Chapter 8

The alarm woke me up, rather than the hoped for presence of Alice. My alarm clock is a loud and irritating one, guaranteed to get me out from under the warm covers. I hurried downstairs to lock the door, relieved not to find any sign of burglary. After taking in some dawnfast, it being a bit early for breakfast, I went back up to my study, checking up on emails and messages, reflecting on how irresponsible I was acting. Leaving the door open at night just wasn't very smart. I sent a query to Alice, asking if I could pick her up for school, wondering how she normally got there without a car, then started typing up some replies and posting to my boards.

My school friends were mostly teasing about Alice, though the awe and incredulity leaked through, as did the jealousy. I replied with off color jokes and my own obscene comments. I also noted an email from Alice, from yesterday afternoon, where she described some sort of vibrating ball she could use to practice her vaginal muscles. She kindly forwarded a link to the site, asking me to order her three. Which I did, then looking up the status of my larger toy order, seeing that it was supposed to be already here. Running back downstairs, I saw that it waiting for me, a rather large package. I didn't know if I'd ever find a use for some of the weird stuff, so I just put it in the back of the closet. Toys had lost some importance, after last night. Still, I did pick out a few things I thought might be fun.

I distinctly hoped that Alice wouldn't get in too much trouble with her parents, having trouble with the idea of parental punishments as applied to her. Grounding her? The earth couldn't contain that much electricity.

With an hour till breakfast, I polished up my homework and the answer sheets for my college course, taking the last few minutes to catch up on my favorite web comics. Then I went to prepare my second meal of the day. Mom was surprised to find hot breakfast waiting for her. She was never very talkative in the morning, grunting hello and eating in silence, reading the paper I'd brought in.

"Thought you'd be staying with her," mom finally spoke up.

"Wanted to," I spoke around the food in my mouth, "her parents got back. Wasn't politic."

Mom sniffed and got back to her coffee, then left me to clean up. She usually opened early enough that I didn't see her in the morning. I shouted goodbye and went up to play on the computer, but couldn't stop from checking every few seconds for a response from Alice. It was silly, but I couldn't help it.

Lacking such response, I drove directly to school, arriving a bit early in the hope of finding her, despite us not sharing the first class today. With the school mostly deserted, I took some time to think about the swim team and college. I was going to widen my list of schools, including some Ivy League ones I hadn't previously so much as considered. I didn't think much of my chances, but a chance of being near Alice next year was better than nothing. I decided to pick up the forms and look things up on the web.

With the first bell coming up, I hurried to the bathroom. I was washing my hands when I heard a loud and feminine scream, "Leave us alone!" coming from just outside. I was out the door in a blink of the eye, hands open and ready to strike. Hitting someone with a fist isn't good for you, as I'd learned from experience. It's better to use the heel of your palm, like those crazy kung fu films. The girls' bathroom was just across the corridor, and five cockroaches of the would-be gangster type were surrounding Eve and another beautiful girl, a sophomore named Maya. Her older sister, Brianna, is one of the two cheerleaders I consider better looking than Melanie. The sisters share long golden hair, blue eyes and fantastic bodies, faces and complexions, the one in a thousand perfect wholesome all American fantasy girls.

Alice memorized everyone's names off the yearbooks. I satisfied myself with remembering the names of all the good looking girls, a harmless hobby. When I told Eve that I should have known who she was, I wasn't joking.

I only hesitated for a moment. This was actually dangerous, because there was too good a chance of these bastards coming back after me, or worse, Alice or the girls. I was sure they carried knives, and toughness and face were a matter of pride for them. Still, I liked Eve and I couldn't just make myself go away or close my eyes and ears, not when I could do something other than fetch someone else, which might not be enough — I didn't know what the creeps planned to do.

The same rush technique I used yesterday worked just as perfectly, laying down four of them. Size and weight matter, and I had both in abundance. The fifth of them, stunned with surprise, I hit in the solar plexus, then bashed his head against the wall. I wasn't shy about stepping all over them, either, catching the girls' arms and striding briskly away to class.

We were around the corner, traffic starting to pick up, when Eve slammed against my side, driving all the air out of my lungs.

"Oooof!"

"Oh god, I was so afraid," Eve clung to me.

"Yeah," Maya held tight to my arm with both her hands, "we owe you big time. I'm gonna speak with my sister, she'll get the football team to stomp them flat. Say, you want a blowjob?" She looked up at me, cornflower blue eyes crinkled, an unconvincing smile on her lips.

