RETURNING HOME

Chapter 5

First Day at George Mack High

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The shrill of the alarm was like an ice pick in her ear as she was jolted into consciousness. As she shut the clock off and dragged herself out of bed she grabbed a towel and her clothes and stumbled sleepily towards the door. Slowly she made her way to the bathroom looking forward to a nice hot morning shower to wake her up. As she stepped into the bathroom and started the water running she silently cursed herself for taking a job that required her to get up at five in the morning, but at least she would be riding to school with Ray and he said he had some sort of surprise for her after classes were over today. She stepped into the show and instantly felt awake as the hot water hit her back, and after a couple seconds she melted to the bottom of the tub enjoying the water streaking down on her liquid form. After her shower she got dressed and headed down to the darkened kitchen for some coffee and breakfast. She felt a slight pang of disappointment that her mother wasn't down here with breakfast ready to eat, but what do you expect when you get up at least an hour before anyone else. She quietly put a pot of coffee on and made herself a bowl of cereal and some toast for breakfast. She was about half way through her meal when her father clad in a robe entered the kitchen.

"Morning sunshine", she said with as much cheer as she could muster for five-thirty in the morning, "I didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't", he replied returning her smile, "When I heard the shower I knew you were up so I thought I would offer my company."

"I would never turn it down but I'm sure you and mom would like to get your house back from all my stuff", she said smiling.

"Alex, your mother and I know that you have a lot on your plate right now and just want you to know you can stay here as long as you need", he said putting a hand on her shoulder before going after the pot of coffee.

"I know Dad, you and mom have always been there for me, but I want to get my own place", she said hoping she wouldn't hurt her father's feelings.

George looked at his youngest daughter and gave a soft smile, "I understand, in fact when I was your age I wouldn't have gone home to stay with my parents if I could help it."

Alex rinsed out her bowl and smiled with the satisfaction that her father understood her feelings. She made her way back up to her room to get her bag ready for her first day of classes. Once she had everything ready she headed outside to wait for Ray who was picking her up for school today. A few minutes later Ray drove up and motioned Alex to get in the car. She put her bag in the trunk and slid in to the passenger seat giving Ray a quick kiss before putting on her seatbelt. Once she got comfortable Ray took off for the five minute drive to the school. As the school came into view Alex couldn't help but chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Ray asked her wondering why she was giggling.

"We used to talk about how we couldn't wait to get out of school and now we've doomed ourselves to spend the rest of our lives in it" she said still stifling a giggle.

Ray looked sharply at her and then broke down into his own smile, "I've never thought about it before, but I can't deny that you're right.

He parked the car, grabbed his things from the back seat, and opened the trunk for Alex to grab her bag. They entered the building and immediately began reminiscing about their own high school days, Alex said goodbye to Ray as they came to the spot where they had to part and head to their individual rooms. She entered her new classroom and began using the time she had before the bell rang to begin setting up. She went through her normal list of first day science pranks and decided on one she had not used in a while, so with the last few minutes of free time she made her way to the copier. She had just gotten back to her room and put her lab coat on when the bell rang and students began entering her classroom. Alex looked down at her hands to make sure she wasn't glowing from nervousness before turning around to address the class.

"Good morning class I'm Ms. Mack and this is first period science", she said noticing their less than thrilled expressions, normally I use the first day solely for introductions but this year I thought I would try something different."

She picked up a piece of chalk and wrote Dihydrogen Monoxide on the board.

"We are going to have a class vote on wether or not this substance should be banned. I'm going to give you some facts and then you will vote", she smiled, "And we'll vote by a show of hands."

The class grumbled but complied as she stood in front of them waiting for the coming silence.

"All right", she said, "It causes millions of dollars in property damage every year, is fatal if inhaled, is a major contributor to the greenhouse effect, contributes to the erosion of our natural landscape, and accelerates corrosion of many metals. Despite these dangers it is often used as an industrial solvent and coolant, a fire repellant, and is a major ingredient in pesticides so that even after washing produce the contamination remains. Now by a show of hands who thinks this substance should be banned?"

