Bait and Switch Retype - Complete

I'm wrong.

"How good I am? You can wait? Who do you think you are? God's gift to women?" She's yelling now, and despite how secluded this corner is, people are starting to look. "Just because you've got a monster cock, and know how to use it, doesn't mean that every woman is just going to come crawling to you!"

I have no idea what just happened, but she turns around and stomps away, before I can think of anything else to say. A small crowd has gathered while Julia was yelling, and they're sniggering behind their hands at me; a few women even giving my crotch an appreciative look. Face turning beet red, I flee the scene.

I decide I'd better do some quick damage control, and call Shanna up, but she doesn't answer, so I leave her a message to call me back as soon as possible.

I sense for her switch, and start walking towards her. I'll be late for my next class, but this is more important. Maybe if I talk to her in person, it'll be better. Hopefully I'm in luck, because her 'happy' switch is moving to the on position. Before I'm halfway to where she is, she calls me back.

"I just got off the phone with Julia," are the first words that come through the phone. Dammit, I think, I'm too late. But why is she so happy? "And saw that I'd missed a call from you."

"What did she tell you?" I ask, fearing that the other woman has spun some yarn about me coming on to her, and in order to save their friendship, she's telling Shanna about it. I never seem to know exactly what an angry woman might do. For that matter, I never seem to know what any woman might do. I've seen numerous video game vixens go to extreme lengths to get revenge. Okay, so video games aren't a great example of the average female (Tomb Raider, anyone?), but it's the best I have at the moment.

It takes me a couple seconds to process what Shanna tells me, however.

"She says that she tried to come on to you, and that you turned her away, because you care for me too much." I can hear a slight undertone of excitement in her voice, as I attempt to comprehend the turnaround of what I'd thought Julia had said. "She says that you're completely worthy of my trust, and that I shouldn't hold back anymore, with you. Is that what happened?"

"Uh. . .well. . ." I say stupidly, still trying to switch tracks, "yeah. Yes, it is. I'm so sorry you can't trust her after all. I'd truly hoped that you and she could be friends again."

Shanna laughs lightly on the other end of the phone, and while I enjoy the sound of it, a pit starts to form in my stomach, as a few thoughts seem to clink into place.

"You were testing me," I accuse, knowing already that it's true, and feeling my anger rise, because of it. Here I am, refusing to manipulate others, despite how easy it is for me to do so with my switches, and yet she turns around and does it to me.

"Please don't be mad at me," she pleads, and I feel her happy switch drop a little at my anger. "I needed to know that I can trust you, and now I do."

"And if we're together five years from now, will you test me again?" I shoot back at her. "Trust needs to be earned, not tested. I trusted you, despite the fact that you never want to be official with me." I know I'm being unfair to her. I have been sleeping around, and she really doesn't deserve my anger, but I hate being manipulated. The irony of the situation isn't lost to me. And the stress of the demons, my children with Lela, and even the other female angels, all seem to come to a head right now. "With all of this lack of trust, how do I know I can trust you?" The words are out of my mouth, and I know them for the mistake they are immediately, but it's too late to take them back.

That one thought, that single word, 'manipulated,' crosses my mind, and I have to start laughing. All of my efforts to refrain from doing it to other people, and here it's happening to me. I suppose this is payback for what I'd done to Gina, Nancy, and Professor Frankens, and can't help but laugh at the irony of it all.

Still laughing, I hang up the phone. For a second, I debate on walking to her, or walking away. Making up my mind, I start moving, ignoring my phone as it starts to vibrate.

Shanna sees me coming, and I can see that she's been crying. It's still a bit of a shock to see her with her hair dyed red, and I wonder if she's going to go back to her natural color, or not. I feel bad for causing those tears, but know I'm going to be causing some more shortly.

She throws her arms around me as I get close, and starts to sob against my shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Nick. I didn't think you would be upset. It was stupid of me and I shouldn't have done it. Please, forgive me!" she pleads, and my stomach sinks, but I have to follow through.

Placing my hands on her shoulders, I gently push her away.

