Page 80 of S.O.S. Perk

“King-sized bed and a wood stove,” Perk blurted out. “Uh, I mean if there’s one like that available,” he added sheepishly.

“Great minds think alike, Perk,” she chuckled. “I’ll text you with deets once I see what’s up.”

“Okay. Good night, Sloane.”

“Good night.”

Ten minutes later he was just dropping off to sleep with visions of snow-covered yurts dancing in his head, when his phone chimed with a text. He opened it to a huge smiley face, followed by a link.

Perk clicked on the link and saw exactly what he’d been envisioning; a wood framed, canvas-covered carousel of a tiny home, looking cozy and warm with a crackling fire glowing inside a wood stove. A massive bed covered in flannel blankets and comforters took up the majority of the room.

Heaven.

The description continued boasting of a miniscule bath, a kitchenette, and when under the covers, a round, domed window in the structure’s peak directly above, that gave tremendous views of the night sky.

Perfect, Perk texted back almost immediately.When?

Check in time is three o’clock Saturday!

Did the exclamation point mean she was surprised, or excited? Either way, Perk could work with it.

Perfect. I’ll be leaving with Smalley and Tertia in the “family” vehicle—complete with all our luggage if anybody is watching—around eight AM on Saturday. They’ll drop me at my condo, where I’ll pick up my truck, then I’ll come get you.He realized he didn’t know where in Brookline she lived.Address?

She shot it back to him without a second’s hesitation.

Perk was pumped.

Look at them, making good progress on all fronts.

I can’t wait to see you,he dared.

Ditto,she returned.

It wasn’t the love-laden response he wanted, but he vowed to get Sloane on board with his feelings before their winter vacation came to an end.

****

By one-thirty the next day, Perk was fidgeting. He wassoover, not only the whole school thing, but shmoozing fellow students for Jeremy had grown equally as stale. There were only so many inroads, even as the gregarious youth Perk pretended to be, who could make it into cliques and groups that had formed as far back as grammar school.

Perk really looked forward to the day being finished.

When at lunch, he’d taken what he’d figured was his final leave of Jeremy. He’d promised the kid he’d start infecting his old friends’ phones with Jeremy’s game as soon as he hooked back up with them.

“Mr. Perdudan.” The teacher called his name and snapped him out of his thoughts.

Perk looked up.

“I understand there’s only thirty minutes left until you’re set free, but we’re still on the clock here. I’ll repeat my question. Can you tell me exactly what you’d look for if your car refused to start in the morning?”

Perk hadn’t been listening, but because of his previous expertise with all types of vehicles, he went down the list of things that could go wrong, starting with a dead battery and ending with a faulty fuel pump.

“That’s correct,” the teacher huffed. “I was pretty sure you weren’t paying attention, but well done. You did, however, forget to mention a failed timing belt.”

Perk shrugged. It was low on the list of what a backyard mechanic would be able to replace.

The teacher launched into wrapping things up, giving them hints of a few more topics he wished to cover in the new year when they returned. By the time the guy was finished, the final bell was ringing.

Thank God.

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