Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 01:19:38 -0700 From: Darc Blackwind Subject: TRANSGENDER ARCHIVE Fallen Angel by Darc Blackwind Chapter 6 Here is chapter six ov my little story. I believe this is one ov the key chapters in influencing most ov the rest ov the storyline itself! Enjoy. Darc Chapter 6: The Halloween Dance and the New Friend The two awoke just as the setting sun cast a gentle crimson ambience across the grassland, the light filtering through the trees and casting ghastly shadows amongst the somewhat deserted streets. Althea was the first to awaken, feeling Cal's warm, naked flesh on top of her own. Yawning softly, she gently rolled Cal off of her so he rested at her side, where she could snuggle into his sleeping form. Cal woke up ten or so minutes later, yawning and stretching. Looking around, he felt Althea's loving arms wrapped around his waist and he looked down at her and smiled as she cuddled his side lovingly. "Hi!" she said, looking up at him and smiling. "Hi!" Cal replied, hugging her tightly. Smirking, he started to chuckle quietly. "What's so funny?" Althea asked curiously, playfully biting his side. "Nothing. . . . It's just, normally I'm lucky to get ten hours of sleep a week, but now, with you, I get at least ten hours of sleep a day! Quite a switch, neh?" Cal asked, sitting up and hugging Althea tightly. "Yes. Quite a switch. . . ." she said mischievously, getting up and stretching out her wings. Cal also got up and stretched out the kinks in his back and legs. "What time is it?" "It's . . ." Cal looked at the alarm clock, "seven thirteen. . . . Gosh, we'd better get ready for the dance, right?" he said. "See, the dance starts at eight. That's only forty-seven minutes from now. . . ." Althea nodded, getting the hang of time. "I see, so an hour is a segment consisting of sixty minutes. . . . Right?" she asked hesitantly as she stretched her wings and arms, finally folding her wings behind her back. Cal smiled and patted her on the shoulder. "You bet. And there are twenty-four hours in a day. Right now, we're just about a quarter of the way through hour nineteen, or seven PM. In twelve hours, it will be seven AM, or the morning twelve hours of the day." Althea nodded her head in understanding. She still didn't fully get it, but that would come with practice. "Well then, if we only have about forty-five minutes to get ready and leave, then we should get started, shouldn't we?" she asked light-heartedly, smiling a flawless and beautiful smile. Her canines had become more like a vampire's fangs, but it added a touch of dark beauty to her beautiful form. "I agree." With that said, Cal jumped up and went to get his ninja uniform. Thinking about it, he then said, "What about a shower? Don't want to give away our secret sex life so easily, do we?" Althea smiled mischievously and nodded. "No, we don't!" And so, the two went to go take a shower. * * * Twenty minutes later, they were completely dressed, Cal in his ninja gi and split-toe tabi boots and Althea in her skimpy, satiny, black dress and knee-high, black, high-heeled boots. With the shower came a rather heated session of caressing each other, but there was no sex. Just a lot of touching and kissing and lathering. "Alrighty, then!" Cal said, grinning as he slung his katana over his shoulder and strapped it to his back. Grabbing his mask off of the desk, he then looked back at Althea. "Ready when you are, love." Smirking, Althea winked at him lovingly and walked sexily up to him, swaying her hips seductively. She slid her arms around him and kissed his cheek. "Let's go show your `friends' that you're better than they are!" And, with that said, they walked out of the black abyss of Cal's basement and to his jeep, where he chivalrously opened the door for her. She kissed his cheek again and got in. Cal then walked around to the driver's side and crawled in too, taking his katana off of his back and setting it in the back seat along with his mask. Turning the key in the ignition, his jeep roared to life and he pulled out of the driveway fast, driving towards the high school. The sun had set around seven o'clock and all that was left of its once shining glory was a gentle haze of light that was quickly receding behind the mountains, throwing the village into the darkness of night. The luminescent digital clock on the jeep's radio read: 