Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows everywhere (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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vocesmente2011-10-10 08:57 pm
themistoklis) wrote in vocesmente2011-10-10 08:57 pm
It's Time to Talk (Part Four)
Title: It's Time to Talk
Fandom: Fake News, Strangers with Candy RPF, Misc. Comics RPF
Summary: The last year of high school always means talking about the future. Even when some people still have another year left after this.
Character/Pairing: Jon/Stephen, Amy/Paul, Jimmy, Denis, Janeane
Rating: PG, some cursing
Length: ~2,800 words (this part), ~24,500 words (total)
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
Notes: Flashbacks are in italics. "Stevie" (in the fic) is the name Stephen went by as a little kid. Also, several characters in this story are asexual. Hallelujah It's Raining Labels, this Psychology Today article, this Lexicon, and this definition of queerplatonic may be useful if you want to look into asexuality and related concepts.
Thanks: Thanks topoliticette and paperscribe for in-depth beta services and everyone who commented on the first few thousand words of this story and told me to keep going with it. Thanks to aybara_max for the wonderful art.
Janeane tells the teacher watching over detention that her Mary Shelley book is for English, and apparently the guy never talks to the English department because he believes her.
She tries not to look out the window at the parking lot every five seconds, not that her friends make it easy. When a car alarm goes off thirty minutes into the session she's amazed Jon isn't running towards the woods with Denis, Stephen, Jimmy, Amy and Paul at his heels and his soccer ball out of sight.
When she turns in her 'Why I was here' worksheet, she doesn't write 'because I told the health teacher to fuck off for telling me I'm diseased' only because her mom said one detention was okay, circumstances considering, but two would get her grounded.
Instead she writes 'because asking about sexual orientation isn't acceptable for state-designed sex ed classes' and hopes the teacher pays as little attention to these worksheets as he does everybody stuck in this classroom for an hour on a Saturday.
Everybody's still in the parking lot when she comes down the stairs. And Jon and Denis are still the only ones who know why she's here, because they're in her health class. And none of the others ask.
She sits in the backseat of the Dinello minivan, wedged between Denis and Jon, and laughs while Amy berates the culinary merits of every fast food place Jimmy and Stephen suggest going to.
---
At the first meeting of LGBTQute after the yearbook photo incident, Janeane sits on top of a desk and puts her feet in a chair. Denis sits next to her, although he just faces backwards in his chair and rests his arms and chin along the top of it. He stares at the people who come through the classroom and tries to figure out from their faces who knows what.
The thumbs-up Stephen and Paul give him makes part of that really obvious. Obviously Stephen knew. Since Jon found out from Stephen, Denis figured Paul knew, too. He's not surprised that Amy knows, either, but he is a little startled when she runs over and hugs him tight.
"Uh…" Denis looks at Janeane, who just snickers. He hesitantly hugs Amy back.
She leans back and flashes a grin at him. "If you wanna wear a dress to prom, we will totally make that happen," she says.
Denis turns ten shades of red. "Oh. Uh. T-Thanks." Actually he's pretty sure, at this point, that the principal would back him up on that. Dr. E yelling at Carlson had been hard to ignore, even though he wasn't even in the yearbook class. He'd just kind of been hoping everyone else had ignored it too.
Amy leans in and kisses his cheek, which makes him choke. "Don't let the haters get you down, hon," she murmurs, squeezing him.
He opens and shuts his mouth without saying anything, then relaxes. "Thanks, Amy."
"No problem," she says, grinning at him again before trotting off to find a seat.
Denis puts his hands in his lap and tries not to look embarrassed as the rest of the club members trickle into the room. He's not. He's really not. Not about wearing the dress. Just about … anybody looking at him funny.
"Okay," Janeane says, after everyone has shown up. Nobody here looks at Denis funny.
Janeane doesn't take attendance like Erica used to, but Anderson still does (though Denis can't figure out how attendance records are going to make it into the club scrapbook). Denis takes stock of faces that show up regularly, but a lot of them he still doesn't know, especially the freshmen.
