Darkness at Noon

Chapter One - Fistful of Silence

Janine Melnitz was in a bind. She tapped manicured nails against her chin, glaring at her class list. Three lousy credit hours in science and she'd be done with her BA in history once and for all. The downsizing had been rough, but thankfully the local community college had a grant to allow older students to return to school. If she was lucky she could finish her BA and take the test to become a substitute teacher. The work might be unsteady, but most of the teachers she had spoken to already had been subs before they got their full certification, so it seemed like a logical course of action.

Not that logic had helped her as much as it could have.

She scolded herself for her distraction and went back to scanning the list.

Biology, probably not.

Microbiology, heck no.

Botany. It sounded interesting, but she understood the macro way more than the micro. Horticulture was unfortunately classified under agriculture or she would have jumped all over that.

Astronomy; promising, but she imagined most of it would consist of memorizing names like M19-5 and she had enough numbers to remember with her history classes. Not that numbers were difficult for her, in fact she excelled in mathematics for that reason, but she'd rather concentrate more on her focal studies.

Paranormal Phenomena 101. Ha, as if she hadn't seen enough of that to pass it in her sleep. She smirked, looking over the description. 'A study in the physical and nonphysical aspects of spectres, spirits, and other paranormal phenomena.' Probably some wannabe trying to make a name for himself. Who was this chump anyway?

PARA101 Hrs: 3 Rm: East 1630 Prof: Spengler.

Dr. E. Spengler.

She slapped the book shut and stared at the quivering pages for a moment.

Then she stood and walked to the registrar. What the hell.

On the first day of the new semester she woke up at the crack of dawn, growled at her alarm, and slouched off to prepare for class. Two hours later she felt like growling at her Medieval history professor for sending his grad student assistant to lecture when said grad student had both the most grating voice she had ever heard - and she was from Brooklyn for crying out loud - and the disgusting habit of snorting up snot between sentences. She almost preferred the feel of Slimer's oozing ecto to the sounds of 'snrrrrk-glrp-hk-hk-hk' with every pause.

By the time Paranormal Phenomena 101 rolled around she was tired, her feet ached from walking, and like hellshe was taking that ridiculous book assigned to the class. Egon must have been throwing darts at the book list for all she could understand. Of course, Tobin's was out of print and his own revised edition was probably not acceptable, but still, a quick glance through and it looked like some kind of Weird Tales issue made into the driest, most droning text ever.

She checked her watch and groaned inwardly. She was running late and this class was clear across campus. Great. She picked up the pace, ignoring how even her very low heels were bothering her after all the walking. She'd seen plenty of other students in just jeans and sweaters, maybe she could afford to relax a little and come in her tennis shoes...

She reached the doors about five minutes after class time and paused to take a breath.

"Well, here goes..." She banged the doors open with both hands, no way she could just slip in unnoticed.

"Sorry professor, am I late?" she called loudly.

"No, we were just getting - Janine?" The tall, blond man on the stage looked up in surprise, stepping away from the counter he had been leaning against. He reached up and adjusted oval framed glasses.

She paused for just a second, taking him in. A little flabbier around the middle, wearing a sweater in somewhat threadbare shape, and his hair back in a ponytail instead of up in its usual curl. Who was this guy and what had he done with Egon?

Then she thought of herself. Longer hair tamed by job and nature, demure and matronly clothing, no color on her nails. She ignored her classmates - a bunch of kids at a cursory glance - and stepped up to the stage to meet him with a hint of a smirk.

"I've become a big fan of continuing education. Especially since I got downsized," she added under her breath. "It's been a long time, Egon. How've you been? Still living at the firehouse?"

"Yes, well, I'm...You know, I'm..." He lit up, as much as Egon ever did anyway. He smiled warmly, then seemed a little embarrassed by such a bawdy display of emotion, cleared his throat and straightened his glasses again to resettle them on a nose she knew to be ever so slightly crooked from a poltergeist's flying painting to the face early in his career. Nervous habits died hard and she felt a tinge of satisfaction she could still make him feel that on edge.

