All the teenagers at Sherwood High were excited about the arrival of the hypnotist, but for Miriam, the show has some rather unexpected consequences...
All the teenagers at Sherwood High were excited about the arrival of the hypnotist, but for Miriam, the show has some rather unexpected consequences...
Echoes
By Melanie Ezell
Chapter 1: The Amazing Gordon
*God, could this class drag on any longer?*
"Miriam! Check this out!"
Miriam turned in time to see Cary, his best friend, doing a one handed handstand. "Pretty cool, huh?"
"Yeah, Cary, pretty cool." As he turned around, he heard a crash and the distinctive sound of Cary yelping in horror. The tall blonde boy dove into his assigned front row seat just before the teacher re-entered the room, much to Miriam's amusement. The cold stare from the teacher kept the laughter from the class to a minimum.
How did Cary ever become his best friend? They were as different as could be, after all. While Miriam was "tiny" compared to, well, just about everyone else in his school, Cary was one of the tallest members of their ninth grade class, with a slightly rugged appearance that contrasted greatly with Miriam's elfin features. Where Miriam was quiet and more of a listener, Cary was loud and full of a humor that was almost infectious. They were both well liked, if not popular, and were often called "The Odd Couple" by their fellow classmates. Nevertheless, they were nearly inseparable and had been since Cary moved to Robins Lake in the second grade, causing more than a few problems with the local "jocks" calling them rather rude names.
Miriam was too excited about the upcoming assembly to really concentrate on classwork, as was everyone at Sherwood High. After all, a hypnotist! This would be quite a show!
It had been the custom of the school for as long as anybody could remember to invite some sort of entertainer every semester, bringing in magicians, singers, artists, even the community theater group on several occasions to entertain the students. After hearing about the arrival of the hypnotist to town, the Events Committee knew instantly what this semester's event would be.
Cary turned suddenly to Miriam and said, “Hey! Maybe we can get him to hypnotize one of the girls and make her take her top off! That would be cool!”
Miriam didn't agree. First of all, because even at fifteen puberty had not yet graced the small auburn haired boy, and girls held no interest for him in that way. Second, he knew exactly which girl Cary wanted to see, and was too good of a friend to her - to all the girls - to think it funny that they should be embarrassed like that in front of the entire school.
Cary saw the face he gave him, and just grinned. “Hey, I know they're your friends, and besides, I wasn't serious! The school would never allow that!”
Miriam laughed. You couldn't stay mad at Cary long- he was too much of a goofball to be serious about anything.
"So, what do you wanna see?”
Miriam sighed. “Well, I've always thought it'd be neat to see a past life regression.”
Cary looked at him confused. “What's that?”
“It's where they hypnotize you, and then send you back in time in your head. You've heard of reincarnation? Well, they think your spirit remembers its past lives, so you can actually remember things from hundreds of years ago!”
“Hmm. Well, I don't believe it. Besides, I'm too cool to be hundreds of years old.”
Miriam laughed again. “Well, you most definitely are immature!”
That earned him a punch just as the bell rang to announce the time for the assembly.
<=====>
Once inside the loud, crowded Assembly Hall Cary and Miriam were forced to split up. As a member of the Events Committee, Cary was required to sit with the teachers on occasions such as this.
“Hey, over here!”
Miriam looked around to see his friend Lindy waving to him. He quickly made his way over to the tall brunette- the very person Cary had been wanting to see naked on stage. She hugged him when he finally reached her through the press of students, as she yelled above the din, “Why don't you sit with us?”, by us meaning her and the group of girls she hung out with.
“Um, okay. Where are you sitting at?”
“Right up here, in the front! Come on!”
She quickly led him to two adjoining seats in the very front row, center stage. All the boys around looked at Miriam in jealousy of sitting next to arguably the prettiest girl in school, but he knew they had no competition. Having a relationship with Lindy - or any of her girlfriends - would be like dating his sisters.
“Oh, I'm so excited!” she told him, and he just giggled with the girls at the thought of what the hypnotist might do.
Everyone quickly settled into their seats, and at the urge of the principal, quietened down just as the lights started to dim. Miriam felt a chill go through him from the excitement, and then, the curtain on stage began to slowly rise.
The stage was bare, save for the presence of an old ragged couch from the theater department and two mics on stands. Suddenly, to the blast of a trumpet fanfare across the speakers, an older man walked slowly from stage right to stand in the middle of the spotlight tracking across the set. His costume was quite extravagant, a purple velvet short coat with tails over a classic vest and black tie affair and wing tips, all topped off with an old, rather gaudy tophat perched at a rakish angle atop his greased back hair. As the trumpet blasts finished, he bowed genteelly before taking up the first mic.
“Greetings, ladies and gentlemen, I am The Amazing Gordon, hypnotist extraordinaire. Welcome to the greatest event of your short lives! Today you will witness the unbelievable, the uncanny, dare I say it, the impossible!” With broad, sweeping gestures, he seemed to bring every word he spoke to life, with an obvious flair for showmanship.
From the back of the room, through the laughter of all the students, one boy yelled, “Yeah, we've heard that all before! What can you do!”
“My dear boy! Why, to think you could question my talents!” The Amazing Gordon responded in mock injury. “I can make a football player into a star ballerina, the weakest of you into a world class wrestler, the strongest mind forget their own name! Even, though possibly the hardest of all, teach you some courtesy!” he said, with an impish grin that sent the audience roaring in applause as the young boy sat back embarrassed. They all knew this would truly be an entertaining evening.
“Now, before I begin, I feel there are a couple of things I must do. First and foremost, a warning: those of you who aide me on this journey will most likely do rather, shall we say, embarrassing activities.” This got a round of laughs and a few nervous giggles. “However, I swear on my honor as a hypnotist that no harm will come to you, nor will anything vulgar - such as stripping - be so much as mentioned.” Several of the boys in the audience let out disappointed moans, and Miriam could almost swear Gordon had aimed a wink at Cary as he delivered the warning.
“Good! With that settled, I need a volunteer!”
Over the next hour, the students were treated to an astonishing show. The Amazing Gordon opened with the first promised trick, and the cafeteria cum auditorium was brought to the brink of tears watching the star quarterback prance about to “Swan Lake”. After that, a junior girl volunteered, and was convinced to beatbox for the students. Everything from dead limbs to animal noises were performed on stage by numerous other members of the school body including several teachers, until Gordon stopped with a flourish to prepare for an announcement.
“My next trick shall, unfortunately, be my last for this evening.”
The entire audience visibly sagged at the realization that their show was nearing completion.
“Don't be weary, ladies and gentlemen, for my last act shall be most spectacular! In fact, if you wouldn't mind I'd like to ask the audience for suggestions!”
A murmur began passing through the seated children as questions of what should be performed were exchanged. From the teacher's table, though, Miriam clearly heard Cary yell for all to hear, “Do a past life regression for Miriam!”
Gordon's eyes seemed to take on a mischievous gleam as he said, “And who is this Miriam, might I ask?”
“Right here!” Lindy yelled, standing to introduce Gordon to his next “volunteer”, who appeared to be trying to melt into his chair.
“Ah, thank you, young lady. Would you be so kind as to bring my next victim- excuse me, guest- up on stage?”
Despite his best efforts, Miriam found himself unable to either melt into his chair or disappear, and blushed profusely as Lindy dragged him towards the center of the stage, to a round of jeers and applause from the audience.
“Ah, young Miriam, how splendid! Now, if you'll just take a seat on the sofa, I'll be with you shortly.” As Lindy headed offstage to return to her seat, The Amazing Gordon proceeded to explain to the audience what he was about to do. “Of all acts of hypnosis, the Past Life Regression is one of the most incredible and difficult. To send somebody back in time, to bring personalities through the void and into the realm of the physical once again, requires the utmost concentration on the parts of both the technician and the subject. Luckily for you, I have spent nearly ten years perfecting my technique, honing my mind to such a point, that it is but a small feat to obtain superior results. Please, young Miriam, lie down and we may begin.”
Miriam stretched out on the dusty old piece of furniture carefully, unsure of what was happening. As he settled into the well-worn cushions, Gordon took his place at the head, looking down upon Miriam with a broad grin.
The room was filled with a nervous silence as The Amazing Gordon began his work, using not a pocket watch to instigate hypnosis as with the others, but rather a crystal of a most beautiful violet hue dangling from a silver chain. “Now, concentrate on the pendulum, young one. Follow its path through the air, the slow sweeping motion as it swings from peak to peak, vertex to vertex, back and forth...” Miriam felt himself losing awareness of all but the pendulum, and slowly slipped into a cloud of purple and gray.
<=====>
A haze seemed to cover everything about him as Miriam tried to concentrate.
*Where am I?*
#You are nowhere,# a mysterious voice echoed from the platinum light surrounding the young man.
*Who are you?*
#I am no one. I am everyone. I am any one who lives, or has lived.#
Miriam was quite freaked out at this point, and attempted to scream, but no sound could escape his earnestly straining throat.
*Why am I here?* He thought.
#To learn.#
*To learn? To learn what?*
#To learn who you are.#
*I don't understand!*
Suddenly, a bright flash of white hot light brought him awake with a start.
<=====>
Marina screamed as she awoke with a start, sending her schoolbooks flying to the floor.
"Good to see you've finally decided to rejoin us, Mrs. Fallon. Now, if you'd be so kind as to answer the question you so rudely interrupted?"
"Um, what?" She asked, as she turned a brilliant shade of crimson from the laughter of the other students surrounding her confusion.
"Miss Fallon, I'd appreciate it if you could return your thoughts to 1965, please. Now, can you tell me who wrote the Surprise Symphony or not!"
"Sorry, Mrs. Leese. Um, I dunno, Handel? Haydn? Someone like that?"
The teacher was not amused. "Mrs. Fallon, this is the last time. I'd hate to have to report to your parents that-" another bright flash of light, and the classroom was gone again.
<=====>
"Mary Anne! Are you there?"
Mary Anne came out of her daze and looked around to try and find who was calling her. Bruce seemed perfectly content to sit on the stairs and await her return and the continuation of her ear scratching duties.
"Jessie, what eva is the problem?"
"Mary, them northerna's is comin' back! They said we have to free them damned niggas!"
"Oh, Daddy will not appreciate that! I'm sure thea's gonna be some words!"
The dog could wait while she fetched her father. If they lost those slaves there's no way Charlie would take her hand! Through the large oak front doors, and into the study-
<=====>
Marian opened her eyes slowly, though it didn't aid in her perception of her surroundings. No light penetrated into her dank, smelly, private hell, but she'd learned to dread the times it did. When there was light in the room, then one of 'them' were in the room. And if they were in the room, then she knew they were going to hurt her.
She couldn't remember much from before she was locked in this cage. They'd gotten her when she was seven, and all she'd known since then was the darkness, and the pain. She remembered her mother, so long ago, telling her the story of Maid Marian, her namesake, and Robin Hood. When they first took her, she'd hoped for a rescuer like him, but after the first few years came the realization that he'd never come.
Neither had they, for nearly six days. She was so weak. So tired.
A new darkness descended, not cold like that she knew- a numbness that took the pain away. For the first time in almost ten years, she could smile as everything melted into nothingness-
<=====>
Miriam awoke to the sound of somebody screaming. After a few seconds, he realized it was him.
"What happened?!"
Gordon, with a grave look upon his face, simply looked him over before replying nervously, "Nothing, nothing at all."
Miriam was quickly bundled up by the school nurse and taken offstage, while he noticed the entire auditorium was staring at him with looks of shock and horror.
"Come on, deary, we need to get you out of here. That man needs to tell everyone else something without you hearing it, I'm afraid. Come on!"
As he followed her, shaking, towards her office, he just managed to catch The Amazing Gordon saying to the crowd, "She must never know what happened to her today."
Miriam vaguely wondered who he was talking about, but was shaking too hard to put much thought into it.
Chapter 2: A Slip of the Tongue
Miriam tried hard to think of what could have happened when he went under, but couldn't seem to pin anything down. Vague recollections, like shadows of memories, seemed to flit through his mind, but as soon as he tried to concentrate on them they'd disappear. "What happened to me?" he asked the nurse busy checking his blood pressure.
"Sweety, I'm not sure that's for me to be tellin' you." was all he managed to get. Well, this was most definitely NOT what he had been expecting.
<=====>
The Amazing Gordon gazed intently at the crowd before him. He dreaded what he was about to have to do, but it was for the protection of the child, and he knew there wasn't any other way to handle things. He decided to deliver the main message first, and then explain why. "She must never know what happened to her today."
He noticed several faces in the crowd look at him, confused. "Who's she, sir?" The young lady who had guided the poor lamb on stage asked.
"Your friend, Miriam. She must never know what we saw in her past."
While obviously less confused now, the girl gave him an odd stare as she spoke, "Mr. Gordon, sir, Miriam is a boy."
*My God*, he thought, *this is worse than I could have imagined.*
<=====>
The last hour of the school day seemed to pass unbearably slow for Miriam as he tried not to think about what had happened. What HAD happened? He couldn't remember anything, and no matter who he asked nobody else seemed to want to tell him.
*Did I do something? Why did I scream, and what's got everyone else so nervous?*
Finally, after an age of waiting, the final bell rang and the students began exiting the classroom and heading home. He just managed to catch Cary at the doors to accompany him.
"So, surely YOU can tell me what went on?"
"I'm sorry, Miriam, I can't."
"Why won't anybody tell me! GAH!"
"Man, I'm really sorry, but we've all been told not to!"
"GRRRR!!"
The rest of the walk home was made in silence, Cary too upset to talk and Miriam too frustrated. *Why can't they just let me know what's going on? It's not like it can hurt anything. Can it?*
The afternoon and dinner passed in a rush, and Miriam soon found himself preparing for bed, still completely clueless as to what could have happened.
Plantations and fields, odd yet somehow familiar classrooms, and an evil blackness filled his dreams that night, and he woke up several times to find himself in a cold sweat with nothing to attach the images spinning through his head to reality.
<=====>
Cary tried to go to sleep, but couldn't get the events of the day out of his head. He was tempted to think it was all some kind of sick joke on the part of that Gordon guy, but why? And besides, when they woke Miriam back up Gordon was in as much a state as any of the other adults trying to make sure he was okay.
More disturbing, though, was Cary's inability to get the image of Miriam as a girl out of his head. He of all people knew that Miriam wasn't exactly the most manly of sorts, but to the best of his knowledge nobody had ever thought Miriam acted like a girl. After those memories, or whatever they were, though, it somehow seemed to fit.
How could his best friend have been a girl? And why did the idea of him being one again excite him so much?
<=====>
Lindy tried to call Miriam, but by the time she got home after dance practice and dinner he'd already gone to bed. She worried about him just as much as any of her girlfriends, possibly more. Being the only boy in their little group, all the girls had kind of adopted him, and though neither he nor Cary knew it, the teasing from the jocks would have been much worse if it wasn't for the girls in the group who were dating sports players keeping them somewhat in check.
That Past Life Regression thing had been interesting, but not really that surprising to her. She'd always considered Miriam to be just "one of the girls," and none of the others from what she could tell considered him to be anything else. She understood why they had to keep what happened from getting to Miriam, but had a bad feeling that someone would use it against him.
How can you sleep when one of your best friends' lives is on the line?
<=====>
BRRRRRRRRRZZZZZZZZ!
Miriam awoke the next morning in a less than chipper mood. Between the odd dreams and anxiety over the drama the day before, his sleep had been troubled and broken at best, nonexistent at worst.
"There you are, you little bedhead! I thought I'd have to drag you downstairs for breakfast this morning by that mop of yours." Gina, his mom, had been pestering Miriam to get a haircut for weeks, but he'd been holding off to save his money for a new computer instead. It was down to his shoulders by now, but he didn't really mind and he kept it clean, so she didn't bother him too much about it.
"Sorry, mom, I had some weird dreams last night, they kinda kept me awake."
"Well, you need to get around quickly if you plan on walking to school this morning with Cary. Eat up and then off with you!"
After a rushed breakfast Miriam made his way towards his room to get dressed in the standard school uniform- loose jeans, baggy tee, threadbare jean jacket and sneaks and he was ready for the day.
"Bye mom!" He called as he ran out the door and down the street towards his and Cary's regular rendezvous spot at the corner of Loksley and Sherwood. It was weird living on a street named after your great grandfather, but at least sharing a last name with your street address meant you never forgot where you lived!
After meeting up with Cary, they turned off Loksley and down Sherwood towards the school. It wasn't far, maybe a fifteen minute walk on an average day, but it usually gave them time to talk and discuss homework before class. Today, however, Miriam couldn't help feeling that Cary seemed oddly uncomfortable walking with him.
After five minutes of trying unsuccessfully to start a conversation with the boy, he finally gave up. "Fine! If you won't talk to me, though, at least tell me why!"
Cary gave him a startled look, and stuttering tried to answer. "Well, i-it's ju-just that, well, um, s-s-s-sorry."
Miriam couldn't help the pout that formed on his face. After a couple of minutes more of walking, Cary finally seemed to pull himself together and opened up for conversation, and by the time they reached the school, Miriam had almost forgotten about the difficulties earlier. They met Lindy at the doors to the school, and the three walked in together to head towards their homeroom.
"So Cary," Lindy asked, "how long until Jonathan's back? I mean, he's been out for what, two weeks now? I think he's probably on the last leg as far as excused absences, even for being sick."
"He got out of the hospital after getting over the Pneumonia over the weekend, and his mom and the doctor felt it'd be best if he recovered another week before returning, so he should be back Monday."
"Great!" It was a very poorly hidden fact that Lindy had a tremendous crush on Jonathan, Cary's only other close friend besides Miriam. Their friendship had a bit more foundation than his and Miriam's, as Jonathan was the class clown for the next grade up, and other than having brown hair him and Cary could almost pass for brothers.
"Yeah, as soon as he gets back we have to get back to work on practicing for the Archery Contest, we've already missed too much practice time by goofing around, and with the competition only a few weeks away I'm not sure if we'll be up to par."
"Sure you will be!" Miriam quipped. "You two are the best bowmen in the entire school, even if you haven't practiced since before Christmas break. It's still the first week of March, and the competition isn't until the second week in April, that's plenty of time for you two to get back up to speed!"
They split up at the door to homeroom and each headed towards their assigned desks. Upon reaching his, however, Miriam was surprised to find a skirt and knickers laying in his seat with a note on top. Snickers coming from the back of the room let him know the culprit was John Prince, the so-called "King of Jocks" at Sherwood High, and his flunkies. Without so much as a backwards glance, Miriam simply picked up the bundle, note and all, and placed it upon the teacher's worktable, to be dealt with by someone else. He managed to get back to his desk and seated just prior to the first bell, and the arrival of Mr. Hendricks, their homeroom teacher, signaled the beginning of the school day.
By lunchtime nothing more had occurred to worry Miriam, and he was just beginning to get that warm feeling that he'd come to realize meant a full tummy when shouting from the other end of the cafeteria jarred him out of contemplation of his chicken sandwich and back into reality.
"Hey, girly freak! Over here!"
It was Prince, and apparently his taunts were being directed at who else but Miriam. "Yeah, you heard me, over here!"
"Just ignore them, Miriam," Lindy rubbed his shoulders. "They're just being jerks."
Miriam decided he'd had enough lunch, and picking up his tray, began the walk back towards the return window - on the other side of Prince and his cronies' table. *Just ignore them, easy as that, then you can get out of here.*
His plans were dashed, however, when he was grabbed from behind. Mike Notts, the Sheriffs son, of course. He was Prince's right hand, and only ever managed to pass his classes or keep from getting expelled due to his father's threats of "searching" the school for illegal substances.
