DANNY Chapter 47 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ. So, the famous Katie Hargraves gave the gang a bunch of Rockrgrrl and PIMA vouchers, and everyone thought of going to the nearest branch to use them, but the nearest ones were over three hours away. So they thought of making road trip of it. But since it was late already, they decided to have a sleepover first, and get an early start the following Sunday. Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. (BTW, be warned: this is one of those rare chapters with very explicit sexual content.)

  Chapter Forty-Seven:  Empire City

*** Danny ***

We passed by Nikki's house first and she told her folks about the overnight thing. Mrs. Anderson confirmed with Mrs. Haley over the phone, and our story was verified. We were petrified, though, that she might call Danielle, especially since "Danielle" was right in front of her. Thank god she didn't!

Selling them on the trip tomorrow, though, took some doing, but when Nikki showed them her vouchers, they believed us. She explained that it would be the whole gang that would be going, so they relented.

They asked me if I would be joining them. I, in my Danielle disguise, nervously cleared my throat, and, in my best Danielle voice, I said that I was.

Nikki also showed them her check and Mrs. Piper's letter, and Mr. Anderson made the expected comment about it being so small before he signed.

Anyway. Nikki packed an overnighter with just a couple of outfits, some comfortable cute-booties-for-walking, some sleeping essentials and other things, and ran out with "Danielle" in tow. "Bye, Mom! Bye Dad!" she called.

"So, what's next, Nikki," I asked as I pulled into the road. I drove leisurely towards town.

"Maybe we can go to your house and get you some of Danielle's clothes, for our own sleepover?" She giggled.

"That might not be a good idea." I said. "Dale texted earlier that Danielle passed by the house already, and picked up some stuff for their sleepover. And…" I gestured at my current Danielle outfit.

"Oh, no… well, at least she got you cleared already. Your folks think you're staying over at Morgan's?"

"I'm officially 'staying out with the guys.'"

As I drove, I thought about it some more. "How about we start for the trip already, and just go now?"

She giggled at my obvious excitement. "Hold your horses, tiger," she giggled. "We need to make some preparations."

"What preparations?" I asked. I made a u-turn and started to make for the I-95.

"Well, we need to make some reservations, you know. And to do that, I need to top up my card."

"Well, we can pass by a Walmart then. There's a twenty-four hour Walmart on Brook Road. You can top up your Amex card there, and we can even have a bite, and do our reservations and stuff."

"Sounds good." She leaned over and gave me a kiss. "Okay."

I pulled out my phone and dialed my bodyguard's number.

"Hi," I said. "This is Danny, or rather Danielle heheh… Oh, it's you, Tyler. How're you doing? Good. Oh, everything's fine. Listen, We're driving out to the city and staying overnight. Yeah, with the guys. So, if you want to knock off for the night, it's okay. I don't think I'll need you. Oh... Oh, okay. Where will we be staying? I don't know yet, but probably at a Holiday Inn. I'll text you the hotel and room number. Oh! We'll be making a stopover at the Walmart in Brook Road. You know where that is? Good. Okay. See you later, dude."

"Who was that?" Nikki asked.

"That's Tyler, one of my bodyguards." I pointed to my rearview, and we saw his nondescript Toyota. I waved out the window and he blipped his lights.

"He's gonna follow us all the way?" she asked with a bit of worry.

"Don't worry, Nick. We can trust the guy."

"If you say so."

It took us an hour or so to get to Walmart so it was about nine, and the sun had completely gone down. I got a text from Tyler, and apparently he got to Walmart ahead of us. He texted to say that someone else will be taking over and he was passing on the phone.

So, as soon as I pulled up in the parking lot, Tyler honked and took off . He pointed to yet another nondescript Toyota - his replacement, and I waved acknowledgement.

We went into Walmart and it wasn't as bad as I feared it would be. Sure, there were some, ummm, unique individuals doing some late night shopping, but it was mostly okay. The ones I noticed were the more… unusual ones, like this girl who was walking around in a one-piece bikini and high heels as if she was just in a regular dress (I wouldn't have minded if she were pretty and not, like, two hundred pounds overweight, but…), a guy dressed like an Indian from a cowboy movie complete with a headdress and warpaint, someone who was wearing a suit minus the pants (he was wearing shorts so he wasn't picked up for indecency or anything), a guy who reeked of alcohol, a girl who shouted at anyone who got close, and a guy who wasn't talking and was just giggling.

But no one bothered us except for the inevitable curious looks. We were a couple of hotties after all.

The first thing we did was go to the Money Center and top off Nikki's Amex Bluebird card with a couple of thousand. Nikki protested that I didn't need to put that much money in, but I shut her up with a kiss. That got us more attention but I didn't care - any excuse to kiss Nikki, you know.

