Part 9

Gerry stood there, looking at me holding my phone, hearing that ringtone that he knew was his, looking at his phone knowing he was calling me, likely to find out if I was gonna come to the lake party. If I was lucky, he wouldn’t put two and two together and connect me with me.

But since when had I ever been lucky in the last week?

“Mindy?” he asked as he approached us. She perked up somewhat, likely because she and Gerry had been practically inseparable back when we were younger. If not for Mindy being into girls, I would have assumed they were dating back then. “Whaddya got Mike’s phone for?” Had he really not put it together?

As if participating in a surprise strip poker game wasn't bad enough, Mindy had to go and blow my cover. “Because she left it with me. I’ve got a purse, and - obviously - she has no pockets.”

I smacked myself in the face. “Thank you, Mindy. Thank you so much.”

“What? He’s been our friend for, like, ever!”

Gerry asked, “What's going on?”

Mindy answered, “Mike got himself possessed by a succubus, hence why she's wearing such a skimpy bikini.”

I wanted to slam my face against the closest tree. “Why would you tell him that?!”

Gerry looked confused and amused at the the same time. Mindy looked amused. Eve sounded amused. Why was everyone but me entertained by all this?! Oh, wait, because I was the one all this was revolving around.

I sighed. “It's true,” I said, “I was possessed by a succubus.”

Gerry shrugged. “Okay.”

I looked in straight in the eye. “Okay?” I scratched at my arm. “Okay is all you say?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“Why?”

He slipped his phone back in his pocket. “You're not the first magic person I’ve met.” He pointed over at the blanket Loki was sitting on. “That guy’s a Norse God.”

“How did you know that?” I asked.

“Overheard him and his brother talking, then the brother disappeared in a cloud of rainbows.”

“A cloud of rainbows?”

“A legitimate cloud of rainbows. It was weird as hell.”

I sighed. That was easier than it could have been, and that would make school tomorrow easier. Three people knowing me was a helluva lot better than just two. All I had to do now was deal with talking to people who didn't know me.

I poured myself another cup of punch and then nearly spit it out when Mindy said, “So, Mikey’s dating Terry.”

I turned around and glared at her. “Don’t tell him that! It's not true, anyway!”

“He’s seen you naked.”

“I have a succubus inside me, most of the school will probably see me naked!”

Gerry laughed. “That’s… Uh… That's probably not something to say out loud, even if nobody's close enough to hear us.” He turned to me. “You and Terry, eh? Makes sense.”

I folded my arms under my breasts. “How?”

“You two were damn near joined at the hip before.”

I rolled my eyes. “Not a much as you and Mindy, and I don't see you guys going out.”

“Please, Mindy’s a dyke.”

Mindy punched him in the face. “I’m right here and we prefer the term Women Who Date Women Because Men Are Disgusting.”

“No they're not,” I said. The two of them turned to me, both with confused looks on their faces. “What? I have a sex demon in my head, it really shouldn't be surprising that I’d say that.”

Now you should totally prove it by giving Gerry a blowjob.

What part of ‘no’ do you fail to understand?

***

I dropped onto my bed face first and came face to stitch with the tank top and shorts I’d “planned” on wearing. At least Loki was telling the truth when he told me the clothes would be back here. For a trickster, he was amazingly honest.

Someone sat on my back. Based on the shape of their butt, they were female, but that could mean Mom, Allie or Mindy. Or some otherworldly being that decided to enter my life and make it weirder than it already was. I turned my head and saw it was Allie sitting on me. “What?” I asked.

“How was the lake party?”

“Okay. I lost a game of strip poker.”

She pulled my folded up clothes out from under me. “That explains why these just showed up earlier. Mom was confused, too. How’d it happen?”

“Trickster God named Loki.”

“Loki the Norse God, Loki?”

“The very same.”

“What was he doing there?”

“Running a strip poker game.” I put my arms under my pillow. “And then Gerry’s back in town, and he knows now.”

“So that's three of your friends, now. How many more to go?”

