Chapter 12
The Set-up

Thursday morning arrived, cool but sunny. Stick sat on the front steps of the school, sunning himself; boredom had sent him to bed early and gotten him up equally early, so he was among the first arrivals. A familiar vehicle entered the parking lot, and Teddy Frick extracted himself from it. Stick eyed the approach; Teddy was strutting a bit, mebbe? "Yo!"

"Yo!" Teddy returned the hail, grinning. Yeh, he looked cocky, all right.

"So, how's our woman?" Stick managed not to say 'bitch, or 'ho'; it wasn't politic, he figured. Somebody might hear, and there'd be a shit storm, if and when Mary did. This was an uncommon bit of courtesy for Stick, but...

Teddy kept grinning. "She was fine when I left -- but her mother wasn't! She caught me, er, in the saddle..."

Stick grunted a quick chuckle. "Is it gonna be a fuckin' problem?"

Teddy shrugged. "Can't say." He didn't seem to be bothered, though. In fact, he seemed pretty cocky, something new for the little guy. Mebbe this shit was good fer him, after all...

"So, how was it?"

"Pretty damned good!" Teddy's eyes challenged.

Yeh, cocky. Well, good. "Friday still on?"

"If her mother doesn't get in the way... Guess Mary will tell us." Teddy settled a bit.

Stick nodded. There was nothing else to say; the next bit of info would come from Mary.

Nate wheeled up next; Nora got out of the passenger door. Stick was still amazed that Nate hadn't fucked that up, yet. It was pretty obvious he hadn't, though; he was all over Nora, and she wasn't complaining. If Stick wasn't getting pussy from Mary, he'd probably be giving Nate shit; as it was, rocking the boat wasn't smart. Draper and Tenisha arrived together, too, a few minutes later; in this case, it seemed that Tenisha was the hanger, and Draper the hangee, but again, nobody was complaining. Draper settled on the step, and Tenisha settled on his lap, and Draper merely grinned a lot while Tenisha nibbled at his neck. Tuesday evening, Tenisha had lured Draper up to her bedroom, and had somehow managed to trip him and land under him with her legs open; Draper hadn't been the same, since. Once was a fluke, as far as Draper was concerned. But for Tenisha to go to all that effort to climb on his cock the second time... Stick watched out of the corner of his eye as Draper's hand disappeared beneath Tenisha's tank top; seconds later, her eyes popped, but she didn't yell...

Finally, Mary hove into view; Teddy and Stick gravitated to her. "Teddy says there was some excitement, wit' your Momma last night..." Stick offered.

Mary grunted. "Yeah. She read me the Riot Act after Teddy left, but she's not as hot as she could have been... Teddy, she considers to be a long-term project of mine, and therefore not too terrible; you, on the other hand..." Stick grimaced. "She figures you're just in it for the ride..."

"What about Friday?" Teddy erupted.

"We're gonna do it," Mary insisted, "Just make sure I don't scream!" Both boys nodded. "Teddy, it's an all-nighter. Prep your mother!"

"Shit! Any ideas?" Teddy was blank.

"Sleep-over?" Mary tossed out.

Teddy grimaced. "Where? Stick's? Gimme a break! Uh, no offense."

Stick snickered. "None taken. It was 'bout as funny to me!"

"Party of some type?" Mary suggested.

"Maybe. I'll come up with something. Science Club outing, or something."

"Tell her you're going to do some astronomy with a friend! All night sky watching party!" Mary suggested.

"Kewl! I'll have to get Randall to cover me..." Teddy enthused.

"How hard is that?" Mary wondered aloud.

Teddy sobered. "It'd be easier if I had something to offer..."

Stick nudged Mary. "Lend him a coupla fuck flicks..."

Teddy nodded. "Better than nothing..."

"Ol' Randall never seen pussy! An' he's hurtin' bad! Too bad we couldn't get him the real fuckin' thing..." Stick shut up for a second, and looked guilty. "Uh, that came out wrong. I ain't sharin' -- too bad we don't have another source..."

Mary, who'd been just putting on steam to take offense, went poker-faced. "Teddy, see if you can sell the videos. If you can't, though, maybe I can come up with something. Randall wouldn't be looking for prime..."

Teddy shook his head. "Randall wouldn't recognize prime! Besides, I'm pretty sure he has other standards... If we were really hooking him up, I'd look for a brainy girl..."

"One of THOSE might be easier to find..." Mary simpered. She ruffled Teddy's locks. "Let Mother Mary check with her contacts... DON'T promise anything; I'll let you know if I can find some bait to dangle..." She frowned a moment. "It might help if I knew what kind of equipment I was selling..."

"Pecker size?" Stick grinned. " 'Bout like this..." He measured out about seven inches between two fingers. "Narrow, like mine..." He chuckled. "Stiff alla time..." Teddy snickered. Randall had a perpetual erection.

"Well..." Mary mused. "THAT might help..."

Nate drew Nora aside. "Uh, I need to talk to ya."

"Honey?" Nora looked mildly concerned. "Problem?"

