Hidden Charms

"What are you doing?" Cathy had walked in the room with the magazines and scissors that Ian had requested. She brought them over and set them down on the small table in the hotel room.

"Sure, and Oy'm goin' to cut her hair."

Cathy's look of shock bounced back and forth between Ian and Jodi. "Well, isn't that a fine how d'you do." Her higher voice gave her brogue a sing-song quality that Ian's accent had lacked. Ian and Cathy sat down and began flipping through her magazines and looking up a Jodi with a critical eye. Cathy expressed some choices, but Ian rejected them all, until a final flip of the page, and Cathy and Ian were united. Ian went behind Jodi and into the bathroom. Cathy walked over to Jodi and whispered, "Don't worry. He knows what he's doing." All trace of her previous accent was gone.

Ian returned with a comb in a glass of water. He combed her hair repeatedly until it hung wet from her head. "Ian, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Why did you seem so surprised at my third wish yesterday?"

Ian snuck one more look at the picture in the magazine and then came at Jodi with scissors at the ready. "You wished that I was your friend." Snip. "I was going to replace myself with your friend, and then I could escape." Snip. A rye smile curled his lips. "We Leprechauns are tricky like that." Snip, snip. "But you didn't have anyone you truly considered a friend." Snip. "The only choice left for the magic was your original intention, and I became your friend." Ian flashed that infuriating smile again.

"What was the deal with that last wish you offered me?"

Snip. Ian had started off tentatively, but each snip of the scissors seemed to embolden him. He was moving around her now with purpose and confidence. "Ah, that. That is a trap for the greedy. If you had accepted the offer, all your previous wishes would have been undone, and you would have ended up miles from where we were sitting. As your friend, I advised you against taking that wish." He came around and kneeled down in front of Jodi, checking his work intently. Jodi was mesmerized once again by those ice blue eyes. "Go blow dry your hair. There's a dryer in the bathroom. Cathy!" Jodi obediently went to the bathroom as Ian cleaned up the towels and newspapers. Surprisingly, he had not cut very much of her hair.

Two minutes later, Cathy walked in behind Jodi in the bathroom. "Oh, my god!"

Jodi was instantly afraid she had done something wrong. "What?"

Ian came into the bathroom with his eyes alight. "Close your eyes." Jodi complied. She heard the rustling of paper in front of her. "Cathy, which girl is prettier, right or left?"

"Left."

"Jodi, when I tell you to open your eyes, I want your knee-jerk reaction. Which girl is prettier, right or left? Open."

"Left." Jodi's mind instantly rebelled against her conclusion. Ian had torn the page out of the magazine that he was using as a guide and was holding it up against the mirror. The model's face was on the right and Jodi's reflection in the mirror was beside it. The hairstyles were uncannily identical. The only difference was the face. The face in the picture was pretty, yes, but it looked forced. It was almost like they had morphed a 12 year old girl into a look that didn't quite suit her. Jodi's face was framed perfectly. Her hair accentuated the positives and hid her negatives. The lack of makeup, in this case, was a blessing. Jodi was having a hard time recognizing herself in the mirror.

Cathy turned on Ian with her hands on her hips. "When are you gonna do that for me?"

Ian moved to hug Cathy. "How could I ever improve on perfection? Oof!" Cathy repaid the silver-tongued devil by punching him in the stomach, but only hard enough to keep the hug from landing. She quickly made her escape from his clutches.

"You can't stand in front of the mirror all day. Come on."

Jodi pried her eyes away from the mirror. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to the beach!" Ian had a towel and a football in hand.

Jodi would have enjoyed just hanging out in Ian's hotel room. She latched onto the first excuse she could come up with. "I don't have my bathing suit on."

"Let's go get it."

Using tickling fingers as a goad, Ian forced Jodi, laughing and shrieking, back to the beach house and into her bathing suit. Fortunately, Jodi's family had traipsed off on another one of their misadventures, leaving Ian and Jodi the run of the place. Jodi changed into a conservative one piece that did all the wrong things to her figure. She was slim almost to the point of being boyish, but the suit widened her hips, hid the curves of her waist, and drew attention away from her B cup breasts. It also set off her pale skin to the point that Ian wondered if she'd spent some time inside the core of a nuclear reactor.