7:46, and to the south, clouds were gathering, casting a gentle ring around the creamy beige light of the moon. A neon-white-blue fork of lightning struck the ground and two seconds later, a tremendous, Earth-shattering BAKOOM!!! shook the asphalt of the street. Althea's shimmering argent eyes narrowed as she felt the power of the bolt of lightning. Cal shrugged and smirked. "Looks like a storm's brewing to the south. . . . Perhaps we'll get caught in the rain by the time we leave from Aria's party?" Althea shrugged uncertainly. Smirking mischievously, she grinned like a Cheshire cat and said, "Ah, just imagine the possibilities!" But, deep down inside her, she knew that a storm bolt had not caused the blaring explosion to the south. Two minutes later they arrived at the high school. Cal parked in his usual spot away from the main crowd, right under a light post. He shut off the vehicle, grabbed his katana and mask, and got out, grabbing his keys and throwing them in the pocket in his robe. He then walked over and, after slinging the katana back on his back, opened the door for Althea. She gingerly stepped out of the vehicle as Cal locked it and closed the door. He then dug out of his pocket twenty dollars to pay for their entrance into the dance and thus, both him and Althea walked to the entrance of the gymnasium, where they were selling tickets. Pulsating techno music blasted the quietude surrounding the outside away as he opened the door. Althea involuntarily tensed up from the loudness of it as he went to the vender to buy their tickets. "Two tickets please," Cal asked the teacher who was selling the tickets. "Ah, Cal," the teacher said, smirking, "I didn't expect you to show up here. Who's this?" "Her name's Althea, Mr. Chappuis. What're you doing here selling tickets?" Cal asked. Mr. Chappuis was the science teacher for Geochemistry 101. Cal would have him on Monday. (Today was Friday.) "I'm chaperoning the dance. Just filling in for Jeff until he gets back to sell the tickets." Cal nodded, grabbing the two ticket stubs. "Well, I'll see you on Monday, sir." With that said, Cal ushered Althea through the doors. "See you Monday," Mr. Chappuis said jovially. "By the way, I like your costumes! Especially yours, Althea!" "Thanks!" Althea said, giggling. Chappuis was dressed as a mad scientist. Huh! Cal thought as he and Althea walked to the gym. Fits him by the way he acts sometimes in class! "Thanks for taking me here, Cal! You humans are quite interesting creatures!" "Surely you were human once?" Cal asked as he put on his mask, tying it behind his head. He purposely left the outer hood back in the jeep, for the dance room would get unbearably hot by the time the dance ended, and his gi was warm enough as it is. Sliding his mask down, he grabbed Althea by the waist and kissed her on the lips. "Let's go dance!" A pulsating heavy-metal song started up over the speakers, shaking the floorboards of the dance floor, which quickly became a mosh pit. Althea let the pulsating beat flow through her as she followed what everyone else was doing. Condemned-to-violence Arrested-by-pain Inside-the-soul-lies-a-man-insane Conceived-in-anger Addicted-to-hate The-mutant-child-of-a-twisted-state Cal, meanwhile, was doing an odd sort of dance, moving his hands and feet in sync with the pulsating heavy-metal song. At its pinnacle, Cal jumped up ten feet and did a back flip, landing on his feet lithely as though it were merely a foot and a half without the back flip: A-killer's-smile-with A-psycho-star-dream Behind-the-mask-things-aren't-what-they-seem Unholy-soldier Disciple-of-sin What-kind-of-mind-are-you-living-in? Althea followed Cal's routine, moving her hands and feet, and then too jumping up ten feet in a back flip, landing and continuing to move her hands like he was moving his. The combined efforts of the two doing the dance routine Cal made up started to cause a slight breeze, either from the energy they were emitting, or from the complex movements they were doing, or maybe from something else altogether. At any rate, those around them were backing off to see their curious ritual: Waiting-to-die-for-the-very-first-time All-right-that's-right Waiting-to-die-for-the-very-first-time I-don't-give-a-damn-`cause-I-think-it's-my-time, -my-time Cal drew his sword and came down, twirling it along with his free arm. Very quickly the crowds