~o~O~o~

 

 

Insert standard disclaimer here: The one that reminds everyone that this is a work of fiction. No one is real and any resemblance to someone who is real is just the reader's imagination. This is also a Fan Fiction set in the Whately Story Universe. No Canon characters were permanently harmed in the making of this story. I hope. :)

 

Note: This one needed fewer revisions, but I did feel some pressure to explain the shadows thing, some. I still ended up adding 300-400 words to a 10k word chapter. Thanks to djkauf for fixing my many mistakes!

 

** Chapter 23 **

 

“Brianna!” I hear my mom scream. She sounds so far away, but I know that she is right next to me.

 

The pattern is beginning to become better defined while the resonance inside me starts to grow stronger. I tap into my memory and find where I have seen a pattern like that before. It is the GEO icon for Whisper’s invisibility spell. I hear my mom scream my name again, she sounds closer now, but her scream isn’t as important to me as finishing the pattern. If I can just finish the pattern, no one will be able to see me and everything will be better.  I feel something pushing the lines away and breaking the pattern into smaller pieces. 

 

“Noooo!” I wail as I struggle to keep the lines, but some outside force keeps pushing them away from me. I push myself to grab them, but no matter how hard I try, I just can’t reach them.  The room’s shadows snap back to normal as I sag with defeat and feel my knees begin to buckle from exhaustion. Someone grabs me from behind and holds me tight to their body.

 

“Brianna. Stop. You’re safe here.” Nikki says, gently into my ear.

 

I am gasping for air as I turn my head to look back at her. “But, I was so close...” I say, whining just a little as I relax into her. 

 

“I know, but now is not the time.” She encouragingly smiles at me. “Your friends are here because they care about you.  You can do this.  You’re not alone.”

 

I close my eyes and try to reach my center like Sensei Rogers taught me. I feel myself calm down and my strength return as I concentrate on my inner core and breathing. As Nikki releases me, I open my eyes and look around.  Everyone is standing there with concerned expressions on their faces.  Nikki holds her hand up signaling everyone to give me some time.

 

It looks like my mom wants to rush in and grab me, while Lindsay is holding onto my dad with a death grip and looks like she is about to burst into tears.  I almost feel sorry for John and Lisa.  John’s face is as white as a ghost and Lisa is looking so lost and confused that it is almost comical. With my new ‘radar’ thing, I can see the shapes of Barb and Barry standing in the dining room a meter behind Nikki

 

“Give her some space right now.  She was just a little surprised.” Nikki says, calmly and with a hint of command in her tone.

 

I slowly exhale and I feel all the fear leave my body. “Sorry about that.” Feeling a little ashamed at myself, I turn my attention to John. He looks so nervous that I can’t stop myself from grinning. “John, I am glad to see you and Lisa, but you scared the crap out of me there dude!”

 

John smiles and relaxes. “I’m sorry, umm, dude?  Lisa...” He glances sideways to Lisa, notices the beginning of a glare and he wisely stops talking.

 

I’m going to guess that he was going to say that it was her idea.  It probably was, but even I would know better than to say something like that with my girlfriend standing right next to me, if I had a girlfriend.

 

I can’t help but laugh at him for that almost fatal slip. “Dude, Lisa was so ready to kick your butt there.”

 

Lisa gives me one of her mega-watt smiles before she turns to John and hugs him. “Yeah, but that is why I love him. His butt is so cute and easy to kick!”

 

Everyone laughs and the tension in the room evaporates.

 

Lisa walks over to me while dragging John behind her.  She lets go of his hand and gives me a hug. “I’m glad you’re safe Brianna, and I love the name!”

 

I find myself blushing again. “Umm, thanks Lisa.  Sorry about my freak-out there.  I’m glad you made John come.” I tell her as she studies my new face...

 

“You are so beautiful, Brianna!” She says, softly with part wonder and part admiration. “I cannot wait until you return to the dojo. I am so looking forward to seeing what you can do!” 

 

I really don’t know how to handle that, so I default to blushing even more and stammering. “Th-Thanks, I think.”

 

John is up next as Lisa steps back and gives him the ‘go on, get moving’ look.  He looks very nervous all of a sudden. Heck, I’m nervous too. I sure as heck don’t want to hug him, but doing our traditional ‘gimme five and fist to boom’ greeting seems a little out of place now too.  Aw, the hell with it. I raise my hand to start the usual high-five and he rushes in and gives me a quick hug instead. 

 

“Welcome back dude, glad you’re okay.” John says as fast as he can. It has got to be the most awkward hug I have ever felt. He’s nervous as all get out and I can’t help it when my entire body tenses up and I gasp with surprise as his arms go around me. I’m guessing that my already large eyes are even larger now.

 

He lets me go and blushes as he realizes that I was totally not expecting a hug from him. Lisa pulls him back and glares at him. “Way to go! Why did you hug her? Can’t you tell that she’s not ready for a hug from you?” She says with a fierce whisper.

 

“Sorry, but you hugged her and I didn’t know what else to do!” He whispers back to Lisa before turning back to me. “Sorry Brian, I didn’t know what to do.”

 

I swallow my fear again. “Umm, that’s okay John. I wasn’t sure either, but next time a simple high-five will be fine.” I say, finishing up with a smile that causes him to blush again.  Crap, I think my glamour is hitting him now. Talk about confusion.

 

My mom helps rescue me. “Brianna, why don’t you help Barry get the suitcases out of the car and up to the bedrooms?” She asks. “I need to have a quick chat with everyone before we sit down and eat supper.”

 

I turn to her and even I can see that she is just trying to get me out of the room so that she can do some explaining without embarrassing me in the process. “Sure mom.  I wanted to check out my room anyway.” I say as I head back towards the garage with Barry following me.

 

I hear the door to the garage close behind us as Barry enters and I decide to show off a little by popping the trunk. “Ta-da! My super power!  Pretty awesome, huh?”  Okay, I guess I am being a little too sarcastic, but the day has really been an emotional roller-coaster for me. I’m not feeling like myself, literally.

 

Barry stops and studies me for a second. “You do know that Barb and I help out on a super-hero team, right?”

