Chapter 4

Dan realized that his face had blushed.

And he kept waiting for that proverbial piano to land on his head as Janice, Janet, and Todd laughed.

He was wondering whether they were laughing at him, or just laughing together at a shared joke, or just maybe waiting for him to catch up and start laughing with them.

OK, let's pretend I'm really Don. I've got to think like poh ol' lost Don. What would Don ask in this situation?

"Oooookaaayyyyyy..." Dan looked directly at Janet. "I don't get it! I'm lost! I mean, did I ever do something to you, or with you? From what you just said, nothing ever happened between us! So, what's goin' on - Janet?"

Both Janet and Janice suddenly glanced at Todd. Then they immediately swiveled their heads back to look at Don. They then seemed to crack up again - they started giggling all over, again!

Jeeezzzzeee, it only seems to get worse and worse. What is it about teen-aged girls?

Janet spoke up first.

"Don, I never could get up the nerve to make a move on my best friend's little brother. Well, not so little brother - if you get my meaning!"

Janice had what Dan could only think of as a wicked smile on her face. That looks too much like a shit-eatin' grin.

"Yeah, little brother. Janet was just a bit afraid of you."

Dan looked to Todd and noticed what seemed like a smug, knowing smile on his face.

Dan decided to take this matter directly out into the open. He had to know what was going on!

"ALRIGHT! What is it about me that's got you so full of giddy mirth?"

Janice's eyes got wide. "Giddy mirth? Where did you learn that from, Don?"

"Don't try distracting me! Just because I possess a grasp of the English language doesn't mean that you can get away with taunting me!"

"OK, OK, OK!" That was from Janice.

"Don, your ex-girlfriend told Susie about you."

"What do you mean? What did she tell Susie? Wait! Who told Susie? What the Hell!?! What ex-girlfriend are you talking about?"

It seemed as though a change in tactics was suddenly taken up by Janet.

"Uh, well... Todd's seen you in the shower after football practice and what he noticed matches up with what we had learned from Susie"

"No, don't say that! You can't mean that my own sister knows some weird secret about me!"

Todd spoke up for the first time.

"Hey Don, no one who took a shower with you during last Spring's football practices could have missed what you've got. There were lots of guys wishing they had what you have."

Dan recalled about how one of his nurses had been so happy to help him with a shower. Wendy had been very happy with his limited performance! That bit of relief that she had provided him might have had more to do with her curiosity and her gratification - rather than with his release. SHIT! There just ain't no way! If it was true, then why hadn't he already noticed it? Why? Because he'd been partially out of. He wasn't being particularly focused on his new body. He had other things to deal with that seemed more important!

And that was when Susie walked through the door with a broad smile. At any other time, Dan would have been admiring Susie's 15 year old body. Susie's long blond hair framed a beautiful face. She looked just as good as her older sister - only in a different way.

"Hey Don! How's my favorite brother doin'?"

Dan let out what was nearly a scream.

"SUSIE!" What have you been saying about me?!?"

Susie's smile never wavered. It might have gotten even broader.

"Why Don, what do you mean?"

Dan actually felt another, even brighter blush taking over his face.

Janice was laughing. Janet was still giggling. Susie had started laughing. At least Todd had stopped laughing. He was just standing there with a big grin while he shook his head.

Dan suddenly realized the truth. Don has two evil stepsisters! OK, well - two stepsisters playing the part of becoming evil.

Then he had a shifting of gears in how he thought about this. He looked directly at Todd. Time to try and turn the tables by a roundabout play. No, a flank maneuver.

"Todd, aren't offensive linemen supposed to help protect their quarterback?"

Todd's eyebrows rose a bit. "Uh, yeah - Don. What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean is that I need a fellow football player to help me and set up some blocking. I need you to protect me from my two EVIL stepsisters! And you have a duty to your girlfriend, too! You need to protect her from being corrupted by my sisters. It's obvious that they're allowing their minds to crawl through the gutter! And what they're inferring is really, really sick! I mean, what sort of sister wants to kid her brother about what hangs between his legs?" There! I think I just turned the tables on this little game.

Janet's mouth formed a bit of an OH!

Janice and Susie quit laughing and suddenly stared at one another.

Todd guffawed and clapped his hands together!

"OH GAWD! Don, that was good!"

Todd glanced at Janice.

"I think he just scored one or two on you, Jan." He glanced at Janice's sister. "And you too, Susie."

Dan felt himself allow a tight smile grow on Don's face. Ah, Todd seems to have just switched over to my defense.

Janice pressed her lips together as she stared at her stepbrother Don.

Susie muttered something. She seemed to be scowling a bit, perhaps as though she was in serious thought.

Janet closed her mouth and allowed a slight smile to form. She glanced at Janice and Susie and then looked back to Dan. She winked at him and silently mouthed: "Good for you."

Todd's offside hand came up and he gave Dan a quick thumbs-up.

OK, I just got two of the four of them to switch sides.

Dan decided it was time to really try and take charge.

"OK, who is this ex-girlfriend of mine who's been spreading rumors about me? Susie?"

Susie started. Her face blushed red and she drew in a sharp breath.

"Uh, it was Cheryl."

"Is that the same Cheryl I'm supposed to have dated most of last year?"

"Uh, yeah."

"OK, folks. It's now time for you to tell me about Cheryl. And what she has said about me."

Susie seemed to be squirming on her feet.

Janice had acquired Susie's previous scowl.

Ah-ha! Now is the time for an interrogation!

"Susie, we'll start with you. Tell me everything that you know that Cheryl ever told you about me."

About forty minutes later Dan had a good, basic notion of what sort of relationship Don had had with his ex-girlfriend Cheryl. It really didn't sound all that bad. But, it did seem as though Cheryl had really told Susie a great deal about what Cheryl had done with Don. It seemed that Don had mightily pleased Cheryl, according to Susie. Is it really possible that a 14 or 15 year old boy could be so skillful? I wouldn't have believed it - but what do I really know? Maybe Cheryl was just an excitable girl.

As the whole debriefing wound down, Dan decided that there was another question to ask of Susie.

"Susie, was Cheryl your best friend while she was my girlfriend?"

"Oh Don, she wasn't to begin with. But, after you started going with her then Cindy and Donna weren't so friendly with me. They were both mad at you and they didn't want to hang around with me so much. So, since Cheryl was around so much she and I became good friends. And I think that's why she told me so much about what you two had done."

"Wait, what's that about Cindy and Donna?"

Janice glanced at Todd. "Don, Cindy is Todd's younger sister. She and Donna have been classmates with you and Susie since pre-school."

"OK, but what made Cindy and Donna mad with me?"

Dan noticed that Todd grimaced.

Susie spoke up. And spoke up 'n up...

"Don, I was best friends with Cindy and Donna since we first met. And, you were always there with us. Both of them had big crushes on you back in the 7th grade. But, they never fought over you. That's because you ignored them! And each of them tried to get you to date them in the 8th grade. And you continued to ignore them!

That's when you met Cheryl and started dating her. After that they kinda distanced themselves from me. I asked them why and they said they were hurt by you and didn't feel comfortable around me anymore.