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Tuck A Number -*- Copyright 2002 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 A Number


***
12:04 20 Aug

     Mike dinged the play bell as a formality, even though play had
pretty much come to an end anyway, with Amanda 'rescued' and Kim's
wounds being effectively treated with my healing powers - one bare
human, even a witch, was apparently going to have problems in the middle
of a bunch of werewolves, I realized - and a fair number of fomori and a
couple Black Spirals dead, which was gonna be a good thing, I could
tell.
     The best Evil is dead Evil.
     "Okay, experience!" Mike said loudly before people could really
start talking.  "Everyone gets two MORE freebie points, and remember
that I AM keeping track of your characters, so tell me what you spent
'em on before we play again.  Amanda and Kim, you get three, one being a
bonus point for excellent roleplaying-  The REASON," Mike yelled over
the protests, "is that I expect that from you guys, but Amanda and Kim
are kinda new at this, without years of practice, and they did as well
as you, so they get rewarded."  Not that I begrudged Kim and Amanda
their awards; I just wanted more for me too.

***
12:06 20 Aug

     "Have you figured out what you want to play yet?" I asked Dan as we
packed up.
     "Yeah," he grinned back, "now I just have to get my prelude done,
I think I'm gonna do that Saturday, with George and Kim helping.  Oooh,
and the FREEBIE points I'm getting!" he cackled.  "I'm gonna be in every
prelude there is!"
     "Yeah, well, don't kill any PLAYER characters, we need-  Hey,
where's Kelly?" I asked, just realizing that he-  *SHE, damnit!* I
thought to myself angrily.  Anyway, SHE wasn't there at lunch.
     "Dunno," Dan said, and started to grin, so I hit him.  "Hey!"
     "I know what you were grinning at and it's not funny," I told him,
looking around.  "She probably doesn't find it any funnier than I do.
Hey Mike, save my stuff, right?  I gotta go find Kelly."
     "Take someone with you," Mike reminded me.
     "Huh?" asked James, who was wearing another Star Trek T shirt
today, though not the same one he'd had Friday, or Monday, or Tuesday...
"Why?"
     "John-Boy," Mike started in his lecturing voice.
     "It's JAMES."
     "Whatever.  Smart geeks don't wander lunch alone, because unlike
between classes, there's plenty of time for a mob to drag you somewhere
secluded and beat you to death.  So, we go in groups."
     "I'll go," Kim said, nodding, as she got up.

***
12:11 20 Aug

     Either, Kim had decided she needed to take a dump so suddenly that
she couldn't come back out of the bathroom to tell me she'd be a while,
or she'd found Kelly in there several minutes ago and couldn't come out.
     I sort of hoped it was the first one, because if it was the second
Kelly was probably really upset and that was Not Good.

***
12:14 20 Aug

     I had just decided to quit looking at my watch every fifteen or so
seconds and just continually stare at it, when the door opened again,
this time thankfully disgorging Kim and a rather upset-looking Kelly.
"Hey, what'sup?" I asked, pushing myself off the wall I'd perched on.
     "Tell h-him," Kim stuttered, and flashed a tiny grin of apology at
me, which I ignored.
     Kelly caught it, though.  "You don't have to make fun of me too!"
she snarled at Kim, and yanked away from her.
     And ran into me, which hurt an immense amount suddenly because
something hit a nipple of mine and white fire exploded through my brain.
*Can't scream!* I realized desperately as I was opening my mouth, and
riposting was out I realized as I was starting to wind up to a riposte,
so I just stood there for a second, paralyzed with pain and indecision.
     "We still have trouble with pronouns and Tuck sometimes," Kim said
to cover my freezeup. "Especially with him in makeup like he was this
morning in Cosmetology class," which was an utter lie but sounded good,
once I stopped trying to protest.  "Ask Jill about it if you don't
believe me," Kim added.
     I finally got my breath back, mostly, and my wits back, mostly, and
added, "Ah, besides, _I_ got hit on by a couple of freshmen BOYS this
morning at my locker, so it's not-"
     "No way!" Kim gasped.
     "No shit," I said.  "They were asking me if I was in their
pre-algebra class," I snickered.
     "They did?" Kelly asked, looking very surprised.  Kim was looking
around with an astounded expression like she wanted to argue with
someone about what I'd said.
     "You're not the only one that thought I was a girl, I guess," I
said quietly.  "So, if someone gets the pronouns confused, it's not a
twisted little joke at you."  Kelly still looked kind of stunned, so I
asked, "What happened to get you upset?"
     She got all upset again.  "That fucking bitch, the blonde one from
the computers and stuff the first day, the one that assigned us
together?" Kelly snarled, sounding a lot like hi- her Black Spiral.
"She's in my Computer Applications class, and when I came in today she
said, 'Oh look it's Chris!  Chris, where's Pat?' and everyone started
laughing at me!" Kelly sniffed, and angry tears started leaking again.
"The whole class was laughing at me!"
     I looked at Kim and said, "Uh-"
     "Don't you ever watch television?" Kim asked me accusingly.
     "Not if I can help it," I said back, "it rots the brain, keeps me
off the computer, and Mike usually has something more interesting to do
anyway.  Wanna tell me anyway?"
     Kim shook her head accusingly, thinking 'What an IDIOT!' which I
could almost see appearing over her head in a thought balloon.

***
12:16 20 Aug

     When Kim finished, us having moved away from the bathrooms as she
did, I thought about it, and finally said, "Ya know, I don't think
that's a bit funny.  But I bet Mike has something that would be funny,
if we gave it to da bitch.  Come on," I said, and headed back to the
gaming pit.  Kim started chuckling and came with, and Kelly eventually
followed us both, still looking upset.
     Kelly protested, "I don't want to GIVE her something-"
     "Oh," I replied to Kelly, "you'll WANT to give her this.  And it
sounds like she deserves it."  And bared my fangs at her before I
remembered I didn't actually have fangs, being a player and all instead
of a character.  *Gonna have to watch that,* I noted.

