A Wish Unwanted - Part 10 free porn video

A Wish Unwanted - Part 10 by Limbo's Mistress Hand in hand, Lee escorted me over to the passenger side of the Mustang, opened the door, then closed it once I was seated inside. Jogging around the front of the car, he climbed in behind the wheel, and we were soon on our way to the party. I was really thankful that he'd offered to pick me up. Penny might have been to Jacob's house a dozen or more times, but Sam never had. All I knew was that he lived right on the edge of the city. I finally accepted the fact that I was going to need to start looking up people's addresses ahead of time and put them in my phone's mapping app. "So, how was practice?" I asked, turning sideways in the seat to look at him. Not that I expected to understand anything he would say. Football had never been one of my interests. However, I figured it would be a likely Penny thing to ask. He shrugged. "Not too bad. Mostly just running drills. Although, Coach Castanza heard about tonight's party." "Oh no," I said, trying to sound sufficiently worried. "What did he say?" "Well, he didn't exactly state that we weren't allowed to go. I guess cause he knew most of us would anyway. However, he did promise we were going to have an extra intensive practice tomorrow. So if any of the guys overdo it and show up dragging ass, he's not going to be a happy guy." I laughed at that. Coach Castanza was a burly guy with a thick red beard and wavy red hair. He reminded me of the King from those old burger franchise commercials. "Well then," I said, unable to not lace my words with a sultry tone. "I guess I better make sure you get into bed at a decent hour, huh?" He cut his eyes over at me, a smile curled lazily on his face. For a second, I thought he might respond with his own innuendo. "I can survive on minimal sleep, babe. So there's no need to cut our time together this evening short." He turned left onto a less busy street. "How was your practice? Are all the girls in perfect step?" "For the most part. There were one or two little mistakes that I'm sure will be ironed out by Friday." I sighed. "I just hate that they expected me to yell at them for every little mistake they made." "That's to be expected, Pee-Jay. They're used to it because that's the only way Jen knows to motivate people. Fear and shame. Everyone knows you aren't like that." I nodded, once again feeling superior to the currently-absent blonde tyrant. If Penny was a more empathetic and understanding leader, then perhaps it meant her bond with the rest of the squad might actually be stronger than Jen's. You know, that more flies with honey thing. Of course, I wasn't completely sure I could have handled it if it turned out Penny had been the same level of hardcore bitch as Jen and Tabitha. Having been on the receiving end of years' worth of putdowns, insults, and sneers, I honestly don't think I could have even bluffed my way through it. Which would probably make people wonder about Penny's sudden personality change. I mean, if Jen showed up at school one day and smiled at everyone and started handing out compliments, I'd be the first person to stand up on the lunchroom table and scream "Pod person!" Lee reached over to take my hand and give it a little squeeze. Glancing over, I saw his flashing that heart-stopping smile at me. "You know, there is a tiny rumor floating around that Jen's days as the top Raiderette are numbered. I've had more than one person comment around me that it's strange that she's the one in charge when you're the one everyone likes." I forced myself not to stiffen, mainly because I knew he would wonder what was wrong. "She's a little rough, sure," I said, picking my words carefully. "But she has the talent with designing the moves and choreography. I wouldn't be able to whip them into shape the way she can." His mouth started to open, likely to disagree with my statement. However, before he could utter a single syllable, I took the hand I was holding and put it down on top of my leg. On the exposed flesh between the top of the knee sock and the hem of the skirt. His eyes widened a bit as that tingle passed between us, preemptively derailing the debate. The warmth of his hand on my leg pulsed through me, sending a tiny wave of rippling heat travelling up to other parts. Parts that still smoldered from earlier. A few seconds passed before he seemed to be able to speak again. Thankfully, the conversation didn't return to a hypothetical change in the Raiderette hierarchy. "So, my cousin is in this band. They're playing in a little restaurant over in Sanford on Saturday. I wanted to know if you were interested in going to see them with me?" I didn't answer immediately. If my Saturday were as ballet-centric as Cindy's had been, then I didn't see how I would have the energy to go to a concert after spending six exhausting hours bouncing up and down in a tutu. Especially after jumping around cheering for three hours the previous evening. My poor little legs might not be able to handle it. "Yes, I would be very interested," I said, looking over at him without smiling. "Okay," he said with a note of