-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

Tuck A Picture -*- Copyright 2003 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 Picture


***
09:25 14 Sep

     I woke up enough to yawn and roll over in bed.  There was a murmur
of conversation, but nothing that concerned me, so I ignored it and
snuggled up to the body next to me.  *Kathy,* I decided after a while,
and went back to sleep.

***
11:18 14 Sep

     "Sweetheart?"
     I went back to sleep smiling and warm.

***
11:19 14 Sep

     "Darling?"
     "Mmmm?"  Sabrina smelled nice, I decided, as I went back to sleep.

***
11:20 14 Sep

     "Aren't you going to get up?"
     "Nnn," I sighed, and went back to sleep.

***
11:22 14 Sep

     Reveille blasted me awake and out of bed and Mike ran for the
stairs and out the back door into the rain and over the back fence and
through the neighbor's yard and over the other fence and across the
street before I gave up.
     As I gave up, and Mike cautiously slowed to a stop about fifteen
meters away, I decided I was glad that it didn't seem like these folks
were home today, or paying attention if they were.
     I was also glad I'd worn scrubs to bed, since that's what I was
wearing now.

***
11:25 14 Sep

     Mike didn't seem inclined to follow me as I tightrope-walked my way
along the fence to our back yard and jumped into it.  A couple of the
girls were on the back porch, and looked up as I stood back up.
     "Where's Mike?" Jill asked.
     "I killed him, his body's back there somewhere," I lied as I jerked
a thumb over my shoulder.
     "Remind me not to wake you up like that," Julia grinned.
     "Why did you spazz so bad?" Jill asked.
     "Many years of training," I sighed.  Dad was a complete asshole
when he felt like we needed it.

***
11:31 14 Sep

     "I'm hungry!" Mike protested.
     "You're an asshole!" I countered.
     "I'm a hungry asshole!  Let me in!"  I continued to try to close
the front door.  Opening it had been a mistake, one I was trying to fix.

***
11:36 14 Sep

     "Uhhh," I grumbled at the stove.  It didn't reply, which I was glad
for.  "What am I fixing today?"

***
11:57 14 Sep

     "Wait, why am _I_ cooking?" I protested when I figured it out.  I
was not at the top of my form yet; I had a tendency not to be when
awakened abruptly.  Besides, it had felt too much like babysitting
mornings for me to think something was wrong before now.
     "You're being a good host," Amanda giggled.
     "What?  Why?"
     "Because you love us," Kathy told me.
     "Oh."  I could have argued, but it was Kathy.
     "Madly in love with all of us," Jill laughed.
     I grumbled incoherently and went back to the waffle iron.

***
12:21 14 Sep

     "I want a shower, I'm stinky," I complained, and lurched off
towards the upstairs bathroom.

***
12:30 14 Sep

     I needed to change my sheets anyway, so I took the fresh top sheet
and wrapped it around my body toga-style before going back downstairs.
I just didn't feel like getting dressed yet.
     "Man, I need to move in here," Amanda smiled as I came into the
dining room.  Somehow, it seemed as though they'd restrained Mike from
eating before I got back.  I'm not sure how, and I was glad I didn't
know.
     "Me too!" Jill agreed.
     "Great idea!" I said.  "Come on and help me toss all Brian's stuff-
No, wait, your parents would notice you stopped coming home after a few
weeks.  We'll move him into your old place."
     We all laughed for a bit as I sat down and we started to eat.
     And eat.
     "This is really good," Kelly said after a while.  "How come you
always go out for breakfast if you can do this?"
     "Because, if I go out I don't have to cook it," I said.  "AND I AM
NNOOTT," I emphasized, "CLEANING UP!  We have rules about that."
     "We'll get it, jeez," Kathy waved me off.  "Don't freak out."
     I told Kelly, "And when I eat out, I also never have to worry about
cleaning up afterwards."  She nodded absently, and had some bacon.

***
12:44 14 Sep

     "Oh, shit," I sighed, "I gotta go to the store today, to get
groceries, and fix something for Sunday dinner...  And where's Rachel?"
     The girls laughed, which didn't please me.
     "Um," Pam said first, "we woke up earlier than you, and we were
talking a bit-"
     "Dana came back, we were talking with her," Amanda interrupted.
     "When Brian came down," Kathy continued, "and he said he needed
some stuff for his new cat?"
     "Ohhhhh!" cooed Amanda, who was merely the first to do so.
     I sat back and waited; commenting on the cat was apparently going
to take a while.

***
12:45 14 Sep

     When the cooing and awwing died down enough, I prompted, "And what
about Brian?"
     "So Dana said she'd take him to a store," Amanda finished.  "That
was when Rachel left too, she said to say thanks and asked if she could
come back tonight?"
     "I said yes," Mike inserted, and I nodded at him.
     "Wait, didn't Brian spazz?" I suddenly realized.  That should have
woken me up before Mike did.
     "Luckily," Pam explained, "we were all dressed, so we said that
Mike had let us in, and you were still upstairs.  So he doesn't know we
slept over..."
     I looked around the table; everyone except Mike was still in their
sleepwear.
     "We changed back," Kathy didn't explain.
     "It's a Sunday morning thing," Kim said.
     "Oh," I nodded.  That made perfect sense.
     "What?" Mike complained.

