Author's Note: Thank you all for reviews, follows and favorites. They truly do feed the inspiration!
When the final bell ran out on Friday classes, Lauren exited the building with a hoard of other students, but lingered on the steps, seeing neither Bo nor Dyson. A few minutes later she saw the convertible pull up, top still down, but the boy was alone in the car and Lauren decided to stay where she was, not comfortable with meeting Bo's boyfriend on her own.
When Bo finally did come out, she was surround by a group of boys and girls. Some Lauren recognized as members of the girls' soccer team, others she didn't know, but everyone seemed to orbit around Bo, as if she were a central nexus.
Bo saw the convertible waiting and started to say her goodbyes to her friends, hugging some and high-fiving or fist-bumping the others. A minute later she was running down the steps and into Dyson's open arms. Lauren remained where she was, watching the pair as they were catching up beside the vehicle, uncertain if Bo forgot all about their agreement to spend time at her grandfather's pub that afternoon. Where they wait for her? Should she join the pair now so other kids could see them leaving together? Or forget the whole blasted idea and sneak around the mulling students to get to her bus? A few minutes later most students had cleared off, leaving her exposed on the steps. Lauren cursed her indecisiveness, but in that moment the decision was taken out of her hands. Bo turned and saw her. The older girl waved, and Lauren rushed over to them. "Hi." She greeted, slightly out of breath.
"Hey Lauren. This is Dyson" Bo pointed at the tall, athletic boy with curly blond hair that Lauren saw the other day. "Dyson – Lauren." Lauren nodded her hello and the boy did the same. He was at least a foot and half taller than Lauren, and she had to crane her neck just to make eye contact with him.
"Let's go, I'm starving!" Bo pulled the passenger door open and motioned Lauren to the back seat. They were underway in seconds, the car roaring to life and tearing out of the parking lot, leaving some of the tire thread behind.
They parked in the alley in the part of town Lauren has never been in, and followed Bo as she led them to the building with a massive wooden door and a sign above that read "Dal Riata".
"That's an unusual name" Lauren was compelled to comment, as she sounded out the name, liking how it rolled off her tong even as it sounded foreign to her ears. "Does it mean anything?"
"Well, it depends. When I was little, gramps told me it was a name of Way Station that his grand-father operated back in Ireland. But a few years ago I heard him tell someone that it was a name of a hooker that his father was once in love with, and who may - or may not have - been my gramps' mother." Bo answered cheekily, leading the group to one of the several booths inside. "I'm going to say hi to gramps, be right back," she threw over the shoulder on her way to the bar area.
Lauren was left in the booth alone with Dyson, and both looked at the other wearily, neither starting a conversation until Bo returned a few minutes later, followed by an older gentlemen with kind eyes and an easy smile.
"I'm Fitzpatrick McCorrigan, Bo's grandfather, but please call me Trick." He introduced himself to the pair.
Lauren instantly decided she liked him. "I'm Lauren." She smiled in return.
"Dyson." The boy answered shortly.
Trick handed them the menus and smiled up at the teens. "Holler when you are ready to order, all on the house."
"Thanks gramps!" Bo settled in next to Dyson and across from Lauren, and pushed back the menu Trick left for her. She craved waffles, and wondered if she can talk her grandfather into asking the cook to make her breakfast in the afternoon.
Lauren was perusing the menu, which favored heavily to the Irish dishes. Shepherd's pie caught her attention and she settled the menu back on the table. A minute later Dyson did the same. Trick had come over then, three jars of root beer floats in one hand and a basket with fries in the other. Both Trick and his offerings were greeted with cheers by the hungry teenagers.
"Ready?" he looked at Lauren first and she nodded eagerly.
They called out their orders, Bo batting her eyelashes at Trick with her request for waffles. He laughed and told her that with her fondness for breakfast foods, the cook kept the waffle-maker and pancake batter handy at all hours.
Orders placed, Bo turned to her schoolmates. "Do you two have any classes in common?"
Lauren just shrugged, unsure, but Dyson spoke up. "Yes. Art, on Wednesdays and Fridays." Lauren was not least bit surprised – she hardly paid attention to others in any of her classes.
