[Mark Newman]

So no action's gonna bleed over past midnight?  Or at least until dawn Friday morning?

Well, one may expect Cindy to react to her boyfriend's death.  She seemed pretty upset.  And she doesn't need much sleep, and it would be out of character for her to care much about other people's sleep.

Oh, and one more question… school will be meeting regular as clockwork Friday, I assume?

That's up to Cindy.

[Mark Newman]

So when will be the time that the events on Thursday conclude?

I'm not sure I understand the question.

Thursday events are done at the end of the Thursday chapter.  Or, shall we say, 11:59:59 PM

Of course, in Hawaii it stays Thursday much later than New Jersey and London, but it's still Thursday there.  I don't know exactly what time.

Friday will be another day.

If I've misunderstood, please ask again.

[Mark Newman]

Actually, I do have one short scene I will add to the end of Thursday.  I had been unsure whether to make this the last scene on Thursday or the first scene in the second Friday, but thinking about it as I went to bed last night I decided it should be part of Thursday.  It's very short.  It will be something like this:

Cindy was holding Joe in her arms in Waikiki Beach. "Joe.  Joe.  Why don't you wake up?  Joe!  JOE!!  I wish you'd wake up.  JOE!!"  A crowd had gathered around them.  "JOE!!" she was shouting at the top of her powerful lungs.

A man walked up tentatively.  "Excuse me.  May I help?  I'm a doctor."  Cindy nodded.  He felt Joe's pulse and blanched.  "He's stone cold.  He's … I'm afraid he's dead.  What's your name?  Where are you from?  Can I —

"He can't be dead!  NO!  I wish he were alive.  NO!!"

"Please.  I know this is difficult —

"I WISH you'd leave us alone!"  The man turned and left abruptly.  "I wish ALL of you would leave!"  The crowd scattered in different directions.  "Joe, why don't you wake up?  Joe, I wish you'd wake up.  Joe, I wish you were alive.  Joe?  Joe?"

[Mark Newman]

Lovely, Hunter.  A fantasy made visible.

[Mark Newman]

Certainly, I like Cal comments about Cindy being single mind. She could just wish Celia will be alive. 

Yes, at least she could have tried.

[Mark Newman]

Thursday — Preview Version – part 4

Cindy, Calley and Joe were in Joe's basement.  Cindy had Michelle's pendant around her neck and held it in the light to examine it.  "It sure does look cheap.  It looks like something we saw at the mall last week.  Remember, Calley?"

"Uh huh."  Calley turned it over.  "Yeah, it's from Zale's.  It was $8.99, marked down from $17.99.  I wonder what Michelle paid.  What's the big deal about this pendant, Cin?  You didn't like it all that much last week.  In fact, you were making fun of me for wanting to buy it."

"Well …."  Cindy sounded hesitant, for the first time.  "I — what's that?"

"Someone's knocking at the door," Joe said.  "I'll see who it is."

"No!  Wait." Cindy said.

Joe was already half upstairs.  "I'll just be a moment.  My Mom said I had to stay around to wait for this package.  It's a big order from Land's End.  Everybody needs new clothes, you know.  Hey, who –"  There was scuffling and loud voices. 

"Celia!  Careful!" Mark said.

"Which one's Michelle's room?" Celia demanded and grabbed Joe.

"Where are you going?  What?  Get out of here.  Hey!" Joe was saying ineffectively as Celia lifted him and held him against the wall.

Cindy was shouting.  "Joe?  Joe!  Are you all right?  What's happening?"  She held the pendant in her hand and leapt up the stairs four at a time while Calley followed close behind.  She ran into the front hall, where Celia was threatening Joe with her big fist, while Mark was holding onto to Celia's arm trying to stop her.  "Hey!  Leave my boyfriend alone!" Cindy yelled.

Joe took a look at the comparative sizes of Mark's and Celia's arms and correctly deduced that nothing Mark could do would stop Celia's big fist from crushing his nose, if that's what she wanted to do.  He knew his own strength was no match for Celia's.  He also correctly deduced that by the time Cindy covered the distance between the basement stairs and the front hall, Celia's large fist could crush his nose, his skull and make a substantial dent in the wall.  Joe was grateful at this point for help from any direction, but the idea that Cindy was announcing she was there to protect him still filled Joe with conflicting feelings.  Did EVERYONE have to know that he was Cindy Barrett's boyfriend?!  Even if he was, did they really have to think that he needed his girlfriend to protect him, even though he did need her protection, and from another GIRL, at that! 

Celia turned her head at the noise and saw to her surprise a massive girl had emerged from the basement, a girl who stood nearly a foot taller than she was, with muscles like boulders and a very angry expression.  She also noticed a pendant around the girl's neck, which the girl held tightly in her hand.  It was too much of a coincidence.  That must be "the" pendant.  That girl must know about it.  She must have just used it to make herself so big.  And maybe she was about to use it again.  Celia had to act quickly.

"I wish I were as powerful as the comic book supergirl," she declared loudly.  "And I wish no one else but me could use the magic in that pendant!"  She waited, excitedly, for the flow of superpowers, almost limitless powers, to enter her.  And then waited, more anxiously, as the large girl – did Joe call her Cindy? – crossed the room toward her.  Because as tall as Celia was now, a good 6'2", this Cindy was more than a head taller, and much broader, much more muscular too, with a murderous look in her eyes.  Celia needed those superpowers right now!

"I won't let you have Joe!  You can't have Joe.  You can't hurt Joe!  I have the pendant." Cindy was saying as she crossed the room, kicking aside tables and chairs that stood between her and her goal.  "I have the pendant!" she repeated and held it in her hand.  "I wish I were ten times stronger." she said and felt a tingling.  Her eyes briefly glowed green.  She stopped in her tracks.  "Yeah!  I felt that!  Oooooh, I wish I were a thousand times stronger.  Oh man!  A million times stronger.  Oh, I wish I were a million times stronger, a million times more powerful than Superman!"

Calley was standing at the top of the stairs and could see only Cindy's broad back.  "Why not a googol times, while you're at it?" she said sarcastically.

"Googol's not a number," Cindy said, impatiently, turning around to face Calley for an instant.  "Everybody knows, Google is the internet."

"Hey, what's with your eyes, Cindy?  They're so green!" Calley said.

Cindy laughed.  "Ha!  Really?  It must be this pendant!"

"The pendant?  What are you talking about? You're talking crazy, Cin!"

Cindy held up the pendant.  "The pendant power, Cal.  I got it!  That's what I wanted.  I wish you could understand," she added before turning back to rescue Joe.

Calley's mouth dropped open, and then she closed it again.

"Celia, you better put him down and get out of here," Mark said. 

For once, Celia didn't disagree.  She put Joe down and ran for the door.  In less than an instant, Cindy appeared in front of her and she and Celia collided, painfully, for Celia.

"Hey, did you see that Joe?"  Cindy said.  "I moved like lightning and she just bounced off me!"  She grabbed Celia under her arm and lifted her in the air, holding her with one hand as though she were weightless.  "Look what I can do!"

Celia screamed in pain.  Cindy's hand had crushed the bones in her shoulder.  She kept screaming. 

"Hey, quiet!" Cindy said, annoyed.  She slapped Celia's face to shut her up and Celia's head flew off, her blood spouting all over Cindy, the walls, the floor and Mark.

"Oh, God!" Mark said, and promptly threw up.

"Cindy!" Joe and Calley said.

Cindy looked down at Celia's broken body.  Her face contorted in disgust.  "Ewww!  What a mess!" She stepped away in shock.  "I can't believe I did that."

"You're too strong!  You can't control your strength!"  Calley said, backing away.  Joe backed away too.

"Calley!  Joe!  No!"  She looked at the remainds of Celia's body again and then held the pendant.  "I … I wish I could — I wish I could control my strength.  Perfectly."  Her eyes glowed green for an instant.  She reached over and picked up a vase between two fingers.  "There, see?"  Calley and Joe stared at her, still keeping their distance.  "You guys, you don't have to be afraid of me.  I wouldn't hurt you.  Really."

