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Tucker Up!

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 Up!

***
21:33 21 Feb

     Everyone made it out of the minivan without falling over.  I let
Sabrina help me out like I was supposed to, and she gave me a hug and
told me I was doing great.
     A group of guys pulled into next to us, honking and yelling
incomprehensible stuff at us.  I think it was generally positive, or at
least appreciative.
     Kathy ordered, "Ignore 'em," so I did my best.  We grouped up and
headed off to the next conquest - the front door.  Quickly.
     "Geeks," said Sabrina.
     "Hey!"
     She looked at me.  "Sorry, Val... Is calling them 'assholes' okay?"
     I snorted, tossed my hair, and pointed my nose up.  "Assholes."
Then I looked to see if I they thought I'd done it right.  Sabrina gave
me a thumbsup.

***
21:34 21 Feb

     In the last minute briefing, Kathy also told me that, for any guys
that wandered up, they were eighteen.  I could tell them whatever I
wanted about me.  I figured, though, that being jailbait would work out
quite well if I needed it to.  So I said I'd be fifteen, my real age,
for the evening.
     When I mentioned this, Pam giggled, "Then you must be Debbie's
little sister!"
     "What?"
     "Who," Kim added, tapping her fingers together like she did when
she was getting an evil idea, "we're all babysitting tonight, and
showing her how the real girls do things, and-"
     "Waitwaitwaitwait, hey..."  It was bad enough being a girl tonight,
I didn't want to be the little sister too.

***
21:35 21 Feb

     I was appalled.  "HOW much?"
     "Val, come on, just pay up, okay?" Kathy bitched at me.  Then, "Do
you need some money?"
     "Uh, no, I guess I got it..."  As I dug cash out of my wallet, I
wondered if Debbie was doing a makeup demo next week.  I was gonna need
the money.  Bad.
     The guys from the parking lot were behind us, but they weren't
doing anything now.  Maybe Sabrina and Jill had intimidated them or
something.  They kept intimidating me.  On the other hand, I _was_ in a
short dress and heels.
     "Oh, hell," Amanda cursed without thinking.  She had her wallet
open, and it looked pretty bare.
     "Need some?" I asked her, then told the guy at the counter, "I'll
get hers, okay?" and tossed another six bucks on the counter.  "Pay me
back sometime, okay?"
     She looked like she wanted to say no, but the guy had already taken
the cash and stamped her hand while she wasn't paying attention.

***
21:36 21 Feb

     "Oh, God," I moaned to myself.  Just what I always enjoyed, a
seething mass of non-geek humanity.  And here I was in a dress.  And I
was cold as hell, too.
     "It's cool huh?" Jill yelled at me, grinning.  I nodded in the
interest of public relations.
     "Let's go find a place to sit or something," Kathy commanded, so we
moved off along the wall, away from the dance floor.
     The place seemed to be set up as a training bar, with a big wooden,
well, bar running down the middle of the place, and a dance floor on one
side of it, and video games and tables and big boxes and everything else
on the other side of the warehouse.
     The noise was almost bearable once you got the bar between you and
the dance floor speakers.  I wondered if they were using active noise
cancellation, then decided that they wouldn't care, it must be just
coincidence.  Then I realized I was geeking again.

***
21:37 21 Feb

     "So what do I _do_?" I asked Jill as we sat on the large wooden box
that the Pack had claimed as their territory for the night.  At least
humanity was civilized enough that they didn't have to piss on it.
     "What?  Just sit back and look pretty," she grinned.  "But don't
flirt too heavy with anyone unless one of us is with you."
     I glared at her, and she grinned at me.  In fact, she kept making
her grin wider and wider, until it looked like that Monty Python
cartoon where the bishop's head splits open.  I couldn't stop myself
from smiling at that.
     "Yeah, see!" she yelled enthusiastically, and slapped me on the
shoulder.  "Just do like that and you'll be havin' fun in no time!"
     "Yeah, fun, no problem."  I wished the rest of them would get back
with the drinks.

***
21:40 21 Feb

     As one, their heads tracked the blonde bimbo walking in front of
us.  I mean, normally I wouldn't think something like "bimbo", since
Debbie might pick it up with her telepathy and make me wear the same
thing, but this was a bimbo.  She had on barely enough leather to cover
her (probably boosted) boobs and keep her panties covered.  If she was
wearing any.  And she was wearing more makeup than any two of us - she
looked like a cartoon - and her hair had to have been _dipped_ in
hairspray to stand up that tall.  And she was taller than any of us, and
thin enough you could see her ribs.
     "Whadaya think of that?" Jill challenged me.  The rest of the Pack
turned to look at me.
     Now, I could tell that she was designed to attract attention, and
furthermore, she hit all the recognition cues of modern American male
teenagers.  As you could tell by the way most of the guys were tracking
her.  And, judging by the way some of the girls looked at their guys
looking at her, there were gonna be some arguments tonight...  But, this
was sort of a test of which side of the fence I was on tonight, I
guessed.  So I thought for a second to come up with the right way to
phrase the answer.
     "Do you s'pose you have to rent her for a whole hour or can you get
her for five minutes at a time?"
     The music, of course, dropped out right as I said it, so not only
did the Pack crack up, but so did about three other cliques that were
sort of near us.
     I think I passed the test.
     When it died down, I added, loudly, "'Cause it'd be really spiff to
have my shoes spit-shined, and I bet that tongue's a pro."
     As they lost it again, I thought, *My God, I'm starting to think
like them, too.*  Then I saw the bimbo, who was sort of not-looking at
me like she'd heard me but was way too cool to even bother.  *Bitch,* I
thought, *she's worse than the cheerleaders.*  So I leaned back on the
box, stuck my legs together and up in the air, and waggled my feet at
her.  She flinched.  Critical hit, I could tell.
     "Do," gasped Jill, "d'you s'pose that if you stick a quarter in her
ear, she buzzes?"  _That_ cracked _me_ up.
     I was glad, all of a sudden, that I was one of them.  Because if I
wasn't, then with the mood they were in, they would have ripped my dick
completely off, used it as a dildo, and then laughed about how small it
was.  They were out for blood tonight.  Or something.  And I was right
in there with 'em.