"No, Shanna," I tell her softly, "you did the right thing." She looks up at me with hope in her eyes, and I hate myself for what I'm about to do. Maybe the demons will kill me, I think, and then I'll be doing her a favor. "I haven't been faithful to you." I see the hurt start in her eyes, but I continue, knowing that I must. "You didn't want us to be official, so we weren't."

"But. . .but I love you," she pleads with me, a split second before I feel her slap on my face. I know I deserve it, but it still stings.

"There's more," I say, deciding to come completely clean with her.

"No, I don't want to hear it," she tells me through a fresh set of tears. She tries to turn and run away from me, but I'm not going to let her. I don't know why, but something in me wants her to understand. She is the one person that I can completely be my geeky self with; the one person that I don't need to hide my love of anime and sci-fi from, and can actually play a decent video game against. Okay, so truth be told, she's probably better than me at games, but that only makes what I feel I need to do, all the worse.

"Please," I say softly, and that one soft word seems to stop her from walking away.

"Who—who is it?" she says, sniffling.

"Can we go somewhere private? I promise to tell you everything." She looks at me accusingly, and I remember Julia asking me that same question not that long ago.

Silently she turns and starts walking. I hurry to walk next to her, trying to match her fast pace. I remain quiet as we walk, not sure what to say quite yet, but trying to organize everything in my head. When I see that we're heading to the parking lot, I begin to worry that she intends to get in her car and drive off. When we get to her vehicle, however, she unlocks the door, and waits for me to get in the passenger seat. It isn't going to get much more private than this, right now.

"So start talking," she tells me, her voice stiff with emotion. She's sitting with her hands in her lap, and staring into her steering wheel, as if it might impart some wisdom to her.

"Before that night in the freezer, I slept with Gina, from Professor Frankens's class," I begin.

"That was before we were together in the freezer. It doesn't count," she tells me stiffly.

"No, it doesn't, but it didn't stop that night," I reply. "You already know about your sister, at the party. . ." I tell her everyone I've been with, holding nothing back, even telling her about my sister, mother, and Donna Frankens. She sits in silence, through it all, until I mention Lela.

"Wait, you want me to believe you've been with an alien? Do you think I'm stupid?" Her eyes flash angrily at me, but her tone is oddly soft, and sounds all the more dangerous for it.

"No, I think you are the smartest woman I know." I tell her carefully, but meaning every word. Well, at least the smartest in my age group. "I can prove it," I tell her, and her eyes lift in disbelief. "She gave me an ability that I think of as switches. Anything I can conceive of as a switch, I can affect. I can also sense those switches. That's how I'm always able to tell you apart from your sister. I made a switch in you, but not one in her. That's why you could never trick me, after the party."

"You made a switch in me?" she asks, obviously not believing me. "And what does it do, make me fall stupidly in love with you?" The bitter quality to her tone feels like a knife digging into my chest, but at least she's listening.

"No. I think of it as a 'happy' switch. If I move it, you'll feel happier," I tell her, while looking shamefully at my hands.

"So why don't you move it now, and just make me happy? Come on. I'm tired of feeling angry, and hurt, and sad, and betrayed. If you really have this ability, make me happy," she demands of me, but I'm not going to cheat at this. Her emotion is genuine, and I don't care to create fake feelings in her.

"I won't manipulate you like that. I've never used that switch, other than to sense whether I'm dealing with you, or your sister. I can still prove it, though," I hurriedly tell her, as I sense her anger rising. I think for only a split second, and her car starts up. It's too easy for me to do it, as I've been starting cars since practically the first day.

Shanna jumps when her car starts, and she digs the keys out of her pocket. She looks from her steering wheel, to her keys, and back to me for a few seconds, before she can gather enough words to speak.

"That's a fluke. Some trick you're playing on me. Did you install one of those automatic starters when I wasn't paying attention?" I know she is just trying to rationalize everything.

I shake my head, and just for theatrics, snap my fingers and turn her car off. Her eyes grow wide, and I know I have her complete attention now.

"Okay, so you have some strange power. I still say you should prove it by making me happy," she says, obviously still upset with me.

