“Like I am in puppy love with Nat but am chasing Jimmy SINCE Nat hates me”

Nat came in through the French doors, titanium laptop under his arm as if it were a surf board.  Jessy’s mouth snapped shut and she glanced at her reflection in the little compact mirror.  She fluffed her hair.  Brittany as wedged in one corner of the couch, an open book on her knees, the audience for Jessy’s little story.

“Hey,” Nat said, plopping down into his chair.

Brittany jumped, caught her book before it hit the floor and smiled at Nat.

“Hello, Nat!” she said without a stutter.

Jessy pointedly ignored the boy.

“Whatcha readin' Brit?” he asked, opening the laptop.

Brittany smiled at Nat, "One of our t-text books. Our math one."

Jessy patted Brittany on the knee and said “Guess we can go to the boardwalk later.”

“You gotta boardwalk here too?” Nat said, mildly interested.

“Nope,” Jessy said,  “going to bike in.  I have a friend I want to see plus I want to find just the right outfit to wear to my party.

Nat felt her eyes on him and looked up.

“Nat you are going to come to my birthday party . . . right?”

“I’m going,” Brittany said.

Nat shrugged and Jessy pulled a rolled up Fredrick’s of Hollywood catalog from her back pocket.  She flipped to a set of full length pictures of a sleek and very revealing formal gown.  One picture showed the back, cut all the way down to the very top of the girl’s ass, the other showing the plunge in the front to her navel.  There was an invitingly wide gap between the breasts.

“You guys think I would look good in this?”

Nat barely glanced at the pictures then lifted his shoulders.

               “Brittany?  What do you think?”  Jessy turned the catalog to her and Brittany’s eyes grew wide.  “Some guys think I am pretty, even bad guys.  I was at the beach in town and meet this person and we went to have lunch and while we were waiting this guy came in and grabbed me and then daddy showed up and told me it was a guy named Shockwave.  So even old dudes think I am cute!”

               Nat tapped away on the laptop.

"Y-y-y-you ARE pr-pr-pretty J-j-jessy. Y-y-you think I sh-sh-should get a dr-dr-dress too?"  Brittany seemed a little surprised by the idea Jessy might be asking her opinion.

“SURE!” Jessy said, brightly.  “We can to go shopping together!”

Brittany stared at her, wide-eyed.

“Yeah, we can go on the bike together,” she suggested.  “We can get Spock to yank him along.”  She jerked a thumb at Nat.

Brittany disappeared the reappeared in several places around the room, returning almost instantly to the couch sans book.

“I'm not crazy enough to go shopping with two girls . . .” Nat assured her.

“Oh, yes you are,” Jessy said.  “You got to get an outfit too!”

Brittany, all smiles but still displaying a little nervousness said “I like y-y-your bike. But is th-th-there enough room for all thr-thr-three?"

Nat raised both eyebrows “I don’t think so.”

“Like I said we will get Spock to drag him over to us,” Jessy said to Brittany.  “After all we need someone to carry the boxes.”

“Not a pack mule,” Nat called, his tone neutral.

"I d-d-don't th-th-think we need th-th-that many clothes?"  Brittany said, thinking of her allowance.

“Plus the places I want to go are all on the boardwalk,” she said then added after a pause.  “Off the BEACH.”  Again she paused for her words to sink in.  “With all them waves.”  Her tone changed to pretend fear. “ And what if that Shockwave comes back?!”

Brittany looked worried.

“I want TALL and MEAN with ME.” She said, eyeing Nat.

“Which beach?” he said at last.

“Malibu.”

Jessy winked at Brittany.

"Come on N-n-nat. No kn-kn-knowing what might be out th-th-there."  Brittany added.

Jessy flipped to bathing suits.

“What do you think if I change the party theme to beach bunnies?” she said, inspecting the catalog’s offerings.  “I was going to go formal but I think I like this swim suit better than the gown!”  She turned the book to Brittany who instantly blushed from head to toe.

