"I'm home, Mom!" No answer. Figured that. She was probably at the court house, getting the truth from a guy that stole something from a convenience store somewhere. See, when I turned seven, my mom went back to school, so she could get a real job. Eight years later, she's a defense lawyer, yet still in school. I guess it comes naturally, since my dad was a patent attorney. "Hey Hobbes," I called out to... oops, I guess I forgot to tell you guys that.
See, when I was nine, I found this orange kitten cold and deserted in the road. I brought it home and gave it a back. Mom came home and thought it was a nice thing to do, but we had to get rid of it. After a lot of begging and stuff like that, we got to keep him. And I named him after the stuffed tiger I cherished for so many years. He reminded me a lot of him. "Hey there, buddy. Guess you're hungry, eh?" He led me into the kitchen, and I fed him Meow Mix. I used to sing the song to him, but I stopped, cause it felt silly after awhile. I decided since the homework I had wouldn't take that long, to start working on a comic.
"And in this issue of Stupendous Man, he is still held in chains by Babysitter Lady, and--" the phone rang. I quickly answered it, cause the phone doesn't normally ring when Mom's not here...
"WHERE ARE YOU?!" Oh crap, I thought to myself. I have to work today!
"S-sorry, Roz." I barely uttered out. "I'll get down... to.. th--" I trailed off and hung up. Roz gets pissed when I show up late for work. I'm sure she'd rather be anywhere else. So I jump on my bike and rode down to the grocery store. When I was riding though, I couldn't help but think about Susie, and try to remember exactly how she remembers me and how I don't remember her. It's weird. I remember Rosalyn, but I don't remember who Susie is. Maybe that's cause she's my boss now, not my babysitter.
--
"What were you thinking, Calvin?!"
"Not at all, Roz. Not at all."
"Just bag the groceries. Oh, oh yes, ma'am, I'll help you with those..."
I'm sure Roz would rather be anywhere else than working at a grocery store. She's my supervisor, and yet she works the register. I bag groceries, cause no one around here wants to. I'm pretty good at my job, but it's kind of secondary, since I get about twenty dollars when I make a comic nowadays. Yes, that's a lot of quarters, thank you for asking.
"When're you two getting married?" I asked, trying to find SOMETHING to do while I bagged this old lady's groceries. God, the things THEY buy...
"Two more weeks. I still can't believe Charlie proposed," Rosalyn replied. When she used to babysit me, she'd always be on the phone with her boyfriend, Charlie.
"Considering you two have been together for over ten years, I'm surprised it didn't come earlier."
"Well, Charlie went to College, and I was kicked out. Guess that one game of Calvinball rubbed off on me, kid." Roz started to smirk. When I was six, I played this game called Calvinball, which was basically me and normally Hobbes making up rules as we go along while using a regular Volleyball. The only rule we had was that we can't play the same way twice. Roz ended up playing once, and she got the hang of it. She stuck around for a year or so, before she graduated and went to college. I don't know what she did to get kicked out, but I know she was there for five years, so she has a degree.
"Calvinball?" the old lady questioned.
"Long story." I replied. "Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?"
"You should." she said, smiling. "Ms. Wormwood, remember?" My eyes widened. My first grade teacher. Still out and about.
--
A couple of hours and an awkward conversation later, I was back on the way home. While I was riding back home, my baseball cap flew off. "HEY!" Put the kickstand up, and I ran into the woods, looking for my cap. I found it easily of course. It's kinda hard to not see a black baseball cap during a bright Spring day. When I got back to my bike, I saw a note attached to the handlebars. I started to look around. "Hello?! Hello? Who's out th...ere?" Confused, I opened the note. In a way that seemed to come out of a ransom note...
"SusIE: you Smell! Ha ha!" Then a cut-out of a skull and crossbones. "Susie? You out there?! I don't know what your game is, so just come out now!" After waiting a couple minutes, I got on my bike and rode off. I ran right into my room and listened to the radio. Immediately turned it off when I heard Sexyback again though. Damn Justin Timberlake.
I went back downstairs. Mom wasn't home yet. Worried, I called her cell phone. She wasn't answering, meaning she was probably still in the courtroom or doing deliberation or something like that. I just left a message.
"Hey, it's Cal. Just calling to check up on ya. Ha ha, imagine that. A son checking up on his mom. Well, call back when you get the message." I hang up, and I go back in my room. Inspired by what happened today, I start reading my journals. It's like that kid from the Butterfly Effect, although I don't have flashbacks and fix things that happened. I read what happened when I was seven years old, seeing if that would clear my head.
"Dear Journal. I can't believe my dad is making me do this stupid thing, it's against my rights. I don't want to do this, and have to remember this when I'm a teenager. Hopefully, Hobbes and I will find out how to never grow up. Maybe if I stay in the transmogrifier until I'm 30..." Was I really full of nonsense when I was a kid? This was hilarious to look at though. Maybe if I read into the middle...
"Dear stupid Journal. Everything seems boring now that there's nothing to do. Hobbes just stays in the closet, but what do I know? He's just a stupid tiger and he should be running around with me, cause these are the only years we may have. It's all that stupid Susie's fault. I hate her so much! She shouldn't have moved away. Then Hobbes and I would be at G.R.O.S.S. Headquarters, and we'd be doing fun things! Ha!" Bingo. I don't remember this at all. It's like everything with Susie was blocked out. Further more, what the hell was G.R.O.S.S.? Man, things were crazy back then. I think I'll go back a little bit before...
"Dear Journal! Good news! Susie is moving away! Her parents had a divorce, whatever that means, and she's leaving! Ha ha! Now I don't have to worry about cooties or anything! Now I'm freeeeeeeeeeeeee! No more girls to bug me again! Ha ha!" Now it was coming back... kind of. I remember a person I knew having a divorce... but I couldn't remember anything else. As I thumbed through the book, I saw a page that had a lot of scribbling on it and stuff. Looking through the scribbles, I made out what it said.
"I hate Hobbes! He keeps saying that I should send a card to Susie! I hate this stupid holiday! I don't even know why people need love anyway. I said it before, I'll say it again. People are such jerks!"
"Calvin's a liar! He knows that he looooooooooooooves Susie! He longs to just be held by his sweet divine—"
"Hobbes decided to be smart and I had to rough him up. Sure, I lost the battle, but I won the w--" This was actually entertaining. Then, I saw something that blew my mind wide open.
"Ha! I showed that fleabag! Today at school, I tripped Susie and told her that I had blood soup for lunch! Then I threw a slushball at her! She may have gotten a lucky hit in, but she's a girl! Even after she hit me, she still told my mom and I was sent to my room! Well done, promotions for everyone!"