He hardly rode his bike at all on his way home from school on the afternoon before Needful Things was scheduled to open; he was lost in a warm daydream (which would not have passed his lips had he been coaxed with hot coals or bristly tarantula spiders) where he asked Miss Ratcliffe to go with him to the Castle County Fair and she agreed.

“Thank you, Brian,” Miss Ratcliffe says, and Brian sees little tears of gratitude in the corners of her blue eyes-eyes so dark in color that they look almost stormy. “I’ve been… well, very sad lately. You see, I’ve lost my love.”

“I’ll help you forget him,” Brian says, his voice tough and tender at the same time, “if you’ll call me… Bri. “Thank you,” she whispers, and then, leaning close enough so he can smell her perfume-a dreamy scent of wildflowers-she says, “Thank you… Bri. And since, for tonight at least, we will he girl and boy instead of teacher and student, you may call me… Sally. “He takes her hands. Looks into her eyes. “I’m not just a kid,” he says. “I can help you forget him… Sally. “She seems almost hypnotized by this unexpected understanding, this unexpected manliness; he may only he eleven, she thinks, but he is more of a man than Lester ever was! Her hands tighten on his. Their faces draw closer… closer.

“No,” she murmurs, and now her eyes are so wide and so close that he seems almost to drown in them, “you mustn’t, Bri… it’s wrong…

“It’s right, baby,” he says, and presses his lips to hers.

She draws away after a few moments and whispers tenderly “Hey, kid, watch out where the fuck you’re goin!” jerked out of his daydream, Brian saw that he had just walked in front of Hugh Priest’s pick-up truck.