Chapter 43

Every increased possession loads us with a new weariness.
-Johnny R.

A red-faced Rose loudly protested, "I AM NOT A DOUBLE-D!"

"You sure, Poppy? I can check them for you," Erin offered.

"You touch her, you die," warned Pollyanna with a grin. She added, "I might allow you to feel Rose if you allow me to feel you."

"Hey!" objected Rose.

Erin let out a snort and replied, "I don't have much to feel."

"Yeah, but I've never felt a girl with pierced nipples before."

"You'd better not have, and if you keep this up, you never will," warned Rose.

Traci commented, "I'm more interested in how my boyfriend knows Rose's measurements."

Eight sets of eyes turned their attention towards me, and I shrugged. We were gathered in the living room the evening before our trip, and Pollyanna, Jean, and Michelle had come over to spend the night. Erin had also swung by because she was going to housesit for us while we were gone. I had changed the house alarm code to match Rose's measurements to make it easy for Erin to remember, though I knew that Rose was not a double-D. All of the girls had grown taller over the past six months, but Rose was still the shortest, and while her breasts were equally the same as Marge or Lori's, they appeared larger on her smaller stature.

My shrug did not seem to be a good enough answer, so I supplied, "I'm just good at guessing measurements. For example, I would say that Marge's dimensions are--"

"Okay! We trust you," interrupted Marge, to everyone's amusement. Despite having a fantastic figure, I knew that she was self-conscious enough to object to having her measurements become public knowledge.

When the laughter died down, Erin asked me, "You sure you don't mind me staying here while you guys are away? You're showing an awful lot of trust in me. I could always steal you blind."

I shrugged and replied, "If I can't trust you with silly possessions, then there's no way I can trust you with something as irreplaceable as Alyssa."

"Alyssa?" Lori asked, blinking in surprise.

"It's a name that I'm leaning towards. I figured I'll baptize you when we christen Xanadu," I told her.

"Now that's something that I wouldn't mind watching," Erin remarked.

"Me too."

"MOTHER!" Michelle cried out in embarrassment. Jean grinned and gave me a wink. I was unsure how much of her comment was made in jest, and that frankly scared me. Jean was an attractive woman, and I had picked up signals in the past that hers might be an open marriage, but I would be baka to get involved with her. After all, my life was complicated enough as it was.

Again, everybody had a good laugh, though this time it was at Michelle's expense. As the laughter died, I told Erin, "Lori told me how rough it's been getting, so I figured you could use a little break."

"That's true," Erin replied, nodding, "My landlord has dropped a few hints that he might not be renewing my lease."

"You're welcome to crash here whenever you need to. As you saw, a couple of our friends keep a change of clothes up in the room that you will be staying in; I see no reason why you can't keep some of your stuff here even after we get back."

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind," Erin replied. She noticed Pollyanna frowning slightly and joked, "You afraid of me staying in the room next to your girlfriend's, Polly?"

Shaking her head, Pollyanna replied, "No, I'm worried about you getting any sleep. You see, Rose gets loud when she comes."

I think that fact that Rose turned crimson was not so much from Pollyanna's words, but the fact that Traci, Marge, and I nodded in agreement. As Erin chuckled, Pollyanna noticed Traci looking at her strangely. After a few moments, Pollyanna asked, "What?"

"You let her call you 'Polly'," observed Traci.

Pollyanna thought for a few seconds and replied, "It's okay. I let my parents, lovers, or potential lovers call me 'Polly'." She then added, in a seductive tone, "Did you want to call me 'Polly'?"

"No!" Traci quickly replied, "And Chad had better not either, at least, not until I give him permission to do so."

If I had been troubled by Jean flirting, the sight of Rose and Polly nodding in understanding scared me shitless. While Traci allowed me to have some time alone with Marge and/or Lori, she especially enjoyed watching me having sex with the other two women. Over the past month, she had hinted that she would like to see me fucking her friends -- best friends or girls from her cheerleading squad. I had brushed her comments aside since they were made during intercourse, and she had not brought them up otherwise. However, it appeared that Traci might have had a conversation with the two girls regarding the idea of 'sharing' me.

Lori, Traci and I were able to arrive to school nine minutes later than usual, since Friday was a half-day due to the following week being spring break. Since Michelle and Pollyanna had stayed over, Rose was going to catch a ride with them instead of us. Passing up the chance to catch another hour's worth of sleep in her lover's arms, Rose still got up early and cooked us breakfast. While Lori was still expected to work out in the weight room during zero-period, Coach Turner had informed Traci and me that class was going to be held in his classroom instead of the swimming pool. Whereas it was a study period for everybody else, Traci and I were able to use that time to take some tests that a few of our more sadistic teachers were inflicting upon the classes on that half-day: Math for her, and World History for me.

