Chapter 43: Am I Being Followed?

Walking to the park entrance, Andy seems to notice the sudden change in my demeanor. I’m not so relaxed, though I’m trying hard not to keep glancing at the mysterious SUV. You could say that I am somewhat nervous.

“What’s wrong, Tina,” he asks with concern. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Ah, nothing,” I try to cover my behavior. “It’s just that I’m feeling a little out of sorts tonight.”

“It’s not something I’ve done wrong, is it?” He asks with concern.

I can’t tell him that we’re probably being followed and it makes me nervous.  I’ve been toying with activating my beacon, but decide that it has to be Steph’s people since I know they’re on the job now. I’ll just wait and see what happens. It occurs to me that I should somehow have gotten word to them about our change in plans. I wonder if Steph is in the movie wondering where I am.

Also, I don’t feel like sharing the discomfort of my period with him. That’s somewhat private and–as a guy–he won’t understand.

“No, no, Andy,” I try to reassure him, “I’m just feeling a little emotional tonight. It’s just a girl thing. Don’t worry about it.”

“Are you sure you’re alright?” he presses the issue.

“Yes! I’m alright,” I snap at him, suddenly annoyed by his persistence. I see him immediately deflate and pull away emotionally. I don’t know what came over me. I feel tears welling up unbidden in my eyes. Where is this coming from?

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Andy,” I say, trying to patch things up before matters get worse. Tears are starting to roll down my cheeks. “I didn’t mean it like that. You’ve been wonderful, it’s me that’s being a problem tonight. I don’t know what came over me. Can you please forgive me and hold me for a minute?”

I find myself crying on his shoulder for some inexplicable reason for a few minutes before I pull myself together. Looking into his eyes I see that he is totally baffled by what’s just transpired. So am I. I give him a quick kiss to let him know that I’m not really mad at him.

“Thanks, Andy,” I smile at him while I wipe away my tears, “I needed that. Shall we go have some fun?”

Caitlin and Al had gone ahead to purchase tickets during this little drama, but Caitlin immediately picks up on the smeared makeup and the bewildered look on Andy’s face that something just happened. I think that Al notices also. It’s hard to miss my raccoon eyes.

Once Andy gets our tickets, Caitlin drags me off to the little girls’ room for repairs and a consultation.

“What’d he do,” Caitlin demands as I work on repairing the damage.

“Nothing,” I tell her.

“What do you mean ‘nothing’,” she presses, “My friend Tina is not prone to crying over ‘nothing’.”

“I don’t know what came over me,” I explain in exasperation. “I just got to feeling out of sorts and Andy noticed. He was worried that he’d done something to upset me and pressed the point. I got annoyed and snapped at him to drop it. He looked so sad then I just started crying for no reason. I don’t know what came over me. It was awful.” The tears start flowing again.

“We both know what came over you, girl friend,” she knowingly says as she gives me a hug. “Does Andy know about female mood swings during the curse? I bet he doesn’t. You’d better educate him before you drive him off.”

“I couldn’t do that,” I say in horror.

“Sure you can,” she says. “I’ll help you. If you don’t you might scare him off. You guys make such a cute couple I can’t let that happen for something like messed up hormonal balances. Fix your face and we’ll take care of this problem.”

After I’ve repaired my makeup she drags me back out to face Andy.

The guys are obviously trying to figure out what’s going on. I don’t think that either of them have a clue. I guess they’re about to get an education.

“Al,” Caitlin sweetly asks her date, “can you go get us a tee time for the miniature golf?”

Al takes his dismissal well and heads off to do as requested.

Turning to Andy, Caitlin begins the lesson. “Andy, I get the impression that Tina’s behavior just now confuses you. Am I right?”

He nods his head with a wary expression on his face.

“Since you don’t have any sisters I’m sure this is a new experience for you,” she patiently schools him, “but every month a girl’s hormones go all out of whack for a few days and we are prone to being very emotional. At times we say things we regret and we can be hard to get along with. It’s nothing personal and nothing we can control all that well. You’ve heard of periods before haven’t you?”

