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Crumbly Writer’s Stories | ||||
| “Normalcy Is Harder Than It Looks” | |||||
| Book 3 of “The Catalyst” Series | |||||
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| Home | An Unknown Attraction | Trying To Be Normal | Normalcy Is Harder | Contact me | |||||
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Chapter 09: A Day Full of New Faces and Surprises
Cate woke with a start after we both fell into a satisfied and exhausted sleep.
“Alex, we’d better get back. Mom and Dad will worry. I’ll need my school clothes in the morning, and the owners of—”
“Shh,” I tried to calm her. “Trust me, I’ve taken care of everything. Just relax and everything will be fine.” She sighed heavily in mild frustration, then curled up against me and sighed again a little softer this time.
“I’ll try, I mean, I do trust you, but sometimes old habits die hard.” However she quickly relaxed and we both fell asleep again.
The next morning Cate looked gorgeous in all her morning glory. A little mussed, perhaps, but still mighty cute. I kissed her awake and she cooed as she curled into me once again. When I told her we still had to get ready for school she eventually started to wake up.
I got her into the shower which helped a lot, but also awakened her sex drive. We fooled around a little. I actually gave her a few thrusts, but only as a tease. When she groaned as I pulled out, I told her I wanted to keep her on edge so she’d be ready for more when we got home tonight.
“Yeah, but you still have Anh to take care of,” she complained.
“Since when have you become my social secretary?” I asked. “I thought that was Shani’s job?”
“Everyone has to be busy trying to keep you on schedule and on track. You’ve got so much going on that you’d be overwhelmed if it wasn’t for each of us working behind the scenes to keep you going.”
“Well, thanks for that, but I think these little details will work themselves out. But you’re right, I only have tonight left before we take off for St. Louis tomorrow, and then I’ll have to concentrate on Gail and Chalise. Man, having a harem can really mess up one’s spontaneity.”
I pulled her from the shower and did my now traditional drying procedure, enjoying the soft feel of her skin. When I got down to her more interesting bits, I noticed she could use a refresher shave and offered to help. She smiled at the idea, but argued she wasn’t sure just how good of a job I’d do, suspecting I’d get distracted down there.
I gave her a quick kiss then got us moving again. Back in the bedroom I led her to the bed while I opened the nearby dresser, and laid out the clothes she was to wear to school today.
“Where’d you … Say, whose house is this?” she asked, turning to me and looking at me curiously.
“Do I really need to tell you?” I said, helping goad her a bit.
“I guess it could be Ryan’s or one of your…,” she hesitated as the light bulb suddenly went off over her head.
“It’s Brooke and Rebecca’s?” she asked, guessing the obvious.
“Actually, Rebecca lives next door. They both had to clean up the kids’ things, so we wouldn’t trip over them on the way in, in the dark, last night.”
“I should have guessed, but I was consistently surprised by one thing after another last night. I never thought I’d get an actual date with you. I just always assumed I’d have to make do with what little time we have together.”
“Cate, I spend more time with you than I do anyone else. Of course I’ll make time for you. We’ll always have to be careful about what we do in public, but when I can get away with it, I plan on making you as comfortable and cherished as I can,” I told her in all honesty.
“Now go ahead and get dressed, we still need to stop and pick up the girls. Luckily Chalise is nearby, and we don’t have to bother driving home now.”
We were early when I pulled up in front of Becky’s little apartment, not being used to judging the early morning traffic and distances in Carbondale. I was planning on simply sitting and waiting, but Caroline opened the door and ran out to us.
“Chalise isn’t ready yet, why don’t the two of you come in and get some coffee while she’s getting ready?”
“Coffee! Now that’s a great idea,” Cate stated, already climbing out of the car. So I turned everything off and followed them both into the house.
We got our coffee and Chalise still hadn’t shown up, so Caroline fixed us some breakfast. She’d apparently taken over Becky’s little place, and it no longer looked like a starving grad student’s stark apartment.
“Your sister has a late class this morning, so she’s sleeping in,” Caroline explained.
“Another late party?” I teased.
“Oh, no, ever since she got involved with your mission, her partying days seem to be over. She apparently worked hard before, but since you hit your stride, she’s working overtime doing her regular work, and trying to do whatever she can for you.”
I just looked up at her stupidly. “But what can she do for me? I didn’t ask her to do anything! Well, aside from that stuff at her lab that is,” I corrected myself.
“Oh, you wouldn’t have to. Melinda had her own idea and they are both working on it. I probably shouldn’t tell you, as I’m sure they’d both enjoy revealing it to you in good time, but they’ve been busy working on it.”
Now I was intrigued. I glanced at Cate, to see if she had any clue on what our sisters were doing on my behalf, but she looked just as mystified as I was.
“You know, neither one of them were much into partying anyway,” Cate offered. “They were both pretty serious, but it sounds like they’ve even given up on slipping out for a few drinks. I think they’ve got the Alex bug as much as the rest of us.”
We didn’t have much time to contemplate it though, as Chalise took the opportunity to tromp downstairs. Man, for such a little thing she can make a racket on a couple of stairs!
“Hey there, lover, lover’s sister, lover’s future mother-in-law,” she teased in a sing-song voice. I proceeded to blush but Caroline just giggled. It sounded like this was a long running joke between them. Chalise stopped and seemed to zero in on Cate before she even gave me my good morning hug.
“Well, damn, I was thinking it was never going to happen. Come here Cate, and let me be the first to congratulate you. Well, maybe the second. How was it?”
Cate jumped up and they hugged and started gossiping rapidly, but Cate hesitated and then, after a seconds delay, gave Chalise another long hug.
“Damn,” she swore as she stepped back. She glanced at me. “Alex, I don’t know what the hell you did, but maybe your girls’ theory about me wasn’t so far off after all. I can literally feel her feelings for you. I can feel just how much she loves you, and all the various emotions running through her.”
