Chapter 57: It's Never That Easy

I had hoped I would have time to go see Lizzy but it didn't work out. Dream time doesn't seem to be strictly linear in its progression. Some things that seem to last forever take almost no 'real' time at all. Others that you think went by quickly seemed to chew up hours. Before I had a chance to see her, my alarm was going off. Somewhere in the middle of my run it occurred to me that I had a new phone and I could just text her. Almost as fast as the idea popped in I shot it down. This was not text or email material. I ran it past Jamie and she agreed wholeheartedly.

"You're right; this is sooo not text or email material. In person would be best, I think a phone call would be okay but only because it's been over a day. Ask Allison if she thinks Lizzy would want to talk about it over the phone or not. I'm inclined to think she won't want to talk about it but would appreciate a call just to check in and know that you're sorry for not making it last night."

"Kind of what I was thinking. I don't have the slightest idea what I'm going to say, but I do know I don't want to say it over the phone. But I'm afraid she may feel like ... I don't know."

"Yes you do," she said. "You're afraid she may feel like you got cold feet and changed your mind. You're afraid she's going to see you as the little boy you feel like when you think about her. That's what you're afraid of. I've been wondering about what Bob said last night."

"Which part?" I asked.

"About how you may have been hiding yourself from Lizzy all this time; I mean, I used to do it, so we know it can be done."

"Yeah, how did you do that anyway?"

"It was easy; I just duplicated your glow with one of my own so it blended together. The only time it didn't work..."

"Was when she caught you off guard," I interrupted. "If she did something that you reacted to, like that first kiss, and then again when she slapped me."

"Yeah, like that. I wasn't really what you would call 'thinking' then. I was more reactionary. But I was also afraid and the fear pushed everything else out so I could hide again. After the first couple times she caught me I just sort of put up a bubble until she was gone."

"So that's where you figured out the bubble trick."

"It was the only way to be sure she couldn't find me."

"So you think Allison will tell me to call Lizzy but try to keep the conversation away from any serious levels?"

"Yeah, something like that."

She was right. Allison said to call Lizzy, let her know that I had wanted to see her last night but that time had run out before I got the chance and see if maybe we could schedule a time to meet later, alone, just the two of us. I called as soon as I got to school, sitting in my truck in the student parking lot where I could have a little privacy. I hate voice mail.

"Elizabeth, it's Jimmy. I was hoping we could talk. If you've got some time free later today just text me when to call ... I'm sorry if I upset you the other night. I guess I..."

Jamie rushed forward. "Lizzy it's Jamie; he's not going to be able to put two sentences together for a coherent voice mail. Throw the boy a bone and let him know when he can meet with you. Love you girlfriend, talk to you later." She blew her a kiss and hung up. "You're welcome. Now let's go before we're late for class."

"Thanks," was all I could think to say.

Most of the day was pretty routine and we smoked La Verne's boy's team in the afternoon meet. Well, the team did. My race was a bit more of a struggle than necessary due to the residual effects of yesterday's marathon session with Allison and Jamie. It wasn't painful per se, but it really messed with my stride and made it hard to stay in a steady rhythm. My opponent had a really strong finish and I would have liked a little bit more of a cushion going into the last half mile. As it was I barely managed to hold him off.

I had hoped that Britney would be able to come but her first meet was on Thursday so I'm sure they were working to be ready. I was looking forward to seeing her run. The meet was at our place and Bob had already informed us that we were expected to attend. Other than an inquiry as to how I was holding up Bob didn't ask or say anything about what else was going on. Walter was waiting for me at my truck to inform me that he had located both Amber and Allison with no problem. Lizzy sent me a message saying she was sorry but she had to work after school so we wouldn't be able to get together until later, but that she was looking forward to seeing me. She suggested somewhere around ten o'clock my time would probably be good and asked me to hug Allison for her.

I blew through my homework and hit the pool to try and unwind a little. It wasn't helping so Allison suggested we try something else. No, not that. Nice idea, but not this time.

"I had an idea," she began. "Do you think that if Jamie merged with me, you guys might be able to teach me some of the stuff you've learned?"

"What kind of stuff?" I asked.

"Stuff like how to fight for real. If I'm there the next time they decide to try and grab you I don't want to be in the way or have you worrying about me. I don't need to be able to kill anyone with a soda straw or anything like that, I just want to make sure that I can hold my own long enough for help to arrive, or even just enough to give me a chance to run like hell."

"I don't know," I said. "Jamie?" I said it out loud so Allison would know what was going on. She couldn't hear the reply but at least she wouldn't wonder.

"Beats me, kiss her and I'll move over and we'll find out."

