Morbid

Arnold got up the next morning and ate breakfast. It used up the last of his bread, too. He changed out of his sleep clothes and put on his last clean pair of underwear, then he dressed in a different suit and picked up the laundry basket. He left his dorm room at the normal time and the hallway was populated with women again.

“Hi!” “Morning!” “Hey, you.” “Hi, sexy!” “Hey, we agreed no terms of endearment!”

A few of the girls laughed at that. Arnold said hello and waved to them as he passed and pushed the button for the elevator. He waited for it to arrive and stepped inside. It was almost always empty when he called it. If he had thought about it, he would know it was because everyone was usually already on his floor and he was the first one to leave every morning. When it reached the ground floor, he stepped out to see a few people in the lobby and walked over to Doris' desk.

“Good morning, Arnold.” Doris said and her voice was a little off. “Just leave the basket here behind the desk. I'll take care of it for you.”

Arnold walked around the desk and put his laundry basket down. When he knelt, Doris leaned in and gave him a quick kiss, out of sight of everyone.

“Thank you.” Arnold said and stood, then walked back around her desk and across the lobby. He left the building and walked over to Building F and went inside. Once there, he started work and set up the classroom again, then went to the Ice Box on his own and retrieved the required specimens. It took a couple of trips and he finished just as Amy and the other lab workers entered the lab.

“Good morning everyone.” Professor Hamil Crenslav said as he came into the lab right behind them and saw that it was all set up. “Arnold?”

Amy and the others nodded.

“Very well. Only the minutiae to be dealt with, then.” Hamil said with a smile.

“Only you would think dealing with the school population is minutiae, Professor.” Dianne said with a laugh.

“You know I meant only the normal students.” Hamil responded with a sly smile. “It is a trial one must endure to teach the people here that want to learn the actual course material.”

They all nodded and he went to his desk.

“Then take your places and let's have another smooth day.” Hamil said, and they did. When the morning was over, everyone helped to clean up like they had the day before and they were done around the same time. “Arnold, I have some materials I'd like for you to read over this afternoon. Come to my office after lunch to get it, will you?”

“Yes, sir.” Arnold said.

“The rest of you, enjoy your day.”

Amy, Arnold and the lab workers left the lab and took the elevator down to the ground floor. They had their conversations and Arnold went along with them to the main building and into the cafeteria. He thanked the woman behind the counter as she passed him his regular meal. He bought lunch from a smiling Angela and when the group split up to go sit with their friends, he looked around at the tables for an empty spot.

Amy sighed. “Come on. Even if Cissily isn't here, you can still sit with us.”

Arnold followed her to the table the redhead sat at and they sat down.

“Hi, Arnold.” Maxine said.

“Hello.” Arnold said.

“How was work today?” Maxine asked, since Cissily wasn't there to carry the conversation like she normally did.

“Easy.” Arnold said and started eating.

“What?” Amy looked at him. “You set up the whole lab by yourself, including the specimens, and that was easy?”

“Yes.” Arnold said.

Amy looked at Maxine and the other girls at the table. They had the same surprised looks on their faces as she did. They all talked back and forth about different things, mostly wasting time while they ate, and Maxine asked Arnold a few different and random questions, just to include him in the conversation.

Arnold finished eating and picked up his tray. “I need to get back to the lab.” He said and walked over to the counter. The woman behind it gave him a wave and thanked him as he left.

“He's definitely an odd one.” The black girl with dreadlocks commented.

*

Doris stood in front of the washing machines in the basement of the dorm building and she resisted her urge to bury her face into Arnold's dirty clothes. She separated the whites from the darks and washed them in two loads, then tossed them into the dryer together. When it dinged at her, this time she gave in to her urge and held the hot clothing to her face.

For some reason, that always felt refreshing, like an unexpected warm hug.

Doris chuckled at the thought and put the clothes back into the laundry basket. I can just ask him for a hug when I want one. She thought and smiled as she picked up the basket and walked over to the elevator. She took it up one floor and went over to her desk and put the basket behind it and sat down. That went faster than I thought it would.

Doris absently started folding things up from the basket and sorted it out, because she had done it automatically for years, and she piled the folded things back into the basket. Arnold came into the dorm building and he had several large books in his hands.

