JMJ

Chapter Two

Post-Graduation

Jenny gave a perfectly calculated pound into the post she jabbed into the ground. As she reverted her hand from hammer-form back into normal palm and digits, she stepped back to admire the sign.

"'Graduate of Tremorton High,'" she read with a grin.

She looked along the curb to Brad's house where his sign already had been standing. The ceremony had been yesterday. The teen party afterwards had been a blast to remember, enough that her own sign had been knocked down until now. Even if the toilet paper and silly string Brit and Tiff had sneakily streamed all over both the Wakeman and Carbunkle residents had been a little annoying, they had got them back with all the string cheese at the party. Tomorrow was the family parties for both Brad and Sheldon, so she was going to have one of her own with her mom and sisters.

Happily she bounced to Brad's door.

Brad may have had the heart of a grease monkey down there somewhere, but if was going to go for a more robotic route it was that math that was getting him. Since finals were long over and forgotten, he was jumping ahead right into it so they could celebrate better tomorrow, and for as long as summer wanted.

Knock, knock, knock!

Tuck opened the door.

"Oh, good, you're here! Phew someone normal!" sighed Tuck leaning against the door as though exhausted. "Those eggheads are going to make my brain melt before dinner! I can hear them through the wall even in my own room!"

Jenny put her hands on her hips wryly, "Brad, an egghead, huh?"

"Well, he's well on his way to hard-boiling his brains, anyway," sniffed Tuck, "inviting Sheldon over to play math games! I can't believe Mom and Dad are actually encouraging this stuff!"

"Well, they just want him to do his best in the world, right?" Jenny shrugged and followed Tuck to Brad's room.

Before a brand new marker board Sheldon looked like a proud young teacher on his first day, beaming from ear to ear in his usual toothy way but standing far straighter than usual. Brad had so many wrinkles in his forehead that it might as well be any outward sign of the folds in his brain pulsing overtime. His lip protruded with a magnificent pout as he rubbed his chin. Neither of them noticed as Jenny and Tuck arrived.

"It's quite simple," said Sheldon slowly and clearly as though he had been told to slow down at least three times already. "You just have to take the pieces of the equation apart little by little. Often times the ones that look more complicated are actually easier than the ones that appear short, so if you start here…" and here he slowly picked apart the equation as a program for algebra for dummies might on a computer.

"Yeah, yeah, you told me that part already," Brad said nodding his head.

"Oh! Okay!" chirped Sheldon. "So since we identified our variable, we go back and complete the first term with our coefficient and…" and here he sped up at an alarming rate— so fast that he could have competed with an auctioneer.

His hand just barely kept up with his mouth as he raced through everything and expanded the numbers and symbols all over the board. There was barely enough room for everything he needed. He wrote smaller and smaller, but just before he came to the end and began writing on a piece of paper instead, Brad threw out his hands.

"Wait! Wait! Stop, stop, stop!"

"What?" cried Sheldon popping round like a startled squirrel. "What happened? I thought I was being very thorough! Should I do a harder one?"

"No!" Brad slumped and put his hand over his eyes as though just looking at the equation made his head hurt. "Okay, I got the first part, and I so-o-rta get the second part and then…" He shrugged broadly back at Sheldon. "You totally lost me."

Sheldon took in a deep breath and sighed. "But you said I was going too slow, so I picked up the pace a little so you wouldn't get bored."

Tuck looked up at Jenny with raised brows, and Jenny just shook her head with a grin as she knocked on the open door.

"So…" she teased pretending that she had just got there as the boys turned. "How's the number-crunching going?"

"It's … crunching?" winced Sheldon.

"Oh, it's going great!" grinned Brad, the wrinkles suddenly cleared away. "Hiya, Jen! Come on in!"

"Y'know, Brad," said Jenny coming in even before his invitation, "you sure are being stubborn about this. Are you sure you wouldn't rather do something else? Maybe you should try being a reporter like I've been thinking of doing."

"But, Jenny, why are you still looking for a job?"

"The same reason you are," Jenny said smugly. "If I can do high school and super hero stuff, I can certainly do some job and be a super hero too."

"If it's a serious career, though, it's bound to take up more mental energy than high school homework," said Sheldon slumping a little from a touch of shyness now that he wasn't the teacher anymore.

"But if Brad was a reporter too, he could cover for me," Jenny said with full optimism.