caution. "I sense a 'but' somewhere in there." "It's just ... I have ballet practice on Saturday. I might be too worn out to be any fun at a show." He gave me a slightly perplexed look. "You're starting back up again." "Again?" I asked, beginning to feel as lost as he looked. "You mean, my dancing?" He nodded. "You mentioned last week that you'd decided to take a break from it for a while. Said it was too much on top of school, cheering, and other stuff, so your parents told you to take a break." He grinned at me. "Don't you remember how heartbroken I said I was that I was going to miss seeing you as Clara this Christmas? You laughed and said that if it would be of consolation, you'd be willing to show me the video from your performance last year." I didn't have the slightest clue who Clara was, other than a character in a ballet. Swan Lake, maybe? Of course, that was a lesser mystery compared to the bigger picture. Penny had quit ballet. "Yeah," I said, feeling slightly numb as I turned to look out my window. "Just too much going on to keep it up. For now." Cindy had complained to me, multiple times, about how much of an imposition dance put in her schedule. She lamented that she felt like she was always scrambling to keep up. Ballet, on top of cheering, drama, and everything else. Unfortunately, her folks insisted that she could manage. Penny's parents, it seemed, felt differently. Thank god. Because that was one less thing I had to figure out. Memorizing all the cheer routines had been bad enough. It was a few seconds of silence before I realized that Lee was still waiting on an answer from me. "Yeah," I said, then shook my head. "No, I mean. I'm not going back to it. Not yet." Probably never, either. I looked over at him, making a derpy face. "It's just been such a routine part of my Saturdays that I momentarily forgot." One of his brows arched hopefully. "So, that's a yes on going to the show?" "Definitely a yes," I said smiling. It was nearly seven, and the evening was deep into twilight when we pulled off the main road to coast down a long driveway to the gigantic house at the end. The black ribbon was lined on both sides with cars, I could hear the music even through the Mustang's closed windows. Apparently most of the school had accepted Jacob's invitation. Lee parked us near a row of hedges close to the left side of the house. When I peered out my window at the massive shrubbery, I almost called out, "Ni!" But I didn't think Lee would get the joke. Or, maybe he would. I was never sure if Monty Python easily crossed the dork/non-dork barrier. Giving my hand another squeeze, Lee climbed out of the car. I figured he would probably be upset if I didn't let him get my door (since he was really going all out being a gentleman), so I waited patiently for him to come around to my side. I climbed out of the car, instantly realizing that the choice of heeled footwear had probably not been the wisest one. The grass beneath my feet was softer than I'd expected, causing me to wobble as I fought to remain upright. Before I could either fully regain my balance, or fall on my butt, Lee scooped me effortlessly into his arms, closed the car door with one foot, than carried me the ten feet to the cobblestone path. There, he placed me gently back down on my feet, then gave me a little wry smile. "Sorry," he said, sounding nothing of the sort. "I just couldn't resist." I gave him a stern look. "If you wanted get a feel, Taylor, you could have just asked for one." His mouth dropped open, but before he could say anything, I giggled, stuck my tongue out at him, and began prancing my way up the walk toward the house. He quickly caught up with me and slipped his arm around my waist, the palm close to the curve barely contained beneath my skirt. Incredibly close, even. If he put his hand on my butt, would I slap it away? Or leave it there? I honestly didn't know. It's scary, finding yourself having feelings and thoughts that would have been completely alien a few days before. The longer I lived this life, the more I explored Penny's world, the more the life I had as Sam seemed to recede into the background. It wasn't disappearing, I wasn't losing myself to the girl I saw in every mirror. It was more like my prior life had become more ... ethereal. Less real, perhaps. Sam would have never, ever had to consider if he wanted Lee Taylor's hand on his ass. That would have been a hard no. Lee didn't bother to knock when we got to the front door. Which is just as well, since judging by the volume of the music, no one would have heard us anyway. It was a good thing Jacob's house was isolated on a couple of acres, mostly surrounded by trees. Otherwise, his distant neighbors would have already called the cops. As he placed his hand on the knob, I put mine on top of his, looking up at him. "What?" he asked, a small note of concern in his voice. "Something wrong?" I shook my head, the nodded at the closed door. "Right now, you and I are a rumor. However, once we go in there together, everyone's going to know about us." He nodded. "I know." I swallowed the small lump in my throat. "Everyone includes