The Princess and the Plague (Life after Camp Kumoni) By Anistasia Allread Edited by Nick B “How was your evening?” His dad asked as Eric walked to the refrigerator to get a cold drink. “Good.” Eric had to work to keep himself from sighing. “She a good kisser?” Mr. Martin asked opening the fridge behind his son.

“Thank you, Dr. Barts.” Mrs. Martin finally exited the door. She glanced at Erika and gave her a quick smile.

Erika’s heart skipped a beat, then rushed to make up for it. It wasn’t a disappointing smile. Perhaps Dr. Barts didn’t tell her anything. Erika stood up and tossed both women an uncertain smile. Dr. Barts winked at Erika from behind her mother. Erika took a deep relaxing breath.

Erika walked hesitantly next to her mother as they made their way to the car.

“Shall we go get some ice cream?” Mrs. Martin asked.

“That sounds good,” Erika nodded.

-o0o-

Once they had gotten home, Erika hugged her mom, “Thanks for the ice cream.”

“I still can't get over how much you look like me,” her mother shook her head in disbelief.

Erika leaned in and gave her mother a kiss on the cheek, then rushed up stairs.

She went straight to her bathroom and stood, admiring herself in the mirror, trying to imagine how her mother might have looked when she was younger.

“Your nose is too strong,” she said touching her face. “Why can’t you have a cute button nose like Tricia’s or a softer chin, like Katie’s?” She sighed heavily then slipped out of her outfit and took a shower to scrub off the makeup and shampoo the hairspray out of her hair.

Eric slicked his hair back out of his face and neatly folded the dress and sweater putting them in his backpack. He wrapped the makeup and other items and tucked them in as well, before going to his computer. He logged in.

Dear Dani,

I’m so happy to hear about you and Derek and am thrilled to hear that you and his mother are getting along. Having been ‘the plague’, I know that there are some real diamonds out there among the rocks and pebbles. You found a giant gem in Derek.

Things here are going okay. Erika has been attending school instead of Eric. Samantha has even talked Krystal and I into joining the Cheerleading and Rally squads. We start on Monday. So far no one suspects me; at least I don’t think anyone does.

Mom has me seeing a shrink. She’s okay, I guess. We talk a lot about different things. Sometimes it’s hard. I don’t know if she is just playing games, or if there is a point to the whole thing. Sometimes while I’m in there, my head hurts for the circles she gets my brain into.

Tricia and I are kind of going steady now, I think. She kissed me last night. J Oh, btw Matt is emailing me now too. :)

Erika

Erika sent the email off and opened another.

Hey Matt,

How are you doing? It’s great to hear about how much people like your story. I’m glad that my doodles could help out.

Things here are going alright. I joined our school’s Rally squad. Samantha kind of talked me into it. It might be fun. I get to go to all of the football games for free. :)

Write me soon,

Erika

Eric was working on a drawing, when his phone rang.

“Hi Erika,” Tricia greeted.

“Hi.”

“How was the psychologist today?”

“It was okay, I guess.”

“What are you doing tonight?” she asked.

“Not much of anything.”

“Can you come over and hang out? Watch movies?”

“I don’t know, I’ll have to ask,” Eric responded, “I’ll call you back in a few minutes.”

Eric hung up and started down the stairs when he heard his dad whistling as he came in the front door.

“Hey son,” Mr. Martin greeted with a smile, “What’s the hurry?”

“Tricia just asked if I could go over to her house and watch movies,” Eric blurted out.

“Is Tricia a girlfriend?”

Eric blushed a shade or two scarlet as he nodded.

“Will her parent’s be home?”

“I think so.”

“If her parents, are home, I don’t see why you can’t go, just clear it with your mother first.”

“Really?” Eric asked.

Mr. Martin nodded and moved past his son up the stairs to shower, “Do you need a ride?”

“I don’t know?”

Mr. Martin nodded towards the other part of the house, “Clear it with your mom.”

Eric found his mom in the kitchen

“Mom? Tricia asked if I could go over and watch movies at her house. Dad said that it would be alright, as long as it was all right with you.”

Mrs. Martin paused in her dinner preparations and thought for a moment, “Fine, but you have to be home by eleven.”

Eric quickly stepped across the room and kissed his mother on the cheek. “Thanks mom.”

Mrs. Martin was slightly taken aback by the intimate gesture but smiled as she watched her son disappear.

