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Tuck Or Treat -*- Copyright 2007 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
containing such things, then you will be breaking the law by reading
this.  I am not responsible.
Continuing to read this document, or storing it or reproducing it
in any format means that you explicitly affirm that you are legally
allowed to possess and read such materials in your city, county/parish,
state, and country.

All rights reserved.  See the bottom for distribution rights.


Tuck Or Treat


***
16:42 31 Oct

     Debbie and I looked at each other.  Debbie had changed into some
kind of medieval costume; I was weaing multiple skirts and a sweater
vest I'd found in my side of Rachel's closet over a plain T-shirt.
Underdressed again...  Then she raised an eyebrow, like 'whaddaya gonna
do about it punk?'
     I grabbed my pack, then realized I had a good idea and pointed
towards the front room.  She nodded, I handed Stella to Miz Parker,
checked the baking - five minutes left on this batch - caught Miz
Parker's eye and pointed at the stove/oven to remind her of the timer,
then pointed to Ricky, Hangover, and the living room in quick
succession.  Ricky got the hint and went for Hangover's collar, and I
motioned Debbie out first.  There was no way I was giving her my back.

***
16:44 31 Oct

     Debbie sat down on a couch, facing me; I took a seat a coffee table
away from her and eased myself down, putting the pack near my leg.
"St-"  I had to clear my throat; it seemed it was all dry for some
reason.  Haha.  "Stella's scared of the dog," I said, making sure I
could get a knife out if I needed it.  I wished, desperately, that I had
my body armor on, but like a fool I'd left it at Rachel's when I
changed.  I was supposed to be safe here...  *Haha,* I realized.  *From
physical attack, maybe...*
     "What about your allergies?" Debbie asked.
     "I'm on shots."  I almost told her Brian got a cat, then realized
that it wasn't a secret.  "Brian got a cat.  What's up?"  Because it
wasn't real normal for her to be showing up here.
     "It's Halloween night," she said, like I wasn't aware of that.
"You didn't have a costume today at school," she said as she turned her
head a bit.  "Neither did I," she said and smiled.
     I opened my mouth to say something like 'Well yes I'd noticed that'
but caught a warning glance and realized that Miz Parker had apparently
come up behind me.
     Debbie continued explaining for everyone's benefit, "So, you're
still not in a costume, and it's Halloween, and the kids will be showing
up trick-or-treating soon, a-"
     "Uhp," Miz Parker said, from about where I'd imagined her, and this
time I looked around in time to catch a glimpse of her backside as she
left.
     "And she hasn't put the candy out yet," Debbie predicted.
     "Ooooh!" Ricky exclaimed and hurried after Miz Parker.
     I sighed as he left, because I couldn't catch him, and-  *Oh, wait,
never mind.*  This, like Thanksgiving and Christmas, was not a day for
dietary sanity.  You'd go crazy trying to stop it, at least if you were
around children.
     "What's going on here?" Debbie asked me in a low voice.  "Since..."
     "Uh..."  I had to shrug.  "I haven't been fired, and Miz Parker
asked me to bake cookies to hand out for treats.  Which I told her would
be more expensive.  That's probably what she's getting," I realized.
"Or pulling a batch out of the oven.  I've been baking all afternoon."
     "I could tell," Debbie said with a smirk, and I sort of wanted to
hit her.  In a totally different tone of voice she said, "Anything..."
And she raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything more.
     When I figured out what she was asking, which was about my job
here, I said, "Not that I could tell.  Not that I COULD tell... I mean,
I wouldn't bet that I'd catch it before it happened."
     She nodded a bit, not looking at me.  "But nothing's been said to
you?"
     "No..."
     She shook her head, 'no one has said anything to me either'.
     "So..."
     "So I came to help tonight," she said, like that was reasonable.
She flashed a smile, and added, "And to get my homework, and give you
notes, get mine, and all that.  And to bring you a costume since I
figured you might be watching Stella while doing door duty while the
Parkers take Ricky out trick-or-treating."  *Oh shit.*  I hadn't
considered that, but she was probably right; they wouldn't want to take
Stella out.  She flashed another smile, this one looking more honest
somehow, and appended, "And is there any way _I_ can get some of those
cookies?"
     "Ask Miz Parker," I could say about the last one.  "I paid her some
yesterday so I could take some home."  She frowned, so I explained, "The
ingredients cost some money, and if I go home smelling like this,
they're gonna grab me and shake me until either cookies fall out or
pieces of me break off."  I didn't want to think about the other things.

***
17:08 31 Oct

     I sighed, and looked at the dress I was holding up in front of the
bathroom mirror.  It looked a lot like something I remembered from long
ago...
     *Robin Hood, right.*  No, that's what Debbie was wearing.  *Well,
Maid Marian.  Damnit.*
     *At least I don't have to wear a wig this time,* I realized.  And I
could wear my current flats with this, as the dress was floor-length.
     There was no corset in the bag, when I checked.  *Amen!*
     Then I realized, *Hey!  I can get away with carrying a knife!
Maybe two...*  Did I have two?  *Car.*  Right; car survival kit.  *Get
at least two.  Did I have leather-*  "Oooh," I said as I dug in the bag;
I remembered a belt that went with this...  "Yesss!"

***
17:16 31 Oct

     Unfortunately, Debbie was now wearing a sword, which looked weighty
enough to at least be metal.  I wished for a pair of sai, or my own
sword, or a staff, or an assault rifle; but none of those things
appeared.  I wasn't surprised.  "Be back in a minute, I have to get
something out of my car," I told her, and headed outside.

