After class Liam takes a quick shower and changes, then heads for the cafeteria. He takes his food to the table he and Elizabeth usually use, where he sits by himself. His mind drifts as he eats, gazing idly at a corner of the room. He doesn't notice when Ms. Cantrell walks in, though quite a few other heads turn her way. Some go to her face, but most go to other areas of her body, particularly her skirt-covered legs. One kid looks away after a smack from his girlfriend, but the rest follow her as she walks to Liam's table and looks down at him, while he continues to stare into space. "Hey." He looks up in surprise, then smiles. "Hi." He glances around, noticing that they've become the center of attention. "What brings you to the lunch room?" "Just passing through," she says as she takes a seat on the edge of the table and crosses her legs. He clears his throat and gestures toward the other tables around them. "Oh, right..." she says, glancing around. A little embarrassed, she sits down next to him. "So," he says, feeling a little awkward, but glad. "What's up?" "Nothing." She speaks lowly enough that the people at the other tables can't overhear them. "Just sitting here. You know, visiting my favorite student." "So I'm your favorite?" She grins and leans on her elbow. "Yeah. Don't lie, you knew it." He smiles. "So, should we sit here absorbing scrutiny, or should we take this conversation about nothing someplace else?" "Somewhere else. What I was thinking... well, since today's an assembly day I can probably skip the afternoon without getting in too much trouble, and I know you've got no problem with missing school. It's just that I don't really know many people in this town, since I just moved here this year..." "You did? Wow, so did I." "Really? You fit in so easily, I assumed you always lived here. So we're both new to town." "Well, sorta. School's been in for awhile now." "Yeah, but it's kinda tricky for me. I mean, what am I gonna do, go to a bar? I'm a teacher. I know it sounds kinda weird," she says, glancing down at the table for a moment, "but in a way you're the best friend I've got here." His smile widens for a moment, and he says, "It's not that weird... well, it's kinda weird, but besides Elizabeth I don't really have a hell of a lot of friends here either." "Elizabeth's the girl you hang around with?" "That's her." "Is she your girlfriend?" "I don't know..." His glance drifts to the ceiling for a moment. "I guess so, but it seems kinda strange to put it that way. That's not the way it works with us." "Where is she, anyway? You two are usually never apart." "She's sick, at home. So, you were saying something about skipping school..?" He's amused by the way this conversation has brought out a certain awkwardness in her, meshing with her usual confidence. "I was just wondering if you'd like to go for a drive," she says, without making eye contact. "We could hop in my car and get out of here for awhile." "Really? Hmm, wait until I tell the guys..." "Liam–" He's surprised at the sudden look of concern on her face. "Don't worry I was just joking." "Seriously," she says, dropping her smile for a moment. "We're just two people. Don't think of me as a teacher all the time." A bit of her smile returns as she says, "Not that you usually do..." He smiles back, and for a moment, they don't say anything. "So it's okay if I call you Jennifer, then?" "Absolutely." "Even in class?" "No." "Okay," he says, glancing around conspiratorially. "But we can't leave together, it would practically be a scandal." "Let's meet in the parking lot. Do you know which car is mine?" "It's pretty hard to miss. I'm surprised you can even afford it." She shrugs. "So, in about 10 minutes?" He nods. "You bet." She grins and stands up, and Liam finds himself suddenly in complete privacy as the eyes in the room follow her on her way out.

"Hey, we're all going to my house for lunch. You wanna come?" Liam looks over at Jeff as he crams his books into his locker. "No thanks. I've got a prior engagement." "Going to see Elizabeth?" "Nope." "What are you doing then?" He pauses, then says, "You know... stuff." "Okay then." Jeff slaps him on the shoulder as he turns to go. "Don't do anything Lenny wouldn't do." Liam smiles. "Okay." He closes his locker and stands by himself for a moment, taking a deep breath. He thinks suddenly of going to the drug store for condoms, but laughs it off as he walks to the bathroom. He stands in front of one of the mirrors, looking at himself. He splashes some water on his face and looks again, then smiles. Something about this just seems so ridiculous, and he starts to chuckle. "Hey buddy, what's so funny?" Liam spins around but doesn't see anyone, then realizes that the voice came from inside one of the stalls. "Hell," he