backed off to avoid injury. The-symbiosis Of-murder-and-lies What-do-I-see-looking-through-your-disguise? Fourth-Reich-dementia Subversion-details God-only-knows-what-your-secret-conceals Cal resheathed his katana and did a final back flip as the song ended, twirling it as though it were stained with the blood of a thousand enemy soldiers. He landed and slid the sheathed katana in his blackbelt, his eyes closed. Althea landed similarly and folded up her wings. The stunned crowd then clapped for their display of agility as Cal and Althea went to go sit down on the side. Althea sat on Cal's leg while the rest of the ninety or so people began dancing to a country song. "Whew! That was fun, wasn't it?" she asked as Cal held her about her waist. Smiling, Cal looked up at her and nodded. "Yes, it certainly was. . . . How'd you figure out how to do that kata that I was doing so fast?" "Kata?" she echoed curiously as Cal slowly massaged her side. "Oh, you don't know what it is, do you. A kata is a set of movements usually devised for training one's senses and agility. That one is specifically designed to warm up the entire body for a large battle. And, they work relatively well for dances to music like that too." Blushing, Cal then said, "I don't know how to dance, so I do those instead. . . ." Smiling, Althea put an arm around his shoulders and said, "Well, that's something we'll have to remedy, now isn't it?" "Excuse me," someone from Cal's left said as he was about to kiss Althea. He looked over, an irritable glint in his eye. "Yeah?" he asked. What stood before him was an underclassman, perhaps a freshman. She had shimmering, jet-black hair and was dressed in an angel costume. Her white silk miniskirt rode up just so one could catch a glimpse of the treasures beneath. Built petite, yet slender with curves in all the right spots, she was quite attractive, in an innocent, girlish sort of way. In the gloom of the multipurpose room, Cal could see that she wore thin glasses, which reflected the multicolored lights from the DJ's workstation. "Nice dance," she said happily, sitting down next to them. "My name's Miranda." "Thanks, Miranda. I'm Althea and this is Cal. Pleased to meet you," Althea said genially, offering her a hand to shake. She took it and shook it. "So, what dance do you call that, Cal?" she asked, looking him in the eyes expectantly. Looking over, Cal smiled. "Well, Miranda, its Japanese name is Katsudoteki-na Ue No Kamae Kata, but just call it an aerial dance." "Hmmm. . . ." Miranda said contemplatively. "That's cool. What grade are you? Junior?" "Nah, I'm a senior. How `bout you?" "I'm a freshman. . . . And, I'm new here, so I figured I'd try and make a couple of friends at this dance. . . ." she said hesitantly, afraid that she was sounding too pathetic for this senior to deal with. Surprisingly, the senior looked down at her and smiled warmly. "You don't have to worry. I'm trying to make new friends too. Friends?" he asked, offering a hand of friendship. Taking it readily, Miranda smiled happily. "Gee, thanks. Sure, we can be friends!" she said happily. Althea nodded and grasped her hand too. "Even though I don't go to this school, I'll be your friend as well. I'm new here too." Miranda sighed happily, then after a couple of minutes just listening to the music, she said, "Well, that wasn't so painful, now was it?" "Yes. . . ." Cal replied, sighing. "Meeting new people can be scary sometimes, neh? Well, then, what say I go show you around and teach your infantile freshman mind the basics about living in the high school from Hell. . . ? What d'you say?" he asked, mocking playfully at her current stature in the high school student hierarchy. Smirking, Miranda nodded. "Sure! Lead on, `O Grand Exalted Senior-man'. . . ." she replied, equally as playful. With that said, Althea hopped off of Cal's knee and landed gracefully on her feet. The three of them then began to walk around the dance floor. "First things first. To survive in this school, you've got to be prepared for such incidences as betrayal of friends. This is why I'm trying to make new friends, for my old ones seem to hate my guts now. Sadly, you and Althea are my only current friends." He slid an arm around Althea's waist and continued walking, more slowly so Miranda could take in what he was about to point out. "Secondly, you must know what kind of social caste