Senior Year Memories Ch. 39

"Don't say that too loud around Brooke," Josie warned. "She will talk you into getting it done. It's like she has a magic power; let her talk enough around you, and you'll find yourself doing whatever she wants because she's just so damn cute."

"It's true," I acknowledged.

"Thanks for the safety tip," April said, looking around briefly before saying. "We'll meet you three over by that claw machine?"

Tori craned her neck to see which of the three disused arcade games across the hall April meant, before saying, "Sure. See you in a sec."

With that, Tori and Josie joined Brooke inside the store, while April and I walked across the hall.

"So... double date, huh?" I said, looking for an icebreaker of my own now that April and I were alone.

"Yeah, pretty much," April replied, looking in the glass box of the claw machine. "I don't recognize any of those characters."

She was right about that. The mostly empty machine had a grand total of three stuffed animals in it, all of which were brightly colored, looked cheaply made, and clearly resembled popular children's cartoon characters without being close enough to inspire lawsuits. They were cute enough in their way, and looked possible to actually pick up, unlike the only other object within the machine.

"Is that a brick?" I asked April, pointing inside.

"Huh," she agreed, looking within. "Yeah, that's definitely a brick."

"I once saw a live raccoon stuck in this machine, but a brick... that's new," I said.

April rolled her eyes. "How has this place not been shut down yet?"

"I have no idea," I replied.

Even so, the siren's call of a claw machine held me in its sway, and soon I was reaching into my pocket for loose quarters to feed into it.

"You're really gonna try for it?" April asked.

"I'm pretty good at these," I replied, pressing a few quarters in, before taking my chance at the controls. "And if they still haven't repaired this machine after the damage they did getting that hornet's nest the game shipped with out of it, I know a trick to get my quarters back even if I lose."

"Hornet's nest?" she said, her eyes growing wide.

I shrugged. "This isn't a very good mall, but I think Brooke might find that purple thing cute."

April sighed, amused. "You are a true romantic, aren't you?"

"Often," I said, inching the claw down and trying to get the stuffed purple thing. The claw missed, but I still had a couple attempts to go.

April watched me make another attempt at the purple thing before saying, "I'm glad you wanted to come today. I'd really like for us all to be friends. Tori... Tori hasn't been the same since Thanksgiving."

"I don't think anyone could be the same after that," I said, guiding the claw in for my final attempt, fully intending to take my time with this one. "I haven't been the same since, either... it feels good, to be trying again. Hopefully get things close to what they used to be."

"And I'm glad to hear that," she continued, looking back to the store, and seeing no chance that our girlfriends might be coming back soon, she turned back to me. "I know there's a lot of history between you two, and throwing all of that out would've been a waste. And, if I'm being honest... I know when it comes to sex, there are times when she needs a guy, and even though I have no interest in them, I know she does sometimes, and I don't want to stop her being who she is just because of me, so... yeah, if she's gonna be messing around with any guy, I'm happy it's you."

It was a heartfelt admission, but in my focus to win a prize, I was distracted and chuckled. "I'm honored."

Only slightly annoyed, April quickly added, "Though, and I know how clichéd I'm going to sound by saying this, if you screw things up and break her heart again, you and me, we'll have some words."

I took my eye off the prize in the claw machine and looked over at Tori's willowy blonde girlfriend, and while it was clear she was joking, I didn't doubt that she might mess me up if anything went wrong again. April clearly loved Tori, and being capable with both trombone and tuba, I knew that even as a tiny band geek, this willowy blonde clearly had some muscle.

"I don't want to screw things up again. I promise," I said.

April must have liked what she heard in my tone, because she nodded conclusively and said, "Good. Because I'd really like to be friends with you. The way Tori says it, you're a really great guy... and I could use some better guys in my life."

"I'd really like to be friends with you too," I said, turning back to the claw machine and making my last attempt. The claw closed around the purple thing, picked it up, and brought it over to the prize area.

"Jackpot," I said as the claw lowered my prize into the retrieval area.

"Nice," April agreed.

The claw machine took a very long time to let go, which April took as an opportunity. "So... do you play D&D?"

I laughed. "Badly."

"Well, Tori and I go to this game sometimes over at Katie Park's house? Rose is a pretty amazing DM, and with Izzy and Katie playing... well, Tori and I could sometimes use some more level-headed assistance, even if that assistance doesn't think they're the best player. Would you be up for joining us sometime soon?" she said, quickly.