“That should be good enough to not be the obvious new girl in school. Besides, not like I’ll be the only new girl. There's gotta be at least a couple transfer students.” I wanted to sleep, but the weight of my sister on my lower back was preventing me from doing so. “Can you move, please?”

She hopped off of me. “Yes I will, because you need to get ready.”

I groaned. “Ugh, why? I was just at a lake party with semi-drunk people while wearing a bikini and I swear half of them grabbed my ass at some point. Why do I need to do anything other than lie here and sleep?”

She smiled. “Reasons. Get up and find something cute but functional, I’ll go get some makeup ready.”

I don't want makeup, I thought.

Just go with lipstick.

I sat up. Did… Did you just have an idea I agree with?

I know, it’s weird.

***

After six long arguments, I finally got it through Allie’s head that I was not going to wear a skirt. With my luck, I’d probably get the damn thing torn and then everybody and their mothers would see my panties and I’d already be a topic of discussion tomorrow at school. I refused to let that happen, so no skirt (despite Eve not-so-subtly trying to get me to) for me. I still wasn’t even ready to wear skirts out in public. So, because of that, my outfit consisted of a pair of tight shorts and a pink, low cut tank top.

I felt insanely girly looking at my face in a mirror and checking the lipstick I was wearing. I had no intentions of using it for kissing, it was just to look a little better. I couldn’t believe I’d let Eve talk me into it, but I had to admit that the lipstick did make me look a little better. I actually even felt a little better, too. Did girls usually feel like this with makeup on?

“Somebody looks like she’s ready for a date,” Mom said. I spun around and saw her bringing in some laundry. “Is Terry the lucky boy?”

I blushed. “I’m… Allie told me to get ready, and that we’d be going in a little while, that’s all. I don’t know why, but I hope it’s not for a date.”

She smiled. “Don’t worry, even if it is, she wouldn’t set you up with someone you wouldn’t like.”

“I’m not worried about that. Even if I don’t like them, Eve might.”

That is a lie!

Be quiet.

Mom sat down on my bed and motioned for me to sit beside her. I plopped onto my bed and waited for whatever was about to come next. Needless to say, I was a little surprised when she started brushing my hair, but it actually felt kinda nice.

“I wish I had hair like this when I was your age,” she said.

“Red?”

“No, silky, clean. I know it’s just Eve keeping you looking nice to attract boys, but it still looks beautiful.”

I smiled. Compliments were starting to sound nice, too. Was I getting vain or just… I dunno… Girly? “Thanks, Mom.”

“How’s your job been so far?”

“Pretty good. Dr. Santos doesn’t get a whole lot of people coming in, so most of the time I just sit around and do stuff online until somebody does come in, and then I tell Dr. Santos, they go in and I get back to doing what I was doing.”

“That’s good. Do you have everything you’ll need for school tomorrow?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Notebooks, binders, pencils. A lot of nervousness since everybody knows me, but nobody knows me.” I sighed. “Plus, I’m going to havta deal with all my new… Urges.”

She stopped brushing my hair. “I know how hard that’ll be, sweetie. I was possessed by a succubus once, too. It’s impressive you’ve managed this long.”

I’d like to think I had a hand in that, too!

Please, you keep trying to get me to put hands on every guy I see.

Yeah, but do I actually make you do it?

No. But now that I know you could, I’ll be much more careful about interactions with non-Terry guys from now on.

He’s the guy I want you to touch the most.

I rolled my eyes. “I’m doing as well as I can.”

“You’re doing amazing, sweetie. Eve, too. It can’t be easy for her to ignore the opportunity to take full control and just let herself loose on the first man she sees.”

I told you I had something to do with it!

I sighed. “She’s doing better than I would expect, honestly.”

Mom smiled, then stood up. “Well, I’ll let you finish getting ready. Whatever Allie’s got planned for you, I’m sure it’ll be a fun evening.”

“Thanks, Mom. For everything.”

“Everything?”

“You have been the most understanding mom in the world. Your daughter becomes a magical girl, your son gets possessed by a succubus and turned into a second daughter. If we were a normal family, you’d probably be going crazy.”

