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Tuck Some Notes -*- Copyright 2013 by Ellen Hayes.

Any resemblance between the writings in this work, and any actual
persons or places, living or dead, are purely coincidental, except when
used for satirical purposes.

This work contains adult situations, adult language, adult concepts, and
possibly sex.  If you are legally not allowed to read materials
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this.  I am not responsible.
Continuing to read this document, or storing it or reproducing it
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All rights reserved.  See the bottom for distribution rights.


Tuck Some Notes

***
11:30 5 Mar

     "Nah, the family wants to take me out," Amanda said as she brushed
at her shirt.  "I don't even-  I mean-  What IS this?"
     "Looks like motor oil?" I guessed.  That was one mean stain.
     "Aww, shit.  Where the hell...  Anyway," she said, shaking her head
and giving up on the shirt, "Since you're doing whatever Sunday, and I
kind of hooked into Nicole's party last week, I was just kind of
thinking 'fuck it', you know?  Oh hey Nicole," she smiled and waved.
     "Hey," Nicole said back.  "Friday, right?" she asked me.  "Oh, did
you want to see Titanic again?"  The girl she was with sniggered.
     I replied, "I dunno; I was thinking of going out to eat, maybe?"
     "Ohhhh!" she exclaimed in a singsong.  "But it's not YOUR cooking!"
     "I know!  And therefore I don't have to cook it!  Also, my mom's a
bitch, so..."
     "Oh god," she sighed.  "I hate mine."  I don't know why; I kind of
liked her mom, in a terrified sort of way, except for the poison gas
thing.  Well, probably because she wasn't my mom.  Also, parents acted
worse towards their own kids, for some reason.
     I pressed, "Yeah, so, out to eat?"
     Nicole said, "And then?" and looked all sexy for me.
     "Something like that," I smiled.  She smiled back.
     "The two of you are just sick, you know that," Sabrina mentioned as
she went into the vomitorium the school claimed was a cafeteria.
     Nicole stuck her tongue out at Sabrina's back, and then smiled at
me.  "I gotta go," she said reluctantly.
     "Yeah..."  I reached forward, and we had a short hug and an almost
instant kiss before she detached and ran.

***
11:39 5 Mar

     "Yeah, that, uh..."  I leaned forward and whispered in Pam's ear,
"remember the band?  Jack the guitarist?  He wanted to take me out to
dinner."
     As I pulled back, she was giving me the Eye.  Because she didn't
want me dating a guy while I was dating Nicole.
     Which I could understand, but that wasn't what I was doing.  "It's
not LIKE that!" I protested.  "It's-  argh!"  There was a lot I couldn't
or wouldn't explain while I was here in school.  "But trust me, it's not
like that, okay?"

***
14:21 5 Mar

     "Oh, jeez..."  Did I dress up for dinner with Jack NOW, or try to
do it after sitting?  "I hate decisions like this.  Or, wait, was I
meeting him at eight-thirty?"  I was.  "Well fuck that then."  I could
get back here in plenty of time, as long as I didn't screw around.

***
14:38 5 Mar

     "Oh, and the seat belts," I remembered.  With three kids in the
back, I had to dig up the third belt from wherever it had sunk.  "Oh
great."

***
15:02 5 Mar

     "In the car, guys," I said as I opened the other back door, after
checking to make sure that it wasn't going to be ripped off by some
distracted or psychotic Catholic soccer mom in an SUV.
     Ricky ran around to my side, and there was a scuffle between Adam
and Scott as to who had to sit in the middle.  "And don't forget the
seat belts," I reminded them before Ricky slammed his door.

***
15:44 5 Mar

     "Ahhhhh!" I sang at Stella, who responded with a very happy and
totally unintelligible string of syllables.  She had the idea of a
sentence down, I thought; just no ability to actually make one.
     Then she said, "Muh."
     "Milk?"
     "Muh!" she insisted.
     "Milk it is."

***
16:19 5 Mar

     "Hello?"
     "Happy actual birthday!"
     "Oh thanks!" Nicole smiled over the phone.  "Oh, wow, that party...
That was so COOL!  And are you still wearing the earrings?"
     "Yep," I smiled, though I'd bet she wouldn't have guessed what else
I was wearing with them.  Still, they looked good enough with the
sweater and jeans I had on.  "Whatcha doin'?"
     "Oh, just sitting around...  Mom said she'd take me out for dinner,
though, so I- someplace nice, she said.  Oh and Larry's coming, so... I
don't know, I mean he's okay, but-  I mean, I don't know if I want him
to come, I mean it's like my birthday dinner right?"
     "Well, yeah; but maybe he's trying to be nice, y'know?  Like, if
he's dating your mom, you're sort of included in the package."
     "Yeah, I know... I just don't know if I want...  I don't know.  I
mean, _I_ don't want to date him, but I sort of am?"
     I had to laugh, but I had to agree too.  "Like your mom is kind of
dating me, yeah."
     "Yeah and like Jill's kind-"  She laughed a lot.  "Oh my god,
Jill's sort of dating me too!  Like that.  Oh man!"
     "You're such a dyke," I teased.
     Stella sang, "Diiii!"
     "See, even the baby knows," I told Nicole.

***
17:43 5 Mar

     "Sorry!"  Miz Parker pushed past me, very rudely I thought, and
then proceeded to vomit in the kitchen sink.
     I gagged several times at the noise, and tried to get my earplugs
out of my med bag before it was too late, but it was too late; and then
there were two of us throwing up in the sinks.  I was glad they had a
double.
     Then, because I'd taken my respirator off, the SMELL hit me.

***
17:52 5 Mar

     "I was doing fine until you did that," I sighed.
     "Sorry!" she apologized again.  "Why are YOU nauseous?"
     I was going to smart off about being nauseous because she'd been
throwing up right there, but that led me to think about throwing up, and
then I was trying to throw up again.
     Then she was.

***
18:00 5 Mar

     "We are just not going to mention that topic ever again," I
announced.
     She wiped her face.  We were both sweating, as if we'd been
exerting ourselves, haha.  "I don't know why it's worse this time."
     "We are NOT TALKING ABOUT IT," I insisted.

***
18:03 5 Mar

     Cold and ginger were both very good for what ailed us, which I
wasn't going to think about.  But, we were outside, enjoying the lovely
March air and sipping ginger like we were civilized people.  Civilized
people who didn't do uncivilized things.
     "So tell me about moving," I said, to get our minds off anything I
didn't want to think about.
     "Oh."  She had some more of her drink.  "I-  We haven't found a
place yet, but we're looking.  Actually we've been looking, since we
decided we wanted a third child."
     "You could always pack 'em in here," I mentioned.  "My folks did
that for a while."
     She shrugged.  "Yes, but David thinks the market's going to go up,
and so now would be a good time to buy."  She sighed.  "I just hope
we're not going to take a bath on the upgrade."
     "What?"
     "It'll cost us more to upgrade than we'll get selling this house."
     "Oh."  Well, more bedrooms; of course it would cost more.
     "David's home," she said.
     "Wha-  Oh, Mister Parker," I remembered.

