Joan is finally allowed back in class. She begins to question Jared’s character. After much deliberation the three musicians agree on a name for the band. And finally, Fred offers Sam a job…

Chapter 15

Take On Me

Wednesday morning. Well, there was one good thing about school this week. It was shorter by a day at least. I had Sam’s bowl of cereal and juice ready when he came down the stairs. He simply looked at me and smiled without saying a word.

I’d gone out of my way to make sure that there’d be no doubts in anyone’s mind today as to my gender. I wore my blue pleated skirt, pantyhose, blue espadrilles, white frilly top and my large hoop earrings in the lower holes of my lobes and my diamond studs in the upper ones. To finish it all off, I tempted fate and put on my invisible (mauve) lipstick.

Sam and I walked together hand in hand. I thought for a moment about stopping off at my house to see whether Aunt Melissa had indeed come home last night. I was slightly worried about her under the circumstances. Jared wasn’t exactly in a stable frame of mind himself. Ah well! This was life, wasn’t it?

Sam began badgering me about the battle of the bands on Saturday night. I told him as much as I knew about the whole thing. He started to ask me if it would be OK if he asked Billy to come along. I bit down on my tongue: hard! I didn’t know how to respond to that one. I’m sure Sam would defend his friend and inform me that I’d been there to see him play baseball. The point was, the only reason I’d gone at all was to watch Sam and make sure he was alright.

I thought about pleading with him and then I thought about it for a bit. I’d be busy with Fred and Darla for most of the evening. Still, I wanted Sam there with me! Not off entertaining that asshole. Sam wasn’t about to take any hints. I told him I’d rather he didn’t ask Billy and to that he asked me if I’d rather he not come at all. This wasn’t working out as planned.

"But, Joan you’re going to be onstage with your friends. What am I supposed to be doing? Standing on the sidelines twiddling my thumbs? Hell, most of the time you brought your friends with you to my games. It’s the same thing, isn’t it?" He finally quieted down and we continued walking. How could I inform him that it was in no way the same thing?

"Sam there are six bands performing in this contest. I’ll only be on stage for a very limited amount of time. I don’t know what else to say about it? Alright Sam, go ahead and ask your friend if he wants to come. But, don’t expect me to be happy about it!" That seemed to be enough of a concession for him. I only hoped it wasn’t one I’d live to regret. We arrived at school and Sam asked me if it was OK if he went over and asked Billy if he wanted to come. He actually seemed excited about the whole thing. For that at least, I was grateful. I told him to go and talk to his friends. I was off in search of Darla as the first bell rang.

I knew from yesterday that now was not the time for me to report to class, but to the principal’s office. The conglomeration of kids in there was slightly less than it was yesterday. Then again, it was still early yet. Brian McFee smiled at me as I made my entrance. He had a look about him which suggested that he hadn’t moved from his seat all night long. He attempted to engage me in conversation by asking me why I was in the principal’s office again this morning. I eyed him like he was insane and he just burst out laughing. The secretary nodded at me and told me to go right on in. Brian got all pissed off and made a point of letting her know that he’d been there first. His attitude didn’t cut any ice with the secretary. I didn’t look back at him as I made my way into Mr. Qwerty’s office.

"Ms. Johnson, I assume you have the paperwork that I requested yesterday?"

"Yes Sir, I do. The name however is Ms. or Mrs. Peters whichever you prefer." I said while staring down my nose at him. I handed him the letter which Aunt Vivian had given me and went back to take my seat. He opened it and stared a long time at the contents. After a few minutes of silence I asked him if there would be anything else. He grumbled at me and told me that in fact there was. I eyed him quizzically.

"Ms. Johnson, er? Sorry, Ms. Peters there could be a problem with the rest rooms. I’ve also noted in looking over your schedule that you have physical education for the fall term. In fact, the law requires that you have it every term, but I’m afraid we won’t be able to accommodate you this semester." I sat there dumbfounded. So, the fun and games was beginning.

