Chapter 4: The Next Week

Monday morning, no little Goth cruise missile this morning but no harassment from the jock sector either so I figured that equaled out. Went to my locker and grabbed my books for...

First Period Trig. I noticed right away that the weekend had been good for Lana. First she was now sitting right next to me and SMILING. Her hair was pulled back from her face and was blacker and silkier than before. Her skin was almost completely cleared up and was paler and almost glowing. Her smile was dazzling, her teeth were much whiter and starting to straighten and smooth out. Most amazing was that she was sitting up and smiling at me and others. She was still all in black but I didn't mind that at all. We didn't have time for much more than a "Hi" before class started but I could feel her happiness across the short distance.

Walking to our next class, I asked her how she felt. She said that she felt better than she ever had and thought she looked better too. She gave me a little twirl in the hallway and asked if I thought she looked good. I told her she looked wonderful. She said that her clothes weren't fitting any more and that she had to adjust a couple of things this morning before school. I told her she was lovely and got that big smile again.

Lunch time. I meet my chauffeur just outside the cafeteria and got a stack of bento boxes and agreed to leave them with the lunch ladies who would give them back to him. I walked into the cafeteria looking for my Lana and spotted her sitting alone in back again. I needed to do something about the alone part in the near future but for today it would give us time to talk.

"Hi, Nate, what's with all the boxes?" she asked.

"These are custom bento boxes I ordered and inside them is our lunch. You need to eat more and better for a while as your body adjusts." I replied. I unstacked and opened all the boxes. I had BBQ chicken breast, rice, and several different kinds of raw or steamed vegetables.

We worked our way through the food as we talked. "Did you ask you mother about me coming over this evening to study?" I asked.

"Yes and she agreed without me even pushing. I think she is just glad that I have a friend even if it is a boyfriend that she is being extra agreeable. But she will still be watching us."

"Watching is fine. I don't plan on pushing you to go any further or faster than you want to. But I do want to talk to you and talk to your mother again. I have something that I want to talk to her about that will help out both of you. Also, how would you like to take a shopping trip on Saturday? That way we could be together again without it being a date."

"Shopping sounds like fun, what are you buying?"

"Well, we are buying you new clothes. I love what you have on but by this weekend you are probably not going to able to wear most of your clothes. And I want to buy you pretty new ones. If we run into Tampa, I think that the big mall there has a Hot Topic and some other Goth oriented stories. I don't want you to change your style but I want you to have pretty things to wear."

The offer of a shopping trip and new clothes got me a PDA (public display of affection) and we spent the rest of lunch talking about convincing her mother to let her go and what she should get. I promised her one more special surprise if she went and refused to tell her what it was, which got me the pouty face.

After school, I went home, cleaned up and threw a few things in a backpack. I needed my laptop and a wifi hotspot since I didn't know what they had for internet. I put my Trig and German books in because we did both have some homework in them. Oh, and told my governess, Judy, where I was going. She let me get by with a lot but she did like to know where I was.

I had my driver drop me at Lana's at 6:30 and told him to pick me up at 9 unless I called before then. We, Lana and I, had figured that would be late enough that her mother and her would be done eating. I knocked on the door and her mother let me in saying that Lana was at the kitchen table studying. I went in and got a quick peck and sit down, pulling my books out. We worked for about an hour and had everything finished up when Lana suggested a break. Her mother had been in and out several times watching us and said that she would get out some milk and homemade cookies. Lana protested saying we weren't little kids and I said never turn down homemade cookies and milk.

While we were eating, I dug out the laptop and setup the wifi hotspot. Lane asked what it was and I said that it was a wireless wifi connection using cell phone towers. I fired up the laptop and we looked at on line Goth clothing stores. The funny thing was that I was looking mainly for things she could wear to school and she keep pulling up corsets or lingerie and giggling that she bet I would like to see her in that. I fake slapped her hand and told her to behave or she would get me in trouble with her mom. Of course right then her mom walked back in and asked what would get me in trouble. Lana spun the computer around and showed her the outfit and asked "Don't you think this would look cute on me? Nate is being mean and won't tell me what he thinks." Her mom agreed that it would look cute but said that it might be a few years before Lana needed any lingerie. That got the "Aw, mom, I'm not a little kid."

Donna, Lana's mom, gave me an odd look and asked to speak to me in the living room. Since I needed to speak to her anyway I agreed and told Lana to look at anything she wanted while Donna and I talked. In the living room, Donna asked "Don't you think Lana and you are going a little fast? One not quite date and she is looking at lingerie at fourteen."

"In my defense, she started that, I was just looking at normal, well goth clothes, and she got side tracked." I replied, "I told you and her that I would not push her to do anything. I won't lie and say that we will never have sex but I promise I will never hurt her."

"Honey, I am sure you mean that, but you are both too young. Even if you don't mean to, I am afraid that you will hurt her. I am really thinking about telling her she can't see you again."

I thought about that and said "I had hoped not to have to do this this way. Donna, listen to my voice. Look into my eyes and relax. You are getting sleepy. You can hear me and nothing else, you will listen to me and do as I say." Corny I know, but sometimes the classics work best. I saw Lana watching me from the doorway and motioned her over. Cautioning her not to say anything and to trust me.

"Donna, you are relaxed, you feel good but tired. Sit down on the couch and relax." I turned to Lana and told her to get me a sharp knife. She looked kind of worried at me but went into the kitchen and brought back a small paring knife. I told her to trust me and not worry, I would never do anything to hurt her or anyone she loved but that I had to take control of her mother or it would go badly for all of us. She still looked worried but told me that she trusted me.

"Donna, stick out your tongue." I nicked end of my finger and touched the "blood" to her tongue. As always it quickly spread out and disappeared. "Donna, you trust me. I will not hurt Lana and you know that. If something worries you, you will talk to us about it, but you WILL let me make the decisions about us. Also, the blood I just gave you will make you healthier. You will feel better and happier. You love Lana and know that I love her too and want the best for her. You will be open and supportive of any ideas we come up with about our future together. Now, you will wake up, you will not remember what we talked about but you will do as I said."

Donna blinked and looked around. "How did I end up on the couch? I must have blacked out for a minute."

"Yeah, you got a funny look on your face and kind of drooped. Lana and I got you over to the couch but you woke right back up. It kind of shook us up though. Which brings up a point that I had wanted to talk to you about. Lana said that you were working two jobs and tired all the time. She also said that you were a great cook. I don't know if you know it but my dad had that huge place built outside of town. All of the help is just temporary until he could find someone permanent. Then he had to go back overseas and left it up to Judy and me to find people to help keep it up. What I am trying to say is that I need a cook and would like to offer you the job."