We then went to the Walmart Snack Bar and ordered a couple of meatball subs and some cokes. Nikki just had a bite and gave the rest of her sandwich to me.

While we ate, I used my phone and popped up the Holiday Inn Express site. While I was doing this, Nikki made some excuses and walked toward the cash registers. I wasn't paying much attention to her, though, since I was concentrating on my phone.

I checked all the Holiday Inn Express hotels near Fifth, and the closest one with available rooms was the one on Sixth. But the only rooms available were singles. The site suggested the one in West 29th and that one had several larger rooms available. I picked the best one they had, and typed in Nikki's name (the name on her Amex debit card, of course: Nicolette Ann Smith instead of Nicolette Anne Anderson). And since she was already in their system, there was no trouble making the reservation.

I then checked if there was a parking level in the building, and there was, so I reserved a slot, as well as a couple more for Dale and Joanne. And since it was a metered parking facility, that means our slots were reserved for a full twenty-four hours per day, which starts from the moment it was reserved and ends when we leave or when our time runs out (I reserved us for two full days, leaving our cars' makes, models, colors and license plate numbers).

After I clicked the last button, the site confirmed the reservations and I screen-capped the confirmation page.

Well, that was easy.

I then went on Yelp and checked for some nice brunch places nearby. I picked a place called The Cookshop, simply because it was open in the morning and the prices weren't too high, called and made a reservation for fourteen. Good thing it closed at eleven so someone was still there to accept our reservation.

Gee. And I thought this would be more difficult.

The next thing I did was to text Dale, Tracey and Joanne the hotel's address and our parking slot numbers, as well as attach a file of the screencap. The city was so notorious for its traffic and lack of parking so this was like a mandatory thing. I also said that we were going to meet for brunch at ten in the restaurant I picked on West 18th, with the reservation under the name of "Nikki Smith."

I then texted my bodyguard and told him the same details. He texted back to let me know he got it, and that was that.

When I looked up from my phone, Nikki was there looking at me and sipping on an iced tea. I was so engrossed, I didn't notice her come back.

"So?" she asked. "Are we set?"

"Totally." I showed her the confirmation page. I noticed a couple of shopping bags. "What're those?"

"Well, you can't go shopping in smelly day-old clothes! So I got you some stuff. Did you know they have Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Donna Karan here? Who'da thunk?"

"But we're going shopping tomorrow…"

"Oh I only got a couple of on-sale outfits and some sleeping stuff. Just enough to tide us over."

Well, that worried me a bit. As usual. But it was too late now.

Anyway, I got the receipts and told myself to top up Nikki's card with the same amount later.

So we left Walmart and went on our way.

- - - - -

***** (Nikki) *****

It was a long drive, but since we were together, it wasn't bad at all. Plus the anticipation was keeping Danny and me hyped up and looking forward to tonight.

The city wasn't that full of cars and all that. But then again, it was almost midnight when we got in.

Parking and checking in wasn't too difficult either. At least there were no awkward moments and rabid fans. Thank god we weren't in the boonies anymore.

The both of us were quiet as we held hands while we rode in the elevator. I kept sneaking looks at him, and he kept smiling when he caught me doing so. We were both consenting individuals, even if not exactly adults. But we came prepared. At least I was. And, us being sixteen, we're not going to be doing anything illegal (though that technicality probably won't make it okay with mom and dad).

It wasn't a secret what Danny and I were about to do - the guys knew all about it, or intuited it, and, after a bit of resistance, the girls texted and asked me if I was sure. I told them I was sure. Besides, we've done it before. We were both over sixteen, so it wouldn't be underage sex, and I was on the pill, too.

We didn't have trouble getting a room - Danny was right to pick the Holiday Inn Express again. Besides the price, at least our previous stay was in their records and no further checks were required. The girl who checked us in looked fairly bored, and she totally didn't recognize Danny. I mean, why would she? Our little TV show wasn't aired here, and the Evolution Concert probably didn't rate much here, unlike in our little town where it was such a big deal.

All that, plus the fact that it was midnight and there weren't too many people in the lobby, I couldn't blame her for looking bored.

Of course, checking in at midnight didn't change our check-out time. We still had to check out by one PM, but that was okay - we were planning on leaving by nine AM anyway.

We were traveling unusually light. Besides my wheelie and our purses, we weren't carrying anything else (I put the stuff I bought for Danny in Walmart inside the wheelie).

I was a bit worried about how we looked. After all, we were in the Big City. But I think we passed muster. The outfit and look that I picked, and Danny's Dannie-the-Singer outfit were pretty okay, and no one we passed reacted badly. There was one girl we saw - she was extremely pretty, and was dressed to the nines - smiled at us as she rode the elevator with us. And only after passing several floors did I recognize her - she was the star of this Disney show a few years ago but hasn't been seen much since. That's a shame. I liked her in that show. But regardless, she still looked fabulous, and she smiled at us politely when she saw me looking.