She smiled again. “We’re as normal as we need to be.” She shut my door behind her and then I was alone in the room again.

I was about to lay down, but then I looked next to me and suddenly Eve was sitting there. It had been a couple days since she manifested physically, I was caught off guard a little. She was dressed identically to me, so I guess she liked what I’d picked to wear.

She also looked down.

“What’s up with you?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Nothing. Nothing.”

“Uh… Something something. Why do you look like your puppy just died?”

“I never had a puppy. One, because we don’t get them on our plane; and two, because I had a really… Difficult life.”

“Huh? You? The girl who keeps trying to get me to fuck any guy I come into contact with?”

She glared at me. “I’m a succubus, impulses can’t be helped.” She looked away. “My mom is the succubus queen. The first succubus. She had me really late and life and she never really wanted me in the first place.”

“What?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Watching you and your mom, your kind, loving, understanding mom, stirred up some bad feelings. I tried to celebrate my first possession with her, but she ignored me. I tried to be a good daughter, but she just wanted me to go away.” She looked like she was starting to cry. “Your mom is the kind of mom I wanted. That’s part of the reason I picked you.”

“What?”

“I watched you for a little while before I possessed you. I wanted what you had, and I thought that even by proxy, just by possessing you, I’d actually feel loved by someone’s mom.”

I couldn’t help myself. For the first time since we’d been sharing my body, I hugged Eve. I knew that if anybody walked into the room, they’d see me hugging empty air, but everybody who would walk into my room also knew that I could see Eve. I didn’t care, though. I needed to hug her. She needed this hug.

She seemed surprised. Likely because we’d never hugged in our short time together. She reciprocated by hugging back, and that was when I felt her tears hit my shoulder. I started crying after that, not a lot, and it confused me as I did it, but I didn’t care, I just let the tears flow. Suddenly, it felt like I had another sister, and I wasn’t going to let that feeling slip away.

***

I was already a little angry with Allie for making me get dressed, and then being brought to a park and left behind as she wandered off with some guy I vaguely recognized from the last time she brought a boyfriend home. Granted, I seemed to remember that guy being her ex-boyfriend’s friend, but still.

I sat down on a bench that had a nice view of the river and sighed. I guess if I was gonna be all alone, at least I’d have a nice time enjoying the sights and sounds of a peaceful river. Thanks to the breeze, it actually felt kinda cool, not at all like the 90 degree temperatures we’d been having. Of course, the cool air and me showing so much skin was actually making me a little chilly now. Good news mixed with the bad news.

I pulled my legs up and hugged my knees to my chest. I was acting more female, now. Or, at least, more obviously female. I guess a week of being like this had finally taken its toll on me. I wondered when I’d start wearing dresses or wearing more makeup than just lipstick just to go to the grocery store.

What’s it matter? Eve asked. You’re getting used to it, at least.

I know. It’s not even bothering me like it used to. Plus, there was that whole sisterly bonding experience we just went through, so I guess maybe it wouldn’t even be a bad thing if I just accepted everything.

Thanks for that, by the way.

No problem. Maybe the two of us can actually get started helping you with your urge problem, thus curbing my urge problem.

Hey, don’t sell yourself short. Guy like Terry hangs around you so often, I woulda torn his clothes off and worked him like there was no tomorrow.

I’m not sure I needed to know that. And, honestly… It’s not easy not to do that.

Mike, you're scaring me.

I laughed. You? I’m scaring me!

So, say, hypothetically, what if you and Terry were to start dating?

I don’t know. I wanna say I’d have enough restraint to keep myself from just letting him take me, but at the same time, I don’t know. He’s… Gah, I hate that you’re making me do this. He’s great to look at, and he’s my best friend. He’d never take advantage of me, or anything, so I wouldn’t havta worry about that. I’d have to worry more about me than him.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand if he was right there for you to talk to now, perhaps there to talk to you?