you belong to. There're basically six different groups in the school's social hierarchy. The first group we see are the preppies," he gestured over his shoulder at a group of students wearing business suits or office-related clothing for costumes. "Those are Preps. Next, we have the Goths and Satanists." He nodded his head over to a group of people dressed up like nightmarish entities who were loudly idolizing the manslayer Jack the Ripper. Continuing, he then pointed out several groups of people who were dressed up in science fiction attire. "Thirdly, we have the Nerds, or smart people who are looked down upon as exceedingly pathetic." Sighing, Cal shrugged. "Sadly, I might fit into this caste. Either this or the sixth caste. Anyway, though, continuing our tour, we come across the Druggies and Gang-bangers." He pointed to a bunch of people dressed in punkish attire outside of the multipurpose room who were lighting up something and looking around to see if anyone was watching. "Say, Cal," Miranda began, "Why do you say that you might fit in with the Nerds?" "Because, looking at my life now, it's exceedingly pathetic. For shit's sake, my own damn family betrayed me!" he said, exasperated. Smirking, he then said, "Oh well, things happen, right?" Shrugging, Miranda nodded. "Hmmm. . . ." Althea walked with Cal at his side, learning about the basics of high school just as much as Miranda was. "Who would have thought there were so many complex social structures for such a small settlement. . . ?" "Indeed, love. . . . Anyway, fifth in line are the Sluts and those of an Alternate Sexuality. Basically prostitutes, lesbians, and homosexuals. They usually keep to themselves, though, so you needn't worry about them too much." He gestured to a group of people dressed like the stereotype Halloween monsters. The difference, though, was the women were dancing with the women and the men were dancing with the men. And there was a group of both genders feverishly making out with each other on the side. Miranda had another question. "Cal . . . how do you know all of this stuff?" she asked innocently, silently intrigued by the prospect of having sex with another woman. "Well, I'm learning about sociology in school and am taking it in the spring semester. I'm trained to look for certain aspects of culture in societies and sub-societies. What a better place to apply this knowledge than here at our own little community of Andale High School, the high school sired from the black abyss of Hell!" he added, making his voice go demonically deep just to add for effect. She flinched and Althea looked back at him, a hint of a smirk on her beautiful face. Continuing, he stopped and sat down in exactly the same place he did before they met Miranda. "Finally, we get to the sixth group." He waved a hand around to indicate the entire room. "The sixth group may be the largest group, next to the Satanists and Druggies." "What group is that?" Miranda asked as she sat down next to him. Althea sat down on his other side and rested her head on his shoulder, sighing contentedly. "Well, I've named this group the Vagabonds. These people don't really know what group they belong to, so they circulate until they find the group that best fits them and their needs. That would include you, right now. And me, since our Martial Artist and Writer groups are pretty much divided at the moment." "Why're they divided?" "My so-called friends and I belonged to those groups, until they decided to stop giving a rats ass about me. I then exited those castes altogether and have been going solo ever since." He gestured to his ninja uniform and katana. "As you can see, I take my martial arts very seriously. Althea, well, she's not a high school student, but she's part of my new group. What about you?" he asked curiously, kissing Althea on the cheek and looking back at Miranda. Miranda thought about it for a second. "Sure. I don't know much about martial arts, but I love to write poetry. And . . . you guys seem to generally care about loners like me. . . ." she said happily, stretching out the kinks in her back. Her feathery white wings brushed against the wall as she arched her back, thrusting her chest out and taking a deep breath. Smiling, Cal patted her on the shoulder. "It's good to have a friend, isn't it?" he asked happily. Miranda nodded. "One day, I'll show you my ex-friends so you