says into the air with a grin. "What isn't funny?" "I hear ya there. Listen, could you toss me some toilet paper?" Liam smiles to himself. "How come?" "'Cause I've gotta wipe my ass, man. Come on." Liam laughs to himself and reaches into one of the empty stalls, then tosses a roll over the wall. "Catch!" He steps out of the the bathroom and hears a "Thanks!" behind him, then makes his way toward the school parking lot. He walks past the rows of cars, trying to look inconspicuous, as Ms. Cantrell pulls up beside him. He doesn't know much about cars, but knows that hers looks damn good. He glances around to make sure nobody's watching, then opens the door and slips inside. "All of this secrecy seems kind of ridiculous," Jennifer says as they pull away. "Nobody would think twice if we weren't in a school parking lot." He looks over at her, sitting relaxed in her seat, noticing the casual confidence of her grip on the wheel. She's wearing sunglasses and paying full attention to the road. "Maybe not, but you definitely look older than me. You couldn't be my baby-sitter, you couldn't be my mom, you couldn't be my aunt..." She glances at him briefly. "Why couldn't I be your aunt?" "You'd have to look like it's a hassle having me around, definitely not your own choice. You'd rather be at home watching soap-operas or something." He's silent for a moment, then says, "How old are you, anyway?" She grins and asks, "How old do you think?" He takes the opportunity to look her slowly up and down and says, "Twenty-four." "Twenty-seven." "Well, I was pretty close. When I was born you were probably still having tea parties with stuffed animals and stuff, so I'd say this is fine." "People get way too hung up on ages. If people get along they get along, right? I mean, you could be fifty and we could still go places." He smirks. "Yeah, and that wouldn't look weird at all." "Hey, I'm just saying. And for the record," she says, glacing at him again, "I never had tea parties." "Really? None? Wow." He looks out the window at the houses passing by. "I thought that was a girl prerequisite." "That's just a cliché. I mean, did you have any G.I.Joes as a kid?" "Yeah, shitloads of them." "Oh. Well, I wasn't in to any of that stuff." They're silent for a minute as he continues to look out the window. "So, where are we going?" "Just out of town. I want to get away for awhile." Once they're a ways outside of town they pull off the road, into a gravel and dirt clearing. In the distance, across a large stretch of barren ground, is a thick wall of trees. Liam opens his door and steps out, smiling up at the sun. Jennifer, still in the car, leans toward his window. "Have you got the sandwiches?" "Yup." "Let's sit over there," she says, gesturing toward a group of large, flat rocks about 20 feet away. "Just give me a second – I've gotta get out of this skirt." Unaware that he's staring, he watches her through the window as she begins struggling with the zipper on her skirt. She looks up at him. "You'll have to go wait over there." "Right, right," he says as he turns away and heads for the rocks. He sits down and looks at his surroundings, then steals a glance back at the car. He can see her leaning back in her seat as she pulls on a pair of pants, then begins unbuttoning her shirt. He looks away and reaches down to rearrange the suddenly uncomfortable position of his pants. "Man," he mumbles. This is just too weird. A moment later he hears the car door open. She steps out and looks up at the sun before closing her door and walking toward him, wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants. "Sorry about that," she says. "I just couldn't stand wearing those school clothes any more." "It's kinda weird to hear a grown woman talk about her school clothes." She grins as he hands her a sandwich, and they begin to eat. "How long did it take us to get out here?" "I don't know," she says, "I haven't got a watch. Probably about 20 minutes. If we really hurried we could probably make it back to school in time." "Yeah, I always get nervous when I spend too much time away from the anthill. When there aren't any people around I get creeped out." She smiles. "Yeah, right." The sun has moved a noticable distance in the sky; Liam sits back on his rock, leaning on his arms, while Jeniffer sits leaning forward, her elbows against her knees. "So what were your marks like before this year? They wouldn't let me look at them." "You actually asked?" She grins a little sheepishly. "I was curious." "My marks were great, I've got a photographic memory. They told me stuff and I could spit it back no problem. A's all around." "Really? You must be pretty set then." "Aw, I was lying, I don't really have a photographic memory. Actually, I'm terrible at retaining anything