"Oh yeah? How's that going?" Bo was asking them both.
"I'm doing all right, but Lauren can't draw stick figures" Dyson answered cockily.
"No way!" Bo turned her full attention to Lauren.
"He's right. I'm useless at all artistic expressions. I'm seriously considering dropping this class and finding another elective." Lauren said, pleased to have been asked a direct question, but unhappy to having to reveal and personal failure.
Dyson seemed to have puffed up his chest at being declared a winner of unannounced contest for best art student, Lauren thought.
"Yeah, whatever. You're only good at drawing stuff you see in your comic books. I'm sure if they asked you to draw a vase, it would end up looking like a space gun or something." Bo chuckled.
"You don't think I can convince the teacher that plasma discharge from a ray gun looks just like a rose?" Dyson parried playfully.
"Dyson, you can be very persuasive, when you put your mind to it." Bo purred, looking into the grey eyes of her boyfriend.
Lauren fidgeted in her seat, uncomfortable with the scene in front of her. Trick chose that moment to appear with their orders and must have caught Bo's comment too, because he looked everywhere but at the pair as he placed their dishes in from of them. His eyes finally settled on Lauren.
"Lauren, do you have a boyfriend?" He asked, probably just to be polite.
"No, and it's not likely that I will have one in the future." Lauren answered confidently.
"Why not?" All three asked almost in unison.
Lauren was momentarily taken aback by how surprised they seemed, but, as with anything she said, she had a reason for saying it.
"It's quite likely that I'm going to grow up to be gay." She said matter-of-factly.
"You can't know that. You're what – 13? 14? You've got a bit of growing up to do." Dyson was saying. Lauren wondered if his comments on 'growing up' had to do with emotional maturity, or the fact that her girly bits haven't come in yet. She was narrow-hipped, and flat-chested. Next to Bo's very attractive feminine curves, she knew she looked undeveloped.
"Dyson!" Bo elbowed him in the arm and looked back at Lauren with a bit of an apology.
Trick went from looking mildly uncomfortable to downright anxious, and though he longed to be anywhere but in front of their booth, he couldn't find a good excuse to up and leave.
"13, and while what you are saying is true for some, in my case, my conclusions are based on scientific research." Lauren paused, but no one had anything to say in response to that, so she tried to explain further.
"A few months ago I read an article about a study where participants where shown various sexual images and were tested on their responsiveness, primarily sexual arousal. There are certain hormones that get activated when people are aroused, and their increase in the blood stream can be measured with a simple blood test. I researched this topic and the study quite extensively. The study had an adequate number of participants, had followed all the protocols for control groups; and the article itself was peer reviewed and published in a Journal of Science, a reputable scientific publication. When I looked into how the study was conducted, I realized I should be able to replicate their experiment with me as a test subject."
Lauren's audience was quiet when she finished. Dyson recovered first, having honed in on one particular thing she said.
"Visual aids, you mean porn? Did you watch porn for your study, Lauren?"
"I did at first," she admitted, "but it was kind of too much, so I stopped just after a few minutes. So I went out and got some magazines instead."
"What did you get? Where did you get them?" Dyson wanted to know. Lauren didn't understand why he seemed so interested in the part of her statement that had little effect on the study, but answered nonetheless.
"At the public library in Riverside. They had a good selection - Playboy, Playgirl and Hustler. I took six months' worth of issues of each."
"Are you shitting me? They give out those things at your library?" Dyson was still hung up on the magazines, of all things.
"I researched that, too. Not all public libraries carry subscriptions of all 3 magazines, but if they do, they will give them to you, like any other magazine they carry. The policies are the same."
"No way! You can't buy a pack of smocks or a wine cooler until you are 21, but they give out dirty rags to 13-year-olds?"
"It's true, the policy states that they will not discriminate based on age, among other criteria." Lauren confirmed.
"Oh, I've got to go visit my library!" Dyson lamented.
"They have a large section of books on sexuality, also. You may want to take a gander at Kama Sutra. Lots of pictures in that one."
In a brief silence that followed, Trick finally bestirred himself. "More root beer floats, coming right up!" he exclaimed and hurried off, ignoring the fact that the first round was still largely untouched by either teen.