"True," said Sheldon looking over at Brad as though he might change his mind.

"Well!" Brad said. "I know the math's gunna be a hurdle, but I am getting pretty good with my hands already—"

"Grease monkey!" Tuck butt in. "It's totally better for you. Then you can fix up something cool from the junk yard."

"Yeah," Brad agreed with only minimalistic acknowledgement. "So, Mrs. Wakeman even got me into commission work since she was working for a favor for an old friend and let me help her!"

"Yeah, I noticed," Jenny teased.

"You only were getting tools and stuff for her," said Tuck, "and she only gave you five bucks out of all your hard labor! And I'm going over there right now as your lawyer to discuss that little matter with her, thank you very much!"

No one bothered to stop the boy as he quickly left the room.

"So… he's still being a lawyer," Jenny remarked with a blinking stare.

"Tch! Yep!" Brad shrugged.

"Does this mean we're done then?" asked Sheldon a little disappointed.

"For now, I guess," shrugged Brad. "Besides, I should probably get ready for the party with the clan."

"We'll visit each other's parties, right?" asked Jenny brightly now that the subject had gone to something more interesting.

"I will if you will!" said Brad. "Eh, Sheldon?" He nudged Sheldon in the arm.

Then he paused. Then frowned. "You know what? I think I'm going to follow that brother of mine."

"Yeah, was wondering," muttered Sheldon.

#

Tuck had no problem letting himself into the Wakeman house. No problem going up the steps. Security knew him like a neighbor's puppy. He had no trouble knocking on the door to Mrs. Wakeman's lab with a professional air about him. He knocked and coughed proudly as he straightened himself. Then he knocked again.

The door opened and the scientist of the house first opened her eyes very wide as she saw no one apparently there. Then she looked down and frowned.

"How did you get in here?" she asked dryly.

"Excuse me, Dr. Wakeman," said Tuck closing his eyes with full confidence. "I am here on behalf of my client Bradley Carbunkle who we believe has been cheated out a full pay check above minimum wage. Five dollars is a shameful amount for the services rendered to you by my client and I believe recompense is in order."

"I didn't have to pay him at all," said Wakeman crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently.

"Ah, so now you're saying that you feel his services not worth payment," said Tuck. "If we have to take this business to court, we will, and with my knowledge of the field you won't stand a chance against the lawsuit against you. If I were you, I'd just hand over what's due to him since he was here plenty long enough to be considered fully in your employ so that part time pay does not apply here. In the best interest of my client I am prepared to—"

Slam!

"Let yourself out, Mr. Carbunkle," Wakeman's voice echoed from the other side of the door.

"Hmrph!" Tuck made a face and was just about to knock on the door again when Brad suddenly grabbed him from behind.

"Aha! Gotcha, you little trouble maker!"

"Come on, Brad! You deserve better and you know it!"

But Brad was already carrying him down the steps.

"Come on!" whined Tuck again. "I only have your best interest in mind! You need me!"

"Oh, Tuck, that's so sweet," teased Jenny with a giggle. "But my mom's a hard opponent in the legal field for someone as inexperienced as you are."

"Besides, you're supposed to clean your room for tomorrow," said Brad.

"Why? None of the guests are going into my room!" Tuck snorted now wriggling out of Brad's grasp.

Brad crossed his arms as his younger brother steadied himself on the steps.

"Then maybe you should use those mean debate skills against Dad," Brad sneered.

"Cruel, Brad! You know I learned my trade from the man himself!" Tuck retorted.

"Gunna need any help, Brad?" asked Jenny.

"Nah, Tuck's under wraps for now," said Brad.

"One of these days you'll be sorry you let the world walk all over you, Brad," said Tuck.

"Sure, sure," Brad muttered shooing him out the front door. "Just like how I let you guys talk me out of my future as a scientist. Come on."

Jenny smiled as she watched the brothers go. Sheldon was already going home so as not to interfere with the house cleaning but not before Jenny hurried out the door again to catch him.

"Hey, Sheldon!"

Sheldon spun around blinking in surprise. He was still sheepish from Jenny's forgiveness for what he had done hardly two weeks ago. The awkwardness was sometimes annoying to her, but she was not going to let him get away with it. Their friendship would be smoothed back normal in no time!

"Hi, Jenny," said Sheldon waving with twiddling fingers.

