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Tucker Factor

Copyright 1997 by Ellen Hayes.

No part of this work may be distributed as an original work by another
person or group.  Permission is given to redistribute this by electronic
means, as long as the entirety of the work is distributed, and credit is
given to the original author, me.  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.

All rights reserved.

Furthermore,
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.

Tucker Factor

***
18:48 18 Jan

     "So what's this idea you're having?" I asked her as we pulled into
the parking lot.
     "Well, it'd be boring just for you to show up, so..."

***
18:53 18 Jan

     "Where did you get the bag?"
     She shrugged.  "They had one they're not using.  And John likes
me."
     "So you said," I agreed sourly.  I didn't like him, only partially
because he hit on me.  Mostly, he kept hitting on Debbie, right in front
of me, and she didn't seem to mind.  Not that I could do anything.  And
Debbie didn't seem real interested in stopping it either.
     "He likes you too," she pointed out.
     "Is that supposed to make me feel better?" I asked.
     Debbie just gave me a look.  "Just chill, alright?  No harm in just
flirting with him.  Besides, I told him I already had a boyfriend,
remember?"
     I sighed.  "Yeah, but it kind of lacks force when your boyfriend is
standing right next to you in your cast-off clothing."
     She patted me on the shoulder.  "Not to me, it doesn't."  She
leaned over and managed to give me a short kiss before the light
changed.  "Besides, none of that is castoff."

***
19:11 18 Jan

     I was getting cold by the time the pager went off.  "Jeez,
finally," I mumbled as I started the timer.

***
19:21 18 Jan

     Beepbeepbeepbeep-  I shut off the timer and got out of the car,
stretched, and got the insulated bag out of the back seat where it had
been strapped in.
     I took a deep breath as I looked at the front door, then started up
the sidewalk.  I rang the doorbell, and waited what seemed like forever.
Finally, I heard the locks working, and the door opened.  A woman opened
the door.  "Yes?" she asked.  It wasn't Sabrina, or any of the Pack.  It
looked like someone's mom, probably Sabrina's.  Peachy.
     "Um, pizza?"
     "Oh, yes, just a moment."  She turned to face inside the house.
"Sabrina?  Your pizza's here!"  She turned back to me.  "She'll be just
a minute."
     I nodded, and she closed the door.
     It was a long, cold minute, but finally the door opened again.  It
was Sabrina this time, with a wad of cash in one hand.  "You ordered a
pizza?" I asked, my heart trying to climb into my throat.  "Two larges,
one pepperoni and mushrooms, one veggie special?"
     "Oh, yeah, we..." she started, then looked up and stared at me for
a moment.  "VALERIE!" she shrieked.
     She pulled me and the pizza inside, just as there was a commotion
and everyone came pounding down the stairs.  They stopped, gaped, then
swirled down and around me.
     It must have been a Kodak moment or something, because Debbie hung
around at the top of the stairs and took a picture.  I wondered for a
moment how much she would charge me for the negative.

***
19:24 18 Jan

     We went upstairs to the party room after I met Sabrina's parents -
joy, joy.
     "Nice place," I commented.  "We just have a basement."  They had an
entire room, with a table and a couple of couches and a few chairs and
so forth.  It was sort of sparse, but like I said, my house just had a
basement.  And that was half full of electronics and computer stuff.
     "S'okay," Sabrina remarked as she shut the door.  "Jesus, lemme
look at you!"
     They all took a good long look.  I was starting to flush under the
attention.
     "Hoooo," Pam finally breathed.  "Scary."  They all nodded.
     "So what have you been doing today?" asked Kathy.
     "Oh, God," I moaned.  "Let me sit down first."
     "Hard day?" one of them asked.  I was plopping down on the couch,
so I couldn't tell which one.
     "She's had a bit too much excitement," Debbie crooned.  She sat
down next to me and patted my forehead.
     Jill threw a pillow down in front of us and sat on it, while
everyone else found perches.  "Travis again?" she asked slyly, just as I
started to calm down again.
     "Akh!" I said, sort of, as I shot up and turned to face Debbie and
do something.  I didn't know what, but I had to do it fast.
     "Sit!" Debbie commanded, and pushed me back down.
     "But-"
     "Remember, I told them about the favor you did Lisa right before
the dance."  Favor my ass.  She continued, "Did you think they'd
forget?"  She subtly tapped me twice with a finger.  I got it, finally.
The party was still secret.
     "Oh.  Yeah."  I sat back down.  "Oh, God, it's like a nightmare,
except it keeps happening again and again."
     "It can't be that bad," Kathy disputed.

***
19:32 18 Jan

     They broke up in laughter when Debbie mimicked Dan's face.

***
20:08 18 Jan

     "So what now?" I asked.  Jill and Sabrina glanced at each other.
"What?" I asked.  Not like I was suspicious or anything.  Haha.  "I'm
not leaving this house except to go home," I warned them.
     "Strip poker," said Jill.  And grinned a Debbie grin.
     "Oh, right."  They must've thought I was really dumb.  Nobody
ever played strip poker.

