As the school lessons ended the classmates were walking through he corridors to collect their coats and be out of the school as soon as possible. Conan, his backpack slung over one shoulder, caught up with Steven. With a mischievous grin spreading across his face, Conan told Steven. "Hey, I invited Claire to a place of entertainment tonight. You could bring your girlfriend and we'd go all together."
Steven's face fell. "Who shall I take then?" Steven wondered. "I don't have a girlfriend right now and I don't want to have any either. After Lisa, I'd liked to pass on women."
"Well, then let's go just three of us. Be at my place by seven."
"I'm just going to be a third wheel ," Steven mumbled and scratched his nape.
"Don't talk rubbish, you're my best friend here and I have all the time in the world to be with Claire. She'll be coming with us to the cottage at the end of the week."
"With you?" Steven's eyebrows raised to his forehead.
"With me and my parents. It's mom's idea. She thinks it will help strengthen the family. You know, she's great. I've never had myself a... It's," Conan quickly corrected himself, "I wanted to say that if there's a mother and so nice, it's wonderful."
"I don't find my mother wonderful at all. She's always frustrated with something, and most often it's me," Steven confessed, self-criticism evident in his voice.
"Well, it's enough that you're happy with yourself for two," Conan laughed.
Steven let out a relieved laugh of his own. He felt incredibly lucky to have made such a friend, even though they had brawled and Callan had cut his hair. Before their recent brawl, Steven had seen Conan as a spoiled, arrogant rich kid who couldn't do anything on his own and only lived on his parents' money. But the recent events with Lisa, the destruction of Mr Linden's grandeur in sports, the manner in which Callan presented the gained knowledge, all this surprised and delighted Steven. He now wanted to emulate what he had despised before. Steven felt that he had found a real friend in Callan who would defend him and never betray him.
The boys said goodbye, their plans for the evening secured. Each headed towards their own destinations, their thoughts swirling with anticipation.
Reaching his home, Conan first rushed to the bathroom and, throwing a handful of fragrant crystals into the pastel green bathtub, began to fill it with the water. He had grown to love this invention and indulging in a very hot bath three times a day, followed by a invigorating cold shower. After his bath, Conan then went to the fridge and, having carefully selected the various dishes, piled them up in a huge tower on a plate. Since he rarely ate in the kitchen, he settled comfortably in Callan's room, having previously taken a bottle of beer from the bar. After eating and emptying the bottle, Conan, humming the song, undressed and, throwing his clothes onto the floor, went straight to the bathroom. He continued to sing and thought of Claire.
After a while, someone knocked on the bathroom door. "Come in and rub my back," Conan cried cheerfully, assuming it was his mother who had come over.
Ms Alder's squalid face appeared in the door. "I called at the front door, but no one opened them and since it wasn't locked, then I just came in," the woman she explained, her smile failing to disguise the predatory gleam in her eyes. She didn't avert her eyes from Conan, whose naked body was only partially concealed by the soapy bubbles.
"Mom isn't home. She went to some kind of art exhibition," Conan smiled in return. "I think all three of you talked to meet at the gallery."
"Yes, but I missed and came here in the hope that she would already be home."
"Well then, wait in the living room. I'm about to come and hang out with you."