Tucker was stretched out on one of the deck chairs, trying to
convince himself that sleeping out in the sunlight was a bad idea.  His
body wasn't listening to him, unfortunately, and he was so tired that he
knew that it was futile.
	And so he went to sleep.
	"Girls!" woke him up, far too soon.  He looked around groggily, and
eventually focused on a Jane in front of him, whom he vaguely identified
as the cause of the disturbance.  Discovering this satisfied him, and he
lay his head down to go back to sleep.
	A handful of incredibly cold water on his back shattered his
serenity.  "Argh!" he complained, and twisted around in the chair,
preparing to go and Make Charlene Regret It, when Jane snapped at both
of them to come along.
	A swift kick to Charlene's leg when Jane wasn't watching satisfied
his desire for revenge, and they trooped off to the parlor.
	Charlene managed to get a punch to his shoulder in at the last
moment, and he vowed she would pay.
	"Sit down, girls," Jane commanded, and they both sat, as far away
from each other as they could get.  Jane lifted her eyebrows, but said
nothing about it.  Instead, she began, "I received a very important call
today.  A sorority friend of mine has a friend of her own," *Imagine
that,* "who is in dire need of correction.  Luckily, the law has not yet
become involved, but she and I both feel that it is only a matter of
time.  So, he will be coming here for the same reasons you two have."
	"Poor sod," Tucker's mouth said before he could stop it.
	Jane smiled at him, that wicked smile, and replied, "That's as may
be."  All amusement left her voice when she continued, "The reason I
needed to talk to you both about this, is to get your agreement.
Charlene, I presume, that since you are not ready to leave, that your
previous answer stands?"
	Charlene thought about it for a moment, then nodded, belatedly
replying, "Yes ma'am, it still stands.  I'll stay."
	"Good.  Thank you, and you may go."  Charlene got up to leave, not
neglecting a parting smirk for Tucker.	*She WILL pay,* he confirmed.
	"Valerie?"
	He turned his attention back to Jane.  "Yes ma'am?"
	She sat on the near edge of her desk, and sighed.  "Valerie, this
new student will be subject to the same program I am using- that I
intended to use upon you," she smiled at something beyond Tucker.  "I do
not think that he will prove as, adaptable, as you have, nor as clever."
	*She's buttering me up for something,* he thought suspiciously.
	"However, it is important at this time that you can make a
whole-hearted commitment to being continuously and convincingly female.
This is important because he needs to feel as though he is going through
it alone."
	"That sounds kind of cruel," he said before he could stop himself.
"Ma'am."
	Jane's face wrinkled.  "I realize that, but it has almost always
worked, and many children who were quite close to ruining their lives,
picked the threads back up and became successful.  It works."
	"And you can prove that?" Tucker asked suspiciously.
	"I can, if need be," she replied.  "For one thing, Carolyn's
husband is a graduate of my program, and she is more than happy with
him."
     "Who's Carolyn?" Tucker asked.
	Jane sighed, and looked at him.  "The owner of the salon?"
	"The dark-haired one?"  Jane nodded.  "Oh."  *She probably wanted a
wimp to boss around,* he decided, *and I don't think that qualifies as
'success' in my book.*
	"He also happens to be with the sheriff's department," Jane added,
her eyes twinkling at him.  "He does emergency rescue, helicopter
patrols, and several other things which I can't quite remember at this
time."
	*Oh.*
	"And he is just one," Jane continued.  "There are others, in a
variety of professions that are several steps above minimum-wage
drudgery.  And none of them have gone to prison after their stay here,
though many were going that direction before."
	*Uh huh.	Is that a hint?*
	"My point, Valerie," she stated, "was that I MUST have your
complete and total cooperation in this matter.  Otherwise, it could do
him a great deal of harm."
	*Yeah, right, and forcing him to wear dresses and makeup won't hurt a
bit.  What a bunch of self-serving bullshit,* he thought.
	"Besides, Valerie, you have already agreed to this.  I was just
making sure there was no confusion about your responsibilities."
	"I didn't agree to help you torture some poor kid I don't even
know," Tucker protested.
	Jane's smile as she countered that claim had all the warmth of a
feeding orca.	"All I am asking you to do is to 'display at all times
manners and deportment appropriate for a young lady in Ms. Thompson's
household.'"  He could hear the quotes in her voice, and he imagined
that if he concentrated, he could find the footnotes too.  "And to
'maintain at all times the appearance of a young lady'.  These
requirements, in conjunction with obedience to my lawful commands seem
quite sufficient agreement to me."
	"But-"
	"And," she continued over him, her tone changing from smugly amused
to deadly serious, "if you can't do this, I MUST send you home.  Your
usual resistance, if applied around him, could cause him irreparable
harm, and that is something I CANNOT risk, not with someone on the cusp
of major psychological work."
	Tucker's face contorted as he tried to think of a way out of this.
	Jane saw the look, and for a moment her face tightened into
domineering hardness.  But in another heartbeat a deliberately-imposed
calmness showed instead, and her tone softened.
	"Please, Valerie, give me your best effort on this.  You do owe me
obedience, but I don't want to rely on a piece of paper we both know
you're quite smart enough to circumvent.  You may not agree, but I
honestly believe my methods represent my new student's best hope for a
long and productive life.  While I have the responsibility for him, I
must do what I think is best.  While you are in my household, I need
your honest compliance with my program.  Will you help me help him?"
	Tucker was winding up for a long discussion of why he wouldn't,
when she said one last word.	"Please?"
	He looked at her, frowning, and for once saw her asking him
directly.  Not commanding, not ordering, not trying to trick him, simply
asking him.  He also saw, though he didn't want to, the real belief she
had in what she was doing, a fear of what he would say in reply, and an
honest sincerity and appeal that made him feel rather small and ashamed
of himself.
	He looked at her for a long moment, then nodded.

	Charlie sat on the steps, racheting the skate boots down tight on
his ankles.  "You ready?" Valerie asked.
	He sighed.  "Yeah, I guess..."  He got up, holding to the railing
on the stairs, and clumsily began to make his way to where Valerie was
poised.
	"You're doing okay," was her unexpected comment.  Charlie expected
to be teased for his lack of skill.  She motioned him on, and he finally
made it to where she was standing.  "Great!" she enthused, smiling at
him.  "You're a natural at this."
	Charlie wondered what Jane had put into her food.

	Tucker screamed as the Russian major put the Makarov to his head
and pulled the trigger.

