“Wow!” “Oh, my god!” “She's so lucky!” A few of the girls exclaimed. Several other phrases and a few whispered curses were heard from the girls gathered around as well while Arnold kissed Rebecca.

Paul stared at the scene and wasn't sure what to say. He had completely called it wrong and thought his girl had been cheating on him. When he turned to Lisa, he had missed her having the same surprised expression as him and she was already looking at him with a big smile on her face.

“You see? There wasn't anything going on.” Lisa said and gave Paul a quick kiss. “We're all out enjoying some bowling. Oh! And we're all responsible for our own share.”

“So, it's not a date.”

“No.” Nearly everyone said back.

Annie was glad that she had made that statement and had clearly expressed those points before all of this started, and she was really glad to have had the bright idea to have Arnold kiss Rebecca to diffuse the situation before it got too far out of hand. She hadn't quite meant for him to keep kissing her, though. She stepped close and tapped his shoulder.

“I think that's enough, Arnold.” Annie said.

Arnold broke the kiss and Rebecca had her eyes closed and kept moving her lips. She also had her hands dug into his baggy t-shirt and he couldn't step away.

Annie held in her laugh and tapped Rebecca's hands. “You can let him go now.”

“Huh?” Rebecca opened her eyes and saw Annie looking at her from a few inches away. “Oh! Sorry!” She said and let Arnold's t-shirt go. It was pretty wrinkled and she tried to smooth it out. “Ah'm sorry, I... well...”

“We know.” Cynthia said with a chuckle. “Oh boy, do we know.”

“That shore was somthin'!” Rebecca said and looked at Arnold's face. “Ahrnold, yer a great kisser.”

Arnold's hand touched her cheek. “What happened to your voice?”

Rebecca's face flushed red. “When I get riled up, I can't keep mah accent contained and I forget mah eloquence lessons.” She took a breath and let it out, then smiled. “Thank you for calming me down.”

“That calmed you down?!?” A few of the girls asked.

“I can't be angry after getting kissed like that.” Rebecca said as her blush disappeared and looked at Annie. “I'm sorry I did something like that in front of you.”

“It wasn't just in front of me; but, it's okay. As long as you don't think anything's going to come of it.”

Rebecca looked back at Arnold. “I know I didn't expect anything when I came here.” She said. “Is it all right if I wanted another kiss, just to see if my heart will keep beating this fast?”

“Can it wait until later, Billy?” Cynthia said. “We need to get bowling.”

There was a general agreement and everyone went back over to their lanes, except that Lisa and Rebecca had mysteriously changed places. The funny thing was, Rebecca wasn't much better than Arnold at bowling. She pointed at the little arrows on the floor.

“I try to swing the ball and let it go as soon as it hits the floor on one of these marks. It's pretty much trial and error when you only have two balls to knock down ten pins.” Rebecca said.

Arnold gave her a look and she laughed.

“I know, it's simplistic and complicated at the same time. I'm sure there's some good lessons online to show you how to do it properly.” Rebecca said and waved at the lane. “If you come here for competition while on a date though, you're going to lose... and I don't mean at the game.”

Arnold gave her another look.

“There are times when you should let the girl win, no matter what game you're playing.” Rebecca said and leaned in close to whisper. “Unless it's a game you're playing together, then it's better if the both of you win.”

Arnold thought about playing VR and being there with Kelly. It was definitely better when they won together. He nodded to Rebecca and she nodded back, then she sat down beside Rachel.

“You lucky dog.” Rachel whispered to her.

“I really, really am.” Rebecca whispered back and the two of them watched as both Annie and Arnold completely botched their attempts to get the ball to stay in their lane. “Go ahead. I need to take a rest.”

Rachel chuckled and stood up, then went over to Annie and gave her another couple of tips while Arnold sat down beside Rebecca.

“If I asked you to be my boyfriend, you'd say no, wouldn't you?” Rebecca asked.

Arnold nodded. “I don't have time for any of that boyfriend and girlfriend crap.”

Rebecca sighed. “I understand. You just got out of an exclusive relationship and need time to...”