***
12:51 14 Sep

     I had to go back and make some more waffles, since there were nine
of us and I was only used to cooking breakfast for maybe five; plus,
Mike and Kathy both ate a lot.  More than three third-graders, anyway.

***
12:56 14 Sep

     "Oh, man, I am like SO stuffed," Jill smiled as she moved past me
with her mess gear and dumped it in the sink and started washing stuff.
"That was GREAT!"
     "Hey, thanks," I smiled back.
     "We need to come over here every weekend," Pam giggled.
     "Sounds good to me," I agreed, and lifted the top of the waffle
iron.  *Not quite done,* I decided, and put it back down.
     "Are my seconds ready yet?" Kathy demanded.
     I smiled femininely at her and cooed, "Almost, dear.  I know how
much you LOVE to eat."
     "And you know how much I LUUUUVVV your cookin', darlin'," she
drawled as she came over and hugged the breath out of me.
     That shouldn't have made me scream, though.
     A second later, I realized the scream had come from Brian, because
he was standing in the kitchen doorway with Dana visible behind him.
"Oh NO!" Brian shrieked as he saw Jill doing the dishes and Kim and
Kathy standing there, all of them obviously changed from party-wear into
sleepwear and showing no signs of leaving.  "No!" he screamed at Dana as
he whirled, "No you CAN'T!"
     "I think he's jealous," Kathy commented.
     "I think he's lost his mind," I countered.  Yelling at someone who
would be sticking needles into your flesh was a bad thing to do, over
the long term.
     "What's his problem?" Amanda asked as she poked her head back in.
     Dana caught my eye and ordered, "Go put some clothes on," before
turning her attention back to Brian.
     "As soon as I get done cooking!" I yelled over Brian.  "You want
anything?"
     I got three fingers in return, and figured I might as well do a few
for Brian too; maybe that would shut him up for a few minutes.

***
13:14 14 Sep

     "Why are you wearing a bedsheet?" Dana asked.
     "Well, like they said," I answered, before I remembered Dana wasn't
here for that, "the girls I mean, it's just sort of a Sunday morning
thing.  I'm still sleepy, I don't have to get up quite yet, so after I
showered, I put a set of clean sheets on my bed - like I do about twice
a week now; ask Sabrina - and just took the top sheet off and used that,
since it was clean."  The girls who were still in the dining room
nodded; Mike just shrugged.
     Brian complained, "He was ugghgk!" and flailed about in agony.
     "Ooops, sorry," Kathy said insincerely.

***
13:22 14 Sep

     "So what ARE you fixing for dinner?" Amanda asked.
     "What?  You JUST ate!"
     "I'm a GROWING girl!" she emphasized before she started laughing.
     "Yeah, what are you fixing?" Mike inquired.
     I said sourly, "A lot, I think.  What did you guys want, anyway?" I
succumbed.

***
13:26 14 Sep

     The doorbell rang, but before I could get up and get it, Julia
opened it with a faint but cheerful, "Hello!"
     The paroxysm told me it was George, and I thought I'd heard Dan say
something too.  "Were the rest of the guys coming over this afternoon?"
I asked Mike.
     "Uh, I guess," he said as we both got up.  "They're here now,
anyway."
     "Thanks Mike; I couldn't figure that one out myself."

***
13:41 14 Sep

     "Four bucks a load for laundry," I offered, since there was no way
I could do it myself today; there was a LOT of stuff I had to do.
     Jill asked incredulously, "Are you serious?"
     "Oh yeah."
     "I'll do it," Brian said, glaring at Jill.
     "Brian gets it, he lives here," I apologized to Jill.  "Rules."
     Jill sighed deeply.
     "You could vacuum," I mentioned.

***
13:57 14 Sep

     "If I wasn't right there," Dana said to me as she waited for the
light to change.  I didn't normally need someone to drive me to the
store, but I didn't normally need to replenish the alcohol supply
either.  "I would not have believed it."
     "What?" I asked.  "Jill needs the money; she's trying to get a
motorcycle so she can be mobile like the rest of us.  I guess the rest
of them wanted the money too."
     She just shook her head.

***
15:39 14 Sep

     "Oh, thanks, guys, I really appreciate this," I lied.  When Mike
and some others - I'd no idea who he took - had gone out to get a new
towel rack for the bathroom, apparently they'd also found the frilliest
apron in town, and bought it.  Or they'd stolen it from a costume shop.
     "You'll look cute in it," Kathy smiled at me.
     "I am NOT wearing heels and pearls with this!"

***
15:41 14 Sep

     Dana just silently shook her head at me.
     "Not like they bothered to ask ME or anything," I reminded her.
"And it was partially Mike's idea anyway."  I chuckled.  "Did anyone
tell you why James was here baking cookies?"
     "James?  No..."

