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Tuck Light -*- Copyright 1999 by Ellen Hayes.

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

This work contains adult situations, adult language, adult concepts, and
possibly sex.  If you are legally not allowed to read materials
containing such things, then you will be breaking the law by reading
this.  I am not responsible.
Continuing to read this document, or storing it or reproducing it
in any format means that you explicitly affirm that you are legally
allowed to possess and read such materials in your city, county/parish,
state, and country.

All rights reserved.  See the bottom for distribution rights.


Tuck Light


***
06:10 29 May

     There was this horrible explosion, and I was torn between searching
the wreckage for bodies of my friends, and waking up.
     I woke up.  Something was tapping on the door, and I really REALLY
hoped it wasn't one of my dead friends.  That was one of the reasons I
chose waking up...

***
06:11 29 May

     "Uh?"  I opened the door and tried to focus.
     It was Amy knocking.  "Don't you want to be up this morning by
now?"
     "Uh?"  I thought about it.  "Yuh."  I swallowed carefully.
"Thanks," I tried to say.
     "Get some coffee," she suggested.
     "Uh."  Shower.

***
06:46 29 May

     I staggered out the door and was halfway to my car before I
remembered that I didn't like coffee.

***
07:09 29 May

     Rachel didn't even wake up this morning.  I hoped she didn't have a
job or classes to go to or anything.

***
07:14 29 May

     At least Debbie had left the stereo in the car.  And it had a tape
deck.
     On the other hand, it looked like rain again.

***
07:32 29 May

     "Oh, hi Valerie," said Miz Parker as she let me in.  "How are you
this morning?"
     "Better than when I woke up," I said honestly.
     She sighed.  "Good, because Ricky is in a mood today."
     "Oh, great."  We sighed at each other.

***
08:04 29 May

     Ricky was being a complete pill, and I was thinking way too hard
about "accidentally" locking him in a closet for the day when two small
boys started banging on the front door.  I wondered who that was not.
Ricky, predictably, shot up and ran towards the door.

***
08:18 29 May

     "Oooh, fun," I mentioned to Stella as we fixed breakfast.  Well, it
was mostly me, but she got in the way a lot.
     "Whatcha fixin'?" asked a small voice behind me.
     "Pancakes."
     "Oh coooo..."  The voice trailed off as it went running to the
living room to spread the news.

***
09:49 29 May

     "Can we go swimming?" one of them asked.  I looked up from the
laptop, and all three of them were looking at me.
     "Um.  Lemme go check the weather..."  They followed me out the back
door, where grey skies hadn't yet opened up.  "Uh, yeah, o-"  I didn't
bother finishing, since all three of them had disappeared again.

***
11:48 29 May

     The wind was blowing, and the dark sky was telling some primal part
of me to go hide in a cave, but these three nitwits were still swimming.
"Guys, come on!  Come inside and we can discuss lunch!"  Even Stella
looked frightened.

***
12:02 29 May

     All they wanted was sandwiches and chips.  With trimmings, natch.
At least Miz Parker bought good bread.  I was a little tired of pasty
white stuff, but this was good deli bread.
     "Do you have any Wonder Bread?" Gary asked.
     I sighed.  "No."
     "But-"
     "No!"

***
13:09 29 May

     And the rain came down, and the house shook, and things just got
Bad.
     "Can we go to the mall?"
     "No!  I don't have any money!"
     Ricky looked at me skeptically.  "We alllll know you're getting
paid for babysitting us-"
     "Friday.  Friday night, actually.  Which, as you might notice, is
tomorrow.  Not today.  Today, I have no money."  An extra-loud boom
rattled the windows.  "And furthermore," I mentioned, "I am not going
out in this hurricane just so you guys can wander around the mall and
pester me about money I don't have."
     "But-"

***
13:42 29 May

     They were all sulking in Ricky's room, which was just fine with me.
It gave me more time to play with Stella.  She was, sometimes, more fun
to play with than the ones that could talk.
     Minus when she did some Awful.  Which she had just done.

***
14:31 29 May

     Somehow, I should have guessed that afternoon cartoons would lure
them out of Ricky's room.  At least they weren't sulking any more.  And
Stella was happily asleep in her carrier.

***
15:03 29 May

     The food commercials had made them hungry, so now of course I was
fixing a snack for everyone.  More peas for Stella.  Ugh.

***
15:25 29 May

     I figured that, since I was here, and since Stella was asleep in
the carrier, and since I had to wash dishes anyway, that I might as well
wash all of them.  I sighed.  It was a sad commentary that I couldn't
think of anything else to do.
     Besides, I needed a rest from that stupid laptop.

***
17:39 29 May

     "Amen," I said to the sky as I left.  It was still raining, and it
would probably screw up my makeup, but I was going to be taking it off
in ten minutes anyway.

***
19:07 29 May

     I was bored, and Mike still hadn't called me back, and neither had
Debbie.  So I was really bored.
     So when the old tap I had installed on Susan's phone lit up, I
turned it on, just for old times sake.

