Ms. Cantrell peers over the top of Liam's report. She places her pen absently against her lips as she watches him sitting silently at his desk, working on an assignment, unaware of her attention. She smiles a little, her mouth hidden behind his paper. When the lunch bell rings and the students begin gathering their books she says, "Have a good day, kids. And Liam, could I see you for a moment?" Liam smiles to himself as he puts his books away. He waits for the classroom to clear, then walks to her desk. He's impressed at how well she maintains a straight face, since he can't help grinning a little. He had known, since the first few days of class, that she liked him more than the other students, and he took every opportunity to exploit it. He also thinks, as he stands before her desk, of how surprisingly attractive she is. "I just finished reading your report on Genghis Khan," she says, placing it on the desk between them. "I was wondering if you could point out to me any mention of Genghis Khan in it whatsoever." "Right there," he says, pointing at the title and smiling. "Genghis Khan." "I'm going to have to fail you, you know." "Well, you see, the thing about that is," he says, sitting on the edge of her desk, "I don't think you do. Nobody's gonna read this except you and me, and you know I could write about Genghis Khan until my eyeballs fell out, if I wanted to. But I didn't want to; I wanted to write about this. Showing initiative, basically." She leans back in her chair. "You know, this was supposed to be ten pages. Yours is only a page and a half." "Okay, I'll give you that. I actually wrote the whole thing last night at 2am, so I didn't really have any time to be fancy." She's quiet for a moment, then smiles. "Do you do this with all your teachers, or just me?" "Everybody. I passed in a really good math assignment last week about how I could jump really far as a kid. I got an A." He grins. "Nah, it's just you. But only because you'll always let me get away with it." "You're that sure, huh? Well, watch this." She takes her red pen and scribbles something on the paper, then hands it to him. "Only a C minus." She grins. He laughs and reads her comment: "A little bit off topic." "I might have given you a C, but it's hardly appropriate to use the word "fuck" in a school assignment." He feels a touch of excitement at hearing her use that word, and hopes that it isn't outwardly visible. "Did I?" He looks the paper over. "Whoops." The classroom's PA system suddenly springs to life, and a staticky voice asks, "Ms. Cantrell?" "Yes?" "Is there a Liam Scott there with you?" "Yes, he's here." "Could you please send him down to the office?" "Certainly." She looks at Liam. "In trouble again?" He considers for a moment. "I don't think so. I've been good lately." "Well, you'd better get going. I'll see you tomorrow." He smiles and nods to her as he leaves the classroom. "Later, Ms. C." She sighs a little and looks over at the stack of reports on her desk, each one recounting in encyclopedic detail the life of a historical figure. She was going to spend the lunch period grading them, but instead she stands up; today, she's going to spend her break outside. When Liam arrives at the office he finds Elizabeth sitting in one of the waiting room chairs, looking even worse than before. He feels suddenly worried. "What's going on?" he asks. "I have to go home..." Elizabeth mutters. One of the school secretaries turns toward him. "This girl is seriously sick and we can't contact her mother. She said you knew the way to her house. Could you please walk her home? She collapsed in class today and I don't know if she could make it on her own." "Should we call a doctor?" "I don't think it's that serious, just a bad flu, but if she doesn't get better in a couple of days it might be a good idea. The school nurse seems to think she just needs some rest." "Okay," he says, sitting down next to Elizabeth. "Thanks." The secretary returns to her work. "So, looks like you'll have to get some rest after all, huh?" "Why don't you have a car?" she asks as she pulls herself slowly to her feet. "This is ridiculous. I'm sure I could get home by myself." She closes her eyes and puts a hand on her forehead. "Hey," he says with a grin. "Want me to piggyback you?" She opens one of her eyes slightly and says, "Shut up." She slowly ambles out of the school, and he goes with her. They walk silently through the park, she coughing occasionally, until they're about halfway to her house. She stops and puts a hand in front of her mouth, then moves it to her forehead, then slowly sits down in the grass. He