Living in Surreality - 16. Chapter 16

chapter 16:
: edited by viv :

The river; that was the most common answer heard around the table when an informal poll was taken on where people would be spending their spring break. The river, it sounded like a nice, fun, relaxing, and exciting way to spend a week off of school. Then there was the 'at work' answer that both Matt and Valerie issued.

The results of that lunch conversation two weeks ago found Jacob lounging by his pool alone, going stir crazy. Jacob had quickly realized over the long weekend that he could only watch so many Jerry Springer reruns, and there was only a finite amount of trouble he could get into on the internet with out the aide of a credit card.

"This sucks," he growled into the phone as he reclined on a wooden lounge chair by his pool. "We've been out of school for three days and there aint' shit to do," he complained.

"Clean the house," Valerie said sounding distant, busy, trying to find a home for the eight-of-clubs on the computer screen as she sat at the front counter of her dad's auto-repair shop.

"I have," Jacob growled, "twice today, three times yesterday," he continued, annoyed by the fact that she had barely been listening to him.

"There's an Offspring song that describes this situation ya' know, 'Get a Job'," she giggled pulling herself, unwillingly, from the addicting game before her.

"Bite-Me," Jacob laughed. "You know I've been applying. It's not my fault I'm too damn sexy to get a job."

"There you go," Valerie laughed with him. "You could be a male stripper."

"That is a thought," Jacob said, feigning intrigue. "On second thought, no, who wants dollar bills shoved into their crack anyway?" he mused, his hand absently brushing his chest as he listened to Valerie laughing on the other end of the line.

Dan looked woefully at the back up of cars he had. It seemed that everyone in town was looking for routine maintenance before making the long drives to wherever they where heading this week. Ten oil changes, only one of which was being done at a time. Three of the oil-changes wanted tune-ups as well. One pair of brakes, matched with three cars looking for tires, and that list didn't include the Bell's transmission overhaul which he'd had since Friday afternoon. It should have been done and gone on Saturday, of all the days for Rob to catch the twenty-four hour bug, which had turned into the seventy-two hour bug. Dan didn't relish the thought of having to let the man go, but that's what he would do if he didn't hear from Rob by tomorrow afternoon.

Three days, no-call, no-show was voluntary termination. That would mean more lost time for Dan, time spent receiving applications and interviewing, checking references. He hated when his shop didn't run like the well-oiled machine it should be. Thankfully he had managed to get Carlos to come in on his vacation to work on the transmission, yet he was still booked and backlogged.

"What's up Boss?" Clark asked in his deep baritone as Dan threw a shop rag on one of the garage's work benches. "You should be happy, we're busy."

"Too busy," Dan muttered, looking at his long-time friend and business partner. "You know that I like a quick turn-around, and it's just not happening today."

"Oh?" Clark asked, an eyebrow rising over his dark eyes. "Are you sure this is all about work? You're not barking like it is," Clark observed, knowing keenly when the shop was bothering Dan, this time he knew it wasn't, not completely.

Dan cast Clark a brief look and sighed, "Valerie asked about love the other night," he admitted, giving into Clark's halfhearted prodding.

Clark's deep laughter roared above the clang and clatter of the garage. "Sorry Boss," Clark said in reply to the dismissive look Dan issued his laughter. "So is it anyone specific?"

"She says no," Dan admitted.

"Matt?" Clark asked falling in line with what the families had thought for years.

Dan frowned, "I consider Matt a son, always have."

"He's a good boy," Clark observed, with a nod of his head. "His dad is an ass."

Dan nodded but wouldn't elaborate on Clark's observation. "He used to have a crush on Valerie; you could see it in the way he looked at her."

"So it is Matt," Clark interjected smiling broadly.

"Then this kid, Jacob, moved in across the street. Slowly Matt hasn't been looking at her the same," Dan continued, looking forlorn at the loss.

"I'm confused," Clark grimaced. "Matt had a crush on Valerie?" Clark questioned.

Dan nodded.