see what people turn into if they start to dislike you. It may prepare you for the rest of your life. . . ." * * * At roughly eleven o'clock the people began to leave, destined for locations unknown. Aria had shown up at ten, going into the dance floor and seeing Cal with Althea and their new friend Miranda sitting off to the side, watching the people dance rather provocatively to the slow, romantic music that beat from the speakers on the stage. She wasn't dressed in a Halloween costume like everyone else was, she merely had worn a clip-on set of devil horns. She walked over to Cal. "Hey, Aria. How're you doing?" Cal asked casually as he leaned back against the back of the chair. She looked at him coldly and said, "Fine, you?" "Pretty good." He then looked to Miranda. "Miranda, let me introduce you to Aria Lockheart. Aria, this is Miranda." "Hi," Miranda said meekly, waving to her. Aria looked down at her and nodded. "Pleased to meet you." Her glare snapped back to Cal. "So, are you coming to my party?" "Told you today, didn't I?" Cal asked coldly. "Yes, I'm coming to your party. Can Althea come?" "Yes, she's invited. . . ." She looked down at Miranda, who cowered from her fiery stare. "What about you? What're you doing after this thing?" Miranda meekly said, "N, nothing. . . ." "You want to come to a party with Cal and his girlfriend?" she then asked bluntly, enjoying seeing the look of sheer panic on her face. She could tell that this frail girl was a freshman. She could almost smell her fear. "Ye, yes p, please, ma, ma'am," she said with deep respect. Smirking, she slowly advanced on her like a predatory tiger. "Well, it's a date, then, now isn't it?" With that said, she began to walk away, leaving the poor freshman alone. "Say, is Evan going to be there?" Cal called after her. She looked back, a reddish glint in her eyes. "Yes, he'll be there." With that said, she exited the doors. Breathing heavily, Miranda looked at Cal nervously. "Who the hell was that?!" she exclaimed, wiping the cold sweat that accumulated off of her forehead. Cal looked over at her and patted her on the leg. "She used to be a good friend of mine. Hell, we almost had a romance going on, until she changed," Cal said humorously. "She's normally very mellow. Perhaps she smelled your fear of her and acted on it?" Sighing, Althea walked and sat down in front of Miranda. "Don't worry, Miranda. . . . One grows accustomed to seeing this kind of brutality in Cal's social life. Still, I don't like it. . . ." "Me neither! She acted totally rude!" Looking over at Cal, she asked, sounding shocked, "You consider her a friend?" Cal shrugged. "Sadly, yes I do. . . ." Miranda sighed and looked down at the floor. Several minutes passed without anyone saying anything. Miranda then looked up. "I have to use the bathroom quickly. Pardon me." "I'll follow you," Althea said, getting up. Looking at Cal, she said, "We'll be back shortly, love." Cal nodded, looking down at the ground. "I'll just wait here for you guys. . . ." he said, thinking about the party Aria was so intent on making him go to. * * * Inside the girls' bathroom, Miranda looked at Althea timidly. "I've something I feel I should confess. . . ." she began hesitantly. "What is it?" Althea asked curiously, her voice full of compassion. "Well . . . um . . . I'm not . . . really human. . . ." she said, moving her shoulder-length mane of blue-black hair. Her ears were quite pointed and she showed Althea her teeth, which were like those of a vampire. Althea smiled and hugged Miranda tenderly. Both shocked and intrigued, Miranda hugged Althea back, sighing happily in Althea's loving embrace. Hugging her tightly, so as to comfort her, Althea looked down at Miranda and smiled. "It's okay. I'm a demon too," she whispered, looking into Miranda's maroon eyes and smiling. "Really?" Miranda asked, relieved that she wasn't alone on her quest of wandering Earth to find out her answers. A tear of joy cascaded down her snowy-fair cheek. Althea let go of her and stepped back, taking off her dress to flap her wings more easily. She couldn't quite reach the zipper in the back, so she looked back at Miranda. "Could you please undo this for me?" she asked. Miranda was more than happy to unzip her dress. In fact, she was so eager to do it, that she did it by using her teeth. Feeling Miranda's hot breath on the small of her back, Althea