Kelly's face had remained flushed red the entire day because everyone kept looking at her. Boys. Girls. Teachers. Everyone. They were all surprised that she would dress like that, considering she always wore clothes that hid pretty much everything. Today she wore something that still covered her completely, and yet, it was still slightly scandalous. Her mother had been right and everyone saw the potential there.

They were also quite envious.

The boys were envious of Arnold for getting the subdued Kelly to wear something that made her look stunning and showed off her body without actually showing it, and he got to date her exclusively. Luckily, word of Arnold beating up both Brad and Kevin for disrespecting Heather had been spread all over the school and none of them thought of making any rude comments.

The girls were envious of Kelly because she looked great in her outfit. She also had a boyfriend like Arnold and they knew that he would kiss her whenever she wanted... and wherever she wanted. That pretty much made him the best boyfriend in their eyes. Fortunately, they also knew he was dating her exclusively and none of them would have a chance to steal him away.

The only one not affected by this turn of events was Heather. She knew they were old clothes and that Kelly was completely covered up. She didn't really understand why Kelly was getting so much attention, because she should have worn the outfit without the black underclothes. Brad, who had always thought that Kelly was plain, especially when compared to Heather, had been surprised by how outstanding Kelly looked.

Eric on the other hand, was almost pained by the sight. He knew without a doubt that if he had just been nicer to Kelly, he would have been in Arnold's place right now and he would have the beauty on his arm instead. It was a bitter pill to swallow, considering he knew that Kelly would never forgive him for what he did to her and the lies he said about her afterwards.

Arnold wasn't oblivious to the extra attention, since he always noticed it and chose to ignore it. So, he did that this time, too. He gave Kelly one arm hugs at the locker like she wanted, he kissed her before and after each class, and carried her books for her. At lunchtime, Kelly tried to tell him to go to the lab and he told her that the teacher locked it every day.

“Arnold, I'm so sorry.” Kelly said and gave him a hug and rested her cheek against his. With the two inch heels, she was pretty close to his height. “I know you really liked being in there all alone.”

Arnold put his arms around her as he hugged her back and several girls nearby had let out soft sighs. They ate in the cafeteria after that and when they sat down at a long table next to each other, rather than being left alone like they normally were, the trio of girls came over and sat around them.

“Can you believe the chemistry teacher is trying to give us new material?” One asked as she opened a small packet of pepper and sprinkled it over her french fries. “The exam is only a week away!”

“It's a crime, is what it is.” Two said and plucked one of the fries from her friend's plate and ate it, then she offered one of her fish sticks in exchange. “We're going to have a hard enough time studying everything from the rest of the year.”

“We have got to get together and have a study party.” Three said and picked up her hamburger. “Aw. This thing doesn't have any cheese on it.” She said with a sigh, then took a bite anyway.

Kelly gave Arnold a look as if to ask him what was going on and he just looked back at her with a blank face. It's up to me, then. She thought, then she smiled at Three. “Do you want some of my nacho cheese?”

“Huh?” Three blinked her eyes for a second and stared at her.

Kelly held out a nacho chip with a huge glob of cheese on it.

“Hey, thanks!” Three said and accepted the offer. She put it, chip and all, on her burger and took another bite. It made a loud crunch sound and she moaned as she chewed. “Thash sho goom.”

Kelly let out a laugh at the sight. One and Two gave Three a quick glance, then laughed, too. They shared small talk and ate lunch together, then lunch was over. They had set a tentative meeting in the Library to study the day before the chemistry exam and Arnold escorted Kelly to class.

The rest of the afternoon passed and Kelly finally adjusted to all of the attention she was getting. It was a new thing for her and she was pretty sure that she didn't like it. She appreciated it for what it was, her being on display and them looking at that display, and she was pretty sure the only one she wanted to dress like this for, was Arnold. She decided that today was the first and last day she would dress like this at school.

Arnold took Kelly to her locker to drop off her things, since they didn't have any homework, and they left the school together to wait for her bus. Kelly didn't ask him why he didn't drop off his own things, because she knew he had his reasons and didn't want to ask a stupid question. Almost as if he heard her thought, Arnold turned his head and looked at her. Instead of telling him what she was thinking, Kelly leaned in and gave him a kiss.

“Thank you for being you.” Kelly whispered.

Arnold never had anyone say that to him before, so he kept looking at her.

“What are you thinking?” Kelly asked.

“No one has ever said that to me before.” Arnold said.

Kelly was a little surprised by this, since she had assumed that Heather would have told him that. She had gushed over how Arnold was and that he was the best boyfriend to have... and she hadn't thanked him for it.

