Only little kids want to take their mothers to a school dance.

Shawn watched Jon leave from the window in "his" room before he trudged back into the living room to face Audrey's wrath. The wait was excruciating and he wanted to get it over with. To be honest, he was both curious and a little afraid of how things might turn out as he could not predict her reactions the way he could Jon's.

Audrey had his book bag in the chair at the kitchen table. If she was still upset with him she did not say anything. Actually, she said very little; not much more than one or two words unless it was something specifically related to his school work. This bothered Shawn a great deal as it was so out of character for her and, if she was still mad at him, he wished she'd just yell at him and be done with it. But Audrey did not yell, he learned. She silently stewed in her thoughts until she could fully control her emotions and speak what was on her mind without losing that control. And until she did, the room was ice cold. Shawn shivered; it felt like the air conditioner was on and turned down low in mid-February. As they studied together for his upcoming social studies test on Monday, he realized that although she was unhappy with the way he'd spoken to Jon and halfheartedly apologized before mouthing off again, it was much more than that that was influencing her mood. There was a melancholy about her that seemed to increase as the night when on. He couldn't help but notice that she repeatedly checked the clock several times an hour.

Shawn also learned that just because Audrey doesn't talk doesn't mean she's forgotten about him or that he wasn't still in trouble. After his homework and studying were done, he bounced up ready to drown his sorrow in mindless televisions shows and popcorn with the hope of avoiding any discussions.

"Shawn." The chilly tone in Audrey's voice froze him as he stepped onto the threshold of the living room.

"Yeah?" He peeked over his shoulder to take a fearful glance at her. She was still going over his homework and not looking at him.

"Sit down."

Immediately, he went back to his chair and sat down. He knew he was in serious trouble, but he was determined to do whatever it took to get back into her good graces, even if it meant sacrificing his ego.

"What's going on with you?"

Shawn frowned. He didn't know how to answer, for multiple reasons. One, the question caught him guard; he was expecting to be lectured. Two, he really didn't know himself. He could say he was angry. He could say he was hurt. He could say he was worried. But he couldn't say why.

So he shrugged. She arched an eyebrow and looked unimpressed.

Remembering his vow to make her happy again, he quickly said, "I don't know. I just feel like I'm in Jon's way all the time."

Her countenance softened a bit. "Why is that?"

He shrugged again. He laid his arms on the table and put them out straight in front of him, palms down. "I just do."

"Has he said anything to make you feel like this?"

"No."

"Is he not wanting to spend time with you?" she asked, even though she knew the answer.

"No, no," Shawn tipped his head back and shook his hair out of his eyes. "He's been spending a lot of time with me."

Audrey set his homework in a neat pile in the middle of the table and put her pencil away. "So why do you feel like you're in his way?"

"Because," he sighed, "the very first time we don't have something planned, instead of hangin' at home he jumps to go out with the first girl who comes along. What would that say to you?"

Shawn saw a strange look pass over her face and she glanced at the clock again.

"Shawn, do you know why he's going out tonight? Why he goes out when he does?"

He did know. It was the same reason he'd dated anyone since Christmas. "To get Feeny off his back so he won't snoop around trying to find out what he's really doing after school. Because if Feeny caught us all together it'd cause a lot of problems."

"So you do know the reason." He nodded. She regarded him quietly for a long while, then just as he started to get antsy, said, "So this attitude has nothing to do with Jon, does it?"

Shawn picked at the dry skin around his thumbnail. "No," he admitted. "It's doesn't."

"What is it then?"

The teen shifted uncomfortably and straightened his arms out on the table again. He still couldn't answer why he felt the way he did, so he said the first thing that came to him when those emotions hit. "It's Mr. Feeny. He says he doesn't hate me but then he's doing everything he can to make sure I never get a real family."

Audrey stared at him in confusion at the direction the conversation suddenly took. It took her a moment to regroup. "Mr. Feeny doesn't hate you, Shawn. You know that. His concern about what Jon's doing on the weekend has to do with me, not you."

Shawn grumbled incoherently under his breath. Those feelings surged again as he thought about his teacher, Audrey, and his principal. Another worry suddenly pushed it's way to the forefront of his mind; one he'd been trying to bury for the past two weeks.

"It's only February," he said looking at her solemnly.

She frowned. "Yes, it is."

"So why is the PTA havin' a mother/son dance now? That's so stupid. Mother's Day is in May."

"I don't know," she said, taking note of another strange detour. She had a feeling that whatever was really bothering Shawn was about to show itself. "There was a father/daughter dance last month, PTA probably think moms deserve something, too. Is that what's bothering you? The dance?"

"No," he snapped defensively. With a sour scowl, he folded his arms over his chest. "I just think it's stupid. If they wanna do something for the moms why not let them do what they really wanna do- take off and pretend they don't have husbands and kids who need them."

