Kelly didn't say anything as they ate lunch in her room. Her mother's attitude towards Arnold was really getting to her. She had tried to ask about it during the week, and all her mother would say was that they were trying to protect her. That pissed her off, because she had been so used to her parents being open and honest with her, that it felt like they were intentionally keeping her in the dark.

Kelly thought furiously about why they would act like they were acting, then she was startled a little when Arnold's hand touched her shoulder.

“Are you okay?” Arnold asked and then his hand touched the side of her face.

Kelly reached up and took his hand. “I'm just bothered by my parents and why they are treating us like this.”

“Maybe they don't want us dating.” Arnold said.

“After everything they said, I'm sure they don't mind us dating.” Kelly said. “I'm just surprised that they aren't talking about us getting married before we even talk about having sex with each other.”

“Is that how it's supposed to be done?” Arnold asked. “I've had sex already, so does that mean I can't get married?”

“What? No, of course it doesn't mean that.” Kelly said and leaned in to give him a kiss. “It's an old custom that some people think is better than having a bunch of teenagers running around and having sex out of wedlock.” She said. “People usually get married to have kids, or because of kids, and that's supposed to make you the perfect family.” She chuckled. “What they don't tell you, is those same people had lots of sex before marriage and usually a kid or two first.”

“With each other?” Arnold asked.

“Sometimes.” Kelly said with a smile. “Mom had a boyfriend before she and dad got married, and dad had a few girlfriends.”

Arnold thought about it. “They got married and had you.”

Kelly nodded. “Just me. I sometimes wanted a little sister or brother, when I was feeling particularly lonely and wanted someone to talk to or hang out with; but, they never did have another child.”

Arnold went quiet for a few minutes and they finished eating.

“What are you thinking about?” Kelly asked.

“You know a lot more about your parents than I do about mine.” Arnold said. “All I know is they had me. I don't know about what they did before that.”

Kelly put their plates aside and slid closer to him. “Some parents don't talk about things like that around their kids.” She said and put her arms around his neck. “I guess they think it's in the past and it doesn't matter.”

“Does it matter?” Arnold asked.

“Sometimes it does, like with my parents.” Kelly said gave him a tender kiss. “They are being hypocrites for telling me no sex, when they had lots before they even met, then lots more after they met, then even more after they were married.”

Arnold put his arms around her and held her. “Is that what you want, too?”

Kelly shivered at the thought and it was a good shiver, mainly because she was being held in his arms. “I've been thinking about it a lot.” She breathed and gave him another tender kiss. “Just you. Just me. Alone. Together.”

Arnold reached up and ran his fingers through her wavy brown hair. Kelly closed her eyes and let the feel of his fingers touching her fill her. Their bodies were pressed pretty closely and he had reached for her hair and not her breasts, even though the last time they had been alone at the Library, his hands had been places that she hadn't expected and also had liked a lot.

Kelly had really liked it when she had asked him to stop and he did, without question or complaint. No other guy had ever done that and had always tried for one last grope, since they assumed they wouldn't get another chance and wanted to make the most of the situation while they could. She let out a satisfied sigh and opened her eyes.

“Arnold, I... I would like to try a few things... but... we can't do anything except kiss and cuddle here.”

Arnold nodded and moved his hand back down to her waist and gave her a four second kiss. “Do you want to play a game?”

“Sure.” Kelly said and let him out of the embrace she had him in. He let her go and she walked over to her desk to set everything up. “I've got a pretty good game for you to try next.”

“Not me. You.” Arnold said.

Kelly turned to look at him and saw him dig out a small brown bag out of his backpack. “What's that?”

Arnold handed it to her and she looked at it, then back at him. “It's for you.”

Kelly knew the familiar feeling of the case, so she knew it was a game of some kind. “Arnold...” She started to say and then she opened the bag and took out the newest puzzle game on the market. “Oh!” She exclaimed and she held back her tears. She had been saving up for months to buy it, so she knew exactly how much it was. “Arnold! You can't afford this!”

“I bought it with some of the money I made working for Heather's mom.” Arnold said.

Kelly couldn't hold the tears back now. “Arnold, she... she said she was giving you spending money...”

“I spent it.” Arnold said. “I needed new clothes for work and when my mom took me to the mall, I saw that at the electronics store.”

Kelly wiped at her eyes. “You bought me a present.”

“You said you liked puzzle games the most.” Arnold said.

