Slacker- Part Three by: Moongoddess In which Marnie makes new friends, contacts an old friend, and a mystery guest signs in...

“‘Everyone who's ever taken a shower has had an idea. It's the person who gets out of the shower, dries off and does something about it who makes a difference.’ - Nolan Bushnell”

Sonya practically dragged Marnie from the Shoppers Drug Mart and headed up a level to the Premier Fitness facility. Marnie stared at the looming glass doors and hesitated for a moment. Sonya looked at her quizzically.

“‘Sup, Babygirl? You look all panicked,” she asked with genuine concern. “Are you okay, sweetie?” Marnie shook herself and gave Sonya a wan smile.

“Sorry, Sonya. I guess today is hitting me pretty hard,” she said, covering her discomfort quickly. “I really need some downtime.” She walked through the door Sonya held for her. Sonya followed her and guided her towards the reception area.

“Hey, Sonya Babe! Is this the first aid that Bryan called about?” the receptionist began to chatter as soon as she set eyes on the two of them. “Hi, you must be Marnie. I’m Kayla!” The red haired girl came around from behind the counter and hugged Marnie, then wrinkled her nose. “And I see why you got Bryan to call. Sorry, Marnie.” Kayla shrugged and smiled again. Marnie had to grin; Kayla reminded her of a chatty bird.

“It’s okay, Kayla… thanks so much for this… you can’t imagine how gross I feel right now.” She teared up a little. “I don’t know what I’d do without Sonya and Bryan and you…” her voice trailed off as she started to choke up. She was surrounded by a hug from behind, which Kayla quickly closed in front. Marnie couldn’t help it and the tears flowed freely again.

‘I don’t ever remember crying this much, even when dad died… but this feels good, like a release of tension,’ Marnie thought as she reigned in the sobbing and straightened up.

“Thought you got that out of your system earlier, Marnie.” Sonya held on for a moment longer, adding, “but you must have needed this. You’ll feel better after you’re cleaned up.” Sonya arched an eyebrow towards Kayla, who scampered back behind the counter, pulled several towels and a clean pair of flip flops from under it and placed them in front of Marnie. Kayla motioned her to take them.

“Okay, Marnie… get your ass to the change room, get clean and feel good,” she said and pointed toward the door in question. “Grab a locker for your stuff, and here…” Kayla handed her a one strap back pack with the club logo on it, “get your stuff out of the Shoppers bags… like, tacky or what? Now Sonya and I are gonna have some fun, so scoot.”

Marnie reluctantly left her … friends behind and approached a place once forbidden to her. As she pushed the door open, a flood of memories came back from her childhood. Sneaking into the girls’ room in public school, the terror of almost being caught, the fascination with everything that was different and the mystery of girls that just became more mysterious with that expedition into the unknown. She felt like fleeing, but forced that down; she was allowed in here now.

She decided to find a locker as close to the showers as possible and, getting there, discovered that the club had a shower caddy in the locker. She loaded this with Shampoo, conditioner, body wash and the scrub puff; the rest of the purchases she loaded into the pack Kayla had given her. Now she started to tremble a little, Marnie knew she was alone in the room but she still felt terrified about undressing.

Taking a deep breath, she removed her shoes and put them into the locker, her jacket and shirts followed. Marnie took care to hang everything neatly in the locker, her clothing had never seemed important before, but this was all so nice, it felt good on her skin. The way everything hugged her, like the jeans, was like being constantly… safe? Marnie worked the jeans off and the tights and socks followed, joining everything neatly in the locker. The bra and panties were last… she hesitated, unsure about being completely naked. Another deep breath and she removed the bra.

“OK ‘Marnie’, Now or never…” she muttered to herself and stepped out of the underwear, picked them up and looked at them. She stripped the old liner out of them and folded them neatly, then wrapped the liner in tissue. She was preoccupied by the combination lock and didn’t even notice when another woman came into the change room.

Marnie stiffened for a moment but then noticed that she was wrapped in a towel and had her shower shoes on. ‘How did that happen? I was naked a moment ago, was memorizing the lock combination and then was startled by the other person coming in. What the hell was in that shit mom put in me?’ She locked the locker, grabbed the caddy and walked carefully to the shower area.