***
21:44 21 Feb

     "Let's dance," Jill mentioned, and grabbed my arm.  And Kim's arm.
     "I can't dance!" we both protested as she dragged us up.
     "Whoa!" she yelled as she turned around.  "Stereo wimpout!"  She
grabbed us again.  I should have made my escape when I had the chance.
     "Come on," Pam smiled.  "You don't gotta _know_ anything, just
_move_."  She got up and demonstated a couple of _moves_.
     Jill moved, and since she hadn't let go, we moved with her.

***
21:47 21 Feb

     Jill was a wild woman.  Pam just grooved, vaguely in time to the
music.  I watched what Kim was doing until I figured out she was
watching what I was doing.  *Oh, hell,* I thought as I figured something
out.  *What's the worst that could happen?  I dance funny?  Then
nobody'll try to pick me up.*  Oh, horrors.  *Or they could laugh at
me.*  The only one paying attention to me was Kim, and she thought she
was as bad as I was.  Besides, they already had pictures.  My pathetic
attempts at dancing weren't going to be any funnier than watching me get
made up in the salon tonight.
     So I watched some of the other girls on the floor, and danced slow,
because I had a feeling I was gonna have to go for the enduro-thing
tonight.

***
22:02 21 Feb

     Kim grabbed my arm, and when I turned to look at her, I immediately
knew what she wanted.  There was sweat pouring off her face, and she was
gasping inaudibly.  In that bass beat zone, everything was inaudible. I
waved to Jill and Pam, and Kim and I walked back to the Pack's lair.
     As we passed the bar, I swung around behind it so as to cut the
volume down.  "Want a coke or something?" I asked her.
     "I think I still have some left," she said, carefully wiping her
face.

***
22:06 21 Feb

     "I SAID TWO COKES!" I shrieked at the training bartender.  The
service here was the worst I'd ever seen.  And I'd heard about
unattached girls hanging at the bar, like worms on the hook.  But I
think he got it, because he nodded and got two cups.
     "Great place, huh?" said Sabrina, looking around and covering me.
     "Oh, yeah, sure, I guess," I said into her ear.

***
22:08 21 Feb

     Sabrina led the way back to the lair.  My wallet was still smarting
from the two-fifty I had to pay.
     As I looked sideways at a particularly loud explosion from one of
the video games, someone ran into my left arm and T-boned my coke.
     "Oh, shit!" I cursed, then looked at the person who was wearing it
now.  He had longish straight blond hair, swept back, and dark dark
eyes.  And he was shocked, but he was looking me straight in the face.

***
22:09 21 Feb

     "Nah, s'okay," he said, pulling his T shirt over his head.  It had
a band logo on it I'd never heard of.  "Are you girls keepin' your stuff
here?  Can I leave this with you?" he asked when I nodded.
     I could hear the other girls suck in their breath when they saw his
chest.  It had a little hair on it, but mostly it was muscled.  Not like
he was a weightlifter, but like he worked for a living or something.  He
looked really trim.  *Why can't I look like that?* I wondered sadly.
*Bet _his_ girlfriend doesn't make him wear girl clothes.*  One nipple
was really dark, though.  Or something...
     "Like it?" he asked me, grinning.
     "Huh?" I said cleverly.
     "The tattoo," he said, like I knew what he was talking about.  Then
he pointed at the nipple.  I looked closer, and it was a thing of Celtic
knotwork, wrapped around his areola.
     "Oh, uh, yeah," as a couple of the other Pack members got up to
look.
     "Hey, can I get you another coke or something?" he asked me, as
some of the girls went ooh and ahh over the tattoo.  "That's where I was
going when I ran into you."
     "Uh," I said, then someone kicked me in the leg.  Hard.  Debbie had
trained me well, because before it even started throbbing, I blurted,
"Oh, yeah!  Ow."
     I held onto his arm, because between the booze and the bruise on my
leg, I wasn't sure I could make it the whole way.