***
17:20 31 Oct

     One knife attached to the belt as a warning, one secreted in my
overly emphasized cleavage, one attached to my inside left leg, and I
felt somewhat completely dressed for what felt like the first time in
days.
     I checked my makeup and hair one last time - fine and as good as I
was going to get, respectively - and opened the bathroom door.
     "What did you-" Mister Parker asked as he turned around in the
hallway.  "Oh, good," he approved.  "You look good," he corrected
himself.
     I curtsied at him, not meeting his eyes as demure maidens
shouldn't, and looked around for Debbie's boots.  They were past Mister
Parker.  I stood up as Mister Parker spouted compliments and Debbie
smirked at me momentarily.
     "And look what else she brought!" Miz Parker enthused.  I looked
over, and Stella had a green outfit and a green hat on.
     *Stop kissing up!  It won't work!* I wanted to shout at Debbie, but
I was afraid, judging from her track record, that it would.
     "Baby Hood!" suddenly fell from the sky through my brain and out of
my mouth.

***
17:32 31 Oct

     "Oh, excellent!" I said; all three of the Parkers (that were going
out) were going as MIBs, and they all had semi-appropriate sunglasses.
"Now hold still for the eye test," I said as I aimed my camera and fired
at the moment of maximum crack-up.
     After, I said, "Okay, now look serious," and waited until Ricky got
himself under control before I took the other picture.  Ricky cracked up
again afterward but by then it was too late.

***
17:37 31 Oct

     "You're taking the dog?"
     "Yeah!" Ricky insisted, as the adults tried to think of an excuse
or something.
     I collected an inspiraton.  "Wait a minute..."

***
17:41 31 Oct

     Hangover did not want to wear the sunglasses, the ones Ricky had
planned to use previously, but I used his collar and walking harness and
half of the Parkers' kitchen rubber band collection, and now he couldn't
shake them off.  'Why do you do these things to a dog?  You wouldn't do
this to a human,' he finally said with a long glance when he realized he
couldn't get rid of them.
     "Yes I would.  I did!" I insisted.
     Then I realized I was making excuses to a dog, and shut up.
     The doorbell rang, but Debbie called, "I got it!"
     I was about to complain that it was kind of early, but then, the
Parkers were going out, and it was barely getting dark.  Besides, what
Mike and I had done when we were, say, thirteen, wasn't what Ricky's
parents would want to do.

***
17:44 31 Oct

     "MUCH better!" I agreed, and took a photo of all four of them with
their sunglasses on.  Hangover would've looked better if he had a white
shirt-type collar and tie, but I wasn't gonna try and do that in five
minutes.
     The doorbell rang and everyone looked over.
     "I got it!" Debbie called from the hallway where she'd perched,
watching.

***
17:48 31 Oct

     They left, leaving me in the house with Hangover, Stella, and
Debbie.  I think of the three I preferred Stella.
     "So," Debbie said, which as I took as the opening move in a
conversation, but the doorbell rang.

***
17:49 31 Oct

     One Power Ranger, one princess in wads of pink Kleenex and glitter,
one even smaller than usual cowboy who looked kind of bewildered - I
thought he was probably too young to get it - two lame store-bought
Spidermen and a Supergirl.  I reeled a little bit at the
anti-coordination, but managed to hold it in.  Of the five parental
types, two were dressed as cowboys or cowgirls, at least.
     "Trick or treat!" came out very raggedly from the children, except
for the cow-toddler, who just looked boggled.

***
17:53 31 Oct

     "So," Debbie said, and took a breath.  "I needed to talk to you...
about-"
     "Dingdong!"
     I checked my watch as I got up, thinking, *Are they back for
seconds already?*  Which reminded me of cookies, still baking.
     This was two Power Rangers, different colors, plus one traditional
witch and a wizard-type; the last one wasn't bad.

***
17:58 31 Oct

     "Dingdong!"
     "Debbie!"  I had my hands full of hot cookie sheet.  And oven
mitts, thankfully, but I was still occupied.  "Co-"
     "Got it!"

***
18:02 31 Oct

     Debbie immediately asked as she came in, "So wh-"
     "Dingdong!"
     "Christ on a wombat," I complained, as Debbie turned right around
and went right back to the front door, trailing a sigh.

***
18:07 31 Oct

     *Cookie bars would work, almost better than cookies,* I'd decided,
and was cutting the bars out after baking - oiling the knife was a
bizarre but useful trick for this - when Debbie came back.  "Okay," I
started, "so what did you want to talk about?"
     She sighed, and looked down as she leaned against the door, her
sword thumping lightly against the doorframe.  I turned back to work on
cookies; this looked like it might take a while.
     "I know," she finally said, when I had them half done, "that you
were-  what are you doing?"
     "Cookie bars," I said.  "Should hold up and be less crumbly than
the cookies.  Split 'em, give 'em a Halloween-shaped one or two and then
a bar for later."
     "Oh, that makes sense," she agreed.
     "Dingdong!"
     "Damnit!"

***
18:11 31 Oct

     "Tuck," Debbie said from behind me, and I touched steel before I
looked back at her.  She wasn't lunging and the sword was sheathed, so I
took my time standing back up.  "Lemme get those," she said as she
strode over and grabbed a couple of potholders.
     She got the cookie sheets and I stood up, then we transferred them
to the cooling racks, working in silence.
     "Val, I need-"
     "Dingdong!"
     Her look was a combination of, 'See I knew you'd need me' and
'Jeezus Christ!'

