To Her Regents 3 Chapter 10

Preparations

Will was right when she thought her mother might get home late. She tried waiting for her, but fell asleep on the couch. The next morning she found herself in her own bed, tucked in. "Mom must have put me to bed." She thought, letting out a yawn. Thank goodness it was Saturday, she needed a day to recover from the St. Valentines day brawl. She was tempted to sleep a little longer, but the smell of hot pancakes coming from the kitchen lured her out of bed.

"Morning sleepy head." Her mother cried happily, humming to herself as she put a fresh plate of pancakes, and strawberry topping on the table. Will raised an eyebrow. True, her mother would often cook on the weekends, but she seemed in an unusually happy mood today.

"I take it your date went well." Will said, helping herself to the stack of pancakes. Susan smile, and twirled as she finished setting the breakfast table. "I hope you didn't have too much fun Mom."

Susan blushed, but didn't loose the smile on her face. "Nothing you should know young lady."

"Don't worry." her daughter said quickly. "I really don't want to know the details."

"Speaking of details, how was your date last night?" For her part Will didn't blush like her Mother. She knew she was going to be asked, but of course she had to leave out a few…colorful details.

"It was really nice. He picked me up in horse drawn carriage, took me to a nice restaurant, and a moonlit boat ride on the lake." Will smiled at the memory, blocking out the battle, and the shower incident.

"Are you sure that's all you did?" Blinking for a moment she thought she meant the fight, but a moment later realizing what her mother was implying.

"MOM! I can't believe you would even ask that!" she huffed. "For the record Matt was a perfect gentleman, and walked me home. That's all!"

Susan put her hands up in defense. "Sorry Will. I guess I just don't know Matt as well as you do."

Seeing where her mother was going, Will relented. "I told him about the dinner next week. OK? You'll get your chance to interrogate him all you want then."

"Will! I'm not trying to be the bad guy here, I'm just looking out for you, and if he's as nice as you keep telling me, then he'll get through our questioning just fine." Will sighed; she really had been putting this off too long. Might as well get it over with. Wait...

"Our questioning?"

Realizing her slip, Susan decided to tell her daughter the news. "Yes, Dean will be joining us for dinner that night."

Now, Will was getting angry. "Why is he coming? I thought this was to introduce Matt to the family?"

Susan took a deep breath and held up her hand revealing a diamond ring. "Dean proposed last night, and I accepted." Will stared at her mother in shock. "We're getting married!"

On the other side of town, Cornelia was not having a good day. True, she, and Caleb made up after the infamous shower incident; he even sung her a song he had written just for her. He was a little off key, but it did make her feel special. But she forgot that her outfit had gotten really wet, and that she had to borrow one of Hay Lin's outfits to wear home. Lillian made a comment in front of her parents that it wasn't the same outfit she was wearing when she had left for her date with Caleb. She tried to convince them that she fell in a mud puddle, and had to change at Hay Lin's place, but they weren't buying it. Poor Lillian didn't know what she said wrong. All she knew was that her sister was really mad at her. The older Hale sister had locked herself in her room ignoring Lillian pleads to talk. Right now she was on the phone with Taranee, retelling, and ranting to her friend.

"And the worst part is, now my dad wouldn't even look me in the eye, and for once, I really didn't do anything!"

"Well you did see each other naked." Taranne commented.

"That was an accident, it doesn't count!" Taranee was tempted to laugh, but held herself back. "Why not order some Chinese food tonight, and tell Hay Lin to have her mother drop off your clothes, backing up your story."

At that idea, Cornelia lit up. "Taranee that's brilliant! I'm so glad I could talk to you."

"That's what friends are for. Oh, are you coming with Irma, and me to that new romantic comedy next Sunday? Hay Lin's working, but Will's might be coming as well if she gets a decent score on her math test." The blond sighed.

"If I can get out of going to my stupid sister's birthday party." At this alarming bit of news, Napoleon jumped three feet in the air.