“I’ve had the sex ed class,” he replies looking a little queasy a the mental image from class.

“Well your girlfriend is just starting hers,” Caitlin presses on. “She’s going to need some patience and loving care from you over the next few days. Don’t take things too personal if she goes through a few mood swings. Are you man enough to help her through this?”

Caitlin can be quite the tigress when she’s protecting her friends. Me–I’m just standing here blushing as hard as I’ve ever done before.

“Is she going to be okay?” he asks with concern.

Caitlin rolls her eyes before she replies. “Of course, lover boy. This happens to all women every month except when pregnant. We live through it. Just go easy on her and hold her when she gets emotional. Don’t try to understand her–even she doesn’t know why she gets this way. Can you do that?”

“I’ll do my best,” he promises as he pulls me into an embrace and kisses me on the forehead. “Thanks, Caitlin, for letting me know. I’ll take good care of her.”

“Good,” Caitlin smiles brightly. “Now let’s go catch up with Al.”

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The rest of the evening goes well. While unable to truly relax, I am able to push my concerns about being followed to the back of my mind. I keep an eye out to see if anyone is following us around the park or watching us too closely, but don’t see anything suspicious.

What I do see are lots of kids that I know–a few of them as Tina. Among them are Caitlin’s–now former–sidekicks Jamie and Ilana.  They don’t seem interested in associating with us. The evil stares are enough to convince me that they aren’t happy with me for stealing their friend.

I’m lining up a putt on the golf course with Andy’s help when I hear a familiar voice. “Hey, Tina!” Laurie calls out from just outside the course. “I thought you guys were going to the movies.”

Looking up I see her with her two friends, Amy and Cindy.

I take my putt–which goes wide–before responding.

“Hey, cousin,” I smile and wave back. “Plans changed. You going to be around a while? I’d like to ask you something.”

“Sure,” she replies, “we’ll take a look around the arcade. Come find us when you’re done. Andy, try putting your arms around her when you help her to putt. It might help.” She gives me a wink as she heads off to the arcade.

What Laurie doesn’t know is that I’ve been beating Andy on almost every hole. He’s the one that needs the help. Speaking to Andy, I say, “Feel free to wrap your arms around me anytime you like.” And he does. Hummm… that feels nice. And the distraction does help–him that is. My game falls apart but who cares? I’ve scored something even better. We’re both winners.

Caitlin is feeling pretty aggressive tonight. She thoroughly thrashes us all at golf. It was fun. I ended up finishing last but not by much. Poor Al apparently is intimidated by his date and managed to miss quite a few easy shots.

Later I find Laurie and her friends having a ice cream in the little shop by the arcade. I drag her off to the girls’ room. I need a change in pads again anyway.

Once we’re away from our respective groups. I ask her, “Have you made contact with the FBI yet?”

“Yeah,” she smiles, “that Steph is a real character. She and her partner quizzed me for about an hour this evening. I was late getting ready to go. They wanted to know about everything happening in the Energetic Materials Center including what I know about Dr. Sommers and Rachel Conners. They also wanted to know what I know about your activities. I told them all I could.

“Do they know about my change?” I ask.

“I don’t think so,” she replied. “If they do, they don’t act like it. Oh, they wanted to know about your schedule and the like. I get the feeling that they’re going to keep close tabs on you. You must have caused some concern for the bad guys.”

“I think they are already,” I reply. I tell her about the possibility of a threat against me and the SUV in the parking lot. “I’m not sure that it’s the good guys following me, but I don’t know that there’s really any bad guys out there interested in me at this point. Here’s a game for you. Keep your eyes open and see if you can find anyone tailing me.  They’ll be trying to hide from me, but not you.”

“Sounds like fun,” she says. “I’ll keep my eyes open and let you know what I discover.”

“Thanks, cuz,” I say while giving her a quick hug.