***
19:14 5 Mar

     At least I'd gotten the food mostly done before Miz Parker had so
rudely interrupted my meal preparations.

***
19:44 5 Mar

     "Oh, yeah, it wasn't a big deal," Rachel said as she sat on her
bed.  "They just wanted me to visit."
     "Oh.  Good."
     "So are you going out with Nicole tonight?"
     "Oh, no, th-  Jack, from Stepwise Pagoda?  He called..."

***
19:51 5 Mar

     "Damnit," I sighed, as I flinched and just about lost the false
eyelash into the carpet.
     "What are you doing?" Rachel asked.
     "False eyelashes.  'Cause Debbie convinced me to buy some, and I
haven't tried them out before," I told her.  Well, that I could
remember; it was possible Debbie had put them on me, that night, but if
she had, I didn't remember it.  I sure as hell didn't have any skill
attaching the things.  "I didn't think they would be this hard.  Have
you ever worn 'em?"
     "Oh.  No, I don't think so."

***
20:00 5 Mar

     Rachel nodded.  "Looks really good."  I hoped so.
     I took another look at myself in the mirror.  The boots, of course,
looked good; but the black dress on top of it looked superb, the lining
and slip kept the wool from actually touching me, and the gray belt I'd
gotten a while back went with the boots.  The dress had sleeves that
sort of pouffed at the shoulder - Rachel called them 'leg of mutton'
sleeves; I didn't know why they weren't called 'drumsticks' - and went
to just above my elbow, and then I was wearing black leather women's
gloves too. I'd used the scarf to do my hair up - I was going to have to
learn about curling irons and things, one of these days - and that
showed off my gold bow earrings, plus the pair of fake-pearl (I assumed)
clusters Rachel had insisted I wear, along with the fake-pearl necklace
she'd also insisted I wear.
     I'd gone heavier on my makeup than usual, but it was past six and I
WAS going out to dinner with a guy.  The false eyelashes, I was glad to
note, didn't look weird, just like a lot of mascara on top of, duh, more
and longer eyelashes than I actually had myself.
     "I think it is," I agreed, a little surprised.
     "Want to borrow a coat, right?"
     "Yes please!"

***
20:14 5 Mar

     "The reflex, is a lonely child, he's waiting in the paaaaaaark," I
sang along with the radio.  The lyrics made no sense whatsoever, but it
was kind of perky anyway, for an oldie.

***
20:29 5 Mar

     I recited the address into the phone, and added, "Twenty thirty
hours out," and hung up.
     "Um, my name is Valerie," I told the hostess, which I probably
should've done first.  "I'm supposed to be meeting a friend, uh, but I
can't remember his last name."  I actually wasn't sure I'd ever learned
it.  "First name is Jack."
     "Well, no one has said anything," she said carefully.
     "He probably has a guitar with him, in a case," I remembered.
     "Oh, no," she shook her head.  *What?  Yes he does!*  "No one like
that."  *Oh.*

***
20:33 5 Mar

     A quick peek had suggested that he wasn't here yet; the smell was
halfway between nauseating and ravenous-making, so I'd gone back out to
my car to have a little more ginger, which I hoped like HELL wasn't
going to fill me up.
     I also hoped I had enough money.
     But, since it was cold outside, I'd brought my laptop inside; and
then, I had something to do as long as the battery held out.  Maybe
longer, if I could convince the hostess to plug me in somewhere in the
tiny waiting area.  Or if I just got a table near an outlet and had
dinner, which seemed like a better and better idea the more ginger I
had.

***
20:41 5 Mar

     "Hey."
     I looked up, and it was Jack.  Carrying his guitar case.  "Hey," I
smiled, and saved and told the laptop to shut down.  "How's it going?"
     "Pretty good.  You look great."
     I smiled some more.  "Thanks!"  I didn't know what else to say,
actually.  I felt pretty, though.  And hot, because I was blushing some.
     "Dressed up for a reason?" he asked, sort of like he knew the
answer already.
     "Oh...  I just don't really get an opportunity to do it much, and,
this, tonight, is like the closest I'm going to get to a date like this
for a long time, so..."  I shrugged, embarrassed.  Well, more.  NOW I
wished I hadn't dressed so nice.
     "Ever had Indian cuisine before?"
     "I don't think so."  He gave me a look.  "What?  It's got to be
edible or it isn't cuisine.  Weird food won't hurt me."  Well, it could,
in a few ways; but it wasn't like I was a stranger to vomiting lately.
And having it come out loose at the other end would probably be doing me
a favor.

***
21:01 5 Mar

     "You."
     "Me," I sighed.  And blushed.
     "Does she... know?"
     I knew what he meant.  "Not yet.  I was thinking about telling her,
soon..."  I played with my fork a little.  "I mean, it's hard.  I mean,
hard enough with what I have to do, with home and school; but it's
worse, when..."  I didn't want to finish in a public place.
     "Yeah; s'what I was thinking."
     We ate for a while.
     "Oh, do you know anyone that wants a Volkswagen Beetle?" he asked,
out of the blue.
     "The old kind or the new one?"
     "Old style.  A seventy-three Super Beetle, I think.  Johnny's
brother's selling it."
     "Uh, I'll ask around.  I can call-  No, call my voicemail with his
number, and I'll tell anyone to call him.  How much?"
     "Twenty-five hundred."
     "What kind of shape?"
     He shrugged.  "I think it's okay, but I'm not a mechanic.  It runs,
I know that.  Kinda new tires, I think."
     "Hnnnh.  Oh, hey, Nicole just had her sixteenth birthday," I
realized.  "Maybe she'd like it.  What?" I asked, because he was giving
me a look.
     "HOW long have you two..."  He trailed off.
     "Oh, since Valentine's Day.  I mean, she's in my cosmetology class,
so I've sort of known her since the beginning of the year."  He was
still giving me that look.  "What?"
     "And you're gonna..."
     "What?  I could tell her there's a Bug for sale, and I sorta know
who's selling it..."  Apparently whatever I'd just said made Jack feel
better.  "What the hell were you thinking?"
     He had some food instead, but I turned on MY Eye Of Parental
Inquiry and aimed it at him.  He chewed, and smiled, like he'd
deliberately put food into his mouth so he could chew instead of
talking.  Which, of course, he had.
     On the other hand, I was not an amateur at this; I kept the
pressure on, and when he swallowed, he said, "Um.  I thought-  I don't
know why, but I thought you were thinking of buying the Bug for Nicole."
     "WHAT?!  Sorry," I apologized to the restaurant, which was now
looking at me.  "Are you insane?!" I asked Jack, much quieter.
     "I thought YOU were."
     "I am NEVER that insane.  I have circuit breakers that'll pop
before I go THAT crazy," I said as I tapped the side of my head.  "I
mean, I like her, but not twenty-five hundred dollars worth!"  I didn't
like ANYONE twenty-five hundred dollars worth.