***
16:18 14 Sep

     "What the..."
     "Hi Mom!" I said, surprised, as I looked up.  I'd thought the door
opening was one of the girls coming back in.  "How was it?"
     "What the HELL?" Mom gaped at me.
     "Oh isn't it DARLING?" Pam got out before she, Amanda, and Julia
had giggle fits.  I just shrugged and sighed.

***
16:35 14 Sep

     I had finally realized just how pissed Mom was when she had ordered
Dad to ignore the GEAR - the proper order was toilet, gear, and only
then could you consider your other problems like not having bathed for a
week or two, or any remaining leeches - and come up to the Interrogation
Room with her, me, Dana, and Mike.
     Then the interrogation began.
     And continued.  And continued.  And went on, and on, and on...
     "All night?"
     "We weren't doing anything!" Mike and I said at the same time. "She
was here!" I mentioned, pointing at Dana.
     Mom looked at Dana, who started explaining, as Dad just watched and
listened and exercised his eyebrows at the weirder stuff.  I was
beginning to think that perhaps the key to getting away with more stuff
was to simply do it in batches all at one time, because Mom was looking
more confused, and importantly less angry, with every minute and every
thing that had happened.
     I was also glad for the review; I'd already forgotten or blocked
out some stuff.
     A knock on the door stopped everything.
     "Come in!" I yelled, and Pam pushed the door open.
     "Uh, what did you want to do with the squash?" she asked me.
     "Oh yeah, I gotta get that," I said, and got up.

***
16:41 14 Sep

     "Dinner ready yet?" Mike asked.
     "How did YOU get out of there?" I asked back as I turned around.
     He grinned at me.  "Your mom just gave up.  Said she couldn't take
any more."
     "What?  MY mom?!"  He modded.  "Oh, crap, she's having a stroke or
something."
     "I'm not going to complain," he grinned some more.
     "Come to think of it..."  She had plenty of brains to spare, and
she didn't need all that temper anyway.
     Mike nodded agreement at me.

***
17:46 14 Sep

     "Dinner ready yet?"
     "Sod OFF, Mike!" I complained.  "Jeez, you get free-"
     "Shut up a minute," he suggested as he grabbed me and put his hand
over my mouth.  "Kim and I have been reviewing the tap records?" he said
discretely into my ear.
     "MmmnmmHMM-"
     "You still haven't changed your door code.  Don't worry, I didn't
tell her what it was."
     "Mmmhmm.  Mmm?"
     "And," he said as he let go of me, "nothing on the car, but we
think we have some idea of who did, uh, that Friday thing."
     I prompted again, "And?"
     "And we're waiting to hear some intent," Mike sighed.  "Which we
haven't, yet.  I wasn't the only one on acid that night, I just had the
worst reaction because I didn't know about it and I'd never taken it
before."
     "Shit," I complained.

***
18:04 14 Sep

     "A garden-fresh salad with representatives from a third of the
produce section, a lovely roast beast, sauteed mushrooms and onions,
fresh lemon asparagus, baked potatoes, fresh green beans, egg foo young,
broccoli and sauce, a sort of squash and zucchini thing..."  I'd missed
something.
     "The chicken lasagna," Pam mentioned.
     "That's more of a casserole," I disputed, though it did have a lot
of lasagna elements in it.  "And, fresh baked chocolate cookies for
dessert!"
     "Again?" Kathy whined, and got an elbow from George.
     I closed my eyes hurriedly so I wouldn't have to see the carnage,
and commanded, "EAT!"

***
20:18 14 Sep

     "Dear god," Mom sighed, when I couldn't think of anything else that
had happened that weekend.
     "Did we miss a week?" Dad asked Mom, I think rhetorically.
     "Oooh, yeah," I said, "I forgot about the time machine we built."
     "How many times do I have to tell you darned kids," Dad snarled,
"not to go mucking around with time travel because you-"
     "Bill, stop," Mom ordered, and Dad stopped.  "Eugene..."
     Pause.
     Longer pause.
     "Yes Mom?" I dared.
     "That was a good dinner," Dad said, sounding reasonable, and Mom
glared at him.  "And it's nice to hear that you got along so well with
your brother this weekend."
     "Aw, thanks, Dad, but I couldn't have done it myself."
     "EUGENE," Mom insisted.
     "Yes Mom?"
     Pause.
     "I think I need another vacation," she finally sighed as she
collapsed backwards onto their bed.
     I managed not to shout 'Hurrah!' and dance about, but it hurt to
restrain it, and Dad glared at me.

***
21:39 14 Sep

     "How was your weekend?" Travis asked, and I started to laugh.

***
02:17 15 Sep

     I really could have done without that apron; it hadn't done
anything for the quality of the nightmares tonight.  Or their coherence.
     As I sat down to write it up in the nightmare log, I decided I'd
also better take down some notes about what happened this weekend after
I'd seen Sheila, since there was no way I was going to remember it all
next weekend.
     "Oh, god," I moaned, when I realized that there was another weekend
coming in just five days.  "I don't think I can handle another one like
that!"  I didn't think anyone else could either.

