Chapter 4

I went into the house, looked to the right, and saw Tina at the window. I smirked at her.

"Get a good show?"

She looked down sheepishly.

"Sorry. I just hadn't seen you come home with anyone, before. I was curious. Is she your girlfriend?"

That was an excellent question with an answer that was too complicated for me to understand, let alone try and to explain to someone else.

"Um, I'm not quite sure. We are working on that."

"She is a cheerleader, right?"

"Yeah, or she was in Jr. High. I don't think they have had tryouts yet this year."

"And you spent the night at her house last night?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Margret knew about it. Zoe's mom called and got permission. Something bad happened to Zoe and she felt she needed company."

"What happened to her?"

"She was attacked by some guys."

"And why did she need your company?"

"I guess 'cause I was the one who helped her when she was attacked."

Her curiosity must have been sated, as all she said was 'ohh' before she went upstairs. I continued on to my room, but stopped at Margret's room on the way since her light was on. I knocked.

"Margret, I am home."

I got an 'okay' but she didn't acknowledge me beyond that. Par for the course. I took a shower, unlocked my window and drifted off to sleep. My last though was of Zoe.

Something was off. I knew where I was: back in my room. I could see my posters on the wall. But something was different. It took another few seconds to register the weight on my shoulder. It was still a little dark, so it took me time to identify the person sleeping against me. It was Zoe. I shook her awake.

"Zoe?"

"Hmm?" "What are you doing here?"

She sat up and blinked.

"I couldn't sleep last night. I had a bad dream. Tyler and Tony were after me, again. I snuck out and climbed in your window." Well, I guess that explained it. I lay back down and stared at the ceiling.

"Are you mad?"

"No, I am glad you are here. I was thinking a lot about you last night."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I missed you."

I guess that was the right answer. She snuggled hard against me.

"I need to get up and do my run."

"Ugggg. This early morning thing of yours will take some getting used to."

I laughed quietly at her and said, "Says the girl who climbed into my window, in the middle of the night?"

"Hush, you like it that I am here."

I heard a squeak at the door and lowered my voice to a bare whisper as I said, "We have a visitor"

Zoe lifted her head and looked at the cracked door, right as it closed.

"I guess she heard us talking. You go do your run and I will go have a little 'girl talk' with her."

I wasn't sure Zoe hanging out in my house, talking to Tina at the crack of dawn was the best idea I had ever heard of, but I had my orders and who was I to question them. I slipped out of bed and did my morning run letting the previous day's events tumble around for a while.

When I got back I found Zoe and Tina in my room, and I stopped cold in the doorway.

"There you are. So, I talked with Tina and she is interested in seeing the next step in my dating prep plan."

Okay, not what I thought she was going to say. And considering what the last step was, I got pretty nervous.

"And that is?"

"We need to get you better dressed."

"What is wrong with how I dress?"

"You dress like a teenage boy."

"But I am a teenage boy."

That came out a bit more whiny than I'd planned on.

"Nope. You are an exceptional teenage boy, and so must dress like it. Tina, let's look in his closet and see what he has."

It was about five minutes of 'nope' and the occasional 'maybe' and only one 'yes'.

"Jeeze. Do you know t-shirts are not the only clothing option available at the store? Okay, Tina and I have decided that this is the only good shirt you have and it will work with jeans, everything else is for inside the house, or exercise only. Right Tina?" Tina laughed but nodded. Okay, so now Zoe had a sidekick.

"After school today we are going to go shopping for a few more shirts. Some of the other girls might go with us. I also invited Tina to go. You go get dressed." My mind was having trouble keeping up, but I took the clothes and headed to the bathroom but ran into Margret on the way there.

"I heard voices."

"Yeah, sorry, Margret. Zoe came over after my run to help me pick out clothes and I guess she talked to Tina a while, 'cause Tina was helping."

"What?"

"Yeah, that is about how I feel. I am kind of thrown for a loop, maybe you should talk to the two of them while I change clothes."

That got me a weird look, but I was already pretty damn confused. It seemed to work as Margret headed back to my room also. So now, my pseudo-girlfriend, my adoptive sister, and my adoptive mother were all going to have a talk about me. Yep, there is no way this could end badly. After finishing my shower, I put on the blue button up shirt and jeans the girls picked out and went back into my room. There I found the three women, who all turned to me as I came in. Once again I stopped, not sure how to proceed. Tina took the reins.

"You're right that is probably the best combo. I hadn't noticed before but it does seem to be all t-shirts besides that."

Zoe gave me the once over, "That is pretty typical for boys. Don't worry; he is my new special project."

She then turned to address Margret, "Some girls and I are going to take him to the mall and get him sorted out. I offered to let Tina come with us, would that be okay?"

Margret thought for a minute and then looked over at me, "I don't know Caspian. Things are pretty tight right now, and you might have another growth spurt. We can't shell out money just because you need to look good for your new girlfriend."

Tina gently touched her mother's shoulder, "With the move, we never did the back to school clothes thing for either of us. You know, some of my clothes are getting a little worn also."

Margret just signed, "Fine, I will leave some money in the kitchen for him. Tina, I will leave some for you too so you can get a few things as well."

She then turned and walked out of the room.

I stupidly raised my hand, "Do I get any say in this?"

Tina and Zoe did this look (that mind-meld thing that must be genetic to all women), and laughed after saying 'No' in unison.

Well, who am I to fight against that much estrogen?

"We need to get going, Zoe."

As we were leaving, I got a hug from Tina. What the hell happened when I was in the shower? This in fact was the exact question I asked Zoe when we walked to her house.

"Ohh, just some girl talk."

I have now spent nearly an entire two days with a girl, and I think I understand them less now than I did before.

The first half of the day progressed pretty much like the previous one, with me rushing around all over the campus to meet Zoe, and still make it to class. When we sat at lunch, Zoe pulled all the girls' attention. When she explained the shopping trip and its objective to the girls, they all got excited. For most of the rest of lunch, the girls discussed what clothes I should get. Apparently, I was going to be a life sized 'Ken' doll for them to dress up, and they were all looking forward to it. Eventually I got an elbow from Josh.

"You stepped in it, this time, dude."

He thought it was pretty funny until Amanda spoke up. I had learned she was dating Josh.

"Laugh it up, meathead. You need some new clothes too, so you are going with us!"

The look on his face was just about the funniest thing I had ever seen. Everyone but Josh broke down laughing. He kept looking for the bus that ran him over.