‘Breath kiddo, this is just high school gym class.’ She calmed down and removed the towel and took the caddy to a shelf by a showerhead. She adjusted the water to a comfortable heat and stepped under the falling water. ‘Holy Shit, that feels good,’ she thought as she stretched her shoulders under the hot water, the itch on her skin diminishing rapidly. She squeezed a good portion of the Mango scented bodywash onto the puff and started scrubbing… which didn’t feel great.

~ease back the pressure~

“What?” she said aloud, startled.

~ease back on the puff a bit, it’ll feel better~

There was no one else in the shower area. Marnie did what the… thought(?) suggested and started washing herself with a little more gentleness and found the shower experience becoming much nicer again. She washed herself thoroughly twice, trying her best to either ignore or put away the sensations her new body was sending her till she could think about them later. It was like trying to ignore the tingle of a nine volt battery on your tongue.

She shivered and rinsed herself off and put the bath puff back in the caddy. Now the hair… she grabbed the shampoo and liberally poured out a large palmful. Lather started to attack the greasy strands as she worked to scrub the itch off of her scalp. Great honking tangles started to wash out and down the drain as she worked the foam through each strand, root to tip. Marnie rinsed and immediately lathered up again, this time actually enjoying the experience… the lather, the soft floral scent… it was becoming sensuous.

~not bad, huh? ~

She shook herself out of the reverie and rinsed the lather down the drain… conditioner… this was new. Marnie carefully read the instructions and worked the thick liquid through her hair.

~ Let it sit a couple of minutes ~

‘Where… no, who are you?’ There was no answer. The voice… thought… whatever… only seemed to intrude when she was relaxed, but she was very agitated now. Marnie had to find out what was going on inside her and that meant only one person. She rinsed the conditioner out of her hair and shut off the shower. She dried herself gently, not wanting a repeat of the discomfort of earlier, and wrapped a towel around her hair. She passed a mirror and glanced over… all she saw was a woman… where was she?

~right here, sweetie ~

Marnie ran to her locker and rushed to get dry.

“‘A healthy state encourages many voices - and lots of listening.’ - Kathleen Sebelius”

Marnie was dressed and dragging a brush through her hair. ‘What the fuck is going on? Did I crack this morning? Settle down… after all you’ve been through, auditory hallucinations are the least of your worries.’ She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. If her tai chi classes had taught her nothing else, it was the value of a deep cleansing breath. She felt the tension in her shoulders drain away and the knot in her core unwind. ‘Okay, priorities now. Have to contact Doc and get him to work on some sort of ID, then I have to hack the BoardStock registration server and change a few details on my entrance form…’ she sighed. ‘Then I have to go home and face... her.’

Marnie blinked as she looked in the mirror again. Sometime between brushing her hair and thinking, she had applied makeup. Not a lot and it worked with her look, but she couldn’t remember doing it and she didn’t know how to do it. Marnie was getting very frightened again but forced it down so she could deal with it later. She gathered her belongings and packed them away in the shoulder bag and left the change room, feeling better but still off kilter. Kayla spotted her and waved her over to the counter enthusiastically. Marnie joined the excited girl.

“Ohhh, you look so much better, Babygirl! Feel better too, I’ll bet!” Kayla chattered and waved to the computer screen. “So we filled in the basics for now, Miss Marnie Neil,” she said and giggled. “Phone number is blank till Bryan produces, and we used Sonya’s address till you can update us with your 411.”

Kayla backed Marnie up against a neutral coloured section of the wall and focused a digital camera on her. A moment or so later, Marnie had a brand new membership card to Premier Fitness and another new friend. The day was definitely full of surprises. Sonya bustled back in at that moment and, after ooohing and aaahing over the results of their shenanigans, yoinked Marnie back out the doors with a promise of getting together later with Kayla.

Sonya hustled Marnie into the mall elevator and took a good look at her. “Damn, you clean up nice, girl!” Marnie was unused to the level of attention she was getting and ducked her head, blushing crimson.

“I bet you say that to all of the transient, lost luggage, boarder girls you meet, Sonya,” she replied with a shy smile. Sonya grinned and pulled Marnie into a hug.

