Effected Intent Read online

  Chapter 6

  Senioritis

  “Hi Billy, how was school?”

  “OK Mom. The coach worked us really hard, wants to make sure we win our homecoming game. Ashville has only lost one game this year and they have one of the best running backs in the state.”

  “I’m sure you guys will win this one, especially with all the fans that come out for the game. Looks like the weather is going to be nice all weekend. Are you going to be in the parade?”

  “I don’t want to be but coach says he wants us all in it. I’m trying to hitch a ride on the senior float even though I didn’t work on it.”

  “You might want to check the mail, something came today from RPI.”

  Bill opened the mail and yelled when he saw “Congratulations”. He had been accepted to Rensselear Polytechnic Institute! This was where he wanted to go to school, they were one of the best for computer science. “Mom, I got in!”

  “I knew that, got a call today from an admissions counselor. Seems they sent that last week and thought it was here already. I’m so proud of you, guess we’ll be making some trips back and forth to Albany now.”

  “This is so cool! Can’t wait to tell everyone. Except Dana.”

  “She’ll understand Bill. Besides, she isn’t so far away that you can’t see her a lot. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

  “Not for a teenager, Mom. I think I’ll keep this news to myself until after this weekend, don’t want anything to mess up homecoming.”

  “Your call dear but the sooner you get it over with the better.”

  Bill shrugged and headed upstairs. He had lots of homework to do, no time to get distracted. He started working on his calculus problems, ripping through them fairly quickly. His physics homework was a lot tougher and he was gnawing on his pencil trying to figure out the motion problem. He didn’t realize the phone was ringing.

  “Billy, are you in space? The phone’s for you.”

  “Thanks Ellie. Hello?”

  “Jack, have you started the calculus homework yet? I can’t figure out this stupid shit.”

  “You should have been paying attention in class instead of trying to look down Mary’s shirt. Alright, here’s what you do. Grab a blank sheet of paper. Write Hi on the top and Ho on the bottom. Now here’s how this all works: take Ho times the derivative of Hi minus Hi times the derivative of Ho over Ho squared.”

  “What the hell did you just say?”

  “Ho d Hi minus Hi d Ho over Ho Ho. Got that? Try it.”

  Bill heard scribbling and breathing on the other end. Mike was muttering to himself, and after 20 seconds it finally clicked. “Jack, you are a fucking genius. I’m going to school where you do, not ready to figure all of this shit out on my own.”

  “I’m getting back to my physics, later Mike.” Bill hung up the phone and thought about Amy. He hadn’t seen her in a few weeks, ever since Dana freaked out and told him he had to make a choice. There really never was a choice, as Bill only cared about Dana. The only hitch was Dana was adamant about staying a virgin and Bill had gotten used to regular sex with Amy. The thing was that he loved Dana. Part of him would rather be free to play but most of him would rather be with Dana.

  “Lots of homework tonight?”

  “Hey Dad, how was bowling?”

  “Good, we won 7 points off the first place team. We’re only 3 points out of first. The best news is that my boss is on the team we whipped tonight so I’ll get to rub it in all week. Your Mom told me you got some mail today. Congrats, that’s great news. When will you accept?”

  “Couple of things. First of all, I’m not telling Dana about RPI until after homecoming, don’t want to ruin the weekend. Second thing, I’m going to see what happens with my Case Western and Carnegie Mellon applications. RPI is still my first choice though.”

  “Alright, we can keep it quiet until after this weekend. I’m not sure why you’re still considering other schools, I always thought that RPI was your choice. Oh yeah, in case you’re interested, I got tickets to Sunday’s Bills game against Dan Marino and the Miami Dolphins.”

  “You got them? That’s killer! I can’t believe we get to go to that game! How did you swing that?”

  “Called in a few favors, only cost me a kidney.”

  “That’s cheap, you have two of them anyway.” Bill laughed.

  “I’ll let you get back to your homework, talk to you later.” Dave headed out of Bill’s room as the phone rang again. “Hello. Hey there, just talking about you, were your ears burning?”

  “Just got back from working on the float. Been thinking about you all night, wish I could see you.”

  “Me too, tough football practice and then straight to homework. Working on physics. How’s the float coming along?”

  “The float is almost done, we’ll finish tomorrow night. Then we can start working on decorating the school and the gym for the dance. I also got you a spot in the car, right next to me.”

  “No place I’d rather be. Why don’t you teleport over here and sleep next to me tonight?”

  “I need to tune up the teleporter, you’ll have to settle for the phone tonight baby. Actually I’d better let you get back to your homework, I need to make sure I’m ready for the morning. See you tomorrow.”

  “Night Dane, pick you up at the usual time.” Bill hung up the phone and wrapped up his physics homework, not sure if he’d done all of them right but beyond the point of caring. He went down to the kitchen and heated up some leftovers for dinner. He finished eating, said goodnight to his parents and fell asleep.”