Vigilante by Choice

Chapter 15: Field Trip

"Where are we going?" I asked, taking off my sunglasses. I looked like a tool in a suit. But Rory said I had to be fancy since I was going on this school trip.

Rory stared straight ahead of her. "The art museum."

I let out a groan. "That's so boring."

She rolled her eyes. "Sorry, I'm not excited either."

I observed her class. There was only about 40 of them. Either they were nerds, or they looked like douchebags. "Your class looks like a bunch of-"

A lady walked up to me, I was guessing it was Rory's teacher. "Mr. Rainwater, it was so nice of you to volunteer." The lady said while shaking my hand.

I smiled at her. "Just call me Tobias, and no problem. I volunteering for things, right Rory?" I elbowed her.

She forced a smile on her face. "Yeah, he does." She replied elbowing me back.

We got on the bus and headed to the museum. We all got off and the teacher started to explain rules. I zoned out, I'm an adult. I don't need to listen to these rules. I looked around for Rory once we got inside.

I saw a girl, who may I say her skirt was to high, walk up to Rory. "Rory, your dad is really hot. Is he single?" She thought I as her dad? This girl doesn't have a perception of age at all.

Rory pinched the bridge of her nose and looked at the girl. "My dad is dead. That man is my uncle. And no, he is dating someone." She said I was dating someone? So she thinks it could work out between me and Faye. Nice!

The girl who was talking to her looked upset. "Ohh, well if he ever becomes single just let me know." She walked past me a slapped my ass. What is with women and my ass?

I walked up to Rory and nudged her. "Rory, were you girls talking about me?"

She paused to think for a second. "No, we weren't."

"Yeah, right they weren't." I said rolling my eyes.

"That's what you get when you are in a class with seniors, most of all the women are hoe bags." Rory said, a look of disgust on her face. Now Rory herself was not a senior. She was only 14 years old. But her parents started her early and she did so well that she was always put in the smart classes. She was my smart little shit.

"Boy, do I miss high school." I said sarcastically.

"Hey I forgot to ask you, I am working on a project with one of my friends, could he come over to work on the project with me?" Rory asked looking up at me.

"Yeah he can." I said, raising my eyebrow. A boy? Ooo.

She rolled her eyes. "Ok cool, I'm going to look at painting at pretend to understand what they mean." Rory said walking away from me.

"Don't you want to walk with me?" I asked.

Rory turned around. "No." She turned back and walked away from me.

"But I am your favorite uncle!" I said, knowing what her response would be.

"You're my only uncle." She said turning around the corner, leaving me by myself.

I walked up to some strange paintings. There were angels and fat guys and half goat half man things. I really don't get art. I decided I would go to the abstract section of the museum. That way I wouldn't feel uncomfortable. I could look at colors and pretend to understand the meaning behind them. My mind started to drift off into thinking about Faye. Now that was a piece of art that I could stare at forever.

My thought came to a halt. "Hey Tobias. What's up?" A kid in a male version of Rory's uniform approached me at the painting I was looking at.

I shrugged. "Nothing much. I would rather be somewhere else rather than here." I looked at the kid. He seemed familiar, but I didn't know who he was.

"Anywhere in particular?" The kid raised his eyebrow suspiciously.

"No, not really." I said slowly, trying to find a way out of this situation that was getting awkward for my comfort.

He turned to the painting I was standing in front of. "I love this painting. The man in this paint really hides his true identity from the world."

I looked at the painting. He was trying to get at a point. But it wouldn't work for me."It's an abstract painting with two colors. That's doesn't even make sense." The painting was literally a shade of blue with one dot of green.

I was about to walk away when he started to talk again. "But if you tilt your head slightly you can see that the masked man has another masked man behind him. Sort of like a sidekick or a partner in crime, or really a partner in justice."

"Kid, are you ok?" I turned to him. I was probably giving him a very strange look.

He smiled and nodded. "Of course I am. And I am feeling fine because I know that my city is protected." As he finished he stepped closer to me, placing his hand on my shoulder.

AWKWARD. I removed his hand from me. "Good, now I'm going to leave and go to the bathroom. You are obviously really good at interpreting art, so I will leave you to that. Nice talking to you." I rushed away from him and made my way to the nearest bathroom. I walked in and closed the door. I looked at the toilet, not needing to pee, and walked over to the sink to cool down my face.

"Hey wait a second Tobias." I looked up from the sink to see the kid in here again, locking the door behind him.

This kid was persistent. "Why did you follow me in here? This is a one person bathroom." I tried to walk to the door.

The kid stood between me and freedom. "Just hear me out."

He was really starting to scare me. "About what? Don't tell me you have feelings for me, you seem like a good guy, but I have my sights set on someone else." My beautiful Faye.

"I know who you are." He said whispering.

He knows. Hey but I didn't need to tell him the truth, I could just tell him that he was wrong. "Cool. Almost everyone does. I'm Tobias Rainwater, Rory's uncle. I am just a chaperone for this field trip. But I am an adult, and this relationship that you are wanting to have wouldn't work between us." I put my hand up in defense.

"No I mean I actually know who you are. You the Guardian-" I placed my hand over his mouth.

"Shh, don't say that. God, are you stupid? How did you know?" I said looking at him.

He removed my hand from his mouth and let out a small laugh. "No, I am the smartest person in my class."

"How did you-" I was about to ask him when he interrupted me.

"Simple, I know everything. I am a genius. I can read people's minds." He stopped when he realized I was giving him a death glare. "Rory told me."

"What?" I was really confused now. Rory is smarter than that. She should know better.

"We don't have a lot of time to talk, we can discuss this later. But we have to get back to school, and I don't feel like walking home from this horrible museum with stupid pictures." The kid winked at me and walked out of the bathroom, leaving me utterly confused. What the hell just happened to me?

I didn't talk to anyone until we got back to school. I walked to pick up place for Jeb and Rose. I signed Jerry out of the Preschooler room. I walked over to my car when I saw Rory. She was leaning on the passenger side door.

"Hey Rory, how your day?" Rose asked jumping up and down.

I got Jerry situated in his carseat while Rory answered Rose. "It was fine. What about yours?" She asked as she got in the car.

Before anyone could answer I got in what I had to say. "You have some explaining to do."

"Shit. Kenny talk to you?" She asked.

That name seems familiar. "So his name is Kenny, yes I talked to him. We will finish this later. After your friend comes over. Who is this friend of yours anyway?" I asked as I got in the driver's seat and drove home.

Rory let out a nervous laugh. "Well, his name is Kenny." Fuck, this is going to be so much fun.