"Well if it ends by the afternoon, you could still go." Tara said helpfully.

"If I can also get out of being grounded. Let me try the Chinese take out idea, and I'll let you-ouch! Napoleon what are you doing?"

The black cat was trying to swat the phone out of her hands, but scratched her hand instead.

"Lillian's having a birthday party next SUNDAY!" Oblivious to the cat's distress, she tried to brush him off.

"Fine, you can hide in my room until the hoards of little ankle biters are gone, now, where were we?" Frustrated, he swatted at her again, causing her to drop the phone.

"Napoleon, what is your damage?" He growled at girl's lack of concern, as she picked the phone back up.

"If she has a birthday coming up than I've got to get a hold of Matt right now!" Irritated as Matt's name was coming up again, she ended the call, apologized to Taranee, and told her she was switching phones. She tossed her cell to the cat in a huff, and walked out of the room. "Hey, aren't you going to help me dial?"

"You don't like me listening in on your conversations now do you?" She snapped, and slammed the door leaving the cat to try and dial Matt's number with his paws.

Will had time to argue, and make up with her Mother all within a few hours. Part of her was glad that her Mom was happy, but another part of her was upset, and felt like Mr. Collins was stealing her mom away from her. She met Matt in the park, just to hang out a bit. She really just needed to get out of the house for a little bit, and Matt was a good distraction.

"So Mr. Collins will be joining us?" Matt said, sounding a little nervous.

"Yeah, why is that a problem?" Will wasn't sure why Matt seemed more nervous at the news that Mr. Collins was coming, than meeting her Mom.

"Has he said anything to your mother about my uh…rebellious phase?" Then it dawned on Will that Mr. Collins was Matt's teacher during the whole Shagon drama.

"Oh no, I forgot about that." she said, working herself up. What if he told her mother about the cutting class, mouthing off to teachers, and hanging out with…questionable people? "What are we going to do?"

"Calm down." he said, grabbing her shoulder. "Let me talk to him tomorrow. Maybe I could convince him to…leave a few things out." Will looked unsure, but nodded. She hoped this would work.

The ring of Matt's cell phone broke the tension. To his surprise he saw Cornelia's number. "I wonder what she wants." He answered the call. "Hello?"

"Matty boy, it's me." Matt looked at his phone surprised.

"Napoleon? How did you dial the phone?"

"A pencil in my mouth and a lot of patience, but I didn't call to chit chat. Lillian has a birthday coming up."

Matt narrowed his eyes. "You're not asking for a clown, are you?"

"NO! Besides, you looked horrible in that jester costume. This is Heart of Earth business."

Matt felt another headache coming on. There was no way this was going to be good news. "Alright spit it out, is her birthday another day the Heart can be taken?"

Will, who was partially listening, looked up. "Matt what's going on?" Matt put a hand up to silence her, as tried to hear what the familiar had to say.

"Just the opposite kid. On the true heart's birthday, the heart's power is at it's peak."

To Matt, this sounded like a good thing, so there had to be more to it. "OK, so we get a power up. What's the problem?"

"The problem is that you, me, and the rodent might be experiencing some…uncontrolled power spikes."

"You mean I could…" Matt was imagining the worst while Napoleon confirmed his fears.

"Sprout wings, grow a tail, or develop some nice glowing green eyes at random intervals."

"Ah hell." He groaned, and then he remembered the dinner he was supposed to go to that same weekend.

"Wait, when is her birthday?"

"Cornelia said her birthday party was next Sunday."

Matt looked at Will. "You said the dinner was Saturday right?"

"Yeah." Matt turned back to the phone. "OK so Sunday I pretend I'm sick lock myself in my room and just wait it out, right?"

"Right, just keep your head down for the day, and you'll be fine."

"Wonderful." He thought, but at least he had a bit of warning, and nothing planned that day. "Well, thanks for the heads up."