***
06:59 15 Sep

     Kim pointed at Shannon as she came in, and announced, "See?  SHE
took it like a man this morning!"
     I thought I was gonna die laughing, and when I was gasping for more
air I thought Jill might follow me across.  We both fell off our chairs
at the same time too, which was - like I needed it - even funnier.

***
07:57 15 Sep

     "Did this weekend happen?" George asked.
     "Man, don't PULL that shit," Mike complained.
     "What?"
     "I had nightmares too, all night last night," Mike sighed as he
rubbed his hair.  "Weird ones."
     "Oh, you think yours were weird?" I challenged.

***
11:34 15 Sep

    We were almost at the gaming area when I caught Dan signaling
frantically at us.  *Ambush?  Uh oh-*  I went left and Mike went right;
Dan signaled right, so I went towards the gaming area to drop my pack
off.
     The yelling started before I could secure my laptop and get back.
     I extended out sideways and came in from the rear quarter of a
couple of goons, who seemed to be complaining about Friday night.
     *Uh oh...*
     "Well, you know," Mike said calmly, though I could tell he was
afraid, "I've never freaked out like that before.  It's almost as if...
as if someone had slipped me something," he said like he'd just figured
that out, with a finger snap.
     "That's no fuckin' excuse," snarled one, "you fucking hit Joanna
an' left bruises, man," and they moved closer.
     "Hey," Mike said a bit louder as he backed up a couple of steps,
"I'm real sorry, and if you want she can come over here and I'll
apologize to her, but it wasn't like I was doing it on purpose."
     "Oh yeah?  What the hell were you on, freak?" asked the other one.
     "Beats me," said Mike, staring back at the second guy.  "Somebody
must've slipped me something, because I didn't take anything _I_ knew
of.  You hear anything like that?" he challenged.
     "Don't give me any BULLshit, freak," the second snarled, pushing
Mike as he emphasized 'bull'.  Mike stepped back and got the guy's hands
off him.
     "Kick his fucking ASS!" shrieked some girl I didn't know, who had
wandered up.  "He fucking HIT me!"
     "I'm sorry!" Mike said to Joanna.
     "SORRY?!" she shrieked.  "YOU'RE sorry you-" and she slapped at
him, which Mike blocked easily.
     "Hey now-" Mike said as he took another step back, hands up in
front of him with palms out trying to gesture for restraint, but she
tried to punch him this time.  Mike blocked that but almost missed the
kick, had to do something hasty to keep his kneecap on his leg, and
ended up dumping her on the floor.  Which, thankfully, shut her up for a
few seconds; she hadn't stopped frothing.  She swiped at him again with
another kick, he dodged and nailed her in the kidney, which made her
scream; one of the guys lept at Mike, cursing him; and then I jumped
into things and it got really confused.

***
11:39 15 Sep

     "-And your little fucking faggot friends!"
     "You're just after me 'cause I look like the nine year olds you
usually rape," I shot off, which was probably a mistake in the long
term.  On the other hand, in the short term I fell on my back when he
yanked loose and charged me, and got a foot into his crotch.  As I
breakdanced upright again, he went down, and stayed there.

***
11:45 15 Sep

     I wished I could be like Dobson and take a lunch break during
lunch, and get the hell out of school, but on the other hand I'd even
more rather be like Dad and not have to come here at all.  Ah well.
     "Detention, all of you," Mrs. Prilchard said, "a week's worth, for
fighting."
     The appeals started immediately; I just had to make sure to convert
mine to a Saturday or two.
     Then again, considering the weekend I'd just had, I might be safer
and get more rest in detention.

***
11:54 15 Sep

     "Because, I babysit, and I have to pick up a baby around
two-something," I explained.  "It's not fair to the lady that employs
me, so-"
     "Well, you should have thought of that before you started
fighting," she smirked sadistically, like I knew she was going to.
     "I didn't start, they did," I inserted quickly, "BUT, what I was
thinking was, I could have a Saturday detention instead?  Since I WAS
fighting," I expanded.
     That seemed to stun her.  I wished it had really stunned her; she
might have lost her short-term memory, not having the chance to write it
to storage, and then we'd all have gotten off.  But that didn't seem to
be the case, because she recovered in a few seconds.  "If that's what
you'd rather do, then two Saturdays."
     I sighed, but there wasn't much to do about it.
     *Except maybe kick her in the head REALLY quick, before-*
     *Nah,* I decided.  *Too risky.*  I might end up killing her
accidentally, and there was no way I could sneak her body out, even with
help, before Dobson got back from lunch or someone else got suspicious.

***
11:58 15 Sep

     "Two Saturdays," I sighed as I sat back down and started unlocking
my computer to check it out.  I hurt.
     "Man," Mike sighed.  "How's the nose?" he asked Kelly.
     She winced, and then wiggled it some, and nodded.  "Just bloody,"
she decided.  Kim handed her some more tissues.
     I hurt an awful lot.
     Mike sighed, and said, "Let's just blow off today, and play
tomorrow, and Wednesday for you carpets."
     There was some grumbling, but nobody really argued.  I don't think
anyone was really in the mood to play at that point.