***
19:18 29 May

     The phone flashed, so I glanced over at the computer running caller
ID.  It was Mike, so I answered it.
     "'Lo Mike."
     "Hey, whatsup?"
     "Oh, you know...."  I thought perhaps it would be best to discuss
Saturday night plans out of the house.  And away from my sister.  "You
busy?"

***
19:24 29 May

     Amy collapsed on Mike's bed, and so did I after a second.
     "So?"
     I replied, "So, Susan knows where this rave is gonna be, like with
live music and everything, she got invited."
     "They don't let people know where they are, so the cops won't show
up," Amy mentioned.
     "Unless you're on the guest list, like Susan.  Or unless you are
very, very clever."
     Mike gave me the eye.  "And you're claiming to be that clever?"
     I flourished the Post-It with the address on it.  Amy grabbed it.

***
19:31 29 May

     "Hello?"
     "Deb!"
     "Hi Tuck," she smiled into the phone.  I could hear it.  "What's
up?"
     "Want to go dancing Saturday night?"
     "Sure!"  That was a good sign.  "Where?"

***
19:36 29 May

     "So are there going to be single guys there?" Amy grinned.
     "Tons, or so whoever it was that Susan called claimed."  I frowned.
"But I think most of 'em are gonna be college aged."
     Amy made a face.  "They want to get too serious too quick," she
commented.
     "What, how do you know that?" me and Mike wanted to know.
     She gave us an innocent look which told us she Knew Too Much
Already.

***
20:04 29 May

     I was going to throw point, I just knew it, when something started
buzzing.  In my pants.  I said something in about four different
languages at one time and threw whatever-it-was one way and me the
other.  Mike, not one to stand around in a crisis, already had a
baseball bat in hand and was holding it like a katana when the small
black box bounced to a stop on the bed.
     Amy gave both of us this Oh boy are you two stupid look.  "It's
your pager, Tuck?" she suggested.
     "Maybe," I disputed, not letting go of the stick I'd wrapped my
hands around.
     "It might be a bomb," Mike suggested.
     "Or an assassination device," I pointed out.
     Amy asked, "Should we call the Bomb Squad, or do the hero thing and
get ourselves blown- I mean, defuse it?"
     Mike and I looked at each other, past our respective clubs.
"Hero," he said.

***
20:09 29 May

     It turned out to be my pager after all.  Oh well.  I called Dad,
who was the one responsible for everything, while Amy put the pager back
together and Mike kibitzed.
     "Hello?"
     "Dad?"
     "Eugene!"  He sounded happy.  I felt instantly suspicious.

***
20:11 29 May

     I sighed.  "They want me and Amy to come home.  They want to have
one of those Big Talks."
     "Oh no," Mike said.
     Amy asked, "With me or with you?"  She looked worried.
     "I think me.  Ugh."
     "What did you do?" Mike asked.
     "Nothing!  That's the sucky part.  I can't think of anything
recently..."  I could think of plenty in my lifetime, and Mike knew of
most of 'em, but I couldn't imagine Dad bringing such things up NOW.
Especially when the parental statute of limitations - when it was
psychologically effective to punish your child - had run out.  On most
of it.
     "I'll come with, for support," Mike announced.

***
20:22 29 May

     Mike and Amy were up in my room doing God Only Knew on the Internet
on one of my computers, and I reluctantly went back downstairs and
tapped on Dad's office doorframe.  "Come on in," he told me, pulling off
his earphones.  "And why don't you shut the door."
     This was gonna be Bad.

***
20:24 29 May

     We'd found me a place to sit, as long as I didn't move sideways too
suddenly, so there was nothing left to do but Talk.  Oh, God.
     "What I wanted to talk to you about, Eugene," he started, "was your
upcoming trip."
     "Huh?"
     He started to say something, but looked down and hummed instead.
"More precisely, your mother is worried that you and Debbie will be un-
chaperoned, and get into trouble."
     "What?  Dad, we're getting separate rooms-"
     He waved his hand at me.  "I know, I know, you and Debbie explained
all that.  Nevertheless, you will both be far, far away from your
parents, and in a hotel, and with at least a little free time."
     "But, Dad-"
     He shook his head.  "Eugene, you know I'm a realist."  Sure, that's
why he spent all his life in computers.  "Now, we both know you and
Debbie are probably going to do something-"
     "Dad!" I protested.
     "Well?  Are you?  Can you really promise that nothing will happen
between you and Debbie?"
     Pause.
     I couldn't lie to him when he asked me a direct question like that.
"No."
     He shrugged.  "So."  He shrugged again.  "Your mom wanted me to
talk to you about it."
     Pause.
     "That's it?"  That couldn't be it.  He couldn't be THAT liberal-
     "No, not quite."  I knew it.  "There's another matter... birth
control."
     I guess I didn't know it.
     "What?" I said, like I'd never heard of it before.  Dad must've
thought that too, because he sort of frowned, and shifted from "adult
conversation about serious topic" mode to "lecture" mode.  "No, wait," I
said hurriedly, "I mean, I know what you're talking about, I mean I know
what it IS, I just don't know..."
     "Why I brought it up?"  I nodded.  He sighed, and looked down at
his feet.  They were not the prettiest feet in the world.  Especially
the left one, which was missing two toes, and was the reason Mike and I
had always done safety first when we were screwing around.  And why I
didn't like model rockets.
     "Son," he said, like he did when he was going to relate a life
lesson, "it's important that if you are doing anything that could get
her pregnant-"
     "Dad, Dad, wait.  She uses birth control pills, and I bought some
condoms a while back.  Just in case, I mean," I hedged.  He gave me the
Ironical Eyebrow which meant "I know you're not telling the truth but if
I don't ask I won't have to tell your mother anything."  We were both
happier with this concept sometimes.
     He nodded slowly.  "Good, good."  He leaned back in his chair and
tapped his fingertips together.  "So what do I tell your mother?"