"So this new kid moved in and now Matt doesn't have a crush on Valerie anymore."

"Exactly..." Dan said, watching as Clarks brow furrowed with confusion.

"So he has a crush on the kid," Clark paused, trying to figure out if this was right, "Jacob, across the street?"

"Right," Dan confirmed before he processed the information. "Wait...No," he corrected, shaking his head, "Valerie has a crush on Jacob, she told Matt about it, and now Matt is backing off."

Clark's large head lulled back on his thick neck as he gave Dan a skeptical look.

"I don't trust him," Dan finished, admitting to himself that perhaps his theory was somewhat half-cocked.

"You sound like my ex-wife," Clark observed before walking away.

Dan grumbled something in audible to himself as he turned and headed towards the office, his mood still sour, and it didn't improve as he entered the office, finding Valerie giggling on the phone.

"Who in the hell are you on the phone with?" Dan shouted sounding harsh.

Valerie looked up at her father, realizing he was in one of his more temperamental moods, as he cracked a bottle of water and took a healthy swallow. She gave her father an almost imperceptible smile as she loosely placed her hand over the mouthpiece of the handset.

"It's Jacob, Daddy. He's bored, so he called to complain about the fact that he's to sexy to get a job."

An elongated scream of the word 'no' could be heard coming from the phone as Valerie smiled and held it away from her ear. Dan even took the opportunity to smile at Jacob's embarrassment. It was either the heat, or the workload that made him do what he did next.

"Sexy my ass," Dan growled, crossing the two paces with ease, he snatched the phone from Valerie's hand. Placing the receiver up to his own ear Dan barked into the phone catching Jacob off guard. "Can you change oil?"

"Yes sir," Jacob stammered, feeling vulnerable talking to Valerie's father.

"Then get your ass over here and get to work." Dan didn't leave a moment for Jacob to reply, figuring if he was serious about wanting a job, he wouldn't pass this up. Instead, Dan slammed the receiver back down into the cradle abruptly ending the call.

"You too," Dan barked again, this time while looking at his adoring daughter. He gave Valerie a shake of his head and a weak smile before heading back out to the service bays.

Jacob stared at the phone, his mouth slack in shock, until it began screeching, begging to be hung up. Even then, he was hesitant to believe what he had just heard. He waited a few moments before calling the shop back and confirming with Valerie that what he had just perceived, really had happened.

Once Jacob confirmed that Dan had, in fact, given him a job, he could not escape the confines of his lonely house fast enough. Jacob scrambled up the stairs to his room and spent ten minutes searching for something adequate to wear before settling on an older pair of his khaki work style pants and a white t-shirt. Jacob jotted down a quick note to his mum before bolting out the door to his new job. Just the thought of having a job had Jacob grinning like a fool.

Dan was just as amazed at what had happened, the actual content of the phone call running through his mind as he absently shook his head, wondering what he had gotten himself into.

"Sup' Boss?" Clark inquired wringing his hands in a shop towel, trying to clear some of the perpetual grease that adorned them.

"I think I fucked up," Dan sighed.

Clark gave him a questioning look.

Dan eyed Clark sideways, easily seeing the curious look Clark wore.

"You know that kid I told you about, the one that moved in across the street?" he began.

"Jacob right?" Clark laughed, finding Dan's preoccupation ridiculous.

"Yup that's the one, Valerie's boyfriend," Dan cringed as he said the last word.

"What about him?" Clark asked, easing the bulk of his strong body against the shop wall next to Dan.

"I think I just hired him."

Clark's hearty laughter resounded through the shop bays as his large hand grasped Dan's shoulder. The ruckus noise bellowed above the sound of impact wrenches, causing the work to stop as the three other employees surveyed the scene. The silence around Clark's laughter failed to fall on a set of deaf ears. Dan quickly looked around the shop.

"Get back to work!" he bellowed.

It took a few moments of blank stares, but his employees did return to whatever task they had at hand.

"Well boss' you know what they say, keep your friends close."