I didn't think about my answer for this very long. "Send me the date and time?"

Beaming broadly, April said, "You got it!"

With a mechanical jerk, the claw machine's wire finally retracted. Reaching into the machine, I pulled the purple thing out, and found that, as a bonus, it also had the machine's severed claw still attached to it.

"Man, this place has a lot of problems," April said.

"Yeah..." I admitted, looking over to the earring place. Brooke stormed out of it beaming, her blonde pigtails bouncing joyfully as she ran out with a heavy-looking bag of cheap jewelry. Following shortly behind were Tori and Josie, both of whom seemed to be laughing at some private, good-humored joke.

I finished, "...but it's got its charms, too."

***

Artists worked in a lot of different mediums, from paints and clay, to charcoals and pixels, and as someone with next to no visual artistic ability, I had always felt a certain awe at watching artists who were at the top of their game doing what they did best.

When it came to the art that was shopping, however, the truest da Vinci of the form was without a doubt my tiny blonde girlfriend, Brooke King.

After she had claimed victory at the cheap earring store, she guided our motley group over to a discount clothing shop that had overstuffed racks and shelves, and that she attacked with the same precision and force that Rommel did in North Africa, though she looked a whole lot cuter doing so. She knew exactly where to look, had access to a seemingly infinite supply of coupons on her phone, and knew enough people working the store that she could make sure to get the best deals humanly possible. Seeing her tear through, looking for the cutest of the cute garments was miraculous to watch, though I did feel a little sorry for poor April Martel, dragged along by Brooke in her own particularly unique way of "getting to know you".

I wasn't the only one.

"I should really go save her, shouldn't I?" Tori said with some amusement, watching Brooke dart across an aisle as swiftly as a ghost in a background shot of a haunted house movie, weighed down only by the anchor of the very confused April being dragged behind her by the wrist.

"Give it a few more minutes? I think they're making friends," Josie replied, amused.

"You make a good point," Tori said.

"I know," Josie said, reaching down and squeezing my cock playfully. She was looking particularly playful today, probably from being surrounded by so many lovely girls, and I was looking forward to what that would mean later.

"Though... you're with a girl who doesn't like horror movies? Like, at all? That boggles the mind," Josie added, shaking her head.

If Josie hadn't said it, I would've; Tori and I had grown up sharing cheesy horror flicks, and had bonded over our mutual love and occasional loathing for certain films. That she had gotten together with someone who didn't like to be scared seemed an odd match to say the least, but who was I to question love?

"She's... sensitive, to that sort of stuff. Some of her 'friends' have tried forcing her to watch stuff she wasn't ready for in the past, and it's left her with some scars. She's said she might be interested in trying with me some day, but, that day hasn't come yet," Tori explained.

"Fair, fair," Josie said.

"Brooke was similar," I explained. "Not really into that stuff."

"Really? I doubted anything could phase that girl... what do you mean by *was*?" Tori said.

I continued, "Well, we've been slowly introducing her into some milder stuff, building up her tolerances, and she's really starting to dig it now. We still haven't gone that hard yet, but if you want some help working up April's tolerances, we can always do a movie night with the five of us."

"Though, for you guys, we'll wear clothes," Josie joked.

"Hey, hey, hey, let's not go crazy here..." Tori joked back.

There had been some hesitation between the two of them when we started this double date, but now, it almost seemed like old times at the Puma Press. We may not have been close friends, not yet, not until that strange air of tension had fully worked itself out of our systems, but for now... yeah, we were doing alright.

Tori craned her neck, looking around the store as Brooke blurred between a couple aisles, her mile a minute talking traveling behind her like a sonic boom, while April still traveled behind her, unable to pull herself from Brooke's impressive grip.

"I think I'm finally gonna have to save my girlfriend from your girlfriend," Tori said to Josie and me.

"Good luck," I said.

"Don't rush it too much," Josie suggested, "I can't hear what she's saying, but there's every chance Brooke's talking her into a threesome as we speak."

Tori laughed. "I should only be so lucky."