started to get aroused almost right away. She looked behind her and giggled, seeing the very innocent-looking Miranda sexily undressing her that way. Soon, her dress was fully unzipped and Miranda gently slid the satiny little garment down to her ankles, freeing Althea's luscious breasts and her other surprise. Althea gingerly stepped out of the dress piled at her ankles and then grabbed Miranda's hand, walking into the big stall as she picked up the dress with her. She then undressed Miranda in much the same way she was undressed. Looking lustily into Althea's eyes, Miranda giggled a gentle, girly sort of giggle and kissed her on the lips, her tongue snaking into Althea's mouth to dance with her own tongue. "I'm so happy!" she giggled as she sat on Althea's lap, rubbing her hands all over Althea's sexy and slender body. "So am I!" Althea moaned as she felt Miranda's loving hands caress her breasts, squeezing the nipples tightly. She reciprocated by passionately French kissed her, running her hands down Miranda's taut stomach to her pubic mound. Remembering how Cal first made love to her, she decided to skip that part and come back to it later. Instead, she moved her hands up to Miranda's breasts and mouth, the left one massaging the left breast while Miranda sucked on the fingers of her right hand. Getting them nice and moist, Althea then slid them down her spine, making her shiver with anticipation. Without any warning at all, she shoved two fingers up Miranda's tight ass forcefully, making Miranda's eyes instantly bulge out of her head with shock. After the initial shock and temporary paralysis induced, Miranda groaned lustfully, wrapping her arms around Althea's slender, lithe body, peppering her face with kisses. Althea then began to finger her butt, slowly at first, then working up speed. Miranda moaned lustfully and arched her back as she felt Althea's skillful fingers work their magic deep inside her system. Looking into her eyes, Althea kissed her throat, giving her a small hickey right underneath her dainty collarbone. Soon, Althea slipped in a third and fourth finger into Miranda's already stretched butt. Miranda moaned and arched her back, her sable hair dipping all the way to the floor. After much effort, Althea was able to work her thumb into Miranda's stretched orifice, finally fisting Miranda's virgin asshole. Miranda wailed in ecstasy as she felt her hand ball up into a fist and thrust in and out, in and out. Taking her hand out of Miranda's arse, Althea saw it gleam with the combination of saliva, sweat, and some of Miranda's assfuck juices. She sexily used it as an oil and began to massage it into Miranda's breasts, looking intently into her glazed over eyes. Miranda slowly came back from the edge of oblivion and smiled, sweating from the exertion of energy she went through. It wasn't quite an orgasm, but damn close. Sighing, she hugged Althea lovingly. "Cal sure is a lucky guy to have you as his lover, isn't he. . . ." she said as she got up from her lap. Althea smiled. "I'm lucky to have him as my lover too. . . ." she said, slipping her dress back on. Somehow, Miranda had managed to miss seeing the ten-inch serpent-like organ dangling from Althea's hips as she slid the dress on over her hips. Miranda zipped her up as soon as she got finished getting her angel costume back on. Kissing her on the lips, Althea then said, "We'll continue this later, `kay?" Nodding, Miranda smiled. Then a grim expression graced her innocent face. "I still don't understand it, though. . . . Why would people like that Aria person wish to harm his heart? I can sense the terrible pain he endures. . . . It's awful!" Miranda said sadly. "I know. . . . He endures this sort of pain daily. And yet, he tries so hard not to talk about it. I still have much to learn about him. . . ." * * * Cal sat in the chair, looking up at the ceiling. Dancing lights from the DJ's workstation zoomed across the ivory surface jovially, a slow-dance song playing. It had been twenty minutes since Miranda and Althea had left for the restroom and he had a sinking suspicion what they were doing. Oh well, he thought curiously, looking at the dancing couples. It's about time she had cracked her very first cherry. . . . He let his thoughts drift like the music that encompassed his every sense until his thoughts settled on Aria and her party after the dance. So