"And your enemies closer," Dan nodded finishing Clark's thought. "He's not a bad kid, respectful and all. I just remember what I was doing at his age."

"Molly Dickinson," Clark laughed, giving a voice to Dan's memories.

"Don't you have a head to tear down and rebuild?" Dan asked, hitting Clark's massive bicep before walking away shaking his head.

Valerie sat at the front desk idly wondering to herself how many times she could alphabetize customer work orders and invoices in one day, when she heard the door chime ring, and the clang of the metal door frame as it closed harshly.

"Hello," she said, not even bothering to look up. "What can we do for you today?"

Jacob approached the counter setting his house keys down on the piece of glass that covered the length, protecting the various spark plug and oil advertisements.

"I need a lube job," he said, trying to disguise his voice.

If it worked or not, he didn't know, but Valerie kept her head down, seemingly interested in the paper work before her.

"Model and year?" she questioned on cue.

"Mustang," Jacob smiled, followed quickly by the year of his birth.

Valerie looked up and smiled her best condescending smile. "That wasn't a great year for Mustangs; you might consider getting a different car."

"Can I still get a lube job?" he asked with a cocky grin.

"Matty only worked here last summer for a short time," Valerie replied, her eyes twinkling.

"Ouch," Jacob said with mock pain.

"Dads, in the bays, go on out." Valerie smiled pointing to the door behind the counter.

Dan was sitting at a small old desk, lined with a dozen, shop worn automotive books, finishing an estimate, when Jacob walked out. It took him a full two minutes to even notice the young man who was standing there quiet and nervously shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"You're not getting anything done standing there," Dan finally spoke, failing to look up from the list of parts before him on the desk.

"I didn't know where to start," Jacob stammered, shuffling closer to the desk.

Dan forcefully set the pen down on the desktop. Spinning in his chair, he yelled out for Carlos. It wasn't long before a guy came running up who couldn't have been more than twenty-one or twenty-two. His eyes were a deep brown, almost black and set in high contrast to the natural pale tan of his skin

"Sup, boss?" Carlos sounded slightly winded from his dash over to Dan.

"Go find the new kid some coverall's and put him to work on the oil changes," Dan said motioning to Jacob but not looking at him.

"Right, boss," Carlos said to Dan before his dark eyes switched to Jacob. He gave him a visual once over before speaking. "C'mon cupcake," he said, motioning for Jacob to follow him.

As they crossed the bays, Jacob noticed a familiar wear pattern on Carlos's right converse sneaker. He held the information back, figuring now wasn't the time for friendly conversation. He knew that would come later, right now, Carlos was tasked with showing Jacob the ropes, so to speak.

It took some rummaging in a box in the back storeroom, but Carlos managed to find one of his old pairs of coveralls. He took a moment to rip off the ASE certification patch before tossing the pair of coveralls to Jacob.

"It might be a little big, but I'm the smallest guy here," Carlos said with a smile, "and I pulled the patch off because you aren't certified yet, if you hang around for six months Dan will pay for you to get certified though."

Jacob began to pull the coveralls on after thanking Carlos.

"If you've got a wife-beater on you might wanna' loose the t-shirt, it gets pretty hot in the bays," Carlos said, offering a helpful hint.

"I don't," Jacob answered, looking slightly concerned.

"Well I'd loose the shirt anyway, Dan don't mind, as long as you don't go strutting your stuff in front of the customers."

Jacob offered Carlos another quiet thanks, before quickly shucking his loose t-shirt and pulling the coveralls the rest of the way on and zipping them up.

"You ever changed oil before?" Carlos asked as they made the short trip back into the bays.

"Yeah my grandpa is a gear head; I used to help him all the time. Then I started doing my mom's oil changes on my own," Jacob answered as they approached a '99 F-150.

"Cool, so this is going to be a cake walk for you, cupcake," Carlos smiled, swatting Jacob quickly. "First of all you pull the car in, and then type the make, model, year, and engine size into the computer. It will tell you what filter to use." Carlos quickly typed in the F-150's information into the computer, showing Jacob how to operate the system.