***
15:07 15 Sep

     "What happened to YOU?" Ricky gasped as he looked at me.
     "Huh?"
     "You're all bruised and stuff!"
     "Oh, yeah.  Had some problems this weekend," I simplified
enormously.  I was very glad I wasn't seeing Travis until tomorrow
night; I was going to have to wear long sleeves anyway.

***
15:39 15 Sep

     Homework just did not interest me today, so I was playing with
Stella instead.  "Hooba-hoo, hooba-hoo," I cooed as I swayed back and
forth.
     "AHHHHHHH!" Stella screamed excitedly as she twitched and then fell
down.
     I had to rub some tears out of my eyes; whatever note she'd hit had
made my eyes water.

***
17:36 15 Sep

     "Oh my god!" gasped Miz Parker, "what HAPPENED?"
     "Huh?  Oh, I made spaghetti tonight, and Stella thought she wanted
to try the sauce," I explained, and wiped some more off my face.  "So we
had some spaghetti sauce.  And, in case you didn't know, spaghetti sauce
makes these beautiful red marks when you smear it around.  And it blows
real good too, like spray paint."
     "Oh... I see," she said, now looking like she was fighting giggles.
"Um, where's Ricky?"
     "He was laughing so hard, I told him to go inside the house before
he choked to death," I sighed.
     It hadn't seemed like such a bad idea when I thought of it.  And
Stella had most CERTAINLY enjoyed her dinner tonight.  I was just glad
it was still (barely) warm enough to do this outside.

***
20:09 15 Sep

     "What happened to your ear?" Mom asked.
     "Huh?"
     She pulled me closer and inspected my ear.  "You've got blood
crusted in there," she said.
     "Blood?!  Ohhh," I breathed when I figured it out.  "That's
probably some more sauce..."  My heart was still spinning in place, but
it was slowing down.
     "From what?  And how did you get it in your ear?"
     "Stelll-"  I sneezed, which startled the kitten out of the kitchen.
     "Benadryl?" Mom suggested as she went for the kitchen pharmacy.
     "Hoooyah," I agreed, wiping my nose.  "And some Tylenol, a bottle,
please.  I need it for school."  I answered the question she was going
to ask next by pushing up the sleeves on my overshirt to show her.

***
20:12 15 Sep

     "I also got two Saturday detentions today, for fighting," I
admitted.  "Mike apparently hit some bimbo when he-"
     "Eugene," Mom warned.
     "Well, she was stupid enough not to accept his apology, AND she
tried to jump him, even when her boyfriend didn't, so I think that
disqualifies her from the brain trust, ya know?"
     Mom sighed at me.
     "She went after Mike," Dad speculated, "and you went after her?"
     "Me?  Hit a girl?"  Everyone indicated their amusement at that
whopper.  Even Dad had agreed it was okay to hit a girl BACK, after he'd
lived with Susan for a few years.  Mom, having grown up with her own
sisters, had never had problems at all with the concept.  "No, she went
for Mike, he tossed her down, her boyfriend went after Mike, and that's
when I got involved.  I'm not too sure what happened after that."
     "Any friendly fire casualties?"
     "Don't think so," I said slowly.  "Not from me.  I don't think.  It
really was hard to tell, though..."  Not having eyeballs on my elbows,
it was sometimes hard to figure out who I was spearing with them.
     Dad shook his head, but before he could dispense some bit of
pseudo-Sun Tzu, Mom did her remote control thing and shut off his mouth
with a glance.  I wished I could do that.

***
02:32 16 Sep

     How the hell they all had knives, I would never figure out, but
they did, apparently, because as I recoiled from the first strike, which
was the guy behind me shoving one into my kidney as I sat at my desk
taking a test, some girl pulled another one out and tried to slice off
my nose.  I dodged that, but then they were all coming after me as I
scrambled away, my back aching dimly even through the adrenaline rush,
and the door was locked and then I felt the cold steel slice-
     "NAAHHHHHH!"

***
06:56 16 Sep

     "How come you always look so damned fresh and awake just before
class?" Kim complained.
     "Because I wake up screaming four fucking hours before I have to be
here," I snarled back.  And today had HURT, too.
     "And in such a good mood, too," Jill quipped.  "What was this one?"

***
10:42 16 Sep

     I didn't have any idea who did it, but someone kicked my leg as I
was putting it down, walking along, and I stumbled and ended up falling
hard, what with twisting around to protect the laptop.  Of course I
managed to slam the case into my chest, which probably hurt me more than
it did the computer.  At least, that's what I was hoping as I lay there,
gasping for breath, as the crowd flowed around me.

***
10:44 16 Sep

     "I mean, I desperately need more bruises at this point," I grumbled
to Mike as I sat down at my desk.  A vague memory prompted me to scan
the classroom, but I didn't see anything worthy of the fear I had.
*Stop it,* I told myself.  *Even these idiots wouldn't be dumb enough to
try something in a classroom, in front of so many witnesses.*
     "Oh, man," Mike sighed, and shifted like he had a few bruises
himself, in a spot that was not compatible with sitting, especially in a
hard desk.  "And we got Field Day this Friday."
     "Yeah, don't remind me," I sighed back.

