“I can't believe we got in before the supper rush.” Annie said as she sat down in the booth at the half diner half restaurant and waved for Arnold to sit across from her.

“Why aren't we going home to eat?” Arnold asked.

“We're celebrating, remember?” Annie said. “No cooking or dishes for us for the rest of the day!”

“Hey, there. I'm Amanda!” A brown haired waitress greeted them. She wore an old-style apron over a nice blouse and a pair of black dress pants. “What can I get for you?”

“I want the hamburger platter with gravy on everything.” Annie said and looked at Arnold. “He'll have the hot turkey sandwich meal, no veggies or stuffing.”

Amanda wrote it all down. “What do you want to drink?”

“Two glasses of diet soda, no ice.” Annie said. “How long...”

“Twenty minutes.” Amanda said. “I'll be right back with your drinks.”

Annie and Arnold sat there until Amanda returned with the drinks, then Annie started to play with the straw in hers.

“We have to start all over, Arnold.” Annie said. “Thanks to that life insurance check, we're out of debt. We don't owe anything. Nothing at all.” She stirred her drink and took a sip, then she looked at him. “I'm sorry that the responsibility has fallen to you.”

Arnold took a sip of his own drink. “You want me to take the job at the college.”

“It has actual pay. Money we can use for expenses.” Annie said. “We may be starting over; but, the money we have will keep us in food for a while and will pay for the heat and lights, not to mention the cable and phone bills.”

“When did those bills start?” Arnold asked.

Annie chuckled. “We've always had them and we've also always paid them. It wasn't something you would have seen us do, since we didn't want to burden you with all of the things that normal life comes with.”

“Why?”

“Because it's a parent's job to take care of their child.” Annie said. “I wanted to...” She stopped and looked at him. “Arnold, you're special. You've been special your whole life. I knew that if we let you learn too much about everything too fast, that it wouldn't be good for you. If you had too many things to distract you, you... well...” She sighed. “Your head would be filled with all of the nonsense that...” She reached across the table and took his hand. “I wanted to keep you, you... for as long as I could.”

Arnold had to think about that for a few minutes. “If I learn too much, I'll change?”

“You already have.” Annie said. “Once you got a girlfriend, your entire social interaction spectrum changed.” She saw his raised eyebrows and put her other hand on his. “You've never even considered kissing someone to say goodbye, good morning, or to thank them.” She said. “You learned that just from having a girlfriend for a week. You also learned about sex and then had it not long after.”

“Mom, I...”

“It's all right.” Annie said. “I accepted that with each new piece of information you received, you would act, and react, like you have. That's why I kept certain things from you for as long as I could.”

“The computer.” Arnold said and she nodded.

“It's the best thing to ever happen to mankind and it's also the most detrimental for us.” Annie said. “Imagine if we had a computer at home while you grew up. What would you have done with it?”

Arnold didn't even have to think about it. “I would have looked for specimens.”

“Yes, you would have.” Annie said. “Now, what would you have done if you didn't find any?”

Arnold thought about it and he frowned. “It's supposed to be the world's information. Why wouldn't they have specimens?”

“They don't all magically appear, Arnold. People have to share them. It's taken years for the internet to reach the point that it's at now. Hundreds of thousands of images, files, and websites that span the whole world...”

“It wasn't always there?” Arnold asked.

“No, and it's continuously changing. Something you looked for yesterday might not be there today, or it may be there, except it's named something different and you have to find it again.” Annie said. “The whole internet thing was something that I knew you couldn't grapple with until you were older.”

“I'm old enough now?”

“You have to be.” Annie said and let his hands go as their food arrived. “You've already discovered a bunch of things that I thought you wouldn't ever find or would interest you. You're also handling it much better than I thought you would.”

“You mean having fun sex.” Arnold said.

Amanda took in a sharp breath as she put his plate in front of him. “Um, I didn't hear that.” She said with an awkward smile and quickly walked away.

Annie chuckled at the waitress' reaction, then looked at her son. “Yes, that would be the biggest thing.” She said. “We should stop at a pharmacy and pick up a pack of condoms for you.”

They both started eating and Annie enjoyed the hamburger. She was a bit hungrier today and ate a little quicker than she normally did. When she ate the last french fry from the plate, she felt stuffed. She leaned back and put a hand on her belly.

“I ate that way too fast.” Annie said with a smile.

“Is... did you... would you...” Amanda tried to ask if they had enjoyed the food and if they wanted dessert and couldn't quite manage it. She was distracted and all she could think about was having fun sex, since that wasn't really a term she had heard sex be described with before.