Ian pulled a bottle of 45 out of his shorts and held it out to Jodi. "Would you do my back?" Jodi poured a puddle of glue-like lotion on her hand and began greasing up her first non-family member. She smoothed on the lotion taking note of the defined muscles in Ian's back. Her hands lingered over his skin much longer than necessary, but Ian didn't seem to mind. Ian broke her concentration by standing up and grabbing the bottle. "Your turn." Jodi blushed as she sat down on the chair. She jumped as he pulled her straps off her shoulders, and her hands went to the top of her suit to keep it from falling down, even though there was no chance of that really happening. All thoughts of modesty disappeared as Ian's lotion covered hands smoothed over her skin. Once he had distributed the lotion on her back, he began to knead the muscles of her back with his hands. Jodi surrendered herself to the delicious pain as her muscles began to relax under Ian's efforts. All too soon, he stopped, and Jodi wiped the drool from her lips as her vision cleared. She was unable to protest as Ian led them out to the beach. After setting up the towels and slathering his arms and legs with copious amounts of sun block, Ian handed the bottle to Jodi.

As Jodi finished protecting herself from the sun, a willowy redhead strolled up the beach toward her. Cathy had been short and cute, but this girl was 5'7" and moved with the grace of a movie star from the golden era. Her auburn tresses were strait and hung to her green bikini top. The only fault Jodi could find with the girl was that her nose was too big, but even then, it gave her face an almost regal line and only served to make her prettier. She picked out a spot on the beach about 10 yards away from Jodi, spread her towel out on the sand and headed for the water. "Is she a...?"

Ian lifted his head to look at Jodi, and then followed her gaze to the girl walking down the beach. "Yes."

"Are all redheads Leprechauns?"

"Yes."

Jodi thought for a moment. "Are all Leprechauns redheaded?

"Yes."

"Really?" Jodi rolled the possibilities around in her mind. "What about redheads born to non-redheaded parents?"

"It's a really tricky situation. We're born with our powers in tact, but without training, they are very hard to use. Redheads without redheaded parents are assigned a mentor to help them deal with their special abilities." Ian turned over and started adding to the freckles on his back.

After about twenty minutes of sunbathing, Ian propped himself up on his elbows. "OK. Time to move."

"Move? What's wrong with this spot?"

"Nothing. You've just been in it too long. Let's throw the football." Ian flipped the ball from one hand to the other.

"You go ahead." Jody rolled over again, trying to keep her burn even.

"You don't understand." Ian dropped the ball into the sand. "You're going to move." Ian held his fingers like claws, pointed them at Jodi's ribs, and slowly moved closer as he wiggled his fingers.

What issued from Jodi could only be described as a "girlie scream". She rolled up onto her feet in an inspired fashion. Ian ran after her, his hands still aiming for her ribs, with a melodramatically evil laugh dripping from his lips. He could have caught her easily, but that was not the point. She finally resigned herself to being tickled and collapsed in the sand near the towels. Ian fell beside her huffing and puffing.

"All that and you're not even going to tickle me?" Jodi didn't sound disappointed.

"It's no fun if you don't run." Ian's breathing had almost returned to normal. "Let's throw the football."

After spending most of the day lying on the beach, playing around in sand, and talking about every topic under the sun, they returned to the Forest's beach house around four o' clock. Jodi even managed a laugh and a smile before her father barreled in the door.

"Where the hell have you been?!" He slammed his keys on the little table by the door.

"I..."

"I've been combing the entire island looking for you!!"

"We were..."

"What you did is inexcusable! I've never..." It quickly became apparent that Jodi was a spectator for a tirade, and not a participant in an argument. Once that realization sank in, the resulting display was much less stressful, and even entertaining. Her father didn't actually need to be in the room to continue. When he moved into the kitchen to grab a beer, maintaining his rant the entire time, Ian turned to Jodi with a smile straight off the Devil's face and disappeared! As the depression in the chair evaporated, Jodi lost track of Ian, until the car keys on the little table disappeared as well. Following a small squeak from the floor, the keys reappeared on the end table beside the couch near the door to the kitchen. The cushions in the chair received their unseen visitor again, and Ian reappeared with a look of absolute innocence on his face.

*

"I'm sorry. That class is full."