***
21:49 5 Mar

     I'd eaten as much as I thought I could, and now I was stuffed, and
really regretting the drive home I had to make.  Except it was even
worse, because I had to drive to Rachel's and change first, and then
drive home after that.  What a pain.
     "So, how do you like Indian?"
     "What?"  As he looked at me like I was an idiot - which I felt
like, because I was full and not too thinky at the moment - and opened
his mouth, I finally caught it.  "Oh the FOOD!  Duh.  I love it!
Especially the vegetarian stuff."  Apparently my stomach mostly thought
it was meat that had the Evil in it.  Whatever Evil it was.

***
22:11 5 Mar

     "Okay, not actually coming here every night," I sighed as I opened
the door for him.  The bill had been, not unexpected or really awful,
but more than I wanted to pay.  Of course, 'any' was more than I WANTED
to pay.
     "Aren't I supposed to get the door?"
     "I got it for your guitar," I smiled, which made him chuckle.
     We went outside, and it was colder than it had been, with a nasty
wind.  "Brrr!" I think we both said, and I was glad I had gloves, as it
would be cold in the car.  I was also glad I didn't have long nails, as
those did not go well with gloves.
     "So, you got school tomorrow?  Want to come see us play Friday
night?"
     "Ah-"  Damnit.  "Can't.  Not until I tell Nicole," I apologized.
"I'd like to, though."
     He nodded, like that was to be expected.  "We need all the fans we
can get, you know."
     I frowned.  "Why?  I mean, you're good!"
     He kind of chuckled.  "If that was all it took..."
     "Yeah, there wouldn't be Spice Girls."
     That made him laugh.
     "So," he said as we got to his car - which, somehow, was closer to
the door than mine was, though he'd gotten there later - "tell me how it
turns out, okay?  With her."
     "Yeah...  I will.  I'm seeing her tomorrow night," I smiled.  "But
probably we're not coming here."
     "Yeah, Indian two nights in a row is a little much."
     "That's not..."  He grinned; he knew exactly what I'd meant.  "You
dork."
     "Yeah, well, drive safe, okay?"  He turned and opened his car door,
and put his guitar inside, and belted it to the seat.
     And I said, "Jack?"
     He turned back to me.
     My mouth kind of opened and shut, as I failed to send any words to
it; finally I gave up, and said, "Goodnight, I guess."
     He looked at me for a bit.
     Then turned more towards me and opened his arms, and I almost fell
into them, and I wanted to cry right then but I didn't know why.

***
22:16 5 Mar

     He finally pushed me loose, which I hated immensely, but at least I
hadn't started actually crying.
     "Take care of yourself," he said.  "And, how about you call me next
time?"
     "Yeah, I will," I promised.  "Break a leg, right?"  I managed a
smile as he laughed, and then he got in his car.  I waved at him as he
left.
     Then I sighed.  And had to walk back to my car, alone, and get in
and go to Rachel's and change and go home.
     "No, first I gotta call," I sighed, and dug my cellphone out.

***
22:59 5 Mar

     "Just barely," I breathed, smirking at Dad, as much as I could
smirk when I was breathing this hard.  I'd had to race at the end to get
in before eleven.
     "Just," Dad agreed, though he was glaring at me.  "Who were you out
with tonight?"
     "Oh, this guy in a band I met," I said.
     Pause, in which his eyebrows went up, and stayed up.
     "Uh, not that way- I mean, I'm not interested in him that way, and
he's not interested in me.  I'm too young," I threw out, which I think
either satisfied him or got him to realize he was actually going to have
to ask questions and get answers if he wanted to know any more.  Which
he didn't, I could see him deciding.
     Instead he asked, "What are you wearing-  What are those earrings?"
     "Wh-  Oh, the gold bows?"  I'd made SURE to take the others out;
they were Rachel's.  "Nicole and I got matching pairs."
     He wasn't that pleased.  Then Mom possessed him and he said,
"Remember to take them out before you sleep.  And clean 'em.  And your
ears."
     "Yes Dad.  And shower and brush my teeth," and shave my legs and
pits, and so on and so on.  "And do my remaining homework, and my
chores, and..."
     He nodded.  "Off to bed with you."
     "Oh," I remembered, "is Uncle Lanier coming this weekend?"
     "Yep.  Sunday.  So no Sunday dinner.  You did start telling them
today, I hope," he said with a hint of desperation in his voice.
     I didn't blame him; it'd take lots of expensive rifle ammo to get
rid of the freeloaders, if we didn't announce the closing of the trough
before Sunday.  "Yes, we did.  And I'll reinforce it tomorrow.  Uh, but
I was going to have Nicole over Friday night?"
     "Friday's fine."
     "Oh good."
     "And we got you off Monday," he said.
     "Wha-" I started to protest before I remembered.  "Oh god.  What
about sitting?"
     "That too."
     "Oh god."  This was not a good sign.
     "It's just in case," Dad said.  "He...  Mike..."
     "Yeah," I agreed, nodding.  He was.

***
03:39 6 Mar

     "Oh, sure, no problem, no sweat," I told myself.  "Goddamned men."
I picked up Penelope, my pig.  "You hate men, right?"
     Penelope wisely did not comment.

***
04:11 6 Mar

     It looked like Amanda's computer had successfully completed the
burn-in so far.  That was good.  Now all I needed to do was load it with
actual software.  Which was why I had a network card installed in it.
I'd need to burn a CD for her, as well, but this would be almost as
fast; and I could make sure I had everything up to date before I did it.
     I felt kind of like I was abusing her by putting Windows 95 on it,
but that was the popular choice, and I was pretty sure she didn't know
enough to handle Linux without a lot of calls to me.  Ethics were one
thing; facing being called every two hours or more, probably on my
cellphone, was something else entirely.

***
05:31 6 Mar

     "Ya know," I realized, *a smart person could take some spare MALE
clothes, and then change into them once I get back to Rachel's, after
sitting, and then I could look kind of nice for Nicole.*
     "Oh, earrings," I said as I thought of Nicole and the gold bows.