Jennifer, Lee. Are you okay with that?" To give the guy credit, he actually stopped to consider what I was saying. Rather than agreeing just to agree with me. After about three seconds, he nodded again. "Pee-Jay, Jen is my past. I'm not going to say being with her was a horrible time, because that's not fair to her. But you, I want you to be my future." He leaned down, bringing his face close to mine. "The question is, are you okay with her knowing? You're the one who will still have to be with her almost every day." To be honest, I didn't give a frack what Jen thought about me and her ex dating. As far as I was concerned, she'd had her chance and blown it. Perhaps Penny had wanted to keep it on the down low until she could find a way to break the news to the head Raiderette. Smooth everything over. However, Sam had no such concern. Let the Queen Bee get pissed over it. There wasn't really much she could do to me. Or to Penny. To answer, I leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the mouth, then pulled back to look into his eyes. "I don't care who knows," I told him. Lee nodded with a smirk, then opened the door. The music seemed to triple in volume, becoming a physical force I was sure would blast us backward off the porch as effectively as one of Black Canary's sonic screams. On the other side of the open portal, I could see nearly three dozen people milling around in the expansive space of the living room. Despite the room's size, the furniture and d?cor made it seem crowded. The moment Lee and I stepped inside, people started waving and smiling. They greeted both of us, though I noticed most of the enthusiasm was directed at me. As if the already joyous mood had doubled with just my presence. Halfway into the crowd, I felt someone seemingly materialize beside me and slip their arm around my waist. "What took you so long?' Sarah said, leaning to place her mouth right next to my ear. Her breath was warm and sent a little shiver running through me. "I was about to text you to see if you'd gotten sidetracked with Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome." She giggled, sounding like she'd already been into the booze. I shook my head, turning my neck so that I could talk into her ear. "No sidetracking." She shot me a dubious glance, then nodded her head toward an archway on the other side of the room. "Everyone else is outside," she shouted, grabbing the hand not holding Lee's and dragging me toward the opening. "Around the pool." I grinned as the three of us weaved through the crowd. Sarah in the lead, then me, with Lee bringing up the rear and looking like he was just as confused as I felt. The ornate archway led into a kitchen that would have made Gordon Ramsey jealous. There were probably another two dozen people in here, munching on the expansive bowls of snacks and chips spread out on the huge island in the center of the room. When Sarah glanced back at me, I nodded at the fact she was still dressed in her non-swim clothes. "I figured you'd be in the water already," I said. "After the montage of pictures you sent earlier." She shrugged. "Didn't want to get wet without you." She tossed me a little wink before looking over my head at Lee. "Chad and the rest of the guys are outside as well. Beer ponging it." Lee shook his head, then looked down at me. "I guess we better get out there before things get out of hand. Mitch and Vance tend to let their competitiveness get physical." Still connected like a trio of monkeys, Sarah broke through the crowd (all of whom either said hello or yelled my name) and we emerged outside into what looked like a scene from any number of teen movies. There were at least sixty people congregating on the expansive deck, clumped together in various groups. Another half-dozen or so were actually in the pool, trying to get a water volleyball match going. On the other side of the Olympic-sized structure, there sat a little cottage. Next to it was a banquet table surrounded by what looked to be half of the football team. I didn't need to get any closer to know there would be a trio of red Solo cups at each end. Every so often, a cheer or a groan would blast from the assembled jocks, followed by a round of laughter. I spotted Chad and Mark at one of the ends. Before we could head in that direction, Jacob and two other lacrosse players glided over to us. "Hey, Pee-jay," Jacob said, smiling broadly at me as he stepped in closer. "I was worried you weren't going to show." I shrugged one shoulder. "Sorry I'm a little late." "Nonsense," said the boy on Jacob's left, his sandy hair cut in a shaggy style. "The party didn't really start until you walked in." I tried to seem flattered, but the way the three of them hovered around caused me to tense up. It wasn't like they were boxing us in. Or actually violating my personal space. Mainly because nearly all of said personal space was currently occupied by Sarah and Lee. It was like they were glad to see me. Really, incredibly glad. To put a label on it. "Hey Pee-Jay," the remaining boy said. "Are you going to get into the pool?" I glanced up at Lee, who didn't seem to be all that concerned that