"Yeh." Nate stewed a moment. "Mama wants to see ya."

"Okay..." Nora got cautious.

"I can't see no upside. Mama ain't exactly a trophy..."

"Ashamed of me?" Nora teased.

"Nah. Other way 'round." Nate stewed a moment. "Mama's... a piece o' work."

"Well, some people are, Honey. You deal with it." Nora rubbed his back. What was he so uptight about?

"It's worse'n that," Nate sighed. "Look, Mama's a... doper. She does drugs, heavy."

"Oh." What would Daddy say to THIS?

Having gathered his courage, Nate plowed on, "An' everything that goes with it, too. She don't work -- well, not a regular job. Anything for a fix. Hookin' most often." He couldn't meet her eyes. "Your Daddy knows; we talked 'bout it, Sunday..."

Nora's reaction was more or less the opposite of what Nate expected. Her only REAL worry about the issue was relieved by his last comment! She went back to rubbing his back, "My poor Baby! So, what do you figure she's up to?"

"I dunno," Nate shrugged. "Could be anything, from tryin' to figure out what kinda white chick would want my ass to tryin' to work some angle to get money outta your Daddy..." He hesitated a moment, then: "Probably both..."

Nora's hand continued to massage Nate's back without pause while she absorbed this. "Well, as long as she doesn't go nuts on me for some reason, I can handle a visit with your Mama, Honey -- and as for Daddy, he can take care of himself! Give your girl a kiss, and let's go to class..." Nate could DO that...

Randall Braithwaite was one of those semi-unique items that seems to populate every school, one to a customer. He was a bony, fresh-faced kid with freckles and thick eyeglasses under thick, springy hair that he currently had styled in a comic parody of a classic comb-over; such was its bulk that it looked like a toupee that was three sizes too big for his head. One look at Randall told you that he was going to grow up to be a mad scientist --but he was running a bit late on the growing-up part. What one look DIDN'T tell you was that forty percent of his attention span was perpetually given over fantasies about just about any female that drifted into view; Randall had gotten his first stiffie at about nine, and basically, it hadn't gone down since. But Randall had 'Geek' tattooed on his forehead in a color invisible to him but that fluoresced for virtually everyone else... Randall was vice-president of the Chess Club, a mover and shaker in the Computer Club (and a bit more than a 'script kiddie'), and he WAS the Astronomy Club; his eight inch Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector was its sole viewing asset. If Teddy was going to make Friday night work, Randall was the guy to make it happen. "Hey, Randall!"

"Yo!"

"I need a favor, Man." Teddy closed in and got conspiratorial.

"Sure," Randall replied, "Let's hear it."

"I need you to cover me Friday night. Tell Momma I'm with you doing an all-night Astronomy Club thing."

"So you can do what?" Randall raised an eyebrow.

"Spend the night with..."

"Mary Nally?" Randall nudged Teddy. Randall had to be one of the few people on Earth who not only wouldn't give Teddy shit over his liaison with Mary, but would contrive to be envious. "Are you really getting that? Wow!"

Teddy affected an excess of outraged propriety, "A gentleman doesn't tell!"

"Yeah, right! Just a little, Man! C'mon! How big is it? What do her titties look like?"

"That's a great way to lose a girl, Man!" Teddy rolled his eyes. "Telling everybody details..."

Randall smirked. "This is too funny, though; I can remember when you wanted me to cover you from HER!" He mused a moment. "Yeah, maybe I should have been a real friend and thrown myself to the lions, there..." His eyes danced.

"Too late, I'm already ruined," Teddy grinned back.

"I guess. Good shit?"

"Duh! Am I trying to date it again?" Teddy rolled his eyes.

"Damn..." Randall drifted in fantasyland for a moment. "So, is this going to be a regular thing? And what do I get out of it?"

"How about if I can lay hands on a couple of porn flicks you can borrow for the weekend?"

"Oh, great! So you get laid, and I have to date my hand... again!"

"What do you expect? That I should share?" Tim eyed him.

"Well, there's that Stick dude. What's up with that?"

"That's... complicated." Teddy had no excuses prepared for this. "It's a competition, I guess. One of us is going to get her, but it isn't clear which, yet. I can't be dragging in somebody ELSE -- that's for sure!"

"Well, I guess you're holding up your end..." Randall looked dubious. Tales of how black dudes with serious cocks made sex slaves out of white girls weren't exactly unheard of, in his limited experience.

"It's equal opportunity, thus far," Teddy asserted. "And Stick's a decent sort, once you get to know him..."

"He got a monster cock?" Randall asked carefully. Best to let Teddy down easy, if that's where things were headed; Randall had seen Teddy, and wasn't that impressed.

"Well, it's kinda long, but it's a lot narrower than mine," Teddy replied. "Sort of like yours..." He winked. "Mary is trying to figure out whether she likes long or thick..."

"Better hope she doesn't find a guy with BOTH!" Randall snickered, then sobered. "I can get porn clips off the Net, you know..."

"Clips, yeah -- full flicks, I bet not. Besides, some things are easier to get than others -- got anything you want to see in particular?"