***
12:18 20 Aug

     "Ooooh," Mike said.  "Now, that's not funny."
     "I know," I said, "and we were hoping YOU could come up with
something funny, for her."  Mike nodded, plotting already, I could tell.
"Which bimbo was she, Kelly?" I asked.
     "The blonde one, the-"
     "They were both blonde-"
     "I KNOW that!" Kelly snapped at me.  "The one on the, uh, the left
side, if you looked at them from our side of the tables."
     I'd no idea which one was where, now.  "Uh, Shannon's got dark
roots-"
     As Kelly shook her head that no, Shannon wasn't the one, Kim asked,
"The one with Shannon Friday, giving out schedules and stuff?
Ashlee'e'e'e'e," she stretched the name out, so now I had a clue as to
her first name and a guess to her personality, too.  "Benford.  That
whore said THAT to you?"
     I waved my hand at Kim to shut her up and said, "No doubt.  Kelly,
where does she sit in the class?  Exactly?"
     "Now Tuck, what ARE you thinking?" Mike grinned before Kelly could
answer.
     "Heh heh heh," I chuckled, rubbing my hands.  "Kell-  No, Mike?
Can you take Kelly home tonight or something?"
     "Hey, Kel, wanna help with another prelude?" Mike asked Kelly.
     "Why?!" Kelly asked, looking extraordinarily confused.
     "'Cause we have something evil in mind for the bitch," Mike said,
"and while Tuck has to go to work before we get out, he can call us,
right?  The new phone's working, isn't it?" Mike asked me, and I nodded.
"So," Mike said to Kelly, "some things are best not mentioned in public
places, and so we'll do it over the phone this afternoon, and then do
the prelude the rest of the time."
     Kelly said, "No, I mean..."
     "What?"
     "She was just making fun of me," Kelly said apologetically, "I
mean, it's not-"
     "That sort of thing leads in a couple of days to 'just making fun
of you' by stuffing you into a trash can or something," I said from
experience, "which eventually leads to them 'just making fun of you' by
stealing your stuff and setting it on fire.  Whereas, if we do something
NOW, we might remind her that it's not a smart move to fuck with us.
She should know better by now, but maybe she forgot over the summer."
     James came up at that point and said to Kelly, "Hey, where were you
today?  You were awesome yesterday in the game, I bet you could've-"
     "Shut up a minute, James, and go talk to George about the GURPS
Star Trek crossover game he's going to set up."  James' eyes lit up and
he trotted off eagerly.  "That boy's starting to get on my nerves," Mike
sighed. "I'd say he has a one track mind, but that's a little broad."
     "Back to Kelly?" I suggested.
     "Yeah," Mike nodded, and turned back to us.  "Anyway, most of the
cheerleaders are bitches anyway, most of the bitchy ones hate us, and
they should be reminded that no matter how unsocially-correct we are, it
is a bad idea to fuck with us.  Besides, you'll be watching Tuck's back
in case someone tries to kick his ass, right?" he asked Kelly.
     "Well," Kelly looked at me for a moment, so I nodded, "yeah?  I
mean, yeah?"
     "So," I said, "so we do the same to you, I mean for you."
     "Besides," Mike said, "you're going to help, and be the trigger
man, I mean trigger babe," he grinned, "though Tuck and Dan are going to
do almost all the actual work."
     "Depends on what we come up with," I said.
     "I," Mike said, "have an idea."  And I think all of us bared our
fangs at that point.

***
12:20 20 Aug

     The bells rang, which sort of flushed us like a bunch of quail.
"Stick with Mike after school, okay?" I told Kelly, and waited for her
to nod before I took off.

***
13:12 20 Aug

     I wasn't sure what they actually said, but the, "-is or Pat?"
followed by laughter gave me a clue it was about me.
     I REALLY wished I was going to High-Energy Physics class.

***
14:27 20 Aug

     "Hey," Rachel said as I came in the door, and she waved at me.
     "Hey yourself," I smiled.  "How are you?"
     "I'm okay," she said as her head bobbed in self-agreement.  "How
are you doing?"
     "Oh, okay, I guess... Susan left for college this morning, and so
it's just me and the little brother monster in the house, plus the
parents of course."
     "Oh, that's cool... no, it's not cool?" she asked after looking
closer at me.

***
14:33 20 Aug

     "So, when do you want me to take you to dinner?" I asked her as I
pulled a light dress over my head.  I REALLY needed to do laundry.
     "Oh, well... I was kind of hoping, the next time you have a Sunday
dinner, you could-"
     I interrupted, "Yeah, next Sunday, but you're already invited, if
you want to come, and that doesn't count anyway."  When I was decent, I
looked out of the closet.  "Someplace nice, right?" I suggested, then
chuckled, and added, "And I promise to leave Travis home that night so
you won't get sick watching us moon over each other."  She giggled at
that.  "So... think of places.  Are you doing anything this Friday
night after seven-thirty or eight?"

***
14:35 20 Aug

     "Um, Tuck?" Rachel asked.
     "Yeah?"
     "Would you mind going out as Val?"
     "No, why?"
     "Just in case we meet some interesting looking guy who thinks I'm
interesting?  So it won't look like I'm already with someone on a date,
'cause that would keep away the guys I'd like and the ones that would
hit on me anyway I KNOW I don't want to talk to," she explained.
     I had to work a while to get it, but I did, finally.  "Okay, sure,"
I chuckled.  "Maybe I SHOULD bring Travis, so as to give anyone- oh, and
you should look sad all evening, so anyone who looks in our direction
gets the idea that you'd like to be doing the same thing with someone?"
She laughed, eventually.