	Charlie tensed up at the shriek, but then relaxed.  "Must be the
kid having another nightmare," he sighed.  She was having them every
night, apparently.	*Wonder what's going on in her head, that makes her
so psycho.*  Even HIS nightmares had calmed down after a couple of
weeks....  *Maybe that's the problem, she hasn't been here that long,*
he realized.  He hoped so.

	Missy motioned Tucker over during one of the breaks from choir
practice.  "We're having a party tonight, want to come?"
	"Ah..."  He'd have to check with Jane first.  "I dunno, I'll have
to see.  I'm on a pretty short leash, you know."
	She snorted.  "No kidding.  Well, let me give you my number, and
you can call if you can come, okay?"

	Jane drove up to the choir house, and Valerie detached herself from
the swarm of girls that surrounded her and bounded up to the car.  "Um,
Jane?  Missy, over there," she pointed, "she invited me, and Charlene,
out to a party tonight?	Can we go?"
	"A party?" Jane mused.  "What kind of party?"
	Valerie made a disgusted face.  "A teenager party, with loud music
and dancing, I guess.  Not a sleepover," she added, and Jane wondered at
the origin of the slight grin that infected her expression.  "Anyway,
it's supposed to be over by twelve, and I think I can get a ride home,
but I can call if I can't.  Can I go?  Please?"

	Charlie knocked on Valerie's door, feeling extremely tense.  He
felt like an idiot, but it was clear that she had more experience than
Jane in-
	The door opened, and Valerie poked her head out.	"What?" she
complained.  "I'm doing my hair, and we gotta leave soon."
	"I know!" Charlie complained.  "I just, I mean..."  He sighed,
unhappily.  "I just can't figure out what to wear!"
	Valerie looked at him for a minute, and just as he noticed that she
was biting her lip, she burst out laughing.
	"It's not funny!" he protested, feeling his face begin to burn.

	Tucker sighed as Charlene began to struggle into the skirt they had
picked out.  His eyes fell on the clock, and he shrieked, "Oh SHIT!  I
still have to get DRESSED!"  He was still only wearing a towel.
	Now it was Charlene's turn to laugh, apparently, from what he could
hear as he rushed across the hall and slammed his door.  "Shit shit shit
shit shit," he intoned as he threw himself in front of the makeup table.

	Jane sighed as she saw her two charges waiting for her near the
front door.  "Girls," she said, "come here please."  They both trotted
over, apparently nervous.  "I think you are wearing too much makeup,"
Jane said, "and those clothes are NOT suitable-"
	"Jane!" Valerie protested.  Jane tried not to sigh as she mentally
girded herself for another battle of wills.

	Charlie sighed as they walked up the sidewalk to the house.  "Why
do you always argue with her?" he asked Valerie as they approached the
front door.  He could hear music already.
	"Because she's wrong!" she said defensively.  "You watch; we'll
stand out like roadkill at Thanksgiving.  At least for a while," she
chuckled.
	"Huh?"
	Valerie shook her head as she rang the doorbell.	"Jane never
thought to look UNDER what I was wearing after I changed," she grinned.
     Charlie wished he'd thought of that.
	When the door opened, and he saw what everyone was wearing, he
REALLY wished he'd thought of that.

	The first thing Tucker did was say hello to Missy, but the second
thing he did was commandeer a bathroom and change and re-do his makeup.
When he came out, Ellen was looking at him.	"Whoa, you look different!"
she shrieked over the music.
	"I know!  Jane wouldn't let me out of the house this way," he
indicated what he was wearing, "so I had to get tricky!"
	"What about your friend?"
     "Charlene?"  He looked over at Charlene, who looked really out of
place and uncomfortable with it.  "Um.  Where's Missy?"
     "What?"

	Charlie looked around the bedroom at the girls that were apparently
waiting for him to change.
	In front of them.
	"You're gonna miss the party," Valerie reminded him.  Right now, he
didn't think that was such a bad idea.  In fact, Missy at least had some
new books-
	"Come on!" Valerie prompted.  "You need, I mean, DO you need some
help getting out of that dress?"
	"No," he said eventually, and sighed.  *Oh please, God, don't let
them notice anything strange,* he begged the heavens as he turned around
and began unzipping the dress.  There was apparently no other choice-
     As he slid the dress off, Missy exclaimed, "Oh my God!" and his
heart lept into his throat.  "Stockings?"
     As Charlie tried to shake off the quart of adrenaline that was now
rushing around his body, Valerie nonchalantly replied, "Yeah, Jane has
this thing about 'proper' clothes.  God, it is SUCH a pain in the ass!
Right Charlene?"
	"Yeah," Charlie managed to breathe.
	"Hey, come on, don't take all night," Missy complained.  "I want
to go to my own party, if you don't mind?"

	Tucker sighed in satisfaction as he finished up Charlene's makeup.
*Cute babe,* he thought to himself, *but she must've been in a convent
school or something, because she has NO clue.*  Luckily, he'd gotten rid
of Missy for a while, so he didn't have to argue with some small-town
hick about makeup techniques.  *Even if she is my friend, she's a
twit...*	"There," he said when he'd gotten her lips the way he wanted
them.  "All done, now come on-"
	"I can't go out like this!" she shrieked as she pointed at her
reflection in the mirror.
	"Why not?"  Tucker gave her the once over, again.  She looked fine
to him, minus the fact that she had almost no curves to speak of.  *Kind
of like Jill,* he mused.
	"B-b-b-because!" Charlene finally found her voice again.  "My, my
stockings are showing, my-"
	"It's the thing nowadays," Tucker sighed.  "Really, it looks great.
Really sexy."
	"I don't WANT to look sexy!" she almost cried.
	Tucker frowned.  "Why not?"  He wiggled his eyebrows at her.  "You
know, there's some cute guys here, and I bet they'd love to meet someone
from out of town..."
	Tucker was rather astonished when Charlene burst into tears in
front of him.	*Definitely a convent school,* he decided as he went to
comfort the girl.

	Charlie wished that he wasn't sobbing into Valerie's shoulder, but
just the thought of some guy putting moves on him was so frightening he
couldn't stand it.
	She rocked him back and forth, saying those calming words in a
gentle tone, and stroking his hair gently.  None of it really helped.

	"So, I mean, what do you think he's doing right now?" Pam asked as
she paused the van, waiting for an opening in the traffic stream.
	Debbie looked up though the windshield at the darkening sky, and
sighed.  "Probably cleaning out the grease trap or something really
gross."
	"You don't think he's doing situps or digging ditches to make his
muscles bigger?" Pam pressed.  Debbie looked at her scornfully, and they
both laughed.