 

I’m not sure where he’s going with this. “Yeah, I’ve heard that, but isn’t that because you both have really cool super powers?”

 

Barry shakes his head ‘no’. “Not really. Barb has some good power, but there are tons of people who are stronger than her.”

 

I don’t know. I’ve seen the occasional video of Barb in action and what I saw looked pretty damn powerful to me. “Yeah, but she can lift a car just by thinking about it! How can that not be cool?”

 

He frowns a little at me. “Actually, when her power is measured against the other heroes and villains, she is very weak.  Most folks with similar powers can literally lift tons more than she can.”

 

“So?  She can still lift a car and that’s a lot!”

 

“Barely, she struggles to lift even a medium sized car, but that isn’t the point.  Her strength isn’t what makes her super.”

 

I am starting to think that he has a lesson in here for me somewhere. “Okay, then what makes her super?”

 

“Control and Precision.” He says without further explanations.

 

“Huh?” I ask, wondering what that means and how it might apply to me.

 

Now that he has got me thinking, he smiles at me. “She has bested villains who are much stronger than she is, not by over powering them, but by using what she has to maximum effect.  The people she beats are used to just bashing their way through anything that gets in their way.  They rely on their raw power and never learn how to use what they have.”

 

“Yeah, but how is being able to copy my mom’s car remote all that great?”

 

Barry chuckles at me. “It’s not, but that is only because you’re not using your imagination.”

 

“What do you mean? It’s just a car door.”

 

“Yes, yes it is, but what would happen to a high tech armored villain if their fancy armored suit suddenly turned off in the middle of a battle?”

 

Damn it!  He is not helping me feel sorry for myself here. “Oh.  Yeah, that would be bad.”

 

“Yes it would and it would be a very ‘strong’ ability to have, don’t ya think?”

 

“I guess so.” I say, a little sullenly.

 

“Plus, based on that little light show you just put on in the living room, I don’t think that you are going to have to worry about being stuck with ‘lame powers’ anytime soon.”

 

I sigh with frustration.  It is so hard to find reasons to be down on myself with all these helpful people around.  I feel myself start to smile.  I’m sorry, I can’t stop myself.  He’s right. I don’t know why I keep forgetting about all the cool stuff I can do now.

 

“I’m sorry Barry, you’re right.  I don’t know why I am being such a brat about it.”

 

“Hey, don’t be so down on yourself.  You’ve only been a super hero for what? 12 hours now?”

 

“Umm, 11 hours, 23 minutes and 38 seconds, but who’s counting?” I say with a grin.

 

He laughs and his eyes sparkle with mischief. “See, there ya go kid.  What do you expect from a baby?”

 

Oh, he is so going to get it, but I can’t help it. It’s funny; I laugh and it feels good.  “You are so going to get it when I stop laughing!” I mock threaten him.

 

“Ha!  Now you know the true strength of my super power! I’m not known as Captain Comic for nothing!” Barry says as he strikes an exaggerated heroic pose.

 

“Fine, you win!” I say while struggling to contain even more laughter before I adopt the angry and defeated villain pose. “Curse you, Captain Comic!  You have defeated me this time, but I will be back!”

 

“Hehe, looks like you’re feeling better now.  Should we get these suitcases into the house now?”

 

“Sure, sounds like a plan. Thanks Barry.” I say as I fight off the urge to give him a hug. Ha! I defeated the Huggy Girl Monster once again!  I reach into the trunk and hand Barry the two small suitcases, and then, I pull out Nikki’s monster suitcase before he can jump in and be all chivalrous on me.

 

Once I set Nikki’s suitcase on the floor and slam the trunk closed, Barry grabs Nikki’s suitcase and starts to lift it.  He stops after only getting it an inch or two off the floor. “Wow, this is heavier than it looked when you took it out!”

 

“Here, lemme get that for you, Grandpa Barry.  I wouldn’t want Barb to get mad at me if you throw your back out.” I tease him as I easily take the suitcase from his hand. 

 

“Hmmph!  You young whipper snappers think you’re so tough!  Back in the day when I worked in the train yard, I had to carry 50 gallon barrels of water on my back to fill the steam engines, uphill, both ways!  I’ll show you...Ouch, Ouch, my back!” Barry says with mock pain as he lifts the two small suitcases while doing a pretty good grumpy old man impression.

 

I can’t stop myself from smiling all the way from the garage and upstairs into my room.  Nikki’s suitcase isn’t all fun and games to get up the stairs though.  It’s not all that heavy for me, but it is still rather bulky.  Her suitcase seems like it is almost as big as I am. I could probably fit inside her suitcase pretty easily if I tried.

 

My bed looks freshly made with new sheets and a down comforter contained inside of a plain white linen cover of some kind.  I think it looks like a giant pillow or maybe a soft and fluffy cloud.  I plop myself down on it and lay back to rest for a few seconds.  Wow, it really is soft and comfy. I sink so deep into it, that if someone tossed another blanket over me, I would probably be hidden pretty well.  Okay, I don’t care if it might be a little girlie. I like my cloud and I want to keep it.

 

I decide to get up before I get too comfortable.  I want to inspect the rest of my room. It looks way too clean and organized for my tastes. I discover that the carpet where my computer desk stood is a little ragged.  There is a basketball sized hole that goes all the way down to the floor boards.  Crap, which reminds me that my killer rig is now just a memory.  What in the heck am I going to use to do my homework or play GEO on now?  Okay, scratch the GEO thing.  I am afraid to even be in the same room with someone playing GEO.  Well, I guess I can always use my parent’s PC down in their office to do my homework and if I don’t need a good rig for GEO, then maybe I can save my money and not even build another.

 

There are a few new throw rugs in the room that look like they might be made from natural fibers of some kind. I never even thought about how I would handle the carpet on bare feet, but I guess that Mom and Dad did.  All I have to do is figure out how to best arrange the rugs.

 

I can’t stop myself from sighing and feeling a little sad when I find out that my closet and dresser drawers are empty of all my old clothes.  Well, not all of them.  There are a few of my old t-shirts left, but only the 100% cotton ones that I had out-grown last year and forgot to get rid of.  I guess they will probably fit me again now.  I wonder if my old “I see fragged people…” t-shirt will fit me now.  I peel off the heavy duty sweater and then, I pull off v-neck top. It drags across my boobs as I try to lift it over my head. 