"Mr. Qwerty, I’ve given some thought to the rest room problem. What makes most sense to me would be for me to use the one in the nurse’s office. I don’t want to be breaking any laws, and I don’t want to be risking my life to use the toilet." He looked at me oddly and smiled. His smile sent a chill right through to my bones. "I’m really not here to make any waves. I’m just here as a stepping stone to high school at this point in time."

"Well, Ms. Peters, I’m glad that you’ve got the proper attitude. I’ve made arrangements for you to take Home Economics with Mrs. Veerscham, instead of Physical Education this semester." He looked like he was going to choke on that third canary that he was attempting to swallow without chewing.

My response took him totally by surprise. I doubt that he knew it was total sincerity on my part. "That’s fantastic Mr. Qwerty! I can’t thank you enough!" I smiled at him. Knowing what went on in the home economics course here, I was sure I could teach the class myself, if required. It would take just one more burden off of my shoulders. Still, it wouldn’t be as easy as Phys. Ed. I left his office just as the bell was ringing for the start of second period. Classes all week this week were limited to twenty minutes each. I guess the idea was to get the kids, and the teachers for that matter, familiar with the grind.

Brian McFee was still sitting in the outer office when I came outside. I had no idea what was keeping him from actual classes and truth be told, I didn’t really care. I really wanted to sign up for Mr. Ferris’ advanced woodworking class, but figured that would have to wait until the spring. When things had calmed down a bit, I’d be ready. I laughed to myself as I realized that next spring things would be anything but calm across the board.

Before I realized what was happening, the school day ended. Ah well, it looked to be an interesting semester. Sam and I would actually be together for Algebra II. I was looking forward to that.

I vowed not to get competitive with him about it. We were in this together. I’d help him in any way that I could. I’d come a long way over the last few months. I was finally realizing that I was a lot smarter than I’d ever given myself credit for. Perhaps it was the hormones? I laughed aloud.

I flagged Darla down as she made her exit just to verify our practice session that evening. I then decided to wait for Sam. The longer he took, the more I began to worry. He was five minutes late in arriving, but at least he showed up. As we made our way over to the Inn he began telling me how the coach wanted him to sign up for football this fall. I put my foot down.

"Sam, you’re three months pregnant! You promised if I didn’t give you any flack about finishing out the baseball season that you’d stop until the twins are born. There’s no way you’ll be able to play by Christmas time anyway! Please Sam, don’t do this for me, do it for them?" I let the last word hang in the air. We walked along in silence.

"I’m sorry Joan, you’re right," he whispered at last. I heaved a huge sigh of relief as we continued on our journey. "So, did you copy down the homework assignment for Algebra class tomorrow?" he asked seriously.

"Sam, half the kids in that class don’t have their text books yet! What are you worried about?"

"Well, now that you’re part of team ‘Peters’ I expect you to be prepared too. No more sloughing off all the time," he finished. I smiled at him. Should I tell him that I beat him on three of last year’s final tests? History, algebra, and science? I didn’t need to do that. I smiled at him briefly before replying.

"You’re right Sam, in a way. Anyway, I won’t be able to look at that stuff till after band practice tonight. If you’ll allow me the use of your text book, I’ll work out the problems myself." He smiled at me and told me it was a done deal.

Finally, we arrived at the Inn. Jared was putting the finishing touches on the downstairs bedrooms and Aunt Melissa was in the kitchen cooking up something special. At least, that’s what Jared had to tell us. He smiled fondly as he murmured her name. I still didn’t know if she’d even made it home last night. I sighed aloud and ushered Sam to one of the stools over at the counter. I asked him what he wanted to drink and he told me he wanted a "chocolate soda."

Not only didn’t I have any experience preparing such a beverage, I didn’t know if we had the ingredients for it. I left him sitting there and walked into the kitchen. "You’re not supposed to be in here!" Aunt Melissa screamed at me.

"Whoa! Calm down! Sam wants a chocolate soda, and I have no idea whether or not we have the ingredients let alone how to make one."

She told me to go outside take my seat and she’d be with me directly. I did as instructed and went out and sat next to my husband. My ‘husband.’ That still sounded strange to me. He smiled at me and grabbed my hand protectively. I could hear the water running. Jared was apparently cleaning up for the noon time meal. Aunt Melissa quickly appeared and made a slew of chocolate sodas. One for each of us!

