DANNY
by Roberta J Cabot
This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts, and how he deals with getting turned on by his would-be girlfriend. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school pop band as well as a radio DJ. Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang.
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DANNY
Part 1
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DANNY
Part 2
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DANNY
Part 3 by Roberta J Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And about how he and his buds handle his problems with the school bully when he dresses up as a girl in the annual Halloween costume contest, how he and his family deal with his having breasts, and how he deals with getting turned on by his would-be girlfriend. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school pop band. Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. |
Author’s Note: I started writing this December 2005, soon after I discovered the now-defunct Fictionmania site (which I just found out recently was resurrected), and I decided to try my hand at writing Transgender Fiction. And it took me this long to build up the courage to actually upload it for others to enjoy (or not — your option heheh). I have resurrected what little I have of my old story, and though I am by no means a real writer, I hope to finish the rest of the story asap. I first uploaded it in Crystal’s StorySite, and, though still incomplete, I was convinced to try uploading it in Topshelf as well. Feedback would be most appreciated, so I do hope people write me back through my site-registered email address.
I am by no means a real writer so I hope you will forgive any grammatical and literary flubs that you see. Further, given that this little piece had close to five years of gestation, many of the cultural referents will be off - for example, many of the songs used in the story are not current but in the story they’re treated as if they were, yet at the same time other songs are really current songs. I hope you will forgive the temporal mismatch here, and try and enjoy the story despite this.
Apologies also if the quoted lyrics are wrong — I got most of them off the net, or from my own memory — I didn’t get them off official sources.
So, without further ado, here we go with the story. Hope you like… (Don’t forget! Feedback please!!)
In Part Three, we sit in on one of Danny’s gigs with his band, “Unlimited Bandwidth,” and finally learn about what caused Danny’s “condition.” So, that’s what Batch Fourteen is!
Nine: Singing
***** (Danny) *****
As I started playing, the guy at the booth slowly brought up the sound. I kept on repeating the opening chords until the audience quieted down. I leaned into the mike and started to sing, trying to make my voice sound like Alison Krauss.
"Baby, now that I've found you I won't let you go. I built my world around you - I need you so, baby, even though you don’t don't need me now…" |
It sounded a little off, so I pitched my voice into a higher, baby-doll voice, and tried to put myself in the right frame of mind.
"Baby, now that I've found you I won't let you go. I built my world around you - I need you so, baby, even though you don’t don't need me. You don't need me. Oh, no…"" |
That sounded better, I thought.
I played the chords in a slow 3/4 beat, Dale keeping pace with me perfectly. "Mm-mmm," I hummed sexily, and then sang the next stanza.
"Baby, baby, when first we met. I knew in this heart of mine that you were someone I couldn't forget. I said, ‘right,’ and ‘to bide my time.’" |
I looked towards our regular table, and caught Nikki’s eye. She gave me that dreamy smile of hers, and I just about melted.
"I spent my life looking for that somebody to make me feel like new. Now you tell me that you want to leave me, but darling, I just can't let you..." |
I stretched out the last word, and I started plucking the bridge on my junior Strat. I looked at my fingers, concentrating so I wouldn’t make a mistake. I sensed Nikki’s and Morgan’s eyes on me, and I felt goose pimples up and down my arms.
I stepped back, and Betsy moved forward and started playing in that dreamy way she did back in Mongo’s garage. Except for Betsy’s violin, you could have heard a pin drop.
Dale and I kept pace with her, and then I sang the second stanza again.
"Baby, baby, when first we met. I knew in this heart of mine that you were someone I couldn't forget. I said, ‘right,’ and ‘to bide my time.’" "I spent my life looking for that somebody to make me feel like new. Now you tell me that you want to leave me, but darling, I just can't let you..." |
Dale harmonized with me at the end of that line, and Betsy segued in with her violin, just at the heels of our singing, and she brought us home.
"Now that I found you…" Dale sang/whispered.
"I built my world around you," I harmonized with him.
"I need you so, baby, even though you don't need me now. "Baby, now that I've found you I won't let you go. I built my world around you…" |
We repeated the refrain a few times and we faded the music away.
After a few beats, the applause thundered down. Betsy looked at her fingers. "I can’t believe I did it," she whispered.
I hugged her around her neck. "You sure did," I said, and gave Dale a big thumbs-up. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the rest of the guys standing by our table, clapping and hooting with the rest. I waved the rest of the band up, and they climbed up the stage. There were a lot of catcalls and wolf-whistles as Janet and June took their positions. They giggled, and Janet shook her fanny at the crowd, setting off more howls.
Janet grinned, gave me and Betsy a one-armed hug, kissing us both.
"Sorry about being late," she whispered. "Tell you about it later."
"I’m sorry, Janet," I said. "We needed to start and this was the only song we could play from the playlist without you guys…"
"Forget about the order of the songs, Danny." She waved away my apology. "You did good. Now, what do we play next?"
I grinned. "How about ‘Runaround?’" Janet nodded and I mouthed "runaround" to Dale, Mongo and June.
I took the mike off the stand and shook the wire out on the ancient mike. Janet slid her hand down her guitar’s fret, and started to play, Dale pacing her note for note, with Mongo keeping in time and laying a rhythmic backbeat. For the harmonica portion, Betsy took over with her violin instead, playing quick and sharp, almost like a hillbilly hayseed with a fiddle. It sounded great! I waited for my cue, and then started to sing, copying the intonations and cowboy-like twang of Blues Traveler. If Kate Pierson was a member of Blues Traveler, that is.
"Oooh, once upon a midnight dreary, I woke with something in my head. "I couldn't escape the memory of the phone call and what you said. Like a game show contestant with a parting gift, I could not believe my eyes when I saw through the voice of a trusted friend who needs to humor me and tell me lies…" |
I sang so fast, I was out of breath. "Yeah, humor me and tell me lies!"
I took a breath and continued to sing.
"And I'll lie, too and say ‘I don't mind.’ And as we seek so shall we find. And when you're feeling old I'll still be here, but not without a certain degree of fear. What will be for you and me, I still can’t see, think, won’t believe. "But you! Why’d you wanna give me a runaround? Yeah, it’s a sure-fire way to speed things up, but all it does is slow me down." |
I was laboring to catch my breath.
"Shake me and my confidence about a great many things. But I've been there - I can see it cower, like a nervous magician waiting in the wings of a bad play where the heroes are right and nobody thinks or expects too much. "And Hollywood's calling for the movie rights, singing ‘hey babe, let's keep in touch.’ Hey baby, let's keep in touch! "But I want more than a touch - I want you to reach me and show me all the things no one else can see, so what you feel becomes mine as well, and soon, if we're lucky, we'd be unable to tell what's yours and mine. The fishing's fine. And it doesn't have to rhyme so don't you feed me a line! "But you! Why’d you wanna give me a runaround? Yeah, it’s a sure-fire way to speed things up, but all it does is slow me down." |
Betsy took over, playing her violin like a girl possessed, stomping around, her violin tucked under her chin. It gave me the opportunity to catch my breath and to wipe my face. I held my mike away from me as I panted. But the break was all too short, and I had to start singing again.
"Hello there, bombardier, this is the pilot speaking, and I've got some news for you: It seems my ship still stands no matter what you drop, and there ain't a whole lot that you can do. Oh, sure, the banner may be torn and the wind's gotten colder… perhaps I've grown a little cynical… but I know no matter what the waitress brings, I shall drink it and always be full. Yeah, I will drink it and always be full! "Oh, I like coffee and I like tea! But to be able to enter a final plea: I still got this dream that you just can't shake - I’ll love you to the point you can no longer take. "Well, all right! Okay! So be that way! "I hope and pray that there is something left to say. But you! Why’d you wanna give me a runaround? Yeah, it’s a sure-fire way to speed things up, but all it does is slow me down. Oh, you! Why’d you wanna give me a runaround? Yeah, it’s a sure-fire way to speed things up, but all it does is slow me down…" |
Thank God, it’s Betsy’s turn again! I held the mike down by my side, and panted. I was practically dripping with sweat.
Betsy, and Mongo on the drums, went wild. Betsy hammed it up for the audience. The girl was a natural.
The sound mixer faded away the sound, and we all stood and ate up the thunderous applause. Betsy ran into my arms and hugged the stuffing out of me. When she pulled away, her face was wet, and the front of her dress was spotted with drops of sweat. From me. I could just imagine Betsy going "ewww!" but she didn’t seem to mind. She was actually leaning her face against mine, not minding getting wet.
I looked out to see the audience in standing ovation. It was great!
When I could breathe normally again, and the people calmed down, I signaled the guys to start playing one of our slow songs, "Waiting in Vain," and Betsy started playing a long D-note on her violin.
Janet started playing the semi-complicated guitar intro, with Mongo accompanying her with tapping on the drum’s rim. I was glad for the longer intro, and I caught my breath some more. But, soon, I had to sing again, keeping my voice a little low and just a touch raspy, like Annie Lennox.
"From the very first time I rest my eyes on you, boy, my heart said, ‘follow through.’ But I know now that I'm way down on your line. But the waiting thing is fine. "So don't treat me like a puppet on a string, 'cause I know how to do my thing. Don't talk to me as if you think I'm dumb. I wanna know when you're gonna come. See - I don't wanna wait in vain for your love… I don't wanna wait in vain for your love… I don't wanna wait in vain for your love… 'Cause summer is here! I'm still waiting there… Winter is here and I'm still waiting there!" |
Janet and June started to harmonize with me, with a soft beat from Mongo and a good background melody from Janet, Dale and Betsy. June had switched her keyboard to a soft synthesized trumpet sound. I segued back in.
"Like I said, it's been three years since I'm knocking on your door. And I still can knock some more. Ooh boy! Ooh boy! Is it crazy love - I wanna know now - for I to knock some more. You see... "In life I know there is lots of grief. But your love is my relief. Tears in my eyes burn, tears in my eyes burn while I'm waiting… while I'm waiting for my turn! "See - I don't wanna wait in vain for your love… I don't wanna wait in vain for your love…" |
I repeated the phrase over and over. I looked over to Nikki, and Danielle and Joanne were poking her. Nikki just smiled my way.
"'Cause summer is here! I'm still waiting there... Winter is here and I'm still waiting there!" |
I never realized how sweet June’s voice was, as she and Janet harmonized with me. June’s synthesized horn sounded very realistic, and mixed well with Janet’s, Betsy’s and Dale’s playing.
"Like I said,"
Janet and June harmonized as backup voices.
"I don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't wanna wait in vain… "It's been three years since I'm knocking on your door, and I still can knock some more. Ooh boy! Ooh boy! Is it crazy love? I wanna know now… like I said… tears in my eyes burn… tears in my eyes burn… while I'm waiting, while I'm waiting for my turn,,, See… "Ooh boy! Ooh boy! Is it crazy love ? I wanna know now… For I to knock some more… In love I know there is lots of grief, but your love is my relief…" |
Janet’s and Dale’s guitar, Betsy’s violin, Mongo’s soft backbeat and June’s tambourine faded away as the sound guy progressively lowered the volume. And, if it was even possible, the applause was longer and stronger. What a rush!
Janet grinned from ear to ear. "Love Thang," she mouthed.
June hit the first chords for the intro, accompanied by Mongo. Janet got everyone to clap to the beat.
"Whooo!" I yelled, and the crowd cheered. And soon everyone was grooving to the beat. We followed it up with Robbie Williams’ version of "There She Goes," and ended the set with "Dreaming" by Aurora. I had fun with that slower song because it wasn’t hard for me to play while singing - no complicated plucking. Betsy took the place of the horns section, and I don’t know what she did, but she made it sound like there was more than one of her. Because the pitch wasn’t so high, everyone also got to harmonize.
We were usually contracted for two sets, but most of the time, the people wouldn’t quit cheering and we’d have to do a third set. And that night was no exception, except for the fact that the cheering was louder and more boisterous than usual (It was probably due to Betsy). Early on in our gig with Mario, we’d established a sort-of signal — Janet would look to him with raised eyebrows, and he’d give a nod, saying we’re okay to do another set. We wouldn’t do another set if it was gratis, something Janet insisted on as she’d argue we were professionals and should be paid for our work. Mario normally wouldn’t want to pay for another set, and it was rare that he’s give us the nod, but the regulars picked up on it, and would clamor for more, booing and hissing at Mario if he didn’t let us.
Mario was in a particularly bad mood tonight and shook his head. But with the added attraction of Betsy, the audience wasn’t taking no for an answer. The inevitable booing and hissing got louder. Janet shrugged and gave a gesture to the audience that said, "what can we do?"
As we slung off our guitars and were about to step down off the stage amid a hubbub of disappointment, a girl half shouted across the floor, "Mario! A round of drinks here!" With the unspoken implication that she was ordering so he’d bring them back.
The people quieted down a bit, digesting that little sound bite when another girl exclaimed, "Can I get a menu here?"
"Hey, us too!" another one shouted, and fairly soon everyone was clamoring for service. The implication was very obvious to everyone, including Mario, but he was playing dumb.
We were just settling into our customary table, placing our orders of sodas and other teenager-friendly drinks with Tina the waitress, when a big guy in jeans, a check shirt and a cowboy hat said loudly with a very obvious cowboy twang, "Yeah, another round for me and my buds, too, Jack." He didn’t need to shout — his voice was as big as he was. And when Mario waved acknowledgement of the order, the cowboy said in his bull voice, "and if you don’t bring those kids back up there, you are as dumb as you look and we’ll walk out the door right now!"
This was greeted with cheering and clapping.
Mario, with his white shirt, sleeves rolled up, stringy tie already lying limply from sweat, and an apron already stained from previous nights of spills and other accidents, was scratching his head in consternation.
"Let them play!" a tall girl with an enormous chest stood up and started chanting. "Let them play! Let them play! Let them play!" With typical mob mentality, the kids took up the chant.
"Let them play! Let them play! Let them play!" The entire place was echoing with the chant and the rhythmic clapping. "Let them play! Let them play! Let them play!" Me and the guys were smiling like fools, looking around at our fans. "Let them play! Let them play! Let them play!"
Mario raised his hands in surrender. "All right, all right!" he shouted and the chanting petered out.
"Kids," he said, projecting his voice so everyone would hear. "Can you go on up and play another set? I’d surely appreciate it."
The place roared with cheers and clapping, and we stood up to go to the stage. I looked at poor Mario. He was just being a businessman, after all, and he was being made out to be the bad guy. I ran up to him, giving him a sweaty hug and a loud smack on the cheek. "Thanks, boss!" I said loudly, hamming it up.
The crowd laughed and clapped, cheering Mario. Still playacting, I giggled merrily and ran back up the stage. I slung my guitar strap over my shoulder, and blew a kiss Mario’s way, which was greeted with more laughs. At least now people will look to Mario as a good guy, a hero even, for "allowing" us to play some more.
"Thank you kindly, sir," I said in an exaggerated Louisiana drawl in the direction of Cowboy Hat, and curtsied. Everybody laughed delightedly, and Cowboy Hat stood up, took his hat off and bowed gallantly. I curtsied again, and everyone clapped.
"Are you ready to rock?" Janet yelled, and the crowd cheered.
I yelled a rebel yell, and Mongo launched into the drum intro of The Spin Doctors’ "Two Princes."
We did our "by popular demand" gimmick, passing the little derby hat around again, and it was a hit, just like always. We also finished off the remaining songs from our pre-prepared "repertoire."
After an unbelievable total of twenty-five songs, we decided to end it for the night. But, instead of our usual Michelle Branch song-ender, we used an old song that I heard from my dad’s collection of old VHS TV programs. It was something we practiced before and Janet and I took turns signing the four lines to song "May tomorrow Be a Perfect Day," (we weren’t even sure if that was the name of the song) and at the end of the four lines, the whole band went, "Good night everybody!"
Everyone laughed and gave us a standing ovation. Dale, Mongo and June played out the rest of the music, and ended the night.
Most everyone who stayed went over to shake our hands and said thanks or good night. We lounged around the half-empty restaurant, dead tired from an incredible four sets. It was two in the morning and all that were left were the habitual night owls and hangers-on who didn’t want the evening to end.
While we waited for Janet to settle with Mario, Danielle borrowed my Palm Pre earlier and called up mom, and made our excuses. It was a good thing it was Danielle who called. As it is, mom didn’t make a fuss and just told us to be careful, have a good time and to call her if there were problems.
Some of the people still in the restaurant drifted to our table and talked with us, several of the girls making goo-goo eyes at Dale, and even Morgan. What was troubling me was that I thought a lot of them were directed at me. I chalked that up to my imagination, but I couldn’t help but notice the catty, jealous looks they were throwing Nikki’s way as I casually snuggled with her, our arms over each other’s shoulders. That was probably just my imagination, too.
Some of the girls, giggling, asked for everyone’s autograph. One of these stood out in my mind — a very pretty blonde - as she made it a point to ask for mine. I smiled in delight, put down Nikki’s electric pink hankie I was using to wipe my sweaty face and neck, and signed the little coaster she got from one of the tables. "To Cindy - thanks for being there! Danny," I wrote in my usual crabbed penmanship. "Here you go, and thanks for staying for our show, Cindy. Come again."
She’d been gazing at me lovingly as I wrote, which was a little unsettling. After I was done, she took the pen and coaster, smiled delightedly, and ran back to their table and friends.
"All right, settle down, stud," Morgan joked. "Just another groupie. One of several, I am sure, for a rock star like you." He snickered.
"Cut it out, dude. I never had groupies, before. Gimme a break." And I smiled. "Y’know, I can get used to this."
"Don’t get used to it too much, dude," Nikki elbowed me, giggling.
I turned to her and gave her the tickle torture, and I had her gasping in short order.
Soon we settled down and snuggled into the large leather sofa that we were sharing with Morgan and Betsy — the two of us in the middle, with Betsy on Nikki’s side and Morgan on mine. I leaned forward to grab Nikki’s pink hankie and I couldn’t find it. I assumed Nikki got it, so I just got some paper towels from the dispenser on the table and continued mopping my brow.
"Dude, you’re gross," Mickey said. I threw one of the soggy tissues at him, and Joanne deftly intercepted it.
She wagged a finger at me. "Now, now — play nice."
"Yes, mommiiie," I said in a cutesy little-girl voice, and everyone burst out laughing.
I wanted to just crash but everyone wanted to go out for a bite. I reluctantly agreed, and everyone started the packing up. "Five minutes?" I asked, and Janet nodded agreement. So I continued to veg on the couch until guilt would chase me up.
After a while, Betsy shook my shoulder. I had fallen asleep. "Danny, my love," she whispered into my ear. "Time to get up." She leaned to me and gave me a sisterly peck on my temple.
I fluttered my eyes open. "Huh?" I said succinctly.
"You’re so pretty," Betsy said, gave me another kiss and pulled me to my feet.
Janet sauntered over. "You up for some food, champ, or would you rather go home." She ruffled my hair.
"Whatever," I said, and sleepily looked around for Nikki. It was like telepathy, and Danielle came over, dragging Nikki. I promptly draped an arm over her and we walked out of the restaurant, hips softly bumping — mine, Nikki’s and Danielle’s, and everyone else sort of trailing behind.
We ended up in a Bennigan’s, one that was surprisingly still open for patrons. As the hostess came over to ask for some ID, Janet told her point-blank that we wouldn’t be drinking anything alcoholic. Mickey groaned at that, and Joanne gave him a friendly hug. Mick tried to squirm out of it but Joanne was pretty strong and was determined not to let go. We all dissolved into laughter, and followed the hostess to an out-of-the-way booth — two adjacent ones, actually. And we all sat down and ordered up. Janet told everyone it would be the band’s treat, which was greeted with a loud cheer. "But just this once, okay? There’ll be few repeats of this, if ever." Everyone laughed at that.
I ordered a pretty big meal — chicken wings for a starter, and then chicken fajitas with all the fixings, fried potatoes, clam chowder in a big mug and bottomless iced tea. Everyone looked at me. "What!" I asked. They all shrugged. And when our food came, Danielle’s order turned out to be bigger than mine. "What!" she exclaimed, in a voice remarkably similar to mine’s just a few minutes ago. Everyone laughed.
As we dug in, I spied two girls giggling and looking our way. I nudged Nikki and pointed at them. "Weren’t they at Mario’s?"
Nikki turned around to look. Spotted, the two girls shyly looked away, still acting giggly. "Hey, yeah." She turned to me and whispered conspiratorially, "do you think they followed us?"
Mel looked over. "Isn’t the strawberry blonde one the same girl that asked for your autograph, Danny?"
I looked back. "I think so."
"Well, now we know Danny’s hit the big time," said Dale.
"How do you figure that?" asked Joanne.
"Well, you know Danny’s in the bigs if he already has a stalker." Everyone laughed.
Janet waved the two over. "Janet!" I hissed. "What do you think you’re doing?"
"Well, those two seem lonely. I’m sure they’d appreciate a bite. And, besides, fans are important."
I thought of it just for a second. They were obviously following us, and they DID stay until the end. And they looked harmless enough. I waved them over as well. Cindy was pointing at herself incredulously. Janet waved again and the two girls squealed. They jumped up and rushed over.
Mike moved aside to give the girls room, which scrunched Jerry against Mongo. "Hey, dude!"
Mike shushed him, and turned to welcome the two girls. "Welcome, ladies," he said expansively.
The girls sat down giggling.
"Hi, girls," Janet said. "Cindy, is it?" Cindy nodded. "And who’s your friend?"
The other girl giggled. "My name’s Anna? I’m, like your biggest fan?"
"Hi, Anna," I said. "Do you know everyone?"
"Ummm, no, actually?"
"Well, this is Nikki and this is Janet. Over there’s my sister Danielle, with Betsy, June our keyboard player, Drew, Mel and Joanne."
Assorted "hi’s" and "hellos" greeted this little rollcall, and then I started on the guys.
"That’s Dale our base player, Mongo our drummer, Morgan, Jerry and right beside you is Mike."
"Hi," Mike said in what he thought of was a suave voice.
Anna nodded to him, and turned back to me. "I can’t believe we’re here with you guys? You guys are great? We’ve been coming over to Mario’s every Saturday for weeks now. We haven’t missed any of your gigs since you started the Derby Hat thing?"
"I’m glad you like our music," Janet said.
"Well, we’re a bit disappointed? None of our songs have ever been picked?"
"I’m sorry. It’s the luck of the draw, I guess."
Anna looked at Janet a little quizzically.
"I mean, I’m sorry you haven’t been lucky."
"Oh, that’s okay. Like, it’s not your fault?"
Good god, I thought. What an airhead! Her valley-girl intonations were starting to grate. I was about to lose it, and switch to Bimbo Betty mode just to make fun of her, when I caught Danielle glaring at me. I gave her a sour look made a patting gesture and nodded.
As the dinner progressed, I was surprised that I actually started warming up to Cindy and Anna. Though they were clearly a pair of stereotypical flighty mall girls, they did put a different dimension to what we were doing as a band. I saw from the eyes of a fan the impact we had on people. If just for the fact that these girls represented what people thought of us, it made them interesting to me.
Besides, they were both cute as hell. Mike tried to chat them up, but they only had eyes for the band, apparently, and since he wasn’t part of the band, he wasn’t worth noticing.
"So where do you girls go to school?" I asked Anna, trying to make conversation.
"Well, we’re both juniors? And we live right near the neighborhood? It’s how we found out about you guys — we were in Mario’s having dinner, when you started your set?"
"Yeah!" Cindy said. "I remember that! That was when Marie and Billy were with us!"
I looked at Nikki, trying not to laugh, but Nikki was also on the verge. No help there.
"Ah, that’s great. But where do you go to school?"
"We go to the same school," Cindy said, and Anna agreed. "We tried for cheerleader, at our school? But I guess the other cheerleaders had it in for us. We didn’t get in."
Anna gave Cindy a little hug. "That’s okay, Cindy. They’re all prejudiced bitches."
"That’s too bad," I said. "But where do you go to school?"
"It’s just a drag, the whole high school thing. Everyone’s sooo immature!"
"Totally," Anna echoed. "So immature."
And it was like that the whole night. Though just an idle question, they never did answer it, though they eventually volunteered the information on their own. Apparently, they went to a high school a couple of blocks away. We didn’t know the school, and I didn’t know anyone who went there. In a way, that made me feel better because my singing "career" will still remain unknown to the kids I knew.
During one of the infrequent lulls, Cindy brought up something that they were apparently reluctant to bring up. "Y’know, Anna and I, we wanted to ask you guys something."
"Who, us?" I gestured to Nikki and myself.
"We were wondering, and I hope you guys don’t take this the wrong way…"
Nikki and I looked at each other. "Well, just spit it out."
"Anna and I were wondering if the two of you were, y’know, like together?"
"What do you mean?"
"Like, are you guys going together? Like, are you an item?"
"Ahhh!" Nikki and I said, almost simultaneously, finally understanding.
"Why, yes we are," I exclaimed almost comically. "Nikki’s my one an’ only, the sunshine of my life, the wind beneath my wings…" Nikki playfully hit me over the head with a menu. "Hey!"
Nikki giggled. "What Danny’s saying," Nikki said, "is yes, we are going together."
The two girls giggled. "That’s a relief," Anna said. "I told Cindy that you were probably together, but we weren’t sure."
"Well, we are," she said. "Why is it a big deal?"
"Well, that’ll break a lot of hearts."
I giggled. "You’re exaggerating, girl. Lil ole me?"
"Well, sure! You’re real hot, you know."
"And, you know," Cindy said, "there are very few girls that openly like girls."
"Huh?"
"You know? Lesbians like us?"
Nikki and I looked at each other.
Ten: Batch Fourteen
***** (Danny) *****
I stayed in bed the following day, too depressed to get up. Danielle knocked on my door several times asking me to come out for lunch, but I didn’t respond and just holed up in my room, thinking of my current situation. Sometime in the afternoon, Danielle called to say that they were leaving for a while and that there was food in the oven.
I wasn’t hungry, and decided not to respond. I heard the door close and dad’s car start up. I stared up at my ceiling, my thoughts chaotic and jumbled. I was wondering if this will ever be over. What was I — a guy or a girl? At the restaurant, everyone accepted me as a girl. And it was fun, to be so accepted and liked. In my life I was never so accepted, except by my folks, and Morgan and my buds. Not even Danielle, at least not until recently.
It was wonderful, until I was forced to focus on my current situation, and actually think about what all this meant. And last night really did make me focus.
I was desperately in love with Nikki, and I thought that she loved me, too. But after last night, maybe what she loved in me was me as a girl. In a way, it didn’t really matter — so long as she loved me. But in a way, it did. And as I thought of who and what I really was, of what I would be in the future, of having a family — it did matter .
I felt lost.
Much later, at just about dinnertime, the others returned. Mom knocked on my bedroom door and said they brought home some take-out Indian food, and if I got hungry, I should just come down.
Just before dinnertime, I went downstairs and asked Dad to make an appointment for me with Dr. Roberts, and see if he was willing to see me on a Monday, but Dad beat me to it, and said he already did.
"When you weren’t coming down, we were worried and wanted to come upstairs and find out what was wrong," dad said, "but we decided not to.
"Danielle told us a little bit about last night. She also called Dr. Roberts, and he had told us to come over. We decided to go to his office without you. When we were there, he told us a lot."
I looked at him. "What did he say?"
He put a hand on my shoulder. "I don’t want to say anything, Dan. I might not say it right, or I may get it wrong. It’s best that you talk to him directly."
I was about to protest, but he stopped me. "Your appointment is for tomorrow afternoon, after school. Save your questions and wait for tomorrow. I’ll pick you up at school and bring you to the hospital." I saw something in his eye, and knew he wanted to do the right thing. I trusted my dad, so I didn’t ask anymore. I nodded mutely, turned went back to my room.
The following Monday, I floated from class to class, not really interested in anything. Morgan and the others noticed and asked me if anything was wrong but I said I was OK and tied to act more normally. Danielle fended them off and made them leave me alone.
True to his word, Dad picked me up. Danielle gave me a sisterly kiss, and Nikki hugged me around the neck. I kissed her back and got in Dad’s car.
Dad brought me to the hospital and walked me directly to my appointment with Dr. Roberts. When we got there, there were no more people in his clinic’s little waiting room, and Dr. Roberts’ nurse-receptionist was closing the office down. It was already passed 5PM after all. We heard Dr. Roberts call out from his examination room, and I went in. Just before I went in, Dad gave me a hug and left. "I’ll be back, son. Have a good talk."
So I went on into the little examination room alone.
"Well, Dan," he began. "Long time no see."
"Yeah, Doc," I said, and warily looked him up and down. I didn’t speak anymore, and waited.
Dr. Roberts had me sit down on the examination table and he did a short medical exam: looking down my throat, looking at my eyes and ears, checking on my heart and breathing with his stethoscope — the usual stuff.
"Well, Dan," he said afterwards. "Everything seems OK. As I expected."
"Yeah, Doc?" I said, and warily looked him up and down. I didn’t speak anymore, and waited for him to talk, wondering what this was about. Truth was, I was scared. To death.
When the silence started becoming unbearable, he cleared his throat and ushered me into his office.
"Well," he said as we both sat down. "I guess it’s time for the truth."
He cleared his throat again, reluctant to begin. "Let me start by saying that I am not who you think I am."
I sat up at that.
"Don’t get me wrong. I am a real doctor, but I don’t work for the hospital. I work for a pharmaceutical company that did an experiment oh, about sixteen or seventeen years ago. That also goes for Dr. Jessup your psychiatrist, and Eleanor your dietician.
"When you and your sister were conceived, your mom was participating in human trials for a new drug." He held up his hand. "No, it wasn’t anything like in the X Files or anything like that. It was just a new hormone-based diet pill. The particular drug used in your mom’s trials was the last batch in a fourteen-batch production run of the drug.
"As soon as we found out that your mom was pregnant with you and your sister, we pulled her out of the tests. And that was it for your mom. Anyway, about the drug, the short story is that the experiment had gone bust. At the end of the test protocols, all of the test subjects didn’t show any weight reduction nor any other effects. The program was discontinued, and all samples of Batch Fourteen were destroyed. Also, the documentation and the formula were lost in the merger of our company with its German competitor in the late eighties. It just wasn’t that important to the company’s bottom-line so no one bothered to keep track of the programme.
"Now, moving closer to the present - just two years ago, people going through some old files found some sketchy references to the project and we re-discovered your mom’s participation in the first two months of the 14th batch of the program, and that on the third month she was pregnant with you two.
"Eleanor informed the company authorities, and we followed up on all the Batch 14 test subjects we found listed — the few names we could glean. No one seemed to have been affected in any way. No one, that is, except your mom.
Initially, we wanted to find out if there were any problems from the drug, and to try to protect the company from any lawsuits. We found your mom and all the others completely healthy. Any possibility of cancer was ruled out. After all, it was more than fifteen years ago - anything like that should have come out already.
"For more than a year, we’ve been keeping all test subjects, including your family, under observation. And we found nothing out of the ordinary. Normal people and normal lives. But we took special interest in your mom.
"As per our tests and your mom’s medical records, your mom was more than just healthy. It seems that, in her case, Batch Fourteen worked!"
I was listening closely. This was all news to me. But the idea I was getting wasn’t too good.
"It seemed that, despite the fact that your mom had an obsession about dieting, her weight had remained in the ideal weight range for her age, height and build the whole time we had her under observation. Eleanor did some calculations by comparing her eating habits with calorie and other weight tables. By all rights, Eleanor estimated that, because of her constant dieting, your mom should weigh no more than eighty pounds tops!
"Needless to say, you and Danielle showed the same symptoms. Clearly, you two were also affected by Batch Fourteen.
"Now, we compared her to you and your sister. Both of you eat a lot. Eleanor says that the two of you eat way too much than what is good for you, and should be well past the two-hundred-pound mark! But, like your mom, your weights have also remained in the ideal range for your age, height and build. Eleanor did experiments and, through your prescribed diets, increased your caloric intake. Both you and your sister were only slightly affected.
"We now know that Batch Fourteen has affected your metabolisms in such a way that your bodies will maintain your ideal weights, whether you eat too much, or too little, or when you’re sick, you’re well, sedentary, exercising, whatever. On a side note, about your eating habits - the reason why you and your sister eat too much is largely psychological. Because your bodies have let you get away with it, and you didn’t have any reason to control your food intake, you and your sister never developed any psychological inhibitions to eating."
I wanted to tell Mom, Dad and Danielle, but Dr. Roberts seemed to have read my mind. "I’ve already told them everything I just told you. They’re probably at home, waiting to talk to you. Your dad is passing by later to pick you up, by the way."
"But what about my breasts?" I asked. "What has this got to do with…"
"I’m getting to that," he said. "We believe that Batch Fourteen also affected the production of sex-related hormones in your bodies as well as adrenalin and other chemicals that effect metabolism, such as Ghrelin and Leptin. But primarily the so-called female hormones. And it’s likely that the reason your weight is in control, and your metabolism is the way it is, is because of the balance of hormones in your bloodstream."
I pointed mutely to my chest.
"Right, right," he said. "Now, the reason for your condition is that, despite the fact that you are biologically a boy, your body has been changed and now produces the necessary amounts of female and other hormones to affect metabolism in the way that it has. Just like your sister and your mom.
"However, since you are also a developing boy, you are also producing male hormones. And we have found out that your body is automatically producing just the right balance of chemicals to continue the weight control and yet not affect the natural development of your male sex organs. Which is something that transgender patients have problems with: male transsexuals who undergo female hormone therapy find that their sex organs become smaller and, eventually, non-functional. Not you.
"Now, an unfortunate effect of Batch Fourteen, unfortunate in your case at least, is that you are now developing secondary female sex characteristics. Not all of them, mind you. Just less body hair, softer skin. And breasts. And to a noticeable extent, your skeletal structure and figure. But for your sister and your mom, the effects on them are completely natural since they are female."
I sat up straight for that news.
"Anyway, the pills that we’ve been giving you are a cocktail of different chemicals designed to increase or supplement male hormone production. Our original plan was to counteract the effects of the female hormones with more male hormones. But since your system seems to be self-regulating, your body just produces more. The pills therefore haven’t done anything at all, least of all to help reverse the effects. Not to mention that any more hormones may actually put your health at risk.
"The thing that we can’t figure out is where the new hormones are coming from. If it were just your sister and your mom, we would have assumed that it came from the, umm, regular organs and glands. But with you, we now know this is an incorrect assumption. With you, many of these glands aren’t even present!"
He sat back, and looked at me with a little bit of tiredness and sadness. "These past couple of years have been quite, umm, interesting. And it is a little disappointing that we are ending up with nothing to show for it."
He stood up, picked up a folder. "So. This is what we will be doing. We are discontinuing your drug therapy. We have found nothing on how Batch Fourteen changed your body, your mom’s or your sister’s. The company is discontinuing the research because we think no amount of further research will show anything more than what we know now: we don't understand it and we can't replicate it. So we are going to stop wasting money."
"I am now thinking that the reason Batch Fourteen worked in your mother’s case was because she was pregnant. The drug, coupled with the changed metabolism of a mother carrying a child, plus her own particular genetic makeup, was probably the reason it worked on her."
He sat back and sighed. "And, if this is right, then the chances of us replicating the effect are next to impossible."
He handed me the folder in his hand. "What you have there is a release form to be signed by you, your parents and your sister, releasing the company from any liabilities relating to Batch Fourteen, and to keep quiet about it. Also in there is an agreement to provide you and your family any kind of medical assistance that you may need for the remainder of your lives — sort of like full-coverage medical insurance. We will also continue to retain Dr. Jessup and Eleanor, and they will stay with you for the remainder of the year, so that we can be sure that you adjust all right.
"Aside from that, we are providing your family a small cash settlement, and are providing you and Danielle a college scholarship to any college or university of your choice."
I looked at the papers. "Doctor. That’s all okay. But I don’t want to remain this way for the rest of my life. Can’t anything be done?"
He sat down beside me. "Dan," he began. "We don’t know. But we are doing everything we can to help you adjust. Know that there are pluses to all of this. You will probably not age as much physically. You will never become overweight. Or underweight, for that matter. You will have no coronary problems - nothing related to heart problems, I mean. Also, I am sure you have noticed that you’ve been unable to develop better muscle definition. Know that this will probably be the case no matter how much you exercise. But also know that your muscles will be developing normally even without obvious muscle definition. If you exercise a lot, you’ll end up being a lot, lot stronger than how you look."
He suddenly smiled, like a person with a secret that he’s been itching to tell. "We have also done some chemical extracts and tests of skin samples from you, your mom and your sister, and found something present in your samples that are not in theirs. We think that’s because they’re women. You see, some of the chemicals we extracted from you seem suspiciously like pheromones - real honest-to-goodness human pheromones." He grinned like the proverbial mad scientist, and I just had to laugh.
He then looked at me a little hopefully. "Eleanor brought to my attention a study she unearthed by a researcher looking into human pheromones. In the study, she said that the human sense of smell is not as strong as they are in other species. That’s why modern humans do not react as strongly to pheromones the way other mammals do. Even so, we still produce these pheromones even if we don’t respond to them as well.
"Anyway, Eleanor said that the markers the paper described are chemically very similar to some of the hormone components in your skin and in your sweat, which you seem to be producing in relatively high amounts. Dr. Jessup, Eleanor and myself have so far kept this little secret from the company, as well as your family because we suspect it’s another thing that we won’t be able to replicate, and the interest that this would surely generate would just make it more difficult for you and your family. But!"
He put his hand on my shoulder again. "Just on the off-chance that your ‘pheromones’ are real and we can replicate the active chemicals, I would like to continue getting samples from you regularly. Mostly some samples of your saliva. Some blood, sweat, and…"
I laughed. "And what? Blood, sweat and tears?" Dr. Roberts laughed, too.
"That’s right."
"Sounds like a lot of hogwash to me. I haven’t seen any difference in how others treat me. I haven’t suddenly become some stud that,…" I thought of my friends. Mom and Dad and Danielle. Could it be…
Dr. Roberts continued. "You wouldn’t have noticed because your body has just only recently started producing these chemicals. Your late entry into ummm… "female puberty" seems to have started it, and the medication that we’ve given you seems to have accelerated the process. And you’ve started to produce the chemicals in quantities that even our dulled sense of smell will detect it."
"You mean,…"
"Yup, the increase in male hormones that we’ve introduced seem to have triggered the effect."
"But now that I’m not taking the pills…"
Dr. Roberts shook his head. "Sorry, Dan. Your glands, or whatever they are, have been triggered, and we can’t stop it. But they would have been triggered naturally, anyway. We just sort of triggered it ahead of schedule."
"So, what can I expect? Would I suddenly become irresistible to girls?" I grinned, and I suddenly thought of Morgan and the others, and my grin faded. "Or, oh God! Will it affect boys instead of girls? Jesus, I don’t want to attract guys!"
Dr. Roberts was nodding. "That’s a good question, Dan. Given that it’s triggered by male hormones, it’s logical to assume that this is a pheromone that targets females. ‘Course, we don’t know. Eleanor says it could be a generic kind of pheromone, affecting females AND males."
"You don’t know…" I echoed lamely.
He grinned. "You’ll know soon enough if it works. And how it works."
I felt sad. "I’m so messed up. And I have breasts… I’ll look like a girl forever."
He put a compassionate hand on my shoulder. "If you want," he said gently, "we can do some plastic surgery on you and give you a mastectomy. I don’t recommend that, of course, because any kind of unnecessary surgery is not good for the body. Also, we don’t know how you will be affected, with your age and your unique body chemistry and all..."
I buried my head in my hands. "I’ll be this way forever…"
In the end, I decided to sign the papers. The doctor said that I should talk to the family first, and we should all decide and sign together. So, I put it away in my pack for the moment. The doctor left me in the waiting room and I sat waiting for Dad. It was good to be alone for a while. It gave me time to think. I felt so helpless. The fear and sadness threatened to close over me again. But I resolved to fight it. The doctor said there were some pluses. I’ll concentrate on that. And more exercise. That will help. And with my gigs with the band and the radio shows, I don’t think I’ll have much time to brood about this. I absentmindedly fondled my right breast through my shirt and sports bra.
I thought about Mom and Dad and Danielle. They did not waver, and have kept me steady through all this. I mustn’t let them down. I made a new resolve, and to quit wallowing in this grief. I will not give in.
During the ride home, Dad tried to draw me out. I smiled at him wanly, and told him I was okay. He looked at me, put a friendly hand on my shoulder and nodded.
"You know," I said.
"Yes. All of it, I think."
"So, what do we do now?"
"Well, first thing is that you have some decisions to make. And whatever they are, I’ll back you up one hundred percent. Us guys have to stick together."
I looked out the window. "Us guys," I whispered.
Dad slammed the brakes. The guy in the car behind us leaned on his horn. Dad pulled over, and waved the other car passed.
He switched on the hazard lights and turned off the engine.
He turned to me. "Now what’s that supposed to mean?"
I was crying softly. "I don’t know," I said. "Am I a guy? I got tits…"
He pulled me around. "Now stop that! What’s happening to you isn’t your fault. Nor your mom’s. Nor anyone else’s for that matter. Look at me." I was staring down at my lap, and stifled a small sniff. Dad shook me violently. "Look at me, goddamnit!"
"What! What do you want from me!"
Dad held me by the chin, and spoke to me sternly.
"You are the same person. You have not changed. You are the same boy that your mom and I conceived. You are the boy that we love, and will do anything for. Through all of this, we have stayed by you, and supported you. And we will keep on loving and supporting you. I know that this is hard for you. I don’t know if I can be as brave as you, if I was in your place. I am proud, damn proud of you."
He handed me a handkerchief, and I blew my nose. My dad continued. "I think the doctors covered everything. And now that we know what we’re up against, I think we can plan better. Know this, son." He looked into my eyes. "Whatever happens, I will be here for you. I love you son. So much."
I cried harder. Through my tears, I reached for him, and gave him a hug. Dad laughed a little. "Now, stop it, you crybaby. People might see us and start wondering." I laughed a little shakily.
"OK," I said. I wiped my eyes on my sleeve, and blew my nose again. I gave him a small smile, and he tousled my hair. He started the engine, and pulled back into traffic. After a little while, almost under my breath, I said, "I love you, Dad." He squeezed my shoulder again, and smiled gently.
"I love you, too, carrot-top."
I took a deep breath. "I think we should sign." I said.
"Yeah." He said. "Best to accept what’s happened. And signing the documents sort of means that. Is that what made you decide?"
"I guess, yeah. Sort of accept the responsibility. You think you know me so well, huh?" I smiled at him to show I wasn’t being a brat.
"Damn straight!"
"So what am I thinking now?"
"That you’re hungry, and what’s for dinner."
Maybe he can read my mind.
***** (Danielle) *****
Mom and I were in the kitchen, each eating a bowl of ice cream - hers a small one and mine a big humungous one. We were talking, and wondering what it all meant. When Dr. Roberts told the whole truth about batch fourteen, the both of us were just short of jumping for joy, but when Dad angrily pointed out that we should be thinking what this all means for Dan, we felt shame.
An hour ago, Dad had left to pick up Danny at the hospital. They should be back soon. Mom was asking me how I felt about what’s happening to Dan.
"I don’t really know what he’s going through now, or what he’s thinking or feeling," I said. "But I will do what he wants. I’ll give him what he needs." I looked up at my mom. "He’s my brother. I love him."
Mom gave me a big hug. "Me, too," she said. "Thank you for saying that."
"If he goes for the mastectomy?"
"Then, we will all support him in his decision."
"OK." I reached up to hug her back. "I love you, Mom."
"Oh, baby. I love you, too. Don’t worry. It’ll be OK. Trust me."
We hugged each other out there in the kitchen for the longest time.
Eleven: Support Group
***** (Danny) *****
In the end, the family decided to postpone any kind of surgery. After all, as my Dad said, no one’s tumbled to any of my changes yet, so there’s no real rush to do anything. Mom called Dr. Roberts up and told him about our decision. Dr. Roberts agreed, but told her that, if at any time in the future we were to want to do the operation, they can proceed, with just a day or two’s notice. In a way, I felt relieved because I was scared of any kind of operation.
In the following days, Mom asked Danielle’s help to surf the net, and to look for certain types of "foundation garments" that suited someone in my condition. They used my little Sony Vaio, and I tried to ignore them as they whispered to each other while clicking away. They used Mom’s credit card to buy the stuff, and a lot of parcels started arriving the following week.
Mom cussed a lot, finding out that much of the stuff was useless in hiding my boobies. What they did was actually emphasize them: The tight tees and tanktops that I tried on not only didn’t help to flatten my chest, but actually made them more noticeable. Mom and Danielle looked at me as I modeled the latest one - an off-white tanktop-like shirt made out of some sheer satin-like material, and Danielle wolf-whistled. "God, Danny, you’re so sexy!" I looked at myself in the mirror. The tight shirt stuck to me like a second skin, and emphasized my perky breasts (I was now a smallish c-cup) and narrow waist. They also gave the suggestion of flaring hips as they flowed down my flanks. Damnit!
When I turned to them, intending to make a joke and hide my growing embarrassment, they had funny, sort of glazed-over expressions on their faces, and I did not like the implications of that.
"Can I borrow that shirt sometime?" Danielle suddenly asked.
"Hell, you can have it! You won’t see me dead wearing this." I skinned it off and threw it at her. I turned to Mom, who was looking at my naked chest, with that look still on her face. "What?" I said abruptly, more nervous than irritated.
That sort of snapped her out of whatever it was. She shook her head and walked out of the room.
I looked at Danielle, and she held the shirt bunched up near her nose while she looked at me with that same expression. Was she smelling the shirt? I couldn't help but think of what Dr. Roberts said, and it made me nervous, but also a little turned on. Turned on?...
Mom called her and she stepped out into the hallway. I turned and put on one of my nondescript white sportsbras, and dropped a loose t-shirt over it. I put on a sweatband and went to look for Dad, thinking maybe he’d want to play backyard basketball for a while. It wasn’t too late for a short game.
As usual, Dad had an easy time making his shots, whereas I had to fight for every basket I made. But surprisingly, after barely twenty minutes of playing, I was ahead. Dad seemed oddly distracted and I was actually ahead by 6 points. Dad abruptly called it quits and left me there. I then thought of Dr. Roberts' words, and I shivered a bit in fear. Please, let it not be IT. Not Dad.
With the game apparently over, at least I had a chance to cool off. Wearing a bra under a shirt was a little warm, and I was very sweaty. I went into the house and had a shower. I dropped my sweaty clothes in the little laundry basket near the bathroom door, stepped in, closed the door and turned on the water. After the refreshing shower, I went to my room, wrapping myself in a towel like a girl. ‘Course I didn’t wrap my hair like a girl’s, though. As I stepped out of the steamy shower, I casually noticed that my sweaty stuff and the other clothes in the hamper were gone. Mom or Danielle probably took them to be washed. But the hamper wasn't even half full.
I went downstairs to the basement, and found the washer running. I felt relief seeing that, and wondered at my relief.
I went upstairs and knocked on Danielle's door, intending to borrow her hair drier. She opened her door, hair disheveled, most of the buttons on her blouse undone and handed me her blow drier with a big smile. I could just glimpse passed her shoulder at her bed, rumpled bedclothes strewn all over it.
Sometimes this twin brother/sister pseudo-ESP does come in handy, I thought to myself, as I often do when these odd kinds of coincidence-type things happen (and they've been happening more frequently, lately). I gave her a smile of thanks, and she gave me a little wet kiss on the cheek and slammed the door. She must be in one of those moods. I chuckled and thought my apology through the door for interrupting her fun even as I heard the bedsprings start creaking.
Then I stopped dead in my tracks. Weren't those clothes on her bed my shirt, bra and shorts?... Oh, no...
In the following days, Danielle had started showing Mom some, umm, unusual websites that had some specialty clothes of the, umm, exotic kind, and Mom started buying a lot of the stuff. They were both giggling and I was intrigued. I tried to look over their shoulders but they shooed me away. I grumbled, but they ignored me and continued clicking happily away.
The next Saturday, several new packages came via courier. Mom and Danielle dragged me to my room and asked me to model again. First was a sort of a bulky, flesh-colored girl's one-piece swimsuit-like thing. Danielle showed me how to put it on. I stepped into the flesh-colored suit, pulling it up over my legs and torso, and then snaking the straps over my shoulders.
I looked in the mirror, and it did help a lot. Amazingly so. It did flatten my chest a little, but what was left was molded to look like a lightly-muscled man’s chest under a tanktop, and unless someone poked me, no one would be the wiser. Danielle handed me one of my button-downs, and I pulled it on. It looked good! I looked like a semi-buffed Arnold Schwarznegger wanna-be.
"Lookin’ good, handsome," Mom joked. I smiled at them both. Then I noticed Danielle had that look again, and it made me nervous.
Mom brought out several other shirts that were just like the first, in various colors and material.
I pointed to some of the packages that they didn’t unwrap. "What about those?" I asked.
Mom and Danielle giggled. "We’ll show them to you later," she said.
I went to hug her. "Thanks, Mom," I said. She hugged me back tightly, and kissed me on the forehead. I barely felt the padding — it felt quite comfortable. I was relieved by that, and thought that this would work.
"Anything for my baby boy," she said, and didn’t let go.
"Uh, Mom?" I started getting uncomfortable with the extra-long hug, and then suddenly, Danielle hugged me from the back.
"Guys? I can’t breathe!" They just giggled.
I wore the white one under one of my button-downs, and Dad commented during dinner - "Looking good, son."
But he clearly had other stuff on his mind. He brought up some of the practical aspects of my situation. "For the past months," he said, "we’ve been working on the problem alone. It would be good for some people - people we trusted" he stressed that point, "to know about this. Besides, it would be good for Dan and Danielle if their close friends knew about it."
"What’s the point?" Mom asked.
"I had a long talk with Dr. Jessup," he said, "and she said that it would be good for the kids to develop a sort of support group - people that were near their own age that they can talk to about this."
"I thought that the drug company didn’t want to let people know," Danielle said.
"The company is okay with it so long as we don't mention their name. Besides, Dr. Jessup said that it’s worth the risk if it helps you two adjust better, and have some friends to talk to about it."
"But what if this gets out, and people make fun of my babies," Mom huffed at Dad, with glaring eyes and crossed arms. Danielle and I rolled our eyes at the word "babies."
Dad shrugged. "It’s something that can still happen, anyway. The kids just have to be careful which friends they tell it to."
I looked at my dad. "If you think that’s the right thing to do, Dad," I said.
"I think so, kid," he said, and gave me a little punch on the shoulder.
Danielle protectively put her arm around me. I hugged her.
"’Kay…"
Mom and Dad agreed to be out the coming Saturday, just in case we wanted to bring our friends home to talk or whatever. They’d be back Sunday lunchtime. Danielle and I winked at each other.
"It’s not like that, kids," Dad said. Danielle and I giggled.
I called Janet and asked if we could cancel the gig for this Saturday. She wasn’t too happy with that, especially with the lost income. "Please, Janet," I said. "I’ll make it up to you." Janet relented.
"OK, Danny-O," she said. "And don’t think I won’t collect."
We decided to have early dinner with the guys in a restaurant instead, and to talk there. And if we felt like it, we’ll go back to the house after.
On Saturday, I finished up my early-morning radio program, with lots of calls from listeners. As usual. After the program, I went to the market and bought some chips, dip, sodas and other munchies just in case we do end up inviting everyone home. Danielle made her special fudge brownies. Kosher brownies, unfortunately.
Mom and Dad had already left so we had the house to ourselves. Mom told Danielle to not wait up for them on Sunday because they might not be home for the entire weekend. I giggled at that.
In the afternoon, I called around to get the band and my buds together. Danielle called up her girlfriends. We decided on that Italian restaurant where we had that talk with Mrs. Piper. Morgan met us at home, left his bike in our garage, and rode with us to the restaurant.
When we were all there, we were ushered to a large booth well away from the patrons were still there. It was actually two booths that Danielle got the busboys to put together. She also warned the Maitre d’ that our bunch would be quite noisy, but will try not to make too much of a mess. He nodded and smiled indulgently
"I’ll try and seat any new patrons coming in away from your group," he said.
Danielle smiled. "Thanks so much."
"No problem, little miss. Mrs. Piper said to take good care of you and your sister. And we don’t mind. Glad to help."
We looked at each other and shrugged. Seems Mrs. Piper had a lot of pull in this restaurant. Nevertheless, I still shook his hand before we went and joined our friends. Best to keep on the maitre d’s good side.
The guys were horsing around, as usual, excited at the thought of a free fancy meal in a fancy restaurant. Dale brought a gorgeous twelve-string, mother-of-pearl shining in the fluorescent lights. He was softly playing a love song, serenading Danielle and her girlfriends, almost. The girls giggled and tittered.
I surveyed my immediate circle of noisy fiends, and smiled a small smile of exasperation and affection. I then thought of the reason why I asked them here for, and shuddered in a mixture of fear and embarrassment. I took a deep breath. Danielle looked up at me. She suddenly got up and sat beside me. She gave me one of her big-sister hugs, and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "You sure you want to do this?" she asked.
"Dad’s right. I think I have to tell them. Besides, I don’t like keeping stuff bottled up inside. This’ll be good for me. For us."
"What if I were the one to tell them?"
I looked at her with shining eyes. "Thanks for the offer, Sis. But I think I should be the one."
"I love you," she said quietly.
"I love you, too," I said, and gave her a little squeeze.
I cleared my throat twice to get their attention, and they quieted down.
"Umm, thanks, guys, for coming."
"Food, food!" cried Mickey, which got him a playful whack on the head from Kyle. "Hey!" The others laughed.
Morgan made some patting gestures, and the guys quieted down.
I smiled as I surveyed my friends, and aside from the girls being a little giggly, they seemed to be paying attention.
"Me, Danielle, and my mom & dad, have decided to tell the people closest to us about something that’s been happening to the family. And since you guys are our closest friends…"
The guys started becoming more serious. Morgan straightened from his slouch, and Nikki leaned close. "What’s wrong?"
I looked at Danielle, and she gave me a little nod of encouragement. I took a deep breath, and began.
"It started a long time ago…"
"In a galaxy far, far away…" Mickey interrupted.
Morgan gave him a very strong whap on the head. "Goddamnit, Mickey," Morgan growled.
"Okay, okay!" Mickey said.
I started over and told them the story Danielle and I agreed to, that Mom volunteered for an experiment with a drug company when they were newly married, (something that kids sometimes do to earn a quick hundred), and that we were affected by the drug.
"What, are you guys radioactive or something?" Dale joked, and made everyone giggle nervously.
"No, you dope!" I laughed, and explained that the drug was supposed to be some harmless diet supplement, but it affected us - me mostly - and induced some changes. We didn’t tell them about the metabolism thing, or the name of the company. We were subtly relieved that they didn’t come up. What did was troubling enough as it is.
"You got tits?" Mickey exclaimed "No way!"
Morgan stood up.
"Goddamnit Mike. One more time and I swear…"
Mike made a locking gesture on his lips, and threw away an imaginary key.
He turned to me. "So? What? What does this mean? Do you have cancer or something? Are you dying?"
"No!"
"So what, then?"
"Nothing! It’s just that my body’s not exactly a normal guy’s. I got breasts, and, and… other things…"
Mel leaned over. "Other things? What other things, exactly?" she asked.
"Nothing much more than that, actually," Danielle said. "Daniel has what they call secondary sex characteristics. Female secondary sex characteristics. Softer skin, less body and facial hair, and less muscle definition. As well as the breasts."
"How about that voice of his?" Dale asked.
"Nope, that’s different. Dan got that from an operation he had when we were kids."
"That was when he had that accident at your cousins’?" Morgan asked. He knew the story.
"Yup."
"Oh. Okay."
Everyone suddenly wanted to know about the accident, and I told them all about it, and the problems I had growing up because of my changed voice. Everyone felt sorry for me, and Danielle looked at me in mute apology. I patted her hand.
After a while, everyone became quiet. And then Mongo softly asked, "How about, you know…" he gestured vaguely at my crotch. "Well, to put it delicately, do you still have, umm, a dick?"
I was so embarrassed. "Yup, everything normal in that department."
"Do you still like girls?" Janet asked.
"I like ‘em fine. Nuthin’s changed there, too."
Everyone looked at Nikki, and everyone went, "oooh!" Nikki and I both blushed.
"Cut it out, guys," Morgan exclaimed, and looked at me. I was a little scared by his intensity. "So?" he said. "That’s it?"
"Well, yeah… You guys had to know. And it’s better to know now. But I’d appreciate it if you tell me how you feel about this. I wouldn’t blame you if you’d rather not hang around with a freak like me. I’ll understand." I tried not to cry. I looked down at the table in shame, and I felt Morgan standing beside me. I looked up to his face.
"I’m still here, bro," he said softly, only me and those near me able to hear. He laid his hand on my shoulder. "And I’m always gonna be here. We’ll always be buds. I’m not goin’ anywhere. Nuthin’s changed. You’re no freak."
"Thank God for that." I almost sobbed.
"Buck up, kid," he said, in a louder, normal tone of voice. "We’re your friends. We’ll stick by you." He looked at the others. "Ain’t that right guys?"
There was a chorus of Yes's and Sure's.
"And we will keep this a secret, right?"
The others agreed, and they all crowded around me and Danielle.
"Told ya," Danielle laughed, eyes shining bright, arms around my neck.
The girls hugged me, and then hugged Morgan.
"That was so sweet of you," Drew said to Morgan, and hugged him. Over her shoulder, Morgan winked at me. I grinned and gave him a thumbs-up.
"Umm, didn’t someone say ‘Food’?" Jerry asked, and everyone broke up.
"Right!" I said, and gestured to the nearest waiter. Soon, everyone had ordered up. Danielle and I both ordered what we had that first time - angel hair pasta with the house sauce, german sausages, pepperoni and peppers. Most of the girls ordered small helpings of various kinds of pasta, while the guys ordered bigger servings. Betsy, true to form, ordered a simple chef’s salad and a small white wine (surprisingly, she wasn't carded - probably under instructions from Mrs. Piper). June watched her like a hawk and tried to copy her every move. She was fascinated by Betsy, a fact that Betsy didn’t feel comfortable about. She nervously grinned at June, pushed her glasses back by the bridge, and continued to pick at her food like a bird.
The normalcy of the scene floored me, and I couldn’t believe that nothing had changed between me and my friends. Then I noticed some furtive looks thrown my way. I shrugged them off, thinking that it’s normal for my friends to be curious.
But it was too good to last because, after a while, almost all the guys stood up to go to the men’s room at almost the same time, with the exception of Morgan and Dale.
We all wondered what was up, so, after a while, I went and followed them.
"Where are you going?" Morgan asked.
"Got to go to the bathroom," I said.
As I got near the men’s room door, I heard Jerry say distinctly, "Bullshit!" I then heard some mumbling, which sounded like Mongo in full-lecture mode. This was followed by a burst of sound like an argument in progress.
I pushed open the door and stepped into the men’s room. The discussion abruptly stopped, like a light that was suddenly switched off. I went and relieved myself in one of the urinals, and as I relieved myself, I heard them mumbling behind me.
I went to the sink to wash my hands. "’Sup, Mike?" I asked.
"Umm, Dan," Mikey began. "The guys and me, we’ve been talking…"
"Yeah?"
"The thing is, Dan," Kyle began and faltered.
"The thing is," Jerry repeated. "We don’t completely believe your story. We don’t not believe you, ‘cause we don’t think that you’d make up all this crap just to fuck us over. Mikey maybe. Not you."
"Hey!" Mike exclaimed, but Jerry shushed him.
"What I guess we’re saying, Dan, is that, well… we need to see."
"See what?"
"Umm, your stuff. Your new stuff, I mean."
"Yeah, Dan." Mongo said. "The only thing I can think of to cause what you claimed happened to you is if you’re on hormone therapy. And there are certain effects that hormone therapy can’t hide."
"And you need to know this, why?"
Jerry gestured with his hands palm up, and shrugged. "Sorry, Dan. We just want to know…"
"I'm no fag," I said. "do you think I'm a fag?"
"We just wanna know, Dan."
Though a bit angry, I shrugged. "I guess I asked for this," I said, and started unbuttoning my shirt. They went to the door to block anyone from coming in. I threw my shirt on the counter and then pulled my bra over my head, my hair catching on the straps and pulling it over my shoulder. I faced them, my upper torso partially covered only by my hair. "Well?" I asked sarcastically, hands on my hips. "You like what you see?"
"Holy," Mike said. "You weren’t kidding." They stared at me a long time, and then slowly approached me, staring at my chest.
I started sweating nervously. "Guys?"
Kyle looked at my tits with his mouth open, and suddenly poked me in the left tit. "Ouch!" I said.
"Jesus," Kyle said. "It’s real!"
"Of course it’s real!"
"You know," Jerry said conversationally, "you look really sexy like that."
"Jesus! You’re a perv, Jerry."
"But you do!"
"Drop your pants," Mongo said suddenly, out of the blue.
"Huh? No way!"
"Cool it, bro. We won’t do anything funny. We just wanna see."
I bowed to the inevitable and dropped my pants. I then bent over and pushed down my jockeys.
I faced them, with hands on my hips, a little sweat of fear or nervousness trickling down my short ribs. "Happy now, you perverts?"
They looked me up and down, slack-jawed. They had that look that Mom and Danielle sometimes had when they were looking at me. I became more nervous.
Mikey whistled. "Good God, Dan. You’re gorgeous!"
"What?" I said belligerently, trying to hide my sudden fear. "You gay or something?"
"Jesus, Dan," Mongo said. "You’ve got the biggest pecker I’ve ever seen! You’re definitely not on female hormones."
"Mine’s damn bigger than yours, that’s for sure, you queer!"
"Sorry Dan… I didn’t mean…"
Suddenly, Dale and Morgan pushed open the door.
***** (Morgan) *****
I couldn’t stand it anymore, and stood up and went to the men’s room. Dale followed. I kicked the door open. "What the fuck’s going on here?" I yelled.
The guys all suddenly brushed passed us, and rushed out of the bathroom. And then we saw Dan standing there, no shirt on, and with his pants around his legs.
I looked at him with mouth agape, and stared. In that split second, I saw him in my mind’s eye, frozen in time. I saw how smooth his body was, no hair at all except in the pubic area, and very fair. With his hair casually thrown over one shoulder, he looked like some wild and beautiful amazon.
His torso was narrow like a girl’s, his breasts just perfect. He had slim, graceful arms that hung down his sides. His waist was too narrow for a guy but very sexy if it was on a girl. His hips flared out, sort of a cross between a girl's and a mature woman’s. But his butt, and those legs… wow! Later on, I would not remember seeing his dick. Was I just not looking, or did it just not fit the picture I was seeing, so my brain sort of edited that out?
Dan pulled up his shorts and pants, and it broke me out of whatever spell I was in. I shook my head and turned around. Dale had fled, the same as the others.
I turned back to Dan. "You okay, Bro?"
"I’m fine, Morgan. Just embarrassed as hell. Listen, you go out and I’ll follow. I need to be alone for a bit just now."
"Okay, man. Meet you outside." I went back to the booth. I glared at the guys and sat down.
"So?" Danielle asked.
"Dan’s fine, if that’s what you’re asking."
She moved to go after him. I pulled her back. "Dan said he wants to be alone for a bit. Give him a little space."
Danielle looked toward the door, and then at me. "Don’t worry about it, Danielle," I said.
"Oh… Okay."
Nikki pulled on my sleeve. "What happened in there, anyway?" she asked.
I gestured towards the guys. "Why don’t you ask them?" They looked at each other guiltily, and didn’t say a word until Jerry cleared his throat.
"Dan," Jerry said, "is telling the truth. We saw."
The rest of the guys all goggled at that.
"What?" Janet asked. "What happened? What?"
Mickey sheepishly gestured. "We, umm… made him take off his shirt." The people gasped in a chorus of dropped cutlery. June had a forkful of pasta midway between plate and mouth. "And his pants…" Janet and Nikki simultaneously leaned forward.
Danielle stood up in anger and outrage. I pulled her down hastily. "Don’t make a scene, Danielle," I said to her sotto voce.
"He was wearing a bra under his shirt. And he has tits! Like he said."
"And, it’s real, all right," said Kyle.
"How would you know?" Janet asked, a little too interestedly.
"I poked her left tit." The guys gasped.
Danielle stood up and went to Kyle. He looked up, and she slapped him, so strongly that his head snapped around.
She gestured at the others. "We thought you were our friends," she said, her voice shaking with barely suppressed rage. "You will stay away from my brother," she said. "You will not see him or talk to him in any way. Do you get me?" There was a long silence.
In the awkward quiet, Mongo cleared his throat. "Danielle, you can’t blame us for…"
She turned to him. "I can, and I do! You will stay away from us. Period!"
She got her and Daniel’s things, and walked to the restrooms.
***** (Nikki) *****
I rushed to follow Danielle.
"Nikki, wait!" Drew called. The other girls were just behind me catching up. When I got to the Men’s Room door, Danielle was calling through the door.
"Dan, honey?" she said. "You okay?"
"I’m fine, sis," Dan answered. "Just embarrassed."
"Are you alone in there?"
"Yeah…"
"I’m coming in."
"No! Umm, give me a few seconds. I’ll come out."
I put my hand on her shoulder, and we waited for Dan to come out.
After a bit, Dan opened the door and stepped out. He seemed to be OK, but he had obviously been crying. Danielle gathered him up in her arms.
"I’m not feeling too good, Danielle," he said.
"That’s all right, Dan. Let’s go home. Never mind those jerks."
"But someone has to take care of the bill…"
Danielle sighed. "OK, I’ll take care of it." Dan handed her his credit card. I didn’t know he had one before. "Nikki," Danielle called to me and I took over taking care of Dan. I held on to him as Danielle went to take care of the bill. He was cold and shaking a bit. She felt so soft and vulnerable, I couldn’t help but want to cuddle and protect her. I mean, him!
Morgan came up to us, and I held onto Dan more fiercely, not wanting anyone to get close and hurt her, him. Whatever.
"Listen, Dude." He said. "How about I drive you guys back to your place. Is that okay?"
Dan smiled ruefully. "Thanks, dude. I don’t feel like driving, right now." He held the keys out to Morgan. I snatched it away.
"Thanks, Morgan," I said. "But I’ll drive."
He patiently held out his hand. "Can you handle a stick-shift?" I thought that over, and finally handed him the keys, but held onto Dan. Later on, I had to wonder why I acted that way. Was I jealous or something?
Danielle came back and we walked to Dan’s car. Me and Danielle sat in the back, with Dan sandwiched in the middle. Janet sat in front, and Morgan in the driver’s seat.
The other girls went with Joanne in her mom’s minivan, and we were soon off to Dan’s house.
Morgan parked in the garage, and Joanne parked behind Dan’s car in the driveway.
We plunked Dan in the middle of the couch, and Danielle and Drew went to the kitchen to get some chips. No one really finished their dinner, and we all were a bit hungry.
Dan sighed, and put his face in his hands.
I knelt in front of him and took his hands away from his face.
"It’s all right, Dan. You’re with friends. We are not judging you. Whatever you may be, however you look, you’re our friend and we care about you." The rest echoed me.
"Thanks, Nikki. That means a lot." Drew and Janet hugged her from both sides. Him, I mean!
He swiped his arm across his eyes. "Oh, Jesus." He shook his head, and cleared his throat. "Listen, I’m just gonna change clothes - my shirt’s all clammy. You guys make yourselves at home."
"I’ll go with you," Morgan said, and they went up the stairs.
***** (Morgan) *****
Dan opened the door to his room and went in, and I followed. He got some clothes from his dresser and went to the bathroom, presumably to take a quick shower, like he always does. I laid down on his bed, grabbed a magazine from his bedside table, and absentmindedly leafed through it. Discovery Magazine. Yuck.
I looked around. The room looked like it always did, but it felt different now somehow. How, I don’t know. Maybe because of Dan’s little announcement, I’m starting to think of him differently. I looked around again, trying to find some traces of overt femininity, and could not find any. I wanted to go through his dresser but I resisted the temptation. I tried to calm down and waited for Dan to finish his shower.
***** (Danielle) *****
I got one of the bags of chips, ripped it open and dumped the chips into a bowl. I brought it out to the living room and found the girls clustered on or near the couch gabbing away. When they saw me, they all suddenly became quiet.
I deposited the chips on the table and sat on the carpet, legs crossed. Drew came in and put the two six-packs of Coke Light by my bowl and sat down beside me.
"'Sup?" she said, oblivious, opened a can and popped in a straw.
They were all looking at me.
Mel cleared her throat.
"Umm, Danielle?" she asked. "What Dan said, and what the guys saw... Umm, were they all true?"
I sighed. "Yes, Melanie. It's all true."
Betsy stared at me wide-eyed. "It is?... Golly..."
"Golly? Did you actually say 'golly?'" Janet quipped. Everyone giggled and Betsy blushed crimson.
Janet hugged her in apology, and Betsy hugged her back. That sort of broke up whatever tension was building. Which was probably Janet's intention. She's one smart girl. I like her.
"So tell!" the nosey June asked. "Is he, like, the same?"
I thought about it. "Well, yeah, I guess pretty much the same. But I've been noticing lately that he's a lot more sensitive. More considerate, you know."
Nikki was looking at me with wide open eyes. "Like how? Give us a for-instance."
"Well, if I'm in the bathroom, he doesn't pound on the door screaming as often. And he doesn't rush me when we go to school together."
"But that's nothing, Danielle," Drew said.
"I guess," I said. "I know I'm telling it badly. But it's how he is now - the whole him." I looked to Nikki, who was nodding with me. "You know what I mean, Nikki. Right?"
Nikki nodded. "Danielle's right. He's gentler and more thoughtful."
Joanne giggled. "I think you're just saying that 'cause you looove him!" she crooned.
We all giggled, and Nikki playfully threw a cushion at her.
Drew sighed. "I guess I know what you girls are saying. And, y'know, if he was born a girl in the first place, I'd want her as one of my girlfriends, too."
"Well, isn't he? I mean, he's practically one of us. Right?" We all murmured our agreement.
"But is he gay?" Janet asked. They all looked at me.
"I don't think so," I said. "Nikki?"
"Definitely not!" she cried, and stood up.
"OK, OK," Janet said. "Simmer down."
Joanne had a thoughtful look. "Hmm... But are you sure?"
"Sure, I'm sure," Nikki answered. "... at least I think I'm sure... I've felt him many times when one or both of us were getting, umm frisky. It's easy enough to know if he's turned on... You know..."
She trailed off in embarassment, and we giggled at her.
"He's not gay!" I cried. "He's crazy about Nikki! So how can he be gay?"
"Maybe it's the wrong question." Joanne said.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Maybe the right question to ask is, 'is he a lesbian?'"
We all suddenly became quiet.
"You're crazy," Nikki said.
"But, you know," Betsy said, "now that I know, I'm starting to have trouble now thinking of her as a boy. I mean 'him'!" She paused in confusion. "Oh dear," she said.
"This is a mystery, girls!" Joanne said. "One that I want to get to the bottom of. And I have an idea just how to do it!"
"What? Drew asked.
"Sleepover!"
***** (Morgan) *****
I sat up when Dan came back wearing one of his patented checkered shirts, toweling his hair dry. He wore the unbuttoned shirt over a very soft-looking white tanktop, his breasts clearly outlined underneath, and had on a pair of baggy shorts. I had a hard time getting that idea through my brain - Dan having breasts. Yet, there it is. God.
I cleared my throat, and tried to sound normal. "Sorry you had to go through that, bro," I said. "The guys are jerks. Screw ‘em."
He sat down on the edge of the bed and put on a pair of sneakers. "Thanks for saying that." He finished tying his shoes and gave me a small, crooked smile. That same old smile that I knew so well. But I couldn’t help think that Dan wasn’t the same guy anymore - the guy that’s been my best friend since I can remember. But I knew intellectually that it’s all in my head. I have to try and cope, and remain his friend.
He gave my leg a little shake of friendship and gratitude. Why did I feel so awkward?
He continued to rub his hair dry, and tucked his right foot under his left thigh. I couldn’t help but notice that little spontaneous gesture. His leg was so incredibly fair and smooth - no hair at all. I could smell a faint scent of soap coming from him, laced with something else, Dan’s own special scent. I nervously pretended to read the magazine in my lap to avoid looking at him.
"You know," he said, "I’ve been thinking. To be fair, if I were in their shoes, I’d probably behave the same way. I mean, I’ve got breasts for god’s sake."
"You shouldn’t justify what they did, Dan. They were wrong."
"They’re our friends, Morgan."
"Exactly."
He raised his arms. "But, look at me. Can you blame them?"
"Did you change from what you were a few hours ago? I don’t think so. You didn’t change. They did." I was trying to react normally, but was finding it hard to be cool.
"I guess," he said. "But didn’t you think anything was different about me? Since my breasts started to grow, didn’t you notice anything different?"
"When did it start happening, exactly?"
He thought that over. "Well, I don’t exactly know. I guess I didn’t really notice, or wanted to notice. But I started to see or feel something wrong about the time when I started with the band."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. Most of the people who went to our shows thought I was a chick. I thought it was my voice, but I started to wonder."
"Well, you’ve always looked a little like a chick, bro." I waved a conciliatory hand. "I’m sorry, bro, but it’s the truth. Remember Halloween?"
"God, yeah. How could I forget? Anyway, I had this crisis kind of thing, and my mom brought me to the hospital. I don't wanna get into that now, okay? But, at the hospital, they gave me a lot of tests, and they did find something - a chemical imbalance. They put me on some kind of medication. But after a while, they finally decided that the drugs weren’t doing anything for me. Aside from radical surgery, they concluded that there was nothing that could be done. This is just the way I am."
"How ‘bout Danielle? And are you considering the surgery?"
"I don’t know, really. I’m still thinking about it."
"And Danielle?"
"Danielle’s a hundred percent normal. Not like me." He looked away.
I gripped his arm. "Don’t, Dan. You are not a freak."
"But, I…"
"No, Dan. You. Are. Not. A. Freak. Period!"
"I’m not?" He was smiling a little.
"Well, I’ve always thought you were weird, dude. You know that." We both laughed. I took my hand away, the memory of the softness and smoothness of his arm lingered in my mind.
"No, dude," he said. "Seriously. What do you think?"
I thought it over, and decided to take the high road. "I didn’t think you were any different."
"Really?"
"Well, you had that voice thing, but you told me a long time ago that it was because of that operation. Other than that, you were pretty normal. Well, normal for a geek."
He hit me on the shoulder. "Ow!" I said, and he laughed. Jeeze, that really hurt. The little dude was stronger than he looked. And, having had my share of scuffles with the school's biggest bully, Tom Hennessy, I suspected that Dan could give him a run for his money. I rubbed my bruised shoulder and laughed along a little belatedly.
I sat up, trying to be serious. "How does it feel?"
"Having breasts, you mean?"
"Yeah. That and the rest of it."
"Well, I’ve noticed that my skin feels a lot softer since the changes started. And it’s a lot more sensitive. I don’t like scratchy and rough clothes anymore."
"Anymore?"
Well, before all of this, my clothes felt fine. Now, they feel rougher and coarser. I’m glad I have these short undershirt things that Danielle bought for me." He gestured at what he was wearing.
"Aren't they for girls?" I asked.
He shrugged. "It's either these or I wear bras all the time. I wear thin cotton undershirts all the time now, otherwise I'd rub my nipples raw."
My mind felt like it was running in first gear, and everything was in slow motion. He rubbed his arms up and down, like he was checking for hair. It was turning me on. God.
"Your chest…"
"It’s a whole lot sensitive, and I like to wear stuff that won’t pinch me. Actually, when my mom introduced me to bras, I found that it made me feel a lot more comfortable."
"It did?" I felt very uncomfortable with this kind of talk myself, but was fascinated just the same.
"Anyway," he continued, "I have to be careful of what kinds of shirts I wear now. Otherwise, my breasts and bra would become noticeable."
"How about not wearing one?"
He shook his head. "Not comfortable at all, if I was wearing a shirt or something. Like I said, they sort of rub me raw. And they make me itch. Also, when I sit and the shirt tugs on my tits, they can pinch. And if I don’t wear one, they hurt when I run around or when I’m doing something vigorous. Like when I jump down from the landing on the stairs. The jiggling looks good on girls, but all the tugging and bouncing actually hurt. Not much, actually, but they do. Enough for me to want some kind of support for 'em. Now I know why girls wear bras." He rubbed the tops of his breasts absentmindedly. I noticed, but tried not to. I was starting to get turned on in a major way.
"Do they feel good? When you rub them like that?" I asked him shyly, quietly.
He suddenly became aware of his hands, and hurriedly pulled them away.
"Ummm." He looked to the side, embarrassed.
"Well, do they?"
He looked at me, and shrugged. "Well, yeah, a bit. And sometimes it makes me sorta hot, you know what I mean?" He comically waggled his eyebrows like Groucho Marx.
I didn’t laugh. "They do?"
"Well, yeah… sometimes…"
We looked at each other in silence. And when the quiet became oppressive, he suddenly stood up and walked to the door.
"Let’s go downstairs, okay? Before the girls finish off the chips. I didn’t get to eat dinner."
I stood up and followed, glad that his back was turned to me. I could feel myself blushing. I tried to hide my growing erection.
When we got downstairs, the guys were there. They were clustered around in the living room near the front door, apparently reluctant to go further in. I noticed Dale standing apart from them, waving at me. The girls surrounded them, projecting a fierce kind of protectiveness.
"Listen," Kyle was saying. "We just want to talk with Dan, to apologize…" They saw us walking down the stairs. "Dan!"
Danielle turned and met us on the stairs.
"Danny," she said, "if you don’t want to talk to them, I’ll send them away."
He looked at the guys. "That’s OK, Danielle. I guess I’ll talk to them."
"You’re sure? Because I can…"
Dan gave her a hug. "I’m sure, Danielle."
Well, OK." She escorted him down, and I trailed behind.
"Hey, guys," he said mildly, as if nothing was wrong.
"Danny," Kyle said, and cleared his throat. "Danny, I’m, well we, are sorry for what happened at the restaurant. We don’t have any excuses for our behavior. We’re so sorry, Dan. God, we’re so sorry." He hung his head. The other guys murmured their apologies.
I looked into Kyle’s face and he was actually teary-eyed, by God!
Dan gave him a hug, and then thumped him on the back.
"It’s OK, dude. Really."
Kyle pushed away, and swiped an arm across his eyes. "What’s happening to me," I heard him mutter to himself.
"Don’t worry about it, Kyle. Thanks."
"Thanks? Thanks for what?"
"For caring."
"We’re your friends, man…"
"I know."
"Though, I don’t know why you want to be friends with us."
"Yeah, I ask myself the same thing, too. All the time."
Everyone laughed at that, and then he gave each of the guys a hug. I thought that over a bit. It’s not the sort of thing that a guy would usually do. But, for him, it fit. The others didn’t seem to find it out-of-character at all, too.
"We’ll leave. I know you must be tired. And maybe we can talk again later?" There was a soft, hopeful lilt at the end.
"Sure," Dan said. "Later."
"You girls, I mean, umm…" He was beet red in embarrassment. "I mean, you and the girls left so suddenly, you didn’t have a chance to finish dinner. So we had them doggy-bag your food." Mikey and the others brought out wonderful-smelling cardboard boxes and paper bags. The girls took them.
"So… see you later?"
"Sure."
The guys waved goodbye and left. Dale was the last to go out. He grinned, wagged his eyebrows and closed the door.
The girls burst out laughing. Danielle hugged Danny around the neck, and giggled into his hair. "Did you see their faces? It was so precious! Boys!" She giggled again.
I blushed furiously at that. I harrumphed, and the girls all laughed.
I decided to say my goodbyes, too. "Listen. I’ll be going, too. So see you guys?"
"Oh, poor Morgan." Drew giggled. "I hope we didn’t embarrass you."
I blushed even more, if that was possible. "Nahh," I said. "It’s getting late, and I need to get home. Otherwise, my mom will be pissed and ground me. Again."
"Okay, Morgan," Danielle said, and the others squealed, "’Bye, Morgan!"
I thumped Dan on the shoulder. "See you later, dude."
"What?" Janet exclaimed. "No hug?" I gave her a sour look, and went and hugged Danny. I felt his boobs pressing against me, and I started feeling turned on again.
"See ya, dude," I said.
"Hey, Morgan!" Drew called.
***** (Drew) *****
As Morgan was stepping out, I said, "Hey, Morgan!" He turned around. "Wait, I’ll walk you out." The girls went, "oooh." I waved them down. "Oh, shut up!"
Morgan waited just outside. I slipped my arm through his, and we walked to the garage. "I’m sorry," I said quietly.
"Huh? For what?"
"Well, the girls. I hope you’re not mad."
"Nahh. I've known you guys as long as I’ve known Danny. I’m used to it."
"Well, still. I’m sorry. You stood by Dan when the others didn’t. We should be nicer."
"Thanks, but it’s no big deal." He let go of my arm and got on his motorcycle. "He’s my best friend," he said simply. He put on his leather jacket and his helmet. "So, what are you girls planning tonight?" He rolled his bike onto the street.
"I don’t know, yet. It’s up to Danielle, really."
"Oh. Well, I hope you girls have fun." He started his bike with a roar. Well, a somewhat muted roar, actually - it’s only a 75cc, after all.
I raised the visor of his helmet, and was able to barely kiss the tip of his nose. "Drive safely," I said, and went to walk back to the house.
"Hey!" I turned around. Morgan switched off his bike, took off his helmet and walked to me.
"Yeah?"
He grabbed me about the waist, and swung me around. I gasped in surprise. He leaned over me. "You’ve got to do it right," he whispered in my ear, and kissed me. I mean, he kissed me! If it weren’t for his arms around me, I would have fallen. I swooned in this golden haze that I didn’t want to get out of. I could smell his masculine scent, and breathed in deeply. He had his hand on my butt, and I wriggled in pleasure. I didn’t know what was happening to me.
Eventually, we broke the kiss, and I tried to catch my breath. He was looking into my eyes, smiling this little-boy smile. I hugged him, and leaned on his shoulder until I felt I could stand on my own.
"Goodness," I whispered.
"Liked that, huh?" He said.
"Oh, yes."
"Well, I gotta go," he said.
"Jerk," I smiled sweetly.
"Can I call you, tomorrow?"
I nodded and gave him my number.
He got on his bike again, and drove off. And I dreamily walked back to the house.
As my head cleared a bit, I could hear the giggling coming from inside, and I remembered. Joanne said we were gonna have a sleepover!
"Oh, boy," I said, and hurried back.
end of part three
|
DANNY
Part 4 by Roberta J Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And about how he and his buds handle his problems with the school bully when he dresses up as a girl in the annual Halloween costume contest, how he and his family deal with his having breasts, and how he deals with getting turned on by his would-be girlfriend. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school pop band. Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. |
Author’s Note: I started writing this December 2005, soon after I discovered the now-defunct Fictionmania site (which I just found out recently was resurrected), and I decided to try my hand at writing Transgender Fiction. And it took me this long to build up the courage to actually upload it for others to enjoy (or not — your option heheh). I have resurrected what little I have of my old story, and though I am by no means a real writer, I hope to finish the rest of the story asap. I first uploaded it in Crystal’s StorySite, and, though still incomplete, I was convinced to try uploading it in Topshelf as well. Feedback would be most appreciated, so I do hope people write me back through my site-registered email address.
I am by no means a real writer so I hope you will forgive any grammatical and literary flubs that you see. Further, given that this little piece had close to five years of gestation, many of the cultural referents will be off - for example, many of the songs used in the story are not current but in the story they’re treated as if they were, yet at the same time other songs are really current songs. I hope you will forgive the temporal mismatch here, and try and enjoy the story despite this.
Apologies also if the quoted lyrics are wrong — I got most of them off the net, or from my own memory — I didn’t get them off official sources.
So, without further ado, here we go with the story. Hope you like… (Don’t forget! Feedback please!!)
Twelve: Pajama Party Planning
***** (Drew) *****
I opened the door and went to the living room. I found them sitting around the couch, with Danny sitting in the middle. Strewn on the table were the bags and boxes with the food the boys brought. They looked at me.
“So?” Danielle asked.
“So? So, what?”
“Tell us what happened out there.”
“Nuthin’,” I said nonchalantly, and smiled a dreamy little smile.
“What do you mean, nothing? Come on, give!”
"Maybe later," I said, and plunked myself down beside Nikki and Danny. I looked at the girls. "Aren't we supposed to go home and get our stuff?"
"Stuff?" Danny asked.
"Didn't they tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
I giggled. "Maybe later," I said. "But we all have to go home and get some things, but we'll be back as soon as we can."
He looked puzzled.
I patted his cheek. "Don't worry. It's a surprise."
"Ready?" Joanne asked. She was just shrugging on her jacket.
"Sure," I said, and grabbed mine. I gave Danny a kiss on the cheek and gave Danielle a quick hug. "Seeya later," I said to her, and we both giggled.
Joanne dropped me off and I slammed her van’s door. "Pick something nice for her," she said, and zoomed away.
I rushed upstairs. I knocked on my Mom and Dad's door, and went in. "Mom? Dad? Is it okay if I sleep over at Danielle's?"
Mom reluctantly sat up, rubbing sleep from her eyes. Dad just mumbled and turned over. "What was that, honey?" She yawned.
I sighed a bit theatrically. "I said, 'Is it okay if I sleep over at Danielle's?"
"Who will be there?"
"Just the girls - Danielle, Drew, Joanne, Betsy and some of the others."
Mom yawned again. "I guess it's alright, then... zzzzzz..."
I giggled. "Thanks, mom. Go back to sleep." I closed their door much more gently than when I opened it.
I went to my room and gathered some essentials. As I was picking stuff, I thought it over, and grabbed a really gauzy light-green babydoll number. I never wore it since the bra cups were too large for me - I guess it was a case of wishful thinking on my part when I bought it. I imagined Danny wearing it, and I tingled all over. I also grabbed the matching pair of panties. It was a full pair, I guess to compensate for the fact there wasn’t anything underneath the top.
I grabbed my Canon SLR and Speedlight flash, making sure there was a freshly charged battery in the camera as well as an SDHC card, and grabbed my full makeup kit.
I went downstairs and waited for Joanne.
***** (Joanne) *****
I had dropped everyone off before speeding home. When I got home and up to my room, I was so excited my palms were actually sweating. I feverishly stuffed things in my overnighter, bussed mom on the cheek as she and Dad watched TV, and rushed out the door, yelling over my shoulder that I was sleeping over at Danielle's tonight and I slammed the door. Mom didn't have a chance.
I got in and tried to get the key in the ignition with my trembling hand three times. I stopped myself and took several calming breaths. It wouldn't do to wrap the van around a tree.
I finally started the engine, took several calming breaths, and sedately pulled out of the driveway, tooting the horn and waving at mom.
I went to Nikki's first since she was the closest, and as I pulled up to her house, I saw Nikki standing outside. Nikki slammed their front door and ran to my van like a rocket.
She opened the van’s back door, dropped her things, slammed it, almost ran to the passenger door and got in. She slammed the passenger door, gave me a quick peck on the cheek and said breathlessly, "let's go!"
I put the van in Drive, and verrry slowly pulled out into the street.
"Faster, Joanne!"
I laughed. "You're all excited, huh?" I goosed the gas and drove faster.
She gave me a look. "Ha-ha," she said sarcastically, and we drove towards Janet's in companionable silence.
"Aren't you excited, too?" she said after a while.
I smiled sheepishly, and nodded. "I'm so excited, I'm actually nervous." Both of us giggled.
I picked up Janet, Mel, then Drew and then June. The back was decidedly getting full. The four were giggling over the stuff they brought. June held up a bra she brought, and all four bursted out laughing. Nikki craned her neck to find out what it was all about, only to have the bra thrown at her. I turned to look at her, and saw her with it on her head. She looked like a rabbi wearing a yarmulke. I laughed out loud, and she threw the thing at me.
I passed through the Haley’s front gate and pulled up in front of Betsy's. Nikki stepped out to press the bell. "Leave some room for Betsy's stuff," I called to the back, and they moved their things around.
Betsy came out with her violin case. I waved for her to ride in front. Their butler followed, carrying a huuuge suitcase. He swung open the back door of the van and struggled to find room for the big heavy bag. Betsy smiled at him.
"Thank you, Walter," Betsy said.
The big man huffed and nodded. "We'll see you tomorrow, then, miss."
"Bye Walter," she said and hopped in beside Nikki.
"All set?" I asked. Betsy gave Nikki and me a hug and nodded. She waved to the girls in the back.
"So," I said, "what do you have in the bag?”
She giggled merrily. “You’ll see,” she said.
As I pulled up the Fairchild house, Danny came out and waved me on towards their open garage. I drove mom’s little van in right next to Danny’s ‘stang, and as soon as I had the engine turned off, everyone started to get out. They all gave Dan big hugs and kisses, much to his surprised delight.
“Hey, sexy,” I called over. “How’s about lending a poor lil ole girl like me a hand with these here bags?” Danny gestured in a “who me” kind of gesture. “Yes, hot stuff. I mean you.”
Danny gave me a very Spock-like eyebrow-raise and opened the back. He took down Betsy’s big suitcase plus a large duffle, probably mine, and a large bulging backpack, and led the way inside, bringing the bags along. He was struggling with Betsy’s big bag but more because of its unwieldly size than its weight. In fact he easily lifted it up and used it to push the door to the kitchen open.
The girls and I looked at each other. “Danny’s pretty strong,” Betsy said.
“No kidding,” I said.
“C’mon in guys,” Danny called from inside. “Where do you want this stuff, by the way?”
We went in and walked to the living room. Danny leaned the suitcase against the back of the sofa, with my duffle right beside it. The rest of us piled all our stuff right near it and settled ourselves down all over the living room — Nikki sharing the big overstuffed padded chair with Danny, of course; me, Betsy and Danielle sharing the sofa, and the rest sat on the floor with various throwpillows. Janet dragged a big beanbag chair from beside the Fairchild’s big TV, parked it near Nikki’s and Danny’s feet and plopped down on it.
Danielle had transferred the restaurant food into bowls and plates, and we had an Italian smorgasbord on the living room table. I heaped spaghetti on a plate and dug in, as well as the others.
“So,” Danny began, as our hunger tapered off a bit, “what do you guys have planned for tonight?” He popped a straw in a can of Coke Zero and daintily sipped the soda.
“Well…” Danielle reluctantly began.
“Planning!” Janet exclaimed. “What else?”
“Joanne said it might be a sleepover thing, so should I leave you girls alone?”
“No! You’re part of it, you can’t leave us.”
Danny looked at her in askance.
“Well, after your revelations tonight, we gotta plan what’s best to do. I mean, y’know, how to keep things under wraps, plan out what’s best for the gang. And the band, too, of course,” Janet dimpled.
Danny looked down at his feet. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Like what happened with the guys, and all.”
“Well, they finally came around, didn’t they?” Betsy said. “That’s something.”
“Well, yeah…”
“Their conscience finally got to them,” Danielle said, with some heat. “Those little…”
Janet reached out and patted Danielle on her arm. “Give them a break, Danielle. They were probably freaked by all of this. It was only natural. The fact that they came back — that’s the more important thing.”
“Were you,” Danny asked.
“Huh?”
“Were you guys freaked out, too? By what’s happened to me?”
There was silence.
“Well…,” Mel started to say, but faltered. “Ummm, a little? I mean, we always thought you were a little girly. But this thing…”
Janet took over. “We were, Dan. Truthfully, we all were. But that doesn’t matter now. We won’t leave. We won’t stop being your friend.”
“Yeah, Dan,”
“We’ll protect you,” Mel said. Everyone murmured their agreement.
“Thanks, guys,” Danny said, and Nikki and Danielle gave him hugs.
“Well,” I said, standing up, “I’m stuffed. How about we clean up a bit here and start getting ready for our ‘planning session.’”
Everyone jumped up and picked up their plates. There was an excited mass exodus to the kitchen.
“Why don’t we just leave everything,” Mel said, “and clean up tomorrow?”
“Nahh,” I said. “Let’s clean up, and give Nikki and Danielle time to get Danny settled with the idea. If he freaks or gets mad, the sleepover’s done even before it begins.”
Everyone agreed. Janet and Betsy went back and got the rest of the plates and empty Styrofoam boxes.
It was a bit crowded around the sink, but with two washing, two wiping and two cleaning up, we’d be finished in no time.
***** (Danny) *****
“I smell a setup,” I said.
“Well, a little bit,” Danielle said.
“Joanne said it’s gonna be a sleepover,” I said.
“It’ll be fun, Danny!” Nikki squealed.
“It if involves getting me to dress in girls’ clothes…”
“Please, Danny,” Nikki begged. “It’ll be fun!”
I looked at Nikki, eyes glowing, so excited. I had to laugh. Then I sobered up.
“Nikki, I’m a guy. Please don’t make me do this.”
Nikki looked at me and pouted a bit.
“Please don’t get mad, or anything like that when I ask you this,” I said, “but I really have to know.”
She sat up, hearing the seriousness in the tone of my voice.
“Danny,” Danielle asked. “Are you ok?”
“Would you mind leaving us alone, Danielle,” I asked.
She looked at me, gently touched my cheek and got up. “I’ll just go to the kitchen and help the girls clean up,” she said. She gave Nikki a significant look, that protective big-sister look that she gave the guys earlier. She walked back to the kitchen, but had to push the others back, as all of them had their ear glued to the door, eavesdropping apparently. “Move it, girls,” Danielle said, and pushed them back. As the door was closing, I heard the others start asking Danielle questions.
With Danielle out of the couch, there was a bit more room and I moved back a bit so I could talk with Nikki a little better.
“So, what did you want to ask me,” Nikki said.
I took a deep breath.
“I’ve known all of you since grade school,” I began hesitantly, “and have always been around you guys for as long as I can remember. I’m sure you know, I’ve always, ummm, liked you. You know?”
She looked at me with big google-eyes. “You have?”
“I’m sure you must have noticed. Danielle always said that I was so obvious about it.”
“But, Danny…”
I laid a finger on her lips. “Please let me finish, Nikki,” I said. “’Coz this might be the only time I’ll have the courage to say it.”
Nikki nodded silently.
“In all these years,” I continued, “I’ve been so timid and scared that I couldn’t really say it to you directly. I hoped that I’d have the chance, and the courage to actually tell you, but you never looked my way. You just thought of me as Danielle’s geeky brother.”
“Danny, I never thought of you…”
I gave her a quick kiss so she’d shut up.
“Thanks for saying that, but I know the truth. I heard Joanne talking with you once, and that’s what she said when you guys were in the back seat of Dad’s car and I was in front, and you guys were whispering so I couldn’t hear. But I did.”
Nikki looked at me with bright eyes.
“But that was before. It’s just that, after Halloween, it’s like you changed. I guess you started to like me then. In that way.”
A few tears ran down from the corners of her eyes.
“I have to ask, is it because you like me as a girl instead of a guy? I have to know.”
She flung her arms around my neck and hugged me.
“Oh, Danny,” she sobbed. I could feel her tremble.
“I’m sorry, Nikki,” I said. “I guess I just need to know.”
***** (Nikki) *****
It was a revelation to me. I didn’t know. Someone like Danny could have gotten anyone he liked. And he liked me. After all these years. How blind could I have been?
“Danny,” I said, “I didn’t know you felt that way.”
Danny laughed quietly, sadly. “Thanks for saying so, Nikki. But how could you not?”
“But I didn’t! Honest and truly!” I pushed away from him so I could look into his eyes. “Ask Danielle. Hell, ask any of the girls.”
“But what about that time in the car?”
“Was I the one who said whatever it was that you heard?”
“No, it was Joanne, but…”
“No buts, Dan. I never did. In fact…”
“In fact, what?”
“In fact, I thought you were the one who didn’t like me.”
He looked at me incredulously.
“Remember your tenth birthday? I gave you that video CD of Princess Mononoke that you were pestering your parents for. You just took the disk and ran away. I was so hurt when you did. I hated you for it. Danielle said that I should just ignore you, and I did. I just thought you didn’t like me. So I stayed away and tried to ignore you.”
“I remember that. I’m so sorry, Nikki. But that was such a long time ago.”
“Danny, I did like you. I thought you were nice and kind, and real, real cute. But since you always disappeared when I was around, or didn’t even speak to me, I sort of thought that you didn’t like me back. Especially after that CD thing. I thought I didn’t have a chance so I never thought of you in that way again.”
“But, Nikki, we were only ten years old then.”
“Still.”
He looked at me, and I looked back. Those incredible green eyes… I had to tear myself away.
“I’m so sorry, Nikki,” he said. “The reason I ran away was I was too shy. I was so stupid.”
“Yes, you were,” I giggled, and sniffed back some tears.
“But what changed, Nikki,” he asked. “What made you think differently at Halloween?”
“When you were in costume, you were more open, you hung around with us - with me. I saw it then, that you were interested. It changed for me. To know that you were interested.”
He looked down, hesitating.
“But, still,…” he said, haltingly, “do you like me as a girl, or as a guy?”
I looked down and thought about it. Danny was so incredibly hot as a girl. So sexy and so talented. So sweet. But then again, if he were a guy… I tried imagining him with a shorter haircut, in clothes similar to what, say, Morgan would wear. The image persisted — he’d still be talented and sweet. And sexy…
But I thought again of him wearing that costume from last Halloween. There was a different dimension to him, it was true, at least to me, I liked him more in his girl persona. Even if he were trying to be a guy in guy duds, that feminine aura would still be around him. He would never escape his girliness, regardless. In a way, I was happy for that. Because… Danny as a guy — I would love forever. But, as a girl, he was incredible.
I looked back to him. He had a worried look. Do I like him as a girl or as a guy?
All this is a revelation. But more than that — for all my old little-girl dreams of him that were dashed, I now discovered him, or maybe it’s “rediscovered.” Now that I have him, I found I wouldn’t… couldn’t give him up. And if I ever tell him the truth, could I lose him again? I couldn’t risk that. Even if I lose Dan-the-girl, at least I would have Dan-the-guy. So I won’t tell him the truth. The whole truth, at least.
“Danny,” I said to him. “It wouldn’t matter to me whether you’re a guy or a girl. I would love you no matter what.” I kissed him and hugged him close. I don’t want to hurt him. Please let him believe that.
He put his hands on the back of my head, moving them restlessly through my hair as he kissed me. I was about to faint. Oh, God, don’t let this end.
After what felt like a long time, I pulled back. I shook myself in happiness. Danny was smiling a merry smile.
“So,” I said. “What do you want to do tonight? The girls will be disappointed, but that’s okay. How do you want us to handle this?” I thought a bit and I giggled.
“What’s so funny?”
“The girls have big plans for tonight.” I reached over and touched his cheek. “But don’t worry, you don’t need to do anything you don’t want to. I’ll take care of it.” I stood up to go to the kitchen, but Danny put his had on my arm and held me back. “Wait, Nikki.”
I hunkered down on my haunches and put my hand over his. “What, Danny.”
“Does it matter to you, that I be a girl?”
“Danny…” I looked at his face. “It doesn’t matter. Guy or girl, it doesn’t matter to me. I promise. So long as you keep being mine.” I leaned over and kissed him again.
He looked at me, deep into my eyes. It felt like he was looking deep into my soul. It was wonderful.
One side on his lips quirked up. “Well, okay.” He grinned at me. “But if it means that much to the girls…”
“What are you saying?”
He grinned again - that merry smile of his…
“It could be fun?”
I couldn’t keep my eyes from falling out of their sockets. “What?”
“I said it could be fun.”
I started kissing him all over his face.
***** (Danny) *****
Nikki started giving me butterfly kisses, making me giggle. I hugged her close to stop it.
“Nikki, Nikki,” I said, but she wouldn’t listen. “Nikki!”
She pulled back. “What?”
“How’s about we clean up here and bring everything to the kitchen?”
Nikki pouted but relented.
We picked up all of the remaining plates and stuff and went to the kitchen.
I heard noises from behind the door. “We’re coming in!” I called and there was a lot of scuffling. I pushed the door open with my elbow. Everyone was busy, apparently. Janet, Drew and June were busy at the sink, Joanne was dumping stuff in a plastic trashbag, and Mel and Betsy were at the kitchen table sipping on cokes. All suspiciously innocent.
“So,” Danielle said while putting away plates. “Had a good talk?”
“Pretty okay,” Nikki dimpled. We deposited our stuff by the sink.
“So,” I said. “When’s this ‘planning session’ starting?”
***** (Janet) *****
We all moved back into the living room.
"So what now?" Danny asked. “Not like I’m suspicious or anything.”
Good question, I said to myself.
"I'm not leaving this room except to go to bed and sleep," Danny warned.
“How about playing a little cards,” I said.
***** (Danny) *****
We were all sitting on the floor, sitting around the living room table. “I’ll take one,” I said. I laid one of my cards on the table in front of a pile of clothes — my winnings. Janet dealt me one. The rest of the girls looked at me, studying my moves. Was I bluffing or not? I waggled my eyebrows at them. Joanne gave me a sour look.
Drew shook her head — she was staying with what she had. June took one.
“I’m taking three,” Betsy said, and Janet dealt her three.
“And the dealer also takes three.” Janet gave herself three new cards.
Nikki, Danielle and Mel took the smart road. They had quit earlier when they got down to their blouses and panties.
Not with these others.
So far, I’ve only lost my shirt, shoes and socks. The tanktop wasn’t too warm but I bet I was warmer than the others. Janet, Joanne, Drew and June only had their bras and panties on, though Betsy still had on her blouse.
“What the hell kind of sleepover is this, Joanne,” Drew grumped.
“Shut up,” Joanne growled.
“I call,” Drew said.
Betsy took off her blouse. “I bet,” Betsy said, and threw her blouse on the table.
“Wait your turn,” Janet said.
“I bet!”
“Okay, okay!” she said. “No need to bite a person’s head off.” Janet turned to June. “How ‘bout you, June?”
June threw her cards down. “I’m out. Damnit!”
I giggled. June glared at me. Woah! This game’s becoming pretty intense.
Joanne reached down and pulled off a pair of bobby socks. “I see your bet, and raise.” I didn’t see her socks.
It was my turn, I guess. So I took off my pants. There was a simultaneous intake of breath. “I see your bet.” I tucked my legs underneath and sat on my haunches.
“Wait!” Joanne said. “I put down a pair of socks.”
“I bet a pair of pants,” I giggled and stuck my tongue out.
Joanne snorted, and turned to Janet. “Okay, your turn...”
Joanne’s voice trailed off as Janet put her cards down, squirmed around and tossed her panties on the pile. Everyone howled. My eyes goggled at that. I was starting to lean down when Nikki smacked me on my ear. “Ow!”
“Eyes front, Danny!”
“Okay, okay!” I rubbed my ear.
Janet was beet red but continued on, as if nothing unusual just happened. “So who’s next?”
“Goddamnit!” Drew threw her cards down.
“I fold, too, I guess…” Betsy quit as well.
Joanne shook her head and laid down her cards, too.
Janet turned to me. “Looks like it’s you and me left, Danny-boy,” Janet said.
I thought about it, but my hand was too good — a straight flush. I looked around and made a decision. I put my cards down, turned around and skinned my shirt off. “Okay. I bet.” I threw my tanktop on the table and kept one of my arms over my boobs.
Everyone looked at me, or rather my chest. “What!” I exclaimed. I turned to Janet. “Your bet,” I said.
Janet shook her head and looked at her cards again. And then back at my boobs. “Ummm, I call.”
“Call with what,” I said.
“Okay, okay,” Mel said. She took off her blouse. “Here you go, Janet.” She put the blouse on the table.
Janet nodded to Mel. “Thanks, hon,” Janet said. “Okay, Danny. I call. Let’s see your cards.”
Keeping my boobs covered, I turned over my cards one-handed. “Straight flush. Ten of hearts.”
“Shit,” Janet exclaimed and turned over a full house.
Everyone made sympathetic sounds. There was a moment of silence as they all glanced at me, waiting to see what I would do.
I gulped and, before things could get ugly, I gestured at my winnings. “How about let’s quit while I’m ahead. Before you guys kill me, okay?” I picked up Janet’s panties and handed it to her.
Janet looked at me, and I shrugged with a little apologetic grin. I waved my hands over the clothes and everyone reached out for their clothes. I snagged my tanktop and put it on, glad to have my breasts covered again.
While everyone put on their clothes, I went to Janet. “No hard feelings, Janet? It was only a game…” I had my hand out.
Janet looked at my hand, and then me. “C’mere.” She said, and pulled me into a hug.
“I’m sorry, Janet,” I said into her hair, and she just hugged me harder.
Nikki came over and hugged us both.
“What now,” June asked.
Everyone had their stuff out, and we were in the middle of the Big Debate, i.e. what I was supposed to wear for tonight. Seems everyone had ideas about it. Nikki was taking pictures.
“What do you think of these,” Joanne asked and held up a pajama set, made up of a pair of ivory-colored silk capri-length pajama bottoms and a silk cami-style top. “Cute!” Mel said. Nikki’s camera flashed as Mel held up the pajama set.
Janet brought out her own offering, a smokey, sheer-mesh babydoll lingerie set that came to the middle of the thigh. The cups had touches of black lace and was fitted just under the cups. I looked at the label and it said Frederick’s. Mel whistled.
“Now I don’t want to bring out what I brought anymore,” said Mel.
Everyone cried “no.”
“We want to see it!” Drew and June said. Mel brought out a little sleepshirt — a cotton number with little polka-dot animal prints, short sleeves and a round neck, plus some ruching detail around the neck. Everyone agreed that it was pretty cute.
June and Drew brought out theirs. Not surprisingly, both of them brought nighties. June’s was a nice mid-thigh length periwinkle number with ribbon detail around the bust. Drew’s was a powder-blue version, one of the panels in front laying over the other. It was fitted around the waist. To my un-feminine eye, at least these two looked almost as comfortable as Mel’s sleepshirt. Nikki’s flash fired a couple of times.
Betsy brought out a purple and red-striped “long jane” pajama made of some cozy cotton-spandex thermal material, with a scoopneck henley top with a front pocket. It was paired with a pair of banded crop pants with a drawstring.
“How about you, Danielle,” Janet asked. “What did you bring?”
Danielle waved her away. “Danny’s probably seen most of what I have already. It’s okay. Whatever you guys like is fine.” She looked to Nikki. “What did you bring, Nikki?”
Nikki looked at me. “Only if you want to, Danny,” she said to me. Nikki brought out a really short gauzy thing in pastel green, with a cute green bow in the middle of the underwired cups. A “tux lux” from Victoria’s Secret, the label said.
“Wow!”
“Now that’s got to be the one!”
“Wait, wait!” Nikki said. “We let Danny decide.”
I looked around at the expectant faces. I didn’t want to disappoint any of them, but looking at some of the clothes… I went for a compromise.
“I think, if it’s okay, can I start easy?” I went and picked up Betsy’s “long jane.” “Would it be all right if I tried this one, Betsy? At least it covers everything.” Betsy noddd like crazy and gave me a hug.
“Okay, girls,” Danielle said. “Let’s get ready.” She clapped her hands. “Chop chop!” Danielle grabbed my hand. “Danny, you come with me.”
I stumbled up the stairs as Danielle dragged me, Betsy’s pajama set in hand.
“If you guys need an extra bathroom,” she called downstairs, “there’s another one up here.”
Danielle dragged me into her room and parked me on her bed.
In moments, she gave me a little package. She shooed me into her en-suite bathroom. “Go ahead, Danny, put that and the pajamas on.”
I went into the bathroom, closed the door and, except for my socks, took off all my clothes. I looked at the package that she gave me. It looked like a set of three briefs from a place called TG.Net. One was white, one was red, and one was flesh-colored. I read the label and instructions. Apparently, they were called gaffs, and they were supposed to hide male genitals by binding them down. According to the instructions, there were two ways of doing that — the first way was that you were supposed to put your penis between your legs. The second way was the same as the first, except you were also supposed to push your testicles into the abdominal cavity. The second method sounded painful but it said that was the preferred way if you were wearing something tight and form-fitting.
The second sounded painful, and a bit dangerous, so I decided to do the first method. I picked the bright-red pair and struggled to put it on, making sure Junior was tucked between my legs. I looked in the mirror and, despite a shallow bump, it looked like I had a passable female crotch. Thing was, it was a thong gaff.
“Danny?” Danielle called. “Can I come in?”
I was just wearing socks and the red gaff, but Danielle started coming in. I was looking around for something to wear but it was too late. I bowed to the inevitable. Anyway Danielle had seen everything before.
She came in wearing a cute green-and-white shorty pajama, and she saw me practically nude save for the tight red underwear.
“Good god, Danny,” she said. “You’re gorgeous!”
“I’m naked,” I said, a blush creeping up my neck and face.
“Yes, you are,” she said. “And you’re gorgeous.” She giggled.
I harrumphed, and tried to put on as much dignity as I could. I went to the counter and put on Betsy’s pajamas. I buttoned up the front buttons except for the last ones and pulled on the pants. They really did look a bit like long johns but without the flap at the back, thank god.
“Come here,” Danielle said.
I went over, and Danielle combed my hair. “There you go,” she said when she was finished. I looked at the mirror, and the girl from the Halloween party was back.
***** (Nikki) *****
I thought of wearing the green babydoll I brought, but I chickened out. I took out another more… demure outfit — a cute, short-sleeved mid-thigh light pink sleepshirt with “Victoria’s Secret” printed in front in relatively small glittery letters.
The others were wearing the stuff they showed off earlier except Betsy, who was wearing a very sheer ivory nightie. “What are you doing, wearing that,” Janet said. I shrugged.
We looked up to see Danny and Danielle going down the stairs. They were bringing down piles and piles of pillows and blankets. “I figured you guys would want to stay downstairs where there’s more room,” Danielle said.
“I brought down my dad’s and my camping bedrolls, too,” Danny said, lifting them up and showing us. He really is pretty strong.
We met them on the landing and took some of the stuff.
Danny helped move the living room table and set up the bedrolls that he brought down.
I went with Danielle and Mel to the kitchen and got some chips, some dip and soda. Danielle took out a couple of plates of brownies from the pantry and brought that out, too.
We all settled down in various places on around the living room. I took a couple of pictures and settled down myself.
“So what is it that girls do in a sleepover,” Danny asked.
“Y’know — all that cliché stuff,” Joanne said.
“What,” Danny asked. “Makeup? Painting toenails and telling each other ghost stories?”
“Sure!” Drew and June said together, and then giggled.
“Well, this sleepover’s gonna be different,” Janet said.
“It is?”
“Yup,” Janet said. “This is going to be a serious planning session.” Janet look at the girls and after a beat, we all burst out laughing.
Betsy looked at us sadly. “But I brought my entire makeup kit and everything…” We all began laughing again.
Janet went to her and gave her a hug. “Honey,” Janet said, “I was joking. We’ll do all of that, and then some.”
I took a picture of Betsy and Janet.
We all settled down for some serious girly fun. I ended up braiding Danny’s hair and Danny was braiding Betsy’s. Betsy insisted. The others were scattered around us. Janet got my camera and took a picture at us three.
“Danny,” Joanne said, as she painted Mel’s toenails, “What happened, earlier. Y’know, in the bathroom at the restaurant.”
I felt Danny tense up a bit. I leaned down and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“I think you know,” he said.
“A little bit. From what the guys said.”
“They wanted to see, they said. So I showed them.”
“And you showed them?” Janet asked.
“Well, yeah. It’s not as if I had a choice. I was trapped in the bathroom. I dropped my top and my pants.”
“What? They made you!?” Danielle shrieked.
“Chill, Danielle,” Dan said. “They didn’t. Well, not exactly. But I was in there with all of them. Good thing Morgan and Dale came in.”
“But what did they do, Danny,” June asked.
“They made me take my shirt off. Actually, looking back at it, they didn’t do much. I guess they just wanted to see.”
Danielle snorted.
“Janet was right, Danielle,” Danny said, “you can’t really blame them. If it was the reverse, and they had my, ummm, problem, I would probably want to see, too.”
“They’re good people, Danielle,” Janet said. “A little weird, but…”
“Hey, those are my buds!” Danny said.
“But they ARE weird, right?” Janet said.
“Well… yeah?” Drew and June giggled.
“They were just curious. And I wasn’t hurt. Just terribly embarrassed. I’ll survive.” I leaned down and hugged him. Everyone else murmured their sympathies.
“Danny?” Betsy said after a while.
“Yeah, honey?”
“Can we… see, too?” I felt Danny tense up again.
This was greeted with silence.
“But only if you want to, Danny.” Betsy turned around, dislodging Danny’s hands. She looked into his eyes. “Only if you want to. I’m sorry.”
After a beat, he hugged Betsy.
Danny sighed. “I guess we won’t get passed this until I give you guys a peek.”
Danielle stood up. Danny made a patting gesture. “It’s cool, Danielle.” He turned to me. “Let me up, Nikki.” I finished off his braid and helped him up.
As he stood, he unbuttoned the buttons of the Henley top of his borrowed pajama and pulled it over his head. He threw it away and stood naked from the waist up. We were all around him, with mouths agape.
“Yup, it’s boobs, all right,” Joanne said sarcastically, and there was nervous laughter.
I was about to touch the left breast but I stopped. “Can I, Danny?”
He looked at me and gave me a nod.
I reached out and touched it. “She looks like a real girl.” June marveled.
“It’s real,” Drew whispered, and they all reached out to touch her, too. I looked into Danny’s face and he had his eyes closed in embarrassment.
I batted their hands away. “Stop it!” I picked up Danny’s pajama top and handed it to him. “We’re sorry, Danny,” I said as we watched him put his top back on.
Danny cleared his throat, eyes unusually bright. “I’m glad that’s over,” he said in an overwrought voice, trying to be humorous.
“Oh, Danny,” I said, and hugged her.
***** (Janet) *****
I couldn’t take my mind off of Danny’s image in my mind. She’s so gorgeous. I looked at her, lying on the bedroll, Nikki wrapped around her protectively. I tried to bring my mind back to the conversation.
“I think the school situation’s okay,” Betsy was saying. “Has anyone been suspicious, Danny?”
Danny shook her head. “Although,” she said, “everyone probably considers me gay, by now.”
“How do you figure that?”
Danny shrugged. “Just a feeling,”
“I don’t think anyone does, Danny,” Nikki said.
Danny shrugged.
“But unless Danny keeps on wearing those baggy shirts,” Joanne said, “she’ll be found out.”
“I don’t mind,” Danny said.
“But wouldn’t you want other dress options? With your sports bras, I don’t think you have a choice except those crappy shirts.”
“Danny?” Danielle said, “maybe you should show them that padded suit Mom bought.”
“I don’t think so.”
After a lot of cajoling, Danny relented. Danny and her sister went upstairs to fetch whatever it was they were talking about. When they came down, Danny was topless again. But this time…
“What happened?” Joanne asked, “What happened to your boobs.”
Danielle giggled. “Just camouflaged,” she said. “They’re still there.”
“Camouflaged?”
“Show them, Danny.”
So Danny stood in the middle again and posed like a bodybuilder.
“What is that!” Nikki exclaimed.
Upon a closer look, we found that she was wearing some kind of padded spandex t-shirt. It had padding built around a hollow for her breasts. The result was that Danny looked like he had a semi-buff man’s chest underneath a tight muscle shirt.
“Wow!” June said.
“Hey, handsome,” I said. Danny smiled and waved me down.
“With the padded t-shirt, Danny can wear any clothes he wants, and look good doing it, too,” Danielle giggled.
I looked at Danny, devouring the image of him. “Well,” I said. “That solves that problem.”
“How about the band,” Danny asked. “What do we do about that?”
We thought about it some.
“I have an idea,” Betsy said. “If ever they think Danny is a girl when he’s supposed to be a guy, we allow them to think he’s a girl.”
“Eh?” I said, not getting her idea.
“And then we just say it’s been Danielle all along.”
We looked at each other.
“That’s brilliant!” Nikki exclaimed, and gave her a hug.
“If Danielle agrees, that is,” Nikki said.
“Of course, I agree!” Danielle exclaimed.
And we whiled away the rest of the night. Danny changed out of the padded shirt and back into her pajama top, and we did paint each other’s toenails, and stories were told, but more important than that, we got to know each other.
In the middle of the night, we ordered some pizza, and, since Danny was feeling so comfortable in her pajamas, she completely forgot about it and answered the door. The delivery boy’s eyes fairly fell out of his eyes as Danny paid for the pies, and when Danny had the door closed, she growled, “I’m gonna get you guys.” We all burst out laughing. Nikki’s camera flashed again.
We finally fell asleep at about four a.m. Sunday morning, in a jumble all around Danny, most of us in the middle of the makeshift-bedroll mattress.
I guess my idea for a “planning session” was a good idea after all.
Thirteen: Girl Band
***** (Danny) *****
A few weeks later, Janet got wind of a contest for girl bands, and she desperately wanted us to join. All of the good girl-bands in the area were joining, and she wanted to 'show them up.' Dale said, "duh" and pointed to us three guys. Janet explained that the rules of the contest allowed for male bandmembers so long as at least half of the band are girls, and the lead is a girl. They all looked at me.
"Hey! " Janet exclaimed. "I'm the lead, not Danny." Suddenly it became quiet. I blushed in embarassment.
Dale, always the best at making peace, cleared his throat. "Well, yes, you are," he said, trying to be diplomatic about it. "But in most of our songs, Dan sings the lead."
"Coincidence!" Janet exclaimed.
"Well, maybe," he said. "But it's still impossible for us to join 'cause we got three guys and only two girls."
Janet was about to respond, but suddenly shut her mouth.
"That's right," she whispered to herself. "I didn't think of that."
June snapped her fingers. "We could ask Betsy to join us and be the third girl."
"Hey!" Janet exclaimed. "That's a good idea!" She rushed over to a phone and called up Betsy.
"That's dumb," I said.
"What?" June asked.
"Three guys, two girls. Duh!"
June looked at me. "Don't get mad, Dan, but I think the reason Janet made the mistake..."
"Yeah?"
"Subconsciously, Janet probably thinks of you more as a girl. I know I do." Everybody became deathly quiet.
She hurried over to me and gave me a hug. "Don't get mad at us, Dan. But the way you look and sound, and the way you act sometimes - I think anyone would make the same mistake."
I pushed her away. "But you know I'm a guy!"
She reluctantly let go. "I know that," she explained. "But, even so. Ever since you first auditioned for the band and sang 'We Just Can't Get Enough', I've thought of you as a girl. In fact, after that audition, the four of us were arguing if you really were a guy or not. And Dale said that it didn't matter, and you were by far the best we could have hoped for." June stopped and drew in a ragged breath. I looked into her eyes, and she looked into mine.
"And when we got to know you, and all of us became friends, and even though everyone said that you were really a guy, I guess, deep down, I didn't believe it. And at the restaurant when you and Danielle made your announcement, and later on at your house?"
I had a moment of fear that June might say something in front of the guys. She must have seen it in my eyes because she smiled a bit and shook her head subtly.
I nodded - both in acknowledgement of her forbearance, as well as to let her continue.
"It explained a lot. But, even so, my mind refused to believe it, I guess. I kept on thinking of you as my best girlfriend."
She sniffed, and hung her head. "I hope you're not mad." The floodgates opened and she started crying softly. "I don't want to loose you..."
I gathered her into a hug. I tried not to let loose, too, but I had a really hard time keeping the tears in check.
"You're never gonna loose me," I said. "Never ever ever." I rocked us a little.
"This is what I mean," she said. "You're so considerate, you're so thoughtful and nice..."
"You're my friend. How can I not?"
"Thank you," she said. I gave her a friendly kiss on the lips.
Her eyes went wide, and she shivered. Oh, no, I thought. Betsy Haley and the Rehearsal Fiasco all over again.
June shook herself, gave me a big hug and smiled at me.
"I love you," she whispered.
I smiled nervously, and said, "I love you, too." I mean, what else can I say.
Janet came back from her phone call with Betsy, fuming mad.
"Well, that's it," she barked, and flopped down beside me.
"What's it?" Dale asked.
"Betsy is doing something with her folks upstate. She'll try and be there, but she said she wasn't sure, so we better count her out. So, that's it. Arrgh!"
I looked at her. She really wanted this. I looked at the others, and they were looking back at me.
"Janet?"
"Yeah?" she grumped.
"if you really wanna do this..."
"Yeah?"
"I'll be your third girl..."
We decided to transfer all of the songs we had taped onto CDs. Or at least the ones when one of us had the forethought to record them. Most of what we had came courtesy of Marie, our sound mixer-cum-manager. Roughly three-fourths of the songs that we had on tape were songs by women, and were a little relieved by that. We started poring over them and selected nine of them for the demo CD, all of them with me on lead vocals. Janet wasn’t too happy about that, but was shouted down by the rest of the band, especially by Dale. But he was almost always shouting anyway.
Morgan had offered to transfer the tapes to CDs, because he just got this awesome new Pentium V at home, with an incredible sound card from Creative Labs, a set of Altec Lansing speakers, and a new CD-RW drive. He had also gotten hold of a bootleg copy of the latest version of the Xing audio ripper from somewhere, and was itching to test it out. I gave him a box of blank CD-Rs and a couple of DVD-Rs, and he boogied on home with our tapes, happy as a clam.
With all of this preparation, we never saw Kyle. We wondered at that, but he seemed to have dropped out of our little circle. We didn't really understand it. Morgan told me later that, maybe, Kyle was a closet homophobe, and my... situation wasn't something he could easily take, and decided to fade out of our lives. Weeks later, we'd find out that his family had relocated altogether, to somewhere in the midwest, and the gossip was that Kyle experienced a kind of breakdown and the family moved to be near a specialist that knew how to treat people like Kyle.
We all didn't appreciate his just going away, but, if the rumors were true, I felt sad for him, and couldn't help but wish him well. He was one of us, after all, and a friend.
The following Monday, Morgan came back with six CD’s and one DVD. He had transferred all of the tapes to CD as well as put together the master demo disc. In the DVD, he put in all the songs in WAV format, another set in MP3 format, plus the raw, untouched versions. I asked for the rest of the blank CDs back, but he said they were his. Professional fee, he said. I said, sure, he could have them, and if I knew how cheaply he worked, we’d have him do more stuff for us. He mimed throttling my neck and I faked choking.
We popped the demo CD into my CD player and listened. Morgan had cleaned it up enormously, and it sounded very professional. Morgan looked down in false humility, and said it was nothing. I hit him on the head with a throwpillow from the couch, and we all laughed.
He had used Sound Forge to get rid of the noise, rebalance the sound and remove the unwanted noise, echo and reverb. I was amazed because I knew that was hard to do, and he was able to do it in a couple of days.
Janet thanked him and bussed him on the cheek. She giggled as Morgan staggered around in mock delirium, so I thumped him on the head again. We had Mongo fill out the contest application form (he had the best penmanship), and he filled in our names. We decided to put in my name as Dannie, so it would sound like a girl’s, and put in a freemail e-mail address ([email protected]) as our notification address.
Mongo dropped it at the mall drop-box along with the CD, grumbling why they couldn’t put up a site where we could electronically drop it in, but in a week’s time, we found out that we were one of ten finalists. Whoopee!
Then it dawned on me. Ohmigod. I never counted on us getting to the finals. I did this just to keep peace with Janet. I turned to Danielle, panic stricken. She gave me a wink and a smile. Oh-oh. Shades of Halloween.
In the afternoon, Janet, June and me, along with Danielle, Nikki and Drew, went to the mall to do some clothes-shopping for some costumes for the big night. I tried weaseling out but they would not hear of it. But first, Danielle brought me up to her room and put together an outfit for me. “It wouldn’t do to go shopping for girl clothes when you’re wearing your guy clothes,” she said.
The ensemble she picked out was very casual but nice. But she swore a lot when she found out that, though they fit OK, the pants were just a little too short, as I now had more than an inch or so on her. She looked nonplussed for a moment, and then snapped her fingers. “I got it,” she exclaimed. She went into Mom and Dad’s room, cussed, and ran downstairs to the laundry room. She came back up with one of Dad’s newly-washed white button-downs. She threw them down on the bed, went to a cabinet and rooted around and came up with a white frilly bra and matching panties. She reached under her bed and brought out a pair of medium-heeled short boots. “Now, we’re in business!”
I curiously picked up Dad’s shirt. “What’s this? Dad’s shirt will be too big for me, and it’s not even ironed yet.”
“Who’s been dressing like a girl since she was born? I know what I’m doing. Now get into these clothes!”
I gave her a raised eyebrow but complied. I turned around and took off my clothes, hurriedly pulling on the panties, her white bra, as well as Dad’s shirt. The shirt ballooned around me ridiculously. I buttoned it up but it still looked way too big.
I felt a little surprised in that the bra fit me fine. I thought it was probably an old pair of hers when her boobs were smaller. And it felt cooler since there was less material. She went over and undid the top two buttons, and buttoned down the collars. “There! That’s better,” she said.
I was about to put on the jeans, but she handed me a pair of what looked like white tube socks, but made of some thinner material. “Put these on first. It’ll help with the boots and pants.”
I obediently put them on, and then slid into the pants. God, but the pants were tight! But when they went over my hips, they suddenly became more comfortable. I could button it closed without difficulty. I looked in the mirror and saw my genitals outlined in the thin denim. Danielle saw it, too. “Wait a sec,” I said. I turned my back on Danielle and I pulled down the pants and underwear. I tucked my dick between my legs - not the most comfortable thing to do but I’ll survive - and pulled up the panties and jeans.
Danielle had a big grin. She had seen everything in the mirror! I blushed to the roots of my red hair. Later, I would find that, though well camouflaged and totally hidden, with my genitals trapped in the tight pants, it made me walk, not exactly, but almost close to, a mincing kind of walk, and it made my bubble-butt sway from side to side in the skin-tight denim.
“Maybe I should wear the gaff pants,” I said.
“Nahhh,” Danielle answered. “You’re fine with the panties.”
She stopped me for a moment, untucked the shirt tails, and then ordered me to button up the pants. I was beet red by then. I turned back to the mirror. She had me turn around and reached around me to grasp my shirt tails. She then knotted it just below my breasts, displaying my bare, flat midriff and bellybutton. I blushed again. "You're an innie, too," Danielle said.
"So?"
"Nikki likes innies."
"Eh?"
She giggled. "I just thought I'd mention it."
I have to say that the outfit looked fine in the mirror - very casual, but sexy. Just like the sort of the outfit Danielle or the others would wear if they were just hanging out with each other or something.
Danielle unbuttoned another button on the shirt. You can just glimpse my bra and breasts. I harrumphed, sat on the bed and pulled the boots on. But the pants were just a tad too short. I discovered that the boots were just high enough that the jeans tucked into them. I stood up, and Danielle came over. She rolled the sleeves up to just above my elbows, not in neat folds but like you would roll up socks, put a thin, girl-type watch on my left wrist, and several plastic bangles around my right. She gave me a thin gold necklace to wear, with a small gold cross, as well as big matching gold clip-on hoop earrings.
She looked at my face a bit, and decided to put on some very light make-up: a little powder, mascara, and a very light-red lipstick. She ran a brush over my hair, fluffed it out a bit and tied it back into a casual ponytail.
She went to the pants I had taken off and took out the stuff in the pockets. “Hey! What are you doing?” She then dumped all the stuff into a small purse, as well as some of her other female stuff - a small hairbrush, compact, tissues, lipstick and such. I was obscurely relieved at that since I had been wondering where to put my wallet and other stuff. The pockets on the jeans that I had on were more for show than for utility.
She handed the purse to me, grabbed her own purse, and then pulled me out of the room. “Come on,” she cried. “Let’s do some shopping!”
The girls were downstairs, waiting.
"Woah," said June. "Babe alert!"
"Lookin' good, girlfriend," Janet quipped.
Nikki went up to me, looking me up and down. I blushed, and felt like a side of beef in a butcher shop. I giggled nervously. "You likeee?" I asked jokingly.
She stepped up close and whispered. "Yes, baby. I like. I like a lot." She kissed me deeply, and rubbed my bare stomach.
I groaned as my pecker tried painfully to escape. Nikki giggled, and tortured me some more.
"Ahem!" Danielle said loudly. "I thought we were shopping?" Nikki finally stopped kissing me, and breathing real hard - harder than me even. Was she actually sweating?
I drove us to the mall in my newly-tuned and painted ‘Stang (care of Mrs. Piper), and craned my neck around looking for a parking space. It was crowded in my car, but the girls were making a boisterous time of it. Danielle and Nikki shared the front passenger seat, and the rest sat in the back. They were all giggling together, even Drew and June. I wondered if all girls got excited by the idea of shopping.
“There’s one!” Drew pointed at an empty slot. Seeing another car heading for the same spot, I slammed down on the gas and beat him to it by a few seconds.
He was about to yell something at us, but Danielle elbowed me. “Smile!” she growled. I gave the guy my sweetest apologetic girly-smile.
He smiled back, and shrugged it off. He waved, beeped his horn once, and drove off to search for another slot.
I walked to the mall with smallish mincing steps, surrounded by a gaggle of giggling girls, mortified that I was dressed and made up to look like a girl myself. With my swaying butt and short steps, I moved like a girl, too. Everytime someone looked our way, I would blush in shame and try to hide behind the girls.
Danielle pulled me back. “Now, now, Danny, don’t be shy!”
“People might see me!”
We walked to the mall entrance, with June and Drew to either side of me. Nikki, Janet and Danielle walked behind us, gabbing a mile a minute.
***** (Janet) *****
I couldn't decide whether to keep up with the others or to tag behind. I decided to stay back so I could have a better view of Dan’s butt. The sway of Danny’s behind was having an effect on my state of mind. I know Danny’s a boy, but I started having trouble seeing him as one. No matter how hard I tried to look elsewhere, my eyes kept wandering to the curve of his hips and butt. I never knew I had some lesbian tendencies. Looking at Danny’s backside, I reluctantly confirmed it. But, I guess my mind sort of rationalized it away. He’s a boy, after all, I said to myself. But deep in my mind, I had already started thinking of her as more female than male.
We went into the mall and proceeded down the promenade. Our route took us past an arcade. The side facing the aisle was a big picture window, and we could see the kids playing, and they could see out, too. Several boys saw us and began to whistle and shout rude and lascivious remarks. Danny looked over and spotted someone intently involved with one of the video games. He looked at the other guys standing around him and blanched. The anxiety that Danny was doing a passable job of suppressing resurfaced abruptly like an underwater explosion. "Danielle! Some of our classmates are in there!" Danny squeaked, his throat constricted in fear. "Ohmigod! What if they see me?"
I quickly looked in the direction of the arcade. Drew noticed the boys who were starting to try and get our attention. "That’s my brother Jim and his friends,” Drew said. “Umm... I think they've already seen us. Look, just keep going and try not to act nervous."
The guy, Jim, playing the video game looked up from the machine to see what his homeys were carrying on about. When he saw us babes cruising by, he recognized Danielle and Drew. "Hey, Drew!" he yelled to us, to be heard above the noise. "Yo, Drew!"
We quickened our pace and were well past the arcade when Drew heard Jim calling. She had to look back over her shoulder to verify her suspicions. "Nooo! Not now!" she said to herself, exasperated. Glancing around the immediate area, she addressed us, "You guys go over to that shop and look at the lingerie in the window. Keep Danny outta sight as much as possible. I'll get rid of him."
Danielle, me and the other girls went to the window. shielding Danny from the view of the approaching boy. We attempted to provide protection without looking like we were, but in order to appear casual, Danny could only be partially blocked. Therefore, he had to keep his back to Drew and Jim.
***** (Danny) *****
A feeling of hopelessness began to rise from the depths of my being. Why was I having such a difficult time maintaining my aloofness? After all, my ability to detach myself from my surroundings was a practiced art, developed from weeks of fending off infatuated fans.
Jim reached Drew as we neared the store window. I positioned myself so I would have my back to them. I kept my ears open, and tried to catch what was happening through the corner of my eye.
Jim was looking my way, and it took him several long moments to turn his attention to Drew. "Who's the redheaded bitch in the white shirt?"
"Danielle?"
"No! The sexier one!"
Danielle snorted at that. "Pig!" she growled in a half-whisper.
Drew glared at Jim and then smiled sweetly. "Now Jimmy, you shouldn't call women 'bitches'. You just might get bit. Look, we’re in a hurry. What do you want?"
"Oh yeah. I just wanted to say Hi, and all." He looked over his shoulder at the other girls. "Damn! What a nice ass."
"Jimmy? Jim!" Drew snapped her fingers in his ear, finally getting back his attention. "Can we focus here?" She shook her head in disgust. "Jeez, do you guys ever use your big heads?" She looked at her watch. "Look, we really need to get going. We got an appointment that we need to keep. We'll talk at home, 'kay?"
"Oh. Yeah, sure. Later. Come on, Drew. Who is she?"
"Just one of our new girlfriends from a band we got to know."
"Cool. Can you introduce me?"
"Maybe later, Jim. We really don't have time now."
"Well, where are you headed? I can walk with ya."
"No!" blurted Drew. "Um, I mean, we'd really like to keep it girls only. You understand?" she questioned, although Jim's understanding was irrelevant. I knew all about that gambit. I had learned that girls sometimes gave boys the illusion that they, the boys, were "letting" them, the girls, have their way. Boys were so easy to manipulate. Wait a minute…
"Okay, sure. Maybe later," Jim said. He turned to take another look at my behind. "Man! That's a really nice ass," he said and headed back to the arcade. I blushed. I felt both flattered and insulted.
Drew expelled a sigh of relief and rushed over. "Whew, that was a close one," she said.
Danielle paused, waiting, rapidly tapping her foot. Her patience with our slow pace was beginning to wear thin. When Drew finally reached us, she smiled, hiding her annoyance, and said, “All right, so how did it turn out?”
“Ahhh, you know boys.”
“Yeah, do I ever.”
“Hey!” I said. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nuthin! ‘Kay, let’s do some serious shopping!” She grabbed me by the arm and I let myself be pulled along, and we went to the big mall downtown.
***** (Nikki) *****
The first stop we made was to a lingerie shop. Danny was very uncomfortable in the shop and he made us leave early. All we were able to get were a couple of teddies a nightgown, and several cami-style tops.
Next stop we were more successful. We got a bunch of jeans, mostly in faded blues — lowriders, bootleg-cut, skinny jeans, straight-cut, high-waist — most every style. But we only got one pair per style. “I thought we were looking for costumes,” Danny asked.
“We are,” Janet answered. “These are just the preliminaries.”
We then went to a series of semi-upscale shops.
We tried to get Danny into the spirit of things, but he just wasn’t comfortable. We did get a bunch of nice school clothes for Danny-the-girl, as well as a bunch of smart combos — smart but hip. Surprisingly, Danny had a lot of input to what we selected. He seemed to have an innate eye for color and pattern combinations.
He especially had a lot of stuff to say about the costumes. As we walked around the clothes on display, Danny had a brainstorm. His ideas were heavily influenced by Shakira and her Latina-style rocker ensemble. Janet preferred a style ala-Beyonce. In any case, they’re all gonna look real hot. So, as we went around, Danny picked up a black leather jacket a couple of sizes too large, a tube top, opaque tights and a pair of verrry tall stiletto heels. He asked a saleslady where the belts where and he picked a very wide one with a very large and shiny belt buckle. He also snagged a couple of scarves and brought it to the changing room.
Janet was modeling her selection to the others — a real short one-shoulder ensemble. Very sexy.
“That’s a keeper,” I said.
“Thanks,” said Janet. “What about you, Danny? What have you got there?”
He grinned at her.
***** (Danny) *****
After an incredible five-hour shopping spree, with just a break for lunch. We finally finished, and packed away the bags and bags of stuff we bought in the trunk of my car. Here I was thinking we were just buying costumes for the contest…
I was really tired, but the girls still had a lot of pep. Danielle dragged all of us back into the mall. But we walked straight through it, and out toward the skating rink a block down.
The old skating rink had been closed since I can remember. But just last year, it had been reopened again by the local merchants association, and was modernized and expanded a lot. It was now an ice-skating rink, easily twice as large as the old roller-skating rink said my mom. The building that housed the rink easily fit it inside, including a wide strip of café tables and chairs that surrounded the rink. At the moment, the place was full of kids either eating or just hanging.
The little shops and boutiques around the rink mostly sold skating stuff and colorful exercise equipment and outfits, and would have interested the girls if they weren't too excited about skating.
The girls excitedly went to the counter, Janet a little less so, as she took my arm and escorted me over.
“It’s easy,” she said, mistaking my hesitation for a different kind of fear. “It’s just like in-line or roller skates. Nothing to it.” I smiled weakly at her.
June and Drew had both opted for bright-red skates and sat down on a bench to put them on. Janet picked out a pair in beige, matching the fawn-colored slacks she wore, and sat down beside June to put them on.
Danielle had a couple of pairs of plain high-cut white skates, and was handing me a pair to put on. I pulled her to me and I whispered to her my problem. With my tight pants, I don’t think I could skate without hurting myself. She looked at me in consternation, and then she brightened up with an idea. She handed Drew the skates and dragged me to the boutiques. We rapidly went up the row of shops, Danielle looking through their glass fronts and checking out what was available.
“Danielle, why don’t we just forget the skating? Or you guys skate, and I’ll just watch.”
“Don’t be a spoilsport,” she said. We ended up going to this little boutique Danielle picked out called ‘Body Hugger,’ full of selections of dancing and skating attire. She rapidly went through the merchandise, and handed me a pair of white, stretchable pants that looked like abbreviated bike shorts. She also picked up a pleated red-checked tartan skirt, and threw them my way.
I grabbed the skirt from the air. “Now, I’ll get a pair of ankle socks," she said. There was nowhere to try them on, though, so, after paying, I went into one of the three changing booths by the rink and I put on the shorts and socks. The shorts felt heavenly, especially after the tight pants.
I then put on the little skirt. It was a little thicker than I thought, and it slightly poofed out because of the pleats and a bit of lining. Because of which, any unwanted, umm, bumps were completely obscured. I looked in the booth’s mirror and pirouetted around. The skirt flared a little, and my white shorts barely peeked through. “I’m a cheeky little tease,” I mumbled jokingly.
Danielle slid skates under the door and I sat on the floor cross-legged to put them on. Couldn’t have done that in the jeans.
I stepped out, walking gingerly on the ice skates. I took my shirt-tails and re-knotted them as they were becoming undone. Danielle, also in skates, handed me a cheap little throw-away backpack she had just bought. I put my purse, jeans, boots and socks in it and walked to the lockers. I dumped the pack as well as Danielle’s purse in a locker. I thought a bit, and reached into the pack for my wallet. I took out the wad of dollar bills from the wallet and slipped them into a little pocket near the skirt’s waistband - just like a watch-pocket in a pair of men’s formal slacks - and closed the pocket’s little zipper. I checked to be sure that my money wouldn’t fall out, slammed the locker shut and rushed out after Danielle.
It was fun gliding on the ice. Janet was right. Though I had several pratfalls at first, I soon got the hang of it. I glided past Danielle and the others, feeling good, until my left blade hit a little ridge in the ice, and I fell on my ass again.
I slowly stood up, rubbing my fanny, and saw Nikki laughing.
Soon, I was chasing her around the rink, dodging around the other skaters. Danielle and the others got into the act, and we were all soon chasing each other. As Nikki neared the edge of the rink, I caught her and grabbed her around the waist. Only her grip on the railing stopped us from falling. She turned in my arms to face me. We were both breathing hard and sweating. We looked into each other’s eyes and grinned.
“That was fun,” I said. She didn’t answer, and just put her arms over mine, and hugged me. She started rubbing my lower back, her breathing sounding very rapid in my ears.
I took the risk and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. She leaned backwards to look me straight in the eye, and then leaned forward again to kiss me on the lips. She gave me a kiss that I haven’t felt before - at the same time both chaste and very, very sexy. I was almost dizzy from the feelings I had. Her mouth was slightly open in passion. I shamelessly took advantage of it and slipped in my tongue.
She was startled a bit, but quickly responded with a counter-thrust of her own tongue. Soon we were squirming around, trying to get more body contact. Nikki felt so warm and so alive, I couldn’t stand how good she felt. She licked the side of my face with just the tip of her tongue, and I shivered. Her hands moved further downward on my back, and she was soon grasping both of my ass cheeks from under my skirt. I gasped and hugged her tighter. I nibbled an earlobe and barely restrained a groan of pleasure.
My dick started to strain against the bike shorts, and I was sure Nikki could feel it. Nikki giggled a bit. “You like that, huh, pretty baby?”
“Ooh, Nikki, you’re fantastic,” I moaned.
“You’re pretty fantastic, too,” she said huskily, and kissed me in the hollow of my neck, her tongue flicking out against my skin. I shivered again.
“Ooh, Nikki…”
Suddenly, the rest of the girls slammed into us. “Oof!” Nikki and I went, and the girls giggled.
“Hey, you two,” Danielle giggled. “Get a room, why dontcha?”
“Yeah,” Drew said. “And stop giving everyone a free show.” We belatedly remembered where we were and looked around. A lot of the skaters had stopped and were staring at us.
“I guess we’re done skating for today,” Janet said, and we rushed out of the rink.
I was the last to finish changing out of my skates because I was being careful and didn’t want everyone to see that I wasn’t who I appeared to be. The girls had all gone to the ladies’, and I said I’d meet them by the counter when they were done. I turned over my skates at the counter, and was about to put my boots back on. I suddenly realized that the boots won’t exactly match my outfit anymore. I congratulated myself for my developing fashion sense. I also decided that I scared myself.
I thought about it some more, and decided to buy a pair of sneakers. I slung my little itty-bitty backpack over my shoulder and padded to the nearest store selling shoes in my stockinged feet, popping a Bazooka Joe into my mouth. Some guys were looking at me, and I smiled sweetly at them. I entered the store and surveyed their merchandise with my newly-developed skill for picking out clothes (or so I flattered myself). I then spotted an old Sketchers display with a two-year-old poster of Brittney Spears, and a hand-lettered sign saying “last year’s models - clearance sale.”
I spotted some old Sketchers Four-Wheelers that used to be so popular with kids, and had a brainstorm. Right beside the Sketchers display was a bin of those shoes that had foldable roller-skate wheels built in. I had really enjoyed the skating today, and thought that this will be really cool.
I rooted around in the bin, looking among the kiddie sizes for a pair large enough to fit me. I was in luck, and found one in a predominantly white color. I studied the mechanism underneath, popping out the wheels a couple of times. I sat down, put them on and walked around a bit. Satisfied with the fit, I paid for them and walked out in my new pair of faux Four-Wheelers.
I went back to the counter where the girls were waiting for me.
Janet handed me a couple of tissues from her purse and I mopped my sweaty face. I looked around for somewhere to throw away the tissues, but Janet held her hand out. “Here, gimme,” she said. I shrugged and gave her the yucky wet tissues. She didn't make a move to throw them away.
“Where you been girl?” June asked playfully.
“Buyin’ a new pair of shoes,” I said in the same tone, and pointed my left shoe’s toe at them, and wiggled my foot.
They made some appreciative comments about the shoes, and then we were off.
I was itching to show off, so I let them get ahead of me by about ten feet or so, and then called to them. “Guys!”
They turned to me, and Danielle said, “What?”
I kneeled to lock my wheels in place, stood up and zoomed past them in the direction of the exit. Their mouths were all like big ‘O’s.
I zoomed past the café tables by the rink, and some guys about our age stared at me, some of them with mouths agape. I blew a bubble as I passed them.
“Wow!” one of them said, as I flew by skating on one foot, and the other one raised, a pack on my back, my hair streaming in the wind and my skirt flapping. I dodged around the people walking, and almost collided with a little girl and boy of about eight or nine, probably brother-and-sister, also wearing the same kind of shoes.
They looked at my feet, and then at me as if I was crazy.
I stopped in front of them. “Race?” I puffed. The kids looked at each other, grinned and nodded. I looked back and saw the girls going into a store selling swimsuits. I waved to catch their attention but they were preoccupied.
So I went down the wheelchair ramp with the kids, and out to the sidewalk. I looked down the sidewalk going in the direction of the mall. There weren’t very many people on the sidewalk, so I thought it was safe. We lined up and stood in starter positions.
“From here to the end of the block, okay? Ready… set… hey!” The two brats sprinted ahead of me, not waiting for the “Go,” so I started pumping and caught up with them.
“Hey, no fair!” the girl yelled, as I zoomed by them. I cackled my best madman laugh and continued on, rapidly approaching the curb.
Suddenly, I realized that my momentum won’t allow me to stop at the curb, and I was in some danger of shooting into oncoming traffic. I made a grab for the walk-don’t-walk post and stopped exactly on the edge of the curb. I then snapped around and waited for the kids.
From their faces, I knew that they came to the same realization I did. I stood with my back against the pole, and with both my arms outstretched to catch them.
The kids cannonballed into me, but I managed to grab them around their waists, and stopped them short of the street.
We looked at each other for a moment, the reaction setting in, and then we all burst out laughing.
“That was fun!” the boy said. I was so scared that I might have gotten them hurt. I shivered as the tension and the fear ebbed out of me.
We were bushed so we sat on the curb, and talked for a bit, resting. The few pedestrians that were there walked around us, and smiled indulgently. We smiled back. I sat with my knees together, and my legs folded to the side, being careful not to flash pedestrians and car passengers alike.
Wonder of wonders, the kids were twins. I also told them I was a twin, too. They asked me where I got my skates and I said I just bought them, and were breaking them in.
“Well, you sure do skate good,” Joey, the little boy, said.
“Gowan! I haven’t skated for years. I’m not that good.”
“But you do! I’m the best in our school and you beat me real good.”
“No, you’re not!” Amy, the little girl, said.
“Yes, I am,” Joey told his sister petulantly.
To forestall any more arguments, I asked what they were doing at the skating rink.
“Mommy and Daddy wanted to buy some stuff from the mall. We just didn’t feel like going with them, so they left us by the rink.”
“Why not,” I asked Amy. “Shopping’s supposed to be fun.”
“Not when you’re with grownups.”
“Yeah,” Joey said. “All they like to buy are boring stuff.”
“I know what you mean.”
“Does your sister skate, too? Is she as pretty as you? I wanna see her. Where is she? Did she leave you to go shopping, too? I’m hungry.”
I laughed. “You don’t wind down, do you?”
He looked down at the pavement. “Hey! I was joking.” I gave him a small hug, and kissed him on top of his head. He hugged me back.
I started to wonder what was happening to me.
Amy reached into her own little backpack and brought out some stuff that she had just bought. She showed me a couple of dolls still in their boxes, and I tried to be polite and looked interested. Joey rolled his eyes at this. I gave him a small conspiratorial wink, and he giggled at that.
Soon, a pair of shadows loomed over us, and we looked up. The parents had arrived, surprised that the kids weren’t inside the skating rink. I stood up, introduced myself, and said that the twins got a little bored and were skating on the sidewalk. I offered to stay with the kids until they came.
The parents, initially very suspicious, relented, and thanked me.
“Thank you, young lady,” the father said. “Not many young people would have done what you did.”
“I hope they weren’t too much trouble,” said the mother.
“Oh, no, maá¡m,” I said. “They’re great kids. We were having a great time.” The kids smiled shyly.
“We have to leave now, kids. Thank the nice lady, and say goodbye.” The mother shook my hand. “Thanks, again, Ms. Fairchild.”
“It was nothing, maá¡m.”
“Bye, pretty lady,” Joey said and waved.
Amy reached up and gave me a hug and a little kiss on the cheek. “Will we see you again?”
“I don’t know, Amy. I hope so.”
“I hope so, too. Bye!” They both waved bye-bye and went with their parents to their car.
***** (Janet) *****
We found Danny waving at two kids being led away by what looked like their parents.
We snuck behind Danny. “So,” I said. “Who was that?”
He was startled and spun around. “Oh, just a couple of friends I just met while skating.” He sat back down on the curb, and I and Danielle sat with him.
"We got ya a surprise!" Danielle enthused.
Danny smile wanly.
“Pooped?” I asked.
“Yeah. I wanna go home, now.”
“’Kay. Let’s get you up.” We helped him get up.
“Mind driving, Janet? I really am very tired.”
“Sure, kid. Let’s go.”
Danielle took his pack, and we walked to the mall parking lot without further incident. Danny hugged me from the back, and I pulled him along on his skates. Danny had his head on my shoulder, a sappy smile on his face. Probably not that much different from my own expression.
“Dan?”
“Hmm?” he said dreamily, eyes closed.
“We’re here. Janet needs the keys to the car.”
He gestured towards Danielle. “It’s in my purse in my pack.” Janet reached in and found the keys. She tossed me the keys, and I unlocked the car doors.
***** (Danny) *****
Okay. We needed to pick three songs, all of them pop music, and one of them had to be a slow song. And, of course, they had to be sung by female singers, or performed by female bands. As usual, Janet had definite ideas what the songs should be: songs by Madonna, Janet Jackson, and Jewel being on top of her list. So we decided to submit those she picked via the website. In a few seconds, we got a message on the screen. We found out that all of them were already picked. Or were on the hands-off list. Another rule: No one’s allowed to have the same song, or songs on the off-limits list, and it was first come-first served. Not admitting defeat, Janet thought up a new set, and the response came back. Nope. After several more tries (all of them were rejected), Janet started to go bugshit. And everyone was shouting already. Good thing we were the only ones in my house, otherwise Mom and Dad would have thrown us out already.
I opened up my Vaio laptop and turned it on. I clicked on my Winamp MP3 player program, and went through its playlist.
June had her hand on her Casio synth’s controls and sang. “Who’s giving you luxury?” She had sung it while simultaneously jiggling the controls, creating a sort of synthesizer effect. She sounded like female Daft Punk.
Mongo and Dale did their thing with the bass and beat, and Janet and I sort of segued in.
“Mmm shalalala, mmm shalalala, shalala,” Janet and I were in synch, incredible as usual, and then I took over.
“It’s funny how circumstances takes control, taking you places with your mind and soul.” |
Then Janet and me, again. “Like springtime makes me feel better, taking me higher, feeding my fantasy.”
And Dale and Mongo harmonized. “And it feels so good!”
Me again. “Yeah, it feels so good!”
Then it was mine and Janet’s turn to harmonize.
“Giving you luxury. It comes naturally. So, baby, don’t thank me - I thank you. And it’s plain to see who’s giving you luxury.” |
Grooving on the music, Janet and I did a back-to-back, grinding our bare shoulders. The guys whooped it up, and we were both grinning ear-to-ear.
***** (Nikki) *****
Though I didn’t recognize the song, I was starting to clap to the beat. I looked around and everyone was grooving on the music, too.
I looked at Dan on stage, seeing him in full costume. I started feeling turned on, rubbing my thighs together a little. He was so beautiful. His shoulder and Janet’s grinding together, coupled with Dan’s come-hither look, was so erotic. I looked at Danielle, and she was grooving on the music, like everyone. I guess it wasn’t just me getting turned on. What was I thinking? That’s her brother. Of course she wouldn’t think…
My thoughts started to falter. Her brother… Looking at Dan, he didn’t look like anyone’s brother! He looked like some hotty in a sexy outfit. God. The guys whooping it up didn’t know, of course. How could they? And looking at Morgan and the others, they were shocked, to say the least. But they didn’t turn away, and looked on in wonder.
I looked back to the stage and stared at Dan as he, or I guess “she,” gyrated. The jacket was clearly too big, because it kept slipping off Dan’s right shoulder. It made him look all the more sexy. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
I wasn’t attracted to girls. Well, only as much as other girls were, I think. At least I knew I wasn’t like Joanne. But here I was, starstruck and turned on in a major way by this gorgeous redhead wearing a black jacket over a little halter top and hip-hugging brown opaque tights with incredibly high stiletto-heeled boots. She had what looked like gossamer off-white white chiffon scarves tied to her wrists that she would swirl around. The big buckle of her belt flashed in the stage’s lights, bringing attention to her hips, sexy bellybutton and tiny waist. She looked like Shakira with a guitar. I guess the reason I was so turned on was because, underneath it all, I knew she was actually a guy, with other guys lusting after this sensuous creature just as I was.
Even as they finished up their first song, I was still mesmerized by Dan. He and Janet raised their arms in victory. With his arms raised, the diaphanous scarves and the sleeves of his jacket fell away from his graceful pale arms. Janet gave him a hug, and the audience roared, “More, more!”
They paused a little bit and basked in the glow as they took a little breather. And then June started to play a slow tune. I didn’t recognize the somewhat plaintive but sweet melody, but I didn’t care, only having eyes for Dan.
Janet stepped up to the mike, and I heard a few disappointed sighs because it wasn’t going to be Dan singing.
“I woke up this morning feeling lonely,” Janet sang.
“So much my heart just does not understand. There were times when nothing really matters. Now I find I care too much. There's life in everything I touch.” |
I saw Janet steal a glance at Dan, and I started to feel a little jealous.
“Look what love has done to me. I am not who I used to be. Everything is changing and I will never be the same.” |
Though no one else noticed, I saw Janet making eyes at Dan. I heard Joanne sigh beside me, but she was looking in Janet’s way. Look at us, a couple of groupies.
“Look at what love has done to us. Will we ever learn to trust? We're running out of time, there's so little time. Baby, look what love has done to me.”
Dan had picked up his bass guitar, and sidled up to Janet. He played in counterpoint to June’s playing. So romantic and so sweet. I willed him to look at me, but he just smiled and played his guitar.
Janet put her arm on his shoulders. "Oh yeah," Janet crooned, and I reacted a little negatively.
“Now, it's late at night. I'm here without you. I'm trying to make my way to where you are. Can't you see I'll still be here waiting? Can't you see our two hearts were always meant to be as one? “Look at what love has done to us. When will we ever learn to trust? “We're running out of time, there's so little time, baby. Will you look what love has done to me?” |
The byplay between Janet and Dan were, in a way, making the song sweeter. And the implied lesbian love made it more erotic. Joanne swooned and stared at the couple on the stage.
I stared lovingly at Dan as he sang the next line. He had switched to a low, raspy voice that sounded like a young Patti Smythe. (Dan had let me listen to some of his collection, and I had started appreciating, and recognizing, his music.)
“I'm calling out your name, baby," he sang.
“Calling out, calling out, yeah, yeah, yeah…” |
June played her keyboards, soft as the wind like Bruce Hornsby. A white spotlight hit her, making little June look like an angel as she concentrated on her playing.
“Now, look at what love has done to us,” Janet sang.
Will we ever learn to trust? We're running out of time, there's so, so little time, baby. Oh, look what love has done, baby, look what love has done to me?” |
She paused and stepped a little away from Dan, holding his hand.
“Look what love has done, done to me?” |
The song faded and, after a beat, the applause rained down. Janet and Dan curtsyed and waved.
Mongo started the new song with his drums, and Janet and Dan segued in with their guitars. The crowd recognized the song and howled. Dan stepped up the mike, one shoulder bared sexily.
Crash and burn, all the stars explode tonight. How'd you get so desperate? How'd you stay alive? Help me, please, burn the sorrow from your eyes. Oh, come on, be alive again. Don't lay down and die.” |
Janet stepped up to the same mike, and they sang the refrain.
“Hey, hey, you know what to do. Oh, baby, drive away to Malibu.” |
Then Dan took over again.
“Get well soon. Please don't go any higher. How are you so far, when you're barely on fire? Cry to the angels. I'm gonna rescue you. I'm gonna set you free tonight,” |
and then the two of them sang back to back. Dan swirled the lengths of chiffon in circles.
The energy was pumping. The chick beside me screamed. “I love you!”
“Jeez,” Drew said, but not loud enough to be heard over the music. “Get a grip.” I agreed, but I was thinking more like, “Get in line, baby.”
Dan did that sexy grind again.
"And the sun goes down and watch you slip away… and the sun goes down and walk into the waves… and the sun goes down and watch you slip away…” |
Some guy in a muscle shirt went, “Woo-hoo, baby!” I wanted to belt him. I looked over to Morgan. I couldn’t understand the look he had on his face. But Jerry and the others were clearly enjoying the show. I looked to Danielle, but all I could see from her was joy and a fierce kind of pride. She was whooping it up like the rest of them - Mel, Drew and Betsy. Joanne was clearly a basket case, already. As I felt I was also starting to become. I wanted to shout “I love you,” too, just like the other girl.
Dan sang the last line.
“I can't be near you. The light just radiates. I can't be near you. The light just radiates.” |
The last of the music faded, and the audience exploded. Dan and the others took their bows in the relative quiet, and that girl beside me yelled again, “I love you, baby!” Some of the audience laughed, and Dan, playing to the crowd, blew a flying kiss our way. The girl beside me made as if she fainted. I frowned at her cornball over-acting. Dan and the others fled, to be replaced by the MC. We then started to elbow our way through the crowd, trying to get backstage when we saw people running.
Morgan tugged the sleeve of one of the stage hands. “What’s happening?”
The guy hooked a thumb to the crowd. “They’re gonna see what they can do for that girl who fainted.”
“Fainted?” I echoed a little lamely, when a bunch of guys pushed passed us carrying the girl. “Ohmigod,” I said.
***** (Danny) *****
I carried my base guitar in my hand, with my six-string slung on my shoulder, and followed my band to the dressing rooms. It was fairly crowded in there, and was steaming hot. There was one band left to go on stage, but I didn’t catch their name, though. Most of the girls of the other bands were there, but the few guys they had were outside, smoking or something. Dale and Mongo stepped out, too. I was about to follow them out when the lead singer for one of the other bands came over.
“Great set of pipes, babe,” she said. She must be in her twenties, and was sporting a coat with tassels over a sort of sundress. “I’m Jo.” She stuck out her hand.
“Umm, Dannie.”
Janet came over, and stood towering beside me, so I introduced her. “Jo, this is Janet. Janet’s our group’s leader.”
“Hey,” Janet said, and put a proprietary arm around my shoulders as they shook hands.
“I think I’ve seen you guys before,” said Jo.
“Oh we get around,” answered Janet.
“We have a regular gig over at Mario’s?” I said. Jo nodded, recognizing the place. “We play there Fridays and Saturdays. How about you guys?”
“We’re in between gigs, now, I guess.”
“Hang in there, I’m sure it’ll, well… umm, work out.”
“Yeah. Well. Umm. So, how’d you end up with those songs? No one knew them. We wouldn’t have had the balls to do that, anyway. Could have been a disaster. What was that first song, anyway?”
“That was from Meja’s old album. You know? Meja?”
“Who’s Meja?”
“You know, she sang that song, ‘All ‘Bout the Money’?” I sang. “All ‘bout the money. It’s all ‘bout the dum dum, du du dum dum…” I had unconsciously switched voices, again. “She also did a song with Ricky Martin,” I added.
“Hey! That’s great! How do you do that?”
“She’s wonderful, isn’t she?”
I waved my hand. “Go-wan!”
“The songs were Dannie’s idea, wasn’t it, Dan?” She shook me in her arms. I gave her a small frown. She was acting a little funny.
Another girl came over. She could have been the female equivalent of Mongo.
“’Luxury,’ by Meja, ‘What Love Has Done’ by Patti Smythe and ‘Malibu’ by Hole. Right?”
“I knew Malibu!” Jo said. “Umm, Dannie, Janet, this is Astrid.”
“Hey, cool name!”
“Cool voice.”
“Aww, it’s nothing,” I said. “And the songs weren’t that big a deal, really. I have a big collection at home.”
“You have a very, umm, eclectic collection. And it’s surprising you picked Meja,” she said pompously. “Her lyrics are sort of in-between M2M and Alanis Morissette or Jewel. Early Jewel, of course. You don’t really know if she’s making a statement or just mouthing words written by someone else. In between angst and bubble-pop.” The other girls looked at each other. Jo rolled her eyes.
“Umm, well, you know. I like the music,” I said.
“Wouldn’t have expected anything more,” she said dismissively.
That sort of got my goat. I thought a bit for an appropriately geeky response.
“Ya know, central to the concept of recorded music is the enjoyment of the music. Humans grew out in the savannah, where the recognition and appreciation of patterns in nature is a necessary skill. And the love of music is just a natural extension of this love for patterns. Such as that for poetry and architecture.”
Astrid sort of moved back. “Well…”
“So, I enjoy my music.” I dimpled. Jo and Janet giggled.
I went on. “You know, some people would dismiss our music as junk-pop, all fluff and percussion. I know my Dad does. But, what the hell, I like Madonna and fucking Cristina Aguilera! So sue me!”
Astrid snorted and walked away.
“Never saw Astrid blown away like that,” Jo giggled.
“I think I hurt her feelings. But she was dissing my music!” I thought about it. “I think I should apologize.” I started towards her, but Jo held me back.
“No need for that, girlfriend. Forget it. She’ll be okay. Besides,” she whispered, “she needs to be put in her place once in a while.”
We got to talk about what songs we liked. And makeup and clothes. And boys. I, of course, kept quiet, but kept my ears open. This is all still news to me. Sort of like doing research, this. I wish I had brought a notebook. Janet gave me a big grin, and winked.
I wasn’t contributing much to the conversation, which was starting to become a little conspicuous. So I complimented Jo on her makeup, which, of course, boomeranged back to me. Big mistake! Before I made a fool of myself, Janet took me off the hook by saying it was June who did our makeup. We suddenly noticed her absence, so Janet and I excused ourselves to look for her.
We held hands as we ran through the backstage rooms looking for June, and I slipped on the shiny linoleum. Janet caught me before I fell, and picked me up, giggling. I held onto her while I tried to get my balance again.
“Damn these heels,” I said, as I held onto Janet’s neck. It brought my face closer to her’s. Well, her chin, really. Our eyes sort of locked, and she almost picked me up. Ooof! It was probably shock and being so tired that I sort of didn’t struggle. Later on, I wondered why I wanted to struggle.
She had her hand on my left boob, and I felt faint. She knows, anyway, my brain justified. I looked into her eyes and started to feel dizzy. Altitude, maybe.
She bent down and hugged me close. I closed my eyes and held on - everything started to spin. Her lips touched mine, so tender. We kissed for what seemed like hours.
It took me a few moments to open my eyes. She was smiling at me, seeing my reaction. My heart pounding, I smiled back at her. My nipples were so hard they hurt. I didn't let go right away; I wasn't sure I could stand up on my own.
“Uh.” I swallowed and tried again.
“How about another one?” she asked after a moment. I must've said yes, because she bent down and kissed me again. This one was longer. I pressed up against her. I lost feeling in my body for a long time, except where we touched. I had a boner that felt practically the size of Mount Saint Helens, and it wanted to rip through the tight ‘gaff’ panties I was wearing to hide it.
I was dizzy and my eyes refused to focus. My pulse was thudding in my ears. We weren't kissing anymore, and she was still holding me up.
When I thought I could stand up again, I pulled my arms down and moved away. She let go.
“God almighty,” I said.
“Good, huh?”
“Jesus, Janet. It was incredible.”
“You up for a little more later tonight?”
I gave her one of my best lecherous grins. And then my expression changed. I suddenly thought of Nikki, and I felt like scum. “Umm, maybe that's not such a good idea, Janet.”
“We'll see, Sexy. Anyway, let’s get this contest over with first.” She was rubbing the inner part of my thigh, and my boner was threatening to make me collapse with pain.
“I gotta get out of this underwear,” I gasped. Janet laughed and pulled me along.
We finally found June helping to load up her keyboards and Mongo’s drums in the back of Dale’s big Ford van. We dumped our stuff in, and as I was slinging my base off my shoulder, a little mousy guy called us back in for the announcement. The band went back in, but I couldn’t stand it anymore. I grabbed my small duffle and excused myself to go to the bathroom for a moment.
I almost walked into the men’s room but checked myself in time. I went into the ladies’ and stepped into a booth. I propped my guitar against the door, took off the boots so I could take off the leggings. When I had them off, I then took off the sex-hiding panties. I sighed in relief and wiped myself with a big wad of toilet paper - I was totally drenched in sweat down there, and was itching like mad. At least my boner had subsided.
I went through my bag and took out the men’s thong briefs that Danielle had put there, and pulled them on. I then realized I couldn’t wear the tights anymore so I put on the little pouf skirt that was the original match for my top. I left off the tights. And after putting on the boots again, I stepped out and twirled in front of the mirror. The little petticoats under the abbreviated skirt did indeed poof it out so I thought that’s probably why they called them that. I twirled again, and my cheeky little ass was suddenly exposed. I turned crimson, and gathered my stuff and walked out. At least my dick was sufficiently camouflaged by the petticoats.
My guys were already on stage so I dropped my bag and rushed to join them.
We stood on the stage and watched the MC go through his material, mentioning all the sponsors and other blah-blahs. He then called out the band names one at a time. I happened to look down and saw a jack lying on the floor. It suddenly occurred to me that I was still carrying my guitar. I picked up the jack and plugged it into my bass. There was a tiny little feedback whine for a flicker of a second, but I clicked off my guitar right away and only a very few noticed.
When it was our turn to be called, I quickly stepped out of line, and fired off a long riff that blasted through the auditorium. The chiffon scarves flew as I pinwheeled my arm. The audience cheered. I heard Danielle scream. “You go, girl!” and the audience roared. That made me smile.
In the end, the announcement was a bit anti-climactic. The MC yelled out, “Unlimited Bandwidth!” and the band went wild, hugging and clapping each other on the back. Dale let out an ululating yell, sounding just like Tarzan of the Apes. Janet and June were hugging each other and jumping for joy. Mongo grabbed me by the waist and lifted me off my feet. I involuntarily let out a small “Eeep!” Nikki, Morgan and the others were suddenly at the foot of the stage screaming. Danielle was looking up at me with pride. Me, I covered my eyes. What have I done? Boy-oh boy.
end of part four
|
DANNY
Part 5 This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister, and how he and his family and friends deal with life with him having breasts. And now, it is coming close to that moment, when he has to choose the path his life would go - between being a girl or remaining a guy. Things are finally coming to a head for Dan & his gang. |
I resurrected what little I had of my old story, cleaned them up and posted them in four parts, in Crystal’s Storysite and in Topshelf. And though I am by no means a real writer, I am trying my darndest to finish the rest of the story — I thank everyone that gave me encouragement, either through emails or comments in the sites. It is because of you that I am persevering with this. This fifth installment is the result of this. Feedback would be most appreciated, so I do hope people write me back through my site-registered email address.
I hope you will forgive any grammatical and literary flubs that you see, and any problems in format. Further, given that this little piece had close to five years of gestation, many of the cultural referents will be off - for example, many of the songs used in the story are not current but in the story they’re treated as if they were, yet at the same time other songs are really current songs. I hope you will forgive the temporal mismatch here, and try and enjoy the story despite this.
Apologies also if the quoted lyrics are wrong — I got most of them off the net, or from my own memory — I didn’t get them off official sources.
So, without further ado, here we go with Part Five. Hope you like… (Don’t forget! Feedback, please!!)
Fourteen: After the Concert
***** (Danny) *****
It was a major operation, this contest thing. Janet had dipped into the band’s bank account and splurged for a semi-large U-Haul trailer that Dale towed behind his Ford, as well as a budget for incidentals like toll fees, gas and food. Maybe even enough for a couple of motel rooms if it gets too late and we get too tired to drive anymore.
I didn’t even know the band had a bank account. All I knew was that I got paid a share of what the band makes during our gigs. I was getting one-twelfth of our billings, net of taxes, and I thought that was a little low. But when I saw the bankbook, and Dale showed me the band’s financial ledger — it was all there in neat rows of names and numbers. The upshot of it was that everyone got one-twelfth of the band’s earnings, even Janet, and another twelfth was put in a time deposit for each band member, which the band member can withdraw if he or she quits the band. That makes one sixth per member. One-twelfth was reserved for contingency fees to other people (like Marie, our pseudo-producer) and another twelfth for miscellaneous expenses, but if not used up, they’re put in the time-deposit account distributed equally to everyone. I looked at Dale, impressed at his organizational skills, fairness and forethought. But he pointed out it was all Janet’s doing.
“I just do the bookkeeping,” Dale said. “It’s all Janet, really. She wanted to make the band a business as well as something that everyone shared.” He said that they had to recompute to accommodate me — before, when there were only four of them, each member’s share was one-tenth of the earnings, so Janet decided to keep all of what they had in the current account, and start from scratch with a new one, hence no problem with the recomputing. “No one really complained much at the percent reduction,” Dale said, “since Janet said we’d probably have more gigs than the once-a-week we used to have at Mario’s. But two shows at Mario’s instead of one wasn’t what we were really hoping for.” I laughed at that. “Still,” Dale said, “with Mario almost doubling our rate per set and allowing us to do three or four instead of the one set per night is netting us more than three times what each of us made before. Too bad that he’s gone to one show per week again…”
This was all news to me.
Anyway, about the U-Haul trailer - since the authorized signatories for the bank account were both Janet and Dale, we had to get Janet to agree to the U-Haul. It took Dale AND my cajoling to get Janet to say yes. Otherwise, we’d be carrying our equipment on our laps in our individual cars (and Dale’s van). “Besides,” Dale told her, “it’s not gonna cost us much more than a couple of hundred.”
“You’re forgetting the deposit, the insurance, et cetera, et cetera…” said Janet.
“But, Janet,” I said, “they’ll return the deposit afterwards. And I don’t want to have to shlep around guitars and keyboards and stuff. Please?...” I comically batted my eyelashes at her. She burst out laughing, gave me a kiss and agreed to it, and actually did one better — she had a couple of thousand withdrawn for the rental as well as contingencies.
“You owe me, kid,” she said when she signed the withdrawal slip. The couple of thousand was totally over and above what we needed, but best to be safe. “No problem if we don’t use it all up,” Dale said. “We’ll just deposit it back later.”
Anyway, with the ten thousand-dollar prize, we more than made back whatever we spent, and we had a shot at becoming more than just a garage band — included in the prize was a possible recording contract (there would be a demo and audition first, though) as well as being opening acts for a couple of teen concerts that the sponsoring company was organizing.
The sponsor was RockrGrrl Guitars, a fairly-new guitar manufacturer that makes guitars specifically for girls and women. Somewhat similar to Daisy Rock Guitars — the RockrGrrl guitars were light-weight guitars that had narrower necks, with some models having a shorter scale length and reduced spacing between the frets, which made the guitars easier to play for girls with their smaller hands and bodies.
The awarding had taken more than an hour to complete, which included the inevitable plugs from the various sponsors, breaks in the videotaping for commercials, the awarding of the check for ten thousand dollars, the awarding of gift vouchers and guitars from the sponsor, and an impromptu encore song. Since there were three “girls” in our band, we were given three complementary RockrGrrl guitars complete with cases — a pair of six-string single-cutaway electric guitars, similar in look to the classic Gibson Les Paul (though a little smaller), one of them a bass, plus a standard-looking (although again smaller in size) acoustic guitar with a built-in pickup and jack. The bass was in an imitation mother-of-pearl white top and the other one in a solid candy-pink. The acoustic guitar had a mint-green finish with a marble look to it. All that Dale and Mongo got were small gift checks. Mweheheheh…
June and Janet got first dibs, but June said we could have them as she’s not too interested in guitars. Janet took one look at them, shuddered a bit at the saccharine color schemes, so all three ended up being mine. I was at once elated (that I had three, count em! three new guitars), but also disappointed in that they were girl guitars. Or more properly, “grrl” guitars. Heheh. The sponsor’s representative who handed them to us said they were pre-tuned, just in case we wanted to give them a test drive. Talk about heavy hints…
The announcer talked to each of us, starting with Janet, asking our names, how we got started as a band, and how we felt about winning, as well as some other inanities. Dale took the opportunity to plug the band a bit, casually mentioning our once-a-week gig at Mario’s (It used to be twice a week, but Mario’s cut it down to just Saturdays now).
The announcer finished up with me. He introduced me as Dannie Fairchild (of course, the spelling of ‘Dannie’ couldn’t be heard via the interview unless I actually spelled it out), and asked me the same sort of things. I couldn’t get much said as the loud and un-ending cheers kept drowning me out. I was able to talk about how I got started with the band, though, and how I loved being part of the group. I also got to talk about my friends and pointed to them. A spotlight was turned on the guys. I can’t remember my exact words, though, but I did get to mention Nikki by name as my “special friend,” and she waved enthusiastically and gave me a flying kiss. Everyone laughed and roared in appreciation at that, and the host wrapped up the interview. We all gave a bow — the usual stage bow, with us holding hands and bowing at the same time, and the audience responded with thundering applause. And even after repeated bows, the audience didn’t want to stop clapping and cheering.
The announcer stepped off the stage and the floodlights clicked on, so I guess it was our turn again, for our “encore” song.
As the cheers started to fade, we went into a huddle. I said I wanted to play “Real” by Plumb. Janet agreed — she loved the pop-song beat of the song, with lots of hooks that guaranteed it to be a hit. For me, it was more. For me, the words had meaning.
I put my old guitar down, slung the new candy-pink electric’s strap around my neck, plugged in, cleared my throat and tried to project the image I had in my mind.
I waited until the hubbub of the crowd died out, and in the almost virtual silence, I started playing the new guitar. The frets felt like they were tailored to my hand. So much easier than my fake strat. As I plucked the strings, the sound reverberated in the hall.
“Look at me, I'm twenty three, beautiful - a sight to see tonight,” I sang plaintively to the listening audience. “A little dress to draw the press, and I'll be leaving all the rest behind.”
Janet strummed a bridge chord, and I sang the next verse. “Well, be pleased, girl, if this is what you wanted. The whole world is watching you take the stage. What will you say?”
Dale, Mongo and June got in the act, and we went into high gear.
“Aren't I lovely, and do you want me, cause I am hungry for something that will make me real! Can you see me, and do you love me, cause I am desperately searching for something real!”
The guys dialed it back a bit for the next verse. “I close my eyes, imagine time will not forget my sacrifice,” I sang. Janet crabbed her guitar and made it go, “wowowowowow.” That was hard to do without an effects box, but she did it purely from the frets.
June, Janet and I harmonized the next line. “I numb the ache and decorate my emptiness, stand naked in the light.”
I went solo again as Janet and Dale strummed the bridge chord. “Well, be pleased, world, if this is what you wanted. This young girl is everything that you made. What will she say?”
The guys fired it up again for the refrain. “Aren't I lovely, and do you want me, cause I am hungry for something that will make me real!
“Can you see me, and do you love me cause I am desperately searching for something real!”
The guys pulled back, leaving me to sing the next lines, lonely and vulnerable. “The world goes home. The lights go down. My lipstick fades away.” I got a little teary-eyed. The lyrics were more than words to me. Like the song was about me.
But I shook off the melancholy waves, and we fired it up again for the final part, and I sang my heart out. “And do you want me cause I am hungry for something that will make me real. Can you see me, and do you love me, cause I am desperately searching for something real!”
Like always, I had goosebumps as we played together flawlessly, like the well-oiled machine that we were. And I repeated the lines. “And do you want me cause I am hungry for something that will make me real. Can you see me, and do you love me, cause I am desperately searching for something real.” I repeated the last few words. “Something real! Yeah! Something real…”
I stretched the last word as we faded the music away, and the applause and cheers rained down.
We escaped to the backstage as the curtains came down and the applause kept going. We hugged as a group, and June was almost jumping in joy and triumph.
“We did it! We did it!” June shrieked. I looked at my friends with a smile, and even in my somewhat melancholy mood, I couldn’t help but feel my pride in them. My joy in them.
As we wound down and mopped up our sweating necks and faces (I was lucky in that I had built-in hankies — my scarves), one of the organizers came over and told us that the girl who supposedly “fainted” (I still say she was faking it) asked to meet us. Janet agreed. The girl timidly came backstage with a couple of stage hands trailing, ready to catch her in case she “fainted” again. After looking at the five of us gooey-eyed, she shyly walked over, and said in a very meek voice, “Hi, I’m Janice.”
Dale came over and shook her hand, as did Mongo. June gave her a hug. “I’m June,” she said.
Janet noticed the little flyer she had clutched in her hand, and offered to sign it. All of the band took turns signing Janice’s flyer, and when it came to me, I wiped my sweaty hand on one of the scarves, took the pen and signed it with a flourish. “To Janice,” I wrote, “thank you so much for being a fan. Love, Dannie.” (I almost wrote Danny).
I handed it to her and gave her a hug. She squeezed back so strongly, it was hard to breathe. She then snuck a kiss on my lips, and whispered in my ear, “You’re wonderful. I love you.”
I gave her another light squeeze before gently pushing her away. “Thank you, Janice,” I said, being careful of what I said. “We all appreciate it.”
“No, no,” she shook her head, holding my hands in a death grip. “I really love you. I’ll do anything…”
The two stage hands gently but firmly pulled her away, one of them looked back at me and shrugged apologetically.
“Wait, goddamnit!” we could faintly hear her say as she was led off the stage.
“Groupies,” I said, looked back at everyone and shrugged. June giggled.
“What,” I said a little irritatedly. June pointed at my sleeves and I noticed I was missing my scarves. Groupies like to take souvenirs, after all…
After we all signed some paperwork and shook the hands of the organizers, Morgan and the others came over and we loaded up the U-Haul with everyone’s band stuff, as well as the three new guitars, and piled into the cars — Dale’s big Ford, Joanne’s van and my ‘stang. Danielle went back in and made sure to get a copy of the final signed documents. She came out as we finished loading up.
“Got it,” Danielle said, waving it in the air.
“Just in time, too,” I said. “just as we’ve finished loading up.” Everyone laughed and Danielle chased me around the parking lot.
Most of the other bands had gone, except for a few that stayed behind to congratulate us. It was getting late after all.
After all our band stuff was securely packed in the U-Haul, we had to take back all our overnighters and pile them and other stuff in the back of either Dale’s Ford, Joanne’s little van or the trunk of my mustang, the rest we would carry on our laps. As it was an overnight thing at worst, Janet insisted that we only bring a couple of changes of clothes and essential toiletries. The girls, of course, stretched that rule though, but they were unusually restrained in the amount of their baggage — no more than two bags apiece.
As Nikki got in my car’s passenger seat, and June and Janet got in the back (Danielle wanted to ride with Joanne), Janet tapped my shoulder. “Mr. Taylor, the event manager said that our show is gonna be featured on MTV or VH1 or something.” When I was younger, MTV and all the music TV channels were kings of the airwaves. Nowadays, they’re not as big, so I didn’t know if that was such a big deal. Janet went on. “He also said that they might feature a few of the segments on The Today Show and Good Morning America.”
“Cool,” I answered back laconically.
“What’s wrong, Danny,” Nikki said.
“I’m glad we won and all,” I said, “it’s just that it’s gonna be seen on TV.”
Nikki gave me a hug. “It’s all right, Danny,” Nikki said. “Remember the plan? If anyone connects this to you, we say it was Danielle and not you.”
Wonder of wonders, Betsy was able to make it in time to meet us at the parking lot, in nothing less than a chauffeured limo. (The chauffeur being their butler, Walter.) Betsy came out of the back of the limousine, dressed in club clothes just like the rest of the guys, and ran to my car.
“Danny,” she shrieked and leaned in through the driver’s window and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
“Betsy!” I exclaimed. “You came.”
“I’m so sorry I couldn’t make it. Dad was inaugurating a building upstate and he wanted mom and me there for the ribbon cutting. But I’m here now.” Betsy wanted to ride with us, so we had another passenger in the mustang. Betsy had us dump most of the stuff we had with us in the limo, and Walter followed us in convoy.
We heard an electronic buzzing coming from the glove compartment and pulled out one of Mongo’s Radio Shack walkie-talkies. “Wazzzup!” Dale exclaimed. We groaned at the hackneyed joke.
I pressed the radio’s button. “Danny, here,” I said. “We’re ready to roll.”
Joanne buzzed in. “We’re all ready in the van as well.”
“Okay, guys,” Dale said. “Let’s boogie on outa here!”
We decided to go to a restaurant of Morgan's choice - a Chinese restaurant specializing in dumplings. Walter, Betsy’s family butler, now temporary chauffeur, went ahead of us and arranged for a table for the group, and we ended up sitting in a big, round table with a hot pot in the middle, and an unbelievably large Lazy Susan.
We all deferred to Morgan and he ordered up a mess of pork hsui mai, chicken dumplings, cellophane rice noodles with beef and cauliflower, egg drop soup, a pot of lemongrass tea, a kind of drink with little round tapioca balls and gelatin cubes, sweet-and-sour pork, and chinese fried rice.
"Wow," Janet commented, "you're some kind of Chinese food connoisseur."
"But of course," Morgan said.
Walter took a small table away from us and placed an order for himself with our waiter. He also handed a small card to the waiter - presumably a credit card.
"The meal's on me," Betsy said. "Or, actually, on Daddy's credit card." She shrugged. "It's the least I can do to make up for not being able to join the contest."
"No big, Bets," I said, and gave her a hug.
None of the band had changed attire, with Janet and June still in their Beyonce-licious best, and Dale and Mongo in their dark-brown leather jackets over a shiny electric-blue silk shirt (in the case of Mongo, it was electric green). I was still wearing my large jacket over the tube top, the big belt buckle over the pouf skirt, and the stiletto boots. And everyone else were in their club clothes. Good thing the place was a bit upscale so our group didn't unduly stand out.
***** (Nikki) *****
We found ourselves in a restaurant of Morgan’s choosing. We were given a big table, enough to accommodate the entire group, and we made a boisterous time of it. I kept my arm firmly around Dan’s waist, and he had his around my shoulders. I sighed and looked up, trying to pay attention to Dale. But Dan’s sexy, slightly musky scent distracted me. Mongo had brought one of the Rockrgrrl electrics and stowed it under the table, presumably to examine it a bit later.
Dale was going on about the demise of classical music in the popular culture, and how everyone could benefit from a good dose of culture. Mongo suddenly broke in, saying that the others who left early were lucky to be spared this. Dale threw a roll, and a food fight erupted. If it weren’t for the maitre d’, it would have gotten out of hand. It felt like deja vu.
As the hilarity died out, we got down to some serious eating. I noisily sucked my tapioca-and-gelatin drink but the little tapioca balls would get stuck in the straw. I reversed the straw to get at the stuck little jelly balls, and continued my noisy drinking. Betsy used a fork to eat her cellophane noodles by twirling them onto a fork and Danny expertly maneuvered slices of sweet-and-sour pork to his mouth with chopsticks. Mongo got a couple of little slivers of raw beef and a bunch of greens with his chopsticks and dropped them into the boiling water of the hotpot. Joanne looked at Drew trying to eat fried rice with chopsticks without much luck, so, taking a cue from some of the patrons in the restaurant, Joanne got a spoonful of rice, said “Here!” and popped it into Drew’s mouth. Everyone giggled at Drew’s surprised expression. She chewed the food in comical enthusiasm, went, “Mmmm!” and gave Joanne a garlicky kiss on the cheek.
For good measure, Joanne did the same to June, and she also gave her the same kind of kiss on Joanne’s other cheek. “Yuck!” Mel complained, and everyone laughed. June and Drew really did look and act like twins, though not as close as Danny and Danielle.
The novelty of the restaurant was wonderful, and although the food was great, the way you ate the food was an adventure all by itself and made it fun and memorable. Much of the meal was eaten in appreciative silence except for the munching, the odd burp (typically from Mickey), and various sighs of appreciation.
We talked about the evening, and the wonderful time we all had at the concert, and Mel and Joanne couldn’t get over the large crowd. Ever the curious guy, Jerry asked about the prizes. Janet showed them the check for ten grand and Danielle brought out the “limited engagement” contract that they all signed. I grabbed it, looked it over with Danielle, and tried to decipher the legalese. As far as I could tell, the band was given an option to be the opening acts at two RockrGrrl concerts (to be determined later), and one audition for a recording company. Sounds like a great opportunity for the band to get signed up.
“What else?” Betsy asked.
Mongo brought out the cotton-candy pink hardshell guitar case and popped it open. Inside was the rock-candy pink electric guitar, as well as a set of pink and black tweed guitar cables, a little packet that contained replacement steel-strings and a bunch of cherry-red guitar picks.
“Wow,” Betsy said. “That guitar’s real pretty!”
Mongo handed the guitar over and Betsy put the strap on around her shoulder. She pantomimed strumming the guitar like a glam-rock singer, pinwheeling her arm in a big circle before hitting the strings. “Look at me,” Betsy said. “I’m Dannie!”
“Look at me, I’m twenty-three,” June and Drew sang and giggled themselves silly. Me, too, actually.
Danny laughed and gestured for the guitar. “Hold the bottom of this glass against it,” Danny said to me, and got me to hold a drinking glass against the guitar.
He played the guitar, and a distinct sound could be heard, but not loud. Equally quietly, Danny sang, “Well, be pleased, girl, if this is what you wanted. The whole world is watching you take the stage. What will you say?”
The girls picked up the song, and sang the rest of the refrain at the top of their voices. “Aren't I lovely, and do you want me, cause I am hungry for something that will make me real! Can you see me, and do you love me, cause I am desperately searching for something real!”
The rest of the restaurant clapped in good humor, and the girls giggled and waved.
“What song was that,” Betsy asked, and everyone filled her in.
What a fun group.
***** (Melody Piper) *****
What a fun group, I thought to myself. Danny’s bunch of friends were quite boisterous but the patrons in the restaurant was quite tolerant of them. I was surprised. But I guess it was because, despite their boisterousness, they weren’t too rowdy. The food throwing was a close thing, but between Danny and the maitre d’, disaster was aborted in the nick of time.
I was seated at a table against the far wall, well away from Danny, and hiding behind my menu, taking short peeks around it at Danny and his friends. They felt just like me and my friends way back in high school. I couldn’t help but wish for my own Tracey to have such friends.
Judging by what the gentleman that was with them was wearing, I concluded he was their driver. But the fact that he accompanied them into the restaurant but sat at a table away from them - probably a butler, I thought. I surveyed the kids and my experienced eye spotted the couture-quality clothes of the cute redhead (not Danny nor Danielle). The butler was probably hers. And from the K Mart quality of some of the outfits on the guys, Danny’s gang had a pretty wide… demographic. Speaks well of him, I thought.
Weeks ago, I heard from Tracey and a few of the kids at Tracey’s school about the upcoming concert by Rockrgrrl. The guitar company obviously wanted to get on the same bandwagon that lots of shows were currently on, like American Idol, England’s Got Talent, Dancing with the stars, et cetera et cetera. And, given my radio station’s predominantly young listenership, I decided and called to ask the concert organizers at Rockrgrrl if we could feature the concert on the station. Even though my station was basically a hole-in-the-wall, they agreed without delay, as would any new company trying to break into a new market.
They gave me a list of the ten girl-bands that passed the screening, and I noticed Unlimited Bandwidth in there. I seem to recall Danny featuring the band on his Nighthawk radio show a few times so my interest was piqued. I looked at the listing for Unlimited Bandwidth and one of its members was a Dannie Fairchild. I assumed it was Danielle, but I never heard her called Dannie ever. Could it be? At almost the last moment, I decided to go, and see if it was.
I never expected to enjoy myself, but I did. Many of the bands were pretty good, but I liked Danny’s band the best. And it really WAS Danny. I had been impressed with the kid before, but this was beyond expectations. And another question arose. Could it be he was like Tracey? If so, maybe he’d be good for him, and bring him out of his shell.
I looked at them enjoying themselves, and I felt jealous — jealous that my Tracey didn’t have that kind of relationship with his peers.
I made a decision, and called up the Rockrgrrl representative I was introduced to earlier. I asked for a copy of the booth recording, and the guy promised to give a cleaned up version in a couple of days. I said, fine, but I was hoping to get a copy now, even if it was the raw, unmodified version, and that I’d be willing to sign any kind of NDA they needed. I used all my salesmanship skills, as well as a bit of name-dropping, and the guy agreed, though reluctantly. I thanked him profusely and told him that my friend Isabel (the owner of RockrGrrl) will be pleased to hear about her friendly and talented staff. The guy thanked me and said I could pick it up my copy in about twenty minutes or so. He even said I didn’t need to sign an NDA.
I gave Danny and his friends a last once-over, brought out my iPhone and surreptitiously took a picture of them. The waiter gave me my takeout in a large plastic bag (I deliberately selected stuff that would travel well, given the two-to-four-hour drive home) and I made sure I wasn’t seen by Dan and his friends as I left for the auditorium to pick up the video.
I was home in less than two hours, thanks to my driver’s expertise with the car. Once home, I found Tracey in the living room area, watching SyFy again while doing something on his laptop. It wasn’t a school night so I didn’t chew him out for staying up so late.
“Hey, Trace,” I said, and proferred my cheek for a kiss.
“Hi, Mom,” Tracey said as he got up to give me a kiss. He sat back down on the couch, smoothening his skirt first. He was becoming very proficient in that, I thought. I noticed he’d shaved his legs again. Tracey was my pre-op son, currently going through his real-life trial. Next year, he’d qualify for the hormone treatment and then, eventually, qualify for the operation.
“Did you have fun?” He asked.
“Pretty much. Listen, I’ve got something to show you.” I dropped the paper bag of food on the table, took out the DVD that the organizer’s rep, Mr. Taylor, gave me from my bag, and popped it into the player. I fast-forwarded until I came to the section with Danny’s band, and pressed PLAY.
