Chapter 62

To sleep, perchance to dream. And what a dream. All eight cheerleaders begging me to judge a softest pussy contest. I was about to agree when...

DING DONG!

The blasted doorbell pulled me back to the reality of my bedroom.

DING DONG! DING DONG! DING DONG!

Somebody was anxious. I climbed out of bed and pulled on a pair of shorts. Mom and Dad had gone to visit Mom's sister, so it was just Traci and me. As I walked to the door, the doorbell went off again.

I opened the door, and Kelly evaporated from the porch and reconstituted herself holding onto me. "Kelly?" I said in surprise.

"I might have known." Traci was standing at the end of the hallway in her nighty. She shook her head and turned back toward her bedroom.

I put my arm around Kelly and held her. "What's wrong?"

"I..." she lifted her head and looked up at me. Her eyes were red. She'd been crying. "I shouldn't have come. It's silly."

"You should have come," I told her. "There's nothing silly, nothing wrong with needing a friend now and then.

"But it's stupid. It was just a dream."

I nodded, though she couldn't see me, having buried her face in my chest again. I held her tightly and maneuvered her backwards into my bedroom. I sat on my bed and pulled the frightened girl onto my lap.

"There's nothing stupid about being upset by a dream. Dreams can be as powerful as reality." I thought for a second about my cheerleaders, then pushed them out of my head. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

She nodded without looking up. "It was happening again."

Damn! Damn! Damn! Fuck! I knew I was in over my head.

"Kenny was..." she sobbed into my chest. Maybe I could cut his brake lines. Kenny had turned sixteen back in November and had an old beat-up van.

I rubbed her back. "It's okay. It was just a dream. It wasn't happening again."

"It was worse."

"Worse?"

"Mom and Dad were sitting there watching. Mom was saying what a bad girl I was, and Dad was talking about sending me away."

Damn! Damn! Fuck! Fuck!

"Kelly look at me." It took a minute, but she lifted her head and looked up at me. "You know your parents love you."

"I guess."

"You know. And you know that if they knew what had happened, it wouldn't be you they were mad at. It wouldn't be you they were sending away."

"I know, but..."

"There is no but."

"I... I guess. I shouldn't have come over. I woke you."

"No, you should have come over. I was getting up anyway." I glanced at the clock beside my bed. Seven thirty. Yeah, I was getting up, in about three hours. "I mean it's Saturday. Can't sleep the day away." Though I could have tried.

That's when I noticed how funny Kelly looked. She was wearing a jacket over a long flannel nightgown with untied tennis shoes. And her hair would have made the Bride of Frankenstein look good in comparison.

"Did you wake Mikee when you had your nightmare?"

"She wasn't there."

"Where was she?"

"Uh, she spent the night at her friend Paula's house." Somehow I had the feeling there was more to that story, but I let it slide.

"Did anyone notice you leave?"

"Peter spent the night at a friend's, too. And Mom and Dad had to work early."

"So you were alone?" Please say you were alone.

"No, Kenny was there, but I think he's still asleep."

My heart was pounding. I wondered if Kelly could hear it with her head pressed against my chest. "I really don't want you there alone with Kenny. If Mikee and Peter are going to be gone and your parents aren't there, you can come spend the night with Traci."

"I can take care of myself."

"I wonder how many dead girls said that before they got killed."

Kelly jerked her head up and looked at me. "Kenny wouldn't kill me."

"I didn't think he would..." damn, I still couldn't bring myself to say rape out loud, "attack you either."

"You worry too much," she said, laying her head back against my chest.

"You don't worry enough," I said as I picked her up and stood. I carried her to my bed and laid her down. I pulled off her shoes, then covered her with my blanket. It was electric, and since I hadn't turned it off yet, it was nice and toasty.

"Back in a minute," I told her and stepped out of the room. I went to Traci's room and opened the door. She was lying in bed, reading. "Good, you're up."

She looked at me, annoyed. "You might have knocked."

"If you'd gone back to bed, I would have woke you." I walked in and plucked the book out of her hand. Nancy Drew and the Spiral Staircase. Well, it was better than nothing.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

I ignored her, pulled back her blankets, and picked her up.

"You can't just do this," she said as I carried her down the hallway.

"I think I just did." I carried her into my room and set her next to Kelly and tucked her under the electric blanket. "Stay!" I ordered. "I'll be back," I added in a really bad Schwartzenegger.

I smiled at their confused looks as I left them there and went out to the kitchen.

In less than a minute I had eggs whipped up, the frying pans pre-heating, and was chopping cheese, ham, and onions. I decided to skip the hash browns and bacon, didn't want a quarter of my gymnastics team getting fat.

A few minutes later I loaded a tray with three plates full of huge, and may I say fluffy, ham and cheese omelets. I added buttered toast and carried it to my room. The two girls were snuggled together talking about American Idol. They both thought Carrie Underwood was going to win. I figured they were nuts. It was between Constantine and Bo.

"Ladies, breakfast in bed."

Both girls grinned. "You know what I was saying about trading brothers?" Traci said. "I take it all back."

"Damn. Peter's never even made me a P, B & J."

"She's coming back," Traci announced, looking out the window.

I looked up from the book I was reading, number ten of the Mission: Earth series, in time to see Kelly hurry by the front window. Traci went to the door and opened it before Kelly could knock. Kelly's face was red, and she looked upset. She hurried in, barely glancing at Traci, and settled on my lap.