Next up was Auntie M’s version of my meatloaf along with potatoes and a very healthy salad. "How on earth did you find the time to do all of this?" I found myself forced to ask.

"Oh this little thing? This was nothing!" she exclaimed and doled out portions of the food to fill our plates.

"What no fresh bread?" Sam asked and laughed. Aunt Melissa laughed with him and told him that she’d forgotten and would be right back. Two minutes later she came back with the most delicious toasted hard rolls that I’d ever eaten. We ate pretty much in silence. Jared served her knowing looks at each and every opportunity. I was worried for my Aunt. What exactly was going on here?

Lunch finished, Sam insisted on doing the clean up. That was a first for him. His actions made me proud. I asked Auntie M and Jared if they had anything that they had to do upstairs cause I’d be putting the second coat of varnish down on the stairway shortly. They smiled at me in unison and told me they were going out for a walk. Dissension in the ranks? What kind of boss was I? I considered it for a moment and figured that I’d get more work out of them if I let them proceed at their own pace. I only hoped that I was right.

"Well Joan, once you finish that stairwell, we’ll be able to get to the serious work upstairs. I’m reasonably sure that we should be able to finish the job in another two weeks." He said all of this and smiled at me, like it should all mean something to me. A furtive glance in Aunt Melissa’s direction cut him off in his tracks.

"We’ll be back in an hour or so," Auntie M said as they headed out the door. Not knowing what else to do, I got out my tack cloth and tackled the stairs. Sam finished up in the kitchen and said his goodbyes. He attempted to ask me about Jared and Aunt Melissa. I shushed him. I didn’t want to think about it. I had enough problems. Still, for some reason I felt that it would be easier talking to Jared about it than Aunt Melissa and that’s what I resolved to do.

By the time the young couple returned (ha ha), I was in the middle of the second coat of varnish. Aunt Melissa walked into the Inn carrying a teddy bear. I began to worry for her even more. I wondered if Jared knew that she had a daughter only slightly younger than he was himself. They sat at the counter and had a cup of coffee while I finished up the stairwell. To my untrained eye, it looked even better than it had after the first coat. That at least had been my intention.

I put the lid on the varnish and washed my hands with turpentine. Auntie M and Jared were still sitting at the counter when I’d finished. "Jared, can I speak with you for a minute?" I stood near the entry way so he’d know he’d have to get up and join me. He asked me if I wanted a cup of coffee. I told him it wouldn’t hurt. He brought the black beverage over to me and we stepped outside.

"Jared, what are you doing? I know it’s none of my business. Damn, I seem to be saying that too much lately, but Aunt Melissa is a married lady who’s going through a rough time right now. Her daughter, my cousin, is about your age. I’m just a kid sure, and I do see where you two could be helpful to one another. That being said, I can also see where your being together could be a total disaster for the both of you."

"Relax Joan! Your Aunt and I are just enjoying each other’s company. We’re both aware of the pitfalls in front of us and I’m hoping we’re wise enough to avoid them. Now, can we get inside and get back to work? Oh, and I met your mother last night," he said while chuckling. Had I been totally wrong in judging his character? With his last comment my eyes filled with tears. I was only glad that there wasn’t a hammer anywhere in the vicinity.

"Joan, I’m sorry! It was a poor attempt at humor and I was kidding. I have nothing but the highest regard for your mother and your aunt. Do you think you can forgive me?"

Should I simply try to brush it off? No big deal? No, I couldn’t do that. It was a big deal. These people were all incredibly important to me in my life and I’d do anything to protect each and every one of them. "Jared, I don’t find such conversations humorous. I may only be a kid, but I’m old enough to know right from wrong. I’ve always treated others with the respect that I expect to be treated with. That’s always worked for me. Sorry if I seem to be a stick in the mud here."

"No Joan, you’re right. I’m sorry. I don’t know what got into me. I’m not sure what your Aunt’s feelings are for me, nor what mine are for her. I guess we’ll figure that out over time. If that’s going to be a problem, well, then I’ll be on my way now."