kneels beside her. "Just give me a sec," she says, closing her eyes. He watches her for a moment, then turns his back to her. "Climb up." "What?" He takes her arms and pulls them up around his neck. "It's carrying time." "I'm not gonna..." she starts to say, but as he stands she tightens her grip on him and lifts her legs so he can hold her. "You're a little heavier than you look," he says as she lays her head against his shoulder. "Am not," she says, her eyes closed. She smiles as they move slowly forward. They reach the edge of the park and he stops. "Which way is your house again?" "Right," she says, eyes still closed. "Or we could just stop here and lay in the grass instead." He decides to keep moving and starts down the street, beginning to remember his surroundings. He turns on to a couple of side streets and eventually stops in front of a house. "This is it, right?" She peers lazily through one eye and says, "Yeah, this is it. The key's in my left pocket." He laughs. "Don't you think it's about time you got down?" "No." "Put your leg around me, or I can't reach it." She pulls herself against him, freeing his arm, which he slides into her pocket. "Hey, careful there." Smirking, he pulls out her keys. "Here, take these." He hands them up to her and puts his arm back around her leg, then walks them up to the door. She unlocks it, her other arm still holding on to him, then turns the knob and pushes the door open. They walk inside. "Well, here we are," he says, stooping down to let her off. "No, upstairs. I wanna go to bed." He sighs a little as he stands back up, then starts slowly up the stairs. "You know, if I fall, you'll be hurt a lot worse than me." "Then don't fall," she says, settling her head back against his shoulder. He reaches her room and pushes the door open with his foot, then lets her slide off him onto her bed. He takes a moment to pull his shirt back into place, then turns toward her. "There. Do you want me to undress you too?" "No, this is good." She kicks off her shoes and pulls her blankets over herself, still fully clothed. "Maybe an aspirin. They're in the medicine cabinet, down the hall." He leaves, then comes back a minute later with two aspirin and a glass of water. She takes them and drinks the entire glass, wincing a little as she swallows. "Thanks. I guess I probably should have stayed home today." She lays back and looks up at the ceiling. "My head hurts too much to fall asleep now." "I could read you a story. What have we got here?" he says, walking to her small bookshelf. "The Psychology of Self-Esteem, The Art of Living Consciously... and what are these? Japanese comics?" "Yeah. They're all drama, like relationship stories and stuff. You can't get comics like that here. They're great." "You can read japanese?" "No, I just follow the pictures. It's kinda neat; you can't really tell when it's time to turn the page, since you can't read the words. You can get really lost in them." He turns around and finds her looking at him, but her arm is across her forehead and she doesn't look comfortable. "Do you want me to go, so you can get some rest?" "No, not yet. Sit down for a sec." He looks around. "There aren't any chairs." "Yeah, I took it downstairs last week... just use the edge of the bed." He looks around once more to make sure there aren't any chairs, then sits at the end of the bed, by her feet. She says, "You know, I think I've been talking to people too much at school." "Oh yeah?" "Yeah. People who aren't worth talking to, I mean. I started this little thing, where instead of being patronizing and just nodding, I decided to listen to them, to really listen, and it was craziness. Like staring into the abyss. They didn't even realize what I was giving to them, that I was paying attention, that this mind which has so much potential was listening to whatever they had to say... and they had nothing. Pointless observations, aimless complaints, just... nothing." "Tell me about it," he replies, getting a little more comfortable. "Except that I never really listened to them a hell of a lot." "I wonder what makes people like that? It always bugged me that I can't seem to affect them at all. Anything I try to tell them is temporary, at best. They don't seem like they could ever change." She looks at him, but he's still glancing idly around the room. "It's so much better when they're like me. It's almost automatic, that connection, and it's a good thing. But still..." She looks up at the ceiling. "I've heard all these ideas about how we were once all one entity, or how we're all one right now, or how one day, "we will all be