TNG: Aralyn, chapter 2, con't

Chapter Two continued

"Well, I was thinking since I get to torment you twice, why don't we start with Chemistry, then the German, then the Algebra? That way you get a break?"

"Okay, are we done yet?" Aralyn asked with a laugh.

Cam grinned. "It's really not that bad. You might end up liking Chemistry."

"Says the boy with the A average," she answered sarcastically.

They spent the next forty five minutes going over their most recent Chemistry assignment. Cam turned out to be a remarkably patient teacher, probably a result of all his younger sisters, Aralyn thought. He was even able to explain where and why she was getting stuck in her answers.

"So why can't the teacher explain it like that?" she asked, with more than a note of irritation.

Cam laughed. "He did, you just weren't listening. You were off somewhere else."

Aralyn blushed slightly. "Well, kick me next time, okay?"

"Actually, Mickelson is pretty crappy at explaining the theory. Most of the rest of the class didn't get it either and he had to explain it again. Even then, everyone still looked confused."

"It's just like another language to me," she sighed. "It makes no sense to me the way verbal languages do."

"Then we'll make a good team." He couldn’t help but notice the way her dark blue eyes shimmered. "Because German might as well be Greek."

Aralyn chuckled and suddenly became aware of how close they were. Both were lying on their stomachs, next to each other, books open in front of them. Cam's very blue eyes were staring at her intensely, his dark hair falling forward, almost in his line of vision.

Aralyn momentarily wondered if he was going to kiss her. The thought disturbed her just a little; as she had yet to experience a good kiss. The few boys she had kissed had been too aggressive with their tongues and their sloppiness shut down any hormonal drives that had been revved up.. She had never had a boy kiss her the way her Dad kissed her Mom, a sweet, lingering little kiss that always seemed to promise more and made her Mom’s eyes gleam.

"Well, it makes some sense now," she said breaking the moment. She abruptly sat up and back on her knees. "You want a soda or water?"

"Water's fine," he said, slightly disappointed. He could have sworn she had been flirting with him earlier that day, but maybe not. And she definitely wasn't ready for anything else, he decided.

While his daughter was studying, Bo Duke sat on the sofa seemingly intent on watching tv, yet completely unaware of what was on the screen. Trixie sat next to him, scribbling out a grocery list.

"Bo, if you're that worried, go check on her," Trixie said.

Bo shook his head. "She'd kill me."

"From what the twins tell me, Cameron is nice boy."

"Ain’t no such thing as nice boy when it comes to eighteen year olds," Bo replied.

Trixie laughed. "Just because you were the playboy of Hazzard County at eighteen-"

"Thirteen," he interrupted with his boyish smile.

"Doesn't mean they all are." Trixie finished.

"Trix, not all boys have the honorable streak your Jim had."

Trixie snorted. "He's not my Jim, but you're my Bo." She leaned over and kissed him.

"Aw, gross, you guys go upstairs!" Logan complained, glancing up from the Playstation.

"Is your homework done?" Trixie asked.

"Yes. And Leif is finishing his essay on the computer."

"Then keep your eyes on your game," Bo suggested with a laugh.

Logan turned green and knowing how to take a hint; shut off the game and went upstairs to hang out with his brother.

Giggling, Trixie had just laid another kiss on Bo when Aralyn came walking through.

"Don’t mind me while you make out on the sofa," she said sarcastically. "I'll try not be traumatized too badly. You know how much therapy costs these days?"

"Tell me again why we had four," Bo muttered to Trixie.

"It was the compromise we agreed to when you said you wanted eight," she replied saucily. "Besides, Mr. Duke, I think you have a sink full of dishes waiting for you."

"I thought it was Logan's turn."

"Nope, yours," she said cheerfully.

"What'll I get for it?" he asked, pulling her close.

With a mischievous smirk she leaned over and whispered something in his ear that made a wide grin appear on his handsome face.

With a quick kiss to her forehead, he hopped up and headed for the kitchen, nearly colliding with Aralyn as she was returning from her soda run.

"Learnin' anything?" he asked.

Aralyn rolled her eyes. "Yes, and nothing to do with anatomy."

Bo feigned surprise. "Why would I be thinkin’ about that?"

"Because you're my dad," she smirked, heading back into the office as Bo continued to the kitchen.

She entered the office carrying a glass of water for Cam and a soda for herself. Cam accepted the water with thanks and she sat back down, crossing her legs this time.

"All right, get ready for payback," she warned, picking up the German workbook.

Cam found he was having difficulty focusing, preferring to notice her pretty hands as opposed to the words she was pointing to in the book, while explaining their proper sequential order. She didn't have professionally done nails like many of the girls in their class, but they were well kept and coated with a clear polish. This was also consistent with the fact that she rarely altered her naturally pretty appearance with makeup. Her cousin Tiffany was a pretty girl as well, but with a polished and well put together look. Aralyn had a more scattered, carefree look that appealed to Cam.

