Chapter 114: 114 The Last Two

“Who are we meeting next?” Annie asked as they left the building the cafeteria was in.

“Professor Power.” Arnold said as they walked over to Building B. “She's been giving me private chemistry lessons.”

“Janet mentioned that.” Annie said. “I assume you needed the help because of the biology course?”

Arnold nodded. “There are a lot of chemical formulas and interactions that I couldn't understand or make sense of while reading some of the professor's books and periodicals.”

“Have the lessons helped?” Annie asked as they continued to walk hand-in-hand.

“Yes.” Arnold said. “She let me borrow her favorite books, too.”

Annie was glad about that and didn't ask any more questions. They entered the chemistry building and took the elevator up to the second floor. Arnold peeked into the lab and didn't see her, so he went to her office at the back of the building.

“These buildings were built almost identically.” Annie commented as Arnold knocked on the office door.

“I hope whoever you are that you have a good excuse to bother me on a Saturday.” Felicia's haughty voice said through the door. When it opened a moment later, the taller woman gasped when she saw Arnold. “Oh! It's you!” She said and a smile appeared on her face as she stepped out of the office to give him a gentle hug. “You're the only one that doesn't need an excuse to bother me.”

“Ahem.” Annie said without even trying to fake cough.

“AH!” Felicia jumped slightly from the startle and let Arnold go. “It was just a friendly hug! I didn't mean anything by it!” She quickly said to cover up her social faux-pas.

“Professor Power, this is my mother.” Arnold said. “She said she wanted to meet you.”

“S-she did?” Felicia asked, her voice shaky. All of her confidence evaporated in the face of another woman, who by all accounts was much prettier than her. She was also Arnold's height and was at least five to ten years older than her, considering Annie had an eighteen year old son.

“Arnold tells me you've been giving him private lessons.” Annie said and skipped all of the pleasantries.

“Oh! Ha ha. Yes, I... our lessons have been...” Felicia was completely unnerved by the look Annie gave her and she needed a few moments to compose herself. She took a deep breath and let it out, then genuinely smiled. “He is a remarkable young man.” She said. “When he finishes the book I just loaned him, there are only a few periodicals and practical procedure lessons he'll need and I won't have anything more to teach him.”

“That seems like a lot more than a basic knowledge of chemistry to help his biology understanding.” Annie said.

Felicia nodded. “I had intended to only help, then he convinced me that I would be wasting my time if I didn't teach him as much as I could.” She said and put a hand on his shoulder. “I know he doesn't really speak much normally; but, when he decides to put his tongue to use, it's very hard to say no to him.”

Annie had to agree with that. When Arnold asked you for something, it really was difficult to say no.

“I can give you a quick tour and show you the books he's read.” Felicia said, her confidence back, and let Arnold's shoulder go. “It still surprises me that he can retain the things he learns so well.”

“Only the things he's interested in.” Annie said. “If he decides he doesn't want to learn something...”

Felicia chuckled. “I've heard of students like that. They can get pretty disgruntled when they have to learn something like liberal arts or sociology.”

“Does that happen a lot?” Annie asked, a little surprised.

“Even the specialized courses need extra credits to round out a student's learning.” Felicia said. “My dedicated chemistry program students still have to take the basic math and biology courses that everyone takes, just to balance out their course materials.”

“That seems like a bit of a waste.” Annie said.

“They usually only take one semester to get the credit on their transcript and then they can drop it.” Felicia said. “Both math and biology can play a part in chemistry and knowing about those interactions can change your understanding of your interest.” She looked at Arnold. “Case in point. He's learning biology as quickly as he can to get up to speed on the college courses he will be taking over the next few years. He already discovered the part chemistry can play in biological systems and came to me to learn as much as he could.”

Annie nodded.

“He is going to be quite far ahead of the others that will be starting in a month.” Felicia said. “In fact, I suspect Ol' Hamil might push him right into one of his more advanced course loads and not bore him with the starting materials.” She smiled. “Don't depend on that, though. He may decide to take it easy on you at first and let you grow accustomed to the change from full time job to taking the course.”

