Synopsis:Terri is allowed to stand time in one place for awhile, though not at home. She makes a few new friends, who want to spend some time with her.
 
Accidental Magic

By
Allystra Krane
edited by Sephrena Miller
Chapter Nineteen

More Cheerleader Trouble

---

"When will this end, huh Grandma?" Terri sighed imploringly towards the skies.

She had lost all concepts of time by this point. Eleven different sunsets marking her hopping around the world had given her the most profound sense of jet-lag anyone had ever experienced, were she to actually need sleep.

She had walked almost five miles along a long-since abandoned section of the Great wall of China to touch a brick that contained a caricature of her face, which transported her off somewhere else to follow a contrite set of instructions to the next transporter.

She finally thought knew where she was, and that didn't make her feel safe.

"I'm in Chicago," Terri mused aloud, as she tried to read her letter while passing under a streetlight. "Or at least near Chicago. Dammit, where does Grandma want me to go now?"

She unfolded the newest letter, glanced down at the line third from the bottom.

"Room eight forty-two of the hotel you are standing in front of."

Terri looked up dumbfoundedly. Across the street was a hotel, just as the letter said. It nearly dwarfed the buildings around it - taking up many normal city blocks by her estimation. She fantasized that this was the place the last scene from 'The Fugitive' had been filmed.

Terri began navigating traffic, getting quickly into the middle of the street.

The doorman for the hotel saw her coming and ran out to meet her, garnering several squeals amongst the vehicles that were forced to violently brake to avoid hitting her.

"This way miss, quickly!" he called as he motioned toward her.

Terri ran past him and he followed her up to the building.

"Have a good evening," He said as he returned to his post, holding the door as she stepped inside.

The inside of the building was elaborately done, mostly in golds and pearl inlays with crystal chandeliers echoing across every inch that reeked of opulence. Terri was suddenly concerned that her grandmother hadn't given her enough for a room for the night or that she had spent too much at the Tim Horton's or the fashionable restaurant she entered while passing through Manchester.

Upon reaching the front desk, which looked to be made of a single slab of black and green marble, almost twenty foot long, she got a completely different reception, much to her surprise.

"There you are!" the concierge nearly shouted as he exclaimed. "Your producer's secretary forgot to tell us when to expect you."

"Huh?" was was Terri could say.
 

~*~
 
About an hour earlier...
 
 
"I am certain that we can insure her safety... No, there will be no alcohol in the room at all....

"... You have no reason to concern yourself. We're hosting a girl's cheerleading competition in our theater and we have a private security firm already protecting the contestants."

"... well yes, I understand she isn't a cheerleader but I'll assign her to one of the floors along with them. She'll..."

"... oh, I see. A new romantic comedy in the works and she's the star?"

"Oh, yes ma'am, I'll make sure no one finds out..... Yes and a ticket into the contest so she can observe the contestants as part of getting into the role..... It will be done."

The concierge was so busy that he did not notice the four teens around the corner that heard almost every word.
 

~*~
 
Terri was confused. For some reason the desk clerk had assumed she was some kind of Hollywood star and wouldn't go into detail as to why, claiming "the studio wanted to keep it under wraps."

Terri was even more stunned when she was handed a room key and told that her luggage had already arrived by courier and was in her room.

"My luggage?" Terry asked, with one eyebrow raised.

"Yes, in room eight forty-two. Also the studio said to give you a credit limit for our shops, just swipe your room key and it will be added your bill."

"Great," Terri said with sarcasm.

"You'll have a wake up call at seven so that you can be at the cheerleader competition at the theater on the second floor in time."

"Alrighty, Thanks!" she said, giving the concierge a wave. As she backed away, she tried to look cheerful despite being genuinely creeped out.

The elevator was just opening when two large-muscled men stepped into her field of view on opposite sides of her. They waited until an elderly couple emptied the lift, before motioning Terri to step on.

They followed behind her, turning in the lift so that she couldn't see anything due to the pair of black suits that formed a near wall in front of her.