"Don't forget, after the family parties you're spending the whole day with us on Monday, right? You're not just staying around for tutoring, you know."

"Yeah, I remember," said Sheldon with a funny sort of smile.

"'Kay, great, and I'll come visit you tomorrow too!" Jenny winked. "That is, if I won't be interrupting anything."

"No," said Sheldon candidly. "It's just gunna be my mom and my grandparents. More like a Thanksgiving than a party."

"Great!" said Jenny with a quick hug that made Sheldon bashful.

Then she went back to the house.

"Hey, Mom!" she called even though she knew her mom wouldn't hear her.

She bounced up the stairs, opened the lab door and called again in the same manner as before.

"Hey, Mom!"

Mrs. Wakeman did not look up from concentrating with full mental focus, soldering goggles over her eyes and soldering iron in hand over a circuit board. It was more common to see her with her solder iron as it was for other people's mothers to have a clothes iron, so Jenny simply pranced further, and cheerfully as before said, "Hey, Mom?"

Wakeman jerked just a little. Then she gasped as she threw off her goggles to makes sure she had not damaged her circuit board. Everything was fine, so she simply turned off the iron.

"Yes, XJ-9, what is it?"

"Can you update my photographic imaging capacities so I can take the best pictures to go with me journalism exercises?"

Wakeman raised a brow.

Jenny folded her hands together with a hopeful grin.

"You can't take photos of yourself while you're performing your superhero work," said Wakeman as she pulled the goggles over her eyes again.

"But—" Jenny tried to protest.

"We've been over this. I don't care what a fictional half-spider boy does, it's not worth the risk of multitasking in such work as fighting villains," said Wakeman turning on her iron again and hovering over her circuit board. "Remember what I said, anyway, 'there's no such thing as—'"

"'Multitasking,'" said Jenny. "I know, I know. 'It's only the mind going back and forth really quickly on two things not looking at them simultaneously', but that's just the human brain and I'm—"

"—still not capable of that sort of risk. Such a thing as photography would be way too distracting for you, so—" Wakeman stopped and gasped.

The circuit board was melted a little.

"You shouldn't multitask either?" offered Jenny wincing.

Wakeman sighed as she turned off the iron with a groan. "If you're going to take pictures, take pictures of something less interfering with your main function."

"Well, I'll just be going then, so I won't distract you anymore, I guess," said Jenny with a shrug, but just before she reached the door, Wakeman looked up from inspecting her circuit board and cleared her throat.

"No making Sheldon install anything photography-based for you without my permission."

Jenny slumped with a deep pout. "Fine."

Then turning around she complained, "But, Mom, since I've graduated from high school I can't just sit around and wait for super hero stuff to just fall out of the sky. I mean, I can't just go back to high school, you know?"

At last Wakeman put her things down and gave her full attention to Jenny as a daughter. Pity knitted her wiry brows.

"Of course not," said Wakeman pretending that she had not never considered deeply the consequences of building a teenager might be a teenager wanting to grow up to be fully adult, but her present concern was enough for Jenny to forgive her for it. After all, it was not as if it was her idea to send her to high school. It was Jenny's. Because of Brad's interference.

Maybe that was the real reason Wakeman had not been overly fond of Brad.

"If you wish to have further side-pursuits to pass the time when not engaged in actual crime fighting, perhaps you should take generals at Tremorton Community College just as you used to go to high school. I'm surprised that was not your first consideration rather than jumping right into a field of work."

"Well!" Jenny paused. "Yeah, I mean—uh!"

"Don't worry about a thing. I've already procured the necessary grants for such an undertaking," Wakeman beamed quite proud of herself. "I was going to save it for tomorrow, but it is my graduation present to you."

Jenny blinked. "Really?!"

"Of course! You don't really think I was going to make you start over from ninth grade again, did you?"

"I—!" Jenny stopped.

Then she zipped to her mother's side and gave her a big hug. "Thanks, Mom!"

Wakeman laughed. "I didn't think you'd be this excited, but of course, you're welcome! It's always a grand thing to start a fresh adventure of further education, new peers and a couple old ones."

"You mean like Brad?" teased Jenny.

"Yes… like Brad," Wakeman admitted despite the slight roll of eyes, but she was smiling with full amusement.

Jenny kissed her mother in a further hug.