"Think you can ignore us, you little faggot!" Prince was obviously in full blown bully mode today, and despite the fact that nobody wanted to see Miriam treated so, the risks of jumping in were too great, and with Cary already gone...
"What's wrong, didn't like your skirt this morning? Figured a little girl like you would absolutely love that, after yesterday! 'Oh, no, don't hurt me!' Bet you liked all those girly lives, didn't you! 'Mary Ann' this and 'Marian' that!"
What was he talking about? Girly lives? And who was Mary Ann-
Miriam's tray hit the floor just as the fist connected with his stomach.
<== chapters 3 and 4 coming soon!==>
Chapters 3 through 5.
What happened at the assembly? Why won't anybody tell Miriam what the hypnotist did?
And why are Miriam's thoughts no longer always his own?
A quick "thank'ee" goes out to all those who read and commented on the first two chapters of "Echoes". I realize it's been a few months now since I posted it, and I intended to get the next part up much sooner, but due to issues with the internet and moving to a new city I never had the opportunity. However, the wait is now over!
Note: Any and all suggestions appreciated. This story moves rather slow, and even in this part the TG elements aren't really played upon all that much, so if you're wanting a story with a quick transformation, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. In fact, a note on my note: I'm up to Chapter 9 in writing ahead already, and the main character still hasn't so much as tried on a pair of girl's shoes. I'm trying to focus more on the mental and social elements of the change rather than do the standard "clothes make the girl" story I read so often, which may not appeal to many readers.
And now, without wasting any more wind on explanations and disclaimers, the story.
Echoes
By Melanie Ezell
Part II
Chapter 3: Sturm und Drang
For the second day running, Miriam found himself in the nurse's office, this time with a worried Lindy at his side.
"My goodness, what ever happened?"
"Prince, ma'am. He was teasing Miriam, and then punched him in the stomach."
Miriam sat on the end of the bed, trying to make sense of things. The punch had hurt, but that was nothing compared to the knockdown force of that name.
*Mary Anne. Why does that name sound so familiar?*
"Miriam, sweetie, are you with us?" The nurse gently prodded his shoulder, concerned by his continued silence.
"What? Yeah, I'm here. Just thinking." Lindy silently took his hand in an attempt to ease his obvious trembling.
Marian. Just the thought of that name brought up images, yet he had no idea where they came from. He tried to focus on the pictures and ideas flashing through his mind, but couldn't get a grip on them any better than his dreams the previous night.
"Well, I think you're good to go, young man, but try to stay away from that bully from now on, okay?"
"Yeah, sure. Hey, Lindy?"
"Miriam?"
"What was up with the names Prince kept calling me? Something about 'Mary Anne', or 'Marian' or something?" The color seemed to drain from her face at the mention of the names, and she shot a quick look towards the nurse. *Ah, so something's going on.* "Does this have anything to do with that hypnotist yesterday?"
"Now where would you get that idea? Of course not!" She answered, a bit too quickly for the truth. "I'm sure it's nothing. Come on, let's get you to the Principal's office, your mom should be here to pick you up by now."
<=====>
Besides the standard Mom questions on the ride back to the house, Miriam was free of distractions, and contemplated just where these events were leading. *Something happened back there besides just being punched. GAH! What's happening to me? Why can't I focus?* After three hours of trying to find some kind of explanation, he decided a walk was in order to help clear his head.
Donning his jacket and sneaks, he quickly made his way out the front door and down the street in the opposite direction from the school, towards the park. Spring was just starting to make itself known in their neighborhood, and Miriam couldn't help but admire the fresh buds just starting to bloom among the bushes and trees lining the footpaths and trails throughout the park. This had been his favorite retreat from his problems ever since first grade, when the first serious teasing had began. With a name like Miriam, he'd come to realize, such things were inevitable, but it wasn't really his parent's fault, after all. They'd meant to name him "Merriam", after the dictionary guy, with the idea that naming him after someone smart would somehow magically gift him with intelligence.
Ironic, that they misspelled the name on his birth certificate, all things considered. It really hadn't seemed that big a deal at first, really just an alternate spelling, and so they had let it slide. With the arrival of school, and the discovery that different means bad, that minor mistake quickly turned into a curse. He had to let out a short laugh when he thought of the fact that he really had gotten so smart due to his name. After all, he had it to thank for all the time he'd spent reading or studying instead of out playing sports with the other boys his age. Then again, his small size probably didn't help much, either. If only his talents had extended to math, he thought, he may have had the highest grades in their class. As it was, he struggled to maintain a C average in any maths that required more strenuous calculations than basic addition and subtraction, while his grammar and history scores were the envy of the rest of his year.
His recollections were momentarily interrupted by a small flock of snowbirds bursting from the holly bush just ahead of him, and he stopped to watch them energetically flap their way towards the old, gnarled willow trees overhanging the river. The river. The thought of the last time he'd been down the path that led to The Banks caused him to giggle. Him, Cary, and Jonathan had become bored with their typical activities near the end of the summer, and had decided that some swimming was in order. Miriam had invited Lindy and the girls to join them, and the entire party had headed down to the "locals only" spot, fondly called The Banks by most of the families living in the area. He remembered no one even getting into the water, but instead sitting in the sun on the gravel shores with Lindy and some of the girls and just talking about school and how their summers had gone. Cary and Jonathan had entertained themselves by skipping stones and generally horsing around, but the real show started when Cary slipped from the rocky outcropping they were using as a pier and slid into the river fully clothed. Miriam broke down laughing at the memory of how he'd ended up having to borrow a bright pink beach towel from Sarah to wrap himself in while his clothes were drying out, having planned on swimming in his boxers, and how wearing nothing but a towel he'd still managed to goof around. He'd even done a striptease for the girls when he'd first gotten out of the water. It had ended up being the highlight of their summer, and the last chance they'd had to get together prior to the start of school.
Mixed in with his memories of the river were others as well, of evenings spent sitting out on those same moss covered rocks and letting her feet soak in the icy water, her sundress scrunched up around her knees to keep it from getting wet, and that cute George from down the road holding her-
Wait a second! Where did THAT come from? Miriam shook his head briskly, trying to shake the odd feelings he was having. *Must have been something I read about. Heh, one too many romance novels, guess I'll have to stop asking Mom for book suggestions. You'd think she doesn't have a life of her own with the way she consumes those things.* Glancing down at his watch, he was shocked to find the time read half six: he'd been out nearly two hours! He made his way quickly along the foot path back out and on to the street, and managed to get home just as his Dad pulled into the driveway, the back of their old Blazer filled with grocery bags.
"Care to give me a hand, son?"
"Sure, Dad. Which one?"
"Very funny, there's more in the seats. Hop to it."
After a couple more trips each, all the packages were finally unloaded and put away safely in the cupboards. "Dinner's at seven, nothing fancy, just Alfredo tonight," Mom called from the kitchen as Miriam and his father headed out. "Miriam, get back here, you're helping."
"Mom, do you really need my help? I know that Alfredo isn't that hard."
"You're helping, and that's that, now come on."
"Dad?"
"Listen to your Mom, Miriam. Trust me, it'll make things easier on both of us."
"I heard that, buster!"
"See? I'm already in trouble."
Miriam couldn't help the laugh that escaped his lips as he headed back to his Mom. His Dad, Bill Loksley, might not be the biggest man around, but he could diffuse almost any situation with his patent humor, which was one reason he worked Public Relations for a couple of local companies, though Miriam could never remember what they were. The coke bottle glasses he needed to help correct his astigmatism often ended up being used as a prop for his jokes, even. As he said whenever Miriam came to him with a problem, "They can't make fun of something if you make fun of it first."
While his Dad may have been the typical geek, his Mom Felicity brought new meaning to the phrase "opposites attract." She wasn't much taller than Miriam, but made up for her height with her sunny disposition and 'cute' features. It was obvious which parent he took after, and much to his dismay, he often found his grandparents on his Mom's side comparing him to her at his age. At least he'd gotten his Dad's hair color- being a near perfect platinum blonde would have made things that much harder for him with the jocks at school when combined with everything else.
As he stood at the counter mixing the ingredients for the sauce, she asked him, "So, what's this I hear about you having trouble with the Prince kid?"
*Ah, that's why she wanted me to help.* "Nothing, Mom, just the usual harassment, though I'm kinda worried about yesterday."
"What happened yesterday?"
*Bum!* "Mom, it's nothing. Just a bit of fun at the assembly. I'm not really sure myself, to be honest, I was out of it at the time."
"Well, you know I worry about you, but if you don't wanna talk about it I'll leave it alone. So, what'd you think about "McGregor's Rose Garden" then?"
"It was okay, but I think I've been reading too many of your romance novels, Mom. Don't you have anything more, uh, academic?"
"Well, I have a couple of Jane Austen books, they're some of my faves. Really romantic and sweet, wanna try one?"
*Sigh.* "No, Mom, that's okay. Maybe later. I think I'll see if Cary's finished that new Tolkien book he's got yet. I've read too much 'romantic and sweet' lately, and it's starting to mess with my head."
"Oh, nonsense, you can never have too much romantic and sweet, 'Meriadoc'!"
"If it's going to get you started on THAT again, I think I'll skip the Tolkien, then." It'd taken more work to explain his Mom calling him 'Merry' than it'd taken to explain his real name the first time the kids at school had heard her use it. Sometimes having cool parents could be really embarrassing.
The noodle came out of nowhere, and from her giggling his Mom seemed rather proud of her aim: it took him three tries to finally pry the wet food from his back before attempting a return volley, but unfortunately his aim wasn't quite as good as hers, resulting in a nasty mess on the fridge.
"You're cleaning that up, you know."
"Hey! You threw it at me first!"
"And? I'm the Mom, I have special rights."
"Just get back to work on your pasta, then."
"Yessa, massa."
Miriam paused in his stirring. "Why ain't Amos cookin' tonight, anyways?"
"Who's Amos?"
"You know, that servant that's always runnin' 'round hea."
"What are you talking about? And what's with the bad southern belle accent all of a sudden?"
"What?" *Wait, what was I just talking about? We don't have a servant.*
"Come on, joke's up, get back to that sauce," his Mom smirked as she turned back around.
*Things are getting just TOO weird. I need to figure this out, and soon.*
<=====>
Cary still couldn't seem to shake the thought of Miriam as a girl from his head. He'd felt especially bad after hearing what happened in the lunchroom. If only he'd been there, he could have helped to protect him, but that's one reason he'd had to leave the room in the first place; he was getting just too attached to Miriam. He didn't want to lose his oldest friend, yet things had changed so much already he had no idea what was going to happen. *And what was I doing this morning? Jeez, I felt like I was trying to chat up a girl or something on the way to school! What am I gonna do?*
Learning what the jocks had actually done made him that much angrier. *That Gordon guy told us EXACTLY why Miriam didn't need to be messed with about the life thing. What are they getting at? Do they really want to make life that difficult for her? Him! Dammit!*
<=====>
*I'm really gonna have to start trying to get home from dance practice earlier.*
It was too late now, though. Miriam would already be in bed, and she didn't want to disturb his sleep after everything that happened today. If only those bullies weren't so stupid, maybe they'd realize exactly what they had just done. The idea that they knew exactly what they were doing was just too cruel to even consider.
*We're really going to have to keep an eye out for him now.* Gordon had given the entire audience a brief description of the reasons why Miriam didn't need to learn what had happened, but afterwards, he'd taken her off to the side to explain in more detail exactly what was going on. What Lindy heard was quite disturbing, but she promised to do her best to keep him safe, and now she'd already failed not twenty four hours after getting the warnings. *I hope he's all right. I can't imagine how hard this is going to make things for him now, but Gordon made everyone promise not to talk about it, and even if the jocks ignored his warning, I know that everyone else likes Miriam enough to keep their mouths shut. Let's hope things don't get any worse.*
<=====>
For the second night in a row, Miriam's sleep was disturbed by odd dreams, but this time there was more clarity to everything than the previous night, and he could remember parts of the dreams when he awoke. He finally recognized the school as the old high school building, but they'd stopped using it back in the 80's due to safety regulations or something like that. He didn't have any idea where that farm or whatever was, and he was certain he didn't WANT to know about the blackness. The others weren't that bad, just weird, but he shuddered when the blackness entered his thoughts.
The chill air in his room caused goose pimples to pop up all along his bare arms and legs, but he didn't notice as he curled up and wept.
Chapter 4: Revelations
The early morning sunlight penetrated the window of Miriam's bedroom, bathing everything in a muddy orange light as it filtered through the layers of curtains meant to keep it out. As he sat up and stretched, two thoughts drifted into his consciousness.
*It's Saturday.* That thought made him smile. *The Assembly.* A cold chill ran down his spine as the events of the last two days congealed.
"SHIT!"
<=====>
RINGRING! RINGRING!
RINGRING! RINGRING!
"Wha?" Cary tried to sort through the fuzz in his head to attach the sound he heard to some kind of logical interpretation.
RINGRING! RINGRING!
*Phone.*
RINGRING!
*I should answer that.*
RINGRING!
The droning of the phone was soon accompanied by the sound of his resumed snoring.
<=====>
Miriam dropped the phone back in the cradle, and tried to keep from screaming.
*What is going on! Why can't I remember what happened at the assembly, anyways? I thought you were supposed to be able to remember the things you saw, so why can't I?*
It had been a bad idea to try and phone Cary this early, he realized. After all, it's the weekend, he wouldn't be getting up until sometime around noon at the earliest. But who else was there he could talk to about this?
He picked the receiver back up, and dialed the number.
<=====>
"Hello?"
"Lindy? It's me, Miriam."
"Oh, hey!" *Finally!* "I was gonna call you last night, but I didn't get in from dance in time. Are you doing okay?"
"Yeah, I'm doing alright. Listen, I need to talk to you, and I need you to be straight with me. Where can we meet up?"
She really didn't like the way this conversation was going.
<=====>
After a quarter hour of nervous pacing, Miriam finally saw Lindy approaching The Banks from the opposite end of the trail from the side he'd come in from. "There you are!"
"Well, sorry, but I can't exactly just throw yesterday's jeans on!"
"Hey, neither did I!" He tried to calm the anxiety building up in his system before he snapped. "I, like, really don't have time to deal with this right now. I have to know just what's going on, Lindy. You and Cary know. I know you know, so there's no sense in trying to claim you don't."
He noticed her visibly cringe at his accusation, but by this point, he was over his normal aversion to making others uncomfortable. However, she was one of his best friends. "Lindy, please. I've got to know. I keep having these weird- flashbacks, I think. I'm remembering things that haven't happened to me, yesterday I even started talking like someone else! Please! Did something happen at the assembly or am I just going crazy?"
The look on her face showed the internal struggle she was going through. After what felt like an eternity, she at last seemed to come to a conclusion. "Miriam, I can't tell you. But before you blow up on me again," she said, as he started to say something rude, "I think we need to go see someone who may be able to help."
<=====>
"Dad, who called this morning?"
"I dunno." Ever since his mom left when he was six, Cary's dad had never seemed to really have any energy or interest in his son's life. It was just as well they'd moved, as with his on again off again employment there was no way Cary's father could have afforded the payments on their old house.
Without another word to his father, he went and checked the caller ID. "Crap, it was Miriam. Dad, I've gotta go."
"Later."
*Yeah, dad. Later.*
<=====>
After seeing the overacted and dramatic production that was The Amazing Gordon's stage show, Miriam had expected their destination to be some old, gaudy victorian house or an outdated warehouse filled with theatrical props or something. What he hadn't expected was the small, sterile room in an office complex they now stood in front of. His quick glance of disbelief was returned by Lindy just as the large, glass paned door swung open to reveal The Amazing Gordon himself. While not donning his stage outfit, his appearance was still suitably off kilter, with a tweed suit topped by an awful lime green bowler hat the likes of which had not been seen in many years. "Welcome, children, do come in." His slate eyes smiled at them from beneath his bushy brows and over greased hair, while his hat occupied his right hand as he bowed.
As they took in the inside of the office, they were just as surprised as they had been at its external appearance. Blank walls, with no furniture save a pair of leather chairs set in the center of the room opposite a low lounger. "Please do pardon the room, it is but a rental as I do not intend to be here long. Now, what assistance do you two require?" Miriam felt the man's gaze come to rest directly on him.
Miriam couldn't hold his fear in any more. "What happened to me Thursday! I wake up screaming, and nobody will tell me what's going on, then yesterday the stupid jocks start calling me a girl and all these names, and I keep remembering things that never happened, and all these weird dreams! What did you do to me!" He knew he was getting overexcited, but he had to get it out. The shouting helped him to feel better, and as he resumed breathing, he felt a little calmer than he had previously, though he couldn't help the tears that had begun slowly streaming down his face.
The look of pure sorrow that came over the old man's face shocked Miriam. "I was afraid this would happen. It was naive of me to believe a group of school children would be mature enough to heed my warnings. You must understand, what happened to you on stage was not planned, nor was it typical of such an act." Gordon motioned for Miriam and Lindy to take seats, as he lowered himself into one of the chairs. Miriam took the lounger, and Gordon began again. "What happened to you Thursday, Miriam, is not a common occurrence. While most people are capable of viewing events in their past lives through the eyes of their previous incarnations, you did much more than that. You absorbed the personalities and views of those you were looking through. In short, rather than merely seeing your past lives, you were truly reliving every moment you spent in any memory." He gave the two a moment to absorb this, and went on. "This caused some, well, interesting problems, because while to the inexperienced eye you were describing things that happened to others long ago, it meant I could not remove you from the hypnosis as I normally would have done."
"But, why not?"
"Because it might not have been you that I brought back to the modern day. If I were to simply bring you back, I could have permanently rewrote you as one of your pasts. I tried to take precautions, but when you started to slip, I had to act quickly, otherwise we could have lost you."
"You mean, when I woke up screaming?"
"Yes."
"What happened? I've been getting weird memories, but I don't know when or where they happened."
"I see. Because of your unique situation, I was afraid to advance you back too much at any time, so I did my best to go slow. I only let you have a glimpse at any one life, because the longer you stayed in one spot, the more problems I would have getting you out. I had gotten through two lives with very few problems, and everyone seemed to be quite enjoying your descriptions of events, but the third life I took you to was a different story." Gordon seemed to choke up at this point, and stopped talking.
"Please, go on, I need to know what happened."
"We heard you die," Lindy sighed softly from his other side, and he turned to see her near tears.
<=====>
"Yes?"
"Hey, Mrs. Loksley, is Miriam here?"
"No, sorry Cary, I think he went out to the park to talk to Lindy about something, he seemed pretty upset but he didn't want to talk to me about it."
*Dammit, I missed him! And by now I doubt they're at the park any more.* An idea struck him, and he quickly asked, "Would you mind if I borrowed your phone?"
"No, of course not!"
"Thanks!" He took the hand set she offered him, and dialed Lindy's cell number.
<=====>
Miriam stared at the girl and man sitting across from him in shock. "You can't be serious."
"I'm afraid it was all too serious. I had brought you back just as your spirit was leaving your body. You were dying of thirst and hunger, and I didn't have any choice but to pull you out as quickly as possible. I tried to take all precautions I could, but there wasn't enough time to do any foolproof permanent blocking, and after you were awake it was too late."
"So how does that explain things?"
"I managed to get you out, but I couldn't completely keep any of your older personalities and memories out. In most normal past life regressions it is for the recipient's benefit if they remember their experience, but in your case doing so would cause no end of problems, as you are beginning to realize."
"After you left, he explained to the rest of us what had happened, kinda. Everyone promised not to cause you any problems, but-" her cell phone ringing cut her off. "I've gotta get this, it's Cary."