	"So?" Tucker asked as he posed Charlene in front of the big mirror.
	She reluctantly looked at herself, and nodded without saying
anything.
	"Better?" Tucker prodded.  "Less scary?"  She nodded again.  "So,
do you feel like going down to the party now?"
	She wrapped her arms around herself and stared at the reflection in
the mirror.  It was a damn shame, in a way, that she was so freaked over
the idea, because he thought that with her height and everything, that
she could carry off some really sexy stuff.	But, not this time.  He
shrugged philosophically.
	"Come on," he said gently, putting an arm around her waist and
pulling gently towards the door.  "We'll go out, talk to some people,
hang out, maybe do some dancing... you like dancing, right?"

	"Well, it's obvious," Marie mentioned, "that the usual methods do
not work on this one.  I'm not sure you could embarrass her sufficiently
to control her at this point."
	"But," Jane raised the point simultaneously with a finger, "I
believe that she wants to fit in so bad with her new friends, that that
will be the main method of controlling her."
	"Do you think it will be sufficient?"
	Jane smiled.  "It seemed to work for most of the young women of my
generation, and I believe it still works."
	"So you would," Marie searched for the word, "'ground' her if she
does not behave properly?"  Jane nodded.  "That seems rather too
simple."
	Jane shrugged.  "It also worked quite well on me, when I was her
age."

     Tucker led Charlene down the stairs, letting go of her hand when
he saw people.  "No problem," he whispered to her over his shoulder,
"just stick close and don't go outside with anybody, okay?  I think
Missy's parents are still here, so it's safe inside the house, okay?"
     "Okay," replied the shaky voice behind him.

     Charlie looked enviously at Valerie as she finished her story and
cracked everyone else up.  She was so at home at this party it was
disgusting.  *Mainly,* he told himself, *because you're too nervous to
do what she's doing, isn't it?*
     Charlie hated it when his own mind took Jane's side of an argument.

     The music was neither loud enough nor violent enough for Tucker's
tastes, but he decided against doing anything about it.  *I have a
feeling that this crowd would not really appreciate the depths of
musical subtlety one finds in the Butthole Surfers,* he decided, looking
around.
     The whole crew was the sort that would be cheerleaders, and
cheerleader boy-toys, in a few years.  Tucker had enough practice to
fake enjoyment, but he really didn't like it very much.
     He sighed, and smiled at some guy that had said something.  "Huh?"
     "Wanna dance?" the guy repeated.
     "Sure," Tucker said.  As the guy turned around, he waved Charlene
over, but she shook her head so hard he was afraid her neck would snap.
"Fine, be a wallflower all night," he grumbled to himself.
     "What?" said the guy.
     "Nothing!" Tucker smiled inanely.

     Charlie sipped at the glass of punch he'd gotten from the kitchen,
and wished it was some of Jane's Madeiras.  Everyone around him was
having fun, including Valerie, but not him.
     As he craned his head, looking for a place to get out of the way
and be alone, someone bumped into his side, almost spilling the cup of
punch.  "Hey!" he complained, and twisted to see who had run into him.
     It was some tallish guy. with brown hair and tinted glasses, who
was giving him this look of stupidity.  "Oh, uh, I mean, sorry, I
thought you, uhmmm..."  The guy swallowed nervously.
     "It's okay," Charlie said, feeling kind of bad for the guy.
Especially since one of his OWN worries was bumping into someone and
spilling a drink.
     "Ah, um," the guy said, looking around.

     Tucker begged off from dancing any more, because his throat hurt
and his legs hurt and his body hurt and his head was starting to hurt
too.  *Whee, I love a good party, retch barf puke,* he thought.  *Too
bad this isn't one.*  You could practically talk to someone while
dancing, it was so quiet.
     He didn't see Charlene where he'd left her, though, so the first
thing he had to do was go find her.  *Oh, great,* he thought, *the only
thing I want to do right now is sit down, and she wants to play
Hide-N-Seek.  Damnit.*
     He found her in the kitchen, talking to this dorky looking guy who
was nearly paralyzed when Tucker waved at him and Charlene.
     "So," Tucker said casually, feeling a little like twisting a knife
in SOMEone's guts at the moment, "who's your friend?"  And smiled.

     "Well, did you have fun?" Valerie asked Charlie as they slid into
the back of the Mercedes.  Valerie had decided not to risk being driven
home by amateurs, and had called Marie to come pick them up.
     "Uh, yeah, I guess," Charlie admitted after a moment.  "Did you?"
     Valerie sighed and leaned back in the seat.  "Sort of, but I don't
think these kids are the sort I want to hang around with all the time."
     "Why not?"  Charlie wanted to know, because he had thought that
Valerie fit in like she was born there.
     "'Cause, they're sort of boring and mundane.  I mean, did you
notice the music?"
     Charlie shrugged.  "What about it?"
     Valerie snorted in disgust.  "Same stuff you hear on the pop
stations, over and over again, and that's how they played it.  I dunno
why they even bothered with setting up the CDs, I really don't.  There's
nothing... nothing original in that crowd.  Buncha sheep."  She waved
her hand in the air.  "Did you catch how many questions I got about my
hair?"
     "Um, it IS kind of unusual," Charlie pointed out.
     "Yeah, but they all act like they'd never considered doing
something like this in their lives.  It's scary, I mean, they're all
Young Republicans, and most of 'em aren't even old enough to drive yet.
Where's their souls?" she asked rhetorically.  "Can't they possibly
consider that maybe, just MAYbe, that things are a little bit different
than the newspapers and school tells them?  That maybe they could have
an opinion of their own without worrying about what everyone else around
them would think?"  Valerie shook her head.  "They're all blind, stupid,
mundanes, running around like sheep in herds.  Bleagh!"
     "So why did you spend so long talking to Doug?" Charlie pointed
out.

     Tucker grinned.  "I was meaning to ask YOU that, actually."
     "What?"  Charlene tried to look innocent, but he wasn't buying it.
     "Oh," Tucker said, staring casually at the front of the car, "I
just wondered, I mean, you talked to him longer than I did, and you sure
seemed annoyed when I joined your little tete-a-tete in the kitchen
there.  I mean, it's not like I'm interested or anything, so you can
have him all to yourself, but still, there was an awful smell of
jealousy in the air..."
     Charlene sputtered for a while, finally blurting out, "WHAT?!"
     "Well, I mean," Tucker started, feeling mildly evil, "he DOES seem
different than the rest of the clones there, so I can see why you would
be attracted to him.  Remember what I said, when we got dressed the
first time?  If you'd been a little more daring, I don't think he would
have spent nearly as much time looking at me as he did.  In fact, with
that low-cut blouse I showed you, I don't think he would have even
noticed that I was there at all."
     Tucker glanced at Charlene, and was mildly amused to see her
sitting there, frozen with her mouth open.