Unfortunately, our floor was on the nineteenth and she was going all the way to the top floor, so we got off before her. Well. Hopefully, we'll see more celebrities tomorrow.

Anyway, when we got to our room, my hands were shaking so much with excitement, I had trouble sliding in our room's card into the door's slot. But when I finally got it open, I pulled Danny through and slammed the door closed.

I pushed him onto the bed, straddled him and started kissing his face all over.

Danny restlessly ran his hands over my sides, and I shivered. The silky material of my dress rubbed against my skin in a way I've never felt before.

I couldn't stop myself anymore - my anticipation of tonight had been building ever since this afternoon. I pulled my shirt-dress over my head and threw it into a corner, leaving me clad only in my bra, panties and heels. I then reached down and tore Danny's borrowed blouse open. You know that cliché when the character in a romance novel tears the woman's top open and the buttons, like bullets, pop and fly away in all directions?

I grabbed him around the waist and pulled him towards me, our breasts mashing against each other. But our bras were in the way.

Impatiently, we attacked each other's bras, and in moments, we were free of them. Savagely, I pressed and rubbed Danny's smooth, soft and oh, so sensuous flesh, and he did the same to me. On my leg, I felt him as I rubbed my leg on his crotch, his erection unmistakable despite the gaff. I giggled and felt around for the snap on his skirt. I undid the snap and pulled the zip down. I then pushed his tight gaff down and he sprang up, in full attention.

Not waiting anymore, I took off my sheer panties and impaled myself on him.

I remembered him from before, but I didn't care. I hissed in combined pain and pleasure as he stretched me to my limits again. I growled, like my pain, a barrier to my being with him, was something I had to beat up or kill, and and I savagely pumped up and down, not allowing my pain to stop me.

"Nikki!" he said, breathlessly. "Protection!"

"I'm on the pill, Danny," I said, panting, and increased my pace. The pain was substantial, but I wouldn't let it stop me, and continued on. My hips trembled like they were on the edge of a cramp, or something momentous, and I continued, willing it to be momentous.

After a minute of my savage attack on his erection, I felt the pain rapidly fade, to be replaced by waves and waves of growing pleasure. I was trying to move so fast, my thighs trembled in what could be a cramp, but I kept at it.

"I'm coming, Danny!" I cried, and my hips started to tremble. On their own, my hips bucked and bucked, and I moaned as my orgasm raced through me, but Danny still hadn't.

For what felt like minutes, my hips bucked and bucked, and my vagina contracted in pulses, but Danny still hadn't cum.

I started to cool down, and scooched up to kiss Danny's face, neck and behind his ear, but he still hadn't. I was prepared to relax on his chest in post-coital bliss, and Danny just held me around the waist, seemingly rested, too, but I felt him. He still filled me, and still stretched me to my limits. So that meant he still hadn't cum.

For whatever reason, I felt that I had cheated Danny somehow, and though my clitoris and vaginal opening was so sensitive, I gritted my teeth and resumed. I felt like I couldn't take this but I pushed through. I couldn't cheat Danny.

I hissed in pain brought on by my oversensitivity, and frustrated anger at my overly-sensitized flesh, and pushed on, and, for some reason, the sensitivity transmuted into an orgasm immediately, and I couldn't stop it. In less than thirty seconds, with no rest, I found myself in the throes of yet another orgasm. My hips bucked again without my conscious control, and my vagina contracted over and over, and for whatever reason, the orgasm kept going.

I've read this sort of thing happening, but I never really thought it was even possible in real life. I found myself cumming over and over again, with mere seconds between orgasms, and my eyes literally rolled up. It was savage and powerful and so intoxicating.

In what must have been my millionth daisy-chained orgasm, I finally felt Danny cum as well. I felt him splash my insides, coating me completely, but it was too much, and it leaked out.

I was totally helpless as I continued to cum, unable to do anything but orgasm, and I felt my thighs covered in his cum.

Eventually, I felt him calm down and the deluge abated. And I felt my unending orgasms start to diminish.

My orgasms became shorter and shorter until they eventually stopped. I collapsed on Danny, totally spent. I couldn't move, though my hips still bucked occasionally and without my control. I felt the fever break, and I took slow deep breaths as I fell into a sated stupor.

It was so incredible and so beautiful, I found myself crying in complete and unbelievable, amazing joy and wonder. Could it be anything like this with anyone else? But I knew in my heart that this could only be possible with Danny.

I hugged Danny around his neck, and inhaled deeply, surrounding myself in his special scent.