I was practically drowning in attention from another group of males. Talk about being secure. Then I looked back at Jacob and his friends. "Yeah," I said. "Maybe in a little bit. Thought I'd mingle for a while first." "Awesome," surfer dude said. "See you later then." Jacob remained in place while the other pair drifted off to talk to a couple of sophomore girls I recognized. The lacrosse captain shoved his hands in his pockets and continued to grin at me. "I just wanted to say thanks again. For coming to my party. Anything you need, you just let me know." "Uh, okay," I said, really not digging the creepy vibe rolling off him. "Thanks." He smiled, nodded, then slowly sauntered off to join his friends. Along the way, he looked back at me at least three times. "Come on," Sarah said once the way was clear. "The rest of the squad is over with the boys." Dragged once again, I let the other girl pull me, and by extension, Lee, along toward the rowdy table next to the pool house. As inside, everyone we passed flashed me a smile and waved. "Hey, Pee-Jay." "All right, Davenport's here." "Looking good, Pee-Jay." "Oh-em-gee, Pee-Jay. Love your skirt." By the time we reached the table, I was feeling like Rod Serling would step out of the shadows at any moment and provide a little exposition to whatever the frack was going on here. I mean, it had been pretty obvious over the past two days that Penny was a pretty popular girl. Well-liked, with what seemed to be a lot of friends. But this ... was really bordering on ridiculous. As Sarah had promised, nearly the entire squad was gathered around the table, watching the guys playing beer pong. The reason I'd not spotted when we first came outside was due to them being on the other side of the table. The girls glanced up from the game, waving and smiling as Sarah continued to pull me toward them. When we stopped, gathered in a clump of cheerleaders, I instantly realized who was, not surprisingly, absent. "Where's Tabitha?" I asked Jordan. The other girl looked around for a moment, then back to me with a shrug. "She was here a few seconds ago," she said. "She was practically hanging off of Mark." I glanced over at Mark and Chad. Both guys noticed my attention and turned to look my way. Chad brought two fingers up and tossed me a jaunty salute. "Hey, Peej," he said, moving closer to slip his arm around Sarah's waist. The motion put him between me and my best friend. Who, weirdly enough, still held onto my hand. Careful not to seem to direct, I managed to extradite my fingers from hers and turned to press myself against Lee. "Hey, Chad," I said, flashing him a quick smile. Then I nodded at the busy table behind him. "You're not playing?" Sam Davenport might not have been a regular at any of the popular parties, but that didn't mean the stories and tales of what transpired at those shindigs hadn't made their way down the clique ladder to him and his friends. Besides the constant posing, snide comments, and other assorted trivialities, there had been more than one recounting of Chad Barrow dominating every beer pong match he played. "Nah. Not my turn yet. Right now, Vance and Turtle are current kicking everyone's butt. Vance Warner and Joel Tuttle, aka "Turtle". Both of them were guilty of putting Sam into a locker multiple times back in freshman year. Of all the jerks on the football team, those two were part of what me and my friends had labeled, The Fubar Five. "Once my baby gets started tossing that ball, it's all over." Sarah said with girlish glee. Then she leaned up on her toes and kissed Chad for what I swore was a solid three minutes before dropping back down and look over at me. "So, Miss Acting Captain, when are we going to ditch these clothes and remind everyone why we're called the Elite?" I shrugged, still snuggled next to Lee. "Whenever you want, I guess." "Now?" The was a note of hopefulness in her voice and a little pleading look in her eyes. I glanced over her head, seeing the rest of the squad watching me with that same expression. As if waiting on me to give the order. Sighing, I turned my face up to Lee's. "I guess I'm going swimming." He grinned. "Sounds like a great idea to me." He took a half a step back, turning toward the cottage behind him. Sarah shook her head as she disengaged from Chad and swooped in to link her arm through mine. As she'd done in the hall on the way to lunch. "Sorry, Mr. Taylor. The changing room is for Raiderettes only." Almost as if on cue, the rest of the squad moved in and posed with their hands on their hips. Talk about female solidarity. Lee glanced from Sarah to the squad, then grinned as he leaned down to kiss me softly on the lips. His breath was warm and inviting. "I'll let your girls have you for fifteen minutes, babe. Then I'm coming in, and you're all mine." I started to say that he could have me right then, if he wanted. However, Sarah dragged me away from the table, and my boyfriend, before I could do more than smile. With Kara in the lead, the entire squad strolled up to the front door of the pool house and went inside. The pool house was like a little home. It had a small kitchen, a