***
15:19 20 Aug

     "I didn't think you were ever gonna get here!" Ricky complained as
he fell into the seat, backpack in front of him, and started fiddling
with seat belt and door.  "Can we go?"
     "Ricky, why do you have grass in your hair?" I asked, being pretty
sure of the reason.
     "I dunno," he said, not looking at me.  "I tripped."
     "Uh huh," I said, flat.

***
15:43 20 Aug

     Ricky hadn't talked, and so I'd given up trying to get it out of
him for the moment, especially since traffic was bizarrely thick this
afternoon and I didn't want to kill all of us because I was doing
something besides driving.  And, of course, when we got home, he bailed
out of my car the instant I stopped the engine.
     I'd find out eventually, though.

***
16:07 20 Aug

     "YOU can go swim," I told him.  "I've got to, uh..." which was when
I remembered the Caller ID and the other stuff I'd gotten Monday night.
     "Do what?"
     "Uh, I have to call someone and discuss something, for school," I
said.  "But like I said, YOU can go swimming, and I'll watch you from
the window."
     "It's really boring without anyone else," he groused.
     "Maybe tomorrow Gary and David could come over," I said, which was
a mistake because he started whooping around, and anything he was that
excited about was a mistake on my part.

***
16:11 20 Aug

     Apparently my mistake had heartened him enough to go swimming by
himself, and so I was juggling Stella and a phone, wishing I'd grabbed
the other Zaptronics or whatever it was in the phone box.
     "Hey Tuck!" Mike said when he answered it.  "You decided to kidnap
the babies and keep them in your room, I see."
     "Yeah, I'm building a terrarium for them," I lied.  "'Sup?"
     "Kelly and Dan and George are here, Kim's coming, and since we-
are you secure?"
     "Haven't checked the line, but the phone's a commercial one and
okay," I'd checked, "and there's no one in the house but Stella, and I
can see Ricky outside," I said.
     "Okay, going to multimode, hold on."  I held the phone away from my
ear as Mike switched to the box of earphones, which always made the
phone scream.  I had to fix that, one of these days...
     Once it was done squalling with feedback, I put it back.  "Check?"
     Everybody answered, Kelly sounding sort of weirded, and then Mike
said, "Okay, what I had in mind was..."

***
16:13 20 Aug

     Eventually I felt strong enough to pick the phone up again, but
someone was still laughing, so I put it back down on the floor next to
me and Stella.  "Oh, God," I said weakly to her, wiping tears off my
face, "that's just AWFUL!"  I forced myself to get up and make sure
Ricky hadn't drowned, which either he hadn't or the corpse had been
possessed very quickly indeed because he was still jumping off the
diving board like an epileptic.

***
16:17 20 Aug

     "No sweat," I said.  "I've got the perfect payload program in mind,
all you have to do, Kelly, is put a disk in and run one program, and
it'll zip over to wherever she's logged in and do her evil.  Dan?"
     "Yeah, uh, it might take a while," Dan said.
     "You know," I said back, "if you wouldn't spend so much time
looking so CLOSELY at the pictures-"
     "Shut up!" Dan snarled, still a bit sensitive on the topic
apparently, so I let it go.

***
16:29 20 Aug

     Stella started to whine, which sounded to me like a combination of
'change me' and 'feed me', so I said, "Hey guys, I gotta go, the baby's
calling."
     They all said various friendly leavetaking things, hurriedly, and
hung up before Stella really went off.  Which I couldn't blame them for.
And I had to get started on dinner too.

***
17:48 20 Aug

     "Yeah," I told Miz Parker, "meatloaf's in the oven, and I think
I've got the vegetables okay, the rest of the snow peas and a salad and
that squash you had, I cut it up into sort of a stew.  And we're out of
dinner bread, like rolls or something?"
     "Rolls?" she asked back.
     "Yeah, we need more grains for the meal, to balance it out," I
said.  "Like the garlic bread we had, or something."
     "That was GOOD," Ricky mentioned.
     "I could go to the store," Miz Parker said absently, like she was
still considering doing it rather than having decided already that it
was a Good Thing.
     "It would make it a little better," I encouraged, and she nodded.

***
18:49 20 Aug

     Seconds after I sighed and slammed the calculus book shut, the
timer went off telling me that the meatloaf was ready and it was about
time to pull everything else and start thinking about serving it and
eating it.
     Eating it was always a lot less interesting after you'd been
cooking it for a couple hours, though.

***
20:18 20 Aug

     "They liked your meatloaf," I told Mom.
     She grinned and nodded like this was to be expected, then asked,
"Did they complain about the wheat germ in it?  Or did you skip that?"
     "As if I'd tell them I put that eco-freak vegan stuff in their all-
American food!  Duh!" I grinned, and we laughed.  "What they don't know
is good for 'em, won't make 'em complain."  The doorbell rang, so I
offered to get it.
     "Hey!" I said as I opened the door to find a solitary Sabrina on
the porch.  "'Sup?"
     "Hey, uh, you busy?"
     "Nope.  Whatsup?"
     "I was sort of thinking of something," she said as she shuffled her
feet a little.
     "Oh?  Uh, like what?" I asked cautiously, turning my head so I
could glance around for unfriendly ears.
     "This math thing is really kicking my ass," she sighed.
     That did not sound like it required my room, I decided, as I waved
her into the house and the hallway.