***
20:41 18 Jan

     "I'll take two," I said, laying two discards down in front of the
pile of clothing in front of me.  Sabrina dealt me two.  The rest of
them studied me, trying to figure out if I was bluffing or not.
     Jill took three, Kim took two, and Sabrina took two.  Debbie and
Kathy had taken the smart course when I got them down to their
underwear, and quit.  The rest weren't that smart.  I was that smart,
but the only thing I was missing was my socks, my jacket, and one skirt.
But I had two to start with.
     "Well?" asked Jill, as I studied the flush in my hand.
     "I'll bet... three," I finally said, and tossed three chips on the
middle of the table.
     "I see you and raise you four," said Jill.  "Sell me some more
chips."
     "Jill," I said, "you don't have anything left to trade..."
     I trailed off as she put her cards down and squirmed, and came up
with a pair of panties, and tossed them on my pile of spoils.  Everyone
hooted at that, especially me.  Since it was her idea in the first
place, it was especially funny.  The exchange rate being ten chips for
one garment or pair, I slid her ten chips, and she tossed in seven, and
snarled at me.  It sort of lost its force if you noticed the massive
blush she had, though.
     As Kim folded and Sabrina called, I subtly started to lean over to
the left.  I hadn't gone more than thirty degrees before something hit
me in the back of the head.  "Tuh-Valerie!" Debbie warned.  "Don't do
it!"
     "Jeez," I complained, rubbing my wound.  "Everyone else would be
staring at me if the game had gone the other way."
     "Shut up and play!" snapped Jill.  She was making this a grudge
match.  I had her now.  I wondered idly if I could get her to bet her
bra.
     "I'll call your four," tossing four chips in, "and raise it by
seven."
     Sabrina snorted, and tossed her cards on the table.  "I'm out."
     Jill's face was something awesome to watch.  She was wondering if I
was bluffing, which I hadn't done often.  She really had nothing else to
give, except her bra, and I had a feeling she'd surrender before it came
to that.  Probably.  And she wanted to beat me so bad, but there was
almost no chance she was ever going to make up the deficit.  But if she
could, she'd beat me in this hand, at least.
     I looked at my five hearts, and decided that the odds were with me.
"Your bet, Jill."
     She glared at me, then glared at her cards, then glared at Kim and
Sabrina, then glared at me some more.  I stared back, making my face as
flat as I could.  I debated sniffing her panties, to break her nerve,
but decided it would more likely result in Debbie breaking my head.  And
the rest of them ripping my body to pieces.
     After about fifteen seconds, I asked again, "Jill?"
     "Shit, give me a minute!" she snapped back.
     I leaned back to wait.  When I heard someone moving behind me, I
put my cards face down on the table, keeping my hand over them.
     "Are you folding?" Sabrina asked.
     I shook my head.  "Just being paranoid."  Jill glared at me.
     Finally, after Debbie and Kathy had arranged themselves around the
table to watch, Jill sighed, ran her fingers through her hair, and
tossed in seven more chips, all she had.  "I call."
     "Lay 'em out."
     "You first," she told me.
     I slowly, theatrically, turned my hand face up, with all the cards
showing hearts.  "Heart's flush," I said calmly.
     "Ohhhh," she moaned bitterly, and tossed her cards up in the air.
"Shit!"  Everyone else made sympathetic noises, and they all glanced at
me to see what I was going to do.
     Before things could get ugly, which was definitely a possibility at
this point, I picked up Jill's panties and said, "Let's call it quits
for tonight, huh?  While I'm still alive?"  I handed them to her.
     Jill looked at me, not quite sure what to do.  I shrugged, and
waved my hands over my "winnings".  Hands started digging into the pile,
and pretty soon there were clothes flying everywhere as they tried to
sort them out.  I grabbed Debbie's hand as it reached into the pile and
gave it a kiss.  Next, I stood up, stretched, and went over to Jill, who
was struggling into a pair of jeans.  "Jill?"
     Her head snapped up.  "What?"
     "No hard feelings?"  I held out my hand.  "I don't want to piss you
off or anything."
     She thought about it for a little bit, then shook my hand.  "No
hard feelings," she agreed.
     I grinned in relief, then grabbed her hand and kissed it.  "Cool,"
I breathed.
     She remarked, "Asshole," and slapped me in the head.  But she did
it like she wasn't serious.
     Debbie said, in this horrible Russian accent, "Let's make nice!"
and swept us together in a three-way hug.  I think Jill and I both
squeaked as we bounced into each other.  We were nose-to-nose, and she
looked about like I felt - totally stunned.  Then she started to laugh,
and when Debbie let go, Jill gave me an extra squeeze.
     "So what now?" asked Kim.
     "Now I think about all the lies I'm gonna tell on Monday," sort of
slipped out of my mouth.  Luckily, they all thought it was funny.

***
20:52 18 Jan

     "That was a good thing you did with Jill," Debbie whispered in my
ear.  "You're catching on."
     I leaned back to her ear, and replied, "There's some people I don't
want to piss off, and this crowd is one of 'em.  Besides, it's just
poker."  Which was sort of like saying it was just sex.  But I'd learned
to make sacrifices for Debbie.

***
20:55 18 Jan

     Everyone was dressed again, unfortunately, and made up again and
hair fixed and so forth.  As Kim plopped down on the floor, we all
turned to Jill.  "Well?" Sabrina ventured.