Tori looked from Brooke and April, back to us, then quickly closed the gap toward me, giving me a quick, but very deep kiss. It felt good to have her body pressed against mine, even if for a brief moment like this. Soon, she gave much the same treatment to Josie, a very, very nice sight by my eyes, before she parted with a goofy smile and darted off into the store.

Josie looked a little thunderstruck by the kiss, but her own goofy smile was soon replaced by a sublimely confident one. "I could get used to you two being friends again."

"Me too," I admitted, a little floaty myself from the aftermath of the kiss.

"Rachel's a way better kisser though," Josie said, playfully jabbing me in the side.

I rolled my eyes. "And then there's this part."

"Come on, you know I'm going to be a sarcastic bitch about this. It's one of the many spices I bring to life," Josie said smiling at me sweetly.

I grinned. "You're in a good mood today."

"You caught that, huh?" Josie said, leaning toward me and smiling brightly. She leaned over just enough that I got a good glimpse of her cleavage, which, with her D-cups, had a way of getting me nice and hard at just a glance.

"I did," I said.

"Well, what's not to be in a good mood about? Rebuilding bridges and friendships, and I've got a girlfriend and boyfriend I love, who really care about me..." Josie said, kissing me quickly.

"I feel like I'm missing a step, not that I mind the kiss," I said.

Josie leaned back away from me, straightening herself out. "Fatima told me you were worried about me, and how things would be with Tori and me, and I just found that very sweet."

"Fatima told you that, huh?" I said, a little nervous, but glad that this seemed to be welcome to Josie.

"Well, first she had to come down from talking about how fucking awesome it was to repeatedly cum on your cock, but, yes," Josie explained, chuckling softly to herself. "And then we might've done some stuff to each other for a while, which felt pretty great too, but then we got to actually talking. Fatima was worried for me too, but you guys can relax. I'm fine. I really am, and it feels so, *so* fucking good to feel this fine. I really like where my life is right now, where *our* lives are... and it feels fucking great."

This filled me with a warmth and love that lit up everything inside of me. I smiled and kissed her, holding that kiss for so long I wondered if my lips might actually take all her black lipstick with me. When we parted, I was happy to see that this wasn't the case.

Smiling mischievously, she bit her lower lip. "You know what else would feel great?"

"What?" I asked, very happy to see where this might go.

"You and me, going to one of those changing rooms in back..." Josie suggested, dropping her voice in a delightfully secretive way. She looked to either side of us, making sure there was no one in sight, then quickly pulled up the bottom of her tight tank top above her tits. From her pale tattooed frame, to her immaculate D-cups with her bullet-hard nipples (her left one pierced by a very shiny bar) and her mischievous grin, I don't think any woman on Earth right then could have torn me away from the goddess that was Josie Wong.

She dropped her tank top back down, then smirked. "So, you in?"

This was not exactly a proposition that required a ton of thought on my end.

"Yes," I said quickly, grabbing her hand and leading her into the back. I had no idea what Josie had in mind, and I didn't need to; all I knew was that she was looking hot as hell today, she wanted me, and I was all too happy to give in to her whims.

I knew that the changing rooms in this store weren't the biggest, but that ever since one of them caught fire two years ago, barely anyone actually used them. It would be private, and though we would still have to keep quiet if we didn't want to get caught, I thought we could manage some good fun.

We almost made it, too, before Brooke, now alone, jumped out from one of the aisles in front of us.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, looking at our urgency and putting two and two together. "Were you two sneakin' off to fuck in one of the changing rooms?"

"Actually I was planning on having him finger me while eating my ass before I blew him, but, yeah, pretty much," Josie said, painting a very enticing picture.

"Oh, cool! Don't wear him out too much, though, 'cause I could, like, totally use some of that too. Can I borrow Ryan for a few seconds with clothes on, first?" Brooke said.

"By all means," Josie said, walking backwards toward the changing rooms with a truly seductive look in her eyes. "Just don't make me wait too long..."

With that, she turned around, then disappeared in back.

"Oh, she's gonna totally give it to ya!" Brooke giggled.

"I was getting that," I said, turning my attention back to my tiny, blonde girlfriend. "What do you need?"

Brooke twirled a finger through one of her pigtails contemplatively. "So, I know we're, like, after Valentine's Day and all that, but I was wondering if you were still playing with that magic spell? You know, the one you did with that witch that's had you, like, fucking all the needy girls in town you can find?"