Jacob nodded his understanding.

"The filters are over here," Carlos walked Jacob to the rack where they kept the oil filters all neat and organized. "If you pick the wrong filter; you should never do that by the way, just pay attention to the codes, you have to put it back where it came from. Dan gets really pissed when people screw the filters all up," Carlos motioned over to Dan who was busily tinkering around under the hood of a vehicle with Clark.

"I can imagine," Jacob agreed.

"If the filter you need isn't here, tell Valerie the part number," Carlos pointed out a label that had a number on it. "She'll get on the horn and order em'. Same thing goes for filters we don't normally keep in stock. Tell Girlie, she'll get em' here. What ever you do, don't sit on your ass waiting for parts. If it ain't here, tell Valerie, and move on to the next job. Go back when the part arrives," Carlos looked at Jacob trying to find confusion. "Got it?" he finally questioned.

Jacob nodded, "Yup."

"Yeah?" Carlos raised his brow unconvinced.

"Yeah, type the vehicle info into the computer. The computer tells me what type of filter, oil, and quantity. Filters are over there," he pointed to the shelves holding the small boxes. "Don't fuck up the system; if I pull the wrong filter put it back where it goes, by part number. Let Sweets know if I need a filter that isn't here, keep busy always." Jacob smiled confidently.

"Sweets" Carlos chuckled lightly as he raised an eyebrow in Jacob's direction.

"While I'm refilling the oil, top off the other fluids and check the air filter," Jacob added ignoring Carlos' question.

"Boss!" Carlos yelled across the shop, causing Dan to pull out of the other vehicles engine cavity, looking in Carlos's direction. "The kid's a natural."

"Good," Dan yelled back. "Put his 'natural' ass to work, and get back to work yourself!"

"You heard the boss, cupcake, get to work," Carlos swatted Jacob on his rear with a clipboard before walking away.

"Where are the other keys?" Jacob shouted after him.

"Girlie..." Carlos yelled, pausing as his grin grew larger, "Sweets; has them in the office," Carlos shouted back, nearly laughing with the speed Dan pulled himself out of the engine cavity he was peering into.

Natural or not, Jacob was doing his best to clear the backlog of cars lined up for an oil change. He had gotten two done and out of the way when Valerie walked out into the bay's holding work orders for another four oil changes and a manila envelope with Jacob's name written across the front in black marker.

"What are these?" Jacob asked accepting the work-orders.

"Four more oil-changes," .Valerie said in passing

Jacob frowned with the additional cars, "I thought you said you were booked for the day?"

"They're good customers," Valerie said with a playful smile.

"And this?" Jacob asked, holding the envelope aloft.

"New hire packet, Application, W-4, employee handbook. Just fill them out and get them back to me tomorrow," Valerie answered, "Oh, and I need your Driver's license and Social Security cards to make copies."

"Okay," Jacob nodded, tossing the paperwork on top of the tool chest he'd been working out of. "You couldn't give these to anyone else?" Jacob asked, motioning to the work orders he was filing behind the other four he had.

Valerie smiled. "You better light a fire under that cute ass of yours if you're going to impress my dad," she said, issuing Jacob a wink before heading back into the shop's front office.

Four hours later, Dan was watching as Jacob was wiping the tools he had been using clean, and placing them back into the large red chest. Dan had appeared too busy and aloof, but he had been watching as Valerie kept bringing the oil changes directly to Jacob. He knew it was an attempt by his daughter to make him impressed with Jacob. To his surprise, he was, the kid had been overwhelmed at first, but quickly adapted by taking over the next stall and adjusting his routine to do two oil changes at a time. When he wasn't busy clearing cars Jacob kept busy by pushing a broom and keeping the bays clean in general.

Dan pushed away from the car he had been working on and ambled over to the tool-chest Jacob was at. He was quiet for a moment as he appraised the way the tools had been cleaned and put away in an orderly fashion. It was nice to see the tools organized for a change, but he knew that would be short lived as Jacob found out it took just too much time to maintain.