“Nah, just the ones who clean up nice,” Sonya said, laughing. “Now, Bryan has the electronics in hand and is getting them set up, and you have an appointment for your roots.” The doors opened and Marnie saw what could only be described as a glass and chrome temple to beauty and femininity. Sonya pushed a slacked jawed Marnie from the cab and towards the salon entrance. She barely caught the name of the establishment that was shining in a translucent white light above the chrome like a hologram: á‰liane. Her mom went here. Marnie immediately tensed up.

“Hey, hey... relax, Babygirl,” Sonya soothed. “Nothing and no one is going to hurt you, you’re under my protection.” Marnie relaxed slightly but was still on edge… her mom was a regular customer here…the thought raced around her mind like an ADD gerbil. She allowed Sonya to lead her into the Salon towards the reception area. The girl behind the desk could have been an elf; she had an ethereal quality to her, even seeming to glow slightly to Marnie until she saw it was clever interior lighting design. The receptionist looked up at Sonya and Marnie and actually did start to glow a bit on her own.

“Sonya! Yaaaay!” She levitated out of her seat and into Sonya’s waiting hug. “Mmm, you give weapons grade hugs, girl! Is this Marnie?” Sonya pulled back a little to introduce the girl.

“Marnie, this is Richelle, Salon Mistress Supreme,” she said, nodding to her hugee. “Richelle, this is my newest friend and poor little lost girl, Marnie.” Marnie had to grin, and all the remaining tension she was holding evaporated.

“Hi, Richelle. Sonya thinks I need some work done,” she said, smiling. “I’m just along for the ride.”

Richelle let Sonya go and looked Marnie up and down.

“Yeah, our Sonya’s a force of nature, isn’t she?” Richelle giggled merrily. “Roots, definitely, and a manicure. Everything else looks okay… unless you want a cut and style?” Marnie hesitated for a second.

~no, just roots and claws, Hun~

“No, roots and manicure is fine with me, Richelle,” she replied.

Sonya looked at Richelle. She grinned at the small woman.

“Gonna have the twins look after her?”

“Nothing but the best for your friends, Sonya. You know that.” Richelle laughed and continued, “now shoo, come back in an hour and a half.” She took Marnie’s hand and led her into the depths of the salon.

Richelle sat Marnie down in a chair and waved over two women who were almost identical save their hair colour. They were twins, that much was obvious, but Marnie could feel that they were very different people somehow.

“Marnie, this is Genifer,” she said, indicating the brunette. “And this is Gisele,” she continued, pointing to the redhead. “I leave you in their gentle hands.” Richelle giggled and whispered something to the two women and walked to the front of the salon. The brunette looked at Marnie’s hair and tisked.

“Okay, G, I’m up… see you in 40 k?” the redhead nodded and threw herself in the next chair and grinned.

“Okies, Marnie, lean back… roots and a trim… relax and enjoy the ride.” She let the back of the chair down and started to rinse out Marnie’s hair. There was a snicker from the next chair.

“Yeah, keep your arms and legs inside the car at all times.” Marnie snorted and started to just relax and enjoy having her hair and scalp massaged.

~oh, like this, do ya Hun?~

~who are you?!~ Marnie thought back furiously, trying not to mirror her tension on her body.

~I’m You, mostly.~

~want to explain that statement, oh wise oracle?~

~don’t think I can right now Hun, so I won’t~

~wait…what?~

~just relax, we’ll talk again soon. The wonder twins are changing up… see ya~

“Okay, G, my turn,” the redhead was saying. “Hit the bench.” Marnie blinked and saw Gisele roll a small table and a stool over as Genifer sat down in the chair beside her.

“You don’t strike me as a Girly type, so... short and neat and white polish, okay, Marnie?” She grinned and started right in on Marnie’s left hand. Marnie looked over at Genifer lounging next to her.

“You two don’t strike me as typical beauticians,” she noted, explaining, “you aren’t all talky talky and stuff, like others I’ve been to. You are very professional… well mostly.” Marnie grinned, remembering the few exchanges between the women. Gen smiled back.

