JMJ

Chapter Four

A New Look, a New Outlook

Tuck did not have an exact time for when he began noticing Brad being weird. After all, he was always a little weird when it came to parties even if he did not usually wear all-black to them. It was about when the cake was brought out that Tuck noticed that the manner in which Brad was ignoring him was a little beyond normal. That and he just did not seem to enjoy that cake enough.

Just not enough!

He seemed distracted, and Tuck knew that it could not be the numbers Sheldon had been crunching for him. It was something else. Something not Brad-like in any sense of the name.

Even Mom and Dad had had to ask Brad if he was alright later on, but, of course, Jenny and Sheldon noticed absolutely nothing, as usual. Brad played it cool. Sometimes, it was about the only thing he was good at.

Tuck knew that other people may say all this was because Tuck was overtired, overexerted and even bored, but Tuck knew such people did not appreciate his intuitiveness. So he did not bother bringing it up then. He bided his time. There was no reason why Brad needed to be suspicious of Tuck, after all.

Since it was a grownup party instead of a teen party, the party ended at eight. Tuck was sent to bed and Brad was in his room with the light on late. It was then that Tuck made his move.

The corridor was dark. The faded flashing of the television set from the living room was like the canned laughter of lightning. The actual canned laughter was the thunder, and Mom and Dad talking was like… Mom and Dad talking as they should like a real mom and dad, but Tuck went straight for the sliver of light coming from Brad's room. The door was open just enough and the desk lamp was downright buzzing. Something was squeaking like a squeaky wheel.

Tuck scrunched his face forward for all senses to be directed into that room, but as he came within two feet of the door, he slipped up against the wall assassin-style and held his breath.

The squeaky wheel sound inside Brad's room was like a shopping cart on Black Friday. Tuck's eyes grew shifty. Then he peered with all rat-like stealth to find out what heinous contraption was really at work. Never could he have guessed. Even when he saw it, he found himself frozen— at least after a double-take. His eyes were two wide porthole windows hanging in midair rather than the eyes in a head.

He had to be dreaming, but the double-take had already proved he wasn't.

The squeaking was the whiteboard, and unless Sheldon had dyed his hair red and learned that unique upside-down method of spiking hair and had strengthened those shoulder-blades enough to stand without a slouch, that was 100% Brad Carbunkle in there. Markering. On the whiteboard. Mathematical equations that looked twice the difficulty of what Sheldon was showing him graced the board and kept pouring out the pen like from a hose.

The glazed look with which Bad feverishly wrote like some alien-possessed guy in an insane asylum writing foreign coordinates from light-years away just added to the surreal moment.

"Brad!" Tuck wailed.

Brad jumped. He knew he was caught like a criminal in a helicopter floodlight. He dropped his marker and blinked stupidly. Then he frowned.

"How did you do that?" demanded Tuck.

It was that strange smile that followed that finally gave Tuck chills.

Tuck bit his lip but held his ground as well as he could. That smile was no smile of Brad's. It was more like the smile of Cruella DeVille, and that would have been creepy enough on the lady in person. To see it on his brother was enough to make the whole world feel suddenly tipped upside down with how his hair stood on end.

Brad shrugged to brush it off and turned away crossing his arms with a defiance that was at least far more Brad-like than anything else that had happened in that room up to this point.

"Math brain just kicked in finally that's all. Sheldon's whiz-kid teaching-skills was enough to finally crack it open and now I'm unleashed!" Brad declared.

Tuck made a face. "Uh huh…"

It sounded like Brad. Maybe it was Brad. However, Tuck was even more convinced than ever that something was not right.

"Did you mess with something in Dr. Wakeman's lab?" Tuck demanded.

"What? No!" snapped Brad quite offended. "When have we ever messed with anything at Jenny's house?"

"Well, actually," Tuck admitted but still glowering deeply, "it's usually Jenny who messes with her stuff, but you have been over there an awful lot now and you could very easily have been tempted past your limit with touching things."