Did his canceled wedding have more of an effect on him than I’d realized? "Jared, I like the way you work; hell, I like you! It’s just --- well, this is a delicate time for everyone right now. Please keep that in mind, ok?"

"You have my word Joan. I promise. Now, what say we go back inside before your Aunt begins to wonder what the hell happened to us." We went back inside and I spent the next few hours cleaning up. Aunt Melissa seemed happy tidying up the kitchen. It seemed to me she was a bit more interested in the place than any worker had a right to be. But, that was her call and if it made her happy, so be it.

I felt good as I made my way home. Aunt Melissa said she’d have dinner ready for us all at six thirty. That sounded like a plan to me. I made my way across the street and found Sam sitting at his desk in his bedroom going over his books. I was really happy to see him involved with schoolwork once again. Maybe it would help keep his mind off of sports for awhile? Hell, it was Dr. Feingold that said he shouldn’t be hanging around all the paint vapors and such. I only hoped that he hadn’t done any damage thus far. Still, all the work that he’d done had been outside, so I guessed that he should be alright.

I went into the bathroom and did my routine with my pills. Sometimes the big one got caught in the back of my throat and I had to wash it down with some tap water. I stood there staring at my reflection and lifted my breasts up , one in each hand, and just let them drop. With each passing week they seemed to be getting just a wee bit bigger.

"Come on Sam! We’re dining at my mother’s this evening. Aunt Melissa promised to make one of her specialties." I didn’t have to ask him twice. The book he was working on snapped closed and he jumped up from where he was sitting. He came over and hugged me in such a way that caused my breasts to ache. That had never happened before. I smiled up at him and didn’t let on as to the pain. We walked arm in arm across the street.

Jared greeted us at the front door. "Long time no see," he said half joking. I began to wonder just why I’d bothered having a talk with him at all. Maybe I simply was too young for a position of such importance?

"Jared, have you called your family since the wedding?" I felt obliged to ask. Hell, was I to become parent to yet another grown up? Instead of responding, he simply smiled at me and told me not to worry about it. Certain things about his presence here just made me uneasy. One minute I thought I knew him and knew him well. The next minute I felt like I didn’t know him at all.

Mom had beat us over there by about five minutes. She seemed to have no trouble relating to Mr. Kingston. Hell, the way the two ladies fawned over him it was almost embarrassing. For some insane reason I found myself worrying about Sam being taken in by him too .Yes, that didn’t make any sense at all. Well, I told you it was an insane reason.

Shandy had a new best friend. This was all getting stranger than I could fathom. Ah well, things change, no? Everything just seemed so different! Dad, gone. Sam? My HUSBAND! My Aunt from Australia now taking up permanent residence in my old bedroom and Sam’s mother wanting me to call her mom. Where the hell was it all going to end?

Sam and Jared seemed to get along just fine. It was almost spooky the way they communicated. Mom and Auntie M simply engaged in sister-speak, leaving me basically to twist in the wind. Dinner ended and I did my best to clean everything up as quickly as I could. I had to get over to Darla’s for band practice. This was the last chance we’d have before the battle of the bands on Saturday. From the way the conversation was going, I doubted that they’d miss me. I gave Sam a hug and a kiss and told him I’d be home by eleven. Yeah, that was insanely late for a school night. And yeah, I planned on being home substantially earlier, but, it was better to plan for a worst case situation than have to call up and beg for extra time.

I pedaled my bicycle slowly over to Darla’s. We still didn’t have a name for the band! How could we enter a battle of the bands without even having a name? Yeah, I guessed we couldn’t. I stood outside the front door and rang their bell. Darla answered it after the fifth ring. Hell, we had band practice tonight and then I had an appointment with Aunt Vivian tomorrow night, nothing (thank god!) on Friday night and then the battle of the bands on Saturday night.

"Would you like to buy some Hairy Kay cosmetics?" I said as she opened the front door to me. I danced quickly out of the way as she attempted to punch me in the arm. She was lucky things had turned out the way they did. She’d never have survived as a "guy." I began to wonder the very same thing about myself. I knew in my heart that this was how I was meant to live my life.