***
11:31 16 Sep

     As we packed up, Mike said, "Hey, Tuck?  I think it'd be a good
idea if me and Kim came over and checked on the phone logs again today.
The two of them build up a lot, and you don't have that much disk
space."
     "Damn..."  He was right; I barely had a couple gigs free lately.
"But I gotta sit-"
     "I got the door code," he reminded me, which reminded me again that
I had to change that sometime, and the sooner the better.  Now, I wished
I hadn't gone so far as to make it a PROM, even though that insulated
the data somewhat from the electrical discharge; it was harder to blow a
new PROM than it would have been to just type in a new code from the
back, or something like that.
     "Yeah, okay, just tell Dad- well, tell him something," I amended.
Dad was happier not knowing all that went on, because then he could tell
Mom that he didn't know anything about it, on the rare occasions we got
caught or something really backfired.  Not to mention the inability of
the police to crack the truth under interrogation; it was way harder
than catching a lie.  "'Cause he'll want to know what you two are doing
there in my room."
     "What?" Sabrina asked, sounding overly fascinated.
     "Um," Mike and I said at the same time.

***
12:22 16 Sep

     "Maybe we could do Quake, too," Mike said as we started to pack up.
     "That is an EXCELLENT idea," George said.  "How?"

***
14:22 16 Sep

     Definitely long skirts and long sleeves today, I decided as I
slowly moved into Rachel's closet; I looked like I was wearing tie-dye
long johns.  The greenish bruises always seemed the worst to me, though;
it always looked like I was starting to turn into a zucchini or
something.  At least to me it did.
     Luckily I had plenty of Tylenol in my pack; if it wasn't for that,
or something similar, I'd have taken my chances at Dana's today.  And
makeup was really a useful tool to cover the facial marks; it just hurt
like hell to put it on.

***
14:38 16 Sep

     "Ahh!  You don't REALLY have to kick me there," I informed Stella.
     Naturally, she kicked me again, there.
     The third time she did it, I lost patience and flicked her ear.  "I
mean it, STOP."
     After that, it was a race between her, to see how many times she
could kick me, and me, to see whether I could strap her into her car
seat and thus immobilize her before my endurance ran out and I broke her
little sappy neck.
     I won, I thought, but not by much.

***
16:12 16 Sep

     "I have to install Quake on my laptop why?" I asked.
     "Duh!" Mike griped.

***
16:33 16 Sep

     "By gum," I said in amazement.  They really had gotten a LAN
together (again) to practice, and at my house too.  Well, that answered
what I was going to be doing for a while.  Not that I'd asked.  "Hey
Ricky!" I called.  "Come watch!"

***
17:19 16 Sep

     "Uh oh," I gasped as I rechecked my watch.  "Dinner!"
     "Aw man!" Ricky complained as I logged out and started
disconnecting immediately so I could pack up and lock up the laptop so I
could go cook dinner, which was due Way Too Soon.

***
19:18 16 Sep

     "We never did see Spawn," I reminded Travis with a smile.
     "You want to see that?"
     "It's got nifty FX!"

***
20:24 16 Sep

     We'd ended up at a Taco Bell with a newspaper, eaten dinner there
while discussing what movie to see, and eventually ended up un-deciding
and going back to his place to talk, cuddle, and et cetera.  Which was
surprisingly fine with me; I hadn't remembered, or I'd blocked it out,
how much being in pain could make me tired.  About all I was good for
right now was light conversation and shell scripting.  Maybe Perl if I
concentrated really hard.
     "It was just really hard," I sighed as I wriggled a bit closer.
His warmth helped ease the aches.  I guessed a hot bath would work too,
but that wouldn't have been as nice as snuggling.  "Lotta stuff; I think
I pulled most of my muscles Sunday morning, and-"
     "How'd you do that?" he asked.
     "Chasing Mike.  He woke me up..."

***
20:26 16 Sep

     He ended up shaking his head, and muttered, "You are completely
insane."
     "Yeah, well..."  I didn't feel like arguing, and I couldn't think
of something witty to come back with, so I just gave up and nestled my
face against him.  At least my face didn't hurt too much.

***
20:36 16 Sep

     The knocking at the door scared me awake.
     "Oh god," Travis complained.
     "Oh no," I seconded, falling back into a sullen half-coma.  *Those
assholes...*
     Those assholes came in and were all cheerful and energetic and
worst of all, extroverted.

***
20:44 16 Sep

     "I'm just gonna go home and sleep," I said wearily into his chest.
     "What?" he rumbled.
     I pulled my head off, blindly aimed my mouth up towards his head,
and repeated it.
     "Are you sure you're okay?"
     "Just tired."  *Fucking exhausted and heavily bruised.*  "How about
Friday?"
     "Wanna do something with the guys?" he asked hopefully.
     I held my mouth shut, and just nodded.  It was easier to lie like
that.  Right now, I'd cheerfully murder the lot of them, as long as I
didn't have to work too hard at it.  Poison, maybe.