     Charlie was glad, as he always was, to get into his room and take
off the women's clothing and makeup that had defined his life for so
long.  Especially tonight, of all nights.
     *Why on earth,* he wondered as he faced the hot water sluicing
across his face, *why did I agree to go tonight?*  It had been
completely nerve-wracking - *No,* he corrected, *nerve-WRECKING* - to
sit around a bunch of teenage girls and pretend interest in what they
were talking about.  And the guys had been more interested, but Charlie
could read in their eyes what they were thinking about, and the idea
disgusted him.
     The closest thing to a bright spot was Doug, who was too nervous to
even consider what most of the guys there were visualizing, but Valerie
had managed to taint that too.  *Damn her anyway,* he fumed, *this is
all her fault!*

     Tucker thrashed out of the goons' grips and pulled the flechette
pistol, aiming it right at the colonel's eye.  A few hundred needles
later, the pistol's magazine clicked empty, but there was no change at
all in the slightly amused expression the colonel was wearing.  The
hands grabbed him again, and he fought for all he was worth, but all the
same they picked him up and prepared to infect him-
     "AHHHHHhhhh!" he shrieked as he yanked his body sideways and fell
to the floor.  Confusion slowly faded as he realized where he was.  "Oh,
God," he finally said to himself, "this REM stuff sucks."

     Charlie was once again awakened by a shriek and a thump, which
seemed to be Valerie's version of an alarm clock these days.  He sighed,
and sat up in his bed.  "Oh, well, another day in paradise," he
muttered.

     "Children," Jane announced without much warning at breakfast,
"today we are going into town.  Please wear something casual."
     For Tucker, Jane commanding casual clothes was much like hearing
the scramble on an airbase.  "What're we doing?" he asked.
     Jane just smiled.

     Charlie had no clue either, even as they drove into town, but the
place they finally pulled up to was sort of unmistakeable, saying as it
did, "CHILDREN'S THEATER COMPANY," in big fluorescent letters on the
front of the building.
     He thought he heard Valerie let out a low moan, but when he looked
back, she was just sitting there, staring at the sign.
     Apparently, today the company was having tryouts for some sort of
performance, because there were a lot of people in the parking lot.
They all got out, Valerie being unusually silent, and went into the
theater.  Jane talked with someone, while Charlie concentrated on his
manners.  He was a lot calmer about this sort of thing than he had been,
but it still made him feel nervous.  On the other hand, he didn't feel
like the only one today, since the level of nervous chatter was almost
deafening.
     "Ladies," Jane announced as she turned back to the two of them,
"the theater company is still holding readings for parts, so if you
would follow Mrs. Lansky backstage, she will show you where to go."
     "Do I have to, Jane?" Valerie asked in a small, high voice.  When
Jane nodded, Valerie's shoulders slumped even further.  *Wonder what's
eating her?* Charlie wondered.
     Mrs. Lansky gave them each a few photocopied pages of a script, and
Charlie looked through it a few times while waiting.  *Not that hard,*
he decided.  *I just hope that someone else, or someones else, get the
parts, because I don't want to be stuck doing rehearsals and
everything.*  He sighed.  The way his luck had been going, Jane's money
had probably built this theater, and she had 'hinted' that the two of
them should get star billing if they wanted to see any more.
     When he was called, Charlie got up on stage and read his part, and
while it wasn't great, he thought it wasn't too bad either, considering
that he'd just gotten the script.  The casting director didn't say
anything either way, she just thanked them both, and Charlie shrugged
and went to go sit and watch Valerie's audition.
     Watching her reading was sort of like watching a bus full of nuns
fall off a bridge.  She misread lines, mispronounced words, stuttered,
twitched, mumbled, and in general gave an extremely good impression of
someone about to die of acute embarrassment.  Charlie would have cut the
debacle off after the first thirty seconds, but the casting director had
no mercy, and it seemed to take forever.  Even the rest of the people in
the theater got quieter.
     When they finally finished, Valerie thrust the papers at one of the
kids on stage with her, and she made her way offstage through the wings.
*Oh, man,* Charlie thought as he got up, *if Jane thinks she blew that
on purpose, there's no telling what's gonna happen.*  He got up to go
warn Valerie, but when he finally got to the wing she had exited to, she
was apparently gone.
     He spent a couple of minutes searching for her, but she was nowhere
to be found.  He sighed, wondering if she'd taken off again rather than
face the wrath of Jane for doing so badly.  A bathroom sign caught his
attention, and his bladder reminded him that it had been a while since
he had last relieved himself, so he went in.
     The sour stench of vomit caught him by surprise, and as he stood
there, allowing the door to swing shut behind him, there was a low mew
from one of the stalls, then an agonized groan.  Charlie thought he
recognized it.
     "Valerie?" he called, walking towards the one stall with its door
shut.  *I sure hope it's her and not some bulemia society babe; I don't
think she would appreciate the attention.*  "Valerie?" he called again
as he reached the door.  All that answered him was another twisted
drawn-out groan.  He knelt down, and recognized the shoes Valerie had
been wearing that morning.  He pulled on the stall door, and it
wondrously swung open, exposing a very ill-looking Valerie hunched over
the bowl of the toilet.
     Charlie wondered what to do.
     Another agonized moan, followed by some coughing, galvanized him
into action.  *First,* he thought hurriedly, *get some water for her to
drink so she'll at least have something to puke up.*  He recognized the
sound of dry heaves now.  *Then get her cleaned up.*  A dispenser
mounted on the wall next to the sinks provided a cup, and in a few
seconds he was wedging himself in next to her.  "Here, drink this," he
insisted, holding out the cup in front of her nose.
     She took it, holding Charlie's hand in both of hers as she trembled
and tried to drink a few swallows.  Then she frantically pushed the cup
away and knelt lower, and the water came right back up.