It was because of tests like these that we still had to attend class that day, despite having to catch a plane later on that morning. While most instructors were understanding and allowed us to make up the tests when we got back, Michelle and Pollyanna had teachers who would not. Fortunately, they were allowed to take those tests during their teachers' first period, even though that was not the period that they had the class. Lori, Traci, Rose, and I decided to show our solidarity and attended school, as well. It also gave us a chance to say goodbye to our friends -- and for me to be reminded the umpteenth time what I needed to keep an eye out for while shopping in anime stores.

Marge and Jean were waiting for us in the school parking lot when first period ended. Pollyanna, Rose, and Michelle piled into Jean's minivan, while Lori drove Traci and me in my car. It was usually a twenty-minute trip to San Luis Obispo's regional airport, but we made it there in fifteen.

When I had initially come up with the idea for the trip, I had thought that it would be cheaper for us to rent a couple of vehicles and drive to a major hub like Los Angeles or San Jose, but it turned out that it was cheaper to fly out of San Luis. Perhaps it was because the departing flight was routed out of Los Angeles and the returning flight through San Francisco. It was pointless trying to figure out the complicated pricing scheme that airlines used.

Scott Weller was flying in the next day, so after Jean had dropped off her load of passengers and luggage at the curb, she drove her minivan to the short-term parking section. Since the hourly parking area was close to the terminal, Lori pulled into there instead of dropping us off. I fed the parking meter three-hour's-worth of quarters, though I shortly found out that it was unnecessary.

"Erin!" Traci called out in surprise, being the first one to spot her as we entered the terminal.

Erin smiled and accepted the warm hug my girlfriend gave her after she set down her bags. As we gathered around her, Erin explained, "My morning class was canceled, so I was able to talk my friend into giving me a ride down here early."

As we nodded in understanding, I caught from the corner of my eye a Transportation Security Administration agent warily looking at Erin. Since he was operating the metal detector, I guessed that he was fearful that our friend was a passenger and was going to easily set it off with as many visible body piercings as she had.

"You might as well take these," Lori told Erin, as she handed her the keys to my car. "There's no point of me hauling them all the way to Japan."

"You should have just put them in the glove compartment or under the seat, like I did," Jean said.

"Oh, I didn't think of that," Lori replied.

Michelle asked her mom, "What if you had forgotten something?"

"I checked. Besides, have you ever known me to forget something?"

"Gee, I don't know," Michelle answered sarcastically. "How about the time that you locked your keys in the car, along with me, when I was two?"

Rolling her eyes, Jean replied in an equally sarcastic tone, "Okay, when was the last time I forgot anything important? Besides, it was your father's fault. He always leaves that part out when he tells that story. When he got out, I asked him if he had locked his side, and when he said no, I went ahead, got out and locked mine. Then the fool opens his door and locks it, leaving you and my purse in the car. Anyhow, you were only in there a few minutes until your father unlocked the door with the emergency plastic key that he had in his wallet."

"I would have been out a lot sooner if you hadn't been beating up poor old Dad. He says he still has bruises twelve years later."

It appeared that this story had been told before, as a couple of girls watched with amusement while the rest of us were chuckling. However, everybody began to chuckle when Jean raised her hands in the air with her thumbs and index fingers extended and formed a 'W' in the air and mouthed, 'Whatever!' Michelle replied by making an 'L' with her right hand and bringing it to her forehead, mouthing, 'Loser!'

As much fun as we were having, we were pressed for time, so hurried over and got in line. Fortunately, it was not crowded, so we were issued our boarding passes shortly. Usually, the airlines ask you to arrive two hours before international departure, but I had called American Eagle, the carrier that was flying us to Los Angeles before we transferred to American Airlines, and they had informed me that an hour earlier should be fine.

Marge and Jean stepped outside for what I suspected was a cigarette, and I so wanted to join them, but it was a weekday. The presence of security guards, county sheriffs, and TSA agents was also very pervasive. I ended up sitting with the girls, and we passed the time talking with Erin. It was somewhat mundane until Traci brought up one of my habits.

"Chad's very anal about keeping the shoebox gassed up. He never lets it get below half a tank," Traci informed Erin, after discussing what Erin was going to be doing the following week.

"Duly noted. I'll make sure to fill it up after I get back from Mexico," Erin replied with a wink.

Shrugging, I told her, "You're free to use the car however you want."

Shaking her head in disbelief, Erin replied, "You sure are free with your belongings."