***
18:19 31 Oct

     "Val!  More cookies!" Debbie called from the region of the door.
     "Damn, that was quick..."  I yelled at her, "Bring the tin!"
Accidentally in a British accent, too, I noticed, too late.
     "Serve us, wench!" she yelled, and I heard laughter from outside.
     "Bloody'ell I only LOOK LIKE a peasant," I complained as I took a
couple of the bags I'd loaded for ME and went to the front door with
them.  There weren't enough of 'theirs' ready for the apparent demand.
     This time at the door it was a themed 'party' - as in 'adventuring
party', as in a small gang of looters - of Power Rangers, though I
didn't think there were seven in the show.  It was hard to tell, though;
there were a bunch.
     "VE-ry nice," said one of the apparent fathers.  I glanced up, and
he was smiling at me.
     *Oh shit...*
     But Debbie blocked his LOS, making it look accidental, and he
didn't press.  I could think of better times to try flirting with
strange - heh - young women, though.  Like any time when his children
weren't with him.
     *Maybe I'm overreacting...*

***
18:22 31 Oct

     "Man," I sighed as Debbie shut the door.
     "Man," she sighed as she slumped against it.
     "Oh-" I emitted as I remembered I had cookies going.

***
18:24 31 Oct

     "I know," Debbie said rapidly, "that you- that Kathy made you come
over yesterday.  At lunch."
     *Was it yesterday?*  It seemed more like three or four days ago.
     She continued, "Were you serious?"
     "Wh- about, uh, a peace treaty and stuff?"
     "Yeah," she said, utterly serious.
     I looked down and thought about it.  "Yeah..." I had to admit.  I'd
said it in public, and it wasn't like I could go back on it now.
     "Okay, so, like, rela-"
     The doorbell rang again and we both twitched; I saw her flinch.
     I chuckled, and so did she, even though she was glaring at me,
before she turned around.
     "Ding!"
     "Damnit-" Debbie cursed as she wheeled around.
     "I didn't do it!  Timer!" I pointed.
     "Shit," she sighed, and left.
     I was glad.  I also had to get the cookies out.
     "Shuh," Stella slurred.
     "You said it.  No, wait, DON'T say it!"

***
18:50 31 Oct

     The rush seemed to be slowing, though the two batches of cookie
bars had gone, except for the two I'd saved for us.  I had managed to
replenish my take-home supply, though, as well as package some up for
Debbie.  The outside was getting downright chilly, which made working in
the kitchen a lot nicer.  I wished the Parkers had a fan or something,
to force-vent the place, but I hadn't ever seen one. 
     "Tuck," Debbie said seriously.
     "Yeah?"  I'd known this was coming.
     She took a breath, then let part of it out suddenly and asked,
"Would you really have shot me?"
     I blinked.
     "Would you've?" she pressed.
     "Mike in a panic, someone's CHASING him, someone who already tried
to kill ME, and-"
     "_I_ didn't-"
     "Cheerleaders did!" I raged back, and she shut up.  "And in MY
house?"
     I breathed for a while, glaring at her, and then admitted, "I
didn't know it was you on the stairs.  I thought it was one of them."
     She looked at me, and nodded a bit before turning away.
     "He, Mike, got upset," she said, "because your alarms, the
monitors, the alarms went off, like a hospital show, I mean like that,"
she started waving her hands in frustration, "that noise you get on TV
from- in a hospital, when the patient's dying..."
     "Oh."  That made some sense, I had to admit.  I hadn't turned
everything off properly when I'd heard-  "I heard a scream before that,
that's why I disconnected like that, just pulled the cables loose."
     "Dan busted into the kitchen, through the door, and, uh, he
startled me.  George had just called, on the intercom, about Jody being
there-"
     "Who?"
     "Jo-  One of the cheerleaders.  She came to apologize, for what
happened.  She left a letter."
     "Oh, yeah, that bullshit."  I sighed; being reminded of being
almost killed made me feel kind of tired.
     "So you thought I was a cheerleader?"
     "Oh, yeah..."  Whups.  No harm done, though.  "Uh, I really am
sorry about the, the misunderstanding, th-"
     "Misunderstanding!" she burst out, then chuckled - I thought it was
forced - a couple of times.  "Okay," she said, looking away again.
     "I mean, I wasn't... at YOU, I was going to take out whoever was
scaring Mike that bad.  I thought it was cheerleaders coming to finish
me off, or something."
     She nodded.
     Pause.
     It was a VERY long pause.
     "Stella's getting big, isn't she?"
     I recognized that Debbie was changing the subject, and I didn't
mind.  "Oy!"
     "No!"
     Stella looked at us with excitement in her eye, to see if the toy
was going to work or not.
     "Aren't you getting big?" I asked her.
     "NO!"
     The doorbell rang.  I sighed, and got up.  "If the timer goes of-"
     "Ding!"
     "I'll get 'em," Debbie said wearily.
     "No!"

***
18:56 31 Oct

     As I got rid of the last of them, I saw another group approaching.
I almost said something rude, but I'm glad I didn't because it was the
Parkers.
     "Hey look what I got!" Ricky exclaimed as he rushed me.

***
18:58 31 Oct

     "So how was the executive conference?" Mister Parker asked.
     "Uh-"
     Debbie said with a professional smile, "Oh, it went fine..."
     "Ohsh-  I forgot supper!" I realized suddenly, about two hours too
late.
     Mister Parker smiled as Debbie laughed at me, and he told me, "I-
With all the baking Beth said you'd offered to do, I figured we'd just
call for takeout."
     "On Halloween?"  You couldn't pay me enough to be a food delivery
driver on Halloween night.
     "What?  They're not open?"
     "Uh, well..."  Some people were actually that stupid, I realized,
and some of those had probably shown up for work.  "I dunno.  Nothing, I
guess..."  I hoped.

