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Chapter 3

At twelve-thirty, I was back in the psychiatric couch again, so to speak. The tests, if it were at all possible, were even weirder. This time I was being asked specific questions about real world issues. Not that I kept up with world events all that much. Hey, I was in high school. It was expected that I wouldn't care about anything other than trying to keep my grades up and the ins and out of the panty status of the cheerleading squad. It takes a lot to differentiate between boy shorts and granny panties, not to mention French cut and thongs. And they say teenage boys know nothing about woman's clothes. Ha! It's all a matter of priorities. I knew the type and brands of most panties out there by sight. I was just starting to get into the nuances of bras when I was snatched. I guess now I had all the time in the world to figure what women wear under their clothes. Or I could switch to boys underwear.

…
…

Nah.

Where was I? Oh yeah, more testing on real world issues. The questions wanted my opinion on politics, military issues (i.e. wars), Democracy, Communism, you name it. What did I know? Pretty much zilch, and I really didn't care. I mean isn't that why adults are around?

By the fifth booklet I was getting serious writers cramp, because they wanted to know about any role-playing games I used to be involved in. Hahahaha. This would be so much easier with a keyboard. Who was my favorite player character and why? I really got into this one. The one thing I found out over the five some-odd years that I played was that I could be anyone, and do anything. But the most important thing was that I could be someone that was totally contrary to my own personality. See, even if it's not true in the real world, evil characters are a lot more fun to play than good characters.

They have a lot more power than the goodie-two-shoes characters through most of the game modules, and you get to torture them and have fun cackling throughout while you spring your traps and overact all evilly and stuff. It's fun. It doesn't make me a bad person; it's just an outlet for my more base emotions that would never make it in the law abiding world to begin with.

By the end of that particular test I could barely move my hand, so we took a break.

Three-thirty? In only one more hour I would be assaulted by four girls in order to get me ready for a date with a boy, who might or might not have been excited with the idea of going on a date with me! About the only thing that I was relieved about was his inability of running out of gas on an empty road or field and having to fend off amorous actions in the middle of nowhere. The total lack of car or any mode of transportation prevented that little fiasco from ever occurring.

We'd eat dinner and then take a little stroll of the school. Believe me, there was nothing in the least bit romantic about the hallways of the school. Got to give it to the government to paint and decorate the hallways in uniform and drab colors. Boring. Oh, there's a door… and another door, Oh oh! And yet another door! Not to mention I'll probably be too distracted falling down everywhere in those heels Heather had planned for me. With any luck I'll take Ray down with me. Nothing kills romantic moods worse than a knee or elbow hitting hard tile. Brilliant!

"Kristyn, what were you just thinking about?"

Hmm? "What?"

Doctor Tipps was hovering and looking at me like I was behind the bars of a little cage spinning on my exercise wheel. Okay, avoid the date questions. Adults just didn't need to know about that just yet. "Um… some of the test questions."

Play it… play it, I urged myself on. "Yeah they were cool. I've never tested like this before."

She smiled knowingly. "Yes, they are quite different aren't they?"

I nodded, maybe just a little bit too eagerly. "What are they for anyway?"

She pulled up a stool and made herself as relatively comfortable as she could considering the firmness of the stool. "We're looking for what talents you possess, how you problem solve, what area of training you'll be most suited for, that sort of thing." Looking at me with a modicum of condescension she added, "That's about all I can tell you until you're finished. I don't want to influence your answers."

Well, there is that, I suppose. I worked my hand and it was even stiffer than before. "I think my hand is done for, for today. Is there something I could test on while not using a pencil?"

She smiled at me. "Actually you're way ahead of schedule, Kristyn. Most people have to take several breaks."

I laughed a little at that. I most assuredly did not giggle. "If this were computerized I'd probably be done by now. I can type a lot faster than I write." Hint hint.

She shrugged. "Sorry about that. We also do handwriting analysis as well."

So much for that plan.

"When do I get to learn about my powers?"

"You should check your schedule. I believe it will be after your Physical Analysis."

That brought on memories from that morning along with an accompanying frown. "I did that this morning."

With a slight shake of her head she made herself more clear. "That was the medical condition of your body. The Physical Analysis will be what you are capable of doing: running, strength, endurance, dexterity, and so forth."

Ah, my character stats.

"If you finish early, we can probably reschedule your appointments. It just depends on what you are working on. The teachers here sometimes serve several different subjects. Sandra from the salon is also our deportment teacher for the girls, and Mr. Weiss is our physical education trainer as well as our small arms specialist."

Certain things were starting to fall into place. "That's why you have so many things available. They looked like they were just setting up the salon this morning. It's been closed for a while hasn't it?"

"Certainly," she confirmed. "We don't have nearly the enrollment that would justify having a full time cosmetologist on staff, or a weapons master in either case. That's why your schedule is so important. If you have special needs or are above the average level of schooling than the others, we can make special arrangements, or training times for you, but it will be at odd hours. That's what Fridays and Saturdays are for. It's more attuned to your individual needs or growth."

I decided to go on a little fishing trip. "Any idea what I'm suited for from the tests I've taken so far?"