The Amazing Gordon stood, and smiled down upon Miriam. "Well, I do believe that's quite enough excitement for one day. I've got appointments to work with now, so if you would," and he escorted both Miriam and Lindy out the door.
As Miriam walked out of the building with Lindy chattering away behind him, he remembered two important things the old man hadn't mentioned: How do I stop this, and why are all the memories as girls?
<=====>
"Yeah, I think we're gonna go eat now, it's been a long day already. Want to meet us for a quick meal at Pizza Hut about two?"
"Sure, I'll be there." Cary was just glad to get a hold of the two. From what Lindy said, Miriam was finally 'in the know' on what was going on, and could use some support now. Besides, he was starving.
Mrs. Loksley walked out of the kitchen and into the sitting room to check on him and with a worried look on her face asked him, "How are they?"
"They're fine." *Just been asking a hypnotist why Miriam's head's all messed up is all* he thought, but didn't add. "Thanks for the phone."
"Oh, you're welcome, honey. You're over here enough you don't even have to ask, you know that."
"Well, I gotta get going, we're meeting for Pizza in about half an hour, so I'll see you later. Good bye, Mrs. Loksley!"
"Goodbye, Cary, and please, how many times do I have to ask you, call me Felicity."
"All right, bye Felicity." He called back. He loved her like a mom, but appreciated that she'd never asked him to call her that. It still had too much of a sour note for him.
He began the walk towards the part of town where Pizza Hut was, the happiness to be seeing his friends outside of school counterbalanced by the thought of the talk they would probably be having when he got there.
Chapter 5: Phantoms
Their veggie pizza arrived at their booth just as Miriam and Lindy finished filling Cary in on their talk with Gordon. "And what would you like, sir?"
"Oh, uh, small meat lover's, please."
"Coming up." The waitress smiled as she turned around to get his pie.
"I don't see how you two eat that veggie junk. It isn't pizza without sausage or pepperoni."
"Yeah, well. So, what do you think I should do?" Miriam was feeling stressed out, but at least now he had the two people he trusted most in the world nearby, ready to help.
"Well," Cary began around a mouthful of stolen 'veggie junk', "the way I see it, there really isn't anything you CAN do. I'm sorry, but I think your best bet is just to ride this out."
"But," Miriam could feel the embarrassment rising to his cheeks. He didn't want to have to tell them about the memory by the river, but it seemed the only way to stress to them what was happening. "It's more than just memories coming back. I mean, I feel what I felt- the other people felt, when they happened. Like the other day by the river."
"What about the river?"
"Well," *God this is embarrassing,* "I remembered sitting on the rock pier, you know, out at The Banks? With my... my... boyfriend."
Cary's eyes widened into saucers. "Oh," he managed to squeak.
Lindy was confused. "Yeah, so? I do that all the time. It's no biggie."
"But it is to ME! I mean, I'm a boy, and here I am thinking about how much I wanted another boy to kiss me!" The restaurant went deathly quiet. *I probably shouldn't have yelled that out loud.*
<=====>
"GAHahahaha!"
"Oh, sure, ha ha. I'm glad you're finding this funny!"
"Come on, Miriam! That was CLASSIC! And when that really cute waiter grabbed your ass on the way out!" She couldn't hold it back any more, and the giggles returned. Cary was incapable of coherent speech, and merely stood off to the side, slapping his knee and trying to get his breath back between fits.
"Guys!" Miriam tried not to, but the smile appeared at the same time the blush reached his ears. At least they had managed to make it outside before starting.
<=====>
"So, where to now? I don't have to be home until nine thirty or so, which gives us a good... six hours until I need to start thinking about getting back."
"I don't really care, just as long as you don't let me do anything like THAT again."
"Can't promise that, buddy, but we'll do our best."
Miriam just sighed. "How about the shopping center?" This met with agreement from both of the other teens.
"Sounds good, I need to look for a new bag anyways, I ripped mine open on the teacher's desk the other day when I did that handstand."
"No, you ripped it yesterday when you were trying to put that blacklight bulb in the terrarium during Biology," Lindy corrected him. Miriam couldn't help but think he missed something good after going home early the day before.
"Oh, yeah." The smirk on Cary's face said it all. "I swear to you, if he'd just let me do it the snakes would have looked SO COOL."
<=====>
As usual for a Saturday afternoon, the Robins Lake Shopping Center was packed with teenagers with nothing to do and allowance to do it with. "Come on, 'Peterson's' has the backpack I need," Cary told the other two as he started off towards the store.
"Oh, come on, Cary! You can't just rush off and buy what you came here for!"
"Why not? Isn't that why we're here?"
"Well, yeah, but that isn't how you do it! You've gotta shop around, check what all the stores are carrying and-" Lindy's words were cut off by a hand across her mouth.
"And give you a chance to look at clothes, right? No way." Cary smirked, having thwarted the shopping demon's plans.
"Ooh."
"What?"
It was beautiful. It was rare that 'Greenway Fashions' had anything good in their window, but there was no denying the perfection on display. The gorgeous blue satin was perfectly offset by the lace at the hem and neckline, while the full petticoats made the skirts of the ballgown flare enticingly. Miriam's eyes were glued to the dress.
"Hmm, pretty, but I don't think it suits you."
"Wha? Oh, geez, not again!" As he jerked himself away from the window display, he felt incredibly embarrassed. First memories, and now he was wanting a dress? A nearby planter offered a moment to sit, and the tears began to flow.
"Maybe we should leave. I can get my bag another day."
"NO! We're not leaving on my account! Just hold on a moment."
"Miriam, are you okay?" Lindy asked as she sat down gingerly next to the distraught boy. "You've been really moody for the last few days, even before all this happened."
"Yeah, I mean, you're usually all quiet and like 'Oh, I'm so shy' but the last couple of weeks you've been kinda short tempered."
"I don't know, I've just been having weird mood swings lately. One moment I'll be fine, the next I'll be all wanting to cry. I just don't understand, and to top it off with all this, I mean, it's just like way too much right now."
"Hmm," Lindy grinned. "Sounds an awful lot like puberty to me."
Cary caught on quickly, and smiled as well. "Heh, yeah, I remember all too well. The getting angry all the time, the growth spurts, the weird hair and all that."
"Well, of course you do, they started when, last year for you?"
"Duh. That's why I remember them."
Even Miriam had to roll his eyes, but at least he'd stopped crying. "Thanks, guys, but I don't think I'm gonna wake up in the morning six foot tall with a goatee." He shivered at the thought.
"What?"
"Huh? Oh, nothing, just grossed out by the idea of having facial hair 's all. Sorry I've been so moody and stuff, I'll try to do better."
"No! Don't try to hide your emotions! That will just hurt you more! Just, let us try to help, okay?" Lindy's worry touched Miriam, and he felt another tear track down his already streaked face.
Cary took one of Miriam's arms while Lindy took the other, and the three sat and contemplated what to do.
"I'll be find, guys, seriously. It's just confusing, I mean, I saw that dress and the first thing I thought was 'That would look heavenly on me'. I was thinking about wearing it to a party at the plantation. But you know what's the most confusing of all? I don't even have any clue where 'the plantation' is! These memories and things are really doing a number on my head. I don't know, I have no idea what they're even about half the time, and that's the worst part. How can I handle something when not only do I not know where it comes from, but I can't even notice when it starts?"
Neither Lindy nor Cary could answer him.
<=====>
"Too bad they didn't have the blue one they had last week, but I guess gray isn't too bad either." Cary's adjusted the straps on his new pack as they began the trek back to Miriam's house.
"Like it matters what color it is, it'll be so dirty by the end of the week you won't be able to tell anyways."
"Hey, I'm not THAT bad!"
"Hyeah, right! What did you do first day with your old one?"
"That wasn't my fault! Prince ran into me and knocked it off my shoulder!"
"Maybe, but it was still covered in mud, and you could have wiped it off at some point."
"And lost the battle scars? No way!"
"You two! Can't you keep away from each other's throats for one afternoon, please?"
Miriam felt bad for yelling, like he always did. "Sorry, but I can't deal with it right now."
"Hey, man, 'zokay. Lindy, shut up."
"Cary! You little-" Cary managed to miss her strike, but his momentum sent him crashing to the ground, and his bag flying into a nearby puddle.
"Guys!"
<=====>
The rest of the journey home was uneventful, and after quick goodbyes Miriam was left alone.
*Why me? Is this some kind of karmic revenge for something I did in a past life?*
The realization of what he'd just asked himself caused him to chuckle as he weaved his way down the hall. *Surely with the way things are going I'd remember something like that.*
"Miriam, sweetie, is that you?"
*Sigh.* "Yes, Mom. I just got home."
As she looked around the door frame from his parent's room, the look of concern on her face was obvious. "Is something wrong? You seemed upset this morning, and you haven't called home all day."
"I know, Mom. Sorry about that, but I was kinda out of it all day. I'll try to be better tomorrow."
She frowned. "Honey, is there something going on? Are you in trouble?"
"No, Mom. Can we drop this, please?" He didn't like to whine, but the sooner he was in his room the better. *Just don't start crying in front of her.*
"Okay... good night, sweetheart."
" 'Night, Mom."
His door closed just as his restraint ran out. With a pillow muffling his sobs, Miriam did his best to get to sleep.
<=====>
"Bill?"
"What, honey. Is something the matter, you look upset?"
"I'm worried about Miriam. He's been acting oddly the last few days, and..."
"Oh, that. I wouldn't worry about it too much. You remember being a teenager, sometimes you feel like a completely different person that you normally are."
"I guess."
"I'm sure it's nothing. Now come on, get some sleep."
"Yeah, nothing. I love you."
"I love you too."
<=====>
Again, Miriam found himself in the gray light. *How did I get here again?*
#I have brought you here.#
*Well, I kind of figured that. What this time, trying to wreck my life more than you already have?*
#You must know who you are.#
Miriam stamped his foot in frustration. *I do know who I am! And who I am is me! Not these... these... girls you keep making me think I am!*
#They are you. You are them. One forever.#
*But why do this to me?*
#You must learn who you are. What is wrong will be made right. The new shall become the old, and the old shall make the new complete.#
*WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!*
#You will learn.#
Chapters 6 through 8.
Now that Miriam knows the truth, can he better cope with what's happening? Or is a breakdown unavoidable?
Some questions are answered, while some new ones are asked... oh, yeah, and barbecue!
Pseudo-spoilers, careful!!!
Since everybody seems to like part II so far, I thought I might as well go ahead and include part III! Unfortunately, this is all the completed chapters I have churned out so far, though I've got a good start on chapter 9... okay, a few paragraphs... oh, all right, all I've got's the chapter title, but I know what's gonna happen! :P
This part- just like the last- has not been proofed, nor has it been "test read" by anybody other than myself, so yet again, if you have a suggestion, make it! Who knows, maybe your suggestion will be part of a future rewrite! Notably absent from this section are any flashbacks or "mysterious voices", but don't think I've forgotten them!
Oh, and the final note, yet again (I do a lot of these, don't I?) Those who find a particular late-story conversation between Miriam and Lindy to seem stereotypical, I promise you, this is based upon my personal experience and, in general, pretty much true.
Well, enjoy!!
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Chapter 6: Divine Discontent
"This sucks."
"Hey, young man. You promised me last week you'd give it a try. I haven't been to church in years, and to be honest, I think it will do the whole family good." Felicity looked pointedly at Miriam's Dad as she said this.
"Don't look at me like that, I didn't say anything!"
"No, but I know you were thinking it, Bill Loksley. If I catch you sleeping through the sermon like I did last time we were in a church, I'll have your head."
"Oh, come on, I don't snore THAT loud, sweetheart. Besides, that preacher was boring."
"Yes, but it made a bad impression on my parents when we took vows and you had drool all over your tux."
Miriam just rolled his eyes as he pulled himself into the back of their blazer and idly scratched his chest. This was going to be a very long day.
<=====>
"Bill, put that away!"
"But honey, I promised I'd have this report done by-"
"I don't care if you're writing the next great American novel, either you put your PDA away and pay attention or I'm throwing it in the baptism tank."
Despite his reluctance, Miriam had to admit he was enjoying the services. The preacher was talking about people being turned into salt or something, but that merely provided a counterpoint to the drama that was his Mom and Dad. The stares from the other patrons would have upset him, but he completely understood how much more interesting this was than some old city that burned down or whatever.
"Bill, give it to me now."
"Baby, please..."
"Now!" She jerked the Blackberry from his grasp, and raised her eyebrows in annoyance. "What's this? NetHack! Bill, honestly!"
The couple behind them snorted. Realizing they had an audience, Felicity turned back to the front, but didn't miss the opportunity to stamp down with her heel on Bill's foot as they stood for hymns.
Miriam had a smile on his face as he gave his contribution to the singing.
<=====>
"Oh, come on, Mom, you have to admit, that was pretty funny."
"It most certainly was not!"
"Mom, you even had the preacher cracking up."
"That's the last time I try to take you two into a church!"
Miriam and his dad shared a discreet high five as they followed Felicity out of the church.
<=====>
"Hi, this is Felicity Loksley. We're not home right now, but-"
Cary hung up on the machine again. *Where are they? She's always home on Sun- HE! HE HE HE!*
The day before had been absolute torture for Cary. For all he tried, he couldn't stop thinking of Miriam as a girl, and it had been a constant effort to keep from referring to him in the feminine.
"You'd think with how long we've been friends this wouldn't be a problem."
"What's that?"
*Crap.* "Nothing, Dad. Just thinking out loud."
Where could they be? He'd tried their phone three times already, with no luck on an answer. *It's about time Mr. Loksley got a cell phone for Miriam, it's not like they don't have the money.*
With nothing better to do, he grabbed his pack and headed out for a walk.
<=====>
It made Lindy feel terrible every time she thought about the difficulties Miriam was going through. If only she could do something to help him deal with things, but what?
"Hi, this is Felicity Loksley. We're not-"
She hung up before the message finished. *Well, if he's out with his parents, I hope nothing happens. Maybe they'll be home soon.*
She tapped her pencil against her school books, thinking. If worse came to worst, she could always- no, that can't happen...
Can it?
*Best to be prepared, I guess.* "Mom, I'm going shopping."
"Have fun."
<=====>
"What do you two say to steaks for dinner tonight? I can cook them on the grill, and it's getting warm enough we could eat out on the patio."
"Sure, Dad! That okay with you, Mom?"
"We'll have to stop by the grocery store on the way home to get a few things anyways, I guess we can pick steak up while we're there."
"Yay! Thanks! Good idea, Dad!"
"Heh, don't thank me yet. Wait until we're eating, otherwise you'll jinx it and instead of steaks we'll have charcoal."
"The grocery store's only about ten minutes away, so get thinking what sides you want to do, Bill, or do you want me to do those?"
"Why don't you and Miriam handle the sides?"
"Typical male, get you around a grill and the only things that matter are fire, meat, and beer."
"Nonsense. You know I prefer wine coolers."
"Oh, ha ha. Miriam, promise me you won't do this kind of thing to your wife when you're older."
Miriam giggled, "Alright, Mom, I promise. How about sweet potatoes and a salad?"
"Sounds good."
"Off to the store! The provider shall prepare a most gratifying meal for his charges."
"Oh, stuff it, Bill," Felicity snipped, but she was laughing as she said it.
<=====>
The trip for groceries was going well. Miriam had grabbed a good bag of sweet potatoes and some basic salad veggies while his parents had went to the butcher's booth at the back of the store to buy the steak cutlets, when he felt someone approach him from behind. "Um, hi."
"Huh?"
"Hey, uh, I'm Michael. And you are?" The someone turned out to be a slightly gawky teenage boy, who seemed to be around Miriam's age. He appeared to be rather agitated, but Miriam could not figure out why.
"Miriam."
"That's a pretty name."
"Thanks..." *Wait a second, did he just say pretty? Oh, God, he thinks I'm a girl!* Miriam blushed, and the boy seemed to look even more nervous as he tried to say something else.
"I've, uh, seen you around, and I w-was wondering if, um..."
"Miriam? There you are! Do you have the veggies?"
"Oh, uh, later!" The boy made his escape before Miriam had a chance to respond.
"Mom! You ready to go?"
"I guess. Who was that, one of your school friends?"
"Uh, no, he just, um... nothing."
She looked at him skeptically, but said nothing. "Come on, let's go. Your Dad's getting all twitchy waitin' to start the grill."
"Yeah, let's get out of here." *As soon as possible.* At the checkout, he rushed himself, and nearly forgot to grab his change until his Mom reminded him. "Sorry, Mom."
"It's okay, I'm just worried about you. You've seemed a bit out of it lately."
"I'm fine, Mom. I promise."
"Just be careful."
"I will."
"Good. Now, let's head out before Bill gets impatient and lights the car on fire or something, he's developed a nasty pyro streak and I don't want scorch marks on those seats."
<=====>
He wasn't sure how it happened, but somehow his aimless walking had led him to Miriam's house. Sure enough, there had been no one home. With no other ideas, Cary sat down on the porch steps to think some more.
Him and Miriam had always been close. After all, Miriam had been the first person to say hi to him when he moved in, and the only person who would play with the "new kid" for almost the entire first year. Once he'd started his class clown act, the other children had warmed to him, and began ignoring his second hand clothes and shaggy home-cut hair. Even when he'd gained acceptance, however, it had always been Miriam who he'd been closest with. They both had their own friends, and seemed to generally run in different circles, but no matter what they had always made sure to include each other in everything they had done. Miriam had tried out for baseball when Cary had wanted to, and when he was turned down, Cary had refused to play. Likewise, when Miriam had wanted to join Drama the previous year, he had brought Cary along. Though reluctant at first, Cary had been quickly identified by the teacher as having natural acting talent, and had played fairly important roles in the last few school productions, while Miriam had been asked to work behind the scenes on props and costumes due to "poor stage presence." It wasn't that Miriam was a bad actor- by all accounts, he was one of the better students in the class- he simply didn't have the masculine presence the teacher wanted for the male roles in the plays. In several cases, girls had been chosen above him to play the male roles because they were better suited, and Mrs. Reese didn't even dare to offer him a girl's part, knowing the teasing he would undergo from the jocks.
Maybe that would change now that he seemed to be starting puberty. *Good for him. So why can't I feel happy about Miriam becoming more manly?*
Now that he thought about it, Cary had really always treated Miriam more like a girl than a boy. He had always been Miriam's protector, even when he had been new. He'd watched out for her- HIM- like a big brother. People had called them gay, but he'd never felt that way. He knew he loved Miriam, but surely not like that?
*How would I feel if Miriam were to hang out with another guy, though?* This wasn't a question that he'd ever asked himself before, mostly because it had never arisen. Besides Cary, all of Miriam's close friends were girls. He might hang out with boys when he was around Cary, but now that he thought about it, Cary could not remember a single time that Miriam had tried to be "one of the guys" that he wasn't around. He decided to focus on the question at hand. *Surely I wouldn't care. I mean, he's a guy, they're guys, and I know we aren't gay for each other.* He thought about seeing Miriam with another boy, having fun and laughing, and unexpectedly, intense emotions of jealousy and possessiveness seemed to well within him. But he liked girls, didn't he? He tried thinking sexually of guys, and no matter who he tried, he just didn't find them exciting. He tried girls, and had to admit to himself that, yes, he most definitely like several things about girls very much.
So where did Miriam fit in?
The sound of the Loksley Blazer pulling into the drive brought him out of his reverie. *Dammit, too late now to leave without saying hi, at least. I can act like everything's normal if I try, but for how long?*
He desperately hoped it was for long enough as the doors opened, and the Loksley family came out to greet him.