Kelly almost sobbed with happiness. “Arnold, I...” She put the game down on the bed and put her arms around his neck. “Out of all the games that are out, I do like puzzle ones the most.” She said and then gave him a light kiss. “But, it's you that I like most of all.”

Arnold thought about it. “I can take the game back if you want me as a present instead.”

Kelly almost laughed. “I'm not giving back the first thing you bought for me.” She said. “I'm going to be greedy again and keep both gifts. Is that okay?”

Arnold nodded and kissed her, then they stood there for several minutes and made out.

Kelly's bra and underwear started to itch again, so she broke the kiss and once again saw that he would keep kissing her forever if she wanted him to. She had to adjust her bra again to ease the feeling and Arnold's hands were up under her t-shirt a moment later and did it for her. She looked into his eyes and didn't see any lecherousness there, so she didn't worry at all that he was going to grab her breasts.

“Your underwear, too?” Arnold whispered and she nodded without saying anything. He used both hands and plunged his index fingers into the waistband of her cargo shorts and into her underwear. He wiggled his fingers and lightly scratched her all along her waist, from the back to the front. When his fingers reached the front, she didn't say anything and both fingers dug into the tuft of hair there.

Kelly caught her breath and stared into his eyes. “Arnold.” She whispered and gave him a quick kiss. “I want you to... dig a little deeper; but... we can't do that here.”

Arnold turned his fingers towards each other and touched their tips together, then he slowly pulled his fingers up and out. Kelly moaned a little as he tugged on the hair, which tugged on something else a little. They stood there and stared at each other for almost a full minute without saying a word.

“The game.” Kelly said, when she knew her voice was back to normal. “Do you want to watch me play it?”

Arnold nodded and she opened the game and loaded it onto her computer. It took a few minutes for the content to copy over and by the time it was done, Kelly had calmed down and the itchiness had faded.

“You need to stay back out of the way, just in case this requires me to swing a lot.” Kelly said. “That's why I sit so far away from the computer.”

Arnold nodded and sat on the bed, which put him both close by and out of the way. Kelly gave him a huge smile, put on the headset and grabbed the controllers, then started the game. It was everything she loved about puzzle games and more. Much, much more. That was one of the reasons she had wanted the game in the first place. Kelly played it for an entire hour before she realized she was wasting her time with Arnold and saved up her progress, went back to the main menu, then put the controllers down and took off the headset.

“Why did you stop?” Arnold asked.

“I didn't want to waste our time together and not spend it with you.” Kelly said and put everything on her desk.

Arnold looked at her for a moment. “This didn't count?”

Kelly chuckled and walked over to the bed. “It does count, I just... I'm supposed to help you, not play games myself.”

“You are helping me.” Arnold said. “I've never seen the moves and actions you just did while playing.”

Kelly sat down beside him. “It's pretty advanced for a puzzle game, that's true.” She turned her head to face him. “Thank you very much for the great gift.” She said and kissed him.

“Which one?” Arnold asked.

“I've only opened one and played with it.” Kelly whispered and gave him another kiss. “I have to wait to open the other one.”

“Yes, you do.” Kelly's mother said from the doorway to her room and both Kelly and Arnold looked at her. “I came to see what happened to the lunch plates.”

Kelly let out a long sigh and walked over to her desk and grabbed both plates. “I was going to bring them out when I had the chance.”

Katheryn was surprised when her daughter didn't hand her the plates like she thought she would and then Kelly walked by her and left the room, which also meant that Katheryn was now alone with her daughter's boyfriend.

“Why do you hate me?” Arnold asked her.

Katheryn jumped a little, because she hadn't noticed that Arnold had walked over to her. “I don't hate you, Arnold.” She said. “It's just...”

“You hate something about me.” Arnold said.

Katheryn thought about denying it, then sighed. “You're Heather's ex-boyfriend.” She admitted. “She's had a lot of boyfriends and she's... well, she's... promiscuous.”

“What's that mean?” Arnold asked.

“She has had a lot of sex with lots of people.” Katheryn said. “Including you.”

“I wore a condom.” Arnold said.

“Sometimes that doesn't matter, especially if you had sex with her multiple times.” Katheryn said.

“It was just once.” Arnold said.

“Excuse me?”

“We only just started dating a week before and I only had one condom.” Arnold said. “She wanted to do it more and we couldn't.”

At least he's responsible. Katheryn took in a breath and let it out. “Then you broke up because of the picture.”