On the TV was the girl from Dan’s band with the enormous boobs, and she sang with a synthesized effect. After that one line, Danny was on. I settled into the couch and snuggled with my son.
After a bit, the video caught Tracey’s eye and pretty soon, he put aside the computer and was sitting on the edge of the couch watching Danny and his friends sing their hearts out. “Who’s that?”
“That? The one singing? You won’t be able to guess. That, my dear is the one and only Nighthawk.” Tracey was a fan of the Nighthawk, as most of the kids he knew in school were, and his eyes goggled at that.
“She’s gorgeous!” He said. “Wow! And she’s got a pretty good singing voice, too.”
“Wait until the next song.”
The taller blonde girl took over the singing. “You mean this one?” Tracey said. He didn’t sound as impressed.
“No. After this.”
We listened through the blonde girl’s song, and after a moment or so, Danny took over singing another song.
“What’d she do with her voice? Wow! She sounds just like Courtney Love, only better!”
“You should listen to him as he does his show. He can switch voices at a second’s notice. He’s…”
Tracey went “shhh!” and tried to concentrate on the TV. I smiled, happy that he’s taken an interest in something else other than his computer.
As we watched the end of the song and the tumultuous applause, Tracey turned to me. “Any more?”
I fast-forwarded to the awards portion, sat back and watched my enraptured son. He watched as the individual bands were introduced, and when it was Danny’s group’s turn, Danny stepped forward and struck a chord on his guitar, adding a couple of flourishes with his scarves. “Wow!” Tracey said.
And when the announcer announced the winner, Tracey actually clapped in glee. I giggled at his enthusiasm.
Tracey sat through the interview and listened to Danny struggling to answer the announcer and be heard above the un-ending cheers and applause, and listened to Danny sing their encore song. “I wonder what the title of that song is…” Tracey said to himself. Danny was expertly playing the guitar that was given him as if the guitar had always been his. “A pink guitar!” Tracey said, and giggled. “Too cute!”
After the song, and Danny’s band disappearing behind the curtain, Tracey turned back to me. “Any more, mom?”
“I’m afraid that’s it, sweetie.”
He got the remote from me and started playing the disk again, queuing it back to Danny’s section.
“Listen, have you had dinner already? I brought Chinese.” Tracey impatiently shook his head no. “Well, if you’re at all interested, I’m bringing the food in the kitchen. Just come on in if you want some.”
I looked at Tracey. He was sitting inches from the screen. “Would you like to meet Danny?”
That caught his attention. “Really? When!”
“He has an early program at the station tomorrow. That is, if he can make it. I bet he’s gonna be pretty tired after that concert.”
“He’s gonna be at the station? Mommm! Can I meet him? Can I?”
I giggled. My son… I should learn to start thinking of him as my daughter.
“Sure, Tracey,” I said. “But we have to leave for the station early. His program’s only two hours, from six am to eight.”
“No sweat!” He… damnit — SHE - gave me a hug. “Oh, mom! Thanks!”
“No problem, honey.”
She went back to watching the TV. I gave him a kiss, picked up the paper bag and went to the kitchen.
“Wait!” I heard her call. “The Nighthawk’s a guy?!”
I giggled, and I heard Tracey running to the kitchen.
***** (Danny) *****
After the meal, we were still hyped and everyone wanted to do something before having to go home. I asked the kid who fetched our rides if there was a good place to go to. The would-be valet looked us up and down and suggested a club a few blocks away, one that wasn’t too strict with IDs and such, and was “girl friendly.” I told the guys and they agreed to go to Foxtails.
“I’m sorry, guys,” Betsy said, “but I’m sort of ‘under surveillance,’ if you know what I mean.” She gestured at Walter, her butler/driver.
“Well, why don’t you invite him,” Janet said, “and he could keep tabs on you there. I’m sure if you did, he’d say yes.”
Betsy nodded and trotted off to her butler. They had a short conversation, and Betsy came back.
“Walter said I can go if he’ll be coming with us,” she said. “So let’s go then.”
“Wait,” I said. I had a brainstorm. I reorganized the seating arrangement a bit, and had the girls sit in the limo. I then asked for volunteers to ride with me in my mustang but everyone wanted to ride in Dale’s Ford F150. Morgan shrugged and volunteered to ride with me.
I asked Joanne if it was okay to hook up the trailer to her van. She said okay to that and squeezed into the limo.
After Dale and Mongo transferred the trailer as well as our odds and ends to the van, Mongo volunteered to drive it. He led our little convoy and we kept an eye open for a parking space.
Halfway there, we saw an open parking lot. Mongo turned the van into the lot, picking a slot near the guard’s little booth at the front. We waited for him across the street, and as soon as he was done paying, he ran over, jumped into Dale’s van and we were off.
Danielle told me later that our group made a big splash as soon as the limo parked in front of the club, as I intended. Walter, playing the chauffeur thing to the hilt, opened the door for them, and seven hotties (she was referring to themselves, of course heheh) stepped out. Everyone that was waiting in line to get into the club turned to look at them, and the girls giggled at all the attention. Walter went to the doorman-bouncer and spoke to him briefly. Danielle saw him slip the guy some money, and the doorman nodded. Walter went to Betsy and nodded. “Everything squared away, miss. I’ll just park the car and be back.” He waved the valet away and got in. He pulled forward a bit and waited for the others.
Dale pulled up in his humungous Ford and he and Mongo stepped out, along with Mickey and Jerry. Dale handed his keys to the valet and the valet pulled away from the curb. Walter trailed him to wherever he would be parking Dale’s car.
And then I pulled up. According to Danielle, my shiny ’73 Mustang was always an attention-grabber and tonight was no different. Morgan stepped out, and everyone in line did a double-take when I switched the engine off and stepped out. I mean, who wouldn’t if a tiny hottie came out of the driver’s side of a muscle car. I stepped up onto the curb but almost lost my balance on the stiletto heels. I grabbed for Morgan’s arm and we then went towards the rest of the guys.
“Walter said everything’s okay,” Betsy said, and led us to the doorman.
“Welcome to Foxtail’s, ladies, gentlemen,” the big black man said to us, and held the door open.
The place was jumping, as we had arrived just before eleven. Our big group grabbed a couple of corner tables adjacent to each other. The guys went and bought a round of drinks for everyone. I told Dale I'd have rum and coke, like Janet. Betsy ordered a Diet Pepsi.
A table of giggling girls always attracts a lot of attention, and there were a lot of guys eyeing us up, already, as well as a lot of the girls. I was not at all comfortable with this, but the others just whispered and giggled a lot.
Most everyone got up and danced, and Betsy was the most popular among us. She giggled a lot as guys vied for her attentions, but the others weren’t having much of a problem looking for partners, either. Even Jerry and Mickey. Morgan and Drew gravitated towards each other, of course.
I was able to dance with Nikki for a couple of songs, and I enjoyed it a lot. But I begged off afterwards, though, as I felt a lot tired. I shooed Nikki back to the dance floor to enjoy herself, and a tall blond guy cut in, whirling Nikki away before she could respond. I giggled and waved goodbye.
I sat down at one of the tables we had claimed as ours and put up my tired tootsies on one of the chairs. As I did so, lots of guys came up either trying to chat me up or get me to dance. I shook my head and they all skulked away. I took a sip of my long-neglected rum-coke, closed my eyes and sighed. After a bit, a tall gorgeous girl with long, ash-blonde hair dressed in a very stylish fitted mini dress came to stand by the table, asking for a dance. I looked up at her and my brain locked up. She was absolutely gorgeous. Her dress was one of those one-shoulder things, with ruffle trim and a glitter design throughout the cloth, ruched along the sides. Although her boobs were smaller than mine… I was wondering why my brain was noting details of her clothes and her measurements when a whole, cute, live girl was in front of me.
I finally got my voice to work. “Uhmmm, I’m a little tired, and I just sat down…”
“That’s a little unfair. That blonde girlfriend of yours has been monopolizing you the whole night.”
“But I…”
“Just one dance? Please?”
I relented. “All right.” And as soon as I said that, the girl pulled on my arm, pulling me up and dragging me back to the dance floor. “Eeep!”
Once I was boppin’ to the beat with this hottie, I finally noticed that there were a lot more girls in the place than boys. Maybe a four-to-one ratio. With most of them looking at me. Then I thought of the club’s name — Foxtails. I looked around. There were several guys there, but not many. And girls were dancing with Morgan and the others. But I guessed that the place caters mostly to a… female clientele, though not exclusively.
No wonder a girl was so quick to proposition me here. Normally, I would be tickled pink by the attentions of such a beautiful girl but I was just one inch from freaking right now, despite the fact that my nose was mashed against the girl’s wonderfully-smelling cleavage. I wondered at that as the girl spun me around, and the only thing I could think of was that I was afraid of being found out.
I looked desperately for my friends, and I saw Morgan just finishing dancing with a tiny little brunette thing. Seems Morgan and Drew were dancing with other people for a while. I looked at him with desperate eyes. He looked at the girl in my arms (or more correctly, the girl whose arms I was in) and grinned. He looked back and gave me a big wink and an emphatic thumbs-up. I shook my head and mouthed the words, “rescue me.”
Morgan nodded and gave the girl he was with a quick kiss as he escorted her back to her friends. He then turned back and went straight to me. He tapped my partner on the shoulder. “May I cut in?” he said.
The blonde looked at Morgan. “I don’t think so,” she said.
I shook her a bit to get her attention. “Please?” I asked.
She looked at me for a second, and then leaned down to give me a kiss.
“Okay, sexy girl,” she said.
She handed me to Morgan. “Here she is, stud. You don’t know how lucky you are.”
Before she could go, I grabbed her hand and said “I’m sorry. Thank you.”
She touched my cheek gently. “No big deal, dearie. If you change your mind, I’ll just be around.” And then she walked off. Now that there was no more immediate risk of being caught out, I suddenly noticed how really cute she was. I watched her saucy ass swaying underneath her short mini-dress. Wow.
“Hmmm,” Morgan said. “I wonder if Nikki saw who you were dancing with. Heheh.”
I kicked him in the shin. “Ow!”
“How about you, Mr. Cassanova? Does Drew know you were dancing with that brunette?”
Morgan laughed. “Yep, she does. She’s back there dancing with the brunette’s boyfriend.” He pointed back to the dance floor.
“Ha-ha. Can you bring me to the table and keep me company?”
“Eh?”
“I want to sit down and rest, but people keep hitting on me.”
He looked at me with a small grin. “Whatever the lady wants,” he said.
I made as if to kick him in the shin again, but he danced away at the last moment.
Chortling, he took my arm and escorted me back to.
By the time Morgan and I were on our second drinks, things got a bit blurry.
Mickey, Dale, Jerry and Drew slid into the booth.
"Having fun?" Morgan asked as they slumped into the seats. Drew gave Morgan a kiss.
"S'okay I 'spose," Jerry huffed.
“Whaddaya mean, ‘okay?’” Mickey said. “Morgan, this guy here,” he gestured at Jerry, “has been dancing non-stop. You can’t believe how many girls were coming on to him and wanting to dance.”
“Lesbians,” I slurred.
“What?” Jerry and Mickey asked.
“Danny said ‘lesbians,’” Morgan repeated. “Didn’t you notice that there were lots of girls in this place? And lots of girl couples?”
Mickey and Jerry looked at each other. “Ohmigod,” Jerry said. “Danny’s right.”
“They probably felt safe, here,” Morgan said. “So they felt they can be as forward as they want and not have to deal with repercussions.”
“Eh?” Mickey said, not understanding.
“Never mind,” Morgan said, not bothering to explain.
After a bit, our table was suddenly surrounded by half a dozen girls, all of them sexy, and all of them real tall.
“Hey, ladies,” Mickey, the obtuse wonder, said. “What’s up?”
The girl in front was my dance partner. “We were just making sure you guys weren’t keeping our girl all to yourselves,” she said.
“Eh?” Mickey said again.
“Hi, girls,” I spoke up. “I’m totally fine here. My friends are just keeping me company while I take a break. We’re totally cool.”
My partner crouched down so she could look straight in my eyes. “Well, if they give you any trouble, just holler, and any of the girls here will come rescue you.”
“You got it all wrong,” I said. “These are my buds. I’m fine.” I deliberately wrapped my arms around Morgan and Drew, and snuggled up to them.
The girl took the hint. “Oh, okay,” she said. “Anyway, when you’re done resting, let me know? I’d love to get another dance.” She gave me another smile. “Let’s go, girls.” She gestured at the others and they walked away, all of them looking back to stare at me. I waved bye-bye.
“Whew,” Jerry said. “That was scary.”
“Why scary?” Mickey said. “Six really hot girls wanting to dance with Danny?”
Morgan shook his head in exasperation.
I gave Mickey a loud raspberry. “You’re so clueless, Mickey.”
Morgan looked at me.
"You’re drunk, Danny-boy,” Morgan said. “Sit here if you don't feel well." He pulled Mickey over and draped his arm around me. “You” he pointed a stern finger at Mickey, “keep her out of trouble.”
“Him,” I giggled drunkenly, and playfully bit at his pointing finger.
“Damnit! Sorry…” He stood up and went to the girls who were still dancing. He spoke to them motioning toward me. I made a feeble wave back as they looked, and came over.
"You okay, Danny?" it was Joanne asking.
"Shhh! Not too loud… I feel sick."
"Okay. We'll be leaving soon. Do you want some water or something?"
"Yes, please, Joanne."
She returned with a glass, and with Nikki in tow. I sipped while the others had a last bop.
"Danielle told us you don't normally drink, Danny?" June stated.
"Never get the chance," I replied.
"Well, we'll soon get you trained," Janet added, and giggled.
I just groaned. “Where you been,” I asked Nikki when she squeezed in between Mickey and me. I gave her a one-armed hug.
“That guy I’ve been dancing with? He didn’t wanna stop. Jeez, I’m pooped.”
I gave her a deep kiss, and everyone went, “oooh!”
Nikki took a deep breath. “Wow, you really are drunk! Not that I’m complaining…”
“You should have been doing what Betsy’s been doing then,” Mel said, “and sticking to softdrinks.” She gestured at the glowing Betsy as she sucked on another can of Diet Pepsi through a straw.
“It’s not as if I’ve got any choice,” Betsy said, wiping her brow with a tissue and gesturing to Walter standing against a far wall, trying to be unobtrusive.
“You’ve been dancing up a storm, Bets,” Joanne said. “You’re really popular with the guys.”
“And a lot of the girls, too, I noticed,” Janet said.
“I haven’t had this much fun, ever!” Betsy enthused. “Thank you for bringing me.” She leaned over and gave me a kiss.
“No prob, Bets.”
“Wow, you really don’t look good.”
“I wanna go home, but I think I’m too drunk to drive.”
“Maybe we should like check in to a motel or something, and allow Danny to sleep it off?” Jerry suggested.
“No can do,” Danielle said. “It’s a Saturday tomorrow, and Danny has a radio program to do in,” Danielle looked at her watch, “five hours. Oh boy!”
Danny groaned. “Oh, God! I forgot all about the program. Danielle! Ohmigod, whatamigonnadooo!”
“Don’t freak, Danny-boy,” Morgan said, making patting-down gestures. “We’ll all head for home. I’ll drive the ‘stang with Danny and Danielle, and the girls will ride with Betsy in the limo. The guys will ride with Joanne in the van. Mickey will ride shotgun, and Mongo and Dale can be in the Ford.”
“I don’t get the seating arrangement,” Jerry asked.
“Well, Walter is a professional, and the most un-tired among us, so the girls will be most safe in the limo. Joanne can manage a few more hours, and Mickey’s the only other guy I know here who can drive a stick, so he’s gonna sub for Joanne if she needs it. And Dale and Mongo can spell for each other, and bring everyone’s stuff so there’ll be room. And I’ll drive Danny and Danielle home.”
Everyone digested that, and agreed to the plan. I couldn’t make heads or tails of it, but nodded enthusiastically, anyway.
We all got up and moved to the door en masse.
My blonde ex-dance partner saw us moving to the door and made a beeline for us.
“Hey, sexy!” she called. “You leaving?”
I gave Nikki a little squeeze and went to her. “I have to,” I said to the tall blonde. “I’m sorry. I have something to do in the morning, and I’m not feeling too good.”
“Poor baby,” the girl said. “Will I ever see you again?”
I smiled. “I’d like that,” I said, my white lie coming almost automatically.
“I would have liked another dance,” she said. “But I can settle for another kiss?”
I paused a bit, looked back at Nikki. She shrugged, so I turned back, puckered up, and the girl took advantage of the opportunity. The only other time that I got kissed like that was with Janet a few hours ago. I didn’t know if I was drunk, or if it was the kiss, but I got dizzy. I didn’t know how I could still be standing, but actually, I think she was the one holding me up.
I held on for a bit until my head cleared. I gave her a final squeeze.
“Seeya,” I said. I went back to the guys, and we left the club.
Fifteen: Driving Home
***** (Morgan) *****
I helped Dale and Mongo unhitch the trailer from Joanne’s van and re-attach it to Dale’s Ford. This is getting a little old, I thought. Unhooking the trailer, hooking it back on, unhooking it again…
After we finished, I walked to Drew and gave her a kiss. “Be safe,” I told her. “I’ll talk to you later.” Drew nodded, and went to June and wrapped her arm around hers. We all said goodbye and got into our assigned cars.
“Walter!” Dale called out before getting into the Ford. Walter turned around in time to catch a walkie-talkie. “Channel twenty-one,” he called.
“Thank you, Master Dale.”
“No prob,” he said, and waved as he got into the big Ford’s driver’s seat.
I got into Danny’s mustang, and Danielle sat on the passenger side. Nikki and Danny sat in the back.
“All comfy and safe?” I said, and everyone murmured their assent.
“Dale here” came a buzz on the walkie-talkie. “We’re all ready.”
“Joanne here, we’re all set in the van.”
“Okay.” I pressed my walkie-talkie’s button. “Morgan here. Mustang ready to roll out.”
“Ummm, this is, ummm, Miss Elizabeth’s limousine,” Walter chimed in uneasily. “We are also ready to, ummm, roll out.” I heard the girls giggling in the background.
“Okay,” I said, “let’s go.” I pulled away from the curb and proceeded to head for the freeway. I looked through the rearview mirror and saw the limo trailing us, and behind that the van, and then followed by the Ford with the trailer.
Also in the mirror, I saw Nikki and Danny. Obviously, Nikki was giving Danny the cold shoulder. “Everyone okay back there?” I asked.
“Peachy,” Nikki mumbled, and stayed as far away from Danny as she could.
I ignored the brewing lovers’ quarrel, and continued driving. I turned on the car’s stereo and played some muted tunes. After a few minutes, I pulled up to the highway toll booth, plunked coins into the receptacle and started driving for home.
I looked at the back. No change. It’s gonna be a long drive.
After a couple of hours of driving, mostly in silence, I was starting to feel sleepy. I was actually on the verge of nodding off when Dale buzzed in. “Guys?,” Dale said through the walkie-talkie. “Can you keep your eyes open for a convenience store? Mongo and me are getting a bit punchy here. I can sure use a break, and a little pick-me-up.”
“Okay, Dale,” I responded. “Keep your eyes peeled, guys.”
We spotted a 7-Eleven a few minutes later. “Paydirt,” I said into my radio. “Follow me.”
I made a right-hand turn signal, and slowed down to pull up to the rest stop. There was a gas station, a 7-Eleven, a couple of pancake places, a Coffee Bean, and an all-night Pizza Hut. Intending to get the two out for some refreshments at least, I turned around and looked at the back seat. Nikki and Danny were wrapped around each other, innocently sleeping. Danny snoring a bit and Nikki had her nose in the hollow of Danny’s neck. Danielle giggled at the image and we both got out.
Everyone else had gotten out as well and were in the middle of deciding where to have a cup of coffee or a snack. Drew came over and I gave her a hug.
“Sorry, guys,” Danielle said. “We can’t stay long. We gotta be back in time for Danny’s show. How ‘bout ten minutes for necessities and stuff, and then we go.”
Everyone sleepily mumbled okay, and spread out through the place, most of them going to the coffee shop. Mongo and Dale went to the 7-Eleven to buy a couple of Red Bulls. Drew and I went with them and I bought a couple of my own as well as some Cheetos. I got two cups of hot chocolate for Drew and June, a tube of Pringles potato chips that she could share with June and the others, and a big bottle of water for Danny. I gave her a kiss and went back to the mustang.
Danielle was already at the car. “The lovebirds are still sleeping,” she said.
“Better that than fighting,” I said, and we got in. I swigged down one of the Red Bulls, and pulled out of the rest stop, tooting my horn and waving to the others.
“Well, Danny shouldn’t have kissed that girl,” Danielle said.
“He was just being polite.”
“Polite, hell. That girl was practically sucking his lungs out.”
“That’s exactly the point,” I said. “It was all the girl.”
“Hmmph. Well, you’re his best friend. Of course you’d be taking his side.”
“Well, yeah, I’m his best friend. But you know Danny. He wouldn’t have done anything. Especially not in front of Nikki.”
Danielle stayed quiet.
“Admit it, Danielle. You’re just jealous.”
Danielle remained quiet.
“It’s just how Danny is, now,” I said.
“I know,” Danielle said, almost in a whisper.
“Danielle? You okay?” I looked at her. She was crying quietly.
“Danielle!”
She waved my concern away. “I’m okay. Just … nerves. And I’m tired…”
“Bullshit. Tell me what’s really wrong.”
She cried harder. I took her hand and held it until her crying died down a bit.
“You’re right,” she said. I AM jealous. I just…” She couldn’t go on. “Oh, Morgan!”
“Shhh! You’ll wake them up.”
Danielle and I quickly looked up at the rearview mirror and sighed with relief when we saw the two of them still sleeping in the back.
“Oh, Morgan,” Danielle said more quietly. “If you only knew...”
“I think, after all these years, you know you can tell me anything. And it’ll be between us. I won’t even tell Danny.”
“You’ll think I’m a pervert or something...”
“No I won’t.”
She took a deep breath. “You’re right. I AM jealous. I’m actually jealous of that girl that Danny kissed. I... want to be that girl. I want...”
“Danielle?”
“Nikki’s my best friend, and I couldn’t love her more if she was my real sister. But...”
I squeezed her hand.
“Everytime I see them together, everytime he kisses Nikki... It’s like a knife in my heart. She’s my best friend, and I’m jealous of her. I want to be the one Danny kisses, I want to be the one that he brings out on dates, I want to be Nikki. Oh, Morgan...” In shame, she covered her face with her hands and cried. She tried to keep quiet but couldn’t stop little mewling and crying sounds from escaping.
“Danielle...”
“You must think I’m some kind of pervert. That I want to be with my brother. But look at him! Half the time, I can’t even think of him as a guy. I’m no lesbian. But he looks and acts and feels like this incredible hottie that’s so sexy and so beautiful, so smart, talented and... and so wonderful… I… I just want…”
I squeezed her shoulder. “You’re not a perv, Danielle,” I said. “Like you said, Danny is something else. No one can blame you. In fact…”
“Yeah?”
I… sorta feel the same way.” I could feel my face become hot with my embarrassment and shame. “I never did feel this way about Danny before. At least not this strongly. But, yeah, I feel the same way. Thank god for Drew. That she’s always there. Otherwise… I don’t think Danny would be safe around me.”
Danielle looked at me, and touched my face in sympathy. “Poor Morgan,” she said.
“Yeah. Poor me. Aren’t we a pair — you stuck on your brother, me stuck on my best friend.”
“I wish there was a way,” she said, “to sort of end all of this. If I can…”
“Danielle! What’re you saying!”
She hit me on the shoulder. “No, you dumb jock! Nothing like that. I was just thinking… If there was just a way we can walk away from all of this. So that we can all get back to how it used to be.”
“There’s no way, Danielle. What is just… is…”
Danielle sighed. “You’re right, of course.”
“And can you really walk away from Danny?”
“No. I can’t. Can you?”
I looked straight ahead, and contemplated the long highway. “No,” I finally said. “I can’t walk away. But I mustn’t do anything. I can’t hurt Danny.”
“Yeah. Nikki too.”
“Yeah.”
I looked ahead, trying to concentrate on the road. “Do you think I’m, you know, gay or something?”
Danielle shook her head. “No. Do you think I’m a lesbian?”
“No.”
“It’s Danny. Whatever it is... it’s got to be Danny.”
We drove on in silence. I looked at the rearview mirror. Danny and Nikki were still in dreamland.
We heard the walkie-talkie buzz.
“This is Morgan,” I said into the radio. “What’s up?”
“How’re you guys holding up,” Janet asked.
I pressed my squelch button again. “Doin’ okay,” I said, clearing my throat and trying to sound normal. “Real tired though.”
“Just an hour more or so, and then we’re home. And beddy-bye for all of us.”
“We could have, like, gone to a motel or something, y’know.” Dale interrupted from the Ford. “And continue on after a good night’s sleep. We had the money for it.”
“It’s just that Danny needed to be back before six,” I said. “But like Janet said, just an hour more.”
“Excuse me,” Walter the butler interrupted. “But Miss Drew would like to talk with Master Morgan.” Which was followed by a lot of giggling in the background.
“Hi, honey,” Drew said. Or was it June? Hmmm. I smell a rat.
“All right, June,” I said into the radio. “I know it’s you. Give the walkie-talkie to Drew, and let her talk.”
I heard June give me a raspberry.
“Spoilsport!” June said. “How did you know it was me, anyway?”
“I know my Drew,” I said. All of the girls went, “oooh!” I looked to Danielle and she was giggling herself. Well, at least she wasn’t crying anymore.
After a short silence, we finally heard Drew.
“Hi, Morgan.”
“Hi, honey,” I said.
“How do you know it’s me this time?”
“I always know.” Drew giggled.
“So, what did you want to talk about,” I said.
“I just wanted to ask, after you drop Nikki, Dan and Danielle off, how’re you gonna get home?”
“My bike’s at Danny’s so I’m all set.”
“Okay. I was just worried. Give me a call when you get home, ‘kay?”
“Sure, baby. Talk to you later. Need to concentrate on my driving.”
“Okay.” She then made a kissing sound over the radio.
Immediately after that, Dale made a similar sound over his walkie-talkie. Danielle laughed. I pushed the button again. “Thanks, honey,” I said. “Love ya. Mwah!” I could imagine Dale, Mongo and the girls bursting out laughing.
After laughing a bit myself, I sobered up. “Can’t live without Drew,” I said.
“You’re a lucky guy,” Danielle said.
“Yup. Don’t I know it. How about you? Got your eye on anyone?”
Danielle seemed glad for the change in topic. “Well, not really. Pretty slim pickings at school, you know.”
“Hey!”
Danielle laughed. “Present company exempted, of course.”
“Well, thanks for that...”
Danielle hit me lightly on the shoulder. “S’all right.”
“But you’re serious? Not a one?”
“Well, come to think of it, Drew’s big brother, Jim, seems real cute.”
“I don’t think I’ve seen him.”
“You haven’t? Even at Drew’s?”
“I’ve only been to Drew’s once, and all I got to meet was her mother.”
“I’m sure you know him. Big guy? Likes arcade games? Plays soccer for the school team? Real hunk, with curly hair and dimples?”
“Well, I wouldn’t have noticed the hunk or the dimples... But someone on the soccer team? I think I know who you mean. In any case, why don’t you go for it?”
“He’s a bit out of my league, you know?”
“What!? This is Danielle Fairchild I’m talking to, right? The wet dream of every guy in school? You’ve got to be kidding.”
“Ewww,” she said, and hit me on the shoulder again. “Don’t be gross!”
“Seriously, Danielle. Why don’t you try?”
“I don’t want to make the first move! What would you think if the girl was the one who made the first move?”
“What guy can resist a girl if she’s easy.” She hit me again, only stronger. “Owww! Quit it!”
“Oh! Did I hit you too hard? I’m sorry. I was just joking.”
“S’okay. But Danielle, why don’t you ask Drew? Fix you up with her brother and all...”
“Lemme think about it. But, Morgan, thanks.” She leaned over and gave me a peck on the cheek.
“No prob.”
Danielle smiled. “Danny was right about you, you know? You’re one of the good guys.”
“I’m not all that good, you know.” I then went into my godfather-mafioso imitation. I have to say my impersonation was pretty good, but not as good as Danny’s. At least I got Danielle to laugh again.
I sobered up a bit. “It could be your way out of this, you know? This thing with Danny.”
“I’ll think about it,” she said. “But Jim might not be interested in me.”
“What makes you say that?”
“When Danny, the girls and I were at the mall buying our outfits?” I nodded. “Jim was at the arcade and he saw Danny.”
“Saw Danny! Did he recognize him?”
“Well, no. Danny was dressed as a girl at the time. Even so, he did seem a lot more interested in Danny than me.”
We thought that over a bit.
“Still,” I said. “Make a go of it. See how it goes first. You haven’t even tried, yet, and you’re already giving up.”
“Okay, okay. You twisted my arm. But… give me a couple of days, though. These things have to be subtle.”
“Ahhh! The devious mind of the human female.”
She hit me on the shoulder again. On the same spot. “Owww! Quit it!”
We drove the rest of the way more relaxed. We were joking more, and were more at ease with each other than before. And Danielle seemed more chatty — a lot different now than before: Danielle seemed preoccupied these past few weeks, more closed in. Now it’s like she’s back. I think I did good.
And in that drive home, Danielle and I became friends. Sharing common things, common likes and dislikes, sharing the same experiences — these things are the basis of friendships. But sharing secrets, sharing hurts and feelings — these things are what close friends share. I guess, to me, Danielle has become more than Danny’s sister. She’s become more like a friend, now.
We talked some more, about many inconsequential things. Sometimes they featured Danny, but most of the time we talked of other regular stuff. Listening to Danielle gave me a window to her world, which has always been a mystery to me. And I guess talking to me gave her the same thing with mine. Drew says my sports-related stories usually bore her to death, so I kept my sports talk light and we talked more about the music we liked, and things like that.
I explained to her about electric guitars, about the legendary Les Paul line, and how the pickup on a guitar worked. Yeah, nerd stuff, I know, but Danielle seemed interested. What’s more, she seemed to know a lot herself. Like she knew Les Paul died recently (I didn’t know that). But, then, of course, hanging around her brother, I’m sure she’d pick up a lot of this stuff. And, after all this guitar talk, I told her I didn’t play the guitar. She laughed and laughed.
From time to time Danielle would look back to check on Danny and Nikki. Danielle noticed that Nikki wasn’t buckled in and she leaned over to snap on her seat belt. But for most of the drive, those two were sleeping like the dead and we left them alone.
As Danielle settled back into her seat, she sighed.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Yup,” she smiled. “Lots better. Thanks.”
“No problemo.”
When we got near our neighborhood, the other cars split from our little convoy, on their way to drop the others at their houses. Drew (and June) had said their goodbyes over the radio before the limo turned off into a side street a while back. And it was near five AM when we pulled up at Nikki’s house.
After we stopped, Danielle got out and reached in to shake Nikki awake.
“We’re home, honey,” Danielle said. “Time to wake up.”
Nikki yawned and sat up. She leaned down and kissed Danny.
Danny woke up and looked up at us. “’Sup?”
“Hey, bro,” I said. “Just dropping Nikki off at her place. You okay?”
“I feel super. Big headache, though. But thanks for letting me sleep.”
“’Kay,” Nikki said. “I’m going in now. Seeya later?”
“Yeah. And Nikki? Sorry about…”
Nikki kissed him to forestall any more apologies. “It’s okay, Dan. I’m sorry for over-reacting.”
Danny smiled delightedly. “So I’ll see you after my show?”
“Depends on whether I’m awake enough or not,” she giggled. “But I’ll try.”
“Okay.” He gave her another kiss and Nikki got out of the car. She gave Danielle a hug, waved at me and walked over to her door, looking for the key in her purse. We waited for her to get in, and when she closed the door, we went and continued on to the Fairchild’s.
“You okay, there, Danny?” Danielle asked.
“I’m okay, sis. Thanks.”
I handed him the mineral water bottle. “Drink as much of this as you can, dude. It’ll get rid of the headache.”
I parked the car in their driveway and we all got out. Danny and Danielle got their little carry-ons from the boot, and I got my little duffle.
“How are you gonna get to the radio station,” I asked, as I handed over the car keys.
“I’ll just take a quick shower, change and drive myself over there.”
“Want me to drive you?”
“I think I’ll be okay. I got a couple of hours sleep, thanks to you guys. I think I’m good to drive.”
“All right, dude. I’ll just go get my bike and boogie on home then.”
Danny checked if the garage was locked first, then reached down and pulled the garage door up manually. Seems the dude was packing muscles I couldn’t see.
I wheeled my little 75cc Honda out, got on and kick-started it.
Before putting on my helmet, I reached out and gave Danielle a hug. “Be cool, girl.” I said into her ear. “Remember what I said, okay?”
Danielle nodded and let me go.
“Dude,” I said, and Danny and me did that little complicated handshake we always did. Danny gave me a hug, too (which surprised me), and thumped me on my back.
“Later, dude,” he said.
I nodded and put on my helmet. I pulled away and waved to the two of them. Danielle waved back, and they turned and went into the house via the garage.
I didn’t gun the engine so as not to wake up the neighborhood, keeping it at a low 200 RPMs, and headed on home. It’ll be good to hit the hay. I wonder if mom and dad are gonna ground me this time…
Sixteen: Danny Outed. Sort of...
***** (Danny) *****
Danielle and I walked up the stairs and saw a note taped to mom and dad’s bedroom door. It said to wake them when we arrive. We opened their door, but didn’t have the heart to wake them up, so we just wrote on their note saying we’ve arrived, and drew a couple of sleepy-smiley faces. We went to our rooms and said goodnight to each other.
After I closed my door, I went to my bathroom — I had to whiz real bad. It’s all Morgan’s fault, giving me that big bottle of water.
I walked to my bed and sat down on the edge. I caught my reflection in the dresser’s mirror and I saw a cute redhead in an oversized jacket, one bare shoulder exposed. It was Danielle. Her hair was tousled as if she just got out of bed, but in a sexy way, and looked sleepy-tired. I guess I would never get used to my image as a girl, and having echoes in my mind that I wasn’t actually looking at me but at Danielle. I shook my head and proceeded to undress.
I unbuckled the big belt, slid down the pouf skirt and stepped out of it. I threw it into the little hamper tacked on the back of my door, took off the jacket and hung it up on the door’s little peg along with the belt. I looked at my reflection. It seemed that all I ever did lately was to spend time in front of the mirror.
I scrutinized my reflection, starting with my stiletto boots, and slid my eyes up to the rest of me. All I had on were the boots, Calvin Klein men’s thong briefs, and the tube top. I wouldn’t mind Nikki wearing an outfit like this.
The tube was actually a Spanx body-shaper, and it fit like a second skin. Or more like a really soft pantyhose for the torso. Underneath was a NuBra, an adhesive bra that Danielle suggested for the costume, ideal for wearing under sheer clothes. In fact, it was Danielle that suggested substituting Spanx for the halter top I originally picked out, and the NuBra for the regular bra I was intending to wear. It made me look real sexy, and the NuBra didn’t leave any telltale marks. I couldn’t help but run my hands over the Spanx — it felt real good. Then I happened to look at the clock on my wall, and it was five oh-five already. Jeez, I’m gonna be late!
I peeled off the Spanx, and looked at my chest with the NuBra. The front closure really did enhance my cleavage. I waggled my eyebrows at my mirror image, giggling. And then I noticed the clock again.
I quickly peeled off the NuBra, raided my closet and took out a pair of jeans, boots and my favorite bomber jacket. I went to my dresser and picked up a pair of white tube socks, a white crewneck tee shirt and underwear. I laid everything on my bed, sat down and pulled off my stiletto boots with some difficulty. As soon as I had them off, I suddenly felt relief in my calves, ankles and feet. I didn’t even know that my feet hurt anymore until I had the boots off. The relief I felt was almost orgasmic. I had probably unconsciously blocked out the pain. Now I had an idea how women can stand to wear shoes like these for hours on end.
I took off my briefs, threw them into the hamper as well, and then went into my bathroom. I rushed through a quick shower and brushed my teeth. Good thing Danielle replaced my old towels with new, soft and fluffy ones, so I had no compunctions of briskly rubbing myself dry with what felt like a shammy (or is it chamois). It’s like I was polishing myself.
I was dry pretty quick. I used the hair dryer that Danielle got me and blew-dry my hair. It poofed my hair some so I took a little time to brush and comb it back to something less… seventies-looking. Soon, my hair was back to it’s usual look - subtly wavy and shiny. I looked at the wall. Five twenty. Damnit! I slid on my jockey’s and put on the tube socks. I dipped my hand into the dresser’s top drawer, felt around and pulled out the first sports bra I got my hands on. I pulled it over my head and slid my arms through the straps, snapping it around my torso.
I put the jeans on but they seemed to have shrunk a bit as I had a bit of trouble pulling them up. I put my feet into the boots, felt around for the laces but couldn’t find them. I stood up but I felt funny in the boots. I sat down and looked at the shoes, and they were one of the pairs we bought at the mall. Gisella Buckle Wedge Boots, if I remember right. And, yup, they had big buckles on them, and, yup, wedges maybe three inches tall. Well, they’re really not that feminine-looking if you didn’t notice the tall wedges in place of low heels. Since I didn’t have time, I decided not to change them anymore. I zipped the zippers on the backside of the boots, pulled on the tee shirt, slid my bomber jacket on and got my stuff from the little backpack I got from the car - wallet, comb, keys and other stuff. But when I tried to put my wallet in the jeans’ back pocket, I found that I couldn’t. I turned around and looked at the pants’ tag in the mirror. It said, “DKNY - Boot Cut.” Jeez, another something we bought at the mall. Damnit! Where are my REAL clothes?
Time was ticking so I put back all my stuff in the itty-bitty backpack and my wallet in my jacket pocket, got my little Vaio laptop, stuffed it as well as a couple of RCA patchcords into the backpack, strapped on my wristwatch and rushed out the door. I wrote on the note on mom’s and dad’s door that I went to the station and will see them later, and pounded down the stairs. I got into my mustang, adjusted the seat forward (Morgan had obviously adjusted it) and started driving to the station.
I remembered that Mrs. Piper was supposed to have inaugurated the new studio downtown last Monday, but I didn’t exactly remember where it was. I pulled out my Palm Pre from my backpack and scanned through my emails. I found the right one, tapped it and read the directions. The map was too small to be useful so I followed the directions explicitly. I found myself in the main business district of town, office buildings to the left and right of me. The address was 1701 Telecom Plaza, and the studio was on the fourteenth floor. I soon found it — a new, modestly-tall building (it was all of fifteen floors) on my side of the street. I went in through the parking garage entrance and had to sign the guard’s guest book before he would raise the security gate. I followed the guard’s directions and found my assigned slot, with a sign on the wall that said “KRPQ - D. Fairchild.” Wow. Didn’t know I rated my own parking space. Seems there were several parking spaces reserved for the station’s staff, but they were all empty at the moment except for one that had a big, shiny Mercedes parked in it. Mrs. Piper’s? But what would she be doing at the station on a Saturday, and this early in the morning, too?
The guy told me to go to the lobby guard first thing so I pressed the button for the ground floor. The lobby guard took my old company ID, replaced it with a slicker, better looking one with a built in lanyard. He also gave me a little electronic key-card on a hook. The guard said to put the key-card in my car so that I wouldn’t need to do any signing-in at the gate anymore.
“Cool,” I said. The picture on my new ID was my yearbook picture — the one I gave to Mrs. Piper when I filled up her employee form. The picture’s real bad. I made a face, but still put on the ID and proceeded to the fourteenth.
The elevator opened to an empty lobby with a sliding glass door. I peered inside but there was no one at the reception desk. I was about to knock on the glass when I noticed a little black thing mounted on the wall beside the door, and a little doorbell button. The black plastic thing was the size and shape of a matchbox, with two little LEDs on it — one red and one green. Right above it was a tiny little sign that said “Swipe your ID here, or ring the bell to gain access.”
I experimentally passed my new ID over the thing and the little green light blinked on. Simultaneously, the glass door slid open.
“Cool!” I said, impressed not so much by the technology but by how much better the new office was than the old one.
I walked in, noting the tastefully-done decor and furnishings, the nice plush carpet and the muted on-air sound of the station’s music playing in the background. On the wall was a picture of the old office’s booth, decrepit old mixing board and broken-down swivel chair in the foreground, with the caption “The First Studio of KRPQ.”
There were other pictures there, too - stock photos of nondescript rock groups and singers playing on stage, a few pictures of string quartets, pictures of several folk/country bands I didn’t recognize, and a sixties-style Beatle-esque band in what looked like copies of the costumes for Sergeant Pepper and the Lonely Hearts Band.
They were so obviously actors posing in studio shots, but the overall effect was to give the place, for want of a better term, a radio station-like ambience. On one separate wall, in pride of place, were a handful of poster-pictures, with a sign below that said, “The KRPQ On-Air Team.” The first one, on the upper-left, was a picture of Dennis, the guy that goes ahead of me on-air. He was wearing an expensive-looking leather jacket, and he had his hair slicked back. He had a mean, sort of distantly angry expression, like he was waiting to tell you off about something, his posture very tight, with arms crossed. He actually looked good, which I thought was slightly impossible. Below the picture was the caption, “Dennis Oldfield — Late Evening / Early Morning Shift”.
To the right of it was another picture, with the caption “Lou Jefferson — The Daily Grind.” On it was a picture of my ambulance buddy, Lou. Though still lots overweight, he looked light-years better than that time when he had his heart attack. He was clean-shaven in the picture, and his shoulder-length hair was neatly combed and styled. He was wearing a casual sports jacket over a light-yellow button-down shirt. The angle of the shot was such that it appeared Lou was looking to the left - towards Dennis, with a finger pointed at him, and Lou snickering. I had to laugh. It was a funny gimmick.
Right below Dennis was a picture of a girl - a really cute blonde I didn’t know. She was facing forward, with head canted to the side and hair streaming over one shoulder. She had on a trendy, white off-the-shoulder sweater, hoop earrings and a tiny thin chain necklace. All in all a very, very sexy pose. The caption said, “Talia Stevens — Early Morning Power Drive & The Rush Hour Beat.”
Right next to Talia’s picture was another one, actually two pictures in one frame — On one side of the frame was the picture of a guy that looked about our age, wearing a shirt and jacket but no tie, carrying an old-style microphone (the kind with a wire) with the station’s logo pasted on its side. He looked like the stereotypical image of a news reporter, which was reinforced by the picture of a burning house in the background. “Harry Seavers,” the caption said. On the other side of the frame was another picture, this time the picture of a very pretty African-American girl. Imagine a prettier eighteen-year old version of Halle Berry and you’d be close. She had on a stylish but professional-looking blouse-and-jacket combo, and was also carrying a mike. Behind her was a picture of a high-fashion photoshoot or fashion show, with girls sashaying down a fashion runway wearing trendy, haute couture clothes. The caption said, “Sally Marshall.” Beneath the two was another caption — “KRPQ News & Events.”
I was about to try looking through other doors when I chanced to look up a bit and noticed another picture, this time top-center of the wall, above Dennis’s and Lou’s pictures. It was a picture of me! Me from the concert last night!
It was a candid shot of me singing on stage, wearing the jacket, pouf skirt, shining belt and flying chiffon carves from last night. My band was behind me, but out of focus. My picture was just a touch blurred, just enough to indicate it was a live shot, and it had me playing my pink guitar, with a look that was all concentration and intensity, but with a bit of a smile.
The caption said “The Nighthawk — Dannie Fairchild.”
Good God! Whatever possessed Mrs. Piper to do this? And where did she get the photo? How did she get the photo?
I looked closer at my picture and noticed that it was home-made — ink-jet printed paper glued to a posterboard, the edges not that cleanly cut. I looked at the other pictures, and they were professionally-mounted posters.
“Do you like the poster?” Mrs. Piper said, surprising the heck out of me.
I spun around.
Mrs. Piper giggled at my jumpiness. “My ummm… daughter… made your poster last night. Hope you like it.”
“Mrs. Piper!” I said.
“Tracey’s gone to the photo supply store in the building next door, and is arranging to have a real poster made. She should be back by the time you finish your show.”
I completely forgot. “My show!” I said. “Oh, no! I’m late!”
Mrs. Piper waved me on. “Go, go. We can talk later, after you’re done.”
I hesitated. “Go on, dear, quickly!” She pointed at a door to my right, and I hurried on through. What greeted me was a big radio booth/studio — two rooms adjacent to each other separated by a glass partition. The side that was facing me was dominated by big sound-proof glass picture windows, which allowed me to see inside of both rooms.
The smaller, empty one was probably the producer’s/engineer’s studio, with a mixing board and a telephone switchboard. On its far wall was a big shelf full of audio cartridges and cd’s. The other bigger room had a similar setup but had about four or five swivel chairs facing the DJ’s table and several mikes mounted on overhead booms. The engineer’s room was empty at the moment, and in the big room was Dennis holding court. A lighted sign above his head said “live.”
On this side of the picture window was what I suppose was a library-reception area. There were a couple of deep couches and one wall was covered by a big shelf full of LPs, CDs and large old-fashioned tape reels in boxes. On the other side was a record player, an open-tape reel player, a cassette deck and a digital disk player. I recognized the record player from the old studio, but the other pieces of equipment seemed new.
From inside the booth, Dennis saw me, and gestured frantically for me to come in.
I checked to see if he was on air first, and then I opened the door, and greeted him.
“Hey, dude,” I said.
“You’re late, bub,” Dennis said. “The song I got on will give you four minutes. Lemme give you a tour of the new equipment.”
Dennis proceeded to give me a fast rundown on where all the switches were, and what the various equipment was for, and after the two-minute briefing, he clapped me on the back, and said, “well, dude, you’re all set.”
He handed me the headset. “Good luck. Aaaand I’m outa here!” He picked up his stuff, threw me casual a salute, and escaped out the door. I was so shell-shocked with the information overload, I didn’t even think to stop him or mumble any kind of protest, and just stood there with the headset dangling from my fingers.
I shook myself into action, plunked myself in the new ergonomic chair, pulled out my laptop and looked for some aux jacks. I powered up my computer, plugged in, and queued up my WinAmp list, which I pre-prepared a couple of days ago. I cleared my throat, closed my eyes and tried to get into DJ mode.
“Hey-hey-hey!” I kicked off my morning’s spiel, my Nighthawk voice in rare form for once. “It’s me, the Nighthawk, checkin’ in from our new digs here at the new studio of the new KRPQ. Just wanted to say thanks to my buddy Dennis for holding the fort. But I’m here now. We’re gonna have a wonderful time today. Goooood morning, little chil’un!”
I pressed the enter key and John, Paul, George and Ringo sang, “Good morning, good morning, good morning!”
The new studio was well heated so I took off my jacket to try and be more comfortable. I looked over the layout of the new panel, and noted the two record players, the old tape track player, the digital CD deck and the digital media storage player. At least now I don’t have to rely on just the temperamental turntables and LPs. I turned on the digital media player and looked up the songs in there. Nothing new, really — they just digitized the songs from the LPs. Too bad. And, looking at the old songs listed on the screen, I decided to change my playlist today, and make all of my songs as upbeat as possible and as new as the format would allow. I looked through my list and saw a couple of fairly-new songs that haven’t been played to death yet.
I queued up a song by that new singer Disney’s molding into another Hannah Montana, and waited for the Beatles to sing their final lines.
“It's time for tea and meet the wife,” Paul and John sang. “Somebody needs to know the time, glad that I'm here. Watching the skirts, you start to flirt - now you're in gear. Go to a show, you hope she goes. I've got nothing to say but it's Okay. Good morning, good morning...”
As the song ended, I clicked Demi Lovato’s song from her first album, and she sang in that rocker-girl style of hers, emoting the song to death.
“I didn't wanna say I'm sorry for breaking us apart,” Demi sang, and Joe from the Jonas Brothers answered, “I didn't wanna say it was my fault even though I knew it was.” And Demi sang again. “I didn't wanna call you back ‘coz I knew that I was wrong… yeah, I knew I was wrong...”
I looked at a sheet of paper on a clipboard, the name “Danny” penciled on the top margin. It was a list of numbers, with names beside them as well as times, maybe eight in all. The first on the list was “#23, Kraft Vegemite, 6:15AM.”
What’s this? Commercials?! Good god, we’re actually making money! I looked at the clock above the window. 6:14! I scanned the wall, and found cartridge number 23. I looked the cartridge over, trying to figure out how it worked. I scanned the board and found a likely receptacle with a button on the side. I popped it in and waited for the song to end.
“We'll leave it on the line tonight…” Demi and Joe sang, and the song faded out. God, Demi’s vocal cords must be near breaking.
When the song ended, I switched on the mike. “That was a new song for the show. Demi Lovato, ‘On the Line,’ cats and kitties. Dontcha just love the way she sings? ‘We got it all, destined to fall, our love was tragical,’” I sang, imitating her, and giggled.
“Here’s another new one for the show - actual commercials!” I said the last in a whispering conspiratorial tone, and pressed the button. And lo and behold, it was indeed a commercial.
After that little paid-for ditty, I turned my mike back on. “So. What’s up, folks? Haven’t heard from each other in a week. I’m sure something’s been happenin’ to you and yours. Me, I’ve had lots happenin’ especially last night.” I giggled inadvertently. “But that’s a totally different story for another day. So, gimme a call, why dontcha, and tell me a tale. It’s 555- 2878. Call me, baby! In the meantime, here’s Marvin Gaye and Tammy Terrel with the original. Ain’t no mountain, baby.”
“Now if you need me, call me,” Marvin and Tammy sang. “No matter where you are, no matter how far (don't worry baby) - Just call out my name, I'll be there in a hurry. You don't have to worry. 'Cause baby, there ain't no mountain high enough…”
As I predicted, the phone started to ring almost immediately. The new switchboard started to flash and blink. I didn’t know how to operate it so I just randomly pressed one of the buttons.
“Hello. KRPQ.”
“Am I on?” the girl on the other end said.
“Not yet, dearie. Let’s wait for the song to finish and then I’ll put you on the air.” A loud whine came out of the line! “Oww! Babe, you have to lower your radio’s volume. The feedback’s terrible.”
“Ooops! Sorry, I didn’t know.” She clunked down the phone, and the feedback died as she lowered the volume. “Better?”
“Lots. Okay. Stand by, dearie. I’ll cue you in so when we next talk, it’ll be live and on-air. Okay?”
“’Kay.” She took a deep breath. “I can’t wait. I’m so excited!”
I giggled. “Thanks, babe. Stand by.”
Marvin and Tammy finished up the last of the song, and I pressed the button.
“Well, seems we got a caller on the line. KRPQ, this is the Nighthawk.”
“Hi! This is Jeannie.”
“Hi, Jeannie. You’re on the air. Thanks for giving me a call. What can I do you for?”
“Well, I just wanted to call, and say that I’m one of your biggest fans. I love your show!”
“Thanks, Jeannie. I appreciate it. Love ya, too.”
Jeannie giggled. “And I really like the songs you play. Wish your program was longer, though…”
“I’m sorry, honey. But we do the best with what we got.”
“And I also wanted to talk about this concert I went to last night?”
I started to feel cold. Uh oh.
“Was it the one by Rockrgrrl?”
“How did you know? Were you there?”
Darn. It’s definitely an “uh oh” moment. “Ummm, yes, I was…”
“What a great show, huh?”
“But the show was just last night, and was over a two-hour drive away. You must have just gotten in. Where do you live, anyway?”
“Just downtown. My mom and I live in that apartment complex near the new skating rink?”
“I think I know the place. Pretty ritzy joint.”
“Gowan! It’s no place special. But we like it. Anyway, my mom and I got back around two this morning, but I haven’t gone to bed, yet, soz I could catch your show and call to tell everyone about the concert.”
“Did you get to see everything?”
“We were there from the start, and we got to listen to all the bands.”
“What was the concert all about?”
“It was a promotional concert for RockrGrrl Guitars. What they did was advertise a contest over the net for unsigned girl bands. And there were about ten of them that passed the preliminary auditions and made the show.”
“Were all of them okay?”
“They were all pretty good. Well, except for a couple…”
I giggled. “No names, Jeannie. ‘Kay?”
“Well, okay… But, you know that band that you feature from time to time? Unlimited Bandwidth? They were the ones who won! They were unbelievable!”
I saw Mrs. Piper waving from the outside of the booth. I wondered how I could open the door for her, and then I saw a big round button on the panel that had “door” printed on it. “Well, duh,” I said to myself, and pressed it.
Mrs. Piper came in and handed me a CD and a sheet of typewritten paper. As Jeannie prattled on, I kept saying “uhuh,” at the appropriate moments while I read the sheet of paper. I looked at Mrs. Piper. Mrs. Piper grinned, nodded and gave me a thumbs-up. I clicked off the mike. “Mrs. Piper, what’s this? You’re gonna feature the RockrGrrl concert?”
Mrs. Piper nodded. “Yes, the station will. I just had to bring it in when I heard you had a caller talking about the concert.”
“But…”
“It’s a done deal, Danny. I signed the contract a week ago, and I am speaking to the TV station later, to coordinate things.”
“But Mrs. Piper, I…”
“I saw you and your friends play, Danny. I’m very impressed.”
“But…”
“Let’s talk about it later, okay? But, right now, I need you to take care of that,” she said, gesturing to the paper, “and you need to take care of your caller right now.” And she left me to do my program. “Remember to play track three, okay?” She called out before shutting the door.
Oh, no! I Jeannie! I clicked the mike on again, but Jeannie was totally oblivious and was still going on.
“…and then this girl,” Jeannie was saying, “wore a getup like Lady GaGa, complete with glass beads and all. I mean, it wouldn’t have been at all bad if she could have stayed in tune. It was so…”
“Wups, Jeannie,” I said. “None of that, please.”
She giggled. “Okay, I’ll be good.”
“Among all the bands, though, which do you think was the best?”
“Well, Dannie and Unlimited Bandwidth, of course. Who else?”
“I really appreciate you saying that, Jeannie.”
“How about you? Who did you like best?”
“Well… I think I shouldn’t say?”
“Why not?”
“Y’know — best not to show any preferences.”
“Huh?”
I cleared my throat. “But, since you liked the concert so much, Jeannie, I think you’re gonna like what I’m gonna say. My boss just handed me something. Apparently, KRPQ is gonna go FM soon, in a week’s time, in fact. And to inaugurate the FM station, we will be featuring the RockrGrrl concert in its entirety. How does that grab you?”
This was greeted with silence. And after a few seconds, Jeannie screamed. I had to lower the volume of my speakers.
“Jeannie…” But she wouldn’t stop screaming. “Jeannie!”
She finally stopped. “Ummm, sorry…”
I laughed. “I guess I don’t need to ask you what you think about the news, huh?”
She screamed again, and I couldn’t stop laughing.
Finally she wound down. “I gotta tell the girls! Hey, listen. Thanks so much. This is great news! Can’t believe it, and thanks for taking my call. I love you, Nighthawk. Seeya!”
I laughed again as she hung up.
“I guess Jeannie liked that. So! Let’s take another caller.” I turned to the switchboard but there were no blinking lights anymore. Hmmm…
“Seems everyone’s telling their friends about the news, or maybe no one wants to talk to me anymore. I’m hurt…” I joked.
“Ah, well. Anyway, even if no one wants to talk with me, this one’s for you, especially to Jeannie — a live recording from the RockrGrrl Evolution Festival at the Jubilee Center last night. Here’s Unlimited Bandwidth with the nineteen ninety-eight hit, Malibu. Enjoy!”
I popped the CD into the digital player, selected track three, and pressed PLAY. I turned off my mike, took off the headset and jammed one of the chairs against the door.
“Mrs. Piper,” I called. “Mrs. Piper!”
I caught up with her at the reception area. She was with some tall, thin brunette dressed in a tee shirt and jeans. “Danny,” she said. “Who’s in the booth?”
“I jammed the door open, Mrs. Piper, don’t worry. But, the concert…”
She gestured to the tall girl, who was looking at me with something like a cross between awe and shyness. “This is my… daughter, Tracey. Tracey, I’d like you to meet the one and only Nighthawk, Danny Fairchild.”
She was dressed in a long-sleeved tie-waist tunic tee, obviously some designer brand given the quality, pencil-cut jeans and a pair of white wedge sneakers. She reminded me of a younger Fran Drescher from the nineties TV show, The Nanny, especially with her choice of colors.
But she seemed like a nice person — I liked her immediately, though I thought something was a bit off with her. I stuck out my hand. “Hi. Danny. Good to meet you.”
She shook my hand timidly. “H-h-h-hi. I’m Tracey,”
I gave her a friendly smile and nodded, and went back to Mrs. Piper.
“Boss,” I began.
Mrs. Piper shushed me. “I promise, Danny, we’ll talk about it. Though I don’t understand why you need to hide your transitioning. Or is this like a… hobby, that you just like dressing up like that, and those aren’t real?” She gestured at my tee shirt and jeans, and the bra that was so obviously underneath. I belatedly realized how I must look. In the bright fluorescents, I noticed that my tee shirt wasn’t the plain white shirt that I thought it was back in my room, but a sort of faded purple or plum color. (When I got home, I looked at the label and found the color to be “pale rose.”)
I’ve been dressing as a girl too often, and it’s made me too used to these kinds of clothes. Though I wasn’t trying to dress as a girl this time, I forgot to deliberately change to my guy persona. Girl clothes just seemed more comfortable. Except for the shoes, that is. Good thing I was wearing my jacket when Dennis was still around.
“Ummm, yeah. I guess we do need to talk later.” I turned around and headed back to the booth.
“Excuse, me,” Tracey said. The voice — it clicked. Tracey was a boy! I tried to stop my surprise from showing on my face.
“Can I help?” ‘she’ said. “Or maybe just watch you work?”
I didn’t know how to react now. Dumbly, I waved her to come.
“Tracey,” Mrs. Piper suggested, “maybe you can help Danny by manning the phones? Danny, will that be all right? Tracey knows how to operate the switchboard.”
I nodded, went into the booth, and Tracey went into the engineer’s booth.
As I sat down, I saw the counter of the digital player. It’ll end soon. I queued up a new song on my laptop. I looked through the list of commercials and there was another due. Cartridge number 54 — Cowgirl Jeans. Well, that’s new. I popped it in and waited for the song to end.
“That was Unlimited Bandwidth, folks,” I said as I faded the applause down, “in one of their contest-winning performances, a live recording from the RockrGrrl Evolution Festival. More where that came from, so stick around. In the meantime, here’s a word from one of our sponsors.” I pushed the button on the cartridge.
As soon as I did, Tracey chimed in. “Ummm, Danny? I can do the commercials for you, if you want.”
“I didn’t know that you could do that. Sure, Tracey. Thanks!”
“Also… I got some callers on the line…” I wasn’t used to someone talking to me via the headset.
“Thanks, Tracey. Pick one out and have em stand by. Let’s just finish this commercial.”
“Okay, Danny. It’s on Line One.”
I switched on the mike and pressed the button for line one as soon as the commercial was done. “Okay, guys. We got another caller on the line. Hi, caller, this is the Nighthawk. Who’s this?”
“Hi, my name’s Amanda. My friend’s Jeannie, the one you just put on the air? I just wanted to ask about the concert, and when you guys will be airing it?”
“Hi Amanda,” I replied, and picked up the sheet of paper again. “It’s gonna be on next Saturday morning, and it’ll pre-empt my show for that day.”
“Hey, cool! But… too bad for your program. Ummm… sorry…”
I laughed. “Heheh. No offense taken, Amanda. At least it’ll give me a day off.”
She giggled in relief. “Me and my friends were there in the concert, too, but were way up in the bleachers. I think Jeannie was nearer the stage. We didn’t get a chance to meet up. Where were you sitting?”
“Ummm, I was just there, hanging around…”
“Wish we’d have known, and could have looked you up. But then we don’t know how you look like, anyway…” She left the question hanging.
“I’m just a regular joe, Amanda, nothing special.”
“Really,” she said, in a humorously-disbelieving voice.
“I’m just a five-foot nothing, scrawny little kid, nothing special, really…” I tried to turn the tables. “How about you?” I said. “You must be some five-eleven Grecian goddess, with guys just salivating after you.”
Amanda giggled. “You know it! How’d you guess?”
“Just a hunch.”
“Nahhh, I’m just a regular girl, just like you.”
Another one… “Appreciate it, Amanda.”
“So, it’s gonna be next Saturday, then?”
“Yup, Saturday morning, six AM. It’ll be a two-hour special recording of the concert, and it’ll be sponsored by RockrGrrl Guitars. Of course. And, later in the evening, at around ten, our town’s local TV affiliate, KPRX, will be airing a special recorded video broadcast of the concert, simulcast over our own KPRQ.”
“Hey, cool! But how’s that gonna work? With the TV station, I mean.”
I looked at the sheet again.
“Well, the concert will be seen on KPRX, and we will be transmitting the audio feed over KRPQ at the same time. The difference being we’ll have some extra stuff during the commercial breaks, like interviews with some of the bands, special intermission numbers and stuff. I’ll be hosting the show for our radio station.”
“You will? Hey, cool!”
“Heheh. It’s all news to me, babe. Didn’t know about it ‘til just now.”
“There’s gonna be interviews? Cool! Will you be interviewing Dannie and her band?”
I didn’t think that people would ask that. But Mrs. Piper knows that Dannie the singer and Danny the nerd are one and the same. She wouldn’t have done anything like that. I rustled the sheet near the mike. “Doesn’t say here in my sheet, Amanda. Sorry.”
“Awww. Well, it’s still cool. Thanks, Nighthawk. And cool program!”
“Don’t mention it, Amanda, and thanks for calling.”
From the other room, Tracey gestured at my own switchboard. I clicked off line one and turned to my laptop.
“Anyway, here’s a song for all you wonderful people out there, from the Australian group Bachelor Girl, from ninety-eight, here’s Buses and Trains.”
“Hey Mom, why didn't you tell me?” Bachelor Girl sang. “Why didn't you teach me a thing or two? You just let me go, out into the world - you never thought to share what you knew.”
I clicked off the mike and pressed the intercom to Tracey. “Hey, Tracey? How do I get an outside line from here?”
She gestured to the little phone pad near the mixing panel. I spotted it and gave her a high sign. I dialed Danielle’s number in her room.
After several rings, Danielle answered. “Hlloo…” she answered sleepily.
“Danielle, it’s me. I’m sorry for waking you up. Listen, there’s a sort-of situation here, and I could really use you your help.”
“Danny?” she said, alarm evident in her voice. “Everything all right?”
“Everything’s fine Danielle. Don’t worry. I just need you here. Can you come?”
“Okay.” I heard some rustling of clothes. “Where are you, at the station?”
“Yes, but no need to rush. I still got an hour or so to go on my program.”
“Okay.”
“It’s the new station here downtown,” I said, and gave her the address.
“Got it,” she said. “I’ll call Morgan or maybe Joanne or Dale to give me a ride. Or, heck, I’ll just get a cab. So, see you in an hour or so?”
“Thanks, Danielle. Love you.”
“Love you, too, little brother.”
I hung up and tried to concentrate on the program.
The show continued on, and it was smooth sailing. Predictably, a lot of people kept on calling about the upcoming concert coverage, and details about the concert itself. I didn’t bother filling them in much, as other callers did that for me. There were a lot of them, some of them I recognized as kids from my school. So many kids had gone to the concert. Ohmigod…
I noticed Mrs. Piper sneaking into Tracey’s booth. They’ve been talking a lot. And is she wearing a headset of her own?
Inevitably, most of the calls turned back to me. There were the usual quota of creepies, but most were just kids who wanted to get to know me. I talked about me being a high-school student, and only doing this gig part time, with permission from my folks, of course (had to get that in — Mrs. Piper was very particular about that). I talked about the things I liked — like fried shrimp dumplings with vegetables, over-bright and hot Sunday afternoons, Cuba Libre with Oliver and Oliver rum plus lemon instead of lime, hamsters (we had a fun time talking about the new movie, “G Force”), the C-sharp minor chord, family and friends, and sharing ice-cold milk and banana muffins with family and friends on cold December mornings.
I always tried to steer the discussion back to them, of course, and the callers, mostly girls, were pleased that someone wanted to talk about them. I used the need to break for commercials or to play a song as a convenient excuse to cut conversations, otherwise the show would be monopolized by the caller.
As the time got nearer eight AM, and Tracey just popped in the next commercial, she pressed the intercom button.
“Uh, Danny?” she said. I looked up and saw her gesturing at her mom, who was standing just beside her.
Mrs. Piper held a piece of paper against the glass. “Your program extended two hours. Yayyy!” I looked at her. She was smiling widely and gave me two big thumbs-up.
I forced a smile and gave her my own, albeit tenuous, thumbs-up. Mrs. Piper waved and stepped out of the studio.
I pressed the button that connected me to Tracey. “Hey, Tracey,” I said. “What’s up with your mom?”
“Uh, the commercial’s about done.”
“Lemme fix that,” I said. When the commercial was done, I pressed my laptop’s Enter key. In moments, Sara Bareilles’ piano playing came out of the speakers, and we could hear the first piano chords from “Love Song.”
“That gives us about four minutes, Tracey. So what gives?”
“Mom’s been listening in, and she thinks that there are too many callers that’ll be disappointed if the show ended too quickly, so she’s extended your time for about an extra two hours.”
“But isn’t someone supposed to take over at eight? Isn’t Lou Jefferson up next?”
“Mom called up Mr. Jefferson a while ago, and told him he needs to check in at ten instead.”
“But, Tracey…”
“Mom says you get the contracted overtime rate, and Mr. Jefferson isn’t getting docked for the undertime or anything.”
“Okay. I’m game. But what does she want me to do?”
“Nothing, Danny. Just do it as if it’s your regular program.”
“All right. Now, I need to call my sister.”
“No prob! Hold on.” Tracey pressed a couple of buttons. I then heard a ringing over the headset.
“Tracey? Who are we calling?”
“I just speed-dialed your sister. Her cel number’s in your employee file.”
“Wait, wait… You’ve been reading my employee file?”
“Ummm…”
“Hello?” Danielle said. “Who’s this?”
I waved him… I mean, her… away impatiently. “Danielle? It’s Danny.”
“Danny! Thank goodness. Listen, there are no taxis available right now. I’m calling Joanne in a second. Can you hang on a while?”
“Sis, it’s not a problem. Mrs. Piper has extended my program by an extra two hours. Take your time. Call Joanne if you want.”
“Whew. Okay. Sit tight, little brother. We’ll be there as soon as we can.”
“Thanks, sis. Bye!”
I pressed the intercom again. “Okay, Tracey. The song’s almost done. Pick me another caller.”
The gab-fest continued, between commercials and songs. And I got to know most of the callers, in ways I would not have been able to otherwise. Some of the callers were trying to be smart-alecky, though, calling in with lame lines, like offering to take me out for shrimp dumplings and rum cokes. But I never needed to fight back - most of the others who called fought back for me.
As I shared another chuckle with one of the callers, Kathy, if I remember right, Mrs. Piper came over and knocked on the booth’s glass window. She had another piece of paper plastered against the glass. “No more commercials and songs, okay?”
I mouthed the word “why?”
Mrs. Piper wrote another note. “Too many callers.”
I shook my head in dismay.
Mrs. Piper knocked on the window again.
I looked up. Mrs. Piper had another note. “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head again. “Nothing,” I mouthed. I turned on the intercom.
“Tracey? Your mom says no more songs and commercials for the duration. Just keep on screening the callers. Pick me good ones, okay?”
“Okay, boss,” Tracey said.
So the next hour or so were all callers. Tracey said that the switchboard was alive with callers so I tried to put a limit of about three minutes each, and give as many people a chance to get on-air, but it was difficult to break away, especially with the more… talkative ones. There were a few, though, that had interesting things to say, and I tended to spend more time on-air with them. This gave me the idea that maybe for the future, I should have a specific topic in mind per program.
After a while, I found I was having a lot of fun, even if a few of them weren’t exactly… you know… Still, I persevered.
As the program wound down to its last thirty minutes, the number of blinking lights on Tracey’s board became less and less.
“Danny?” Tracey said, “I got one last caller. On line two.”
“Thank god, Trace,” I said. “I’ve about lost my voice already. Okay. One more for the road.” I pressed the button for Line Two.
“Hi. You’re on the air.”
“Hi,” the caller said. She sounded a little half-hearted, spiritless.
“Hi, yourself.” I tried to lift the mood. “How’re you doin’?”
“I just wanted to say that you have a great program, and to say thanks. It’s meant a lot to me.”
Hmmm. Something’s wrong. “What’s your name, dear?” I asked the girl.
“I’m Valerie. I just wanted to say thanks, before I … go.”
“Going on a trip?”
“You could say that.”
“You don’t sound good, Val. What’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing. It’s just.”
“Val?”
“I just wanted to try and talk to you, at least once.”
“At least once? Val, I know it’s hard to get through, but just keep on trying. I’m sure you’ll get through again. Tracey, my new producer,” I gave Tracey a thumbs-up, “is pretty good. I’m sure she’ll be able to get you through, even if it’s just once in a while, heheh.”
“No, that’s not it,” said the unspirited voice.
I paused. “Val, tell me what’s wrong.”
“Nothing matters anymore, really. Nothing’s worth it. I can’t go on anymore.”
“Val, you’re scaring us over here. Y’know?”
“But nothing matters anymore! I’m…” she broke down crying.
“Val, Val. Hey, talk to me. Nothing can be that bad. Talk to me.”
“You’re nice and all, and I like you. Hell, everyone I know likes you. But I know you don’t really care. It’s just a lot of radio talk, to get you more ratings and stuff…”
“Ratings?” I said. I got a marker from the little drawer on the side and wrote on the back of the commercial sheet. I held it up to Tracey. “Call your mom,” I wrote.
“You’re doing this so there’ll be people to listen to your program, get better ratings. Make more money…”
“Babe,” I said, “before today, we never had commercials. What money?”
Valerie laughed a bit. “I guess.”
“Val, I really want to know what you’re thinking of doing.”
“I’m real tired of all of this. It’s all pointless anyway.”
“Val, that’s not true.”
Val laughed without humor.
“Yes, it is. No one cares. Not even my mom and dad. No one.”
I didn’t know how to react to that. I’ve always been surrounded by family and friends. Even with my problems at school, I always had someone to turn to. This girl felt she was all alone. Just then, I saw Mrs. Piper rush into Tracey’s booth. I held up my hand, and mouthed, “wait.”
“I can’t believe that,” I said to Val. “I’m sure your folks love you.”
“I was never, you might say, their favorite. It was my older sister that they liked best. She died about a year ago, and ever since, it’s like my folks just... decided to go away.”
“They left you?”
“Not literally. They just, sort of gave up. Like I said, my older sister was their favorite. Their world revolved around her. But, at least when my sister was still around, we’d get to go do, you know, the regular stuff that families do. But when she died, it’s like their world ended. And they didn’t notice I was still here.”
“Oh, Val. I’m so sorry.”
“I’m not surprised they like Tess best. She was the class president, a cheerleader, and in the honors section, and very popular with everyone. And I’m just a nobody.”
She went on, talking about Tess. And I couldn’t help but think of me and Danielle. Danielle wasn’t a cheerleader but it wasn’t for lack of looks or talent. The cheerleader squad was after her the whole first semester but she wasn’t into the whole rah-rah thing. But that’s nothing. The life of a nerd living in the shadow of his sister.
I could identify with Val. But the thing is, mom and dad did not pick favorites. It’s just that Danielle needed the attention. That’s what Dad said when we got to talking that one time. And Danielle wasn’t all bad. I found that out the hard way, though. And I think if Val’s sister didn’t pass away that quickly, Val would have come to the same conclusion, too.
And as I listened to her, I could read between the lines. That beneath all of the hurt and the bad memories…
“You miss her,” I said.
“What?”
“You loved her, and you miss her.”
She didn’t react to that. “Val?” I said.
“What do you know,” she said angrily. “I mean… What do you know about it, huh?”
“You’re not the only one with a sister, you know. My sister’s one of the most popular girls in school, and she’s the apple of our dad’s eye. And she has tons of friends. And here I am - Geek city. I couldn’t help but be jealous of her — her popularity, her friends, her life. But you know, part of the reason I felt that way was because I wanted to be part of her life. You know. And, it’s worse because I love her, too.”
Val started to cry.
“I know it, Val. I was there where you are now. And there’s one thing I also know. I know that she loved you, too.”
Val was crying so hard she couldn’t speak.
“Don’t do whatever you were planning, babe. Tess wouldn’t have wanted that. And you should talk to your folks. Don’t think you’re the only one who’s hurting. They love you, too. And they need you.”
“I can’t stand it anymore. I just…”
“There are always people that care, Val. I care, too.”
“You don’t know me. And I don’t know you, really.”
“So? Doesn’t mean that I don’t care. And besides, you think I’m cute, right?”
She giggled. “I don’t even know what you look like. I don’t know your name.”
I felt it. The turning point. She’ll be okay now.
We talked some more, about her life with her sister, how she died, and how it was to be without her. But it was different now, her aura had changed. I think Val will make it.
I looked up at the clock. It was close enough to ten o’clock.
“Val, I have to wrap up the show in a bit. But don’t hang up. Tracey will take care of you.” I wrote on the commercial sheet again, held it up so Tracey could see. “Don’t let her hang up.”
“Is that okay?” I asked.
“Okay.”
“Cool.” I turned to my laptop, looked rapidly through my MP3 directory, and double-clicked on one of the songs.
“Cats, and kitties. It’s time to go again. It’s been an eventful morning. Talked music, talked fun, made new friends. But don’t be sad, I’ll be back again soon. In the meantime, this is for you, Val. Be safe and be well. This has been the Nighthawk on KRPQ. Keep it real.”
The old nineties song, Beautiful In My Eyes, started to play. I originally downloaded a copy of it because I thought it was something by Elton John. It was a beautiful, though awfully sentimental song. I found out later that it was by someone named Joshua Kadison. He sounded a heck of a lot like Elton. I would have erased it long ago, but Danielle heard it and loved it, so I kept it in my computer.
“You're my peace of mind in this crazy world,” the song went. “You're everything I've tried to find, your love is a pearl. You're my Mona Lisa, you're my rainbow skies, and my only prayer is that you realize you'll always be beautiful in my eyes.”
I listened to the song for a bit, hoping it reaches Val. “We'll have our fill of tears, our share of sighs. My only prayer is that you realize you'll always be beautiful in my eyes.”
I pressed the intercom. “Tracey? Is Valerie still there?”
“Hi. I’m still here,” Val responded.
“I’m sorry, Val. I had to wind up the show.”
“I understand.”
“But I got some free time today? What say we meet later? You say where and when.”
“Ummm, you don’t have to…”
“S’okay, Val. I want to. Lunch maybe?”
“I don’t…”
“Where are you now?”
“I’m here in my dorm room, in the community college downtown.”
“Great. How about we meet for lunch? Maybe one o’clock at that café in the commons?”
“But…”
“Please, Val. I wanna meet you. Please.”
“Okay. But, what do I call you, anyway?”
“You can call me Danny.”
“Okay, Danny. One o’clock, then. How will I know you?”
“I’ll be the redhead wearing a leather jacket and a smile, and drinking a biiig caramel frappe.”
Val giggled. “Redhead? Are you that Danny from…”
I laughed. “Well, you haveta wait til later to find out. ‘kay?”
“Okay. See you later, then.”
“Seeya later.”
“Oh, and Danny? Thanks for the song.”
“My pleasure, Val.” I made a hanging-up gesture and Tracey broke the connection.
I was packing my stuff when Lou bustled in.
“Hey, dude,” he said, and looked me up and down. “Or is it dudette?” He laughed.
I gave him the finger, and continued packing. As soon as I had a song queued up and playing on the turntable, I unplugged my laptop and packed it away.
I was about to leave when Lou stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.
“Dude,” he said. “I’m sorry about that. I just wanted to say that I think you did good today.”
I grinned, nodded my thanks, and left the booth.
Danielle and Mrs Piper met me outside. Danielle gave me a hug. “I heard the program, Danny.” She hugged me for a long time. I love my sister.
Mrs. Piper cleared her throat. “Danny,” she said, “let’s meet in my office. Bring Tracey along, okay?”
I went back, told Tracey we’re having a meeting in Mrs. Piper’s room, and then we followed my boss to her office.
end of part five
|
DANNY
Part 6 This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister, and how he and his family and friends deal with life with him having breasts. And now, it is coming close to that moment, when he has to choose the path his life would go - between being a girl or remaining a guy. Danny finds it a little more difficult to continue with the subterfuge as he suddenly finds himself going on TV. |
As usual, please excuse the grammatical errors and questionable story elements, as well as any problems in format. I’m doing my best to improve. Really… heheh
A little note here to say hi to my chatroom “posse” — Breanna (and her robot, Breebot), Abby, Alyssa, Ananga_Ranga, Aunt Andrea, Cindy, Fiona, Grover, Jen, Karen, Kristine, Lexa, Mel, Pippa, my layout editor Seph, and new chat-friends Yuki and Donna — thank you for the jokes, the quotes, the tech talk, the long chats, the words of encouragement, the tough advice, an occasional shoulder to cry on, and a great time chatting. Seeya in the Chatroom! (but just on Saturdays, now... sniff sniff, sob sob…)
Anyway… here we go with Part Six. Hope you like… (Again - feedback, please!!)
Seventeen: A Meeting
***** (Danny) *****
As we went down the radio station’s hallway, we saw Danielle’s entire gang there, lounging around in the lobby area. Danielle probably got a ride with Joanne, and Joanne blabbed to the rest of their girlfriends, and, as these things usually go, it became another excuse to get together, supposedly to rescue lil’ ole me again. Presently, they were all looking at my poster (me with the flying hair and scarves), probably wondering what was up.
Anyway, we didn’t stop to chat, and I just waved to them on our way to Mrs. Piper’s office. It was a huge office — easily the size of my booth, the engineer’s booth and the adjacent library put together. Before anything, Mrs. Piper gestured for us to sit down, took orders for coffee and phoned the nearest Coffee Bean. She even included coffees for the girls outside.
Danielle and I sat down in the chairs in front of Mrs. Piper’s desk. Tracey took one beside Danielle but nearer Mrs. Piper, all the while with her looking at Danielle, mouth agape.
“Yes, Tracey,” I answered the unspoken question, “Danielle is my sister.” I performed the introductions. “Tracey, this is my sister, Danielle. Danielle, this is apparently my new engineer, Tracey, who just happens to be Mrs. Piper’s… daughter.”
“Danielle?...” Tracey asked, still confused.
“It’s a long story,” Danielle answered, “involving our kooky Uncle Nathan. He wanted to give us the same name given that we were twins, even if I was a girl and Danny was a boy. Plus the fact that we were Irish on our mother’s side.”
“Notice the red hair,” I said, “and don’t ask me to sing ‘Oh, Danny Boy.’” Tracey giggled.
“Anyway,” Danielle continued. “I was named Danielle” (she stressed the pronunciation) “and he,” she pointed at me, “was named Daniel” (again stressing the pronunciation). “Usually, I answer to ‘Danielle’ and he answers to ‘Dan’ or ‘Danny.’ To minimize the confusion, you know.”
“But you both look the same… Twins, you said?”
“We’re fraternal twins,” she said. “I’m a girl and he’s a boy. We don’t usually look this similar, though, except when one of us starts dressing as a girl when he’s not supposed to.” She pointedly glared at me and my outfit.
I cringed a bit. “It was a mistake, Danielle. I thought I was putting on my regular clothes.”
“We’ll talk about this later,” she grated. She faced Mrs. Piper. “Hello, Mrs. Piper,” she said in a conversational but cool tone.
Mrs. Piper had listened to Danielle’s short recitation quietly, and nodded to her. “Good morning, Danielle,” she answered, equally cool. She turned to Tracey. “Aside from being Danny’s sister,” Mrs. Piper said to Tracey, “Danielle happens to be his manager, or the closest thing to one.”
She went back to Danielle. “I suppose you’re here about the poster?” Mrs. Piper asked.
Danielle looked to me. This was one of the times I was grateful for our pseudo-ESP thing, as Danielle instantly got the message that there were other things going on.
“For starters,” Danielle answered Mrs. Piper. She folded her arms and waited. My sister’s so awesome. I don’t think anyone can get Mrs. Piper to become this ill-at-ease.
“Well,” Mrs. Pier said, “let’s lay our cards on the table. I’ll go first.” Mrs. Piper took a deep breath and began.
“Late last year, as you two know, I moved into your wonderful little town, looking for a place to settle down with my little family.” She nodded at Tracey. “The reason we picked your town was because it was the closest we could find to a small-town community with good folks to be around in, good weather, and had the advantages of the bigger cities — good schools, a thriving commercial and business environment, and adequate health facilities. After we had settled in, Tracey had started to acclimatize to the neighborhood. True she had some problems, but that was expected.” I nodded at that, although Danielle didn’t get it. “In fact, she said that she really liked it here and said that this is the place she wants to call home now.”
Tracey smiled at her mom and reached out to touch her hand.
“But that’s not what we need to talk about right now. Anyway… I was happy that Tracey was adapting, even thriving, in our new town, but I found that I had some problems settling in. Though Tracey was fine, it seems I had become too used to the big city’s rat race that I found myself bored without much to do. My companies were all pretty much taken cared of, and were essentially running on autopilot, adequately run by my board of directors, so there wasn’t much for me to do around here. So, I bought and took over the operations of the local mall and cineplex as well as a little run-down skating rink in town.”
I looked up at that. “So it was you who fixed up the rink!”
Mrs. Piper nodded and continued. “These little businesses were just the ticket for me. I made them totally separate from PiperCorp. so these would eventually be for Tracey alone, if ever she would want to stay on in town. The second-to-last local company I bought was KRPQ. Little did I know about the dire straits that it was in. When I took over, I had tried all that I knew to do to keep the station afloat, but all to no avail. I was all set to throw in the towel when I heard your voice on the radio, and how the listeners responded. They even started to call in! I saw a way out for the station. It seems, with you, the station discovered its niche market.”
I was about to react but Mrs. Piper waved me down. “It is a fact, Danny. No need for you to say anything.”
She continued her story. “So it was with this new development that I started the ball rolling to get the station back on it’s feet - by first securing your services, then revamping the programming using your show as the template, fixing up the office and studio, hiring new people and then getting commercials lined up.
“The thing that I had failed to realize was — it seems radio is not mainstream anymore. With TV, iPods and the internet, AM radio will never make it on its own. So Tracey and I have come up with a plan. Tracey?”
Tracey cleared her throat, and took over the conversation. “Mom and I thought it over, and we said that we would need four things: one — we needed to continue with the changes, which we did; two — we needed to make the AM station more than just a music station, and to start offering more than just music. That’s why we revamped and updated the on-air staffing to include more hip announcers, with the intention of starting to broadcast news events, maybe talk shows and other things; three — we needed to go FM since AM, as an entertainment channel, is just not there anymore. So we will transition everything to the new FM band that mom purchased the rights to from another company that was also going under. We’ll then turn the AM one to some kind of infomercial shopping station.”
“You mentioned four things,” Danielle said. “What’s the fourth one?”
Tracey nodded. “I was getting to that. The fourth thing was to increase awareness of our station, and to do that, we needed to do a promotional and ad campaign blitz — ads on TV and the newspaper, posters at the mall and in the two schools, et cetera. That includes sponsoring the Rockrgrrl Evolution Concert. Mom?”
“Tracey’s right. We had other promotional things lined up, but with Rockrgrrl Guitars, it seemed the right thing for us. True, their campaign is national. But I was able to get them to agree to sponsor us in exchange for media coverage here in our franchise area.” She took a piece of paper from her desk, which I recognized as having the same information I was reading in the booth. Mrs. Piper passed this sheet on to Danielle, and she started reading.
“Wow!” Danielle said, “this is brilliant! Danny, have you read this?”
“Yup,” I said, “and that’s the dilemma — how am I gonna be able to do the thing, and not let anyone know it’s me in the band? There’re interviews scheduled, Danielle! Obviously, we’re gonna have to have Unlimited Bandwidth on air, and I’m gonna haveta interview them! What — have me talk to myself!?”
Danielle nodded slowly. “Yeah, I finally see what you mean.”
“It’s difficult enough to hide the fact it’s me in the band, and then to hide the fact that it’s me on the radio, too…” I shook my head in despair.
“But, Danny,” Tracey looked at me, “why do you have to hide it?”
“Don’t you get it, Tracey? I’m a guy!”
“Are you sure you’re a guy? You don’t look it.”
I stood up, with the intention of punching Tracey in the mouth.
Danielle put her hand on my arm. “Danny!” she exclaimed. “Don’t!”
“But…”
“Tracey didn’t mean anything by it. She really thinks you’re a girl.”
“Danielle…”
“Sit down!”
I reluctantly sat down, and glowered at Tracey. Tracey looked at me in embarrassment at her mistake, as well as in a little bit of fear.
“Tracey,” Mrs. Piper said gently. “Apologize right now.”
Tracey looked down. “I’m sorry… I really thought you were a girl… I…”
I looked at the tall transsexual, and realized how badly I flew off the handle.
Tracey stood up. “I’m sorry…” She walked out of the room.
“Tracey!” I said. I turned to Mrs. Piper. “Where’s she going?”
Mrs. Piper shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess she’s ashamed of herself for making the mistake. She’s a transsexual, Danny…”
“I knew that.”
“You did? Did she tell you?”
“I figured it out.”
Mrs. Piper looked at me in the eye.
“I should have known,” she said. “I keep on making the mistake of underestimating you.”
“Where’s she going?” I repeated.
“I don’t know. But my daughter’s pretty reliable. She’ll probably just walk around a bit, and maybe go home. It’s not the first time she’s done it. Gender identity is important to transsexuals, living lives masquerading as people of the wrong sex. To make such a mistake — it borders on the… how shall I say it… on the unforgivable. ”
“I’m going after her,” I said, and left the room.
I found her outside in the floor’s lobby, behind the sliding glass door outside the office, head down and waiting for the elevator.
“Danny!” Joanne and Nikki exclaimed.
I raised a peremptory finger, forestalling them. “Sorry, guys!” I swiped my ID at the detector and went through the sliding glass door.
“Tracey!” I said, and stood beside her, but she didn’t respond.
“I’m so sorry for overreacting,” I said. “I know you didn’t mean anything by it, that it was an honest mistake. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”
Tracey looked at me with big, wet tears on her face. I reached up and gave her a hug. I had to reach a bit as she was quite tall.
Tracey broke into sobs. I couldn’t stand being the cause of her pain. I tightened my arms around her neck.
“Please stop, Tracey. I’m so sorry.” We stood there for over a minute, me not letting go. But I knew the worst was over when she hugged me back.
After a while, Tracey’s crying was reduced to a few sniffles, and she let me go. I lifted her chin and looked her in the eye. “It’s all right, Tracey. I just overreacted. I’m sorry.”
Tracey smiled a small smile. I smile back, and giggled a little bit. “You need a tissue,” I said.
I got lucky, ‘cause that made Tracey laugh out loud. I hugged her again.
“Now, come on back to the office, and let’s finish our meeting, ‘kay?”
Tracey nodded. “Okay.” She got a little packet of tissues from her back pocket, blew her nose and wiped her eyes.
When we went back in, my friends crowded around us.
“Danny?” Nikki said.
“Hi, Nikki,” I said, and gave her a kiss. I turned to Tracey. “Tracey, I’d like you to meet my girl, Nikki.”
“Hi,” Nikki said, and shook Tracey’s hand. I looked around. “Janet’s not here?”
“No one was answering at her house,” June said.
“That’s okay. I guess she’s tired from the concert. How about the guys?”
“I tried calling Morgan,” Drew said, “but his mom said he was sleeping.”
“Same with Mikey and the others” Mel said. “Sleeping, that is.”
“Well, everyone needs a rest. So? Why are you guys here?” I put my hands on my hips and harrumphed.
“We hitched with Danielle and Joanne,” Betsy said. “Danielle said you might be in trouble?”
I giggled. “I didn’t send out for the cavalry. I’m fine.” I turned back to Tracey. “And these,” I said, gesturing to the others, “are Danielle’s and my friends. This is Betsy, Joanne, Mel, Drew and June.”
There were hugs and handshakes all around.
Tracey was looking at Drew and June.
“Don’t tell me you’re twins, too,” Tracey said.
The girls giggled, but I pulled Tracey along back to Mrs. Piper’s office.
“Sorry, girls,” I said. “We’re in the middle of a meeting. Soon as we’re done, we’ll go and do something, ‘kay? In the meantime, why don’t you bug Lou in the DJ booth,” I giggled. “That’s always been fun for me.” I gestured to the studio further down.
They all giggled, and trooped down the hall to the DJ booth. Nikki gave me another kiss.
“I’m all right, Nikki,” I said. “I’ll come get you as soon as we’re done.”
“’Kay,” she said, and joined the others.
***** (Mrs. Piper) *****
Dan and Tracey came in holding hands. Tracey had evidently been crying but she seemed fine now.
“Tracey?” I said, got up and gave her a hug.
“I’m fine, mom,” she said. “I’m sorry for overreacting. I’m okay now.”
Tracey and Danny sat down, but Danny sat in the chair beside Tracey this time. A fact that didn’t escape my notice.
“Everything okay?” Danielle asked.
Danny reached over and took Danielle’s hand. “Everything’s fine, Danielle,” Danny said. He looked over to Tracey. “We’re fine, right?”
“Superfine,” Tracey said, and giggled a bit.
“Maybe I should continue this later,” I said.
“No, mom!” Tracey said. “I’m fine. I think we should finish this, and get it over with.”
I nodded, and gestured for everyone to settle down.
“If you say so, Tracey. Now where did we leave off? I think Danny was talking about his, ummm, conflict of interest…”
Danny and his sister looked at each other. Clearly, there was something up in the air.
“Danny,” I said, “We need you. We cannot get the ball rolling without you. I’ve laid my cards on the table. I think it’s your turn.”
Danielle shrugged at Danny, and Danny looked at me. He took a deep breath and began his own little story.
“Okay, Mrs. Piper. But it remains between the four of us. Otherwise, I’m resigning.”
I nodded, fearing that there were other implied threats.
“I understand, Danny,” I said, and turned and faced Danielle. “Danielle, I will sign any NDA you want. If you would like, I can give you a copy of PiperCorp’s standard non-disclosure agreement and you can modify it as you like and I can sign.”
Danielle nodded and Danny continued.
“Ever since I was eleven or so,” Danny began, “I’ve always been mistaken for a girl unless I corrected them. A while back, after going to the hospital, I found out that I am intersexed, sort of. Intersexed refers to someone who has an… atypical combination of physical features that distinguish guys from girls. And it’s usually connected to problems with a genetic condition. So, it seemed that there was a reason for it instead of something I was doing.” He stopped there a bit, apparently deep in thought. I couldn’t help but look at him in sympathy. His sister looked at him, too. Danny saw, and gave her a sad little smile.
After a moment, he continued on, shaking himself from whatever he was thinking. “Anyway, the only reason I mentioned this was because my problem seemed to keep on getting worse. When I got to be part of the band, most of our audience thought I was a girl, and I think they actually preferred me as a girl.”
Tracey interrupted his story. “Your amazing voice was also because of your medical condition?” she asked.
“Partly,” Danny said. “I guess my throat surgery when I was seven had a lot to do with it, too.” He then recounted an accident that happened at his Uncle Nathan’s, and the surgery that he had to have and how his voice was affected permanently.
“Wow!” Tracey said.
I glared at Tracey. “Tracey, don’t you get any ideas.”
“What did I say!?”
“Sorry, Danny,” I said. “Please go on.”
“Anyway,” he said, “here we are. I am now a female singer, a female DJ and me — just a regular guy studying at the local high school.”
“How can you still pass as a boy at school given how you look?” Tracey asked.
“Tracey!” I admonished.
Danny smiled sadly. “It’s okay, Mrs. Piper.” He looked at Tracey. “It’s all in how you dress, I guess, Tracey. You should see what I usually wear. The way I look today is an accident…”
“You must have been picked on a lot,” Tracey said.
“Yes, but not as much as you might think. My clothes camouflaged my… features pretty well. And my doctor got me exempted from PE and stuff, although I had to take extra-curricular stuff like the glee club and internships to make up my unit deficiencies. In fact, that’s how I ended up going to KRPQ for that internship that turned into a DJ job. Plus…” Danny looked at his sister. “I have my sister and my friends to help and protect me.” Danielle reached out and touched Danny’s hand.
Tracey looked at them. “Wish I had friends like that,” she whispered to herself.
Danny touched her on the shoulder. “I think you found a couple today.” He said.
Tracey looked up at him. He gave her a wide smile and a wink. She smiled back a little hopefully.
“Mrs. Piper,” Danny looked to me. “I don’t want anyone to know I’m part of the band, and I don’t want anyone to know I’m the Nighthawk.”
I was about to speak, but Danielle beat me to it. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Piper,” she said. “I’m afraid that’s not negotiable.”
“Well…”
Danielle shook her head.
“…all right… But what do we do about the interviews?”
“Well,” Tracey said, “what about we pre-record Danny’s questions, and have the band answer those.”
I actually thought that through, but turned the idea down. “No, that’s a little too complicated, and not exactly honest.”
“But, isn’t hiding who Danny really is is not exactly honest either?”
“It’s not the same. And it’s too complicated.”
Danielle shook her head. “It doesn’t have to be complicated, you know. Just have someone else interview the band.”
“The thing is, Danielle, the advertisers asked for the Nighthawk specifically. Danny, you don’t know how popular you’ve become.”
Danny moaned, and put his head in his hands.
“The interview’s for ten PM, Saturday night, right?” Danielle continued. I nodded. “And you have other people lined up, and not just Unlimited Bandwidth?” I nodded again.
“How long will the show be?”
“The video is a little over one and a half hours end-to-end, but the program’s gonna run up to three hours.”
Danny looked up in surprise. “That’s, what, one-and-a-half hours of interviews?”
I nodded. “And commercials, and little features, maybe plugs for other shows, station IDs, et cetera, et cetera.”
“Who does the slot just before then?”
Tracey answered. “We’re having the new kids, Harry Seavers and Sally Marshall, do a thirty-minute pre-show.”
“Pre-show?” Danny asked. “What’s that about?”
Danielle waved him down. “Quiet, honey,” she said, “We’re trying to figure out what to do.” Danny gave her a raspberry. We all laughed.
Danny looked at his sister, smiling. “Sorry, sis. What have you got in mind?”
“Well, why not just have the band come in for their interview during the pre-show, have the new guys take care of interviewing them, and then, when they’re done, you switch into the Nighthawk to run the next show.”
I nodded. “I think that’s a great idea!”
“I still think my idea was better,” Tracy grumbled
I laughed and gave Tracey a kiss. “I’m sorry, Trace.”
“It’s your station, after all, mom.”
“Don’t be like that,” I said and patted her cheek.
“Sorry, mom…”
“Okay, now you contact Harry and Sally and tell them about the plan and possible schedule change; that they’re going to make the nine-thirty pre-show an interview show. And if they have questions, they should talk to me.”
“It’s not for a while, yet, mom. What’s the hurry?”
“Just do as I say. That way, they can prepare for the show better.”
“Okay.”
“They’re going to interview Unlimited Bandwidth in their pre-show, and introduce Danny’ program. Got it?” Tracey nodded. I turned to Danielle. “Right, Danielle?” I said. “You can set that up with the band?”
“No problem, Mrs. Piper. What did you originally have planned for the pre-show, anyway?”
“Well, we did have a lot of station promos and specials originally lined up for the pre-show.”
“Why don’t you just spread them over both the pre-show and the concert show? That way, the listeners will get two solid programs instead of one slopping over the other.”
“Sounds good,” I nodded.
Tracey took out her celphone and started typing a text message. “Okay. I’m texting them the info.”
“Oh, that reminds me, Danny — the interviews will be simulcast on TV as well.”
He looked up in alarm at that. “What!”
“I just got confirmation that KRPX is sending a remote crew here. Especially since I let on to their manager that I’m getting the Rockrgrrl people and Unlimited Bandwidth over for the live interviews. It seems they’ve agreed that it’s gonna be KRPQ’s show. So you be sure to be in your best duds, okay?”
“But Mrs. Piper!”
I looked at her… I mean, him. And I thought it through. Oh, no… “I didn’t think of that… That could be a problem…”
Danielle looked at me, and then looked at Danny a little thoughtfully. “Hmmm… yeah…. Well, don’t worry, Danny. We’ll figure something out.”
Danny moaned. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
Tracey looked at Danielle. “What does he mean?” she asked.
Danielle giggled. “It’s nothing, Tracey. Just a little private joke. Now, I think we need to get out of here, and leave your mom to her work.”
We all stood up. Danielle reached out to shake my hand. “Thank you, Mrs. Piper. I’d appreciate it if you can email over that NDA form, and if that poster can be taken down.”
“Right away, Danielle. I’ll make sure that poster’s replaced with something that meets with your approval.” I gave her a smile so she’d know I wasn’t being catty. “Tracey, can you do me a favor and if you can take Danny’s poster down as soon as you can?”
“Sure, mom,” Tracey said.
“And, Mrs. Piper,” Danielle said, “I think we need to come to a more permanent arrangement, given all that you’re planning for Danny and your station.”
“I understand. And thank you.”
She nodded. “’Kay, let’s get outa here, Danny.” She picked up her purse and proceeded to walk out the door.
Danny picked up her... I mean his backpack and jacket. “C’mon, Tracey,” he said.
Tracey turned to me with a question in her eyes.
I made a shooing gesture. “Go on, honey,” I said. “Go enjoy yourselves. I’ll hold down the fort.” She gave me a kiss and made to follow Danielle and Danny.
I watched them file out, all with such energy. Oh, to be young again.
The arrangements for the show next weekend weren’t what I originally planned, but I guess they’re okay, given the alternative was that the station would have lost Danny altogether. That Danielle is a very bright and sharp young lady. Shrewd negotiator. But I already knew that. Those two are quite a pair. I’d best be on my toes, or better yet, maybe I should hire her as well. But those two are tied at the hip. Two for the price of one. But maybe I don’t want both…
And I was glad that Tracey is getting along with the twins. Maybe I should move her to Danny’s school. I’ll ask Tracey later about that, if she’d like to move schools.
But right now I need to think up a way to get Danny to agree to let people know who he really is. And Danny will only agree to it if she agrees. The key is the sister. I can only imagine what kind of numbers I can get for the station if people knew who the Nighthawk really was.
***** (Tracey) *****
I walked behind the two. They looked so incredibly like each other, though you can see a bit more masculinity in the way Danny walked and talked, and that paradoxically made him sexier than his sister. I can only think that it gave Danny an earthier aura than his sister, and therefore a sexier one. Not by much, I guess, but just enough that you would notice it when the two are together. Couldn’t be just that, though. I continued to try to figure out why that was, and I had to come to the conclusion that it was Danny’s outfit - he was wearing a simple pale-rose short-sleeved crew-neck cotton tee over designer mid rise hipster bootcut jeans, plus a pair of high-fashion tan wedge-boots with big buckles. The combination was both simple and yet oh-so-sexy. His sister probably helped pick his clothes - I can’t believe a guy can have such good taste.
She turned profile as she talked with her sister. I mean “his” sister. She… he had his hands on his hips, legs a littler farther apart than a girl would. If you knew he was a guy, you’d probably think he was just being a guy, but in his apparent girl-persona, it just gave him that touch of rebelliousness and tomboyishness that made him the tough-but-sexy bad girl that guys seemed to find so attractive. At least I was.
With him in profile, I couldn’t help but notice the curve of his breasts.
“Are your boobs the real thing?” I blurted out, and I was immediately embarrassed. Why did I do that? Stupid, stupid!
The two of them looked at me with faint smiles. “What do you think?” Danielle said.
“What size is he, anyway?” I said, and I blushed crimson with shame. I just wanted to sink into the ground.
Danielle looked at her brother, giggling. “What are you now, Danny? Thirty-two C?”
Danny waved at her dismissively. “Oh, shut up,” he said to her.
“Wow,” I said. “You’re a C-cup?”
Danielle giggled again. “Actually, we both are.” She stuck a pose.
Danny grabbed her by the hand and dragged her along. “Okay. Enough. Let’s get the girls and get out of here.”
She nodded, giggling. “Where are we going now?”
“We’re gonna be visiting a new friend. Let’ go, Trace.”
I felt wonderful that I was being included, but I faked nonchalance. “Sure.”
When we were back in the lobby, there were introductions all around again. I went to the posters against the wall and reached up a bit to take down Danny’s poster.
“Must be nice to be that tall and all,” Danny said dryly.
“Here,” I said and handed it over to Danny. “You can keep it if you want.”
“Ummm…”
“You’re taking it down?” Betsy said. “Can I have it? … That is, if you don’t want it, Danny.”
I looked to Danny. He shrugged. “I guess…”
“Yayyy!” Betsy said, and grabbed it before anyone could say anything else. She hugged it against her like a schoolgirl with an enormous book.
“Wait!” Joanne said.
“No fair! I wanted it, too!” Mel said.
“Me, toooo!” Drew and June said simultaneously.
“Sorry, girls,” I said. “I only had the one.”
“But... but…” The girl, Mel, was overreacting. But I would find out later that she was someone who collected a lot of concert memorabilia, and she wanted the poster for her collection. But what I think the real reason was is that it was a picture of Danny.
I looked at all of them. “So. I suppose all of you want Danny posters, then?”
They all nodded, with Mel nodding emphatically.
“I have an idea.” I went back to my mom’s office. “Mom, can I use your computer and printer for a few minutes?”
Mother looked up at me from the papers she had on her desk. “Sure, honey. I needed a break, anyway. What are you up to?”
“Danny’s friends want copies of his picture. I want to print up a few for them.”
“That’s all? All right.” She got up. “I’ll get out of your way, then, and see about the coffee we ordered earlier.”
“Thanks, mom. Won’t take more than ten minutes.” She gave me a kiss as I sat down at her desk, and she walked out of the office.
Reaching into the lowest bin, I brought out a fresh package of 8R inkjet photo paper.
I popped the paper into Mom’s printer and booted up her computer. I logged on to the office network and searched for my home computer’s shared net drive. I quickly found Danny’s picture file which I had optimized last night for inkjet printing, and printed a dozen copies. Once done, I shut the printer and computer down, grabbed a black marker pen, and went to the front.
I found mom and the others drinking coffee and having a laugh at one of mom’s stories. I’ve heard all of them before, so I tuned her out while I handed the girls the pictures I printed out.
“Danny?” I said. “I was thinking maybe you could authograph the pictures for your friends.”
“Oooh!” Joanne squealed comically. “Autograft pitchers!” Everyone laughed.
“I hope one of them’s for me,” mom said, and handed me a tall decaf cappuchino.
“Oh, I printed up copies for us, too, mom.” I gave Danny the marker.
Danny took the pictures and marker from me with a comical flare, and wrote a personalized dedication each, and simply signed it at the bottom with “Dannie.”
On mom’s picture, he wrote, “to my best boss in the world. And I’m not kidding.” Everyone giggled, except for mom.
“I don’t get it,” mom said plaintively. And we laughed some more.
On my picture, he wrote, "Stop being so testosteroney! Which, by the way, is the real San Francisco treat." (Phoebe and Chandler)
I didn’t know how to react, but when I looked at Danny, all I saw was an expectant look. I laughed, and felt flattered that he tried to think of a joke that the two of us could share, given our similar… predicaments.
On June’s, Drew’s, Joanne’s and Mel’s pictures, he wrote quotations from rock-n-roll people and movie lines:
“Some people tap their feet, some people snap their fingers, and some people sway back and forth. I just sorta do ‘em all together, I guess” (Elvis); “Do you like having a good time? Then you need-a-good-watch!” (Rocky Balboa); “I look like I am hung over. It's like a head full of ideas, an exploding head.” (Bono); and “I always listen to ‘NSYNC’s Tearin’ Up My Heart. It reminds me to wear a bra.” (Britney)
Everyone couldn’t stop laughing at that last one.
On Betsy’s big, mounted one, he wrote a quotation, from someone I never heard of: To my angel — “music is well said to be the speech of angels” (Thomas Carlyle)
Betsy read the dedication, gave Danny a kiss and cried. She rushed to the bathroom. Danny wanted to follow, but Nikki stopped him.
“Give her room, Danny,” Nikki said. “She’s just being her usual Emo self.” Danny nodded reluctantly.
For the picture he gave Danielle, he put another quote: “The best thing about having a sister was that I always had a friend" (Cali Rae Turner)
And to the one for Nikki, he wrote a quotation from Bayard Taylor’s poem called "Bedouin Song" (a quote usually mistakenly attributed to Shakespeare): “I love thee, I love but thee with a love that shall not die, till the sun grows cold, and the stars grow old."
Nikki gave him a big and sloppy kiss. “I love you, too, baby,” she said.
All the girls, even my mother, went “awww…”
Danny sure is a well-read girl, ummm guy…
Joanne pushed me into the little van’s front passenger seat.
“Sorry, Tracey,” she said. “You’re too tall. And us tall girls get to sit in the front.” She looked at her watch and turned to the others as they were just settling down in the back. “So where to, guys? Lunch? It’s twelve-thirty now, you know”
“Twelve thirty?” Danny mumbled. “Damn. No time to go home and change.” He tapped Joanne on the shoulder. “Joanne? How about you guys drop Tracey and me off at the college and you go on ahead for lunch. And we’ll meet you guys later. There’s a nice fifties-style ice-cream parlor at the mall. I went there once a month or so ago. Pretty nice place.”
“Can’t we go with you?” Mel pouted.
“I don’t think so, Mel. Sorry.”
“’Kay, Dan,” Joanne said. “Ice cream parlor at the mall at three, then.”
“Cool, Joanne. Thanks!” He gave Joanne a kiss on the cheek.
Joanne smiled. “No prob.” She turned the van at the next corner.
The girls quizzed Danny and his sister about the meeting they just had, and everyone was hanging on their every word. They were all excited about the upcoming show, but were wondering how we would manage the interview of the band.
“Well,” Danielle said, “it was my idea to allow the other announcers to take care of the interview with the band, and then, after the band, Danny can take over. Haven’t worked out the details, yet.”
“So that no one will connect the Nighthawk to the band?” Mel said.
“Well, duh,” Danielle responded, and Mel pouted.
“Oh, Mel, I’m sorry,” Danielle gave her a hug. “I didn’t mean anything.”
“But that’s it, isn’t it?” Joanne said. “So no one will know who Dannie from the band and Danny the Nightwalk really are.”
“What’s your point, Joanne?” Danielle asked.
“I think it’ gonna be harder and harder to keep Danny’s real identity under wraps. Especially when people see him on TV. As it is, there are too many people that know about him.”
Danielle thought that over. “Well,” she responded, “Lou Jefferson and Dennis Oldfield are the only people from the station that know and have actually seen Danny, and I don’t think they’ll blab.”
“You’re forgetting Goodwyn the night security guy,” Danny said.
“And him, yeah...”
“… and me and my mom,” I interjected.
“Okay, you and Mrs. Piper…”
“…and the band and the gang, of course,” Betsy contributed.
“Of course…”
“…and my Glee Club friends,” Danny piped in.
“Huh?”
“And your folks and mine?” Nikki said.
“Wait, wait!”
“And I think Mrs. Sparks, though I’m not sure,” Danny said.
“All right, already! You guys have made your point.”
This was greeted with silence. After a minute, Danielle cleared her throat.
“Well,” Danielle said, “the NDA will take care of everyone at the station.”
“NDA?” Mel asked.
“Non-disclosure Agreement.”
“Ahh.”
“And I’ll take care of the gang,” Joanne said.
“… I’ll take care of my folks,” Nikki said.
“… and I’ll take care of Mrs. Sparks, Fallon and the Glee Club,” Danny said.
“…and I’ll talk to my folks,” Danielle said. “So how’s that? I think we have it well in hand.”
Joanne frowned. “Well, barely…”
“Joanne…”
When Joanne stopped at a red light, she turned to face the backseat. “Guys,” Joanne said, “one of these days, it’ll all come crashing down, and things will catch up to us. I think we have to come clean one of these days.”
“But Joanne,” Danny said.
“Just my opinion, Danny. I’m not forcing anything. I just think we should plan for it, for a way to manage your — what do we call it — your ‘coming-out’… thing.”
Danny looked worried. “I hope this planning session doesn’t involve another sleepover.”
Everyone giggled at that. Wonder why. What did they mean, sleepover? Hmmm.
“Well, okay,” Danielle agreed. “But for now, let’s just do this. Danny?”
Danny nodded glumly. “Joanne,” he said, “I agree. I mean, in principle. But, for now, let’s just do this. I’m just not ready yet.”
Joanne craned her neck to look at Danny. “That’s totally okay, Danny. We can do it any way you like. I just don’t want you hurt.”
The light turned green and Joanne goosed the accelerator.
“Thanks, Joanne.”
“’S’ok, Danny.” Then she smiled a sly smile. “Besides…”
“What?”
“I think another sleepover’s overdue. Don’t you think?”
And everyone giggled, except Danny. I think he was moaning.
Eighteen: Two Caramel Frappes
***** (Danny) *****
The van stopped at the college’s front gate, and Tracey and I got out. Nikki and Danielle had to go down as well so I could step out.
“You gonna be okay?” Nikki asked.
“Sure, Nick — stop worrying.”
“I don’t know about this, Dan,” Danielle said. “I mean, what if that girl you’re meeting suddenly decides to do something, like try and off herself? What’s worse is that what if the reason she does is because of something you said? You need a professional with you.”
“Danielle,” I sighed, “I know all that. One of the big reasons I’m meeting up with her is to see if she does need professional help. You know, it might just be something as simple as loneliness.”
“As simple as loneliness…” Tracey murmured.
I turned to her. “Tracey…”
She smiled brightly at me. “I’m fine, Danny.”
I gave both Danielle and Nikki a kiss. “So, I’ll see you later then?”
“’Kay.”
“See if you can bring the guys later, okay?”
Danielle pouted. “What for?”
“Nuthin. Only if they want.”
“’Kay.”
I waved as they drove off. “Okay, Tracey. Let’s go find the café.” We walked down the cement path that cut through the grassy knoll in front of the main admin building. Most of us around these parts were proud of our little community college. The curriculum and the teaching staff were pretty good, and a lot of people from the surrounding communities use the college like a prep school. I looked around and noticed the kids, probably mostly out-of-towners.
I spied the café as we rounded a little grove of trees and led Tracey to the place. Most of the people were sitting at the tables outside, and the ones inside were couples or little groups chatting, a few working away on their little laptops and netbooks. I wondered if any of them were Val.
The barrista behind the counter noticed me. “What’ll you have miss?”
“I’d like a caramel frappe, please. Grande.” The guy nodded. “Tracey?”
“The same, please , but just a tall decaf one.”
He repeated the order. “Two caramel frappes, one grande and one tall decaf. That’ll be eight-twenty please.”
I handed over a ten-dollar bill and the guy handed me the coffees and my change.
We went outside and sat in the wonderful, early afternoon sunshine.
“Wish I ordered a sandwich as well, or something,” I said. “I’m starting to get hungry.”
“Why didn’t you?” Tracey asked.
I shrugged. “I guess I can wait until later.”
“Listen, Danny,” Tracey said. “I have to agree with Danielle. What if we say the wrong thing? We might make it worse with this Valerie person.”
Danny nodded. “I know, but what would you suggest? Bring a suicide prevention specialist with us? The girl trusts us. Least we could do is talk to her first before bringing in other people.”
Tracey shrugged. “It’s your call.”
I raised my face towards the sunshine, smiled at the wonderful warmth, and sipped my cold frappe.
“You’re sure you’re a guy? You must know how gorgeous you are.”
I smiled sadly at that. “Not something I do deliberately, you know.”
Tracey giggled. “You got some... on your lip.”
I took my paper napkin and wiped the offending foam off.
“If I could look half as natural and as gorgeous as you…”
“If I could give it to you, I would.”
“Sorry, to be such a basket case, Danny. I just hate being a freak…”
I grabbed her hand. “You are NOT a freak. Okay? Stop talking like that!”
She nodded sadly.
“Tracey! You’re not a freak, okay?”
We stayed like that for a while.
“Ummm, excuse me?” we heard someone say. “Would one of you happen to be Danny from the radio station?”
We turned around. Standing beside our table was a tall, thin girl, almost as tall as Tracey, with straight black hair and no makeup. She was wearing a simple t-shirt, jeans, and trainers and carrying a little backpack.
“Are you Valerie?” I asked.
“Yes, I am. I’m sorry, but you’re the only redhead here so I assumed…”
I stood up and gave her a hug, never giving her a chance to pull away. I read in one of those suicide prevention pamphlets in school, depressed people didn’t want to be hugged, but I figured that everyone needed a hug.
She didn’t put her arms around me, but I could feel something in her give. I felt the little shudders, and knew she was crying.
I pulled back, got some tissues from the dispenser on the table and dabbed at her tears.
“I didn’t know if I should have come,” she said.
“I’m glad you did.” I gestured at Tracey. “This is my producer, Tracey. She was the one who answered your call.”
“Hello, Valerie. Remember me?”
“Hi,” she said, and they shook hands.
I gestured and we all sat down. “Coffee?”
“I don’t drink coffee, but thanks, anyway.”
“I drink lots, myself.”
“Yes, I know,” she giggled, pointing at my ginormous frappe.
“Val,” I said, “I just wanted to meet you, and talk to you…”
She nodded.
“… and see if I could help in any way.”
“You already did.”
“I’m glad.” She gave us a sad little smile.
“I’m sorry about your sister,” I said.
“S’ok. Not your fault.”
“If it were my sister, I’d probably feel just as bad.”
“Are you and you sister close?”
“We didn’t used to be. But now we are.”
“Sisters are like that…” I looked away. Sisters… I caught Tracey’s eye, and we looked at each other. Do I tell? What would it accomplish? And wouldn’t it just be another person on the list of people who knew that I had to keep tabs on?
Tracey shrugged, seeming to say that it was my decision. She turned to Valerie and smiled. “You should see them together, Valerie. They’re twins! And they act so much alike.”
“That must be fun,” Val smiled.
I made a decision. I read in that same pamphlet that one of the most important things was to establish trust. And, as I have learned, one of the things you can do to earn someone’s trust is to share personal stuff, even secrets. I just hope this girl will keep my secrets… secret.
“Actually, Val,” I began, “Tracey’s right - my sister and I are twins. But we aren’t sisters.”
“Huh?”
“Yes, she is my sister. I am her brother. Danny is short for Daniel. We’re fraternal twins.”
She looked at me like I was crazy, and after a beat, she stood up.
I grabbed her arm. “Val, please! I’m telling you the truth!”
“You’re fooling with me, you’re…”
“Sit down, please.”
She sat down reluctantly.
“I want to tell you a story…” and I told her about me and my sister, my problems with my looks, about how she lent me support, even if in the beginning I thought she was just being selfish. I talked about my Halloween, about my friends. I talked about my hospital stay, and how I found out about my medical condition, about having breasts, and how I became a DJ on KRPQ. I even demonstrated my Brad Pits and Bimbo Betty voices, and they laughed. Throughout my story, Tracey listened as avidly as Val, and at the end of the story, they were both very quiet.
“I’m so sorry, Danny,” Val said.
“No need to be. I’m doing okay medically. No cancer, or possibility of cancer, or other problems like that despite being intersexed. I have a lot of friends that are helping and supporting me. And we have fun most of the time. I think I’m happy. Most of the time, anyway.” I laughed.
“You’re lucky, Dan.”
“I know.”
“But why are you telling me all this?”
“I want to be truthful with you, Val, and to let you know about me, about who and what I am, so that you will trust me and allow me to help you.”
She looked me in the eye.
“Val? Can you let Tracey and me help you?”
“You already did, Danny.”
“Oh, Val.” I gave her another hug.
I asked about her family, and she said that because of this morning, she mustered enough courage to call them. Her dad was a corporate lawyer that frequently worked on weekends and one of the family rules was that no one should call him except in emergencies. Shaking, she called up her dad. When he heard her voice and the crying she had tried to hide, he offered to come over. In fact, she’s expecting her dad, even her mom, to arrive tonight.
“Oh, Val,” I said, “that’s great!” Another hug moment.
“When they arrive, be sure to tell them how you feel. And ask them how they feel. Be yourself, and don’t hide anything. I think that if you do, it’ll be a start for your family to get past Tess’s death. Get some kind of closure.”
“I’m scared, Danny. What if they get mad or something.”
“I’m pretty sure they won’t. But… would you want me around? Like, just in case?”
She bit her lip and looked away. “Nahh, I’ll be okay.”
I wasn’t that clueless, and picked up on the hidden signals.
“How about this — I’ll give you my celphone number...” I picked up a napkin and quickly scribbled it down. At least, this way, I don’t openly contradict her, yet allow her the feeling of assurance, of someone being there to help.
I handed her the napkin. “Now, don’t share this with anyone, okay? Call me tonight if you want to talk, or whatever, or if you want me to come over or something.”
“Okay, Danny. Thank you.”
“Oh! Wait… you can’t call me tonight. We have a gig tonight. Text! Text me. My celphone will be in silent mode, but I promise I will check it during our breaks.”
She nodded.
“Contact me anytime. I might not be able to answer right away all the time, but I’ll definitely answer. That’s a promise. Okay?”
She gave me another hug. In turn she scribbled her own celphone number down, and I put the tissue in my pack.
“I can’t help but wonder why you’re doing all this for me,” she said.
I smiled. “I guess it’s my way of paying it forward. But really, I’m just a sucker for the ladies.”
Val laughed. “You know,” she said, “when you told me your name was Dannie, I had assumed that you meant you were also the singer from that concert the callers were talking about, not this!”
Tracey and I gave each other a look. Val picked up on it.
“What!?” Val said.
“Val, I gotta tell you something else…”
She looked at me, then Tracey, and then me again.
“I. Don’t. Believe it!”
I shrugged. “I’m afraid so…”
“Shut up! It can’t be! Seriously?”
I nodded. “Seriously…”
“Shut up!”
So I proceeded to tell her about Dannie and Unlimited Bandwidth as well… Damnit!
After my little story, Val was looking at me with eyes as big as golf balls.
“Wow!” was the only thing Val said after my second little story.
“Thing is, Val,” Tracey said, “Danny’s trying to keep his identity secret.”
“Oh! You can count on me, Tracey. No worries… but… wow!”
I scratched my head a little sheepishly.
“What about the band, and the interview next week?”
I groaned. “I know, I know…”
Tracey and I left Val at around three. We invited her to go with us to the mall but she begged off, saying she wanted to straighten out her room before her folks came by at six. Tracey gave an open invitation to visit the station, and we exchanged hugs.
“Thank you, Danny. Tracey.”
I smiled. “No prob. Remember to text me tonight, whatever happens, okay?”
“I will.”
“You’re sure you don’t want me around later?” I said.
“I’m sure.” She leaned down and gave me a peck. “And your secrets are safe with me. No worries.”
We watched her walk away back to the women’s dormitory. It was on the campus grounds so we knew she didn’t have to walk far. She kept turning around and waving at us.
As for us, we had a little further to walk since the bus station was on the other side of the campus. When we got to the bus stop, there weren’t any people there so we had the bench all to ourselves. I looked at the sign and noticed that the next bus that would be passing nearest the mall was due in thirty minutes.
“Thirty minutes, Tracey, so I guess we make ourselves comfortable.”
“Thirty minutes? Damn.” She took out her celphone. She mumbled something into it and shut it off.
“What was that about?”
“Nuthin,” she smiled.
After five minutes had passed, a banana-yellow Toyota FJ Cruiser with a white roof and black trim pulled up while we were chatting.
A man in a business suit got out, went to Tracey and gave her the keys. Tracey mumbled her thanks, and went to the driver’s door.
“Come on, Danny,” Tracey waved.
I looked at the car, and then at the guy in the suit. I was confused but got up from the bench and got into the car.
“Tracey?” I said after I closed the passenger door.
“I called the office and asked mom’s driver to bring my car over. Better than waiting for the bus for half an hour. Hope you don’t mind?”
“Mind? Why would I mind?” I rubbed the dash and smelled the new-car smell. “Great set of wheels, Tracey. How new is it?”
“Mom got it for me when we moved here. But I haven’t had much of a chance to drive it around. Not too many places to go, yet. And no friends to drive with. Besides, I just got my license.”
I keep forgetting Tracey’s filthy rich… I tried to hide my smile. And I knew Tracey’s a newbie driver - that much was obvious, given she was driving five miles an hour down a wide but empty road. “Don’t you think you should speed up a bit?” I said.
“What? Oh!” She goosed the accelerator and, after an initial jerk, we were driving at a more normal pace.
“Well,” I said, “hang around us long enough and you’ll get more than enough driving practice. Pretty soon, you’ll get sick of us bumming rides. Your brand-spanking-new car won’t be that brand new anymore.”
Tracey laughed.
When we got to the mall, Tracey drove to the basement parking for employees. She pulled up at a reserved parking spot and got out. I noticed that she parked in the General Manager’s parking spot. I put on my jacket, grabbed my pack and followed her out to a service elevator.
The elevator opened to the main floor of the mall. We went to the escalators and proceeded to the second floor.
I pointed to the ice cream parlor. “Pop’s Chocklit Shoppe” the sign on the glass said, just like Archie’s favorite hangout in the comic (there was a little “R” in a circle right beside it so I knew the owner got some kind of permission to use the name). We pushed the doors open and we found the girls sitting at a table by the glass window.
It was a very nineteen-fifties style fastfood-type place. It’s like I was in a re-run of Happy Days or something, complete with waiters and waitresses wearing little paper hats and little aprons.
Apparently, none of the guys were able to go, as the only ones there were the girls from this morning - Nikki, Danielle, Bets, Joanne, Mel, Drew and June. I stood by the only empty seat. Tracey signaled for me to take the only vacant chair and looked around for one for herself.
Nikki and Danielle leaned over and gave me hugs, and I waved to the others.
As I settled down, someone cleared her throat. “Ahem!”
I looked up. “Someone’s taken my chair,” Janet said.
“Janet!” I exclaimed, got up out of the chair and gave her a hug.
“Hey, sexy,” she said, looking me up and down. She made a patting gesture for me to keep my seat, and got another for herself, putting it between Tracey and me.
“Don’t rub it in,” I grumbled as I sat down again. “It was a mistake. Anyway, Janet, this is Tracey Piper, my new producer at the radio station.” They shook hands pleasantly.
“So,” Janet said, “the girls have been telling me about next Saturday? That’s great!”
“We do have a problem, though,” I frowned.
She nodded. “But it’s not as if it’s going to be the first time…”
“Janet!”
“Kidding, kidding,” she giggled and gave me a kiss to placate me.
“You know, I feel like a fish out of water here,” Tracey said.
“S’ok, Trace. You’ll start to feel at home after hanging with us for a while.”
Tracey smiled as Janet gave her a casual hug, the first time I saw her smiling unself-consciously since this morning. And whatever happens, I am happy that Tracey now has her “posse.” I giggled at the thought and everyone looked at me quizzically.
“What’s so funny?” Betsy asked. I shook my head and signaled a waitress for a menu.
I looked the menu over and went all fifties. “I’ll have battered onion rings to start, and then an order of mini burgers and French fries, a strawberry-banana malt, a regular cherry-coke and a banana-boat sundae. You, Tracey?”
She looked through the menu. “I guess I’ll have a small bowl of chili, crackers and a small strawberry malt, please.”
“Comin’ up,” the waitress nodded and walked to the kitchen. She was even chewing on gum. Talk about atmosphere.
“So!” Janet rubbed her hands together. “What’s the plan? Mweheheheh…”
“Oh, Janet,” June said. “We’re being serious.”
“Sorry!” She rubbed her hands together again. “So,” she whispered in a ridiculously low voice. “Seriously — what’s the plan? Mweheheheheheheh…”
Everyone burst out laughing.
“Okay,” Danielle said. “The plan. It’s going to be on TV, right? So people will see. So we need a disguise. An outfit that’ll make him look different from his everyday self but similar enough to how he looked like in the concert last night. I had the idea that we’d have Danny in costume again.”
“Dannie the rock star rides again! Yay!” Mel cheered.
“Shhh!” Joanne hissed and clapped her hand to Mel’s mouth. “Don’t make a scene, Mel.”
“Mmmphgggph…” Mel mumbled.
“Eeep! Sorry, Mel.” Everyone giggled.
“How about the outfit itself,” June asked.
“Simple enough to pick out, I think,” Drew said. “Something sexy, but not too sexy. It’s on public TV, after all. And we need to keep her red hair, of course.”
“Wig!” June said.
“Right, June. Danielle, you still got that wig from last Halloween?”
“I think so.”
“We’ll need that. But we need a different hairdo, I think.”
“I’ll take care of that,” Joanne said. “Danielle, the wig’s not synthetic, right?”
“Yes…”
“’Kay. I’ll pass by your place and get it. I’ll have it fixed up.”
“So, who’ll be in charge of the outfit?” Mel asked.
Janet nodded to Danielle. “Let’s leave it to Danny’s manager.”
I was a little puzzled by Janet’s vaguely resentful tone, or maybe impatient is a better word to use. Then again, it may just be my imagination as everyone didn’t seem to notice anything wrong.
Danielle was clapping in glee.
“Danielle…” I growled.
“Peace! Peace!” she said. “I won’t go overboard, Danny. I promise. It’ll be understated but sexy. Conservative but hip.”
“Not too conservative,” Janet said. (There it is again — that tone.)
“Of course,” Danielle giggled. “So, girls. Shopping?”
“Sure!” “Yeah!”
“So — outfits for Danny, June and Janet. And the boys, as well.”
“And what a coincidence!” Betsy giggled. “We happen to be in the mall, too!” Everyone laughed.
“You’re forgetting about the program itself,” Tracey said. “And it’s supposed to include interviews.” Tracey was looking at me. “Like a disguise, hmmm.”
“What’re you thinking, Tracey,” I asked.
“Well, your look seems to be well in hand. And I trust you guys’ll be able to wing the interview itself. Now, assuming you can pull all of that off, what about the, ummm…” She pointed at her throat.
“What?”
“She means your voice, Danny-boy,” Janet said. Her tone was starting to get to me. Must be my imagination. Yeah.
“The Brad Pits and Betty voices,” Tracey asked, “did you really make them up from scratch?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you think one week is long enough for you to make up a new voice?”
“Sure, but I’m gonna need some sorta starting point.”
“I have the concert on DVD at my place. We can listen to your interview, and let’s try for something as close to that but different enough from your regular voice.”
“Is that even possible? I wasn’t trying to change my voice when I was being interviewed. So, doesn’t that mean I sounded like I regularly do in the interview.”
“Ummm, I hate to say it, honey,” Joanne said, “but that’s not true. When you’re in girl mode, you sound a lot like Danielle, not Danny…”
“I do?” I didn’t know that.
“Yeah, Dan,” Mel said. “You do.”
I didn’t like that. Does this mean that, when I’m in the band, I sound like Danielle? If that’s true, then no wonder people thought I was a girl. But I didn’t want to believe that.
“That’s not true,” I said petulantly.
“Yes,” Janet said. “You do.” What’s with Janet!
“You guys can work on Danny’s voice later, Tracey,” Danielle said. “Right now, we have a mission! A mission to shop!”
The waitress took that moment to come back with our order.
“Here you go, girls,” the gum-chewing waitress said. She put our food on our table, and Tracey was looking at my big order with unbelieving eyes. “What!” I exclaimed. “I was hungry!”
Nikki pulled Tracey aside. “Get used to it, dearie,” Nikki said. “Dan has a bottomless pit for a stomach.”
“Nikki!” I said.
“Oh, Danny. You know I love your tummy.” She suddenly leaned down, pulled up my shirt and gave me a tummy zerbert right there. My girlish giggles filled the restaurant.
“Nikki! Quit! No! Quit it! Nikkiiiiii!”
Everyone in the place broke down in laughter, and I blushed crimson.
“Nikki,” I grated.
Nikki saw my angry face.
“Oh, Dan! I’m so sorry. I was just joking…”
Seeing her remorseful face, I couldn’t stay mad. I pulled her to me and gave her a kiss.
“I’m sorry, Dan. I didn’t mean it, I…”
She just didn’t want to stop talking. I tried to give her another kiss, but this time I tried to make this one just like the ones I got from Janet and the girl from Foxtails last night. The main difference this time was that I was the one who was kissing, and Nikki the one being kissed. It was the same but different... I guess I’m not saying it right. I guess, instead of feeling like I was melting into another’s arms, it was like the reverse. I felt powerful… like I was the one in control, yet not. Like I want to dominate her yet protect her. Powerful, heady stuff. I tightened my arms around her. I was her defender, her protector. And, in a deeper, more primitive way, it was like I owned her. This must be how it is to be in love. I felt so turned on, I couldn’t believe it.
When we broke, I saw Nikki’s face, blushing. I could feel how warm she was. How soft. And as we looked into each other’s eyes, I felt the tension go out of her, and she slumped into my arms… she had fainted.
I was still embarrassed. I shouldn’t have kissed Nikki in front of everyone. At least not that way. I surreptitiously looked at Nikki, and she seemed totally relaxed. So I faked a nonchalance that I didn’t feel, and concentrated on lunch. Actually, I was a little scared. My mind went back to that day, so many months ago, when Dr. Roberts and I talked about my… condition, about Batch Fourteen, about pheromones. Ever since then, I have had a strong suspicion that people weren’t behaving normally around me. And it was my secret fear that it was the pheromones. But I tried not to think about it. If it were the pheromones, how can I trust the people around me. Was it me they were reacting to, or was it the pheromones? Were what they seemed to be feeling genuine? In a way, it was like what I would imagine to be a superpower — like x-ray vision or something, but I couldn’t bear it if it were affecting the people that were close to me — Danielle, Morgan, Nikki… Especially Nikki. What would I do if it t
urns out Nikki wasn’t really in love with me?
As I ate one of my mini-burgers, Tracey looked at me, mouth agape.
“I can’t believe how much you eat…”
“Shut up and eat your chili and crackers.”
“Like I said, Trace,” Danielle said, “get used to it. That’s just the way he eats.”
Mel giggled. “Danielle’s the same way.” Danielle elbowed her. “Ooof! Hey!”
I was subtly grateful for these shenanigans. It put our relationship in familiar, non-threatening patterns — predictable, friendly and… painless. I smiled at everyone’s antics, and hoped that this would always be the way it would be.
“Now, tell me if you guys are done already,” Danielle said. “We DO have to do a bit of shopping.”
“Ummm, Danielle?” I said. “Do you mind if I give that a miss? I want to, ummm… Change clothes! Yeah, that’s it! I need to go home to change out of these clothes.”
Danielle smiled and patted my cheek. “You don’t have to invent excuses, Danny. I know how you feel about shopping.” She gave me a peck on the cheek. “How about this — you and Tracey work on that voice thing, and we’ll do the shopping, and we’ll just surprise you with what we get later. Okay?”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Danielle.”
“No prob, little brother.” She stood up and got her things, and the other girls did, too. “Let’s meet at the house later so we can get you ready for your gig. Okay?”
“Okay.”
She held out her hand palm up. “Credit card, please,” she dimpled.
I got my backpack and fished out my Mastercard gold picture-credit card. “Don’t go crazy with this, okay?”
“Whatever do you mean, my darling brother?” She leaned down and gave me a sisterly kiss on the cheek and hugged Tracey. “Let’s go, girls. Shopping!”
I looked at Tracey. “Whew. We just barely escaped that one.”
Tracey was following the girls out with her eyes, a wistful look on her face.
“Tracey? Did you want to go with the girls? ‘Coz it’s okay if you do.”
She looked back at me. “Nahhh, that’s okay. Besides, we have to work on your new voice, remember?” She giggled.
I went with Tracey back to their condo unit. And what a condo unit! Tracey and her mom occupied the whole top floor of the building. Their place was easily as large as our entire house, first and second floors combined. Being the good hostess, she took my jacket, and directed me to make myself at home in the living room area. It was styled in fifties retro-chic, a sunken living area, with couches sculpted onto the sides. A big pile of throw-pillows made them super-comfortable, though. I dropped my pack near the middle “couch,” and looked around. The coffee table was piled with a lot of fashion magazines as well as computer gaming magazines and other tech stuff. This was probably where Tracey likes to hang.
As I sat down, Tracey came back with a couple of Coke Zeros, with straws already popped in, as well as a bowl of what looked like cheese puffs on a tray. Cool! She also had a laptop under her arm with a little condenser microphone plugged into it.
She put the stuff on the coffee table, pulled a large beanbag chair near me, and plopped down. She then rummaged around in the coffee table and came up with a DVD in a crystal case. “Here it is!” she said. She then picked up a TV remote and pressed a button. The built-in concrete seats immediately in front of us slid back as if by magic, and a really big flatscreen TV rose. Tracey leaned forward and popped the DVD into the player immediately beneath it and sat back.
“Have you seen this yet?” she asked. I shook my head no. “Well, don’t worry,” she continued. “The people from Rockrgrrl said this is just the raw version, but the one we’ll be playing next Saturday will be the cleaner production version.”
She set the video playing, and I leaned forward to watch. Tracey jumped to a part near the end where our band was about to take the stage. I finally got a picture of how we looked and sounded like. Internally, I just had to cringe — it was like when you first hear your voice on a tape or voice recorder, you know? It didn’t feel like it was me, at all. I saw me in my getup, dancing and gyrating as I sang, and my cheeks grew hot in embarrassment. How… uncool I was. Ekkkk.
But I looked at Tracey, and she was clearly enjoying watching me and the band. I had to giggle. I mean, it was just me there. In a girlie getup. What’s the big deal?
Tracey skipped over Janet’s song, and went directly onto our third song. Guess she wants me to see myself in action, maybe to get some ideas going.
When we took our bows, Tracey clapped her hands almost like a little kid. She skipped on forward again, and pressed the play button for our interview.
I listened to me as the host spouted inanities, and I tried to struggle gamely along. I guess I did sound like Danielle a bit, but not exactly.
“See what I mean, Danny?” Tracey said.
“Rewind that again, please, Tracey?” I said and leaned forward some more.
Yes, I guess I did sound like a girl. Or like Danielle, to be precise.
“Any ideas, Danny?” Tracey said, and pressed the mute button.
“Well, what do you think of this?” I said, trying out something.
Tracey looked at me, mouth agape. “Wow!”
“Tracey, stop that! What do you think of this voice?”
Tracey shook her head and tried to think straight. “Well, it’s awfully sexy, but your voice is a trifle too low. You sound too close to the Nighthawk.”
I nodded and cleared my throat again. “What if I went the other way,” I said, demonstrating with a different voice. “Make it higher and more cutesy. Like this?”
Tracey giggled. “Now you sound like a Japanese anime girl. But I think you’re on the right track. Try again, but this time, not so high and tinney.”
I cleared my throat again. “How about this? ‘Four score and seven years ago, our forefathers brought forth…’”
Tracey clapped. “Cool, Danny! A lot better. Try it again, but this time, just a smidge lower in tone.”
I tried again. “’To be or not to be, that is the question. ‘Tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows…” Tracey started giggling helplessly.
“That bad, huh?” I said.
“It isn’t that,” Tracey said. “It’s just that I was imagining you playing the role of Hamlet in a school play, but you were doing it in that voice. God! Too cute!” She laughed.
“Heheh… I guess that would be funny… But, seriously, how do I sound?”
“Actually, that’s real good. Sexy, actually, but also cute - a Hello Kitty kind of cute… But I like it! I guess all you need now is a bit of practice.” She thought a bit and snapped her finger. “Here’s an idea!” Tracey said and opened up her laptop. She sat down next to me and opened a browser on the computer, logging on to a website called “Top Shelf.” It was one of those sites with little fan-written stories. She looked around a bit and came to a story. It was entitled “It’s A Raid!” and it was inside a blog-post called “It’s A Drug I Tell You.” She then activated the mic and gave the laptop to me. “Now, read the story, and talk into that,” she said, “and we can play it back so you can hear how you sound. Hopefully it won’t sound too far from your interview voice. We can then fine-tune it further afterward, and once you have it tuned, to remember to use it all the time when you’re in your Dannie-the-singer persona.”
So I started reading the funny story, and tried saying them with inflections that I thought were appropriate to the characters in the story, but using only my new voice. It was a temptation to slip into other voices, but since we were practicing, I tried to resist that.
After maybe ten minutes, I stopped and we played the recording back.
“Pretty good, huh?” Tracey said.
I shrugged. “I guess…”
“Though it sounds different from your voice in the interview, at least it’s very similar.”
“I guess…”
“Stop guessing and practice! Practice, practice, practice!”
“Slave driver!” I said, but smiled at Tracey so she’ll know I was just joking.
So I kept on practicing for a couple of hours while Tracey watched the concert DVD with the sound turned down low. I had moved on to the magazines that Tracey had on the table and picked up some back issues of Cosmo Girl, Seventeen, Teen Vogue and a British teen fashion magazine, “Sugar” (that one I did with a British accent. Heh.), but I guess me droning on, sort of mumbling to myself in my new voice, was not the most exciting thing in the world, and Tracey fell asleep beside me, her head innocently leaning against my shoulder. I gently slid her down so that she was more comfortably lying down on the couch, and her head was resting on my lap. I continued practicing, and tried not to move too much so as not to wake her. I guess she was real sleepy. From what I gathered, she stayed up the whole night watching the concert DVD and making my poster. So I let her sleep, and I just continued practicing, occasionally stopping to sip from my coke can and munch on some cheese balls. I had unconsciously started
running my fingers through her hair and smoothening it out.
After a while, I decided that I had my voice was as tuned as I could get it for now, and quit practicing. I looked at the wall clock, and it said seven o’clock. I best get a move on or I’ll be late for the gig.
But I realized I haven’t heard from Val yet, and I got worried. I decided to send her a text message. Reaching down for my backpack, I rummaged inside and found the napkin with her number. I thought a bit and risked calling her instead of texting her.
As her celphone rang, I continued combing out Tracey’s hair with my fingers, and waited.
“Hello?” a voice on the other end answered. It wasn’t Val.
Tracey mumbled, “whazzup?” I combed through her hair again, and that seemed to calm her down.
“Ummm, good evening,” I said into the phone a little worriedly. Could I possibly have the wrong number? “May I speak to Valerie, please?”
“Who is this, please?”
“Could you please tell her it’s Danny on the phone?”
“Dannie? The radio announcer?”
“Ummm, yes, ma’am?”
“Val told us about you, dear. I must thank you for what you did. If not for you, I don’t think we’d be here now. Thank God for you, dear. Bless you.”
“Ummm, ma’am, who is this?”
“Oh, dear me. I’m sorry. This is Valerie’s mother. Wait, my husband would like to speak to you as well.”
After a short moment, a big booming, officious-sounding voice came on the line.
“Hello? Hello, yes, who is this?” In the background, I could hear his wife saying faintly, “it’s the girl from the station, dear — Dannie.”
“Ah, yes! Good evening, Dannie.”
“Erm… good evening, sir.”
“Young lady, I would like to give you my thanks, for putting my girl a-right. Valerie said that if not for you, she wouldn’t be here. I am forever in your debt. Please let me know where we can reach you and perhaps we can arrange to meet so I can personally thank you in behalf of my family.”
“Ahhh… hmmm… thank you… um, sir? I guess…”
“Fine, fine,” he said. “I’ll expect a call soon, then. Here’s Valerie.” I heard him faintly as he handed over the phone to his daughter. “Here you go, my love,” I heard him say to Val, “it’s her.”
“Dan?” Valerie said into the phone.
“Hi, Valerie. Ummm…”
“Oh, that’s just the way my dad is.” She laughed, a full and honest kind of laugh. My heart soared when I heard it.
“So, everything’s okay?”
“Okay enough for now. I guess I don’t know what’s gonna happen in the future, but everything’s okay for now. Mom and Dad and I have to work on a lot of stuff, I guess, but everything’s okay. For now. Jeez, I’m repeating myself.” She giggled. “Mom suggested we see a professional, and see how we can get past this, and move on.”
“I’m glad, Valerie.”
She paused. “Danny, thank you. I cannot say it enough. Without you…”
I smiled. “No need, Val,” I said. “S’okay. Like I said, I’m just a sucker for the girls.”
Valerie giggled.
“But this is not the end of it, y’know? I’m gonna bug you all the time and call you at all hours of the night, visit you in your dorm and force you to visit me at the station. And then you’ll be forced to retaliate in self defense, and have to come visit me yourself, and call me back and bug me all the time as well. Y’know?”
Valerie giggled again. “Oh, Danny…”
“It’s all good, Val. I’ll let you go so you can get back to your mom and dad. Just keep my number handy, in case you need help, or just want to talk or something.”
“Okay, Danny. I will.”
I hung up. I saw that Tracey was awake and was looking up at me, her head pillowed on my lap. I guess she heard, and figured out what had happened. She sat up, turned to me and gave me a hug. I hugged her back and I broke down.
“Val’s okay, now?” she asked gently.
I nodded my head against her shoulder. I was so happy for Valerie. At this moment — this one moment, everything was right in the world.
Tracey just hugged me and let me weep against her. I was so gross, I needed a tissue. But I didn’t care. I hugged Tracey so hard ‘coz I was trying to stop my heart from bursting in joy. At this moment, in this precise minute, everything was good in the world, everything was right.
Just then, Mrs. Piper came bustling in, carrying a big, wonderfully-smelling paper bag of what smelled like Chinese take-out. She saw us on the couch.
“Kids?” She said in a worried tone. She put down what she was carrying and went to us.
“Guys? What’s wrong? Tracey, why is Danny crying?”
“Oh, nothing, mom. No need to worry.”
Mrs. Piper didn’t pursue it and invited me to stay for a Chinese take-out dinner. I blew my nose and said that I had to get to the station, get my car, go home and change, and then go on to Mario’s for our usual Saturday night gig.
“What time are you due there?”
“Eight o’clock?” I said.
“Oh, dear. I don’t think you can make it.”
“I think you’re right, Mrs. Piper. Guess I’ll skip going home.”
Mrs. Piper nodded. “Tracey, maybe you can drive her down to the station so she can get her car and make her appointment?”
“No problem, mom. Danny? You set?”
“Sure. Just let me call Danielle first though.”
I opened my phone and dialed Danielle’s number.
“Danielle, hi. Yes, yes, I know. Stop yelling and listen. I’ll skip going home and changing, and meet you guys at Mario’s instead. Yes, I know how I’m dressed. Do you have a better idea? See? I didn’t think so. Can you bring the three guitars to Mario’s, though? Just in case? Okay, thanks. Love you. See you there.”
I hung up and turned to Tracey. “Okay, Tracey, I think I’m ready.” I then turned to Mrs. Piper. “Mrs. Piper, thanks awfully for the invite, but I have to go. If I can take a raincheck, I’d appreciate it.”
“I totally understand, Danny. Now skedaddle, you two.” She shooed both of us away, and we left for the station.
After we picked up my car, Tracey left her Toyota Cruiser there and decided to ride with me to Mario’s.
When we got there, I saw that we had just arrived just in time. They were just finishing setting up. I gave Tracey a hug as she went over to June and the others. Danielle stopped me, slipped a couple of plastic bangles on my wrists with a couple of silk scarves knotted into them.
“What?...”
“Just trust me, Danny. Now go!”
I shrugged and went up the stage. Betsy was there with her violin, as well. I looked around in the audience and I spotted her butler, Walter, again in a chauffer’s uniform, carrying what looked like a home videocam. I wondered why. Maybe Betsy’s folks wanted to see their girl in action.
I gave Betsy a hug-and-a-kiss, and conferred with the guys for a bit. I wanted to take advantage of the fact that Betsy was there, so I thought up a cool gimmick: I thought, why not do a mash-up? I told everyone my idea, and my song suggestion, and everyone thought it was cool. Betsy said she knew Paul McCartney’s song, so I guess we were set.
Dale stepped up front and Janet and I moved to the back. I kept shaking my wrists as the scarves were starting to get on my nerves, but when Dale started to sing, I switched to Dannie-the-singer and forgot about the scarves, the audience and everything else, and concentrated on making a good performance.
“You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs…” Dale sang, and I was back on stage. I was home.
Nineteen: Three Interviewers
***** (Danny) *****
The following Saturday night, I found myself in Dale’s van with the band, parked near KRPQ’s building, nervous as hell, and worried about the interview and the radio program.
We had talked with Mario earlier in the week, and explained why we couldn’t play in his restaurant Saturday. Mario shrugged and, surprisingly, canceled our gig without too much of a protest. In lieu of our performance, I heard he had rented a video projector and intended to show our TV-slash-radio program in the restaurant. So that was why he didn’t protest so much.
I looked into the rearview mirror of Dale’s van, still trying to get used to me with brown-brunette hair. Danielle had applied a temporary hair coloring thing to it this morning — the kind that can be easily shampooed off, so I’ve been walking around all day, trying to get used to a brunette Danny. I also sported some fake nails, lightly glued to my real nails. This gave me long, bright-pink nails to match my guitar’s color.
So the Nighthawk’s gonna be a brunette. And Dannie-the-singer’s gonna have extra-long red hair with large but soft curls. And Dan’s gonna be… well, just Dan.
With the brunette hair, Mom said I looked like a totally different person, especially if I kept up the attitude, and kept the hair in the chic straight-but-messy do I currently had it in. That was the objective, after all — to make me look totally different. But I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I just hadn’t combed it yet, and the attitude is just a natural thing, because I was pissed and irritated to death by all of these changes…
Mom and dad saw me earlier when I was trying out the extra-long red wig. Dad said that I looked like Farrah Fawcett when she was still in Charlie’s Angels. Well, I knew who Farrah Fawcett was — I saw the TV special on her battle with cancer, and her death. And I knew about her being one of the stars of the Charlie’s Angels TV show (with the hype that surrounded the fairly-recent movie remakes with Drew, Cameron and Lucy, how could one NOT know about Farrah and the Angels…), but I had to google her to understand what Dad meant. When I saw her pictures while she was part of that seventies show, and when I saw her pinup poster - well, if Dannie-the-singer can look half that good…
I shook myself out of my reverie and tried to focus on the here-and-now.
Janet, June and I hurriedly started changing clothes. After doing this a couple of times in front of the girls, I was less shy about it. But not by much...
Since we knew I’d be doing this tonight, Danielle got me to wear my thong gaff as well this morning. I wore the white one, and followed the instructions again. It wasn’t uncomfortable, per se, but it wasn’t something I would voluntarily wear. And it was a pain especially if I had to go pee. When I had managed to struggle it on, Danielle had me come out of the bathroom so that she could inspect me. I self-consciously turned around for her, dressed only in the white thong gaff and the sports bra, hyper aware of my butt cheeks being on display. She looked me over, running her hand over my hip, supposedly smoothening out some wrinkles at the gaff’s waistband. She said they would be obvious in girl clothes if I didn’t keep them unbunched and flat. I raised a disbelieving eyebrow at that, since I knew I’d only be wearing jeans. I mean, how critical could it have been? Ah, well. Ya do what’s ya gots ta do...
“Danny,” Danielle called from the front seat. “Be sure to take off your sports bra. You’ll be wearing a tube top, and we don’t want your bra straps to ruin the outfit.”
“What! You mean I have to go bra-less? You didn’t say anything about that!”
Everyone stopped at that, and I blushed crimson.
“Ummm, yes, Danny, but don’t worry. The tube top is pretty substantial, and besides, you’ll be wearing that shawl-cardigan thing over it.”
“I still think the little cutouts at the back of the cardigan are a little much.”
“Nahh, it’ll make you look sexy.”
Thank god for Dale’s big Ford. We weren’t cramped at all, and Janet and June easily changed into their outfits. But they were done quickly, and I was just starting. They were just looking at me, waiting for me to finish, and I blushed again.
I pulled off my trainers, socks and pants, and was it my imagination only or did the girls gasp? I called to Danielle and she handed the pants and shoes over from the front seat. I sat on the rear-facing seat and struggled to pull the tight jeans on. I had learned something new at the mall today — “distressed” jeans. Apparently that’s what they called these type of jeans — which were “pre-ripped,” I guess you’d say, and with little wisps of the denim’s cloth sticking out, including at the seams (I think they called those “whiskers”. Or are those the pre-faded streaks in the denim?). *Sigh*. Girl clothes…
After I put the pants on, I looked over the shoes, or “sandals” as Danielle called them. Didn’t look like any pair of sandals I ever saw. They just looked like a mess of straps with heels attached. And what a set of heels — Danielle said they were four-and-a-half inchers. But with tips from June and Janet, I managed to put them on and zip up the little zippers in the back.
“What size shoes do you wear, Danny?” June asked curiously.
“Danny’s a Size Five narrow,” Danielle answered for me.
“Gosh…” There she goes again.
“What?” I asked.
“Well, that’s even smaller than my shoe size…”
“Umm, Danny,” Danielle called in singsong, giggling. She was dangling the white halter and the black sleeveless cardigan from her finger.
I took them and looked at the girls. They were looking at me with big eyes. I took a deep breath and skinned my shirt over my head. I then struggled and pulled the sports bra off, and then I heard June sigh again… I hurriedly put on the white cutoff tube, adjusting my boobs in them so they felt comfortable, though the fact that my shoulders were bare and my bellybutton was on display was muy uncomfortable. So I hurriedly shrugged the cardigan on. I wondered why they called it a cardigan, but I quit trying to understand girls’ clothes.
As a final touch, Danielle handed me a pair of white plastic bangles with gold and silver silk scarves knotted in them.
“These again?” I asked.
“Just put them on,” said Danielle, “one on each wrist.”
I complied, and the scarves trailed down, hanging loosely. I suddenly got the gimmick — they’re sorta gonna be like the scarves I wore last week in the concert and at Mario’s.
“Those are gonna be your trademark,” Danielle dimpled.
I frowned in exasperation. Danielle’s starting to feel like a “real” manager.
“Look at this,” I said to Janet and June, turning around to show them my back. The “cardigan” had horizontal cuts on the back, and they allowed my back and the white tubetop underneath to peek out. “Can you believe this?”
“Gosh, Danny,” June said. “That’s so sexy.” Did I hear her right? She actually said “gosh” again?
“See, Danny?” Danielle said. “I was right.”
I just shrugged and adjusted my tubetop again, and shook my hands, irritated at the scarves that were getting in my way.
Danielle and June spent some more time working on my make-up as well as putting on my wig over my newly-colored hair. The wig was longer than it was before. I don’t know what Joanne had done with it to make the wig longer, and it now had lots of subtle curls that framed my face in a very sophisticated way, except there was a loose curl that hung just over my left eye. It irritated me, but not enough that I would want to take the wig off. At least it wasn’t blocking my vision.
However, the loose curl over my eye made me want to push it away, and I would unconsciously push it away with the back of my left hand. And, as the night progressed, I would do the unconscious gesture every couple of minutes and, with my scarves, the gesture was emphasized. And, eventually, along with the scarves, the gesture becomes another trademark of mine.
After June pronounced me ready, we exited Dale’s Ford Explorer. It took us less than twenty minutes in total to change - that gave us exactly ten minutes to spare.
“That was quick,” Dale said sarcastically, and June playfully hit him on the head. Danielle handed me an itty-bitty patent-leather shoulder bag, presumably with my stuff transferred into it, and I put the strap over my shoulder. It was one of those that just had enough space to fit my wallet, keys and a few odds and ends, but I had learned that such bags were more for show than for utility. Just like girls’ pants pockets.
Dale locked the van, and we shouldered our instruments and hurried down the sidewalk towards KRPQ’s building, with Danielle and me leading the way. Mongo, ever the gentleman, carried June’s little eighties-style portable keyboard with shoulder strap for her, as well as helping Dale carry the little steamer-style trunk that contained wires and other essentials between them. June grabbed the acoustic from me as she wasn’t carrying anything anymore. Though I found walking on the skyscraper heels a little difficult, I was navigating well enough with them, and was able to keep pace with everyone.
As we neared the building, I unconsciously pushed my hair away from my eyes with the back of my left hand and tapped Danielle on the shoulder. “Where will the guys be, again?” I asked.
“They’ll be at Nikki’s, Danny. And then we’re supposed to have late dinner at Mario’s.”
“Oh, right. Guess I’m gonna have to change from the Nighhawk back to Dannie then, huh?”
Danielle suddenly stopped in her tracks, causing a six-person pileup.
“Hey!” I complained.
“Danny,” Danielle said. “I completely forgot! We forgot to put an outfit together for the Nighthawk!”
“But we did color my hair and everything.”
“Yes, Danny, but we completely forgot about the outfit! Damnit!”
I looked at her with growing panic. “Oh, no!” I nervously push my hair away from my eye with my hand.
We looked at each other for a while, and then Danielle gave me a hug, (but was careful not to smudge my make-up). “Don’t worry, Danny,” Danielle said. “Big sister will think of something. Now, gimme your credit card.”
Though I knew full well that my card’s gonna get hit with another whopper of a bill, I still handed it over.
“Now you go on, I’ll meet you guys at KRPQ.” She jogged back the way we came.
When we got to the building, we saw the KRPX OB van parked at the curb. The retractable antenna on top was fully extended this time. “Pretty exciting, huh?” June said.
We walked to the reception desk and the guard looked us up and down. The dirty old man… At least he didn’t recognize me. Thank god for that.
Janet told him who we were and he made a fuss about looking us up in his log.
Tracey came out from nowhere.
“No need, Mac,” Tracey said to the guard. “These guys are expected. They’ve been scheduled for an interview.”
The guard nodded. “Yes, Ms Piper.” He nodded to Janet. “Go on up, then, miss.” He gave us another once-over. The old coot…
“Wow, you guys look great!” Trace said. “Danny, you look… incredible!”
I blushed. “It’s all Danielle’s idea, actually.” Like a nervous gesture, I unconsciously push my hair away from my forehead with the back of my left hand.
“Pretty cool!”
We all rode the elevator, and it was a tight squeeze with the entire band there — Dale, Mongo, June, Janet. And me, of course. Not to mention Tracey.
“Pretty tight squeeze,” Dale commented.
“Sorry about that,” Tracey said. “The building has pretty small elevators.”
“No need to apologize. Six people, a keyboard, four guitars and a steamer trunk DOES take up a lot of space, but there’s room.”
Dale and Mongo were in classic rocker garb — boots and black jeans, Dale had on a leather jacket and Mongo was wearing an old, green army jacket.
June wore a chic loose black-and-white tiger-print tee over shiny gun-metal leggings (I saw the package the leggings came in when she was changing, and it said “liquid leggings,” and it’s true — it was like it was poured over her. It was all I could do not to stare.) and a pair of crocheted Uggs, while Janet wore a black tie-waist lace tank with low-rise stressed skinny jeans and slouchy D-ring boots in black suede. With Janet’s sexy figure and height, and June’s sexy pants and enormous… assets, the two girls looked incredible.
Good thing I was as dressed up to the nines as they were, in the aforementioned Danielle-inspired ensemble — the black sleeveless laser-cut shawl/cardigan (with horizontal cuts in the back) over the white strapless crop tube top, plus the pair of faded-blue vintage whiskered distressed skinny jeans (sounds like a stray cat or something), and the strappy gun-metal gray sandals with the four-and-one-fourth heels. Danielle said I would look fantastic but I didn’t think so (I especially felt the cutouts on the back of the cardigan a little too over-the-top, despite what everyone said). I also wore the long red wig from the Halloween thing oh-so-many months ago, plus very vivid (but restrained) make-up courtesy of June. Danielle said, with the super-long wig and make-up, plus the skyscraper heels to give me lots of extra height (I was almost as tall as Janet’s five-eight height now), I would look sufficiently different from my normal image and easily fool the audience. I fervently hoped so.
I hefted my candy-pink Rockrgrrl electric guitar, again unconsciously pushing my hair away with the back of my left hand, scarves trailing my hand, while June held my Rockrgrrl acoustic. Janet and Dale had brought their usual while Mongo struggled with June’s keyboard.
“Will we be playing our instruments, Tracey?” I asked.
“If they are,” Mongo said, “I’m gonna need my drums.”
“No need,” Tracey said. “It’s just for a lot of dumb show, for posing for pictures and such. Don’t worry.”
“Shouldn’t have brought these, then,” Mongo said, gesturing at the trunk.
“Are we late?” I asked.
“Ten minutes ahead of schedule, actually.” Tracey looked at her celphone and read a text message. “Mom just texted that the TV station guys are setting up for the beginning of the pre-show. Rockrgrrl sent over a big placard, and last I heard is they’re waiting for a commercial break so they can mount it on the studio’s back wall. Mom said she’s waiting to introduce you to someone named Taylor, from Rockergrrl. But he says he already met you guys.”
“Yeah, we met him at the concert. He was the event organizer, and he gave us our prizes.” I raised the guitar.
“That’s good. Where’s Danielle, by the way?”
I thought up a plausible lie. “She said she’ll be coming up a littler later — but she stressed that she’s not gonna be getting in front of the camera. To avoid any… problems later. Being recognized, I mean.”
Tracey nodded, understanding the situation.
The elevator opened, and we saw Mr. Taylor sitting around in the lounge, waiting for us apparently.
When Tracey swiped her ID at the detector and the door slid open, Mr. Taylor stood up, walked over and shook Tracey’s hand.
“Ms Piper? Hello. My name’s Johnny Taylor, from Rockrgrrl? Your mother said I could wait for you here.”
“Good evening, Mr. Taylor,” Tracey said.
The man’s focus shifted to us fairly quickly.
“Hello, again, guys! Good to see you again!”
Janet was the first to move forward to shake his hand. “Hi, Mr. Taylor.”
He did the round of handshakes and went directly to describing how the interview would be conducted.
“The TV station sent a one-camera crew - no sound equipment or sound technicians. It’s my understanding that KRPQ will be sending the audio feed via a T1 line to the TV station. And it’s gonna be live.”
June looked alarmed, and Taylor noticed that right away. “Don’t worry, dear. Just be natural. Besides, you all look terrific.” He looked us up and down, and gave us a thumbs-up, although I thought his look lingered a little too long on June’s breasts and my outfit.
We went in and saw a cameraman and a technician shooting through the glass of the booth. “Must be using a polarizer lens or something,” I said to the guys. “That’s why he can shoot through the glass.” I looked at the producer’s booth and no one was in there.
“Well, someone knows her stuff!” The cameraman said in a loud voice, and turned to us.
“No need to whisper,” he said. “We aren’t recording the sound. We’re leaving that to them.” He pointed a thumb towards the broadcast booth, and we saw a guy and two girls talking.
We heard their muted on-air chatter in the speakers overhead — just a lot of blah-blah about the latest chart-toppers, the sponsor and the station (of course), but the announcers had a very casual and engaging manner. Very similar to my own style, in fact (I flattered myself heheh). At the moment, they were talking to a listener. I looked through the window, and instead of the expected two announcers, there were three in there. I tried to recall their names. There was the guy, Harry Seavers, and his cute partner, Sally Marshall. But there was a blonde there, too, also talking a mile a minute. And although slightly older-looking, she was so much cuter than Sally. I looked at Tracey and hooked a thumb towards the blonde.
“That’s Talia Stevens, the early-morning DJ.”
I nodded at that.
“So, Dannie,” Mr. Taylor said. “Are you and your band all set for your interview?”
“Actually, Mr. Taylor,” I said, “our band leader’s Janet.”
“Oh, sorry,” he said pleasantly. “My mistake. Are you guys ready for your interview?”
“Oooh, sure!” June nodded. “I’m both scared and excited!”
“Got what you intend to say planned already, dear?”
“Gee…”
I tuned them out and walked up to the booth’s window. The three announcers noticed me, and I grinned at them and gave a nod. Those girls are real cute! I unconsciously pushed my hair from my forehead again with the back of my hand, scarves trailing and pink nails flashing (It barely registered with me that I was doing it anymore).
They gave me a grin and waved, and Harry gave me a thumbs-up. I waved back, the scarves trailing my waving hand.
“Well, thank you kindly, dear caller,” Harry was saying. They had just switched off the caller. “But it looks like our show’s just about done here, girls,” Harry said. The other two made some agreeing noises. “But don’t tune us out just yet. Coming up is our thirty-minute pre-show to our three-hour Rockrrgrl Evolution Concert special, and it’s gonna be simulcast live on TV via KRPX. The one-n-only Nighthawk will be hosting the main show, and we’re gonna be subbing for him in the pre-show.”
Talia took over. “So stay tuned to KRPQ, the home of yesterday’s, today’s and tomorrow’s hits! Seeya after a few commercials!” I cringed a bit at that. I wondered who thought up that cheesy line.
Talia hit a button and a peppy little jingle started playing. I didn’t even know we had a jingle.
As soon as the jingle started playing, some of Mr. Taylor’s people went in with the placard and mounted it on the booth’s rear wall with suction cups. The placard had a picture of three cute girls playing rockrgrrl guitars, and over them was the company’s stylized logo. The guitars had the same color scheme as the guitars that we got, and all I could think of was it was another marketing gimmick.
At the far corner of the roughly square room, away from the front window, they erected a white projection screen facing diagonally into the room, as well as a little projector on a small card table. They moved the cables of the projector as out of the way as possible. Someone turned something on and a spinning projection of KRPX’s logo appeared on the screen.
Not to be outdone, Tracey came in with a couple of people and started to put two standees with our station’s revamped logo in very conspicuous positions. The three DJs took off their headsets, came out and shook our hands. We had a bit of chit-chat, introducing ourselves as well as exchanging a few pleasantries. The two girls were real cute, even up close.
“So you’re the famous Dannie Fairchild,” Talia said.
“Well, I don’t know about famous.” I cleared my throat, trying to get familiar with the new voice I concocted for my Dannie persona. I shook their hands, the scarves flowing and trailing my movements.
“Believe it, honey,” Sally said.
“Yeah,” Harry agreed, “but let’s save this all for the show, okay? I think the cameraman’s signaling us.”
We all went to the cameraman. Who was also the director, apparently.
“Okay, kids, this is the way it’s gonna work — I’m gonna be shooting from outside the booth so that you can have as much space as possible. Now, guys,” he gestured at the three DJs, “as we agreed before, I want one of you,” he gestured at Harry, “to be at the controls at the other booth to manage the callers and commercials, but you can also talk with the band.” He pointed at Sally and Talia. “You two stay behind the console, and you guys,” he took me and Janet by the hand and pulled us into the booth, “will be sitting down in the booth with them.”
“Be sure to bring your guitars with you!” Mr. Taylor called.
We picked up the keyboard and guitars, and walked back into the booth. The cameraman arranged five swivel chairs in a semi-diagonal line facing both the window and the control panel, and then sat us on the chairs, with me nearest the window, followed by June, Janet, and then Dale, and then Mongo. It was like he arranged us according to height.
He went out of the booth, looked though his camera’s viewfinder and went back in. He moved the chairs closer together, went back out and looked through the camera again. He was obviously trying to get us all in the shot, and he seemed satisfied this time. He knocked on the glass and gave us a high sign. He then put on a headset — one of those with a mic on a little flexible boom, and gestured for us to wear our own headsets. Talia handed us a set of wireless headsets each. She, Sally and Harry were all wearing their wired ones though.
I put on mine and felt it weighing down on the wig. I idly noticed that Sally was wearing the pair I always wore when I was working the booth, and thought it kinda made her look cute.
“Testing, testing,” the cameraman said. “Can everyone hear me? Now, Harry, is it? Can you move a little to your left please, so I can get all of you in the shot? Great. Now, we’re gonna turn the lights here outside off. Can someone bring up the lights in there? That’s so there won’t be any reflections on the glass to interfere with the camera.” Talia fiddled with something on the wall, and the lights inside became brighter.
He pointed at June. “You girl, second from the left. Please move a bit forward. Thanks. And everyone, please put your instruments on the floor. We’ll get to them later.”
After everyone complied, he gave us another thumbs-up. One of Mr. Taylor’s people rushed in and connected an amp cable to my candy-pink, and rushed back out.
“Now, let’s do a sound check. Everyone?” Everyone piped up and said a few inane remarks. I sang the refrain from “There She Goes,” and everyone clapped.
“That was great,” the cameraman laughed. “Okay, we’re all set. All celphones and other electronic devices off, please.” We all switched our stuff off.
He then made a call on his celphone, looked at his watch after finishing the call, and switched it off. “Okay, I just called the TV station. They said that they’re ready for our feed. I’ll give you guys a five-count, and on the one-count, we’ll be live. Everyone up for that?” Everyone agreed. “Harry?”
“Yo!”
“Harry, run a jingle when you want to break, and the techs will synch it with the commercials. The breaks’ll be three to five minutes long. I’ll then give you a five-count before we need to switch back, and you play another jingle to segue us back in. Clear?”
“Super clear, chief. No worries.”
“Okay then. The OB van signaled. We’re gonna be going live now. And heeere we go! And — five, four, three, two…” and then the red light on his camera switched on, and he started to pan slowly from left to right.
Harry played the thirty-seconder jingle, and Talia, cool as a cucumber, smoothly segued in. The camera stopped moving and focused on her.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, It’s nine-thirty in the big city, and you are tuned in to KRPQ, the home of yesterday’s, today’s and tomorrow’s hits! We have a very special evening lined up for you, folks — tonight, we’re gonna be featuring the Rockergrrl Evolution Concert. Tonight’s also another first, since, as our home viewers can see, we are also being simulcast on TV as well. My name is Talia Stevens, the host of the Early Morning Power Drive show here in KRPQ, and with me is Sally Marshall.”
The camera moved a little bit to focus on Sally.
“Thank you, Talia,” Sally said. “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I’m Sally Marshall, one of KRPQ’s news and events correspondents, and I’m so glad to be here right now. As Talia said, we are indeed live over both KRPQ and TV station KRPX. Hi, there, guys!” She waved jauntily. “Aside from the concert, we’ll also be having a live in-studio interview the concert winners, the band called Unlimited Bandwith! Isn’t that right, Harry?”
The camera swung over to the left towards the producer’s booth. In doing so, the camera moved over us, and we momentarily had an opportunity to wave at the audience.
The camera eventually settled on Harry, and Harry gave a big smile.
“That’s absolutely right, Sally. Hey, there folks. Harry Seavers here, for KRPQ news and events. We are going to have lots of fun and interesting stuff to give you tonight. Later tonight, we’re gonna be featuring interviews with Kats and Kitties and The Sound Bandits, the runner-up bands in the concert, as well as some special features on Rockrgrrl, the company and the wonderful guitars they make. We are also gonna have a contest within the show. Up for grabs are three, count ‘em, three! Rockrgrrl guitars! Rocker Girrrll!” Harry laughed. “I’ll also be here taking your calls if you’d like to talk to our guests or join our contest. But right now, let’s welcome to the KRPQ studios, the winners of the Evoluton Concert - Unlimited Bandwidth!”
Talia and Sally played along, and gave us a big round of applause while the camera zoomed out to get us all in the shot.
Talia took over. “For everyone else who don’t know, Rockrgrrrl guitars put together a concert event over at the Jubilee Center called the Evolution Concert a couple of weeks ago, sort of a battle of the Bands kind of thing, pitting ten local girl bands against each other. The sponsor, RockrGrrrl Guitars, are makers of guitars exclusively for girls and women. I guess you’d probably consider them as the new Daisy Rock Guitars, right, Sally?”
“I guess you could say that, Talia,” Sally said. “Some of you might know that Daisy Rock guitars are being used by such artists as Avril Lavigne, Michelle Branch, Miley Cyrus and Lisa Loeb. As well as some of the older eighties icon rockers like Heart.”
“That’s right, Sally,” Talia continued. “Like the Daisy,” Talia gestured to me, “mind if we use you a little bit, Danny?”
Well, might as well, I thought. I got up, bent down to pick up my candy pink. I put the strap over my shoulder and struck a pose with the guitar, which made my bandmates laugh.
“As you see, Dannie here is modeling one of Rockrgrrl’s top of the line guitars.” I mimed some fashion-model poses, which got June giggling.
“RockrGrrl guitars are light-weight guitars made specially with necks that are narrower than normal, with some models having a shorter scale length and reduced spacing between the frets, which make the guitars easier to play for girls with their smaller hands and bodies.”
I continued the over-the-top poses, gesturing to the parts of the guitar that Talia was talking about.
“Care to demo your Rockrgrrrl, Dannie?” Talia asked and I obliged by playing a couple of bars from the iconic song of The Rolling Stones’ “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.”
I did stop before I got carried away, but apparently Dale was singing along with my playing, and when I stopped, we heard him sing “I can’t get noooo….” His voice faded away in embarrassment when he realized that I had stopped and everyone was listening to him.
“Ummm..” he said, embarrassedly, and everyone laughed. I put the guitar down and sat down at my seat again..
Talia laughed. “That was a sample folks of what we have in store for you later. And since we’ve heard a bit from them, let’s introduce everyone — the members of Unlimited Bandwidth! From right to left, we have the band’s drummer, Julius Kaufman, but everyone calls him Mongo.”
Mongo nodded in his usual, deliberate way. “Hi,” he said.
Talia took a moment to respond to that. “Ummm, and next to him is Dale Rapaport, the band’s base player.”
“Thank you Talia,” he smiled, and nodded pleasantly at the camera. “Yep, I play base, and sing backup. Plus I play a mean game of checkers.” Everyone laughed.
“Next to him, on keyboards, is June Bright.” June didn’t talk and just giggled.
“Heheh. And then we have Janet O’hara, the band’s lead singer, and lead guitar player.”
“Hey, Talia,” Janet said. “Thank you for having us, and thanks to Rockrgrrl for giving us this opportunity. It’s a dream come true for us.” She waved at the camera. “Hi, everyone! Thanks for tuning in.”
“You’re absolutely welcome, Janet. And next to her, is the band’s other vocalist and guitarist, Dannie Fairchild.”
I cleared my throat and tried the new voice I made up yesterday. “Good evening, Talia,” I said. “Hi, everyone!” I waved at the camera, scarves trailing. I still had problems with the voice, though, so I tried not to speak any more than I had to. Yesterday, Mikey said Dannie the singer sounded a lot like Kari Wahlgren. I didn’t know who she was, and Mikey wasn’t telling, so I googled her and found out she’s a prolific voice actress and did a lot of voices for cartoons and anime. Knowing Mikey, he probably had anime in mind, so I did a quick search. Among the many anime titles I brought up, the only shows I could recognize that had Kari Wahlgren was a voice talent, were Cardcaptor Sakura and Chobits. I haven’t seen them, but I promised myself I’ll try and watch a couple of episodes soon.
“Cool threads, I have to say, guys,” Talia said. Dale, Mongo and I mumbled our thanks, but Janet and June giggled and preened. “Your usual gig outfits, I take it?”
“Heck, no!” Dale exclaimed, and everyone laughed. “The girls went out and bought new outfits just for tonight! In fact, Dannie bought hers just this morning!”
“Dale!” Janet said, and punched him on the shoulder. “That’s not true!”
“Owww! What’d I say?” Everyone laughed.
“So,” Sally started as the laughter died down, “let’s get the standard stuff out of the way. How did you guys meet?”
Everyone looked to Janet.
“Well, the band had been together for a while now. We met in school, and have been playing together on and off for over a year.”
“So, you’re all seniors?”
“Actually,” Dale said, “we graduated over a year ago, but we all decided to take a couple of years off before moving on to college and other stuff. Try to see if we can make it as a band.”
“So far, it’s been going okay,” Janet said. “We have a regular gig over a couple of places, at Mario’s downtown and…”
“Woah, there, girl,” Talia said. “No free plugs — against station policy, you know.”
June giggled.
“Ooops!” Janet smiled. “Well, I guess what I wanted to say was that we were just trying to stay in the game, play our gigs, and wait for that big break.”
“And we’re hoping this is it,” Dale said, and grinned.
“Well,” Talia said, “all we can say is Good luck, and I do hope you make it.” She then turned to me.
“So, Dannie,” Talia said, “how does it feel to be in the band?”
“Well, actually,” I said, still trying to fine-tune my new Dannie-voice, “I’m still a bit not used to all of this. I’m a late addition to the band. I actually only joined a few months ago.”
“Wanna tell us how that happened?”
“Well,” I said nervously, unconsciously pushing my hair from my forehead again with the back of my hand, scarves trailing, “I picked up a little flyer pinned to the school bulletin board, advertising for a vocalist and guitar player for a local band. I auditioned and, well, here I am.”
June giggled again.
“There must be more to it than that. I’m sure there must be an interesting story in there somewhere?” Sally said, looking at June.
“For sure!” June giggled. “We were there in the… place where we play, and we were auditioning for singers the whole day. We were down to the last one, and in walks this little kid! Wearing jeans and a big smile. We liked her on sight, well, I did anyway, but we just didn’t believe this kid could really sing.”
“True enough,” Janet said. “And I was being a shit to the kid, making it difficult for her. But as soon as she started playing and singing…”
“We knew we found our fifth bandmate!” Dale said.
“Yeah,” Mongo mumbled.
“Mmmhm,” Talia said.
“She started singing ‘Can’t Get Enough,’” Dale continued, “and she had the whole place jumping in a sec! And it was just a friggin’ audition!”
“’Can’t Get Enough’ by The New Radicals?” Sally asked. “That’s one of my favorites!”
“Mine, too,” Janet said. “And the rest, as they say, is history.”
Talia turned to me. “And you feel that you’re now a real member of the band?”
“Oh, sure!”
Sally turned to the giggle-box, June. “June, what do you really think of your bandmate?”
“Oh, wow,” she said. “I think Dannie’s the coolest and she sings real good. We all think she’s one of the band’s best attractions. And she’s also become one of my bestest friends!” She leaned over and gave me a little peck.
The DJs and the rest went, “awww…”
The camerman signaled.
“Ok, kiddies,” Talia, said, seeing the signal, “we’ll get right back to the Evolution Concert winners, Unlimited Bandwidth, after a few more messages from Rockrgrrl.”
Harry pushed a button and a different version of the station’s jingle started to play.
“Aaaaand, we’re out!” the cameraman said, making a cutting gesture across the neck. “All right, kids, everything’s going super. Good work. Now, try and relax. You got five minutes!”
“You’re doing great, guys,” Talia said.
“Yeah!” Sally echoed. “Smooth sailing so far.”
Mr. Taylor burst in, followed by Tracey. Tracey went directly to Talia and Sally, and conferred about something.
“I’m loving it!” Mr. Taylor said to us. “Just loving it. How about you, girls? Where are your guitars?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Taylor,” June said. “I play the keyboards.”
“That’s too bad… How about you, honey?” he asked, referring to Janet.
“I prefer my own, Mr. Taylor,” Janet said. Mr. Taylor frowned.
“Ummm… the colors of the guitars we got? Well, they just weren’t me…”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Mr. Taylor said. He pointed to the guitar in front of her. “This is your guitar?”
“Ummm, yes?”
Mr. Taylor looked at it for a second and then whipped out his phone. “Billy, this is Mr. Taylor. Can you please check if we brought a rock-candy classic, the large cutaway model? I’ll hold.”
He tapped his foot for a bit as he waited for an answer. “Billy? Great! That’s good news. Please string one up and bring it in with a hardcase and cables. Yes, the works. Yes, bring it in here to the booth. Thanks!”
He snapped his phone closed and turned back to Janet. “Well, I’m having our technician bring in a candy classic, similar Dannie’s Candy-Pink, but in classic wood panel colors. Ahh! Here it is! Thank you Billy.”
Mr. Taylor got the big black guitar hardcase from this little guy and opened it with a flourish. “Tada!” he said, as he brought out a gorgeous electric, larger than mine, with the look of a strat, but covered in a lacquered-wood-grain finish. Everyone went “oooh!”
“Wanna try it out?” he said, and winked at Janet.
“Sure,” Janet said, trying to be offhand about it, but eagerly reached for the guitar.
Mr. Taylor then turned to Dale and Mongo. “How about you, boys? I don’t suppose you’d care to…”
Mongo shook his head but Dale was looking at Janet’s shiny new axe with a bit of envy.
Mr. Taylor beat him to the punch. “Don’t worry, son. I’ll get you one, and you can tell me later how you feel about it.”
Dale grinned.
Mr .Taylor then turned to me. “Well, Dannie,” he said. “You did one heck of a job. And thank you for showcasing our product so well!”
I shrugged. “I was just foolin,’” I said self-deprecatingly.
“You’re being too modest, dear.”
“Umm, Mr. Taylor,” Talia said, “I think we’re about to start.”
“Ooops! Let me get out of your hair, then. Great work, guys!” He left the booth and stood behind the cameraman.
When the cameraman made a sign, Harry played the same jingle as before. After the short 5-seconder, Talia said, “Aaaaaand we’re back!”
She picked up the little piece of paper Tracey had handed her during the break.
“Before we continue on with the program, we’ve got a little surprise for you,” Talia said. “Throughout our interview, there’s one other person we didn’t get to talk about. Someone that’s also important to the band. Anyway, this close friend of the band consented to giving us a copy of a video that she had of the band, singing in their last gig at Mario’s last week. And it features her — the band’s newest bandmate!”
We looked at each other, and it dawned on us. Betsy!
Sally saw from our faces that we realized who they were talking about.
“That’s right, guys! Here’s Unlimited Bandwidth, featuring their newest member, violinist extraordinaire Betsy Haley, in their mash-up of “I Love You” by Paul McCartney and the Wings, and “Come Rain, Come Shine” by Thailand sensation Tata Young. Ladies and gentlemen, Unlimited Bandwidth!”
As it happened, I though that particular number was one of our best ones with Betsy. We turned and faced the projection screen, and saw ourselves.
On the screen, a picture of the stage at Mario’ sprang up, with Mongo, June and Dale in their grunge best, and me in the crewneck shirt and jeans that I wore to the office last time, but with the last-minute addition of the trailing silk scarves on my wrists. Our video doubles started playing — Mongo on drums, June on keyboards and Dale on bass. As usual. The song was simple to play, as it was just C, E minor 7, and F major 7 over and over and over. Dale started to sing. It was different hearing us play this way. Dale sang real well. I was surprised.
You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs…I look around me and I see it isn't so. Some people wanna fill the world with silly love songs… And what's wrong with that? I'd like to know, 'coz here I go again!
June played a riff of synthesized saxophones and Dale sang the refrain.
I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you…
And as Dale sang Paul McCartney’s simple refrain, Betsy came out with her violin. We all clapped in the booth as we saw her come out on stage, her eyes almost closed in concentration, her bow caressing her violin strings in short, crisp strokes as she accompanied Dale.
After Dale sang the refrain, Janet and I came in with our guitars. In the booth, the DJs and the others clapped as well. Dale remained silent and my video-double sang Tata Young’s lyrics to the same musical accompaniment, scarves and bangles jiggling..
Unsuspecting, the way you cross my mind. Who could've known you'd be so real. But unrelenting - the grip that lives around you. Give me a sign so I can rescue you, and save the day, yeah!
In place of Paul’s refrain, I sang Tata’s refrain. Bring in the rain, bring in the shine. Let it go, stop wasting time. I'm calling out to you! And don't chase the sun, don't race the sky. Let it go, stop wasting time! And I'm calling out to you. I'm calling out to you...
(In the background, Dale, Janet and June sang Paul’s refrain in place of the second voice: I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you…)
I continued on with Tata’s lyrics.
Fascinating, how moments feel sublime. Seems like I'm glowing when you're near. But unavailing, when you pay no mind or you're twisting every other line. Baby, say the words, I'll rescue you and make you mine!
Dale took over and sang Paul’s refrain, with all of us singing harmony.
I love you! I love you!
In the booth, we were all singing along, even Sally, Talia and Harry. On the screen, Dale’s video double continued on, singing Paul’s iconic chorus.
Love doesn't come in a minute! Sometimes it doesn't come at all… I only know that when I'm in it - It isn't silly… love isn't silly… love isn't silly at all!
All throughout, Betsy was grinning like a fool and playing her heart out. And, on Dale’s heels, my dopelganger sang Tata’s refrain.
Bring in the rain, bring in the shine. Let it go, stop wasting time. I'm calling out to you! And don't chase the sun, don't race the sky. Let it go, stop wasting time! And I'm calling out to you. I'm calling out to you...
On the screen, Dale and June sang the second voice, but video-Janet went to the edge of the stage and got the audience to sing with us: I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you…
And then we stopped for a split second.
After that split second, my on-screen double sang into the silence: Come rain come shine, (the rest sang a follow-on line: come rain come shine…) stop wasting time (stop wasting time…). Come rain come shine, (come rain come shine…)… You will be mine!
I then went back to the usual refrain, with everyone singing the “I love you” second-voice:
in the rain, bring in the shine (I love you…). Let it go, stop wasting time (I love you…). I'm calling out to you! And don't chase the sun, don't race the sky (I love you…). Let it go, stop wasting time (I love you!)! And I'm calling out to you (I love you…). I'm calling out to you... (I love you…)
We repeated the refrain maybe three times more, and then we stopped dead. And in the silence, I sang the last line: I'm calling out to you...
On the screen, as well as in the booth, everyone exploded into cheers and applause. Hey, we weren’t proud — we cheered ourselves, too!
“And here she is!” Harry said, from the other booth. “Unlimited Bandwidth’s one-woman string section, Ms. Betsy Haley!” Betsy, blushing like crazy as always, walked into the booth. We stood up and gave her hugs. When I went and hugged her, I felt her shaking in nervousness. I held on to her until she calmed down. Betsy snuggled against me, burying her nose in the hollow of my neck. It was like she was breathing me in, and it was calming her down.
“You okay, Bets?” I whispered to her. She nodded against my neck. First time I was taller than her… “That’s good. Now let’s sit down.”
We looked around for a spare chair but found none. “Ummm, Danny,” Betsy muttered to me, “Where?”
“I guess we share my chair.”
Luckily, the chair was large, and we were small enough that it could accommodate the two of us. And I guess Betsy didn’t mind squeezing in with me. Janet gave us one of those faintly irritated, hostile looks that I’ve been noticing from her since last week. I think I need to have a talk with her or something, soon.
Betsy draped her arm around my shoulders, and took a deep, calming breath. “Hi!” she said to the camera. She waved to Janet, Dale and Mongo and gave June a little hello kiss on the cheek.
“I can see you’re all friends, then?” Talia said. We all nodded.
“Well, Betsy,” Talia continued. “I guess I have to ask the question that’s on everyone’s mind right now — why weren’t you with the band during the concert?”
“Well, ummm, I had this family thing upstate, and I couldn’t join them. I was all broken up about it, but everything went okay.”
“Yup, everything did indeed go okay,” Talia smiled. “So, how did you end up as part of the band?”
“Actually, I’m just an unofficial member of the band. I sometimes get to play with them ‘cause I’m friends with Dannie, and she knew I played violin. She convinced me, as well as the band, to play together once, and I think we all clicked. From then on, when Dannie and the band need a violinist, well, I’m there.”
“Where did you learn to play the violin?”
“Where else? Ummm, I took classes?…” Everyone laughed.
“Where else, indeed? Ladies and gentlemen, Ms Betsy Hayley.” All of us gave her a round of applause. The cameraman gave us another signal, and Sally took over.
“Now, another set of reminders from our wonderful sponsors, and then we’ll be back to take some calls from our listeners and viewers. Take this down, folks — the digits are! Five-five-five, twenty-eight seventy-eight! Back in a flash!” And then Harry played another jingle.
“Okay, folks,” our cameraman-director said, “you can take a breather.”
“Ummm, guys?” Harry said, “the board just started blinking at me. How do we handle all of these callers?”
“Harry,” Sally said, “you just pick a button, and then patch ‘em through to the booth.”
Harry gave her a dirty look. “I know that,” he said. “I mean, what, do I just let everyone through?”
“Well,” Talia said, “just do what you always do.”
“Talia, we usually have, like, one or two callers and this time we’ve got, let’s see… at least twenty on the board! Do I go first caller first? What? I’m not a program producer!”
I nervously pushed my hair away from my eyes again, and thought.
“Well,” I said, “why don’t you go first caller first, ask ‘em if they have anything specific that they want to ask, and you decide if they’re okay to let through. If they’re okay, ask them to wait, and put ‘em on hold, patching them through on a first-caller basis. And if you don’t think it’s an okay caller, tell ‘em that there are too many people on the line, and ask ‘em to call again.”
“Hey, that’s good!” Harry said. “Have you done this before?”
“Me? No!... Ummm, I mean, it seems the only thing you can do if you have too many callers to handle.” I nervously pushed my hair away again.
“‘Kay, I’ll do that. Thanks! Talia? Sally? You girls give me a cue when I can patch a caller through.”
“Okay, Harry,” Talia said.
We’re goin’ back on the air folks,” our cameraman said. “Get ready! And Five, four, three, two…” and his camera light blinked on.
There was no jingle this time — Harry seemed a little too pre-occupied with the callers, Hurriedly, Sally pushed a button and our jingle started playing.
“We’re back folks, and it’s time to take some callers. Harry? Do we have a caller on the line?”
“You bet we do, Sally,” Harry said. “We have someone on the line who wanted to ask about the synthesized voice you used in one of your songs.”
“Hi? My name is Abbey, and I just wanted to know how you guys did that voice thing, where you made it sound like a robot? I think it was in your first song at the concert.”
“Hi, Abbey,” Talia said. “I guess we have to wait for the concert to hear the songs, though. Were you at the concert?”
“Yes, I was. I was very interested in the tech aspect of the thing. So I wanted to ask.”
“Someone from the band want to tackle that?”
“Ummm, hi, Abbey, it’s June. I think you’re talking about the first song we sang? The one from Meja, I believe, a song called Luxury. Anyway, it wasn’t that big a deal, it was just a preset on my Casio synthesizer.”
“Darn,” she said. “And I thought you used some kind of fancy trick, like you used some kind of pre-amp or maybe used some sound program to alter the voice.”
“Well, we do use some computer programs too,” I said. “Like Soundforge, to clean up our recordings, but mostly, what you hear is true-blue Unlimited Bandwidth.”
“Oh, cool! But, Soundforge? How do you deal with the limitation in the number of tracks, and…”
“Beep! Beep!” Dale joked. “Geek alert!”
Everyone laughed good-naturedly. “Heheh, sorry about that, Abbey,” Talia said. “Pipe down, you! So, Abbey, you were at the concert. Can you tell us how it was, the atmosphere and so forth.”
“Gosh, what’s to tell? I was simply incredible! I mean, it was the first time I saw a concert with just girl bands. I never knew there were so many, and all of them so good!”
“Girl power, huh?”
“Right on, sistah!” she said. Everyone laughed.
“Anything else you’d like ask the guys?”
“Ummm, I guess that’s it, except that I totally love the band, and Dannie, especially. Hope to see the band in more concerts.”
“Thanks, Abbey,” I called out, and the rest of the guys echoed me.
Abbey giggled. “Thanks, Dannie! Thanks, guys!”
“Well, then, Harry,” Talia said. “Who’s next?”
“Talia, we’ve got someone named Kris, from…”
And that’s the way it went for the rest of the show. Most of the questions were about personal things, like where we hung out, what were our favorite bands, who does our hair. Et cetera. Someone even mentioned my new hairdo, and said it was “fab.” It got a little sticky, though when they started to ask where we went to school. It was a good thing that Janet took those questions, making such questions easy enough to sidestep — Janet said that they had already graduated, and that implied that I had, too. Only Betsy was the one who got pinned, and the caller was able to extract the name of our school. I didn’t realize at the time the repercussions of that one little thing to Betsy. And to me, as well.
Twenty: A Big Dilemma
***** (Danny) *****
The DJs wound up the show in their own inimitable way, deciding to play one of our songs from the concert, the one with Janet singing the lead - Patti Smyth’s “Look What Love Has Done for Me.”
And as the video played on TV, credits played over it (we found this out later from Mel and the others).
After the pre-progam, we posed for shots with the DJs, Tracey, Mr. Taylor and his staff (with us holding our guitars, of course). Good thing the TV station was playing some other stuff in between which gave me nearly thirty minutes to do my pictures, make my goodbyes to Mr. Taylor, Talia, Sally and Harry, and to sneak away to change. Tracey faked escorting us to the elevators, allowing me to escape into Mrs. Piper’s office where Danielle was waiting.
Tracey waved to Danielle, closed the door and went on with the rest of the band, maybe up to the lobby downstairs.
“Quick!” Danielle said. “Out of those clothes! I’ll take the wig off.”
I unzipped the sandals and stepped out of them. Maybe I should have said stepped down instead, given the height of the heels. I then took off the jeans I had on and picked up the new pair of jeans on Mrs. Piper’s couch. While I was doing that, Danielle was taking the bobby-pins from my wig.
After a bit, Danielle had the wig off and started fluffing out my matted hair.
I looked over the new pair, and noted that they were more conventional. I waited until Danielle was done fluffing my hair, and then struggled to put on the new light-blue denim pants.
This new pair was incredibly tight! At least it had a little bit of stretch to them and it allowed me to eventually slide them on. I was disappointed, though, ‘coz the new pair only came up to my hip. Or rather the pants rode ON my hips. Danielle took a pair of scissors and cut the price tag off. She then handed me a white canvass belt and I threaded it through the loops. Hopefully, the belt will stop the pants from sliding off my hips.