 

I think that I am beginning to dislike that term.  Boobs.  Seeing and talking about a girl’s “boobs” seemed so exciting and naughty before today.  Not so much now though.  I think that I will use a different term for my breasts.  Even that just sounds so wrong to me.  Hmm, how about I use the same term that my mom used?  Girls.  Okay, I think that will work. It’s not as in your face as any of the other words I could use.  I mean, someone yelling out, “Nice girls!” just doesn’t seem to carry as much impact as “Nice boobs!” Well, not to me anyway.

 

That reminds me, this is the first bit of alone time I have had since I woke up this morning.  I can’t stop myself from staring at the pretty, no stunning, black haired girl that is standing there wearing nothing but a bra and jeans in my dresser mirror.  I know that girls have a different name for black hair.  I know blond, then brown and red hair.  Do they call brown something else too? 

 

>Searching....

>Brown hair = Auburn

 

Oookay...What about black Mr. Smarty pants?

 

>Searching....

>Black hair = Brunette

 

Oh.  Well, I guess now I know, that I knew.  I’m officially a brunette in the world of girl hair color.

 

I still can’t get over the fact that the hot brunette in the mirror is me.  I wouldn’t have even given myself a second look three days ago and I’d have been completely topless, but then again, three days ago I didn’t have all the features that just drew my eyes and screamed “hubba hubba!”   Seriously, now I have perfect skin, nice gentle curves, tight tummy, expressive eyes and lips that just beg to be kissed.  Everything about my body draws my eyes to my reflection.  I touch my naked stomach and I see the girl in the mirror touching her perfect, I mean, I see my hand touching my tummy. I feel my hand slide across my perfectly smooth and soft skin as I trace a line up from my belly button. She looks so, I mean; I look so innocent standing there with a sort of surprised expression on my face.  Oh, this is so confusing!

 

“Brianna!  It’s time for dinner!” My mom yells from the bottom of the stairs and interrupts my less than pure thoughts.

 

Oh crap!  I need to put my shirt, um, blouse top thing back on.  I can’t walk downstairs wearing just a bra up top, but I don’t want to put that v-cut blouse top thing back on due the cleavage exposure. I poke my head out the door “Coming!” I yell down stairs to my mom before I race back to my closet and grab my old t-shirt and quickly put it on.  It’s dark blue and it fits a little snug up top.  I can definitely see my girls pushing against the front and that is making the lower half of my shirt hang like a tent on me. It is making me look a little dumpy.  Please tell me that I’m not thinking what I think I’m thinking. 

 

Yep, I am.  Key-rap!

 

I do something that I’ve never done before while wearing just a t-shirt and jeans.  I unbutton my jeans and tuck my t-shirt in as I head out of my room.  I hope this works.  Oh, it works alright. Now I have the “I see fragged people…” going right across the girls and acting like a sign that says, “Hey! She’s got words on her boobs and it’s okay to stare because I’m only trying to read her shirt!”  I growl with frustration, but I am not, I repeat, I am not going to change my shirt again.

 

I am almost out my door when I look back and see my new sweater and top laying on the floor.  Damn it.  Now that my room is clean, I can’t just leave them on the floor. Frustrated, I sigh and yell. “I’ll be right there!” 

 

“Do you need any help?”

 

“Noooo!  I got it!  Be right there!”

 

“Okay just hurry up.  Everyone is waiting on you!” My mom yells back.

 

Grrr.  I pick up the errant clothing, smooth them out and set them neatly on my cloud so that I can deal with them later. I take a second to straighten the cloud out too.  Then, I rush out of my room and by the time I make it down the stairs, I am surprisingly relaxed and even smiling when I enter the dining room.  Everyone is already seated, but I am pleased to see that my regular seat is still open.  No one says a word about my old boy t-shirt as I sit down.

 

There is a ton of food on the table, something for everyone.  I can’t wait to dig in, but my dad stops me from grabbing a dinner roll with a glance.  “Oops, sorry.” I say, embarrassed to be the only one reaching for food.

 

He smiles fondly at me. “I know that we don’t normally do this, but we felt it might be appropriate considering the circumstances.  So, hold hands everyone. I would like to say a quick prayer.”  I quickly glance to my left and grab my dad’s hand. Instead of her normal spot across from me, Lindsay is sitting to the right of me to make room at the table for all the extra place settings. I hold her hand as we all bow our heads as my dad begins to speak.

 

“Heavenly Father, we know that although we may not always understand your plan for us, we are grateful that you have brought us here together this evening.  We thank you for the safe return of our child, Brianna. We also cannot find enough words to adequately thank the rest of our family, friends, Nikki and the rest of the people at the lab for all of their support and understanding. Amen.”

 

“Amen.” I whisper softly as I look up and let go of my dad’s and Lindsay’s hands.  Everyone is still a little hesitant to be the first one to start grabbing food. “Thank you everyone, but I’m starving.  Can we eat now?” I ask, impatiently. 

 

That pops the cork and causes a few giggles as everyone begins to start serving themselves and passing the dishes around. We have little bit of everything.  There is turkey, pork chops, lots of broccoli, mashed potatoes, turkey gravy, dinner rolls, salad and even some orange jello with pineapple inside.

 

I am a little worried about the meat, but I still pile it on like I normally would. I refuse to give in to this vegetarian thing. The broccoli tastes great, but it looks like the roast beef at the lab wasn’t just over cooked, because while I eat all the turkey and pork on my plate; I really don’t enjoy the taste.  The meats aren’t bad, but compared to the veggies, they tasted very blah. 

 

Once I finish my first plate, I feel like I could eat a little bit more.  This time, I decide to skip the pork chops entirely and cut back on my second serving of turkey.  I also skip the gravy and opt for the cranberry relish instead.  That helps make the turkey taste better, but I can’t stop myself from sighing with frustration.

 

“What’s a matter, Brianna?” My mom asks, looking at me with concern.