that I don't think is important." "So what you're actually saying is that you don't fit into the modern school system at all." He laughs. "Pretty much, yeah. But I still did good, I'm just not jumping through as many hoops as I used to. But school doesn't really expect a whole lot out of you. I mean shit, I wrote a whole Genghis Khan paper on random philosophizing the other day and still passed." "Hey, watch it, beligerency-boy, or I might make you do some real work." "Pft, no you won't. Then I'd have to deal with you like a teacher, and that'd be no fun for anybody." "And I can use all the fun I can get at this stupid job... do you know how dumb your fellow classmates are? It's ridiculous. I really think I've gotta quit." "Serious? What else have you got in mind?" "That's the thing," she says, laying back slowly until her head is against her rock, looking at the sky. "I don't know. It took me way too long to get here for me to just quit. I've got to think of something else. I suppose I could always become a stripper, and you and your friends could come see me and I'd have to make you promise not to tell the principal, like in some movie..." The sound of his laughter draws her eyes back to him. "Man, I can't believe you just said that. All the kids sitting in class right now would have heart attacks if they heard that." "But that's part of the problem... I can't say anything anymore. At least before I used to be able to hang out with my friends, but ever since I moved it's been rigid Ms. Cantrell, 24/7, gotta act professional, present a good image to the rest of the faculty. It's fucking stupid, I know I'm the best teacher there. What are the rest of them even doing?" "Oh, I don't know," he says, "that Mr. Graves is a pretty solid chunk of pure teaching talent..." "Is Graves that religious guy? I can't stand him. Is he one of your teachers?" "No, I've just heard all about him from people. Apparently he tries to work his religious convictions into his math instruction." "Yeah, I'd believe it. He just rubbed me wrong right from the start." "Hey, did he ever hit on you?" She looks at him, a little surprised by the question, and says, "No. But he's about the only one. It doesn't matter that the lot of them are married, they always have to drop these little hints everywhere." "Sounds like your chance for some action. Head out for a night on the town with Mr. Williams, or maybe Parkfield..." She laughs, putting a hand across her mouth. "Stop it! That's not even funny! Ugh, I can't stop visualizing it now..." "Hey, they may be fat with hair coming out of their ears, but at least they aren't religious." "Yeah." She leans back on her rock, putting her hands behind her head as she watches the clouds. "The thing with religion is that this obviously all came from someplace; somewhere someone or something created this. People can call that god if they want, the idea that there's more to the universe than we understand, but attributing any more to it than that is assuming more than we actually know. When people use it as an appreciation, a respect for what we have, I can understand that. But they always end up taking it too far." "One thing I've noticed with a lot of religious people, the real ones anyway, not just the churchgoers, is that if you replace the word "god" with "self", they almost start to make sense. God recommends they do something, but it was really their minds that recommended it – They feel good about something they've done or something they've understood, and they don't understand that that euphoria is an acute awareness of themselves – They're so conditioned to ignore the self, to pretend that it isn't there, that they have to attribute these feelings to something besides themself. So they pass them over to god, easy two points. Until they eventually go insane and turn into annoying dogmatic freaks, of course." He's silent for a moment, then props his head up to look at her. "Did you take any philosophy courses in college?" She keeps looking at the sky. "Some. They really didn't grab me. Either the professor would be biased toward one particular doctrine and would spend the term exlaining how the others made no sense, or the professor would be completely neutral and give every system equal time and weight, regardless of whether they actually made any sense or not. I really don't think it's the kind of thing you can learn in school. It's not supposed to be about labels, it's supposed to be about understanding." "Yeah, that's pretty much what I suspected. 