"I know the one," I laughed. "And I have been doing my part in the cosmic scale of things, looking for those who've been neglected this month and could use some good fun. And even though it's after Valentine's, I'm still keeping an eye out for those in need. Didn't Josie tell you?"

Brooke's blue eyes brightened playfully. "About you and Sabrina? Totally! And by the way, nice! She's, like, insanely hot!"

She held out her fist for a fist bump, and I returned the gesture. "Thanks."

"If I knew it would help me pull in girls like her, I should've gotten into magic, like, ages upon ages upon ages ago..." Brooke said, eyes sparkling.

She was going off on a tangent that likely had nothing to do with why she originally came to me, and while the sight of Brooke made me easily hard, I was horny, and Josie was waiting.

I said, "Brooke? Focus."

Brooke shook her head, as if sending the conflicting thoughts away. "Sorry! Sorry! Just so much cool stuff going around... but, yes, like, I gotta focus, gotta get back on track and tell you what I needed to tell you. Totally... so, like, if I know someone who needs, like, some of your help, you'd totally help them, right?"

"Of course," I said, unhesitating. "Who?"

Brooke pulled her phone from her purse and scrolled through her texts. "You know Kitty? On the cheer squad?"

"Not really," I answered.

"Oh, yeah, right, she wasn't at the orgy, was she?" Brooke said, rolling her eyes at herself. "So, like, she's got a problem that she says she needs your particular set of skills in solving, and wanted me to see if it'd be, like, okey dokey if the two of you talked soon-ish so she could explain to you all that's going on and wrong, and, like, everything. She's super nice, and slutty and has had sex with a lot of the same girls you have, I swear, so, you'll have a lot in common to talk about. And she said she'd buy you In-N-Out just for listening! Should I tell her you'll talk to her?"

I didn't know Kitty from more than just in passing, but if Brooke vouched for her, that was all I needed. "Sure. Give her my number, tell her to hit me up, and I'll be there. I'm never gonna turn down free In-N-Out."

"Goodie!" Brooke said, bouncing up and kissing me on the cheek. "I'll tell her! Now go play with Josie's ass real good, yeah? I, like, totally want the same and don't want you running out of energy or nothin'."

Grinning, I kissed Brooke on the mouth. "You got it."

***

I'll never go out of my way to call Regan Hills a perfect town, but for what it was, it had its charms.

The one thing it didn't have, however, was its own In-N-Out, which meant that, the next day after school, I was powering my bike over to Blair Valley to make this impromptu date that Brooke had sent me on. I had already exchanged a few texts with Kitty, not enough to really get a handle on her personality, but enough to know where I was going. Considering Brooke's endorsement of her friend, I was more than happy to make this journey, but the closer I got to Blair Valley, the more I found myself hoping I'd get maybe a little more out of this meeting than free In-N-Out.

When I stepped inside of the bustling fast-food restaurant, I found 18-year-old Kathleen "Kitty" Stein right away because, really, how many tiny redheads wearing cat-ear headbands are you going to find in the wild? Nevertheless, she waved me over to her booth, smiling, and I came over to sit opposite her.

"Thank you for coming here, your timing's perfect! The food just got here; I hope you don't mind I ordered for you? Brooke gave me your usual order, but if that's not what you want, I'll happily buy you whatever you'd like," Kitty said, smiling politely.

Now, by this time in the year, I'd been with a lot of cheerleaders, and a lot of girls of all shapes and sizes, but truly none quite so tiny as Kitty Stein. At 4'10" and maybe ninety pounds soaking wet, she was the very definition of petite, even smaller than Brooke, and, honestly, seemingly a scale model of most of the other cheerleaders. She was slender and fit, with a preppy style of nice, designer jeans' and a clean, light teal blouse, all of which clung rather tightly to her frame. I was a guy enough to notice that her breasts were on the small side of an A-cup, and that her legs looked quite tight. Her face was quite pretty, with her flaming red hair in a pixie cut, freckles on her high cheeks, an upturned nose, a small mouth with full, pink lips and big green eyes that positively dazzled when she smiled at me.

And, of course, true to her name and reputation, she wore a headband with a pair of cat ears on top. Kitty was an exquisite combination of cute and oddly professional-looking, a mix that promised this meal would be interesting.