 

“Nikki was right.  I really don’t care for the meat.” I say, feeling despondent again.

 

I close my eyes when I notice that everyone is watching me with a mixture of concern and surprise.  I am guessing that Nikki is the only person at the table that might understand my frustration.  I never realized just how much enjoyment I got out of eating certain foods.  The fond memory of chowing down a juicy hamburger or fat steak, fresh off the backyard grill is just that now, a memory.  I am afraid that the next time I try to eat a burger or steak, I will end up hating it or making myself sick trying to force it down.  Sharing chili dogs at the ball park with dad, gone. Corn dogs or kabobs at the fair with the family, nyet!  Oh look, it’s a veggie burger or it’s a tofu steak on the grill! Hold me back!

 

Oh great, now I’m going to start crying...again.  There is no way that I am going to break down in front of everyone. “Umm, I gotta go to the bathroom.” I say as I push my chair back and race to the bathroom before anyone can see my tears.

 

I manage to hold it all in, until I reach the small half-bath that is just down the hall from the dining room.  I turn on the light, close the door and look at myself in the mirror over the sink. My eyes are red and tears are pouring down my face.  I feel so pissed at what I see looking back at me.  I see a whiny and sniveling little girl who can’t keep herself together to save her life.

 

I hear a polite knock at the door.

 

“Go away…” I plead to whoever it is out there.

 

“Brianna, it’s me.” Nikki says softly through the door.  “Can I come in?”

 

Oh man, I don’t see how I can say no. “Yeah, hold on.” I say as I grab some tissues and quickly try to clean up some of the damage before I open the door for her. Once the worst is under control, I open the door and Nikki slides herself into the small space with me.  She looks so compassionate and understanding.

 

“Oh Bree.” She says softly with as she opens her arms and I find myself melting into a hug.  I am glad that I still have my tissues in hand.  I would hate to make a mess of her clothes. 

 

“I know how you feel.  I felt the same way and even now, I sometimes find myself watching a juicy steak commercial and feel sad.” Nikki says with a sad smile. 

 

Once she tells me that, I feel my tears dry up in no time.  Maybe I’m getting a bit better with the crying stuff now?  “Y-You do?” I ask with a slight sniffle.

 

“Yes. I have some very fond memories of enjoying a backyard barbeque steak with my family, but it’s not all bad.  I have noticed that since I stopped eating meat, my body feels healthier and I have more energy to do things than ever before.” Nikki says with an encouraging smile.

 

I’m not sure if that helps a lot, but just knowing that she still misses meat is a good thing to know.  I don’t know if I can believe in the health claims, but maybe it can’t hurt. “Okay, I’m not sold on that idea, but I guess I can give it a try.” I say with the start of a smile. “What’s with this ‘Bree’ thing?”

 

“Do you like it?  It is the nick-name for Brianna.” She says with a slight tilt of her head and an impish smirk.

 

“Weeelll, I’m not sure.  I’m still kind of getting used to ‘Brianna’, but ‘Bree’ is a bit easier to say, so I guess it is okay.” I say, not sure if I am really sold on the nickname idea or not. Spelling-wise, ‘Brianna’ was still very close to ‘Brian’, but ‘Bree’ just feels so different, so girlie.

 

She smiles and gives me a giddy little clap. “Great!  Now, how about if we splash a bit of cold water on your face to help with the puffy eyes and get you back into the battle?” Nikki asks using a funny mock drill sergeant voice there at the end.

 

I can’t stop myself from giggling. “Sir, yes sir!” I salute her with my best mock salute. 

 

We both break down into giggles and that causes a few more seconds of delay before we get back to the dining room.  I notice the look of gratitude that my mom gives Nikki as we both sit back down at the table to eat. I feel much better and I am so glad that Nikki is here.  I am really going to miss her when she goes back to her school tomorrow.

 

“So, umm, Brianna?” John asks just as I start to work on my veggies.

 

I pause with my fork of broccoli half-way to my mouth. “Ya?” I ask as I focus my attention on him.

 

John suddenly looks a little nervous. “What was that thing you did in the living room?” All the other conversation stops.

 

“Umm, I’m not sure exactly.” I say just before I pop the fork full of broccoli into my mouth and start to chew to give myself time to think of an answer. I have to admit, the broccoli does taste pretty good. It’s not a steak, but it is satisfying, just in a different way.

 

I think that my glamour is hitting John a little bit because he shyly glances down to his plate for a second. “Well, it almost looked like you were disappearing there for a second.  Were you doing something like teleporting? ‘Cause that would be so cool!” John says, looking back at me excitedly.

 

“I don’t think that I was going to teleport.” I say just before I pop another bite of broccoli into my mouth.

 

“Well, what was it then?”

 

I quickly chew and swallow. “Umm, did you all see the shadows?” I ask, glancing around the table.  I see a few nods. “Well, I’m not sure, but I think that was Whisper’s, I mean, maybe my Hide in Shadows ability.  In the game, when I activated the ability, the graphic effect caused the shadows in a room to get a little bigger or darker and even sometimes shift around so I could hide in them easier.”

 

“Oh, well that looked pretty cool, but what about the fading thing?”

 

“Umm, well, I think it might have been an invisibility spell.” I say as I reach for my drink and take a few swigs.  Ahhh.

 

“Really?! Cool!”  John’s expression changes from excited to calculating. “Hmmm, that could come in handy the next time we play paintball.”

 

I can see the gears turning inside his head at the idea and as I think about it, going inviso could make the capture the flag game a bit easier. That makes me a little worried. “Yeah, it might, but I’m not sure if I can use it or even how it works.  Plus, wouldn’t that kind of be like cheating?” I ask.

 

“Hey, you know what they say about war?” He asks.

 

“All is fair?” I ask, smiling because I know that he has a different answer.

John laughs. “No, if you ain’t cheating, then you ain’t trying hard enough!”

 

“Maybe, but I’ll have to think about it.  I don’t think it would be fair unless the other team could do it too.  You know, kind of how they made it against the rules for mutants to compete in sports?” I say, reminding him about that little rule.  There is nothing like being a wet blanket.

 

“Hmm, you might be right bro. I didn’t think of it like that.” John says. 