I clicked the silver buckle closed and looked around for my new top.
“Wait!” Danielle said. She took off my bangles-n-scarves thing, the thin gold chain around my neck, and all the jewelry I was wearing. She pushed my brunette-colored hair aside and took out my earrings, replacing them with very nice-looking silver studs.
She then took hold of my left hand, dipped them in a little bowl full of soapy water, and after maybe ten seconds of soaking, the fake nails peeled off. She did the same with the other hand, and my fingernails were now free of pink!
She then made me go to the little kitchenette and had me wash off the sudsy water, as well as to wash my face free of makeup.
I did it quickly and dried my face and hands with the little towel that hung on a little peg by the sink.
When I got back she was taking what looked like a white singlet or tanktop from a bag, and cutting off the price tag.
She handed it to me. “Go on! Put that on! Quick! We don’t have much time!”
“What, no bra?”
“It has something built into it so you don’t need a bra. Now go on!”
I grumbled a bit but complied. I took off my cardigan, and then my cutoff tube-top. As I did, Danielle stopped to look at me.
It was different this time — used to be, when we were caught in moments like these, there would be an awkward, uncomfortable silence, but it was different now.
I looked at her and waggled my eyebrows comically. Danielle burst out laughing and hugged me in a sisterly way. That was a bit funny, especially since I was topless.
Anyway, I pulled on the sort-of tanktop and it barely covered my bellybutton. Yup, it had sort of a bra built in, and I adjusted my breasts in them.
Danielle then handed me a pair of booty-socks and a pair of fairly-low-heeled pointy-toed tan suede cowgirl boots. I sat down on the couch and put them on while Danielle wiped some lotion on my dry-from-washing face.
I stood up and was fairly glad of the low heels. Danielle then took some tissues and wiped the excess lotion off. I can’t believe how fast this costume change is going!
“And now,” Danielle said, “here’s the finishing touch!” She handed me a short, light-tan cowhide jacket. I walked to the mirror and looked at myself.
“All I need now is a ten-gallon hat,” I said.
“Oh, stop it! You look beautiful. Now, spritz yourself with this and let me comb out your hair a bit.”
I looked at the little bottle. At the top, the bottle was totally transparent, but it became pink as you got to the bottom. Didn’t know Lacoste came out with perfumes now. I spritzed myself and the scent was light and fresh-smelling. Danielle picked a good one, even though it was totally different from the scents she usually spritzed me with.
Danielle folded my clothes and stuffed them, including my wig, purse and sandals, into a big slouchy bag. She handed me a little brown backpack which was only a little bit bigger the purse, and presumably with all my stuff transferred into it.
“Gimme a smile, Danny.” I smiled my Nighthawk smile and Danielle hugged me. “I think this’ll work!”
Tracey knocked on the door.
“You guys ready?” she whispered.
“Yes, we are, Tracey,” Danielle called back. “Is the coast clear?”
“Yes. Come on out.”
I shouldered the backpack, and Danielle and I stepped out.
When she saw us, Tracey did a double-take.
“Woah! Babe alert!”
“Oh, stop it, Tracey,” I said. She gave me a one-armed hug and led both of us back to the booth.
It was still set up the way it was before, but I pantomimed surprise.
“Here we are!” Tracey said, and led us up to Harry, Talia and Sally.
“Hey, Tracey,” Sally said companionably.
“Harry Seavers, Talia Stevens and Sally Marshall, I’d like to introduce you to the one-and-only Nighthawk!”
“The Nighthawk!” Talia exclaimed. “Finally we meet.” She extended her hand for me to shake. The perspective was a little different, as she was now taller than me, whereas when I was Dannie, I was so much taller than her. I felt the same with Sally and Harry as well when I shook their hands.
“Well,” Harry said, not letting go of my hand. “You really are as pretty as they say you are.”
“’They?’”
“Dennis Oldfield and Lou Jefferson? The early morning announcers? I think they’re the only ones that get to see you.”
I didn’t know how to react to that. “Ummm.”
Tracey stepped in to fill in the awkward moment. “This is Danielle, her manager.”
They shook hands. “Awfully young to be a talent manager, aren’t you?” Talia said.
“Well, it’s an unofficial position,” Danielle replied. “I do it ‘cause she asked me to. Hi.”
Harry still hadn’t let go of my hand. “Anyway,” he said. “What should I call you. The Nighthawk doesn’t seem appropriate.”
Danielle, Tracey and I looked at each other. Yet another detail we weren’t prepared for. First the outfit, then this…
“Ummm, you can call me Robin,” I said, which was the first name I could think of.
“Robin,” Harry said. “What a pretty name.”
“All right, Harry,” Mrs. Piper interrupted. “Settle down. And you can let go of Robin’s hand.” Apparently she’d been standing near the cameraman the whole time, just behind the camera chatting quietly with Mr. Taylor, but we didn’t notice.
Harry dropped my hand like a hot potato.
“Boss!” he said, in embarrassment. “How long have you been here?”
“Long enough,” she smiled merrily.
“Ummm, nice to have met you, Robin. Danielle. I have to be going now. Hope to see you guys again, soon.” He nodded at us, and quickly left the room.
We watched him go, and Mrs. Piper quipped, “Now, do you think it was something I said?”
We all laughed at that.
“Anyway,” she continued, “ummm, Robin, this is Mr. Taylor from Rockrgrrl Guitars, our sponsor for tonight.”
“Good evening, Robin. I’m glad to finally meet the famous Nighthawk that everyone keeps talking about.”
“Good evening, Mr. Taylor.”
He turned to Danielle. “So, Danielle, you also manage the Nightawk, too? I am quite impressed!” Oh, God, that’s right! Danielle had already met Mr. Taylor at the concert, when she got our prizes and papers from the concert. Another detail we weren’t prepared for! Damnit!
“Umm, hello, Mr. Taylor. Well, actually, I do this only as a favor. Robin’s a close friend of mine.” Geez, hope he buys that.
Mrs. Piper turned to the cameraman-slash-director. “How are we fixed for time?”
“The station says maybe fifteen minutes more. So you guys can relax for a bit.”
“In that case, we have just enough time to get a few photos. Tracey? Can you do the honors?”
Tracey nodded. “Sure, mom. Let me get my camera.”
We exchanged a few more blah-blahs with Mr. Taylor until Tracey came back with a nice little Nikon DSLR and monopod with a little claw foot. First, Tracey set the timer of the camera, and got a picture of us DJs with Danielle, Mr. Taylor, Mrs. Piper and Tracey. Afterwards Tracey took a picture of just the DJs, and then some pictures of just me behind the booth’s control panel. I mugged for the camera, making funny, goofy poses, all with my headphones on my head.
One of my poses was where I was standing behind the control panel, with one of the turntables to my left. I had my left hand resting casually on my left hip and I held my right hand up with two fingers raised in a peace sign. My head was slightly cocked, hair hanging down freely from the right side of my head, and I was giving the camera a sexy little wink. That was the picture Tracey selected for my wall poster, and it’s now hanging there, where the old poster used to hang.
After the impromptu photo-op, Mrs. Piper shooed everyone out of the booth. Talia and Sally left the station while Mrs. Piper and Mr. Taylor went to her office, and waited for the two bands that were scheduled for interviews.
As I sat down, Tracey handed me a small sheaf of papers. “Notes on the program,” she said, and left me to go to the producer’s booth.
“How did you come up with ‘Robin,’” Danielle said.
“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “It was the first name that popped into my mind.”
She looked at me, not believing. “I don’t know, really! … I mean, Nighthawk, Robin — both of them birds?...”
Danielle smiled. She gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Good luck!” she said, and went to follow Mrs. Piper.
Our cameraman spoke and I heard him in my headset.
“Okay, miss, when we’re about to go on air, I’m gonna do a five-count, and when I get to one, that means we’re on. Clear?”
“Clear,” I said. I looked through the pile of paper in my hand, as well as the control panel. Seems I won’t be doing much — many of the knobs and switches were covered with little post-its that said things like, “No!” and “Do Not Touch!” I guess my job tonight is to just talk. I rapidly read the pieces of paper in my hand, but in what felt like just a moment later, I heard the cameraman say, “Five! Four! Three! Two! And….”
I was on the air.
end of part Six
Author’s Postscript: Part 6 was totally newly-written, and none of it was sourced from any previously-written stuff of mine. Apologies for taking so long writing it. However... I will be taking a short break from Danny's universe, and give some story-writing attention to my new witchling, Kimmy, and Mark, our resident ghost hunter. As usual, I'll do my best to write new stuff, and I hope those who are following the story can maintain their patience. Bobbie Speedy-Gonzalez Cabot (that's me heheh...) is off and running! (By the way, the Abbey character here bears no connection to my new real-life chatroom friend Abbey, except for a common passion for music and computers... And maybe for being a geek, too? Peace, Abbey! Just a joke! ;) )
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This is Part Seven of the story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he, his family and friends deal with it. And, as he goes on TV in his female DJ persona, the charismatic and sexy radio celebrity Robin a.k.a. the Nighthawk, to host a radio-TV program promoting the band called Unlimited Bandwidth, whose lead singer is his other persona, Dannie, the talented and sexy teen pop singer, he finds his life fragmenting more and more. It's enough to make anyone schizophrenic. Still, life goes on, though a little more strained for our intrepid hero (or is it heroine?), as he starts confronting Dannie's and Robin's fans.
A lengthy Author's Note:
As some of the readers here know, my last installment of the story (Part 6, containing chapters 17-20) came out late January/early February 2010, but I also wrote two "companion pieces" ("Teacup Roses, Guitars, a Bus Pass and a Mistaken Identity" and "Playing the Part: Counterfeit Crusader" which I wrote in July of 2011).
I also wrote another story called "Drew Nance, Girl Detective Book 1: The Secret of the Old Clock" in February 2016. It's not a Danny story, but Danny and his crew made a cameo appearance there.
Still, since 2010, Danny's story has more-or-less remained quiescent.
For those who follow my blog in BigCloset, they know how busy I have been since then - a new assignment with new, ENORMOUS responsibilities that has left me breathless, a new family and an increasingly-complicated life, et cetera, as well as having a hard time trying to find my way back to the Dannyverse. Problems getting enough solid time to write (not to mention getting the creative "go" I needed) had constantly plagued me as well. My days are ridiculously busy lately, compared to how they were when I wrote Part 6, but this is not the time or place to talk about that. Real life has again interfered with fun-life, hence no new installments up 'til now. But! Finally, here is Part 7 of Danny. Many thanks to everyone who have been emailing me and/or posting/sending PMs and comments with advice and words of encouragement. I am so sorry for the delay.
A chapter will be posted every three or four, beginning, with the much-delayed Chapter Twenty-One, until Part Seven's last chapter, Chapter Fifty-Four. Hopefully, by then, Part Eight will be completed, and I can start posting it, and finally wrap up the story.
Danny's Jukebox:
Part 7 is also an experiment of sorts. Ever since the time the first installment of the story came out in Crystal's Storysite, there have been people who have commented that I should take out the lyrics of the songs I insist on putting in as it affects the readability of the story. But, for me, the songs provide much-needed atmosphere. I suppose they're right in a way - people can approximately see what I see in my mind's eye only if they have heard the songs before.
So, in Part 7, I'm launching the "Jukebox." And if it works, and if people like it, I'll make the Jukebox a permanent part of the Danny series (and other similar stories I may write), and retro-fit it into all previous installments. It won't be a complicated function. This is how the Jukebox works:
From time to time, you will see cartoony numbers in the text. When you see them, it means that song lyrics follow, and if the reader feels frustrated because she doesn't know the song, she can refer to the Jukebox Text File.
This file ("jukebox.pdf") contains links to YouTube files on the net, which are listed by number. If, for example, you see a cartoony number , you can copy-and-paste the link for song number 726 from the Jukebox Text File, into your browser. By doing so, you will run the YouTube video for the original song the story is referring to. This will allow you to listen to it as you read, thereby adding a new dimension to the story.
It would probably have been more convenient to put a hotlink in the story text itself, but I prefer it this way 'coz it avoids having too many links and callouts, and it's easier for me to code my text. Besides, I remember a PM years ago where the admin folk said they preferred I minimize hotlinks to external files.
If the Jukebox is too much trouble, you can opt not to use it at all and just read the story in the conventional way. But I suspect you'll want to use it coz there are lots of songs, as usual! Heehee... (If there are songs in a chapter, the link to the Jukebox - a small picture of a Wurlitzer jukebox - will be at the beginning: just click it and the Jukebox Text File will be downloaded to your computer.)
About songs:
In terms of copyright and fair use, quoting song lyrics is a dodgy thing, even with the application of Fair Use practices. But know three things - (1) this is a not-for-profit work of fiction, and there is no intention of profiting from the works of others; (2) song lyrics and other peoples' works are attributed, one way or another, through the mention of the singer, the author, the source of the song, or the title, but written in a way that makes the attribution part of the story's text, so this writer acknowledges them and makes no claims of ownership of these quoted works, and; (3) normally, this would be more than enough of a notice, but if some owners of these works ask, this writer will be will remove them immediately.
In any case, when this work is published commercially, the commercial version will strictly comply with Fair Use practices, limiting the amount of quoted text to the prescribed amount only.
Fair warning to all:
This instalment will also have some very sexually explicit scenes - not many: just a few in a couple of chapters only. But I promise that they will not be gratuitous - no sex for sex's sake, and no underage sex (the characters are sixteen years of age or older). Regardless, they will be integral to the narrative and, in those few scenes, I will try to be tasteful. If you don't like such scenes, read this instalment at your own risk.
And, finally, my usual caveats:
As I have said in the previous instalments, please forgive the grammatical errors, ill-advised story elements, and any format problems. I'd like to request that anyone who sees grammatical or spelling errors, or technical issues, to please PM me privately instead of embarrassing me in a public comment, and I will fix them (I'm sure everyone knows my feelings about those who do that kind of thing to writers). I really am trying to get better at this writing thing. Honest! And, as I told some folks back in 2010, I will be taking them up on their offers of editing eventually (that is if they haven't reconsidered, or have died of boredom by now).
Again, hi to the old chat room gang, especially Aunt Andrea, Cindy, Fiona, Jen, Kris, Lexa, Liz, Mel, Muta, Seph and everyone else - thanks for your patience, forbearance, funny quotes, jokes, the fortitude to stand my whining and complaining, and the wonderful online chats that we used to have that often went well into the night. I sure do miss them, and I wish we still had them. And Hi to my "batch two" chat mates Wendy, cheerleader Talia, and everyone! And thanks to my little brother-in-law for the wonderful song suggestions. Domo arigato, Toshio-kun. Anata wa sugu ni sansho shite kudasai! A child of the nineties but with a heart firmly planted in the eighties. lol
Here we start Part Seven. Hope you like… (Again - feedback, please!!)
In Part Seven, Danny goes on-air, simultaneously on both radio and on TV, and discovers that Dannie and Robin both have large and fast-growing fan bases that're putting his dual identities in jeopardy. He and his band, Unlimited Bandwidth, put on their first real concert, and he tries to understand a growing problem with Janet.
In our last installment….
Our cameraman spoke and I heard him in my headset.
"Okay, miss, when we're about to go on air, I'm gonna do a five-count, and when I get to one, that means we're on. Clear?"
"Clear," I said. I looked through the pile of paper in my hand, as well as the control panel. Seems I won't be doing much - many of the knobs and switches were covered with little post-its that said things like, "No!" and "Do Not Touch!" I guess my job tonight is to just talk. I rapidly read the pieces of paper in my hand, but in what felt like just a moment later, I heard the cameraman say, "Five! Four! Three! Two! And…."
I was on the air.
And now, the continuation…
Chapter 21 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he deals with getting turned on by his would-be girlfriend. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school pop band as well as a radio DJ. Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. |
Chapter Twenty-One: Lights, Camera, Talk!
***** (Danny) *****
I looked at the camera, headset on my head, one hand near the controls, and the other hand still clutching the sheets of paper. Time seemed to stretch as my senses went into overdrive. In the back of my mind, I reasoned that this was like someone finding himself in an emergency and, because of the pumping adrenalin, my perception of time started to stretch. Fight or flight? Well, it has to be fight, this time.
From the time the cameraman finished counting down to when the camera's red light blinked on, it felt like it was a minute or more - more than enough time to compose myself and to think of what I wanted to say.
I couldn't do my regular spiel and go, "hey-hey-hey!" So I looked into the camera and gave a small and personal smile. "Good evening, folks," I said pleasantly into the camera in my best Nighthawk voice. From my headphones, I heard my voice as well as the sound of a peppy little tune that I didn't recognize. Tracey was playing some theme I haven't heard before as my music bed.
"How're you doing?" I said. "Welcome to an unusual evening here at KRPQ Radio, which is apparently the, ahem! home of yesterday's, today's and tomorrow's hits… don't worry, guys, we'll think up something else." I couldn't help but giggle. "I am, in fact, broadcasting from the new KRPQ studios where all the fun happens.
"But first, a big hello and 'thank you' to Talia, Harry and Sally for holding down the fort, and thanks to that great new band, Unlimited Bandwidth, for visiting us here at the studio. And a big hello, too, to the viewers of KRPX. If you don't recognize me, that's 'coz it's my first time on TV. People call me the Nighthawk, and I am one of the regular DJs of KRPQ Radio. Pleased ta meetcha." I gave a small finger-wave, the kind that looked like you wanted to give someone's itch a scratch or something.
I decided to amp it up a bit. "Welcome to our RockrGrrl Evolution Concert special, and if you're not excited, well I am! Whooo!"
The cameraman gave me a signal. "And I hope you keep me company and keep us tuned in for the next few hours or so. In the meantime, let's break for a little commercial."
The cameraman gave me the high-sign that meant we were off the air for the moment, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Just behind our cameraman/director, Tracey had set up a large TV, so anyone coming in the booth would be able to watch what was going out on the air (it was angled slightly to the left, I suppose so that the glass wouldn't reflect the glare of the TV picture). It was on a thirty-second delay, in order to allow someone to catch any gaffs on my part, or pull the plug if needed. I gathered later that a thirty-second delay was pretty generous. Unprecedented, really. I suppose it was a concession to my being a TV virgin (as I am in many other things, heehee) and my not being savvy with all this on-air stuff yet. I suppose the ones who could pull the plug would be Mrs. Piper, Mr. Taylor, our cameraman-director, and the producer over at the TV station. But I resolved not to fumble and give them a reason to.
"Okay, miss," my cameraman-slash-director said.
"Call me Robin," I said. I still wasn't too used to the new handle, but I guess this was as good a time as any to get used to it…
"Okay, Robin," He smiled. "You can call me Joey." He listened to a wired walkie-talkie-like radio in his hand. "Listen, you have maybe a minute or two to relax. I'll signal you when it's about time."
"Thanks, Joey."
"Anyway," he clicked his radio off, "the station said that they're sending something to the email address your producer gave us." He nodded in the direction of Tracey, who was in the producer's booth. "I guess it's more instructions. Sorry about that. All of this was a bit of a surprise. But I think it'll be okay."
I smiled at his effort to make me feel more relaxed, and nodded. "Tracey?" I said, thumbing the in-ear intercom. "I'm supposed to get an email sent to me."
"No problem, ahhh, Robin." Tracey giggled. Sheesh. Tracey's a space case. "The computer in there's all set up," she said. "Just use your Gmail address."
Gmail address? "Ummm, okay, Tracey, thanks." What Gmail address?
I swiveled around and booted up the PC to the right of me. I clicked the browser and moused on over to Google. In Gmail, I clicked the scroll on the User ID window and saw "Nighthawk1234" as one of the user IDs. I clicked that and guessed the password to be "nighthawk1234" as well, and it turned out that I guessed correctly. Wow, Tracey's pretty good. I decided I'd change the password later, opened my inbox instead, and saw a new email message.
Attached was an Acrobat file and a hotlink. I clicked the file open and then clicked the link.
Apparently the link was a chatroom link, and the computer logged me on as well as popped open a chat window with three other users already there: a MizzPiper, Tracey and someone named "TeeVeeBoss."
I keyed in "hi?" and everyone responded immediately.
"Hello, Robin," Mrs. Piper said, and Tracey responded with a "hey, boss," and a tongue-sticking-out emoji.
TeeVeeBoss had more to say. "Hello, Robin. I'm your TV executive producer, Mike. Your producer set up this little chat window where we can give instructions or comments, and you can ask any questions you like. We won't bug you too much so as not to distract you, nor bug you with voice. The key is to relax and to pay attention to Joey and to your producer. Okay?"
"Thanks, Mike," I typed. "Appreciate it. But why a computer?"
"Oh, we can communicate by audio if you really want to - you can switch on the PC's mic and speakers. But it might interfere with your board so your producer set it up this way for the moment. Don't worry, I'm sure she'll improve on it later."
"Okay."
I looked over the sheets of paper and looked at the sequence of events. "Seems like these will be pretty easy to manage, but I haven't done anything like this before."
"No problem, Robin," Mrs. Piper typed. "Mike and I talked about it. Play it any way you like, and as fast or as slow a pace as you like. They'll adjust on their end - we block-timed four hours' worth just in case, so you have a free hand. But do try to follow the sequence of activities as they're listed, otherwise we'll lose our place and we might not be able to play the commercials properly."
"I thought commercials have to go out at specific times?"
"We've taken care of that," Mike typed. "Whenever you feel like playing them is fine. The benefits of a small-time local operation hahaha. Seriously, though, Mrs. Piper has vouched for you with the sponsors, and if this works, we'll talk over how to do more of these things later. Just take your time for now, and be natural."
"If you say so," I typed.
I suddenly had a thought. "Mike, Mizz Piper - is it all right if I take some listener calls? My radio program is known for that."
"Of course, Robin." Ms Piper typed. "Perhaps after the concert video, though."
"Ummm, Robin?" I heard Tracey over the headphones. I looked up and saw her gesturing to the camera. I saw Joey signal and he started doing a ten-count.
"Back to work," I typed quickly. I tried to squash my rising panic, looked at the sheets of paper in front of me, and then looked back up at the camera and put an expectant little smile on my face.
At Joey's signal, I waited a beat before running my spiel.
"Welcome back, folks. You're tuned in to WKRPX-TV, and you're watching our simultaneous-transmission KRPQ-KRPX Post-Evolution Concert Special. And, speaking of the simulcast, if you're watching this on KRPX-TV, I suggest you turn off the sound, turn on your home entertainment's radio, tune in to KRPQ, and then put all the channels of your mixer or tuner to zero. Our sound magicians have mixed the sound to give you the best audio experience possible. But it'll only work if your audio channels are on zero.
"So. Assuming you've done as I asked, lie back and enjoy the ear candy.
"Now. Back to the program."
I smiled even more. "About the Evolution Concert - the concert was designed to be a venue for unpublished and amateur musical groups - that is, groups that don't have contracts with any recording company nor have any songs commercially available - and give them a chance at getting air time and be heard. The featured bands had to submit audition tapes, and they had to be female bands, of course, as the sponsor was RockrGrrl. For this event, Rockrgrrl defines 'female band' as bands with at least 50% of its members as female. Rockrgrrl is, after all, makers of arguably the best guitars specifically designed for girls and women. This will change in future, of course, but for now, Rockrgrrl will accept any band so long as half of the members are girls."
I paused for a bit. The material needs something more, so I ad-libbed a little and tried to recall as many girl groups as I could.
"Over the years," I said, "the popular music scene has been as much dominated by female groups and singers as male ones, such as acts like Girls Aloud, TLC, Pussycat Dolls and Destiny's Child." (I tried to think of old popular pop groups, deliberately skipping the current ones, of course, but only a few seemed to be coming to mind.)
"Most of the female groups that get exposure," I continued, now quoting from the paper but with a little bit of ad-libbing on my part, "at least in the pop scene, are mostly vocal groups. I guess for those that also play their own instruments, there aren't a lot. There are female groups, though, that were critically acclaimed but, compared to the men, didn't have the same level of mainstream success. The successful ones include the Runaways, the Indigo Girls and Luscious Jackson. But, of course, there are the two iconic girl bands of the eighties which did have a lot of mainstream success - The Bangles and The GoGos, and Ann and Nancy Wilson, of course, the duo that represented feminine pop in the late seventies - Heart. Although they only fronted their band. That's my mom's favorite band, by the way." I waved at the camera. "Hi, Mom! No need to check up on me - I'm here on TV, see? Heehee.
"Anyway, as I was saying - there are very few new ones in the mainstream music scene that are all-girl bands AND play their own musical instruments. And that's where RockrGrrl's focus lies.
"There are, however, a lot more groups where they are just front-lined by girls, such as Courtney Love of Hole, Michelle Branch and Jessica Harp of The Wreckers, and Heart, of course. So, to insure more participants, the creators of the Evolution Concert decided not to limit it to completely girls bands. Just so long as half or more of the band are girls, and it's led by girls, it's okay."
As I spoke, out of the corner of my eye, I saw messages being displayed in the chat room window on my computer screen. "Slow down, Robin," Mike typed. "Our graphics people are trying to cope here. They're having a hard time matching video to what you're saying. Slow down the spiel. And get the pre-recorded stuff out."
I stopped myself from nodding at that, as the people out there in TV Land would see, and would wonder what the heck I was nodding at. I glanced down briefly at the pre-printed notes, made it a casual kind of move and tried not to make it look like I was trying to find my place.
"Fortunately," I continued, largely quoting from the paper, "lots of excellent female talent were unearthed by the concert. Let's look at some of the auditions. Roll the video, please, Tracey?"
After the video started running, Joey gave me a thumbs-up. "Okay, Robin - we're out for the moment." I nodded at that, but stopped myself from letting out a "whoop!" when Joey made patting motions. "But try not to break character, though. We'll keep on shooting video just in case something happens to the tape and we need to cut back to you."
I looked at Joey, puzzled. "So what do I do?"
"You know when Diane Sawyer or Lester Holt sort of shuffle papers and talk to their co-anchors, or chat with the director while the credits are rolling?"
Ahhh! "Okay, Joey - got it." I thumbed the intercom switch. "Tracey? Can I ask for a glass of water or something? My throat's gettin' a bit dry. I think it's nerves."
"Right, Boss," I heard Tracey's voice, and, in a few moments, she was back with a big cup from Coffee Bean she had delivered. Obviously she was briefed since she was keeping in character. She even had a costume of sorts - big headphones hanging around her neck, a clipboard tucked under her arm, and a cute, chic pink-and-white jacket with silver piping, and with the station's new logo on the back. She looked like the epitome of a radio station producer. And I just noticed - she had make-up on, which went well with her expensive now-impeccably-cut-and-brushed hairdo. Very nice, and it made her feminine and cute.
"Wow!" I exclaimed. "Tracey, you must be some kind of mind reader. Thanks! And you look great, by the way!" I took the big paper cup, took the plastic bubble-lid off and noisily slurped the coffee. Ahhh!
Tracey blushed at the compliment. She handed me a paper napkin and I wiped some foam off my lip. She gestured, and I wiped foam from the tip of my nose as well. She belatedly handed me the straw, which I turned down. "Well," she said, "I knew you liked caramel coffee, so I ordered one. I was just waiting for a chance to bring it to you."
I ignored all that and focused more on her and her look. She was so desperate to please, and to pass as a girl. "Did you go to a salon today?" I asked . "That's a pretty style. Suits you. And the make-up. What can I say?"
Her blush deepened. "Yes, I did," she dimpled. "Joanne brought me to her mom's hair salon. But I did my own make-up. Is it okay?" Most of the girls had Joanne or her mom take car of their hair. Joanne's a genius when it came to hair.
"Totally. Subtle, and very elegant. I especially like the subdued lipstick. Most would have gone for the over-the-top bright red."
"Julian gave me some advice - I told him I might be going on TV tonight."
"Julian? Over on the island? Danielle's stylist?" Tracey nodded. "Did he show you pictures of his poodle?" We sniggered at that. "I love the jacket, too. Can I get one, as well? Although, I'd like one that's not in pink..."
"Mom had you included in the list for jackets. She got Danielle included in the list, too. But, I'm sorry Da... I mean Robin - I think it's pink, too..."
She saw my disappointed expression. "Don't worry," she said, "I'll fix it."
She switched tacks and was all business. "Listen," she said, and referred to her clipboard. Seems the clipboard was more than just a prop, "as you saw from the list, we've got several video clips scheduled. A little video from RockrGrrl - something called 'How RockrGrrl Guitars are Made,' some live crowd shots, video clips of the finalists, plus MTV-style trailers of the top three, the awards, the encore song, and a little speech from the RockrGrrl chairman of the board. All in all, that's a little over thirty minutes of video, plus about five commercial breaks - that's a total of about forty-five minutes. Gives you about fifteen minutes of microphone time to make an hour show, not including the concert itself. But, given that you're gonna be doing phone-in calls, they're ready to pre-empt the next show if you need more time."
"Whoa!" I said. "Ain't that a big deal, Tracey? And what about the other programs?"
"I guess, but RockrGrrl sez that's what they want, and they're willing to pay for our airtime. Mom sez we need the sponsors. The KPRX guys say they need the sponsors, too. Plus, RockrGrrl sez they might want to air this in other syndicated markets. If it goes well, that is."
I started getting nervous... I mean, more nervous than I already was. "Jesus, Tracey..."
Tracey reached out and gave me hug. "You'll do fine, girl. Believe it."
"'Kay..." I let the girl reference pass.
"'Kay," she agreed. "Now, I'm gonna leave you alone, and don't stop mugging for the camera!" We both giggled. "Hope you don't need to go to the bathroom."
I looked at her. "Wish you hadn't said that... I have this urge to go pee, now..."
She giggled, waved to Joey, and left the booth.
"I'm being serious!" But she had already left. I guess I had to hold it for an hour or so, then. Arrrgh!
The RockrGrrl Infomercial was up next and then the first third of the video of the actual event would follow. I went through the available notes that Tracey had popped up on my screen, and tried to think of some interesting spiels to add to the material.
I watched Joey out of the corner of my eye. When I thought he was about ready to start, I faced my computer's monitor. I was in quarter profile, and faked typing something. Joey did his five count, and as he reached one, and I heard the station jingle play in my headphones, I turned towards the camera.
"Welcome back folks." I did the girl-wave again. "We'll be starting the Evolution Concert in a bit, but before that, let's find out a little bit about the company that made it all possible."
(Over my headphones, I heard Joey. "They're playing the RockrGrrl intro,'" he said. "Sound is on standby. Aaand... Go, Robin!")
"The founder of RockrGrrl, Isabel Hargraves, the American socialite wife of the British industrialist and electronics magnate, Sir Richard Hargraves, found the inspiration for RockrGrrl in their daughter Katherine, a classical music prodigy whose talents have been compared to the great classical as well as contemporary masters.
"At the age of nine, doctors discovered that little Katherine Hargraves had a tumor in her brain which necessitated surgery. It was not cancerous, and it was not an unheard-of condition, and the operation to remove it a tried and tested one. The little girl recovered but, because of the operation, her physical growth was stunted. Even with artificial growth hormones and other medical therapies, young Katie never reached more than a height of four and a half feet, which was near her height prior to the operation. Though technically a dwarf, her body was appropriately proportional. And, with her ability, everyone was so impressed by her classical musical talents, widely acknowledged by music scholars to surpass any of those of her generation, that her condition was usually ignored or overlooked.
"Still, though mentally and physically capable, the young lady found it difficult to indulge her art because most musical instruments didn't fit her small hands and stature. Her mother had to have special instruments handcrafted to suit her size."
As I read the words on the monitor, in the little PIP box on the upper part of my screen I saw a picture of little Katie Hargraves as she was today. She seemed like a very pretty young woman, except that she was the height of a tall eight-, or maybe a twelve-year old, at most. And she was twelve years older than me.
The little PiP box showed the exact video feed they were airing on TV, though delayed. It was actually a little distracting and it was messing up my rhythm, so I minimized it to a less distracting size but with the pictures still discernible. I looked back (casually) at the notes and continued my spiel.
"And she was where Lady Isabel found her inspiration. Along with little Katie, Lady Isabel founded the RockrGrrl line of guitars, specially made to fit the smaller hands and stature of young musicians, especially girls."
"Hold it, Robin," Joey said through my headset. "They want you to pause here for some video. I'll cue you in."
I nodded almost imperceptibly, and waited. In the little PiP window, I saw some cute kids with RockrGrrl guitars making believe they were a rock band.
"Go!" Joey said after a while, and I continued on.
"So was born the RockrGrrl line of guitars. The name itself was thought up by Katie's teacher and later boyfriend, the well-known European performance artist, Lars De Groot. He found the inspiration in the Spice Girls, which was the most famous pop music girl group at the time." (Later on, I would recall inadvertently raising an eyebrow at that. I hoped no one saw that. And who ever heard of Lars de Groot? What a name, huh? Maybe he's a refugee from The Guardians of the Galaxy...)
"Over the years, the new company established a solid reputation with many female musicians and artists in the pop music industry for producing reliable high-quality guitars, but the company largely went unnoticed by the general public."
A rousing, fanfare-type theme (reminiscent of a disco-ized version of, maybe, the Star Wars theme - hokey, sure, but it seemed to work) interjected itself, and I heard Joey tell me to pause again. In the little PiP window, I saw a splashy title sequence roll, and in glitzy American Idol-style graphics, the words "The First RockrGrrl Evolution Concert" flashed on the screen.
Tracey (or someone else) reduced the volume on the music bed, and Tracey cued me this time.
"To promote RockrGrrl's revamped line of guitars, and to help discover new female musical talent, RockrGrrl launched the Evolution Concert Festival." At which point, the music rose to a crescendo and the graphics exploded in the little PiP screen.
I continued. "Planned as a regional music competition with, initially, three concerts spaced three months apart, the Evolution Concert will select three winners, one per concert, with a fourth concert pitting these finalists against each other." I paused a bit - this was news to me. Jeez, I need to talk to the guys, and quick.
But I shook my head (not too obviously, of course) and continued on with the job at hand.
"And, tonight, simulcast over KRPX TV and KRPQ Radio, we bring you the First Evolution Concert, East Coast Finals!"
I took a peek at the PIP window, and saw the beginning of the concert video.
"Okay, Robin," Joey said, "we're off for the next fifteen or twenty minutes, then you have to break for a commercial. You can relax for a bit."
Fifteen minutes? Wow... "Bathroom?" I asked. Joey grinned and nodded. I pulled the headset off my head and made a beeline for the bathroom.
As I got there, one of the KRPX guys (the KRPX tech in charge of the electricals, I think) was coming out of the men's room. He smiled at me and I smiled back, hopefully in a polite way instead of nervous or guilty-like. Good thing he stood in front of the men's room door so I couldn't go in, which reminded me in the nick of time. I veered to the left, and towards the ladies'.
"Hiya," I said as I passed him. The guy continued to smile, and nodded pleasantly. I recognized that type of smile, having seen it a lot when I was in Dannie mode. I nervously hurried through the door.
I let the door close behind me and breathed a sigh of relief. Arrrgh! Need to pee! I randomly picked a stall, got in, shut the door, scootched down my skinny jeans and underwear, and sat. (It was a bit inconvenient to have to sit first, but after experiencing a few awkward moments before when girls noticed me standing, I tend to sit down now every time I used a stall.) I whizzed what felt like gallons and, afterwards, wiped the "splash-back" off of my butt with some tissue. At least, after having done this a few times, I knew what to do now. When I had the pants up most of the way, I adjusted my junk so that it was mostly in between my legs, pulled the thong gaff up, and then the pants over everything. I still didn't push my balls into my abdominal cavity as I was still scared to do that.
So I did the best I could, zipped and buckled up, and then ran my hand over the front. No telltale bump so I think I'm okay. But even though the jeans were a bit stretchy, I couldn't take long strides coz the pants would still, ummm, pinch my, ahhh, delicate parts. So I ended up walking in that mincing kind of way that's so stereotypically girlie.
I stepped out of the stall, walked up to the sink and washed my hands. As I finished washing, I heard a flush and another girl came out of one of the other stalls. I never heard anyone else come in. It was Sally Marshall, the cute "news reporter" of the station. Yeah, this operation needed a reporter like a fifth wheel on a car. But who am I to criticize?
I tried to act nonchalant, but I couldn't help notice how cute she was. She was even cuter than during the interview.
"Hey, Sally," I said. "I thought you already left the station."
"Hi, Robin," she said, and stepped up to the counter to wash her hands as well. "Actually, I was about to. I just finished up some paperwork - reimbursement forms, et cetera. How's the show going?"
"Pretty okay," I said, "though I don't mind telling you I'm scared to death."
She giggled. "Oh, don't worry about it. I talked to Tracey a few minutes ago while you were doing your thing with the camera, and she said you were doing real good."
"You seem to know your way around the camera. Have you been on TV before?"
"Well, not exactly," she said as she dried her hands. "I've done several TV commercials and magazine ads before doing radio. Y'know, for jeans and such. I did learn one thing from my modeling, though - when you're in front of the camera, just relax and you'll be fine."
No wonder! "Wow, you're a model?" I stood there and watched her brush her hair. Which reminded me. But... ahh, damn! I forgot my purse and the all-important brush. I keep on forgetting the purse. But Sally noted my predicament and lent me her brush. As I learned later, no girl readily lends her comb or brush, and no girl would readily use someone else's. Thinking back, I could only assume that she liked me, and felt comfortable around me.
She smiled modestly and answered my question. "About a dozen campaigns - just local stuff back in my hometown. You probably never even heard of it."
"Where's your hometown anyway?"
"Just a no-name little burg way out in the northwest called Spiral. The tallest building we have isn't even ten floors high."
"And I thought our town was bad..." Both of us giggled.
"Nahhh, it's great here. But my town's nice, too. I love the people and the place. It's just that I wanted a little more excitement than Spiral can give. "
"Is that what made you want to visit us?"
"I wanted to get out of Spiral for a while, and when I heard my aunt was being sent here by a company she did some work for, I decided to come along. Truthfully, I didn't really care where - I just wanted a change. And while I was here I saw an ad for a radio DJ, and here I am."
"What does your aunt do, anyway?"
"She's a biochemist, specializing in nutrition and physical therapy for the Kinkaide Community Clinic back home. Right now, she's working on this thing for a big pharmaceutical company. She was assigned here for a while, but she's had to go to a specialist facility in the west coast with the facilities she needed in order to continue her work."
Hmmm. "You'll be leaving us soon, then?"
She smiled. "We'll see. Aunt Eleanor said I could stay if I wanted."
I looked at Sally in the mirror as she fixed her makeup. She really was very cute.
"I've only done one national commercial," Sally continued, "and I was just one of several girls that time. When I was auditioning, Mizz Piper recognized me from that commercial, and asked me to be part of this radio station gig. How about you? Any thoughts on doing commercials yourself?"
"Me? No!" I was mortified at the thought.
She giggled. "Ain't nothing to it, honey. Yes, you're a little less tall that most models, but a girl as gorgeous as you will do well, I'm sure."
I shrugged, feigning casualness. "Well, in any case, I don't think I'll have an opportunity..." I handed her brush back, unobtrusively making sure there was none of the hair coloring stuff on it that Joanne applied.
She put her arm around my shoulders as we walked out of the bathroom. "Leave it all to me, girlfriend."
Oh, no...
Sally decided to go to Tracey's production booth and I went back to mine. I put on my headphones and waved to Joey. I pointed to my wrist, asking how much time we had left.
"Plenty of time, Robin," Joey said in my ear.
I snuck a look at the little PiP box in the monitor, and the video was still running. It was showing Jo's and Astrid's band - the girls we met in the dressing room at the concert. I double-clicked the PiP window to maximize it.
Jo was playing her guitar, moving around the stage. The tassels of her black leather jacket swung as she moved all over the stage. She looked awfully sexy in her white tank, jacket, high heels and skin-tight black leggings. She sang and played pretty good, except for a few off-key spots. If this was the old American Idol, Randy Jackson would probably be saying she was "pitchy," but on the whole, she was pretty okay. And pretty sexy, too. After a bit, her bass player, Astrid, stepped up beside her in a duplicate outfit and laid down a mean accompanying backbeat with her four-string bass.
After they wrapped up the song, Jo started up a new one - an updated and sexier version of Lee Aaron's "Whatcha Do To My Body." If it weren't for her, ummm, "pitchiness," it would have been perfect. I didn't catch their singing at the concert nor in the DVD Tracey lent me. I couldn't help but whistle. "Wow!"
"Robin?" I heard Joey in my headset. "Just to let you know, the video is just about to run out. Best to start getting in character now."
I nodded. "Right." I restored the PIP screen's size, looked over the notes and started getting ready. I clicked on the intercom. "Tracey?" I called, "Joey said we're about to be starting again soon. What am I supposed to be doing?"
"Ummm, lemme check." After a moment, Tracey clicked back on. "Boss, you just need to segue us into the next commercial No big."
"Okay, thanks!"
"Good luck!" I heard Sally call out. I looked up and saw Sally sitting beside Tracey waving at me. I grinned back and waved.
"Here we go, Robin," Joey called. "In five, four, three, two..."
I swung around to face the camera. "You have been watching the RockrGrrl Evolution Concert. We'll be taking a short break, but be sure to stick around for the second half. Seeya in a bit!"
"And we're out!"
"Hmmm," I said. "Seems there's really nuthin' to this TV thing..." I heard Tracey give me a razzberry. I laughed. "Just jokin', Tracey."
When we were back on the air, I introduced the next segment, an infomercial on RockrGrrl, and how their guitars were actually made, with lots of behind-the-scene segments that showed the company's shop floor somewhere in New Hampshire (of all places) and actual guitars being put together. Little tiny Katie Hargraves did the tour. She looked really small, especially when she was walking around the shop floor next to regular-sized people, but she was so totally unselfconscious about it. The factory people seemed to genuinely like her as they waved to her. She looked very pretty, actually - like a very pretty pint-size hottie with boobs. And when she turned in profile, it was clear that she was no child, especially how the form-fitting blouse, bright leggings, tight skirt and high heels outlined her sexy though tiny (but proportional) curves. Her height actually looked normal when she was in a tight shot on her own.
At the end of the infomercial, Lady Isabel, Katie's mother and the owner of RockrGrrl, took over and explained the company's mission and vision, and she ended it with contact details, how to order their products, and the company's website address.
I then came back on and introduced the next part of the concert.
This second to the last part of the concert went just as smooth as the previous part - with Tracey, Sally and I not having to do anything while the video played. (I was a bit nervous, though, coz my band and I were the last ones to play in this part of the video.) Will the people watching connect me, in my Robin persona, to me as Dannie? I tried to submerge that fear and we chatted while we waited for Joey to signal me back on. Joey was clearly busy talking on the headset with someone from the "OB van," whatever and wherever that was, and we left him to it.
Tracey was getting worried, though - while she, Sally (we had decided to include Sally in the show) and I planned how we'd handle the end-part and I continued play-acting in front of the camera, Tracey would often break off in our conversation to handle the increasing number of telephone call-ins.
"Ummm, Robin, there are a lot of callers piling up."
"Just be cool, Tracey, and tell them to call back after the concert video. Just like the others."
"If you say so."
"Don't worry, we'll manage. Right, Sally?"
"Sure, Robin," Sally said, and she gave Tracey a little hug. "Don't worry, Tracey. I'll help manage the calls later."
"So, what's next on the schedule," I asked Tracey.
Tracey consulted her ever-present clipboard. "Right after the Unlimited Bandwidth part, there's gonna be some behind-the-scenes shots from the concert, so you're gonna have to ad-lib the voice-over. Mike from the TV station will be texting some cues over the chatroom, and then some backstage shots of some of the finalists."
"Jeez, Tracey! Ad-lib? Oh, no!"
"Don't worry, Robin," Sally said. "It's no worse than on the radio. We'll get you through this. Be cool."
I took a deep breath. "If you say so, Sally. How about you help me with the ad-lib for the behind-the-scenes stuff?"
"Wait, Robin," Joey interrupted, apparently listening in. "That'll be a problem. We only have the one camera."
"Hmmm," I thought that through. Joey's right - how do we manage that? "Well, Joey, how about we do this - after a length of video footage you cut back to me, right?"
"Right…"
"Well, how about Sally and I take turns? After one cutback, it's me, and then the next cutback it's Sally, and then me again. And as the video plays, Sally and I can do some ad-libbing. You know? That way, there are no jarring camera pans and zooms."
"Hmmm. You've done this before, it seems. Okay - that sounds do-able. But you realize, though, that you'll have to limit your on-screen interaction."
"That's okay. We'll limit our chats to off-screen."
"Why limit our chats to off-screen?" Sally asked.
"Joey can't pan between the two booths, Sally," I explained. "so we have to take turns being on TV."
"Well, lemme fix that." She unplugged her headset, stood up, picked up a duplicate set of my "script," kissed Tracey bye-bye on the cheek, and promptly walked over to my booth. I buzzed her in and she sat in the seat in front of me. Grinning big, she held out her headset jack and I plugged her into my board. She gave me a wink and started going through her script.
"Okay, then. Lemme clear it with the bosses." Joey turned away and talked to someone via his wired walkie.
"That reminds me," I said. "Tracey? Maybe we need approval from your mom as well?"
Tracey nodded. "Already taken care of, Robin." She was just hanging up on someone she was talking to on the telephone from inside the booth. "That was mom. She approved Sally's overtime, and your plan."
"Huh?" Sally said. "But, Trace, I wasn't asking for…"
Tracey gave her a wink. "S'okay, Sally. Mom insisted." Tracey then turned to me. "Although she said, in the future, she wants to be consulted first before you make program changes like that."
I blushed in embarrassment. Yes, I should have…
Joey closed his wired radio. "Girls, Mike, our station manager, also approved the change. He says to leave it all up to Robin." He turned to me. "Robin, all Mike wants is that you follow the sequencing in the original script, and that you make room for the commercials in the appropriate sequence."
"It's all in the script, Robin," Tracey said. "How 'bout you, Sally? Are you set?"
Sally gave her a high sign.
I took a deep breath. "Okay. Guess we're as ready as we can ever be. Sally, don't forget to help in the ad-libbing."
"Especially when you have to ad-lib stuff for the Unlimited Bandwidth portion," Tracey giggled.
Sally looked at Tracey inquisitively. I turned back to my producer. "Tracey..." I said in warning.
"Sorry heehee. But, after that, it'll be clear sailing." Tracey looked like the proverbial cat that ate the canary. "It'll be the announcement of the winner," she continued, "and then a commercial from RockrGrrl, the awarding, the final song, and then you wrap it up."
"Wrap it up?"
"Take it easy, Robin. Take a look at the last few pages of your notes."
I agitatedly pawed through the pages in front of me. Hmmm. "Okay, Tracey," I said. "Found 'em." I showed the page to Sally and she nodded.
"Cool," Tracey said. Wait for Joey's cue, 'kay?"
"Yep." I also looked through the stuff they sent through via email - a duplicate of the printed pages. I went to the bottom part. At the top of the section called "Wrap Up Notes," there were parts underlined, and a notation saying that these parts were to be "read exactly as written."
"Yikes..." I muttered. I proceeded to change the font so that the text on the screen was bigger (and therefore clearer), and adjusted the view to "draft" so the paging didn't break in the middle of a sentence. That would make my monitor like my own personal teleprompter.
"Robin?" Sally asked. "Anything wrong? We're about to start again…"
"I'm cool, Sally. Joey, don't forget the countdown to warn me when I'm about to go on."
"No problem, Robin," Joey responded.
I deliberately turned away from the camera to stay in profile, pretending to look at my monitor, and waited. Sally giggled at my mugging. *Sigh.* And after a bit, Joey started his count.
"Here we go, girls! And five! Four! Three! Two!..." He pointed to me.
"And there you have it, kiddies," I said over the music bed Tracey had snuck in. "All ten of the Evolution Concert finalists. Cool, huh?" My mind flashed to my own band's performance and felt the pride I had for my band swell, but I tried not to think too much about it.
"And before we get to the awarding, some of the RockrGrrl folks took some behind-the-scenes footage. And here with me to help with that is Sally Marshall. Say hi, Sally."
"Hi, Sally," she said, and giggled.
"Ignore her, folks."
Sally stuck her tongue out at me and giggled again. I suppose it was just her vamping for the camera. Still, I found it very cute.
"Hello again, everyone," Sally said. "It's me again. How do you like the show so far?"
"I'm sure they love it, Sally," I said, clapped my hands once and started rubbing them together in anticipation. "And I'm sure they're gonna love it even more 'coz in a little bit, we're gonna go to the the announcement of the winner, but for those who already know, don't spoil it for those who don't, all right?"
I turned to my new co-host. "I was there, Sally," I said, "and it was a heck of a concert. The organizers did a real great job, and that's not counting the contestants."
"I believe you, Robin. I heard that the bands did a lot to prepare for their moment in the sun." She turned to face the camera. "As you guys may know, all of the bands had an opportunity to pick their three songs, on a first-come first-serve basis, meaning who requested for a song first got to reserve it. And once they had their songs lined up, all of them prepared. Prepared a lot! And the Evolution Concert staff went around and checked up on them while they did." A video-graphic replaced our images while a music bed played, and Joey started to explain.
"Okay, guys they're ready to roll the video," Joey said over our headsets, "but your audio is still live. Get ready to do your voice-overs, but stay in character in case they need to switch back to you."
Sally and I looked at the PiP screen in my monitor, and as soon as the first of the behind-the-scene clips came on, we looked at our cue sheets.
"The first of the ten bands that got through the auditions is called 'Eloquence,'" Sally began. "Here they are practicing their songs in the Jubilee Center, on the week of the Concert. It's headlined by Jo and Astrid, the group's lead vocalist and bass player, and they were the ones who selected their group's songs - rock classics by Lee Aaron, The Who, and Kansas. Pretty eclectic tastes, wouldn't you say, Robin?"
"Yes, indeedy, Sally. I hear their bass player's some sort of heavy music aficionado. I wouldn't be surprised if Astrid really did the picking." We listened to the music a bit. Too bad Jo wasn't in costume this time.
"Who did you get to talk to?" Sally asked.
Ooops! "Ummm, some of the people from the other bands, I think. I can't remember..." We watched some other clips of Eloquence practicing. Sally didn't bring it up again. Whew! Close call.
Using the little factoids in our cue sheets, we talked about the members of each band as their pictures were flashed on the screen, and, on the fly, we ad-libbed - we talked about our impressions of the band members, like how they were dressed, what we liked about each one, what we liked about their performance and so on. If we had something we didn't like or took exception to, we just kept quiet about it, per improv and radio announcer rules. In the end, we ended up saying only positive things about everyone.
With our band, Sally was so effusive, especially about me, I mean Dannie... She gushed over Dannie's friendliness, her looks, her singing, her hot outfit, and so forth. I agreed with her, of course, but in an off-hand sort of way. I did my best to steer away from talking about my band and to talk about the others instead. Apparently Sally also liked one of the other bands as well - one of the more girly acts that featured an all-girl lineup, whose songs were from Tori Amos, Geri Halliwell and Taylor Swift.
"So," an off-camera person asked Jo, their lead, while the band rested between songs, "how do you feel about your band being selected as one of the ten finalists?"
"I feel grateful to the people from Rockrgrrl for selecting us. We're pretty proud of our band, and we're grateful for the chance to perform for everybody on TV."
"It was inevitable, really," Astrid said off-camera.
The camera swung around and focused on her.
"Why do you say that," the faceless interviewer asked.
There was Astrid, her face glistening with sweat that had also seeped through her cotton jumper. She looked awfully sexy.
"It was inevitable that we'd become finalists simply because we are one hundred percent awesome," she said deadpan.
"Whoa!" the rest of the band, and the camera crew reacted. The camera panned again and caught some of the girls laughing, and giving each other high-fives.
"Here's a couple more of the other bands," Sally continued. We went through the rest of the clips and saw them all in action.
"This rili is super," Brittney (can you believe it), the blonde lead for that all-girl band that Sally liked, said. "It's like totally unbelievable?"
She and her band had on outfits that were more like the stereotypical outfits that dancers would wear when they were working out - tights, leg warmers, leotards and terrycloth wristbands and sweatbands. Except, of course, for the high heels. It was like they were refugees from some eighties exercise video.
"People are sooo lucky they will finally get to see us perform? I can't wait for the other bands to *bleep* up so that we win the contest already?" Guess the censors had gone over the tape beforehand.
If, ahem, "Brittney," smiled when she said that or something, then it would have been funny. But she was serious when she said that. As it was, the interviewer tried to laugh and sort of cover that up, but I think he failed. To get past that awkward moment, He asked her to introduce the other members.
Whatever I thought of their band, I had to admit they were all gorgeous. I guess the big problem was that they all thoroughly knew it, too.
The other bands and members were also shown, and the video featured them practicing in Jubilee Center, or just goofing around.
For my band, the organizers weren't able to film us practicing. Sally explained that since we... I mean the band... were last-minute qualifiers, it was too late to give them a practice timeslot at the venue. So we... ummm, "they," just practiced in our usual place. What the producers did was they spliced together some video that our sound mixer from Mario's took of us, plus some of our practice sessions in Mongo's garage (someone made sure to make the shots look generic enough that no one would be able to track down Mongo's house or Mario's place. From the shakiness and the general quality of the video from the garage, I assumed they were home movies that Mongo's mom took and not Joanne.
"That's not from the Jubilee Center," Sally remarked.
"Yeah," I said. "That looks like home movies. I think I recognize where the first video was taken - that was from Unlimited Bandwidth's regular gigs." I didn't mention Mario's, keeping in mind the injunction against freebie adverts.
Mostly, they showed little bits of us singing songs either at Mario's or at Mongo's garage interspersed by some clips of the band fooling around with each other during breaks in the garage, or Janet or I interacting with the audience at Mario's. Mostly me, actually.
Each of our pictures were flashed, and Sally talked a bit about each of us, although that only amounted to our first names and some inconsequential details, like our preferences in music, what our hobbies were, et cetera. Just like the other bands. She didn't say anything about us winning the event, although, given the previous show, that seemed a little silly.
"Isn't Dannie absolutely gorgeous?" Sally enthused instead.
"I guess," I said. On screen was a little bit of our gang's usual antics, with Janet dousing me with a bottle of water, and and then me chasing her around the garage as everyone laughed. That was a good time, I remembered.
"Here's Eloquence again," Sally said and we saw Jo tuning her guitar and Astrid conferring with their drummer. "They look real serious."
"They sure do," I said. "No wonder they played so well. Actually, everyone did well, I think."
Our cameraman made a small gesture.
"That's it for our little behind-the-scenes segment of the RockrGrrl Evolution Concert," I said. "In a few minutes, it'll be the announcement of the winner, so stay tuned." We heard the station jingle play in our headsets, and then we heard our camera man.
"Aaand, we're clear!" Joey said in our ears. "The commercial's running. You guys can relax for a bit. Great job, by the way. Have you guys done this kind of thing before?"
"Well, I haven't, but Sally has."
Sally looked down in false modesty. "I've done a few TV commercials."
"Well, I think you two did great. I think you guys can even do this kind of thing regularly."
Sally was about to get a drink when Joey signaled. "Stay put, Sally. I need you ready and in character, please. We'll be back in just a while. They're saying that they aren't playing any more commercials, just one of RockrGrrl's and then the station ID."
"Darnit!" she said and comically snapped her fingers. "And I needed to go, too."
"You're telling me!" I said, and theatrically squirmed in my seat.
"So you thought doing TV was easy, huh?" Tracey cackled.
"Ah, shut up, Tracey," I said mock-angrily.
The commercial was over quickly, and Sally and I continued with our spiel, relying heavily on our crib sheets, explaining the criteria used to score the contestants, and then giving short bios of the judges while their static pictures were flashed. There were eight of them, which included three Grammy awardees and nominees, a well-known pop music songwriter, a professor from some hoity-toity music conservatory I didn't know, two well-known television and movie producers, and Katie Hargraves. Heavy credentials all around.
In the event of a tie, Sally further explained, Katie Hargraves would be the deciding vote - her vote to be counted twice, if needed, but we told everyone that it was unnecessary as there was no tie.
On the screen, the night's master of ceremonies climbed up the stage - some unknown official from Rockrgrrl that fancied himself as some sort of TV presenter (to be fair, though, he did the MC-ing competently).
He introduced each band by name, giving each a chance to bow or curtsey. The editors didn't take out the part of me showing off (I had fired off a lick from my little imitation junior Strat when it was our turn). That also highlighted the fact that I had changed out of my leggings and into a short pouf skirt.
He then went over the prizes, which were small cash prizes for all the finalists, limited-edition guitars for the runners-up, and for the winners - a ten thousand-dollar cash prize, RockrGrrl guitars, a chance to compete in the grand finals and - the real prize - a limited contract to perform at some concerts and a one-year "on spec" recording contract with one of the leading recording companies.
A drum roll started playing. Eloquence was announced as the runner-up, and everyone applauded. And then it was our turn.
"And the winner for the East Coast Finals of the First Evolution Festival Concert is..." the drum roll went interminably long... "Unlimited Bandwidth!"
Yes, I was there, but I didn't remember the audience going almost berserk. I guess I was a bit shellshocked at the time. The audience applauded long and hard. Sally clapped as well. Keeping up appearances, I clapped, too.
Janet and I, or rather Janet and Dannie, were invited to say a few words. All I could remember at the time was that I mumbled some forgettable words, and then being lifted onto my guys' shoulders. This time around, I couldn't look at the me on the screen, so I still didn't see or hear what I had said this time.
In any case, they wrapped up the show with us singing our encore song, confetti raining down on all of us finalists, and then they had the credits rolling down over the video . Sally and I in the studio said a few farewell remarks, told everyone about the post-show program coming up, and signed off. Sorry for being so blasé about it, but I've gotten over the whole thing already.
Joey, the TV techs and Tracey (who had walked in) applauded and, grinning, Sally and I stood and took our bows.
"Great work, guys," Joey said. "Really great work."
"Thanks, Joey," I grinned. "What's next?" I popped in a pre-recorded cartridge which is supposed to have several songs and commercials, which gave us time to reset the booth.
"Well, I don't know about you," said Joey, "but me and my guys are gonna break down our equipment and get out of your hair as quickly as we can. You got another one after?"
"Uh, we're almost done for the night except for that one after-program, and then Dennis Oldfield, the nighttime deejay will come in for his program, and then it's back to regular programming."
"Okay. We'll try and be quick then."
"Oh, yeah," Tracey said. "Dennis is just in the lounge. Should I go fetch him?"
"Just tell him to go have a break and we'll call him when we're done with our phone-in show, Tracey."
Joey gave instructions to his techs and they started taking out their TV equipment and props. It hardly took any time, and before I knew it, my booth looked like nothing happened, except that there were KRPQ posters still hanging.
The whole time, his people were sneaking looks at me and Sally. I took my cue from Sally, tried not to take it personally and just pretended not to notice. But old men leering at you is a little creepy.
"Listen," Joey said from inside my booth after all his people had left, "sorry to have to run, but I just wanna say it was great working with you guys." He shook Tracey's hand, then Sally's, which made me the last one.
"And if you wanna get together or something," he said to me, slipping a business card in my hand, "just gimme a call."
With that, he left.
"Oooh!" Sally squealed. "'Just gimme a call!' Oooh!"
Tracey giggled.
"Oh, shut up, you guys," I groused. "He's old, and he isn't even my type!"
"Tall, dark and handsome isn't your type?"
"I'm taking a break," I huffed, and mock-marched out of the booth and into the bathroom.
Sally and Tracey hugged each other and laughed their heads off.
to be continued...
Chapter 22 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he, his family and friends deal with it. And, after he's gone on TV in his female DJ persona, the charismatic and sexy radio celebrity Robin a.k.a. the Nighthawk, and hosted a radio-TV program promoting the band called Unlimited Bandwidth, whose lead singer is his other persona, Dannie, the talented and sexy teen pop singer, he finds his life fragmenting more and more. It's enough to make anyone schizophrenic. Still, life goes on, though a little more strained for our intrepid hero (or is it heroine?), as he starts confronting Dannie's and Robin's fans. |
Chapter Twenty-Two: Relaunch
***** (Danny) *****
The KRPX camera guy was a little creepy, but lots of people seem to be... extra attentive when they're around me. Courtesy of my 'mones, again, I suppose. Dammit...
Sally made an idle comment that maybe I should report him or something. After all, he was old enough to be my dad. I said never mind and that he was probably harmless.
After doing an extra-long call in radio show, Tracey and I decided to wrap it up since we were already inching close to our allotted fourth hour. Sally had said her goodbyes about an hour before, and it was just me that had to say goodbye to the fans. In fact, Mrs. Piper and the rest of the office staff (except for the radio engineers), had gone home already.
Most of the callers complained about our show not being on TV anymore but I explained that the arrangement between our radio station and the TV station was just for the concert. Most asked if there'll be more of that but I didn't know the answer.
But like my other call-in shows, this one was super-fun, and with Sally in there, and Tracey making the occassional jokes and quips, this one was by far the best. The fact that it followed the pre-show and the concert show probably had a lot to do with it and, looking at everything afterwards, I wouldn't mind doing something like this again.
After more than four hours in front of the mic, I definitely needed a long bathroom break. I didn't want to leave the booth unmanned so I was back quickly. But it seemed that it was unnecessary to rush - a lot of commercials were still left over to play (and Tracey took care of it), and that was what was being played on air as I came back in.
"Dennis still not in?" I said into the intercom.
"Oops, I better get him," Tracey said and left to fetch him.
Per the office's DJ rules, I sat down and waited for my reliever to take over for me. I didn't have long to wait, though, so I didn't need to do anything.
"Thanks, kid," Dennis said as he bustled in and sat down. "I got this. You go home and get some shuteye."
"Thanks, Dennis. Seeya later."
As I was about to follow Sally out of the booth, Dennis touched my arm.
"Oh, and Danny... I mean 'Robin…'"
"Yeah?"
"Good work tonight."
I grinned. "Thanks, man."
Dennis gave me a friendly sock on the shoulder and shooed me out of the booth, smiling. "Go on, you J.D. Leave, already."
I laughed. "I'm going, I'm going! And I'm a DJ, not a JD!"
***** (Danny) *****
The following Monday, I turned over the last of my time cards I was required to turn in to the school counselor's office. I had accumulated more than enough hours that I had more than fulfilled all my extracurricular requirements. So, as far as the school was concerned, I was done.
Of course, just because I've fulfilled my extracurricular requirements didn't mean I had to stop being a DJ.
After I dropped off the cards and was walking to class with my guys and Danielle's gang (by now, this had become our regular morning routine), I looked around. Everyone was openly saying hi to us - the generally acknowledged geek gang in school. What's happening to the world? Were we suddenly transported to the Twilight Zone or something? But truthfully, I didn't care so long as I had Nikki with me. And, truth be told, there were more girls starting to look me over, too - after all, if Nikki was my girl now, there must be something to me, right? Heheh.
But despite Nikki being there, I was feeling grumpy. Mom and Dad told us over breakfast this morning that we might not be able to visit our maternal grandmother Rosemary, or Nana Marie, or just mhamo, in Belfast.
The original plan was that our family and Mom's brother's family would share the cost and stay in Ireland for a couple of weeks. But Uncle Nathan said he couldn't get away. Mom said that it might just be they couldn't afford the trip, and Uncle Nathan just didn't want to admit it.
Dad said that, with the cash settlement from the pharmaceutical company, and because they didn't need to save for our college fund anymore, they could actually pay for both families. Mom said she'll find a way to tell her brother this in some polite way that saves face, and would let us know as soon as she can.
That was great, but I was still grumpy at the thought that we might not see Nan or get to go to Ireland. It was our first time to see mom's home country, and meet our grandmother and cousins face-to-face. Mom and Uncle Nathan always had fun stories about the Cassidys, and Danielle and I have had lots of phone calls and Skype calls with them. Nan was totally adorable, especially with her cute Irish brogue. Good thing she and the whole Cassidy Clan was fully fluent in English. I wasn't sure if the Irish were fluent in English in general. It may just be my family. (Hey, sue me - I haven't been to Ireland before!) It's like we knew her already, and we so, so wanted to see her.
Anyway, my mind switched back to school stuff, and started to wonder if me and my buds were still the social pariahs that we used to be. You know - the usual.
Well, truthfully, though, I don't know what our social status was now that Danielle and her friends were part of our gang. Or maybe we're part of theirs. Anyway, we weren't exactly at the bottom of the totem pole anymore. Still, it was a little out of character for everyone to go out of their way to say hi to us. Or more appropriately to Betsy.
Then I had an 'aha!' moment - the TV show! People saw Betsy in the TV show! Good for Bets. She deserved some attention. Clearly delighted, Betsy said 'hi' back, giggled and preened a bit. One little Freshman girl even asked for her autograph.
But it made me worry. Is the jig up? Have people guessed? People seemed to be glancing over at Danielle and me an awful lot. Mostly Danielle, actually.
I looked over the ones who came up to say hi, most of them girls that knew Danielle, and I noticed them sporting scarves or other similar things tied to bangles, bracelets and wristbands. I chuckled when I saw one of the more sporty girls wearing silk hankies threaded through those Livestrong silicon wristbands, or maybe they were those Nike energy bands (it's old news so the girl probably hasn't heard the truth about the bands, and about Lance Armstrong...)
Anyway, seems Danielle's gimmick ideas were starting to pay dividends. She and I gave each other one of those significant, semi-psychic looks of recognition. She smiled delightedly. I just stuck my tongue out at her, which just made her laugh.
I also noticed that most of the girls were wearing similar hair styles this morning - they had their hair in long, loose curls, with a long curling lock hanging over the left eye, which most of them kept pushing daintily away with the back of their hand. If it bothered them so much, why didn't they just pin it back or cut it off altogether?
Danielle sidled up to me and elbowed me in the ribs. "What'd I tell you?" she half-whispered to me. "Pretty soon, your scarf thing will be as legendary as Snuggies, iPhones, Facebook, Jennifer Lawrence and even Jennifer Aniston's do!"
"You think?" I said sarcastically, eyes wide with mock excitement.
"Sure! And look at that!" She pointed to the lockers we were passing, and I followed her gesture. "You're a genius, Danny!"
She was pointing at a bunch of girls, the type I used to be so intimidated by - the type that looked and acted like Danielle and her girlfriends - confident and intimidatingly pretty in their sexy clothes, so shiny and coiffed and so unattainable. Or at least I used to be intimidated by them until Danielle and Nikki and the others became regular fixtures around the gang.
Anyway, these girls were leaning against their lockers chatting, all of them sporting bright, pastel-colored bangles on their wrists, with shiny silk, chiffon, lace or satin scarves or handkerchiefs tied to them. I thought that was what Danielle was referring to until I noticed that they were all wearing the same hairstyle - the big curls, with one curl over the left eye. I recognized one of the girls, and I was pretty sure she had a short-cut pageboy-style do last week. Given how long it was now, she was probably wearing a wig or maybe hair extensions. Could be Danielle was referring to the hair?
And then, the tallest among them, a blonde (probably the leader or something), used the back of her left hand to push away her overhanging lock of hair, and moments later, the others did the same gesture with their own locks of hair. Like it was a... Wait...
My mind flashed back to when we watched the show on Tracey's big, flat-screen TV at her place, and I recalled seeing me involuntarily make the same gesture several times when I was wearing the extra-long red wig Joanne styled. Oh boy...
"How'd you ever thought of making that move?" Danielle asked. "And I thought my scarf thing was brilliant."
I sighed and just shrugged nervously.
And then I looked at the girls and noticed Drew and Mel with scarves tied around their wrists. And Drew now had a lock of her suddenly-long hair hanging over her left eye.
"What!" Drew said, and glared at me.
"Nothing!" I said.
***** (Danny) *****
We reached my classroom, which was the signal for the gang to break up and go to his or her own class. As usual, Nikki gave me a big kiss before she went, which made everyone go "oooh!"
Morgan and I walked in (we shared the same homeroom) and sat at our customary places.
The classroom was a little crowded so Mr. Wilson was having a hard time controlling the class - one of the teachers took a few weeks off because of an emergency appendectomy or some other not-so-deadly condition, but she would be out for at least a month so a substitute teacher was assigned to her classes. However, at the new teacher's request, a few of her more difficult students were temporarily farmed out to the more seasoned teachers, which included our own Mr. Wilson - Mr. Wilson had a reputation among the teachers for being an instructor with a firm hand.
So our class now had a handful of new classmates. Unfortunately, one of the temporary transferees was Tom Hennessy.
"So," one of the guys said as we sat down, "I hear you guys are pretty tight with Betsy Haley." He had a muffled, snuffly kind of voice. He had the cold that everyone seemed to have nowadays. Flu season and all.
"Huh?" Morgan said succinctly.
"You know? Betsey Haley? The hot, sexy violinist for Unlimited Bandwidth?"
"Funny," I said. "Most of us know her as the class president."
"Shut up," the guy said, turning to me. "No one's talking to you. Urk!" The guy stopped short, flailed around a bit and pulled at his collar as he tried to get a breath in despite his collar being pulled back tight against his Adam's apple. Mr. Wilson was conveniently writing something on the board and didn't notice anything.
Tom Hennessy leaned forward as he tightened his grip on the back of the guy's shirt.
"Now, be nice, okay?" he said into the guy's ear. "Otherwise, I just might have to hurt you." The guy nodded frantically.
After a moment, Tom let go, and the guy let out a ragged breath. He jumped up and turned around, ready to fight, but when he saw it was Hennessy, he turned around again and meekly sat back down.
Mr. Wilson took notice. "What is it, son?" he asked.
"Ummm... nothing, sir."
"Thanks, Tom," I said, a little lost for words.
Tom just nodded sagely, silently. For the rest of the class, he sat quietly like a sphinx, eyes forward and listening to Mr. Wilson attentively. I still didn't know how to read the guy, ever since that flower incident a while ago. Actually, I sort of preferred Tom being the bully. At least that way I knew what to expect.
As the class progressed, most of us got involved in school stuff, and I sort of forgot about Tom. Truth was, it didn't really register that he was around anymore until after class.
English was the usual. The class wasn't rowdy as in other classes, but most of the people's minds were mostly on last night's program and were pretty excited to talk about it. Mr. Wilson didn't shush us kids much, and as we went though the day's lesson, we could hear a lot of whispered talk about the show swirling around the room. I again noticed a lot of the girls wearing bracelets and bangles with the scarves, and many of the guys were wearing blazers in either electric blue or electric green, and some of them wearing tie-dyed t-shirts underneath. Felt like I was in a John Hughes revival. I caught Mr. Wilson's eye when he noticed me noticing everyone. He smiled at me and shrugged, and gamely tried to continue on with the class. Wonder what that was about?
Anyway, seems like Unlimited Bandwidth was a hit in school. Hope that this is the extent of it. Otherwise, if this escalates further, we, or rather, I, may be found out.
When we stood up after class and turned around to leave, I noticed Tom again. "Oh, hey, man," I said.
"Dude," he said, nodded and left.
I looked at Morgan. "What's with him?" I asked.
Morgan just shrugged. "Who knows. Let's get outa here."
Same problem all throughout the day, especially during lunch. There were a lot of people quoting me from last night, and there was a big clot of people near one corner of the cafeteria. Apparently, there was this nerdy-looking girl who brought her guitar to school, and it was the spitting image of my acoustic guitar... ummm, I mean Dannie-the-singer's guitar. So I eavesdropped a bit, and it turned out the girl's guitar was a RockrGrrl guitar.
Some of the more geeky guys were asking her to play some stuff and she played the refrain from one of the four songs from the concert - it was an arrangement that allowed her to play the music from the Meja song all by herself. She sang the song as well - quite competently, in fact.
"It's funny how circumstances take control, taking you places with your mind and soul," she sang.
And, one of the girls standing around sort of sang and harmonized with her. "Like springtime makes me feel better, taking me higher, feeding my fantasy. And it feels so good!"
"Yeah, it feels so good!"
Then they harmonized again.
"Giving you luxury. It comes naturally. So, baby, don't thank me - I thank you. And it's plain to see who's giving you luxury."
I had to smile at the scene. Everyone was enjoying themselves and, what the heck, if what I did gives someone a moment to be other than what she usually had to look forward to, I'm happy.
"What she had to look forward to..."
That made me think of things, and where I was now. Was I even nerdy anymore? Ever since I started high school, it was a label that I thought I wouldn't be able to escape. But with everything that's happened, I wasn't that anymore, I think. If so, then why wasn't I happy? I think I was, especially now, but I wasn't sure.
Nikki and the other girls walked into the cafeteria. She waved and I gestured to our table. She nodded and they got in line with the others.
Looking at Nikki as she chatted with our friends while getting some lunch, I couldn't get over how pretty she was. That made me think. And, I guess I was happy. I went over and held her tray for her. She leaned over and gave me a kiss. Well, that's why I offered to carry her tray, after all.
If I was happy, then what was I missing?
Danielle caught my eye.
"Hey, Dan! Mrs. P wants to meet up tonight at her office. You game?"
"I guess? Should I be worried?"
"Probably not. Hold on, I'll text Tracey and say we can make it tonight."
"Okay. Be sure to text mom as well." I tried to snatch some of her fries but she slapped my hand away. I looked at her tray as well as the others - Mel's, Joanne's Drew's and Nikki's trays only had salads and half a sandwich, as usual (although Nikki's also had a big banana boat full of fries which, I'm sure, was for me), but Danielle's had enough for three people. Same as mine, actually, but I'm able to take care of both Nikki's and my trays.
We went back to our table, and the entire gang was there for a change. Naturally, the topic of discussion was the show. As expected, everyone wanted to know about Sally. We couldn't talk as freely as we wanted because of all the kids, but we could talk well enough.
Befitting my current status as the newest media sensation, I was superciliously casual about it until Morgan jokingly hit me on top of my head, and Nikki started giving him the evil eye…
"Unlimited Bandwidth is definitely a hit!" Mickey said enthusiastically. "I heard that some people have posted clips from the TV show online, and they're trending!"
"Yeah!" Mel said. "I heard the same thing, too. Who has a phone?"
Everyone pulled their phones out and googled "Unlimited Bandwidth" and "Evolution Concert," and they got several hits on youtube.
"Look at this one from the concert," Joanne said, showing me her phone. "It's already up to a thousand hits, and it's not even ten minutes up!"
"How about this one from the TV interview," Jerry said, "it's almost at fifty thousand!"
"Which one's that?" Joanne asked excitedly.
"The Paul McCartney song with Betsy!" Joanne looked to Bets. "No wonder…"
Mel giggled. "You guys are a hit! Have Janet and the others said anything, Danny?"
"Haven't had a chance to talk to them since Saturday," I told Mel.
"I'm sure they're pretty excited about it all," Nikki said.
"I'm sure they are, but they're probably feeling pressured just about now."
"Huh?"
"Instant fame has its drawbacks. Just look at Betsy."
Betsy gave me a razzberry.
But Morgan gave me a funny look. He and Danielle were the best at catching my moods. "What's wrong, Danny?"
I sighed. "It's nothing, Morgan."
"Is it because they don't know it's you…"
"No! … it's not that. I don't mind that people don't know. I prefer it, in fact. I guess it's because we got some bad news this morning: we might not be able to go to Ireland this year..."
Morgan shook his head. He knew me so well.
"It's not just that," he said. "What is it? Really."
I shrugged helplessly. "I guess I just wish that all this hiding wasn't needed… all these kids talking about Dannie and Robin, and I'm just here. I feel like a fake. Like a liar."
I pointed to the girl that had the guitar earlier - she was just walking out of the cafeteria with a bunch of other people.
"See that girl with the guitar?" I asked. "She was playing our Meja song, and she was having a great time with a bunch of other girls. Just singing. And I wanted to join in and have fun, too. But I couldn't, of course…"
Danielle reached out and held my hand. "Everything will work itself out, Danny. You'll see. We'll find a way eventually, and you won't need to hide."
I sighed again.
"So," Mike said, breaking the silence for a while, laughing and doing his best dirty-old-man imitation, "Tell us again about Talia and Sally. Are they as hot face-to-face as they are on TV? Mweheheheh…"
Drew hit him on the head. Not really hard. It was more for show, and for a laugh. Everyone knew that he was just trying to change the mood. Sometimes we take Mike for granted. But he's not as clueless as he wants people to think he is, and I was grateful to have him as one of my buds. My friends are great.
***** (Danny) *****
After classes, Danielle and I left the gang and drove on to Mrs. Piper's office. When we arrived, Tracey was already there.
Danielle and I gave her hugs and we shook hands with Mrs. Piper.
"So." Mrs. Piper said as she gestured for us to get comfortable, "how are things?" She brought out a couple of caramel macchiatos and handed them to us. Tracey already had hers. I smiled and nodded my thanks.
"Well," Danielle giggled, "nothing much since Saturday, Mrs. P. How are things with you since Saturday?" She grinned. "Anything new?"
"Actually, there is," she grinned as well, appreciating Danielle's gentle humor. "Folks from KRPX and I met over lunch yesterday afternoon. On the success of the show last Saturday, I made a decision on something I've been contemplating. The formal launch of the FM station will be happening within the month, maybe in two weeks' time. Since we moved to this new place, the station has been on test FM broadcast, simultaneously broadcasting with our AM station. In a couple of weeks, however, we need to formally launch the FM station. By that time, we'll have ALL our licenses and permits from the government."
"How can you do test broadcasts without the paperwork?"
"Temporary permits from the FCC."
"Ahhh," Danielle said. "So, what's the decision you had to make, Mrs. P?"
"Well, my dear," Mrs. Piper said, "I wanted to make a big splash with the formal launch, and I finally came up with an idea - we'll be partnering with KRPX again, and doing what we did last Saturday, but this time to cover our own live concert! I've block-timed over an hour on the station two Saturdays from now, and we'll do a simultaneous broadcast through both our AM and FM stations, as well as KRPX TV.
"Now - what I need from you is to help conceptualize and plan the entire thing. Our station's salespeople are coming in a little while as well as some people from KRPX, and I got a few people from PiperCorp's promotions team arriving soon, and Talia, Sally, Harry and all the other on-board guys will be coming in as well. It's all hands on deck tonight. Otherwise, we won't make the schedule."
"But, Mrs. Piper…" I pointed to myself.
"Ahh. That's not a problem. Tracey will bring you two over to our place. Tracey has our living room fully wired, and I'll tell everyone you'll be dialling in via Google Hangouts, and we'll be teleconferencing."
"But…"
"All you have to do is to switch off the video on your side so all we'll get here is just the audio."
"How sure are you that no one can hack out a video feed?"
Tracey giggled. "Oh, I know a way. It's a very complicated procedure. What you do is you tape a piece of paper over the webcam…"
The three of us laughed while Mrs. Piper just smiled and shook her head indulgently.
"Anyway," Mrs. P continued, "I'll definitely need your inputs. The meeting may last all night. I'll smoothen it out with your folks and tell them you'll be sleeping over at my place if we go overtime."
"But we didn't come prepared for an overnight…" Danielle said.
"I'll take care of it. I do own my own department store, you know. Tracey will take you to the department store. Get whatever you need for a sleepover. Get some takeout for dinner at the food court, too, and then go on to our place. I'll start as soon as the others arrive, and you guys catch up when you're set."
"Well… okay."
"Good. Now, scoot. The others will be here soon and we don't want them to catch you here."
So we scooted.
to be continued...
Chapter 23 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he deals with getting turned on by his girlfriend. Life got even more complicated after his boss, Mrs. Piper, convinced him and his sister to make his band part of the official launch of the station's new FM channel. It'd be the band's first real concert, if ever. But how would they be able to manage that and still keep Danny's true identity secret? ... Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. |
Chapter Twenty-Three: Brainstorming
***** (Danny) *****
We went with Tracey to our little town's mall - it was the mall where Fallon and I tried to hide from Tom Hennessy before. We followed Tracey to one of the new, more exclusive places on the third floor and she asked us to look around for clothes we thought we'd need for school tomorrow, as well as whatever else we needed, and Danielle took Tracey in tow to the ladies section. I went to the men's section and picked out a shirt and pants. I then went to the toiletries section and got Danielle and I some soap, shampoo and conditioner, toothpaste and, of course, a couple of toothbrushes. It's a good thing I knew Danielle's preferences.
I decided to get some underwear and socks for me (which included t-shirt bras lately). However, I had to move to the ladies section since I get all my underwear from the ladies section nowadays. In the rare moments when salespeople recognize that I'm a guy, I just say it's for my sister or something, but since people haven't been questioning it lately, I didn't need to say much anymore, and I was able to find the stuff we needed without being bothered. They probably did think I was a girl. I just shrugged and thought to myself, what can you do? That's life. Buying new stuff for school, though, coz we didn't want to be late - that's new.
- - - - -
Waking up in time was a real worry for me. Not the usual thing about being in time for school, but for work. To be fair, it's not all the time - just on the weekends.
Ever since Mario moved our gigs to Fiday nights, I've had to learn to do with less sleep on Saturdays. I had my Nighthawk Saturday morning program, which started at six AM. So, after our Friday night gigs (we'd finish our last set by around midnight, so we'd be home by around two), I'd just have a short nap and get back up by four - five at the latest - in time to get ready for my radio program.
The schedule change was murder, but Mario said that we weren't pulling in enough customers (patently a lie), but since my folks only allowed me to play one night a week, he decided to move us permanently to Fridays, so that he could compete with the other places in town for a bigger slice of the bigger Friday night crowd (My folks didn't protest much - it was on a Friday, so my schoolwork wouldn't be affected at all, so the 'rents agreed without too much protest).
However, Mario changed our fee from a flat fee per set to a percentage of the night's take on orders, thinking he could save a few bucks by doing it that way.
It turned out that we did pull in more clients, so we ended up getting paid more - at least twice our normal fixed-fee. This made Janet and the others happy.
Mario tried to weasel out and put us back on the old scheme, saying he couldn't afford the new one. But, acting as our sort-of manager, Danielle said that he was doing more business because of us so, if he did, the band won't play for him anymore.
Mario made a counter-offer, and said he could raise our standard fixed fee. Janet got it upped to three times our normal fee, and Mario instantly agreed.
We congratulated Janet for our new windfall, but then Danielle said she was suspicious because Mario agreed so quickly. She went and had a private talk with Mario, and she was able to up our fee to five times our usual.
Danielle said that she suspected we were being lowballed, and she was right. She also said that she actually thought we were still being lowballed - that Mario was really raking in the money on Friday nights - but trying for more might be pushing it, so she thought it best to leave the matter for now, and just try for something better later. Besides, five times normal was still pretty good. Especially for Mongo, who really needed the extra cash.
This was partly why Danielle suddenly became our new "business manager," much to Janet's displeasure.
That Saturday, instead of band practice, we celebrated, and the entire gang went out to dinner and dancing.
- - - - -
Back in the department store... while I was in the ladies' section, I bumped into Tracey and Danielle. Their cart was piled high - mine only had a handful of stuff.
I looked at Danielle disapprovingly for taking advantage, but she just looked back innocently. Casually, she mentioned that this was almost all for Tracey, and inside, I went, "ahhhh…" I felt slightly chagrined and guilty for thinking that of Danielle. I should have known better. She was actually helping Trace pick out stuff (Trace definitley needed some help in the fashion department), and who better to help her with fashion-related stuff than Danielle, the walking clothes horse. Heheh...
At the counter, Tracey just signed for our stuff, and asked if we could leave them there.
The saleslady seemed to know what to do, and just smiled at Tracey and said, "I'll take care of it, ma'am."
We then went to the food court and bought a couple pizzas, some burgers & fries, as well as other stuff, to go - not the healthiest but they were the quickest. Tracey looked at the ginormous amount of food we got, but she knew better than to comment on it.
On the trip to the Piper's condo, we got to know each other some more. We got so engrossed that it was only Tracey bringing out her house keys that made us realize we were already standing outside the door of their place. (Though their condo occupied the entire floor, their elevator didn't open directly to their place, as one would expect with fancy apartments like theirs. Instead, one still had to go through a hall and unlock a door. Tracey said that their condo was actually just several remodeled apartments whose adjoining walls had been knocked down, hence the old elevator, hallway and fire escape were still there.)
Danielle had about the same reaction to Tracey's and Mrs. Piper's place that I had before. Talk about luxurious.
All the stuff we bought we found piled neatly on the living room table. Except for the food, Tracey moved everything to her room so we'd have space, and we soon got down to business.
"Wait…" Tracey said, "this meeting is liable to take a long time. What about homework?" Tracey really was too straight to be part of our group. That'll change in time, of course. Heheh.
"I don't know about you guys," I shrugged, "but I don't need to work on anything that's due right away."
"Me neither," Danielle answered around a mouthful of hamburger.
"Okay, then," Tracey responded. "Lemme set up things, and I'll dial up Mom's office." She grabbed another slice of pizza, went to her room, brought out her Mac, connected it to their living room's entertainment system and, as she said she would, she taped over her Mac's webcam with a tiny piece of paper.
Soon, we linked up to Mrs. Piper's office computers. Tracey had obviously set up her mom's office beforehand since we connected instantly, and could see Mrs. P's office in two angles in a split screen on their panoramic big-screen TV: one at an angle shot from over Mrs. Piper's shoulder, and one from the opposite angle, allowing us to see Mrs. Piper in full. Obviously, Tracey connected to two computers, or a computer with two cameras.
After we were able to connect, Mrs. Piper said hello.
"How are you guys doing over there," she said.
"We're doing fine, Mom," Tracey said.
"Who's there with you, dear?"
Danielle and I couldn't respond since our mouths were full of food.
"Robin is here," Tracey answered for us, "as well as Danielle, Dannie's manager." (Danielle and I dutifully mumbled "hi" through our food.)
"Dannie who?" someone asked.
"Dannie Fairchild?" Tracey responded. "From the Rockrgrrl band?"
"Wait... one is named Danielle and the other's name Dannie?"
Mrs. Piper chuckled. "Yup."
"Okaaay..."
"Ladies and gentlemen," Mrs. Piper said, "I asked the girls to join us, given we're planning on using, ahhh, Robin to cover the launch event, and using Dannie's band as the featured entertainment."
"I've seen Dannie and her band," someone I didn't know said, "and I've listened to the Nighthawk's program on the air several times. Good choice, ma'am. It's a pity it's audio only - it would have been nice to see them as well…"
"Sorry about that," Tracey said. "The bandwidth here's not big enough to have good video." Danielle and I giggled.
"We'll manage, dear," Mrs. Piper said. "Now, can someone summarize what we've agreed on so we can update the girls?"
Someone to Mrs. Piper's right dutifully read out the minutes, and we found out that, so far, they had agreed on a poster design, and that the people from PiperCorp promised to have several prototypes printed up and ready for approval by Mrs. Piper and the KPRX people, and then have at least a few thousand of the approved design printed up in a few days. The intention was to put up the posters in the mall, in popular retail spots, restaurants and fastfood places, and in the four schools in town. Mrs. Piper's having some people do it for her.
They also put together an outline for two commercials - a TV one and an audio-only radio one, to be aired on KPRX and KPRQ. And the idea was to have both Robin and Dannie do the voice-overs, and the people from PiperCorp to do the actual production. That rankled a little bit - why them?
Announcers from both our station and the TV station would then plug the event, using the material from the posters as their talk-points.
"Can I say something?" I asked in my best Robin voice.
Most of the people in the meeting were a bit surprised. I suppose they were assuming we'd just listen and be quiet.
"Of course, dear," Mrs. Piper said.
"Well, I was thinking that we just make one TV commercial, and we'd just play the audio over KRPQ as our radio commercial. That way, we save a few bucks, and we have one recognizably single commercial."
Everyone grew silent.
"Hmmm…" Mrs. Piper said. "We should have thought of that…"
"Also," I continued, "maybe we can have some of your copywriters write some press releases to go in the local papers, and to have it posted in the stations' websites and in some of the social media sites, like maybe facebook and instagram and so on. Or maybe just use the poster so it'll be uniform."
Mrs. Piper glared at some of the people in the room as if saying, "why didn't you think of that, too?"
"Go on," Mrs. Piper said to me.
"Well," I continued, "do we even have websites in the first place?"
"I'm sorry, Robin," Harry said, "I think KRPX has a basic site but ours is nothing more than a splashpage."
"Oh, no… well, that can't be helped. And I don't think we can do anything about it in two weeks…"
"Well," Danielle said, "nothing to be done, then. Let's just make sure a digital copy of the poster is posted on the sites. What do the guys from KRPX think?"
They shrugged. "Sounds good to us," someone from their group said. "We'll do our best to help."
And so the discussion continued.
And as the discussion continued, another fly in the ointment was discovered.
On Danielle's very strong insistence despite everyone's saying it was probably not a concern, Mrs. Piper called the Rockrgrrl people to see if Unlimited Bandwith's participation in KRPQ's launch would affect their standing in the Evolution Concert contest. If they say it does, Danielle said the band won't want be part of their event.
So, because of this, well, ultimatum, I suppose, despite the relatively late hour, Mrs. Piper contacted Rockrgrrl. She was apparently close to someone high up in the company, and was able to get through right away and explain the situation. However, no one she spoke to wanted to take responsibility. So it got bumped up and up through the company's hierarchy and she ended up being put through to Katie Hargraves herself.
Katie said it wasn't a big issue for her, but she needed to get the consensus of the other judges. And, after about twenty minutes of tense waiting, Katie called back and Mrs. Piper put her on speakerphone.
Katie said that it was all right with the judges. "However," she said in her kid-like voice, "Legal said there may be some problems since this constitutes a professional assignment, and their status as an amateur band may not hold anymore. And since the contest is only for amateur bands…"
"What?" I exclaimed. "You must be kidding, Ms Hargraves."
"Who's that?" Katie asked.
"I'm sorry, Katie," Mrs. Piper said. "That's Robin, one of our on-air announcers. You might have heard of her - her radio name is the Nighthawk."
"The Nighthawk!" Katie enthused. "I caught some of her radio shows! She's great! Pleased to meet you, Robin."
I couldn't help but blush. "Ummm, thank you, Ms Hargraves."
"Please call me Katie," she said, and asked about me and my show, and we got to talking a bit until Mrs. Piper cleared her throat.
Katie giggled and said, "sorry! I got carried away, I guess."
"You were saying, Robin?" Mrs. P asked.
"Well," I said, "I was just thinking that it's ridiculous that we, I mean, the band can't do this. Using that argument, then technically speaking, Unlimited Bandwidth was already a 'professional' band even before the concert, since they've had several paying gigs already. And almost all the other bands have regular gigs as well."
"Good point, Robin," Katie said, "but Legal said that 'amateur' in this case is taken to mean bands not having played in any major venues. It's in the rules. And an event like this, which is to be televised, is definitely a 'major venue.'"
This made everyone stop talking to consider her words.
"Well," Danielle said, "it's just local TV. And what if I can sell it to the guys not to accept payment for the KRPQ thing? Will that mean they keep their amateur status?"
"Who's that?"
"Oh! Sorry, Ms Hargraves. I'm Danielle - I'm the band's manager."
"Hello, Danielle. Well, you do make a good point, but such rationalizations might not cut it. To be frank, our concern is really with the upcoming contestants of the other two upcoming finals - future contestants might make an issue of having to compete with a, quote, professional band."
"Well, if you follow that logic, that practically means that my guys can't do gigs until the contest is over. Which will be in - when? - eight to ten months' time? That's close to a year of not playing anywhere! Are they supposed to give up their little gig at Mario's, too? That's not right."
"I agree. I wish I could help, but I can't commit to anything right now. Personally speaking, I don't think it's a problem but, officially, I don't know yet. I guess I need to check with my mother as well as get some more legal advice. I'll get back to you as soon as I can."
This was greeted with silence.
"Well," Mrs. P. said after a bit. "You've given us some food for thought. Thank you for your time, Ms Hargraves. I guess we need to make plans. And please contact us as soon as things have been clarified."
"Sure thing, Mrs. Piper. Good night. And glad to have met you Robin."
"Thanks, Katie. 'Night."
Everyone in our video feed looked at Mrs. Piper. You could feel the tension.
"Danielle?" I said, hoping that my sister had an idea.
"Well…" Danielle began, "I don't know how to continue with the meeting now…"
"Yes," Mrs. P said. "That kind of takes the wind out of our sails."
"Ummm, Mrs. Piper," one of the KRPX TV people said, "so what do you want us to do now?"
"My heart's still set on Unlimited Bandwidth," she responded. "They sound good, they have a following, specifically with our listeners - can't do better than that - and I like them… Danielle?"
"Yes, Mrs. P?"
"Do you think the band would still go for it if it meant giving up the Evolution contest?"
"Gee, I don't know… Probably not. I'll have to ask them."
"Okay, you ask them. When do you think they can let us know?"
"Well, given we only have two weeks, I'll ask them first thing tomorrow, and try and get an answer for you then."
"Good, good. For now, though, let's proceed as if they're going to say 'yes.' But just in case, let's talk about a substitute band. What do you guys think?"
"How about the runner-up from the contest?" someone suggested.
"Ummm, boss," Lou Jefferson said, "I don't think we can get any of the bands from the contest. The fans will ask, why them? Why didn't we get UB? And don't the contest rules also apply to them?"
Sally, Talia and Harry agreed with that while Dennis nodded sagely.
"Why couldn't it be that it's because we already featured them and we're giving the other bands a chance?" someone said.
"Doesn't matter," someone else said. "The rules also apply to them. So they might not want to do it, either."
The others looked at that guy with raised eyebrows until someone interjected, "well, the rules don't matter to them - they didn't win."
"You're right, of course, except for the runner-up - they have to remain eligible otherwise they can't take over for UB if UB gets disqualified or has to pull out for some reason. And if they can't then the next one in line can't, and so on and so on."
Everyone looked at him.
"That's just a thought," the guy said, and scooched down the couch in slight embarassment.
"What about getting some A-list performer?" someone else said. "Like…"
Mrs. Piper shook her head. "I don't think we can afford an A-list band."
"How about a no-name B-lister?"
"I don't think so," I said. "Remember how the people who organized the presidential inauguration were criticized because they only got B-listers in their event? And besides, our station's a small one and wouldn't attract a star. Betcha they wouldn't want to come and perform even if we could ask them, even a has-been act. Especially since this is just going to be a local program."
"Then who would you suggest?"
"Well, it definitely has to be local, and has to have a good rep…"
"I think I know one," Harry said. "There's this little vocal group I know - four girls that sing in that little coffeehouse at the college in the next town. The place is called the Juke Joint."
"Hey, I think I know them," Talia said. "I know Jenna and MacKenzie - two of the four girls. They're no Unlimited Bandwidth, but they're fairly good."
"Local girls?" Mrs. P asked.
"Yes."
"Okay. I'll trust your word. So, for now, they're our substitute band in case UB can't do it. Contact them. We'll know by tomorrow if UB will do it, but still keep your eyes peeled for other local bands or groups."
"But Boss, what if…"
Mrs. P rubbed her temples. "We'll think about that when we cross that bridge, Talia," she mumbled. "One problem at a time. Okay, let's continue…"
***** (Danny) *****
At around two in the morning, the meeting was more-or-less over, with everyone clear about their responsibilities. And a significant chunk of it was heaped on the three of us: Tracey would be the main driver for the advertisements on TV, radio, print and the Internet, while I was to make sure that the people on-stage would be prepared. Danielle was to prevail on the band for ideas for the actual show, which she needed to coordinate with the PiperCorp and KRPX people as the ones who would actually produce and cover the show. Also, one of the other major chores I had was to actually select the music. Not a small responsibility, actually. I planned to solicit the help of Morgan and the band, of course. And then I had to pass on the list to the PiperCorp guys to get the appropriate license payments, clearances and permissions.
Of course, everything that we'll be doing was dependent on whether the band would be willing to take the risk and still do the KRPQ launch event even if they lose their chance to participate in the big Evolution finals. So Danielle and I decided to tackle that one first thing.
So I texted all the members of the band asking if we could meet after school.
"Gosh," Tracey said after she had logged us out. "This has grown to be a complicated thing. Hope we can pull it off."
"Gosh?" I repeated and giggled. "Really? 'Gosh?' Gee willickers!" Tracey needed to stop hanging out with old people.
"Oh, shut up!" Tracey exclaimed, and giggled as well.
to be continued...
Chapter 24 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he deals with getting turned on by his girlfriend. But life for Danny got more complicated after they and Mrs. Piper ironed out the details for the upcoming concert that he and his band will be participating in. It's confusing, to say the least. The question now was, will they be able to pull it off without things blowing up in their faces? Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. |
Chapter Twenty-Four: A "Professional" Band
***** (Danny) *****
The following day, we had gone on to school in the clothes Tracey got us.
Tracey's mom was still asleep when we woke up, and we decided we wouldn't bother her. Tracey said she got in at around five, so she was obviously beat.
We were all able to take showers without taking turns - the Pipers had six bathrooms in their condo. And after quick showers, we had a quick breakfast of cereal, milk and fruits. Not exactly what Danielle and I were used to - usually, mom would have something more, I guess substantial is the word - so Danielle and I decided to heat some of the leftover pizza, and have a couple of slices. Or five. I guess that'll have to do, and just have a quick snack at school later.
I had some trouble picking the right clothes at the mall last night (the fact I knew I was having trouble picking clothes showed I was spending too much time with Danielle and her friends, and wearing girls' clothes). Men's fashions are so close-fitting nowadays, so with my little babies, I didn't know what to pick for a shirt. No trouble with the pants - I just picked the first pair of Levi's I found in my size - but for shirts, I had to pick one which was a couple of sizes larger, on account of my boobies. But I didn't account for the sleeves. The sleeve cuffs hung lower than my wrists. And, besides, they didn't fit right - it was like I was wearing a clown shirt.
So Danielle gave me one of the tops she picked for herself - a nice "untuck" button-front blouse. This one didn't have any darts so it didn't unduly emphasize my boobies. And if you didn't know, I looked like I was just wearing a regular loose shirt, aside from the fact that I looked extra ripped, with a very buffed-out chest. So long as you didn't touch, of course lol. I could have used one of the padded muscle shirts mom got me before.
In any case, with my jacket on, I think I looked pretty normal.
Danielle insisted I wear the sneakers she got - they looked like regular indigo-colored rubber-soled canvas shoes - so I just shrugged and put them on.
I lucked out this morning - Danielle usually didn't do well picking guys clothes.
As for Tracey and Danielle, they wore extremely similar outfits, differing only in the choice of colors.
Danielle had on a blouse with a vivid floral pattern, ruffles at the neckline that wrapped around the arms and continued on the back. It had a v-neck with wide straps that gave the impression of capped sleeves except the shoulders were bare.
She matched it with skinny jeans in the traditional medium blue wash, with patched details and a whiskered faded finish.
Over the blouse, she put on a vintage double knit Amelia Jacket in a rosy, tweed-like fabric. With elastic and shirring at the small of the back, it gave the jacket a sleek, bomber silhouette which went well with the classic collar and the gold and silver buttons.
She then sat on the bed and put on a pair of high-heeled cork sandals with dark-brown straps.
Turning around, I noted Tracey wearing the same outfit, but in different colors. Immediately, I thought of the kind of razzing the girls would get in school, but then I remembered that Tracey didn't go to my school, so it wasn't a problem.
I was a bit dismayed by this internal monologue of mine. There was a time I wouldn't know about Amelia Jackets or what shirring was, and I wouldn't have cared.
I definitely needed more bro time with the guys…
Anyway, we went to school - Danielle and I to our school and Tracey to her fancy private one.
Tracey said someone should take down the minutes of the meeting, but I said neither Danielle nor I were good at taking down notes, so Tracey went to her room and got us a pen-like device - she explained it was a high-tech voice recorder. I pocketed it and we went on our way.
For whatever reason, Danielle and I were not too tired but I think it was more because we were worried about what my bandmates would say in our meeting later.
When we got to school and met up with the gang, the girls were all praises for Danielle's outfit. As for me, I didn't get much reaction from the guys. In fact they were oddly quiet. That made me worry.
During lunch, we gave the gang a blow-by-blow of our meeting last night, and everyone was excited about the upcoming event. For Betsy, looking at her expression, she was clearly torn between excitement and worry. I could identify with that. But I told them we had a meeting scheduled with the band, and so she didn't comment one way or the other until the band could weigh in.
Most of the gang couldn't figure out how the issue of being a "professional band" was important, but they did understand the repercussions - that, depending on what Rockrgrrl said, it could mean that UB (I'm starting to like calling the band "UB" as well) might not be able to be part of the Evolution Concert finals if they participated in the radio station's launch.
It all hinged on what Katie Hargraves decides. Therefore, the band had to decide whether to risk it or not.
"Which we'll find out later in the meeting," Danielle said.
"Can we join you guys?" Jerome said.
Mike elbowed him. "'Course not," Mike said. "It's just for the band." He turned to me. "But you guys'll tell us what happens, right?"
I nodded.
"Where will the meeting be?" Nikki asked.
"Remember that Italian place where I first told you guys about Danielle and me?"
"Why there?"
"It's one of the places where Mrs. Piper has an open tab. She called ahead and made a reservation, and arranged for one of the function rooms for us."
Mike and Jerry had that look, and I had to laugh. Clearly, they remembered the tasty food from that place.
"I'll get you guys some takeout, okay?" And this was greeted by loud protests from the others. It ended with Danielle and I promising takeout for everyone. Well, I guess I can put it on my company credit card. Betsy suggested for all of us to meet at her place afterwards.
***** (Danny) *****
After school, Danielle, Betsy and I went straight to Mrs. Piper's favorite bistro.
"Buon pomeriggio, signorina," the maitre d' said to me as we stepped in.
"Ummm… good afternoon," I said. It seemed my guy-mode wasn't running. "We have a reservation? Under Mrs…"
"Ovviamente," he nodded. "Signora Piper's secretary called ahead, and we have one of our small function rooms ready. Perfavore sequimi..."
And with that, he led us to a small closed dining room with ten place-settings already laid out.
"Would le signorine like something to drink while they wait for their party?"
I ordered diet coke for the three of us, and asked him to make selections from the day's specials, good enough for ten people, and have them on the side so we could dish them up ourselves - I told him we wanted to be alone.
"Ten people?" Betsy Asked. "Why ten people?" And than she looked at us. "Ahhh…" She giggled.
"Ti capisco, signorina," The maitre d' answered, and he snapped his finger. The waiters around us pulled our chairs for us and we sat down. Another waiter put cokes in front of us brimming with ice.
I felt something in my pants pocket and brought out Tracey's recorder pen. I thought it would be muffled in my pocket and thought a bit. I decided on putting the thing in the breast pocket of Danielle's girly new jacket. For good measure, I turned it on so I wouldn't forget. I doubt Danielle noticed because she was totally engrossed in chatting with Betsy while we waited.
But we didn't have long to wait - the others started coming in one at a time. The first to arrive was Mongo. Among the four, he was the most available since he wasn't working. Actually, all four of them had agreed to take off at least a year while they tried to see if our musical careers would take off.
So, as UB did their gigs and Janet did her thing to try and get the band signed and stuff, and Mongo helped his mom around the house and took care of their little mom & pop stationery shop when he could. Dale and June, the next to arrive, were taking some classes at the junior college while they did the band thing - just accumulating a few college credits that they could put in their transcripts and use when they eventually left for "real" college. At worst, if things didn't improve, though, they were thinking of going to the college in the next town - it had a nationally well-regarded music program.
As for Janet, she was also taking some classes, but mostly singing and acting classes, and did her little meetings to push her own career. And the band's, too, of course. Nothing much had come of her efforts, though, except for the gig at Mario's, and, truth be told, she hadn't had any meetings with anyone for months now - at least nothing she's told us. Actually, the biggest break we've gotten so far was the Rockrgrrl thing - a fact that irritated Janet greatly. That and, I suspect, my increasing influence on the band was causing her to resent me more and more. That's probably why she's been harder and harder to get along with.
Anyway, now that she's arrived, I guess we could start with the meeting.
***** (Janet) *****
I finally got to the restaurant. Betcha everyone's there already. Can't be helped - I didn't have any clean clothes. Mom wasn't done washing our clothes yet. I had to get some from the new pile and had to wait while she ironed them. Didn't she know I had a meeting?
Anyway, I dropped Danny's name and followed the waiter to a little dining room separate from the main restaurant area, and the entire band was there. Including her.
She was seated between her sister and Betsy, and, as usual, she overshadowed everyone in the room, even her lookalike sister. I never understood that, really, but it's something we've come to expect. She's so beautiful. I mean "he!"
But I tried to play it cool.
"Hi, guys!" I said, and hi-fived Dale and Mongo. I then hugged the girls perfunctorily, but was able to sneak a kiss on Danny's cheek at least.
"Whoa! Fast service!" I said as a waiter put a small plate of pasta in front of me while I sat down.
"There are other selections, if you prefer," he said, and pointed to a side-table piled with several other kinds of dishes.
"No, this is fine. Thanks."
He nodded and the wait-staff left us alone.
As I dug in and made some small talk, I looked at my friends. They were all enjoying themselves, and talking excitedly, as per usual.
And Danny at the center of it all… As per usual.
I remembered the time when I used to be the center. But when Danny came along… Used to be I was the one who called meetings. And what's her sister doing here? She's not part of the band. And we didn't used to be so hoity-toity, having a fancy dinner while we "meet." But… I needed to find out what this was all about.
The girls were giggling at something Mongo said. That's unusual - Mongo never did talk much before, but over the months, Danny had taken him out of his shell. Nothing short of a miracle, really. He was even making jokes. OMG.
"So, let me in on the funny," I said as they giggled.
"Go ahead, dude," Danny said to Mongo. "Tell her what happened."
"I was telling the guys," Mongo said, "that I bought a guitar last night…"
"You bought a guitar!" I exclaimed in surprise.
"Yeah," he answered. "Dale and June convinced me to try playing the guitar, too I've always wanted to try, and since I had some money from my account now, I got myself a guitar."
"Well, that's cool. Good for you."
"So I asked the guy in the music store to show me their selection and I picked the one that I liked best. Cool matt-black finish, a super-wide strap in psychedelic colors. The clerk asked me if I was sure, and given how nice the guitar looked, I said I was sure.
"So he strung it up for me, tuned it, and I brought it home. I brought out my chordbook, and was excited to try playing some chords. I first tried a simple E and it sounded terrible!
"I then tried a C, but it sounded worse. And I tried all the chords and riffs you guys showed me but it was no use. I tried to tune it but that didn't work either. I decided that the guitar must be defective so I returned it to the store. And it turned out that it wasn't defective. It was just a left-handed guitar! You know - for left-handed people? With the strings in reverse order?"
Everyone laughed at that. Me included. It wasn't particularly funny, but when Danny's around, everything seemed better.
"Guess that was why he asked if I was sure…"
"So," I said, getting down to brass tacks right away, "what's up, Danny?" I knew I was being a bit of a buzzkill but I thought it best to skip all the nonsense that Danny encourages, and get to the important stuff right away.
Danny gave me a look but didn't make any comment.
"Well, okay," she said. I mean he. "Down to business. So Danielle and I were called to a meeting with Mrs. Piper last night…"
And she told us about what Mrs. Piper wanted, and what the problem was. She was very thorough and gave us all the details from their meeting last night, including what they asked her, her sister Danielle and her new friend Tracey, and the things that they asked Mrs. Piper and her people.
When she was through, I summarized.
"So," I said, "you're saying we can do this gig with KRPQ, but if we did, we could be taken out of the running for the Evolution Concert finals? On acount of our new standing as a 'professional band?'"
"In a nutshell, yeah. And that's what we need to decide on - do we take the risk and do the KRPQ launch, or do we pass on it?"
"When will Ms Hargraves let us know again?" Dale asked. "On whether it would be allowable for us to do this, I mean."
Danny shrugged. "I got the impression that she'd let us know at the end of the week. And by that time, we need to be committed one way or another."
"What do you think we should do, Danny?" Dale asked.
Danny looked uncomfortable. "Ummm, I don't know, Dale. I think I shouldn't say anything yet, until everyone has had their say."
"Why?"
She looked in my direction. I mean 'he' looked in my direction.
"Well," he said, "I currently have that DJ job at the station - so you might say I'm biased. I'd feel better if you guys go first."
"Well," June said, "we all know that. I think we can forgive you if you are, but I don't think you'll be biased. So. What do you think?"
Danny shook her head… his head.
June sighed. "How 'bout you, Bets?"
Betsy shrugged. "However Danny decides, I'll follow."
"I think that's Danny's point, Betsy," I said. "Sh… he doesn't want to influence us so he wants us to have our say first."
"I get that, Janet," she said. "But it's not that. For me, I'm not really into the whole band thing. The only reason I joined was because of Danny." She looked my way. "It's been fun, of course, and I like you guys. But I'm not in it for the long haul. You guys accepted me, and I'm grateful. I'm also grateful to be your friend. But I'm only sticking around so long as Danny's in."
She looked at me a little worriedly. "No offense, of course. I hope we're still friends?"
I was a bit disgusted by that, but she was just being honest. I couldn't fault her for it.
"I think I'd go with Danny, too," June said. She looked at me. "It was she that got us this far, and she hasn't steered us wrong yet. And I trust her. I mean him."
"You've always been a follower," I said with a bit of contempt. "Can't you think for yourself, June?" I said.
Clearly, my words were hurtful. I could see tears brimming in her eyes. But I couldn't seem to stop my words.
I turned to Dale and Mongo. "How about you two?"
"I want to go for the concert finals," Mongo said.
"… And?"
"And that's it."
We had to laugh at that. Classic Mongo.
I then turned to Dale.
"I don't know," Dale said. "Janet, we agreed to postpone things until we can make a genuine try at being a real band. It's been over a while now, with eight more months to go, and, aside from the Evolution concert, nothing has really happened. I don't know if I can keep on postponing things. So unless our situation changes a lot, I'm inclined to do this radio thing instead of waiting eight months to a year. I need to get on with my life."
"But, Dale, if we get to go to the Evolution finals, we're guaranteed a recording contract!"
"No, we aren't, Janet. Even if we win, all they're guaranteeing is that we get to have an audition. Again."
I looked away. Talk about frustrating…
"You!" I pointed at Danielle. "What about you? What are you doing here, anyway?"
"Well… I'm supposed to be the band's manager? I'm here to find out what you guys decide, and I'll go to bat for you with Mrs. Piper and the Rockrgrrl people."
"Go to bat for us? Ha! That's a laugh! Obviously you're here for Danny, too!"
Danielle's eyes went round with fury. It's the first time I saw that expression on her. I felt a shiver run up my spine, and wanted to step back instinctively. But Danny put her hand on Danielle's shoulder, and she stopped herself from saying anything further.
I looked at Danny and felt her anger, too. The blank emotionless mask of hers that she used to cover her anger was even scarier than Danielle's mad look. I could feel the emotion, and it made me want to run away and hide. Why was Danny this scary?
"Janet," Danny said, in a very controlled, icy voice. "I don't know where this is coming from. You've been like this for weeks now. Something's going on with you."
"Nothing's going on with me!"
"Danielle's been nothing but supportive, Janet. You know that."
"Never mind."
"Janet…"
"Never mind, I said! Now, it's your turn: tell us what you think we should do."
She took a deep breath. She was clearly mad and was doing her best to control herself. Oh, how I wish I could take back my words. But I couldn't seem to stop myself.
"Here's the thing," she began, "it all goes to what we want at the end of all this. All of you have taken the year out to see if you can make it as a band. But I guess it doesn't matter if we get there via the Evolution contest or some other path, right?
"So, what if I talk to Mrs. Piper? She owns PiperCorp. Maybe she can pull some strings for us and get us an audition with one of the music companies, so winning the contest would be academic. Will that make you agree to doing the radio launch?"
Rebelliously, I looked at Danny. I couldn't help but think she was tricking me into agreeing.
"Can you guarantee that?" I asked.
"Well, no, but Mrs. P knows a lot of people, and it wouldn't cost her anything."
"But why would she do it?"
"Because she's a good lady. And maybe we can say we'll forgo any payment for doing the gig so long as she agrees to get us an audition with a recording company."
"I won't stand for us doing a concert and not getting paid!" I said. "We work hard, so we deserve to be paid! We're profess…" I suddenly realized what I was saying and I trailed off.
She looked at me ironically. "Yep. Isn't that exactly the problem?" she said. "But then, you were willing to not do the gig at all just to remain eligible for the contest. So not getting paid isn't the issue, if there's a chance at a recording contract. Right?"
But I still had a stubborn streak in me that didn't want to give in, and it must have shown.
"If that doesn't pan out," she continued, "well, we're starting to get hits on Youtube. Did you know our Paul McCartney song has gotten about fifty thousand hits, and that's just over the weekend? I'm sure, with your connections, you can parlay that into a recording contract."
"What! I told everyone not to put any videos on the net!"
"Simmer down, Janet! No one posted anything. The people who watched the concert and the TV shows did it - not us."
I knew I was acting like a diva, but I couldn't seem to stop myself.
"And besides," Danny continued, "our dad's best friend is a lawyer. I'm sure he can make a case out of us not getting gigs for eight months just so we can keep our amateur status. That's totally unreasonable."
"You're tricking me. You just want your way…"
"Janet!"
I looked up at the sharpness in her voice and saw her eyes. I couldn't stand her looking at me like that. But I couldn't stop. I looked away.
"No one's tricking anyone," she said. "I'm just laying out my point of view." The deliberate lack of emotion in her voice made me feel cold. I mean "his." What have I done?
"You can decide whatever you want, Janet," she said. "I just think the right move is to do the radio launch.
"What if I say I don't want to do it."
She shrugged. "You're allowed, of course."
I looked to the girls.
"So, Betsy? June?"
"Sorry, Janet," June sadly said to me, and Betsy looked at me and shrugged apologetically.
I turned to the boys. "Dale?"
"You heard my decision already, Janet," he said, "so I guess it's a four-to-two majority."
I stood up and got my purse. "Fine! You people do what you want! Let's go, Mongo."
I started walking to the door, but Mongo wasn't following.
"Mongo? What're you doing? Let's go!"
Mongo remained seated. "But, it's a majority, Janet."
"Screw the majority! We don't want to do it, and they can't make us!"
Mongo looked at me and folded his arms. "No."
"What do you mean 'no!'"
"I'm not leaving. Danny's right. You've been acting weird for a while now. Everyone's had their say, and the majority wins. So we do the radio launch."
"I don't care! This is my band, and you guys do as I say!"
"Your band! It's not 'your' band! We're here 'coz we choose to be here. We're not your puppets!"
I went to him. "Dude - no one can force you to do anything," I whispered to him. "You said no to the radio thing coz you want to be part of the Evolution concert. So, let's go!"
He pushed back from the table and away from me. He looked at me, arms folded.
"Then I change my mind," he said. "I say we do the radio thing."
I looked at him, aghast. "What did you say?"
"You heard me."
I couldn't believe it.
After what felt like a long time, I straightened up and looked at all of them
"All right! Fine! Do the radio thing! You're all sellouts! Where's your artistic integrity?"
I leaned down, put my knuckles on the table and and leaned forward towards Danny.
"But you can do it without me," I whispered savagely.
I stood up and started walking towards the door. "No one takes my band from me and gets away with it!"
I turned around again and looked directly towards Danny. "No one."
I saw the table to the side laden with all sorts of food and other things. I reached out and yanked the tablecloth, and everything crashed to the floor.
Plates broke and cutlery scattered, and the food splattered on the floor.
I then walked out.
***** (Danielle) *****
The silence was thick in the room, and we looked at each other in shock. Slowly, June crumbled into tears, and Betsy hugged her.
Dale stepped out and fetched some waiters to clean up the mess.
"What's happened to Janet?" Mongo said sorrowfully. "What…"
"I don't know, Mongo…" Danny said.
But Betsy and I shared a look. I think we have an idea. In school, we were doing the classics, and I got some reading assignments. From all that reading, I remembered a quote from Oscar Wilde that went, "plain women are always jealous of their husbands. Beautiful women never are. They are always so occupied with being jealous of other women's husbands."
Someone's clearly jealous.
I looked at Danny, and I prayed I don't become like Janet.
"What'll happen to the band now?" June mumbled into Betsy's neck.
"I don't know, honey," Betsy said. "We'll figure this out."
Mongo got up and walked to our side of the table. He put a commiserating hand on Betsy's shoulder.
"So," Mongo said to Danny, "is that it for Unlimited Bandwidth? Are we disbanding?"
"Why do you say that?" Danny asked.
"Well, I guess now that Janet's gone…"
"Yeah, but we can still go on."
"Danny - it's Janet's band."
"We all heard what you said to Janet, and you're right. We're here because we choose to. So we can still go on if we want to."
"Danny's right," Dale said, having come back. "We should push on. We'll only be short one vocalist and guitarist. That's all."
"Yeah…"
One of the waiters came over. "Excuse me…"
I gestured him over. "At least this one's not Italian," I giggled.
"Thanks so much for cleaning up the mess," I said to him. "We had a bit of an accident."
"It's not a problem, Miss. We'll manage. I just wanted to ask if you want us to…"
"I don't think anyone's in the mood to eat anymore."
He nodded. "But maybe we can freshen your drinks and maybe set you up with some desserts or snacks?"
"That may be a good idea." I took the menu from the waiter and picked a bunch of things that looked nice, and he went away to take care of it.
I then went back to the guys' conversation. It seemed that they did want to go on with the gig, Janet or no Janet. But could they even continue playing on without her?
"What would Mrs. Piper do if we decided not to go on?" Mongo asked.
"They would go with a little vocal group they know that sings in that café at the college," I said. "I think the place is called the Juke Joint."
"Juke Joint?" Dale said. "Hey, I think I know that place! They have great nachos, though they don't serve anything alcoholic. And I think I know the girls you're talking about. They're good, actually, though a little older than us. But they're just a singing group." Not surprising Dale knew them. He had some classes at the college, after all (our junior college sometimes send students there for some pre-req classes).
"I know the place, too," June said. "And you're wrong - they do serve alcoholic drinks there."
"I've tried ordering there before, and they…"
"College bars don't serve minors liquor, unless you insist on being carded. And you, dude, definitely look underage."
Dale laughed. "Tell me if I should give you the finger or to thank you."
June stuck her tongue out at him.
"So," Dale said, "did you ever catch the group?"
"That's the band with the tall blonde lead, right? The girl named Jenna? I'm not sure but she might be a waitress there, too."
"She is? Cool!" No doubt he was thinking of passing by the Juke Joint now.
"Okay, Dale," Danny said. "Enough. Let's keep our eyes on the prize. Stop talking about the replacement band and let's think up a way of doing this. That is if we still want to do it."
"Of course we do," Betsy said, and Dale and June said "yes." As for Mongo, he sighed. "This has to go through, Danny," he said. "Otherwise, losing Janet will all be for nothing."
Danny reached out lightly punched Mongo's shoulder in a gesture of sympathy.
"I'm sorry about all this, Mongo. Are you okay?"
"I'm cool. But we have to make this work. And you have to push through with all the things that you promised."
"Promised?"
"Talking to Mrs. Piper and setting up an audition with a recording company for one, talking to your dad's lawyer-friend about making sure we don't get booted from the contest for another, and since Janet's not gonna do it anymore, you and Danielle need to be the ones to work on getting us a recording contract."
"Of course we were gonna do all those things, Mongo…"
"Mongo," I said and echoed Danny, "we're gonna do all of that. I promise."
"That's more than good enough for us," Dale said. "Right, Mongo? June?"
They nodded.
"But can UB even play with just one rhythm guitar and one vocalist?" Danny asked.
"'UB?'"
"That's what we're calling the band."
"Ah. That's cool."
"So. Can… UB still do it without Janet?"
Mongo shook his head. "No. We need two rhythm guitars. But I'm assuming you guys can get us a temporary replacement. And I do mean temporary - I'm going along with this only if we will try and get Janet back."
"Mongo…"
"I'm serious, Danny. Unlimited Bandwidth is Janet's band - she started it and got us together and got us going. She has to be part of the band."
She looked at me, and she, I mean he, was nodding to that. Okay. So I gotta get her back somehow.
But for now, we need a temporary replacement asap. Besides… the fifty percent rule of the Evolution contest is still in effect. If Danny's disguise remains intact, then they're fine. But if we can get another girl in… even if they count Danny as a boy, UB will still be in compliance. I think Danny's disguise is perfect, actually, and I didn't think anyone can break it, but it's in my nature to want to make sure.
I looked to Danny and nodded.
"Mongo," she (I mean he) said, "I'm not scheming to take over the band. Please believe me. I'm just a late addition. I got no right, much less any interest, in taking away the band from anyone."
"We believe you, Danny," June said. "So who will lead the band for now, while Janet's, ummm, away?"
"Let's go by seniority," Danny said. "After Janet, who's been with the band the longest?"
"June. Well, in that case, does that mean June is our band's leader now?"
June shook her head. "Nuh-uh! No way am I gonna be the leader!"
"Simmer down, girl!" Danny made a patting-down motion. "Who's next in line, then, after June?"
"That would be Dale."
"Then, are you guys okay with him ?" I asked.
June and Mongo nodded.
"How about you, Danny?" I asked.
"Fine by me. Betsy?"
"Whatever you say, Danny."
"Why are you asking her?" Mongo asked.
"Dude, she's as legitimate a member as me. Besides, she's officially listed with the Evolution contest people as being part of the band."
Mongo looked at Betsy guiltily. "You're right Danny. Sorry Bets - I just had to ask."
"That's okay, Mongo. No offense taken. I know I'm just a member in name only."
Dale cleared his throat. "You're wrong, Betsy" he said. "You're a real member. But, anyway, we still have the problem of a replacement. Ideas?"
After a minute or so, Danny cleared his throat. "I think I know someone. Her name's Fallon. She's from my school's glee club. She's a decent guitarist and has a nice set of pipes. Plus she knows about me and the band already." Everyone reacted to that but she waved us down. "I know, I know, but she's okay - I promise. I'll talk to her and you guys can audition her tomorrow if you want."
I looked at Danny. "You're kidding, Dan. The redhead goth girl? From that thing with Tom Hennessy?"
"She's a good kid, Danielle. And she plays real good. I know that for a fact."
Dale groaned and gently banged his forehead on the table over and over.
"What's wrong, Dale," June asked worriedly. "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay, June."
"Then what's wrong?"
"It's just that… it's another redhead. Oh. My. God."
All of us laughed, and Danny just gave us an exasperated look.
to be continued...
Chapter Twenty-Five: An Audition For Fallon
***** (Danny) *****
So we got a mess of takeout food from the Italian place and started for Betsy's for an impromptu dinner thing. It was the best we could do on short notice and, after a quick call to her folks, Betsy said it was cool to have dinner at their house. Dale and Mongo took Dale's big F150 while the girls all rode with me in my Mustang.
I asked Danielle to fish out my phone from my pants pocket and to dial Fallon's number.
"No funny business!" I said when she giggled as she slid her hand into my pocket.
As I drove, I talked to Fallon via speakerphone.
"Hey, Red," I said.
"How's it hanging, Red," Fallon replied with a giggle.
"Oh, stop it already!" June said in mock exasperation.
"Who's that?"
"That's June Bright, our band's keyboardist," I said.
"From Unlimited Bandwidth? Cool."
"Speaking of which, I know it's super short notice, but can you meet us for dinner?"
"By 'us,' you mean…?"
"By 'us,' I mean me and the band."
This was greeted by silence.
"Danny?" she replied, "what's this about?"
"Just come over. I'll text you the address. We'll expect you there in about an hour? And bring your guitar."
"Guitar! What…?"
"Bye!" I grabbed the phone from Danielle and touched the button to hang up before anyone could embarrass me with Fallon. By anyone, I mean Danielle.
"Mwahahahahah," I laughed, like the bad guy in a 'B' movie. "Too late!"
"You're mean, bro," Danielle said, smiling.
"I am sure I do not know what you mean, young lady," I said in my best imitation of Mr. Wilson from homeroom. Danielle and Betsy, who were from my school, recognized the voice and giggled, and June smiled quizzically. Betsy explained while I drove up to the main gate of Betsy's house.
"I've forgotten how big your house is, Betsy," I said after we went through the gate. "Is Walter around?"
"He should be. My folks left this morning for a project in upstate New York. So Walter's in charge of the house."
"Huh? How come a butler's in charge?"
"You're right. Since mom and dad are away, then I guess I'm in charge since I'm Walter's boss. Temporarily his boss, that is. Ahhh! Power! Mwahahahahah! ... What... doesn't work?"
I shook my head, giggling. "I'm sorry, Bets, it doesn't. You still sound like a kid."
"Ahhh, shaddap!"
"Okay. Where do I pull up in this ginormous castle of yours?"
"Just around this bend, turn left, and then turn right at the next bend, and then another bend, and there are a bunch of open carports there. Take any empty one."
"Hmmm. So bend, left, right, bend and then bend again? You're kidding."
Danielle hit me on the shoulder. "Shut up, Danny," she said. "Just follow her directions."
"Okay, okay. Cool it, sis." I dutifully followed the directions and pulled into one of the open garages. There must have been fifteen of them. God, Betsy's folks are filthy rich!
Once we'd parked and I set the brake, people we didn't know opened our doors.
"Good evening, Master Daniel," the guy in a nice gray casual suit that opened my door said, and I saw it was Betsy's butler.
"Walter!" I said. "It's good to see you." I reached out and shook his hand.
"Good to see you as well, young sir. I see that you have brought the gang?"
"Yep!" And I grinned my best grin. And I could just glimpse a little smile flitting around his mouth.
He helped Betsy out of my car, as well as June, He then snapped his finger and another person relieved them of the containers of food they were carrying.
"I have put your other friends in the main living room, Ms Elizabeth," Walter said. "Is that all right? Or should we move the venue to the dining hall?" He indicated the food.
"No need, Walter," Betsy said, and led the way. "The living rooom's fine."
Dale parked in the carport beside ours and he and Mongo joined us as we all followed Betsy.
We ended up in a big, fancy living room where the gang was already lounging around.
"Food!" Jerry and Mike screamed when they spotted us, and Nikki rushed over to give me a kiss. One of the butlers wheeled in a couple of large, wheeled tables, and all the food we brought was quickly transferred from their cardboard boxes into fine china.
Betsy didn't bat an eye - she seemed used to it - and waved us closer to the table.
"Well, dig in!" she said. She herself got a little plate and put a couple of pieces of cannelloni on it.
Hugs, high-fives and fistbumps all around, and we dished ourselves some food.
We then draped ourselves over the Haley's furniture and told everyone what happened.
Betsy broke away for a while, pulled Walter aside and had a whispered conversation, and Walter and one of his guys left the room.
"What was that," I said, with my arm draped over Nikki's shoulders.
"Oh, nothing," Betsy said, coming back to the couch. "I just told Walter to be ready for Fallon when she arrives."
So, after looking at the guys and getting a go signal, I told my gang everything. It was a big surprise to everyone, but what was most surprising to them was Janet's leaving. Joanne became silent for a while - we knew she had a little thing for her - but after a while, she shrugged.
June and Drew moved aside to a corner of the living room, and Morgan followed. Morgan put his arm over Drew's shoulders and I smiled. I'm happy that my best friend finally found someone.
By the buffet, as usual, Mike and Mel were arguing, but they weren't being too loud about it so I didn't bother to shush them. Besides, with Jerry there to ride herd on those two, it shouldn't be so bad. In fact, I think Mel and Jerry were starting to become an item. Who'da thunk?
Dale, Mongo and I, along with Danielle, Nikki and Betsy, sat on the extra-big couch and continued to speculate about Janet's meltdown.
I just rode the chat and munched on some of the food we brought. I took time to call Tracey, and told her what happened. As expected, she was shocked by Janet's sudden departure. More importantly, however, I told her about the commitments we made to the band. Tracey said she'd bounce it off her mom as soon as she can, but she said she was sure Mrs. P will help, especially if it would guarantee our being part of their kick-off slash launch party.
I also told her about Fallon being Janet's possible replacement and she said she'd get to work on it and let the Evolution Concert people about the substitution in the official members list of UB. I told her to wait for my text before she made it official, though - the decision about Fallon wasn't final yet, but we'll know one way or the other tonight.
I also invited her to Betsy's, but she begged off - her mom won't let her leave this late. It wasn't really that late but I didn't bother to argue. Best not get dragged into a mother-daughter thing.
After a while, Walter came back and announced Fallon.
I jumped up and gave Fallon a hug.
"How're you doin', Red," I said.
"Doing okay," she replied. She wasn't in her goth look, which was surprising. "So what's happening here?"
I introduced her to everyone. Nikki and those that were at Nikki's house during that thing with Tom Hennessy recognized her right away. As for the others, I gave some more details, explaining that Fallon and I were from the same glee club in school.
"Ohmigod!" Dale said. "The great Dannie Fairchild is in the glee club?" And he and my other bandmates dissolved in laughter.
I looked at Fallon and sighed.
"Well, Danny," Fallon said, with hands on hips, "I hope you have a good reason for dragging me over here."
"Well, Fallon…" I then explained about Janet's temporary departure from the band, and we suddenly found ourselves with an opening. "Would you consider being our sixth bandmate?"
After a few moments, she shrugged.
"This is a big surprise, to say the least," she said. "I don't know, Danny. Is this a…"
"Yes, this a real request, and no, it's not a permanent position," I said, cutting her off. "But if you and the band want it to be permanent, I'm sure we can do that."
"What do I…"
"Basically we need another rhythm guitar and vocalist."
"What kind of…"
"Basically an all-around one, but mostly in the alto range. Which is exactly in your wheelhouse."
"Is there a…"
"No, there isn't a contract," I said, "or rather no 'real contract,' but because of the contest, and the possibility of getting a recording deal, all the members of the band needed to sign something." I raised a hand to forestall any follow-up question. "Danielle made up a simple agreement, and all of us have signed one. Basically, it just says you can't join another band or sign any recording deal without the consent of the other bandmembers."
"Sounds very…"
"…boilerplate? Yes, it is. So I assume you're okay with that?"
"Stop it, Danny!" Danielle giggled. "You need to…"
"That's such a trite old phrase." I said - "'I need to let you get a word in edgewise?' And, no, I'm not doing anything."
"You gotta…"
"I'm totally calm, Danielle," I said. "I'm just excited that Fallon's here. Besides, I'm not..."
"Doing it deliberately?" Betsy interjected. "Yes, you are, Danny."
"Stop it!" Danielle said.
"Must be a redhead thing," June said to Drew as they looked at the four of us.
"Yeah," Drew answered. "Most probably."
"Yep," Morgan chuckled. "Most definitely."
"Jeeze," Nikki said. "It's hard enough with Danny and Danielle and Betsy. Now, there's another one." She shook her head, giggled and hugged us around the neck.
"If I didn't love you…" I said, turned in her arms and just kissed her on the nose, and everyone went, "awww…"
"Ahem!" Fallon said. "What about this?" She held up her guitar and shook it.
***** (Dale) *****
At first, the new girl, Fallon, couldn't believe that she still had to audition. I mean, who wouldn't be mad? I knew I would. But Danny explained that she, I mean he, knew that Fallon had the stuff, but the rest of the band didn't. It was just a formality as far as he was concerned.
It sounded reasonable, I guess, but more because it was Danny saying it that made it sound reasonable.
So Betsy had Walter set Fallon up with one of the heavy straight-back chairs from the dining room, and he put it in front of their massive 110-inch TV, as well as two microphones on stands hooked up to the Haley's sound system, one set low enough for her guitar.
And with all fourteen of us on the sofa, couches, recliners and other chairs facing her, she sat and started plucking on her acoustic guitar her version of "The Power of Two."
"Now the parking lot is empty," Fallon sang, "everyone's gone someplace. I pick you up and, in the trunk, I've packed a cooler and a two-day suitcase."
Fallon had a pretty voice, and a pitch and tone that was right on key. It felt like she had a classically-trained voice, which went against her look - despite not having a painted face, overly-done eyes, contacts or black-dyed hair, she still looked somewhat like a goth girl with the straight hair and black-on-black long-sleeved attire.
"'Coz there's a place we like to drive way out in the country," she sang, "five miles out of the city limits, we're singing and your hands upon my knee…"
She sang in a spare but sweet way, and I can just imagine her harmonizing with Danny. I gestured for Danny to get in there but she was shaking her head. So I took her hand, pulled her next to Fallon and stepped back. I gestured for her to go on, and she shrugged as if saying, "whatever…"
She put her face right beside Fallon's to be near the mic, and they started to sing in harmony.
"So we're okay," they both sang, "we're fine. Baby, I'm here to stop your crying, chase all the ghosts from your head. I'm stronger than the monster beneath your bed, smarter than the tricks played on your heart. We'll look at them together and then we'll take 'em apart - adding up the total of a love that's true, multiply life by the power of two…"
Their voices meshed in a way that Danny's and Janet's never did, and I just bet the band will be better than ever.
Fallon then started her solo again, and the contrast between the duet chorus and just her was very pronounced, emphasizing the qualities of both kinds of singing. And then their switching back from Fallon's solo to their harmonizing duet was more than either could have managed alone. And the counterpointing, where in a certain part of the song, the two sort of took turns singing, only made the quality of their voices when separate and together more obvious.
Then, I had another brainstorm.
I went to where June, Drew and Morgan were and dragged June to Fallon as well, just in time for the final chorus. I stepped back.
"So we're okay," the three of them now sang, "we're fine. Baby, I'm here to stop your crying, chase all the ghosts from your head. I'm stronger than the monster beneath your bed, smarter than the tricks played on your heart. We'll look at them together and then we'll take 'em apart - adding up the total of a love that's true, multiply life by the power of two…"
And as Fallon played them out, my jaw literally dropped. The combination of the three was something else. I would have pulled in Betsy as well, but the song had already wound down.
For me, Fallon had passed her audition with more than flying colors. Looking at Danny and June, and then at Mongo and Betsy, I knew they felt the same. I sighed a small sigh of relief, that Janet's leaving won't mess up the band. In fact, it might have ended up being a good thing
In the silence that followed, I cleared my throat.
"I guess there's no question, right?" I asked. And the roar of approval was unanimous.
***** (Dale) *****
The rest of the night was more upbeat and, though there was a touch of melancholy, especially with us bandmembers, we didn't feel like the band was over anymore. I guess I had a touch of Janet's suspicion, thinking that Danielle and Danny sort of engineered this, but listening to Fallon and the others talk, it was clear this was a surprise for Fallon as well, plus the fact that Fallon clearly wasn't part of Danny's original gang. But, like we were, Fallon was game to join our growing band of friends. Danny just had that thing about her that made you want to be part of her gang. I mean his!
Over the rest of the evening, the band, plus Morgan and Danielle, planned out the things that we needed to do.
First off, we asked Betsy to get her "contract," copy it and print one out for Fallon. Betsy had Walter do it. It was just another reminder of how rich the Haleys were.
Fallon looked over the one-page agreement. All it said was that Fallon agreed that she was now part of the band until a majority of the band, or she, wants her out, and that she was not to join any other band nor participate in any other "music-related event, activity, agreement or contract" without the unanimous consent of the other members.
The only difference between Fallon's contract and ours was that her contract was only in effect until the Evolution Concert contest was over, with an option to continue to renew the contract with everyone's consent and agreement.
After a quick read, Fallon signed it right away.
As was expected, Fallon asked about the money and the band's schedule. Mongo took it upon himself to explain, and in his patented monotone, he explained that any income the band makes is split equally seven ways.
"But there are only six of us," Fallon said.
"The seventh is deposited in a bank account, and the band uses it for expenses and bills."
"Ahhh! Smart thinking. Now, what about the schedule?"
"Well, the band has only one steady gig at the moment - a once-a-week thing at Mario's. You know that fancy Italian bar-and-restaurant at the south side of town?"
"I've heard of it, but haven't been."
"That's where we play on Fridays, so that means your Friday nights are pretty much shot."
"But doesn't Danny have a Saturday morning show at the station?"
"Well, she… I mean he basically just gets a short nap after the gig and goes straight to the station early in the morning. And we usually meet up with him after his show and have a late breakfast, and then we practice in Mongo's garage for the rest of the afternoon."
"That's a very full Saturday."
"Well, we knock off at around four or five, which leaves Saturday night, and the whole of Sunday all to ourselves."
She then asked about the music we played and Mongo explained things. I couldn't participate much 'coz Danielle pulled me aside.
"What's up, Danielle?" I asked.
"Dale, When Fallon asked about the money, I just realized - what about that seventh bank account?"
"Danielle," I said, "you can't be serious. Janet wouldn't screw with…"
"And she wouldn't have done what she did this afternoon either, right?"
That made me pause.
"You have a point. Let's find a computer."
Betsy brought us to her room, and her desktop computer. Her room was so big, it was five times the size of mine. But I ignored all that and went directly to her study table and her computer.
I immediately logged onto the bank's system and checked out our band's bank account. And I found that the account had been emptied out.
Looking at the account details, there used to be close to twenty thousand in that account. Now, it's all gone.
"Danielle!" I called, and she rushed over.
I pointed to the screen.
"That bitch," she said.
to be continued...
Chapter 26 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he deals with getting turned on by his girlfriend. After her impromptu audition, Fallon's playing convinces everyone about her skills, and everyone thought she was a worthy replacement for Janet, even Mongo. Besides, it may just be temporary. But, then, they found out Janet cleaned out the band's bank account that same day... What the...!?! Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. |
Chapter Twenty-Six: Aftermath
***** (Betsy) *****
It didn't have the same impact to me - the amount I saw in their account, or rather was in their account, didn't seem much, but I never did have a feel for money. But, over the years, I've learned not to voice out my comments about money, otherwise, I'd just perpetuate my poor-little-rich-girl image.
I knew enough not to offer to replace the money that they'd lost, but how else I could help? But I also knew one other thing - I knew how it would feel to be betrayed.
We all trooped back to the living room where Danielle broke the news.
Of all the bandmembers, the most affected was Mongo. Clearly, he felt a degree of loyalty to Janet that the others didn't. Hence, he felt the most betrayed.
He looked so forlorn, so shellshocked. It looked like he was about to cry.
June went to him and gave him a hug.
"Why, June?" he asked. "I don't understand…"
"Shhh…" she said. "It'll be okay…"
"Of all the people…"
Danny went to him. "I'm sorry, dude," she said. "I don't know what happened. If I could take it all back, I'd wish I didn't even bring up the radio thing and kept all of this from happening."
"Not your fault, Danny…" he said. "Janet just wigged out or something."
"Besides, Danny," Dale continued, "she's been acting weird for a long time, now. It's like Janet was on drugs or something. Even if you didn't, It was probably just a matter of time."
"Could that be it, June?" Mongo asked. "You know her best. Do you think Janet's on drugs?"
"I don't know, Mongo."
Mongo cleared his throat. "Well… I guess there's no chance now of our group going back to how it was anymore."
"Don't think that, dude," Danny said. "You never can say."
"I know you don't think that, Danny."
"No," he said finally. "I don't."
"Do we call the cops on Janet?" June said. "She stole our..."
"No!" Mongo exclaimed.
"... Well..." he said after a moment, a little abashed by his reaction, "what I mean is, the band isn't really feeling the pinch of losing the money from that account... and we wouldn't really have that money if it weren't for Janet..."
"I don't necessarily agree with that, Mongo," June said. "One sixth of that money is mine. But we agreed we'd pool our money in case the band needs it for whatever. But if the band doesn't get to use it anyway, then I want my share back. She stole it, Mongo!"
"June..."
"And if you're saying we wouldn't have had the money in the first place if it weren't for Janet - that's a lot of bull, and you know it. The band's all of us. Sure, we wouldn't be here without Janet, but that goes for all of us: we wouldn't be here if it weren't for you or Dale, or me or Betsy and Danny!"
"I didn't mean..."
Danny went to the two and hugged them around the necks.
"Stop it, you two!" she said. "It's only money. We can't be fighting each other because of money! We're friends!"
The two relented and apologized to each other. Danny gave June a kiss on the cheek and mockingly whapped Mongo on the back of his head.
"You guys..." she smiled.
"So," Morgan said, "what now?"
"There's no 'what now.'" Dale said. "We just push on, I guess. What do you think, Danielle?"
"Let's make Janet's leaving official."
"Danielle!" Mongo reacted.
"Wait, Mongo!" Danielle said. "Lemme do this before you say anything. I promise it'll be clear. I'll need Betsy and her computer. Take a look at what we bring back, and then you can react."
Danielle and I went back to my room and did some research, and about thirty minutes later, we went back to the living room, where an impromptu karaoke party was currently in progress, care of Danny, Fallon and Fallon's guitar. I just bet Danny instigated it to break everyone out of their funk.
Neither Danielle nor I wanted to break up everyone's good time. Nevertheless, Danielle cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.
We showed them what we were up to - we printed up a kind of document that said that the members of the band were letting Janet go temporarily because of conflicting priorities, but were willing to take her back at a later time if and when all the members, including Janet, agreed. That way, things wouldn't be ambiguous, which was especially important for the people at Rockrgrrl.
Mongo nodded, and said it was completely reasonable, and everyone signed multiple copies, as well as signed the conforme portion for Fallon's agreement document. Danielle promised to have them notarized and get everyone copies of the two documents (Janet's copy of the document about her leaving would be Fedex'd to her house).
"Is that even legal, Danielle?" Mikey asked. "I mean, Janet didn't sign..."
"It's called a 'fiat accompli,'" I explained for Danielle. "If it came to a court thing, it depends on which side you're on. But the point is, what's done is done, and majority rules since there was no paper contract beforehand. And even if she raises a fuss, what can she do? Five against one. If it's put to a vote, she wouldn't win. But then, I'm no lawyer - I could be wrong."
Mongo nodded. "Thanks, Betsy, Danielle. I understand now. Thank you."
As for the bank account, everyone in the band agreed to table it for now, and they'd wait until they got to talk to Janet. But for now, they'd just open a new bank account with Dale, and me as the new signatory, to sign for any withdrawals. Mongo suggested me because he thought I'd be the least likely to run away with the money.
That's true. After all, I had a hundred times what was in that bank account Janet cleaned out, and that didn't even include my trust fund.
I promised to take care of setting up the new account (actually, I'd be getting Walter to work on it).
Since the following day was a schoolday, Danielle ended the evening relatively early. As expected, Nikki and Danielle rode with Danny, while June rode with Dale and Mongo in Dale's Ford. The rest of the gang - Morgan and Drew, plus Mel, Mike and Jerry, rode with Joanne in her mom's van. Fallon, having ridden an Uber going to my house, rode with the girls in Danny's Mustang.
I felt a little bit disappointed since I couldn't go with them, but I was going to see them tomorrow, anyway. That'll have to be enough.
to be continued...
Chapter 27 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he deals with getting turned on by his girlfriend. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school pop band as well as a radio DJ. After they've made Janet's replacement by Fallon official, the gang looks forward to an uncertain future for the band. Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. |
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Musings
***** (Nikki) *****
Seems lots of things were happening with Danny and her band. I mean his band.
All of us were preoccupied with helping the band prepare for their first solo TV concert, and Danny and Danielle were constantly in marathon phone meetings with Mrs. Piper and her people. It's all pretty exciting actually. But very frustrating for me.
And in all these things, I felt there was a distance that was developing between Danny and I. And I was not gonna let that continue.
In the morning, at school, I saw a tall man in a suit accept an envelope from Danielle. Danielle explained later that it was someone from Mrs. Piper's company who was supposed to get the papers from last night notarized. I was sooo suspicious until Danielle explained what it was about.
And then Danny told us he couldn't hang with us after school because he and Danielle needed to work on stuff. When I found out that Betsy was going with them, my reaction was a big glow of jealousy. But then, of course, Betsy was going with them - she was part of the band. But he explained he was afraid we'd just get bored if we tagged along. Guess what? We tagged along.
I knew I shouldn't feel this way, but that was how I felt. In my mind, I knew I could trust Danny, but what I couldn't trust were other girls. Even Danielle and Betsy. In my mind, I had to wonder why I couldn't trust them despite knowing them so well. In my heart, I debated with myself - what has changed? Why was I so suspicious of them now? Why don't I trust them anymore?
Still, whatever the case may be, I was gonna do something about it.
I asked Danielle for Tracey's number and then called Tracey at lunchtime. I asked if Danny had anything to do the following day. Tracey said there were lots to do tonight but there was nothing scheduled tomorrow, so I asked her if she could make sure nothing will come up since I was planning a date. Tracey giggled and said she'll make sure, making me feel like we were co-conspirators or something.
I made some excuses to Danny, Danielle and the others after my call, and said I had to take care of something. I gave Danny a kiss and went to the almost-deserted library, pulled up the local Holiday Inn site on my phone (actually, our little town didn't even rate a real Holiday Inn - only a Holiday Inn Express) and booked a room. I had a driver's ID that stated I was Nikki "Smith," and was twenty-one years old. It was pretty good since Drew's older brother Jim got it a couple of months ago using his connections in the DMV. It could even stand up to an ID check - if it was nothing too rigorous, of course, and if it was just a regular check, then I'm good. I could even use it for driving.
Jim did suggest to keep the name close to my real one, but I said, wouldn't that make it easy to track me down, but he said that wasn't the purpose of the card.
"The driver's license you'll get will only be good for when you get carded," Jim said, "or when you want to get into a club, or to check into a hotel or something. It's no good if you're trying to hide from the FBI or anything like that, or if you're caught stealing or something. So it doesn't really make sense to change your name completely. Just change the last name. That way, no one would make the mistake of calling you by your name instead of your fake name while you guys are out bar-hopping or something."
In that case, I just picked the last name "Smith," and kept everything the same. And that was why Nicolette Anne Smith has the same name as Nicolette Anne Anderson. lol
Using my new ID, I was able to get an AmEx Bluebird prepaid debit card under the same name. I withdrew some money from my bank account and put it on the card. I also top it up whenever I can. By now, it had a couple of thousand on it.
Crossing my fingers, I typed in my debit card's number for my hotel booking, hoping that a prepaid card would be accepted, and booked a room for two for tomorrow. To make them less suspicious, I typed in the comments window that I'd be accompanied by my cousin Danielle, and that we just needed a room for the night coz we were waiting for our bus ride to Bethesda the following day (I knew that there was only one bus that passes by Bethesda, and it leaves the station daily at 9AM). Hopefully, those details would take away any assumptions the Holiday Inn people might have made when I booked a room with a king size bed.
I had my fingers crossed and was relieved when it was confirmed. Whew! And I'm sure "Nicolette Anne Smith's" driver's license, and "Danielle Louise Fairchild's" bus pass would be good enough when we check in at the front desk tomorrow (I had to find a way to get Danielle's bus pass!).
I pulled up the check-in and check-out times - 3PM check-in, and 11AM check-out the following day - which was excellent. I typed in the comments of my registration that we'd be checking in between 4 and 5PM, and were leaving before 9AM the following day.
Anyway, I finished up and went back to join the guys. Lunch was almost over by that time but I didn't mind. I'll just mooch off Danny later - he always has munchies. I held Danny around the waist and whispered in his ear.
"Just found out you're not gonna be busy tomorrow after school," I said, wagging my eyebrows. "Wanna hang out?"
"Sure!" he said. "Let's tell…"
I gave him a kiss to stop him talking. Why would I want to invite the others?
"How about just the two of us?" I said. "We haven't hung out for a while when it was just us."
He looked delighted, and gave me a kiss. "Sounds great!" he said.
Later, I pulled Mel aside and asked if it was okay with her if she covered for me, and tell folks I was staying at her place tomorrow night. She asked what was up, and I said I had something going on with Danny tomorrow.
She gave me a somewhat hostile, jealous look, but after a moment, Mel sort of blinked, smiled and agreed. She said she'll want details afterwards, and we both giggled. Whatever that look was, it was gone so quickly, I hardly noticed.
Even though Danny and I weren't talking much, Danny was always in the center of our gang's activities. Plans for tonight were mostly set and we talked about it - hanging in our town's own "coliseum," the Arclight, while the band, the producers and the floor director worked out the program, the band's moves and their blocking. The costume director was also going to be there as well as all the other technical people. Morgan was part of it as well since he was officially the guy who would be building up the band's playlist (with the band's input, of course), and Danielle was there as the band's manager, making sure the band was represented and got what they needed.
Morgan had an incredible idea for the event's theme song. I didn't know where he dug up that old song but everyone agreed that it had the right tone for radio, and it had, as Danny and Morgan said, all the right retro hooks… whatever that meant.
We liked it. A little too disco for my taste, but Morgan said that was just what was needed.
As for us, we'd just hang out with Danny and the band as Danny's, well, entourage, I guess. Not that we felt we weren't doing anything, or were just hangers-on. For example I was Danny's sort of gofer girl, or as Mrs. Piper called it, her Girl Friday (whatever that meant), and Mickey and Jerry were there geeking out. There wouldn't be too many pretty girls around this early in the planning, Danny said, but there were lots happening to keep the boys' minds occupied. Joanne, too, actually - she was into that kind of thing as well, I guess. As for sexy ole Drew, she was Morgan's Girl Friday. And Mel would probably just be sitting and watching everything with a contented smile on her face - she was the self-admitted concert geek, and to be backstage in an event like this must be close to heaven for her.
However, Danielle stressed that we would be working on school stuff before everything starts at six, giving everyone a little under three hours to do their school assignments. Normally, no one would have paid attention to that except that Danny had an agreement with Mrs. Piper, aided and abetted by the Fairchilds, that required him to maintain a minimum B-minus grade average, so everyone just went along with group studies since Danny had to. Most everyone always went along if it was with Danny. Truth be told, though, I wouldn't complain - I was doing better than I ever did at school, and I suspect the others were as well. And I got to spend more time with Danny, which was the whole point.
Danny had asked his guitars to be stored at the venue last night, and the rest of the band followed suit, as usual. Danielle said someone from PiperCorp passed by their house early this morning and picked up Danny's stuff, and it was the same with the others. The only holdout was Fallon, who didn't want her stuff to stay there, so she would be bringing her guitars herself every night.
I couldn't care much about that, since I was all excited for tomorrow. My excitement was almost all-consuming. In fact, my classes for that day didn't go well - I was too distracted. And I counted the minutes when school would be over and I would be with Danny again.
After my last class for the day, I shot out of the room and made a beeline to Danny's class. I got there just as the kids were walking out of the classroom, and when I saw him come out, I felt a visceral kind of relief. I was a little confused by that, but that disappeared when I got to hold him and give him a kiss.
***** (Nikki) *****
At the Arclight Coliseum, we found a bunch of tables pushed together in front of the orchestra pit for us. Mrs. Piper came bustling in with Tracey, her daughter. She said the tables were supposed to be the gang's personal space, where we could stay or do whatever we wanted.
"And where we'll be out of the way and not bother anybody," Tracey mock-whispered. No one said anything, but after a beat, everyone broke into laughter.
"Tracey!" Mrs. Piper said. "How could you say that!" Tracey giggled and stuck her tongue out at her.
Mrs. Piper sighed theatrically. "Ignore her, kids. Anyway, I'm gonna leave all of you and will come fetch the band in a few hours." She pointed to the side. "The craft service table is there, and the bathrooms are beyond that. Make yourselves at home."
All the guys jumped at the invitation, while the rest of us just started to pull out books.
The boys came back with various munchies, and Danny came back with an apple, chips and a diet coke - my usual snack, and a big plate of stuff for himself. The other guys put big plates of assorted stuff and bottles of water in the middle of the table, and we started to picnic.
"Guys?" Danielle waved to her books. The guys groaned and started on homework.
From time to time, Mrs. Piper would grab a piece of fruit or a bottle of water or something from craft services, and pass by our table, checking up on us, apparently. Because of which, Tracey also stayed with us to work on her homework as well. Despite looking older than us, she was actually our age, apparently, and though she studied in the private school just outside of town, her books and stuff seemed much like ours. She was awfully nice and so well-meaning. It was a shame she wasn't prettier.
But as I looked closer at her, I realized something.
I whispered into Danny's ear and she, I mean he, confirmed my suspicion - Tracey was actually a he, or rather, she was transgender. Her shoulders were a trifle too wide, and she didn't have the hips that you'd expect. And her voice, though quite feminine, was just a touch off. And though she no doubt had work done on her face, it was just enough to let her pass. You'd probably not notice if you didn't know, and just assumed she was just a homelier kind of girl than the rest of us, and was just a trifle too tall.
But she was Danny's friend, which meant she was my friend, too. So I'm not gonna hurt her, and the first one to say anything mean to her will have me to face. And besides, with a little bit of help, I'm sure we can make her quite cute.
Unsurprisingly, Danny and Danielle were the first ones to finish their school stuff, and they helped out the rest of us. Danny, of course, was my personal tutor. Heehee. I took that time to let Danielle know I was planning a date with Danny after school tomorrow. After a moment when she gave me some undefinable, slightly angry look (it disappeared so quickly, I wasn't sure if it happened at all), she gave me a hug and said she'll make sure everyone was off our backs.
A close third to Danny and Danielle finishing her homework was Tracey. She packed away her school stuff when she finished but stuck around to help the others. Particularly, she helped Mike more than the rest, and it was obvious Mike was flattered. All of us grinned at each other, and gave each other knowing nods and wagging eyebrows. I had a fleeting idea about telling him Tracey's secret, but I thought about it and decided not to. There was nothing to worry about, and no use hurting Tracey, or Mike for that matter, but if it progresses beyond being friends, someone has to clue Mike in (if Tracey doesn't). Not because of anything, but only because Mike had a right to know. Anyway, it was still academic at the moment, so I think we'll just cross that bridge when we're there.
Betsy missed much of the by-play because she was constantly texting people. Class president stuff, no doubt. And it's a wonder that she was able to do all her homework. But she was the smartest among us, I think, and it's no wonder she was at the top of our class.
Fallon, Dale, June and Mongo arrived eventually, and Mrs. Piper called the band in when they did. Morgan and Danielle went with them as well and they started "working on sort of important things," as Mongo would say.
There was no singing or anything. The work was all a lot of planning and technical talk about music, song lengths, blocking, lighting, and a lot of work with the floor director and the choreographers. It was a case of all hands on-board, and everyone was busy. Including me. I ended up fetching things for Danny and other errands. I didn't resent it in the least, and was pleased that I got to do important stuff.
One of the bigger topics of discussion were their outfits, believe it or not, but Danielle was there to smooth things out, making sure the guys had final approval for anything the costume director decided on. As for Morgan, he had his hands full, too, talking to the band, the director and Mrs. Piper, and explaining his ideas for the music. The music director wasn't too happy having to consider suggestions from a teenager, but Mrs. Piper insisted.
The main director also complained about this being such a rush job, and having to do things on the fly, but with Mrs. Piper breathing down his neck, he eventually accepted the state of things, and made everything happen.
By the end of the night, they had a more-or-less solid plan for the program. Mrs. Piper's decision for doing this planning at the venue was right-on, as it would never have gone as smoothly as it did if it was just done at the office. Being at the venue itself allowed them to confirm their plans immediately since they had the place itself to confirm lighting, spacing, music & sound levels, logistics and crowd control plans.
They also turned up some things that they needed to work out, one of them being they needed more people - like backup singers - and Fallon suggested recruiting the glee club from school. Mrs. Piper was all about hiring professional singers, but Morgan said that Fallon's idea was so much better. One of the things UB was known for was that they were just an amateur band made up of kids. So having a bunch of kids as backup singers would just add to that vibe.
Mrs. Piper said these kids better be good, and Fallon and Danny stepped up to vouch for them. Mrs. Piper reluctantly agreed, and only did so with the provision that, if they didn't perform up to expectations, she was going to get professionals.
She then called her legal people to find out how to get kids in the program.
It was just as well, Mrs. Piper said, that they couldn't start right away on practicing - they'd need all of tomorrow just to prepare things. So there'd be nothing scheduled for them tomorrow, and they'd just resume work the following day. (I cheered silently - that meant my date with Danny could push through with no hitches.)
Of course, that meant someone needed to contact the glee club's adviser and arrange things. Danielle and Fallon promised to take care of that tomorrow, and that was that.
I could tell that everyone worked real hard tonight. But for us - not so much: we were eventually reduced to just staying out of the way and watching all the frenetic work around us.
Later, over dinner, Morgan said that most of his song and music suggestions were accepted, and they were designing the show around them.
"Well, duh?" Mickey said. "Of course, they will! What else?"
"Shut up, Mickey!"
Betsy did ask if someone could find the sheet music for the songs (we all knew Betsy preferred having the sheet music since she never played by ear), but Morgan said that the music director promised those would be available day after tomorrow.
With that, Morgan brought out his Android phone, turned up the volume to maximum, and used his VLC app to play all the originals of the songs to be used in the show. Everyone, even Mongo, agreed that the playlist was great, and we all enjoyed the music while we enjoyed our dinner.
At the end of the meal, everyone was singing along to the songs until our waiter said some of the other patrons were complaining. It was just as well that we were done.
"High fidelity, high!" everyone sang at the top of our lungs as we walked on the sidewalk to our various vehicles.
As usual, I rode with Danny, with Betsy and Danielle at the back (Danielle had long ceded the front seat to me, and I appreciated it). And, as usual, she, I mean, he, dropped Betsy off first and then me.
I gave Danielle a farewell hug and "accidentally" hooked her purse. It fell on the ground and the clamshell lock popped open, spilling her purse's contents on my driveway. Dutifully, I helped her put her stuff back in her purse but I surreptitiously pocketed her bus pass. She rarely rides the bus anymore, so she probably wouldn't miss it.
I turned to Danny and reminded him about our date tomorrow, and that it'll just be the two of us. And after a long kiss, she got in her car, and drove away. I mean he! Dammit!
to be continued...
Chapter 28 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he deals with getting turned on by his girlfriend. But, apparently, Nikki more than reciprocated his feelings, and has hatched a scheme: just as they started preparing for the concert, Nikki put her own plan for her first night alone with Danny into motion. Indeed, there never is a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. |
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Before Date Night
***** (Danny) *****
Driving home, Danielle remarked that I was oddly silent. I shrugged.
"Betcha you're thinking of your date with Nikki tomorrow," she said and pinched my cheek.
"Quit it, Danielle!" I said and knocked her hand away.
She chortled some more.
I couldn't help but smile a little bit.
"I guess I'm a little nervous, Danielle," I said. "This'll just be the second time Nikki and I will be alone. And this it's all night. And how did you know about it, anyway?"
"Nikki told me," she dimpled.
I gave her a little moue of irritation.
"Don't worry, li'l bro," she said. "I'll make sure you're not bothered by the gang, and you can spend the rest of the day tomorrow making sweet, sweet love to the beautiful Nikki." She made little kissy sounds.
I harrumphed half in irritation and half in amusement.
Truth be told, I was very excited. And this could be, as uncle Nathan would say, "target of opportunity." And after tomorrow, my virginity may be a thing of the past. My thoughts were pleasantly lecherous all the way home. At least Nikki and I were both over sixteen so it won't be illegal, heheh. No underage sex here!
Danielle asked why I was chuckling, and I just waved it away. "Oh, nothing," I said.
Besides, I thought, it'll probably just be dinner out and maybe a movie. Still, I was unreasonably hopeful.
Heheheheh.
"Be sure to bring protection, just in case," Danielle said with an evil smile. "Heehee…"
My sister is one big buzzkill. Sometimes this twin pseudo-mind reading was a pain.
Later that night, I called up Nikki and tried to find out where we were going tomorrow, but she said it'll be a surprise. I asked if we're going dancing or something, or if I should be dressed in any particular way.
"It's a surprise!" she giggled. "You don't need to bring anything except your sexy little bod, babe."
I laughed at that. Nevertheless, I decided to spruce up a bit just in case. I didn't realize how nervous I was about this lousy date until I found myself knocking on Danielle's door and asking for some help with my outfit for tomorrow.
***** (Danny) *****
In the morning, I drove to Nikki's to pick her up, all alone. Danielle had decided to ride with Joanne for a change this morning. I, of course, didn't assume it was a setup. Not… (ugh! That's so ten years ago, I laughed to myself.)
When I drove up their house, I found her waiting at the curb with two wheelie bags.
She had a finger over her lips in a shushing motion.
"Keep it down, Danny," she whispered fiercely after giving me a kiss when she leaned into through my car window. "Mom doesn't know."
"Doesn't know what?" I asked.
She pointed to her wheelie bags. "She doesn't know about these."
I got out and took her bags and put them in the trunk.
"I thought we had a date today. Are you going on a trip?"
"No!" she said. "It's for the date later."
"Huh?"
She then explained her plans for us - checking into a hotel and... other stuff.
I was surprised. It wasn't like Nikki to be this forward and aggressive. But I liked it. And to have Nikki all to myself was something I've been dreaming of for the longest time. In fact, I brought a backpack of spare clothes and stuff myself, just in case it'd be something like this.
"So?" Nikki said.
I was worried about what our folks would say if they ever found out. I wasn't worried about the guys, though - if they don't know about it yet, I'm pretty sure that they eventually would. Nikki's already told Danielle, and even if she doesn't tell, the fact that Nikki and I weren't with them would make them assume things.
So I weighed things - if it was worth the risk, I mean. But with Nikki smiling at me with a smoky, sultry smile that I haven't seen on her before, I started getting way turned on as I thought of the possibilities.
So I nodded.
She rushed me, and I banged my head against the car as she started to kiss the shit out of me.
Despite us being out in the street, Nikki was like a wild woman. It was like she wanted to eat my face off the way she had her lips all over me. If I let her, she'd probably have had my shirt off, and maybe more, and maybe we wouldn't make it to the hotel room anymore. I found myself straining against my pants, and would have let things go farther, but reason and logic took hold.
Though I didn't want to, I fended her off, in the gentlest way I could.
Somehow, she got the message and let me go.
"We gotta get to school, Nikki," I said, breathing hard.
"I don't know if I can wait that long, Danny!"
"I know what you mean, but we have to."
She nodded. We both got in the car and started on our way to school.
"So," I said, "are you gonna tell me about those bags?"
"Like I said, that's for later," she replied.
"Nikki…"
"Okay, okay," she pouted. "So I got us a room, right? But so that it'll be easier to check in, I decided to say that you were my cousin, ummm, Danielle…"
Oh, no…
"So…" I said, "What're in the bags are…"
"Clothes?" she answered tentatively, "For you and me?" She had a look that was halfway between crying and being worried.
My first reaction was anger, and I was about to explode at her, but when I saw her face, I couldn't.
I turned back to face the road, and drove on silently, thinking about that. I guess I wasn't really surprised. She never said she preferred me as a girl, but it was obvious - a fact that I've never really completely acknowledged until now.
But then again, so did the gang… Also something I never fully acknowledged 'til now. And then…
And then I thought of Danielle.
Sure, she liked me dressing up like a girl most times, but she said she never really thought of me as a girl. And whether she said that for my benefit so as not to hurt me - I don't really know.
But she's been consistent. Sure, there was always some confusion about what pronoun she used with me, but it wasn't like she wanted me to be a girl. It was like she didn't care if I was a guy or a girl - that she didn't really prefer me to be one or the other.
But then, whether she preferred me as a girl or not, she did like me to dress like one. But, after thinking of that a bit, I changed my mind. In the beginning, she did like me dressing like a girl, for her own reasons. That gave me the creepy thought, that she liked me as a girl in that way. I guess that's been on my mind the whole time, but I had never really faced up to it. I don't think anyone could blame me for that.
But, over time, that had seemed to fade, that she probably got used to how I was and our dynamic reverted back to brother-and-sister. Except that she still thought I looked best dressed as a girl, and tried to get me to dress like one whenever she could, but only if we could get away with it. But did that make any sense? That she thought of me as her brother yet wanted me to dress like a girl? How did that fit into a normal brother-sister dynamic?
The answer, as I thought it through, was that it didn't.
But was that necessarily a bad thing?
I knew my sister loved me, and she was totally supportive of me. And I loved her, too. And I knew I'd never do anything, or allow anyone, to hurt her.
Maybe she just wanted me looking good, and it didn't matter whether I was dressed as a guy or a girl. The big difference was that it just so happened that I looked better when I dressed as a girl. And I guess, to most of the others, I suspected they thought I looked better as a girl, too.
So, getting me dressed as a girl might just be the same thing when she helped her girl-pals to dress up or shop for clothes. But then she would help me, too, when I wanted to get all duded up. In fact, my current guy ensemble was all largely her idea.
Truth be told, though, girl clothes, with the exception of high heels, felt better: the fabrics were softer, the cut more form-fitting, the choices more varied, and if I really did want to dress like a guy, there were girl outfits that looked like guy outfits, too. I've heard and read about girls complaining how uncomfortable their outfits were, and that it was hard to move in them et cetera, but by and large, they mostly weren't. Girls just liked to complain, I think. Except for the heels. Those really were uncomfortable.
But did Nikki prefer me as a girl? I guess, deep down, I thought so. I mean, here we were, Nikki scheming to have me in girl clothes and spending the night with me, but as a girl. But dressing up like a girl in the band all these months - did that even bother me anymore?
I guess it did.
But didn't Danielle start out that way? And if so, would Nikki eventually get used to me enough that it wouldn't really matter to her if I was a guy or a girl? Just like with Danielle?
I just need to give her time, I guess.
And as for the gang, I guess I'll just stick with them and give it time for that to happen with them, too.
I looked at Nikki.
"So?" she repeated, her worried look now bordering on panic - that I would say no.
I gave her a smile and nodded. She smiled just like a little girl on her birthday, and hugged me around the neck, peppering my face with little kisses. Good thing traffic was light today, otherwise my swerving around might have gotten us in an accident.
***** (Danny) *****
We talked about how to get the others to cover for us, so she said she told her folks she'd be sleeping over at Mel's. She'd already asked Mel and Danielle to cover, and they'd confirm to our folks I was with Mel. For me, I said I'd tell our folks that I'll be sleeping at Morgan's.
"You should have told them last night," Nikki said. "It's pretty short notice. Do you think they'll be okay with it?"
I shrugged. "I think so. They've never said no before, when I tell them I'd be sleeping over at Morgan's, or with the other guys. I'll try and catch Morgan later and tell him to cover for us."
When we got to the school parking lot, and I parked in my usual spot, the rest of the gang was there waiting. As usual. We were slightly behind, so after the usual hi's and hellos, we walked directly to class with minimal byplay. Mel and Danielle were practically sending out morse code to everyone that Nikki and I had something going on later. The gang was curious but didn't know how to ask us.
When the others left for their classes, and just before Mr. Wilson arrived, I explained to Morgan, and he agreed to cover for us. That meant that he'd have to be near the phone the whole night to intercept any calls, but that was nothing new - he'd done it before, as did all of us.
I was distracted for the rest of the day, and most of my teachers commented on it. What the heck, I was distracted.
Over lunch, Fallon came over to say hi, and she took Danielle over to the faculty room to have a chat with Mrs. Sparks, the class adviser for the high school glee club.
The guys then talked a bit about what to do given that Mrs. Piper canceled work tonight. Joanne suggested a movie but Betsy begged off because she had lots of class-president stuff that she had been letting slide.
As for Mel, she said Nikki was spending the night at her place to help her work on a school project. And then Morgan said I was going to help him with the playlist over at his place. Everyone gave each other knowing looks and smirks, and Mikey elbowed me in the ribs. Nikki grinned at me and gave me a big kiss. Talk about transparent secrets…
That reminded me. I gave Mom a call.
When lunch was halfway over, Danielle and Fallon came back. I had to say that Fallon was looking pretty good. Aside from the all-black outfit, she wasn't at all goth-like, and she looked real pretty and, ummm, normal. She wasn't wearing her trademark jewelry as well.
And with the over-abundance of redheads, our group was starting to attract more attention than usual, which delighted the girls, and got the boys primping.
Danielle had taken down notes from their meeting with Mrs. Sparks, and referred to them. She told us Mrs. Sparks said she was excited for this opportunity for the club, and she wholeheartedly supported us. She'd have to talk with the parents and get them to sign the required permission slips, and Mrs. Piper needs to agree to some limitations. Fallon showed us a sample of Mrs. Sparks' form, with lots of scribbled-down notes on it.
So, provided Mrs. Piper can insure that Mrs. Sparks' requirements were complied with, the backup singers were a lock. Danielle was going to call Tracey later and see if she and Fallon could meet with her and Mrs. Piper tonight.
Joanne offered to drive them, so that just left Mike and Jerry.
A little timidly, Mike asked if he could tag along with them to their meeting with Tracey and Mrs. Piper, which started another round of good-natured ribbing, this time with Mike - with the implication that he was sweet on Tracey.
It ended with Jerry tagging along as well, which meant things were set for everyone.
That was a relief, because that meant everyone was distracted from what everyone already knew of Nikki's and my plans.
After classes, to keep up the flimsy pretense, Mel rode with Nikki and me, and Morgan went home on his bike, where I supposedly was to follow. And the rest of the gang, plus Fallon, went on to Mrs. Piper's. Hmmm. Looks like we have another new member for our not-so-little gang.
to be continued...
Chapter 29 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he deals with getting turned on by his girlfriend. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school pop band as well as a radio DJ. Danny, is more than excited for his first night alone with his gorgeous girlfriend, and is hardly able to sit still in his excitement. They really didn't fool anyone, though - the gang knew what they were planning. Nevertheless, they aided and abetted the two, and covered for them with the parental units. Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. (Warning: Explicit content ahead.) |
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Check-In
***** (Mel) *****
When we got to my house, Nikki asked if they could come in to change, so I waved them in.
"Mama!" I called, stepping into the house, "I'm home!"
"Hi, Mellie," she responded. "I'm in the kitchen." She was busy so she didn't come out and just yelled. Ohmigod. So embarrassing...
"Nikki and Danielle are here," I said. "I'll just bring them up to my room and then I'll come down and help you."
"Hi, Nikki!" she called. "Hi, Danielle! Do you girls want to stay for dinner?"
"Hi, Mrs. Chisholm," Danny called back with a voice uncannily similar to her sister's voice. I mean his!
I frantically waved them on up to my room before mom decided to come out, and she and Nikki went up with one of Nikki's wheelie bags.
All this shouting… I sighed, embarrassed. Just another typical day at my place. I went to the kitchen.
"Stop with the shouting , mama," I said, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You're embarrassing me."
"Hi, dear," she giggled. "Are the girls staying? Invite them to dinner."
"Nikki has plans, mama," I said, "and Danielle has a meeting about that thing she's helping organize for that band of hers."
I thought a bit. The cover! "But Nikki will be back later," I added belatedly. "Would it be okay if she stayed overnight? She's gonna be helping me with some school stuff."
"That's too bad. Maybe next time. Sure, Nikki can stay, if it's okay with Mrs. Anderson. I'll give her a call later. Just keep the noise down. I know how you and your girlfriends get when you're together. I'm gonna need my sleep - I have an early shift at the hospital tomorrow, you know. In fact, I might be leaving at around four in the morning so I probably won't see you until after school." She looked sad. "… as usual…"
"I know," I said and sighed, and kissed her on the cheek. "You need some help with anything?"
"It's all right, dear. Go keep your friends company."
"They're getting changed so I'll give them some time. Lemme help with dinner."
When we were almost done, and I was finishing cleaning and cutting up the leafy greens for the salad, the two came out.
I had to whistle. Both of them looked very clean-cut and gorgeous. Nikki was looking so pretty in a grown-up and sophisticated way. So was Danny. But… ohmigod. Both were wearing our regular kind of clothes but they were looking a little older and more sophisticated. But even in regular clothes, Danny was… Ohmigod... I bet even if Danny wore a tatty old sweater, she'll still look like she was strutting down some fashion show runway. Better than Danielle, even. Ohmigod…
"Well, girls," mom said, "you're dressed real nice! What's the occasion?"
"I have a date with Danny," Nikki dimpled. When she said that, Danny looked a little alarmed, like, is Nikki giving her away? So Danny didn't speak and just tried to smile.
"What about you, Danielle?"
I could see Danny sigh with relief - Mom didn't see Danny but only Danielle.
"Ummm…" Danny said, "I have a meeting with Mrs. Piper, the owner of the radio station where Danny works."
"That's why she's in corporate mode," Nikki said. "Sorry we can't stay for dinner, Mrs. C."
"That's all right, dearie," mom said. "Maybe next time. Now, don't keep your young man waiting. Go, go!" She shooed them out, and they left giggling.
"See you later tonight, Nikki!" I called. They waved goodbye and Nikki gave me a wink before stepping out.
"You have very pretty friends," mom said, "but not as pretty as my Mellie!" she gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I blushed.
"Danielle in particular - I haven't seen her looking so pretty. It's a shame she doesn't have a boyfriend."
"Well, Morgan said she might be interested in Jim Logan?" Which was true - Danielle really had her eye on Jim, our school's hunky star soccer player. Drew was, in fact arranging a date.
"Who's Jim Logan?"
"He's Drew's brother. You know, the soccer guy from school?"
"Wait - Drew's that busty friend of yours?"
"Mama! God, you're embarrassing. Good thing they aren't here."
"Don't you know, honey? Embarrassing your children in front of their friends is one of the perks of being a parent." She giggled.
"Hmmmph!"
I continued to help her prepare dinner, and as we worked, I had to wonder. I know Danny's a guy. But I was getting off on her looking like a girl… Lesbian tendencies?
***** (Danny) *****
Nikki said she didn't mind if we both changed in Mel's room, but I decided to change in the Chisholm's bathroom. I quickly got out of my guy clothes and folded them into the smallest package I could, and put on what Nikki handed me. The size of the bralette was right on, and it seemed brand-new - these were definitely not hers. So was the underwear - it was a pair of Versace men's thong briefs, and it felt very close to the women's thongs that Danielle sometimes had me wear except it had the pocket in front, and was very comfortable. I knew enough that, with the cut, the material and the closeness of the fit (it was a size smaller than my usual size), it wouldn't show in the pants that Nikki provided, but I was still worried that I might… come out. Wish I brought a pair of my thong gaffs. I guess I'll just be careful how I… arranged myself down there.
I went back to Mel's room and handed Nikki my guy clothes and shoes. She was also almost done, but stopped to put my my clothes in a used shopping bag, put it in her wheelie, and put my shoes in another bag. I took a peek in the wheelie.
I couldn't believe the stuff Nikki had in there. She clearly had a plan, but looking at the stuff in there, I started to worry.
The outfit she had me change into was a collarless burgundy cropped blazer with the stretchy, cropped bralette underneath that had crisscrossed cords on the front, a surplice V-neck and scallop-edged floral lace that went down to a sheer hem. It had adjustable spaghetti straps and a Y-back. Of course, this was all hidden by the blazer, which made it look like just a lacey blouse under it. Nikki liked the fact that my tummy was bare, and poked me there. It didn't help that the blazer's long sleeves emphasized the open-front silhouette, though the angled hem gave it a streamlined finish - all-in-all, it made me look more sophisticated and older. Nikki also paired it with faux leather leggings with zippers for the front pockets. For shoes, she had me in white faux leather ankle boots with a round toe and an ankle-high shaft with cut-outs on the sides. It had wrapped ankle straps and buckles at the sides and a faux stacked heel that was about two inches - not too high to make it difficult for me to manage my 'stang's pedals.
When she handed me a black patent leather clutch with a strap, my outfit was complete. As I waited for her to finish dressing, I got my stuff out of her bag and transferred all the stuff that were in my pants pockets into the little purse, including a pack of condoms I got before I went to Nikki's, just in case. The box didn't fit, though, so I put them in the blazer's pocket instead.
For herself, Nikki had picked a chic white open front blazer with vertical magenta stripes. The notched lapels and cuffed three quarter sleeves gave it a slouchy boyfriend silhouette but the faux pockets were totally useless. Underneath, she wore a sheer, shiny hot-pink collarless top with a boat neck and spaghetti straps, and she paired it with a very sexy pair of designer slim-fit skinny jeans and tan high-heeled, tooled cowgirl boots that the jeans tucked into.
When I looked at Nikki and myself in Mel's full-length mirror, I had to admit we were looking pretty mature and sexy.
Listening to my inner monologue, I now knew I've really absorbed Danielle's tutelage when it comes to women's fashions. I wondered if it'll ever become more useful than just cataloguing the clothes that my sister or girlfriend make me wear.
Anyway, Nikki definitely got us nice outfits, but they weren't that over-the-top. These outfits, though sexy, would probably pass muster in school (except for my bare midriff). But their intention was to make us look older as well - at least college-age. So more than making us look sexy, they made us more adult-looking and sophisticated than girls our age. Which was the whole point - so that we won't have problems when we check in.
What got to me was the other stuff she had in the bag. Maybe I can talk Nikki out of me changing into them later.
After we had said goodbye to Mel and her mom, we stepped out of their house and went to my car.
I put the wheelie back in the 'stang's trunk and Nikki just dumped my dirty old sneakers in the backseat's footwell, and then we drove off.
Our ride to the hotel was full of omens and portents. Good omens, of course. We held hands as I drove.
I wasn't talking as I needed to concentrate on my driving. As it was, I was having a difficult time focusing on the road when all I could think of was Nikki. I was in physical pain, actually - erections and tight women's leather pants don't go together - but it was, paradoxically, helpful: the pain was more effective than someone pouring a bucket of ice water on me, and I was able to calm down enough, and it went away. Well, mostly.
We pulled up to the hotel and I popped the boot. No one came out to help us with our luggage, but it was just a Holiday Inn Express, after all. I got out her two wheelie bags from the boot, took all of our school stuff as well as my overnighter from the back seat and dumped them in the boot (Nikki said I wouldn't need the overnighter). Someone eventually did come up, gave us a valet parking ticket, and drove our car into the underground parking.
It wasn't bad, as far as cut-rate hotels go - in fact, it was pretty good. Nikki and I looked around as we each took a wheelie and walked to the front desk. I artfully hung my little purse around my neck in such as way that the purse covered most of my crotch and hid, or distracted from, any evidence of my, ummm, excitement.
"Hi!" Nikki chirped and a friendly desk clerk came up.
"Yes, ma'am," she said pleasantly. "How may I help you?" She was hardly older than us, and she had on some scarves tied to her wrists. Oh, no - a fan…
"I have a reservation?" Nikki replied, and brought out her credit card and driver's license. I didn't even know she had a driver's license.
The girl dutifully checked it out.
"Here you are," the girl said. "Miss Nicolette Anne Smith. You're on the fourth floor, room four-twelve, a deluxe room with a king size bed." She looked at the entry. "So, is this your cousin? It says here you two have a bus ride to Bethesda tomorrow?" She handed Nikki a hotel room card.
"Yes, she's my cousin," Nikki replied. For good measure, she brought out a bus card - wait, that's Danielle's bus card…
The girl looked at me. Then at the card. Then back at me. Her eyes went wide.
"Ummm. Thank you. Well, ladies, ummm, just let me know what else I can do for you. Just give me a call. My name's Jennifer. My phone's extension twenty-two." She handed both of us business cards.
"Thank you, Jennifer. We will."
We turned to pick up our wheelies.
"Let me get someone to help you with your bags..."
"No need, we can manage. Thanks!"
"All right, ma'am, " Jennifer said. "Have a pleasant stay, Ms Smith. Ummm, you too, Ms Fairchild."
The guy who parked our car came back and handed me my car keys, and I smiled my thanks.
We then went to the elevator. As we walked away, Jennifer ran to the back room.
"Sylvia?" I faintly heard her say to someone. "Guess who just checked in…"
I started to become alarmed, but when Nikki impatiently pulled me towards the elevators, I forgot about it.
***** (Danny) *****
"Here we are," Nikki said unnecessarily as she opened our door. "Sweet Holiday Inn room four-twelve!"
I laughed and parked the bags at the foot of the bed. As I did, Nikki cannoned into me and we both fell on top of the sheets.
She started kissing me all over, wet kisses on my face, the sides of my neck and behind my ear.
"Oh, God, Nikki," I said. I arched against her when she snuck her hand inside my top and on my breasts. With her other hand, she unbuttoned my pants and she cupped me.
The tightness of the pants made it little uncomfortable but nothing I couldn't handle. Not so long as she was doing what she was doing, as well as continuing to pay attention to my breasts. And to think I didn't want boobies. I was so wrong.
Her fingers caressed me and my eyes rolled back into my head. So close. The strength of what was building was staggering. Mind-blowing. My body was going to be blown to bits. If she stopped, I might die. I would do everything so she wouldn't stop. I came, groaning, every muscle drawn taut. It was almost too much. Almost.
Nikki looked at me as I started to come, with eyes so round, not with shock but with amazement.
"Don't stop!" I cried, and that sort of woke her out of whatever it was.
She moved down, her mouth replacing her hand. I couldn't stop. But it was like she didn't care, and she continued, massaging me with her hands, her lips and her tongue.
I held her head down, running my hands through her blonde hair, and though I didn't intend to, I sort of kept her there. And after an eternity, I was done and she finally stopped.
I felt a little guilty. After all, that probably wasn't fun for her.
But as I was starting to come down, I felt her hug my waist and she started trembling. Was she crying? Oh, no!
I was wracked with guilt. Why did I? How could I?
When she had stopped trembling, I leaned down and lifted her up, or tried to. But she had fainted… Just like Betsy at her first band practice with us.
As I struggled to lift her, she woke up.
She was sticky and messy. I was messy, too - I was sticky, covered from the waist down, but not like Nikki. The top of her outfit and most of her face was almost totally covered.
And as I was almost crying in shame and confusion as to what to do, she shook herself fully awake.
When she had come back from unconsciousness - she had only fallen unconscious for less than thirty seconds, but I still panicked - she looked a little lost, like she didn't know where she was. But she focused on my face and, slowly, recognition came back and she remembered where she was. She wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me tight.
When she let go and leaned back, I could see how messy she was.
"I'm so sorry, Nikki…" I said shamefacedly.
"Whatever for, Danny," she asked. And she saw the mess on my cheeks. She touched her face. "Oh!"
I looked down in shame, but she put her finger under my chin and lifted my face. "It's okay, Danny. Let's go get cleaned up." She gave me another kiss and we went to the bathroom.
***** (Nikki) *****
I led Danny to the bathroom where we took off our sticky clothes and dumped them in the sink. Fleetingly, I was thinking that my clothes were ruined, but I didn't really care. I was with Danny.
I then led Danny to the bathtub to rinse ourselves off in the shower, and as we soaped each other down, I had to think about what had happened. I wasn't as experienced as, say, I heard Joanne was, but I wasn't a virgin either. But I still couldn't believe it.
Danielle told me a sketchy story about her walking in on Danny once, and I guess she wasn't lying. It's hard to believe it. We've all seen Danny in various states of undress, and we all had an idea how well built he was down there, especially seeing him during the sleepover, but I've never seen him at, ummm, full mast.
And, oh, my, god. Now, I know how Betsy felt that time.
Sex ed, and the few guys I'd been with gave me more than an idea about what happens during sex with men, but Danny was different. I never knew a guy could come like that. And I doubt if a condom would be helpful. I giggled. Good thing it wasn't that time of the month for me, and that I was on the pill besides, so I was safe.
"What's so funny," he asked.
"Oh, nothing," I said, and soaped him up.
Danny had such soft, smooth skin, and the slippery soap just made it so silky.
I started soaping up his boobies. They felt incredible. Danny looked so much like his sister, but there were many differences, and having known Danielle all my life, it was easy to see them. And though Danny's boobies looked the same size, they're actually bigger than Danielle's. It's just that Danny had wider shoulders that made them look smaller on him. I should tell Danielle - the bras she'd been getting him were probably a touch too small around the band and probably pinched.
As Danny rubbed my back, I started to get turned on. And, feeling his boobies, I knew Danny was getting turned on, too.
"Let's do it, Danny," I whispered in her ear.
"Here? Why not in the bedroom…"
"I can't wait anymore, honey…"
"Nikki…"
"Don't worry," I said, "I'm on the pill."
"But Nikki…"
"Really, I am," I said, "But if it makes you feel better, it's okay if you wanna wear a rubber, but Danny, I didn't bring any…"
"Hold on." He let me go and walked to the sink, dripping, and got something from the blazer I loaned him. He came back with a box and fumbled one of the little packets out.
His hands were a little wet and had trouble opening it. He wiped them on one of the folded towels and finally ripped it open.
"You know," he said, "this is the first time for me to put one on…"
I giggled. "I know how." I switched the water off.
He looked at me and giggled as well. "You do, do you?"
"Stop laughing, and get me one of the towels."
He pulled down the top one, and I used it to dry my hands. I knelt in the tub and started to dry Danny down there as well. He wasn't at half mast anymore, and I fairly goggled. I've seen bigger ones - not in real life, but in movies - but Danny's was the biggest I've seen so far IRL.
As I dried Little Danny off, or should I say Big Danny, heehee, I gave him a little kiss. Big Danny twitched.
"Nikki…" Danny moaned, and I decided to stop.
I was about to roll the condom over him, but…
"I don't know if it'll fit you, Danny," I said. "Next time, get bigger ones."
"There are sizes?"
"Of course, there are sizes."
"But they stretch, don't they?"
I sighed, and just rolled it on him without another word.
Danny wasn't complaining, but it sure looked tight.
After I had him, ummm, dressed, I couldn't wait anymore.
I grabbed him, and, despite him and the tub being a bit slippery, I was able to jump up and wrap my legs around him.
Danny sure was strong because he was able to keep me up. We pushed up against the tile and inadvertently turned the water back on. Cold water poured over us but I didn't care.
"You're mine," I growled, and kissed him again.
Maybe he was getting tired, but he was able to lay me down onto the bottom of the bathtub gently.
"Now, Danny," I demanded.
Clearly, he was new at this so I had to guide him in.
But, feeling him at my entrance, I was suddenly afraid. What if he was too big?
But I guess he couldn't wait anymore so he thrust in, violently and without finesse, and pain shot through me. I gasped.
And he kissed me.
He pulled out and I hissed. The pain and the partial vacuum made the feeling sharp.
And he kissed me.
He pushed back in again, and there was pain again as I was stretched beyond normal, but at least not enough to damage me, I think. I wanted to scream and tell him to stop. But I wanted it to continue, too.
He kissed me again.
He then pulled back out and then back in, again and again, and I wondered if I can continue taking the pain. But as we continued on, things changed somehow.
I've read in books about things like this happening, but mostly when couples were having anal sex, or when the girl lost her virginity. We weren't doing that and I was no virgin, but, somehow, like in those books, the pain slowly changed or was transmuted somehow.
Yes, there was pain, but there was pleasure, too. I grabbed him around the neck, kissed him and licked his face, his ears, his neck, and wherever I could reach him.
I brutally squeezed his beautiful breasts, as if I was trying to pay him back, but that wasn't it. It was more like I was beside myself with excitement, beyond control now, and Danny hissed in pain, but I knew it was welcome pain.
Yes, as he continued to thrust, it still hurt, but I felt the pleasure grow, too. We increased the pace. In a minute, I was answering his thrusts with counterthrusts of my own, and it made it into a dizzyingly wonderful mix of pleasure and pain.
I reached down and grasped his sexy butt, and pulled him towards me more with each thrust, increasing the suction effect when he pulled back out. By then I was moaning continuously, and maybe my vagina had adjusted to him because the pain had mostly disappeared and had become mostly a wonderful feeling of fullness or tightness. I felt my heart triphammering in my chest as both of us approached orgasm.
He continued to grunt with each thrust, pumping into and out of me, the length and level of his arousal brutal. I grabbed the back of his head, pulled him close and kissed him savagely.
"You're mine," I swore.
He released my mouth, put his hands on my shoulders and pushed me down into him hard. I reached down further to find a better hold of his ass and helped him thrust into me more fully. He didn't stop me, nor slow the movement down, giving me full, hard thrusts, my breasts bouncing and rubbing against his. I looked to the side and I could just see above the tub's edge the mirror above the sink, giving me a view of us together - Danny, his copper hair darkened by the water and plastering it around his face, and me - I could just see enough that I could see myself staring at my mirror image, hair wet and darkened, mouth open, with a wild expression I have never seen on my face before. His reflection pulled at my hair, tilting my head back, and I looked back to him.
"It's happening again, Nikki," he said.
"Do it, Dan! Let it happen!"
And I felt his engorged head and shaft pulse and pump into me, his orgasm finally happening.
Like lightning, my own orgasm followed, and my hips bucked, almost in time with his pulsing.
He continued to pump, and it was like I was paralyzed, my hips bucking involuntarily. I squeezed my breasts, squeezing them hard as I shook and shook.
It was like it lasted forever. Maybe it did, but it didn't last long enough for me.
After a couple of minutes, maybe three, me spasming in continuous ecstasy the entire time, Danny finally collapsed on me.
As I held onto him as he came down from his high, little mini-orgasms still kept on firing sporadically through me, and I hugged him close. I bucked and shook as the little orgasms tapered down. I just let him stay there, accepting his weight and just basked in the afterglow. At least I didn't faint this time.
***** (Nikki) *****
I don'tknow how long we stayed there, with the water cascading over us, but when we started feeling too cold to be comfortable, we shook ourselves from our indolent tiredness and he sat me up.
We looked into each other's eyes, trying to find out what each other was thinking, and all I could think of was how gorgeous he was, and how much I loved him. And by how he looked back at me, I guess he felt the same.