cold, why does she treat me this way? he thought despairingly as he gently wiped the sweat off of his forehead. The multipurpose room was quickly becoming a sauna. Oh well, only about fifteen or twenty minutes more of this and then we can leave, probably out of the frying pan and into the fire. . . . Chances are, she arranged this party so Evan and I could duke it out, but why would she do that? She hates violence more than the damn war protesters of Vietnam! Silently, Cal's shoulders heaved as he controlled his laughter to a barely audible chuckle. Rather odd, though. . . . She is the least likely person one would expect to go to war, yet she had, alongside Evan and I, more than a year ago. . . . I'm so sick of the war between good and evil now. There aren't any really defined sides in this game. No simple black and white panoramas like it used to be. . . . This has been proven to me only yesterday. He looked up and saw Althea and Miranda enter the dance floor, cutting across it to go to him. He smirked, knowing exactly what they were up to in the bathroom. Cal got up and greeted them. "So, have fun?" he asked the two. Althea smirked and Miranda blushed fiercely as Cal strode over to them. "Yes, we had a splendid time!" Althea said, winking to him. "How about you?" "Bored out of my skull, as usual. . . ." he said drolly, sliding an arm around Althea's waist and guiding them to the exit. "Anyway, since this dance is goin' nowhere, you just wanna cut straight over to Aria's place to find out what she wants?" Althea thought about it. A slow dance was playing. "Can we dance this dance and then go over?" she asked. Smiling, Cal nodded. "Sure. Let's dance." And so, they let the seductive music take hold of them once more. Cal grabbed her about her hips and she slid her arms around his shoulders. Miranda stepped off to the side to watch them, secretly wishing she was Cal. He's so lucky to have Althea. . . . Something tells me that they've pillowed before and thus, he too knows that she is a demon. . . . she thought as she saw Cal and Althea embrace each other tightly as they slowly rotated in a small circle. And, if that's the case, he doesn't seem to mind that she is a demon. . . . It's odd how you meet people like that, ones who don't fear what they don't know about. Looking up, the dancing lights seemed to hypnotize her. She looked back at Althea, who was gazing lovingly into Cal's eyes as they danced to the enchanting music. They passionately French kissed each other and then Althea rested her head on Cal's matte-black shoulder. She glanced hypnotically at Miranda and blew a kiss to her. Miranda moaned and blew a kiss back. Cal gently held Althea to his chest as he looked down into her beautiful, argent-silver eyes. Looking up into his, she could see profound tranquility in his gaze, and it warmed her heart. She hugged his shoulders tightly, lightly kissing the right hinge of his jaw. "I love you, Cal," she whispered delicately in his ear as she rested her head on his muscular shoulder. Cal smiled, entwining his fingers to hold her tightly to him. "And I love you, my darling angel," he whispered back, his voice soft. The song ended and was replaced by a raucous heavy-metal song that had the students stomping up a storm, turning the dance floor into a mosh pit once again. Looking up into Cal's eyes, she smiled. "What say we go to the party your `friend' wants you to go to?" she asked deviously. An evil grin spreading across his face. He said, "What're you up to? I sense that you've concocted a plot in the bathroom with your new lover, Althea. . . ." Raising an eyebrow, she smirked. "How'd you know?" she asked curiously as they went to go get Miranda. "You have that sort of glow about you," he began, "where you know that you've just gotten at least some sort of tidbit for your concern. . . ." he said, grinning. "Tell me the details later! I'm dying to know!" Althea walked to Miranda, who was sitting on the floor against the wall, looking down at her fingers. Althea kneeled down and smiled at her. "Ready to go?" Looking up, Miranda smiled at Althea and then at Cal, who had just caught up with her. "Lead on, MacDuff!" she exclaimed as she hopped to her feet. With that said, all three of them left the dance floor and multipurpose room for Aria's house, each not knowing what to expect. Or what to do in case something bad happened.