“We can have sex.” Arnold said and she took in a sharp breath. “It'll be just you and me having a great time fucking each other and that's it.”

Rebecca shivered at him cursing so casually. She turned her head to look at him and saw that he was looking right back at her. “Ah'd like that.” She said and licked her lips. “Vury much.”

Arnold leaned in and gave her a quick kiss, then leaned back as if nothing had just happened.

Over the rest of the bowling session, Rebecca would occasionally glance at him because she still couldn't believe that he had asked her to have sex. She shook her head at how successfully he had done it, too. The smoothness of the line and her complete acceptance without even thinking about it, just seemed too good to be true. She wasn't going to ask him to repeat himself, though. If there was one thing her momma taught her, it was to never question fortune when it favored you.

The bowling gathering came to an end and everyone gathered around Cynthia as she approached the desk with all of the score sheets and everyone handed over their shoe rentals. The two clerks quickly put the shoes back and then one took the sheets from her.

“I see you didn't get a lot of use on fifteen.” The clerk said at the partial sheet from that lane.

“We had two first time learners.” Cynthia said and he nodded.

He quickly did up a price for her and handed her the bill. “That'll be a hundred and twenty eight dollars for five lanes for three hours. Shoe rentals included.”

Cynthia turned to everyone. “You heard the cost.” She said. “Now cough up your share.”

“It's nine dollars and fifteen cents.” Arnold said immediately and handed Cynthia a twenty dollar bill. “For me and my mom.”

Everyone got over the shock of hearing him calculate the share so quickly and handed over ten dollars each, some in bills and others in change, and Cynthia had plenty of money to pay the bill and then put her own ten dollars on top.

“Keep the change, you two.” Cynthia said. There was a hundred and forty dollars on the counter, which meant the clerks shared a twelve dollar tip.

“Thank you for coming today.” The clerk said and took the money, rang up the bill, and then handed the other clerk six dollars and took six dollars himself. The large group of them left the bowling alley and the bus was still there.

“I can't believe it was that cheap!” Lisa exclaimed when they all climbed aboard. “That was like league pricing for so many people!”

“Leagues pay a yearly fee and are only charged two dollars a game.” Cynthia said and everyone stared at her. “We actually did get a massive discount, though.” She smiled. “Those lanes would have been empty and wasted, since they normally don't allow normal players in on league days.”

“Why did they do it?” Rachel asked as the bus pulled out of the parking lot.

“They made more off of us in three hours than they make on a single team playing all day.” Cynthia said.

“So, you're saying that we got a great deal and got shafted at the same time?” Rachel asked and Cynthia nodded, then they both laughed.

The bus dropped them off at the college campus in front of their dorm building and the girls talked excitedly as they went inside.

“You guys sound like you had fun.” Doris said.

“Doris!” One of the girls exclaimed and ran over to her desk. “You are not going to believe what happened!”

“You could at least wait until I'm out of earshot.” Lisa said with a red face and a few people laughed uneasily and a few pat her shoulders and back.

“I meant Arnold kissing Billy!” The girl said.

Rebecca blushed and a few of the girls in the lobby gasped at the news. “It's not what you think.”

“Uh huh.” One of the girls in the lobby said. “What's his girlfriend going to say?”

Doris was thinking the same thing and gauging the fallout from the fight she expected it would cause... until Arnold spoke the magic words.

“I don't have a girlfriend anymore.” Arnold said.

Doris' entire world changed in that moment. She was glad that she was sitting down, because she kind of lost her sight for a few moments at the shock of hearing that Arnold wasn't in an exclusive relationship anymore. He no longer had rules against doing things with other people. Doris gripped the desk she sat behind to keep herself upright and by sheer willpower, she forced herself to not faint from happiness.

“You should have seen it.” The girl said as everyone piled into the elevator. “It all started when...”

Her words were cut off as the elevator doors closed and a few of the girls chuckled.

“How long do you think it'll be before the whole campus knows?” Rachel asked.

“Gossip travels at light speed, so I'd say by tomorrow morning.” Cynthia said and couldn't help but laugh. “We all tried so hard to keep Arnold being single to ourselves, too!”

