Chapter 87: The Time Warp, Again

Friday, April 19, 1985

Jas and I were up just a bit earlier than usual and had pancakes on the table by the time the others joined us. Cammie’s and Paige’s both had ‘Happy Birthday!’ written on them in icing. We didn’t use a lot of icing — a bit was more than enough.

We got hugs (expected) and tears (not so expected, but happy), especially from Cammie.

After she calmed down, she said, “I’m so happy! Last year, my birthday was all about State, plus ... you know ... it was just such a relief! This feels more like what it should have been! Thank you all so much!”

More hugging ensued. Paige stepped back and let Cammie have the spotlight. State had outshined her birthday, too, but it was just different for Cammie and everyone knew it. Paige would get birthday cards and a call from her parents and family. Cammie was hoping not to get any attention from her parents, though I was sure she would talk to Penelope and David.

That little layer of bittersweet wasn’t going away anytime soon, no matter how much we wished it would. It would sneak up and get us every time we imagined it was gone.

I skipped lunch to head to the College Station Municipal Court office. That was a mixed blessing. Some of the staff were on lunch break, too, and it might have been busier than usual, but it took more time than I’d expected to even find the right person. Since I hadn’t been summoned, no one was quite sure what to do with me. Eventually I got the form to the right clerk. She promised she would make sure the judge saw it and would let us know if the charges were dropped.

My explaining why we felt this was urgent helped, I think. We only had a few more weeks, and some of that time would be consumed with finals. Oh, we didn’t have to leave right away (and probably wouldn’t), but the sooner the fence was done the happier Cammie and Mel would be.

Apparently, under normal circumstances, we might not even have a court date assigned within the time we had left. That would leave someone having to come to College Station to deal with this during the summer. I had a bad feeling that they knew how inconvenient that sort of thing was for students and didn’t care.

In our case, it might come back to bite them. We would see. Most freshmen didn’t have their own attorney, nor the resources to make a significant pain of themselves if they wanted to.

Between the delays and the hassle involved in putting in our fence, I couldn’t see us doing any work for the other management companies. I called and explained the issue to the others, including noting the trouble we’d had with the College Station police. They were all fine with it. I got the feeling they might work with a licensed fence company, but we would see if new fences sprouted around the neighborhood in the coming months.

Birthday dinners were at The Grapevine. That wasn’t always our go-to place — I was actually thinking of Jose’s for my birthday — but it was ‘good enough.’ Cammie had spent a while catching up with Penelope and David before the outing. Paige had spoken to her parents, but (surprising all of us) also talked to Ted. He was, according to Paige, ‘completely not a jerk!’ That surprised everyone, but either Monique was still bossing him around, he’d learned his lesson, or he was saving ‘bad Ted’ for the right moment.

In any case, four of the six of us were ‘of age’ again (if only for a few more months), and the waiter couldn’t care less whether me or Ang were ‘of age’ as well. We hadn’t ordered the wine, after all.

We just had one bottle between us. We would be up super-late (and very energetically, too!), so we didn’t want to slow down and get sleepy.

The Grapevine served complimentary chocolate mousse to Cammie and Paige (complete with candles). The rest of us ordered portions of our own. We were pretty sparing on dessert most of the time (which meant small portions, not nothing — moderation in all things!), but this was a night to splurge. It was the first birthday in a long time for which we hadn’t made cake, but mousse is a perfectly fine alternative.

Both Claire and Katy had briefly considered dressing up for ‘Rocky Horror’, but they didn’t really have anything that matched the theme. Instead, they would just gawk at us.

We spent a while getting ready. All of us were careful about extra layers between our ‘underwear’ and our naughty bits in cases where the ‘naughty bits’ would have shown. Angie, Paige, and Jas would definitely have shown off their nipples without some extra coverage, and that might not have been the end of it.

For myself, I wore a cup under my Frank-N-Furter outfit. It was (probably?) more ‘impressive,’ anyway, and it certainly prevented both any (unlikely) embarrassing displays and any (less unlikely?) groping.

Much shuffling had gone on with the girls’ costumes. Jas was now going as Columbia, in a somewhat more clad version of the character, while Angie was going as a more ‘showy’ Columbia. Paige was going as a slightly stripped-down version of Magenta.

The big surprise was Cammie and Mel. Cammie was going as Janet (the ‘before’ version). She said she might bring a bra-and-skirt outfit for ‘after’ Janet, but not until next year.

Mel, meanwhile, was going as Brad, and wasn’t half bad at it, though the hair was a giveaway. She would need a wig to really pull it off, but she had the right outfit and glasses.

John had said he might go as Rocky. That would be a show! John had the physique to pull it off, if not that well. Andy would make a terrific Rocky — better even than the movie’s version — but I doubted it would ever happen.