I looked down, a little afraid of what I'd find, afraid that I might have hurt myself and see blood on the porcelain, but there wasn't any. All that was there was a lot of cum. Not that much, really. Maybe a half a cup's worth, but there was enough that even the water hadn't washed it all away yet. Obviously, there was so much of it that it had overflowed Danny's condom and leaked back, even through the rubber ring at the back. Wow...
I didn't think other guys came like that, but I didn't care. I reached down and took hold of his penis, pulling Big Danny from me, and gently pulling the condom away.
I was right: the condom was full - very full. Maybe several spoonfuls worth was still inside, and I dropped it on the tiles outside of the tub. The condom was less than useless. Thank goodness it wasn't my time yet, plus I was on the pill just in case.
I reached down and felt my thighs and the tub, and my hands came away a bit sticky. I felt myself, too, but besides being sticky and a tiny bit sore, I guess I wasn't really hurt.
"Well…" I said, bringing his head down for a kiss, "I guess we need to shower again…"
Danny laughed.
to be continued...
Chapter 30 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ. Tonight was the first time for Danny to make love with Nikki. Indeed, it was his first time. Period. And it was incredible, to say the least. Danny was no virgin anymore, and it remains to be seen how this would impact his relationship with Nikki but, needless to say, their night together was just the start of a new world for him. Things were looking up for Danny. There never is a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. |
Chapter Thirty: Dinner with Autographs
***** (Nikki) *****
After some cajoling, I got Danny to agree to dinner. He wasn't too keen, saying he was pretty tired, but I was full of energy myself and was pretty hungry.
"I heard they have a pretty nice buffet downstairs," I said.
He thought about it.
"Come on. It's all you can eat until nine."
"Okay," he said suddenly.
I had to giggle. The way to a man's heart is through his stomach. And it was literally true for Danny.
We couldn't wear our outfits again tonight since I had rinsed them and they were currently hanging from the shower-curtain rod in the bathroom drip-drying, so I picked some other dressy outfits from my bags.
For Danny, I picked a nice, shiny, long-sleeved, tight, creamy-yellow blouse, and a dark, above-the-knee pouf-skirt. Actually, it was the pouf skirt that Danny wore in the contest which I had asked Danielle for, saying I could probably recycle it. I guess this counted as recycling heehee.
The white ankle boots went well with the outfit so I had him wear those again.
As for me, I picked a nice above-the-knee sleeveless sundress with a repeating pattern made up of tiny sunflowers all over it, a bolero jacket and a pair of two-inch high sandals.
I spritzed both of us with some perfume, combed and styled our just-dried hair, got our purses and stepped out of the room, pulling a reluctant Danny out with me.
When we went to the restaurant, we noticed it was fairly busy and roughly three-fourths full.
Danny looked at me with that expression I had come to recognize, and I nodded permission. He gave me a kiss and made a beeline for the buffet. I sighed. Danny and his appetite…
I went and got us drinks and found an empty table by a window facing the street.
After a few minutes, Danny came back laden with plates. He did me proud, coming back with a kind of sampler plate for me, with little spoonfuls or cuts of the dishes that I liked. For himself, he had a couple of big plates full to the brim, as usual. It was a wonder he was able to carry all of it.
Thanks to Danielle's tutelage, he didn't go after the food as I knew he wanted to, but nevertheless, I got one of the extra table napkins and tucked it into his blouse's collar.
Actually, he looked pretty cute like that, and I watched him enjoy his food.
"Danny…" I said tentatively.
The tone sort of alerted him.
"Yes, Nikki?" he asked with a little worry.
"I… enjoyed it. Tonight, I mean."
He looked at me with a delighted face. "Me, too. Do you think, you know, we can do it again…? Maybe later?"
I giggled at his eagerness. "We'll see."
"Nikki? …"
"Yes, honey?"
"It was my first time…"
I looked at him. Reaching out, I held his hand. Did I hurt him?
"I know it was, my love. Are you okay?"
"I'm more than okay. I guess what I'm saying is, I'm… you know… I'm glad my first time was with you. It was beautiful. You're beautiful."
That made me start tearing up.
Mindful of the people around us, I leaned forward and gave him a chaste kiss on the forehead instead of the kiss I really wanted to give him.
"I'm glad, Danny. I love you."
"I love you, too."
I smiled.
"So… can we, again, later?"
I laughed. Just like a boy. "Like I said, we'll see. For now, let's have a little break and enjoy our dinner."
***** (Nikki) *****
Of course, Danny went back several times, which I didn't mind. It was actually nice just watching him eat while I sipped a nice iced tea. We already knew all the important things that we needed to know about each other, so our chat was interspersed with a lot of companionable silent moments.
Our cellphones beeped almost together, and I checked mine. I giggled.
"What?" Danny asked.
"Danielle and Mel are asking how the date is going." I showed my phone to him.
He chuckled. "Yeah, Morgan, too." He showed me his phone, and we laughed.
"So, what should we tell them?"
"I know!" He typed up his answer to Morgan and showed it to me. I laughed.
I typed up the same thing, and we sent our texts to Morgan, Mel and Danielle at the same time.
While Danny chomped away, I thought of what we just did.
It was heavenly, even if it was a little rough in the beginning, but I didn't mind. Danny didn't know any better, and for some reason, the roughness actually made it better. In fact, it was the best I've ever had. And I'm sure he'd get even better after a few more times. Practice make perfect, after all heehee.
I had to wonder, though. From everyone I knew, and from my own limited experience, there were no boys who came for that long, that strong, and come that much. When I was giving him head, he came so much that it spilled everywhere. There was so much of it, I think I even swallowed some of it. And it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
I never did that before, but I just wanted to. I guess it made me feel sexy, and thinking about it got my engine running again. But, whatever, I didn't care, so long as he was mine. And besides, it was the best thing I had ever done. Having sex with Danny was like an uncontrollable high that one just couldn't pass up.
But yet…
I looked at him as he started to work on his third plate of the night. He grinned at me as he started cutting into his steak cutlet, and I had to giggle at him.
Even without the incredible sex, he was an incredible boyfriend. So talented and so kind. And so beautiful. And I knew that he loved me.
I watched him as he ate. Though he rarely stopped, it wasn't like he was being his old, gross self. Instead, he ate with a fastidious and a feminine grace, almost just like Danielle. In fact, Danny seemed very gracious and poised - the epitome of feminine table manners, and no one would have noticed he was actually putting away half his bodyweight in food heehee. Danielle's positive influence on him could clearly be seen.
But even if Danny acted like some gross boy, I wouldn't really have cared. He was still my Danny, and he was all mine.
Yeah, Danny looked like a girl. And in many ways, Danny and Danielle looked and acted very much like each other - they sometimes behaved so much like each other that people got confused. But I could still completely tell them apart. Probably no one else could, but I surely could. I guess the confusion for me regarding what he was, wasn't there anymore. Even though he sometimes dressed and acted like a girl, and looked like the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, he was a boy, and he was all mine.
I was starting to look forward to doing it again, and started feeling the heat rising in me. But for now, I was mostly sated, so we just ate dinner and enjoyed ourselves. We had all night, after all.
I thought a bit of the... I guess the word that best matched what I was thinking was "mechanics." I was thinking of the mechanics of our lovemaking.
Danny was... well-built, in fact the most well-built boy I knew. But he wasn't freakishly big, like I've read in some of the dirty books I sometimes found in my mom's dressing cabinets, where the members of the leading character's amorous partners were always described as "built like a horse." At least Dan wasn't this way. He was just... big. But just right, if you know what I mean. I mean, if he was any larger, I doubt if he'd be as... pretty down there. As it is, he was just the right size of big. Any bigger and he would probably be a little bit gross for me. And I'd probably not be able to accommodate him anymore.
But, like they say, size isn't everything. In fact, if Danny was actually... less built, I would still think he was fine.
Later in the evening, four hotel clerks approached us. I recognized the girl who checked us in.
"Good evening, ladies," the girl said, "we just wanted to see if you were enjoying the evening, and if you needed anything."
"Good evening, Jennifer," I said, remembering her name in the nick of time. "Everything's great. We were just having an early dinner before the place got really full." The hotel's restaurant, one of the few Holiday In Express hotels that even had a restaurant, was a popular dinner spot in our little burg.
"I hope you're enjoying the food."
"Oh, everything's yummy. Right, Danielle?" I asked.
Danny, in mid-chew, just gave Jennifer a thumbs-up instead.
The girls giggled.
"Anyway," Jennifer continued, "we were hoping to ask a favor…"
"Can we get your autograph?" the girl beside her interrupted. The four were looking at Danny hopefully.
Hastily, Danny swallowed. "My autograph?"
"Yes!" the girl said excitedly. "we saw you in the Evolution Concert, and you and your band were the best. We also saw the TV show. I think you're just great!"
"Ummm…"
"So, anyway," the girl had one of the little hotel notepads that they gave guests, "I was hoping I could get an autograph. I'm Sylvia, by the way."
"Ummm, Sylvia, I think you have me mixed up with someone else."
"Oh, no, I don't think so. You're Dannie from the girl band! You have the same name, and you look exactly like her!" The four of them giggled.
"I'm afraid I'm not, Sylvia."
She frowned. "But…"
"It's probably some coincidence," he said.
They looked at each other.
"Well," Sylvia said, "maybe you can still give us an autograph? As our new favorite guest?"
"I guess that's all right…"
"Yayyy!" She then handed Danny her notepad, and he obliged. The other girls had notepads of their own, and Danny scribbled on them, too.
"And maybe a last one? For all of us?" Jennifer said. She saw the empty table nearby and grabbed one of the placemats.
She handed the placemat to Danny, the blank side up, along with a Sharpie, and Danny scribbled something as well as all of their names on that side.
"Can we also get a picture?" Sylvia said, lifting up the camera she had in her hand. It had a lightweight gorillapod attached to it.
Before we knew it, they had the two of us facing the camera, which they put on top of the adjacent empty table, with all four of them behind us, and the camera flash fired when the timer ran down.
"And then maybe just Dannie?" Sylvia asked.
Before either of us could respond, Jennifer had moved the camera and little tripod so the camera would only catch Danny and them.
They again posed behind Danny, and had Danny hold the placemat, displaying his scribbled message and the girls' names.
Click!
"Oh, thank you so much!" Sylvia said, and gave Danny a quick kiss on the cheek. "We're so sorry for disturbing your meal. We really appreciate it!"
"Have a good night!" the others called, and walked away, giggling and continuously waving back to us as they walked away.
We looked at each other, bemused, and, after a beat, broke out laughing.
"Can't take you anywhere," I said, still giggling.
Danny playfully hit me on the shoulder. "Stop it!" he said, giggling as well, but sobered almost immediately "But, Nikki… that means we're not so anonymous here anymore."
"I think we're safe, Danny," I said. "Our folks probably wouldn't be coming here anytime soon. And even if they did, how would they know we've been here anyway?"
"Well, yeah, but…"
"We're safe, Danny."
"You're right, I guess, but how about…"
One of the people from the nearby table, an older gentleman in a suit who was there with what looked like his wife, leaned over.
"Who are you kids, anyway?" he said in a slightly peremptory way. "Are you kids famous or something?"
"Sorry to disappoint you, mister," Danny said, a little offended by the man's tone. "Just a couple of kids waiting for our bus ride tomorrow."
"Then why did…"
"They got us mixed up with some other people," Danny interrupted.
"Harry!" his wife said, and pulled him back. "Stop bothering those girls."
"I just wanted…"
"Hush! Now, eat your soup." She turned to us and smiled apologetically. "Sorry about that, girls."
"It's all right, ma'am," I said, and made a point of going back to our dinner as if nothing happened. Danny followed suit.
The older couple finished their dinner after a while, and the wife waved at us before walking away.
We waved back, and after they left, we felt we could talk more freely.
"What do you think?" Danny said. "Betcha this Dannie sighting in the wild will start spreading by tomorrow."
"You're probably exaggerating, Danny," I said.
"I don't think so. Just look around."
I nonchalantly looked over the room, trying to appear that I wasn't. And I did note that most of the patrons were looking at us. But in that way, you know, where they're trying to appear not to be looking?
"I see what you mean," I said. "But, Danny, we'll be out by tomorrow. This will just be one of those rumors." I giggled. "I kinda like the idea that we're going to be like some kind of urban legend."
Danny laughed at that. "Hardly an urban legend. But, Nikki, what about those girls? I betcha they'll start their own rumors."
"Like you said to them, Dan, they mixed you up with someone else?"
"But, Nikki, they have pictures, and it's a fact you and Danielle are Betsy's friends. They'll eventually definitively connect me to the band…"
I shrugged. "Danielle and I have been at your gigs since the beginning. No one's made the connection yet. Why would they make the connection now?"
Danny shrugged. "You may be right, but I have this feeling…"
I leaned forward and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Stop worrying, Danny!"
Danny frowned a bit, but nodded and settled down. He began eating again.
I sat back down, finished my tea and cleared my throat.
"So… You want to go upstairs for some after-dinner dessert?" I waggled my eyebrows at him.
He wiped his mouth, tore off his bib, wiped his lips and stood up. "Let's go!"
I giggled.
to be continued...
Chapter 31 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-schoo cover band as well as a radio DJ. When they decided to go down to have some dinner at the hotel restaurant, some of the hotel staff made the connection between him and the singer in the band, Unlimited Bandwidth. He and Nikki protested that it was a case of mistaken identity, but the girls who recognized him still insisted on autographs and pictures. Oh, well. Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. |
Chapter Thirty-One: Morning After
***** (Danny) *****
Yes, I did end up wearing and modelling all the nighties and negligees that Nikki brought that night. How could I say no to her?
Besides, it really got her hot and bothered when I wore her sexy lingerie.
Needless to say, we did it several more times that night, and once more in the morning. I was game for more but Nikki said she was getting too sore, and that there were no more sheets for the bed.
I never knew sex could be so messy. In the movies, it wasn't like this. Maybe I was doing it wrong or something. I mean, we went through five bedsheets! All that was in the room's linen closet!
We did it one last time, though, while we were in the shower. At least it minimized on the mess. But because she said she felt sore, I decided on an… alternative. Some guys I know said they don't do it since it was gross. I don't think so. And it was still fun for me, but, of course, it was more fun for her. Heheh.
Afterwards, though, a grateful, though tired-sounding Nikki noted a problem, and it would hardly be possible for us to leave the hotel with me in this… state. So Nikki reciprocated.
At least we were in the tub so it was easier to clean up.
So after cleaning up again, I rinsed down the tub yet again. As for the bedclothes - before sleeping last night, Nikki rinsed all the sheets we soiled and wrung them out by hand. Squeezing them only removed the water so much, so they were still quite damp. So we just folded them up while only semi-dry, and left them in the bathroom for housekeeping.
Trying to be helpful, I tried looking for any used condoms but I couldn't find any. For example, I distinctly remembered Nikki leaving one by the tub, but it wasn't there.
So I looked inside the trashcans, and I couldn't find any of the condoms we used. Maybe Nikki flushed them down the toilet or something, so that there wouldn't be anything embarrassing left for housekeeping to see.
I also took down our now-dry clothes from last night that Nikki had rinsed out, and Nikki put them away.
As before, Nikki picked out our outfits for this morning. She seemed to have prepared for everything. But the tight miniskirt she was intending for me to wear was too… form-fitting, and couldn't properly hide you-know-who. We therefore reverted to the pouf skirt from last night. She had me pair it with an off-white cotton-spandex sleeveless (and backless) top but with a full front, a mock turtleneck collar and stiletto heels over white, ankle-high bobby socks with a satin trim, ala-Madonna from the early nineties. With the backless top, I couldn't wear a bra, but the top had a built-in bralette. Anyway, I was lookin' pretty smokin' hot, if I do say so myself heehee.
Nikki, of course, picked a new outfit for herself, too, this time a sleek, three-fourth-sleeve powder-blue bodysuit paired with one of our school's letterman jackets and black slim-fit jeans (which were actually jeggings) and her "school-friendly" platforms. We were both at least three inches taller than normal when we stepped out of the room, and looking quite older and more sophisticated.
Walking to the elevator, someone wolf-whistled at me. I looked back but couldn't identify which of the handful of guests that were in the hallway whistled. I shrugged to myself and just ushered Nikki into the elevator.
Nikki said part of the reservation was complimentary breakfast. So I was in a hurry to go. We left our packed-up stuff up in the room and proceeded to the dining area. We easily found seats in the semi-empty room and were promptly served by friendly hotel people, all of them smiling and very friendly, indeed, especially the male wait-staff. My initial confidence in my sexy attire evaporated a bit in the face of all this attention, but I tried to be nonchalant. Although my back and shoulders started to get cold.
The waiter who first served us said that they had our breakfasts upgraded to a Gold Reservation at no charge, which meant we could order anything from the ala carte menu, or go to the buffet line. But Nikki said, since we already had our "continental" breakfasts on the table, we should just stick to the ala carte menu.
Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I ordered some extra servings of everything for myself, and got each of us extra drinks. I knew Nikki liked smoothies so I got her a mango breakfast smoothie, and a strawberry-banana one for me.
Most of the servers served us ahead of the other customers, which made the other patrons wonder who we were, but I made a point of saying to the waiters that we were fine, and they should take care of their other customers, so there was a sudden flurry of people going to the kitchen and bringing drinks and other things to the other guests.
I heard one of the diners at a nearby table ask the waiter who we were.
"The girl over there," the waiter pointed to us, "is an up-and-coming singer, ma'am. She came out on TV last week."
"Well, they're definitely more than pretty enough to be on TV," the nice old lady said very loudly. She was probably a little hard-of-hearing. "Which one is the singer?"
"The redhead, ma'am."
"Oh! She's quite pretty, especially in that outfit."
With my ears burning, I waved that waiter over.
The waiter excused himself and went over to us.
"Yes, miss?" he asked.
"What have you been telling the guests? Who do you think we are, anyway?"
"Well, ma'am, aren't you Dannie from that group Unlimited Bandwidth? The one featured on the TV show on KRPX?"
"I'm sorry to disappoint, but I'm not that girl."
The waiter was surprised. "You're not? But…"
"I'm sorry."
"But…"
"Seriously - I'm really not."
"Ummm, okay…"
"Please do tell that nice lady that you were mistaken. I wouldn't want her to get the wrong impression."
"But, miss…"
"Please. I'm really not her."
His eyes flew open, thinking he finally understood what I was saying. "Ahh! Gotcha!" He gave me a big wink. Oh, no… I don't know if I made it worse.
He went back over to the other table and he had a short whispered chat with the old lady.
"Oh, that's a shame," the lady said very loudly. "And I was so hoping that we'd get to meet a celebrity."
She looked at me and smiled.
I looked at her and smiled a disappointed kind of smile, and gave her a shrug.
She nodded and waved at me.
"That's all right, dear," she called to us, and nodded. "It's not your fault. You and your friend are quite lovely, and should be on TV."
I smiled at her and mouthed "thank you."
She gave us a final wave, and then continued enjoying her early breakfast with her friends.
I guess the word started to spread in the dining room, and even those who didn't notice us actually took notice. And I didn't know if what we told the waiter was helpful. Oh, well.
We just continued with our breakfast like everything was normal.
Nikki was busy on her phone and I asked what she was doing.
"I'm looking for any mention of us in any of my news feeds, the social media platforms, and I'm using the usual search engines..."
"Google?"
"And Bing, and et cetera."
"And?"
"And, so far, nuthin.' Looks like Jennifer and the other girls from last night haven't posted anything yet."
"That won't last."
Nikki shrugged. "You never know."
She continued surfing, so I decided to surf as well, but first, I texted Danielle that she and Betsy were on their own getting to school this morning.
"I knew that already," she texted back. "That's why I'm going to be riding with Betsy in her limo today." And then she followed it up with a tongue-sticking-out emoji.
I laughed and showed the text to Nikki.
"Well," she sighed, "at least she has a ride today. Which reminds me, are you done? We need to go, or else we'll be late for school."
I nodded and had a final few bites. "Just about."
"'Kay. I'll get the bill already."
She signaled a waiter and asked for our bill. Now that we've told everyone we weren't celebrities, the complimentary upgrade was probably not going to be honored, but the waiter went -
"Oh, no need, miss," the waiter said. "It's part of your hotel reservation."
"But we're not…"
He chuckled. "Of course, miss," he said, and gave us a wink. "You're not."
Nikki and I sighed.
"Will you be staying with us a while more, or will you be checking out?" he asked.
"We'll be checking out," Nikki said. "We have a bus to catch."
"Will you ladies be needing a car to bring you to the station?"
"Ah, no need. We… borrowed her brother's car so we'll be okay."
"Very good, miss."
We got up and went back to our room.
We did a final sweep of the room to make sure we didn't forget anything. I found one of the teddies I wore last night on the bed under the bedclothes (the only ones that survived us lol).
Nikki grabbed the teddy from me, and hurriedly stuffed it into the larger bag without opening its zipper all the way.
"Ummm, Nikki?"
"Heehee, sorry, honey. That's where I stuffed all the dirty clothes."
I chuckled. "Okay." I gave her a kiss, grabbed the bag she just stuffed the teddy into, and started for the elevator, leaving the smaller wheelie for her.
We stepped out of the elevator arm-in-arm and started walking to the front desk.
Most of the staff seemed to be out and they all greeted us "good morning" as we walked up to the front desk.
"Hey, Jennifer!" Nikki said. "It's us again."
"Yes, miss," she giggled, "it's you. So did you and Dannie have a good stay?"
"Very restful." Nikki didn't bother to check the bill and just handed over our room's keycard and her AmEx card, and Jennifer processed it.
After a few moments, she handed over our receipt and Nikki's card back.
"That's it, then," Jennifer said. "You're all set. Would you need a transfer to the bus station? It's no charge…"
"Ah, no need," I said, and brought out my car keys.
One of the people hanging around, presumably the hotel valet, zoomed up and grabbed the keys from my fingers.
"I'll take care of your car, miss!" he said, and fairly ran out the front doors.
Jennifer gave me an embarrassed kind of look, and shrugged.
"Guess Sid's had too much coffee this morning," Jennifer said. "heheheheh…"
"Well, then," I said, "I guess we'll go out and wait for Sid."
"Thank you for choosing Holiday Inn!" Jennifer said. "We hope we'll see you again soon!"
I waved goodbye to her and the other people, grabbed Nikki's hand, grabbed my wheelie, and started walking to the front doors.
When Sid arrived with my 'stang, I jammed the two wheelie bags in the footwell between the back seats and the back of the front seats since they wouldn't fit in the boot with my overnighter. Sid politely turned down my twenty dollar tip so I just smiled my thanks and drove away.
"Can you believe all this?" I said to Nikki. "If this is fame, give me anonymity any day."
"Well…" Nikki said, "you wanna hear something interesting?"
"Like what?"
"You know those pictures Jennifer and Sylvia took last night?"
"Yeah?"
"Well," she giggled, "I noticed they blew up one of them, and hung the picture over the front desk along with other celebrity pictures already hanging there."
"What!"
to be continued...
Chapter 32 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ. The night he and Nikki spent together was everything they hoped for, but when they checked out, they noticed that two of the pictures that the girls from the hotel took of them during dinner were now mounted on the wall above the reception counter, together with pictures of other celebrities. Oh-oh... Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. |
Chapter Thirty-Two: Pulling The Trigger
***** (Danny) *****
So, when we were almost at school, we just realized - I was still dressed like a girl. We were doing this too often, we didn't even thing of it… oh, no. Good thing we caught it in time, but one of these days we just might make a mistake and blow my cover. Dammit!
We were about to be late, so now what do we do?
"Wait, Danny," Nikki said. "Don't panic. Let's find a quiet place so you can change."
The best I could do was to park under a tree in a secluded area. Nikki and I tried to step out to go get my overnighter from the boot but lots of cars started passing by. Kids we knew were all rushing to school. It was a steady stream. Some of the kids that knew us beeped when they saw us parked.
"Dammit, we can't step out of the car," I said. "People will see us with your bag and my outfit, and people will start talking…"
"Wait!" Nikki said. "I have an idea." She turned and reached back to her bags in the back.
"What're you doing?"
"Hold on!" she grunted, and after a minute of struggling, she finally said, "Got em!"
She sat back down and held out my dirty sneakers. They were under the bags.
"I don't think that'll go with my top and skirt Nick," I said sarcastically. "I think people would notice…"
"Ha ha ha… Very funny." She looked around then slid off her heels, lifted her butt off the seat, unbuttoned her jeans and started scootching them down.
"What're you doing!"
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm taking off my pants."
"Why?"
"We're exchanging clothes! Now, get those heels and skirt off!"
So I took them off.
"Won't somebody notice we're sitting here without pants?" I asked nervously.
"No, unless they actually stop and actually peek in. Look, no one has even noticed you're wearing a sleeveless top!"
"Nikki? Would I even fit in your pants?"
"I wear pants larger than Danielle's, actually… something I really hate about her." She giggled. "But that means, these'll fit you fine."
"But they're girl pants, Nikki!"
"Don't worry - you'll be able to pull it off. Now give me your skirt and put on my pants!" I chuckled, thinking of what the phrase "getting into a girl's pants" meant, and I was thinking that I have gotten into into my girl's pants figuratively, and and I was about to do it literally, too.
But there really was no other option I could think of, so I pulled them up. Thank god they were tight and long enough that the lace edging of my bobby socks were hidden.
Meanwhile, Nikki adjusted the pouf skirt around her hips and waist. She then lifted her leg one at a time, folded them across her lap and put her stilettos back on.
"Put your sneakers on," she ordered, so I slipped on my dirty sneakers and tied them. So that I didn't have to bend over, I just followed her example and folded my legs one at a time to tie my shoes.
Nikki was looking at me.
"What?"
"Ummm… you're pretty flexible, Danny."
"For a guy, you mean," I laughed.
"Sure. For a guy," she said.
I laughed again. "You're surprised? Even after last night?"
We both giggled.
"Okay," she said, and took her school varsity jacket off. "Now put this on and don't take it off until after classes."
I shrugged it on, and it was a pretty good fit.
"Okay. Let me see."
I turned to her.
"Hmmm…" she said. "How about this?" She zipped the jacket halfway up. "There! That should provide enough camouflage, and they'll keep your boobies hidden, too," she giggled. "Actually, you look like a pretty sexy boy like that." She artfully combed my hair into a semblance of my usual Danny style. She didn't do it as well as Danielle could have, but it would do.
"Well." I said, "speaking of sex, how about… you know… later tonight?"
Nikki grinned. "Sorry, my love. But I need a little time to recover. I'm a little too sore, yet."
"Oh! I'm sorry…" I felt like a stupid, selfish…
She must have seen the look on my face. "Oh, honey, it's okay. I want to, too. But I need some rest. Soon - I promise."
Then she pulled me towards her and kissed the shit out of me. "Besides," she said, "we can do other stuff in the meantime..."
"Ooooh!" someone said. We looked and saw Joanne and Mel leaning out of Joanne's van. They had stopped beside us. "Someone's in looove!"
"Oh shut up, Joanne!" Nikki giggled, and we drove the few remaining blocks to school, with the girls trailing us in Joanne's van.
***** (Danny) *****
Nikki's little wardrobe adjustment really did help, and when Danielle helped with my "do" and made it more like my usual, long and messy dude cut and low dude ponytail, no one seemed the wiser about what I was really wearing.
The mock turtleneck was a little unusual, though - I never saw any guy in school wear a turtleneck sweater or anything similar - and I got some grief for it, especially from some of the jocks, but the girls seemed to like the look, and told me that they thought it made me look classy. In fact, some of the guys in my class overheard and asked me where I got it. And, thanks to the jacket, the fact it was a sleeveless and backless girl's top didn't become obvious.
I guess that was the problem - I was getting more attention than normal. Girls kept on watching me, which irritated the guys - that a geek like me was getting all the attention.
"Hey, Danny!" someone from the cheer squad, I think her name was Cheryl or Sherry or something like that, waved from across the hall. "Looking good, kid!"
"Thanks," I nodded a little sheepishly
Nikki gave me a catty, sour look, and I shrugged.
"What can I do!" I protested.
It was like that most of the day, and I just couldn't help but strut a little bit.
Getting attention wasn't too unusual for me nowadays, but what was different this time, I guess, was that I was getting attention for being just plain, old Danny. People were always noticing Dannie the singer, or Robin the Nighthawk. But this time they were noticing me - Danny.
Morgan and Jerry made a comment that there was something new about me, that for some reason, I reminded them of Coach Kleats.
Coach Kleats was the high school's boys' PE teacher, and was considered the most masculine among all the male teachers yet was also considered the most fair and most respected among them. I suppose it came from his very masculine demeanor, and the fact he had muscles up the wazoo helped. Yet, he rarely lorded it over the other teachers and never played favorites among his students. He was respected and well liked. And though he looked like a rock, he was considered one of the most attractive of the teachers by the female student body.
I couldn't help but be flattered by the comparison, but I sincerely hoped they didn't mean my looks.
I guess there really was something new. I can feel it. After last night, I felt much more confident. I don't know - like I was more of a man, like I was more of a take-charge kind of person. That all my outward cool-guy strut and ambivalence was actually just my accepting that I was indeed a man now.
The women's clothes didn't bother me much anymore. And I guess, fundamentally, I know what I am now. Whatever others may say or do to me, whatever I wore, I know who and what I am, and that I like who I am.
I will forever remember last night - in many ways, it helped define me, and I will forever be grateful to, and forever be in love with, Nikki. Nikki's my soul and my reason. Now more than ever.
***** (Danny) *****
After classes, we went to the Arclight Coliseum, and like two days before, we had our own table just in front of the orchestra pit, and no one started real work until around six, which was when Dale, June, Morgan and Fallon arrived. This allowed us to finish most of our school stuff.
During that time, Mrs. Piper sat with us and chatted. She made a real effort to get to know everyone, and Danielle and I appreciated it.
When the others arrived and everyone was all together, Mrs. Piper started work on the show.
She had a bunch of the final posters brought to her. We looked them over and they looked real good.
It featured a "cartoonized" early morning silhouette picture of our town as the sun was rising, with the station's round logo in place of the rising sun, just peaking out over the horizon. The clouds in the sky were in various psychedelic solid colors reminiscent of Beatles-era art. A four-inch bubble was included in the blah-blas below. It had pictures of each of us in the band, like a collage. I looked at the pics and they were in a grainy black-and-white style, like they were blown-up pictures from the newspaper. Very stylish. And they had the added advantage of making the pictures blurry enough that our features became a bit indistinct. That was one of Tracey's excellent suggestions to keep my identity safe. Also, they only had our first names (Janet was still there, as suggested by Tracey, but now Fallon was included, too).
Still, the fear of connection was there now more than ever. Fallon and Betsy could be traced to our school and were known to be our friends, and that Dannie the singer was already identified as "Dannie Fairchild" during the contest itself even though everywhere else, she wasn't identified as a Fairchild. Still, it was just a matter of time.
So it was time to put the plan we thought of in motion. I guess I'll bring it up with the gang during dinner later.
I went back to the other details of the posters.
As per a discussion we had earlier, we found it weird that we hadn't really thought of our group's "logo." I guess you could say that, after all this time, it's funny that we hadn't settled on that yet.
Again, Tracey had a suggestion - our band name was written in a font called "felt marker" and was in a bright red. If this goes over well, then I guess our band name will always be printed this way.
I read the other blah-blahs, and they seemed fine. The title of the concert, of course, still remained controversial to the group, with everyone having their own points of view. The best the group could come up with that Mrs. Piper sort of approved was "A New Sun Rising!" which was what was used in the poster. Below that was the tagline "Be there or be square!" (No one really liked that very tired and trite tagline, but Mrs. Piper insisted… Oh, well.)
The big detail that scared our production team was the situation with the tickets. As the poster said, "listen to the following KRPQ programs and win free tickets!" Beside it in boldface was the label, "tickets not for sale." That was the thing.
The worry was that not enough people might be listening to the programs and therefore it would be difficult to give away enough tickets. So Mrs. Piper decided to plan small. The Arclight Coliseum was a smallish concert-style venue of about 15,000 square feet for seating, with capacity of between 2,000 to 10,000, so the objective was to give away about 1,500 tickets (there were 500 more tickets but they were reserved for VIPs and guests). It was decided not to max out the venue because no one was confident of being able to fill up all the seats.
Anyway, that meant that a hundred tickets a day was the target. That still seemed like a tough sell so we'd need each and every day we could get to be able to reach the target (the stations had the option to give more tickets to the winners if they should ask for more than what they won - that way, the quota would be met more quickly).
So it was essential to get the posters out asap, and the KRPX and KRPQ announcers had to start plugging the concert asap, and the newspaper and social media ads had to be out asap.
That was the bulk of the next discussion.
In the end, the plan was to arrange to have posters put up in the public bulletin boards, parking areas, gyms and cafeterias of the four schools in our little town. I said we needed to include the "private school on top of the hill" - that was how the one private school in town was referred to by everyone. That, or just plainly, "the private school," or the "school on the hill." Most kids felt that those that went to that school were a little snooty, and were they weren't welcomed by the other kids in most places in town. So these kids from "the private school" usually keep the fact that they studied there a secret. I for one didn't really take it against these kids, even though a lot of them really had superiority complexes that made them difficult to deal with. Even so, I suggested that they not be excluded.
Tracey looked a little embarrassed since that was the school she went to, but I gave her a hug and just let the discussion run on. Nikki and I stayed close to Tracey, to let her know we're on her side.
Mrs. Piper had the connections so it was decided she would take care of getting permission to put them up at the schools and the other places. As for the people that would take care of making sure they were posted properly, the gang, plus Tracey, were conscripted for that, and the PiperCorp people were tasked to hang the rest of the posters all over our one mall, and in all of the favorite kids' hangouts in town, which we pointed out on a map for the PiperCorp guy. These included most of the fastfood places and restaurants, the few clubs and the two parks in town, specific places in the mall like the skating rink and the public courts, and the area surrounding the community swimming pool. This excluded those places that were more adult-focused, like Mrs. Piper's favorite Italian restaurant, but it did include Mario's place. (We made sure Mario got half a dozen spare posters, which we signed.)
Fallon then talked about her and Danielle's meeting with Mrs. Sparks, the glee club's adviser, and she had promised to help fill out the form and make sure to get her kids to get their parents to sign. By tomorrow, the forms should start trickling in and Fallon thought most of the club members will join.
Mrs. Piper said, however, that the school won't allow her to really pay them anything since it was through the school that they were recruited, but she could at least guarantee a generous allowance or stipend.
After those details, the discussion shifted to the actual nuts and bolts of the show, and we spent the rest of the evening working on actual concert stuff.
***** (Betsy) *****
I've never worked so hard in my life! But I enjoyed it.
As Morgan promised, someone got us the sheet music for the pieces we were going to play in the proper key, and, when Morgan played the songs on his phone, we easily got the nuances and the timing. "Roughing it out" was how they called what we were doing, and after a few runs, we weren't so rough anymore. LOL
Some of the guys had doubts about Fallon, but she clearly was very talented, and sang very well, better than Janet ever did IMHO. She was almost as good as Danny, but without Danny's almost magical sense for musing, her almost-magical sexy tones, her ability to sing something by ear, and a talent for changing her voice, of course, so Fallon couldn't sing on command or sing a song like Danny could.
I also thought it would be difficult for the new girl to be accepted so quickly, but since she was Danny's friend, everyone was more than willing to give her a chance.
And Fallon did turn out to be a good band mate and more than kept up with all of us. Good thing, too, since we didn't have time to break in a newbie. (Heehee. Listen to me. And a few months ago, no one but my folks ever heard me play.)
Playing straight for an hour was real hard work, and pretty soon, we were all sweating (should have thought of wearing the proper outfit), so we were all mopping our faces and necks with towels some stage person handed us. Danny was the most affected, so she doffed her jacket somewhere in the middle of our first set.
There was a moment of silence as everyone noted Danny's outfit. Without the letterman jacket, we finally noticed she was wearing a stretchy, form-fitting sleeveless and backless white mock-turtleneck top, which showed off her figure spectacularly, which went well with what looked like a form-fitting pair of slim-fit jeans, which all the girls knew were a pair of girl's jeggings.
As Danny handed her jacket to the same stage person who handed us the towels, she finally noticed the silence.
"Oh, wow…" the stage guy said.
"What!" Danny said, and everybody suddenly got busy and tried to avoid meeting her eyes.
The next run-through started out a little tentatively, but as soon as we got over Danny's sexy outfit, we got back into the rhythm of things.
Like I said, by the second run-through, we were playing pretty good - good enough that the director said we could start blocking and doing the necessary spiels and moves that the choreographer wanted us to do. So the third run included practicing some of the stage movements. Nothing much to practice, really - we just needed to know what our spiels were and where to stand. To help, Morgan stood in for the announcers and did his vocal imitation of Harry, Sally and the other announcers to help us with our cues. Not like the way Danny could, of course - but Morgan did his best to match the announcers' intonation, sentence structure and idiosyncrasies.
According to the script, we had about fifteen songs in total, which made us wonder why there were more than that in our list. The director clarified that not all of the songs were going to be part of the show - the extra songs were there only to allow the band some leeway to pick and choose in case some substitutions would be needed somewhere down the road.
So Danny suggested that, since Mrs. Piper had booked some extra time, we should also practice the extra songs, too.
"But, Danny," I said, "we're only scheduled to use the Arclight until ten…"
"Yeah, Bets, but Mrs. P's booked the Arclight 'til midnight. We can get in two more hours of practice if we wanted."
"How about tomorrow? I'm pretty beat." The rest made the same kind of noises.
Danny gave me a little, affectionate kiss on the cheek. "No prob, Bets. We can do it tomorrow." (What a relief!)
When we were through with practice, we then went on to dinner, where Danny broached a topic.
***** (Betsy) *****
Danny and Nikki spent the night at a hotel, and Danny said something happened…
Most of us reacted to that - not that something happened, but that they spent the night. It's not as if we didn't know their intentions going in - it was practically an open secret, after all. But when they openly admitted it, there was still a long and tense moment of silence.
And during that silence, I experienced a long, intense moment of resentment and jealousy. I resented Danny's not picking me, and jealousy that Nikki got to be the one Danny was with. I, in fact, wanted to physically hurt Nikki in some way, and I think some of the others felt that as well.
But after that very short moment, I guess my thinking brain started up again because I realized how… twisted it was for me to think of hurting Nikki for spending the night with Danny. I felt unbelievably guilty. And Nikki was her girlfriend - it was Nikki's right. Why did I even think I should have been the one?
I tried to change the topic, or rather the train of thought I had been following.
"So, what happened, Danny?" I asked.
And everyone started to giggle and snigger. "That's not what I meant!" I protested. Seems that intense moment of whatever-it-was had passed, and everyone was sane again.
So Danny talked about being recognized by the hotel staff, and one thing led to another, and they got their pictures taken with some overzealous fans that wouldn't accept the idea that she wasn't the singer from the Evolution Concert, even with her and Nikki vehemently denying it. One of these pictures was now apparently hanging over the front desk of the hotel.
All of us looked at the pair with big shocked eyes.
"But, Danny…" I began, and everyone started in as well.
"Wait, wait!" Nikki said and held her hand up. "In our defense, we didn't know that those people that asked for pictures were going to put them in the hotel lobby! How could we have known!"
Morgan sighed. "And because we're going to use the kids from the glee club, and everyone knows about Betsy, and that, from the concert, UB's lead vocalist was named 'Dannie Fairchild,' the connection is going to be obvious…"
"Right." Danny said. "So I've decided to pull the trigger on 'The Plan.'"
Essentially, Danny wanted us to start up that plan we thought up before, where we'll make it seem Dannie-the-singer was actually Danielle. Tracey even commented that it was a pretty smart thing to have that contingency plan.
So we stated threshing out what Morgan said was the "logistics" of "The Plan."
There was a lot of back and forth in our little group as we thought it through. But, basically, "The Plan" didn't entail a lot because nothing would really change except for a few things. And they seemed to be easy stuff.
For example, when Danielle would be in "Danny mode," we would need to learn to call her "Dan" (not "Danny" because that sounded exactly like "Dannie" and we wanted to distance Danny-the-guy from Dannie-the-girl-singer) and we definitely couldn't use "Danielle."
Confusing, huh? Oh, and Danielle needed to dress up in Danny's outfits, while Danny dressed in Danielle's (we were worried that fashion-plate Danielle wouldn't agree to this, but, surprisingly, she didn't complain).
As for the rest of us, nothing should really change, except we all need to remember to refer to Danielle as "Dan" when she was "in costume."
Joanne did add a twist - that, if we were asked a direct question, whether Dannie-the-Singer was indeed Danielle, we were not to answer, but yet still give the impression that we were hiding the fact that Dannie was indeed Danielle.
Danielle and Danny nodded.
"And," Morgan said, "to add to that, though Danielle needs to wear Danny's outfits, and Danny, Danielle's" - he looked at them - "you need to change into fresh clothes after school, different from what you were wearing, before you get to the Arclight."
"Well, duh!" Danielle said. "Who would want to wear Danny's dirty, sweaty clothes!"
Danny waved her down. "Wait, Danielle. What's the point, Morgan?"
"It's to confuse things, Danny," Morgan said. "That way, people won't be one hundred percent sure that Danielle is Danny, and vice versa, although we'd behave that they were. If you were to show up with the oufit Danielle wore in school, then the connection is soldified. If you show up with a different outfit, it'll add another layer of plausible deniability."
"Sounds good," Danny nodded. "Here's a different question: do we have to bring anyone else into 'The Plan?'"
Danielle thought about it. "Actually, no one else. Except maybe Mrs. Piper and mom and dad. They need to know. As for others… well, some people will get plenty mad in the end, but it's not necessary to tell them anything, except to admit that Danny is actually Danielle."
Tracey cleared her throat. "Ummm… I'll tell my mom about it. I'll make sure she'll agree."
Danny went to her and gave her a hug.
"Thanks, Trace," she said.
Tracey grinned and then shrugged. "No big. What're friends for?"
"Okay," Danielle said. "and we'll take care of our folks."
***** (Betsy) *****
So, that's how it went for the rest of the days until the actual concert - we would go straight from school to the Arclight Coliseum, do some homework and then practice, practice, practice. Danny, Danielle and Nikki would go the Fairchild's first, though, to allow the twins to change their clothes. That was okay since the glee club kids would only arrive at around six or so anyway.
I myself had taken a two week leave from the Student Council, and my VP took charge, but, even so, I would occasionally be late since Ellis sometimes needed help with something or other.
As predicted, all of the Glee Club parents agreed and Mrs. Piper arranged for a PiperCorp-provided minibus to pick the kids up from their houses, bring them to practice, and bring them back to their houses after. Per the terms, though, the kids were only picked up at around five-thirty, and should be back by ten (with school permission, this was later changed to midnight), and if the academic performance of any of the kids went down or their health was affected, that kid was out. That wasn't an issue, though, since all the kids made sure not to do anything to hurt their being part of the concert. Also, they all knew about Danny, too. We worried about how they would react, or even if they'll believe it when "The Plan" takes effect, but we agreed to cross that bridge when we get there.
As predicted, some of the kids in school sort of started to get suspicious, and a few brave souls did ask the gang the question we didn't want them to ask, but "The Plan" seemed to be working, that though our non-answer answers didn't directly confirm their suspicions, our manner more than confirmed it. Danny and Danielle themselves, in all their dealings with everyone, didn't admit it one way or the other, but they let their manner confirm the kids' suspicions. In any case, though no one was really 100% sure if it was Danny or Danielle who was part of Unlimited Bandwidth, a consensus was starting to grow that Danielle was really Dannie-the-Singer despite Danielle's very bad reputation for singing. So even though they weren't 100% sure that Dannie was Danielle, at least they were 99.99999% sure. Lol.
To be fair, though, the only reason they even thought that Danny was Dannie-the-singer was because Danielle was notorious for having the worst singing voice in school. Plus, of course, the fact that Danny had the same name as the singer.
Another question came up a lot, which was, what happened to Janet? Everyone in the gang fell back to the line that we agreed on - that there was nothing wrong but, because of personal reasons, Janet decided to take some time off from the band. Of course, some people persisted, and we agreed to the fallback answer, which was to tell them to ask Janet herself. As to where she was now, we'd just shrug and say we didn't know.
***** (Betsy) *****
With the posters that were all over town, and the commercials on local TV and radio, and the ads in the local newspapers (at the time, there were still a handful of local papers still surviving in town), almost everyone in town knew about the concert. Joanne, Mel, Mike, Jerry and Tracey had made sure that posters were put up in all the schools, and everything else was taken care of by Mrs. Piper's people, so all the kids knew about the concert.
It was actually the kids that started the groundswell, and, soon, it felt like everyone in town wanted tickets. Tracey told her mom about the hubbub in her school and ours (though we were sure that it was the same in the other schools, too), so Mrs. Piper made some changes, such as arranging for more tickets to be given away, and to arrange that the entire coliseum's seating to be used. In fact, the tickets were going so fast that Mrs. Piper had to be strict that the tickets should only be released to the winners one pair at a time. They were therefore able to make the contest last until the day before the actual concert, with KRPQ giving out tickets to callers avery 15 minutes.
A ticket claiming booth was actually set up at the ground floor lobby of KPRQ's building. Mrs. Piper even cut the VIP seats down to two hundred just so that there would be an extra three hundred tickets to give away. In the end, more than the ten thousand target was given away.
***** (Betsy) *****
By that time, it was a foregone conclusion that Fallon and I were indeed the kids that they knew from school, and that we were in the band. And because of that, the identity of the other band members were quickly traced. And the rest of the gang was linked to the band as well. That included Danielle, too, although some still persisted that it was actually Danny who was in the band.
Most of the kids were also able to trace us back to our gigs in Mario's, which made Mario happy, of course, but not that happy because we had to cancel our gigs for a while, at least until after the concert. But then Mario had the bright idea to rent a big projection screen again, and asked us to sign posters that he had printed up (with Mrs. Piper's permission, of course) inviting everyone to a live "virtual concert" on his big screen at the restaurant on the day of the show (all he intended to do was to put the TV broadcast on his ginormous TV), with reservations and a cover charge, just like a real concert. And since it was still days before the show, he ran a video every day, with clips from our interview, our gigs, the Evolution Concert and our shows in Mario's. In fact, super-groupie Mel, with the assistance of Jerry, made a nice chunk of change from Mario for putting together six two-hour-long videos that Mario showed alternatingly. Mario, of course, made sure that he had official permission from the band and Mrs. Piper.
Mario was pissed off, however, that the posters were stolen as soon as he put them up. So he just had us sign a few more, and he put those behind plexiglass displays firmly screwed down in the front bulletin board-marquee of his restaurant.
Our "virtual concerts" at Mario's were a big hit, we heard, and Mario kept his place open up to the wee hours until he ran out of food and drinks. (Being the consummate restaurateur that he was, Mario was, however, quick to restock, and was able to open for business at the usual 4PM opening time.) Mario even had Mel and Jerry make some more videos using more clips, and he ended up having enough videos that he could run them all one after the other without actually repeating any clip more than a few times.
With the influx of more young people, even during regular days, he was making money hand over fist. But, also because of the kids, he did start to get more attention from the authorities. To allay fears, he had given his wait staff strict instructions, and had signs put up that said "Alcohol will strictly not be served to anyone below twenty-one: be prepared to be carded when asked. Any minor caught drinking alcoholic beverages will be asked to leave - Mario's reserves the right to refuse service to those who do not cooperate." Also, undercover cops posing as customers confirmed that Mario wasn't selling anything he wasn't supposed to be selling, so he was totally fine.
***** (Betsy) *****
Some kids were truly obsessed and still wanted to know if Dannie-the-singer really was Danielle, but their persistence was all to no avail since none of us confirmed it one way or another. And no one, not even the people who were part of the upcoming show, or from the Evolution Contest or from the school, could help since all they knew was "Dannie Fairchild" was the one who was part of the band, and whether that was Danny or Danielle, no one was sure. Besides, only a few even casually entertained the thought that Danny could be Dannie-the-Singer. For various reasons, though - no doubt the people asking were thinking about LGBTQ and discrimination issues - none of them wanted to ask her directly. Or was it him? No one wanted to be smeared and blocked in social media. I had to laugh. Who ever thought that such a thing would be something to worry about in our little town.
Amazingly, however, no one discovered Danny's official affiliation with KRPQ, but it was just a matter of time. This had to be managed. It was actually more touchy since it could be assumed Danny's radio program was somehow deliberately influencing the popularity of "his sister's" band - a case of conflict of interest. However, since Danny had officially terminated his internship in KRPQ months ago, the official connection was over and the likelihood of it coming out was small. However, there was still a chance, so Danny had to be in disguise as Robin when doing the show, and that the gang would need to come up with a plan to bury Danny's internship at KRPQ permanently.
But when we were discussing this, Mike and Jerry looked at each other. Jerry nodded, and Mike said, "We'll take care of that. And, before you ask, Bets, don't - it's best not to know. Plausible deniability, you know."
We all looked at each other, and then at Mike and Jerry. I shrugged. "Whatever you say, Mike." Morgan started humming the theme from Mission Impossible and we all laughed.
***** (Betsy) *****
By that time, lots of kids had started to hang around our houses (especially at the Fairchilds') or at our cafeteria table during lunch, or outside our classrooms. And we suddenly became the most popular kids in school, with everyone trying to be our friend.
We tried not to let all this affect us and give us swelled heads. Thanks to Morgan and Joanne, we were kept our egos grounded and didn't put on airs: we've had our fill of their lectures and Joanne's scary presence over my shoulder everytime I started getting too full of myself.
A bigger complication for the twins was Tom Hennessy, who had never really believed in our subterfuge. Given his experience with Danny during Halloween, and that thing in the mall and at Nikki's with the rose, he knew Danny was Dannie-the-singer - nothing would change his mind about that - and that he was still hung up on Danny (even though he would never admit that to anyone, nor to even act on it).
But Tom wasn't making waves, and was actually helping us - along with his JD buddies, he was helping run interference for us with the more persistent kids, including the kids from the other schools who started visiting our school after classes. No one knew this, of course, but I anonymously paid Tom and his guys a kind of allowance - nothing major: I just paid for gas or fast food takeout or things like that, just to show them that we appreciated what they were doing for us.
Anyway, there were always some kids hanging around at the Fairchilds', and Tom and his buds acted as the twins' unofficial bodyguards, allowing them to get to school without being accosted.
Truly, this could really have gone to our heads, but not with Joanne and Morgan knocking some sense into us, especially into Mike lol. And the glee club kids, too, though it was Fallon that kept those kids in line.
Working on the show wasn't too bad, really, because we only had to endure this for two weeks. What was hard, though, was the repetition, and the walking around while playing and singing, and in high heels and in outfits (although THAT was only during the dress rehearsal). And did you ever try playing a violin while moving AND dancing AND singing AND doing all that in high heels?
But what was really tough was when Janet showed up two days before the concert.
to be continued...
Chapter 33 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ. Practicing for the concert continued, and Danny's and the band's fans continued to grow, so much so that it took Tom Hennessy and his friends to keep everyone in line and things bearable. Yep, Tom Hennessy. The gang also started the ball rolling on "The Plan," i.e. letting everyone think that it was actually Danielle who was Dannie-the-singer. It seemed to be working, but for how long, nobody knew. Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. |
Chapter Thirty-Three: A Showdown
***** (Danielle) *****
It was a hectic two weeks as we got ready for the concert, but everything went well for the most part.
Naturally, just like the folks of the other kids, Mom and Dad had a lot of questions. Danny and I did our best to explain, because, if they didn't agree, then we couldn't continue on. Thankfully, though, they agreed. Eventually. We had to be super-detailed with our explanations, though, and in the end, they were, grudgingly, for it, so long as we were being careful. I doubt if they would have agreed, though, if Danny didn't ask. Mom and Dad always did have a soft spot for Danny.
As to the security aspect, I explained that we could request for a car to bring us to and from the Arclight if we wanted, and we could have guards and everything. We explained the schedule, though, which meant that we'd be getting in at midnight, or even later, for the next two weeks but, curiously, they didn't really complain except to say they'd feel bad not seeing us much.
"Don't worry, Dad," I said. "It's just for two weeks."
To that, he just nodded, and gave me a kiss on the cheek. They also said that they'd be out of town during the concert because of a business meeting of dad's. But we promised to get a copy of the video for them.
We wondered why mom had to join him on his business trip, but the looks they were giving each other made it obvious. Danny and I gave each other winks and nudges, and Danny waggled his eyebrows at dad, and mom and dad looked so adorable as they blushed.
Anyway, Danny and I thought this was too easy. Something must be up. And we only found out later that Mrs. P already had a long talk with them earlier, and had ironed things out already. Grrr…
So, everything went smoothly.
Except when Janet showed up.
After school, Danny, Nikki and I would rush back home, shaking the kids trying to trail us. Some even tried cutting us off, but with Tom and his guys escorting us in their cars, that didn't really work. And once we were home, we were safe.
We'd then get ready for the night's rehearsal, and mom and dad would see us out the door.
The routine was, first, I would pick out our outfits. Danny gave me full access to his cabinets, drawers and dresser, and I was able to pick out my outfit from the stuff he had, and allow me to play-act as Danny. As for his outfit, that was easier to do, and I'd always pick functional but chic ensembles from my stuff that I myself would wear. But given his slightly more... voloptuous dimensions, it would always be totally sexy.
I was shocked, however, to find out that my tasteful clothes sense didn't translate well to boys' clothes. But with the both of us collaborating, Danny and I were able to come up with ensembles that passed muster with Nikki, who turned out to be a better judge of boys' clothes - after all, she was Danny's girlfriend, and it was to her interest that her boyfriend looked good.
This had the salutary effect of teaching Danny how to dress better as a guy, and we put together outfits out of his existing clothes that he could mix-and-match as needed, thereby quadrupling the number of outfits he could wear. From then on, Danny started looking pretty spiffy whether as a girl or a guy.
As for "Dannie," it wasn't as difficult to pick out her outfits, since they were just my regular outfits, except that we'd pick out two outfits instead of one everyday - one for "her" to wear to the Arclight and to practice in (so that was more like an exercise outfit, like leotards or sweatshirt & shorts, but with heels, which she'd cover up with a jacket when travelling from the house to the Arclight), and another to change into after practice.
Danny argued against that, saying he didn't need two outfits, but I used my veto - I basically said, because I was a girl, I knew better. So I won the debate by default.
So Danny would go to the rehearsal sessions outfitted in my best workout clothes, which I had to say, made him look oh, so sexy, with a spare set of clothes he could change into after rehearsal. As for me, I got duded up in Danny's clothes, and played my role as Danny, Nikki's boyfriend (one detail I had to change in our plan, though, was that Danny was now the band's manager, as well as Dannie's and Robin's).
Danny already had my voice down pat, but as for me - surprisingly, I didn't have a hard time mimicking his voice: his normal speaking voice was relaitvely high, to begin with, and all I really needed to do was to speak in a slightly lower register, and though it was far from perfect, it was good enough, especially when I matched it with Danny's normal cadence and intonations, which I knew back-to-front. After all, I grow up with him so I knew his voice well.
Anyway, once ready, we'd proceed to the Arclight.
After a hairy encounter with some fans, Mrs. Piper decided to hire some drivers for us for the duration of the preparation for the show, as well as a nondescript car: the new routine was that one of the drivers would take Danny's Mustang and conspicuously drive it to the Arclight while another would pick us up at the back of the house in the nondescript car, and would make our way to the Arclight via a circuitous route. The kids would easily trail the Mustang but would never catch it - the driver was a professional stunt and safety driver, after all - and would eventually get to the Arclight's underground parking entrance (where people not on Arclight business were not allowed to enter) long after we had gotten there: while they were chasing the decoy, we would arrive at the Arclight's loading dock entrance twenty or thirty minutes ahead of my mustang.
As for after, eating out (and getting home) was not easy, so most of the time, Mrs. P would order takeout for everyone, and we'd eat in the Arclight's employees' lounge-slash-cafeteria before going home.
Sometimes, though, because the Glee Club kids couldn't stay late too often, the size of the group was small enough that we felt it okay to eat out instead. We'd concoct a plan where our two drivers would use Joanne's van and my mustang to lure the fans away. Someone would let us know when the coast was clear and we'd take one of the PiperCorp minibuses and we'd look for a nice place where we can have dinner. But wherever we did have dinner, we wouldn't be able to eat at that place again for the duration of our practice period.
We'd then be driven back to our houses but using alternate routes so as to avoid attention.
***** (Danielle) *****
On the Wednesday before the concert, when the Glee Club kids had long gone home and we finished practicing our "alternate set," we decided to have dinner at this out-of-the-way pizza-and-pasta place that Mel knew about, and when "my" drivers had lured away the bulk of the crowd, we then took one of the buses and made the short drive to the restaurant.
We settled down at a spot in the middle of the empty place. The waiters then took our orders and we gorged on the breadsticks while we waited for our orders.
As I laughed at yet another joke from Jerry and Mel (they had grown to be quite the couple) and chewed on my breadstick, our minibus driver came up.
"Ummm… Mr. Fairchild," he said, trying to get my attention. I almost didn't respond. He wasn't let in on "The Plan" so he thought I was Dan while I momentarily forgot who I was supposed to be.
I got up and we had a short discussion away from my noisy friends.
"What's up, Fred?" I asked. I didn't have the voice-imitating skills of Danny, but I think I do a fair imitation of Danny's boy-voice. It wasn't perfect, but thank god Danny's regular boy voice was fairly high-pitched.
"I think someone was successful in following us." Fred gestured to the parking lot outside.
I groaned. "Fans," I grumbled. "Why can't they leave us alone?"
"It's actually just the one. I think the decoy cars worked well enough, but this one was able to see through our little trick. Anyway, I saw this one car parked in the Arclight Coliseum's parking lot pull out and start following us the same time we left. I thought I was able to give it the slip, but then I saw the car parked just outside. I guess I wasn't too successful. Sorry 'bout that."
"Not a problem - you did your best."
He led me to the front window, and we peeked through the curtains. In the empty parking lot outside, there were only two vehicles - our minibus and a nondescript station wagon.
"That the guy?" I pointed to the car.
Fred nodded. "It's a girl, actually, Mr. Fairchild."
That piqued my interest and I squinted through the window, trying to see who it was. "Ohmigod! It's Janet!"
I turned to Fred.
"How long has she been out there?"
"I don't know," he said. "I wasn't looking at the lot the whole time, so she could have been there since we went into the restaurant. Maybe twenty minutes."
I rushed back to our table.
"Danny!" I called, and he came over, along with Nikki.
"What up?" he said. I mean "she." Heehee.
"Janet's outside the restaurant," I said without preamble.
She and Nikki looked at each other.
"Where, exactly? What's she doing?"
"I don't know. She's just sitting in her car outside."
"But she knows we're here?"
"Yes - she followed us all the way from the Arclight."
"Danny, I thought she didn't want anything to do with the band anymore," Nikki said.
"We don't know that, Nikki. She just stormed off when we were talking about the KRPQ concert that one time. Sure she said what she said, but shew might have been carried away by her emotions and didn't mean it."
"She did say she wanted out."
Danny shrugged. "She thought we were sort of taking away the band from her. We weren't, but things were changing a lot. I guess that's why she felt the way she did."
"Why doesn't she come in then?"
I shrugged. "What do we do?"
"I guess we need to invite her in…" Danny said.
"Do you think that's wise, Danny?" Nikki asked, worried.
"I don't know, Nick. But regardless of what happened before, she doesn't deserve to be all alone in that parking lot while we're all inside having dinner." She looked at me. "And, maybe we can clear things up. Maybe she might want to come back, and we need to give her the chance to come back. It's her band, too."
"What about Fallon?" I asked.
"Well, whether Janet decides to come back or not, Fallon will be part of the concert. After all her work, it's only fair."
I nodded. "So… we go out and fetch her, then?"
"Yes."
"I'm nervous. Fred? Can you come with us?"
He nodded. "Not a problem, Mr. Fairchild."
We stepped out of the restaurant. I shivered in the cool night air, and Nikki came over and we hugged each other around the waist against the cold.
Danny walked ahead of us towards Janet's car while we followed, and Fred, our bodyguard-driver trailed all of us.
We stopped about ten feet away from her car and just looked at her. Clearly she noticed us since she was staring back.
Danny tentatively waved, and she rolled down her window.
"Hey, Janet," she said.
"Hey," Janet replied mildly. I saw her red-rimmed eyes and it was obvious she had been crying.
"We're just about to have some dinner. You wanna join us?"
She looked at Danny and burst into tears.
Danny came over and opened the door. Janet practically fell out and into Danny's arms.
Danny caught Janet and allowed the tall girl to sob on her shoulder.
"I missed you," Janet whisper-sobbed into her ear. "I love you."
Danny nervously looked around, especially at Nikki, but she just shrugged. Knowing Danny, though, I knew she probably sighed in relief.
"We missed you, too," she said diplomatically, and just continued to hug her. "So - are you hungry? There's pizza and stuff…"
Janet's pretty big, compared to Danny, but Danny didn't seem to be troubled by practically carrying the taller girl.
Janet pulled back and grabbed Danny by the back of her head and crushed Danny's lips against hers.
"Hey!" Nikki cried and rushed to them. I was about to do the same thing but Nikki beat me to it.
Nikki pulled Janet away from Danny and stood between them.
"Stop!" Nikki said. "Keep away from him!"
"You b…" Janet was about to backhand her but Danny's hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.
"No, Janet," she said. "I can't let you do that."
Janet tried to wrench her arm away but Danny wouldn't let go. By the way Janet's arm trembled, I could see how hard she tried. And we all knew Danny was pretty strong.
Danny stared into the tall girl's eyes, and she was able to stare Janet down despite the half-foot height difference between them.
"Stop it, Janet," she said. "Now."
Janet sighed and nodded. "That's all you had to say, Danny."
"Janet, one of these days, we're gonna have to talk about things. You're not being yourself."
She frowned at Danny. "What do you mean?"
"You're hurting your friends."
She scoffed. "They're not my friends. They took my band away from me."
Danny looked down. "If someone took your band from you, it was me. Don't do this to the others."
"No, it's not you. It can't be you." She reached out and touched Danny's cheek. Nikki bristled at that.
"Hey! Don't touch him!" Nikki swatted Janet's hands away. Janet glared at her but Danny again interposed herself between them.
Janet looked at Danny, and then at Nikki, and sighed.
"You don't know how lucky you are Nikki. I only wish…"
"You only wish what," Nikki asked.
Janet started crying again.
***** (Danny) *****
"You only wish what," I repeated Nikki's question.
"I wish I was the one. Your one."
I've seen that kind of look before. From Danielle and Betsy and Nikki and, ohmigod, even from Morgan and some of the guys. I wasn't any kind of stud, but I knew enough to recognize that look.
But Danielle and the others never acted this weird. She seemed like one of those crazy-obsessed people on drugs you see on TV shows.
"My one?"
"Dammit, yes!"
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw some movement behind me: seems the guys have come out and they were all behind me.
"I'm sorry, Janet," I said carefully. "You're one of my best friends, but that's all it is - I don't feel the same way about you."
"But I love you!"
"I'm so sorry, Janet."
Her expression grew hard and backhanded me across the face. I flew back and fell on the parking lot's asphalt.
The others started to move in, but she jumped back into her car.
She screeched out of the lot, almost running me and Danielle down, but before she escaped out onto the street, she hit our minibus near it's driver's side headlight. It was stong enough that the bumper was half torn off, the fender wrecked and the left front tire ruined.
"Janet!" I cried and ran after her car.
She just stopped in the middle of the street, just beyond the parking lot entrance.
I stopped at the curb and looked at her. From the car, she stared back at me.
"Bye, Danny," she said, and sped away.
***** (Danny) *****
Hours later, all of us were back in our houses, and a report was filed about the minibus. However, Mrs. Piper decided not to file any charges. She explained that the concert couldn't afford to have any bad publicity.
I also didn't file any charges personally, which surprised everyone.
"Why, Danny?" Betsy, the most logical among all of us, asked. "She almost ran you guys over! She's dangerous!"
"Betsy's right, man," Morgan said. "She's out of her head. She could hurt someone."
"I know, I know," I said. "But she didn't."
I looked at them. "Clearly, something's happening with Janet, but she's our friend. We gotta find out what, and at least try and help her first."
"But…"
"We just need to be careful."
"We need to find her first."
"The logical place to start is at her house, right?" Betsy said.
"We can try," I said, "but she won't be there, I almost guarantee it."
Morgan shook his head.
"I think you're wrong for not filing charges, man," he said, "but whatever…"
I clapped him on the shoulder.
"Thanks, dude," I said, and Morgan just shrugged.
***** (Danny) *****
The following two days went back to normal, or as normal as it ever was, and the remaining practice nights went just as well as the other nights, except that we did two repeats of the routines each time, and we had Harry, Sally and the others there to practice with for a change.
All throughout, we had to contend with our fans, but with the help of Tom Hennessy and his friends, and Mrs. Piper's people, we managed.
The thing was, we kept on seeing Janet, usually in the crowd that hung outside, and sometimes around our houses, but before we could confront her, she'd disappear into the night.
We called up Janet's folks, and they said that she left a note that she'd be out with her band for a while, practicing for a gig. But she came home sometimes to grab a change of clothes and such, or to borrow some money, but other than that, they hardly saw her.
We didn't bother to correct Janet's... mis-statement, and just left word with her folks to tell Janet that she should contact us.
It was worrisome, but what else could we do?
Anyway, we finally became proficient in our routines enough to satisfy our director and choreographers - we reached that point where we thought we couldn't be more ready.
Guess it's time.
***** (Danny) *****
On the day before the concert, we had our final dress rehearsal. Before going to school. Mom and Dad took their leave as they left for Dad's weekend business conference, and we were on our own. In the old days, when the parental units were out of town, Danielle would probably be arranging a party and I would be hiding in my room, or spending the night at Morgan's, but at the moment, all we were concerned about was the rehearsal.
"We're trusting you kids," Dad said, The veiled warning was hard to miss.
"Oh, Dad," I said, and sighed. "You know you can trust us!"
Dad grabbed me in a bear hug. "I know it, Danny. So." He grabbed Danielle, too, and squeezed us both. "Good luck with the show tomorrow, okay?"
***** (Danny) *****
Our final, full-dress rehearsal went almost flawlessly. We just did one run-through and after which, Mrs. Piper told us all to relax and get some rest.
All of us said good night, but, per Nikki's request, Danielle and Betsy rode in our camouflage car, and I drove Nikki to her house.
And, when I was about to drop her off at her place, she insisted I drive my 'stang into their garage.
I followed her into the house, and found that her family was out for the night - her folks were spending the night with some friends, and she had bribed her siblings with tickets to the concert to stay with friends as well.
She dragged me to her room, and started taking off my, or rather Danielle's clothes, not even waiting.
Not that I'm complaining.
to be continued...
Chapter Thirty-Four: High Fidelity
***** (Danny) *****
I was so turned on after yet another faint-inducing, toe-curling kiss from Nikki - the latest in a whole series of kisses and… other things. Good thing I was wearing a dress with a relatively long skirt (down to the middle of my thighs this time) instead of tight pants or something, so I could afford to wear just regular thong briefs instead of a gaff. Otherwise I'd be walking like a cripple by now. Men's thong briefs to be sure, but at least my... stuff... wasn't that squashed down. Well, not too much, anyway (Danielle insisted on stretchy ones a size smaller than my size). And even though it was a tight dress, I'd had enough practice... arranging myself down there, and it was tight enough that there won't be any telltale bumps despite my... friskiness.
One thing, though - my gang always had problems with pronouns when it came to me - calling me a "she" more than they call me a "he." But since the night that we spent at the hotel, Nikki didn't have that problem anymore. I assumed that something about me changed, but I had surreptitiously been probing the others for the past few days, and they said that I was the same person. And I thought so, as well. Besides, why was it that Nikki was the only one who was consistently getting my pronouns right?
So was it Nikki who changed? But she was the same person, too. I think.
Anyway, to get ready, I went to the ladies' bathroom, double-checked for, umm... bumps, tied the two silk handkerchiefs Nikki gave me to the outfit's chunky red bangles at my wrists for my "trademark" scarf thing, and then went to the dressing room assigned to us.
I sat down and started gluing on the false nails with the bright-red polish, and gave Fallon a quick hello. She waved back at me and sat down by a make-up table as well.
Fallon was in a simple white tanktop-style bodysuit, which was matched up with a sparkly miniskirt that looked like it was covered in gold glitter, and a wide black belt. She wore gold bracelets and maybe half a dozen thin chain necklaces. She started putting the last touches on her makeup with a small powder brush. Thankfully, she's not doing the goth thing. Lol.
June came in a little late. She wasn't in the best of moods since she was late and had trouble putting on her own outfit - a sexy, tight brown dress with dark, metallic green shoulder and back straps that looked like they were covered in green glitter, and a plunging neckline. She grumpily pushed Fallon away from the dressing table, sat down and started putting on the final touches on her own makeup. Fallon looked at me and I made a patting-down gesture. Fallon shrugged and sat down by another mirror to finish her makeup.
People hired by RockrGrrl picked out our outfits (as well as the other outfits we'd be changing into later) and did most of our makeup, but we insisted on doing the final touches. They wouldn't be around to help us later, though, so we'd be all alone later and would have to make do - we couldn't have strangers around, after all, especially when Danny and Danielle would be doing switcheroos.
All of us looked pretty good, but with our over-the-top for-TV makeup, we all looked so much older, so much more mature. Far too mature for my taste. Next time, I'll insist on picking our own costumes and outfits... Wait... next time? What am I thinking!
But I guess the TV people knew what they were doing. Fallon's metallic gold skirt, the metallic green highlights of June's dress, and my own metallic red dress made us match. Not even Danielle could have done better.
We joked around as we waited to be called, and June apologized to Fallon for being so rude, which went a long way to sooth Fallon's hurt feelings. Among us three, Fallon was the newest and therefore the most nervous. June sort of been taking Fallon under her wing and tried to give her pointers and advice. I had half a mind to warn her that Fallon was into girls but decided not to. June would find out eventually. Wonder what Morgan would do if Fallon did make a move. Would their trio become a quartet? Heehee.
After a while, someone fetched us and we made our way to the stage.
I climbed up to the dimly lit stage with relative ease, barely no discomfort at all, except that the movement of my upper legs were a little restricted by the dress's skirt.
It was the vampiest outfit I've worn so far. Not risqué at all, actually, but only just - it was just this side of slutty. I would have said trashy, but I saw the price of the duplicate outfit Danielle bought, and it was too expensive to be trashy, if you know what I mean. Haute couture trashy, I guess - bright red with glittery stuff all over. With its plunging neckline (and I DO mean plunging) and nonexistent back, I wouldn't have had the guts to wear it, but Danielle said this was the only dress she could find in the "pre-approved" list of outfits that had an easy-to-get-out-of zip, and the only one which the mall had in stock. Well... at least one of the stores in the mall still had it in stock and in our size. And with the just-cleaned long wig, the over-bright lipstick, red bangles and the white silk hankies tied to them, well, I looked lots older and just trashy enough that I could walk the streets later and not be out of place among the, ummm, professional girls, yet still be okay to attend one of Betsy's black-tie family soirees.
At least June and Fallon were in the same mode as I was so I didn't feel too bad. I gave them hugs when they came over before they took their places on the stage. Mongo and Dale came over and we high-fived each other. Dale was about to give me a thump on the back as well but reconsidered. He settled for patting me gingerly on the shoulder instead.
When Mrs. Piper told us the people from RockrGrrl wanted us to do edgier numbers than what we're used to doing - well, I guess this was the best we could do outfit-wise, without departing that much from our clean-cut image.
And we did a little last-minute change-around in our songs. Thank God for our alternate playlist. Mikey and Morgan wracked their brains thinking up which of the alternate songs were appropriate to use, but Danielle vetoed the songs that they chose.
What were left were some eighties songs mixed with some from movies, some from TV, and some 70s, 80s and 90s songs. And talk about squeaky clean songs... Even the Bruno Mars song sung by CeeLo Green they picked got swapped out for the G-rated version that was featured at the Grammy's. Anyway, I hope this satisfies the sponsors. But Betsy got her licks in, too, and our repertoire now included some cutesy stuff by Michael Bublé, can you believe it (I made the mistake of reading the guy's name wrong once and said Michael Bubble, and Bets didn't want to talk to me for the rest of that day), plus some others we would not have considered before. But who can say no to Betsy? Not me, that's for sure. But at least she found the music sheet for that old Donna Lewis song that was just perfect for Danielle. It still remains to be seen if we can play all the songs we picked out.
Betsy was supposed to join us after the first song (the first song didn't have any part suitable for her violin), so she elected to get ready on her own. She sat with the guys in the audience for now, all dressed up and ready for her part. She was a little out of place in the front row, though, with her sexy club clothes and high-fashion do. I saw her sitting with Nikki, Tracey, Joanne and the others. I waved to them, but it seemed the crowd thought it was for them, too, so everyone waved back and roared & clapped their approval. Dammit! Why does that keep on happening?
A stage hand climbed up the stage and handed me a wireless white microphone and gestured to the side of Mongo's drum set. I saw my candy-pink electric, my white-top bass and my mint-green acoustic on stands there, undoubtedly tuned up, wirelessly wired up and ready for me. I nodded at the guys and they all got set. Although Fallon was totally nervous (I could tell), she was doing her best not to show it. I gave her a little wave and she nodded and gave me a big smile and a thumbs-up. I knew how it felt to be the new one, but she still had agreed to be Janet's substitute singer with hardly any time to get used to it, and I was grateful. I still didn't know what triggered Janet's whatever-it-was - it couldn't really be all that junk that she spouted before about selling out, or about artistic integrity, et cetera et cetera, but now's not the time to dwell on it. I just hope she'll be fine later after all of this, and that she'd be okay with my friend Fallon.
The guys from the Glee Club were all set as well and knew the new sequence of the songs, excited at the chance to sing in front of a real audience. And even if there was another change-up, I was confident the guys would be able to cope. They weren't getting paid much - just a token amount - but that was all that the school was allowing, though the parents wouldn't have minded if Mrs. Piper paid more. But that wasn't the point - the kids wanted to do this regardless.
A week ago, we were in danger of actually not having any backup singers since some of the parents left it to the very last minute to sign the performance permission and waiver slips, but in the end, we had our do-wop guys and girls.
They were all laughing and giggling, and waved to me from their place on the right side of the stage. I waved back.
I stood with my back to the audience, feet as far apart as my tight little outfit would allow, and felt my whole back go cold. The backless, short-skirted, high-heeled outfit just wasn't built for the air-conditioned auditorium but I resolved to tough it out.
As soon as they clicked on the floodlights, the whole place exploded in screams and cheers. I waited for everything to die down, and when everything was relatively quiet, I raised my arms, started clapping over my head in a steady rhythm, and counted the guys in. The crowed clapped and cheered. After maybe several dozen counts, Mongo followed my claps with a drum riff. Over the sound, I heard a girl scream, "I love you, beautiful!" Oh, oh. Shades of the Jubilee Center concert. Hope that's not the same girl.
I continued to clap over my head, and the people got more and more into it. After a few more counts, June started with the five melody chords, with a little synth overdub in the background. Very seventies and early eighties! Dale wiped his hand over his bass's fret and made it squeal, and June repeated her chords on a higher key with Fallon doing a two-finger accompaniment on her lower frets. They repeated the whole sequence a couple of times, amping up the crowd more and more, and me looking sexily down over my right shoulder as I clapped in time, my scarves flying, excitement and anticipation building in me. God!
And, on cue, I spun around and started singing my cheesy lyrics.
***** (Betsy) *****
As soon as the lights came on, the crowd roared in delight and anticipation. Danny was in the middle of the stage, her bare, flawless back to us, sexy arms raised and scarves trailing down. Her hair covered her back a bit but we could glimpse more of it every time her mane of red hair moved as she started clapping in steady rhythm. And the audience just ate it up!
Mongo got in the act first, and then June with her over-synthesized playing, and then Dale with his bass guitar. And as soon as the new girl, Fallon, started playing, Danny spun around, hair and scarves flying, and she started to sing.
As soon as she did, a palpable wave seemed to wash over everyone - it was like an almost physical thing. Danny's so gorgeous!
The crowd cheered but soon quieted down a bit as they listened to her golden tones. Never mind the corny lyrics. It's Danny!
"Other boys may turn me on but I let temptation slide..." Danny sang and danced to the eighties beat like a reincarnated disco queen, and continued.
"Used to be so plain to see the hunger in my eyes. But now I'm buyin'..." and the kids from the glee club, acting as her backup singers, sang in counterpoint, "buying..."
"Tryin'..." and then the glee club again - "trying!"
Danny had somehow danced closer to them and when she was beside the tallest backup glee club singer, she and the glee club singers started singing together:
"High fidelity, high!" (high, high, high...) "High fidelity, high!" (high, high, high...) - keepin' it light, keepin' us tight! All right!"
Danny then rushed to the middle of the stage, left arm straight up and fist high. "High fidelity......" she sang, keeping the last note going for what seemed like a long time, but what was actually just a few seconds. Wow!
"Quadrophonic sound, stereo desire coming to you loud and clear!" Danny sang.
One of the klieg lights installed by the TV people snapped on and illuminated the new girl, Fallon, as she played a short riff, and then Danny sang.
"Like a brand-new, fine-tuned radio. And I'm so glad you're here... Someone to lie with..." (lie with), "fly with..." (fly with!)...
"High fidelity, high!" (high, high, high...) "High fidelity, high!" (high fidelity...)
"High fidelity, high!" (high, high, high...) - keepin' it light," (keeping it light) "keepin' us tight! All right!"
Again, that signature pose - left arm straight up and fist high. "High fidelity..."
She then crooned into her mic. "Oooh!"
Who would have thought that would be so sexy?
Mongo hit a triple-base hit, and Danny sang the refrain as Fallon and June spiraled the music up and up!
"Is it real or is it synthesized? Maybe I'm hypnotized." (Aaaah!) "I need you baby, my feelings are true. I'm saving my love for you!" (You!)
And then the glee club kids sang the next lines.
"You're in my dreams and in my heart, on my frequency..." As they sang, Danny was in the middle of the stage, dancing to the beat like an ultra-sexy, redheaded female Justin Timberlake. The kids did a finger-snapping kind of move the way the backup singers from those old Motown bands did, and continued to sing in harmony. "I'm the number one song on your chart. It's where I want to be!" they sang.
And then Danny took over again. "Someone to lie with," (lie with... fly with...) "fly with.." (fly with!)
"High fidelity, high!" (high, high, high...) "High fidelity, high!" (high fidelity...) "High fidelity, high!" (high, high, high...) - keepin' it light," (keeping it light!) keepin' us tight! All right!"
They re-did the line again, and the crowd went wild. "High fidelity, high!" (high, high, high...) "High fidelity, high!" (high fidelity...) "High fidelity, high!" (high, high, high...) - makin' it light," (making it light!) makin' it light! All right!"
And then Danny and the glee kids went into a three-part harmony.
(High fidelity!) "High fidelity..." (high fidelity...). (High fidelity!) "High fidelity..." (high fidelity...). (High fidelity!) "High fidelity..." (high fidelity...).
And then all together: "High Fidelity!"
The music snapped off, and everyone - Danny, the glee kids, the band - they all lifted their left arms straight into the air.
It was like a gunshot, how it snapped off so cleanly, and slowly the applause rained down. Though I was there when they practiced the entire thing before, I was just as overwhelmed, and I clapped and cheered just like all the others.
All throughout that less-than-three minute performance, which felt more like twenty minutes, a big rear-projection screen suspended from the ceiling showed all the on-stage action so everyone in the Arclight Coliseum could see what was happening. But I and the others were close enough that we didn't need the screen.
As everyone on stage took their bows, I only had eyes for Danny. Danny blushed so prettily as the band and the glee kids turned and applauded her. Mongo and Dale pulled her to the front and she shyly waved to everyone, which started another wave of applause. Nervously, Danny did that thing with her hair again and brought her mic back up.
"Thank you, everyone!" she said. " My name is Dannie, and this is our band, Unlimited Bandwidth." Danny had to pause to let the new wave of cheering die down. "Welcome to the formal launch of KRPQ-FM, as it transitions to its new Digital FM channel and station ID. Let's hear it for hi-fidelity, ninety-nine point three! Hi-Fidelity FM!"
The applause thundered down and Danny grinned from ear to ear. That was the cue for the prop man up in the rafters, and glitter and multi-colored confetti slowly rained down. A little bit of confetti landed on Danny, but what was most noticeable was a small, thin powdering of glitter that landed on her cheeks, eyelids and eyelashes, as well as in her red hair. As the camera flashbulbs fired, the light reflected off the glitter. It was like Danny was covered with little twinkling lights. But she was oblivious to this and the effect this had on the crowd, and continued with her spiel. It made her look like an angel had just come down from amongst the stars.
"And I'd like to introduce your hosts for tonight," she continued. "From ninety-nine point three, Sally Marshall, Talia Roberts and Harry Seavers!"
From the side, Sally, Talia and Harry leaped out and onto the stage, all of them carrying their own radio mics and dressed to the nines. A decision was made by the director early on, which Mrs. Piper agreed with - he decided to use handheld microphones instead of those headset things. Though a little more difficult, hand mics gave the performers an extra prop to work with, and was more visually satisfying. ("Besides," he said, "those headset things just ruin the look of the girls, don't you think?" All of us shrugged - we didn't care.)
Harry let out a rebel yell, and Sally and Talia made a beeline for Danny, and commenced hugging the stuffing out of her.
"Let's hear it for Dannie and Unlimited Bandwidth!" Harry said, raising his voice to be heard over the din of the crowd. Harry raised Danny's microphone arm like a prize fighter's, and everyone cheered. Someone in the crowd snapped a photo of that moment, and this was the picture that got on all the papers - Harry raising Danny's arm as they were surrounded by Sally and Talia, June, Fallon, Dale and Mongo, and the ten kids from the Glee Club, and me - the guys had waved me in at the last second, and I snuck in there, got in the pic, and then scurried away as soon as the pic was done. It was one of the most memorable moments of my life, as I'm sure it was for the others, too. I was so proud of Danny. Right then and there, I decided that it was true - I loved her, innocently forgetting about Nikki. But I guess I could be forgiven for that one short lapse. I love Danny, and I think I always will. I shivered in happiness.
Harry continued - "let's hear it for Hi-Fidelity, Ninety-Nine Point Three FM!" and everyone just cheered their heads off.
Eventually, the applause died down, and as it did, Danny and the band faded to the back of the stage. Talia and Sally took up the spiel. "Let's not stop the fun for tonight, Harry," Talia said.
"Right, Talia," Harry said. "What do you say, Sally?"
"Absolutely, Harry!" Sally responded. "Ladies and gentlemen, the rest of the ninety-nine point three crew!"
Two other people, wearing the station's jackets and colors as well as big, bright-colored headphones over their ears walked on stage.
***** (Lou) *****
From the wings, Dennis and I heard Sally say our cue. Goodwin, our faithful night security guard who accompanied us, clapped me on the shoulder. He was wearing the station's new jacket, just like us.
"Time to go, old hoss!" Goodwin said, and pushed the both of us onto the stage.
I sighed. Clearly, Dennis got off on the attention as he jauntily waved at the cheering crowd. Actually, I did, too, but never would I deliberately seek this out. It was Danny's fault, I said to myself, fondly thinking of the kid. That kid...
I smiled. I was so overwhelmed by the bright lights and large, boisterous crowd that I hardly paid attention to what Harry, the new announcer, was saying. Imagine - all of this - all of this because of that kid.
I guess I had started to develop a soft spot for her. Or is it him... Ahhh, it didn't matter. I guess I owe him this - reviving the station and thereby securing my employment, as well as saving my life when I had my heart attack. But more than that - as my old dad would say, she's a good egg. (Goddammit! I meant "he"!)
Harry had just introduced Dennis, and Dennis did his little smart-alecky little spiel, and everyone just ate it all up. And then Harry introduced me. It was my turn.
I leaned down and spoke into Harry's mic. "Hi," I said in my usual low and gravelly voice and - I couldn't believe it - everyone exploded! Huh? All I said was "Hi."
Dennis clapped me on my shoulder and the two cute girls, Sally and Talia, bussed me on both cheeks. What did I do?!? What did I do!?!
Anyway, Talia took over, and started talking about the newly-revamped station. I looked around and I saw Dannie in the red dress. I couldn't get over how beautiful that girl was, but I was old enough to be her dad. I sighed. She saw me looking, and she gave me a big smile and cheerily gave me a small salute. The little hankies she had trailed her arm. Dammit, "he!"
***** (Lou) *****
A couple of weeks before, Mrs. Piper brought us into her office for a talk. With her lawyer present, she explained how crucial it was to the station's plans that Danny's alter ego be kept secret, but more than anything was that Danny asked us to. Dennis, Goodwin and I would not give the kid trouble by willingly spilling the beans - all three of us liked the kid, even though Dennis thought he was a poof, but Mrs. Piper insisted. And I owed him my life, just as much, actually more, than I did Goodwin, I think.
Mrs. Piper handed us some papers to sign, and in them she spelled the penalty for breaking our word, even accidentally. That momentarily took my breath away. I was about to tear it up until I figured out that, for keeping our word, we'd be given a twenty thousand-dollar bonus, as well as a ten percent raise and a renewable five year employment contract.
With my present financial problems, I signed right away, as did Dennis and Goodwin. However, after we did, Mrs. Piper laid another bomb on us - we found out that the lead singer in that band we just featured at the station - it was Danny as well!
Dennis, Goodwin and I got to talking after that, over drinks (nowadays it's just Diet Sprite for me). We got four Danny's - Danny the kid, our Danny (the DJ), his sister Danielle, and now this Dannie singer. Dennis and I thought this secret won't hold, even if we didn't say anything. I mean, all of them "Danny," and all of them redheads? Good grief! What are the odds?
But then, Goodwin corrected us - Danny-the-DJ was now officially a brunette named Robin, and Danielle was, in reality, Danny's real-life sister. Besides, the various Dannys acted as differently from each other as night and day - there was Danny, the boy who acted just like any other nerdy kid I knew, there was Danny-the-leather-jacket-wearing-brunette-DJ (I mean Robin) who was like a cerebral genius tomboy-type girl, and Danielle, the bright but bubbly cheerleader type who was actually Danny's real-life sister. And then there's this Dannie-the-singer. Among the four, Dannie-the-singer was physically the taller one on account of the skyscraper heels she kept on wearing, as well as the more blatantly sexy, but, oddly enough, she exuded a feeling of shyness and coquettishness which was at odds with her rocker image and sexy look. It's all a mystery to me, actually.
I shook my head - listen to me, talking like they were all different people. I looked back at Dannie-the-singer as she cheered whatever Talia said, and was amazed. I felt a headache coming on.
Sally, the other cute girl took over.
"Y'know, Talia," Sally said, "it's too bad our team isn't complete."
"What do you mean, Sally?" Talia feigned innocence. "Do you mean, not all of the Hi-Fidelity Ninety-nine Point Three FM Deejays are here?"
"Yep!" Sally continued with the shtick.
"But, all the guys - you, me, Dennis, Lou and Harry are here. Whatever do you mean?" It was so campy, the audience laughed.
"Yes, Sally," Harry said. "Whatever do you mean! With you, Talia and us, aren't we all here?"
"No, Harry, we're missing one."
I gasped in mock surprise. "You mean we are missing one Deejay?"
Sally giggled. "Yes, Lou, that's exactly what I mean!"
"Ahh!" Dennis said. "You are probably referring to..."
"That's right, Dennis," I said in my gravelly voice, taking the cue. "Live from our studio downtown, iiit's the Nighthawk!"
Everyone cheered at the top of their lungs, and clapped uproaringly.
"Hey, hey hey," Danny's pre-recorded Nighthawk voice from the live-radio signal was fed into the speakers. "This is the Nighthawk, transmitting from the Ninety-Nine Point Three studios downtown. Thanks, guys!" On the big projection screen hanging above us, they had a picture of Danny - the same picture that was hanging in the station's lobby.
"I'm so sorry I couldn't be with you folks there at the Arclight Coliseum, but someone needed to hold down the fort over here." ('Course, the one really holding down the fort was no one, really - the booths were locked down: no one was in there. But that's okay. I think, aside from those of us who knew Dannie to be Danny, everyone really thought that "The Nighthawk" really was at the station.) "Anyway," the pre-recorded Danny continued, "I hope you all enjoy the party!"
"Thanks, so much, Robin!" Sally answered. "We will! Now, on to the show..."
***** (Danny) *****
I clapped and cheered after Talia got through explaining the new changes at the station, and clapped and cheered some more when Dennis Oldfield and Lou Jefferson took another set of bows and made their way on stage. And then, as planned, my pre-recorded voice came on-line. After my short lines as the Nighthawk, Sally took over again. But just as she did, the stage lights suddenly clicked off. There was a roar from the crowd, in expectation of something. But all of us on stage were shocked. This wasn't expected at all! The entire stage was suddenly cast in darkness. Beside me, in the dark, I heard Fallon swear suddenly.
"Hey, Red!" I whispered. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, Danny," she said a little irritatedly. "I just stubbed my toe on something. Dammit! Who turned off the lights!"
"Be careful, 'kay? Don't trip on anything."
"Yeah, yeah..."
After about half a minute of nervous anticipation, a stage hand came up the stage with an old-fashioned microphone. He dragged the mic's wire across the stage as he made his way to Harry and the others. After my eyes adjusted to the gloom, I was able to see the stage hand and Harry whispering to each other. After a bit, the stage hand handed the microphone to Harry, and stepped away. As soon as he did, a spotlight hit Harry.
"Ummm, ladies and gentlemen," he said, "ummm, we have had a small technical emergency here. Seems power is off up here in front. And, ummm..."
There was a restless kind of murmuring that started to come from the crowd.
"Please hold on as we try and fix the problem..."
The murmuring started to become louder, mixed with a few boos. I stopped the stage hand. "Is it true? Power's off?"
He shrugged. "Yes, ma'am. Afraid so. The electrician is trying to find out the cause. He's saying it must be some breaker somewhere, but because of all the patch cords and stuff, he's having a hard time finding it."
"But there's power to the rest of the auditorium!"
"Yeah, it's just the stage and the radio mics that lost power."
"That's weird!"
"That's what he said. It's like it was done deliberately. But he said he'll find it soon. It's just a matter of finding out where the fault is."
Ohmigod! It's Janet! Got to be!
"What do we do in the meantime, then?"
"Don't know - the director said to try and stall for time..."
"God...." I tried to think a bit. "Okay, man. Can you try and get a couple of microphone stands, as well as a couple of extra mics like the one you brought up?"
"What're you gonna do?"
"Never mind! Just do it, okay?"
The stage hand nodded and, before scurrying away, he handed me something. "They said for you to wear this," he said. It was a little in-the-ear earphone with receiver.
As I was putting it on, Fallon walked over. "Danny?"
"There's a big problem, Red. No power to everything on the stage."
"No shit?" she said sarcastically.
"No shit. But I'm trying to think of something we can do to buy some time. Can you grab my acoustic? It's somewhere back there." I gestured vaguely to the back of the stage.
She nodded and made her careful way back towards Mongo's drums.
I looked around and tried to find a good spot at the front of the stage where there weren't any stuff to block the view of the audience. Seems just a bit to the left, near the glee kids' spot. I moved there, and Fallon came over and handed me my guitar. I put the strap over my shoulder.
"Thanks, honey. Can I ask another favor? Can you get everyone to the side, or somewhere out of the way?"
"But..."
"Please trust me!"
In the dark, I can just imagine her expression. "Okay," she said, nevertheless. "Even those guys?" I saw her arm gesture towards Harry, Talia and the others.
"Yes, even them."
"Okay..."
As soon as she had almost everyone herded to the back of the stage and was going for Harry and the other announcers who were making nervous excuses to the audience, the stage hand came back. "Sorry, miss, no stands, but I have one microphone."
I grabbed the mic from him. "Get a couple of those stands over there," I said, pointing to the microphone stands with radio mics over at the backup singers' section.
He went and got a couple of them. "Okay, you keep these," I said, taking off the useless radio mics from the stands and handing them to him. I then proceeded to lower one of the stands, attaching the wired microphone in my hand to it's clamp. "Now you go over there and get me the mic you gave to Harry." I pointed to the other side of the stage.
Although he was a bit rebellious, he went to go get the mic, but he didn't need to - Harry was walking over to me, and the spotlight followed him.
Harry held the microphone to the side, so that no one could hear him. "Whatcha doin' Dannie?"
"I'm sorry, Harry. But I need you to give me that mic and to get off the stage."
"But...."
I gave him a kiss on the cheek in apology - something I now do to get my way with the girls, which seemed appropriate now somehow. "Do as I say, Harry! Please!"
He was taken aback, but after a bit, in the flood's white light, I could see him smile. "Okay, Sexy. Good luck."
He turned around and faced the audience. Before, the unrest was growing, but they were quiet now, having followed his every move in the spotlight, as well as on the big projection screen above. And when I kissed him, everyone became silent.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, in a very somber, low voice, "Mizz Dannie Fairchild." Taking advantage of the situation, the fink kissed me back on my cheek, and then handed me his mic before walking to the back of the stage, and everyone tittered. Sally and Talia followed him off the stage.
In the silence, I busied myself with fixing the mic to the other stand. I aimed one of the mics so that it would pick up my guitar, and I raised the other so that it was comfortably near my lips. And I started playing one of my favorite songs by Train (which I thought was appropriate for Janet), with just me and my guitar.
My initial chords echoed in the almost-silent coliseum, and as I started to sing, the crowd roared and applauded.
"Now that she's back in the atmosphere," I sang, "with drops of Jupiter in her hair, hey, hey..." It was lonely being here - just me in the darkness without anyone to help me or back me up. Nevertheless...
"She acts like summer and walks like rain, reminds me that there's a time to change, hey, hey...
"Since the return from her stay on the moon, she listens like spring and she talks like June, hey, hey..." I tried to be faithful to the nuances of the original, but it was a little difficult since I was all alone, but I did my best.
"Tell me," I sang in a plaintive way, "did you sail across the sun? Did you make it to the milky way to see the lights all faded, and that heaven is overrated?
"Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star - one without a permanent scar, and did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?"
I didn't notice at the time, but Betsy had come up on stage, carrying a tambourine and a shaker. She waved to Fallon to come close and handed her the tambourine. As I had finished the first stanza of the song and came to the bridge, she started moving the shaker in rhythm, and it made its distinctive sound in synch with my playing.
I had to smile at Betsy's quick thinking, and I continued on with the next lines.
"Now that she's back from that soul vacation, tracing her way through the constellation, hey, hey... She checks out Mozart while she does tae-bo, reminds me that there's room to grow, hey, hey..."
With my friends now around me, I sang more confidently, and gave in to the semi-melancholy words of the song.
"Now that she's back in the atmosphere, I'm afraid that she might think of me as plain ole Jane; told a story about a man who is too afraid to fly so he never did land."
Seems Fallon got it. She moved to my other side and started shaking her tambourine in rhythm. And all three of us started playing in synch.
"Tell me, did the wind sweep you off your feet? Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day and head back to the milky way? And tell me, did Venus blow your mind? Was it everything you wanted to find? And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?"
As the three of us played the bridge, we looked at each other and smiled delightedly. All too soon I had to sing again.
"Can you imagine no love, pride, deep-fried chicken, your best friend always sticking up for you... even when I know you're wrong.
"Can you imagine no first dance, freeze dried romance, five-hour phone conversations, the best soy latte that you ever had... and me..."
Betsy, Fallon and I paused, and after a beat...
"Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet? Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day, and head back to the milky way?
"Tell me," I sang, "did you sail across the sun? Did you make it to the milky way to see the lights all faded, and that heaven is overrated?
"Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star - one without a permanent scar, and did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?"
In the bridge, the three of us sang: "nananananana, nananananana - nahananana..."
"Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day?"
"...nananananana, nananananana - nahananana..."
"Did you fall for a shooting star! Fall for a shooting star!"
"...nananananana, nananananana - nahananana..."
And then I sang the final line: "and are you lonely looking for yourself out there..."
After the briefest of interludes, the applause rained down. I slid the guitar onto my back, took Betsy and Fallon by the hand and we walked up to the edge of the stage, the spotlight following us. We bowed in unison, and smiled.
"Mizz Fairchild, hello?" I heard someone speak in my ear via the little receiver. "Mizz Fairchild, if you hear me, nod your head subtly."
I tried to look around, yet trying not to appear that I was looking around. Far to the back of the auditorium, I could see someone waving in the control booth. I nodded.
"That's a relief," the voice said. "Hi, my name's Maurice. I'm the lighting director. Good job, by the way. Anyway, we found out the cause of the outage. Seems someone threw the master breaker to the stage lights and electronics, and then cut some power cables. It was deliberate sabotage."
Even as he was talking, Betsy, Fallon and I continued taking bows. Who did it? Could it really be Janet? It wouldn't really be hard to believe if someone told me it was her. I mean, who else?
"We got everything licked," Maurice continued. "Pickups to your instruments and all the sound equipment are hot, but our electrician is still splicing the wires for the floods one at a time. But as soon as one bank of lights is electrified, we'll switch it on until we have all three banks going. Nod if you understand."
I nodded, as a stage hand came up and took my acoustic guitar and traded it with my pink electric, plugged the electric into the electronic box velcroed to it and put a microphone stand in front of me, with a wireless mic already attached.
"Okay," Maurice continued. "So all we need from you now is to hold on for a little bit until we've completely lit up the stage."
A little bit... But I thought of something better. I pulled the stage hand closer. "Tell them when they light up the stage, I want them to light up the front part, wait a while and then to light up the middle, and then then wait again and then turn on the rest. Give about fifteen seconds in between each."
"Huh?"
"Just tell them," I said, and waved him away. He cupped his hand around the boom mic attached to his headset and spoke to someone, Maurice probably. I then turned to Betsy and Fallon. "Guys, I'm gonna play 'Here Comes the Sun.' Be ready."
"You mean, like in Glee Club, Danny?" Fallon asked.
"Yup." I nodded, and then turned to Betsy. "You know the song, Bets?"
"You mean the George Harrison song? The guy from the Beatles? Yeah, I know the song. It's in our alternate song list."
"That's a relief. And remember, we're doing Sheryl Crow's version."
She looked puzzled. She didn't really care one way or the other so long as she had her sheet music.
"You know! From the Bee cartoon!"
Her eyes lit up in recognition.
"Yup - that one!" I gave her a hug. "Now you two get ready with the band. 'Kay?" The two scurried off.
I heard Maurice's voice in my ear again.
"Mizz Fairchild, Kenny told me what you want. You're saying we should connect and light up the front of the stage first, then the middle and then the back. Is that right?"
I nodded.
"Any particular reason why, and when do you want each bank lit?" I shrugged. "Ahhh, stupid me. Of course, you can't answer. Okay, Mizz Fairchild. we'll do it your way. Good luck on whatever you're planning. I'll keep an eye on you. Nod your head when you want each bank lit, okay?"
He clicked off, and I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. Yep, I definitely will need a bit of good luck.
I stood there facing the crowd, and started playing the opening chords. I kept repeating the opening chords, waiting for the first lights, and while I did, the people slowly recognized the iconic Beatles melody. A slow wave of sound started to build up, becoming louder and louder. I nodded my signal, praying that they saw it, and as soon as the first bank of lights was switched on, bathing me in bright, white light, I started singing. I couldn't have timed it any better. And the building murmur in the audience exploded into loud cheering yet again.
"Here comes the sun, doodndoodoo..." I sang, singing softly in the beginning, getting stronger as I sang further, "here comes the sun, and I say it's all right." I nodded, praying they'd see my signal again, and they did. The audience roared in delight at the appropriateness of the lighting, and June and Mongo segued in, June making her keys sound like an old sixties-style electric organ.
I did the semi-complicated riff with them as everyone started clapping to the beat, and I started singing again.
"Little darlin', it's been a long, cold, lonely winter... Little darlin', it feels like years since it's been here. Here comes the sun, doodndoodoo... here comes the sun. And I say it's all right... Little darlin', the smiles returning to the faces... Little darlin', it seems like years since it's been here...
"Here comes the sun, doodndoodoo... here comes the sun and I say it's all right." I nodded my signal again and the next and last bank of lights was switched on. Maurice seemed to have gotten what I wanted, as the timing was impeccable. The audience clapped and hooted.
June, Dale, Mongo and Fallon played the bridge. I decided to let Fallon take the rhythm lead since we really hadn't practiced this much so there was a real risk of my guitar's and Fallon's clashing. Still, they had fun with the simple melody, and that was good enough for me.
The girls from the backup sang the refrain with me, repeating the line five times, with mongo and the others playing a truncated riff in between repetitions. "Sun, sun, sun, here it comes... Sun, sun, sun, here it comes... Sun, sun, sun, here it comes... Sun, sun, sun, here it comes... Sun, sun, sun, here it comes..." That was great!
I took over for Fallon in the next bridge, spiraling up the rhythm.
"Little darling, I feel the ice is slowly melting..." June's organ sound shifted to something more peppy. "Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear... Here comes the sun, here comes the sun, and I say it's all right... It's all right..."
We repeated the last line. "Here comes the sun, here comes the sun, and I say it's all right... It's all right..." And we wound it down, with Mongo doing a fast flourish at the end. And as the applause rained down again, everyone in the band and the backup singers gathered around me in a big group hug. It felt so good. I can do this forever...
I was about to say my usual line when the band got into one of these clinches - that I couldn't breathe - when June gave me a sloppy kiss on the cheek. "Oh, shut up, Danny!" she giggled. It's like she read my mind.
But we didn't have much time for that, as Maurice reminded me in my ear, we needed to continue with the show.
I gave all the girls quick kisses and the guys some tight guy-hugs, and then we started with our next set.
to be continued...
Chapter 35 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ. The KRPQ concert started well, with Danny singing a reeeally old 80's song, but the audience ate it up. But as they prepared to start their second song, disaster struck! Someone sabotaged the lights! Still, Danny was able to improvise and keep the concert going. Whew! Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. |
Chapter Thirty-Five: Sabotage
***** (Janet) *****
From my vantage point up in the rafters, I watched the guys as they played. Using my dad's Steiner military binoculars, I could see everyone clearly. I zoomed in on Danny, and I couldn't help but sigh. She looked so close in the binoculars, it was like I could reach out and touch her cheek. The band played flawlessly as usual, which I took pride in, and then I saw the new girl, my so-called temporary replacement. She acted so cocky. Go ahead, bitch. But you'll be out soon, if I have anything to say about it. With each flubbed chord or wrongly-plucked string, I couldn't help but snicker at the new girl. Sooner or later I'm sure everyone else will notice how badly she plays.
Everyone was enjoying themselves so much, I couldn't stand it. I zoomed the focus back to Danny again, and saw her angelic smile. Danny was the one who was enjoying herself the most. I just had to giggle. But I remembered our fight from a couple of weeks ago. She took my band away from me! How dare she! But then, I could have talked it out... I could have...
As the band played their hearts out, I sighed and looked at their happy, glowing faces, wishing I was down there with them, soaking up the energy and the applause. I saw June bump hips with the new girl as they played. I remembered we used to that a lot. And there was Mongo. Ohmigod, Mongo was actually smiling! I giggled again.
As they finished the first song, I heard several little boxes around me go "bang!" and then glitter, confetti and things that looked like streamers from party favors rained down. I looked down and saw the bulk of the stuff fall to the front of the stage, but enough got wafted back to the stage that I saw Danny get hit by a small cloud of glitter. She said a few lines, but I didn't hear her words - so caught up was I with her image, her essence. And then the radio station's announcers bounded onto the stage.
After a short spiel, I heard Robin, the Nighthawk, come on "live" from the station's studio in town. Ha!
But that was my cue. It was time.
I made sure the diagram I hand-copied a few days before was in my pants pocket, and then carefully made my way down to the backstage, making sure no one saw me. All the scaffolding and dangling ropes made it confusing for me, but I eventually got to where I was supposed to go. I took out and unfolded the little diagram and started tracing wires. I found the fusebox I was looking for, took a deep breath, and threw the switch. "Take that, Danny!" I muttered.
The entire stage was plunged in darkness. Immediately after that, I threw the switch of the next fusebox. "Bitch!" I said. "You and the guys deserve this!"
I then took out my little flashlight and brought out my dad's large fishing knife that I borrowed from the garage. Using the light from my flash, I traced the cables coming out of the two switched-off fuseboxes. I knew it would have been useless to take out the fuses from the old-fashioned fuseboxes since they undoubtedly had spares so I hacked the knife across the cables. I then folded back the wires to make sure there was no spark-gap. If Dad ever had a boy, he probably wouldn't have taught me anything about things like fuseboxes and spark gaps. Sure I wanted to sabotage Danny's little party, but I didn't want to hurt anyone, or burn down the coliseum.
As I was doing so, I heard someone.
"Hey!" a security guard with a flashlight yelled. "Who's there? What're you doing? Hey! Stop!"
The guy probably saw my flash. I put away my stuff and high-tailed it outa there.
"Hey! Stop, goddammit! Stop!"
I ran on and on, down gangways and little suspended crosswalks, and eventually I hit the backstage floor and ran out onto the street, coming out pretty near the box office. Thank God no one saw me. I went to the alley behind the place, stopped and caught my breath.
I knew I couldn't make it back to my perch now so I brought out one of the complimentary passes Danny left with my folks. I made my way out of the lot. Knowing I might be searched, I took off the coveralls I was wearing and wrapped it into a ball, with Dad's knife and my flashlight inside, and stashed it in an out-of-the-way corner instead of inside my little pack. That left me in a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers. Very dressed down, sure, but I looked totally different, which was the whole point. I noticed the latex gloves at the last minute, ripped them off and pocketed them.
I had to stop a little bit, to blow away the adrenalin and attention. "What am I doing," I said to myself. "I must be going crazy." I heard a loud cheer coming from inside and I wondered what was happening.
I went to the front box office and was about to give my ticket so I could get in, but I seemed to have lost it. Good thing I had another. The two tickets were supposed to be for Mom and Dad. At least they're not going to go to waste.
"I'm sorry, Miss," the guy in the booth said. "There aren't any more seats except in the upper bleachers."
"Whatever," I said, and he stamped my ticket with a seat number. I forgot that it was a first-come-first-serve, by-reservation event. As I went through the turnstile, an alarm went off. Good thing I left Dad's knife outside. I surrendered my backpack without being asked, and all they found were my binoculars.
I went in and looked at my seat number. I followed the signs to the upper seats, and when I got there, I found myself virtually alone in my row Which was fine with me. I literally WAS the farthest seated. If I were to stand and reach up, I could have touched the ceiling. I settled down and got comfortable, and snorted at the lemmings who were leaning down at the very edge of the rail. What a bunch of stupid groupies.
From the speakers around me, I could hear Danny and the band singing "Here Comes the Sun." Where'd they get that?
I was about to bring out my binoculars but I saw a big LED screen maybe thirty feet from me, and there was Danny, clear as day.
As she moved around, small flecks of glitter on Danny's hair, cheeks and the tip of her nose twinkled in the just-switched-on lights. I looked at her face, and felt tears on my cheeks. It was like stars in her hair. In my mind, I could imagine her silky tresses brushing my face, their wonderful musky scent surrounding me. "Oh, Danny," I wept quietly.
I didn't think I could stand it anymore and decided to leave and make my way home.
***** (Danny) *****
It was amazing how everything sort of fell together. Now that the lights were back on and everyone was back on track, we continued our show as planned.
After my improvised set, and then followed by our first "real" songs, Talia, Harry and Sally got up on stage and, the consummate professional spin doctors that they were, they spun my improvised number like it was all part of the program.
"Whooo!" Harry said, "how about that! Here comes the sun is right!"
"Yeah, Harry," Talia continued. "It really IS the dawn of a new day for KRPQ. Thank you guys! Everyone, let's give it up for Dannie, Unlimited Bandwidth and friends!"
I couldn't stop myself from snorting. Talk about trite. Good thing no one saw and no camera was on me. But I couldn't blame Talia with the cornball script. We've all had more than two weeks of getting used to their spiel, and the concert was all about promoting the new station, after all.
I held hands with June, Fallon, Mongo, Dale and Morgan, with our six "do-wop" glee club singers immediately behind us, and all twelve of us bowed to the crowd, which was greeted with thunderous applause.
We ran off the stage and the three DJs, plus Lou and Dennis, our other two announcers, started talking about what people could expect, as in what was the new lineup of shows, et cetera. Truth be told, though, the three could manage, but Lou and Dennis were there to provide additional "camouflage" - the other three were kept in the dark about the next thing because they didn't know about who Robin really was.
We all disappeared into the four available dressing rooms - one for the glee club guys, another to the glee club girls, another for Dale and Mongo, and another for June, Fallon and me. The difference in our dressing room was that someone was already in ours.
to be continued...
Chapter 36 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ. Janet, the former bandleader of Danny's rock band was apparently the one who sabotaged the concert, but it's unclear why. She seems to be in the middle of some psychotic breakdown. As for Danny and the band, they successfully recovered from Janet's sabotage attempt, and they, plus their Glee Club "do wop" backup singers, retired to their dressing rooms to prepare for their next set. Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. |
Chapter Thirty-Six: Pinch-Hitter
***** (Fallon) *****
As we entered our dressing room, I was shocked to see Danny already in it. But then I remembered. It was actually Danielle wearing a duplicate red dress to Danny's, with her wearing the same hair style as Danny's, with the hair-extending half-wig, shoes, accessories, scarves at her wrists, and, well, everything. I guess I can't be blamed for my confusion at seeing two of Danny - this was all still new to me, after all.
I grinned at the two mirror images. "This is cool," I said.
I gathered from Danny that the blah-blahs happening on stage was partially to give us an excuse to go to the dressing rooms where we could do the substitution.
Danielle grinned at me. Actually, she looked rather nervous.
"Don't worry, Danielle," I said. "You'll do great."
"I don't know if I can remember all the lyrics, though."
"Danielle!" all of us reacted violently.
Danielle giggled. "Kidding! Kidding!"
Danny frowned at her. "That was mean, sis."
She hugged Danny. "I know. But I couldn't resist." She turned to the rest of us. "Okay girls - we have less than ten minutes. Do what you have to do - bathroom break, fix your makeup, whatever. Come on! Chop chop!"
June and Betsy went to the en suite bathroom while I sat down in front of one of the makeup mirrors to touch up my face. I was one of the lucky few who seemed to not need to go to the bathroom that often. I picked up the bottle of water on my table and took a swig.
"How 'bout you, Danny," I asked.
"I'll go later," she said. "I need to change out of my outfit. Danielle? Can you help me?"
Danielle nodded and brought Danny behind a changing curtain with some clothes in her arms. I didn't have the heart to tell them, however, that I could still see them from one of the makeup mirrors - its angle was such that I could completely see Danny as they took off her dress. And I had to stop my urge to whistle.
Everyone knew that I was into girls, but no one had anything to worry about from me. I've always resented that people thought of us that way. I mean, do people immediately assume guys are always out to attack women? But that was how it was. I've learned not to mind such things. But, to be fair, these people haven't shown any of that. They're some of the few kids that treated me like a regular person - how can I betray that? But… looking at Danny undressed, with only a thong and high heels between me and her, she was definitely a temptation. But, wait - wasn't she really a boy? But she has boobies! Sexy boobies, too… and… she looks too good to be a guy!
Was someone playing me for a fool?
But then she turned in profile, and I saw… a big bulge in her thong. It clearly wasn't a girl's thong, otherwise, Danny would have… spilled out of her underwear. That bulge! But she has boobies, too!
I stood up and walked rapidly to them. I grabbed the changing curtain and pushed it aside.
"Hey!" Danielle said. "What…"
Danny went, "eep!" and covered herself the best she could with her hands.
"What gives, Danny?" I demanded. "You told me it was all just a costume.That you were actually a guy!"
"Well, I am! Now, will you let me get dressed in peace?"
"But… but…" I gestured to her boobs in confusion.
"And what about my breasts!" She put her fists on her waist. It reminded me of Wonder Woman striking a pose. That is, if she was a redhead, was naked and had boobies larger than Gal Gadot's, and with scarves trailing from her wrists instead of metal vambraces.
I shook my head and went back on topic. "How can you have boobs!" I exclaimed.
And, with that, Betsy and June burst out laughing. I didn't even notice that they came back in.
Danny and her sister couldn't stop themselves and started giggling, too. I guess Danny saw my expression, so she took pity on me.
She went to me and pulled me into a hug. "Don't worry, Red," she said into my ear. "I'll explain everything. But later, okay? I promise. We just don't have time right now."
I couldn't help but hug her tight, and that's when she belatedly noticed that she was undressed. I didn't mind, though.
"Ummm… I think I better finish dressing now… What do you think?"
I giggled and let go. I did give her a little kiss on the cheek, though, before allowing her to go behind the changing screen again. Though sorely tempted, I tried not to take a peek at Danny getting dressed anymore.
"Fallon, you flirt," June grinned as she sat down to do some touch-ups on her face.
I shrugged. "I was just…"
She made patting-down gestures. "I know, I know," she said, "but let's get through tonight first, and we can talk about it after."
I nodded.
"'Kay," Danny said, "I'm all ready."
We turned and looked at her.
And, looking at her now - it was enough to make me go hetero. Or at least bi.
She wasn't wearing anything really fancy. She had on a form-fitting, short-sleeved, off-the-shoulder, sleek bodysuit in white or maybe more cream or ivory given it had a kind of subtle tone to it. It had a knitted-in, sheer-opaque effect on the shoulders and fancy edging at the neck. And given her generous, C-size boobies and super-sexy bod, I couldn't stop myself and wolf-whistled.
She also wore a pair of shiny, belted black-leather leggings (a big silver buckle on the belt) that disappeared into black, knee-high, thin calfskin riding boots. Although real riding boots didn't have stiletto heels, as far as I knew.
All-in-all, her entire ensemble was super-form-fitting, super-sleek, and super-super sexy. I didn't notice I was slack-jawed until June humorously pushed my jaw up to close my mouth. Everyone laughed and I blushed.
Somehow, though, the outfit's color was a little off given Danny's bright red hair. But they seemed to have that covered - Danielle took off Danny's half-wig that she wore to make her hair longer than normal, and give it more body. She then braided and then piled Danny's hair on top of her head then retrieved a long shiny black wig from a form on one of the makeup tables. Danny put on a net, put the wig over it, put in some hairpins and started combing and smoothing her new raven hair down. To do so, she had turned profile to me, and I sighed, admiring her beauty. And though she was actually a boy (which I didn't completely believe yet), I still kept calling her a "her." Wishful thinking, perhaps.
That thought did remind me of her gender, so I took a quick peek at her package while she was in profile, and I saw the barest of bulges. I knew some girls who had more prominent pubic mounds than Danny's bulge atm, so I don't think Danny would be found out. And at least she didn't have a camel toe - something most girls had problems with when wearing shiny tights or leggings that fit like a second skin, like Danny's leggings did. Anyway, Danny knew how to "dress" down there.
"Pssst!" June whispered to me. "What are you doing, Fallon?"
My eyes snapped up, embarrassed to realize I was staring. I blushed and shrugged at June. "Sorry," I said.
I was relieved that the twins didn't notice - they were busy fitting Danny's wig on, and in moments, Danny brought her head up and, like magic, she was suddenly a perfect brunette!
Danielle started working on Danny's makeup, wiping off what she had and darkening her brows and lashes to match the wig as well as renewing her face with a different palette. While she was doing that, Danny replaced her dangly earrings with big, gold wire hoop earrings. The hoops stuck out through her brunette hair, giving her a touch of an eighties slut vibe, and it pumped up the sexiness of her look. Not that she looked slutty, but the retro touch was edgy enough that it enhanced her dark hair and looks.
The next thing Danny did was to dip her fingers into a little bowl filled with a milky-colored solution, and the false nails she was wearing just peeled away.
"Danielle?" she said while she rinsed and dried her hands. "Do I put on nail polish?"
Danielle shook her head. "No time, Danny. That's a problem, though - without any polish, your hands are not gonna look nice."
"Can I make a suggestion?" I called out.
"Yeah, Fallon?"
"Just wipe her nails with a bit of baby oil or petroleum jelly or something to get them shiny. I got some here." I held up a bottle of mineral oil I found on my table as well as a little container full of cotton balls.
Danielle went over, gave me a big kiss on the top of my head (I'm sure she did that so that she wouldn't mess up our makeup) and grabbed the stuff from me. I had to smile.
Someone knocked on our door.
"Two minutes, ladies," one of the stage hands called through our door. "Two minutes on stage!"
All of us wrapped up what we were doing and started for the stage, but with Danielle instead of Danny with us.
"Guys!" Danny called and we looked back at her. She had put on a punk-rock style vintage slim-cut, fitted leather biker jacket over her white bodysuit top and she looked even sexier. Instead of bulking her up as jackets tended to do, the slim cut of the motorcycle jacket actually emphasized her figure.
"Good luck out there," she said.
We smiled, waved back and walked out of the dressing room.
It was a real shame she wasn't a real girl, I thought.
***** (Danny) *****
I watched them all file out but, despite my smile, I was worried. Not for the band but for Danielle.
We drilled and practiced a lot, and I think Danielle was as prepared as she could be. We even picked the best songs we could that fit Danielle's range. The thing was, though, I've heard her sing at home before, and she was no singer. Hopefully, our song selections will help.
Well, we're committed. Can't back out now. Time for me to make my way to the "secret room."
The "secret room" wasn't any kind of fancy thing - just an unused storage room in the basement level of the Arclight.
I knocked on the locked door.
"That's not the secret knock!" Tracey said.
"I forgot the secret knock!" I replied. "Lemme in, Tracey! Before someone sees me!"
Tracey opened the door and I slipped in.
"Wow!" Tracey said. "Danielle was right! Less IS more! You look incredible, Danny. Ahem, I mean Robin." She giggled.
I waved her down. "Chill, girl," I said. "Is the set ready?"
"See for yourself," she said and waved to the setup inside the room.
To say I was gobsmacked was an understatement.
Inside was a duplicate of our broadcast booth, complete with control board and the shelf of stuff and equipment on the faux back wall. True, the equipment on the shelves weren't powered up, and the control board was mostly made of painted balsa wood, posterboard and fake lights and switches, but, looking through the viewfinder of the camera Tracey had set up, it looked authentic. The one false note was the chair - the chair was a regular office swivel chair instead of our booths' chairs.
No one was in the room, of course - it was just Tracey and I. I asked her about details. "You made all of this?" I asked.
"Yep," she said. "Took me almost a week. The magic of duct tape, posterboard and spray paint. Nothing works on that board, of course," Tracey said. "And don't put any weight on it. Don't touch it, even. Coz it's liable to collapse. As for the shelf behind you, that's all real - the shelf itself is actually the shelf from your booth, as well as all the tapes and cartridges and equipment, arranged in the same way as in the booth.
"So what I'll have you do is to have you standing in front of the shelf instead of sitting by the board. That way, no one will have too much of a chance to notice the fakeness of my fake board. Whereas the stuff on the shelves are one hundred percent genuine.
"No one is here to help me with the camera, of course, so the camera will have to be static. That means you have to stay there and not move too much so you can stay in the shot. I also got the streaming black box set up. I can split-screen you with a video from my computer for callers that go Skype or Google instead of by phone or cellphone."
She gestured to her tripod-mounted camera. "That's my Sony MILC. It's connected to my Apple Mac, which, in turn, is connected to the video feed to the production booth. The audio feed from the wireless mic also goes into the Mac. I guess we're all set, technically speaking. And with my headset, your headset, my relay telephone switch and a T1 Internet connection, I guess there's nothing to do anymore but to do it, as my mom would say."
"Gotcha. But, Trace, I think it's important to have me seen at the board. Y'know - so people will believe that I'm in the booth."
She thought it over. "I think you're right. So. How about this: I'll get an initial shot with you from the side, sitting in front of the board, and you can fake fiddling with some of the fake controls. Then you can stand up and walk to the shelf, and I'll track you with the camera. And then you stay there until we're done."
"But why should I stand up and walk to the shelf?"
"Ummm… How about because you're gonna look at your clipboard, which is on the shelf." Tracey picked up a clipboard with the station logo, clipped some papers onto it, and put it on the shelf. She made room for the clipboard by taking down some of the cartridges.
"That's pretty smart, Trace. Okay, sounds good." I looked and noted that the papers were actually programming notes that I could refer to. Cool.
So, while Danielle and the band started getting ready to climb up the stage, Tracey and I started doing some blocking. Tracey put a wireless microphone on a mic stand in front of my chair, the stand's height adjusted so it was at just the right height for me while sitting down.
She handed me a pair of wireless headphones, and we did a couple of tests of me facing the camera, unclipping he mic, standing, walking to the front of the shelf, picking up the clipboard and then standing there, all the while Tracey practiced tracking me with the camera. After I had the clipboard and the mic in-hand, Tracey would lock the tripod down.
I noticed that only the half of the fake board that was facing the camera was complete. The part that couldn't be seen was missing or incomplete, which was probably part of why Tracey couldn't be too fancy with the camera angles.
She sighed.
"What's wrong Trace?"
"Well…" Tracey began. "I know we had to minimize the number of folks who knew about the substitution and the fake booth, but it would have been nice to have some other people to help. Even just one extra person."
"I know Trace, but it'll just be for a short time. We can manage."
"You're right, I guess. So, listen, I'm gonna try and squeeze in ten callers later, but let's have a minimum of five - two or three after each commercial break."
"All right. So, we're set?"
"Yep - we're set."
"'Kay. While we wait, how about we watch what's happening on stage?"
Tracey nodded. She got a small monitor, put it on top of a little card table beyond the range of the camera, switched it on and tuned it to KRPX. And we got to see a little of Danielle singing with the band, after all.
to be continued...
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Substitution
***** (Mrs. Piper) *****
Up near the rafters, Mike from KRPX and I were watching everything from the coliseum's observation booth, or skybox, which was just above the control booth. It wasn't really a booth since it was about a thirty-by-thirty room. All the seats were empty except for us and a few KRPX technicians.
All around us, except for the back of the room, were glass picture windows, which allowed us to see everything.
KRPX had also installed several projection screens hooked to several camera feeds. We had shots of the backstage, roving shots of the stage itself, and roving shots of the crowd. There was also a static video of the stage, with the entire stage in frame.
There was also a small TV set tuned to KRPX, picking up what was being transmitted over the airwaves. And this was what we concentrated most on.
So far, Mike and I were ecstatic with what's been happening. For Mike, I'm sure he was thinking of the ratings and the commercial fees he'd be getting on subsequent re-airings of the show, which, perhaps, might improve the ratings of his other programs.
As for me, I was happy about that, too, of course, but I was happier for the fact that my radio station was getting a good kick-off. And as soon as Tracey finishes school and university, I'm going to pass the station on to her in good shape. She doesn't know that I will, of course, but by the time I do, it'll be just a formality since I was fairly sure she'll be completely running it by then. So far, she'd taken to being a radio program producer like a duck to water. And I've never seen Tracey so dedicated and inspired by anything before, and if this station really is his thing, I mean her thing, then I'm gonna encourage it.
I knew it was all because of Danny. If not for Danny, this radio station thing wouldn't have been something Tracey would have been interested in. So, I have to make sure to protect Danny and not just the station until Tracey can take over. Once she does, then I know she'll be okay.
A worry, of course, is that radio, as a medium, is not exactly a growing one, and is in fact considered a sunset industry by many experts. But I'm sure, between Tracey and I, and Danny and his gang, we'll at least keep our station relevant and, maybe even profitable.
That was all for the future, though. Right now, I needed to concentrate on tonight's show.
When we lost the lights at the beginning, Mike and I almost had heart attacks, but when our lighting director, Maurice, said that Danny had an idea, I was relieved. And because of Danny, it was like what happened was just part of the show. Hey, I'm not proud - I'll take it. And since then, the show had been going well. I had fingers crossed that nothing more will happen.
At the moment, Talia, Harry and Sally were doing a long plug for KPRX and KRPQ - an informercial. No wonder Mike was so engrossed with the TV.
Danielle, disguised as Dannie, was about a half a minute away from going on-stage to sing. I remember her doing well during the rehearsals, actually. I hope that she does equally well now. She was going to sing an old nineties song by someone called Donna Lewis. Tracey played it for me once and told me it was a Top Forty song back then, but it wasn't exactly like the other songs UB liked to play. The song was a bit too laid back. It was also easy to sing. Which, I suppose, was the point, so Danielle could manage it. In fact, during rehearsal, Danielle's singing voice was pretty close to the singer's wispy style.
No one but the band, Lou, Dennis, Tracey and I knew about the substitution. Not even the other DJs, my production people or Danny's friends knew. But it was the only thing we could think of to allow Danny to be in two places at once: as soon as Danielle was through with her song, it would be Danny's turn as Robin the Nighthawk to take some calls from fans, and after that, Danielle would come back on stage with the band and sing another song, allowing Danny time to sneak back on stage and take over.
It seemed complicated but Tracey had rightly pointed out that if the Nighthawk didn't come on, some fans would find it suspicious, and a lot of them would actually resent the station for not allowing her to participate more, especially since most of of them thought, and rightly so, that the Nighthawk was responsible for resuscitating the almost-dead station. So we had no choice.
Also, because of the Nighthawk's growing popularity and the buzz around the show two weeks ago, there have been some calls from people interested in KRPQ that were thinking of expanding its reach and maybe taking it nationwide. Not really our goal, though. Furthermore, I've also heard from the other deejays and the office staff that there were calls coming in for the Nighthawk. No doubt people hoping to hire her away from us. It was only a matter of time before they try and contact "Robin" directly. It's something I needed to talk to Tracey about.
I put all of that in the back of my mind for now and concentrated on the show. I turned my attention back to the TV.
It was hard to ignore the odd echoing from the TV because of the five-second delay between the action and the transmission. For the hundredth time, I asked Mike to turn down the TV's volume since we could hear the live show from the outside anyway.
Talia, Harry and Sally finally finished with the KRPX-KRPQ infomercial. In the nick of time, too, as the audience was starting to get antsy.
Talia made a humorous reference about that, and said it was therefore time to go back to the music. "Ladies and gentlemen," she said in a quiet segue, "again, here's Unlimited Bandwidth."
The lights were brought down and Danielle started singing.
"Feels like I'm standing in a timeless dream," she sang in a melodious and wispy voice. The whole coliseum fell silent. All throughout the show, as well as in all of her previous appearances and performances, Danny had been subtly changing her voice to suit her songs. Many of the band's songs were guy songs, but Danny was able to adjust so she made them female versions but still preserving the nuances and tone of the original. And, still, all throughout, her voice was immediately recognizable.
But Danielle's voice didn't have… whatever quality Danny's voice had. It therefore felt a little off - it was perfectly good; it just wasn't Danny-good.
"… of mists, of pale amber rose," Danielle continued as the lights were slowly brought back up. "Feels like I'm lost in a deep cloud of heavenly scent," she sang. She was okay, but somehow she didn't genuinely sound like Danny.
As the darkness slowly disappeared, we could discern the band. A spotlight was on June as she played a slow accompaniment to Danielle.
"Touching - discovering you…"
At that point, Dale and Mongo started a slow base beat and June added a slow, synthesized tambourine.
"Those days of warm rains rush back to me," Danielle continued, "miles of windless, summer nights…"
Betsy and Fallon slowly segued in, and Danielle continued. "Secret moments shared in the heat of the afternoon… out of the stillness, soft spoken words…"
A big spotlight hit the middle of the stage, illuminating Danielle, and the audience erupted in cheers and applause.
Danielle smiled and waved, scarves flowing and waving, and the crowd roared. The voice finally connected with the image of Dannie, and whatever felt off with Danielle's voice sort of disappeared.
"Say it, say it again," the Glee Club girls whispered, and Danielle answered in song: "I love you always forever, near and far, closer together. Everywhere, I will be with you, everything, I will do for you. I love you always forever, near and far, closer together. Everywhere, I will be with you, everything I will do for you."
In an unrehearsed move, Danielle moved to the edge of the stage and, as she sang, she reached out her hand and the ones closest reached back (the orchestra pit had been covered). She couldn't get close enough, though, and was only close enough to touch fingertips, but even so, the roar of the crowd's approval doubled.
If Danielle and Danny didn't quite sound the same, they were close enough in all other ways. They were practically twins, including their hearts. And whatever difference there was didn't matter. I laughed in delight.
"You've got the most unbelievable blue eyes I've ever seen," she sang. "You've got me almost melting away. As we lay there under a blue sky, with pure white stars - exotic sweetness - a magical time…"
"Say it, say it again," the Glee Club girls again whispered, and Danielle again answered. "I love you always forever…" And, with the girls harmonizing, repeated the refrain.
After the refrain, Mongo made a base hit.
"Say you'll love me," Danielle sang, "love me forever! Never stop, never whatever! Near and far, and always and every…"
Mongo hit the base again and Danielle repeated the bridge four more times. And as the song started to fade, Danielle and the Glee Club girls repeated the refrain over and over until they faded out the song into silence.
In the silence, like a gathering storm, the applause rose, and Danielle, with Betsy and June on either side of her, and Fallon, Dale and Mongo on the outer edges, held hands. Together, they bowed and the applause continued.
A big projection screen descended from the rafters in front of everyone, giving them the opportunity to step off the stage.
On the screen, a long-view of the stage was projected, and in moments, the video on the screen was shown on TV. At that point, the TV video replaced what was coming out of the projection screen. In effect, the big screen became like a big TV.
The video faded into black, and then a new one with Danny as the Nighthawk faded in. She was in what looked like a leather jacket costume, and wearing a big pair of wireless headsets, and was seated in front of her booth's console. The shot was in profile, with her fiddling with something on the board.
Have to hand it to Tracey - her cardboard console looked like the real thing. The one jarring note was that Danny was using a wireless mic on a stand in front of her instead of the booth's boom mic.
"That's Unlimited Bandwidth, folks," Robin, aka the Nighthawk, said in her sexy contralto, "and I promise you, there'll be more of that later." She smiled into the camera. "Hello, everyone, I'm the Nighthawk. Hope you're having a good time."
"Robin" unclipped the mic and stood up, mic in hand. "But first," she said as she walked to the shelf behind her, "I think we have something else scheduled. Let's see…"
She picked up a clipboard that was conveniently lying on top of some tape cartridges. "Seems we've scheduled some callers," she giggled, "which, I guess, means it's time out for the Nighthawk Show."
We had a good view of Danny as Robin, aka the Nighthawk in her new outfit. Underneath the open jacket, she was wearing a sheer, smooth white boatneck bodysuit that smoothly tucked into leather leggings that disappeared into stiletto riding boots. She also had a gold chain around her narrow waist (loosely knotted instead of buckled with a snap or buckle), the silver belt buckle of her leggings riding lower below where her bellybutton would be. Huge retro wire-hoop earrings peaked through her long, shiny brunette hair, and her outfit was finished off with the fitted leather motorcycle-type jacket. It was cut to show off Danny's figure, and the fact it was open tended to show off how… well-developed she was, as well.
She was the right mixture of beauty, sexiness, toughness, smarts and approachability. Danielle (I assumed it was Danielle) picked just the right outfit, as usual, for the Nighthawk's second outing on TV, and since Tracey had her in a full shot, I knew Tracey knew it, too. I have to give my baby props - she had smarts I never knew she had. I guarantee we'll have all the teenage boys and girls tuning in, if they weren't already.
"So," Danny, I mean Robin, said in her Robin-voice, "as usual, before we get back to the concert, we have our main line open for callers. Call in now, and we'll try to get you on the air. The number's 555-2878. You can also connect via Skype or Google Chat if you prefer - our ID is KRPQ'S NITEHAWK." Danny dutifully spelled it out.
"Remember that there's no apostrophe before the 'S' and 'night' is spelled N-I-T-E, okay? These contact details will be continuously flashed on your screens, or announced between commercials for those tuned into KRPQ Radio.
"Speaking of which, here are some of them - commercials, I mean. Heehee. Start dialing and seeya in a bit!"
A commercial for Cowgirl Jeans started playing, so I tuned out the TV in my head and waited until Danny was back on. In the meantime, I accepted a caramel frappe from one of the techs. You know, I think I'm starting to like this. Have to thank the kids for turning me on to these things though all the sugar's liable to make me diabetic.
to be continued...
Chapter 38 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ. The gang sucessfully got Danielle on-stage as Danny's substitute, and no one noticed. Whew! Danny, now Robin, started his Nighthawk show, and prepared to get some callers on the air. Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. |
Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Nighthawk Show
***** (Tracey) *****
As the commercials ran, I mentioned to Danny that there were about five blocks of two and a half minutes worth of commercials slated - which was most of the allotted commercials for the entire show. Mom had decided to blow most of it on this one section of the concert show.
And then, as I was explaining, I heard Mom over my headset telling me to arrange for Robin to close out the program. Another one of Mom's last-minute brainstorms. I mentioned it to Danny.
"What!" Danny exclaimed, "that wasn't in the plan!"
"I know, I know!" I said. "I just found out about it myself, Danny." I poiinted to my headphones.
"So, does that mean we have to do this substitution thing again?"
I shrugged. "Seems Mom was impressed with Danielle's performance, and…"
"Well, I'm not doing this again! Does Mrs. P think this was easy?"
***** (Tracey) *****
Danny and I brainstormed a bit, and decided that we'd try to record an extro during the next commercial break. But right now, we had to take care of business.
The control booth counted us down, and I relayed.
"Here we go, Danny! And in five! Four! Three! Two!" And I pointed at her.
"And, I'm back, cats and kitties," Danny said. I barely cringed this time. For whatever reason, hackneyed references like that worked for the Nighthawk.
"We got several people on the line at the moment, and we've picked people at random. I'm sorry that we can't put everyone on. Anyway, right now, we have someone named Rodney on the line. So, what up, dude!"
And it was just like it usually was, just like in the booth.
Danny was in rare form and took care of business like never before. It was like being on TV has made her more hyper and more chatty than normal. And the callers reacted to her energy.
We had started with a phone caller, and I put up the station's logo in the PiP, with the name "Rodney" superimposed on the logo, and Danny, or the Nighthawk, chatted with her usual wit. She only spent a minute with Rodney, though, and Danny asked me for another caller.
This time, I selected a Skype video caller, and the novelty of us seeing the caller in the PiP box made for a more interactive and fun call. It didn't hurt that the girl, Nina, was pretty cute. Just wished her bandwidth was bigger - we could have skipped the jerky video.
Still, we went a little overtime with Nina, which I signaled to Danny before I put through another Skype caller. This time, it was a cute little nine-year-old girl named Suzy, and Danny got her to open up. By the end of two minutes, the girl was giggling helplessly, flattered by the attention Danny was paying her.
After that was yet another video call, this time a teenager that seemed familiar to me. As Danny chatted with the girl, I eventually identified her as a schoolmate of mine. I didn't know her personally, but I kept seeing her around my school. She seemed nice. Maybe I'll introduce myself when I see her in school. Hopefully, she won't be weird about me and my… "condition."
In my headset, I heard that they were ready to break for a commercial so I made the overhead crossed-arms sign.
Danny subtly nodded and wrapped up her latest chat. We then broke for yet another block of commercials, and after I made sure that we weren't transmitting, I queued up my Photobooth app, and over the next three breaks, we did a couple of short twenty-second commercial breaker clips as well as one hundred-and-fifty-second one, with a few seconds of the empty "booth" as the clip's "tail." This longer one was the exit video mom wanted, and I made sure to get Danny on the left half of the screen only. This would give the people who were going to make the credits room to roll the text on the right.
These were all on the fly since we had no time to prepare. Hopefully, they'll be good enough for mom. I made sure that the form factor was the same as the video feeds, and made sure that the audio was crystal clear - no noise and no distractions. I named the file "for ending - feel free to add b/g music."
It was easy to fake the spiel for the clip since we knew the segments coming up, and Danny play-acted like we'd already seen them. After thanking All the deejays, and the members of UB by name, Danny, as Robin, also mentioned me and the gang individually by name, as well as all the Glee Club members. Lastly, she thanked KRPX TV, Rockrgrrl, Cowgirl Jeans and some of the other major sponsors, and then said that she'll be seeing everyone on her regular Saturday show. I then cut to several seconds of the empty booth, and that was it.
That was nerve-wracking, to say the least. Good thing, too, since we were like thirty seconds away from another round of calls. Danny asked for a paper towel and gingerly wiped up her neck and brow, careful not to smudge her makeup. For me, I didn't care, and just mopped my entire face and neck.
The storage room wasn't very well ventilated, so thirty seconds into the first call of the third block, Danny, feeling warm, doffed the jacket. I was too late to warn her not to do that. I mean, pitstains and all. But Danielle had luckily picked her an outfit that didn't show stains. And though she made taking off her jacket a casual thing, the fact that she had that bodysuit underneath made it a sexy thing.
Just clad in her off-shoulder white boatneck bodysuit, shiny leather leggings and stiletto riding boots, Danny nonchalantly swept her brunette tresses back and continued talking. She just didn't know how beautiful she was. With my meds, I hardly reacted to such things anymore, but I felt some stirrings this time. After all these months, I was sexually aroused. There was just something in the air whenever Danny was around. But I shook off Danny's aura, followed her example and just continued working.
This final batch went just as good as the others, except, in this one, the last caller turned out to be a bunch of girls spending the night in one of their friend's houses so they could watch the show together.
This last call was hilarious since none of the girls allowed anyone to go uninterrupted, all of them excited to be on the air, which got Danny and me laughing.
One of the girls asked who was there with me.
"Oh, that's my producer, Tracey," Danny called. "Say hi to the girls, Tracey."
I snuck my hand out in front of the camera and waved, my fingers seen on screen.
And the girls went, "Hiii, Tracey!"
I snuck my hand out in front of the camera and waved again. Giggling, the girls waved as well. And with that, Danny started wrapping up the call.
With a few more words about her coming back later, she turned the feed back to the show.
"That's it for the Nighthawk," she said, "but I may be back later. Thanks for spending time with me, and I'll look forward to talking with all of you guys again during my regular Saturday morning radio show. For now, I return you to our favorite band, Unlimited Bandwidth and the show currently in progress.
"So, here's UB, with Kenny Loggins and Stevie Nicks' 'Whenever I Call You Friend.'"
I got the signal in my headset. "Aaannnd, we're out!" I exclaimed.
"Yayyy!" Danny waved her hands in the air and cheered.
"Okay, now to get you dressed," I said.
"Dammit, Trace! Can't I even get a little break?"
I brought out the big bag that Danielle had packed for her.
"Nope!" I said and chortled like a Nazi torturing someone.
to be continued...
Chapter Thirty-Nine: Sneaking Danny On-Stage
***** (Fallon) *****
Danielle's song was great - simply because it was pretty easy and light, and wasn't too tiring. We needed a break, and the song was a great way to gear down. But what really helped was Danny's Nighthawk call-in program afterwards, because it gave us a chance to really rest.
When that big projection screen started coming down, I felt nothing but relief. And when it was down, we all tried to appear we weren't rushing to our dressing rooms.
"Oh, dear!" Betsy said as we entered the room, "my feet are sooo tired!" She plopped down into one of the chairs.
"Me, too, kid," I said.
All of us draped ourselves over our chairs in various stages of pooped. Ahhh! It's so good to be off my feet! I bent down and took off my heels. Whooo!
"Danielle?" I called. "Can you get me a bottle of water, please?"
I plucked the bottle Danielle threw to me out of the air, and finished it off in nothing flat. "Can you get me anoth…" Anticipating it, she threw me another one before I even asked. "Oh! Ummm, thanks!"
Danielle gave me a wink, and handed the others drinks as well, too.
Each of us took turns in the bath. Jeeze, I must've peed a gallon. What I wouldn't do to get some sleep or something. Someone had left some snacks on our makeup tables - there was an apple, a banana and a sandwich on mine. Just enough to get me to the end of the show without making me sleepy, plus a couple more bottles of water and a Gatorade.
Of course, the break ended all too quickly. We could have rested a little more but it was time for the mid-program costume change. I've always thought those costume changes those big stars made in the middle of their shows were so… I guess the word I was looking for was "showbiz," If you know what I mean - a big star wanting to glam it up.
But I found out that costume changes were actually necessary. I don't know about other performers, but I've practically soaked through my outfit. And I caught myself almost slipping in my shoes several times because of sweaty feet. Whatever the case may be, I really needed a change.
So we all changed into new outfits.
June had switched to a simple yellow tanktop bandage minidress - from the front, at least. It totally didn't have a back. Wow! She also switched from her shoes to white patent-leather high heels. She caught me looking at her, and gave me a giggle and a wink.
As for Betsy, she picked a hot, sexy bandage minidress as well. The top was like a tight, long-sleeved collarless closed-neck sweater, the front part and right sleeve in white, and the left sleeve and back in satiny black. From below the breast down, though, it was like a tight, stretchy black miniskirt outfit with wavy cuts going down covered in stretch black mesh. And you knew she wasn't wearing underwear because you couldn't see any waistband from any underwear through the mesh.
She also caught me looking at her, too, and giggled.
For Danielle, she wore a sexy, floral two-piece bandage party dress in white lace. It was like a cross between lingerie and a prom dress. The top was like a lace crop top bustier with lace spaghetti straps, the bottom part ending in lace. It was still cut high enough that her midriff was mostly exposed. The bottom was basically a super-tight lace overlay over full-panty style stretchy-white briefs.
Wow.
As for me, I had picked a simple backless, bandage mini LBD, except that the straps looped around my neck creating a peekaboo kind of panel that showed off my cleavage. At best, I was a large B or a small C, but I think I had more than enough up top to make it work. My outfit was the most conventional but the peekaboo panel made it the sexiest, I think.
After renewing our makeup, we waited for our call.
The dressing room was silent, with all of us just soaking in the cool air-conditioned air and resting. We all had our shoes off and our tootsies up.
"What do you think of the show so far?" Betsy asked me in hushed tones, as if she was afraid of breaking the stillness.
"So far?" I said in the same hushed tones. "So far, I think it's been great. And, I'm sure the fans are over the moon. And I wanted to say…"
"Yeah, Fallon - what is it?"
"I wanted to say thank you. To all you guys. For making me part of this. You had no reason to, except for Danny vouching for me. And it's been the most incredible thing to happen to me in my life so far."
Betsy reached out and held my hand.
"You're welcome," she said.
After a bit, we heard June starting to snore, and we all started to giggle.
That woke her up. "What," she mumbled, "what's happening?"
"You better not fall asleep, kid," I said. "We might be called up soon."
And true enough, we heard the inevitable call.
"Two minutes, ladies," the same guy from before called from outside our dressing room. "Everyone on stage in two minutes!"
Everyone groaned. No one wanted to move.
I sighed. "Time to get up," I said. Still, no one moved.
After maybe ten seconds, June finally responded.
"You first."
And everyone laughed.
***** (Danny) *****
It was the first time for me to see what Danielle had picked out for my second outfit, and to say I had some misgivings about it would be an understatement.
After all, the top was nothing but a glorified bustier and the skirt was like an extra-large lace handkerchief!
But then, what can I do? No doubt Danielle was already on stage parading around in this… costume. I turned Tracey's little TV on, and, yep. I was right.
So I used a big towel and scrubbed my face clean of all makeup. I rinsed my hands in an astringent solution and stuck on new red, self-adhesive nails.
"Turn around, Trace," I said, and without waiting for her to respond, I took off my boots, leggings, bodysuit and men's thong briefs. I then wiped myself down all over, and powdered myself with baby powder down there, as Danielle taught me, and pulled up a white full panty-style gaff, adjusting myself appropriately, of course.
I then fitted the bustier-style top around my babies, and zipped up - the zip was in front but was hidden - and wrapped the lace skirt around my gaff that looked like panties.
I then took off the brunette wig, took out the pins as well as the hoop earrings, put on the dangly ones in the bag, and fluffed up my regular hair. I then got the half-wig and put it on. Now my hair was down to my butt again.
I did my face in the style the make-up people did originally. As a final touch, I tied the white, lace scarves I founf inside the bag around my wrists and stepped into the white heels, also in the bag.
I looked in Tracey's little TV and… Oh, no! The band was already halfway through the song!
"I gotta go, Trace!"
"Leave everything, Danny! I'll take care of this! Go! Go!"
I gave Tracey a quick kiss on the cheek, and rushed out.
Tippy-toeing through the hallways, I made sure I wasn't seen and heard. Soon I was in position.
***** (Dale) *****
I was the one who suggested Kenny Loggins' song, actually. I was a Kenny Loggins fan. But the real reason I picked the song was because it was a duet between Kenny Loggins and Stevie Nicks.
Although Stevie Nicks was one heck of a pop music star, and was one of the sexiest seventies singers around, her voice was also one of the most limited in range. No one can doubt it especially if they've heard any of her songs. And, because of this, it might just be the ticket for Danielle. I confided in Danny about this, and he agreed, in secret.
I sold the idea of the song to the guys as a classic seventies hit and didn't even mention Stevie Nicks, and when they listened to it, they agreed. But their problem was it was a duet between a guy and a girl, and if this was one of Danielle's songs, then she couldn't do the Kenny Loggins part. She'd fall apart.
The band had Mongo and I for male vocals, and it was clearly closer to my range and style than Mongo's. Everyone had looked at me suspiciously then. They laughingly thought I suggested it so I could sing the lead on TV, which I pooh-poohed. Still, they said yes, whether they believed my denial or not.
So, here we were.
We were all set up behind the projection screen, waiting for our cue. The lights were down to maximize the quality of the projected images, but there was enough light coming through the screen's fabric so we could see.
Everyone had changed outfits. Mongo and I were wearing leather vests over silk button-down shirts, leather pants and boots. My shirt was maroon while Mongo's was dark-green.
Even the Glee Club kids had changed outfits. The guys had switched to crisp, white, long-sleeved button-downs, slim-fit jeans and solid-colored unbuttoned vests (one of the guys in a neon-blue vest, one in dark red, and the other in neon green) while the girls were in sleeveless white minidresses with sheer mesh covering the v-cut neckline - the mesh in a different color for each girl, too.
As for June, Betsy and Fallon, they all wore different dresses, in black and white. June was in yellow, but it all seemed to match.
Center stage was me and Danielle standing in front of mic stands with the attached wireless microphones. It was our song, after all, so we stood in the middle in pride of place.
The stage had also been dressed a bit. The back stage was covered by a black canvas with a starfield painted on it. There was a large billboard-size canvas poster just behind it. The idea was, at the proper moment, the black canvas would be dropped to uncover the poster. What that poster was I didn't know - guess we'll find out when it was revealed.
As for the rest of the stage, several four-foot wide cloth panels hanging from the rafters like curtains had been dropped down. The cloth panels were black with what looked like star streaks, comet tails and other similar bright things painted on them.
The panels were randomly distributed through the stage, and there was at least one panel on either side of each of us, and it made the essentially-empty stage feel decorated.
I looked to Danielle and she looked really nervous.
"Hey," I said to her. "You did good before. You'll do good now. Just do it like we rehearsed."
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Thanks, Dale," she said.
"No prob. Okay, here we go."
***** (Danielle) *****
We could see Danny, as Robin the Nighthawk, through the projection screen, reversed, of course. And over the coliseum's speakers we could hear her. And then we heard her introduce us.
The video faded out and, in the silence, we heard the very faint whine of electric motors as they raised the canvas projection screen up and into the rafters.
The audience roared in anticipation, and clapped and screamed.
But the house lights were down and all that could be seen were Dale's and my silhouettes.
We waited for the applause to die down, and as soon as it was quiet enough, Dale and the Glee Club kids started to hum in harmony.
And then a spotlight hit Dale, and he started to sing.
"Whenever I call you 'friend,'" he sang, like Kenny Loggins, or maybe more like Robbie Williams. Regardless, the audience ate it up.
"… I begin to think I understand. Anywhere we are, you and I have always been forever and ever…"
And then a spotlight hit me, and I started harmonizing with him.
"I see myself within your eyes," we sang, "and that's all I need to show me why. Everything I do seems to take me home to you…"
And the Glee Club guys sang. "Forever and ever!"
With Mongo laying a backbeat, the house lights were brought up. Dale and I took turns singing.
"Now I know my life has given me more than memories," Dale sang, "Day by day, we can see…"
and then I sang. "In every moment there's a reason to carry on!"
And then the two of us again. "Sweet love showin' us a heavenly light. I've never seen such a beautiful sight. Sweet love glowin' on us every night. I know forever we'll be doin' it… Sweet love showin' us a heavenly light…"
"I've never seen such a beautiful sight," Dale interjected.
And then the two of us. "Sweet love glowin' on us every night…"
"And then Dale. "I know forever we'll be doin' it right…"
It was my turn now. "Whenever I call you 'friend,'" I sang, "I believe I've come to understand. Everywhere we are, you and I were meant to be forever and ever…"
"I think about the times to come," Dale took over, "Knowin' I will be the lucky one, and ever our love will last. I always want to call you 'Friend!'"
"… friend!" I harmonized with him, and we continued together. "Sweet love showin' us a heavenly light…
"I've never seen such a beautiful sight," Dale sang.
And then the two of us again. "Sweet love glowin' on us every night…"
And then Dale. "I know forever we'll be doin' it…"
Then Betsy took over with her violin, playing the part of the saxophone in the original. The audience exploded again, and Betsy hammed it up a bit, to the delight of the fans.
After Betsy's interlude, I took over. "Now I know my life has given me more than memories," I sang.
"Day by day," Dale sang, almost in a scream, just like Kenny Loggins. "We can see…"
"In every moment there's a reason to carry on," I followed.
And then the two of us again. "Sweet love showin' us a heavenly light…"
"I've never seen such a beautiful sight," Dale sang.
And then the two of us again. "Sweet love glowin' on us every night…"
Then, Dale - "I've never seen such a beautiful sight."
Us again - "Sweet love flowin' almost every night. I know forever we'll be doin' it, doin' it… Sweet love showin' us a heavenly light…"
Then me - "I've never seen such a beautiful sight."
Then us again - "Sweet love flowin' almost every night. I know forever we'll be doin' it, doin' it, doin' it…"
And then us and the Glee Club kids sang over and over in harmony until the song faded away - "Sweet love… Sweet love… Sweet love…"
It was yet another of those amazing moments, and we basked in the glow. I felt relief, because I knew my bit was done. But then I felt sad as well, since my time in the limelight was over now…
Dale signaled us and we all bowed at the same time. He signaled again, and we bowed a second time. No wonder the guys loved this. I waved and threw air-kisses to everyone.
Though I wanted to bask some more, it was time. Otherwise, I might not leave the stage at all. Waving, I started walking to the side of the stage where Danny's and Dale's guitars were. To get there, I had to walk behind a couple of the hanging panels. Oh, boy. Here we go...
to be continued...
Chapter Forty: Not Exactly Fan Service
***** (Danny) *****
When the song was almost done, I stood on the designated equipment lift platform and switched off the light - otherwise, the light will be seen by the crowd. The platform was one of three that allowed backstage people to bring equipment up to the stage. I reached up to the low ceiling (actually the bottom part of the stage floor) and moved an access panel aside (or a part of the stage floor). The panel was hastily added just a few days ago. With it, one didn't need to open up a big part of the floor just to get to the stage.
I stepped on a button on the platform and it started rising, and me along with it. I rose through the panel I opened up. In seconds, I was on stage, and conveniently behind one of the hanging cloth panels so the audience wouldn't see me. Cool.
From my vantage point, I couldn't see much, but, by the same token, no one could see me as well.
I listened to the last parts of the Kenny Loggins song, and I had to say Dale and Danielle, hell, the entire band, sounded great together. Maybe Danielle could sub for me more often.
And then the applause started raining down. Better get ready…
Here comes Danielle. I turned so that I was facing the same direction she was walking in. I reached my arm back, and as soon as she was obscured by the curtain, we touched hands and I started walking in the same direction while Danielle stopped walking.
"Good luck, Danny," she whispered.
I nodded and walked out from behind the cloth panel, and straight to the guitars. From the audience's point of view, it was just me walking past one of the curtains as I made my way towards the guitars. Penn and Teller couldn't have done better.
I had to giggle at our little magic trick.
I reached out, grabbed one of my guitars and walked back the way Danielle came. I passed the curtain Danielle disappeared behind, and Danielle wasn't there anymore. Looking down, I saw that the access panel was back in place. "Good girl, Danielle," I thought and went back to where Danielle's mic stand was.
I grinned at Dale and I mouthed to him, "yep, it's me."
Dale smiled at me, turned to the audience. "So you want some more?" he screamed.
"Yesss!" the crowd yelled back.
"Then here we go!"
I clipped on a capo way up my guitar's fret and started playing.
It sounded like a yukelele, which was the whole point, and I started playing the opening to that Meghan Trainor song in the Peanuts movie.
"Mmm, ehey" I hummed, and the audience cheered.
"Hey!" Kalista from the Glee Club exclaimed, and I started singing the song while Fallon and I played our guitars.
"Don't think about it. Just move your body. Listen to the music, sing, oh, ey, oh!"
Mongo laid down a beat and Dale played counterpoint.
"Just move those left feet. Go ahead, get crazy. Anyone can do it, sing, oh, ey, oh!"
With the Glee Club girls and Fallon joining, we started the chorus.
"Show the world you've got that fire!" ("Fire!" Kalista exclaimed in counterpoint.) "Feel the rhythm getting louder! (Hey!) Show the room what you can do, prove to them you got the moves. (Hey!) I don't know about you -"
Then I went solo.
"- but I feel better when I'm dancing, yeah, yeah - better when I'm dancing, yeah, yeah… And we can do this together. I bet you feel better when you're dancing, yeah, yeah…"
The whole group went full-tilt Jamaican, and we all went "pa-pa-ra-pa-pa-pa-da-da-la-la-la-la-da-da-pa-pa-da-da!"
The whole group then went quiet, and, in quieter tones, I sang. "When you finally let go, and you slay that solo, cause you listen to the music. Sing, oh, ey, oh!
"'Cause you're confident, babe, and you make your hips sway. We knew that you could do it, sing, oh, ey, oh!
"Show the world you've got that fire (fire, baby). Feel the rhythm getting louder. Show the room what you can do. Prove to them you got the moves! I don't know about you…
"- but I feel better when I'm dancing, yeah, yeah. Better when I'm dancing, yeah, yeah… (oh, oh!)"
And then we all sang together. "And we can do this together! I bet you feel better when you're dancing, yeah, yeah! Pa-pa-ra-pa-pa-pa-da-da-la-la-la-la-da-da-pa-pa-da-da!"
By that time, most of the audience were on their feet and dancing.
Rocko went, "Come on!" and we all did another round of… "Pa-pa-ra-pa-pa-pa-da-da-la-la-la-la-da-da-pa-pa-da-da!"
And then, the Glee club girls went, "oh ey oh! Oh ey oh!"
I then took over. "I feel better when I'm dancing. I'm better when I'm dancing, aye, oh ey oh! Feel better when I'm dancing, yeah, yeah! Better when I'm dancing, yeah, yeah… Don't you know…"
And then the group went, "we can do this together. Bet you feel better when you're dancing, yeah, yeah… Pa-pa-ra-pa-pa-pa-da-da-la-la-la-la-da-da-pa-pa-da-da! Pa-pa-ra-pa-pa-pa-da-da-la-la-la-la-da-da-pa-pa-da-da! I feel better when I'm dancing, I'm better when I'm dancing, hey! Feel better when I'm…"
And in the silence, I go, "yeah, yeah…"
And as the applause swelled and swelled, to not let the dancy kind of vibe from going away, we went directly to the next song, this one from the movie, "Trolls." This was our big dance number - which was also our only dance number, too. I so wish our choreographers weren't watching.
With Mongo and June playing the cymbals and background chords, we all arranged ourselves according to our rehearsed places. Dale, Fallon and I slid our guitars on our backs by their straps so we could dance with our guitars but move more freely, and our background-slash-Glee Club singers on either side of us.
I wasn't the best dancer, unfortunately, but since I would be singing the lead, I was the lead dancer. I did my best to start channelling Justin Timberlake somehow.
And, to Mongo and June's playing, and everyone's synchronized finger-snapping, we all got down.
"I got this feelin' inside my bones," I sang, "it goes electric-wavy when I turn it on. All through my city, all through my home - we're flyin' up, no ceilin', when we're in the zone."
I had seen Michael Jackson's eighties "Thriller" MTV, and I think we got that one beat. We continued gettin' down.
"I got that sunshine in my pocket," I sang, "got that good soul in my feet. I feel that hot blood in my body when it drops."
Gus, Frank and Rocko from the Glee club went "ooh!"
"I can't take my eyes up off it, movin' so phenomenally. Come on, rock the way we rock it, so don't stop!" And everyone, like in Simon Sez, froze.
"Under the lights when everything goes," I sang, and everyone resumed dancing. "Nowhere to hide when I'm gettin' you close… when we move, well, you already know. So just imagine…"
"Just imagine, just imagine," Beatriz, Edna, Kalista, Ramona, Valentina, Phylicia, and Eileen - the Glee Club girls - harmonized while Betsy played a single climbing note on her violin. And then Mongo fired a base hit.
"Nothin' I can see but you when you dance, dance, dance, yeah," I sang. "Feel the mood creepin' up on you, so just dance, dance, dance…" ("Come on!" Rocko exclaimed.)
"All those things I shouldn't do, but you dance, dance, dance," I sang. "And ain't nobody leavin' soon, so keep dancin'!"
"Can't stop the feelin'!" Kalista sang in a high falsetto, and I responded, "so just dance, dance, dance…"
"I can't stop the feelin'!" Kalista sang again, and I repeated, "so just dance, dance, dance…"
"Come on!" Rocko exclaimed again.
Everyone started snapping their fingers and danced like those guys in that gang scene from West Side Story. "Ooh, it's something magical," I sang. "It's in the air, it's in my blood, it's rushin' on…" ("Rushin' on," Gus echo-sang.)
"I don't need no reason, don't need control…" ("Need control," Gus echoed.) "I fly so high, no ceiling, when I'm in my zone. 'Cause I got that sunshine in my pocket, got that good soul in my feet! I feel that hot blood in my body when it drops!"
Gus, Frank and Rocko again went "ooh!"
"I can't take my eyes up off it, moving so phenomenally! Come on, rock the way we rock it, so don't stop!" ("Stop, stop, stop…" Gus echoed.)
Again, with synchronized snapping and moves just like in West Side Story, the guys danced and I sang.
"Under the lights when everything goes, nowhere to hide when I'm gettin' you close, when we move, well, you already know… So just imagine…"
"Just imagine, just imagine," the Glee girls harmonized again, and Betsy played a single climbing note on her violin. And then Mongo fired a base hit again.
"Nothin' I can see but you when you dance, dance, dance, yeah," I sang. "Feel the mood creepin' up on you, so just dance, dance, dance…" ("Come on!" Rocko exclaimed.)
"All those things I shouldn't do but you dance, dance, dance," I sang, "and ain't nobody leavin' soon, so keep dancin'."
"Can't stop the feelin'!" Kalista again sang, and I responded, "so just dance, dance, dance…"
We repeated that a couple more times, and Dale swung his bass guitar up and started playing a base beat accompanied by everyone's finger snapping and dancing.
"I can't stop the…" I interjected, and then Fallon added a guitar rhythm beat.
"I can't stop the… I can't stop the… I can't stop the -"
"I can't stop the feelin'! Kalista again sang,
"Nothin' I can see but you when you dance, dance, dance, yeah," I sang. "Feel the mood creepin' up on you, so just dance, dance, dance…"
We did several repeats of the refrain, and it got the audience finger-snapping and singing along with us, it was so amazing! And when we ended the song, the audience exploded! It should have been old hat by now, but I don't know if we'd ever get tired of that.
Again, we took our bows, and again we couldn't stop the audience from clapping.
to be continued...
Chapter Forty-One: Bribes
***** (Mike) *****
I looked at Dannie and the kids dancing and singing. It's amazing to see. It reminded me of the Michael Jackson concert that I attended back in high school, crossed with that movie from ten years ago - "High School Musical." But when I looked at the screen with the roving shot of the audience, the rabid kids reminded me more of this 80s movie I saw about the Beatles called "I Wanna Hold Your Hand."
I can't believe the goldmine Melody had unearthed. I was a little jealous, actually.
When she broached the idea of putting together a concert-type show to kick off her radio station's reboot, she said she wanted us as a partner or sponsor simply because we worked together on that Rockrgrrl show, and she needed a TV station. But I wasn't too keen on it. I mean, radio? I, in fact gave my people who attended Melody's planning sessions a stern talking to - why did they so blithely assume it was already a done deal?
Truth be told, though, everything turned out okay - none of the things they committed to went to waste since we still ended up partnering.
The reason I wasn't too keen on her new show was because we didn't have a big sponsor running things this time, like Rockrgrrl, to fund us, and, listening to Melody's plan, even in our provincial little burg, her new show would cost more than a million to put up - something unusual around these parts. And that didn't even include on-air costs.
Melody needed a Friday or Saturday primetime slot, but I said I had all my Fridays and Saturdays fully booked already. The only way I would agree is if she bought out the advertiser's spots. She didn't agree, of course - she wanted me to give them up, saying that would be my station's investment in the show. In return, she said all the advertising spots on her show could all go to KRPX - the income from all the advertising would therefore go to me. I mean the station.
Nevertheless, I wasn't too keen on the risk. I mean, who would buy spots for a show promoting a radio station?
I told her exactly that, plus I said I wasn't sure if the network would even allow me to pre-empt shows they've already booked with us.
But she clearly had done her homework: later, I found out that she had checked with the network, and the network was amenable to pre-empt the 9PM to 11PM shows for the Friday or Saturday she wanted (maybe even up til 1AM. She had also checked with my bookers, and found out that the advertisers were fine with changing the programs they advertised on. And for those that didn't want changes, they all had one-week cancellation windows in their contracts. So she bought their contracts from us (the already-booked advertisers actually didn't mind much and gave them up without much fuss). After which, she then booked her own ads and commercials to replace them. I hear that she didn't actually lose any of the station's money, and actually made a bundle
She then lobbied the network to "allow" my station to give up the slot, and, if the rumors were true, she essentially paid the network off. Probably not for a lot - the income from these particular syndicated shows weren't big at all.
So, in essence, KRPQ became a block-timer of the station. Which was fine with me - since she bought out the spots, and since we were also able to charge her a fixed fee for the spot regardless of how her show performed, I believed we came out ahead.
A week later, however, I found out that Melody was able to book the maximum number of commercials she could, most being big advertisers like Rockrgrrl (this time Rockrgrrl was just a regular sponsor, not the show's owner). She was probably able to charge rates similar to the major markets… well, probably not. But I'm sure her show will earn more than enough to cover all of her expenses and then some, and if you included income from the sponsors' commercials on her radio programs leading up to the concert, and the spots she was able to squeeze into some of my own shows, plus placements in the show's posters, I'm sure she'll come out more than ahead.
I regretted my decision. I really should have tried to be a partner. As it was, all I got were my block-timer fees. So when she started shopping around for a video production crew, I decided to offer my station's services gratis. I mean, if it got around that one of the most popular and profitable shows in the history of my station was aired without our involvement, that could affect the station's reputation and marketability. And I might find myself out of a job.
So, for the privilege of the station being billed as a partner and sponsor, we provided all of the show's coverage work for free. We outfitted the skybox-slash-observation deck, as well as her production crew, with all the video equipment they needed, fielded three camera teams and an OB truck, leaving me with no news crews left in the station except for an in-studio skeleton crew for the nightly news.
So, from the outside, it appeared to the world that KRPX was an integral part of the production, which, I hope, was how it would also look to my immediate bosses, too. Hopefully, though, they won't realize that we didn't earn much hard income, and the halo effect from the show's success will help hide this fact.
All of this equipment and people… this is costing me a lot. I'll have to look at the books later and see if we actually lost money on this.
So, here I was, brown-nosing, hoping against hope that Melody Piper would give us a cut, or at least partner with us for her future projects. So I swallowed my pride and made small talk as we watched the show from the Arclight Coliseum's observation deck, or skybox.
And to Melody's credit, she acted very friendly and civil. Whether that's just her playing politics, I don't know. But I'll take it at face value and assume that this sucking up wasn't in vain.
***** (Mike) *****
We watched the show as the the kids cavorted and danced on stage, and we shared a drink. Melody didn't drink much and nursed her one glass of champagne. For me, I was already on my fifth glass.
Feeling more than mellow, I said that the show was going to be a hit, and that I'll make sure to get her a copy of the preliminary ratings numbers tomorrow.
She indulgently smiled at me, and I realized that I was more than a bit drunk. I decided not to finish my current glass, and just watched the show with her.
Around me, my people were doing their jobs well so I didn't have much to do. Melody didn't either, but she did get reports from her people constantly, her smartphone beeping occasionally or a person would come up to her from time to time. So I decided to text my assistant and gave him some makework that would necessitate him sending me back some texts. I then texted my OB crew and asked that I be given a printed copy of transmission statistics every fifteen or twenty minutes. I'm sure they didn't understand why I needed them, but a few minutes later, someone came up to the skybox and gave me a little slip of paper. On it was what to me were just random numbers and figures. I didn't really care but at least I could appear to be busy.
"So, Mrs. Piper," I said, "what are your plans after this?"
Melody shrugged. "Oh, nothing major. My daughter and I need to start building up the station, and start building up a base. That means fine tuning our programs and start accumulating listeners."
"Any more plans for shows like this?"
She shrugged again. "I don't think so. Definitely not this soon. This was a lot of work, and it was quite expensive as well."
"Well, if you think of something, KRPX is here to help."
She smiled at that. "Well, we'll see. I wouldn't want to put you in hot water with your network and your advertisers again."
Inwardly, I winced at that tittle tweak. "I think we can work things out, if ever there would be another opportunity to work together."
She nodded. "Thank you. Tracey and I will talk it out."
"Tracey?"
"My… daughter. I think you met her? She's the one that produces the Nighthawk program?"
"Ahhh. Yes, I did. A charming young lady. She is…?"
"I'm hoping she will eventually be running the station, and perhaps start the PiperCorp communications division."
"Communications division!" I exclaimed. "My goodness! But does PiperCorp even have a communications division?"
She laughed. "Well, that's just a notion at the moment - nothing but an idea. We'll see."
I nodded. Hmmm. And she's the daughter, too. This Tracey is someone I have to get on the good side on. I should talk to my secretary later, and send her something.
"Well..." I continued, "if ever we're able to work together again, I'm sure I can guarantee preferential advertising rates."
"Ahhh…"
"And you will get the signup bonuses, of course…"
"Well, thank you."
"By the way, I'm thinking of placing some commercials in KRPQ."
But I seem to be overdoing the sucking up since she sighed. "Let's talk about all of this later," she said. "If you really want to talk about this, give my assistant a call, okay? She will set a meeting."
Ooops, I guess it was too much.
"Oh, no," I said to her. "Not at all. No rush." I guess I've over-indulged with the champagne, and this miscalculation was the result. I decided to suspend the strategy.
I turned to the main screen which showed the entire stage from the static camera. The details weren't very fine but it gave a good picture of all the action - which was the sole purpose of this particular camera.
After their dance number, the band had followed up with a couple more high-octane songs, and then broke for another commercial break. I've covered enough concerts to know that the commercial break was the last one for the show, and it was meant to give the band a short rest period prior to the final push. And after the commercial would most likely be the show's last one or two songs, where each one from the band will be able to take a sort-of bow and then the MC, or in this case, the three MC's, would close the show.
It was a perfect concert, so far as I can tell, and a follow-up concert would be the best. The timing for the follow-up would be important, of course - not too early after this one, but not too long after that the concert would have lost all of its buzz. If I can be the one to run it, I'd be able to virtually guarantee that the tickets would be sold out on the first day, maybe even get national coverage, too. In other words, it'd be a freaking gold mine.
So I have to be in on that.
I turned back to the TV and noted that the band had slowed things up with a love song.
Mistake, I thought… Although it turned out they knew better. Damn...
***** (Tracey) *****
I was missing a lot of the action as I was hurrying to break down everything in the fake booth. I did have the little TV running so I was at least able to hear the concert.
The first I packed up, of course, was my precious Mac, MILC camera and all of the attached equipment in padded carry cases.
I then packed up all the tape cartridges and equipment in crates. After that, using my X-Acto knife and several rolls of tape, I broke down the fake control board and packed them into big cardboard boxes, which I had reinforced with several strips of tape. They were all going to be thrown away, anyway, but I had to make sure they were taken away and disposed of in some other place so there'd be no evidence.
I ended up with about five steamer trunk-sized cardboard boxes, eight plastic packing crates, two empty shelves and two overnight-bag size camera cases. I taped a number on each box, crate and shelf - seventeen in all. As for the KRPX equipment, I disconnected and packed all of them in the boxes they came in. I checked them against the list they gave, and everything was there.
I took a peek at the TV and the guys were already playing the Meghan Trainor song, which means they were about to break for a commercial soon. Whew! I was just in time.
Though I desperately wanted to watch, I had to clear out. On my phone, I called my mom's assistant, and she said she would be down in minutes. I changed my sweaty top and stuffed it, my bra and my jacket into my slouchy bag. I re-combed my hair and put it into a messy high ponytail, sort of like Danny's usual ponytail after their Saturday practice sessions.
With no makeup, I had a totally different look. I looked really close to my old male image. I felt sad. All the work I put in... Mom promised that she'd allow me my FFS operations on my seventeenth birthday, and that can't come soon enough. After that, on my eighteenth birthday would be my SRS or GRS. After that, I hope I'd be as close to the real me as I can be.
I sniffed back some tears. "Enough," I said to myself. "Time to get a move on." I stepped out of the room, closed the door, made sure that it wasn't locked, and left it to my mom's assistant to get the seventeen items trucked back to the station, and return KRPX's video equipment to them. For me, my goal now was to leave the station and not be seen.
The way out of the coliseum was practically deserted and I had no trouble getting to the parking lot. I found my Toyota FJ Cruiser with no problems and started driving to our condo-apartment. I got there in fifteen minutes flat. That will give me enough time to get ready for the after party at Betsy's.
***** (Danny) *****
I really was super-tired. At least the others had that twenty-minute break earlier. For me, no breaks.
At least there were only two more songs. We hung around the back stage - none of us wanted to go to our dressing rooms. All of us got bottles of water and other drinks. Following the advice of our directors, I picked a bottle of some sugary juice drink instead - we needed the kick from the sugar rush to get us over our low energy levels. We'll just handle the sugar crash later.
Danielle came over and gave me a hug.
"You guys have been great, Danny," she said, and renewed her hug. I was practically covered with sweat but she didn't care.
She had changed into a nice, silk men's button-down shirt, men's slim-fit jeans and construction boots, and covered it up with the station's silver-and-sky-blue jacket. She looked pretty fresh in her Danny-mode attire. God, I wish I could change out of my sweaty clothes!
"It's the home stretch now," she said to everyone. "Hang in there."
I nodded and took another swig of my drink. "Yup. Just two more songs."
One of the stage people signalled us, and we sighed.
"Here we go." I gave Danielle a kiss on the cheek and followed everyone to the stage.
"And, here we go!" we heard Talia on stage say. They had just finished their final spiel and it was our turn. "Here they are! Dannie and Unlimited Bandwidth!"
I waved as we took our positions on stage while Talia, Harry and Sally stepped off.
In the silence, I played my acoustic with a gentle strumming rhythm along with June's keyboard playing. The audience didn't pick up the song until Mongo started singing Take That's 1996 version.
"I know your eyes in the morning sun," Mongo sang in a surprisingly sweet tenor, "I feel you touch me in the pouring rain…" A spotlight hit Mongo, and the audience, shocked that it was Mongo, erupted in applause.
"And the moment that you wander far from me," he sang, "I wanna feel you in my arms again…"
And then Fallon took over. "And you come to me on a summer breeze," she sang, "keep me warm in your love, then you softly leave. And it's me you need to show! How deep is your love?"
And then, our backup singers - the Glee Club kids - sang in chorus. "How deep is your love, how deep is your love? I really need to learn, 'cause we're living in a world of fools - breakin' us down, when they all should let us be. We belong to you and me…"
This time Dale took over. "I believe in you - you know the door to my very soul."
And then Betsy's turn. As soon as the light hit her, she sang in a sweet soprano voice.
"You're the light in my deepest, darkest hour," Betsy sang. "You're my savior when I fall." The crowd went wild. It was one of the few times they even heard her sing.
And then, I took over.
"And you may not think I care for you," I sang, "when you know down inside that I really do. And it's me you need to show! How deep is your love?"
And then our backup singers. "How deep is your love? How deep is your love? I really need to learn. 'cause we're living in a world of fools - breakin' us down, when they all should let us be… We belong to you and me…"
Betsy then took over in a short interlude, using her violin to sing the words for her. It was sweet and poignant, and I saw some of the girls in the front row sighing. I can just bet she has more fans than ever before now.
"You're my light!" I interjected, and after a few bars, Mongo sang, "you're my light…"
And the backup guys sang, "when I fall…"
And then, after the violin interlude, I took over again. "You may not think I care for you," I sang, "when you know down inside that I really do."
After a pause, the band sang and harmonized with me " And it's me you need to show! How deep is your love?"
And then, all of us, including our backup singers this time, sang in chorus. "How deep is your love, how deep is your love? I really need to learn, 'cause we're living in a world of fools - breakin' us down, when they all should let us be. We belong to you and me…"
Our backup singers then went and did a Motown kind of step, snapping their fingers as they went, "Dudn-doo-doo-doo…" and they repeated this over and over until they faded out the song.
And in the inevitable rain of clapping and yelling, we all went to the front and took a bow.
As the applause settled down, we all went back to our positions and started our finale - our Doobie Brothers number.
On his sticks, Mongo counted us down. "Four, three, two, one!"
June and Mongo went into that signature Doobie Brothers four-fourths beat, with Dale making a few bass counterpoints. The audience picked up on the beat right away, and, on the fourth or fifth repeat, I sang.
"You don't know me but I'm your brother," I sang, trying to sound like a female version of Michael McDonald. "I was raised here in this living hell. You don't know my kind in your world. Fairly soon, the tide will turn…
"You! Telling me the things you're gonna do for me. I ain't blind and I don't like what I think I see!"
Then the background kids and I took turns singing the refrain.
"(Taking it to the streets) taking it to the streets. (Taking it to the streets). No more need for running! (Taking it to the streets)…"
Then it was me again. "Take this message to my brother. You will find him everywhere, wherever people live together, tied in poverty's despair.
"Oh, you, telling me the things you're gonna do for me." Fallon and I included our own guitar rhythm playing, and I continued to sing. "I ain't blind and I don't like what I think I see…"
And then the background kids and me again. "(Taking it to the streets) taking it to the streets. (Taking it to the streets). No more need for running! (Taking it to the streets) Taking it to the streets. (Taking it to the -)"
Then it was Betsy again, making believe her violin was a saxophone. The people went wild and cheered and cheered Betsy on.
And, after her interlude was done, I took over. "Oh, you! Telling me the things you're gonna do for me…. I ain't blind and I don't like what I think I see…"
And then the background kids and me again. "(Taking it to the streets) taking it to the streets. (Taking it to the streets)…"
We repeated it over and over again while June kept spiraling it up and up, adding ad libs and electric organ riffs. It was amazing, and the energy just kept pumping and pumping up and up and up. And after I don't know how long, we snapped our song off.
The audience went absolutely berserk, and we took endless curtain calls. For the people in the coliseum, that was the end of the show, but they didn't want to let us go. So we stayed and waved to our fans.
Fallon, the Glee club kids and I hugged, and with our arms around each other, we waved to our fans. June and Betsy flanking us, with Dale and Mongo, the tallest among us, standing in the back.
We stayed there and posed for pictures, and as we did, several people threw bouquets of flowers. The girls and I picked one up each, and the audience roared again. The Glee Club kids got bouquets, too, I know courtesy of Mrs. P.
"Mongo!" a girl from the audience screamed, and then threw a biiig bouquet. It was probably three dozen roses in that one bouquet. It landed with an almost-thud on the stage floor, and everyone stared at it. Grinning from ear to ear, Mongo made his way to the front and gathered his bouquet. He stood and gave the girl a flying kiss.
As we took our bows, we whisper-debated whether we wanted to sing an encore, but I nixed the idea. We were just too wiped out, I said, and we were liable to mess it up. Best to leave things on a high. Everyone agreed, and we just continued to take our bows.
In the end, everyone, including the boys, ended up with at least one bouquet, except for me, who had about four or five, and Mongo, of course, with his ginormous red, white and yellow bouquet of roses.
A few daring fans threw other things, like little boxes of personal items like jewelry. Some didn't think it through and we ended up dodging the projectiles, otherwise we'd probably need stitches. Some realized what was happening, and decided to throw their little gifts at our feet instead.
As for some of the others, they threw articles of clothing and other personal items. Our director warned us about this, and we were advised not to touch any, especially in this day and age of AIDS and other diseases. They had even indicated that the flowers might also be a danger, but when I impulsively decided to stoop and pick up one of the bouquets, the others followed suit and picked up their own bouquets.
Some in the audience were desperate and actually hurled their shirts, bras, underwear, whatever, directly at us - directly at me, actually. And I had to dodge them. Hopefully, I wasn't hurting anyone's feelings by dodging them. I giggled and made a joke of it, and everyone laughed (I still had my mic). Whew...
And, eventually, we were able to escape into our dressing rooms, with Mongo and I struggling with our bouquets. Later, when we looked at the raw footage, we learned that, after we left, one of the floor directors came up on stage and explained that everyone's gifts were going to get to the band., but they had to be checked over first for security purposes. Explaining this to the audience was something that wasn't really done, but they did this at the insistence of Mrs. P. Which, I think, was appreciated by the fans who threw their gifts on-stage. But that little bit, of course, never got on TV.
On TV, though, the producers finessed the ending a little bit.
On TV, they ran Tracey's and my pre-recorded extro, and filled the right-hand side with selected excerpts from the show. On top of these excerpts were the credits, leaving my image, from head to just below the knees, free of any text. Everyone said I looked super-sexy in my white boat-neck bodysuit and shiny leather leggings. I agreed - hey, what can you do? If you got it, you got it. Lol.
In the background played a muted, musak-style instrumental-only version of Takin' It To The Streets. But, far from sounding hokey, it gave my dry clip just the right musical note.
"There you go, folks," the Nighthawk (me) said in her white bodysuit sans leather jacket, "the formal launch of the new KRPQ radio. And I'd like to thank you for staying with us for the entire evening. Starting tomorrow, you can tune in to us at our new FM channel, and hear your regular favorite programs with Talia, Harry, Sally, Lou and Dennis. As for me, my early Saturday morning program will still be on at its regular Saturday morning slot." (It was strange for me to think of "her" as a different person, but I think I can be forgiven for that).
"I'd like to say thank you to our on-air crew - Talia, Harry, Sally, Lou and Dennis, and of course to my producer Tracey, and our boss, Mrs. Melody Piper. Thanks as well to our Do-Wop guys and gals - Gus, Frank, Rocko Beatriz, Edna, Kalista, Ramona, Valentina, Phylicia, and Eileen, and, of course, the amazing Unlimited Bandwidth - Dannie Fairchild on lead vocals and rhythm, June Bright on keyboards and vocals, Elizabeth 'Betsy' Haley on the violin, Dale Rappaport on bass and vocals, and Julius 'Mongo' Kaufman on drums and backup vocals. Janet O'Hara, the band's lead vocals and rhythm guitar is temporarily not with the band, so taking over for her was Fallon Walsh.
"Thank you, too, to all our sponsors, especially our loyal friends from Rockrgrrl and Cowgirl Jeans, and of course our friends from KRPX TV, and all the wonderful people from our production crew. This is indeed the beginning of something great for KRPQ, the…" and then she, I mean, I, crossed my eyes. "'the home of yesterday's, today's and tomorrow's hits.'" I had inadvertently chuckled at that. "Like I said, we'll think up something nice to replace that later, folks."
I looked straight into the camera.
"But for now, we will all say good night, and hope to see you again soon." I waved to the camera, and they faded out my recording. They replaced it with a new montage of clips from our rehearsals, including all the funny little moments and behind-the-scene bloopers someone had edited together (someone was really on the ball), overlaid with the rolling credits. The muted elevator-style music was muted even more, so that all of our funny little quips, asides and laughter from the blooper clips could be heard clearly.
All-in-all, it was an appropriate ending to a wonderful show.
I wondered if we'd be able to make another one. If this was the life that Dannie the Singer would be leading, I'd sincerely want it to come true. At that moment, I made a big life decision: singing would be my career now. I just needed to find a way to make it happen, and find a way to do it as me and not as Dannie or Robin.
I then realized that there was going to be an after-party, with all the parents and parent-types. God, I was so tired, I wondered if I could last that long.
I sighed. "The pitfalls of fame," I giggled.
to be continued...
Chapter 42 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ. The band's first real concert was a complete success, and, with all the planning involved and their flawless execution, the identities of Robin, Dannie, Daniel and Danielle were fully cemented. What was next for everyone - no one knew. But one thing's for sure - there's never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. |
Chapter Forty-Two: Mission Improbable
***** (Valerie) *****
Since I met Danny and Tracey, my life had changed. I wouldn't say that it was all sunshine and light, but it was so much better than how it was before.
Sure, I'd find myself still arguing with my dad a lot, with mom usually ending up as our referee, but we would also make up afterwards now, and we'd have wonderful family moments, when before we virtually had none. Dad had made it a point to stay home every weekend now, so that I could come home and spend time with them. And, slowly, we had started to heal whatever it was that had to be healed.
Saturday mornings were my time with my therapist, and I dutifully went (So there'd be no chance I'd miss it because of my doctor's appointment, I would record Danny's program so I can listen to it in the evening).
On the second Saturday, though, my therapist suggested that my mom and dad should join me, and when I brought it up to them, my father agreed right away. Mom looked at me then, and gave me a wink and a laugh, and, though our new "family sessions" were never easy, it was something that we went into with hearts and minds open, especially my dad.
He was still as stiff as a board and a stick up his ass, but his sincerity couldn't be doubted. Slowly, he had opened up and I started to understand him. Sure, he still acted like he had a stick up his butt, but that was okay.
And we were putting closure on my sister's death.
A few times a week, Danny or Tracey would call, or I'd call them, and we'd have a chat about nothing at all, and almost by accident, we'd end up talking about how it was with us. The girls were happy for my family's progress, slow though it may be, and I, in turn, was so fascinated to hear what was happening with them.
And that's how I heard about the concert-show. I, of course, was offered tickets. I had to turn them down, though, because I had our therapy session in the morning and our family Saturday & Sunday dinners at home. Though I wanted to see the show, my priority was my family now.
Danny and Tracey didn't push, though, and I was grateful for that. They did, however, get me a bootleg copy of the concert that some enterprising kid had DVR'd from the TV and uploaded as a torrent file in Piratebay. I could have downloaded it myself, but Tracey had done it for me, giving me a blueray-playable disk and as an MKV file in a little thumbdrive.
So I gave the folks the disk and I kept the thumbdrive. Dad said we'd make the following Sunday night Video Night, complete with popcorn and stuff, and I made sure I would be home for that.
That weird Danny-slash-Danielle-slash-Dannie-slash-Robin thing still fascinated me, and was worried it would all come crashing down eventually, but they seem to have it all under control. I did offer my help if they needed anything, and that was how Danny ended up calling me up a couple of weeks after the concert.
She needed my help, she said. She was reluctant to bring it up over the phone, so I invited them to the house for Saturday lunch. Mom and Dad were happy to finally meet them, and made sure to have something nice ready.
So Danny and Tracey came over in Tracey's FJ Cruiser, and we had a pleasant lunch. Dad had "interrogated" the two (I had warned them that this might happen) and was pleasantly surprised to hear that Danny was in the Honors Section and Tracey's mom was Melody Piper, the head of the PiperCorp conglomerate.Dad had already respected the two, but it was clear that the two had gone several notches up in his personal rating with this added bit of info.
After coffee (Dad's coffee was Irish while ours were just regular), Danny, Tracey and I retreated to the garden outside to talk.
I pre-empted the two's questions by saying I haven't seen the concert, though we were planning on watching it the following night on Dad's ultra-wide TV. I, in fact, invited them.
"Thanks for that, Valerie," Danny said, "but I hope you don't mind if we take a raincheck. After our gig at Mario's last night, and my show this morning, plus our usual practice session later, I really just want to go home and get some shut-eye."
"No problem, Danny."
"Val…" Danny said hesitantly, "we need your help on something."
"Something not so… legal," Tracey said.
"Let me hear it first before I agree," I said.
"Well…" Danny continued, "you know about my situation, right?"
"You don't need to worry, Danny - I haven't mentioned it to anyone. I…"
Danny waved it away. "We know we can trust you, Val," Danny said. "That's not it. It's this…"
They explained that the Danny-Dannie thing had sort of come out already, but they engineered it in such a way that Danielle ended up being Dannie-the-singer, which meant Danny would act as if he was his sister Danielle when he was singing, while Danielle masqueraded as Daniel, who was also their supposed manager.
So, that meant Danny, while in Dannie-the-singer-mode, would disguise himself as Danielle, and Danielle would disguise herself as Danny - Robin's and the band's manager. They went into detail on how they would manage it and I was fairly sure they'd be able to make it work somehow. Sure it sounded screwy, but the way the two explained it made it seem totally reasonable.
The issue now was Robin-the-Nighthawk.
Danny would also continue to be Robin, but the worry was, because of the high visibility the band and the station now had, if someone were to do some research, it would come out that Danny had done an internship with KRPQ as an announcer, and that would pose problems for her. I mean, him.
He didn't need to finish the internship since his school changed its mind and he was made to sign up for the Glee Club instead, but it was still in the records that he had done several hours interning at KRPQ.
But, as luck would have it, Mrs. Gortner, their high school's counselor, would be retiring in a couple of weeks and would move to some place abroad to be with her daughter and her family. She was the one who approved the internship: no one else knew. So, since Mrs. Gortner was leaving, that little piece of info - of Danny doing a radio production internship at KRPQ - was more-or-less safe. But there was still a chance it might come out.
So what they needed was a way to erase any references to KRPQ in Danny's records inside Mrs. Gortner's files, and no one would be able to backtrack KRPQ to Danny at all.
"We decided to ask you because you know computers and, maybe, you can help, ummm, alter Danny's records?" Tracey said.
I looked at them. And after a minute of silent contemplation I shrugged. "Is that all?"
The two of them looked at each other and broke out laughing.
***** (Valerie) *****
Tracey then pulled out a folder from her bag, and, inside the folder were several eight-by-ten glossies.
"These are pictures of a bunch of our friends, so, if you need help, these guys can help you." Eh? Pictures? What?
She started with the first one.
"This is Morgan, Danny's best friend," she said. "He's a sporty kind of guy and was part of their school's basketball, baseball and soccer varsity teams. He decided to leave the teams because of the demands on his time. Also because they never really won any game. Heehee. He knows his way around the school as well as many of the teachers, and can help you navigate."
She brought out the next one.
"This is Joanne. She's one of Danielle's best friends. The reason we included her is because she has access to her mom's minivan, and is a pretty good driver. She can be your ride today. Joanne said that she already made excuses with her mom at the salon already so you can use the van for the entire afternoon." I was told later that Joanne liked to work at her mom's beauty salon when she can, and that she was a pretty talented hairdresser in her own right.
Tracey then brought out the next picture.
"This is Jerome, or Jerry to his friends. He's not exactly the quickest nor the most versatile in our group physically, but he's our closest to a tech-nerd. If you need an extra hand that's computer-savvy, chances are he's the person that can help you the most."
Then the next picture.
"This is Mike, or Mikey or Mickey. He answers to any of them. He's very dexterous and agile, and if you need someone to squeeze into tight spaces or whatever, this little guy's your man."
And then the last one - a girl this time.
"And this is Melanie. Or Mel. She's one of Danielle's friends."
I looked at Tracey. "And?"
Tracey shrugged in embarassment. "Well… She's very close to Jerry."
"Huh?"
"Sorry, Val. Mel insisted that she wanted to help."
I looked at the two and exploded in laughter.
The two looked at me, and laughed as well.
"You know, this all feels like an episode of Mission Impossible, and I'm Jim Phelps."
"Jim Phelps?"
"From the TV show? Anyway, think Tom Cruise's character instead."
"Ahhh…"
So. At around three that afternoon, the guys came in Joanne's minivan. Tracey and Danny weren't around anymore so being shown pictures helped. Ahhh! So that's why Tracey showed me their pictures.
There were handshakes all around, and Morgan outlined the plan they had thought up. It seemed reasonable enough. We all got in the van and started for the high school.
We parked about a block from the school, and put on our "disguises."
Since I wasn't part of their school, I wasn't in any of the school records. So my disguise only consisted of sunglasses and a baseball cap.
For the others, their disguises were a bit more elaborate.
All of the guys wore wigs - just cheap, synthetic women's wigs that they hacked chunks off from the bottom to approximate men's hair. They all wore jackets, as well as sunglasses and caps or hats that they borrowed from friends or other people ("so people won't associate the jackets with us," Mike said in a conspiratorial whisper. Really, dude?).