one". I don't even know what they're talking about. I don't want to be one, I just want to be myself forever... you don't know the things I'd do to live longer, a lot longer, if there was just some way to do it. But I don't want community, I don't want togetherness, I just want me, alone in my head with my thoughts and my ideas. And that's what I've got, because that's what everybody's got. That's the way things really are. We're not together, we're not one, we're all individuals, and that's what we'll always be, no matter what. You can pretend to be a part of something "larger than yourself", but it's just pretend. At the end of the day, you're still alone. My thoughts are mine, my ideas are mine, and nobody can ever get in my head. And that's how I want it to be." She looks down and sees that he's watching her. He's leaning back, his arms on the other side of her legs. "Come over here," she says, motioning to her side. He looks a little confused and moves gradually up the length of the bed. "Lie down." "What?" "Lie down," she says, pulling him gently. She lays him down beside her, she below the covers and he above, and looks him in the eyes. "We're going to do a mind-meld," she says quietly as she takes his head in her hands. "People can try to come together," she whispers, "they can try to be one, but all they really become is the lowest common denominator. Or at the best, just more mediocre." She brings his head closer to hers and closes her eyes as their foreheads touch together. "There," she says. "Can you feel it?" He smiles. "Nope." "Good." She takes her hands away from him, but doesn't move away. They lie together, completely still; the only sound in the room is her breathing. After a minute he says, "Elizabeth?" but gets no response. He backs away slowly and realizes that she's asleep. He looks down at her for a moment, then puts a hand on her forehead. It's hot. He runs his fingers lightly across the side of her face, then stands up and looks down at her sleeping body, smiling almost unconsciously. It's a distinct act of willpower for him to leave her room. Downstairs he settles into the couch and turns on the tv. He keeps the volume low and flips idly through channels. He finally stops on an aquatic nature show, which he half watches as his mind drifts slowly, pondering things idly as his body relaxes. Eventually, he also falls asleep. The sound of a telephone wakes him with a start. He peers around, trying to spot it as it rings again, on the table beside the couch. He hesitates for a moment before picking it up. "Hello, Patton residence." There's a small pause on the other end, and a woman's voice says, "Who's this?" "This is Liam, I'm a friend of Elizabeth's. I don't live here. What can I do for you?" "Oh, Liam, yes, we met once. This is Angela." They're both silent for a moment. "Elizabeth's mother." "Right! Hi! Would you like me to get her for you? I think she might still be asleep. They sent her home from school." "I thought they might. If she's asleep don't bother her. It's not important." She pauses for a moment. "So, what exactly are you doing there?" "What aren't I doing? I've become butler boy for the day." Angela laughs, and he smiles into the phone. Just then, Elizabeth's hoarse voice yells from upstairs, "Liaaam!" Angela says, "I'd better let you go. It sounds like you're needed." "Yeah. Talk to you later." "Bye." They hang up and he walks back upstairs, into Elizabeth's room. She's sitting up, coughing a little. "What is it?" he asks. "I wasn't sure if you were still here." "I was talking to your mother." "Is she home?" "No, she called." "Oh. So, are you hungry at all?" "A little, yeah." "If you'd like anything to eat, don't hesitate. And if, uh, you wanted to make me something while you're at it, I wouldn't say no." He smirks. "What do you want?" "I don't know. Toast, or maybe soup. Sick food. Toast and soup." "Coming right up." He glances to the side. "Want me to open the window?" "Yeah, that'd be great." He walks over and opens it, thinking of the last time he was here, watching her do this, and now she's watching him. He stands there for a moment, looking out. Today's a little different than that day – he hasn't been hit by that peculiar sense of unreality quite as hard as before. He turns to her and smiles, and she smiles back. He feels himself starting to slip, just sliding a little out of synch, but he catches himself. He likes the feel of this room, he doesn't want to leave it, but he makes himself walk out and go downstairs, then starts looking around the kitchen.

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