***
06:01 6 Mar

     "It was not a date!  I-  He just wanted to talk, see what was up.
I mean, shit, Jill, you've done that!  With me, even!  Before you
started living here," I allowed; there wasn't much point in doing
something like that now, except to get away from Mom.
     "Jeez, chill, okay?  I was just asking.  I mean, you HAVE dated a
guy before."
     "I wouldn't do something like that while I was dating someone else,
okay?  That is just-  That's why Nicole wanted to be with me on
Valentine's Day, remember?"
     "I know!  I was just checking!  I'm not trying to punish you or
anything, Tuck, seriously," she said softer.  "Mike said I needed to
make sure you were thinking."
     "Rrrrrrrr...  Why are you doing what HE says?"
     She looked at me like I was stupid and answered, "'Cause he's
Chinese, duh."
     She sprained my brain with that one.

***
06:28 6 Mar

     She'd punished me further, by running me into the ground.  I would
have sighed, if I had the breath, and if my stomach wasn't trying to
power-eject the ginger I'd had that morning.

***
06:58 6 Mar

     "You're wearing 'em," Jennie smirked.
     I shot back, "Nicole thinks they're pretty!"
     "I do!" Nicole agreed with a surprised-looking smile.  "So fuck
off!" she said to Jennie, who sniggered.  "C'mere Tuck," she ordered, so
I came there, and she hugged me.  "I didn't know you'd be wearing yours,
or I'd be wearing mine," she said into my ear.
     "De nada.  How was dinner last night?"
     "Oh, it was great!" she said as she let go.
     "Where'd you go?"  I'd known she wasn't going for Indian, or at
least not Tandoor.
     "Oh, the Precinct.  Ever-"
     "Wow.  Yeah, nice place, if you can afford it."
     Nicole was nodding.  "Yeah... I mean-"
     "Girls," Jill smirked.  "Class?"
     "Who, me?" I said as we accelerated towards the doors.  "Not after
hanging around George!"

***
07:58 6 Mar

     "I'm grumpy because I'd rather be talking to Nicole or something,
instead of stuck in here..."  'With Ms. Vangormer' wasn't said, but I
think they all understood it.  "I mean, I could be cooking breakfast for
us."
     "Mmmm, bacon," George said.
     'No, bad idea,' said my stomach.
     "Tuck?"
     "I don't feel well," I sighed.
     "Hey Tuck?" George said.  "Fried ham."
     My mouth went awful and my stomach lurched.
     He grinned and said, "Salted lard."

***
08:00 6 Mar

     I hoped that Mike was beating George like he deserved.  Dan had
followed me out, but was staying quite a distance away from me and the
trash can and the ginger I was currently regurgitating.
     *Damnit, the bitch is probably marking me absent, too,* I realized.
*Shoulda just stayed in there-  No, I should've thrown up on HER.*

***
08:08 6 Mar

     Mr. Dobson's face was saying 'oh no not YOU' as I waved at him.
"Just a minute!" I claimed.
     He sighed, "What?" like he was in pain.  *Maybe he's been throwing
up too...*
     "I, me and Dan," I pointed, "were both in class this morning, but I
had to go vomit, just before the bell, and Miz Vangormer might've marked
us absent.  Which we weren't.  So if you could make a note?"  Dan
nodded.
     Mr. Dobson rubbed his face.  "Wait, you're NOT absent?"
     "Uh, no?"  I was pretty sure I was here.  I was also pretty sure
Dan was here, because he was sniggering.
     "And you said you were vomiting?"
     "Oh-"
     "Tuck's been doing that a lot," Dan contributed.  Then he grinned.
"We think his new girlfriend got him pregnant."  Dan laughed, Mr. Dobson
and I winced.
     "Please excuse him, he has no brain," I said, and blocked a hand
strike.  "Anyway, Mister Dobson, if you could make sure we're listed as
here today?"
     He nodded, and confirmed, "Are you sure you don't want to go home?"
     I sighed, "I'd have missed the last two or three weeks if I went
home just 'cause I was barfing.  Oh, and if we could get hall passes,
please, 'cause I'm sure we're gonna be late for our first classes at
this rate."  Errors often propagated in a schedule like this.
     "Oh," I remembered, "and I won't be here Monday.  Me or Mike or
Jill."  He raised his eyebrows.  "I, uh, I'm planning on being sick?" I
tried.  "Haha.  No, uh, it's, uh, family stuff, I can't talk about it."
     "Oh, those-  Yes, we got the faxes already," he said.
     "Oh good."
     Pause.
     "Uh, I should go, right?"

***
08:11 6 Mar

     "So, why not go home?" Dan said.
     "Oh, it doesn't do any good.  I'd need to get excused from high
school entirely for it to work.  I'm missing Monday already."  There was
a bathroom nearby, so I said, "Hold on, lemme go wash my mouth out.
Again."
     "Wait, why ARE you missing Monday?"
     "Family stuff."  He looked skeptical.  "Look, I'll tell you about
it when I'm cleared.  If."
     "Cleared?"
     "It's CLASSIFIED."
     "Your family's weird, Tuck."
     "Yeah, well..."

***
11:32 6 Mar

     "Hi," I smiled.
     "Hey," Nicole said, also smiling.  "I think those hormones are
wearing off."
     "Oh."  That did not sound good.  "But we're still on for tonight,
right?"
     She nodded, "Oh yeah."  That sounded MUCH better.  "You can pick me
up at my house, right?"
     "Yeah, about eight-thirty," I estimated.  "Maybe a little earlier."
     "Cool."  Maybe she wanted to re-apply the hormones that were
wearing off.  And I certainly wasn't going to say no.
     She hugged me and we did a quick dry kiss, and then she was off to
class.
     "What hormones?" Sabrina asked.

***
11:37 6 Mar

     "George," I promised, "next time, I'm doing it in your face, all
over you."
     "And I'll hold you down," Mike added, before kicking George
lightly in the abdomen.
     "Man, bitch!" George complained.

***
18:19 6 Mar

     "And maybe you could get some more avocados this weekend?" I asked
Miz Parker.  "They're good, an-"
     "Oh, yes, yum," she actually said.
     "And they don't make me nauseous," I finished.
     "Oh, are you still nauseous?"
     "Oh, no, not really."  Not since I'd had the first avocado at four
and the second about twenty minutes ago.
     "That's good," she stated.  Which I knew.  Maybe her motherhood
genes were kicking in.

***
19:03 6 Mar

     "Have a good time," Miz Parker instructed with a smile, and I
nodded and smiled back.  *Definitely motherhood.*  Only a mother would
feel it necessary to tell me something that obvious.