"As I said last night, stuff is stuff and can easily be replaced. Moreover, I'll have my most prized possession with me," I replied, glancing at Lori, who blushed slightly.

"Possession?!?" Traci replied, seemingly stressing the singular form.

"Buttercup, you own my heart and soul. How could I ever think of you as my possession?"

Traci gave me a wide grin amongst the chorus of groans that my remark received.

After a moment, Erin suddenly exclaimed, "Shoot! I just realized that my ex is in class right now. I should swing by my place and pick up my stuff. Also, Molly said the last machine should be ready, and the Scion should be large enough to haul it. You won't mind if I take it for a 'test drive', would ya? After all, it's going to be a looong time until Alyssa progresses to the point of being able to handle it."

While Erin was directing her question and observation towards me, I noticed that she was watching Lori's reaction out of the corner of her eye. I, too, kept an eye on her when I replied, "Knock yourself out. Actually, not literally! You might consider having somebody present. You can permanently disable yourself if you're not careful."

The fucking machine that Erin and I were talking about was actually quite safe for 'solo' use, but those who were listening to our conversation had no way of knowing that. It was humorous to see the girls' eyes grow wide in shock and surprise. Lori's reaction also contained a look of excitement and anticipation, the corners of her mouth twitching as she seemed to suppress a grin.

We stood up as Erin began to make her leave. Again, Traci gave her a hug, but she also included a quick kiss on the lips, as well. That led to the rest of us giving her a hug and a chaste kiss -- though, when she and Lori hugged, their kiss seemed to linger longer. Fortunately for us, Erin had foregone her typical 'Goth' makeup, so we did not have to worry about lipstick smudges.

We watched Erin leave through the sliding glass doors and make her way towards Marge and Jean. It was then that Traci's wistful comment floored us.

"I was soooo tempted to 'slip her some tongue.'"

It took a few seconds for Traci to notice our shocked expressions. "What? I was just thinking that her lips were so soft and inviting. What's it like to make out with a girl?"

Traci looked back and forth at Pollyanna and Rose, but it was Michelle who answered, "You tell us. You went out with Brian in seventh grade. He was pretty fem."

Traci recoiled slightly in surprise and quickly sputtered, "I went out with him for THREE days, and the only thing we did was hold hands." Traci raised three fingers to emphasize her point, but she lowered two of them, giving Michelle a rude gesture before bringing down her hand. Turning to me, she added, "Honest, Chad, you're the only guy I've ever kissed and ever will."

I gave the love of my life a gentle smile and told her, "No worries. I'm not jealous or anything, and I've told you before that you are free to do whatever you want as long as you do so willingly and it makes you happy. Now, I'll need to know Brian's last name so we can compare notes."

"Ma--" Pollyanna started to supply before Traci quickly spun her head and gave her an evil glare.

As we began to chuckle, Rose observed, "'Only guy'? Does that mean that you haven't written off the fairer sex?"

Letting out a small snort, Traci told her, "Don't get your hopes up. If I ever decided to see what it's like to play for the other team, it would probably be with Erin."

Again, we started to chuckle, but I could not help to notice a slight look of pain in Michelle's eyes. While I had vowed to myself that I would not tell Traci what I --and just about everybody else-- had suspected, I realized I needed to confront Michelle about her feelings. Unfortunately, the times that I had been alone with Michelle were few and far between. In the period that I had known Michelle, she had gotten better at concealing how she felt about Traci, but occasionally, it would surface. I disliked seeing any of my friends suffer and began to debate if I should confront her during our trip or after.

The boarding call announcement interrupted my thoughts, and I gathered up my backpack and laptop case. We waited for Marge and Jean to join us before we headed over to the security screening line. I cleared my thoughts and forced myself to remain calm as I neared the x-ray machine. While I was almost certain that it would go smoothly, there was a sliver of a chance that the 'shit would hit the fan'.

Whenever the CYA deployed agents in the field with laptop computers, there were two additional features that the computers had that others did not. One was an additional microchip on the motherboard that, when certain keys were held down for five seconds followed by a thirteen-character alphanumeric password, would wipe the hard drive clean and begin writing garbage on it. The advantage to the chip over a program was that it was impossible to bypass, short of removing it.

My concern was not over that feature, since it would be impossible to detect via an x-ray machine. The second feature was the one that worried me: plastic explosive. The amount used was typically small, the blast radius limited to two meters. While ineffective as a direct weapon, it was useful as a distractive measure or as a detonator for a larger explosive, especially since, in addition to the complex arming key, the amount of time before it was triggered could be entered. One of the drawbacks was that it was easily detectable, so we were instructed never to travel commercially with them.