“Oh, we do that if it seems what the customer wants.” She shrugged. “But sometimes it’s better to just relax and flow. Personally, I think we do a better job without the distraction. It’s like G said, you don’t seem like a Clone Ranger, so you could live without the inane chatter.” She paused and arched an eyebrow. “Or would you like to know all about the Kardashians?” She broke out an evil grin.

“Gah! NO… no thank you.” Marnie shied away in mock horror. “I’d like to keep my brain cells.”

“If you two are gonna talk, G,” Gisele piped up, “I’d prefer you not startle Marnie into sudden movements. I’ve never drawn blood in five years, and I’d prefer not to start today. Thank You.”

Genifer rolled her eyes, picked up her book and started to read. Marnie looked at the maroon, indigo cover and especially at the art. It was a modified version of DaVinci’s Vitruvian Man except the figure was half male and half female. She cleared her throat.

“Pardon me, Genifer, but what are you reading?” she asked. “The cover is quite eye catching.”

“This?” She closed her finger in the book to mark her place. “I found it on Amazon; it’s a Canadian Science Fiction Political Environmental Thriller...” she paused and thought before continuing, “with super heroes. Oh and Romance.”

“Sooo, just a couple of genres then?” Marnie replied with a crooked grin. Genifer smiled.

“That’s what I thought at first, but it’s more about being human. Male, female, carbon or silica, doesn’t matter, just being human. It’s a pretty good read.”

Marnie glanced at the title, The Enhanced: TRI, and made a note to find it. She could use a good read. She read a lot of fiction as she grew up because it helped her escape the loneliness of her life. Science fiction was her favourite but the classic fantasy novels ranked up there too. Historical fiction was good as long as it was plausible and a good crime thriller was always welcome. She loved Elmore Leonard and John D. MacDonald.

“All done Marnie.” Gisele stood up and turned the chair towards the mirror. “Basic maintenance done. I hope you’ll come back, I like you.”

Genifer stood up and stretched.

"That’s high praise coming from G, Marnie.” She smiled, “but she’s right, I like you too.”

Marnie blushed furiously as she dug in her pouch for a couple of twenties to tip the twins with. She wasn’t used to all this friendliness and kindness, let alone the attention she had been getting. She held out the cash and looked at her feet to hide her red face.

“Um… I want to thank you both for being so great to me… uh Genifer, Gisele… I will come back… I like you both too,” she half whispered. She was suddenly caught up in a hug from two directions. Gisele spoke quietly into her right ear.

“We did this at first cause you’re a friend of Sonya, but I want you as my friend too,” Genifer whispered into her left ear.

“What my sister said goes for me too, okay, friend?” Marnie felt her eyes stinging and nodded, not trusting her throat. The hug broke reluctantly and the twins walked her to the reception area where Richelle and Sonya were talking.

Genifer spoke up. “All done, Elf. Hey Sonya!”

Sonya grinned. “Hey G, Howdy G. Looks good!” She looked critically at Marnie. “Hallelujah! The Skunk stripe is gone.” She chuckled.

Marnie grinned and settled the bill with Richelle.

“Gee thanks,” she laughed, “though I guess I both looked and smelled like a skunk earlier. Thanks Richelle, Genifer, Gisele… for everything.”

Richelle smiled and handed Marnie a card.

“No worries, Marnie,” she chirped. “Just call and we'll fix you up, anytime.”

Sonya and Marnie walked back out to the hub bub of the mall.

“Okay, Sonya, what’s next?” Marnie asked. “More surprises?”

“Nope… we see Bryan for your tech and then a much needed café stop.” Sonya smiled at the smaller girl and added, “it’s been a tough day and you’ve been a trouper, Marnie.”

"‘A hug is worth a thousand words. A friend is worth more.’ - Jasmine Fitzwilliam"

They exited on the ground floor and saw Bryan just inside the Sport Chek. He waved them inside and led them back to the customer service counter. With an over the top flourish worthy of a stage magician, he produced a Smartphone and a netbook.