Chapter 7: Dinner for Two
"Cary! What are you doing here?" Miriam was surprised to see Cary at his house. He'd seemed a bit uncomfortable the last two days since the hypnotism. *I wonder why I'm making him feel uncomfortable? Well, he did suggest it to the guy, so maybe he just feels guilty?* That seemed a likely reason. *I'll have to get him alone and talk to him about it. There's no time like the present.* "We're having steaks for dinner, wanna stay and eat with us?"
"That's a good idea! Why don't you? It'll give me someone to help with the grill while these two are preparing the salad and potatoes."
"Hey! I thought you said on the way back that you'd do the potatoes on the grill, too?"
"Well, honey, I'll be putting all my attention on the steaks, and-"
"Yeah, yeah. Enjoy your drinks while you can, sweetie, because this is the last time you'll have them for a while with the way you've acted today."
Bill stage whispered to Cary, "Sometimes it's hard to remember who the parents in this family are, isn't it? I stay in trouble while Miriam sides with the witch on everything."
"I heard that!"
Bill grabbed the steaks and ran for the back yard. "Quick, before she gets the attack hounds!"
Miriam scratched his chest and shook his head as he watched Cary head off after his Dad. The two were so similar in personality.
He caught the odd look his Mom gave him when he turned around after Cary was out of sight around the fence. "Come on, you can talk to him when dinner's ready. For now, we've got potatoes to bake and a salad to mix."
"Can we fry them, instead?" He remembered that Cary preferred fried potatoes, and thought if he was going to make him talk, he might as well enjoy the food.
"Sure. You grab the pan, I'll grab the salad bowls."
<=====>
A crash and cursing from outside caught Miriam's attention.
"Just your dad getting the grill out of the garage. Slice the pieces thinner, would you?"
He put his knife strokes closer together, making smaller disks of the potatoes. Shortly, another crash from outside, followed by more cursing made him look up from his work in worry.
"Just your dad digging out the grill cleaning kit. Back to work, those potatoes aren't gonna cook themselves!"
Miriam got back to slicing, and his Mom continued the conversation. "What's going on between you and Cary?"
"What do you mean?"
"He seemed kind of uncomfortable earlier, and he's usually very relaxed when he's around here. If something's wrong, please tell me. I know you've been having trouble with bullies... does it have anything to do with you and Cary?"
"What?" What she was hinting at finally dawned upon him, and he had to laugh. "Mom! We're not gay, though I do think he feels guilty for me being picked on. I'm gonna talk to him later tonight about it, that's why I wanted to have him over for dinner."
He noticed the sigh of relief from his mom, and they both giggled. "That's good. Not that I'd have a problem with you being gay, you know, but..."
"Yeah, Mom, I know."
A loud "Whoomph" sound from outside, accompanied by yet more crashes and cursing, pulled Felicity to the kitchen window. The worried look on her face quickly changed to a smirk as she turned around. "Looks like your Dad's lost his eyebrows again. Still have that theatrical facial hair we used last time?"
He paused before putting the potatoes on to fry. "Yeah, I figured we'd need it again. We really need to keep him away from lighter fluid from now on, though."
"Maybe, but where's the fun in that?"
<=====>
After the smell of burning hair had subsided, Cary moved forwards to see if he could help Mr. Loksley. When he offered his hand, however, all he received was a grunt. "I'm fine for now, it's later when I have to face Felicity that I'm gonna need your help."
With that, he began unpacking the steaks and setting them out to grill. "Fetch me a cooler, would you?" Cary went to the fridge in the garage and grabbed a bottle, and headed back out to the grill. "Thanks. Never could stand the taste of beer, but these things aren't half bad."
They stood in silence for a short time, Bill sipping his wine and watching the flames dance across the slabs of meat, before he began talking again. "You know, Felicity's been worried about Miriam the last few days. Seems something's going on at school that's causing him problems. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you, boy?" Bill had been calling him "boy" since the day they had met. Miriam had forgotten to introduce him, and for almost two months he had came around to play with neither of the Loksley adults knowing his name. Since then, the general name "boy" had stuck with him with Bill, while Felicity had eventually started using his name.
"Sir, I think it's just the jocks picking on him worse than usual. He's the smallest kid in our year, and I guess they see him as an easy target."
"I figured as much, but why have they gotten worse? If you know, boy, I'd like to be filled in. Keeps the wife from worrying so much when she knows what's going on."
*And you're worried, too.* "Sir, I'm not sure. You'd have to ask Miriam about that."
"It doesn't have anything to do with you, does it?"
*Ah, and the implications are clear.* "No, sir. We're not gay." He couldn't keep the blush from his face. "Miriam and I aren't dating, or anything like that. They're just stupid jocks."
Bill smiled. "Just checking. Now, how do you like your steak?"
<=====>
"You boys ready out there?"
Bill took the last steak off the grill just as Miriam and Felicity brought out the salads and potatoes. Everybody assembled at the picnic table to grab their plates, and while his parents were busy talking over their own food, he saw his chance to finally get a sit down with Cary.
"Hey, Cary. Why don't we go sit over there, under the trees?" The spot was far enough away from his parents that they wouldn't hear them if they talked quietly, but close enough that he didn't have to worry about them thinking they were doing anything. The accusation might be funny, but he didn't want to do anything that might add weight to their ideas.
"Um, okay."
As the two settled into comfortable spots around the roots of the old Cyprus tree that had made his great grandparents want this particular spot so much, he decided to bring things right out and say what he had to say. "I don't blame you, you know."
"What?" Cary seemed confused.
"For what's happened. I thought the reason you've been acting weird around me was because you felt responsible for what happened, you know, with the hypnotism? And I just wanted to tell you I don't blame you."
"Oh. Yeah, thanks." He gave Cary a smile, and after a nervous moment, Cary returned it. "I'll try not to act weird around you, but it may take a while. Sorry."
"That's okay, but you're my best friend, and I l-... I'd hate to lose your friendship." He caught himself just in time. *Just a second, was I about to tell Cary I loved him?*
Cary noticed the near slip of the tongue, and at first his face seemed to brighten, before falling again into the same strange expression he'd seemed to have whenever around Miriam the last few days. The two sat awkwardly, nervously avoiding each others gaze, as they thought through things.
*Did I really just try to tell Cary I love him? I mean, not that I don't, but... he's not gay, I know that. I don't know about myself, though, which is kinda scary. God, I hate this!* Did he love Cary in that way? He wasn't sure. *Regardless, I don't want to lose him.* He decided the best way to get things back to normal was just to talk. "So, do you think Lindy will actually tell Jonathan she likes him when he comes back?"
On familiar ground again, Cary returned partially to his old self. "I don't know. I don't understand how girls think."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, their minds seem to change all the time, and they always want to shop and things. They're like aliens or something."
"No w- they're not! I understand them better than the guys at school, with the sports talk and all the calling each other names and hitting each other all the time. That's supposed to be fun?"
"Hey, you girls call each other names and things, too! All the gossip going around, all that's spread by the girls!"
"Not us! Maybe the cheerleaders and the bratty rich kids, but we don't do that."
"I'm just sayin', 's all."
"What's all the arguing about over here? Honestly, you two are sounding like an old married couple or something."
Bill's interruption brought their heated discussion to a sudden halt. They looked up guiltily and apologized in unison, "Sorry."
"You two get to do the washing tonight, if you don't mind, boy."
"Of course not, sir. It's the least I can do to say thanks."
"And don't go juggling plates, either. I know you too well."
"Rats!" Cary's old joker streak popped up again. "There goes my practice!"
<=====>
"What time is it?"
Miriam looked up at the clock above the sink. "About seven."
"I guess I better get home after finishing these. You done your homework yet?"
"I finished it Friday night. No sense in letting it wait."
"Oh. I've still gotta do mine."
The pause in conversation was painful for both teenagers. Miriam handed Cary the last plate to dry, and pulled the stopper from the sink to let the water drain.
"Um, I guess I'll see you tomorrow morning at the corner?"
"Yeah, I'll be there. Sorry about the arguing earlier."
"No, it's my fault, I said some stupid things. Let's just forget about it, okay?"
"Alright." Miriam started forward, caught himself, and held out his hand to Cary, who took it and shook awkwardly.
"Later."
"Good night."
<=====>
Yet again, Miriam found himself lying in bed, thinking. *What ARE my feelings for Cary? I've always cared about him, and I do love him, but what kind of love is it? It's not that I don't find the girls at school pretty, I know that many of them are and I guess I'm a decent judge of appearance, but I'm not really attracted to any of them. The boys? I don't know what to think of them most of the time. I know I'm supposed to be into the same things, but I just can't see how all that is fun.* His mind ran back through the conversation from earlier in the day, and caught on something that had been bothering him. *God, did I really put myself with the girls when talking earlier? I didn't even think about it, but I guess I do fit in better with them. No, that's just those stupid memories talking.* He'd been having more and more flashes of memories from the past, seemingly random and unconnected. *They're coming faster now. What do I do?* His frustration welled up within him, and he couldn't hold the tears back. *And why am I crying all the time? I just can't seem to help it. I hope it doesn't happen at school, I've got enough to worry about there already.*
His train of thought was broken when his door opened, and his mom stepped into the room. "Sorry to wake you up, but I wanted to go ahead and grab the eyebrows for tomorrow. Oh, have you been crying?"
*Why now?* "I'm okay, Mom. Just thinking. Here, I'll get it out of my closet." He crawled out of bed and went to his closet to dig through his theater supplies, scratching his chest on the way.
"Honey, did you hurt yourself or something?"
"No, why?"
"I've noticed you scratching your chest an awful lot today."
"It's nothing, Mom. It just kind of itches. I think I may need to use some different fabric softener or something." He found the hair kit and glue, and handed it to her. "Here you go."
"Well, okay. Thanks." She kissed him on the cheek, and headed out the door. When she was gone, he climbed back in bed and tried to sleep.
<=====>
Cary tried to work out what exactly had happened, but couldn't keep things straight. The more he thought, the more confused he became. *Miriam almost said she- HE- loved me. That made me feel... good. Really good, in fact. And he seemed just as confused by the feelings as I did. She- HE- Oh, fuck it, if I can't stop thinking of Miriam as a girl, why fight it? She likes me, as more than a friend, and she knows it, but doesn't want to admit it any more than I want to admit how I feel. How DO I feel? Well, I guess I have to admit I'm attracted to Miriam as more than a friend, as well. I'm not gay, though. How does this work? And I saw Miriam scratching her chest a lot today, too. I've got a little bit of chest hair, but it didn't itch like that, and after seeing Bill I don't think Miriam would have a lot. Could it be something else? Of course not, that's stupid.* His mind focused on the image of Miriam with breasts, and he felt himself getting aroused. *They would suit her very well. And at least I'd feel better about liking her. But how would Miriam feel is she had boobs? She gets enough torment piled on her- we both do, actually- as it is. She's already pretty, even the other guys think she would be a good looking girl, if she had the body of one as well, would she make more friends or be worse off?*
One thing was for sure, whatever happened, Cary felt it was his responsibility to be Miriam's protector. *Me and Lindy are gonna have our work cut out for us, whatever happens. Where was she today, anyways? She usually gets in touch with Miriam every day, like a sister or something. Oh, well, guess I'll find out tomorrow.*
<=====>
"Mom! I'm home!" It had taken her several hours, and more money than she had really wanted to spend, but Lindy thought she had everything she needed now. *And if we need it, I'm sure I'll be happy I spent every penny I did.*
"Oh! Have a good shopping trip, sweetie?" Her Mom was perhaps a bit more vacant than was good for her, but at least Lindy knew she loved her. She was just happy she got her brains from her father's side of the family.
"Yeah, I did. G'night, Mom."
"Good night, baby. Sleep tight."
Chapter 8: Back to the Trenches
The grating tones of the alarm clock pulled Miriam out of another fitful period of sleep. Dreams of the past had kept him awake half the night, in confusion and terror. *At least the only time I see the bad ones are when I'm asleep. I'd hate to be awake through some of it, if it scares me that badly.* With more than a little reluctance, he scratched his chest again and began to drag himself from the bed.
After a quick shower and clean clothes, little different from those he had worn the days before, he set about working with his hair. *It really is getting rather long. Maybe I should take Mom's advice and get it cut.* He spent a few moments messing his the locks, before finally deciding to try a ponytail. After digging out a hair tie - his Mom would never hear of him using a rubber band - he pulled as much as he could back, and was annoyed to see that the front edges were just too short to tie back, resulting in a set of longish strands framing his face. *Oh well, at least it looks cute like this, though I really should put it higher up. It would be prettier with a bow, too.*
He barely missed slicing his hand on the edge of his dresser as he ripped the tie from his hair.
<=====>
*Where is she?* Cary couldn't keep his nerves in check, and bounced from foot to foot impatiently. Finally, he spotted Miriam coming out of his house, and jogged over to meet him.
"At last! I was beginning to think you were skipping school today."
Miriam looked at him nonplussed. "No, I just couldn't decide what to do with my hair."
"Well, it looks nice. You have very pretty hair." He realized what he said, and quickly tried to correct himself. "I mean, you know... for a boy."
"Yeah, thanks. Umm..." The two stood, blushing and shuffling their feet, for several uncomfortable seconds before Miriam began walking down the street towards the school. Cary smacked himself in the head as he followed.
"So, why didn't you wait at the corner like normal?"
"I did, at first, but after you weren't there at the usual time I came here to see what was up and make sure you were okay. I mean, you're my best friend."
"Oh. Okay. Sorry for being late."
"That's alright." Another uncomfortable silence followed, and Cary searched desperately for something to say to fill it. "Any luck finding a solution to the problem?"
"Problem?"
"Yeah, the memories thing? Found out how to stop them, or anything?"
"Not really. I've been watching myself carefully, and if I concentrate I can tell the difference between my own memories and the others, so I can at least mostly keep them from causing as many problems as they did the last few days. I've been getting a lot more of them, though, and it kind of scares me." He noticed Miriam shake, and fought the impulse to pull the smaller boy to him. *She's not a girl... she's not a girl... she's not a girl...* "What's that?"
"Huh?"
"You were mouthing something, but I couldn't hear it."
*Shit!* "Nothing. Sorry, just thinking."
Miriam's face twisted into a look of hurt. "Oh, I see! You think this is funny, don't you? 'Look at Miriam, the crybaby, weakling, coward!' If you're just going to laugh at me behind my back, then I don't need you!" He turned away fast enough that his hair whipped up, slapping Cary in the face before he stormed off down the street.
Cary was left dumbstruck. *What did I do?*
<=====>
Miriam fought hard to keep the tears out of his eyes. *How could he do that to me, making fun of my problems like that? I'd expect that from one of the jerks at school, but I thought he cared about me!* The effort was too much, and he barely managed to find a bench to sit before the sobs hit.
"Miriam, are you okay?" He hadn't noticed Lindy coming up, but her words made him even more upset. *Great, not only can I not keep from crying, but in front of people, too.*
"Go away!"
"Miriam, what's the matter?"
"I said go away! I don't wanna talk... just leave me alone..."
The movement of the bench told him she wasn't listening, and this was confirmed when she spoke to him again. "Hey, come on, it's me. I just wanna help." He felt her arm wrap around him, and fell against her, weeping into her shoulder shamelessly. "Now, what's got you so upset?"
"Cary, he... he... *sob*..."
"It's okay, what did he do?"
"I was telling him how... how I was scared... the memories... and he... he... *sniff*... was LAUGHING at me... and-"
"WHAT! Are you sure?" She gripped him by the arms and gently pulled him away from her shoulder.
"Well, he was mouthing something, and I asked what he said, and he'd been nervous the entire time we'd *sniff* been talking anyways, like he was trying to hold something in, and told me it was nothing, and..." Suddenly, Miriam felt very foolish. "If he wasn't laughing at me, why wouldn't he tell me what he was saying?"
Lindy smiled and hugged him. "Honey, I don't know. Regardless, I doubt you want him to see you this upset, do you?"
"Oh, God, no! What would he think? And I've got to apologize, too."
"No you don't. Here's a trick: let him think you're still mad at him. If he really likes you, he'll apologize, even if he knows he didn't do anything. Then you don't have to admit you were wrong, and he owes you, too."
Miriam giggled, and wiped his eyes. "You really think that'll work?"
"Sure it will! Bo- most boys besides you aren't that good at the emotional thing, and it's easy to manipulate them if you know just how to act."
"But isn't that a little cruel? I mean, he didn't actually do anything wrong, at least I don't think so."
"It isn't mean, it's survival! Sometimes it's good to admit when you're wrong, but sometimes," the corner of her mouth lifted slightly, "it's best to let them take the blame. They can't think as well as we do."
Miriam just laughed. "Yeah, guys are pretty dumb sometimes."
His face fell when he heard himself, but when he looked over at Lindy, she was nodding enthusiastically. "Come on, let's get to school. You don't wanna keep him waiting if you're gonna teach him a lesson, after all."
<=====>
Lindy tried to act upbeat for Miriam, but inside, her thoughts were anything but happy. *Hmm, guys don't usually get like this when they have problems. With the way Miriam was talking, you'd almost think she- he and Cary were dating. And did I just give him advice on handling boys? This isn't good.*
She spotted Cary just outside the main doors to the school, and glanced over at Miriam. With a haughty toss of his head, he headed past Cary and into the classroom, and Lindy couldn't help but giggle. *Well, he can certainly pull off the 'angry bitch' routine, that's for sure.* She gave Cary a questioning look, and he just shrugged his shoulders before filing into class himself.
<=====>
Miriam lowered himself into his seat carefully, grateful for once to be in his morning class. *At least Prince didn't put any clothes on my desk today. Shit! I forgot about him!*
As though reading Miriam's thoughts, Mr. Hendricks looked up from his paper at the head of class, smiling quietly. "Young Miriam, you'll be happy to know that Mr. Prince and his colleagues will not be joining us for the next week. Due to their actions, they have been suspended from school. If I were you, I'd take this opportunity to relax." Miriam wasn't the only one in the room to breathe a sigh of relief at the teacher's words. As the last bell rang out, Mr. Hendricks stood from his desk and approached his podium. "Welcome back to American History. Now, what can you tell me about the War of 1812?"
Miriam couldn't seem to concentrate on his classwork, and his thoughts began to drift towards that morning again. *What's going on with Cary?* He couldn't help but glance over at his friend, but turned away quickly when he saw the sad look on Cary's face. *Should I apologize? Or should I wait for him to do it?* Looking to his other side, he spotted Lindy, who smiled and gave him a thumbs up. Her sureness strengthened him in his resolve. *Cary can wait. At least a little while.*
"Locksley, stop daydreaming and pay attention!"
"Sorry, sir."
"Well, prove it by giving me the years of Madison's presidency."
<=====>
Math was a bore, and English was just as frustrating. Cary had wanted to say something to Miriam in each class, but had been countered by either angry teachers or Miriam simply refusing to talk to him. *What did I do wrong?* He couldn't figure it out. *Oh, well. I'll apologize anyways. I don't want to lose her.* Several times he had noticed Miriam looking at him in class, and the mixture of emotions on his face had confused Cary even more. One moment Miriam would seem to be angry, while the next he would almost be crying. But how could Cary apologize without even knowing what he had done?
"That's all for today, class. Off to lunch with you." The whole class cheered as they pushed and shoved their way out the door and towards the cafeteria. Hurrying along the halls in the throng, Cary set his nerves. *I'll apologize when we get to lunch. We always sit at the same table, so-*
"Cary!" Out of nowhere, a large blur seemed to appear, and as it struck him Cary couldn't help but laugh as he fell over.
