Arnold went into the house and took off his coat and kicked off his sneakers, then thought about getting a drink of water and went to the kitchen. He was halfway through the glass of water when he heard his mother's car pull into the driveway. He put down the glass and went over to the front door of the house and opened it, then put on his shoes in full view of his mother.

“I was about to holler to you.” Annie said as she got out of the car.

Arnold came out of the house and went right over to the car's trunk. His mother popped it open and he did the three bags per arm trick and carried them into the house. She brought in two bags herself and they were a little too heavy for her, so she didn't try to carry any more. She put them on the counter and Arnold was already back with the next load.

“Some of it has to go in the freezer before anything else.” Annie told him and he nodded, then he was gone and brought in five more bags.

“Is there any in the back seat?” Arnold asked.

“Only toilet tissue and paper towels.” His mother responded.

Arnold quickly emptied all of the bags and sorted it all. He found the frozen items and put them right into the freezer, then checked the refrigerator for items that were close to being empty or expired, then removed them and added all of the new things his mother had bought. The dry goods to be put in the cupboards took longer to put away, because there were so many.

When everything was checked and put away, Arnold went out to get the toilet tissue and paper towels. It took two trips because they were so big and awkward to carry. He stashed them in the closet where they were supposed to go.

“You've gotten really good at doing all of this.” Annie complimented him on his work after checking the cupboards. “Thank you, Arnold.”

Arnold nodded and looked at the clock on the wall.

Annie looked as well and saw that it was close to the time when the high school let the students out for the day. “You should probably get a shower before she comes over.”

Arnold nodded again and went upstairs to get a shower and cleaned up. He took out the used rubber gloves from a pocket and mixed them into the unused pile he had collected from working in the lab at school. It was the perfect place to hide them. He dressed in the next outfit in his closet and went downstairs for his mother to check him over. She stopped herself from sighing at his choice of clothing and instead took him back upstairs and helped him get dressed.

“You're not getting dressed for school, so take that off.” Annie said and started to pick through his clothes. “You're getting dressed for a girl.”

Arnold didn't understand what she meant and took off the clothes he had just put on, like she wanted.

“Girls need to know you're making an effort for them.” His mother said. “Hmm. Okay. I think these will still fit.” She handed him a pair of dress pants. “Try them on.”

Arnold put them on and they fit his waist; but, the ankles were about an inch too high.

“Dammit, I knew I should have checked your other clothes, since you haven't worn them in a while.” Annie said and knelt and ran her fingers along the hem of the pants. “There's no extra fabric.” She said sadly and stood. “Where are the jeans I bought you last month?”

Arnold pointed and she went to the set of drawers and opened the top one.

“I'll need to iron them to get the folds out.” Annie said and flicked them with her hands to make them billow out. “See? Folds.”

Arnold saw the creases from being folded up and nodded. His mother held them next to him and saw they had an extra inch on the bottom and smiled. They would last him for a year at least, even if he grew a little.

“Put on that nice blue shirt and I'll be right back.” Annie pointed to the closet and left the room at a run. “Change your socks to black ones, too!” She yelled from across the hall.

Arnold listened to her advice and changed his socks, then he dug out the blue shirt and saw it had a crease on it where the arm had folded over in the closet, probably from sliding it between two other shirts when he hung it up. He walked out of his room and across the hallway to his mother's bedroom and stood there in just his underwear with the shirt in his hands. When she looked up at him, he pointed to the crease.

“Hand it over.” Annie said and he gave it to her. She flipped it around and hung it over her own shoulders, then she went back to work on his jeans. “The trick is to use less moisture and to have a thick towel underneath to absorb the dampness.” She said and used the now hot iron to press his jeans and removed the folds. She used deft and quick movements to iron out one side, then lifted the jeans and flipped them over and did the other side.

Arnold accepted the jeans when his mother handed them to him and he did the same flicking motion with his hands to make them billow out. She nodded when she saw all the creases were gone and he put them on. He liked that they were toasty warm and let a smile appear on his face.

“Now the shirt.” Annie said and whipped it off her shoulders and used the same deft motions and quickly ironed out the thin fabric. She gave it a flick and held it up to look at it, then handed it over when it was wrinkle free and turned off the iron.

Arnold put the shirt on and buttoned it up. He started to tuck it in and she stopped him.

“Leave the bottom of the shirt out.” Annie said and then unbuttoned the top button by his neck. She fixed the collar so it laid properly and stepped back. “There we are. Casual chic.”