She almost laughed, but held it back. "Can't influence the tests just yet. Don't worry, you'll like whatever it is. That's key. People wind up doing exceptionally well in subjects and jobs that they enjoy, and we want you to do exceptionally well. In whatever it is that you do." As an afterthought she playfully added. "I can tell you that you aren't going to have Heavy Wheeled Maintenance as an MOS."

At my blank look she explained. "You'll have to get used to acronyms working for the government. They love making really tiny words from really long words. I sometimes think that is the whole purpose of the military. Anyway, MOS stands for Military Occupational Specialty. Basically, everything in the military that can be done has a code. So if your CO, another acronym for Commanding Officer, knows that your MOS is twenty-four X-Ray, then he knows that you are a Designated Telecommunications Systems Engineer.

Uh… okay.

"That means you’re the one that holds the cell phone for the lieutenant."

At my weird look she laughed. "Sorry, it's an inside joke that you'll understand later. That particular job is actually quite important and a lot more involved than holding a phone."

"So, we're actually in the military?"

"Oh, no. I keep leading you in different directions. I used to be in the Army, so I naturally relate everything to that. However, we do use a lot of their training and documentation standards. It's a lot easier to use something that works than starting fresh from scratch."

The long walk back to the room made the halls seem a lot shorter than they actually were. Even using the excuse that I had to watch my step in the high heels, I couldn't justify arriving at five-thirty and making an excuse just to go out as I was currently dressed.

I saw that the door was opened and Heather was keeping watch for me. "Kris! What's taking you so long. Hurry up!"

With a sigh I stopped, took off my booties and made my way along the smooth surface. Ahhhhh. I didn't realize how nice it was to take off shoes!

She threw a robe, panties and bra at me when I got close enough. "Go wash your face, don't take a shower, you don't have time, and change into those. Hurry, Hurry!"

I actually squeaked when my bath shoes flew by my head as well. Holy crap that girl is scary when she gets her date mode on! I did as was instructed and rushed to the communal bathroom to wash my face. Why I had to do that I have no idea. I wasn't wearing any make up, but who am I to argue with a hysterical girl? After that was done, I stripped and donned the new panties. Sigh. Black lace thong. I'm in for some itching tonight for sure. Next came the bra, which was nothing like the ones that I normally wear. Hold on… They were not like the ones that I have worn since I grew breasts. I wanted to make that completely clear. I did not wear bras before becoming a girl. Okay?

What made this one different was the piece of industrial strength steel that served as an underwire. Well, maybe I'm exaggerating with that. The result was that I suddenly had much larger breasts for some reason. They were lifted high in the air and separated to maximize a deep trench between my breasts. I'm so going to murder Shanahan in her sleep for getting me into this mess. Maybe with piano wire or a nice spoon shank to the kidneys.

I donned the bathrobe and gathered up my school clothes before rushing off back down the hall. Oh, hell no. My breasts were bouncing all over the place! The flap flapping of my flip flops slowed so I didn't injure myself with muscle strain compensating for the sudden mobile effect this particular bra had on me.

"In the chair, hurry! We're seven minutes behind schedule!" Tina was armed with a little triangular sponge thing in each hand and Heather was wielding a really, big possibly very hot, curling iron. It wasn't pretty.

"Okay, so what's your plan?" Heather asked, trying to distract me from complaining while Tina was working on my forehead.

"Plan?"

Heather froze and stopped brushing my hair out. "You don't have a seduction plan? This is worse than I thought." Brushing increased at a frantic pace before she started yammering. "Remember he's a boy, they have hormones that make them do silly things. You have to tease him, but not too much, that's what the dress is for." She paused and jerked. "Your legs are smooth, right?"

I would have nodded, but Tina was working on my nose at the moment. "Yeah."

"Whew! That would have been bad."

Forty minutes and two more minor panic attacks from Heather later and I was standing there in my panties and bra having Dani and Heather slip the dress over my body while trying to avoid getting any makeup on it. When they had it on I looked down and there, plain as day were my breasts hanging through an opening.

"Uh… what's up with this?"

Dani smirked. "It's commonly referred to as a key hole. You're not hanging out, just showing a little cleavage. Don't worry."

"A little?! There's enough room to fit both arms through."

Heather poked me in the ribs as she was settling the hem around the tops of my thighs. Hold on… "That's it? Does it at least cover my butt?"

"Relax. You look gorgeous, and your legs are your best asset, well, you have pretty nice boobs too, and a waist to die for."

"You're not making this any easier, Heather."

Knock Knock!

Tina started as she snapped an earring on. Oww! "Sorry, you don't have pierced ears yet. These'll have to do for now."

Dani opened the door a crack and whispered something that I couldn't hear then closed it back up. "He's here to pick you up!"

"Sit down, hurry, and put these on!"

I really don't know if what she handed me would qualify as any type of known shoe. It was basically four straps of black leather that joined around a tiny sole with a honking tall thin heel. I was so going to die. I tried to fiddle with the clasp, but couldn't get it hooked right until Heather dropped to her knees in front of me and did one up in like a half a second flat. A giggle later and she informed me that I might not want to sit like that, made my knees slam together while she did up the other.

I was pulled to my feet and almost promptly fell over. "Whoa!"