“Wow! That’s amazing. I never would have guessed.”
“Wow, shit!” Chalise announced. “This is something major. Here, sit down and let’s hash this out.”
“No, wait a minute,” Cate told her stepping back. She then crossed over to Caroline and gave her a big hug as well. Surprised, Caroline reciprocated and looked at us in confusion.
“The girls thought she may have been a Watcher for a long time,” I explained to them, “but that my energy overshadowed her abilities, so she never noticed her ability to feel emotions before.” They stayed locked like that for several moments before Cate finally pulled away.
“No, that’s not it. I can’t feel anything from you,” she explained to Caroline and the rest of us. “I know you must be feeling confusion and several other emotions, but I’m not getting any reading. In fact,” she said, turning back to us again, “I only got a couple of very specific emotions from Chalise.”
“What do you think that means?” Chalise asked her before I had a chance to.
“I don’t know. I’ll have to do some more tests when we get to school, but I suspect it’s like I’ve always had. I never felt anything but Alex’s energy. Either Alex’s energy is just so strong that anyone around him can feel it…,” and here she hesitated.
“Yeah, both Kitty and I can feel it, but nowhere near what you’ve described to us,” Chalise explained.
“Then the other option is that I’m somehow finely attuned to Alex, and that he triggered my own ability like he has everyone else’s. I’m guessing I’m feeling his effects on you, Chalise. I can feel your love for my brother like it was written in his energy across your entire being.”
“Hey, this is all getting a bit—”
“Quiet you,” all three women said, turning on me. I had enough sense to not say anything more.
“So, you think you have your own unique ability, separate from all his other women?” Chalise asked.
“Becky! Get your damn ass down here. We’ve got something to discuss about Alex,” Cate yelled loudly upstairs.
“I don’t know if we have…,” I started to argue but they all turned and stared at me again, so I once again shut up. Instead I got up and refreshed my coffee and investigated the other new addition to Becky’s austere apartment; the cookie jar in the corner.
The women all proceeded to talk in rapid fire succession until my eldest sister managed to stumble, half dressed and looking decidedly frazzled, downstairs.
“What the heck are you going on about?” she complained, scratching her head.
“I’ve got a new ability. Alex and I, uh…,” Cate said, pausing as she turned to look at Caroline standing behind her.
“Oh don’t worry about it,” Chalise’s mother told her. “I figured you two were going to do it almost as soon as I first met you. It was practically as clear as day.” I’m not sure if either of us really believed that or not. Although it’s probably more likely that neither of us could afford to believe it, considering we’d be frozen in fear every time we left the house if we thought it was true. “And don’t worry about the language or the topic, I’ve been getting tidbits from Chalise and Kitty, so I’m dying to hear about this as much as the rest of you are.”
“Uh,” I asked awkwardly, “what gave Cate and me away? I mean, if we’re giving everyone the same clues…?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about it. Mostly it was how close the two of you are. It’s a bit off putting the way the two of you are so protective and so involved with each other’s lives. The only reason Chalise got involved with you was because Cate finally talked her into it. From what I understand, the girls at your lunch table only started relaxing once they saw Cate allowing Kitty and Chalise to relate to you, and that she allowed the other girls to flirt with you. There’s no doubt you two are living each other’s lives, and it’s also clear that Cate practically worships you, Alex. But the actual evidence of a physical relationship are much subtler, and I only observed it because I was actually trying to figure out what Chalise wouldn’t tell me about you, so I was studying you for a while, looking for clues about your behaviors.”
At this point, Cate turned back to Becky and continued where she left off. “Anyway, Alex and I finally made love last night—”
“And all those other times the two of you did, don’t count?” Becky asked her, looking askance as she too headed for the coffee pot.
“After Alex and I made love,” Cate continued, ignoring the interruption, “he boosted my abilities like he did the others.”
Now Becky put down the coffee pot and turned to regard her sister. “Which abilities?” she asked weakly.
“I’m guessing I’ve had my own that are unlike anyone else’s. But after last night, today I can feel Alex’s energy in other people,” Cate announced proudly with a big grin.
“So you’re really like the proverbial sponge we all said you were, drawing Alex’s energy from him. Only now you can feel and potentially draw it from others as well?” Becky asked, sitting down as she considered this newest theory.
“Well, I have no idea if that’s true or not, but it makes sense. I’ll have to test it out at school today, and when I see Kitty. It’ll be interesting when I see all the girls after school, to see if I can feel his presence and their emotions regarding him,” Cate told us excitedly as if I wasn’t even there.
“Look, I know this is important,” I said, cutting them off, “but we’ve got to get going or we’re going to be late for school. I’ve already contacted Anh to pick up Kitty, so we won’t have to stop on the way, but we really have to go.”
Chalise hurriedly told us about her and her mother’s discussions with her father, saying they weren’t there yet, but he was at least trying. He was still a stubborn old cuss, but they were much farther along than they were before. She also informed us that the University believed Brandon would not be able to return to football. The coming season was definitely out, and they thought he only had a 40% chance of recovering enough to return to the game. Of course that meant that his scholarship was in trouble, since it depended on his playing. But if his tox screen came up positive, he’d likely be forced out of school and he’d be forbidden from ever competing again. They’d provide him with rehab and his current school term was already fully paid for, but his next year was iffy. They’d reconsider sometime this summer. That was really bad news and I felt terrible for him. Such harsh consequences for a moment’s stupidity that may not have been completely his fault. However, she went on to say that Rodger was on for dinner Thursday of next week and was guarded about meeting me, but he’d offer me the chance.
“You know, I doubt I’d be able to do anything significant, since the structures of his knee were messed up, but I may be able to speed the healing of Brandon’s knee?” I suggested.