"Jonathan, you nut! Feeling better?"
"Hell yes! Nothin' worse than not bein' able to breathe, or eat, or drink anything without getting sick, or-"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Eating lunch with us today?"
Jonathan's normally exuberant mood faltered, and a look of disgust came over his face. "I can't. They're making me fill out some stupid paperwork in the office 'cause of how many days I missed. Man, I'm gonna have so much homework I won't be able to hang out for, like, a year or two. Just email me pictures of you three having fun so I can remember what it's like."
Cary laughed, glad to have his other best friend back around after the long absence. "Well, catch up with us after school. We'll all walk home together, I guess we missed you this morning."
"Right, later!" With that, Jonathan split off towards the offices, and stopping only for a moment, Cary nervously began the walk towards their lunch table, where Lindy and Miriam were already eating with the other girls and their boyfriends, deep in conversation.
<=====>
"What, you want to laugh at me more?"
"No! Please, just listen... I mean, I wasn't laughing at you this morning, I was just-"
"Just what, ashamed to be near me? Embarrassed that-"
"Miriam, give him a break! Now, Cary, what did you want to say?"
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry if I did anything to hurt you, you know I'd never do that on purpose."
"Well, I- what?"
"He said he's sorry."
"Oh. Thanks, umm..."
"I think what she's trying to say around the knot of guilt is 'let's eat'."
"Good idea."
"Uh, yeah."
<=====>
"So, you and Cary friends again?"
"Yeah. God, I feel, like, so stupid and guilty. I mean, I know he wasn't trying to make fun of me, but I was just, like, so messed up already, and I saw him moving his lips, like he does when he's thinking something he doesn't wanna say..."
"Yeah, that's kinda annoying sometimes..."
"I guess I just got carried away."
"Well, at least things are good now." Lindy couldn't resist the urge to reach down and hug Miriam, and squeezed him tightly. *Yes! No more sulking about for you! I don't think I coulda taken another hour of that.* As Cary returned from the line with his lunch tray laden with the goop of the day, she squeezed Miriam's arm before scooting down so the two were side by side.
In this episode: does Jonathan's return bode well for our heroine? Can Lindy win the boy of her dreams? What is the breaking limit of a squid tentacle?
Tune in to find out!
Echoes
By Melanie E.
Chapter 9: A Helping Hand
Womwomwomwomwom...
Womwomwomwomwom...
WomwomwomwoMWOMSPLAT.
The room went silent. All eyes turned up from their dissection work just in time to catch their Biology teacher, Mrs. Page, peeling the remains of Cary and Jonathan's squid from the lapel of her formerly white lab coat, now featuring an artistic motif of black dots. Miriam thought it looked rather like one of those roar-shock things he'd seen on TV.
"Mr. Little, Mr. Fletcher. WHAT have I told you about playing with the experiments?"
Miriam could see the smirk appear on Cary's face even before he heard the line that the entire class already had memorized. "If you wanna play with dead animals, use roadkill." It was rather grotesque, but then again, so was Mrs. Page. She was the first Goth teacher that Miriam had ever seen, and he suspected the only teacher in the world to have purple and green striped hair. Everyone knew she only got the job because her uncle was on the School Board, but all the kids loved her classes and teaching style.
"That's right. Now we're one squid short for the assignment, though I must admit I'm rather impressed- I didn't know their tentacles could stretch that much before breaking."
"It's the pickling, ma'am. Gives 'em that rubbery quality."
"Yes, I see. Remind me not to let you and Mr. Little work together again." Jonathan was notoriously bad at Biology, and though it was his second year in the class, he was barely managing to pass. "Also, I do believe you owe me a new lab coat. I brought this one from home."
<=====>
*Why did I feel so bad about missing class last week?*
After seeing the amount of homework that Jonathan had to take home to do, he was just happy that he had done all his makeup work over the weekend. It had taken them both Jonathan's bag and Cary's new backpack to collect all his books. "Just shoot me now. At least that way I won't have to do all this work."
"I'll help, if you'd like. I don't mind."
"Lindy, he's in the grade above us. I doubt you'd be able to do much for him."
"Well, I could try." Lindy gave Cary a dirty look for ruining her chance to spend time with Jonathan. Since the day they had met, she had been pursuing him, but had somehow always been shot down. Jonathan was either a brilliant actor or the least observant person in the world, Miriam couldn't decide, but he never seemed to pick up on how she felt.
The saga of Lindy and Jonathan was put on hold, however, when they heard yelling from across the street. Miriam's stomach filled with a terrible dread when he recognized the voice.
"Hey, you little faggot! How was school? Surprised you didn't wear a dress today." Prince and Notts were standing on the opposite sidewalk, with a group of their friends who obviously found their taunts to be hilarious, from all the laughter behind them.
"Just ignore them, Miriam, they're just a buncha assholes." Jonathan's words were spoken forcefully, with extra emphasis on the end to make sure it carried across the road. Looking at Cary, Miriam was almost afraid he was going to start a fight with the daggers he was shooting Prince, but he managed to keep himself in check. "Come on, let's just go." Jonathan made to walk towards Miriam's house again, and Miriam and the others followed.
"Hey, you stupid bitch! You can't just walk away from me!" The sound of incoming footsteps warned Miriam of Prince's approach, but as he turned around to face the bully, Jonathan appeared in front of him again.
"Prince, leave us alone. I guarantee you, if you fight me, you won't win."
"This doesn't concern you, Little man." Prince didn't even attempt to hide the contempt in his voice as he addressed his classmate. "Besides, it's a worthless effort on your side, 'cause it's already Cary's little bitch, anyOOF!"
Miriam couldn't help but cringe at the sight of Prince's blood. The larger teen staggered back, grabbing his face and staring at Jonathan with an expression of shock. Calmly, he wiped his fist off on the sleeve of his shirt as he gave the group of thugs a warning. "You don't mess with my friends. If you do, then next time you'll be wiping blood from more than your nose."
<=====>
After dropping Miriam off at home and parting ways with Lindy at the end of her street, Cary decided it was time to broach the subject of their clash with Prince and his toadies with Jonathan.
"Listen, thanks for standing up for Miriam like that. I mean..."
"Hey, it's nothing. You're my friends. What was up with Prince, anyways? I know he's had it out for Miriam since grade school, but still, DAMN. What did I miss while I was gone?"
*If only you knew.* Cary sighed as he processed everything that had happened in the last few days, but Jonathan's laugh interrupted his introspection. "What?"
"You do realize that you move your lips when you're thinking real deep, right? Almost makes it look like you're talking behind my back." Cary froze as his friend's words sunk in.
"Could you repeat that?"
"Heh, sure. It's nothing really, but when you're thinking really hard you tend ta move your lips with whatever you're saying to yourself. It's pretty funny to look at, actually."
*Shit! Could that be what happened this morning? That would explain a lot...*
"I mean, I figured you'd have realized it by now, but I guess not. Anyways, you're way too smart to need to do that, aren't ya?"
"Yeah, I'll try to watch myself. Hey, you actually should know what's been going on the last few days. Why don't you stop by for a coke or something and I can tell you everything that's happened?"
"Whatever adventure awaits, Sir Quartermain, I am your humble sidekick." Cary shot Jonathan a 'this is serious look', but the only response he received was a smirk.
<=====>
"DAMN."
"Yeah, tell me about it." Cary had just finished the story of what was going on around Miriam, and wasn't too shocked at Jonathan's reaction. "Sheeaaaahhh, heh, he's been pretty upset the last couple of days, and really moody, too."
"Hyeah, I noticed. Ya don't think... nah, that's just too weird." Jonathan swallowed the dregs of his soft drink, and was on his way to get another when Cary stopped him.
"What?"
"Huh? Oh, it was nothing, just a weird idea."
"Come on, tell me."
"Well, I was just gonna say it sounds like he's on the rag, but I figured it'd be too nasty seein' how things're going for 'im." Picking up a fresh can, Jonathan prepared to open it, but stopped halfway through pulling the tab. "You really care about the little squirt, don't ya?"
"Huh?" Cary was caught unawares, and fought to keep from spewing cola through his nose.
"You do! Hey, man, I don't care, ta be honest it ain't that much of a surprise."
"What do you mean?"
"Hey, we've been friends since grade school, almost as long as you and Miriam. There's always been somethin' different about 'im, and the way you two act together, and from what I heard today 'specially, you're more like boyfriend n' girlfriend than half the couples at school."
"Come on, you can't be serious."
"Really, man. Don'cha pay any attention? You defend 'im, eat lunch with the girls 'cause that's where he goes, you two're practically never apart, and when you're separated for more than a day one of you'll usually call the other to talk. Not only that, but you don't date that much, and Miriam's never even TRIED to get a date. People talk, man."
Cary couldn't believe what he was hearing- particularly because he knew it to be true. "Oh, who cares what people think!"
Jonathan snorted. "Whell, obviously you do, from your actions on the way home. Jeez, Prince practic'ly tried to sucker punch Miriam, and you didn't even move! What would've happened if I hadn't been there?"
He was right. *But I wanted to help! But it would have just made it harder on us...*
Jonathan cackled, and Cary glared at him. "You're doing it again."
"Whatever. Hey, let's get some archery practice in while there's still some daylight left."
"Sounds good." Letting out a loud belch, Jonathan threw his second can in the bin on his way out the door.
<=====>
*Well, nobody can say things aren't interesting, at least.* Lindy dropped her school books in her desk chair and flopped into bed, rubbing her eyes. Where was her book? There it was, underneath the tissue box. She picked it up and read the cover again. Fantasy had never really been to her tastes, but Miriam had told her she would like this book, so she had reluctantly agreed to take it home. "'The Colour of Magic', huh? Well, it can't be too bad, I guess."
Opening the book to page one, she began to read, hoping against hope that the book would help distract her from the problems her friend was having.
<=====>
Miriam was bored. Books? He'd already read almost every book in the house. A movie maybe? Same problem. He scratched at his tee shirt, and cursed the material under his breath. The more bored he got, the more he had to think. And the more he had to think...
"Dad! Can I see your guitar?"
<=====>
*At least it's better than nothing.* Miriam's father had attempted to give him lessons several years before, and while he had picked the instrument up quickly, he had eventually lost interest, and stopped practicing. Now, after almost three years having barely touched the thing, he was regretting his lack of practice, and thankful for the concentration that playing took.
*A minor to E, to D minor to D minor sus to G...* It had always been one of his favorite chord progressions, and after only a few minutes of practice he managed to get the strumming pattern and rhythm right. The mournful, almost Spanish sound of the notes filled his ears, and he concentrated upon keeping the sounds alive. Miriam had never liked the electric guitar, but his father's old nylon-stringed acoustic still felt at home in his hands. Without him willing them to, his fingers switched from the comfortable chords to a different progression, before finally settling into a lightly finger-picked version of one of his favorite songs, "Sweet Dreams are Made of This". *Hmm, guess I remember better than I thought.*
He adjusted the guitar across his legs, and winced as the upper body brushed his chest. Settling into a more comfortable position, he continued to play until he felt his fingers turning raw.
*God, what a day.* He couldn't stifle the yawn that arose as he raised himself gingerly from his position on his bed. Checking the clock, he was surprised to realize he had been playing for nearly an hour and a half. Descending the stairs carefully, he returned the guitar to its stand by his father's home office desk, and went to bed.
<=====>
Felicity and Bill held each other as they stared at the stars, drifting lazily in the bench swing on their back porch. Felicity felt hurt that Miriam wouldn't open up to her about his problems, but knew that he was getting to a point in life where Mommy couldn't fix everything.
*Doesn't keep me from wanting to, though.* She snuggled more tightly against her beloved, and pondered.
Chapter 10: An Unexpected Development
Miriam awoke oddly refreshed. He was mildly disturbed that the freakish non-dreams were beginning to seem normal, but at least it meant he wasn't waking up at all hours in a cold sweat. Dragging himself out of bed for another day of drudgery, he caught his reflection in his closet door mirror...
And stopped dead.
The high pitched scream brought his parents to his side almost immediately, and he was glad for his mother's arms around him as he collapsed.
<=====>
"But, WHY! I mean, I'm a boy!"
"I don't know, baby, I'm sorry. Oh, what do we do?"
"How could they grow so *sob* fast? I mean, I was normal yesterday!"
"I remember when I first started to develop. One day I woke up almost a full A cup, just like you."
"But Mom, that's different! I'm not even supposed to have..."
"I know, sweetie, I know."
<=====>
"Hey, we've been waiting for you!"
"Yeah, it's- whoa, what's the matter?"
It had been a big argument, but his parents had won out, and while they were setting up a doctor's appointment for him, he would go to school today. A tight tee shirt under a baggy flannel hid his growth spurt adequately for now, but nothing could hide the pain on his face. "Nothing, I'm fine."
"Come on, we've known you long enough to-"
"I said I'm fine!" *Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry... not again...*
"Alright! Jeez, you don't have to be such a jerk!"
*Great, now I feel bad about that, too.* "I'm sorry, it's just... I don't wanna talk about it, okay?"
"Okay." Lindy came over and gave him a gentle hug, and Cary joined on the other side. "We're your friends, and we worry about you. We just wanna help."
"Yeah. I hate seeing you hurt like that." Miriam glanced up at Cary to see his face glowing red. He couldn't resist the smile that crept across his face. *He looks so cute when-*
This time the tears wouldn't stop, and his two best friends simply held him until they went away.
<=====>
"Do you think it's really..."
"Yes, it is. I just couldn't tell him, though, Bill..."
"Tell him what?"
Felicity sighed. She wasn't in the mood for this. "Bill, this wasn't just overnight. Haven't you noticed his scratching the last few days? He's been growing for a while, I think the reason he just noticed is because of the swelling."
The look Bill gave her would have been priceless if it hadn't been for the situation. "So, you mean, Miriam has breasts?"
*God, for a genius he really is thick headed sometimes.* "Yeah. What's worse is that his scratching's got his chest inflamed, which just makes them that much more obvious. Bill, what are we gonna do?"
He thought for only a moment before answering. "Call Dr. Tucker, and see if you can get him in this afternoon. We'll work this out, okay?"
She clung to him desperately, wondering why this had to happen to her baby.
<=====>
"Sweetheart, I know you're embarrassed. Just be patient, they'll get bigger."
Marina just rolled her eyes at her mom. "But Mom, all the other girls are already way bigger than I am! And George, he, he said that-"An intrusive sound broke through her thoughts as someone seemed to be trying to get her attention.
"Miriam! Miriam, wake up!"
"Hmmn? Who's... oh." Miriam lifted his head enough to let Cary know he was awake, and the bigger boy took the opportunity to grab his arm and drag him from his desk.
"Come on, you slept through class! It's time for Math, and we gotta hurry!"
*Math. George is in that class. Isn't he?* Stumbling and drowzy, Miriam followed his friend to his next class.
<=====>
"MISSter Loksley, get your head up off of that desk and pay attention!"
"Yessir..." Miriam did his best to stay awake, but the more the day progressed, the more difficult it seemed to be to keep from falling asleep on his feet.
*What's wrong with me? THIS time?*
"Miriam!"
"Sorry sir."
<=====>
"Well?"
Bill hung the phone up, and turned back to his wife. "Miriam's got an emergency appointment at five."
"Oh, thank God. That's enough time for Miriam to walk home from school with his friends, and I don't want to scare them by showing up at the school to pick him up."
Bill took his wife's hands, and when she turned up to face him, kissed her lightly on the nose. "Don't worry, sweetheart. Miriam'll be okay- he's a lot tougher than we give him credit for." They embraced each other, and even Bill was crying softly to himself.
<=====>
Miriam sighed with relief as the last bell of the day began to ring, signaling the rush of students to all exits. Nobody had seemed to notice anything different about him, and with only the trip home left, he felt almost comfortable.
"Ready to go home?"
"Definitely. If I fall asleep, will you carry me?" Giving Cary the most sickeningly sweet look he could, Miriam let out a yelp when he was unexpectedly picked up and thrown over someone's shoulder.
"Jonathan, you jerk, let go of me!"
"Aw, but I was just tryin' to help."
Lindy showed up in time to see Jonathan lowering Miriam back to the floor, and Miriam was stunned to hear her say, "You know, there's a lot of us who'd love to have you pick us up." Jonathan and Cary's cackling was enough to make Miriam burst into giggles as well, and the four were much more relaxed as they began the walk home.
<=====>
Cary was glad to see Miriam in a good mood again. It had been a while since he'd really seemed to have been himself, but their walk after school had been a lot of fun, and he could tell from the look on Miriam's face that he was feeling better. His gaze caught Miriam's attention, and he began to blush as Miriam smiled at him. He had to turn quickly to keep from doing anything more embarrassing. *Geez, I've gotta get over this. She's not a girl, she's- HE's my best friend, not girlfriend material in any way.*
*But, why CAN'T she be both?*
Running into Bill and Felicity outside Miriam's house broke his train of thought, and the looks on their faces made him even more nervous. Turning around to look at Miriam, he was hurt to see the expression of pain.
"Cary, Lindy, thanks for walking Miriam home. You too, Jonathan. We've got to go somewhere, so can Miriam see you all later?"
"Yeah, sure, Miss Loksley."
"'Kay. Bye, Miriam!" Lindy gave Miriam a hug before she split off towards her own home, and Jonathan grabbed Cary's shoulder.
"Bye, Cary."
"Uh, yeah, later." He stumbled as the pressure on his shoulder forced him to move, but managed one more quick look back before Miriam was filed into Bill's Blazer.
<=====>
*Hmm, I don't know what's going on, but I've got to talk to Miriam tonight.* She hadn't been sure at first, and during the day it had been hard to get a good look, but after hugging him, she was sure of it. They weren't very big, but Miriam definitely had something he shouldn't have in the form of chest development.
*But how could this happen so fast? Or did it really? God, why haven't I been watching for something like this?* But she already knew.
Why would you watch for one of your best male friends to get boobs? This just made things worse. Unable to concentrate, she laid her pen down and closed her math book as she pondered the problem. She was at least partially prepared for the mental difficulties, and still knew more about what was going on than Miriam did, but couldn't figure out many things. Why hadn't that Gordon guy told Miriam everything from the beginning? Even when they had met him over the weekend, she knew he was trying to keep most of the truth from Miriam- he'd explained more to her when he had pulled her to the side after the show than anything she had heard him tell Miriam to date. But why?
*All this thinking's making my brain hurt.* Rising from her desk, Lindy crossed the room to her stereo. *I need to do some dance practice anyways.*
<=====>
Miriam let out a loud 'whoosh' of breath as he fell into the chair in the waiting room. Doctor Tucker had given him a thorough examination before requesting to speak to his parents, at which time he had been sent from the room. Now, here he was, with nothing to do but worry.
Flipping through magazines gave a brief respite from the boredom, but all too quickly the tiredness he had felt all day began to take over.
Within moments, the grey lights began to fill his consciousness again. *Oh, no. What now?*
#It is begun.#
*Oh, come ON! I don't know who you are, or what you are, but just leave me alone!*
#Your future is set. What has been done cannot be undone. It will not be undone.#
*This is all about those stupid past lives, right? Well, tough luck! I'm not a girl, and I won't let you change me into one!*
#You are who you are. You are who you always have been. This cannot change.#
Miriam couldn't hide the frustration in his thoughts. *Then why do all this to me?!?*
The tone of the voice changed, almost imperceptibly, but Miriam could feel the sternness in the words as they swam through his mind. #Because you must be complete. You shall come to understand in time. You are-#
The hand shaking his shoulder pulled him from the vision, and unconsciously he screamed.