Immediately hands went up and Alex counted out seventeen which was all but seven in her class. She smiled as she grabbed a label less water bottle out of her bag and showed sat it on the desk. "By an overwhelming majority this class thinks Dihydrogen Monoxide should be banned, but it just so happens that I have a sample of the substance in that bottle on my desk, and I hope none of you get thirsty because nothing beats a refreshing drink of water on a hot day", and she picked up the bottle and took a sip as she heard groans and saw face palms from all around the classroom as she smiled and thought to herself that this was going to be a good year.

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He put his binoculars in his pocket and jotted down some information in his notebook, so far he hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary but he was going to make sure he established a normal pattern for George Mack and his entire family. He left the high school campus to find Georges wife Barbara and he what her routine was, if the director wanted information he would get it. Dr. Thomson had just gotten into his car as his cell phone began to ring, satisfied with himself for working so diligently he wasn't even nervous as he answered.

"Yes sir", he said into the mouthpiece.

"What have you found out?" the Directors cold voice came through the phone.

"We won't be able to move as quickly as we would like. The youngest daughter is a teacher as is her boyfriend, they would be missed at present time and since secrecy is a concern here it's in our best interests to wait for now", he said.

"I agree", came the cold voice again, "Keep tracking them, but do not be seen, we cannot afford the project to be exposed through incompetence."

"Understood sir, I'll keep you up to date on my progress", Thomson said before hanging up his phone.

He started his car and drove off to see what Barbara Mack does for her morning routine. As he turned on the main street he saw Annie Mack enter a coffee shop with a male he did not recognize and since he knew she wouldn't know him from Adam decided he could use a coffee break. Upon entering the establishment he grabbed a newspaper and ordered a large coffee and made sure to find the closest seat he could to Annie Mack without looking suspicious. Luckily for him there was a corner table just within eavesdropping range where he could sit, enjoy his coffee, and read the paper while using a small digital recorder to record everything that was said.

Annie sat down at the table with two coffees, one for her and another for her friend. She pulled out a folder and opened it for the two of them to see.

"As you can see", she started, "By introducing this substance into water it will cause the chemical to begin breaking down and taking the impurities with it, making water treatment much simpler and cheaper than current procedures."

"This is all very interesting but what happens if it were introduced into say a pond or lake?" he asked.

Annie smiled slightly, "Then you would have a very clean but lifeless pond of lake. The chemical doesn't discriminate and will dissolve anything in the water. I can't stress enough that this is for use only in controlled facilities such as a water treatment plant."

"So you're saying that this chemical could cause an ecological disaster if it were released somewhere it shouldn't be", he said shaking his head.

"The same thing happens with oil but we still use millions of barrels of it yearly", she retorted.

"Touché", he said, "So when will this be ready for live trials?"

"Not for at least another year, we want to make sure that there are no long lasting effects", Annie stated putting everything back in the folder.

"So much for getting away from work for a while", he said with a smile taking her hand.

"You knew what you were getting into the first time you asked me out David", she said smiling at him.

"I guess I did, but now speaking of work, we need to get back before your Dad notices we're gone", David said standing up.

"I guess", she said as she got up, took his hand, and headed out the door.

Thomson turned off the tape recorder and slipped it back into his coat. He would send it to the Director to see if this would be useful information. He headed back to his car and drove off to find his next target of observation.

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Alex put the last of her supplies in the cabinet and hung her lab coat on the coat rack, as it was every year the first day was the hardest so she made it easier by pulling some kind of joke on her class the first day. Now since the school day was over she had the rest of the evening to spend with Ray. She had no idea what she was doing by dating her best friend but somehow it felt like they had always been a couple, it was just now official. The final bell had rung about ten minutes ago so she knew Ray would be by soon to pick her up, and as funny as it seemed it still felt right so who was she to fight it. There was a knock at her door as she was straightening out the desks and Ray entered with a smile walking up to her and embracing her. She let him hold her for a while before grabbing her bag and shutting off the light.

"Ready", she asked.

"Waiting on you", he joked putting his arm around her and heading for the car.

Once they got to the car they put their belongings in the trunk and got inside. Ray put the key in the ignition and turned it but nothing happened. He tried again but got the same result so Alex motioned for him to pop the hood and got out of the car. After going over the connections she determined it was just a dead battery so she put one finger on each terminal and gave out a small charge causing the car to turn over immediately. She got into the car and saw Ray beaming at her.

"Have I told you how fantastic I think you are?" he asked.