"Set yourself and concentrate. You have good soles on the bottom of these shoes. Your practice today should get you through alright, but I would suggest taking Ray's arm for support, just in case. Here's your clutch. Make sure you go to the restroom and touch up your lipstick after you eat, and definitely after you make out." The terror showed in my eyes. "I'm kidding, just after you eat, okay."

"You suck."

She kissed me on the cheek. "Knock'em dead, Kris!"

I got my balance and tested out the shoes for a second before I was urged to the door. Tina was at the knob and leaned in. "You look fantastic. Good luck."

With that, she opened the door to reveal Ray standing on the other side of the hall, leaning against the wall. He jerked to stand upright and I thought the boy was going to pass out. His face went pale and his mouth opened a little.

"I… uh…" he stammered. "Wow."

A covert whisper from Heather to the other girls made me wary. "Mission accomplished."

We had to take it pretty slow down the hall while I hung on Ray's left arm for dear life. "They went overboard, Ray, I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "No, they did great. You look great." He closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head. "If I say great again, could you just hit me?"

This was going so bad for Ray. I felt so guilty for suggesting that we do this. "Ray." I tugged on him to stop so I could look at him properly. "Just relax. Try not to think of this as an actual date. You forget that just a couple of days ago I was in your shoes. I know exactly what it's like to be nervous and afraid you're going to muck everything up. But with me, you've got someone that understands. So be yourself." Well… "Never mind that one. Be comfortable with me. There are no expectations except to have dinner and a nice walk."

His demeanor was changing as I tried to get over my nervousness as well. "We'll talk about the school if you don't want to talk about before, or whatever you're comfortable with. Ignore everyone else, because they don't matter. We're not here to impress them, only to have a good time, okay?"

Ray's smile held steady. "Okay."

I grabbed his arm and we were off again. The cafeteria was not the same one we left at lunchtime. Apparently everyone had eaten and left already. The other tables were moved to the side except for one in the middle of the normal eating area. It was covered in four star manner, with white linen, candlelight and a single rose in a thin container located in the middle. The place settings were cattycorner to each other, so presumably we could be closer together. The overhead lights were turned off and the only other lighting available were the canister lights surrounding the hall. It was as warm and cozy as was possible considering original purpose of the room.

The food was already there and looked like it had just come out from being cooked. Okay, this really was an operation. After Ray held my chair out for me I sat down and crossed my legs. The dress rode up higher on my thigh exposing virtually the entire length of my legs. Granted they were wonderful looking legs, but still.

"I can't believe Heather arranged all of this."

"Yeah, I had to pass by here on the way to your room. They had all of about fifteen minutes. Everybody must have chipped in to help."

I giggled. Crap! "Knowing Heather, that really doesn't surprise me. The girl can crack a whip like nobody's business."

There was only so much you can do with school food. It was a little bit higher grade than the stuff I was use to. It actually tasted like real food anyway. Salisbury steak, new potatoes, and a vegetable medley; it wasn't four star cuisine, but this wasn't a real date anyway.

"I haven't heard, what's your talent?"

Wow, I kind of thought that everyone was pretty plugged into the grapevine. That actually made me think well, of Ray that he didn't listen to these things. "Electrokinesis."

"Oh, excellent. Good one. I would hate to be stuck with something like mentally controlling mice or something."

I giggled again. Double crap! "Yeah, that would suck."

"You're a Mimic?" asked Kristyn.

"Yeah. It's pretty cool, I guess."

"Pretty cool? Are you nuts? It's awesome. I'd love to have that power." I would!

He shrugged. "Takes the challenge out of learning for me. I'm so bored around here it's pathetic. Fifteen minutes watching a video of someone playing piano and I'm a virtuoso. It's okay for showing off, but no real fun."

Well that brought down the house, and not in a good way. "Yeah, I can see that. Maybe you can do something with it, like help people learn, teaching is pretty cool. I'd love to learn how to Tae Kwon Do someone."

He looked up at me, almost eagerly. "I can teach you. I finished that after my first week here."

I really wasn't expecting his offer. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, it isn't that hard with my talent. But with your body, I wouldn't go the Tae Kwon Do route. Maybe Aikido, or Jujitsu. The best way to know is find out the results of your Physical Fitness testing and let me know. I could tailor something for you."

I lost him at the 'my body' portion. "What difference would that make?"

He shrugged and pushed the remains of his steak around with his fork. "Every Martial Art has its strengths and weaknesses. You need to be able to fight or defend yourself with your own. You don't have a lot of muscle mass, so you'll need to rely on blocking, parrying, knowledge of pressure points, weak joints, and so forth. Your dexterity and possibly speed would be your greatest advantage."

I thought on that for a minute. "Okay, I'll let you know. Tomorrow. I take that test first thing in the morning."

He chuckled a little. "Good luck with that. You'll probably be limping away from any exercise by lunch time and wanting some serious painkillers by dinner."

Oh great.

With a wistful look at the conditions of our plates I grabbed my tiny little purse. "I've been told that I'm supposed to touch up my lipstick after I eat, if you'll excuse me for a few minutes."

He stood with me, until I left the table, and then proceeded to clean up our mess. I went to the restroom and, okay I did need to layer on a coat of war paint, but before I did I rinsed out my mouth and checked my teeth to make sure there wasn't a big pieced of kale sticking out from between the front two. Sparkly white. I messed up the first try of lipstick and had to dab at the sides of my mouth to remove the excess. After closing up the clutch I made it back to the cafeteria as Ray was folding up the tablecloth. He stopped when he saw me and held out the rose that was used for decoration.