Then I’d feel really fucking silly and probably nervous as hell. Good thing he’s no -

“Hey, Mike,” Terry said. Of course he was there. He looked at me, a smile on his face. A smile I wanted to hug and kiss more and more every day. There were those nerves I was talking about. “What are you doin’ here? Allie asked me to meet her here.”

“Allie asked you?”

“Yeah. Said she’d be here around this time.” He sat down beside me. “So, what are you doin’ here?”

I hugged my legs closer to me. “Oh, just… Allie asked me to come and then dumped me off to go out with her boyfriend.”

“I didn’t know she had a boyfriend.”

“Yeah. Ulrich, or something like that. He moved to the US last year. I only met him once, and I was a boy then. He didn’t even seem to notice me.”

“Oh, sorry about that.”

I shook my head. “Don’t worry about it. I don’t care if her boyfriends notice me.” I looked over at him. He looked kinda nervous sitting there, and of course I thought he looked outrageously cute looking nervous. I’m feeling that, not you, right? I asked Eve.

Well, we both are, but it’s coming more from you than me.

Okay, just wondering.

“You okay?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, just asking Eve a question, is all.”

“How you gonna handle her at school, what with all those guys she’ll wanna fuck?”

Why is he asking that question? Eve demanded.

I ignored her. “It’ll be weird, but I should be able to manage it.” I had an urge to lean over onto him, but I did my best to ignore that, too. “I think Eve’s doing better at keeping herself under control, too.”

“Good.” He looked away from me, then turned back. “Are you wearing lipstick?”

Oh, goddamn me, why’d I forget that? “Uh, yeah. It was Allie’s insistence, she told me I was gonna wear makeup, and I told her I would only wear lipstick.”

“It looks good on you.”

I blushed. “Thanks. I was kinda nervous about it. Then Allie put it on me and I thought it looked stupid, then I sorta felt good about it. That sounds stupid, I know, but it’s… I can’t believe I’m saying this. It’s a girl thing.”

He smiled. “I believe it.”

I smiled at him. “Thanks.”

He put his arm across the bench, and this time I really couldn’t help myself. I snuggled up next to him, but I kept hugging my knees to my chest like I had been doing. All I really did was move closer to him, which didn’t seem to bother him. We sat there for awhile being silent, just watching the river together. I didn’t know moments like this could happen between me and anybody, let alone my best friend.

The sun was starting to go down when I realized I’d snuggled up closer to him. And at about that time, I realized that his arm had moved from the back of the bench to around me and I had no problems with it. Was this really how far I’d come? To not wanting guys to look at me to letting one put his arm around me? Granted, Terry wasn’t just any guy, I’d known him for years, confided hin him when all this had happened to me, won a cosplay competition with him. I felt warm with him holding me the way he was, but not “warm” as in the temperature sense.

I uncurled and snuggled even closer. For some reason, that just felt right, and I couldn’t figure out why. He didn’t seem to mind at all, and simply held me closer still. I could hear his heartbeat, hear the rhythm. It sounded so good. I’d only ever had one real girlfriend in my life, and she’d never wanted to be held the way I did now. How I’d gotten this far, I couldn’t know, but I had found that I was ready for something else, now.

I looked up into Terry’s eyes, he looked down at mine, and I pressed my lips to his. He forced my mouth open with his tongue, and I accepted it. He hugged me close, and I honestly felt like we could actually fuse into a single person, and I really wouldn’t have minded (though, in hindsight, that sounded odd). I moved on top of him, pressed myself against him. I didn’t feel like taking any clothes off, which was good, but I still wanted to be on him. The whole time, we never broke off the kiss.

He kept his one arm around me, his hand on my shoulder. His other hand moved, though. It started on my waist, moved to my hip, then found itself gripping my butt through my shorts. I reached down and moved it off of me, then finally broke off the kiss. “Hey, we were having a moment, and you are not ruining it by fondling me.”

We stared at each other for a second or two before we both burst into laughter. And the laughter led to another kiss, and the first real moment that I enjoyed being female.

Maybe let him fondle you again? It feels way better when it’s consensual.