The next morning, Arnold was dressed in his old jeans and a tight t-shirt, and his mother had given him a small bag. It had a change of clothes and his clean sneakers, three water bottles, a cloth for him to wipe his face off with, a pair of shorts if it got too hot, and a pair of work gloves.

“You're going to sweat a lot while working, so keep the cloth handy.” Annie said and checked him over. “I think that's everything.”

“What about lunch?” Arnold asked.

“Claire said she would take care of it.” Annie said. It would be the first time in a long while that Arnold would be leaving the house without her and she hadn't made him a lunch that she knew he would eat.

“Okay.” Arnold said and picked up his backpack and the small bag.

“Good luck today.” Annie said and walked with him to the front door. “Take care, all right?”

Arnold nodded and they heard a car pull up to the curb. He opened the door and stepped out.

“See you tonight.” Annie said and clung to the front door so that she wouldn't grab onto her son and stop him from leaving, even though her mind was screaming at her to do just that. Arnold was oblivious to her dilemma and walked over to the car and got in. After a moment, he got out and walked back over to her and gave her a hug.

“I love you, mom.” Arnold said and let her out of the hug, then gave her a very quick peck on the lips. He could see her eyes were starting to tear up, so he made a pinching motion with his fingers. His mother reached out and held his hand with both of hers.

“I love you, too.” Annie said. “Now get going and listen to what Claire tells you.”

Arnold nodded and went back to the car, then climbed in and sat next to Heather.

“I bet she really liked hearing you say that.” Claire said and pulled the car out into the street. I'm glad I told him to do that.

“She started to cry.” Arnold said.

“I think I would, too.” Heather said in a whisper.

They drove to the high school and Claire pulled up to the edge of the parking lot and waited. It didn't take long for Kelly to come over to the car.

“Good morning, Mrs. Bradshaw!” Kelly said as she bent down to look into the front seat.

“Morning, Kelly.” Claire said.

Heather opened her door and picked up her backpack, then looked at the back of her mother's head for a moment. “Goodbye, Arnold.” She said and kissed him. “I'll see you after school.”

“Goodbye.” Arnold said.

Heather left the car and she and Kelly walked over to the school and went inside. Claire had watched Arnold and he hadn't stared at Heather as she walked away. He just calmly sat there and waited. She smiled, because she assumed that Arnold wasn't going to use or abuse her daughter like the other boys tried to do, and pulled away and drove back to her house.

*

“Thanks a lot, Kelly.” Heather said to her friend as they approached their lockers. “All those things you showed me the other day really came in handy.”

“Arnold liked all the hard work we did, did he?”

“Did he ever!” Heather said and almost giggled as she opened her locker and changed the things she had in her backpack for the first class.

Kelly saw how happy her friend was and couldn't fault her for getting another boyfriend. At least this one wasn't trying to take up all of Heather's time or trying to set me up with one of his pervy friends. She thought. He's still kind of creepy, though. “What did he like the best?” She asked, genuinely curious, and pushed her other thoughts aside.

Heather smiled and leaned in behind her locker door and whispered. “When I sucked him off.”

“No. Way.” Kelly was shocked. “I thought you were at your house! How did you sneak out...”

“It was in my bedroom.” Heather said and picked up her much lighter backpack.

Kelly just stared at her with her mouth agape.

“I know!” Heather said with a laugh and closed her locker, then moved down several of them and opened Kelly's locker for her. “Come on, get your things for first class.”

“You need to tell me what happened first!” Kelly said.

Heather grabbed her things for her and changed out Kelly's backpack contents as well. “What you should be asking me is what I enjoyed the most.”

Kelly stared at her and Heather laughed.

“He went down on me like a deep sea diver and didn't come up for air until we were interrupted!”

“Oh. My. GOD!” Kelly exclaimed.

“Just wait until I tell you...”

Kelly's locker door slammed shut and it startled Heather, Kelly, and three other girls that had been nearby listening to Heather talk.

“Why don't you tell all of us?” A guy's voice said and Heather turned to see a purple colored face with a bandage around his nose.

“Brad!” Heather spat, then she saw the guy next to him and she grit her teeth. “Kevin.”

“That's us.” Brad said and tried to smile, then flinched because it hurt. Behind them were four other guys who looked just as interested in her story as everyone else.

“Why aren't you suspended for fighting like Arnold was?” Heather asked.

“The principal couldn't suspend the victims of Arnold's temper tantrum, could he?” Brad asked with a sneer, then he winced again and stopped trying to convey emotions with his face. It hurt too much.

“You started the fight!” Heather exclaimed.

“Actually, Arnold was the first one to attack... in both cases.” A man's voice said from across the hall. The biology teacher stood there with his arms crossed and looked at the scene playing out in front of him. “I've talked to both the principal and the vice-principal and they confirm that Arnold admitted to it.”