Randall frowned. "Let me think about it. I guess I'll do it, THIS time, but making my life even more uncomfortable with porn flicks isn't a long-term solution..."

Teddy nodded. There had been a time when Teddy had almost offered to bleed off Randall's excess for him -- they'd even had jerk-off contests at Randall's house a couple of times, watching internet porn. But Randall was a friend, and if he'd freaked and killed their friendship... Randall was solidly pointed at girls, too, no question. "I'll talk to Mary. Maybe she can give you some inside help..."

"Like what?"

"A spy in the enemy camp... It'd be a lot easier to hunt one if you knew you had a shot, wouldn't it?"

Now THAT made sense! "Kewl! That'd be BIG!" Randall was back in fantasyland; to have inside the dope and tactics... It wouldn't be mind-reading, but it would be a LOT better that working up the guts to go in blind...

Nora and Mary were at lunch. "So, tonight's the big night, huh?" Mary queried.

"Yeah." Nora had a few butterflies. Daddy wasn't even really a face in a picture to her, but he WAS a voice, at this point -- and a fairly sinister one... "It's gonna be an adventure..." She mused a moment. "What about you? How's the male harem?"

Mary sighed. "It gets harder instead of easier. They're both SOOO different, but SOOO good..."

"So the first free shot at Teddy went well?"

"I came so hard I screamed! Mother came busting in..." Mary rolled her eyes. "After he left, we went at it, hammer and tongs. The only thing Teddy has going for him is that Mother sees him as a long-term project of mine. Stick, on the other hand..."

Nora nodded. She could just imagine... "Serious issues?"

"Ooooooh, boy... Just about everything you could think of, but the fact that he's black tops the list -- even though she's careful to be politically correct."

"So what are you doing tonight?"

"Resting up for tomorrow night." Mary grinned. "We're gonna try to do a repeat of last Saturday without the front-end stress..."

"Everything?"

Mary shrugged. "Probably. The boys haven't gotten that out of their systems yet -- or at least, Teddy hasn't. I don't mind -- it's fun to watch..."

"How do you think this is going to turn out?"

"I dunno. I think Stick has his finger on the trigger; he can probably make anything happen he wants. But he doesn't seem to have realized it..."

"Why should he?" Nora challenged. "He can pick you and turn out Teddy, or he can pick Teddy and turn you out. Or he can get twice the service! Why not just let the whole thing ride?" Nora pondered a bit. "As long as you can't choose between them, and as long as they continue to be interested in bi games, this thing is a whole lot more stable than it appears, as long as the Stick - Teddy connection doesn't go public..."

Mary shrugged. "That's certainly a point of failure. Then again, while they'd both lose friends, it might drive them together..." She reached down and scratched a distinctly unladylike place, "I'm absolutely rubbed raw! Itches like mad..."

Nora tittered. "Then it gets wet, and THAT's a downhill cycle..."

"You, too?"

"Tonight will be the first night since Saturday that I haven't had Nate..."

"Damn. I gotta catch up? Oh!" Mary slapped her forehead. "I need to come up with a bribe for that wacko Randall to get him to cover Teddy! Preferably one with two legs and a wet spot between..."

"Getting Randall laid could be a serious project!" Nora observed.

"Well, he isn't picky -- that's a plus!" Mary chuckled. "The boys say he's preoccupied with the fact that he has a constant woody -- and fortunately, it's a fairly decent size... Brains are probably more serious than looks, but she'd need to have a seriously itchy clit..."

"You're totally forgetting the flip side!" Nora countered, "Where would you find someone who'd WANT him?"

"That's true; where would I find something like that?" Mary scratched her head.

"Why not ask the expert?" Nora replied, raising an eyebrow. Two sets of female eyes shifted to a noisy table on the far side of the lunchroom where a certain brunette was holding court from her boyfriend's lap...

"Yeah..." The pair got up and descended on the only sophomore at a table full of seniors. "Bobby, can we borrow Dina for a sec?"

Dina Nellis was up off of Bobby McCormick's lap before he could open his mouth, turning and placing a finger over his lips to forestall any response. "Easy, Lover! Girl talk!" Bobby rolled his eyes and shrugged; he'd gotten a lot quieter, recently. Dina stepped away a few feet with Nora and Mary, "What can I do for you? Has Nate fucked up already?"

"No, no," Nora replied, "Nothing like that..."

But Dina's attention was already gone. "So, Mary, catching up?"

Mary colored. "Well, I got lucky. Some of YOUR work set me up..."

"So tell me!"

"Well, some of it's top secret, but Nate going to Nora and Draper going to Tenisha left Stick without a ride. Teddy was scared to go home with me alone..."

"Kewl." Dina eyed the pair. "Okay, if current relationships are stable, why do I have the feeling I'm about to match make?" Dina had shaken up the place on Prom Night, and she and Bobby had managed to take some of the pieces and put them together in interesting new patterns...

"We -- I -- have a new problem," Mary began. Dina merely looked impish and waited. "Teddy's staying overnight tomorrow night, but his mother is overprotective. We figured out a pretty safe excuse, but we need Randall's cooperation..."