Arnold nodded. “She wouldn't believe that it was only a goodbye kiss and thought I cheated on her.”

I knew we were too hard on him. Katheryn thought. But, that look he gave me when we met. She looked at Arnold and there wasn't a trace of it, even though they were alone. She was tempted to see if she could make him give her that look again, so she leaned out into the hallway and didn't see Kelly. Her face flushed red as she leaned back into the room, and she just couldn't bring herself to unbutton her shirt to show off her breasts. Not intentionally.

“Are you okay?” Arnold asked and touched one of her red cheeks.

“I'm... I'm fine.” Katheryn said and for some reason, she blushed harder and didn't tell him to move his hand.

“I can't kiss it to make it better.” Arnold said and caressed her skin.

“Wh-what?”

“I'm only allowed to kiss Kelly.” Arnold said.

He's loyal, too. Katheryn took in a breath and let it out. “Arnold... what if...”

“Is this another test?” Kelly asked from behind her.

“AHH!” Katheryn jumped at being startled. “Kelly! You scared me!”

“Are you feeling a little guilty, mom?” Kelly asked. “You do know he's my boyfriend, right?”

Katheryn was quite embarrassed at being caught testing him. “It wasn't... I was just...”

“Did he pass?” Kelly asked and ignored her mother's flustered state. “Or do you want me to tell him that he's allowed to kiss you?”

Katheryn's face turned beet red. “I... no, I...”

“Do you want him to kiss you, mom? Just once?” Kelly asked, a little meanly.

Katheryn looked at her daughter's slightly angry face and sighed. “I'm sorry, Kelly. I was testing him.”

“Why?” Kelly asked.

“I'm Heather's ex-boyfriend.” Arnold said before Katheryn could come up with something.

“What?”

“Heather is promiscuous and I was her boyfriend.” Arnold said.

“That's a stupid reason. You only had sex with her once.” Kelly said, then she thought about it. “That's why?!?” She exclaimed. “This whole thing! The act you and dad put on! Being mean to Arnold! Forbidding me from having sex in the house! It's all because you think Arnold is a horny teenager because he slept with Heather!”

Katheryn didn't say anything and Kelly knew it was true.

“Mom, you have no idea how special Arnold is!” Kelly said. “He... no, I promised that I wouldn't tell you. I'm going to leave you in ignorance, because you didn't even talk to me before doing all of this.”

“Kelly...”

“No, mom! You weren't honest with me and you were testing and teasing my boyfriend on the first day you met!” Kelly said, a little loudly. “I thought it was so odd to see you in that dress making dinner, and now I know why.” She shook her head. “I can't believe you and dad conspired together like that.”

“We didn't conspire!” Katheryn tried to defend herself. “All we wanted was to protect you!”

“From Arnold.” Kelly said and she nodded. “Well, you failed.”

“WHAT?!?” Katheryn yelled and looked from her to Arnold and back again.

“No, we didn't have sex yet.” Kelly said. “Do you want to check to see that my hymen is still intact?”

Kathryn's face flushed red from embarrassment, because she had immediately thought of checking.

“Maybe you can ask dad if he wants to check it when he gets home.” Kelly said with a bit of a sneer.

“Kelly Katheryn Kendall!” Katheryn almost yelled. “Do not use that tone of voice on me, young lady!”

“Why? Because the tones of voices you've been using on me and Arnold have been so much better?” Kelly almost yelled back. “You've been unreasonable this whole time and for no reason!”

“We had a reason! I told you it was to protect you!”

Kelly laughed sarcastically. “No, mom. You were only protecting yourselves from having a boy in the house that you thought wasn't worth my time. Or yours.”

Katheryn caught her breath at her words and opened her mouth to refute them, then realized her daughter was right.

“You and dad made a huge mistake by not trusting me, mom.” Kelly said. “You didn't even discuss it with me before jumping to conclusions that were completely wrong and then acted on them.”

“Kelly...”

“No, mom. I don't have to listen to you anymore.” Kelly said as she stepped by her mother and into her room. “You can holler when supper is ready.” She gently eased her mother out into the hallway. “Don't come down here looking for us if we don't come running, because we might be busy.” She said and slowly shut the door.

Katheryn stood in the hallway with her mouth slightly open. She couldn't believe what had just happened and the surprise and shock over the things her daughter said wasn't going to wear off for a while. She walked back across the house in a slight daze and went to the kitchen to cook supper.