***
22:11 21 Feb

     The bartender looked at me a little strange, like he remembered I
was just there.
     "So what's your name?" he asked me, a little loud but not too
close.  The guy, not the bartender.
     "Valerie," I told him.
     He held out his hand, and said, "Jack.  Hey."  I shook his hand,
which was as strong as the rest of him looked.  "Nice to meet you,
Valerie.  Can I call you Val?"
     "Ah, yeah, I guess..."  I was distracted by the sight of Sabrina
pounding her head against the box and cursing about something.
     He said something else, and I turned back to look at him.  I needed
to read his lips, this close to the dance floor.  "What?"
     "I said," he said, "you look really nice tonight."
     "Uh, thanks," and then I remembered Sabrina had told me to smile,
so I smiled at him.
     "I haven't seen you here before.  Was I just blind or what?"  He
grinned.
     "Uh.  Well, I haven't been here before.  My friends, um, they
thought I, uh, needed to go out tonight, so, uh."  Sabrina was having a
tantrum on top of the box.  Kim was just sitting on the edge, holding
her head.  And Amanda was staring, again.  That was really beginning to
make me feel self-conscious.
     "So here you are!" he finished, and grinned some more.
     "Uh.  Yeah."

***
22:13 21 Feb

     I was a little reluctant to return to the lair, because I had this
sneaking suspicion that I had something to do with what was making
Sabrina so upset.  Luckily, as Jack turned around, he saw someone he
knew, and dragged me off to go meet him.
     Except it was them.  There were three more, looking more or less
grunged, and there was a lot of slaps and "Heyman!" going on, but they
kept looking at me, and I knew it was gonna be my turn way too soon.
     "So who's this?" the tallest one asked.  My turn.
     "Oh, this is Valerie," said Jack.  "And this," he said, turning to
me, "is Tony, Johnny, Mike, and Ray."  Mike was the tall one.  I mean,
they were all taller than me, except Ray, and he was just bigger looking
than me.  I guess there was four, but I'd missed Ray the first time.
     "Call me 'Maddog,'" said Ray, and they all shook my hand.
     "Where's your shirt, man?" asked Tony.  Then I noticed they were
all wearing the same shirt.

***
22:15 21 Feb

     "This is, uh, Tony, and Johnny, and Ray, and Mike, and Jack.  And
these are Sabrina Kim Jill and Amanda.  I, uh, guess the rest of them
are dancing."  I was glad I'd remembered all their names for thirty
seconds.
     Sabrina Kim Jill and Amanda said, "Hi!" to Tony Johnny Ray Mike and
Jack.  Valerie (that's me) kept quiet.
     Tony Johnny Ray Mike and Jack looked at each other long enough to
divide up the spoils, and then took over the lair, just like that.

***
22:17 21 Feb

     The bartender was definitely giving me a funny look.  I gave him
one back - I'd seen enough of him recently too.
     "Four cokes," Jack told him, and turned back to me.  "So, you go to
school?" he asked.  That was different, at least.

***
22:20 21 Feb

     "Oh, what do you play?"
     "Um, synth.  Eventually."  He gave me a funny look.  "I mean, I
just got it, so I'm still learning to play it."
     "Oh, cool," he said, nodding.  "I play lead guitar."  He leaned
back on the box.
     "Oh, really?" I asked.  Then, to taunt him, I asked, "So are you in
a band or something?"
     He reached over and held up his drying T shirt.  It said "Stepwise
Pagoda," and had a logo on it.  "Our band," he said proudly.

***
22:21 21 Feb

     "We were gonna call it Two Nice Girls," Ray I mean Maddog said,
"but we couldn't find _any_ nice girls, so we had to drop that one."
     Everyone snickered at that.  "Must not've known us," Kim commented,
and went off into a fit of giggles.
     "So where did 'Stepwise Pagoda' come from?" Sabrina asked.
     They looked at each other.  They all looked kind of embarrassed.
Finally, Tony said, "We got out a dictionary and opened it twice."

***
22:25 21 Feb

     Jack was really interested in my musical influences.  Too bad I
couldn't tell him what they were.  I was still learning scales.  I was
saved from being asked for the fourth time by the reappearance of the
rest of the Pack.
     "Oh, hey," I said gratefully.
     Kathy looked at the guys, spread out all over "our" box, and looked
at Jill, who pointed at me.  In fact, all of them were looking at me.
     "Ah," I said, and tried to remember their names.  "This is Jack,
and that's Mike, and that's Tony, and that's John, and this is Ray."
Five names, five guys.  I must not be as think as drunk I as am.
     "Call me Maddog," Ray said, holding his hand out to Kathy.

***
22:28 21 Feb

     "_How_ in God's name did you get half a dozen guys to come over?"
Kathy interrogated me in the bathroom.
     "Jack just ran into _me_!" I protested.  "I had nothing to do with
it!"
     She rubbed her face with her hands. "I do not believe this," she
muttered.  Then she looked at me.  "Have you been flirting with them?"
     "No!"  Then I looked at my shoes.  Had I been flirting?  "Not
really.  I think.  They just got interested.  And they're in a band."
     "So, of course, you had to talk to at least one of them."
     "Well, shit, Kathy!  What did you expect me to do!  He was wearing
my coke!  That's why he's not wearing a shirt.  Should I have just
laughed at him or something?  In _case_ you didn't notice, he's both
bigger and stronger than me.  And _he_ went and got his friends, it
wasn't my idea!"
     She just shook her head and sighed.  "You know, Debbie _told_ me to
keep you out of trouble.  Now what am I going to tell her?"
     "Ahhh..."  I thought for a moment.  "Well, I'm not _in_ trouble.  I
mean, there's all of you, and it's a public place and all, and I haven't
given 'em my phone number or anything ridiculous like that.  So..."  I
spread my hands.