“Wow,” Laurie exclaims, “This is getting intense. Why don’t you bail? Mom said that you could quit anytime, you know. The FBI is now in control and gathering all the data necessary to catch the bad guys.”

There’s that question again. Should I really consider that option?

“I don’t know,” I waffle. “To be honest, I’m really enjoying almost everything going on right now. I like living with you, being Caitlin’s friend, and being Andy’s girlfriend. Plus, staying in the game right now might bring it to a conclusion sooner.  I signed up for the summer, so I guess I’ll just stick it out.”

“You like being a girl, don’t you?” she observes.

“I don’t know that I like it any better than being a guy,” I reply a little defensively. “But, yes, I am enjoying the experience.”

Thinking about it for a second I playfully add, “Heck I’ve been around a lot of naked or nearly naked women the past few weeks which is every boy’s dream.”

“Well,” she counsels me with a grin, “enjoy it while you can. I’m really looking forward to getting Chris back. Watching you and Andy reminds me of what I’m missing. Hopefully Chris will be even more sensitive to my moods when he returns. Anyway, girl, we need to get back to the others before they think we’ve ditched them.”

Joining the rest of the group, I give Andy a big hug and an intense kiss.

“Wow,” he looks surprised. “What brought that on?”

“Hormones,” I reply simply, before giving him another one.

“Get a room you two,” Caitlin says in mock disgust.

I just stick my tongue out at her.

The rest of the evening is much more relaxed, though I find that Andy is treating me with kid gloves. I think he’s scared of another hormonal meltdown on my part. We spend time sampling all the attractions. My favorite is the bumper cars. I come out the winner after knocking everyone out of my way. My competitive streak is still alive and well–that is when Andy’s arms are not around me. I think Laurie’s enjoying the challenge of spotting my tail. A couple of times she thinks she’s on to to something, but then the person wanders off to other pursuits. Neither of us are able find anyone to be concerned about: we are both somewhat disappointed.

The eleven o’clock closing time rolls around much sooner than any of us would like. Laurie and her friends exit just before us and hang out around Amy’s car while our little group heads for our car and find our way out of the parking lot. Laurie’s task is to see if anyone obviously follows us out. She’ll call me on my Lab phone using a key phrase if she sees anyone following us. This spy stuff is kinda’ fun.

Too bad Andy’s car has bucket seats. I’d like to snuggle up to him as he drives us home. Maybe we should call them chastity seats? Caitlin and Al are in the back seat talking and laughing about the antics of the evening. It’s great being out with friends. My Lab phone start’s moaning.  I see that it’s Laurie. I must have a tail.

“Hey, cuz,” I answer.

“Can you ask Andy if he can give me a ride to the reservoir tomorrow?” She asks.  This is the prearranged signal that I’m being followed. She wants to come waterskiing if some action is going to be happening, plus she has an open invitation from Caitlin.

“Sure, hold on,” I tell her.

“Andy,” I ask sweetly, “can you swing by and pick up Laurie when you come to the reservoir tomorrow? She needs a ride.” I’m going up early with the Sommers to help set things up. Andy has to help with opening the store until his replacement shows up later in the morning.

“Sure,” he replies. “I’ll be happy to.”

I pass on the message letting her know about when he’ll be by and thanking her for the call before hanging up.

So, I am being watched. I really, really hope it’s Steph’s crew.

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The porch light is on when the boys walk us up to Caitlin’s door. Andy and I hang back a little for some privacy. Before reaching the door, he pulls me into an embrace and gives me a toe curling kiss.

“Thanks for a great night, Tina,” he tells me sincerely.

“Well, I really enjoyed it too,” I tell him with equal sincerity. “Sorry about the melt down in the parking lot.”

“It’s okay,” he smiles at me before kissing me on the forehead. “I’m just glad to know it’s not personal.”

He gives me another wonderful kiss before we part for the evening.

I notice Caitlin concludes her date with a quick hug and a chaste kiss on the cheek

The boys walk back to their respective cars as Caitlin and I enter the house to find her parents sitting together at the kitchen table playing a game of Scrabble.

