He appeared to be in pain, but he was at least healthy enough to move under his own power. Saved!Sean walked up beside me just before Mr. Dean opened ...he door to let everyone in. As we were hanging up our coats, Sean said in a low voice, "Al is still really pissed. He went over to Kirsten's house after school yesterday and told her how he felt. She told him that she didn't think about him that way, but they could still be friends."Ouch. "Thanks for the update, man." We went into the classroom.. I couldn’t help but glance discreetly at Mrs. Crawford. Her knee-length dress had ridden up slightly, and I was able to appreciate a small expanse of her nyloned thighs.“Will that be all, Miss?” I asked. Jennifer looked up briefly and simply dismissed me with a wave of her hand. I suppressed the natural feeling of humiliation and steeling myself, returned to the kitchen. I was furious with myself for being manipulated into this ‘impossible’ situation. How could Jennifer be so off-hand, after. . you bet! I've learned to hold onto what I've got, because the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence. In fact, there may not even be any grass at all." You'll recover. You're a good-looking woman. You'll find someone." I suppose so. But it's getting a little late to start a family, and I'm going to have to get lucky to find the right guy. I had one of those and gave him away. That's a mistake I can't afford to make again."She was sounding more than a little sorry for. I had received some cursory training in fighting with the police baton, but I was a long way from being an expert with it, and an expert I needed to be.I looked through the Sola Vista Yellow Pages and those for surrounding towns until I found a dojo that listed "stick fighting" as one of the skills they taught. That was the place I needed to look into. The next day, I showed up to look the dojo over.Boy oh boy, was I impressed. The dojo was run by an ex-Special Forces man, Bill Wilson, who.