Jodi turned away from the table and began re-shuffling her schedule in her head. She understood that upperclassmen needed priority in order to get the classes they needed to graduate, but that should only make the classes she needed for her requirements difficult to get into, not impossible. She walked back toward the center of the gymnasium, her nose firmly buried in the class listings.

Whump. "Excuse me," Jodi said reflexively, as she fought to maintain her balance.

"You and I keep running into each other."

Jodi looked up into Ian's face, wrapped her arms around him, and attempted to squeeze the life out of him, all the while making high-pitched noises that would have driven dogs insane. Her papers fluttered to the floor, forgotten in her excitement.

Ian managed to strangle out, "It's good to see you, too," after disengaging from her strangle hold. They recovered her papers and retreated to a neutral corner of the gym.

"I haven't seen you all summer. What are you doing here?" Jodi asked when they had settled on the bleachers.

"Duh. I'm signing up for classes."

"I didn't know you went to UNCC."

"I didn't...until I transferred." Ian's grin was infuriating.

Jodi could feel her eyes welling up. "Why did you transfer?"

"To be near you, of course."

Jodi's vision blurred as tears started rolling down her cheeks. She wrapped her arms around Ian's neck and cried softly into his neck. When her tears started running down Ian's chest, he pushed her back so he could see her face. "Hey, hey. Why all the crying?"

"That's the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me." Jodi resumed her place draped around Ian's neck and happily cried for five minutes.

"Come on. Let's get the rest of your classes." Ian led her back into the fray.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me about transferring in any of your emails over the summer."

"What can I say? I'm good at keeping secrets."

"Speaking of secrets," said the petite blonde as she glided over to where Ian and Jodi stood. Her features were delicate and her eyes were large and inviting. She moved with an alien grace, and as she came closer, Jodi could see her ears poking out from under her flaxen hair, and they were pointed. "I've got a job for you."

When she came to a halt in front of Ian, her transformation was complete. She radiated nature and sex until it was almost palpable. Jodi had no inclination toward women normally, but she would gladly have followed this girl to any bed she chose. "What do YOU want?" Ian's tone shocked Jodi. She turned on Ian, ready to come to this unknown girl's defense, to find him glaring up at the ceiling with a look of complete resignation on his face. The girl held out two of the smallest, most delicate slippers Jodi had ever seen, and Ian took them with a deep and resentful sigh. The girl turned and glided away, with each step making her more normal and less enthralling. "Come on. I'm thirsty. Let's go get a SPRITE!" The look the girl shot over her shoulder at Ian would have killed most men.

After Jodi had all her classes in order, Ian took her to his apartment off campus. It was a one bedroom with enough space to change your clothes and get a shower, but not much more. "Come in. Make yourself to home. Do you want the tour?" Ian's sarcasm was impossible to miss. He rummaged the tiny shoes out of his backpack and then headed for the bedroom. Jodi had no choice but to follow. Ian placed the shoes on his dresser and pulled a chair up with the seat touching the drawers. He moved swiftly over to his closet and pulled a small, weathered, wooden box from the darkest corner and placed in on the dresser.

"Why do you have dresses in your closet?"

"Huh?" Ian placed the box beside the shoes on his dresser. "Oh, those are for you. I got them because I thought you'd look pretty in them."

"OK. Now your weirding me out." Jodi turned back to the closet examining each of the garments more closely. "Aaahh!!" When she turned back to thank Ian, he was gone. There was, however, a midget standing in the chair, taking small tools out of the wooden box.

When Jodi screamed, the midget turned to regard her. He held out his hands in a calming gesture, placed the tools back in the box, and in a flash, Ian was standing in the chair. One more girlie scream later and Ian was off the chair with his arms wrapped around Jodi. "I'm sorry. I should have warned you about that."

Jodi held onto Ian until the adrenaline had started to ebb from her system. "That's OK. It just surprised me, that's all."

"So which part of this 'weirds you out'? Is it that I'm buying clothes for you, or that this Leprechaun that you are best friends with seems to magically know your size and what colors look best on you because of a wish you made?"

Jodi pulled back from Ian enough to look into his eyes. "I guess you've got a point."

