A/N: Thank you all much! I'm so happy to know you're enjoying this and I love hearing all of your theories and comments. They mean the world to me. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I know some of you have been waiting for it ;)

Chapter 42

Will and I sat across from each other.

He didn't fully believe me until I suggested a Duet. Of course then I had to try to remember all the details of the character I had back home. Luckily, being a bard wasn't a hard sell for Tammy and Will was pretty gracious about helping me figure out the nuances I had forgotten.

"You're pretty good at this. I mean, you came up with a campaign on the fly. Doesn't that usually take time?"

"I sort of had it….ready. It was originally for my party but I adjusted. Wasn't hard."

"Really?" I was hoping he'd mention them. "How often do you all meet?"

"Every week. Or, we did. I don't know."

I looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know it's just…summer's going to be here soon and Lucas and Max are hanging out and Mike keeps trying to spend time with El and Dustin is going to camp, I just think…it's stupid."

"It's not stupid if you're upset about it."

"I just think they're not going to want to hang out. With me." He avoided looking at me as he said it.

"Have you talked to them about it?"

"No because it's stupid."

"Still not stupid," I said. I leaned back on my hands and proceeded to make it look like I was giving it some thought. Like I hadn't already been thinking about this since Joyce told me. "Well, I think you should bring it up. What are you, grade 8? That sounds about right for starting to get boy crazy, or girl crazy in this case. No matter how long you've known someone, people aren't mind readers. I mean, unless they are…but I don't think we've met one of those yet." I looked over at him. "You can't read minds, can you?"

He grinned at me and shook his head.

"Okay, so we've covered the fact that no one can read minds. Which means if you're upset about something, you need to talk about it. Things can't get solved if you bury it until it builds up and you become a volcano, blowing up at the last second and leaving others confused because to them it came out of nowhere, right?"

"I guess…"

"And, say it comes down to that. Say this summer, which I can't believe is only a few months away, Dustin goes to camp, Lucas hangs out with Max if Erica hasn't murdered him," he laughed at that. "And Mike hangs out all the time with El, which for the record I don't think will happen. Mainly because El and I hang out. I'm slowly acclimating her to the rest of the world and I know she and Max are friends now too. So there will be times they'll want to hang out with each other and not boys. But, not my point, say they do all couple up or go to camp, what will you do?"

He frowned at me. "Be here alone?"

"Find something else to do! More people to hang with!"

He sighed. "Kate, I'm the town freak."

"I thought that was me," I said teasingly. "You should hear those rumours."

"There's rumours about you?"

"Oh yeah. Some people say I've been body snatched by aliens!" He looked a little concerned until I started laughing. "I'm just kidding. Mainly it's high school rumours. I got into a couple fights because I refuse to let people get treated…terribly. Especially when there's no reason they should be." I grabbed the die. "Now, I'm going to tell you a secret, okay?"

He looked at me warily. "Okay…"

"No one wants to admit that we're all freaks. There's something wrong with everyone, we wonder if that makes us unloveable, and the people who act the most perfect are usually the weirdest of them all."

"No, they're not."

"They are," I said, cupping the dice in my hands and shaking it. I dropped it and watched as I rolled a 3. "Damn it."

Will laughed.

"I'm just saying, you likely have more chances than you think."

"You're just saying that to distract me. Your spell fails."

"We need to see Queen."

Robin looked at me. "Queen?"

"Yeah. We need to see them."

Robin stared at me for a moment. "This is a future thing, isn't it?"

"It's a now thing. They're a fantastic band and we need to see them."

"It won't be easy to get tickets."

"We'll find a way. Even if we have to sneak in or sell a kidney."

She laughed. "We can't sneak in!"

"Wanna bet?"

"No, because I know I'm going to lose. You never do anything I expect."

I grinned at her before opening the door to the library. "It's no fun if you expect things. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!" I headed for the desk where Marissa was. "Hey Marissa! Have you met Robin?" I introduced the two of them, returned some books and Robin decided to wait, talking to Marissa while I went looking for something new to check out.

I browsed the fiction, heading back towards fantasy without thinking. As chaotic as this place was, at least fantasy books felt the same. It was a lot of the same stories from back home. A small relief.

"Well, if it isn't Kate Thompson…"

I turned at the unfamiliar voice. A guy stood there, about the same height as Tammy. He looked like he belonged in a metal concert. He was biting at his thumb while he stared at me. His hair was long but at least it wasn't a mullet.

"The one and only," I said. "Who's asking?"

He twirled his hands as he gave a slight bow. "Eddie Munson." He straightened and leaned against the stacks. "I was quite surprised to see your name on the check out cards for multiple books in this section."

"Why's that?"

"You don't strike me as the fantasy type."

"I contain multitudes," I drawled. Little did he know.

"No doubt." His eyes glanced down and I adjusted my stance, already unimpressed. "I've heard a lot about you, Kate."

"People like to talk."

"True."

I looked him over again, catching a better look at the shirt he was wearing. "Is that a reference to X-men? You know, Emma Frost and Sebastian Shaw?"

His eyes widened and he grinned. "I'm impressed. It's not. It's my role-playing club." My eyebrows rose and before I could comment on what exact role-playing he meant, he continued. "Dungeons and Dragons." He looked like he knew exactly what I had been thinking.

"I knew it."

That threw him. "Knew what?" he asked warily.

"That there was another D&D party in this town. Do you guys need a…level 7 Wizard?"

He pushed himself off of the shelves. "You play D&D?"

"Not really, I mean, I have, but that's not who I'm asking for. A kid I know, his party is…threatening to disband. Fourteen-year-olds have discovered girls," I explained. "He's worried they won't want to play anymore."

He seemed to think about it. "What about you? You said you played. What class?"

I grinned. "Bard."

