Young Sheldon: Georgie's love story

chapter 4

It was Saturday evening in the Cooper household, which meant the house was filled with the scent of sirloin steak cooking on the broiler in the oven and a whole host of veggies in the crockpot. Mary was slaving away in the kitchen, while the twins were in their bedroom. (Sheldon was trying to explain the role of electrons in an atom, Missy was pretending to be interested.)

Meanwhile, George and George Jr. were amusing themselves watching the Longhorns vs. Bears game, which unfortunately was not going in Texas' favor. After yet another Baylor interception, George Cooper decided that it was as good a time as any to talk to his son. It had been a week since the football game, and he had some questions about what (or rather, who) had given his son the motivation to to score two touchdowns that had been pivotal to that night's game.

"So," He began, eyes still glued to the flickering screen. "Miranda Wolfe, huh?"

Georgie picked at some stuffing that had come loose from one of the green pillows on couch. "Yeah."

"Look," Mr. Cooper turned to face his son. "She seems like a nice girl. But don't you let any of that get in the way've football, you hear me?"

Georgie continued to pick at the pillow. For the first time in probably ever, there was a lot of things on his mind.

George Sr. turned back to the television. The Longhorns had the ball now. "Just use your head for once. And quit messin' with that damn pillow, your mother'll have a cow."

---

"Missy, eat your carrots." Mary Cooper stared down her daughter until she guilty shoved a forkful of vegetables in her mouth. "And for goodness sake Georgie Cooper, chew with your mouth closed."

Georgie obeyed, if only to sate his mother. The less attention on him, the better. He had no desire to be the center of his mother's wrath when she saw the hole in the pillow that she was going to have to mend.

"Anything interesting happen at school this week?" Mrs. Cooper asked between bites. She had been very busy lately and unable to fully interrogate her children about the week's events.

"Georgie skipped class again." Sheldon volunteered.

Georgie slammed him knife and fork back down on the table. "I did no such thing!"

Sheldon, as always, replied sensibly, though without tact. "Yes you did, I saw you. Last Thursday, you and Miranda Wolfe-"

At that name, Georgie's mother's head snapped up, and Georgie slid down in his seat.

"-skipped history class. Steve said you went to Dairy Queen and-"

Mary Cooper exchanged angry glances with her husband before replying. "Thank you Sheldon, that's quite enough. George Cooper Jr, a word please."

Georgie followed his mother down the hall and into his bedroom, where she shut the door soundly behind them.

What ensued was a lecture. As usual, Georgie tuned his mother out. He nodded periodically and said "Mm-hm." whenever she paused in order to feign any care in what she had to say. He did catch bits of her usual vernacular, like "I cannot believe", "bad example", or "Jesus give me strength". Only when the conversation took a turn towards the subject of Miranda Wolfe did he tune back in.

"-believe you convinced that little angel to skip class. Do the Browns know?"

Georgie chewed on his lip. Uh oh. He had promised that she wouldn't get in trouble, but if her foster parents found out... "Yeah. They know."

This, as most things Georgie usually said while being lectured, was a bold faced lie. Previous to skipping class, he had gotten a fellow teammate to tell the teacher that he was in the nurse's office because he wasn't feeling well. He had also payed off a cheerleader to say that Miranda was in the library helping Ms. Ingram.

"Y'all've been around each other enough, don't go thinkin' I don't know what's going on. How about instead of you being a bad influence, you let that girl be a good influence?"

Georgie resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Yes ma'am."

"Good. Now back to the dinner table, young man. No dessert, you're doing all the dishes tonight, and so help me if you don't finish all your vegetables..." Mary let the threat hang in the air.

That boy was going to be the death of her. She prayed that Miranda would help him (at the very least) be interested in something other than football.

---

Laying in bed that night, Georgie's mind was once again preoccupied with a certain Miranda Wolfe. Sure, she didn't look like any of the women in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, but she was beautiful, and smart, and just everything Georgie wasn't. Everything he didn't deserve, if he was being honest. He only hoped she liked him like he liked her.

A/n: chapter by jackolanterninjuly