Danny held me and whispered in my ear, wondering if he had hurt me. I shook my head no even as I struggled to remain conscious. And when I couldn't stay awake anymore, I faded into a wonderful dream-filled slumber.

- - - - -

***** (Nikki) *****

I woke up in the dark. I didn't recognize where I was, but I felt Danny and I calmed down immediately. Things came back as I remembered what we had done.

Surrounded by his wonderful scent as well as the escapable smell of sex in the air, I smiled in recollection, and stretched in wonderful, indolent relaxation. I was so relaxed and loose. Just call me elastagirl. I felt so wonderful, I wriggled in joy. Giggling, I wrapped myself around Danny. I felt Danny was wearing the sheer teddy I bought for him, and I noticed I was wearing my own ivory babydoll that I brought from home. Clearly, he had put it on me.

I checked and the bedclothes were dry. I also checked myself and I was dry as well. I loved Danny for taking such good care of me. I continued feeling myself, checking myself out. I seemed to be fine, although I seem to be more sensitive now. Actually, maybe sensitive wasn't the word. I seem to be, I guess the word I am thinking of was that I seemed to be primed now, like I was on a hair trigger and ready to explode at any moment. The touch of my own hand got me fired up and I twitched in a little mini-orgasm.

But I looked at Danny, and he was sleeping so deeply, my twitching didn't wake him. His eyelashes lying so beautifully on his cheeks. It was like I was sleeping beside my very own angel. I sighed. I guess I won't wake him, and wait for the morning instead when he's awake and feeling it, too.

I sighed in contentment, gently put my arms around him so I wouldn't wake him, closed my eyes and floated back to dreamland.

- - - - -

***** (Nikki) *****

I woke up again and Danny wasn't beside me anymore. I panicked a bit.

"Danny?" I called.

"I'm here," he answered. In the gloom, I saw him sitting on the chaise lounge facing the picture window. He was wearing the shorty, gauzy robe that came with the teddy.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm okay, Nikki," he said. That voice… it was his regular voice. That voice was something we never hear anymore. In fact, the last time I heard it was before Danny joined the band.

It still sounded somewhat like his regular Danny voice, with the same Danny inflections and tone, but it wasn't Danny. Nor was it Dannie-the-singer: it was in a slightly higher register, as well as with a special, unidentifiable quality that made you want to hug him or something. If you didn't know who was speaking, you'd have thought it was some beautiful girl. It was so smokey-sexy - sexier than even Dannie-the-singer, or Robin-the-DJ, or even Danny himself. At least to me. And I felt sad that he didn't use it often anymore.

I got up and grabbed the thin wrap that went with my babydoll - Danny had draped it over a chair nearby in case I wanted to wear it. I went to Danny thinking he was feeling down or sad or something, but when I got close, he was just sitting and looking at the skyline, looking peaceful and content.

We weren't as high up as the other buildings in the city - we were just on the nineteenth - but by some wonderful serendipity, the surrounding buildings immediately around us were all below our vantage.

"Wow," I said as I snuggled against Danny. The skyline was so pretty, with lots of lights in reds, blues, greens and yellows. Like a christmas tree.

"Pretty," I said.

"Yeah," he said. "It is." His voice sounded so magically, sexily feminine.

I just snuggled under his arm, happy.

"What're you thinking?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking how things have shaped up for us. For me."

"You okay?"

"I'm okay. I guess I'm okay with things. It's been fun at any rate," he chuckled.

"Especially tonight," I said.

"Oh, Absolutely. Speaking of which… are you okay? I was afraid I had hurt you or something."

I giggled. "Danny, I'm okay. I'm more than okay. I loved it! And I want to do it again."

Danny chuckled again. "Maybe not right at this moment? Let's just sit here for now?"

He hugged me and gave me a kiss. "Okay," I sighed in happiness. I draped his arm around me and just stayed there and watched the lights.

And as I was about to drift back to sleep, I was accidentally nudged awake. "My love?" I said sleepily.

"Sorry, honey," he said. "I was reaching for the phone. I was going to order something from room service. Do you want anything?"

I giggled. Danny and his appetite... We asked Mrs. Fairchild about the twin's bottomless appetites once, and she said it wasn't anything to worry about - they'd been checked out by the doctors and she said the two just had a higher-than-normal metabolism. Nothing to worry about - just don't go out with them to dinner unprepared.

"Can you maybe get me something to drink?" I said.

"Okay," Danny said, and called downstairs.

About thirty minutes later, the knock on the door woke me up.

Danny turned up the room's lights, stood up and went to the door. He hesitated a bit, suddenly realizing that he was just wearing a teddy and a gossamer shorty robe. I was looking at him with a grin.