"Oh no! We're not going there again this soon. You can just walk over by yourself. I'll hold her hand if that will make it easier but that's as far as I'm going!"

"Let me guess," Allison said with a grin. "She wanted you to kiss me to make the transfer? Jamie, it's a nice idea, but I don't think I'm up to the risk just yet. I'm still more than a little sore from yesterday, thanks for thinking of me though."

"Jimmy, it never happened when you kissed her before," Jamie pointed out. "Only when you kissed her with me already inside of her. I thought maybe we should try and pin down the variables so we'd know when we have to be careful."

"Actually that's a good point. Allison, Jamie says it never happened when we kissed before, just when we did with her already inside of you. She was thinking maybe we should try to verify the danger points."

Allison still looked a little unsure. "I don't know, Jimmy. That sounds right and there's a good chance it wouldn't be a problem, but if she's wrong ... Jimmy, I can't tell you how sore I was all day, I had to take my panties off after second period."

"Excuse me, but you weren't the only one sore today. I was the one you were trying to break it off of, remember? Not that I'm complaining or anything, and I may not have been as uncomfortable as you but it wasn't a cake walk today for me either. I had a competition to run in after all."

She was smiling as I spoke. "All the more reason to wait and experiment some other time... , and you damn well better not be complaining." She moved up against me and said, "You can just hug me for now."

I hugged her tightly, bending down to nuzzle and kiss her neck and Jamie made the switch without incident.

"So where can we do this without anyone getting hurt?" Jamie asked.

"Oh," Allison said. "I hadn't thought of that. The back is all concrete and the neighbors would freak if we went at it in the front yard. Aren't there some basic things we could do, just movements and exercises and stuff?"

We moved things around in the living room to make room and then started some basic stuff. We very quickly discovered that the two of them kept getting in each others way; the best Jamie could do was to show Allison the movements and then retreat back out of the way to let her experiment with them. Allison tried to let Jamie be in control but even then she would automatically react to things like me throwing a punch at her and even though it was only a split second, it was still enough to throw off Jamie's attempts at defense.

After the second time I almost hit her I stopped and said, "Okay, hold up, we need to try something else. Allison, do you mind if Jamie puts you to sleep for a couple minutes?"

"No, of course not," she said with a grin. "I like sleeping with Jamie."

I just rolled my eyes and watched as Jamie took over complete control. The change was subtle and if I hadn't been watching I probably wouldn't have noticed, but there were visible signs, body language, balance, things like that.

"Ready?" I asked.

Without answering she started through a quick series of movements to check her control.

"Oh yeah, this is more like it. Still not the same, but a lot better."

"What's different?" I asked.

"Physiology," she said. "We're in better shape, more muscle, longer reach, and our reaction speed is a lot faster."

"Most of that I expected," I said. "Reaction speed is kind of a surprise. Try putting her in a bubble, completely cut-off and see if that makes a difference."

She paused for a moment and I could see the concentration on her face. "Wow, that's a little different."

"How so?"

"I'm not sure, just felt strange, like there was resistance."

A big red flag went up in my brain. "Jamie, did you have any problem putting her to sleep?"

"No, not at all, I just touched her and told her to go to sleep."

"I wonder if that's because she knew you were there and was going along with you. Jamie, do you think you could have done it if she fought you?"

She nodded her head vigorously. "Oh yeah, definitely. The bubble might have been a little harder if she knew it was coming and fought. It's like the system knows something is wrong whether she is aware of it or not. Her mind doesn't want to give up control. You remember when we had her try to keep me from leaving yesterday? It would have been like that; I could do it but if she fought I might have had to hurt her."

"But you could do it, even if she fought?"

"I know what you're thinking, and yes, I could do it. Just like Peterson at the bank, once I'm in I can take over one way or the other. Daydreams are easier because then they going along with it, but if I had to, yeah, I can put them under or even slap them into a bubble. If I do the bubble they'll know something happened because there is an unexplainable lapse in the stream, if you know what I mean."

"I think I do," I said. "If you keep them in dreams it's like diverting the stream around a rock or other obstruction, but if you put them in the bubble it cuts off the flow like a dam. Even though it starts up again, the mind will still know there was a break."

"Exactly."

"Good to know. You should let her out again; she can't learn anything locked in there. I want to try something later tonight."

"Let me guess," she said with a smile. "I get to merge with her and fight you in a dream? Do you think it will work?"

"Which part?" I asked. I was pretty sure I knew what she was asking but I wanted to be sure we were thinking the same thing.

"Do you think she will be able to retain the knowledge after we're done?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought you meant. I don't know for sure, but I think she will."

"That would be so awesome!" she said excitedly.

"Yeah it would," I agreed. "Bring her out, we need to get the room put back together and get started on dinner."

