Chapter 25

Stepping outside the doors of the school I read a text from Shawn asking to meet at his house. Well, that was a little unusual but it’s not like I wasn’t dressed for the occasion. I’m always dressed for the occasion. I stood outside for a moment checking e-mails and finally, brought up the GAT tracker app that I’d gotten right after being promoted from pledge status last year. Our tracker app was a piece of custom software that we could use to track the GPS on eachother’s phones. A little invasive? Probably, but it came in handy a lot.

Sympathetic Magic

Mardi Gras isn’t my thing, but there I was, in New Orleans.

Because James asked.

Not too many people stuck with me when I came out as a trans man, stopped being Barbra and became Benjamin, but James did.

So when he asks for help, I come.

He’s hung out a shingle as a P.I., getting a rep as the guy for the forgotten people, the ones the police ignore.

I awoke to a blood curdling scream. It was Thursday, and what better way to wake up? It came from the second floor, the bathroom right across from our room. I opened my eyes slowly, Aleah was already up, feet on the floor and throwing on her bathrobe.

“Calm down,” I said sleepily as I rolled over.

“Well something’s wrong out there, come on!” Aleah grabbed my shoulder and shook me. It wasn’t even daylight outside.

“Stop it,” I said tiredly. “Either someone’s dead or DEM played a prank on us. Either way, there isn’t much we can do about it.”

“Look at that, we did it!” Remy said happily, slapping what looked like a massive cup she’d sat on the kitchen table. “We hit them right where it hurts!”

I looked up from my phone and glanced over at the table. Was that a trophy or a soup bowl on steroids?

“You did…what?” I was almost afraid to ask.

“We got Pi Lambda Sigma’s Greek Week trophy! Now we just have to figure out what we’re going to do with it!” Laura beamed.

“You…broke into their house and took their trophy?” I sort of gaped over at the table. What was even happening here?

Charles is happy in his own space until he is drawn out into the open

Charles was just about resisting the temptation to go on YouTube. He’d been pounding spreadsheets since early in the morning and needed a break. The upside was that he was working from home and avoiding the A38(M) and M6 traffic jam. He intended to take a break soon and get some housework done, as a single man he only had himself to look after but he liked an orderly house.

Audrey arrive late, at about 6:15 PM, accompanied by Ashely, our pledge who would have probably rather been doing something else. Normally I would have lectured her for being late, not because I cared about her punctuality, but because I’m honestly busy.

“Get upstairs and change,” I said to her as she walked through the door.

“Uh, how long am I going to be here?” She asked.

“Don’t care,” I snapped. “Go get dressed.”

“Have you talked to Mike?” Aleah asked me as she passed me a roll of masking tape and a poster. I held it up, it was pretty simple; it just said ‘Aleah Simms for Student Body President’. It was her second time trying, and her last chance. She would graduate at the end of this year. Probably.

“Thought Julia was doing that?” I phrased the statement as a question. Honestly, why would I do the job the police should be doing.

Chapter 1 — The Escape

I was as nervous as hell. My uncle sat behind his big desk in his home office, which was really his man cave, looking at me with a frown. The thing was, no matter how nervous I was, I was also determined.

I didn't consider my uncle as evil, just greedy and inconsiderate. My deal appealed to his greed as the carrot with the threat of court action as the stick.

“I don't know where you get this foolish notion that I am wasting your inheritance and you shouldn't threaten me.”

Chapter 16 Buffy's POV

The next week was probably the best in my life. The next day my breasts were a little swollen and sore, so I knew my period was due. Since all of us have synchronized our biorhythms, the next few days were going to be interesting. We have a general rule that any arguments that happen at that time of the month, we try to put a pin in it and restart it a week later. Of course, we usually find the topic much more agreeable then.

Chapter 22

After the shock of the declaration by Aunt Roberta Robert and Adele held hands beneath the table so that each knew the other was supportive and not offended. Aunt Roberta looked on and saw the glances between them that confirmed her judgement that they had a special relationship. It was at least some compensation to her for the losses she’d endured in her lifetime.

I sat in the GAT living room early the next morning. Aleah had not only called me, she had sent Isabella to pick me up. The entire ride had gone by in complete silence. The other day, she’d done my makeup and chatted away, but now she was rigid, anxious. She’d said nothing as we pulled up in front of the house and stepped out of the car, nothing at all. I’d followed her to the house and up the steps, looking around nervously for signs of Mike. When we stepped inside the house, there were more GAT sisters than I remembered.

“Are you awake?” Mason asked. His voice seemed far away.

“Mason?”

“Todd?”

The bathroom faded from my sight, torn away like a discarded canvas, and was replaced by the pale white of a hospital room. I heard the whirring of machinery, and felt the pain of a needle in my arm. It wasn’t a proper hospital room – that much I could tell. At my feet I could see a blue curtain, the only shield between me and a bustling emergency room.

Mason was sitting beside the bed, he looked uncharacteristically concerned. He wouldn’t be so concerned if he knew the truth.

Chapter 21

Robert went to his room to undress and his priority was to take a bath and seek out something appropriate for dinner. Polly helped him to remove his corset and then focused on preparing his bath so it gave him chance to observe himself in the glass.

With his neighbour Claire getting on with his best friend and a blossoming romance with Bernard's sister all is seemingly well. But when Claire wants Angela to be her maid of honour and Anthony to attend the wedding things are tricky. They are even stickier when Angela's mother hires a Private Detective ....

—Excerpt from Presidential Security Council Meeting 3/5/35–

Yes sir, we’ve received our first reliable reports back from the zone in Nevada and initial reports from the Amazon region in South America. As you can see from the aerial and the first on-ground photos, these Probability Singularities we’ve seen in the atmosphere continue to be significant, even catastrophic threats.

Todd shows up at the GAT house as requested and stuff happens that lead to things.

Chapter 20

After they’d paid their respects to Elizabeth with silent prayers Aunt Roberta and Robert walked arm in arm back to the Square and across to the front door of Aunt Roberta’s home with Adele escorting them as any well-mannered young man would look after two women sharing grief. They had agreed to have lunch together and whilst they had little appetite they decided to carry on and do their best.

Spousal Acceptance: Perfect wife, perfect life