"I don't want to manipulate you," I try explaining to her again, but she won't have it. Sighing with resignation, I start to push against her 'happy' switch. It takes some serious effort to move it. I think it's because she's primed against it. The simple fact that it moves at all, shows how much I've grown in power over the last few weeks. Once it starts to move, however, I notice an immediate change in her demeanor, and it becomes easier and easier to move. "See," I tell her, once I have it all the way on, "You're happy now. Satisfied?"

"Oh my. . . I. . .I can't believe it. I AM happy. I was so angry a moment ago, but you really can do it!" she nearly titters.

Not feeling comfortable with myself, or what I've done, I start to move the switch back off, but she stops me, sensing what I'm doing. "Don't you dare take this away! Okay, you want me to believe, I believe. Just don't take this away. You're better than an anti-depressant." She looks at me with a slight smile on her lips, but it slowly straightens out on its own. "You still cheated on me though. . ."

Feeling sick and disgusted, the words are out of my mouth before I can stop them. "I didn't cheat, because we weren't officially together. I tried to ask you numerous times, and you kept telling me 'no'."

She drops her chin to her chest, as she contemplates that, and I feel her 'happy' switch slip a little more. "You're right. If you'd have said that a few minutes ago, I probably would have blown up, but I can handle it now. You may think of it as manipulating me, and it probably is, but I want you to know that I appreciate you moving that. . . switch." She looks back up at me then, before asking, "Are there any other switches in me?"

This time it's me that breaks the gaze, and I nod. "Two others," I murmur, feeling her 'happy' switch drop a little more.

"And what do these other switches do?" Her tone is level, but I can feel the ice beneath.

"Remember how nervous you were before Professor Frankens's final?" I wait for her nod, before continuing. "I made them to help you remember things easier, and to increase your confidence."

Her emotional switch ticks up a bit, but oddly her words are juxtaposed with her emotions. "I thought you didn't want to manipulate me?"

"I wasn't manipulating you," I defend myself. "I gained nothing by helping you out. You were so worried, but I knew you could pass it on your own. I just tried to give you a bit of a boost, is all."

She doesn't respond for awhile, and her switch doesn't give me any clues as to what she might be thinking, either. Finally after a few minutes she asks, "I don't understand why this alien gave you this ability, though. Is it just to mess with the human race?"

I'm glad she's sitting down, as I know the next part might be the hardest to explain, and believe. "No, she did it to try to save all of us." I explain to her about the demons, how they gained their technology, and then turned and used it against their teachers, the angels. "The demons will be here in a month," I conclude.

"And you're supposed to be able to stop them with these switches of yours? How are you going to do that? Make them all happy? Start their cars?" She asks me, and despite the guilt I feel for using her switch, I'm glad it's removed most of her anger.

"My sister, Summer, has the same gene I do, but her ability is different. She magnifies my ability, but in order to do so, we have to be touching." I tell her, fearing her wrath will return.

"Touching? How much touching?" she asks hesitantly, and I know she is thinking about me being with Summer.

I take a deep breath before answering. "The more contact we have, the more powerful my ability, and the easier it is to both sense, and manipulate my switches." I tell her about what happened with my father, as an example.

She is silent for a long time, and I'm afraid she is going to blow up. When she finally speaks, it's with a calm I don't expect. "You mean sex."

"Not if I don't have to," I tell her. "If I can do it without having to resort to that, then I won't go that far."

"You're not stupid, Nick," she berates me instantly. "I know in anime and on TV they always wait till the last second to use their full power, but that doesn't mean you have to. Besides, it's not like you haven't already slept with her." She surprises me by grabbing my hand and looking fiercely into my eyes. "If I've ever meant anything to you, then I only ask one thing."

"You do mean something to me," I promise her. "That's why I'm telling you all of this. I also trust you. I've never told anyone all of this. Gina knows about my ability, but she doesn't know about Lela, or the demons. Summer only knows because of her ability. I want you to understand. . . No, I need to you see what I am up against."

She shakes her head at that. "No, I know you can make me forget if you have to, by using one of your switches, and don't tell me you wouldn't, because you don't want to manipulate me." I marvel at how smart this woman is, and how well she knows me. "I love you, Nick, and I don't want to lose you." She pauses to take a breath to steady herself, before continuing. "I want to be there, when you fight against these demons."