“Feast your eyes, Mine Damen,” he chortled. “The latest in lightweight tech for today’s modern woman on the go.”
On the counter was one of the thinnest non apple notebooks Marnie had ever seen, an Acer Aspire S… brushed aluminium, 13mm thin, gorgeous. Bryan opened it and it was on and loaded from a cold start…

“Marnie, meet the S3-951-6697,” Bryan said with a grin. “Win7 64-bit, Core i7 1.70 GHz, 8GB SDRAM, 240GB solid state drive, 13.3" LCD, 802.11b/g/n WLAN, Bluetooth and a built in Wi-Fi stick…”

Sonya was grinning, while Marnie was gawping.

“Okay, Vanna,” Sonya laughed. “How ‘bout the phone?”

Bryan grinned even larger.

“If Miss Marnie will draw her attention to the second item up for bid?” He did a hand wave and said theatrically, “voila, The Galaxy Nexus… both set up with accounts, transferable to your old accounts from the cloud… both unlocked and ready to rumble.”

Marnie felt the tears come to her eyes and had the strangest urge to run and hide from these wonderful people. Had she been alone too long?

~don’t you dare run, girl~

~I don’t deserve this!~

~why not?~

~I’ve done nothing but lie to them…~

~soon, dear one. Once you understand what has happened, you can tell the truth~

~but…~

~hush, Hun~

Marnie walked round the counter and just gave Bryan a long hug… burying her face in his shoulder.

“Thank you for everything, Bryan,” she whispered.

“No problem, Marnie. I’m here if you need help. Also, I can’t wait to see you kick ass at BoardStock… I’ll be there rooting you on.” He smiled brightly and added, “and you give good hugs, almost as good as Sonya.” He gave her a gentle squeeze, disengaged and packed the laptop into the backpack and handed her the phone. Marnie smiled and took it.

“Bye, Bryan. See you soonest.” Marnie waved as she and Sonya headed for the Second Cup café.

Sonya went to the counter to order and Marnie set up the laptop. And punched a number into the phone… it connected to the cloud server and she had all her phone preferences again. A minute or two later, the laptop was similarly configured.

‘Okay, first things first,’ she thought as she fired up a secure email program.

To: Doc

From: futureboy

Subject: Doc, I’m in big trouble

Doc, Mom pulled something seriously weird on me… can’t explain… need ID, product and Sciencey advice…probably med tests... to coin a phrase, you’re going to see some serious shit.

A.N.

She hit send and waited. Sonya brought her a London Fog Latte and a chicken salad wrap and a chai latte and ham and swiss for herself. After a half hour of quiet munching, punctuated by the occasional yummy noise, the email chimed at the same time Sonya’s phone rang. Sonya took her call as Marnie opened the message.

To: futureboy

From: Doc

Subject: 1.21 jiggawatts?!

Ok kiddo, half hour, the lab ok?

M.S.

She replied in the affirmative, shut the laptop and opened her mouth to make excuses to Sonya. Sonya was on her feet first and speaking.
“Babygirl, I put my deets in your phone and I have yours in mine… I gotta run for a bit… family stuff… call you in a couple, okay?”

“Uh, sure, Sonya… I have to motor too… some stuff of mine may have turned up… call you in two? Okay?”

The two girls collided into a hug and then Sonya bolted out the door. Marnie gathered her new spoils, grabbed her board from the locker at the entrance to the Mall, lit a cigarette and flagged a cab. She actually had finished the smoke when a cab finally came to a halt. She told the driver to take her to West Seventh and Spruce and settled in.

The cab let her out at the corner and she walked to Choklit Park and made her way to the basement entrance of the home owned by the nearest thing to a father figure she had had growing up. The man she called Doc. Letting herself in with a key from under a hemp mat, she walked down the stairs quietly so as not to shock him too quickly.

“I can hear you, Kiddo,” rose the gentle voice from his lab. “Nothing to fear here, c’mon down. I want you to meet my able assistant…”

Marnie pitched her voice as low and soft as she could and said, “okay…” just before rounding the corner to see her friend in his beanbag chair and…

“Sonya!”

“Marnie!”

“Doc?”

“Dad!”

Marnie moaned as she blinked owlishly at her old friend and her new one,“Dad? Doc?! Great Scott!”

Milo Samuels sank deeper into his chair.

“This is heavy.”