***
19:10 31 Oct

     "Are you sure you wouldn't like to stay for pizza?" Miz Parker
asked.
     I wasn't sure if she meant me or Debbie or both; and apparently
neither was Debbie, because we both made excuses at the same time.
     "Besides, I think I'm full of cookies," I finished, and forced a
small burp.  And Mom had claimed that skill would never be useful in the
real world.
     Miz Parker chuckled a little bit, and nodded.  "They are really
good..."
     "She's a really good cook.  By the way," Debbie inserted, "did you
hear about the bake sale?"
     "The wh-  NO!  I've got way too many things to do as it is!" I
complained.  "I have to make up all that cosmetology time I missed, for
one thing..."  I felt clever for remembering it when I needed it; I'd
have to give Miz Singley my time list Monday in appreciation.
     "Cosmetology?" Miz Parker asked.

***
19:12 31 Oct

     "And there was one house where they didn't make a face in the
pumpkin," Ricky continued, "they had like a witch carved- a witch on a
broomstick!  And they had the candle behind her so it lit her up!"
     "Sounds pretty cool," I agreed.  Debbie had been explaining things
to Miz Parker; I'd decided to leave while my mind was still semi-intact.
I didn't want to end up owing her money.

***
19:18 31 Oct

     "So, uh, should I give the costume back to you now, or-"
     Debbie said, "Just give it to me Monday, or, um... are you doing
that Sunday thing?"
     *Don't show up PLEASE don't show up-*  "Y-yeah?"
     "Give it to Sabrina or Kim, and she'll give it to me."
     "Okay."  The rush of relief made me ask, "Do you want me to clean
it?"
     "Oh, could you?" she pleaded, and then when my sanity came back I
was stuck with doing it.  *Damnit!*
     Pause.
     Debbie said, "You look really nice in that."
     "What?!"  I wasn't sure I'd heard right.
     "Nothing," she snapped, shaking her head, and turned away.

***
20:05 31 Oct

     "Oh god," I sighed as Jill got in the car, managing to do so
despite the fairly tight skirt of her modern vampire costume.  "You
still wanted to stay over tonight?"
     "Uh... yeah, if it's not a problem," she said tentatively.  She
still had her teeth in too.
     "No, I just do NOT want to go anywhere else when I get home.  If
you come home with me, you're staying until morning."
     She chuckled.  "Did Mike say he was coming?"
     "Uh..."

***
20:07 31 Oct

     Cellphones definitely had their uses.  It was a lot quieter in my
car than at any payphone I could've found in ten minutes.
     "Nah, not really," Mike said.  "I've been scaring the kids here,
but my parents made me... some kind of church thing tonight, so they
aren't here, so it's been me and George."
     "Oh god," I chuckled.  "That...  Tell me about it tomorrow.  Debbie
showed up at the Parkers, and 'helped' me deal with the kids and the
baking, and-"  
     "Baking?  Like what?"
     *Oh shit,* I realized, too late.

***
20:28 31 Oct

     "Trick or damned treat," I said to George.
     "Ah, man-  What is that?" he asked, his attention focusing like a
very powerful telescope on the bag.  Luckily I'd sort of foreseen this,
and had done some extra bags.  Actually I'd planned to take these home
and eat them myself over the next few days, but once I'd fucked up by
mentioning baking to Mike there was no hope.

***
20:40 31 Oct

     As I opened the back door, Mom said loudly, "Trick or treat!"  Then
she noticed, "Cookies?"  I wasn't sure if she'd noticed Jill or not, but
she noticed the cookies.  Well, I probably smelled like I'd been rolling
in dough.
     "So no tricks," I said, waving the sacrificial bag at her.
"Right?"
     "Eugene, I would NEVER do something like that to you," Mom lied
earnestly, putting a hand over her heart.  "Gimme!"  I dodged her claws
and got behind Jill, who started backing up over me.

***
20:43 31 Oct

     "They are really good," Jill apologized after she'd swallowed.
     "I know, don't worry about it..."  They were good, though I was
kind of sick of them at this point.  "Have... I mean, leave me about
half- at least half, but you can have some.  No you can't take any
home," I smiled.  But I meant it.  They ought to be more appetizing
tomorrow.

***
20:47 31 Oct

     "Yeah, I just-  Hey, um, could I take a shower?" Jill asked.
     "What, here?  Sure?"  I didn't see the problem.
     "Like, Brian wouldn't be an ass about it?"
     *Oh.*  "Not if he wanted to live.  Seriously, Mom would literally
eat- cause him a lot of grief and suffering if he messed with you."  Mom
wouldn't literally 'eat his ass', but it wouldn't be fun.  "Don't mess
with guests.  House rule.  On the other hand, YOU don't mess with him
either, unless he starts it.  That way he won't complain, and so he'll
be quieter."
     "Good idea," she nodded.

***
20:49 31 Oct

     "You want me to go in there with you?" I confirmed.
     "Yeah, I..."  She looked around.  "It's just with your br- Brian...
I mean, MY brothers would be jerks about it."
     "Wel-"
     "Besides, we can keep talking.  And you won't fall asleep!"
     "I wouldn't fall asleep!" I asserted confidently.  I realized,
though, that I might be lying.
     "Oh come on... besides, it's not like you haven't seen it before,"
she leered.
     "Ooooh, right," I said sarcastically, and stuck my tongue out at
her.

