Tuck (Regular) Special Valentine's Day 1998 Edition Part 2: Tuck Another Chance by Ellen Hayes Copyright© 2013, 2017 Ellen Hayes All Rights Reserved. Will Tuck And Nicole Survive Until The Weekend? "Shut UP! Bitch!" I whined at Nicole, "They're PICKING on me! Make 'em STOOOOOPPP." Nicole just looked torn, and giggled helplessly. Kim growled, "Stop whining, Tuck, it's unmanly." Then Kim and Jill laughed.

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Legalities: Tuck Another Chance -*- Copyright 2013 by Ellen Hayes .

Any resemblance between the writings in this work, and any actual persons or places, living or dead, are purely coincidental, except when
used for satirical purposes.

This work contains adult situations, adult language, adult concepts, and possibly sex. If you are legally not allowed to read materials
containing such things, then you will be breaking the law by reading this. I am not responsible.

Continuing to read this document, or storing it or reproducing it in any format means that you explicitly affirm that you are legally allowed to possess and read such materials in your city, county/parish, state, and country.

All rights reserved. See the bottom for distribution rights. ~Ellen.
 
Author's Note: This story is rated TV-14, so if you're under 18, you should go get your parents and read the story together.

This story also dings the following bells: sexual innuendo Dialog, foul Language, and maybe Sex and Violence, I forget.

Remember, kids, get your parents and read this story together! Just be prepared to answer their questions. ~Ellen.
 
Image Credit: Tuck picture purchased and licensed for publishing from 123rf.com ~Sephrena

 

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***
08:59 16 Feb

     Okay, I was pretty sure Debbie and I hadn't had sex. We'd talked,
imbibed champagne, hated men, discussed the men we hated and why, tried
some new makeup - I now had some in my fanny pack, which was not good
for me to have in school; and some more in my backpack in a zippered
soft case which I did not remember putting in there - tried on some
clothes, Debbie had shown me some lingerie, I'd ordered a couple of sex
toys-
     One of her businesses, that I hadn't known about before, was black
market-style ordering such things for girls, because for some insane
reason it was illegal for teens to buy them. You had to wonder if it
was some kind of we-planned-this-out conspiracy, to make sure teenagers
would be fucking each other, instead of toys and/or using porn for
assisted masturbation, and so getting pregnant and thus being
economically crippled and having to drop out of school and et cetera.
Which would mesh right up with the attempted bans on abortions and
morning-after pills and birth control and sex ed and so on. Then again,
religious people seemed to be more hysterically intent on stamping out
fun, than anything resembling sense or a plan or agenda or anything.
Otherwise, Prohibition wouldn't have passed and a lot of other laws
wouldn't either. Like the ones prohibiting teens from getting porn and
sex toys.
     Anyway, she'd talked me into a couple - which, thankfully, had NOT
ended up in my school backpack, though possibly only because she had to
order them - and I'd be debited. I'd also gotten my week's pay. And I
VAGUELY remembered agreeing that I ought to have pierced ears. But not
the actual piercing.
     I'd pulled out a mirror - surveillance kind, not the one that was
in the powder compact that was unfortunately now in my fanny pack - and
checked, and they looked symmetrical to me. Thankfully. I'd thought
about pulling them out, but they HURT when I touched them, so I was
reluctant to remove them. Especially in class, where bleeding meant I'd
have to go to the 'school nurse' who was likely someone they picked up
from under a bridge somewhere, and beg for something like a bandaid.
I'd rather have Mike use superglue; at least he knew enough to wash his
hands. Also he wouldn't argue with me. Or worry about what the school
board would say about 'unapproved procedures' like stopping bleeding.
Or call my parents. Or, damnit, call my parents to ask if I could be
allowed to take the drugs I WAS CARRYING WITH A PRESCRIPTION.
     I was not in a good mood this morning.
     Also I was wearing women's clothing, technically, being as that was
what Debbie had thrown at me in the frantic pre-departure minutes. It
didn't look that feminine, but the pants weren't mine and fit too well,
which men's pants did not, any more; and the tank top under my armor -
wearing my armor everywhere was looking like a REALLY good idea - was
purple. The shirt wasn't mine either, though I think it was a guy's
shirt; it was rather large on me.
     I wasn't entirely sure why Debbie had insisted I change clothes,
but she had, and I had. While not yet conscious, really, which I
thought was unfair, taking advantagen of me while I was intoxicated like
that.
     Also I was wearing makeup. Just a little, foundation and concealer
and such, which is why I hadn't looked too much like shit in homeroom
this morning; but I didn't really recall her doing it, and it HAD to
have been this morning after we woke up. It must've happened during
those few minutes I blanked out.
     *God, she's fast,* I sighed to myself.
     And the bell rang, and so I didn't even have the option of trying
to convince the warden that I needed to go to a bathroom and then trying
to get the makeup off with toilet paper.
     This was not going to be my best day. At least I'd gotten some
homework done.

***
11:33 16 Feb

     "Oh man, that sucks," I whined. Nicole had the 'A' lunch, and
everyone else I liked had 'B'. I could've changed it, back at the
beginning of the year, if I'd known I'd be dating her; but if I had that
much precognitive ability, I could use it better by playing the stock
market and lotteries.
     "Yeah, tell me about it," Nicole sighed.
     I begged, but quietly in case the answer was 'no', "Can I hug you
in public?"
     She looked a little skeptical, but said, "Yeah?" with a side of
'duh?'.
     I hugged her for as long as I thought I could without making her
late. "Talk tonight right? After eight?"
     "Yeah," she nodded, and stroked my hair as she pulled away. "I
gotta go," she said at the same time I said, "You gotta go."
     We smiled, and then she left.
     "Dude, how the hell do you keep doing that?" Mike sighed.
     Amanda just giggled. Which did not sound like Nicole, which was
immensely suckful.

***
11:38 16 Feb

     "Sturgeon!" Mike announced, with his hands in the air.
     Most of the gamers wondered what the hell he was talking about, but
George and Dan caught it and looked greatly enraged. "With WHO?!" Dan
complained.
     "With WHAT?" George snorted. So I hit him really hard in the arm.
"Ow! Bitch!" he complained as he tried to hit me back.