     Jane felt truly low, much lower than she had in a long time.  *With
all the performances she had put on,* she said to herself, *I never
considered the possibility that she might be subject to stage fright.*
Jane had to admire her charge in one respect; she had at least tried.
She had seen the effort the girl was making, almost visibly pouring off
of her in waves as she struggled with the reading.
     She had been wandering around the backstage area, trying to find
Valerie OR Charlene, who had also disappeared, but had had no luck until
she heard a suspicious sound coming from the backstage women's restroom
and changing area.
     When she pushed the door open, an unexpected tableau froze her into
stunned immobility.  Charlene was holding Valerie on her lap and
stroking her hair as the latter shook with clearly audible sobs.
Valerie's back was to the door, but Charlene's was not.  When she saw
Jane, she frowned, then shook her head warningly at Jane.  "Not now,"
the gesture said, and also, "I've got it under control."
     Jane took a deep breath, nodded in reply, and turned around to find
the director and make their excuses.

     Tucker had managed to freeze himself into emotional rigidity for
the walk to the car, but when Charlene shut the car door behind her, his
control cracked again, shattering into dust, and it was all he could do
to keep from throwing up again as Charlene wrapped her arms around him.

     Jane sighed silently as she examined the child in front of her, now
drawn up almost in a fetal position on the chair in front of her desk.
"I feel," Jane said, the painful words sticking in her throat, "that I
owe you an apology for today.  I had not anticipated that you would be
so frightened at the audition."
     Valerie finally nodded, not looking at her.
     "In order to give you a chance to recover, therefore, I have
decided that we are going to stay home for the rest of the weekend, to
give you a chance to collect yourself, before the new student gets here
on Monday."  Jane shook her head gently, feeling ashamed of herself,
like she had not in quite a long time.  "Again, I am truly sorry for
misjudging you and the situation, and I hope you will not hold it
against me."
     The figure in front of her said nothing, which hurt worse than if
she had been screaming imprecations at Jane.  At least then, there would
have been something to distract her from what she was screaming at
herself.

     Charlie's thoughts were turning towards lunch when he heard a
leaden footfall outside his door.  He got up to see who it was, and just
caught a glimpse of Valerie as she listlessly shut the door to her room.
"Valerie?" he asked, opening her door again.
     She was hugging herself as she walked towards the bed.  When she
heard her name, she turned around slowly.  The streaks of tears down her
face said that she hadn't quite stopped crying yet.  Something in his
chest contracted at the sight.  "Oh, Val," he exclaimed, and collected
the girl in his arms again before he led them both to sit on the bed. He
could feel her trembling in his arms, like a scared rabbit.
     "Look," he finally said after a few minutes, "next time you get
that scared, you tell me, okay?  Jane can't stop both of us, and I won't
let this happen to you again if you tell me about it, okay?  Val?" he
persisted after a few moments.
     A feeble nod on his shoulder was probably the best answer he was
going to get.

     Tucker was extremely reluctant to go down for lunch, but Charlene
had insisted, even practically dressing him when she insisted that
Tucker change clothes.  He felt so stupid - after all, it wasn't as if
it was as dangerous as some of the other stuff he'd done in his life -
but when he tried to tell himself that, the fear would rise again in his
belly and it would be all he could do to keep himself from running.
     The chairs and place settings had been moved, setting the two teens
on one side of the table.  Tucker first thought that the different
arrangement meant that they would be having guests, and he almost
panicked, but finally Charlene's reassurances plus the number of
settings convinced him that there wouldn't be anyone else to see him
today.
     It was all he could do to face Jane again, and to sit down and
pretend to eat, but Charlene's presence right next to him helped more
than he would have believed.  Jane kept the conversation light, and by
the end of the meal Tucker felt about halfway to normal.

     Charlie didn't quite know what to do about Valerie.  On the one
hand, she had progressed from completely hysterical to just twitching
occasionally.  On the other, she was clinging to him like a child,
totally unwilling to let Charlie more than five feet away from her.
     This was a new experience for Charlie.  He'd barely ever seen
anyone this emotionally upset, and they certainly hadn't come to him
for comfort.  He kept worrying that he was doing something wrong, and
making it worse, but Jane just kept giving him nods like he was doing it
perfect.  And Valerie wasn't really complaining either, although he
wished he could do more for her.  It was really unnerving to glance
around and see her standing there like a ghost.

     Tucker had finally felt good enough to separate from Charlene and
take a shower before he went to bed, but as he pulled the covers over
himself, he realized that the last thing in the world he should be
trying to do tonight was sleeping.
     *And you thought the other nightmares were bad,* he thought
despondently as he got up.

     Charlie came out of his bathroom feeling like a new... individual.
*Would have said 'man,'* he grinned, *but I don't think that applies
here.  Or maybe it does.*
     A few quick swipes of this and that, and his morning makeup was
done.  He slipped on a fresh nightgown and robe, and was going to go
downstairs to wait for Jane when he remembered Valerie.  *Maybe I should
see how she's doing,* he thought, and tapped on her door.
     When she finally opened it, Charlie was relieved to see that she
looked a lot more normal than she had yesterday, not counting the
bloodshot eyes.  "Ready for breakfast?" he asked, and she nodded.

     Tucker had to use both hands on the railing as he slowly made his
way down the stairs.  His eyes kept wanting to close, but he knew that
that would be a bad idea.  *Come on, come on,* he told himself tiredly,
*you know the first two days without sleep are the worst, if you can
make it past today, you'll be fine.*  At least until the hallucinations
set in, or so he'd heard.
     "Val?" someone asked for the second time, and he looked up.  It was
Charlene, and she was asking, "Remember?"  *Remember what?*  "You sit
over there," she pointed, and Tucker realized that he had followed her
right next to her seat.
     "Uh, yeah," he lied, and moved to the other side of the table.