"So you don't think I'm smart enough, huh?"

"It's nothing personal, Brad. Just the facts, and as a lawyer—"

SLAM!

It almost smacked Tuck right in the face.

It was not often Brad slammed the door so angrily, so abruptly, and especially so… suspiciously. Beside himself for a moment, Tuck felt hurt. He blinked up at the door with a pucker of emptiness rather than accusations for a moment. Had it been a couple years ago, he might have even felt tears, but at ten years old, Tuck knew there was only one thing left after such a shock to the system as this.

The portentous return of the squeaky whiteboard marker on the other side of the door only spurred the decision.

"It's time to switch careers," he said quietly to himself, and he slipped away with determination enough to hard-boil his head bald to need a fedora to hide it.

A trench coat might be in order too if that was the case, and speaking of cases, he had plenty of notebooks, a tape recorder, and even that finicky video camera. He knew neither Jenny nor Sheldon, nor especially Dr. Wakeman, would believe him without proof, so he would get that proof as the investigator he was born to be.

#

Meanwhile, Brad suddenly stopped writing on the whiteboard and paused to look at that work and the eraser-marks left behind from earlier equations that he had not entirely wiped away with his black dress-shirt sleeve. He winced to himself as he thought about what had just transpired between brothers.

Was this too good to be true and had he actually accidently run into something in Wakeman's lab that might have caused accelerated brain development that could potentially cause serious repercussions in the near future?

"It did almost feel like I didn't know what I was writing," he muttered.

Almost.

Don't be ridiculous.

Brad blinked in surprise. It was almost as though the thought had popped out of nowhere like an answer to his concerns. It was not a normal argument with oneself somehow. Yet it could not be anything else. No one was in the room, and of course he would chide himself for second-guessing his newfound math brain.

This is what you've been working so hard to get to and all that work has paid off!

He never knew his mind to be so oily in its tone, if that made sense, but it still felt good enough to listen to it nonetheless. Maybe it was the elbow grease of all his hard work making his thoughts atmospheric. Yes, that was the word. "Atmospheric". Not at all uncanny and especially not malevolent. The atmospheric tone was that of a highly equipped intellect in the making.

"Right," he muttered to himself. "Some people are child prodigies like Wakeman and Lee, but I'm going to be a self-made mastermind."

Of course, you are. Tuck's just envious. You know how kids are.

"Well, Tuck did seem honestly concerned," Brad tried to correct in full honesty.

No, it's indeed envy, but harmless enough envy. You deserve it. Soon you won't need Wakeman or Lee to help you on your way. You probably don't already. Then you won't have either of them looking down on you with condescending airs.

"Well, I know Dr. Wakeman has her moments of impatience, but Sheldon's been very—"

Oh, very patronizing.

"I dunno. He was just being himself from what I remember," Brad shrugged. "He's kinda childish anyway in a harmless kind of way. I doubt he means anything by it." He paused. "No, actually, I never felt patronized by his lessons at all."

You think he's as innocent as he lets on? Remember what he just did, after all, and Wakeman has never liked you. You don't need their help. Even Jenny has been somewhat belittling you. She won't give up the idea that you can't do this. That you can't help her.

"Now hang on a second! That's not—"

But it is… you know it. They all think you can't do this, but you've just proven them all wrong. Maybe just for now you should keep it a secret and wait for the right moment to show them that will make them all very impressed at the same time.

That at least sounded a little more like his own thoughts. It would be fun to surprise the others, but then again Tuck would give it away, he was sure. At least he had until tomorrow. He had to admit, he felt a headache coming on. Whether it was from the party or too much math, he was not sure, but all this arguing with himself was just too much.

"I have to get some rest," he said through a moan and a queasy yawn. "Yeah. Long day, long weekend. Tomorrow will be better."