“How’d it go, girls,” Mrs. Sommers enquires looking up from the game.

“Wonderful,” Caitlin replies. “We had dinner at Melo’s and spent the evening at the amusement park. We had lots of fun. You should see Tina in the bumper cars; she has a real killer instinct. I hope she doesn’t drive like that in real life!”

“And you should see Caitlin on the golf course,” I add to the discussion. “She’s awesome with a putter. She blew us all away–twice.”

“Did the boys behave themselves,” Caitlin’s father asks. Nothing like getting straight to the point.

“Couldn’t have been better,” I assure him. “They were almost perfect gentleman. There’s still a few things they need to learn though.”

“Yeah,” Caitlin adds, “I thought I’d have to wait like forever for Al to open the car door for me.”

The eyebrows of both her parents shot up at that one as they looked at her in surprise. They’re good enough not to say anything but it would seem that their daughter expecting to be treated like a lady is a new experience for them.

With that, Caitlin gives each of her parents a quick hug and a peck on the cheek before we disappear up to her room for the night, leaving some shocked parents behind.

I brought a short lightweight cotton night gown to use tonight and it feels good to slip into it. Caitlin is wearing something similar. We’re sharing her queen sized bed much like Laurie and I did in Alaska.

We spend the next hour recapping the evening. It seems that Caitlin had a good time tonight, but the spark of romance was not there.

“You know, Tina,” she observes. “Al was the best behaved date I’ve ever had. He didn’t seem focused on my body. It was kinda’ nice for a change, since I didn’t feel the need to ‘put out’ for him.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” I tell her. “He kept his attention on you all night. I’m pretty sure he thought you looked very nice. Maybe he behaved himself because you dressed like you wanted to be treated with respect. Also it became apparent early on when we waited for the boys to open the doors for us. It kind of set the tone for the evening. I think he’s basically a good kid. We just need to send out the right signals to be treated well. It also helps to stay away from known jerks.”

“Anyway,” Caitlin sincerely says, “Thanks for going with us. You’ve got class and I think it helped a lot for you to be along with us. You could have toned down the lovee dovee stuff with Andy a bit though.”

“I thought we were rather restrained,” I laugh.

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Morning comes earlier than I’d like. We must’ve stayed up past one o’clock talking before we drifted off. I could have dropped off a lot earlier, but Caitlin had a lot to chat about–just girl talk, but it was very enjoyable.

It’s nearly eight thirty before we roll into the kitchen for breakfast and to help Mrs. Sommers with picnic preparations. The Sommers are providing hamburgers, hot dogs, and drinks while the other kids are bringing chips, salad, desserts and the like. It takes over an hour to pull everything together and load up the cars. Dr. Sommers and the boys work on getting the ski boat, grill, and beach game supplies together and ready to go. This is a lot of work!

Caitlin, her mother and I take off with most of the food in Caitlin’s bug a little before the boys are ready to leave. We want to claim a shady picnic site before they’re all taken. It’s going to be another scorcher today and we expect the crowd to be large as it’s cooler up in the hills and in the water. The girls’ only car ride gives us a chance to fill Caitlin’s mom in on more of the details of last night’s date.

Fortunately, we’re not the first one’s here.  A couple of girls from the team have already staked out a nice table under a big oak tree not far from the beach. One of them has also staked out a prime chunk of beach for sunbathing. One of them brought a date with her and the three of them help us unload the bug and set the food and coolers on the table. The parking lot is starting to fill quickly and members of our group assemble a few at a time. It’s not long before we’ve swelled to about two dozen people. Even Coach Arnold is here with his family. Quickly, the two ski-boats are put into service, a beach volleyball game starts, and several of us just lay out for a tan. It’s promising to be a great day.

It’s full bikini time for me today as I strip off my Bermuda shorts and T-shirt–the tankini top stayed home. I guess I’m feeling more comfortable with my body these days–even if it is leaking a little. Periods really are a curse.