"Mad Doctor Braithwaite?" Dina giggled. "Come clean -- it's not just you and Teddy tomorrow night, is it? You can tell Mama Dina..."

"How do you DO that?" Mary shook her head. "Okay, we MIGHT be able to get him to cover tomorrow, but we're kind of looking for future goodwill, if you know what I mean. And it's generally unknown, but..."

"... Randall's a major lech," Dina finished. "Some people are SO blind..." She shook her head. Nora just blinked. "He's packing, too, isn't he?"

Mary was beyond surprise. "So I'm told." She held up her hands for a measurement, relating Teddy's info on the subject. "A bit narrow, but long and ever-ready..."

"Okay... I don't like one-nighters. Makes me feel like a pimp. What do YOU think he needs?"

"Teddy and Stick seem to think that the physical piece is less important than brainpower -- as long as the candidate can take considerable heat..."

"Yeah, he's probably going to try to wear it out. Well, you two know a lot of your contemporaries -- who measures up? If brains are important, let's start there..."

The three stood, pondering. "Well, there's..." Nora began, "No, she's taken. Ummm..."

"Looks are low priority, Girls. Surely, there is a deserving female that you've hung out with..." Dina admonished.

"Well, there's Darla Jean..." Nora offered.

"Yessss! Perfect!" Dina enthused. "Shy, brainy... She's pretty thin, and not well-endowed, though. Question is, can she take the heat? What about sex?"

"Any girl who dates her hairbrush handle as often as Darla Jean does can probably handle a dick!" Mary replied. "We, uh, had a couple of sleepovers when we were younger... That's top secret info -- please don't blab it..."

Dina nodded, lips pursed. "When was this? How old were you?"

"Thirteen, fourteen..."

"Any indications she's nailed a boy?"

"Nope, she's pretty shy. We fell out when she started with the brain trust, but you know how THEY are..." Mary chuckled. Nora looked on, bemused. How WERE they, actually?

"Yeah, no common sense. Totally transparent. Even if she kept it hidden, the guy wouldn't." Dina grinned.

"Okay, so how do we work it?" Nora asked.

"Well, it's a two-step process," Dina related. "You provide a bit of privileged information, then you do expectation setting. Are we being sneaky?"

"With Darla Jean? Maybe," Mary replied. "Since I need to give Randall something, probably not, on his end..."

"Oooookay... One way or another, Darla Jean needs to know about Randy Randall's ever-ready assets. That's probably enough for her; she's already hunting in the brain trust. But she's so bad at it that we'll have to give Randall the word and hope he can carry the ball..." Dina opined.

"So, what do we tell him, exactly?" Nora asked.

Dina shrugged. "Tell him Darla Jean has an itchy clit, but she's chicken -- with any luck, that's enough. Basically, it sounds like they're made for each other. If Randall can bring himself to move at all, it will take care of itself!"

"Nothing else?" Mary was dubious.

Dina shook her head. "If it isn't really possible in the first place, it's not gonna happen. What you do is tear down the last couple of barriers and let nature take its course... Most times, things don't happen because people don't have a key piece of information or two, things that let them know it's all possible. Sometimes, you have to go the other way, letting someone know that whatever wild dream they have needs to be put away, but there is a perfectly acceptable substitute..."

"Or that something will work if you're willing to put up with the downside..." Nora mused.

"Exactly," Dina agreed. "In this case, we might have to give Randall classes in how girls think, which is a pretty straightforward thing. But approaches to Darla..." She tousled her curls, distractedly, while thinking.

"I'll talk to Teddy about it. Maybe we can come up with something," Mary said.

"Kewl. One day, I'm gonna want to hear ALL about what you two are up to..." Dina waved and headed back to Bobby's lap.

"I have an idea," Mary confided. "I want to get it rolling with Teddy, and then we'll ring in Darla Jean..."

"How?" Nora wanted to know.

"Casual conversation... We'll discuss my sex life in Health class, and I'll ring in Randall. But first, I want to rig the setup..." The girls adjourned, and Mary went off to chase down Teddy before lunch was over.

She found him playing chess with Randall, who was leaning on him pretty hard to get something for the favor. "Oh, good! I get both of you! That makes it easier!"

Teddy and Randall looked at each other, both erupting, "Huh?"

Mary got to the point. "Randall, I have an idea, but we need to flesh it out into a plan... What's the cover story?"

"Why?" Randall was instantly suspicious.

"Because if we can make it serve to ease YOUR little problem, too, that would be convenient."

"Teddy!" Randall was mortified. Mary OBVIOUSLY knew too much!

"Heyyy," Teddy made shift to defend himself.

"Oh, stop it, for chrissakes! Jeezus, Randall, you're never gonna get that thing handled if nobody knows about it! Now, look, what's the plan? Astronomy Club?" Mary moved them on to business.

"Yeah," Randall agreed. "It's an excuse for an all-nighter."

"Okay. Are there any girls in the Astronomy Club?"

Randall actually recoiled in his seat. "Why, uh, no..."