One pressed the button for the eighth floor, before Terri could even ask.

When the elevator stopped, the men took up positions leading and following her as an escort to her room.

"We hope you enjoy your stay, miss," said one in a grainy tone, almost trying to whisper but lacking the ability. "Either due to all the working out or steroid abuse," Terri mused to herself.

Inside her room she found five pieces of luggage, all bearing her name. One was a hanging bag and she unzipped it to find three outfits.

The first was a black evening dress, the kind Terri only imagined she would be caught in on the unlikely chance she totally lost her mind. It reminded her of what she had been asked to wear on her date with Jennifer the night before all the world-romping began.

Also in the bag was a suit jacket she thought would look better on her male side. It was also in black but cut generously enough to accommodate either form.

The final outfit made her roll her eyes. It was her cheerleader uniform, or at least a remarkable facsimile. She picked it up, hoping she could distinguish it from the original, but she couldn't tell.
 

~*~
 
After having taken stock of her current possessions, Terri was left confused.

Sixteen pair of satin panties, nine bras to match, six pair of ladies jeans that were obviously made to show off one's figure, six skirts of varying degrees of length, twelve tops from full-on blouses to a small T-shirt imprinted with 'Kitten' on the front in a neon pink, but no new letter.

Terri was inwardly wondering how long the compitition she was supposedly here for lasted, when she heard knocking on her privacy door.

Terri had ignored it before she came in, but having someone on the other side of the door and wanting to come in suddenly triggered a bit of embarrassing self-consciousness.

"Just a moment," Terri loudly called as she stuffed the pile of underthings into one of the suitcases and zipped it shut in a hurry.

The door in question was the privacy door that connected to the next room.

As Terri approached, she noticed the peephole in it and took advantage of it.

On the other side of the door, stood five comely teenage girls, erupting in smiles that gave Terri more than a hint to their reason for being there.

"Cheerleaders," Terri muttered aloud with sigh as she came away from the door.

Without knowing what they wanted, Terri tried to restrain the urge. Something inside her wanted to tell them off in a blatantly obnoxious way. But at the same time, another part of her longed for human contact and it was quickly gaining strength.

She stood there for a moment longer, then grasped the handle and turned it, opening the door just as one of the girls was about to knock again.

"Oh, uhm we were, like, wondering if you were a real movie star?" asked one girl.

"That's what the guy at the front desk says," replied Terri with sarcasm. "I know it's possible, what with me being an actual cheerleader myself, could you possibly drop the 'valley girl' accent and the overuse of 'like' unless used for simile?"

Shocked looks were replaced with smiles only a moment later.

The group advanced into the doorway and Terri stepped back and off to the side, letting them in.

"Are you really a cheerleader?" asked one.

"See for yourself," Terri said as she pulled her uniform out of the closet to her left.

"Having a uniform doesn't make you a cheerleader," commented one. "All those 'Bring It On' movies is proof of that!"

"Touche'," replied Terri. "To be honest, I couldn't show you any moves as proof either. I am only on the squad because I was forced to fake enthusiasm for trying out only so I could catch two boys who intended to rape me," she quietly rattled off.

Five sets of eyes went wide as tea saucers. "That was you?" they exclaimed in near unison.

"Do you know Kung Fu?" another girl asked, trying to sound like Neo from 'The Matrix' but failing."

"To be honest, I don't even remember how I managed to knock them out. I remember walking in the door and just blacking out. I came to while standing over top of one of them, ready to hit him again."

"So what are you saying when they put you on the stand?"

"I'm sorry?" Terri said, confused.

"You must have heard?" the girl replied. "The father of one of those boys is taking you to court, claiming you assaulted the boy."

"So I should have let him rape me?" Terri spat vehemently, the condescending tone seething across her tongue.

"Smarmy lawyers, they smell easy money and more victims are getting sued for damages for defending themselves."

"Just what I need," Terri angrily muttered. "I wonder why I haven't heard about this before?"

