Despite the animal's nearly two kilogram weight and foot long body, not counting the nearly foot long tail, it only took Arnold an hour to completely dissect, identify, label, and replace everything inside the specimen. Using the distinct traits of the animal, he had determined the Kingdom as Animalia, the Phylum as Chordata, the Class as Mammalia, the Order as Rodentia, the species as Zibethicus, the genus as Ondatra, the family as Cricetidae, and the subfamily as Arvicolinae.

Arnold turned to the biology teacher. “It's a muskrat.” He said, wrote it onto a small piece of paper, stuck it into the pre-made laminated holder, then placed it on the belly of the specimen.

The biology teacher was blown away that Arnold had gone well above and far beyond his expectations of just species, genus, and family and had discovered the common name by using the guidebook. The intricate work he did on the dissection and adding all of the labels and putting it back together, was near or equal to his own level of skills.

I knew he had picked up some of my techniques during the last couple of months, but this... it's amazing. The biology teacher thought as Arnold cleaned the tools he used in the small basin and then went to the kitchen and washed his hands.

Annie on the other hand, had to close her eyes for most of it and even with a face mask on, she gagged occasionally at the smell of the preserved specimen as it was cut up.

Arnold came back into the dining room and sat down to wait. He knew his teacher was going to need some time to inspect his work, just like everyone else did, and then the biology teacher spent almost twenty minutes going over everything he did.

“Arnold.” The biology teacher said when he was finished inspecting everything. “I've never seen anyone as young as you perform like that.” He said. “If I hadn't seen you perform this task with my own eyes, I might have accused you of cheating and hiring a professional.” He reached out and put a hand on Arnold's shoulder. “Your skills are as proficient as mine and I am very proud of you.”

Arnold wasn't sure how to respond or even if he was supposed to.

“Yes, I'm almost as speechless as you are.” The biology teacher laughed. “Needless to say, you passed my test. Quite easily and fairly quickly, too.”

“What does it mean?” Annie asked. She had been about to ask what the test was for when Arnold came home and interrupted her.

“Didn't I say?” The biology teacher asked and both Annie and Arnold shook their heads. “Well, first off is a small bursary of a thousand dollars from the school board that they award for outstanding scholastic achievements.”

Annie choked and coughed, then sputtered out one word. “Wh-wh-what?”

“I know that's not much; but, it's the recognition that's important.” The biology teacher said. “You see, it automatically submits Arnold for various college scholarships and their related bursaries in regards to this field of study, assuming he takes the recommended classes to further his education.”

Annie stared at the man like he was shovelling the biggest pile of crap she had ever seen.

“Nothing is concrete, of course. We won't find out until the term ends next month if he's eligible.”

“Why so long?” Annie asked. Another thousand dollars would definitely be a big help right now.

“That's when the review board meets again.” The biology teacher said. “That doesn't affect the school bursary, though. You should get that in about two weeks.”

“Thank you.” Annie said.

“I should be thanking you.” The biology teacher said. “This is the first time I've ever been able to administer the college level test.” He nodded to Arnold. “You've raised a great young man here.”

Annie closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and looked at Arnold. He had his flaws, his problems, and his quirks; but, she loved him and had known that he was something special his whole life. Now that she had proof, she was filled with both pride and satisfaction, because all of her hard work had been worth it.

“Well, I'll just pack this up and get out of your way.” The biology teacher said and put away the test, the tools and equipment, and then used the special disinfectant he used at the lab to clean off the table. He had covered the table with the appropriate safety materials; but, it didn't hurt to make sure things were completely clean anyway. Annie and Arnold watched the biology teacher work, then he thanked them again for letting him come here with it, then left.

“Well.” Annie stood there and stared at the front door. “That just happened.” She said, then she turned to her son and gave him a hug. “I'm very proud of you, Arnold.”

Arnold hugged her back and when she leaned away to look into his eyes, he spoke. “I love you, mom.” He said and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

Annie took a shallow breath. “If you keep telling me that, I might start crying.”