***
12:22 16 Feb

     "Did you hear what happened to Debbie Saturday night?" Kathy asked
me as we humped to post-lunch classes.
     "Dude, I was there," I sighed. "Men are fucking PIGS."
     She gave me a sideways look. "I thought you were, uh..."
     "She didn't want to go home alone and cry over the fuckhead, so she
came home with me."
     "I thought you went home with HER? I mean, to her place."
     "What? NO! That was... Oh man, I'll tell you later," I sighed.
The walls might and might not have ears, but a crowded school hallway
DEFINITELY did.
     "Yeah, o-" She actually stopped and grabbed my chin and tilted my
head up. "When did that happen?"
     "When did WHAT hap-"
     "Getting your ears pierced." She twisted my head back and forth,
and I was sort of glad it was Kathy, who knew anatomical things like the
way a neck actually rotated, because she wasn't doing it wrong. She
could've snapped it if she did it wrong. On the other hand, if it
hadn't been Kathy, they probably wouldn't have been able to hold me like
this.
     I could've lied, but she was holding my face, which, while it hurt
now, did not hurt as much as she could cause it to hurt if she was
displeased. "Sometime between opening a champagne bottle last night and
leaving for school this morning."
     Kathy boggled.

***
12:25 16 Feb

     "I didn't have a chance to print it," I sighed as I handed Mr.
Ortega the floppy disk with my calc homework on it. Luckily, I had more
than one floppy on hand - or I had, until today - so I could turn in my
sociology and my physics too, after I'd done them. Which was well after
I'd gotten here this morning. "The printers here can handle LaTeX
though. The procedure's in a README file on the disk." I'd copied it
over, for the stupid, though Mr. Ortega was maybe not one of the
stupids.

***
14:28 16 Feb

     "Aw MAN!" I was wearing panties. I'd BEEN wearing panties. At
school. "Goddamnit I am going to BEAT her..." Though, at least I
hadn't been wearing a bra.
     Then again, it HAD been Debbie; I checked. No bra at school today.
"Thank gods."

***
14:33 16 Feb

     "To go with the new boots, yeah." I could've worn pants, I guess;
but the long skirt on the dress I was wearing looked really good when
compared to the two-or-so-inch heeled gray boots I'd gotten yesterday.
*Or is that 'contrasted'? Maybe 'complimented by'?*
     In any case, it looked good. I twisted a couple of times to see
the skirt flare, and that looked at least as good.

***
14:38 16 Feb

     "Not bad at ALL," I agreed as I looked at my face. Well, it had
been Debbie; she'd sell you stuff you didn't previously want, but she
never, as far as I could tell, sold crap. And the new colors looked
good. A little more mature, and subtle, I thought.
     The earrings kept catching my attention every time I saw them,
though. And each time I did, they hurt.
     As I twisted to look at myself in the big mirror, so's to get the
whole picture, I saw the time. "Oh bugger," I sighed as I threw makeup
into its bag and almost started to run before I remembered I was wearing
high heeled boots.

***
14:49 16 Feb

     Driving in heels was bad enough; driving in high-heeled boots was
far worse. Normally I was a fan of ankle support, but the combination
of that and the heel pressing against the floor made it much harder to
hit pedals. Which, when driving a manual transmission, was really
important.
     "Fuck!" Not to mention I was probably scuffing the hell out of
the heels, too. "Damnit I just bought these!"

***
14:55 16 Feb

     "Did you get your ears pierced?" Ricky demanded.
     "Yeah." This was not looking like one of my better decisions. I
was beginning to think I should avoid being drunk before agreeing to
permanent body modifications.
     "When?"
     "Last night."
     "How did you get them last night? Aren't the malls closed?"
     "Um, yeah. We did it at someone's house..." And, now that I was
unwillingly thinking about it, it was possible Debbie had the sanitary
appliance necessary, whatever infernal machine they used, but I sort of
doubted it. Which meant that it had likely been done by her stabbing me
with a needle. A STEEL needle.
     Four times.
     Right next to my face.
     Right next to my BRAIN.
     "Oh god," I moaned, and quickly opened my door and got out, in case
I threw up.

***
14:57 16 Feb

     "You look sick," Ricky observed.
     I wanted to yell at him for getting out of the car, but he was
standing in front of me looking concerned, and so I thought it would be
kind of rude. Also, he was protected by the mass of the car.
     "Yeah... I just need to sit out for a couple of minutes," I told
him.
     He checked his watch, and I almost smiled, because he was probably
going to time me, like I'd done when I'd gotten a watch, waybackwhen.
Then he said, "We have to go home, because Adam'n'Scott're coming over,
remember?"
     "Oh god." No I had not remembered.

***
15:36 16 Feb

     "Oh, no problem," I lied with a smile. "He's so eager to see
them."
     "Well, we'll pick him up about seven," Mrs. Kaminski said. She'd
been looking at me suspiciously the whole time, though it had gotten a
lot less when I'd asked for two emergency contact numbers, a list of
medical conditions applicable, and a list of food preferences.
     Debbie would've called it 'business development'; I just called it
sense.
     I was sort of glad I'd dressed up today, though.

***
16:43 16 Feb

     I was so very very glad I had a headset over here at the Parkers'
because if I had to use a regular phone to deal with the Pack, I'd have
been screaming. My ears HURT.
     "Nicole and I just talked-"
     "Oh BULLSHIT!"
     "I'm BABYSITTING!" I reminded everyone.
     "Oh right," Amanda said, sounding almost contrite.
     Julia asked, "So how long did you two 'talk'?"
     "I can't say, it's rude. Long enough that she slept most of the
next day, Sunday, anyway."
     Pause.
     "You are fucking kidding," Julia stated.
     "Nuh uh," Pam giggled. I was glad she wasn't still mad.
     I grinned to myself. "Why would I kid about it? Oh, by the way,
I'm gonna talk with her about eight o'clock, so A don't bother calling
me then at home, and B, Pam, not tonight."
     "Oh okay. Tomorrow, though..." Pam threatened.
     "Right. And C I don't know if we're- uh, you know-"
     Someone filled in, "Dating?" then Sabrina added, "Officially."
     "Right. So don't go spreading it, and don't ask her about it yet."
     "So, okay," Sabrina asked, "what happened with Mike and Jill?"
     "Why do you keep asking me this stuff?" I complained. "I can't
talk about it! Ask Jill!"
     Amanda smirked - I could hear it - "So what did you and DEBBIE do?"
     "Oh dude!" Sabrina complained.
     "The day after Nicole?" Julia also complained.
     "NO! We DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" I shrieked. Which set Stella off.