Heather couldn't argue against a teacher, especially Arnold's favorite teacher, so she stayed quiet.

“It's quite disappointing to discover that he is as much of a common brute as they are.” The biology teacher said and nodded to Brad and his friends.

Heather couldn't let that statement stand and still call herself Arnold's girlfriend. “Sir, he's no more common than you are.” She said and the teacher gave her an appraising look. “He was defending me from a... a...”

“Verbal attack.” Kelly whispered.

“A verbal attack from Brad!” Heather said. “They said they wouldn't report it because Brad asked for the fight and lost!”

The biology teacher hadn't heard that.

“When Kevin confronted Arnold... after he made sure that I had left and couldn't stop him... he threatened Arnold for kicking Brad's ass, so Arnold defended himself and kicked Kevin's ass, too!”

Quite a crowd had gathered in the hallway by this point and a lot of them were shocked by this news.

“Sir, you know Arnold. He's never reacted to people bullying him before.” Heather said and there were a few murmurs from the crowd in agreement and some of Brad's friends looked uncomfortable. “I was the one they were bullying this time, and he... he protected me.”

The biology teacher looked at the leader and his face showed his guilt, so he had no choice but to believe her. “He was still caught fighting and was suspended for two weeks.”

“I'm taking him his homework every day and passing it in for him.” Heather said. “He won't fall behind his studies at all.”

The teacher started to let out a sigh when Heather spoke again.

“Sir, he said he's ready to take your test.” Heather said with confidence.

The biology teacher couldn't help but stare at the girl. “Excuse me?”

“He finished memorizing everything yesterday and told me to tell you he was ready.” Heather said.

“That... he needs to...” The biology teacher caught himself before he said what the test was. “Where is he now? At home?”

“My boyfriend is at work.” Heather said with a smile, and Kelly, the three nearby girls, and one of Brad's friends gasped at the news. “He wanted to keep busy while he's suspended.”

“He can't take my test until after school anyway, since he's not allowed on school grounds.” The biology teacher said. “Tell him I will come by his house tonight to administer the test.”

“I'm sure he will be very happy to hear that, sir.” Heather said and then the first bell rang.

“Everyone get to class.” The biology teacher said and the crowd quickly dispersed. He watched Heather and her friend walk away and couldn't help but be amazed that his unofficial lab apprentice had managed to get the most popular girl in the school as a girlfriend.

Kelly waited until they were down the hallway before she spoke in a whisper. “Heather! That was so awesome!”

Heather felt very proud that she had defended Arnold's honor this time.

“Now tell me what he did.” Kelly said with a mischievous smile.

Heather chuckled as they took their regular seats and they leaned in close to whisper back and forth, as was their normal practice, and a few other interested ears listened attentively as well until the second bell rang and class started.

*

Arnold stood in front of a shed that was similar to the one at home, except this one had equipment he had never seen before. Claire had changed from her outfit and wore a similar outfit to what Arnold wore. Her old and faded jeans fit her snugly and her t-shirt was old and clung to her like a second skin.

“Have you used a lawnmower before?” Claire asked and he shook his head. “Well, it's fairly easy.” She said. “The gas goes in here, the oil goes in here, this lever is the gas and this is the brake.” Claire said and showed him what they were and how they worked. “The lawnmower is intended to be used on flat surfaces to cut grass. Be careful with it.”

Arnold watched her and memorized what to do, then Claire stood up and practically glared at him.

“If you run over anything, do NOT stick your hand underneath to see what it was. Do NOT tip it up to look. Do NOT flip it over. It is NOT a toy. It has spinning metal blades underneath that will remove your fingers, toes, and any other body part that gets near it.” Claire said in a stern voice.

Arnold listened and memorized her words.

“I know it seems a little daunting with so many things to keep track of; but, you'll get the hang of it.” Claire said and then smiled. “Once I show you how to use it, you probably won't even think of anything except how to keep the lines that the wheels make in the grass straight.”

Arnold nodded, because that was a good goal to have and it would let him keep track of his progress.

“We should do a quick walk around the front lawn and see if there's anything there we can move out of the way first.” Claire said. “No matter how often I check, there's always loose rocks, random sticks, and even pieces of garbage that have to be cleared.”

Arnold nodded and he followed Claire as she did a survey of the front lawn. It was fairly large and there were trees nearby, so they found quite a few small sticks, a handful of gravel, one large rock that came from somewhere, and a crushed paper coffee cup.

“See?” Claire picked up the coffee cup and shook it. “I don't know if garbage gets blown into the yard or if people just toss it here.” She walked over to the garbage can beside her front step and tossed it in. “Something always ends up here.”

They put the gravel around a bush at the side of the house and tossed the sticks there, too.

