Tales From Heller

The Lunatic, The Lover, And The Poet

Scene 1: The First Floor

It had taken remarkably little effort on Tom's part to gather the five people he considered friends at Heller for one last shindig to make up for all the hard feelings they'd ever had before. The long drive to Lake Tahoe, taken this time without Mr. Langley, was full of conversations about happy feelings and marveling that Frank was showing some sort of warmth toward Juliet (still, far less than she showed him, but it was progress). There was some talk of the club, of course, as no old habit could truly die, and Frank promised everyone that while they were partying it up, the other club graduates were preparing for war. But that was another time in another place, and so they continued over the river and through the woods to their little slice of Utopia.

"Home sweet home!" Tom dramatically announced as he opened the front door. Already on the table were bags of groceries; the Monroes had been given a spare key by Mr. Langley solely to enable a moment of charity and remind the kids that they weren't truly off the leash.

"Someday we ought to redecorate this place. Maybe a portrait of me," Frank joked.

"And of me!" Juliet offered more sincerely, ignoring the others' glances.

"But anyway, what should we do now? Scrabble? TV? With this weather, I'd rather jump in an ice bath, but as the host I'll be gracious enough to bequeath the privilege to all of you."

"What a marvel of science that a place with snow in the winter could have such an awful heat wave," Frank continued. "We'd best get this ice cream in the fridge before it turns into milk soup."

"There's also a massive lake out past the backyard. You know, the one we came here to see. If you're inclined to break another tradition, you might actually go for a swim."

"What traditions have I broken? They exist for a reason: to provide order in an unstable society."

"You're holding Juliet's hand right now."

"Rules are meant to be broken."

Tradition dictated that everyone kept the same bedrooms as last year: Tom took his childhood room to squeeze his broad figure into a bed meant for a toddler, Regina took the room opposite his, and Frank kept rights to the master bedroom and his own private bathroom; the flipside of this was that these rooms trapped the most heat, and gusts of warm air greeted them all as they opened their doors. Juliet was still consigned to the living room, but this time had chosen to bring blankets instead of a sleeping bag, having not predicted the heat wave and also hoping she wouldn't accidentally roll into the coffee table again. Beth remained in control of the study, which was the coolest room in the house, and John had the dubious honor of being in the smallest, the computer room; at the very least, he had his old friend the raven for company.

Everyone but Frank and John left to go change for the lake, Juliet almost starting to undress in the living room before she realized two very confused boys were watching her with disappointed looks, leaving the two of them to stare at each other from a safe distance.

"How's Beth doing?" Frank began.

"I'm not sure. Why not ask her?"

"You know what I mean—OK, maybe you don't. You two are a couple, it's your obligation to have answers to these sorts of questions."

"I'm not sure, well, I don't know. She's typically the one who asks me how I'm doing. Always saying things like 'Hang in there' or, you know, other supportive things. It's like she's worried about me or something, but I don't get it. How's Juliet doing?"

"I'm not quite sure either, and I think I could go for a glass of ice water right about now."

"Do you think Beth and I should break up? We've graduated, maybe it's time for a change." Frank went to get two glasses of ice water and came back quickly, betraying no sign of concern.