***
20:22 6 Mar

     Nicole opened the door this time, which I was glad for.  "Hey," she
said, smiling.
     "Hey.  You look great!"  She was wearing a long-sleeved red
turtleneck, black short 'tight' skirt (rather than one that flared), and
black tights.  And red strappy heels, maybe two inches.
     "Thanks!"
     Pause.
     "Guess what?  Mom 'n Larry went out to eat, without me," she said,
not sounding at all sad.
     "Okay..."
     She wiggled her eyebrows at me.
     "Oh.  No, I'm supposed to be doing that at home.  MY home," I said
before she could.
     "Ya know, I-  Oh, come in for a minute," she said.

***
20:24 6 Mar

     "Ya know," she said as we sat on her bed, "I've been thinking about
something like all WEEK.  No, since we went to Titanic."
     "What?"
     She looked away.  "Um..."
     I predicted, "Okay, this is not gonna be good."
     "No!  It'd be cool!" she insisted as she looked back at me.  "I
mean, I just don't know if you want to, I mean if you would.  But you
said you did for her, so I thought-"
     "Her?"
     "Debbie?"
     This could NOT be good.  "I did WHAT for Debbie?" I wanted to know.
     She opened her mouth and stopped.  "Um."
     "It's not the sex," I considered.  It wasn't a prank, it wasn't-
"Makeup?"
     "Yeah?"
     "Oh, jeez," I moaned.  I'd just taken all of mine OFF.  "Why?!"
     "'Cause I think you'd look pretty in it!"
     "But I don't look manly; and I thought we were going out on a date
sort of thing?"
     "Yeah, but, I just wanted to see!  What you looked like, I mean."
     I opened my mouth to protest further, but then realized that this
was a golden opportunity; if she (or we) did me in makeup, either she'd
dislike it, or like it, and either way it was sort of her fault for
suggesting it.  Which would be really good if she disliked it; then I
could really make it her fault, and maybe get something in exchange for
MY silence on what SHE had tried.  "Okay," I sighed.
     "Really?  Oh wow oh would you mind?  'Cause I think-"
     "What did you have in mind?"  That was important.
     "Oh, um..."
     I didn't like this pause.  "You are not making me up like a drag
queen or someth-"
     "Oh no no no!" she insisted.  "No, um," she got up, "what I was
thinking was, kind of like what I'm wearing?"
     "Well, turn so I can see it," I said, and she did.  It wasn't that
much.  And she had brown hair not entirely unlike mine, although her
eyes were brown, so we'd wear almost identical colors.
     "It's not a lot," she said.  It was about fifteen or twenty minutes
worth, if I was seeing the eyeshadow right.  Depending on whether she
was going to insist on moisturizing my face or not.  It certainly wasn't
as much as I'd worn last night.
     "Okay, but you do it," I said.
     "Oh, yeah," she nodded.  "Me and some friends, we used to put
makeup on each other all the time back in junior high."
     "You and at least two-thirds of every girl I know," I nodded.
     She nodded twice and then stopped, looking confused.  "Two-thirds
of every girl?  Like-"
     "That didn't come out right, did it?"

***
20:40 6 Mar

     "So?" I asked, when she'd finished the lip gloss - pseudo-
strawberry, I noticed.
     She looked, and took a step back, and then kind of locked up.  "Oh,
man," she said.  "Fuck."
     I did not like that.  "What?"
     "Holy shit."
     "WHAT?"
     She flinched and burst out, "Sorry!  Um, I was just- I mean, you-
You need to look at this," she said as she darted towards me and took my
hand and started pulling.
     I got up and let her pull me towards the mirror in her room.
     No surprise, I looked much better than usual-Eugene, and really
feminine.  Pretty much like I did every day.  Well, I thought I usually
looked older when I was wearing makeup.  "Yeah so?"
     "Tuck, I mean, you could go out like that and nobody would even
know!"  She said that like no one else had ever thought of that.
     "Do you really want me to go out like THIS?" I emphasized, pointing
at my face.
     She didn't seem ecstatic at the thought, but she didn't seem
sickened either.  "Um...  God, I mean, I don't know!  I wouldn't do it
if you said you didn't want to, honestly..."  I'd heard something like
that before, I thought.  Though not from her.  *No, actually; before, I
was just TOLD I was going out and then I had to throw an interrupt,* I
remembered.  *Which never worked anyway.*
     She continued, "But, I mean, I thought it would be kinda cute or
funny or something, but, man, I mean, I think you could really go out
like this and nobody would know.  Oh!  And your boobies!" she pointed at
my armor which was concealing my boobies.  "Oh my GOD!"
     "Nicole-"
     "No I mean SERIOUSLY you could go out like that an-"
     "NICOLE!"
     She stopped.
     My mouth opened, but it took me a while to find the words to say,
"Seriously, Nicole, do you want to go out with what's gonna look like a
girl?  Think about it.  And," I thought, "why do you want to do this to
me?"
     "I mean it's not like forever, I was just thinking like tonight,
'cause you're..."
     "Very feminine?"
     "Yeah," she said apologetically.
     I sighed.
     "Tuck," she said softly, "I promise, I won't make fun of you or
anything...  I just wanted to see.  I mean, if you want, you could just
wash it all off right now."
     "But you'd like me to go out like this," I guessed.
     "Kinda?  Just to see," she lied.  Even if that was what she was
thinking right now, I was pretty sure it would not stop at just once.

***
21:11 6 Mar

     I didn't know why girls tended to keep old bras around; I was
pretty sure it wasn't in case they ran into me.  But that's how it was
working out, because I was getting bras from any girl who was bigger
than I was, which was most of them.  Which donors now included Nicole,
though I wasn't sure if she was going to ask for it back afterwards.
     She'd put me in a knit dress, that had wide horizontal stripes, in
pink and red and purple and black on the top half, going to black at the
waist and below.  The skirt came to just above my knee.  It also had
long sleeves and almost a turtleneck - she called it a cowl neck - and
its own slip to go with it.  Nicole was greatly peeved that the outfit
was too small for her now; I'd made her try it on, and it was either
just slightly too small or very exciting, depending on how much form-fit
she wanted.  She had insisted she was too fat to wear it, which I told
her was dumb but I don't think she listened.
     I'd insisted on wearing flats, because if she saw me walking in
heels she would KNOW I'd done this before; luckily, she had a pair that
fit AND matched, though basic black flats of some kind were right up
there with cotton panties in the Required Equipment list.  She'd also
added a longish necklace, big silver-toned chain links, that went around
the outside of the cowl neck, some bangle bracelets, a silver ring that
had a butterfly attached with a ring so it would move around, and a pair
of her own earrings, silver hoops that made us both snigger and call me
a slut, though they weren't that big.
     Her second makeup job had been pretty good, I thought; she went a
little more and darker on my eyes than Debbie usually had, but it was
Friday night and getting late.  She'd also attacked me with a curling
iron and made me look very strange until she brushed the curls out; then
it looked tolerably good, although I thought not at all like me.
     "Seriously?"
     "I think it looks great," she smiled at me in the mirror.  She'd
added some makeup to herself too, and now we sort of matched.  Well, not
like a set; like we both had the same level in mind.
     She reached back and squeezed my butt.
     "Stop that."
     "No.  Slut," she grinned as she squeezed again.
     "Would you stop?  People will look at us."
     "Heh," she grinned, and then she was pushing me backwards until I
ran into the door and then she kissed me.  "Slut."

