Chapter 8

Lori's attitude was essentially much the same as it was the previous day, but at least this time she looked me into the eyes when she said hello. Traci was much more energetic than she usually was so early in the morning, but she grew beet red when Rose commented that even after airing the master bedroom, there was still an unmistakable scent lingering in there. I added that it was the odor of two people heads over heels in love with each other and would be in the wake of anywhere that Traci and I went. All three girls agreed that was the cheesiest comment that I had ever made, which was saying a lot. I was happy to see that Lori had agreed with Traci and Rose, but it did not last long as she resorted back to being somewhat withdrawn.

To her credit, Traci did not even hesitate when I asked Rose and her to go on ahead and that I wanted to talk to Lori alone. This must have piqued Rose's curiosity, but she left with Traci and I joined Lori up in front of the car. Again, I had to reach out and turn Lori to face me.

"Lori, I'm afraid that I can't be your Master if you continue to behave this way."

"Why not? What way?" she asked me.

"Right now, I know that you're conflicted, but when we are around others, you need to at least put on a positive face. Actually, not just a face, but you need to be positive in general. I like not to only consider you as my girlfriend's sister, but as my friend as well. That second part is why I volunteered to help you explore this sexual side of yourself, but I will be verdammt if I let it destroy what already exists between the two of us."

She blinked a couple of times and then took a deep breath. After letting it out, she said, "I'm sorry. I don't know how to behave around you. I get aroused at the thought of you controlling me, but then I get upset at being aroused and that I am not worthy to be around you."

"Well, that's just it. You are worthy to being around me and I even get aroused at the thought of controlling you. You just can't let this consume you. I want you to promise me that you will try to suppress your desire of being submissive when we are out in public. Heck, even when we are alone, I want you to try to be your regular self unless we are 'playing'," I said, adding the quote marks around playing with my fingers.

She gave a slight smile and said, "And how do I know when we are 'playing'," mimicking my quote marks.

"Well, for one, it will be after your sister gives you permission. Also, I will call you Slave and the tone of my voice will be different."

Her smile remained when she rolled her eyes and said, "In that case, never."

"Traci told me about the conversation that you had with her and your mother." I noticed the look of surprise on her face and added in a commanding voice, "Slave, don't you think your Master deserves to know this?"

The smile vanished from her face only to be replaced with a look of fear mixed with excitement. After a moment, she composed herself and said, "Oh wow, I see what you mean."

I smiled at her and told her in my regular voice that the next time I did that, it will be when we can actually continue. I informed her that I thought it would be at least a couple of months before Traci would actually let me dominate her older sister and that at least for now, we should try to resume the same type of friendship that we've had. She told me that she would try and pointed out that we needed to be getting to class. While I walked with her into the school, she asked me about the foreign word I had used during our conversation and I told her that it meant 'damned' in German. Being around me was truly an education for the girls, at least in learning how to curse in different languages. I left her at her locker and told her that I would see her at Calculus.

At least this time when we left the math class, she was walking along side me instead of a step behind. I wondered if she had even noticed what she had done the previous day, but I was not going to point it out to her. The conversation was slightly forced, but not too awkward. We parted ways when we reached the Quad and I joined the girls at the table after stopping by the salad bar.

When I sat down, Pollyanna was telling the girls about how the conversation went with her parents regarding her sexuality. Pollyanna's face was one of disbelief, but everybody else seemed amused.

"So after I get done telling them that I was gay, they actually started to laugh and they both said, 'No Duh!'. It wasn't until I started to cry that they stopped laughing and wanted to know what was wrong. They couldn't understand why I was so upset. When I asked how they knew about me, they said that they had overhead Rose and me when she would come over for sleepovers during last summer. Mom actually said that Rose sure gets loud when she climaxes!" Pollyanna exclaimed.

Rose grew red over that last comment but Michelle saved her further embarrassment when she told Pollyanna that it really was not surprising that her parents were cool about their daughter. Pollyanna replied that her parents were older than everybody else's and thought that they would be the ones to 'freak out' the most.

"Where did you tell us that you lived until you were five, Pollyanna?" asked Rose.