Chalise simply grinned at me sadly. “Can you picture him, or my father, allowing you anywhere near him? No, they trust their university doctors implicitly, even if they can’t do a thing for him. They’d never trust you since they blame you for destroying Dad’s hopes,” she explained. Caroline agreed with her.
Chalise and Cate complained to me about rushing them out of the house as we exited the tiny apartment, leaving Becky and Caroline talking excitedly together.
The rest of the trip to school was more of the same. Since Kitty wasn’t here, Cate and Chalise talked on and on about this theory and that, about whether this aspect of it was true, or if there were other unknown implications. I couldn’t really piece much of it together from where I was, so eventually I just tuned it out and concentrated on driving.
We got to school just a short time before classes so we wouldn’t have time to dawdle, only to grab our books and rush off to class. This meant they wouldn’t have a chance to find Kitty and compare notes. I could imagine the excitement when the three of them got together. Surprisingly, I didn’t even know what classes they shared together. Both Cate and Kitty were juniors, with Chalise being a year behind, but Cate was always in the advanced placement classes. In short, I had no clue when they find time to talk. But no doubt they’d still be going at it when lunchtime rolled around.
‘Allison,’ I said, reaching out and contacting her as I heading into the building.
‘Yeah?’ she responded. ‘You all worn out from last night with Cate and need me to come peel you off the floor?’ she teased.
‘Nope, we’re both fine. I just wanted to remind you to bring my car to school and take yours back. We won’t need it anymore. It’s fun to drive, but with two girlfriends, I need a few more seats.’
‘Will do,’ she told me. ‘And we’re all eager to hear about the results of last night.’
‘Don’t worry, I’m sure you couldn’t stop the girls from talking if you wanted to,’ I assured her.
However, before heading to my class I stopped off at the Principal’s office. When I entered Mrs. White glared at me and I could tell she was about to chide me for being late to class, but I didn’t have time for her nonsense now.
“I need to see Principal Phillips right away,” I told her in no uncertain terms.
“I’m sorry but he’s in a meeting now. If you’d like to…?”
“Look, that’s fine. I’m sure Detective McCallister wouldn’t mind me calling her about it. After all, she’s taken a personal interest in how this school is run,” I said as I casually turned away to head off to class.
“No, no, that’s fine. I’ll interrupt him. I’m sure he’ll be anxious to discuss this topic with you,” she said, clearly having no idea what topic it was, but also knowing just how worried Principal Phillips was about Michelle’s threats.
Soon I was in the Principal’s office, sitting myself in front of his desk while he regarded me seriously.
“What is it that you were so anxious to see me about?” he asked.
“I wanted to discuss a particular situation with you. Now, if it was just me, I wouldn’t be concerned since I feel I can take care of myself, but Detective McCallister seems concerned that there is a serious failure to monitor the situation at school and…,” I began, leading Mr. Phillips further and further down the little path I wanted him walking.
“Just what is this situation? I’m sure we can handle it in house,” he asked, trying to calm me.
“Well, there’s a certain younger student who’s not quite as able to take care of himself as I am. He’s only a freshman, and it seems he’s getting beat up quite often, and nothing seems to be being done to protect him.”
“And who is this young man,” the principal asked, drawing his notepad out.
“Well, it’s a bit of a delicate situation. The student doesn’t want to report the problem because of the damage to his status here in school if his ‘situation’ were to become public knowledge,” I said, trying to delicately broach the subject. “I understand that you are aware of his situation and you should also be aware of the difficulty that he’s facing.”
“Ah,” he replied, leaning back in his chair and pressing his fingers together in front of his face, “young Mr. Brian Simmons.”
My mouth dropped open. I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard. However I quickly got over my own problems so I could address his.
“That’s right, but the very fact that you’d reveal such personal information when I didn’t actually reveal what I knew, or whether I knew the student, shows the root of this whole problem. You, sir, don’t seem to have any concern for or knowledge of the problems the students are facing. The school is overrun by kids attacking and abusing one another, and you don’t give a damn. A student comes to you with a serious social problem, and you can’t even respect his privacy when his future at the school might be in jeopardy. Yes, the student is Brian Simmons, but you had no reason to reveal that information to me. You had no idea if I actually knew him, or if I was just fishing for information. Maybe I really do need to call Detective McCallister regarding this situation.”
I’ll admit I was getting a little hot under the collar. However, Principal Phillips sat bolt upright in his seat and his thin lips started to quiver.
“No, no, there’s no need to do that. You’re absolutely right. He deserves his privacy and the respect that the situation deserves. You say he’s been being abused on a regular basis? He’s never come forward to complain about it.”
“And just how many students have?” I asked him. “Students only come forward if they feel safe doing so. I’m getting the distinct impression that they’ve never felt comfortable confiding in you. There seems to be a rampant problem in the school, and you just seem to be interested in sweeping it under the rug.”
“Don’t worry,” he assured me, “we’re serious about addressing this issue. If you could just tell me who it was that’s been harassing him…?”
“No, I don’t think I’ll relate that information, because if I do you’ll just give them a quick detention or suspension, and the problems will continue. The difficulty is that everyone feels free to do whatever they feel like here, and no one is doing anything about maintaining order in the school. If I tell you who is hurting Brian, then they’ll know why they’re getting in trouble, and they’ll come after him as soon as the heat is off. Either that, or someone else will do it for them. No, giving you names is just the easy way out and wouldn’t solve anything. You need to fix this problem,” I insisted, pounding my finger on his desk and staring him in the eyes, “and you need to fix it fast. You need to take control of your school before the local paper and the school board gets involved in the situation,” I told him as I stood and stormed out of the office. I wouldn’t even have bothered waiting for an excuse slip, but luckily Mrs. White already had it ready for me.