"Who knows?" said the first, who Terri had already identified as the ringleader. "By the way, I'm Tasha, this is Chelsea, Maxine, Kristi and Stephanie," she said, pointing to each in turn.

"Terri... with an I," Terri added.

"Sooo..." said Kristi.

"No, I'm not a movie star, I just have relatives with a bad sense of humor."

"Actually, Kristi was hoping you weren't using the other bed since our school shorted us a room."

"Sure, I'll barely be using the one."

Kristi let out a nearly ear-splitting squeal of joy, before running into the other room to grab her bags.

Terri looked toward Tasha, one eyebrow lifted. "How did you know that she wanted that?"

Tasha smiled. "You are obviously not the leader of your squad. You learn things about the people you trust to catch you when you're tossed up in the air."

"Kristi wears her heart on her sleeve," continued Maxine. "You don't know, but we drew lots and she got the chair and while we were chatting, we noticed her eyeing your extra bed.

"Oh," Terri said. "What about the rest of the group?"

"There is only fifteen of us and well," admitted Tasha with a slight blush, "some of the girls in the other rooms don't mind sleeping three to a bed."

Terri shook her head. "And here I thought lesbian cheerleaders were just another fluke I happened to get stuck in the middle of, but now I'm sure they are drawn to me."

Tasha appeared to actually wrinkle her nose. "Please don't generalize! You want us to act intelligently, but you assume things that devalue your opinion of us anyway."

"I can stand the generalizations!" squeaked out Kristi, who was coming back through the doorway with two overstuffed duffel bags. "As long as you let me sleep in your extra bed, you can think I'm as fruity as you want."

Terri was blushing. "You heard us talk?"

Kristi nodded. "The door is open," she replied with a smile. "Not that anything they said about me is either lies nor insulting."

"Not that you'd say otherwise and risk losing the accommodations," Maxine quipped.

Terri took Kristi's bag and walked it over to the bed, dropping it on top of the spread lightly.

"The only thing that'll get you kicked out is if you snore," Terri smiled.

"Does your boyfriend snore?" Kristi asked, showing genuine concern.

"I don't have a boyfriend," Terri responded quietly, looking at the floor.

"Girlfriend?" Kristi asked, either unaware or unconcerned by the looks she was receiving.

"I don't have one of those either," Terri responded.

"How come?" Maxine asked, interrupting Kristi, who looked about to say the same thing. "I mean, you're beautiful. You could have probably any guy you wanted, or girl for that matter."

"Not me," Tasha said. "I like dick, no offense."

"None taken," Terri replied. "I don't think my winning personality could make anyone like me that much."

"You might be trying to drive people away, but you opened the door," Maxine added.

"If you need more proof that I am attention starved, you should know that I opened the door even after being slightly repulsed by the wide, happy smiles looking back at me from the peephole."

"Well, it's a good thing that Kristi needs a bed then," Tasha said. "She'll make good company when we turn in."

"When is that?"

"About an hour," replied Chelsea. "We have a long day tomorrow."

"What are you doing here?"

"Cheer competition, Semi final round tomorrow. We're second to perform."

"Oh, well I'm supposed to be there, in my own uniform, I guess."

"Yeah we heard that downstairs," said Chelsea. "You are actually going to go?"

"Unless you can think of a better way to get past the human roadblocks outside," Terri sarcastically remarked.

"Not tonight anyway, but yeah come support us tomorrow and after we're done we'll get to go sightseeing."

"You don't have to stay for the judging?" Terri asked, confused.

"We've seen the competition," said Kristi.

"And they are better," added Tasha.

"We're going to walk home with third place, not that we won't do our best," admitted Stephanie.

"So you won't have to stick around?"

"We could but I won't," said Chelsea. "From our window we can see a shopping mall and I'm planning to waste some time there."

"I suppose you want me to come along?"

Five heads nodded in reply.

"I don't suppose any of you brought a laptop with internet, huh?"

"Sitting on the table in the other room," replied Stephanie. "The hotel has Wi-Fi."

"Sweet, you mind if I borrow it?" Terri asked.