Arnold looked at her with a question on his face. She took his hand and they went into the bathroom to look in the large mirror.

“A nice shirt tucked in and buttoned up makes you look more professional.” Annie said and held the top button closed and lifted the bottom of the shirt to make it look like it was tucked in, then she let it go. “Leaving it like this means you're relaxed at the moment and can be serious when it's necessary.”

“So... I'm dressed up but not dressed up.” Arnold said and his mother smiled and nodded.

“It works a bit better with dress pants; but, brand new dark jeans can work, too.”

Arnold looked in the mirror and memorized what to do and how he should look when asked to change. They both heard a car's engine approach and slow down to a stop.

“That's probably Heather.” Annie said and they left the bathroom and went downstairs to greet her. The doorbell rang just as they reached the bottom of the stairs and Arnold walked over and opened the door.

“HIII!” Heather yelled nervously and stepped in to give Arnold an awkward hug, then she turned to his mother. “I'm Heather!”

Annie clamped her mouth shut to stop from laughing. I think she's more worried about meeting me than I thought she was. She thought, then spoke. “It's nice to meet you.”

Heather smiled and looked at Arnold and then back at his mother and didn't know what to do next.

Annie saw her indecision and took pity on the poor girl. “Is your drive staying for you?”

“What? Oh!” Heather went back outside and waved to the car. “They're home! Thanks for waiting!”

Her mother waved back and then drove away. Heather went back into the house and Arnold shut the door behind her, then she looked at his mother nervously and then at him.

“Where can we do our homework?” Heather asked.

“I'd let you go up into Arnold's room; but, he only has a small desk. You'll have to settle for the large table in the dining room.” Annie said and waved in the right direction. She hadn't missed the quick change in Heather's facial expression from happiness to acceptance.

“Thank you.” Heather said and went where Arnold's mother said to go.

Annie waved at Arnold and motioned for him to hurry up and follow. He nodded and went with Heather into the dining room.

“This table is almost as big as ours.” Heather commented and took off her backpack and plopped it onto a chair. “Where should we sit?”

Arnold was about to say in the chairs when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“On the far end would be best, so you have room to spread out your books and still be close enough to show Arnold what he has to do.” Annie said.

Heather smiled and nodded, then moved her backpack down two chairs and started to unpack it onto the end of the table.

“Arnold, go and grab your backpack.” Annie said.

Arnold left to go upstairs to get it and his mother walked over to Heather.

“I need to tell you something important.” Annie said.

Heather stopped what she was doing and looked at her expectantly.

“You are Arnold's first girlfriend.”

“Oh!” Heather chuckled. “I know.”

“You do?” Annie asked, a little surprised.

“He said I gave him his first real kiss.” Heather said and let a happy smile appear on her face. “He's so handsome that I assumed he had a few girlfriends before, until he said that.” She remembered that first awkward kiss and chuckled again. “He said he didn't know if he liked it and needed to practice...” She realized what she said to Arnold's mother and blushed. “We haven't, though! We've only kissed a couple of times, and only for a few seconds...”

“Heather...” Annie couldn't help but be amused at Heather's embarrassment, especially if all they did was kiss.

“Arnold is so sweet and listens to me whenever we talk.” Heather said. “He even stopped fighting when I asked him to, then Brad said...”

Annie touched the girl's hand to stop her. “Arnold told me.”

Heather took a deep breath and let it out. “I'm sorry that Kevin got him suspended because of that.”

“That's the second boy's name?” Annie asked and Heather nodded.

“The rat bastard waited until I left with Kelly before he started the fight.” Heather said in a slightly angry tone. “If I had been there...”

Annie's opinion of the girl raised up at her words. It was still technically her fault, since it revolved around her; but, that was twice she would have stopped Arnold from fighting if she could.

“All right.” Annie said and let Heather's hand go. “I'll allow you to date him.”

“Thank you.” Heather said and let out an anxious breath.

“Don't thank me yet.” Annie said. “If you ever do anything to hurt him...”

Heather gasped. “I would never! Arnold is... he's the best and... and I... I...” I think I love him. She finished in her head, because she couldn't admit something like that to his mother before she even told Arnold. Plus, we haven't gotten past kissing yet! She thought and her blush returned.

Annie knew then that Heather had a huge crush on her son and wasn't just using him. “I'm glad.” She said, then wondered where Arnold was and turned towards the hallway. “Arnold! Where are you?”