"Don't forget to tell the rodent. Call me if gets too out of hand. Bye."

"Bye." Matt hung up, and rubbed his head. Will looked at him, concerned.

"What was that about?"

"Let's just say, it's gonna be a long weekend."

On Monday Matt went to school early for the sole purpose of talking to Mr. Collins, hoping he hadn't already talked about him to Will's mother. He took a deep breath, and knocked on the door to the teacher's lounge.

"Come on in." He heard Mr. Collins call out. Gathering up his courage, he walked in.

Dean was surprised to see a student coming to see him this early. "Mr. Olsen, what can I do for you?"

Matt fumbled though his backpack, and pulled out a blue binder. "I finished that extra credit assignment you gave me, and thanks for giving me a chance to catch up." He handed his teacher the report, while looking down at his shoes. How was he supposed to start this conversation?

Dean looked at the binder, and back at the boy. "You could have given this to me before class. Is there something you wanted to talk about?"

Matt took another breath before he began. "Actually, there was another reason I wanted to see you."

Dean pulled out a chair for Matt, as he began. "First of all, let me be the first to say, congratulations on getting engaged." Dean blinked; he didn't think anyone knew yet. "Will told me about it when I saw her on Sunday."

Then it dawned on him. "Oh that's right. You're dating Susan's daughter. Seems I've been invited to a dinner with you two this Saturday."

"Yeah, that's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about. How much have you told Ms. Vandom about me?"

Seeing where this was going Dean nodded. "Truthfully, not much, it simply hasn't come up."

Matt breathed a sigh of relief; there was still a chance. "Well, I think with the dinner coming up I think I'm bound to come up somewhere in the conversation. When it does, please don't mention my rebellious phase."

Dean looked the nervous boy over, as he thought about his answer. "Are you asking me to lie for you?"

Matt held up his hands. "No no no, I mean…I…I just really want to make a good first impression with Will's mom. I don't think last fall was my smartest, or most dazzling time, but it wasn't really me either. Mr. Collins, I made a few mistakes, I admit that. I've also been doing all I can to help correct that, in school, and with my personal life. I'm not asking you to keep it from her, just please don't bring it up, at least that night."

Dean thought long, and hard about this. Mrs. Olsen had talked with him about her son, concerned that he might stray again. He agreed to keep an eye on the boy, but Matt seemed to doing just as he had promised. His grades were going up, he had been asking for extra credit assignments, and more importantly he seemed to be acting more like the Mathew Olsen he knew. It was almost like an evil twin or something had replaced him for a short period, but he had his own relationship with Susan to worry about. He had never dated much, and until Susan came along, he thought that he was destined to be a bachelor for the rest of his life. Taking all of this into consideration, he made up his mind.

"I can understand your situation Mr. Olsen, but you must also understand mine. You're not the only one whose relationship is on the line." Matt was about to protest, but Dean held up his hand. "I do, however, appreciate the fact that you have taken the opportunity to try, and rectify some of your bad choices. While I will not lie to Susan if those incidents come up, I will not bring them up, at least not at the dinner. I strongly suggest that you find a way to tell her yourself though. Something like this is bound to come back to haunt you if it is not dealt with."

Matt let out a breath he didn't even know had been holding. "That's all I ask, and you're right, I'll find some way to break it to her, maybe I should get my mother's advice on this." He stood up, and shook his teacher's hand. "Thank you so much Mr. Collins. I promise you won't regret this." Mr. Collins shook Matt's hand, and bid him farewell.

Matt met Will outside the door, seems that she had been waiting for him. "Well…" she said, a little on edge.

Matt put a hand on her shoulder. "While he promised not to bring it up, he's not going to lie if she finds out from someone else."

Will still looked uneasy. "So, what does that mean?"

The boy sighed, as they walked through the halls. "It means that he's giving me a chance to tell your mother on my own."

Will closed her eyes, and blew a stray strand of hair out of her eyes "Are you going to tell her at the dinner?"