***
18:09 16 Feb

     I would really rather be fixing dinner for Nicole, because I
thought she would be really appreciative. True, the Parkers paid me
cash, but Nicole had made love with me, which was almost better and felt
a whole lot nicer at the moment. Well, not literally at the moment; it
was more of a contrast thing.
     Also, I wasn't babysitting three second-graders and a toddler if it
was me and Nicole.

***
19:21 16 Feb

     I had felt really... I don't know what, but I'd sort of dressed up
when I got to Rachel's earlier today. Which was stupid, because I'd
then gone babysitting, on schedule, and that was no place for nice
clothes.
     But it had felt nice, and even now I looked good, I thought, as I
twisted in front of the mirror.
     "If you like girls," I sighed, and started to take everything off.

***
20:04 16 Feb

     I'd managed to get away from my parents by telling them I had to
make an important call at eight o'clock, but the fact that I'd had to
tell them that boded ill for me. Or maybe it was sort of karmic
balance, because they hadn't noticed my earrings. Of course, I had
arranged my hair to hide them...
     But I got free, only a few minutes late, and then I had to look up
Nicole's number in the school directory. It had changed when they'd
moved, but they'd updated the school's data, which occasionally copied
itself to someplace I could get it. I was sure I had no idea how that
could happen if anyone asked me about it, too, haha.
     "Hello?"
     "May I speak to Nicole please? This is Tucker."
     "Who?"
     "Tucker? Just tell her that, please." I wondered who I was
talking to.
     "Just a minute."
     I was very very glad I had a headset in here.

***
20:06 16 Feb

     It was well over a minute before, "Hello?"
     "Nicole? Tucker."
     "Oh hey," Nicole said warmly.
     "Hey."
     Pause.
     I had something in queue... *Oh, right.* "This morning. Debbie
had a bottle of champagne when I took her home last night, and we
basically drank it, and-"
     "The whole thing?"
     "I'd guess, yeah. Yeah," I said as I remembered 'fighting' over
who got the last drops. "And then I was there the next morning, with
the worst hangover I've ever had, and then things got really confused.
REALLY confused." I still didn't remember her doing makeup on me.
     Pause.
     I told her, "We did NOT have sex. Uh, Debbie and I didn't," I said
to be un-ambiguous.
     She snorted a bit. "Tuck, though... I mean, what would you think,
if I told you that?"
     The idea of Debbie and Nicole getting it on flashed through my mind
before I could stop it. And what ran out of my mouth, also before I
could stop it, was, "Dude, you'd better check your wallet if you did-"
     "WHAT?!"
     I guessed, "I think I should explain that."
     "I want to hear THAT!"

***
20:09 16 Feb

     Nicole said, "Oh. Well..."
     I accidentally emitted, "Oh good," because I'd managed to check
through things while talking, and I had most of my money, and a receipt
for the makeup. Not like I'd wanted the makeup, but it was Debbie and
I'd been drunk.
     "Good what?"
     "I've still got MY money." I should probably be happy I had most
of it, and hard goods for the rest of it. I'd really hate to have paid
her to do something like a makeover.
     She laughed.
     "So," she said, "um. Seriously? You didn't..."
     "Is this phone where your parents can hear it?" I checked.
     "Yeah, my mom."
     I rolled my eyes. I HATED nonsecure commo. Which was almost all
of it, but I still hated it, and there were degrees of insecurity; and a
common phone line in a public area that your parents could just listen
to your side of a conversation was possibly the worst. *No, jail is
worst. Still, pretty bad.* "Okay, so: NO, we did not have sex."
     "Did you still have your clothes on when you woke up?"
     No, I hadn't. "Yes!" I'd still had my original underwear and T-
shirt on, and socks, but I would not have had sex with socks on. I'd
also ended up wearing panties, I remembered, but that had happened after
we woke up. "Did you just say that where your mom could-"
     "Aw h- Darnit," she snarled.
     I said for her, "Fucking shit hell damnation?"
     She agreed, "Yeah. Twice."
     We sighed. I HATED nonsecure commo.
     "So, like, this morn- Did you get your ears pierced?"
     I moaned.

***
20:43 16 Feb

     We'd signed off, which I didn't want to do but her mom was
suspicious enough right now. Well, maybe she wasn't suspicious ENOUGH,
haha, but we didn't want to make it worse. Or 'enough'.
     My phone flashed, and I saw it was Mike calling, so I answered,
"Tucker."
     "You're in the shit," Mike said.
     "For what?"
     The assorted giggles, which were not Mike, gave me a clue.
     "So explain," Mike demanded, "why your ears are pierced." That
caused outright laughter on the other line. Lines.
     I was so very very glad my headset didn't touch the piercings.

***
20:48 16 Feb

     Someone asked, "Val? Did you clean 'em?"
     "Clean what?"
     "Your EARS stupid!" Julia barked.
     "They'll get infected if you don't," someone added.
     "Aw MAN!" *Why do I DO these stupid things?*
     Mike twisted the knife by saying, "You get stupid when you're drunk
don't you." Which was followed by laughter.