***
20:46 29 May

     We'd worked out something which would pacify her, we hoped.  I
trudged up the stairs, wondering how I could be so tired after just
talking for an hour-
     No, it was only twenty minutes, said my watch.  Oh, God.  I hated
these talks, even with my dad.

***
23:36 29 May

     Mike looked at the MacinClock, and yawned.
     "Come on, you can't be tired yet!" Amy said, before her mouth
popped open.

***
06:09 30 May

     I woke up, and was sitting in bed staring at things, when there was
a tap on my door.  I went to go see, and it was Amy, again.  "Morning,
studs," she said.  I rubbed my eyes, and nodded.  *Bathroom,* I thought.

***
06:41 30 May

     Coffee wasn't at all bad, as long as you didn't try to drink too
much of it at one time.  Mixed about half and half with cream, and
plenty of sugar, it was almost tolerable.
     And, surprise surprise, Debbie had already put a mug holder in the
car.

***
07:23 30 May

     "Good morning, Valerie," Miz Parker said, smiling.  I smiled back
at her.  The coffee had done a lot to improve my attitude.
     "You look nice this morning," she added as we walked back in the
house.
     "Thanks," I told her.  I'd thought maybe Debbie and I could go out
and spend some of my paycheck tonight, if I was lucky, and I didn't know
if she'd want me to change first or not.  So I dressed up in something
she'd picked out with me, when we went shopping.  She had liked it then,
so I guessed she would like it now.  I hoped.
     However, since I knew that the brats would do their best to ruin my
clothes, I had a t shirt and shorts in a bag in the car, if I needed it.
At the worst, we'd be able to go back to Rachel's to change.

***
07:44 30 May

     I'd gotten an early start on breakfast, when Mister Parker came
into the kitchen, looking like he was smelling something good.  I was
fixing blintzes, and _I_ thought it smelled good.
     "What ARE you fixing?" he asked, but he was smiling, so I guess it
wasn't a bad idea.  At least Miz PArker had an apron I was able to snag
before I started cooking.  I knew white dresses like the one I was
wearing had a tendency to attract food, like magnets attracted iron.

***
08:19 30 May

     The brats had taken exception to my choice of breakfasts, until
they tried one.  I was glad I'd had enough warning to cook a lot of
them, though, because with those three, plus Mister Parker, who was not
small, plus me, because I was hungry too, they were disappearing really
fast.
     "Grggh-" Ricky started to say, but all I had to do was look at him,
and he stopped and chewed instead of trying to talk.  I was kind of
proud of that, especially in front of Mister Parker.  It made me look
better.

***
08:32 30 May

     "Want some help cleaning up?" Mister Parker asked as the kids
bailed out and ran for the television.
     "Oh, no thanks," I told him.  I was sort of nervous around him
anyway, and him staying so late was not helping matters.  The last thing
I wanted to do was have him stand around and make small talk while
washing dishes.  "I've got it," I smiled.  *GO TO WORK!* I beamed at
him.
     "You're sure?"
     "I'm sure," I said again.  *GO TO WORK NOW!*
     "Well, if you're sure," he said, to which I nodded, "then I guess
I'll head off to work."
     I managed to keep my mouth shut, but it was an effort of conscious
will.
     "Thanks for breakfast," he smiled, and I smiled back weakly.  I
knew it was lame, but it was the best I could do.  I was still stunned
by the success of my telepathic control.

***
10:04 30 May

     The phone rang, luckily while Stella was on the table, so I didn't
have to try and juggle her and get the phone too.  "Parker residence,
Valerie speaking?" I said into the phone.
     "Valerie!"  It was Beth Parker.  "David just called, and said you
fixed blintzes for breakfast?"
     "Um, ye- yes ma'am.  I hope that was okay..."  She still hadn't
told me that anything in the refrigerator or pantry was off-limits.
     "Oh, yes, of course!" she replied, like it was obvious.  "No," she
continued, "he just said they were delicious."
     "Oh!  Um..."  Great.  What did I say to that?
     "Anyway," she continued, "he called me to tell me, so I thought I
would call you and tell you, you made a very positive impression on
him."
     "Does that mean I still have a job?" I half-kidded.
     She laughed.  "Of course it does... although," she said, her tone
changing to one of conspiracy, "I may have to come in late to work next
week, if I could convince you to fix breakfast again..."
     "Oh, sure, no problem," I said, relieved.