I open my mouth to protest that it will be too dangerous. That Lela's ship will be the first casualty if I fail, but she covers my mouth with her hand. "I'll be there, or we're through." She moves my head up and down, forcing me to agree with it, and I can't help but laugh. "Now get out of my car. I have a lot to think about, and I want to make sure they're my own thoughts." I know she doesn't think I can actually control her thoughts, but understand her motives. Well, most of them at least.

Silently I step out, knowing that she needs her space. I've done all that I can. The rest is up to her. Before she pulls away, she rolls down the window and leans over. "Oh, and Nick, all of the others stop, unless I'm there." She speeds away before I can answer.

I don't look forward to breaking it off with Gina, but know that I can give up the rest with minimal pain. I ask myself why I'm willing to put up with something like this. I mean, I can have any woman in the world, with my switches. Sure it would take some work, and I'd have to get over my hang-up about manipulating others, but still. . .

But Shanna is the first woman to like me, for me. She is also a geek on my own level. And I truly do care about her.

I turn my steps towards home, and start trudging.

 

Chapter 20

I find Robin and Dennis sitting in the main room of the apartment, when I get home. They're watching TV and not screwing, which I'm thankful for, considering the conversation I'd just had with Shanna.

Dennis greets me as I walk in the door. "There you are," he acts like he hasn't seen me in days. "Have you been watching the news?"

"About the satellite?" I ask, fairly sure I know where he's going, and not really wanting to think about it. Flashes of the demon scout ship blowing up run through my mind, and I do my best to squash them.

"No, about some of those freaks with abilities," he corrects me. I can feel my temper start to rise at the mention of freaks, but I quickly get myself under control. Doesn't he understand that one of those freaks is standing right in front of him, and may be the only thing standing between him and annihilation? Of course he doesn't. "Looks like someone's been going around, burning and killing them." He looks at me closely, before continuing, "Are you alright?"

Nodding, as I head to my room, I feel sick, wondering who might be doing that.

"Oh yeah, hey," my roommate suddenly says, stopping me, "did I see you coming out of Mrs. Polkin's office earlier?"

I'd almost forgotten about the terrific deep throat I'd gotten in her office, until now. It's a better thought than thinking about people getting burned up, or having to break things off with Gina. "Yeah, I got a small cut on my hand, and she insisted she take a look at it. It turned out to be nothing, though." I show Robin and him my clean, undamaged palm.

"Is it true what their saying?" Robin asks me excitedly, leaning on the arm of the chair to grin up at me. I have no idea what she's talking about, until she continues. "That she's giving blowjobs to every guy that goes in there," the redhead clarifies. I feel my face turning red, and know that they have their answer, as I go to my room, accompanied by their snickers.

I have to work tonight, so I jump in the shower, and furiously clean up. Sometimes I hate showering before work, knowing that I will need another one, after working at the grill, but I hate going to work dirty, also. I should've asked if Shanna has to work, but it hadn't crossed my mind at the time, and I don't dare call to find out. She's made it clear she'll talk to me when she's ready.

I think about what Dennis had say about Mrs. Polkins. Have my switches turned her into a nymphomaniac, or just given her the ability to live out that lifestyle? She'd told me that she used to be a swinger with her late husband. I wonder if she had suppressed her sexuality in her older age, until I'd helped her body feel younger with my switches.

It's my first night back to work, since I'd left for Winter break, and Shanna is working tonight, though she doesn't pay me much attention. I try to talk to her, but she only gives me a small smile, before turning, her dyed red hair flinging out as she walks away. It hurts to be treated like that after pouring my life out to her earlier, but there is little I can do about it, short of using my switches. A quick sense of her 'happy' switch, informs me that she's a little more happy than not, which is at least something. Unless she's happy at me being miserable? Naw, that's not like her.

Bradley is just as ornery as ever, however. There's a new waiter, which he actually makes cry, after he'd made a simple drink order mistake. There's another mistake on one of Shanna's tables, and when Bradley starts to chew her out, I step up, and claim it'd been my mistake.

"Sorry, Bradley, I misread the order. It's not her fault." It really had been her fault, but I'm trying to win her back over, though with the way she's treating me tonight, I'm not sure why I'm bothering.