***
02:09 17 Feb

     It wasn't my ears being ripped off that bothered me, it was what
they'd been going to do after that.
     I sighed. *Maybe I should clean 'em again...*

***
03:01 17 Feb

     Doing laundry at this time of the day possessed great suck. The
only thing that would've been worse is having someone else deal with the
sticky bits in my sheets and on a few towels. But I HAD to change the
sheets, and then I might as well wash them myself, and the guest robe,
and then I could pre-wash the nightwear I'd bought too. And Debbie's
loaner clothing. Including her stupid panties.
     Except, there were more sheets in the dirty baskets, which weren't
mine, and I was all too afraid that THEY were sticky. Or dried-sticky,
by now. And I hoped they were Mike&Jill, which was disgusting enough,
but I was afraid they weren't.
     At least I'd have plenty of time to do my homework... and, maybe,
boil myself. Just looking at the other laundry made me feel unclean.

***
06:45 17 Feb

     "You think Debbie needs a ride this morning?" I remembered to ask
Jill, though kind of late.
     "I don't think so... Naw, she's getting one with someone else. I
don't think she was too happy yesterday morning, having to be there that
early."
     I asked rhetorically, "Who is?"
     She answered, "Kim!" And we both laughed.

***
06:56 17 Feb

     "So, like, are we dating-dating?" I asked Nicole, who was also
there early. And not in the bathroom like yesterday. "No, wait, that's
the wrong question. Can I PDA you?"
     "PDA?"
     "Persecutions of Damned Affection," Kim contributed.
     "That's not it," I told Nicole. "Public Display of Affection."
     "Patting my Damned Ass," Jill nodded.
     I begged, "Would you two shut up?"
     Jill shook her head casually. "Nah, too much fun torturing you."
Kim just smiled grimly and sipped coffee.
     "Nicole?" I asked.
     "What, like..."
     "Like whatever I can get away with?" I grinned.
     Nicole smirked, "You perv."
     "Boy, no kidding," Jill smirked too.
     "Shut UP! Bitch!" I whined at Nicole, "They're PICKING on me!
Make 'em STOOOOOPPP."
     Nicole just looked torn, and giggled helplessly.
     Kim growled, "Stop whining, Tuck, it's unmanly." Then Kim and Jill
laughed.

***
11:32 17 Feb

     "Shut up, V- Tuck," Sabrina called over her shoulder. "Nicole, if
you don't give him permission to talk to us about it, we're going to
torture him."
     "They will too," Mike assured her.
     I almost managed to get loose, but Kathy did something immensely
painful and distracted me and then got her grip back and squeezed
harder. I was pretty sure that they'd set this up specifically so I
couldn't object - what with being tied into a knot - when they asked
Nicole to remove her restrictions on talking about what we'd done;
because, normally, Kathy wasn't here. And, of course, she rarely
grappled me and put a hand over my mouth.
     "No, seriously, nothing bad," Amanda assured her, "we just want to
know what's going on with him."

***
11:36 17 Feb

     "I fucking hate all of you," I insisted. I was also nauseous,
which did not make me feel more charitable towards my 'friends'.

***
16:34 17 Feb

     *Maybe I could make a quick call...*
     Ricky was watching cartoons - didn't that boy EVER do homework? -
and Stella wasn't coherent enough to tell tales. Or demand bribe money
for silence.
     I quickly put on the headset, dialed into my house, dialed out,
waited, and then I thought it was Nicole saying, "Hello?"
     "Nicole?"
     "Yes?"
     "Tuck," I said, relieved.
     "Oh hey!"
     "Quick call, okay? I'm sitting, and god only knows what'll happen-
I might have to hang up real quick."
     "Yeah, seriously. I was sitting one time when-"
     I mentioned, "Nicole? QUICK call."
     She sighed, "Oh, right."
     "Anyway... about my so-called 'friends', at lunch today? How much
can I tell 'em?"
     "Uh, what?"
     "Remember Kathy twisting my arms and things?"
     "Kath- Oh HER. Yeah. Um..." She sighed.
     I explained, "It's the downside of having friends, female friends;
they want to talk, and they want details." With guys - excepting Mike -
I could just tell outrageous lies that wouldn't be believed by anyone.
     "About..."
     "Us. And, some of what we did, yeah."
     "Hoboy."
     "Yeah. I... I'm still trying to figure out what's polite and all,
and I HATE doing it, but they've been consistent in torturing this kind
of information out of me, whenever there is any, an-"
     "Yeah I saw! Except they asked ME, when she was doing whatever it
was to you."
     "Pain-compliance hold."
     "A what?"
     I simplified, "It hurt, and it would hurt worse if I pulled too
hard. Anyway..."
     "So, I mean, what are they gonna ask?"
     "Well... I don't know. Sometimes they ask details..."
     "Oh man," she sighed.
     "I know. But I've heard details from them too, so it's not like
it's one-sided or anything."
     "It's just... I mean, I don't want to be DISCUSSED, you know?"
     I knew. "If it's any consolation, they've discussed me, in FRONT
of me..."
     She laughed, but said, "No, not really!"
     "Yeah... But, I mean... honestly, they're not really nasty about
it. Just very very persistent." I had to remember that, just because
it had felt like torture to me at the time, that it wasn't. I did have
to admit, they'd never made fun of me for my choices; just for not
making one. Well, not much fun. "Oh, and hey, remember Kelly
Bergquist? The one that came out?"
     "Oh yeah her. I heard about her, I mean a little bit."
     "She's one of my friends, so-"
     "What? No shit?"
     "Actually, she's my Little Sister, like your senior level Big
Sister?"
     "Oh fuck really? Wait, your Little SISTER?"
     "Cheerleaders thought it'd be funny to pair us up, since I'm kind
of ... whatever, and she's butch."
     She laughed, which pissed me off, but said, "Oh, ha ha, I get it.
Since you're both weirdos."
     "You're not making me feel real good about this," I informed her.
     "Sorry... But, I mean, if she- She hangs with you and stuff?"
     "Yeah."
     "So it like worked out, I guess, I mean if she's friends with you
and hangs with you and stuff, right?"
     "Yeah."
     She added confidently, "But they're still bitches for doing it, and
being bitches about it."
     "Yeah!" *Where was I?* "Oh, right. So, we all talked about her-
and WITH her, about being a lesbian and all that, and what it was like,
and how she knew, and stuff like that."
     "Oh for real?"
     "Yeah, seriously... and it was, like, NOT an insult session. I'd
almost say 'adult' except adults are boring, right?"
     She snickered, "Right!"
     "So, I mean," which is where I'd been sort of going, "they're gonna
want me to talk, but at least they won't be insulting about it."
     "Jeez... Wait, so, if they're GOING to talk about it, no matter
WHAT you say or do, why are you calling me to ASK?"
     "Well, I mean, if there's something you REALLY don't want them to
know- Sometimes, some bits are harder than others- That's not how I
wanted to say that," I sighed.
     "Like it might be okay to tell them I didn't, um, with um
intercourse, but I could other ways? 'Cause you said other girls... and
I bet they're the ones that mentioned it to you."
     I admired her weaseling. "Yeah, without telling them exactly WHAT
we did."
     "Yeah, okay... Could I do the same thing? Like, mention your, um,
nipples and things, without mentioning the uh swelling?"
     "You've got friends, too," I realized.
     She grumbled, "Unfortunately," and we both laughed.
     "Yeah... I'd kind of prefer you didn't mention I don't like oral,
either. Not until you've had more than one or two partners and you can
sort of anonymize the data."
     "Do WHAT?"