***
21:18 16 Sep

     "Didn't I get rid of you after the party?" I mentioned to Mike,
George, Kelly, Paul, James, Amanda, Kim, Sabrina, Anne-Marie, and Sally,
who were all in my house.
     "Your dad said he liked us more than he liked you, so he's trading
you in for us," Mike said with a straight face.
     "ALL of you?  Good luck fitting in my room," I shot back.
     "Eyuch," Sabrina commented.  "That rathole?"
     "Rat CAVE," I corrected.

***
21:39 16 Sep

     "Oh, crap, Field Day is Friday," I realized suddenly.  "Well, maybe
Travis and I can celebrate or something..."  At least I ought to avoid
more damage and bruises with the events we had signed up for.  Hearts
wasn't a full-contact game, after all.  Usually.  By Hoyle rules it
wasn't, anyway...

***
03:20 17 Sep

     Well, great.  In addition to the two Saturday detentions I already
had, I was going to 'get' special therapy sessions, Sunday this weekend
and Friday night the next.  Just, I suppose, in case standing in some
don't-move line at school and trying to avoid the worms wriggling out of
other people's ears to get to mine, wasn't bad enough.  I hated small
leechlike things that tried to chew their way into my brain, I really
did.

***
06:53 17 Sep

     "What's up with you?" I asked Jill, who looked unusually sweaty for
this time of the morning.
     "Been running," she said, and grinned at me.  "I'm gonna kick ass
Friday."
     "It's really disgusting," Kim said, "how well she's doing."
     "Five fifteen!" Jill said excitedly, which took me quite a while to
figure out what she meant.
     "For a mile?  That's great!  I think I could manage eight minutes
if someone was chasing me."
     I shouldn't have said that, because she started chasing me.

***
11:31 17 Sep

     "I can't believe you all got detention," Sabrina mentioned in
disbelief as we got up.  "What were you thinking?"
     "It's the Musketeer thing - all for one and one for all," Mike
explained patiently, which sort of overrode my 'Duh!'.  I was glad.
"If," Mike continued, "people mess with one of us, they end up messing
with all of us.  And five geeks is something that even the football
linemen will think twice about attacking."
     "Only five geeks?" Sabrina asked, glancing dubiously at Amanda.
     "Hey!" Amanda complained.

***
16:22 17 Sep

     "You got detention, and do your homework there," I said, holding
the phone in place by crooking my head, "whereas I get to come here and
wipe poop off a baby's butt."
     "For money," Mike added.
     "Nuh UH, no WAY," George insisted, and several others agreed.
     "Who asked ya?"

***
20:09 17 Sep

     "Jeezus!  Get out of my house!" I complained.
     The younger ones looked uncertainly at the older ones; two of the
older ones flipped me off while the rest just ignored me.  Then I
sneezed.  And again.  When I came up, I found that Kim was cuddling the
kitten.  "Aw, jeez!" I complained, and dashed for the kitchen to douse
myself in antihistamines before I started itching too.

***
20:11 17 Sep

     The basement light looked to be on, so I went to go see what was
going on down there if anything, and turn the light off before Mom
bitched at me to turn it off.  When I got down the stairs, I heard
voices coming from the workshop.
     Dad, to my shame and horror, had Kelly and Sally down there, and he
was showing them the logic analyzer.
     "This is very nice!" Sally said excitedly, and I couldn't stand it
any more and ran back upstairs.
     *What is the world coming to?*

***
02:17 18 Sep

     Everyone was there in my house, even the cheerleaders, and I
couldn't get Mom or Dad or even Brian to pay attention - when I tried to
whack Brian with a stick, some footballer intercepted it, yanked it out
of my hands, and handed it to Brian, who just put it away and kept
talking sports - and it went on like that until I ended up crying in my
bed and squeezing Travis' bear.  Alone.

***
06:04 18 Sep

     "You're making breakfast again?"
     I turned around and answered Mom, "Yeah."
     "Nightmares?" she confirmed sympathetically, and came over to give
me a hug without waiting for me to answer.
     "Nasty ones," I said into her hair, and hung on for a long time.

***
06:19 18 Sep

     "I thought Dad was taking me?" I asked Mom.
     "Dad had to do something at the shop this morning," Mom informed
me.  She didn't look all that pleased about it either.
     "So you're scamming the day off instead of him," I grinned.
     Mom emitted a little chuckle.  "I guess..."  She still didn't seem
too enthusiastic about it, and I could guess why: the only thing
comparable in excruciating boredom to having to stay absolutely still
for an MRI scan, which they had to repeat several times for a good
composite, was waiting for someone else to go through an MRI scan.
     On the other hand, they'd probably let her read a book.

***
06:42 18 Sep

     Mom started to say, "I wish you could-" and then answered, "NO!" as
I said, "Okay!"
     "Mmmm, isn't this tasty?" I pushed.
     "No, Eugene, you need to go to school," Mom said.  She did sound a
little less sure about it than usual, though.

***
07:24 18 Sep

     "I'll be back in a couple of hours," Mom explained.  "Just a couple
of showings and some paperwork, and then I'll come back and we can go."
     "We don't HAVE to go," I pointed out, and she shook her head at me.
"Just mentioning it," I sighed.
     She gave me a hug.  "It's just an MRI, sweetie.  It'll be over in
no time."  *Maybe if I was drugged, it would...*
     *Nah,* I decided.