"Well, in a commune. What does that have..."

"And what about last year when you were upset because of what your father had said?" pressed Rose

Pollyanna answered, "He had joked that he might not have been my real dad since mom had slept around so much, but he got a blood test when he saw his remark shook me up so much and he is really my dad."

Rose grew exasperated and finally said, "Pollyanna, your parents are long hair, hemp growing, granola eating, tie-dye and Birkenstock wearing hippies. Heck, your parents as much as admitted to you that they were swingers and you think that their daughter's sexuality would shock them?"

I took out a twenty from my wallet and handed it to Pollyanna. She asked what it was for and everybody broke out laughing when I told her it sounded like she needed to buy herself a clue. After lunch was over, everybody started to go their separate ways when I stopped Pollyanna. She had assumed that I wanted my twenty back and when she started to reach into her pocket to retrieve it, I shook my head and said that it was I who wanted to buy a clue and she could keep the money if she knew the answer. She shrugged and said okay. I then asked her when was Rose's birthday and I was told December 5^th. Thanking her and since the other girls were out of earshot, I suggested a possible present that Pollyanna could give Rose. Her eyes lit up, a grin erupted across her face, and I received a quick hug for my suggestion.

The rest of the week proceeded as usual. Had I waited eight hours, I would not have been out twenty dollars because Jean called me with it as well as the other girl's birthdays. When I tried to pry when her birthday was, I was shot down and told that it was classified. While Jean could not detect the grin that spread across my face over the phone, I told her fair enough and I vowed to myself that I would have that information by the next time I saw her. Securing classified information might not have been my specialty but I was not a rank amateur at it. While Traci and I did enjoy some time alone together, there was not a repeat of Monday night's exploits. We did however have some heavy make out sessions that included light petting, but Traci needed us to go slow so we did.

Wednesday afternoon after water polo practice, Traci was walking along with me to my locker so I could pick up the books that I needed for that night's homework. My subconscious detected something was amiss and warned me of possible danger before I actually spotted the source. Since the first day of class, I had spun the dial on my locker after closing it and had gotten good at landing on the same number. Instead of forty-two, the number that it had been left on, it was on zero. I had already squatted down to open it and I surprised Traci when I suddenly stood up without touching my locker. Fishing out my wallet and retrieving a dollar, I asked Traci if she could do me a big favor and buy me a diet soda. Traci gave me a funny look, but took the dollar and headed off to the soda machine. After she had rounded the corner, I shifted my backpack from off my back and over my chest. It would be ineffective as a flack jacket, but it was better than nothing. As I began to enter my combination, I thought about who might want to place a bomb in my locker. Only somebody who was observing me would know that it was my locker since it was still on record that it was Fran Johnson's. I doubted somebody wanted to target Fran and that whatever was inside was meant for me. It also had to be an amateur's job since a professional like me would have made sure the locker was the same condition that it was found in. In addition, bombs were one of the weakest tools of assassination; too many variables could make it ineffective. Finally, a true assassin eliminates their target with the least body count whereas bombs were instruments of terror. After I entered the combination, I shifted to the side and pressed my body flat against the other lockers; I turned my head away as I lifted the latch. As I slowly began to open it, I did not feel any traces of resistance. After I had opened it a quarter inch, I turned my head back to it and checked to see if I could spot any traces of a detonation device or tripwire attached to the door of the locker. Finding none, I slowly opened it and took a quick glance. I had only looked in there for a second before moving my head back, but I was positive nothing was out of place. I let out the breath that I was not aware I had been holding, and began to do a detailed search of my locker. My initial reaction was correct; everything was exactly where I left it. All the books had the proper nicks on the bindings that I had put on made on them from the first night after I received them. There was still a small chance that they could have been tampered with while I was at water polo practice so I ruffled through all of them quickly. I did not have much time until Traci returned, but I completed what I needed to and grabbed the required books. I stowed them in my backpack and when I spun the dial, I used a little more force than usual. It landed on sixty-three. I had started to become a creature of habit, the easiest form of prey. From now on, I would make sure the dial was on a different number before I left it.