We told Allison everything that had happened while she was in solitary and she was very excited at the possibilities. I noticed a few odd looks from my mom over dinner, so I guess I wasn't doing such a great job of hiding my stress over talking to Lizzy. But she didn't say anything so I guess it wasn't all that bad either. I breezed through my homework and then spent some time cuddling on the couch with Allison reading Kushiel's Chosen, the next book in the sequence I had started when I began studying Amber's problem. It wasn't really instructive in that area beyond a certain point but it was still an interesting story. Allison was reading something from a new author she had found. It must have been good because she kept laughing out loud at some of the passages. It takes a lot for a serious reader to have a physical reaction to a book and I added it to my list of books to read.

Finally it was time for bed and I was so nervous my palms were sweating as I undressed. Allison just laughed and kissed my cheek before taking her pillow and heading towards her old room.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"Jimmy, this is a big night and I thought you two might like to be alone, I mean, like totally."

"Allison, you just spent all that time convincing her that she wasn't stealing me but you're letting her chase you out of my bed?"

"Jimmy, she's not..." she stopped and thought about it. "You're right, that's exactly how she'll see it." She tossed her pillow back on the bed, undressed and slid in next to me. Over me actually, she sleeps between me and the wall so I don't have to disturb her when I get up to run in the mornings. As nervous as I was it took no time at all to fall asleep after she cuddled up next to me.

I realized that what Walter had said before was true. While Allison still woke up in a dream, for me it had become something more along the lines of a shift of consciousness, like I was walking from one world to another. In this case I walked into the big bed in the cabana. As soon as I arrived I knew Lizzy was lying restless in her dorm room, struggling to relax and fall asleep.

I left Allison sleeping and stepped outside onto the beach before reaching out my hand and softly calling, "Elizabeth."

I watched as her body let out a huge sigh and her hand was suddenly in mine. It was like a scene out of a movie; we stared at each other apprehensively for moment and then both began speaking at once.

"Elizabeth, I..." I began, just as she said, "Jimmy, I..."

We both broke off embarrassed, she blushed and I swallowed hard before beginning again.

"Elizabeth, I'm sorry if I upset you..."

She reached quickly and placed a finger over my lips to stop me and then with tears in her eyes she pulled my hand up, kissed it and rubbed her cheek on it before saying, "Yes."

I was so worried that I'd made another mistake that my brain took a second to realize what she had said.

"What did you... ?" It still wasn't registering.

"She said YES you moron!" Jamie yelled at me. "Now kiss her before she takes it back!"

"Yes?" I asked, still shocked at the response. "You said yes?"

She smiled and kissed my hand again, "Yes."

I almost ripped her arm off pulling into my arms. Our lips met and time seemed to stand still around us as we kissed. Allison must have been right about Lizzy doing the same thing she did with emotional energy because I could feel the joy bouncing back and forth between us, growing with each rebound. Suddenly it changed and in my head I could feel Jamie almost convulsing.

"Oh God, Oh, oh ... oh God! Ooohh!" She all but screamed out as a violent orgasm seemed to rush over her. I could feel her writhing and twisting inside of me. In my arms I could feel the sensation mirrored in Elizabeth at the same time, and then we just sort of collapsed onto the sand.

We were just lying there, trying to get our bearings again after the sensations passed when a voice behind me said, "What the hell was that?"

I rolled toward the sound and found Allison standing in the doorway of the cabana with an amazed look on her face.

"She said yes," I said with a smile.

"Really?" Allison asked in a sarcastic tone. "No kidding, I never would have guessed. But what..."

She cut off as my phone rang, it was Bob.

"Hey, Bob," I said, flipping the phone open. What's up?"

"I'm guessing she said yes?"

I could feel the color leave my face. "You're kidding?"

"No, I'm not. Listen, Rebecca is with me and I have to come up with some kind of explanation, do you mind if I break the news?"

I glanced at Lizzy and she was glowing like a stop sign, but the smile went all the way up through her eyes. As usual she could hear the conversation and she just nodded her consent.

"No, go ahead. Sorry about the uh..."

He was still laughing as he closed the phone.

"I don't know how far that actually went," Lizzy said, still smiling but in a more serious tone. "But I think the first one we should officially tell is Amber. I'm sure she is feeling very confused right now."

"Of course," I said, standing up and then pulling her up to stand next to me. "Amber."

I was so used to her appearing demurely at my feet I was unprepared for her entrance. Suddenly there was a blur and something hit me, I almost panicked until I realized I that it was only arms wrapping around me and we weren't under attack by giant squid or anything. Just as suddenly she was pulling away and dropping to her knees, eyes dropping down and away.