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- As Things Change
- Part VI
Bo and Nora enter the snack shack and are directed to the manager’s
office by the teen at the counter. Bo opens the door and spies
his son, head down, in the corner. Stevie is sitting beside him,
waiting for his parents to arrive. The other kid has already
been picked up by his parents. Bo shakes the manager’s hand.
“Thank you for calling us and thanks for keeping the police
out of it.”
-
- The manager grins. “We
have fights here so often, the cops won’t show up anymore.
We had it better when you were in charge.”
-
- Bo smiles. “I’ll
put in a word with John.” He turns his attention to Matthew.
“So what happened here, son?”
-
- Matt looks up cautiously.
“We got into a fight. My ball got out of control and hit
this guy on the head and he just spazzed out and grabbed my shirt
and… It all happened kinda fast. Next thing I knew the manager
was pulling me off the guy.”
-
- Bo notes the blood on Matt’s
shirt. “Were you hurt?”
-
- Matt glances down at his
shirt as he shakes his head. “It was the other guy.”
-
- Bo looks at the manager.
“Was the other boy hurt?”
-
- “Just a bloody nose.
It wasn’t broken. His parents were upset he started another
fight. Seems it happens pretty often.”
-
- Bo looks at Stevie. “What’s
your part in this caper?”
-
- He shrugs. “I was just
helping Matt, Mr. Buchanan. We weren’t looking for trouble.”
-
- “I’m sure.”
Bo turns back to the manager. “Were there any damages? We’ll
be happy to pay restitution.”
-
- He shakes his head. “No
damage. But I could use some help collecting balls on the driving
range? Maybe Sunday morning?”
-
- Bo nods. “They’ll
be here bright and early. Right, boys?”
-
- Matt and Stevie nod. “Yes,
Sir,” they respond in unison.
-
- Matt looks at Nora, who has
been suspiciously quiet through the entire conversation. “I’m
sorry, Mom,” he whispers.
-
- “We’ll discuss
this at home, Matthew.” She looks at the manager. “Are
we finished here?” He nods. “Let’s go.” She
turns to Stevie. “Are your parents on the way?”
-
- He shakes his head. “They’re
at a movie. Their cells are off.”
-
- Bo nods to the manager. “We’ll
take this one home too.”
-
- Matt and Stevie follow Nora
out as Bo shakes the manager’s hand and leaves the office.
-
-
- Rex and Lauren walk into
the loft holding hands. “You really liked that movie?”
-
- Lauren nods. “It was
touching, Rex.”
-
- “You cried through the
last hour. It wasn’t that touching. Next time I get to pick
the movie. I’d prefer more action and less waterworks.”
-
- Lauren makes her way into
the bedroom. “You need to be more sensitive.”
-
- He rolls his eyes as he follows.
“I think you could be a little less sensitive.”
-
- Lauren heads into the closet,
reaching for something on the top shelf. Rex sees her and rushes
into the closet. “Hey! What are you doing?”
-
- Lauren jumps. “Rex!
What is wrong with you? I was just going to get something down
from the shelf.”
-
- He pulls her back. “Well,
I don’t want you to drop something on your head. If you
need something up there, let me help you.”
-
- “I’m not a baby,
Rex. I can manage the closet without a major incident.”
-
- “But it’s easier
if you let me take care of it. What do you need?”
-
- She shakes her head. “Never
mind. I’ll get it later.” She sits on the bed, grinning
at him. “Are you going to be this overprotective with our
kids?”
-
- He hops on the bed beside
her. “Good thing we don’t have to worry about that.”
-
- “What’s that supposed
to mean?”
-
- He shrugs, pulling her close.
“Nothing. Just that we’re not planning to have kids
any time soon…”
-
- “Are you saying you
don’t want kids?”
-
- “No. I mean… Of
course kids…” He takes a deep breath. “Let’s
not talk about that.” He leans into her ear. “There’s
one part of having kids that I like…”
-
- She pulls away. “I feel
like taking a hot bath.” She disappears into the bathroom,
closing the door behind her.
-
- Rex looks around the empty
room. “What just happened here?” He glances at the
closed door as he slides off the bed, going into the closet and
pulling down a ring box from the top shelf. “Time to find
a new place for this.”
-
-
- Bo and Nora have located
Stevie’s parents and dropped him off. They walk into the
house ahead of Matthew, removing their coats and hanging them
in the closet without saying a word to him. Matthew goes to the
couch and sits, crossing his arms. “Okay, guys. Get it over
with. I know I’m going to get the ‘we’re so disappointed
in you’ speech.”