***
16:41 17 Feb

     Thus ended one of the longest 'quick calls' I'd made in my life.
Still, I think I'd gotten it all worked out.
     Also, I had a sort of preliminary evaluation pre-date for Wednesday
night, if she could get out.

***
19:58 17 Feb

     "Hey Tuck," Sabrina said as I let her in.
     "Hey Tuck. Ready to dance?" Pam asked me, smiling as she usually
was when she was talking about dance, or getting ready to dance, or ...
anything with dance in it.
     "I am ALWAYS ready to dance with you."
     Pam smirked, "Except when you're 'dancing' with someone else!"
     "What? DOH!" I marked one for Pam on the virtual scoreboard, and
checked myself for burns.
     "Ow! THAT hurt," Sabrina observed.

***
21:10 17 Feb

     Sabrina mentioned, "Don't you know, ladies don't sweat?"
     I looked up at her silhouette, hazy in the hypoxia, as I tried to
catch my breath.
     "It's Tuesday, so he can sweat today," Pam chirped. She was not, I
noticed, sounding like SHE was going to pass out from respiratory
insufficiency. I hated her for it. "You know, if you did this every
day, you wouldn't be so out of it."
     "Fuck," gasp, "you!"
     "Did that!" she pointed out with a grin.
     "Ow! THAT hurt," Sabrina felt it necessary to mention.
     "You weren't," gasp, "this mean," gasp, "before."
     Sabrina said, "It's jealousy." Then she glanced at Pam. "She's
had the hots for Nicole since Sep-"
     "I HAVE NOT!" Pam squealed. "I date guys remember?!"
     Sabrina just looked at me sideways.
     "Mostly guys?"
     Now they BOTH looked at me sideways, until I got the 'joke'.
"Fuck," gasp, "you!" *Wait, I said that and it didn't go well.*
     I was not at my best when I'd been exercising like hell for an
hour.

***
21:17 17 Feb

     Aw, gosh; I'd missed Mom and Dad again, who therefore had no reason
to be suspicious of my mutilated ears, since they hadn't seen them.
Neither had The Snitch. And Jill wouldn't say anything, I was pretty
sure. So I got to live un-lectured yet another day.

***
02:31 18 Feb

     "Okay, not so good... Oh-" I had enough fun waking up most
mornings, but this one was going to be bad. I slid slowly out of bed
and bent upright - vveerryy sslloowwllyy - and glided towards my door.
     I got about halfway down the hall before the interrupt went non-
maskable, but I made it to the toilet before anything actually came out.

***
06:42 18 Feb

     "Puking my face off this morning, why?"
     "Seriously?"
     "No, Jill, I just think the idea of me vomiting is funny. YES I'm
serious!" I shrieked.
     "Calm down! Shit!"
     "Fuck that..." I wanted to hit her. I wanted to hit something,
anyway.
     "Do you want to stay home?" she asked.
     I sighed. I'd thought about it, but... "No... I kind of feel
better. And had some ginger ale earlier." That's why I'd been
downstairs cooking, which is what led to me making lunch for both of us.
"Well, ginger syrup in club soda." Making actual fermented ale-type or
beer-type takes at least 24 hours, according to the recipes we had.

***
06:57 18 Feb

     "I could maybe make lunch for you too," I offered.
     "Oh, god, Tuck!" Nicole exclaimed, though I thought happily.
     Jill felt it necessary to add, "Make her all nice and fat."
     "Why are you doing this?" I complained at Jill. "I'm not doing
this to you! OR Mike!"
     "'Cause I-"
     "Wait, what?" Kim asked.
     *Oh SHIT.* I was going to have to glue my mouth shut one of these
days... "Nicole, if I live through this, I'll see you tonight?" I
hoped.
     "What- Are you- Oh NO," Kim cried out. "You did NOT!"
     I suggested to Nicole, "Why don't you run." *While you're still
alive...*
     "Yeah okay," Nicole said, and turned away, but turned her head back
and said, "Good luck!"
     "Thanks!" She smiled at me, and I smiled at her.

***
07:02 18 Feb

     Kim asked me directly, "Did she do this just to SPITE me?"
     Jill's 'NO!' was properly ignored by Kim and I.
     "No," I said. "It was just she didn't want to be alone, and
Mike..."
     "Has a bigger dick than you," Kim finished.
     "Oh!" "That is so-"
     "'Bout nine inches," Kim said, as she held her hands about five
inches apart.
     I think my brain made whirring noises until I caught it, and then I
was laughing like Jill already was.

***
07:58 18 Feb

     "'Bout nine inches," Kim repeated.
     Mike looked down at her hands, and laughed. "I gotta remember that
one!"
     "Jeez, Mike..." I shook my head, but what could I do? Claim it
wasn't funny?