"They're ready for you in the back room, now." The nurse let go, and kindly took his hand to help him up.
With one last nervous breath, he crossed the threshold back into the doctor's office.
<=====>
Echoes V
Melanie Ezell
Over a year, but the next three chapters are here! Thanks to John in Wauwatosa for test reading and suggestions! I'll try to have the next chapters in less time.
Miriam's doctor's appointment doesn't go as well as he would have liked. What's going on, and how can he stop it? More importantly, is he even sure he wants to?
Echoes
Melanie Ezell
Chapter 11: Beautiful Disasters
"What the FUCK!"
"Miriam!"
"Sorry, Mom."
Felicity grimaced, but conceded, "Well, I guess this is that kind of moment." Bill let out a humorless laugh at that.
"I'm terribly sorry, but at this point there isn't really all that much we can do. I mean, maybe if we'd caught it sooner... I still don't understand..." Doctor Tucker skimmed through her notes for the fourth time since sitting down with them, before closing the file angrily.
"What's the matter?" Miriam couldn't keep himself from asking.
Doctor Tucker gave him an appraising look before responding, "None of your previous blood work shows anything wrong. Unfortunately, until the analysis of what work we've just done comes in, I can't give a definitive answer to what's going on, but my initial exam doesn't look good. Bill, Felicity, I've known ya'll for years, and while in most cases I wouldn't phrase things quite like this, I have to say that the easiest way to describe your son's biology right now is 'fucked up.' The blood tests will tell us more, but until then, my best guess is that you've got an elevated level of estrogen in your system. A lot of males develop small breasts due to this, but in your case this seems to be combined with low testosterone levels, and could lead to some major problems."
This hit Miriam even harder than the doctor's guarantee that he had breasts. *So what, I'm really turning into a girl?* "What does this mean? I mean, what happens to me now?"
"I'm afraid we don't really know. I can promise you that things are going to get worse before they get better though. Expect more growth, and soon- from what Felicity said, breast growth is rapid on her side of the family," a nod from his Mom confirmed this, "so I wouldn't be surprised if you were a full A by the end of next week. In the absence of male hormones, your body is taking the female ones without resistance, and until we know what's going on I can't give you anything to slow that down. There may be other complications..."
<=====>
"Miriam, sweetie?"
"Mom, please, just leave me alone, okay?" The doctor's visit had been horrid to begin with but her recommendation had been the worst.
"Miriam," his Dad said sternly over the seat, "you'll have to consider it if things get much worse."
"I know, Dad." *But, a BRA?*
<=====>
The bow made a sharp 'PTWOP' as Cary unleashed another arrow into the target, barely off center enough to miss his last shot. *Maybe, just maybe, we can win this year.*
The low "Dammit" from Jonathan made him look over to see another shot off into the blue on his target. *Then again, maybe not.*
<=====>
"Three Mondo Burgers with fries, no ketchup on one of them."
“Would you like drinks with that sir? Right now you can get a Mondo Shake for only a dollar thirty nine if you upgrade to a combo meal.”
“You two want shakes?” Miriam shook his head no and turned back to staring out the window. We’re good, thanks.”
“That’ll be eleven thirty nine, pull up to the next window please sir.”
<=====>
"And one, two, three lift your knees more five, six, seven keep your arms raised nine, ten, eleven one more measure thir-teen, four-teen, fif-teen, STOP." Lindy lowered her leg to the floor and took a deep breath as she cooled down from the workout. She found it useful to use recorded tracks of her teacher's voice to make sure she kept up with the work even when at home.
*Would they be home yet?* She crossed the floor space over to where her phone sat on the end of her dresser, but stopped herself. *No, I'll wait.* She wasn't sure if they had returned home yet, and besides, would they want to be bothered first thing when getting back?
Frustrated, she turned back to her stereo and started the next track on the practice CD.
<=====>
Miriam was laughing at his dad as they returned home, listening to Bill recount horror stories from his college days. *My dad was such a goofball in college- how did he ever get a degree?* But Miriam knew his father worked very hard, and despite appearances Miriam knew he was a strong man when it came to taking care of his family. *Something I'll never be...*
"Catch!"
Miriam looked up in time to see something orange and white sailing towards him, unraveling in the air-
And felt a meaty smack against his stomach when the hamburger reached him unprotected.
"Oops."
<=====>
Jonathan turned the phone off and handed it back to Cary. "I'll see ya later man, my mom wants me home ta get some more rest 'fore school t'morrow."
"Later dude." The two slapped hands in the air before Cary escorted Jonathan out the door, wondering if he should call Miriam to see how he was. *Just where did they go anyways? It's not like them to just- head off like that.* He shrugged his shoulders, trying to force himself to think of something else, but it wasn't working.
"Ya'll done outside?"
Cary sighed. "Yes, Dad."
"You put everything up?"
"Yes."
"'Kay."
Turning around, he made his way back down the hallway to his own room. *Maybe some music. Drawing, video games, writing..."
<=====>
"I'm goin' to bed, Mom."
"Goodnight sweetie."
"Night son."
Miriam gave his mom and dad each a hug before heading upstairs to sleep. Not that he expected to get much sleep tonight, with everything that had happened. *That stupid voice. What's it got against me anyways?* It was only eight o'clock, but his room was the only place Miriam felt he could go in the house without being disturbed. He briefly contemplated borrowing his father's guitar, but after half a second's thought rejected the idea as being too much effort.
A smile crossed his lips as she remembered the time George had taken his guitar with them out to the river. He had played her a love song he 'wrote' for her, obviously making it up as he went along, but the disjointed lyrics and tuneless strumming made her laugh. *You'd think he'd try to learn to play before serenading me, don't you?*
She didn't even hear the phone ring as she lay down on her bed to dream.
<=====>
"Locksley residence."
"Mrs. Locksley? Hey, it's Lindy. I was wondering if I could talk to Miriam if that's okay?"
"I'm sorry, he's already gone to bed. Is it important, should I wake him?"
*Bed? It's only eight fifteen!* Lindy covered the phone while she growled in frustration. "No, that's okay. I'll check in with him tomorrow."
"Alright then. Good night, Lindy."
"'Night, Mrs. Locksley."
It took over a half hour more of dance practice before Lindy was calm enough to sit again. Surely nothing was wrong? Maybe he just didn't feel good and went to bed early.
*Yeah, right.*
No sooner was she sat down than her phone rang again. "Hello?"
"Hey Lindy! Ah, it's Cary. Hey, can we talk for a bit?"
"Sure, whatcha need ta talk about?" Cary was someone she could discuss Miriam with, and hopefully get some answers. Maybe he called them before Miriam went to bed?
"Do you know where Miriam and his parents went this afternoon?" Crap. "I mean, it wouldn't be a big deal 'cept everything that's gone on with Prince and that hypnotism-ist guy."
"Yeah. Actually, I was hoping you knew something. Ya'll've got a lot closer the last few days."
"Uh, yeah." She could actually hear him blushing through the phone, making her smile.
"Almost like boyfriend and GIRLfriend."
"Awp!"
Yup, he had it bad. "Oh, come on, everybody's been expecting or suspecting it for a couple of years now, not like that's news to you. Besides, ya'll're cute together."
"Whatever. Hey, I'm gonna call him and see if he's alright, want me to call you back with the news?"
*Snort.* "I would have called you with it if he was up. His mom said he's already in bed."
"Shit! I really wanted to talk to her. I mean HIM! I mean-"
"Don't worry about it," she butted in, then sighed. " I've been having the same problem. Cary, we need to get this straightened out, I'm really worried about, uh... her."
"Me too."
<=====>
Not feeling much reason to stay awake if he couldn't talk to Miriam, Cary decided bed might be a good idea after all.
<=====>
Jonathan wasn't sure what to make of the situation his friends were in. Cary and Miriam? No biggie, not like they hadn't seen THAT one coming a mile away. He had to chuckle when he realized the only people who seemed to be surprised by the Cary/Miriam thing were Cary and Miriam. *It kinda blows your mind, don't it?* He knew he had missed a lot the past few days, with being out sick, but he still found it shocking just HOW much he had missed.
It didn't take Jonathan long once he got home to finish the minimum amount of the makeup work he felt he could get by with and on his computer games. His cousins had given him a copy of the new 'Everia' MMO for his birthday a few months back, and while sick he had spent countless hours playing the game. Maybe Nena and Organa would be online tonight? All concern for his real life friends faded as he yet again lost himself in the game.
<=====>
Chapter 12: A Burden Shared...
Miriam was slightly less surprised the following morning to find Cary already waiting for him outside his front door instead of at the corner. He was honestly happy to see his friend ready and waiting. After the bad news at the doctor's office the day before, he knew that if he were left alone he would turn to contemplation of what was happening, and was instead determined to distract himself as much as possible from the problems in his life, a goal made all the harder by the ace bandage wrapped tightly around his chest in an attempt to minimize the appearance of his new 'burdens'. It wasn't a perfect solution, and it was painful, but it was better than the alternative his mom had offered that morning.
"Hi!"
"Hey, Miriam. Ready for school?"
"As much as I ever am." Cary rose from his perch on the front stoop and began the slow walk to school.
<=====>
*I've got to talk to her about it some time. Why not now?* Cary glanced over towards his best friend and often times partner in crime. Was he really interested in Miriam 'in that way'? After days of soul searching and his talk with Jonathan the night before, the only answer Cary could come up with was a resounding 'yes'. Now if only he could tell her!
Passing a neighbor's front lawn, Cary noticed their two puppies, who had recently grown a great deal in size. *If nothing else, I can find SOMETHING to talk about?* "Gettin' big, aren't they?"
Miriam winced. "What?"
"The twins." Cary saw Miriam's face go pale. "The puppies? It seems like just last week they were half the size they are now." Miriam seemed to be growing increasingly uncomfortable with the line of the conversation.
"Uh, I, um, don't know what you're talking about." Cary watched as Miriam crossed his arms nervously.
"Boris and Natasha? Miss Scarlett's beagles?"
"Oh. Oh! Right!" Miriam visibly relaxed. "Yeah, they're so energetic too."
"Do you think she'd be willing to give one of 'em away?"
Miriam gave him a glowing smile, and Cary felt his heart skip a beat. "That might be nice, let's check by this afternoon."
The conversation quickly dried up again, and Cary spent a few uncomfortable moments trying to find a way to phrase what he wanted to say to the pretty young thing beside him, when a whistle ahead broke his concentration. Lindy seemed to appear out of nowhere as she dashed towards Miriam, who grew agitated again. She wrapped her arms around the smaller teenager tightly, and Cary could almost swear he saw her squint her eyes in confusion before pulling away.
"Cary?" Miriam called.
"Yeah?"
"I need to talk to Lindy about something, if that's okay."
Cary was crushed. "Alright." *Great, now I'm losing my best friend to a girl.* Cary continued walking a ways away, and a light came to his eyes as his mouth took on a more determined set.
He would tell Miriam how he felt soon.
But first, he had to figure out exactly what he was feeling to begin with.
<=====>
Lindy gave Miriam a quick once-over before falling into step beside him. She wasn't sure what he wanted to talk to her about, but she had suspicions.
"Lindy?"
"Yeah?"
Miriam shuffled along a bit, never quite looking her in the face. He seemed to be more nervous than usual today, even for all that had happened lately. He mumbled something, but Lindy was unable to make the words out.
"I'm sorry, Miriam, I couldn't understand what you said."
She saw him blush before speaking more clearly. "I need your help with something a bit, umm, personal."
Now Lindy was curious. "What?"
"Uh, you know how all the past lives were girls and stuff?"
"Yeah? And?"
Miriam glanced towards Cary, who was a ways ahead of them on the street, before seeming to mumble something again.
"Miriam," Lindy started, exasperated, "you'll have to speak up, otherwise I can't hear you."
"I think I'm turning into a girl!" He whispered harshly before slapping a hand over his mouth, as though he were afraid someone might have heard him.
Lindy gave him a sharp look. "And what makes you think that?" she questioned. She wanted him to say it. *I can't help him if he won't admit what the problem is. But at least I'm prepared.*
"Uh, um. Okay." Miriam's eyes darted towards Cary again- still ahead of them and out of range of quiet voices. "Uh, the doctor's office yesterday?"
Lindy nodded.
"Well, she said that I'm not normal and I've, uh, kinda got. Oh boy."
She felt like growling, or even telling Miriam what she already figured he wanted, but tried her best to stay calm. "What IS it!" She hissed, barely keeping her voice down.
"Boobs."
"... is that it?"
"Huh?"
"It's kind of obvious," Lindy huffed. "I mean, no offence, but I know what they feel like from personal experience and-" She was cut short by a cry from Miriam, and turning, found her- him- near tears, with a stricken look on his face.
*Uh oh.* Lindy felt like smacking herself. *Wrong thing to say.*
<=====>
Jonathan pulled on his high tops clumsily as he stumbled through the screen door, rushing to try and make it to school on time. *No way I can meet up with the others today, no time!* With a final heave he managed to get his feet into the shoes, and not bothering with laces set off at a dead run for school.
<=====>
She KNEW? Miriam couldn't believe he had been stupid enough to believe he could hide it. *It's Mom's fault for sending me to school today, I told her!*
"Oh, Miriam, I'm so sorry!" He looked up through the veil of tears he just couldn't seem to hold back these days to see Lindy staring at him with a tortured expression on her face.
"I thought I'd *sniffle* done alright in, ah, hidin' them?" He self consciously wrapped his arms around himself again, trying to hide his chest.
"You did, really," she said, "and if I hadn't hugged ya I wouldn't'a noticed 'em either, I promise. I'm like SO sorry!"
"It's okay." Miriam shrugged and tried to act like it was no big deal, but was having a hard time keeping from bursting into tears. *Dammit, I'm stronger than this! Why'm I always crying any more?*
"Come on." Lindy's arm around his shoulder pulled him back to reality. "Let's go, we can talk about this later."
Miriam worked hard to keep the sarcasm down, but couldn't resist muttering a less than enthused "Oh, Joy."
<=====>
Felicity chewed on her lower lip as she debated over what to do. Bill had agreed with her that unless they insisted on it there was no way Miriam would ever agree to the doctor’s recommendation, but neither one of them wanted to force a decision like that on their son, even for his own good. His entire life, they had worked so hard to let him make his own decisions, and it just seemed, well, WRONG to make him do something that could cause him so many problems with the other children at his school.
She glanced towards the bed in her son’s room, where the sports bra she had purchased yesterday still sat, unused, next to the plastic wrapper from the medical cabinet. She winced at the idea of the pain her baby boy causing himself in a vain attempt to hide what was happening to his body, and fought the urge to cry.
“He doesn’t deserve this. No child does.” *But what can I do to make it better?*
<=====>
Bill pulled into his parking spot and sat for a few moments, collecting his thoughts. He had a big presentation today with Scots Industries concerning marketing strategies for the next five years, and the last thing he needed was his personal life getting in the way of his work.
*But he’s my son. If I can’t be worried about him, how can I worry about anything at all?* It was an impossible situation, but he had to stay strong. He remembered back to the day Miriam was born. They had been so proud, their first child- and after the complications, their only child. Miriam had been both his and Felicity’s entire reason for living, and even as Miriam grew up Bill never stopped thinking of him as that baby lying in his wife’s arms, curled up in a blanket and needing his protection from the big bad world. Bill had swore he would be the best father he could, he would stand in the way of anything that tried to hurt his child, and now, when that protection was needed most, he was helpless.
With a glance in his rear view mirror, Bill Locksley straightened his tie, and stepped out of the blazer’s door. He would put a brave face on for the meeting, and maybe even make it the rest of the day without feeling like he had failed one of the only people who meant more to him than his own life.
Maybe.
<=====>
“Good morning class.”
“Good morning, Mr. Hendricks.”
“Now, today we’re learning about the Aztec Mounds.”
Miriam whimpered. *This is going to be a long day.*
<=====>
Chapter 13: Girl Lessons 101
Johnathan sank into his seat at the lunch table with a yawn, dropping his tray in front of himself with a loud ‘clunk’. “You wouldn’ believe what I’ve been put through t’day, tryin’ ta get all this make up work done! I swear, I was up ‘til two this mornin’ tryin’ to get caught up on it all, an’ I still got three days’ worth a’ the junk to do.”
Cary gave him a clap on the back as he lowered his own tray down on Johnathan’s right. “Don’t worry about it too much, you’ll get there. Hey, this afternoon we’ll skip bow practice if you want some help.” He gave Johnathan an encouraging smile. “By the way, you seen Miriam yet?”
“Yeah, sh- he was just walkin’ in the door when I left the line. I think he was talkin’ with Lindy about something.” Cary’s frown was unexpected. “Hey, what’s goin’ on between those two that’s got ya all wound up?”
“I dunno,” Cary replied. “They’ve been talking all day, and haven’t told me nothin’.”
Johnathan gave his friend a nudge with his elbow. “Don’t worry, man, ya ain’t got nothin’ to worry about. Probably just some girl thing. Er, well, ya know what I mean.”
Cary nodded. “Yeah.”
<=====>
“So you really can’t tell all that bad?”
“NO!” Lindy almost yelled at Miriam. “For the tenth time today, no. God, I shoulda never said anything this morning.”
Miriam just shrugged. “Sorry, I’m just nervous I guess. I keep thinking someone’s gonna run up to me and start pointing and screaming ‘boobs!’ or something.” He laughed. “It’s silly, I know, but…”
“It’s alright.” Lindy grabbed a tray and made her way through the food line, and Miriam followed her with his own.
Classes all morning had been a nightmare. Everything had reminded him of his situation, from history to math. He just knew he would be having nightmares about conic sections for weeks. *And don’t EVEN get me started on the daydreams.* It was easier to think of them as daydreams than memories, he had decided. He couldn’t think of any way to stop them, and daydreams just seemed less traumatizing than the idea that he had actually BEEN the girl he was seeing in his mind’s eye.
“Sound okay?”
“What?” He came back around to see Lindy staring at him.
“I said, does that sound okay?”
“Oh, uh, yeah, sure.” He wasn’t sure what she had been saying, but agreed anyways to get moving along.
“Then follow me home this afternoon and we can try it.”
“Sure.”
<=====>
Lindy was surprised at how quickly and easily Miriam had agreed to her plan, but wasn’t about to question his reasoning. *Maybe he’s really more curious than he wants to admit, even to himself. God, I don’t even know if I should be doing this, but what else CAN I do? This is way worse than what that Gordon guy warned us about.* She glanced over at her best friend, right behind her in the food line and seemingly intent on picking just the right fruit cup. He was already very feminine looking even in a baggy tee shirt and jeans, what would he look like in a skirt? *She’ll probably be prettier than I am. If it goes that far.*
Turning from the lunch line, Lindy made her way for the open seat next to Johnathan at their usual lunch table, and did her best to switch her attention from helping her friend to continuing her entrapment of her prey.
<=====>
Cary grinned widely when Miriam lowered his tray and sat next to him instead of in the empty seat on the other side of Lindy. Was now the time to talk? Or should he wait? “Uh, Miriam?”
“Yeah?”
“I was wondering if this afternoon we could maybe talk or something?” Cary looked towards his small companion with hope in his eyes.
Miriam beamed. “Sure! Oh, I gotta go by Lindy’s first though. Hey, wanna come with me?”
“Sure! I mean, if it’s okay with Lindy.”
<=====>
“Are you sure, Miriam?” Lindy was giving him a carefully neutral look.