     Charlie was standing by his seat, and hoping Jane wouldn't take
much longer - the smells from the kitchen were driving him crazy.  *Oh,
God, I hope Marie fixed enough bacon,* he wished.  *I'm starving!*
     Across the table, Valerie swayed a little, and Charlie started to
move, wondering if he could catch her in time.  But she recovered, and
shook her head.  "Um," she grated, "Charlene?  I gotta put my head down
for a second, okay?  Just tell me when you hear Jane on the stairs?"
     "Uh, okay," he replied, wondering what she was doing.
     What she did was pull her chair out and slip into it, and lay her
head on her arms and close her eyes.  Literally within thirty seconds,
she was breathing heavily as if asleep.  *Whoa,* Charlie thought, *she
MUST be tired.  Wonder what she did last night to keep herself awake?*
     A minute or so later, he heard Jane's footsteps on the stairs.
"Valerie?" he cautioned.  She didn't respond.  "VALERIE!" he hissed as
loud as he dared.  She still didn't respond.
     Before he could get around the table to shake her, Jane was already
in the dining room, and looking at both of them.  "Um," Charlie felt
compelled to explain, "she said she just wanted to rest her head for a
minute..."
     Jane frowned, and was about to say something when Valerie moaned.
The hair went up on Charlie's arms, because it sounded somehow _wrong_.
"Valerie?" Jane asked, and the girl's head snapped up.
     Charlie later would wonder if her eyes had really been red in that
instant, or if he was just imagining things.
     "NOOOOOOOO!" she howled as she lunged backwards and sideways off
the chair, landing with an authoritative WHUMP on the oak floor.
Screaming unintelligibly all the while, she thrashed around on the floor
for a couple of seconds before she found her feet and shot upright
towards the doorway.  Unfortunately, her aim was off, and she impacted
the wall a foot to the left of the opening, rebounding backwards.
     Charlie's horrified attention was caught by the dent she'd made in
the wall with her face.
     "Charlene!" Jane yelled as she ran around the table, and Charlie
was shocked into motion, running towards Valerie himself.  Valerie,
however, rebounded to her feet and made it out the doorway on the second
attempt.
     "Catch her and hold her down!" Jane ordered as Charlie sped through
the doorway before Jane could.
     He thought Valerie's maniacal flight would end when she collided
with the large couch in the sitting room, but she went over it sideways
and disappeared for a brief instant before she reappeared on the other
side of the coffee table, apparently having slithered under it somehow.
     "Whafuck?" Charlie gasped without hearing himself as Valerie
regained her footing again, looking like a spring uncoiling, and then he
gasped because she was now aiming for the French doors.  Beyond which
was the pool.  Then he ran into the same couch and flipped over it.

     *Damn,* Jane thought as Charlie's feet hung in the air like a
gymnast's before disappearing again.  Jane herself dodged the furniture
adroitly, but it was much too late to catch the panicked Valerie before
she, inevitably, tried to run over the pool as if it was solid ground.
"No," Jane breathed as the young figure disappeared into the water.
     Before she could shed her own clothes, Charlene yelled from behind
her, "COMIN' THRUUUU!" and a half-naked flesh-colored blur rushed past
her and torpedoed into the water.

     Charlie inhaled his last breath for a while as he dove headfirst
into the pool after Valerie.  She was right next to him when he opened
his eyes again, so he reached around her chest and grabbed her.  He was
halfway expecting it when she went berserk at the contact, and as soon
as he could kick to the surface, he made a fist and slammed it into her
head.  Twice.

     Tucker awoke from the worst nightmare he'd had in a long time to
the feeling of cold and wet all over his body.  "Wha-" he gasped, and
then panic set in as he started to inhale a lungful of water.  He was
totally confused at this point, and when something reached around from
behind him and grabbed him, he tried to fend it off because it HAD to be
the stuff of nightmares come to life and trying to kill him, but
apparently the stuff of nightmares was made of concrete because the blows
to the head that felt as though they had been delivered with a brick as
they stunned him into motionlessness.
     Then he heard Jane's voice yelling something, and Charlene's reply
right next to him, and that triggered his memory to tell him where he
was.
     *Oh God,* he prayed as he coughed, *please don't let me have hurt
anyone, please...*

     "Night terror," Jane said with authority.
     Charlie asked, "What?"
     "It was a night terror," Jane repeated, idly brushing a stray wisp
of hair out of her face.
     "You mean a nightmare?"
     Jane shook her head.  "Nightmares are dreams," she said, as she
shifted into lecture mode.  "Night terrors, on the other hand, occur not
in the dreaming period of sleep, but in what should be the deepest
stages of unconsciousness.  No one is quite sure why, but the literature
is quite certain that the two are different. It's closer to
sleepwalking."
     Charlie looked over at the shivering figure, swaddled in a down
comforter.  "So... it was like she was sleepwalking, except she was
dreaming at the same time?  I mean, having a nightmare at the same time,
right?"
     Jane coughed a bit, then nodded.  "In essence."
     "I've had 'em before," Valerie said, her voice sounding raw.
     "Can you remember anything of the dream part?" Charlie asked.
     Valerie shook her head.  "Not this time..."  Her eyes stared beyond
reality as she started to shake.  She whispered, "Once..."
     "Once what?" Jane prompted when Valerie didn't continue.
     Valerie shook herself a little, and sipped at her hot tea.  "Once,
when I was little, I had one... I thought..."  She took a deep breath.
"You know how nightmares don't make any sense, right?"  They all nodded.
"When I was little, we went to a family reunion, and I'd been scared out
of my mind by something, I think it was a bunch of my cousins telling me
they were going to kill me or something, I'm not sure."  She shrugged.
"Anyway, so I couldn't sleep at all the whole night, like last night,
and I sort of passed out or went to sleep or something at breakfast, and
then it was like I noticed that everything was wrong, like Invasion of
the Body Snatchers or Puppet Masters or something, and it was like
whatever it was, they looked kind of like scorpions, had found the
perfect place to hide, inside people's bodies, like they'd been hollowed
out from the inside..."  Charlie wasn't sure he wanted to hear any more
about it, but she continued even as the hair was rising on his arms, "So
it was like I was the only one who knew, and then one of them that I
KNEW was infected or taken over or whatever, came up to my mom, and I
knew they were going to get her, too, right in front of me, to scare
me...."  She took a deep breath.  "So I tried to stop them, screaming
and stuff, but everyone looked at me like I was crazy, which like always
happens in horror movies when there's something weird going on, and so I
had to show them, and the only way I could think of was to get a knife
and cut them open-"
     "What?!" Charlie burst out.  "Are you serious?"
     Valerie nodded, not looking at either of them.  "Yeah.  The way my
dad told me, I sat up, got all white, started screaming this weird shit
which didn't make any sense, and then grabbed a knife and jumped over
the table at one of my aunts."
     There was a stunned silence in the room.
     "I take it you were restrained before you could reach her?" Jane
finally asked.
     Valerie nodded.  "They said it took three adults to hold me down
and get the knife away from me, and then it was like I had a seizure or
something, because I, uh, I peed myself and passed out, and they
couldn't wake me up either."  She sipped at her tea again.  "So, uh, I'm
sort of glad I don't remember what this one was about."