***
22:33 21 Feb

     We'd had to take turns going in a stall, which was alright, as the
competition in there was pretty fierce.  Kathy told me not even to
bother fighting over a mirror spot, and we went back.
     When we got back to the Pack's box, Ray and Tony and Jack were
standing up.  "Wanna dance?" Jack asked me.  I looked at Kathy
helplessly.  Kathy just sighed, and shrugged.

***
22:36 21 Feb

     Jack could dance as well as Travis.  Though he had a lot more
energy.  Me, I just took it slow, watched what the other girls were
doing, and tried not to get too close.  Or let him get too close.

***
22:47 21 Feb

     They switched to a slow track, and Jack kind of shook himself out
of his trance and looked at me.  There was a question on his face.  I
looked at Kathy, who shrugged, and Amanda, who was absolutely no help at
all.  Then I looked back at Jack.  He had dropped to his knees on the
floor, and was silently begging.
     *I won't die from one slow dance,* I figured.  Besides, there'd
been plenty of times I'd gotten tossed off the instant the music slowed
past 90 beats a minute, and I never thought it was fair then.  And if I
danced with him, then he'd have to get off the floor and stop looking
like he was proposing marriage.  Not that any of this reasoning slowed
my heart any.  Haha, thudthudthudthud.
     I leaned over, and yelled in his ear, "Okay, but you get too fresh
and you won't make it out of here alive!"  That was probably a lie,
unless Debbie got back real soon.  He wouldn't live through the weekend,
though.
     He stood back up, without using his hands, and crossed his heart.
Then he held out his arms.  I sighed.  *Girl's night out,* I thought.
*Yeah, right.*

***
22:50 21 Feb

     I dunno where he learned it, but he was doing old-fashioned kind of
ballroom dancing, right there on the most modern of dance floors.  I
mean, I guess I was too, but it was his idea, and he was leading.
People were looking at us kind of funny, when I could see them over his
shoulder, but I saw at least two couples try and imitate him.
     If you'd asked me before I went in, I would have said I had no
idea, but when Jack lifted one of my hands up, I spun around on one
foot, twice, making the skirt flare out just enough, like I'd practiced
it, and was right in position to start dancing again when he lowered our
hands.  Kathy looked really impressed.  Maddog looked kind of peeved,
like Jack had challenged him.

***
22:52 21 Feb

     "You dance pretty well," he roared in my ear.  They'd brang the
beat back.
     "No I don't," I yelled back.  "I've only done this a couple of
times before."
     "No way!"
     "Way!  I mean, this is, uh..."  *Maybe it wouldn't be a good idea
to tell him this was my girlfriend's idea.*  "I haven't gone out much.
Tonight is, uh, it's my big sister's idea."  Oh, God, why did I keep
saying stupid things like that?  Because he was going to ask-
     "Oh, which one's your sister?"  And then, to keep all the stories
straight, I was gonna have to say...
     "She's not here right now, she had to go take care of something."
It was enough to make me wonder if, incredibly, they'd set me up somehow
for all this.  Or something.  Or maybe the booze was wearing off.

***
22:56 21 Feb

     Kim carefully poured a dollop or two out of a hip flask she'd
conjured into some orange juice.  When she handed me the cup, I didn't
wait long at all to drink it.  I'd hate to be caught with booze like
this, after all.

***
22:58 21 Feb

     "Come on, let's dance some more," Jack suggested as he took my arm.
     "But-"  Jill and Kim and Pam got up, along with Mike and Tony.  I
sighed.
     "So anyway," he asked as he herded me through the crowd, "when does
your sister get back?"
     "I wish I knew," I moaned.  I missed Debbie.

***
23:06 21 Feb

     "Oh, n-" I started as he twirled me around, and no lie, dipped me.
I was afraid that he was going to drop me, like Debbie had accidentally
one time she'd tried it, so I grabbed onto his shoulders desperately.
Then I was afraid he was going to kiss me.
     What he did, though, while I was staring at him and the ceiling,
and feeling like a mackerel on a hook, was he waggled his eyebrows at
me, and grinned.  For just a second, he looked like a blond Jim Carey.
That made me laugh so hard that when he swung me back up, I just bounced
off him and away.

***
23:16 21 Feb

     Pam and Mike were really going at it.  I wondered if she was going
to be breaking up with whuzizname on Monday morning.  Or maybe it
wouldn't last that long.  Todd Hennessey, that was who she was dating.
Officially, at the moment.
     "Wanna try that?" Jack asked, seeing where I was looking.  He
waggled his eyebrows when I looked back at him.
     I laughed some more, then said, "No."  Actually, I sort of screamed
it.
     He shrugged, and started dancing again.  I was glad he wasn't
taking it personally.