***
21:02 18 Jan

     "So what did he do then?" Kim asked.
     I sighed.  "Do I have to go through everything?  In detail?"
     They all looked at me like I was stupid, except Debbie, who just
nodded patiently at me.  Like I was stupid.
     I sighed again, then told them, "Well, uh, after dinner, I went to
the restroom-"  I shook my head.  "Why does everyone seem to make me
want to go into a girl's room?"
     "After you ate," Jill jumped ahead of everyone else who was going
to answer, "your makeup was probably seriously messed up."
     "I know, I know, it's been pointed out before.  Anyway, um... when
I came back, he stood up, gave me my jacket, and we walked out to-"
     "Did he go first?"
     "What the hell does that have to do with anything?  No!  I went
first, and he held the door open for me when we got to it, somehow, and
he held my arm as we walked through the parking lot..."  I had a rapt
audience, but I was sweating under the interrogation.

***
21:26 18 Jan

     "So what was _your_ first kiss like?" I tossed back.
     Jill laughed at the ceiling as she rocked back on her pillow.  "Oh,
man, it was _so_ screwed up..."
     I grinned.  "Well, _do_ tell," I requested as I pulled my feet
under the skirt to keep warm.

***
21:33 18 Jan

     Kim groaned, and hid her face in her hands.  "Oh, noooo," she
moaned.  "It's too embarrassing!" she giggled.
     "Oh, come on," pleaded Pam.  "You told me, and it wasn't all that
bad.  Not like that date I had in eighth grade I told you about."
     I added, "My whole life is like, field research on the book 'How
Not To Date.'"
     "You tell me a bad date story, and I'll tell you this one," Kim
bargained.  "And them Pam tells hers."  Pam shrugged, and nodded.
     I sighed.  And grinned at them, already embarrassed.  "Okay.  What
happened was..."

***
21:35 18 Jan

     "...and then she just launched, right on my back."  They all made
expressions of disgust.  "I mean," I asked rhetorically, "I can
understand, sometimes these things just sort of, surprise you."  I
decided saying that these things come up would have been too funny,
"But, why couldn't she have turned to the side or something?"  It had
truly pissed me off at the time.
     "Anyway," I continued, "we got her to a trash can for the rest of
it, and then got sort of cleaned up when she was done, uh.  Anyway,
after that, we kind of had to go home, I mean she did, so we called her
mom, who sort of looked like she blamed me for everything, and I took
the bus back.  We went out one more time, but we were both too
embarrassed for like, forever, I figured, and so we never called each
other after that."  It was kind of sad, when I thought about it.

***
21:38 18 Jan

     "Oh, God, and then he was gonna kiss me or some dumbass thing like
that, so he grabbed my hand and turned, but he slipped on the steps.
Just, whoosh!"  Pam demonstrated with her hands.  "Right into the roses.
And then, he starts screaming 'cause he's gotten impaled on HUNDREDS of
thorns, and he's screaming for me to get him out, and the only thing _I_
can think of at that point is how do I save Mom's roses so I won't get
in trouble!"  Everyone else laughed, and even I had to chuckle a little
bit.

***
21:45 18 Jan

     "...and then he just wandered off, and the next time I saw him,
which was like half an hour later, I mean, we _had_ gone to this party
together, right?  Next time I saw him, he was talking to this girl, all
by themselves, and someone told me they'd been talking like that for the
whole time I couldn't find him."  Kathy strangled the air in front of
her.
     "What an asshole," I contributed, and everyone nodded in
affirmation.  At least I had had enough brains to avoid that one.  Then
again, being able to talk to two girls in the same night was something I
had never considered possible - one in the hand being worth two on the
vine, or something like that.  But still...

***
21:47 18 Jan

     "Oh, God, I had something like that happen to me," I stuck in.
"Except it wasn't that polite."
     "That Tina bitch?" confirmed Debbie.
     I nodded.  "She just came up and told me, at a dance, that she was
getting a ride home with someone else, and to have fun, and bye, and she
walked off, see ya!"
     The rest of them stared at me.  "That's not what we heard," Pam
finally offered.
     "George was right there when she did it, he can tell you what
happened.  We both just stood there, staring at her, and each other."  I
shook my head.  "I mean, she could have broken up _before_, she could
have done it _after_, she could have even done it during if she'd been a
little quieter about it or something, but she already arranged a ride
home?"  I replayed the conversation a little.  "What did she say
happened?"
     "Uh," said Pam, "she said you'd spent the dance talking to some
girl, and ignored her, she-"
     "Oh, bullshit!" popped out of my mouth.  "Sorry."
     "Well?" asked Jill, finally.  "What did happen?"
     "I was talking to George, and his date, Kelly Madison-"
     "_Her_?" asked Sabrina scornfully, meaning, That geek?
     "Yeah, we were trying to figure out something, but I'd already
asked Tina like three times already if she wanted to dance, and she said
no, and I got her a drink, and it wasn't empty yet when she went off to
the bathroom, and she didn't want to go for a walk or something, and she
didn't want to go somewhere else, I mean, I even offered to pay for a
_cab_ if she wanted to go someplace besides homecoming dance, like to a
movie or something..."  I shrugged helplessly.  "There wasn't anything I
could think of to do!"
     They all looked over at Debbie, who nodded solemnly.  "From what I
could tell after, she'd set it up beforehand, because Georgina and Tammy
both saw her talking to Wayne Upshaw a couple of days beforehand, and
that's who she went off with, to parts unknown."  I was kind of pissed
that they had to get Debbie to confirm what I said - on the other hand,
she had confirmed what I said, so it wasn't all me.
     "And now she's dating Mike?" asked Kim.
     I shrugged.  "I warned him, I tried, but she can turn on the charm
when she feels like it."  I shook my head.  "I mean, she suckered me
real good...."