I took it with a smile. "Thank you."

He disappeared into the kitchen for a minute and I took the chance to smell the flower. Yep, it's a rose. When he returned he was carrying a small paring knife. He took the rose and trimmed off the little thorns and then shortened it a bit before setting the knife aside. I was about to reach out for it when he closed into me and pulled my hair aside to place it behind my right ear.

"There, perfect."

It felt weird there, and kind of cold from the water it had been soaking in, but it was a nice gesture. "Thank you, Ray."

Holding out his arm he gestured. "Ready to go for that walk?"

I nodded, somewhat sheepishly. He led me a different way out of the cafeteria that I wasn't familiar with. However, on the way out I heard several clicks of high heels echoing far in the background. "We're being followed," I whispered.

Ray's jaw set, but he held off the frown I'd come to associate with his displeasure. "Outside. There's few places for them to hide within earshot." Squeezing his arm, I let him know I approved of the idea. Our pace stayed slow and steady and now I had a shot at actually seeing the grounds around the building. I had assumed that we were supposed to stay inside if we weren't escorted or something. Don't ask. I'm overly paranoid at odd moments.

As we got close to the door Ray pulled out his iPhone and entered something in one of the applications. A second later I heard a click and he pushed the door open. A smile pulled on my face. Teenagers just weren't made to exist inside for any long length of time. They needed fresh air or sunlight. I read that somewhere. It may have been the back of a sunscreen bottle, but at that moment I really didn't care. A warm gust of wind brushed my face and legs, not to mention up my tight skirt. Well it was good to keep that area well ventilated anyway.

I opened my eyes and it was a good thing I did. Stairs, more like steps, four of them, but still. Taking a firm grip on Ray's arm I took them one at a time. Lo and behold I didn't take a diver off any of them. Yea! I got this chick thing down pat.

"It feels great out here."

I didn't feel like saying anything, but I smiled at him nonetheless. The building, from the outside looked like any other generic government building, plain, brick, uniform windows. It must have been converted from something else and made to fit their needs, but it was big, that was for sure. When we turned one of the corners I almost had to stop.

"Oh!"

It was beautiful! The sky was purple, and pink with just a tinge of blue. Wispy clouds in the distance decorated the sky and I could see the land waved like the ocean off in the distance.

"Nice, isn't it." Ray had a gift for understatement. It was like nothing I'd ever seen.

"I grew up in the city, suburbia. I don't think I've ever seen so much of nothing and everything at the same time," I tried to explain. "It's remarkable."

"Just like you."

That brought a very strange reaction out of me. My head was saying, 'huh?', but my tummy was firmly in the, 'that was so incredibly sweet!' category. So, my mouth took a little vacation and just said the first thing that came to mind. "Ray." It was soft, almost too soft. My eyes dropped from his to his lips and then down to anything else that I cold find.

"I mean it. I've been at this school now for months. You're not the first person that Shanahan has set on me. She tried the guys to start, like just as long as there is someone else out there that went through what I did, then everything would be set to rights."

My lips twisted to the side in thought, when I met his eyes again. They were green, not like his hair, a much darker shade of green.

"Then she tried the girls, but they were," he stopped and rolled his eyes. "I'm not saying this right."

This was a topic I couldn't say anything on. Any encouragement or an attempt to push the subject for later would scare him off, back to self-imposed exile. So I waited until he got his thoughts together.

"You… you came out of nowhere and POW!" I blinked and grinned a little at his exuberance. "Didn't act all dainty and ask permission, or try to play on my feelings, or whatever. You just sat down there and told me how it was. You had something to gain and I had something to gain. We wouldn't owe each other anything."

I nodded. That was the plan. Do the deed, so to speak, and go our separate ways. No strings and no awkward attachments. So much for that idea.

"And then when I went over to ask you to dinner, like we planned, and everything went weird."

He looked to the side. Conflict played on his face. His jaw set and then released. When he looked back at me there was something else behind is eyes. Oh hell. He didn't rush in, but he didn't let his nerves stop him from doing what had probably been in the back of his mind all day. He kissed me.

Now, I've kissed girls before. I went on a few dates with a grand total of three girls and I had kissed two of them. It was nice. It got my hormones and goofy thoughts going. It felt good. Their scent, and the feel of their cushy lips against mine. The faint taste of their lipstick and the inevitable immature tiny war we played with our tongues. But it wasn't anything like kissing as a girl. He was in control as he bent down to gain access, I was the one with the cushy lips and they seemed to contain a heck of a lot more nerve endings than I was used to, because I was enjoying the soft brush of his against mine.

The kiss wasn't demanding. It was more testing at first. Not in a pucker up way, but brushing from one side to the other. When he returned for another I felt his tongue along my bottom lip. I think my brain melted at that moment, because I opened my mouth and raised my hands to pull him down while I lifted up on my toes. He tasted good.