Ian pulled a dress from the closet and handed it to Jodi. "Here. Go try this on. I'm going to change and get this over with." When she returned, Ian had resumed his smaller stature and was in the process of resoling the shoes that the sprite had given him. He was using tiny wooden dowels to secure the new sole to the shoe, and sawing them flush with a small saw. The tools he was using were silver, and far too small to be wielded by normal hands. She watched silently as he gruffed and grumbled through his task. After an hour, the shoes were finished. He replaced the tools in the wooden box and stood to his full height in the chair, which brought him up to Jodi's chin. She instinctively took a step back as he once more popped back to his full height. Ian stepped out of the chair and sat down as a smile slowly crawled across his face.

"What?"

"I was right." He looked Jodi up and down. "You look beautiful in that dress."

Jodi could feel her face heat up at the unfamiliar compliment. "Really?"

"Wear that tomorrow, and I won't be the only one that thinks so."

The next day, after figuring out where all her morning classes were, Jodi actually had a pretty good day. She had stopped by Ian's apartment and changed into the dress before going to class. They had agreed to meet in the cafeteria for lunch.

"So it's not as bad as you thought, is it?" Ian began working on his sandwich in earnest.

"Well, it's only the first day, but I think it's going to be OK. Uh oh." Jodi's face went blank as she looked past Ian. The sprite was moving toward them, with a massive man behind her carrying a backpack that was much too pink to be his.

"Well?" There was no pretext of civility at all.

Ian reached into his bag and pulled out the delicate shoes he had repaired yesterday. He held them out without acknowledging her presence. She took the shoes and glided back into the throng. The huge man followed her much like a pack animal on a tether.

"If there's one thing I can't stand more than sprites, it's their damn 'mules'! I'm done! I'm gonna go wash my hands!" Ian picked up his tray, dumped it in the trash and headed for the restroom.

Jodi returned her attention to her lunch and scanned the crowd.

"Is this seat taken?" Jodi turned to see a young man with blonde hair looking at her expectantly.

"No. Go ahead," Jodi stammered out. He had not picked the chair that Ian had been sitting in, and Jodi had been so surprised that she simply replied factually to his question. She quickly studied him as he sat down. God, he was handsome. Not the best she'd ever seen, but certainly WAY out of her league.

"My name's Mike." He looked at her for a reply. The weight of his gaze was immense.

"I'm Jodi."

"Hi Jodi. It's nice to meet you. Are you a freshman?" Mike started into his sandwich.

"Yes." Jodi could feel herself closing up. She didn't talk to people this good-looking.

"What do you think of your classes so far?"

Jodi surprised herself by actually stringing a few sentences together. During her recitation, she saw Ian standing over by the men's room with his arms crossed over his chest and a smug smile on his face. When their eyes met, he made an encouraging gesture before she returned her attention to Mike.

"That's great. Hey, listen. A bunch of us are going to go out for wings after classes on Friday. Would you like to come along?"

Jodi's mind simply could not comprehend being included in the same company as this beautiful man. "Sure," slipped out before she had any idea what had happened.

"Great. I'll see you at the Wing Stop about 4:30." Mike got up to leave. Jodi's eyes were glued to his face in a panic, trying desperately to explain to him why there was no way she could go out with them, but the words just wouldn't come. "'Bye."

"'Bye."

Ian made his way back to the table as soon as Mike was half way across the cafeteria. "Did what I think just happened...happen?"

Jodi sat trying to combine excitement and terror in much the same way one combines water and electricity. She didn't trust herself to move, but managed a few words. "He asked me out."

Ian's grin threatened to meet at the back of his head. "That's terrific!" he chuckled. "I told you that I wasn't the only one who was going to think you were pretty."

"This is terrible." Ian's enthusiasm had tipped her balance the other way. "What if he wants me to hang out afterward? What if he tries to make a move on me?"

"Well, make sure he wears a condom."

"NO! Damn it!" Jodi let out an exasperated sigh. "I wish sex was fun."

"You know I can't do that for you any more." Ian became more serious. "Besides sex IS fun. There are people who are actually addicted to sex." Jodi's expression was dubious. "Come to my apartment after class and we'll talk about it. OK?" Jodi nodded her head.

The rest of Jodi's day went by in a blur. It seemed as though she sat down in her class and got ready to take notes only to pack her things right back up and head to her next destination. Despite the classes seeming to only last minutes, the afternoon dragged on forever until she finally was released and could head toward Ian's apartment.

Ian opened the door and set her backpack on the floor as he led her to the couch. He settled in beside her and wrapped his arms around her. "Talk to me."