 

I’m a little surprised that he might also view it as ‘cheating’ and that he called me ‘bro’.  That little slip makes me smile at him, which makes him blush and Lisa poke him in his ribs possessively.  Oh man, this glamour thing is going to get me into so much trouble.

 

The rest of the dinner conversation is pretty normal and I am a little sad when we run out of the double chocolate fudge cake after I only eat two pieces.  I liked chocolate before, but now?  It just tastes so damn, I mean, darn good! 

 

After dinner, the adults decide that they need to do the adult thing and talk to each other over some wine.  That gives us ‘kids’ the perfect excuse to head to the den to watch TV or play some Xbox.  I kind of want to just play some Halo with John, but with Lindsay, Nikki and Lisa there, I don’t want to be that much of a dork.

 

“Umm, what do you guys wanna do?” I ask fearful of the answer with all the girls there.  I’m not so worried about what Nikki might suggest, but just thinking about all the normal “girl” things that Lindsay or Lisa would find fun gives me goose bumps.  John is here, so that might prevent them from trying to do a “girls” night thing with me.

 

“I dunno Brianna.  Both John and I brought a movie in case you just wanted to hang out.  But, it’s only seven o’clock.  We could get a ride to the mall.” Lisa says casually, like she is trying to suggest the mall without really suggesting it. 

 

I notice Lindsay’s eyes light up with that mall idea. John is definitely not looking excited about the idea and Nikki appears kind of neutral to the idea. “I don’t know.  Based on my, umm, reaction to seeing you two.” I look at John and Lisa. “I don’t think that I am ready to go to the mall just yet. I’d kinda like to just stay here with you guys and chill.”  They all nod with understanding, even Lindsay, but she still looks a little disappointed.  “So, umm, what movies did you bring?” I ask, attempting to get the fun back on track.

 

Lisa smiles at me. “Well, I brought the ‘Devil Wears Prada’ and John brought ‘Underworld: Evolution’.” She says, stressing her movie choice, but I really want to see Kate Beckinsale kicking some vampire butt.  I can see her now.  She was awesome in the first movie and just the thought of seeing her in action while wearing that skin tight black leather combat outfit is making me tingle in places that shouldn’t be tingling.  I do not want to blush right now.  La la la la...fashion, clothes, mean bosses, no guns or explosions.  Phew. Tingling stopped. I think I’m safe now.

 

“How about ‘Devil Wears Prada’?” I ask.  John looks a little disappointed in me.  I smile apologetically at him. “Sorry dude, but I could tell that the girls wanted to watch ‘Devil’.  It is a weekend night. Maybe we will have time to watch ‘Underworld’ after ‘Devil’?”

 

“Maybe.” John replies somewhat dubiously as Lisa triumphantly hands me her DVD.

I grab the universal remote to turn on the entertainment system and as I do, I feel a slight tingle.  Oh, wow.  I can ‘feel’ every command and function of the remote.  It is a pretty simple chip that controls the thing and it has the standard control codes for over two hundred different devices.  The problem with the remote, as I see it, is that it takes six button presses to turn on all the devices needed to watch a DVD using the surround sound system.  It’s just too cumbersome and I wish that my dad would get one of those fancy remotes that you can program to do all that with a single button push.

 

Hmmm, I wonder...

 

“Bree?  Is something wrong?” Nikki asks, concerned.

 

“No…” I say, distracted by my discovery.  “I think that I can reprogram the remote.”

 

I do that.  I reprogram the remote.  I leave the programming alone that tells it to turn on the TV when someone pushes the “TV Power” button, but I change the programming and add a simple script to the device by removing some of the extra codes from memory.  Now, what should happen when I push the DVD button is that the TV, stereo and DVD player should all turn on and the stereo switch to ‘Video’ mode and the TV switch to Video In mode.  I also script the same type of logical functions for the Stereo button under the assumption that the user just wants to play music.

 

“Okay, I think that I just made the remote better.” I say after a few seconds.  Well, 2.36 seconds to be exact.  Everyone is just looking at me with curious expressions. 

 

“Watch this!” I say as I press the DVD button and I am rewarded by watching everything work exactly like I programmed it to work.  I can’t stop myself from smiling at my handy-work.

 

“Umm, okay.” Lindsay says, not looking or sounding very impressed.

 

“I just programmed the remote to turn everything on with one button instead of six.” I say, defensively as I hand her the remote. “Here, push the Stereo button.”

 

She dubiously pushes the Stereo button and as I smugly look on, the stereo turns off and the CD player turns on while everything else stays on.  Crap.  Looks like I need to make it a bit smarter, but everyone is starting to look a little impatient to get the movie started. 

 

“I guess I can fix it later.” I say with a sigh as I walk over and manually turn the stereo back on, followed by loading the DVD and pushing the play button.

 

Since this movie is a chick-flick, I don’t bother grabbing my preferred center/center spot for the prime surround sound effects.  Dad and I once spent an entire Saturday afternoon setting up the surround sound system and tuning it for the room.  Much to Mom’s disgust, we just had to watch two big budget explosion movies just to make sure, purely in the name of science.

 

So, being the polite, I offer Nikki the comfy “sweet spot” seat that has the built in recliner. I sit beside her, but on the next seat cushion to give her plenty of room while Lindsay worms her way in next to me on our L shaped leather sectional. Thank god my parents sprang for the leather, especially now that I have problems with synthetic fibers. Lisa and John claim the corner section so that they can snuggle up together.  I am a little surprised that Lindsay wants to sit so close to me.  Normally, she sits as far away from me as possible, like I have cooties or something.

 

As the opening title screens are playing, I glance to Lindsay and catch her staring at me. “What?” I whisper to her.

 

She shocks the shit out of me, pardon my French. “I’m sorry that I’ve been such a bitch to you the last couple of years.” Lindsay whispers back before she leans over and hugs me. “I missed you so much and I don’t know what I would do if you were really gone.” And then, she starts to gently sob into my t-shirt.