***
23:26 21 Feb

     They were playing something relatively slow, and sort of NIN'ish -
not the sort of thing you could dance slow to.  I thought.  But Jill
tapped me on the shoulder, and she started dancing real funky at me.  So
I figured she wanted me to do the same thing.  So I did, as best I
could.  I know I'd seen this in a movie somewhere, but I couldn't
remember which one.
     After a minute, the rest of the Pack, and the guys, just sort of
stopped, almost, and formed a circle around us, and watched.  I was
getting kind of embarrassed, but Jill kept going, and I wasn't going to
stop before she did.

***
23:30 21 Feb

     "I thought you didn't know how to dance," Jack yelled into my ear.
     "I don't!" I yelled back.  "I was just doing what she was doing!"
     He gave me a look which said, yeah right.

***
23:37 21 Feb

     "I SAID I'M TIRED AND I WANT TO SIT DOWN!" I screamed at him.
     Okay, he mouthed, and he took my arm and led me off the floor.

***
23:42 21 Feb

     "No I can't," I giggled.  This was getting seriously embarrassing.
I would have screamed at him, but he was just too funny.  So instead of
being able to stay serious, he'd make some kind of face and I'd lose it
again.  He'd done this before, I could tell.
     "Look," he told me, "I don't know why you put yourself down like
that, but you can really dance."
     "But-"
     "Can't you just take a compliment?  What is it with girls?" he
asked the ceiling.  "I bet you play the piano like Chopin, too."
     "I'm _trying_ to learn, I just can't yet!" I protested.

***
23:49 21 Feb

     "No, Linux has some good MIDI stuff, and you can get a lot of it
freeware or shareware."  Back on firm ground at last.
     He looked skeptical.  "What about Windows?"
     I snorted.  "Windows is for dorks who can't learn a real operating
system and can't afford a real Macintosh."
     "So a Mac would be okay?" he pressed.
     "Why, do you have one?"  He did, I could tell.  "I dunno if I
should be talking to you, my sister warned me about guys like you."
     "Oh yeah?"  He sounded skeptical.  He was just generally skeptical.
     "Yeah.  Expect everyone to smile when they wake up, for one thing."
He snorted.  "Thanks, I'm a big girl, I can handle ejecting my own
disks..."

***
23:54 21 Feb

     "Hey," said Maddog, "what're you doing later?" he asked all of us.
All of us looked at all of us.  Nobody had a real clear idea.  I had
this sneaking suspicion, though...

***
23:58 21 Feb

     "Let me go drop everyone else off at the party, okay?  Then I can
take the rest home, and then come back and pick you up."  Pam seemed to
perk up at the thought of driving.  Or maybe she was just waiting to dis
on someone in the privacy of the van.
     "So when are you going to be there?" Mike asked her.  And blushed.
     "Soon, soon," she said, and patted him on the hand.

***
00:12 22 Feb

     Maddog's garage apartment wasn't that far away from the dance
place.
     "Come on, what'cha waitin' for!" Jill said happily as she grabbed
my arm and pulled me along.
     "Has anybody heard from Debbie?" I asked.  They all shook their
heads.  Pam was so busy dissing on Todd that I hadn't been able to ask
her before she left to take the short-timers home.  The first casualties
of the "Girl's Night Out."

***
00:14 22 Feb

     "Interesting place," Kathy finally commented.
     It was.  There were posters and magazine cut-outs and postcards and
art and stuff literally covering the walls and ceiling.  It had some
beat-up furniture, mostly two couches, and it could have used a good
cleaning, except I for one wasn't gonna volunteer.
     "Rathole sweet rathole," Maddog said happily.  "Grab a seat, I
swear, everything's clean."

***
00:18 22 Feb

     "Quarters?" I asked, and everyone looked at me like I was stupid.
Again.  "Hey," I complained, "gimme a break!  Debbie doesn't let me out
of my cage a whole lot."
     Kathy snorted.  "And look what happened when she did."
     "No sweat," commented Jill, and snorted too.  Amanda just stared at
me some more.

***
00:20 22 Feb

     "No, she's drinking something besides booze," Kathy told Maddog.
"She's had enough for a while."
     They locked up on each other for about five seconds, then Maddog
realized that he wanted to enjoy the rest of his life, and submitted.
"Okay.  How about, uhhh.... orange juice?"  I nodded.  That would do
quite well.
     "Me too," Jill giggled.  She was quite happy, and quite wasted.

***
00:24 22 Feb

     "You're letting her play quarters?" Pam asked, eyeing me.
     Kathy told her, "We're keeping an eye on her."
     Jack closed one eye, opened the other one really wide, and pressed
it against my shoulder.  I complained.  Though it was kinda funny.

***
00:31 22 Feb

     I closed one eye, and fired.  Clink!  "Hah, two points!" I crowed.
"Jack takes one, Jack takes one, Jack takes one."  Jack took a drink.
And grinned at me.  And grabbed the quarter out of the glass, and
dropped a perfect bounce into the shot glass.
     "Forgot to close your eye!" Kathy mentioned, and Jack sighed, and
took another drink.  And grabbed the quarter again.  Clink!
     "Forgot to thank her!" Pam and Amanda hooted at the same time.
Amanda was beginning to loosen up.  Finally.
     Jack stared at them, then at his glass.  "I thhhhink," he said
slowly, "it's time to get the juice, I think.  'Scuse me."