laundry room, two bathrooms, and an expansive living room furnished with two sofas around a big coffee table, a recliner, a huge flat-panel television, and a fireplace. "Alright, Peej," Candice said as she closed the door behind her and locked it. "Let's see the goods." "The what?" I spun around to stare at her. The blonde simply shook her head in response and laughed. "Sarah told us you were going to wear totally cute bikini you bought over the summer. I'm dying to see it." I glanced over at the rest of the squad. Many of them were in the process of removing their outer clothing. Tops, blouses, and sweaters being folded and stacked neatly on the large table. Skirts and jeans soon followed. By the time I'd removed my own sweater and skirt, the rest of the room was a virtual pin-up calendar of Benson High's most attractive girls parading around in skimpy swimming attire in a myriad of colors. They adjusted tops and pulled edges of tight bottoms more securely around curvaceous rear ends. If, by some miracle of magic, I was ever Sam Davenport again, I'd have enough mental material stored away for a decade's worth of nighttime self- pleasure. Especially when, growing impatient, Jordan smacked Melissa on her barely-covered butt and made the smaller girl squeal in a voice that seemed to be one-half surprise and one-half arousal. "You didn't wear the red and white one?" Sarah said, eyeing the dark purple covering my private bits. Mostly covering. I shook my head. "Seemed a little too risqu? for a weeknight party. Besides, I don't want Lee to get more of a show than I'm willing to give him." A titter of amusement rang up all around me. Sarah, however, stepped closer and lowered her voice. "If you want, we can give everyone a show." Her words purred with a constrained hint of carnality. I blinked, taking a small step backward as I scanned her face for any signs of teasing. Unfortunately, I didn't actually know Sarah well enough to know if her jokes often crossed such inappropriate lines. Or even if they were inappropriate at all. Any in-depth knowledge of how teenage girls interacted with each other in private was limited to romantic comedies and softcore porn. Maybe some of that had a little basis in fact? "Are we ready?" Kara asked, pulling Sarah's attention away from me. The nine of us emerged from the pool house in a single file line, with me at the head. The activity taking place around us screeched to a halt as every head swiveled in our direction. Eyes widened with appreciation and attention, causing a delicious thrill to run through me. As Sam, I'd wanted to be invisible. As Penny, I found the spotlight to be a welcome change. I led my girls to the edge of the pool, stopping right next to the undulating waters. With my foot, I stretched out and dragged it just below the liquid's surface, discovering that the temperature was quite pleasant. As Sarah had insisted, the system responsible for heating the pool was working perfectly. Turning around, I looked down the row of girls standing next to the water, awaiting my signal. Grinning, I took one step back, planted my hands on my hips with my legs slightly spread. "Raiderettes!" I yelled in my stadium voice. "Into the pool!" A chorus of cheers went up among the rest of the crowd as eight lovely, bikini-clad ladies dove off the side of the pool into the water. Seconds later, several other girls had shucked their clothes and joined in the fun. I laughed and started toward the pool. However, a hand grabbed my arm before I could dive in behind the rest of the team. When I turned around, I found myself facing Charlie, Tracy, and ...Tabitha. "What are you doing?" Charlie hissed, closing to within a foot of me. His eyes darted from side to side for a second, already noticing that his actions were drawing interest. Unwanted interest, actually, from several members of the football team. Including Lee. "Let go," I said in as quite a voice as I could. "Please let go before you get hurt." Tracy stepped in and put her hand over Charlie's making him release me. She kept a firm grip on him, apparently afraid he was going to try something like that again. Tabitha rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. At the moment, we were the only two cheerleaders not splashing around in the pool. She was also the only one not in a bathing suit. "We need to talk," Charlie said, sounding either pissed or scared. I was going to go with scared, since some of the guys had started walking our way. I tore my gaze from him to the approaching jocks, and held up my hand. "It's cool, guys. Just a little misunderstanding." I turned to Tabitha, narrowing my eyes. "Right, Tabs?" She sighed, rolled her eyes again, then looked over at Chad, Lee, and Mark as she nodded her head. "Yeah," she said in as bored a tone as humanly possible. "Just some squad stuff Upchuck and Dweebette here are helping us with. Technical crap." I seethed at her derogatory terms for the other two. However, the last thing I wanted to do was escalate the situation. Unlike everyone else, it seemed, Tabitha wasn't swayed by my magical upgrade to social icon. Which meant she didn't feel the need