***
20:53 31 Oct

     "So whaddaya wanna talk about?"
     "Jill, YOU wanted to talk-"
     "You were gonna fall asleep!" she accused.  Before I could protest,
she said, "_I_ would if I was waiting for YOU.  We both worked all day,
AFTER school..."
     "Oh."
     Pause, as she removed her panties, and then sat down on the toilet
to take her socks off.  "So say something."
     "Get in the shower; you naked is distracting."
     "Yah, so sexy," she said sarcastically, but posed at me.
     "Iiii'm, too sexy for this shirt, too sexy for this shirt-"
     "So sex-xy it hurrrts," Jill finished, and we both laughed.  "At
least I can get this damned makeup off," she groused as she stood up and
threw her socks at me.
     "Ew!  Stinky!" I complained.
     "Just be glad I didn't throw my PANTIES at you!"
     "Ewwwwww!  Besides, the makeup still looks half-decent."
     "Yeah but I want to RUB my EYES."
     "Oh man, yeah..."  That had been hard to remember not to do.  "That
IS a pain."
     "How do you stand it?"
     She turned the water on, so I waited until it sounded like she had
it adjusted, which was when she stepped into it, and then I moved closer
before I said, "Just, do your rubbing before you put it on, mostly.  And
then, like, you can sort of do it REAL delicately...  Susan said it was
the same thing as wearing contacts, except a little worse-  Well, it
LOOKED worse if you screwed up and did it, but it wasn't like you could
rub your eyeliner up inside the eye socket like you can with lenses."
     "Oh gross!  Hey, what shampoo do I use?"
     "Uh... just pick one, I guess.  I use the Suave stuff; it's cheap.
I think that's what Brian uses too.  Susan...  I think all the rest of
that stuff is hers."
     "Jeez.  Likes the stuff, huh?"
     "Yeah, and I couldn't tell a difference, except when she dyed it...
Hey, how do you like yours?  The color, I mean."
     "Oh, it's cool, kinda... I dunno, though, it costs a lot."
     "Like how much?"
     Pause.
     "Um..."  I risked a glance at the curtain, and by the silhouette
she was rubbing shampoo, or something, into her hair.  She answered,
"Forty every time I get the roots done.  And that's like every month.
He said I should do it every two weeks, but..."
     "Damn.  I wouldn't do it every fortnight either."
     "Every what?"
     "Fortnight?  Two weeks."
     "Oh, right."
     "So like eighty a month?" I confirmed.
     "Yeah... well, I'm paying forty, but... I am really starting to
think it was a stupid move..."

***
21:01 31 Oct

     "Not bad," I said as I handed her a towel.
     "What's not bad?" she demanded sharply as she snatched the towel
away and glared at me.
     "Eight minutes for a shower.  We've got a small heater, for
historical reasons.  Mom said; something like a bigger one won't fit.
Uh, so, only so much hot water."
     "Oh."
     "Hey, want another towel for your hair?"
     She shrugged.  "Do I need one?"
     "Yeah, why not," I half-decided, and went to get another one.
"Hey, mind if _I_ take a shower?"
     "No?  Why would I?"
     I shrugged at her, then realized she might not be able to see it.
"If I knew I wouldn't ask..."
     "Naw, I don't mind.  Want me to stay with you?"
     "Hey, YOU said you'd go to sleep..."  She threw a towel at me.

***
21:04 31 Oct

     "Oh man..." she breathed as she looked at me.  Below my face.
     "Wh-  Oh, yeah."  My ribs looked better but not good.  And most of
the bruises had gone away, but there were still marks.  And so on.
     "It's healing though, right?"
     "Yeah... slowly.  At least it doesn't hurt so much, all the time,
when I move or anything.  Just sort of random times."
     "That sucks," she said firmly, like I'd doubted it.

***
21:18 31 Oct

     Suddenly, Jill leaned over and sniffed my neck.  I inquired gently,
"What the fuck are you doing?"
     "You don't smell like cookies any more," she said as she unleaned.
     "That was half the reason to shower!"
     "But I liked it!"

***
21:23 31 Oct

     "What about cinnamon?" I asked, and when I found it in the spice
rack I put a little on my wrist, like I'd done with the vanilla, and
rubbed it into the skin.
     She sniffed at that, and nodded.  "Oh yeah.  Lemme..."
     "What the HELL are you doing?" Brian demanded.
     "Jill said I didn't smell like cookies any more, so we were fixing
that," I challenged him, as Jill carefully shook cinnamon onto her
wrist.  She'd borrowed some of my clothes - which didn't quite fit me at
the moment, me being so anemic - so she wouldn't have to wear her
costume again.
     Instead of responding, he just moaned, rubbed half his face with
one hand, and left.
     "Cool!  Brother repellant!" I said to Jill, somewhat surprised.
     She said longingly, "Damn, if only..."

***
21:32 31 Oct

     "Yeah, I mean, if you bring them over, it's about a dollar a copy."
It was less than that if you bought blank CD-Rs in bulk, like Dad did;
but he needed them in large quantities for hard backups.  This had
already saved at least two businesses... and Mom had extracted
testimonials to use later.  Heh.  Certainly it had saved my ass at least
once.  Also made it easier to sleep at night.
     "Dude!"  Then Jill frowned.  "Isn't that illegal, though?"
     "Yeah, technically.  So's speeding.  It's a copyright violation,
but it's not worth suing over it if it's just a few, like personal
stuff.  The ones they want to hit are the offshore pirates, that produce
like thousands and sell them."
     "So, I mean, you can just record them?"
     "Yeah.  Just like a tape," I nodded.  "Except the quality's usually
better.  Um, not everything can read the disks, though; some players
just won't.  The recordables aren't as reflective as the store-bought
ROM versions."
     "Rom?"
     "Read only memory," I sighed.  "Means you can't change it- the data
on it."