When I got to class, my physics class, the teacher glared at me for arriving so late. He was about to say something, but I guess he took in the expression on my face and decided against it and went back to his lecture. I sat down with my usual partner and simply stewed for the rest of the period.
‘Gail?’ I mentally called while the teacher was droning on.
‘Yeah, Alex? What’s up?’
‘I think you may have to talk to Michelle again, we seem to have a situation here. I’m trying to rectify it, but I think she’d like to know what’s happening,’ I told her.
‘OK, tell me what’s happening and I’ll get it to her. I’ve got a few minutes to spare,’ she said.
So I proceeded to detail exactly what had happened yesterday, both about Tony, Darrell and me, and about the underlying problem with Brian. I then proceeded to describe how I’d just lost my temper and what I’d told the Principal.
‘I’m proud of you, Alex. That couldn’t have been easy to adapt and react like that. You did a very good job and I’m sure Mr. Phillips will be rushing trying to get his own house in order, but I’ll be sure to keep Michelle informed. You know she’s quite impressed with you don’t you?’
‘Hey, she’s female. For some odd reason women are always impressed with me. I don’t know whether what I do or say makes any difference anymore, but it’s nice to know someone can intercede the next time the local cops decide to give me a hard time.’
‘I wouldn’t pass it off quite so easily if I were you,’ Gail told me. ‘You have quite a presence, regardless of your abilities, and people react to that. But it sounds like you are still pretty steamed. I’ll handle things from this end. Try to relax. We don’t need you stressing yourself over this. You can only do what you can. Worrying about it won’t help anyone.’
I agreed with her and we signed off.
As a result I was in too much of a mood to notice whether anyone was looking at me funny today. Instead I practiced controlling my breathing and trying to relax.
Lunchtime finally rolled around and I made sure to get to the lunchroom early, hoping to head off any trouble Cate and the girls might cause. Luckily they hadn’t arrived yet, so I hurried into line to buy lunch. However, when I turned to see if Cate had arrived, I saw her. She walked straight to the table, avoiding lunch altogether, and proceeded to hug each girl there. I groaned, but I couldn’t easily duck out of line now, so I resigned myself to what I was sure to face once I got there.
When I finally arrived at the table, I found Cate now hugging Kitty, who’d arrived at the table just before me. Cate glanced at me over her shoulder and mouthed, “It works.” I groaned to myself and sat at my usual place in the center of the table between Chalise, Kitty and Cate. The other girls were all curious what Cate was doing, but I just told them it was one of her many science experiments. They seemed to accept that, as weak a story as it was, but they continued to look on curiously, so I knew they’d be asking her the first chance they got.
I immediately told Ai that I’d ‘talked’ to everyone at the house, even though I hadn’t been home last night, and that we were on for dinner next week, and immediately all the girls got excited, jabbering away excitedly. I thought I’d created a monster, thinking only Ai and maybe a friend would want to go; not all these sundry girls. I started to hedge, but Cate jumped right in, stating that everyone here wouldn’t be that much more than the normal household with all our sisters. It seemed everyone was excited to see where and how I lived, as in tasting Anh’s dinner creations. I knew then that I’d be straightening up the house for quite a while beforehand. We made arrangements for next Tuesday.
We had several visitors today, beyond the normal crowd. First was Julia, who joined our crowd and talked enthusiastically to both Kitty and Chalise, though I couldn’t tell whether they actually trusted her enough to tell her anything. But at least she was making an effort.
Next Brian stopped by and asked if he could join us. I said sure and introduced him all around. Kitty, Chalise and Cate all looked at me curiously, so I knew I’d have some explaining to do later, but I ignored it and made sure he got along with everyone. He was really a nice kid once he relaxed a little. I think he’d been carrying his burden a little too long, and I hoped he could soon trust our crowd enough to open up. However, I wasn’t about to press him to open up in front of a crowd of perfect strangers.
Finally, Frank Hou walked up and said hello. He’d already eaten with his usual gang, and thought he’d stop by and see how we were doing, so we sat and talked for a bit, including him with our group. The various members of our little group would alternate, every day one or two going back to their old tables to keep up friendships and acquaintances, then returned again the next day, so I was never really sure who’d be there on any given day. I figured the only reason Ai was here was because I’d told her my family would decide about the dinner soon. Frank was the larger Chinese-American guy that initially stood up for me when Tony was first getting upset with me, and he was also there when I warned Tony by his locker. He told me a fair bit about himself, including that he was a third generation American, and that his father was an investment broker for one of the local banks. I wasn’t sure if it was broker or just advisor, and I didn’t want to insult him by asking. Of course we eventually got around to what the real story was about Monday’s episode. Just as I started to answer everyone groaned in unison, and when Frank asked what was wrong they all started paraphrasing my well worn bylines about how it was nothing and no one got hurt. I laughed and said they had it down, so now I could quit telling it to everyone, and just tell them to ask the table. Frank got the idea though and dropped it. Since we were at it, I also extended the invite to him as well but he hedged about possibly having a scheduling conflict that day, so we dropped it.
I also noticed that Cate was quietly talking to Betty. I thought that was strange, because despite how much we had in common, she remained very quiet and reticent around us, so I couldn’t imagine what they were talking about. It suddenly struck me what they might be talking about when I hear a loud, “What? Sure, you’d better believe I will!” from Betty. I knew the game was over before I even knew I was playing it. My sister had gone behind my back to line up yet another woman for me. I’d have to find out from her what she’d arranged, but there was only one thing I could imagine it to be.