***
12:28 30 May

     The telepathy thing must've been a fluke, I decided.  It hadn't
worked on any of the kids for the rest of the day, not even Stella.  And
I hadn't been trying weird stuff, either - just trying to get them to
scratch or things like that.
     On the other hand, when I suggested chicken breasts for lunch, they
said it would be cool.  Which led me to believe, that messing about with
telepathy was going to have unintended consequences, and I should
probably stop while I was ahead.  Or at least while I wasn't dealing
with Children Of The Corn.
     They liked what I'd fixed, too.  Except Stella, who still looked as
though there were things she'd rather be doing than eating.  I could
understand that - I'd tried some of the peas, and they were gross.

***
14:30 30 May

     I'd just settled an argument over what we were going to watch - now
I understood why my parents had gotten rid of the television for a
couple of years - when my purse started buzzing.  I figured out it was
my pager pretty quick this time, and I was glad that Amy and Mike had
managed to get it back together and working.  It was kind of impressive,
actually.
     I checked it, and it said ITS DEB I GOT YOUR EMAIL AND ID LOVE TO
DO DINNER OR SOMETHIN GRIN GIVE ME A CALL XXOXOXOX.
     "What'cha lookin' at?" Ricky asked, and the pager disappeared into
my purse before he got the question all the way out.
     "My pager.  I need to call Debbie," I said, and got up and took my
purse with me.  I'd have to see about putting a lock on it.
     I called her cellphone first, and she answered, "D and E Personal
Services, this is Debbie."  She sounded so professional.
     "Hi, Deb, it's Valerie!"
     "Oh, hey, whatsup?"
     "Just wanted to know if you wanted to go out and do dinner tonight
or something.  I dressed up for it and everything."
     "Are you still at work?" she asked.
     "Uh, yeah, why?"
     She didn't say anything for a while.  "Just wondered," she said
finally.  "Where did you have in mind?  Oh, and Kim said she wanted to
double the next time you and I went out on a date."
     "So I should call Mike?"
     "Yeah, or I should, or something..."
     "I can call him."  I think, if they cut my head open and dissected
my brain, they'd find a cluster of neurons that looked exactly like his
phone number, I'd called it so often over my lifetime.  "Did you want to
eat anywhere in particular?  And did you want to stop at Rachel's and
pick up Tucker, or just go with me?"  Hopefully, that would be enough
clue I wouldn't have to say more.  I knew the brats were listening where
I couldn't see them.
     "Oh!  Um... I get to pick?"  She giggled.  "Um... I dunno... would
Valerie be okay?"
     "Sure, I asked, didn't I?"  And I had a feeling she would pick
that, which is why I dressed nice when I was at Rachel's this morning.
     "What are you wearing?" she asked.

***
14:35 30 May

     I was sort of glad to get off the phone with Debbie.  She knew the
brats were listening too, and she had been tormenting me with things I
really didn't want to think about in a place where I couldn't safely
have an erection.  She was going to pay, later, but I didn't really want
to think about that either.  So I dialed Mike's home number.
     For once, he was home.  "Hey, Mike, it's me.  Want to take Kim out
and double date tonight?  Sort of," I added, remembering the
surveillance.  "With me and Debbie."
     "You're going as Valerie, aren't you?" he accused me.
     "Nail on the head," I admitted.  "Debbie wanted me to."
     "IF Debbie..."  He sighed.  "Never mind.  Where did you want to
go?"
     "Debbie said someplace nice, so I guess dress nice and meet us at,
um, at Miz Parker's place."
     He sighed deeply, but didn't argue.

***
18:16 30 May

     "What, no supper?" Dave Parker said from behind me.  I hadn't known
he was home, and it was a severe effort to keep from screaming and
ejecting with Stella.
     "Um, no?"  I swallowed, and managed to get a little moisture back
in my mouth.  "Um, I didn't know I was sup-"
     "I was teasing, Valerie," he interrupted.  "Breakfast was great
this morning.  I called Beth up to tell her what she missed, when I got
in," he grinned.  I decided not to say anything.

***
18:20 30 May

     I came out, and Kim's car was out front, waiting for me.  When I
closed the front door, Debbie got out of the car and walked over to her
car- no, my car.  It was hard to remember.
     She was dressed really nice, though, in a grown-up looking red
dress that I hadn't seen before, and heels.  And she was holding
something for me.
     As I walked over to my car, she grinned at me.  "Want me to drive?"
she asked.
     "If you kiss me first," I tried.  She smiled, and beckoned me over.
     It was a great way to start a weekend.

***
18:22 30 May

     As we got into the car, I asked her, "So did you decide where to go
tonight?"
     She nodded.  "I was thinking Italian?"
     "Cool!"
     She gave me a look as we pulled out of the driveway.  "Marciano's?"
     "You sure?"
     "Yeah, I mean, if you want to," she sort of pulled back.
     "No, no, that'd be great!"  I put my hand on hers on the gearshift.
"You're more than worth it."  She giggled.