As for Joanne and Mel, they just wore sunglasses. After all, they're just staying in the van.
Jerry handed out thin latex gloves - not the colored kind but more like the neutral-colored kind used in hospitals. If you didn't stare, you'd probably not notice them.
"Best to be sure," he said.
Mike led us, and told us to walk where he walked. So we followed him as he walked on the parts of the sidewalk where there were lots of overhanging trees. And, instead of walking through the main gates, he walked along the perimeter of the school's outside wall.
He then led us to a little gate and opened it.
"Jerry picked the lock before so we could get into the campus through here, and there are no CCTVs covering this gate," Mike explained. Mike pointed to one of the CCTV cameras and we saw it hanging by a wire.
"We knocked that out with a rock just a couple of days ago, so the school's maintenance people haven't gotten the chance to fix it yet."
We then walked through and started walking to the main building. Mike said there were no CCTV cameras covering this part of the school so we were safe to walk directly to the main building. Morgan said for us to walk normally, so if we missed a camera, at least we didn't act suspiciously.
Mike led us up to an access door with the padlock conveniently taken off.
From there we basically walked until we got to the corridor leading to the Counselor's Office. Mike pointed to an old-style CCTV camera and watched it as it slowly swiveled around. Jerry handed Mike a key. Mike timed it in such a way that the camera was facing away from him, and then he ran along the wall and then stood directly underneath the camera.
When the camera was facing away again, Mike ran for the counselor's office, unlocked it with the key Jerry gave him, and stepped in, while I sprinted to the camera and stood under it just like Mike did. When the camera had moved around again, I sprinted for the door. I knocked once and Mike opened the door for me. Jerry then did the same thing, until all three of us were inside. Morgan remained outside to keep watch.
Jerry was sure that there were no CCTV cameras inside the office, except perhaps for the computer's Internet camera.
First thing's first - I covered the lens of the computer's camera with a bit of tape, switched it on and waited for the linux sign-on screen. Normally, it would be Jerry doing this, Morgan had explained, but Jerry didn't know linux at all.
Anyway, since I did, it wasn't that difficult, especially since Jerry knew where Mrs. Gortner kept the system passwords.
Using a paperclip, Jerry jimmied the desk drawer's lock, and found a little index card with User IDs and Passwords. So I used Mrs. Gortner's ID and logged on.
It wasn't too complicated - I just looked for Danny's files and found the relevant records.
The transaction headers for the records I needed just said "Internship - radio station announcer, KRPRQ" and then followed by the address.
In the approval field, all it said was "M. Piper - Supervisor," followed by a telephone number.
Other than that, there were no other traceable pieces of information. So, in the header, I replaced it with "Internship - Technician," with no company name nor address, and in the approval field, I just replaced it with "approved by supervisor." As for the telephone number, I put in "number not supplied."
There were several transaction records - over twenty in all, so I basically changed their details just like the first one. And when I was done, I then logged out, logged back on with the super-user ID, erased the access entries for the day, and changed the date and time-modified stamps of the records. I also fiddled with to the date- and time-created date and time stamps.
While I was doing all that, Mike and Jerry looked through all the paper records in Danny's file. They found the time cards. Each card was taped to a piece of typewriter paper. They took the sheets out of the folder and used Mrs. Gortner's printer-scanner to make photocopies.
Jerry had artfully covered the name of the company with a little slip of paper, as well as the printed name of Danny's supervisor. They did that with each time card.
And, instead of trying to replicate the time cards, they just basically scanned the entire paper in black and white, and just put these in the folder, pocketing the original cards. And since they were black and white, the covered up portions didn't look like they were covered up and just ended up blank. Jerry explained that if we were to fake them, it would just look more suspicious.
They went through the rest of the papers and found the official application form. So they did the same thing and just made a scanned copy, covering up names and telephone numbers with little bits of paper.
So, it was all done in less than an hour. I shut down the computer, turned off the printer-scanner and looked for any stray bits of paper. Jerry pocketed all the original paperwork they replaced, locked the cabinet and checked to make sure everything was okay.
When the computer was powered off, I then took off the little tape over the camera.
"I think we're set!" I whispered.
Mike nodded. He called Morgan.
"Dude," he said, "we're set. Signal us when the camera's in the right position."
"Okay," he said. "Okay… whoever's first - get set, and go!"
Mike signaled me and I sprinted out the door and stood directly underneath the camera. After a few moments, Morgan signaled and I sprinted towards him and out to the bend. I was then followed by Jerry and then Mike. We then went back out the way we had come, but this time locking the padlocks in the access door and the gate.
We then walked back to the van, again being careful of the cameras.
As we slid into the van, Joanne turned to Morgan. "Mission accomplished?" she asked.
Morgan pointed to me and Jerry.
"Well?" she asked us.
"Yep," Jerry said, and we high-fived each other.
"Yeah!" Mike echoed. "Nothin' to it. Slicker than snot!"
"Ewww!" Me and the girls went.
After a few minutes, as Joanne drove away from the school and back towards downtown, Mike cleared his throat.
"Say, Val?" he said. "You know I have some problems with my English grades… you don't suppose…"
"Mike!" Joanne reacted, and Morgan hit him on top of the head.
"What did I say!"
No one said anything after that. Which made everything a little awkward.
To break the awkwardness, I hummed the Mission Impossible theme.
"Dum-dum-dumdum-dum-dum-dumdum…"
And everyone laughed at that.
to be continued...
Chapter 43 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ. A couple of weeks after the concert, the gang recruited Valerie, a friend of Danny's, to help alter Danny's school records so that there wouldn't be a trace of him doing any internship at the radio station. That way, Robin's true identity woud be safe. Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. |
Chapter Forty-Three: When The Cat's Away
(note: Except for the first three paragraphs, chapter forty-three is actually chapter nine of the story "Playing The Part: Counterfeit Crusader." This chapter is the bridge between the two stories. It's up to you, however, whether you want to assume the events in Counterfeit Crusader are real events, or just a a fever-induced hallucination of Nikki's. There are a few changes, though necessitated by the events in the previous chapters here. Hope you guys don't mind.)
***** (Nikki) *****
It had been weeks since the kick-off concert for the new FM station of KRPQ, and their "mission impossible," and things had gone back to how things were before, except, of course, everyone now believed Danielle was Dannie, and none of us would try and change that point of view as it gives Danny a way of covering up his connection with the band. Of course, Danielle had to be part of the, ummm, subterfuge, now. But, as she said, it was a small price to pay.
In any case, things were running fairly smoothly, except that there were now kids hanging around our houses almost everyday, especially at Danny's. But it was something that everyone had learned to cope with.
A few weeks ago, I had caught the flu that was making the rounds in school, but that wasn't the problem.
Danny had been disappearing after school a lot, ever since I got back from the flu. Danielle told me he'd been coming home late these days, like around midnight or sometimes even later. I told Danielle I was worried that he'd found another girl. Danielle shook her head and said that she would know if he did. I knew how close the twins were, and since I trusted Danielle implicitly, that settled my mind a bit. I then had this thought.
"What if it wasn't another girl?" I said. Danielle looked at me, a question evident in her eyes. "What if... Danielle, what if it was a guy?"
We looked at each other, thinking of the possibilities and the ramifications of Danny cheating on me with a guy...
"Nikki,..." Danielle began, and faltered. "Nikki, I don't know if that's even possible." Danielle shook her head like she was trying to shake away an image in her mind that she didn't like.
"But one thing's sure," she said, looking me in the eye, "I would know if he was cheating on you, whether it's with a girl or with a guy. Believe me, I'd know. And he's been head over heels in love with you for a long time - don't you know that?"
I sighed. "I guess I'm just being paranoid."
Danielle touched my cheek in understanding, just like Danny would. Sometimes it's like they were the same person. "But, Danielle," I took her hand. "If it isn't that, then what's he up to?"
She looked out the living room window, with an expression of both worry and fear. "I don't know, Nikki, and I'm worried."
His bandmates were worried, too. Danny had said he couldn't join the band for their usual Saturday practice this afternoon, as well as the gig tonight. Dale was beside himself, but Danny told him he cleared it with Mario and he said Mario was fine with it. Dale tried to find out what he was up to but couldn't get anything out of him. In the end, he and the others had no choice, and they went ahead and played without him tonight. Danny suggested they get Fallon to fill in, and Dale agreed.
Mel and the others were there. It wasn't the band's best gig, she said, but good enough that Mario wasn't too mad, even though she said there were a lot of disgruntled people, pissed that they wouldn't see Danny. Actually, that's why I was here at Danielle's sleeping over tonight - I mean, what's the point of watching Unlimited Bandwidth if Danny wasn't there?
Everyone assumed it had something to do with Janet, and the recent troubles with her, but no one wanted to bring it up. I'm sure everyone thought so, too, but pretended like it was because of something else.
Anyway, long after the show, and everyone had gone home already, Danielle and I caught him sneaking in through their kitchen door.
"So where've you been!" I huffed, hands on my hips. "We were all worried sick!"
He looked down, chastised. "Ummm, just out. And did a few errands. The bank to, ummm, pay my credit card bill." He did that sometimes when the station wasn't able to pay his company-issued credit card's bill on time - He'd pay it himself so he could avoid the late payment charges.
He looked down at his shoes, scuffing the floor like a guilty little boy, making me smile at how cute she was, I mean 'he' was. I couldn't stay mad at him when he acted like that. "We'll talk about it later then," I said. "go to your room and get washed up. I'll come check on you in a bit."
Danny nodded and picked up a shiny black box that was by his feet, roughly two feet by two feet by one. It looked like a big, shiny, black ceramic bento box stood on its side, but without any designs painted on it.
"What's that?" I asked.
"Oh, nothing," he said nervously. He tucked it under his arm and ran up to his room. I noticed a slight limp. Have to ask him about that later, too.
I turned and saw Danielle giggling.
I wasn't in the mood. "What're you laughing about, little miss smartypants?"
"You sounded just like our mom," Danielle said, and continued giggling.
I just had to giggle at that, too. "Yeah, I guess I did." I gestured up towards Danny's room. "Did you notice he was limping a bit? And what was that he was carrying?"
Danielle shrugged. "We can ask him later. And that thing's probably some computer thing, or maybe an amplifier for his guitar, or something like that. You know him and his toys."
"Yeah."
After maybe twenty minutes, we knocked on Danny's door, and found a freshly-showered Danny in socks, a freshly-laundered un-ironed oxford shirt and what looked like Bermuda shorts. And no telltale limp. I looked around and found the box standing beside his candy-pink guitar propped up against the wall. Danielle was right, probably just an amplifier.
And, as was typical, Danny was able to charm me out of my misgivings and we never did get to talk about his disappearing act. He polished off the big bowl of popcorn I made in nothing flat. Typical. And since he started acting normally again, as well as in the following weeks, (no more unexplained nightly disappearances, I mean) everyone forgot about the whole thing.
Later, when Danielle left us to go to bed, she reminded Danny that Dad said to keep his door open. She giggled and winked at me, shaking a finger at the both of us.
I stuck my tongue out at her, trying not to giggle myself. When she left, having pointedly left Danny's door wide open, I snuggled with Danny on the bed, staying on top of the covers. It would have been too much of a temptation otherwise, and we were expecting Danny's folks to come home anytime soon.
As we lay there quietly watching TV and wrapped around each other, I couldn't help but wonder what Danny's disappearances were all about. He said it was just some stuff for school and the glee club, and I took that at face value, as we almost always did Danny's explanations. But I promised myself to look into it. But later - right now, I was enjoying myself too much.
to be continued...
Chapter 44 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ. Nikki and Danielle wondered about Danny's frequent disappearances. What could Danny have been doing? But since Danny eventually stopped doing that, they didn't worry about it anymore. Still... What could Danny be doing when he disappears? Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang, huh? |
Chapter Forty-Four: A House Call
***** (Dr. Roberts) *****
Over the months, I've discovered several things about Danny's and Danielle's conditions. The source of their unique conditions was the same even though the effect on them was different - the mysterious chemical that we have yet to track down that Eleanor Marshall, Danny's company-assigned dietician, liked to call "Batch 14," since the chemical we're looking for was the final batch of a fourteen-batch run. But the effects on these two kids were totally different from each other. We tracked the previous thirteen batches down but they didn't seem too unusual. We have, in fact, synthesized them and all that we've found was that they were just like all currently-available dietary supplements on the market today. They were dead ends. But we remained clueless about number fourteen.
The one curious thing was that all the active components in all thirteen batches were synthetic, so the fourteenth was probably the same. Actually, that was the only major similarity. The formulation of each batch was totally different from each other.
In fact, one would have wondered why they were filed as batches from the same formulation anyway - they weren't. Which frustrated me to death. If this was the normal output of the defunct pharma company's R&D, no wonder the company folded.
Still, Eleanor continued to chug along, using components from the thirteen batches, experimenting with the make-up of Batch 14, and adding or subtracting or changing the ratios of the components. I told her that it was useless to guess, and it would be a million to one that she'd be that lucky - actually, more like a billion to one - that she would hit the right combination. Furthermore, she would need to give the solution to a pregnant woman and see if the newborn child is affected. That's not just impractical but unethical in the extreme. And what if the kids' genetics had to do something with the effect?
The other alternative was to use animal test subjects as human analogs. But since these were analogs, the results were, at best, approximations. And besides, her animal tests haven't shown results as yet.
But she had more experience than I did in this area, given her background as a biochemical specialist in the Kinkaide Institute, so I let her do what she wanted, short of anything illegal or unethical.
I'm afraid the company will be pulling the plug on our project soon though - our bosses won't stand for us wasting time and resources this way any longer.
But until then, I'll continue running my experiments with the samples we get from Danny and Danielle.
Danielle's samples turned out to be completely normal. No new information could be gleaned from her, and nothing came out of any experimentation on her samples. Danielle was in the peak of health, but totally within normal parameters. She just had an optimal metabolism. Yet another dead end.
As for Danny's…
All of his samples had traces of the same chain of molecules I've been interested in since we first discovered the twins whereas Danielle had none. And the chemicals were indeed analogous to pheromones, as I originally concluded all those months ago. I'm surprised that Danny hadn't been buried under a whole gaggle of girls by now. Or boys for that matter - the "pheromones" affected the olfactory senses of both genders.
I tried synthesizing the compound artificially but my concoctions didn't seem to work. I couldn't understand it - my version was totally the same, chemically, but they didn't work at all. I was therefore reduced to working with Danny's samples directly.
I developed a method of concentrating the samples (basically evaporating 70% of the samples' water passively without heating them), and had been doing my own personal… testing with the material. And it had been quite effective, to say the least.
Based on animal tests, I've found that it also had an effect on non-human mammalian olfactory senses, with the effect that, the closer the animal is to the human emotionally, such as that of a pet to its master, the stronger its feelings of loyalty and other similar feelings, although it didn't cross over to... sexually-related emotions. Of course, these are expressed differently from species to species, so it wasn't too easy to identify. The easier to identify, though, were those of the primate and canine species.
I just bet Danny would have the most devoted pet, if he ever had one.
But the testing I did with human volunteers were also very telling. The effects were many, and many were difficult to map, especially since my experiments weren't according to protocol since I had to do it without the company's knowledge. I had no choice: I had reached a dead end, and human testing wasn't allowed, at least not at this stage. So I had to continue on using unwitting volunteers as the main subjects - all without letting them know they were test subjects.
The thing was, I was being affected myself, and the only way I could make sure I wasn't affected was to temporarily deaden my sense of smell using various chemicals I concocted. Not completely, though - just a specific "spectrum" of smells that were beyond what people consiously detect, and only temporarily. And this did the trick.
Over the months, though I wasn't closer to understanding how it worked, I hit upon a formula that was able to reduce the pheromone effects to manageable levels - in essence, they caused it to metabolize or chemically break down more quickly until my chemical was all used up. But then, all one had to do was to apply more.
However, I did discover something else, and decided to tell Danny. So I made an appointment to meet with Danny and Danielle right away.
Mr. and Mrs. Fairchild assumed that something was wrong so they agreed immediately. I told them the reason for my visit was just a regular checkup. The parents were relieved to hear that, but they still decided to schedule my "house call" right away.
And that's why I hopped on a plane "right away," and was now in an Uber driving towards the Fairchild's little town.
My Uber driver let me down right in front of their house and I walked up to their front door as he drove away.
Obviously, I was expected. I didn't even need to ring the bell. Mrs. Fairchild opened the door as I stepped up to it.
"Doctor Roberts!" Mrs. Fairchild said, shook my hand and gave me a welcome hug. Her enthusiastic greeting made me smile. And she was looking as lovely as before.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Fairchild," I said. I glimpsed her husband inside so it was good that I limited things to the handshake and hug. Not that I intended to make any moves on her.
"Good afternoon, doctor," Mr. Fairchild said and shook my hand. "Come on in."
I was ushered in and offered a drink. "Any chance of a beer?" I asked, smiling. "It was a long drive."
Mr. Fairchild grabbed us a couple of cold beers and we chatted while the three of us waited for the twins to get home from school. Mrs. Fairchild assured me they knew about the visit and should be home any minute.
While we waited, we had a nice visit and didn't notice the time.
Eventually, the kids arrived and, after some hugs, the parents excused themselves to allow me to do my checkup properly.
Before stepping out of the Uber earlier, I had used my special smell-numbing formula, so I knew I wouldn't be affected by Danny's "special charms." So I wasn't worried when I started the "checkup."
The twins looked even more closely like each other than before but, truthfully, despite the clothes, Danny looked the more feminine of the two. That was something I wouldn't tell them, of course, and spare him the embarassment, and her the indignation.
"It's been a long time, kids," I said while I set up. "So what's new with you?"
"Oh, nothing much, Doc," Danny said in false humility, "same ole same-old."
Danielle playfully hit him on the shoulder. "Ow!"
"Don't listen to him, Doc. Yeah lots of things have been happening."
"Oh?"
"But nothing you'd be interested in."
"Your mother has been telling me you guys have been busy in music?"
"Oh, yeah…" The two looked at each other, and Danielle abruptly changed the topic. I didn't mind so I just let it ride.
As we visited, I did a thorough checkup of both. These two didn't insist on being alone as I did the checkup. Just like identical twins.
Not having Eleanor around to help made it a little more cumbersome to perform the examinations, but I gamely pushed on. I noticed Danny now wore bras - no wonder, given his… very feminine chest. But his attire disguised them quite effectively.
Both knew that part of their checkups included physical measurements, so neither made a big deal of it. Danny passively let me measure him around the chest, waist, breasts, et cetera, like he was used to it, as did Danielle.
However, he did did insist we go to the bathroom so I could check him out in terms of his… sexual development. I understood. There were limits to openness even between brother and sister.
Danny was a very well-developed young man. Not the biggest according to the textbooks, but he was definitely very well developed. But other than his... generous endowment, he was totally okay.
Danny was beet red from embarassment when we stepped out of the bathroom, but I acted professionally, made nothing of it, and continued with my checkup.
Their parents returned as I was finishing up their medical interviews. I had collected a fair amount of samples from both as well, of course, and this should give me enough material for weeks of testing and whatnot.
"So," Mr. Fairchild said, "how are my kids, Doc?"
"Oh, they're totally fine, Mr. Fairchild," I said. "Totally healthy."
"How about…" he trailed off.
"I'm afraid nothing really has changed with Danny's condition," I said sadly. "But other than that, he is completely healthy. And Danielle is completely healthy as well."
"Well… I guess that's good then."
"Well, Doctor," Mrs. Fairchild said, "I hope you can stay for dinner."
Not having had home-cooking in a long while, I gladly accepted. And over a dinner of Mrs. Fairchild's wonderful version of spaghetti bolognese that the kids called "crunchy spaghetti," homemade French bread, caesar salad, and Irish-style meatballs on the side, I enjoyed myself and got to know more of what Danny and Danielle had been up to ever since I last saw them.
The family seemed reluctant to talk about some things, though, and only talked in generalities. I didn't push and just let them lead the conversation.
On my side, I tried to tell them about what I've been doing myself, telling them that Eleanor and I were trying to break a medical mystery, and trying to piece together enough information that could help us rediscover a formula that could help people. I couldn't be more detailed than that, otherwise Danny would definitely know that I was talking about Batch 14. On second thought, he probably already knew, actually - Danny was a very sharp young man.
I was looking for an opportunity to get to talk to Danny alone, but dinner ended eventually and it was time for me to go.
Even as I made my goodbyes, I was still looking for an opening. But before I could call up an Uber, Mr. Fairchild offered to run me back to the airport, which was right beside Franklin State U in the next town. Maybe a twenty-minutte drive.
"No need to trouble yourself, Mr. Fairchild, but, you know, I'm sure Danny can take me. That way, I can check out his Mustang that I've been hearing so much about."
I looked at Danny and gave him a look.
Danny saw it and picked up on my signal.
"Ummm, yeah, Dad. I can run Doctor Roberts to the airport. No problem. So - you ready, Doc?"
I nodded, gave Danielle and Mrs. Fairchild farewell kisses on the cheek and shook Mr. Fairchild's hand.
"Thank you for a wonderful dinner, and I will send back the results of the tests as soon as possible."
Danny got a jacket and we went to his car. The night was a little nippy so I put on my coat as well.
As soon as we left Danny's little suburbian neighborhood, Danny turned to me.
"So, what's up, Doc?" he said.
"I'm glad you picked up on my signal, Dan," I said. "I needed to tell you something that I'm sure you'd rather your family not hear."
So I started to explain, that, over the months since I started to regularly receive their samples, I noticed a gradual change in his, and said it was undoubtedly because of his being a growing teenager.
"Remember the 'pheromones' we talked about, Danny?" I asked.
"Yes," he said as he drove. "Something's changed?"
"There could be," I said.
I explained that I've been laboring to separate the particular components of his sweat and blood that contained this pheromone, but I couldn't. Danny's samples were completely normal, except for the level of female hormones and other slight anomalies.
Naturally, I concentrated on these differences, but I wasn't making much progress. I suspected it's not any one component but a combination of components that only occured in him. I told him I was basically going through a process of elimination as I broke down the components of his samples, and recombined them. It might take a long time, or I might not be able to find the answers I was looking for at all, but I carried on.
As I was doing my work, I did notice a change in the effects of his so-called pheromones in the subsequent samples they sent.
"How were you even able to test for effects," Danny asked. "Are you telling me you had volunteers?"
I knew Danny was smart.
"Well something like that," I said, glossing over his question. "The point is…"
I explained that the strength of the effects of his pheromones had been growing as time went on, and there might come a time when they become detrimental to both him and to others.
"What do you mean 'detrimental?'" he asked.
"Imagine how it would be if you had a bunch of obsessed, infatuated girls after you all the time," I said. "Imagine how they'd react to other girls who were as equally obsessed. Imagine how these girls would fight over you, and how they might not want to be out of your sight. Imagine how these obsessed girls would be if they couldn't be around you every second of every day."
Danny grew white as a sheet as he thought that through.
"But you're saying I'm not yet at that point?" he asked.
"I don't think so, but I need to do more tests."
He was silent for a while. I picked up on this, and a thought occurred to me.
"Have you been having encounters with these kinds of people?" I asked. "Unstable people? People not behaving normally?"
"Well… not exactly," he said, dodging me. "So the effect is basically like the people are, ummm, 'over-infatuated,' I guess?"
"Mostly," I said. "Actually, it's more akin to an addiction. We keep on calling it a pheromone. But it's really not. Its effects are like a pheromone, but who can say what will happen to those affected, especially at the levels that I'm expecting to see soon."
"Any guesses, at least?"
"Well… conceivably, extreme irritability, aggression, extreme changes in behavior to those exposed to it. These are all the usual effects of addiction. But these are all guesses, like I said."
He looked at me. "Addiction…" he murmured. He looked like what I said hit something.
"You're acting like you've already encountered…" I said.
"No!" he said. "Well… I'm not sure."
"Well, as I said, the strength of your so-called hormones is growing. But eventually, it should level off, maybe even taper down. But - "
"But, in the meantime, the people around me will grow more and more homicidal?"
"Well, I wouldn't use that word…"
"Oh, God…"
"I may have a solution." I reached into my shirt's breast pocket, took out a small, folded piece of paper and handed it to Danny.
"What is it?" he said, and unfolded it.
"I suggest you read that later instead, so we don't hit anyone with your car," I laughed. "Or I can tell you what's on it."
Though he looked like he really wanted to read it, he nodded and slipped it into his pocket.
"That's basically a list of several common kitchen and bathroom products, plus instructions how to mix them up properly and how to apply the resulting concoction."
"How to apply…"
"It's basically something you apply to the hollows of your neck, your armpits, your wrists and your groin, and what it will do is basically - I guess 'dilute' is the best word to use - basically dilute the effect of your pheromones."
"But you said my pheromones are changing and becoming stronger. Does that mean I have to put more and more of this stuff?"
"The, ah, ratios of some of the liquids need to be changed regularly to insure its efficacy. It's all in the instructions. But even without this, the people who're regularly exposed to your pheromones will likely develop a sort of immunity or resistance. Its effects on them will probably not go away completely, but constant exposure will mean they won't be as affected as others. Sort of like people developing a resistance to certain antibiotics."
Danny drove on in silence.
"What are you thinking," I inquired.
He sighed. "I guess I'm just sad. I thought we had a handle on my situation already. But it turns out that we didn't."
"Hopefully, with this new solution, you'll be back in control."
"I hope so… Doc? Can I tell you something?"
"Of course, Danny. Anything. And you can be sure I won't share it with anyone. Doctor-patient confidentiality and all that."
And then Danny started telling me about an amazing story - a story about a little boy that grew up to look like his sister, and became the most popular female radio disk jockey in town and, on top of it all, to be a lead singer for a popular girl band.
And though we had already reached the airport and pulled up to the curb near my boarding gate, he continued his story. I asked him if he knew a nice place nearby that served coffee. Maybe we could have some coffee and talk some more.
We ended up in a little greasy spoon a few blocks away, and I listened some more while we sipped coffee, and Danny had several slices of pie.
I knew I was here just to give Danny the background about his condition and the formula for my little concoction, and maybe he'll be able to continue with his life without worrying about love-crazed girls trying to kill him. But now, I found myself listening to a high school kid telling me about his extraordinary life.
The results of the little experiments that I've been doing were indeterminate - no completely definitive or quantifiable results since I couldn't do as much experimenting as I needed because I didn't have the authority nor the resources to do it properly. But little Danny's experiences were proof positive of all of my assumptions.
His play-acting as a girl DJ and a girl rock-star was incredible to hear - that he could convince so many people that he was a girl. And, apparently, he was even able to convince people on TV. I think I'm gonna want to see that show. And, if they stream it, maybe I can listen to his Saturday morning radio programs, too.
Having examined him and knowing his physiology, I knew it was totally possible. As for his voice, according to him, an operation he had when he was a kid probably had something to do with it. Actually, I vaguely remember that from his medical history. He may be right, but I bet his condition had at least a little to do with it, too - that maybe his condition interacted with the physical changes resulting from his operation.
Actually, his psychiatrist, Dr. Jessup, had told me some of it, but I never did get the full picture - what with patient-doctor confidentiality and all - she wasn't inclined to share much even if both of us were working with the same teen, since she probably assumed Danny's problem wasn't physiologically based. So I didn't really have much information about it until now.
Damn. This will change the scope of my experimentation. Again.
I was also interested in his friends, his bandmates, his family, his classmates in school and the people he works with at the radio station as well, and how they were affected. From what Danny said, it seemed that his friends and family weren't too affected. At the beginning, when he was just starting to get his breasts, he said his family and friends were acting a little too "friendly and clingy" as he put it. But over time, things seemed to have calmed down. However, there were some exceptions - some kids at school, a couple of guards at the office, and the new deejays in the station. Danny said they weren't that problematic because he didn't interface with them all that much, anyway, but it troubled him enough that he told me about them.
However, the latest trouble he was having with Janet, one of his bandmates, was the one that worried him the most.
Danny said the girl was very argumentative at times and then overly conciliatory and sweet in others. Danny didn't like how it was affecting her relationship with him and his friends.
And then the events just before the concert show happened. I listened with growing alarm.
"Danny, maybe you should tell the police," I said.
He was reluctant, though, I suppose because he was worried about his being found out.
For me, though I wasn't a psychiatrist like Dr. Jessup, it sounded very familiar - it was like some teenager with an obsession. And obviously, she was obsessed with him. But when he talked about that meeting they had that resulted in her leaving the band, what she did at their concert, and what Danielle and the others said Janet's been doing since, it seemed that her condition was worsening, into somethig like borderline personality disorder - like a teenage version of Fatal Attraction. Accordinng to Danny, she wasn't like this before - she was totally normal before. The natural conclusion was that it was because of the hormones.
"What has she been doing now?" I asked.
It seemed Danny's friends and bandmates have been seeing Janet creeping around and spying on them. They weren't sure, though, but someone from the band - Fallon - had been getting some letters left in her locker. They didn't say anything major - more like "you bitch!" or "I have my eye on you," or "I don't know how you can stand looking at yourself in the morning." Danny said, since Fallon essentially took over Janet's spot in the band, it was obvious to them who wrote the notes.
"No emails or posts in twitter, facebook or other social media?" I asked. "That's unusual."
"No, nothing on social media, but that's not too surprising, actually." Danny explained: "Janet was a little paranoid about being traced," he said, "or spoofed or spammed, so she's rarely on social medial. And she knew my friends and I were fairly Internet savvy so it would be easy for us to trace things back to her, especially since she's such a dweeb about the net. So she just stays off the net."
"Does the school administration and the police know about the letters?"
"Ummm, no," Danny said. "We wouldn't want to make a big deal of it and mess up Janet's life. After all, they weren't really threatening, and we aren't sure it's her..."
"Come on, Danny - you're sure, aren't you?"
Danny reluctantly nodded.
"You are a loyal friend, Danny."
"I'm afraid I'm too loyal for my own good."
He played with the remaining piece of pie on his plate. "Doc," he said, "can I ask you what you think?"
"Think, Danny?"
"What all this means for me, for my family. What will we need to face because of me? I don't want to put those close to me in danger. And all because of my screwy…"
"Stop, Dan. Just stop."
I sighed. "First thing you must realize," I said, "is that this is not your fault. This is just one of those things that families have to face together."
"Really?" he said incredulously.
"Well, you know what I mean. Other families have other things to worry about. This happens to be your family's."
"But, Doc…"
"Dan. Yes, your hormones and everything else has made it difficult. But just look at you - look at what you've done! Dr. Jessup says you're doing great in school. Top Ten in your class, in fact. You are on your way to carving a bright future for yourself. And your mom and dad are so proud of you. And your sister and friends think very highly of you.
"And even with everything fate has saddled you with, you do the best you can for everyone, using it to start promising careers for them and yourself.
"And this new thing - the changing quality of your pheromones - it's not irreversible. Or rather, it's not unmanageable."
I put my hand on his shoulder, and I felt him tremble a bit. Perhaps it was a kind of relief that was coursing through him now. My words seemed to have given rise to some hope. It was time to shore up that hope somehow.
"Do you have that piece of paper I showed you?"
He brought it out.
"Read it, please."
He took it out, read it and looked at me in askance.
"What's this?" he asked.
"They're basically things you can find in the house - acetone, rubbing alcohol, hand sanitizer, liquid hand soap, a ladies perfume, shampoo, and several others."
"With specific brands, too."
"Oh, yes, that's important - the brand. You have to get those specific brands as well as the amounts specified, otherwise the chemicals will be different enough that they won't work: specific brands of liquid soap, detergent, astringent, rubbing alcohol, bleach, two different men's colognes, one specific women's perfume, and several other things.
You're supposed to put them in a bottle in the amounts specified, and shake it vigorously until the color changes until it's transparent, like water. And then you're supposed to put some on the hollows of your neck, your armpits, the inside of your wrists and in your groin."
He was looking at me a little unbelievingly.
"My groin?"
I chuckled. "Yep."
"How about the amounts I should put on?"
"Doesn't matter - it's up to you. A couple of drops, or you slather it on - it doesn't matter. You'll be good for a couple of hours. Afterwards, you have to put on some more."
"And when I do, my pheromones won't affect anyone anymore?"
"Oh, it still will. But it won't reach the levels that will make people go crazy in love with you, or start getting violent, except perhaps for those who've already gone over."
"But you also said that my hormones were changing."
I nodded. "Yes. And this is the way around that. What you do is you get fresh litmus paper, both the blue and red kind. Wipe a piece on your neck or wrist. And then put some drops of the solution. If the paper doesn't change to red or blue, or at least pinkish or bluish, then the solution isn't right anymore. That means your pheromones changed enough that the solution isn't effective anymore."
"Then what…"
"You add a little more of the women's perfume in the list, shake it again and then do another test. If the paper's color doesn't change, then there is either too much or too little of the perfume. So you change the amounts until the color change happens."
He looked at me with hope.
"As I said, Danny, you can manage this new twist to your thing."
"What did you mean when you said people will go crazy in love and get violent?"
"My scans of the people I tested with your, ummm, extracts showed increased electrical activity in the brain, specifically the amygdala, especially the hypothalamus and the ventral tegmentum."
"What're those?"
"The Amygdala are two almond-shaped parts of the brain's lymbic system and are present in most vertebrates. It's the part of the brain that processes emotions. Subjects exposed to your pheromones show an immediate increase in activity in the amygdala, mostly in the left amygdala.
"Also, as exposure continues, the activity concentrates more in the ventral tegmentum."
"Sorry, Doc," Danny said, "but…" He made a gesture with his hand, like a plane just went over his head. "This is all too much like medical gibberish."
"Sorry, Dan. It's like this - the amygdala is responsible for processing emotions in general, and the ventral tegmentum is in charge of emotions like love, and how the person feels pleasure. So, you see the connection?"
Danny looked at me and nodded.
"Eleanor and I also found that more frequent exposure makes the effect last longer. Not necessarily a bad thing, but, in some people, the effect also increases after each exposure. The emotional pleasure is therefore ratcheted up in intensity.
"But, in the newer samples that we've gotten from you, in some people - about one in three hundred - activity seems to have increased in the right amygdala as well. And the right amygdala is more about sadness, fear and anger. See the connection?"
Danny looked a bit shocked as he connected the dots.
"What's the implication of that?" he asked.
"In those that had increased activity in the right amygdala, we found an increase in mood swings, feelings of abandonment, intense and unstable relations with people, impulsive and dangerous behavior, self-harming behavior, anger and lots of other things. And this behavior seems to increase as they get exposed to the newer versions of your pheromones.
"But, like I said, most people aren't affected that way - the effects on the right amygdala don't occur in most people. But in one in three hundred people, exposure to the newer versions of your pheromones trigger these negative effects, and then the cycle of increasing effects start. Needless to say, as soon as this started to happen to our test subjects, I discontinued the experiments with these specific people."
"So people around me become psychopaths?"
I shrugged. "One in three hundred," I corrected. "And these aren't psychopaths, Dan. At best they are troubled people that need help and understanding."
Dan's shoulders slumped. "And I'm the one who makes them that way…"
I had some more bad news, so I pushed on, thinking it best to tell him all of this now instead of stretching out the agony.
"There's more, Dan," I said. "These one-in-three hundred people who we continuously exposed to your pheromones developed a kind of dependency, like an addict, always looking for their next fix. And if they don't get their fix, they experience withdrawal - flu-like symptoms, anxiety, depression, tremors, and mostly a desperate need to get their next fix. But then, they don't really know that their fix is your pheromones. All they know is that they feel better when they get it."
He looked at me, forlorn.
"But, like any addict, if the person is able to avoid exposure for long enough, the symptoms go away.
"Then what about my folks? My friends?"
"Well, you're always around them so they don't experience any withdrawal. But I doubt if they're part of the one-in-three hundred - if they were in the one-in-three hundred group, the symptoms would have shown up long before now. Since they haven't, then they're safe. And because of the constant exposure, they would have developed a tolerance by now, unless they're one of the one-in-three hundred folks, like I said. I am fairly sure anyone who's been regularly dosed with your pheromones won't be affected by them much anymore, just like someone developing a drug tolerance to antibiotics as I said."
"So that means, if people get exposed enough, they'll be okay?"
"Until they become desensitized, you mean."
"When do they become desensitized? How will I know they've been desensitized?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe a couple of weeks to a month of daily exposure should do it."
"Then when overexposed, they would be immune? And my pheromones won't work on them anymore?"
"Sort of," I said. "The left-amygdala effects will remain regardless. The effect on those who've been overexposed are greatly reduced, of course, and there's no extra escalation of the effects. They'll still be affected, but only mildly, and only the left-amygdala effects . As for my concoction, it will stop the effect on the right amygdala. So at least no one goes psycho."
"What about someone who's already gone psycho?" Clearly, he was thinking of his friend Janet. I haven't thought of a scenario like that.
"Well… I suppose if she gets concentrated exposure to your hormones for, say, seventy-two hours straight or thereabouts, she should be immunized from the right-amygdala effects. She'll still have the left-amygdala ones, though, just like anyone, but if there's continuous exposure, the left-amygdala effects should become milder, like with everyone."
"God… How could I even do that for those who're affected? Seventy-two hours..."
"Sorry, Dan," I said. "I had to be honest."
"Not a problem, Doc," he said. "I appreciate it nevertheless."
But, looking at his face, he seemed to have something else on his mind.
"Okay, Dan," I said. "Spit it out."
He took a deep breath and started to tell yet another incredible story.
My jaw literally dropped, and listened with rapt attention. Danny said he couldn't really prove it, and would not have said anything to me if it weren't for the doctor-patient confidentiality, and the fact that he needed advice. What he said to me sounded like one of Eleanor's tall stories about her hometown of Spiral, but I had half a mind to believe this one.
With everything he told me, assuming it was all true, I had to say that nothing fundamental had changed in my point of view, and there was nothing I could add. To that, Danny just nodded. In my mind, though, I couldn't help think how appropriate Danny's… "powers" were. It couldn't be true, could it? Either he was lying or he probably imagined all of it.
But there were people in history that seem to have this kind of... power. For example, Rasputin comes to mind.
Maybe I can ask someone to research this, and look for these people. Oh my god. What was I thinking?
I looked at my watch.
"Ohmigod!" Danny suddenly said as he saw me looking at my watch. "Your flight…"
"It's long gone, Danny," I said. "Don't worry about it. I'll catch a later flight. It's good we were able to spend time talking. I doubt if we could have talked openly like this in front of your family. So it was worth it missing my plane. And there's always another flight, like I said."
"I'm really sorry, Doc…"
I waved it away. "Not a problem, Danny. I'll just book another flight, and I guess I'll stick around the lounge until it gets here."
Danny giggled. "Sorry, Doc. Our little one-horse airport doesn't have any kind of lounge. You have to go to the big one in... oh, wait - There's a waiting room, though…"
"In that case, I guess I can check into a motel and try and book a new flight..."
"There's a motel right beside the airport. I can bring you there?"
"That'll be great. Thanks!"
With my bag, the precious vials of samples from the twins in my doctor's battery powered sample box, and my coat, Danny left me at the curb by the motel.
"Thanks, Doc," he said, and shook my hand. "I really appreciate your help."
"Not a problem, Danny. You're a special kid. Don't loose heart. You're doing well. Just keep on fighting. And give me a call anytime you want. Eleanor and I will be available. And you can always talk to Dr. Jessup, too."
Impulsively, he gave me a hug, and I just realized how good a person Danny really was. He deserves a break. I didn't mind helping him.
And after he stepped back into his car and drove away and I contemplated these thoughts, I had the sneaking suspicion that maybe my nose-numbing formula had stopped working…
to be continued...
Chapter 45 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ. Danny had a lengthy talk with Dr. Roberts, the man who first diagnosed his condition, and it seems the Doc discovered new things about him - alarming things. Wonder how it will go with Danny now. Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. |
Chapter Forty-Five: Not Quite Back To Normal
***** (Tracey) *****
The effect of the KRPQ kick-off couldn't be underestimated. All of our new station's programs were hitting mom's mandated maximum in ads and commercials, which was fifteen minutes per hour, at rates comparable to the prime regions. No limits were really mandated by the government, but mom wanted ours to be a conscientious operation. So mom imposed a reasonable quota. For the lower-rated 1AM to 5AM shows, though, mom was willing to go thirty minutes. And, though we thought that the graveyard shift wouldn't get too many ads, Dennis and Lou's programs were actually exceeding their quotas.
Many advertisers were desperate to advertise on the station, and lobbied my mom to allow more advertising minutes, especially for Danny's Nighthawk show. But mom was adamant to maintain the 15-minute maximum per hour. I thought mom was just being her usual pig-headed self, but it turns out it was a strategy, and it paid off. KRPQ became the radio station with the highest per-minute rate in the region, and that advertising rates for Danny's show being among the country's highest.
As a result, we found our P&L totally in the black - it was, in fact, so far out of the red that, in the new station's first three months, we had such a big revenue surplus that mom joked we could run the rest of the year without any more advertising.
That's an exaggeration, of course, but it seemed that we were doing very well, indeed, and everyone was busting our doors down to advertise with us.
As for our crew - Talia, Harry and Sally found themselves the newest media celebrities. Just in our burg, only, of course, but that might change soon since many stations from the surrounding areas had been inquiring about syndication possibilities for some of our primetime shows, especially the Nighthawk show. As for Dennis and Lou, it seemed that they had uncovered a new commercial demographic - the late-night 65-to-75 demographic - a demographic made up mostly of older single or widowed listeners. It was amazing to discover that this was a very significant and active commercial demographic, and Lou and Dennis seemed to have cornered it.
As for the Nighthawk - her 6AM-10AM Saturday program was the most popular program around, and became mandatory listening for the kids in town, and after the Jackson Residential Building fire, I don't think it was possible for our ratings to go any higher, unless we discover a population of tweens and teens living in caves. And after Val's "Mission Impossible," we weren't worried about the Nighthawk's real identity being discovered anymore, which allowed Danny and the station to just continue with business with no fear. Mom, of course, wanted the Nighthawk to have other programs, but Danny and Danielle weren't too keen on it. Mom didn't push, of course, and just said she'd be open to the idea if Danny or Danielle ever thought it was something they wanted to do.
As for the band, their status had been cemented further.
Hardcore fans had been able to track down all of the members of the band, and security had become problematic. To help the band out, Betsy had prevailed on her parents to provide security for the guys. Her folks didn't mind since it just meant reassigning a few of their people. Betsy herself already had security, courtesy of her folks, but the other five were assigned three security people each, in alternating eight-hour shifts - all-in-all fifteen full-time security people were now dedicated to protecting the band - what it amounted to was each had a full-time bodyguard around them .
Most of the kids in school eventually came to recognize the bodyguards, even though they were shuffled around from time to time, or were sometimes replaced after a week's duty. Standard practice for bodyguard-protection, I eventually found out.
The bodyguard that should have gone to Danny went to Danielle, of course, since, to the world at large, the singer known as "Dannie Fairchild" was actually Danielle Loiuse Fairchild, while Daniel Lewis Fairchild was just her nerdy brother.
But in keeping with "the plan," and unbeknownst to Danielle's bodyguards, when Danielle was in Mario's doing their show, or when she was practicing with the band in Mongo's garage, they were actually guarding Danny in disguise. (This didn't last long, however, and the guards would eventually discover the truth, but Betsy said they could be trusted not to tell anyone, not even Betsy's folks and Walter.)
The upshot of it was that Daniel was left alone and without bodyguards most of the time. Which was just fine to everyone, especially Danny.
But then, Danny had to have his own security, too, since he was, after all, the lynchpin to the whole KRPQ operation. However, so as not to make it suspicious, Mrs. Piper hired the security for Danny, and it was made up of three specially-briefed guards especially picked because they looked like kids close to our age, and were required to remain inconspicuous at all times.
As for the band's regular gigs at Mario's, that still continued except that Friday night dining there was now a by-reservation affair, with appropriate cover fees and menu and drink prices. The band didn't like that, but what could they do.
Also, the guys actually started having trouble getting to their gigs, but Joanne's and Dale's vans - the band's de-facto transportation, flanked by their bodyguards' cars providing the much-needed interference, were able to manage.
The schoolkids had quickly adjusted to the celebrities in their midst, as did most people in town. Sure, the half-life for being a celebrity was fairly longer in little towns like ours (but not by much), but in a month, the band became just another fixture of regular teen life. More or less. And, so long as there weren't new stuff happening, most kids just left the band alone. In fact, after a month, we were all thinking that the bodyguards were unnecessary.
What was troubling was that we kept on seeing Janet around. Though she wasn't really making herself known to us, we couldn't help but notice that she was always around.
Today, for example, as Danny and I had our first post-progam brunch in the building's lounge with Danielle and the girls, we found Janet sitting at a corner table.
During the week, the building's lounge served the managers and executives in the building, but on weekends, the lounge was opened up to the public, otherwise the concessionaires would have just closed up for the weekend since the building was practically deserted.
I suggested that the lounge could be our new Saturday brunch place after Danny's morning radio program. With the new popularity of the band, the station and Robin, we'd been having a difficult time finding a place to eat without being pestered by fans and other hangers-on trying to ingratiate themselves into our little group. So this out-of-the-way place was ideal.
This wouldn't last, of course - sooner or later, the kids will find out about this place... But while they haven't yet, we can get a little privacy.
We settled down to a nice brunch. Mel and the others thanked me for the nice meal since it was on my mom's tab today. And though the choices available weren't as many as what they usually had during the week, they were still pretty okay.
As usual, Danielle had a big breakfast - three gourmet breakfast burritos, a cesar salad, a couple of virgin mimosas, a milanese mac & cheese, a big mug of coffee, and an apple. Danny, in a Danny-Danielle version of sibling rivalry, came over with a stack of whole-grain buttermilk pancakes, a couple of spinach and ham and egg mini quiches, a couple of country ham French toasts, a big tumbler of ice-choked orange juice, a steaming mug of hot chocolate and a banana.
Danielle was dressed as Danny - we were on the way to the band's weekly practice, after all, and there might be some fans there. Hence, the disguise. Joanne looked at Danielle's champagne glass with a raised eyebrow. The champagne glass that her virgin mimosa came in didn't go with the outfit - it was like a grungy boy trying to look all refined. But who cares, right?
Of course, Danny himself was in his Robin-the-Nighthawk persona. No one would probably see him, but since we just came from doing our Nighthawk program, per "The Plan," Danny did the show in full Robin regalia.
Danny wore a sexy, fitted girl's leather jacket over a super-tight white middie tee, slim-fit jean-jeggings, gray suede buckled ankle boots and her extra-long shiny, brunette wig. Somehow, the tough-but-sexy image went well with the mountain of food on her tray.
"And what do the judges say?" Joanne asked, and Nikki, June, Drew, Mel, Betsy and Joane herself cheered and started clapping. June and Drew raised a couple of napkins with the number ten written on them, like judges at an ice-skating competition.
"Whooo!" Joanne cheered. "We have a winner! Robin by a nose!"
"Huzzah!" Betsy cheered and giggled.
"What winner?" Danielle asked.
"Of the one with the biggest tray of food!" Joanne laughed.
"That's mean," Danny said.
"Gimme one of your pancakes, then, Robin," I said.
"Get your own pancake, you mooch!" she answered predictably, and we all laughed.
"How about you, Dannie," I said. "Gimme your apple."
"Get your own, you mooch!" she said.
"Yep," Joanne said, "that proves it - they're related." And everyone laughed.
Danielle and Danny looked at us, in offended shock, but after a beat, they stuck their tongues out at each other. We all laughed, relieved they weren't hurt by our joking.
Because it was a Saturday, centralized air-conditioning was off in the building, so Danny doffed her leather jacket leaving her clad only in her white tee and jeggings, settled down and sat between Nikki and Danielle. She wore a pair of suspenders - just as accents to her outfit, because her tight jeggings didn't need suspenders. The suspenders did bring attention to her boobies, though. We all got quiet as we looked at her sexy sexitude, but she was clearly oblivious to our reactions and just got busy with the important work of eating. After a beat, the rest of us resumed chatting away about everything and nothing.
A few minutes into the meal, Mel seemed to have noticed something.
"Hey," she whispered conspiratorially. "Pssst… Hey, guys!"
"Why are we whispering," Joanne whispered back, in a repeat of an old running joke.
"I'm serious, guys!" Mel continued, still whispering. "The girl sitting alone in the corner - it's Janet."
We all looked, and it was indeed Janet. She had her head down trying to hide her face, and eating a bowl of soup.
Danny looked over. "Janet…"
"She's always hanging around," Mel said. "It's creepy. She should just come over and stop all this spying and creeping around. Call the cops, Danny!"
Instead, Danny stood up and went over to her.
"For God's sake, Janet," she said.
Janet looked up at Danny and, after a moment, started sobbing.
"Janet…"
She suddenly stood up and ran out of the lounge.
"Janet!"
***** (Tracey) *****
After brunch, and after a futile search of the floor for Janet, we all went to the elevator and pressed the button for the KRPQ office's floor, where Danny switched to an outfit Danielle brought with her. So Danny went from tough-as-nails-sexy-Robin to Dannie-the-glamorous-singer. I grinned. This will never get old.
We were all getting ready to go to Mongo's house for the band's usual Saturday rehearsal when mom called me on my cel - it turned out she needed to meet with Danny, Danielle and me.
"But, mom," I said, "it's band practice today, and they can't afford to miss it again."
"Well, all right," she said. "Would it be okay if I just meet with you and Danielle at least?"
"Hold on," I said, and told the others.
Dan and Danielle agreed, so while Dan and the others left for Mongo's, Danielle and I would go to my place in my PT Cruiser. Thank goodness Joanne brought her mom's minivan. I doubt they'd all fit in Danny's Mustang.
I gave Danny the bag that now had his Robin stuff, and they left for Mongo's.
When Danielle and I got to my place, I unlocked the door and stepped in right away, ushering Danielle into our condo. Danny's bodyguard unobtrusively stayed in the hallway. (The guy knew it was Danielle, but, per instructions, he continued shadowing "Danny" since the real Danny was now being guarded by Danielle's security.)
"Mom!" I called, "we're here!"
She came out and gave Danielle and I kisses on the cheek.
"I'm so pleased that you came over right away, my dears," she said. "I'm sorry to disrupt your day. It's just that someone has come over that really needed to talk with you. Come with me to the living room."
They walked over and saw what looked like a little girl sitting in the living room.
But when she turned towards us, we recognized her. It was little Katie Hargraves.
"Ms Hargraves," I exclaimed in complete surprise. "What are you doing here?"
She stood up to her full four feet six inches, and went to us, her hand outstretched.
"Good morning, Ms Piper," she said in her sweet little-girl sort of voice, and shook my hand. "And this must be Daniel Fairchild. Good morning." They shook hands as well.
"Good morning, Ms Hargraves," Danielle said in her version of Danny's voice (since Danny's natural voice was quite girlie, Danielle had it easy imitating him). "Is this something about the band or the Evolution contest?"
"Yes. Both, actually."
"Sit down, everyone," mom said, "I'll get us some coffee."
Danielle and I sat in the couch in the sunken section of the living room, and Katie Hargraves sat across from us. We looked at her in some fascination - she looked like a stone-cold fox, but was so tiny: her feet wouldn't even touch the floor.
Katie looked at us with a subtle little smile. We realized we were staring and looked away in embarassment.
"That's okay," Katie said, smiling. "I don't mind. People are naturally curious."
"I'm sorry, Ms Hargraves," I said. "We know all about the…"
"It's all right," she said, "and please call me Katie."
"Thank you. I'm Tracey and this is Dan."
"So is anything wrong, Katie?" Danielle asked.
"Everything's going well, thank you, Dan," she said. "Rockrgrrl production is keeping steady and sales are up."
"Good to hear," Danielle responded.
"So!" mom came back with a tray. "Coffee, anyone?"
As we got busy serving ourselves coffee, Katie continued.
"I'm sorry for bothering you on a Saturday," Katie said, "but I've finally gotten word on Danielle's question… Pardon me, but Danielle's actually the one in the band?"
Danielle nervously cleared her throat. "Ummm, yes, she is."
"Then who have we been negotiating with?" Katie asked.
"That was actually me," Danielle said, a bit nervously. "I'm actually the one managing the band as well as Robin Tibbles, the radio announcer everyone knows as the Nighthawk." (The family name, "Tibbles," was selected by mom - I don't know where she got it, but Danny didn't mind being a "Tibbles." So Robin was now officially "Robin Tibbles.")
"I hope you don't mind me asking, but how old are you, anyway, Dan?" Katie asked.
"My, ummm, sister and I are both sixteen, turning seventeen this year."
"Ahh, I see. But if you're not even eighteen…"
"Yes, that's right - we aren't able to sign contracts and such. My position as the manager of Unlimited Bandwidth and Robin Tibbles is an unofficial position. I mostly advise, arrange things and help negotiate, so the 'manager' thing is appropriate. But I don't really get a salary or anything like that: I do this as a favor to my sister and my friend Robin - they want me to represent them and be their advocate: they don't do anything without checking with me.
"As to the legality of things, many in the band are over eighteen already, so they can basically sign their own contracts. Except for Betsy Haley and my sister, everyone's contracts are their own. For Betsy and Dannie, any contract-type documents are co-signed by our parents, and all of their contracts are within the legal requirements for minors. As for Fallon, she and her folks had her emancipated when she turned sixteen, so she signs her own contracts."
Mom nodded at that. "I can vouch for all that, Ms Hargraves," she said.
Katie nodded. "You seem to have thought this through," she said. "We actually knew most of that. Except for that thing with Fallon. But I'm confused - why were we led to believe that you were actually Danielle Fairchild?"
Mom, Danielle and I looked at each other. Time for our story to kick in.
"Well, actually, it started out as sort of a goof," Danielle-as-Danny explained. "My, ahhh, sister didn't want to be identified with the band. I guess out of some misguided idea of modesty, she didn't want to sing as her. To reinforce that, I play-acted as her sometimes, and that's how you got to know me as 'Danielle.'"
"But as time went on," I said, "it became more and more complicated to continue with it when people discovered the truth - that Dannie was actually Danielle. Not much of a secret, really - I mean, she wasn't fooling anyone."
"But we in Rockrgrrl had her signed up as…"
I shook my head. "She signed herself as 'Dannie' - no pronouns - and all of the paperwork was properly signed by our folks. So legally speaking, everything was in order, and all of us has agreed we're supporting that."
Mom shrugged. "Yes - paperwork-wise, all totally and literally legal, I assure you," she said.
"You are okay with all this?"
Mom shrugged. "Actually, not completely. But when the kids explained it, I sort of understood. And I had my people check everything as to their legality. Everything checked out. There was no misrepresentation, both legally and otherwise. Any confusion as to Danielle's real identity was not their fault, legally speaking."
Katie looked at mom. "Well… if you're allowing this, and you say there are no legal issues, then I guess we'll accept it, as well. We'll still do some due diligence, and have our lawyers do their own vetting."
We nodded. Danielle-as-Danny and I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Was that the reason for your visit, Ms Hargraves? I mean, Katie…"
"Well, not really. The reason I'm here is because we've finally gotten some feedback from our lawyers regarding Unlimited Bandwidth's status in the Evolution Concert contest, and their continuing eligibility."
Danielle and I took a deep breath. Here it comes!
"Well," Katie said, "our lawyers are fine with the situation, and we feel we haven't been remiss in any of our responsibilities to our contestants. The agreements you and your folks signed were all totally satisfactory. But with what you brought up, certain, ummm, concerns have been highlighted. And we've come to certain major policy decisions."
"Yes?" mom asked.
"First, though the concert is for amateurs, their amateur status upon entering the contest is the only main consideration. If they're not amateurs anymore after their regionals - it will not be an issue. After all, it would be unfair for our contestants to put their musical careers on hold.
"But given the rationale for the selection of the participants, the rule that a band must be at least fifty percent female must be for the duration of the contest, and as a compromise to the amateur status thing, they can't have any music recording contracts with any organization or company - only limited performing contracts will be allowed.
"And, lastly, since the point of the concerts was to promote our company, until the last Evolution concert, the contestants, to retain eligibility, can't do anything to put the company in a bad light, nor have any professional association or relationship with any of our competitors."
We all stopped to think that through.
"Competitors?" Danielle asked.
"Other companies that make or sell musical equipment, or are running similar contests or events."
"How about 'bad light?' What do you mean by that?"
"Oh, you know - the usual: no gambling, no drinking, no risque photos in the tabloids…"
We nodded at that. Of course...
"So, you're okay with this?" Katie asked after a minute or so.
"I guess," Danielle said.
"Good. We've added all that to our press statements and materials, and have sent out a memo to the finalists. You guys should get your copies of the memos soon via registered snailmail."
"So, with all this, what about UB? Are they okay?"
"UB?"
I grinned. "That's what we call the band."
She smiled at me. "I like that." She turned to Danielle. "Well, Dan," she said, "to answer your question, our legal people had to rush these determinations given your band's decision to push on with Mrs. Piper's concert."
"Katie - please call me Melody," my mom said.
Katie nodded her thanks."… Melody's concert… Mother wasn't too happy with your band, actually, Dan, since they've made things complicated, and she was all set to stick it to them, no offense, and kick them out of the contest. But, after watching Melody's show, she had a change of heart. She said that they were very talented, and had a very deft way of connecting with their fans that could really help the Evolution concerts, especially Danielle. It would be a shame, she said, if we were to lose UB, so mother and I made sure that no one would be able to use their participation in Melody's show to challenge their eligibility in the contest."
Danielle and I hugged each other in relief.
"That's so, so wonderful, Katie," mom said. "Tracey and I were so worried that we had put their status in jeopardy. We had even arranged it that they wouldn't be paid for their participation so their status as an amateur band wouldn't change."
"Oh! We didn't know! You didn't need to do that…"
Mom turned to me. "Tracey, given this information, let's draw up papers so we'll be able to pay the kids the original fees we intended to give."
"I don't know, mom. That'll complicate the papers we've already had them sign. I'm going to have to take them all back and replace them."
Mom nodded. "You're right. That's a lot of work. Okay, let's make it more simple - just call them bonuses, that, because the show did so well, we're giving them these bonuses, and let's type up a boilerplate conforme for the parents that need them, to sign."
I nodded. "Okay, mom."
"Pardon me, Mrs. Piper," Katie said.
"Please, Katie - Melody."
"Of course. I was wondering, Melody, what's Tracey's official position in your company?"
"Well, officially, Tracey is the producer and director of our early Saturday morning Nighthawk program, which is our most successful program, and she's deputy for station operations. I assure you, my companies are all compliant with child labor laws, and her position, title and responsibilities are in compliance."
"Good! But those are pretty heavy responsibilities."
Mom nodded. "Tracey has a good head on her shoulders, and I trust her implicitly. And I make sure she has enough time for schoolwork and gets all the rest she needs. I'm very proud of her."
I felt teary-eyed hearing that come from my mom. She pulled me close and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
"That's excellent, then!" Katie exclaimed. "Because one of the things mother asked me to do was to ask you about the Nighthawk program."
"Oh?" mom asked. "What do you think of our program? Do you ever catch it where you are?"
Well, actually, we don't really get it back home, but I have staff who's from here, and he's been asking his folks to record them for him. He gives copies to me - you should consider streaming it, by the way. I like it. It's actually one of my favorite radio shows."
I couldn't stop myself and clapped. I realized that I just did that, and I couldn't stop myself from blushing.
"As you see, Katie," mom chuckled, "Tracey's pretty proud of the program."
"And she should be," Katie smiled. "In fact, Rockrgrrl would like to send you a proposal to sponsor the entire show."
Mom and I looked each other, ecstatic.
"We'll pick up all the advertising spots for the show, and buy up whatever contracts you already have, and we'd like to call the program the Rockrgrrl Nighthawk Show, and start converting it to a national program."
I looked pretty happy with that. Mom, too. But when I looked at Danielle…
Katie also saw her expression.
"Dan?" she asked. "You don't look too enthusiastic."
Danielle shrugged. "I'm not too confident with that…"
"What do you mean?"
"Mrs. P?" Danielle looked to mom. "What do you think?"
She shrugged. "I can't say. It's your and Robin's program, Dan."
Danielle turned to Katie. "Well, I think Robin won't go for that. She'll probably think that it'll make it sound that she's sold out. No offense, of course…"
Katie waved that away. "Not at all, Dan. No offense taken. Please go on."
"I'm sure you can see my point, Katie… I'll still ask her if you want, but knowing her, I'm pretty sure she won't agree."
"What if we don't get all the spots? What if we allow other sponsors?"
"I guess that would help, but, to be frank, Katie, it's the name…. 'The Rockrgrrl Nighthawk show...' you know?"
"Ahhh…"
Danielle shrugged. "Sorry, Katie."
She reached out and held Danielle's hand. "No worries, Dan. I completely understand. I'll talk to mother and see what we can do. It could be something like 'The Nighthawk Show, sponsored by Rockrgrrl...'"
Mom deftly changed topics and the discussion changed to something lighter. "We'll figure something out," she said. "How about some more coffee?"
An hour or so later, little Katie took her leave. Two very big men in suits that reminded me of Walter, Betsy's butler, met her outside our door. Danielle's bodyguard was there as well, but, after a signal from Danielle, he backed off.
"Oh! Before I go…" She signaled one of the men and whispered something. The guy handed her a couple of envelopes, and she came back in and handed one to Danielle. "Can you make sure you give those to the band and your backup singers? They're vouchers that you can use in any Rockrgrrl and PIMA store. PIMA's our top-brand Spanish music store - you know: acoustic guitars, spanish guitars and such. I know there are no branches here in your town, but we're considering putting some up. But I'm sure you can find one. And I have a few extra vouchers here…"
"Would you have five more?" I said, and blushed.
Katie giggled. "Sure!" She checked the last remaining envelope. "There are ten more here, so you make sure everyone gets one, okay?"
"Thanks so much, Katie."
She waved that away and handed me the extra vouchers. "It's nothing, honey. Anyway, I'll talk things over with mother and will contact you guys by tonight or tomorrow."
She waved goodbye again, and left.
"Pretty classy lady," Danielle said.
"I never realized how short she was…" I said, and turned back to mom and Danielle to discuss things over some more.
***** (Mongo) *****
Some of the guys started trickling into my garage at about one PM or so, but it took a while for everyone to get in. With all the fans that surrounded the house, that's not surprising. My mama didn't come out anymore because of the crowds, so she brought in the cooler with our usual drinks earlier, as well as several grocery bags of chips.
Since the show, the news that we had these weekly practice sessions had somehow spread, and though we've only had a handful of them since the show, people started coming to see if they can watch our practice sessions. They were mostly keeping their distance for now, but it was just a matter of time.
Having established a routine already, the bodyguards got together and organized a kind of cordon around my house with yellow rope and used their cars to block people, so the "fans" couldn't get close much. Per their "bodyguard SOP," they also informed the police, and they sent a couple of police cars and officers to keep the road open to traffic, and their conspicuous presence helped to keep people away. Just in the nick of time, too, since the size of the crowd had been growing.
Since Dale and Fallon weren't in yet, Danny, Nikki, Betsy, June and Drew, took the time to go into the house and say hi to mama. I really appreciated that. Mama, as well.
Mel and Joanne stayed behind to help me and the guys set up. That wasn't an unusual thing - all of us would usually use the time to help set up June's keyboards, my drum set, the speakers and wires, and mama's folding chairs until everyone was ready.
Morgan and Jerry started opening the garage windows to get rid of the stuffiness while Mike swept away the week's accumulation of dirt and dust. Jerry had to unlock the padlocks that mama and I installed - some folks try to jimmy the doors and windows of the garage at night, so I put some locks on the doors and windows of the house and garage.
The others had the same problem at their houses, too, actually, even at Morgan's and the others' who weren't really part of the band. Maybe we all needed some security cameras or something. Betsy's house was fully protected already, and Danny's dad had them signed up with a security company, but the rest of our houses didn't have anything like that.
"Ahhh, the perils of popularity," Mike said while he helped open the windows, which merited the usual shot in the head.
Any more talk had to wait, though, when Dale and Fallon finally arrived.
After a quick setup, we started our rehearsals.
It didn't go as smoothly as we hoped it would since everyone outside started singing along and bopping to our beat. And, though we asked nicely for them to allow us to practice in peace, and to be more considerate of our neighbors, it didn't do much.
After the second song that we couldn't get straight, Danny waved to us.
"Stop! Guys, stop!"
The song slowly petered out, all of us a little pissed. From the outside, we heard everyone go "awww!" in disappointment.
"This is just not working, guys," Danny said in barely suppressed frustration.
"Yeah, dude," Dale said. "The afternoon's shot."
"So, what'll we do?"" June asked.
After a minute or so, Fallon strummed her guitar.
"Screw it," Fallon said.
"Fallon?" Danny said.
"I said, screw it, Danny," she replied. "We can't practice under these conditions."
"So what do we do?" June said.
Fallon looked back at us, waggled her eyebrows and grinned.
After some talk, we got set. Mike pressed the garage switch and the garage doors slowly rumbled upwards. The kids outside held their breath, and when it was fully up, the kids all cheered.
As we planned, June started playing the opening chords to Van Halen's "Jump."
And the people outside went crazy.
***** (Danny) *****
After three songs, we wound down things.
"Thanks, everyone!" I said. "That's it for today. This'll be the the last of our garage practice sessions, unfortunately. Thank you for coming!"
The guys and I went to the cordoned-off area and high-fived and shook hands with our fans. Some of the kids there were people we knew, or at least recognized, from school. The Glee Club kids weren't there, though - not too surprising 'coz Fallon and I see them at least once a week at the Glee Club meetings, and they probably didn't really feel the need to see more of us. Oh, well.
Glee Club days were special, though, since we get to have lunch together in the cafeteria and an after-school thing at the mall with the gang. A few times, June, Mongo, Dale and Tracey came over, which made us complete. And with twenty-five kids all together, it was better to reserve a place. Not a problem with Tracey's mom's connections at the mall. I was looking forward to the next Glee Club Day, actually.
to be continued...
Chapter 46 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ. The famous Ms Katie Hargraves of Rockrgrrl paid Mrs. P a call, and she told her that the band's eligibility was secure. Wow! Katie Hargraves really was that short! Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. BTW, watch out for cameos in this one - there's a bunch of em! |
Chapter Forty-Six: Road Trip
***** (Danny) *****
As we shook hands et cetera with the kids that came over to watch our garage practice, we also accommodated those who proffered pens and pieces of paper, and signed autographs. Actual autographs! Cool. Eventually, the audience started to thin out, a lot of them disappointed to learn that this was the last of our band practice sessions. With the new prices and reservation fees at Mario's, most of the kids couldn't afford to watch us there anymore. So, for most of them, it meant that our garage practice sessions was the only way they could see us play. Gotta find a solution for that.
These things were sidelined for a bit since Danielle, disguised as me, and Tracey arrived.
"What kept you guys?" I said, and gave them hugs.
"Guess who we just had a meeting with," Danielle said, while I gave her a sisterly kiss on the cheek.
"Duh! Mrs. Piper, of course."
"No, no! Not just Mrs. P! Guess who else?"
I shrugged. "I won't even try."
"Dan!" Tracey said, and made a shushing motion. Apparently, it was a secret. And we were outside surrounded by people.
I was about to instinctively reply, so it was a good thing Danielle beat me to responding, and therefore kept our disguise intact: "Right, Trace," Danielle, as "Dan," responded. She led us all in the garage and closed the doors.
It wasn't a totally soundproof structure, to be sure, but at least it gave us enough privacy that no one would be able to overhear.
While we were packing stuff away, putting away Mrs. Kaufman's folding chairs, and snacking on Mrs. Kaufman's generic drinks and chips, Danielle explained about the meeting.
Wow.
Once we were done moving all of our equipment and stuff into Dale's van, we sat around the now-empty garage in various stages of pooped, and continued to discuss the new information from Rockrgrrl.
Danielle explained to us again about the new policies for the contest. Anyway, the long and short of it meant we were in the clear - that our status in the Evolution Concert was safe, and, although there were things we couldn't do, it also meant we were free to do other things.
For example, although we couldn't sign up with any recording company, we could do shows, concerts, TV and other things.
It also meant that Mrs. Piper felt safe to release performance fees, although she was calling them "bonuses" instead of salary or whatever, just so we could get them now instead of having to wait.
After things were talked through, Danielle handed out little five hundred dollar vouchers to Rockrgrrl and PIMA, one apiece to everyone. She handed Fallon a bunch of extra ones, saying it was for the Glee Club and for Mrs. Sparks, their adviser. Fallon promised to pass them on.
"PIMA?" Mikey complained. "What the hell is a PIMA?"
"It's a musician's term, doof," Morgan said. "It's also the name of a chain of high-end music stores that sell upbrand musical instruments and equipment, mostly classical Spanish and acoustic guitars, and string instruments."
"Damn. Musical instruments again…" Mike complained.
"Well, it's from Rockrgrrl, after all."
I gave mine to Nikki, of course, and she gave me a big kiss - which, to be honest, was ninety percent of the reason why I gave her my voucher in the first place.
And we all cheered when Tracey started handing out envelopes to everyone - our "bonuses."
In the envelopes, the guys from the band got a memo letter from the "General Manager of KRPQ Radio" and a check for four thousand dollars each. Morgan also got the same memo, but only for a couple of thousand. In the memo line of his check, it said, "for services rendered as musical director." Danielle also got a letter and two thousand dollars, too, but the letter referred to a "D. Fairchild" instead, and the check was made out to "CASH," with the note in the memo line that said "to D. Fairchild, for marketing services rendered."
I took a peek inside my envelope and, instead of a check, it was a deposit receipt, which showed that ten thousand dollars was deposited in my employee bank account, along with the same memo letter, except I got two - one addressed to "D. Fairchild" and another to "Robin Tibbles." And the receipt was dated two days after the concert. What…
So the ten thousand was a fee for both Dannie and Robin. But even so, even if it's divided into two, the fees would have been five thousand to the band's four. In any case, I thought it prudent not to tell them how much was mine, that I had already been paid whether or not Rockrgrrl confirmed the band's status. I needed to talk to Mrs. P about that.
The others also got memos and checks but only for five hundred dollars each, and made out to "CASH", with a note that said "a small token of appreciation - Melody Piper."
Tracey said that everyone needs to send back copies of their memo letters signed by our folks, except for Mongo, Dale, June and Fallon. They can sign the letters themselves.
"Why are they exempted, Trace," Morgan asked.
"That's coz you guys are still silly little minors, little boy," Dale grinned at him, "and your mommies and daddies need to sign for your allowances, whereas we..."
"Ah, shaddap," Morgan laughed.
Tracey wasn't done yet. She went to Dale and handed him a check for six thousand dollars.
"What's this, Tracey?" he asked. Instead of answering, she handed Dale a handwritten letter on a sheet of memo paper from Mrs. P's desk.
- - - - -
"Hi, everyone," the letter began. "Tracey has told me about your custom of getting a portion out of your income and depositing it in a separate bank account for use in case of a rainy day. That is highly commendable. But since the band wasn't paid as a band, and everyone was paid individually, this may make things a little more complicated than usual. So...
"This amount is equivalent to one sixth of the income everyone's made. Since the amount was an odd number, I rounded it to the nearest thousand. Rounded up, Danielle, so don't give me that look ha-ha-ha!
"This way, you don't have to take out anything from your individual checks. I know this doesn't completely cover what you guys lost, but it's a start to building it back up again.
"Anyway, from Tracey and I, thank you - you made the KRPQ Kick-Off a success, and you more than deserve it.
"With love, Mrs. P."
- - - - -
I looked at my happy and excited friends and wondered what I could do for them. Then I had a thought.
I pulled out my phone and googled the nearest Rockrgrrl and PIMA stores. Oh-oh. I checked Google Maps. It's like a four-hour drive away - maybe three if the traffic was light enough.
Mike peeked over my shoulder.
"What is that," he asked. "A four-hour drive? To where?"
"Guys? I asked "You game for a road trip?"
"What did you have in mind, Danny," Nikki said.
"How do you guys feel about a three- or four-hour drive?" In my mind, memories of our trip to the Evolution Concert contest flashed in my head - with us in my 'stang, Dale's big black van trailing a U-Haul, and Joanne's minivan, and the rollercoaster events of the contest, the trip to Foxtail's and the subsequent trip back (which I barely remembered). I'm sure this little road trip won't be that momentous, but I had hopes.
"Why?" Jerry asked.
"That's where the closest Rockrgrrl and PIMA stores are," I said. "There's actually a PIMA story in DC, which is only a thirty-minute drive away, but there's no Rockrgrrl store there. Still, we can't go there tonight - it's too late already. If we go now, it'll be closed by the time we get there."
"Eh?"
"Our vouchers, Jerry! So we can use our vouchers!"
"Ohhh… I didn't think of that…" Mike hit Jerry on the head for a change. "Ow! Quit it, Mike!"
"Dumb…" Mike said, so Jerry hit him in retaliation. "Ow! Quit it, Jerry!"
"But, Danny," Mel said, smiling while ignoring the two, "a music store?"
"They sell other good stuff, Mel, not just musical stuff."
"I like it," Nikki smiled and snuggled against me. "Sounds like fun. Let's go tomorrow. How about you, guys?"
"I'm game," Betsy smiled. "I've always wanted to check out the stuff they have at PIMA. I hear they have the newest Stentor models." Just as Mike started to ask, Betsy explained. "They're a brand of violin." Jerry cackled so Mike hit him on the head again.
"I like it," Drew echoed. "Maybe they'll have new adapters for your synthesizer, June. How about you, Morgan?"
He didn't say anything and just nodded and grinned. Nowadays, Morgan would just say yes to anything Drew suggested.
Pretty soon, everyone had agreed, even Mongo.
"But, Danny," Mike said, "it's a four-hour drive."
"You can sleep on the way, as always," Jerry said.
A slap-fest ensued, and none of us bothered to stop the two.
"Mel?" Nikki said and gestured to the two guys.
"Ahhh, they're wusses," Mel said, pooh-pooing the fake fight. "Those two do that all the time."
Nikki grinned and, following Mel's example, ignored them."Where is it exactly," Nikki asked me and leaned in to look into my phone. I was momentarily distracted by the feel and smell of her beautiful hair.
But everyone else leaned in to check the map, too. I had to push them all away. "Dammit!"
"Empire City!" Morgan exclaimed. "Woohoo!"
***** (Danny) *****
It seems the actual drive was a big thing after all, since everyone started wondering about how to get there early enough and still have time to look around. Joanne brought up parking, since parking was close to impossible there. Leaving early in the morning was the answer, of course, but that wasn't an easy proposition given our gang.
Predictably, the girls suggested a sleepover, so we can all be ready together, leave early together, and arrive in the city early enough to avoid traffic and allow us to do some shopping and sightseeing. Betsy offered her place for the sleepover, and all the girls started giggling already.
The guys were all for this, too, but their joining the sleepover was shouted down. The idea of a girls-only sleepover was a big disappointment to the guys.
"Girls only, dude," Fallon said, trying not to grin. Later, she would tell me she was very flattered and happy to be included. It would be her first sleepover. Goth girls, even semi-goth girls like her, never got to be invited to sleepovers, much less be inclined to accept invitations to them. She was very pleased to be included, but only because it was our friends.
But an argument ensued. Initially, it was one of those stupid things that we would usually just laugh off, but it seemed that the guys weren't backing off. I tried to mediate but, surprisingly, the guys weren't willing to be waved down.
"But, guys," I said, "this is a sleepover! It's a girl thing!"
"Fine," Dale said. "We can have our own sleepover." He turned to Joanne. "And you chicks can't come. How about that?"
"Fine!" Joanne said.
"Fine!" Dale responded.
"Come on, girls," Joanne said, "let's plan our sleepover." And she started flouncing out.
I found myself standing in between the guys and the girls, trying to keep the peace.
Nikki went to me. "Danny," she whispered, I "don't want to spend the night with the girls. I want to spend time with you!"
"But what can we do?" I whispered back.
"I don't know…" she looked at me, worried.
I thought about it.
"Will you go to the girls' sleepover?" Nikki asked, whispering. In my little world, such a question was actually a reasonable one.
"Hey!" Joanne suddenly said to Nikki and I, "are you guys are coming with us to the…" and then Joanne realized her snafu.
I had to smile a little sadly at that. "… I mean, are you walking us to the minivan, Danny?" she continued lamely.
"What are you saying," Mike said to Joanne. "Danny's going with us to our sleepover! ... I mean, I mean, well, you know what I mean… That right, Dan?"
I leaned back toward Nikki, and whispered. "I have an idea, Nick. Follow my lead, okay?"
Nikki kissed me on my cheek and nodded.
"I don't think so, Mike," I said, and the girls cheered.
"And I'm not going with you guys, either," I said to the girls.
"What!" Joanne exclaimed.
"This is supposed to be a fun trip, Joanne. Why can't it just be about that?"
"Tell 'em, Danny," Dale said.
I turned to Dale. "But I said I'm not going with you guys, either."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Dale, I said I'm not going with you guys to your sleepover, either."
"Danny, it's just so we can leave early and get there without wasting time."
"Yeah, Danny," Joanne said.
"Guys," I said, "if we can't be civil about this, then I don't…"
"Come on, Danny," Morgan said, "don't be a spoilsport."
I shrugged. "We'll go on the trip tomorrow. But I'm not gonna sleep over with either of you guys. Nikki and I aren't choosing sides. We'll drive to the city by ourselves and just meet you there." I looked at Nikki, "Right?"
She nodded and gave me a kiss.
"That's stupid," Morgan said.
I faced Morgan, I used my eyes to gesture towards Nikki, making sure no one but Morgan could see.
"Oh…" Morgan said under his breath.
"Danny…" Mel whined, but Tracey backed me up.
"It's okay, Mel," Tracey said. She seemed to have caught on. "If Danny and Nikki want to go on their own, then they do." She shrugged. "No big, right?"
Mel looked a little disappointed. "I guess…"
"'Kay," I said. "Seeya. I'll text you guys the address where we can meet in the city."
I turned to Mongo, who was sort of watching things outside.
"Coast clear?" I asked.
Mongo nodded.
"Let's go, Nikki," I said, and we both stepped out of Mongo's garage. "See you all tomorrow."
***** (Joanne) *****
A little abashed, we left Mongo's - Mike, Jerry and Morgan going with Dale in his Ford F150, semi-full with guitars and June's equipment, while the seven of us rode in my van.
"Well…" I said, "that was a little bit of a letdown."
"Yeah," Mel said. "So, are we still having a sleepover?"
"Up to you girls, I suppose. Do you still want to?"
"Well…" Drew said, "betcha Danny and Nikki are still gonna have some fun," she giggled. "And since Morgan's not around, I got nothing happening, so why not…"
"In that case, me, too," June said. "Bets?"
She shrugged.
"Oh, come on, girls!" Fallon said. "Why the Gloomy Guses? Aren't sleepovers supposed to be fun?"
"I guess…" I looked at her. "'Gloomy Guses,' huh?" and giggled.
She grinned at at me, and then turned to the others. "So, how about a smile? C'mon." She reached out and pulled the corners of Betsy's lips up into a cartoony grin.
Betsy slapped Fallon's hands away, giggling.
"Quit it, Fallon!" But she continued to giggle. "… silly…"
"So, do we still have a sleepover?"
The consensus ended up being a unanimous yes. As I drove, we made plans. The first thing was that everyone wanted to pass by a bank and cash our checks for a little pocket money. Five hundred bucks wasn't a lot, but even a little bit will help when we check out the shops. Tracey said that the bank in the station's office building was open on a Saturday, and there was more than enough time before they close to encash our checks. "Also, Joanne," she said, "keep the gas receipts - I'm sure I can get them reimbursed."
The checks were a little unusual, but we were told Mrs. P didn't have time to make the usual arrangements, or to withdraw enough money to give us cash instead. In fact, Tracey said Mrs. P just wrote the checks in front of her an hour ago. Otherwise, we would have gotten them sometime near the end of next week instead. So I didn't mind, and I'm sure the others didn't as well.
As we got our checks cashed over the counter, everyone called up their folks to arrange things. Their folks wanted to talk to me or Danielle, to confirm things, and that it was just all girls and so forth.
After the bank, I passed by everyone's house so they could give Mrs. Piper's letter to their folks and to allow everyone to get their stuff, and then we went to Betsy's for the sleepover.
About the sleepover - truth be told, I was a little bit worried about Tracey. She seemed to be a nice enough person, but she was TG, and therefore "she" was actually a "he." Though I wasn't sure about the gender labels. And I didn't know how to feel about it. I'm afraid we had a bit of a small-town point of view about these things. But then again, our town was an actual small town.
Some might also say I was being a bit prejudiced, small-minded, even ignorant. But I'm a small-town girl - literally heehee. But, truly, I didn't really understand it as well as I wanted to or should have. So far, I've been taking my lead in how to relate to Tracey from Danny, as we had all been. But Danny wasn't going to be with us tonight. I had no choice but to just continue dealing with Tracey just like we've been dealing with her.
Truth be told, I felt more comfortable with Fallon, and she's a goth. No offense to goths, of course. It's just that I never knew how to act around one. But then, there weren't any goths who liked hanging with the likes of us. But it wasn't too big of an issue. I guess, with fashionistas like Nikki, Drew and Mel in our group (and I suppose me, too), to others we were probably as bad as the cheerleaders. Even so, I knew more about goths than transsexuals.
Will we be okay with Tracey without Danny to keep an eye on him? I mean her?
I felt small for having such thoughts. How can I be a such a hypocrite? I looked at Tracey seated beside me as she chatted animatedly with the girls at the back. And if you didn't know the truth, Tracey looked and behaved just like any girl. She wasn't as pretty as any of us, though. Sorry for sounding too full of it, but in all humility, our group was one of the best-looking little gangs in school, and Tracey, though not that bad-looking, stood out because of that fact.
I returned my attention to the street. In the rearview mirror, I could see three cars trailing us unobtrusively. The only reason I spotted them was because I knew what to look for. These were the bodyguards assigned to Danielle, Fallon and Betsy. Nowadays, we don't really notice them anymore - they were just a part of everyday life now.
Danny, one of our best friends, was actually a guy, and we've accepted him into our ranks. So how can we discriminate against Tracey? I didn't know enough to understand her situation, though. Yep - this hick was a clueless hick.
But, you know, Tracey was Danny's friend. So, Tracey couldn't be anything but a good person. Sounds so incredibly naïve, huh? Maybe. But I didn't care about that.
And, besides, since she was Danny's friend, then Tracey was my friend, too, regardless. (In the back of my mind, I wondered why that was.)
I listened while Tracey explained to her mom over the phone about the sleepover, the trip to the city, and that she was asking permission. She was so excited.
Tracey handed me her phone since Mrs. P asked to speak with me. She actually asked to talk to Danielle first, but since she was on her phone at that moment, Mrs. P looked for me instead.
Mrs. P didn't try to to confirm the details of our sleepover, and didn't even ask who was going to be there, or if there were going to be guys with us (the usual questions moms ask about sleepovers). Instead, she was more concerned about letting us know that Tracey was a good girl, and there wasn't anything to worry about with her. She was so desperate for her child be accepted.
I couldn't help but feel sympathy for Mrs. Piper. In our little burg, like I said, there weren't really a lot of transgender people, let alone transsexuals, so none of us really knew much about them except the basics. On cable, I occasionally saw an episode of that reality TV show about that transgender teen as she went through her transition. But seeing a few episodes of that show was too shallow a basis for understanding transsexuals.
But Tracey was Danny's friend. So that meant Tracey was my friend, too.
"Oh, we know, Mrs. Piper," I answered. "Tracey's been a total angel. I'm sure everything will be fine." I looked at Tracey and gave her a wink.
"Thank you, my dear," Mrs. P said. "Please do take good care of her, and if there's a problem, any problem at all, call me on this number anytime."
"We will, Mrs. Piper. Thanks!"
"Thank you again, my dear," Mrs. Piper said. "Hope you all have fun on your trip. Say hi to everyone!"
"Sure thing, Mrs. Piper. Bye!"
***** (Betsy) *****
Everyone called their folks to ask permission about the overnight thing and the road trip tomorrow, and after the parental units confirmed the details and checked if there would be any boys at the sleepover, they gave permission.
A few asked to talk to either Danielle or Joanne, though, to confirm the details, and they just accepted the girls' word. I guess the two were considered the "responsible ones."
As for me, mother and father agreed without too much protest and offered the guest rooms for our sleepover (which was great since it saved me from asking). I then called Walter and explained what was going to happen, and if he could let the house security people know. He said he'd take care of it and get the Green Room and the adjoining Blue Room ready (they were the two largest guest rooms in the house).
Joanne brought all of the girls to their houses individually so that they could get changes of clothes for tomorrow, as well as sleepover stuff.
Danielle took time to change her look before going into their house. She changed into the jean jeggings and the boots that Danny wore when he was in Robin mode earlier (we had Danny's bag). Except for Fallon and Tracey, we were used to that by now, but the two just kept quiet even though they couldn't stop their eyes from goggling.
As a final touch, Danielle knotted the tails of the loose boy's shirt she was wearing above her tummy, recombed her hair into her usual sexy style and applied some makeup. So it was Danielle that stepped down from the van instead of Danny.
She was fairly quick and came out with a small overnighter, and we drove away waving to Mr. and Mrs. Fairchild.
Danielle said she had also made excuses for Danny as well, saying he was doing something with the guys, and that they were joining us tomorrow for the road trip. At Danielle's suggestion, I brought out my phone and texted Morgan to give them a heads-up (Danielle was busy sorting out her hair).
The last was to June's dorm at the campus, and then we made our way to the house. June noted that her keyboard was back so that meant the boys had been there already and dropped it off.
So by the time we were on our way to the house, it was already about nine and was already dark out.
After Joanne parked in one of the guests' carports, our security people's cars zoomed past to park by the estate's staff house. I guess they can make an early day of it since they wouldn't be needed until tomorrow. It'll depend on Walter's instructions.
I led everyone to the guest rooms that Walter prepared, and I told them to keep all of their stuff in there, and then to congregate in the main living room when they're ready.
I left them for a while to go to my own room, drop off my violin and other things, change into something fresh and more comfortable - a loose blouse and capri-length leggings - and grab my little Fuji MILC camera. I'm gonna get pictures this time!
When we had gotten back to the living room, the first order of business was dinner - we were all hungry by then. I could have asked the kitchen to prepare something but I decided not to suggest it since everyone had decided on a mess of Chinese food, Indian food, pizza, KFC chicken, burgers and other stuff.
My diet wasn't so much into junk food or takeout, but I guess it's okay to indulge once in a while. The girls were all very careful about eating healthy, but it was a tacit agreement that diets were suspended for things like this.
As soon as the deliveries came, Walter's staff took care of them and brought them over to the living room on wheeled serving carts and trays. He had also taken care of paying for them, and the girls appreciated that.
He had also supplemented them with several bottles of soda, juices and bottled water (nothing alcoholic, of course, but the girls didn't seem too disappointed by that), and then, upon some instructions from me, he and his staff left us alone. I mean, I don't think it would be a real sleepover if there was a butler hanging around. He did borrow Joanne's keys before retiring, though - he was instructed by mother to get her van washed and gassed up.
Danielle asked about my folks, and I said they were away again, so that meant we were on our own. That suited the girls just fine, and we settled down for a good nom.
***** (Betsy) *****
"It's too bad Danny's not here," Mel said and giggled. "Remember her first sleepover with us?"
"Wait," Fallon said, "Danny's had a sleepover with you guys?"
"Yeah!" Drew, Mel and Danielle pulled out their cellphones and showed her pictures from that night.
Fallon and Tracey crowded around us and marvelled at the pictures.
"You're pulling my leg," Fallon said. "That can't be Danny. You sure that's not Danielle?"
"Nope!" Mel said, "That's totally Danny." She pointed at Danielle, who was also in the pictures. She also pointed at Danny's pants, and the bulge of her package, I mean his package, could be seen a bit.
Tracey stared at the pictures. "Danny's so gorgeous!" she said.
Danielle nodded. "She is a total babe," she giggled. "My little brother!"
"That's something I can't believe." Fallon said as she got a paper plate, speared a KFC drumstick with a fork and absolutely drenched it with KFC gravy.
"You know, not that I'm saying you guys are lying, but I saw her changing in the show," she said, "and, sorry, but I have doubts that she's really a guy."
"Oh, no," Joanne said. "Danny's a guy."
"Yeah? Then why do you guys keep on calling him a 'her?'"
"Well, duh!" Joanne showed Fallon a picture of a sleeping Danny in a henley-type pajama snuggled with Nikki and Drew, and June and Mel on either side. "Would you call her a 'him?'"
"Besides," Mel said, "it's not intentional - I guess it's involuntary."
"Exactly," Fallon said, "so maybe she's not really a 'he.' If he looks like a girl, then maybe he is a girl. Walks like a duck, talks like a duck, y'know… I mean, have you ever seen his… seen his…"
"You mean, if we've ever seen him in the 'altogether?'" June giggled.
"Exactly!" Fallon said. "In the altogether!" She thought about the word a little bit, and turned to June. "Now, where in hell did you get that?"
June shrugged. "My mom?"
"Well," Fallon said, turning back to Joanne, "have you?"
"Well, no…" Joanne said, "but the boys did."
"The boys!"
Joanne shrugged. "Morgan, Dale and the others. It's a long story."
"You're changing the subject! Have any of you seen his you-know-whats?"
"I seem to recall we were about to at that sleepover," I said. "She was already in her underwear, but she didn't go all the way. And it was obvious from her underwear that she was... pretty, ummm, well-endowed. But we didn't push beyond that. She was feeling humiliated enough."
"Yeah…" Mel said glumly.
Fallon wondered at that. "So no one's seen?"
"Well, there's me and Nikki," Danielle said.
A mischievous gleam was in her eye. "Oooh! Do tell!"
So Danielle told us some stories. Nothing too detailed, of course, but Fallon was convinced eventually.
"I did see her in a thong, though," Fallon said thoughtfully.
It became absolutely silent.
"You did?" I asked in the silence. "Where?"
"At the show. When she was changing into her Robin outfit."
"And?" Drew said impatiently. "Dammit, girl…"
"I didn't actually see much, actually," Fallon replied. "Like I said, she had a thong. But… I did see a big bulge…"
The girls booed her. "That's nothing!" Drew said. "We've seen her like that lots of times!"
"But… is she, you know… built just like it appears she is?" Fallon gestured to her waist, aping a guy's…
Danielle was nodding sagely.
"Ohmigod!" June said. "Really? I mean from what we've seen, it looked like…"
"Have you really seen her?" Drew asked. "In the 'altogether?'" She giggled.
"We're brother and sister," Danielle said. "Of course, I have."
"I mean, not just when you were kids!" June said. "That doesn't count!"
"Nikki's seen, too, of course," Danielle said.
June and Drew giggled. "That little drama of theirs…" Drew said.
"So transparent…" June agreed. "I don't think they really thought we fell for it."
"Well," I said, "I don't think they really meant for us to fall for it. It was just an excuse for them to get together, and to not let their folks know."
I looked at Drew. "Anything wrong, Drew?" I asked.
She looked a little startled. "Huh! Oh, no, Betsy. I'm fine. I was just thinking of Morgan and the guys… Wonder what they're doing now?"
"Oooh!" Joanne went. "Drew's missing Morgan!" Everyone tittered, and Joanne got a throwpillow in the face.
***** (Morgan) *****
I sat up front in Dale's van, with Dale at the wheel, and Mike and Jerry in the back. Mongo stayed back at his house, so it was left to us to bring all of the equipment to the guys' houses. The guitars were not a big deal but June's keyboard and other stuff were at least a two-man job. I suggested to go to June's first.
"Okay. How about a drink after?" Dale said. "There's a little place in the campus called The Juke Joint…"
"At the junior college?"
"No, in Franklin campus, in the next town. How about it?"
I looked at the rear-view and saw Mike and Jerry look at each other. Our little gang wasn't really a drinking kind of gang, but far be it for us to wuss out.
"Sure," I said, and tried to sound casual about it. "But after we drop off the stuff."
I also spotted a car trailing us. It was the bodyguard assigned to Dale. Nothing to worry about.
The first place we went to was to June's apartment. June didn't live at her folks' anymore but had an apartment near the junior college - something her folks didn't like much. We were already known in the building so we didn't have much trouble and we let ourselves into June's tiny apartment with the key June gave me.
We set up June's keyboard in the same spot where we got it, and left. Next was to Fallon's to drop off her guitar. Knowing how much she didn't trust anyone to handle her guitar, I was careful with it when we dropped it off.
Her parents seemed nice and normal enough - something we really didn't expect given Fallon's goth-like style. They walked me over to a little room or apartment attached to the side of the house via a separate entrance.
Mrs. Walsh explained that this was the best arrangement given that Fallon wanted to be on her own. As the executors of her trust, her folks thought this was the best compromise - she gets to live on her own in a way, but it allowed them to be nearby, literally just a door away.
"Trust?" I asked.
"Yes," Mr. Walsh said. "Fallon inherited most of my sister's estate when she died - my sister was quite rich. Fallon was my her favorite, and since my sister didn't have any kids, Fallon inherited most of her estate. We're the court-appointed trustees until Fallon turns eighteen."
I stepped into her apartment. It wasn't as messy as I imagined it would be, but it was far from neat. Still, it wasn't bad. No goth posters, at least, but the color pallet was mostly black and white - mostly black.
I put her guitar on the guitar stand by the closet door and turned to leave.
"So. You're a friend of Fallon's?" Mrs. Walsh asked.
"Ummm, yes, ma'am. I work with the band that Fallon's a part of."
"Oh! That's good. We saw that TV show about a month ago. She was good. Ummm, the band was good too." She giggled at her little snafu, and I laughed with her.
"Fallon told us she's staying over at someone's place tonight?"
"I think it's a sleepover over at Betsy's. Ummm, that's Betsy Haley, the violinist from the band?"
"Oh?"
"Betsy's also our class president. Her folks are the Haley's? They own several real estate and housing developments."
"Ahh!" Mr. Walsh said. "I think I know them. They own that new row of houses on Cloverlane."
"Yeah, I think so," I replied.
"Fallon rarely tells us anything anymore. We were a little bit surprised that she bothered telling us about tonight."
"Does that bother you?"
"Well, it does, but what can we do? She petitioned to be emancipated on her sixteenth birthday and she threatened to run away if we didn't allow it. Legally, she doesn't have to answer to us anymore, and can actually leave anytime she wants. Except for the trust fund. So we try not to push much. We might not see her again if we do…"
"Oh." Seems that it wasn't too peaceful in Casa Walsh. I didn't want to pry, though, since this didn't sound like any of my business.
"Are Betsy and Fallon…" Mrs. Walsh asked timidly. Seems they were aware of Fallon's sexual preferences.
"Oh, no, no,no!" I chuckled. "They're just friends! And other girls will be there, too. It's a sleepover, Mrs. Walsh, you know?" I raised a hand, pre-empting her. "And, no, it's all girls."
"Oh." Fallon's folks sighed in relief. "But, you know she's…"
"Yes, we know that, but I think the girls aren't in danger or vice versa." I grinned. "There are seven of them, so…"
"Seven?"
"Yes."
"That's very surprising. Fallon has always been a bit of a loner. It's good to know she has friends now."
I nodded. "Have to go now," I said. "The guys are outside waiting for me…"
"It was a pleasure to meet you Morgan," Mr. Walsh said, and shook my hand.
"It's good to know our Fallon finally has some nice people around her now," Mrs. Walsh said. "We've been so worried about her…"
"My dear," Mr. Walsh said, "we shouldn't bother the boy." He shook my hand again. "It was good to meet one of Fallon's friends. Come by again. Bring your friends."
"Pleasure to meet you, too, Mr. Walsh, Mrs. Walsh."
I walked out to their driveway and got into Dale's van.
"Everything okay?" he said as he pulled away from the curb. "Where to next? Danny's?" Dale waved to his security guy through his window, and the guy flashed his lights to let us know he saw Dale.
"Those poor people," I said. "It's like they haven't seen Fallon in a year. Did you know that she has her own place?"
"What do you mean," Jerry asked from the back seat.
"She has her own apartment. I mean, she has her own room separate from the house. With her own entrance and everything. It's like she's living separately, but in the same house."
"That's unusual," Dale said.
I told them what her folks told me.
"That's a lot of complex shit," Mike said.
"So, where to, now?" Dale said, changing the subject.
"Well, I was thinking of going to the bank," Jerry said. "Cash my check? I could use some money for tomorrow."
"Good thinking," I said. "Tracey said the bank at their building's open 'til five on a Saturday, and she made arrangements so that we can cash our checks there today if we wanted."
"'Kay," Dale said. "Bank and then Danny's to drop off his guitars."
"And then drinks!" Mike said.
"How can I forget," Dale laughed
***** (Morgan) *****
My cellphone beeped and I checked. "Betsy texted to say that Danielle told her folks Danny's gonna be with us tonight and tomorrow," I said.
Dale nodded. "Good to know. We might have said something wrong without the warning."
In a few short minutes, we were at Danny's.
Mike and Jerry helped me to bring down Danny's guitars - his old 3/4-size fake Strat, his jury-rigged bass, his candy-pink Rockrgrrl electric, his white-top Rockrgrrl bass and his mint-green Rockrgrrl acoustic, a mess of wires and his portable Marshall amplifier.
We saw Danny's bag in his room so we knew Danielle's just been there. Mike and Jerry put the guitars on the stands against the wall beside Danny's bed, and I put the amplifier and wires in their usual place beside his desk. I noted this plain, shiny black box, about two feet by two feet by one. It was the first time I noticed it. I wondered what it was. Maybe another more portable amplifier? But we wanted to get out of the house right away to avoid any questions from his folks so I didn't bother with it anymore and followed the others down.
We were lucky enough not to have to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Fairchild except for a quick hi and hello, and were able to escape back into Dale's van without having to answer awkward questions.
We then drove away from the Fairchild's place. "So, what next?"
"I thought we're getting a drink?" Mike said.
I laughed. "Of course. How could I forget." So I made for Franklin State U, which was just at the border between our town and the next. Just a fifteen minute drive via the high street.
Eventually, we turned into University Drive, a long four-lane road lined on both sides with tall trees, their banches hanging overhead and making the drive almost like a tunnel. It would have been very picturesque except that the gathering darkness made it feel a bit foreboding.
We passed a cute girl wearing a leather jacket and riding a fancy Aprilia RS50 Rossi moped going the other way. Too bad - she turned off from University Drive right away, and onto a street called Elm Street. She wasn't wearing her helmet and the little light left glinted off highlights in her hair, making it hard to tell if she were a blonde or a brunette. "Markie!" I faintly heard a girl call out to her, and in the rearview, I saw a pair of tall girls waving at her.
"Hey, Kris, hey, Nancy," the girl, Markie, replied.
But we were past Elm Street very quickly, and I couldn't see or hear anymore. Too bad - all three were lookers, too. Ah, damn.
We passed by a big granite structure that looked somewhat like the Library of Congress in DC, although the Thomas Jefferson Building was two thirds larger.
"That's the college library," Dale said.
I nodded. The imposing building was impressive, but in the half-light, it made me feel a bit... I don't know... apprehensive. In front of the library's steps, there was a beautiful pale blonde girl standing in the otherwise-deserted forecourt, and looking at us as we passed. She was in what looked like a black cocktail dress, and she had a black shawl or scarf covering her shoulders. I shivered. For some reason, she scared me.
Dale turned onto what turned out to be Partridge Road, and then pulled up to a cozy little place with a sign outside that said it was "The Juke Joint." Dale's bodyguard also pulled up and parked a few slots away.
"No one seems to be around," Jerry said, as we stepped down.
"It's Saturday," Dale said. "Most people are probably still recovering from Friday night partying." He waved to his bodyguard.
Mike nodded sagely at Dale's statement, as if he knew that already. The poser. I chuckled and had to stop myself from reflexively hitting him on the head.
As we were walking to the door, two gorgeous blondes - a tall one and a shorter one with big hooters - stepped out. The tall one was holding the shorter one by the wrist.
"Dammit, Bia, we have to go!" she said.
"But I don't wanna go yet, Cassie!" the shorter one said.
They got into an SUV and we couldn't hear them arguing anymore. "Wow, this campus is sure full of hot babes," I thought.
Stepping into the place, it was hard not to notice that it was pretty empty. So we decided to get one of the tables away from the main door and near the picture window that faced into the road. Through it, we could just see Dale's van, and his security guy standing outside, innocuously smoking and leaning against his car.
A tall waitress came over.
"So you found your own seats fine, I see," she smiled. "Hi, I'm Jenna What can I get you?"
"Can you get us four beers?" Dale said.
She gave Dale a look.
"Dude," she said, "I don't even need to card you, you know."
We looked at each other.
"Cokes all around, then," I said. "And nachos."
Jerry and Mike looked at me sourly. I shrugged.
"Hey," Dale said. "You're the singer, right? I recognize you. You and a bunch of other girls sing here."
She grinned. "Hey, thanks for recognizing! You a fan?"
"A little bit. I have some classes over in the Arts and Sciences building. Pre-req classes. I caught some of your songs. You sing good."
"Yeah?" She grinned. "Thanks!" She wrote our order on her pad. "Too bad the KRPQ guys didn't think so."
Oh-oh… "What do you mean?" I asked. I had a bad feeling about this. I think I know what she was referring to.
"Someone from KRPQ - you know, the new radio station with that Nighthawk babe on Saturday mornings? Anyway, someone from that station called and said they might want us to sing for their station launch show - the one from last month?"
She sighed. "Turned out they picked another group. The band they picked was okay. But I think me and my girls could have done better."
Mike and Jerry started laughing.
Jenna faced them, hands on hips. "What's so funny?"
Mike pointed at Dale and continued to laugh.
"What!"
"Ummm," I said, "you know that band you were talking about? Guess who their bass player is?"
She looked at Dale. "You're kidding…"
"Nope," I grinned.
"No! Shut up… No…"
Dale shrugged. "I'm afraid so."
"Listen, I'm sorry for that crack I made. I think you guys are incredible! Really! … Ummm, excuse me, I'll get your drinks and your nachos right away."
She went to the back and disappeared behind some swinging doors.
We all chuckled. Dale was still looking to the back, apparently waiting for the girl.
"Hmmm… I think you like that girl," Mike said, grinning. "She's no Danny, you know, but…"
"Shaddap!" Dale growled.
"Here you go, guys," Jenna said and brought our cokes, a big plate of nachos, and four glasses full of ice. "Sorry, we don't provide straws. Restaurant policy."
"Hey, Jenna?" Dale said.
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry that the TV gig fell through. The boss really did want us in the show, but there was a problem, so she wanted to look for possible replacement performers, just in case."
"But the problem was fixed, I take it."
"Yes. I'm sorry."
She leaned down and gave Dale a kiss. "It's all right," she said. "It was no one's fault. We were told that it was just a possibility. We shouldn't have gotten our expectations up."
"Ummm… you sing here all the time?" Dale changed the topic, blushing furiously.
"I sing here Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, from eight to ten PM. The rest of the time, I'm one one of the weeknight waitresses."
"Sounds like weeknights are pretty jam-packed for you."
She shrugged. "I'm studying full-time here, and my student loans barely cover my tuition. I need the work."
"How about your friends?"
"Oh, they don't sing with me regularly. They only do it for fun. We sing together only a few times - maybe once or twice a month. They're all students here as well. Scarlett and Vivienne are in pre-med, and MacKenzie is studying literature and art. Mac's also my roommate. Hold on…"
She reached into a pocket of her skort and brought out her phone.
"Take a look at this." She showed us a picture of her and three other girls wearing costumes.
"I know that costume!" Jerry said. "You're wearing plugsuits from that anime, Neon Genesis!"
Jenna giggled. "Yep!"
"Cosplay?"
"We were hired to sing in that cosplay event for MTV81 last year. Naturally, we had to be in costume, too."
We passed the phone around. Jenna looked pretty hot in her tight, red costume. Her friends were pretty hot as well.
"I know that anime con!" Jerry said. "My family even had tickets for it. But a storm shut everything down and we couldn't go."
"I know - we were trapped there for a couple of days coz of the weather. There were no planes. Eventually, we were able to get home via bus. Even so, it was a lot of fun."
At that time, another bunch of kids came in. "Customers," she said. "Excuse me. Just let me know if you want something else."
"'Kay," Dale said. "Seeya later." Which caused another round of teasing.
After we teased Dale a bit more, we enjoyed the big plate of nachos that Jenna brought. Dale was right - they had pretty good nachos here.
It was great to be hanging with Dale. We got to know him more, and in that way, we got to know Mongo, June and Janet as well, and I suppose, he got to know our own gang in the same way. Despite the many months since we first met each other and became friends, we haven't really hung around each other without Danny. And, you know what? He's okay. If I had an older brother, I think I'd like him to be like Dale.
But he IS a couple of years older, and he's already in college. … well, junior college, anyway… I don't know if our worlds are exactly the same anymore. I thought it'd be like how it was with June - with June, she fit our little group to a 'T' despite the age difference. Maybe it's a girl thing, or maybe her friendship with Drew made the difference. Or maybe it's June herself that made the difference.
As for Mongo, he wasn't really around much and was a mystery to most of us.
In any case, it was great to have Dale around.
We talked about all sorts of stuff while we enjoyed the nachos.
"Hey," Dale said, "I've always wanted to ask - about the concert..."
"Yeah?" I replied.
"You know that part where Danielle subbed for Danny?"
"Yeah?"
"I was wondering - why didn't Danielle just lip sync her songs instead of actually singing? Seems to me a big risk given Danielle doesn't really sing."
"Why didn't you bring it up?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. I guesss I was just following Danny's lead, just like everyone."
"Have you heard of Milli Vanilli?"
"Ummm... is it a new ice cream flavor?"
I laughed. "No! it's a singing duo. They had a string of hits in the late eighties, but, people found out that they were lip syncing their songs 'coz the music they were lip-syncing to at a concert started to skip."
"Wow. That's embarassing."
"Yeah. And someone came forward and said they were actually the ones who wrote and sang all their songs. And Milli Vanilli never came out with another song again. They even had to return a Grammy that they won. It was a big scandal then."
"Ahhh."
"Well... Ah! Do you remember that scandal with with Marriah Carey during the Dick Clark new year's show a couple of years ago?"
"When she was caught lip syncing and ad libbing to a couple of her songs? Yeah! God, that was real bad."
"Well, Dan and I thought that, yeah, it was a risk to have Danielle sing, but it was a bigger risk if she flubs the lip syncing, and it would be the end for UB and all of us. Imagine the scandal! Imagine the kind or scrutiny that we'd get! But! If Danielle just sang badly, then it's just bad singing. You know? And when Danny took over, she'd probably be able to help gloss that over."
Dale thought about it. Slowly, he nodded. "You guys were right."
"Besides, we drilled Danielle to death, you know, and we picked the easiest songs for her. And she can do a crazy-good Stevie Nicks, too. You know?"
Dale nodded. "She did crazy-good, actually. But, hey, just in case we need to do that again, maybe we can look for more songs for Danielle. Expand her repertoire."
I nodded, thinking that over. "You know, I'm scared that you might be right. We need to talk that over with the twins soon."
'Course, we didn't talk shop the whole night. We didn't have any major show lined up.
From time to time, Dale would order something from Jenna or just chat her up. After a while, he had ordered most of the items in the Juke Joint's appetizer menu, and our table was getting crowded. Clearly, he was attracted to the girl. I never thought someone like Jenna was Dale's type. She was attractive enough but a lot of drop-dead gorgeous girls have been throwing themselves at the band. I would have thought Dale would have gone for one of those.
I don't know, maybe it's that she was closer to Dale's age instead of the teeny-boppers that have been UB's main demographic.
For her part, Jenna didn't turn his advances down like you'd expect, and chatted with us (but mostly Dale) about the band, about singing and about school. By that time we were now up to a couple of personal-sized pizzas and buffalo wings.
In hindsight, it wasn't surprising. After all, both of them were in bands, had regular gigs, and were taking the same kind of college courses. Jenna was surprised that Dale wasn't studying full-time. Dale explained that he couldn't take a "real" course as well as the required class load given the band's schedule.
"We're trying to establish ourselves," Dale said. "We gave ourselves a year. If things don't change, I guess I'm gonna go for a 'real' school."
"Sounds reasonable," Jenna said. She saw some girls come in and waved them over. "Hey, guys!"
The three came over and gave Jenna hugs.
"Hey, kid," the one in the lead said and gave Jenna another casual hug. She was wearing a hipster kind of outfit - a long-sleeved tartan shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the shirt-tails knotted at her midriff, short-short denims and combat boots. Still, she was extremely cute.
The other two who followed wore very expensive-looking ruffle-shirt dresses and heels similar to each other's. Not only that - these two were identical twins. Very cute identical twins that dressed alike. Among the four, Jenna was the most-plain looking one, but all of them together made for a very attractive group.
"Girls," Jenna said, "I'd like to introduce you to Dale, Morgan, Mike and Jerry. Guys, these are my best friends, the ones I was telling you about. This is MacKenzie, and those are Vivienne and Scarlett. Or Scarlett and Vivienne. It's hard to tell, you know, since they're twins." Jenna giggled.
We could tell Mike was about to give them his standard "what's a girl like you" line and Jerry gave him a hit on the head.
"Don't even try it," Jerry said.
"What?!"
"Dale's the bass player for Unlimited Bandwidth," Jenna explained. "You know that band from that radio thing on TV last month?"
Their eyes went wide at that. Clearly they were impressed, but MacKenzie played it cool.
"Oh, yeah," she goes, practically yawning, and they continued on into the restaurant. Jenna followed and looked back to us shrugging apologetically.
"Hmmm…" I said.
Dale shrugged and we went back to talking. Or rather we tried to. We were more than a little bothered by that. Although we saw from the corner of our eye Jenna having an earnest whispered discussion with her friends as she delivered their drinks to them. It looked like the beginning of an argument.
"Well…" Dale said, clearly feeling a bit awkward. "How about let's blow this popsicle stand?" he quoted.
Dale waved to Jenna and asked for our check, and if she could doggy bag our food. We started bringing out wallets but Dale waved them away saying it was his treat.
Jenna came back with our check and a huge doggy bag, and Dale handed her some bills.
"Guys, I'm real sorry," she said. "Mac can be a bit of a bitch, you know. But that's just her trying to be cool. You shouldn't let it bother you."
"No big, Jenna," Dale said.
"Well, it was great meeting you. I hope you come by again. Bring your friends."
"We will. Maybe we can catch you on the stage some time."
"That'll be cool."
"Well. Seeya." And we all stepped out of the place.
"Now what?" Mike said when we were all in the van. We pulled out, and Dale's bodyguard trailed us.
"I don't know," Dale said. "We can go to my place if you guys want to hang."
"Maybe we can call Mongo?" I said. "He might want to join us."
"Probably not," Dale answered. "You don't know his mom."
"Huh?"
"His mom, Morgan. Ever since his dad died, it's just been the two of them. And Mongo's been very protective of her. He rarely leaves the house now."
"Oh," I said. "Well… no harm in asking, you know."
"I guess." He handed me his phone. "You're welcome to try. Mongo's phone is in my directory."
"Well… Okay." I clicked the directory, scrolled down until I found "Mongo" and dialed his number. I turned the speakerphone on.
"Hello," a female voice answered.
"Oh! Good evening, Mrs. Kaufman"
"Hi, Mrs. M." Jerry and Mike called out, with "M" for Mongo, presumably.
"This is Morgan," I said. "Is, ummm, Julius around?"
"Hi, Morgan! Hi, kids! Good to hear you. You can call him Mongo, though, it's all right," Mrs. Kaufman chuckled. "He's just taking care of some of the last customers in the stationery shop and then closing down for the day."
"Oh. I'll call again later."
"Oh, no need. He should be done in about a minute. So. Julius, I mean 'Mongo,'" she chuckled, "told me you guys are going on a little trip tomorrow?"
"Yes, ma'am. The KRPQ guys gave us some vouchers, so Danny suggested a road trip tomorrow so we can use them."
"That girl," she sighed. "I so like that girl. And her sister, too. So pretty and nice and talented."
"Ummm, we were hoping to see if Mongo wanted to go out with us tonight and have a bite?"
"Oh! Absolutely. Let me get him."
The phone clunked down on the table and she went to fetch him.
"Julius!" we heard her tinnily as she hollered to him. "It's Morgan on the phone!"
"Just closing up, mama!" he called back.
The three of us had to chuckle hearing the two yelling.
"They're asking if you want to go out tonight!" she hollered. "I think you should go!"
"But ma…"
"Honey, I'll be fine! You need to go out and be with your friends. I'll be fine."
We heard a door open and then close. Mongo had obviously entered the room.
They weren't yelling anymore but they were obviously standing over the phone because we could still hear them.
"Ma," we heard Mongo say, "It's okay. Besides, I'll just be a downer for them."
"Nonsense!" she said. "They're your friends, honey. Don't say no."
"But ma…"
"I'll be fine, dear."
"Ma…"
We heard his mom sigh.
"Well," she said, "if you don't want to go out tonight, how about you invite your friends here?"
"We don't have the room, ma."
"Well, how about you use the garage? Ever since we sold your dad's car, it's been empty, except when you and your friends use it for your rehearsals. Good that it gets used. You can bring out the sleeping bags - use your's and your dad's sleeping bags, and we have that inflatable mattress, too. You can plug in dad's little fridge there and maybe even put in the old TV. You can also ask them to stay overnight, and you can start on your road trip from here!"
"Well…"
"Let me tell them."
His mom picked up the phone. "Hello? Are you boys still there?"
"We're still here, Mrs. Kaufman." I answered.
"Well, as usual, Mongo doesn't want to leave me alone in the house. So, how would you boys like hanging out here? And you can sleep over and start your road trip tomorrow from here!"
"Mrs. Kaufman…"
"It's just you boys, right? I won't stand for it if you have the girls with you."
"Oh, no, Mrs. Kaufman! It's just us guys."
"Ah, good! It's settled then. We'll be expecting you boys soon."
"Ummm, we just have to pass by our houses and get some clothes and…"
"Take your time, my dear. No need to bring towels and such, okay? You can have a shower here."
"Yes, ma'am."
"All right. We'll see you soon."
I hung up, and looked at the guys in amazement.
"Wow," I said. "Mongo's mom is like a force of nature."
"Yeah," Dale agreed. "I never knew myself. You know, I've always thought it was his mom that keeps him at home. I guess it's the other way around."
"I can understand it," Mike said. "My cousin used to pal around with us a lot. But when his dad died, he sort of disappeared from our group. I think he felt a little guilty for not being around when his dad died, and he decided to be the one to take care of his mom from then on."
We thought of that a bit. I was surprised by that - we usually never hear Mike being that insightful. We never give him much credit, I'm afraid.
"'K," Dale said. "I'm going to make a quick pass at everyone's houses, and you guys grab a change of clothes, okay? Who's first?"
So we decided to go by who was closest: my house first, then Mike's, then Jerry's and then to Dale's apartment, where he dropped off his bass. We then passed by M&N's Pizza, one of our favorites, and got a couple of our favorite pizzas, and an order of their popular Greek Salad for Mongo's mom, and we went over to Mongo's.
When we got there, the bodyguard assigned to Mongo was there and waved us to the side of the garage, and made us drive over Mongo's yard (he said it was okay with the Kaufmans). With the shoulder-high hedge, Dale's van was fairly camouflaged, especially since the sun had already gone down and Dale's van had a dark blue paint job.
We got out and Dale had a chat with Mongo's bodyguard and his.
"Hey, guys," Dale said, and shook the two bodyguards' hands. "How's it going tonight?"
"Hey, Dale," one of them said. "Seems to be quiet tonight. No one seems to be out here. Anyway, Jim and I will be out here to make sure no one bothers you guys."
"Appreciate it, man. Hey, we got you guys a pizza and some sodas."
"Thanks, kid," the other security guy, Jim, said, "but Mrs. Kaufman has us set up for the night." He held up a six-pack and a cooler full of some nice munchies, I'm sure.
"Well, I'm sure a pizza will go down well with the brews." Dale handed the top pizza box over, and we went on to Mongo's garage.
"Thanks, guys!" the two called out.
I knocked and Mongo opened the garage's side door.
"Hey, guys," Mongo said, and let us in.
"Dude," I said, and we high-fived. "We got some munchies." I held up our huuuge doggy bag, and Jerry brought in the pizza and sodas.
"Nice," Mongo said, got the food and put them on a folding table he'd put in the corner, "but ma also got us some snacks." He pointed to the table on the opposite side, and it had a bunch of McDonald's takeout.
"Your mom didn't have to," I said, knowing how tight money was for them. "Where is she, by the way?"
"She's just inside. I think that's her now."
"Hello, boys," she said, coming over.
"Hi, Mrs. Kaufman," I said, and gave her a hug and a buss on the cheek. "Thanks so much for tonight."
"Oh, it was nothing, Morgan," she said. "Thank you for being such good friends to my Julius. I mean, 'Mongo.'" She giggled.
"We got you something," I said and handed her what we got from M&N.
"Oh! Thank you so much! Well, I got you something as well." She handed us two six-packs of Bud. "I know you boys must have been looking for some of this." She grinned. "But you have a trip tomorrow, so not too many."
She turned on Dale. "Dale, take it easy on the suds, all right? You'll be driving tomorrow."
Dale grinned and nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
"Will the girls be going with you on the trip tomorrow?"
"They'll be making their way there on their own - I think Joanne will be driving them in her van - and we'll be meeting them there."
"Ah, I see." She turned to leave us alone. "Good night then, and if I don't see you tomorrow, I'll just assume you've gone on your way."
But before she stepped back into the house, she turned back.
"I'm so happy that Julius has such good friends, and so talented, too. Especially those twins!"
"You mean June and Drew, Mrs. Kaufman?" Jerry asked.
"Ah, no, my dear," she said. "Those two aren't twins, although they look pretty similar, especially with the…" and she gestured to indicate large breasts. We all laughed.
"No, I'm talking about Dannie and Danielle. Such pretty girls. Though I don't understand what their folks were thinking, giving them almost the same name. And Dannie's such a tomboy. But I'm sure she'll settle down when she finds a boyfriend."
"Oh-oh," I thought. "Has she seen through us?"
"And you've helped our little business, too," she continued. "Since that show last month, we've been getting lots of walk-in customers in our little paper shop. And they all want to meet Julius, too!"
We all went, "oooh!" and Dale playfully elbowed Mongo in the ribs.
Mrs. Kaufman chuckled. "But, you know, more than that, you kids are all good kids. God bless you all, even that new one with the, ummm, unusual dress style..."
I grinned. "You mean Fallon?"
She nodded. "Yes. Fallon. But I haven't seen Janet for a while…"
We looked at each other. "Ummm, I'm afraid…"
"She wigged out," Mike blurted. Jerry elbowed him pretty sharply, and he went, "ooof!"
"Ummm," Dale said, "Janet's been having some personal problems, Mrs. Kaufman. So she's taken some time off from the band. And time off from everyone, too, I guess."
"That's too bad. But, you know, though Janet was mostly all right, I was a bit worried about that one. I know she's your friend, but mothers have a sense about these things. How is she?"
We looked at each other. Mongo answered for us. "Actually, ma, we haven't talked to her in over a month. We're worried, actually."
"That's too bad. I hope she gets herself straightened out soon."
She clapped her hands. "Okay! I'll leave you boys to your sleepover now. Bathroom's the first door after the kitchen, and towels and things are in the cabinet just outside the bathroom. Good night, then."
We said good night to Mongo's mom, and got settled in.
"Mongo?" I asked, "did you tell her about Janet?"
"No, actually," he answered. "I haven't mentioned her ever since she… wigged out. That's all her."
"Your mom's pretty sharp."
"Yep. Scary smart, actually."
And that turned the talk to something other than Janet. And we ended up having a good time chatting, telling jokes and learning about each other. Even the arguments weren't bad since, in the end, we were cool with each other. And even if we only got a couple of hours of sleep before we had to get ready, I had fun.
Some time in the night, I took it upon myself to text Joanne.
"Hey, Joanne" I texted her, "I'm really sorry about tonight. It was a stupid argument. The guys are sorry, too. Please tell the girls. Friends?"
Joanne answered a minute later. "You beat me to it," she said and followed it with a laughing emoji. "I wanted to apologize as well. The girls feel bad, too. Of course - friends forever."
"That's a relief," I replied. "Seeya tomorrow morning, then."
"Empire City!" she texted back. "Whooo!!!"
I laughed and showed the guys our texts.
Our target was to leave by five or six AM so we can get there by nine or ten. Dale and I set our phones' alarms to four-thirty, and I told him that I can spell him if he ever got tired while driving.
I don't know - even if we ended up not going on our road trip, I wouldn't mind: this guys' sleepover was cool.
to be continued...
Chapter 47 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ. So, the famous Katie Hargraves gave the gang a bunch of Rockrgrrl and PIMA vouchers, and everyone thought of going to the nearest branch to use them, but the nearest ones were over three hours away. So they thought of making road trip of it. But since it was late already, they decided to have a sleepover first, and get an early start the following Sunday. Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. (BTW, be warned: this is one of those rare chapters with very explicit sexual content.) |
Chapter Forty-Seven: Empire City
*** Danny ***
We passed by Nikki's house first and she told her folks about the overnight thing. Mrs. Anderson confirmed with Mrs. Haley over the phone, and our story was verified. We were petrified, though, that she might call Danielle, especially since "Danielle" was right in front of her. Thank god she didn't!
Selling them on the trip tomorrow, though, took some doing, but when Nikki showed them her vouchers, they believed us. She explained that it would be the whole gang that would be going, so they relented.
They asked me if I would be joining them. I, in my Danielle disguise, nervously cleared my throat, and, in my best Danielle voice, I said that I was.
Nikki also showed them her check and Mrs. Piper's letter, and Mr. Anderson made the expected comment about it being so small before he signed.
Anyway. Nikki packed an overnighter with just a couple of outfits, some comfortable cute-booties-for-walking, some sleeping essentials and other things, and ran out with "Danielle" in tow. "Bye, Mom! Bye Dad!" she called.
"So, what's next, Nikki," I asked as I pulled into the road. I drove leisurely towards town.
"Maybe we can go to your house and get you some of Danielle's clothes, for our own sleepover?" She giggled.
"That might not be a good idea." I said. "Dale texted earlier that Danielle passed by the house already, and picked up some stuff for their sleepover. And…" I gestured at my current Danielle outfit.
"Oh, no… well, at least she got you cleared already. Your folks think you're staying over at Morgan's?"
"I'm officially 'staying out with the guys.'"
As I drove, I thought about it some more. "How about we start for the trip already, and just go now?"
She giggled at my obvious excitement. "Hold your horses, tiger," she giggled. "We need to make some preparations."
"What preparations?" I asked. I made a u-turn and started to make for the I-95.
"Well, we need to make some reservations, you know. And to do that, I need to top up my card."
"Well, we can pass by a Walmart then. There's a twenty-four hour Walmart on Brook Road. You can top up your Amex card there, and we can even have a bite, and do our reservations and stuff."
"Sounds good." She leaned over and gave me a kiss. "Okay."
I pulled out my phone and dialed my bodyguard's number.
"Hi," I said. "This is Danny, or rather Danielle heheh… Oh, it's you, Tyler. How're you doing? Good. Oh, everything's fine. Listen, We're driving out to the city and staying overnight. Yeah, with the guys. So, if you want to knock off for the night, it's okay. I don't think I'll need you. Oh... Oh, okay. Where will we be staying? I don't know yet, but probably at a Holiday Inn. I'll text you the hotel and room number. Oh! We'll be making a stopover at the Walmart in Brook Road. You know where that is? Good. Okay. See you later, dude."
"Who was that?" Nikki asked.
"That's Tyler, one of my bodyguards." I pointed to my rearview, and we saw his nondescript Toyota. I waved out the window and he blipped his lights.
"He's gonna follow us all the way?" she asked with a bit of worry.
"Don't worry, Nick. We can trust the guy."
"If you say so."
It took us an hour or so to get to Walmart so it was about nine, and the sun had completely gone down. I got a text from Tyler, and apparently he got to Walmart ahead of us. He texted to say that someone else will be taking over and he was passing on the phone.
So, as soon as I pulled up in the parking lot, Tyler honked and took off . He pointed to yet another nondescript Toyota - his replacement, and I waved acknowledgement.
We went into Walmart and it wasn't as bad as I feared it would be. Sure, there were some, ummm, unique individuals doing some late night shopping, but it was mostly okay. The ones I noticed were the more… unusual ones, like this girl who was walking around in a one-piece bikini and high heels as if she was just in a regular dress (I wouldn't have minded if she were pretty and not, like, two hundred pounds overweight, but…), a guy dressed like an Indian from a cowboy movie complete with a headdress and warpaint, someone who was wearing a suit minus the pants (he was wearing shorts so he wasn't picked up for indecency or anything), a guy who reeked of alcohol, a girl who shouted at anyone who got close, and a guy who wasn't talking and was just giggling.
But no one bothered us except for the inevitable curious looks. We were a couple of hotties after all.
The first thing we did was go to the Money Center and top off Nikki's Amex Bluebird card with a couple of thousand. Nikki protested that I didn't need to put that much money in, but I shut her up with a kiss. That got us more attention but I didn't care - any excuse to kiss Nikki, you know.
We then went to the Walmart Snack Bar and ordered a couple of meatball subs and some cokes. Nikki just had a bite and gave the rest of her sandwich to me.
While we ate, I used my phone and popped up the Holiday Inn Express site. While I was doing this, Nikki made some excuses and walked toward the cash registers. I wasn't paying much attention to her, though, since I was concentrating on my phone.
I checked all the Holiday Inn Express hotels near Fifth, and the closest one with available rooms was the one on Sixth. But the only rooms available were singles. The site suggested the one in West 29th and that one had several larger rooms available. I picked the best one they had, and typed in Nikki's name (the name on her Amex debit card, of course: Nicolette Ann Smith instead of Nicolette Anne Anderson). And since she was already in their system, there was no trouble making the reservation.
I then checked if there was a parking level in the building, and there was, so I reserved a slot, as well as a couple more for Dale and Joanne. And since it was a metered parking facility, that means our slots were reserved for a full twenty-four hours per day, which starts from the moment it was reserved and ends when we leave or when our time runs out (I reserved us for two full days, leaving our cars' makes, models, colors and license plate numbers).
After I clicked the last button, the site confirmed the reservations and I screen-capped the confirmation page.
Well, that was easy.
I then went on Yelp and checked for some nice brunch places nearby. I picked a place called The Cookshop, simply because it was open in the morning and the prices weren't too high, called and made a reservation for fourteen. Good thing it closed at eleven so someone was still there to accept our reservation.
Gee. And I thought this would be more difficult.
The next thing I did was to text Dale, Tracey and Joanne the hotel's address and our parking slot numbers, as well as attach a file of the screencap. The city was so notorious for its traffic and lack of parking so this was like a mandatory thing. I also said that we were going to meet for brunch at ten in the restaurant I picked on West 18th, with the reservation under the name of "Nikki Smith."
I then texted my bodyguard and told him the same details. He texted back to let me know he got it, and that was that.
When I looked up from my phone, Nikki was there looking at me and sipping on an iced tea. I was so engrossed, I didn't notice her come back.
"So?" she asked. "Are we set?"
"Totally." I showed her the confirmation page. I noticed a couple of shopping bags. "What're those?"
"Well, you can't go shopping in smelly day-old clothes! So I got you some stuff. Did you know they have Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Donna Karan here? Who'da thunk?"
"But we're going shopping tomorrow…"
"Oh I only got a couple of on-sale outfits and some sleeping stuff. Just enough to tide us over."
Well, that worried me a bit. As usual. But it was too late now.
Anyway, I got the receipts and told myself to top up Nikki's card with the same amount later.
So we left Walmart and went on our way.
***** (Nikki) *****
It was a long drive, but since we were together, it wasn't bad at all. Plus the anticipation was keeping Danny and me hyped up and looking forward to tonight.
The city wasn't that full of cars and all that. But then again, it was almost midnight when we got in.
Parking and checking in wasn't too difficult either. At least there were no awkward moments and rabid fans. Thank god we weren't in the boonies anymore.
The both of us were quiet as we held hands while we rode in the elevator. I kept sneaking looks at him, and he kept smiling when he caught me doing so. We were both consenting individuals, even if not exactly adults. But we came prepared. At least I was. And, us being sixteen, we're not going to be doing anything illegal (though that technicality probably won't make it okay with mom and dad).
It wasn't a secret what Danny and I were about to do - the guys knew all about it, or intuited it, and, after a bit of resistance, the girls texted and asked me if I was sure. I told them I was sure. Besides, we've done it before. We were both over sixteen, so it wouldn't be underage sex, and I was on the pill, too.
We didn't have trouble getting a room - Danny was right to pick the Holiday Inn Express again. Besides the price, at least our previous stay was in their records and no further checks were required. The girl who checked us in looked fairly bored, and she totally didn't recognize Danny. I mean, why would she? Our little TV show wasn't aired here, and the Evolution Concert probably didn't rate much here, unlike in our little town where it was such a big deal.
All that, plus the fact that it was midnight and there weren't too many people in the lobby, I couldn't blame her for looking bored.
Of course, checking in at midnight didn't change our check-out time. We still had to check out by one PM, but that was okay - we were planning on leaving by nine AM anyway.
We were traveling unusually light. Besides my wheelie and our purses, we weren't carrying anything else (I put the stuff I bought for Danny in Walmart inside the wheelie).
I was a bit worried about how we looked. After all, we were in the Big City. But I think we passed muster. The outfit and look that I picked, and Danny's Dannie-the-Singer outfit were pretty okay, and no one we passed reacted badly. There was one girl we saw - she was extremely pretty, and was dressed to the nines - smiled at us as she rode the elevator with us. And only after passing several floors did I recognize her - she was the star of this Disney show a few years ago but hasn't been seen much since. That's a shame. I liked her in that show. But regardless, she still looked fabulous, and she smiled at us politely when she saw me looking.
Unfortunately, our floor was on the nineteenth and she was going all the way to the top floor, so we got off before her. Well. Hopefully, we'll see more celebrities tomorrow.
Anyway, when we got to our room, my hands were shaking so much with excitement, I had trouble sliding in our room's card into the door's slot. But when I finally got it open, I pulled Danny through and slammed the door closed.
I pushed him onto the bed, straddled him and started kissing his face all over.
Danny restlessly ran his hands over my sides, and I shivered. The silky material of my dress rubbed against my skin in a way I've never felt before.
I couldn't stop myself anymore - my anticipation of tonight had been building ever since this afternoon. I pulled my shirt-dress over my head and threw it into a corner, leaving me clad only in my bra, panties and heels. I then reached down and tore Danny's borrowed blouse open. You know that cliché when the character in a romance novel tears the woman's top open and the buttons, like bullets, pop and fly away in all directions?
I grabbed him around the waist and pulled him towards me, our breasts mashing against each other. But our bras were in the way.
Impatiently, we attacked each other's bras, and in moments, we were free of them. Savagely, I pressed and rubbed Danny's smooth, soft and oh, so sensuous flesh, and he did the same to me. On my leg, I felt him as I rubbed my leg on his crotch, his erection unmistakable despite the gaff. I giggled and felt around for the snap on his skirt. I undid the snap and pulled the zip down. I then pushed his tight gaff down and he sprang up, in full attention.
Not waiting anymore, I took off my sheer panties and impaled myself on him.
I remembered him from before, but I didn't care. I hissed in combined pain and pleasure as he stretched me to my limits again. I growled, like my pain, a barrier to my being with him, was something I had to beat up or kill, and and I savagely pumped up and down, not allowing my pain to stop me.
"Nikki!" he said, breathlessly. "Protection!"
"I'm on the pill, Danny," I said, panting, and increased my pace. The pain was substantial, but I wouldn't let it stop me, and continued on. My hips trembled like they were on the edge of a cramp, or something momentous, and I continued, willing it to be momentous.
After a minute of my savage attack on his erection, I felt the pain rapidly fade, to be replaced by waves and waves of growing pleasure. I was trying to move so fast, my thighs trembled in what could be a cramp, but I kept at it.
"I'm coming, Danny!" I cried, and my hips started to tremble. On their own, my hips bucked and bucked, and I moaned as my orgasm raced through me, but Danny still hadn't.
For what felt like minutes, my hips bucked and bucked, and my vagina contracted in pulses, but Danny still hadn't cum.
I started to cool down, and scooched up to kiss Danny's face, neck and behind his ear, but he still hadn't. I was prepared to relax on his chest in post-coital bliss, and Danny just held me around the waist, seemingly rested, too, but I felt him. He still filled me, and still stretched me to my limits. So that meant he still hadn't cum.
For whatever reason, I felt that I had cheated Danny somehow, and though my clitoris and vaginal opening was so sensitive, I gritted my teeth and resumed. I felt like I couldn't take this but I pushed through. I couldn't cheat Danny.
I hissed in pain brought on by my oversensitivity, and frustrated anger at my overly-sensitized flesh, and pushed on, and, for some reason, the sensitivity transmuted into an orgasm immediately, and I couldn't stop it. In less than thirty seconds, with no rest, I found myself in the throes of yet another orgasm. My hips bucked again without my conscious control, and my vagina contracted over and over, and for whatever reason, the orgasm kept going.
I've read this sort of thing happening, but I never really thought it was even possible in real life. I found myself cumming over and over again, with mere seconds between orgasms, and my eyes literally rolled up. It was savage and powerful and so intoxicating.
In what must have been my millionth daisy-chained orgasm, I finally felt Danny cum as well. I felt him splash my insides, coating me completely, but it was too much, and it leaked out.
I was totally helpless as I continued to cum, unable to do anything but orgasm, and I felt my thighs covered in his cum.
Eventually, I felt him calm down and the deluge abated. And I felt my unending orgasms start to diminish.
My orgasms became shorter and shorter until they eventually stopped. I collapsed on Danny, totally spent. I couldn't move, though my hips still bucked occasionally and without my control. I felt the fever break, and I took slow deep breaths as I fell into a sated stupor.
It was so incredible and so beautiful, I found myself crying in complete and unbelievable, amazing joy and wonder. Could it be anything like this with anyone else? But I knew in my heart that this could only be possible with Danny.
I hugged Danny around his neck, and inhaled deeply, surrounding myself in his special scent.
Danny held me and whispered in my ear, wondering if he had hurt me. I shook my head no even as I struggled to remain conscious. And when I couldn't stay awake anymore, I faded into a wonderful dream-filled slumber.
***** (Nikki) *****
I woke up in the dark. I didn't recognize where I was, but I felt Danny and I calmed down immediately. Things came back as I remembered what we had done.
Surrounded by his wonderful scent as well as the escapable smell of sex in the air, I smiled in recollection, and stretched in wonderful, indolent relaxation. I was so relaxed and loose. Just call me elastagirl. I felt so wonderful, I wriggled in joy. Giggling, I wrapped myself around Danny. I felt Danny was wearing the sheer teddy I bought for him, and I noticed I was wearing my own ivory babydoll that I brought from home. Clearly, he had put it on me.
I checked and the bedclothes were dry. I also checked myself and I was dry as well. I loved Danny for taking such good care of me. I continued feeling myself, checking myself out. I seemed to be fine, although I seem to be more sensitive now. Actually, maybe sensitive wasn't the word. I seem to be, I guess the word I am thinking of was that I seemed to be primed now, like I was on a hair trigger and ready to explode at any moment. The touch of my own hand got me fired up and I twitched in a little mini-orgasm.
But I looked at Danny, and he was sleeping so deeply, my twitching didn't wake him. His eyelashes lying so beautifully on his cheeks. It was like I was sleeping beside my very own angel. I sighed. I guess I won't wake him, and wait for the morning instead when he's awake and feeling it, too.
I sighed in contentment, gently put my arms around him so I wouldn't wake him, closed my eyes and floated back to dreamland.
***** (Nikki) *****
I woke up again and Danny wasn't beside me anymore. I panicked a bit.
"Danny?" I called.
"I'm here," he answered. In the gloom, I saw him sitting on the chaise lounge facing the picture window. He was wearing the shorty, gauzy robe that came with the teddy.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"I'm okay, Nikki," he said. That voice… it was his regular voice. That voice was something we never hear anymore. In fact, the last time I heard it was before Danny joined the band.
It still sounded somewhat like his regular Danny voice, with the same Danny inflections and tone, but it wasn't Danny. Nor was it Dannie-the-singer: it was in a slightly higher register, as well as with a special, unidentifiable quality that made you want to hug him or something. If you didn't know who was speaking, you'd have thought it was some beautiful girl. It was so smokey-sexy - sexier than even Dannie-the-singer, or Robin-the-DJ, or even Danny himself. At least to me. And I felt sad that he didn't use it often anymore.
I got up and grabbed the thin wrap that went with my babydoll - Danny had draped it over a chair nearby in case I wanted to wear it. I went to Danny thinking he was feeling down or sad or something, but when I got close, he was just sitting and looking at the skyline, looking peaceful and content.
We weren't as high up as the other buildings in the city - we were just on the nineteenth - but by some wonderful serendipity, the surrounding buildings immediately around us were all below our vantage.
"Wow," I said as I snuggled against Danny. The skyline was so pretty, with lots of lights in reds, blues, greens and yellows. Like a christmas tree.
"Pretty," I said.
"Yeah," he said. "It is." His voice sounded so magically, sexily feminine.
I just snuggled under his arm, happy.
"What're you thinking?" I asked.
"Oh, nothing. Just thinking how things have shaped up for us. For me."
"You okay?"
"I'm okay. I guess I'm okay with things. It's been fun at any rate," he chuckled.
"Especially tonight," I said.
"Oh, Absolutely. Speaking of which… are you okay? I was afraid I had hurt you or something."
I giggled. "Danny, I'm okay. I'm more than okay. I loved it! And I want to do it again."
Danny chuckled again. "Maybe not right at this moment? Let's just sit here for now?"
He hugged me and gave me a kiss. "Okay," I sighed in happiness. I draped his arm around me and just stayed there and watched the lights.
And as I was about to drift back to sleep, I was accidentally nudged awake. "My love?" I said sleepily.
"Sorry, honey," he said. "I was reaching for the phone. I was going to order something from room service. Do you want anything?"
I giggled. Danny and his appetite... We asked Mrs. Fairchild about the twin's bottomless appetites once, and she said it wasn't anything to worry about - they'd been checked out by the doctors and she said the two just had a higher-than-normal metabolism. Nothing to worry about - just don't go out with them to dinner unprepared.
"Can you maybe get me something to drink?" I said.
"Okay," Danny said, and called downstairs.
About thirty minutes later, the knock on the door woke me up.
Danny turned up the room's lights, stood up and went to the door. He hesitated a bit, suddenly realizing that he was just wearing a teddy and a gossamer shorty robe. I was looking at him with a grin.
He looked at me and chuckled. "It's nothing these guys haven't seen before," he shrugged. He made a quick adjustment to make sure he wasn't showing anything unusual in his pants, knotted his robe's belt and opened the door.
The bellboy at the door just looked at Danny, mouth open. He didn't move, except for his eyeballs, and just stared at Danny. "Ohmigod!" he murmured.
"So, are you coming in or not?" Danny asked with hands on hips.
"Oh!" he exclaimed. "Sorry…" He pushed a cart into the room.
He parked the cart in the middle of the room and just stared at Danny.
Danny looked at the guy. "Well?"
"Oh, yeah…" He reached into his pocket and brought out a booklet with a receipt.
I was curious about what he ordered. "What did you get, Danny?" I said, and got up to check what was under the cloches.
The guy turned and saw me. "Ohmigod… there's two of them!"
I giggled at that and peeked under the dish covers (Danny said they were sometimes called "cloches"). There were a couple of paper bags with the name "The Meatball Shop" in red emblazoned on them, plus several bottles of mineral water and something called Swamp Pop Soda. I gotta try some of that.
Danny reached out and plucked the pen and little booklet the guy was holding while he looked at the both of us slack-jawed. "Ohmigod," the guy repeated.
Danny signed our receipt, pulled off our copy and tucked the pad and pen in the guy's shirt pocket. Danny had to inadvertently get near the guy to tuck the pen and pad in his pocket, and the guy had an eyeful of Danny's satin-covered boobies.
"Oh, wow!" he said.
Danny growled in impatience and resorted to pushing the guy out the door.
"Wait!" the guy said, finally shaking himself out of whatever trance he was in, but he was too late, and the door slammed in his face.
"Can you believe that guy," Danny said.
"I don't think he was acting, Danny," I said.
"Sure, sure," he scoffed and turned to the cart.
"So, what's this?" I asked. "You ordered take-out?"
"Yeah. The hotel doesn't have room service, apparently, so I had food delivered to the hotel. Anyway, I heard of the place and thought we could order some sandwiches."
"What's this Swamp Pop?"
"It was the only thing on their cocktail menu that could be delivered. Apparently, anything alcoholic can't be delivered door-to-door. Besides, I read about it on the net. It's supposed to be very good."
"I'll have one, then."
I went back to the chaise, and Danny pushed the cart nearer the window. I snuggled into his side and took occasional sips from my Swamp Pop and enjoyed the city lights.
***** (Danny) *****
Nikki was so insatiable this time. Not that I'm complaining. But I couldn't help but think that my newly-discovered "condition" was what was affecting her. After Nikki slept, I sneaked away and tested a bit of Doctor Roberts' magic solution. The litmus paper I brought discolored the way he said it should, so it should be working. So what was it?
Anyway, it didn't matter. At least not tonight. I gently wiped Nikki (and myself) down with a wet washcloth from the bathroom, took off her shoes and the soiled sheets, put her into this babydoll nightie that I found in her bag, replaced the sheet and brought the soiled ones into the bath.
Like before, I rinsed out the sheet. At least I knew what to do now. I wrung out as much of the water from the sheets as I could, and hung the still-damp sheets on the curtain rod.
I could just as well have left it to the hotel to clean up after us, but I guess I was a bit embarrassed. I even thought of bringing our own blankets next time, and had to laugh at how ridiculous that was.
Anyway, I took a quick shower, put on some of Doctor Roberts' solution in the predetermined spots, and looked for something to change into.
I found the bag of clothes Nikki bought in Walmart and fished out a teddy and matching underwear. I sighed resignedly and put them on.
I went to the bed and Nikki was lying there sleeping so sweetly, fresh and clean in her pretty little nightie. I was amazed that she hadn't stirred through the whole operation of cleaning her up and changing the sheets. I guess I tired her out, I thought proudly, and giggled.
I slid under the blanket, snuggled against her and slept.
I found myself waking up at around three and unable to sleep, so I got up.
I looked through the picture window and marveled at the pretty lights. Gosh, I was such a country bumpkin, I thought, but I didn't care. I sat on the chaise, and contemplated the city's pretty lights.
Later on, Nikki joined me and we just laid there for the rest of the night, watching the lights and enjoying a light late-night snack.
***** (Danny) *****
Eventually, though, we stirred ourselves awake when my phone's alarm started beeping.
We didn't exactly get the full eight hours of shuteye recommended, but neither of us were complaining.
We took a shower together, and would have finished quickly if Nikki didn't insist on doing some… rigorous calisthenics. Because of which, we found ourselves behind schedule. At least I didn't need to rinse any more blankets this time, but we did have to shower again.
After drying off and blow-drying our hair, I disguised my application of Dr. Roberts' solution as part of my putting on deodorant and perfume, and then I allowed Nikki to apply makeup on me.
I then got dressed in one of the two outfits Nikki bought for me, first putting on the new underwear she got. The underwear was a strapless T-shirt bra from Fruit of the Loom (I bet Nikki never bought Fruit of the Loom in her life until now - I'm afraid she, Danielle and their friends were clothes snobs) and an abbreviated pair of stretchy, tight, short-short bike shorts from Body Glove. The size was smaller than my standard size so they were pretty snug - that made them ideal for keeping my, ummm, profile hidden. I guess this was Nikki's compromise to my usual gaffs - I doubt if Walmart carried gaffs heehee. I said I could have easily kept on wearing what I was wearing but Nikki made a face and shook her head vehemently.
Nikki then dropped the dress over me. The dress was a pretty nice, kelly-green Lord & Taylor tiered mini halter-dress, and the shoes were a nice pair of three-inch heel slip-on pumps from Calvin Klein. Trust Nikki to find high-end brands in a Walmart. But I spied some white high-top Chuck Taylor sneakers she also got, and I decided to switch to those. Nikki shrugged. She did pick up a pair of sheer, white bobby socks-high stockings, and I slid those on before I put on and laced up the sneakers. Knowing there's going to be a whole lot of walking today, I thought three-inch heels might not be too comfortable.
After Nikki finished getting ready herself, we then packed up and dropped off Nikki's wheelie in my car. We noted that Joanne's van and Dale's F150 were parked on either side of my 'Stang now.
"They're already here," I said.
Making sure I had all my essentials in the little purse Nikki gave me, we put Nikki's wheelie in the boot, and we went down to the front desk to check out. Everything went smoothly and there were no problems unlike before like in the Holiday Inn back home. I did make sure that our parking spaces would be available to us the full forty-eight hours, and the girl said it would be, so it was no trouble for us to leave our cars there. But when I noticed her staring at me in dawning recognition, I quickly said thanks, pulled Nikki along and stepped out of the hotel.
The temperature was a little nippy, especially in my halter dress, so I slipped on the casual full-sleeve soft-denim jacket Nikki got me, and Nikki slipped into a shirred solid-colored pink blazer.
We walked in the bright morning sun and made our way to The Cookshop. We wouldn't have known where to go but for Google. Thank god for Waze and Google Maps.
Like provincials, we gawked at all the hustle and bustle yet tried not to appear that we were - that we belonged. At least we didn't appear to be dressed out of step with everyone.
Pretty soon, we were at The Cookshop, and found the gang all there.
"Hey, Danny!" Mike called. "Over here!"
We sat and were regaled with stories from their sleepovers. There were no big revelations or any unusual happenings, but it was fun listening to everyone trying to talk over everyone else. At least Fallon and Tracey (especially Tracey - I was worried about her given her... condition. But since they could accept me, I thought it was a fair gamble and allowed Tracey to sink or swim) were getting along fine with everyone. And, knowing what goes on in the girls' sleepovers, I'm fairly sure these two didn't have any major secrets to hide anymore. I was so pleased for my two newest friends that I couldn't stop myself from giving them kisses. I was a little uneasy though because Fallon and Tracey were looking at me so intensely. By the same token, I probably don't have any secrets from these two anymore. Oh, well. Hope whatever pictures the girls showed them weren't too embarrassing.
I saw our different bodyguards spread out in the restaurant, enjoying a bit of brunch themselves - they were being as unobtrusive as possible. My own bodyguard turned out to be Kelly this morning - a girl that looked like she was our age despite her being fifteen years older than me.
I nodded at her and she nodded back, and continued with her breakfast.
After breakfast, we decided to go to the Rockrgrrl store later, and broke up into two groups to do some sightseeing and window-shopping first, the guys towards Madison Square and the girls towards Fifth Avenue. I wanted to go with the guys but the girls wouldn't take no for an answer.
- - - - -
We were walking by this fancy (and expensive-looking) department store when Danielle had a brainstorm.
"Guys," Danielle said, "maybe we can get some stuff for the band? Seems to me, it's a little difficult to be outfitting the band at the last minute everytime, and it's a little difficult to find nice looking clothes and things back home. Since we're here, maybe we can get some stuff, and maybe get some for us, too."
"But we don't have any new gigs coming up, Danielle," Fallon said, "much less KRPQ events."
"You never know," Danielle giggled. "Lemme text Mrs. P."
After a bit, her phone beeped. "Okay," she said and read the text message. "Mrs. P agrees, but she gave us a budget."
"How much?" June asked, and she and Drew took a peek, The two whistled.
"Wow," Drew said.
"Can I see that?" Tracey asked, and read the text.
"'K," she nodded. "I'll take care of things on that side, or rather Mom's card will," she giggled. "Now where do we go?"
Danielle led us into the department store.
"Thanks a lot, Lisa! See you later!" (Drew Nance said.)
The girl (Lisa) put her clothes in shopping bags and her shoes in the NineWest shoebox, gave her (Drew) the tags stapled to her receipt, and escorted her out so the store detectives won't bother her. "So, will we see you again?"
"Totally, and thanks!"
As she was riding down the escalator, a bunch of girls were riding up in the escalator opposite hers. They were talking loudly. When she was still Andy, that would have irritated her a lot, but she has had a sea change about such things ever since she started living as Drew.
The one in the lead was a simply gorgeous redhead.
"Hey, Nikki!" she called down. "Make sure Danny doesn't sneak away! The whole point of this trip is to get some stage outfits for June, Betsy, Fallon and her. If we don't, Mrs. Piper will never forgive me."
A blonde girl near the bottom had yet another redhead in a headlock. Given how they were both giggling made Drew realize they were just playing.
"No prob, Danielle. I got her, and I'm never letting her go." And then she gave the redhead in her arms butterfly kisses."
"Ewww! Nikki, quit it!"
Drew smiled at their antics.
"Oi!" Yet another redhead exclaimed. "You guys behave. You're making a scene."
"Sorry, Fallon," the girl, Dannie was it? Dannie responded.
They were almost parallel to her now. Drew casually looked over and was surprised to see that Dannie was a twin of that other girl, Danielle. Cool.
"Hi," Dannie said when she saw Drew looking at her.
"Hi, Dannie," Drew said. She embarrassedly smiled at the girl.
"Do I know you?"
"Ahh, no." Drew shrugged. "I'm Drew."
"Hi, Drew. Funny, I have a friend named Drew, too."
Drew grinned and nodded. "Well, have fun shopping."
She made a face. "Clearly, you haven't met my sister."
Drew giggled and waved bye-bye.
"What a funny girl," Drew said. Her good mood was just reinforced and she jauntily stepped off the escalator. "Three redheads at the same time. Well, that's unusual."
***** (Danny) *****
Apparently, we weren't as inconspicuous as we thought. That girl in the escalator clearly recognized us. But I was told the TV show was only a local program. Did that mean she was at the concert?
I looked down the escalator and saw the blonde walk out the store. Too bad. She was very, very pretty.
"Hey!" Nikki said and playfully swung my head around. "Eyes on me, okay?"
I chuckled and gave her a kiss. "Always, babe," I said in this sexy voice that Morgan and the others called my "Brad Pits" voice. Nikki giggled.
Hand in hand, we followed Danielle and the others.
***** (Fallon) *****
I remembered my little impromptu shopping spree with Danny, although Danny didn't really buy anything that time, and I only bought a couple of things, so I don't know if you can really call that shopping. I know these girls wouldn't.
What we did then definitely didn't compare to what we were doing now.
I really didn't have too many friends before. Well, no friends, really. And then I met Danny. And then his sister in that "thing" with that bully, Hennessy. And then I met his other friends. He even got the Glee Club kids to be more friendly to me.
And then he made me a part of his band, even if it was just a temporary gig.
A far cry from the school's favorite loner, huh?
And now I'm hanging with girls that seem to like me. And though they think of shopping as a competitive sport, I didn't mind much - you can't have everything after all.
I don't know if I'm just older and therefore wiser (hah!), but, yes, I didn't seem to mind all this. Much. A few months ago, I'd probably be making snide remarks at girls like them, but here I am, actual friends with them. My dad once said, "not understanding others comes from ignorance." I used to make fun of that - that it sounded trite and stupid. "Not understanding others comes from ignorance…" duh! Of course! Isn't that what ignorance is? Not knowing?
But being around Danny, I now find myself trying to make the effort to understand others instead of being judgemental.
It's the sentiment behind dad's saying than the actual literal meaning of the words. And, as much as I hated to admit it, Dad was right. Dammit!
So here I was shopping with these girls. And it ain't so bad.
Of course, I didn't actually do any of the actual shopping myself. I think shopping can be fun, too, but I prefer to do it by myself. This group shopping thing was a little too… I guess the closest word I could think of was "complicated." What really helped me though was Danny - with another one in the group that wasn't as into this thing as I was, we had fun looking at other things or just chatting, and watching the girls do their thing.
Of course, we had to go to the girls to try out the stuff they picked for us, but that was just occasionally. Most of the time, Danny and I were just chatting. And the girls were right - Danny was a great guy.
Up close, she really was as gorgeous as I remembered. I mean "he." I couldn't help myself and snuck looks down his dress. I mean "her." I mean… oh, dammit.
Anyway. I also noted - no telltale bumps. He was probably wearing his special underwear that Danielle told us about.
From time to time, Nikki would come to fetch Danny or me for a fitting, but she was very understanding and only fetched us when absolutely needed. And it's so amazing that Nikki "allowed" Danny to hang out with me. I think Danielle and the others were totally wrong about Nikki's jealous streak.
"Falloooon!" Nikki went to us. "Time to try on another outfit!" She grabbed me by the hand and pulled me along to the changing rooms.
"Call the police if I'm not back in ten!" I said to Danny, and she laughed. I mean... Ahh, shaddap...
***** (Danny) *****
I grinned at Fallon. She was being very game about all this even though she told me this wasn't her kind of scene. I'm glad she's meshing so well with the group.
My phone rang and I brought it out of my purse. It was my bodyguard.
"Hey, Kelly," I answered. "What's up?"
"Danny," she answered, "one of the other bodyguards spotted that girl, Janet, in the store…"
"Janet? Ohmigod, are you sure?"
"We're sure."
"What do we do?"
"Well, actually, nothing. She hasn't done anything so we can't very well have her arrested."
"What about what she did at the Arclight? Or the damage she did to Mrs. Piper's minibus?"
"Well, we couldn't prove the sabotage in the Coliseum was done by her, and Mrs. Piper didn't file any charges about the minibus."
"Oh…"
"All we can do is just keep an eye on her, and stop her if she tries to do anything."
"If you say so."
"I suggest you don't tell the others so there's no panic. In fact, the only reason we told you was because we think you're her target, and we need you to be alert."
"Okay, Kelly. Where is Janet now?"
"We lost her at the ground floor lobby…"
"Lost!"
"Sorry, Dan. We're trying to locate her now."
"Okay. I'll keep an eye out. Let me know when you find her, okay?"
"I'll call you right away."
With that, she hung up.
"Hey, Danny," Fallon came back. "You look worried. Who was that?"
"Oh, nothing, Fallon," I said. "Just a call from a classmate. Our book report is due next week."
"Book report? Bleh. You're on your own." She stuck her tongue out at me and giggled.
I gave her a razzberry.
Nikki came over. "Hon, we're moving to the next floor to look at some other clothes, shoes and stuff."
I gave her a kiss. "Lead on."
***** (Danny) *****
Instead of staying away and trailing them, I decided to get closer to the girls and pulled Fallon along with me. That meant we were fairly clustered together as we moved to the next floor, and Janet can't target any single one of us.
I tried to look around, but casually, and didn't see Janet.
The girls trailed Danielle in this shopping expedition. As usual. But then Danielle was this gang's expert when it comes to women's fashions. And as they perused the shelves of clothes and shoes, Danielle started picking out stuff. And it was a foregone conclusion that the stuff she picked were in the exact sizes of the girls in the band. However, she was unsure of Fallon. That meant special attention for Fallon and was given a special fitting session by Danielle.
Danielle stood Fallon on her own and started looking her up and down, literally sizing her up.
"What's this?" Fallon asked.
"Quiet, my dear, and allow the master to work," Joanne said, and giggled.
"Hmmm..." Danielle said, with her hand on her chin. She walked around and around Fallon. "I believe you're about five feet four, about one hundred fourteen pounds, thirty-four - twenty-two - thirty-two. You're a b-cup, and wear a size seven shoe." She grinned at Fallon. "So, how'd I do?"
"Oh. My. God..." Fallon and Tracey said, and everyone laughed.
"Believe me, honey," Joanne said, "all of us have had the same feeling."
From there, Danielle continued her trawling and picking, with two more converts following - namely Fallon and Tracey.
"But, you know, Danielle," Tracey said, "what about the guys? I mean, shouldn't they get nice outfits, too?"
Danielle looked at Tracey a little sheepishly. "Ummm..."
"Ahh!" Mel said. "You have discovered Supergirl's kryptonite!"
"What do you mean?"
Danielle sadly looked down. "I'm sorry. I'm not too good with men's clothes..."
"Is that why you didn't suggest to get some outfits for the guys?"
Danielle shrugged embarrassedly.
"No problem, Supergirl,"Nikki giggled. "Let Batgirl help you out. Come, Robin. Let us away to the Batcave!" She said to me.
Everyone burst out laughing as she pulled me with her.
As the two of us left in search of the Men's section, I heard Fallon. "Is she really good with guy clothes?" she asked.
"Who do you think picks Danielle's outfits when she's in Danny-mode?" Joanne said.
"Ooohhh!"
to be continued...
Chapter 48 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ. Danny and Nikki had another wonderful time when they checked into another Holiday Inn, although it ended all too quickly because they had to meet up with the guys for their day in town. Although they ended up shopping. Again. So, is there really never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang? |
Chapter Forty-Eight: Men's Stuff
***** (Danny) *****
Asking some of the salespeople, they said that the men's section was on the floor above. So Nikki and I hopped on the escalator.
Nikki and I talked about Mongo and Dale, and we thought of what kind of image they should be projecting in their outfits. Instead of Danielle, who's approach to the girls' outfits were instinctual and seemed to be able to zero in on the girls' essence and expressing them in their attire, we didn't have that skill, so we had to approach this in a more logical way. So we looked at who Mongo and Dale was to us.
Nikki asked me what I thought of the two. After all, playing with them in the band all this time, I should have a sense of who these guys were. So I said what I thought.
"Well, both of them are very talented," I said.
"That's not what I meant!" Nikki giggled. "But I guess what I'm asking is, what're your impressions of them. As people."
"Ahhh..."
I thought about my two friends.
"Well, I guess, when you look at them, it's like they're opposites. You have Mongo - tall, dark, brooding, intense... and then you have Dale - also tall, but friendly, approachable and outgoing. And the thing is, the two of them are best friends."
I thought about that. I never thought to parse the relationship between the two that way. But it was true nevertheless.
"You know," I said, "Mongo's mom told us he rarely leaves the house anymore, and is always taking care of her, and he's been like that ever since his dad passed away. He takes care of her completely now, and is totally devoted to her. They've been struggling a bit to make ends meet, and it's largely Mongo who keeps them afloat financially by keeping their little paper and stationery shop running."
Nikki looked at me. "That's very touching, Danny."
I nodded. "You never would have guessed it by just looking at him. He's actually a sweet guy, and his friends Dale and June are very protective of him. I doubt if he'd have survived his dad's passing without them."
Nikki looked at me. "Don't tell him, Nikki," I said, "but I'm gonna be there for him, too, if ever he needs me."
Nikki kissed me on the cheek. "Of course you will. I know it."
I kissed her back.
"They're lucky to have you," she said.
"Actually," I said, kissing her again to sort of apologize for contradicting her, "I'm the lucky one. For having them in my life. I'm lucky to have all of you. You especially."
I grinned when I saw her face flush. I can read my Nikki real well now. And I knew that I hit her heartstrings just right.
"Well..." Nikki said, and cleared her throat.
After a while, we were soon trawling the shelves as rapidly as Danielle, and Nikki was picking stuff left and right.
We had a bit of a slow start since we didn't know Mongo's and Dale's sizes, but this was easily fixed with a quick call to Tracey. And all Tracey needed to do was to place a call to the wardrobe master for the TV concert and get Dale's and Mongo's measurements.
Nikki was on a roll. Seems she knew just what to pick now, and it was like Danielle was reincarnated. I occasionally commented when I thought the combination she picked just didn't work, but that was rare.
After we had a big bunch of outfits picked out for the two, with a few things for me-as-Danny, Nikki tried calling Tracey that we were almost done, but she wasn't answering.
I had a kind of sixth sense or intuition or whatever, and I ran for the escalators.
I barrelled through the people standing around. When I made it to the escalator, I couldn't get through the crush of people, and I started to physically shove them, or lift them and move them aside.
"Hey!" a big, six-foot two guy exclaimed, surprised by both the fact that someone was touching and lifting him aside, and that it was a tiny girl that was doing the moving.
I cut through the people on the escalator as it moved us down, but I was chafing at our slow progress.
I moved to the edge of the escalator and peeked down to the floor below. I scanned as best I could and heard, above the ever-present din of the people in the store, a few screams. It sounded like Mel and Drew, or maybe June.
My girls were in trouble. I couldn't stand it and levered myself over the escalator's rubber railing and jumped down.
People exclaimed when I did that, but I didn't care, not when my girls were in danger.
I was thinking that my choice of the Chuck Taylors really helped. I might not have been able to land properly if I was wearing the heels Nikki originally picked for me, nor be able to sprint to the girls. I probably would have broken my ankles with my jump.
As I ran, I saw two girls lying on the floor. It was Betsy and Drew - they both weren't moving.
"Betsy!" I cried, and continued to run towards my friends. I saw Joanne holding what looked like Janet, as she struggled to get to Fallon, and I felt a cold wave of anger sweep through me.
Janet was able to wrest one of her hands free and swung it around. Her fist connected with the side of Joanne's head and the bigger girl was knocked down.
"Joanne! No!"
As Janet got free, Fallon, with fear in her eyes, backed away.
"Fallon!" I called as I raced to her. "I'm here!"
Fallon and Janet looked my way, Fallon with relief and Janet with some expression I could not identify. Fallon turned to run to me, but Janet reached out and grabbed her arm preventing her. Fallon slapped her, and Janet was shocked and let go. Fallon ran into my arms and I held her close.
I saw Betsy and Drew, still on the ground, and a few feet away, Joanne, and my anger grew more. I put Fallon behind me and walked towards Janet.
"Stay away, Danny," she said as she held a hand towards me.
But I continued to walk closer to her.
Later, I would remember noticing some things, like Janet was looking very haggard - not enough to make her look disheveled, but it was like she hadn't slept in a while though she was trying not to show it. And though she was wearing makeup, it wasn't applied as precisely as I remember her applying it before. And her clothes didn't seem to hang right. I didn't know why.
But right now, I was more concerned about her hurting more of my friends. I was holding on to my anger, but just barely.
"Stop, Janet," I said. "Stop what you're doing."
"I can't, Danny," she sobbed, "not when you're not with me."
"Janet..."
"I'm so lonely, Danny..."
When I was close enough, I quickly reached out and grabbed her by the wrist. When I did, she screamed like a banshee.
That surprised me, but I held on.
She continued to scream, and it unnerved everyone around us, but I held on.
Store detectives and security guards were running towards us, and we both saw them.
Janet's continued screaming went up an octave, and, using her whole body, was able to twist around even as I held her.
For whatever reason, it was like she was electrified. She used her other hand to pry herself from my grip. I could feel the nervous strength in her, and it was like she was willing to chop her hand off just to be able to get away.
As the security people got closer, despite my grip, she was finally able to get my hand off, and as she did, she quickly ran away towards the escalators.
She pushed and knocked people away from her, and escaped down to the floor below.
I was about to give chase, but Fallon stopped me.
"No, Danny," she said. "Let the guards take care of her. Don't leave me."
I turned and hugged her as the security people rushed past us.
As they got further away from us, a sense of relief swept through me and Fallon. I could feel it.
I turned us both and looked to Betsy and Drew. They were still out but Tracey, Mel and June were there with them now.
As for Joanne, she was sitting on the floor looking woozy, but fine other than that. Danielle was with her.
Nikki ran up to me. I hugged her with my free arm.
"Check on Joanne, Nick," I said. She gave Fallon and I a quick kiss and ran to Joanne.
"She's gone now, Fallon. Shhh..." Fallon started crying. Guess Fallon wasn't as tough as we, or even she, thought.
***** (Fallon) *****
What a nightmare. There we were, having a good time and then this crazy woman comes up to us and slaps Drew, strong enough to knock her down.
Brave little Betsy ran up to interpose herself between Drew and Janet, and Janet slapped the Betsy across the face, also strong enough to knock her down. June screamed.
The other girls looked at Janet in shock, and didn't move. And then Janet started moving towards me.
Normally I would be one of those helping to protect girls like Betsy and Drew, but Janet's crazy eyes just scared me, and she started to walk towards me.
"You took my Danny from me," the crazy looking girl said, and reached out towards me. I screamed - I couldn't help it.
Joanne ran over and pulled Janet back and away from me by her hair, and Janet struggled with the taller Joanne.
From there, Danny appeared and things changed. Janet hit Joanne somehow, but, I don't know how or why, but I knew Danny would fix things. Somehow I knew that.
An hour later, we were in the Manager's Office, and they got statements from Betsy, Drew, Joanne, Danny and myself. Danielle, Tracey and the other girls were just outside along with the boys, who were alerted by Tracey to what just went down.
Kelly was also there to represent our security people, and were probably worried about losing their jobs. After all, it was they who weren't able to stop Janet from getting close.
The thing was, Danny asked all of us to downplay what happened. None of us girls wanted to, but Danny said that something was clearly wrong with Janet. I didn't know Janet but the others said she wasn't like that before. Unsurprisingly, June, Dale and Mongo also wanted to sweep the whole thing under the rug.
"She needs help, guys," Danny insisted, saying Janet wasn't really being herself - that she was really a good person. "Ask the others."
Reluctantly, the others confirmed it, Even Betsy, Danielle and Joanne agreed.
"Then why was she like that, Danny?" I asked.
"Something's wrong with her Fallon. I don't know - a stroke? Drugs? Some kind of chemical thing? But it's clear something's wrong."
"Then, maybe we need to tell the authorities that," Morgan said.
"Maybe," Danny agreed.
But the story that we told the authorities was that Janet was a former member of our band, and that she quit because of some kind of argument with the other members, and we believed that this incident was connected to that.
Although Janet was over eighteen, the rest of us that were involved in the "altercation" - Betsy, Drew, Joanne, Danny (as Danielle) and me - were all under eighteen - technically minors. Because of which, the authorities decided to keep it quiet, and to contact our parents. (They didn't need to do that with my parents, though, but I'll explain why later.)
On the phone, our folks insisted on talking with Danny or Danielle, and the twins explained that Janet was just acting disgruntled for not being part of the band anymore - just a girl thing, and we weren't really hurt.
Nevertheless, our folks insisted that we go home right away, and that included Betsy's mom and Mrs. Piper. And, under orders, I assume, our bodyguards insisted as well.
Danny reluctantly agreed.
The store administration, keen on not having any bad publicity, agreed to keep it quiet.
As a sort of apology, the store's people facilitated processing all our purchases, and had all our stuff delivered to our hotel at no extra charge. Danny called the hotel, and though they've checked out already, because our cars were still there, he got them to agree to accept and hold our stuff until we come for our cars.
And, though our morning was mostly ruined now, Danny still insisted on our going to the Rockrgrrl and PIMA stores. Our hearts weren't in it anymore - the shine was gone from the day, but Danny insisted.
At the store, Dale, June, Mongo, Danny and I couldn't help geeking out on the guitar paraphernalia and sound boxes and amps while Betsy, next door, was ooh-ing and ahh-ing at all the violin stuff.
Danny's enthusiasm was very infectious, and the rest of the guys started browsing around as well while the other girls geeked out on all the musical accoutrements. I guess that was Danny's plan all along - get our minds off what happened, and start enjoying our little outing again.
Danny himslef didn't buy anything, but she did get lots of brochures. I looked over her shoulder and saw that tthey were all brochures of electronic musical instruments. I guess Danny's looking to buy some new toys. Hmmm...
After we used up all of our vouchers, Danny insisted on going for lunch. Mel suggested a place she and her family went to regularly when she was a kid called Big Daddy's, and the bad taste that Janet left us was soon banished.
Danny had asked the department store's first aid people about Betsy, Drew and Joanne, and I heard her quietly telling Nikki the first aid people thought they were okay - Janet didn't hurt them as badly as we originally thought. For me, aside from a few light bruises on my wrist, I knew I was fine.
Soon after that, we started making our way to our cars, and were soon on our way back home.
I guess the trip wasn't really as fun as we thought it would be, but I thought it was fun enough, especially because of the sleepover.
By the end of our trip, our van, or rather Joanne's van, was fairly rocking, and we hardly noticed the three hour drive back home. And I'm almost sure the other guys had fun, too. Our security flanked our three cars all the way home, and we were all escorted to our houses.
As I got home, I waved to my new friends, and sighed. Despite what happened in the store, I really was grateful. In a way, I wish Janet wouldn't come back to the band. I wanted to continue being part of the band, and part of my new gang. I was so grateful for Danny. Maybe it's because I haven't really had friends before, and because I thought my life just changed for the better.
I sighed. My folks probably heard me coming in, and they'll probably be over in a while. I unlocked my door and went in.
- - - - -
Days later, the repercussions of Janet's "attack" was felt. Our security was put on notice that what happened must not happen again, while the parents of the other girls who were hurt had half a mind to ban them from going with the others. But since Betsy and the others weren't really hurt much physically, and the stories their folks were given were a bit sketchy, the parents just let it go with a warning to be careful, and that curfews were going to be reinstituted otherwise.
As for my folks, there wasn't much of a problem. A year ago, when my aunt died and I inherited a bunch of money, I made moves to get emancipated legally. My folks didn't agree but my threat to run away made them change their minds. So I was mostly independent now, but because the trust fund won't become fully mine until I was twenty-one, I still lived in the same house with my folks. Anyway...
So I still hung with my new gang, and continued to play with the band. Our popularity continued to grow, and we had hopes of making the band more than just a small-town garage band. And with Danny around, we were all blithely confident that we'll make it eventually.
Danny also got me to stay with the Glee Club, and my days suddenly became very... musical, and not so alone anymore.
I didn't mind. I thought it was fun and I got to hang with a bunch of cool kids. Especially Danny.
to be continued...
Chapter 49 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ. Janet made an appearance and goes crazy, knocking down and hitting Drew, Joanne and Betsy, but escaped before the store cops could catch her. Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. |
Chapter Forty-Nine: Photoshoots
***** (Tracey) *****
There were a lot of advertisers that still wanted to advertise with the station, but there were no available spots anymore. In fact, we had bookings for the next six to nine months. So I came up with a couple of ideas which we started right away.
Firstly, we started streaming KRPQ on the net - I got the people from PiperCorp to set it up for us as well as set up our website.
This gave us a new advertising platform. We weren't limited to the twenty-four hour broadcast clock of the station anymore.
After reviewing the relevant laws and practices, though, we realized that we couldn't really make much out of each placed Internet "commercial" or ad. And mom wouldn't stand for a stupid amount of pop-up ads nor attach a commercial for each click, nor use up too much of the desktop real estate for ads just to make up for the advertising shortcoming.
So, my next thought was to introduce the idea of "official partners" - these being companies that would get the privilege of calling themselves our "official partners" in exchange for regular 15 second stinger ads at the station, prominent ad placements in our site including hotlinks, and allowing them the use of our logo et cetera in their marketing collaterals, free mentions in our on-air programs and online content, and that they'd be featured in our station's posters. They also get seven gross posters.
Not gross, as in "ewww!" A "gross" is 144, or a dozen dozen - look it up, it's an actual unit. So seven gross means a thousand and eight posters which they can put up in their shops or offices, with an option for them to purchase extra posters.
So mom identified specific areas for these partners: computer games, cars, fashion, sporting goods, musical instruments, fastfood and pastries, and started spruiking for partners. In a week, we signed up KRPQ's first Official Partners: Cowgirl Jeans and Rockrgrrl, of course - our two big regular supporters - and a bunch of new ones - Dyno Cars, one of the larger auto detailing and custom shops in the country; Empire East Entertainment, an up-and-coming video game company; Alley-Oop, the teen sporting goods chain; Prêt-à-Porter Magazine, the new YA fashion magazine; Julia Anne KupKakes; and M&N Pizza.
Why these companies wanted to advertise with us was something I didn't understand. We were a small-town station, so what could these big companies gain from us? But mom explained that they'd be gaining some goodwill from PiperCorp for a small amount, and, at the same time get a bunch of great advertising posters in the same deal. Mom was a genius.
However, we still needed someone to manage the site and the content for us - mainly someone to make sure the content was interesting and was within our fanbase's areas of interest, and to keep it up-to-date with the latest goings-on in the surrounding schools and neighborhoods.
PiperCorp could do that for us as well but it would be super-expensive. Sure, mom could waive the fees, but that just meant that PiperCorp just absorbed the cost instead of charging the station. So I made a suggestion - what if my friends did that for us? It's a fairly small site with very few pages so it shouldn't be difficult.
Mom wasn't too keen on that - kids running something this important?
But I said that we could get a consultant from PiperCorp to come in once a month to give advice and make site adjustments and such while the guys were basically in charge of content on a day-to-day basis.
Mom said that would work… provided that...
And that's how I suddenly became KRPQ's "communications director" and "assistant station manager" (with mom being the interim station manager - implying that I would eventually become the permanent station manager).
Per my plan, Morgan would be in charge of day-to-day content, with Jerry as his assistant, Mel in charge of the emails, and Mike as "executive staff" (actually Mike was more like a gofer that did follow-ups and odds-and-ends, like talk to the kids at school to follow up contributions for articles or pictures or other content. And to fetch coffees from time to time.) They all reported to Morgan, and Morgan reported to me as their boss for final approval of content prior to posting.
So we got the four their own company issued laptops, phones and IDs, and in lieu of offices, we set up a general work area at the station that we called "the bullpen" - staff can go there and use whatever tables were free, and plug into the station's Internet (wi-fi was discouraged). The usual occupants were our "news staff" which was Harry and Sally, and me and my "communications team" made up of Morgan, Jerry, Mel & Mike. Goodwyn the security guard would be a regular user of the bullpen, too, as well as whichever announcer was next up, and "Robin" on Saturday mornings.
Mom wanted to give Danny and I permanent offices but we nixed that and said we'll be okay to just use the bullpen.
In a week, our fledgeling site had started to accumulate hits, and our social media accounts started accumulating likes and followers. We also got a slew of article contributions and a ton of pictures, with Jerry and Mel doing the appropriate copy-proofing and photo adjustments.
Our success, though, was problematic. Mel found that she was totally overwhelmed with the number of emails and asked me if we could have some more people to help review, cull and collate the ginormous number of emails that were coming in: as expected, the bulk of it - over 30% - was for Robin, and a significant number - over 15% - was for Dannie or the other members of UB, and only the remaining half being station-related stuff. We didn't expect the email for Dannie and UB, though, but, apparently, a lot of our fans assumed UB was part of KRPQ.
So I appointed Nikki and Drew to help Robin-slash-Danny to handle her email, and Joanne to work with the band and manage the email for UB.
To stress the separation between UB and us, I sweet-talked Mom into commissioning a separate site for UB, and as soon as it was up, UB's generic site was heavily modified by the band (but mostly by Danny) into a much more funky and fan-friendly site (the hot-link to our site was, of course, there). And the UB email tapered off (while traffic to UB's site increased five-fold).
In practice, though, no one really had any specific "turf" - everyone helped everyone else - and, typical for our little group, we were somehow able to manage. Mom was quite pleased, and our gang was also pleased since they were paid for easy work that involved, mostly, hanging around each other, which we would have done anyway.
As for the Official Partners program, the next thing was to start making up the posters. Mom personally took charge of that, and worked with the clients and the PiperCorp marketing people. Once the sketches and storyboards were approved, mom solicited my help to look for locations for the necessary photo shoot.
It goes without saying, though, that Robin, Harry, Sally and Talia would be our models, and in some of the posters, we included Dennis and Lou. The gang was used as "extras" and such and, for Rockrgrrl, Alley-Oop and Prêt-à-Porter, they requested UB as well.
I negotiated with Danny and Danielle for the modeling fees we had to pay the gang and the band. It wasn't much since they were just kids and were not professionals. The most expensive talent fee was actually Sally's since she was a professional model and commanded professional-level fees.
Anyway, even with all this, this campaign was dirt-cheap. At least according to mom. It was hard to believe it would work, because the budget mom gave me barely covered it.
Oh, well.
***** (Tracey) *****
After I determined the locations for the shoots, we scheduled them for several consecutive Sundays.
The first Sunday shoot was for Alley-Oop and Rockrgrrl, and was to be shot over in Danny's and Danielle's school. After getting permission from Mrs. Harmon, their principal, and making sure that no one knew, we set it up for that Sunday. Mrs. Harmon did insist on being present, though, but mom didn't mind. In fact, she felt it was important to have someone making sure everything was above-board and was according to regulations.
A big touring bus and a truck full of equipment brought all of us to the school.
First was to the auditorium for the Rockrgrrl shoot.
The stage hands set up the little stage to look busy with a lot of decoration and bunting, and they set up Mongo's drums and June's keyboard.
Danielle, as per plan, stood in for Dannie, and she and Fallon, stood in front with Rockrgrrl guitars - "Dannie" with her candy-pink electric and Fallon with a borrowed electric blue. And for Dale, he just used a walnut acoustic PIMA bass that the people from Rockrgrrl lent us for the day, along with Fallon's electric blue. As usual "Dannie" wore scarves trailing from her wrists.
All of the girls wore super-sexy bolero shrugs over baby tees and shiny leggings. June's were shiny yellow, Fallon's was emerald green and "Dannie's" were bright carmine red. They all wore sky-high peep toe platform stiletto pumps and were hardly able to move - the stilettos were sixteen centimeters, according to the boxes that they came in.
As for Dale and Mongo, they wore muscle shirts with leather pants and construction boots.
Not to be outdone, Danny, as Robin (with her hair colored in a dark brunette wash, and her brows and lashes darkened to match her hair), was wearing a sexy fitted leather girl's moto jacket over a super-tight and stretchy white tanktop-style bodysuit (Danny also wore black-tinted contact lenses to add more of a difference to her Dannie-the-singer persona).
Also, Just like with Dannie and her scarves and flippy hairstyle, it seems Danielle was deliberately developing a "style" for Robin as well by making her wear some kind of jacket over something white all the time. Luckily, the shoot's wardrobe mistress was able to accommodate her.
"Robin" also wore a pair of slouchy booties with chunky platform heels so she was able to walk around easier than the girls from the band, and making her taller than Danielle as Dannie. She snickered at the girls not being able to walk much. Danielle gave her a razzberry.
Also not to be outdone, Talia was wearing something similar to Danny's, but Sally was wearing a sexy, high-fashion cocktail dress while Harry was wearing a brown, scuffed bomber jacket over a shirt and tie, and jeans and cowboy boots - outfits to match their roles as "fashion reporter" and "roving reporter." The three carried prop microphones as well, with the station's logo stuck on them. Dennis and Lou were conspicuously absent because I asked them to work the booth for the duration of the shoot.
As for our "crowd," they were wearing stereotypical school outfits, that is, if the school body was made up of kids with extremely good fashion sense and personal stylists and makeup people.
The crowd was made up of Mel, Nikki, Drew, Joanne, Morgan, Mike, and Jerry. Since there were only seven of them, in desperation, I recruited Danny's three bodyguards. At least they looked close to being teenagers. I also recruited several of the station's bookers, accounting people and admin staff from the office.
That gave us twenty "kids" for our crowd, and the shoot's director was happy. Mom gave me a kiss and a short "good work."
When everything was ready, I stood beside the photographer and asked him how he felt. He called the shoot a cheesecake shot. I asked what he meant, and he gestured at the band.
"Isn't it obvious?" he said. I looked and I guess he was right. As Mike would put it, this was nothing but fanservice. All the kids looked too good, and so were the outfits - they were a little too nice as well as the right amount of, ummm, risque? I looked at Mrs. Harmon, the school principal, but she seemed fine with everything. I whispered "go" to the photographer and floor director, and the shoot started.
The shots weren't very unusual: basically just a staged concert type of scene. What the shoot yielded were several shots: one set was of the band playing on their Rockrgrrl instruments (Mongo and June showcasing the first of Rockrgrrl's new drums and keyboard lines) and our reporters "covering" the concert; another was a set of the band taking a bow as the "kids" threw flowers and our reporters talked to the camera; another was the band apparently just finishing their show and were being accosted by the "fans" asking for autographs. There were others, too, but they were hardly serious shots - they were mostly playing and just making fun of the shoot itself.
Later that week, when I sent the proofs to Katie and Lady Isabel, they said they liked all the shots and actually included two that, frankly, shocked me.
One was a shot of everyone during a break. It was a candid shot that showed, on one side, June teaching Drew how to play one of Drew's favorite songs on the keyboard - I forget the name of the song - and Drew's look of concentration was very serious, indeed. Around them were Dale, Mongo and Morgan, obviously making fun of Drew's playing.
On the other side was Sally, "Robin" and "Dannie" chatting, Danielle-as-Dannie casually holding her candy-pink electric and Danny-as-Robin holding her microphone. In truth, the three were just discussing what they wanted for lunch but in the picture, it was like Robin and Sally were interviewing Dannie.
Around the two, Mel and Jerry were running around them being chased by Mike with Fallon's electric blue guitar, and at the foot of the stage, with feet dangling over the edge, was Harry, Fallon, Betsy and Talia - Betsy's head on Fallon's shoulder.
It was a great shot, and it soon became a kind of collector's poster, at least among fans of Dannie, UB and Robin. In fact, properly cropped, that one shot yielded five other posters.
The other was a shot of Danny, as Robin, looking into the camera quite irritatedly as the gang was all around her making funny faces. It was just after Danny called for everyone to get serious about the shoot so they could all go home early, and everyone reacted typically.
And the reason I was shocked was because these pictures were just pictures of my friends goofing off - outtakes - and wasn't meant to be taken seriously by anyone, much less the client. Apparently I made the mistake of sending all the stage pics in my email to Katie, including the outtakes.
Oh, well.
***** (Tracey) *****
The next shoot later that day was for Alley-Oop, and for that we went to the school's gym.
Danny's school had what was essentially a covered basketball court, with tiered bleachers on one side. This made it ideal for the shoot.
So, after a quickie lunch of takeout Big Macs and fries which we ate in the empty cafeteria, my models all changed into their next costumes.
However, we realized that we were missing one more person - which was basically someone to play the "coach."
Thinking quickly, I decided to call Dennis Oldfield. His shift had just ended by then so he could be our coach.
So, while we waited for him, we started shooting the pictures we had in mind that didn't require the "coach" character.
The first shot was all the girls - Fallon, Betsy, June, Nikki, Mel, Joanne, Talia and Sally all in cheerleader costumes similar to the Arizona Cardinals cheerleader uniforms (that's because of the style they picked - sleeveless croptop, belted short hotpants and white boots, and in the corporate colors of the Alley-Oop company - cardinal red with blue and white trim. So their outfits ended up looking very similar to the uniforms of the Arizona Cardinals cheerleaders), and with Danielle and Danny in the front row, cheering and with pompoms flying. The "crowd's" legs and lower torsos could just be seen in the upper bleachers since they were all standing. In the lower foreground, in blurred half-focus were the "basketball players," (actually, Dale, Mongo, Morgan, Mike and Jerry) making a fast break, with Dale dribbling the basketball across the court.
The next one was a Held Ball situation, and Morgan, wearing a t-shirt with the radio station's logo, was holding the basketball at the same time as Dale was, and he was wearing a t-shirt with the Alley-Oop logo. Surrounding them were their "teams" - on our team was Morgan, Mike, Robin, Mel and Nikki while on the Alley-Oop team was Dale, Morgan, Dannie, Fallon and June. In the background in cheerleader costumes were the rest of the girls cheering. It was a long exposure shot which blurred the people a bit - mostly their arms and legs, indicating movement.
This same shot was re-staged several times, with Danny & Danielle in the clinch in one, and Nikki & June, in another, and Betsy & Fallon in another. The shots with Nikki & June and Betsy & Fallon were so sexy, with well-built twins, and in the other with two redhead hotties, fighting for the basketball.
As soon as Dennis arrived and changed into his coach costume of tracksuit and whistle, we re-staged to do some game-already-in-progress shots, with the guys playing ball, or sitting on the bench cooling off with sports drinks or bottles of water in hand, and other similar shots. The last one was a series of shots where Dennis, now dressed as a referee, tossing a ball in the air and Dale and Morgan tapping the ball away. This was re-done again and again, with Danny & Danielle, and then Nikki & June, and then Betsy & Fallon.
In all of the shots, everyone was, of course wearing Alley-Oop shoes and using Alley-Oop basketballs and sports equipment, and their t-shirts had either the station's or Alley-Oop's logo on them. Dannie's diaphanous scarves trailing from her wrists were a bit of an anomaly, but it was her trademark, and mom and Danielle insisted on them.
When I sent the shots to the client later that week, I remembered my snafu with the Rockrgrrl pics, so I made sure not to include our for-fun-only blooper shots this time. The client came back pretty quickly, however, and picked all of the pics I sent, giving us carte blanche which we can use. Mom was pretty pleased at this and I was pretty proud. This also meant that we were able to up our fee by changing their posters to 500 copies per picture.
***** (Tracey) *****
The next shoot on the following Sunday was a bit easier since it was for the Empire East videogame company, and we were doing it all in the station's offices, on the building's rooftop, and on the street just outside the building.
So, using the computers in the station, we made the bullpen and the admin area look like what we imagined Empire East's programming department to be, with my communications team of Morgan, Jerry, Mel, Mike, Nikki, Mel and Joanne, plus Sally, Harry, Talia, and Robin (Robin was a requirement of the client) as my models. Danny again had brunette hair, courtesy of a dark wash applied by Joanne.
The PiperCorp costumer and dresser had them all in hipster and grunge outfits - that is, if hipsters and punk rockers wore "designer" grunge outfits. Robin, in fact, still looked quite fetching in a halter top, torn leggings, combat boots, cycling gloves and knitted cap. I also used Dennis and Lou, but only for a short time (they were the ones on duty in the booth, after all), and I had them play the "bosses." We then had the others pose in attitudes and poses appropriate for programmers and software geeks working on their desktops and laptops, and though it all felt very staged, the intention was to actually make it look staged to add a campy element to the shoot.
But, counting the number of models, I worried because of our plans for the shoot on the roof and on the street - we had planned to stage mock battles between the characters from Empire East's latest videogame hit called Firebird, but we didn't have enough models. I called mom and told her my idea. Thankfully, she agreed. But she said she wanted to be at the shoot now and watch.
So, I gave Dale and Danielle calls.
My idea was to have the UB guys as our extra models. I thought quickly, and split my models into two groups of equal number. But I needed one more. And then I thought of Kelly, one of Danny's bodyguards. Hmmm…
As soon as the guys arrived, I started splitting them up based on which of the costumes that the company sent fit best. For the "good guys," I made sure that all of them were KRPQ folks: Sally, Talia, Robin, Drew, Nikki, Joanne, Harry, Morgan and Mike. For the "bad guys," I had June, Fallon, Betsy, Danielle-as-Dannie, and I added Mel, and then Kelly - Danny's bodyguard (I made sure, though, that Kelly had a costume that obscured most of her face - she needed her anonymity so she could continue to be Danny's bodyguard). As for their boys, I had Dale, Mongo and Jerry.
I was told that the costumes that Empire East sent were actually made by cosplayer fans of the game, and were "ruggedized" by props specialists the company hired. Thank god they all fit my models. The fans who built the costumes got credited in the posters, and most of them became stars in their own rights within cosplayer circles, and found themselves with commissions to make more costumes.
The characters from Firebird were quite similar to the characters from Overwatch and, because of this, most fans said that Firebird was just a glorified ripoff of that game, but that didn't damage sales at all, and it remained #5 in the market, but slowly climbing in the rankings in the following weeks (I think our posters had something to do with that heehee).
In any case, the shots that we first did were shots on the roof. This was quite useful since we were able to get a lot of fight shots of them against empty sky, allowing post production an easier time to add effects. The next series of shots were done on the street, again with everyone having fun pretending they were like superheroes battling each other.
I knew, of course, that the Empire East guys would be doing a lot of post production to include special effects and such. I was very excited to see the final versions.
The big headache for this shoot was they weren't just static shoots but video - though each clip was no longer than five seconds, so that the effects guys could get "tracking shots," which they needed for their effects and additions.
We didn't shoot a lot on the street, however, since a bunch of cops came over and asked if we had permits to shoot on the street.
I didn't even know that we needed permits. Good thing mom was there, and she was able to haggle with the cops and we weren't fined or anything. However, we had to shut down our photoshoot, and had to be content with what they got, which were only seventy-five percent of what they wanted.
In any case, we had enough shots-slash-clips. Dannie still wore her silky scarves tied to her wrists even though she was in costume as the Death Diva character from Firebird. But even if her version of Death Diva had scarves on her wrists, it seemed to work. So much so, in fact, that in the next build of Firebird, Death Diva was featured with scarves around her wrists.
As we went back to the office upstairs so that my models could change out of their costumes, they were all talking excitedly. Clearly, they enjoyed the shoot.
Darn. Too bad we had to cut it short. Maybe we can go to some Cosplay conventions in the future.
***** (Tracey) *****
The following Sunday was even more hectic since we were doing posters for five companies this time, specifically Cowgirl Jeans, Dyno Cars, Prêt-à-Porter Magazine, Julia Anne KupKakes, and M&N Pizza. In fact, because of time pressure, Danny couldn't get the usual wash for her hair, and had to wear a wig. Good thing Danielle was good with wigs, so it didn't look like Robin was wearing one at all.