"Today we're talking about college," Janeane says, and rolls her eyes when a few groans go up, mostly from seniors who immediately put their heads down on their desks. "The counselors aren't going to give you this info in those homeroom seminars, which some of us should already know, so shut up and let me spiel. I'll be saving you twenty-five dollars on this book."
She hauls her backpack up from the floor and roots around in it until she finds the book Denis helped her pick out at the store a couple of weeks ago. It's got a bright green cover and is actually supposed to cover the entire LGBT acronym, but Denis flipped through it and didn't find anything specific for bi people, so. But they picked it over the other one because it actually listed some schools with trans-friendly dorms.
There are a bunch of dog-eared and highlighted pages, and Denis almost gets hit in the face with some sticky tabs when Janeane plops the book in her lap.
Then Janeane launches into a speech that sounds remarkably like the one Mrs. Garofalo gave them once when she came in with cookies and caught Denis making a paper airplane out of a print-out on Boston U. Denis rests his head on Janeane's leg while she's talking, and she nudges him with her knee until he sits back up.
There's only one school on Janeane's list that's in a city that Denis hasn't applied to, and that's some college in upstate New York where Denis knows he couldn't get accepted. He went to the website and everything, but they only take women at the school. Apparently Janeane's grandmother wanted her to apply to at least one all-women place.
Halfway through the Q&A, which makes Janeane go to the index a lot, Jon sidles over and sits down next to Denis. "You look like you're about to fall asleep," he whispers.
"I am," Denis says, yawning. Janeane accidentally bumps him on the head with the book, and Jon giggles a little, hiding it behind his fist. "Oh, shut up," Denis mutters. "You have to talk next."
Jon blanches and folds a leg underneath himself. "Yeah, I know," he murmurs, ducking when Janeane reaches out to slap him in the back of the head. He bats his eyelashes at her and slides down in his chair while she goes on answering some more questions, mostly from girls. Denis bumps their knees together and Jon bumps back.
He's feeling all right. Maybe he'll even … maybe he'll even talk to Janeane later. If he doesn't chicken out again.
Some kid whose hair changes color between every meeting (it's black this time) raises her arm. "So this is a list of safe schools?" she asks, sounding suspicious.
Janeane stops with a pencil resting between her teeth and tugs it out to set behind her ear. "Safer," she says, staring at the kid. She takes her glasses off and runs her hand through her hair. "There's jackasses everywhere."
The room is quiet for a minute and Denis puts his head back on Janeane's leg. This time she doesn't nudge him off.
---
After the meeting is over, Jon helps Janeane clean up the scraps of paper and leftover snack wrappers strewn around the classroom. He's pretty sure that most of this stuff came from the classes that'd been in there all day, not them, but if they don't leave the place spic-and-span they're going to get the blame for it.
He's picking paper out of the carpet because that little vacuum doesn't work when Denis drops down next to him, holding the trash can. "I think for our next fundraiser we should buy a Roomba for the school," Denis says, scowling at the paper Jon dumps into the can.
"I think even a Roomba would have problems with this," Jon says, deciding he's gotten enough paper up for the teacher not to notice in the morning. He dusts his hands off on his pants.
Denis looks into the trash can like he's searching for the secrets of the universe, and Jon leans forward until their foreheads bump. "We can get a Roomba if you really want it that bad, buddy," he says, putting a hand down on Denis's shoulder.
"I'm thinking about asking Janeane out." Denis raises his eyes from the trash can, and Jon feels his widen. Denis bites his lip and rubs a hand over the back of his neck, sitting up straight and settling down on his knees. "But, I mean… I dunno…"
Jon chews on his lip. "How long have you been thinking about this?" he asks, glancing over to make sure Janeane can't hear them. She's leaning in the doorway talking to Jimmy and Stephen, though, so she shouldn't be able to catch anything they're saying.
"Like a year," Denis admits, laughing hoarsely.
"Oh, wow," Jon says, startled. Denis cringes and Jon grabs hold of his shoulder, squeezing. He makes a face at himself and shakes his head. Good going, Jon. "No, I just mean, I didn't know you were thinking about it."