Calley mustered her nerve.  "Y-you killed someone, Cindy.  You killed that girl.  Celia."

"It wasn't my fault!  She was going to hurt Joe.  I was protecting him.  You can't blame me."

"Y-yeah Cindy.  But … you did kill her," Calley said again.  "What are you going to do?"

Cindy looked at each of Calley, Joe and then Mark, who was leaning shakily against the wall.  As she looked at him, he pressed harder against the wall, though he knew there was no place he could go.

"Nothing," she said, slowly, and then repeated, "nothing.  And neither are you.  No one's going to do or say anything about this to anybody.  I wish none of you will say anything to anybody else about what I did to Celia," she said, holding the pendant again.  "And I wish that her body, and all her blood and stuff, will disappear completely.  That gross vomit too!"  She let go of the pendant.  "So, um, now she'll like have disappeared, and no one will say anything.  It'll be just a mystery.  Right?"  She looked at each of Calley, Joe and Mark, looking at Mark the longest of all.  "Who are you?"

"M-mark N-nova.  I — I just moved here.  I … was just following Celia.  I didn't think she'd hurt anyone.  She just wanted —

"She wanted my pendant." Cindy said, holding it tightly, but not crushing it. 

"But it's Michelle's, isn't it?" Calley said.  Joe nodded.

Cindy smiled.  "I wish it were mine.  Now whose is it?"

"It's yours," they all said.

"It sure is," Cindy said.  "Everybody knows that."

Mark cleared his throat.  "May I go?"

Cindy nodded.  "Yeah, go ahead.  You too, Calley.  I think I want to be alone with Joe.  You don't mind, do you Joe?"  She flexed her biceps.  "You really like my muscles, don't you Joe?"  He nodded, transfixed again by the mound of flesh that rose out of her arm.  "You can't imagine how strong I am now, Joe.  Me neither.  Why don't we see?"

"I'll be going then," Mark said.

"Me too," Calley echoed.

Cindy had her arms around Joe and barely nodded as the two of them left.  She rose slowly off the floor, and her head butted against and then pushed through the ceiling.

"Look, Joe.  Look what I can do. I can do anything!"  Joe clutched at her super-powerful body.  "You like that, Joe?  Do you, really?"  His breathing quickened as he pushed his body against hers, his hand trying to encompass her enormous, supremely powerful bicep.  "Oh, you're such a cute little thing, Joe.  It's so cute what you're doing!  You're coming, aren't you?  Coming against my body!  That's SO CUTE!"  She was rising through the roof of the house now, into the sky.  "It's SO CUTE!!!"

Mark and Calley were walking away from the house as quickly as they could without attracting attention, but Calley held back, not wanting to separate from Mark just yet, even though she could have easily outpaced him.  When they were two blocks away, she stopped and held onto Mark's arm so he couldn't leave.

"Can you believe what just happened?" Calley said.  "Is she following us?"

Mark looked behind him.  "No.  I mean, I don't think so.  But if she has superpowers, then, um, she could be anywhere and still be 'following' us. You know what I mean."

"Yeah, I guess so.  But I don't think Cindy would do that.  She's pretty single-minded.  Especially when it comes to Joe."

"OK."  He shivered.  "I can't get what she did to Celia out of my head."

"Me neither.  I guess we can talk about it to each other, but not anyone else."  She fingered her cell phone.  "I can feel that if I called the police I couldn't tell them."

"What could they do, anyway?"  They heard a sound and saw dust from the roof of Joe's house, and two figures rising out of it.  "That's Cindy!" Calley said.  "She's rising through the air.  She's flying!  I can't believe this!"

Mark shook his head.  "It's no more unbelievable than everything else that's happened the last week."

"We have to do something.  Cindy will … I can't imagine what she'd do with superpowers. But I'm scared."

"But what can we do?  It's her pendant."  He looked puzzled.  "What did I just say?"

"You said it's her pendant, right?"

"Uh-huh.  But that doesn't make sense.  I mean, if it's hers, why did all this happen today?  Like this?  And why was I running over to Michelle's house with Celia, so she could get it from Michelle's room?

"We were running over there because Joe was getting it.  From MICHELLE'S room.  And I said to her, like, why are you taking Michelle's jewellery?  But it's Cindy's now.  How did that happen?"

"It's Cindy's because Cindy wished it was," Mark said.  "Celia made a wish too, but it didn't work."

"No, it didn't," Calley agreed, nodding her head several times.  "This is starting to make sense to me."

"Really?"  Mark was thinking.  "Um, I don't know your name. It's Cal or something?"

"Calley."

"I guess you know I'm Mark.  I'm new here."  They shook hands.  "You're Cindy's friend, I know, and if you don't want to –"

"Uh uh.  I AM Cindy's friend, but I don't like the idea of Cindy with superpowers.  I'm loyal, but I'm not stupid."

"OK, Calley.  Well, I'm not saying I know what's going on, but I've learned a few things this week.  I found something on the web and I want to look at it again.  Do you want to help?"

"Definitely."  She looked Mark in the eye and decided to trust him.  "I … I know some things too.  Cindy wished I would understand some things about the pendant power.  And now I do.  Things I'd otherwise know nothing about.  Things that make no sense, otherwise.  But they must be true."

Mark nodded.  "Yes.  Well, OK then.  I think we're a team."

"Sandy.  Sandy, you got to come over.  He is?  No, you better not bring him.  Sandy, my house is half-wrecked.  The ceiling fell in more on me.  I was, like half-buried.  The front hall's a mess and there are holes in the roof and one of the ceilings, like a meteor's crashed through, but there's nothing there.  And somebody's been going through my things.  They took … they took a fake pendant I bought at Zales … to confuse people, er, Martin, in case he wanted to take it.  No, the real one is safe, but it's still dead.  And Joe's missing.  Mom's practically in hysterics.  Joe didn't even take his phone, and Freddie hasn't seen him.  He's not at Cindy's, and she's missing too.  OK.  Yeah, call Theresa too.  Ummm, Sandy, there are some things I didn't tell you … about the pendant.  I'll tell you and Theresa when you come over.  But come over soon, OK?"

"Cindy, with that pendant, can you really wish for anything, and get anything you want?"

"Yeah, Joe.  I think so. Why?  You want me to have bigger muscles?"

Joe swallowed.  "Um … I don't know.  I … um, I'd like to be super too.  Like you."

"Oh Joe!  EVERYBODY'd like to be like me!  But you CAN'T be!"

"But … why?  I mean, you could just wish it, and it would be true, wouldn't it?"

"Sure!  At least, I think so."

"So …

"So, I don't WANT you to be super.  I like you exactly the way you are."  She snuggled him more closely.  "Look.  We're floating above New York now.  Isn't it pretty?"

"Yeah.  But Cindy.  Wouldn't it be more fun if I were super too?"

"Nooo!  If you were super too, you could fly away from me and do other things.  You never were nice to me until I got stronger than you.  So that's the way I want it.  And so that's the way it's going to be."  She looked at the city.  "Oh, this is so cool, Joe.  I can see everything and everyone in the whole city.  All over, there are men and women just like us.  Big girls, little boys.  They all look so happy together.  Just like us."  She flew higher still, up into the clouds and above.  "This is great!  You know, I think everybody is much happier now that girls are much stronger.  Ooooh, I can see right through the clouds here.  There's a couple not far from where WE live!  They look like they're having so much fun together.  She's talking about how much he's enjoying her muscles — the same way you like mine.  I really think that's sweet.  I wish she could make her muscles as big and strong as she wants!  Won't that be nice for them, Joe?  Awww, Joe's fallen asleep.  So adorable!" 