     A much delayed breakfast had finally been devoured, and while
Tucker felt better than he had the day before, he was still jumpy as
hell at the same time as being about a half-beat behind everything that
was going on around him.  And his entire body hurt.
     "Valerie?" Charlene asked him again, and he tried to focus on her.
"I was gonna go swimming... do you want to?"
     Tucker thought about it until he thought he understood what she was
saying, and then shook his head.  "I don't think it'd be a good idea.  I
might fall asleep in the pool or something."  He took a deep breath.
"Would... I mean, I guess it's a stupid question, but would you mind if
I just stayed out there, in the sun, with you?"
     She made a quizzical face at him, and shook her head.  "It's okay
with me," she said offhandedly.  For some reason, Tucker felt immensely
better.

     Jane poked her head into the parlor, where the two children had
been for some time, and asked, "Charlene, would you mind..."  She
trailed into silence because Charlene was shaking her head.
     "Why-" Jane started, and Charlene beckoned her over with a finger,
still not speaking.  As Jane rounded the couch, she saw how Charlene was
occupied.  She had one arm wrapped around Valerie's shoulder, and the
latter was lying half on top of the older student.  Jane listened
closely for a moment, and the deep, steady breathing confirmed that
Valerie was indeed asleep.  And while the two of them looked comfortable
enough, it was obvious that Charlene couldn't extricate herself without
waking Valerie up.
     "Well, then," Jane said quietly, "I suppose I'll be helping Marie
with lunch today instead."  Charlene favored Jane with a grateful smile,
and Jane smiled back.

     Charlie spent the best Sunday he'd had with Jane reading and
dozing, with Valerie constantly at his side.  For some reason, she
seemed to feel safe if she was next to him, and she slept quietly almost
the entire day.  Whenever Charlie had to wake her up, for lunch and
bathroom breaks and to relieve cramps, and now for dinner, it went the
same.  Valerie would ignore the first few attempts to wake her, until
one of them penetrated the fog of unconsciousness.  She would open her
eyes, without moving at first, and then look up at Charlie.  A few
seconds later, something would click inside her head, and she would
gently pull away from him, smiling and blushing a little, as if she was
embarrassed.
     Charlie didn't really mind, but he was confused.  *I thought she
didn't like me, but I know I couldn't sleep next to someone I didn't
trust, not like she's doing.  So what IS going on with her?*

     "Valerie?" Jane asked at dinner, naturally at the moment after he
had gotten a large mouthful of food.
     "Hmmm hmm," he hummed at her to show her he was paying attention.
     "As you might remember," Jane said as he tried to chew faster,
"tomorrow I am expecting another student.  He is already on his way,
in fact, and we shall be picking him up tomorrow morning."
     She paused for comment, but Tucker's mouth was still full, so all
he could manage was an, "Umm hmm?"
     "You need to take smaller bites," Jane noted.  Tucker wished he had
the nerve to spew the mouthful at her, but it was probably best that he
didn't.  "What I needed to ask you, Valerie, was whether you felt up to
meeting him tomorrrow?"
     His mouth was finally clear.  "By myself?"
     Jane smiled in amusement.  "No, Charlene and I will pick him up.  I
thought it would be best if you could come too, if you feel up to it."
     Tucker thought about it for a minute.  "I, uh, I suppose so," he
said cautiously.
     Jane nodded a couple of times.  "Good.  Then, we need to be at the
train station to meet him at nine o'clock, which means that you both
need to be ready at seven thirty."
     Tucker sighed a bit at that, but he decided that it really wasn't
that bad.

     Charlie was almost ready for bed when there was a soft knock at his
door.  He opened it, figuring it was Valerie wanting to ask him
something - because she was the only one who wouldn't have come in
already - and it was.  "Yeah?" he inquired.
     "Um," Valerie said, and wrapped her arms tighter around herself.
"I, I, I mean, I've got..."
     "Take a deep breath," Charlie said, "let it out slowwwwwwwww...."
     She did, and this time she was almost coherent when she said, "I
needed to ask you something, and I'm serious, I mean, I'm not trying to
trick you or anything, I mean, I-"
     "What IS it?" Charlie asked.
     Valerie took another deep breath, then spat out, "I wanted to know
if you would let me sleep in your bed tonight?"
     "Wh-" Charlie finally managed, but Valerie cut him off.
     "I mean, it used to help, even with my little brother in the bed I
wouldn't have bad nightmares or anything, and my sister used to do it
when I was having trouble, and like when my cousin comes to visit she
usually sleeps in my room 'cause it helps when the rest of them are
there, and I swear to God I won't do anything to you or try to molest
you or anything, it's just-"
     "Waitwaitwait, hold on," Charlie said, trying to get her to shut up
long enough for him to think.  "You want to sleep in the bed with me
tonight?"  Valerie nodded.  "Like a little kid?"  She nodded again,
blushing this time.
     Charlie thought about it.  It was a pretty strange request, but she
apparently felt safe around him or something, or she wouldn't have slept
on him all day today, and she hadn't had nightmares either.  And he
could see the advantages of having her as something other than a
sleep-deprived nervous wreck tomorrow.  But it was still kind of
strange; even more so when he remembered, as he found himself doing
sometimes, that Valerie had come in as a male originally.  *Even if he
is completely natural at this,* something told him.  It was getting
harder and harder to remember, too.
     He was going to say no, but when he focused on her again, she was
shivering in the hallway, arms wrapped around herself, and her
expression was so full of worry and fear that he heard himself say,
"Okay."

     Jane sighed as she walked down the hallway past her students' rooms
and found no signs of activity.  "I told them to be up," she sighed to
herself as she opened the door to Valerie's room.
     No Valerie.
     She wasn't in the bathroom or the closet either.
     "No, please, not today, please not today," she said to the heavens
as she went to go wake Charlene.
     When she opened the door, Charlene's blonde head was just peeking
out from under the covers.  She awoke at the sound of the door opening,
and sat up, looking a little bewildered.  On the other side, Jane could
see a shock of black hair with a crimson streak that could only have
belonged to one person...
     "You two need to get up and get ready," she said, and shut the
door before Charlene could reply.  Then, Jane was left in the hallway
wondering just what had happened last night after she went to bed.