***
20:22 20 Aug

     "Jeez..."  I thought about it.  "I don't really have the time to
tutor you every day, and if we did it on the weekend that would be like
forever, and I still have chores to do and stuff."  Sabrina sighed
deeply at that, like she was screwed and she knew it.  "What's the
sudden deal?"
     "I need to get better in math," she told me.
     "Yeah," that sort of went without saying, "but why now, I mean it
seems like all of a sudden, kind of, since last year."  _I_ wouldn't
have let her take Algebra this year, myself.
     "Well, I mean, I.... don't laugh, okay?" she said quietly.
     "Uh, would you like to tell me up in my room with the door shut?" I
asked back, just as quietly, as I thumbed towards the stairs.
     She shook her head.  "It's not like that, it's just, I mean... I
found out about this thing," she said as she got happier, "Civil Air
Patrol?"
     "The-  Oh, yeah, that."  Paramilitary Boy Sprouts, though they
dressed better.  "So?"

***
20:24 20 Aug

     "And you need to have the trig before you go to the camp, for wind
vectors and stuff," I nodded.
     "Wind what?"
     It would be easier if I could give her a brain transplant, but then
she'd probably lose all that fashion information, which might come in
handy later.
     I said, "Uh, you'll learn."  #DING!#  "Hey, I got it, c'mere," I
said, and waved her towards Dad's office as I walked past her.  "Hey
Dad, I have a favor to ask you," I said, then waved at him and waited
for him to take off his headphones and repeated my statement.
     "What do you want, spawn of evil?" he asked.
     "Spawn of who?  Spawn of WHO?!?" I shot back, pointing at him who
had spawned me.
     Dad licked his finger and marked the virtual scoreboard with one
for me, as Sabrina giggled a bit.
     "Sabrina here, she needs to jump a year or two in her understanding
of math, by next summer," I summarized.
     Dad's eyes narrowed.  "And you want me to tutor her.  What's in it
for me?"
     "Hey, I'm just the broker," I said, and got out of the way so Dad
could interrogate Sabrina.

***
20:27 20 Aug

     "You think, I mean," Sabrina asked me, sounding unsure.
     "Hey Brian!" I called, and he looked up.  "Is Dad any good at
teaching math?"
     Brian thought for a second, then said, "If he was as good at
teaching socialization, as he is at teaching math, you'd be in Hollywood
right now."  Mom started chuckling.
     I thought about that until I had it, and chuckled a bit myself, and
then looked at Sabrina so I could say, 'See?' but then saw that she
didn't see.  "Try again," I told Brian.
     Brian sighed, and said, "Dad got my sister up to college level math
during high school despite the fact that she desperately wanted to be a
brainless bimbo at the time."
     "Brian," Mom said.
     Brian threw up his hands at her and accused, "That's what you
said yourself back-"
     "Brian!" Mom said sharply, which meant 'Shut up immediately'.  "Um,
Pam-"
     "This is Sabrina, Mom," I said hurriedly.
     "Hi Sabrinaaaaaaa!" Brian called as he waved frantically.
     "Ignore him," I advised, "he's been licking too many electrical-"
     "Eugene," Mom said to shut me up too.  "Sabrina," Mom said in an
entirely different tone of voice, "Bill was about two courses away from
a math degree at MIT, except they wouldn't give him another bachelor's
degree while he was also in the graduate program.  He's VERY good, and
he's also very good at explaining it.  He got ME through college
calculus when I had to retake it a few years ago."
     "Besides," Dad said from behind us, the discussion apparently
having dissolved the glue that held him into his chair, "it's usually
not the math part that's hard, it's the bad emotional associations you
have with math that hold you back.  Right, Sarah?"  Mom nodded
emphatically at that.  "What subjects do you do well in?" he asked
Sabrina.
     "Uh, well, English, and French, a-"
     "If you can get a 'B' in second year French," Dad said, "especially
while living in America, you can handle calculus.  It's a lot less
bizarre."
     "I got an 'A'?" Sabrina admitted.
     "No sweat!" Mom and Dad both assured her.
     "French isn't that hard, though," Sabrina argued against herself.
     "French is a language specifically designed by people who hate the
rest of humanity," Dad said, "and-"
     "Bill!" Mom warned.

***
20:33 20 Aug

     "I can't believe I'm doing this," Sabrina sighed as she began
folding clothes.  Our clothes.
     I patted her sympathetically on the shoulder, but grinned wildly at
Brian who was grinning wildly back at me.  I had to stop and look
sympathetic, though, when Sabrina looked at me sharply, but then she
wasn't looking at Mom, who threw her fists up in the air and danced on
the couch for a moment.
     Nobody really liked folding clothes, and now we had someone else to
do it for us.

***
21:08 20 Aug

     "Oh, Eugene, Brian," Mom said.  "I made dental appointments for you
on the twenty-eighth, in the morning.  I sent you email about it, but I
thought I'd tell you in person."
     We both sighed sadly, but it was tons better than having to give up
a day of summer vacation.  Or even half a day.

***
22:06 20 Aug

     "Yeah, I mean, it sorta makes sense," Sabrina admitted unwillingly.
"Why didn't you explain it like that?" she accused me.
     "If Dad was as good at teaching social skills," I started, but then
she was already chuckling so I didn't bother finishing.  "See ya
tomorrow, right?"  She nodded, and then we hugged, and then she left.

***
22:26 20 Aug

     I felt really alone without anyone in my bed, which was sort of
strange since I'd only been inflicted with them this summer.
     And I knew that the nightmares were waiting.
     On the other hand, I still hadn't picked out a laptop, and I had
some programming to do for Kelly too.

***
22:31 20 Aug

     And, amongst other email from Amy and some sweet ones from Travis,
I also had one from Mom mentioning a whole lot more medical appointments
than she'd mentioned earlier.  It looked like I'd lose three half-days
or so in September, and that wasn't even counting whatever respiratory
stuff I'd pick up from the population.  Great.