Anthony was sitting, naked but untied, on the edge of his bed.  A TV snacktray stand was in front of him with a few small dry remains of a frozen dinner.  Jill stood next the doorway, watching him closely.  "Feeling better now, Tony?  You like it when I let you eat?"  Anthony nodded.  "I was getting a little worried about you.  You weren't responding to me as much.  I didn't like that at all."  She nodded earnestly.  "I need to see your true feelings for me."

"My true feeling is I don't want to be kept prisoner." Anthony said, for must have been the twentieth time that day.  "All I can think about is getting out of here."

"Oh, I know that!  Fat chance!  I'm not talking about that; those are feeling you have for yourself, not for me.  I'd of thought you'd be more grateful.  You're not tied to the bedposts anymore.  I'm letting you sit up. Eat. You should be happier now."

"Oh yeah!  I'm thrilled.  Ecstatic." 

Her expression turned angry and her muscles tensed.  "Don't be sarcastic.  I HATE that!"  It softened again.  "Well, you SHOULD be thrilled.  I've been given what I prayed for.  What you wanted me to have.  And now there's no one to get in our way. No one to stop us from doing what you wanted to do as long as I've known you, which is to make love to me, to me and my great big muscles."

"Yeah," Anthony said, watching Jill flex for him yet again and feeling his arousal grow.  He was getting confused.  Had he given Jill a clever breakup line, or was it, deep down, really the truth?  Was Jill his nightmare or his dream?  This morning he knew and now he didn't.  It could be the Stockholm syndrome. It could be that, Patty Hearst-like, he was identifying with his kidnapper, as a means of self-preservation.  Or it could be something else.  NO! "You can't push me around like this!" he said. 

He stood up, and for the first time today, confronted her directly.  He stood up, his eyes looking directly into her collar-bone, her broad muscular chest supporting two perfectly round breasts thrusting out at him, just below his lips.  She put her hands on his shoulders and pushed inwards slightly, making her muscles bulge, showing him just a hint of her strength. 

"How CAN I push you around, you little thing?  How can I NOT push you around?  Against me, you're like a little leaf blowing in the wind?  I move this way, and HERE you go!  I lift, and UP you go!  I – oooooh, WHAT was THAT?"

Anthony felt a shudder go through Jill, and, as a result, him.

"Look at this!"  Jill exclaimed, making her biceps grow before their eyes.  She placed her foot on the metal bedpost and pushed, deforming the frame for a moment before snapping it.  "Look what I can do!"  Still holding onto Anthony, she bent the piece of metal off the frame and twisted it, slowly at first and then around and around like taffy. "Now I can be as big and strong as I want to be, Tony.  What do you think of that, hmmm?  Isn't it great, Tony?  Isn't that great?"

[Mark Newman]

Thursday — Preview Version – part 3

Frank was walking as quickly as he could to Sandy's house.  The problem was, it wasn't very fast, not with his shorter legs and his breath coming with such difficulty.  It was so humiliating.  A week ago he could have practically sprinted the distance from his house to Sandy's in fifteen minutes.  Now, even a brisk walk seemed beyond his capabilities.  He was already twenty minutes late.  So what was the big rush?  What if he just canned the whole thing.  Not show up.  He didn't need to start something with Sandy.  He should just ask Cheryl out.  She would be happy to see him, wouldn't she?  Even now, when he was no longer the "star quarterback"?  Wouldn't she?  She'd been after him to ask her out for nearly a year.  Why should that change now? 

But, the truth was, he had never wanted to go out with her before.  Why now?  She was nice enough, but.  Yeah, that big BUT.  He liked girls who were more of a challenge for him.  Cheryl would never be like that.  She knew her place.  And in the back of his mind, he was thinking, 'what if she did got more aggressive and did challenge me and I backed down? What would that say about how far I've fallen?'  He couldn't face that.  Not with Cheryl.

He stopped for a moment, still catching his breath.  Ha!  But it could be worse.  What if she wasn't interested anymore?  Why shouldn't that change too?  Everything else had.  Cheryl had always been one of the prettiest girls in the class.  She still was.  And she was still a cheerleader.  If she wanted to be.  If there was anything to cheer for.  But she could do other things too.  Play basketball, for example.  She was plenty tall enough for that now.  And what did HE have to offer?  He was a decent student, but not a star.  He'd never get into a top college now.  What was special about him?  Nothing.  Even his kid sister Chloe was stronger than he was. 

He well knew that.  He had suspected it was true earlier in the week.  Now he knew.  It was why, for all his uncertainties, he was standing on a corner two blocks from Sandy's house, instead of 'safely' at home in his room. 

He hadn't seen Chloe for a few days, not since Sunday evening.  Not with the hours she spent at the gym, training for her swimming and her soccer.  He had thought that coming home straight from school he would have the house to himself before he left for Sandy's.  But to his surprise Chloe came home early to study for a math exam, trying to learn three chapters of Geometry in one afternoon so she could get at least a "C" and keep her grades high enough to stay on the team.  While he was relaxing and playing on the internet, he heard her on the phone complaining to her friends about how hard math was and how bad her teacher was.  Well, not HIS problem. 

So he thought.  Chloe had different ideas.  Once she heard him coming downstairs to leave, she rose from her sprawl across the sofa in front of the TV and walked toward him, pleading.  "C'mon, Frank.  You've got to help me.  I HAVE to learn this stuff.  You KNOW how important it is to me.  ESPECIALLY now!  Girls' sports are going to be REALLY important."

He stood in front of the mirror at the foot of the stairs, checking his hair.  "Sorry, Chloe, I've got plans."

She put her hand on his arm and stood in front of him.  "Excuse me, but WHAT plans?  You don't have football practice.  EVERYBODY knows THAT!"

"I've got other things to do," he maintained stolidly noticing suddenly that Chloe, who was three years younger than he was, was now a few inches taller.  He nervously looked down at her hand and then, reluctantly, up, at her face, her determined "game" face.  "I'm not so good in geometry anyway."

"You got a "B", didn't you?  I remember you said it was your best subject that year.  I remember, because otherwise you got all 'C's."

"Yeah, well that was two years ago.  I sure don't remember any of it now.  Anyway, I've got to go.  Maybe I can look it over later, if I get back in time."  He moved to leave, but Chloe kept her hand on his arm and was blocking the path to the door.  "Chloe!" he said sharply.

She laughed.  "Yeah, Frank?  Something wrong?"

"I'm going."

"Oh, you are?  I can't tell."  She squeezed Frank's arm and laughed again, a short laugh, as Frank winced slightly. "Uh, oh!  Pretty soft, Frank!  Don't you think?"

"Chloe," he said, his voicing taking on an edge while he tried to control himself, "don't you start something."

"Whoa!  Too late Frank.  You started it a long time ago.  But it's different now.  Now and from now on, as you'll see soon enough."  She pushed him and Frank tried to stand firm, but he was slipping backwards.  "Hey, what's the matter, Frank?  Can't hold your ground?"  She pushed harder and it was all Frank could do to keep his balance while he was sliding on the floor, further and further away from the door.  "You're losing yardage, Frank," she said with a delighted smile and then pulled him back the other way to the side so that he lost his balance and stumbled into the sofa where Chloe had been lying.  "And now you've been thrown for a loss," she concluded, following close behind him and jumping on top of his chest and pinning him.

"Ugh!  Get … off.  Can't … breathe!" he gasped.

"Oh, WHERE have I heard those WORDS before?!" she said, almost singing while she bounced a little each time she emphasized her words.  "I know; it was ME saying that!  Me with you on top holding ME down, CRUSHING me.  Awww, do I feel a little HEAVY to you, Frank?"  She bounced again.

"OOOOF!  Cut … It … Out!" he said desperately, pushing at her stomach and trying without success to push her off. 

"I'm not fat," she continued, ignoring him, pulling up her t-shirt slightly and showing off her tight, muscle-ribbed abdomen.  "What could the problem be?  Oh!  Must be all this MUSCLE I've got!" she concluded, lifting her arm and letting her sleeve drop to her shoulder, showing her thick biceps.  "That's why I'm heavy.  And that's why you can't get me off you!"  At this, Chloe started paying attention to Frank's arms and after a brief struggle she caught his wrists and pushed them down to his sides until they were trapped by his sides against the sofa.  "HA! Look what I just did!  I KNEW I could!  I'm really strong, Frank.  I'm SO much stronger than you now, brother!"