***
08:08 18 Feb

     "Just, I don't feel especially well," I told Mike.
     It was just typical of bureaucratic stupidity that I'd get in
about as much trouble with the school for sneaking in ginger whatever-
you-called-it as I would for punching someone in the face. So I was
hiding it, as we all did. Which, of course, led to concealing any kind
of spill or mess (if you made one) because if you tried to clean it up
you'd get caught and punished; so if you made one, you'd just ignore it
and let it rot on the floor.
     And these people were supposed to be educating us. Well, they
were, I guess; but not in what they said they were.
     Mike questioned, "You make any of the..."
     "Yes," I sighed, not happy. He'd likely want to drink it. "Hey,
you should be able to make this."

***
11:32 18 Feb

     "Oh, man, hey," I smiled at Nicole. Better yet, she smiled back.
     We hugged, which was better still.
     "Don'tcha love that little glow he gets?" Mike commented sourly,
followed by a punch-impact noise and a yelp and Sabrina and Amanda
bitching at him.
     "I hate my friends," I said into Nicole's hair, which made her
giggle.
     "See you tonight, right?" she said into mine. "Oh, hey," she said
as she pushed me off and looked into my face. "Remember what you said
about it being hormones and not forever?"
     *Hormones an-* "Oh, yeah?"
     "So when does it wear off?" she asked, and smiled at me so brightly
the rest of the hallway went dim.
     I answered, "Too damned soon!" as I hugged her again.

***
11:36 18 Feb

     "Riding the hormonal wave," I announced, and smiled like I felt,
which made everyone sick, though possibly with jealousy.
     Except the freshthings, who didn't get it, I could tell. "Uh,
Mike? We gotta explain this to the young'uns."
     "No! Delay of GAME!" George insisted. "None of 'em have love
lives anyway!"
     "Just like you," Dan smirked, which led to bruises.
     "We will do this after school," Mike announced, loudly to be heard
over George and Dan. "Be at home."
     "You need this," I told them.

***
15:41 18 Feb

     I was torn between eating something, which might help with the
nausea, and not eating something which would only be (possibly) ejected
later. I HATED wasting food.
     *Oh, hell, Nicole tonight.* I decided I'd better try food, in the
hopes it would work, and if it didn't I could call Nicole early.

***
16:37 18 Feb

     Jill said, "Oh you are?" like she didn't know.
     "I logged it!" I complained.
     "Shit, Val, am I supposed to read that thing all the time?"
     "YES! That's why it's THERE!" And then she wouldn't have to call
me from work, which had already gotten me bitched at, by her, even
though SHE had called ME.
     "Jeez, don't have a cow." Before I could have one, she continued,
"What I was thinking was, I get off kind of early tonight, so we could
pick her up, an-"
     "We?" She didn't mean-
     "Me an' Mike," she grinned; I could hear it over the phone.
     "You are not."
     She accused, "Just like you and Nicole! Or Pam, or Sabrina that
time, or Cory, or-"
     "Alright alright alright." *Dames!*
     "We're just gonna go out and have fun," she kept on, "so don't get
your panties in a knot about it!"
     "Fine! Okay! I am totally not saying anything!"
     Pause, in which I totally did not say anything.
     "Okay," Jill eventually said, "so, do we pick her up- WHERE do we
pick her up?"
     "Why don't _I_ call her, and see if she AGREES to this," I said,
trying for patience.
     "Well, yah," she said with irritation, and I almost threw the phone
through the window.

***
16:40 18 Feb

     "I hate my friends," I grumbled.
     Ricky asked, "Then why are they your friends?"
     "I don't know..." God, I wanted to barf. Kind of. Except that
would be a bad idea. And messy.

***
16:44 18 Feb

     "Hello?"
     "Nicole? 'S'me."
     "Oh hey!" she said, sounding happy about me calling or something.
I liked that.
     "Hey. Um-"
     "We're still on for tonight right?"
     "Yeah but..."
     "But?"
     "Mike and Jill said they could pick you up, because I get out late
from sitting, and this could save some time."
     "Oh." She didn't sound enthusiastic about it.
     "Yeah... If you want Mike's number, so you can call him and
discuss it, I can give it to you."
     "What about you?"
     "Uh. I'll call in about... twenty minutes? And check, and see
what you wanted to do, okay?"
     "I could call you there. Where you're sitting, right?"
     "Nnno, bad idea," I said reluctantly. "This isn't my phone line."
Well, technically the ones at my house weren't 'mine' either, they were
Dad's, but he wouldn't pick any of them up. I wasn't sure who picked up
phones here; nor had I checked the line recently for taps or dialing
recorders. Also, I'd gone through my house for security purposes; I
REALLY didn't want Nicole calling here and asking for me.

***
19:02 18 Feb

     Well, unless they'd managed to insert an induction tap into the
wall AND hide it better than I could detect, the line was clean out to
the NID. I closed the box and hurried back inside to check on dinner
one last time before leaving for Rachel's and my preliminary evaluation
pre-date.

***
19:10 18 Feb

     "Just going out with friends," I claimed.
     "Well, have a good time," Mrs. Parker told me. As if I hadn't
known that was the goal. *Must be a mom thing.*

***
19:48 18 Feb

     I had just gotten my armor on and was doing up the straps when
someone knocked on Rachel's door.
     "I want to meet her," Rachel said as she jumped up, and she got to
the door faster than I could without slamming it in someone's face.
"Hi! You must be Nicole!"
     "Must I?" Mike whined. "Tuck, you done?"
     "Almost, just need a shirt," I sighed, because this was probably
going to take some explaining. "Oh, hey," I remembered. "Nicole?
C'mere." I'd forgotten the scarf until today, but then I'd remembered
to stash it somewhere besides my side of Rachel's closet.
     "What?"
     "I got you something... Sort of a belated Valentine's Day present.
Aha!" I pulled it out of my pack and shook it out so the print was
visible, then stretched it so she could see the whole thing. "For your
hair or something, I thought."
     "Oh," she said softly, and asked, "For me? Really?" She reached
out and took it gently, and then just looked at it.
     "I thought this shit was over with on the fourteenth," Mike groused
from the hallway.
     Jill complained, "Man, shut up! It's sweet."
     "You wouldn't wear that! Too girly! Ow! Bitch!"
     "Excuse me a moment," I said to Nicole. I went to the door and
said to Mike and Jill, "Why don't you two wait downstairs?"
     "Because if you get the chance either you'll jump her bones or
she'll jump yours, and you gotta be at school tomorrow and this isn't
even your house," Mike said.
     "Look," Nicole said, and she was putting it into her hair like I'd
imagined, except better. "Like that?"
     "Yeah."
     "It looks really nice!" Rachel smiled.