Audrey regarded with the teen with a studious gaze as she was beginning to piece together what was upsetting him."Since it's the school doing this I think it's mandatory to include the students somehow."

The soft tone that he always associated with her was back. He glanced up at her but found it hard to maintain eye contact. He felt like she knew what was wrong and he wished she would just tell him so he could stop trying to figure it out. "Still stupid," he denounced harshly, feeling the anger rise again. "Kindergartners wanna take their mommies to a dance, not high schoolers."

Audrey saw that he was getting agitated again let him go without further questioning, although she did not let him go without a stern lecture about his attitude towards Jon. Shawn was duly ashamed of his behavior by the end of her speech and also very curious as to why she didn't push more like other adults to say exactly what was wrong. He did not ask, though, as he did not want to discuss the matter further. He did appreciate that she recognized this.

And still, Shawn was in an inexplicably grumpy mood and annoyed with Jon for being out in spite of an unending flow of popcorn and TV when the front door opened shortly after 10 pm. Audrey, who was coming out of the kitchen with another bowl of popcorn, was surprised to see Jon walking into the living room and nearly dropped the snack.

"Hey." His face lit up in a wide grin when he saw her.

"Hey," she replied, glancing at the clock. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, great." He leaned further into the living room to see what Shawn was watching. "Why?"

"You're early."

"I'm hungry," he responded, turning back to her and taking a handful of popcorn. "You got anything in the fridge?"

"Yeah, help yourself."

Shawn was now turned around on the couch and kneeling with his arms over the back of the furniture. He was also very surprised that Jon was back so soon. The date must have been really bad.

"How'd it go tonight?" Audrey asked. The teen was glad she did. He was dying to know, but uncertain of how angry Jon was with him still.

"Great," he said cheerfully much to Shawn's surprise and Audrey's dismay as he rummaged around in the refrigerator. "Turns out Tess is a real big sports fan; huge Islanders fan. We went down to Mike's to catch the game and shoot some pool. She's really good. And I need a lot more practice."

Audrey was baffled by this as was Shawn. Jon usually came back from his dates at the time he said he would and then complained about them. But this one was great and he was back already?

Again, Audrey spoke for both of them. "If everything went so well why are you back so early?"

Jon licked the mayonnaise off of his thumb and smiled to himself. "I don't think she liked me all that much."

"What!?" Shawn couldn't help but get involved now. He'd never known Jon not to be able to hit it off with a woman before. "Why?"

He shrugged, clearly having forgiven Shawn for earlier. "Apparently, I talked a little too much about two specific things and she got tired of it."

"What in the world did you talk about?" Audrey asked, still standing in the spot where she'd been when he came in.

"All I remember is sports and getting'-to-know-you type stuff. Normal things. I guess she heard it differently." He finished making his sandwich and took it into the living room where he set it on the coffee table, then went back to the kitchen to get a soda.

Shawn looked to Audrey who seemed to be on the verge of letting this go. But curiosity was killing him and Jon's explanation wasn't good enough.

"But why didn't she like you?"

Jon opened his soda and shrugged again. "When I dropped her off, I asked her if she wanted to go out again and she said next time I should just take with my wife and kid with me."

"What does that mean?" Shawn asked, hitting the back of the couch with his palm. He hated how adults spoke in code at important times.

Jon stopped in front of Audrey and regarded her with great affection. Then a puckish smile broke out over his face. "I guess I talked a little too much about the two of you and she got wrong idea." He took a drink of the soda, then said slyly, "Or did she get the right idea?" He leaned closer to Audrey and put an arm around her waist. "Four months," he said so quietly Shawn had to stand up on the couch and lean over the back of it in order to hear him. "Then no more student teaching and we don't gotta do this anymore."

A grin of delight flashed across Audrey's face and impulsively she kissed his cheek. With cheeks blazing red, she let her hair fall around her face as she pulled away from him and sat on the couch next to Shawn who bounced onto the cushion with a much lighter attitude. As Jon took a seat next him, he gave his teacher a sideways look and said repentantly, "I'm really sorry about earlier."

"No harm, no foul, kid," Jon shrugged as he picked up the sandwich.

They sat in silence for about ten seconds before Shawn said, "Can we stay the night?"

"Shawn-n-n-n," Jon dragged out his name with a warning entwined in it.

"What about just me? Why can't I stay? You are afraid to stay alone in the apartment at night, aren't you?"

Jon shot him a dirty look then looked up at Audrey and laughed. "Because if Feeny ever found out about me letting you stay here I'm pretty sure I'd get fired."

"So what's the problem with that?"

"You don't see the problem?"

"No," Shawn folded his hands in his lap with great patience. Adults could be so dense sometimes. "Audrey wouldn't be your student teacher if you got fired. Then we'd all be happy."

"Yeah," Jon said exchanging an amused look with Audrey. "Who needs an income anyway?"