***
21:13 6 Mar

     She stopped groping me, broke the kiss, let go of my waist, backed
up a couple of steps which pulled my arms away from her neck, and
announced, "Okay, I REALLY need a cigarette right now."
     "Nicole!  Damnit!  You start this up and now I'm all frustrated,
and-"
     I shouldn't have said that, because if she'd said that to me, I'D
have laughed.  Pretty much like she was doing, in fact.

***
21:14 6 Mar

     I wasn't really impressed by their backyard in the dark, but that
was probably because I was out here under protest.
     She lit up and sucked, and held it for a while as she smiled at me,
before turning and exhaling into the wind.  I was learning to check the
wind direction before she ignited, in self-preservation.
     "You really do look good like that," she assured me.
     I didn't want to tell her that I knew that; not yet.  Nor did I
want to mention that I could've dressed even nicer if I'd gone to
Rachel's and gotten, say, a pair of my heels and my own makeup.
     "Hey, Nicole?  Seriously...  Do you think I'm attractive like
this?"
     "Well, yah!" she said, with a side of 'duh'.  "I don't go out with
just ANY chick, ya know."
     We both laughed a little, but I had to bring up, "So, do you think
you might be into girls?"
     Instead of screeching like Jennie would've, or just kind of
spazzing over it like Gabrielle, or the apocalypse that Pam had had, she
seemed to be thinking about it as she took another hit.  Or maybe that
was a delaying tactic, because as she let it out she said, "I've really
been wondering that, actually.  I mean, there's you, I mean with your
breasts and all."
     "And then you talked to Kelly," I mentioned.
     "Yeah..."  She took yet another hit, and held it for a while.
"Yeah, and I was sort of- that's why- well, one reason I was asking her
questions.  'Cause, you know what?  I think you're pretty like that-  I
mean, I didn't know you'd look THAT good, but I kinda thought you looked
pretty before, and then I was like, y'know, when I saw your breasts I
was like 'oh my god what the hell is that?' and then later I was kind of
thinking, 'you know, that'd be-'  I mean, they look a LOT like mine did
a couple years ago," and then she took another hit.  "So I was kind of
thinking afterwards, 'shit it's just like another girl' I mean no
offense, but I mean, I was in there suckin' on 'em like _I_ was a
lesbian, and YOU were just going crazy when I did, and I LIKED it, so I
mean, it was sort of..."
     I wondered, idly, if she wrote English papers like she talked, and
if she'd ever given a teacher a brain hemorrhage.
     "So yeah, I mean, I really like my little friend down there," she
smiled as she looked at where her little friend would've been visible if
I hadn't been wearing clothes.  "But, I mean, I don't know.  I mean, I
kind of wonder about myself, now."
     "Oh.  Really?"
     She sprayed smoke in a thin stream.  "Well, yah!  I mean, wouldn't
you?"
     I had.
     "So," I asked, "is it a bad thing?"
     "What?  Me liking girls maybe, or you looking like one?"
     "Uh, well, either."
     She shrugged.  "I don't know.  I mean, I don't mind...  I'm not
just going to throw you down just because you're not a girl, but..."
She took a big hit and held it for a while.
     "So me NOT being a girl is a problem?"
     "No!  Stupid," she said semi-affectionately.  "I mean, you said and
you keep saying that this isn't a permanent relationship thing, so if
it's not, it's gonna end right?  So maybe I should try a girl next time,
is what I was thinking.  Wondering."
     "Oh."
     "'Cause, you know, you were right, eating pussy's not that hard,
right?  You've done it," she grinned.
     "No, it's not that hard," I had to agree, also grinning.  "Fun, but
not hard."
     "Do other girls taste different?  Than me?"

***
21:22 6 Mar

     She'd been talking a little dirty at me, and I'd been talking dirty
back, which was fun; then she'd stuck a hand down the waistband of her
own skirt and started doing something down there.  And then she'd
smirked at me, I thought because I couldn't do the same thing to myself
because I was wearing a dress.  So I'd come near her, turned us both so
she was downwind and facing away from me, and slipped my own hand down
the back of her skirt and started fondling what I could reach.  This, I
thought, made her smoking a lot more interesting for me.
     She finally took a last hit and crushed the cigarette out, then
exhaled, and then said, "Pull out for a minute," as she tugged against
my hand.  I did.
     She turned around and pulled the skirt of my dress up.
     "Nicole!"
     "Shhh!"  She rubbed a hand across her panties, the pair I was
wearing.  "Slut," she said in a low voice, before she reached out and
grabbed me, somewhat firmly and in a very exciting way.
     "Nicole!" I gasped.
     "Shhh!  Quiet, slut, or you'll wake up the neighbors," she said as
she folded against me and hugged me with her other arm.  Then she
stuffed her face into the collar of the dress and kissed my neck, which
made me moan.  "Like it, slut?"  She started slowly rubbing me off with
the other hand, through the panties.
     "Oh god, Nicole I don't-"
     She bit my neck.
     "Ahhh!"
     "Like it, slut?"
     "Yes," I admitted, because no lie would be believed right now.
     "Good," she said, and kissed my neck some more while continuing to
fondle me with her hand.  Her other hand moved until it was doing
similar things to my butt.
     Eventually, Nicole had me backed firmly against the railing, while
continuing to molest me, and then she stopped and dropped to her knees.
     "Oh my god you are not..."  She rummaged through her purse.  I took
the opportunity to yank my skirt back down.  "Nicole, come on, this is
insane!  Don't you want to go out to eat?"
     She held up a condom.  And grinned at me.  And hoisted the skirt of
the dress up and literally put her mouth over the underwear down there.
     "Nicole!" I squeaked.
     She chuckled, "Shut up, slut."  And put her mouth back.
     The contact, through the panties and pantyhose, of her mouth on my
glans, was making me unable to talk.  I thought that we shouldn't be
doing this, that it was too risky, but I couldn't keep my thoughts
together long enough to really say something or push her away.  Plus she
had me pinned, as it were, against the railing of the deck.
     Then her cold hands pulled the waistbands of the panties and hose
down at the same time, and as I was trying not to scream, she put a
condom on with one hand and rolled it down the length of my very erect
dick with her other hand.
     Then she said, "Slut.  Take it, bitch," and then she started
sucking me off.