"Tomorrow, noon to four," Dan finally spoke, his eyes still wandering over the tool chest.

"Four hours?" Jacob asked, disappointment apparent in his voice.

"Take-it or leave-it Son, it's no skin off my nuts," Dan answered sounding gruff.

Jacob nodded his assent, figuring it was better then nothing.

Dan added his nod to Jacob's, "I'll see you here tomorrow then," he concluded, effectively telling Jacob he was done for the day.

"I'll just..." Jacob started, motioning to the last two cars that were almost done.

"Hey," Dan interrupted, fishing his wallet out, "You're done for the day," he continued as he pulled out five twenty-dollar bills and held them out towards Jacob.

"I can't..." Jacob shook his head at the bills Dan held out to him.

Dan rolled his eyes, looking impatient, as he grabbed Jacob's wrist with one hand and shoved the bills into Jacob's fist with the other. "You did a good job today; consider this your pay and a bonus for taking the initiative when my daughter threw too much at you. Put it in your pocket, or throw it away," Dan shrugged, turning and walking away from Jacob, "Now get the hell out of my bay's and go home," he shouted.

Dan swung the door into the office open harshly, leaving it to slam behind him in a show of dominance. The cool air of the office felt better then the warm air out in the bays did. But the comfort came with the price of the stinging smell of Vulcanized rubber. In many ways, the office sales-floor smelled more like an auto shop than his bays did; the air permanently heavy with the tang of new radials over the muted smell of stale grease, no matter how many air-fresheners Valerie tried to open.

"You," Dan said directing a work worn finger in his daughter's direction. "Don't think I don't know what you pulled out there."

Valerie smiled at her father as she looked up from filing sales receipts, "Did it work?"

"Get out of here," Dan huffed, dismissing his daughter for the day.

Valerie didn't miss a beat, quickly collecting her stuff she bolted out the front door of the shop catching Jacob as he rounded the corner from the bays. The coveralls had been removed and his t-shirt retrieved as he prepared to walk home.

"C'mon," she said grabbing Jacob's arm.

"Where are we going?" Jacob asked, glad that he didn't have to walk home, or take the bus like he had originally planned.

"We're going to collect Matty, and then we are going to go have a congratulatory dinner in honor of you finally getting a job," she beamed.

Jacob liked the sound of her plans, and didn't fight, as she led him to her dark blue Mustang which was parked next to a candy-blue Honda street bike shining in the afternoon sun. He pulled his arm from her grasp, and strolled over to the bike, taking the opportunity to run his fingers along the silky smooth paint of the bikes bulging gas tank.

"Carlos'," Valerie offered the information without prompting. "And he loves his wife almost as much as he loves that bike."

"It's nice," Jacob smiled, turning away from the Honda and climbing into the Mustang's passenger seat. "I'd like to get one someday."

"Carlos would like that," Valerie quipped. "He'd be bugging you go riding with him all the time."

"I kinda figured it was his," Jacob admitted. "One of my Aunt's ex-boyfriends used to ride one, the gear shift is controlled with the right foot, and I noticed the wear pattern on Carlos' shoe earlier."

"You like motorcycles?" Valerie asked, igniting the fire in the belly of her beast.

Jacob looked at her and smiled an almost embarrassed smile that had his cheeks flushing, "Yeah, I think they're sexy, and I kinda had a little crush on my Aunt's boyfriend at the time. It was a combination of the motor-bike, and he was the first guy that ever treated me like an adult, rather then the pesky twelve-year old."

"Okay," Valerie commented shifting the car into gear. "You're really sharing too much," she laughed, looking over her shoulder as she backed out of the parking stall, "but I can see the attraction as it were."

The drive to Christie's took a whole ten minutes, including the time spent at a red traffic-light. The Mom & Pop style hamburger stand was only three blocks away on the opposite side of the street from King's Auto Body, where Valerie, and now Jacob, worked for her father.