 

I’m not sure what has happened to my sister.  Maybe I’m still me, but she’s the one who switched bodies or something Twilight Zone’ish.  “I love you too Liddy.” I whisper as I hug her back. I end up resting my check against the top of her head as my eyes start to leak a little too.  Damn chick-flicks.  The movie hasn’t even started and I’m crying.  Maybe I should have gone with Underworld?

 

I refuse to admit that the movie was good.  It is a chick-flick and it is against the ‘code’ for me to like it, officially.  However, I can’t help but notice how just a few simple change of clothes and a make-over changed Anne Hathaway’s appearance.  I thought she looked pretty in the clothes she wore on her first day, but holy cow!  She’s absolutely gorgeous when she starts wearing all the fashionable clothes. I suspect that Lisa is being sneaky with her movie choice.

 

By the end of the movie, I’m leaning against Nikki while Lindsay is snuggling against me.  It kinda reminds me of when we were littler, like maybe seven or eight years old.  It feels good. I do cry once near the end, but with my low-light vision, I can see that John’s eyes got a little wet there too.  So, I don’t feel too bad.

 

“Okay, it’s only nine and it’s a Saturday night. What do you guys wanna do now?  Do you two have to be home by a certain time?” I ask John and Lisa.

 

“My dad said I can stay out as late as I needed too, but to call if it was going to be later then eleven.” John says.

 

“My dad wants me home by 2300 hours.” Lisa says before switching over to her mock stern dad voice. “And not a second later or it’s the Captain’s Mast for you, little lady!”

 

Everyone laughs at her Dad impression and I check out the Underworld DVD case for the run-time. “Well, the DVD says that it is an hour and forty-five minutes, but I think we could cut five to ten minutes by just skipping the title scenes. If we started it now, we might be done by 2230 hours.  Will that give you enough time to get home if we watched that now?” I ask.  I’m starting to use military time more and more now. I have to actively think about translating the time from military to civilian.

 

Lisa looks at me a little funny for a micro second. “Yeah, thirty minutes should be plenty.” She says before turning to John. “You will be able to walk me home, right?”

 

“Of course my delicate little blossom! I am here but to...ooof!” John says using his paladin voice just before Lisa lightly punches him in his stomach.

 

“You saw that?!  Help! Help! I’m being repressed!” John mock yells with a falsetto British accent.

 

“Oh, I’ll show you repression!  Bloody peasant!” Lisa says as she expertly puts John into an arm lock for a second before she releases him and rewards him with a kiss.

 

“Oh, gross!  Run away, Sir John! Run away!” I say using my fake British accent.

 

“I think I can face just a little bit of peril!” John says with a muffled British accent as Nikki starts to giggle.  That causes Lisa to start giggling, which caused Lindsay to start too.  I am so not joining in on the giggle fest!

 

I decide that I should just get Underworld started.  Oh man, does Selene kick some butt!  I wish that I could do some of that and look as good as she does while doing it.  Umm, rewind...delete, delete, delete.  Okay, all better.

 

With skipping the opening titles and stopping right at the start of the ending credits, we get John and Lisa out the door at 2237 hours.  Since Lisa’s house is only a few blocks away, that should be plenty of time for Lisa to get home.

 

“Nice ‘meeting’ you, Brianna. I can’t wait until you get back from Virginia.  You and I are going to have some serious fun in the dojo!” Lisa says, bouncing with excitement just before she hugs me good night. 

 

Geez! It would’ve been nice to get all these hugs from her before I turned.  Yeah...turned.  As in, “turned to the dark side” or maybe even “turn undead” if I’m feeling particularly sour.  Well, at least she said “dojo” instead of the “mall”.

 

Thankfully, John learned his lesson.  He gives me our standard high-five and knuckle-boom hand shake and as he turns to join Lisa for her walk home, he casually looks back over his shoulder. “Later, dude.  See ya when you get back.”

 

“Later, bro.” I say with a quick wave just before I shut and lock the door with a smile.  I feel pretty good and I even pretend to be a little surprised when I turn and see my mom and dad standing quietly behind in the hallway.  They look pretty happy too.

 

“So, how was your first night home?” My mom asks.

 

“It was great, Mom!  Sorry about freaking out there in the beginning.” I say as I look down to the floor, feeling ashamed of myself.

 

“No problem, Brianna.  Everyone understands what happened and why.” My mom says.

 

“What did you end up saying to everyone while I was, umm, helping Barry with the luggage?” I ask.

 

My mom glances at my dad for a second before looking back to me. “Oh, I just explained to them how inside you are still Brian and that they should try to treat you the same.  Also, for them not to try and push you into the girl stuff, but instead just let you be who you are and to be gentle with you if you ever do express an interest in learning more about girl stuff.”

 

“Oh.” I say.

 

“Yes, they know that it isn’t easy for you and that it won’t be easy for them either, but they are willing to try and that is all we can ask, isn’t it?” My mom asks with a gentle smile.

 

“Yeah, thanks Mom and Dad.” I say as I give them both a hug and they hug me.  We just stand there in the hallway and enjoy each other’s presence for what feels like an eternity, but it was really just 56 seconds. 

 

“Well, I guess I should get upstairs and help out with Nikki’s bed.” I say as I disentangle myself from the hug.

 

“Barry has it setup already and I believe that Nikki is up there talking with Lindsay in her room.  Why don’t you go up and check on them?” My mom asks.

 

I’m not sure how I feel about invading Lindsay’s room. It’s normally an out-of-bounds zone. “Umm, sure.” I say as I head for the stairs.  I so want to try going all Selene and seeing if I can just jump up the stairs, but I don’t want to make an idiot of myself.  I do skip the first three steps. I know, that’s nothing to write home about, but it was pretty easy.  Maybe there is hope for me yet?

 

I knock on Lindsay’s door. “Is it okay if I come in?” I ask, hesitantly

 

“Come on in sis! It’s just Nikki and me doing some girl talk.” Lindsay says through the door.  Sis huh?  I hesitate for a second before I decide to push open her door.

 

I spot Nikki sitting next to Lindsay on her bed. “Umm, hey. I was just thinking about heading to bed.” I say, feeling nervous for some reason.

 

“Oh, good.  Lindsay and I were just finishing up.” Nikki says as she stands.