-
- Nora puts her hands on her
hips. “Well maybe we should try a new one. You’re obviously
not listening to that one anymore. What were you thinking, Matthew?”
-
- He shrugs. “I told you.
I hit the guy with the golf ball. It was an accident and he flipped
out. Stevie was just helping me. He didn’t do anything wrong.”
-
- Bo takes a seat beside his
son. “It’s good that you and Stevie are still sticking
up for each other but couldn’t you have talked your way
out of it? Did you apologize?”
-
- Matt looks down. “Sorta…”
-
- “In other words, no.”
-
- Nora sighs. “Matthew,
what have we told you?”
-
- “Use your words and
only fight if you have to.”
-
- Bo nods. “Is that what
happened?”
-
- Matt takes a deep breath.
“No. But it wasn’t my fault.”
-
- Nora stares at him. “That’s
what they all say. What has gotten into you?”
-
- Bo is watching Matthew. He
knows there is more to the story. He turns to Nora. “Honey,
let it go.” He glances back at his son. “This will
never happen again, correct?” Matt nods. “Good. Needless
to say, you’re grounded for the weekend.”
-
- “Except for driving,
right?” Bo shakes his head. “Oh come on, Dad. That’s
so unfair!”
-
- Bo looks at him seriously.
“Do you think I’m going to reward your behavior? You
will go clean up the driving range on Sunday, but other than
that, you’re here.”
-
- “Fine.” He looks
at his mother. “Is that all?”
-
- She nods. “I think so.”
-
- Matt gets up. “I’m
going to my room. I’ll be there until I’m 20 because
I won’t be able to go anywhere because I won’t have
my driver’s license,” he mutters as he stomps up the
stairs.
-
- Bo grins as they hear the
door to his room close. “Well, that was fun.”
-
- Nora frowns at him. “Bo!
He’s fighting! What do you think that’s all about?”
-
- He grabs her hand and pulls
her into his lap. “I think there’s more to the story
that he doesn’t want to tell us.”
-
- She leans against him. “What
kind of more?”
-
- He kisses her neck, making
his way to her lips. “I’m sure it has something to
do with a girl. It always does…”
-
- “Do you think he’s
back together with Kallie? I didn’t see her there. Do you
think that’s why he was so evasive…”
-
- Bo kisses her. “I think
you’re talking too much. We were on a date, remember? We
hadn’t gotten to the good part yet…”
-
- Matthew grabs his cell phone
off the nightstand, flips it open and types a text to Stevie.
‘grounded til mon. u?’ He tosses the phone back on
the nighstand and grabs his iPod. As he is putting on the headphones,
his cell chirps. He picks it up and flips it open, reading the
message. ‘me 2. later.’ Matt sets the phone down with
a sigh. “This is going to be a fun weekend…”
-
-
- The following Monday…
Nora is sitting in her office at the Center, drinking coffee
and sifting through her emails. The door opens and Andrew walks
in with Miki in his arms. Nora doesn’t notice them at first.
Andrew clears his throat and she looks up. He waves meekly. “Hi,
Nora.”
-
- “Candy!” Miki yells
excitedly, remembering Nora’s office.
-
- Nora smiles, digging into
her candy dish. “I believe 2 is the going rate?” She
extends her hand to the little girl. Miki grins as she snatches
the candy out of her hand.
-
- Andrew grins. “You may
want to rethink that. I have a favor to ask…”
- “A favor?”
-
- He nods toward Miki. “Can
you watch her for me?” He hurries on when he sees Nora start
to shake her head. “It’s just for a little while. 30
minutes tops. I have a meeting and it’s too late to cancel.
Please, Nora. I’ll buy you burgers for a month!”
-
- Nora laughs. “No need
for that.” She reaches out. “Miki, you wanna stay with
me?” The little girl shakes her head. “We can go find
the playroom.”
-
- “Toys?”
-
- “Sure. Toys.” She
takes the little girl from Andrew. “There we go.”
-
- Andrew kisses Nora on the
cheek. “You’re an angel. Thanks.”
-
- “You said 30 minutes,”
Nora calls as he quickly leaves. She looks down at Miki, who
is about to burst into tears. “Oh, no, no, no. Don’t
cry. Come on, let’s find some toys.” Nora hurries out
of her office.
-
-
- Matt walks into his history
class, frowning when he sees Raven seated in the back corner.
He takes a seat on the other side of the room. Raven gets up
and makes her way over, sliding into a chair beside him. “Hey,
Matt. How goes it?”