"So it's not quite as complex as you thought?" she asked when they were winding down.

Cam nodded. "Good, because I bombed that pop quiz the other day."

Aralyn finished up by showed him a couple of the tricks she had learned over the years to master foreign languages, tricks involving rhymes and word associations.

Another thirty minutes into their studying, Cam excused himself to use the restroom. Aralyn was grateful for the opportunity to try and calm her nerves and steady her racing heart. The way his eyes seemed to focus so intently on her was unnerving, yet warming at the same time. She had noticed that when he talked to her, his eyes didn't stray towards other girls in the hall. He held doors for her. And she was sure he would have tried to kiss her a little while ago if she hadn’t broken the spell. A good guy with definite hotness, she decided, intelligent, and more than worthy of being on the Hot Guys list this year.

Cam returned and settled himself next to Aralyn. "When was that picture of you guys skydiving taken?"

"Spring Break," she replied, "We all went but only Dad and I dove. Mom said the twins and Sean were too young, so they stayed on the ground. The twins weren’t happy about it but Sean didn’t want to anyway."

"Neat. Was it fun?"

"Loads," she beamed, "Dad promised to take me again over midterm break, providing I get my grades in algebra and chemistry up to a B minus. I’m currently at a C minus."

"I'll do my best to help with that," he gave her a gentle smile, "And who's Sean?"

"The adorable little guy watching you," she replied.

Cam turned around to see a small, dark haired boy in the doorway, in a rumpled green shirt and jeans, a glass of milk in one hand and a plate of cookies in the other.

"Well hi there," he smiled, and remembered the watched feeling from when he first arrived. "You were watching me earlier too, weren't you?"

Sean nodded. His eyes were bright blue like the twins but he had hair that was a deep, dark brown.

Aralyn held out her hand and he walked over to her. Cam would have guessed that he was about eight from the boys size.

"I saw your picture earlier too. Wasn't sure if I'd get to meet you."

Sean held out the plate of cookies to Cam and Cam wandered if was just shy or mute.

"He's very shy," Aralyn answered the unasked question, "but he's the sweetest boy I know.”

Sean flushed with embarrassment as Aralyn hugged him. Sean had Aralyn’s and Bo's smile, Cam thought. But Trixie’s eyes. So where did the dark hair come in?

"Is he the only brunette? I saw a bunch in those pictures."

"In our immediate line, yes. Grandpa and our Uncle Brian, oh and cousin Hallie, have black hair, everyone else is blonde. And Dad’s cousin Luke has black hair, and Daisy has dark brown."

"Wow. Makes you extra special with all these blonde siblings, doesn't it big guy?" Cam gave the boy a warm smile, and Sean returned it shyly.

Sean set the plate of cookies down and went to the desk, returning with paper and pencil.

"Do you mind if he sits in here with us?" Aralyn asked with apprehension.

"Not at all," he assured her. He liked kids, and if hanging out with Aralyn’s little brother earned him extra points with her, all the better.

Sean settled himself on Aralyn's other side and began drawing rapidly as they dived into Algebra II.

Cam continued to work on explaining to Aralyn where she was getting caught up on their homework but she couldn't quite grasp the last two problems.

"I just don’t-it doesn't make any sense!" she threw her pencil down in frustration.

"First off, losing your temper isn't going to help," he commented as he reached over and retrieved her pencil. The funny number four she always wrote amused him. Just one more cute little thing about her. "Take a deep breath and we'll start over."

Sean got up and looked over their shoulder. The boy hadn't said a word nor interrupted them as he rapidly drew for the last ten minutes. His small hand reached between them and in a print much neater than Aralyn's, wrote out the formula and the answer.

"Sean!" Aralyn exclaimed. "Does Mom know you can do that?"

Sean shook his head no. "Your teachers?" No again. "Well, crap, kiddo, how did you do that?"

Sean shrugged then looked at Cam.

"Either he understood as I explained it, or else he just likes numbers, right buddy?"

Sean nodded.

"Mom's gonna flip. None of us are real good at math, though the twins seemed to have the least amount of trouble - until now." Aralyn glanced at her watch. "Crap. Sean, go put on your pjs and brush your teeth and I'll come read with you ok?"

Sean nodded carefully tearing off the piece of paper he had been drawing on and handing it to Cam. Cam gasped. It was Aralyn, and a good reproduction of her.

The eyes were perfect, and the smile. At the bottom, in tiny letters, was printed, To Cam, From Sean.

"This is amazing Sean!" he murmured.

Aralyn peered over his shoulder.

"Hey, I don't look half bad. Thanks little bro."

Half bad? Cam thought. How did she not realize how beautiful she was?

Sean gave them both a shy version of the Duke smile and wandered out of the room.

“Does he ever talk?” Cam asked.

