Other Places 2: Road Blocks

by P. S. Power

  "Sure. We can leave from here." He tried not to sound defeated at least. After all, it was part of the arrangement he'd made with Keeley, and it wasn't exactly hard, compared to some things. He just wasn't that great in social situations. Plus it would probably mean talking to her mom, and trying to explain everything.

  It didn't take Kyle long to get in the door, since he was already at Westfield. He was dressed nicely, but more casually than Zack was, in jeans and t-shirt, but with a nice black jacket over it. The shirt was a deep red, and the shoes were designed for looking sharp, all black and shiny, not for walking. Zack had to hope that he was dressed all right for it. Also that no one would ask him too many questions, since... Well, he didn't know what to say if they did.

  The trip was a bit of a walk, but Arizona was already getting dark and cool, so it wasn't miserable or anything like that. Kyle kept up a steady stream of chatter the whole time, and very carefully didn't touch Zack at all. It was good, because while he wasn't gay, the guy was good looking enough to cause him to freak a bit, if they got too close. It was a thing he'd dealt with before, Kyle, so he handled it like a pro.

  "So, double date. Nothing fancy, burgers and a school thing. I have no clue what it is. A basketball game? I mean I know what that is, but not how it's played. They didn't teach us that one at little Alede school." He made it sound like that was a normal thing too.

  "Me either, in my sheltered home schooling. You should claim that too, probably. That way everything you don't know can be written off as your parents not being the best ever. If it comes up."

  "Point. Are we there yet?" He looked at his feet, but wasn't limping or anything, which got Zack to wave lazily in the correct direction.

  "There."

  The place was a simple ranch style house, and nice, being fairly new, but it wasn't a mansion or even an eighth as large as her other place at all. He marched up to the door, ready to take his relationship lumps with Sherri, but after knocking it was Keeley that opened the door for them, no mom in sight.

  Clearly she was guarding her away someplace, to keep her safe, from the potential of marauding Mirror Hims.

  "Hi! Come in." He got a hug, but Kyle didn't, which Zack figured was her marking out which guy was for the slightly round faced girl standing back in the living room. The place had rifts and shortcuts all over it, he realized, now that he had a chance to look. Probably from Keeley popping in and out all the time, forcing temporary Nodes into existence.

  She looked great, naturally, but was dressed down and not wearing much makeup at all. That meant her friend, who was a little better than average looking, but bumped up a few places due to good clothing and artful face painting, looked nearly as cute. Kyle moved to her instantly, as if drawn by a magnet.

  "Why, hello. Are you Becky? I'm Kyle, your date for the evening. If Keeley had told me you were so hot I would have insisted on it being a real date, instead of just trying to make this other guy jealous." He really seemed to mean it too.

  Zack didn't have to say anything, and Keeley didn't do much more than suggest they leave a bit early, since the game was going to start soon, it being a school night.

  "Not that I know why they decided to put the early season games on Thursdays this year. Or, well, I have some guesses, which all involve a string of murders that took place a few months ago, and trying to keep the city's youths under control. If that's the plan, it's a horrible one, of course. It just means that even more people will be off running around without direction tomorrow, but what can we do? Mitch needs to be schooled, and tonight is when the school district decided it should be done." Then she practically marched out to her car, which was... Marvelous.

  The outside looked like it had been beaten by a hobo trying to get at its precious gasoline for drinking, then fixed. Several times. It was a purplish-red color, but not shiny or pretty at all and had primer spots in half a dozen places. That was all fake, he could tell, since there were no warps or rifts carried with it from real damage. It was just paint. When it was turned on it started instantly and made so little noise he almost missed that it had happened, except for the faint vibration of the thing.

  So, in short, it looked like a piece of shit that someone's poor mother would buy them for their birthday, but was basically a race car inside. Even if it had been the first one, it still would have been better than his non-existent vehicle, so was impressive that way too.