-
- He cuts her a look. “How
do you think?”
-
- “What happened on Friday
after I left?” she asks innocently.
-
- “Gee, not much,”
Matt answers sarcastically. “Only your stupid prank got
me and Stevie in a fight that resulted in me getting grounded
all weekend.”
-
- She shrugs. “Sucks for
you.”
-
- “Buzz off.” Matt
turns his attention toward the front as the teacher walks in.
-
- Raven leans over to him,
whispering. “You gotta admit that was fun. We should hang
out again soon...”
-
-
- Rex walks into the office,
whistling. Bo looks up from his computer. “What are you
so happy about? Did you pop the question?”
-
- Rex takes a seat in front
of Bo’s desk. “Not yet. Friday is the day. I picked
out the ring and I’m going to make her a special dinner,
candlelight, the whole bit.”
-
- Bo leans back, taking a sip
of his coffee. “Impressive. Sounds like you decided to go
with simple.”
-
- Rex nods. “I think Lauren
would be pissed if I did something splashy. She was in a foul
mood all weekend, so I don’t want to make her mad right
now.”
-
- “Smart move, Balsom.
See, you’re getting the hang of this relationship thing.”
-
- “I learned everything
not to do by watching you.”
-
- “Funny. So why has she
been in such a bad mood if it’s not because of you?”
-
- Rex shrugs. “No idea.
When I ask her, she says I’m imagining things. Women.”
-
- Bo chuckles, holding up his
coffee mug in a toast. “Yup. Women.”
- “So how was your weekend?”
-
- “It didn’t turn
out as I planned. Matt got into a fight Friday night at the Putt
Putt Park and ruined my date.”
-
- “Who was the squirt
fighting with?”
-
- Bo shrugs. “Some kid.
He claims it wasn’t his fault. I think it has something
to do with a girl. He’s short on details of how it all went
down.”
-
- Rex grins. “Women start
being trouble at an early age…”
-
-
- Marcie and Lauren walk up
to the receptionist in Dr. Conklin’s office. Lauren signs
in and they take a seat in the waiting room. Marcie smiles at
her. “Nervous?”
-
- “Are you kidding? I
bit Rex’s head off all weekend. Not knowing is driving me
crazy. Actually, Rex thinks I am crazy.”
-
- Marcie laughs. “He should
talk.”
-
- “I just hope he’s
happy about this, if it’s true.”
-
- “I’m sure he will
be. Rex is like a big kid himself. If anyone can relate to a
child, he can.”
-
- Lauren shrugs. “Yeah,
but is he ready to grow up and be a dad?”
-
- “Well, Bo can give him
pointers if he needs a little guidance. Besides, Rex has been
great with Matthew all these years. I think he’ll do just
fine.”
-
- “I hope you’re
right.” Lauren looks up as the nurse calls her name. “Here
goes nothing.”
-
- “Good luck,” Marcie
calls as she disappears into the office.
-
-
- Matt sets his tray on the
table, looking around the cafeteria, signaling to Stevie as he
takes a seat. Stevie makes his way over and sits across from
him. “Wasn’t that fun picking up golf balls in the
burning sun yesterday?”
-
- Matt frowns. “Yeah,
that’s how I want to spend the day I was supposed to be
learning to drive.”
-
- “How do you think I
felt? It wasn’t me who got us into the fight in the first
place.”
-
- “It wasn’t me either,”
Matt says defensively.
-
- “Wanna tell me how the
hell we got into a fight neither one of us wanted?”
-
- Matt leans forward. “Remember
that goth chick who showed up at the Teens Together meeting last
week?”
-
- “Who could forget her?
Scary looking!”
-
- “Yeah, well she was
the one who launched the golf ball into that guy’s head
and took off running, leaving me to take the blame.”
-
- “She was there?”
Matt nods. “I didn’t see her.”
-
- “She ran as soon as
the ball hit that guy. You were off the course, remember?”
-
- “What a bitch!”
-
- “You haven’t heard
the best part yet. She’s in my history class. I never paid
any attention to her before, but today she comes over and tells
me how fun it was and we should hang out again.”
-
- Kallie plops down beside
him. “Hang out with who?”
-
- Matt smiles at her. “Hi,
Kallie. How was your weekend?”
-
- “Better than yours,
I bet. What did your folks say about your fight?”
-
- Matt rolls his eyes. “I
got grounded for the weekend.”
-
- “Me too,” Stevie
interrupts. “And we had to pick up balls at the golf range.”
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