Denis yanks a staple up from the carpet and tosses it into the trash can. "It's a terrible idea," he says to nobody.
"I didn't say that. Did I say that?" Jon asks, squeezing Denis's shoulder again. He pulls his hand back and runs it through his hair. "I mean, Janeane doesn't really talk to me about dating… But I know she cares about you," he says. He hesitates. "I don't think asking her would … you know … mess things up between you two. If you're worried about that."
"If it doesn't go right it could go really wrong," Denis says, softly.
Jon falters. "Well… so could everything."
Denis stares at him, clear eyes wide. "That's really encouraging, Jonny," he drawls, lapsing into his quasi-Irish accent for a second.
"You always set yourself up for the worst, Denis," Jon says, sighing. Denis glares at him and Jon scratches the back of his head. He can't count the number of times Denis's final decision on something was 'not even going to try.' "Maybe you should just … be optimistic for once. If you've been thinking about it for so long."
"Do they tap you to give pep speeches at the soccer games, Jon?" Denis mutters. He squashes down the paper in the trash can.
Blowing out a breath, Jon twists around so he's on his knees. "You could ask her to talk about it, then," he suggests. Denis turns a little ashen and Jon rolls his eyes. "Because dating means you never have to talk about your feelings," he drawls, ducking when Denis aims a swing at his arm.
"I know, I know, I just…" Denis stops and gets to his feet, smiling a little. "Hey."
Jon isn't surprised to turn around and see Janeane. She flicks a finger against the back of his head and he giggles, getting to his feet and brushing himself off while Denis puts the trash can back where he found it.
"We're clearing out. The janitor wants to lock the building up," Janeane says. She's got her glasses tucked against the front of her shirt and her bag dangling off one arm. Jon tries to picture her and Denis kissing and Janeane raises an eyebrow at him. "You catching something, Jon?"
"No," he says, going pink. Just 'cause he can't picture it doesn't mean Denis and Janeane can't.
He clears his throat and gives her a sideways hug, then waves to Denis, walking backwards on his way out of the classroom. And as soon as he's out of Janeane's sight he shoots Denis an encouraging smile and a thumbs-up, though Denis just stares at him.
When he turns around to go through the doorway face-first, he crashes into Stephen and Jimmy. Jimmy puts up a hand to catch him and Stephen bites his lip.
"Sorry," Jon says, laughing. He moves forward to hug Stephen and Jimmy looks down at his feet, tugging on the straps of his backpack. Jon touches his arm and the three of them walk out of the building together. "What's up, guys?"
Stephen scuffs his sneaker against some gravel. "We need to talk to you. About … about college."
Jon stops at the top of the stairs leading down to the parking lots.
---
Denis's Ma says he is shooting up like a weed, and he has to start wearing Kiwi's old clothes most of the time, but he still fits in a couple of Janeane's Sunday dresses, and Mrs. Garofalo says it's okay if he stretches them a little.
Jon has a towel piled on his head like Denis's Ma does when she comes out of the shower, but Jon says it is a wizard's hat. He also says he has to stand on Janeane's toy box to do magic. Janeane is still putting on tinfoil armor so she says she doesn't care.
Lifting the skirt at the corners, Denis practices his princess curtsey in front of the mirror. Jon says that wizards are allowed to marry people like priests do at church so once Janeane rescues Denis from Jon's evil clutches he can marry them, if they want.
Denis thinks he might just want Janeane to make him some armor like hers, though. To go over the dress. And maybe a crown.
---
On the way out to the car, Janeane can see that Jon and Stephen and Jimmy are still standing by Jon's car. But Denis parks on actual pavement and not the gravel lot, so she can't make out what the three of them are doing.
She leans against the side of the car and stretches while Denis roots around in his pockets for his keys. "Do you want to stop somewhere to eat on the way home? I'll buy," she says, fiddling with the buttons on the front of her shirt. It's too cold now to take her shirt off after school just to show off her tattoo, more's the pity.
"Um…" Denis drops his keys and sighs, setting his backpack on the roof of the car so he can crouch down and look under it. "I could buy," he says, stretching his arm under the car.