“I still have to work.” Arnold said and Felicia nodded.

“Your days are going to be even fuller than they are now.” Felicia said. “It's one of the reasons I regret that our lessons will be stopping soon.” She gave Annie a look. “I can't promise that I'll get him in one of my classes, since the scheduling won't be released for review until a week before registration.”

“Who would he get if it's not you?” Annie asked.

“My assistant.” Felicia said. “I gave her this semester off, because she will be working a lot harder this fall.” She chuckled. “The influx of new students is always high at the start of the new year, until they realize chemistry is not quite for them and they move on to other subjects.”

“That's kind of sad.” Annie said.

“That seems to be the way of things. All of the professors suffer the same fate, so it's not like I'll be suffering alone.” Felicia laughed. “It's all right, though. Each year, we find those students that will want to continue in our subjects, so we nurture and guide them as best as we can.” She looked back at Arnold. “I have to say, Hamil really hit gold when he found your son.”

“What makes you say that?” Annie asked, just so she could get a read on the woman.

“It's quite simple, really.” Felicia gave her a demure smile. “I haven't protested to the college about Hamil having two assistants.”

Annie gave her a wide-eyed look and Felicia laughed again.

“I have a reputation for being arrogant and... if you will excuse the language... a bit of a bitch.” Felicia said. “Hamil having two assistants when everyone else only has one? That stuck in my craw for a few weeks.”

“Really?” Annie asked.

Felicia nodded. “It wasn't until I started to hear the students talking and saw some of Arnold's work for myself that my opinion started to change.” She said. “I must say, for someone that didn't have any learning or experience past high school biology, his work has been exemplary.”

Annie was very happy to hear that, especially from another professor.

“Of course, Hamil can't shut up about him, either.” Felicia said with a huge smile. “If I didn't know the old codger as well as I do, I could swear that he was grooming Arnold to be his replacement.”

Annie was surprised to hear that. She knew that Arnold was doing well, even with the few hiccups he had suffered through; but, she didn't know he was doing quite that well.

“So, would you like that tour?” Felicia asked.

“No, thank you.” Annie said. “I think we've used up enough of your time already.”

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Felicia looked at the clock. “Well, I suppose it is time for lunch.”

“Then we better go and grab something to eat ourselves.” Annie said. “Let's go back to the dorm, Arnold.”

“Okay.” Arnold said and they walked over to the elevator.

That went a lot better than I thought it would. Felicia thought as she watched them get in the elevator. She waved when they did and then they were gone. He actually brought his mother to see me. She thought in surprise. That beautiful young thing was his mother!

Felicia leaned against the door frame of her office and looked down at her hands. They shook slightly and she chuckled at how easily the woman had unnerved her.

*

Annie and Arnold went back to the dorm and Annie wasn't surprised to see the same scene that Arnold had described to her. She knew that more modern young women didn't mind being a little provocative and seeing the proof for herself was both a little intimidating and worrisome. At least, it was for a few minutes. When they entered his dorm room and she helped Arnold prepare a quick lunch for the both of them, she had the chance to observe them.

Annie watched the half naked girls acting normally and they weren't overtly trying to get Arnold's attention. It was then that she realized what was really going on. They had accepted the disruption that Arnold had presented by being a man on a floor full of women. It should have caused a huge shift in their behavior and made them self-conscious about their lack of clothing and the things they talked about, and yet they behaved the same way as if he wasn't there on the floor.

Maybe they aren't as bad as I first thought they were. Annie thought as she and Arnold sat at the kitchenette table to eat. If they can accept Arnold in this kind of environment, maybe he won't have as much trouble with staying here as I was worried he would.

They ate their lunch and discussed what to do for the afternoon. There wasn't really anyone else for Annie to meet at the college and they had visited everything the last time Annie had been there, so they didn't really have anything else on campus to do.

“Why don't we go to the movies? I'm sure there must be something good playing.” Annie smiled. “I actually can't remember the last time we went.”