“Yeah!” *What could she want that wouldn’t be good for Cary to see? Unless- oh god! Does it have something to do with?*
“Great!” Cary’s expression was too happy for Miriam to go back on his offer now, though he desperately hoped whatever was going to happen didn’t cause him any more problems.
<=====>
*I dunno why, but I have a bad feeling about asking Cary over with us.* Perhaps it was the looks Lindy kept casting him and Cary, or maybe it was the churning in the pit of his stomach that told him he had missed something vitally important, but every step seemed that much harder to make with his best friend in the whole world walking along beside him and happily chattering away as they walked towards what Miriam was more and more sure was certain doom.
“-and well, then I was thinking maybe we could, ah, go to the movies or something?” Cary’s words pierced the veil of concern wrapping Miriam’s thoughts.
“Huh?”
“After this is done? I’ll pay and ev’rything?” Cary gave him the wide eyed puppy dog look that he was so good at before falling on his knees and clasping his hands in front of him. “Please?” He begged with a sappy grin on his face.
Miriam laughed. “Alright, sure. We’ll call Johnathan too- maybe he can take Lindy at the same time.”
“Great!” Cary jumped up and wrapped his arm happily around Miriam for a moment before jerking away suddenly. “Sorry.”
Miriam laughed again. “It’s alright.” He leaned sideways into Cary, pushing him off the sidewalk and yelling “tag!” before setting off at a run for Lindy’s house, Cary taking pursuit behind him.
<=====>
Lindy watched as Miriam and Cary talked ahead of her, and marveled at how they were together. *Even knowing they’re both boys- knowing Miriam all my life- seeing the two of them together is like seeing a guy and a girl. I wonder how much of what’s happening to Miriam is ‘cause of that guy Gordon, and how much of this would have happened anyways?* She heard Miriam yell ‘tag!’ and smiled as she watched them set off, Miriam running full speed and Cary chasing along behind, intentionally staying just slow enough so Miriam could evade while staying close enough to catch her if he really wanted to. *Him, HIM! Shoot, it shouldn’t be that hard!*
Glancing up again, she watched as Miriam reached the front gate of her lawn and Cary finally caught him- *no, on the other hand, definitely ‘her’ right now,*- and spun her around, both laughing and wrestling as Miriam tried to get out of Cary’s grasp, though Lindy could tell she wasn’t fighting too hard.
“Okay, you two, stop that and come on in. Cary, you can hang out downstairs and play my dad’s Xbox- I have something I need to show Miriam.”
<=====>
“What the hell!”
“Ta da!”
Miriam was more than a bit surprised at what it was that Lindy had to ‘show’ him. His worst suspicions were confirmed the moment he had entered the room. Lindy had turned from him and reached into her closet to withdraw four bags. ‘Pac-sun’ and ‘Wet Seal’ were two stores he’d never really shopped at, though he had been in them with Lindy and the other girls a time or two. The third bag was the one that worried him, however.
“Victoria’s Secret?!”
“Well, every girl deserves a little something special- we’re teenagers, Miriam! Practically adults already- would you rather it went to someone who was, like, thirty?” They both shuddered.
“But, I mean, are you gonna model these or somethin’, I mean…”
“No, silly, these are yours!” Lindy beamed.
“What!”
Her smile faltered as Miriam felt his jaw drop. “This is what we were talking about earlier at school, I thought you said you wanted to try- did I misunderstand you? Oh, Miriam, I’m sorry!” Lindy dropped the bags and approached him, wrapping him in her arms. “I thought-“
“Oh,” was all Miriam could say as his eyes wandered down to look at the garments that tumbled from the bags. “Sorry, I wasn’t really paying attention, I guess I was a bit distracted all day, what with, well, you know.”
“That’s okay. Come on, we’ll go back downstairs and tell Cary it was nothing.”
The thought of Cary stopped Miriam cold. He was so much like George, but different too. The same eyes, and goofy smile too. She’d always loved dressing up for her dates with George. And that Northern boy who used to come down and buy their cotton too. *God, I hate these memories or whatever they are!* But even fighting them, seeing the clothes made him wonder.
“Um, Lindy?”
<=====>
“Alright, you wrap it around you like this, and twist your arms back and- yeah, just like that.”
After Miriam’s initial reaction Lindy had been worried he might start crying again, or throwing a fit. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t realized how out of it he was at school to agree to something like this- why hadn’t she seen it?
Because she hadn’t wanted to see it?
*Let’s be honest here, I wanted to do this,* Lindy admitted to herself as she pieced the outfit she had assembled together from the various bags. *Miriam’s always been a bit- okay, a LOT- girlish, and ever since Amanda mentioned trying to talk him into this last year I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind, the stuff with that Gordon guy just gave me an excuse.*
“Lindy?”
She turned around to find her charge decked out in the lingerie she had picked out, bikini panties and all.
*God, even just in her underwear you can’t tell.* “All right, next let’s try on the skirt to make sure it fits.”
<=====>
Cary glanced at his watch nervously as he paced back and forth in the living room. He had exhausted his interest in the game console almost an hour ago, and the girls were still upstairs. *What are they up to?*
“Knock knock.”
Cary turned around to see Lindy standing at the base of the stairs looking into the living room, watching him pace.
“Sorry we took so long.”
“That’s alright. What were ya’ll up to anyways?”
Lindy blushed. “Well, why don’t I let Miriam show you. Miriam?”
Cary watched as a vision from his dreams descended the staircase. It was everything he had ever imagined, and so much more. “Oh, my god…”
<=====>
Thanks for reading! Anything you think needs added or explained more, just leave a comment! More chapters coming soon, so be on the lookout- and I promise a much shorter wait between chapters from now on.
PS: Miss Erin, sorry about the roman numerals, but you said keeping it constant is the biggest thing...
Echoes Part VI
Melanie Ezell
---
Cary tried to pay attention to the movie, but just like the walk to the restaurant he kept finding his eyes wandering over to the beautiful creature next to him. *I REALLY need to talk to Miriam about this. This is insane.* Miriam turned her face away from the screen and smiled at him briefly, and he felt the blood rushing to his cheeks.
The feeling of embarrassment quickly turned to one of surprise. Her face never left the screen as her small hand travelled across the armrest, hovering above his right thigh, before dipping between his legs...
<=====>
Chapter 14: Girl Lessons 101, Part 2
Miriam was nervous beyond description as he slowly made his way down the stairs in the unfamiliar shoes. Lindy had gone above and beyond anything he had expected, and somehow picked the right sizes up for Miriam’s body, though he had been too nervous to go out in the skirt and had instead opted for a pair of her old jeans she couldn’t wear any more.
It wasn’t that there was even anything exceptionally girly about the clothes he was now wearing, besides the underwear.
*Then again, that’s a pretty big ‘besides’,* he thought ruefully.
The low rise jeans fit him well through the hips if a little baggy in the seat, and the basic black tank came down to just meet their waistband. The amount of shape he managed to achieve up top was the least of his worries after Lindy had gone wild with her mascara and eyeliner though, and just a bit of lip gloss had given him the shock of his life when looking in the mirror.
He looked exactly like a younger, auburn haired version of his mom, right down to the large eyes and smallish nose. He had turned one way and then the other, absorbing as best he could the difference so little effort had actually made.
“Yup, I’m good!” Lindy leaned in from behind him, setting her chin on his shoulder and giving him a Cheshire cat grin. “What’cha think?”
“I… I dunno.”
“Well, maybe another opinion would help?” He felt her grab his hand and drag him towards the door. “Come on, Cary’s waitin’ downstairs to see the new ‘n improved you!”
“Wait, no, Lindy!”
<=====>
Lindy couldn’t resist the urge to hum the ‘Miss America’ theme as she led her, she had to admit, very hot looking friend out her bedroom door and to the top of the stairs.
“Wait here, I’ll go let him know you’re on your way down.”
“But Lindy!”
“Shh!” She gave Miriam a warm smile and a pat on the shoulder before heading down the stairs.
The results of the transformation had astounded her at least as much as they had Miriam. *I knew she’d look good, but wow.* She was still a little miffed over the skirt, but she contented herself with knowing that even without it people would never see Miriam as anything but a girl. Besides, the tank top would be cool enough in the not-quite spring weather outside.
Cary was pacing the living room, for all the world looking like the eager boyfriend waiting for his date to arrive. Lindy was hesitant to break the mood, but the sooner they got going the sooner she could start going after Jonathan again- and the sooner they would know just how comfortable Miriam could be in her new role.
“Knock knock.”
<=====>
"Stop staring at me!"
"Sorry!" Cary did his best to turn his eyes away from watching Miriam, but no matter how hard he tried his gaze seemed to be drawn right back to her. Him. Whatever. *I've known her for years and never had this kind of trouble, why now?*
Lindy's voice interrupted his thoughts. "So whatcha wanna see at the theater?"
Cary shrugged. "I dunno. Miriam?" Miriam's blush was obvious, and Cary couldn't help but feel bad for her as he watched her try to sink into the concrete.
"I don't care." Cary stopped in his tracks when she glared at him. "And STOP STARING AT ME!"
"I'm Sorry!"
<=====>
The decision was reached to have something to eat before going to the theater, which brought up the question of where to eat, which after much discussion resulted in Miriam finding himself sat in a booth next to Cary while Lindy called Jonathan to meet them at Fryer Tuck's, Home of the Deep Fried Barbecue Sandwich.
"I still can't believe ya wanted ta come here," Lindy grumbled as Miriam eyed the menu hungrily.
"What? I like this place!" Miriam replied. It had been his argument that if he was going dressed as a girl, he should at least get to pick where they ate. Fryer Tuck's was inexpensive, it was good, and best of all, he knew that most of the people at school avoided the place like the plague ever since they added Deep Fried Frog Legs to the menu. He couldn't imagine why.
He also couldn't imagine why he was managing to stay so calm. Here he was, sitting in a public place, wearing girl's clothes and makeup, and after finally getting used to Cary's constant gawping the biggest worry he had was how hard it would be to get grease stains out of his tank top. *Shouldn't I be freaking out by now?*
The arrival of their soft drinks pulled his attention back to the group, and combined with Jonathan's arrival it was enough to distract him from any further deep thought.
<=====>
"Eight fifty."
Miriam reached for the purse Lindy had put his wallet in to get his money, but Cary's hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"Please, let me," Cary said, pulling enough money for two tickets from his wallet and passing it through the window, retrieving the tickets. Miriam smiled at him.
"Okay, but I get the snacks, deal?"
Cary nodded and grinned. "Deal."
"Will you get my ticket for me?" Miriam heard from behind him, and turned to find Lindy hanging on the arm of a slightly embarrassed looking Jonathan.
"Uh, sure?" He most certainly didn't seem sure.
<=====>
Lindy couldn't resist a slight pout once she was sure the darkness within the theater would hide it. Ever since she had walked Miriam down the stairs Cary had been following her around like a lost puppy, and gone out of his way to try and impress Miriam. Meanwhile, here she was, doing her damnedest to get Jonathan interested in her, and all he wanted to talk about was how much better Miriam seemed as a girl than a boy.
After hearing another comment along the lines of "Damn, he really does seem like a girl," Lindy had had enough.
"Ya know, if you're that into the change, I could find some clothes at the mall that'd fit YOU. How's that?"
She was happy to note the silence that followed, and pulled herself up and kissed him before he could say something stupid again.
<=====>
Cary tried to pay attention to the movie, but just like the walk to the restaurant he kept finding his eyes wandering over to the beautiful creature next to him. *I REALLY need to talk to Miriam about this. This is insane.* Miriam turned her face away from the screen and smiled at him briefly, and he felt the blood rushing to his cheeks.
The feeling of embarrassment quickly turned to one of surprise. Her face never left the screen as her small hand travelled across the armrest, hovering above his right thigh, before dipping between his legs...
And pulling out a handful of popcorn from the tub he had forgotten about.
*Oh, god.*
<=====>
Miriam grimaced slightly as he wiped the dust and oil from the popcorn on the leg of his jeans. 'This popcorn's a bit stale. I wish I had some gummie bears or something.'
"Cary?"
"Yeah?"
Miriam gave his biggest smile. "Would you let me out? I wanna get something at the concession stand."
"Ooh, good idea!" Miriam recognized Lindy's voice from the aisle just behind them. "I could use a break myself. Come on, boys, let us up."
<=====>
“So, how’s your date with Jonathan going so far?”
“I kissed him!” Lindy squealed happily. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a while, and I kinda gave up on him trying it so I just went and did it!”
Miriam laughed at his friend’s happiness. “Well, good for you! I do have to say, though, I’m getting a little nervous.”
Lindy leaned against the snack counter while Miriam placed his order. “What’re you getting nervous about?”
“Three ninety-five, ma’am.” The counter girl pulled out the box of gummie bears, and Miriam handed over the cash.
“I dunno. Cary said he wanted to talk to me today, and I’m just kinda worried about what it’s gonna be about.”
Lindy waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. “Don’t worry. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt you on purpose or anything. What’re you expecting, he’s gonna say you’re weird or something?”
‘Hmm.’ “I guess.” Just what was he worried about with the talk to Cary later? The last time she had been this nervous about a talk had been- ‘No, wait. That wasn’t me, that was me- I mean, Marina? Mary Anne? You’d think if I’m stuck with the memories I’d be able to remember what names went with what, but it all just kind of blends together after a while.’
<=====>
Brrrr- WHACK WHACK WHACK!!!
“AAAhhheee!”
SLAM! Cruuuunnnccchhhh.....
“Eww!”
“Ohmigod, that’s so GROSS!”
“Whose idea was it to see this movie anyways?”
“Uh, Lindy, I think it was yours...”
“Oh, shut up!”
<=====>
Cary looked on helplessly as Miriam returned all the gummie bears she had bought to the theater by way of the trash can. After seeing that, he couldn’t blame her.
“So what now?”
Cary scratched the back of his neck. What now? He needed to talk to Miriam alone for a while, but it was a pretty sure thing that with both Jonathan and Lindy there it would be hard to find an excuse to get away and talk. He looked sadly to where Miriam was leaning against the theater wall, the green finally starting to fade from her face after- he felt his own stomach heave at the thought of what they had just watched, and decided he really didn’t want to think about that.
“Cary?” Miriam’s stressed voice came through his senses.
“Yeah?”
“I think I wanna go home.”
Cary nodded. “That sounds like a good idea.”
“Wait," Lindy spoke up, "you need to come back to my place to change first.”
<=====>
Chapter 15: Good Night, Sweetheart
Cary was hoping that seeing Miriam back in her- *his his hishishis*- own clothes would help to break the tension between them, but was not expecting to have any such luck. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he couldn’t think of Miriam as anything but a girl.
“Hey, man, things okay?”
“Huh? What?”
Jonathan nudged his shoulder again. “You jus’ seem kinda out of things. Ev’rything alright?”
“...yeah. Sorry.”
“No prob. Here they come back.”
Cary watched for the second time that day as Miriam made her way down the steps. The clothes were her own old boy’s clothes, and only the slightest evidence of the makeup from earlier remained on her face, but she was still a girl.
“You two be careful on your way home,” Lindy told Miriam as she descended the stairs slightly behind. “Jonathan, you too.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Jonathan saluted Lindy, getting a scowl in return. “I’ll make sure these two make it safely.”
“Uh, I need to talk to Cary, if that’s okay. Um, alone.” Miriam glanced down at her feet nervously, and Cary blushed.
“Oh. Okay.” Another pat on his back brought Cary up to look at Jonathan again. “Later, man.”
“Yeah,” Cary answered, “later.”
<=====>
Miriam walked along beside Cary, unsure of how to start the conversation. Why did Cary want to talk to him? And if it was so important, why wasn’t he talking now? Unable to think of anything else to say, Miriam opened up with the only thing he could think of.
“So, what’s up?”
“Huh?” Cary responded slowly, a slightly dull look in his eyes.
“Well, you wanted to talk to me earlier,” Miriam prodded. “Here we are, so... talk.”
Cary kicked at a stray leaf on the sidewalk before answering. “Yeah, uh, hmm. Sorry, it’s just kinda hard for me to just, ah, ask and stuff...”
Miriam growled a bit inside, but managed to keep it from coming out loud. The last thing he wanted was to make Cary more nervous. “O-kay. So. *sigh* This was kind of weird, wasn’t it?” Miriam grinned, wrapping his arms around himself as he considered the absurdity of the situation. “The last thing I ever thought I’d be doing is dressing as a girl to go to the movies. I can’t believe nobody said anything.”
“Why would they?” Cary asked. “You looked nice. I mean, really.”
Miriam felt himself blushing at the compliment, feeling glad the street lights had not yet come on so he could hide in the evening’s shadows. “Thanks. It was just weird being out like that. I dunno, ever since Lindy took me to see that Gordon guy everything’s been so messed up, I guess one more weird thing really doesn’t stand out any more.”
Miriam saw Cary stop moving, and turned to watch as he said softly, “Don’t say that.”
“What?”
Cary stepped forwards, standing merely inches away from Miriam. “Don’t say you were weird tonight. You weren’t. You were... beautiful.” Miriam’s breath caught in his throat as Cary took another step forwards, closing the distance between them even further. “Miriam, I was wanting to ask you something. I, I know it’s going to sound like I’m stupid or something, but.”
Miriam could barely manage a whisper- his heart was beating so hard in his chest, it felt like he could faint at any moment. “Yes?”
“Miriam.” Cary was so close now that Miriam could feel his warm breath on his face. “I... I really like you, Miriam. A lot. And, um, I was wondering–would you-“
There was a harsh ‘pop’ from above, and the brilliant flash of light startled the two teenagers apart. It was only the street light, but by the time they realized it the mood had already passed. With a jump, Miriam took a step back. “Cary, I, I gotta get home. I think I can make it the rest of the way on my own.”
The look on Cary’s face hurt Miriam to see, it was so full of pain. “Oh, right. Sorry. Uh. Just forget what I was saying, ‘kay? I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow, Cary.” It was on impulse, but Miriam walked back towards his friend and gave him a light hug. Cary was stiff at first, but after the initial shock loosened up and returned the embrace.
<=====>
Felicity was washing dishes when she heard the creaking of the screen door. “Hello?”
“Oh, hi Mom. Sorry I’m late getting home, we went to Fryer Tuck’s and a movie.”
Felicity turned off the water and span around to face the door, looking for her child. “That’s okay, sweetie, but call us next time you’re gonna be late- we had to call Lindy’s parents to find out where you were, and you know how much I hate talking to her mother.” Raven had always been a ditz in school, and even now Felicity would swear she felt dumber after talking to the woman. How she graduated...
“I’m sorry, Mom. I’ll call next time.” Miriam came into the room, and immediately crossed the kitchen to give her a hug. “But right now, I’m like really tired. I think I’m gonna go to bed.”
“Okay, sweetie.” Felicity let Miriam out of her arms, but gripped his bicep quickly when she saw his face. “Miriam, what happened to your face?”
Her child frowned up at her. “Nothing, why?”
Calming herself, she let him go. “It was just me, I’m sorry. Good night, honey.”
“’Night Mom.” She watched Miriam go, and debated what to do. The eyeliner had not been all that obvious, but the smell of perfume had. One thing she knew- she would be having words with Lindy, not her mother, quite soon.
<=====>
Cary crawled into bed, tired beyond belief, but he knew he would not be sleeping for a while.
*Dammit! Why didn’t I just come out and say it? Instead I had to get all nervous and- grrr!*
Tomorrow, he promised himself. Tomorrow he would find out for sure how Miriam felt about him. He would let her know he loved her, and ask her out, and she would say-
What would she say?