“We're done and the food was excellent.” Annie said and moved her plate to the side for the waitress to take. Arnold copied her and moved his plate to the side, too.

“I need to get the tray to clear the dishes.” Amanda said and stepped back.

Arnold stood up and grabbed his plate and empty glass and Amanda gave him a surprised look for a second, then she smiled and took Annie's plate and her empty glass.

“Thanks for the help.” Amanda said.

Arnold followed her to the counter and then walked around to the door in the back and they went through it. She put the dirty plate on the large stack by the sink and Arnold put his there, too. When he turned to walk away, Amanda took his hand.

“I can't believe I'm going to ask you this.” Amanda whispered and waited for the other waitress to leave before she spoke. “You've had 'fun' sex?”

“Yes.” Arnold said.

“I can't stop thinking about it.” Amanda said. “I... I really want to have fun sex, too.”

Arnold stepped close and slipped his hand underneath her apron and between her legs. Amanda gasped as he rubbed her, because the thin cloth of her dress pants didn't offer any resistance. Of course, neither did she.

“I was told I can't have another girlfriend.” Arnold whispered to her.

“I don't care.” Amanda whispered back. “I just... want sex.”

“What about my mother?” Arnold asked.

“She's your mother?” Amanda asked, surprised. “I thought... she was your girlfriend.” She closed her eyes for a moment as he played with her, then she opened them. “Tell her... you're going to the bathroom... and meet me there.”

“I don't have a condom.” Arnold said.

Amanda caught her breath at the thought of letting him have his way with her without protection, then she shivered and came a little. “Dispenser... in the bathroom.”

Arnold nodded and let her go, then walked out through the door.

The other waitress came in through the door a moment later and looked at her red face. “Hey, are you okay? He didn't try anything, did he?” She asked, because they all had to be wary of customers potentially assaulting the waitresses.

“No, I... I'm going on break.” Amanda said and took off her apron and hung it up by the sink. “I'm a little squeamish and I don't want to lose time on the clock.”

The waitress smiled. “I'll tell Joe.” She said. “Make sure you're back for the supper rush.”

Amanda nodded and walked a little wobbly to the door out of the back, then went over to the short hallway that led to the bathroom. She gave a quick look around to see if anyone was looking her way and opened the door and stepped inside. Arnold was there with the foil packet in his hand, so she shut and locked the door.

I can't believe I'm doing this. Amanda thought and unbuttoned her blouse.

“You look very pretty.” Arnold said.

Amanda blushed, since she was only wearing a normal bra, and she hung the blouse on the door handle. She unbuttoned her pants and they slipped right off and she folded them up to put on the edge of the sink. Her thong had shifted aside and she adjusted it slightly as she turned away from Arnold, then she bent over to take them off.

“AH!” Amanda yelped as she felt warm lips and a hot tongue between her legs and she gripped the sink to hold herself steady. “Oh, god. Oh, god!”

Arnold kissed and licked her for a couple of minutes until she came.

“UnnnNNN!” Amanda clenched her teeth to stop herself from screaming, then a moment later she suddenly felt him enter her from behind. “Oh, FUCK!”

A minute later there was a knock on the door.

“Hey, Amanda. It's Joe. Are you okay?”

“I'm... fine!” Amanda managed to say as Arnold moved in and out of her. “I'm just...”

“Josie said you weren't feeling well. Do you need more time than a break?”

“N-no, I... I should be... good by then.” Amanda said.

“All right. If you need to book off, just let me know.”

Amanda's bra popped open and Arnold grabbed her breasts. “OH!” She yelled. “OKAY!” She said to cover her yell, then Arnold pulled off her bra and started to massage her breasts as he continued to move in and out of her. “Oh... oh, god... you... oh...”

Arnold pulled her up into a standing position and Amanda couldn't help herself and started to moan as he made love to her unlike anyone else ever had. She turned her head to look back at him, to see if he was enjoying it as much as she was, and he started kissing her.

“HMMMmmMMM!” Amanda moaned loudly. Th-three.... three things... he's doing... oh GOD! Her body bucked as she had a huge orgasm. She broke the kiss and bent over the sink to hold on and her arms shook from the pleasure. Arnold let her breasts go and caressed her back, because he wasn't done. He kept going, much to her surprise and her body's enjoyment. It only took him another few minutes to finish.

Amanda had finished twice more herself, which was three times more than the last time she had sex. When Arnold slowed down to a stop and pulled out, she was very sorry to not feel him inside of her. She leaned her forehead on the mirror above the sink and couldn't believe what had just happened. It took her a minute to catch her breath and she turned around to look at the man who really had given her 'fun' sex.