The girls I'd kissed usually didn't taste like anything, but Ray… if need had a taste then that was it. It wasn't bitter or sweet or tart or sour, it just was. It was still soft, but it was wanting of something more than the meager existence he had been in for a good portion of the year. His hands told me of his loneliness. One was behind my head, cradling me gently but insistently, and the other was at the small of my back, pulling into his body. What I seemed to have been offering was a port in the storm. Some sort of grounding that he needed to feel normal again even if it were just for a few moments.

It was so wrong. I wasn't gay, and I wasn't bisexual. I had no desire to make out with a guy and I definitely had no desire to have sex with one. The big question on my platter for the evening was, 'then why the heck are you making out with one, and why does it feel so good… so right?'

It was a few seconds later that I'd realized that Ray had pulled back and was staring at my face. I opened my eyes and there he was. They dropped to his lips and something in me wanted more. His breath was quickened, as I could feel it caress my mouth and cheeks. It was hot with need, much like I was at the moment.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to me. I looked back up into his eyes and saw the conflict again. Well, we've already screwed up as much as we could tonight… well not that much. I suppose I could do the denial thing later.

"Can we do that again?" I asked.

He blinked, almost shocked, and a tear made a quick path down his cheek. This time it was urgent and I let him take what he needed from me. Our mouths crashed into each other and an urgent energy seemed to be passing between us. It was hot, pure heat, and the tingling of the heat raced up and down my spine until it felt like my head was going to explode from the pleasure. Somewhere between my thighs I felt it build up and things started to move easier. I had an incredible urge to rub my thighs together or against something. They had a mind of their own.

Then the smell of ozone hit me. I tried to pull back, and I almost made it, except Ray hadn't let go quite quick enough. The was a small crackling of sound and then a pop sounded, exiting from my lips to his. A second later and Ray was on his butt in front of me and I was swaying, lightheaded. My hand flew up to my lips as I saw what my powers had inadvertently done to my date.

He was sprawled out on the ground, barely holding himself up. The front of his slacks and dress coat were singed and smoking slightly and his lips were a little more red than they should be.

"RAY!" I knelt down and saw the confusion in his eyes and went into a panic. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry. It's my powers, I can't control them yet, and they haven't taught me anything yet. Which is stupid because I'd like to be able to kiss my boyfriend without blowing him off his feet and giving him a heart attack at the same time. I mean really, would you like to be tasered every time we kissed. I don't think so. Who would. Are you okay, should I go get somebody? Do you need an ice pack?"

He was looking at me kind of weird.

"Ray?" My eyebrows bunched up in confusion. "Are you okay? Can you hear me?"

"Boyfriend?"

In dropped the penny.

"Uh… Shouldn't you be laying down. I've heard that strong electrical shocks can cause hallucinations."

He dropped on his back, looking up at the twilight sky and started laughing like the clinically insane.

They were waiting for me when I got back, all four of them. I gave Heather the evil eye. "I blame you for this."

She saw my mussed up lipstick and her eyes pretty much exploded. "You made out! We saw the first kiss, but Dani made us go back inside. You mean you actually made out!"

Crossing the room I tossed my clutch to the dresser and disappeared into the closet. My, how ironic.

In a few seconds the naughty and apparently dangerous dress was on the floor and I was snuggling up into a fluffy white bathrobe. I kicked the dress on the way out, just for good measure. Heather was sitting on my desk chair and after seeing my face vacated it real quick. I dropped down and reached for the clasp to one of my shoes. It was a heck of a lot easier to take off than put on. Thirty seconds later and my toes were burrowing into the carpet pile.

Tina was on pins and needles watching me, but she just couldn't keep her trap shut. "What happened? He didn't…"

"What? No. It was me!"

A chorus of 'What's!' almost echoed in the room. My legs were splayed out but I had the robe shoved down between them subconsciously rubbing along my thighs. "He was so nice, and I could tell he was hurting, and it was so endearing, and he kissed me."

Heather edged up unafraid of my awesome uncontrolled powers, well I wasn't displaying them at the moment, but still. "We saw that part, what happened next?"

"I had a brain meltdown that's what. He was looking so vulnerable and I… I…"

"What?!" they chorus again.

"I asked him to kiss me again." Getting that out I reared back into the chair and covered my face with my hands. My thighs clamped together with an insane itch that I couldn't relieve.

I was kind of surprised that the air wasn't sucked out of the room from the gasps.

"What else!" Tina jumped in. Damn her. She knew the story wasn't finished.

"We really," heavy deep stress on the really mind you. "We really made out."

Heather squeed, Dani covered her mouth and Tina was smiling with glee. I've got to hand it to Debbie during all of this. She just sat there on the floor, leaning up against the wall, looking over another old dusty book at me.

"What else!" Tina urged.

"Then I tased him." There, that was almost everything. They didn't need to know about the awful awful things I said afterward. Maybe they'll let the rest go.

Dani bounced up out of her chair. "Oh my god, you didn't!"

I nodded weakly and tried to look like a kicked puppy. "There was too much… um… I got exci… guh…"

"Whoa, that must have been some kiss." Yeah, thanks there Deb. Your contribution to my eternal embarrassment is duly noted.

"I can't control my stupid powers yet. They've got me taking all these stupid tests and aren't teaching me anything! And now I electrocuted my boyfriend!" As soon as the words left my mouth I slammed my hands on my lips vowing never to speak again as long as I lived.