***
10:33 18 Sep

     "... We had an emergency case come in," explained the receptionist,
and I nodded knowingly.  *Always.*

***
11:19 18 Sep

     I waited until the nurse or technician or whatever she was got
done with the pre-resonant briefing, then said, "And this is going to
give me super powers, right?"
     She looked at me blankly, her brain clattering as she tried to
shift gears.
     "They SAID," I said dourly, "that it would give me super powers."
     The chain caught, and with a bit of a smile, she said.  "We're not
supposed to talk about that.  The last three who got any powers skipped
out without paying the bill."
     "Aw, man," I complained, "this is all going on insurance.  Hey, if
I get super powers, can you bill the insurance and give me the cash?
I'll give you half of it," I bargained.
     "Deal," she grinned, and we shook on it.
     Now I just had to get superpowers.  And the cash would just about
pay for a nice lunch to celebrate, plus a good costume; Kevlar or
Spectrashield was expensive.

***
11:22 18 Sep

     I had almost forgotten about the noise, but Mom had reminded me as
I was changing into a 'gown', so I had snagged my earplugs.  Which was a
good thing, because when they started pumping the power through the
magnets, enough of it got translated to vibration to make it VERY LOUD
IN HERE.  I hoped they were used to that first flinch.

***
11:32 18 Sep

     Stunningly, this was WORSE than detention.  I didn't think such a
thing was possible.  *Maybe,* I mused, *they ought to dish out MRI's as
punishment.  And I ought to get credit for this one,* I agreed with
myself, and almost nodded, but I caught myself just in time.

***
12:20 18 Sep

     "Any powers?" asked the tech after I pulled out my earplugs.
     It took me a while to remember what the heck she was talking about,
but then I shook my head.  "I was sort of hoping for something really
exciting, but all I seem to have is my evil genius."
     "Don't knock being an evil genius," she said with an admonishing
finger, which was the best thing anyone had said to me all day.

***
12:41 18 Sep

     "How about some lunch?" Mom asked, which was the second best thing
anyone had said to me all day.
     I checked my watch, calculated, and finally nodded.  I still had to
sit today, and I did NOT want Mom dropping me off because I was running
late.  "Someplace fast," I reminded her.

***
13:24 18 Sep

     Mom was giving the server a funny look as she walked off after
refilling our glasses.  "What?"
     Mom shook her head.
     I had a feeling I'd missed something, but I had no idea what.

***
14:41 18 Sep

     "Sorry I'm late," I apologized to Mrs. Pike as I took Stella from
her.  "Had an appointment."
     She told me a little about what a brat Stella was being, but I
missed most of it because my pager went 'on'.  I checked, and I didn't
recognize the number.  "Can I use your phone, please?" I asked
apologetically.

***
14:44 18 Sep

     "Can you watch Gary and David?" Miz Parker asked.
     "Uh, yeah... do I cook dinner for them too, or not?"  Juggling a
baby and a phone was difficult, even with the soft pad Mrs. Pike had
installed on her handset.

***
15:13 18 Sep

     "What TOOK you so long?!" Ricky accused as he got in the car.
     "I had to go to the doctor to get some tests!" I snapped back.  "I
didn't WANT to be there!"
     "Well you're supposed to be here at three," he said darkly.
     "Well, today I was late, and I'm sorry," I lied, because I did not
feel sorry at all right then.  It wasn't THAT late anyway; maybe ten
minutes or less.

***
15:36 18 Sep

     "You're-"
     "Running late, I know," I sighed at Miz Upshaw.  Everyone was on my
case about the late thing today, and last time I'd had an appointment I
hadn't even babysat.  I might have to skip sitting again next time, if
this was how it was going to work out when I didn't.

***
16:17 18 Sep

     Almost like old times again; I was stuck in the kitchen, watching
the boys swim through the window while I tended to the baby.  Damnit.
     On the other hand, we were getting pretty good with Quake, and Mike
assured me that Paul and Kelly and Anne-Marie were picking up hearts
quickly enough.  I hoped so; it'd be nice to win, just once in our
lives.

***


"I want a doctor
to take your picture
so I can look at you from inside as well..."
"I Think I'm Turning Japanese


Distribution:
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 (from the BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE header to
the END PGP SIGNATURE footer) is distributed, and credit is given to the
original author, me.  And no fee may be charged.
Archiving is permitted provided no fee is charged for access.

All rights reserved.


+ ==[--------   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 +


-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: 2.6.2

iQCVAwUBPlXKCHYDebnvyV1VAQHf2gP/fRQFt6QR1XxAh3TWOatwM2enN6atXcQn
9+WtHLpxRaobc5GH04wIKMbmRUyq/6jsyhFtvehzamFQPv5r7q3Zowzzc5AZPR5F
GA2xGngujYVZnChqq0Z4z77/o38YHY0yP6EV1lHD7PEt9tofZwP7QeKhdmfgCvk7
dg8KbUtVBAk=
=DNSk
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----