***
21:47 31 Oct

     "See?" I said during a quiet part.  "Kind of calming..."
     "Yeah, I can kind of see that," Jill agreed.
     "Plus I don't get yelled at for playing it this late," I added.
There were at least four sets of musical tastes in the house - Brian was
a musical whore, or a musical politician, when he wanted to be - and
they were largely incompatible, at least at decent volume.  Well,
three when Susan was at college.  Classical and related, though, tended
not to set anyone off, at least.  Plus there wasn't any real bass track
to crank up so you could feel it in your bones.  Mom had made Dad get a
separate subwoofer for his office so the rest of us wouldn't have to
listen to his stuff quite so much, when he cranked his crap up.

***
22:18 31 Oct

     "So, nothing really happened?" Jill confirmed.
     "Well, no...  But I didn't like it!"
     "It's different if you didn't like it because Debbie was screaming
at you or something," she said.
     "Yeah, I guess...  Yeah," I agreed.  If she'd pulled that sword,
I'd have had a hell of a time neutralizing her.  "I just didn't like it,
I mean... it's really tense with her around."
     She shook her head.  "I'd have thought you'd have gotten over her
by now."
     "It's not that!"

***
22:20 31 Oct

     "How can you be scared of her?"
     "Look at what she did at school!" I shot back.  "I mean... what if
she turned that on me?  She could completely fuck my life up!"
     "Like how?"
     "Remember that guy, uh, Frank Donny or something?  Donner.  The one
that..."
     She nodded.  "Yeah?"
     "Remember what she did to him?"
     "YOU had something to do with some of that, I heard-"
     "But I'm not like the only person in school, y'know.  And she knows
other people...  I mean, she could seriously fuck up my life if she
tried."
     "Tuck..."  She shook her head.  "Kim said you took her out shooting
one time?  And that all of you, ALL of you were like hitting the
bullseye each and every time you shot?"
     "I wish!  She's not remembering it right."

***
22:24 31 Oct

     "I want to show her a pistol target," I told Dad.
     He sat there for a while.
     Then he asked, "Why?"
     "'Cause she's never seen one before," I sighed.
     "Did you want to take her shooting?"
     "Not this weekend.  I've got too much to do already."  I shrugged
at Jill.  "Maybe next weekend?"
     "I work Saturdays," she said with an unhappy face.
     "I-  Oh, hell.  Dad, my cosmetology teacher said I have- HAVE to
make up the practice sessions I missed, it's like a state requirement if
I want the license, and there's no point in the class if I don't get the
license.  And I think Saturdays are going to be the best time..."
     "You have therapy Saturdays," he mentioned.
     "Dad!"  *Oh, wait, she knows.*  "I know that!" I said instead.
"And," I lied, "I was gonna talk to her tomorrow about changing my
appointment or something... if I have to keep going," I realized.
     "You do."  *Damn,* I thought.  "Your mom's going to be going to
therapy too," he added.
     "WHAT?!"
     "Don't yell."
     "I WASN-"  I let out a breath, in lieu of yelling more, which I
wanted to right then.  "Why?"
     "You have confused her," he said calmly.  "And she wants some help
in dealing with it.  Also, they-"  He stopped and glanced at Jill.
"I'll email you," he said.
     "I can leave," Jill said, a little nervously as she backed up.
     "No..." I pleaded.  "Besides, they can explain everything in email,
better than some other way.  And it's more secure."
     Dad shifted, which got my attention, and I saw his eyebrows in the
raised position.  "Eugene, do you think the house is bugged?"
     "_I_ haven't swept it," I retorted.  "But I didn't bug it either.
And no, I don't," I answered the rest of the iceberg of the question.
Mike wouldn't, George and Dan were happier if they didn't know about
what went on here, and anyone else I knew wouldn't know how, especially
anyone who was in here within the last month, and I doubted anyone could
get in uninvited without us having some kind of indication.

***
22:31 31 Oct

     "Your dad's weird," Jill said when I shut the door to my room.
     "Yeah, I guess...  sometimes he doesn't seem that weird.  I mean,
sometimes he's unusual, like compared to other parents, but it makes
more sense his way than the normal way.  Sometimes," I admitted.  "Plus
he's weird."  She chuckled.  "Anyway, see, this is a pistol target..."

***
22:35 31 Oct

     "So I'm not THAT good," I finished.
     "Better than me," she said.
     "Well, there's one way to fix that..."  Which reminded me, _I_
hadn't been practicing either lately.  Damnit.  *There's no time for
anything any more...*
     "What?"  She must've seen something in my face.
     "Just...  Life's too fast lately, you know?  I used to have time to
do all this stuff, and now, it's like..."
     "Yeah, I know," she said, her face looking like I felt.  "But, I
mean, _I_ need a job, if I want a motorcycle..."
     "How's that going?"  I wasn't that enthusiastic about motorcycles,
after hearing a few anecdotes from Mom, but I could see why Jill would
want SOMETHING, and she could get a better motorcycle than a car for the
money.  And work on it easier.
     She brightened considerably.  "Man, I think I can get it in a
month!  Maybe less!"
     "Cool!"
     "Yeah, really!  Then I don't have to beg for rides, or be late all
the time with Kim, or..."  She flopped down on the bed and stared at the
upper bunk.  "I just hope it doesn't get fucked up, you know?  Like
something'll happen at the last minute and I can't get it."
     "That would suck..."  I couldn't think of anything else to say.
     Pause.
     "So how come you have a bunk bed in here?" she asked.

