Consequences (takes place after The Prom Goer's Interstellar Excursion)

Amy pulled sharply away from Sheldon. "Jacob? Ada? What's going on?"

Then she heard Sheldon whisper, his voice deep and rumbling, even over the swell of music as their romantic song ended, "Was that blood on her dress?"

"Oh God!" Tearing away from him, Amy started to run down the hallway toward Ada's room, when she heard Sheldon's long stride behind her. She stopped and put her palm up. "No! You stay out there!"

"Ada, tell me what happened!" Amy said even as she opened her daughter's bedroom door. Gone were her usual concerns about respecting Ada's privacy, about setting a good example to never enter another's personal space without permission.

She thought Ada would be sobbing on her bed, but instead she standing the middle of her room, twisting to unzip the back of her dress. "Oh!" Amy gripped the edge of her dresser. There were spatterings of blood all down the front of it, just as Sheldon had said. Swallowing hard, fighting the vomit that was gurgling up in her esophagus, Amy said, "Who hurt you? What happened?"

"It's not mine. I'm not injured," Ada said, finally succeeding with the zipper and stepping out of the dress.

Amy shut her eyes and thanked a deity that she wasn't even sure existed. "Who's is it?" She paused, thinking about the tumult she had just seen. "Jacob's?"

"No. It's Liam's." Ada stood in her undergarments, still in her high heels, looking down at the vintage dress that she'd worked so hard to find.

"You have to tell me what happened," Amy said, trying to keep her voice calm.

"Jacob punched Liam and he got a bloody nose. It may be broken."

"What?!" Amy shook her head. "Jacob Wolowitz?" She tried to match that statement with awkward and reticent young man she knew. He may have outgrown his high-strung preschool years but it was though all that nervous energy had been directed inward, only revealed through his strange gait and his jittery hand movements. But if Sheldon was correct . . . "Did they get into an argument over you?"

"God, Mom, no! Why do you insist on talking about Jacob that way?" Ada yelled but then sat down on the edge of her bed and seemed to wilt. "It was awful," she whispered.

"Oh, sweetheart." Amy rushed to her side, sitting next to her, putting her arm about her taller daughter. "Please tell me what happened."

"We kissed."

Her eyebrows went up. "You and . . . Liam?" she ventured timidly.

Ada nodded.

"And that was a . . . bad thing?"

"I don't know why I did it. I don't like him, I never did. I guess I was just curious." Ada still wasn't looking up.

Amy smiled softly and ran her hand across Ada's updo. "That's okay. It's perfectly normal to be curious about kissing." Amy took a deep breath. "But I don't understand why Liam and Jacob got into a fight."

Ada looked over at her and Amy saw that her eyes were getting misty now. "I did it for the wrong reason. I just wanted to be the most popular girl for one night. Liam was a shoe-in for prom king, so I thought I could be prom queen. Not the just the smartest girl. I wanted to be both."

"Oh!" Amy pulled her in and held her close. It hurt so much, seeing her normally confident daughter doubting herself. These type of doubts hadn't seemed to plague Ada for a couple of years now, once the initial pre-teen and teenage growing pains passed. Instead, Amy had been so pleased that Ada had inherited Sheldon's assurance, because Amy believed self-esteem was essential for any woman. She never wanted Ada to doubt her worth in this world.

But she also wished that she didn't understand exactly what that felt like. She wished that she had not had moments in her life when she had felt exactly the same way, when hesitation and misgivings lapped at her heart. She wished that she had been able to convince Ada that being the smartest girl would pay off in the long run. But she remembered being sixteen, too.

"There's plenty of time to be the most popular girl in the room, Ada. There are so many more exciting rooms in your life than a high school gymnasium," she whispered. "I promise." She took a deep breath. "Can you tell me what else happened? Does the kiss have to do with Jacob punching Liam?"

Nodding against her, Ada pulled back. "Then he tried to do it again, and I told him not to. But then he said . . . he said I had to, that I was his date. That I had to because I was so hot." Amy clutched her chest. "Jacob and Sophie were dancing next to us, and then Jacob stepped over and told him to leave me alone." Ada shrugged. "Liam said some mean things to Jacob and then Jacob punched him."

The nausea returned again, although only a shadow of its former self. "Was it only just a kiss? Please tell me, Ada. Did this boy hurt you?"