Kelly stepped close and used their held hands to turn Arnold to face her. “You know, I always thought you were a little creepy.” She said and gave him a big smile. “It wasn't until you started dating Heather and I was around you more that I realized it was my own fault for thinking that way.”

Kelly reached up and rubbed her hand over his buzz-cut and then slipped her arm around his neck to pull him in close and held him tightly.

“You are someone that's very special.” Kelly said and gave him a quick kiss. “A wonder. One of a kind.” She gave him another kiss. “Even if everyone else in the whole world thinks differently, I want you to know that I think you're wonderful.”

“Even though I enjoy cutting up animals and dissecting them?” Arnold asked, just to make sure.

“Even though.” Kelly said. “I think it's a talent that not a lot of people have and you already have a summer job because of it.” She smiled. “What's not to like about that?”

Arnold put his arms around her and kissed her, then kept kissing her for nearly ten minutes until her bus showed up. He broke the kiss and Kelly's head was swimming with endorphins, so he helped her climb onto the bus and they sat in the first available seat. She rested her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes, because she wanted to hold on to that feeling for as long as she could.

He kissed me because he wanted to, not because I asked! Kelly thought happily and held his hand a little tighter. “Arnold, I should tell you about my mother and father.” She said, then she explained about them. What they did, their personalities, and the things they might ask him about.

Arnold sat there and listened to Kelly's debriefing. She gave him some essential information for surviving the upcoming encounter with her parents and he absorbed it like all the other information she had told him. She even gave him her own personal information. Her likes, her dislikes, her favorite things to eat, and even some of her favorite shows and music. He absorbed it all.

The bus made several stops and then it was their turn. Arnold and Kelly stepped off and they walked down the street to Kelly's place. They turned in to her driveway and Kelly opened the front door.

“I'm home with a guest!” Kelly said loudly and took off her shoes.

“It's all right. I have pants on!” Her father said loudly back and Kelly groaned at the old joke.

“I told you.” Kelly whispered to Arnold and he took off his shoes, too. “Come on.”

The two of them went to the den where her father was. He sat in an oversized armchair and had his feet propped up on an ottoman and was reading a newspaper with a fake pipe in his mouth and large fake glasses on his face.

“Dad, what are you doing?” Kelly asked when she looked at the scene.

“I'm projecting the image of the perfect father.” Her dad said with a smile.

“From the fifties!” Kelly said loudly.

Her dad laughed and folded the paper up and put it on the ottoman, then tossed the fake glasses and the fake pipe onto it. “Let's get a good look at your man, shall we?” He asked and stood up. He was six foot two and the chair he sat in must have been special, because he looked like he had a normal height until he stood. He walked over to them and loomed menacingly over them for a few moments. He noted that Arnold wasn't intimidated in the least.

Kelly quickly poked him in the belly and he twitched as he lost the menacing look. “Stop that.” She said. “I warned him about your sense of humor already.”

I wasn't being humorous there. I really was trying to intimidate him like a girl's father is supposed to do to her boyfriend. Kelly's father thought and held a hand out for Arnold to shake. “So, Arnold. Tell me about yourself.”

Arnold shook the hand and spoke in short and concise sentences. “My name is Arnold Strickland. I am five foot ten and weigh a hundred and eighty six pounds. I go to high school. I enjoy biology the most of all subjects. I am Kelly's boyfriend. I have a mother who is alive. My father is dead.”

Kelly's father was a little thrown by the answers, especially the excessive weight for someone so short, since he himself was only a hundred and seventy pounds and was quite a bit bigger than Arnold.

Either he has really thick bones or he has a lot of muscle under those clothes. Kelly's father thought, then the last answer registered and he shook his head mentally at Arnold's stark admission of his father's death. Most people can't say something like that without some kind of reaction.

“Okay! So you've met!” Kelly said a little excitedly and pulled on Arnold's other hand that she still held. “Mom is in the kitchen.”

Arnold was led from the den to the kitchen and if he noticed such things, he would see that Kelly's mom was not dressed in the proper clothing for cooking. She had on a form-fitting white dress that stopped at the knee and accentuated her lithe figure and her height. She wore a waist apron, also white, so her modest cleavage could be showcased in the five inch wide peekaboo hole just under the neck of the dress.

Her brownish-red hair was done up in a similar fashion as Kelly's and she wore gold earrings and a necklace to offset the stark whiteness of the dress. She hadn't looked up yet and stirred a pot of something on the stove. Kelly caught her breath at the sight of her mom all dressed up and quickly whispered in Arnold's ear.

“You look absolutely stunning, Mrs. Kendall.” Arnold said.