Mary eyed him sardonically. "And why is that?"

The simple truth was that it hadn't occurred to any of the members. The Astronomy Club was several years old and pre-dated interest in girls, generally; add the fact that none of the membership was particularly successful with women, and things became clearer. Late night at the Astronomy Club usually featured wistful talk about the charms of this girl or that, viewing of porn mags or the occasional video clip while awaiting a particular celestial event...

"Things are changing a bit, aren't they?" Mary pressed. "Jimmy has Amy Kelleher, now, and Teddy's dating me... While we might not be that interested, there are some brainier girls out there -- maybe you should lift the bar?"

"Yeah?" Randall was wary. "Like who?"

"Darla Jean Nevins comes to mind..."

Randall froze and started thinking furiously. Yeah, Darla Jean was smart. Okay, so what? How did that help him? She wasn't any sexpot... "Okay, I see your point. But I'm not sure where you're going with it."

Mary just missed stamping her foot. Boys were SOOO dense... "What do you think of Darla Jean?"

"She's okay. Pretty smart. Team player. Easy to work with. But she's a girl, so that'd kind of dampen conversation about girls while we are setting up for the next observation...

"About that little disadvantage," Mary simpered. "What do you think of her AS a girl?"

"Uuuuhhh..." Randall mentally catalogued her assets. Darla Jean was a narrow-framed redhead with -- well there were tits in there, but they'd never been much on display. 'A' cup, maybe? Long, thin, straight red hair in the darker range, a really wide mouth which kind of pulled her face out of shape; she was always pulling that fat lower lip... Those fifties eyeglasses... Randall sighed; his were crap, too... "Well, she's no Pamela Anderson."

"Jugs are important?" Mary asked. "Besides, Pamela couldn't hold up her end of a conversation with you, after... Forget I said anything..."

"Whoa! Whoa! I didn't say I wasn't interested; besides, you've got a point about talk..." Darla Jean was a big question mark as a sex object, but at least she made a decent lab partner... "So, what are you thinking?"

"Well, I was thinking we might kill two birds with one stone; you cover Teddy, and maybe you get a shot at getting laid..."

"How?" Randall still didn't have a grip on what Mary's devious little mind was cooking up...

"Well, first, you set up the meeting for tomorrow night. Simultaneously, you and Teddy let it be known that recent events have led to a recruiting drive for female members... At the last minute, of course, Teddy and I will back out; worst case, you get Jimmy Hightower and his new girlfriend, you and Darla Jean in the dark... Jimmy won't be able to keep his hands off Amy, guaranteed, which will put certain thoughts in Darla Jean's head. Best case -- it's just the two of you, under the stars..."

Jimmy was the other primary member of the Astronomy Club -- and his action had recently started being well taken care of by Amy, who wasn't quick, but was sweet and mothering and had a serious sex drive... Randall wished he'd seen THAT coming; Amy was built! Well, maybe over-built... "So, that's it? I just don't see how you can throw Darla Jean and I in a room together and expect sparks..."

"Randall, it's all in what you know -- so listen up! Darla Jean runs a lot hotter than she appears to -- a WHOLE lot! But she doesn't know how to let it out, and nobody's ever gone in to get it, if you know what I mean. You need to get inside her guard; hold her hair while she's looking through the eyepiece, help her with positions, that kind of thing. We're going to prep her a bit -- give her a few of your finer qualities to think about, you know? I think... Yeah. I think you need to understand where she'll be. If you do something, and she doesn't react, that's not a bad thing. She'll just be kind of frozen while she tries to figure out what's up. The only time you're in any danger is if she screams bloody murder and slaps you; anything less is probably just playing to the crowd..."

"Like, plausible deniability?"

"Exactly. If she hits you with, 'Randall, you really shouldn't be doing that,' and it's at less than a hundred decibels, she's not serious..." Mary grinned. "Of course, it won't pay to be TOO clumsy -- but you'll have all night..."

"Yeah." Randall's eyes glowed. "I'll get started."

"This isn't guaranteed, you know..." Mary figured she'd better have an out. "A hundred things could go wrong."

"Yeah, yeah." Randall was in fantasyland; little things didn't matter. "Let me plan things a bit with Teddy, here..." He scratched his head. "Can I get the flicks, too? In case it all crashes and burns?"

"Sure," Mary chuckled, "Ta ta..."

Randall watched her leave. "She's scary, Man."

"She's a genius," Teddy asserted, "Just a different type..."

"Okay, so, what about Jimmy? Do we tell all, or what?"

"Jeez, I dunno. I mean, we could tell him that I'm not gonna be there, but not mention that you're gonna try to romance Darla Jean... Then again, he might help, if he knows..."

"Let's call him."

Jimmy was close, so they managed a huddle. "Look, I want to do an all-night observation tomorrow night," Randall announced.

Jimmy grimaced; he was going to have to choose between the stars and Amy...

But Randall was right there, suspiciously, with a solution. "Yeah, I know. Look, since you guys are suddenly studs, I figured we ought to open the Astronomy Club to girls..."