***
21:25 6 Mar

     In between trying not to scream out loud and her cold hands doing
very unexpected things to my legs and up the dress and her mouth all
over my unusually excited genitals, I was glad she was pinning me
against the railing because I might've fallen.  I could barely breathe.
     I couldn't help one too-loud, feminine-even-to-my-own-ears, "Ohh!"
before I bucked and ejaculated.  Nicole gagged once and drew back - I
wished I could've warned her about that - but a hand grappled me almost
immediately and started pulling and pushing, and the cold and movement
were an interesting and stimulating contrast so I sort of didn't mind.
     I sort of had no mind.

***
21:30 6 Mar

     "How the hell am I supposed to drive after that?" I protested,
weakly.
     "I almost got my driver's license," she grinned.  "_I_ could drive
it."
     "No you couldn't.  You don't have a license yet, you're not on the
insurance, and you don't know how to drive a manual."  It was still
weak, but I was never going to be that intoxicated by sex.  No matter
how wonderful.  "Oh, god, Nicole, that was..."
     "I thought it might get you in a girly mood," she smirked.
     I couldn't come up with a comment, but I decided that, if that's
what she was saying she wanted, or implying, then that's what I'd do.
When I could walk again.
     *Plus,* I realized, *she might do it again.*
     "So I thought you didn't like getting blown," she said
conversationally.
     "I didn't think I did."
     "I think you liked that."
     "Oh I did!" I breathed.
     "Yeah?  How much?"
     I could recognize fishing for a kiss et al when I heard it.  Now,
if I could just move...

***
21:36 6 Mar

     "Nicole, we have got to get the fuck out of here before your MOM
shows up-  Yeah," I nodded as her face spasmed.  "Are you bringing a
bag?"
     "Yeah lemme go get it," she said quickly, then lanced forward and
kissed me before dashing into her house.

***
21:59 6 Mar

     "Dude, your lipgloss is like TOTALLY gone," she told me.
     "Oh yeah?  What about yours?"
     But, since she had the one we were both using, I had to wait until
she'd refreshed hers before I could refresh mine.

***
22:02 6 Mar

     "Two please?"
     "Do you have reservations?"
     "I'm sorry, no," I had to admit.  The irritating thing was, Nicole
was going to demand a cigarette, and it was getting colder outside.  And
I did not have Rachel's coat tonight, I just had a lame one of mine,
which was optimized for more layers than I was currently wearing.
     I'd hopefully picked a place that wouldn't attract anyone I knew;
not only did I not want to run into people that knew me as Eugene, I
didn't want to run into people that knew me as Valerie either, because
if they came up to chat, Nicole was going to have questions I really did
not want her to have while we were out.  I knew that I'd probably be
telling her about my secret identity within a few hours, but I REALLY
wanted to do that behind closed doors, in private.

***
22:05 6 Mar

     "See, you kind of screwed yourself, didn't you," I smirked at her,
because I was not holding hands with her or letting her kiss me while we
were in public like this.
     She sighed smoke and glared at me.
     "Don't give me that, this was YOUR idea, missy."
     "Okay, it was," she admitted, with hand gestures.  "On the other
hand, you don't have to be a bitch about it."
     I poked a finger into one of my breasts for a couple of beats, then
smiled and said perkily, "Yes, actually, I do!"
     That made her laugh, like I'd intended.  "Hey you know what?" she
said.  "You know what you could do tomorrow?"
     "Er-"
     "We could do you a set of nails tomorrow and then go out again.
Are you doing anything Saturday night?"
     "I, uh, no?"
     "Wouldn't that be-"
     "They're a pain in the ass, Nic-"
     "How can you put 'em on people if you think like that?"
     "You're not wearing any!"
     "Because I'm so busy putting 'em on and taking 'em off right now, I
can't keep a set on!  I mean, it'd be no good if someone tried to
practice on me if I wouldn't let 'em put new ones on, would it?"
     I glared, as she smoked and smirked.
     "So anyway, what I was-"
     I interrupted, "I know what you were thinking.  Let's see, okay?
Let's see how tonight goes, for one thing."
     "Okay," she agreed.  Then she stopped.  "Uh.  Um."
     "What?"  I started checking her line of sight to see if there was
someone there I needed to evade, but I didn't see anyone.
     "Uh, your parents?"
     "What?!"  If my mom saw me right now she'd-
     "How're we gonna get you home?  You can't-  I mean, my mom's
home...  How're you gonna change?"
     "Ch-  Oh," I breathed in relief.  And doubly relieved that she
hadn't just blurted something compromising out.  I had refused to sit in
the bar and wait for my asthma to object to the smoking going on - what
was it with these people? - so we'd gone outside, but there were still
people going past.  "Oh, that.  No problem."
     "No problem?"
     "No PROBLEM!"  Then I smirked.  "I'll just tell 'em I'm you."
     "Ahhh!" she shrieked.
     "Seriously, you JUST thought of this?"
     "I didn't-  I mean, I never-  I-"
     "You didn't think at ALL about this, did you?"
     "Y-  No!  Bitch!"
     "Don't call me a bitch," I smiled.  "You might hurt my little
delicate feelings."
     "Ahhh!"

***
22:39 6 Mar

     "No I'm not getting diet!"  Soda, I meant.  "I need to GAIN
weight," I glared at Nicole.
     "One regular, one diet," confirmed the waitress.  "I'll be right
back."  I'd believe that when it happened.  If.
     Nicole was smiling at me; not the oh-am-I-in-love-with-you smile
I liked seeing on her so much, but more of a Jennie smirk.  "What?" I
asked.
     "Just... you.  Tonight."
     I just gave her a look.  "You know, I'm kind of at a disadvantage
tonight.  Normally, it's you who's kind of loopy... after; and I'm
still-"
     "I know," she smirked.
     I realized, "That's why you did it."
     She claimed, "Plus 'cause you're so HAWT like that."
     "Uh huh."  If she thought I was hot like this, she ought to see
a couple of the bedroom outfits I'd bought.  "You know, you're pretty
hot tonight yourself."
     She giggled.  "Maybe we'll get picked up by a couple of guys."
     "Yeah, that's what I need," I snarked.  "THINK, Nicole."
     "Wha-  Oh."
     "Yeah 'oh'.  I would kind of like to survive the evening?" I
mentioned.  I didn't mention that, if I absolutely had to, I'd dump her
ass and run for it.  Her mom's wrath would be as nothing compared to my
mom's if I died.  And I didn't care to get beaten again, or raped.
     She assured me, "You'll be okay."
     "Just as long as we don't get too crazy with this," I said.
     "We WON'T!"
     I hoped not.  Then again, this wouldn't be the first of these
excursions when things had gone out of control.