'Cause the other day I decided that I want to be a philosopher." Her eyes move down from the sky to look at him. "Really? Is there any money in that?" "Beats me. It's not something I can really go to school and get a degree for, at least not if I want to do it right. But I decided that philosophy is the most important area of human study, because it always comes first. Science can build the atomic bomb, but only philosophy will decide whether or not you drop it on people. We can build incredible things, but it's the mind and the choices we make that let us misuse them. The fault is not in the technology, it's just that as far as human progression goes, we're way behind in the philosophy department. Science and biology are going great, but the guiding forefront has fallen behind. I want to explain things to people, to make things clearer, to demonstrate a little reason and sanity in the world. And if there's not a market for that, then I'll be a damned monkey's uncle." "Well, I wish you luck. There's nothing the world could use more than a little respect for rationality." "Yeah, it's lacking all right. Some people don't even seem to have any real idea of how their brain works; they've got this thing stuck in their head and they don't even know how to deal with it. I used to think I was basically like everyone else, I could understand the lack of motivation and apathy that people have, but as I got older it started getting easier to visualize the whole tragectory of their lives, and that's when I decided I was different. Day to day I might be more or less the same as them, but my life's not going to stall like theirs. I know it's not an up and down scale, the mind can go in an infinite number of directions, but it always has to go upward in some way. As long as you go up your life is worthwhile, and when you die it's like fireworks going off, it's the completion of a journey. But most of these people, they just move to the side, occasionally rising a little here and there, but eventually sinking, letting their lives grind to a halt. They're missing that beacon, that light, that direction to follow, and I know that it's something I can explain to them, because I know I could have missed it too. We've ended up different, but fundamentally we all had that ability, to see things the way they could be and to work toward achieving that world. That's what I want to try to instill in people." She sits back up, watching him. "So how are you going to do that? Books?" "I don't know. That seems so limited. I think I'll just end up doing whatever it is I feel like doing; writing things, making music, maybe some movies if I can pull it off, whatever, and the things I've understood about the world will make their way inside. It's no good to flat out preach, 'cause nobody wants to hear that." "Amen." She picks up a twig from the ground and rolls it between her fingers, looking at the trees across the clearing. "Doesn't it seem weird to you that we went from talking about teachers at school to world-shifting philosophy at the drop of a hat? It's not a very normal conversation pattern." "Nah, me and Elizabeth do it all the time. She calls it "showboating". You know, showing off your feathers. Since I can't catch a football or stand on my hands, I stick with the ideas. That's my thing that I do, the thing that all three of us do. You should meet her sometime, I think you'd get along." She inhales. "No, I don't think so." "Why not?" "Ten to one she'd see me as a threat." "No way. You really think so?" "Almost positive." "Wow." He laughs. "I'm feeling all manly all of a sudden..." "You never know, I could be wrong." She stands up and stretches. "Either way, we'd better get going. I think I'm getting a sunburn." "Okay. Hey, can I drive on the way back?" "No." "Okay, but I'm gonna wear your sunglasses." She smiles. "Go for it." The phone rings. Elizabeth puts down her pencil and answers. "Hello?" "Hey, I've got your homework. Want me to bring it over?" She grins. "That's a joke, right?" "Hell yeah, I didn't even go to school this afternoon." "What did you do?" "It was great, I went... home. Yeah, home, watched some tv." She raises an eyebrow. "Yeah, I just can't get enough of that tv..." "Anyway, are you gonna be at school tomorrow?" "I don't know. I'm feeling a lot better, I spent most of the day sketching, but I could have a relapse at any time. Especially if that english test is still set for tomorrow morning." "No, he moved that to Friday." "Good. I'll probably see you, then. Don't wait for me, though, just in case. I'll meet you at school." "Okay. I better let you get your beauty sleep; missing all these days has really hurt your standing in the big prom queen battle." "What the hell are you talking about?" He laughs. "Nothing, just joking around. Talk to you later." "Later." She hangs up the phone and goes back to drawing. She has a small stack of sketches of various objects from around her room, but decides to draw something different. She thinks she'll see how well she can draw Liam from memory.