Eric was fairly happy to reach his room for the night after he finished washing up. It had been a fairly successful day, even with all the surprises that had come his way that day. There had been the rumors that he'd heard over the course of the school day that neither he nor Julie could fully figure out what they were about and that was soon followed by Spencer's idea of taking him and Julie to go help Morgan Barr. That in and of itself wasn't bad, and Eric had some sense that Morgan wasn't too different from him in some ways, though it probably would have been helpful if they were able to get cellular service while they were there or had checked to see if the Barrs had a landline phone to use. But in the end, everything worked out.
The only thing that might be an issue was that his mom seemed rather nervous when he and Julie returned to the Anderson home, though Eric also figured that Martha had a right to worry. After all, he hadn't called to say he would be doing his homework somewhere other than home or at Julie's and at the same time there was the lagging memory in the back of his mind of how he'd acted when he thought that Arthur was going to take Julie from him. His parents had noticed and tried to give some comfort and encouragement as loving parents would, and at one point he snapped at them and particularly his father in a way that he did feel sorry for. After all, his father had profusely apologized and willingly spent time in Martha's proverbial "doghouse" over what happened in Minnesota, and Eric had noticed that after they became weres, it was like any rift that had been between them was filled in to the point where it would be hard to wonder if it was ever there.
And it had been Eric's own jealous reactions that had given him the recent grief. He did recognize that he'd over reacted, though at the time, he felt like he couldn't help himself. And he didn't want to repeat that error or the overreaction to the help that his parents had wanted to provide. It made him fairly accepting of the appointment that had been scheduled for the next day with Doctor Twist, as that would ease his parents worries and perhaps give him the advice needed not to make the mistakes that had worried them again. But, for the moment that was in the back of his mind as he turned on his computer and logged on.
At first there was nothing there with regard to his contacts on Skype, though it was likely that Julie was also readying herself for bed and hadn't gotten to her computer yet. In this, he took some time to check his email. There wasn't too much there outside of some alerts to some forums that he frequented in the past. The one big thing was an email from a user identified as "St@rNerd$4Realz." The guy, or at least Eric assumed it was a guy, was a fan of some of the same science fiction franchises that Eric was a fan of and over time the two had shared some opinions on the same forums and even had their own fair share of debates. Before Julie, he was quite possibly Eric's only real friend outside his family... though he'd never actually met St@rNerd$ in real life.
Eric quietly checked the email and found mostly some friendly catch up with some things. Most of it was in wanting see on how the move went and what Eric thought about where he was now in Moon Lake. It was the pretty normal stuff that friends would actually share with each other from time to time, and was the sort of thing that Eric valued greatly given that he had never met St@rNerd$4Realz in person. That was something that Eric valued greatly and he began to reply to the email. He was about halfway through when his Skype connection activated and a familiar icon popped up. He clicked on the icon and a window opened to reveal a familiar blond haired, blue eyed young lady who Eric loved very much.
"Hey!" Julie called to him over the connection, "How'd dinner go?"
"Pretty good," Eric managed as he moved the Skype tab so that he could finish his reply to the email he'd gotten, "My folks were pretty curious about Morgan, but I'd think the biggest thing they really had to worry about was a lack of a cell signal."
"That was the biggest thing with my folks too," Julie commented, "though dad also had some worries about Morgan's mom. Apparently he was there for her stance with regard to vaccinations that got a bit... fierce, I think was the word he used."
"She seemed fairly polite and I think she does care for Morgan," Eric commented as he finished the reply to St@rNerd$4Realz and hit send before turning off his email and maximizing his Skype screen, "In that I think things went well."
Julie paused for a moment on her end. She could see that Eric was semi distracted by something for a moment and that when he finished what he was working on, his image semi-blurred for a moment which indicated that he was fixing something with his own screen display. He then looked to her with a small smile.
"Sorry," Eric spoke, "I was checking my email while waiting for you to log on. I was just replying to an online friend I have."
"What's his... or her... name?" Julie wondered.
"All I have is a username, St@rNerd$4Realz," Eric answered with a nervous smile. Julie chuckled and shook her head at that.
"Anyway... how did you think the meeting with Morgan went, since that where we started tonight?" Julie wondered.
"In a way... I think it went fairly well," Eric commented, "in many ways, I think he's a bit like me when you first met me... shy and nervous. He may not have been bullied, but I think Spencer was pretty right about him being lonely and looking for friends."
Julie nodded, "Yeah... though, I think he also seemed pretty smitten with Spencer too."
"Yeah, I noticed," Eric nodded, "though that's not my place to judge or play matchmaker."
Julie gave a shrug, "maybe... but it could also be good for Spencer... as to some extent... I get the sensation that she might have some interest in BOTH of us."
"The interest isn't the problem," Eric commented honestly, "because surely there were people you had crushes on before right?"
"Well... maybe," Julie gave a fairly heavy blush, "but none of that is the same as knowing you are my one true love."
"I'm not arguing against that," Eric smiled back and reached his hand forward to touch the screen and getting some happiness as Julie raised her had, as if to meet his, "I'm honored to have met you and be your one true love. But that's different from thinking off hand that someone is cute or attractive. The good thing for Spencer is maybe that Morgan could be a potential mate for her and thus she has someone she loves... regardless of who she may have a crush on... But neither of us should try to play matchmaker."
Julie slowly nodded. She could agree on that. While some of Spencer's attraction to Eric had her a bit nervous, particularly as that Spencer was older and a bit more forward than she was, and some of Spencer's apparent attraction to Julie was even more surprising, she also knew that setting people up didn't always work. A couple of her friends over the summer tried to set her up with a boy they knew over the summer, but the boy didn't glow the way Eric did to her, and while they got along well enough, it was pretty clear that they'd at best only be friends. And with neither of them really knowing everything about Morgan or Spencer, trying to play "matchmaker" wouldn't go very well. If they were meant to be together, it would develop on its own
"Say... I have to ask... did your dad know anything about the rumors from school today?" Eric asked after a moment.
Julie cringed for a moment, as she'd already promised she wouldn't tell Eric about it. She wanted to, as it was something to pay attention to, but it would also be something that could cause a panic if not handled correctly. And the fact that the report of the special city council meeting had already made it into the school's rumor mill, likely from the child of someone on the city council, meant that some things regarding this meeting were already approaching the proverbial critical mass. In that, Julie knew she had to keep her promise to her father, regardless of how much her heart screamed to share that information with Eric.
"I believe he does," Julie began, "but he also said that whatever it is... it's not something that he could discuss with my mom or me. So... I really can't say anything as to what those rumors were about."
"Nuts," Eric gave a sigh, "well... hopefully it turns out to be nothing."
"Hopefully," Julie nodded, glad that Eric didn't try to dig any deeper given that she had lied to him, "See you tomorrow?"
"Hopefully before school and probably at lunch," Eric answered, "but tomorrow is also my scheduled appointment with Doctor Twist... so... I may not be able to walk home with you tomorrow."
"Couldn't you just say you got bit by the green eyed monster and leave it at that?" Julie commented, remembering Eric say something about that appointment being scheduled as a result of his actions earlier in the week when he thought that she was going to run off with Arthur.
"I could... but... even I know that overreacted that would go beyond simple jealousy," Eric sighed, "and there are some things that I did that I don't feel too proud of. In this... it may be a good idea to talk with someone professionally trained. The problem may not be huge right now... but we wouldn't want it to get out of control." Eric paused as he watched Julie nod, though she did look a bit worried. "Don't worry, my Jewel, everything will be fine."
Eric was glad to see Julie smile slightly in response.