Everything stopped. We could hear music playing in one of the adjacent rooms. My face felt like it was going to explode all over the place and to top off the evening I was now crying.

Dani reared back a little. "Okay, everyone out."

"But," Heather protested.

"Out," Dani insisted. "Kristyn has been a girl for barely twenty-four hours. I think you see the problem. So we're going to have a nice little chat and maybe a soak in the bath. Off you go."

The girls vacated after that with no problem. When she closed the door, Dani turned around and tried to look compassionate. "Do you want to talk about it."

Keeping my hands firmly in place I shook my head with an emphatic no. She nodded. "Okay. You stay right here. No more surprises tonight, alright?"

I nodded, still firmly clamped down.

"I'll be right back. Do not move from that chair until I'm back, okay?"

I nodded again and didn't trust myself to let go of my mouth until the door was closed again. When it was I dropped them on the desk and threw my head down. "Oww," I whimpered. "Stupid desk."

The day had spun far out of my control, twirling in a dead-man's dive of which there was no way to pull out. I just sat there and breathed. Clearing my mind was way too late of an action. Focusing on one thing wound up with me focusing on the infuriating itch between my legs.

Before I knew it Dani was back and heading to the closet. She emerged a couple of seconds later with my flip flops. "Come on." She dropped them in front of me. "Bath time."

I gave her a pleading look to just leave me alone in my misery. Bitch couldn't take a hint! "You'll enjoy this and I'll keep the conversation light. You don't even have to talk, okay."

She'd nag and nag if I didn't give in. Fine. Stuffing my feet into the bath shoes I got up and straightened out the robe so nothing important was showing. Dani dug into one of my drawers and pulled out a single t-shirt I was using as a nightshirt and handed it to me, and we were off.

I felt like a little girl with her leading me by the hand down to the communal bathroom. This was going to be fun. That was sarcasm, by the way. I really didn't need a shower right now. I didn't feel dirty. I needed to wash the gunk off my face, but that was it. Plus I really didn't feel like dealing with wet hair right now. Long hair was a pain in the butt to deal with all the time. If I didn't know for a fact that I would look like a total dweeb with short hair I would have had them give me a burr cut this morning. Was that only just this morning? It seemed like I'd been here for four months already.

Passing by one of the doors, on the way, I heard something. I wasn't eavesdropping, really. I just knew they were talking about me, and I didn't recognize the voice.

"… down in the cafeteria right now, just sitting there with a dazed look on his face! His clothes are all burned, and his hair looks like he stuck his finger in a electrical socket or something. It had to be Kristyn!"

I must have another power or something. Super eavesdropping powers. That would explain how I know these things. Kind of like Spider-man without all of the sticky webs and wall crawling. He had the Spider—sense stuff right? No, that's all wrong. That was for warning of danger, like a pumpkin bomb to the head or something. All my comic book reading was useless at the moment. I'm sure there had to be an X-Men mutant that had super eavesdropping powers. They had everything else.

While I perused the dozens of mutant abilities in my head, Dani led me through the door and around the back corner. Hey! Bathtubs! What the F? Two, out of four, of them were rushing away back to back, almost filled with mounds of bubbles and a calming scent in the air. This might not be so bad after all.

Dani smiled at me and then started to take her clothes off. Not needing another reason to taser someone I turned around shrugged off the robe. I'd had enough of modesty for one day. I just didn't care. So I reached around and unsnapped my push-up bra, unholstered the girls, and tossed the bra on the counter. The lace thong followed very soon thereafter. Ahhh, my butt thanks me. Without looking around at Dani I went ahead and entered the bath. Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap… ahhhhh.

This was such a goooood idea. I'm glad I thought of it.

There were certain times during my soak that I was tempted to, um, finish things off, if you know what I'm saying. But considering what happened when I just got a little turned on by Ray kissing me, I thought I'd better wait to scratch that little itch for later. I could just visualize the bathtub exploding and me blowing the power grid again. Though I don't think I'd be able to hold out for too long, so I thought I'd better make it a priority tomorrow to learn some type of control. Yeah, that'll go over good with the staff. I can just see the conversation now. 'So, you want to know how to control your talent so you can run back to your room and masturbate?' Yeah, that's about the size of it, can you give a frustrated girl a hand?

When we got back to the room I was in much better spirits. At least I didn't want to grab the nearest tube of superglue and seal my mouth shut. My iPhone was chirping at me when we entered.

3 New Text Messages

It took me a second to figure out how to retrieve them. The first was from Ray:

Thanx 4 best eve in long time.

That gave me a little smile along with a little blush. The second was from the evil Doctor Shanahan:

I thought you only liked girls? My office before Physical Testing in the morning. Good job.

Jesus, did everyone know about everything in my life? The third message was from Ray again:

Are we official? I'm still out of it. B3st kiss I evr had.

That brought a giggle out of me. Oh god, I groaned to myself straight after. Dani looked over at me with a raised eyebrow. Dropping into my chair again I just looked at her. "He wants to know if we're official."

She stepped over and dragged her chair around to sit in front of me. "Okay, all B.S. aside. You're a girl now Kristyn. Odds are you'll never be a boy again. Are you going to stop being happy for the rest of your life?"

My eyes dropped to his message. "I don't know."