***
18:45 30 May

     "You did make reservations, right?" I asked as we pulled into the
parking lot.
     "Yeah, for seven for four," she said absently as she pulled into a
parking space.  It took me until she stopped the car before I figured
out what she meant.
     We got out just in time to wave at Kim as she drove in, and we
walked to the door as she was parking.
     Debbie looked more gorgeous, the more I looked at her.  The dress
had ruffles on it, and I just wanted to dive in.  At least she'd brought
heels for me too, so we were the same height this time.  When she
noticed me looking at her, she smiled at me.  "You look good too," she
mentioned.  I grinned at her, and she smiled back.
     "Would you two stop it?" Kim complained from behind me.  As I
turned around, Debbie and I both complained, but Mike and Kim were both
grinning at us.  "We KNEW you two would be mooning over each other," she
laughed.
     "Shut up," Debbie said, but she was grinning too.
     Kim looked good - apparently, her and Debbie had gone shopping
together, and found something that looked good on both of them.  At
least, I liked strapless cleavage-displaying on them.  Kim's was green,
though, which made her eyes stand out more.  And Deb had picked up a
matching jacket for me, in red, so all three of us sort of matched. It
was kind of weird.
     "Well, you look nice," Mike commented, and I couldn't tell if he
was talking to me and being sarcastic, or talking to Debbie and being
sincere, so I let it go.

***
19:02 30 May

     We got a LOT of looks as the hostess led us to a table, and it took
me the whole trip to figure out why.  There was Mike, in a coat and tie.
And there were three girls, all of them dressed up in matching clothes.
Well, I sort of matched.  And we were following him.  I would have
looked twice.  Maybe three times.

***
19:27 30 May

     "You look nice in white," Debbie commented unexpectedly as the food
was being passed out.
     "Um, thanks," I said after a moment.
     She pointed at my dress.  "You might want to get some extra napkins
so it stays white?" she suggested.
     "Oh, hey..."  It was a good idea.

***
20:44 30 May

     Debbie pulled out her credit card, and when I was going to protest,
she shook her head, smiling.  "We'll just take it out of your salary,
it'll be easier than trying to add everything up and divide and all
that."
     "Not for me!" I told her, and she laughed, but she gave the waiter
the card anyway.

***
20:56 30 May

     We were all in the bathroom checking makeup and so forth, when Kim
looked at me through the mirror.  "You know," she said casually, "you
look really nice tonight.  What's up?"
     "Huh?"  My brain wasn't working too well after the meal.
     Kim pointed at me in the mirror.  "The dress, the jewelry,
everything."
     "Oh, Deb bought the jacket, I guess-"
     Kim snorted.  "I know, I was there.  WHY did you dress up like that
tonight?"
     "Um...  Because I thought I could take Debbie out to dinner, and
someplace nice, and..."
     "And you dressed like that?" she asked, arching an eyebrow at me.
     I didn't really have an answer for her.  Except, Debbie liked it.

***
21:29 30 May

     "She had a point," Mike told me as I drove us home.  "Only you
would think of dressing like that to go out on a date with your
girlfriend."
     "She liked it!" I pointed out.
     "That's not the POINT, Tuck..."

***
21:46 30 May

     "And you didn't take ME?" Amy complained.
     Mike and I looked at each other.  He was grinning, which meant he
was going to let me try and explain it to her.  "Um, well," I started,
"it was sort of a date thing, I mean, really, with me and Deb, and Mike
and Kim."  Amy glared at me.  "It was!  I mean, we were kissing and
stuff," which was true if you included the quick ones in the bathroom
and in the car.
     She didn't look convinced.  "If you were kissing her," she
challenged, "then how come you don't have any lipstick on?"
     Mike and I looked at each other in total mutual confusion.  Then he
got it, and then I got it, and then Amy was standing over both of us,
complaining, as we laughed ourselves sick.

***
06:09 31 May

     It took me a few minutes to convince myself that I didn't have to
go anywhere, for work or school or any reason at all.  When I finally
did, though, it was wonderful.  For the ten or so seconds I stayed awake
after that, anyway.

***
07:44 31 May

     Amy looked at me over the pancake batter.  "You wanted to get up
anyway," she lied.  "And you need to put your hair up."
     It was fun while it had lasted, anyway.
     I smiled at her, instead of telling her what I really thought, and
went upstairs to get a bandanna.

***
08:20 31 May

     There was a knock at the front door, and Amy was cleaning up the
batter on the floor, so I decided to get it.
     When I opened the door, it was some guy I'd never seen before, who
smiled when he saw me.  "Hi!" he said.
     "Uh, hi," I said.
     "Ready to go?" he asked.  He was still smiling.
     "No," I told him, and shut the door, and locked it.  And put the
chain on.

***
08:21 31 May

     "And he said he knew you?" Amy asked.
     "He didn't SAY that, but he sure acted like-"  The kitchen door
swung open, and Susan came in.  She was already dressed, which was a
rarity, at least for this early in the morning.
     "Did Kyle come by yet?" she asked, diving into the refrigerator for
a coke.  When she came out, she saw me and Amy staring at each other.
"What?"