Jimmy was shocked. While it was vastly inconvenient under the new regime, the Astronomy Club was a male bastion, where the female could be discussed and drooled over at length without worry. Given this unstated secondary purpose, Jimmy's response was reactionary. "Why?"

"I have my reasons," Randall laughed, "chief among which is that I get to invite girls, too!"

Teddy was grinning like a Cheshire cat; obviously, something was up. "I'm not hearing it all, here..." Jimmy rasped.

"Not yet. It goes like this..." Randall began.

In Health class, Mary and Amy had a shot at Darla Jean, who sat in the next row. Mister Peters (boy, did he catch shit over THAT name during Sex Ed!) had just set up a group study, and wasn't getting too deep into moderation, giving the girls a chance to gab... Nora flicked a glance at Darla Jean and kicked off: "So, what's this about tomorrow night?"

Mary rolled her eyes. "I guess I'm gonna get stuck outside, while the boys play with a telescope; it's some Astronomy Club thing..."

Astronomy Club? Darla Jean blinked, which was all either of the other girls needed to know she was listening. Nora set the hook, "Astronomy Club? I thought that was a guy thing..."

"Well, it is, but the guys are mostly dating, now, so the rules are apparently changing. I'm dating Teddy, and Amy is dating Jimmy..."

Darla Jean fumed. That SLUT Amy Kelleher had swept in, waved her huge, floppy titties at Jimmy, and he was GONE! The fact that she'd never made anything resembling an overt move didn't keep her from seeing the whole thing as a poach...

Mary continued, uninterrupted by Darla Jean's thought process, "... so if they don't allow girls as at least mascots, the thing will die of malnutrition. What they REALLY need is a couple of SMART girls to hold up our end..."

Darla Jean had been rebuffed at thirteen, denied membership to that august body due to her sex. "The Astronomy Club has been locked down for years. Those three won't want any female competition in attendance..."

Mary pretended surprise at the interjection, "Well, Honey, things ARE changing. With Teddy and Jimmy both distracted by biology, Randall could probably use a good lab partner. And being female CERTAINLY couldn't hurt -- poor Randall..." She snickered.

"Poor Randall?" Darla Jean was sucked in, thoroughly.

"Yeah..." Mary smirked a bit. "Teddy broke down and gave me the straight dope. One of the big reasons the Astronomy Club was strictly male was that those three little horndogs spent a considerable amount of time at every meeting drooling over girls... Now Jimmy has a girl, and Teddy has a girl, and poor Randall is stuck without -- and he's the horniest of the lot!"

"Huh?" You'd have had to hit Darla Jean with a sledgehammer to surprise her more.

"Oh, come on, Darla Jean! You've been hanging out with the brain trust for years! Don't tell me that you don't know that they're generally hung better than the football team and more energetic than the Energizer Bunny! Why you didn't trip Jimmy or Randall and lie down under him I'LL never know! God knows, either one of them is better than a hairbrush!" Mary covered her mouth, and Darla Jean turned eight shades of red. "Oops! Sorry!"

Darla Jean flashed a glance at Nora, who threw up her hands. "I'M not telling!"

"Well..." Darla Jean turned back to Mary, "Don't tell me that Teddy is hung like a horse!"

Mary shrugged. "For length, no. But he's this thick!" She held up her hand in a 'C' shape that indicated considerable girth. "Fucking Teddy is like being done with a toilet plunger -- if you have a nerve anywhere in reach of that thing, he's gonna find it! That boy's NEVER gonna take a cherry! It's physically impossible!" She smiled slyly. "Yeah, okay, he's a little quick on the first pass -- but he's good for two or three, and once the edge is off, he lasts plenty long..."

"Well, okay, that's a little more realistic, I guess," Darla Jean opined. "But Jimmy? And Randall?"

"Ummm, I can't reveal my sources, but I have it on good authority that both of them are somewhat above average in length," Mary insisted. "Randall, in particular, is basically hard any time a girl comes within twenty feet of him! I didn't realize it until someone pointed it out to me, but that's not a pencil case behind that zipper..."

"Uh... huh..." Shit! Had she been BLIND? Darla Jean wriggled uncomfortably in her seat. Would she ever look at Randall the same way again?

"Besides, have you seen the look on Amy's face this week? That girl is getting serious sex -- and she's built to take it!" Nora interjected.

Darla Jean's frown told them both that Jimmy's relationship with Amy wasn't a favorite subject, but then that was water under the bridge, wasn't it? "There's a lot of happy girls this week," Darla Jean mumbled, thinking... Thelma. Thelma would know -- not about Randall, maybe, but about Jimmy. Thelma was a friend, the fact that she as also friends with that slut Amy notwithstanding. Thelma would have the straight poop on Jimmy. Next period...

"Yeah, there sure are..." Nora colored.

"So, you want me to ask Teddy if you can join?" Mary asked.

"Okay. I don't expect much, though."

"We're doing some watching tomorrow night..."

"Overnight?" That could be a problem... "Where?"

"I dunno." Mary's indifference was unfeigned; she wouldn't be there. But Darla Jean didn't know that... "I'll ask."