We were fully in costume and ready to go by eleven. Everyone double-checked everyone else, then we headed off to The Grove. I dropped off the girls just outside (waving to Darla, Claire, and Lindsay as I did), then headed across the road and found a halfway convenient parking place. The trench coat I was wearing looked ridiculous (and a bit suspicious), but a guy walking around in a corset, panties, stockings, and a garter belt would be a big problem. I saved the gloves until I got to The Grove.

I wasn’t wearing heels, at least! That would take serious practice even to attempt.

By the time I got there, Darla had met Claire, Katy, Lindsay, and Sandra. Everyone seemed to be getting along just fine. I got hugs from all four, but only got kisses from Claire, Lindsay, and Darla. Lindsay’s was, pretty clearly, just in fun. Darla’s ... was not. It wasn’t tonsil-checking, but it was a real kiss.

Darla also said ‘Happy Birthday’ to both of the birthday girls. That triggered everyone else to say ‘Happy Birthday,’ too.

John seemed to be running a bit late, so we headed in. Those who weren’t in costume took regular seats, while the rest of us headed off to the side. While we waited, Jas and Angie both applied some makeup to me. It felt weird to me, and I said so. I got some giggles, but both of them admitted it was more makeup than they usually wore.

Once we were ready, we assembled near the front. The others wearing costumes immediately eyed us, and we got some grins and cheers when we doffed our jackets and coats and showed off our costumes.

Many introductions followed. Apparently, there was a core group of about a dozen people who always showed up in costume. Four of them were ‘townies,’ while the rest ranged from grad students to one other freshman. We were the largest ‘new’ group anyone could remember, and we got a lot of praise for that. Those not in costume were just a few rows back, so we waved and pointed them out to our new friends.

I also got a bit of a surprise. Brad (ironic name, that!), one of the Frank-N-Furters, quietly said, “That’s one heck of a costume! I love it!”

“Thanks!” I said. “Yours is great, too. Better than mine!”

It was, too. He’d put more work into it than I had, and it showed. Mine was good, his was great. His makeup was better than mine, too.

“Yours is great, really,” he said. Then he added, “Wanna get together sometime?”

I was honestly surprised, but I think I didn’t show it. I might be wrong, though.

Instead, I chuckled and said, “Sadly, your mission is a failure. My lifestyle is a bit ... different.”

I nodded to Jas as I said it.

He blinked and said, “Aw, c’mon! Give yourself over to absolute pleasure!”

“I’ll do the pelvic thrusts, but they’ll only drive me insane...”

Making sure ‘insane’ came out sing-song-y, of course.

“ ... with the right partner.”

He grinned.

“Sorry, man! I really thought ... well, you know. Thanks for taking it well!”

“If I was into taking it, we’d be having a different conversation!”

That tripped him up, and he wound up laughing so hard he was coughing for a moment. Another guy (dressed as Rocky) came over and said, “Hey, Brad? You all right?”

“He’s fine, I think,” I said, as Brad gave a thumbs-up. “He was just barking up the wrong tree.”

The other guy chuckled.

“I told you your lifestyle’s too extreme!”

Brad gave another thumbs-up.

“Ken,” ‘Rocky’ said, offering his hand. “Don’t make the joke. Everyone does.”

“Which one?” I said, chuckling. “There are so many possibilities.”

“Ah! Wise guy! Nyuck nyuck nyuck!” Ken said, grinning. “So, I take it you’re straight and...”

Then he blinked and said, “Wait! I know you! That Batt article! Back in January! You, like, outed yourself!”

I grinned and nodded.

“That’s me!”

Brad had mostly recovered, and blushed a bit at that.

“Well,” he said, “That explains why you were cool about it! I was a bit worried about it going all wrong!”

“I can imagine,” I said. “No problem. I’m good. Does it go wrong often?”

“Nah,” he said. “I just say it’s staying in character. Considering Frank and Brad — movie Brad ... you know — it fits.”

“To Brad’s great surprise,” I said.

They both chuckled.

“I’ve thought about joining GSS,” he said, “But I’m pretty clear on things and ... you know. Classes and all.”

“They’re a good bunch,” I said. “A bunch of my friends are pretty active, so I help out where I can.”

“I’ll give it a shot,” he said.

“I’m actually straight,” Ken said, “But I’m a supporter. Blue Jeans Day, all that. And, yes, he used the ‘staying in character’ line on me, too.”

“It worked!” Brad said.

Jas came over as he was saying that and hugged me.

“I’m the girlfriend,” she said, giggling. “I heard that, too! Hilarious!”

Brad blushed again.

“Sorry! I really am!”

Jas giggled.

“Hey, if he said yes, I’d just want to watch!”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said, giving her a kiss.

“I would!”

“You guys will fit in just fine around here! Anyone in your group I need to warn the girls about? I mean, the regulars?” Ken said.

“We can all gracefully handle passes from guys. As for girls...” Jas said. “Over half of us might make a pass back, depending.”