***
08:26 31 May

     Susan came storming back in, cursing under her breath.  Amy took
the chance and asked, "What happened?"
     "He took off, that's what happened!" she fumed, and picked up the
phone and started dialing furiously.  She apparently got an answer,
because she started barking questions at the phone.  Amy looked at me
and shrugged, and I shrugged back.
     "You what?" Susan complained.  "I was not, I was still-"  She
stopped for several seconds, then turned to face me.  "I did not slam
the door in your face," she stated, locking eyes with me.
     I made a gesture at Amy, and then fled for the safety of the Cave.

***
08:49 31 May

     "It was kind of funny," Amy mentioned as she took some more bacon.
     "No it wasn't," I disputed.  Neither was the fifteen minutes of
hoping once again that my door would stand up under the abuse she was
giving it.  It had woken everyone in the house.  I thought I'd outgrown
that when she left for college.  Then again, I hadn't really honestly
considered that she might ever come back.

***
10:14 31 May

     "We could always go shopping," I suggested, for a laugh.

***
11:04 31 May

     "You realize, Tucker, that this is all your fault," Mike felt it
necessary to mention as we waited for Amy to get out of the changing
room.
     "Shut up, Mike."  I really didn't need to be reminded.

***
12:19 31 May

     Debbie finally made it in for lunch, right about the time I was
having serious doubts about her showing up.  She gave me a kiss on the
cheek, and then one on the mouth, and then we spent a while reminding
each other why we missed each other.
     "Ahem," Amy finally said, and we broke our good morning to see that
she was standing there tapping her foot, and obviously Debbie had
brought Kim and Pam with her, since they were sitting at the table,
though I hadn't noticed them at first.

***
12:25 31 May

     "A salad?" I teased her.
     "I HAPPEN to like them," Debbie lied with dignified conviction.  We
both knew she'd be stealing my fries as soon as they got to the table.
I was halfway tempted duplicate her order and watch her twitch,
fry-less.

***
13:35 31 May

     "Actually," Debbie smiled at me, "I got all my consults done in the
morning today."
     "Really?"  This was great news.  "Did you have something in mind for
the rest of the afternoon?"
     "Well," she said, and giggled for no apparent reason.  "I mean, I
was thinking about going swimming?"
     "Whose pool?"

***
14:02 31 May

     I hadn't known that Rachel's complex had a pool, but Debbie had,
and furthermore Rachel had nothing else to do that afternoon either.  So
a whole bunch of the Pack, and a few of us Rat Boyz, and Amy, had showed
up, and we were making an informal party out of it.  It seemed the thing
to do.
     Debbie and Amy and I had been the first to get there, and some of
the twenty-something guys dorking around there had been sort of
surprised to see me, a geek of the first order, show up with not one but
TWO girls, one on each arm, and then all of us started smearing sunblock
over each other in a very familiar way.  It only got worse when Rachel
showed up a minute later, and we started smearing it on her too.
     Amy caught it first, or was the only one to think it was worth
laughing about, and she mentioned it to me, and then it was all I could
do to keep from laughing out loud myself.  Because, when I glanced
casually sideways, it really did look like all three of them were my
girlfriends, and furthermore pretty friendly with each other too,
because we were making all sorts of weird-ass references that didn't
make sense to anyone else, and horsing around, and in general doing
stuff to and with and at each other that straight girls just didn't
normally do in public, and with me too.
     When Mike and Kim showed up with a half-dozen of the Pack, plus a
cooler and a boom box, it just got worse.  In twenty minutes, we'd
confused all of them so bad they left, and then George cranked up the
volume and started dancing on the diving board until Julia kicked him
off.

***
16:24 31 May

     Dave, Rachel's roommate, had come home, found us partying, and
invited a bunch of HIS friends over.  I was only half-surprised to find
out that he was not only homosexual but had a lot of similarly-inclined
friends, I guess from Deighton's Gay Student Alliance or whatever LBGTSA
meant.  Some of them were wearing T shirts that said that.  So now, the
party was sort of mutating.  I wasn't sure if I minded, which sort of
worried me when I thought about it.  That was usually when I was
underwater, since there was so much going on in the air.
     Mike kept glaring at me when he wasn't laughing or talking with Kim,
and I knew he was blaming me directly.  That was one of the reasons I
was trying to stay underwater.
     Them we both spotted Amy frenching one of those gay college guys -
I knew he was gay because I'd spotted him with a boyfriend earlier - and
we went after them with the sole intention of saving her.  From what, I
don't really know.  She saw us coming, though, and laughed and ran off,
and then we had to chase her until we ended up in the pool wrestling.  I
came up for air once, and saw Debbie wading towards us, and figured that
wrestling with her would be at least as much fun, and so it went.