"So, how did you run the experiment?" Bo finally asked. Dyson seemed interested in that also.
Lauren was happy to answer that question. She loved talking about science. "First, I took a blood sample to get a baseline for various hormones in my system. Then I perused the magazines with illustrations of women in sexually provocative poses for about an hour, stopping to take blood samples every 10 minutes. The next day I repeated the process, starting with a new baseline, but looking at illustrations of men. When I examined my blood samples, I charted the rise of arousal hormones on day one, then compared it to day two. It was clear from the results that I responded more favorably to the women, by a significant margin."
"Wow. A super nerd and a dyke. You should probably keep the last one to yourself while you are at Sacred Heart." Dyson pointed out.
Bo elbowed him in the chest this time. Hard.
"What? I'm not judging," he defended himself to the older girl, "but you know how the kids are. They already give her hell because she's the youngest and the nerdyest. Do you think they'll let up if she comes out, on top of that all?"
"OK, you are probably right." Bo conceded. Neither teen was comfortable continuing with the topic, so they pounced on their meals.
Between bites of her excelled Shepherd's Pie, Lauren tried to restart the conversation. "Dyson, why is there a letter on your jacket?" she asked, pointing at the jacket he wore over his high school uniform jacket.
Dyson looked at her like he couldn't believe she would ask such a question. "I'm on a varsity team."
"Oh, is it…" Lauren tried to find the right adjective. "Challenging?"
"Yeah, dah." Dyson rolled his eyes.
"But you are good at it?" Lauren questioned him further.
"Yeah, kid. I'm very good at it." Dyson stated emphatically. He thought about flexing his muscles for the girls, but decided to wait until he was alone with Bo.
Lauren just smiled. She was feeling awkward, never used to prolonged social interactions, and she was quickly running out of questions to ask. It also bothered her that she didn't seemed to know how to ask the questions which would prompt a more elaborate response. She thought a few minutes of alone time could be good for her.
"Is there a bathroom I can use here?" she directed the next question at Bo. Bo pointed to a door to the side of the bar and Lauren headed out for a few minutes of solitude.
Back at the booth, Dyson was shaking his head. "Why are we hanging out with the little geek, Bo?"
"Why not?" Bo questioned.
Rather than answer her, Dyson decided to change tacks. "Do you think she has a crush on you?"
Bo laughed. "Are you jealous?"
"No!" He pffed, trying to appear confident in his claim on Bo. Lauren was not a rival. She was… strange, and small, and awkward. Not like any of Bo's many friends. So why was the little imp here, with them? He was finally meeting Bo's grandfather, a man who raised her and was the most important person in her life. He wanted to introduce himself as Bo's boyfriend, talk to the older man about something important and make a good impression. Instead, he felt disoriented by the kid who took over the conversation with her science-shmience nonsense and completely derailed his plans.
"Actually," Bo said quietly, contemplatively, "I think she may have a crash on you, all her experiments notwithstanding. She seems really curious about you."
It was Dyson to turn to ask "Are you jealous?"
"That depends. Are you interested?"
"Eww. Gross." Dyson slapped at his face with both arms, as if trying to rub off the thought from his mind. "She's 13. And besides, you know how I always tell you that you look hot in your school uniform?" Bo nodded, curious where he was going with this. "Well," Dyson continued, "Lauren in the same uniform looks like a boy in a wig, in drag!"
Bo laughed at his antics. "No, she doesn't." She stopped to think about what she wanted to say next. "She's just really different than anyone else at school, you know?" She lamented. "It's like the first time you try the caramel truffle with sea salt. It's different, and maybe not very tasty, but kinda intriguing, don't you think?"
Dyson was saved from having to answer by Lauren's return to the booth. She had thought of several more questions to ask that she hoped would produce a conversation, and she was eager to try them out.
"So, which majors will you be applying for when you start college?" She asked both seniors.
"I'm going to apply to a police academy" Dyson answered first.
"I don't know if I want to go to college," Bo admitted. "I want to travel a bit after high school, and afterwards maybe come help out Trick with the bar. But I bet you know what you want to major in, even if it's still a bit far off for you, isn't it?" She asked Lauren.