 

I’m not really ready for Nikki to come into my room. “No rush, it can wait.  I need to find something to wear to bed and get changed.  You two keep talking.” I say in a rush to get it all out. I feel a bit embarrassed. I never thought about how I would change my clothes with Nikki in my room.  I guess I could use the bathroom to change.

 

“Oh no, that’s fine. I’ll lend you hand. Night, Lindsay.” Nikki says as she makes her way past me and enters my room. 

 

“Night, Nikki! See you in the morning and I hope that Brianna doesn’t still snore.” Lindsay says with a laugh as she walks over to me standing transfixed in her doorway.

 

I don’t know what to do.  Do I follow Nikki into my room now?  What if she is already changing her clothes?

 

While I’m stuck in a loop, Lindsay gives me hug. “Night little big sister!” she says with a grin.

 

Crap! She did notice that she’s taller than me now. “Umm, night Lindsay and don’t think that just because you might be a little taller than me now that I will go soft on ya!” 

 

She just giggles at me as she closes her door.

 

I don’t think that my warning has quite the effect I was looking for.

 

I decide to follow Nikki into my room and close my door.  I spot a set of white silk pajama pants with a button-up top lying on my bed.  There is even a pair of white bath slippers sitting on the throw rug next to my bed.  I guess that my mom has already been in here and taken care of everything for me. 

 

Nikki is rooting through her suitcase.  I can’t stop myself from gasping with surprise when she pulls out a delicate looking light purple silk night gown.

 

“Umm, I’ll just grab my PJs and change in the bathroom so you can get ready in here.” I say, blushing with embarrassment from catching her with what looks like sexy lingerie to me.

 

Nikki pauses in thought for a second. “How about if I trade with you?  I need to wash off my makeup.”

 

“Okay...” I timidly agree.

 

“Great!” Nikki smiles at me as she digs out a small bag of toiletries to take with her to the bathroom.  I gently close my door once she enters the bathroom and lean up against it with a sigh of relief.  I am so glad that she didn’t say. “Oh, it’s okay. We’re both girls.”

 

While I stand on one of the strategically placed throw rugs, I quickly strip down to my bra and panties and slip into my new pajamas.  I have never worn silk pajamas before.  Never worn silk anything, but I must admit that the silk does feel so nice against my skin.  I decide to just sit on my bed and veg while I wait for Nikki to get done in the bathroom.  I still need to brush my teeth and collect another urine sample.  I’m starting to get good at it now though.  The last time I had to go was during ‘Devil’. I managed to do it all by myself and not make a mess all over my hand.  After this one, I will be all out of sample jars, so I hope that Dr. E will decide that he has enough of my pee on hand to test when we return to the lab tomorrow morning. Pee on hand...oh I kill myself sometimes.

 

I feel pretty relaxed until Nikki casually walks back into my room wearing her night gown and carrying her clothes.  I gulp when I realize that her gown is held on the top with what look like strings, and it only comes down to mid-thigh.  The only part that is not see-through is the top part that covers her boobs, sorry, her girls.  Everything else is semi-transparent and I can see her panties underneath.

 

“Umm, Umm...” Is all that I can get out of my mouth right now.

 

Nikki just smiles at me like nothing is out of the ordinary for her. “All done, Bree!  The bathroom is all yours.”

 

“...okay, thanks.” I weakly reply as I quickly jump out of bed, forgetting to put on my slippers in my rush.  I quickly brush my teeth and when my hair gets in the way, I am forced to drink from a cup to rinse instead of leaning over and drinking directly from the faucet like I normally do.  I quickly forget that little hair problem when I start to try and wash my face.  Damn hair!  What in the heck does Lindsay or my mom do?  Oh yeah, they tie their hair back into a pony tail or use a hair clip to keep it up.  Hmmm, I spot a hair clip, but it takes me two frustrating minutes just to get my hair to stay up.  My hair is not that long. How do they make it look so easy?

 

The urine sample is positively easy in comparison.

 

I lightly tap on my own door a few seconds before I slowly open it a crack.  Just in cast Nikki isn’t decent or something. I hope that she’s already under her covers.  I knew it couldn’t be that easy.  She is just casually sitting on the end of my bed and reading through one of my comic books. 

 

Nikki looks up from her reading and smiles at the sight of me standing nervously next to my door.  “Bree, what are you so nervous about?” She asks, like she doesn’t know.

 

I nervously laugh. “Oh nothing, I guess. I’m just not used to having a girl in my room. Especially one as pretty as you and well, I’m...” I say before I just run out of steam.  What more can I say?

 

She just sets the comic aside and pats the top of the bed next to her. “Come here and sit while I get a brush.  Your hair is all tangled and if you go to bed with it looking like that, you will never get the tangles out.”

 

I start to relax after the first minute as she brushes my hair while engaging me in casual conversation.  It feels nice and if I was a cat, I’d be purring up a storm right now. 

 

After a few minutes she stops and has me face her. “Are you still wearing your bra?”

 

“Umm, yeah.  Why?” I ask feeling worried all of a sudden.

 

“You need to take it off when you sleep.  Trust me, you do not want to accidentally fall asleep with it on or you will be hating life by the morning.” She explains with a grin.

 

“O-Okay,” I say as I try and figure out how I’m going to go about taking my bra off without flashing her in the process.  I try to play it cool and just act casual about it as I stand and unbutton my top while turning away from her.  I end up ruining that image by fumbling with the bra when I try to remove the thing.  I swear, the hooks in the back are impossible to reach!  This is just wrong on so many levels.  I am not the one who is supposed to be struggling to remove my own bra. I am supposed to be struggling to remove someone else’s bra.

 

Nikki ends up giggling at me. “You will get the hang of it eventually, but for now, just slip your shoulders out of the straps, and then, spin the back to the front to unhook it.  You can do the same to put it on.”

 

Doh!  Why didn’t I think of that?  It’s so simple.  “Thanks.” I say as I use her instructions to finally remove the device from my chest.  It feels good when the girls pop free of their restraints.  The only downside is that my nipples decide to spring to attention when the colder room air hits them.  Thank god Nikki can’t see them!  I quickly put my pajama shirt back on and button it up before I turn back to face her.  The silk rubbing against my firm and sensitive nipples are not helping.  I use every relaxation technique I can think of to help me pretend that nothing is wrong. I’m sure that Nikki has had the same problem, right?