  Becky was in the back with Kyle, who kept lightly touching her, flirting just a bit, but not actually taking it further than that, yet. Becky was clearly interested, but they kept their voices low, as Keeley explained the whole thing to them.

  "Mitch does the game announcements for the home events. I'll strategically seat us so that he can't help but notice his hot friend, Becky, sitting with Kyle. Zack, we need to hold hands and make it really clear that this is the most special Valentine's Day ever. I have some props in the back for that. Mitch has taken it into his head to like me, not seeing that Becky is clearly the better choice. The idea is to make her look valuable, and me very taken. Then, after the game, we're all going out to King's Burgers, which is a local place. Not really nice enough for a date, but Gary, another friend of ours, has made a point of getting everyone, including the announcer and the sound crew, to head out there after every game so far this season. That's where Zack and I will leave for a while, so that you two can be 'alone' and really turn the heat up. Tonight the plan is for Mitch to notice it. Pull out the stops, Kyle. Or at least half of them. King's is a family place after all." She sounded a little too efficient for a school girl, but the others seemed to just accept it.

  Zack cleared his throat though.

  "Of course, there's the part where I look about thirty. Aren't I just a tad old to be hanging all over you? What will your friends think. Or, for that matter, the police?"

  She drove with her eyes straight ahead, focusing on going exactly the speed limit, there was a light laugh from the back, but she spoke normally, for everyone to hear.

  "I can fix that. We'll do it before we go in. You'll look a bit old still, but close enough to pass for the night, just being my secret college age sweetie. Probably just in it for the sex. You know how your type is." She shook her head slightly, but smiled at the same time.

  "You're not wrong, except for the part where I want to get you into bed. Too young for me. So..." He locked it down then and managed not to speak about possible wars, Vampires or most of his life. It meant that they had to listen to a recounting of how well the basket ball team was doing that year, but he could put up with that for an evening.

  Before they got out of the car, Keeley pretended to put makeup on him, but was actually running a strange magical device over his skin. He could feel it working, tightening things and smoothing the lines that existed around his eyes. When she held up a little mirror for him, he did look a lot younger. About twenty or so, instead of like a student there. Kyle could pass, but if Zack were the Principal and saw him hanging all over Keeley, he still would have kicked him right the heck out.

  He paid for all of them, since it seemed right, and wasn't that expensive. If he were taking Keeley out on a date, that just made sense. Of course, he was also a cheapskate it seemed, but at least he'd gotten her some flowers, which were in the back of the car, like she'd mentioned. Becky had some too, but they weren't as nice. They took them in, showing off a little.

  "It's a bit obvious, but I doubt that Mitch will pick up on it that clearly. He's a bright boy, but not the kind to think of anyone as trying to trick him like this."

  The crowd in the pull out bleachers was larger than he'd thought it would be, being nearly seventy people. Zack remembered the plan, so took Keeley's hand to help her sit, wondering which of the three people at the table in front of them would be Mitch. It probably wasn't the older one with glasses, since he was about forty, so one of the others. On the good side they both looked normal. One was dressed a bit funny, wearing a brightly colored shirt and camo pants, but he s
eemed to not be a secret Shifter or Demon, so it probably didn't go beyond having a poor sense of fashion.

  Remembering the plan, he held Keeley's hand and moved a little closer to her, like he would have if she'd been his girlfriend and not jailbait. It got noticed. The important part was twofold... and then three. The first one that saw them was one of the Cheerleaders, all of whom were sitting in the front row. This one had red hair and looked adorable in her little skirt outfit. She saw him and then looked away for a bit, glancing back.

  He waved and called out, as if it were a normal thing, not knowing why.

  "Hally!"

  That got her to smile back and wave, but she looked a little troubled. That got Mirror Him to take over, cuddling with a Greater Demon or not.

  "Are you and Hally doing it?" The bluntness was a bit sharper than needed, but he kept going, not giving control of the mouth back. "Because if so, I totally want in on the three-way action there."