***
00:39 22 Feb

     "Could I have some more vodka with this?" I pleaded with Kathy.
     "Why?"
     "'Cause I'm starting to get some common sense back."
     She thought about it for maybe two seconds, and waved Jack on.  He
started pouring, and Kathy and I said "Enough!" at the same time.  She
winked at me.  So did he.

***
00:41 22 Feb

     "Wait, wait, no way!" Kathy complained.  "If kissing's involved,
that means you guys too.  Meaning if we want two of you to kiss each
other, guy to guy, you have to do it too."
     They looked at each other for a minute, until Tony said, "No.  Pick
another rule."
     Maddog sighed.  "Okay, how about..."

***
00:46 22 Feb

     Amanda and I had the same urge at the same time, I guess.  But
since she was closer to the bathroom, she got it first.  Damnit.

***
00:49 22 Feb

     Jesus, she was taking a long time in there.

***
00:50 22 Feb

     "Jeeeez," I complained as I sailed past her and shut the door.

***
00:52 22 Feb

     I skipped working on my makeup in favor of giving anyone else a
chance.  When I came out, though, Amanda was still there, sort of
staring at herself in the mirror.  "Hey, whatsup?" I asked.  Then I
noticed the tears running down her face.  "Amanda?  What's wrong?" I
asked gently.
     She turned unsteadily towards me, and started to sob.

***
00:53 22 Feb

     I hoped Maddog wouldn't mind us sitting on his bed, as Amanda cried
onto my shoulder.  She wasn't making any sense, but I _had_ gotten
enough of a clue to not press things, so I just waited it out.
     Jack popped his head in, gave me a thumb's up, and shut the door.

***
00:56 22 Feb

     We switched places as I got some kleenex for her to blow her nose
with.  Well, I did, I guess.  I wanted to let my arm dry out.
     "It's just, I mean, everyone gets, I mean..."  she grabbed the
tissue out of my hand and blew.  Then she looked back up at me, tears
making several lines down her face.  "I mean, even you, the guys come up
to you, and they always make like I'm not even here!"  And she started
to really cry again.

***
00:59 22 Feb

     Someone opened the door, but I couldn't see who it was.  Amanda
didn't pay any attention, though.  I rocked her back and forth, like
Debbie had done for me enough times.  It seemed to be helping, a little.

***
01:02 22 Feb

     I sat back down next to her with another wad of kleenex.
     Johnny opened the door right as she was saying, "But NOBODY likes
me!"
     "I like you," he said, and walked into the bathroom, and shut the
door.
     Amanda turned around, and when she turned back, she'd stopped
crying and was staring at me.  "Did I hear that?  Did you hear that?"
she asked frantically.
     "That was Johnny," I patiently explained to her.  "He went to the
bathroom."
     "Oh, God, I thought I was hallucinating, I just... I mean, I..."
She turned to look at the bathroom door.  "Did he really say he liked
me?"
     "Yes he did," I confirmed.
     "But-"  She turned back to me, looking really confused.

***
01:03 22 Feb

     "Well, I mean, _I_ think you're pretty, and you're fun to talk to
from what I heard so far, and, everything," Johnny explained.
     "Really?" she asked, like she wasn't sure if she was hearing right
yet.  He nodded.
     This looked like the right time to take off.

***
01:04 22 Feb

     Somebody had started smoking while I was gone, and I hated it
immediately.
     "Want some fresh air?" Jack asked as I made for my coat.

***
01:06 22 Feb

     "I still wish they would open the windows or something," I
complained.  Even though it was about thirty degrees outside.
     "Yeah," he said absently.  Then he looked at me.  "So what was, uh,
Amanda upset about in there?"
     "Um..."  I debated explained the truth.

***
01:08 22 Feb

     "No, that was really nice of you to shut the door," I told him.
     "Yeah, well..."  He seemed kind of embarrassed.  "I don't want
everyone hearing me when I get that upset over something."
     "Me neither," I agreed.

***
01:10 22 Feb

     "Are you cold?" he asked me.  I guess the shivering gave it away. I
didn't want to tell him what I wanted to say, exactly, since he might
take all the cursing wrong, so I just nodded.  He held his overcoat
open.
     "Uh," I said.  Not like I was suddenly nervous or anything.  Haha.
     He shrugged.  "Want to go back in, then?"
     I sighed.  "I can't yet."  At his weird look, I explained, "I'm
allergic, sorta, to smoke."
     He held his coat open.  "Well, come on, it's not like I'm gonna
bite you or anything."
     "It's not biting I'm worried about!" I told him.
     He gave me a look.  "Come on, you can trust me.  Just to get warm."
     The shivering was getting seriously annoying, which was the only
reason I thought about it.  Plus I had some killer shoes with which to
slow him down if I had to.
     And everybody _had_ been telling me to go with the flow and similar
comments.
     "Okay," I said, "but just to get warm, okay?"
     "Didn't I say that?"

