"Yeah. I’m so excited, too." I muttered.

"What happened?"

"Just wasn’t concentrating." I sighed. "I’m going to bed."

"Okay, honey. Oh, there’s a message for you on the answering machine."

"Kay. Thanks." She gave me a kiss on my forehead, and putted my butt as I walked to the living room where the answering machine was. I pushed the play button, and sat on the arm of the couch to listen.

"Hey, Andi. Um, well, I just wanted to say thank you for last night, and that I’m really embarrassed about it. Um, I don’t really do that often, and so, well, I just wanted to let you know that I’m really appreciative. Okay? Um, see you at school. Bye." I stared down at the machine, a smile on my face. Anytime, Haley.

* * *

I turned the page in my book, my teeth crunching the potato chip I had just tossed into my mouth. I could hear the loud conversations all around me, most talking about what they had done for Halloween weekend, no doubt many of them had been at the party Haley was at. Haley. A grin spread across my face as I thought of her drunk Saturday night. The poor girl had been so gone, and so wiped out. She was always so cool and collected, so to see her so out of control was certainly new.

I glanced up when someone kicked my shoe. Haley smiled down at me, her expression shy and sheepish, it slid right off her when she looked into my face.

"Oh, god, Andi! What happened to you?" She knelt down getting a closer look. "Oh, jeez. Does it hurt?" I shrugged, then nodded.

"Well, as you know I had practice yesterday morning, but, um, well, I blocked kick with my face."

"Oh, Andi. Are you a beginner, or something?" I grinned.

"Hardly. I just couldn’t concentrate due to lack of sleep."

"Oh, no!" She covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes huge. "Oh, Andi. I am so sorry. Oh, wow. Man, what can I do? Anything?" I shook my head.

"No. It’ll go away all on it’s own, don’t worry about it." She swallowed, her eyes still on my eye. "Haley, don’t worry. It happens, you know? This isn’t my first black eye, nor will it be my last."

"Yeah, but you got it because of me."

"True,"

"Oh, jeez."

"I’m only kidding," I laughed, touching her briefly on the arm. "Really, I’m only joking. It’s no big deal. Hey, you got me out of practice and to bed, so that’s good, right?" She grinned weakly, nodding her head.

"Okay. Well, I just came over to say hi and thanks again."

"Well, hi, and you’re welcome." She smiled at me.

"See you later?" I nodded. With one last look, she stood and walked away.

The week flew by for me, the semester coming to an end, and Christmas break not far away. We had to get through November and Thanksgiving, and then were home free for a few weeks. I couldn’t wait.

I walked the halls of Winston High, ignoring the stares as people took in my shiner, looking at me in a way where I could read their minds. Yes, yes, I have a black eye, what do you know. Can we please try and state the obvious yet again? I shrugged my backpack a bit higher on my shoulder as I headed for the front door to the school, another week down, and another weekend before me.

The walk home was cold, so luckily I’d somehow managed to think ahead through my sleepy haze this morning. I was bundled up in a thick sweater and winter coat. Traditionally Halloween brought on the bad weather, but since the cold had come early this year, Halloween just brought on the really bad weather. Flurries just about everyday, some days all-out snow. Today was actually clear and bright, only cold. I marveled at the Halloween decoration that some people had yet to take down, pumpkins rotting on front porches, and plastic ghouls and goblins leering from windows and front yards.

I ran across the crispy grass of my yard, brown with gold tips, frosted white in the mornings. I was starving, and wanted to chow down before I had to go to work. We had started a really exciting project on Wednesday, so I was really pumped to get there and see how it had gone so far. Dr. Wills, my supervisor, was brilliant, and his insight into the human body was just amazing. He was trying to work on some new combinations of proteins and cells that dealt with cancer, burning to be the first doctor to find the cure. Weren’t they all? But out of everyone I had ever met, I figured Wills could do it. He really inspired me, and made me want to be better scientifically than I had ever been before, as well as made me think I could go further and do more, despite being a woman in a typically man’s field.

"Hey, hag."

"Good afternoon to you, too, Chris." I muttered as I passed him in the kitchen, him sitting on his butt shoving crackers slathered with peanut butter, sprinkled with pickles. I looked at it, grimacing. "God, that’s gross. Can’t you eat like a normal human being, you freak?" I opened the fridge to see what I could quickly get my hands on.