***
19:52 18 Feb

     Amazingly, Nicole had not asked what I was doing changing in the
bedroom of a college-aged woman who had no children. This made me
suspicious.
     Then again, I sort of didn't want to fuck up the evening by, say,
screaming at Mike. And/or Jill. Even though they'd be the ones
responsible for 'explaining' things.
     When we got out, Jill said, "Yeah, we told her about you on the way
over."
     Which had been exactly what I was afraid of. "Wha-"
     "And boy, her mom," Mike said.
     Nicole spat, "She is such a SHIT!"
     "NO!" Mike roared. "Not getting into bad parents tonight." Which
I was grateful for, because Jill could win that hands down, but it would
either depress or enrage everyone. Plus, all parents were horrible. I
knew, deep down, that I'd be at least as horrible when _I_ was one, but
right NOW it was awful.
     "Okay," I said, "so, what did you tell her about me?"
     Jill mentioned offhandedly, "You're a slut, Tuck." Well, it
sounded off-handed. And Nicole began giggling into her hands. But Mike
flashed me an OK sign, which suggested that whatever they'd said, Nicole
hadn't freaked out; which probably meant my secret identity was safe.
     "But with any luck, I'll get me some'a'dat," Mike said, and rubbed
my arm for luck.
     Jill asked, "Dude, do I still have to go dutch if I'm putting out?"
     "Yes!" said Mike and I at the same time Nicole screeched, "NO!"
     "Girls win," Jill smirked.
     "Oh no," Mike said, "YOU asked ME to- to tango, an-"
     "No I didn't!" Jill lied. "You grabbed me and dragged me up
there-"
     "Nuh uh!" Nicole protested wildly. "I SAW it!"
     "I'll give you a dollar," Jill said to Nicole, proving she'd been
at our house too long. Or not long enough, because a lie like that was
worth several dollars.
     "Tell the truth, Nicole," Mike said.
     "Four dollars." Maybe Jill had just started the bidding low.
     "I can make Tuck impotent," Mike claimed.
     That made everyone scream.
     "Okay, one car or two?" Mike asked, like he hadn't just blown
everyone's minds.
     "One would save gas," I said, glad to get off that topic.
     Mike glared at me, "Yeah, but we'd be taking MINE if it was one,
since it's bigger."
     "Well, yeah-"
     "One car, Mike's," Jill decided.
     "And Tuck rides up front-"
     "NO!" I protested.
     "Dude, no nookie in my back seat unless I'm getting some in the
front, which-"
     "NO WAY!"
     "-which I'm NOT doing while driving," he finished.
     "Aw come on," Nicole pleaded.
     Jill suggested, "Look really pitiful at him."
     Mike almost shouted, "Not looking!"
     "Please?"
     "Not looking!" He wasn't, either; he almost tripped over the curb.

***
19:58 18 Feb

     "We could see The Borrowers," Mike suggested.
     "That's a kid's movie," Nicole sneered from the back seat. I, or
we, had not won the begging.
     Jill stated, "You have not been with college kids."
     "What?"
     "If you want to look 'grown-up', do what the college kids do," Jill
said. "And, college kids are little kids with money and driver's
licenses and no curfew."
     "Oh, I've gotta be back by ten," Nicole mentioned.
     There was a moment of 'uhhhh' from us, and then Mike summarized,
"Get something to eat, or go to Tuck's house. No time for a movie."
     "Except you've already been to Tuck's house," Jill smirked.
     "So've YOU, tart," Mike shot over his shoulder.
     "With TUCK!" she shot back, and blew a raspberry at me. "Hey, no
offense, okay?" she said to Nicole.
     "Round round get around Tuck gets around!" Mike sang.
     "Hey, how come you get to sing and I don't?"
     "'Cause I'm Chinese," Mike said, like it was obvious.

***
20:18 18 Feb

     Nicole hugged me after she got out, since I was right there opening
the door for her. "Could we get separate tables?" she whispered into my
ear.
     "Why? Oh, 'cause they're ragging on you?"
     "Not that, it's just..." She shook her head as she pulled back.
     "Hey, coming?" Mike asked. "No nookie in my car," he warned. "Or
on it."
     "We'll be there inna minute," I told him. "What?" I asked.
     Nicole said, "Just, intense. And I wanted to talk to YOU more. I
mean, they're okay, it's just..."
     "Oh." Well, that made sense. People didn't do group dates for a
reason, if they could avoid it. Sometimes. "Hey Mike? Could we get
separate tables?"
     "Dude, it won't help; she's still been exposed to my manly Chinese
pheromones," he said as he stuck his chest out in a bizarre parody of a
man. Then Jill engaged him and they took off running through the
parking lot.
     "Mike says that'd be okay," I translated.
     "Okay. Um..." she waved her purse at me as she pulled out-
     "Oh god, okay." Nicole's smoking addiction was about my least
favorite thing about her, and that included hypothetical antibiotic-
resistant tuberculosis.

***
20:27 18 Feb

     "And, of course, they'll be waving at us the entire time," I sighed
as the two of them smiled like idiots and waved at us.
     Nicole sat with her back to them, which was a good idea; I wished
that both of us could do that at the same time, but the table was too
small.

***
20:31 18 Feb

     The waitress asked, "And for you sir?"
     I almost corrected her; then I almost looked around to complain at
Mike about sneaking over and sitting at our table. Then I almost looked
around to see who she was talking to.
     I finally answered, "Uh. Coke please."
     "Not diet?" Nicole poked.
     I just glared at her, which made her giggle.