Aralyn sighed. “Rarely. Sometimes he’ll say a few words to me, but that’s about it. He was diagnosed with a form of autism, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder when he was about four. It usually hits around that time. Many of them lose potty training and social skills, and stop talking. Sean just stopped talking and socializing, and he was very much behind in his potty training. As he got older, they decided it was really more in the Pervasive Developmental Disorder, which is basically a combination of the other types of autism, and he’s very sensitive to some sounds. If we’re out in public, he wears earplugs and sometimes earmuffs.

“Daddy basically told the doctors they were full of crap and that he’ll talk when he wants to,” she smiled. “He gets really scared if he hears certain animals, and we don’t know why. When he does talk to me, it’s usually recognizable words but they’re garbled. He’s also dyslexic, so we take turns reading to him. He tries to read but it’s really frustrating for him, and he’ll throw it across the room sometimes. He loves books, loves stories, anything he can lose himself in. And well, you’ve just seen how he can draw. He can print a little and he knows numbers. Obviously better than I realized.”

“Is that typical of autistics?” he asked.

Aralyn shrugged. “Some of them. That movie ‘Rain Man’ kind of did both a favor and a disservice to autism. Not all of them are math geniuses. Apparently Sean is. Some of them are almost completely incommunicable, others can be mainstreamed into regular schools if they’re considered high functioning, but mainstreaming has a low success rate. An autistic’s brain simply processes information different, so they don’t always grasp the concept. But every autistic case is different. Every child is different. There are no hard and fast rules. Some may be total savants. Even in the same family, each child can behave differently.”

“He seems normal, other than just not talking,” Cam paused. “I don’t mean to imply anything-” he stopped unsure of what he was trying to say without offending her.

Aralyn nodded in understanding. “He’s very sweet usually, and shy. Mom and Dad took him to a number of specialists. One of them said he’s fine, that he simply is dyslexic and doesn’t want to talk, the others say he is definitely autistic. The twins tease him a bit, but not about that, and they dote on him as much as the rest of us.”

“Does he go to school at all?”

“Yeah, he goes to a special school not far from here. It’s only from eighty thirty until noon, otherwise it’s too much for the kids.”

“Well, I’m going to keep this,” Cam fingering the portrait. “He might be famous some day.”

Aralyn laughed. “You never know. Speaking of, I better get up to him. We keep him on a pretty regular routine. Any deviation unsettles him.”

“That’s all right, I need to get home. Promised Mom I wouldn’t be late.”

“The things we do for our mothers,” she laughed.

“You feel better about Chem and Algebra?” he asked.

“I think so. For now,” she smiled up at him.

Cam shifted the weight on his feet. “Well, if you want to make this a regular tutoring deal, it’s fine by me. German kills me.”

“Sure,” she smiled. “We can work out a schedule.”

“Great.”

“I’ll walk you out real quick, just in case the twins decide to ambush you.”

Cam laughed following her into the living room. A pretty woman with blonde curly hair sat on the couch looking through a catalogue.

“Hi Mom. Mom, this is Cam. Cam, my Mom, Trixie.”

“Hi Mrs. Duke,” he shook her hand a bit awe struck. Damn, Bo Duke was a lucky man. A beautiful wife and daughter! “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Pleasure’s ours, Cam,” Trixie said warmly, “especially if you can help get Aralyn’s grades up.”

“I'll certainly try,” he promised.

Pausing at the door, Cam pondered what he wanted to happen next. He took a deep breath and turned to face her. “Thanks for all your help, Aralyn. Maybe I'll get the hang of this after all.” He gave her hand a quick squeeze and walked out to his car.

Aralyn’s hand tingled slightly from the contact and she watched him put the car into gear, give her a little wave and back out toward the road. With a renewed spring in her step, she bounced into the house and up the stairs to Sean, who was settled in his bed, looking slightly anxious.

“Okay cutie, we’re on chapter four, right?” she picked up the sixth Harry Potter book and opened it. Cuddling next to her little brother, she began to read.

Meet the cast in full & see the family tree!

Author’s Notes
-a huge yee-ehaa to Dana and Jenn (the anti-smile editor!), my lovely editors who help keep me on track.
-the twins introduction scene is an homage to of course, Harry Potter, where we first meet Fred and George Weasley.
-Childhood Disintegrative Disorder and Pervasive Developmental Disorder are real types of autism. Each case is difficult, and varies person to person. Information from http://www.statesman.com/metrostate/content/metro/autism/types_of.html
Word Count, 5,212

Disclaimer: Trixie Belden® is a registered trademark of Random House books. These pages are not affiliated with Random House Books or Warner Brothers Studios in any way, shape or form. No profit is made here, only entertainment. Images of Trixie Belden and other series characters are copyright © Random House books. Bo, Luke and Daisy Duke belong to Warner Brothers Studios. All children, friends, classmates and villians belong to AmazonWitch,Inc. All references and characters and are used lovingly and respectfully, albeit without permission.