to be cautious about deriding my friends in front of others. Basically allowing her to remain being a bitch. I nodded, making sure that I caught Lee's gaze. "Everything is fine," I said. "Promise." He stopped coming our way, glanced from me to Charlie, then back before giving me a small smile and a single nod of his head. The meaning was more than clear. If I showed the slightest bit of distress about Charlie's presence, my overprotective admirer was going to take issue with it. Turning back to the other three, I ignored Tabitha and looked at Charlie. "Okay, what is going on and why is it so important that you felt the need to bring it up right now?" His mouth opened, then closed with an annoyed expression that was one hundred percent Cindy-like. I was surprised he didn't do that hip-cocked stance that normally would have followed. "I'm sorry," he said, sounding derisive, but at a low enough volume that he wouldn't draw anymore unwanted attention. "Am I interfering with your evening out with the girls? You know, those arrogant bimbos who you think have more boobs than brains?" Tabitha looked like she'd been slapped. Tracy, however, began to giggle so uncontrollably that she covered her mouth with both hands. As for me, my face turned into a supernova as my own prior assessment of the Raiderettes, which I'd declared to Cindy more than a few times, was thrown back in my face. "That's not what I meant," I said, trying to remain calm. Of course, she had a perfectly valid point. If you'd polled me a week ago and asked if I'd been born a girl, would I want to be one of Benson High's Elite, I would have probably told you to go sit on a golf umbrella and open it. I considered the very idea that anyone would deliberately join that most-hated (by me, at least) of cliques completely repugnant. Now, as they say, the shoe was on the other foot. Or, in my case, the bikini. Tabitha rolled her eyes. "As much as I would love to stand here and watch the two of you dance around your petty problems, maybe we should discuss the bigger picture." "Fine," I said, glaring at her. "What is the bigger picture?" Tracy, who'd stopped giggling at this point, glanced around. "Maybe not here," she said, nodding her head at the rest of the attendees. Even though it seemed as if the party was continuing on as normal around us, it was obvious that whatever was transpiring between the four of us was being noticed. No one actually came our way, but more than a few sets of eyes glanced over before quickly moving elsewhere. Lee, in particular, kept looking over our way. His face set in an apprehensive expression. "Well, I can't very well go for a road trip," I said, gesturing at my barely-covered body. "Inside," Tabitha suggested. "Surely Jacob's house has one room where we won't be disturbed or overheard." Charlie and Tracy nodded in agreement. Sighing, I glanced from them to the pool. The rest of the squad, like those on the pool deck, were trying to figure out what was going on between the pair of losers and two of their own. They were just being a little less secretive about it than the rest of the partiers. "Fine," I said again, wishing they'd just waited until tomorrow at school to bother me with this. Everything had been going just perfectly until Charlie appeared and threw my plans off the rails. The four of us, Tabitha and I in the lead, crossed the crowded concrete patio to the side door of the massive house. Unlike the door Lee and I had used to venture outside, this one led to a less-crowded office. The half- dozen students in here glanced up as we drifted inside. The moment they looked past Tabitha to me, their eyes widened and their slightly annoyed expressions turned into pleased smiles. "Hey, Pee-Jay," one of the boys said, throwing his hand up in greeting. "Cute suit, Pee-Jay," a mousy brunette with a pair of round-framed glasses on the bridge of her nose added. "Definitely," said her friend, a petite redhead, her hair piled on top of her head and held in place with a green bow. Tabitha turned and gave me a disgusted look, then strode off down a hallway to a set of carpeted steps that went up to the second floor. Charlie and Tracy watched her depart, glanced back at me with confused looks on their faces, then followed. I simply waved to those who'd greeted me before hurrying after the trio. At the top of the steps, Tabitha marched to the first closed door she encountered. Her fist rapped on the front of the wooden slab twice before she grabbed the handle, turned it, and pushed it open. The rest of us walked up behind the blonde, staring over her shoulder at what looked to be a spare bedroom. Given the amount of people present, I was honestly surprised we hadn't interrupted someone's naughty adventure. Tabitha glanced back at us, then sighed as she ushered us in through the open door and closed it behind her. Tracy and Charlie walked over to go stand in front of a four-drawer dresser with a large, ornate mirror attached to it. Tabitha opted to stand in front of the door, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. I padded over to the large bed and sat down on the edge of it, pulling my legs under me. "Is this sufficiently private?" I asked, looking at Tracy and Charlie. When they both nodded, I waved my hand around in the air. "So, spill. What's got you all wigging out like LaForge during a warp core breach?" Tabitha sighed, shaking her head. "You can take the girl out of the dork, but not the dork out of the girl. How in the hell did you manage to bump me down to the third most popular girl at school?" "Fourth," I corrected with a large smile. "I'm fairly certain that her being my best friend makes Sarah rank higher than you." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Charlie's face fall a little. Just for a fleeting second. Until that moment, I would have proclaimed that Cindy was my best friend. At least, before the wishing stone's machinations. Unfortunately, the words were already out and there was no way to call them back. "I hate you," Tabitha said. I shrugged at her then looked at the other two. "Well?" Charlie nudged Tracy with his hip. "Go ahead. Might as well start at the beginning." The heavyset brunette nodded. "Okay, so we were talking about ...uh ... your text message from this morning. The one you sent Cindy. Er, Charlie." "Okay. And?" "Well, when we got to the party, Tabitha came right over to us. Really angry. Demanded to know why I'd blamed you for passing the Stone of Invidia to Cindy." The bitchy blonde snorted. "Like I'd have done that tramp any favors." Her eyes, however, remained locked onto mine. "She said she didn't," I explained. "I asked her why she'd given it to Cindy, she said she hadn't. She claimed you must have been the one. That you stole it from her house and gave it to Cindy with that note." "But I didn't," Tracy declared. "Hell, if I was going to steal it, I would have given it to someone I trusted. Someone like ..." Her face grew a bright pink shade. "Well, someone other than another freaking Raiderette!" I shook my head. "Okay, this doesn't make any sense." I looked at Tabitha. "If you didn't put it in Cindy's ballet bag ..." Then I looked at Tracy. "And you didn't either ... then how the hell did she get the damned thing?" "That's the problem," Charlie said, joining in on the discussion. "Neither one of them takes ballet. There's no way they could have gotten into my locker during practice and left it there." "Well, someone did," I insisted, refusing to go to that spot where my mind was attempting to travel. "If neither Tracy, nor Tabitha, had anything to do with it, then it must have been someone else." "Someone else broke into my house and stole the stone from its hiding spot? Someone who knew where the stone was, what the thing could do, and was willing to just hand it over to someone else?" Tabitha put enough derision in her tone that I had to agree with her suggestion of how absurd that whole scenario was. "Maybe that person used it, then passed it on?" Charlie asked cautiously. Tabitha and Tracy both shook their heads at the same time. "We would have known," Tracy said. "If someone had used a wish to alter reality, Tabs and I would have noticed." "Just like we did with you two," her former best friend added. "No one made any wishes between ours and yours." "When did you notice it was gone?" I asked Tabitha. She shrugged. "About a month ago. I figured Tracy had managed to get in my house somehow and swiped it. Since we already knew neither of us could use it again, I didn't really care." "That's kind of irresponsible of you," I chided. "Remind me not to put you in charge of keeping up with any nuclear weapons." She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. That still doesn't change the fact that someone we don't know took the stone and gave it to Upchuck." She giggled. "Sorry, I meant to say 'Cindy'." "Eff you, Tabby," Charlie spat. "You wish, nerd." I held my hands up. "Enough. Yes, there is some animosity going on here. With good reason. However, we are overlooking a possibility that, frankly, I have been resisting the urge to voice." "At least that's one urge you've been resisting," Tabitha muttered under her breath. I gave her the finger, then looked at all three of them. "The Stone of Invidia is a magical wishing stone. Apparently dedicated to the Goddess of Envy and Jealousy." "We already know that," Tracy said, sounding annoyed. "I was the one who told you." I sighed. "So, riddle me this, Batgirl. What makes you think a powerful totem such as that couldn't move around on its own? I mean, if I was a deity who unleashed a fraction of my power on the mortal world, I'd sure as hell make sure it did as much DPS as possible." "DPS?" Tabitha asked. "Damage Per Second," Charlie answered, looking rather pleased with himself for remembering that. "Of course," Tabitha said dryly. "Exactly. So, if I was Invidia, I'd make sure that the stone could never be horded. I'd want it to get as much use as possible." I glanced at Tracy. "You told me the stone just showed up in your locker, right? No idea who put it there?" "Correct." "Then if it had been someone, they would have had to know the combination to your locker. But if it got there by less Muggle means ..." The two by the dresser looked at each