Amanda saw him peel off the condom and toss it in the trash, and he was still rock hard. She didn't say anything as he washed himself and dried off, then he pulled his underwear and pants back up.

He did all that and he didn't even have to take his clothes off! Amanda thought in surprise.

“Is it sore?” Arnold asked her.

“Yes, and it was worth... oh!” Amanda gasped in surprise as he picked her up and sat her on the sink, then he went down on her to give her the best feather-light kisses. Her breathing had sped back up and she stared at the handsome young man between her legs, then she was doubly surprised when he washed her and dried her off.

“Did you have fun?” Arnold asked.

“Good god, yes.” Amanda said. “That was... thank you.”

Arnold stepped close and gave her a quick kiss.

“Are you sure that you can't have another girlfriend?” Amanda asked.

“Yes. She also told me that I shouldn't go looking for other women to have sex with.”

“But... wait, we just...”

“You asked me.” Arnold said, then he put a hand behind her head and gave her a three second kiss. “Goodbye.”

“Good... goodbye.” Amanda said and he walked over to the door and unlocked it. “Wait!” She said and pulled her underwear on, then grabbed her pants and put them on. “Can you tell me your name?”

“Yes.” Arnold said and opened the door a little to look out, then slipped out and shut it silently behind him.

“Dammit!” Amanda said and grabbed her bra and put it on, then went to the door and grabbed her blouse. She had it on and buttoned up properly, then she did the same thing Arnold had with the door to leave. She opened it a little, peeked out first, and slipped out without being seen. She walked down the short hallway and stopped when she looked over at the table where she had met him. She went over to it and there were two twenty dollar bills waiting for her.

“I should have given him my number.” Amanda said and picked up the money and put it in her pocket.

“He was a cutie, wasn't he?” Josie asked as she cleared the next table.

“Tell me you overheard his name!” Amanda said excitedly.

Josie laughed. “Don't get all hot and bothered over him. I don't think he's out of high school yet.”

Amanda's mouth made that little 'o' of surprise, because she hadn't considered his age. Not once.

Josie laughed again at her reaction. “His girlfriend looked a little older, though.”

“That was his mother.” Amanda said before she could stop herself.

“You're kidding!” Josie picked up the heavy tray. “Wow, she aged well if he was her son.” She started to walk away. “She must have been a teenager when she had him.”

Amanda stood there and looked out the window, then she saw a blonde buzz-cut as a car drove by. There he goes, right out of my life, just as quickly as he entered it. She thought, a little sadly.

“Hey, are you feeling better?” Joe asked as he approached her.

“Yeah, Joe.” Amanda said and turned to look at her boss and he passed her the apron she had left in the back. “I'll have the bill for this table done up and...”

“The mom already paid.” Josie said and took out the bill and more money from a pocket in her apron. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.” Amanda said and thought about the extra forty dollars he had left for her. He was probably a high school kid and he still left her a huge tip. Thank you, whoever you are.

*

Heather sat on the couch and dialed the phone again. She let it ring for ten seconds and then hung up, then dialed again. She did it automatically and wasn't paying attention to anything at all, not even if the phone got picked up or not.

*

Kelly had gotten off the school bus, her tears dried to her face and she walked on autopilot. She knew the way, so she had turned her mind off to avoid thinking about anything. She kept walking and walking, carrying her suitcase, and it seemed like she walked for a long time, even though her house was only a few streets away. She attributed that to her zoned out state and didn't think about it and kept walking.

That was why she was surprised when she came to a stop at a driveway that wasn't hers. She blinked her eyes and looked at the house beside it, then took in a sharp breath.

She was at Arnold's house.

Kelly didn't have time to think about why her legs had led her there, because Annie's car pulled into the driveway and the horn honked. She jumped at the scare and stepped back onto the grass and the car parked beside her.

“Can I help you?” Annie asked.

“Hi! I'm Kelly! Heather's friend!” Kelly said nervously.

“It's nice to meet you.” Annie said and got out of the car and saw the suitcase Kelly had. “Is there any particular reason you're walking around with a suitcase?”

“What?” Kelly looked down at it and her arm chose then to give her a pain and she let the case go. “I actually forgot I still had it.” She said and rubbed her arm as the case toppled over onto the grass.

“Are you okay?” Annie asked, concern in her voice.

“I... well, I... came to see Arnold, and...” Kelly's thoughts that she had pushed aside, rushed back at being reminded about the warning Eric had given her, which reminded her of Eric. Tears sprung to her eyes and she couldn't stop them.

Annie saw the girl's distress and took her into a hug.