"Chemistry, Genetics and Biology." The younger girl answered immediately. "And I'm already in college."
"Wait, what?" Asked Bo.
"How?" Dyson piped in.
Lauren wasn't happy to have the conversation turn back to her so quickly, even though she was able to get a few tidbits of information about both her companions beforehand.
"Like everybody else, I guess. I took the standardized tests, applied, and was admitted" she answered.
"Whoa, Betsy. Slow down and start at the beginning." Bo requested.
"I took the SAT…" Lauren said, not sure what was being asked. "Who's Betsy?"
"The cow. Who cares?" Bo dismissed the silly question. "How'd you do on the SATs?"
"I got 760 for math, which was 97th percentile, 580 in critical reading, which was 75th percentile, and I kind of bombed writing – I got 410, I think it was 40th percentile."
"What is that percentile thing?" Asked Dyson.
"It shows what percentage of other test takers did worse than you. So 75th percentile means that 75 percent of others who took the test scored lower than you."
"Wow, bragging much?" Dyson was definitely getting jealous now.
"No," Lauren hang her head. She wanted these people to like her, damn it. Why did she have to ask about colleges? "Just answering the question asked."
"Hey, kid, come on, that's nothing to be embarrassed about." Bo tried to comfort the younger girl. "So, you were accepted to college. Why are you still in high school?"
Lauren started fidgeting with her napkin. "I'm good at some things – like math and science. I look at equations or chemical formulas and they just make sense. But other stuff is really hard. You saw my English Lit quiz results. I work really hard, but it isn't enough, especially with college level classes…"
Bo leaned forward, silently encouraging Lauren to continue.
"I was admitted in the spring. I was so excited that didn't want to wait until fall and registered for the summer quarter. Good thing too. I signed up for Math, Chemistry, Biology and English 101. I flunked English, but aced everything else." Lauren could feel her eyes water, and fought to keep the tears from falling. "My English teacher went to talk to the dean with me and we found a program where I would continue to take my science classes at the U, but will take all the social science and humanities at a High School. I would have to take all the required humanities at the U at some point again to get my college degree, but I can wait to do it until later. So then I needed to find a school that would agree to work with me and the university, and that's how I ended up at Sacred Heart. They needed someone who can represent them at the annual science fair. They think I can get them a top 10 placement, and in return I get free tuition and high school credit for the science classes I take at the U. Also, they are a private school, so they don't have some of the restrictions that public schools are forced to operate under, and they agreed to admit me and load up my schedule just with the right kind of classes for me." Lauren looked at her two companions for any hints of how they were tacking her story.
Both seemed to be mulling over what they just heard. Bo spoke up first again.
"So, you are good at sciency things, but you don't have like a photographic memory or something like that?"
Lauren shook her head. "Unfortunately, I don't have eidetic memory or any other cognitive super abilities."
Dyson leaned forward and started interrogating the younger teen like the cops on TV did.
"So you can't recite a book from memory?"
"No."
"Can you multiply 10 digit numbers in your head?"
"No."
"Do you know how many tiles are in the floor of the bathroom?"
"No. Those are things that some savants and some autistics are capable for, but I'm neither."
"X-ray vision? Telekinesis? Telepathy? Invisibility? Precognition?"
"No…" Lauren drawled, unsure if Dyson was being facetious.
"Well, that's too bad. I thought we finally discovered the first mutant." Dyson leaned back into the booth cushions, clearly disappointed.
"Well, I still think you have amazing skills, even if they don't match those in Dyson's comic books." Bo said and gave her boyfriend a stink eye.
"Thanks" Lauren could tell she was blushing.
"So, if you don't have any special skills, I bet you have a ton of homework to do. How's about we take you home, kiddo?" Dyson offered.
"Yes, thank you." Lauren did have a lot of homework, but she was sad to end the evening with the two older teens. It was uncomfortable at times, but it was still fun.
They got up and waved at Trick. He ambled over and said his good byes to each teen, reminding Bo about getting home by midnight and inviting the other two to come back anytime. He did not mention the second round of root beers he never brought to the table.