Arnold let her go as a small smile appeared on his face, then he raised both hands and made pinching motions with his fingers.

Annie laughed and put her hands on his. “I said might.”

Arnold nodded and his mother led him to the living room so they could sit down.

“How was work today? Did you do a good job?” Annie asked.

Arnold told her about learning how to take care of a lawn properly, then about how he trimmed the hedges by hand. He described everything he did, except for the flowerbed, because Claire had told him to ignore the flowers and he did.

“You might actually finish the hedges on both sides of her property tomorrow.” Annie said, once she had a rough estimation of how quickly Arnold could work. “I don't think there's too much else to do for yard work after that.”

Arnold didn't know if that was true or not, so he didn't say anything. He knew Claire was pretty smart, so if there was something else to do, she would tell him when he was ready.

“You already had a shower and did your homework, so I guess there's not much else for you to do tonight.” Annie said. “Why don't you go get changed and go to bed and I'll wash your work clothes for tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Arnold said and left the living room and went upstairs.

*

Kelly's suitcase had been packed in under fifteen minutes and it waited by her bedroom door for the morning. She now laid in bed and stared at the ceiling, wide awake, because she was having an existential crisis about what to do about Arnold.

On one hand, he was her best friend's boyfriend and apparently was the best boyfriend she had ever had. On the other hand, he had no problem with kissing other girls goodbye. Normally that wouldn't have bothered her very much. It was just that his goodbye kiss seemed like it was a little scandalous and quite shameless.

Heather's mother had said that it was just a goodbye kiss, so she knew that Arnold kissed like that. Kelly thought. When she told Arnold to kiss me like he kisses Heather... Her thoughts trailed off as she remembered what that felt like.

That was the part Kelly was having trouble with. She knew after she had told Arnold goodbye the second time and he had kissed her again, that if she went to him and asked him to kiss her like he kissed Heather, he would do it without question. She was pretty sure that he was not a good boyfriend because of that.

Kelly remembered her heart pounding in her ears as Arnold kissed her and they made out for what seemed like forever. She really enjoyed the feeling of his soft but firm lips on hers, how they moved expertly, and then there was his gently probing tongue.

His tongue... Kelly thought. She remembered Heather's pretty explicit description of what Arnold did to her the other night. Oh, god! His tongue!

Kelly shivered as she imagined that tongue probing between her legs. She rolled onto her side and reached between her legs and pretended her finger was Arnold's tongue as she flicked and probed herself with it.

I'm sorry, Heather! I'm such a bad friend! Kelly exclaimed loudly in her mind as she came.

*

Heather laid in bed and wondered how Arnold was. She was tempted to call; but, her mother had said that there was a strange green car in the driveway. She knew the biology teacher was going to be at Arnold's house to give him some kind of test, so that must have been him. The problem she had was that she didn't know how long the test was, or even what it was, and she didn't want to call and potentially interrupt.

Heather sighed and hugged her pillow as if it was Arnold. “I... I love you.” She whispered to Pillow Arnold and gave him a light kiss, then snuggled her face down into his pillowy softness and fell asleep.

*

Claire laid in bed and couldn't get to sleep, because her mind kept going back to seeing Kelly's near euphoric face when Arnold had stopped kissing her.

That poor girl must have had such a thrill. Claire thought with a smile. Not only did she get her first grown-up kiss, it was from her best friend's boyfriend, too!

Claire held in her chuckle at the thought, then she imagined what she would have done if she had been a teenager in Kelly's position and had gotten kissed like that.

Our clothes would have been on the floor right after. Claire thought in amusement. Almost immediately, her tall faceless fantasy man that she had met earlier that day in the shower, who just happened to have a blonde buzz-cut, made passionate and frantic love to her in the backseat of a fancy car.

*

Annie laid down in bed and thought back over the events of the evening. Meeting the slightly good-looking biology teacher was definitely a highlight, except for the pervasive smell of embalming fluid, or formaldehyde. It was at times like these that she missed her husband the most. It's not that he smelled any better with stale beer and the resultant gaseous expulsions that came with it, it was because she missed having someone else in the bed.