I passed Tony later in the afternoon. He just snarled and mumbled under his breath how he was going to wait for all the attention to blow over, and “cut me down to size” when the opportunity developed. I guess the ‘softer, gentler’ side of him I had observed was gone, and my assisting him the other day was for naught. When I pressed him about what he was so upset about he just said it was because I’m “not just a pussy but a stupid, mother-fucking pussy” and quickly stalked off. I tried calling him to get him to reveal a bit more, but he just ignored me, so I finally called one last time, saying “Hey, come on back and at least tell me why I’m such a terrible human being?” But he just blended into the crowd, completely ignoring my offer of a partial discussion. I still had no idea why he disliked me, and there wasn’t much I could do without knowing more.
What’s more is that it didn’t make sense that he wouldn’t reveal his motivation. Guys don’t threaten you unless they expect you’ll kowtow to them and do what they want, so why wouldn’t he at least tell me what he expected me to do after he tried to beat me up. I just couldn’t make any headway on it.
Well, as busy as lunch was, I knew it wouldn’t be anything compared to when we got home.
When I arrived at the car after school, I found the three girls all over each other. Luckily Allison had traded our cars, so we wouldn’t be so crowded heading home.
“Man, that is SO neat! As unbelievable as one thing is about Alex, a couple of days later there’s always something new weird about him,” Kitty told her two cohorts.
“I mean, it’s so odd. I can literally feel how you feel for Alex. I don’t get anything else from you. Like you could want to rip my eyes out at the moment, but I can feel anything you feel regarding him. I can’t wait to get home and try this out with everyone there.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” I said, finally interrupting them. “I take it you heard the good news from last night? At least, I assume it’s good news. Are you both still OK with it all?” I asked my two girlfriends.
“Oh sure,” Kitty said, “although we can’t understand how the two of you waited this long. If it was me, I’d have dragged you into the shower and had you do me under a full head of water.”
“I didn’t want our first time to be anything less than magical,” Cate told her as she finally climbed into the car.
“And knowing Alex, I’m sure it was,” Chalise responded.
“Oh man, you wouldn’t believe it. Let me tell you about….” And that’s how the rest of the trip went.
Just before we dropped Kitty off, she informed me that her father, Fredrick, was all set for dinner on Monday, and that he was looking forward to meeting me again, if only to size me up. She said that he respected my offering to stand up for myself and her though. However, she hadn’t yet informed him that we’d be bringing Chalise along. Baby steps, I thought. The journey of a thousand miles is begun with a few steps.
When we finally arrived home, Cate was ready to bolt inside, but she made sure to drag me along after her, afraid I might run off if left alone. As soon as she got through the door she ran for the first person she saw, which was Natalie. She gave her a full body hug and just held her.
“Well hello to you too?” Natalie responded.
“It’s Cate’s newest thing,” I tried to explain.
“Yeah, she got a boost to her own abilities, the ones we were never sure about,” Becky explained as she came forward to hug me. “It turns out she had her own unique set of abilities that seem unrelated to any of the rest of yours.” The rest of my girls weren’t far behind Becky in coming to me for hugs, but they each had to get past Cate before they could get to me.
“I can feel it. I can feel Natalie’s devotion, her utter love and even her insecurities about you. Man, we’ve GOT to talk, girl,” Cate told Natalie.
Cate immediately turned from Natalie to Anh, again giving her a huge hug.
“What, you’ve not even going to give your ol’ Dad a hug?” my father groused good naturedly.
“I’ll get to you eventually,” Cate told him. “I’m sure you’ve got plenty of feelings for Alex, but you haven’t been exposed to his energy as much as everyone else has.”
“You know, this means we’re not talking about two different but related genetic traits, but a whole set of them,” Becky said, already starting to theorize about Cate’s new abilities, which we still didn’t know much about. “I still think the Watchers and Seers utilize the same genetic trait, and that Alex is the only one to hold his own trait, which takes advantage of everyone else’s. But I’m guessing that yours must either be a variation on his, or is another unique one.”
“It could be exposure due,” Anh suggested, finally pulling free from Cate’s embrace. “She exposed to his energy for long, long time. May have developed method to deal with it.”
“That’s a good point, but she must have had the capacity already in her to do that, so we’ll have to figure out how that initial trait originates. But I think we can assume your theory is, as always, spot on, Anh,” Becky told her as Anh finally reached me to hug me.
Jennifer, who was now spending most of her time at our house, was Cate’s next test subject, although she was gentler with her embrace with her.
“Jennifer doesn’t have as much, probably because you haven’t spent as much time with her, but her emotions for you are clearly noticeable,” Cate explained. As Cate started in our mother and father, I heard a racket and looked up to see Josh and Suzy rushing towards me, followed by an apologetic looking Brooke.
“ALEX!” shouted my biggest male fan as he slammed into me, completely ignoring Anh, who was still clutching me.
“Hey, kiddo. And don’t worry, Brooke, I’m always glad to see my almost niece and nephew,” I told her. By now Suzy was curled up around my leg while Josh was resting comfortably in my arms hugging my chest, Anh having moved a safe distance away.
“I figured I could get away easier than the others could,” Brooke explained as she came up to hug me as well. However she was intercepted by Cate. “Everyone one else was held up by meetings at the hospital.”
“That’s OK, it’s good that everyone has their jobs and assigned tasks,” I told her. “Speaking of which, I need to speak to both Natalie and you, Becky, about what you have been up to.”
“Nothing doing,” Becky told me. “Both Melinda and I have been working on our own little project, something which Melinda started on her own, by the way. You’ll be impressed when you hear about it, but we don’t want to spring it on you too early, and we especially don’t want to burden you with it just before you take your important trip up to St. Louis tomorrow. The last thing you need is to be thinking about other things when you’re searching out new followers.”
“Argh! Don’t remind me,” I playfully groaned, although I was still nervous about the topic in reality.
“So, Cate, what’s the prognosis? Who can you read from, and how does it vary from one to another?” Becky asked her youngest sister, who’d grown in stature in the family, just as I had.