"I told you I'd pay you back for doing all the prep for this meeting with me," Janeane says. And seeing Jimmy and Stephen and Jon together made her remember that afternoon, at lunch. Do she and Denis do enough 'friend' things together? Carpooling isn't the same as hanging out…
She listens to him scrabbling around under the car for another moment before getting down on her own hands and knees and peering over at him. "They went behind the wheel."
Denis ducks his head into the shadows under the car and squints. "Oh. Thanks."
Janeane stares at his feet for a moment after he's stood up, and uses the door handle to haul herself to her own feet. "So… burgers?" she asks, standing back when Denis leans across the seats. He unlocks her door and shoves it open, plopping back into his own seat. "Or fish?" she teases, grinning. It is Friday.
"We could go to that new place," Denis says, running a thumb over the edge of the steering wheel.
Janeane puts her bag between her feet and yanks down her seatbelt. "The movie theater where you get real food?" They see it out the window when she and her dad go to the grocery store. The parking lot always looks packed.
"Oh, uh…" Denis puts the keys in place and fumbles to buckle his own seatbelt, while Janeane resists the urge to lean back and put her feet on the dashboard to warm up in the sun. "You wanna go there?"
"Might be interesting. There's that zombie movie out Jon's been talking about." She glances at her watch. "I'd need to show my face at home, though. And Jon might be busy."
Denis stares at the windshield for so long Janeane nearly leans over to wave a hand in his face. But he turns and smiles at her before she can start to move. "How about… um… I look up the movie times and call you and then we can…" He takes a breath. "Go out? Together?"
She tilts her head to one side at the look on Denis's face, but, yeah, she wouldn't mind seeing a movie with just him, even though they've been hanging out all week to prep for the meeting. Besides, maybe it's … better that way. Doing something just with Denis. Jon has to think about Stephen and Jimmy when he applies to school, but she…
"Sure," she says, stretching her arms above her head. She laughs softly when Denis beams at her. They're best friends. What is she working herself up about? "Just as long as you don't make me sit right next to the screen."
He starts the car and backs out of his parking space. "We can sit wherever you want."
Part Five
Fandom: Fake News, Strangers with Candy RPF, Misc. Comics RPF
Summary: The last year of high school always means talking about the future. Even when some people still have another year left after this.
Character/Pairing: Jon/Stephen, Amy/Paul, Jimmy, Denis, Janeane
Rating: PG, some cursing
Length: ~2,800 words (this part), ~24,500 words (total)
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
Notes: Flashbacks are in italics. "Stevie" (in the fic) is the name Stephen went by as a little kid. Also, several characters in this story are asexual. Hallelujah It's Raining Labels, this Psychology Today article, this Lexicon, and this definition of queerplatonic may be useful if you want to look into asexuality and related concepts.
Thanks: Thanks to
politicette and paperscribe for in-depth beta services and everyone who commented on the first few thousand words of this story and told me to keep going with it. Thanks to aybara_max for the wonderful art.Janeane tells the teacher watching over detention that her Mary Shelley book is for English, and apparently the guy never talks to the English department because he believes her.
She tries not to look out the window at the parking lot every five seconds, not that her friends make it easy. When a car alarm goes off thirty minutes into the session she's amazed Jon isn't running towards the woods with Denis, Stephen, Jimmy, Amy and Paul at his heels and his soccer ball out of sight.
When she turns in her 'Why I was here' worksheet, she doesn't write 'because I told the health teacher to fuck off for telling me I'm diseased' only because her mom said one detention was okay, circumstances considering, but two would get her grounded.
Instead she writes 'because asking about sexual orientation isn't acceptable for state-designed sex ed classes' and hopes the teacher pays as little attention to these worksheets as he does everybody stuck in this classroom for an hour on a Saturday.
Everybody's still in the parking lot when she comes down the stairs. And Jon and Denis are still the only ones who know why she's here, because they're in her health class. And none of the others ask.
She sits in the backseat of the Dinello minivan, wedged between Denis and Jon, and laughs while Amy berates the culinary merits of every fast food place Jimmy and Stephen suggest going to.