***
22:39 20 Aug

     As I was putting away the laundry Sabrina had folded into my own
drawers, I noticed something that I'd damn well better not have put in
there...
     But it wasn't me, because when I pulled the nightgown out of the
drawer, a note fell out, and that was from Amy to me.
     "I know you'll find this a LONG time after I'm gone," she'd
written, "but I left it for you anyway just sort of as a reminder.  I
love you."
     "Oh Amy, you dork," I sighed, and hugged the nightgown - it smelled
like her, still, just faintly - and went to go write her another email
to tell her I'd found it.

***
02:10 21 Aug

     "Oh, shit," I said when I checked the time, and then I yawned
REALLY hard.

***
05:47 21 Aug

     "Did you really think I'd be grateful?" Debbie asked rhetorically
as I backed away, too late.  And as usual, the other kids were gathering
around going 'Fight! Fight!'  "You little faggot, I had something going
with him, and you had to go and fuck it up.  What did you think you were
going to do, 'save' me?" she sneered as she fingered the stiletto that
was already dripping.
     I protested desperately, "But, wait, I thought-"
     "Have fun sucking cocks in hell," she said, and slashed my throat
and I screamed into my darkened bedroom as I slammed into the top bunk
from underneath.

***
05:49 21 Aug

     The knocking on my door was unwelcome but hardly unexpected.
     I rolled over, which hurt my head a lot, and I eventually managed
to stand up, staggering a couple of times before I got the trick again.
It would have been easier if I could have let go of my belly, but I was
still afraid my intestines would fall out if I did.

***
06:55 21 Aug

     "You look like shit," Jill said as we met up outside.
     "Oooh, thanks," I grimaced.  "I was up all last night composing
love sonnets to you, but if you're gonna be like that about it-"
     "No you weren't," Jill stated.  "What happened?"
     I sighed.  "I had some nightmares last night.  Do I really have to
talk to Debbie today?"
     "I think you ought to, yeah," she told me.
     "What happened?" Kim asked.

***
06:58 21 Aug

     "She wouldn't do that, Tuck," Kim sighed.
     "She did it last night-"
     "That was a DREAM," Jill emphasized.
     "And thus, shows what I am truly afraid of," I shot back.  "And how
do I know how she's going to react?"
     "You idiot," Jill said, "the friends SHE will have around you, are
gonna be US, and we like you too.  Remember?"
     "Yeah, I guess," I sighed, giving up on trying to explain this.

***
08:02 21 Aug

     "Today at lunch, right?" Mike insisted.
     "Oh, damnit," I sighed.
     "How much did you sleep last night?"
     "Oh... three hours?" I guessed.
     Mike looked at me for a moment.
     "Debbie?" he asked.
     "Of course."
     Mike just shook his head.  "Yeah, it's time to talk to her."

***
10:42 21 Aug

     "Faggot," some senior said as he shoved me sideways into a locker
so I'd stop obstructing his imperial advance.
     "You know," I sighed to myself, "if you'd just do that hard enough,
I'd get to go to the hospital today and avoid this."
     He stopped and turned around, a very confused look on his face.
     *Oh, shit, did I say that out loud?*
     "What?"
     "Never mind," I sighed, then smiled and said, "Have a nice day!"
     "Faggot!" he said as he turned around and walked off.
     *Turing Test saaaaaays... FLUNK!*  But I made sure to keep my
mouth shut this time.

***
11:30 21 Aug

     "It is not going to be that bad!" Sabrina insisted as we got up.
     I sighed, and just tried not to think of Debbie slicing my throat
as she smiled at me.
     It wasn't working.

***
11:32 21 Aug

     I had to start gulping air when my body slammed into overdrive,
which it did when I got close enough to smell her.
     "Raus," Mike said, in a not-unfriendly tone, and pushed me around
the corner.
     And there she was, in the middle of a whole bunch of her friends.
     The only consolation was, Debbie looked far more upset, and far
LESS angry or irritated or smug, than she had in my nightmares.
     That, and Mike at my left flank, of course.
     "What's YOUR problem?" Kathy asked me as she looked down at me.
     "Nah, nothing," I lied.  I was terrified, but I wasn't sure if that
was a problem or a completely useful pre-battle warmup.  I always moved
faster when I was terrified.
     And then Debbie looked up at me, and her face was not the face of
nightmare.  Somehow, it hurt more because of it.
     My heart went 'tweedle-eedle-eedle' at this point, which was an
entirely new and completely unwelcome sensation.
     "Tuck," she said, far more calmly than I could have said anything,
if I could have said anything.  "Did, did you get my voicemail?"
     I nodded.
     Mike nudged me from behind.
     "Urr," I croaked, then cleared my throat and remembered what I was
supposed to say.  "Uh, yeah, I did.  Uh, no big deal, and you don't owe
me any favors okay?" I said rapidly.  "So..."  I ran out of things to
say, and tried to leave but Mike was pushing me back before I started.
     "Why," Debbie asked, "why did you..."
     My throat closed up then, so I couldn't have said anything at all
even if I had an answer to give her, which I didn't.

***
11:35 21 Aug

     "Well, that was a sterling example of your usual style and grace,"
Mike commented.
     "Mike, shut the fuck up, would you?" I gasped out.
     "What the hell happened to you?" Matt asked with wide eyes, staring
down at me as I lay on the floor and tried to recuperate, after I'd
fled the area.
     "Have you ever heard the song," Mike explained, "'Breaking Up Is
Hard To Do'?"
     "Yeah?" Matt said, now looking immensely stupid from this angle as
he turned to look at Mike.
     "It really is, some girls," Mike said.  "You should always plan
ahead to what happens if you break up."
     "And what happens if you and I break up?" Kim asked archly.
     "Then," Mike smiled, "I get the B-83 thermonuclear bomb Tucker's
been hiding up in his room all these years, and wipe out my disgrace in
a truly epic fireball."
     "Oh," Kim said in a completely unconvinced voice, "that's so
sweet."
     "Only the best for you, darling," Mike said with the same level of
sincerity.
     "Did she kill Tuck?" George whined from somewhere out of sight.
     "Not quite," Mike said as he turned around.
     "Good, let's play," George demanded.
     Good old George; no matter what terrible trauma had just happened
to you, you could almost always count on him being a maximal asshole
about it.