***
21:52 18 Jan

     "Men are pigs!" Jill asserted.
     "No shit!" I agreed emphatically, thinking of Travis.  "All of
them!"  He'd _kissed_ me!  And then there was Mike, and-
     What made me realize what I'd said, was noticing everyone give me
this incredible I-don't-believe-it stare.
     After a really long, strange moment, I stated, "I think I'm gonna
be a lesbian from now on."
     That sort of ignited the tension, and it exploded.  Pam fell out of
her chair, she was laughing so hard.

***
22:07 18 Jan

     "So would someone explain sizes to me?" I begged.  "This stuff is
insane!"
     "Waitwaitwait, waitaminute," said Sabrina, as everyone started to
talk at me. "Lemme go get the Sears catalog, that'll explain things."
She got up and started to leave the room.
     "Sears?"  There was some concept I was missing here.

***
22:11 18 Jan

     "It still doesn't make sense," I complained.
     Sabrina just shrugged.  "It's just one of those things.  You get
used to it after a while."
     "It's kind of like shoe sizes," added Kim.  I sighed.  That helped
a lot, not.

***
22:15 18 Jan

     "What a slut!" Pam commented.
     "She doesn't even pull her skirt down in class; she just sits there
and smiles, she _knows_ what she's doing, she's just, just-" Kathy
flustered.
     I tried, "A slut?"
     She nodded violently.  "I mean, God, what, does she think that the
guys notice that?  Most of them are asleep anyway!"
     "Some of them have noticed," I mentioned.  "It's going around, at
least."  I shrugged.
     "Well?"  Kathy asked.
     "Well what?"
     "What are they saying about it?" she snapped.
     "That she's a slut, mostly," I replied.  A couple of the girls
giggled as I went on, "Some football player, I don't know what his name
is, I heard him say that if she was that desperate he wouldn't dare date
her 'cause there had to be something wrong with her."
     Kathy looked extremely satisfied when I told her that.

***
22:21 18 Jan

     "So anyway, what Gina said, was that..."
     I was going to have to start taking notes, I thought.

***
22:34 18 Jan

     "But he's a geek!" Jill protested.
     "So?" I asked.  "He wants to go out with you, and he's serious
about it.  Not obsessive," I added hastily, "but serious."
     "So I don't want to go out with a _geek_!"
     "Why not?" asked Debbie.  "They're pushovers."  She nudged me, and
winked.  I deliberately fell over, and everyone laughed.
     "Besides," I added, sitting back up, "they can help you with your
homework."  I met a lot of girls that way.  Didn't date any of 'em,
but...  And I'd met Debbie setting up her accounting stuff.
     Pam put in, "And they're so shy, most of 'em, you can just tell 'em
what to do, and they'll do it."
     Everyone glanced at me, and laughed again.  I whimpered loudly, in
a sympathy ploy, which failed, except Debbie leaned over and said,
"Well, I for one appreciate you."  I needed to hear that.

***
22:35 18 Jan

     "So why _are_ you doing this?" Jill asked me.
     "Ah," I looked at Debbie for help, but she'd put her stone face on.
No help there.  "Beats hell out of me.  A few times, I was doing Lisa a
favor, and Debbie, um, added an incentive which I couldn't refuse..."
     "But you, I mean, how much did you shell out for clothes today?"
     I moaned, "Oh, God, don't remind me.  Too much!"
     "Isn't it always?" inserted Kim.

***
22:36 18 Jan

     "Besides," I added, "I wouldn't get to spend an evening with a
bunch of wonderful women if I hadn't."
     They all went "awwwww" and patted me on the shoulder or knee or
whatever they could reach.
     "So, what conclusions have you reached?" asked Pam, sounding like
our English teacher.
     "That women's clothes cost too much?" I tried.
     They giggled, but Pam pressed, "Yeah, but what else?"
     "Uh."  This was going to take some thought.

***
22:39 18 Jan

     "Have I mentioned, _once_ since Halloween, that you took too long
in the bathroom?  Except at that gas station," I added.
     "What gas station?" asked Kathy as Debbie thought.
     "They had one working bathroom, and when I said Debbie could go
first, I didn't have to go that bad.  Then someone started washing their
car..."  I mimicked the dance I'd been doing.  "I almost wet myself
before she got out, but she was having her period and everything, so I
could sort of understand.  Once I got out, anyway.  It was hard to
understand anything before I got in there.  We were screaming at each
other through the door before she got out, and she said she'd stay in
there forever if I didn't leave her alone, and I said I'd piss in her
car... "  I shrugged, sort of embarrassed.  "When I got out, I begged
for her forgiveness, and bought her dinner, 'cause I felt really bad
about it, but I really thought I was gonna piss myself."
     Kathy snorted.  "That's what I hate about these driving vacations
my family takes..."

***
22:41 18 Jan

     "Well," Jill asked Debbie, "you never did say if that Tucker guy
has complained."  She winked at me.
     Debbie shook her head slowly.  "Just that once."  She snickered.
"And, of course, every time I made her go with me."
     "That's not true!" I protested lamely.  "Just.... most of them."  I
sighed.  "I think I've almost gotten used to it, by now."