***
18:14 31 May

     It turned out that Debbie had set up a collection station, or
something, because about five thirty, she'd taken off with Dave and a
couple of other people, and came back with this whole huge mess of
fajita meat and fixings, and then the party sort of half-split, with the
others going to Rachel's apartment.  I got drafted to cut veggies, which
I sort of half expected.  At least I was out of the sun; it had gotten
rather warm, even with the tank top I'd been wearing all day.  And, of
course, I got to hang with Debbie.  Lisa had come by too, and she'd
taken charge about the same time Debbie ran low on energy, so things
hadn't slowed down any.
     Lisa kissed me unexpectedly on the cheek, and when I looked up, she
laughed, and said, "I heard this was your fault, this party."
     "What?"
     She laughed some more, and Debbie started too, and explained,
"Well, it STARTED small..."
     Amy poked me in the ribs and asked, "So how come you weren't this
much fun last time I was here?" and the only thing I could do was point
at Debbie.

***
19:02 31 May

     Debbie and I had finally pulled off from the rest of the crowd,
with Amy tagging along, and found a quiet spot to eat and relax and just
be with each other.  We were leaning against a fence, with my head
pillowed on her chest, and Amy sort of draped across both of our legs.
     "I'm glad I didn't go with Susan today," Amy mentioned at one
point.
     "What was she doing?  Besides trying to kill me?" I asked, and then
I had to explain that to Debbie.  When I got done, I asked Amy again,
and she thought about it for a second.
     "I dunno, I think she was gonna go hang with some of her high
school buds, get caught up, and then go dancing tonight."  Debbie
elbowed me in the ribs, but gently, so I didn't poke her back.   "But I
heard Rachel's roommate, what's his name?  He was talking about it," she
continued, "so I guess it's either not that big a secret or it's a
college thing or something."  She sort of shrugged.
     "Did you still want to go?" Debbie asked both of us.  Amy shrugged,
and I thought about it for a while.
     "Maybe in a while," I finally answered.  "I think we need some time
out before we do anything else."  Nobody argued, and so I snuggled some
more against Debbie while I had the chance.
     It was fun, being at a party with her, but sometimes I just liked
being alone with her, even if being alone meant with Amy.

***
19:59 31 May

     Around eight, a lot of people had started leaving, apparently to
get ready to go dancing or whatever.  Amy looked at me and I looked at
Debbie, and she looked at Mike, who looked at Kim, and it just sort of
went around until we were all in the parking lot arranging who would
ride in whose car and where we'd meet and when.  Maybe I was more tired
than I'd thought.

***
20:38 31 May

     I don't know how we managed to avoid Susan at home, but we did,
thank God.  She might have asked Amy, and while I liked my cousin a lot,
I wasn't sure she'd remember not to say anything.  But I didn't have to
worry, because Susan had come flying out of the house about the time we
pulled into the driveway.
     Now all I had to do was wait until Amy got finished getting ready,
which seemed like it was taking forever.  But, that gave me enough time
to negotiate an extension of our curfew until 3am.  I think mentioning
that all the Pack females were going had something to do with it.

***
21:04 31 May

     "She's still-"
     "Mike," I tried to explain, "she's a growing young woman.  Which
means that, as her body matures, her sense of timing decays.  Besides,
she thinks she needs makeup and her hair done and stuff."
     Mike shook his head.  "I'd hoped she was going to be immune to
that, but I guess it was too much to ask."  I nodded in agreement.  "Any
idea when she'll be ready?"
     I shook my head.  "Hey, did you get an extension on your curfew
too?" I asked.  He nodded happily.

***
21:32 31 May

     "Would you guys shut up?" Amy complained as we got into my car for
the trip to Kim's house.  She did look good, after all the work she'd
put in, but it had taken her longer than it had Mike to drive home,
shower, change, and drive back to our house.  So, naturally, we had to
tease her some.
     "You really think I look good?" she asked us after I'd started the
car.  Mike looked at me as I looked at him, and we laughed.  "What?" she
asked angrily.
     "You're acting like a typical female," Mike actually had the 'nads
to say.  "It's just funny-" was all he could get out before she started
smacking him in the head.

***
22:17 31 May

     I was sure we had the right address, but there weren't a whole lot
of cars there.  Then again, Amy had assured us that it was horrendously
early for a real rave, which led to a lot of other questions, since I
didn't want her associating with the kind of people it would take to
keep her safe in NYC at a rave there, unless it was me and Mike and the
rest of the crew.
     But there were a few cars, so we disembarked, and Debbie elected
that me and Mike would reconnoiter the area and report back.  Well, that
wasn't quite how she put it, but that's what we were going to do.
     We gently went around, and eventually found an open door with a van
and a pickup beside it.  Mike held up four fingers before he knocked,
which meant in this particular instance that we would use Social
Engineering Type Four if it turned out it was the wrong people.
     When the guy with four-colored hair opened the door and glared at
us, I was pretty sure we were in the right place.  Mike asked if there
was gonna be a rave there, and he glared at us for a few seconds before
he admitted, "Yeah, but we're not ready yet."
     Mike and I looked at each other again.  "Want two techs?" I asked.