---o0o---

Tricia greeted Eric at the door. “It’s great to see you.” She waved to Eric’s father who waved back before pulling out of the driveway, “You should have had your dad come in.” She threw her arms around him and embraced him tightly.

“He doesn’t know about Erika at all, I’d be afraid of him finding out.” Eric tried to excuse his rudeness.

“Well, I’m glad you’re here,” Tricia kissed him firmly on the lips.

“Where are your parents?” he inquired.

“In their room watching a movie. We’ll be just down the hall, watching our own.” Tricia took his hand and led him upstairs to the large room where they had spent the slumber party.

“I brought the stuff back.” Eric placed his backpack on a chair and began unzipping it. “The dress worked great. Dr. Barts seemed to like it too.”

“I knew it would look good on you,” Tricia said, smiling. “Maybe you can wear it to school Monday?”

“It’s a bit dressy isn’t it?”

“Sometimes it’s good to dress up for school,” Tricia accepted the dress and sweater from Eric and hung it up, while Eric put away the makeup, forms and other items.

“Hey, Erika.” Leeza greeted coming out of her room. She looked him up and down. “Slumming, huh?” She smiled and left the room.

“See you tomorrow sis,” Tricia called after her.

“Slumming?” Eric queried Tricia.

“It’s her term for not dressing as a girl.” Tricia took his hand and led him to the couch.

She pushed him down and fell on top of him, pressing her lips to his as one hand stroked his hair and the other traced the firm muscles on his chest from his morning work outs at Camp Kumoni.

Her tongue worked its way into his mouth as he fought to understand what exactly was expected of him. Hesitantly he placed one hand on her waist, the other stroked hair away from her silky, soft cheek.

Her scent mingled with the feel of her body as it pressed down against his; her firm breasts pressed against his chest and the taste of her mouth against his, awakened a new hunger in him. The hand on her waist slid to her round buttocks and pulled her into him.

“What about your parents?” Eric asked breathlessly between the kisses he desired more than anything else at the moment.

“What about them?”

“Shouldn’t we be watching a movie?”

Tricia sucked on his lower lip then pulled away with a pout, “Yeah, I guess so.” Tricia eased off of him and set up a movie to play on the large plasma screen. She then turned and hurled herself back into Eric’s arms, her lips again, devouring his.

Eric didn’t recall seeing any of the movie. His lips were sore, his tongue ached, and his next Facebook entry was going to declare that he was ‘happy’.

Tricia gave his hand a squeeze as her mother’s car slowed to a stop in front of his house. “Call me,” she pleaded.

He gave her hand a squeeze back and opened the door. “Thanks for the ride.” He waved to Tricia’s mother who smiled and waved back. He was glad of the dark, for he was sure that he was bright red.

Tricia’s parents were the strangest, yet coolest parents that he had ever even heard of. Knowing that their daughter was in the den with her boyfriend/girlfriend, they flicked the light switch off and on twice before walking down the hall to enter the room, giving them five seconds to compose themselves. Tricia said that making out was okay with them, as long as clothes stayed on and blankets were not used to cover them up. The five second warning was just that, a warning. If they could not compose themselves in five seconds, then they were going too far with their ‘fun’.

Tricia’s parents only checked on them twice over the course of the evening. Eric thought that he was going to die of a heart attack during the first ‘interruption’ but was reassured by Tricia.

“How was your evening?” His dad asked as Eric walked to the refrigerator to get a cold drink.

“Good.” Eric had to work to keep himself from sighing.

“She a good kisser?” his father asked opening the fridge behind his son.

“Uh… what do you mean?” Eric stumbled verbally. “We were watching movies.”

“That’s what they called it back when I was dating too.” Mr. Martin winked. “Your lips are red and still a bit swollen, which means that either you were doing a lot of kissing or you started playing the trumpet.”

Eric turned several shades of red.

“Eric has a girlfriend,” Mr. Martin laughed aloud. “So when do I get to meet this kissing expert?”

“Dad,” Eric complained.

“I was young once too,” his dad chuckled. “Sure, we wore furs and loin cloths back then, but I remember what it was like.” Eric’s dad opened the freezer and rummaged around. “Here, if they hurt too much or the swelling is bothering you too much, just rub this around them.” He handed Eric an ice cube, before taking his beer with him upstairs.

Eric stood half leaning against a counter in the kitchen, stunned at the conversation that he had just had with his dad.