"You should try it. Here." I turned to see him extending his hand to me, a work of art ready for me to eat. I looked at him, his brown eyes serious, then my gaze dropped to the snack.

"If I die, you’re dead." He glared as I took the cracker, bringing it up to my nose. The smell was awful. But, like the champ that I was, I popped it into my mouth. I chewed thoughtfully as all the different tastes mixed and intermingled in my mouth; just a regular party in there. "Interesting," I said, sucking some peanut butter out of my molars with my tongue. I grabbed two more snacks that he had just made, and hurried out of the room as I knew he’d chase me.

"Give those back, you freak!" He chased me up the stairs, his long legs allowing him to close the distance between us until he caught me, just about to slam my bedroom door shut. With a mighty grunt, he shoved it open, and me against the wall. Squealing like a child, I tried to hide the crackers in my hand behind my back, knowing I was getting peanut butter all over me and my clothes, and the wall, I imagined. "Give it back," he grinned, reaching around to grab my wrist, bringing it up and pinning it against the wall.

"No!" I croaked, laughing so hard my strength was waning, and he was a strong little bugger himself. At fifteen he was already taller than I was. He grabbed my claw-like grasp, roughly opening my fingers until he had the mess snack in his hand.

"Ha!" he called triumphantly. I looked at his treasure, grimacing.

"That looks so nasty. You go, boy." He looked at it, then at me, then back at the cracker with an evil grin. "Chris, I don’t know what’s going on through those marbles in there, but don’t you dare." He looked at me, his hand coming closer to me. "Christopher!"

Squish!

I heard the garage door open as I washed my face, careful to avoid my eye. Good, I’d get to work on time now that mom had the car back. I had already scrubbed my wall, a nice brownish/greenish stain there. I just hoped mom never looked too closely at the paint there. Maybe I’d touch it up over the weekend.

Clean and changed, I hurried downstairs, my jacket in my arms.

"Hey, honey." My mom said, laying on the couch.

"Hey. You okay?" I sat on the coffee table in front of the couch, my hand on her arm. Her eyes were closed.

"Yeah. I just have another one of those damn headaches."

"Hold that thought." I stood and hurried up the stairs to grab a washcloth and ran it under cold water, then grabbed an Imitrex pill, hurried back to her. "Here. Sit up a bit." I handed her the coffee cup that she had been drinking from and the pill. She dutifully took it, then laid down again so I could put the cold cloth over her eyes. "I have to go to work, mom. I’ll be back later."

"Okay, honey. Have a good night. I love you." Her voice was groggy as she started to go to sleep. I kissed her forehead, the wet washcloth a bit of a shock to my lips, then stood, pulling the curtains closed as I left the room.

* * *

Dr. Wills looked at me, his blue eyes crinkling as he smiled at me. "Excellent work, Andi." He gazed back into the microscope. "I don’t know how I missed that mutation." I was beside myself with happiness. I had so much respect for this man, working in the science field for nearly twenty years, and I had noticed something he hadn’t. Wow. What a thrill.

We had finished with our testing earlier tonight, so I had asked him to show me what he was working on himself, his own private research. It had been so exciting to see the slides he had made from different patients who had cancer of various types. The mutation and breakdown of their systems were unbelievable. I was so inspired, yet again.

"Well," he glanced at the wall clock. "It’s getting late. What do you say we call it a night?" He turned off the microscope and smiled at me. I nodded. He pushed the lab coat off his shoulders as he headed for his office. I watched, standing where I had been, his confident, happy swagger of what he and I had discovered tonight. Wow. I wanted to be just like him.

Shaking myself out of my reverie, I started to close up shop for the night, putting things away and turning machines and equipment off.

"Have any plans for the holiday break, Andi?" he called from his office.

"Not really. Does sleeping count?" I called back as I put my jacket on. I heard his chuckle, then he appeared, closing the office door behind him. He wore his overcoat and briefcase.

"Well, would you be interested in helping me out here in the lab?" I looked at him in shock, my mouth hanging open.

"Really?" He nodded.

"I think you’d be great help to me in my work."

"Yeah, I’d love to." He smiled at me, those eyes twinkling under heavy, dark brows that had just the slightest bit of gray in them.