“It’s amazing; I can feel everyone’s feelings about Alex, although it’s decidedly weaker in Mom and Dad, followed by Kitty and Chalise and next by Natalie. Apparently having their abilities allows them to absorb more of his energy, or maybe it’s just that their emotions are so much more sharply focused. Man, I’ve got to start recording everything,” she complained while she reached for Josh, preparing to pull him from my arms. When he shook loose she only grabbed him a bit firmer. “Hey, this is for science buddy. Don’t forget that. Science is important. Don’t fight me and I’ll let you help me feed my lab animals. I’ve got a bunch of mice and several rabbits,” she promised him. That triggered his curiosity and he went along with her.
“Nope, nothing,” she shrugged.
“You really didn’t expect anything from him, did you?” Brooke asked with a laugh. “Try Suzy instead. “That way you’ll pick up her Watcher ability, plus her infatuation with Alex as well.”
Suzy, not appreciating her mother pointing that out to the everyone, stuck her tongue out at her, but she was more than willing to take part in anything that might help Alex out. Cate hugged her and nodded to Brooke.
“You’re right, the force is strong with this one,” Cate teased. Both Suzy and Josh were amused, but Suzy stood a little taller the rest of the evening.
It took a while to get everyone settled, at which point both my sisters hurried upstairs to Cate’s room to compare notes and start recording all their observations, even though there was no way to physically record any of it. I took the opportunity to head into the kitchen, looking for my after-school snack.
“Is Cate serious that she has her own ability?” Mom asked me. I could see Dad standing behind her, listening to me. I enfolded her in a hug, something I hadn’t been doing enough of lately.
“You need a fresh dose of Alex,” I told her playfully. “No wonder Cate can’t feel anything from you, I haven’t been hugging you near enough lately.” She laughed, but she didn’t release her hold on me as she continued to hold me tightly. Apparently she had been missing these little intimate moments between us.
“Man, you can’t keep track of the players around here without a score card,” my father complained.
“That reminds me,” I said, stepping back from my mother finally.
“CATE?” I yelled upstairs. “Could you explain what you’ve got me scheduled for with Betty?”
“Betty? She’s the Watcher from school?” Natalie asked, walking around me to help Anh with the sandwich she was fixing for me.
“Yeah, that’s the one,” I explained.
“I scheduled you to make love to her on Monday after school,” Cate yelled from the top of the stairs. “She’s looking forward to it, and you owe her. You’ve been ignoring her lately, and she deserves the boost to her abilities as much as anyone.”
“And Kitty and Chalise?” I yelled up, not bothering to put the question in context. We’d been doing this for long enough now, I felt the everyone already knew the context.
“They’re fine with it and want you to make it memorable for her too,” she called.
I groaned once again. “So, am I supposed to make love to EVERY watcher now?” I shouted back. Everyone just looked at me guiltily and I had my answer.
“Damn, I was afraid of that,” I mumbled.
“Does that mean I get to too?” Suzy asked from down by my leg, where she was still clinging.
“Well, eventually, honey, though I think we can wait for you to grow up a little more,” Brooke told her.
“But if he does, then I’ll be more helpful to him. I want to help Alex,” she explained.
“Don’t worry, honey, you’ve got plenty of time to help Alex. Right now he likes you just the way you are. If you were like everyone else, he couldn’t have as much fun playing with you. Besides, Alex already has his hands full with all the adult Watchers and Seers,” Brooke patiently explained, letting me know she kept her daughter informed on everything involving my supposedly private life. But I couldn’t really blame them. After all, my life directly affected each of theirs.
After I got my snack I decided I needed a little time to myself. I knew I couldn’t go off on my own with so many people attached to me, but I figured I could be somewhat alone if I just took Josh. At least he could respect a guy’s need to enjoy some silence. Everything was starting to accumulate faster and faster, plus I had Anh to handle tonight, and I had whoever I managed to meet on Saturday. I wanted a chance to clear my head without people around me, so I grabbed Josh as I ran to my room for my skateboard. We were almost out the door before we were caught.
“Ahem, and where are you two off to?” Brooke asked us pointedly, glaring at both of us. Josh stepped back and looked up at me with the universal sign of guilt.
I wasn’t sure who she was trying to scold, Josh for trying something without permission, me for taking him, or me for potentially endangering myself.
I hadn’t been skateboarding since I’d lost all my guy friends. We used to go out and ride a local hill together, but it’s kind of boring to go off on your own unless, like me, you just want to spend time by yourself thinking. However, when they heard what I planned to do, the women reacted quickly.
“Don’t worry, I’ll watch out for Josh. We’ll be fine,” I assured them, still hoping we might slip out without a big deal.
“Frankly, I’m only partially worried about him,” Brooke told me firmly, which essentially answered my question about what they were really upset about.
“Look, I’m taking Josh out skateboarding, because frankly, he needs to learn to do ‘guy things’, and I need some time away from all of you so I don’t explode. Don’t get me wrong, I love you all, but sometimes all this … stuff,” I said, waving my hands to incorporate both them and everything else in my life, “just gets to be too much. The two of us need to get away from all this overprotective hovering and just be ourselves for a while, letting our hair down and relaxing for a change.”
“But it’s dangerous,” Allison whined. I was a little surprised, as I’d expected the first and loudest objection to be Brooke’s.
“She’s right, Alex, there’s no way you can risk injuring yourself,” Cate sternly informed me, sounding both worried and upset with me, “or even worse, running into someone else who wants to hurt you.”
“They’re both right,” Shani offered. “Your taking these … typical teenage chances doesn’t just threaten you; it risks the whole future of us as a people. One wrong move, and any hope of us surviving as a people dies. You won’t even need to kill yourself. All it would take would be a head injury, a spinal injury, or a debilitating leg injury.”