"Be right back," Valerie said sliding her pony into park and making to open the driver's side door.

"I'll get him," Jacob said, his eyes sparkling with the anticipation of seeing Matt, the seatbelt that restrained him already unbuckled.

Valerie didn't want to deny him the look that was twinkling in the back of his eyes, but in the end, she did. "Don't let anyone steel ya'," she commented over her shoulder, walking away from the Mustang with a slam of the driver's side door, watching as Jacob slumped back down in the passenger seat.

Jacob harrumphed, watching Valerie's backside sway its way through the door of the restaurant. He didn't waste time wallowing in the fact that Valerie had scampered off in search of Matt, he figured getting even was ten times better than getting mad as he crawled over the gear shift and adjusted the driver's seat for his stature.

"OH HELL NO," Valerie shouted from the doorway of Christie's, ignoring Matt who was right behind her as she let go of the door and rushed to her pony. "Scoot your ass back over," she stated, waving her finger at Jacob.

He revved the engine loudly with every syllable Valerie spoke while shaking his head and cupping his hand to his ear. 'I can't hear you...' he mouthed while grinning wickedly.

Valerie shook her head with a set face as she issued a decidedly different finger to Jacob before stalking around to the passenger door and climbing through to the back seat, settling behind Jacob, leaving a laughing Matt claim the passenger seat.

Jacob was laughing as the roar of the pony's engine calmed into the constant purr of idle. He gave Matt a sideways glance, accentuated with a wink that wasn't missed by Valerie.

"Oww," Jacob laughed as Valerie's hand clipped him perfectly on the back of his head, and then he rubbed the area for effect.

"Hey," Matt said in a mock whine, pulling Jacob's head to his lips. Matt pulled back, his nose wrinkled, before the kiss was planted, not that Matt would have kissed him in the middle of the day, and in front of everyone, "You smell like a mechanic," he noted.

Jacob's head spun around in Matt's grasp slowly, dragging the tip of his nose across Matt's cheek before pulling away, "and you smell like an order of fries," he shrugged with a grin, "got any ketchup?"

Matt blushed with the guised question.

"Speaking of food," Valerie interrupted from the back seat.

"Where are we going?" Matt asked, feeling only hunger for the camaraderie of Valerie and his boyfriend, the thought brought a burst of fire to Matt's cheeks augmented with a burning in his chest.

"Pizza Joint," Valerie answered reaching forward and pulling a hair scrunchie off her gear shift.

Jacob pivoted his head around as he slipped the mustang into reverse, watching the non-existent traffic behind him as he backed out the parking stall, catching a glimpse of Valerie flipping her hair into a pony tail with little effort.

The drive to the Pizza Joint was a short one, which was the main reason Valerie had conceded the driver's seat that Jacob had stolen so easily. She still didn't care for the way Jacob spent more time watching Matt than he did the road though.

Matt was indeed more interesting to Jacob at the moment, than the road was, and he couldn't say why. It just seemed he hadn't seen Matt in forever even though it was more like six hours. Well six hours a day for the last three days, and that disturbing trend was set to continue all week. For now though, he was content with the stolen glances and sly smiles Matt offered every time their eyes met as he maneuvered the Mustang through traffic.

Checking the rearview mirror by chance, not doing the whole scanning thing he was supposed to be doing, he caught sight of Valerie's sharply arched eyebrow.

"AHEM..." Valerie cleared her throat loudly. "You might want to keep your eyes on the road Romeo, and not the prize," she finished with a sly smile. Jacob was more then willing to comply, as he swung the Mustang into a parking stall, figuring there was no more road left, so he could ogle the prize all he wanted now.

Valerie was glad to see her favorite waitress was her smarmy old self, graying roots and all, under a halo of vivid red, as they sat in back booth they usually sat in. The waitress's fake gum smacking smile eroded as she trudged up to the table, seeing Valerie, this time with two young men who curiously sat next to each other on the opposite end of the booth.

"What'll it be?" the waitress asked, recognizing Jacob as well.