At the mention of the movies, Arnold remembered Pam and the argument they had. “Mom, teach me how to tip properly.”

“Hmm? All right.” Annie said and then she taught him about giving a percentage of the bill, then varying the amount of the tip by the quality of the service and the food. “If you're not sure about most of that, just give fifteen percent. Oh, and make sure that they didn't already include the tip on the bill.”

Arnold nodded and they cleaned up the dishes, then they left the dorm room. The girls watched them pass and only a couple of them said hello or waved. When they reached the lobby, they saw Doris had a rare grace period when no one was by her desk.

“We're going to the movies.” Annie said. “Is there any chance you can come, too?”

Doris gave her a huge smile. “I wish I could. I've taken off a lot of time taking care of a certain handsome young man and I need to make that time up somehow.”

“I'm sorry if it's been an inconvenience.” Annie said.

“Don't be ridiculous.” Doris laughed. “He needed me and I was glad that I could be there for him.” She said. “I'll do it again as soon as it's necessary, too.”

“But...”

“No buts, Annie.” Doris said. “I'll keep a close eye on him and when he needs me, I'll be there.”

Annie nodded and she and Arnold left the dorm building. They drove into the nearby area and easily found the movie theatre. It was huge to accommodate the population of the college and the surrounding area, so it took them a little while to look at the movie posters to find a good movie to watch.

“That one looks good.” Annie said and pointed to one that had a picture of a ship surrounded by small fins. “As long as you're ready to cover my eyes and have your arm squeezed when I jump from the scares.”

Arnold nodded and they went inside. The concessions stand was practically deserted and they went to the only cash register that had someone behind it digging inside the popcorn machine.

“Hi, there! Just a second!” Pam said as she managed to refill the popper without spilling anything. She turned to look at her newest customers with a huge fake smile on her face. “Can I interest you in a... Arnold!”

Annie chuckled. “I'm going to skip making a joke about that and assume you know my son.”

“You're his mother?” Pam gasped.

“I seem to get that reaction a lot.” Annie said.

“But...” Pam said and looked at her, then at Arnold, then back at Annie. “You're so young.”

“I could lie and say I had him when I was twelve; but, I won't.” Annie smiled.

“Pam is Janet's roommate.” Arnold said. “She works two jobs to afford to stay at the dorms.”

Annie looked at Pam and wondered what her other job was.

“I'm a waitress at a bar during the week.” Pam said, as if she knew what Annie was thinking. “It's really nice to meet Arnold's mother.”

“It's nice to meet someone so dedicated to school that she works so hard to attend.” Annie said.

“Thanks.” Pam said. “Now, what can I get you?”

“Two tickets for that fish and boat movie with a large popcorn and drink combo.” Annie said.

Pam chuckled. “You'd be surprised how many people don't even try to pronounce that weird name.” She said and gathered the popcorn. “What kind of drink?”

“Root Beer with no ice.” Arnold said.

Pam assembled the combo, printed off two tickets, and told them the price. Arnold handed over the money and Pam rang it up. She handed him back the change and the tickets.

“The movie starts in about twenty minutes in theatre C down that hallway.” Pam pointed.

Arnold quickly calculated twenty percent of the total and put it on the counter. “Thank you.” He said and led his mother towards the theatre.

Pam looked down at the money and immediately understood why he did it. Did he come here just to do this for me? Just to prove that he knows how to tip properly? She asked herself.

Arnold and Annie entered an almost completely dark theatre.

“I hope it's not too scary.” Annie said and they walked up to the row of seats in the middle of the room and then sat down in front of the screen. They were all alone and talked about what they could do tomorrow as they waited for the movie to start. No one else came in as they shared the popcorn and the drink, then the movie started.

Neither of them noticed the young woman that stared at them from the projector's booth. Pam had a fifteen minute break and she spent all of it watching Arnold and his mom on a date. Annie let out an appropriate squeal of terror at the first jump scare and Arnold covered her eyes for her. That made Pam smile, especially when Annie peeked around his hand and clung to Arnold's arm when she expected the next jump scare.

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