“The professor's got you on a reading kick already?” Doris asked and Arnold nodded. “I've got your laundry done, too. You can come back down for it after you drop off those books.”

“Okay.” Arnold said and went to the elevator. He went up to his room and dropped off the books and came right back down to get the laundry. “Thank you.” He said as he bent down to get the basket, then gave her a quick kiss.

“Arnold, we... we shouldn't...” Doris said and then she sighed. “I told myself that if you needed me to do things, I'd do them... but... I'm afraid.” She admitted. “Saying you'll do something is one thing. When it comes to actually doing it, it's a different situation altogether.”

“I don't understand.” Arnold said.

“I know. Neither do I.” Doris said and smiled. “That's the thing about people. We can have all these conflicts of conscience and our behaviour can change at a moment's notice.”

Arnold gave her a blank face and she sighed.

“I was going to ask you a very personal question and not only am I afraid of the answer, I'm afraid of what I'll do with that answer.” Doris said. “You see, I'm a mature woman and you're a handsome young man. I can't help but enjoy spending time with you, because you make me feel good about myself. You even look at me like I'm not a much older woman.”

Arnold tilted his head to the side and she assumed he was confused.

“Yes, it's confusing.” Doris sighed. “I need to make something clear before anything else happens.”

Arnold nodded.

“When you were hurt and Kelly gave me permission to kiss you for her, she only meant just that once.”

“Did she say it was only once?” Arnold asked.

“No.” Doris said. “It's just assumed that there's a limitation on things like that.”

Arnold took out his cell phone and started typing.

“Wh-what are you doing?” Doris asked, a little afraid of the answer.

“Asking Kelly about it.” Arnold said.

“But... no, she...” Doris' words trailed off. She's going to be angry.

*

“That was a great lunch, Katheryn.” Annie said. “You're quite talented at quick meals.”

Katheryn nodded. “When you have a husband that can leave and then show up at short notice, sometimes with company, you need to learn to adapt and make food quickly... or pretend to not be home.”

“Mom!” Kelly exclaimed and both Katheryn and Annie laughed.

“You're not supposed to teach her secret wife tricks until she gets married, you know.” Annie said and Katheryn nodded.

Kelly's phone beeped at her and she took it out to check it. “It's Arnold.” She said and read the text. Her eyes widened and she handed the phone over to Annie, who read the text and laughed.

“What is it?” Katheryn asked.

“Just Arnold being Arnold.” Annie said and started typing. “That boy needs a firm hand; but, he can get ideas from things that weren't supposed to be that way.”

“That sounds ominous.” Katheryn said.

“Kelly made a comment about having the Dorm Mother kiss him while she's taking care of him.” Annie said. “He's asking for clarification of that.”

“Wh-what? What did you tell him?” Katheryn asked her daughter, a little surprised.

Kelly sighed. “I texted Doris when Arnold was hurt and I told her to take care of Arnold and to give him a kiss from me.”

“What's wrong with that?” Katheryn asked.

“He wants to know if I actually said that Doris is allowed to kiss him for me. If I did, then is he allowed to kiss her or did I lie about it.” Kelly said.

“But... most people would know it was only for one kiss.” Katheryn said.

“You would assume that.” Annie said. “What if you only had limited people interaction until recently and the social rules you understood were constantly changing around you? How would you handle it?”

“I... I don't... well, I guess I'd ask someone about it.” Katheryn said and then her eyes widened. “Wait, you mean Arnold is like that?” She asked. “He's the one without a lot of social interaction?”

Both Kelly and Annie nodded.

Katheryn thought back over the things that happened and her face flushed red. No wonder he gave me that look when I inadvertently pushed his face into my breasts. He didn't know how to handle it! She thought in embarrassment. “I'm sorry. I didn't know.”

“That's why I was so angry at you for doing what you did.” Kelly said. “Arnold thinks that will be how you will always act, even though I told him you weren't normally like that after bringing him over.”

Katheryn smiled this time. “I'd hate having to wear that dress all the time.”

Kelly smiled back. “I'd hate having to watch you rub your chest on my boyfriend's face every time you meet.”

“Okay, I think I got it.” Annie said and Kelly looked at her. “I didn't go back on your words, so don't worry about that.”

“What did you tell him?” Kelly asked and took the cell phone back.