<=====>
Miriam stripped his clothes off in his room, his eyes trying to close on their own as he stumbled towards bed. At the last second, he made a bee line for his dresser, grabbing an old tee shirt of his father’s he had taken years before to sleep in whenever he felt like he needed the comfort of his parents nearby. He absently noticed that he had forgotten to grab his own underwear while at Lindy’s, but shrugged his indifference before climbing into bed.
Sleep came quickly to Miriam, and before long she found herself standing again in the grey mist. Wait, she? Looking down at her naked body, Miriam was less than amused to see that yes, ‘she’ was definitely the right pronoun. “WHAT the hell?”
#Your mind and body are becoming one. You are becoming who you are.#
“What does that even MEAN?” Miriam angrily looked around to try and find where the voice was coming from, but like all the times before, she could see nothing but the grey mist surrounding her.
#Soon you will know. The errors of the past must be corrected. You must be whole.#
She felt like hitting something. “Again with the ‘make whole’ thing. Can we just get this over with? Tell me what’s going on!” Her throat was feeling raw from the yelling- could your throat get raw from yelling in a dream?- and still the voice answered in the same calm monotone.
#Your soul has been broken. It must be mended. Tonight you shall learn what must be done.#
“What!?”
But the voice was gone. Miriam felt herself spinning, falling, pressure building around her as her senses ran wild. Hot, cold, strange tastes popping on her tongue, lights dancing before her eyes.
Then nothing.
Her head was aching as she felt herself resolve yet again into what felt like the real world, and opened her eyes wearily to find herself in a strange room full of people. At first she couldn’t recognize any of them, but slowly it dawned on her. The tall girl in what looked like a school uniform smiled sadly at her, while the young woman in the Antebellum dress cried to herself to one side. A soft whimpering could be heard from another figure huddled in its pile of rags further away, and many more women surrounded them, unidentifiable, vague ghosts, little more than shades after the centuries of nothing stripped them of their identities, leaving behind a shell of the spirit that had been.
Miriam screamed, and all the women and shades surrounding her screamed as well.
<=====>
Well, people, for all of you who thought the LAST chapters ended in a cliffhanger, take THAT loyal readers!!! :)
I can't wait to get the next chapters finished- I'm really excited about where the story is going now. It's turning out different than I expected, but I think... better. Yes, definitely better.
Comment or be subjected to three hundred rounds of the song that never ends!!!
Echoes Part VII
By Melanie Ezell
New revelations and an unexpected encounter bring Miriam's confusion and anger to a head. Something has to be done... but what?
(Note: This set of chapters has a murder scene. It's not all that intense, but those who are a little squeamish about such things might wanna be careful. From this point on, the maturity rating of the chapters ramps up a bit.)
<=====>
Chapter 16: Night of the Living Dead
“–Wake up. Come on, sleepy head, it’s time for school!”
“Wha?”
“And isn’t that Wight boy walking you to school today?”
“George!” With a jolt, Marina was up and out of bed, rushing to get dressed.
<=====>
“Where is he?” Marina tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for George to arrive and pick her up. They had been going out officially for almost three weeks now, and not once had he been late to walk with her. “Where could he be?”
If she waited any longer for that boy, she would be late for school, and she knew it. Reluctantly she set out on her own for the long walk, still wondering what could have happened to her boyfriend.
<=====>
Marina slowed down drastically when she saw what awaited her at the doors to her school. Line upon line of people picketing the building... and all of them black. She had never had a problem with blacks, what little she had dealt with them, but after hearing the news about the race riots in Chicago earlier in the year, she couldn't help but back away from the angry mob before her. She watched as several of her friends turned away from the scene and started back for home - no one felt like going to school today.
For Marina, though, home did not feel like the right option. She wasn't sure how she felt about the race issue that was causing such a stir - weren't their own facilities supposed to be equal already? - but she knew if she went home, her mom would want to talk to her about why she was home early, and about what the people were doing. Her mom had said quite often over the last few months that she felt like nothing would be better until the blacks had everything the whites did, which often caused fights between her and Marina's father, and she didn't want to get caught in the middle of THAT again, with both parents trying to get her to agree with their view.
Instead, she set out for The Banks, in hopes that the cool water would help her to think about things. Mostly, though, she hoped that George would be there. Seeing the picket at school had told her exactly why he hadn't been by that morning to walk with her; his family helped a lot of businesses in the black section of town, so she knew his family would probably be supporting whatever was going on. It was a slim chance, but he just might be there, laying low while his parents took care of whatever it is they did.
She took her time walking along the park paths, enjoying being out in the fresh air on a school day, rather than cooped up in one of those tiny classrooms listening to a teacher drone on about geography or whatever. She started thinking about what she would do when she ran into George at The Banks, and what she would say to him.
"George! I didn't know you were gonna be here!"
No, that wouldn't do.
"George! I'm so glad I found you!"
No, too needy.
"Hey!"
No, too --
"Hey, Marina!"
She shook her head and looked around, trying to locate the voice that had been calling her, though when she found it she was less than happy.
"Oh. Hello Sam."
Samuel Prince had had a crush on her for as long as she could remember, and no matter how many times she told him "no" he still never seemed to understand that she didn't like him. There was just something... creepy about him, and she always felt uncomfortable when he was around. It was just her luck that he would find her out here.
"I've been following you since the school," he said as he continued to approach her with his trademark cocky swagger that everyone at school hated.
"I'd really rather be alone for a while, if that's okay." Marina didn't trust him at all, especially with no one else around, and the way he was leering at her only added to her discomfort.
"I'm afraid I can't do that. Not with everything that's going on. A girl like you could get in trouble, out all alone."
"I think I've changed my mind. I'm just gonna go home." Marina tried to walk around Samuel and back the way she had came, but his hand came out and grasped her arm tightly.
"Nah, don't worry. With me here, nothin' bad's gonna happen. Let me walk you to The Banks."
"No, please...." Marina tried to pull away, but Prince was too strong. She was getting more scared by the second, and couldn't even scream as he pulled her down the path and into the woods. *George, where are you?*
<=====>
George wasn't there.
Samuel had kept his relentless grip on her arm all the time they had walked down the path, and Marina knew she would have bruises on her arm where he had been squeezing her. She had tried to pull away, she had tried to tell him to stop, but he wouldn't listen to her. She tried to make herself scream, but she was too scared -- she could barely make a whisper.
All the way to The Banks, she had prayed desperately that George would be there, waiting for her. If he was there, she would be safe, and Samuel would have to let her go.
But George wasn't there.
Samuel had dragged her out to the edge of the shallowest part of The Banks, slippery with slime and water from the quickly moving river, and had then spun her around to face him. With his hand still holding a death grip on her arm, he had inched closer and closer, until finally his clammy lips were pressed against hers, and she could taste his nasty, meaty breath.
She wanted to vomit. She wanted to run. She wanted to do anything but kiss this... TOAD in front of her. Pulling on all her will, she pushed him back as hard as she could. It was enough to jerk them apart, and as soon as she was free of his disgusting grip, she raised her free hand and slapped him hard.
A look of shock appeared in his eyes as Samuel stared down at her, and she thought for a moment that maybe now he would let her go. Instead, the shock quickly turned to anger, and she felt his fingers dig deeper into her arm as his face reddened with rage.
"You stupid bitch! Think you're too good for me, huh? Huh!"
He was shaking her now, and no matter what she did, she couldn't pull away. She finally found her voice enough to scream, but as soon as the sound left her mouth his fist impacted her face, silencing her.
"Let's see if your George likes you after I'm through with you." He hit her, again and again, as she scratched at him and tried to pull away.
She was sure he would beat her to death when she flailed upwards with her foot and managed to find the juncture of his legs. She heard him roar as he let go of her arm and stopped hitting her, doubling over in pain. Unfortunately, losing both the support of his grip and her foot beneath her sent Marina toppling backwards into the shallow water.
*I'm away from him!* She wanted to scream in relief as she plummeted into the river, when suddenly a sharp crack to the back of her head brought searing pain.
The last thing Marina Fallon saw as the darkness engulfed her and she sunk beneath the water was the form of Samuel Prince as he turned around and fled from the rocks, never looking back at her.
<=====>
Miriam's eyes snapped open as she clawed at her throat in a panic to release the pressure of the water filling her lungs. Except, there was no water, only the room full of women she had been in before. She didn't scream this time -- instead, she pulled herself into a ball, hoping no one noticed her.
From the crowd of women surrounding her emerged the girl in the school uniform again. Miriam recognized the uniform now, and knew who the girl was. Even here, the sight of her brought a rush of memories to Miriam that were not her own. This time, instead of being pristine and beautiful as she had been before, the girl's uniform was torn and wet, her hair stringy, and her skin a nasty blue-white tint. Miriam could just see the edges of a pulpy matted mass at the back of her head, and as she stood before her the water and blood pooled at her feet.
"W-why?" Miriam heard herself ask.
"It's the curse. It's always been the curse." Water dripped from Marina's mouth as she spoke.
"What curse! And what am I supposed to do about it?"
"That's what you'll have to figure out." Marina's eyes closed, and as Miriam watched her form changed back into the beautiful young girl Miriam had first seen. "I've only been trapped here a short time, and I haven't yet started to fade, but it won't be long. A strong emotional connection to our deaths seems to keep some of us here longer than others," she said as she glanced at the pile of rags in the corner, "but most of us seem to fade after about fifty years. The older spirits that were still here when I arrived told me the curse has been around for over four hundred years, but nobody knows why it started any more. All we know is that every time we come of age and connect with our soul mate... we die."
"But what am I supposed to do about it?"
Marina shrugged. "We're not sure. All we know is that you're the first of us to have a chance to break the curse."
"I got that, but how?"
Marina shrugged again. "Live."
Miriam tried to say something more, but her world started to spin about her as yet again the grey mist closed in and engulfed her.
<=====>
Miriam sat bolt upright in her bed and gasped. She quickly swept her gaze over her room, checking to make sure she was really herself and in her own bed. There was her desk, there was her mirror... and there, sitting by her dresser, was her father's guitar on its tripod stand. Her mom and dad must have put it in after she went to bed, she realized, knowing that playing helped her to feel better.
Glancing at the clock, she saw the time to be only two in the morning. Too late to play -- she might wake her parents. Besides, there was too much she needed to think about. Why was she cursed? Was this all some kind of weird dream? Was the Prince that drowned her back then related to the Prince she knew?
There was so much to go over, and so many questions. She knew she was missing something, probably a lot of things, but what? And there was something else....
"Crap!" She threw her covers off and jumped from her bed, sliding her hand down her front to see if the changes from in the fog had really happened. When she reached the top of her panties, she stopped, unsure if she even wanted to know, then with a grimace slid her hand inside.
<=====>
Cary half yawned half cursed as he noticed the display on his digital alarm clock. Two in the morning? Why had he woke up so early? He could remember some strange dream about going to Miriam's house and looking for her but not being able to find her, only her parents had been different, and so had the town. There had been something about a protest or something, and then he heard her scream -- and that's what had woke him up, he remembered, Miriam's scream.
For a brief moment he considered calling her and making sure she was okay, but shook the idea off as silly. Her mom would KILL him if he called her this late, and she wouldn't be too happy to be shook awake either. *Doesn't keep me from wanting to, though, if just to hear her voice.*
With another yawn, Cary rolled over and tried to force himself back to sleep, knowing the sooner he did so the sooner his alarm would go off, and the sooner he really would get a chance to see Miriam again.
<=====>
Chapter 17: Aftermath
Felicity did a double take as she watched her child enter their den with a bowl of cereal in hand. Gone was the bandage from the day before, and in its place she was happy to see that Miriam was using something much more comfortable and reasonable, though she knew a warning was in order.
"Honey?"
"Yeah?" Miriam asked around a mouth full of Chocky-Frosty Ohs.
"If you're gonna wear a dark colored bra, you need to wear a dark colored shirt on top of it, too."
Felicity's expression never changed as she watched the look of abject horror descend on Miriam's face. She had promised a long time ago that she would never laugh at her child for mistakes he didn't know he made.
But it was a close thing.
<====>
*Stupid bra. I should have just used the wrapping again this morning. Why was I so stupid? Stupid stupid stupid!*
But Miriam knew why. After the night before, the idea of wearing such a feminine garment seemed practically normal, and the bandage had been far less comfortable.
Cary was already waiting on the steps of the front porch when Miriam opened the door, and after a rapid greeting the two set out for school.
<=====>
“So, umm… how’d you sleep last night?”
“Good… you?”
“Oh, uh, fine. Weird dreams, though.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, it was like back in the sixties or something, and I came by your house, only it wasn’t yours… it’s really hard to explain. Hey, are you alright?” Cary asked worriedly when he saw how pale Miriam had gone.
“Uh huh! Fine! Why wouldn’t I be fine? Weird dream, huh? Heh, I’d say just forget it, it doesn’t mean anything, I mean really, why would you dream that? I think it’s best for everyone if we just... oh, look, Lindy! LINDY, OVER HERE!”
As he watched Miriam run off, Cary shook his head and decided there was no way in the world he would ever understand girls. Or Miriam. Whatever.
<=====>
“LINDY, OVER HERE!”
“Huh?” Lindy turned away from Jonathan to see Miriam sprinting towards her, leaving Cary standing back with a confused look on his face. “Oh, hey. What’s up?”
“Oh, nothing really, just… so, yeah. Oh, hi Jonathan.”
“Uh, hi.” Jonathan waved to Miriam with a bewildered look on his face. Lindy had to agree with that look; she had no idea why Miriam was acting so weird.
“So, umm…” Miriam glanced behind herself, and quickly turned around again, rushing past when she saw Cary approaching. “Lindy, can we talk for a bit, please?”
“Oh… kay?” Curious, Lindy followed her friend’s brisk pace. Oh, she just HAD to find out what was going on with this.
<=====>
“Alright, Miriam, we’re away from the big bad boys, what’s going on?”
“He’s having them too!”
“Who’s having what now?”
“Cary’s having the same kind of weird dreams I am! Only he isn’t me in them, he’s him.”
“Ah. Well, that explains EVERYthing. What dreams?”
“The ones about who I was in the past! He’s there too, and he’s seeing them!”
“He is? But, wait, no, he can’t. I mean, Cary wasn’t up on stage and wasn’t hypnotized or anything, so why would he be having the same things happening to him that are happening to you?”
“Because we’re soul mates.” Miriam blushed at the admission, embarrassed to be saying such a thing even to Lindy.
“Don’t you think it’s a bit early for ya’ll to be saying something like that?”
“Lindy! He’s… I think he’s been my… boyfriend… before. A lot.”
“You mean?”
“Yeah.” Miriam nodded, as Lindy’s face twisted into an expression of comprehension.
“Huh. Wow.”
Miriam nodded. “I know. And, Lindy? There’s something else.”
<=====>
Lunch time came quickly, and Cary was more than happy to leave his classes for a while and not have to pretend to be listening to the teachers drone on while he tried to think.
What was going on with Miriam? THIS time? She’d been avoiding him all day again — she seemed to be doing that a lot lately, come to think of it. *I mean, I know the whole hypnotism thing has her messed up right now, but come on, this is ridiculous.* The thought passed through his mind that perhaps she didn’t like him any more, but he quickly dismissed that idea. They had been friends forever, and he was almost certain that Miriam would be more open with him than that.
But with how much things had changed between them recently, how could he be sure?
Before Cary could truly think deeply on that question, however, a nearby voice distracted him.
Miriam.
<=====>
Miriam’s arm was really starting to hurt, but there was no way to pull it from the grip that Sandra had on it. “Please, let me go, you’re hurting me!”
“Miriam, I’m sorry, but what were you thinking? You nearly gave me a heart attack!” Sandra’s grip lessened, but only slightly as she gave Miriam a worried look.
“I, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, I wasn’t paying attention and-“
“You’ve been going to this school for months now and never made that mistake before. Miriam, is everything alright?”
“What’s going on? Miriam, are you okay?” Miriam looked around, and there was Cary, approaching quickly and staring at the spot where Sandra’s grip had again become rock solid.
“Cary,” Sandra started, seeing the anger start to rise to his cheeks, “maybe you know what’s going on. Please, keep an eye on him, before he gets himself hurt. You’re lucky it was me who saw you,” she said, turning back to face Miriam, “there are some people around here who woulda hurt you if they'd been there.”
“I know, thanks,” Miriam told her honestly as her grip released. “I’ll be more careful.”
“Good. Last thing I need is for you to be hurt and Lindy to take it out on me.” Sandra tried to smile, but it was obviously forced. “I’ll see ya later.”
“Okay.”
“What happened?” Cary asked when he reached Miriam, his voice full of concern.
Miriam winced, recalling Sandra’s screech as the door to the restroom had swung open and she had turned to see who was walking in. "Nothing. Just... nothing."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I just ran into her when she wasn't expecting me."
It was obvious Cary wanted to know more, and was still worried, but the last thing Miriam wanted was to think about what had happened any more.
<=====>
"He did what?"
"Just walked right in and was heading towards the stalls. If I hadn't screamed I don't think he woulda ever noticed."
Lindy rubbed her eyes and tried to come up with some excuse for Miriam, but the building headache pounding behind her eyes was making it hard to think straight. How had she ever gotten mixed up in this to begin with?
"-n't think it's a good idea for them to make it so obvious, either, with how much they already get picked on, an-"
Lindy tried to listen as Sandra droned on, but it just didn't matter. She HAD to talk to Miriam... now.
"Don't you agree?"
"Huh?"
"About them, you know, dating?"
"Yeah, sure. Hey, I gotta go. I'll talk to ya later, 'kay?"
"Yeah... alright." Sandra gave Lindy a sideways glance, but Lindy ignored it.
She had more important things to deal with.
<=====>
Alright, so maybe it wasn't the most dignified lunch that Miriam had ever had, but the group managed to make it through without any mention of the bathroom faux pas.
"So what're we doing this afternoon? I ain't got any more homework, so 'm ready to do somethin'," Jonathan said around a mouthful of the school's special Thursday Shepherd's Pie.
Miriam stared at Jonathan, pondering how anybody could actually EAT the school's Shepherd's Pie, before answering. "We're going to see The Amazing Gordon again."
"Hmm? The amazing who?"
"It's the guy who hypnotized Miriam," Lindy said, seeing the confusion on Jonathan's face.
"Ah," he nodded, remembering what Cary had told him. "Think he can help you figure out what's goin' on?"
Miriam's chin and hand met, propped upon the table. "I hope so."
<=====>
(End of Chapter 17 and Echoes Part VII)
NOTES: Alright, so I broke my supposed "schedule" for posting new chapters, but trust me, I have a good reason.
As I write this story, I'm doing it in "parts" of ten chapters each, similar to the acts of a play. Well, the last chapter I posted was fifteen, which is only halfway through act II. So, here's how the change in plans is gonna work:
-I'm going to post the chapters as I write them/get them test read until the end of Chapter 20, at which time NO MORE CHAPTERS SHOULD GET RELEASED UNTIL THE STORY IS FINISHED. It shouldn't be too much of a cliff hanger at the end of that chapter, but it will be a transitional spot, after which there will probably be another ten to twenty chapters before the story is finished. And no, I don't plan on the next 23 chapters total to take me years to write -- barring major problems, we might be seeing the last chapters of "echoes" posted by mid 2011.
A big thanks goes out to John in Wauwatosa for test reading these things for me and letting me know what he thinks of the story as it comes along. There have been a lot of times when he's pointed out little things I've written that have become much more important or were more telling than I ever would have guessed, and without his assistance this story would be a lot less mysterious as well as a lot less coherent, so "Thank you, John!"
Chapter 18: The Curse What Did It To 'Em -- Coming Soon to a Big Closet near you!