Frank wouldn't quit.  He just couldn't let Chloe win!  He kept bucking with his hips and trying to knock her off balance on the narrow pillows, but she folded her legs back over his to cut down on his movements.  She felt so heavy and he was getting tired quickly, which she noticed.

"You're soft and out of shape, Frank.  Your face is so red.  Just listen to you, gasping for breath.  Admit it.  You can't fight me.  You'll never beat me again.  I'm stronger than you are and I'm getting stronger. Every day.  We can do this every day, too.  Until you admit it."

"OK.  OK!" Frank gasped.  "I admit it.  Please.  Just … get off!"

Chloe leaned over and put her face next to her brother's.  "Wellll, since you're asking me so nicely, and you're going to help me with my math …."  She shifted her weight to her arms so he could breathe.  "Is that better?" 

Frank nodded.  "I will help you now … a little.  But I have somewhere to go.  Please.  We can do more … later.  OK?" he said, trying hard to get the words out evenly, trying not to show how out of breath he was, trying even harder not to show any emotion, not to show her how crushed his ego was.

It took nearly an hour before she was satisfied she understood how to calculate the area of triangles and parts of triangles.  To be nice, she agreed to postpone circles until he got home, but he had to be home by eight. 

Ten until six.  Two blocks to go.  He had to catch his breath.  Home by eight!  Now Chloe was giving him orders?  His blood boiled all over again just remembering the tone of her voice.  And if he wasn't home?  What then?  Bah!  Let her do her worst.  He'd find some way to deal with it.  For now he'd forget about it.  He would be with someone else for the next few hours.  Sandy.  He pondered this for a minute.  What was THAT all about?  The image of Sandy, with her shirt off in the weight room the other day — muscles bulging, skin glowing with perspiration, small round breasts bobbing slightly with each movement — came back to him.  He tried to get it out of his mind.  THAT wasn't what he was going to her house for.  It was for this "Title IX" stuff — Equality in Sports.  That was all.  He started walking again.  He shouldn't care about being late.  She wouldn't care.  This was nothing to her, just being helpful, making up for some guilt maybe about what she'd done yesterday.  But he did care about being late.  Why?  Because he was a nobody now?  NO!  He always hated being late.  He hated not following through on what he said he would do.  It was a point of honor for him.  It always had been.  Like his workout discipline.  If he said he would do something he did it.  Simple as that.  He quickened his pace.

At the same time, Sandy was dashing around the house.  Throwing a few things in the spare room.  Tucking in her shirt, then pulling it out slightly.  Rearranging the collar. Checking her hair.  Turning on a light.  Then turning it off.  Moving the Title IX file from the kitchen to the living room.  Back to the kitchen.  No, the living room!  At 5:45 she had been glad he was late — she had only gotten back from practice at 5:40.  Now, was he coming at all?  Should she change her top?  Did her muscles show too much?  Not much she could do about that.  Not really.  Everything was small on her.  A knock!  He was here.

"Hi.  Come in."

"Sorry I'm late.  I was … held up."

Sandy put his coat on a hook.  "That's ok.  I was … um, can I get you something?"

"Yeah, sure.  A beer?"

"You can see what we have.  This way."  She led him to the kitchen and opened the fridge.  "Ooop!  I guess we don't really drink beer."

"Coke is fine."

"I'll have one too."  She took the bottles, opened them and handed one back to Frank.  "Do you want a glass?"

He shook his head.  "Nah. This is fine."

She nodded.  "I, uh, have the stuff in here."  She led him to the living room.  They sat on the couch a foot apart.  The papers were in a pile on the coffee table.  She pulled a few out, looking for the summary of the law. 

Frank was looking at her thigh, which lay between him and the papers.  So wide, so muscular.  His eyes flashed up to her chest, searching by habit for the gap between the buttons of her blouse.  There it was!  And no bra.  He looked away, back down at the papers.

"It's here somewhere." 

Frank nodded.  "Yeah, but I really can't see myself suing anybody."

"It doesn't have to come to that.  I mean, if they know you're aware of your rights, they have to behave better."  She blushed.  "It probably sounds weird to hear me say that.  I mean, after yesterday."

Frank glanced up at her face.  She was still looking down at the papers, still shuffling through them.  The gap in her blouse was wider.  He could see the whole thing now.  It was hard to look away.  It always was.  She looked up at him.  He looked up too.  Did she know what he was looking at?  "Yeah.  You don't have to apologize again."

"It was mean of me."

"Yeah.  Well … I wasn't exactly easy on you … before.  Maybe I had it coming."  He snorted.  "Not that anyone would've expected it to boomerang on me THIS way!"

"No," she said quickly.

"I mean, talk about turning the world upside down.  I'm just … I don't want to complain to you.  Sorry."

"That's ok.  I can't imagine how it feels for you."  Sandy felt awkward and guilty.  There was no denying she was enjoying her new strength, her new place in the world.  And it had been fun yesterday to put Frank in his place.  But it felt different now, being along with Frank, seeing him look so lost.  There was nothing he could do.  He would always be weaker than he used to be, no matter how much effort he put into it.

"I don't know what I'll do.  Guess I should look through this stuff.  Can't hurt."

"No, it can't.  You may get some ideas." 

They sat in silence for several seconds.  She picked up her Coke and drank half.  She was thirsty.  He drank some of his too.

"Nice house.  Comfy.  Pretty quiet.  Mine's always pretty crazy."

"It's just me and my mom.  And she works late most nights.  What about you?  You have some sisters, don't you?"

Frank snorted again.  "Do I!  Five.  Three older, two younger."

"Doesn't one of them play soccer?  A freshman?  Chloe, right?"

Frank grimaced.  "Yeah."

"You don't get along?"

"The others are ok.  Better than ok, actually.  Chloe's a bit much to take."  Despite himself he couldn't help but add, "Especially lately."  He snorted again.  "I guess she sees this as her chance to get me back for … you know, my being the big brother all these years.  That's, uh, why I was late."

"Oh.  That doesn't sound good."  She looked him over.  Chloe was pretty aggressive on the field.  She was probably a lot like Frank.  Or like Frank was.  Poor Frank.  He looked so vulnerable.  She'd helped destroy his world; now she was feeling like she should protect him.  It was kind of funny, she knew, but thinking about it was making her all tingly inside.  She'd felt that earlier, when she was talking to him in school.  And now the feeling was getting a lot stronger.  Too strong to resist.  But why should she resist?

"It's not great," he continued.  "Just another thing to deal with.  Everybody's got something, right?"

"Yeah."  She got up slightly to put the papers back in the folder and then sat down again, cutting the distance between them in half.  She moved a little closer.  Her leg was touching his.  Wow.  Hers was SO much bigger.  Another tingle and she was almost trembling.  She tried to keep her voice steady.  "You guys have a lot of those things these days, I guess.  If, uh, Chloe's there I guess maybe you're not in a rush to get back."  He didn't say anything.  That was good.  "You could stay for dinner.  Mom always makes some for me in advance.  We've got lasagna.  There's plenty.  If you want."