---
At the first meeting of LGBTQute after the yearbook photo incident, Janeane sits on top of a desk and puts her feet in a chair. Denis sits next to her, although he just faces backwards in his chair and rests his arms and chin along the top of it. He stares at the people who come through the classroom and tries to figure out from their faces who knows what.
The thumbs-up Stephen and Paul give him makes part of that really obvious. Obviously Stephen knew. Since Jon found out from Stephen, Denis figured Paul knew, too. He's not surprised that Amy knows, either, but he is a little startled when she runs over and hugs him tight.
"Uh…" Denis looks at Janeane, who just snickers. He hesitantly hugs Amy back.
She leans back and flashes a grin at him. "If you wanna wear a dress to prom, we will totally make that happen," she says.
Denis turns ten shades of red. "Oh. Uh. T-Thanks." Actually he's pretty sure, at this point, that the principal would back him up on that. Dr. E yelling at Carlson had been hard to ignore, even though he wasn't even in the yearbook class. He'd just kind of been hoping everyone else had ignored it too.
Amy leans in and kisses his cheek, which makes him choke. "Don't let the haters get you down, hon," she murmurs, squeezing him.
He opens and shuts his mouth without saying anything, then relaxes. "Thanks, Amy."
"No problem," she says, grinning at him again before trotting off to find a seat.
Denis puts his hands in his lap and tries not to look embarrassed as the rest of the club members trickle into the room. He's not. He's really not. Not about wearing the dress. Just about … anybody looking at him funny.
"Okay," Janeane says, after everyone has shown up. Nobody here looks at Denis funny.
Janeane doesn't take attendance like Erica used to, but Anderson still does (though Denis can't figure out how attendance records are going to make it into the club scrapbook). Denis takes stock of faces that show up regularly, but a lot of them he still doesn't know, especially the freshmen.
"Today we're talking about college," Janeane says, and rolls her eyes when a few groans go up, mostly from seniors who immediately put their heads down on their desks. "The counselors aren't going to give you this info in those homeroom seminars, which some of us should already know, so shut up and let me spiel. I'll be saving you twenty-five dollars on this book."
She hauls her backpack up from the floor and roots around in it until she finds the book Denis helped her pick out at the store a couple of weeks ago. It's got a bright green cover and is actually supposed to cover the entire LGBT acronym, but Denis flipped through it and didn't find anything specific for bi people, so. But they picked it over the other one because it actually listed some schools with trans-friendly dorms.
There are a bunch of dog-eared and highlighted pages, and Denis almost gets hit in the face with some sticky tabs when Janeane plops the book in her lap.
Then Janeane launches into a speech that sounds remarkably like the one Mrs. Garofalo gave them once when she came in with cookies and caught Denis making a paper airplane out of a print-out on Boston U. Denis rests his head on Janeane's leg while she's talking, and she nudges him with her knee until he sits back up.
There's only one school on Janeane's list that's in a city that Denis hasn't applied to, and that's some college in upstate New York where Denis knows he couldn't get accepted. He went to the website and everything, but they only take women at the school. Apparently Janeane's grandmother wanted her to apply to at least one all-women place.
Halfway through the Q&A, which makes Janeane go to the index a lot, Jon sidles over and sits down next to Denis. "You look like you're about to fall asleep," he whispers.
"I am," Denis says, yawning. Janeane accidentally bumps him on the head with the book, and Jon giggles a little, hiding it behind his fist. "Oh, shut up," Denis mutters. "You have to talk next."
Jon blanches and folds a leg underneath himself. "Yeah, I know," he murmurs, ducking when Janeane reaches out to slap him in the back of the head. He bats his eyelashes at her and slides down in his chair while she goes on answering some more questions, mostly from girls. Denis bumps their knees together and Jon bumps back.
He's feeling all right. Maybe he'll even … maybe he'll even talk to Janeane later. If he doesn't chicken out again.
Some kid whose hair changes color between every meeting (it's black this time) raises her arm. "So this is a list of safe schools?" she asks, sounding suspicious.