“She's the Dorm Mother, so she's like a surrogate mother. He's only allowed to kiss her like he kisses me.” Annie said and Katheryn's mouth opened a little in surprise and Annie laughed. “No, not like that. It's just quick pecks on the lips when saying goodbye or when he tells me he loves me.”

“Oh! Well, yes, I guess that's all right.”

Annie nodded. “It was Heather's fault, actually. She taught him how to say goodbye with a kiss.”

“Oh, wow.” Kelly said and looked at Annie, who laughed.

“Yes, the day after he learned it and I said goodbye to him, sure was an eye opener.” Annie said. “I can laugh about it now; but, at the time? I was pretty pissed about what she was teaching him.”

Both Kelly and Katheryn were quiet and didn't say anything.

“Now you know why I regret that she was his first girlfriend.” Annie said. “If he had dated you first, he would be a completely different person to interact with right now.”

Kelly took a breath and let it out. “He would be reserved and wouldn't be overtly expressing himself like that.”

Annie nodded. “He'd be copying your social interactions instead of Heather's. As it is, all we can do is... curtail... his tendencies.”

Kelly took in a sharp breath. “Annie! He's in a dorm full of half-naked women!”

Annie chuckled. “You restricted him to only sex with you, remember?”

“And kissing.” Kelly said. “He found a way around that, though.”

“To be fair, you gave it to him.” Annie said and pat her hand. “Don't worry, though. He's not running around and kissing every girl he meets that's nice to him.”

“Thank god.” Kelly said in relief.

“Would he really do that?” Katheryn asked.

“He was doing that before Kelly was smart enough to tell him not to.” Annie said. “Even I didn't think to do it and just mitigated the aftermath.”

“So... if she hadn't...” Katheryn started to say, then her face went red as she blushed.

“Yes, mom. He would have kissed you.” Kelly said. “Probably pretty well, too.”

“Kelly!” Katheryn's blush deepened.

“Well, as long as Kelly doesn't tell him he can kiss you, you're in the clear.” Annie said. “I doubt he'll make the logic leap from me to you, not without someone saying it.”

“What do you mean?” Katheryn asked.

“I'm his mom... Doris is the dorm mom... you're Kelly's mom.” Annie said and smiled.

Katheryn's eyes widened and she looked from Annie to her daughter. “Please, don't tell him.” She said softly and both Annie and Kelly nodded.

*

Doris watched Arnold's face and didn't see any reaction, so she waited to see what he was going to say.

“You were right. Only that first kiss was supposed to be from her.” Arnold said and Doris sighed. He leaned down and gave her a kiss. “Thank you.”

“Wh-what?” Doris covered her mouth. “You just said...”

“You could have stayed quiet and I would have broken my promise to Kelly.” Arnold said. “You told me the truth instead. A thank you kiss is needed.”

“But... but...”

“She said you're the Dorm Mother, and you're like a surrogate mother to people that live here, so it's okay to kiss you as if you were my mother.”

“You kiss your mother like your girlfriend?” Doris asked, surprised.

“Not like Kelly.” Arnold said. “Only quick kisses, so she's not uncomfortable doing it.”

“Because you are her son and kissing her like that would make her feel weird.” Doris said.

Arnold nodded, because that was what Claire had told him.

“Well, that's a relief!” Doris said and almost laughed. “If she's okay with you kissing me, then I guess me being afraid of what she would say was pointless.” She smiled and touched the side of his face. “I'm not uncomfortable with kissing you, so you can go ahead and kiss me however you want.”

“Okay.” Arnold said and stood up with his laundry basket in his hands. “What personal question were you going to ask me?”

“I think I better save it for later.” Doris said and actually laughed this time. “I don't think my heart can take another emotional revelation so soon!”

“Okay.” Arnold said and walked over to the elevator and pushed the button. He stepped inside and rode it up to the fourth floor and stepped off. It was after lunch, so the entire place was quiet and he walked to his dorm room unhindered. He went inside and put the clothes and towels away, then he went to his desk and sat down to start reading the books on advanced biology that the professor had loaned him.

Arnold wasn't a speed reader, so he read at a normal pace. The difference with him was that when he was interested in a subject, he didn't have to read it a couple of times to remember it. It stuck like glue in his mind and he stayed up all night and went through all three books, which meant he had completely skipped supper because no one was there to keep an eye on him or to make sure that he ate.