He looked at Sandy.  She had a nice face.  His eyes glanced down at her blouse again.  Now that she was closer he could see all the way inside it, and his eye lingered on the perfect curve of her pert breast.  "Yeah, I could stay awhile."  Their shoulders were touching.  He looked at her face again and their eyes met.  He moved closer and she did too, until their lips met too.  He put his arm around her back to pull her to him, but she was already doing the same, and she wasn't moving.  He was.  His arm was pushed aside, outside of hers, as she pulled his body on top of hers and settled herself down across the sofa.  He went with it.  He didn't really have a choice.  Her other hand rested on his ass, pulling it closer so that his crotch rubbed into her waist.  If felt strange, his body on top of hers, smaller than hers, parts of her soft but others hard, her muscles bulging when she squeezed him or shifted position.  But she was a good kisser, very good actually.  Their mouths fit nicely, tightly.  He liked the little sounds she made.  He wanted to hear more of them.  He was trying to grind into her, but she had hooked his leg in between her legs and that was making it more difficult to move.  She was being pretty aggressive, moving around, her hands pressing him into her.  He thought he could smell her, and her arousal was a real turn on.  The way she was moving against him was bringing him closer and closer to coming.  His hands weren't really doing anything — she was holding him tightly enough for both of them, so he moved them to her chest, breaking off the kiss for a moment to ask, "Can I —

"Yes. Oh, yes," she replied very quickly, loosening her hold on him for a moment to give him room to undo the top three buttons of her blouse and put his hand inside.  Her nipples were already very stiff, and larger than he'd expected, and she moaned happily.  "That feels really nice," she breathed.  "Your hands are really good.  You feel … really good."

He didn't think he was really doing that much but he wasn't going to argue. His lips went back to hers and her legs clutched his more tightly between hers, tensing now in a quickening rhythm. Was she coming already?  It hurt a little but he was on the edge too and the pain dissolved as he clutched at her body.

"Oh Frank, FRANK!!" she cried.  "Oh!  Oh!"  She was gripping him so tightly he thought he would break and then he was coming too, grunting loudly.  She was still pushing against him, squeezing him and then she slowly relaxed, her breaths coming more slowly, deeper.  "Oh Frank.  That was so good!"  She was smiling and kissing his face.  "Did you — oh I'm sorry.  You must be a mess!"

He did feel sticky.  "Yeah, well —

"I'm sorry.  I should have — but it happened so fast."

"I know.  It's all right."

"Let me see.  It doesn't show much but there is kind of stain.  I could wash it.  It would dry pretty quickly."

"But if your mother —

"She won't.  Don't worry.  Really."

He thought about Chloe.  He really wasn't in a hurry to go home.  Fuck her!  "Yeah, then why not?"

"By the time we finish with dinner they'll be dry.  But there's plenty of time.  We could lie here a little first.  OK?"

"Sure."

He moved slightly so they were both on their sides facing each other.  He put his hand into her shirt again and touched her breast gently.  "I like your breasts."

She smiled.  "I'm glad.  You don't think they're too small?  I thought guys really liked "D" cups."

"Ha!  No.  I like the way they're shaped."

"I like your body too."

He snorted.  "THIS body?"  He grimaced.  "I hate it."

"You shouldn't feel that way about yourself."

"I don't feel that way about myself.  I just feel … it's not my body."

"Oh.  Well … I don't feel that way."  The truth was, she liked him smaller than she was.  But she wasn't going to say that to him, at least not that way.  "Just so you know.  It, uh, felt really good to me."

"That's good.  I kind of could tell.  You're, uh, pretty passionate.  I didn't, uh, expect that."

"Really?"  She blushed.

"Oh no!  I mean, that's a good thing.  Really."

"Okay.  Can I tell you something?"

"Yeah."

"I was a little embarrassed about getting undressed.  I don't know what you'd feel if you saw my, you know, my muscles."

"I guess I saw them yesterday."

"I know."  Sandy blushed again.  "That was kind of different."

"True."  He looked at her.  "Let me see again."  He reached for her shirt and started to unbutton the last two buttons.  She put her hand on top of his to stop him.  He looked at her more intently and she let go and then sat up and let him push her shirt off.  "Amazing," he said, shaking his head.  "It's just hard to believe."  He reached out to touch her shoulder and then moved his hand down her arm, pausing at her biceps and squeeze them.  "Flex it for me." 

Sandy looked uncertain but did as he asked.  Her muscles expanded hard against his hand, and he pushed at them with his fingers. 

"Amazing," he repeated, tracing the high curve of her muscle with his forefinger.  "You're bigger than I ever was."

"I know," she said quietly.

"I'm not running away, you see," he said.  "It does take some getting used to.  But, to be honest, I'm a lot more interested in your breasts and, uh, other parts."

Sandy laughed awkwardly.  "Um, actually, my, uh, breasts are a lot more, uh, sensitive.  I, uh, really wouldn't mind if you touched them instead of my biceps.  I mean —

"Yeah.  I know what you mean.  Like, it's not like I ever wanted girls to kiss my biceps — when I had them."

She giggled.  "Frank!  It's not like you don't have biceps now!"

"Right.  Sure.  But, uh, not like yours.  Not even like Chloe's.  I mean," he added grimly, "she could whup me with one hand tied behind her back."

"Maybe I could, uh, help with that.  She looks up to me, you know."

"No!  Don't do that!"

"I won't embarrass you."

"Don't even think of it!"

She was thinking about how she could do it without Frank ever finding out.  There had to be a way.  "Okay.  I won't." 

"Ok. Just so that's clear. I don't need anyone else to fight my battles for me!" he said determinedly.

"I understand," she said, wondering just how long that kind of attitude would last.  Frank needed to be protected now, whether or not he realized it.  All boys would.  She put her arm around him and pulled him closer. His face went down to her breast and started sucking on it.  Ooooh, yes.  She was getting that tingly feeling all over again.  Her hand dropped to his pants.  Ooooh, it felt like he was ready for more; and she certainly was.

"Feeling better now?" Jill asked.  She was propped on her hands and knees, hanging over him, her breasts swinging slightly as she moved back and forth playfully.

Anthony just glared at her.

"Awww.  You're always in such a bad mood.  You've had something to eat.  What more could you want?"

"I want you to let me go!  Owww!"  She had just lowered herself onto him.

"Don't make me LAUGH!  You are so paTHEtic, Tony!  I'm just lying on top of you!"

"Can't breathe!"

"You're being so draMAtic!  If you couldn't breathe then you couldn't talk either." 

"You're crushing me!"

"No I'm NOT.  Sure, I weigh about 190, and when I brought you here you weighed about 110.  Probably a little less now, because you haven't eaten much.  But I'm still not NEARLY heavy enough to CRUSH you!"  She rubbed her body on him back and forth.  "You know, your body is so soft, Tony, except where you've got bones!"  He groaned and tried to push her off him.  He couldn't even budge her.  "Keep at it, Tony.  Don't give up!  I think you moved me half an inch!  Oh, I LOVE the way that feels.  Oh yes, I just LOVE your being so much weaker than me!"  She lifted her chest up slightly, bending her arms so that her biceps were right in front of Anthony's face and started flexing her muscles.  "Just look at them DANCE for you, Tony.  Isn't that what you WANTED?  Wasn't that your DREAM?  To have a GIRLFRIEND with super-MEGA-muscles.  For her to be SO much stronger than you!  You got your WISH!  You should be so HAPPY!"

"STOP it!"

"Ha-ha!  Oh, I KNOW this is part of your GAME, Tony!  You have to PRETEND you don't like it, PRETEND I'm forcing myself on you against your will.  It's part of your FANTASY, right?  I know all that.  You can't ever admit it, because that would SPOIL everything, right?  I understand.  Don't worry.  I like this game TOO.  I KNOW what you want, and we don't EVER have to stop.  I'm giving you what you want, Tony, and I'm going to keep getting bigger.  I'm going to keep eating good and working out.  Just IMAGINE what I'll look like when I'm 300 pounds of PURE MUSCLE!  Then you'll think back today and wonder how I'd EVER been so SMALL.  Yeah, I'm going to get SO big and strong, Tony.  And it's ALL for YOU!"

Cindy and Calley were in Cindy's basement.  Calley was doing homework while Cindy was working on her biceps, curling 150 pounds with one arm.  Her eyes were fixed on her biceps and each repetition made her smile.

"You know, Cin, you really should be careful.  Don't overdo it.  You could hurt yourself," Calley cautioned.