So involved was he in his own mind that he did not think much about the outside of him. He did not brush his teeth or take off his clothes, and he should have taken a shower before working on his math anyway. All he did was succumb to that weary whirl that came with that strange fight within himself. He flopped down on his bed, shoes and all, and fell asleep.

He did not know or even think that a wall away Tuck was just pulling his ear from all he had just heard and shivering.

Tuck knew he sure was not going to relax for a few hours after that.

Brad talking to himself? Was he just overtired or was he really speaking with someone or something that only Brad could hear?

Tuck really needed to get that recording stuff ASAP! Now it was serious, and Tuck was very much afraid.

#

"Tuck, what are you doing?" asked Jenny next morning as she, Brad, and Sheldon were out in front of her house preparing to leave for the day.

It was casual enough, the way the leaves were put together and all, but it was not as if even the most unobservant person would not notice a plant in one's yard that size that had not been there before. That, and Jenny could see a tuft of black hair that was no sign of a baby bear cub so much as the sign of trouble.

"Shhhh!" hissed Tuck from within it; he was adjusting his equipment in a bag. "Don't talk to the shrub."

Jenny made a face and looked at Sheldon.

Sheldon shrugged.

When she looked at Brad, Brad did not seem to care in the least much less bother about explanations.

"Are we ready to go then?" he asked; despite his smile he seemed impatient.

Maybe it was best not knowing what Tuck was up to.

"Uh, yeah, come on, Sheldon," said Jenny.

She tried not to look behind her at the shrub nonchalantly as possible following them, but there was nothing nonchalant about a moving shrub. With a wince, she forced herself into conversation instead.

#

"So what did you get, Sheldon?" asked Jenny as they stepped out of the used nerd merch shop together.

It almost made it more awkward, Sheldon had to admit, how she tried so hard to incorporate Sheldon into what they did together, but he did not have the heart to tell her so. He sneered playfully and said, "Oh, nothing much, just the latest issue of Captain Crush's spinoff series Crush Atoms number 32, the middle of the latest arc."

"Oh, is that all," Jenny teased back.

Sheldon shrugged. "You don't have to pretend to be interested. I take no offense."

"Just because I don't read them doesn't mean I don't want to keep up with your references," said Jenny.

"Oh, come on, Jenny," said Sheldon. "It's alright."

"I mean it, I…" Jenny's voice trailed off as she glanced back at Brad who was not paying the least bit attention.

Sheldon winced as he noticed how uncharacteristically annoyed he looked, almost agitatedly so.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Is it Tuck?" Jenny demanded.

"Of course it's not Tuck!" Brad said shoving his hands into his pockets with a pout.

"It's Tuck," Jenny muttered to Sheldon.

Though Sheldon was not totally sure of that, he was sure Tuck wasn't helping, hiding behind a garbage can on the opposite side of the bench Brad was seated at. Most of his shrub disguise was still around the younger brother too.

"What's wrong with him anyway?" Jenny asked.

"How should I know, he's just like that," Brad grumbled.

Jenny sighed. "Okay, well, I'm gunna go check out the clothes at Any's. Anyone who wants is free to join me."

Sheldon volunteered despite himself. After all, Jenny had gone to his store. He felt it only fair, but Brad was still seated on the bench. Sheldon tried not to gape at the way he crossed one leg over the other and avoided eye contact with the leafy child squatted there with what looked like a lay-person's recording equipment.

"Okay," smiled Sheldon. "We'll be back in a few minutes, I guess."

Brad shook his head wryly. "With Jen shopping for clothes?"

The comment was harmless enough as a friend teasing a friend about a friend should, but there was just something laced in the tone that was a bit sour even if Sheldon could not exactly put his finger on what it was and certainly not what it meant. Jenny only pulled Sheldon along. She was determined to have a good time.

"Come on, Brad," she sang enticingly. "I'm sure they have some guy accessories on sale you might like, and Tuck? Don't you want to see the summer kid's novel T's? It'll be my treat if they're on sale enough."