I’m lying on my tummy reading a book when a shadow falls over me and the most wonderful voice in the world interrupts my reading.

“Hey, beautiful,” Andy says. “Feeling better today?”

“Lay out a towel and have a sit,” I welcome him. “Maybe a little. The cramping has let up some.” I sit up to receive a greeting kiss as he sits down next to me.

“Does it always hurt?” he asks.

“You mean my period?” I reply. He just nods.

“Hurt isn’t quite the right word,” I tell him. “It’s more like very uncomfortable, but it only lasts a couple of days.”

“It doesn’t sound like much fun,” he observes.

“It’s not,” I agree. “How about you be the girl today and give me a break?”

He looks both a little uncomfortable as well as intrigued by that comment. It’s as if he’d like to give it a try but doesn’t want me to know. I might not have picked up on it if I didn’t know about what was on his computer. Hummm–interesting. I wonder what’s going on in his head.

Laurie shows up just in time to break up the conversation.

“Is this is private party or can anyone join?” she asks with a twinkle in her eye.

“Pull up a piece of beach,” I invite her.

The three of us chat for a bit before one of the guys comes over to ask us to help make up a volleyball team. Laurie and I pass on the offer but encourage Andy to join in. The guy really makes an effort to get me on the court.

“Come on, Tina,” he begs. “We’d really like you to join us.”

“Thanks, maybe I’ll come in a bit,” I relent, “Why don’t you give it a try, Andy?”

“I don’t really have much experience with volleyball,” he tries to beg off.

“That’s okay,” I tell him. “Give it a try. I’ll join in shortly. I’ve got some girl talk to have with my cousin.”

Somewhat reluctantly he joins the game leaving Laurie and I alone.

“So tell me about last night,” I request.

“Sure enough,” she says, “the SUV you told me about left right after you did. It’s like they were waiting for you to leave. I didn’t get to see who was inside, but I did get the license plate number. I gave it to mom and she’s going to get it checked out. Also, I saw the same SUV in the parking lot here when we arrived. It looks pretty suspicious to me.” She surreptitiously points to where the SUV is, but we don’t see anyone near it.

“I guess our game today then,” I inform her, “is to see if we can identify the person or persons who’re watching me. I bet it’s the FBI since Steph told me that she’d have someone following me starting yesterday. It’s nice to know that they’re there. Keep an eye out for Steph. I suspect she’s not too far away. If she’s in blonde bimbo mode, we’ll find her in a bikini sunning herself somewhere with a pair of binoculars handy.”

Several other girls join us around this time so we spend a while in idle girl talk. Eventually I need to check on my tampon situation–I really hate this part of being a girl–and I’m joined by a couple of the girls on the trek to the restrooms.

As we leave the restrooms, I decide to check in on lunch preparations and to offer a hand. I find Mrs. Sommers reading a book while sitting in a lawn chair under the tree.

“What can I do to help?” I ask her.

Looking up from her book, she points toward the chair next to her and says seriously, “Have a seat, Tina. I’d like to talk with you for a minute.”

Uh oh, I wonder what I’ve done now.

She laughs at my worried expression.

“You’re not in trouble, Tina,” she assures me, “quite the contrary. I want to thank you again for what you’ve done for Caitlin. Her father and I can hardly believe the transformation that has occurred in her life since you showed up.”

Dr. Sommers who has been preparing the grill nearby sees me chatting with his wife and joins the conversation.

“I agree with my sweet wife,” he says. “We don’t know what you’ve done, but Caitlin is a new girl this summer. More like she was when she was younger.”

“And how in the world did you get her to wear that modest top last night?” Mrs. Sommers asks in wonder. “I’ve been trying to get her to dress more elegantly for some time now.”

“I haven’t done anything,” I tell them sincerely. “She’s helped me a lot more than anything I may have done for her–honestly.  I can’t tell you how much it’s meant to me to have such a great friend this summer. I’ve learned so much from her. As far as the top goes, I suggested she’d have better luck attracting a nice guy if she didn’t flaunt her body quite so much. It seems she’d like to find a gentleman like my Andy or Laurie’s Chris. I told her we found those guys without showing everything. These guys like us for who we are not for what we do or don’t wear. A girl can look nice without running naked down the street.”