Having learned our lesson from the previous Sunday, we had gotten permission to seal off a stretch of high street. This particular portion of the street was lined mostly with high-end retail and commercial shops. Well, high-end for our little town anyway.
Like in most small towns, these stores were closed on Sundays, and there was therefore very little traffic, whether vehicular or pedestrian, so town officials didn't mind us closing this part of the street. They didn't even bother to station any traffic police there, although they did put up the necessary roadblocks and the appropriate detour signs to reroute traffic. As mom said, there were both advantages and disadvantages to small town living.
We also asked permission or, in this case, rented, some of the shops and stores along that street and "staffed" them with our own people. Some of the owners or managers of these establishments decided to watch the shoot, though, and we didn't mind.
We decided to shoot the one for Dyno Cars first.
The first setup we did was the one with the custom hotrod that they lent us, putting it in the drive-through area of one of the takeout places that was closed for the weekend.
Mom's people redressed the place to make it look like a fifties drive-in, and my models, namely the UB guys and my own "communications team" (i.e. Morgan and the gang), were all dressed like the cast from Grease, and we did some shots of them enjoying burgers and shakes and whatnot, which were actually food from McDonald's that our set people rewrapped in generic wax paper and poured the drinks into generic paper cups.
Another one of the shots was Morgan, Dale and Mongo, wearing the uniforms from Dyno Cars and "fixing" the car - Dale with artfully applied smudges on his forehead and cheeks as he wiped his hands while he chatted with Dannie and Robin - Robin wore a black leather jacket, a short-sleeved, Vogue off-the-shoulder stretchy top, high-waisted, faux-leather leggings and red stiletto heels - reminiscent of Olivia Newton-John as Sandra Dee in the last scene from the movie (except that Robin's top was a white bodysuit), and Dannie wore another Sandra Dee-inspired outfit, this time a vintage cardigan-poodle skirt in a bobby socks-type style (although she had scarves tied to her wrists). The car was filled with the rest of the girls in similar 50's style outfits, and Harry, in a fifties-era policeman's uniform talking with Mike and Jerry in their leather jacket "greaser" costumes as they tried to talk Harry out of issuing them a ticket.
In all the shots, the company's logo - a funny green tyranosaurus rex wearing a leather jacket - was prominent on the car doors or in the sign over the garage next door to the drive-in (which was actually the local office of the IRS, redressed to look like the front of a Dyno Cars garage).
The next shoot was for Cowgirl Jeans and the Prêt-à-Porter Magazine. We shot them in the place next door, which was like a mini department store.
We tried to be clever (but not too clever, of course) by making the shoot like the girls were shopping for clothes, and the guys were the stereotypical boyfriends that were being dragged around by their girls while they shopped, this time for Cowgirl jeans, blouses and other articles of clothing.
We, of course, featured the "real" couples in the bunch: Morgan and Drew, and Jerry and Mel. The others doubled as store clerks and such. Again, Dannie had her scarves on her wrists, and Robin had an outfit that featured Cowgirl skinny jeans and a white baby-tee under her sexy fitted, black satin jacket.
For Prêt-à-Porter Magazine, we had redressed the department store's main lobby as a kind of fashion runway, and we had everyone sashaying up and down wearing high-fashion clothes as Sally, Harry and Talia played fashion reporters "covering" the fashion event.
We tried to get as many of the guys on the ramp, which mom liked a lot. She said I should also do some modeling as well, but I demurred, saying we needed the recognizable people like Robin, Dannie and the band in the shoot.
Inside, though, I did want to model, but I was afraid that people would make fun of me, and how I looked like a transvestite or something. So I said what I said to mom.
Again, Dannie had her scarves and Robin was in a tight, stretchy drop-dead-sexy pure-white micro mini dress (if there was a thing as a "little white dress," this was it), a black silk wrap over it and red skyscraper stiletto heels.
The last shoot, which was for Julia Anne's and M&N, we shot in a stylish little restaurant in the floor upstairs.
We started with the girls sitting at a table while the wait-staff (played passably well by Dannie, Robin, Dale and Mongo in proper waiter-waitress attire) plied them with fancy little cakes and stuff. It was funny in that Dannie again had her scarves and Robin was in a Robin version of the waitress uniform - the white uniform blouse with a tight black bolero jacket over it.
Finally, we had the final shoot at the redressed kitchen with the big oven open and Dale and Mongo taking out big pizza pies and Robin carrying a platter out to the customers. We also had shots where Robin was serving some people the pizza. Of course, no one would know that the pizzas that she was dishing up were actually Domino's transferred into fake M&N boxes.
Several variations of these shots were taken, all with the logos of Julia Anne and M&N prominent in the shots. Eventually, though, when mom's watch said it was already five in the afternoon, we wrapped it up.
After finishing off the Julia Anne and M&N shots, mom shooed me and my "talent" away, and after my models got changed, we decided to go to Betsy's to hang out while mom supervised her people as they broke down the sets and packed up their equipment.
In all the shoots, Robin was played by Danny, but I tried to use Danny as "Dannie-the-Singer" whenever possible, such as in shots where Robin wasn't there and Dannie was. It was especially hard for brother-and-sister but I thought it necessary - I had a sense that Danielle playing Dannie wasn't as genuine as Danny playing Dannie. Screwy, huh? lol.
So it was best to have as many "Authentic Dannie" shots as possible.
After all this modelling, the girls (and though they wouldn't admit it, the boys, too) were pretty happy because, besides their fees, all the outfits they wore or used were all theirs now - a little perk that Sally explained was typical to photoshoots. So everyone had little parcels under their arms as their booty while we waited for our cars to be brought back by the valets. Our bodyguards stuck with us, just in case. It was their job, after all.
Mom and her people were all in the restaurant packing up, and us "kids" were all outside, waiting for our cars. While we waited, Jerry and Mel were whispering to each other, and whatever Jerry said, Mel giggled and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
Predictably, we all went, "oooh!" So Jerry leaned over and gave Mel a peck as well. We all giggled and made Jerry kiss her again.
Morgan, seeing this, grabbed Drew around the waist, bent her over like in the movies, and gave her a super-hot kiss.
Mike cleared his throat. "Dude," he said, "you need to come up for air eventually…" and everyone laughed.
Morgan did come up for air, but it was more because our cars had arrived - my Cruiser, Joanne's minivan, Danny's 'stang and Dale's big F150.
And when the drivers left, it was Danny and Nikki's turn.
Danny waggled her eyebrows at Nikki, and Nikki nodded. Danny went for it and dived in for a kiss. Talk about sexy-hot!
When you see two good-looking women making out, you can react in any of two ways - either you'd get turned on or, if you weren't open-minded enough or didn't like girl-on-girl kinds of things, then you probably would be a little put off, or perhaps even be offended. But I don't think you would with these two, especially if one of the "girls" was Danny.
"Ohmigod," Fallon murmured, looking at the two. For a gay person like her, this was probably the height of sexiness. "Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod…"
Betsy sidled up to Fallon and elbowed her in the ribs. "Calm down, dear," Betsy whispered to her and giggled.
"But…" Fallon gestured at the two, "but…"
"I know, but it's rude to stare."
Obviously, the two were lost in each other, and though I felt a sharp, bitter twist of jealousy, like a knife in my heart, it was clear Danny had chosen her girl. I wished it was me, but what could I do? Fleetingly, I wanted to hurt Nikki, but I couldn't. She was my friend. Wasn't that a little bit of crazy-making? Wanting to hurt my friend?
I looked around and caught Betsy's eye. We knew what we were both thinking and feeling. I shrugged at her, and she started to tear up a bit. Mel, behind her, hugged her from the back, and put her chin on Betsy's shoulder as they both looked on. It wasn't just me, then, I guess.
We looked on in a happy-sad melancholy way. The silence was so loud… But the two didn't really notice.
And then we heard a car revving.
We looked towards that direction and saw a car barreling towards us.
It was moving so fast, there was literally no time to move away, and the car clipped Jerry and I, but they were just glancing hits so we weren't hurt too much. Still, the impact was enough to make both of us spin around and send us falling to the ground.
The car spun around and started making for Danny and Nikki, but Danny, thinking fast, pulled Nikki behind her mustang.
The car swerved to follow them and it hit the Mustang solidly on the passenger side, crumpling that side of the car.
The intruder then pulled back, swerved around sloppily - not in the neat way that police or stunt drivers would - and screeched away.
Danny, after making sure Nikki was okay, jumped into her mustang and roared after the mystery driver.
Morgan and Mike helped pick Jerry and I up, and a couple of the bodyguards came over. The others bodyguards roared off to follow Danny and the attacker.
The ones that stayed had the proper EMT training so they were able to check us out. As far as they could tell, we were both fine, though we were going to have some bruises tomorrow. Mom had called an ambulance and the paramedics checked us out as well when they arrived. They pronounced us okay so I had a long debate with mom if we should still be brought to the hospital. As usual, she won the debate and Jerry and I were whisked to the hospital by the ambulances. Mel and Mike went with us, and we got ourselves checked in.
After yet another thorough physical examination, the doctors said we were just a bit bruised but were fine overall, so we could go home. Mom was able to wangle a doctor's note, though, which meant that Jerry and I could be excused from school tomorrow if we wanted.
Still, mom got Jerry and I a room (although we needed to share it), even though we didn't need to stay. Still, this gave everyone a place to congregate in. When Danny came in, we noted that she had taken off her brunette Robin wig. Once we were all together, Danny told us what happened.
to be continued...
Chapter 50 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ. Tracey comes up with a new gimmick to keep growing the station, which necessitated making up advertising posters. Naturally, the gang gets recruited as Tracey's models. But on the final day of the poster shoots, Janet showed up again and hit Tracey and Jerry with her car this time. Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. |
Chapter Fifty: Racecar Driver or Pinup Girl
***** (Danny) *****
It was a crazy day. It started out fun and exciting, with our photoshoots and everything, but it went real bad at the end.
Because someone attacked us.
As I held Nikki's hand, I gave everyone a blow-by-blow.
After the attack, and I got over the shock of it, I started to shake. Not from the shock but from anger. After I made sure that my sweetie was fine, I jumped into my car and roared after our attacker.
I told them that I was only able to find the guy because his radiator seemed to have cracked. Steam was billowing out of his engine and it was easy to pick him out among the cars in the street. Something was clearly wrong and I was overhauling him fast. I pulled parallel to his driver's side, with the idea of pushing him off the road. And as I got parallel to his door, he looked at me for a second. And It wasn't a 'he' at all. It was Janet!
I saw Janet's expression, and she was crying. Crying buckets, actually. I didn't understand.
I tried to catch her eye, to get her to look at me. I needed to understand what she was doing, but she wasn't looking at me. I tried to lower the passenger side window but the window mechanism was damaged and I couldn't roll it down.
"Janet!" I yelled, but she either didn't hear me or was ignoring me. I was contemplating hanging out my own window and yell to her that way, but I was too short to be able to keep on stepping on the gas as well as lean out the window. "Janet!" I yelled at the passenger window again.
"Goddammit, Janet!"
As I was keeping my car parallel, and praying there would be no car coming my way, something popped and steam started coming out from underneath my hood. I think something broke when Janet hit my car. At that moment, my car started losing power, and I started falling back.
I suppose, in a way, it was a good thing because a car came out on my side of the street. Before I got hit, I pulled over to the side, and Janet continued on.
My engine died and wouldn't start anymore. I got out of my car and yelled again. "Janet!" I screamed. "Janet, stop!"
A few moments later, my bodyguard, as well as Danielle's bodyguard, came over the rise and pulled over behind me.
"Don't stop!" I called. "Go, go! You can still catch her!"
The two cars sped away and tried to catch Janet. However, one of them came back about fifteen minutes later. They found Janet's car on the side of the road, abandoned. Apparently, something went wrong with her car as well. Not surprising given how much steam was coming out of it.
After telling Mrs. P everything over the phone, she decided to get the police involved now because Janet had become more dangerous, and had actually committed a hit-and-run and hurt Tracey and Jerry this time. She asked Kelly, the bodyguard that was assigned to me, to take care of everything.
Before the cops came, I took off my wig and makeup. After all, Robin was nonexistent as a legal entity and I might get in trouble with the police, so I defaulted to my Danielle identity.
I then told the police everything since she slammed into my car, or rather "Danny's" car, and it took over an hour for them to go through my story. Kelly also arranged to have my car towed to the garage, and the police took care of Janet's car, which turned out to be her dad's, and the same car that she used to hit Mrs. P's minibus with almost a month ago. I had called Mrs. P about that, and we agreed to not mention any of the other things that happened before. We agreed to just tell them what happened today.
The guys were all wondering what was happening to Janet. I had an idea, though, and it gave me chills thinking about it.
We didn't go to Betsy's anymore tonight, and just went home instead. Betsy, Fallon, Danielle, Nikki and I rode with Tracey, and she brought each of us home.
Tracey dropped us last and, before stepping out of Trace's car, I put on one of my Danny shirts and fixed up my hair. Our folks probably have an inkling of what we were doing, but I'm not gonna rub their noses in it.
We gave Tracey hugs, said good night and went into the house. One of the cars outside our house blinked its lights and I knew Kelly was there keeping watch. It was also their signal that they didn't see any unusual people (otherwise known as "fans") hanging outside, which was a relief.
The parental units quickly noticed, of course, that I wasn't driving my car, which was unusual - they notice my missing car but they didn't seem to notice my outfit.
I explained what happened at the photoshoot, and after. I didn't mention It was Janet, though, as that might complicate things for them, but I did mention that the police are on it. Thank god Danielle followed my lead.
After an hour or so of hashing and rehashing the events of the day, none of us came to any new conclusions or decisions and, after dinner, we retired for the night.
Having said good night to Danielle and our folks, I went directly to my room. I put all of my new booty in my hamper - mom had changed my hamper, though, as I now have one basket meant for stuff to be dry-cleaned and a bigger one for the regular stuff - and put my new girl shoes next to my other ones at the bottom my dresser-cabinet.
After a quick shower, and a quick toothbrush, I changed into my favorite t-shirt, a pair of comfortable shorts and socks.
As I sat on my bed, I got out my phone. I sent off a quick good night text to Nikki, as per usual, and then I called up Dr. Roberts.
I fidgeted while I waited for him to answer, but he answered fairly quickly.
"Hey, Dan," Dr. Roberts said. "Everything okay?" He sounded worried.
I laughed - he sounded like my mom. "Everything's fine, doc," I said. "No worries. Hope I didn't wake you."
"What do you mean? It's only eight in the evening."
"Oh, yeah." I forgot about the three-hour time difference. "So, how have you been?" And we visited for a while, updating each other on our latest goings-on. I told him about the station's new website and the photo shoots, promising him copies of the posters if he wants them, and he said that he was wrapping up his tests, and might have some good news for me in several weeks' time. I tried to get more information about that but he said I should wait until he can confirm it.
And then I recounted our "Janet sightings," especially our meeting at the restaurant, the minibus, the encounter in the city, and then the car chase.
"Tell me again about what happened at the department store," he asked, and I gave him a more detailed blow-by-blow, but he said he was more interested in Janet's specific behavior, as in how she was before she was physically in contact with me, and how she was after.
I told him about her attacking me and my friends, her crying, her scary screaming and then running away. It was crazy.
"Hmmm…" he said, "that's very revealing."
"In what way, doc?" I asked.
He told me that she was definitely one of those "one-in-three hundred" people he told me about. He said he was glad the police was involved now since she was at the edge and needed to be stopped, both from hurting others and from hurting herself.
I asked if I should tell the police everything, and he paused.
"Maybe not," he said finally. "I mean, I don't know how it could help them if they knew any more. And imagine the complications for you, your family and your friends. If everything comes out, that is. What does Danielle know?"
"About my pheromones? Nothing. No one knows."
"Good. Don't tell them until I talk to you again, okay?"
Okay… But what can I do, doc? People might get hurt…"
"From what you told me, the police are on it, and that's all that can be done. I suppose what you can do is, because you are her obsession, you should remain visible yet at the same time you should try and keep away from crowds. As soon as you spot her, get her away from other people. And be sure to let the police know as soon you spot her."
"That's not much…"
"I know, son, but that's all you can do. That and to be careful. Listen, can you send me some more samples?"
"Huh? Doc, we've been sending weekly samples already. Haven't you been getting them?"
"Yes, but what I want now are daily samples."
"Huh?"
"So I can see how your blood components are changing from day to day. I would go there and do it myself but I need to be here where my equipment is. So I'm going to send you something by special courier. It should be there by tomorrow. I'll include instructions as well. If we're lucky, I can get enough information and get you fixed up."
"So you think you can fix…"
"I don't want to get your hopes up until I have all the data. Just be alert and be careful."
I sighed. "Okay, doc. It's just that I'm scared…"
"Be strong, Dan. Keep your head clear, be alert, be careful, protect your family and friends, and call me if things change. All right?"
"Thanks, doc. Talk you you later."
***** (Danny) *****
The following day, a big box from Doctor Roberts arrived. Mom didn't touch it, and waited for us to get back from school. As soon as I saw it, I opened it and found a big, white gadget the size of a small microwave oven and a couple of pages of instructions.
"So, what is it, Danny," mom asked.
"It's a kind of blood testing device, mom," I explained. "It seems the samples Danielle and I have been sending haven't been getting to the Doc, so he sent this to us so our blood can be tested here and the information can be sent to him via the Internet."
How does it work, Danny?" Danielle asked.
"Well, let's see."
I read the instructions. First, I plugged it in and turned it on, and set the Internet connection by linking it to the house wifi. I then got one of the little coin-sized cloth filter papers in one of the bins of the device. I pricked my finger with the little pen device inside and wiped some blood onto the paper. I then slid the little wafer into the machine and pressed a button.
"That's it," I said.
"That's it?" Danielle said.
"Apparently."
"I thought it would be more complicated."
***** (Danny) *****
From then on, I sent as many "samples" of my blood as he asked - at least twice a day. Dr. Roberts even said it didn't matter if I didn't follow any set schedule, but that I should send as many as I could so long as it was a couple of hours in between samples.
It wasn't that big a deal, and it just became another part of my routine. Pricking my finger was annoying, though.
Danielle also sent samples, but it was more to keep up appearances since the Doc didn't need any from her anymore.
- - - - -
In the next couple of weeks, the posters came out, and they were great. Each of the clients got seven or eight unique posters each. Sally, the professional model, was over the moon since she made a lot of money from the shoot. For the rest of us amateurs, not as much.
Anyway, all the clients got several gross boxes of posters (A "gross" is equal to 144. Look it up.), and were ready to ship. But Tracey told me some bad news - Mrs. P wanted me to sign some of them for the clients. Now why would that be bad news?
We were in the lounge in KRPQ's building and I was in my Robin disguise. We were both having coffee. Well, Tracey was having a coffee and I was having a Dew and a burger. "I don't think that's such a big problem, Trace," I said. "What's signing a few posters?" Then I saw her face. "What?"
Tracey reached underneath the table we were at and brought out one of four big two-by-three-foot cardboard boxes.
"What's that?" I asked.
"These are the posters."
"Ohmigod! How many do I have to sign?"
"Four sets. Which makes five hundred seventy-six posters…" She looked worried that I might get mad or something.
"Oh…" I took a deep breath. "In that case, Trace, let's get started right away so we can finish early." I reached down, lifting and hefting the four boxes stacked atop each other.
She looked at me wide-eyed. "Ummm, don't you want some help with that?" she said.
"Nah, I got it." I stood up, carrying the four boxes in my arms.
"You're pretty strong, girl!"
I made a seesaw gesture with my left hand. "Not so much." I was a bit awkward because of the boxes.
Tracey signed for our bill at the register and we walked to the elevator to go to the office.
"I guess you work out a lot?" Tracey asked as she pushed the elevator's button.
"Well, not so much. Danielle and I used to jog every weekend, but we haven't jogged for a long time now."
"Well, you seem to be in good shape regardless." Tracey grinned.
I looked at her and waggled my eyebrows in a funny way. "You think, huh?"
She felt the biceps on my right arm. "You really got some muscles on ya," she said.
"Watch it, babe," I giggled, "or else, I'm telling Nikki on you."
The elevator opened and Tracey used her ID to open KRPQ's sliding glass door. She waved to everyone who was still in the office, and I headed to the bullpen while Tracey detoured to her mom's office.
There was no one in the bullpen so I picked the biggest available desk and plopped my load down.
Opening the first box, I pulled out a pile of the posters. They were pretty nice and glossy posters, and I liked 'em. What I didn't like, though, was that each of us had our names under each of our pictures. Well, not everyone - just the deejays and the UB guys, and just our first names in small white type, like under my picture, it said "Robin aka The Nighthawk - KRPQ." For Danielle, it said "Dannie - Guitar and Vocals - Unlimited Bandwidth."
I didn't know how the others who didn't have their names printed out would feel. Also, I thought that having our names on the poster felt a little hokey. But then… I stood up and looked at our posters from a few feet away and I couldn't see the labels any more. Hmmm… Pretty smart - they identified the people in the pictures but they didn't mess up the aesthetic.
I looked through the other posters, and for those that had non-band or non-deejay peeps as the subject, like that Alley-Oop jump shot with Drew and June in the foreground, it identified Drew as "Drew - KRPQ," and that was the same for similar posters, like the ones with Morgan, or Nikki or whoever in them.
After a few minutes, Tracey came back with half a dozen red sharpies and half a dozen blue ones.
"Thanks, Trace," I said. "Do you have a big piece of paper or something, though?"
"Ummm, no…"
"Ahhh! I have an idea."
I grabbed the top of the box and practice-signed on the cardboard.
"How does that look, Trace," I asked.
"That's great, Danny!" she said… "ooops, I mean, Robin… but I think you need to make it a bit bigger."
"Gotcha!" And I started signing. And then I realized something.
"Hey, Trace," I said, "so do I sign as Robin or as Dannie?"
"Mom says as both, actually - it's both of them that the sponsors recognize and want."
"No prob. I'll use the red sharpie for Dannie and the blue for Robin. But how about those posters where Dannie or Robin aren't the subject?" I pulled the jumpshot one with Drew and June as an example.
"Gee… I don't know…"
"What if I sign this like, 'in behalf of Drew, June and the guys - Dannie and Robin,' and I don't make it as big."
"Sounds good, actually. Go with that."
"Okay! Here I go…"
And I started signing 576 posters. And then I came to ones I haven't seen before. It was a pair of posters for Cowgirl Jeans, but in these ones, it was just Lou and Dennis - one was the pair standing in the booth back-to-back, and in another was the two sitting in front of the console, Dennis smoking a cigarette and Lou speaking into the boom mike and pointing to someone outside of the frame, both of them clearly hyper and excited. Both of them were, of course, wearing Cowgirl jeans. And above them was the motto, "Not just for girls."
"Wow!" I said. These posters weren't KRPQ posters, although it had the station's little logo in the lower part, as well as the legend, "Cowgirl Jeans is an Official Partner of KRPQ Radio."
"Oh, those aren't KRPQ posters, Tracey said, "they're ads for Cowgirl Jeans. They just wanted Dennis and Lou to sign a bunch of them, so the printers just shoved them in a few of the boxes. Cowgirl said they were gonna start a new campaign, and they wanted Dennis and Lou. I don't know the details, though, so don't ask me. Which reminds me - I need to get them to autograph their posters."
"Well, good for the guys! But I don't know how they can live down modelling Cowgirl Jeans, though," I chuckled.
I continued signing and signing and signing, doing it slowly, taking my time and made steady progress - I didn't want my hand cramping and messing up my writing, so I took my time.
After a few hours, I finished all four boxes of posters. Thank god!
"Done!" I said to Tracey, and grinned. She grinned back and nodded.
"Hey," she said as she started packing away the posters, "I don't see the guys around."
"Oh," I replied. "I told them that the both of us would just be doing something pretty boring tonight, so they decided to do their own thing."
"Even Nikki?"
I shrugged. I couldn't tell Tracey or the guys that the reason I asked them not to join us was that I was worried for them - that Janet was still out there, and if they were around me, they'd be in danger.
"I have to tell you, I think the guys think you're mad at them or something," she said.
"No! Tracey, no, no! I'm not mad at them! I'm not mad at anyone!"
She shrugged. "Joanne called earlier. She said Nikki was at Betsy's crying."
"Oh, no…"
"Well, let me put these in mom's office and maybe we can pass by Betsy's?"
"Okay…"
to be continued...
Chapter 51 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ. So the posters turned out great, and Danny signed each of the first run's copies personally before being distributed to the station's Official Partner companies. But he worried about what was happening to Janet. After another talk with Dr. Roberts, he tried to stay away from his friends for fear of them being hurt by Janet again. Tracey convinced him to at least tell them why he was keeping away. Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. |
Chapter Fifty-One: Our Friend, The Supermodel
***** (Tracey) *****
As I drove to Betsy's, I told Danny that I had some gifts for the gang, so this was a good excuse for passing by.
"You mean to say the entire gang's at Betsy's?" Danny asked.
"Ummm, yes…"
She giggled. "I smell a setup."
"I'm sorry, Danny," I said. "I guess…"
She leaned over and gave me a little hug.
"I'm just foolin' with you, Trace," she said. "But maybe this is good. I think I need to talk to everyone." She took off her wig and fluffed up her real hair. That wig must get hot after a while.
In a few minutes, we were at the Haley's gate. We were buzzed in and I drove to the guests' garage.
After a bit we were in the living room.
Walter went to me. I whispered something to him, gave him my car keys, and he went away.
"Hey guys," Danny said, and waved to everyone.
"Dude," Morgan said, but no one came closer.
"Listen..." Danny faltered. "Guys, listen…"
Danielle stood up and went to him. "Danny, it's okay. You can tell us anything. We'll be okay." She gave Danny a hug.
"Yeah, dude," Mike said. "Whatever it is we did, we're sorry. Tell us what and we'll fix it, whatever it is."
Danny shook her head. "No, dude. There's nothing. I'm sorry if you guys thought I was mad or whatever - I wasn't. Really, I wasn't. But…"
She sighed and started all over again. "Well, I had a talk with someone - I can't say who it was, but that person told me something. He… or maybe it was a she, heheh… said that something may be wrong with Janet…"
"Janet!" everyone murmured.
"Well, what he… or she," Danny shrugged, "said was that Janet has somehow started obsessing on me. And because of her very unstable situation, she isn't exactly safe to be around. Sorta like that psycho in Fatal Attraction."
"Fatal attraction?" Mel asked.
"It's an old eighties movie," Morgan explained, "with Glenn Close acting all psycho coz she has this thing for Michael Douglas…"
"Ahhh! I know that movie!"
"Who said this, Danny?" Morgan asked.
Danny shrugged. "Sorry, Morgan. I promised him I wouldn't say.
"Anyway, whatever got Janet unhinged has made her dangerous," Danny explained. "Look at the minibus thing, that thing at the department store, and that thing at the photoshoot. And because of her obsession with me, anyone who's close to me - I mean anyone who's nearby me physically - is in danger. So I was staying away from everyone coz… coz I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me. I'm sorry…"
Nikki came over and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Oh, Danny…"
Morgan came up.
"Dude," Morgan said, but Danny didn't let him finish and gave him one of those dude hugs.
"Dude," Morgan repeated, "you didn't need to keep us away. We can take care of ourselves, we'll be okay."
"And besides," Joanne came over and tousled Danny's hair, "you need us. We can help find Janet."
"No!" Danny said. "You're not gonna look for her, Joanne! She's dangerous. Besides the cops are on it. We should leave it to them."
"Speaking of which, what's the latest with the cops, Danny?" Jerry asked.
I cleared my throat to interrupt. "The police have been to our place to update mom," I said. "They said they've returned Mr. O'hara's car. Mr. O'hara is currently having it fixed up. The police also returned some stuff they found at the Arclight - the stuff that the police suspected was what Janet used to sabotage our show - turns out it was Mr. O'hara's tools. For a while, they suspected Mr. O'hara to be involved, but he didn't know anything, plus he and Mrs. O'hara were not at the Arclight at the time.
"The police also found some people that saw Janet. They traced her to a motel just a couple of blocks from KRPQ, where she stayed for a while. Nothing was there, though - Janet had cleared out the day of the last photoshoot. She's also stopped going to her singing and acting classes, and none of her classmates have seen her for a while. And though there've been some reports that she's been seen around town, that was as close as they came to finding her."
"That's all?" Mike asked.
"I'm afraid so."
"Damn!"
I saw Betsy on her phone.
"Hey, Betsy," I said.
"Oh!" she said, and said goodbye to whoever she was talking to. "Sorry, Tracey."
"Who was that on the phone?"
"Oh, I was talking to my dad's head of security. I asked him to come over." She waved Danny's look of protest away. "No big, Danny - he's just at the office next door. He'll be here in a bit."
"But, Bets," Danny said, "why?"
"Well, if you're okay with it, Danny," she said, "I'm thinking of getting them to help us track Janet down."
"But…"
A big, six-foot-eight guy knocked and stepped up to Betsy.
"Hello, Ms Haley," he said and shook Betsy's hand.
"Hello, Mr. Carpenter. Everyone, this is Ian Carpenter. He's the head of our house security. Ian, we have a situation." She walked the big man to the couch, and everyone took turns explaining the situation while he sat.
Ian was clearly a professional that knew his stuff. He asked very direct and very relevant questions which we tried to answer as completely and as clearly as we could, and one couldn't help but be impressed by the way he was able to understand fourteen yammering teenagers.
In the end, he seemed to get the situation, and said that he would get back to Betsy as soon as he's come up with a plan and talked with Betsy's folks.
"Wow," Mike said after Ian had left. "Scary dude."
Mongo shrugged. "I don't know about that," he said. "He's not so scary."
Everyone booed him and he dodged throw pillows.
Danny went to Betsy.
"Bets," he said, "I don't know about…"
"It won't be too complicated, Danny," she said. "It'll probably mean some more bodyguards, sure, but…"
"Betsy," Danny whispered, "I don't think I can afford…"
Betsy gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Don't worry about it, Danny. I'll take care of it."
"Elizabeth…" Danny clearly wasn't liking it.
She went closer and whispered into Danny's ear.
"Danny," Betsy said to her, "I don't know if you noticed but I'm filthy rich." She giggled. "My family and I have so much money I don't know what to do with it. Let me do this, okay? Please?"
Danny hung her head and nodded.
Betsy lifted her head by the chin. "You're so cute when you're like this," she said.
No one heard their conversation except me, Danielle and Nikki, and only because we were nearby.
I gave Betsy a big smile and nodded, and she gave me a thumbs-up.
Everyone gathered close to Danny and it was a wonderful sentimental moment.
I then saw Walter standing by the door, and he nodded at me.
"Well," I said, "enough of this. The other reason we came over was because we have something for everyone. Walter?"
Walter came over with a couple of my backpacks.
"Thank you, Walter," I said, and started bringing out what looked like extra-large decks of cards, with cards the size of tarot cards.
"So, mom called me and said people from PiperCorp visited the station today. Seems our posters were done, and they brought the first batch of prints to the office."
"Yeah?" "Wow!" "Cool!"
"Did you bring copies, Trace?" Drew asked.
"I'm sorry, Drew, the posters that they delivered were all spoken for. I got us some extras but they won't be arriving for a while yet. So, for now, I got us the next best thing." I started to hand out the packs.
"Those aren't oversized playing cards, actually," I explained. "They're copies of the posters, one-sixth the size of the originals. Take a look."
They opened up the boxes, and I was very gratified by all the looks on their faces.
"I got lots, so if some want extras…"
"Oh! Me, me, me!" Mike said. I giggled and tossed him two or three more.
"They're so good!" Mel said, looking at them, and giggled. She elbowed Jerry in the ribs. "Say they're good!"
"They're good, they're good!" Jerry said. Everyone laughed and Mel gave him a kiss.
Everyone gathered around the couch and the other sofa and looked through the mini-posters. June and Drew giggled at the ones where they were partnered together. I looked over their shoulder and they looked very pretty there. But what one noticed right away was that they looked similar enough in them that they looked almost like twins.
"Sexy," Morgan commented and Drew gave him a thank you kiss. As an added incentive, June kissed him as well, on the cheek. Which was just another reason for yet another round of teasing.
I had to wonder at the dynamic of those three. The acknowledged couple was Drew and Morgan, and they were awfully sweet with each other. But as the months have gone by, June was often with the two, and seemed as affectionate with Morgan as Drew, and what's more, Drew didn't seem to mind. But June had not said anything one way or the other, and no one dared ask the three
Looking at the four other guys, I thought I saw a gleam of jealousy in their eyes. Having twins as girlfriends was one of the bigger fantasies of boys, and I guess Drew and June looked enough like each other to be twins. Maybe even as close as Danny and Danielle.
But what's more surprising was Mel and Jerry. Only recently did we acknowledge it. Those two were pretty tight, but no one really noticed it until they started working closely together on the website.
I sighed. I wished there was someone for me, too. But, to be honest, I'd rather wait until I'm complete… you know. My FFS surgeries were going to be in a couple of months, and my SRS (SRS is what it says in the books I've read but my doctors say it's now called GCS) is scheduled for next year, right after my eighteenth birthday. I could actually do it this year but my mom said it would be better if it was next year, as I would have come to my majority and no one can question mom then. In her position as a fairly well-known successful corporate executive, something like that could mean professional suicide for her, so I didn't mind waiting an extra year.
Still… I sighed again as I looked at my friends.
***** (Jerry) *****
The following day, Morgan and I spent the afternoon at the office. Me doing the techy computer stuff and Morgan doing everything else. The big job that day, as usual, was adding new content to the site.
And, of course, the new big thing in KRPQ were our "official partners" program. KRPQ's official partners at the moment were Rockrgrrl (our biggest and most consistent sponsor) for music; Cowgirl Jeans for apparel; the new magazine, Prêt-à-Porter, as our fashion partner; Dyno Cars, one of the larger auto rental, detailing and custom shops in the country for automotive; Empire East Entertainment, the newest big video game company for computers and video games; the national sporting goods chain, Alley-Oop for sports; and Julia Anne KupKakes and M&N Pizza as our food and restaurant partners.
But then, we've had them on the site for several weeks now. It's just that no one's been paying attention. But the moment we posted copies of the posters, they weren't ignored anymore.
Morgan wrote some nice copy to go with the posters (which I spell-checked and proofed - Morgan's writing needed it) and I reduced the size of the graphic files prior to uploading. Per Tracey's instructions, I put watermarks on all of them though, but made sure Robin and Dannie weren't overlaid by the watermarks. Tracey explained that Robin and Dannie were our station's main attractions so we needed them… unblemished.
I uploaded Morgan's text and the watermarked pictures, and waited for Tracey to approve them. Morgan texted her and, in moments, Tracey approved them and the online site was instantly updated.
Morgan and I waited and, in minutes, the hits started coming. And coming and coming and coming… Wow. Our partners were going to be very happy.
In the coming days, our pics would be downloaded by fans pretty fast, not counting those who didn't bother to click the "download" button and just copied them straight. We couldn't count those but we had enough official clicks to make the partners happy.
Copies of the posters were also being passed around among the kids in school, so that was another confirmation that the campaign was very successful.
And, by virtue of the posters, my gang became overnight stars. In our school at least. And thank god for Morgan and Joanne for appropriately knocking our egos down to size. Otherwise, I doubt we'd be able to fit our heads through doorways. Sure, Morgan and Joanne were being a bit of a buzzkill, but we needed it.
I felt a bit bad, though, since I didn't feature in a lot of the pictures compared to the others, but that's the way it's been all my life. But, actually, I have never been as happy as now. And all because of Mel.
I've always thought that Mel was the most attractive of the girls in her little group, except for Danny, of course. And that sounds so weird - I mean, I've known Danny since we were kids, and he and Morgan have been sort of the ones I've looked up to in our little gang since forever. And as my buds disappeared over time - you know how it is when people move away and stuff - the only ones that stayed were me, Morgan, Danny and Mike - Morgan becoming more and more the leader, simply because of his leadership skills and, among the four of us, he was the most, I don't know, the most guy-like, I guess you'd say, and the most good-looking (Danny was good-looking, too, but, as a guy, Morgan has a bit of an edge).
Over the years, he'd had lots of girlfriends, but they were all short-lived relationships, and we thought it was because of us - I mean, would a girl want to be seen hanging around guys like us? His social standing in school was definitely affected by his hanging around us three rejects, but he didn't care, even at the expense of his relationships. I guess we all felt grateful for that even though we won't ever admit that to him.
Among all of us, and I'm including the girls, he was the one with the most problematic home-life, with parents that hated each other. Though his folks were still together, he's often told them they should have gotten a divorce a long time ago. But being Catholic, neither wanted to be the one to file for a divorce, so they just stayed together and made everyone else's life a living hell. Morgan had learned to be out of the house as often and as long as possible, and the Fairchilds became his surrogate family, and Danny his surrogate brother.
Those two were as close as brothers - maybe even more than brothers, and I envied their constancy and friendship.
Their bond remained, even when Danny went through his… change. I even thought that their friendship became even stronger, especially when Morgan's "little brother" was now the one that needed his help.
But the nature of the friendship had changed. It was obvious. But then, how could it not change? I mean, just look at Danny! Even so, despite this, Danny's long-time unrequited love affair with Nikki had finally borne fruit, which was great, and Morgan had found his own love in the voluptuous, bodacious Drew Logan.
As for me, my own unrequited and secret crush on Mel never came true. But as Mel sort of lost the constant companionship of two of her best friends, Nikki and Drew, as I had also lost Morgan's and Danny's, I guess there was room for another best friend in her life. And I'm happy enough to fill that role for now. Who knows? Maybe eventually we can become more than just close friends.
But at times like this, that seemed like a forlorn hope. These days, in the wake of the posting of the posters, Mike and I were now known as "Morgan's friends" or "friends of the guys in the posters." Mike, bless his heart, didn't let that faze him and actually basked in the glow of the reflected fame of Morgan and the others. But, for me, my role in the gang as third banana had started to chafe.
Mel commiserated, and spent more time with me to cheer me up. She once said that I was actually very good-looking, and it was a shame about my thyroid condition (meaning I was too overweight), otherwise, I'd have girls all over me.
That gutted me, and I hoped Mel didn't know how much, but maybe she did. She researched my condition a lot, and told me about certain kinds of food that would help, and got me on a diet and exercise program that she had researched and made up.
Truth be told, I would never get up so early on my own, but I thought it a kind of privilege to be jogging with Mel. And, though the visible effects of the diet and the exercise were slow in coming, at least I felt so much healthier and fit. In fact, I've lost maybe fifteen pounds.
You know, I don't really know if we were girlfriend-boyfriend. Maybe we were. Who knows?
***** (Jerry) *****
Over the coming days, the four of us - me, Mel, Morgan and Mike, were together a lot of the time after school since we were working on the site a lot. And because Morgan was there, Drew was there as well.
Mike was usually the butt of our little new team's jokes. I mean more so than usual. That was because all of us had our significant others with us, leaving Mike as the odd man out.
But then, Tracey was often there as well, since she did a lot of stuff for her mom. So we teased Mike a lot about that, that maybe he should make a play for Tracey.
Mike poo-poohed that, simply because Tracey was the big boss's daughter, and was out of his league. "Doesn't seem right, somehow," he said, but actually he was just scared of her mom. Just like we all would have been in his shoes.
But then we found Mike with a fancy silver fountain pen in his shirt pocket. We recognized it as either one of Mrs. P's or Tracey's fancy pens.
Morgan said that we shouldn't be stealing stuff from the office, especially from the boss, so he asked Mike to return it as soon as possible. Mike got incensed, saying that it was given to him by Tracey.
We didn't know if he was being serious or not, so Mel went in search of Tracey to find out if he was telling the truth, and found Tracey working in her mom's office while her mom was away.
She came out of Mrs. P's office with a bemused kind of look.
"So," I said, "did you ask Tracey?"
"Ummm, no…" she said.
"Huh? Why the heck not?"
She then explained that she was fully intending to ask Tracey, but when she went in, she found Tracey working, and wearing Mike's beat up Chicago Cubs baseball cap. Mike never lent that cap to anyone!
"Well…" I said. "Hmmm…"
***** (Jerry) *****
As the people in charge of the site, Morgan and I had a lot of say about what people would see in terms of the goings-on at the station. But, in terms of what the fans were thinking, or what they want, Mel was the authority, since she was in charge of all the incoming emails.
And, according to her, the talk of the town was the posters. And the posters played to the mystique that had started to surround Dannie, and now even Robin, too - the posters had finally put a face to the voice of the Nighthawk. Although she was already seen as well as heard in the Rockrgrrl and KRPQ TV shows, having fifty-two posters had catapulted her to pinup girl status. Dannie, too, as well as the other girls, especially the "twins," June and Drew.
It also didn't help that the stores, restaurants and other establishments around town had them mounted on their windows, walls and doors. Joanne was totally needed to keep the girls grounded and from becoming too full of themselves.
"Speaking of which," Mel said, "I found four emails addressed to the station, and they said that they wanted help in contacting Robin directly. They said they're about business opportunities, and they seem legit."
"Well," Morgan said, "where are they from?"
"Let's see…" She typed some stuff. "They're from ad and modeling agencies. I confirmed the email addresses against their websites and two of them seem totally legit; the other two, I'm not sure."
"I guess you should pass them on to Danielle, and mention which are from legitimate sites and which aren't."
"Should I mention it to Tracey as well?"
"She's probably seen them already because it came through the site's email. Let Danielle take care of it - you've got more emails to look at. Tell Tracey only if she brings them up."
"'Kay."
We forgot about these emails after Mel passed them on since we needed to manage this new obsession of the kids: days after the posters started popping up all over the school and in other places, we found that it was all because of some enterprising kids that had blown them up to poster size and were doing a brisk business of selling them at fifty dollars apiece. At Staples, having a 24x36 poster printed would cost thirty dollars so that meant they'd make almost a forty percent profit on each poster they sell. Of course, the pictures they used still had my watermark. I suppose someone could digitally take them out but, so far, no one's bothered to do that yet. Tracey was on it, and I'm pretty sure these bootleg posters will soon be taken down.
I asked the guys which of the posters were the most popular and, apparently the most popular ones were the Rockrgrrl and Alley-Oop ones. They were also my favorites, but the next favorite were the ones for Dyno's, especially for the girls. I guess they liked the fashion-focused vibe and the funky little fifties outfits, and for the guys - well, it's about cars, after all, and the Dyno hot rods were great, so those posters were a close third.
Throughout the high school, I kept seeing our posters. And, like in cliché TV shows and movies, I saw a lot of our posters in a lot of school lockers, and little cutouts of our pics festooned a lot of books, bags, laptops, tablets and notebooks.
After the frenzy of the KRPQ show had died down, very few were chasing us anymore. So the band was contemplating getting rid of the bodyguards. But with the posters, the "frenzy" came back. With a vengeance. So, instead of terminating the contracts for the bodyguards, Betsy prevailed on her parents to continue the arrangement, and, in coordination with Mrs. Piper, the band continued to have bodyguards shadowing them.
The crowds around us had come back, especially at Betsy's Fallon's, and, of course, outside of Danielle's classrooms. But that now included Drew's, Mel's and, especially, Morgan's classes.
There was even talk about Fallon being tight with the Nighthawk, given Robin's tough-girl black-and-white dress style had echoes in Fallon's own goth-ish style. But Fallon just shrugged it off and few had the courage to ask further.
Mike and I didn't have as many "fans," but we had a few. Mostly, though people just saw us as hangers-on, or as easy ways into our gang's inner circle. But then again, they didn't count on our not being easy marks. Mike, despite his clueless kind of aura, was actually a savvy guy, and he wasn't going to be played for a fool. Me, too, actually.
That didn't make Mike and I very popular, but even so, these people didn't want to risk getting on our bad side and risk being shut off from the gang, so they just opted to remain friendly with us. And since I was now identified with Mel, that bucked up my rep as well.
As for Danny - well, she... he always had a small group of loyal "fans," too, made up of some of the kids from his different classes and the glee club. You would think everyone would gravitate to Danielle given she's supposedly the girl from UB. But Danny's loyal fans remained loyal, even though he was "just" the brother.
Still, Danny was light years away from being the ostracized nerdy little guy that people either bullied or ignored. I guess that went for Mike and I, was well.
Anyway, because of the "resurgence" of all the craziness from before, with people again following us all the time and trying to be part of our group or just trying to get close, the bodyguard contracts were renewed and all the UB band members would continue to have human shadows following them, which was supplemented by Kelly, Tyler and Linton - Danny's own security courtesy of Mrs. Piper.
Speaking of security, Danny also told me that Mr. Carpenter, Betsy's family's head of security, had started his own effort to track down Janet. Our local police had failed miserably in locating her, so Mr. Carpenter's help was definitely appreciated.
So it had more-or-less devolved into how it was before, except that Morgan and the guys and I were so much more busy doing our website work these days (although part of our "contract," as co-signed by our folks, was that we needed to keep our grades up as well, and we weren't allowed to work too late - all within the labor laws regarding minors). We weren't making too much money, either, but we definitely made lots more than what we'd have had otherwise.
Betsy's house had also become our more-or-less regular after-school hangout. Mrs. Haley didn't mind that since that meant her daughter would be home more, where it was safe. So she had the Green Room - her house's largest guest room - outfitted as our own little "clubhouse," as she called it.
The only thing was that she asked Betsy to tell us that we needed to clean up after ourselves, that we shouldn't bring any guests, and that Walter's staff would be going through the room at least once a day and check for "paraphernalia and other not-so-nice substances."
Betsy's dad also had the room's large sliding doors that opened to the rest of the house changed to glass ones that we couldn't lock. He also had the utility door unpadlocked so we could all go directly from the parking garage to the hallway that ran by our "clubhouse." That way, we wouldn't be bothering the rest of the household with our comings and goings. We were also told that there were security cameras covering the hallway, the nearby utility door, and the part of the house just outside the room's window. And although the room was a bit soundproofed (Walter told us the house had soundproofing within the FAA-recommended noise contour with the average decibel level at 65 decibels... whatever that meant), we should still keep our noise to a dull roar.
We didn't mind - we were kids, after all, and it was their house.
There was also a fridge, a microwave, a water dispenser that Walter's people kept supplied, a sound system, our own wifi hotspot, and the two large beds were replaced with a couch, a dozen stackable plastic chairs and a couple of large plastic tables that could be disassembled if needed. There was also a very tiny en-suite bathroom with a tiny stand-up shower, toilet and a tiny sink.
That meant that, though we needed to bring our own supplies, we had everything we needed. It was a small price to pay if it meant we had our own place to hang.
Tracey got us a bunch of the posters which we mounted on the blank walls, and Mike and I brought several power strips and extension cords so that we could supplement the limited number of outlets and recharge our devices and stuff at the same time.
With all of us contributing what cash we could, Drew, Mel and Danielle took charge of buying our "supplies" whenever we ran low, with Joanne as their designated driver. Sometimes, Walter would put some drinks in the fridge, or restock our supply of disposable cups, plates, paper towels etc (all biodegradable, of course), but we tried not to let that happen often by buying our own. He also made sure that our tiny bath was always clean, always had toilet paper and hand soap, and he always had his people throw away the trash and replace the trash bags.
It all seemed ideal, except that Mr. and Mrs. Haley would sometimes visit us from out of the blue. They were trying to be our buddies, I guess, much to Betsy's embarassment, but we tried to be a credit to Betsy and didn't do anything too bad when they were around.
This time, when Morgan, Mike, Mel and I came in after leaving the office, Mr. and Mrs. Haley were there and hanging out with the gang. We were all understandably nervous, and were on our best behavior. But they didn't stay long, thank god. As soon as they left, though, it became less tense.
"Hey, Mel," Danielle came over and gave Mel a casual hug. "I just saw these emails that you sent over." She showed Mel her tablet.
"That was days, ago, Danielle."
She shrugged. "I'm sorry, Mellie. I just saw it now…"
The others asked what they were, and apparently, they were the email from the modeling agencies.
So, while we worked on homework and other things, Danielle and the girls checked the emails out, as well as the new ones that Mel just forwarded. There was even one from a company that Sally Marshall worked with, and this was the one they went crazy over.
"Danny?" Nikki called, "can you come over here?" She waved him over.
Danny theatrically sighed in exaggerated exasperation, and went over.
to be continued...
Chapter 52 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ. Morgan, Jerry and the others got part-time jobs to run the station's new website, and they posted the station's new posters on the site. Bootleg copies of their posters started to crop up all over school and in town. This causes a big stir and the band and the station got more fans. And, as the new website went from strength to strength, everyone got lot of email. One of these was for Robin - an offer for her to some modeling for a fashion house. Whuuut? Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. |
Chapter Fifty-Two: Twin Cities
***** (Danny) *****
It seemed Danielle was reading a letter from someone named Sarah Michelle Rhodes from an agency called Blumenfeld House. I didn't know her or that company, but Nikki explained excitedly that Blumenfeld was one of the top ten fashion houses in the country.
"Top ten?" I said, not seeing any significance in that. "Well, cool, I guess…"
Nikki sighed and gave me a kiss on top of my head like a mother would to a clueless child who didn't know any better.
"So what about this Rhodes person?" I asked.
"Well," Danielle said, "it seems she's one of the top people in Blumenfeld, and she says she knows a bit about Robin because of Sally Marshall."
"Okay? So?"
Danielle sighed. Oh, boy. Stereo sighing…
"Since she knows Sally, that means this lady's legit. And she says that she saw our posters, and she's interested in signing up Robin as a model."
"Whoa…" Morgan said and drifted over. "Lemme see that."
Danielle passed her tablet over, and we crowded around Morgan.
"It says here that she saw our posters," Morgan read, ", as well as the CNN piece, and she said Robin has a certain quality that told her she could be a great model. She also saw Sally in the posters, and said she had worked on several ad campaigns for them. She asked Sally about Robin, and Sally had nothing but good things to say, so she's asking Robin to come over for a chat, and to ask her if she'd be interested in becoming a model."
"Robin only?" Mike asked. "How about Dannie?"
Morgan read through it again. "No. She didn't mention Dannie."
"What!" Mike exclaimed in surprise. It was like he couldn't believe it.
"She says she'll wait for an answer," Morgan said, "and if Robin's open to a meeting, she'll either send a plane ticket, or she'll fly here if need be."
Danielle looked at me. "So what do you think?" she asked me.
"I don't know… Offhand, I don't want to. I mean, why would I want to?"
"Well, why the hell wouldn't you want to!"
"I don't want to be sashaying down runways and posing for pictures for hours and hours. And besides, I'll get caught! Danielle, I'm not really a girl! Robin Tibbles is a made-up person!"
"I don't think you'd be caught. We've been doing this thing for months, and no one's…"
I turned to Nikki. "what do you think?" I asked her.
"Well," she said, "if it were me, I'd jump at the chance, Dan. But I'm a girl. What girl wouldn't want to be a model." She shrugged. I gave her a kiss to show it was okay.
"How about you guys?" I asked.
The guys shook their heads with nothing else to say, while the other girls seemed to think it was a good idea, just like Nikki and Danielle. I saw Tracey had a pensive kind of expression.
"Tracey? What's on your mind?"
"I think I shouldn't say anything."
"Huh? But, why?"
"That's coz I guess you could say I have a conflict of interest."
"What do you mean? It's okay, Trace."
"Well, Danny, if you should become a model, it'd be great for KRPQ. I mean, it'll just be more buzz for the station if our most popular deejay is also a nationally-known model. So…"
I nodded at that, gave her a small kiss to say I understood. "Danielle? Wanna add anything?"
"I guess I feel the same way, Danny," Danielle replied. "I mean, it'd be more exposure for 'Robin,' and, by association, the station and UB. So I'd be pushing for it, seeing as I'm your manager…"
I looked at Danielle and Tracey. "How strong do you guys feel about that?"
The two looked at each other and then back to me. They shrugged.
"Your decision, Danny," Tracey said.
I snorted (but, I hoped, in a friendly way). "Yeah, right…"
"Danny," Danielle protested, "it's your decision…"
I looked at Nikki, and she had the same look on her face.
"Okay," I sighed. "I give. Forward that email to me. But no promises! And, since I don't want her sniffing around here and maybe discovering our secret, I have no choice but to go there to wherever she is… So, where is she from, anyway, Danielle?"
"Minneapolis-St. Paul, in Minnesota."
"Okay. Minnesota. Jeez…"
Tracey and Danielle gave me kisses on the cheek. Danielle clicked something on her tablet and passed it on to me.
I logged her account off, logged back using my Robin profile, opened Sarah Michelle's email, and I started typing my reply.
***** (Sarah Michelle) *****
As I stepped into my apartment, I was ready to fall into bed and sleep despite the fact it was just three pm. We had just put our Summer Catalog's layout to bed, both the print and the Internet versions. It was murder. Finishing all the shoots, dealing with models and their egos, and doing everything so quickly - here in Minnesota, our window for a summer shoot is verrry narrow - and then picking the right pictures, and then the layout, the copy, the ads, and then getting Edwin to sign off. Some of my guys might say that getting Edwin to sign off was the hardest.
This was the longest month of my life… But then again, I always think that after a catalog's put to bed.
Blumenfeld's various lines were doing passably well - just: we were hanging on by our teeth. So it was important to find a way to generate new sales. Not to mention that our "style" was getting pretty dated. So last spring, I had a brainstorm to start a new YA line, hiring new, fresh and cutting-edge designers, opening new displays both in our stores and in our partner retail outlets, and starting a new print campaign with our usual print partners.
But it's been over a year now and our YA line hadn't really caught the market's eye despite the high quality designs, materials, and the usual high-quality manufacture that Blumenfeld is known for. If it doesn't pick up before December, it might be shut down, and I might be out of a job.
And speaking about putting things to bed… I was sooo tired...
Getting a bottle of beer from the fridge (yes, I said "beer" - sue me, I like beer more than wine), I dropped myself into my sofa, sat and just absorbed the peace and quiet, and enjoyed my second-favorite ice-cold San Miguel Dark Lager (I ran out of my favorite Kentucky Brunch Brand Stout, and they didn't have any in stock in the three closest Trader Joe's).
After about an hour, I felt my phone vibrate. In this business, one doesn't pay to ignore calls, texts, messages and emails so I snapped out from my pleasant drowsiness to something like full wakefulness.
It was an email reply from that girl - the one that came out in those Prêt-à-Porter and Rockrgrrl posters. Let's see…
"Dear Ms Rhodes," the girl wrote, "Thank you for your email. I'm quite flattered to hear you're considering me to be one of your talents there at Blumenfeld House. I am open to meeting with you in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, if you are still willing. I've always wanted to visit the Twin Cities, especially your museums.
"However, I will be very honest - at the moment, I am not too interested in a career in fashion as I am very busy with my job and my studies. They are my priorities at the moment. Besides, I am not a professional model, and my work with Prêt-à-Porter Magazine, Rockrgrrl, Alley-Oop, Empire East and so forth was a one-off assignment because of my current work as an announcer at KRPQ Radio here in my new hometown. Whatever impression you may have gotten because of that may have led you to some wrong conclusions. Feel free to talk with my friend and co-worker, Ms Sally Marshall, who I understand you know, and she will confirm what I said.
"With this in mind, if you still wish to meet with me, I can be in Minneapolis-St. Paul this Sunday or the next, provided that I can be back home in the evening, as I have classes the following day. Just let me know the details. I was wondering, however, if I can bring someone else with me. I'm afraid I am not too comfortable traveling alone. (Don't worry - I'll be taking care of my friend's ticket and other costs.)"
My goodness, this girl is a caution! And so very careful in her phrasing. It's like she's speaking lawyerese!
In any case this girl may be the answer to my prayers.
I clicked off the phone and opened up my laptop to reply to her.
"Dear Ms Tibbles," I typed, being equally careful in my words, "I'm so pleased that you have agreed to meet with me. Sunday morning would be absolutely perfect. I'll email you your e-ticket by tonight, as well as a short itinerary with details."
She mentioned a friend because she doesn't want to travel alone. I could go to her instead, but I might queer the deal - best to just let it ride. But I'll have to take care of her friend - can't have Blumenfeld House be thought of as a cheapskate! This girl may well be the answer to my prayers, so this is not a time for penny-pinching.
Okay. So I started typing again.
"As for your traveling companion, it would be our pleasure to take care of her travel and other expenses as well. Just email me his or her name as soon as you can and we'll arrange everything."
There. She won't have a reason to turn me down anymore. And, just to sweeten the deal… "As our boss and patron prefers to do many of his shoots and other work over the weekend, it is very likely that he'll be here Sunday. If so, I can arrange for a short hi-and-hello with Edwin himself. Isn't that exciting?"
That should do the trick. What girl can turn down a face-to-face meeting with the legendary Edwin Blumenfeld himself?
Okay, time to wrap this up. "I look forward to hearing from you," I typed. "Do not hesitate to email or text anytime. My cellphone number is 651-555-1213. Thanks! - yours sincerely, Sarah."
Hmmm… I think I need to give the big boss a call…
***** (Danny) *****
After only ten minutes since I clicked "send," Danielle's tablet beeped. Seems this Sarah Michelle really wants to meet me.
"… hesitate to email or text anytime!" Danielle read aloud excitedly, "… yours sincerely, Sarah." She looked at me wide eyed. "So?" she said to me excitedly. "What do you think?"
I shrugged.
Danielle started to dance excitedly. "Twin Cities, here we come!" Nikki looked at her with a slight frown. "Ummm…" Danielle looked a bit abashed. Of course, I'd want to bring Nikki.
"But Nikki," Danielle explained, "I'm Robin's manager, so…"
Joanne cleared her throat. "Ahem!"
Nikki and Danielle looked at Joanne. "What!" Danielle said irritatedly.
"Ummm… Well, Danielle, presumably, this Ms Rhodes - she's seen all the posters, so she won't know you as Danielle, but as Dannie from the band."
"Well, then, I'll be Dannie."
Joanne shook her head. "Well, I suppose, then, you won't be there as Robin's manager, right? So it doesn't have to be you to go with Danny - it could as well be any one of us. And if you do any 'managing,' it will just alienate you and Robin from the lady."
Nikki nodded her head vigorously. "That's right!"
Joanne cleared her throat again. "But then, Nikki, it would be a little problematic if you were the one to go with 'Robin,' because you aren't really identified with her but more with Danny, the guy. If you go, then it might raise some questions."
"But that lady doesn't know me nor my connection to Danny!"
Joanne shrugged. "I suppose. But can we risk it?"
Nikki looked stubborn, and ready to argue the point, but Joanne had a suggestion.
"I know you guys want to go. Actually all of us want to go. Who doesn't want to see the Twin Cities?" She looked at me. "It's your choice, of course, Danny, but I think I have a suggestion that might actually keep the peace around here, and actually make some sense."
"Yeah?" I said. "What's your suggestion?"
"My suggestion is that you bring Sally Marshall with you instead. If she wants to go, that is. Ms Rhodes knows Sally, and she can be your bona fides. Plus she knows the ropes and everything - you can ask her for advice."
I thought that over while I looked at Nikki and Danielle. I also looked at the others. As usual, Joanne was absolutely right.
"I'm sorry girls," I said, and pulled out my phone. My cellphone had three SIM cards (it was Acer's last three-sim model) - one for my number, another for Dannie's and another for Robin's. "I should call her, then," I said, and dialed her number using my Robin number.
"Hey, girl," I said in my best Robin voice when Sally picked up. "I was wondering if we could meet up tonight? Nothing major. You can't? Oh, that's too bad. Can you talk now? Great. Anyway, how's your weekend? Free? Cool. Well, it's like this…"
And then I started to explain the situation.
Sally said she indeed knew Ms Rhodes. She also said her weekend was totally free and, surprisingly, she was open to helping me out, which was great. So I promised to contact her with the details as soon as Ms Rhodes contacted me again.
"Well, I guess it's a go," I told the others after I hung up.
I borrowed Danielle's tablet again and sent yet another email.
"Hello, Sarah," I typed. "Thanks for your email. I can be there this Sunday morning. My companion will be Sally Marshall, whom you know. If you need more information, please don't hesitate to email again, or you can text me on my cellphone." I typed my, or rather Robin's, number, and then signed off.
I then forwarded my email to Sally, as well as our previous emails and suggested it might also be good for her to send Sarah her contact details, just in case.
At that point, Danielle and I stopped talking about it and just hung around with the gang, chatting about regular stuff, or working on some homework.
It was a bit sad that June, Dale and Mongo weren't around - Mongo was probably at home or in their stationery shop while Dale and June were probably in their dorms or apartments. It was only at times like these that we realized that some of us were actually adults already, or as close to adulthood one can be yet still be kids.
But that was okay. When we were together, worry for the future in general, and worry for our future specifically, was no big deal. Whatever the future held for us, we all thought we've figured out what we wanted to do with our lives already - different, I'm sure, from most of the other kids in school - I wanted to get into music, just like Dale and June, and I know Morgan wanted to become a music producer or writer. Danielle wanted to be a people manager of some kind and Jerry wanted to be in computers. Nikki, the few times I talked with her about it, said she wanted to be in fashion, as did Drew and Mel, and Mike wanted to be a comedian, but, before breaking into that arena, he said he wanted to be a writer for TV. Fallon wanted to be a writer-novelist and, as for Tracey, she said that it has always been the plan for her to take over the family business, so she'd probably need to take a degree in Business or something.
For myself, I decided on going to Berklee in Boston, Massachusetts, or USC in California, or, if I really thought I could, maybe even NYU. Tuition wasn't a problem anymore, after all, so I could try any of them. My safety college was nearby Franklin - their music programs, though not well known, probably because very few of its graduates were high-visibility artists, were ranked as one of the best in the country, and only a few of those that apply get in. In fact, their acceptance rate of 35% was as low as Berklee's. I think it was a bit of arrogance on my part to even call it my "safety college."
As I sat on the couch with Nikki, and we were chatting and I was musing about these things, my phone beeped. I checked and I, or rather Robin, had a text from Sarah Michelle, saying that I should check my email. Since Danielle was busy working on her tablet, I switched on my phone's wifi and made do with the smaller screen.
"Hi, Robin (cc Sally)," Sarah wrote, "thanks for your email. I'm so pleased you and Sally will be coming! I've attached your and Sally's e-tickets to this email…" - I checked and we had a 6:30AM United flight to Minneapolis, and then a 9:30PM return flight - "… and have reserved a room for you at Le Meridien where you and Sally can drop off your stuff, rest or whatever, and then we'll have a late brunch at St. Genevieve and talk. We can then proceed to Blumenfeld House where you can see our operation and meet Edwin personally, and then have a short tour of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area, though I have to say, there's not much to see - many of the nicer places may be closed on Sunday. Afterwards, we'll drop you off at your hotel, and in case you'd like to have an early dinner, I have you reserved at The Borough. From there, a limousine will bring you to the airport for your trip home.
"Anyway, see you girls on Sunday. Til then…"
I didn't know any of the places she mentioned but I guess I'll just google them later.
I texted Sally and told her to check out her email, and then thought a bit about the more practical things.
Oh, wait… Dammit…
***** (Tracey) *****
After I helped Mike with his homework, I came to the realization that he was a lot smarter than any of us credited him for. Sure, Morgan has always said he was very sharp, but Mike's, ummm, persona showed very little of this.
Anyway, all Mike needed was some help with his homework, mostly to help him focus, but other than that, he did all the work himself. In fact, he was actually helping out the others with their own stuff. Maybe Mike has ADD or something. In which case, he needs to be diagnosed. But I didn't know how to help.
I saw Danny and Morgan chatting in hushed tones and I went over to them.
"So what's happening," I asked.
Morgan shrugged. "Oh, nothing," he said. "Danny was just worried about his trip to Minnesota."
"Yeah?"
"I didn't think," Danny said. "I don't have any ID as Robin other than my company ID. I don't know if I can get on the plane without being checked out."
A little light bulb went off in my head. Ohmigod, Danny's right. Dannie-the-singer was fine to travel because he could use Danielle's papers if needed, but Robin was a fictitious person…
"Well, Danny," I said, "what if I could make up an ID for Robin?"
"I could actually arrange that myself, Trace," Danny said, "but a fake ID wouldn't be any good with Homeland Security. You know? Airport checks, et cetera?"
"I know, Danny," I said, "but I can get you an ID and stuff that's compliant with the Real ID Act and can stand up to an FBI check."
"Real ID Act?"
"The laws they put up after 9/11? It's to help with airport security checks and all that. Let's see…" I opened my phone and started checking for cities and states that were already compliant with the Real ID Act. Hmmm… Minnesota was one of them, so that means Minneapolis will be requiring compliant documentation. Right above it on the list I was looking at was Seattle.
"How would you like it if you're from Seattle, Washington?"
Danny shrugged. "I wouldn't mind it. But, Trace…"
"Danny, mom has all sorts of connections. I think she can help you get a Washington driver's license, and since Washington is Real ID-compliant, that's all you need. So, do you want one?"
Danny shrugged. "If it's not too much trouble, and if it's safe. I mean, what if the FBI checks don't…"
I thumped him on the shoulder. "Why don't you trust me?" I laughed.
"I do, I do!"
I nodded. "Okay, then." I stepped out of the room and out onto the grass-covered yard outside to call mom.
So, as I explained it to mom, apparently mom was way ahead of me. She'll have the driver's license ready in a couple of days.
Later on, I'd find out from mom what she did: Apparently, the income that we were paying "Robin Tibbles" had to be reported to the IRS somehow. It wasn't too big, but it was just big enough that it couldn't be hidden in the station's petty cash anymore. So mom's people had concocted the identity "Robin Tibbles" - a legal identity as far as the IRS was concerned. And if the IRS recognizes Robin as a real person, then all the other government agencies would, too.
Maker
Robin has had a Social Security number for a while now, plus a "null address" in Seattle, Washington (what a coincidence!) as her birthplace and home. A "null address," in the spy biz, is a valid address, but an address for a currently non-existent place, like an apartment building that was torn down a long time ago, for example, so if someone were to try and find the building, they wouldn't find it, even if it was a valid, though defunct, address.
Also, in order to reduce all of the legal complexities that hiring a minor would cause, mom had made sure Robin was eighteen, and to reduce any family entanglements, Robin was also an orphan, with both parents dead from the fire that destroyed their apartment years ago. Apparently, Robin Tibbles was a real person from Seattle that died in the same apartment building fire that killed her family.
All of this was courtesy of the Federal Witness Protection Program. Aside from making up completely fictitious identities, the FBI also sometimes gets the identity papers of real, but dead, people, like Robin Tibbles, and just expunged their death certificates from all government records, which therefore meant that they didn't die, records-wise.
This method was easier, and usually better, than making a totally new identity, because real identities come ready-made with their own histories. And the advantage of this was that such histories were impregnable - there were no holes or anachronisms to poke at since they were genuine, provided that the proper identity was selected.
Anyway, my mom gave one of her clandestine friends in the FBI her preferences for an identity she needed - first name, "Robin," age eighteen, brunette and preferably five-foot-one. The FBI's computers popped out "Robin Emanuellé Tibbles." Mom, through her connections, had, ummm, appropriated the Robin Tibbles papers for Danny, and, once selected, Mom's FBI friend took Robin Tibbles out of the FBI's list of available identities as well as all other traces in the federal program, with nary a trace or digital footprint. And since he was already eligible for retirement, mom's friend thought it was time to retire, and eventually went to Boca with a sizeable chunk of cash that he'd been "hoarding" for a while that will keep him comfortable for the rest of his days, and hide him and his... unauthorized activities from the Federal government.
There were several paper people like "Robin," which the FBI have ready, for use with the next whistleblower or organized crime boss-turned-witness. But, based on any record you can find, "Robin Tibbles" was never one of these. What she was was KRPQ's newest employee.
To add traceability to Robin's nonexistent history, mom had verified and expanded her old school records, given her a totally legit diploma, and also "enrolled" her in the nearby university of Franklin, but had her currently on long-term academic leave.
I would tell all of this to Danny later, and it wasn't a happy thing when I did because she suddenly discovered she was now a taxpaying citizen.
Anyway, for now, I told Danny that she'll get Robin's real driver's license by end-of-day tomorrow, post-dated to Robin's eighteenth birthday, which was several months ago, just days befpre she "became" a KRPQ employee.
Danny gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek in thanks, which had me blushing, and everyone else giggling.
And then I noticed her red hair…
"Ummm, Danny?" I said, and pointed to her hair. I mean his hair…
He saw where I was pointing and he looked at me. "Oh, damn," he said. Sure, he could wear the usual wig but it might be problematic, especially when they were going through security at the airport.
So, after yet another mini-meeting, Joanne said that she could take Danny after his Nighthawk show on Saturday morning and turn her into a brunette beauty again. I mean him! Goddammit!
Anyway, that meant that Dannie won't be able to participate in their usual Saturday practice session, but since it was just practice, it shouldn't be a big problem.
Too bad, though, since it would be their first time in their new practice venue - a rehearsal "studio" at the outskirts of town that Nikki had rented under her fake name. Since they were bringing their own equipment, the rental was only fifteen dollars per hour. And since their practice sessions usually last for three to four hours, it'll only cost sixty dollars. And since they had jacked up their fees with Mario's by five hundred dollars an hour, they could clearly afford it.
Of course, moving to a new place pissed Mongo off since it'd mean he has to schlepp his entire drum set back and forth. At least that was what he said the last time we were together. June gave him a hug and quipped, "welcome to my world, kid." Truth be told, I think Mongo felt bad because I think he liked being the host. But he didn't really complain aside from that one comment. Typical, stoic, dependable Mongo.
Anyway, if the new place was discovered by the fans again, we can just find another studio. Nikki said, apparently, there were a lot of these "basic studios," which were nothing but soundproofed structures, and weren't expensive to rent.
Going back to Danny, when she returns from Minnesota, Joanne will have to turn her back to a redhead before school on Monday. Maybe it would require yet another one of Danielle's sleepover thingies. That'll be fun, I'm sure. I wonder if all girls were so into makeup and hair and such. I suppose most are, but I'm real sure no not many did the things this bunch did.
Sleepover! I couldn't wait.
***** (Danny) *****
This Tuesday at Betsy's, Tracey handed me my, or rather Robin's, new driver's license as well as Robin's Social Security card. Tracey also said Robin's other papers will be given to me as soon as they became available.
I wasn't tracking what Tracey was saying because I was still a little sleepy. Unbeknownst to everyone except Tracey, I've been waking up early most days (when I had nothing going on) and practicing. Practicing what, you may ask?
Well, after the concert thing, I used a bunch of the money I earned and bought a bunch of electronic stuff. I asked Tracey's help, and with their family connections, she was able to help me get the stuff I wanted at heavily discounted prices, otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to afford them.
I got myself a Yamaha DTX450 Electronic Drum Kit, a Yamaha EZ-TP Digital Trumpet, a Yamaha YEV-104 Electric Violin, a Yamaha WX11 Digital Wind Instrument (with a finger pattern just like a flute, a clarinet or a saxophone), a Yamaha P115 88-Key Weighted Action Digital Piano and a Yamaha Reface CS portable synthesizer.
I only slightly knew to play their analog originals but, given I was starting to think seriously of a musical career for myself, I decided to be as proficient as I can with as many instruments as possible. Since I knew the guitar well enough, I thought I needed to be as proficient with other popular instruments, namely the piano, the drums, the violin, the flugelhorn & trumpet, and the sax.
But, because I didn't want to drive anyone in the house batshit with my practicing, I had to get electronic equivalents of all of them so I can do my playing with a convenient set of headphones.
And, since Tracey's mom's connections could give me wholesale prices if I got Yamaha stuff, then all of the instruments I got were all Yamahas. In fact, I got all six instruments for less than a thousand (plus another thousand for the other incidentals, like a good speaker system, a mixing board, a plugboard, lots and lots of wires, and so forth.
I had set up my new toys in the corner of my room (which happened to be the largest room in the house. Also the farthest from mom and dad's room). In truth, no one really noticed them - they just assumed it was just more electronic shit that my room was already cluttered with. The only ones that would probably have noticed would be the guys in the band, but since none of them have been to my room...
I wasn't really keeping it secret - if they asked, I would have told them, but since they haven't... Besides, I don't want them to find out about it until I was proficient enough with them that I didn't sound like a clueless wannabe.
Anyway, I'd wake up early in the mornings as often as I could, and studied & practiced for at least an hour, and, hopefully, in a couple of months, I won't sound like amateur hour.
But back to the present...
- - - - -
"What other papers?" I asked Tracey about the documents she was going to give me.
"Well," Tracey said, "basically, three things - your High School Diploma, your passport and your birth certificate."
"Oh?"
"The reason they're taking so long is because they have to make sure they're backstopped with the appropriate paper trail. And like the passport - they will be all new but they have to look look like they aren't."
"But still real?"
"Oh, yes - totally legit - issued by the government and everything. And you can use them for traveling abroad, applying for a loan or a job, and everything."
"Okay."
"And you know what this means now," she said. "It means…"
"Yeah, yeah, don't remind me."
"… you're gonna have to start filing income taxes starting next March." She chortled like a stereotypical madman.
"Ahhh, shut up!"
Tonight, we were in Joanne's mom's beauty salon, and I was sitting in one of the barber's chairs, which Joanne corrected me and told me it was actually called a "styling chair."
The place was full, as usual, but I had a reservation so I got a spot right away.
Off to the side, on the table by the cash register, the other girls were going through Joanne's mom's catalog of hair styles, but aside from a lot of "oooh's" and "ahhh's," I guess they weren't any close to deciding on my new cut.
Eventually, though, Nikki goes, "I like this one!" and then Mel goes, "Yeah!"
There were only four of the girls with us since the other girls were with the band. Danielle was with them since she was in her "Dannie" disguise. She might not be playing, but she needed to be there to keep up appearances just in case. And Betsy, Fallon and June had to be there, of course, and if June was there, then Drew was there, too, and therefore Morgan as well.
So it was just Joanne, Mel, Tracey and I. And since Mel was here, Jerry was here, too. As for Mike, I think it's because Tracey was here. I wasn't sure about that, but I had my fingers crossed. For both of them.
Anyway, Tracey and I went over.
"That girl looks a lot like Meg Ryan in one of her old movies, when she was still cute," Mike commented.
"Yeah?" Mel asked.
"One of the romcom ones."
"They're all romcoms."
"No, they're not. Trace? What do you think?"
Tracey bent down and checked the pic. "Yeah, she does, actually. Like from that old one, 'When Harry Met Sally.'"
"Yeah!" Mike and Tracey high-fived each other.
Joanne, Mel and I looked at each other grinning. Looks like I'm not the only one with fingers crossed.
Anyway, it looks like they've finally decided on my Robin 'do.
The first thing Joanne did was to wash my hair while I leaned back over that sink that you see in salons. After which, she towel-dried my hair and started applying that really bad-smelling hair coloring junk.
"I'm doing the application in streaks," Joanne said, "and allow it to leach into the other strands, so your red hair will come out from underneath, and they'll look like highlights. Plus, since it's not so solidly applied, it'll be easy to take out or cover up when you come back.
"And this wash is free of hydrogen peroxide, ammonia and PPD. That means it's not damaging. But it doesn't stain your clothes or anything, and it stays on until you wash it out by using this special shampoo." She held up a big unlabeled plastic bottle.
After a while, my hair wasn't stinky anymore, and Joanne rinsed it, and started styling and trimming it. She told me later that the style was called a shag. I didn't care what it's called except that it looked real good.
"Nikki?" I said. "Sweetie, maybe you can have your hair done this way, too?"
Nikki giggled and gave me a kiss.
Anyway, my hair was sorta messy but good-looking as well, especially with the red-orange-blonde "highlights" that peeked through. I started moving the messy curls around but it was okay even if I messed with it. I told Joanne that, if nothing else, I think my hair will impress Sarah. Hey, I wasn't just trying to suck up to Joanne so she won't charge me!
Anyway, Nikki was lending me her fancy leather "executive" backpack, and she and Danielle will be packing it with what they call the "essentials" later.
The gang met up later that night at a greasy spoon at the edge of town that was directly opposite the so-called studio, our bodyguards trailing us as usual. Mike heard of this place that had great food that no one really goes to, and we were gonna try it out. Turns out it was our best diner dinner ever. Heehee.
And if our fans track this place down, that's fine, because we just won't go there later. If ever we can't eat here again, it'll be too bad because their chicken fried steak, clam chowder and hotcakes were the best I've ever had. (Yeah, it's a weird combination but you wouldn't say so if you were here.)
Anyway, with the usual "tomfoolery and hijinks" (sorry, I had Mark Twain in my reading list) my 'do had passed muster with everyone, especially the guys. A fact which irritated the girls a lot, apparently. Anyway, Joanne was saying, when the color was washed out, my hair would retain the cut, allowing it to be easily styled into a guy's hairstyle just by using a comb, or styled into a sexy girl's 'do with a bit of hairspray, which'll help a lot when I need to switch personas again. She demoed this by combing her fingers through my newly colored, tastefully highlighted brunette hair.
At around ten, I asked if we could make an early night of it since I had to leave early for my trip. I paid for Nikki's and my bill, and everyone booed since I wasn't treating for anyone else.
The guys gave me that complicated handshake we did, which included Dale and Mongo now - the newest members of our gang - and after a guy-hug with Morgan, Danielle and I left in my Mustang with Nikki.
At home, we said hi to my folks, who didn't know about my trip to the Twin Cities the following day, and retreated to Danielle's room (I had hidden as much of my hair as I could with a baseball cap).
Danielle, Nikki and I got my carry-on backpack ready with the "essentials," and laid out my outfit and everything. Because of the 6:30 flight, the girls made me go to bed. It's best to get there at least thirty minutes ahead, but given how it was nowadays, Danielle suggested an hour. And since I had to pass by for Sally, that means I had to be on my way by at least four AM.
That meant I had to wake up super-early indeed.
Anyway, I'm sure the two will have fun in their impromptu sleepover.
I made my excuses, gave Danielle and Nikki a kiss, and went to bed .
Although it didn't feel like I got much sleep because, in what felt like five minutes, I was being shaken awake by Nikki.
I wasn't complaining. If ever you get woken up the way Nikki woke me up, you wouldn't be complaining either.
"Good morning, my love," Nikki said, and kissed me on the lips again. "Time to wake up."
I moaned in protest, still half asleep, and pulled her towards me. "Nooo… Half an hour more…"
I hugged her to me like a warm and wonderfully squishy giant teddy bear.
"Oh, Danny," Nikki whispered into my ear, "I'd like nothing more, but Danielle's in the other room and your folks are down the hall… and you have to get up to pick up Sally… and then fly to Minneapolis…"
"Nooo…"
Nikki giggled, pushed away and pulled away my blanket and pillows.
"Aaargh!" I complained and went into a fetal position, keeping my eyes tightly closed.
"Danielle, I need help," Nikki said, and I heard Danielle clomp into my room.
"There's only one way to get this guy up," Danielle said. "Kitchee-kitchee-koo!" And she started tickling my feet.
Five minutes later, I was grumpily finishing my shower (I didn't use shampoo, though), and five minutes after that, I was sitting in Danielle's chair in my underwear. I was in the de rigueur gaff with matching bra, and I sat patiently while Danielle gently blow-dried my hair and fussed with my makeup.
Usually, I'd worry about the girls getting… too excited when I was just in my underwear, but apparently Dr. Roberts was correct - after being around me so much, my friends seemed to be a bit more immune to my charms. Or maybe it was Dr. Roberts' "cologne" - I had put on some of it after my quickie shower. (I made sure I'd bring some in a little applicator for my trip.) Over the weeks since Doc gave me his formula, I've had to reformulate it several times because I noticed that its effectivity had been getting weaker. Lately, I've been testing me and the formula everyday, hence I bought a supply of red and blue litmus paper and kept them in my desk drawer. Since it was litmus paper, I could assume the… active ingredient had something to do with the acid levels of my, ummm, pheromones.
With regards liquids et cetera, Sally taught me to only bring little applicators of perfume and other makeup stuff on a plane because of air travel rules - only a maximum of three 100ml bottles of liquids like perfume and such are allowed. But since it was just essentials this time, small sampler bottles, a tiny travel case and little brushes and combs were more than enough, and Nikki was able to fit them into a one-quart baggie, which Sally said was what one does when going through airport security.
The girls selected a couple of "wrinkle-friendly" outfits that went with the high-heeled cowboy boots they had me wearing, and was able to fit everything in Nikki's little leather backpack.
Knowing I was going to Minnesota, Danielle made sure to pick a nice, warm, sophisticated black leather ladies motorcycle jacket, which went well with the designer burgundy thermal leggings they picked and the tight, stretchy, eggshell-colored long-sleeved turtleneck bodysuit she picked.
The three of us tiptoed out of the house and waited at the curb for my Uber ride - we didn't want to wake up my folks. But since it wasn't even five AM, and was therefore real cold, I decided to wear the jacket.
As soon as the car arrived, I hugged the girls and I went off to Sally's - I had specified the multiple stop function and entered Sally Marshall's address so the Uber would pass by Sally's first, and then we'd make the thirty-minute drive to the airport where Sarah had our flight booked.
A few minutes later, the car pulled up at Sally's. I texted her, and she promptly came out. She looked very cute and looked just like the fashion model that she was.
She got in and gave me a hug. I gave our Uber guy a nod and we were off for the airport.
Getting there, we went to security. I took a deep breath. Sally explained what to do, so I took off my jacket, belt, shoes watch and earrings, put them all in a basket and let the basket and my backpack go through the metal detector (no full-body scanning thingie this time because it was a domestic flight).
Sally also explained that I should take out the one-quart baggie out of my backpack and keep it separate.
Sally went through the detector without incident, but for me, after I went through, the TSA people insisted on running metal detector wands over me, as well as doing a very thorough pat-down.
"Watch it, dude," I said when one of them "accidentally" felt my breasts up multiple times. When I was starting to get fed up by the asshole's "thoroughness" and was starting to look around for his supervisor, he let me through.
I was fairly fuming when I went to the end of the conveyor to get my stuff.
"What's wrong, Robin," Sally asked.
I huffed while I put on my boots, jacket, earrings and watch back on, and threaded my narrow little belt through my leggings-slash-pants' belt loops.
"Well," I said in a fairly loud voice, "it's that guy." I pointed directly at the TSA person that did my inspection. Being an announcer on the radio, I knew just how to project my voice without seeming to raise it, making sure the people around me would hear.
"I don't know if he was being thorough," I said, "or if he was copping a feel."
"You don't think he was…" Sally said, playing along.
"Oh, no! Not at all!" I said in exaggerated casualness. "I'm sure he was just doing his job. Although I don't know why he thought something was wrong with my breasts as he was quite thorough about inspecting them. If I didn't know any better, I would have called him a creep or something, but since he was just doing his job, he probably was just being thorough."
The security person in question was blushing furiously and was refusing to meet my eyes, or the eyes of the other passengers. He, as well as his colleagues, obviously heard me.
I started walking towards another officer who was obviously his supervisor, and Sally followed. She had a quizzical expression, wondering what I was doing.
"Excuse me, ma'am," I said, again in my best DJ voice, "I was wondering if you can point us to the United check-in counter?"
"Ummm, yes, miss," she said. "You just walk down the gangway and look to your left. You'll see their counter, no problem. Ummm, miss, I couldn't help overhearing…"
"Yes?"
"Are you all right?"
"Oh, absolutely," I said, in a very reasonable tone of voice despite my projecting it all over the security area. Many people were starting to whisper and point at me and at my TSA security person.
"You folks are quite thorough," I continued. "I'm sure you catch bad guys all the time, especially if their hiding bombs or things like that in their breasts and asses."
"Ummm, thank you, miss. And we saw you on CNN. You were great, by the way."
"Well, thank you," I smiled. "We have to go - we have a six-thirty flight." Sally and I walked away, and Sally giggled all the way to the counter. We looked back and saw the TSA guy being yelled at by his boss.
Getting to the counter, since we had nothing but our carry-on bags, we went directly to our check-in counter and handed over our IDs and printed e-tickets. I kept my fingers crossed when I handed over my new Robin driver's license and KRPQ ID. No problems, thank god.
We stayed in the "lounge," which looked suspiciously like a bus station waiting area, until our flight was called, and we took the opportunity to nap on our two-hour flight to Minneapolis.
When we landed, we were able to check out fairly quickly. We saw Kelly following us. Since Sally didn't really know about my bodyguards, Kelly and I tried not to show that we knew each other, so we just subtly nodded at each other instead. From then on, Kelly was always on our tail.
The two-hour nap was great, and we felt totally refreshed. Unfortunately, the plane landed early and we had thirty minutes to kill before Sarah came to pick us up. We decided to pass by one of the restaurants for a bite. I wanted Taco Bell but I decided on Sbarro - Sally didn't look like a Taco Bell kind of girl, but there weren't too many choices. Sbarro's it was.
After ordering, I carried my tray to an empty table by the corner. I had a spaghetti and meatballs, caesar salad and a very large glass of milk (I was surprised they had milk). Sally looked at me with a giggle and a smile. Sally just had a large orange juice.
"You're just like Dannie," she giggled. "Do all girls from your town always have the munchies?"
I froze at that. Has she discovered my secret? I tried to cover it up, so I harrumphed theatrically. "I don't know what you mean," I said as I lifted a forkful into my mouth. Sally giggled.
"Besides," I said, "I'm originally from Seattle so I'm not really a native." I never knew my fake identity's history could help with my disguise.
I noticed that we seemed to be attracting some attention. It was fairly early so most of the commuters and passengers were more of the… humdrum kind of crowd - apparently, the well-heeled, the movers & shakers and the fashionistas preferred later flights. That made us stand out a little more than usual given our looks and outfits.
Even so, we tried to enjoy our little snack and talked about our expectations for the day. I had to thank Sally for agreeing to help even though she didn't have to.
She said she was very happy to help, although she admitted it wasn't totally altruistic since she hoped it might help her land a modeling assignment for herself out of this as well.
I agreed, but then she asked what I wanted out of this.
I paused at that. What was it that I wanted out of this, I thought?
I told her that the truth was I really didn't know.
"Then why did you agree to this trip," Sally asked.
I shrugged. "I guess it's because Tracey asked me to," I said.
"Not a good enough reason, I think."
She was right. So I had to think it through.
"I guess it's just I don't know what I really want, I think. I haven't really thought of these things in like a career. Not doing so could be a mistake, I guess. So I guess I'm trying to keep my options open."
"Well, have you thought of what you'd want to do later?"
I was about to say "something in music," but that was my Dannie side. What about my Robin side?
And then I had to pause. It was worrisome that I was thinking of Robin and Dannie as separate people. And as I thought of it, I realized that, deep inside, I did think of them as separate people. And, what's more, I thought of Danny as a separate person, as well.
And then I had to think a little bit more. So, I asked myself, if I did think of these as actual separate people, then who among these is me?
"Robin?" sally said, "You okay?"
"Oh!" I said, breaking me out of my worries. I thought of her question again, and tried to think of the obvious, safe answer.
"I guess what I want is to be in media," I said, thinking of what I hoped Robin would eventually be. "Like maybe a reporter in a newspaper, or maybe a TV news reporter or announcer." I shrugged. "I'd like to get to a point where I can eventually influence public opinion."
Sally looked at me. "Wow," she said. "I thought you didn't know what you wanted."
I giggled and shrugged deprecatingly.
"Then what are you doing fooling around with modeling?" she asked.
"I'm just checking out what's possible," I winked. I know I was acting all confident, but her questions had shaken me. I think I need to have a long session with Dr. Jessup sometime soon.
"Well," Sally continued, "there are lots of TV newspeople who started out as models, so I guess that's a good career path."
As we were chatting, there was one girl that was about my age that kept on unabashedly staring at us. She was pretty well dressed and stood out from the crowd. Sally didn't notice her but I did, and I was starting to get a bit creeped out.
And then my cellphone rang. I checked it and it seemed I had a call on my Robin number in my three-SIM phone.
"Hello, this is Robin Tibbles," I said casually, and Sarah Michelle answered, as I expected.
"Hello, Robin!" the lady said. "This is Sarah. How was you trip?"
"Hello, Sarah. It was pretty smooth. We got a nap on the plane so we're doing okay. But the flight landed a little early. We've been snacking here while we waited."
Oh! I'm sorry! Tell you what, I'm just few minutes away. Can you and Sally meet me at the main gate? That way, I won't need to park and everything, and we can be on our way quickly."
"Sounds good, Ms Rhodes."
Great. I'll be in the teal Mercedes."
"Teal?" I wondered. These fashionistas - they all want to be different. "Okay, Ms Rhodes. We'll be in front of the main gate in about fifteen minutes. Seeya then!"
"Oh, call me Sarah, Robin. See you in a bit!" And she hung up.
Sally looked at me.
"That was Ms Rhodes," I said. "We need to go. She asked if it's okay to meet her in front so she won't need to park."
Sally nodded and finished off her juice. I grabbed a last bite and we got up.
The girl that was staring at us stood up as well and walked to us.
"Excuse me," she said, as we walked out of the restaurant and to the front of the airport terminal. She started walking with us.
Apparently, Sally was used to this. "Yes?" she answered but didn't stop walking. But she didn't speed up either. I followed her lead.
"Don't I know you guys from somewhere?" she asked as she walked with us down the escalator.
I shrugged. "I don't know," I said politely. "Maybe you're thinking of someone else?"
"I don't think so…" and then when we stepped off the escalator, she snapped her fingers.
"Now I remember!" she said excitedly. "You guys are from that ad in this month's Prêt-à-Porter magazine!"
We smiled politely. "Ummm, I guess," I said.
She dug into her bag and brought out an actual copy of the magazine. She rifled through its pages until she found our poster.
"Can I ask for your autographs?" she asked.
We were already standing at the curb, so we couldn't not sign her magazine. There were several of our other ads, too, and she had us sign those as well, as well as the front cover.
People noticed us signing a magazine, and some of the younger girls started jumping up and down because they recognized us. Some of the women pulled out copies of their own - which wasn't too surprising: Prêt-à-Porter was up there with Elle, Cosmopolitan and Vogue after all - so we had a few more to sign.
"So," someone said, "your fans have found you, huh?"
We found this blond-ish woman at the wheel of a teal-colored Mercedes Benz S-Class sedan.
"Ms. Rhodes?"
"Indeed it is." She got out of her car and waited patiently until we finished signing and the crowd thinned out.
"I can't believe that your fans have followed you all the way here to Minneapolis!" she said. "Hi! I'm Sarah." She gave me a big hug. She then turned to Sally. "Sally! I'm so glad to see you again!" And she also gave her a hug. "But let's not keep on standing here. Come on to the car, and we can have a bit of brunch!"
***** (Sarah Michelle) *****
I can't believe that Robin had fans already. My goodness! I think I might have hit the motherlode! And just seeing her personally now - she has this inherent look and aura that reminds me about all the legendary models that you read about. And she's drop-dead gorgeous, as well. And her ensemble… I think I'm going to steal that for our line. Understated, but uber-fashionista and super-super sexy. Who'd have thought to partner maroon leggings like that!
Also this Sally girl as well. Mindy told me who she was but I truly didn't remember her, and I had to talk to my people to find out who she was. Turns out she did a few national campaigns with us as one of the "background girls." Truly forgettable, but that didn't stop me from mentioning her in my email.
But since she's with Robin, and that she seems to have her own fans now, I better be nicey-nicey today. And besides she was very pretty. Not as pretty as Robin, but I think we can do something with her.
Anyway, I started chatting with the girls - Robin sitting in the passenger seat beside me, and Sally in the back seat.
I noticed that these girls only brought small bags. Amazing. Most of my models wouldn't be caught traveling without at least an overnighter. I think I like these girls.
I got them chatting, and Robin seemed to be a very self-possesed young lady. I found her answers very clear and concise when needed, and she asked me things that seemed very incisive. Many times, I felt I was the one being interviewed, but I found that I didn't mind. There was just something about her, and I was willing to spend the day to find out what it was.
I realized it then, at that moment - I found that I had already made up my mind, that she was the girl for me, and I was going to do everything I could to convince her to be my line's new spokesmodel. I already had the beginnings of a campaign concept bubbling up in my mind.
We went to my favorite place, St. Genevieve, and Marco, the day-shift maitre d', brought me to my favorite table by the large window facing the street.
I asked if I could order for them, and I gave Marco an order for my favorite brunch combination, times three. I made it a little more substantial since I doubt if we'd have time to break for lunch later since I was pretty sure the boss will want to spend time with them.
We took our time chatting. With Sally, I found out that despite her very elegant and sophisticated look and demeanor, she was very much a small-town girl, and only by chance did she get the opportunity to model for us, and from there stemmed her modeling credentials. She'd also done some print modeling and a TV commercial for some brand I wasn't familiar with much. I had to say, this girl's done well for herself compared to others of her age and background.
As for Robin, she was very matter-of-fact as she went over her personal story. She said she was a single child from a fairly poor family, and was home-schooled by her mother, more as a way of economizing than anything. The family died in a fire that burned down their entire apartment building several years ago. And since she was fifteen at the time, she decided to knock around the state instead of living with a foster family. Social Services didn't really try very hard to find her since she was almost an adult, and was keeping her nose clean, surviving by doing odd jobs around the city. Somewhere along the way, she got her high school equivalency certificate, and it opened up some more work opportunities.
Wanting a change, she just had enough money to travel across the country, again surviving by doing this and that, and, by chance, stumbled onto the job at KRPQ on the other side of the country. And from there, she became one of the mainstays of the radio station. In fact, her being part of the ads and posters I saw were actually because of this connection to KRPQ.
Sally and I looked at each other. Robin's story sounded amazingly tortuous for such a young lady, and the fact she didn't dwell on any details and showed very little emotion just made me feel for the brave girl. I looked at Sally, and her eyes were brimming but she wasn't trying to wipe her eyes otherwise Robin might notice.
I, myself, wasn't too clear-eyed, and I covered wiping my eyes by feigning wiping my mouth with my napkin.
As for Robin, she had a far-away look, like she was trying to recall a story she had memorized. I suppose it pays to distance yourself from such painful memories. I couldn't believe how brave this girl, no, this young woman, was.
I guess now I didn't just want her as my spokesmodel, but I wanted to help her in some way. Maybe this job will help give her the kind of normalcy that she deserves.
To change the topic, I decided to talk about myself
My work was important to me. It wasn't unusual in my industry, I suppose, but I told them I'd been married once, but it didn't take. Thank god I never had any children.
Robin asked why I didn't want children, and I said I actually wanted them - I was just waiting for the right time. I suppose, if I got too old, I would adopt, but, really, my models were like my surrogate children.
I paused.
I never even knew that about myself. I don't know - I suppose it took someone like Robin to ask me the question directly, or maybe it was just being around Robin, that it brought things out.
I shook my head a little and changed the subject. I talked about Blumenfeld House and what we were about. I dug out a copy of the final draft of the still-unpublished Summer Catalog and showed it to them. It still had the layout marks but I'm sure they don't detract anything from the print draft.
Sally, being a professional, knew what that meant - how big a deal it was to see a catalog before it was published, but Robin didn't.
So I talked to Robin about it, and explained.
"Yeah?" Robin went. "Cool!"
Sally leafed through the magazine and then she suddenly went, "oooh!"
"What?" Robin asked and looked. "Hey! It's us!"
I leaned forward and saw the page they were looking at. "Oh, yes, we're partners with Prêt-à-Porter. We advertise with them regularly. Look at this." I took the catalog and showed them a couple more of the Prêt-à-Porter ads. We even had one ad apiece from Alley-Oop, Rockrgrrl and Dyno Cars, all of the ads featuring them and their friends. I explained that almost all of the sports fashions of Alley-Oop were actually relabeled fashions from our YA line, while we've used Rockrgrrl instruments as props for some of our photoshoots, and our company is one of Dyno Cars' clients.
They high-fived each other, and asked when would the catalog come out. I said I'll send some copies of the final version to their station. Sally promised to text me our addresses.
"I'm surprised you picked me out of all of the people in our posters," Robin said. Her voice was so sexy, I'm not surprised she's one of her station's best announcers. "Why didn't you pick any of the others?"
"You're too modest, Robin," I said, which she was. "You're the one that leapt out at me. You have a quality that's rare among women. If you agree to become one of my models, I'm sure it will be the start of a very successful modeling career."
I looked at her and saw her expression.
"Do you want to be a model?" I asked.
She shrugged. "I don't really know," she said. "To be frank, Ms Rhodes, I guess I'm just exploring my options at the moment."
"Oh… well, how about you let me show you around our little operation, and let you see how we do things? It might give you some ideas what modeling can mean for you."
Robin nodded. "I'm game. Sally?"
"Sure!"
"Well, that's good to hear." I was about to stand up.
She sighed. "It's just that… well, I guess I was just wondering why you didn't pick any of the others as well?"
"Hmmm. Did you have anyone specific in mind?"
"Well, Sally for one…"
Predictable. Perhaps Sally was Robin's close friend… Could this be a case of the two of them or nothing? Best to hedge my bets. "Well, that goes without saying - Sally is family. Of course Sally. As for the others, well… let me see." I took the magazine and studied the ad. "Please don't get me wrong, Robin, but… although your friends are all quite attractive… I guess there's a certain look or, I don't know how to say it, a range of measurements, of ratios and body types that modeling requires."
"How about her," Robin pointed to a strawberry-blonde girl that was beside her in the picture. I was told she was Dannie Fairchild, the lead singer of a local band. The girl was remarkably pretty, and had about the same height, size and body type as Robin. But…
I looked to Robin. "Sorry, my dear," I said, "but I just don't feel it. I don't feel her."
Robin had a stubborn, frustrated look. I looked at the other ads that had this Dannie girl again, but I just thought this girl wasn't anything special. At least not like Robin. "Perhaps if I had other pictures to compare…"
And it was like a light bulb went off above Sally's head. "Wait!" she said. "I think I might have some more pictures."
Sally reached for her smartphone and started swiping through the pictures. "Here." She handed it to me and I paged through the pictures.
"Hmmm…" I said as I looked at this Dannie. She seemed a lot different in these particular pictures. She sort of reminded me of Robin. I compared the magazine pictures with the ones in the phone… I couldn't figure it out, but there was a difference. Could it be the lighting? Or the print? Maybe Sally's phone had a special filter? Or maybe because these were candid shots? Sometimes when the model was caught in an unstaged, candid shot, she looked so much better. But…
In one of the pictures, Dannie was singing in a super-sexy red dress, and then in another picture, a lacey kind of bustier. Wow.
I happened to swipe to a picture of Robin in a jacket and leggings as she talked to the camera, but with a different 'do. She was in front of a shelf full of electronic stuff. She still looked incredible. Both girls were incredible. At least on the phone. I paged to another picture of Dannie.
"This girl looks better here, for some reason," I said. I thought some more. If I can get her, and coax this whatever-it-is out of this girl, then I'm sure my fashion line is saved. Hell I can imagine pushing my line to the top of the pile with these two!
"Well…" I said, deciding on taking the risk. "If you can give me her contact details, I'll contact her and see if she's willing to meet, so I can see her in person? And if you can send me those pictures, too?"
Sally nodded. "Right away, Ms Rhodes." Sally took back her phone and sent me an email with the pictures attached.
"Okay," I said, "I think we should go now." I signaled Marco and he rushed over.
"So, ladies," he said, "I hope you enjoyed your brunch?"
"Very much so, Marco," I replied. "It was wonderful, as usual. Our complements to your crew."
"Thank you very much, Ms Rhodes."
"Can we grab some of your wonderful breakfast smoothies to go? With some manuka honey, please."
He nodded. "Right away." He nodded and walked back to the front.
I put three hundred dollars under the salt and pepper shakers as our tip, and we got up to leave. When we passed by Marco's podium, he handed me half a dozen of my favorite smoothies, and I subtly passed a hundred dollars to him.
"It was a pleasure to have you with us this morning, miss," he said.
"Thank you, Marco," I said. "See you soon."
Their valet brought my car and we were able to leave for the office with Robin and Sally holding on to my smoothies.
Minneapolis city traffic is always pretty bad, but it wasn't too bad today, probably because it was Sunday.
In the rearview mirror, I saw that Honda Accord again.
"Ummm, girls?" I asked, "would you know anything about that Honda that's been following us? It's been there since the airport."
Robin looked a little guilty. "Ummm, that's actually my bodyguard."
"What! You have a bodyguard?"
Robin shrugged a little embarrassedly. "I'm afraid Mrs. Piper insisted. Mrs. Piper is…"
"Piper? As in Melody Piper of PiperCorp?"
"Yes. She owns the radio station I work for."
"I know Melody Piper," I said. "How come Melody wanted a bodyguard with you?"
"I guess because of overzealous fans. We've had a couple of incidents, and the boss didn't want to take chances. Especially after that CNN piece."
I nodded. CNN? ... Well, I knew all about that need - better to protect your talent rather than risk her getting hurt, or quitting. I've had a few of those. That was nothing too unusual in the fashion industry. I've even had to get bodyguards for a few divas even though it was totally unnecessary. But that was just part of the job.
I didn't realize how important this girl was to Melody Piper. It just reinforced my impression of this unassuming young lady. So young to have gone through what she has, yet she's come out so positive and so self-possessed.
"Do you have your own bodyguard, too, Sally?" I asked.
"Me?" Sally pointed to herself. "Oh, no!" She giggled. "I'm just a regular deejay."
I nodded and smiled, pshawing Sally's deprecating comments.
After another block, I still saw the Honda. This guy's pretty expert. "Ummm, why is your bodyguard staying so far away?" I asked Robin. "I can't imagine he'd be too useful that far away."
"She's been instructed to maintain 'executive surveillance,'" Robin explained. "A minimum of twenty feet distance."
"But why?"
"Mrs. Piper wanted to maximize privacy and such. I don't have any violent fans so that's more than fine. Actually, I didn't want any bodyguards, so this was Mrs. Piper's compromise. But it's okay - Kelly and her crew are a great bunch."
"Crew?"
"It's twenty-four hour surveillance. So three of them take shifts. Except today though, since today's different - today, it's just Kelly."
"I see." Twenty-four hour surveillance. That meant something. That made me think again.
I was soon pulling into our building and I parked in my usual parking space in the basement.
As we rode the elevator up the building, I explained. "We have the top five floors of the building, and we even have full access to the roofdeck. That's where we often shoot what we call our 'sky' and 'wind' and 'night sky' shots."
I ushered them in to the main office. "Welcome to the home of Blumenfeld House!" We passed the currently-empty waiting area-slash-lounge and walked through the office. There were no people, though, since it was a Sunday, but we were actually going to the end - to the boss's office.
I knocked on the glass door. "Knock knock!" I said. "Open up! I come bearing gifts!"
"Dammit, Sarah, I'm busy!" Edwin Blumenfeld, our boss and the son of the founder, bellowed.
I laughed. "Edwin seems to be in a good mood."
"Good mood?" Robin asked, worried.
I smiled. "You'll see."
I opened his door and was greeted with the usual mess. At his desk was Edwin working on something. He had his head down, scribbling furiously on the edges of some sketch I haven't seen before.
"So," I said, "who wants a smoothie?"
***** (Danny) *****
"So," Sarah said, "who wants a smoothie?"
"Smoothie?" the man at the desk asked, looking up. "From Saint G's? Give it here!"
Sarah got a couple of the smoothies I was holding and handed them over.
The man got one, stuck an extra-large re-useable stainless steel straw in, and took a big sip.
"Ahhh!" he exclaimed. "That hit the spot!"
"Skipped breakfast again, huh?" Sarah giggled. "Girls, this, by the way," Sarah gestured, "is the great man himself, Edwin Blumenfeld."
"Who are these girls, Sarah?" he asked, a little grumpily.
"This is the young lady I was telling you about, Ed - Ms Robin Tibbles."
"The girl from the Prêt-à-Porter ads? Of course! How can I not recognize you." He stood up and shook my hand. "It is indeed a pleasure, my dear. I saw you on CNN. You were amazing! Oh, and welcome to our place."
"And this," Sarah gestured to Sally, "is someone you might recall from our beach and street fashion shoots from last year's summer catalog - Sally Marshall."
"Ms Marshall," he said, "hello."
"Pleased to meet you again, Mr. Blumenfeld," Sally said, and shook his hand.
"Well. Sit, sit! Let's chat a while."
He wrapped up what he was doing and made an effort to get to know us, and he seemed a perfectly friendly gentleman. You wouldn't have imagined a fashion icon to be so… rumpled-looking, but it added to his charm.
He explained the business, and all the things that they do - the designs and sketches, the shoots, the fashion shows, the retailing, the ads, and the endless schmoozing. We laughed at his deprecating tone.
He said that the two floors above us was where the magic happened, where their fashions were designed and prototyped, and then were sent off to their production facilities in Arizona and Arkansas. He explained that they used to have facilities in Mexico and China, but they've had to pull them out because of worries with the current administration.
"Just as well," he said, "because we seem to have been getting a lot of knockoffs of our designs coming out of China, and I think it's because of our designs being leaked to the competition."
I asked what kinds of fashions his company specialized in, and he explained his line was one of the older ones (he, in fact, inherited the business from his father), and had been able to maintain brand loyalty throughout the years. "So," he said, "now we cater to a more sophisticated, older clientele." He pulled out one of the binders from the shelf behind him.
The binder was full of eight-by-ten glossies of extremely classy high-fashion clothes worn by totally gorgeous women. But he was right - it was all for an older type of woman, like from their early thirties to their sixties.
"Ohmigod, Robin" Sally said, "these are all so gorgeous!" I nodded, agreeing. As unsophisticated as I was with fashions, I couldn't help but see how beautiful these women were, and a big factor to their beauty were their clothes.
"But that's why you, Robin," Sarah, said, "and you, Sally," she added hastily, "are here."
Sally and I didn't understand.
"Sarah's right," Mr. Blumenfeld said. "We have several lines, and one of them is our young adult fashion line, geared to appeal to girls from fourteen to their early-twenties." He pulled down another binder and handed it too us.
This time, it was full of pictures of girls more-or-less our age wearing regular clothes, if regular clothes were high-fashion clothes, that is. Even if the girls were just wearing sneakers, jeans, sweaters, shorts, one-piece swimsuits and t-shirts, the high-fashion quality was unmistakable. Sally mumbled something like she wanted some of the stuff for herself. I nodded, imagining Nikki wearing some of that stuff as well.
"These are pretty great," Sally said, handing the binder back.
"I know, right?" Mr. Blumenfeld said. "But, you know, even though we know our stuff is great, the kids just aren't buying. That's why I need you, Robin." And then, like Sarah, he followed up, belatedly, "… and you, Sally!"
I looked at Sally, but she didn't seem to be bothered by that.
"What do you mean, Mr. Blumenfeld," I asked.
"We need you girls," he said. "If we can get you girls to be one of our signature models, maybe we can bring some attention to the line." He then talked about their plans for us - photo shoots, custom fittings, runway events, tours and a lot of other things. Talk about a hard sell! But I guess he saw my expression when I was starting to get overwhelmed.
He signaled to a girl that had come into the office.
"Yes, boss?" the girl said, peeking into the room.
"Girls, this is Mindy," he said, "our executive assistant. She's gonna tour you through the office, including the design floors and the roofdeck."
"Ummm, everything, boss?"
"Yes," he said, "everything," he repeated with emphasis. "These two girls will be part of the campaign for our young adult line."
"Oh? Cool! We definitely need help there."
"Girls, you go with Mindy. Go anywhere you want, ask any questions, but I'm going to ask you not to take pictures. Okay?"
Sally and I nodded.
"I can't join you - I need to speak with Sarah. Some boring office stuff. Hope you don't mind. After you're done, you come back here and maybe we can have some lunch or something, okay?"
"Oh!" Sarah said, "please call your bodyguard and ask her to come up. I'm sure she'd be more comfortable here in the office than sitting in her car. And tell her she can park inside. I'll arrange things."
We nodded and went with Mindy. I called Kelly and told her she could park inside the building and come up and wait inside the office.
And with that, we went with Mindy and explored the bowels of Blumenfeld House.
I wasn't expecting it but, truth be told, we had a lot of fun. We got to see how a fashion house worked, saw some girls having their pictures taken in a little corner with a green-screen against the wall, and saw a few dresses being "prototyped" on some benches on the other end.
We saw some of Blumenfeld's artists (Mindy said all their designers were "artists," and were referred to as such) designing new clothes and such based on sketches and ideas from Mr. Blumenfeld. Some even came over and chatted with us. Sally was practically jumping up and down since she recognized several of the names of the people we met - famous designers, apparently.
We even got to look through racks and racks and racks of ready-to-wear prototypes. Sally even asked if she could try some, and Mindy agreed. For me, I was more interested in some of their athletic stuff, like their sneakers and jackets and shorts.
While we were there, a bunch of guys came in to box up the prototypes and bring them out. They were accompanied by uniformed and heavily armed security guards, however.
"Security?" I asked Mindy.
"Yes," she said. "Industrial espionage, you know. That's our new summer line. They're bringing them to our production facilities for full production. We wouldn't want the competition to get their hands on them."
We also went to the next floor up, and it was their studio. There were props galore and there was even a photoshoot going on, with dozens of prop and lighting men, production people and photographers acting all diva-like and self-important as they took pictures of girls as they posed and primped.
What was the best, however, was the roofdeck. It was outfitted like a kind of open-air studio like the one downstairs but this was against open sky and wind. All of the air-conditioning equipment, ducts and vents were conveniently kept on the other side of the roof away from the studio part, and there was a third, cordoned-off part that had some deck chairs, a large beach umbrella and a large wrought-iron table with a glass top. Maybe it was a place where Mr. Blumenfeld and his people hung out and relaxed.
I went to the edge of the roofdeck, which was protected by a chest-high railing, and looked across the horizon. Minneapolis looked pretty in the bright sunshine, and I breathed in the fresh air. I'm sure the air wasn't that fresh during the week, but today, the Sunday sunshine was warm and glorious, and the wind was brisk and fresh.
"Gorgeous, huh?" Sally said as she leaned over the railing beside me.
"Sally?" I asked.
"Yeah, honey?"
"What do you think?" I gestured all around me. "I mean, this is all a bit too much. I'm a little scared and overwhelmed."
She hugged me around the shoulder. "No need to be. I'll be here for you. And even if they don't hire me, I'll still be here."
"What do you mean?"
"Didn't you catch it? It was obvious. They want you, not me."
"That's not true!"
Sally giggled. "Thanks for saying so," she said, "but we both know, don't we?" She gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Don't you worry about me. I know I'm a great looking girl, but I'm not as great looking as you. And I guess I'm okay with that. And, like I said, even if I don't get to be one of their models, I can still be with you if you want. Even if just for company."
I hugged her hard. "Thank you, Sally."
Someone cleared her throat. We forgot about Mindy!
"Sorry, Mindy," I said. "Where to next?"
"That's mostly it, actually. If you want to come with me back down to Edwin's office?"
"Would you mind if we stayed out here for a few minutes?" I asked. "It's such a wonderful day, we'd like to hang out here for a while."
She nodded. "Perfectly all right." She pointed to the elevator where we came out of. "Just come down when you feel like it."
I nodded. "Thanks, Mindy."
***** (Edwin) *****
I sighed as I watched the girls go upstairs with Mindy.
"You're right again, Sarah," I said, and sighed again.
"Of course, I'm right," she giggled. "So we'll get her?"
"But she's so short, Sarah!"
She shrugged. "Doesn't matter," she said. "She's gonna do the Young Adult line, anyway, so…"
"Dammit, Sarah! Even Devon Aoki is five-foot five, and she's one of the shortest in the business!"
She shrugged again. As usual, Sarah was being very frustrating. But, as usual, she had a point.
"I guess we can do some tricks to manage her shoots and video stuff," she said, "and I'm sure we can do something so we can also use her for fashion shows and similar stuff, too."
I wondered what these "tricks" could be.
Sarah kept on looking at me. "What are you saying, Sarah?" I asked.
She didn't answer and kept looking at me. I tried to figure out what she was saying, and thought furiously.
"You're saying, not to put other girls with her when she's on the ramp."
Sarah grinned and nodded.
"You're saying," I said, "in shows, she shouldn't be walking with other models." Sarah wiggled her eyebrows in agreement. "But if we're doing all that, bending over backwards to accommodate her, some might think she was our prime model… but …" I kept looking at her.
"… she doesn't have to be the face of Blumenfeld House," she said. "But maybe she can be the face of our YA line."
I thought that through. "But do we even want to do that? I mean, do I want to trust her with my house's reputation? What if she just messes up our company's reputation by getting caught with drugs or getting arrested or something?"
She waggled her eyebrows again. "But you don't think she will…" I said.
"You're getting it," she smiled. "I knew you were a smart guy."
"Screw you, Rhodes!" I laughed, and she stuck her tongue out at me.
"Seriously, though…"
"Ed, I had a chat with the girl, and I think she's one of a kind. She's not some flighty or self-absorbed Kardashian wannabe. And she has that magic X factor that we desperately need."
I nodded, trusting her instincts on this. We were in synch. But I saw her expression. "Wait, what is it?"
"Look at this," she said, and displayed half a dozen pictures on her phone - five of them pictures of a strawberry-blonde girl. She was singing on stage, and looked incredible. For some reason, I thought of Robin. One of the other pictures was of Robin holding a mike, speaking like she was a host in some TV show, and I slid back and forth between the pictures of the two girls. The two had that same intangible… quality. I couldn't believe it - Sarah found two of them.
"Where'd you find this one!"
She held up a finger, rummaged through my desk and found a copy of the draft of the upcoming catalog. She went through the looseleaf pages and picked out the page with one of the Prêt-à-Porter ads.
"Huh? I didn't mean Robin - I mean this strawberry-blonde one."
Still, she pointed to the ad. I looked, and she was pointing to one of the redheads.
I did a double-take. It looked like the same girl, but yet not. "Nahhh!" I said. "That can't be the same girl!"
"But it is! Robin and Sally confirmed it."
"But what happened! She's so different in the ad. This is so weird."
Sarah shrugged. "I know. But if you're willing, I'm thinking of checking out this redhead, and if she passes muster, I'm gonna want this girl as well."
I trusted Sarah implicitly. "If you say so, my dear." And we started strategizing, changing our plans over and over, and thinking of what we could do if we had two Robins instead of just one. Hopefully, this other one, this Dannie, wasn't too short, but looking at the pictures as she stood beside other people, I wasn't too hopeful.
Someone knocked on my door. It was Mindy, back from touring the girls.
"Yes, Mindy?" I asked. "Where are the girls? Everything okay?"
"They wanted to hang out on the roofdeck for a while, boss. They're enjoying the sunshine. They said they'll be coming down in a few minutes. But, boss…"
"Yes, Mindy?"
"You have a problem." And she told us what she overheard on the roofdeck.
"Well," I said. "That's concerning…"
"Not really," Sarah said. "It just means we need to hire Sally as well."
I probably looked a little stubborn since Sarah gave me a razzberry.
"Oh, unclench already!" she said. "If we need to get Sally just to get Robin, then we get Sally. It's a small price to pay, Ed. Admit it."
I growled. I hate hiring models that I didn't really need. "Oh, all right," I mumbled.
"Shhh!" Sarah said. "Cool it guys! Here come the girls."
Robin knocked on the doorjamb. "Hi," she said. "Hope we weren't interrupting anything?"
"Hello, my dears!" I said. "Not at all. Did you enjoy the little tour?"
"It was great, actually, Mr. Blumenfeld. We had fun."
"Good, good," I said. "But I guess we need to talk turkey. Mindy? Can you excuse us for a bit?"
"No problem, Boss," she said. "I'll get out of your hair, and get on that thing Sarah wanted me to take care of."
"Thanks, Mindy," Sarah said, and Mindy left my office.
"So," I said to the girls, "hopefully the two of you have gotten close to a decision?"
"Ummm…." Sally hummed. "What decision?" She smiled at me impishly.
I waved a finger at her. "You bad girl, Sally," I said, smiling delightedly. "You are a devious, devious child." I like this girl.
She and Robin looked at each other. "Well," Sally said, "if your're offering Robin a job as one of your models…"
I shook my head and tsk-tsk'd. "No, my dear. We are offering the both of you modeling jobs."
"Yeah?"
Robin gave Sally a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "See?" Robin said to her. "I told you." Sally had a big grin on her face.
Robin nodded at me. "We're saying yes, Mr. Blumenfeld," Robin smiled. "Provided we can come to an agreement about the details, then we're saying yes."
I clapped happily. "Excellent!" And Sarah gave the girls happy hugs. Of course, in my head, the word Robin mentioned - the "details" - was ringing in my head like a bell. I wondered what these girls would be asking, but I guess Sarah and I need to meet later to talk about what we should offer them. Off the top of my mind, I had the idea of offering a standard "beginner's contract," and we can just haggle over the details later.
But that has to be for later. Neither Sarah nor I wanted to spoil all of these good, gooshie feelings, as my little niece would have said.
Sarah and I talked about what we thought we should be doing, and smiled at how excited the two got.
In the end, we had sent them off a little early, like three PM or so - early enough to allow the girls time to do a quick tour of the city, and then maybe dinner (I'm sure Sarah had them reserved somewhere) - more than enough time for their nine-thirty flight back.
Robin did have a suggestion, though - she left us for a bit and talked to the girl outside, her bodyguard - and then came back.
"What if we went with Kelly and her driver?" Robin said. "Kelly said her driver is a professional driver and tour guide, and knows the city. We wouldn't want to impose further..."
"It's no imposition, Robin," I said, "but if you really feel so…"
Robin nodded.
"Okay, then. Be sure to text Sarah the contact details of your driver and his agency, okay?"
"Okay, sir."
And after some farewell hugs and kisses, the two girls, along with Kelly, Robin's bodyguard, left.
Mindy did give Sally a piece of paper, and she nodded, pocketing it instead of reading it.
We walked them to the elevator, and after yet another set of hugs and kisses, they left.
I looked at Sarah.
"Well," I said, "that's that. Let's just make sure these girls are what we're hoping them to be. And a bodyguard, huh? She must be a big deal for her current boss to give her a bodyguard."
"Hey, Ed?" Sarah said. I recognized that tone.
"All right. What's this new hare-brained idea of yours, Sarah?"
"What if we delay our catalog's release? Make a totally new campaign for the YA line?"
I looked at her. "There'll be hell to pay if we do that. The delays alone…"
"Well, first lemme do some phone calls and such. But if I can make sure that we can push the date back without too much trouble, would you agree to a new layout for the YA section?"
"What's your idea?"
"Let's revamp the YA section. It's just a couple of pages worth at the moment. What if we design a totally new campaign around Robin? The works?"
It sounded totally ridiculous. I mean, who would risk so much and delay the rollout of my catalog when everything was set and ready to go. It's not just the actual cost of it but the penalty in goodwill with my various clients and partners. But I was considering it. I was actually considering this extremely, absolutely ridiculous idea.
What has come over me?
***** (Sally) *****
Courtesy of Kelly's driver, we were toured around the city, with Kelly sitting in front with the driver. It wasn't much of a tour, actually - we basically drove past major points of interest, such as the Weisman Art Museum (which looked similar to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao) and the castle-like American Swedish Institute. We took time to look through the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, though, and saw the giant bent spoon with the giant cherry. We also drove past the Crystal Court Piazza that looked like something out of King Arthur's court instead of just being part of some mall.
Aside from the sculpture garden, all we saw were the outside of these places - it was like a driving tour. But that was okay. At least we got a bit of a feel of the place and got lots of pictures. And as we drove and rode around, we talked about what we just went through.
I was absurdly grateful to Robin for getting me a modeling gig. Both of us knew that I got the job because of Robin, but she didn't lord it over me, and instead behaved like we both got our gig based on our own merits or appeal or whatever, which was so gracious of her, I think. But I only realized then how much the gig meant to me.
In any case, we thought the day went well, and we were excited for our new modeling prospects. Or at least I was. But we decided that we should only discuss it further after their offer letters arrived.
It was a full day, and we ended up at a restaurant called The Borough for dinner (Ms Rhodes had us reserved already). Mindy, Mr. Blumenfeld's assistant, called to confirm if we were "enjoying our dinner," and also confirmed that our limousine to the airport would be on standby outside the restaurant. Because of that, the limo driver moved our stuff into the limo's trunk, and Kelly let her driver go for the day.
When I did my own little modeling gig last year, I wasn't this well treated. They must really want Robin.
We didn't really have time to refresh our clothes, our makeup or anything and made do with freshening ourselves up in the restaurant's lounge a.k.a. the bathroom.
We dawdled over our dinner since we had more than an hour to kill before we needed to start for the airport, so we picked a sample platter and enjoyed little amuse bouche servings of steaks and other little cuts as we chatted. Of course these tiny servings were not enough for Robin, so she ordered a ribeye burger they called a "parlour burger." As for Kelly, she sat two tables away having their high-cuisine spaghetti. Robin gestured for her to join us, but she shook her head. I guess she was just being professional and was following instructions.
We decided to go, eventually, and though Robin tried to leave tips, our waiter and the maitre d' returned it, politely saying it wasn't necessary. I guess they had strict instructions from Sarah.
I felt so fancy when they opened the limousine door for us, and we got in. As for Kelly, she sat up front with the driver.
While we were riding to the airport, I opened the note Mindy gave me earlier and I squealed.
"What!" Robin said.
I showed her the note. Apparently, the stuff we looked at in their offices - Mindy had gotten them all for us, and will be shipping them in two separate boxes via overnight shipping. It should be arriving in the office by tomorrow night or the following morning. The packages were under our names, but she said we needed to inform someone at the office so it doesn't get lost or opened by someone else.
"Wow, that's great!" Robin commented. "But they never asked us about sizes…"
"Silly girl," I laughed. "They're fashion experts. I'm sure they were able to get our measurements just by eyeballing us."
Robin shrugged. "If you say so," she said. She didn't seem to believe me.
The flight back was totally uneventful - almost a repeat of our flight coming in, except we had a few mashers in line as we went through security. I guess Robin couldn't just let the noisy, stupid SOBs by especially when the one nearest her started rubbing her butt, so she kneed him and left him squirming in pain on the floor. Two of his friends stepped in to intervene, grabbing her by her arms, but Robin pulled herself free and used the heel of her right hand to hit one in the chest and literally knock him down. With the other one, she basically grabbed him by the arm, pulled him down and kept him kneeling using a headlock. Kelly, for her part, imposed herself between us and the rest of their gang. Airport security rushed to us in seconds and got things under control.
Witnesses corroborated our story, thank god. Robin, however, refused to file charges or anything since our flight was leaving in less than thirty minutes, but it was hardly necessary since, later on, we found that those guys were held back and were charged by airport administration itself. They couldn't protest that they were innocent because of the security footage. Their big mistake was they did it right in the security area. Like I said, they were stupid.
"Wow," Kelly said as we bought some trinkets and souvenirs in the duty free, "I don't think you even need a bodyguard."
"Oh, shut up!" Robin laughed and hugged her by the neck and gave her a sisterly kiss on the cheek. "You're my protection."
On the plane, Robin and I sat beside each other (Robin asked for the window seat again) while Kelly sat across the aisle from me, and, like a light, Robin fell asleep.
Even asleep, Robin was so gorgeous. Her gentle breathing was so serene, and her occasional, funny little nose wiggling as she slept was so cute.
But I didn't want to be accused of staring, especially with Kelly there, so I closed my eyes and feigned sleep. But even with eyes closed, I couldn't escape Robin - it was like I could even smell her or something, or she had an aura that one couldn't escape, not that one would even want to.
The flight landed thirty minutes earlier than scheduled again, and we were out of the airport by eleven. Robin quickly booked an Uber while Kelly went to fetch her car, which was parked in one of those overnight-parking structures.
Our Uber was there in less than five minutes, and we were at my apartment in less than thirty. After a final hug, Robin got back in, waved, and her Uber pulled away. Kelly waved as she zoomed passed me, and sped after Robin.
I waved back, lost in thought. I couldn't believe everything that happened today. It was fun, it was eventful, and, courtesy of Robin, I now have a modeling gig which could be the beginning of the career I wanted.
All my hopes and dreams in one day.
I should be thinking of these things, I said to myself, but I was mostly thinking of Robin. That girl was so amazing.
I wondered if she already had a boyfriend. Or maybe girlfriend. I hope she didn't yet. As my dad would say, it doesn't hurt to hope.
***** (Joanne) *****
I got a text from Danny, and she said their flight had landed early. Oh, gosh.
I got dressed quickly, texted the girls, gave my mom and dad a kiss (they were still up), and rushed to mom's beauty salon, not allowing them to comment on my sudden late night departure. Nikki, Danielle and Tracey arrived at mom's a few minutes after I did - Tracey drove them - and we waited for Danny while I got my stall ready.
It was a short wait - in a while, a car pulled up outside.
"It's Danny!" Nikki exclaimed.
"You mean 'Robin,'" Danielle joked.
Nikki stuck her tongue out at her and rushed to open the front door. As soon as she saw Danny, she glomped Danny good, and proceeded to pepper her face with kisses.
"Hey!" I said, "cool it, kid, and allow her to sit down, at least!"
Everyone laughed, and Danny collapsed in the styling chair and sighed theatrically.
"You fink!" Nikki giggled.
"I love you, too, my dear," Danny dimpled.
So, while Danny was reclining in the wash chair as I used the special shampoo to get rid of the hair coloring, she told us all about her trip.
We were all on tenterhooks as she recounted her day. It was exciting the way she told it - it sounded so fun. She told of the potential for a possible modeling job for both her and Sally, and we were excited for her, although I felt a strong pang of jealousy whenever she talked of both her and Sally modeling, but I tried to put that senseless-slash-illogical anger out of my mind. I mean, what right do I have to be jealous?
She told us of their problems in airport security, but was pretty pleased at how it eventually worked out.
"Where was Kelly, then," Tracey asked. "Security's her job." She sounded a bit angry and indignant. I felt angry, too. Why wasn't Kelly doing her job?
"Oh, it's not her fault," Danny said. "Things happened so fast, I just reacted. And Kelly was there, blocking the other guys from coming close just when they were thinking of hitting me back."
Anyway, everything seemed have gone well. The people from Blumenfeld even sent over "care packages" full of goodies.
But what Danny said next made me think there was a problem.
"Sally and I pointed out all the people in our posters," Danny said, "and asked if any others could also be part of this modeling gig, but I guess they were looking for something specific for their YA line. They picked Sally, 'Robin,' and maybe 'Dannie.'"
"Ummm…" Tracey said tentatively but smilingly, "do you mean 'Danny, Danielle's brother,' or do you mean 'Dannie the Singer?'"
"Well, of course, I mean 'Dannie the Singer,'" she replied, and stuck her tongue out at Tracey.
By that time, Danny was already sitting up and I was getting the makeup out of her eyebrows and eyelashes. She paused a bit as I finished with her lashes and brows, and wiped them with another damp corner of the washcloth.
I turned on a handheld blow-dryer and no one could speak over the noise. When her hair was fairly dry, I started combing and teasing her hair into the low-maintenance style I made for her.
"So, anyway," Danny said, continuing while I finished styling her hair, "Dannie-the-Singer is gonna be asked to interview, too, just like Robin. "
"Wow," Tracey said, "how will you be able to manage, Danny? What if they want both Robin and Dannie in the same room together, or modeling at the same time?"
"Well, that's not a problem." Nikki said. "Danielle can just fake it again, and replace Dannie. Besides, as far as her paperwork goes, Dannie-the-singer is actually Danielle, anyway."
"I don't think that'll work, Nick," Danny said, and then went through the strange thing where they seemed to be able to tell Danny-as-Dannie from Danielle-as-Dannie.
"That's weird," Danielle said.
"Yeah," Danny nodded (she stopped nodding when I hit her lightly on top of the head). "Stop moving," I said.
"Well," Tracey said, "maybe as fashion experts, they see something we don't. Whatever that is, who knows?"
"Well," Nikki asked, "what do we do if they ask Danny to model while Robin's there? How do we manage both of them modeling at the same time?"
"Let's think about that for a while," Tracey, said, "and talk about it later. I'm sure we'll figure something out."
Everyone nodded at that.
By that time, I was all done with Danny's hair.
"Okay, Danny," I explained, "in school tomorrow, what you do is you put the main bulk of your hair under your collar, leaving the shorter outer layer out of the collar." I demoed with her jacket. "So, with that part hidden by your shirt or jacket, it looks like you just have a semi-long boy's haircut. When it's out of the collar, it'll look like Scarlett Johansson's style in Ghost In the Shell, except yours is longer." I demoed again.
Everyone went, "oooh!" and "that's amazing!"
"But, Joanne," Danielle said, "won't that be too warm? With her hair inside her collar? And wouldn't it be, when she moved her head, the hair might come out of the collar?"
"You're right, of course," I replied. "The technique therefore would be, you make a ponytail out of the long part, and that's what you hide under your collar."
Again, everyone went, "oooh!" and "that's amazing!"
And, in the following silence, I then said, "you guys are so transparent - you just want me to give you the same haircut for free."
Everyone laughed at that.
"Anyway," I said, whipping away the barber's sheet, "goodbye, Robin, welcome back, Danny!"
"Yayyy!" everyone cheered and clapped and Danny stood and bowed.
The girls all gathered around Danny's newly-renewed red hair, and marveled at my hair cut. Darn… looks like I'm gonna have to do more overtime and replicate my new "Danny Do" on the girls.
***** (Nikki) *****
Danielle brought Danny a change of clothes - just a pair of his regular jeans, a button-down long-sleeved shirt, a t-shirt bra, extra socks and sneakers. Danny changed behind one of the changing areas behind a curtain. And in less than a minute, he was back.
"Okay, girls," he said, "it's almost one AM, time to boogie on outa here." He got the bag from duty free, and handed out little souvenirs. For us girls, he got us cute little plushies of a brown bear called TC, and a gopher called Goldy. As for the guys, he had little keychains and such that he'll be distributing tomorrow. Tracey and Danielle got Goldys, and Joanne and I got TCs.
Danny gave Joanne a hug and we were off.
We piled into Tracey's FJ Cruiser. Naturally, Danny and I shared the back, so Danielle sat in front with Tracey.
"So, where we going?" Tracey asked.
"To our place, Trace," Danielle said. "Nikki's staying overnight. You want to stay overnight, too? I got pizza and other stuff." She elbowed Tracey in the ribs and waggled her eyebrows. "We can have a sleepover."
Tracey looked crestfallen. "I didn't come prepared. And I didn't ask mom… As it is, she won't be too happy I'm still not home."
"Would it help if I gave her a call?"
"Not really, but thank you for offering."
Gentle, well-meaning Tracey. I leaned forward and gave her a kiss on her forehead.
Soon, we were at Danny's, and we gave Tracey hugs and sent her off.
Kelly beeped, waved and left too. I guess she's off-shift now. We looked down the street, and we saw Linton, one of Danny's other bodyguards, parked twenty feet down the road. He flashed his lights and we waved to him.
"So, Danny," Danielle said, "Nikki and I will be in my room. Mom says you can't stay with us, though."
"I can't?" he looked crestfallen.
"Danielle?" I said, "maybe your folks won't mind that he stay with us if we kept the door wide open?"
She thought about it. "I think you're right," she said, "and if it's not, we'll just kick Danny out." Danielle and I giggled.
So Danielle and I got in our jammies, and Danny had a quick shower and changed into shorts and a long-sleeved henley before joining us. He also changed into a more comfortable t-shirt bra.
He came into Danielle's room with one of the pizzas Danielle got in one hand, microwaved and ready to munch, and a bunch of paper plates, cups and napkins in the other. He had his sleeping bag roll under one arm, and a six-pack of diet soda under the other.
"Thanks, Dan," Danielle said. "dump all that stuff on my dresser, and you can set up your sleeping bag at the foot of the bed."
We ended up lying on the bed lengthwise on our tummies facing Danny, who was on the floor near Danielle's bed lying inside his sleeping bag. I wanted Danny to stay on the bed with us but Danielle wouldn't allow it because their mom might peek in, so I suggested I join him on the floor.
Danielle nixed that as well. I wanted to argue but Danny agreed with her. I laughed to myself - if he didn't, I might have just ignored Danielle and just did what I wanted.
It was nice. Almost like a sleepover, but this time, instead of Danny-the-girl, we had Danielle's brother Danny-the-boy. Funny to say, even if just to myself, but it did change the nature of the sleepover a little bit.
Somehow our chat moved on to Danny's trip to Minneapolis. That was not really a surprise. After all, we were constantly together so there were very few new things we could chat about. Danny's trip was new.
It was Danny's first plane ride, and he talked about how exciting it was to be up in the air, and not seeing anything but clouds. He wasn't scared at all, he said, and it was fun, even though they had to get to the airport so early, going through security and checking in was such a hassle.
"And then there were those weirdos in line," Danny said, frowning.
I giggled. "Not a problem," I said. "Just one shot, and pow!" I smacked my hand with my fist, and all of us giggled.
"… although…" Danny said as he munched on a slice of pizza, "that thing Tracey brought up - it's still bothering me. You know the Robin-and-Dannie-simultaneously-modeling thing?"
"Well, Danny," Danielle said, "seems to me, there really is nothing for it but for me to substitute for you."
"But, Danielle," I interjected, "you heard what Danny said. They can tell you and Dannie-the-singer apart!"
Danielle shook her head. "I don't believe it. I mean, how can they tell us apart from a picture? Those who attended the concert couldn't tell. How could these people tell?"
She got up and got some stuff from her desk - a box of the tarot card-sized posters, and several eight by ten prints of Danny singing in the concert.
We went through the pictures. "See?" Danielle said, "no difference!"
"Hard to tell," I said. "I mean, how can you compare? Completely different outfits, so…"
"I got an idea," Danny said as he leafed through the eight-by-tens. He picked a half a dozen pictures of himself in that amazing red dress. He then grabbed some scissors and started cutting around Dannie.
"Wait!" Danielle said.
"I'll get you replacements," Danny said, and then handed the pictures to me. "Take a look at those, Nikki," he said to me.
"Hey, those are…" Danielle started to say but Danny interrupted her.
"Shhh, sis! Let Nikki look look at them."
I looked at Danny questioningly, but I did what he asked, not understanding.
"What do you think," he asked.
"Hmmm…" I said. I don't understand what he wanted from me, but I dutifully looked at all of them. Just pictures of Danny being perfectly gorgeous as Dannie. But…
"These are different somehow." I separated two of them from the rest.
"Different how?" he asked, but I really couldn't figure it out. I shrugged.
"Different better?" Danielle asked.
"Ummm, not really…"
"So, Danielle," Danny said. "How'd Nikki do?"
Danielle gave Danny a look, and then gave him a razzberry.
"What!" I said. "What's…"
"Well…" Danny said, "you've proved what I've been saying." He pointed at the pictures. "You've picked out the two pictures of Danielle when she was singing on stage as Dannie, from the rest of my pictures." He gestured with the scissors in his hand. "I cut out the rest of the pictures so you couldn't tell which were me and which were Danielle. And, guess what? You still could."
Danielle reached over and grabbed the picture-cutouts from my hand. "Dammit," she said, looking at them. "I still don't see how…"
"Hey," Danny said, "I trimmed the pictures to take out everything that could have identified you, yet she was able to find out which pictures were you without prompting. "
She shook her head. "I don't see how…"
Danny shrugged. "Even so, she still did it."
"Okay, okay! I concede! So… what now?"
"Well, that's the question, isn't it?"
We looked at each other. "Yeah, it is."
I looked at the cut-out pictures again. What is it that made the difference? Dammit! They look almost the same as to be indistinguishable from each other. But… There was a difference! Dammit! WTF, what was it?
"Hmmm…" Danny said, "this is gonna require another pizza!" He got up to go downstairs, get one from the fridge and nuke it.
"All you can think of is food!" I said, laughing.
I turned to Danielle to make a joke of it, but she called out, "Dan! Get two, okay?"
I sighed. These two were really brother and sister.
***** (Nikki) *****
After school the following day, most of the gang went with us to the station. Morgan and the others because of their job, and Danny, Danielle and I to meet with Tracey to talk about our "cockamamie" plan, as Danielle called it. I had to look up the word. And the connotation of the word was so very far away from what the word really meant. Reviewing for SATs has really made Danielle as nerdy as Betsy…
Of course, per the "plan," while still in school, Danny changed into an outfit of Danielle's, and Danielle into one of Danny's.
Tracey led us to the office's conference room. We waited for Joanne, and as soon as she came in, Tracey started our little "meeting."
"So," Tracey said, "tell me about this plan."
Our plan really was, ummm… cockamamie. Listen to this: The new made-up story was that Dannie-the-singer and Robin don't like each other, and everyone knew about it (supposedly). In fact, they didn't like each other so much that they didn't even want to be near each other. No one really knew why, except that Dannie's brother-and-manager suspects it has to be some kind of professional jealousy, which, apparently took root during the Rockrgrrl and Prêt-à-Porter photoshoots. And, because of which, Dannie was a little off her game during those shoots, which accounted for her less-than-perfect shots (and, hopefully, this would explain why Dannie's pics were not as great as they could be, and get the Blumenfeld people off this feeling that something was wrong with Dannie's pics), and, because of which, there was also a professional parting-of-the-ways between Danny and Robin, and Danny wasn't Robin's "manager" anymore.
Effectively, this isolated Robin from the rest of the gang, which would minimize possible flubs and snafus. Which was the plan.
And, yes, it WAS confusing. Tell me about it.
Anyway, during this upcoming meeting, Dannie will demand from the Blumenfeld people that she will only sign if she doesn't have to work with Robin, or be together in the same photoshoot, or even be in the same building with her.
If the Blumenfeld people should balk at these demands, then our official line would be "tough noogies." (Sorry! Danny said that was our official line! Lol)
Anyway, what I mean to say was that these demands were non-negotiable. And if they don't like it, then Dannie will have to pass on the opportunity to model for Blumenfeld.
Confusing? Yep! Will it work? No one knows!
However, joking aside, that was the only way we could think of to manage this.
That, or to drop the offer altogether. Which both Tracey and Danielle didn't want to do.
Tracey wanted this to push through. Seems she had the idea to make Blumenfeld yet another "Official Partner" of KRPQ (which would never have been possible if it didn't), and, with her mom's help, and with Robin and Dannie both modeling for them, Tracey thought this would be a sure thing.
As we were meeting, Danny's phone beeped. Twice. One was for an email for Robin containing an offer letter from Blumenfeld, and the other was an email for Dannie, arranging for an interview with Sarah Michelle Rhodes.
Danny passed his phone around, and said that the interview invitation seemed to be just like the one sent to Robin: it went the same way as before, but the difference was that Sarah beat her to accommodating a chaperone or companion. But "Dannie" had no adult to accompany her this time. Sarah assumed it would be one of her parents, but, of course, that was out of the question. And, if so, then the only people among our friends that qualified as adults were the eighteen-year-olds - Dale, Mongo or June.
"What if you ask Sally again?" I asked.
"Well," Danny said, "that would be a bit awkward, wouldn't it? I mean, if Dannie is supposed to be in a feud with Robin, why would she bring Robin's friend?"
"Oh, yeah… Then, I guess it has to be June, then."
"Nope," Danielle said.
"Well, it can't be Dale or Mongo," I said. "They're boys!"
"I didn't mean that! I meant a sixteen-year-old can travel alone. The only excuse for Robin to bring Sally was in case there was an ID issue. The rule is, on a flight, anyone under eighteen who didn't have an ID would need someone eighteen or older with her.
"But since Danielle has a passport as well as regular IDs, and since our state is Real ID-compliant, and Danny will be using the rest of Danielle's papers, then she has all the ID that she needs."
"Cool," Danny said.
"And since I can also use Danny's IDs," Danielle said, "then I can go on the trip, too!"
Tracey shook her head. "You can't, Danielle," she said.
"Well, why the heck not!"
"Like Danny said, the Blumenfeld people might feel something fishy if they see the two of you together."
"But…"
"Tracey's right," I said. "Remember what we talked about last night, Danielle? Remember the pictures?"
"Pictures?" Tracey asked.
"But…" Danielle thought it over. "You're right… Dammit…."
Through the glass wall of the conference room, we saw Sally walking down the hall, carrying a two-by-two cardboard box under one arm, and wearing a big grin.
We waved to her. She took it as an invitation and went into the conference room.
"Hello, everyone!" Sally said. "What's happening?"
"Hey, Sally," Tracey said. "We were just talking about Dannie's invitation for an interview with Blumenfeld House. They want her to model for them."
"Ahh! So they sent a letter already. Cool!"
"What do you have there?" Danny asked.
"This?" she pointed at her box. "Oh, just some stuff the Blumenfeld people sent me." She let us peek inside and it was full of clothes and other goodies. I looked at some of the tags, and they were all Blumenfeld. Wow!
"Anyway," she said, "I was hoping to find Robin. There's supposed to be a box for her, too, in the loading area." She giggled. "I don't know how she's gonna bring it home, though. It's a five-foot by five-foot by five-foot crate!"
"Ummm," Tracey said, "I don't think she's in the office…"
"Oh, well. I guess I'll text her." Sally started typing. "Thanks, Tracey."
We all noticed Danny grab his phone and surreptitiously turn the sound off. Thank goodness Sally was engrossed with her typing so she didn't see that.
"Okay, that's it, then!" she said after she finished her text. After a few minutes more of chit-chat, she waved at us and went out with her loot.
"So?" I asked Danny.
Danny looked at his phone. "Yep," he said, "Sally sent a text about my 'care package.'"
"Answer her, Danny."
He typed a response, and Sally responded right away.
"Ummm, Sally also texted Robin," Danny said, "asking if we could meet and compare offer letters. How do you guys think I should respond?"
"Hmmm…" Joanne said. "I think you should meet with her. Maybe tomorrow after lunch?"
"What about school?"
"Tell your folks. Tell her it's about a job offer, and maybe they can write a note for you?"
Dan looked a little skeptical. "You think?"
"Sure. Tell 'em you need to talk over the job offer with some people. And if they want proof, show 'em the offer letter to Robin."
"Is that wise? My folks aren't too happy about my Dannie-the-singer thing. And though we haven't talked about it much, I'm sure they feel the same with my Robin thing."
Joanne shrugged. "Up to you. But I think they'll write you the note."
Danny sighed. "Okay. I'll text Sally. And I'll talk to the folks later."
He turned to Tracey and changed the topic. "Trace, how can I get that crate to my house?"
Tracey nodded. "I'll arrange something."
We then talked about what Tracey wanted to talk about - essentially, the KRPQ partnership thing with Blumenfeld.
Tracey didn't know how to broach the subject with the Blumenfeld folks. After all, it would be terribly presumptuous to talk partnerships when they were in the middle of negotiations with Dannie.
"I guess that's true," Danielle said, and thought for a bit. "How about this - you let them know that you guys are aware that they have seen the Prêt-à-Porter, Alley-Oop and Rockrgrrl posters, and that they'e in negotiations with Robin. You guys therefore thought of a partnership, and then you can explain what you have in mind."
"But then," Tracey said, "they're still negotiating with Robin and Dannie - won't that seem like we're saying they won't be able to hire the girls if we don't partner…"
Joanne shrugged. "Not a problem," she said. "You can just say directly that there is no, what's the phrase? Tit for tat?"
"I think you mean 'quid pro quo,'" Danielle laughed.
Joanne nodded. "… that there's no quid pro quo, and that their dealings with Robin and Danny are totally separate, and you will not interfere or influence that."
"Would they even believe that?" Tracey asked.
Joanne shrugged. "Doesn't matter. The fact that it's in the letter means they have something they can use, just in case the deal falls through."
"I think you're oversimplifying that…"
"I wouldn't be surprised if I was," Joanne giggled. "I'm no negotiator. The only other option is that you let them finish their negotiations with the girls first."
"Well… I guess that's the safest way to go," she said.
"Good," Joanne said, and rubbed her hands together comically. "So now that that's settled, let's go to Danny's and wait for all the goodies that she got."
Everyone laughed.
***** (Danny) *****
Danielle, Joanne, Nikki and I went home after that meeting, and I left the girls in the living room while I had a long talk with the parental units.
True to form, after they found out where I went the day before - that I actually flew to Minneapolis, and that I met with some people for a job as "Robin," and I was going to do it again this coming Sunday, but now as "Dannie" - Dad wasn't too happy how things were playing out, and was worried for me. Aside from the legal and criminal possibilities (defrauding the IRS, impersonating other people, fraud, et cetera), he was worried about me personally. Wouldn't all of this put a toll on my own ideas of who I was or who I wanted to be. Dad said he was no doctor so he couldn't really fully articulate his worries, but I said I knew what he was saying.
I defended myself, showed my new Robin papers so, as far as the paperwork was concerned, Robin was a complete legal entity. As for the modelling, I told him that it wasn't me signing up, but Danielle, so legally, there was no problem. So long as no one twigs to the fact that both were actually me, there's no problem.
"That's a big 'if' to hang your future, Danny," he said. "You realize that Danielle is part of this if ever you go down? And since your mother and I know, we are accessories after the fact?"
"I know, Dad, but I don't think it'll come to that."
He shook his head. "No, Danny."
"As far as I understand the law," I said, "it's too late now, Dad. It's already done. Danielle and I are already guilty."
"Then we surrender - we'll throw ourselves on the mercy of the court."
"Dad..."
"Dammit, son, I feel like you kids tricked your mother and me - that you set it up so we couldn't say no to this scheme of yours."
"I didn't intend for this to happen, Dad. It... just did."
And I told my folks everything. Everything except the stuff about Batch 14, my pheromones and what they can do to people, and what the Doc and my so-called dietician have been doing.
I started my story by saying that I would be abbreviating things, but would be open to getting into them later, or answer any and all questions.
And through my entire recitation, ma and dad were slack-jawed and seemingly unable to believe even though they knew what I was saying was true. An epic story, I believe. Not Jason and the Argonauts epic, but nevertheless...
Eventually, though, it was inevitable that my folks turned it back to me, and what I felt this meant to me. As to my feelings about all this, I said I was happy for everything that has happened. I said I was glad I had the beginnings of a career now.
"But as a girl, Dan!" he said. "Is that okay with you?"
I put down my Coke Zero as I sat by the kitchen table, and sighed.
Mom sat down beside me and put an arm around my shoulders.
"Are you okay, my love," mom said.
"I'm okay mom," I said, gave her a little kiss of thanks on the cheek. I looked at dad. "I guess I'm okay with that, dad. But… but… are you okay with that? I don't know if…"
Dad came close and crouched down so he would be eye-level.
"Dan," he said gently. "We talked about this before. I don't care about that. All that I care about - all that your mom and I care about - is that you are happy, and that you won't get hurt."
"Then believe this, dad," I said. "I'm okay as a girl. I can be a girl or a guy - doesn't matter to me. What I want is that I'm accepted, and that my friends and family are happy for me, and that I get to do what I'm best at. But the thing is… I couldn't bear it if… if I lost you…" I wasn't teary-eyed anymore. I was crying now.
Dad reached over and gave me a hug.
"Never worry about that. You will never lose us. Your mom and I will always love you and support you."
I let out a shuddering breath. "Thanks, dad. I love you…"
"I love you, too, kid," he said, and cleared his throat. His eyes were very bright, but he didn't cry. That's just dad being dad.
"Okay," he said. Apparently, for him and ma, things were now settled. "I'm gonna want to look at those 'Robin papers' of yours, and take a look at your offer letter."
He let me up and I went to my backpack. I brought out my driver's license as Robin, my ID and my social security card as Robin, and the packet that contained my new passport, birth certificate, high school certificate and other papers.
Dad spread them on the kitchen table and looked at everything.
"Well," dad said, "they seem to be authentic, despite Robin being just a paper person…"
"My boss says they are," I said. "They're backstopped with the TSA, the IRS, the Department of Education, and even with the FBI."
"Wow…" dad said. "I can't believe Mrs. Piper would do all this for you."
I shrugged. "I guess it's her way of helping her daughter Tracey build up the radio station. Mrs. P is building the station for Tracey - she wants the station to be Tracey's eventually. And at the moment" - I shrugged - "Robin and Dannie-the-singer are very important to the station."
"But aren't you worried that you'll be found out because of these…" He waved my "Robin papers."
"They're genuine, dad," I said. "Trust Mrs. P's connections."
"What if Mrs. Piper holds this over you, like it's her way of controlling you?"
I shrugged. "I don't think she would. But I guess that's possible. Although that would make her and Tracey accessories, so I have that to hold over on her. Sort of a mutually-assured-destruction thing."
"How about that contract?"
"I haven't signed it yet - I wanted to review it first." I got the copy of the contract I printed up at the station and handed it to him.
Dad nodded. "I'll work on that for you." Dad was an executive for one of the small savings and loan companies in the neighboring city, and he specialized in contract loans and financing. He was probably the only contract lawyer that the town had - just what I needed.
As usual, Dad got engrossed in it, and my mom and I decided to leave him. She started preparing some snacks for all of us - diet snacks for her and the girls as usual, and regular food for Dad and me - so I went in search of the girls.
"Ma?" I said, turning back to her for a moment.
"Yes, my dear?" she said.
"I love you." And I rushed out.
They weren't in the living room so I went upstairs, but they weren't in either Danielle's room or my room. Eventually, I found them in the garage. By that time, I had fully recovered from my little cry.
Inside the garage was a big crate that was eyeballs-high. They were contemplating how to go about opening it, apparently.
"Whatinheck is that!" I cried.
"It's your stuff, silly," Nikki said, "or rather Robin's stuff." She giggled.
Danielle was going around and around it, trying to figure out how to open it.
"RTFM, Danielle," I laughed. I got this little folded-up piece of paper inside a plastic bag stapled to the side of the crate. Following the instructions, I looked for dad's small fifteen-inch crowbar and looked for the side that had the words "front" and "this side up," and an arrow pointing up spray-painted in red.
"Here we go," I said, and jammed the crowbar into the left edge and then pushed out to pull out the nails.
"Let me do the other side," Danielle said. She got the crowbar from me but was barely able to jam it into the right edge. "I can't do it," she huffed. Joanne looked at her in humorous disgust, took the crowbar from her and got it in but was hardly able to budge it either.
"Gimme that!" I said. I jammed it in deeper, pushed out and pulled out the nails on that side as well.
I then did the top edge by climbing onto a chair and, following the instructions, pulled down the whole side like it was the tailgate of a pickup.
That whole side banged down, and we saw everything in the crate.
"Wow," Nikki said. Inside was like a display in a department store - dresses, tops, pants and leggings, jackets and coats, shirts, lingerie, and several types of shoes. Each piece was hung neatly in its own plastic garment bag on a pipe that stretched across the inside of the box like a clothes rack, with other pieces - mostly shoes - in sealed bags or in boxes at the bottom.
Nikki picked one up from the bottom and looked at it. She then picked up another one, and then another. She then looked at some of the stuff hanging from the pipe.
"Oh, damn," she said.
"What's wrong, Nikki," Danielle asked.
"It's all in Danny's size!" she pouted. "They won't fit me!"
"Darn," Joanne said. "Then they won't fit me either."
"That's not true," I said. "I'm sure you guys can find something that will fit." I looked through them myself, not really opening any. I only recognized a third of them - these being the stuff that Sally and I saw at Blumenfeld's, but the others were totally new. There were also over a dozen shoes, and a several boots and sneakers.
But Nikki was right - they're all in my sizes. "You know, I never even tried any of these on," I said. "It's amazing how they even knew my size." I opened up one of the shoe boxes and the shoes had the correct size, too.
Danielle looked at everything with a predatory gleam in her eye.
"You're probably thinking that you can borrow all of these since you and Danny have the same sizes," Joanne said.
"Yesss!" she answered and laughed like a mad scientist from a movie.
Joanne shook her head and smiled evilly.
"What?!" Danielle said. "But why!"
"Sorry, honey," she said. "The Blumenfeld guys gave these clothes to Robin. So you can't be seen in any of them since Dannie-the-singer and Robin are supposed to be on the outs."
"But… but… but… how would they know? They won't see…"
"Sorry, Danielle," Joanne giggled, "but better not. It's best to be safe."
"Dammit!"
to be continued...
Chapter 53 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ. So Danny got convinced to actually go for the meeting with the fashion house in Minneapolis-St. Paul as Robin, with Sally accompanying him. Robin also finally became a real paper person, complete with a Social Security number, a taxpayer's ID, a passport, a birth certificate, a school transcript and everything that Robin would need. The only downside was that he would need to start paying income tax. That and having the family name "Tibbles." (Seriously? Tibbles?) And when they came back home, "Robin" let everyone know that "she" and Sally were now official models for Blumenfeld House. Whoa! Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang! |
Chapter Fifty-Three: A Girl Named Sally
***** (Danny) *****
Mom and Danielle were able to put away my new stuff by temporarily hanging them in the guest room's empty closet and putting the boxes and sealed bags on the closet floor. It was a tight fit as it was a small closet, but it was only temporary. Mom and Danielle helped to make sure they weren't going to be crumpled.
Dad measured the closet and estimated that I'd need a new closet at least twice the size, and, before I could stop him, he went on-line and ordered a nice big, easy assemble-it-yourself one from Best Buy, and with same-day delivery, it arrived after breakfast the following day.
While they were doing that, I took apart the now-empty crate in the garage, and broke it up into pieces small enough that the garbage people could manage the next time they came for a pickup. It wasn't too difficult - the crate was just loosely nailed together (I made sure to take out all the nails so as not to injure anyone).
Anyway, I had arranged to meet with Sally at two PM the following day, hours before her Tuesday afternoon show.
By this time, I was adept enough in putting on a wig. Although my real newly-long hair would probably make it a little difficult, I thought I'd be able to manage. So I left mom & dad's note with the school admin office, went home without any of the girls to help me, had lunch with mom, read through dad's comments on Robin's contract, and changed into Robin.
I couldn't help thinking how Superman was able to keep on changing outfits in seconds.
For lunch, we had mom's coddle, or what the Irish call Dublin coddle. It's basically a stew made from leftovers - this one had sliced-up left-over pork chops, bits of bacon, potatoes, onions, carrots, salt, pepper and some herbs.
I had three helpings. Mom cooks good. So sue me.
I was a bit nervous, actually, as I was selecting an outfit all on my own - with no input from Nikki or Danielle or anyone. Plus, I was putting on my makeup and my wig on all by myself. Silly to be worrying about these kinds of things. I guess my nervousness is coming mostly from fear of being found out by Sally.
I went up to my room and was very pleasantly surprised when I found my new closet. It was so big, it covered one whole wall of my room. Thank goodness my room was large enough so my new closet didn't reduce my room's size too much. Dad was kind enough to take down the pictures and whatever else that was on that wall, and put them all into a box under my bed, with a note that said he'll help put them back up once I've decided where they'll go.
I opened the accordion-style door of my new closet, and saw it wasn't even one-eighth full. For some reason, I looked down and I saw there was enough space on the closet's floor for all my new Robin shoes, and then noticed all of my Dannie shoes there as well. I looked at the hanger space and I noticed that my Dannie clothes were hung there as well - the Robin stuff was on the right side and the Dannie stuff on the left.
Also on the left side were several drawers like in a dresser, and I checked. My Dannie shirts & blouses, underwear, shorts, lingerie, socks and stockings and tights, accessories and other stuff were there. My new Robin stuff were also there, but were in separate drawers on the other side.
Hmmm. That meant all my girl stuff has been separated from my real stuff. I checked my old closet, and all that was left there were my guy stuff.
Mom and her legendary organizational skills were amazing.
Also on the floor of my new closet were a dozen wig forms as well. I only had a few, so a lot of the wig forms were empty.
I got the brunette one that looked nearest to my Robin hairstyle from the weekend. I made sure to do everything I was taught to do - braid my real hair first, wrap it around my head, put on the wig cap and make sure all of my hair was underneath it, make sure the cap was snug, put the wig over it and adjust it to the proper position, put the bobby pins on, making sure that the pins go through the wig's hair, through the cap and grab some of my real hair, and then shake my head to make sure it was secure.
I was very good. Too bad no one was around to notice it.
I then put on a pair of my new drop gold earrings and a gold chain that we bought at the mall two weeks ago (cheap costume jewelry, I'm afraid - but no one will probably notice) and my new Kate Spade Cooper Strap Watch with the yellow band. I'm afraid the jewelry and the watch are Robin's now - Dannie or Danielle can never wear them ever again.
I then picked clothes from my fancy, new Blumenfeld wardrobe. (Before I put on my new clothes, though, by ingrained habit now, I put on some of Dr. Roberts' magic solution first.)
I put on a pair of shiny, opaque diamond patterned black tights over one of my black thong gaffs, and selected a pair of four-inch-high mustard wedge booties (I didn't put them on yet). I then put on a sexy canary-yellow designer bra and a semi-see through ivory smock top tunic with a heavy, gold chain I wore like a belt. You could almost see my yellow bra through the almost-transparent smock, and though the gimmick was a bit dated, I nevertheless thought it was sexy.
For good measure, I partnered the outfit with what the tag said was a "saddle bag purse in orange leather, with brown strap, canvas stitching and gold hardware." Seemed a good match to my outfit. Also, it was a fairly large purse, which was a plus. I hated the usual tiny, rinky-dink girls' purses and bags.
The combination seemed pretty nice to me, especially with the yellow/tan/gold theme running throughout. But I don't know - the colors were definitely colors that Danielle would never have picked, but I liked em. But I had that fear that I was just being the stupid old boy that I was before, with no fashion sense at all.
But I needed to manage this alone - Danielle, Nikki and the others weren't around. And, besides, I needed to learn. I crossed my fingers and hoped my ensemble, regardless of the high-fashion Blumenfeld tags, were okay, and that I didn't look like a clown: meeting Sally while looking like a clown - not optimal.
As I was putting on my makeup, my phone beeped with an email from dad. Dad said he finished reviewing the contract, and he thought it was fine, but he had some additional provisions that he put under a section he called "Additional Provisions" (what else heehee). He said that these provisions were not negotiable, and, as my dad, he was standing firm on them.
"We'll see about that," I thought, although in reality, I knew I'll probably give in.
Continuing the email, dad also said that the financial part needed fixing - they were clearly undercutting me. Unless they were willing to multiply all the numbers by at least two, I should walk away immediately. The rates were probably okay if they hadn't insisted on exclusivity, and if the shooting schedule didn't exceed a week in total per month, but the fact is, they did.
I switched to Messages, and texted him asking, wasn't a 200% increase a little too much?
Dad replied that, assuming a Blumenfeld model worked one full twelve-hour day a week and a minimum $25 dollars per hour (which was the entry-rate for high fashion modeling), that means she would earn $15,600.00 a year minimum. And they were offering so much less. And it was dangerous since my rates would be a fixed rate for the rest of the year - They could work me like a dog and I wouldn't be compensated for all the extra time.
Also, the high end in the industry was about $300 per hour. So the median would be $150, or $93,000 for similar work-hours.
He texted back to say that multiplying Blumenfeld's offer by two will only just put my compensation at par with their standard fees for new models (he had been able to get Blumenfeld's data from his contacts). In fact, when he did some computing, even with a 300% increase, they would still be low but at least they'd be within "normal" rates. Of course, he said, I was a newbie, but the fact they wanted me, and they wanted exclusivity, that should be worth something. In his best estimation, he thinks I should earn fifty a year, excluding expenses, even though I was a newbie.
So I reluctantly agreed.
I noticed the time, so I booked an Uber Black before continuing with the back-and-forth.
Wait… I did some mental calculations. If dad's right… and FICA is about seven percent… withheld taxes around ten percent… But even with this… I was gonna be rich! Well, not filthy rich but fairly well off for someone my age that was still in school.
I danced a little dance of joy.
Going back to the email I saw dad had attached a version of the contract with his changes (he highlighted his changes in yellow), and he had also taken out the financial part, putting all that in a different file, and all the figures multiplied by two.
Dad said it was up to me if I wanted to increase the rates, but what he wrote would have be the base rates.
I looked at his other changes - he had specified Blumenfeld-related activities and events had to be pre-scheduled with me a month beforehand, all work-related expenses should be reimbursable, that total work hours per month shouldn't exceed fifty per month (and preferably only on the weekends), no work during holidays, exam days, and though the contract was for five years, the rates should be renegotiated every six months.
I was wrong - I liked his changes.
I upped the figures by 300% instead of the 200% Dad put in, added the "tough noogies" clause relating to Dannie (thank god I caught myself before I saved, and didn't name it that) and downloaded the two files down to my laptop.
"Danny!" my mom called from downstairs. "Your Uber's here!" I looked at my phone and, indeed, my driver was here.
I picked up my new shoes and put them on. They weren't difficult to put on - they were just booties, after all.
The mustard-colored mini-boots had a four-inch wedge heel, fixed fold-over cuffs and asymmetrical zipper hardware at the outer ankle, and they fit my feet just like a glove. Wonder who figured out my sizes over in Blumenfeld?
Grabbing my laptop, and dumping all the essentials in my "saddlebag" purse, I carefully walked downstairs as I got used to the shoes, and gave my mom a kiss on the cheek before I walked out the door.
This was the first time for mom to see me in full Robin Mode, and I suppose she couldn't get over it - she just looked at me slack-jawed. I giggled.
"Seeya later, Mrs. Fairchild!" I said, gave her a flying kiss, and went out to my Uber.
"Bye, Danny," mom called out belatedly. "I mean 'Robin!'"
And with my security following (it was Kelly again, in her Toyota), I went to meet with Sally.
***** (Sally) *****
I made a reservation at this fancy trattoria that I knew about. It was just a few blocks from the office, so it was ideal. Not to mention it was pretty fancy and romantic, and was the new favorite place of most of the fashionistas and the upwardly mobile in town. Robin and I might be the youngest there, but that shouldn't matter. I've had several dates there already, so I knew it was a pretty expensive place, even though I haven't paid for anything there yet. But then, why would I - if guys like to pay for my meals, why should I stop them?
I also asked Mrs. Piper's office assistant about the conference room at KRPQ - that since it was free the entire afternoon, was it okay if I reserved it, as well as the videoconferencing rig that they had. I also made sure that the people from Blumenfeld were available, too, and had confirmed our video appointment.
It was hard to get a reservation in the restaurant - even in the afternoon, the trattoria was almost full, but I got lucky. I confirmed Robin's and my reservation at the trattoria, and I got all dressed up and everything, picking my sexiest "conservative" outfit.
I did wonder why I was doing this. Thinking about it, I guess I wanted to impress her.
I sat at their bar as I waited for our table, and I looked outside, keeping my eye out for her.
In a while, a shiny black mercedes pulled up to the curb. And an angel stepped out.
Everyone outside on the sidewalk reacted to Robin. How could they not? This beautiful brunette creature in clothes like an angel's robes suddenly came into our midst, walking among us mere mortals. Blumenfeld's fashions really suited her.
She was so different from that time when she and Tracey covered the Jackson Building fire. There, she was all movement, motion, excitement and decisive action - like a female Indiana Jones (I would have said Lara Croft, but Lara felt a little snooty, especially with her accent, and Robin wasn't snooty at all).
Robin had a layer of sweat and grime and smoke and dirt that time. This time... This time she was so coifed and beautiful and charming and elegant - each move so poised and deliberate... But, you know, somehow she was still that action girl, too.
As everyone looked at her, she just smiled back in a friendly way, and I envied everyone she smiled at.
She saw me through the trattoria's window, waved and came in.
I gulped and waved back. For whatever reason, I was nervous. Deathly nervous. I had to stop myself from pulling out my compact and checking my face.
"Hey, girl," she said in that sexy, low voice of hers. I giggled - I couldn't help it.
"Hey, Robin," I said and bussed her cheek. "Where've you been?"
"Oh, just around."
The maitre'd signaled that our table was ready, and he walked us to a table that was roughly in the middle of the place.
"Hungry?" I asked as we sat, and then giggled. "What am I saying - of course, you're hungry. When are you ever not hungry?" One of the waitresses proffered a couple of menus.
"What can I get you ladies? A drink perhaps?" She looked a little embarrassed. "I'm so sorry, but I have to ask to see your…"
I waved her away. "Oh, don't worry. Can you give us a couple of virgin sangrias?"
The waitress smiled. "Of course. Just give me a minute."
We opened our menus, and I asked if I could order.
As soon as our waitress arrived with our sangrias in big Collins glasses, I ordered cesar salads to start - a half-plate for me, and a large one for Robin - with a basket of rosemary bread, the soup of the day, chicken parmigiana as the main, and tiramisu for dessert. All half-orders for me and full plates for Robin.
I guess ordering the food was a way for me to delay this inevitability - of having to talk to her. I mean, what can I say to her that won't sound ridiculous?
As I casted about looking for something to talk about, my eyes fell on her laptop peeking out of her big purse, and though I knew it's not something one really does on a date, I decided to bring up the matter of our contracts, which was supposedly the reason for our meeting.
I looked around, and no one had notebooks out, or tablets, or whatever - this wasn't a place where people worked, or brought electronic devices. And as we worked on Robin's computer, I saw the other people in the restaurant looking at us.
Wait… maybe they're looking at us for another reason…
Burying my irritation at all the attention, I just concentrated on what we were doing.
Robin said she was fine with the contract, but a friend of hers who knew about these kinds of things made some suggestions. She showed me these modifications, and I had to shake myself a bit to get myself to concentrate. I seem to be distracted.
So. A month's notice prior to any Blumenfeld-related work; modeling not to exceed an equivelant of seven days per month; and no work on holidays, and penalties attached.
"Hmmm…" I said. "Robin, I doubt if Sarah will agree to this."
"But why!" Robin said. "My da… friend… he said that, since they want an exclusive contract, I'm not gonna be able to do much anymore after I sign, and I'd be at their beck and call twenty-four seven. He said it'd be like legalized slavery."
"Wait… they want an exclusive contract?" I paged back the document.
"Well, I'll be," I said. "Apparently, our contracts are different. Here, let me show you mine." I popped out my contract on my phone, and handed it over.
"Let's see…" she said, and started paging through it. "Hmmm… You're right."
"Yeah. So, basically, unlike me, you can't do modeling or spokesperson-related work for another company or agency, and your contract is for five years - goddammit! Five years? And you can't do any modeling work for anyone else for at least three years, even if you quit Blumenfeld. Ohmigod…"
"Yeah, and it used to be that I would be available on a week's notice until we changed it."
"Robin, I think you need to modify these parts, too. I mean, don't you want to be able to work for other modeling agencies?"
She shrugged. "Well, I'm not really looking to be a model. So those details didn't really matter to me."
"I think they're taking advantage of you, Robin."
She looked at me. "What would you suggest?"
"Well, for one thing, contracts are usually yearly contracts. And non-compete clauses are sorta frowned upon by models. But, in any case, a three-month non-compete is pretty long already."
"Okay." She handed back my phone and I started typing on her computer, making changes on her contract. "Okay. I made the changes. How about the exclusivity thing?"
"Well, I don't know… I don't really mind?"
"Well, even if you don't you need to get something in exchange for that provision. I noticed you took out the financial stuff, so I don't know how much they're gonna give you. But it better be a lot. A one or two-year exclusivity clause is pretty much standard. And there has to be something major for you in exchange for that exclusivity."
"Sally…" she said tentatively. "You know that I saw the financial provisions in your contract. And… well, can I let you know what I learned?"
"Ummm, sure…"
"The regular modeling rates in the industry range from thirty-two to fifty thousand. You can even check. And Blumenfeld's normal rates are higher than the industry's, even for new models. My friend knows people, and he confirmed this. And since Blumenfeld has used you before, then they can't use the excuse that you're new…"
"Ahh… "
"You have to change the numbers."
"What would you suggest?"
"At least the basic rate. Okay?"
"But…"
"I know we can't make our contracts linked or dependent on each other, but I can show them that I'm behind you all the way. So they know it's a package deal."
"Thank you so much for that, Robin."
"S'all right." She leaned over and gave me a casual hug. "You're my friend."
I proceeded to change the financials in my contract according to Robin's suggestions, making the changes in yellow, and we had a pleasant… hmmm… I wonder if there's such a word as "dunch" - like if "brunch" is between breakfast and lunch, "dunch" could be the meal between lunch and dinner. Heehee.
It's funny, though, that Robin didn't talk much about herself, and we ended up talking more about me. Not that I minded - what girl didn't want to talk about herself?
I'm afraid I made a fool of myself again and talked too much, telling Robin about lots of humdrum things that happened in my little hometown of Spiral. But she seemed genuinely interested, and for that I'm grateful. Robin didn't need to do too much for me to like her. She is more than likeable, not to mention the most gorgeous girl I knew. I had to wonder why she didn't have a boyfriend. Or could it be she wasn't looking for a boyfriend? In the back of my mind, a kind of hope I didn't understand nor could I even acknowledge, grew. After all, I have always been hetero.
Eventually, we noticed the time, and if we still wanted to make our teleconference with the Blumenfeld people, we needed to get a move on.
I asked for the check and just handed over my card without looking. I was a little scandalized when Robin asked to have our stuff doggy-bagged. In such a classy place, who asks for their leftovers?
But the waitress smiled and commended Robin - so much food went to waste nowadays, she said, and it was pleasant that "the young miss helped by not contributing to that," she said.
One would think that she was being catty, but her voice was totally sincere.
I didn't add a tip to our bill and just left some cash. Robin, when she thought I wasn't looking, added an extra fifty to the tip. Didn't know if I should be glad or offended, but I think she was just being a nice customer. And who am I to complain - if we should come back to the restaurant, they'd remember us.
***** (Sally) *****
It was just a couple of blocks to the office, so we just walked. It was a bit late in the afternoon so there were more people out walking than earlier, although it still wasn't like rush hour. But there were enough that we couldn't help but notice all the admiring looks we were getting.
As a pretty girl, I've had my share of those, which, depending on who was looking, was either flattering or a bit creepy. In any case, I know that, this time, the majority of the stares were directed at Robin.
I didn't mind much, and, besides, I benefited from Robin's reflected hotness, but Robin seemed to find the attention from the strangers a little off-putting, and put her arm through mine for some assurance. I didn't mind that, too, and I just pulled her in closer and breathed in her sexy, slightly musky scent. I must ask what perfume she uses later.
She and I went to the building and to the security desk, noting there were no fans hanging out in the lobby or by the desk. It was the middle of the afternoon, after all, so they'll probably be gathering later.
After flashing our IDs to the new security guard, we proceeded to KRPQ. We waved hi to everyone, and signed in for the conference room. There, we found the most comfortable seats that faced the videocon camera, and Robin proceeded to hook up her laptop to the setup. I didn't know a thing about it, and just let her do it.
I did email my modified contract draft to her, so it could be displayed in case they wanted to talk about it.
So we dialed in, and after a minute or so, Sarah Michelle Rhodes' profile connected.
"Hello, Ms Tibbles, is that you? Hi, this is Mindy, Ms Rhodes' assistant - I mean Sarah. She's running a little late, and she said for me to start the ball rolling."
"Hi, Mindy," Robin waved. "Just call me Robin, okay?"
Mindy giggled and nodded.
I leaned in as well so I got into the shot, too.
"Hey, Mindy," I said.
"Hello, Ms Marshall," she said. "I mean Sally." She giggled again.
"Can I send you some files?" Robin asked.
"Files? Sure. But send it to my email address instead." She told us her email address, pulled a laptop to her, opened it and logged on.
Robin emailed our two modified contract drafts and we had a pleasant chit-chat as we waited for Sarah to come by.
It didn't take long for Sarah to come in.
"Hello girls," she said. "Sorry I'm late. I had a meeting with Edwin and my staff discussing the reshoot for the catalogue."
"You were?" I asked.
"Indeed," she replied. "We need to have the catalogue out as soon as possible, or else there'll be hell to pay." She sighed. "This is going to be one of the hardest reshoots ever."
Sarah looked at us. "That's why we need you girls to sign up, so we can start finalizing plans and schedules."
"Well," Robin said, "about that - Sally and I looked over the offer letters and contracts you sent, and we have some suggestions."
Mindy slid her laptop over to Sarah so she could look at it.
"That's Sally's," Mindy said, and Sarah nodded.
"We highlighted our suggestions," Robin said helpfully. This allowed Sally to zoom in on just the changes.
In a minute, Sarah was done. "Seems it's just the financials that you changed," she said.
I was about to explain, but she said, "Done!" before I could. "Welcome back to Blumenfeld House, Sally."
Robin and I grinned and high-fived each other.
"Now, for Robin's."
"Ummm, Sarah?" Robin said, "the changes in mine are a bit more complicated…"
Sarah nodded and opened the files.
"I'll start with the smaller file," she said, referring to Robin's compensation package, and we all giggled at that.
She nodded. "These are not a problem," she said. "The rates you put down were all reasonable. Tell me, what…"
"I had a short talk with someone," she said, and smiled craftily. "He told me about the standard rates in the industry, plus the modeling fees that Blumenfeld usually pays."
Sarah stopped for a moment. "I hope you realize, Robin, that what we sent was a preliminary offer. We weren't lowballing you or anything."
"Of course not," Robin said in a reasonable, serious tone. Of course, she was nudging me below the table outside of their view.
"These rates are quite reasonable. I'll talk to Ed later and maybe even improve on these numbers a bit more." She then turned to the other file.
"Hmmm…" Sarah said after she was through with it. "These are quite substantial changes, Robin," she commented. "And what's this under something called 'work restrictions?'"
Robin shrugged. "I'm sorry if I seem to be acting like a diva. It's nothing really. I heard from Sally that you made an offer to Dannie Fairchild. I'm not saying it's either her or me. But I think this is the only way to keep the peace."
"But, Robin, you were the one who recommended her in the first place…"
Robin shrugged. "I had a conversation with her yesterday, and let's just say that it didn't end well. I guess Dannie and I still haven't fixed our problems, and I think this is the only way we can both work for you until we can resolve our differences."
"But, Robin, this will make things really difficult."
"I'm sorry, Sarah. I'm really not trying to make things difficult. But this is the only possible way. Trust me. Sincerely."
Sarah sighed. "I'm going to have to talk to Ed about that."
"What do you think of my other suggestions?"
"Well… they're pretty drastic."
"I understand, but I'm okay to discuss it whenever you want, just give me some notice, though."
Sarah sighed. "Actually, I think your modifications were actually okay, but they're kind of a major departure from our standard contract. If it were up to me, I wouldn't mind the changes, but we'll have to run them through our lawyers."
"Well," Robin shrugged, "like I said, we can talk about everything, except that thing with Dannie…"
"Robin…"
"Sorry, Sarah. It's non-negotiable."
"Well, okay. Guess I have some work to do. Can I call you later?"
"No prob."
With a final wave, Sarah switched off.
"Well… I guess that didn't go as well as it could have," Robin said. She shut down the monitor and other stuff, and we walked out of the room.
"I wouldn't say that," I said. "I think you caught Sarah by surprise, but I think she's considering your, ummm, 'suggestions.'"
She giggled along with me.
"What's with that thing with Dannie?" I asked, and she explained. Hmmm. I didn't notice any friction before - they actually seemed very good friends, maybe even close friends. Wonder what happened?
I looked up and saw the big clock on the wall.
"Oh!" I exclaimed. "It's about time for my show! Can you stick around a bit? Maybe we can can talk some more after my show?"
"Sure!" she said, and shook the doggie bag from the restaurant. "I'll be in the break room having a snack."
I giggled, gave her a little kiss on the cheek and went to the booth.
to be continued...
Chapter 54 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ. Danny met with Sally as Robin, and they finalized their contracts with the fashion house. And, before Sally went to do her show, the both of them became official models and employees of Blumenfeld House. Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. |
Chapter Fifty-Four: Danny's Turn
***** (Danny) *****
I decided to hang out in the break room and do some homework while I enjoyed some of my leftover parmigiana and tiramisu. No sangria this time but a couple of cokes from the vending machine was a good substitute.
I texted Danielle to tell her I'd be here until around six or so, and she texted back that they'll be at Besty's after they had dinner at McDonald's. I giggled, imagining Danielle's angry-sad face at making do with burgers and fries.
Anyway, Mrs. P drifted over and I told her Sally and I had just finished a videocon with some people from Blumenfeld House, and she seemed to know all about it. So I told her that we and the the Blumenfeld people were already in agreement, in principle, and we were just haggling over the details. I told her that they also made an offer to Dannie…
"Yeah, I know," she said. "Tracy told me. So, will Dannie have to, I don't know, turn down her offer? I mean, considering your situation?"
"Ummm…" I looked around, and used my eyes to sign to her that there were other people in the room.
Mrs. P took the hint and we went to her office to continue our discussion.
So I mentioned to her the "tough noogies" clause, and the arrangement we wanted.
Mrs. P giggled. "That's a super complicated arrangement, Danny… I mean, Robin..."
I sighed. "I know. But it's the only way to allow Dannie and Robin to both be models for Blumenfeld."
"Then why not have either Robin or Dannie back off?"
"Well… It won't go well for Tracy's plan if I…"
"Huh? What does Tracy have to do with this?"
"Well… Tracy was hoping that with both Robin and Dannie being spokesmodels for Blumenfeld, it'd help to get them to become one of KRPQ's partners, and she intends to use that as a way to expand KRPQ's reach and get more advertisers and more fans. She's pretty good."
Mrs. P smiled and sighed. "She is, isn't she?"
"You should be proud."
"I have always been proud of him… I mean her." She sighed again and looked at me.
"Danny. You know that you don't have to be doing this. The station's doing extremely well, and it's not like Tracy needs to do this right now."
"But it's what she wants, Mrs. P."
"But it's not necessary…"
I was probably looking a bit stubborn so she came around.
"I am so grateful that Tracy found you, and that you are such a close friend to her, and that you will do almost anything for her. Thank you, my dear." She gave me a big hug.
"Tracy told me before that it wasn't hard to love you," she continued, "that you've been more than a big sister to her. Or big brother." We both laughed at that. "She was right," Mrs. P continued. "Know that you're family to us. And that I'll support you, too. No questions asked." She gave me a kiss on the cheek just like my mom.
I hugged her back.
***** (Danny) *****
Back in the break room, after Mrs. P left for a meeting, I started working on some homework, and laughed to myself as I listened to Sally and Harry spar with each other as their program was fed over speakers in the office.
An hour into my homework, and one coke and a large bag of Doritos later, my email pinged - both my Dannie and Robin emailboxes - and they were both from Sarah of Blumenfeld House.
I checked the one for Dannie first, and it was an invitation. It was like déjà vu. So I typed my reply.
I basically said I was flattered and so forth, and I'd be okay to come over. But I couldn't stay and would need to be back by the same day. So maybe Sunday would be the best. And that I would to have have a companion go with me. I thought of bringing mom or dad but I decided not to. Instead, I called up Kelly (she was the one on duty today) and explained the situation. She checked and she was on duty that coming Sunday. I said it has to be someone else since it was "Dannie" this time and not "Robin."
She called back in a bit and said she'd arranged to swap with Tyler. I guess Tyler will be my "companion." I said thanks, put Tyler's name in the email, and sent it.
And, just like before, Sarah emailed back in a few minutes with an itinerary and e-tickets.
I laughed - it was totally identical to our schedule from last Sunday: a 6:30AM United flight to Minneapolis on Sunday, a limo pickup at the airport this time instead of Sarah herself; a room at Le Meridien; a late brunch at St. Genevieve; a meeting at Blumenfeld House as well as a meeting with Mr. Ed Blumenfeld himself; a quick tour of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area via a chauffeured car; back to the hotel; dinner at The Borough and then a ride to the airport for a 9:30PM return flight.
I confirmed, but said that the hotel room wasn't necessary, and emailed Tyler his e-ticket as well as our itinerary, and arranged to meet him at the airport on Sunday before six AM.
With all of that done, I turned to the email for Robin.
Well… I was surprised to say the least.
"Hello, Robin," Sarah said in her email. "As it happens, Mr. Blumenfeld was here, and he said that he wasn't altogether happy with all of your new provisions. But he said that he'd be okay with them if you really wanted them.
"He also asked you to reconsider the terms you included with regards Ms. Fairchild, but you told me how you felt. If that's the case, then we'll have to live with it, but only for the summer catalogue reshoot. If the catalog doesn't go well, we're going to want to take this part out of the contract."
Hmmm. Gotta talk to dad about that. I continued reading the email.
"Ed also made some improvements in the financial package, like I promised," Sarah wrote. "He also apologizes: the proposal we sent was a standard one, and it was just a starting-off point for negotiation. We weren't trying to short-change you, and based on what you gave me, this new package is a significant improvement."
I had to wonder - when people acted this guilty…
"In any case, in the interest of full disclosure, we are contacting Ms. Fairchild today, and if we come to an agreement, that means we will be starting with the reshoot in about two weeks or so. Provided you can give us a response in a couple of days.
"Mindy and I will be standing by, sweetie - feel free to text or email us at any time.
"All my love, Sarah."
Well. The "sweetie" and "all my love" were a surprise. She's really trying. I think I need to give her a break.
There was a P.S. at the bottom.
"In case Sally hasn't opened her email yet, please tell her the good news, that Ed has approved her changes - Sarah."
I checked the file she attached to the email - there was only my contract - Sarah didn't include a copy of Sally's. I calso shecked my contract with the version she sent using a side-by-side comparison. They didn't make any changes, even to my so-called "tough noogies" section. So I guess her threat was mostly an empty one. The only changes were to the numbers in my financial package, and the changes there were upwards.
I whooped in glee and did my little dance. The people around me looked over and laughed. That made me stop and sit back down more subdued.
***** (Danny) *****
It was the Sunday following that videocon, and it was 4AM. Like before, I knew I needed to leave early. Like before, Danielle and Nikki were with me again, and like before I took my shower and got ready (I used a showercap, though - I didn't want to ruin Joanne's masterpiece).
After my, ummm, ablutions, and a careful application of Dr. Roberts' special solution, I scampered into my room before the girls noticed I was done, and hurriedly put on the bra and gaff Danielle laid out for me.
Apparently, I didn't need to rush since Danielle and Nicki were heavily zonked out. Not surprising given it was after one of our "full" Saturdays - I had my early Saturday morning program as Robin, our usual Saturday minor-major brunch at yet another new restaurant, although given how many calls I got (Tracy and Mrs. P aided and abetted the listeners, and I had too many calls again - my program ran over by over an hour), we might as well just call it lunch instead of brunch.
Robin and Dannie fans didn't know about that new place, so we'll be able to continue eating there until it's discovered. After brunch, we had our regular Saturday practice. To make up for the late start of practice, we ended it at around six, which got Joanne pretty steamed. So immediately after dinner, Joanne got Danielle, Nikki and I to go with her to her mom's salon, and she refreshed my do. We therefore only got to my house at around midnight, and after a long chat, the girls fell asleep at around two. That's why I only got two hours of sleep.
And that was why they were still sleeping.
I couldn't afford to be late so, while they slept, I started fixing up my hair, which wasn't so difficult - I didn't get it wet, and all I needed was to just fluff it up, and comb and tease it into how Joanne got it set the night before.
I did have a worry, though.
With the look, voice, speech, habits and mannerisms that I had honed through months of practice, my personas or alters or whatever you want to call them, were pretty good already. In fact, when I'm… playing them, it was almost second nature to me by now. According to the guys, I don't break character anymore. But that wasn't the worry.
What I told Danielle and Nikki was that, with fashion people around, if Dannie and Robin had the same dress style and taste, then it would be a big giveaway to people whose lives revolved around clothes and fashion.
If both my Dannie and Robin personas stood any chance of surviving the scrutiny of the Blumenfeld people, I had to make Dannie as distinct from Robin as I could.
I was already worried that the similar build and height and, of course, facial features would be problematic, but for the couple of months that Robin's become visible, no one's really connected Robin to Dannie. In fact Sarah and Mr. Blumenfeld didn't tumble to it when they saw our posters. Of course, this might not last for the months and months that I'd be working closely with them. But a different makeup style might help. So, belatedly, we realized that the makeup people assigned to my girls might be the same people. And I'm sure these makeup people will twig to the masquerade very quickly. And we thought of a solution for that. I thought of all of this as I did my own makeup the way Joanne taught me.
There was no provision for makeup or makeup people but I think I can just make that a new provision or something - that I'd like to have my own makeup person and a dresser.
Anyway, going back to the clothes…
What I said were generally agreed to by everyone but I guess Danielle had a bit of a problem really understanding it.
Because, looking at the clothes Danielle had selected for my trip and put on a bunch of hangers inside my new closet a couple of days ago - as expected, it had a pretty high-end and sophisticated style to them, and just like Danielle's usual style. And I thought that would be a mistake - that would make Dannie's and Robin's style similar.
I told her so, but she was adamant that there was enough of a style difference that it was fine as is. I'm afraid her stubbornness has gotten the better of her again.
Stubbornness was a family trait - Mom, Danielle and I were all heir to the Cassidy side of the family (Dad says there's a lot of truth in that, actually), but Danielle was by far the most stubborn.
Mom's side of the family were from Belfast in North Ireland. She and her brother - our Uncle Nathan - immigrated to the States when they were young, more as a measure to take some financial pressure off the family, but my mhamo (that's how we call our grandmother Rosemary - mhamo meant "grandmother" in Irish) and the Cassidy clan (or, more properly Clan O'Caiside) was doing so much better today - Northern Ireland's economy is so much better now compared to the sixties and seventies. I was very excited for our planned trip, and to finally see Ireland, mhamo, and all my uncles and aunts and cousins in person.
Guess I digress again… Anyway, as I was saying, Danielle was unwilling to reconsider her choice for my outfit, even with Nikki helping me to make her reconsider. It became a heated debate actually, and we only avoided a full-blown fight because of Joanne's peacekeeping skills. Anyway, after much argument, we ended up agreeing for me to pick my own outfit, and, if I can't pick a good one (which was an inevitability, according to Danielle), then I have to wear Danielle's choice.
During the week, I asked Betsy for some help shopping for outfits - I couldn't very well shop at K-Mart or in the sale bins, so Betsy helped me look for outlets in town where they sold boutique and designer labels - among all of us, Betsy was the only one that regularly shopped at such places.
She was, however, under strict instructions not to help me select anything - I have to pick them myself.
And, after a long afternoon and evening of shopping, "Dannie," with Betsy's help, ended up with a new DKNY bodysuit, a Stella McCartney jacket, a Chloe skirt, Moschino sneakers and a Kate Spade backpack. I was dismayed by the amount of money I spent but it wasn't as if I couldn't afford it, especially with my new income from my new modeling job as Robin…
I didn't show Danielle my selections though, so it was the first time she and Nikki would see them.
So, the first thing I put on was my new light pastel-yellow slub knit rayon-spandex bodysuit that had a scoop neckline and back, long sleeves, and a dual snap-button bottom closure.
I then put on the flirty little eighteen-inch scuba knit skirt that had a skater shape and a raw-cut hem, and an exposed back zipper that enhanced its sleekness. I thought the heathered look went well with the almost-white yellow top.
I didn't bother with any tights and went bare-legged and just wore a pair of below-the-knee white athletic socks,
As my final touch, I put on the new Chuck Taylors girl's high-top sneakers I got that had a Converse star logo on the side, a lace-up closure, and a hidden wedge heel. It was my first pair of high-heeled sneakers.
It was black but with a white tongue, eyelets, shoestrings, toe cap, sole, collar, a white back part of the heel and the star embellishment was white as well. My socks just barely peeked over my sneakers' collar.
As my final accessory, I got my new, all-white Kate Spade saddlebag backpack with its own laptop compartment, and filled it with my travel essentials, including the Ziploc bag filled with stuff and my computer.
As a final touch, I put my white wristwatch on my left wrist and a bunch of white plastic bangles on my right wrist, a simple simple silver chain around my neck and a couple of silver hoop earrings.
I then took from its hanger a new denim jacket with the faded wash detailing, basic collar, button front, dual chest flap pockets with button closures, front slanted welt pockets, and long sleeves with button cuffs, and draped it over my chair. It had "light distressing" but I didn't mind since they weren't really holes or rips.
I stood in front of the mirror and looked at myself from various angles, and I think I looked okay. The outfit was okay, but it was extremely casual - almost high-school-girl casual, but still very chic. This way, Robin would be the older, more sophisticated girl and Dannie would be the high school kid.
"Well," Danielle said from my room's doorway, "I guess I'm mature enough to admit when I'm wrong."
I turned around and saw Danielle and Nikki in my doorway.
"Good morning, sleepyheads," I smiled.
Nikki came over and gave me a big hug but refrained from giving me a kiss so that she didn't mess up my makeup. I lightly kissed her cheek since I was worried for my makeup, too.
Danielle looked me over and complimented me on my makeup, hair and outfit, quizzing me about my new clothes, and she nodded in reluctant satisfaction at my answers. As for Nikki, she kept her arms around my waist and kept nuzzling my hair. Not that I minded.
"You're perfectly gorgeous, Danny," Nikki said as we both stared at the me in the mirror.
"Yes, you are," Danielle agreed. "Looks like you don't need my help anymore."
I turned to Danielle and saw the look of sadness in her face.
"I'll always need your help, sis," I replied. "I was just forced to pick my own clothes this time because I needed to show what I meant. And the only reason I was able to do it at all was because I thought of what you'd pick in my place."