***
22:48 31 Oct

     "Ow," Jill said as she winced.
     "What?"
     "Ow, shit, my shoulder...  Sometimes it gets like this when I have
to do a lot of reaching and stuff, like today at work."
     "Oh.  Want me to try rubbing it?"  I wasn't that good, but I was of
the opinion that more than a decade of keyboard pounding had given me
some good finger muscles, even if I had small hands.
     "Would you?"
     "Well, yah..."  I wouldn't have mentioned anything if I wasn't
willing to do it.

***
22:53 31 Oct

     "Jill, you're taking advantage," I told her.
     "But it feels so goooood," she purred.
     "You have to do me after."
     "Okay," she agreed, too quickly I thought.  "Just tell me what not
to touch, okay?  I don't want to hurt you."
     "Oh.  Me neither," I agreed.  Apparently she WAS paying attention.
     She wiggled her toes at me, and I restarted massaging her leg.
     "Owwwwwwoooohhhhhhhhhh..."  She'd told me to ignore everything
except 'stop', so I did.
     "No, wait," I said.  "Take the pants off."  She'd already tossed
the shirt, because I couldn't massage through the cloth.  Luckily,
someone had cranked up the heater, finally.
     She lifted her legs a little, as I disengaged, then threw them up
in the air and wriggled the pants- MY pants, I remembered - off her
hips.  "Can you pull 'em?" she asked.
     "Man you're lazy!" I complained, and she laughed as I stood up.

***
22:59 31 Oct

     "Ow, shit, my hands," I complained as I stopped massaging her and
started trying to shake the cramps out of mine.
     "What, already?"
     "Fuck-"  But she was already laughing.  "Oh, fuck you, bitch," I
sighed.
     "Want me to rub 'em?"  She chuckled.  "We could just go back and
forth all night, you rub 'em out of me, I rub 'em out of you..."
     "We'd have to stop sometime," I objected.  "Or no, wait, put 'em on
someone else.  Like cooties."

***
23:01 31 Oct

     "How's that?"
     "Little harder," I requested, and she cranked on my shoulders a
little harder.  "Ohhhhhhh..."
     "Like that?"  I could hear her smiling from behind me.
     "Yesss..."

***
23:08 31 Oct

     She'd sort of slowed down and weakened, so I asked, "Do you want to
stop?"
     "Nnnn...  Lemme move closer, try something..."  She flopped around
behind me, then one leg came into view along my right side.  Then her
other one appeared on the left.
     "If you're gonna try a scissors lock or something, I'll have to
kill you," I told her, simultaneously thinking of ways I could break
loose that wouldn't hurt me worse.
     "No!" she protested.  "Just..."  She wiggled up close, enough that
I could feel her body heat around my rear, and then reached around with
both arms and started massaging me from the front.
     It was very odd.
     After a while, though, I commented, "I think I like this."
     "Good!"  She didn't stop.

***
23:13 31 Oct

     After a few minutes, she'd almost stopped actually massaging; now
she was just sort of doodling on my skin.  Not that I was complaining.
     Finally she put both arms down, resting them on the tops of my
thighs, and stopped.
     "Sleepy?" I guessed.
     "No..."
     "Arms tired?"
     I felt warm lips press against the back of my neck, and all my hair
stood up.
     It stopped, after a few seconds.
     Pause.
     *What the hell do I do now?* I wondered.
     "Tuck?" she asked, from RIGHT BEHIND ME, almost into my ear.  "Did
I...  Sorry," she said, and started pulling herself loose.
     "Wait," I said, and she stopped.
     Pause.
     "You kissed me," I mentioned, in case she'd missed it.  Since I had
no clue at ALL right now, I asked, "What did that mean?"
     "I dunno," she said, sounding tensed up again.  "Just, I mean-"
     "It didn't bother me," I said, half lying.  Maybe three quarters.
Maybe 'perturbed' would be a better word.  "I mean, I'm not upset or
anything... I just, I mean, I don't know what I should do- what you want
me to do now.  Do I turn around and kiss you back, or start laughing, or
run screaming, or-"
     "Don't!" she protested, sounding fearful.  "Don't run or
anything..."
     "Okay..." hoping she'd give me more clue as to what she DID want.
     Pause.
     A finger ran down my back, making my skin ripple.
     She said, "I dunno.  I just..."
     She did the finger thing again, and I twitched.
     "Sorry!  I-"
     "No, keep that up," I suggested as she started to pull away again.
I grabbed a knee and lightly pulled on it, like I wanted her to scootch
up again.
     "You sure?"
     "Yes I'm sure," I sighed.  I did like the finger-thing she'd done.
*Wait-*  But it was too late to limit it, because she moved closer and
kissed me again, on the back of the neck, this time longer.

***
23:17 31 Oct

     When we'd both untangled and gotten positioned again, I could see
her face, as we lay on the bed sort of turned to each other and looking
at each other.  She looked half excited and half apprehensive.
     I tried to think of something to say.
     What I came up with, after several exceedingly long seconds, was,
"So, I understand you want to kiss me?"
     She laughed, looking away... and then nodded.  Sort of.  Maybe.
     I put a hand on her side, which made her twitch and look back at
me, surprised.  I smiled at her.
     Before I could think of anything else to say, she reached out with
one hand, cupped it around the back my head, and gently pulled our faces
together.
     I decided to take that as a 'yes'.