"I... might need a cover story..." Darla Jean ventured.

Somehow, Mary kept a straight face, despite the fact that she considered this to be comically ironic. "Well, you can say you're sleeping over with me, I guess..."

"It'll even be true..." Darla Jean liked that; it made for a fine justification.

'Not really,' Mary thought, but she answered, "Yeah. Here comes Mr. Peters..." The trio shifted subjects.

A determined Darla Jean hunted down Thelma Frankel outside World Civ, "Thelma? Can we talk?"

"Uh, sure..." Thelma followed her to a quiet place beneath a stairwell. What was THIS?

"Thelma, I, uh, need to know something..." Darla Jean began. How in the Hell did she justify this? "Somebody told me a rumor, and I'm trying to figure out whether I'm being taken for a ride."

"Okay." Thelma looked suspicious, but that was it.

"Actually, they told me a bunch of things, but most of them aren't checkable. But one is, I think... It's about Jimmy, and kinda embarrassing..."

"Go ahead." Thelma was eyeing her sidelong.

"Um, Amy might have mentioned this..." Darla blushed. "Is Jimmy... big? His penis, I mean..."

"It's good sized," Thelma allowed. "Why?"

"Somebody told me that someone else was hung, and included Jimmy in the group... Is he good? I mean, what does Amy say about it?"

Thelma smiled cattily. "I don't know if I should say..."

"Please? This isn't really about Jimmy, I promise! No one else will ever know! But if they lied about Jimmy, they probably lied about the other person, too..."

Thelma and Darla Jean had spent a few nights together pining for the things they were missing; they shared seriously unfulfilled appetites -- so Thelma relented. "Amy doesn't have to tell me -- I've SEEN Jimmy in action! He's hung, all right -- MUCH bigger than you'd expect -- and he fucks like a machine! He spent -- Gawd, I dunno -- twenty-five minutes? -- at one sitting, pounding Amy to Heaven again and again -- right before my eyes!"

Darla Jean arched an eyebrow. "When was this? And what were YOU doing?"

"Prom night. At Jimmy's." Thelma preened. "I was resting; Danny wore me out!"

"Danny! Danny the Wop?" Darla Jean was thunderstruck. "You SLEPT with Danny the Wop?"

"Yes..." Thelma looked defensive. "What's wrong with that?"

"Uh, nothing." Darla recovered her wits. "HE must be huge..."

"Oh, actually, I think he's kind of normal," Thelma replied, offhand. "Jimmy's bigger. It's probably a good thing -- Jimmy'd probably KILL me! I couldn't take him going on forever like that. Danny gets me where I'm going, then he cums -- and we can both rest up..."

The euphoric look on Thelma's face was one of the weirdest things Darla Jean had ever seen! "Uh, great! I'm happy for you." She eyed Thelma. "You're still dating, right?" If they weren't, and Thelma freaked...

"Oh, yes!" Thelma's eyes shone. "We're going out tomorrow night!"

Darla Jean blinked. "To the Astronomy Club?"

Thelma frowned in confusion. "No..."

"Oh, okay." Darla Jean looked around. "We'd better get back; the bell..." The bell rang; both girls made for class at a dead run.

Randall was in World Civ, which made for a distraction -- especially since he seemed to be peering at her with this considering expression on his face. Randall was a little weird, but then, Darla Jean mused, she was, too. Right now, she was awash; Mr. Considine couldn't hold her attention if he was standing over her -- which he did, at least three times, that she noticed. Darla Jean was in her own little world...

New vistas had opened up; she was going to crack the Astronomy Club -- if not in time for tomorrow night, then soon. Thanks to Mary, she had a target -- Randall -- and she had inside information. But the vindication offered by membership was only part of the plan; once there, she had an inside shot at handling another, more urgent problem.

SOMEHOW, she was going to work out a way to do as Mary had suggested -- trip a boy and fall under him! She didn't know HOW yet, but it was HIGH TIME! For Mary underestimated just how sexually frustrated Darla Jean was, by an order of magnitude! Only the fact that she was scared to death and had no tools for dealing with boys had kept her from fulfilling what was a constant daydream; Darla Jean wanted her pussy plowed, regularly, again and again, to ease that awful itch that arrived when her tits had swollen and fur had appeared on her twat! Twat -- she loved that word -- she'd picked it up reading Internet porn, and in her mind it described what she had, perfectly! Darla Jean fell asleep every night with her hands in her crotch, tugging her leathery lower lips and rolling her pea-sized clit around under its long hood; it took her two or three orgasms to settle down enough to get to sleep!

No, Darla Jean needed a boy -- actually, she needed a MAN -- well, really, she needed a STUD! But she didn't know how to play the games girls and boys play; they made no sense to a mind well-grounded in logic. Careful questioning of other girls (Mary knew too much, and had a big mouth, as she'd SO aptly demonstrated) had revealed that, generally, the 'studs' on campus weren't -- despite their accomplishments at sports and other endeavors, most of them were apparently pretty average in the sack. Darla Jean hadn't been able to formulate a method for detecting studs that seemed to work. Here at school, the only guy who seemed to meet the stereotype was Tim Vincent, the captain of the wrestling team -- and he was recently taken... Darla Jean envied Dolores something awful; she just smiled, all the time...