"No. I promise." Ada shook her head. She looked up sharply. "He's not a monster, Mom, he didn't try anything when I said no. But . . . but he said those things. Oh!" - she threw her head back down into her hands - "I feel so stupid, agreeing to go with Liam. I thought he was the nice jock, you know, but I guess not. They're all the same. He just thought I could be a conquest for him."

"Sweetheart, from what you've told me you did nothing wrong. You had no way to know that Liam would act this way. Even if you had, that is no excuse for his statements. Of course, I'm not condoning Jacob's response. Violence is never the correct answer and I thought both of you knew it."

"It would have never happened if I wasn't trying to be so - so popular. I was horrible! You would have been so mad if you'd seen me. I laughed at his stupid jokes and told him I liked his car and lied that the corsage was pretty. I don't know what came over me, it was like I was possessed by one of those pretty airheads and that made him think he could control me." Ada reached up and started pulling pins out of her elaborate updo. "I should have just gone with one of the boring dweeby band guys. Obviously only a nerdy guy will ever understand me."

"Ada, stop it!" Amy pleaded, putting her hand over Ada's fists. "Listen to me. It doesn't matter if you lied about his car and your corsage or even if you really were an airhead - none of those give any man permission to threaten you, verbally or otherwise." Amy took a deep breath. "Do your father and I need to go to school with you Monday morning and help you report this to the principal?

"No!" Ada almost shouted. "I don't want Jacob to get in trouble."

"But if Liam was threatening you -"

A firm shake of the head. "I don't think so. I think it was all talk, trying to make himself sound, I don't know, stronger than he is or something. Besides, I really do think his nose is broken. That's probably enough."

"Are you sure?" Amy asked, unsure which answer she wanted.

Her daughter nodded. "And now my prom is ruined and I never got to be prom queen. I'm still just the brainy one."

"Oh, Ada. Be the brainy one! I thought you knew that was your most important gift."

"I do. But I wanted to be both, just once," Ada whispered.

Amy reached for Ada's hand. "Someday someone will love you for your brilliance and your beauty in equal measure. They will love you for your interests and your passions, and they will only serve to make you better. There were times I doubted myself, that I thought I was destined to be alone forever, and then I found your father. He made me realize that I was already the total package because he never tried to change me, he only augmented me. Please don't settle. I know you hate it when I say this, but you're only sixteen. I didn't meet your father until I was twenty-nine."

Her daughter leaned her head against Amy's shoulder. "We can't all have a Sheldon Cooper, Mom, even though you never tire of telling me how perfect he is."

"Aren't I the lucky one then?" Amy whispered. Then she added, "And I think some very lucky man will get you to be his Cooper."

She heard a little chuckle and that made her smile. Then Ada said, "Mom? Will you stay and help me with my hair and then read with me in bed?"

On Monday, the hours crawled by and Sheldon found it hard to concentrate, dreading the phone call from Principal Higgins that was bound to come. He and Amy had discussed it, late into the night of the prom, after Amy said Ada had fallen asleep. They compared notes and felt confident that they had both received the complete and honest story from the two teenagers. Amy said, with obvious relief, that it was good to hear that Jacob also felt the kiss was mutual and that Ada had not been violated in any fashion, no matter how small. She expressed frustration both that Jacob had responded in violence and that Sheldon had not admonished him for it, so Sheldon did not see the advantage in telling her he was actually grateful for Jacob's defense of their daughter. Although that didn't help them understand how they were supposed to feel about the situation as a whole. Then, after Amy had finally fallen asleep, Sheldon had tossed and turned the entire night, unable to sleep himself, baffled at why he still felt wide awake despite his time-proven foolproof anti-insomnia measures.

Sunday a pallor settled over their home, as they all wondered around from one silent task to another. Sheldon texted with Howard some about the situation, but nothing was actually said aloud. Only Ada seemed to settle and calm as evening came, as though she'd made some sort of peace with the events of the night before, almost as though something had been decided. Sheldon envied her.

Finally, a half hour before Ada's school let out, Sheldon called Amy and they agreed they would leave work and go pick her up from school, even though it was Ada's habit to catch a ride home with Jacob on Mondays, neither of them having an extracurricular activity that day of the week. Then they would be present should the principal need to speak to them, which surely she would as they had not been contacted yet. It was strange that Howard hadn't been called yet, either, although, in typical Howard fashion, he wasn't as concerned.

They remained baffled when they weren't needed. Even though they believed very strongly that Ada had been an innocent bystander or even victim, she was embroiled nonetheless and parents were usually called prior to some sort hearing. Ada rolled her eyes and said they were "overreacting" when she saw them, but she didn't argue about getting in the backseat and riding silently home with them.

