Chapter 54: Preparing for the Super Bowl

I let everyone know about the reappearance of my brother. No one was very worried about him. Mike had proved to be a coward. The only worry was that he might try to catch one of the girls alone. Morgan used some contacts he had through his construction work and a week later gave everyone in our group pepper spray canisters.

School continued. The teachers were increasingly distracted though, and the lessons suffered. Some of the teachers spent most of their time trying to chat up the students who had good CAP scores. Jason and I both caught the attention not only of our own teachers, but several of the other teachers sought us out during the morning break. The attention put some extra strain on Miss Kirke, but we managed to avoid any major problems. The nice thing was the extra attention did end up driving Walter from the courtyard. We heard he continued his activities in the quad near the cafeteria.

As the Super Bowl approached, we started looking for who we would want to invite to use up the remaining six seats. Jessica suggested Maurice, and after Jason and I agreed, sought him out during our afternoon P.E. class. The sophomore was flattered by the idea and gladly joined us.

Jason quickly invited Cassidy. The timid girl's face turned pale, but she nodded and agreed that it would be a nice change of pace. That left us four seats in the box. I remembered that we shared all three of our morning classes with Liz. The quiet girl had a six point six CAP and to the best of my knowledge avoided problems, so after making sure Jessica and Jason liked the idea, I held back from the group after our first period class and walked next to her as we headed to Miss Villefort's English class.

"Hey, do you mind if I ask you a question?" I began

Liz looked over at me. "I thought you had a couple of girls. At least that's the impression I get from Kelsey now that she is always trying to cut you down."

I sighed. "I'm sorry about that. I didn't realize how insecure she was until the day she went to test. Her father tells me she's just as bad at home."

"She's got a six point three. She just needs a year and a retest will get her over the top," Liz said.

"Well, I actually wasn't going to ask about that. The reason I wanted to talk was that I'm part of a group," I began.

"I've seen the group. Nice people, but I'm going to find my own companions," Liz said sharply.

"I wasn't asking about that," I said with a sigh. "One of the members of my group managed to get the tickets for one of the luxury boxes at this year's Super Bowl. The box can hold more people than we have in our group, and I was wondering if you might like to join us."

"Me? Why? I'm not joining in an orgy," Liz snapped.

"None of us are into that. I just thought you are a nice young woman and that you might enjoy spending time with us. You are far better than Walter," I pointed out.

"Yuck, he never makes a promise, but he abuses any woman who gets close to him," Liz said. "The only problem is the Super Bowl is in Florida this year."

"We're chartering a jet," I said. "We'll leave Friday, spend Saturday enjoying the pre-game events, and then watch the game Sunday before flying back that night." I blushed at that point.

"What?" Liz asked.

"Just wondering if my ladies might want to join the mile-high club. Part of the reason my group is doing this is that we realize that after a pickup we'll never return to Earth, so its kind of a way of filling our bucket list. I guess its now a pickup list," I said.

Liz stopped walking for a moment. "Mark, can I ask a question?"

I stopped next to you. "Sure, but we're going to be late to class."

"Like we'll learn much from that desiccated corpse that is Miss Villefort. She can't even make Shakespeare interesting," Liz said with a snort.

"Well many teachers struggle with that," I pointed out.

"I'm sure we could put on a performance that would bring a standing ovation from an audience," Liz challenged me.

I thought for a moment. "Fine, let's do that. I'm sure the rest of my group will go along with that. The only problem is that we don't have many guys. I guess it will be reverse Shakespeare. Instead of men playing women as happened back in his time, we'll have women playing men."

Liz laughed. "And your companions won't complain? That's my question really. I mean I know a bit about Kelsey, but are the others really happy with the situation?"

"I just have to remember an incident over the vacation. Becky went to a pharmacy to get some vitamins and got caught in a pickup," I began.

"Becky?" Liz interrupted.

"She's the companion to Morgan. Jason's Mom is her co-companion. They live together, but please don't tell anyone," I explained.

"Oh ... Oh!" Liz said with a blush. "I guess they get along."

"Becky was in a panic because she was in a pickup, and the man she wanted to go with wasn't there. She still says very little, but she admitted she ran to the marines and then hid behind them until the pickup was almost over. She then snuck out the back of the building as the barrier came down," I said.

"Why?" Liz asked.

"Because she wants to be with Morgan and Bea. I won't deny that the rules we have heard about completely subjugate the companions, but you don't have to follow them. The official rules only say that any companion you bring is your responsibility and that you give them what rights they have. The reason that Ashley is with me is that she trusts me to grant her freedom and protection. With the aliens coming to Earth, that is valuable," I pointed out.

Liz blushed. "Would you believe that I'm a virgin?"