"Come on in, bubblebrain." Whoa! Was she talking to me? I wasn’t in the mood to prove my intellectual prowess. I let her get away with her comment. "Fred’s waiting for us downstairs. He says we need to come up with a name!" We made our way into the basement babbling back and forth at one another.

"Hey Fred! Yes, we do need a name, but what say we go over our three tunes first and then worry about a name?" It made the most sense to me. I knew if we stopped and played with names now that we’d probably never get anything done. "Hokay, so we’re gonna do "Love and Memories," "Cable Car," and "Drive, right? But, what order are we going to do them in?"

"Let’s just go over the tunes first and then we’ll decide the order," this from Darla. It took us two hours to get them down perfectly. We finally got to the point where each of us could intuitively anticipate the actions of the other. I couldn’t help but exhibit my mile-wide smile.

"I’m gonna make this easier on everyone. You guys decide the order. It doesn’t matter to me!" They both looked at me like I was crazy, but I was serious. The order of the tunes made no difference to me. "I think right now we need to worry more about a name than anything else. How about Friends Of Fred?" I laughed when I saw they took my suggestion seriously.

"The Little Easy." From Darla.

"Charbroiled Eggs." From Fred.

"Ladies’ Choice" I had to offer something?

"Hometown. Heroes" Fred again.

The names came out fast and furious. None of them resonated with me. "Hmm? The band with no name?" I said and laughed. "Seems we’re having a harder time with this than I thought we would. I get this feeling of futility. It’s like we’re grasping at straws."

"That’s it!" shouted Darla.

"What’s it?" Fred countered. I smiled over at her. I knew just what she was going for and it was perfect.

"You tell him Darla," I said and smiled at the both of them.

"Grasping At Straws," she said and bobbed her head up and down matter of factly. "It even makes for a neat acronym too!… GAS!!! She screamed and began laughing maniacally.

"But if we want any jobs playing weddings, well, that’s not the right name," Fred announced and remained quiet.

"Fred given our equipment and our repertoire, no one is going to hire us to provide music for their wedding." Sometimes you had to hit him over the head with the facts.

"Well, I suppose we can use it for now," he said and sulked.

"Fred, a band by any other name would sound as sweet!" I couldn’t help myself. "So, we’re going to leave from here on Saturday? Did you want to practice one more time? " We hemmed and hawed for a few minutes before breaking up the session. Fred was borrowing a truck to move all the equipment. Hell, all I had was my second hand guitar and my bass. No truck would be required to move my stuff.

It was just after ten and I still had some homework to do. I bade them both goodnight and slowly pedaled my way home. This was really going to happen! I was so excited! Sam was on the phone when I came walking through the door. It sounded as though he was talking to Billy. I wish I knew how to get over my anger. Somehow, I just didn’t think it was possible. At length he finished his call, hung up the phone and looked at me.

"Well, I’ve got good news for you and bad news for you. Which do you want first?" His eyes were a steely blue as he uttered those words. I shrugged my shoulders indicating that I didn’t care at all and he started in. "Billy won’t be coming with me to the battle of the bands on Saturday night." That was a piece of good news I could handle.

"But, he will be accompanying Sarah. They made plans to go together. I believe that Darla mentioned it to Sarah?" I did my best to control myself. How the hell could Darla have done that? Didn’t she know how much I hated those two? "Anyway, Fred’s got a job for me!" I looked up at him totally perplexed.

"His regular soundman won’t be able to work the board for him on Saturday night. He told me he could teach me how the board works in about fifteen minutes. I hope you don’t think I’m horning in on your party or anything?" I studied him carefully. I felt nothing of the sort. I was glad that Fred found something for him to do.

"Have you given any thought to taking up a musical instrument?" I asked him and started laughing. He knew I was teasing him and started chasing me about the house.

"If you guys need someone to play the spoons or a jug, then I’m your man," he said half-seriously.

"While we’re on the subject, how hard was the algebra homework?" I asked with a straight face. He practically threw the book at me. Fifteen minutes later, I was finished. It wasn’t hard at all. Just a rehash of last years’ work.

That night I slept a dreamless sleep…..