"Naaah, I don't think so.  The more I do, the better it feels and then when I hit my target I just switch arms and work the other for awhile.  By the time I'm finished with that one, my other arm's ready for more.  More reps, heavier weights, more muscle. There, sixty!"  She paused for a minute to take a deep breath and drink another protein shake and then rapped her stomach with her fist.  "Like a rock!  Remember it before, Cal?"  She pinched it, pulling only a small layer of skin up.

"Yeah, I know.  You were kinda fat." 

"Kinda?  Yeah.  Anyway, now I'm like Supergirl."

"Yeah, maybe, but what about Joe?  You're so happy that you're going out with him, but now you're getting so big.  Why are you so intent on changing yourself so much?  What if he doesn't like the way you look?"

"He LOVES the way it looks Cal.  He practically drools every time he sees me.  I'm telling you, the bigger the better, the stronger the better.  It's simple as that."

"OK.  If you say so.  But you're already the biggest in the school by far.  I've never seen anybody so big." 

Cindy beamed at hearing the words and went back to her weights with even greater motivation.  Calley returned to her books, scribbling some notes on a piece of paper and then looking up a word in the dictionary.

Cindy's cell phone rang.  "Cal, would you get it?"

Calley sighed and picked it up.  "Yeah she's here, but she's kind of busy.  You know, working out.  Yeah, again.  Uh-huh.  Uh-huh.  Wait, I'll tell her."  She put her hand over the mouthpiece.  "He says his mother told him Michelle's gotten three things in the last year, a ring, a bracelet and a pendant.  What's this all about?"

"Never mind that now.  Just tell him to find the pendant."

"But it's Michelle's, isn't it?  Why are you telling him to go through Michelle's jewellery?"

Cindy stopped her repetitions.  "Tell him.  Do I have to do it myself?"

Calley rolled her eyes.  "She wants you to get the pendant.  Yeah.  Um, well, a pendant is something that hangs around your neck.  No, it's not a necklace, Joe.  It's something that hangs on a necklace.  No, it wouldn't have any pins in it.  That's a pin.  Or a brooch.  Uh huh.  Oh, you're in her room?  Jeeez, Joe!  Yeah, then it's a good thing she just went out with your Mom. Yeah, that sounds like it.  I don't think Cindy cares whether or not it looks cheap."  She looked over to Cindy who shook her head and put down the weights and started looking for her sweater. 

"Tell him we're coming over," she said, her head inside the sweater.

"Yeah, umm, I think we're coming over to see it."

Cindy popped her head through and grabbed the phone.  "You got it?  Yeah.  OK. Just take it to your room.  Put it in a drawer or something to hide it.  Your sister's gone out with your Mom?  Good.  We'll be over soon.  Don't worry about your homework.  No.  Don't worry about your mother.  Ok.  See ya." She clicked the phone to disconnect. 

"Cin, what's this all about?  You're finally going out with Joe and now you're getting him to steal his sister's stuff and defy his Mom?  I mean, you're going to blow everything!"

Cindy smiled.  "You'll see, Calley.  Maybe nothing'll happen, but I think maybe it'll be something really big.  You'll see what I'm talking about soon enough."

Celia was watching an episode of The Sopranos she'd TIVO'ed, while Mark surfed the internet.  "You know, this show looks so funny now.  You've got to see this.  All these mob guys pushing everybody around, telling their underlings and their girls what to do, just like guys USED to.  That is so OVER!  I mean, they've got all these TV shows and movies, and their all completely irrelevant now.  It's all just history."  Mark was tapping away at his computer.  "Hey, I'm talking to you!"

"Hey yourself!  Celia, remember that Lady Volcana site you told me about yesterday?  The one you said you couldn't find?"

"Uh huh."  She paused the program and turned toward Mark. "Why?  Is she back?"

"I was looking for her last night, after you left.  There were a LOT of people talking about her, how she predicted what had happened and then just disappeared.  They reproduced some of her postings.  I can sort of see what they were talking about, but it's one of those things, like Nostradamus, that you can read any way you want to.  At least, that's what I always thought.  It was interesting how she kind of predicted all this.  And now her web site is up again."

Celia was going on her own tangent.  "I wonder what happened to Lisa.  I haven't heard from her lately.  Maybe that's because I haven't been online much.  I must be spending too much time with this little boy here."

"Who's Lisa?"

"She's the one who told me about Lady Volcana," Celia said, sitting up.  She wondered over to the computer and sat on Mark's lap, seizing the mouse.  "LZLISA73. So, what does she have to say?"

"It's, uh, Celia, please, you're –

"Don't tell me you're going to tell me I'm too heavy?" she said in a mocking tone.  "What a thing to SAY to a girl!" she went on, dramatically, moving her ass back and forth on Mark's crotch.  "How will I EVER get OVER such an INSULT!"  She turned and pretended to slap Mark's face, instead just pushing it from side to side.  "What KIND of a man treats a WOMAN this way!  Only a man who –

"Celia!"

"Oh, all right!"  She stood up and lifted Mark into the arms and then sat down again with him on her lap.  "Is THAT better?" she said, wrapping an arm around his body and pinning his arms inside hers.  He tried to get free, and she squeezed him even more tightly.  "Oh Markie!  I'm not even TRYING!  You're just not STRONG enough, TEE-HEE!"  Meanwhile, with her other hand she scrolled the page Mark had found.  "Hey, does this turn you on Mark?  How come you're breathing so funny?"  She lowered her arm a bit and felt for something hard in Mark's pants and then rubbed it back and forth with her forearm for a few seconds.  "Hmmmm.  What could THIS be?  I definitely feel SOMETHING. I'll take that as a YES.  Yeah, this is her all right."

Mark leaned forward.  "I, um, er, don't know, but this … doesn't look good."

LADY VOLCANA SPEAKS:

The magic unsealed, discovered yet unknown.
Cinders bursting into flames, brighter than any star.
Her power as ten, no, countless tens of tens.
The river bursts its banks and flows more mighty than the winds of heavens.
Once earthbound, she now leaps mountains and beyond.

    man, poor man, gazes upwards

My shell lies half-buried in the sand, yet knows the way.
The pendant changes. 
The pendant changes.  And waits for her.

"What you mean, Mark? I really like that line about power."  She pulled him more tightly against her breast.  "You know what I mean?"

"Um, yeah, I know what you're thinking, so long as YOU'RE the 'one.'  But why do you think it will be you, Celia?  What about Michelle?  It's her pendant, right?"

"Yeah, but, this little poem thingey says nothing about Michelle, does it?"  She nibbled on Mark's neck.  "What do you think 'unsealed' means?  Some people call me "Seal" as a nickname, right?"  She stands up, still holding Mark.  "But just surfing the internet's not going to get us anywhere."

"Where do you want to go?" Mark asked, his feet stretching to touch the ground.

"The pendant's waiting for me, whether it knows it or not.  Come on, let's go to Michelle's and 'unseal' the magic.  It's time for me to get mighty!"

[Mark Newman]

Thursday — Preview Version – part 2

Michelle and Martin were walking through the halls on the way to History class, Martin's head barely reaching Michelle's shoulders.  He was struggling to keep up with her.  Didn't she realize her legs were a lot longer than his?  He pulled on her arm and she turned around to look at him, not realizing at first that she had to look down, but then she did and smiled at him and slowed down. 

"Sorry!  Was I walking too fast?"

"No, of course not!"  He couldn't admit it, or that he was even a little out of breath.  That stupid pendant.  It was so unfair.  It made him so mad, what she had done.  Still, he felt guilty for having taken it from Michelle.  What was he thinking, stealing something from her room!  And what was the point?  At least for him it was nothing more than a piece of cheap jewellery, anything but some kind of all-powerful magic object that had changed the entire world in less than a week.  He scowled.

"You're sure quiet today," she said.  "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing."

"You didn't, uh," she said quietly, "I mean, did the pendant 'wake up' again?"  Martin didn't say anything.  "I know you took it, Martin.  I, uh, understand and all, why you did it, but it WAS a gift from my favorite Aunt."