“You did?” Annie asked before she could stop herself, and that made nearly everyone laugh.

“Please don't be offended when I say that we all know you're his mom and can't really look at him like a woman sees him.” Cynthia said. “The rest of us, though?” She looked at Arnold. “We all see you as the best thing in the world to happen to our dorm.”

“We all miss you when you have to go to work early and we're all a little sad when you can't hang around the dorm because you work late.” Rachel said as the elevator doors opened.

Annie was a little surprised to hear that, especially after what she had said the day before to them.

They all piled out of the elevator and as the group moved down the hallway, the girls peeled off from the group and stopped at their regular spots. When Arnold and Annie reached the end of the hallway and were all alone, they turned back to look at everyone.

“Thank you, Arnold!” Most of them said.

“Happy Birthday!” A few added.

“I love you!” A lone voice said and everyone turned to look at her with surprise on their faces.

“Oh, my god! Debbie spoke!” Cynthia said loudly and everyone laughed.

Arnold unlocked the dorm room door and he and Annie went inside and left it open.

“I'm still a little worried about you being here alone for a month.” Annie said and turned to check the pan she had left in the the oven on low heat. “I think I'm going to be okay with it.” She took the pan out and poked the contents with a fork. “It looks like another half an hour and supper should be done.”

Arnold nodded and Annie put the pan back into the oven.

“How much more of the chemistry book do you have left?” Annie asked.

Arnold picked it up from his bedside table and showed her that half an inch of thickness was left.

“You can wait until after supper to start that.” Annie said and yawned. “I need a nap.” She said and climbed onto the second bed to lay down. “Wake me in... forty minutes.”

Arnold set the alarm and climbed onto the bed with her.

“Are you... tired, too?” Annie asked as she rolled onto her side automatically to accommodate his cuddle, then she fell right to sleep before his arm went around her waist.

*

The girls in the hallway stared with slightly open mouths as Arnold cuddled with his mother in bed. They were still fully dressed; but, it looked almost natural, as if they did it a lot.

“He's not spooning her, is he?” Rachel whispered, slightly concerned.

“No, I think...” Cynthia crept over and stood on her toes to see, then crept back. “...he's got his head pressed against the back of her neck.”

Rachel and a few girls let out sighs of relief as they all gathered together to make talking easier.

“He's holding her but he's not holding her.” Cynthia whispered and almost laughed at the other girl's relief. “Are you all afraid that he might be a momma's boy?”

“He is a momma's boy.” Rebecca said and they all gave her wide-eyed looks. “He's the kind of guy that will do anything his momma tells him, without question.” She said. “He would never say no to anything she wants him to do. He loves her.”

“She really loves him too, considering she confronted us all about trying to manipulate him.” Cynthia said. “I thought she was this terrifying presence that was going to... well...”

“Wreck all our fun?” Rachel asked and she nodded.

“But, she didn't tell us not to do the things we were doing. She only told us that they wouldn't work.” Cynthia said. “That's not really a deterrent. It's only a delay.”

“She wants us to come up with something better?” Rebecca asked.

“You don't have to, Billy.” Rachel said with a smile and a few of the girls laughed under their breath.

“What was it like?” Lisa asked, because she just couldn't help herself.

“I wanna know where he learned to kiss so well.” Rebecca said. “I didn't want him to stop. Ever.”

“I'm pretty sure we all saw that.” Cynthia said and they all laughed softly.

*

The alarm went off at the designated time and Arnold slowly slipped out of bed, turned off the alarm and turned off the oven, then went back to bed. Annie hadn't moved at all and he cuddled back in tightly and went back to sleep.

Annie eventually woke up and looked around to see that it was dark out. She still felt Arnold's warmth behind her and then she remembered the oven. She sat up quickly and looked at it, only to see that it was off. She relaxed and laid back down, then turned around to look at her son. He was sound asleep and she lightly caressed the nearly healed bruise on his face, then she rested her hand on the side of his neck as she closed her eyes and went back to sleep.