***
23:09 6 Mar

     Talking to Nicole for a long period was kind of a strain, because
she did not really speak like a good book; it was more of a bunch of
half-sentences jammed together, as her brain ran much faster than her
mouth and tended to jump off on near-random associations a lot.  But I
could, if I worked at it, keep up with her.
     She was interesting, though; she was taking cosmetology with the
definite intention of opening her own business, as she saw that as the
fastest way to be making enough money.  For her values of 'enough',
anyway.  The money I'd be spending on college, she could use to buy
equipment, rent space, decorate and advertise.  Of course, I expecting
to be making a lot more than she would be; the kicker was, I'd have to
get employed, which meant kissing someone's ass on a near-daily basis,
whereas all she'd have to do is kiss the small-business-loan officer's
ass at the start.  She'd have to deal with customers, though, which was
the other thing that would drive me psychotic within a couple of months
max.  Employees, or 'independent consultants' ha ha ha, were an easier
problem for a salon owner than customers were; no one would want me as a
manager for anything.
     This was all assuming, on my side, that I didn't manage to steal
some tens of millions of dollars, spend half on hard goods and invest
the other half, and live off my ill-gotten riches.
     On the other hand (of Nicole, as it were) she could definitely see
uses for computers in her business.  Not being a geek, and especially
not a programmer geek, she wasn't interested in how to make it work; she
just knew kind of what she wanted to happen on her hypothetical future
computer(s).  Which was better than most customers.
     Luckily, I'd retained my laptop, so I could take notes for her as
we discussed what she'd actually need in a business computer for a
salon.
     Plus it kept my mind off the 'possibility' of running into someone
I knew, which had been bugging me all night-
     "Excuse me."
     -Which was why I plotzed as we both looked up at the voice, which
belonged to some guy - who I'd never seen before, thankfully - in a
loose tie and opened collared shirt.  The guy was QUITE a bit older than
either of us; college-aged at least, and maybe as old as his late
twenties.  White guy, short brown hair, blue eyes, clean-shaven, kind of
thick but not really FAT-fat or a bodybuilder either, with a little bit
of a monobrow going but not too bad.
     "Are you two actually having a business lunch at eleven o'clock at
night?" he asked.
     I glanced at Nicole who was looking at me.  I think she was
thinking the same thing I was: 'oh hell what do we TELL him?'  The truth
was right out, but that was hardly new in my life.
     "Well, it just sort of came up," I smiled a Debbie smile at him.
     "At eleven o'clock?"
     I shrugged.  "What better time?  Besides, we're both busy a lot;
this was convenient for us to get together.  Plus I don't have to cook,"
I smiled.
     "So are you having a business lunch at eleven?" Nicole asked him.
     He chuckled politely.  "No; with friends, trying to decide where to
go after this.  Or if it's worth going out," he said before I could.
     I agreed, "Seriously, it's almost eleven.  I think a lot of places
close soon."
     "You'd think guys could get ready in less than an hour," he agreed
with me.
     "It took them MORE than an hour?  I don't think it took me that
long, and she had to do my hair," I pointed at Nicole, who sort of
snickered and sort of looked bug-eyed.
     "You didn't do your own?"
     "Did I mention the business lunch was concerning a salon?  Plus she
wanted to try something new on me."  Which everyone in that class did,
though they also were quite willing to experiment on each other,
passers-by, and sometimes themselves.
     "Well, it looks good," he smiled.  "Great actually."
     "Thanks!"
     Pause.  I looked at Nicole, who was sort of looking at me
speculatively.  I didn't know if I was supposed to be terrified of a guy
coming over and chatting us up; while it wasn't common, it had happened
before.  Not like she knew that, of course.  On the other hand, being
terrified where SHE could see it, would also mean it was likely that
anyone else could see it, and then they might start wondering why I was
so spazzed.  Not good.
     But I didn't know whether she wanted to talk to him more, or get
him to go away, or what.
     He got initiative this round and said, "So I guess you're not going
out after this either?"
     "Probably not."
     "We've got class tomorrow morning at eight," Nicole said, as we
glanced at each other again.
     "But we're young and have lots of stamina," I grinned.
     "Not that much, if you're going home after this," he paused for
half a moment and challenged, "'lunch'."
     "Yeah, well-"
     "I might want to do her hair again," Nicole smirked.  "Or have her
do mine.  Actually, I was trying to convince her to get long nails, I
mean wear 'em out of class for once."
     "I babysit," I reminded Nicole.
     "You could be careful!"
     "Around a one-year old?  Ha!"
     "What kind of class?" the guy asked.
     "Cosmetology," Nicole said.  "Nails, right now."
     He looked at her fingers, then at my fingers.  We were not sporting
nice nails at the moment; not even polish.
     "Dude," I said, "we're doing all the artificials lately, which we
have to practice putting on; it's too much hassle to have to take 'em
OFF for class when you're gonna be putting 'em ON again."
     "Huh," he said.
     "So what's YOUR major?" I asked; I figured, if he was in college,
I'd hit the universal topic; and if he was too young he'd be flattered,
and if he was older he'd be a little annoyed but only a little, and if
he was a lot older he'd be flattered.
     "Business," he grinned.
     "No shit?"  Nicole and I looked stupid at each other.
     "So you wanna look at my business idea?" she asked him.
     "I don't know," he said while slowly shaking his head back and
forth, "ANYTHING about salons."
     "So what DO you do, if you're not studying OUR field of business?"
I teased.
     "Mind if I sit?" he countered.
     "Your call," I said to Nicole, trying not to smirk and I think
failing.
     Nicole said, to both of us, "Sure!"
     "I'm Valerie, this is Nicole," I said before Nicole could fuck
anything up.
     "I'm Will," he said.
     "You Will what?  Haha, sorry," I said quickly.  "Had to.  I need to
get my medications refilled."
     "Ha ha," he said politely, but he smiled as he did.  My smile froze
momentarily when Nicole kicked me.

***


"Vomiting isn't bad either, take note. It is, in certain more obvious
respects, a show of force. I have always liked this story 'A man holding
with one hand to a one-way sign is vomiting into the gutter, another man
goes past near him and tells him: "If you only knew how much I agree
with you."'"  -- Jean Fremon, The Botanical Garden

"Only once in a generation does anything as fresh as a vomiting 
detective come along." -- Dean Koontz, Odd Thomas


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+ @>--,--'-----   Ellen Hayes   o===[--------      __      vicki .sig  +
                  -=[1990]=-                       \/      virus 14.1
+      http://www.barkingduck.net/ehayes     PGP key: EFC9 5D55 (1996) +



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