Annie had shared a bed with Gerald for nearly twenty five years and she loved him, despite all of his faults and the things he had done. Even after throwing away their life savings, she still loved him. Her eyes started to water and she took several shaky breaths, then let out a soft sob before she could stop it. A moment later, her bedroom door opened and Arnold stood there.

“A-Arnold.” Annie whispered and wiped at her tears so he wouldn't pinch her. Arnold walked over to the bed and instead of pinching her for crying like she thought he would, he climbed onto the bed beside her and hugged her.

“I love you, mom.” Arnold said and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

Annie burst out crying and tried to turn away from him. “Don't... don't pinch me.”

Arnold held her still and looked into her eyes. “I only said I would pinch you if you cried over dad.”

“Arnold!” Annie said and clung to him. He had never given her a verbal condition like that before. “How can you tell?”

“You look happy now.” Arnold said, to her surprise.

I'm happy? Annie asked herself, then she realized she actually was happy. Even though she was crying in sorrow only moments before, when Arnold told her that he loved her, it made her happy. “I am happy.” Annie smiled and wiped at her face. “It's because I love you, too.”

They were both quiet until Arnold remembered what Heather had whispered that morning.

“Heather said she might cry if I said that to her.” Arnold said and Annie took in a sharp breath.

“Are... are you going to say it?” Annie asked and then immediately covered his mouth so he wouldn't speak. “Don't answer that. Even though I am your mother and I want to know, that should be between you and Heather.”

Arnold didn't say anything until she moved her hand. “You don't want me to say it.”

Annie sighed. “I think you're a little too young to...” She stopped herself before she gave him any ideas. “Arnold, if you think she's ready to hear it from you, then you should tell her.”

“Even though you don't want me to.” Arnold said.

“Yes, even though.” Annie said and caressed the side of his face. “I won't say anything cheesy, like I want to go with you wherever you go, so I can keep you safe and protect you.” She said with a sad smile. “I really want to do that and I know I physically can't. Just seeing you working on that specimen today nearly made me throw up, which proved my point.”

“What if...”

“I don't want to throw up any more than you would want me to throw up on one of your specimens.”

Arnold had to agree that would be bad.

“I'll be happy just watching you doing your best.” Annie said and leaned forward to give him a kiss on the forehead, then remembered what he had said about not caring enough about him if she only kissed his forehead. She gave his forehead a quick peck, then moved down and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips. “You should get to sleep.”

“Okay.” Arnold said and closed his eyes. He took in a deep breath and let it out as he relaxed.

Annie thought about telling him to go to his own bed to sleep, then she changed her mind and rolled over to face away from him. Am I that desperate to have someone else in the bed that I'll let my own son share it with me?

The bed moved a little and she felt Arnold's breath on the back of her neck as he moved closer.

“Arnold, you...” Annie started to say, then stopped her automatic rejection. I guess I am. She thought with a depreciating smile. “Give me a hug.” She said and his arms went around her waist and held onto her and his forehead pressed into the back of her neck. She closed her eyes at the comforting embrace and took a deep breath and let it out as she hugged his arms. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” Arnold said. He had lots of memories of his mom cuddling him to sleep when he was a kid. He drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face because it was finally his turn to cuddle her to sleep.

*

The biology teacher once again completely took apart the specimen that Arnold had prepared and took pictures of everything, then put it back together. He even labelled the major and minor arteries, along with the nerve bundles in the spine. He thought in amazement and moved the reassembled specimen aside. This can't wait until morning.

The biology teacher walked over to his desk and picked up the telephone. He called one of his colleagues at the local college and disregarded the late hour. He knew his friend would want to hear about this as soon as possible.

After his friend ranted and raved at him for nearly ten minutes for calling so late, he reluctantly agreed to take a look at the photos that were being sent to him by email. Once he saw the photos, the friend ranted and raved at the biology teacher because he hadn't called and told him about Arnold months ago.