Chapter 5

Even though I didn’t have many belongings it took a while to unpack. Partially because I was wondering what Keith had thought about what I had said. And I was thinking about the meaning of what I had said. Did I really think my brother was cute? In what way? And why did my heart race when I thought of him being cute?

“Grrrr. Not again,” I said to myself.

I had found myself getting excited over Keith. In the last week or two of living with Cassie and Frank, I did that and even had flashes of images of Keith running through my mind. Literally. In my mind, I’d see him running. He’d be in tight clothing. Mostly. There was a time or two he was dressed as a Jedi or Sith. Those times got me really excited. To shake these new images out of my mind I took out my new lightsaber and went out to the backyard. By this time it was starting to get dark. I put my hair into pigtails. Then I turned the lightsaber on and started to swing it around as if I were a Sith Twi’lek. For the first time since I became a woman, I tried to do some flips. Small ones to see if I could handle it with my newfound breasts. After the third flip, I had to stop. I needed to catch my breath.

I heard clapping coming from behind me. I quickly turned around and saw Keith, “That was amazing. Would you mind doing that again sometime and letting me film it?”

A few more breaths later, “You really liked it that much? I guess I could try. I’m not sure I can do that tonight though. I’m a bit more out of practice than I thought. That and it’ll give me time to refine my routine.”

He nodded, “Would you like to watch tv with me? It usually helps me to relax after a long day.”

Over the next couple of weeks, things settled down. No matter what was going on Keith made sure that when he got home from work to ask if I had gotten my homework done. And if I needed any help with it. Then we’d do something fun.

One night we were sitting on the couch I playfully placed my head on his shoulder and squeezed his arm then said, “Thank you for taking me in. You’ve helped me so much. I can never thank you enough. One thing I can do for you is to do my Star Wars routine. I’ve almost got it ready for you.” He tensed up. “What’s wrong Keith? Is everything okay at work?”

He didn’t move for a few seconds then said, “I got a call today. About Steven Simmons. He’s gone.”

I sat up and looked Keith in the eyes, “In what sense of the word? Did he escape? Did he die?”

Keith shrugged, “He didn’t escape. He’s still physically there where he’s being held. It’s just that it seems like he’s not there mentally. His sister visited him, they got in an argument and I’m told he just collapsed. The doctors say it’s like his mind was magically erased.”

My heart started to race. I got to my feet and started to head towards my room and said, “I think I need to take a soak in the tub for a while.”

The next thing I knew I was waking up in bed. Not my bed but Keith’s. I looked at him and he didn’t have a shirt on.

He opened his eyes, smiled, and said, “Morning Heather. How’d you sleep?”

I tried to back away from him but all I did was fall out of bed.

I started to cry, “Oh no, oh no. I’ve messed it all up.”

I started hyperventilating. Keith rushed over time. When he tried to touch me I backed into the corner.

“What are you talking about? You didn’t ruin anything,” Keith said.

“I, I, I blacked out again and forced myself on you,” I stammered out.

He laughed out, “You didn’t force me to do anything.” I started to say something but he continued instead. “We didn’t have sex. See, I’m still wearing the same pants as last night. Okay, I see now that was a bad example. Listen all you did was say that you were scared to sleep alone last night and wondered if you could share my bed. As soon as we were both in bed you fell fast asleep.”

My breathing was starting to calm down, “I didn’t do anything to you?”

“Sexually no. But you did toss and turn and you did throw your arm and leg partially over me. And talked in your sleep a bit.” He put his hand up, “You just said you thought I was cute. And this next part might be a little embarrassing but I believe in not hiding things. You said you’ve wanted me to kiss you since you were still living with Cassie and Frank. And that’s all that happened.”

I relaxed my body and asked, “Did I say anything else?”

He held out a hand. I took it and he helped me up. Then he said, “Nothing I could understand. It was one of those alien languages that Wade use to speak to his friends. Probably from Star Wars or Star Trek.”

“Star Wars. I never really got into Star Trek,” I told him.

“Wade loved the show. We used to eat dinner watching it together,” he said fondly.

I remembered those times we watched that show together. I never had the nerve to tell him I didn’t actually like it. Not until now. It felt so good to get that off my chest.

Nervously I said, “What if I were to ask you for a kiss? Would you be interested? Or would that be crossing the line?”

His eyes flew wide open, “Wow. Um, I’d ... If ... to be honest, I probably shouldn’t say this but if things were different I would enjoy having the chance to kiss you. Butt...”

“You’re my guardian and that would be crossing the line. I understand. I don’t like it but I understand,” I admitted.

I had a feeling this was going to be a long and awkward day. I was glad when Keith went out to do some window shopping. It gave me an opportunity to work on my routine. I thought I would probably ask him if I could take karate lessons or some kind of lessons. I had to cut my practice short when I heard a knocking at the door.

“Heather, is Keith home?” Officer Stone asked.

“No, he’s out getting stuff at the store? You can come in if you’d like. He shouldn’t be gone long Officer Stone,” I told her.

“I’m off duty, you can call me April. And thank you, I would like to come in,” she seemed nervous.

We were talking for about ten minutes and I was getting very suspicious about why she wanted to see Keith.

Keith finally came home and asked, “What brings you to our home April?”

She laughed nervously then pushed some of her hair behind her ear and said, “We’ve known each other since college and it meant a lot to me that you thought to come to me when it came to find your ... where ... when you asked me for help. I was wondering if maybe you’d like to go out sometime?”

I liked April I really did. She’s been there a lot for us. But when she asked Keith out I wanted her out of the house. I looked at Keith and when I saw that he was looking at me too I put on a smile.