“Okay, I think that's clear enough.” Claire said and they went around to the shed at the back of the house and brought the lawnmower out to the front lawn. “Make sure you watch closely.” She said and bent over at the waist, gave her ass a little wiggle as she held the brake on the lawn mower, pushed the gas lever ahead one notch and put a foot on the side of the lawnmower to hold it down, then she grabbed the pull-start handle and yanked as she stood up.

The lawnmower made a rattling noise for a moment and then nothing happened. Claire huffed and pulled again with the same result. She sighed and turned off the gas and let the brake handle go. She had played up bending over to see if Arnold would look at what she thought was her particularly nice ass in a tight pair of jeans. He only had eyes on her hands and what she was doing, however.

He really is oblivious to a woman trying to get his attention. Claire thought. “If it doesn't start right away, there's a danger of it flooding if you leave the gas on too long.” She said and they waited a minute and she tried it again. It didn't work and she sighed again. “Dammit.”

Arnold had seen it several times now and he thought he knew what was wrong.

“You want to give it a try?” Claire asked when she saw that his eyes didn't waver from the lawnmower.

Arnold stepped forward and did everything she did, then he grabbed the pull-start handle and yanked. Unlike Claire, he was fairly strong from years of digging, so when he jerked on the cord as quickly as he could, the lawnmower turned over immediately and sputtered into life.

Claire laughed and gave it a bit more gas to keep it above idling speed. “I'm glad you're here.” She said and touched his arm. “I would have been standing around for half an hour trying to start the thing.” She smiled and turned the lawnmower around to face the right way. “This thing kicks up grass a lot, even with the bag to catch it, so make sure you always face the bag away from the sidewalk and the street for the first few feet.”

Arnold watched as Claire walked at a casual pace and pushed the lawnmower all the way across the front lawn, then she moved it over slightly and dragged it all the way back.

“You should partially cover the previous cut by about twenty-five percent.” Claire said. “That way, you catch any grass the wheels may have pressed down the last time.”

Arnold watched her go all the way back across the huge front lawn, then she turned around and walked back instead of dragging it, because she was now far enough away from the street. He noticed that her cuts did overlap and the lines she made were fairly straight.

“If you're wondering how I'm keeping the lines straight, I used the sidewalk as a guide for the first two passes, then I just followed the wheel tracks.” Claire said, as if she read his mind.

“You're really smart, Mrs. Bradshaw.” Arnold said.

Claire was a bit taken aback at his statement for a second, then she smiled, because the scene in her daughter's bedroom the night before made a bit more sense to her. Heather had shown him things on the computer that he had never seen before and that had impressed him.

I'm slowly figuring you out. Claire thought and let the brake engage as she let the lawnmower's handle go. “Why don't you give it a try and show me what you can do.”

“How fast can I walk?” Arnold asked as he took her place.

“Not much faster than I just was.” Claire said. “Too slow and you're wasting both time and gas. Too fast and you're not cutting all of the grass, which wastes time and gas because you need to go back over the spots you missed.”

Arnold thought about that for a minute. “What if you pushed two lawnmowers? You could walk faster and the second lawnmower would cut the grass you missed.”

Claire stood there for a few moments as she thought about it. “You... would use more gas...”

“You'd be using the same amount of gas, actually. I think the limit would be how many mowers you could push.” Arnold said and started to walk away.

Claire stared at the young man as he easily followed her instructions and walked at the same pace as her all the way across the lawn and then came back.

“The size of the attached bags would need to be changed to cut down the weight.” Arnold said as he turned around. “They would fill at the same rate and...”

Claire blinked her eyes as Arnold kept talking and tried to work out how to make cutting a lawn go faster. She stood there as he did the entire front lawn, even though she had planned to do a few other things while he was busy with such a large task.

“I'm done of the front, Mrs. Bradshaw.” Arnold said less than an hour later.

“Hmm?” Claire blinked her eyes and looked at him. “Oh! Um... check the gas and the oil, then we need to let it cool off for a while before we can use it in the backyard.”

“Okay.” Arnold said and brought it to the shed in the backyard and did as she said. The gas was nearly empty, so he topped it up and the oil was fine.

Claire was surprised at his efficiency, because it usually took her an hour and a half. She didn't realize that Arnold hadn't stopped to take breaks, or to rest, or to wipe off his face. He had the cloth in his pocket and wiped his face occasionally while he worked, just like his mother told him to.

“Let's try the lawn edger next.” Claire said.

It was nearly the same as the lawnmower in both maintenance and danger, so Arnold quickly understood the nearly identical instructions and they both went to the front yard for the demonstration.

“You better start this for me.” Claire said and handed it to him.

Arnold easily started it for her and handed it back carefully.

“I really am glad that you're here, Arnold.” Claire said and continued to teach Arnold how to take care of a lawn. He picked up the proper use and the techniques, then took over and worked twice as fast as her. She held in her laugh and wasn't surprised this time at how efficient he was.