  That got Becky to look at him like he was a monster and Kyle to cover his mouth, probably to hide the fact that it wasn't a horrible idea really. Not for an Incubus.

  Being a great guy, MH dropped him back in to do the damage control.

  Keeley just winked at him, which made her seem a lot older than her real years, which was probably the point. "It's not exclusive, but not known here yet either."

  Even though he'd said it loud enough that several people heard them. Meaning it might well be all over school the next day. That would keep the Demon happy, he thought, directing it at MH with more sternness than he usually bothered with.

  The whole thing served to get one of the boys at the table to turn, and elbow the strangely dressed one, who turned to look himself.

  Keeley smiled and leaned into Zack like she meant it, and was having a grand old time.

  "Showtime, Kyle."

  What the boy did next was so artful that Zack wasn't certain he got it all. It wasn't handsy or anything like that, involving a loving gaze that got Becky to look back and actually reach out to touch him. It only took a moment, but Mitch, if he was the bright shirt guy, looked like someone had taken his puppy suddenly.

  It was a good thing, Zack thought.

  The game was a blow out and even though it was about as boring as anything he'd ever seen, involving a lot of running back and forth and tossing a ball, Raintree High won by enough points that, when they failed to score in the fourth section it was pretty clear they were actually stopping themselves, so their opponents wouldn't be too embarrassed. It made him wonder which would have been worse, losing by a hundred points, or knowing that the other team pitied you like that?

  They got to the burger place about fifteen minutes later and were set up, complete with decorations at their booth, and food, which was actually decent for the kind of establishment it was, in time for the team to show up, with, as promised, Mitch and the other guy in tow.

  The players were all a bit happy and rowdy, but didn't trash the place, and they had most of the cheer squad with them, which, Zack noticed, included a Greater Demon. One of the guys on the team was clearly different too, but he didn't know how really. He'd been the game high scorer however, which probably meant something. They all stayed back, with about a third of them looking over far too frequently for it to be casual.

  Kyle and Becky did their thing, and it was working pretty well, he thought, though he had to make himself remember to act a bit more friendly with Keeley. That and laugh at the right times.

  In all, he had no clue if it would work, but on the drive home, his real opinion came out, sounding a bit more grown up than he'd intended it to. Or crude, if anyone wanted to look at it that way.

  "You know Becky... If that Mitch guy can't see how wonderful you are, maybe you should move on? Half those guys were checking you out in there, while they were sitting next to Cheerleaders, so I don't think it would be that hard for you to find someone." It was probably forty kinds of rude to say that, but the girl just sighed, loudly enough for him to hear from the front.

  "I know. You're right, but I just wish... I'm stuck, I guess. When we first met I was a bit heavier and kind of thought no one would want me, so I tried to be his friend. Then Keeley comes along this year and she went from hot nerd to even hotter trendy girl, still with straight A's and I can't compete, can I? I should just look someplace else, but he's all I think about."

  He really wanted to not talk then, but words came out anyway. Worse they were his, not MH's. That at least would have let him protect his delicate sense of internal balance, but no, the truth just popped out. In all its sticky and evil sounding glory.

  "I bet Kyle could get you to forget him if you want. Or heck, you could just go and offer to blow the guy. If he isn't a player or anything like that, I bet that would make him like you a lot more. It would me, and I'm betting that I'm not that different from most men on that score." He wanted to slap a hand over his mouth, but Mirror Him came out then and...

  Did a much better job than he'd been doing.

  "Not that you really should do that. But there are ways to get his attention. You aren't a guy after all, and this friendzone stuff only holds as long as the girl isn't willing to take it to the next level. I say you use what you all did here tonight and give him one more chance. Ask him out and flat out tell him he's getting lucky at the end. If he says no, then you have your answer. It will mean that you need to move on, even if it sucks. Of course, if he says yes, you have to do it, so, it depends on how ready you are. If you don't want to have sex with him, then it probably isn't love, right?"

  No one said anything for a long time, but finally Keeley sighed.