She sighed. "I know this just happened yesterday and you've taken, like a quantum leap ahead of all of us, in terms of being forced into adjustment time." When I looked up at her I saw the sincerity on her face. "I saw you two kiss for the first time. I also felt what you felt. It was beautiful."

I couldn't keep looking at her. I knew how she felt about me.

"You don't have to feel guilty. You're my best friend and I want what is going to make you happy." After a pause she added, "Besides, I think Tina has a crush on me."

I sniffed. Jesus, doesn't this water tap ever run out of tears?

"Don't throw away a chance to be happy because you think it's weird dating a guy. Besides, you aren't dating a guy, right? He was a girl before all of this. Maybe it's like some cosmic soul bond connection and you two were meant to be?" She leaned back in her chair and sighed dreamily. "Two souls destined to be together, yet separated by a gulf of gender confusion."

I snorted and tried not to laugh. Okay, I'm not the most romantic of individuals. I hit the return message key and typed out:

What, are you stupid? You're my boyfriend. It's too late to back out now. ;P Try it and I'll zap you a second time. D8

p.s. Dani thinks we're soul mates. Can you do something to play with her head at breakfast? <3 K

Yeah, I actually added a stupid heart to my signature. That was the final straw that broke the masculine back for me. Cameron is officially on a respirator, long live Kristyn Keys.

Back in the schoolgirl outfit again. Screw the booties. I found some ankle boots that offered a little more ankle support, a gripping sole, and they have three inch heels. Dani coaxed me into applying a bit of eyeliner, mascara, and a light colored lipstick. She says if I'm going to have a boyfriend I should do it properly, and that means looking nice for him. Once she started making rumblings about calling Tina in on the action I conceded.

Ray sent me another text wanting to meet up for breakfast at seven so we'd have a little time together before he had to go work on his physical training. Apparently just knowing a crap load of martial arts doesn't mean you can actually do them, properly. You have to train your body. So, he's not perfect after all. That left me a nice little warm spot in my tummy. Yeah, I left Dani snapping at me for leaving her behind.

Even in the three inch heels, I'm much better today than I was yesterday. It's amazing what one can accomplish with proper footwear! I took shorter but quicker steps to make it to the cafeteria on time. He was there when I turned the corner, leaning against one of the support pillars smiling. Cat -- Canary, you get the reference.

"In a hurry to see me?" he asked playfully.

Damn heels and their loud clicking on the tile! "I was really hungry," I countered.

As I approached I cringed at his hair. It was still frizzy on the tips. Reaching up, I touched it lightly. "I'm so sorry about that."

"The guys thought I'd ticked you off. They had a good laugh last night. Although Brian was strangely consoling."

That made me giggle. "I threatened to zap him between the legs if he didn't lay off."

Now it was time for Ray to cringe.

"I wouldn't do that to you. Strictly on the lips for you."

He leaned down and I met him half way for a light, testing kiss. No ozone, no energy discharge. Cool beans! He took my hand in his and intertwined our fingers. "Ready for some grub?"

I just nodded. We went through the hot meal line and since we were first, all was pretty right with the world.

"Three egg white omelet, with bacon and red peppers, and half a grapefruit."

"Egg white?" I asked.

"Less cholesterol more protein. The peppers are high in Vitamin A and the grapefruit helps burn calories. I'm trying to build muscle."

I frowned. "I should be doing that if I'm gonna be Karate Girl."

He nodded. "You should add some carbs though. You're going to need them for today."

Damn Physical Testing! I looked at the cook. "Same with a couple of biscuits, please, and only two eggs."

We went ahead to grab a good sized glass of O.J. apiece. Sigh, I'm already changing my diet because of my boyfriend. I'm such a lost cause. I might as well just kick off the shoes and get pregnant while I'm at it. Uh, no never mind. Forget that last part.

"Holy cow, you did taser him last night!" Welcome Heather.

"Told you."

"Hello, Heather," Ray sweetly greeted my evil date arranging friend.

She stopped and blinked a couple of times. "Uh, hi Ray."

"Pleasant day we're having isn't it?"

She looked at him sideways for a second. "Yeah, it's bright and sunshiny." When Ray brought his attention back to me, Heather gave me the strangest look, like she thought I put the voodoo on Ray or something. Debbie had a seat, totally ignoring us in deference to the same book she was reading last night.

"Hey Deb."

She looked up at me and said, "Hey." Before she recognized Ray sitting at our table. "Ray."

"Debbie. Ancient Sumerian?"

She looked back to her book and then at him. "Yeah."

We were halfway though with our breakfast when Dani showed up along with the rest of the girls. And from the way they were looking at Ray and me I had a sneaking suspicion that she gave them the lowdown about last night. Well, it's official. Everyone knows about our impending nuptials. Wedding will probably be next Tuesday. We'll honeymoon in the Gymnasium probably. We'll definitely need the extra padding from the floor mats because I'll likely be blasting Ray across the floor frequently with my electro-lips from GE. No batteries required!

Sigh.

A kiss on the cheek brought me out of my delusional stupor and then my iPhone tweeted at me. Dammit. Doctor Doom wanted to talk to me.

Ray looked at me with a question on his lips.

I shook my head. "Sorry, just fantasizing."

He smiled. "Was I involved?"