Danielle smiled delightedly at that compliment, and I sighed in relief.
"I understand, Danny," she replied.
We went downstairs and had a pre-breakfast breakfast, and I called an Uber as we finished coffee. Fifteen minutes later, I was off to the airport.
Mom and dad were perfectly aware of this new trip back to Blumenfeld, and they didn't put up any fuss and just wished me well last night. That was good - it felt good that my folks were completely aware of what was happening for a change. And after this, maybe I don't really need to keep them out of the loop anymore.
Arriving at the airport, my Uber driver dropped me off at my gate, and Tyler was there, waiting. I gave him a high-five and we went inside.
I knew the routine by now, so I walked ahead of Tyler and just followed the posted instructions.
I took off my shoes, jewelry and watch, took out my laptop and the ziploc bag of stuff, put them all in a basket and passed the basket through the x-ray machine as well as my backpack. I went through the metal detector machine and showed airport security my e-ticket, Danielle's ID and passport, and it was no trouble at all.
There were no a-holes hitting on me this time, although there were a lot of people staring. I just tried to calm myself and gave them a smile. I saw Tyler about fifteen feet behind me in line, and that gave me a feeling of security.
I was sandwiched between two groups of women, so there were no untoward… stuff. But, to be safe, I gave the group ahead of me a bit of distance, and I kept my back to the group behind me.
We got through check-in and security just fine, but because Tyler and I were a tad late, they had already started boarding, so we were passed through quickly and we directly boarded our plane. I sat in my window seat but Tyler didn't sit beside me. I looked around, and found Tyler sitting in the seat directly behind me. I guess he must have asked for a change in seats. That meant the seat beside me was going to be empty. That suited my just fine, and I buckled securely and went to sleep.
A few hours later, I found myself being gently shaken awake. The flight was a little over-long and I got plenty of sleep. A pretty stewardess, I mean "flight attendant," was telling me we had landed, and passengers were already disembarking. Someone - some kid about my age - was sitting in the previously-empty seat beside me and grinning. Thank God I slept through the flight.
I yawned bone-crackingly, thanked her and got up. I gestured for the guy to go ahead, and as he got his bag, I was able to hurry past him and not give him an opening to chat me up.
Since I only had the one carry-on, I didn't have to get anything from the overhead bins so Tyler and I got out ahead of the crowd. My seatmate tried to follow but Tyler expertly interposed himself between us and I got away. I texted Tyler to meet me at the Sbarro's near Taco Bell. He texted back and said he'll just hang back and slow down any more "fans."
Typical.
So I decided to order just for myself, plus one of each of Sbarro's stromboli turnovers and a large coffee to go for Tyler.
As I was finishing, I finally noticed all the stares, and I was starting to get nervous. But no one was coming close so Tyler didn't intervene.
In any case, I felt relieved when I finally got a text from the limo driver Sarah hired. Thank god!
Tyler and I headed for the main exit, and I handed him the munchies and the coffee I bought as we walked.
Tyler smiled and put the turnovers in his backpack and carried the coffee. Just like Kelley and the others, he didn't dress like a bodyguard and looked like he was, at most, just a few years older than me, but there was just something bodyguard-ish about him despite the casual clothes. Anyway, he unobtrusively walked a couple of feet beside me and kept an eagle eye out for suspicious characters.
At the curb just outside the doors was a big, shiny Cadillac waiting for us. There was a uniformed limo driver, complete with cap, standing by the car and a copy of our ad torn from some magazine in his hand.
The car and the driver definitely caught the attention of the people outside, and a few were waiting to see who he was waiting for.
The driver's eyes lit up when he saw me, recognizing me from the ad he was holding. He waved to get my attention and opened the limo's passenger door.
"Good morning, Miss Fairchild," he said pleasantly. "I'm Manny, your driver. I was sent by Ms. Rhodes from Blumenfeld. I hope you had a pleasant flight. I was told to drive you directly to the hotel, and then to St. Genevieve for brunch. Would that be satisfactory?"
"Thank you, Manny. That would be great. But I think, instead of the hotel, maybe we can drive around a bit - I want to see some of the sights? And then, maybe we can go directly to Blumenfeld House? I'm not all that hungry."
Some of the people looking clearly didn't recognize me, but there were a bunch of high school fashionista wannabes who were jumping up and down and waving at me. I couldn't help but giggle and wave back.
Manny nodded at my suggestion and ushered me through the passenger door. "Of course, miss."
Tyler mumbled to Manny, asking if he could sit up front, and Manny nodded as he closed the door for me.
In a few moments, we were pulling away from the curb and smoothly merged into the light Sunday traffic.
A minute later, the glass partition that separated us slid down.
"Excuse me, Miss," Manny said as he drove, "I called Ms. Rhodes to inform her of our change in itinerary. She said that would be perfectly fine, and she and Mr. Blumenfeld will be ready for your meeting at Blumenfeld House by twelve noon. That gives us three hours for some sightseeing. Do you have any particular places you'd like to see?"
"I'll leave it up to you, Manny."
"Very good, Miss. Perhaps we can start with the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden? That's a favorite of ours, especially on such a bright Sunday like today."
"That sounds good."
"I also brought a camera in case you'd want me to take some souvenir pictures?"
That was unusual, but… "That sounds great, Manny. Thank you."
Manny nodded, and with that, the partition slid back up.
We were soon at the park, and I remembered Sally and I visiting it last weekend. It was as lovely as I remembered it, except there were more people around now, especially lots of kids running around and enjoying themselves.
We looked at the large sculpture of the giant cherry and bent spoon, and I looked it over, pretending that it was the first time I saw it.
Manny came over, a DSLR camera hanging around his neck, and proffered a big ice cream cone. I smiled in delight, grabbed it and took a big lick.
Manny laughed, clicked a picture and walked back to where Tyler stood where he was doing his thing and keeping his eye out.
As I looked at the big cherry sculpture with the bent spoon wishing that my ice cream had a cherry on top, a little boy came up to me.
He was looking at me with big, cute eyes, or rather at my ice cream cone.
"Hey, cutie," I said and crouched down. "Are you lost?"
He looked at me, eyes crinkling and his mouth poised for a smile.
"Want a lick of my ice cream?"
"Bobby!" I heard a voice. "Leave that girl alone."
I looked up to see a young woman wearing a casual blouse and shorts who, I supposed, was the boy's mother or something, and she came up to us. She was also carrying an ice cream cone.
"I'm sorry," the girl said. "Bobby's after your ice cream, I'm afraid."
She gave the boy a big kiss, and handed him her cone. "Here's your own cone, honey. Don't bother the nice lady." The boy got his cone, grinned at the both of us, and ran away in the direction of some other kids.
I laughed with the girl. "Oh, he wasn't bothering me."
"I'm Nancy," the girl said, held out her hand. "That was Bobby, my little brother."
"Hi, I'm Dannie." I stood and shook her hand. "I'm sorry you had to give up your ice cream cone."
"It's fine. I've been meaning to lose a few pounds anyway."
"Let me buy you another one."
Some of the girl's friends came up, and I ended up having a pleasant morning walking around the park with them, and chatting as we kept Bobby in view. The boys were all over me, but the girls were helpful in fending them off.
Apparently, they were all hanging around the park for the morning, either taking care of kids or siblings, or just hanging with their boyfriends or girlfriends. I mentioned to them that I was just in town for a job interview, and was just passing time before then. I tried to be vague about it, and asked them about places to see in the city so they didn't ask me any questions. They all wished me good luck for later.
I got a lot of info about the Twin Cities and places to visit, as well as a lot of questions about my outfit, especially from the girls after they found out about my designer-label clothes. I told them I bought them specifically for the job interview so I could make a good impression.
Hearing that, some of the guys who had kids with them made sure that none of them messed up my interview clothes. The girls asked where I got them, and I said I got them mostly on sale.
We drifted to the food carts, got some snacks, and we sat down at some nearby benches.
Minneapolis/Saint Paul seemed like a very friendly place judging by these people, and the time just flew by. Before I knew it, Tyler came up to me and said we had to go, or I'd be late for my interview.
Everyone groaned good-naturedly, and I said goodbye to my new-found friends, especially to Nancy and her little brother Bobby.
I walked back to my limo, and my new friends looked surprised at that - that I actually had a limo, and a limo driver. I suppose they had to re-evaluate me, now. I giggled and waved at them again before we pulled away.
On the way to Blumenfeld House, I pulled out my compact and brush and touched up my makeup and hair.
I got a bottle of water from the mini-fridge and used it to wash my mouth out as well as get hydrated.
When the car pulled up to the front of the building, we were met by Mindy, Sarah's and Mr. Blumenfeld's friendly assistant. I acted like I hadn't met her before, of course, and we shook hands. I introduced her to Tyler, and we both went inside with her.
We went directly to their offices and I was introduced to Ms Sarah Michelle Rhodes. Again…
The office was practically empty again, so except for Sarah and Mindy, there was no one in there, just like last Sunday.
This time, though, instead of being led to Mr. Blumenfeld's office, I was led to a large and well-appointed conference room, and there were a couple of carts like the wheeled room service carts they used in hotels. Tyler leaned over and whispered into my ear, saying that he'll be staying outside.
"Are you sure, dude?" I said.
He gave me a thumbs-up, sat outside in the visitor's area, pulled out a tablet and started watching YouTube.
I looked at him for a moment. It was too bad that he didn't have much to do. I guess being a bodyguard could be a drag.
I waved to Mindy and then to the food. "Is it okay if I…"
Mindy nodded. "Yes, of course. Help yourself."
I got a couple of the big plates and piled a lot of the half-sandwiches or finger sandwiches on one, and dished up a couple of the slices of the lasagne in the other.
I then grabbed a fork, a couple of cans of soda plus a big bottle of water.
"Someone's hungry," Sarah said, giggling.
Holding the drinks gingerly in one hand, one plate with my other hand and the extra plate on top of my bent arm in a Waiter's Carry, I gestured for Mindy to open the door.
"Ah, no," I smiled. "These are for my guy out there."
Laying the plates and drinks on the coffee table in front of him, I shrugged in apology.
"I'm sorry, Tyler," I said. "I know hanging around me can get pretty old. I'll keep the meeting as short as I can."
Before I could go back, Tyler gently held me by the arm. I turned to him.
"Danny," Tyler said, "stop. I'm fine. This is my job. Take your meeting, take your time, and stop worrying about me."
"Well… okay."
"But thanks, Danny," he smiled and let go of my arm. "I appreciate it. None of our previous clients worry about us like you do."
I smiled back and went back to the conference.
***** (Sarah) *****
"That was very nice of you," I said to Dannie as she came back in.
Dannie shrugged. "Hanging around me all the time can be pretty boring. It's the least I could do."
"Is he your boyfriend, then?"
"Tyler?" she said. She laughed at that. "Ah, no. That's my bodyguard?"
"Bodyguard!"
"Yeah. My band and I were in a concert few months ago, and we also have a regular gig. Nothing major, but we seemed to have accumulated a very loyal following, small though it may be. And some of our fans are a little more… demonstrative of their... devotion than is safe." She giggled a bit. That was good - at least I knew she didn't take herself too seriously.
"Sounds like a tough town," I laughed.
"Nahhh. It's just a typical small town. I guess my band's just too good for our own… good."
We both laughed at that.
"Must be expensive," Ed said as he came in the room.
"Ahhh! Dannie, this is Mr. Edwin Blumenfeld - the son of our founder, and fearless leader. Ed, this is Ms. Danielle Fairchild."
He came over and shook Dannie's hand and politely bussed her on the cheek.
"I'm glad to finally meet you," he said pleasantly, and gestured. "Sit! Please."
We all sat down at the conference table, and Mindy served us coffee.
"Can I have a diet Coke instead, Mindy?" Dannie asked. Mindy smiled and nodded, and gave her a can of ice-cold coke and a glass with a straw. Dannie returned the straw instead, poured some Coke into the glass and took a sip, just like my niece. This girl seemed a lot younger compared to Robin. If everything works out, I think we're gonna have a pretty good demographic coverage - Dannie for our pre-teen and teen clientele, and Robin for those in their late teens and early twenties.
We all helped ourselves to some food, Dannie taking several of the Whitecastle sliders. This is just one hungry girl.
"What did you mean, by the way?" Dannie said. She took dainty bites of her food but I was a bit surprised to note that she'd already put away a slider and a finger sandwich.
"Yes, my dear?" Ed said.
"You said 'expensive.'"
"Ahhh. I meant that hiring bodyguards can be expensive. Is your band making enough to be able to afford bodyguards?"
"To be honest, the bodyguards are paid for by one of our bandmembers, Betsy Haley. Or rather her folks are. After a few incidents with some, ummm, very enthusiastic fans, Mrs. Haley decided to assign a bodyguard to Betsy, and Betsy convinced her to splurge for all the band members as well."
"Haley," I said. "You mean the Haleys that own all those real estate and housing developments on the east coast?"
"I think so, yeah."
I whistled. The Haley family was a big deal in the real estate and residential housing business. That family was loaded.
I leaned towards Ed. "Tell you later," I whispered. "So, Dannie," I said to the girl, "let us tell you what we're thinking."
So I told Dannie, with Mindy's indispensable help, what we intended for our Young Adult & Young Professional line, and how we hope Dannie can help us. We gave her a copy of last year's Young Adult mini-catalog so she could check out our clothes while we talked.
We also told her what we were intending for her - model our clothes for our catalogs, of course, but also to be part of promotional fashion shows, promotional events, maybe interviews and other things relating to her being our spokesmodel. I also mentioned that she would get to keep everything she wore, and because of her work for us, she'd get to travel and attend events, concerts parties and premieres.
"That's great!" she said, smiling broadly. "But I'm sensing a 'but' somewhere in there?"
I sighed. "True - we have two 'buts,' actually. The first big one is that, if ever you become part of our team, you are going to be one of two main spokesmodels - that'd be you and -"
"And Robin Tibbles - yes, I know."
"How do you feel about that?"
"Well… not totally happy about that, but I can live with it, provided there are certain conditions…"
"God!" Ed said. "This again..."
"What do you mean?" Dannie asked.
"What Ed is saying is that Robin felt the same way, too, and she had some conditions as well."
I gestured to Mindy, and she handed me my open laptop. Robin's contract was already open so I just paged down to the, hmmm, "special" provisions, and handed it to Dannie.
"Would what you have in mind be similar to this?"
Dannie read it. "Well, I wouldn't be averse to this," she said.
"I don't get what's behind this feud between you and Robin."
Dannie shrugged. "Other people might say it's childish. I don't know - maybe it is. But the point is, I can't work with that girl, and it's obvious she can't work with me, either."
"I guess it doesn't really make a difference since we already have an arrangement with Robin, so I don't think it's a problem anymore."
Dannie shrugged. "Whatever."
I grinned. As smart as this kid was, she's still a kid. "Whatever," indeed. "Anything else?" I asked.
"I also want to have my own makeup person, and my own dresser. Would that be okay?"
Yes, this girl was still a kid. "I think that could be arranged," I said, "but we can't foot the bill for your dresser and makeup people. You have to take care of them, although we can add a small allowance to your compensation to help you in that area."
Dannie nodded. "That'd be great, ma'am."
Ed cleared his throat. "Dannie, you mentioned a dresser - what's that?"
"Sorry, Mr. Blumenfeld," she said. "My mom insisted on that. That's essentially someone who would help me get dressed and stuff."
Ed nodded. I thought that was a good idea, actually. It would help insulate us from any kind of sexual harassment possibilities, especially with an underage model.
"That can be arranged," I said. "But, Dannie, what are your expectations if ever we do come to an agreement?"
Dannie paused, thinking.
"I guess I don't really know," she said. "Everyone has the stereotype of a model in their heads. I guess I'm thinking that, too, and maybe that would be fun. But I'm actually considering doing this to see what options I'd have, and I guess to earn some money. The future is something I sort of worry about, and, and I think, by being a model, it might open doors for me that wouldn't be open otherwise."
For some reason, this girl sounded just like Robin - it's like she doesn't really want to be a model.
"I guess that's a good attitude to have," I said. I was trying to probe deeper. "School is important, after all. Do you have any idea which college you want to go to yet?"
"Well, my mom and my dad have promised me and my s… brother that they'll take care of tuition and stuff, and we can go wherever we want. So I guess there's no pressure to pick one yet."
"My goodness!" I exclaimed. "Your family must be rich!"
Dannie giggled at that and shook her head. "Not really. Daddy makes a good living as a financial adviser, but nothing big. He and my mom just made arrangements, I guess."
"An educational plan, I suppose?"
Dannie shrugged. "I'm not really sure. But my daddy's pretty smart - he's got that covered."
"So you're just going to ride on your dad's…"
She shook her head a little angrily. "That's a lot of bull," she said.
"Pardon?"
"I'm sorry Ms. Rhodes," she apologized. "I didn't mean that. I guess what I mean is that my folks have done a lot for us. But I'm not some entitled millennial brat. I'm not taking any of it for granted - whatever they've done for me, I'll make sure that I don't waste it and I'll make my mom and dad proud so, so proud. And I think I'm doing okay so far - I think my folks think I'm doing okay."
Well… that was a surprise. "I'm sorry as well, Dannie. I didn't mean to imply anything."
"S'all right." She gave me a wan kind of smile.
This kid is pretty confident of herself, but unlike the millennials I've met, her attitude is backed up by substance. Just the kind of person I look for. I quite like this girl.
I guess I'm sold. Provided, of course, that she passes the next thing.
So I went back to selling her on Blumenfeld - that we were one of the top designer brands around, and have been so for years. I asked Mindy to show her our previous catalogs, and then a copy of the latest one we were working on.
To her credit, she looked at them in their order of printing, and ended up with the latest one which is a work-in-progress at the moment.
"What do you think," Ed asked.
"The clothes are all pretty nice," she said, and Ed reacted to that.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Blumenfeld," she said, picking up on Ed's reaction. "I guess I'm not really any sort of fashionista…"
Ed smiled at that. "I think you're selling yourself short, my dear. Look at your outfit now. Does your mother have any of our clothes?"
"Oh, yes! She does! In fact, she'd be very pleased to have me working for you. But I'm sure that she's just hoping I can get her discounts and stuff."
We all laughed at that.
"Tell you what - give us her sizes and we'll make sure you bring home some stuff for her."
Would you have stuff for men, too?"
"Sadly, no. We did have a men's line, once upon a time, but it didn't do well. Why do you ask?"
"I was just thinking of my brother and my dad."
"I'm sorry, my dear. Blumenfeld is a women's line."
"That's okay. They can manage."
"Great. Hey, would you like to see a tour of our little place? Mindy, maybe you can show Dannie our operation?"
"Absolutely," Mindy replied.
Dannie finished off the last of her finger sandwiches and she went with Mindy for a little tour. Essentially, Mindy just repeated the tour she gave Robin and Sally last week and that gave us time to discuss the second "but."
We called Manny, Dannie's supposed "driver," to come up. What Dannie didn't know was Manny wasn't really a driver but one of our in-staff fashion photographers.
When Ed and I first saw Dannie in the KRPQ ads, she didn't catch our attention the way Robin did - it was like Dannie was just another one of the background or "filler models" that we kept around. But then we saw her in several pictures in Sally's phone, and that magical X Factor was plainly there. But was it because of Sally's phone? Perhaps a special filter, or maybe the photographer there was a better photographer?
To solve this mystery, Ed and I therefore concocted a gimmick by asking Manny to take pictures of our prospective spokesmodel himself.
The intention was to have Manny accompany Dannie around during her "tour" of our offices, but when she asked if they could like go around town instead of having breakfast or resting up in the hotel prior to our meeting, Manny took the opportunity to take pictures of her at the sculpture park downtown.
Manny had a big grin as he came in.
"I've got gold, Sarah!" He nodded to Ed. "Hey, boss. I think you'll like what I have." He pointed at the multimedia projector. "Should I?"
"Go for it."
He plugged a thumbdrive in and clicked the projector's remote control. A projection screen started descending.
"That girl definitely has got it," he said. "Don't let her get away."
"Are you sure, Manny?" I asked.
"Don't take my word for it." He clicked the control and the first picture was flashed on the screen. "Just take a look at this."
Because of the rush, the picture was less than perfect, but Manny had at least color-balanced it and cropped it.
On the screen was Dannie. She was in the sculpture park, sun shining down brightly on her, copper hair almost glowing, green grass underfoot and lots of young people cavorting in the background. She had in her hand a big ice cream cone, and she was enthusiastically licking the ice cream with a simple, open and happy expression. The shot caught her in mid-lick.
Ed and I had to laugh at that, but it just made her awfully gorgeous, especially in her summery teen-friendly outfit.
The next picture showed her crouching down and talking with a little boy.
This was followed with several shots of her chatting and laughing with a bunch of kids about her age or maybe just a smidge older, but that just made her stand out from the pack all the more.
Her designer clothes were just on-target, and they gave her just the right casual touch appropriate for a park outing, but they were high-fashion enough to make her enough of a fashionista to make girls ask about her outfit and maybe get them to want it for themselves. Too bad her clothes weren't Blumenfeld.
In the pictures, Dannie was very open and engaging, chatting with her new friends, and one could plainly see how everyone was hanging on to her words. It was so obvious how everyone was so enthralled by her. She was just so incredibly beautiful. She and Robin will do very, very, very well, indeed, and our catalog will be the hottest thing this coming season.
I caught Ed's eye, and he looked at me with such excitement that I knew we were thinking the exact same things.
"I think this is going to be great," he said, grinning widely. "Sarah, I think you've just saved your YA line. Well done."
"Wait, Ed," I said. "First things first - we need to secure Dannie's services first before we start making plans."
Ed nodded. "Okay - I agree… We need her locked. Today. So... how do we do that?"
I looked at Ed, frowning. "Dammit, Ed!"
"Simmer down!" he said. "The only thing we need to do today is to get her to sign a contract with us - lock her in. Make her exclusive to us. So what would make her want to sign with us? Money? Free clothes?"
"Well, money, obviously, and maybe a chance to travel? Vacations maybe? What's she into?"
"Well, she's into music, of course. Concert tickets maybe? Dammit, we should have asked about that!"
"Hmmm. She's only sixteen, Ed. So her parents need to co-sign. Maybe we should appeal to her folks, too. A good school, perhaps? A scholarship? And she mentioned a brother…"
"That's a great idea, Sarah! So…" He suddenly stopped.
I looked at him. "What?"
"I was just thinking… what if we just used Robin's contract?"
"Well… would you be fine to use Robin's rates as well?"
"Well, most of our models earn more money, anyway."
I giggled. "That's not what you said in the beginning."
He pshawed that away. "Oh, forget about that! I was just being a hard-ass that time. Besides, I suspect Robin and Dannie will probably see each other's contract before long, so it'll be better to make their contracts the same, so we won't be accused of favoring one over the other."
"I'm on it." I made a copy of Robin's contract, replacing Robin's name and the other personal details with Dannie's, and adding a place where Mr. and/or Mrs. Fairchild can sign in a conforme section at the bottom.
"Hey, Ed," I said, "can I add a 'signing bonus' section?"
"Great idea! But what will you put in?"
I don't know yet. I'll check our other contracts with signing bonuses."
I logged onto our server, checked the few contracts I remembered that had signing bonuses, and copy-pasted the ones that seemed appropriate to Dannie.
As I was doing so, Mindy and Dannie were walking back to the conference room. Oh, no!
"Manny!" I called, "she's coming! Better turn off the projector and go before she sees you!"
As Manny hurried out, I copy-pasted everything I could find in our contract files and saved it.
Ed was looking at me with a questioning expression.
"Show you in a bit - here she comes."
The girls came in and I made a show of drinking my coffee in practiced nonchalance.
"Hey, Dannie," I said. "Had fun?"
"Heck, yeah!" she said enthusiastically, but pulled it back. "Ummm, I mean, yes, ma'am. I did."
Ed and I laughed. "Well, that's great!" Ed laughed.
"Tell us what you think?"
She got a big glass of ice-cold orange juice, a big slice of angel sponge cake and sat down.
"I like it. Especially the roof. But is this where I'm gonna be working?"
"Some of the time," I said, "especially for studio shoots, but we're going to be doing a lot of location shoots, not to mention fashion shows, TV shows and interviews, and attending fashion events or industry events."
Dannie was properly impressed.
"Well…" she said a little hesitantly, "Ms. Rhodes, Mr. Blumenfeld - I talked to my folks a couple of days ago, and they said it was my decision, but they're saying they approve, although my dad has said he will need to see the contract before he will co-sign anything."
"We totally understand, my dear," Ed said. "In fact, it would have been nice to have met them today."
Dannie looked surprised at that. "But, Mr. Blumenfeld… the invitation was just for me… and the only reason I asked for a companion was that I needed to bring my security…"
Ed and I looked at each other, chagrined.
"Oh, Dannie," I said, "I'm so sorry… it was a mistake - we didn't think of inviting your folks."
Dannie giggled a little bit. "That's okay."
Ed stood up and went to sit beside her. He gave her a fatherly hug. Ed really was laying on the charm attack.
"Would it be all right if you call up your folks for me?"
Dannie hesitated. After a bit, she relented. I had to wonder at the long pause and the pensive expression she had. But she relented and dialed.
"Maybe you can put it on speakerphone?" he said.
She hesitated again, but pressed the button. We could hear the phone ring on the other side, and, eventually, someone answered.
"Hello, Fairchild residence," someone said.
"Hi, Daddy," Dannie said. "It's me. I'm here in the Blumenfeld office. You're on the speakerphone right now. I'm here with Mr. Blumenfeld and Ms. Rhodes, the lady who sent the email. They asked me to call you…"
Dannie seemed a little nervous, and she had rushed through that fairly-long explanation. I don't know why she felt she needed to explain, and why she needed to rush through it. I suppose she felt a little nervous, being made to call up her folks.
Her dad didn't respond right away.
"Ummm," her dad paused just a tad longer than seemed normal. "I'm sorry - who's this again?"
"It's Danielle, Daddy," she said. "I'm in Minneapolis. In the fashion place."
"Dannie!" he exclaimed, like in final recognition. "How're you doing there, kid? Is anything wrong? Is everyone treating you okay?"
Ed tapped Dannie on her shoulder, and gestured to himself. Dannie shrugged.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Fairchild," he said towards the phone. "This is Edwin Blumenfeld."
"Hello, Mr. Blumenfeld. Is anything wrong? How's my girl?"
"Oh, no!" Ed said. "Not at all! I just wanted to call to say that your daughter has been a treat to have here at our place, and that we'd like to apologize."
"Yes?"
"I suppose I was having a senior moment as it slipped my mind to invite you and your wife over. I'm very sorry about that."
"Oh, it's all right, Mr. Blumenfeld."
"So I'd like to extend an open invitation to you and your wife to come visit us anytime you want. Dannie said she has a brother?"
"Yes, she does - her twin."
"Her twin! That's interesting. What's your boy's name?"
"We named him Daniel…"
"What!"
Mr. Fairchild laughed. "I know, I know. It's my wife's brother who suggested the names. Dannie is Danielle Louise, and her brother is Daniel Lewis. Nathan said they were twins, so what better than to have the same name for both?"
Ed and I laughed. "That's so wonderful!" I said.
"Doesn't that make it hard if you need to call one and not the other?" Ed said.
"Well, not so much. Danielle is 'Dannie' or 'Danielle,' and her brother is 'Daniel' or 'Dan.' So far it's worked out for the kids."
"Well then, you and your wife, as well as Daniel, are welcome to come visit us anytime. Just let us know and we'll arrange everything for you.
"You're very kind, Mr. Blumenfeld."
"We've been taking care of your little girl, just as well as Tyler, her bodyguard is. And we'll have her back to you soon enough."
"Ahhh. Thank you."
"I have to say, if Dannie ever does decide to work with us, she'll probably be one of our youngest, if not the youngest model."
"That'll be amazing. But the question is, is she going to be working for you?"
Ed and I laughed at that. I can see where Dannie gets her sharp mind and her directness.
"Well… I guess, it's up to her and you? For us, we've already decided. And, to be very frank, sir -"
"Call me Joe, Mr. Blumenfeld."
"Ah, thank you, Joe. To be very frank, we're a bit under the gun. We need Dannie as early as she can sign on. The reason we have asked Dannie here, Joe, is because we found ourselves in a bit of a pickle. We've been working on our summer-autumn catalog but it wasn't working. We made the tough decision to re-do the catalog, or at least part of it. And we need to finish it in the next few weeks, otherwise we'll miss our window and have to default on several contracts."
Ed looked at me.
"What're you saying, Ed?" I asked.
Ed took a deep breath and looked at Dannie.
"Mr. Fairchild," Ed said while looking at Dannie, "we actually have a contract ready for you and Dannie to sign right now, and if you do, we can start the ball rolling."
"Well…"
"Mr. Fairchild, this is Sarah Rhodes," I said towards the phone. "I am the vice president in charge marketing and creative design. Tell you what we can do - we can leave Dannie here in the conference room, and she can use the video conference equipment to have a chat with you. We'll give Dannie a copy of our proposed contract and you two can go over it and talk it over."
"Ms. Rhodes, I know something about contracts and the law…"
"Oh, definitely, sir! We're aware of your credentials."
"… and I have to say that any contract that we sign now can be construed as something illegal, because this could be construed as undue influence."
Ed and I laughed.
"Oh, we're not worried on that score. So let me put it this way - you and Dannie chat about it, and let us know if you like what we're proposing. And regardless how you feel, we will start the ball rolling on this side, with the understanding, of course, that there are no strings attached - that there are no commitments - and you are free to say no. We will just have to cut our plans down and just use the models we already have."
"Ms Rhodes," Dannie interrupted, "what does that mean, exactly? What do you mean 'start the ball rolling?'"
"Well, there are a lot of things to prepare for before we even start shooting. We'll need to get solid on a concept, and then start getting the production team necessary for the photo shoots together, start making arrangements for the locations, which means getting the permits, paying for the fees, getting the police and all that, and arranging for the clothes, the trucks for the transportation of the equipment and everything else, the makeup people, the wardrobe people, the choreographers, the photographers …"
Dannie made two victory signs with her fingers and giggled. "Peace! Peace! I get it! I give up!"
We all laughed.
"Actually, Dannie," I said, "we'd be starting the ball rolling anyway. Ed was right - we need to finish the new catalog in a few weeks. Which means we'll have to start shooting this coming weekend if possible, or the next weekend at the latest. If you don't come to a decision by then, we'll just have to work with Robin alone."
"This coming weekend! Oh,no…"
"Indeed. If you do come onboard, you're gonna have to start working right away."
"So," Ed said, "what do you guys say?" He gestured to Mindy. "Mindy, get the equipment ready for Dannie and her dad."
"Sounds okay to me," Dannie replied. "How about you, Daddy?"
"If you're okay with it, kid, then I'm okay with it. But - can we do it somewhere else? Is there a café or a restaurant nearby?"
"Oh, you guys don't need to do that, Joe. Feel free to use the conference room."
"I'm sure you'll understand, Mr. Blumenfeld, if we insist on finding another place. I think we'll need an hour or two."
Ed looked at Dannie, and she shrugged helplessly.
"Well, if you think that's best." He gestured to Mindy again. "Mindy?"
Danny said goodbye to her dad and hung up, shook hands with us, collected her stuff and started making her way to the door.
Her bodyguard stood up and met her by the door. After a short conversation, they both stepped into the lobby elevator, and Mindy stepped in with them.
Ed sighed as the elevator doors closed.
"What do you think, Ed?" I asked.
"Her dad's pretty sharp," he said. "Actually they both are."
"The legendary Ed Blumenfeld charm attack struck out this time, huh?" I laughed.
He laughed and shrugged. "Doesn't happen often, but it does happen." He looked at me. "You know this is just a lot of nonsense, but I don't mind if we can get a signed contract today."
He rubbed his hands together. "Okay, so while we wait while Dannie and her dad finish, can we start planning at least? Start conceptualizing it and such?"
I nodded. "I'll start making calls, and maybe we can get Manny to come back and help us."
***** (Danny) *****
Mindy rode with us down the elevator.
"I wonder why your dad didn't want to use our conference room?" Mindy said.
I knew why, but I shrugged.
"Well," Mindy continued, "whatever the reason, if you're looking for places where you can chat, just go up 11th Avenue and you'll spot a lot of nice coffee places. If you want a nice quiet place, I suggest Segue Café - it's one of the favorite cafes around this area - and they have a little meeting area at the back. And since it's a Sunday, there would hardly be anyone in the streets much less the coffeehouses."
"Thanks a lot, Mindy."
She handed me one of her business cards. "If you do end up at Segue, hand this to Jessica - she's the manager, cashier and master barista there. She'll start a tab and I'll take care of it. Tell her to give you the wifi password and you won't need to use up your data minutes."
She also handed me a thumbdrive. "Here's the draft contract. Just bring back the thumbdrive later with your changes."
The elevator doors opened and we walked down the lobby and out to the street.
"Thanks, Mindy. I guess we're all set."
She reached out and gave me a hug.
"Good luck, hon. I really hope you get to work at Blumenfeld. We got lots of good people. I promise you'll enjoy working here. I'll make sure of it."
"Thanks, Mindy. See you in a couple of hours."
So Tyler and I started walking down the sidewalk in the direction Mindy said.
I thought of what Mindy said. It sounded like a friendly little comment, but I couldn't help but think there was some kind of undertone to it. Anyway I shrugged it off and just looked around as we walked down the street.
Minneapolis' Central Business District area was pretty quiet at the moment, and there were very few people coming in and going out of the tall office buildings, and most of the people weren't walking at the pace I imagined people in the big city would be. But then, as Mindy said, it was a Sunday.
As we walked, I started to feel a little uncomfortable. Sneaking a look behind me, I saw that we had started to develop a following. This wasn't really something I was unfamiliar with, but the people here didn't look as friendly as back home. Maybe it's because I was used to small-town life.
I whispered something to Tyler, and he nodded.
He started walking a bit slower and was soon behind me. As I walked, I found Tyler using himself as a kind of barrier, and made the bunch of people following us either stop or have to go around him. In any case, they were slowed down and I was able to get ahead of them and cross the street just as the light changed. I saw the sign for Segue Café so I dived into it, the passing traffic blocking me so the people following didn't see me duck into the café.
There were only a couple of people behind the counter so I assumed Jessica was the one manning the cash register.
"Hi, Jessica?" I asked, "My name's Dannie. Mindy from Blumenfeld said for me to give this to you." I handed her the card.
She took the card, smiled and reached out to shake my hand. "Hi, Dannie," she said. "Yes, I'm Jessica. So you're a friend of Mindy's?"
"Well, I don't know her well. We just met today. I'm actually interviewing with her bosses for a possible job at Blumenfeld's."
"Got to be for a modeling job, right?"
I giggled for effect. "What gave you that idea?"
She gestured at me up and down. "What else?" she laughed. "So what can I do for you today?"
"Well, I need to do some work on my computer. Would you have a nice quiet place I can work in, and if you have wifi?"
"Absolutely." She scribbled on the back of a business card for the café. "Use that ID and password, and I suggest you go into our little study nook." She pointed to a room behind what looked like a sliding barn door. "My favorite spot is the table in the corner right beside the window. It's quiet and no one will bother you. Want something to drink?"
I smiled. "Surprise me."
"A Café Miel and a Nordic Waffle coming up, then!"
"Make it a big one," I smiled. "Oh, my friend Tyler is coming over. Can you give him a snack and something to drink, too?"
"Not a problem."
"I like the barn door, and that fishtank TV is sooo cute!"
"Thanks-thanks!"
I went past the sliding barn door and found the room empty. Spotting the table Jessica suggested, I went there and got settled in.
Using my computer, I logged on to Google and clicked Dad's name in Google Chat.
"Hi, Dad," I said, waving at him after he accepted my call. "You all alone?"
"Hey, kid," he said. "Unfortunately, yeah. Danielle got your mom to go with her and do some shopping." He rolled his eyes and the both of us laughed.
"So," I said, plugging the thumbdrive Mindy gave me, "I'm sending you their file. Hold on a second." I moved it to the google dropbox and, while it was synching, I opened it. Right off the bat, I noticed that it was just like my Robin contract. To be sure, I ran it through my text file comparator, comparing it with the Robin file (the version they sent), setting it to just compare the text.
"Here you go, Dannie," Jessica said, coming up to my corner table. "An extra-large Nordic waffle with maple syrup and cream on the side, and our super-venti size café miel."
"Extra large?" Dad said. "Dan, what did your mother and I tell you about over-eating?"
"Daaad! Stop embarrassing me!"
"Is that your dad?" Jessica asked and went around to take a look.
"Hey, Dannie's dad!" she said and waved. She turned to me. "He's cute!"
"Shhh! He'll get a swelled head."
"Who's that?" Dad asked.
"That's Jessica, Dad - she runs the coffeeshop."
"Hello, Jessica."
"Hello! I know you and your daughter are pretty busy, so I'll leave you guys alone."
"Oh!" I exclaimed. "Jessica? Has Tyler come in already?"
Jessica pointed to another table near the barn door, and Tyler waved, holding up a tall iced tea in thanks.
"He didn't want to sit closer," Jessica said. "Are you guys having a fight or something?"
I laughed. "Oh, no! We're not together. He's just doing his job - he's my bodyguard."
"Bodyguard!"
I pooh-poohed that. "It's not a big deal. I'm a member of this band that's been getting a lot of, ummm, enthusiastic fans, so…"
"Would I have heard of your band before?"
"I doubt it - we're just a small garage band -"
"Dannie, stop that!" he said. "Stop putting yourself down. Jessica? Go and google the band. It's called Unlimited Bandwidth. I think they still have songs up on Youtube."
"Daaa-deee!"
"Oh, yeah?" Jessica said. "I'll take a look now. Thank you, Dannie's dad." She turned to me and winked. "Enjoy your waffle, hon, and call me if you need anything else."
"Thank you, Jessica."
She left me and went back to the counter.
"Dad," I said, scolding him. I got out my earphones and plugged in.
He laughed at my embarassment. "She was pretty cute."
"Shut up, Dad. Can we get back to work now?"
He laughed some more. "Okay, okay. I'll behave."
The comparator was done. "Dad? The files are identical. Except…"
"Okay. What are the exceptions?"
"Well, my name, of course and…" and the Tough Noogies clause, and the section for my own makeup and dresser... I went down to the bottom. "and there's a conforme section for you… and I guess that's it!"
"That's it? Even the rates? It that's the case, then I guess I'm okay with it. It's up to you now, son. Check it again - is it really the same to your other contract?"
"Let's see - yes! Yayyy!"
"Don't make a scene, Dan! Keep your voice down."
"Ooops… I mean yayyy…" I whispered.
Dad sighed in exasperation. "Okay, so if those are the only changes, that means they're basically identical, and I officially approve."
"Right. That was fast. Guess I can go back now. Oh, wait…" I checked the top of the list. "There's more than a page of text that's new…"
"Oh, no…"
"Can't read it right. Lemme open the actual file."
I opened the file and paged down to the proper section.
The new section was titled "signing bonus," and it listed over a page of "bonuses" if we were to sign within a couple of days from the receipt of the contract.
I linked the display to Dad's screen, and he read the list.
"This is too amazing a list!" Dad said. "They are really desperate to get you signed!"
"But, Dad… is this okay? Or would this be, what did you call it? Aren't we being 'unduly influenced?' Is this legal?"
Dad laughed. "No, son, this is totally 'legal coercion.' It's like an incentive to sign instead of being forced to sign. Remember earlier when they said that they would get the ball rolling even before we signed? The implication there is that we have to sign, or else we'll be made responsible for that."
"Ahhh!"
"And look at these incentives! Your sister is going to be so happy! Cosmetics, clothes, store discounts at department stores… I wonder if they include the ones in town?"
"Yes! It says all the stores of the JC Penny's, Macy's, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and other department store chains. And look at this - tickets to all company-sponsored events like concerts and premieres. And there's even specific stuff for mom and you, Dad!"
"Nice. Your mom will like it. And, look! You even get a car."
"I do? Where?"
"And that worries me. Okay, kid. I approve, but, I'm gonna do this: lemme edit it a bit."
After a minute, he sent me back his modified file. I checked his changes.
"Hey, wait!" I reacted. "Dad! Why!!!"
He shrugged. "Sorry, son - take it or leave it."
I sighed. "Okay. I guess I'll take it." I saved the modified file to Mindy's thumbdrive. "So I guess we go back now?"
"Hold off on that, son," Dad said. "Wait for an hour. Part of negotiations is to not seem too anxious." I could see Dad's crafty little smile and I had to laugh.
"So, let's just sit here for a while and talk. Tell me everything since you landed."
But I went to Jessica at the counter first, asked for a big lemonade, another waffle, and Dad and I chatted for a bit while we passed the time away.
***** (Ed) *****
I checked out the "signing bonus" section that Sarah had just added. She laid it on pretty thick, I thought, as I saw all of the provisions she copied from the other contracts we had. I had to laugh at some of them. I wonder what Mr. Fairchild thought of the monthly supply of Bazooka Joe bubblegum with the little comic inserts, the unlimited supply of ice-cold Fresca and still-hot In-N-Out cheeseburgers during photoshoots, fashion shows and other events, fresh underwear after each wardrobe change, two sets of all the clothes she would model, or a complete set of Gotham Academy, Princess Ugg and Rocketgirl as well as updated subscriptions to some other comic books.
"Sarah?" I asked.
"I know, I know," she sighed. "I didn't have time to fix it up. I just copied things randomly. Do you think it's…?"
I shrugged and laughed. "It's fine. It's just that there are so many, and some of them a bit ridiculous, at least for Dannie and her dad."
"Like?"
"Like the Bazooka Joe gum, the lavender-colored car seat covers, or an American-English accent coach, or half her salary to be deposited to an iTunes account or prepaid credit cards, gourmet caramel popcorn in the break room, a licensed six-foot tall blond masseur who is a certified Swedish national, or…"
"Stop! Stop!" And we both laughed.
"Well, let's leave it for the moment, and let's talk about the re-shoot," I said.
"Okay. I guess I'd like to go big this time, and feature our entire line. And we can do the work a little faster since we have two signature models."
"Signature? Really? Do we want to call them that?"
"They're really going to be the line's signature models, even without the title, right? So might as well call them that. And, we we can do twice what we can normally do over the weekend."
Sarah and I made a big dent in the planning for the reshoot when Dannie and Tyler came back after about an hour.
There were few decisions that were made, and that was, most of the shoots were going to be in town, otherwise we just won't make the deadline. Next was that it was Sarah's idea that a substantial part of the shoot must be done in some kind of school setting, and I agreed. So, we had Mindy check with the nearest high school and junior college if we could use their campuses as our sets. We also had her go through our portfolio of models, including our "standby models," and screen them for teens and young adults.
Sarah and I started calling our usual crew of photographers, designers, stylists, set people and our usual production outfits, and for the proper fees, they would all be available.
Tomorrow, I had a meeting scheduled with our concept people to start storyboarding. After that, Sarah will meet with the set design and styling people to get them in line. Hopefully, by the middle of the week, we'd be ready with a solid plan.
I was currently in our stock area, going through our YA stock. The line was one of our shortest, which Sarah used to complain a lot about, but in this case, it was actually an advantage since we could feature most of them in our catalog. The trick is to come to some kind of logical concept for the shoots, that they would be shot in appropriate settings, with the appropriate models and the appropriate concept.
At that time, Dannie and her bodyguard, Tyler, came back.
Dannie was all smiles, and we resumed our meeting in the conference room. Mindy had Tyler installed in her office, and had him supplied with snacks and Internet access, which made for a happy bodyguard.
Dannie sat beside beside Mindy, and Mindy got her a large diet Coke and a couple of slices of pizza from Sarah's favorite artisan pizza place.
I couldn't help but smile as Dannie enthusiastically had a big bite of pizza while Mindy loaded up the thumbdrive in the PC that was connected to the projector.
"So," I began, "what have you and your dad come up with, Dannie?"
"Well, Mr. Blumenfeld," she said, "my dad thought that the draft was more than satisfactory, and he didn't have any complaints, except two - well, not really complaints but more comments."
I nodded. "Well, let's start with those."
Dannie nodded. She took the keyboard and scrolled through the contract and stopped at the financials section. "Daddy wasn't really complaining about the rates, and was very happy about the specifications for work hours and such. He said that you guys must work with a lot with young people since he said that the whole contract was completely in keeping with child labor laws and such. But Daddy said that he had researched your company and he knows your usual rates of payment. He says we're okay with what you specified. He's just letting you know that he's aware of things." Dannie shrugged in embarassment. She was clearly instructed to say that - if left to her, she probably wouldn't say it.
Sarah and I looked at each other. Reading between the lines, we knew what Mr. Fairchild was saying, and I gave Sarah a slight nod. This meant we'd be adjusting Dannie's rates to something similar to Robin's. Still low, but I think more than appropriate, the justifier being they were both new to the industry.
"No need to be embarrassed, Dannie," I smiled. "Even I had a father once."
"So what's the other thing, Dannie," Sarah asked.
Dannie nodded and scrolled back to the "signing bonus."
"Daddy went through this list, and he had a few items in that list that he wanted taken out. We had a lively debate about some of them. Anyway, he's laid down the law, and this is the list that we want."
We looked through the list, and I had to laugh at the more ridiculous items that they had crossed out. However, there were a few that they retained. All in all, maybe half of it was retained.
In truth, though, I was wondering why they were even crossing out things - they didn't need to. That sort of gave me an idea what these two were about. And I approved.
By the end, though, we had a finalized contract, and since the document had been reviewed by Legal already, except for the "signing bonus" section, I made the decision to sign and to have Dannie bring it to her dad for signing.
Sarah went with Mindy to get it printed, and came back with a pair of copies. Sarah and I signed them and I put them back in their envelopes, sealed them and handed them to Dannie.
"You and your dad can sign them later, and have them Fedexed back to us before Friday. We'll be contacting you before then to make arrangements for your trip."
Dannie looked at me. "You were serious about starting right away," she said.
I nodded. "Dead serious. But no pressure on you guys to sign, Dannie. Like I said, if you don't, then we'll just fall back to just using Robin. But we have to start working on this right away."
Dannie nodded and accepted the sealed envelopes. "I see. Thank you, Mr. Blumenfeld."
"Quite all right, my dear."
to be continued in PART EIGHT, which, hopefully,
will start posting in about six months' time.
Thank you to everyone who've been reading
my story. Be sure to check back here in six
months or so for its continuation.
- Bobbie C...
This is Part Eight of the story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he, his family and friends deal with it. And after going on TV in his female DJ persona, the charismatic and sexy radio celebrity Robin a.k.a. the Nighthawk, to host a radio-TV program promoting the band called Unlimited Bandwidth, whose lead singer is his other persona, Dannie, the talented and sexy teen pop singer, he finds his life fragmenting more and more. And after becoming part of a small print campaign for the radio station, his expanding multimedia presence attracted the attention of the global fashion brand, Blumenfeld House. Now, Danny is about to embark on a new career - that of a fashion model in both his Dannie and Robin personae. It's enough to make anyone schizophrenic. Still, life goes on, though a little more strained for our intrepid hero (or is it heroine?). And as he becomes the latest fashion idol and media celebrity, his finds his problem with Janet growing, as well as finds that the teen music scene is as venomous as other industries - full of opportunism, jealousy and backstabbing.
In the meantime, life goes on, and he and the family and the guys get to go to Ireland to visit and reconnect with his grandmother Rosemary and Clan O'Caiside, and he, his sister and his girlfriend find out what destiny has in store for them.
A lengthy Author's Note:
As readers of the DannyVerse know, my last installment of the story (Part 7, containing chapters 21-54) came out in the middle of 2019, and I also wrote another "companion piece" ("Fire on the 14th") as part of "Danny's Other Stories."
After almost one year, I am starting up Part 8. Hopefully I can finish Part 8 in a reasonable time, and, hopefully, Part 8 will finally wrap up Danny's story. Also, please note that the story will not make the COVID-19 pandemic a part of the narrative. In the DannyVerse, it'll be as if there was no Coronavirus epidemic. I made this decision because including the pandemic in the narrative might ruin the story as there is no room for it, storywise.
Danny's Jukebox:
Part 8 also continues the experiment from Part 7. Ever since the time the first installment of the story came out in Crystal's Storysite, there have been people who have commented that I should take out the lyrics of the songs I insist on putting in as it affects the readability of the story. But, for me, the songs provide much-needed atmosphere. I suppose they're right in a way - people can approximately see what I see in my mind's eye only if they have heard the songs before.
So, as in Part 7, I'm continuing the "Jukebox." Here is how it works:
From time to time, you will see cartoony numbers in the text. When you see them, it means that song lyrics follow, and if the reader feels frustrated because she doesn't know the song, she can refer to the Jukebox Text File.
This file ("jukebox.pdf") contains links to YouTube files on the net, which are listed by number. If, for example, you see a cartoony number , you can copy-and-paste the link for song number 726 from the Jukebox Text File, into your browser. By doing so, you will run the YouTube video for the original song the story is referring to. This will allow you to listen to it as you read, thereby adding a new dimension to the story.
This is better than putting in a hotlink because it avoids having too many links and callouts, and it's easier to code it in my text. Besides, the admin folk prefer hotlinks to external files be minimized.
If the Jukebox is too much trouble, you can opt not to use it at all and just read the story in the conventional way. But I suspect you'll want to use it coz there are lots of songs lol. (If there are songs in a chapter, the link to the Jukebox - a small picture of a Wurlitzer jukebox - will be at the beginning: just click it and the Jukebox Text File will be downloaded to your computer.)
About songs:
In terms of copyright and fair use, quoting song lyrics is a dodgy thing, even with the application of Fair Use practices. But know three things - (1) this is a not-for-profit work of fiction, and there is no intention of profiting from the works of others; (2) song lyrics and other peoples' works are attributed, one way or another, through the mention of the singer, the author, the source of the song, or the title, but written in a way that makes the attribution part of the story's text, so this writer acknowledges them and makes no claims of ownership to these quoted works, and; (3) normally, this would be more than enough of a notice, but if some owners of these works ask, this writer will be will remove their works immediately.
In any case, when this work is published commercially, the commercial version will strictly comply with Fair Use practices, limiting the amount of quoted text to the prescribed amount only.
Fair warning to all:
Part 8 will also have some very sexually explicit scenes. But I promise that they will not be gratuitous - no sex for sex's sake, and no underage sex (the characters are sixteen years of age or older). Regardless, they will be integral to the narrative and, in those few scenes, I will try to be tasteful. If you don't like such scenes, read at your own risk.
And, finally, my usual caveats:
As I have said in the previous instalments, please forgive the grammatical errors, ill-advised story elements, and any format problems. I'd like to request that anyone who sees grammatical or spelling errors, or technical issues, to please PM me privately instead of embarrassing me in a public comment, and I will fix them (I'm sure everyone knows my feelings about those who do that kind of thing to writers). I really am trying to get better at writing, and, as I told some folks back in 2010, I will be taking them up on their offers of editing eventually (that is if they are still interested).
And now, the continuation…
Chapter 55 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ and the country's newest fashion icon and idol. Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. Note to the reader: this chapter may be a bit slow or tedious, with a lot of background stuff and other details - that's because Chapter 55 is setting up things for all the chapters that will follow. I hope you guys won't get too bored. |
Chapter Fifty-Five: Dannie, the Fashion Plate
***** (Danny) *****
Tyler and I were flying back from Minneapolis-St. Paul, and should be back home in a bit. Tyler, as per usual, was behind me and keeping an eagle eye for, ummm, unfriendly sorts. And, I suppose, I was so confident in Tyler that I found myself starting to doze, and napped all the way back home.
Since I was "Dannie" at the moment, everyone was free to openly meet me at the airport, except for the fact that it was a Sunday and the following day was therefore a school day. Even so, our folks were used to it, so the entire gang was there, though we were all expected to be back home before midnight.
The group was also bigger than normal since our bodyguards were with us, too. Not an unusual thing, but it was still a bit of novelty to it. Just as well, though, since a small group of hardcore fans had trailed the gang. But with our guards around us, none bothered us too much. Of course, mindful of how we dealt with our fans, we were very polite and signed our autographs on the books and photos they proffered, and a few reproduced mini-posters. They asked why we were in the airport, of course, and, as discussed, we revealed that I went to a meeting with Blumenfeld House for a possible job.
This, of course, had our female fans jumping up and down with excitement. Eventually, though they waved goodbye and left us alone (no doubt with firm, though undoubtedly gentle encouragement from our security).
This allowed us to have late dinner at one of the small greasy spoons by the airport. (If I wasn't mistaken, it was the same restaurant where Dr. Roberts and I had some coffee and a couple of slices of pie, and I told him of my troubles.)
Nikki was her usual beautiful self, and everyone else was as noisy as ever. Tracey and Mikey were clearly an item now - something we were all still trying to get used to, as was Mel and Jerry, and Morgan and Drew (I was't sure if June was part of their relationship, though). As for the others, no one else was partnering, including Danielle, but everyone seemed fine. Looking at Fallon, though, she was making eyes at Betsy. I don't mind that Fallon was gay or if she made a play for Betsy, but I didn't know if Bets would be open to that kind of relationship. Also, Fallon might not be too considerate, in view of that. But I swear, if Fallon hurt Betsy... But I think I should give Fallon the benefit of the doubt. I guess I need to talk to her.
I told them about my time in Minneapolis, and everyone seemed very interested. Joanne had a lot of questions, as did Danielle and Tracey, but they seemed satisfied with what the Blumenfeld people agreed to. The bigger topics they asked about were the "issue" with Robin, and my need to have a personal hairdresser, wardrobe girl and makeup girl. But they were relieved that the Blumenfeld people agreed to everything. Of course, the girls looked at Joanne in a sour way coz she clearly would be my hairdresser-slash-wardrobe girl-slash-makeup girl. Envy isn't a good thing...
The guys were more practical, though, and asked about salary and benefits and such, and everyone laughed their heads off when I told them about the signing incentives they were offering. And when they heard that part of it was a car, everyone was jumping up and down, and everyone had an idea about what car it should be. Danielle said it might mean Dad would have to extend the garage, but I could help pitch in to defer the cost of it - I can take it out of my Blumenfeld salary. Heheh.
We talked some more, and thought about what we had to go through to adjust to my new job. Or jobs. I felt a bit guilty - after all, this was all my fault, but then Tracey made the comment that all of us were going to benefit from this.
"And it'll be fun!" Nikki giggled.
***** (Tracey) *****
Hearing Danny talk about her adventures, i mean "His!" Dammit!. Well, anyway, hearing HIM talk about his adventures in far-off Minneapolis made me jealous. Well, I think "envious" might be the better word - though both words mean the same, I think "envious" implies a less angry kind of vibe. I mean, some just had it and some didn't. And it boots nothing to be angry at that person for it. So, I guess I feel kinda sad and melancholy, thinking about my friend Danny, and wishing I could be like her. I mean him. *sigh*.
But then I felt a someone sneaking in and holding my hand. I looked up and saw Mikey's smiling face, and he gave me a wink. And that changed my mood completely.
I decided to take a chance, so I boldly pulled him closer, put my arm around his waist and rested my head on his shoulder.
He didn't try to pull away, and actually snuggled into my hug. I sighed in relief and gratitude, and felt just a bit of love. Who am I kidding. I mean a lot of love.
I turned my face around a bit and gave Mike a little kiss on the cheek, and tried to pay attention to Danny.
Listening to Danny, his little trip to the Twin Cities seemed to have been a big success, and he seems to be well on his way to becoming the next fashion idol. Or rather Dannie was. And, for that matter, "Robin" as well. Which was worrying.
I knew all about the plan: Danny made it appear to the Blumenfeld people that "Dannie" and "Robin" were not getting along, so the two weren't willing to appear in the same show at the same time. In fact, he did it so well that part of the contracts of the two models was that they will not appear on the same show, shoot or event. Also, Dannie would require her own dresser and a make-up and hair person. This would mean there would be no Blumenfeld person that would be working on "Dannie," thereby minimizing the possibility of anyone working closely to both Robin and Dannie, and thereby minimizing the possibility of recognition.
Of course the details - the mechanics of how to do that - is still up in the air.
Earlier, while we were hanging at Joanne's mom's hairdressing place and waiting for the time we needed to leave for the airport, we talked about that a little bit.
It was a foregone conclusion that Joanne would be Dannie's hairdresser and makeup artist - something that didn't endear her to the girls (or maybe I should say, us girls heehee - my therapist sez to do that more often, that identifying with my chosen gender at every opportunity was essential to the success of my RLE).
I can understand that. I mean, the opportunity to travel, to attend concerts and fashion shows, and to have a chance to meet and rub shoulders with celebrities and fashion icons - who wouldn't want that? But our envy was tempered by the fact that it was hardly a glamour job, and that Joanne was the only one in the gang who had the makeup knowledge and skill to do it. She would be working and wouldn't be able to have time for fun.As for being a dresser, that was not really needed since Danny's outfits would be selected and sized by some of the world's best fashion experts. And Joanne knew enough to dress Danny since "Dannie" and "Robin" would only be modelling ready-to-wear or "prêt-à-porter" clothes.
Mel did say, however, that it might be too much for Joanne to be both Dannie's personal dresser as well as her hairdresser-slash-makeup artist. She took Betsy's computer and found a clip. And after seeing the video, Joanne reluctantly agreed. So we needed another warm body to be part of Dannie's "entourage."
Nikki then brought up the problem of school.
"School!" Joanne reacted.
"Yeah, Joanne," Nikki giggled. "School." And she explained that, as far as she knew, minors can't miss school regardless whether they have a job or not.
"Wait a minute!" Betsy said. She pulled her computer towards her and then pulled up a page from a government website.
"According to this, per Minnesota law, kids fifteen and below can't work over forty hours in a week, and can't work from nine PM to seven AM, but for kids that are sixteen and seventeen years old, no maximum work hours but they can't work from eleven to five, except if there's parental permission."
Joanne sighed. "That's a relief." (All of us, as was Joanne, were sixteen or seventeen.)
"How about for us?" Nikki asked.
"Let's see..." Betsy scrolled. "In our state, the requirement for kids fifteen and below, maximum work hours is forty per week. For sixteen and seventeen-year-old kids, they can't work from eight PM to seven AM, and a maximum of eight consecutive hours of work per day."
"Ahhh," Joanne said.
"I suppose the laws that will apply will be the laws where you'd be working," but as far as I know, the bulk of the work will be in Minneapolis-St. Paul, so the Minnesota laws are the relevant ones."
This was all hashed over again when we met with Danny, and he bought out his laptop and scanned through his new contracts.
"Well, I don't know about Joanne, but Dad's made some restrictions for me: maximum of fifty work hours, and the schedule has to be pre-approved - special events and such have to be pre-approved a month before, and no work during holidays and exam days. How does that sound, Joanne?"
Joanne grinned. "Sounds good. Sounds great, actually."
"But, Dan," I said, "Nikki brought up another issue - Joanne can't be both your dresser as well as your make-up artist and hairdresser."
Danny looked thoughtful. "You're right. But... who?"
Betsy was clearly thinking about it. "Well... the most fashion-savvy among us is clearly Danielle..." and Danielle was about to whoop for joy, but Betsy interjected, "... but! ... But clearly there are issues if it was her - looking like Danny is clearly an issue here..."
Danielle looked dejected. "Darn..."
"So the next best among us would be Nikki..."
Nikki had a comical, surprised expression on her face, like she couldn't believe she'd get to work with Danny.
"Really?" she asked.
"Well," Danielle said, "if you want..." Danielle wasn't looking too happy, but she was agreeing.
"But you guys have to know," I said, "I can't give you top dollar. At best I can give you is like twice the hourly minimum wage... maybe fifteen dollars an hour at most, and that won't include travel time, I'm sure, and I can't give you any sort of benefits. So, are you sure?"
"Wait!" Joanne exclaimed, and turned to me. "Tracey, do we need to give up our KRPQ gigs?"
I shrugged. "I don't see why you should. So long as you don't neglect your work, then you can stay on the station's website staff."
Nikki and Joanne high-fived each other.
One of our bodyguards came over and tapped Danny on the shoulder.
"Hey, Tyler. What's up?"
"Danny, we saw a bunch of fans starting to gather near the airport lobby. I think we'd better go."
"Damn... Okay. Guys, time to book."
In short order, we all started for our cars, and Danny, Nikki, Danielle and Betsy rode with me. The consensus was that we'd all go home and just get together again after school tomorrow at the station or at Betsy's.
Danielle made a short comment that Mike should have ridden with us. I saw everyone grinning ever so slightly, and I blushed. "You guys..."
As per usual, I dropped off Betsy first, and then Nikki, and then the twins. Danny said for me to wait, and he rushed into their house, coming out in a while with a sealed envelope.
He handed it to me. "Here's Robin's contract, Trace. Can I ask a favor, and if you can send that off from the office? I can't have it sent off from here because of the address."
I nodded.
Danny and Danielle gave me big hugs and walked to their house. I waved and I proceeded to our condo.
- - -
As I got in, mom was there to give me a hug, and asked how everyone was. I said fine, and I told her everything that Danny told us. Mom nodded in the right places, which proved she was actually listening, lol.
After a lull as I took a drink of water, as well as downed a couple of my hormone pills, Mom asked something.
"Danny told me a little bit about your plans for the station," mom said. "Does the news fit your plans?"
"Oh, sure! As soon as Dannie and Robin's contracts are official, I'm gonna promo the heck out of it, and maybe look into getting our programs block-timed in some of the stations that asked about syndication."
"What do you think about becoming part of one of the networks from the east coast?"
"What? No way! we'll lose most of our shows, and..."
"But I'm sure our Nighthawk show is going to be..."
"Ummm, mom?" I began. "I have an idea about that..."
"An idea, dear?"
"What if we start up our own network now? I know it's in the plans, but I think now's the right time for it."
"You realize that we're basically putting all our eggs in one basket. Everything's on Danny. Not that I think something will happen to Danny, but what if we lose him for some reason?"
"Well, I do have some ideas for some more programs. For example, that new market that we unearthed with Dennis and Lou - maybe we can start building them up, and maybe start syndicating their program. And maybe we can start streaming our signal on the web more regularly. Also, maybe we can start building up Sally - with her upcoming gig with Blumenfeld, I think there's a target-of-opportunity there, not to mention her known to be be a close friend of Robin's."
Mom was nodding at that. "What about Harry and Talia?"
"Well," I said, "Harry hasn't really developed a following, though Talia has some solid rating numbers. I guess we need to build them up, too. Maybe we can get Harry to do some man-on-the-street stuff, and maybe we can make up a gimmick for Talia..." I started to think.
"I know that look," mom said, and looked at me suspiciously. "What are you thinking, Tracey?"
"What if we got Talia a helicopter? She could do an eye-in-the-sky kind of thing?"
Mom looked irritated. "Tracey, we don't have the money for a helicopter!"
"Oh..." I wracked my brain for an alternative. "But what if we used a drone?"
"A drone? What's a drone?"
I got out my laptop and browsed a bit. "These are drones," I said, proffering my computer with pictures of drones on the screen.
Mom looked. "Ahhh! Drones!"
"I'm sure there are some issues in terms of permits, plus drones don't have much flight time, but let me research it. I'm sure I can find some answers for us. Or we can use a van or something, and have her go around town when she airs her program. And I really think we need to start up our..."
Mom gave me me a big hug. "Those are great ideas, honey. If you can get all of our staff's ratings numbers up and establish some good presence, and drum up some interest from our neighboring radio stations, maybe I could be persuaded to start up our plans for the Piper Radio Network."
"Is that a promise, mom?"
"Hey! Who do you think you're talking to, my dear?" she smiled at me delightedly.
- - -
***** (Danny) *****
When Danielle and I got home, we found our folks still up.
I got big hugs from both my mom and dad, and wondered what I did to deserve that.
"So how did it go?" Dad said.
"Score!" I exclaimed, and we fist-bumped and high-fived, which dad and I did all the time.
"Did they accept it?"
"Lock, stock and barrel, pop!"
"Coolness!" Coolness? It's funny when it comes from my dad. Anyway, we did the fistbump-plus-high-five again.
"I did have a question, dad - something that we didn't think of this afternoon."
"Which is?"
"Well, I did mention that, ummm, 'Dannie' will want a make-up and hair stylist plus a dresser, but they said they can't cover their cost. Although they did add a little to the compensation package to help me cover that, but we forgot to specify that travel and accommodation costs will also be covered."
Dad thought it through. "Well," he said, "most probably they'll cover their travel costs, but I don't know if they'll take care of accommodations for them, too. But it won't hurt to ask."
"Ummm... Can you ask them for me, dad?"
"Well... chances are, they might not want to make changes to the contract since they already signed off on it... but they might be open to making other arrangements, like maybe an addendum or supplemental agreement. Don't worry, kid, I'll email them about it tonight and ask if they can reply by tomorrow."
"Dad, that sounds like we're pressuring..."
He waved his hand. "I know, I know. That's because we are pressuring them. But they'll know we're pressuring them. And they'll know we know. They won't take it against us. Besides, I can say you're gonna sign the contract regardless, so it's not like we're trying to pull a fast one."
"Okay."
- - -
It turns out dad was right - in the morning, Mindy, Sarah's assistant, sent off an email with a conforme letter: in it, they said Blumenfeld was willing to cover transportation costs and things like meals for my hairdresser-slash-makeup artist and my dresser, but they won't cover hotel costs. Seems this was a common thing since there was a form letter.
But there was a note in the e-mail from Mindy - since Blumenfeld would usually be billeting me in two-bed hotel rooms, she said my people can just bunk with me.
I signed my contract and the conforme letter right away (I had Danielle's signature down pat by now), and had dad co-sign, and mom witnessed it, and dad said he'll make sure the papers are Fedexed as soon as he gets to the office.
As for Robin's contract, I signed it and gave it to Tracey last night so she could have it sent to Blumenfeld today. I guess, by tonight, I should be getting Robin's notarized copies as well.
I hadn't been able to wake up early enough this morning, so I wasn't able to practice with my musical instruments, but I rationalized that I could afford to miss a day, and just proceeded to get ready for school.
Mom and Danielle had been poring over the contracts, and I could feel a bit of jealousy emanating from Danielle, but nothing major, I'm sure. But it was her and the other girls' fault that I was in this position in the first place, so she had no one to blame but herself.
As I was finishing getting ready for school, Mindy texted, and asked for pictures, details and the full names of my hairdresser and make-up artist, and my dresser. She certainly was a hard-working girl.
So I sent her Joanne's and Nikki's profiles from the KRPQ website, and I promised to send her their personal cellphone numbers and email addresses in a bit. I texted the girls and asked them if it was all right. As I was putting on my shoes, the girls replied, so I sent Mindy their contact details. She thanked me and said to contact her at anytime if I had any questions, especially if it had something to do with my contract. I said I would and hung up.
- - -
Everyone in the gang had the same lunch period, so naturally we would have our lunch together. It was known that we would usually have lunch at around this time, at a specific table in the cafeteria, which is now known as UB's table, and it would always be available for our use. And if there were people there during lunchtime, they would politely let us have the table - a big difference from the time me and my buds would be stuck in one of the smaller tables on the sides, or have to eat outside in the bleachers. Gone were those days.
Only the middle tables were the ones that had enough seats for all of us anyway - at the moment, the gang was about ten, and all the tables only had room for eight except the ones in the middle, which seated twelve. And this was how I rationalized our monopolizing our table and displacing people. Still, we were one of the better-behaved groups in the cafeteria - not the quietest, but were better behaved than the JDs or the jocks or the cheerleaders - so none of the teachers or the cafeteria ladies had any issues with us.
When we get to our table, sometimes there's stuff on it - gifts for one or other member of UB, and sometimes for Drew, Mel, Nikki or Morgan, and, lately, I've started getting some, too. Jerry and Mike haven't gotten any yet, though, but they didn't seem to mind.
The gifts were nothing special - usually just little notes or cards. But some of the more forward and courageous fans would leave gifts of fan-art, CDs, little recordings, photos, poems, clothing items or even jewelry. We thought that it would be impolite to not accept the notes and little gifts, but we made it known that we wouldn't be accepting gifts of food (no one knows if they're safe or not), used or soiled clothing items, or super-expensive stuff (usually jewelry), non-family-friendly pictures, or items of questionable... quality or style or content (if you know what I mean). Eventually, this became known to everyone, and since we didn't make any exceptions, not many left those kinds of gifts anymore.
We, or whoever the gift was meant for, would post a note or something on the band's website to thank them for their gifts, and would also email a personal note to those who left email addresses. But for those gifts we didn't accept, we would leave them on the table with a little note of apology taped to them (we used to attach personal notes to them, but when I found these little notes being sold on eBay, I asked Mike to make some of those little 2 inch by 2 inch gift cards but said "We're sorry," and we would tape them onto the gift itself - totally generic with no resale value at all). Mickey would also take pictures of them, and we'd leave an automated thank you post on the band's website, and an explanation about why we couldn't accept them. If the gift was taken back by some person other than the one who left it - well, we couldn't help that.
This particular morning, there were a lot of them, and though there were a few that we knew not to accept - actually to not even touch - everything else was okay. Danielle, of course, got loads again, as did the rest of the band, and the others got a few as well. A couple of the cards, though, sealed in envelopes, was addressed to me, and I was delighted to have some Danny fans - most likely classmates who wanted to remain anonymous.
We didn't open or read any of them at the table, and Mel just put them all away in a see-through plastic hobo bag as usual (so people can see what's in it) and we'll open them later at the office or at Betsy's. It was better that way. Mike attached the "we're sorry" cards to the ones we didn't take, took pictures of them, and left them in the middle of the table.
Fallon brought some girls from of the Glee Club, but there were no seats available so they found seats at the table next to ours, which were presently being occupied by the cheerleaders. The cheerleaders didn't put up a fuss tho (probably because there were only three of them today), so Beatriz, Edna, Kalista, Ramona, Valentina, Phylicia and Eileen were able to sit. Fallon decided to sit with them.
As we had our lunch, today's topic du jour became the car that I, or Dannie, would be getting. The guys clearly had some ideas about it. They suggested cars like a classic 1965 Shelby Mustang GTO, a Dodge Charger, a Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am, a big Buick GNX, and so many other big muscle cars. But the girls nixed all of them. The closest that the girls came to liking was a yellow 2010 Camaro - like Bumblebee from the movies, or a 1982 Trans-Am like the car from the old Knightrider TV show, but they didn't really like those either. Morgan tried to lobby for the Shelby Mustang, but this time I was the one who didn't like it.
"But, Danny," he said, "I thought you like Mustangs!"
"That's the thing, Morgan," I said. "I already have my Mustang. How would it look like if Danielle also had one?"
"But this is a Shelby GTO..."
I stood my ground and shook my head no.
"Dammit..." Morgan mumbled.
"Well, how about this one," Jerry suggested, and he showed us his smartphone. On it was a 1969 Chevy Corvette Baldwin GTO.
"That's super sexy," Nikki enthused.
"You like that one?" I asked her.
"Yeah. Pretty sexy." And she gave me a kiss. "Just like you."
Typically, everyone went, "oooh!" and laughed when I blushed.
"Wait, wait," Mel said, and took back Jerry's phone. After a second, she showed us another car.
"I think this is the right one. A total winner." We looked, and it looked real feminine and cute. I sorta got the feminine vibe of it, and maybe it'd fit Dannie's image. What it was was the Fiat 500 Spiaggina ’58 concept car from the 60th anniversary of the Fiat 500 back in 2018, and it used the 60th anniversary model as the base car.
I looked to Danielle and Nikki, and they were nodding like crazy. I turned to my guys and shrugged. "Sorry, boys," I said apologetically. "It's been decided." I showed them the picture.
After a while, Mike nodded and reluctantly said, "it's cute."
And it really was. The one in the picture was in sky-blue, with white accents, and it didn't have a top, making it look like it was meant for the beach, and had only a tiny smidge of an A-pillar and a vestigial windscreen. It did have a white hoop above the seatbacks, it presumably was acting as a rollbar. There were also no rear seats as the rear end was meant for storage only, complete with a fold-down tailgate. And it was tiny - it was a two-seater Fiat 500 after all, and the lines echoed the original, tiny 60s car. Plus, the chrome hubcaps and the whitewall tires emphasized the wheels, giving it a retro touch - all-in-all a cute and sexy girl-car.
As it was decided, I called Mindy, and said I had picked out a car. I then sent her the pictures Mel found as well as the website, and she said she'll look into it. I told her that classes would be over by around three so she could call me then.
- - -
After school, we went to Betsy's as usual, where we were met by Tracey, Fallon as well as the rest of the band. Tracey said there was word from Blumenfeld, that they received Robin's signed copy of the contract, and they'll be sending back my signed, witnessed and notarized copy of Robin's contract, and that I had a photoshoot this coming Sunday. Yayyy... not...
Tracey said that, given this'll be a regular thing, I needed an official apartment - somewhere where my mail can be sent, and where the IRS and the government can send mail and whatever. "I mean, you're welcome to keep on using the station as your mailing address, but eventually, you'll need a real address.
I sighed and nodded at this inevitability, but there were some practical considerations. "I guess you're right, Tracey," I said. but the place has to be reasonably near my folks' place so it won't be too difficult ducking in an out of Robin's place and then to my house."
"Yeah," Danielle agreed. "And we have to find a way to keep, ummm, unwanted folks away from the place. Like fans and such."
Betsy interjected that her folks might be able to help find me one, and left us in search of her folks.
"Well, that was helpful." Tracey commented.
Fallon nodded and smiled. "That's Betsy for you."
My smartphone beeped and I checked who it was.
"It's Mindy texting, asking if she can call me."
"Go on, Dan," Nikki said, "call her."
I dialed her number and she picked up right away. "Hey, Dannie," she said.
"Hey, Mindy. What's up?"
"I just wanted to say, we got your contract and we are having the first of your, ummm, care packages now," she giggled. "We're gonna ship it to your house and, if everything goes well, you should be getting it in a couple of days."
"Yayyy!"
"We have a problem, though. There's a bit of an issue about your car," she said. "The particular car you chose is a concept car. It was specially designed by ac company called Garage Italia for the Fiat 500's 60th anniversary last 2018, meaning it's not something that's available for sale."
"Oh, darn.." I tried to make my voice sound more disappointed than I actually was.
"Ummm, but, if your heart's really set on it, I have a suggestion."
"Yes?"
"There's a small garage near your town that one of Sarah's friends from the Tate Corporation raves about. It's a small place called Otto's Garage, and they specialize in creating custom one-off cars. Sarah's friend has had his daughter's car customized there, and they apparently do good work. Mr. Nance, Sarah's friend raves about his daughter's car all the time.
"So if you really have your heart set on that car, I can contact Otto's Garage and have him replicate that car."
"But, Mindy, that's too much work! I can just pick another..."
"No, no... I already asked Otto and he said he can get his hands one of those 2018 Fiat 500 anniversary production cars and modify them to be like your concept car."
"Sounds expensive, Mindy..."
Mindy laughed. "What do you care, Dannie - it'll be on us!"
"Well..."
"All I need is a go-ahead from you. So what do you say."
"Hold on, lemme get some opinions from the guys here."
"Guys?"
"Some friends from school, and the guys from my band."
"Ahhh! Tell them hi from me."
"'Kay. Call you back in a bit."
I hung up and I told the guys about the issue with the car.
"What?" Dale said. "What car?"
The girls explained and got the Dale and the others up to speed. Drew excitedly showed them the picture of the car, and June was all for the custom Fiat 500, but Mongo and Dale weren't too excited about it.
"But, hey," Dale said, "it's your car - we don't get a vote, and that's okay. Go for it." He hit me on the shoulder in a friendly way, as a kind of apology.
"Dale's right," Mongo said. And that's all he had to say about it... Typical Mongo. Lol.
"Okay," I said. "So, should I call her back?"
And the consensus was yes.
"Hey, Mindy," I said.
"So, what's the verdict?"
"Well, apparently, so long as Blumenfeld House is okay with it, then I'm okay with it."
"So... it's a go?"
"It's a go."
"Great! I'm gonna tell Sarah, and then I'm gonna call up Otto and green-light the project."
"How long do you think the project will take?"
"Well, Otto told me earlier that it should take about two weeks."
"For everything?"
"Yes, and Otto said he'll add a couple of extras at no cost, and he says they're easy - he's already done that for someone else's car so it won't make the build longer."
"Okay. I'm all for extras."
"So I can report to Sarah and Mr. Blumenfeld that we've fulfilled the requirements of the contract, and we'll be expecting you this coming Sunday."
"Ah, okay." As friendly as Mindy was, she clearly had an objective - that of fulfilling the provisions of the contract.
"Ummm, Mindy," I said, "I have to ask, though... is Robi..."
"No worries, Dannie," Mindy interjected. "Ms. Tibbles will be asked to report on Saturday, and she'll be leaving for home just as you're gonna be doing your thing on Sunday."
"Ahhh. Okay, then."
"Thanks, Dannie. I'll be emailing you your itinerary tomorrow, as well as your plane tickets and your people's plane tickets."
I tried to be casual when I tried to find out who would get tickets. "So, how many tickets is that?" I asked as breezily as I could.
"Well, let's see - there's yours, your makeup artist Joanne, your dresser Nikki, and your bodyguard Tyler. That makes four in total. Why? Are you worried about the transportation? Don't worry, honey - the car we'll be sending to pick you up will be big enough.
"Thanks so much, Mindy. See you in six days."
See you, then!"
I hung up and told everyone about the phone call.
- - -
***** (Tracey) *****
With Mike's arm around me, I listened to Danny. and it sounded like the plan was working like clockwork. But as I listened, I was thinking of some of the other details that we didn't think of in this super-complicated plan of ours.
For example, if we really intended to use Danielle as a decoy, we have to find a way to make the process more smoothly. And then we were caught by surprise by Robin's and Dannie's need for mailing addresses. Which highlighted Robin's need for her own place. And the need to get her school classes set up. And all of this just to maintain her identity.
And then I thought that Dannie has all of these benefits that Robin didn't. Doesn't really matter, actually, since she was actually the same person. But, again, for the purposes of image and identity, she should at least have her own car - a car appropriate for her persona.
Betsy might be able to help with the house or apartment. And I had some thoughts about the car. As for the school angle - that's all a problem as it's more a problem of time - that Danny didn't have time for it. Guess we have to figure out how to make it happen somehow.
I remember the cars we were browsing from last night - and I thought the corvette we looked at. That one seemed to match Robin's image. I also remembered that place they were going to have Dannie's car made - Otto's Garage. But then the people ad Blumenfeld might smell something fishy if i called them up. Then I remembered Dino Cars. They owed my mom's company so maybe I can get a good deal. I think I'll call them up.
Betsy came back.
"Dan?" she said. "I think I can help you out with the house."
"Yeah?"
"Mom and dad have just finished a small gated little community a couple of blocks from your house."
"You mean that construction project near the water tower on Maple? That's your family's project?"
"Yeah. It's gonna be a gated community, and about a fourth of the houses are still available. Dad says he can get reserve one of the houses for you, and give you a good price for it. He'll even be able to put you in touch with the project's financing company and facilitate things.
"And since it's a gated community, no one can just enter, which will mean fans, or anyone else for that matter, can't just get in, which solves all of Robin's fan problems. And - get this - there are three separate powerhouses or electrical rooms at the wall boundary. They're meant for power, telephone, cable TV and Internet cabling coming into the community. But apparently two were sufficient, even considering future expansion. So, because of that, one of the electrical rooms are unused and empty."
"Ummm... so?"
"These electrical rooms have a door to the outside, so one can get in and out of the little village without being seen. So you can sneak in and out whenever you need too."
"Ooohhh..."
"How come you know so much about it, Bets," Fallon asked.
Betsy shrugged. "My dad brings me along to see all of his construction projects, and he likes it when I ask him things."
"Well, Bets, I don't have a good portfolio," Danny said. "I doubt if I can get the financing."
"What do you mean, Danny?" I said. "As Robin, you're gainfully employed, and you have this brand-new modeling gig. I'm sure the banks will approve any kind of loan you apply for."
"But Trace, it's not just the cost..."
I could sense what he was worried about. "Danny," I sighed. "I already told you - your identity papers are totally backstopped! It's totally covered. 'Robin Tibbles' is a completely authentic person insofar as the government is concerned - you can pay taxes, drive, vote, make loans, travel anywhere, buy whatever, and do anything else a normal person can do, including buying a house, and the government nor anyone wouldn't find anything wrong!"
"Well, then -"
"Yeah?"
"Pick me a nice, small place and tell your dad I'm game."
"Yesss!!!"
- - -
Over a mess of nachos and sodas, we discussed how how Danny's weekend would be managed, and after that was sussed out, Mel brought out the transparent hobo bag.
"Lots today!" I commented.
"Yep!" she nodded. "Let's see - let's start off with a big one. Here's one addressed to the band." She brought out a gift-wrapped box roughly the size of a bread bin.
As per usual, Mike took a picture and Jerry, wearing a pair of blue disposable nitril gloves (I know, I know - it's overkill, but I was the one who suggested it, k?,) opened it. Inside was a portable DVD player - and not one of those cheap ones, either - plus a DVD.
"We have to return that DVD player..." Danielle said. Jerry nodded and put it away for the usual thing, while Betsy took the DVD and plopped it into the DVD player attached to the room's TV. It turned out to be a very nice copy of the concert as well as the TV show, with a cute note from one of our fans at the end. Clearly, we'll keep this.
There was also another box, which turned out to contain a bunch of very-well-drawn portraits of all the band members, and we were surprised that there were an extra ten portraits (which makes fifteen in all) - that's because it included the rest of the gang, plus me and Janet. The only one missing was Robin. (Morgan's and Danny's portraits were especially well done, by the way.)
There was a little note, and, apparently, the girl (for it was a girl) was equally a fan of Morgan and Danny as she was a fan of UB. That was a little bit unusual. I suppose it's because Morgan is a jock in their school, but according to everything I've heard, Danny has not been anything but a geeky nerd at their school. So I had to wonder why. Hmmm...
Anyway, Mickey said he had a friend that can have the pictures framed, and with urging from me, he called his friend.
This time, "Robin" also got a couple. This had started happening after the fire over at the Jackson Building, and after Robin came out on Youtube. Most of Robin's fans send their little gifts and things to her directly care of the radio station, but sometimes some kids send them through Danny and his gang, like today. Today, it was a couple of framed pictures of Robin - one from her hosting the KRPQ launch, and another of her carrying firefighter Lucas Hoskins down the fireladder during that fire.
And so it went, as each of the packages were opened. Our "clubhouse" (actually a room in Betsy's house) was starting to accumulate a lot of these gifts from fans. But that's fine.
The last one to we opened was this little gift-wrapped packet of 2R-size photos - it was all of Danny, and Danny-as-Dannie and Danny-as-Robin. But as we leafed through them, there was a sinister tone throughout - most of the pictures were obviously taken surreptitiously and some of them were from places only the gang knew about. What was a bit creepy were pictures of "Robin" and "Dannie" on their trips to Minnesota, like pictures at the airport, or Dannie walking in the park, and of her or Robin entering an office building, as well as of Dannie's afternoon meeting with Sally, where they discussed their contracts. The pictures were clearly taken with a telephoto lens through the restaurant's picture window while "Robin" and Sally were chatting and eating.
Some of the pictures were scary: in some of the pictures of Robin and Sally, Sally's face was burned off, like with a cigarette or a match, and there was one that was taken at a little coffee shop, presumably in Minneapolis, where Dannie was chatting with a girl behind the counter at the coffe shop: the girl's face had been burned off, too. There were also a few pictures of the entire gang having dinner or something, and Fallon's face had been burned off, too.
"Oh, my god!" I exclaimed.
"Janet," Danny said in a chilling monotone. "It's got to be..." I've only heard Danny talk like that a couple of times. She was mad. Really mad. I wouldn't want to be the target of that rage, that's for sure.
I picked up the picture - the one with "Robin" and Sally, and contemplated it.
"Oh, my god..." I said again.
- - -
Later that night, before mom got home, I looked up Dino Cars in my mom's files and called them up. It turns out that they had a franchise nearby, and I called them. Despite it being a little late, someone answered. When I dropped mom's name and mentioned PiperCorp, the guy in charge, someone named Charlie, took the call.
I explained why I was calling, and he said he had a line to some classic Corvettes. It seemed that 1969 Corvette coupes ran to as high as twenty-five to fifty thousand, but Charlie said he could get one for twenty-five. However, he also had a line to a fixer-upper that he could get for fifteen. And to get it up to showroom condition, it'll only cost about five. I had some ideas for some changes, though, and he said that would cost an additional five thousand or so. So a total of twenty-five in all. Essentially, the change I asked was to make the corvette a 2+2 instead of keeping it as a two-seater, but preserving the car's body-lines. That means there would be two small seats at the back, allowing four people to sit in the car instead of just two. The changes also included replacing the tires with 70s era vintage-style rims and tires, and a different kind of paint job - something stock but unusual; something people don't see Corvettes in a lot.
Charlie said he had a complete set of pristine rims from a junker they got which could easily be rechromed, and he also said they could change the color of a car to a tangerine-kind of paint job, similar to the factory "Monaco orange" (the most uncommon of the Corvette's stock colors) but flashier and brighter: there was this off-the-shelf "kandy copper" paint from FLX Paints that was excellent for it, and since it was off-the-shelf, it would be cheap, and there would be no need to mix colors. I also asked if he could upgrade the electronics so it'd have the proper kind of radio, a charger for gadgets, an all-electronic dash and so forth. Charlie said all of that would be available off-the-shelf, too, and it'd be easy to retrofit all of that.
I was confident they'd do a god job since I name-dropped mom's name and PiperCorp: I knew Charlie and his people won't be pulling any fast ones.
All-in-all it'd be twenty-five thousand. And if I can convince mom, then that means "Robin" would be set up with a car in two weeks. I left my name and number with Charlie, and promised him I'd call him up either later tonight or tomorrow morning, and let him know if it's a go or not.
Soon after that, mom came in, and gave me a big kiss on the cheek.
"How was your day, honey," she asked and i told her everything - about Danny's new contracts, especially about Danny's mailing address issues and how Betsy can set her up with a place of her own.
"So complicated, this modeling thing of Danny's..." mom said.
"I know. But it'll help me out a lot if Danny pushes through with it, mom! It'll give the station a leg up, and maybe open up new franchising and syndication opportunities, and..."
Mom raised her hands in surrender. "I know, honey! I know."
"Oh, mom... also..." Then I explained to her about the car. I showed her a picture of a Corvette.
"How much is it again?" she asked as she looked at the picture.
"Twenty-five grand?" I cringed.
"Hmmm... that's a lot of money, Trace..."
"I know, mom, but Danny needs it. Or, rather, Robin does. And I think it's a small investment in our biggest asset."
"I will agree to the car if you can get... Robin to sign a three-year contract with us."
"Mom..." I said, worried that Danny might feel pressured, and think that the things we did for her might have strings attached.
"Wait a minute, Trace," mom said. "I know what you're thinking. And it's not about Danny owing us. The car is like an incentive to get 'Robin' to sign with us. Because we need him - just like the signing bonuses 'Dannie' was offered by Blumenfeld. And you have to tell it to her that way, because that's what it is."
"Mom..."
Mom gave me a hug. "I love Danny, too, Trace. I would never hold over her anything she's done, much less let the cat out of the bag. You know that. This is just business. And 'Robin' is free to not sign the contract. And we would never make a big deal of it. And we'll just be here in this same position we're in now."
"Well... well..."
Mom giggled. "What - made you even think I'd do something like that?"
I sighed and gave her a smile.
"Sorry, mom."
"And, like I said - this is business. So you better think up a good contract that is fair, that your station can handle, and that Robin will be okay to sign."
"Okay, okay. I will... wait... 'My' station?"
Mom smiled widely. "I checked with our lawyers. And they said it's okay to make you KRPQ's new station manager, as well as the assistant vice-president of the new Piper Communications Corporation in charge of new business development."
"Ohmigod..."
"Now, as the president and CEO of Piper Communications, I am giving you instructions to proceed making plans for the establishment of PiperComm's new business lines and...
I grabbed her around the neck and hugged the stuffing out of her.
- - -
***** (Mrs. Piper) *****
I was so pleased to see Tracey so excited, and was glad I made the decision. I knew she could do the work, but I was worried about the timing, and that she needs to not let her schoolwork slide. But that's a topic of conversation for another time.
I got the lawyers to get the paperwork for PiperComm going, and, maybe, in a month or two, PiperComm is going to be a reality, and then we can start with the real work.
In the meantime, I better help Tracey get the foundation for PiperComm ready, and make sure her plans for KRPQ come to fruition.
As I watched Tracey babble on in excitement, it was like she was channeling the stereotype flighty teenage girl, an I knew, in my heart of hearts,I've finally, one-hundred percent accepted that she was a real girl. And I watched my girl chatter on in both amusement and pride.
And then she stopped.
"Honey?" I said in some concern. "Is something wrong?"
"Mom," she said, "I better tell you about these pictures the gang got this afternoon..."
to be continued...
Chapter 56 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ and the country's newest fashion icon and idol. And today is the first day of Danny and Robin as Blumenfeld House’s newest models. Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. |
Chapter Fifty-Six: Tooling Around Town
***** (Danny) *****
It’s my first day as a Blumenfeld model, and because of the details of my contract (actually, my two contracts – both as Robin and as Dannie), I can only do work… or maybe “we” can do work only on weekends because of school. So, Ed Blumenfeld and Sarah Rhodes did a lot of pre-work, and used as much of the production material from the previous shoots. This meant that the only remaining stuff were Robin’s and Dannie’s parts. They had to do that to max our shots.
It’s early Saturday morning. Sally was with me as she was part of my photoshoot, and Kelly was there as my bodyguard. And Joanne was with us as well, as my makeup artist and dresser. Originally, Joanne was supposed to be Dannie’s makeup person but after talking about it some more, Robin needed more assistance than Dannie – Dannie could actually be more her natural self – no colored hair - so, after some additional negotiations, Joanne was now Robin’s makeup artist and dresser, while Nikki was now Dannie’s dresser (leaving Blumenfeld’s makeup people to take care of Dannie).
PiperCorp lent one of its HondaJets to Blumenfeld, and Blumenfeld basically just pays for the fuel. Sure, that was the only cost that Blumenfeld paid for, but it was Mrs. P’s way to make it appear in her books that they were charging for the use of the jet and not just letting them use it for free. Besides, as Tracey explained to her mom, with the additional income for the station that exposure will bring, it’s more than an equitable exchange.
Admittedly, there’s lots more things that go into the operation of a plane than just expensive than the cost of fuel of a commercial jets. Tracey gave me some numbers: a 747 consumes about 3,600 gallons per hour, but then commercial jets have between 200 and 850 passengers. For the PiperCorp jet, it consumes about 90 gallons of A-1 jet fuel per hour, and a maximum passenger capacity of seven. So if a commercial jet maxes its passenger capacity at 850, the HondaJet has the same fuel consumption per commercial jet passenger, but it was over four times as much.
So, after a short talk, Sarah (through her assistant Mindy), agreed to the cost of fuel times four, which wasn’t much at all. They rounded up to $4,500.00 per flight to and from Minneapolis-St. Paul. Still more expensive than a regular plane ticket (even divided with seven passengers), but Mindy said that means they weren’t hamstrung by flight schedules and airport restrictions.
Anyway… after that boring detail…
Joanne, Sally, Kelly and I were in Mrs. P’s jet. It was Saturday, 4AM and we were on our way to Minneapolis. It had to be that early because the call time was 8AM.
No flight attendants, of course, but there was a fully-stocked cooler and three cargo containers with a dozen pre-packed meals each.
I tried to ignore the food and waited for the others, but Kelly was smiling at me with a knowing look. I gave her a questioning look, trying to ignore her. She went to the cargo box, brought out four meals and handed one to each of us.
“Thanks,” I said.
I opened the box and it had a croissant-wich with bacon, a fried egg and hollandaise sauce. There was also a little Ziploc with apple slices. Nice.
I ate it like a sandwich while the rest used knives and forks. Everyone looked at me with amused expressions, and I smiled embarrassedly.
Kelly went to the rear of the cabin and got a big thermos of coffee and several ginormous paper cups.
I got one and filled it up while the others just filled them halfway. Apparently, that's what you do on a plane. Sally drank hers black, though, while we had cream and sugar.
We were all excited about the trip, although Joanne and I were half-worried as well.
All of us were in on the secret, except for Sally, so all three of us made an effort not to let the cat out of the bad.
Sally was new to Joanne and Kelly, but Kelly was a little stand-offish, as befitted my bodyguard, so Sally didn't push too much to chat her up. Joanne, of course was another thing, and volunteered a lot of stuff about the gang with Dannie and Sally. One thing you have to give to Joanne - she still kept everything straight, including THE secret.
Sally was curious about the whole Robin-Dannie “feud” but Joanne was completely neutral.
“I’m friends with both Robin and Dannie," Joanne said, "and Dannie won’t mind me working for Robin. Or vice versa.”
“Wonder how Sarah feels about it,” Sally said.
“according to Dannie, and Robin," Joanne nodded to me, "Ms Rhodes was fine with it. She also had Mindy, her assistant, check the contracts and made the changes needed.”
“Fast work.”
I stood up to get another boxed meal, but this time from the other containers. Wonder what else there was.
“So, what’re you doing, Boss?” Kelly grinned.
I gave her a razzberry. “Shut up, Kelly.”
***** (Mindy) *****
I was worried. As usual. I was at the airport at at six thirty – that wasn’t usual. A cellphone call from the PiperCorp pilot said that they were ahead of time, and should be arriving before seven.
In any case, another call said that they had landed and was taxiing to hangar L-25, where Blumenfeld House had rented a slot for the weekend.
I had our limo driver proceed to the hangar, with the SUV trailing us, and we arrived just in time to see the girls debarking from their plane.
I stepped out, waved and ran towards them. I guess I was excited to see Robin. I hugged Robin, and welcomed them back to Minneapolis. I got Robin’s bags and lead them back to the limo. It wasn’t a stretch limo, but a standard limo can accommodate six to eight passengers. What we got was a Lincoln, which could accommodate six.
Our drivers got everyone’s luggage and put them into the SUV, and everyone got into the limo. I was pleased Robin was wearing Blumenfeld fashions. And she wore them well. Very well, indeed. Sally was also pretty elegant in her own outfit, but I did notice it wasn’t Blumenfeld. That has to be fixed. Joanne was also pretty good-looking, but she was not in Sally’s league, much less Robin’s. Kelly was okay, but she was deliberately dressed down in casual clothes, with a jacket, jeans and boots. In her line of work, I suppose part of the job was not to attract attention. She took the front passenger seat so I got to sit with the others.
We went to Blumenfeld House and started going through the plans for the day with Sarah and Mr. Blumenfeld. I’m surprised at how Sarah and Mr. Blumenfeld greeted Robin – I mean, I haven’t seen how excited those two were about a model.
Robin and Sally stayed with us to go over the plans for today. Joanne went with the director and the wardrobe & makeup people to discuss their side of things.
In less than an hour, we went to the little college we picked in the original shoot.
I had Sally change first, though, and we picked some of the clothes we had in the studio: can't have our models wear the competition's fashions, after all. Also, Sarah had Robin and Sally in a snazzy sports car. Sarah rented a shiny gunmetal gray 2009 Lexus LFA, so when the paparazzi and Robin's fans see her and take the inevitable pictures, they'd be in the sports car. Sarah explained that they wanted her in a newer and better sports car, but none could be rented on such short notice. Robin said a Lexus was pretty okay already.
***** (Robin) *****
I drove as fast as traffic laws allowed (under instructions from Sarah), and the full-throated V8 engine roared. Despite that, I drove carefully, with nary a close call. We arrived at the campus, but I didn’t know where the shoot was, so I headed for where I saw trucks and other stuff were being set up.
We roared onto the set (I was told later to refer to the location as the “set”), and Sally and I stepped out. There was a loud cheer and scattered applause from the people at the edge of the set, held back by tape and several security guards. I wore Blumenfeld boots two sizes larger that my size, which allowed me to put in some lifts. I was now several inches taller than Dannie. Sally and I weren’t the same height, but closer now.
Kelly came up, this time sporting a severe black suit, with a black tie and dark wayfarer sunglasses. She looked like someone from MIB, but stylish. She was the stereotypical secret service-type security, but was looking super-badass. She stayed behind and to the side of us.
Stopping a few feet from the line, Sally and I waved, which got the people going crazy.
“Good morning, everyone!” I said. “My name is Robin, and this is Sally. We’re from KRPQ radio.” Everyone applauded.
“We’re here to help with this year’s Blumenfeld Fashions’ new catalog. We appreciate your support. So we thank you, and Blumenfeld thanks you. Hope you enjoy the day, as we’re sure we will, too.”
Sally and I then approached the crowd and shook hands. We also signed pictures and other things that they wanted me to sign - no one asked for Sally’s signature so I asked her to sign the pictures with me. And when I did, everyone asked for her signature as well. Some asked about Sally, and I told them she was KRPQ’s main news reporter in charge of entertainment and fashion news, and other things.
We walked away and waved. As we went to the area where all the action was, Sally hugged her.
I hugged her back. “Hey. What was that about?”
“Thanks for that, Robin.”
“What?”
“You got them to ask for my signature, too.”
“I did no such thing!”
“Sure, sure.” She pulled me in closer and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
***** (Mindy) *****
It was a long day today, but everyone worked hard, especially Robin – Robin was a trouper. For the shoot at the campus’ main library, the Liberal Arts building, and one of the main lecture halls, Robin changed up to a dozen times, and her girl, Joanne, was right there to keep her looking fresh and well turned out despite the multiple changes. The other girls changed a lot as well but not as many changes.
Sarah also took pains to pick the same models in the original shoots, as well as the same makeup, hairstyle, and outfits, so the shots from the original could be incorporated seamlessly with the new ones today.
There were a dozen or so shots that were special for us: these were the ones where Dannie would be digitally pasted with the shots with Robin. So Robin was shot in such a way that Dannie could be combined into the same picture without trouble.
Aside from the shots on campus, Robin had shots out on location in (1) one of the city’s main highways, (2) walking among regular people on the sidewalks of downtown Minneapolis, (3) at the airport, with a backdrop of a commercial jet taking off (that required some precise timing), (4) at the park with the giant cherry and bent spoon, and (5) in one of the fancy restaurants downtown.
Despite the many locales, we didn’t shuttle Robin to them. Instead, we had Robin, with Sally as her passenger, drove herself using the fancy sports car we gave her. It was one of Sarah’s brainstorms, and allowed anyone who knew her to see her and possibly take photographs. It wasn’t like they had prearranged for people to be at the venues, but Sarah was hoping.
In any case, there were a few fans. I don’t really know what Sarah was thinking. Robin was just a DJ from a small little radio station in some small nowhere town so how could she have fans out here? But, even so, there were a few. How they found out, I didn’t know, but Ed’s dad said once, fans can do anything.
In any case, Robin, and Sally, gamely signed autographs and posed for pictures. And some curious bystanders who were there noted the beautiful girl in her Blumenfeld outfit, took pictures as well, and a few asked for autographs as well. Maybe that’s all Sarah wanted to happen.
I saw how Robin conducted herself, and she was far friendlier and more professional than our other girls. And with Joanne’s help, Robin was able to keep up with the grueling pace. I’m wondering how Dannie will handle the same pace tomorrow. I don’t know how her assistant, Nikki will do. But then she was just her dresser – we were going to take care of Dannie’s makeup. Ed actually preferred that Dannie had a dresser. That way, allegations of any kind of harassment would be less likely, especially since Dannie was still a minor.
As for Robin, she was having a blast, and was enjoying herself immensely.
As for the other models, after an initial frostiness, they had quickly warmed up to Robin. In the modelling world, jealousy and catfights were a common thing. And the rumors in Blumenfeld that Robin (and Dannie) were going to be the new image models for the house’s Young Adult and Young Professional lines. As far as Sarah and Ed were concerned, Robin’s beauty and elegance were, and her moves and poses were just what Blumenfeld needed. It remains to be seen if Dannie will do as well tomorrow.
We finished the day at around nine PM, doing the park shoot at twilight, and then the restaurant shoot in the evening. The last thing we had was a short dinner at a big fancy restaurant which was within walking distance to the hotel where we had billeted our models, plus Kelly. Joanne was sharing Robin’s room, though. Sarah offered to book Joanne in her own room next shoot, but the girls said that they preferred to share a room.
At the dinner, the girls were rowdy, as usual, but the restaurant was used to that, so they had us in a large function room separate from the other patrons. Like most models, they were a boozy bunch. But Joanne and Robin didn’t drink much except for a couple of token drinks. I had to give Robin credit, though, because she had a way of nursing her drink such that she appeared to be drinking and keeping up with the others. As for Joanne, she just had a token drink or two, owing to her underage status. Kelly, of course, didn’t drink – she was a more-than-competent bodyguard. Ed asked what agency she came from, because he was thinking that hiring from them might be something to consider.
The girls were singing to something from Dua Lipa, and Robin proved to be a good singer, as well as dancer, and everyone was following her lead.
Before things really got out of hand, at around eleven or so, Sarah called for attention and broke up the party. There was another shoot tomorrow, after all. After some groans and protests, the party broke up at around 11:30.
Sarah and Ed made it a point to talk with all the models, and they had a long talk with Robin and Joanne. They were all praises and said that the day went very well, indeed. They predicted that the catalog would be very successful. The two said good night, and I accompanied Robin, Joanne, and Sally to their rooms.
Sally went in her room and crashed on her bed (I reminded her about 8AM call time at the lobby). Kelly also said goodnight and went to her room as well.
At Robin’s and Joanne’s door, I briefed them.
“Hey,” I said. “Thank you so much for today. You two did great work. I guess I’ll say my goodbyes here. As you know, Dannie’s coming over tomorrow. She’s flying over in the same jet you’ll be flying out. You’ll be riding in the same limo to the airport that she’ll be using coming back here. Hope that’s okay?”
Robin shrugged. “Sure.”
“All the clothes you wore will be cleaned and packed, and our guys will take care of stowing them in the plane. Your producer, Tracey, said she’ll take care of taking care of getting them from the airport to KRPQ or wherever. But I have to stay here and arrange things.
“I have to stay here tomorrow and take care of things, so I don’t think we’ll see each other tomorrow. But here’s the cell of your limo driver,” I handed her a slip of paper, “and he’ll take care of things. Be sure to be outside the hotel by six-thirty, so you’ll be at the airport as the plane lands.
“Feel free to call room service for breakfast – the kitchen closes at one, and then open at four. Order whatever, it’ll be charged to the room.
“Sarah asks that you wear this tomorrow.” I handed her a wardrobe bag and a pair of shoes, “and, Joanne, please get her, you know, ready.” I shrugged. “Sorry, sweetie – that’s the life of a model.”
“No problem, Mindy.”
“So! I guess that’s it. You guys get a good night’s rest, and I’ll see you soon.” I gave them hugs, and I snuck a little kiss on Robin.
“Oh! Before I forget, here are a couple of loot bags that I put together for you.” I handed Robin and Joanne a couple of cloth bags full of goodies.
“So, good night.” I gave Robin another kiss and left to go back down to the restaurant.
***** (Robin) *****
Joanne and I finally went into our room. It was actually the first time for us to see our room, but it was a pretty big one with two single beds.
“Mindy’s a pretty nice girl,” I said.
Joanne giggled. “I think she has a crush on you.”
“Nahh, she’s just being friendly.”
“Wonder what she gave us?” Joanne opened the bag and there were small Blumenfeld stuff, like little perfume atomizers, a small makeup kit, and things like that.
I opened up mine, and it had identical stuff, except for a small felt box. I hid it from Joanne since she didn’t have one, and pocketed it.
Joanne decided on a shower before we worked on my colored hair and bring it back to its normal color. Joanne. I ordered a burger, two plates of fries (one for Joanne since she said she didn’t want anything else), a can of Coke Zero and four bottles of water.
As I chomped on my burger, I opened the little felt box and I almost gasped. If it was real, this little bauble probably cost more money than many people make in a year.
I took a picture of it on my phone and had an app look for it. What it found was one of the necklaces from the Disney Belle Collection. The catalog said “Enchanted Disney Fine Jewelry 14K White Gold And Rose Gold with 1/2 CTTW Diamond Belle Necklace,” and it cost about $2,000.00. Ohmigod…
Sure, two thousand bucks isn’t too expensive for jewelry, but two thousand was a big deal, especially for someone like Mindy. And I didn’t think it was costume jewelry… Oh, no…
I knew I put on Dr. Roberts’ magic formula but maybe it needed to be updated. I think, when I get home, I’m gonna have to make up a new batch.
I hid the little box in my bag as Joanne finished her shower. I finished the last of my burger and fries, and we went to the bathroom to wash away the coloring in my hair.
Joanne put a chair against the sink and I sat in the chair and leaned back with my hair in the sink. Joanne then proceeded to wash away the coloring, using the neutralizing agent that came with the product. As usual, she did a fine job and washed away every bit of the coloring. We used the same stuff we used before. It was totally safe and neutral to my hair, and it was a good hair product but the color didn’t last for any more than a few days. Because of that, Joanne said it wouldn’t become as popular as other more conventional products.
Afterward, I had a shower but didn’t use any shampoo. I felt refreshed after my shower and toweled my hair and dried myself in front of the bathroom mirror. I looked very much like my sister Danielle, except for in between my legs. Also, I had a narrower waist now, and my boobies were now larger than hers – mine were full C-cups now. I was also a smidge taller but not enough. That’s why I wore lifts every time I could today.
I can’t say I liked how I looked. I looked like a girl, and it wasn’t like I wanted to. But at least I looked good, and Nikki, my girlfriend, liked how I looked. She swore to me that looking like a girl didn’t matter to her, but I didn’t care, really. So long as she loved me, and I could continue to love her.
I put on a terrycloth bathrobe and padded into the room. I found Joanne in bed and snoring, At least she had some water and finished her fries. For me, I finished off the rest of the water and dried my hair with the blow-dryer Joanne brought – it’s best not to go to bed with moist hair, otherwise – bed-head…
Afterward, I went to my own bed and fell asleep as well.
In what felt like moments, I found myself being shaken awake by Joanne.
Though I was bleary-eyed, Joanne went to work on me. She took my hair and put it in a bun, and put one of my brunette wigs on me. With lots of adjustments, my hair looked pretty natural. Joanne then had me put on the outfit that Mindy handed me the night before. It turned out to be a knit turtleneck sweater, a long suede jacket, a pair of leggings-like linen pants, and rider boots. It allowed me to slip in lifts.
We were running late, so we rushed to make sure we had all our stuff. I texted our limo driver and said we would be out in front in ten minutes.
In a while, we were in the hangar we arrived in, and I saw Danielle by the jet we arrived in. I jogged to her and hugged her. Because of the lifts, I had to stoop a bit to hug her. We then rushed up the jet’s steps and went inside, and after fifteen minutes, I stepped out of the plane in my Dannie persona, with Nikki beside me.
“Guess I’m ready for today’s shoot,” I said.
to be continued...
Chapter 57 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ and the country's newest fashion icon and idol. It’s Day Two of Dannie’s and Robin’s first photoshoot as Blumenfeld House’s newest models. This day it's Dannie’s turn. Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. Note to the reader: This is a continuation of the still-unfinished story, Danny, so I’m sure you’ll need some background info to make heads or tails of this. Therefore, feel free to read the story. The link is |
Chapter Fifty-Seven: Dannie On The Set
***** (Danny) *****
I was switching clothes with Danielle. We should have gotten a duplicate of the outfit for me to wear but Blumenfeld fashions were expensive. So Danielle-as-Dannie got out of her outfit in the plane’s bathroom and put on a bathrobe. I then replaced her in the bath and took off my Robin wig and my current outfit – the sweater, blazer, and boots. I then put on Danielle’s outfit, which was a Blumenfeld black turtle neck long-sleeve knitted T-shirt, a basic scuba skater skirt in bubblegum pink, black pantyhose, and a pair of two-inch pumps.
I then called out. “Nikki? Is the coast clear?”
“The pilot stepped out of the jet,” Nikki called.
“Okay.” I stepped out, and I waved Danielle into the bath, I gave her a thank-you kiss on the cheek and she closed the door.
“Wait,” Joanne said. “I better get in there.” She stepped into the bathroom, too. By now, I was used to this kind of thing – it was just Joanne going in to help Danielle with the hair and the outfit. As for me, Nikki helped me comb my back-to-red hair straight. She put some barrettes that matched my skirt in my hair and kept it pinned back from my face.
“Guys!” I called. Nikki and I are going now!”
“Good luck, Danny!” Joanne said through the door.
“Love you!” Danielle said.
“Love you, too!”
I stood at the plane’s cabin door, with Nikki’s hand in mine.
“Guess I’m ready for today’s shoot,” I said.
“Okay,” Nikki said and gave me a kiss. “Let’s go then.”
***** (Mindy) *****
When Dannie arrived with her dresser, Nikki, and Dannie's bodyguard, Tyler, it was like a whirlwind. The two were like a breath of fresh air. The models at the breakfast were all young, or at least young-looking - some were even actually eighteen and nineteen, though most of the others were in their twenties, but these two were actually sixteen, going on seventeen. They were actually part of our YA line's target market.
But besides that, these two were amazingly good-looking despite being young and newbies: Nikki because of her clothes and attitude and beauty; Dannie because of... I don't know... Sure she was incredibly beautiful, her clothes were an understated but incredible combination of our Blumenfeld fashions, and she comported herself with great elegance and yet with an approachable kind of aura. But it was more than that. In fashion circles, there's much talk about the so-called "X Factor," and Dannie just had it. She reminded me very much of Robin - that was another one with the X Factor.
Dannie was a little shorter than Robin, and obviously, she was a redhead instead of a brunette, but she was quite similar to Robin. I couldn't help but think they were sisters or something.
As they walked in, they grabbed everyone’s attention, and a kind of silence fell as they watched the two walk into the restaurant. One of the waiters near me said “Whoa! Who’s that?” Robin didn’t get that response. She almost did, but Danny’s impact was more than Robin's. How much more – I don’t know. My gut said not much, but I will have to tell Sarah and Ed about this because they might want to fine-tune their campaign given this info.
The other models looked at Dannie in a haughty, or perhaps snooty kind of way, but the girls were probably jealous, which was not an unusual thing for models. I guess the models were already feeling the winds of change – that Dannie would be the new star for Blumenfeld. We have to protect Dannie from that somehow.
Still, I noticed that Dannie was still trying to be friendly as she and her dresser made their way through the crush. Her bodyguard, Tyler, wasn’t too happy, but he couldn’t do much. Based on Dannie’s previous visit, Tyler was probably under Dannie’s instructions again.
Tyler was in casual clothes. Something needs to be done about that, just like what we did with Kelly yesterday.
Dannie spotted Sally, and she went to her for a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. Dannie spotted me and the three made their way towards me.
"Mindy!" she said and gave me a big hug. "I'd like to introduce you to my new dresser, Nikki, and you, of course, remember Tyler."
"Hi, Dannie," I said. "Hello, Nikki, Tyler." I shook their hands. "I'm glad you guys are here. On time, too. Sarah will be pleased. Follow me. "
I led the three to Sarah and Mr. Blumenfeld, and after the pleasantries, I led them to this function room I arranged for.
Tyler stayed in the back while everyone else sat around a round table. I went to Dannie and whispered to her. We then went to Tyler and explained, and Tyler went with me to get him a suit.
***** (Ed) *****
“What was that, Dannie?” I said.
“Oh, nothing important, sir,” Dannie said as she walked back to the table. “Mindy is getting Tyler, my bodyguard, a suit.”
“Ahhh. Well, let’s talk about today’s shoot.” The bulk of the shots for today were going to be in a high school that we arranged to use, with shots of Dannie playing volleyball, running track, in a classroom, and walking in the hallway. Then Dannie will be having shots out on location, exactly like Robin’s shots from yesterday (1) Dannie reacting to Robin from the sidewalk in by of the city’s main highways (Robin’s part from yesterday’s shoot will be digitized in, of course), (2) walking on the sidewalks of downtown Minneapolis, (3) shopping around in some supermarket and a high-end boutique (we’ll be using one of Blumenfeld’s signature outlets, of course), (4) at the park, again with the giant cherry and bent spoon, and (5) in the same fancy restaurant that we shot Robin in yesterday.
“Sounds like a lot of work,” Dannie said.
“Sorry, my dear,” I said, “but we only have today.”
“Well… we cleared it with my dad and Nikki’s dad, and we also asked permission from school, so we’re taking tomorrow off from school. So, in case you need to have more photoshoots, we can do more. Dad does insist that Nikki and I be in bed by midnight, though, and Tyler’s under instructions to make sure of that. Just an FYI.”
Sarah and I looked at each other.
“That gives us more than five extra hours of shoot time,” Sarah said.
“But that’s going to be in the evening…” I said.
“I think I have an idea, and we can make use of Dannie’s special skills…”
We talked some more about Sarah’s wild brainstorm, and she got Dannie’s and Nikki’s input. Dannie said she had to get in touch with Daniel, her brother, who was also her “manager.”
The idea was, Dannie would model as a singer, but given the short time to prepare, they had to keep it simple. So, provided they could find a nice venue, Dannie would pose as a singer – one of a pop kind of singer, complete with a guitar, and then as some kind of torch singer in some glamorous dress. Nikki did make some restrictions so that the shoot can’t be too risqué.
“Of course, Nikki. No worries on that, and I’m going to talk to Daniel and get his approval for things.”
We wrapped up our meeting, and since Sarah had to work on the extra shoot, I had to be the supervisor for the morning shoot. I think we were doing okay – we were only thirty minutes behind schedule. Haha…
***** (Mindy) *****
Unlike yesterday with Robin, we didn’t have a car for Dannie to use. Instead, we had an open-top convertible sports car, and with yet another brainstorm from Sarah, we asked Tyler to be Dannie’s chauffeur (with the addition of a chauffeur’s hat, it converted Tyler’s MIB-style uniform to be a chauffeur's).
This allowed Dannie to be visible and allow fans and bystanders to take pictures. Again, it wasn’t like we prearranged people to be at the venues, but we were hoping it would be like yesterday. I think we underestimated things because the locations were packed with Dannie’s fans. I wondered again, how Dannie’s fans found out about the shoot, but as the senior Blumenfeld said once, fans can do anything.
Just like Robin, Dannie gamely signed autographs and posed for pictures. And for those bystanders who didn’t know who she was, because of what seemed to be Blumenfeld’s new gorgeous model, they took pictures as well and asked for autographs.
Just like Robin, she was very friendly to her fans and handled them professionally but she was more approachable than our other Models. Nikki was a great help, allowing Dannie to switch outfits – she had maybe twice as many changes of clothes as Robin had. As for Dannie’s makeup, our people took care of that, although I heard from our lead makeup artist, Dannie didn’t need much help there, except for her hair – they had to match her coiffure to her outfit.
And, just like Robin, Dannie was having fun, and if just for that, it made the work easy for everyone. In fact, Dannie seemed to have won over the other models.
Dannie did her best to increase Sally’s role in the shoots, and Sarah said she didn’t mind so long as her star was kept happy. So Sally was with Dannie on some of the shoots that was supposed to be just her.
At around eight, We finished most of the shoots. Just like yesterday, the park shoot was done at twilight, and then the restaurant shoot immediately after. Just after, I had everyone go to the fancy restaurant we booked yesterday, which was just walking distance to the hotel. As for Dannie, Nikki and Sally, and the crew, we instead moved to one of the function rooms of the hotel. The stage was dressed to look like a concert stage, and Dannie and Sally, with Nikki’s help, changed into their outfits.
Dannie was dressed just like a redhead Dua Lipa and made poses with an electric guitar Sarah had borrowed from the hotel house band. Sally, however, was dressed like a reporter, and with a microphone, posed as if she was covering Dannie for their radio station.
Dannie switched to at least four super-sexy outfits, but the floor director and lead photographer were able to block the shoots to make them look unique.
Afterward, they lowered the room lights and redressed it a bit to make it look like a stage in a cocktail lounge. This time, Dannie wore a spectacular formal dress in green, and posed like she was again singing, and Sally again like she was covering the event. Dannie then changed into a super-sexy, formal LBD, and my jaw fell open with an almost audible snap. She was so gorgeous.
There was silence in the entire room, but in moments, they realized what they were doing, and they resumed the shoot.
The rest of the shoot went too fast, but we had to finish as fast as possible since there was the dinner to go to, still. Dannie and Sally didn’t bother to change anymore so that we wouldn’t be late.
At the dinner, Dannie had the same effect, but Dannie was preoccupied with Nikki. It was obvious that the girls were a couple, even though they tried to water it down. Everyone sent Nikki with some evil looks.
Drinks were freely flowing, just like last night, but Dannie and Nikki were very careful about sticking to soft drinks (I know because Tyler and I were keeping track).
Sally prevailed on Dannie to sing some songs and Dannie was an excellent mimic, duplicating the sound of the original singers of the songs that she picked. I need to listen to some songs from their band.
At midnight, with a signal from Tyler, I announced that Dannie and Nikki had to leave. There were protests all around, but Sarah took the mic and said it was part of her contract, and she was sure no one wanted her to get in trouble.
I surveyed the people but the protests weren’t too bad. And then I noticed someone I didn’t recognize. She saw me looking at her, and she rushed towards the exit. Gate-crashers weren’t unusual in photo events, so I didn’t make a big deal of it.
“What’s wrong, Mindy?”
“Oh, it was nothing. Just a gate-crasher. She ran out before I could start after her."
Dannie and Nikki looked at each other.
“What did she look like?” Nikki asked, and I described the blonde.
Dannie and Nikki looked at each other again. “Janet…” Nikki whispered.
to be continued...
Chapter 58 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ and the country's newest fashion icon and idol. And Danny found out that he was big in Japan: apparently, Danni-Ota and Danni Otaku were actual things. Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. Note to the reader: This is a continuation of the still-unfinished story, Danny, so I’m sure you’ll need some background info to make heads or tails of this. Therefore, feel free to read the story. The link is |
A note from the Author about Danny's Jukebox:
Chapter 58 is reviving Danny’s Jukebox. Ever since the time the first installment of the story came out in Crystal's Storysite, there have been people who have commented that I should take out the lyrics of the songs I insist on putting in as it affects the readability of the story. But, for me, the songs provide much-needed atmosphere - people can better see what I see in my mind's eye only if they hear the songs.
This is how the Jukebox works:
From time to time, you will see cartoony numbers in the text. When you see them, it means that song lyrics follow, and if the reader feels frustrated because she doesn't know the song, she can refer to the Jukebox Text File.
This file ("jukebox.pdf") contains links to YouTube files on the net, which are listed by number. If, for example, you see a cartoony number , you can copy-and-paste the link for song number 726 from the Jukebox Text File, into your browser. By doing so, you will run the YouTube video for the original song the story is referring to. This will allow you to listen to it as you read, thereby adding a new dimension to the story.
It would probably have been more convenient to put a hotlink in the story text itself, but I prefer it this way 'coz it avoids having too many links and callouts, and it's easier for me to code my text. Besides, I remember a PM years and years ago where the BCTS admin folk strongly lectured me about minimizing hotlinks to external files.
If the Jukebox is too much trouble, you can opt not to use it at all and just read the story in the conventional way. But I suspect you'll want to use it: If there are songs in a chapter, the link to the Jukebox - a small picture of a Wurlitzer jukebox - will be at the beginning:
just click it and the Jukebox Text File will be downloaded to your computer.)
About songs:
In terms of copyright and fair use, quoting song lyrics is a dodgy thing, even with the application of Fair Use practices. But know three things - (1) this is a not-for-profit work of fiction, and there is no intention of profiting from the works of others; (2) song lyrics and other peoples' works are attributed, one way or another, through the mention of the singer, the author, the source of the song, or the title, but written in a way that makes the attribution part of the story's text, so this writer is able to acknowledge them and make no claims of ownership of these quoted works, and; (3) normally, this would be more than enough of a notice, but if some owners of these works ask, this writer will be will remove them immediately.
In any case, when this work is published commercially, the commercial version will strictly comply with Fair Use practices, limiting the amount of quoted text to the prescribed amount only.
Chapter Fifty-Eight: Big In Japan
***** (Danny) *****
It was over a month now since my photoshoots, and Blumenfeld House’s new fashion catalogues had been out several weeks already, as well as many Blumenfeld print and social media ads in magazines and in the net. According to Sarah Michelle Rhodes’ assistant, Mindy, she said it was still too early to see any effect on sales, but she also said Blumenfeld has had a lot of advance orders from their buyers and partners since the catalogues came out. Her boss, as well as Mr. Ed Blumenfeld himself - the fashion line’s owner, president, chief creative fashion designer and director, this year was a virtual lock already, thanks to me… lol.
Danielle, in her capacity as “Daniel,” my manager, had been getting lots and lots of offers and invitations for meetings.
As the offers rolled in, Danielle and I made the decision to buy laptops, tablets, cellphones, a couple of AT&T mobile hotspot routers (or what I call mobile wifi) and unlimited data & call plans. I also threw in a couple of VPN subscriptions (I paid for them under Dannie’s, Daniel’s and Robin’s names, and paid the subscriptions for an entire year, just to be safe).
The idea behind this was that Danielle and I, when we were being Dannie, Daniel or Robin, and we made or answered calls & texts, sent or received emails, or attended virtual meetings, nothing would be traceable to us, even if they backtrack via our devices’ MAC IDs, IMEI numbers or internet accounts: they won’t be able to track our location, and even if they identify our cellphone numbers, smartphone units or laptops, they’ll just find them registered to, or owned by, either Danielle Louise Fairchild, Daniel Lewis Fairchild or Robin Emmanuelle Tibbles. This meant that we could freely surf the net, or call, text, email or chat with anyone without worrying about giving ourselves away.
It was a big financial hit on me, but with my Robin and Dannie salaries, I could afford it, and besides, I had gotten my first paychecks from Blumenfeld, and my salary as Robin from KRPQ. I was feeling a little cocky with all the cash in my bank accounts. Still, I decided to do some belt tightening, at least for the next couple of months. Although I resigned myself to treating the guys out for a while…
- - - - -
There were no new photo shoots or indeed any events scheduled for a while. Mindy said that there were surely going to be a lot of them in a few months, once the effect of the new catalogues started to be felt in the market and the industry. But nothing at the moment. I didn’t mind because I got paid regardless. Heehee…
Anyway, Danielle was after me to look at some of the offers we’ve been getting.
As for Robin, Tracey had also similarly been fending off a lot of requests for meetings, but she wanted to talk to Danielle and me first to discuss it.
There was one email, however, that stood out from the rest.
The producers of an evening Japanese TV talk show on FujiNet TV called “Chōshoku No Bonbon” (in English - “Bonbons for Breakfast,” or “Breakfast Bonbons”) had emailed to ask if Dannie could meet with them to discuss an appearance on their show (the show was actually better known as just “Bonbon”). The appearance fee quoted was ¥4,480,000, or $30,000.00, for a three-hour interview. They also said that Dannie would be interviewed in English by their very popular fluent-English-speaking host, Aisa Sato.
Danielle, Nikki and I looked at each other disbelievingly.
“Do you think they would consent to us getting a japanese translator as part of the agreement?” Nikki asked.
“Why?” Danielle asked.
“Well, I think it would be best to know what the people around us were speaking. And it would keep us, and them, on an equal footing. If you know what I mean…”
Later, after school at Betsy’s, Danielle emailed them back and asked about the possibility of the cost of hiring a translator to be part of the package. She made it clear, though, that we weren’t saying yes to the offer. They responded promptly fifteen minutes later, and agreed, and also upped the fee to ¥5,980,000, or $40,000.00, and that, if we prefer, they will shoot the interview stateside, in any city/town/whatever of our choosing. The three of us looked at each other again, not quite believing it… But then, we found that there was a caveat – that Dannie wouldn’t grant any other interviews to other Japanese production companies, networks, or shows for at least three months…
“Ahhh!” Betsy said, reading the email over our shoulder. “I thought so!”
“I did some research, by the way,” Jerry said, “and I think I know why they want to interview you.” And he showed us his laptop’s screen. He had used Google to search for “Dannie,” “Dannie Fairchild” and “Japan,” and there were hundreds and hundreds of search results…
“You’re big in Japan, Danny-Boy!” he said. “… or should I say girl?”
And everyone laughed.
***** (Jerry) *****
From my research, Bonbon was actually one of the highest-rated evening TV talk shows in Japan. Also, I found that the music of Unlimited Bandwidth was becoming very popular among the younger generations. It seemed counter-intuitive since Dannie and UB was essentially a cover band, but because it was a cover band: the songs they sang were already well-known, and there were fans of these songs already. But with UB’s and Dannie’s own twist or style or flavor (I myself would have used the word “aura”), they just added to the songs’ popularity, and that was the thing.
Bootleg copies of UB’s concerts were circulating in Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya and so many other places in Japan. Enterprising individuals were able to get copies of the first Evolution Concert, the simulcast coverage of KRPQ and KRPX, the kick-off concert of KRPQ-FM, and copies of the band’s gigs at Mario’s. Also, fans were able to get their hands on the tarot-card-sized pictures of the posters from KRPQ’s Official Partners marketing campaign, and copies of the cards had been illegally mass produced and shared among UB and Dannie fans almost like baseball cards. And with the release of the Blumenfeld catalogues, especially Blumenfled’s YA catalogue, some inventive fans clipped or scanned the pictures and made cards of them, similar to the KRPQ tarot picture cards.
Among the girls, they copied Dannie’s signature red hair, with the hair combed back except for bangs hanging (barely) over one eye, and the bangles with the scarves. And all of the outfits of the girls in the band became instant hits in Japanese fashion, especially among Dannie fans. As for the outfits of the two guys in the band, they were equally as popular and lots of men copied them. In fact, there was currently a resurgence in tie-dyed shirts in Tokyo, and it was spreading to the other big cities.
As Japanese teens were apt to do, Dannie’s and the band’s fans became quite obsessed, and a new kind of Otaku was born, called Danni-Ota or Danni Otaku.
I told all of this to the others, especially to Danny, and it was like a lightbulb went off above her head, and she understood the offer from that Japanese TV program. Of course, they’d want to interview Dannie.
***** (Tracey) *****
I met with Danny and Danielle in our favorite Italian restaurant after school, this time my treat (care of my mom). Joanne and (surprisingly) Dale prevailed on our friends not to join us, saying that a forty-thousand dollar payday was a big deal, and they couldn’t mess it up for Danny. Nikki also made her excuses - she didn’t insist that she join us in the meeting. Confidentially, Danny told us she wanted her to join us, but she understood Nikki’s position – if she joined us, the rest of the group would resent her for it.
Anyway, as usual, we got the important part of the meeting done – the food, heehee. With these two, food’s always important. As usual, the twins ordered their usual large double-order of whatever, but for me, I ordered my usual half-order of angel hair spaghetti with meatballs, a sugar-free Italian soda, and a small sugar-free strawberry gelato: now that I had a boyfriend, I’ve become careful of my weight since people transitioning who are on hormones tend to gain weight. I’ve even joined Jerry and Mel on their Sunday morning runs to get more healthy.
As usual, the by-play between the twins was fun to watch. These two gave as good as they got, but they never took things personally. Clearly, these two loved each other.
As usual, even with my relatively small meal, these two finished in a photo-finish with me.
I ordered another Italian soda, and the twins ordered Italian sodas as well, and we started our discussion.
I brought out my laptop while Danny and Danielle brought out their new tablets: Danny’s had several stickers on the back as well as a big “Dannie” emblazoned it, while Danielle’s was plain in its original chrome. I also know Danny had another one with a black color wrap – the tablet meant for Robin.
They also had new smartphones and laptops in similar colors, and Danielle was the one who selected them: for her “Daniel” devices, Danielle selected a high-end Samsung Android phone and a big HP laptop in their original colors and casings (in keeping with Danny’s nerd vibe), Danny’s “Dannie” devices were an iPhone in a pink case and a tiny Lenovo “2-in-1” laptop in similar colors, and his “Robin” devices being a no-nonsense black iPhone and a black mid-sized “traveler” laptop. They also had brand-new AT&T cellphone numbers with unlimited monthly call and data plans, in what are called “vanity” numbers. Apparently, you could pay extra and select your own numbers, so, naturally, they picked New York numbers (for business purposes). “Danielle’s” number was +1-646-326-4353 (or 646-DANIELE) while “Dannie’s” was +1-646-326-6433 (or 646-DannieF), while “Robin’s” was +1-646-762-4600 (or 646-ROBIN00). Naturally, Danny had “Dannie’s” and “Robin’s” devices while Danielle had “Daniel’s.”
I was also told that Danny also got them two AT&T “mifis” (mobile hotspot routers) plus VPN accounts just in case they need to log into apps and etcetera.
It wasn’t completely foolproof, Danny said, but it was better than nothing, and was good enough to obfuscate their identities for most situations.
- - - - -
So, anyway, Danielle shared the email from Bonbon with Danny and I (I couldn’t stop from giggling every time Danielle said “bonbon”), and we thought that the offer was more than good, although Danny and I brought up the idea that some questions should be off the table in the interview, like Dannie’s full name and her hometown, or to bring up Daniel (the story being Daniel’s effectivity as her manager would be affected), and Robin (as their “feud” might affect Robin’s & Dannie’s work and career). Other than that, Dannie should have the option of not answering questions that she’s not comfortable with.
I was trying to find some synergies that could be brought up and get some good exposure for KRPQ, and Danny thought of a simulcast. She jumped onto her “Dannie tablet” and did some computations. Dammit, “his!”
“I just checked,” Danny said, “and ‘Choshoku No Bonbon’” (Danielle and I giggled) “airs eight PM in Tokyo Mondays to Saturdays, so, if you arrange it so that the interview is aired on their Saturday program, then that means KRPQ can simulcast it on Robin’s timeslot.”
“Hmmm…” I said, as if I was thinking it over, although I was practically jumping up and down inside.
Danny gave me a smirking look. “You don’t fool me, girl,” she said. I gave her a razzberry.
So Danielle emailed them back as “Daniel,” and we were surprised they sent a reply in fifteen minutes. They said they were agreeable to our new conditions and raised the fee to ¥7,470,000, or $50,000.00. They also gave us a phone number we could call back on and said we could call them on that number anytime. They did say they needed to have a definite answer by next week since they needed to make arrangements…
Clearly, they thought these were negotiation ploys and were behaving as if we were haggling. So we decided to think of any other issues we might have, bring them up now and get this over with, and after twenty minutes more of discussion, Danielle called the number, putting the call on speaker phone. She also switched on the recording app (“just in case,” she said).
“Ohayogozaimasu, Fujinet Terebidesu,” someone answered. Dono yo ni otetsudai sa sete itadakemasu ka?”
“Ahhh, good evening,” Danielle said hesitantly in her best Daniel voice. “This is Daniel Fairchild. I would like to speak to Masahiro Ikuhara, please.”
“Oh! Ikuhara Masahiro-san? Denwa o tenso shimasunode omachi kudasa.”
“Domo arigato,” Danielle said awkwardly.
“What did he say?” I whispered.
“I don’t know,” Danielle said, “but who cares what he said?”
“FujiNet TV, good morning,” someone said in a very accented but perfectly understandable English. “This is the office of Mr. Masahiro Ikuhara. How may I help you?”
“Good evening. My name is Daniel Fairchild and I am calling with regards an email I received from Mr. Ikuhura, regarding Ms Dannie Fairchild and the program, ummm, ‘Choshoku No Bonbon.’”
“Oh! I see. Please hold.”
After a moment, a girl picked up, this one with a better accent.
“Good evening, Mr. Fairchild,” she said. “My name is Kanai. I am Mr. Ikuhura’s English translator. Ikuhura-san is on the line at the moment, please consider that you are speaking to him directly.”
“Thank you, Ms Kanai. Please greet Mr. Ikuhura for us, and please extend to him our apologies for calling so early.”
Kanai clearly relayed our message, and Mr. Ikuhura replied in Japanese, with Kanai translating almost simultaneously, like one sees on TV.
“Ikuhura-san says it’s not a problem, and he is very pleased that you got back to us so promptly. Is Dannie-san there as well?”
“Yes, Ms Kanai,” Danny responded in her best Dannie voice, “I am here. Good evening to you and Ikuhura-san.”
Kanai relayed that and Mr. Ikuhura responded, care of Kanai.
“Hello, Ms Dannie! I am so pleased to speak with you and Daniel-san. I am a big fan. How may I be of service?”
“Sir,” Danielle said as Daniel, “we are calling with regards your email about Dannie being interviewed by your Ms Aisa Sato on your program, Choshoku No Bonbon. Please know that Dannie is inclined to agree with your proposal, under the conditions that we discussed via email.”
“That is wonderful news!” Mr. Ikuhura said, care of Kanai. “May we send a contract for your signature then, and we can coordinate the details for the interview later?”
“That’s fine, sir. May we ask that the contract be in English so that we will not have any misunderstandings about the particulars of the contract?”
“That will not be an issue.”
“We’re also saying that our father needs to sign the contract as well, since neither Dannie nor I am old enough to sign a legally binding contract yet.”
There was a pause.
“Pardon me, Daniel-san?”
“Yes, sir. Dannie and I are not old enough to sign contracts on our own yet. So our father needs to sign the contract as well to make it a legally binding contract. You can verify that, sir. We can wait for an email from you later as you verify things…”
“Wait, wait! Hold on.”
“Okay, sir.”
In the background, we hear a boisterous discussion between Ikuhura-san, Kania, and several others. But in a few minutes, they were back.
“Well, that seems to be a fine arrangement, Daniel-san,” Ikuhura-san said, care of Kanai. “May we send you a draft contact then? My people will probably take half an hour to prepare it and email it to you. Would that be acceptable?”
“Perfectly so, sir, but I doubt we can respond as promptly. We have to review it, along with our father. Our father takes a while with these things. He’s a lawyer, and you know how lawyers can be…”
We heard Ikuhura-san laugh uproariously in the background.
“Ummm… I hope I didn’t say anything to offend…” Danielle said.
“Not at all, Daniel-san,” Ikuhunra said. “I am currently with my lawyers that are managing Choshoku No Bonbon. And they are all looking chagrined.”
“Oh.” We all laughed.
“Please tell your staff we sincerely apologize, sir.”
“Not at all, watashi no musuko! My people have a good sense of humor. In any case, you will get the draft, and I hope you, Dannie-san and your father are all well, and we will speak later. You have made my morning, shin'ainaru musuko yo. Goodbye!”
“Thank you, sir. And good night to you and Kanai.”
And then they hung up.
“Well,” I said, “I think that went well!”
***** (Danny) *****
After we had reviewed it and Dad had approved it, we sent it back with Dad’s and my signatures. In a few days, a signed and notarized copy was sent back, although the notary was a Japanese one, but Dad said that was totally fine.
So It was agreed that the interview would be in a month, on a Saturday. It would be live and therefore it’ll be around 5:45AM, and would air around 6AM, or 8PM in Japan. They specified a studio somewhere in New York and we wondered why New York, and I remembered our new cellphone numbers… which were New York numbers… Dammit! Why did we have to pick New York numbers?
Tracey was grateful for the one month, though, and it would allow her to lobby FujiNet TV to allow them to simulcast the interview on KRPQ. Mrs. P insisted that one of her VPs take care of it, though, since if it were her negotiating, she’d be at a disadvantage because she wasn’t a man. It would be even worse if Tracey would be the one since, besides being female, she was too young, and if it became known that she was transgender, too, it would be disastrous…
In any case, her VP got the deal at no cost at all, although, they insisted on one of their producer-directors to do the production, so all we really needed to do was to air it. We had to give them pre-recorded voice clips to use before and after commercials, thought, and the theme music tracks and the intro and extro. They gave us exact lengths for everything and Tracey provided them. She asked me to make the voice-over clips in my best Robin announcer voice, and we had to redo them over and over again so that it’d fit the timing Bonbon specified. We did, however, have a contract that insured all materials provided them will be destroyed and not used after the production, and that KRPQ would have full rights to the show that was produced, with FujiNet TV having the option of first refusal, and the right to use the show or parts of it, with KRPQ’s full veto authority. And so on and so forth…
Truth was, Mrs. P said it was totally to KRPQ’s advantage, because FujiNet really wanted the simulcast to happen, but they didn’t want us to mess it up, so just like typical Japanese, they “offered” to do it all for us. On our side, Tracey worked on pre-recording the commercials we had to broadcast, and we had to fill the breaks according to the lengths they wanted, so Tracey followed their specifications: Tracey provided several commercial clips according to the specifications they specified, in the order our advertisers preferred, with Danny as Robin filling in any voice-overs.
So, in the end, we were all set, and we just had to wait for them to come. The one thing we needed to do was to keep it completely confidential. It was Tracey’s idea that no one should know about it at all, except for Mrs. P, of course, and the guys. No one else in the station will know. The main reason was, we wanted to keep Janet in the dark, and stop her from messing things up. In fact, no one knew where the venue was – even the gang. The only ones who knew were the ones who needed to know.
***** (Tracey) *****
On the day of the simulcast, I arrived at the station very early, like 5AM. Danny, Nikki and Danielle told me they were already at the studio, and were hobnobbing with the Japanese and having a quick snack, and then Danny will be having her makeup done in a while.
As for me, at around five-thirty, I signalled through the booth’s window, and caught Lou Jefferson’s eye. He was playing a song at the moment, so it was safe for me to go in the booth. He unlocked the door.
“What’s up Trace?” Lou said.
“Hey, Lou,” I said. “On your next commercial break, Instead of the scheduled commercials, I need you to read this on-air. It’s real, and Mom’s approved it. If it’s not, you can blame me.” I handed over the sheet I had in my hand.
“Nahh,” he said, “I trust you.” He took the sheet and read it. He looked at me. “This is for real?”
“For real.”
He shrugged. “Okay.”
I went to the facing booth, the so-called production booth, and got ready. Nothing to it, really. At exactly five-thirty AM, I used the computer desktop in the booth and logged onto the app that they specified. I then plugged in the computer’s audio output into my board, and at exactly six AM, I was to zero out the audio from the booth, and then put the output from the computer’s audio to the maximum. And then I just stick around and make sure nothing happens. I told the FujiNet people that the computer was grounded and there was definitely no static in the computer’s audio output as well as in the patch cord. So I was confident.
“Okay, folks,” Lou said on his last commercial break, “Robin’s producer, Tracey, handed me a late announcement. I’m sorry, guys, but Robin’s show is pre-empted. In its place is a simulcast of FujiNet TV’s interview of Dannie from the up-and-coming band, Unlimited Bandwidth. The TV show, Bonbons for Breakfast, a very popular TV interview show in Japan, and they will be dedicating their Saturday evening show – Saturday morning for us – to an interview of Dannie of Unlimited Bandwidth. Their English-speaking host, Aisa Sato, will be interviewing Dannie, and it’ll be simulcast here on KRPQ radio. So, with that, I will be signing off, and, after this next song, stand by for Robin, and Ms Aisa Sato and her interview of Unlimited Bandwidth’s Dannie!”
A classic song from Journey started to play, and Lou started getting ready to leave. I went into his booth and thanked him, acknowledging that he had turned over the booth to me.
For me, I just waited for Six AM, and though there was a little bit left of the song, I faded it to zero, locked Lou’s board down, and then locked his booth’s door open. I then rushed back to my booth, locked the door and turned on the speakers in the booth to KRPQ’s broadcast.
I then brought out the snack I brought, and settled down to listen.
***** (Nikki) *****
We arrived at The Apollo Sounstage at the Apollo Theater on West 125th Street in New York for the interview. The venue was rented out, often to TV productions and crews from time to time. So FujiNet was able to rent a broadcast-quality studio-style venue.
As we arrived, they were taking out all the visible signages from the stage, and they had started to change the color lighting scheme from generic dinner-style lighting to Choshoku No Bonbon’s standard blue theme. They then put up props and other things, including a board with Bonbon’s logo just at the back and to the right of the stage.
We had about thirty minutes for a quick chit-chat with Bonbon’s very pretty host, Aisa Sato. She was in a very beautiful kimono, and was fully in-character as Bonbon’s bubbly host. Danny had changed into his sexy new Blumenfeld dress, and deliberately avoided the bangs-over-one-eye and the bangles at the wrists. The director was a bit disappointed by that, but he let it pass. They asked who I was and I explained that I was Dannie’s dresser. They nodded in acceptance, and just asked that I remain quiet and stay out of the way during the three-hour interview. I wasn’t offended – Danielle was told the same thing.
The venue’s seating was arranged theater-style, and dozens and dozens and dozens of people came in, what we supposed were going to be our “studio audience.” They saw Aisa and Danny, and they waved enthusiastically.
Aisa and Dannie sat down to have their makeups done, and both were given very restrained but very pretty styles. Aisa and Danny waved at the audience.
As they stood, Aisa was handed a prop microphone - the overhead boom mics were more than enough, but Aisa was known to use a handheld mic hence the prop. She and Dannie stood on their marks and Aisa chatted with Danny a little bit to put him at ease.
And then, in the overhead speakers, we heard Choshoku No Bonbon’s peppy theme song, and the audience applauded. Aisa started her spiel.
***** (Aisa) *****
Apparently, it was not exaggeration – Dannie was indeed a gorgeous girl, even more than any American celebrity I had ever met. And you can tell she was all natural – no surgery, I mean. It seemed to me, many Americans have had surgery, but Dannie doesn’t feel like she’d had any. If she did, she had a very good surgeon and avoided the pitfall of overdoing things… But, like I said, I don’t think she had any done. I’ve seen enough celebrities to know, I think.
When I saw my director gesture, I knew it was time to start.
“Minasan, konbanwa!” I said. “The program for tonight’s Saturday show will be a little different. It's in English!” (There was some canned booing.)
I made a patting gesture. “But, wait, wait!” I pointed up to some imaginary overhead speakers. “As you can hear, the program is being dubbed! That means, everyone will not have any problems.
“There is a reason for this – actually, two: the first reason is that tonight’s program is being simulcast on American radio, specifically on radio station KRPQ - both on their AM talk station and their FM music station. Everyone say ‘hi’ to our American friends!” There was canned cheering, and the audience cheered as well.
“Just to let you know, the famous radio host, Ms. Robin Tibbles, has given up her radio program for tonight, or this morning for her. ‘Gomen'nasai, Robin-san, anata no rajio bangumi o sakidori shite shimaimashita.’” I bowed low towards the camera, in thanks to Robin.
“The second reason is because of our special guest, which I know everyone is waiting for. Just to let you know, tonight is a special three-hour live show! So sit back and enjoy my interview with the famous American singer and fashion model, Ms Dannie Fairchild!”
The lovely Dannie Fairchild stepped into the shot, waving at the camera and Bonbon’s viewers, and then to our studio audience, and then to our studio audience.
I bowed to Dannie, but, instead of Dannie bowing as well, she waited a beat for me to straighten up again, and she reached out and hugged me!
Needless to say, I was a little shocked and a bit scandalized, but she was American, after all. Also, somehow, her hug was not an ordinary hug, and I didn’t feel any kind of awkwardness about it. I actually liked it. I liked it a lot - for some reason, a kind of electricity shot through me, almost like an orgasm! Yabai! But I’m sure that was just my imagination…
Seeing my somewhat shocked expression, she stopped. “Oh, no! Hontoni gomen'nasai, Aisa-san! I didn’t…”
I shook my head and reached for her hand. “Oh, you have nothing to apologize for, Dannie-san. I am flattered. Thank you.” I reached forward and gave her a hug as well. I shivered a little bit as another, though much milder, electric thrill went through me again. Yabai!
I cleared my throat, shook myself a little bit, and continued on with the interview.
“Welcome to Choshoku No Bonbon,” Dannie-san. I am so pleased to welcome you.”
“Thank you, Aisa-san,” Dannie said. “Good evening, everyone! … or I should I say, good morning!” She giggled. “Do you know, it’s just past Six AM Saturday morning?”
“Yes, indeed,” I replied. “You must have woken up so early!”
“Yes, but that’s fine. I hope I look all right.”
“You look very pretty.” And she blushed. Heehee.
“Thank you so much…”
“Did you know that you have a lot of fans?”
“In Japan? Well, no, I’m afraid not…”
“Yes! There are what are called Danni Otaku, most of them in Tokyo.”
“What does… ’otaku?’ - what does that mean?”
“I believe it translates to, ummm, an enthusiast or a big fan. A fanatic, actually.”
Dannie gave me a look. “Ahhh…”
“Maybe we can show you some of your fans?”
“Yes, please, thank you.”
“Can we roll the clip?” I asked, and my director waved to someone off-stage. We looked at the big monitor-slash-screen right behind us on stage.
After that countdown timer thing that one sees at the beginning of a video, what followed was about a ten-minute clip (maybe longer) of various Dannie fans in what was probably somewhere near Akihabara Station. Although most otaku that hung out in Akihabara were anime otaku searching for rare anime figurines and such, lots of “idol otaku” also hang around in the Akihabara district, or what most just call Akiba. And Dannie Otaku qualify as Idol Otaku, I guess.
In the clip, we saw several girls who were obviously fans of Dannie. They were dressed in various versions of Dannie’s outfits during the KRPQ launch concert and the Evolution concert, plus the outfits that Dannie wore during her band’s gigs at Mario’s – that restaurant-club that UB sang at on Friday evenings. Most of these girls also wore bangles with silk scarves tied to them, plus most of them sported hair dyed orange, with bangs hanging over one eye, and the other side clipped back or combed back. Many of them carried guitars in colors similar to the ones that Dannie had, with other fans dressed as the other girls from the band. They also wore the outfits of the other girls in the band, and they carried guitars as well, except for a few that were more like fans of Betsy Haley, and therefore carried violins instead.
There were also a few male fans, and these mostly wore outfits that the two male members of UB wore – the most popular being the tie-dyed t-shirts that they wore that one time. One of the bigger groups of male fans were those of the drummer, Mongo. In fact, there were more fans of Mongo than the other members of the band. Except for Dannie, of course.
Truth be told, I was also a fan of Dannie’s, but I wasn’t too extreme a fan to qualify as an Otaku.
As we watched the clip, I couldn’t help but notice Dannie’s reaction. I wouldn’t say “shocked” but she clearly couldn’t believe the impact she had in Japan.
When some of the fans in the film saw our crew filming them, they started aping Dannie and the other band members, singing (mostly off-key, I’m afraid), or making believe they were playing guitars or violins or portable pianos, or air-drumming. Most of them were more into the outfits, although the more popular otaku were the ones that could actually play the guitar. I did a continuous monologue describing the video clip, in behalf of the audience of KRPQ who weren’t seeing the video.
“My goodness,” Dannie said, in awed tones. “Mongo and Dale and the girls need to see this…” she said to herself.
I giggled. “Yes, they do. And, this, Dannie-san are some of them.” I gestured to the audience, and all of them stood and cheered.
***** (Tracey) *****
Like everyone, I was glued to the radio, listening to Danny expertly handle herself in the interview on Japanese TV. My mom’s VP had already called Japan FujiNet TV, and made a bid to air the Bonbon episode on KRPX simulcast on KRPQ, but the one with the English voice-over. And the producers had readily agreed, asking for 40% of the advertising revenue. 40% was pretty steep, but then it was their program. The details were still to be ironed out, but it had to be fairly soon. Perhaps two Saturdays from now at the latest, otherwise we’d lose the impact of the show.
As I was listening, the security guard from the lobby called.
“Good morning, Ms Piper, this is the lobby guard. I just want to let you know that girl you warned us about - she got passed us here at the security desk.”
“Was it the girl in the picture that I gave…”
“Yes, ma’am. It’s the same girl.” Ohmigod… Janet… “I’ve called the police already and they’re on their way now, and some of my guys are on their way up. Please let your security people there know, and I suggest you lock your doors. My people will be upstairs in about five minutes.”
“Thank you. Please hurry.” I hung up and locked the lobby doors – actually, all the doors. I locked the announcer’s booth, while I locked myself in the production booth. Janet’s back… Oh, no… I couldn’t pay attention to the program anymore as I waited for Janet’s arrival. And I was all alone, too. It was a Saturday morning, after all.
In a minute or so, I heard someone pounding on the glass lobby door.
“Goddammit, open the door!” Janet yelled. “Tracey Piper, I can see you! Open the fucking door!”
I shook my head no in fear, but she continued to pound on the door. I could see her through the glass. She was disheveled and it was like she hadn’t slept in days – black circles under her eyes, a wild expression on her face, and her hair was stringy and oily and dirty, like she hadn’t had a shower in weeks.
In frustration, she yelled a berserker yell. She picked up the fire extinguisher in the hallway and heaved it through the glass door. The glass broke into a hundred shards, and she stepped into the office.
Our security guard, Goodwin, came out, baton raised, and was about to give Janet the business, but she threw the fire extinguisher at him and knocked him out completely.
She then walked to the production booth and tried to do the same thing to the booth’s window: she picked up another fire extinguisher and she tried to heave it through the window, but it was extra strong. Sure, it cracked, and it broke into spiderwebs in places, but it remained intact.
“Dammit!” she screamed.
“What do you want?” I said.
“Tell me where Danny is!” She pounded on the glass with her fist. “Tell me!” The glass started to get stained with her knuckles’ blood, but she continued pounding on it.
I shook in fear and grabbed the Taser from the control table’s drawer.
“Stay away, Janet!”
“Tell me where Danny is!” she yelled again.
“No!”
Two guards from downstairs busted in, and the lead one fired his Taser. Janet shook in electric shock, screaming, and then fell down. The guard yelled through the glass. “Are you okay, miss?”
I sighed. “Yeah, I’m okay. But you guys should take a look at Goodwin.”
“Who’s Goodwin?”
“He’s one of our guards. He’s over by the lobby door, unconscious.”
As they were talking to me, Janet, incredibly, got up. She punched one of the guys in the face, knocking him down, and she escaped back into the lobby.
“Dammit!” the remaining guard said. He checked his partner. “Out cold, but he’s okay,” he said, and ran after Janet in pursuit…
***** (Aisa) *****
“So, let’s talk about the rest of the band,” I said. “There’s Dale, your lead male vocal and bass guitar player, Mongo on drums, and your second male vocalist – well, everyone on the band’s a vocalist, right?”
“Yes.”
“There’s Janet on rhythm guitar, June on the keyboard, Betsy, your violinist, and your newest member, Fallon, also on rhythm guitar, while you are lead vocals and rhythm.”
“That’s correct, Aisa.”
“We don’t see Janet around anymore. Has she quit the band?”
“Ah, no. Janet has taken a leave from the band for personal reasons.”
“I hope she’s all right?”
“Before she left, she was taking some business classes and some acting lessons. I guess she’s thinking of becoming an actress.”
“She’ll do well.”
Dannie crossed her fingers. “Let’s hope.”
“Tell us how the band got together.”
“Well, I wasn’t part of the original band. The original band got it’s start with Janet and June. They were friends and classmates in high school, getting together with ideas of becoming the new hit girl band, like the Bangles or the Go-Gos of the eighties. They needed more members so they got Mongo to play the drums, and recruited Dale, Mongo’s friend to do bass.
“After graduating high school, they decided to take a year off to try and make it as a band. They thought they were missing something, and they decided to recruit a new member to be second rhythm and vocals. Which was me...”
“I hear that they actually held auditions at Mario’s?” I faced the camera. “Mario’s is a restaurant where the band plays one night a week,” I said to the invisible audience, “and it’s become a very popular place, thanks to the band.”
Dannie giggled prettily. “Yes, they did. My friends and I saw their flyers pinned to the bulletin board in school, and because of my friend Mike, I got egged on to audition.”
“Yes?”
“Yeah. I got to meet the band, and, wonder of wonders, they decided to pick me!”
“And the rest is history?”
Dannie shrugged and giggled again.
“Were you into guitars and singing before joining the band?”
“I knew how to play the guitar, but I learned on my own. And I thought I sounded good when I sang. But I didn’t really think I could be good enough to be part of a band. But it turned out the guys liked me enough that they got me. Later, I found out that I had ‘perfect pitch,’ which was pretty good for the band since tuning up was always a problem before. With me around, it was a lot easier. Heheheh.”
“That really is a wonderful thing.”
“Thank you very much,” she giggled.
“A lot of fans have questions about Janet.”
She sighed. “I understand that. Truth be told, we were all surprised. She didn’t give us any warning at all when she decided to leave the band. Before she did, though, like I said, Janet had been taking acting and business lessons. So we can only assume she’s pushing on with that.”
“You are keeping touch with her?”
“Unfortunately, we’ve lost touch with her. Not for any lack of trying. But Janet has kept away.”
“That’s too bad. Have you had a falling out?”
“I won’t hide it. We’ve had arguments, which is inevitable when you have strong personalities in the group, and Janet has her own ideas about what the band should be doing. As do many of the other members. But that’s the way it often is in life. I hope that if Janet’s having problems, though - I hope she knows we’re here for her.”
I nodded. “That’s wonderful to hear.”
“You have to be there for your friends,” Dannie said.
“Indeed,” I agreed. “Well, how about your newer band mates, Betsy and Fallon? How did they become members?”
“Betsy was a classmate of mine. She was also a violin player, and Janet had the idea of including her in the band because of her skills, and the fact that we didn’t know many good musicians that were girls. Betsy came ready-made to be part of Unlimited Bandwidth. As for Fallon, well she’s someone I knew from school as well, and since we needed a pinch-hitter to sub for Janet after her sudden departure, I asked the band if they’d consider Fallon. Fallon actually auditioned to be part of the band!”
“Auditioned?”
“Well… maybe not - it was an informal thing, where she played in front of the band during one of our get-togethers. Unlike me, where I formally auditioned. I’m sure everyone knows that already…”
“Please tell us anyway.”
“Well, my friends and I were just screw… I mean playing around in school, like I said, and my friend Mike was questioning my guitar skills. He dared me to audition for the band. He actually bet me, that I won’t pass the auditions, and of course, you can’t let that pass, so I called him on it. I mean he called me fumble fingers and a chicken!”
I laughed.
“The auditions were held over at Mario’s,” she continued - “the restaurant where the band had a weekly gig. The auditions, were tough, so I had to find a gimmick to stand out from all the others!” She giggled.
“So what did you do?”
“Well all the others auditioning were in typical audition outfits, from grunge to glam rock, to straight-up black leather heavy-metal. The few girls that auditioned were in nineties-style girl pop. So I tried my, ummm, brother’s advice: I wore a plaid shirt, but not baggy - more snug. Underneath was just a plain white t-shirt, tucked into a pair of old faded straight-cut denim jeans with torn knees and construction boots.” Dannie was very animated when she was talking, and she made her stories very interesting.
“I told Daniel I looked like a nerd,” she said, “but he explained that was the whole point – the attention will be on my singing and playing and not on how I looked.”
“Well, I don’t know – I think you’d look cute in an outfit like that.”
She looked at me, and then leaned forward and gave me a kiss on the cheek!
“Thank you Aisa,” she said. It made me blush.
I shook myself a little bit, and tried to keep my mind on the show.
“What did you end up singing?”
“I let the band pick the songs, and ended up singing ‘Mother, We Just Can’t Get Enough’ by The New Radicals, and 'Everywhere,' by Michelle Branch. That got me through the audition. But the band also got me to sing an old eighties song - 'Love Touch,' by Rod Stewart. Excuse me! I mean Sir Rod Stewart." She giggled. “Apparently, Dale, our bass player, was a big Rod Stewart fan.”
“I really wish you can sing those songs tonight, but we can’t. Still,” I turned to the camera. “My friends, Dannie and I have a surprise for you tonight – Dannie will be singing later. It would be nice if we could have the rest of the band here as well, but that’s not possible, so we did the next best thing. But we’ll reserve our surprise for later. So please stay tuned!”
***** (Nikki) *****
The idea of Danny singing in the show was brought up in the exchange of emails with FujiNet, and the band offered to play, but the FujiNet people said that wasn’t possible as they didn’t have a budget for the band. Danielle explained that the band was offering to do it for free, but Ikuhura-san said that was not the Japanese way. Also, they contacted the Evolution Concert people and if the band were to play in Bonbon, they said that Unlimited Bandwidth could be disqualified from the Evolution contest. However, if only Dannie played and sang live, and the rest were pre-recorded, then the Evolution people would give the band a pass – that was what Aisa said was their “surprise” – Danny singing live, but her band being in the background, in a pre-recorded video.
I felt my phone vibrate – it was in silent mode, and Danielle and I were in the area marked safe (marked by a striped black-and-yellow line) and any calls or texts that came in won’t affect the program’s recording-slash-transmission.
“Hello?” I whispered, and it was Betsy on the line. Apparently, Betsy said, someone visited the station, and caused a lot of havoc – that someone was named “Janet…”
I listened, and I was glad no one was hurt, but Tracey was pretty traumatized. It was good that Mike was there, and he took it upon himself to get Tracey calmed down. Her mom heard that Janet caused some trouble, but she was in Seattle at the moment doing some work for PiperCorp. The guys, including Tracey, decided to downplay the whole thing to her mom for the moment, and wait for us to come back, and then we can decide how to tell Mrs. P. Because if we told her without any filter, she was liable to fly off the handle.
Betsy will also be telling Danielle, but we were not to tell Danny anything until after the show, otherwise it might ruin his interview. She asked me to pass the phone to Danielle, which I did, and went back to the edge of the marker and continued watching the interview. Janet, I thought…
***** (Danny) *****
I liked Aisa a lot. She was smart, professional, and knew just how to get her subjects talking. Plus, she was very cute (of course, I won’t tell Nikki that heehee). She was wearing a very beautiful flowered kimono while I was wearing one of my new Blumenfeld outfits. It was a showcase of East versus West kind of thing, and I think it made the show double-nice. Aisa was very complimentary about me, and I have to be honest, I was very flattered by the nice words and the attention.
She asked again me how Betsy became part of the band, and I told her it was the band’s idea.
“The band was looking for a kind of gimmick for our gigs at Mario’s and someone – I can’t remember who – thought to include Betsy and her violin - if she agreed to do it, of course. And Betsy’s sound, and Betsy herself, gelled with the band very well, indeed. So the gimmick became something integral to the band. Truth was, we were all set to have Betsy as part of our number at the Evolution concert, but Betsy had a family thing that she couldn’t get out of, so we struggled along in the concert without her.”
“Well, you still won without Betsy and her violin.”
I shrugged. “Well, yes,” I said, “but can you imagine it if Betsy was with us?”
Aisa nodded.
“All right,” she said. “Tell us about Fallon. How did she become a part of the band.”
“Well… when Janet suddenly left, the band was affected. Janet was one of our lead vocals and was the other rhythm guitar, so there was a big hole in the band’s lineup. We were desperate to fill it quickly, but was also conscious that our new bandmate should have the chops, and that she should gel with the band, just like Betsy. I suggested a friend of mine who I knew to be a friendly girl who sings great and could read music. It was great when we found out that she was also trained in classical guitar. The problem was we were getting overfilled with redheads!”
Aisa laughed.
“But as you see, Fallon more than earned her place in the band. We also cleared it up with the Evolution people and Fallon’s becoming part of the band was not going to affect our standing in the contest.”
“What about Janet?”
“Well… if Janet should want to come back, she is most welcome, which was also okay with the Evolution people, but the band needed to go on, and this was the only way.”
“I understand. Are you still friends with Janet?”
“Well, of course! But we haven’t really had much contact with her for a while now…”
“We’re sorry to hear that.”
I shrugged.
“Well!” she said. “We also heard that you have just become one of Blumenfeld Fashions’ newest models.”
I laughed. “I was wondering when you’d bring that up.” I shrugged. “It’s a new thing.”
“Why did Blumenfeld make you one of its models?”
“According to them, they saw my picture in KRPQ’s Partners Program advertisements, and they said they wanted me in their fashion catalogues for this year. They thought I had the right look for their YA fashion line.”
“YA?”
“Young Adult line – you know, their fashion line for older teens and young adults. Well, girls, actually: Blumenfeld only makes clothes for girls and women.”
“I understand your friend, Ms Robin Tibbles, the DJ from KRPQ, was also selected by Blumenfeld as well?”
Oh, no… There it is… What to I do now?
“Dannie?”
“Well… Robin is my friend. She did a couple of programs on the radio about the band, and we were both drafted for that KRPQ Partners Program. My understanding was that Blumenfeld actually saw her first there, and she was offered a job as a model for their young professionals fashion line first, and it was her that recommended me to Blumenfeld.”
“Well… isn’t that a good thing?”
“She and I have had a falling out. You know how it is. I don’t blame her, and she doesn’t blame me, either. But it’s irreconcilable at the moment.”
“Would it be all right if…”
“I can’t really say what it was about. Robin is a good person, and I like her a lot, but many of our points of view are opposites of each other.”
Is it really bad?”
“Like I said, it’s irreconcilable at the moment. In fact, we can’t be on photo shoots and fashion events at the same time. It’s our way of keeping the peace.”
“That’s so sad.”
I shrugged. “It’s all right, Aisa. We’ll get over it eventually. In the meantime, I’d like everyone to keep on listening to her Saturday shows on the radio. They’re pretty good. Trust me.”
She looked at me with dawning respect.
“You know, when my producer had a meeting with Miss Tibbles, she told him much the same thing. She said that you and your band were pretty great, and that she said she was a great fan. You seem to be friends.”
“Robin and I are pretty close, in fact.” I smiled.
“Well, then, I hope that your troubles are resolved soon.”
“Thank you.”
She reached my hand. “No, Dannie – I am sincere. I can see how you feel about this. I sincerely wish that you get your friend back.”
I was touched. I leaned forward and hugged her. I know hugging was not a Japanese thing, but I’m not Japanese. Lol.
- - - - -
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Aisa said, “this was a wonderful evening. Please join me in thanking the beautiful, charming and talented Ms Dannie Fairchild. But before we say goodbye, Dannie-san will be singing a few songs for all of us, accompanied by her friends from her band, Unlimited Bandwidth. We have talked with the people from the Evolution Concert, and they said that the band can’t appear in our show because of the rules of their contest. However, according to the rules, the band can actually appear, but not live - just pre-recorded. So, here is Ms Dannie Fairchild, as she sings, almost live, with her friends via videotape.”
I looked down and saw the mark I was told to stand on and faced the audience. In front of me was a small monitor, and that showed a shot of me on-stage but mirrored or reversed: that is, I would see my left arm on the right, and my right on the left. I've seen this before - it was how weather reporters saw their images on monitors so they wouldn't be too confused when they make gestures at their weather maps. Aisa went to me and handed me a wired mic.
I saw on the monitor that a video of June Bright, our keyboardist was projected to the screen on the back of the stage. She sat in what looked like a shiny-black baby piano. She was wearing a long, black formal cocktail-style dress, and she was projected to the right of me (or the left of my monitor). Our violinist, Betsy Haley, also appeared, similarly projected, but to my left (or on the rignt in the monitor). She was also wearing a formal dress, but white this time. She had her violin with her.
The effect on TV was that I was flanked by June to my right and Betsy to my left. The people in the studio cheered upon seeing June and Betsy, and they quieted down as they prepared to listen to our song.
We agreed on playing “Somewhere Only We Know” the 2004 hit by the Sussex band, Keane, but the cover we were singing was Lily Allen’s 1013 version from the ad from John Lewis.
Betsy began with a plaintive note from her violin. And then I sang, accompanying June’s ethereal piano playing. “I walked across an empty land,” I sang, “I knew the pathway like the back of my hand. I felt the earth beneath my feet, sat by the river and it made me complete. Oh, simple thing, where have you gone? I’m getting tired and I need someone to rely on.”
I paused a tiny, tiny bit, punctuated by Betsy’s violin, and continued on. “I came across a fallen tree. I felt the branches of it looking at me. Is this the place we used to love. Is this the place that I’ve been dreaming of? Oh, simple thing, where have you gone? I’m getting old and I need something to rely on.”
In the distant background, I could hear Mongo do a muted crescendo on his drums, and I sang the lonely refrain.
“And if you have a minute, why don’t we go… Talk about it, somewhere only we know… This could be the end of everything so why don’t we go somewhere only we know… somewhere only we know…”
I looked to the audience and I could see many of the crying silently. With a kind of ending denouement on the piano, courtesy of June, it sounded like the end of the song, but June continued her playing, and Betsy accompanied her.
“Ahhhh…” I sang in accompaniment. “Ahhhh…
“Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?,” I sang. “I’m getting old and I need someone to rely on. So tell me when you’re gonna let me in. I’m getting tired and I need somewhere to begin…”
And Mongo, unseen, again did a quiet crescendo. “And if you have a minute, why don’t we go… Talk about it, somewhere only we know… ‘cause this could be the end of everything. S o why don’t we go somewhere only we know… somewhere only we know…”
And as the final notes faded away, the applause rained down on me and the pre-recorded June and Betsy. The two faded away, leaving me to take the applause.
I looked into the audience, and though they were all Japanese, the sentiment of the song was universal it didn’t matter that they were Japanese. Music was truly universal.
I decided to change it up, and decided to play a brighter and more upbeat song, this time from Australia. I knew something like this might be needed, and signalled the director, as per agreement, that I wanted to play the fourth song that we had prepared – a song called “Play That, Keith” (in reference to the Australian pop icon, Keith Urban), composed and sung the New Zealand country pop singer Kaylee Bell.
Aisa saw the director’s signal and handed me my guitar. And the entire band this time magically appeared in the screen behind me.
As Mongo counted us in with a regular beat, and Dale played bass and June accompanied us on the keyboards, I sang.
“I remember we were somewhere in your car,” I sang with a country western drawl. “Yeah, I fell fast when you stole my heart… That long, hot summer that I can’t forget - I was hanging of every single word you said.”
I sang the refrain. “Had summer on the speakers out on the road - a little KU on the radio; hands out the window, sun sinking low, singing raise ‘em up, baby woah!
“I know those days go by, it wasn’t wasted time. Had a little bit of everything, making memories of you and me. Yeah, back when we were us, once in a lifetime love - can’t help but think of you; hope you think of me when you play that Keith... when you play that, Keith…
“Every kiss the perfect melody,” I sang, again to the main melody, “we went zero to crazy, baby, on repeat. Stuck in my head like my favorite song - yeah, never knew something so good could last so long…”
And then the refrain again: “I know those days go by, it wasn’t wasted time. Had a little bit of everything, making memories of you and me. Yeah, back when we were us, once in a lifetime love - can’t help but think of you; hope you think of me when you play that, Keith…
In the background, Dale and Fallon sang: “Turn it up, turn it up now; Turn it up, turn it up loud…”
And then me again – “hope you think of me like I think of you when you play that, Keith…”
I then played an an extended little bridge on my guitar, and then I had to sing again.
“… had summer on the speakers out on the road, a little KU on the radio, hands out the window, sun sinking low, singing raise ‘em up, baby woah!”
And then another refrain: “I know those days go by, it wasn’t wasted time. Had a little bit of everything, and you said that I look good in your shirt. Yeah, back when we were us, once in a lifetime love - can’t help but think of you; hope you think of me when you play that, Keith…
“Turn it up, turn it up now; Turn it up, turn it up loud; hope you think of me like I think of you when you play that, Keith. When somebody like you loved somebody like me - yeah, it sure feels good, baby, to play that, Keith.” We ended the song abruptly and the audience went delirious.
We would have taken bows as we usually did, but it was just me this time, and I made do with waving at the camera and at the studio audience.
I let the applause die down and smiled again. “In behalf of Unlimited Bandwidth, Domo arigato.” And I bowed and my Japanese audience went wild.
“Our last song for this morning is a song that I am dedicating my Mhamo from Ireland. Her name’s Rosemary, and she is the matriarch of Clan O’Caiside, our family in Belfast. I love you, Mhamo.”
Again, the entire band was on the screen again. And Mongo played us in again, and we started playing the first notes of the song “Who I am,” by Danielle Bradberry.
“If I live to be a hundred,” I sang, “and never see the seven wonders, that’ll be all right…
“If I don’t make it to the big leagues; if I never win a Grammy, I’m gonna be just fine… ‘cause I know exactly who I am…”
I then raised my singing voice. “I am Rosemary’s granddaughter, the spitting image of my father, and when the day is done, my mama’s still my biggest fan…
“Sometimes I’m clueless and I’m clumsy but I’ve got friends that love me, and they know just where I stand - it’s all a part of me - that’s who I am…”
I sang the second refrain. “So when I make a big mistake - when I fall flat on my face, I know I’ll be all right…
“Should my tender heart be broken, I will cry those teardrops knowing I will be just fine… ‘cause nothing changes who I am.”
I raised my voice again. “I am Rosemary’s granddaughter, the spitting image of my father, and when the day is done, my mama’s still my biggest fan…
“Sometimes I’m clueless and I’m clumsy but I’ve got friends that love me, and they know just where I stand - It’s all a part of me - that’s who I am…”
And it was the big finish. “I’m a singer, I’m a sinner! I’m a loser, I’m a winner! I’m steady and unstable…
I’m young but I am able…”
And I did the refrain again in a slight, hushed downbeat… “I am Rosemary’s granddaughter, the spitting image of my father, and when the day is done, my mama’s still my biggest fan…
“Sometimes I’m clueless and I’m clumsy but I’ve got friends that love me, and they know just where I stand, It’s all a part of me - that’s who I am - that’s who I am!”
And we ended on a high.
I waved to everyone, and waited for the music and the emotion and the excitement to fade.
to be continued...
Danny's OTHER Stories
by Roberta J Cabot
These are other stories about Danny Fairchild from the story "Danny," by Bobbie Cabot. Know that these stories, though connected to Danny and his friends, have no material bearing on the narrative of the main story, and should be treated as stand-alone stories.
Still, i think they're fun stories. The fun never stops with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. |
in "Fire on the 14th" by Roberta J. Cabot This little interlude is set somewhere just before the events of Chapter 45 of the still-unfinished story, “Danny.” This does not materially contribute to that story, but is more like “a day in the life” type of story of the main character, Danny, though, in this particular one, it's Danny in his Robin persona. This story can stand on its own, somewhat, but it would be good to read Danny, unfinished though it is, to get a background on the story and characters (see http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/14774/danny). Note that this is one of “Danny's Other Stories" (see https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book-page/72894/dannys-other-...) and, like all of Danny's Other Stories, though this little vignette slots into a yet-to-be-posted part of the main story, it doesn't have any spoilers, so present and future readers need not worry. Also, please note that the characters Kris Keys, Ray Lomax, Dani Marks, Sheri Kirsch, Heather Davis, Vee, Rita McFadden, Liz Keys, Miss Bonsai and Colonel Harris are from the fictional universe of The Center by Lilith Langtree. No infringement is intended: they have been mentioned in passing, in connection with another one of Danny's Other Stories called "Playing the Part: Counterfeit Crusader" (see https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/29402/playing-part-co...). |
***** (Danny) *****
It was nearing nine AM - still an hour to go before my show was over, but I was already beat. Ever since Mario switched our gigs to Fridays, I've never gotten enough sleep on the weekends. Not that I'm complaining: this was the most fun part of the week, after all. Friday after school, the gang and I would have dinner out, usually at one of our favorite places (dinner would usually be on the band, unfortunetely, heheh, since we're the ones who were actually earning actual money lol). Afterwards, we'd hurry on over to Mario's with our equipment, where we'd change into our outfits (my outfit would be picked out by Danielle, of course), the gang would find us a table to hang out in between sets, the band would set up our stuff on stage, and then when everything's ready, we'd start our first of three sets.
Playing for an enthusiastic crowd was always fun, but the one that would most get off on it was usually Dale, our current bandleader, no doubt contemplating our soon-to-be-realized nationwide success. Heheh.
There would be the usual fans and a growing number of groupies, I guess you'd call them. Thank god the kids that usually showed up weren't from our school (or if there were any from our school, there were so few of them we never noticed). I don't know how... impregnable Danielle's and my disguise would be otherwise.
In deference to my preference (heheh), our songs were usually oldies from the nineties and early 2000s (some from the eighties, even), but none of the guys were complaining. And after rockin' and rollin' all night, we'd wrap up by around midnight, or 1AM at the latest. That meant we'd be home by two, giving me just enough time to have a two- or three-hour nap. And then get up, grab a quick shower, put on the Robin outfit that Danielle laid out for me (which, lately, included a brunette wig), then make-up, then on to the station for my 6AM Nighthawk program, which usually stretches to around ten AM.
Used to be, I'd go do my show just as I was, but after that TV show, I'm afraid Robin was too visible now, just like Dannie, and I had to look the part now when I do my progam.
Except for Tracey, none of the other guys would be with us, and Tracey and I would resent the heck out of the others because they'd all be having a wonderful time in bed, sleeping, while we were at the station.
But that's not strictly true, since we always had lots of fun doing my Nighthawk program (the "Nighthawk" being me, of course, or rather me in my "Robin" persona), while Tracey ran the show as my producer. And given the increasing visibility I now had both as "Dannie" from the band, and "Robin" the deejay, I had to be completely in character all the time, and I mean completely.
This particular Saturday morning, I was in luck because Goodwyn, the station's night security guard, had been rotated to the morning shift (such rotations happened randomly once or twice a month), and Goodwyn was one of the few who were in on the secret. That meant we could be as open with him as we wanted, so I'd usually take advantage and ask him a favor and ask him to get me some early-morning breafast- type take-out food (in our little burg, most of the places don't deliver this early in the day). Mrs. P knew about it, and so long as Goodwyn didn't take too long, it was fine. And it would be fine with Goodwyn, too, since Tracey and I would treat him to breakfast, as well.
- - - - -
I suppose this'd get old after a while, but Tracey and I were still enjoying doing the program, and the people who called in were usually fun and interesting, though we'd get an occassional creepy every so often.
The town's young folk would always tune in to my little program, and, aside from being given a quick lesson in vintage pop music, with songs from artists like The Smashing Pumpkins, Alanis Morissette, Matchbox Twenty, Ace of Base and Garbage (I was told by Mrs. P that we were starting a kind of 90's pop resurgence all by our lonesome), they'd be able to indulge in a lot of fun talk that other early morning programs didn't have.
And, of course, the calls. That was what my program was about, after all.
Currently, I was having some fun talking to Matthias, or Matt as he liked to be called. He called in via the landline number.
He was what was known as a "foley artist." And as I was enjoying my third breakfast burrito and hot chocolate (I took bites during the commercials, or while the caller was talking), and Tracey and Goodwyn were in the producer's booth having egg mcmuffins, I listened to the fascinating work that foley artists do.
These were the people who made sound effects for TV shows, radio shows and movies the old-fashioned way. For example, to accompany the dialogue, Matt would flap gloves around to replicate the sound of flapping wings, or whip around a long, thin bamboo stick to make a whooshing sound, or rapidly shake a large metal plate to make the sound of thunder.
"Sadly, though," Matt was saying, "foley artists are almost extinct in the radio, movie and TV industries. After all, most now have sound effect clips that they can just use for their shows. Heck, you can buy them off the net. Can't really blame the movie people, though. We foley artists are quite expensive, actually."
"I guess that's sad, in a way," I said in my Robin voice. "It's like the loss of a tradition or something."
Matt sighed. "Yeah. I remember my granddad talking about his heydey when he used to do foley effects for a bunch of radio shows back in the fifties,
over at CBS in California, and he'd talk about meeting Rock Hudson, Doris Day and a bunch of stars..."
"Yeah? Wow." I vaguely knew those people, but I'd never admit that to him, especially on air. lol
"Radio used to be more relevant then," he continued. "But I guess you can't blame folks - technology's moved on, and with so many other options available, radio isn't the go-to thing it used to be."
I understand, Matt. But, hey, some of us are still trying..."
"Yeah. That's why I'm glad people like you are still trying to keep it relavant, and keep it going. I guess it's tough to be a kind of pioneer in an old medium."
"Pioneer? Heheh. I'm just a newbie, Matt. And I'm still a kid... well, mostly a kid anyway." I chuckled.
"Don't sell yourself short," Matt said. "You don't know the kind of impact you're making. Mark my words, kid, you're goin' places."
I was never comfortable when chats shift to topics like these. Dad sez I don't like compliments coz I get embarrassed. I guess he's right. "Thank you kindly, sir," I said, making the conversation lighter, and shifted the conversation. "I do my best."
"Hmmm," Matt said, thinking. "Just had an idea - what about I send you my dad's and granddad's collection of foley effects? You can buy them off the internet or in some specialty stores on CD, actually, but I can give them to you you instead. Let's see..." We heard the sound of Matt rummaging through a bunch of CD cases or something. "I can give you a complete set, including a couple of mine, too. Let's see... That makes fifteen CDs chock-full of foley effects. Bet your producer..."
"Her name's Tracey," I said.
"... Tracey... can use them during your show and other shows."
"Wow! Thanks, Matt! What do you say to that, Trace?"
"Thanks so much, Matt!" Tracey interjected via her own plugboard in her producer's booth. She was excitedly looking at me through the window with her thumbs up. "That's great!"
Matt laughed. "My pleasure, darlin'. I'm glad that you, Robin and a bunch of others are keeping things running. Keep the faith, kids. Girl power!"
Tracey and I laughed.
"'Kay, Matt. Thanks for calling, and keep in touch."
From the corner of my eye, I saw Goodwyn open the door to the bullpen and stepped out while Talia came in for her show. Goodwyn was no doubt going back to doing "security guard stuff."
Talia waved through the window and made a funny face, as usual, trying to get me to laugh on air. She went into the "producer's booth" so she and I could segue seamlessly into each other's program without the need for a commercial in between. It's something the two of us were known for during the few times when her schedule shifts and conicides with mine. But since she was a bit early, she waited patiently for us to finish.
"I guess we have time for one more quick call before I turn you folks over to the beautiful queen of the morning commute, Talia Roberts. So who do you have for us, Tracey?"
"Guess what, Robin," Tracie said, "it's our old friend Valerie!"
"Valerie? Ohmigod. Hey, girl, how you doin'? How's the world of Linux programming?" I chuckled.
"No time for that now, Robin," Val said. "I just called to let you guys know that there's a big fire downtown."
"What!"
"Yes. There's a fire over in the Jackson Residential Building."
Jackson was one of the older buildings in town, and provided low-cost housing for many of the town's retirees as well as for single professionals or low-middle class income familes.
"Are you sure, Val? I mean, can you see it clearly from where you are?"
"Yes. My folks and I are in the Wheeler Center for a... medical thing, and we can see the Jackson Building plain as day!"
The Wheeler Center was an office building also downtown. It was a nondescript building, except for the fact that it was the town'a tallest building, with its twenty-five floors of offices and tennants (told you I came from a small town), and, from there you can pretty much see almost all the buildings.
"Gotcha, Val," I said. "So what can you see?"
"Robin, I see a lot of billowing smoke coming from the building, with fire occassionally shooting out from the top."
"Shooting out? Ohmigod..."
"Robin," Tracey interrupted. "I've been scanning the police bands - I don't think they know about what Val's talking about."
"Well, they're gonna know - Trace, call the police now. Everyone - guys, everyone who's listening now - call the police and fire department; dial nine-one-one; do what you can to let the authorities know. Go! We gotta let people know. Val..."
"I know, kid. You're gonna be pretty busy in a while. I'll hang up now and let you work."
"Thanks, Val. You may have just saved a bunch of people's lives..."
"Hopefully. I hope it's not as bad as I think it is."
"Talk to you later, Val." And then I hung up. "Everyone - you heard Val: There's currently a big fire in the Jackson Residential Building. If you have friends who live in the Jackson Building, give them a call; find out where they are, and if they're home, tell them to evacuate now; if you're near the building, stay away, and help make a cordon and keep everyone away; keep everyone safe, keep yourself safe, until the authorities get there; if you have factual information, or on-the-scene information; give us a call here: the number's 555-2878; but if you don't, try not to call to keep the lines free.
"I'm going to turn you over to Talia Roberts in a bit, but, again, let me repeat..."
***** (Talia) *****
That kid never ceases to amaze me. If I didn't know any better, I think this kid's some kind of professional correspondent or something. She's managed to summarize everything, got the word out and got our telephone number out.
Of course, she's relying on the word of some girl. Hopefully this Val person isn't exaggerating or just looking for attention.
But, for some reason, I trusted our sexy litle heartbreaker's instincts and decided to carry the ball for her.
"Trace," I said to Robin's producer, "it's still early..."
Tracey shrugged. "Yeah, but I think Robin is planning something. So, would you be okay for me to turn over..."
I nodded. "Yup, yup. Now go and leave already, and let me start my show." I gave her a wink to let her know I wasn't being a dick.
Tracey nodded. She scanned her board and adjusted everything that needed to be turned off or tuned to zero.
By tradition-slash-custom, she got up from the chair and tapped me on the shoulder twice to indicate she's transferring the booth. I nodded, sat down, and gave the standard response, which was a thumbs-up, meaning I'm officially taking over.
***** (Tracey) *****
After a quickie, sign-off, Danny, I mean Robin, and I met in the bullpen. "So what's the plan, boss?" I asked her.
"Trace, I think we need to go on-location and cover the fire. People need to know what's happening."
I looked at her in growing excitement. Wow. First field assignment!
"What about the guys?" I asked. "They'll be here in a few minutes. What about our brunch? What about your band practice?"
"This is more imporant, Trace..."
"But..."
"We'll make it up to them, Trace," she said. "I promise. So, let's go! By the way, what do we need to cover the fire?"
***** (Danny) *****
Before rushing out, Tracey grabbed a bunch of stuff from the cabinet in her mom's office, put them in a big backpack and thrust the backpack into my hands.
She then went to the receptionist's desk. She shooed me out of the office and threw her purse at me, saying to meet her by her FJ Cruiser, and then she rummaged through the posters and other junk by the desk.
She clearly knew what she was doing, so I just passively went to the basement with not one peep, and went to her Toyota. I used the fob on the keyring inside her bag and opened the doors.
The big backpack was awfully heavy, and I felt a bunch of hard, heavy things with sharp edges in there. I sat in the back seat and looked at what she had inside the bag.
There were a pair of walkie-takies in a box with two earpieces - each looking like a wired iPhone earphone with mic, but with only one earbud instead of two; a packet that had two earphone extension cables; a Canon 80D as well as one wide lens and one really long telephoto lens in separate carry pouches; something that was obviously new and said it was a "gimbal stabilizer" on its still-sealed box, plus a separate "gimbal shoulder mount holder," also new and also still in its sealed box; a square black gadget labeled a "Blackmagic Web Presenter"; another boxy gadget labeled a "Teradek VidiU Pro"; a hotshoe-mount LED floodlight; what looked like a 110VAC battery pack-inverter; a battery-powered amber emergency bubble light with a suction cup at the bottom; and a Lenovo ten-inch Android tablet.
I had an idea what all this tech was going to be used for, but left it to Tracey to tell me. Tracey and Mrs. P clearly haven't thought about equiping a field person for remote broadcasts yet coz this was too slap-dash and complicated. Maybe later, they will.
It's been fifteen minutes already - Tracey should have been here by now... Putting everything back in, I jumped out of the car and found Tracey had already come down. She was currently taping rectangular paper signs with our station ID and logo onto the car's doors.
Tracey explained that she cut them out of a couple of posters for Sally and Harry's program. Anyway, what was left of the posters were a pair of two-foot by two-foot squares that had our logo and the legend, "KRPQ News and Current Affairs" above it. Using magic tape, Tracey taped them to the doors and made sure to stick on the tape flat, and rub the tape down, making it practically invisible and securing the paper very firmly. The signs didn't look jury-rigged at all.
She rummaged through the backpack and came up with the bubble light, smacked it down smartly on the roof just over the driver, tugged on it to make sure it was securely suction-cupped, and turned it on. The amber light came on and started to rotate. She then pushed a button on the dash and extended the car's two radio antennae from the car's roof. She wasn't really going to listen to the radio, I'm sure, but did it to make the car look more... newsy, I guess.
"Et voila!" Tracey said. "Instant news van!"
I looked at her and the car with admiration.
"Well?" she said after jumping in. "Get in already!"
"Yes, ma'am!" I said, grinning while I saluted, and jumped in.
"Don't tell mom but I got a police scanner," she said. "She won't be too happy about it." She sped up the ramp, then out onto the street, and then started to drive towards the Jackson Residential Building. "It's what I used upstairs earlier."
I nodded, accepting the rectangular device that was the size and general shape of an old-timey transistor radio, complete with antenna. I turned it on and tuned it until I got the police band for our local area, and we listened in.
"Dispatch, dispatch," someone said on Tracey's police scanner, "the fire's really getting bad. ETA on the fire department?"
"Fire department says they're on route - fifteen to twenty minutes maximum, Roy," the dispatcher replied.
"Thanks, Sheila. But you better ask them to step on it. The fire's starting to come down. It's on the fifteenth now, but it'll spread to the foureenth and thirteenth any minute."
"Relaying your message, Roy. The chief sez they're doing their best. How's the evacuation?"
"Pretty slow - the building's full of residential folks, with a lot of elderly people and kids, so you know how that can be. But we got the top floors evacuated already."
"Good work, Roy. Hang in there. I'm sending over more backup."
"Thanks, Sheila."
From there, we could hear Shiela the dispatcher calling in more police, and several of them responding. Small town police were very casual.
In minutes, we were there, and screeched to a stop at the police barricade.
Tracey handed me a three-by-four card attached to a lanyard, plus an ID holder with a pin. "Put the lanyard around your neck, and slip your ID in there," she said. "That way, the cops will know that we're legit. Here." She also handed me the broken wireless mic from the booth, but it now had a cardboard cutout pasted on it that said "KRPQ." Just like those mics you see reporters use.
I looked and Tracey was wearing a lanyard as well, and her ID was clipped to her leather jacket. The white card on her lanyard said "PRESS - KRPQ Radio" in big red letters, just like mine.
I grinned. Seems Tracey had been working on the computer and the printer while I was rummaging through her pack.
"Tracey?" I said, "you know this mic's busted. How..."
"That's just for show, Danny, oh, I mean Robin," she giggled. "You'll actually be using this."
She got one of the little walkie-talkies I saw earlier. She switched it on, fiddled with its keypad for a bit and plugged in one of those earphones. She had me turn, clipped the radio to the back of my jeggings, and I put the earphone into my left ear, the little mic was just at the right point so it could pick up my voice. With the walkie and the earphone's wire underneath my fancy borrowed jacket, I knew they wouldn't be too noticeable.
"Okay," Tracey said, and started to explain: "It's been encrypted - no one will be able to understand our talking. It's a two-channel walkie and it's gonna be permanently on, meaning I will hear everything you say, and you will hear everything I say. And everything we say will go directly on the air unless I press this button." She demoed on her own radio. "So watch what you say. And use the wireless microphone like a prop so you can act like a TV reporter."
"Will you be able to pick up other people's voices?"
The walkie's earphone pickup has a minimum three foot radius, so whoever's in front of you, I will hear. Just make sure you're facing them, 'kay?"
I breathed deeply, trying to calm my nerves.
"Okay," I said finally. "I'm set. How 'bout you?"
Tracey had the Canon camera mounted on the "gimbal stabilizer," which was mounted on the shoulder thingie which was, in turn, straped to her shoulders. A wire went from the camera to the backpack, which she was wearing on her back. There was also a wire going from her walkie-talkie into the backpack (the walkie-talkie was clipped onto the shoulder thingie's harness), and she was wearing the earphone. Undoubtedly, the rest of the equipment was in the pack and running.
She was talking to Morgan on her smartphone's hands-free speakerphone.
"Morgan, I'm going to have the streaming video up. Be sure to have the link running on the website. You call me if there's an issue. Be sure to coordinate with Talia, okay?"
"Got it Trace," Morgan replied. "Anything else?"
"Have her announce us on the air, and get her tech to have the audio from the streaming video spliced into her board."
"I got Jerry on it."
"Great. Signing off now!" She clicked off her phone. "I'm set," she said to me. "Let's go!"
We stepped out and started making our way to the policeman who seemed to be in charge, all the while she had the camera pointed at me and I had the fake mic out.
"I take it Morgan's at the station?" I asked.
"Yes. The whole gang, in fact. They arrived while I was printing. I explained to them what we were doing and where we were going, and they promised sit tight at the station until we're back." Tracey pulled the tablet out of the backpack and tapped on the screen. At the moment, I saw on the tablet that there was a static picture of the station's logo on the streaming video channel.
"Okay, Robin," she said. "I'm going to start it in five, four, three, two..." and then she pointed at me.
"Hello, everyone," I said into Tracey's Canon EOS camera, "this is the Nighthawk, live on streaming video. We're currently here at the Jackson Residential Building a few minutes from KRPQ headquarters, where a fire has broken out. I'm here with officer..."
I turned to the policeman in front of me, holding out my fake mic.
"Sergeant Roy Gibbons, miss."
"Sergeant Gibbons, can you tell us what exactly's happened?"
"Well, about twenty or thirty minutes ago, we received a call from a concerned citizen and he said that a fire had broken out on the top floor of the building." (I wisely held my tongue and didn't say that it was my program that got these people to call them) "As far as we know at the moment," Sergeant Gibbons said, "it was mostly accidental in nature."