It made her wonder even more why he had drifted away from her.

"Ahem," he cleared his throat again. "Class, this is Janine Melnitz."

"Good morning, Ms. Melnitz," smirked the Hispanic kid in the second row. Smart ass. One in every class.

"Didn't she work for the Ghostbusters?" asked the guy in the wheelchair.

"Correct, she was our receptionist when the Ghostbusters franchise was still in operation," Egon supplied.

"I like to think I was more than that to you..." she murmured.

"O-of course," he stammered. "Janine was also in charge of our finances and accounting."

Well, she had pushed her luck far enough today apparently.

What followed was the most boring lecture about the paranormal she could possibly imagine. She couldn't help but agree with the kid in the wheelchair who kept muttering encouragement to get to the good stuff.

They hadn't even covered how to read a PKE meter yet, much less what one was. He had just spent the last hour discussing how ghosts could register in minute temperature and pressure drops, going so far as to use the projector to show images from barometers and thermometers both.

Janine sighed and tried not to nod off. As fond as she was of Egon, he had the perfect voice to fall asleep to. No wonder the enrollment sucked.

To preoccupy herself she studied her classmates. The Hispanic guy fell asleep halfway through. The black kid was taking notes as though every tiny detail was on the next test. The lone girl had her eyes closed and was clutching a copy of Spengler's Spirit Guide as though she had just reached Nirvana and was now enjoying the sound of the universe. The red head in the wheelchair had given up and was now just munching on a granola bar, fist to his cheek as he stared vacantly at the projection.

It was going to be a long semester.

After the class Janine lingered, straightening her jacket and running a hand through her hair while Egon gathered his papers back into his briefcase. He didn't even seem to notice she was there and almost walked out without her. Typical.

"Professor, I had a question," she piped up, smirking at his befuddled expression as she headed up the stairs.

"A question?" He straightened his glasses again, then took them off and rubbed them on his shirt. When he put them back on she was close enough to see the scratches on the lenses from ages of abuse.

"Yes, usually they're accompanied by an answer."

A ghost of a smile.

"I had one too...That is if you don't mind." The dark haired girl from earlier. Janine hadn't even seen her and flinched in surprise. She glanced back at her. She was a tiny thing really, couldn't be more than five feet tall and was twig thin to boot. Janine distinctively felt like she could break her in half over her knee if she was so inclined.

"No, not at all. My office hours start in about half an hour. After dinner," Egon glanced up at the clock on the wall, then at his wristwatch.

"I was hoping you would join me for dinner, actually." Janine felt she ought to pipe up or lose the nerve.

"I...well, sure." Egon rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll be in my office at 6:30."

"Right..." The girl looked a little crestfallen, but went to gather her gigantic stack of books. Janine felt a twinge of sympathy.

"Hey, where's your car at? We can help." She felt no shame in volunteering the good doctor. He used to lift 50 pounds of proton pack daily, the least he could do was help one of his few students.

"I got it." The look the girl shot her was venomous.

"Suit yourself." Crush on the teacher or an overactive need for self reliance, maybe both. She knew the type; she had beenthat type. "C'mon, Egon."

They strolled away in silence, neither really knowing what to say. As they neared the near-empty cafeteria Egon cleared his throat.

"So...Read any good books lately?"

"Mostly textbooks." She almost laughed. Almost five years since they last sat down to dinner together and that was all he could think of to say? Well, she couldn't fault him too much, at least he was trying. It was just like his yearly birthday and Christmas cards. 'Hello Janine, I hope this finds you well...' followed by an explanation of why said holiday was not really a holiday or some such. Still, she returned the favor and usually sent him a delivery pie or cake.

"Janine?"

"Hm?" She blinked, having been staring blankly at the menu.

He looked down at his feet, then over at a fascinating trash can. Back at her. He settled on the menu. "What would you like to eat? My treat."

"Yeah? Just pick something then, I'll get us a table."