***
11:38 21 Aug

     Mike dinged the play bell.  "Ooookay.  Since Tucker is now able to
sit upright again-"
     "Fuck you Mike!"
     "Don't interrupt the Storyteller," Mike said calmly.  "We now turn
back to those thrilling days of yesteryear, when Kim was juuuuuuust
graduating from the FBI training course..."

***
12:05 21 Aug

     "HOW tall?" Kim gasped.
     "Mmmm," Mike said, "about twice as tall as you, you guess.  Roll
yer Wits, dear, target six."
     Kim rolled a few dice, and did not do well.  Too bad she wasn't
rolling for the other side on this one.  "Heh heh heh heh," Kelly
snuffled.
     "Oooh, a little too stunned to act there," Mike grinned.  "Jack?"
     "It's JAMES," James insisted.
     "Pipe down, lad," Dan said.
     "Heh-hehheh-heh-heheheheheh, you said 'pipe'," George chortled.
     "Delay of GAME!" I insisted.
     "Yeah, shut up," Mike added.  "James, roll a single."  He got a
nine, and looked unbearably pleased about it, and slightly more so when
Mike ordered, "Now roll YOUR Wits versus six."
     He rolled, and got two successes.  "Can I shoot the monster?"
     "Sure," Mike said, sounding gracious.  "Kelly?"
     "Reach out and grab the monkey with a gun, his arm," Kelly sneered.
     "The arm with the gun?" Mike asked, "Or the other arm?"
     "The one with the gun!" Kelly said scornfully.  "Duh!"
     "Tuck," Mike said, "roll a single tenner, high is good."  I rolled,
and this was just not going to be my day.  Luckily I wasn't playing 'my'
character yet, just an NPC who looked like she was going to be hamburger
in ten seconds or so.  "Spazz," Mike said, so I did my best.

***
12:06 21 Aug

     It looked as though ten seconds had been wildly optimistic, since
the screaming had apparently upset Amanda's whatever-the-hell-it-was and
she/it was now busily engaged in pulling pieces off me to shut me up,
and so I was keeping up a constant low-level wailing and shrieking for
background ambiance-
     "What the HELL is going on here?!" bellowed fiercely, got our
attention, though.

***
12:11 21 Aug

     "Oh no," Dobson said as we started crowding into his office.
     "I can explain this," I said.
     "Oh no," he groaned.

***
12:13 21 Aug

     After totally mangling some well-edited facts, some hysterical
assumptions, and a general prejudice against things he didn't
understand, into a bizarre mess that made it sound like we'd been
sitting there sacrificing babies to pagan gods (worse than Satan by a
long shot) while gambling and probably drinking and/or doing drugs (and
he probably thought dancing was in there somewhere too), the football
coach stood back and crossed his arms.
     "Can I say something?" I asked.
     Dobson glared at me.  "Go ahead," came out of him like he knew he
was going to regret allowing it.  He was, but I still couldn't figure
out why he kept bothering with demanding explanations when we always had
at least one.
     I explained, "It's a game of pretend, except with more rules, to
keep us from arguing; or, it's improv acting for our own amusement,
except we do a lot more of it sitting down.  The dice are there to
generate random numbers for acts that are uncertain in nature," I said.
"The only thing we're betting, is that this is more fun than sitting
around talking about boy bands."
     The gamers snorted; the coach got upset; and Dobson immediately
raised his hand for silence.  I thought I saw his lip quiver a bit,
though, before he asked, "Eugene, do you SWEAR to me, that there's no
gambling involved?"
     I thought about it, and nodded.  "I do swear that there is no
gambling involved, especially for money."
     "Why were you screaming?" he asked.
     "Uh, well," I explained, "my character, I mean it wasn't MY
character it was sort of a supporting background character I was
playing, she was being ripped in half by this enraged werewolf, one of
the evil ones I mean, and it sorta seemed the thing to do, you know?  I
mean, what else-"

***
12:15 21 Aug

     "I believe I can handle it from here," Dobson told the coach,
again, and finally the coach got the hint and left us there.
     Pause.
     I was thinking, *We'd damned well better NOT get detention over
this,* when Dobson sighed, and said, "Eugene... do, were you planning to
do this tomorrow?"
     "Uh, yeah?" I admitted, surprised at the question.
     "Where?"

***
12:16 21 Aug

     "You're gonna WHAT?" popped out ot my mouth before I could safety
it with my hand.
     "Watch," Dobson repeated.  "And see what this is all about."
     "Uh," I said.  Well, I tried to, but I was still holding my own
mouth shut so not much came out.
     "But," Mike said, raising his hand, "if you want to watch, that's
okay but you have to understand something..."  He sort of trailed off a
moment as Dobson glared at him, then made his morale check and went on,
"A, it's just a game, but B, we like to really get into it, so if we
start screaming stuff at each other or something, it's not really
serious no matter how serious it sounds, okay?  I don't let them get so
out of control that they start pounding on each other or anything like
that, and one of the reasons I have some of them playing the bad guys,
is so that I can stay neutral and just judge things.  And keep it from
getting out of control."
     "Yeah, I mean, just because Amanda was ripping me apart," I added,
"doesn't mean it was like, y'know, SER-"
     Dobson glared at me and I shut up.
     Dobson then took a breath and we all shut up.
     Then he let it out again.
     "Get out of my office and I'll see you there tomorrow," he said.

