"You're still willing to learn chess, right?" asked Eric, remembering a previous conversation with his beloved that had yet to be followed up on.
"If it means spending more time with you, sure honey," replied Julie with a smile, referring to Eric's favorite game. "What about you joining my fantasy book club? It's just me and a couple of other kids hanging out every once in awhile to discuss what we've read lately, but still a good possibility for more social interaction."
"I've always been more of a science fiction and fact kind of reader than fantasy," admitted Eric. "Besides, what else is there besides Tolkien?"
"Plenty," said Julie enthusiastically. "But I'm surprised you've already read The Hobbit, let alone The Lord of the Rings trilogy."
"Actually, I've only seen the movies," confessed her fiance.
"Well, they were good. Skipped a few things here and there but overall were pretty good. But there's plenty of other material out there. Maybe... I know. Robert Asprin's Myth Adventures! " suggested Julie.
"Whatever you recommend, my dear. Could I interest you in some sci-fi?" asked Eric in return. "There are a lot of dragons within Anne McCaffrey's Pern series."
"Perhaps, but do you know what we're really doing right now?"
"No. What?"
"Bonding," said Julie happily, before the were-mermaid reached out with a webbed hand and placed it upon her webcam to transmit the full image upon her future husband's monitor.
"I like that and love you," joyfully replied Eric, as he returned the gesture.
MEANWHILE...
John Harper walked back the short distance from the O'Toole house to where he was now living with the Jenkins family, but it seemed like miles, for he was in no particular hurry as he contemplated things.
An actual date with Ginger?* Wonder what I should wear, especially considering that Janice and I only came to Moon Lake with the clothes on our backs. Everything else is either borrowed or bought via either the Jenkins or the Skulk, and Junior hasn't had a chance yet to pack our things and send them to us, he realized, thinking over the dramatic turn his life had taken since his father dragged the entire family along on Dieter Wilhelm's insane quest to stop his older sister Jenny from marrying the man she loved and not him. (*2)
But then another thought crossed the teenager's young mind.
Does my excitement over this mean I'm not gay? Maybe just bi at the most? How am I supposed to know one way or the other for sure? There are times when I still wonder what might have happened between me and Stephen if we had met under different circumstances. Would we have gone further than just that one kiss if we had the chance? Would I have liked it? Would I have loved him? Would he have loved me? Were our alleged feelings toward each other real or just some kind of placebo to replace what we truly needed and weren't getting at home from our respective families? What is love anyway? Do I truly love Ginger? Does she have any feelings for me? Why—
"Hey sport. Lost?" John heard a voice ask, interrupting his thoughts.
He stopped and looked at his surroundings.
John Harper was still on the sidewalk, but he had walked right past both the Jenkins house and Henry Jenkins Junior's construction company truck that was now parked at the curb.
Henry, or Huck, as he was usually referred to; was standing at the rear of the truck, waiting for John to acknowledge him.
"Yeah. In thought," confessed John, coming back toward him.
"Anything new?" asked Huck, knowing a lot of what had been troubling the young man lately.
"Well," John began, looking around to make sure they were alone. "The way things are progressing at the moment, I think there's a chance that I might be able to rule out gay. Yet, even if that happens, bi is still a big question mark."
"Well, that's progress, isn't it?"
"I don't know for sure. In fact, there's been times lately when I'm not sure of anything," complained John.
"Well, your life has gone through some major upheaval lately," Huck reminded him. "Besides, being a teenager wasn't easy during my time. I shudder to think how much harder you kids have it now, but all you can do is what my dad told me. Take it one day at a time."
"Any advice I might have received from my dad about all of this wouldn't have been as helpful, let alone as friendly," realized John.
"That's all water under the bridge now. You're among friends and family who care about you here," Huck reminded him, before asking for help. "Can you grab those brushes and rollers?" as he reached out for two large but sealed buckets.
"Sure. What's all this stuff?" wondered John, as Huck carried a bucket in each hand, cradling them against his chest as if carrying groceries instead of 5 gallon containers of what the label said was sealant.
"Dad's offered to do another light construction project tomorrow to get Jenkins Construction back on schedule. If you're available to help, the job will pay you $20 cash upon completion."
"How much?" asked John in disbelief.
"Twenty," Huck repeated, setting his load down before the closed garage door. "Which reminds me, I forgot to pay you for your help at the Twist house," before taking out his wallet and handing the boy a $5.
"Whoa!" said John, while accepting the cash. "This was usually my allowance for a whole month, but the things I had to do to earn it..."
And another reason why I'd love to kick your old man's ass if I ever get the opportunity, was the thought Huck kept to himself.
"What's the assignment?" wondered John, as Huck opened the garage door and started loading everything into the back of his father's pick up truck.
"There's a house with a new front porch and a backyard deck that I built before getting shot (*2) that still needs to be weatherproofed before winter sets in," explained Huck. "Dad has the address. You get an early enough start, and you should be back here by 1, 2 in the afternoon at the latest."
"Okay," agreed John, realizing that would still give him plenty of time to get home and clean up before Ginger walked past on her way home from school to let him know whether or not they would be able to go on their walking... date (and he still couldn't get over that word) Saturday.
But as John reached down to pick up one of the buckets of sealant to help out, he ran into an obstacle.
"Wow. They're heavy!"
"Not to me," said Huck, picking them up easily before putting the containers in the storage bed of the pick up. "Were strength," he added with a smile.
I'm going to have to do more research into were society, realized John, as he watched Huck finish loading. "I'm guessing you're not going to be with us, so how will your dad and I..."
"Thanks for reminding me," replied Huck, as he walked over to his father's storage shelves and came back with some plastic tubing and an odd looking object. "Bucket pump," he explained, while putting them in with the rest of the stuff. "Just open the sealed cap on the lid, insert pump, and press up and down like you're filling a bicycle tire manually until you have enough sealant in either your tray or portable pail to work with," he added, before getting the rest of the stuff that his father had that they'd need for the job tomorrow.
Then Huck double checked the load before saying, "That's everything. Now come on. Knowing mom the way I do, she's bound to have supper either waiting or just about ready for us," he added with a smile, before closing the garage door.
_____________________________________________
*The event is pending, as seen in our recent episode: "Explain Yourself."
*2: A major plot point in this thread's story history.—tmw.