***
01:13 22 Feb

     I tried to think.  "I think that's Orion over there.  That and the
Dippers are the only ones I remember."
     "Me too."  He sighed.  "It's too bad you can't see more of 'em in
town."
     Pause.
     "Yeah."
     Pause.
     "You warm enough down there?" he asked me.
     I hate short jokes.  "Ha ha, very funny.  Yeah, it's getting
warmer."  Especially his arm across my shoulder.
     "You know," he said casually, "it'd be warmer if you put your arm
around me, 'n got a little closer.  Not like I'm trying to push it or
anything."
     I uncocked my foot when he didn't move at all after saying that.
"Welll...."  
     "You don't date much," he told me.
     I shook my head.  "Not really.  I'm only fifteen.  And 'Mom' is
pretty strict."  Actually Debbie's mom wasn't strict at all, as far as I
could tell, but it made a good excuse.
     He was silent for a second.  "Not that strict, if she let you stay
out this long."
     Oops.  "Uh, well..."  I shrugged.  I could thank Dad for that one.
Then I started to shiver, violently, all of a sudden.  This dress was
too cold.
     "Come on, Val, put your arm around my waist, unless you want to go
back inside."
     Put my arm around a guy, or risk an asthma attack.  I hated choices
like this.  Oh, or I could freeze to death too.
     After about fifteen seconds, he mentioned, "See?  It's warmer,
isn't it?" he pressed.
     "Yeah," I finally said.  I hadn't voluntarily been this close to a
guy in a dozen years, I think.  But it was warmer.
     Of course, if he tried anything, I was going to stab his foot to
death with these heels, and then call the Pack to kill him.  I kept
telling myself that as I tried to slow my breathing down.

***
01:16 22 Feb

     I must've been sleepier than I thought, because I was sort of going
to sleep standing up.  It had been a busy night, though.  And Jack
wasn't doing anything, either.  And it was warmer...
     "Valerie's got a boyfriend!" chorused several of the girls from the
top of the stairs.  Jack and I both jerked our heads up at the same
time.
     "Hey, w-" I started to protest.  Jack let go of me instantly,
though, which I was grateful for.  I pulled away from him and
reflexively prepared to defend my, hah, manhood.
     Before I could, Kathy said, "Come on back up.  We cleared the place
out, it's safe for you to come back up, okay?"
     "It would be warmer," said Jack.  Like I needed to be told twice.
Although my face was plenty warm right now.

***
01:17 22 Feb

     "I wasn't _doing_ anything!" I told Kathy frantically, "I was just
cold!"
     She shook her head.  "Debbie's gonna kill me," she moaned.  Then
she asked me quietly, "You didn't kiss him, did you?"
     "No!"  Then it hit me what time it was.  "Has _anyone_ heard from
her yet?"
     She gave me a look.  "Yeah, she came back about when you and Amanda
were talking.  You did- no, she went out when the smoking started, like
you did."
     "Well, where-"
     "Her and Lisa and Pam went outside to talk about something in
Lisa's car, they were out there for maybe twenty minutes.  Jill went to
get 'em."
     Jack said helpfully, "I thought you knew, when she went into the
bedroom to check on you."

***
01:18 22 Feb

     "Hi, Debbie!" I said gratefully as she came in the door, and gave
her a hug.  "I missed you," I whispered into her ear.  "How did it go?"
     She sighed, and shook her head.  "Bill's a twit.  But we got it
worked out, eventually."
     "Oh, great!  Uh, did you meet everybody yet?"  She nodded, and
walked over to a couch and plopped down.
     "So where's the party?" asked Lisa.  Maddog handed her the vodka
bottle and a glass.  She raised an eyebrow.

***
01:24 22 Feb

     "You were playing quarters?" Debbie asked me.
     "Ah... well, I never played before, so everyone was showing me how
it worked."  I scratched my ear.  Debbie didn't look too happy.
     "She's a good shot," Tony mentioned.

***
01:38 22 Feb

     Clink!  "Yessss," I hissed.  I seemed to have discovered a new
skill.
     "So what are you girls doing tomorrow night?" Tony asked as I was
making the proper noises with both thumbs against my nose.  "I mean,
tonight, Saturday night," he corrected himself.
     "I was thinking about going out with my boyfriend," Debbie replied
acidly.  I almost blew the second shot when she said that.

***
01:41 22 Feb

     "MAYBE," Debbie barked.  "We'll see, okay?"
     "Well, I'm going," said Jill defiantly.
     "Oh, your friends are invited too, okay?" said Mike.  "The ones
that went home already?"

***
01:45 22 Feb

     Clink!  "Debbie takes one, one for Debbie, Debbie takes one."
     Jack said, in sort of this dazed tone, "I thought you said you never
played this?"
     "I haven't," I protested.  "Must be something to do with all the
typing I do or something.  Maybe it's just beginner's luck?"
     "Don't play poker with her either," warned Jill.
     Debbie hooted like an owl twice, downed a shot glass in one go,
wiped her lip with the back of her hand, and said, "My, that's nice!"  I
passed her the quarter.  She was as good at this as I was.  Or maybe she
was playing to win.  A couple of people were playing to lose, it seemed.