Neither Carbunkle answered.

Jenny made a face.

"I think they have something they need to work out, Jen," Sheldon said with a crinkled smile.

"Oh, alright. Then you two better have this worked out by the time we get back. Ugh!"

As she and Sheldon stepped into Any's Jenny was still rolling her eyes about it. "Just get one friend solved and then there's something going on with the—" She cringed, and then turned to Sheldon in alarm. "Oh, I'm sorry, I—!"

Sheldon laughed a little goofier than he had intended. "It's okay, Jenny. So the Carbunkle brothers are having an off-day. It happens, and as for me? I think you're trying too hard to compensate. I'm fine."

Now Jenny looked embarrassed. "Right. I guess we're all being weird. Except maybe you."

"I'm not being weird, huh?" teased Sheldon.

Jenny looked at him with mock sagacity, and Sheldon walked on pretending not to notice.

"Maybe you just need your time of being the non-weird one," teased Jenny back.

Candidly, Sheldon cleared his throat. "Or something… those the new dresses you wanted to look at?"

He only motioned idly as he was looking at his comic now to some on-sale Easter dresses that he did not notice for more than a tick.

"Actually," Jenny said playfully, "the coolest thing this summer is a throwback to a bit of grunge."

"Oh, really?" said Sheldon opening the first page.

"Yep. Checkers, grungy jeans, punky shoes— and looks like you're ahead of the fashion this time, Sheldon," she laughed pulling something off a hanger to hold up in front of a mirror.

Sheldon started reading from his comic like a sleepy cat with a hearth he could take with him.

"Hmm?" he asked absently.

"Nothing says 'laid back' on a fresh windy day in June like a light-weight, loose-fitted hoodie," said Jenny no longer looking at Sheldon as she was admiring herself a the pre-washed-out, partly pre-ripped teal and brown plaid hoodie she had thrown over herself. "Deep pockets for convenient carrying without dragging around some old purse like an old lady. Open at the zipper, hood just there to say you're too cool to need it over your head hanging back there like a scarf without choking you."

Sheldon turned another page. Looking up again he could not help but at least pull the collar up on his own hoodie a little with pride, which was what Jenny wanted anyway.

"You even have the rips and everything all authentic," Jenny said. "So jealous."

"You want mine?"

"Oh, really, Sheldon. As if I would take such a hoodie for free. I'd have to at least pay you for it."

"Are you serious?" Sheldon asked with a grin. "Besides, I never thought you could pull off grunge, and it was sure never what I was going for, but you look great."

"Yeah, it does look pretty good doesn't it?" said Jenny with a sashay in front of the mirror with the pre-ripped style. "Just a chain necklace or two…"

"But I think if you were gunna get something for real, you should buy something that would look good for college, y'know?" said Sheldon kindly before returning to his comic strangely pleased with himself.

"Is what people wear to college that different from high school?" asked Jenny curiously.

"From the colleges I've visited," said Sheldon absently again, "it's a little more casual than high school."

"Really?"

"Haven't you seen the college brochures?"

"So, I wear a kangaroo sweatshirt with the school logo and a pair of non-flair jeans or dress-pants?"

"I mean, if you're going to wear anything at all."

"Wow, who knew I'd be taking fashion advice from Sheldon," Jenny said.

"What do you mean? I've always been your fashion advisor," Sheldon snickered.

Jenny thought a moment. "You know…" she said as the light bulb went on in her head. "You're right!" She blinked in disbelief. "That's so weird!"

"Creepy even," mocked Sheldon chipper as ever.

"So, uh…" grinned Jenny. "How's the comic?"

"You can read it yourself when I'm done with it," Sheldon teased, "but it won't make much sense without the first installment of the arc at least, and even then you might need an extra explanation for why…"

And on chirped the true Sheldon Lee in his element.

Jenny grinned and pulled out a pair of boots while she tried to listen.