***
22:49 18 Jan

     "So what do _you_ think?" Kim pressed me.
     "I have no idea!" I protested.
     "Oh, you've got to have _some_ idea," she argued.
     I sighed.  "I've never thought about it."
     "Well, think about it!"
     "Okay, but give me a little time," I asked.  And thought about it.
     Everyone waited.  The silence was unnerving.
     Eventually, I said, "The problem is, there's looking at some other
girl wearing nice stuff, and then there's wearing it myself, and they're
waaaaay apart."  Boy, did _that_ start a discussion.

***
23:03 18 Jan

     "I said I'd dress up nice if she did," said Debbie smugly, "and
that seemed to end it."
     I countered, "Your version of 'dressing up nice' and mine seem to
be sort of at opposite ends, Deb."  And waved my hands at what I was
wearing.
     "Fair's fair," Jill pointed out unhelpfully.
     I fought replying for a long time, because I knew I was going to
lose.  Finally, I choked it back down.  Mostly.  What I finally said
was, "Yeah, but it's a little hard to go out some places like this, you
know?  What if she wants to go to a party with people from school?"
     "Like this one?" asked Pam.  Even I snorted at that.  Everyone else
didn't bother holding it in.
     "Yeah," I said, "but you're all cool, and not everyone is."  I was
getting smarter about what I let out of my mouth as the night went on -
I could tell.
     "This is true," Kathy said like it was the most obvious thing in
the world, which got everyone to laugh some more.  "We are, of course,
the coolest people in town, actually."
     "Oh, gosh," I gushed in the valliest voice I could manage, "and you
let me _be_ here!  Oh, thankyou thankyou thankyou!" and got down on the
floor and kowtowed.  "I'm so unworthy!  I'm so honored!"
     "You're such a twit," said Debbie.  But she giggled as she was
saying it.

***
23:13 18 Jan

     "He is _such_ a hunk!" Pam moaned happily.
     I snorted.  "He has to get help to pick his nose!"
     Kathy mentioned, "Sometimes you want 'em dumber than you."
     "Why?"
     Sabrina made a rude motion with her hands, and we all laughed.
Then I had a thought.  Maybe that's why I never got any before I dated
Debbie - I was smarter than all the other girls?  That would explain a
lot...

***
23:19 18 Jan

     "Speaking of malls," Jill asked, "what did you two get today,
anyway?"
     Debbie replied thoughtfully, "It's all downstairs, in the car..."
     Sabrina enthused, "Well, let's go get it!"  She and Debbie shot up
and made for the door.
     "Nooooooooo...."  But it was too late.

***
23:24 18 Jan

     "You picked _that_?" Jill asked, skeptical in the extreme.
     "What?"  Not that I was worried about my taste in women's clothing.
Haha.  "What's wrong with it?"
     "It's.... kinda short, isn't it?"
     I glared at Debbie.  "It's longer than the other one she picked
out."
     "But, aren't you afraid of..."  She waved a hand around her crotch,
and finally came out with, "... showing?"

***
23:26 18 Jan

     "See?" said Debbie as I came back in the room, holding the stuff I
had been wearing.  "Can't see a thing."
     "What did you do," Kathy asked Debbie, "rip it off this morning?"
I almost died at the thought.

***
23:29 18 Jan

     I'd seen my sister do this a couple of times, so I just slid the
original skirts on, then reached through them and pulled the mini off.
Instant changing booth.
     "Let me try that on," asked Pam.
     "Sure, go right ahead."  I tossed the mini to her.
     She caught it and, no lie, dropped her jeans completely off and
stepped into the skirt.  I quietly choked, but it was Jill that said
"Hey, nice butt!"  Pam just shot her the bird and resumed slithering
into it.
     When she got it on and adjusted, she turned around and asked,
"Well?"  Everyone was pretty positive, including me, but I was kind of
freaked.  And it was too big for her, too.

***
23:38 18 Jan

     "Alright."  I'd finally caught on.  "Isn't that enough?"
     "Enough what?" asked Sabrina, a little too innocently.  She was
comparing bras with Debbie.  As in, they had both pulled their tops off
and were looking over each other.  Every one of the girls had done
something similar to me in the last ten minutes, and they'd all been
making lewd comments at each other.  I, on the other hand, had been
paralyzed with fear that I'd get defenestrated (SAT word) or something
if I said anything at all.  Until I figured out what they were doing.
     "Enough trying to freak me out with showing off your underwear.  I
saw my sister enough times, and I don't care any more."  Of course, none
of these girls were my sister wearing it.  But I wasn't going to _say_
that.
     They looked at each other like they were trying to figure out what
I was talking about, and I was almost fooled, until Pam couldn't hold it
in any more.  "BWAhahaha!"
     I sighed.

***
23:44 18 Jan

     Sabrina mentioned, "Well, I've got some stuff I don't wear much any
more.  Wanna take a look?"
     "Oh, no," I said.
     "Free," mentioned Debbie.  The magic word.
     I thought about it.  "Like, what kind of stuff?"

***
23:46 18 Jan

     Sabrina's closet looked like Debbie's except with _more_.  She
knelt in the back and was tossing stuff out, which everyone was pawing
over and holding up to me and yakking back and forth.  They'd insulted
my taste about six dozen times already.  Apparently, I would make a good
nun, in their opinion.  Too conservative.
     I didn't know whether to be complimented, or insulted, or just to
run screaming into the night.