  "True enough. Think on that, but let's finish my plan first. Kyle, you can switch schools and come to Raintree for a half year, right?"

  "If I can commute from home."

  That made Zack want to groan, since he got the idea there, didn't he? The boy wouldn't be living with Rebekah and Elis, would he? It would mean constant early mornings, at least on week days, to get him into place.

  Keeley liked it well enough at least.

  "There we go. That should ramp up the desirability factor a good bit if nothing else. Too bad he had to leave early like that. It cut my evening in half."

  The boy had seemed upset, for some reason, and left shortly after eating his burger.

  Zack kind of thought that was about Keeley really, not Becky. It was just based on who he'd been looking at.

  He was looking forward to getting out of there directly, but a certain teen aged Demon Girl had other plans, and dragged him to her bedroom to talk, leaving Kyle and Becky in the living room. He got ready for a scolding, having run his mouth when he clearly shouldn't have, but she just sat on the edge of her bed, and gestured for him to take the other side.

  "This is just to give them a chance to get to second base in there. You weren't wrong about the situation really. Mitch isn't a bad guy, but he's not understanding reality well right now and letting his hormones lead. I came in with a nice looking presentation, and he failed to notice that Becky is right there, ready to do just about anything he could want. She's lost weight for him, and I had Bente in to help with her makeup earlier. You're right of course, if she'd just blow him, he'd be hers, but that isn't going to happen easily. That's down to her mother being a bit of a drunken slut, not anything else. She's terrified that means she's going to end up the same way. Still, you put the idea out there, so maybe she'll either jump on it or look for someone else?"

  Zack nodded, but didn't exactly understand why she was bothering to go through all the trouble. Not really.

  "Couldn't you just, I don't know, make him like her?"

  The Greater Demon nodded, but carefully looked away.

  "Zack, I could. For that matter you could, and so could half the people we know. Hally or Eve could probably manage it with no more than words. Your solution, while a bit blunt, would allow Becky to do it herself. Mitch isn't really resistant to her, merely hopeful for someone else that he simpl
y isn't going to get. Me. But I was asked to aid her, not fix her life. Besides, I really don't go around seizing young boy's minds and making them into love slaves for other people. I try to keep that sort of thing to myself." She smiled and looked at the clock on her computer table. "I notice that you need to keep up with your energy circulation work? Your flow has nearly stopped again. You barely seem Human at all at the moment. Why don't you do that now, while we wait for the others?"

  "Um, sure?" It wasn't like he'd been hoping for sex from the girl, but she could have at least turned a T.V. on or something. Instead he spent forty minutes breathing first into his stomach, letting his chest expand and slowly reversing the whole thing, visualizing and even feeling, energy moving through him the whole time.

  Keeley nodded finally. "Almost like a real boy and everything. Let's go catch them in the act? I think that Becky is about to get off and the embarrassment of us seeing her in the throws of it will tie her to me. I know, that seems backwards, but it will work." She led the way, moving almost silently the whole time.

  The carpet was beige and thick enough that even he didn't sound like an elephant walking into the living room. It was really clear that Keeley had been right, since Becky had her shirt all the way off and was sitting topless on the sofa, with her pink panties around her ankles, with Kyle's hand working at her crotch. Perfectly it seemed. It was probably a bit pervy, but Zack felt himself start to get a bit turned on watching Kyle suck on her right breast, licking it delicately.

  Her eyes were closed tight, but a few moments later she started shaking, her whole body involved in it, and she cried out gently as she orgasmed. It went on for a bit too, since Kyle clearly knew what he was doing. Which was milking the young woman for every bit of energy she could part with at the moment.

  Then she actually screamed a little, a panicked yelp, when her eyes opened, and she fought to cover herself, failing by and large, since her clothing was too far away. She couldn't even run, with her panties around her ankles like they were. Kyle on the other hand, was fully clothed, and still looked satisfied. Probably from all the energy he'd just absorbed.