---o0o---

Eric climbed the stairs to his room, his mind in a whirl over what had happened over the course of the day. He slipped out of his clothes and pulled his nightgown on before slipping between the sheets.

Self-defense classes - how was she going to work that into her busy schedule? How was Erika going to managed karate on top of Rally practice, and not get caught by her parents? Add to that, her relationship with Tricia. The wonderful petite, pink blonde was incredible. She was fearless, and insatiable.

Monday, she’ll just have to speak with Taylor and Melinda and let them know that she wouldn’t be able to make practice one day a week. She just hoped that she wouldn’t get kicked off the squad. She had used what little resources she knew to get on the squad, she really hoped that she wouldn’t be burning any bridges.

Her mind mulled over Melinda and Taylor for a few minutes then switched over to Victoria. The thought of Victoria almost made her jolt upright in bed. Was her friend able to re-create the transcripts? Would she be able to pass them off and keep her place in the school, or would the school find a way to contact her parents?

She took a few deep breaths and tried to settle her heart. She thought of Tricia again, and the way that her lips felt, how soft her skin was and how incredible she smelled as she drifted off into sleep.

--o0o--

Erika admired herself in her red and white rally uniform. She turned one way, then the other, the pleats of her skirt swishing about her thighs. Her hair plaited back in braids and tied with red and white ribbons.

“Come on.” Taylor called. We have a show to put on.”

Erika stood before what looked like a giant red and white undulating ameba. Only a face here and there could be seen as it moved in mass and size.

The music to a song started and the girls around her began stepping and dancing to the music. Erika was confused, was this the music that they had been working with all week? It didn’t sound right. The song was recognizable, but she didn’t know from where.

She tried to anticipate the next step to join in with her squad, but her body just wouldn’t move, it was like she was frozen. Her head still turned, her eyes still saw, but nothing else would move. Her heart began to pound against her chest, each beat sounding like a huge drum in her ears.

“What are you doing?” Taylor demanded with a glare.

Erika opened her mouth to speak but instead, coughed out a large piece of phlegm. The chunk of mucus hit one of the other squad members on the back of the hand.

“Sick! What did you do that for?” she protested shaking the sticky stuff off of her hand. She turned to glare at Erika.

Erika wanted to scream; the squad member’s face was covered in puss oozing boils. Erika turned to try and alert another squad member of what she had just seen, but that girl too was covered in the same nasty skin eruptions. Franticly, Erika looked around her, all of the squad looked the same, all had red festering boils that dripped puss.

“Plague!” a voice called out, “Plague!”

Erika’s point of view suddenly changed, she was sitting in the stands, looking down at herself and the rally squad.

Other students began screaming and picking up the chant, “Plague! Plague! Plague!” they screamed.

The rally squad were doubled over, some vomiting green and brown. Boils on their skin were suddenly bursting, puss shot like silly string from a can, hitting anyone within range. Those hit by the nastiness suddenly became as ill.

“Plague! Plague!” the crowd continued to shout. They were now all pointing at Erika, frozen in place, surrounded by rally girls, who were now collapsing unconscious in their own vomit.

Erika watched on in terror as she watched her rally self suddenly grow a beard. Hair on her legs poked out from her nylons. Breast forms dropped out from under her sweater leaving the ‘W’ emblazoned on it, flat and distorted.

“Plague! Plague! Plague!” the chant continued around her.

Erika watched on in horror as Taylor and the remaining conscious squad crawled over to her and began tearing off her uniform.

The rally Erika just stood their frozen in place, panic sweeping through her body as tears obscured her vision.

Eric sat up in bed and stuffed a pillow in his mouth as he began screaming. Sweat ran down his face as he gasped for breath and screamed again, muffling it in his pillow. He sat in the darkness of his room his mind racing through the dream he had just had. Trying to banish it from his mind, but every time he tried to push it away the more cemented it seemed to become.

He slipped out of his bed and went into his bathroom. He hiked up his night gown and sat on the toilet to urinate. He turned on the faucet and wet a wash rag and wiped the sweat from his face before taking a drink of water.

Eric trudged back to bed and slipped back beneath his covers. Sleep eluded him for a long time as he fought the panic he felt. Each time he closed his eyes, the sight of festering boils on people’s faces flashed before his eyes.

Finally, he took a deep breath and slipped back into a fitful sleep.