***
12:18 21 Aug

     "Did that just happen?" Amanda asked the rest of us, sounding at
least as baffled as I felt.
     "Roll your Perception plus Enigmas to tell for sure," Mike quipped.

***
15:07 21 Aug

     "Why are you all dressed up?" Ricky asked me as he climbed into the
car.
     "Uh, I'm running out of clean clothes," I sighed.
     "Why don't you do some laundry?"
     "Ricky!"
     "What?" he whined back defensively.
     I took a breath and let it out.  "I know this," I said calmly, "but
it's hard going to school and everything, and it's really hard to find
enough time to do everything in my life, and I got three hours sleep
last night and I am really tired."  I paused.  "Plus I have a date
tonight with Travis, so I want to look nice.  What would you like for
dinner?" I asked him.
     "What?"

***
15:26 21 Aug

     I hoped that the alternate route I'd used today would work in the
future, because I was starting to feel like every minute was precious,
because it sure seemed like I'd run out of them generally.
     Ricky did not hang around to discuss driving strategy and optimum
navigation, of course; not that I would have, if I hadn't changed
clothes already myself.  There was something about getting out of the
clothes themselves, or something, that was like washing away the taunts
and insults and nastiness.  Or maybe it was just the sweat thing.
     Or, maybe it was that Ricky was allergic to really ugly plaid.

***
17:50 21 Aug

     "It would really be helpful if I could skip dinner with you all
tonight," I said, hopefully sounding apologetic.  "Be-"
     "Wh-  No, go ahead," Miz Parker suggested.
     "Well, I was hoping to have a date with Travis, and the last one my
sister had to meet him and then I still have to get home by ten thirty
so we didn't go see a movie like we planned, we sorta ran out of time,
and, y'know, if I can get a head start on it like by half an hour or
something, that would really be a BIG help."
     "Well, Valerie, you should have said something," she said, like I'd
made the mistake.  "You don't have to cook EVERY night, I mean, I CAN
cook if I nee- if you need to go somewhere," she changed.
     "Well, I mean, but you said you don't l-"  I wasn't supposed to say
that, I remembered.  "Well, you know, like you said," I said.  "And it's
not that big a deal if I cook and then leave."
     "Valerieeee," she protested gently.

***
18:02 21 Aug

     I explained to Miz Parker, "I don't even know if he-"
     "Hello?" Travis said.
     "Hey!  It's me Val," I said, smiling stupidly at the phone.  "Um,
Miz Parker said I could leave early tonight, so if you wanted to come by
and start the evening a little sooner, that would be okay?"  I sure
hoped it was.

***
18:38 21 Aug

     "So just make sure you keep stirring-"  The doorbell rang, and my
heart gave a little happy leap.  "Um, stirring this, don't let it
stagnate for more than a few minutes, and the rest of it will fall into
place."
     "You sure?" she asked, sounding skeptical.
     "I'm SURE!" I assured her.  "My brother could do-  My DAD could do
this from here.  Just don't add anything, and you'll be fine."
     "Add?  Like what?" she asked.
     "ANYthing," I emphasized.  "Or it'll blow up and you'll have sauce
all over the remains of your exploded kitchen and Ricky'll want you to
make it blow up again so he can do it at school."
     As she laughed, I heard Travis laughing too, and whipped around
because I knew _I_ hadn't let him in-
     "I can let HIM in, right Mom?" Ricky said from way below Travis.

***
18:43 21 Aug

     "How was your day?" Travis asked me after we got done kissing each
other hello, next to the cars.
     "Oh God," I said.  "How was yours?"
     "I don't think mine was that bad," he grinned.  "Do you want to
talk about yours?"
     "No."  I was quite sure.
     Pause.
     "Which movie were we going to go see?" he asked, changing the
subject.
     "Which one did you want?" I asked because I couldn't remember.

***
19:02 21 Aug

     I sure hoped Air Force One was going to be good.

***
21:20 21 Aug

     "Good movie?" Travis asked.
     I was sure that one, this movie had no relation at all to reality,
and two, it was pretty good entertainment anyway, and three, doing
anything affectionate in the theater other than holding hands and minor
snuggling was a waste of money, since we could have gone to Travis'
place and had a lot more room and a lot fewer onlookers.  Luckily, he
seemed to have been as interested in the movie as I was.
     "Yeah, good movie," I smiled at him.
     "Where to?" he asked.
     "Um..."  I checked my watch.  "How about we go back to the cars,
since we really don't have time for much before we-  Wait, did you eat
already?"
     "Yeah," he said, seeming mildly embarrassed for some reason.  "Um,
but, I could eat something again, if you wanted to get something."
     "Ummmm..."

***
21:29 21 Aug

     Taco Bell seemed like a reasonable alternative to the usual
Wendy's, and eating inside was nicer than either sitting in his truck
and eating, or trying to dash to his house to inhale some food before
dashing off to change so I could dash home.  Plus it was starting to
look like rain, too.
     I was glad I had inadvertently dressed nice, though, because some
girls came up to Travis and started chatting him up a bit - I guess they
knew him from school - and glancing at me a lot.  It wasn't like they
were ignoring me especially, and Travis did introduce all of us to all
of us, but they were talking to him about their school stuff and of
course I had no idea who the teachers were or what the classes there
were like or athletics practice or anything, so mostly I ate slowly and
wondered what they were thinking.
     Except when Travis took a bite out of a burrito which was not
completely successful, and so I reached over with a napkin and wiped the
dribble of sour cream off his cheek, and Travis and I grinned at each
other and he said, "I guess I'm just a big ol' Ricky to you, huh?"
     "Not quite," I said, still smiling, and tickled his leg with my
foot.  "You're much better at opening jars, for one thing."

