall we go?"

"Follow me." Amy's eyes covered the length of his back as he walked ahead of her. She always assumed him to be a wiry kid that couldn't lift a heavy book but his back proved otherwise. His muscles contracted and rose like a machine. It was intoxicating.

"Ladies first." He said opening one side of a pair of double doors.

"How gentlemanly of you." She flirted. She'd read this in her books before. The lordly gentleman sweeps the ingenue into a secluded area and the moment they cross the threshold they are ravishing each other in passion. She almost whipped around and crashed her lips into his but an auditorium of applause interrupted her. She turned to a dimly lit stage while a big bellied man was explaining a map of outer-space. They were in a lecture.

"So?" Sheldon tested behind her. " , Harvard's astrophysicist! You're right, I wouldn't normally attend a lecture on astrophysics but it's growing on me. And you mentioned that Harvard is your dream school, so I figured this was perfect for us both." He all but skipped down the aisle to a pair of seats in the middle.

Although, Amy would have preferred to be acting like a horny hooligan in a lab this was a close second. An hour into the lecture and Sheldon was balancing on the edge of his chair. Most of his body was in the seat in front of him. She had to admit Dr. Sebenza's work was impeccable, he spoke about space so romantically it was impossible to be disinterested. When he finished, Sheldon hooped and hollered like a student section at a football game. She'd never seen him this enthusiastic. It was cute.

"And when he began his presentation on string theory and dark matter, I nearly fainted." Sheldon praised the speaker from the auditorium, through the parking lot, to the benches for lunch and 15 minutes since then. "I can't say it enough, incredible. If every professor at Harvard is like him, you are going to have a great three years."

"Four years, you mean."

"Three. You're going to finish in three, I know it."

"You have a lot of confidence in me, Sheldon." Amy scoffed.

"Shouldn't I? Don't you?"

"I guess, I mean-" She itched in her seat. She abhorred talking about herself, talking about confidence in yourself never actually led to having more confidence. It just made you feel less confident at how little confidence you have in yourself. "Yes, yes I am confident in myself." She tried to pacify him with a lame remark.

"This rock could have convinced me better" he said. "You don't believe in yourself, do you?"

"I do!"

"Have you ever been told? By your mother, by anyone?" he kept pressing.

"Of course, I've been told. My dad told me 'he believed in me' everyday!" She said trying to suspend his pushing.

"Your father passed years ago." Silence. "Have you heard it since then?" Silence. "Amy," he put down his sandwich and leaned close to her. "you are going to graduate college in 3 years. I know it." She blushed not knowing what to say. A demure thank you wasn't enough. But a kiss was too much. She ducked her face in her chest and continued to nibble on her sandwich. "I'm sorry to throw your father's passing in your face. I just needed to prove a point. I'm afraid that sometimes my need to find a solution can outweigh my sympathy to those involved."

"You didn't do anything wrong. You were right. Beside, you understand what it's like to lose a father as well."His head was low and he nodded into his food.

"Thank you, by the way, for the cards?" Amy's face was laden with confusion. "When my father passed you came over everyday giving us sympathy cards but we rejected them." His voice was heavy with shame.

"You guys were grieving, your behavior was understandable."

"Missy and Jr. pelted you with acorns every time you got close to the porch. That's not grief, that's evil." He shook his head as if he were shaking the memory to the ground.

"I don't recall you accepting me with opens arms either." Amy poked.

"I don't know what you are referring to..."

"Is your eidetic memory suddenly failing you?" She teased. "Does 'I am of the talented few who don't succumb to the emotions of everyone else. I am advanced, therefore I don't waste time on crying. I should be giving you a sympathy card, I am sorry that you are of the simple minded majority that feel meaningless emotions. I thought better of you." Sheldon winced remembering his harsh remarks.

"That's not exactly what I said."

"Close enough."A speechless Sheldon was the best Sheldon. Outwitting a genius like him made the success so much sweeter. She didn't luxuriate in her achievement much longer before she began cleaning their discarded lunch wrappers. Amy grabbed her used plastic wrap and straightened it as best as possible before folding it into a tiny square. She did the same for her foil and plastic bag. She gained a habit of turning her trash into shapes and origami after all of the lunches she'd spent alone. She figured arts and crafts was more productive than wallowing in self pity. So preoccupied with her task she didn't notice Sheldon eyeing her the entire time. His stare was springy and a warm smile crept over his face.

"I kept every letter you gave me, you know."

"Why?" Amy laughed off, "they weren't anything special, just dollar store cards. I wouldn't have been upset if you'd thrown them away."

"I keep everything important to me." Everything about him was direct; his words, his focus, his gaze. But the moment Amy looked up at him it all dissipated and his eyes began searching through the grass.

"Like everything, everything?" He nodded slightly. "Why?" There was wonder in her eyes. So much hope she had in him that would be shattered if he let her into his world of psychotic idiosyncrasies. He referred to what he knew best; condescension.

"So that when I win the Nobel I can make sure I give back to the little people."

Amy rolled her eyes and muttered beneath her breath 'Of course.' Sometimes Amy thought Sheldon was changing into a kind, sensitive guy and other times he was a robot programmed to worship himself. "Actually" Sheldon restarted with a softer tone. "I keep them for memories. My pop pop passed when I was 8 and I didn't keep anything from him. I looked up to him more than I did my father but I didn't keep anything of his. So now the memories of him are trapped in my mind. If my mind goes or I forget him, he's gone. But if I keep something, I'll never forget, the memory is tangible and alive." He adjusted his shirt and shifted in his seat.

"Don't be embarrassed," Amy said reaching into her purse. "My dad gave me this pen when I was 11 when I wanted to join Girl Scouts. My mother forbade it so he created a club called 'Fowlers About Science', and he gave me this pen. I use it everyday." She swallowed a quivering lump before continuing. She was nervous to continue speaking about such sensitive topics. But she felt comfortable as if they'd been talking in this manner for years. She felt happy that they were together, sad that it would end, and anxious to see him again. All of these emotions tossed and flipped in the pit of her stomach while she cautiously continued, "Never be embarrassed about things precious to you."

"Never." That one word was the hit that sent Amy's heart out of the field. She couldn't gain feelings for him! Feelings are bad, emotions are unforgiving. They get you mocked in the middle of the gym on prom. But taking a chance didn't sound as repulsive as before.