"Actually I do," Kristi said. "I want to get to know my new roommate."

"How 'bout after the rest of you go to bed?"

"You aren't planning on getting much sleep?"

"Not really, but don't worry about me."

"Okay, I guess I get to sit here and answer your questions," Terri said, not trying to hide her lack of enthusiasm.

"Oh okay," said Kristi. "Question one; Are you a tomboy all the time, or are you putting on an act for our benefit?"

As Terri's jaw dropped, unable to even think straight, while a voice called out from the other room, "Kristi! Be nice."

"I was just curious," Kristi retorted in her defense. "I mean you seem uncomfortable with something about yourself, but I'm not sure what."

Terri clasped her hands together and began to stare at the floor. "Well, I am adjusting to a new 'Treatment' for a problem I have."

"What problem is that?" Kristi asked.

"You wouldn't really understand," Terri replied. "It sounds impossibly ridiculous when I think about it."

"Hey, I have the internet at home," Kristi replied. "Spend a few hours on Something-Awful-dot-com and you can imagine anything."

"Including stuff you wish you couldn't," came a voice through the doorway. "Seriously, that site is full of bastards!"

Terri sat thoughtfully for a minute, before looking Kristi in the eye.

"Do you believe in magic?" Terri asked, but before she could receive an answer, she stuck both hands into her hair and began violently agitating it, as if she was working shampoo in.

She finally stopped and removed her hands when she was certain her hair was a snarled up rats nest.

Terri watched Kristi's reaction as she delightedly glimpsed a few strands falling down into place, her scalp telling her that it was not alone.

Kristi was stunned speechless, her eyes wide as possible without falling out.

"Whoa!" Kristi exclaimed, "that's some conditioner!"

Terri just shook her head in despair.
 

~*~
 
Terri was dreaming again, as the brick walls of the alleyway she was in seemed to sport evil grins.

They weren't the walls, but men. Evil looking men seemed to ooze right out of the mortar and brick, coming closer. They had dragon tattoos curling about their arms, literally, or possibly she was seeing things.

She whipped around, having difficulty remaining steady, like she was dizzy, or under the effect of a hallucinogen.

Hands grabbed her and she could feel her clothing being torn off.

Terri felt herself trying to fight back, but racked with pain due to trying to fight someone with the still bloodied stump that had been her left hand.

Her eyes slammed shut as she was forced down onto her hands and knees. Knowing what was happening, she desperately willed her body to scream out, to call for help, something, but it would not.

Suddenly she was upright again, looking into the eyes of one of them, as if the scene had suddenly changed or fast-forwarded through the difficult to stomach bits.

He was pointing an impressive looking pistol at her, merely pushing the muzzle into her chest, then laughing.
 

~*~
 
Terri suddenly woke up her dream just as the gun discharged. She sat upright in bed, her sheets falling away, leaving her nude in the bed.

She was gasping for air and trembling, until she heard Kristi wearily ask: "Are you having a bad dream?"

"Yeah," Terri said. "Go back to sleep."

Terri got up out of bed, disorientated. She didn't remember going to bed, nor taking off the symbiotic suit.

A black blob was laying next to the bed, but when she tried to pick it up, it oozed through her fingers and remained on the floor.

"Okay, stay there then," she hissed out in a whisper.

Terri looked over toward the desk, where she had set the laptop.

Suddenly, she remembered that she was surfing the web, when she was overcome by an urge to sleep.

Something about her memories didn't quite seem right. She couldn't quite place it but she could have sworn that she had seen something before she went to sleep, but not remember what.

She went over and tried to unzip her underwear bag as quietly as possible, so she could have something to wear. She had gotten too used to the suit and now feeling naked made her stick her tongue out at the blob on the carpet that refused to adorn her.

She took out a pink satiny pair, followed by fleece pajamas, sighed at how they looked, even in the dim light, then put them on.

She sat back down at the computer, then went back to reading the web comic she had abandoned when the urge to sleep claimed her.
 
 

~*~
 
 
To Be Continued...
 
 
End of Chapter Nineteen