He furrowed his brow at her, and she could see his mind picking apart what she said to try and analyse it into a form he could comprehend. "Alright," he said finally. "You still like Reubens, correct?"

"Correct," she smiled crookedly, heading for the booths off to the side. What was she doing here, rekindling this...whatever they had? As far as she was concerned he had called it off long ago. But here they were and here they would sit, dancing around to the same tune.

She sighed and traced the false wood pattern on the table, trying to make sense of her life yet again. She could drop the class and sign up for another one, it was only the first day. There might be make up homework, but she could handle that fine...

"I've missed you." It was said so softly she almost didn't hear it. "I apologise. Sorry doesn't cut it, but I am. I've missed you."

She bit her lip and closed her eyes, trying to steel herself. Drop the class, get on with her life, find some nice safe man who would treat her nicely.

Then she looked up and saw that damned man with those damned gorgeous blue eyes and his damned stupidly charming tatty old sweater and his damned glasses she wanted to straighten on his damned ever-so-slightly crooked nose and fell in love all over again.

She couldn't drop the class now. Damn his eyes and all their sincerity.

At least he wasn't a half bad dancer.

After that it became as comfortable as an old habit; Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays they would go eat after class. Mostly Janine brought sandwiches, seeing as when they had agreed to simply bring their dinners Egon had brought a handful of Twinkies and a vending machine donut. She had, more than once, scolded him for neglecting himself. His usual reply was an irritable snort, or a brief explanation that he had simply forgotten on his way out the door.

After dinner they would go back to his office where the girl from class, Kylie, was inevitably waiting to discuss some tidbit she had read or heard about. Janine would sit at Egon's often absent grad student's desk, quietly doing her homework and listening in. Kylie had at first begrudged her presence, but gradually became used to her to the point of forgetting she was there entirely.

Janine couldn't help but see a lot of the good professor in his student; brilliant, intrigued, and able to tune out the rest of human existence at the mention of the paranormal. She also noticed that none of the other students seemed to bother talking to her, aside from the occasional attempt from the tall one with the goatee.

She seemed to project the aura of being aloof and detached, but her face right now said something entirely different. She was interested, involved, and enthusiastic. Not Ray enthusiastic, but it was there regardless. She couldn't help but smile. Kylie was, in many ways, like the daughter Egon would likely never have. Janine suspected there was a parallel somewhere in Kylie's life; why else would she hang around campus until 8:30?

Glancing at the clock, she noted the time was just that, and shut her book loudly enough to startle the both of them.

"Sorry, I was going to head out." She smiled, stuffing her books back into her bag.

"Oh, it is 8:30, isn't it?" Egon looked at the clock, then the time on his computer monitor.

Janine nodded, hefting her bag onto her shoulder and slipping her low heels back on.

"Kylie, we can continue this thread of conversation tomorrow if you would like. Your source is fascinating." Egon looked at her without really looking at her, obviously dedicating the title of the book to memory.

Kylie nearly grinned, her eyes bright. "Sure, I'll be back Friday."

Impulsively, Janine interjected. "Why don't you just join us for dinner for once?"

"I...Wouldn't want to impose," Kylie seemed suspicious and unsure of how exactly to respond to the invitation.

Egon looked vaguely uncomfortable at her implication and very pointedly kept his eyes on the stack of homework papers he was now trying - and failing - to organise.

"Don't worry about it." She smiled. "Friday at 5, alright?"

"Yeah, alright," Kylie ventured a tiny smile in return before gathering her books and heading out, casting a backwards glance before she disappeared.

Janine watched her go. Maybe the kid really wasn't so bad. She turned to gather her bag, noting that Egon had turned away to look at some fascinating woodgrain.

"Well, professor, see you Friday."

"Yes, of course," he murmured offhandedly.

She shrugged inwardly and strode out, leaving him alone to brood over tacky oak laminate under a halo of degrees and certificates. For the second time since the semester had started she felt a pang of regret for subjecting herself to this once again.

Fistful of Silence is a song by The Glitch Mob.