He shook his head. "I think that will be a little too much for one evening. I need to talk to my Mom, or Grandpa, maybe they have some ideas about how to break the ice."

As the couple walked off, they didn't see a figure watching them and listening very intently to their conversation. He picked up his phone, and dialed his real employer. "Mr. Riddle this is Sylla."

"Anything new to report?" The older man asked.

"The five are very suspicious about me, and are keeping their heads down, but I think there is someone else we should be looking at as well."

"You're referring to the boy."

This really shouldn't surprise the investigator. Mr. Riddle was always on top of things. "From all of the reports, he was simply a normal boy dating subject Will Vandom, but I think he's hiding something more."

"Go on."

"I did some checking, and it turns out there was a Missing person report filed for Mathew Olsen back in September. He was missing, and presumed a runaway but returned 6 days later. A lot of the teachers here say he came back…changed. It was also around the same time we got reports of several flying girls fighting monsters, and an angel in downtown Heatherfield. I'm not sure what the connection is yet, but I doubt it was a coincidence."

"Sylla, I want you to keep an eye on him as well. Even if it turns out he's just a normal boy, he could still prove very useful when we acquire the other subjects. Continue with your research, but be cautious, I sense a darkness within this boy." Sylla thought it odd that Mr. Riddle could sense something over the phone, but he knew better than to question him.

"Very well sir, I'll continue my observation. Sylla out."

Will arrived home, with a bit of good news for her mother. She had gotten a B- on her math test. Hopefully, this would be enough for her mother to let her go to the movie with the others on Sunday. It was a shame Matt couldn't go too, but his wings might be distraction to the people sitting behind them. As she walked in the apartment, she thought she heard he Mom yelling on the phone.

"I don't care if is she is your daughter too, I'll not have that tramp in my house Tom!" Will decided to eavesdrop, and not make her presence known just yet.

"Then just meet him on your own time. This is a family dinner!" There was more shouting on the other end, but Will knew that her mother was talking to her Dad. She never yelled at anyone else like that. It also sounded like they were talking about the dinner, but why?

Finally, it seemed her mother had given in, and slammed down the phone. It was only then that she noticed her daughter's presence. "Oh, Will, I'm sorry honey. I didn't hear you come in."

"Yeah, kind of hard with all the yelling." Now Susan felt guilty. She didn't mean for Will to hear that conversation.

"That was your father. It seems he invited himself, and his fiancé to the dinner with Matt on Saturday." She clearly wasn't happy about this, and truthfully, Will wasn't either.

"You mean, both of my parents, and step parents are going to be meeting my boyfriend, all at the same time?!" she exclaimed. "MOM, are you trying to scare him off?"

"Oh, don't be so dramatic Will. Look at it this way; he'll get it all over with in one shot. Oh, but now I'll need more food, and of course he didn't bother offering to pay, not that I would accept anything he offered." As her mother rambled on, Will cringed.

"Well, if he makes it through the night without being scared off, I'd say he's mine for life."

The week went too slow, and too quick for both Will, and Matt. Suddenly, as if it popped out of nowhere after taking an eternity, it was Saturday morning, and despite not getting a lot of sleep the pervious night, Matt was practically tingling with excitement. He felt almost buzzed like he had several cups of coffee, but without the jitters. He decided to skip his favorite drink, and instead went through his closet looking for something nice, but not too dressy for the dinner. He was so preoccupied, that he didn't notice there were a few stray black feathers in his bed.

For you see, Lillian's birthday was actually Saturday, today. While Cornelia didn't lie, she misunderstood when Napoleon asked her when the birthday party was. It was a tradition in the Hale household that the family celebrates on the actual birthday, and any parties with friends were usually held the weekend before or after, but Cornelia was still too mad at Matt, for reasons which are still unclear, so she never bothered to find out why it was so important for the Regents of Earth to know about her sister's birthday. A decision everyone was going to regret.