Janeane stops with a pencil resting between her teeth and tugs it out to set behind her ear. "Safer," she says, staring at the kid. She takes her glasses off and runs her hand through her hair. "There's jackasses everywhere."
The room is quiet for a minute and Denis puts his head back on Janeane's leg. This time she doesn't nudge him off.
---
After the meeting is over, Jon helps Janeane clean up the scraps of paper and leftover snack wrappers strewn around the classroom. He's pretty sure that most of this stuff came from the classes that'd been in there all day, not them, but if they don't leave the place spic-and-span they're going to get the blame for it.
He's picking paper out of the carpet because that little vacuum doesn't work when Denis drops down next to him, holding the trash can. "I think for our next fundraiser we should buy a Roomba for the school," Denis says, scowling at the paper Jon dumps into the can.
"I think even a Roomba would have problems with this," Jon says, deciding he's gotten enough paper up for the teacher not to notice in the morning. He dusts his hands off on his pants.
Denis looks into the trash can like he's searching for the secrets of the universe, and Jon leans forward until their foreheads bump. "We can get a Roomba if you really want it that bad, buddy," he says, putting a hand down on Denis's shoulder.
"I'm thinking about asking Janeane out." Denis raises his eyes from the trash can, and Jon feels his widen. Denis bites his lip and rubs a hand over the back of his neck, sitting up straight and settling down on his knees. "But, I mean… I dunno…"
Jon chews on his lip. "How long have you been thinking about this?" he asks, glancing over to make sure Janeane can't hear them. She's leaning in the doorway talking to Jimmy and Stephen, though, so she shouldn't be able to catch anything they're saying.
"Like a year," Denis admits, laughing hoarsely.
"Oh, wow," Jon says, startled. Denis cringes and Jon grabs hold of his shoulder, squeezing. He makes a face at himself and shakes his head. Good going, Jon. "No, I just mean, I didn't know you were thinking about it."
Denis yanks a staple up from the carpet and tosses it into the trash can. "It's a terrible idea," he says to nobody.
"I didn't say that. Did I say that?" Jon asks, squeezing Denis's shoulder again. He pulls his hand back and runs it through his hair. "I mean, Janeane doesn't really talk to me about dating… But I know she cares about you," he says. He hesitates. "I don't think asking her would … you know … mess things up between you two. If you're worried about that."
"If it doesn't go right it could go really wrong," Denis says, softly.
Jon falters. "Well… so could everything."
Denis stares at him, clear eyes wide. "That's really encouraging, Jonny," he drawls, lapsing into his quasi-Irish accent for a second.
"You always set yourself up for the worst, Denis," Jon says, sighing. Denis glares at him and Jon scratches the back of his head. He can't count the number of times Denis's final decision on something was 'not even going to try.' "Maybe you should just … be optimistic for once. If you've been thinking about it for so long."
"Do they tap you to give pep speeches at the soccer games, Jon?" Denis mutters. He squashes down the paper in the trash can.
Blowing out a breath, Jon twists around so he's on his knees. "You could ask her to talk about it, then," he suggests. Denis turns a little ashen and Jon rolls his eyes. "Because dating means you never have to talk about your feelings," he drawls, ducking when Denis aims a swing at his arm.
"I know, I know, I just…" Denis stops and gets to his feet, smiling a little. "Hey."
Jon isn't surprised to turn around and see Janeane. She flicks a finger against the back of his head and he giggles, getting to his feet and brushing himself off while Denis puts the trash can back where he found it.
"We're clearing out. The janitor wants to lock the building up," Janeane says. She's got her glasses tucked against the front of her shirt and her bag dangling off one arm. Jon tries to picture her and Denis kissing and Janeane raises an eyebrow at him. "You catching something, Jon?"
"No," he says, going pink. Just 'cause he can't picture it doesn't mean Denis and Janeane can't.
He clears his throat and gives her a sideways hug, then waves to Denis, walking backwards on his way out of the classroom. And as soon as he's out of Janeane's sight he shoots Denis an encouraging smile and a thumbs-up, though Denis just stares at him.