I just leaned over and kissed him on the lips. "Intimately. I'm off to see Shanahan. Somehow she found out about last night."

He grabbed me before I had a chance to get up and brought me back to his lips. I had a flashback to last night and the passion that was brought up as his tongue battled with mine, there in the cafeteria.

When we broke apart there was a faint whiff of ozone in the air and that damn itch had returned. Ray smiled at me lovingly, and winked conspiratorially. "I'll miss you, darling."

I almost lost it then and there, laughing. Yeah, that was good enough to freak some of the girls out. "You too, sweetheart."

"Is something burning?" Heather asked.

I gave her my best deadpan look. "Yeah, my loins."

The sad part about what I told Heather was that it was exactly the truth. I knew that she smelled the ozone. It appeared to be my early warning system. Smell ozone, and an attack was imminent. Good thing to know considering I had no way to stop them at the moment.

Seven-thirty on the dot I was at Doctor Shanahan's door. "Knock knock," I announced before sitting down without an invitation.

"Good morning, Kristyn. Having a good day I see."

I smiled falsely to her. "A little birdie told me that I was being spied on when I was with Ray last night."

She laughed a little at me. "The entire student body witnessed you and Ray at some point last night and you're worried about one staff member?"

I shrugged. She had a point. I didn't have to like it.

"Thank you for helping Ray. I am curious why you chose such a method though."

"It wasn't a method. Yesterday I just went up and told him straight up what was going on. In other words I made you out to be the bad guy. We had a nice little plan to have dinner together and then that would be that. You'd be off his back and I'd be on your good side for trying."

She didn't seem to mind my straightforwardness. "And?"

I shrugged again. "Things kind of took on a life of their own. I'm his girlfriend now." God that sounded so weird.

"Excellent. How long do you think you can keep up the charade?"

I leaned forward like she wasn't getting what I was talking about. "There is no charade. I like him. He likes me. There's nothing to keep up. I'm his girlfriend because I want to be." The truth of the matter was that I think I really was telling the truth. I had a desire to be his girlfriend. Even thinking about it made my thighs rub together.

"Are you saying that you like boys now?"

I opened my mouth to reply, but nothing came out. I had to actually think about that for a moment. "Uh… I don't think so. But I know I like Ray."

"Ray is a boy."

Wow! They actually give out doctorates to people that can figure that one out. That's it. I'm going for my doctorate in Psychology if it's this easy. "Nicely deduced." It didn't take me long to figure out a comparison. "I'm also a big fan of corn and I really don't like other vegetables all that much. Does that mean I can't like corn?"

She dropped the subject like a bar of soap in a prison bathhouse. "Considering your episode last night I think we need to reschedule your talent training. I overheard that you were interested in taking martial arts lessons from Ray."

"How… never mind. I'm probably bugged." Looking down at the buttons on my blouse I frowned.

"Her mouth twisted to the side in amusement. "Meditation, breathing, and control of your body are the first steps to control of your talent. I highly recommend you pursue that option with him."

"He said that he had to know my abilities first."

Shanahan laced her fingers together and leaned into the desk. "Tell him to start you on Jeet Kune Do and go from there. You'll spend the morning with him and after lunch you start your Physical Testing."

The look on her face told me I was dismissed. Twit.

When I exited the office he was there waiting on me. "I'm corn?"

My eyes bugged. "You were listening!"

He held up his iPhone and pulled the buds out of his ears. "If you know how, you can tap into anyone's cell that isn't encrypted. I used yours."

I couldn't help it, a little resentment found its way into my throat. "Why?"

"So I could know if you were sincere."

He'd already told me that Shanahan had been after him for a while. I'd probably do the same thing if I was in his shoes. My lips pursed for a moment and then I let it go. It wasn't important, and now he's sure about me.

"Give me a kiss and we'll call it even."

He took me by the waist and pulled me to him as he bent over and laid another knee-weakener on me. When the smell of ozone hit the air we both pulled back. He smiled at me and almost laughed. "Kissing you is dangerous."

"Just so we know where we stand," I teased back.

We pulled ourselves together and he led me to where he does his thing.

"I think I see where she's going with the Jeet Kune Do."

I shook my head. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Ever heard of Bruce Lee?"

The name rang a bell, but I think the bell was cracked and full of cotton so nothing came to mind. "Sorta?"

"Enter the Dragon, Fist of Fury, Game of Death?"

Those sounded familiar. "Karate movies?"

"You're such a girl."

Hey! So I stuck my tongue out at him.

"He's like uber famous in the Martial Arts scene. Invented his own style, sort of, it's more of a philosophy."

"Jeet Kune Do."

"Uh huh. Except to really have what it takes to do this thing, you need to have really good upper body control. Not so much strength, but the ability to use what you have, everything in concert. And you, my beautiful girlfriend have an edge."

I eyed him in speculation. "My dazzling fashion sense?"

He shrugged. "Well there is that, but I was thinking more along the lines of you being an EK. With your talent, you'll be able to compensate for what you don't have in terms of physical power. Once you are able to channel it properly you can use it in your hands and feet. Thus…"

"Making me one kick ass bitch."

"Exactly." Drastic topic change time. "So, corn?"

"It was the first thing to pop into my head."

"That is so lame."

Photo Credit: Kristen K.