Chapter 26

As the week progressed, the girls felt better and got back to normal, just as Zoe had. I, however, started to withdraw from them, and from Mrs. Bell at the same time. I still went to classes, and started showing back up at the morning runs, afternoon workouts, study sessions and football practices; but I wasn't really focused on any of that. I was too wrapped up in my own thoughts and feelings of guilt.

Once Doctor Chang laid it out, it was clear I had done something to the girls. Not just their getting sick ... although that was bad enough ... but I was certain we would find their blood tests showed the same changes Zoe's had. I should have put it together after Zoe got sick! I should have done something to protect Vicki and Tami! But, no, I let my own desires cloud my judgment. My hormones got the better of me! I thought more about getting laid, than protecting them! That wasn't sitting well with me.

Worse, I wasn't hiding my brooding very well. The girls all noticed and tried to talk to me about it, but I blew them off. It came to a head Wednesday night, when I mentioned I was going to sleep in the separate room Mrs. Bell set up for me, rather than with Zoe. I had already walked past Zoe's door when a hand grabbed me and turned me around.

Zoe was about as annoyed as I had ever seen her. She steered me into her room and over to her desk.

"Enough of this bullshit, Cas! Now, sit down. We need to talk."

"Look, Zoe, everything..."

"No. When I said we need to talk, what I meant is I need to talk, and you need to listen."

Thanks to my rapidly gaining experience with women I knew exactly what to do, I shut up and nodded.

"I love you, you know that. But you have been moping around here since Sunday, and it has to stop. I know you are upset about everything that's been happening, and I know you have a lot on your mind; but don't you shut me out! Do you understand? If you are upset you sit me, Vicki or Tami down, or all three of us together; and talk to us! We might not be able to help, but we can listen! Bottling up your problems will only make things worse. Now, tell me why you are so upset."

"I'm not really upset..."

"No. Do not BS me, Caspian Grey. 'Everything's alright' and 'I can handle it' are not acceptable. If you want to stay on my and your other girlfriends good sides, then you need to start talking. Right now!"

I sighed. Clearly, there was no way I was going to dodge her.

"Fine. I guess I am upset because I wasn't able to protect you three."

"What do you mean?"

"From me. Something about me made you sick, and it was preventable. I guess with you there was no way to know that was going to happen ... although I still feel bad about that ... but I should have known enough to prevent it from affecting Vicki and Tami, too. I was stupid, and I let my dick do my thinking ... and it got you hurt!"

Then she did something I never saw coming, she laughed at me.

"Cas, for such a smart guy, you are a dumb ass! You know that?"

"What?"

"Okay, so we got a little sick for like one day. No big deal. And, while we don't know the full extent of it, we do know that at least I picked up some of your abilities, or it seems that way. I am in better shape than I have been in my whole life. I am smarter that I have ever been. The only way you have 'affected' us, is by making us bad-asses. Hell, had I known this was going to be what happened, I would have jumped your bones the first day we met!"

"But we don't know what else is going on, yet."

"No, but whatever it is, it is happening to you, too. There is nothing about you that I or the other girls wouldn't share. We want to be part of your life, completely."

"Yeah, but you didn't get to make the choice. I had sex with you girls without giving you a chance to understand what could happen."

"Pull your head out of your ass! Seriously. Not only did we all knowingly accept what was happening, but honestly you weren't driving. We all pushed you to take the next step with us."

"But..."

"No 'buts.' Stop feeling sorry for yourself. We love you, and we accept everything that is happening."

I sighed and looked at the floor, but nodded.

"Okay."

"Good. Now, I know you are a bit stressed, so we are going to get a little stress relief. This weekend Amanda invited us to join her, Josh, Megan and Megan's boyfriend at their parent's lake house for the weekend. Vicki and Tami agree we need to get away from all this mess and blow off some steam. Can you get the time off work?"

"Yeah."

"Good. We will pack our stuff in Megan's suburban Thursday night and take off after school on Friday. Now, come to bed."

We didn't do anything, I was still feeling a little guilty, but Zoe tried hard to get me past that by cuddling and whispering loving thoughts to me before we both fell asleep.

Friday morning I had my first meeting with Mrs. Runkle, who had been assigned to oversee this new advanced schedule. I will admit I was a little distracted thinking about our weekend trip. I hadn't mentioned it to the girls, but this would be my first vacation, even if it was just a short weekend. She had asked that I come in early and talk to her before school, and instead of sitting at her desk she sat at one of the student desks next to me.

"How are your classes so far, Caspian?"

"Good. Nothing too difficult, yet."

"But you do find it more challenging?"

"I guess. I have already read the textbook that we are covering this semester, and I have done a random selection of problems from each chapter to make sure I understood it."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but keep in mind I was on bed rest for a whole week. Boredom got the best of me. By Wednesday that week I was going crazy and so got a head start on all of my text books for this semester."

"Well, I guess you should be all set then. You and Alison really are putting your best effort into this."

"Alison?"

"Yeah, Alison Hauge. I think you know her. She mentioned she knew you from the study sessions to help the athletics department."

"Yeah, I know Alison, but what does she have to do with this?"

"I thought you knew. This isn't special treatment for you. We are running a pilot program investigating accelerated learning for advanced students."

"Ahh. Alison is a good choice. She is really smart, and a hard worker."

"Yes, we thought so, too."

"So we are the only ones in the program?"

"At the moment."

"How were we selected? Could more people be added?"

"Both of you were selected through recommendations from your teachers. We are still working on testing criteria for adding students to the program. Why, who were you thinking about suggesting."

"Zoe Bell."

"That's your girlfriend or, if the rumor mill is to believed, one of them. Why do you think she should be included in the program?"

"I am not crazy about there being talk about us around the school, but yes she is one of my girlfriends. And I think she would be a good candidate. Her past tests may not support it, but look at her recent work and talk to her teachers about her recent performance."

"If her previous work didn't stand up, why do you think she is now up for the challenge? Why should she be judged on just recent performance?"

"She has always been smart. Maybe she was just bored and unfocused before. All I can say is, recently she has started to really focus. Her work should prove that out."

"OK. Normally I would not take a suggestion that was clearly biased, but you have a solid track record, and Principal Polaski thinks you hung the moon, so I will talk to her and her teachers."

"Thanks, Mrs. Runkle."

"No problem. Now let's go over your current assignments and upcoming work, to make sure you are all set."

I was only half paying attention as we went over my work, since I was already confident I could handle what was assigned. Instead I started to think over how to talk to Zoe about this. We hadn't discussed it, but with the signs she had been showing since she was ... altered ... by me, this seemed like a no-brainer. The only hard part would be to get the teachers to look past her work prior to the changes.

The rest of the day was uneventful, except that there was a lot of chatter at the lunch table about our trip. Several of the couples also wanted to go, but there was limited room. Amanda had already promised she would set up another weekend, to take the guys who couldn't come this time.

When school let out, we all made a mad rush for Megan's Suburban. I climbed into the back seat with my girls, while Josh and Amanda took the Captain's chairs in the middle. There was a guy up front that I didn't recognize, but guessed it was probably Megan's boyfriend. He turned around, looking past Josh and Amanda, to stare at me.

"So, you're the kid I keep hearing about?"

I won't lie. He came off as a bit obnoxious and annoyed me a little.

"I guess that would depend on what you have heard."

"Well, that somehow you managed to swing three girlfriends, and convince them it was a good idea."

Megan reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Alex, don't."

"It's okay, Megan, I don't mind answering questions. Yes, I have three girlfriends, all of whom I love and I believe they feel the same about me."

"And how did you talk them into that."