He looked at me and chuckled. "It's nothing these guys haven't seen before," he shrugged. He made a quick adjustment to make sure he wasn't showing anything unusual in his pants, knotted his robe's belt and opened the door.

The bellboy at the door just looked at Danny, mouth open. He didn't move, except for his eyeballs, and just stared at Danny. "Ohmigod!" he murmured.

"So, are you coming in or not?" Danny asked with hands on hips.

"Oh!" he exclaimed. "Sorry…" He pushed a cart into the room.

He parked the cart in the middle of the room and just stared at Danny.

Danny looked at the guy. "Well?"

"Oh, yeah…" He reached into his pocket and brought out a booklet with a receipt.

I was curious about what he ordered. "What did you get, Danny?" I said, and got up to check what was under the cloches.

The guy turned and saw me. "Ohmigod… there's two of them!"

I giggled at that and peeked under the dish covers (Danny said they were sometimes called "cloches"). There were a couple of paper bags with the name "The Meatball Shop" in red emblazoned on them, plus several bottles of mineral water and something called Swamp Pop Soda. I gotta try some of that.

Danny reached out and plucked the pen and little booklet the guy was holding while he looked at the both of us slack-jawed. "Ohmigod," the guy repeated.

Danny signed our receipt, pulled off our copy and tucked the pad and pen in the guy's shirt pocket. Danny had to inadvertently get near the guy to tuck the pen and pad in his pocket, and the guy had an eyeful of Danny's satin-covered boobies.

"Oh, wow!" he said.

Danny growled in impatience and resorted to pushing the guy out the door.

"Wait!" the guy said, finally shaking himself out of whatever trance he was in, but he was too late, and the door slammed in his face.

"Can you believe that guy," Danny said.

"I don't think he was acting, Danny," I said.

"Sure, sure," he scoffed and turned to the cart.

"So, what's this?" I asked. "You ordered take-out?"

"Yeah. The hotel doesn't have room service, apparently, so I had food delivered to the hotel. Anyway, I heard of the place and thought we could order some sandwiches."

"What's this Swamp Pop?"

"It was the only thing on their cocktail menu that could be delivered. Apparently, anything alcoholic can't be delivered door-to-door. Besides, I read about it on the net. It's supposed to be very good."

"I'll have one, then."

I went back to the chaise, and Danny pushed the cart nearer the window. I snuggled into his side and took occasional sips from my Swamp Pop and enjoyed the city lights.

- - - - -

***** (Danny) *****

Nikki was so insatiable this time. Not that I'm complaining. But I couldn't help but think that my newly-discovered "condition" was what was affecting her. After Nikki slept, I sneaked away and tested a bit of Doctor Roberts' magic solution. The litmus paper I brought discolored the way he said it should, so it should be working. So what was it?

Anyway, it didn't matter. At least not tonight. I gently wiped Nikki (and myself) down with a wet washcloth from the bathroom, took off her shoes and the soiled sheets, put her into this babydoll nightie that I found in her bag, replaced the sheet and brought the soiled ones into the bath.

Like before, I rinsed out the sheet. At least I knew what to do now. I wrung out as much of the water from the sheets as I could, and hung the still-damp sheets on the curtain rod.

I could just as well have left it to the hotel to clean up after us, but I guess I was a bit embarrassed. I even thought of bringing our own blankets next time, and had to laugh at how ridiculous that was.

Anyway, I took a quick shower, put on some of Doctor Roberts' solution in the predetermined spots, and looked for something to change into.

I found the bag of clothes Nikki bought in Walmart and fished out a teddy and matching underwear. I sighed resignedly and put them on.

I went to the bed and Nikki was lying there sleeping so sweetly, fresh and clean in her pretty little nightie. I was amazed that she hadn't stirred through the whole operation of cleaning her up and changing the sheets. I guess I tired her out, I thought proudly, and giggled.

I slid under the blanket, snuggled against her and slept.

I found myself waking up at around three and unable to sleep, so I got up.

I looked through the picture window and marveled at the pretty lights. Gosh, I was such a country bumpkin, I thought, but I didn't care. I sat on the chaise, and contemplated the city's pretty lights.

Later on, Nikki joined me and we just laid there for the rest of the night, watching the lights and enjoying a light late-night snack.

- - - - -

***** (Danny) *****

Eventually, though, we stirred ourselves awake when my phone's alarm started beeping.

We didn't exactly get the full eight hours of shuteye recommended, but neither of us were complaining.

We took a shower together, and would have finished quickly if Nikki didn't insist on doing some… rigorous calisthenics. Because of which, we found ourselves behind schedule. At least I didn't need to rinse any more blankets this time, but we did have to shower again.

After drying off and blow-drying our hair, I disguised my application of Dr. Roberts' solution as part of my putting on deodorant and perfume, and then I allowed Nikki to apply makeup on me.