He paced slightly, as much as he could between the shelves, tapping his chin as he considered it. "Alright, he can come to the next campaign…provided you come with."

"Trust me, I wouldn't leave him alone with a bunch of older teens I didn't know, but I don't play often. I got school, self-defence lessons, and work, not to mention everything else."

"We can work something out." He held out his hand. "Deal?"

"This feels like a deal with the devil," I said but shook it.

"You don't hesitate in deals with the devil?" he asked, letting go of my hand.

I grinned at him. "Never said which one of us was the devil."

He laughed. "I think I'm going to like you, Kate."

"Many do," I said. "You can join the club."

"Who's the president?"

"It's undecided. They haven't had a vote yet."

"You're a girl…"

I raised my eyebrows and looked at Dustin. "I am," I agreed slowly.

"So you…know what they like?"

I tried not to snort at that. When did I turn into Dear Abby? "Different girls like different things, Dustin. Are you asking for advice in general or…"

He grinned sheepishly at me. "I–there's the girl but she likes someone else?"

"And?" I had a feeling there was more to this.

"What do girls like? Why–why didn't she like me?"

I sighed and leaned forward, resting my chin in my hand. "Did you like every girl you met?"

"But do you prefer a lion or ninja?"

"What?" I looked at him in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"A lion, you know, who…hunts?" He didn't look like he knew what he was talking about. "Some guys are lions, some are ninjas…"

I didn't know how he expected me to understand whatever metaphor he was going with, but I was going to try. "Ninjas? Okay, hold on. I don't know what you're talking about but no one likes to be hunted or stalked. Don't do that." I sat up, giving him my full intention. "Look, at your age, no one's looking for things to last forever. No one expects it. Just try to have fun and treat the other person well. You'll learn more about girls and yourself as time goes on." He was listening closely so I continued. "The key thing is in the word. Girl-friend. Be their friend first, okay? Don't lie to her, don't ditch her, don't break promises or make ones you're not sure you can keep. Don't hurt her feelings and make sure that things are fair. Neither of you should get your way all the time in anything unless we're talking about the physical stuff. That's a two yeses and one no situation…" I trailed off and shook my head, not willing to get into that. I realized that Dustin had at some point grabbed a notebook and was taking notes. I tried not to laugh. "People are as different in real life as characters are in comic books, okay? Different interests and talents, different alignments and weaknesses…just don't act like you don't care. No one likes to feel like they don't matter or that they're invisible. The one you're interested in should feel like they're the one you want to team up with, where you want to know what they're thinking and feeling. If not, then be clear it's a not a long-term thing and you'll show her a good time. Just..don't be gross."

"So like someone you'd want to play video games with?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "The goal is to find someone you want to hold hands with at the end of the world, right?"

"Right."

"Just remember, you don't have to be attached at the hip with them. It's fine if you guys have different interests, okay? It's good to spend time apart."

"It is?"

"Absolutely. Otherwise, you won't have anything to talk about."

He looked like he had never thought about that before. "Oh."

"Oh," I grinned. "You hungry? I'll start dinner."

"Just a small town girl, livin' in a lonely world…" I sang softly. "She took the midnight train going anywhere…"

"Just a city boy," I looked up as Steve sat down at my library table, joining in. "Born and raised in South Detroit. He took the midnight train going anywhere." He opened the folder he was holding. "Great song."

"It is," I agreed. "What's up, Steve?"

"Have you started applying?"

"Ugh," I dropped my head on the table. "Don't remind me." I looked at him. "I have not. I'm not actually planning on going."

"What?" He looked surprised. "Your folks are letting you?"

"Sure. It's not the end of the world and I can go to college or university later. I'd rather save up some money."

"Oh right, Nashville," he said.

I blinked before I nodded, remembering Tammy's dream. "We'll see. It makes no sense to just leave right after high school. Where would I stay?"

"A hotel?"

"That only works for a week and eats up any savings, especially if you don't have a ton. So, I'll stay, I'll plan…maybe hit up the community college or something. Take some classes once in a while so no one can claim I'm not doing anything, and I'll work. What about you? Where are you applying?"

"Uh, Perdue, Notre Dame…anywhere my dad wants, really."

"Where do you want to go?"

"Nowhere. I want to skip it entirely."

I laughed at that and the expression on his face. "Time travel isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Don't wish things away too fast. It might happen, then where'd you be?"

"Not applying to school."

"Yeah, but you'd miss out on things…" I trailed off slightly. This conversation was hitting a little too close to home.

He sighed, ignoring the folder and resting his head on his hand. He looked over at me. "Might be good to miss some stuff. Like my report card."

"That bad?"

He winced. "I think I'm failing English. She keeps giving me this disappointed look when she hands back assignments."

"What are the grades?"

"Cs?"

"Then you're not failing," I said. "It's probably the patented 'not living up to your potential' look that teachers all seem to master. Parents too. I bet they take classes for it before you get your teaching certificate or at the hospital before they let you take the new baby home."

"That would explain a lot. My dad must have aced that one."

"Screw your dad," I said. "Yes he's your father but that attitude isn't going to help you in the long run, not in encouraging you or building a decent relationship. Besides, soon you'll be out of high school and then you can start…I don't know, finding your own way."

"You make it sound easy."

"It's not, but you're not the only one," I smiled at him. "Don't worry Steve. We're all going to be going through hell waiting on acceptance letters and there's always going to be someone trying to live vicariously through their children. Or other people's children which is really weird when you think about it."

"Kate?"

"Yeah?"

"You're pretty warped. You know that right?"

"Yeah. Side effect of being part of the monster club."

"I knew I should have cancelled that membership."

I laughed as he grinned at me. "I think that's a lifetime one. No takebacks."

"Damn it."

[tbc]