Kelly's mom lifted her head and gave him an award winning smile. “Oh, my! Thank you for the compliment.” She said and let a bit of blush touch her cheeks. She stepped away from the stove and slipped off the waist apron to hang it on the stove door, then walked over to them in four inch high heels and swayed her hips. Kelly's heart beat in time to the loud clack clack of her mother's shoes on the tiles as she approached.

“Such a considerate boy.” Mrs. Kendall said and took him into a hug, which just happened to press his face into the peekaboo hole in her dress. Oops. She thought and blushed for real this time, because she hadn't realized her heels gave her that much of a height advantage over him until it was too late. Her modest mounds hugged his face just like her arms hugged his body. Warmly and tenderly.

“Mom!” Kelly gasped.

“Sorry, dear.” Her mom said in a genuine apology and let him go, then her heart went pitter-patter at the manly look Arnold gave her. It only lasted for a moment, and yet, it still resonated within her and she had the distinct impression that he wanted to make love to her. Oh, my. She thought in surprise as her body reacted to the intention.

“I'm taking him to my room to show him my VR setup.” Kelly said with a glare at her mother.

“Leave the door open.” Her mother said in a soft voice, because for some reason, she couldn't quite get that confident cadence she had only a few moments ago.

Kelly led Arnold from the kitchen and away from her embarrassing mother. They went all the way to the back of the house to her room and Kelly shut the door almost all the way, so it was still technically left open like her mother wanted.

“I can't believe her.” Kelly shook her head and sighed as she took Arnold into a hug herself. “I'm sorry she did that to you.”

“She's almost as pretty as you.” Arnold said as he hugged her back and Kelly took in a sharp breath.

“Arnold, you... you don't... you really mean that, don't you?” Kelly whispered.

Arnold nodded.

“Oh, Arnold.” Kelly said and kissed him. My gorgeous mom had her breasts in his face and he still thinks I'm prettier! She thought happily. They made out for several minutes, then she broke the kiss. “You would keep kissing me for as long as I want, wouldn't you?”

“Yes.” Arnold said.

Kelly closed her eyes and basked in that knowledge. He would never push her or try anything she didn't want him to do. It was a powerful healing balm for her fragile ego that had been so damaged by the other guys she had dated. It took her a minute to compose herself and she opened her eyes.

“Do you want to play some VR?”

Arnold nodded and she brought him over to her large desk. It was a different setup than what Heather had at her place and Kelly had him sit in the chair about five feet away from the desk.

“Let me explain the differences in the controls from what you know.” Kelly said. “The ones you've used before are the basic versions that people buy to use and have fun.” She handed him the much different hand controllers. “These are gaming controls, specifically designed for easy and faster control and manipulation of the game elements like weapons, picking up and using items, and fighting.”

Arnold watched as she showed him all the little quick access buttons that performed different functions, depending on what you set them to. The movement joysticks were the same, albeit slightly larger to allow more of a response to the thumb movement. There were even multiple triggers for auto-switching between weapons in certain games and you didn't have to do it manually.

Kelly picked up the VR headset that was a bit fancier than Heather's. “It's essentially the same, even if it looks different.” She said with a smile. “The company can't help change the look when they call it a gaming headset.” She put it on him and tightened the straps. “What do you want to play?”

“Harley's Adventurers and that puzzle game.” Arnold said.

“You'll have to do the first level over again, since your other saved game is at Heather's.”

“Okay.” Arnold said.

Kelly loaded it up for him and stepped back out of the way of the multiple cameras so they wouldn't pick her up as well. On the screen, she saw Arnold going through every single one of the options she had shown him. The game started and Arnold didn't explore it like he had before. He went through it as if it was merely an obstacle and finished the entire level with the exact number of shots that each enemy required to kill them. He did the next level and the next, and after half an hour, he had finished all fifteen levels of the game.

Arnold achieved several awards and also received the highest scores for speed, accuracy, lowest number of shots, and a hundred percent completion.

Kelly didn't ask him if he wanted the other game loaded and just did it, and to her utter surprise, he blew through her favorite puzzle game in only forty five minutes and completed all three hundred puzzles. She quickly did the math in her head and took in a sharp breath.

Each one only took him nine seconds to complete! Kelly thought, shocked. Even the advanced ones!

“Supper!” Her mother's voice rang through the house.

Kelly quickly took the VR headset off of Arnold and he handed her the controllers to put where she wanted them. “You're amazing, Arnold.” She said and took his hand. “Are you ready for an awkward meal with my strange and odd parents?”

Arnold nodded and she led him from her bedroom and through the house to the dining room.