***
23:52 18 Jan

     "Oh, my God, what is that?"  Kim pointed at me.
     "It's a corset, dummy," Debbie told her.  "Cor-sel-ette, actually,
since it has the built in bra."  Of course.  I should have known.
     Kim asked, "But why-"  Debbie's hands shaped an hourglass figure.
"Oh."
     "Well, let's see what you look like with it off," said Kathy, and
reached around behind me and started playing with the laces.  I tried to
get away, but she was holding me in a bear hug as she untied things, and
my arms were pinned.
     "Debbie!"  Somehow, being naked in front of this crowd struck me as
something I'd rather not be doing.  "Help!"

***
23:53 18 Jan

     I slid into the T shirt like... well, really fast.  Pam and Kim
were off in a corner, giggling over the fake breasts as they "tried to
get the nipples hard."  Which was fine, as they weren't giggling at me.
Debbie had almost caused a riot when she pulled the corset off and the
breasts _didn't_ fall off.
     "Now, what's it looked like?" asked Debbie as she took the T shirt
in back, and pulled it tight against me.
     The rest of the Pack stared.
     "Turn 'er sideways," commanded Jill.  Debbie reigned me to the
right.
     Pause.  My ears lit up again.
     "Gawd," said Pam, "almost..."
     "Almost what?"  Not like I was freaked out or anything.  Haha.
     "Y'know," said Jill, almost conversationally, "I don't think you
need to wear that corset any more."
     "Oh, please, Jill..."  She'd been running hot and cold towards me
all night.

***
22:54 18 Jan

     Debbie asked me, "See?"  I looked at myself in the mirror.  I
didn't have much of a choice.  I could have closed my eyes, I guess, but
I think Debbie would have pried them open.  Debbie went on, "It's just
that you're so skinny, the muscles around your chest and hips make 'em
stand out."  She demonstrated with her hands.
     "That's not muscle, that's fat," I despaired.  "Oh, God, Mike was
right, I'm _mutating_!"  It had to be fat, because I wasn't doing enough
to build up muscle there, and it hurt because it was growing so fast.
     Kim asked, "So how long have you been stealing your sister's BC
pills?"
     Everyone laughed, and, like usual, I didn't get the joke.  "What
are 'BC pills'?" I finally asked.
     "Birth control," explained Kim.  "They make your boobs bigger."
She stretched for me.  Hers looked big enough.
     I just sighed.  "I do _not_ use 'BC pills'.  Condoms work just
fine, thank you."
     "Wrap that rascal!" called three of them, which sort of got things
away from staring at me.
     "Besides," I smarted off, "if I do get pregnant, then Debbie'll
have to marry me."
     Kathy asked, "But who'd wear the dress?"
     Debbie and I pointed at each other.

***
00:02 19 Jan

     "Here, try this on," said Jill, tossing me the deep orange shirt, I
mean blouse she'd been wearing.  I slipped it on and fumbled with the
buttons.  She watched me, and when I got it done, finally, she shook her
head, and said, "That color's all wrong for you."  I sighed, and started
to take it off.
     I felt like a yo-yo.
     "Wait, try this," called Pam, and handed me something very similar
in the inevitable pink.

***
00:07 19 Jan

     "Wait, let's move it back into the party room," begged Sabrina.  "I
don't want my folks to wake up!"
     Me neither.  "Yeah, let's."

***
00:10 19 Jan

     "You know, it's lucky you're thin like that," commented Kim as I
slid out of a pair of too-tight jeans.  "You have nice legs."
     "Um," I started, then got hit in the face with a lace skirt someone
wanted me to try on.  "Urgh.  Yeah, great."  I pulled it off my face.
     "No, really," as she grabbed the jeans off the floor and started
trying them on herself, "how do you stay so thin?"
     *What is this about my weight?* I wondered.  I was beginning to get
truly self-conscious.  "Uh, don't each much at all, maybe once a day,
and stay away from fatty foods, and be really really nervous a lot."  I
snorted as a thought occurred to me.  "Try doing this the other way," I
shook the lace at her, "those unwanted pounds will melt away!"  She
snickered, then looked down at the jeans, which hadn't come up as far as
they had on me, and sighed, and slid them off.
     "Are you gonna try that on or not?" Jill asked me, to which Pam
said I'd better, so I sighed, and stepped into it.
     Kathy threw the jeans back at Pam, who caught them, mostly.
"Jesus," she complained to Pam, "what size are you, anyway?"
     "Six," Pam apologized, which made everyone else groan.  I'd been
labelled a ten, which I guess was alright.  Not like I had any idea.

***
00:14 19 Jan

     I realized, as I checked the seams on the stockings Sabrina was
wearing, that I'd seen all of them practically naked several times, and
I'd hardly noticed it the last twenty minutes.  Apparently, they hadn't
noticed either.
     "Well?" Sabrina asked impatiently.
     "They look straight down to me," I said, pulling back to a kneeling
position.  "And they look _really_ good on you."  They did, too.  She
smiled at me, and went to check them out in the mirror.  Her stockings
and my new miniskirt made a great combination.
     I took a breather, until Kathy asked me if I liked velvet.  I
looked up, and she was holding up something black and shimmery.  I
sighed, and got to my feet.