other with obvious distress. Tabitha, however, proved to be made of slightly less excitable stuff. "The stone's bouncing around on its own," she said, fixing her eyes on me. "That's what you think, isn't it?" As much as I didn't want to, I nodded in response. "Where is it now?" Tracy asked. I looked over at Charlie. "You were holding it when you made the wish," I said. "Did you wake up with it on Monday morning?" He shook his head. "I don't think so. I mean, I was a little bit thrown off. You know, with the whole turning into a guy and all. I didn't think to look for it." A bit of color crept onto his face. "Technically speaking, Captain, I was holding it when you made the wish." I waved my hand at my rather exposed bosom barely contained in the purple bikini top. "Yeah," I said. "Me and my big mouth." "One thing that I hate to admit bothers me," Tabitha interrupted. "How did you two manage to end up like you are? I mean, Sam has insisted that he never wanted to be a girl. You know, despite how much she seems to be enjoying her new lot in life." She looked over at Charlie. "Did you do it to him on purpose?" Tracy answered before Charlie could. "No. Because true friends don't screw each other over out of spite." Tabitha rolled her eyes. "This again. Just let it go, Tracy. I said I was sorry." "That doesn't make it easier for me, now does it?" I held up my hands again. The arguing was about to give me a headache. "Can you two argue about this at another time?" I turned to Tabitha. "No, Cindy didn't do this to me on purpose. We were arguing and I made an off- hand comment to which she said the words 'I wish' while holding the stone. The next thing I knew, I was waking up Monday morning as Pee-Jay." Tracy and Tabitha looked at each other, then back to me. It would have been funny if not for the confused expressions on both of their faces. "What do you mean?" Tabitha asked. "When you say the wish was made then you woke up as Pee-Jay? When did you make the wishes?" "Saturday," both Charlie and I said in unison. The other two girls looked at each other again, their puzzlement seeming to deepen. "What?" Charlie asked, turning more to Tracy than Tabitha. "What are you two thinking?" "You never told me you made the wish on Saturday," Tracy said, focusing solely on me. "I just assumed you'd made it Monday morning." "Why?" "Because I didn't realize anything had been changed until Monday morning," Tabitha answered. "Saturday and Sunday were perfectly normal to me." "Me, too," Tracy added. "I guess the effect wasn't the same for you two?" Charlie inquired. Tracy shook her head. "When Tabs made her ... wish," she said, glaring daggers at her former friend. "The magic instantly transported me home. In my new form." The daggers turned into bat'leths. "It was still Friday afternoon. Same day. Same time. Just a whole new reality where Tabitha had everything we'd both ever wanted, and I had runaway acne and a plus-sized wardrobe." I glanced over at Tabitha. For a moment, I saw a trace of compassion flow across her face. Quickly, though, it vanished and the perpetually pissed-off bitch I recognized returned. "For all the good it did." She gestured at me. "Now Captain Dorkus gets my spot and has everyone fawning all over her." I ignored her jab. "But you still had the stone, right? You were holding it when you made your wish?" She nodded. "Then I stuck it where I thought it'd be safe. I only took it out when Tons of Fun over there showed up at my house, practically kicking in the door, and demanded a do-over." "Which didn't work," Charlie added. "Nope." "Were you planning on keeping it forever?" I asked. "I mean, even though you couldn't use it anymore?" "Of course," she said in a tone that suggested I might be an idiot. "I'd seen how much that thing could make things worse. I sure as hell didn't want it out there for someone else to use and ruin my fun." "Which it did anyway," Tracy said in a sing-song tone. "But you still had the stone," Charlie said again. This time emphasizing every word. "You still had it because no time passed for you." He pointed at me. "For Sam and I, we missed a whole day. And the stone wasn't anywhere to be found when I woke up." "Shit," Tabitha hissed. "If neither of you two screw ups have it, then it's back out there. Waiting to be used." "If it hasn't already," Charlie mumbled. "We would know, right?" I asked Tracy. "If someone made a wish." She shrugged. "We obviously didn't know about your wish for a whole day. Someone else could have already used it and we wouldn't know until tomorrow. If then." None of us said anything in response to that. However, I was pretty sure we were all feeling the same pit of fear in our guts. If history was any sort of indication, whoever used the stone next would likely do it to increase their own popularity or standing. Their desires made real through the power of Invidia's magic. Which might not be good for the four of us. Author's Note: Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out to you. Hopefully you're still entertained by my little tale. As always, comments and reviews are appreciated. Either here or at [email protected].