     For a moment, Charlie was extremely surprised to find someone else
in the bed, next to him.  The girl's arm draped over his stomach only
made it more shocking.  It took him a few moments to remember Valerie's
request from the night before, and then it all made sense, sort of.
     Valerie rolled over on her other side and wiggled until her back
was pressed firmly against Charlie's body.
     Her body heat was immensely obvious to Charlie, who had never slept
in the same bed with someone in living memory.  He leaned over and shook
her shoulder, saying, "Valerie?  Hey, time to wake up."
     "Nnnghnnnfff," was her reply.
     Charlie wiped his eyes clear and slid out of bed to go to the
bathroom.  When he came back, Valerie was still asleep in the bed.
"Valerie, come on, wake up," Charlie coaxed, "we have to go pick this
guy up at the station today..."  Charlie's stomach released a flock of
butterflies when he realized that, once again, he was going to be put
'on stage' permanently with the new kid in the house.
     *You're being stupid,* he told himself.  *You've already done this
once already, and it worked okay.  You can do it again, no problem.*
     Valerie still wasn't moving.  He reached down and gently shook her.
"Come on, Val, wake up.  Waaaaake uuuuuuup."
     "Mmmph," Valerie replied, and rolled over.  Her eyes were still
closed.
     "Damn," Charlie mentioned quietly, "like I have time for this.
Come on, Val," he said again, his voice getting sharper.  "Wake up!"
     She finally stirred a bit, and rolled partially over and looked at
him blearily.  "Nnnngh," she said, and swallowed.  "Where's Deb?" she
asked.
     "Who?"
     Valerie deliberately blinked a couple of times, then sat up, the
covers spilling off her.  "Debbie?"
     "Noooo," Charlie said skeptically, "I'm Charlene, remember?"
     Valerie bent forward over her legs and rubbed her eyes, then looked
at him again and smiled.  "Oh.  Yeah, okay.  G'morning," she smiled.
     Charlie sighed.  "Good morning, Valerie, you need to get up and get
dressed so we can go pick that guy up at the train station, remember?"
     After a few more seconds, she nodded absently.

     Tucker still felt like he was wrapped in packing material as he
absently munched on a cinnamon roll.  He was dressed in something Marie
had picked out for him, sort of a fluffy lacy suit thing that only young
teenagers would wear, and then only under duress, but he was having real
trouble giving a shit this morning.  Almost a full day of sleep had left
him feeling better and more relaxed than he'd been since he got here.
He was so relaxed, in fact, that it was an effort not to fall back
asleep while he was eating.
     "Girls?" Jane inquired, and Tucker woke up enough to realize that
he had finished his pastry already, as had everyone else, and it was
time to get a move on.  He wanted to ask Jane if he could go back to
bed, but by the time he figured out what he was going to say, he was
outside in the car already.  *Oh well,* he thought, and went back to
sleep.

     When they arrived at the station, Charlie wasn't surprised to find
Valerie asleep in the back seat.  *She's making up for the last week or
something,* he decided.  "Valerie?" he and Jane said at the same time.
     She opened her eyes and blinked a few times, looking between them,
and finally gave a small smile.  "Is he here yet?" she asked.
     "Not yet," said Jane, "we are to meet him at the platform when he
gets off, remember?"
     "Uh huh," she mumbled sleepily, and picked up her purse.  Charlie
got his, and they all slid out of the car.  Jane led off, and Charlie
lagged behind with Valerie, thinking that it was entirely too possible
that she would fall asleep and get lost.
     She looked up and smiled warmly at him.  Charlie felt strange; it
was too intimate a smile for a girl to show another girl in public.  It
made it look like...
     "Come on, Val, wake up," he said, the irritation in his voice
masking a lot of other strange emotions.  "You need to come back from
La-la land or wherever."
     "I'm here," she said demurely, and smiled at him again.  *Stop
that!* he wanted to yell at her, but he couldn't quite figure out what
she was doing that was making him feel so strange.  He just wished she
would stop whatever it was.

     Jane had closely examined every face that had come off the train,
and had questioned the conductor, before finally deciding that her
quarry was not on the train.  She turned to face the two other students,
and said, "I haven't seen him, have either of you?"
     Charlene replied, "No ma'am, I haven't," while Valerie just shook
her head.
     Jane sighed.  *I am beginning to wonder if Valerie isn't infecting
the people around her,* she thought, doubly irritated at resorting to
mysticism.  "Then I shall have to call his caseworker," she said aloud,
"and see if he perhaps got delayed in transit or some such.  Wait here
and watch, please," she commanded.
     "Yes ma'am," both girls said promptly, and Jane heaved a sigh of
relief.

     Tucker had been there for what seemed like forever, because
Charlene kept waking him up, though he had no recollection of going to
sleep.  He was beginning to get irritated, which was making him more
irritated, since he'd been enjoying the feeling of being wrapped in
sleep-endorphins for the first time in weeks.
     As another train pulled in, and Charlene elbowed him in the side
for the nth time, he snorted and elbowed her back.  "I'm awake," he
protested as he pushed himself to a more upright position.  "Is he here
yet?"
     Charlene shook her head, the blond curls wiggling under the hat she
was wearing.  Tucker would have snickered, except he was wearing an
identical hat.  "Where's Jane?" he asked.
     Charlene shrugged.  "Still making phone calls.  She said that he
was supposed to have left on time, but the conductor on the last train
said he disappeared a few stops back or something, so she's trying to
trace him and figure out where he is."
     Tucker had lost half the explanation, but he really didn't feel
like caring about it, so he simply replied, "Oh," and wrapped his arms
around himself.  While the sun was up, the two of them were in shade at
the moment, and Tucker felt cold.
     Yet another elbow forced his eyes open, and he complained, "What?"
     "I think that's him," she said in his ear, and pointed.  Tucker
blinked a couple of times, and stared at the person she was pointing at.
     Said individual was a Latino wearing a suit and tie, and looked
somehow disreputable even in the suit.  The short ponytail dangling over
his collar added nothing positive to him.  *Geez,* Tucker thought, *when
did _I_ turn into such a prude?*  Still, he looked like trouble, for
some reason.
     "You go grab him," Charlene said, "and I'll go get Jane, okay?"
     "Huh?  What, wait..."  But it was too late; she'd already gotten up
and walked away.  Tucker sighed to himself as he pushed himself upright.
"Like I really want to talk to him right now, damnit."  But Charlene was
gone, and he didn't want to be responsible for the kid getting on the
train again and disappearing forever, which is why he got up and walked
over to the individual, who had set his bag down on the platform and was
looking around like he was pissed off.
     "Excuse me," Tucker said, trying for elegance in his voice, "are
you Julio Castilliano?"
     The guy turned to face her, but didn't reply right away.  Instead,
he stared at Tucker for what felt like ten minutes.  Tucker felt his
face heating up under the scrutiny, which made him feel not at all
better about it.
 
Copyright 1997-1999 Ellen Hayes, all rights reserved