Once they arrived, they all went through the normal motions, including Ada opening her backpack and spreading her homework supplies on the dining table.

Amy whispered to Sheldon, "We just have to ask her. She's clearly not going to volunteer anything. Come with me."

He nodded and followed his wife as they both stopped next to Ada the table, Sheldon looking down at her over his wife's shoulder.

"Ada, your father and I want to know what happened at school today. Namely, what the . . . consequences were from the events at prom." Then Amy put her hand out and said quickly, "Not that we believe you did anything wrong or that you should suffer any consequences, but we're obviously concerned about your welfare. And Jacob's, too, of course."

"You don't need to worry. It's been taken care of," Ada replied at her coolest.

"Taken care of?" Amy asked, turning and furrowing her eyebrows in Sheldon direction. "What about Jacob? And Liam?"

"All the loose ends have been tied up." Ada looked down and calmly opened her notebook.

"I think that we deserve -" Amy started.

"Ada. You will tell your mother what happened and how all the loose end have been tied and you will tell her now," Sheldon said firmly.

Their daughter sighed quietly but turned in her chair. "Fine. Despite the fact that it was a chaperoned event, the crowd on the dance floor was such that apparently no person in a position of power actually saw what took place." Sheldon felt his eyebrows go up. That was good, right? "However, I knew that rumors would eventually reach Principal Higgins. So I went to Liam this morning and reminded him that there is a zero tolerance policy for any form of sexual harassment at our school. And that the only acceptable reason for a physical altercation was to defend oneself from unwanted sexual advances. I merely pointed out that his basketball scholarship would surely be in serious jeopardy if it became known to his college choice that he had committed an act of sexual harassment. As for his broken nose, I reminded him how embarrassing and socially damaging to him it would be for everyone to know that it was broken by me, a mere nerdy girl, while defending myself from his unwelcome advances."

As Amy gasped, Sheldon said, "But you didn't break his nose, Jacob did!"

She continued as if she hadn't heard them. "And, so, by the time he and Jacob were called into Principal Higgins office, Liam informed her that Jacob had dropped his phone and when they both bent down to retrieve it at the same time, Jacob's head accidentally hit him in the face. And despite the rumors, no one actually saw what happened. It was all mere speculation on the part of the student body."

Amy gasped even louder this time as Sheldon said, "But that's not what happened! That's not what you and Jacob both told us. I saw Jacob's hands!"

"It's a mystery. According to Liam, Jacob was so terrified at being in the principal's office that he couldn't speak, only nod."

Sheldon glanced down to notice that Amy was visibly shaking. Was she cold? "Ada Fowler Cooper," she growled, "I cannot believe you would lie like that!"

"I didn't lie." Ada protested. "I merely reminded Liam of some pertinent facts, and he came to me later in the day to tell me that he remembers a different sequence of events than I do. The human memory is not infallible, regardless of what Dad claims."

Sheldon felt his jaw go slack. What was happening here?

"I cannot believe that you would lie to your own advantage like that about something so serious." He also didn't think he'd ever heard Amy so angry. She wasn't even yelling, and he knew that was a bad sign.

"It wasn't to my advantage; you just said yourself that I didn't do anything wrong and shouldn't suffer any consequences, and I haven't. And, again, I didn't lie, I merely reminded -"

"Do not quibble over technicalities, young lady," Amy said.

"Dad says one should always quibble over the technicalities. The beauty of the universe is in the technicalities," Ada said.

Given Amy's wrath, Sheldon had the sinking feeling he should have never said that to her. Even if it was true.

"We did not raise you to bend the rules. We did not raise you to mock the serious crime of sexual assault or to take it lightly."

"I didn't bend the rules!" Ada stood sharply, crossing her arm to look down at her mother, and Sheldon really, really wished she hadn't. He wondered if he could back a step or two away, if that would be noticed. "And I'm not mocking sexual assault. Since when did sexual harassment become sexual assault? I said harassment and you jumped to conclusions. You're the one that told me any unwanted physical action against my person, no matter how small, is an aggressive act and I shouldn't allow it to happen. So what difference does it make if someone else jumped in to protect me before I could perform my own self-defense?"

"How dare you throw my words back in my face as an insult!"

"I'm not! I'm just repeating what you always told me! You always told me there that there are no gray areas, no matter what any man tried to claim, that my body is own possession to protect and treat as I saw fit."