***
21:48 21 Aug

     "So what was all that about?" I asked when the girls had finally
left.
     "What was all what?"
     "Those girls," I said.  "They sure seemed interested in you, or
maybe I should say you and me?  Whassup with that?"
     "Ahhh," he said, leaning back and looking at the ceiling, which
didn't look like a false ceiling so I don't know why he was thinking of
escaping that way.  "I dunno... I told you I was kind of shy with girls,
right?"
     "Yes, you did TELL me that," I emphasized, "and I still don't
believe it."
     "No, I'm serious!" he insisted, emphatically enough that I decided
I'd pretend to believe him.
     "Okay, okay, so..."
     "So," Travis said, looking back down at me again, "so they're not
really used to seeing me out and stuff."
     "Like on a date?"
     "Yeah," he admitted, looking down towards his shoes now.  Or maybe
his empty tray.
     "Oh."  I thought about it a bit.  "Did I do okay, talking to them
and stuff?"
     He looked at me, and got that Look on his face.  "Yeah..."

***
22:07 21 Aug

     We stopped kissing for a bit, which allowed me to stuff my face
against his chest, which was nice too.
     "You never want to go home, do you?" he asked.
     "No," I admitted.
     "What?"  I pulled my face off his chest and repeated it so he could
hear it, and he nodded, and held me a little tighter.

***
23:22 21 Aug

     I was still humming a bit from my date - even the nasty rain on the
way home hadn't 'dampened' my spirits, haha - when I settled in to check
my email and voicemail and do some more programming work.  The scraps of
calculus I had left would wait until study hall tomorrow morning, but I
still didn't have a laptop and so I couldn't easily program at school.
     Theoretically, in one sense, I could have done the programming in
the computer lab during lunch, but I had a game to play, and then there
was the fact that if any of the teachers saw me in the lab doing
programming, I'd probably end up getting pre-emptive detention.

***
23:39 21 Aug

     This was probably the first time in history that I'd admitted to
Susan that I missed her, but her own email to me was nice, and she even
said she hoped that I'd have another date with Travis soon.  That made
me feel kind of weird - my own sister, encouraging me to date a guy -
but it was weirdly nice to have her acting more like the Pack and less
like Angelica from Rugrats.

***
02:19 22 Aug

     "Mmmaybe a quick nap," I said as I finished yawning.

***
05:16 22 Aug

     I wasn't going to go back to sleep after THAT one, that was for
sure, so I figured I might as well get up, wash the fear and sweat off,
and get ready for another day in the prison.
     Plus, if I printed and packed the notes I'd scribbled on which
laptop to get, I could look at them in study hall and stay awake and
maybe make a decision by Saturday so Dad could order it and next-day
ship it, and I could get it by Monday or Tuesday.

***
06:52 22 Aug

     "Did you have more nightmares last night or something?" Jill asked
me as I wandered over to Kim's car, which woke Kim up enough to look
concerned.  At least it hadn't started raining yet, though it was
definitely going to today.
     "Yeah," I said, "but that's NOT what I wanted to talk about..."
     "What DID you want to talk about?" Jill asked.
     "My date with Tr-"  I looked around carefully, but nobody was close
to us in the parking lot.  "Travis?" I said quietly anyway.  They were
going to ask about it anyway, so I figured I'd get it done out here
instead of inside.
     "Didn't you just go out Tuesday?"
     "This was the movie we didn't have time to see because my sister
was there- oh, and she sent me a nice letter last night; I'm beginning
to think she's been possessed or reprogrammed by the aliens or
something."
     "God I wish my sister would change into something resembling a
decent human being," Kim groaned.
     "Or my whole family," Jill nodded.
     "Come over and live with me," I suggested.  "You can use Susan's
room," and we all laughed at that.  Then we all sighed.  They were
probably thinking of their families; I was wanting someone to sleep
with so I could sleep.
     "We'll come over Sunday," Kim said eventually, "grab you for brunch
and then come back and make you fix us an amaaaaaazing dinner."
     "Ooooh, yeah," Jill grinned as she rubbed her hands excitedly.
"So, how did the date thing go?"
     "They ate, they talked, they screwed like rabbits," Kim sighed.
     "Did NOT!  We saw a movie, Air Force One, which is not at all bad
if you like Harrison Ford thrillers, then we went to Taco Bell after,
met some girls from his school there, and then I had to go home.  I have
to wait until this weekend for the screwing," I admitted with a sigh,
which made them both laugh.

***
06:57 22 Aug

     I was not made more confident about life in general and the quiz in
particular by Shannon pointing at me and laughing to one of her little
symbiotes when she came in.
     "You look beautiful this morning!" I called at her, which shut her
up and wiped the grin off both their faces.
     "Considering," Kim said, just softly that Jill and I could hear it,
"that she was walking the streets all night whoring to pay for her drugs
and booze."
     "Someone would PAY for her?" Jill gasped in fake amazement, and
then it was us doing the laughing.

***
07:59 22 Aug

     "Tuck," Mike asked, but then the bell rang so he had to stop for a
minute.  "Are you sleeping?"
     "Yeah, a little," I said.
     "What was it last night?"
     "You know those dreams where you're in school and you don't have
your pants on?"  All of them nodded.  "And you know the ones where
you're being chased by a bunch of people with like knives or scalpels?"
     "You were being chased by a bunch of people with blades, and you
didn't have pants on," Mike guessed, and I put my finger on my nose.
     "Were you wearing a skirt?" George asked before laughing, and I
sighed.

***


Never apply a Star Trek solution to a Babylon Five problem.


Distribution:
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+ ==[--------   Ellen Hayes   @>--,--'---      ellen@barkingduck.net +
PGP DH/DSS keyfing: 33D4 156A AE39 53E2 0313  6714 2878 56A8 61B0 9CDC
+ http://www.barkingduck.net/ehayes -=[1990]=- vicki .sig virus 11.4 +


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