***
23:19 31 Oct

     She finally let me go and pulled away a little bit, which was good
because I was very out of shape and this was a lot of exercise,
apparently.  I was breathing hard, anyway.  So was she.
     "Tuck?"
     I dreaded what she might say next, but finally went, "Yeah?"
     She twitched, took half a quick breath, then forced out, "I want to
have sex with you."
     *I think I guessed that...*  Though I hadn't, really; there was a
big difference between kissing and sex.
     "Do you want to?" she asked.
     "I...  This isn't marriage," I said, which was not what I wanted to
say, but sort of what I meant.
     "Huh?!  No," she agreed, shaking her head.
     "Okay."
     "You do?"
     Part of me definitely did.  "Yeah," I admitted, and for a reward
got kissed again.  On the lips, not on the part that was definite.
     I was liking this, though.

***
23:24 31 Oct

     I didn't have any condoms - they were all at Rachel's - but Jill
had two in the pack that she used as a purse.
     "What, just two?" I teased.
     "You don't have any?"
     "Uh, I don't think so..."  She stopped what she'd been doing.  "Not
here..."  Well, maybe I did.  I hoped I did.

***
23:25 31 Oct

     "Dude!"  I'd found a non-empty box, which I didn't quite remember
having in my room.  But I couldn't say for sure, either.
     Then I said, "IIiiii," as Jill surprised me with arms around me
from behind and another, long, kiss on the back of my neck.

***
23:28 31 Oct

     *No!*  "Damnit!"
     "What?" she gasped at me, as I twitched too much and orgasmed.
     "Too soon!  DAMNIT!  Hhh," I added, because even though I was
really pissed it still felt very good.
     "Damnit!"

***
23:31 31 Oct

     I recalled Debbie tasting different than Jill did, but Jill wasn't
bad either.  Wasn't GREAT, not like cookies or steak or garlic or
something, but I didn't mind having my tongue in it.  And my nose,
sometimes.
     Which made me think about hooking up the O2 bottle and a nasal
cannula, but I suspected she'd thrash me for stopping and then beat me
for the weirdness.  So I just kept going.  Luckily, this didn't take
near as much exertion as other things, so I was slowly catching my
breath, noisily, while she was losing hers, even more noisily.

***
23:36 31 Oct

     Jill made some very odd noises while orgasming, I had just
discovered.  I hoped the soundproofing would contain it, but I wasn't
sure about how it handled low frequencies.  She was emitting a broad
mix, and I wasn't sure where the peaks were, or how effective the-
     Then I realized I was geeking, and made myself stop.
     Then, I sort of had nothing to think about, as I kept going - she
was pulling my hair to encourage me to stay right where I was - and then
the obvious question floated up.

***
23:42 31 Oct

     "Jill?"
     Her eyes whirled around, and I could almost see the cartoon stars
whizzing around, but she finally tracked on my face.  "Yeah?"
     "Am I gay, now, or not?"
     She just started to laugh; a gentler laugh than her usual, as if -
haha - she was really relaxed and not edgy.
     I sighed.
     After a while, she stopped.  "Um, sorry..."
     "S'okay," I lied.  Well, it wasn't that bad.  But it sure didn't
help.
     Pause.
     She started, "Can we-  Can-"
     "What?"
     "Could-  Would you mind moving closer?"
     "Huh?  Oh, sure," I said, and did.  She wanted to cuddle.  I
wouldn't mind either.
     We wrapped around each other and she sniffed my neck, and giggled a
little.  I restrained a sigh.
     "Um... I dunno," she said.  "Did you like it?"
     "I went too fast," I complained.
     "That's," she said in a conciliatory tone, "usually a sign that you
DID like it."
     "Yeah I know that," I grumbled.  "Yeah...  I did like it."
     "So don't worry about it right now," she told me.  "Just, I mean,
_I_ like it," she said before she started chuckling.
     "Yeah I know that," I said again, but I couldn't keep my voice
stern this time, and she laughed some more.
     Then she stroked my body, and I realized that whatever I was, I did
want her to keep doing this.

***
23:47 31 Oct

     "Wow," Jill mentioned.
     "Uhh?"
     "Debbie was right," Jill said with her mouth, as her hand snaked
into my crotch and very delicately fondled me.
     "What?" I demanded, pulling away a little so she couldn't distract
me.
     "She said, back when you two were dating, uh, and having sex," she
rushed the last part, "that you weren't the type to just roll over after
one time and go to sleep...  That's a GOOD thing," she assured me.
     "Oh.  Well, YEAH...  Do guys do that?  Most of the time?"
     She nodded, like she was very tired of it but what could you do?
And I remembered Travis also had a tendency-  *But I could blow him
first,* I remembered.
     Then I got very confused, and lost the outside for a time, I don't
know how long.
     Then Jill slid a slimy-slick hand between my scrotum and my leg,
and I came back.
     "Wanna do it again?"
     I thought, all things considered, that I did.
     Actually, I wasn't considering much else; that hand was
distracting...

***


   Sir Walter: And well she might, for I have bought her gifts and
   dominions beyond her wildest dreams.
   Queen: Are you sure? I have some pretty wild dreams, you know... I'm
   not sure what they mean, but the other day there was this enormous
   tree, and I was sitting right on top of it-
   Melchett: Ma'am -
   Queen: And then I dreamt once that I was a sausage roll-
   Melchett: Majesty-
   Queen: Sorry! So excited! Don't know what I'm saying.
   -- Blackadder


Distribution:
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the entirety of the work (from the BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE header to
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+ @>--,--'-----   Ellen Hayes   o===[--------      __      vicki .sig  +
                  -=[1990]=-                       \/      virus 13.4
+      http://www.barkingduck.net/ehayes     PGP key: EFC9 5D55 (1996) +



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