“I had to go back and get my pens and pencils!” Arnold said loudly from the top of the stairs and came down them. “I didn't put them in my backpack when I finished my homework yesterday.”

Arnold came into the dining room with two pens, two pencils, and two large erasers in his hand. He used them as an excuse, because he had stood at the top of the stairs and listened to them talk.

“I'll get supper started while you do your homework.” Annie said and left them alone.

“Your mom seems really nice.” Heather said and finished taking out all of the subjects they needed to do for homework, then she touched his hand. “The biology teacher was pretty upset today.”

Arnold nodded. “I missed assisting on the next class specimen and I'm going to be behind in my studies of his specimens.”

“No, you aren't.” Heather said with a smile.

“But... I'm not there to...”

“...look at these.” Heather said and took out a stack of papers. Each one had a clear picture of the specimens and their part labels could be easily read.

“Heather!” Arnold gasped at the huge pictures and took them reverently.

“I went into that... lab... and the teacher let me take pictures of the ones you haven't studied yet.” Heather said. “Then I had mom pick me up at lunch and went home to print them off for you.”

Arnold flipped through several of the pages and each one was clear and easily readable as the first one was.

“I'd normally ask for a kiss; but, your mom is right in the next... mhmm!” Heather's lips became occupied as Arnold kissed her. He did it for almost a full minute and she had to break the kiss on her own to stop him.

“Thank you.” Arnold said and put the pages down. “I'll have them memorized by tomorrow night.”

“What?” Heather asked, surprised. “I thought you said it would take two weeks!”

“An hour at lunch for two weeks.” Arnold reminded her. “All at once? Maybe about ten hours.”

“Then... that means...”

“If I was in school, we could eat lunch together.” Arnold said.

Heather looked into his eyes to see if he was teasing her, and she knew he wasn't. “I'd like that.”

“I don't see any homework getting done.” Annie said from the doorway and Heather jumped from being startled.

“Sorry, Mrs. Strickland!” Heather said.

Annie smiled and walked back into the kitchen and Arnold and Heather got to work. She showed him where they had reached in their school text books that day and then showed him the assigned homework. Unlike his usual homework ritual, Arnold had someone there with him and he didn't mind it as much as he thought he would. It was slower with two people; but, he also had company which made the time pass quickly. They worked through it together, and he even managed to help Heather when she got stuck on some of the math problems.

“Are you almost done?” Annie asked from the kitchen.

“We're on the last geography question, Mrs. Strickland.” Heather said without looking up. “Arnold, what the heck does sedimentary mean?”

“It's in the book I think.” Arnold said and flipped back several pages to read the chapter introduction. “It's particles of something that's left behind or deposited by either water or air.” He said. “It usually refers to a type of rock that formed on the ocean floor, or on a previous ocean floor and the water moved on or evaporated.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Heather looked at him. “Rock? Actual rock can form from water... or air? Really?”

“The book says so.” Arnold said. “It takes a while sometimes, too.”

Heather laughed. “Rocks form underwater!” She exclaimed. “That's so freaky!”

Arnold saw her happy face at learning something new and he let a smile show on his face. “Now you know how I feel when I see a new specimen.”

Heather blinked her eyes a few times, then she glanced over his shoulder to look into the kitchen. She didn't see his mother, so she leaned forward and gave him a kiss for a few seconds.

“Telling your girlfriend how you feel deserves a kiss.” Heather whispered with a slight blush.

They both wrote out the answer to the last question, closed the book, then packed up their things. Heather took Arnold's homework and put it with hers to pass it in. She knew the teachers would see they were similar and different, so she wasn't worried about either of them being accused of cheating or copying.

“All done?” Annie asked and brought in two plates of food and set them on the table.

“Mom?” Arnold looked at where two other plates should be. Does she know?

“I'll wait for your father to get home before I eat.” Annie said and pat his shoulder, then went back into the kitchen.

“It smells good.” Heather said and tried some, then she started eating. Arnold joined her and they both ate supper while his mother waited for his father to come home. Only Arnold knew that she would be waiting for a long time.

Or so he thought.

They heard a car pull up and into the driveway. Annie gave her son and his girlfriend a quick glance, then went to the front door. She needed to warn Gerald about Arnold having a girl over, so she opened the door before her husband reached it... only to discover it wasn't her husband that stood there.

“Ma'am.” The police offer said and took off his hat, which only meant one thing.

Annie didn't wait for him to say anything as she burst out into tears and started to cry.