***
00:15 19 Jan

     "Oh, that is _beautiful_," Kathy cooed at me as she had me turn
around.  "_Look_ at this, Deb!"
     Debbie looked up, and whistled at me.  I tried not to blush, but
it worked about as well as buying lucky-number lottery tickets.  And, of
course, they all giggled at me when they saw the red creeping down my
neck.

***
00:18 19 Jan

     Somehow Debbie had ended up with the seamed stockings, so I
whistled back at her.  Of course, she didn't blush.  But she sure did
look nice.  I'd have to get her a pair or six.

***
00:23 19 Jan

     "Well, what about this?"  Pam held up a mini which I would have
called a micro-skirt, or maybe a nano.
     "No.  If someone wants to see my belly button, they can see it from
the top, not the bottom like they would with that thing on."  Pam
choked.

***
00:26 19 Jan

     "Isn't this _enough_?" I begged.  "I've got two trash bags worth of
stuff, and I have no idea what I'm going to do with it!"
     "You need some more shoes to go with this stuff, though," Sabrina
said thoughtfully.  I realized that she wasn't listening to me.
     "You're not listening to me!  It's _enough_ for now!  I'm _tired_!"
I sighed.  "Can't we go back to talking about boys or something that
doesn't involve me changing clothes every thirty seconds?"
     "Yeah, I'm getting a little tired of it myself," Kim agreed.
     Debbie suggested, "Well, how about we get ready for bed, and pull
the pizza out again for a midnight snack?"

***
00:35 19 Jan

     "Well?" Debbie asked.
     "Am I staying over here tonight?" I asked back.  "Otherwise, I am
not gonna wear this."  I shook the nightgown at her.  "I'm serious, I am
_sick_ of changing clothes."
     "Sure!" Sabrina chirped as she scrubbed her face with makeup-off.
"That's what we were gonna do, fold the beds out of the couches and
sleep over."
     Debbie and I both looked at her.  "Does that include me?" I asked
slowly.
     She shrugged.  "Why not?"  She looked up at me, and giggled.  "If
you're not one of the girls now..."
     I wanted to cry.  Which would sort have proved the point.
     On the other hand... six girls, none of 'em dogs or bitches, which
is two separate categories, and all to myself.
     On the gripping hand, I couldn't touch any of 'em.  Except Debbie,
and she had told me to lay off so's not to upset anyone.
     "Whaddafuck," I finally decided.

***
00:41 19 Jan

     I wasn't the only one wearing a night-GOWN, thank God.  Debbie had
brought one, I think to make me feel better, and Sabrina had gotten one
out of her dresser.  The other four were in T shirts, some with shorts
or boxers on too.
     "That is really pretty," said Jill as she bounced down on the couch
bed with the pizza boxes.  "Did you pick it out?"
     "No," I sighed.  "I wanted something like you're wearing," which
was a long T shirt that came down to her knees, "but Debbie said I
should get something like this."  I mimicked the arm-twisting she'd
done.
     "It looks nice," Kim said agreeably.
     "Yeah, I guess it does," I admitted.  The fake boobs, back on again
but this time in a normal bra, filled it out so it looked normal in a
mirror.  It did _not_ look normal when I looked down.

***
00:47 19 Jan

     "...oh, God, when he kissed me, it was like, I melted..."  Kim
looked like she was reliving it right there in bed.

***
00:50 19 Jan

     I know the witching hour is supposed to be midnight, but there was
a point, different every night, when you really got the feeling that
things had _changed_, and that it was truly the time of ghosts and
faeries and so on.  Sometimes you never get there, and sometimes it
happens real early on, but usually it happens after midnight, when
you're too tired to do anything else but too wired to sleep.  That's
when the goblins come out, and the shadows get full, and the night gets
just that bit darker.  Sabrina had put on some music, too, which was
quiet, but really dark and mysterious sounding, and fit the mood
perfectly.
     "So what was it like when Travis kissed you?" Kim asked, hugging a
pillow to her chest.
     Instead of answering right away, I reversed myself so I was laying
on my stomach, facing the inside of the circle.  Due to the breasts, I
had to prop myself up on my elbows.  I looked around, and everyone's
face told me the witching hour had truly arrived.
     "Which time?"  Heh.  Witch time.
     "The one where he kissed you on the lips.  Cheeks don't count."
     "Which time?" I asked again.  The point of no return.
     "You only mentioned once," Sabrina reminded the clueless.
     "There was a second time that I didn't want to talk about before."
I took a deep breath.
     "Whaaaat?" asked Pam softly.  Everyone gathered together so they
could hear me.
     "This doesn't go beyond this room, ever.  Swear it."  They all
swore, and moved closer.

***
00:54 19 Jan

     "Well, he just sort of homed in, and there I was, too scared to
move or anything, and..."  I took another deep breath.  I was taking a
lot of them recently.  It wasn't working any more.
     "And?" someone asked.
     "And then, h-he, k-kissed me."  I couldn't stifle the tears any
more, and they started leaking out.  I put my face down so no one would
see.  "A lot," I choked out.
     "Valerie?" Jill asked, and put a hand on my shoulder.  That broke
all my control.