"No", she said leaning over and giving him a kiss, "But I'll take one of those and we'll call it even."

Ray smiled as he put the car into gear and they took off to whatever surprise Ray had in store for her.

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Putting his binoculars back in his coat he sat there in almost pure shock. He had made it a personal mission to make sure the cars battery was dead but Ms. Mack had somehow gotten the car to start by herself. He took out his notepad and made a reminder to keep as close an eye on her as possible. This was definitely something his boss would want to know about.

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Ray and Alex rode in the car in a comfortable silence taking back roads through the town. They had been in the car for about thirty minutes and Alex was beginning to wonder where they were going, but Ray wasn't talking. Every time she went to ask him he would just smile and say "You'll see", and Alex was starting to wonder if they were actually going anywhere. After about another ten minutes she began to so lights in the distance, and after another couple of minutes she was able to make out a Ferris wheel.

"I didn't know the fair was in town", she said grabbing his arm.

"They weren't supposed to be but Annie and I helped repair one of the ride computers last year so we cashed in a favor and got them to stay open an extra day this year just for you", he said smiling.

"And you said I was fantastic", she said barely able to hold in her glee.

"It was nothing really, just one of those right time right place moments", Ray was beginning to feel like he was on cloud nine just from her smile alone as he pulled into the parking area, "So what do you want to do first?"

"What do I always do first?" she asked knowing full well he would get the answer right.

"Tell you what, instead of going over everything in advance you lead and I'll follow", he said motioning her towards the gate.

They entered the fairgrounds and Alex ran straight for the Ferris wheel with Ray following right behind her. As they rode she made sure to snuggle up as close to him as she possibly could, and when they reached the top she tossed a single charge of electricity into the sky making it light up briefly. Ray normally would have worried when she did that just like all those years ago when even though he would encourage her to use them he was always worried something bad would happen to her if she did, but tonight was her night and if she wanted to show off a little he wouldn't stand in her way. After the Ferris wheel they made their way to the bumper card which were always one of Alex's favorites since she was a kid. After that they hit the Frisbee which Ray new was because she was getting hungry and wanted to get this one out of the way before she ate. Their meal that day was fit for no one but a glutton as it consisted of corndogs, funnel cakes, and buckets of soda. Next it was time for the games but before Ray would let her play she had to promise no powers using the reasoning that it would be cheating and the prizes wouldn't mean as much if she didn't work for them. She pouted a bit but agreed and even still didn't fare too badly, and the games she couldn't win he did so by the end of the evening she had an impressive haul of stuffed animals and other trinkets. It was still early so they decided to go back to his place and watch a movie, plus he said he would store Alex's winnings till she had a proper place to put them. Once they got back Alex simply floated the prizes into his apartment and found a good place for them in the corner. She found an old science fiction move on TV and Ray soon joined her with a couple of beers and they sat against each other in quiet contentment until the movie was over. It was close to eleven when the movie ended and Alex was beginning to fall asleep on Rays shoulder. He gently got up and laid her down on the couch while he put the empty beer bottles away and cleaned up the spilt chips. Once everything was tidy he gently shook her awake but she just moaned at him.

"Hey" she finally opened her eyes slightly at him, "Guess I'm a little tired."

"Why don't you stay here tonight, we'll swing by your house and get you some clothes in the morning", he offered.

"No need", she said sleepily, "I have a change of clothes in my bag, never know when you'll need them in my profession."

"So you'll stay?" he asked hopefully.

She moaned and put her arms around him, "Only if I don't have to sleep by myself."

"I think I can help with that", he said, "here's a shirt and some shorts, get changed and I'll be back in a couple minutes."

Ray left Alex in the living room to change as he went to the bedroom to do the same. Once he was done he carefully made his way back carefully into the living room just in case she wasn't decent, but what he found was a changed Alex falling back asleep on the couch. He carefully picked her up and carried her into the bedroom and got her covered up he crawled into the opposite side of the bed. Alex woke slightly and cuddled up against ray as they fell asleep in each other's arms,

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A/N: A timeline for those who wonder; ch1 is the Saturday before school starts, ch2 is the following day, ch3 is the following Friday, and this chapter is the first Monday of school. Always remember I love reviews and a special thanks to Jeremy Shane for being my most faithful reviewer so far.