“Hey, what about me?” Josh demanded, stepping forward and stamping his foot. “Doesn’t anyone here worry about me?”
“Of course we do, honey,” Brooke told him patiently, leaning over and resting her hands on her knees so she was looking him squarely in the eyes. “But Alex is the responsible adult. He’s not only supposed to protect you from harm, but he’s also supposed to protect generations of yet unborn followers.”
“Jeez, don’t go adding even more pressure on me!” I complained, slapping my forehead and rolling my eyes. “I’m already at the end of my rope. Just give me a little while to forget about everything, pretend I’m normal for a couple of hours, and gather enough strength to continue like I have been.”
“Alex, you’re not being responsible,” Mom told me—the same woman who hadn’t objected when I’d spent entire afternoons wandering the streets skateboarding before.
“Look, I’ve been doing this for years, and I’m really quite good at it. Not only do I know what to do, but I know how to fall to reduce potential injuries.”
“Reduce the potential for injuries, but you can’t eliminate the chance you might,” Rebecca stressed, speaking up for the first time, making the objections nearly unanimous.
“They’re right. A hard fall at 30 mph on a hard concrete surface, or more likely a slow fall at the wrong angle and you’re likely to shatter a bone at the least,” my father pointed out. I groaned at that. The one person I’d thought might support me in this, and he turns on me!
“Alright, it is possible that I might break something,” I conceded, “but it’s hardly likely that I’ll die before I can make my deposit on Saturday!”
“Uh, what deposit?” Josh asked, glancing up at me curiously. Geez, even the kid was undermining our chances of getting away. And he focuses on the one subject to draw us into an even more in-depth discussion, rather than the more obvious threat of death!
“Look, as problematic as this is, this is actually a long time hobby of Alex’s,” Cate said, changing her stance and actually coming to my defense, “you really can’t expect him to give up all of his hobbies. You’re trying to make him into someone he’s not. He’s adjusting to this the best he can, give him a break.” I smiled at her in thanks, and she nodded in response, but the discussion continued, so I had to focus on that.
The other women all looked down at this critique by Cate, which reinforced her role amongst them. She then went on. “This is the kind of thing that guys typically do together, and it won’t be long until Josh will be doing it himself. It’d be better for him to learn it safely with Alex, rather than discovering how to hurt himself on his own.”
“I’m sorry about not warning anyone what we were planning, and I respect all of your opinions,” I added, hoping to move things along. I could see it was having an impact, as they each looked at each other hesitantly. “But I’ve also been feeling pressured by my obligations in the bedroom,” I added, hoping to apply a little guilt. However, Jennifer didn’t help my case.
“You realize Anh’s not the last one on the list,” she reminded me, looking at me meaningfully. I tried to control my groan, but I realized I had completely forgotten about her. “Don’t worry, I won’t break,” she assured me. “From what I hear you’re as gentle as a lamb anyway, so we shouldn’t have a problem. But Dr. Cate just prescribed a healthy dose of Alex love for me, so I’m going to hold you to it,” she informed me.
“All right, we’ll let you go, but only as long as someone goes along, just on the off chance that something goes wrong,” Brooke offered, not unreasonably.
“You’ll know instantly as soon as anything happens, if it does,” I pointed out.
“We’re not bending on this,” Shani warned me. “We can understand your points, but also try to understand ours. We care about you too, and we want to give you your freedom, but we have our future and the future of our children to consider.”
I gritted my teeth, but agreed that I could live with that compromise.
“Alright, now that that’s settled, I’ll come alone just because I can communicate if anything goes wrong, and I know more about both healthcare and children,” Brooke said, giving me a look—or as much as she could without being able to look directly at me.
“If you’re going, then I want to too!” Suzy insisted, not wanting to miss both her mother and me.
“Suzy!” Brooke warned her, not wanting to lose the temporary advantage they had.
“If Josh is going, then I should be able to as well!” she stressed.
“All right, fine,” Brooke agreed with a shrug, figuring it was a small price to pay. “Just remember that Alex and Josh need to spend time on their own, and while we can watch, we have to leave them alone.”
Suzy assured her that she could abide by that, so Brooke sent her to get her coat. Luckily Cate knew me well enough to recognize when I needed my space. Besides, she and Becky were already fairly busy.
So we finally got out on our own, while Brooke and Suzy sat in the car and watched us from a distance. I appreciated such consideration.
I got a fair amount of thinking done while Josh and I played, and Brooke and her daughter watched. True, I couldn’t let loose and work through my frustrations, but I mainly did simple stunts that allowed me to do as much thinking as I wanted. Yes, both Josh and I fell a couple of times, including when Josh scraped up his arm, but I glared when Brooke started to get out of her car and she settled herself back in when I quietly assured her he was fine. He wore his minor injury with a sense of masculine pride that made me feel good he wasn’t constantly overwhelmed by his protective mother. This is what a kid needs a male role model for. I guess the next thing I needed to do for him was to teach him how to play war. All in all it was a continuation of a good day.
When we got back I reminded everyone of Ai’s dinner request, making sure everyone knew about it. I also informed them just how many people it entailed, but no one batted an eye over the number. I’d kind of been hoping one of them would put the kibosh on it for me, but none of them did. I suspect my parents were looking forward to a chance to put on a small party, since my involvements had effectively curtailed their social life. You can’t very well have the neighbors or work associates over when your house is filled with your son’s harem, now can you?
Everyone had arrived by now, so we all sat at dinner and discussed our upcoming trip. It seems my girls were all excited about my simple deposit, so I figured there was a bit more to it than that. This seemed to be their insurance for the future of their new species, if that’s what they represented. If I was no longer here to activate anyone else, they’d be the last generation of people with their unique abilities, which is the point they’d been making earlier. Even the Watchers like Natalie and Rebecca had had their abilities heightened by me. Given that context, I could see why they were so worried about me. I represented not just someone they were thankful to, I was the only thing standing between a future of a people and a tiny blip in history. Man, talk about mounting pressure.