"Huh?" I stepped back and disengaged with a start. "Ahem, no thanks, sorry, got to get to class. Uh, Eve, could you let go please?" I asked.

"Are you gay?" Maya stared at me.

"No, I have a girlfriend who can deepthroat. What's wrong with you that you just offer a blowjob, like it's nothing?" I retaliated.

"Well, it's like, what boys like," Maya looked startled. "It's just a blowjob, and like I said, we, like, owe you big time!"

I caught Eve's eyes for a second and just shook my head. "I don't like to say this, but it's like some girls deserve assholes as boyfriends. Maya," I looked back at her, "consider your debt repaid by talking with your sister about getting rid of those fucks ASAP. They might come after any of us, this time with knives or worse. They're would be gangers, they don't play by the rules. Good enough? Use your influence with the football team and we're square. Now, I think your class is that way?" I pointed.

"Oh, right, good idea, thanks. Sure, I'll call Bri now," Maya fished her tiny mobile out from between her bountiful breasts, where a string necklace held it. There were probably more boys jealous of that little instrument than of me.

Grabbing the chance, I caught Eve, who still hadn't let go, and carried her away.

"She's not really stupid, you know," Eve mumbled, the sound of her voice muffled as her face was buried against my chest. "She just has certain expectations and it shook her up, too. That's her way of compensating. Or overcompensating."

"Uh, I see," I put her back down on her feet. "You've joined the beautiful people, so you have to speak up for her, gorgeous."

"No, really, she's not stupid! Don't be ridiculous, I don't have to join anyone to be beautiful," she added.

I just looked at her, "Right... ," and turned to walk away, shaking my head.

"Hey, wait," she caught my arm.

"What is it?"

"Uh," it was obviously difficult for her to say it, "Could you please walk me to class? I'm not feeling too safe."

"Sure," I caught her hand, "Come along. I should tell you the secret to staying safe, I suppose. Find yourself a boyfriend with nasty reputation. Or any boyfriend, for that matter. The creeps generally show that much discernment."

"Are you offering?" Eve asked coyly.

"Did you think I was joking when I pointed out my girlfriend? What's so difficult to understand?" I growled. "I'm taken, off the market. Even for you, gorgeous."

"Well, that's very nice," Eve sounded pissed, "but I don't know anyone to pick out, and I don't exactly feel like just choosing at random. I'm not even sure I want one!"

"Sorry, I suppose Maya upset me, made me a bit oversensitive. You can ask Alice how she feels about you being an auxiliary girlfriend, by title. A few times holding hand and a couple of kisses and you should be fine. My ex was jealous, I don't think Alice is, or at least not as much."

"Thanks," she said shortly.

"But," I warned her, "Alice might exact a price. She's bi-curious, you might end up licking her pussy."

Eve froze in shock and I laughed out loud at her expression.

"Were you joking?" She asked, off balance.

"I'm actually not sure," I admitted. "We have a threesome scheduled, but I have a feeling she might like you. I do," I added.

"Oh," Eve breathed out. "Thanks. I think."

We walked in silence the rest of the way, and I had to stop and ask her which class she was headed to. Turned out to be two classes back. I swallowed laughter, hoping she wouldn't stay spaced out for too long, then made my own way to my class, going back against the swelling, swarming crowd. I kept an eye out for Alice and for the gangers I'd banged up, worry creeping up my spine. Two fights in two days was anomalous, almost as many fights as the whole of last year. It certainly didn't bode well. I was also worried about Alice not replying to the messages I sent her, not to mention the lack of her physical presence.

The first two classes went by in a blur and to my relief, I shared the third with Alice, and she was there. I swept her up in my arms before she could do more than open her mouth, kissing her hard. An interminable time later, blood rushing to my head, I let her go of her wet lip, to the sounds of whistles and cheers. My arms weak, I let her down and she draped herself against me.

When I could manage it, I picked her up and carried her to our seats, leaning down to whisper in her ear, "Why didn't you call me back or text me?"

"You beast, you just kill me all the time. I was so tired I didn't wake up in time for school. My parents must have thought that I'd already left or something. I'm afraid they caught on to you staying late, the door wasn't locked properly. I'm definitely in for it."

"Why, what would they do?"

"Oh, it's nothing except put downs and ugly words and stares. They're pretty defensive about me being smarter, they're always putting me down. It's not very pleasant," she said matter-of-factly.

"That's disgusting," I hissed. "Can't they be proud of you?"

"You're proud of me?" Alice's jaw dropped.