I then got dressed in one of the two outfits Nikki bought for me, first putting on the new underwear she got. The underwear was a strapless T-shirt bra from Fruit of the Loom (I bet Nikki never bought Fruit of the Loom in her life until now - I'm afraid she, Danielle and their friends were clothes snobs) and an abbreviated pair of stretchy, tight, short-short bike shorts from Body Glove. The size was smaller than my standard size so they were pretty snug - that made them ideal for keeping my, ummm, profile hidden. I guess this was Nikki's compromise to my usual gaffs - I doubt if Walmart carried gaffs heehee. I said I could have easily kept on wearing what I was wearing but Nikki made a face and shook her head vehemently.

Nikki then dropped the dress over me. The dress was a pretty nice, kelly-green Lord & Taylor tiered mini halter-dress, and the shoes were a nice pair of three-inch heel slip-on pumps from Calvin Klein. Trust Nikki to find high-end brands in a Walmart. But I spied some white high-top Chuck Taylor sneakers she also got, and I decided to switch to those. Nikki shrugged. She did pick up a pair of sheer, white bobby socks-high stockings, and I slid those on before I put on and laced up the sneakers. Knowing there's going to be a whole lot of walking today, I thought three-inch heels might not be too comfortable.

After Nikki finished getting ready herself, we then packed up and dropped off Nikki's wheelie in my car. We noted that Joanne's van and Dale's F150 were parked on either side of my 'Stang now.

"They're already here," I said.

Making sure I had all my essentials in the little purse Nikki gave me, we put Nikki's wheelie in the boot, and we went down to the front desk to check out. Everything went smoothly and there were no problems unlike before like in the Holiday Inn back home. I did make sure that our parking spaces would be available to us the full forty-eight hours, and the girl said it would be, so it was no trouble for us to leave our cars there. But when I noticed her staring at me in dawning recognition, I quickly said thanks, pulled Nikki along and stepped out of the hotel.

The temperature was a little nippy, especially in my halter dress, so I slipped on the casual full-sleeve soft-denim jacket Nikki got me, and Nikki slipped into a shirred solid-colored pink blazer.

We walked in the bright morning sun and made our way to The Cookshop. We wouldn't have known where to go but for Google. Thank god for Waze and Google Maps.

Like provincials, we gawked at all the hustle and bustle yet tried not to appear that we were - that we belonged. At least we didn't appear to be dressed out of step with everyone.

Pretty soon, we were at The Cookshop, and found the gang all there.

"Hey, Danny!" Mike called. "Over here!"

We sat and were regaled with stories from their sleepovers. There were no big revelations or any unusual happenings, but it was fun listening to everyone trying to talk over everyone else. At least Fallon and Tracey (especially Tracey - I was worried about her given her... condition. But since they could accept me, I thought it was a fair gamble and allowed Tracey to sink or swim) were getting along fine with everyone. And, knowing what goes on in the girls' sleepovers, I'm fairly sure these two didn't have any major secrets to hide anymore. I was so pleased for my two newest friends that I couldn't stop myself from giving them kisses. I was a little uneasy though because Fallon and Tracey were looking at me so intensely. By the same token, I probably don't have any secrets from these two anymore. Oh, well. Hope whatever pictures the girls showed them weren't too embarrassing.

I saw our different bodyguards spread out in the restaurant, enjoying a bit of brunch themselves - they were being as unobtrusive as possible. My own bodyguard turned out to be Kelly this morning - a girl that looked like she was our age despite her being fifteen years older than me.

I nodded at her and she nodded back, and continued with her breakfast.

After breakfast, we decided to go to the Rockrgrrl store later, and broke up into two groups to do some sightseeing and window-shopping first, the guys towards Madison Square and the girls towards Fifth Avenue. I wanted to go with the guys but the girls wouldn't take no for an answer.

- - - - -

We were walking by this fancy (and expensive-looking) department store when Danielle had a brainstorm.

"Guys," Danielle said, "maybe we can get some stuff for the band? Seems to me, it's a little difficult to be outfitting the band at the last minute everytime, and it's a little difficult to find nice looking clothes and things back home. Since we're here, maybe we can get some stuff, and maybe get some for us, too."

"But we don't have any new gigs coming up, Danielle," Fallon said, "much less KRPQ events."

"You never know," Danielle giggled. "Lemme text Mrs. P."

After a bit, her phone beeped. "Okay," she said and read the text message. "Mrs. P agrees, but she gave us a budget."

"How much?" June asked, and she and Drew took a peek, The two whistled.

"Wow," Drew said.

"Can I see that?" Tracey asked, and read the text.

"'K," she nodded. "I'll take care of things on that side, or rather Mom's card will," she giggled. "Now where do we go?"