School just didn't seem to be a hothouse environment for studs; Darla Jean had been seriously considering 'falling prey' to an 'old guy' of twenty-five or so -- but this seemed to present even more problems! She couldn't get comfortable enough to approach sex with her peers, for chrissakes! How was she gonna find an old guy? Then Mary had opened her mouth, and a lightning bolt struck! The brain trust were studs! Probably ALL of them! It was like 'Revenge of the Nerds' or something! And these were guys that she AT LEAST had a passing acquaintance with, since to an extent they were kindred souls...

Even armed with this knowledge, Darla Jean had to act fast; apparently, there was a fire sale on dick in the brain trust! Jimmy was gone; from the sound of things, maybe that was all to the good -- she wasn't sure she could handle what Jimmy had to offer! But she'd fantasized about just about all of the brain trust at one time or another, (somehow, Little Teddy hadn't qualified, despite what Mary had just told her), including Randall, who'd spent a year as her lab partner in Physical Science. They'd seldom passed more than a few words, and never off-topic, but Randall had treated her with respect...

It was an irony of Darla Jean's nature that she'd developed the tools early to hide it totally from view. Her sensuality screamed to be let out, but the moment an opportunity appeared, she became locked in an Iron Maiden of fear; she became wooden, her face froze -- even her voice became devoid of emotion while inside her hunger screamed to be let out. A telepath would be driven away by the shock waves of emotion running under that frigid surface, but nothing showed... Periodically, Darla Jean managed to do something that serious analysis might reveal as a flirt, tease, or come-on -- but no one was analyzing...

Well, that wasn't quite true. Randall was running every memory he had of Darla Jean through an analysis, looking for ANYTHING that might suggest that she was hot... And, wonder of wonders, he'd found a couple! He'd missed those comments, or those wooden movements that caused strange collisions, or those looks... They'd been working, colleagues, and he'd been TRYING to keep things professional. But they'd been there, and maybe they meant something... Randall shifted the cross-legged slouch he was using to hide his hard-on, thinking, 'I need another talk with Mary...'

Darla Jean, sensitized, caught the movement, and took a look. Jeezus, there WAS a tent there! But Randall was looking back, so she shifted her eyes guiltily away...

...to Mr. Considine, who was just finishing a question with "... the battle of Hastings? Miss Nevins?"

"Uuuh, Sir?" Darla Jean was dead in the water, which was VERY unusual. Frankly, she merely hadn't heard the question...

Mr. Considine's instinct to embarrass was unerring. "Apparently, you need help. Mr. Braithwaite?"

Randall was also dead in the water. "Sir?"

Mr. Considine grunted, exasperated. "Is ANYONE awake?"

Eventually, thankfully, the bell rang, and they all got out of there. Darla Jean rushed off to chase down Mary, who had the whole thing orchestrated... "Mary? What did they say?"

"Oh, Honey, I haven't asked yet -- but there's Teddy..." This was no accident; they'd been waiting. "Teddy, about the Astronomy Club -- can Darla Jean join, Hon?"

Teddy glanced up from his homework with feigned indifference. His eyes took in Darla Jean. "Yeah. She's on the short list." He addressed her directly, "We're going to do an all-night observation tomorrow night..."

"Where?"

"The Knob."

Darla knew the Knob; it was a bare, rocky hill near Jimmy's house. There was a cave just under the peak that the boys draped some canvas over the entrance of and used as a ready room and warm-up tent. Darla Jean had tried to sneak up on them there, once, when she was twelve, but was unsuccessful; Jimmy apparently had radar... (Actually, the boys had motion detectors -- Jimmy's dad was independently wealthy, not that anyone really noticed, since Jimmy didn't seem to know...) "Okay, what time?"

"Seven? Bring warm clothes and a sleeping bag..."

Darla Jean nodded and wandered off; she had a LOT to think about -- and it was just in time. Randall surfaced, and mumbled, "Mary, can I, uh have a word with you?"

"Sure, Hon, what's up?"

"I've been thinking about Darla Jean." He scratched his head. "Usually, she's like one of the guys, but there have been a couple of times when she'd do strange things -- nothing obvious, or anything, but..."

"Honey, Darla Jean's tools for dealing with boys are no better than your tools for dealing with girls! What do YOU do when you're in close and excited?" Mary's eyes were merry.

"I, uh, get, like, poker faced, and VERY careful, so I don't get caught making a fool of myself. Maybe I do some little, not-so-obvious thing -- something I can claim was an accident..." Randall's eyes got HUGE. "Uuhhhh...."

"Well, well..." Mary tittered, "How original..."

"Fuck..." Randall turned to wander off.

"Randall?"

"Huh?"

"Darla Jean is coming..."

Randall didn't trust himself to speak; he was reprocessing memories again... He nodded and wandered off.

"This is fun!" laughed Teddy.