They walked silently for several seconds.  "Did you tell anyone?" he said quietly.

"No!  Of course I didn't!"  She put her arm around his shoulder.  "I knew I could talk to you about it."

"Yeah.  Sorry."  He exhaled through his nose, a kind of reverse sigh.  "I wouldn't still be this size if it had started working again, would I?"

"I guess not." Michelle said, glad that he only had the fake pendant and trying to show him she wasn't too mad by pulling him a little closer, so that his head rested briefly against her breast.  "We had fun yesterday, didn't we?"  His head looked so cute against her breast.  It really was good being bigger.

Martin started to walk a little more awkwardly.  "Yeah.  But still … if I had half a chance."

"I know you would.  But you have to give it back to me, Martin.  Please.  It means a lot to me."

He stopped and reached into his pants and gave it to her.  "OK.  I … I shouldn't have done it.  I got kind of worked up yesterday and, well, I couldn't resist.  Damn!  I can't believe I'm still stuck this way!"

"I know you feel that way, but it doesn't have to be bad.  It wasn't bad at all yesterday."  He didn't respond.  "I mean, I thought you were having fun."

"Oh, yeah!  Well, what do YOU think!"

"I can't read your mind!"

"Well, I was.  I am.  I just can't get used to this.  To you're being so big.  And having these … these muscles."  He put his hand on her upper arm.  "God, they're big!"

"What?  Do you think they're ugly?" she said, hurt.  "I wish my muscles turned you on as my … you know!"

"Well, they don't," he said stubbornly. "Any anyway … they're not natural."

"What's that supposed to mean? It's not like I took drugs. Oh.  Because they're SUPERnatural?  Why does it matter HOW I got them!  They're mine now.  They're a part of me and … and if you don't like them …." 

He looked up at her. She was blinking like she was fighting back tears.  Oh great!  "C'mon, Michelle.  I never said I thought they were ugly.  Certainly not that YOU were ugly.  I mean, really."  He reached up and put his arm around her neck to pull her head down so he could kiss her.  She resisted … for a second or two even though he was pulling down quite firmly … and then she bent her head so their lips touched.  The bell rang and they had to race to class.  Only later did Martin have time to wonder whether she had done that on purpose.

Mark and Celia were sitting opposite each other at one of the many rows of long lunch tables. Celia had slipped her foot out of her sandal and was resting it on Mark's thigh. Every so often her toes poked Mark's crotch to check on his level of excitement, to keep him interested, to distract him and just for the fun of it (which may explain his periodic lapses of attention).

Celia looked intently at Mark.  "I saw Martin with Michelle in the hall before second period. They were sure going at it."  She pressed her toes to emphasize her point and Mark gave a barely suppressed cry of pleasure. "Heh heh. You like that."

"Ummm, well, yeah, but not there. I mean, not here.  In the middle of lunch.  What if I —

"You just have to control yourself!" she grinned.  "Awww, I'd think of some way to help you. Don't worry," she said it a low voice and leaned forward so only he could hear. "Could I really make you come that easily?" She wiggled her toes again. 

"Celia, stop!" he pleaded.

"Make me!" she laughed as he tried to push her foot away.

"You win," he said quietly, his weakened arms no match for her thickly muscled, powerful thigh.

"I'll always win!" she crowed but then added, more seriously, "And just wait until I get my hands on Michelle's magic pendant.  Think about me with my big muscles being big SUPERPOWERED muscles.  Think about me having the strength to lift a car with one hand.  Hmmmm?"

"Celia … please …" Mark said in a quivering voice.

"C'mon, Mark.  It could happen.  All I'd have to do is wish for it, just to say, 'I wish my muscles were a thousand times as strong as anyone else's.  A million times.'  And then …"  Seeing a hint in his eyes and his breathing that she was pushing him too far, she stopped, reluctantly.  "You're pretty easy, you know."

"Yeah, well …"

"I really had you going."  Mark nodded.  "Anyway, WE have to get it before HE does.  We have to get into Michelle's house and get the pendant ourselves. Martin won't give it to us."

"Nope. Especially not to you. And not to me either, now that he sees us together."

Celia looked down the table to the right and saw Martin sitting with Michelle just twenty feet away.  She shrugged. "Damn!  That was stupid, I guess.  Well, screw him!  What about Michelle's brother, Joe?  Maybe you could get to be HIS friend, and HE could work with us."

"I don't know him.  I mean, I'll do what I can, but I'm not sure how much I can do.  You're a lot more clued in about these things than I am."

"You bet I am.  Well, if you're not going to try to help me —

"Of course I'll help.  I just don't know people here very well yet."

Celia sighed and stood up.  "Are you done?  You're not eating much anyway.  Well, let's think about how to do it.  Joe may be the only hope we have."  Celia and Mark eased their walk down the long table, whispering to each other and ignoring Michelle and Martin, who shot an unseen glare at Mark.

Cindy had been sitting directly behind Celia, her large body completely hiding Joe from Mark's view.  "Hey, Joe.  Did you hear that?"

"Huh?  What?"

Cindy pointed at Celia, who was just leaving the cafeteria.  "What that girl was talking about.  I think her name is Celia.  I think she was talking about you.  And your sister."

Joe shrugged, unable to take his eyes off Cindy's thick biceps, which bunched up and stretched out her sleeve when she extended her finger to point.  "Who?  Celia Gerren?  What does SHE want with me?"

"She wanted … um, Joe, does your sister have some kind of new, uh, jewellery?"

"I don't know.  She's always getting new stuff.  I really don't pay any attention."

"It's just … funny.  Like when we were, you know, talking last night about my getting what I wished for?  She was just talking about wishes too.  Like she wishes she was some kind of supergirl."

"Celia Gerren?!  As if things weren't bad enough already!  Jeez, it must be something going around.  People making wishes.  With people like Celia, it's a good thing they DON'T come true.  Oh well.  There's really no point, you know, anyway.  I made a wish last night and I still have no muscle at all," he sighed, looking at his thin arm hanging loosely in his sleeve.  "I had more muscle the last time I wore this shirt — when I was eleven!"

"Yeah, you really don't have much there at all," Cindy agreed without much interest and then changed the subject back.  "But … find out, ok?  Find out if she's gotten anything new lately."

"What?  You want me to ask my sister?  You can ask her yourself."

"No.  Not her.  Ask … ask your Mom."

"Ask my Mom?  C'mon Cindy.  She'll think it's so weird!  Why would I care about something like that?  She'll think I'm jealous or something."

"Please Joe.  I'm really curious.  I really wish you would just do this for me."

Joe looked at her.  "OK.  Since you really want me to."

"Yeah, I do.  I mean, imagine if you COULD get whatever you wanted, just by wishing for it."

"But you can't.  Anyway, I know what I'd wish for," Joe said fervently.

"Me too," Cindy said, flexing her biceps again and holding it with her other hand, enjoying the feel of her muscle pushing so hard against her palm.  She smiled when she saw Joe staring at it and pumped it a few more times.  "Me too."

"They're eating lunch at school too now, Tony, you know?  They're all together there, while I've got you here all to myself," Jill was saying in between swallows from a large protein shake.  Another full glass rested on a table nearby along with a large bowl of brown rice with a heaping pyramid of broccoli and spinach.  "And you've got me!  Oh, I am SO hungry!"  She took a long drink, gulping down nearly a third of the shake and then wiping off her mouth with the edge of her hand, leaving a strawberry colored line.  "Want some, Tony?" she said, holding in the air and waving her hand at him.  "Naaah, I'm not gonna give you THIS stuff," she said before he could answer.  She licked her hand clean.  "It's for MUSCLE growth. 'Specially formulated,' it says.  You don't need that sort of thing.  It would probably just make you fat."  She flexed her arm.  "No fat here!  Not any more.  Bulging, rock hard muscle, just the way you like it.  I could swear it's grown just since this MORNING!  What do YOU think?"  She walked closer to him, dancing more than walking, her hips swaying as she slowly crossed the room, taking several slow steps to cover a distance that her long legs could have traversed in a stride.  She stood over him and flexed several more times.  "How about some nice hot muscle, babes?  Juicy, hmmmm?  Don't you want some?" 