"Large pepperoni and pineapple," Valerie ordered flippantly as Jacob scoffed at the mention of the fruit. "Antipasto salad and a pitcher of..." she paused looking at Jacob.

"Dr. Pepper," Jacob smiled at the waitress wickedly, making damn well sure she saw his hand creeping over towards Matt's lap.

Matt's torso stiffened and his eyes widened in surprise, as Jacob's hand landed in his crotch, giving him a firm squeeze through the stiff cotton of his work pants. The old waitress' eyes opened so wide with Jacob's overt display that the sorry red dye job of her eyebrows collided with the grey of her roots.

"And a glass of water please, with a lot of ice," Valerie smiled, oblivious to the display on the other side of the table, though the waitress thought the girl knew damn well what was going on.

Valerie's order of water barely registered on the tired woman's mind, her eyes staring intently at the slow rhythmic glide of Jacob's wrist. She made some disgusted noise that came in a rush of carbon dioxide, before turning on her heal and heading towards the kitchen.

Jacob wore a satisfied smile as he lifted his hand from Matt's lap and crossed it with his other on the glass topped table. Matt's hand scrambled quickly to his lap to straighten the problem Jacob had encouraged out, as his cheeks flushed, and he tried desperately to avoid eye contact with Valerie.

"What were you doing?" Valerie inquired with suspicion

Jacob's grin grew wider, as he shrugged, "She's caused enough grief. I figured I'd at least get a handful of what she claimed last time."

Valerie's eyes widened, "Oh my..."

"So what are we celebrating?" Matt asked once he had straightened himself out, trying to steer the conversation in a less offensive direction.

"Jacob got a job," she smiled, proud of herself for not saying anything to Matt before he asked.

Matt threw an arm over Jacob's shoulder, giving his boyfriend a light congratulatory hug, which was more a squeeze. "That's awesome," Matt nearly yelled with his excitement. "Doing what?" he asked.

"Male stripper," Valerie answered with an impish smile.

"What?" Matt asked, blanching.

Jacob scanned the room quickly, making sure the waitress and other prying eyes weren't paying attention, before he quickly kissed Matt's cheek, savoring the brief light taste of Matt before countering Valerie's offer of information. "Dan gave me a job changing oil at his shop."

Matt turned a mean look on Valerie, "That wasn't nice," he said before sticking his tongue out at her.

The three were laughing when the waitress returned, one large pizza loaded with pepperoni and pineapple, one pitcher of Dr. Pepper, and an antipasto salad. She set the food on the table with as much enthusiasm as she always had, more tossing it to land with a metallic clap against the glass top. She left, and then quickly returned with four glasses, three empty, and one filled with water and four ice cubes.

"Ahhh..." Valerie commented after the waitress had set the glasses and left, "service with a smirk," she continued with a lopsided frown and narrow eyes.

Jacob meanwhile had taken it upon himself to pull a piece of the pie and plate it for Matt, following quickly with slice for himself. He was diligently scouring the piece of pizza for any of the offending chunks of fruit when Valerie's next question caught him by surprise.

"So what are your plans for the future?" Valerie asked out of the blue, platting some of the Antipasto for herself.

Jacob looked up, his head cocked slightly to one side, not understanding Valerie's question.

"College?" she asked giving a slight quick shake of her head.

"Oh," Jacob answered, feeling a little uncertain, he had heard all about Valerie and Matt's plans for life after high school. Valerie would be attending Berkley, something he found ironic, seeing as he came all the way to Southern California to meet them only to have them run away up north. Matt had his hopes set on an Art school in San Francisco, but had also applied at Berkley and USC as fail safes. "I was looking at a Fire protection course at the local community college. Mrs. Decker pointed it out after I told her I'd kinda like to be a firefighter."

Valerie gave a slight nod of her head, feeling much like Matt looked as he sat next Jacob. The three of them realizing silently that the impending wide-open arms of summer wouldn't last forever, even though no letters of acceptance had been received; nothing was ever set in stone.