***
00:58 19 Jan

     "Sorry," was all I could say.  I mean, it doesn't get any lower on
the manhood scale than sitting at a girl's slumber party in a nightgown
crying and talking about a guy that kissed you.  I felt much lower than
pond scum.  Instead of laughing at me, though, they had been real nice,
hugging me and stuff.
     "It's okay, kid," Jill said softly, and hugged me, and kissed me on
the cheek.
     One by one, they kissed me on the cheek, except Kim and Debbie, who
kissed me on the lips.
     "I dunno..." I mumbled, wiping under my eyes again.  I almost felt
slightly barely better.  Maybe.
     "So I guess that was like your first real kiss?  With a guy?" Pam
verified.
     "Yeah," I breathed.  "And I don't think I ever want another one
like that in the rest of my life."
     "I thought like that once," said Debbie, in the same tone of voice
I'd started with.  "But I changed my mind, with someone special."  She
squeezed my hand.
     "You mentioned that, that 'once', but you never explained it."  I
was curious.
     "Val, you haven't heard this before, and I don't think Sabrina and
Kim have either."  Debbie took a deep breath.

***
01:02 19 Jan

     Debbie was curled up in a ball, rocking back and forth on her butt,
and staring into nothing, as she talked about the first time she'd had
sex.  The tears had literally soaked the top of the gown she was
wearing.  I was holding her from one side, and Kim from the other, and
everyone else was right there with her.  Just like they had been with me
a few minutes ago.

***
01:15 19 Jan

     "...and then, I dunno, it just kind of kept going, you know?"  Kim
shrugged, and hugged herself.  We'd gotten into a tight circle, pressed
up against each other, for mutual support.  Kim sniffed, and said, "She,
I, I dunno, it, we just couldn't stop, you know?"

***
01:19 19 Jan

     "Well, we still like you," Sabrina told Kim softly, holding her
hand.
     "No shame," said Debbie.
     Jill added, "Happens to everyone."
     "It wouldn't be normal if you _hadn't_ had something like that,"
Pam stated.
     After a moment, Kathy chimed in with, "Everyone does, one time or
another."  That left me.
     "So," I sighed, "don't let it worry you.  We're still your
friends."
     Kim just closed her eyes, and mumbled, "You are all the greatest,
you know that?"
     "Somebody mentioned that once," Jill replied softly, and nudged my
foot.  We shared a smile.

***
02:31 19 Jan

     "So what would you look for in the perfect boyfriend, Valerie?"
Sabrina asked me, and snickered.  I propped myself up and stuck my
tongue out at her, and she waggled hers, and we would have been having a
lot of fun with each other if our lips had been near each other.
     "Stop that, you're making me horny," Debbie said.  She didn't sound
horny, she sounded zoned.
     Sabrina persisted, "So what would you look for in the perfect
boyfriend?"
     I flopped back down on the bed, and stared at the ceiling like
everyone else was doing.  "Uh," I said, stalling as I thought, "I never
thought about it before..."  I tried to get into the idea, like it was a
roleplaying scenario.
     "Would he be taller than you?" Pam asked sleepily.  I'd thought
she'd passed out already.
     "Yeah..."  Not hard to find.  "Isn't everybody?"  Soft giggles.
     "What color would his hair be?" she asked.
     "What difference does that make?"
     "Just imagine," Debbie said, and squeezed my hand.
     "Um.... I've never dated a redhead, but I think... I like the way
they look, I mean."  There were soft giggles from all over the bed.
     Debbie asked, "Is that a hint?"
     "Don't be silly.  No."
     Sabrina persisted, "What color would his eyes be?"
     "Green."
     Pause.  Sabrina asked, "Would he wear glasses?"
     "I dunno... probably."
     She sat up and looked at me.  "You'd get a nerd, wouldn't you?"
     I shrugged.  "Hey, go with what you know, right?"  I snickered.
"At least we'd have some stuff in common.  We could make," I shifted to
a romantic tone, "beautiful programs together..." and clasped my hands
together in front of the breasts and sighed happily.
     She sighed, and lay back down.  "Val-girl, we gotta introduce you
to some real men."
     "Met one," I said.  "He scared me to death."
     Pause.
     "That's just 'cause you dunno how to handle 'em," mumbled Pam,
sleepier than last comment.

***
02:43 19 Jan

     "You cold, Val?"
     "Yeah," I admitted.  Sabrina sat up and pulled the covers over all
of us.
     "I think everyone else is asleep," she said quietly.
     "Maybe it's a sign?"
     "Yeah."  I could hear her smiling.  "G'night, Valerie, sleep
tight."
     "G'night Sabrina."  I thought about something for a second.
"Thanks for letting me sleep over."
     "No prob," she replied, already going off into dreamland.
     I smiled, and rolled over and pushed myself against Debbie, putting
one hand over her stomach.  After a few seconds, Pam did the same thing
to me.  I was a little startled, but after a few seconds, I wriggled
into a most comfortable position, snuggled firmly between the two of
them, and passed out myself.


***

"Valliest: adj. Most Valley-like.  Superlative of 'Valley'.  See 'Valley
Girl.'"

TS Tip #11: Before you go out, sit around for four hours, and ONLY THEN
examine yourself closely in the mirror.  This is what you will look like
coming home.  Not quite the same, is it?

"Tallyho!"      \   /     @>--,--'--  ehayes@nym.alias.net  + vicki .sig
Ellen Hayes --=(*)=(*)=-- Renaissance Woman    ==[--------  + virus 9.1a
            http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Heights/5734/


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