Amy's hands balled up into fists. Oh, Lordy. Sheldon felt his breath coming more shallow. "Even if that is the case, why would you use it to your own advantage? Self-defense is one thing, self-promotion is another."

"You're overreacting. I didn't self-promote anything. Why don't you understand I gain nothing from this outcome? Only Jacob does!"

Silence.

"You lied for Jacob? Did he put you up to this?" Amy hissed.

"No! He knew nothing about it! He still doesn't. I was going to tell him this evening, but you and Dad just couldn't wait for him to drive me home, you just had to come get me."

"Because we are your parents and you are minor and don't you forget it!"

Sheldon head's had snapped back and forth between the two of them. There had been many, many ugly arguments when Ada was younger, especially the year she was eleven with her braces and her snotty attitude but this . . . this wasn't a petty disagreement about clothes or chores that had blown up. The worst part is that he . . . he actually saw both sides. He couldn't easily side with Amy. Ada was being just as logical as she was.

"God, you are so demanding and clingy! I'm going to college in four months! Then you won't be able to treat me like a child!"

"You are a child. Our child! And if you keep this up, you won't be going anywhere in four months!"

"Phhhffltt, yeah right." Ada rolled her eyes. "Like you and Dad are going change your mind and decide I don't need further education."

"Get out of my sight. Now!"

"Mom -"

"I said go to your room!"

Finally Ada shifted and looked over at him, and Sheldon swallowed. "I think you'd better do what your mother told you to do."

"Ugh!" Ada threw her hands up but she left, stomping her feet the entire way until they heard her door slam.

Amy rotated in from of him, and he could finally see her thunderous face. "You could have been more supportive!"

"I was. I told her to obey you," Sheldon said.

"You didn't back me up once!"

"You seemed to be doing quite well on your own."

"I should have known you'd be on her side!"

"On her side?" Sheldon crossed his own arms. "Why is this my fault now? You're the one who wanted her to go to prom so badly!"

"You've always indulged her." Then Amy curled her face up and lowered her voice. "The beauty of the universe is in the technicalities."

Sheldon's head snapped back. Was Amy . . . mocking him? "I thought we were meant to be presenting a united front."

"That's hard to do when you cowed behind me the whole time."

"I wasn't cowing behind. It's only logical that I'd stand behind you as I'm taller than you!"

She walked away from him and went to sit on the sofa. Sheldon paused, then licked his lips, and followed her. "Amy, I -"

"I know, this isn't about us," she said, her voice resigned. "I was just venting. I'm sorry."

"I was venting, too." He sat down next to her.

"What do we do?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. I don't even know if there's anything we can or should do."

"She's right, you know. I did tell her that about sexual assault. And I do believe that, even an unwanted kiss should not be allowed. So, technically, she could say that. But it feels like . . . it feels dismissive to all those woman who have been victims of far, far greater crimes." Amy sighed. "I guess I should just be grateful that the threat of an unwanted kiss is the worst that's ever happened to her."

The whole topic made Sheldon nauseous. The very idea of someone doing something to Ada - or Amy - like that. "Her motives were pure," he said suddenly to change the subject.

Amy nodded. "I know. Which only makes it worse. How do I make her realize that the end doesn't always justify the means? Especially when the end is saving her friend's scholarship to MIT?"

"I don't know," Sheldon said. He took a deep breath. "Do you want me to call the principal tomorrow and tell her the truth? I don't know if it would work, but I have several contacts at MIT from when I went out there to give all those lectures in January, so perhaps I could save Jacob's scholarship that way."

She took his hand. "No, Sheldon. We can't accuse Ada of bending the rules and then bend them ourselves."

They sat for several minutes in silence, Sheldon's mind still churning. There really seemed no way out of this situation. They had spent all day dreading the consequences, and now they were unsatisfied with the way Ada had so deftly side-stepped those consequences. It didn't help that her solution was so neat, so perfectly logical. Her arguments, even if wrong, were so clearly presented and . . . so logical. But Sheldon knew that everything was still far too delicate to bring that up.

"Logic is a cruel mistress," Amy said softly, as though she'd heard his very thoughts, dropping his hand. "I think I just want to read alone in bed tonight. Eat without me, I'm not hungry." Then she got up to walk toward the bedroom.

Sheldon, still lost and confused, didn't contradict her.