"I want something to eat," Anthony groaned, looking past Jill and at the steaming pile of healthy food just across the room. "You haven't fed me anything since you brought me here a whole day ago! And stop calling me Tony!  You KNOW everybody calls me Anthony."

"That's why I call you Tony.  Because for you I'm not like everybody else, Tony."  Jill interposed her body between Anthony and the food.  "You don't NEED to eat like I do, honey!  You're not DOING anything!"  She looked down the length of his thin body.  "Still, I suppose you have to eat SOMETHING.  I don't want you to get weaker than you already are."  She put her hand on his arm.  "You poor little thing.  So soft and frail, Tony.  Like a baby."

"I'm NOT a baby!" Anthony protested.

"Pssht!  I know that, Tonykins!  Babies don't get the hots for big girls the way you do."  She ran her finger lightly along his crotch, happily touching his penis as it rose to meet her and started twitching.  "HELLO little honey?  Happy to see Big Jillie again?  I BET you want to play!"  She touched the sensitive underside with the tip of her finger and rubbed a little, like she was scratching a dog under its ear.  "How does THAT feel?  Hmmmm?" 

"Jill!  PLEASE!!"

"Please what?  Please stop?  Or please do MORE and MORE and MORE!" she teased, briefly rubbing Anthony's erection each time she repeated the word.  "Ha!  You THINK you're a man, but you're just a little boy!  Listen to the way you beg me!  You can't even tear through these little cloth strips!"  She reached over and with one pull freed Anthony's left arm and then with another his right.  "See how easy it is?  But not for you.  You need me.  You're so helpless, Tony, without me."  His legs were still tied to the bedposts so he couldn't go anywhere, but he grabbed at Jill desperately. With a laugh she pushed him back down flat on the bed, holding him there with one hand while he tried first to rise up and then to push her hand away. "Oh, Tony, you are SO weak!  You really DO need some muscle!  Look at those little pipestems!"  She dipped her free hand into her protein drink and rubbed some onto her biceps and let him go.  "Come on, Tony.  Have a taste of muscle.  Real muscle."  She lathered more on, coating her skin with the thick liquid.  She leaned over and put it right in front of Anthony's mouth so that a little bit dripped onto his chin, but before he could slurp it up, she wiped it off with her finger and put it in her own mouth, sucking it tightly while pulling it out and then sucking it back in again over and over.  "Mmmmmmmmm!  So goooood.  You see, Tony?  The deal is, my way, or NO WAY!"  She turned her arm so that her flex brought her mammoth biceps even closer to his mouth and then flexed again and again.  "Come on, Tony.  You KNOW you want it.  You KNOW you want my muscle.  Suck on it."  Anthony gave a little cry and then, unable to resist, lifted his mouth to her biceps and began to lick the liquid up.  "Harder, Tony.  Suck on it harder."  She tensed her muscle hard into his mouth while he fastened his lips onto it.  "That's right, Tony.  Don't you LOVE my muscle?  Here, just a moment."  She pulled away and smeared more of the drink onto her muscle and this time his lips went right back to it.  "Oh yes.  Don't you love me, Tony?  Go on, take all you want, baby.  My little baby!"

Mark had a free period before his last class of the day.  He had spotted Joe sitting with a friend in the stands of the soccer field and decided to wander over, either to eavesdrop or perhaps to introduce himself if the opportunity came up.  Being new in the school he had a built-in reason to make friends, and after so many moves from school to school he was fairly good at meeting new people.  He was just rounding the corner of the building, though, when he saw half a dozen girls smoking cigarettes.  He recognized most of them from the threatening encounter at lunch yesterday and realized he had stupidly stumbled into their territory.  He immediately turned around for a quick retreat but had taken only two steps before an arm encircled him and lifted him into the air and then dropped him into the middle of the ring of girls.  They stood over him, laughing.

"Hey little boy, remember us?" one of them asked, blowing smoke in his face.  He coughed and she laughed.  "Ha!  Look at the little wimp!"

"What's your name, boy?"

"Who's your mamma?"

"Who's your DADDY?"

They all laughed.  Mark looked around for an escape, but he was surrounded. 

"Your girlfriend's not here to protect you, squirt.  Whaddya gonna do now?"

"Think you can take all of us?"

"Oh, I'm sure he can," Mel said, walking up to him.  She put her hands on her hips, thrust her big chest out, looked down at him and blew a large cloud of smoke in his face.  "After all, he's a BOY, isn't he!"

Beth came up next to her.  "And we're just GIRLS!" she added, her hand on one hip, which she shook back and forth.  "Can you tell?"

Mark's eyes were nearly level with Beth's shoulder but they were drawn first to her broad, swiveling hip and then rose along her arm until they reached her thickened biceps, which jumped with each movement of her hips.  Even last week he didn't have a muscle as large as hers; now, she was probably stronger in one arm than he was in both of his.  In his fantasies he had always dreamed of tangling with a female muscle like hers, but at the moment the idea wasn't at all appealing.  Still, he couldn't stop looking at it, his eyes also darting occasionally to the breasts that stretched out her top.

"I think you got him scared, Beth!" one of the girls said.  "Scared of your fucking guns!"

"Yeah?  You scared of me?" Beth said, grabbing Mark's thin arm roughly.  "Hey, he's another 'jello boy'!" she said, squeezing his soft biceps.

"Owww!" Mark exclaimed.

"Awww, did the big girl hurt the little boy?" Mel said mockingly while Beth and the others laughed.  "Does the little boy wish he had a real muscle like Beth's?"  She nodded to Beth and the latter flexed her arm.  Mark stared at the impressive bulge while the girls clapped.

"Nice, Beth."

"You show 'im what a real muscle is!"

"Ha!  You REALLY got his attention now!"

"Maybe he wants to kiss it!"

"Ha-ha-ha-ha!"

Beth looked disgusted and pushed Mark away.  He hurtled through the group and tripped, rolling on the grass.  They had no idea how much — in different circumstances — he WOULD have liked to kiss it.  And more.  But without looking back he got up and ran, ignoring their laughter.  He'd have to catch up with Joe another time.

Michelle had rushed home from school and after making sure the house was empty, carefully removed the pendant from its hiding place.  It was still dead!  She was trying to be patient, but WHEN was it going to come back again!  Her Aunt hadn't said anything about it coming and going like this.  Had Michelle done something to break it?  She wanted to talk to somebody about it, but she couldn't talk to her friends, not after she had lied to them about it having come back to life once already.  And she certainly couldn't talk to Martin, not after he had tried to take it away.  She knew he would use it to undo everything Michelle and her friends had done if he had half a chance.  No, he couldn't be part of this.  The only person she could talk to was her Aunt.  But she was so embarrassed.  What if her Aunt blamed her for misusing it?  What if she had unknowingly broken it somehow?  No.  Better leave it for now.  Maybe if would come back to life all by itself again.  Then Michelle knew just what she would wish.  First thing, she would wish she knew everything she could possibly know about how to use it.  And then she would wish that only she could use it.  Or she and her Aunt.  That would make it safe and then she wouldn't have to hide it.  Then she could even wear it all the time so she could use it whenever she wanted!  Why hadn't she thought of that before!  That's exactly what she'd do.  Just as soon as it started working again.

[Mark Newman]

I know about keylogging; they're not doing that.

But, yes, I am being careful.  Thanks for the warning.

[Mark Newman]

They can stop me surfing but they can't stop me writing.

After all, it's what I do for a living.

A few passwords and clever file naming.

I even look like I'm working.

It makes me so mad.

Anyway, "Thursday" is nearly done.  It should be up by the end of the month.  Sooner if I'm lucky with time, inspiration and posting opportunties.

[Author]

Posts