***
20:41 18 Feb

     After the waitress took off with our food orders, Nicole asked,
"Um, Tuck? Could I ask you a question?"
     "You just did," I pointed out as I braced myself. Asking if you
could ask a question never turned out well.
     "Are you... Are you shaving your armpits?" she asked quietly.
     "Ahhh..." *Fuck it.* "Yeah. Um, long story."
     She gave me a look as her eyebrows went up.
     Luckily, I remembered she was a sophomore. Which meant she'd been
a freshman last year. Which meant... "Remember Halloween last year?"
     "Last year?" she boggled.
     "I had to shave most of me last year, for my costume, and then it
just ITCHES if it grows out a little, an' I can't stand it," which was
nearly true.
     "That's like a year and a half!" she added.
     "Yep. Oh, and getting rid of the armpit hair, I smell less."
Which was ostensibly (SAT word) better, at least in America.

***
20:56 18 Feb

     "Could you make this?" Nicole asked, pointing at her food.
     "Uh, probably. Fries are a pain, though. Frying- like deep-fat
frying, ANYTHING is a pain." I thought about mentioning 'and fattening'
but then she might complain about what she'd ordered, or think _I_ was
complaining about it, or something.
     "So, I mean..." she said.
     "Is this like boring?" I was beginning to suspect it was, for her.
     "No!" she assured me, though I wasn't too sure she was telling the
truth. Then she smiled at me, and I flushed my doubts. "It's just, I
mean, your friends are okay," she tossed her head a little to indicate
which ones, "but..."
     "Intense?" I remembered.
     She agreed, "Yah. And, I dunno... Actually, I'm kind of tired; I
didn't think I would be this tired. So, y'know, I'd just kind of like
something quiet. I mean, like, being with you," she said, and touched
my leg with her foot, "but not, like, DOING something, you know?"
     "Sometimes- Uh, a girl I was with," I dodged, "she liked to read,
with me sleeping. Or we'd read together."
     She started giggling. "Oh, uh, like reading WHAT?"
     "Huh?"
     "Like that stuff you showed me?" She wiggled her eyebrows and
smirked.
     "Wh- Oh! NO!" I laughed. "Just, like, some of the books I've
got. Or she'd bring one."
     "Why would she bring a book?"
     I took a breath. "Well, sometimes she got sad, and it wasn't my
fault or anything I did, or could do, so she'd read to feel better."
     "Oh."
     "Uh," I said to get the conversation away from sad, "but, if you
wanted to, I could set it up so you could read stuff like you were
reading. Plus I kinda made you lose your place, didn't I?" I
remembered.
     She giggled a little, which at least wasn't depressing. Or
depressed.

***
20:58 18 Feb

     "Actually, though," she said after the giggles had died down and
we'd both eaten for a while. "I'm not sure, I mean like if I'd want to
do that right now. I don't know," she wondered.
     "What?"
     She apparently remembered where she was or who she was with and
shook her head. "Nothing."
     "Oh come on."
     She took a breath and let it out. "You really want to know?"
     "Yes?"
     Her head tilted and she looked kind of sad, and kind of old. Or
older, anyway. "I'm gonna start my period tomorrow, so..."
     "You can tell?"
     "Yeah. I'm kind of bloated today."
     "What is that?"
     "What? You don't know? I thought you were friends with all these
girls," she teased.
     "I don't think we got around to periods yet."
     She looked uncertain. "They're, like, having them, I mean they're
old enough ri-"
     "Oh yeah, yeah," I assured her. "Just we haven't talked about it.
Been too busy talking about boys, and me, and lesbianism, and violence,
and ethics-"
     "Haha!" she bubbled.
     I wondered if she really thought I was kidding.

***
21:09 18 Feb

     "That does suck," I told her, and touched her hair. She looked at
me, surprised. "Want me to stroke your hair?"
     "Oh," she sighed in this mushy way, and I took that as a yes, so I
did. She did not complain or move away.

***
21:32 18 Feb

     Mike had been annoying, so I'd been ignoring him, but he came up
and said, "Kids, it's nine thirty. Nicole, if you've got to be home at
ten, you guys gotta pay the bill and get moving."
     "Oh," she sighed sadly.
     "Damn," I sighed. "Hey, Nicole, want to run away from home?"
     She chuckled, a lot slower and lower than her usual giggle.
"That'd be nice..."

***
21:37 18 Feb

     "Oh, come on, let us ride in the back seat together," I pleaded.
"She's starting her period tomorrow."
     "TUCK!" Nicole shrieked. "Don't SAY that!"
     "Why not?"
     As Nicole gaped, Mike and Jill shook their heads. "Just... not
done, old man."
     "Still," Jill said to Mike.
     "Alright alright," he grumbled.

***
21:58 18 Feb

     Nicole had forgiven me when I had put my arm around her and cuddled
her all the way home.
     As I got out, she got out too, denying me the opportunity to open
the door for her. "I'll just walk you to your door," I said, and
grinned. "To make sure the bears don't get you."
     She smiled at that, and took my hand. We walked up to the door,
which wasn't really on a porch or anything.
     Then she hugged me and didn't let go. "Oh..." she half sighed and
half moaned. "This was nice," she said, which didn't match how she
sounded. Then she brightened as she asked, "Hey, did this count as a
date?"
     "Do you want it to? Hey, are we DATING-dating?"
     She giggled, which I unfortunately had to take as a good sign.
"Um... Let's say no," which was kind of disappointing, "but," which
might be an improvement, "we're still friends right? And I want to
know, if I could maybe come over Friday night?"
     "Like- like this? Or..."
     "Like Saturday," she smiled.
     "Yeah. I'd like that."
     We just stayed hugged.

***

"Romance is the glamour which turns the dust of everyday life into a
golden haze." -- Carolyn Gold Heilbrun

 
 
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Permission is given to redistribute this by electronic means, as long as the entirety of the work (from the BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE header to the END PGP SIGNATURE footer) is distributed, and credit is given to the original author, me. And no fee may be charged.

Archiving is permitted provided no fee is charged for access.

All rights reserved. ~Ellen.
 
 
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