Tracey had moved in to get a better two-shot.
"How about the evacuation, Sergeant Gibbons?" I asked.
"It's slow going," he said. "It's a residential building, and there are a lot of children and old folks, and the fact that the building only has a few elevators and only two fire escape stairwells is impeding the evacuation."
"Is there any way to speed that up?" It was very frustrating for me to just listen. I wanted to help, but I knew I'd just get in the way.
"Not really," Roy said, "although as soon as the fire department arrives, the spread of the fire will be under control."
"The fire department isn't here yet?"
"There's a problem - the town only has one fire department, and it's at the farthest end of the town from here. Their ETA is fifteen minutes."
"Won't that be too late by then?"
"Oh, no. The building's within code so..."
At that moment, there was a scream from the bystanders, and we all looked up.
I turned back to Tracey's camera. "It seems that, from what we can see, a large portion of the building's upper floor has just collapsed, and burning embers and debris have started to fall on the street. No one has been hurt so far, and the burning debris are being put out by the police and some of the bystanders..." Tracey got shots of the people as well as shots of the roof. She had on the wide lens at the moment, so the roof shots would probably not be too nice.
The air was suddenly filled with the wailing of fire truck sirens. I gestured to Tracey, and she got good footage of the arriving fire trucks while I did some monologuing.
Someone from the lead truck jumped down and started directing the firemen. The first thing that they did was connect their hoses to the fire hydrants, and as soon as that was done, firemen climbed up to the ladders - one to each ladder - and hung on as the ladders extended upwards. However, the ladders didn't reach high enough - at their maximum extension, they only reached approximately as high as the twelfth floor.
The firemen on the ladders switched on the fire hoses mounted at the end of the ladders. They started spewing out a steady stream of water, but with only two of them, plus the fact that they were a little lower than where the fire currently was, they were hard put to properly cover the fire.
As all this was happening, I gave a blow-by-blow, and I did my best to channel Anderson Cooper, that is, if Scarlett Johansson was playing Anderson Cooper in a movie... However, what I really wanted to do was help. But I knew I'd just be getting in the way if I did.
"As two firefighters spray the blazing sections of the building," I said in my best Robin voice, "several are keeping people away since debris dislodged by the water may hit them. All the other firefighters have started to enter the building while police continue the evacuation. Let's see if we can find out what the fire department has planned."
I started making my way to the chief. As soon as I got near, the chief noticed me.
"What do you want?" He said gruffly.
"Hello, Chief?..."
"I'm Fire Battalion Chief Nelson Smith."
"Good morning, Chief Smith. I'm Robin. I'm from KRPQ radio..."
"Just call me Smitty. Everyone does. You're from KRPQ?" He looked me up and down.
"Ummm, yes, sir."
"Hmmm. Would you happen to be the Nighthawk?"
"Ummm, yes again?..."
"My daughter's a big fan."
"Ahhh, that's good to hear, sir."
"And I'd like to thank you for raising the alarm. You may have saved some people. Well, young lady, make it quick - we're very busy, as you can see."
"Ah, yes, sir. I was just going to ask what your plan of attack is."
"We're going to make what we call fire breaks. That means, when my guys get to the fire, they're going to cut out sections of the wooden floor and walls where the fire is, as well as on the floor below. That' so that the fire can't spread out to fresh parts of the building. And then we are going to wet down the rest of of the floors below and at the fire. My guys are going to the water access cabinets on the floors concerned now to start doing that."
I looked at the fire chief. "You don't look happy, Chief."
"Well, it's a fire - no one's happy at a fire. But I guess I'm worried. We found out, en route, that the building's floors are wood. Why are there wooden floors in this building? And why only two fire excapes. A building this size should have more. Plus the fire spread awfully quickly. I can only assume that the water sprinkler system isn't working on the floors concerned."
"Smitty!" someone on his walkie-talkie called. "This is Ted. We're at the fourteenth. The fifteenth totally gutted and this one's a goner. I'm gonna tell the guys to concentrate on the thirteenth."
"Fire breaks won't help, Ted?" the chief, aka Smitty, asked.
"Fire breaks!" Ted scoffed. "There's mostly no floor anymore! I got all our guys evacuated down to the thirteenth and they're wettin' it down now and looking for stragglers. Some of the police said there are some still on that floor. As for the fourteenth, It's just me and Luke left here."
"Civilians?"
"Police sez no more people from the fourteenth up."
"Thank god for that. Did you double-check?"
"That's what Luke and I are doing now."
"Well, given what you said, you and Luke stop what you're doing and get yourselves to safety on the thirteenth. I'll ask the ladder guys to start pumping into the fourteenth floor windows and -"
"Luke!" Ted suddenly exclaimed.
"Ted! What happened!"
"Smitty, the walls between me and Luke just collapsed. Luke's trapped!"
"Goddammit!" The chief pressed the button on his radio. "Luke... Luke! Fireman Hoskins, check in! Dammit, Luke..."
Smitty went up to one of the ladder trucks and talked to the guy in charge of its pumps.
"Increase the pressure," Smitty said to the fireman manning the pumps, "and get the ladder closer to the buidling. We have to help Erica start spraying the fourteenth, near the western side. Luke's trapped there."
"Ohmigod, chief!" I said. "How will you get Luke out." I was desperately wanting to help, and was using as much self control I could muster not to climb up the ladder or go in the building.
"Well," Smitty said, "normally, since we can't get to him from inside the building, we'd get a ladder close to one of the windows and get some people in there that way, but I'm short-handed. All my guys here on the street are manning the pumps or helping with the evacuation, while everyone else is up there in the building itself. Best I can do with such a small fire team."
He looked at some of his people doing crowd control and apparently decided to get a couple of them to climb up and get Luke. As he was going to them, there was another explosion, and another shower of debris. The fireman manning the ladder truck's pumps exclaimed. "Chief!"
Smitty looked back and saw the guy pointing up. We looked and saw the firefighter up on the ladder, Erica, slumped, hanging precariously on the ladder's rungs, her fire hose pointing downward instead of at the building, and uselessly raining water on everyone. Thank god she was in the ladder's basket or gondola or whatever you call it, otherwise, she'd probably have fallen.
"Goddammit!" the chief said.
I couldn't take it anymore and decided to do something.
"Hey, kid!" The fireman at the fire truck's controls called and tried to snag me, but I was too quick and was already on top of the truck and climbing up the ladder.
"Robin!" Tracey called. "What the hell are you doing!"
I pocketed the useless mic and used both hands to climb. Thank god I was wearing a pair of jeggings instead of one of Danielle's fancy tight skirts, so I was able to climb up very quickly. So far, when I wear gaffs, I've been scared to tuck my, ummm, jewels into my abdominal cavity, so I try and avoid gaffs when I can. Good thing I was just wearing men's thong briefs this time coz it paid off - I could climb up without getting squeezed to death. I just hoped my thong was close-fiiting enough so it keeps me from spilling out and outing me. Also, the dark-gray color of my pants should help hide my... stuff a bit.
"Goddammit, Robin! Come back!"
"Sorry, Trace," I called back. I was already more than halfway up. I looked down and saw I was all alone, with no one following me yet.
After about a minute of climbing, I found the girl, Erica, unconscious. "The girl's been hit by something," I said to Tracey via the walkie-talkie. "I don't know what, or how, even."
"Chief?" Tracey said, and relayed to him what I just told her.
"Okay," Robin said, "the chief said that the explosion probably blew something at her and knocked her out."
"Sounds logical. Anyway, she's bleeding profusely from a cut above her nose, as well as from the nose itself. It's obviously broken."
"Okay. Someone is gonna be climbing up to check on her. The chief is asking if she's belted in."
I checked. "Yes, she is."
"Good. She's breathing?"
"Yes."
"Good. The chief sez she's fine, then. Keep her head bent forward so the blood doesn't go down her nose and just let it leak out."
"Gotcha. Make sure everyone's clear of the area down there, then." I looked down Erica's torso and saw another belt, so I buckled that around her as well. "Robin, what's this red-colored lever on the side here?"
Robin asked. "The chief says that lever extends the ladder a further twelve feet."
"Huh? Then why..."
"That part of the ladder isn't strong enough for the hose under pressure. That's why the nozzle is permanently mounted where it is."
"I thought so." I made sure my feet were on sure footing, wrapped my arms around the sides of the ladder, and threw the lever.
With the sound of an electric motor whining, the end of the ladder extended some more, bringing me up with it.
When the ladder stopped, I noted that it had brought me parallel to one of the fourteenth floor windows, which was what I was hoping for.
Because of the ladder's angle, I was now only a foot away from the building. In fact, I could stretch out my hand and touch the glass if I wanted.
"Here goes nothing," I said to myself.
"Robin!" Tracey screamed. "Don't do what I think you're thinking of doing!"
I took my belt off, making sure my walkie was still secure, re-threaded it through the two back belt loops of my jeggings, and buckled the belt around one of the rungs. Hope the jeggings were strong enough...
After leaning forward a few times, the pants and the belt looks seem substantial enough and I felt safe enough so I stepped onto the windowsill or ledge - one foot on the ledge, and my other foot still on the ladder. With one hand still on one of the ladder's rungs, I then kicked out with the foot on the ledge, and hit the window with the heel of my boot. I kicked out half a dozen times more and the glass exploded inwards. A wave of hot and smokey air wafted out making me cough and move back.
"Whee-ooh!" I exclaimed. That air was awfully hot.
"Whoa!" Tracey said. "That's a pretty strong kick you got." Tracey probably switched to the telephoto lens and could see me.
"That comes from picking the right parents," I joked. "I decided I wanted good genes, so I picked the right mom and dad." Don't know if Tracey got my joke.
I continued to kick out and got the remaining glass shards to pop out of the frame's crumbling putty. I then unbuckled my belt from the ladder and jumped throught the window.
I rolled into what looked like a corridor. To my left were a bunch of apartment doors, all of them ajar, while to my right was the concrete wall with windows about ten feet apart - the window I jumped through being one of them. The smoke wasn't too thick for me to not see everything, but it was noticeably getting thicker.
"Mr. Fireman," I yelled. "Luke! Are you here? Luke!"
I walked through the acrid-smelling smoke and fumes, coughing occassionally and squinting through the smoke. Knowing that most of the wooden floor was already damaged, I walked gingerly.
As I walked, I tripped on something and, feeling around, I knew I found Luke. That wasn't all I found - he had his arm around an unconscious little girl, his face mask, which was fed by his airtank, strapped to the girl's face.
"I found Luke," I told Tracey, coughing a bit. "He's unconscious, probably from the smoke. That's coz he gave his mask and oxygen to a little girl he found."
"Wow."
"I'm bringing them out to the window now."
"Someone's there at the ladder. Go, Robin! The fire's still spreading. You need to hurry."
I grunted as I lifted the unconscious fireman in my arms, with the little girl lying on his chest. The smoke was thicker now, but I remembered where I was, and what path to follow.
"Dammit," I said to myself, "firemen are fuckin' heavy."
Tracey giggled. "You can do it, Amazon Girl. The chief says that's partly because firefighters are weighed down with a lot of heavy equipment, including the air tank and other things. If he's too heavy, take off his jacket and you'll be taking off almost fifty pounds of equipment."
"No time to take off the jacet! Whee-ooh! You're one heavy fireman, Luke!"
I walked while leaning backward to make sure the fireman wouldn't fall out of my arms, almost hunched over from the weight. My back felt like it was about to break, but I was able to bring the two to the window somehow.
"Kid!" someone called.
I put down my load and, after I got my breath back, I looked out the window and nodded to the fireman who was outside and hanging onto the ladder. "Stick Luke's head out the window so he can have some fresh air!" he yelled.
Crouching down, I took the girl off his chest and put her on the floor for the moment. I then stood Luke up and leaned him on the wall in such a way that his head was sticking out the window.
I then took the girl, but I had to take off the bulky mask and airtank. I carried her in my arms and all three of us had our heads stuck out the window.
The cooler air seemed to have revived the little girl because I felt her move. I looked and, sure enough, the little girl was awake and looking at me.
"The air feels good," she said to me.
"It sure does, honey," I said, and kissed her on the cheek. "Nice and cool, especially after being inside with all that smoke and stuff."
"Yeah," she said. "Are you an angel?"
"No, honey. Just a girl who happened to be around."
"I think you're an angel."
I gently smiled at her. "If you insist."
I looked at the fireman outside. "Cool, fresh air never felt this good!" I said.
"Not exactly fresh," the new fireman said.
"Fresh enough for me!" I laughed. "What now?"
"We got to bring those people down one at a time. This top part of the ladder won't be able to take the weight of all four of us. Pass the little girl through first, and I'll get her down. Someone else will then come up and get you, and then they'll get Luke last."
"No!" I said. "Luke before me!"
"You're a good kid, but rules are rules."
I didn't want to argue - there wasn't time. "How about Erica?" I asked.
"She's being taken down to the paramedics right now."
"Great!" I said as I held onto the little girl.
"Hey! How were you able to get up here so fast? We were watching you, and..."
I shrugged. "I don't know... I climbed fast?"
"Kid -"
"Seriously, man! Just coz I'm thin doesn't mean I'm not fit!"
"Simmer down, kid. Okay, let's do this. Can you secure yourself to something there before you hand me the girl?"
I felt behind me, and my belt was still hanging back there. I struggled to a sitting position on the concrete window ledge, the girl in my arms, and buckled my belt around the metal frame of the window.
"Here you go, Mr. Fireman," I said. Before I handed her over, I snuck a kiss on the little girl's cheek. "You're safe now, kiddo," I said. "See you on the ground later."
"Thank you, pretty lady," she said.
I made sure the fireman had the girl securely in his hands before I let go, and watched him as he climbed down. When he reached the part where the nozzle and the basket were, I knew I could try climbing down now.
I went back in. "Okay, Luke," I said to the unconscious man, "let's do this." I looked at his uniform and I had to agree - with all that junk, he looked like he was at least fifty pounds heavier.
I took all of his equipment off by taking off the thick PPE jacket and pants (the pants didn't have any belts or anything like that - it hung on the man's shoulders via fire-resistant suspender-like things). Of course, I had to take the boots off first.
So, with everything off, it left the guy in a t-shirt, boxer shorts and his fireman's hat and socks. I had to giggle. Oh, well.
I detatched the suspenders from the pants (they had heavy-duty cargo-strap type buckles instead of clips or buttons), sat him on the window's ledge and used one strap to secure his arm to the window frame.
I then used the rest of the straps like a harness, slipping one strap under his arms, which I then clipped in such a way that there were now loops at the ends where I could put my arms through. So I got him hitched to my back now.
There was one left-over strap, which I used to strap around both our middles, sort of like a belt around both of us.
I did all this strapping, buckling, tying and stuff while I had him sitting on the window ledge while I essentially sat on his lap.
When I felt that we were securely strapped together, I took off the strap that attached us to the frame, reached out with both hands and firmly gripped the sides of the ladder.
I took a deep breath, and with sheer muscle power, I managed to wrap my arms around the ladder, and held on to it while I pulled both of us off the window ledge.
Fear and adrenalin can make you do superhuman things, and while I was holding onto that ladder with a superhuman grip, I was somehow able to swing both of us around, all the while I was grunting and almost screaming from the effort and and the burning pain in my biceps.
Now that I was in the proper position, I was able to put my feet securely on top of one of the rungs while I held onto the rung that was level with my face with both of my hands. I stayed there for a minute to rest a bit.
But when thick white smoke started billowing out of that window, I knew I had to move.
With deliberate slowness, I moved one of my feet as well as one of my hands to a lower rung, and then, when they were secure, I did the same with the other foot and hand.
It took me about five minutes to get to where the fire hose nozzle and basket were mounted, and that was when the window where we came from exploded. I froze while little bits of wood and debris showered us.
"That was close!" I said to no one in particular.
And then, after another five minutes, I got us both down to the top of the truck. I guess I was slower at the beginning because I was still getting a feel for the ladder, but as I got into the rhythm of it, my climbing down became faster.
I was shaking with sheer fatigue by then, and had trouble keeping my grip, but when I finally stepped onto the truck, the chief and a couple of his people were there and started unstrapping Luke from me. His two guys took care of Luke, bringing him down and then to one of the ambulances, while I basically crumpled down on the truck in sheer fatigue. My arms trembled, threatening to cramp.
After he gave me a minute to rest, the chief lifted me up and carried me in his arms, almost like a baby, brought me down and laid me on an ambulance stretcher. Two paramedics rolled the stretcher away and to an area where they've been taking people that needed help. There were about a dozen people there, all wearing masks and were being given oxygen. My paramedic also tried to put a mask on me, but I waved it away.
I looked around and saw the little girl was in a stretcher about four feet from me, with a man and a woman who I assumed were her parents. The woman was holding the little girl's hand and crying.
"Thanks, chief," I whispered (I was so wiped out), "but I'm okay."
"Yes. You're totally okay, Robin," the chief said. "You're amazing, in fact."
"Yep," Tracey said, "she is."
"Dammit, Tracey," I said, "get that camera offa me..."
"Okay..." Tracey took some shots of the crowd and the building instead. I found out later that those kinds of shots were called B-roll shots.
"The KRPX guys are here," she said conversationally.
"They are?" I said. "Then I guess it's time for us to sign off, then." As I was looking at the little girl, she turned to me. She smiled and waved to me, and I waved back.
"I'm Phoebe," she said.
"Hi, Phoebe," I answered. "I'm Robin."
"Hi. Robin. You're real pretty..."
In the background, and in my earpiece, I still heard Tracey.
"Okay, Talia," she was saying. "We're gonna shut down now. The TV folks are finally here now, and they can finally take over."
"Okay, Tracey," I heard Talia reply. "Well there you have it, folks, a blow-by-blow field report of the ongoing fire in the Jackson Residential Building downtown by KRPQ's own Nighthawk and her sidekick and producer Tracey, and her amazing rescue of one of the firefighters, overcome by smoke as he himself was attempting to rescue a little girl. The little girl and the firefighter are fine now, as well as our Nighthawk - they're currently being tended to by the paramedics on-site. As to the fire, our latest information..."
I wondered why Talia was talking that way and then I suddenly realized that we were live streaming the whole time. I looked at Tracey, who was looking at me with a small smile on her face. She had the camera down by her side now, and I couldn't hear her or Talia in my ear anymore, so I knew she wasn't transmitting anymore.
"Tracey, you fink," I said mildy, and she laughed out loud.
"What's so funny, Robin?" Phoebe asked. She was standing beside my stretcher now, and smiling down at me, her mom and dad beside her.
"Oh, nothing, honey," I said, and reached for her hand.
- - - - -
A few hours later, I was home in bed, sleeping. Needless to say, the band and I weren't able to practice, but Dale and the guys didn't blame me for it.
I begged off being brought to the hospital, and after the paramedics were through checking me out, they didn't protest too much and let me go home
I decided to leave my car in the station's basement parking for now, and asked Tracey to bring me home instead. By the time the guys came by, I had already had a quick shower and, after taking some paracetamol, was sleeping soundly. When I woke up at around eight, the guys were still there. Danielle, Nikki and Morgan were in my bedroom - Nikki and Danielle sitting on the bed and Morgan quetly playing with my old Playstation 4. The rest of the guys were downstairs, no doubt gorging themselves on mom's food. Dammit...
"Hey, sleepyhead," Nikki said, and kissed me gently on the cheek.
"Hey, beautiful," I replied.
"How's our hero" Morgan asked while he sat in front of my TV.
"Still out of it, I think," Danielle said, giggling.
"No, I'm not," I said, and caught myself yawning.
"No, she's not," Danielle said, correcting herself.
"That was amazing, what you did," Morgan said, coming over and tousling my hair. "You did good, bud."
"Thanks, Morgan."
"But you don't ever do that again!"
Morgan then read me the riot act, his point being I could have been hurt or killed, and, worse got other people hurt and killed. Danielle, Nikki an the other girls were of the same mind, but the guys weren't - they were more proud of me than mad. After all, I was "some freakin' hero now, dude," as Mike put it.
I contritely agreed with Morgan and the girls, of course, although, in the back of my mind, I thought that Luke and Phoebe would have died had I not done what I did. I didn't say that out loud, of course.
Later on, I found out that everything that happened, from the moment I started talking with the fire chief until the time I got Luke and Phoebe down, and I was put in the ambulance stretcher, had all been been live-streamed. And with the permanently-on audio, everyone heard each aside, burp, swear-word, self-monologue and side-conversation. As for my... vigorous calisthenics and gymnastics, they saw most of it courtesy of Tracey's telephoto lens. I must have been blushing in combination mortification and shame the whole night as the guys recounted everything.
Yep, the whole thing was on the internet. It was automatically coded and parsed by Tracey's system into five consecutive five-minute videos, and they were all trending.
Morgan had the five files uploaded into YouTube, and he put links to them on the station's website. At that moment, the site's counter was up to two hundred thousand unique hits per video file, but I was sure the YouTube count was much, much higher.
- - - - -
Tracey told us that KRPX had paid the station for rights to our video, but since Mrs. P didn't really restrict access to them, anyone on the net could actually watch the video for free. KRPX still paid, though, so that they could officially put their station and network logo on them (without it, putting their logo on the videos would have gone against Fair Use practices). Of course, Morgan and Tracey put our own station logo to the copies that KRPX got.
Our agreement also gave KRPX carte blanche to edit and shorten the video to something that network TV would like, and, of course, KRPX's national network could pick up and use KRPX's version.
But then, Mrs. P also gave the same permissions to the other two national networks as well as CNN, allowing them the same rights. I'm sure KRPX felt a little miffed by that, but business was business. The station could use the income, plus, with four networks airing it, that meant more free publicity for me, or rather me-as-Robin, and the station.
Of course, KRPX had one big advantage - since they were based in town, they were easily able to supplement our video with their own coverage and people, splicing their video and ours together in such a way as to make it appear that our video was really just a part of their own coverage, especially with our call sign being very close to their call sign. KRPX suddenly started calling us their "sister station," and started calling me "KRPX's very own Nighthawk."
Other more professionally run stations would not have dared to say that, what with network and employee contracts, broadcast rights, copyrights and such, but before Mrs. P could react, it seemed KRPX's network gave them a call, forcing KRPX to quit calling us their sister station and the Nighthawk as "their own." They were also made to air a "clarificatory announcement" later on. That announcement, in part, said, "KRPQ Radio, and Robin, KRPQ's Nighthawk, are in no way affiliated with our network and KRPX TV."
Of course, no one really saw that announcement since they aired it at two AM. That necessitated a call to KRPX by Mrs. P, and they were forced to make the same announcement everytime they re-aired our video.
Ahhh! Sweet revenge.
We didn't actually see KRPX's version. What we did see was CNN's version which, we were told by Mrs. P, was going to be aired on their 9PM Saturday program. The whole gang crowded around our TV in the living room.
With twelve kids in our living room, it was pretty crowded, but no one minded. Everyone was unusually quiet: no doubt they didn't want to bother our folks - they were just upstairs, after all.
Needless to say, mom and dad knew about my moonlighting as Dannie and as a DJ, but, to be honest, they really didn't want to know much more about it beyond that, so Danielle and I never really bothered to update them much.This particular escapade of mine was part of the "not updating them much" thing, so they knew nothing about it. I could just imagine what my dad would have said and done if they knew about this.
I missed dinner, and mom and dad had gone up already to leave us alone, but Danielle saved a plate for me. And as I polished off my second turkey leg while we sat in front of the TV, our program came on.
"Nowadays," CNN's anchor began his program, "most of the nation is quite obsessed with the goings-on in DC and in the government. Sadly, our own network is caught up in this national obsession as well, and much of our national coverage is centered around the government and our leaders, and the scandals and political shenanigans that they indulge in everyday. But, tonight, I'd like to begin the show with something different from this usual fare - something quite uplifting and inspiring for a change. We haven't focused on small-town America enough, and this particular story from small-town America might have been missed, if not for the internet. I'm glad that we were lucky enough to have stumbled over this little piece, so we're showing it to you, and, perhaps, even for a few minutes, you will all feel uplifted and proud that there are still those in our country who exemplify our country's ideals - of others first, and self-sacrifice."
The show shifted to an overhead helicopter shot of our little town. Maybe they got it off Google Earth.
"So we take you now to this little burg somewhere in the eastern side of the country. It begins this morning, with the local radio station, KRPQ, and it's early morning program."
Part of my progam's audio from this morning replaced the sound, and we could hear me bantering with some some girls about makeup, clothes, music and, especially, boys. After a few seconds of that, it switched over to another on-air conversation I had, this time with a bunch of geeky boys, about music, movies games and, especially girls. All this over a panoramic moving sky-shot of our town.
"Doesn't sound like anything special, right?" CNN' anchor said. "But you'd be surprised to hear that this fun little early-Saturday morning program is the most popular program in that part of the country at its time slot, beating the ratings of all of its competition in its particular timeslot, on both TV and radio. Overall, it's the highest rated single program in that area, and that's due mostly to its fans - almost all of them kids.
"It's fanbase is also growing, too - with many of the small stations in the surrounding franchise areas clamoring for syndication rights, and its streaming audio over its website getting the most unique hits compared to any other streamed radio show during that time.
"Why, you may ask is this little program, and therefore its little ten-kilowatt radio station, so successful?"(At that time, the video switched to random pictures gleaned, most probably, from our website.)
"You might say it's the unique call-in talk format. You might say it's the unique target market of young adults, pre-teens, adolescents and, yes, even young kids. You might say it's the squeaky-clean patter of its host, or the relatively unique selection of music it plays, which are almost exclusively eighties and nineties pop songs. It might be the exposure that its gotten on local TV care of a few specials, and the sponsorship of some big companies, including Rockrgrrl, currently one of the hottest manufacturers of musical instruments.
"Yes, if you said those things, you'd be correct. But only partially. You see, the success of the program, and its home station, is largely because of its host."
At that point, they paused the video on the picture of me, or rather Robin - the one that hung in the station's waiting area showing me by the board of the old station in a sassy white top, jeans, ginormous headphones on my head, and with me winking at the camera saucily as I held out a peace sign.
"This is Robin, or the Nighthawk, as her fans know her mostly. Previous to KRPQ, she was totally unknown, and we have had little time to unearth more information about her. But it is an incontrovertible fact that this beautiful young lady is the mastermind of the Nighthawk progam, its unique style and its stong appeal to the youth of their town." They started to show the few pictures we had of Robin from the website, but after they showed the dozen pictures from the site, they had to repeat them in a cycle.
"This young lady is quite talented and unique, and boasts a loyal following, almost fanatic in their devotion to her, which is growing every week. The squeaky-clean content of her shows fit the demographic which her program has targetted to a 'T,' and even the most conservative of radio listeners wouldn't have a problem with her. But there are also racey moments, too, especially when Robin has to deal with some unsavory callers who seem to target young ladies like her. But Robin would dispatch these callers with quiet efficiency that even Howard Stern would be impressed, and all with a gentle charm all her own." In the background, we could hear excerpts from my show where I handled what Tracey calls the "creepeys."
"There is also some ocassional high drama on her show, too, such as the time when she dealt with a suicidal young woman and convinced her not to push through with her plan on the air." We heard some excerpts from that time when I had that chat with Val. I got a bit teary-eyed there, and Nikki and Danielle gave me a hug.
"It wouldn't surprise you to learn that Robin and that girl are now fast friends, and the girl is doing well." I smiled at that, and Tracey gave me a big grin and a wink when I caught her eye.
"This is one exceptional girl, but we just didn't know just how exceptional the Nighthawk was until this morning."
Over my picture, they played Val's call where she told us about the fire. "... we can see the Jackson Building plain as day!"
"And, like any good media person, Robin immediately raised the alarm." They then played part of the last few minutes of my program.
"... there's currently a big fire in the Jackson Residential Building," I said in Robin's voice. "If you have friends who live in the Jackson Building, give them a call; find out where they are, and if they're home, tell them to evacuate now; if you're near the building, stay away, and help make a cordon and keep everyone else away; keep everyone safe, keep yourself safe, until the authorities get there..."
The video showed some news footage of the fire, but artfully edited to show the fire as it was still ongoing instead of being after the fact.
"The word spread like wildfire (forgive the word heheh), and the authorities who, at that time were still unaware of the fire, finally mobilized. Robin's announcement helped save everyone in that building.
"But the young lady wasn't happy with just announcing the fire, as you will see in the following video, care of KRPQ.
"In the absence of any news media on-site, Robin and her producer, Ms Tracey Piper, decided to cover the fire themselves for KRPQ." They then played the opening of Talia's show.
"Good morning, everyone. This is Talia Roberts for KRPQ Radio. I know you guys were expecting my usual program, but we're pre-empting that for the moment. KRPQ News and Current Affairs is cutting in with a breaking news story. Come in, Nighthawk..."
And then they showed the opening footage of my, ahem, 'coverage:' "Hello, everyone," I said into Tracey's camera. "This is the Nighthawk, live on streaming video. We're currently here at the Jackson Residential Building a few minutes from KRPQ headquarters, where a fire has broken out..."
"We have to give Robin, as well as Tracey, props for innovation," the CNN anchor said over my video. "They could well have just covered it as a radio item for KRPQ, but they did one better. She and Tracey, using a lot of talent and innovation, covered the show as well as any TV news team could, and actually live streamed it on the internet."
They showed a closeup picture of Tracey shooting video with her Canon camera. "Like many vloggers do, Tracey and Robin used used a video-capable DSLR camera, a radio microphone, and off-the-shelf hardware and software to post their piece on the internet." They then showed an excerpt from our coverage, mostly me trying to act like Abby Hunstman.
"The coverage was more than competent, even though it was a bit hamstrung by their limited equipmen,t but the dynamic duo of KRPQ News and Current Affairs did a bang-up job. Not even CNN war correspondents could have done better.
"Ultimately, though, it was just a fire in a small town, in a residential building where no one was hurt. What made it interesting, at least to us here, is this..."
"Hey, kid!" The fireman at the fire truck's controls called as he tried to snag me while I climbed up the ladder, and Tracey calling me on the walkie-talkie: "Robin! What the hell are you doing! Goddammit, Robin! Come back!"
"Sorry, Trace," I replied, puffing a little as the video showed me climbing the ladder rapidly, my jeggings-encased booty wiggling noticeably.
"Woohoo!" Mickey exclaimed. "Sexy butt!"
"Shadapp!" Joanne said, and threw a cushion at him.
Thank goodness for the dark pants and the late morning shadows - no telltale outlines were evident. I did note to myself, though, that I need to wear gaffs more regularly.
The video then cut to me checking out Erica, the girl firefighter who was knocked out, and me sticking my hand out and giving the people down on the ground a thumbs-up sign, which was greeted by a cheer from the people on the street.
The video then cut to me at the top of the fireladder kicking in a window more than a dozen times. "Robin!" Tracey screamed. "Don't do what I think you're thinking of doing!" It then showed me jumping through the window.
"We believe that Robin took took a big chance doing that," the news anchor said, "since only professionals are trained to do such things. But, nevertheless..."
The video then showed me sticking Luke, the fireman's head out the window, and then Phoebe the little girl, and me sticking our heads through the window, too.
"Are you an angel?" the little girl asked.
"No, honey," I replied. "Just a girl who happened to be around."
"I think you're an angel," the little girl repeated, and I smiled at her.
"If you insist," I said.
"In a coordinated effort," the news anchor said, "Robin then handed little Phoebe Clarke to the fireman outside, and she was eventually brought down to safety. But, instead of waiting for the firefighters to come back to rescue them, Robin did the incredible."
Courtesy of Tracey's telephoto lens, we saw me take off Luke's fireman's jacket and pants, and, along with them, all of his heavy equipment. The guys laughed and giggled at the almost naked fireman wearing only an undershirt, shorts, socks and his fireman's hat.
I then sat him on the window ledge, tied his arm to the window frame, sat in his lap like he was a big, bony chair, and then strapped the both of us together.
"Oooh!" the girls around me said.
"Oh, shut up!" I replied.
The video cut to a shot of Fire Chief Smith. "The reason Robin took of Officer Hoskins' jacket and pants," he explained, "was so to quickly divest him of all of his firefighting equipment. Most firefighters carry close to fifty pounds of equipment with them, such as a fire axe, breathing equipment, lights, radio and other things, and these are all attached to a fireman's jacket and pants. And taking them off was the quickest way for Robin to lighten her load by at least fifty pounds. And for a girl as tiny as her, she really needed to do that. Robin is a pretty sharp girl. She did good. Ummm... we do apologize, though, for Officer Hoskins' choice of underwear..."
The people from the network zoomed in on a static shot of Luke's boxers, which showed Snoopy prints all over them. We all laughed. I didn't even notice that at the time.
"That was not a moment too soon," the TV anchor said, "because, a minute after Robin started moving down the ladder..."
The video cut to me and Luke about a dozen feet down the ladder, and then an explosion, with smoke, fire and debris shot out of the window we just came from.
"Needless to say," the news anchor said, "the last two people rescued in that fire were little Phoebe and Officer Lucas Hoskins. For the record, there were no fatalities in the Jackson Building fire."
Everyone in our living room cheered and clapped at that piece of information, and the video then showed a final static shot of me and Phoebe lying across from each other in ambulance stretchers, smiling and waving at each other.
"The police and fire department are conducting an investigation while social services are helping out the displaced residents. Initial findings show that the fire may have been caused by old or faulty electrical wiring, and the rapid spread of the fire may have been due to faulty water sprinklers. The builidng is almost fifty years old after all.
"Nothing is definite at the moment, but we do know is that that tragedy was averted due to a good samaritan calling in to a radio show, and for an amazing young woman who, almost singlehandedly, mobilized her town's fire department and police, provided incredible coverage of a fire that real newspeople essentially ignored, and rescued a man and a little girl all by herself.
"We'll be keeping an eye on this amazing girl, and let you know whatever amazing things she will be doing in the future, and I for one do believe that they will be amazing."
He then wrapped up that segment and continued on with his program, and the gang all cheered and clapped while Nikki peppered my face with kisses, and Mike gave Tracey a kiss on the cheek.
"Oooh!" we all reacted to that.
***** (At the "Center," several hundred miles away) *****
Ray Lomax, Dani Marks, Sheri Kirsch, Rita McFadden and Heather Davis were all in the Center's break room, relaxing and unwinding after a day of unremitting derring-do.
Ray switched on the TV, and the girls cheered, but instead of tuning in to something fun, Ray switched the TV to CNN, and the girls booed.
"Quiet, girls," he said. "I just want to check if there's anything happening that we need to know about." He dodged some throwpillows as well as a cupcake (the cupcake was courtesy of Heather - she had saved it from their dinner earlier. She was regretting throwing it now. "My yummy cupcake," she muttered sadly).
Instead of the news, they had tuned in to a program that was just starting, called "Anderson 360," and Sheri got comfortable - it was one of her favorite programs - one of the few that she liked on CNN, and prepared to enjoy the show. But, after a few minutes of watching, though, she realized who the program was about.
"Ohmigod," she said, and looked at Dani and Heather. "It's about Dee!" ("Dee" was their nickname for Danny.)
Ray called to a girl who had just entered.
"Vee," he called. "Call Kris."
"Huh?" replied.
"Just do it, Vee! Call Kris! Get her in here. Now!"
"Okay, okay! You don't have to bite a girl's head off... Jeez!"
A minute later, Kris Keys, with Liz in tow, plus a little cat everyone called Miss Bonsai, came in.
"What up, Ray?" Kris said.
Ray took her hand and pulled her close to the TV.
"Look at this, Kris," Ray said.
And everyone watched the ten-minute segment largely in silence.
"Wow," Rita said. "That girl is really something."
"Too bad, though," Heather said. "It could have been better if Dee did it as The Black Widow, she giggled.
"I don't know Heather," Dani said. "I think her Robin disguise is pretty cute. She looks good as a brunette."
"I think she looks better as a redhead," Heather said.
"Keys!" Colonel Harris called. They hadn't seen him come in.
"Yes, Colonel?" Kris replied.
"Can you get me the file on Daniel Fairchild?"
"What? Now?"
"If you can manage to tear yourself away from the television," he said a little sarcastically.
"Why?"
"No reason. Curiosity, mostly. And also, maybe it's time to update her equipment." With that, he turned around and walked back to his office.
Liz stuck her tongue out at the colonel's departing back.
Kris sighed. "Can't that man switch off, even for a moment?" she said.
Ray gave Kris a kiss. "I'll get the latest scoop on Dee, and get it printed up in a few."
"Thanks, Ray," she said and turned back to the TV. Too bad CNN's news anchor had moved on to something else. "That girl really is something," she thought to herself, unconsciously echoing Rita from a few minutes ago. She was certain Dee's and their paths would cross again, and thought of how the "Black Widow" would look as a brunette.
She thought of passing by the quartermaster's office, and see if they can put together an equipment update for Danny, and maybe even a more sexy Black Widow outfit.
|
in "She’s All In" by Roberta J. Cabot This is another Robin Tibbles story, which is Danny Fairchild’s radio announcer alter ego. Like the other Robin Tibbles stories, this does not materially contribute to the main story, Danny, but is more like “a day in the life” type of story of the main character, Danny, though, in this particular one, it's Danny in his Robin persona. This is one of “Danny's Other Stories" (see https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book-page/72894/dannys-other-...). This story stands on its own, but it would be good to read Danny, even though it is unfinished so that you can get a background of Danny/Robin, the story, and a background of Danny’s friends (see http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/14774/danny). |
Tracey and I were sent by Mrs. P to attend the First National Communicators Conference. It was for three days and was being hosted at Hilton East Brunswick Hotel in New Jersey. Everyone was hoping for New York but it was the first conference, and sponsors and sponsorships were very thin. Hence here we are in New Jersey. The conference was all about “communicators” – reporters, newscasters, news writers, and editorialists, and the theme of the first conference was: “The Responsibility of the 21st Century Communicators In Today’s Interconnected World.” The organizers sent an invitation to the station, for Robin Tibbles to attend the conference, see the toys on exhibit, listen to the speeches, attend lectures, and most importantly, give a speech on the first day of the conference. It wasn’t as impactful as the keynote speech at the end of the conference, but the first speech of the conference was an awfully important one, as well. Mrs. P. practically ordered me to attend.
Before I could react, she said that Tracey would be accompanying me and that she would be taking care of most of the things that needed to be taken care of, but it was up to me to make the speech, and to schmooze, especially schmooze network and company bigwigs, and all of the famous broadcasters I think were worthy of establishing some kind of business relationship.
So, on the first day, I was given a card, and filled out and registered to attend speeches and seminars I thought were interesting, and I picked speeches from Erin Burnett, Savannah Guthrie, Jane Pauley, and Norah O’Donnell. I also included addresses by Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Anderson Cooper. Tracey looked at my list and raised an eyebrow.
“What!” I said.
Tracey copied my card and she gave her and my card to the lady with us, so she could reserve seats. In our list, we made sure to leave time to go through the gadgets on display on the main floor, which was like catnip for Tracey. I was fine to make time for it.
I didn’t really give it much thought, and just picked out the lectures from the top of my head – our assigned hostess needed our cards right away as we were running late: we arrived just a couple or so before the start of the event: the flight was a little delayed and the airport limo wasn’t available. We had therefore arrived via a cab, in a rush, tired and sweaty. I was also missing a bag, but the airport people promised to find it and that they would get it to us at the convention.
I wouldn’t have worried much because it was only a small bag that contained only a few things that I could do without for this trip, except that it had my toiletries, PLUS Dr. Roberts’ special formula in a little spray bottle. I would definitely need that. The event was only three days so I thought nothing much could happen.
Our assigned hostess reminded us that we needed to attend the Friday Fellowship, and she asked us if we planned to do something.
“Plan to do something?” I asked.
“It’s a kind of party. Everyone is asked if they want to do something. Jon Stewart is expected to do a monologue. Anderson Cooper volunteered to MC, and some others had promised to sing some songs. So… can we expect KRPQ’s representatives to ‘do something’ for Friday?”
Tracey and I looked at each other. “I guess we can sing something?”
“Great!” And the girl scribbled on her clipboard. “What can I do to help?”
“Can you, maybe, find us a guitar?”
“Sure thing. I’ll send it to your room. Oh! Also, since it’s just a few weeks away from Halloween, Friday Fellowship is a costume party.”
“But… we didn’t come prepared.”
“Well, let me know how I can help. There are a couple of stores nearby. Maybe I can bring you to them so you can pick a costume you might like.”
I had a privileged spot in front, allowing me to record Robin, for the purpose of posting it on the website. We’ve been given permission, of course.
For this occasion, I had a setup that was similar to the one we used for the coverage of that fire we made back then, except I was plugged into the sound feed of the room instead of using a mic. I could have just used the event’s video coverage, but apparently, we had to pay for that. So that meant we had to take care of our own video.
There were two podiums – one for the host and moderator - Anderson Cooper, and another for the speaker. I requested our hostess to set a half apple at the foot of the speaker’s podium, but the half apple might be a little low, so I asked for a full apple.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Anderson started, “It is the first time for our first speaker to be heard speaking in a public event like this. And some may argue that other broadcasters might be more appropriate to speak at our conference. But I do not agree with that.
“Some may argue that I have a proprietary interest in our speaker since it was my program that brought attention to her coverage of that fire in her small hometown in Middle America. Some will argue that it wasn’t a real news piece – that it was more a kind of stunt to increase her audience. But learning about the circumstances, and having met her since, I firmly believe that she was just doing her best, and be a credit to her little radio station, and help the people of her little town. She did her best to bring word of vital importance to her community in the best traditions of American radio and TV journalism. And having discharged that role, she risked her life to save people. Let us welcome the first speaker of the First National Communicators Conference, broadcaster Robin Tibbles, of radio station KRPQ.”
I had worn a sexy-looking office-friendly LBD – something Danielle picked for this occasion. She said my speech would probably be featured somewhere, so I should look my best. Mrs. P also said that Tracey needed to record my speech so that we wouldn’t need to get it from other sources. She also had gotten permission, so Tracey wouldn’t have problems.
I was also working without a bra, as a lot of my underwear was in the missing bag, but at least the dress had some substance and foundation to it - it had underwire support so the dress held its shape, but it didn’t help to hide my… bouncing. But the dress still helped a lot. I also went bare-legged as all my stockings were in the missing bag itself. I had to wear my one spare black gaff since my fancy underwear was also in the bag, but I had about three left. I washed the pair I wore, and left it to dry hanging in my bathroom’s curtain rod - since I would have to rotate the three, just in case I didn’t get my bag back on time.
I stepped up on the apple box and this allowed me to appear to be like five-eight or so. The podium was shaped in such a way that my legs couldn’t be seen from the knees up, so no embarrassing pictures.
Everyone clapped as I stood behind the stage, and had to wait for everyone to settle down. As usual, I worried that they were paying attention to my looks instead of anything else.
Since I didn’t have Dr. Roberts’ formula, I didn’t have the usual protection I relied on. But I was at least a good fifteen or twenty feet from the audience, so that might help. So, instead of the formula, I scrubbed myself really well, and put a lot of Tracey’s perfume (I was thinking of using the ones in the bathroom, but Tracey had a couple of different perfume sets, and she gave me one).
“Thank you, ladies and gentlemen,” I said. “Thank you, colleagues, fellow broadcasters and communicators…” I suppressed a giggle.
I paused before I started reading my speech from the index cards I had prepared... “I apologize. I find it funny and strange to say such a thing to a room full of what I consider heroes and mentors. My credentials are very thin. I have been on the job at my station for less than a year, yet I have the gall to say ‘colleagues, fellow broadcasters and communicators’ …” Everyone laughed good-naturedly.
“As communicators, it’s our role to inform, educate and entertain. My program on KRPQ does the entertainment part of the equation and we do our best. We have been doing more than adequately, and we do our best to keep our audience’s interest in the program. We were expecting this to be the case one particular Saturday, but then we got word that there was an ongoing fire in town. From what we knew at the time, the authorities were not aware of the situation.
“We took it upon ourselves to inform the authorities and the public about the situation. And we decided to cover the fire until mainstream media was up to speed.”
I sighed. “I suppose, when I took it upon myself to get involved with the rescue was not, let us say, appropriate. It’s one thing for trained rescue professionals to risk their lives doing their jobs, it’s another for a civilian to risk his. There really is no excuse for it. After the event, I have since talked about that on the air, and it was a topic of lively debate on the show. My personal view is that I shouldn’t have done it. I am taking full responsibility for that.”
Lots of people in the audience booed that. I waved them away.
“Thank you for your support, everyone, but I disagree… Yes, it reflects badly on me, but as people who also ‘educate,’ it is part of our role to let people know. I have owned up to my bad decision, and, though what happened turned out fine, that will not be the case all the time, so we have to leave it to the professionals.
“In the interim, I have joined a volunteer EMT and rescue program, and I got my certification a few weeks ago. If something like what happened happened again, I’d be fully qualified to join the first responders. My point, I guess, is that we shouldn’t take matters into our own hands.”
Someone raised a hand. “Yes, ma’am?”
“I understand what you are saying, Ms. Tibbles,” the lady who raised her hand said (I think it was Abby Philip, though I wasn’t sure, except that she was just as gorgeous), “but I guess I would point out that without your efforts, that fireman and that little girl might have died. How do you respond to that?”
I paused. “Well, no one can be sure of that…”
“Many are, Ms. Tibbles, including me…”
“… well, regardless – from a safety point of view, I shouldn’t have taken the risk. If things happened differently, Fireman Hoskins and little Phoebe might have perished.” I raised a hand. “Yes, like I said, everything turned out well, but it might not have…”
“You’re right, of course, Robin, but I’m sure the family and friends of fireman Hoskins and little Phoebe are thankful that you did.” There was applause from the people in the room.
- - - - -
I gave everyone a heartfelt thank you, and I continued with my speech, which was all about recognizing the responsibility that we in the industry have, and that we shouldn’t take unwarranted responsibility for things we do not have the authority or ability, or training for, that our role as communicators comes with responsibilities attached to it. Just like a movie, TV, or book critic, we, who hold sway to what people read, watch, or listen to, need to accept that, as we pontificate about how a writer wrote his story, or how a movie or TV show portrays a topic, we have to have more than just a lot on the ball, and not just opinions. I also mentioned “gotcha” comments – that our comments should be more than just pointing out mistakes.
Someone who looked like Abby Huntsman raised a hand. “Ms Tibbles,” she said, “wouldn’t that make things a little bit Pollyanna-like?”
“Well, there are two things that may be relevant here: Just like my mom or dad, I’m sure your folks have also said something similar to ‘if you have nothing nice to say,’ et cetera. So, if it were just that, then that would surely be Pollyana-ish… But if that’s not all that one wants to say, then I would suppose that it would be relevant to ‘communicate’ that.”
“What if it’s not negative? Say it’s not a ‘gotcha’ comment, but just a, say, a positive message of no moment as well…”
I shrugged. “I would suppose something like that would be… as they call it on TV, a ‘feel good’ piece. And under the heading of ‘entertainment.’ For me, that is. I’m sure some would not agree. But that’s my opinion.
“In any case, as ‘communicators,’ we must apply our own sets of values to what we do.”
I went on with my theme, elaborating on the ideas of informing, of responsibility and relevancy, and for doing good instead of not. I did entertain questions as I went on. Seems no one wanted to wait for the Q&A at the end of my talk, and it lengthened my talk to something longer than the hour and a half allotted to me, but my MC let my talk meander. But, at least, I got an excellent reaction to my speech. At the conference party, our hostess told Tracey and I that my speech seemed to be the most popular one, even though I wasn’t able to satisfactorily answer the main question they seemed to have: what did I really think of wrongly taking things into my own hands, and kept relating it to rescuing the people I rescued.
I thought that they were taking me to task, but it was something they really wanted to know.
Danny… I mean Robin… finished her speech, and, judging by the response, I think that it went really well. But then Danny always had that magic touch. Robin and I attached a small GoPro on our tops in place of a brooch. They were the new versions that had their own transmitters that I had slaved to my laptop.
We had to explain that we were covering the event for KRPQ so that no one made a big deal of it. I had adjusted the audio pickups so they would be sure to get the audio around us, but not to include us. Robin and I made sure that everyone knew we were recording so they’d be okay with it.
As we walked around the display floor, we had a large following, obviously trailing us. Well, Robin, actually.
Various people: executives and VIPs, would hand Robin and me their business cards, and all of them ask for appointments with Robin, me, or Mom. We told them we’ll reach out later.
But the crowds didn’t really thin out. What was great, though, was that, as we walked the floor, the exhibitors gave us lots of free merch and swag. So we were going home with loads of t-shirts, pens, new wireless mics, noise-canceling headsets, a prototype portable teleprompter, one-year complimentary postpaid accounts, and lots of other cool stuff.
I called Mom and sweet-talked her to ship all our stuff back home, and Robin got the hotel folks to keep our stuff until the last day, and, as usual, Robin got her way.
Most of the convention was like that, but I found myself with a lot of time flying solo. I never noticed that Robin liked to shower a lot – just before breakfast, just before the lunch break, in the middle of the afternoon, and just before the dinner hour. It’s like Robin’s paranoid about dirt and sweat…
Anyway, everything was going great, and we were making progress with the networking. But then something happened Friday afternoon.
I have wondered why the “non-serious” part of the convention was in the afternoon, and then we were told that everyone had to be in costume.
When we were brought to the store the previous day, the pickings were pretty slim. Tracey lucked out and was able to find a great Princess costume, and she looked fabulous in it (I did have to sweet-talk the concierge at the hotel to do a quick dry-clean, though).
For myself, there weren’t any nice costumes in my size except a not-so-realistic Wonder Woman costume. It wasn’t realistic since it was a “slutty” Wonder Woman costume. But I had no choice – it was the only one that fit. The only nice thing about it was that it was complete, with all the parts, like the gold wrist things, the gold lasso, the gold tiara, and the tall boots.
After lunch, we all were required to be in our costumes, in preparation for Fellowship Night. So after lunch, we went to our rooms and changed into our costumes. I still didn’t have bras as my missing bag has not turned up yet. So I made sure my Wonder Woman costume was zipped up tightly to give me some support. I clipped my GoPro between my boobies, and since the outfit didn’t have pockets, I tucked my smartphone in the only convenient place. I clipped my ID to the top of the bustier and then went back to the convention floor with Tracey in her costume as well.
Arriving there, we went to Colbert’s talk. I tried not to be noticed but it was a futile wish.
During Colbert’s lecture, though, four armed people in policeman costumes and masks barged in.
“Everyone raise your hands and don’t move!” the biggest masked man yelled. “All we want is Caesar Conti!”
I leaned toward the guy beside me. “Who’s Caesar Conti?”
“He’s the president of one of the networks.”
“Oh…”
One of the plainclothes house detectives brought out his gun, but before he could fire, two of the kidnappers hit the detective on the shoulder, spun him around, and knocked him down.
After they grabbed Conti, they rushed out of the room. No doubt they were on their way down to the lobby. One of the organizers called the lobby, and then the police.
“Okay, folks,” he said. “The building security and the police have been alerted. All the stairway doors and elevators are being locked down. Everyone, however, is required to stay here until Security has given us the all-clear.”
I thought about it. Maybe the kidnappers weren’t going to the ground floor. But if they weren’t…
I heard one of the elevators open, and I sprinted outside.
I saw several people in suits step out of the elevator and I dived through the closing elevator doors.
“Hey!” one of the security people exclaimed.
“Send people to the roof!” I said and pressed the button for the roof.
I nervously watched the numbers go up and when the elevator doors opened, I leaned back against the elevator wall and kept my finger on the “open” button.
No one jumped out so I peeked outside. No one was around. Thinking I could use some support, I pressed the convention floor and closed the elevator.
What I saw was a narrow hall with a short stairway on the left that went up to a door that probably led to the rooftop, three dumpsters beyond that, and an exhaust fan at the end. I looked to the right and there was a fire escape door. I checked it out and it wasn’t locked. I might actually be right.
Given how many floors the hotel had, I knew I still had a minute. I looked around and found a two-by-two. I picked it up and waited.
I heard the clatter of feet in the fire escape and stood beside the door.
When the door opened and one of the masked men peeked out, I clobbered him on the head. The guy sprawled on the floor unconscious. Another guy looked out and he pointed his gun at me. I hit him in his hand and knocked his gun out of his hand. I hit him on the head as well.
The two knocked-out kidnappers were blocking the door so I pulled them through by their collars. I then reached out and slammed the door closed. I jammed my two-by-two into the emergency door and the jamb.
I then used my lasso and tied the two unconscious men with their hands and ankles back to back. I picked up the guns the two dropped. I ran up the stairs to the roof, and their helicopter was coming in to land. I ran out to the helicopter pad and started firing at the chopper.
I didn’t know much about guns much less fire straight, but I did manage to scare them off. The chopper flew away. At least the assholes won’t have a getaway vehicle, but they still had their hostage…
I threw away the now-empty guns and jogged back to the door. One of the remaining two kidnappers, what I think was the leader, was just emerging from the door and then he saw me.
For some reason, I decided to run at him. He saw me running towards him and he fired. He cocked his rifle, and as I zigged and the guy shifted his target, and I zagged just as he fired again. I was running full-tilt, and by the time he had cocked his rifle again, I was upon him. I kicked and jumped up, and, with my feet leading, I hit him full in the face, knocking him backward. I picked myself up and picked up the guy’s rifle.
The gun this guy had didn’t seem to be appropriate for kidnappers, but it was enough for me.
I peeked around the door and saw the last remaining guy holding onto the TV executive.
I cleared my throat and used my most authoritative voice. “If you know what’s good for you, you better let your hostage go.”
“No!” he said in a trembling voice.
That sounded weird. I peeked again. And I saw him in the corner, trembling. I giggled a little bit at that. I cleared my throat again and stepped out.
The guy fired wildly and I had to duck back. He kept firing until I heard his gun go dry.
I stepped out again, this time taking one of those Wonder Woman poses.
The guy pointed his gun at me, and, even though it was already empty, he kept firing.
“Throw that gun away.”
Trembling he threw his useless gun away.
“Now you let your hostage go.”
He pushed away Mr. Conti.
“Mr. Conti,” I said, “sir – come towards me. Slowly.”
Mr. Conti walked towards me.
“Now, go to the elevator. Press the button and go to the convention floor.”
Mr. Conti pressed the button. “Someone’s coming up,” he said.
The elevator opened and building security and police came out.
They looked at me, and then at the knocked-out kidnappers and the one remaining kidnapper trembling at the far end of the room.
The cops holstered their sidearms.
“Okay, Wonder Woman. Thanks. We’ll take it from here.” He solemnly winked. I tried not to giggle. “Why don’t you escort Mr. Conti back down?”
I gave him a salute. “All right officer.”
I walked into the elevator with Mr. Conti. I pressed the button and, as soon as the elevator doors closed, Mr. Conti and I laughed our heads off.
As soon as Robin and Mr. Conti Stepped out of the elevator, everyone exploded in cheers and applause. Everyone followed the events as they were unfolding: the organizers requested to see Robin's video live, and we followed what was happening as they were happening.
And after everyone had hugged and shaken Robin’s hand at least a dozen times, needless to say, the rest of the convention was canceled. Friday Fellowship was moved earlier, but none of the speakers who got bumped were complaining.
One of the things that the organizers requested was that I share the GoPro video. I got Mom to help with the negotiations but we were able to share Robin’s GoPro after Morgan and my crew had gone through the video and enhanced the audio and video to something close to 4K, and also put KRPQ’s logo in the lower-right corner. The organizers, however, gave us a copy of the hotel’s security video, but it was raw and unenhanced.
In less than thirty minutes, I got Morgan and the guys to make a new version, with the hotel security video and our video time-synchronized and side-by-side. I then shared it with the convention people, and with Robin’s permission, the organizers screened the video during Fellowship.
We watched the video in real-time. The entire video was a total of about twenty minutes, from the moment the kidnappers showed up until Robin and Mr. Conti stepped into the elevator.
The four kidnappers were going to be interrogated by the FBI but we heard from the police, that the last of the kidnappers whom Robin got shaking and crying had been spilling the beans since the police put him under custody, and it rumor is that the mastermind of the kidnapping was one of Mr. Conti’s disgruntled former employees who planned to ransom him back to his company.
The GoPro video had audio, so we heard the complete blow-by-blow, and everyone cheered and clapped as Robin did her Wonder Woman thing. And when the elevator closed on Robin and Mr. Conti, everyone clapped and applauded, just like people watching the end of a great movie.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Anderson said – “Ms. Robin Tibbles: Wonder Woman!”
to be continued...
Teacup Roses, Guitars, a Bus Pass and a Mistaken Identity
(A Danny Fairchild Story) This little interlude is set somewhere in the middle of the events of Chapter 8 of the still unfinished story, “Danny.” This does not materially contribute to that story, but is more like “a day in the life” type of story of the main character, Danny. This story can stand on its own somewhat, but it would be good to read Danny, unfinished though it is, to get a background on the story and characters (see http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/14774/danny). |
I slammed my locker closed after I put in my little backpack with my books and other stuff. I also put the little cardboard box covered in tissue and the elasticized ribbon that I bought at the dime store yesterday on the topmost shelf of the locker.
I wasn’t angry or anything. In fact, it was turning out to be sort of a good day. It was just that I needed to slam my locker door so the lock will latch properly. Only my twin sister Danielle could open and close my locker without needing to jerk it open or slam it closed, but she was away today — some sort of field trip with her class, I think. |
My locker and hers were side-by-side, and they were at the end of a long hallway, with lockers lining both walls. They were on the dead-end side of the hallway where there was a door at the end, but kids never used it and would walk all the way back down the hall to the rest of the school. I think it was a door to a little vestibule that had a little firedoor leading out of the building. But I wasn’t sure.
|
Anyway, I jogged back down the hall and rushed out to my car, which I had thoughtfully parked under the big elm in the open parking lot in front of the school this morning. I had put my little imitation electric Strat in the trunk, and to prevent heat damage and stop the strings from warping or breaking, I parked the car in the shade — didn’t have a choice, really, since I had nowhere else to put my stuff other than in my locker, and it didn’t have enough room for my guitar. Besides, I needed the locker space for that gift Mickey was going to get for me later. It was something I thought I’d give my sister’s best friend, Nikki, as a thank-you for being nice to me a couple of weeks ago at the Photography Club.
I had planned on giving her a teacup bouquet of little pink tea roses (it was like an arrangement of the little flowers in a pot the shape of a china cup), plus four pairs of Sanyo Eneloop batteries for her camera’s flash, and a couple NB2LH batteries for her Canon. Granted the gifts were nerdy as hell, but with the flowers, I think I’ll do okay. And if it was a bit of an overkill for a simple thank-you gift, well… I’ve been head over heels with Nikki since grade school, and this thing at the photography club gave me an excuse to make the gesture I’ve been wanting to do for a while, now.
|
Mickey’s supposed to get the bouquet and stuff for me — given he had the afternoon off today, same as his entire civics class — he offered to get it from the flower shop for me, and he was supposed to give it to me after class, or just drop it off in my locker.
Anyway, back to the story…
Despite my doctor’s letter to exempt me from PhysEd, the only way that the school would allow this was if I take some other school credits by participating in some sort of internship. Doctor Roberts considered my PE exemption necessary given my… ambiguous gender characteristics — I apparently had a lot of secondary female sex characteristics (the most notable of which are my larger-than-average b-cup, or smaller-than-average c-cup, breasts) and I would be the target of a lot of the kids, especially if they saw me in gym. However way I looked at them, they seemed enormous to me. Per my sister’s recommendation, I had taken to wearing sports bras to support them as well as mash them down a bit, up to the point where my tanktop and loose shirts would adequately camouflage them. And it’s been working well enough, so far.
I did take an extra-curricular internship, as required: I was supposed to be a production assistant-slash-intern at KRPQ Radio, but it had grown out of proportion after that almost-disaster with Lou Jefferson, one of the on-air announcers. Now, I am a semi-regular employee at the station, and one of their DJs. But that’s a long story all by itself, and maybe I’ll tell it later.
Thing is, a few weeks ago, some brown-nosing administrative assistant in the principal’s office found an antiquated school board ruling that said that any make-up credits to cover any student’s curricular deficiencies must be done through a school-administered program or class, and is to be done in-campus, just like a regular class.
My counselor gave me the unexpected bad news a couple of weeks ago, and she advised me to sign up for one of the clubs as a substitute. I had the radio thing now, but I couldn’t give it up anymore - it looked like I’ll have to take another class on top of that.
I looked through the list she gave and checked the ones that had available spots that I might, even remotely, like. There were three possibles — Glee Club, Photography and the school paper.
I checked out the school paper first, with ideas of getting those breaking news stories that got into the headlines. But after checking out their pathetic little operation and the teacher that managed the club, I quickly nixed that idea.
So I checked out the Photography Club next. The club had once-a-week meetings in the AV Room — the room with the projector just off the faculty room. The club required their members to bring their own cameras, so since I didn’t own one, I brought along a mint-condition, though pre-historic, cast-off Canon D30 which my uncle Nathan, who lived all the way in Canada, shipped to me (apparently, my mom emailed our relatives, including those that lived in Canada, Ireland and Italy, all about it). I was laughed out of the room because of my pathetic camera. Nikki, my twin sister’s friend, was apparently a member, too, and was at least sympathetic and didn’t join in on the laughing, and actually walked out with me, apologizing in behalf of the jerks. I didn’t say much, as I was dumbstruck that she would do this for me (As I mentioned, I had a serious crush on Nikki, but that is also another long story best told some other time.)
|
Later on, I learned from Nikki that the school’s camera club wasn’t anything but a venue for rich kids with camera fixations to show off their latest electronic acquisitions. Nikki would quit if there were any other camera club around that she could join. So - screw the camera club, right?
My last option was the Glee Club. Having seen the new TV show (Don’t tell the guys, but it has rapidly become my favorite show. Call it a guilty pleasure.), I didn’t really have high hopes for the club. Much to my surprise, it wasn’t that bad. True, most of the members were in the lower-bracket of the school’s social hierarchy (it was Glee Club, after all). But that wasn’t such a bad thing — truth be told, even with everything that has happened to me recently, I was still in the same place in the school’s pecking order as before, so I wasn’t much different from these guys.
There were more girls than boys than I expected. Geek-girls to be sure, but with lots of potential, if they just cleaned up a bit. |
So, I was there, application form in hand, as they stood on stage and went through a really… cruddy version of that classic by The Rolling Stones, “Satisfaction.” I thought the way they sang was off, but what did I know. Anyway, I listened to the group rehearse and kept my cringing-at-every-off-note down to a minimum, and waited to be noticed by the director.
As it happened, I had also brought my guitar then — I didn’t know what was involved when joining the glee club, and thought to be prepared. Anyway, after a couple of run-throughs, they quit. Thank god…
I made a mistake of not controlling my face too much because, after the kids finished the last note, the teacher in charge turned to me.
“All right, young man,” the teacher said, “you can stop snickering and tell us what you are doing here, interrupting us in the middle of our rehearsal.”
I blushed crimson. Taking out my application form, I mutely handed it to her.
The teacher snapped the folded paper open and read through it.
“Children,” she said, “apparently, this young man here is signing up for a spot in our little group. Now, we all know that we are in need of one more member for us to qualify to join the regionals, so, ummm,” she looked at my form, “Mr. Daniel Fairchild may be the answer to our prayers.” She looked me over. “Or is he?”
The kids all gave me hostile looks. Seems I got off on the wrong foot, and I felt a little bead of nervous sweat trickle down my back. It didn’t help that I was dressed down in beat-up jeans and my over-large shirt (I had recently taken to wearing loose shirts over my crew-neck to camouflage my still-growing breasts. Tell you about that another time), whereas most of these guys were in expensive, preppy casual wear.
“Mr. Fairchild,” the teacher continued on, “we do not require auditions, per se, as we are required to accept all applicants. But given we have been together for a few months already, and we know each other’s styles and strengths, we’d like to see what you are capable of.”
So… audition time again. I unlimbered my fake strat and climbed up the stage. The rest of the kids took seats except for one redheaded goth-type girl with her own electric guitar, festooned with stickers and labels from goth-rock bands and movies (the only sticker I recognized was from Siouxsie and the Banshees — a band from twenty years ago that I sometimes see featured on MTV). I smiled at her, and she raised one unimpressed eyebrow at me. Hmmm…
I looked at her guitar and traced the amp cable to a little amplifier at the back of the stage. I got one of the spare cables lying around and plugged in.
It was an easy song to play — just three chords: E, A and B7, over and over again. So I experimentally tried the chords, getting the level right. I stepped up to the mike stand and feedback squealed from the amp. The teacher cringed from the noise, and I quickly lowered the gain.
“Sorry ‘bout that,” I said into the mike. The teacher frowned. I wasn’t endearing myself to her any, I could tell.
Now that I got my guitar set up, I raised the gooseneck mike stand real high and bent it down and forward to me. With that setup, I could at least move around and still sing into the mike. I started playing the chords in a fast four-fourths beat.
“I can’t get no… satisfaction,” I crooned into the mike ala-Mick Jagger, and played E, A and B7 in hard and sharp staccato chops. “I can’t get no… satisfaction.” I spiraled the chords and my singing up. “I try, and I try, and I try, and I try…”
Then fast and hard. Dum-dum, dududum, dududududum.
“I can’t get no!” Dududum, dududududum. “Satisfaction!” Dududum, dududududum.
“When I'm drivin' in my car, and that man comes on the radio. He's tellin' me more and more about some useless information! Supposed to fire my imagination! I can't get no! Oh, no no no…” Guitar chords again - Dududum, dududududum. “Hey, hey, hey! That's what I say!”
I stamped a four-fourth beat on the stage in lieu of drums, and started playing the chords again.
“Hey, goth girl!” I cried, and gestured to the girl with the guitar to join in with a nod of my head. She was grinning from ear to ear watching my antics. She sidled up to me and watched my hands to get the timing right.
“I can’t get no satisfaction!” we both played and sang in synch — great, a Mick Jagger and Siouxsie duet. “I can’t get no satisfaction! I try, and I try, and I try, and I try! I can't get no!”
We sang the next verse into the microphone, side by side. “When I'm watchin' my TV, and that man comes on to tell me how white my shirts can be, but he can't be a man 'coz he doesn't smoke the same cigarrettes as me! I can't get no! Oh, no no no…” Guitar chords in duet - Dududum, dududududum. “Hey, hey, hey! That's what I say!”
It went on like that until the end. And by that time, I got the rest of the group clappin’ and stompin’ the bejeesus out of the floor, especially during the drum parts.
“I can't get no, I can't get no!” I chopped the song there after a final E chord instead of letting it fade out like in the original. Good thing Goth Girl was following my lead, so we were able to end the song crisply and righteously
The rest of the glee club hooted and hollered, climbed up the stage, pounded me on the back and shook my hand. Goth girl gave me a hug, which surprised the heck out of me. Her face makeup, not that thick, actually, nevertheless left a little smudge of makeup on my cheek, but with my sweat, it wiped off real easily.
“Ahem!” the teacher said, clearing her throat. Everyone quieted down.
“Young man, where did you learn to do that?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve been playing the guitar for a while. I guess I just picked it up.”
“Well, however you learned what you did… and the stomping was a great touch.” She stuck her hand out, and I shook her hand. “Welcome to the Glee Club.” And there was a round of cheering.
“My name is Mrs. Sparks, and I run the club,” she said, and started a roll-call of the girls. “That’s Beatriz, Edna, Kalista, Ramona, Valentina, Phylicia, Eileen, and of course, you’ve met Fallon.” Goth girl leaned forward, giggled and gave me a little kiss on the cheek. The teacher raised an eyebrow at that, then gestured over to three guys leaning against the wall. “Those three over there are Gus, Frank and Rocko.”
They waved back. “Hey, dude,” the one called Rocko said. “Great pipes. Welcome.”
I grinned and nodded my thanks. One of the girls, Eileen, was looking at me funny. Still, I gave her a smile.
“So!” Mrs. Sparks said, “any pointers you could share with us about our performance?” She rubbed her hands together like a bank robber contemplating her next heist. I just had to laugh.
We proceeded to hop up their little routine, and made it tighter and more audience-friendly. With Mrs Sparks, and me & Goth-Girl, ummm, I mean Fallon, on our guitars, we were able to make a decent… no, that’s unfair: We were able to make it a great number. The hook to the whole number was the clapping and stomping, which originally was just my off-the-cuff improvisation to compensate for the fact that we didn’t have any band to help. That little number went into their meager repertoire of routines for use in competitions and such. Rocko (what a name, huh?) had the best rock-singer voice among the guys, with a voice like Chad Kroeger, so he ended up singing lead.
I had thoughtfully and deliberately excluded myself from any of the singing, and relegated myself to playing the guitar accompaniment. I mean, I had enough playing and singing with my band, it actually felt good to be second fiddle for once, a fact that got me brownie points with the members since I wasn’t some prima dona that wanted to hog the limelight.
I exchanged backslaps and handshakes with the guys, and the girls hugged me and bussed me on the cheek. It was a wonderful first day with the Glee Club, and I looked forward to the next meeting.
Which brings us to today.
I brought my guitar again, just to be safe. And as I hurried through the hallways, on my way to the music room, I noticed Tom Hennessy, the biggest bully in school walking in my direction. He had something in his hand, what looked like a bat or stick.
I doubled my pace. Chances are, the big tool’s got something in his head again, some excuse to pound on me. I guess whatever Betsy did to scare him off last Halloween has worn off, or whatever she had on him’s useless already.
“Hey!” Hennessy called. “Hey, faggot!” He had broadcasted to everyone that I must be some kind of homosexual since Halloween — it was his revenge, I guess given the costume I wore and the trick I played on him that day.
I slipped my guitar case’s strap on my back, which allowed me to start running. It was difficult to manage, with everyone between classes and walking around in the hallways. I had to dodge around people constantly.
“Dude!” the basketball team’s power forward yelled as I careened around him. I waved in apology and continued on my way.
Hennessy continued getting close, unstoppable and unrelenting. Instead of dodging around people, he just barreled through them. “Move it!” he yelled as he pushed some little guy away. The dude hit the floor hard, but Hennessy just skipped over him. I felt for the guy, as I often found myself in that same position. But I couldn’t stop and help.
I waved at Mel, Drew and Joanna, some friends of my sister, as they chatted with my best friend Morgan, but I didn’t stop to talk.
As I rounded a bend, I saw the door to the music room even as Hennessy turned the corner as well. I cannoned into the room, straight into Fallon’s arms.
Hennessy came in a few seconds after me but came up short when he was blocked by Mrs. Sparks.
“Young man, what is the meaning of this?”
“Move aside, lady,” Hennessy huffed.
“You have no reason to be here. I suggest you leave.”
He gestured at me, about to speak, but Mrs. Sparks interrupted him. “If you have business with Mr. Fairchild, I suggest you wait outside until we’re done.”
“But…”
“Out! Now!”
Hennessy left.
Mrs. Sparks closed he doors and turned to us. She clapped her hands. “All right, my young thespians. Settle down, and let’s get started.”
I gave Fallon a little hug of thanks and extricated myself from her arms.
One of the girls, Eileen, I think her name was, suggested a song, from the animated version of Tarzan. She even came with the music printed up.
“It’s not exactly a fast song, m’dear,” Mrs. Sparks said.
“No, it’s not, ma’am. But sung just right, it’ll be a great song. A showstopper, even.”
“Indeed?” Mrs. Sparks said, smiling. “Do tell, young songstress. Perhaps you would care to demonstrate?”
Eileen coughed. “Well… I’m not good enough. But I think Danny can demonstrate.”
Everyone looked to me. This was exactly what I wanted to avoid. Now everyone will resent me. I looked around. But instead of hostile looks, all I saw were expectant faces.
Eileen came to me, bringing a couple of copies of the sheet music.
“I know your secret, Danny,” she whispered.
I closed my eyes. So this is it. I’ve been found out. I wondered which secret did she know. “I know about Unlimited Bandwidth,” she whispered. “And the others know, too. I told them.”
“What…”
“But we don’t care about that, Danny.”
I looked at her with big, unbelieving eyes. “I was the only one who was able to put two and two together,” she continued. After your singing last week, the voice and the guitar-playing — I could tell it was you in that band, too.”
She looked backwards and saw Mrs. Sparks coming over. “Let’s talk about it some more, later.”
She turned to Mrs. Sparks. “I was trying to point out which song I was suggesting,” she said to Mrs. Sparks. “I think Danny’s got it now.”
I followed her lead. “Yup, I think I know the song.”
“Well, good,” Mrs. Sparks said. “So - any ideas, Danny lad?”
“I think so, yeah.”
“Go for it.”
I pointed to the chubby guy. “Gus, I think you’re gonna be our Phil Collins. And you, Eileen, and, ummm, Kalista,” I pointed to the thin girl with the straight blonde hair, “will be Gus’s second voices.”
I gestured for Fallon to come over and bring her guitar. “Can you read music, Red?” I said, and handed her the sheet music.
“Sure, ‘Red’” she said cockily, and giggled. “Doesn’t everyone?” I raised an amused eyebrow at that.
I had everyone else group together around me.
“Okay, I think we’re all set. And I think this is how we’re gonna do this…”
After an hour or more of practicing and tuning the number, Mrs. Sparks declared the song a success.
“Wonderful work, children,” Mrs. Sparks said. “A couple more run-throughs and I think we will be done for the day.” Her celphone took that moment to ring. Mrs. Sparks looked at the caller ID. “Excuse me, I think I’m wanted in the principal’s office. Danny have them run through another one.” She went out to the hallway.
When she was out of the room. Everyone crowded around me.
“So, Danny, Unlimited Bandwidth, huh?” Gus said.
“How’d you end up becoming their lead singer?” Kalista said.
I shrugged nervously. “It’s a long story.” I told them a little bit about how it all began, but kept the whole business about Batch Fourteen out of it, or of my changing physical condition. I also didn’t mention anything about my internship and my eventual hiring as a DJ - the Nighthawk.
What I did talk about - very little, though - was how everyone seemed to prefer me looking and singing like a girl, and how the band was gaining a kind of popularity I couldn’t understand.
“You’re telling me,” Rocko said. “I always thought that girl was real hot.”
“Oooooh!” everyone said. “Better watch out for Rocko, Danny!” Gus said, snickering.
Rocko laughed. “I was joking, guys!” I grinned in relief as well as a substantial bit of embarrassment.
Frank looked at the door. “Best to talk about this later, guys. Sparks might come back anytime.”
Eileen nodded. “Well, do you have anything after Glee Club?”
“No. But…” I remembered having to meet Mickey, and giving Nikki my gift. “I do have a little errand.”
“Okay,” Eileen said. “How about let’s meet at Archie’s at maybe five or six, to talk some more?” Kalista said, referring to the teenager-friendly restaurant at the mall.
“Might still be too full at that time,” he said.
“Let’s make it eight then?” She looked around. “Everyone okay with that?” It was a little late but apparently it was okay with the others.
Mrs. Sparks came back in. “So, young Master Fairchild,” she said. “How did everyone do?”
“Pretty good, Mrs. Sparks,” I said. “One more for our repertoire.”
“Excellent, excellent,” she said. “Now, time to go home.” She clapped her hands. “One of your assignments for next week, children, is to think up new routines and songs, all right? We are still short a couple of routines. Now, go! Chop chop!”
I got my guitar and other stuff together, and went with the rest to the door. I didn’t understand why these kids are taking my being part of the band so well. As if my dressing up as a girl, or being mistaken as a girl was no big deal. I didn’t have much time so I just went with it, and decided to worry about it later.
Since I was hurrying, I was leading everyone. But as soon as I was halfway through the door, I saw Hennessy lounging around outside. I ducked back in, bumping into the others. I didn’t think he saw me.
“Watch it, Danny,” Gus said, but then he saw my expression. “What’s wrong?”
Before I could respond, one of the girls, Phylicia was her name, I believe, took a peek out the hallway. “It’s that guy again — that big guy, Hennessy? He’s outside.”
“Oh,” Gus said in understanding.
Everyone looked through the door. I had to smile at their overprotectiveness.
“What do you want to do, Danny?” Fallon said. “That SOB is out there waiting. You can’t escape him.”
I shrugged.
“What’ll we do?” Eileen said.
I was pleased at that word — “we.”
“What about we surround Danny, escort him down the hall?” Valentina said.
“That might work,” Beatriz said. “But Hennessy might have some friends with him.”
“Then, it is best that you don’t go through, then.”
We looked behind us. “Mrs. Sparks?...”
“It’s all right, Daniel.” She pointed at one of the girls. “Edna, close and lock that door. Fallon?”
Goth-girl nodded.
“Open that window.” The teacher turned to me.
“Daniel, I suggest you go through the window. I cannot pretend to know what is going on, but I want to help. Give me your guitar. You can pick it up in the teacher’s lounge later. Fallon, help Danny.”
“But…”
“I’ll take care of your guitar as well. Fallon.”
I looked at goth-girl and nodded. She smiled, and gestured to the window. “Let’s go,” she said. She then suited words with action and proceeded to climb through.
I looked back at the guys and shrugged. “Thanks, Mrs. Sparks.” I waved and climbed through, myself.
I dropped down from the windowsill. I looked up to goth-girl.
“Where to, now?” she asked.
“I need to meet up with my friend Mickey, over at the lockers.”
She nodded. “Okay. Where?”
“My locker is at the end of the hall.”
She took my hand and pulled. “Let’s go, then.”
We walked back to the front of the school, and then turned left down to the lockers. When we got to my locker, I unlocked it and then jiggled it in that unique way and jerked it open. Nothing was in there. I wondered where Mickey was, but soon, we heard the flop-flop of Mickey’s sneakers.
“Hey, Mickey,” I said in relief.
“Dude,” he said. “Here you go.” He handed me a plastic bag with the batteries, and a box the size and shape of a small shoebox, upended on its short side. I opened it. Nestled in a bunch of shredded tissue was an arrangement of pink tea roses and several other flowers in a slightly-large teacup, actually a flowerpot. I showed the teacup arrangement to Fallon (I should learn to call her by her name, and not “goth-girl”).
“Beautiful,” she said. “who’s it for?”
“A friend.”
“Ooooh!” she said. “A ‘friend!’” She giggled.
“Oh knock it off!”
“Okay, I’ll be good.”
“So, Danny,” Mickey said, “who’s the goth-girl?”
“My name’s Fallon, you dweeb,” Fallon sneered.
Mickey put on his standard lady-killer look. I rolled my eyes at that.
“So,” he said, “what’s a girl like you…”
“Oh, shut up!” Fallon said.
“What’d I say!”
“Hey, Mickey,” I said, trying to change the subject. “Thanks for getting the stuff for me. How much do I owe you?”
Mickey handed me a couple of receipts. I looked at them and handed over several bills. I didn’t bother asking for change. Just as well, since he just put the money in his pocket, never bothering to check how much I gave him.
Fallon wasn’t too happy that Mickey was there making eyes at her, so she said goodbye. “Archie’s at eight?”
“Yup. Archie’s at eight. See you.”
“And good luck with your ‘friend.’” She giggled.
I smiled embarrassedly, and waved as she went back down the hall.
Mickey waved goodbye, grinned and wagged his eyebrow. “Seeya, dude.” He then went after Fallon, and I laughed.
I turned back to my locker and took down the tissue-covered box and the ribbon I put in there earlier. I put the camera and Eneloop batteries in the small box and snapped the elasticized ribbon around the larger, shoe-box-sized flower box. I experimentally shook the flower box a little, and the shredded tissue kept the flowers from being jostled too much. I got out my backpack. I took out all the books and stuff inside but it was too small for the box the flowers came in. I cursed and jammed my backpack into my locker and slammed the door closed.
I looked around, trying to think of another way to easily carry the stuff. In desperation, I decided to try Danielle’s locker (yup, my name was Daniel — Dan or Danny for short — and my twin sister’s name was Danielle. Long story, tell you some other time).
I set the combination and opened her locker door. Her sachet wafted up, the smell of vanilla and Chanel - something that always reminded me of her. I saw her backpack, a pink and white affair with little flower appliqués all over it. I mean how girlie can you get. But when I laid the box beside the bag, it seemed to be the right size.
“Got no choice. Sorry, Danielle,” I said to my missing sister. I put the boxes in the locker and took out the pack. I looked inside. While rummaging through the pack, I took out my cel and called mom. |
“Mom?” I said, as I looked through the backpack. “I won’t be home from dinner. Hope that’s okay?” I listened a bit. “The guys from Glee Club invited me to Archie’s at eight.” I nodded at what mom said. “Yes, you heard right — Glee Club.” She said something again. “No, they’re not like the kids from the show, and no, our teacher’s a chubby, sixty-year-old grandmother-type, not some cute guy.” I laughed. “Okay, thanks mom. See you later.”
I shut my phone off and turned back to the contents of her backpack. Seems Danielle stashed a complete change of clothes in it, complete with underwear and shoes. Sorry, Danielle. I’m gonna need your pack. I flipped open my phone and texted her a long message, explaining why I needed to borrow her bag. After a few moments, she texted back her okay.
I was about to take out her stuff when Fallon came running.
“Danny!” she said breathlessly. “Tom Hennessy’s out there looking for you!”
Before I could react, Mickey came running, too. He skidded right in front of my locker, and almost bowled Fallon over.
“Danny!” he said. “Tom Hennessy’s out there scopin’ for ya!”
Fallon pushed him away. “He knows already, shithead!”
I looked down the still-deserted hall and didn’t see anyone.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Sure, I’m sure!” Mickey said.
“Does he have his buds with him?”
“No. Which is strange, actually.”
My mind raced a mile a minute, trying to think up something. I looked at the unused door at the end of the hall. I twisted the knob and it opened into a dusty little four-by-four vestibule. Opposite the door was another door, a metal fire door. I pushed down on the fire door’s lock but it wouldn’t budge. “Damn!”
I stepped back into the hall and looked at my two friends. “Okay,” I said. “Neither of you needs this grief. Go.”
“Danny!” “Dude!”
“Go!” I said. “I’ll figure something out. Fallon, I’ll meet you and the guys at Archie’s at eight, okay?”
“Dan!”
“I’ll be all right, Mickey. But right now, you better boogie on out of here. ‘Kay?”
We clasped each other’s arm in our little gang’s private handshake, and he started running back down the hall.
“Cool it, okay?” I said. “Don’t get him suspicious. Don’t run.”
Mickey stopped short. He nodded and gave me a thumbs-up. He put his hands in his pockets and walked nonchalantly down the hall, whistling.
Fallon and I looked at each other and burst out laughing.
“Go on, goth-girl,” I said, and smiled at her. “See you later.”
Fallon went to me and gave me a little kiss on the cheek. She waved before walking away.
Now that I got everyone safe, I could try and save my butt now. I had no ideas. God, what do I do!
I looked at the backpack in my hand, and got an idea. Not the best, but it’s all I could come up with.
I felt around in the side pocket and felt a plastic case. It was a little make-up kit and a wallet. I guess I’m all set. I took a deep breath and went into the vestibule. I took off my shirt and white sports bra, replacing it with Danielle’s tight, red, form-fitting long-sleeved bouclé sweater and her sexy, strapless demi bra.
I pulled off my socks, sneakers, underwear and jeans, and, while being careful of the dust, I put on Danielle’s dainty panties, dark-brown leggings. (I thoughtfully tucked my dick in between my legs before putting on the panties and leggings), and her really expensive Shearling lace-up booties that Dad bought her. I looked down and saw a small telltale bump. I pulled her panties up a bit more and nothing showed that could give me away anymore. Damn. Wish Danielle had pants or at least a skirt instead of leggings…
I stepped out of the vestibule, my guy clothes bundled up into a ball. I put them at the bottom of Danielle’s locker. I put the two boxes into the pink-and-white backpack, and my wallet, comb, keys and the other junk from my pants in the left-side pocket. I took out Danielle’s wallet from the other pocket. It had her library card, buss pass, and about fifty dollars in ones and fives. I put it back and took out the little make-up kit and started touching up my face the way Danielle taught me. I took the little atomizer and spritzed myself with Danielle’s Chanel perfume.
I had just taken our my low guy's ponytail and started combing out my hair as a final touch, fluffing it out the way I saw Danielle do it, when I saw Hennessy’s face in Danielle’s mirror behind my own reflection. “Hey, babe,” Hennessy said to me. I whirled and faced him. He was still carrying the white stick. Baseball bat? Hockey stick? “Tom!” I said. “You scared me.” I went into Danielle mode, and crossed my arms under my breasts, in feigned irritation, trying to cover up the fear. “What do you want?” “Sorry, Danielle,” he said. “I’m lookin’ for your faggot brother. You seen him?” I secretly breathed a little sigh of relief — he didn’t recognize me. I projected Danielle in my mind. “My brother is NOT gay!” I said. “And, besides, after what you tried to do last Halloween, what makes you think I’m gonna tell you even if I knew?” Hennessy shrugged. I harrumphed, closed Danielle’s locker and shouldered the pink-and-white backpack. I walked casually down the hall, or at least tried to. I felt my back prickling, waiting for the other shoe to drop. When I got about thirty or forty feet, Hennessy said, “Wait!” I looked back to him. He looked at me. “Danny?” |
I broke into a dead run.
“Danny? Hey, Danny! Wait!” Hennessy pounded after me. I would have assumed I would find it difficult to balance in the high-heeled booties, but surprisingly, I was coping.
The clack-clack of the boots was loud in the hall, so when I escaped into the rest of the school, I skidded to a stop and started walking in a more normal pace. I zigged and zagged a bit, went up the second level, went back down via the middle stairs, keeping to the high-traffic area, and I effectively lost Hennessy. I looked around, looking for a friendly face but I didn’t see anyone I knew. I walked calmly to the front gate, casually looking around.
Several people who knew Danielle saw me and waved. “Hi, Danielle,” most of them called out. I waved back in what I hoped was a friendly way. I didn’t know most of them, and was again reminded of how popular Danielle was.
Some of the girls came over to chat. One of the cheerleaders (I couldn’t recall her name) waved. “Hello, Danielle,” she said. “Lookin’ sexy as always.” “You’re not looking bad yourself,” I said. And indeed, the blue-and-yellow school cheerleader uniform really did make her sexy. I tried not to be inappropriate with my lingering look so I quickly tore my stare away. Other cheerleaders crowded around us. “Danielle, when are you gonna join the squad?” a second cheerleader, the one with the biggest bust among them said. “There’s room for one more, you know.” The others murmured their agreement. “Thank you girls, but I don’t think I have what it takes to be one of you.” (Like being a stuck-up snob. But, of course, I didn’t say that out loud.) The girls took it as a compliment, giggled and preened. I saw Fallon walk by. She saw me looking at her but she looked away. She probably thought I really was Danielle, and was used to looks from girls like her. I felt bad about that, and I wanted to follow, but it would look weird if Danielle broke away from these girls, so I stayed. |
“I think you’re wrong,” the first girl was saying. “I think we can whip you into shape real quick.”
“And besides, you’re one of the most popular girls in school and totally gorgeous,” said the second girl.
“Well, let me think about it, okay?”
“Okay, but not too long,” the first one said. “Lots of girls are eyeing the spot. But if you let us know before the open tryouts next week, your spot is guaranteed.”
“Thanks so much!” I gushed. “I’ll let you know as soon as I can.” I waved and continued on my way. There was more to life than cheering and being popular. These girls need to get a clue. But then again, what did I know?
As I was walking, a couple of jerks came over and tried to put the moves on me (I guess the outfit was a little too sexy for my own good), so I did a patented Danielle move — while the creep was putting his arm around my shoulders and one of his hands on one of my breasts, I stomped on the foot of the jerk with Danielle’s high-heeled boot. Not strong enough to break anything but strong enough to hurt like hell. At least I think I didn’t break anything.
The guy dropped to his knees and howled in pain, and his friend held him by the shoulders.
“Have a nice day,” I said in Danielle’s voice, and walked on.
I saw Fallon walking towards the front gate, too. “Fallon!” I cried and sashayed over, practicing the walk that Danielle taught me.
She had stopped when she heard me call her name.
“How you been, girl?” I said in false joviality as soon as I got within earshot.
Fallon looked puzzled as I looped my arm through hers. “you know me?” she said in disbelief.
“It’s me,” I whispered into her ear.
She looked at me again, and after a few moments, recognition set in. “Danny!” she whispered back. “It’s you!”
“In the flesh, girlfriend,” I said in more normal tones — Danielle-tones, that is.
“You look great!” she grinned. “Do you have any clue who you look like?”
“I’m supposed to be Danielle, my twin sister.” I gestured at my outfit. “I got these clothes from her locker. Hennessy saw me at the lockers, but didn’t recognize me at first so I got away. But after a bit, he saw through the disguise and I ran for it.”
I leaned over. “Do you think I look okay? I mean, Hennessy saw through my disguise in a second.”
“Are you kidding? You’re an absolute babe! In fact, I wouldn’t mind going somewhere with you and… you know…” She waggled her eyebrows at me and giggled.
I froze. “You’re telling me you’re a…”
Fallon giggled. “Sure. Everyone knows that.”
I started to get nervous and got hyper-aware of my arm wrapped around hers. Fallon felt it and gave my arm a friendly squeeze.
“Don’t worry, Danny. Boys aren’t my thing.”
I felt a little bit of relief, but was still a bit nervous.
I looked around. “Hope we lost Hennessy. I wouldn’t want him to find me.”
“What’s he got against you, anyway?”
“Long story. Tell you later, maybe. Right now, I gotta get out of the school.”
Fallon nodded and grinned again. “Okay, then. So, let’s get you out of here.”
We then walked out of the school, with the entire school body looking at us incredulously. It was probably the first time they saw a school hottie and a goth walk arm-in-arm out of the school grounds laughing and giggling.
I told Fallon I was going to my friend Nikki’s place to give her the flowers and stuff, and she offered to accompany me. So we stood at the bus stop. Surprisingly, it was just us. “Do you have a bus pass?” she asked, but after I gave her a look, she nodded. “Oh, right.” |
I then snapped my fingers. I rooted around in the backpack’s side pocket and came out with my sister’s wallet. I took out Danielle’s bus pass and showed it to Fallon.
“Wow, you really do look like your sister,” she commented and handed it back.
“Here’s the bus,” I said. We showed “our” bus passes, dropped coins in the box and looked for seats.
“There’s a couple o’ seats somewhere in the middle, pretty girl,” the bus driver said. I did a small double-take, but the guy seemed harmless and was sincere in his little compliment, so gave him a smile. “Thank you,” I said. |
We walked down the aisle and found an empty bench. I gestured and Fallon slid in and sat near the window, while I sat on the seat by the aisle. I looked around and apparently we took the last seats. As the bus pulled out, I looked back and saw Hennessy at the bus station. He looked at me, and then at the posted map that showed the bus route.
I tugged on Fallon’s sleeve. “Goth-girl…”
“Stop calling me that!” she whispered, giggling.
“Okay, okay.” I said soothingly. “But Hennessy’s there at the bus stop!” I pointed a thumb back at the bus station.
“Then he saw us get on!” She thought a bit. “Ohmigod! He can figure out the bus schedule! He’ll figure out where we’re going!”
“Nikki’s house and mine are a bit far away from the main road, so I doubt if he will know how to get there. Still…”
“Yeah?”
“How about we get down at the mall? Spend maybe an hour there? We’ll throw him off the scent that way, I’m sure.”
“You wanna go to the mall?”
“What’s so strange about that?”
She pointedly looked me up and down in my outfit. “You’re sure you’re really not a girl?”
“Oh, shut up!”
She giggled.
We had a fun time talking about all sorts of things, but mostly music, and it was surprising that she knew so much about pop bands and top-forty music. Looking at her, I thought I could only expect goth-rock. After maybe fifteen minutes, we got off at the bus station near the mall entrance and went in.
We decided to window-shop and to look through a couple of the stores. Inevitably, one of the stores we went to was a store selling goth-type clothes and accessories and, despite my misgivings, I did find the place interesting. I was able to buy a sleek little pen with a silver barrel and a black clip for myself and a little stainless-steel crucifix on a silver chain with matching silver earrings and a silver tennis bracelet for Danielle.
|
Through our little excursion, we got to know each other better. I was clueless about people like her (and it sounds so snooty to say that), and I got to see things from her side. As an outcast all my life, I knew what she felt. In a way, we had this in common and we bonded. She wasn’t shy about saying what she wanted, and she let on that if I was a real girl, she’d totally go for me. But she said I was totally safe. I tried to believe her but the looks she kept throwing my way when she thought I wasn’t looking weren’t assuring me too much.
I looked at her as she giggled at one of my jokes while she sat on the couch in this shoe store we were in. She was trying on a pair of black velour boots that went well with her all-black ensemble, and I was thinking she was actually very pretty and, goth girl or not, a pretty girl who was clearly into you makes a guy react. She decided to buy the boots and walked back to the counter in a very slinky way. And if this doesn’t stop soon, my so-far-perfect disguise, especially the skin-hugging leggings, wouldn’t be so perfect anymore… if you know what I mean…
Despite this, we had a fun time. She clearly thought I was wearing falsies — a notion I didn’t dissuade her from. She had to stop herself several times from telling me to try on some of the clothes that we looked at. I had no such compunctions at all about her so I encouraged her to try on some of the outfits we saw. |
One of them was this combination of a sort-of wrap-around denim skirt with big buttons, and a halter top that was designed to look like the top part of a pair of jeans, with what looked like the rear pockets of the jeans strategically placed where her breasts were. I’m afraid I’m describing it real badly, but the outfit really made her look real hot. She also freshened up her eye makeup and replaced her purple lipstick with a bright-red one. Her new black velour boots went real well with it.
I must have gaped at her because she giggled at me. “You like?” she asked comically and struck a pose, and I just nodded dumbly. “Then I’m buying it.” She went to the counter and paid, and kept the outfit on. After a while of me just walking silently beside her, she said, “what’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?” I just shrugged my shoulders spastically. She giggled at that and looped her arm through mine. “Wanna make out?” she whispered in my ear. |
I looked at her in shock.
“Kidding! Kidding!” she said and giggled, kissing me on the cheek in apology.
I saw a little 50’s-style parfait shop. “How about some ice cream,” I said, trying to escape her very frank behavior. I was starting to worry again. I thought she liked girls...
So we went in and told the soda jerk (I had to explain the term to Fallon, using Pop Tate from The Archie’s comic as my reference) that we wanted two chocolate sundaes in tall parfait glasses, and sat at the counter as the guy scooped out the necessary ice cream.
In a short while, we were confronted with two tall parfait glasses with alternating scoops of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream, smothered in chocolate syrup and topped off with a generous dollop of whipped cream and a cherry with a stem. On the side were crispy wafer cookies and two tall glasses of water.
Soon we were digging in, but I think I was a little too enthusiastic as I had to stop for a second because of brain freeze. Fallon laughed as I drank the water to thaw out. “So that’s what the water’s for,” she said. I nodded, still unable to speak. When my head wasn’t hurting anymore, I took a bite of the wafer cookie, and looked at Fallon. |
She was looking at me in delight, and I couldn’t help but marvel at how cute she was. She was very pale, which went well with her red hair. And the bright red lipstick really set off her face.
As we slurped our desserts, I noticed the silence and that a lot of people in the parlor were looking at us. I tried to think of how we looked to everyone else, and it’s no wonder people were staring. Two cute giggling redheads eating ice cream at the counter probably for the first time would naturally attract attention. Sure enough, a couple of guys started making their way to us. They sat down on either side of us and started chatting us up.
“Buzz off,” Fallon said in no uncertain terms. When they didn’t move, Fallon got off her stool. “Buzz off,” she said again. “Now!”
The two quickly left and made a beeline for the door.
We looked at each other and burst out laughing, but as we got ourselves back under control, we saw Hennessy through the large picture window walking around outside. We both ducked down simultaneously.
“He’s tracked us down!” Fallon exclaimed. “We gotta get out of here.”
We got down off our stools and creeped towards the window. We looked out and saw Hennessy walking away. She gestured at our stuff. “Get our things,” she said.
I creeped back and got the two shopping bags of stuff she bought, and my borrowed backpack. When I got back to her side, I handed her her stuff. She took my hand and we moved out the door.
Hennessy was slowly walking away, looking through store windows. We briskly walked in the other direction. As we rounded a corner, we breathed a sigh of relief.
“Hey! Danny!”
“Run!” I cried. I put my arms through the backpack’s straps, grabbed one of Fallon’s shopping bags and ran.
Fallon ran with me. We spotted the escalator and sprinted down to the ground floor. One of the mall security guards blew a whistle.
I got a bright idea. I went to the security guard. “Sir, that guy up there’s chasing us. We don’t know why, but he’s been following us around the whole afternoon.”
The guard looked. Hennessy just got off the escalator and was about to renew the chase when the guard blew his whistle again and started for him. Hennessy stopped in his tracks. After a split second, he ran back to the escalator and sprinted back up with a couple of mall guards in hot pursuit.
We slipped out the mall and, when we were out in the parking lot, we breathed a sigh of relief. We were giggling in nervous relief and went to the bus stop. “What do you think?” I said.
“Well,” Fallon said, “I guess that Hennessy guy isn’t as dumb as he looks.”
“He’s going to be in the mall for a while, I guess.” We giggled. “So, I guess it’s safe to go to Nikki’s now. You game?”
“Let’s go.”
We got on the bus and got off the nearest bus station to Nikki’s, which was just a couple of minutes’ walk to her house. As we got near, I found Danielle and her friends pull up in her friend Joanne’s van.
“Danny!” I heard Danielle call out.
Danielle got down and looked at me, mouth agape. “You got to be kidding. Wow!”
“Danielle! I thought you were out on a field trip.”
“We just got back. Mickey told us what was happening and we rushed over.”
She gave me a hug. “Wow, Danny! You look real sexy in my clothes.”
I belatedly saw everyone else gaping at me likewise.
“Ahem,” I said in embarrassment and extricated myself from Danielle’s arms. “Girls, I’d like you to meet my new friend, Fallon.” And then I introduced Joanne and Mel, and last of all, Danielle.
“Fallon, this is my sister Danielle, in the flesh — the girl who owns the clothes I’m wearing.”
“So,” Fallon said. “You guys are twins.”
“Yup,” I said. “Fraternal twins…”
“Ummm…”
Danielle went and shook her hand. “Yes, Danny’s my twin brother.”
Fallon repeated her non sequitur: “Ummm…”
Danielle giggled. “Not to worry — Danny doesn’t go around dressed like a girl all the time. Just when he’s trying to escape from someone.” She giggled again.
We walked up to Nikki’s porch, and Danielle asked what happened. Fallon filled the girls in while I got my two boxes out. I pressed the doorbell and waited, fidgeting nervously.
The others grew quiet and waited for Nikki.
After a bit, Nikki opened the door and looked at me. “Hey, Danielle. Back from your field trip.”
“Yup,” Danielle responded from over my shoulder. “Hey, Nick.”
Nikki looked back and forth at the two of us. “Danny, is that you?”
“Ummm, yes…”
Nikki giggled. “Halloween part two? There must be a long story behind this. You guys come in and tell me all about it.”
“Ummm, first things first,” I said. I handed her my two packages.
“What’s this?”
“Just a little gift. To say thanks for what you did last week.”
She looked puzzled.
“The camera club? Remember?”
Nikki smiled. “Thank you,” she said. She opened the smaller box and took out the batteries. “Hey, cool. I can use these.”
She then opened the other box and brought out the teacup rose arrangement. Everyone went, “Ooooh!”
She looked at it for a moment, and then smiled at me. She put her arms around me and hugged me.
We all went in and had a little snack. I wasn’t too comfortable. Girl-chitchat wasn’t something I was used to. Nikki sat beside me, which pleased me, but got me blushing.
Everyone was talking about my outfit, but Nikki seemed to like it. So Fallon went over the story, with me filling in some of the blank spots.
As we went out later, I was thinking that the day wasn’t a total washout. I guess it was just another typical Danny day. Fallon and I invited everyone to Archie’s and we hung around Nikki’s porch while she got ready.
While we were there, we saw Tom Hennessy walking down the street.
“Fallon, it’s him!”
Danielle and the others looked and saw the guy walking towards us.
The guy’s persistent, I have to give him that. But I guess I have to face him sometime. Otherwise, this will go on until I do.
I walked down to the street and stood in front of Nikki’s driveway.
“Danny,” Danielle called. “What are you doing!”
I waved her back. “It’ll be okay, Danielle.”
I stood in the middle of the street, hands on hips. I felt like one of those cowboys in one of the old westerns, just about to do an old-fashioned shoot-out. But the leggings and the girlie sweater just didn’t make it. I giggled silently to myself.
Hennessy walked slowly towards me, and stopped about twenty feet away.
We looked at each other silently, like we were waiting for someone to make the next move. The other girls stayed by Nikki’s door, waiting for something to happen, I guess. The only things missing were the tumbleweeds and the odd cactus.
“So…” I said. “What now, Tom?”
“Hey, Danny,” he said.
“Why have you been following me?”
“I just…”
“Yeah?”
“I just…”
“What!”
He quickly walked up to me and raised the white stick he’d been holding. I cringed and waited for the pain.
“Here,” he said.
I opened my eyes slowly, and I saw him holding out the stick.
“I just wanted to give you this,” he said.
I looked and it wasn’t a stick. It was a paper-wrapped long-stemmed rose. I looked back up at Tom. He must be cracked.
“I just wanted to say sorry for Halloween.” I reached over and took the rose. “Ummm… well, thank you, I guess…” |
He was looking down. “And I also wanted to say,” Tom said shyly.
“Yeah?”
“That I like you… A lot. Well, see ya.”
He turned and started walking back the way he came.
“Danny?” He stopped and half-turned.
“Huh?”
“You look pretty in that outfit.”
I looked at him as if he was crazy.
“Well, okay… Thanks…”
And then he walked away.
Like I said — just another interesting Danny day.
Author’s Postscript: I originally wrote this little story for the November 2009 Story Challenge but didn't make the deadline because of some family and work concerns. But I decided to still post it, and wrapped up the story during the holidays, and here it is. It's not the best, but I hope you like it nevertheless. And never fear, my Danny story will be continuing and I'll post some new installments as soon as possible. As always, comments are welcome. And Merry Day-After-Christmas to everyone!
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Author Notes: This story is just a quick-paced, humorous little tale, where the guys from Lilith Langtree's The Center meet Danny. The events portrayed here are quite left of center, as in reeeally left of center, even for Danny. So, it makes you ask - did they all really happen? Were they stuff that Danny just dreamed up coz he ate too much of his mom's crunchy spaghetti again before going to bed, or maybe he was thrown into some weird parallel universe or something? Or maybe they really did happen? Good questions, all, but no one really knows the answer. heehee... Not even Danny. Still, it's a lot of fun.
Please note that the events here will not affect anything in The Center, nor in Danny's world - think of it as a completely separate story altogether. But for those who are curious, or would like to try to pigeonhole this little vignette into the Dannyverse just for the heck of it, it would probably be part of the soon-to-be-posted Danny, Part Seven. It's not... but it could be... (The last chapter here is a preview-excerpt from Part Seven, by the way.)
For those who don't know what the heck I am talking about and find all of the things in the story a bit confusing, it's probably best for the readers to check out "The Center" and "Danny" first.
( http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/15964/center and http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/14774/danny respectively)
(Thanks, by the way, to Lilith, and everyone else I sent a copy of the draft to for previewing prior to posting.)
In any case, I hope you enjoy this fun little romp.
The characters Kris Keys, Ray Lomax, Dani Marks, Sheri Kirsch, Heather Davis, Vee, Rita McFadden, Liz Keys, Miss Bonsai and Colonel Harris are from the fictional universe of The Center by Lilith Langtree, and are used with permission. (Lilith has mentioned that there are a lot of non-canon elements so this will be classified as "fan fiction," per her Post "The Center: Universe Rules and Information".) The Black Widow comic character and image are the property of Marvel Comics: this story is partly a fan-fiction story - no copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter 1: Cosplay Girls
I ran down the main building's steps, rushing to my car, happy that school's out for the day. I waved to Danielle, Drew, Morgan and the others. We were all meeting up at my girl Nikki's house later. Nikki was home sick, and I promised to bring her something to make her feel better (she was actually feeling a lot better but was just milking the situation to get a couple more sick days in). So I was rushing to get something for her, and then I was going to rush back to meet the others over at her place later. Flowers were out coz I knew she was allergic to certain plants but I couldn't remember which at the moment, so I thought of just getting chocolates. Pretty cliché, though. I mean, chocolates... lame much? Maybe I should go all out and buy some that came in a heart-shaped box... Not!
But then, what do I bring her? Chicken soup? She's sick, after all. Hmmm... That's an idea... Heheh.
I was running to my car but when I got there, I braked hard - there were people in the way. A bunch of refugees from some comic-book were blocking my way. Actually, four refugee chicks and one regular chick. Actually, five real hot chicks, about my age, except that four of them had anime hair - one had pure white hair, another had chocolate-brown hair with blonde highlights, another with purple hair, and the tallest had pure-black, maybe blue-black, hair and a large star-shaped tattoo on her face. The last one looked pretty normal, though, and sported regular, run-of-the-mill brown hair. All of them pretty hot. Though I knew Nikki wasn't around, I reflexively avoided looking at them except at their faces. (Of course, I couldn't do anything about peripheral vision, and I silently screamed "score!" in my head.)
"Cool your jets, Red," the girl with the purple hair said.
"Watch who you callin' Red, Shrinking Violet," I said, gesturing at her hair with my eyes, and laughed sarcastically. Well, just a little bit. What a babe. "Who the hell are you guys, anyway?"
"Shut up," the normal-looking one said, and turned to the absolutely gorgeous black girl with the chocolate hair and blonde streaks. "Is she the one, Dani?" She? They must think I was my sister Danielle. But I was in guy clothes, I was wearing a low guy's ponytail, and you couldn't see my sports bra.
Chocolate Girl giggled. "Yup, she's the one." Dani?
"Pretty scrawny, I'd say," the purple-haired girl said.
"Shut up, Sheri."
"But, Kris! You heard what Dani said at the Center. This girl doesn't match what she said she saw. I thought we went here to recruit some six-foot-eight amazon! That'd be cool! Instead, we get..."
The normal one stared her down, and she eventually shut up. Normal looked at Mocha Girl again. "I hate to say it but Sheri has a point, Dani. I don't think she's the one."
Dani looked at me again. "No! She's the one! ... Well, I think she's the one..."
"You think!"
"Well, Kris, you know how it is - it's not like a TV in my head, y'know."
The normal-looking one made a patting gesture. "Okay, okay. Vee, tell me what you see?"
"Ummm, Kris," the girl with the tattoo said, and mimed writing on a sheet of paper.
"All right, all right!" Normal Girl sighed exasperatedly and turned to me. "Miss Fairchild, my colleague needs to do a procedure on you, and she's reminding me that, according to our rules, we need your permission. A signature on one of our forms is preferable, but since someone forgot to bring one," she glared at Purple-hair, "verbal consent will have to do."
"Huh?" I said.
"She needs to read your brain, kid. God!"
"Eh?"
Normal Girl threw her hands up in frustration. "I give up!"
"What the hell's going on!" I shrieked in frustration, and clapped my hand over my mouth. Damn, I hate it when my voice goes ultrasonic. I looked around and was relieved to see no one else heard.
"Ray," Normal Girl said into a walkie-talkie, "bring the Black Widow around. I'm outa here." She put the radio away. "Dani, I told you this was a wild goose chase. And if it wasn't for Colonel Harris and your one hundred percent batting average, I wouldn't have agreed to this damn-fool mission. As soon as Ray gets here we're going back to the Center."
"But, Kris, I had the thing... the vision... y'know?"
"Dani, she's done transitioning. And there have been no reports of anything. No houses burned down, no flying cars, and no exploding heads or other mysterious goings-on in this pissant little burg. If there was anything that was gonna happen it already happened. But there's nothing in the news. Zero. Zilch. Nada. So let's get outa here, 'kay?"
Dani hung her head. "'Kay..."
At that moment, a humungous black step van pulled up by the parking lot entrance. "Black Widow's here." Normal Girl approached me and shook my hand. "Sorry about all of this, kid." She waved to the others and turned to the van. "Let's go, gang."
Purple-hair and Tattoo Girl waved bye-bye and followed Normal Girl. The sexy black girl with chocolate hair leaned over and gave me a hug and a peck right on my cheek.
"Sorry for the trouble, hon," she said, and went after the others.
Which left White-haired Girl. She was looking at me, smiling wide. "Glad to have almost-met you." She giggled, gave me a wink and a kiss on the cheek, and skipped towards the others.
I stood by my car as they drove away, with Chocolate Girl and White-hair waving to me from the back windows.
"Dammit, what the hell just happened!" I exclaimed as the van drove away.
Chapter 2: Like an Open Book
The next day, after classes, I and the gang were walking down the hall toward the school's main entrance. I had my backpack on my back and the neck of my old three-fourths imitation Strat in my hand (I deliberately don't bring my Rockergrrl guitars anywhere in case someone recognizes) when I saw through the windows three of the five girls from yesterday standing by their big van parked on the street by the school.
"Dammit," I said. "It's those crazy chicks again."
"Those manga babes from yesterday?" Mickey asked. "Cool! Where! Where!" He started rubbing his hands together like some sex-crazed maniac. Joanne hit him over the head with her purse. "Ow! What was that for?"
Joanne leaned over and patted his cheek. "Just for you being you, hon," she said sweetly, which broke everyone up.
I told the gang about what happened, except the part where they thought I was Danielle. No need to worry anyone. Some were thinking of calling the cops, but Morgan said there's really nothing to report, except that there's a bunch of crazy cosplayers looking to recruit some more cosplayers. Danielle said we should wait on calling the cops until something else happens.
"Have to tell you, l'il dude," Joanne said, turning towards me, "Nikki found your big tub of chicken soup thing hilarious. And sweet."
"She did? Cool!" Morgan and I did a high-five.
She pulled me towards her by the collar. "Don't do it again."
"But you said she thought it was sweet!"
"Yes, she did. But it was a really big tub, so she said we should all share."
"So?"
"So I hate chicken soup," she growled.
"Oh..."
She let go of my collar, tossed her hair (or she would have, if her hair was straight and long enough), and tried walking away in a huff. Didn't work though coz we all huffed with her down the hall.
"She reeeally hates chicken soup," Danielle whispered to me.
"Gee, thanks," I said dryly. "Good to know."
As I passed yet another window, I saw the van still there, but the people weren't standing beside it anymore. I turned to the guys to point the van out, but an arm reached out from a small storage room right next to the window and pulled me in by my neck, backpack, guitar and all. "Urkkk!"
I woke up in the van. From all the bouncing, I assumed I was in the van. I was lying down on a foldable gurney surrounded by the girls from last looking down at me, except they were missing the normal-looking-girl.
White-haired Girl leaned down and bussed my cheek. "We're baaack," she whispered in my ear.
"Hey," I said groggily. I looked around. "Where's the other one?"
Chocolate Hair pushed her aside. "Kris took the Citation and went back to the Center," she said. "It's only us this time." She flashed a little light in my eyes, checking me out, apparently. "You're okay," she said after a bit.
"Well, I hope someone explains what's going on this time."
"Sure, honey. We're just a few minutes from HQ. As soon as we get there, we'll explain everything."
"I hope that includes an explanation why I was kidnapped and strapped down, too."
"Surely," White Hair said, giggled, and gave me another kiss on the cheek. Nikki wouldn't like that... Cool...
After a while, I felt the van make a few last turns and then it slowed to a stop.
A big guy with green hair came into the cabin. Yike. Another cosplayer.
"Okay, we're here," the big guy said.
"Where is here," I asked.
"Our parked cargo plane, which we're using as our temporary HQ while we're here."
"The nearest county airport is at least a hundred miles from the school campus."
"Yup."
"Ahhh." Must've been knocked out longer than I thought, then.
"So, since we're here already, get up." Hmmm. Rude much?
"Ahem," I said, and jiggled the restraints holding down my wrists.
"Ooops! Sorry." The guy reached for something in his jacket pocket and the buckles on my wrists, ankles and waist popped open.
I got up a little warily and looked through the window. "Hey, this ain't the airport!" I said.
"Bright girl." What's with the Jolly Green Giant?
"You said we were going to the county airport!"
"What I said was that I agreed that the nearest airport was at least a hundred miles away. Did I say that we were going to the airport?"
"There were no airports near enough that could accommodate our plane," Tattoo Girl interrupted, forestalling any argument. "So we parked our plane in your lake. Our plane's a convertible," she dimpled. "Ignore Ray," she said, hooking her thumb towards the big guy. "He's just grumpy coz Kris had to leave."
Tattoo Girl had a pretty cute smile, I thought, and as soon as I did, she cringed. Eh?
"Listen," she said, "Stop calling me Tattoo Girl, okay? I'm sorry no one's introduced us. My name's Vee." She pointed at Jolly Green. "Our chief scientist, doctor, brilliant inventor and innovator, lawyer, and, most recently, our pilot, chauffeur and newly-appointed Mission Commander, Ray Lomax."
Jolly Green curtseyed sarcastically. Which was incredible to see. I mean, imagine a six-foot tall green-haired jock curtseying.
"She of the resplendent, silvery filaments is Heather Davis."
White Hair giggled and gave me a merry smile. "Babe."
Tattoo Girl gestured at Purple-haired girl as she walked by me carrying a pile of what looked like dark-blue jumpsuits. "She of the lavender coiffure is Sheri." Sheri winked at me, and then reached to pull the van's rear door up.
"And sexy black girl's name here is Dani. Same name as yours." Oh, joy... Dani and Tattoo Girl giggled.
"S'go, guys," Purple Hair said, and jumped down from the van.
Everyone followed and jumped down as well. I was incredulous at being left alone. What's stopping me from escaping?
"No one's stopping you from escaping, you know," Tattoo Hair said from outside. "And my name is not Tattoo Girl, okay? Stop calling me that. Now come on."
Tattoo Girl is real pushy. Too bad coz she's real cute, too.
"Thank you, sweetie," Tattoo Girl said as she stuck her head through the door. "But I don't roll that way. At least not anymore. My name's Vee, okay? So stop calling me Tattoo Girl and come on!"
Okay, already! Sheesh. I walked to the door and looked out. I saw we were parked on some grassy lakeside shore somewhere and, in the moonlight, I could see a big plane floating maybe twenty feet away, moored to the shore via some sort of inflatable raft-like bridge. I jumped down to the soft grass.
They were all already walking on the bridge. I had half a mind to turn tail and run into the trees, but all five of them weren't making any sort of effort to guard or me.
Tattoo Girl stopped and turned to me.
"Mizz Fairchild, you and I know you don't really want to run away. But if you do, I swear to you we won't come after you. We don't want to hurt you, and you're welcome to go anytime you want. But please come with us to the plane first, so we can say our piece, have a bite, and if you really want to go after that, you can. We can even bring you back home. Okay? Besides there're coyotes and snakes and other things out there. It's not good to be out in the woods alone at night."
Her words were assuring, but what was really assuring was the fact that they were virtually ignoring me and not trying to stop me in any way. I thought it over and when I looked back at them, all of them were already inside the floating plane, except for Tattoo Girl who was beckoning to me. They clearly weren't trying to kidnap me. And what were a bunch of kids doing with a ginormous airplane.
"Our airplane, and everything else, will be explained. At least have some dinner, okay? You must be hungry."
Come to think of it, I was hungry, actually. What time is it, anyway?
Tattoo Girl looked at her watch. "It's past seven."
No wonder, I thought. Might as well. I started walking on the floating bridge. And besides, they don't look scary. Especially Tattoo Girl.
"I said to stop calling me Tattoo Girl," she said, and climbed through the airplane's big hatch. "I mean it."
I nodded and walked more briskly. But as I was climbing through the hatch, I realized that I haven't been saying anything to her. At least not out loud. That stopped me dead in my tracks.
From inside the plane, I could hear Tattoo Girl giggle.
Whattheshit!
Chapter 3: Ex-men
They explained that their cargo plane-slash-mobile HQ was based out of a C-17 military cargo plane, but it wasn't a cargo plane anymore, heavily modified for use by The Center, which, they explained to me, was a special unit of the Department of Homeland Security. Still, I didn't understand why they had the inside appointed like an extra-large motel room. High-tech and fully automated, to be sure, but orange carpeting and tacky Ikea furniture?
Anyway, we were gathered around a large folding table in the space formerly occupied by the step van they called the Black Widow, converting it into a conference area. Right beside it was another area currently being occupied by another van, this time a cool F150-type SUV. We were just finishing a nice dinner of spaghetti and buttered rolls cooked up by Jolly... I mean, Ray, and ice cream.
The girls were looking at me in wide-eyed wonder as I polished off my fourth serving. But it was real good! "Great thpagetti, Way! Lottth better than my momth. Weally taftey!" Ray looked at me as I stuffed my mouth, trying not to grin too widely.
"Thanks, hon," Ray said, trying not to laugh.
Anyway, during the meal, I corrected them - that I was Daniel Fairchild and not my sister Danielle, but it turns out that they already knew. (Inside, though, I was wondering why they still called me a "she").
They had explained all about who they were, and what the Center was about. Essentially, about sixteen or seventeen years ago, a batch of bottled water got tainted with some chemical (a long story in itself, involving a pharma company, urban terrorists and the military). Women that were pregnant at the time who drank the water had an even chance of giving birth to children who would go through a spontaneous physical change, which included a sex change accompanied by the development of certain comic-book-y powers in their middle teens.
During our little dinner-talk, they explained that the Center was put up by the government to gather up these Teen Titan wannabes, train them and, eventually, use them for counter terrorism and other military stuff.
Apparently this bunch that kidnapped me was made up of some of these kids, and was sent out by the Center to collect me since I was under suspicion of being one of them. Vee was a mind reader, which I had already figured out, Dani was an empath (that was like a mind reader, except she read emotions, mostly), Sheri was a "token reader," which allowed her to know things about people when she handled their stuff, and Heather was a "photokinetic," which was like a telekinetic but for light only. And the big guy, Ray, was a genius-level mimic - that was to say, he can easily learn stuff and therefore mimic anyone - like reading a medical or legal text or a training manual and he's a doctor or a lawyer or a karate expert. It was hard to really believe all of it until all of them staged a little ten-minute show-and-tell. Ray assembled a flashlight from a walkie-talkie, a plastic drinking cup, two forks and a piece of aluminum foil, and Heather shaped its light beam into a little rainbow-colored dragon and made it walk across the table. Vee staged a kind of ventriloquist act where she echoed what I said a fraction of a second after I said each word, and Dani correctly identified which out of twenty different flavors of pudding I preferred (which Heather hated coz I basically ate up their little kitchen's entire stock of pudding). As for Sheri, simply by holding on to my disposable Bic pen, she was able to recite a list of everything I ever wrote with it since I bought it yesterday.
All I could say after all that was, "wow."
Ray explained that, usually, in these recruitment missions, they'd be accompanied by a bunch of military types for contingencies or emergencies, or if the recruit turns out to have crazy mutant powers or something, but since Dani's vision said I wouldn't be any trouble, it was just them this time. Apparently they were swamped with a lot of stuff back in The Center and couldn't spare too many people for these "milk runs" hence the skeleton crew.
As I listened to their explanation, I had time to think and compare what they were saying with what I had been going through. I was wondering what kind of powers I would get when I get through changing.
"Lemme get this straight," I said. "These so-called abilities - they come with the sex change?"
"Yeah," Tattoo... I mean, Vee, said. "All of us here are ex-guys, except for Ray, who was an ex-girl."
"You have GOT to be kidding," I said, looking at these babes surrounding me, all google-eyed. And they're all ex-guys. Dammit!
Vee giggled. "I'm flattered. Really, I am. But I guess my, ummm, sexual preference has flipped as well."
Hmmm... "I take it you're reading my mind again, like before?"
"Well..." she said as she sidled up to me, batting her eyelashes in that clichéd way, "just a little bit?" She sat uncomfortably close. "You gave permission, after all." She waved her hands and laughed. "Okay, okay. I'll stop."
I tried to keep my cool and kept on asking questions. "How 'bout the hair? Is the colored hair part of the change?"
"Not all the time. A lot of us look pretty normal. We can't really control how we end up looking. Sometimes we get weird-colored hair and other things. Sucks a bit. Look at me." She gestured at her tattoo.
"You're kidding right? You're gorgeous. In fact, all of you are."
"Awww!" they all said, even Ray. They all moved their chairs closer. That panicked me a bit.
"So..." I said nervously. Uh, oh. This is starting to feel very familiar.
"So..." Dani giggled. Being an empath, I'm sure she knew what I was feeling at the moment, and was deliberately teasing me.
"So," Heather said, echoing Dani and looking all cute n sexy. Grrr... "How long since your change?"
"And what kinda powers did you end up with?" Dani interrupted.
"Well, I'm not completely done changing. So maybe that's why I don't have any powers yet." I looked down at my almost-empty plate. I was feeling a little depressed. After everything I've gone through, I couldn't believe it was all inevitable after all. That I'll eventually turn out to be a girl regardless... It's not fair. I was glad I wasn't freaking out too much, but I suspect that's coz it hasn't hit me yet. And I'm probably a little distracted by... my surroundings... These girls are real cute.
When I looked up, all of them were looking at me incredulously.
"What?"
"What do you mean you're not completely done?" Ray said.
"Eh?"
"What do you mean you're not completely done!"
"I mean I am not completely done. That I'm, you know..." They were all looking at me with wide eyes. "... that I still have my..." They were still looking. "... my original, ummm, equipment? You know?"
Ray grabbed me by the arm and pulled me through a cabin door. I ended up in an examination room.
"The change happens in less than twelve hours," Ray said. "So the fact that you 'aren't done yet' is impossible. The only thing I can think of is that Dani goofed and you aren't one of us. So. Loose the clothes."
"Huh?"
"I need to give you an examination and find out what's wrong or what's different. So lose the clothes!"
Given that he was a mile taller than me and a thousand tons heavier, I undressed real quickly.
After a quick round of CAT scans, x-ray, EKG, EEG, and a jillion blood tests, I found myself standing in the middle of the room in a flimsy hospital robe with the ties in the back undone.
Ray was pressing a stethoscope all over my back and asking me to cough.
"Is this really necessary?" I asked as a little bead of nervous sweat ran down my back. "Wouldn't the x-ray and scans tell you..."
Ray harrumphed, embarrassed. "It's best to be sure." This is getting familiar again.
The girls barged in and both of us jumped.
"What!" both of us said a little guiltily?
"What's the verdict?" Vee asked.
"Ummm... I don't know yet, Vee," Ray said. "I need to wait for the scans..."
"Tadah!" Sheri of the purple hair said, and pulled several x-ray plates and computer printouts from behind her back.
"The computers just finished spitting out the results," Dani said, by way of explanation.
"Gimme that!" he said, and grabbed them from Sheri. He went to a table against the wall, sat down and started poring over them, leaving my back exposed to the others.
In the ensuing silence, I started feeling nervous, prickly little goose bumps popping up on my exposed back and tushy as I felt four pairs of eyes staring at me. I wanted to turn around and find out what they were doing, but was scared to.
"What's happening?" I asked.
"Nothing," Dani whispered huskily, almost in my ear, and I screamed. How'd she get so close?
They all broke out in giggles.
Dani, Heather and Vee moved around and stood in front of me. I know that look.
"Do I have something on my face?"
"No, honey," Heather said. "Nothing at all."
"Y'know, Danny," Vee said. "You're pretty cute."
I started to back up. "Gee, thanks." My backside bumped into Sheri's hands. "Yike!"
"Sorry, Danny," she said. I shivered when Sheri "inadvertently" caressed my butt.
"You're shivering. You must be cold. Here let me close up your gown." I felt her get the ties of my hospital gown and knot them loosely as Heather touched my cheeks with the tips of her fingers. I was ready to jump out of my skin in embarrassment and a substantial amount of fear.
"Dammit, girls!" Ray said, "Stop teasing her! Heather, back off. And Vee - get out of her head."
"Awww!" Heather said, and Sheri said, "we were just playin'."
"I just wanted to - " Vee said.
"Reading minds without permission's against the rules, Vee. You know that."
"Oh, all right," Vee pouted.
As soon as they all moved away, I sat on a stool and backed up against the wall. Extremely aware of my underwear-less condition, I kept my thighs together.
We had a bit of awkward chit-chat as we waited for Ray to finish reading the medical exam results. Sheri brought me my clothes but I didn't want to put them back on in front of them so I endured being cold. I held my clothes balled up in front of me and smiled at them nervously, waiting.
The girls were eyeing me like four dogs circling a juicy steak. Cute dogs, to be sure, but...
Eventually, Ray rescued us. "Okay, I'm done," Ray said. "There is a bit of a problem here. Let's go back to the table. Danny, we'll leave you alone so you can get dressed." He gestured for everyone to leave the room, and as soon as I was alone, I started getting back into my clothes.
When we were all back in the conference area, Ray started explaining.
"I can't tell for certain if she... ummm, I mean he, is one of us. Many of the markers are there but aren't exactly the same... Vee, Sheri, what've you found out?"
"Is it okay, Danny?"
I shrugged. "I guess."
Vee took my hands in hers and looked deep into my eyes in a very uncomfortable way. I felt a kind of tingling in the base of my spine. So this is how mind reading was. Don't understand what the big deal is... except for the actual reading of minds that is....
But after a minute or two, Vee groaned and dropped my hands. "Dammit! Ray, it's not working!"
"Is she like blocking you or something?"
"That or I'm too distracted! All I can get are surface thoughts."
"Let's try again later. Sheri, your turn."
"I need something of hers."
Ray got up and left the room for a moment and came back with my backpack.
"Danny, is it okay for Sheri to go through your stuff?" I shrugged again. "Here, Sheri, use this."
As Sheri started taking stuff out of my backpack, Ray turned back to us.
"Sheri's gonna take a while so, in the meantime..." He brought out my examination results.
"From a gross physical examination, I guess you might say Danny is, in street terms, a she-male." The girls all looked at me with raised eyebrows. "But based out of the full-body scans and blood work, Danny is actually more female than male, except for the, ummm, dangly parts."
Sheesh! Ray's an incredible doctor-mimic, but he needs to work on his mimicking and improve his bedside manner.
"Do you know about all of this, Danny?"
Guess it's my turn. So I told them about me and everything I've gone through, except about Batch Fourteen and everything else that I was supposed to keep secret. It was kind of a relief to be able to unload, and although I'm sure they just wanted to hear the details of my, umm condition, I ended telling them about a whole lot more. Like my constant fears and insecurities, about my friends, my twin sister and the fact she's named Danielle (which interested Dani a lot), the adventures that we have had and about the complications that my condition added to our little escapades.
I told them about my near-breakdown when I finally noticed my breasts, the hormone anomalies discovered by the doctors, the twice-a-month shrink sessions, my band and our twice-a-week gigs at Mario's, my freaky voice (they laughed their heads off when I did my Bimbo Betty and Brad Pits voices), and so many other things. I guess no one can really blame me for opening up to strangers - it was the first time I was able to open up to people other than my friends. I suppose this is the way for a lot of people forced to keep secrets. Besides, they might be able to shed some light on my condition.
In any case, it was near midnight when we wrapped up. Ray said that he needed to run more tests so I promised to meet up with them tomorrow after school. Four hours earlier I was about to run away. I can't believe I'm promising to return to my captors voluntarily.
Vee and the girls drove me home in the Black Widow at about one in the morning (not that late, but late enough to make mom n dad go into a hissy fit when I got home) gabbing all the way. Turns out we weren't too far from town, and with me giving directions, we made lots better time. On the drive home, they shared their own little stories about having to cope with being girls now when they were guys less than a year before. Selecting what to wear, how to behave, relating to others et cetera. But most importantly, learning to live with it. It's like the transsexual version of girl talk. Anyway, I got hugs all around before they dropped me off at my house and zoomed away.
Now, how do I get past my folks?
Waitaminnit... where's my guitar and backpack? Oh, darn...
Chapter 4: Dee
Actually, it was a good thing that I forgot my backpack and guitar. That way, I was able to tell my folks that I got mugged and was at the police station the whole time filing a report and waiting for the cops to get my stuff back. So instead of getting yelled at, my mom gave me a hug and got me a piece of cake.
At school the following day, I was flipping through a newly-bought steno pad to tide me over until I get my stuff back. I told the guys the cover story so I got made fun of. I knew I shouldn't have left them in Burger King last week without a ride.
At the end of the day, I stood by my car, waiting. I told everyone that they should go on ahead and told Danielle that I would be going home late since I had to go back to the police and see if they got my stuff back. So that means, as long as I was home at around eleven I was fine.
I was in a bit of hot water with Nikki, though. Everyone was going to a welcome-back-to-school dinner for Nikki at the mall but I had to beg off. Nikki said it was okay, but I could read between the lines. Dammit!
Dani, Heather and Vee showed up soon after the gang took off. They explained that Sheri and Ray were doing some research. No van this time so we took my car. They had parked their plane relatively near and I didn't have too much trouble finding the spot. I parked on the grassy part next to the Black Widow (a name that didn't really suit the van - I mean who would name a step van The Black Widow). I saw their plane in the daylight and it looked even larger.
When we got out and I walked around the van's front, I saw the rad custom Ford F150 Raptor with a cab-van cover parked beside it, and Sheri was sitting on its hood with her arms wrapped around my guitar.
"Hey, Tattoo Girl," I said, and waved to her.
"Hey, Rockergirl," she fired back, and walked up to me.
"Excuse me, that's Rocker Grrrrl, thank you very much!" I said, and we both giggled. Seems she's been doing some readings on my guitar. Wonder what else she knows. Well, I didn't mind. Much.
"What's with the truck?" I asked.
"We needed more room inside," she said. "Also, we all decided last night. From now on, we're gonna start calling you 'Dee.' To avoid confusion. How does that sound?" She put her arm around my shoulders and we walked to the plane together.
I shrugged. I guess that was okay.
The girls and I sat at the conference area, like last night, and I asked if they found anything new. We went through a new pile of printouts and x-ray plates, and after quoting me really long science-sounding terms, they said that they weren't any closer to any conclusions than last night.
"Ray's on the phone with Kris," Dani explained, "you know - the girl who went back to the Center? She's actually our boss. As soon as he comes back, he can explain it a lot better than we did." Their boss? That girl must be eighteen only, twenty tops. And she's their boss.
They were, however, able to give me lots of information about my intersexed condition. Unfortunately, they didn't tell me anything that Dr. Roberts, my own doctor, already told me a long time ago, although they missed the whole pheromone thing.
They did, however, find out a lot of stuff about my band, courtesy of Sheri, I'm sure, and they were all excited and wanted me to tell them all about it. Heather even searched the net and managed to download a bootleg copy of the Jubilee concert, which they all watched last night.
"So," Dani said, "tell us all about how it is to be a girl rock star." They all giggled. Hmmm. For a bunch of girls that used to be guys, they weren't acting very dude-like.
"Tell us about being a girl DJ on the radio, too?" Sheri said, smiling gleefully and wagging her eyebrows.
"What?" the others said simultaneously.
"What're you talking about?" "Dee's a DJ, too?" "You're kidding!" "Ooh!"
I had to shake my head to clear out the high decibels bouncing around in my skull. I'm starting to doubt if they were ever dudes.
Thank god Ray took that moment to come in.
"Hey, Danny," he said.
"We're callin' her Dee!" Dani said.
"All right. 'Dee.' Okay?"
"Deeeee!" they all cooed.
Ray waved them down. "Settle down, people. Dee," (the name's growing on me. I guess. Not!) "I just got off the phone with Kris. And she said, given we've already wasted all this time and money on this mission, she wants us to be thorough and cover all bases, and come to a determination about you, so that all of the effort doesn't go to waste."
I sighed. "More tests, huh? What is it this time? Sucking out my bone marrow? Sample of my eyeball fluid? Teeth extraction?"
Ray laughed. "No, Dee. We're going to do something called 'appreciative Inquiry.' It's a problem-solving technique in business where you solve problems by looking at what's going right. I think such an approach might work, even in this situation."
"Eh?"
"We're gonna start looking for what is right instead of what is wrong. For starters - since all of us have all of these powers, we then check if you have any kind of power. And if we find any, then we know you're one of us."
In my mind, I imagined me working on some kind of high-tech test equipment, and in the end I'd end up with some cool kind of power, like the power to throw fireballs, the power of invisibility, or the power to stretch like a rubber band, but hopefully NOT the power to look like a gravel pit. That'd be fantastic! (Heheh. Fantastic... Get it?)
"So that's why we parked the Devastator outside so we'd have room for the test equipment."
"Eh?"
"That's what we call the souped up Ford SUV."
The Devastator? "Who the heck makes up the lame-ass names for your cars, anyway?"
"Them," Ray said, and pointed to the girls, who immediately looked away and started whistling nonchalantly.
"Anyway...” he gestured to the equipment laid out on the side where the Ford used to be. In its place was what looked like the exercise equipment in the gym my mom goes to. Talk about disappointing. Where's the high-tech stuff?
"We'll start putting you through some exercises, and find out what powers you have. We only have 'til eleven PM or so, so we better get crackin'."
"My mom sez I have the power to drive her crazy. Does that help?"
"Mom?" Dani said. "Your mom's still alive?"
"Ummm, yeah?"
"Dammit!" Ray said. He pulled out his cellphone. "Call Kris," he said, and his phone made the connection.
After a while, the other party picked up. "Yeah, Ray," she said via Ray's cell's speakerphone. We could just glimpse her on the phone's little screen. She was wearing a military-looking green blazer.
"Her mother's still alive, Kris."
This was met with silence. "Okay, I'm pulling the plug on this whole thing."
"Kris, wait!" Dani said, and walked closer to Ray to speak into the phone.
"Dani, he hasn't had a full physical change, his mom's still alive. What else do we need?"
"Wait," I said. What about my mom?"
Ray patted me on the shoulder. "All of the mothers who drank the tainted water died during childbirth."
I looked at Ray in realization. I put my hand on Ray's shoulder in sympathy. Ray put his hand over mine, and gave me a sad, melancholy smile and a shrug.
"All that may be true, Kris," Dani said, "but I still had my premonition. I saw her in action as part of the team. She's going to be one of us. I saw it."
"Dani, everything points to a mistake. He can't be one of us."
Dani huffed in frustration. "My premonitions have a one hundred percent batting average, Kris. Not one single mistake in over fifty missions."
"You're killing me, Dani. You really are."
"I'm sorry, Kris..."
We heard her sigh. "Okay. I've made my decision. Is Ray around?"
"Right here, Kris," Ray responded.
"Ray, I want you to find out what Dee really is. Do all the tests you need to do, but do it fast so I can pull you out of there. And if it turns out he isn't what we expected, then I'm gonna ask Rita to fly out ASAP."
"Who's Rita," I asked.
Ray made a patting-down gesture at me. "Got it, Kris. Anything else?"
"Just hurry up. I... miss you."
The girls all went, "oooh..."
"I miss you, too."
"Oooh!"
After he hung up, he turned to the girls. "You guys..."
All of the girls burst out laughing.
Chapter 5: Gym Clothes
With the equipment that they had on the plane, they couldn't really do much to test me. The first bunch of tests they did on me was to test for esper and kinesic abilities, administered by Dani and Vee. I thought nothing was really being accomplished because all that I was being asked to do was to sit down and concentrate on things, like to try and read Vee's thoughts, or to try and guess what Dani's feeling while she had her back to me.
All it really accomplished was to get Vee irritated at Dani, and vice versa, as they argued techniques on how to test me. I did a whole bunch of other things but suffice it to say, I didn't show one iota of talent, extrasensory, paranormal or otherwise. By that time, Ray had to step in and break Dani and Vee up since they were almost at each other's throats. I suppose it was sort of like how you feel when someone's messing up something and you're just itching to take over coz you think you can do better.
Anyway, after I was through doing my disappointing mind tests (and after Dani and Vee were done almost choking each other), we moved on to the physical tests. Sheri came in wearing a workout outfit which was basically an exercise tanktop, a pair of shiny lycra pants and white sneakers, in shades of white and baby blue. Wow.
"Close your mouth, dearie," Sheri told me. I obediently closed my mouth.
Heather gave me a small pile of clothes.
"Put those on," she said. I went to the other room and the clothes turned out to be exercise clothes - a bright pastel green exercise racerback bra, bright green stretch tights, bright white bobby-socks and white sneakers. There was a bit of a problem "down there" but with a mind reader in the house, it wasn't too big a problem. Vee snuck her hand through the door holding a pair of white short-shorts, which I wore over the tights.
There was also a wooly white towel and a terrycloth sweatband in the pile. I put the sweatband on and the towel around my neck, and stepped back into the exercise area. Dani and Heather gave me wolf whistles, their argument from before seemingly forgotten.
Sheri attached some electrodes on my forehead and upper chest, gestured for me to get on the treadmill as she got on a duplicate treadmill herself. Apparently she was gonna shadow me. She told me to keep pace with her and we started to jog.
We started slowly, but gradually built up speed. At last, all my jogging with Danielle would finally pay off. Both our speeds were displayed on a big screen in front of us, allowing us to monitor our performance. After a few minutes, we were doing a respectable five miles per hour, which we kept up for about ten minutes. I started to get bored and looked at Sheri. When I finally caught her eye, I smiled evilly and picked up the pace.
Sheri took this as a challenge, and matched my pace. She smiled at me nonchalantly as if to say, "this is so boring, I don't know if I can keep myself from falling asleep."
I raised my eyebrow at that and speeded up some more. Pretty soon, it was like we were in some race. Jogging gave way to running, and after a while, we were hitting fifteen miles per hour, which was, I found out later, a verrry good pace. Sheri was pretty tall, maybe 5'9", legs a mile long, and extreeemely buff (rawr...), and so she was able to keep up the pace very easily. But after a while, I noticed that she was starting to lose steam. I wanted to give her another evil grin before picking up my pace, but I couldn't spare the energy nor afford to lose my concentration. I forced myself to try and channel Lance Armstrong or something and speeded up some more.
"Lance Armstrong is a bicycle rider, Dee," Vee said. In my head, I pictured myself sticking my tongue out at her, and that broke Vee up as well as Dani.
I pushed myself to my absolute limit and my readout said 18MPH. I tried vainly to push it higher, but after struggling for maybe fifteen minutes, I admitted to myself that I couldn't anymore and reluctantly slowed down.
"Do it gradually, Dee" Dani said, "otherwise, your legs are gonna cramp."
Through the sweat-drenched locks of hair obscuring my vision, I nodded. I desperately wanted to stop but with Dani's continuous admonition, I slowed down gradually instead.
Ray helped me off the treadmill and had me sit down on the floor. Heather and Vee double-teamed me and massaged my aching calf and thigh muscles to prevent any cramping while Dani gave me a drink of water.
When I started to recover, I looked around and couldn't find Sheri. "Where's Sheri?" I asked. After which, I heard a groan coming from the other side of the treadmills. Seems Sheri had already given up about fifteen minutes ago, and was sprawled out on the floor trying to get her intestines back inside herself.
After maybe an hour, after Sheri and I had a chance to recover and for all of us to have some dinner, I continued my testing. Sheri begged off though, and said she'll just monitor me this time.
Next up were strength tests. After putting on a kidney belt, I started working on some weight equipment. After a lot of reps on the machines, we found out that I could dead lift about three hundred KGs, and weight lift thirty KGs. Not the best stats, but pretty good, Ray said, especially for someone as small as me.
I was then asked to do some vertical standing jumps. I was averaging between three and four feet before we decided to quit for the night. I haven't really tried jumping like this before. I wonder if I did good.
Ray asked me what kind of health regimen I had. I told him that my sister and I did a regular jog around our neighborhood every Saturday. He just looked at me. "And that's it?" he said, incredulously. I nodded. He asked if I was on any medication and I told him the only things I take were the vitamin supplements my doctor prescribed. I quoted him the medicines and the dosages, which he dutifully wrote down.
I asked Dani for a glass of water and another towel as I had already completely drenched the one I had. And I had already gone through two.
"You sure do sweat a lot," she said, and gave me a fresh towel.
"I know," I said. "Pretty gross, huh? Sorry 'bout that."
"I think it's pretty sexy," Heather giggled and pulled me into an embrace, unmindful of my sweaty condition. Ray frowned a bit, and looked a little puzzled at Heather's reaction.
Dani stared daggers at Heather, and then said "Aaahhh!" when she saw the time. "Girls, it's almost eleven! We gotta bring Dee back home."
Ray looked at her in irritation, but eventually he nodded. "Okay," he sighed. "I'll call Kris. Again. Wish me luck." He sighed again. "You guys bring her home. Dee, you have to come back tomorrow. Is that okay?"
I shrugged. "I guess."
"Don't forget your stuff again."
We trooped out of the test area and out to the cars. Dani, Vee and Heather rode with me, and Sheri drove the Black Widow.
Twenty minutes later, I drove up our driveway. Everyone got out and we gave each other hugs. They then got in the van and drove away.
I turned to our house and trudged to our front door. As I looked up, I saw my sister, Danielle, standing in the doorway, clearly pissed.
"Where have you been and who are those girls?" she said.
"Ummm..."
"I asked you a question!"
"Ummm, I was at the police station? I was waiting for them to get my stuff?" I held up my guitar and backpack.
"Okay... Well, how about those girls?"
"Ummm, they were there at the police station to get their van. We sort of struck up a conversation and they decided to wait with me until I got my stuff back?"
"Well... okay..."
I grinned. Yes!! We both went in the house. And as the door was swinging closed, Danielle asked me another question.
"And what's with the leotards?"
Dammit! I knew I forgot something!
"Ummm... they're not leotards?..."
Slam!
Chapter 6: Double D's
During lunchtime the following day, I went to the flower shop at the mall. I bailed on the welcome-back-to-school-Nikki thing yesterday so I got a peace offering of a half-dozen roses. I'm sure Nikki would get a kick out of toting around flowers from class to class, with her friends making a big deal about it.
I stepped out of the mall and was almost run over when I was about to get into my car.
"Watch it you!" I screamed. But when I looked up, I saw it was Ray at the wheel of the Black Widow.
"Ray!"
"Dee! Get over here!"
"What's the rush? Where're you goin'?"
"There's an emergency downtown. We need you."
"For what?"
"Just get in, will you? I'll explain on the way." He leaned to the side and slid the passenger door open.
Over the past days, I've started to trust these people. For them to say they need me... I decided to throw caution to the wind and jumped in.
"Strap in," Ray said and peeled out of the mall driveway just as I was buckling my seatbelt.
"So," I said. "Explanation?"
Well,” Ray said, as cool as a cucumber even as he drove like a maniac. He was probably channeling some speed-demon racecar driver with his mimic-powers. He was wearing a jumpsuit that looked like a cross between a SWAT uniform and an Indy 500 pit crew uniform.
As we bounced around from his driving, he tried to explain.
"I'm sure you figured out," he said, "we came here coz of Dani. Her vision was how we found you. That she saw you with her inner eye, and that it told us that you might be one of us. Actually, almost all of our recruitment missions are based on Dani's visions, and the visions of other people like her." Ray paused for a moment as he concentrated on maneuvering around some parked cars.
"Anyway, she just had another one of those, ummm, 'premonitions' this morning. Something that was gonna be happening in your little town today, and that we're gonna be needed. She said it was connected with the original vision that brought us here, and that we were gonna need you."
"What exactly's gonna happen?"
"No one really knows. Dani's premonitions sometimes aren't really exact or clear with all the details. All we know is that there's gonna be something happening, and that you'll be part of it."
Ray said that they told Kris this morning. She was dispatching some people but they will definitely be too late getting here. So it was up to us.
The thing, whatever it will be, will be going down on or near the town plaza, so the girls were walking around out there keeping their eyes and ears open for anything weird. Heather and Sheri were both wearing wigs while Vee used some makeup on her distinct birthmark so they were able to criss-cross the plaza at will, as well as go in and out of the surrounding side streets, without attracting undue attention.
Ray pulled the van up near the town hall, parking it under a convenient tree for a bit of camouflage. It was fairly far away from the plaza, but Ray sez its procedure, since the Black Widow will be acting as field HQ.
"This is the Black Widow," Ray said into a mic on the dash, "we're in position. How're you guys doing?"
"Black Widow, this is Heather. Nothing to report."
"Same here, Black Widow," Sheri said.
"Dani? Vee? Anything to report?"
"Sorry, Black Widow," Vee said. "I am picking up jack."
"Black Widow, I'm picking up something." It was Dani.
Ray and I looked at each other.
"What have you got, Dani?"
"I'm getting a big chunk of nervousness and agitation, coming somewhere in the direction of the office buildings north of the plaza. It's too faint, though. I'll try to get closer."
"Keep safe, Dani."
"Thanks, Black Widow. I'll call if I get anything. Vee, you keep track of me, 'kay?"
"I got your back, Dani."
"Thanks, Vee."
"Okay, everyone. Black Widow going on silent. Chime in if you get anything."
Ray turned to me. "Ok, hon," he said. "Time to suit you up."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
He indicated his attire.
"What for?"
"Better safe than sorry."
I didn't understand but I still went with him to the back compartment. Ray brought down a pile of clothes from an overhead bin. He looked me up and down first, and then pulled out two sets of clothes.
The first one was like a set of SWAT overalls, just like his. I took off my clothes except for my socks, boxers and sports bra. (I've been wearing sports bras for a while now, ever since I started getting boobs. Aside from making things more comfortable, the bras helped flatten them out a bit and stop people from guessing. I usually keep my bras camouflaged underneath my baggy shirts. So far no one in school has guessed.) Once undressed, I put on the overalls.
After I did, Ray couldn't stop giggling at the baggy fit. "Doesn't do anything for you, dearie," he said. I looked into a full-length mirror tacked to the wall, and I had to agree. Ray's laughter was infectious, even though he sounded a bit effeminate. But then, he used to be a girl.
"Sorry, hon," Ray said, "but that's the smallest size we have. All we have left that might fit you is this."
He held up what looked like a leather catsuit.
"You have got to be kidding," I said.
"Hon, it's this or none at all."
"Why do I have to wear any uniform at all?"
Ray picked up the overalls and brought it and the catsuit to me.
"See this material?" he pointed out the cloth of both uniforms. "This is a special kind of material that is very flexible but will not yield at the speeds of most bullets, and nothing short of a needle will penetrate it. It's the best bulletproof material around. Way better than a kevlar vest. So whatever we will encounter, I think wearing one of these would really help keep you alive."
"Okay. You sold me."
"Also..." he went to a locker bolted to the wall. He brought out what looked to me like a high-tech gun. I don't really like guns.
"This is our version of a taser." He cracked it open and it split like how I saw shotguns did. He then picked up what looked like a semi-transparent gold disk about four inches across filled with lots of sparkly bits. "This is its ammo. This disk is filled with little pellets that are smaller than matchstick heads. Each match-head, upon contact with any object, will stick to that object. If it hits flesh, or makes electrical contact with flesh, it will release about eighteen watts of pulsed electric power, at point-five joules per pulse at about three mA average current. It will do so until it burns out, which takes about five seconds. That's long enough to cause neuromuscular incapacitation. Just like a regular taser."
"How many match-heads per disk?"
"A little over a hundred per disk."
"Wow, cool. So that's like a hundred rounds? What if the match-head sticks to something else other than skin?"
"It releases its power all at once, with the explosive power of about twenty grains of gunpowder. That's about a third the explosive power of a forty-five caliber bullet's gunpowder."
"That doesn't sound too deadly."
"Well, no, but imagine hitting something with this in a continuous stream."
"Ahhh."
"Course, it takes a lot of juice to power this. And each match-head only retains its power for a short time. They have to be continuously recharged." He reached into the locker and took out a pouch with a belt. He took out what looked like less than one-half of a pink donut (like someone took a big bite out of one) inside a soft, puffy, semi-transparent silicon pouch.
"This is a power charger. When the gun's switched on, It charges its ammo via wireless induction charging, just like the old Treo cellphone chargers. Just make sure you have your taser partnered with one of these, and so long as you're within five feet of it, your taser will always be charged."
He then proceeded to give me a crash course in how to use the gun - loading it, targeting, locking the safety, et cetera.
"Y'know," I said, "this is all very impressive. But why give me a weapon, or how about just give me a regular gun?"
"Well, you need some way to protect yourself, and, legally, we're all underage, so we can't carry regular firearms, only non-lethal weapons."
"Oh."
"Okay," Ray said. "Let's see you in the suit."
I took the suit and the accompanying boots. I was about to put the suit on, but Ray stopped me.
"You know, given how that's built, I don't think you can wear it over your underwear. Hold on."
He went to another locker and handed me a pair of silky men's black thong briefs.
"Use these. They're size twenty-six so they should fit you. Just don't ask where I got them from."
I looked at the girly-guy piece of underwear with a less than happy look.
"Turn around," I said.
Grinning widely, Ray turned his back to me and started whistling nonchalantly.
I took my socks and boxers off, pulled on the thongs, adjusted my junk in its pouch and stepped into the suit. It was a little small but they stretch. Which was good if you have to... hide things... By now, I had the knack of... minimizing my... profile down there.
Though it was extremely tight, the catsuit's material was very slick on the inside, like nylon, and it had a lot of stretch to them. Clearly not leather at all. I didn't have any difficulty sliding them on. Also, when I looked at the crotch, there weren't any telltale bumps. Thank god. I was starting to worry that dressing like a girl too often is starting to become this easy now.
When I got it up to my torso, I paused, thought it over, and decided to take off my bra. After I took them off, I slid my arms through the catsuit's sleeves and they slid on easily. I adjusted my boobies in the suit and then zipped it up with the big zipper that ran from the crotch to the collar. I pulled the zip up to chest level, pulled my hair out of the collar, adjusted my boobies again. So who needs pushup bras?
I turned to Ray and cleared my throat. "Okay, Ray," I said.
Ray turned around and whistled. "Good god, Dee," he said.
I blushed like a tomato. "Shut up," I said and sat down on a nearby stool to pull on the boots. Dammit, they had at least a three-inch heel. I stood up but, oddly enough, despite the heels, the boots felt comfortable. At least with the boots on, I felt lots taller. A few pluses with the minuses.
"Special orthopedic boots," Ray grinned. "Take out that scrunchie and use this." He handed me a wide toothed comb. I shook my hair out and started combing it out.
When I was done, I turned to Ray for his opinion. "Good god, Dee..." he said.
"You already said that," I laughed.
Ray brought out a couple of juice boxes as well as a small box the size of a shoebox, and we sat in front and waited We sipped our juice and Ray took out what looked like clip-on earrings from the shoebox. Apparently, they were voice-activated two-way radios. He showed me the controls and told me to clip em on and try 'em out.
"Black Widow to Dani," I said, pressing a button on the thing a bit self-consciously, "what's your status."
"Dani to Black Widow. Hey, is that you, Dee?" I heard her giggle. Her voice could be heard very well, like I had a small speaker on me.
"None other. What's happening?"
"Well, there's definitely something fishy happening. I'm near the bank, and I can feel a whole lot of people radiating a lot of nervous energy. I'll try and get closer."
"Okay. Be careful. Out."
I sipped my juice and turned my taser gun over and over. I practiced aiming, breaking it open and loading and unloading its disk.
Ray brought out something else from the box. It looked like a kind of fold-out rifle. Essentially, the rifle part was just a mount for a copper-colored mini-bandoleer of some big-assed bullets. The "bullets" were actually incendiary mini-rockets you fired individually via a little button connected to the bandoleer itself. Ray said It wasn't really an offensive weapon but the advantage of it was that it had greater range than the taser gun. I declined.
From time to time, Ray leaned over to speak into the mic in the dash to check with the girls, and after maybe fifteen minutes of nervous waiting and two juice boxes later, the radio crackled on.
"Black Widow, come in. This is Vee. I'm starting to pick up something. It's a bunch of kids. One of em's clearly a transformee. They're on the way to the bank! They're gonna rob it!"
Ray thumbed the mic. "Okay, gang. This is it, I guess. Converge on Vee's and Dani's position. I'm comin' over. Wait for me." He pulled out something from the glove compartment and put it on his head. It was a black wig.
I grinned. He glared at me. "Not. One. Word."
He took a gray trench coat from a hook on the wall, put it on, and then got one of the tasers from the locker as well as a charger and a couple of disks and put them in the coat's pockets.
"Guys," Vee said over the radio, "they're in the bank. They're casing the joint now."
Hearing that, Ray rushed to the rear of the van. "Stay here unless we call you, okay?" he said to me. He slid the back door up and jumped down. I closed it and went to the front again. I watched Ray nonchalantly walk into the lunchtime crowd and walk leisurely towards the direction of the bank.
"Black Widow to team," I said to my earrings. "Ray just left and is walking towards you. He's wearing a trench coat and a black wig."
"Copy that, Black Widow," Dani responded. I wondered where my earring radio's speaker was. It didn't sound like it was coming from my ear.
I saw a pair of binoculars on the dash and used it to track Ray's progress. The bank was quite a ways from the van so he took about ten minutes to get to Dani who, by then, was with the rest of the girls. They talked for a bit and then they went into the bank as a group. At which point, I lost sight of them.
After maybe three minutes, the bank's alarm went off - I could hear it even this far away - and the glass doors in front of the bank exploded outward. Through the binoculars, I saw a couple of the bank robber kids pull down the bank's steel shutters, and as they rolled them down, a couple more explosions rocked the inside of the bank.
"Black Widow to team," I yelled. "what was that? Are you guys okay? Ray!"
"Vee's down," Dani whispered. Oh, no! "She's alive but she's unconscious. Concussion from being thrown by the explosion."
"Where're the others?"
"Ray and Vee are near the front. I'm here with Heather and Sheri in the middle of the floor, with most of the bank customers. The bank robbers are with the bank manager towards the back. I suppose that's where the bank vault is."
"Have you identified the changee?" Ray said.
"Hard to miss. She's about seven feet tall, buffed out like a bodybuilder, with solid red eyes and very, verrry long blond hair."
"Wow!" I couldn't stop my reaction.
"There's Sheri's amazon for you," Dani said. "What do we do now?"
"Well," Ray said, "we need to open the doors and then get the people out. Only then can we start bringing her down."
"Can we even bring her down?" Dani asked.
"Why," I asked. "What can Amazon Girl do, anyway?"
"She seems to be able to make things explode just by looking at them. Other than that, I don't know."
"What is she doing now?"
"Ummm, she is apparently making out with one of her guys..."
"What! In the middle of a bank robbery?"
"Okay, enough!" Ray said. "Dee, bring the Black Widow. Find a way to get those storm shutters open. Once you do, we'll have to find a way to get the people out."
"Okay,” I said. "Lemme go get ready."
"Hurry up."
I was super-nervous, but what could I do. I clicked the taser I've been playing with closed and went to the weapons locker. I got out another taser, loaded another disk. I rooted around and found a couple of holsters, strapped them onto my thighs and holstered the guns.
I wanted more ammo so I looked for an ammo belt or something. I found one and clipped on about ten of the disks to it. I put it on but with the ten disks, I couldn't really cinch the belt tight coz I had too many of the disks on it. I had to settle for it hanging loosely around my hips.
I got out a couple of the induction charger thingies and linked each of them to the guns (it was like partnering a phone to a Bluetooth headset). I looked down at my suit. No pockets... So I put the chargers in the only convenient place.
After putting them under, and to the sides of my boobies, I adjusted the catsuit's front until I felt comfortable. Looking at my reflection in the mirror, I had to giggle. It looked like I had a pair of double D's. I struck a pose and giggled again. The chargers pushed both of them together giving me one hell of a cleavage. Eat your heart out, Angelina Jolie.
Then I thought of the people in the bank. Gotta stop all of this screwing around and book.
I went back up front. I put the shoebox of stuff on the floor so I could sit in the driver's seat. Hmmm... I decided to take a peek in the box. I pulled out the rocket-thing, but my outfit strictly didn't have any room for it. I detached the copper bandoleer. It wasn't a bandoleer really, but more an ammo belt, except that it only had eight of those rocket jobbies. No place to put it. Hmmm.
I detached the belt from the launcher. Hey... I wrapped it around my wrist instead. Hey, neat. I was even able to tuck the trigger cable under the rockets, with the trigger pad right under my forearm. I rummaged around and got another one. I rigged it to my other wrist just like the first one. Cool. Bracelets... ginormous bracelets.
I started the van. "Black Widow is rolling," I said.
"Okay, Black Widow," Ray said. "Move it."
I moved the driver's seat a bit forward and screeched out of the parking space. I wasn't as good as Ray but I think I wasn't too bad. I screamed around the plaza's elliptical road and slammed to a stop right in front of the bank in less than a minute.
I slid the driver side door open. and jumped down. I had this urge to go, "Tadahhh!" and to pose like Superman from the comic books, but I lacked the cape. Plus the boobies just didn't make it.
"Move aside, folks," I said, in my best sexy-but-authoritative voice, sorta a cross between my friend Joanne and my scary sixth-grade math teacher, and made my way to the front of the bank.
I touched the radio. "The Black Widow is here," I said in a ridiculously officious tone. "What's your status?" Heheh. Cool.
"Same as before, since you last called thirty seconds ago, Black Widow. Duh."
"Ummm, yeah... Heheh." Better turn down the volume so I'm the only one that can hear.
I looked at the storm doors. "Okay, you guys, back up in there. I'm gonna blast the doors open. Be ready."
I looked the doors over. There were some padlock holes at the bottom so they probably lock that way on the inside as well.
Okay, here goes. I pointed the rockets on my left wrist at the approximate area of the padlock holes, placed my hand on the trigger button and fired off a rocket.
Whoosh, kaboom!
"Cool!" I wanted to say, but that would be totally out of character. I grabbed the bottom of one of the doors and heaved. Putting my back to it, I was able to heave the door upward despite the bent railings. When I had it up as high as I could, I yelled. "Ray! It's open!"
Ray came out carrying Vee. I ran to the van and slid the back door up. Ray climbed in with Vee, and set her down inside the van. I ran back to the bank. A couple of the bank robbers were peeking out. I raised one of the guns and fired a stream of taser bullets. The ones that hit the wall exploded in little firecracker bursts but the ones that hit them made them shake like epileptics and fall down.
Two down.
I stepped through the rubble and another one of the bank robbers ran towards me with what looked like a chair leg, yelling like a crazy man. When he was close enough I reached up and wrenched the chair leg from his hand and spun around to kick him in his behind. He sprawled on the floor face down. Thank god my sister gave me some pointers on self defense.
I looked around and brought up the other taser as well.
"Anyone else around?" I yelled. I saw a couple more in the upper gallery. I fired both tasers but they were too far away. They fired at me with their own guns so I ran for cover as quick as I could.
As I hid behind a metal shelf, I heard a voice.
"Dee," Sheri called. "You okay? did you get hit?"
"I'm okay, Sheri," I answered. Now you better take cover."
"Dee, stop acting like some friggin' superhero, and get outa here!"
I ignored that and stepped from behind the shelf.
Before the two guys on the balcony could aim properly, I lifted my arm and fired a couple of rockets right below where they were standing. Shhh-boom!
The part of the balcony that they were standing on collapsed and they fell. I ran to them as quick as I could. While they shook off the fall, I slugged them both full in the face. Owww! I didn't know hitting someone hurt that bad. I pulled them away from the rubble and leaned them against the wall. I then ran to Sheri, Heather and Dani.
"Anyone else around?" I asked them.
"There's no one else except the ones in the vault," Dani said.
"Are you sure?"
"Ummm, duh? Who are you talking to?"
I smiled sheepishly. "Right. Now's our chance. The front's open. You guys start bringing the people out. I'll stand guard here."
"We'll stand guard," Heather corrected.
"Heather..."
"Now's not the time to argue, okay?" She brought out her own taser gun.
I reluctantly nodded, and Dani and Sheri started shepherding the people out.
"So, who's the hot redhead in the superhero outfit" a man in a suit toting a briefcase asked Sheri.
"Is that the Black Widow you guys have been talking to?" another man said.
"Will you two quit embarrassing yourselves and shut up?" One of the women said.
When everyone was out, Dani came back.
"Everyone's out now, 'Black Widow,'" Dani said, but spoiled the effect when she giggled. "You look real sexy, Dee," she said.
"I'll say," Heather said. "Dee, you are absolutely gorgeous." She pointed at my boobies. "Is that just you or is there someone else in there?"
"Ah, shut up." I looked around. "But now what do we do?"
"Well, we'll know in a bit," Dani said.
"What do you mean?"
"She's coming."
"Yes, I am," we heard a sultry, sexy voice say.
We saw her come out from a door, presumably the one leading to the bank's vault. What I had in my mind didn't do her justice. At maybe seven feet tall (and that's excluding the heels) she had to duck to clear the doorway. She was a real big girl in other ways, too - muscles up the kazoo, but still extremely feminine. She had immense breasts, bigger than my... enhanced ones... proportionally speaking, I mean. She had the face of an angel, maybe a sex-crazed angel, but an angel nevertheless. Her eyes were sexily turned up at the corners and were red-tinged. she had long, wavy platinum-blonde hair. And I do mean long - it was actually dragging on the floor. She was wearing a tiny, pure-white monokini as well as red skyscraper stiletto heels which must be at least six inches. Good god!
Half a dozene guys came out the door, too, all of them carrying canvas bags as well as machine guns. The bags were obviously filled with money.
"Sooo," she said, even as she caressed the butts of the two half-naked guys that had their arms wrapped around her, "you must be the famous Black Widow I keep hearing about."
Keep hearing about? I turned to Dani. "Anything?"
"I'm not getting anything," she said, "except she's real horny. And I mean real horny. Like, off the scale nympho-level horny."
"You think?" I asked sarcastically.
Dani glared at me.
"Can you get any readings at all?" Heather said.
Dani squinted in concentration. "She's definitely one of us. She changed about a week ago. Used to be a fat kid named Horace. Now she calls herself Marilyn. She has slightly heightened hearing, an extremely heightened sex drive, a kind of sexual aura that allows her to control people, and an ability to project high-pitched sounds in bursts that can be explosive."
"You know," 'Marilyn' said, almost purring, "I could really go for someone like you."
I couldn't help my eyebrow from climbing upwards.
"So why don't you come over here?"
I could feel something in my head. A sort of tingling. Like the kind I feel when Vee is reading me. But other than that, no other effect. Sexual aura my ass.
"That the best you can do, Blondie?"
The amazon girl frowned. "Get 'em, boys!"
All six of the guys, plus Marilyn's boy-toys sprang into action. I pulled up both tasers, and Heather and I fired at the floor less than a foot in front of them, making them stop dead in their tracks. The little explosions sounded like firecrackers. Soon the air was full of smoke and the electric smell of ozone.
"Not one more inch," I said.
"What are you waiting for!" amazon girl screeched. "I said get them!"
After that momentary hesitation, they leaped forward again, forcing Heather and me to fire at them directly. But even though they started shaking in neuromuscular shock, they didn't stop coming. Each one required at least five shots. After which, they laid on the ground out cold, totally not moving, aside from the odd twitch or groan.
Heather and I looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Aaah!" we heard a scream, and amazon girl literally fell on us like a ton. I scrambled back up but I noticed that Heather wasn't. Both Dani and Sheri were knocked out, and Heather was knocked back by an open slap.
Amazon girl was starting to get up as well. I backpedaled and made sure she noticed me. I walked a bit away and she started following. Thank god I was able to lure her away from Dani, Heather and Sheri. I started running away, and amazon girl lumbered after me.
When I fetched against the wall, I knew I had nowhere else to go. Amazon girl slammed into me like a pile of bricks. She lifted me, pinned me against the wall, and started pawing me. I was so short, or she was so tall, my feet weren't touching the ground. I couldn't believe how strong she was.
She was in heat or something, 'cause she started kissing me. After a few seconds of mauling my lips, she started shaking. Oh no, just like Betsy. In moments, she got weak, let go and fell to the floor in a faint. Yup. Betsy all over again. Times ten.
I looked up and saw the balcony that ran around the inside of the building. Crouching low, I jumped as high as I could, just like in the tests. I got my arms on the balcony. Looking down, I saw amazon girl coming around. Weakly, she started to reach for my legs. I kicked her hands away, swung my legs sideways and hooked one of them on the concrete balcony. Using that one leg, I lifted myself onto the concrete. I stood up and looked below. Amazon girl was so tall, all she needed to do was to just reach up and grab onto one of the metal brackets. As she started lifting herself onto the balcony, I stomped on her fingers. She yowled in pain.
I walked backwards keeping my arm pointed at her. I was reluctant to use the rockets since I was liable to kill her, but I had no other choice - seemed I lost my tasers.
Amazon girl finally pulled herself up. She started walking towards me, and I walked backwards slowly.
"Come here, gorgeous," she said. "How 'bout some more of that?"
All I could think to do was to walk backwards more slowly and stall, and maybe the guys could come up with something in time to rescue me.
Eventually, I got to the part of the balcony that I collapsed with my rockets. I crouched and leaped the ten-foot gap like my life depended on it. I landed on the other side a little wobbly but managed to stay on my feet.
Amazon girl smirked at my jump. Clearly, she thought she could do better. She got to the edge and, as she was jumping, little round balls of light popped up in between us and exploded in multicolored rainbow hues of light. Blinded, she lost her balance. Stilettos are real sexy but aren't that good for running and jumping, especially if you have a photokinetic friend around making little balls of exploding light. Amazon girl fell through the gap. Thanks, Heather, I said in my mind.
I looked down and amazon girl was sprawled on the ground shaking her head. I jumped down and ran to her. I slugged her right in the face but it was like hitting the wall. I kept on slugging her but it had minimal effect. And my hand was starting to feel like it was full of broken glass.
I walked backwards, giving me room. I glanced at the two I bank robber dudes I knocked out earlier and was glad to note they were well away. I held my arm up again and fired several rounds into the concrete balcony. Shh-boom! Kaboom!
A bunch of broken concrete blocks and other debris rained down on amazon girl, and I think that did the trick - she was finally out cold.
I cradled my severely bruised hand, and breathed a sigh of relief. I looked around and the damage wasn't too bad. The front doors and the balcony will need more than a coat of paint though. Who ever thought all of this derring-do was fun?
"Dee!"
Dani, Heather and Sheri cannoned into my arms, almost bowling me over.
"Baby, you did good!" Sheri said, and gave me a kiss.
Heather was standing to the side smiling smugly.
"Hey, Heather," I said. "Thanks for the assist. You're an angel."
Heather grinned and whistled nonchalantly, a little halo of white light floating just above her head. We all laughed.
"Why aren't you guys in suits?" I said. "it's so unfair. I have to wear this frickin' suit while all you guys are in street clothes."
"Who says we aren't wearing suits?" Sheri said.
"Dee," Heather said, "the suits are supposed to be worn under your regular clothes." They all laughed. Sheri unbuttoned her shirt and I could see she was wearing the catsuit underneath.
"Who told you that you couldn't wear your own clothes on top?" Dani asked.
After I looked nonplussed for a few moments, they all broke down laughing.
"Hey!" we heard someone yell.
We turned around and saw Kris standing with Ray and a bunch of other people by the bank doors, all of them dressed in the SWAT uniform Ray was wearing, except for Kris herself - she was wearing a green military officer uniform, every inch the efficient military leader. A pretty redhead stood beside her.
"Oh, thank goodness," Sheri said sarcastically. "The cavalry's arrived. We're saved."
Chapter 7: Assessment
We went to them arm in arm, with wide grins and a happy skip in our step. When we got near enough, we heard Kris talking to the redhead.
"Okay, Rita," Kris was saying to her, "we have thirteen civilians that you need to work on. Ray, you go help her, okay?"
Ray nodded and started walking into the bank lobby, with the redhead in tow.
Ray gave me a hug as they passed. "Great work, gorgeous," he said. The redhead, Rita I think her name was, gave me a wink.
"So, Mizz Fairchild," Kris said.
"That's Mr. Fairchild," I said.
She pointedly looked at my getup. "Well, whatever's fine," I said lamely.
"Mizz Fairchild," she said again, "there are a lot of things that I would have done differently, and I am sure my people would not have made as much of a mess, but all in all, very impressive. I'll expect a report."
"Take the compliment, Dee," Dani staged-whispered. "That's a very big compliment coming from for Kris. She's a pretty uptight girl, if you haven't noticed."
"Shut it, Dani," Kris said, smiling.
A cute native-american girl came in.
"Mom," the girl said.
"Liz, how's Vee?"
"I left her in the van. She's totally all right now. She's sleeping it off." She turned to me. "Sooo... you are the famous Danny Fairchild." She looked me up and down. "Nice."
"Danny Fairchild, this is my, ummm, daughter, Elizabeth," Kris introduced us. Eh? Daughter?
"Nice to meet you." I said. She was about reach out to shake my hand but noticed that I was cradling it gingerly.
"You've hurt your hand!" she said. "Here, lemme."
"It's okay, Dee," Sheri said. "She can help fix your hand."
Liz held my hand in both of hers and a pleasantly warm feeling enveloped it. When she let go, I didn't feel any pain anymore.
"Hey, cool!" I shook my hand and it was as if there wasn't anything wrong with it.
"That's what I do," she said, giggling. A little cat slinked over and started wrapping herself around Liz's leg.
"What's Miss Bonsai doing here," Dani said.
"With you gone," Kris said, "and Liz and I leaving, she refused to be left alone."
"Are you talking about the cat?" I said.
"Yes," Liz said. "She's very possessive when it comes to her humans."
I crouched down. "Hey cat," I said. The cat looked up at me for a second and then jumped into my arms. I stood up and turned to Kris.
The cat flicked her tail in my nose a few times making me sneeze. I handed her to Liz, but she jumped back to me.
"You know," Liz said, "this is the first time for me to see her take to anyone."
"I'm flattered and all, but..."
"Oh, she's just a cat," Liz said. "Be a sport. She'll get tired of you soon enough."
We went to the bank manager's office where we briefed Kris. Kris wanted to hear all the details and we went through everything. Each of us took turns speaking, but when it was my turn, Kris wanted to get even more details. I think I talked more than all the others combined. By the time we finished, it was already past six PM. Kris finally wrapped everything up when my stomach's grumbling couldn't be ignored anymore. Kris turned to Ray.
"Ray," she said. "I need your assessment."
"What can I tell you, Kris," Ray said. "Everything worked. We got our transformee, we foiled a robbery and we got a new commando-in-training." He gave me a wink.
"The assessment I am asking for, Ray," Kris said with long-suffering patience, "is the original one I've been asking for - the one about Dee. The reason we came here in the first place."
"Oh." Ray said.
Kris looked at Ray for a moment and clicked her radio. "Call Rita McFadden," she said into the radio. "I may need her in a moment."
"Kris, we don't need Rita..."
"Ray, you know it's necessary. Actually, it might not be necessary. Depending on your report."
"Kris, I know you'd like me to say that we've found another one. But in all honesty... I don't know."
Kris frowned.
"And I know you think we're wasting time and resources, but we owe it to Dee to find out for sure, at least, one way or another."
She looked at each of us in turn. And then she looked directly at me, looking at me like she was studying me. And then she smiled. "I don't think that. I think our time here was worth it." She turned back to Ray.
"All right, Ray," she said. "You have one more day. Do your best. But this is definitely the last day. One way or the other, you will come to a conclusion."
Just then, Rita, the new redheaded girl came in. "You called me?" she said.
"Great timing, Rita," Kris said. "Ray, Rita will be staying with you until you can get back to me with an answer." Kris looked at Rita.
Rita shrugged. "If you say so, Ma'am," she said.
Kris turned to me. "I hope you can stand one more day of poking and prodding, Dee," she smiled apologetically. "But I promise you it'll be the last. Okay?"
"Okay. Ummm, so we're done here?"
"Almost. We do need to do a bit of cleaning up around here, though."
"Okay. Guess it's too late to go back to school now, huh?"
Kris nodded. "We'll help with some kind of cover story. Ray?"
"On it, boss. Let's go, Dee."
Turns out everyone but Ray was staying to help with the cleanup. After saying my goodbyes, I handed Bonsai the cat to the new girl, Liz, and Ray and I walked out of the bank. As soon as I was outside, everyone broke out in applause. All the rubberneckers and everyone else out in the plaza were looking at me, clapping and cheering.
A bit puzzled, I nevertheless waved back, and the cheering got louder.
A girl I recognized as one of the people that were trapped in the bank screamed. "It's the Black Widow!" she said, and the people behind the barricades surged forward. The commandos from The Center, who were masquerading as riot police, had a hard time keeping them back. Ray and I made our way to the van.
Ray laughed. "You're a hero, Dee."
Before climbing back in, I turned and waved again. The cheering rose in volume. We slowly pulled out, with me still waving to the crowd, and left the plaza.
Once we were away and we were sure no one else was following, Ray pointed to the back of the van.
"So, you sexy thang," Ray said, "time to change, don't you think?"
I unbuckled and wearily went to the back of the van.
"Just change back to your clothes and leave everything. I'll take care of cleaning up."
I peeled off the suit, and all I could say was, thank god it was dark blue, otherwise the sweat stains would have been extremely embarrassing. I took out the two chargers and put them on the foldable gurney along with the suit (It was probably the one Vee laid on when Ray brought her into the van. Wonder where she was.). The chargers were pretty wet with my sweat so I used the sheets to wipe them down. I also used a bunch of paper towels to wipe myself everywhere I could reach. Boy, do I need a shower.
"Ummm, Ray?" I said, "about the underwear..."
"You can keep em," he said. "I don't want em back anymore."
So I just kept them on and proceeded to get back into my sports bra, socks, jeans, white tank and loose shirt.
I sat on the floor, put on my sneaks, and went back up front.
"You forgot this," Ray said, and handed me my scrunchie. Oh, yeah. I put it back on in my usual guy's ponytail.
Half an hour later, after going through a very circuitous route to avoid being seen, we eventually ended up back in front of the mall. He parked the van right behind my car.
"So," he said. "See you back at the lake tomorrow?"
"Okay." I sighed.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
In my mind, I thought of everything that had happened to me ever since I met Ray and his friends. I can't believe that was only five days ago. And everything that happened, especially everything that happened today - it was like a dream.
I looked back at Ray. These people could easily become friends, or rather, were already friends. But they were all surrounded in mystery. How could anyone possibly believe the things that they told me, but then again, everything supported their story. But still... It would be good if all of this ends soon.
"Ummm, I was just thinking that I'll still need that alibi to tell the school on Monday," I lied.
"How 'bout this," he said. "I'll have someone call your folks and your principal first thing tomorrow. They'll be told you were trapped downtown because of the traffic that foiled robbery at the bank caused, and then you were questioned by the police all afternoon as an eyewitness, and that the police apologizes for detaining you. How's that sound?"
"Sounds good."
"I have a lot of practice making up cover stories," he said. "So we'll see you tomorrow then?"
"'Kay." I gave him a hug.
"Later, dude."
"Later, Dee. Oh, and don't forget these." He handed me the flowers I got for Nikki earlier this afternoon.
I waved goodbye as he pulled away, got into my own car, and drove to Nikki's. I was so bad at making up stories, I'm sure the guys will see right through me. I hoped that I can keep Ray's cover story straight in my head.
Chapter 8: Picnic
After I finished my early Saturday morning radio program, I went over to Mongo's for our usual band practice, with my guitars and other band stuff. But since I had to be at the lake again tonight, I had to beg off from our gig at Mario's later. I told Janet but she didn't like that one bit. I said I had to do something I couldn't get out of. Eventually, she and the band agreed, even though I was being vague about what that something was. So during band practice, we picked songs that the band could play without me. When they left for Mario's, I went to the lake instead.
I wasn't a hundred percent sure exactly where they had their plane parked, but I was sure I could find it. After I turned a bend I saw the Devastator and the Black Widow parked in the same field as before. Everyone was sitting around on a blanket laid out on the grass. They were having a picnic. For me? Well, gee.
I parked right beside the Black Widow and got out. Vee, Dani, Heather and Sheri jumped up and ran towards me. Ray and the new girl, Rita walked more sedately.
Heather and Dani hugged me around the neck and I almost fell. Sheri and Vee looked on, leaning against my car, and giggled.
As Sheri leaned back, she put her hand on the hood of my car.
"Sheri," Vee said. Sheri closed her eyes and stood like a girl in a trance.
"Sheri!" I exclaimed. "What's wrong?"
I was about to put a hand on her shoulder, when Vee stopped me.
"Don't, Dee," she said.
"Vee, what's wrong with Sheri?"
"Nothing's wrong, Dee. Sheri's just... doing her thing."
Dani and Heather pulled me away. "She'll be all right, Dee," Heather said. It's that object reading thing.
I looked back at Sheri, motionless, with both hands on the car, and Vee standing beside her. I let myself be dragged away.
The rest of us tried to enjoy the picnic. The spread that Ray and everyone had laid out was excellent. No alcoholic drinks, though, not even beer. As the boss's main squeeze, Ray had to play things pretty straight. And serving alcohol to minors was definitely a no-no.
Everything was great, but despite which, though, I wasn't enjoying the picnic as much as I could. I kept on sneaking looks at Sheri and Dee over by my car. They weren't moving much. Hope they're okay.
Rita, the new girl, was looking at me incredulously.
"For such a little fella, ya shore do eat a lot," Rita said in a very strong Texas twang.
Dani giggled. "That's Dee for you," she said.
"Where do you put it all?" Rita said.
"Dee's a very special person," Heather said. "And I guess that's part of her specialness." The girls, with the exception of Rita, giggled at that.
"Tell me!" Rita said.
Dani looked to Ray.
"Go ahead," Ray said. "Kris gave her clearance."
And then everyone started telling Rita about me, and especially what happened in the bank yesterday.
Rita listened spellbound, at moments giggling like a loon, and in others staring at me wide-eyed.
It was a slow but wonderful afternoon. Although we were mostly talking about me, the talk wasn't too heavy, and was very pleasant. We watched the sun set down, red and orange lights reflecting on the surface of the lake. And as the air become cooler, we felt a mild, crisp breeze ruffle our hair, and made the hot chocolate that Dani poured out of a thermos taste real good.
I had this feeling that we were all waiting on Sheri and Vee, and that we were just passing the time until they were done with whatever they were doing. At least there weren't any tests.
I didn't mind.
I got the low-down on Marilyn, our sexy amazon girl. She was definitely a changee. She was a boy named Horace that went missing about a week ago. In a way, his going missing was a good thing because no cover story had to be made up. His change affected him mentally, and he started fancied himself as some super-powered amazon after his change, and with his, or rather 'her' powers, she started collecting a harem from all the boys in his school that used to bully him. She now has a full-time psychiatrist assigned to her, and hopefully she'll be fixed up soon.
Dani's reading was also right on the money - her hearing was indeed slightly heightened, like we expected, but so were her other primary senses, but not by much. That accounted for her being able to overhear us, and for her being such a nympho. Other than that, she was pretty normal except for her ultrasonic voice that can shatter things explosively, which was what she used to blast the bank doors and vault. The people from the Center now had her on sedatives and were keeping her throat numbed until they can figure out what to do with her. As for her sex overdrive mind control thing, the fact that I was able to fight it gave them a clue on how it worked and how to manage it. There was no danger of any orgies happening at the Center.
I commented on her super strength but Ray explained that she actually wasn't all that strong. Her strength was actually normal - any ordinary human girl that was that big to begin with, and spent all her time doing weight training, could easily have matched, even surpass her. She was just a muscular, seven-foot tall girl with strength proportionate to her size.
"Actually, she's only a Level One changee," Ray said, "not even close to a Level Two. She just looks scary."
"Oh, I don't know about that," I said. "I thought she looked pretty sexy, actually."
"Speaking about sexy," Heather said, "didja see the pictures that's floating in the internet now? About that sexy Black Widow bounty hunter?" She grinned evilly.
"Ooooh!" Dani said, and giggled.
"Bounty hunter?" I said. "How'd I suddenly become a bounty hunter?"
"That's the internet for you," Ray said. "Besides, it's a great cover. And you looked different enough that we doubt anyone will connect you with this."
I knew all about that - I've lived with Danny the singer and Nighthawk the DJ long enough to know that that was super-possible.
The Center had impounded all of the bank's security video and covered up the whole robbery, making it appear like a regular bank robbery that was foiled by the timely arrival of SWAT. They said Rita helped a lot in covering things up, but Ray didn't give any details of her involvement. Also, no mention of the Black Widow was made to the press, but Ray said that an urban legend was sure to grow around the whole incident now, especially if pictures of her keep on popping up on the net. That was kinda neat, actually.
"Hey."
Sheri and Vee were standing right beside me. I stood up quickly.
"Sheri!" I exclaimed. "You okay?"
Sheri turned to me and gave me a hug. That surprised me, but I hugged her back. She started crying. I didn't understand why. "I'm sorry," she whispered to me.
Vee walked to Ray, and they had a long, whispered talk. They started walking to the parked plane.
I turned back to Sheri. "Why are you sorry? What happened?"
We sat down. "I saw a lot of things," Sheri said.
"When you touched my car, huh? Well, I think I've told you guys most of the high points already."
"Hardly," she smiled again.
"Well, I didn't think I could tell everyone everything."
"True," she laughed.
Everyone was looking at us. All of them looked sad, or rather more melancholy. Dani looked at Rita angrily.
"Hey, I just follow orders, okay?" Rita said to Dani. "If y'all need someone to blame, blame Colonel Harris. Or maybe Kris."
To break everyone out of the mood, I asked them about life at the Center, and although they didn't tell me any details like where the Center really was, or what they did there, they did talk about life as a changee. I could identify with them so easily, the problems that they go through, or having to relate to others when they were now members of the opposite sex. I guess I envied them a bit, 'cause they could be so open about it with each other, even though I knew they had a lot of other problems I would never have.
I also found out that Ray was Kris's boyfriend (well, it was so obvious, even to me) and Liz was sort of her daughter. No one could really explain that clearly, but I just let it go.
Ray came back with Vee in tow. Ray was carrying a box with a handle on top. It was covered in shiny black lacquer and roughly the size of a portable amp.
When they got near, Sheri and Dani started crying. Rita stood, somewhat reluctantly.
"I won't do it, Ray," Rita said. "I hate it, what I have to do. I know it's necessary, but Dee doesn't deserve it. Please don't make me."
Ray made a patting gesture. "Rita..."
"Please, Ray..."
Ray hugged her. "Be cool, Rita," Ray said. "You don't have to do anything."
"Thank god!" And Rita started sobbing. But it wasn't a sad thing. She was sobbing in relief.
Dani and the others crowded around Ray. Though I felt the mood lighten, I still couldn't figure it out.
"Sit down, guys," Ray said. "I have to tell you something."
When everyone settled down, Ray put down the lacquered box and sat down with us on the grass. He got himself a mug of hot chocolate and then turned to me.
"Dee, you've heard what all of us can do, right?"
I nodded. "Except for Rita."
"Well, Rita is an eraser - someone that erases memory. She's here just in case."
"In case of what?"
"You knew that Sheri is a token reader, right? An object reader?"
"Yes. When she touches objects, she can tell things about people."
"That's right. I asked her to do that with you, so that we can find out more about you. I guess she picked your car."
"So?"
"Anyway, after what she found out - we now know it's true. That you aren't really one of us. You're not a changee - what Sheri saw confirmed it. And all the tests you went though. It just reinforces it. You aren't a changee. Or rather, you are a changee. Just not a changee like us."
"Ummm..."
"Rita is supposed to erase your memory, if you turn out not to be a changee. And you'll forget all about the past week, all about the Center. All about us. So that the secret is safe."
I didn't know what to say. I finally understood what all the crying was about earlier. But...
"So... I'm about to lose my memory?"
"No."
Huh?
"I explained, and Kris agreed, that we don't need to." Everyone cheered. "in exchange for your solemn promise that you'll keep everything a secret. And that you will try and help, if we need it."
I nodded.
Ray pointed to the lacquered box. "That's some stuff you might need, just in case we call." He wagged his eyebrows.
"Like?"
"Like a couple of high-tech taser guns, several cartridges of taser ammo, chargers, a couple of mini-rocket launchers, some boots and a set of really fancy and sexy skintight bulletproof overalls." He wagged his eyebrows like Groucho Marx.
Yayyy!
"You like that, huh?"
I shrugged.
"You know we can tell if you're lying, right?"
I gave Ray a raspberry.
Chapter 9: Epilogue (an excerpt from Part Seven of the story, Danny)
***** Nikki *****
Danny has been disappearing after school a lot lately, ever since I got back from the flu. Danielle told me he's been coming home late these days, like around midnight or sometimes even later. I told Danielle I was worried that he'd found another girl. Danielle shook her head, and said that she would know if he did. I knew how close they were, and since I trusted her implicitly, that settled my mind a bit. I then had this thought.
"What if it isn't another girl?" I said. Danielle looked at me, a question evident in her eyes. "What if... Danielle, what if it was a guy?"
We looked at each other, thinking of the possibilities and the ramifications of Danny cheating on me with a guy...
"Nikki,..." Danielle began, and faltered. "Nikki, I don't know if that's even possible." Danielle shook her head like she was trying to shake away an image in her mind she didn't like.
"But one thing's sure," she said, looking me in the eye, "I would know if he was cheating on you, whether it's with a girl or a guy. Believe me, I'd know. And he's head over heels in love with you - don't you know that?"
I sighed. "I guess I'm just being paranoid."
Danielle touched my cheek in understanding, just like Danny would. Sometimes it's like they were the same person. "But, Danielle," I took her hand. "If it isn't that, then what's he up to?"
She looked out the living room window, with an expression of both worry and fear. "I don't know, Nikki, and I'm worried."
His bandmates were worried, too. Danny had said he couldn't join the band for their usual Saturday practice this afternoon, as well as the gig tonight. Janet was beside herself, but Danny told her he cleared it with Mario and he said Mario was fine with it. Janet tried to find out what he was up to but couldn't get anything out of him. In the end, Janet and the others had no choice, and they went ahead and played without him tonight. Danny suggested they get Fallon to fill in, but Janet angrily vetoed that.
Mel and the others were there. It wasn't the band's best gig, she said, but good enough that Mario wasn't too mad. Although she said there were a lot of disgruntled people at Mario's, pissed that they wouldn't see Danny. Actually, that's why I was here at Danielle's sleeping over tonight - I mean, what's the point of watching Unlimited Bandwidth if Danny wasn't there?
Everyone assumed it was because of Janet, but no one wanted to bring it up. I think Janet thought so, too, but she pretended like it was because of something else.
Anyway, long after the show, and everyone had gone home already, Danielle and I caught him sneaking in through their kitchen door.
"So where've you been!" I huffed, hands on my hips. "We were all worried sick!"
He looked down, chastised. "Ummm, just out. And did a few errands. The bank to, umm, pay my credit card bill." He did that sometimes when the station wasn't able to pay his company-issued credit card bill on time - He'd pay it himself so he could avoid the late payment charges.
He looked down at his shoes, scuffing the floor like a guilty little boy, making me smile at how cute she was, I mean 'he' was. I couldn't stay mad at him when he acted like that. "We'll talk about it later then," I said. "go to your room and get washed up. I'll come check on you in a bit."
Danny nodded and picked up a shiny black box that was by his feet, roughly two feet by two feet by one. It looked like a big, shiny, black ceramic bento box, but without any designs painted on it.
"What's that?" I asked.
"Oh, nothing," he said nervously. He tucked it under his arm and ran up to his room. I noticed a slight limp. Have to ask him about that later, too.
I turned and saw Danielle giggling.
I wasn't in the mood. "What're you laughing about, little miss smartypants?"
"You sounded just like our mom," Danielle said, and continued giggling.
I just had to giggle at that, too. "Yeah, I guess I did." I gestured up towards Danny's room. "Did you notice he was limping a bit? And what was that he was carrying?"
Danielle shrugged. "We can ask him later. And that thing's probably some computer thing, or maybe an amplifier for his guitar, or something like that. You know him and his toys."
"Yeah."
After maybe twenty minutes, we knocked on Danny's door, and found a freshly-showered Danny in socks, a freshly-laundered oxford shirt and what looked like Bermuda shorts. And no telltale limp. I looked around and found the box standing beside his candy-pink guitar propped up against the wall. Danielle was right, probably just an amplifier.
And, as was typical, Danny was able to charm me out of my misgivings and we never did get to talk about his disappearing act. He polished off the big bowl of popcorn I made in nothing flat. Typical. And since he started acting normally again, as well as in the following weeks, (no more unexplained nightly disappearances, I mean) everyone forgot about the whole thing.
Later, when Danielle left us to go to bed, she reminded Danny that Dad said to keep his door open. She giggled and winked at me, shaking a finger at the both of us.
I stuck my tongue out at her, trying not to giggle myself. When she left, having pointedly left Danny's door wide open, I snuggled with Danny on the bed, staying on top of the covers. It would have been too much of a temptation otherwise, and we were expecting Danny's folks to come home anytime soon.
As we lay there quietly watching TV and wrapped around each other, I couldn't help but wonder what Danny's disappearances were all about. He said it was just some stuff for school and the glee club, and I took that at face value, as we almost always did Danny's explanations. But I promised myself to look into it. But later - right now, I was enjoying myself too much.
"I'm No Superman" by Lazlo Banes - theme from the TV sitcom, "Scrubs"
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