Danielle led us into the department store.

- - - - -

****** (The following 22 paragraphs are from Chapter 17 of the story, ******
***** "Drew Nance, Girl Detective Book 1: The Secret of the Old Clock") *****

"Thanks a lot, Lisa! See you later!" (Drew Nance said.)

The girl (Lisa) put her clothes in shopping bags and her shoes in the NineWest shoebox, gave her (Drew) the tags stapled to her receipt, and escorted her out so the store detectives won't bother her. "So, will we see you again?"

"Totally, and thanks!"

As she was riding down the escalator, a bunch of girls were riding up in the escalator opposite hers. They were talking loudly. When she was still Andy, that would have irritated her a lot, but she has had a sea change about such things ever since she started living as Drew.

The one in the lead was a simply gorgeous redhead.

"Hey, Nikki!" she called down. "Make sure Danny doesn't sneak away! The whole point of this trip is to get some stage outfits for June, Betsy, Fallon and her. If we don't, Mrs. Piper will never forgive me."

A blonde girl near the bottom had yet another redhead in a headlock. Given how they were both giggling made Drew realize they were just playing.

"No prob, Danielle. I got her, and I'm never letting her go." And then she gave the redhead in her arms butterfly kisses."

"Ewww! Nikki, quit it!"

Drew smiled at their antics.

"Oi!" Yet another redhead exclaimed. "You guys behave. You're making a scene."

"Sorry, Fallon," the girl, Dannie was it? Dannie responded.

They were almost parallel to her now. Drew casually looked over and was surprised to see that Dannie was a twin of that other girl, Danielle. Cool.

"Hi," Dannie said when she saw Drew looking at her.

"Hi, Dannie," Drew said. She embarrassedly smiled at the girl.

"Do I know you?"

"Ahh, no." Drew shrugged. "I'm Drew."

"Hi, Drew. Funny, I have a friend named Drew, too."

Drew grinned and nodded. "Well, have fun shopping."

She made a face. "Clearly, you haven't met my sister."

Drew giggled and waved bye-bye.

"What a funny girl," Drew said. Her good mood was just reinforced and she jauntily stepped off the escalator. "Three redheads at the same time. Well, that's unusual."

***** (end of excerpt) *****

***** (Danny) *****

Apparently, we weren't as inconspicuous as we thought. That girl in the escalator clearly recognized us. But I was told the TV show was only a local program. Did that mean she was at the concert?

I looked down the escalator and saw the blonde walk out the store. Too bad. She was very, very pretty.

"Hey!" Nikki said and playfully swung my head around. "Eyes on me, okay?"

I chuckled and gave her a kiss. "Always, babe," I said in this sexy voice that Morgan and the others called my "Brad Pits" voice. Nikki giggled.

Hand in hand, we followed Danielle and the others.

- - - - -

***** (Fallon) *****

I remembered my little impromptu shopping spree with Danny, although Danny didn't really buy anything that time, and I only bought a couple of things, so I don't know if you can really call that shopping. I know these girls wouldn't.

What we did then definitely didn't compare to what we were doing now.

I really didn't have too many friends before. Well, no friends, really. And then I met Danny. And then his sister in that "thing" with that bully, Hennessy. And then I met his other friends. He even got the Glee Club kids to be more friendly to me.

And then he made me a part of his band, even if it was just a temporary gig.

A far cry from the school's favorite loner, huh?

And now I'm hanging with girls that seem to like me. And though they think of shopping as a competitive sport, I didn't mind much - you can't have everything after all.

I don't know if I'm just older and therefore wiser (hah!), but, yes, I didn't seem to mind all this. Much. A few months ago, I'd probably be making snide remarks at girls like them, but here I am, actual friends with them. My dad once said, "not understanding others comes from ignorance." I used to make fun of that - that it sounded trite and stupid. "Not understanding others comes from ignorance…" duh! Of course! Isn't that what ignorance is? Not knowing?

But being around Danny, I now find myself trying to make the effort to understand others instead of being judgemental.

It's the sentiment behind dad's saying than the actual literal meaning of the words. And, as much as I hated to admit it, Dad was right. Dammit!

So here I was shopping with these girls. And it ain't so bad.

Of course, I didn't actually do any of the actual shopping myself. I think shopping can be fun, too, but I prefer to do it by myself. This group shopping thing was a little too… I guess the closest word I could think of was "complicated." What really helped me though was Danny - with another one in the group that wasn't as into this thing as I was, we had fun looking at other things or just chatting, and watching the girls do their thing.

Of course, we had to go to the girls to try out the stuff they picked for us, but that was just occasionally. Most of the time, Danny and I were just chatting. And the girls were right - Danny was a great guy.