When he turns around to go through the doorway face-first, he crashes into Stephen and Jimmy. Jimmy puts up a hand to catch him and Stephen bites his lip.
"Sorry," Jon says, laughing. He moves forward to hug Stephen and Jimmy looks down at his feet, tugging on the straps of his backpack. Jon touches his arm and the three of them walk out of the building together. "What's up, guys?"
Stephen scuffs his sneaker against some gravel. "We need to talk to you. About … about college."
Jon stops at the top of the stairs leading down to the parking lots.
---
Denis's Ma says he is shooting up like a weed, and he has to start wearing Kiwi's old clothes most of the time, but he still fits in a couple of Janeane's Sunday dresses, and Mrs. Garofalo says it's okay if he stretches them a little.
Jon has a towel piled on his head like Denis's Ma does when she comes out of the shower, but Jon says it is a wizard's hat. He also says he has to stand on Janeane's toy box to do magic. Janeane is still putting on tinfoil armor so she says she doesn't care.
Lifting the skirt at the corners, Denis practices his princess curtsey in front of the mirror. Jon says that wizards are allowed to marry people like priests do at church so once Janeane rescues Denis from Jon's evil clutches he can marry them, if they want.
Denis thinks he might just want Janeane to make him some armor like hers, though. To go over the dress. And maybe a crown.
---
On the way out to the car, Janeane can see that Jon and Stephen and Jimmy are still standing by Jon's car. But Denis parks on actual pavement and not the gravel lot, so she can't make out what the three of them are doing.
She leans against the side of the car and stretches while Denis roots around in his pockets for his keys. "Do you want to stop somewhere to eat on the way home? I'll buy," she says, fiddling with the buttons on the front of her shirt. It's too cold now to take her shirt off after school just to show off her tattoo, more's the pity.
"Um…" Denis drops his keys and sighs, setting his backpack on the roof of the car so he can crouch down and look under it. "I could buy," he says, stretching his arm under the car.
"I told you I'd pay you back for doing all the prep for this meeting with me," Janeane says. And seeing Jimmy and Stephen and Jon together made her remember that afternoon, at lunch. Do she and Denis do enough 'friend' things together? Carpooling isn't the same as hanging out…
She listens to him scrabbling around under the car for another moment before getting down on her own hands and knees and peering over at him. "They went behind the wheel."
Denis ducks his head into the shadows under the car and squints. "Oh. Thanks."
Janeane stares at his feet for a moment after he's stood up, and uses the door handle to haul herself to her own feet. "So… burgers?" she asks, standing back when Denis leans across the seats. He unlocks her door and shoves it open, plopping back into his own seat. "Or fish?" she teases, grinning. It is Friday.
"We could go to that new place," Denis says, running a thumb over the edge of the steering wheel.
Janeane puts her bag between her feet and yanks down her seatbelt. "The movie theater where you get real food?" They see it out the window when she and her dad go to the grocery store. The parking lot always looks packed.
"Oh, uh…" Denis puts the keys in place and fumbles to buckle his own seatbelt, while Janeane resists the urge to lean back and put her feet on the dashboard to warm up in the sun. "You wanna go there?"
"Might be interesting. There's that zombie movie out Jon's been talking about." She glances at her watch. "I'd need to show my face at home, though. And Jon might be busy."
Denis stares at the windshield for so long Janeane nearly leans over to wave a hand in his face. But he turns and smiles at her before she can start to move. "How about… um… I look up the movie times and call you and then we can…" He takes a breath. "Go out? Together?"
She tilts her head to one side at the look on Denis's face, but, yeah, she wouldn't mind seeing a movie with just him, even though they've been hanging out all week to prep for the meeting. Besides, maybe it's … better that way. Doing something just with Denis. Jon has to think about Stephen and Jimmy when he applies to school, but she…
"Sure," she says, stretching her arms above her head. She laughs softly when Denis beams at her. They're best friends. What is she working herself up about? "Just as long as you don't make me sit right next to the screen."
He starts the car and backs out of his parking space. "We can sit wherever you want."
Part Five