When I finally retired to my bedroom, Cate, who was already there waiting for me sitting against the headboard writing in her ever present notebook, looked up.
“Feeling stressed still, huh?” she asked. I have to admit, Cate very often got me more than the others did. I simply nodded tiredly, so she made me lie down and she got busy trying to give me a massage. The girls had made sure my side table had plenty of things like creams, oils and lotions.
“You doing both Anh and Jennifer tonight?” she asked as she attacked the particularly tense group of muscles along my neck.
“No, she deserves her time alone,” I explained to Cate, having already informed everyone who was sleeping here tonight. “I haven’t given her much time, so the time I do give her deserves to be special. But at least I can knock one more block down. Besides, I want to make sure that Anh doesn’t feel slighted for having been left to the last.”
“This ‘fairness’ thing of yours is going to be the death of you before long,” my sister teased me. “You should just be glad everyone around you is so forgiving of your eccentricities.”
I noticed that Anh had entered out of the corner of my eyes, but I was feeling too good being worked over by Cate to watch her undress.
“He’s stressed by sponsibilities?” she asked.
“Yeah, his little trip with Josh didn’t quite get it all out.”
“Trip tomorrow weigh heavy on him. However, all know it for best. He better when he finally get done,” she told Cate with authority.
“I figure what I can’t get with a massage, you’ll be able to get the old fashioned way,” Cate teased, poking me in the ribs as she said it.
“How he feel bout friend?” Anh asked.
“You mean Betty?” Cate asked. I couldn’t see Anh’s nonverbal response but I assume it was an affirmation. “He isn’t happy, but he knows it’s necessary and that she deserves it as well. As always, he’s worried about all the implications. I wish you could get him to accept that Buddhist, ‘a journey is begun with a single step’ attitude, because he insists on stressing about things he has no control over.”
“His worry be what make him Alex,” Anh explained. “We not love him like we do without it.” Anh’s English was getting better, but as she relied on it more and more, her actual speech sounded poorer. I still assisted her when she needed it, so that helped at least. Still, being able to claim you didn’t understand English always helped when the Jehovah’s Witnesses stopped by with their pamphlets.
Finally Cate shifted over, making room for Anh. “Well, I did as much as my poor hands are capable of. I’ll let you two enjoy your time alone tonight. For once I’ll be downstairs. I’ll probably play some cards with Shani and Natalie, so let me know when you’re done and I’ll bring you some refreshments,” she said as she closed the door behind her.
So that left Anh and me alone finally. I rolled over and Anh nestled into me and we proceeded to make out and get comfortable with each other again.
“How’s the dick? Still sore?” she asked with a bit of a smirk.
“The dick’s fine,” I told her. “All those weeks of manhandling and oral manipulation got it in proper shape. Thanks for being so patient. I didn’t mean to leave you for last but….”
“Me no last. Jennifer last, then Betty. Actually no last, only next step,” she told me, smiling as she said it. Instead of this tensing me up, it managed to hit the right note and I felt more at ease. I rolled us over and started to show her my appreciation. It didn’t take long to get her warmed up, as it seemed she’d been anxiously awaiting this for some time, so she soon got me slotted up and I proceeded to love her, just as softly and as gently as she deserved.
We made love for a while, she basking in my glow, as it were, but we soon quickened our pace and it wasn’t long before I was once again seeing stars as I exploded inside of her. The sensations weren’t as intense as they had been the first several times, but making love to the seers was decidedly different than anyone else. Still, the effect on me was less than it was for the ones that I triggered. We both relaxed and just lay in each other’s arms as we recovered. When we finally separated she told me, “No call Cate yet. Although rather cuddle, open drawer, get KY,” she said as she turned over, presenting her backside to me.
I was perplexed for a moment until her words finally permeated my brain. “Anh, what’s this about? You’ve never mentioned this before, and you just said you’d rather not?”
“I say rather cuddle, but this important,” she said simply as she wiggled her ass at me.
“Seriously, Anh, you don’t have to do this,” I told her.
“Me know, me want to. This important,” she said turning to face me again. “You boost ability with each new adventure. Me figure you may again if you do addition new thing.” I just looked at her for a few seconds while I pondered this newest theory of hers.
“Sorry, but I just can’t do it, Anh,” I told her. “If you’re right, it would mean that if it worked then I’d have to cornhole both those I love, and perfect strangers, even those who had no desire to. I just can’t picture that. I’d rather not test out the theory than have to face that prospect.”
“Is OK. I do before, I actually like. Not do it often, but special treat every now and then,” she assured me.
“No, that’s OK. If someone eventually comes to me and specifically asks me to do it to them, then I’ll deal with it at the time, but I’m not about to do it as an experiment when I dread the results of said experiment so much.”
Just then the door opened and Cate came in bearing a tray with a couple of glasses while Jennifer followed her carrying a couple of damp towels. She saw Anh looking at her with a confused expression, looking like she wasn’t finished, and apologized. “Oh, I’m sorry, I thought you were done.”
“We are, Anh just thought she could talk me into doing something I don’t think is a good idea at the moment,” I said motioning my sister forward. I took the two glasses and handed Anh one. “Now refresh yourself, and we’ll finally cuddle, which is what you wanted,” I told her. “Jennifer, are you finally joining us in bed tonight?” I asked.
“Yes, Alex, I am,” she meekly answered. “Cate and Shani said it wouldn’t be a problem. But I’ll have to take the side, so I can rest my cast on the outer edge, if you don’t mind.”
“No, I don’t mind. You can rest it on my forehead for all I care,” I assured her. “As long as I have you in my arms, everything is right with the world.”
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