***
22:31 31 May

     Amazingly, he'd let us and all of our friends in, which was a lot
of people, relatively.  Mike and Dan and I did a lot of work, though,
toting and wiring and stuff.  The girls mostly hung out and teased us,
which was normal.  At least it was nice teasing.  I was sort of wishing
I'd brought at least our radio headsets, but of course Debbie would have
said no if I'd tried.  It reinforced my conviction, though, that I
should always have mine with me.  At least until I could get a reliable
cyber version implanted.

***
22:48 31 May

     The music was starting, and I liked the mix.
     "Wanna dance?" Debbie asked from behind me, and I nodded, and we
headed to the middle of the floor and proceeded to get down.

***
23:21 31 May

     "Whooo," Debbie breathed out as me and her and Amy sat on the
concrete outside.  It was warm from the long-absent sun, but it still
felt cooler than our overheated bodies.  Instead of saying anything, I
just nodded and gasped for air.  It was amazing how fast it got hot in
there with so many people dancing and stuff.  Or maybe it was heat from
the sound energy they were pumping through the room.  You could almost
feel the concrete thumping in time with the music.
     Some guy none of us had ever seen before plopped down next to us,
and started chatting Amy and Debbie up.  I was going to tell him to get
lost, when he started chatting me up too.  Debbie gave me one of those
looks, like 'stop it,' but I knew it was already too late, because if it
was me he was hitting on, he wasn't going to change his mind unless he
had to, and then he'd be upset about it.
     Finally, he got the hint, or he cooled off enough, and he went back
in.
     Amy held her breath, watching him until the door closed, and then
she started to giggle frantically, pointing at me.  Debbie just sighed,
and closed her eyes and held my hand.  I figured that was a good idea.
Better than screaming, anyway.

***
23:49 31 May

     It seemed like I'd been standing in line for the bathroom - the
only one in the building, and therefore unisex - forever, and when it
was finally my turn, this other girl came in with me.  I was going to
complain, but then figured she knew what she was doing, so I shrugged,
lifted the seat, and started to go.  When I finished and reassembled
myself and turned around, she was sort of staring at me in the mirror
like I'd turned green unexpectedly or something.  We stood there for
what seemed like a long time to be just staring at each other, until I
got tired of it and left the bathroom, leaving her alone.

***
23:54 31 May

     Amy was laughing about it some more until she looked at me, or
something.  In any case, she stopped laughing real quick and hugged me.
"I'm sorry, I didn't think about..."  She didn't say what, but we both
knew what she was talking about.
     "It's not a big deal, I guess," I said, half-lying.  "Besides, it's
more annoying than anything," which was completely true.  I mean, was I
any different to that girl when I lifted the seat, than when she decided
to come in the bathroom with me?

***
00:03 1 June

     "So, you wanna dance?" Kurt asked, and me and Amy couldn't tell
which one of us he was talking to.
     "Which one?" Amy asked before I could get the courage up, and he
grinned.
     "How 'bout both you girls?" he tried.
     I glanced at Amy, and her face was paralyzed, like she didn't know
what to do.  I didn't really know what to do either, but after a second
I shrugged, and lifted my hand, and Kurt took it.  He would have taken
Amy's, but she was having a giggle fit.  Or choking to death on her own
spit, which I kind of doubted.

***
00:09 1 June

     Amy kept trying to be serious as she smeared eye makeup on me, but
she was having problems.  Finally, she got done enough that I could grab
her purse away from her and do the rest of it myself, which was lipstick
only.  She wasn't wearing much either, which was good, because we were
all sweating tons.

***
00:21 1 June

     Kim squinted at me.  "Were you wearing makeup when you got here?"
she finally asked.
     "No.  Amy, my cousin, thought it would be funny to put some, since
everyone was thinking I was a girl anyway."
     Kim didn't say anything to that, she just wrapped me in a big long
hug.  It felt good.

***
00:49 1 June

     I was about to go in the bathroom with Deb, when some guy stopped
me.  "Hey, let the girl go in by herself.  If you two want to fuck, go
do it in a car or something."
     I stared at him, and so did Deb.  I don't think it was because of
what he said, really; it was the implications, which was sort of the
reverse of everything that had already happened tonight.

***
01:05 1 June

     "I give up!  I can't tell WHAT the fuck is going on!" I complained
to the sky.  It didn't answer.
     Pam mumbled a curse, and then started wriggling in her top.  I
stopped to watch, and eventually she produced a bra.  The shoulder strap
on the right side was hanging loose, which is I guess why she took it
off.
     I got one of my weird ideas, then, and took it from her, and pulled
my shirt off and put the bra on me, letting the strap dangle down the
back.  When her and Deb looked at me like I was crazy, I shrugged.
Maybe I was.
     On the other hand, the next guy that came up asked me if I was into
Marilyn Manson, and he didn't even blink when I kissed Deb.  Which said
something.
     I just wished I knew what.

***

"Oh!  Well, sorry!  UNfuck you, then!" - the GGM

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"Tallyho!"      \   /     @>--,--'--  ehayes@anti-social.com + vicki
Ellen Hayes --=(*)=(*)=-- Renaissance Woman    ==[--------   + sig
                          http://www.barkingduck.net/ehayes  + virus



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