“Whatever,” Mrs. Sommers waves off my protest. “You are a wonderful young lady and we’re glad that you two have become friends. You’re welcome in our house any time.”

“I second that,” adds Dr. Sommers smiling.

What’s a girl to say to something like that? “Well, thanks, I guess,” I blush in reply. “Is there anything I can do to help here?”

“No, sweetheart,” she replies. “Go join your friends and enjoy the day. Thanks for offering though, but we’ve gotten everything under control here.”

With that, I wander back to the beach area and join several girls watching the volleyball game. It’s not long before several of us–including myself, Suzy, and Caitlin–are pulled in to join the game. I’m glad I’ve got fresh protection in place. I find myself playing opposite to Andy at the net from time to time. He beats me every time when we’re face to face. This female body is definitely a disadvantage. Suzy the cheerleader, on the other hand, is trained to jump around and is a force to be reckoned with on the court. I’m glad to be on her side.

After a couple of games, Andy and I excuse ourselves and go dip in the swimming area to cool off. The temperature is really rising and the water is very refreshing.

As we come out of the water, I notice a couple occupying a table at the high end of the picnic area scanning the area with binoculars. The location has a commanding view of the beach and surrounding area and–right close to the table–is a familiar looking SUV. The couple looks strangely familiar from a distance.

It couldn’t be–could it? ‘Naw, no way,’ I think to myself, ‘but I don’t know for sure though. I’ll have to check this out.’

The lunch call goes out as we reach our towels so we join the hoard of teens around the Sommers’ grill.  There is a lot of food here and there’s no way we can eat all this. While the feeding frenzy begins I grab Laurie and we slip unnoticed out to the parking lot and I explain my plan to her.

We loop around the back of the huge parking lot out of sight of our target. Then sneak up through the cars. It is THE SUV. As we sneak past it we peek around at the now vacant picnic table. Where’d they go?

“Hello, Princess, Laurie,” A familiar voice comes from behind us. “You should know that you can’t sneak up on us.” We jump a mile high as we squeal and spin around to see a laughing Helen and Carl from Alaska.

“Killer, Spud!” I exclaim. “What are you doing here?”

“We drew the royal protection detail,” Carl grins.

“Apparently the Major’s worried for your safety,” Helen adds. “We’re told that you’re shaking the tree of some really bad guys. There’s some concern for your safety and–as you’re apparently a national treasure–we got involved. I knew there was more to you than met the eye.”

“So it was you following us last night,” I observe.

“You figured that out, did you?” Carl grins. Turning to Helen, he says, “I told you she was smarter than the average blonde.”

“Well,” I assure him, “I was told that someone would be watching me so I was looking for you. It didn’t take too much to figure out when it happened. I wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t been looking.”

“Listen, Princess,” Helen says, “We must keep this interview short. We can’t let anyone see that we know each other. We need to fade into the background. Just know that there’s a team backing you up. We suspect that the bad guys will be making a move in the next week or so–if they’re going to. We’re not watching you so much as we’re watching the people around you. You’ll probably know we’re there, but that’s okay with us. We just don’t want any bad boys noticing us. Now scoot, girl. You just go have fun and leave the worrying to us. If you need us, we’ll be there. In the mean time, you don’t know us. If anyone asks, you’re just inquiring about our bird watching activities.”

“There’s more than you?” I ask.

“You bet,” she smiles at me. “You’re worth a whole team. Like I said: you’re a national treasure. Now run along and forget you ever saw us. Those teen locusts won’t leave you much lunch if you don’t get a move on.”

As we take a long way back to the picnic, Laurie observes, “Did you notice that Helen was wearing your necklace?”

I smile as I reply, “Yeah, I did.”

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Edited–once again–by the fabulous Gabi!