Up close, she really was as gorgeous as I remembered. I mean "he." I couldn't help myself and snuck looks down his dress. I mean "her." I mean… oh, dammit.

Anyway. I also noted - no telltale bumps. He was probably wearing his special underwear that Danielle told us about.

From time to time, Nikki would come to fetch Danny or me for a fitting, but she was very understanding and only fetched us when absolutely needed. And it's so amazing that Nikki "allowed" Danny to hang out with me. I think Danielle and the others were totally wrong about Nikki's jealous streak.

"Falloooon!" Nikki went to us. "Time to try on another outfit!" She grabbed me by the hand and pulled me along to the changing rooms.

"Call the police if I'm not back in ten!" I said to Danny, and she laughed. I mean... Ahh, shaddap...

- - - - -

***** (Danny) *****

I grinned at Fallon. She was being very game about all this even though she told me this wasn't her kind of scene. I'm glad she's meshing so well with the group.

My phone rang and I brought it out of my purse. It was my bodyguard.

"Hey, Kelly," I answered. "What's up?"

"Danny," she answered, "one of the other bodyguards spotted that girl, Janet, in the store…"

"Janet? Ohmigod, are you sure?"

"We're sure."

"What do we do?"

"Well, actually, nothing. She hasn't done anything so we can't very well have her arrested."

"What about what she did at the Arclight? Or the damage she did to Mrs. Piper's minibus?"

"Well, we couldn't prove the sabotage in the Coliseum was done by her, and Mrs. Piper didn't file any charges about the minibus."

"Oh…"

"All we can do is just keep an eye on her, and stop her if she tries to do anything."

"If you say so."

"I suggest you don't tell the others so there's no panic. In fact, the only reason we told you was because we think you're her target, and we need you to be alert."

"Okay, Kelly. Where is Janet now?"

"We lost her at the ground floor lobby…"

"Lost!"

"Sorry, Dan. We're trying to locate her now."

"Okay. I'll keep an eye out. Let me know when you find her, okay?"

"I'll call you right away."

With that, she hung up.

"Hey, Danny," Fallon came back. "You look worried. Who was that?"

"Oh, nothing, Fallon," I said. "Just a call from a classmate. Our book report is due next week."

"Book report? Bleh. You're on your own." She stuck her tongue out at me and giggled.

I gave her a razzberry.

Nikki came over. "Hon, we're moving to the next floor to look at some other clothes, shoes and stuff."

I gave her a kiss. "Lead on."

- - - - -

***** (Danny) *****

Instead of staying away and trailing them, I decided to get closer to the girls and pulled Fallon along with me. That meant we were fairly clustered together as we moved to the next floor, and Janet can't target any single one of us.

I tried to look around, but casually, and didn't see Janet.

The girls trailed Danielle in this shopping expedition. As usual. But then Danielle was this gang's expert when it comes to women's fashions. And as they perused the shelves of clothes and shoes, Danielle started picking out stuff. And it was a foregone conclusion that the stuff she picked were in the exact sizes of the girls in the band. However, she was unsure of Fallon. That meant special attention for Fallon and was given a special fitting session by Danielle.

Danielle stood Fallon on her own and started looking her up and down, literally sizing her up.

"What's this?" Fallon asked.

"Quiet, my dear, and allow the master to work," Joanne said, and giggled.

"Hmmm..." Danielle said, with her hand on her chin. She walked around and around Fallon. "I believe you're about five feet four, about one hundred fourteen pounds, thirty-four - twenty-two - thirty-two. You're a b-cup, and wear a size seven shoe." She grinned at Fallon. "So, how'd I do?"

"Oh. My. God..." Fallon and Tracey said, and everyone laughed.

"Believe me, honey," Joanne said, "all of us have had the same feeling."

From there, Danielle continued her trawling and picking, with two more converts following - namely Fallon and Tracey.

"But, you know, Danielle," Tracey said, "what about the guys? I mean, shouldn't they get nice outfits, too?"

Danielle looked at Tracey a little sheepishly. "Ummm..."

"Ahh!" Mel said. "You have discovered Supergirl's kryptonite!"

"What do you mean?"

Danielle sadly looked down. "I'm sorry. I'm not too good with men's clothes..."

"Is that why you didn't suggest to get some outfits for the guys?"

Danielle shrugged embarrassedly.

"No problem, Supergirl,"Nikki giggled. "Let Batgirl help you out. Come, Robin. Let us away to the Batcave!" She said to me.

Everyone burst out laughing as she pulled me with her.

As the two of us left in search of the Men's section, I heard Fallon. "Is she really good with guy clothes?" she asked.

"Who do you think picks Danielle's outfits when she's in Danny-mode?" Joanne said.

"Ooohhh!"

to be continued...

 

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