***
01:54 22 Feb

     The ceiling had been getting more and more fascinating as the
evening wore on, and I was staring at it, trying to figure out why there
was a soap wrapper up there, when Debbie kicked my leg gently.  "Huh?"
     "Come on," she said, "we gotta get you home by two thirty tonight,
remember?"
     "Ah-"  She put a finger up to her face and mimicked wiping
something off.  "Oh yeah."  I didn't want to show up at my house dressed
like this, after all.  My dad would _not_ be impressed.

***
01:58 22 Feb

     "So are you going to come out tomorrow night?" Jack pressed.
     "I don't know!" I sighed at him.  "I'll see, okay?"
     "It'd be really cool if you could, is all I'm saying," he said,
sticking his hands in his pockets and staring at the driveway.
     I sighed again.  "I _promise_ I'll try, alright?"  He bobbed his
head in agreement.  Then he looked up at me with this sort of wild look
in his eye.
     "So can I get that kiss I've been waiting for all evening?" he
asked slyly.
     Bam, thudthudthudthud went my heart.  "What?"  He shrugged.  I
looked over at Jill, who gave me a thumbs up and a go-for-it.  Amanda
did the same thing before demonstrating on Johnny.  I looked back at
Jack, and started to blush a little bit.  Well, a lot.  I tried to
remember what they'd all said earlier tonight about this, but obviously
they all thought I should go for it.  "Oh-okay, b-but just one.  My
sister's watching, remember?"
     He nodded, then stepped close.  I took a deep breath, then closed
my eyes and pursed my lips.  He, on the other hand, grabbed me around
the waist, dipped me, again, and when I opened my mouth to scream for
Debbie, stuck his mouth over mine.  I'd reflexively wrapped my arms
around his neck when I started to go backwards, too, damnit.
     After a few seconds of exceptionally romantic liplock, I pulled
loose.  "Okay," I gasped, "enough, let me-"  He swung me up without
waiting for me to finish, then let go and stepped back.  He grinned.  I
tried to breathe, and wondered if I could just crudely screw Debbie in
the back seat on the way home.
     Debbie was right there, and she was going to say something, but he
raised his hat to her, and said something, and before I knew it, he was
doing the same thing to her that he had to me.  When she came back up,
she looked about as freaked as I felt.  Minus the guy-kissing-me part, I
think.
     "Hope to see you two ladies tomorrow night," he said as an exit
line, and walked off into the darkness.
     Debbie and I stared at him, then at each other.

***
02:03 22 Feb

     I waited, watching out the back window, until we were out of sight.
Apparently, Debbie was doing the same thing, because about the time I
turned to her, she started to say, "Whatthehe-"
     But she stopped when I put my arms around her and started kissing
the hell out of her.  After a few seconds, she started kissing me back
the same way.

***
02:07 22 Feb

     "Wait," Debbie called to Lisa, pushing me away.
     Lisa turned back and leaned through the driver's door.  "Deb, it's
okay, I just figured you two would like some privacy for a couple of
minutes, okay?"
     She winked at Debbie, who giggled.  "Lisa, God, you are the
greatest," Debbie said gratefully.
     "Definitely!" I added.  Lisa gave us a thumbsup, and shut the door.
Then I got back to molesting Debbie before she started molesting me.
     Actually, it was sort of mutual.

***
02:19 22 Feb

     I was so glad Lisa was understanding about Debbie and me.  I mean,
it's a rare friend who could pull over and let two of her friends make
out in the back of her car, and then just get back in when they were
done and take them home.  Except I had to change out of girl's clothes
first, of course.
     "No, I _swear_, that was the first kiss he did all night," I told
her.
     Lisa commented, "Must've been some kisser, the way you two both
were going at it."
     "He was," Debbie said, kind of abstractly.
     "Val?" Lisa asked after a minute.
     "He was," I had to agree.  "Almost got me to _like_ it."
     Pause.  Debbie gave me the evil eye in the silence.
     "D'you suppose," Lisa asked, "that he'd kiss me like that if we
went Saturday night?"
     "Better have a boyfriend ready," I said.
     "Or something," Lisa and Debbie said at the same time, and started
to laugh.

***
02:45 22 Feb

     Debbie and Lisa both had given me kisses about equal to Jack's,
except they were girls so I enjoyed it more.  Then I got out of the car
in front of my house, and waved at them until they disappeared.  Dad's
office light was on, which figured.
     I staggered up to the door, tired beyond belief, and fumbled the
keys out and opened the door.
     Dad was working on something, I guess doing his own crunch time.
Brian and a couple of his dork friends were watching a movie, but they
paused it when they saw me.
     "Eugene?" said my dad before the brats could say anything.  "How
did it go tonight?"
     "I got kidnapped by half a dozen girls tonight, remember Dad?"  I
grabbed on to the doorframe to keep from falling down.  "You said they
could keep me until this late.  Oh, God, I feel completely sucked dry."
     Dad's eyebrows almost made it to his receding hairline.  I heard
Brian spew coke all over the living room again.
     "Metaphorically speaking," I added, a little too late.

***
02:54 22 Feb

     *How could I have forgotten the panties?* I wondered as I pulled
them off.  *I _must_ be tired.*

***

"Adult language: responsibility, personal accountability, honesty..."


TS Tip #14: Skirts are cooler in summer, especially when used to channel
the A/C up to your underwear.  Do not get caught doing this - it's rude.


"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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