Later, after a silent evening in which both he and Ada tip-toed to the kitchen to make themselves a small meal before retreating to their private spaces once more, Sheldon finally stood from his desk and stretched. It was a little early for bed, but he thought he might brave the bedroom, to see if Amy wanted any tea or, more likely, some cocoa before bed.

But he was surprised to find the lights already turned off and Amy curled up in bed, the covers pulled up high. Being as quiet as possible, he prepared for bed and carefully slid in next to her, using only the lowest light sitting on his iKindle to guide his path. Only once he settled did he notice what sounded like a damp sniff from her side of the bed.

"Amy? Are your ill?" he whispered over her turned back.

"No," she replied, and Sheldon heard it. Not even a sob; instead, the most painful sort of soft crying that she couldn't seem to stop.

"Amy, what's wrong?" He leaned over and put his hand on her arm. "I know you're angry with Ada, but tomorrow will be calmer."

"That's not it. I can't be angry with her because I've failed. I've failed in so many things I wanted to do correctly, that I want to do better . . . And she'll be leaving soon and it's too late."

"No, you haven't failed at anything. Here, roll over." He tugged on her gently and she came, setting her damp face into the crook of his neck. "I know that Ada's calm logic can be . . . confusing to you, but it's a way for her structure her passions within her mind. It's only because she feels so strongly that she studies and finds a loophole."

"See, you've always understood her better."

"I don't think so. She's stubborn as a mule. I don't know where she gets it."

Amy hiccuped into his neck. "Are you worried about her? What if she makes a bad choice about something important while she's at Harvard?"

"I worry about her every day," he admitted. "And . . . I'm not saying this to antagonize you, but I'm not convinced it was the completely incorrect choice. Perhaps just not the best choice or the one we would have chosen."

She shifted and put her head on his chest. "I think you're right. And I don't know how to feel about that." She took a deep breath and reached up to rub her face. "At some point, I guess we just have to let her make these less-than-ideal decisions."

"So we're not going to do anything now?"

"Not tomorrow. I need to think about it."

"Okay." Sheldon reached up to run his hand through Amy's hair. He didn't know how long they laid away in silence that night, both of them thinking about it more than they cared to.

No sooner had she settled into the sofa with her bowl of cereal, than her eyebrows went up as she heard her mother approaching. Ada turned her head and looked at her father out of the corner of her eye. "Is something up? Is that why you haven't started Star Trek yet?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Except his body language said he knew everything.

Ada sighed deeply. Was there going to be a speech? She really didn't want a speech. Haven't Mom said enough - and very loudly - on Monday evening? Ada had been hoping her silence on the topic of prom all week was a sign that she was going to let things be. Ada, for one, certainly wanted to put the whole event behind her as soon as possible.

"Good morning, Ada," Mom said, coming around the corner. She was dressed, even though it was early on a Saturday.

"Good morning, Mom," Ada mumbled back.

"After you've eaten breakfast, please dress in clothing you don't mind getting dirty and have a full range of motion in."

Pulling her head back and furrowing her brows, Ada asked, "Why?"

"Because we have plans today. First, we are volunteering at the women's abuse shelter, doing whatever they ask of us. Then, we are scheduled for a self-defense class at two."

"But why?"

"Besides the obvious fact that we lead privileged lives and should volunteer for those less fortunate, I think it would do us both good to be reminded of the tragedy of spousal and sexual abuse so that we will not become complacent. And the self-defense class is to teach us both how to fight as hard as we can to never become the victim of any sort of assault."

Ada frowned. There was nothing she could say in response that wouldn't sound uncaring or flippant, and Mom knew it. Her parents weren't brilliant at chess in a vacuum. Instead, she turned to her father. "Dad?"

He turned his palms up as Mom said, "The self-defense class was his idea."

There was no use complaining or grumbling or any other tactic Ada could think of to get out this. She knew her parents well enough to know that. Not to mention that her mother - darn her! - made some excellent points. Most importantly, Ada knew without being told that if she fulfilled these wishes than the whole thing would be forgotten. They didn't agree with her method of dealing with it, but they didn't disagree enough to interfere. They were, for once, letting her decide. If they were going to treat her like an adult, she should act like one.

Taking a deep breath, Ada sat up a little straighter. "Okay. It's a good idea, I think, since I'll be on campus next year."

Mom nodded and then went to the kitchen to get her own breakfast.

"Thank you," Dad leaned over and whispered. "I'll worry about you, you know." He paused. "But hopefully you've inherited your mother's right hook."

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