 

“Better?” Nikki asks.

 

“Oh yeah. I guess I just got used to it, but now I feel much better, sort of.” I say. I can’t stop myself from blushing and feeling the need to hide my chest by crossing my arms.  I feel like I’m trying to hide a tent in my pants, but now it’s on my chest where everyone can see.

 

Nikki giggles at me, but instead of making me feel worse, her giggle somehow becomes infectious and I find myself giggling at the absurdity of the situation.  I plop myself down on my bed and fall back into my cloud.  “What am I going to do?” I ask with a sigh.

 

She falls back into my cloud and turns her head to look at me. “Whatever feels right for you.  You can try to fight it, but if you just try to do what feels right for you without worrying about what other people think, then it will all end up working out.”

 

“How did you get to be so wise, Obi-wan?” I say with a smirk as I turn my head to look at her.  Even without any makeup, she is just so damn beautiful laying there with her gorgeous red hair in semi-disarray around her face.

 

“Obi-wan?!?! Why you!” She squeals as she grabs my pillow and hits me with it.  That breaks me out of my un-pure thoughts.

 

“Hey! No fair!  I’m unarmed!” I whine to her as I roll off the bed to avoid another blow. I spot her bed and quickly grab her pillow to use against her.  “Ha!  Your normal pillow is no match for my plus three Pillow of Obi-wan Slaying!” I say with a laugh as I move to engage her in battle.  After a few minutes of vicious attack and counter attack, we both stop in mid-swing when someone knocks on my door.

 

“Girls, it’s time for bed. No more horsing around in there.” My mom says through the door with a bemused note in her voice.

 

We both collapse onto my bed with a fit of the giggles.  Oh, that felt so good and wonders of all wonders; I don’t even notice her revealing sleep wear any more. 

 

“Thanks, that felt good. Are all pillow fights that therapeutic?” I ask with a smile.

 

Nikki giggles. “Yep, pretty much, but some of my girlfriends can wield a mean pillow. We better get to bed.  Tomorrow is going to be a long day.”

 

“Yeah, not sure if I am really looking forward to it now, but oh well.  The sooner I get it done, the sooner I can get back to normal.”  I say, frowning at the thought of all the unknowns I will have to face.

 

Nikki rolls out of my bed and looks at me with a grin. “Night, little cuz.”

 

I’m shocked when she calls me that.  I’m not ‘that’ little damn it.  Wait, what is that ‘cuz’ thing? 

 

“Cousin?” I ask.

 

She just points to her ears. “Well, we are kind of related now. Ya know?”

 

“Oh, yeah, but I’m not ‘that’ little!” I say with a pout.

 

“No, but you are still younger than me. So, nanny nanny boo boo!” She says, sticking her tongue out at me.

 

“Why you ‘bigger’ brat! Don’t make me hit you with your pillow again!” I mock threaten her before I ruin my fierce expression with another fit of giggles.  And here I thought that Sara was the evil one.

 

Nikki retreats to her bed. At least, that is how I decide to interpret her walking over to her bed. I manage to get the last pillow attack when I throw her pillow at her instead of being nice and walking it over to her.

“Hey!  No fair!” She fiercely whispers at me before we both break down into another fit of the giggles.  My mom chooses that moment to enter my room with a stern glare.

 

“Okay girls, it’s time to turn off the lights and get to sleep now.” She says as she walks over to the side of my bed followed by my dad.  I quickly get under the covers.  The silk pajamas feel a little weird at first, but they are so soft and silky feeling that I just decide to enjoy the feeling. 

 

It has been awhile since my dad has joined my mom in the good night ritual.  Well, not long long, but he usually only pokes his head in the door and says, “Night sport!” before he heads off to bed while mom does the hugging and tucking in work.

 

As my dad watches, mom tucks me in and then leans over and gives me a kiss good night. “Night, Brianna.  Try and get to sleep now. We have a long day tomorrow.  Mr. Reilly called.  We need to be at the labs by nine am and the flight leaves at one pm.  So we will be very busy first thing in the morning with packing.”

 

That sounds like a busy day and I don’t think that I am looking forward to it. “Yes Mom.” I say with a resigned tone of voice.

 

Her eyes tear up just a little as I tell her that. She gently brushes aside my bangs and gives me another kiss. “Well, night sweetie. Love you.”

 

“I love you too Mom.” I say as my dad bends over and gives me kiss on my forehead.

 

“Night sport and I know that I don’t say it enough, but I love ya too.” He says with a fond expression.

 

Damn leaking eye syndrome!  I can’t help it. “Thanks, I love you too Dad.” I say as I bring my sheet up to dab away the very small amount of tears that are trying to build up.

 

My mom then walks over to Nikki and looks at her fondly.  She pauses for a second before she bends down and tucks Nikki into bed too.  Then, she gives her a kiss on her forehead too. “Thanks Nikki. I’m glad that you came and are Brianna’s friend.  She needs all the friends she can get right now.” She says, softly.

 

My dad looks over to Nikki. “Yes, thanks Nikki.”

 

“No problem Mr. and Mrs. Peters. I’m glad I could help and like I just told Bree, I mean Brianna; she’s kind of my cousin now.” Nikki says with a smile.

 

My mom looks back at me and smiles before looking back to Nikki, “Yes, I can kind of see that now. Thanks.” My mom says as she stands, and giving the room one final look as she appears to ignore the ‘Bree’ thing. My dad and her join hands as they walk out of the room and turn off the lights before the door softly closes.

 

My low-light vision automatically kicks in and I can see Nikki’s eyes softly glowing on the other side of my room.  “Do you have low-light vision too?” I whisper.

 

“Yeah, it can make getting to sleep a pain sometimes, but it sort of goes away a few seconds after I close my eyes.” Nikki says.

 

I lean back and close my eyes. “Oh, okay.  Thanks.”

 

I wake up exactly one hour, fifty-six minutes and twenty-three seconds later.