“B-b-beach b-b-bunnies? Do you think they will allow it?" She asked then said.  “Th-th-that would look good on y-y-you J-j-jessy."

Archer opened the double doors into the student common room and stepped through, followed by a girl.

All three blinked.  Nat wondered if Halloween had come really early.  The girl looked to be his age plus or minus a year or two and everything she wore was leather.  Not Ian-type black leather but a softer doeskin.  Whatever it was had left her shoulders bare though the long sleeves touched her knuckles.  It formed a type of dress but the entire front was nothing more than a lattice of wide straps that permitted a good view of shapely legs that where sheathed in thigh top stockings trimmed with lace and . . . well . . . it LOOKED like she was naked otherwise.

Her hair had to be as long as Raven’s but it was braided in a half dozen braided that hung equally spaced around her head.  In the front her bangs covered one side of her face like a veil but didn’t hide her beauty.

She smiled.

“Everybody, this is Kimi.” Archer said, stepping back to allow the girl to enter.

Something moved across the ceiling then hung by one clawed foot.   It was blue and furry, with bat ears and a koala face.  It grinned down at the girl.

“Hi, Kimi,” it said.  “Want some left shoes?”

Jessy looked up at the creature and grinned.  “Stitch!”

“Jessy!” The creature released its hold on the ceiling and dropped.  Jessy caught it deftly and cradled it like a baby.

Kimi glanced around the room. "Hi." she says quietly.

Jessy hugged the blue furry but it fought against her, coming up for air and gazing at Kimi with soulful brown eyes.

“Hi Kimi!”  It said.  “Want to go play?”

Brittany appeared beside Archer and hugged his waist.  He put a hand on her blonde head and smiled down at her.  “Hey, sweetie.”

Kimi smiled at the blue thing.  "What do you want to play?"

“Kimi,” Archer said.  “This is Brittany, that’s Jessy, your blue friend is Matt and over there is . . .”

Nat stood to his full height.  “I’m Nat.  Hey, Kimi.”

“Nat, I don’t believe you’ve met Matt yet.” Archer said.  “I think he prefers Stitch though.”

“Hi S-s-s-stitch." Brittany stuttered, looking at the little animal with wide eyes.

“I just got myself a big box of towels!” The furry blue thing snickered.  “Want to go rock climbing?”

Nat glanced from Stitch to Kimi and back.  “Box of towels?”

Kimi giggled. "I don't think I'm up to rock climbing today, but thank you for the offer." She held out a hand to Brittany.  "It's nice to meet you."

Jessy sighed, her gaze locked on Nat with a dreamy look.

“Umm . . . hi, Stitch?”  Nat said to the talking plush toy with a confused look on his face.

“Did you like my movie!?” the thing asked.

Jessy snorted a laugh.

Kimi seemed to glide over to Nat and the glimpses of her through the lattice of leather made him blush until he realized she wore a bodysuit under the exact color of her skin.

 She looked up at him.  "Hi. How big are you?"

Nat grinned suddenly at Kimi. "You want the clean version or the dirty one?"

"The clean,” she blushed.  “for now."

“Seven two then.” He said.

“Okay!  No rock climbing.”  Stitch sounded truly disappointed.  “How about tree climbing?” He suggested brightly.  “There are some nice ones in the back!”

“Rock climbing's sc-sc-scarry.” Brittany stammered.  “J-j-jessy is th-th-thinking of going sh-sh-shopping for her b-b-birthday. Sh-sh-she th-th-thinking of a b-b-beach party t-t-type th-th-theme."

 “My guardian is about eight foot tall,” Kimi said with a nod.

Stitch snorted.  “Why do you want tall and pale when you can have cute and fluffy!

Brittany giggled at the small blue creature and tentatively reached over and stroked the fur between its ears.  Stitch immediately jumped into Brittany's arms, catching her off guard but her reflexes didn’t fail her.

“I like you!” he purred, rubbing his cheek against her chest.

“Guardian?” Nat said. 

Kimi looked at Stitch, oddly, suspiciously.

“Rock climbing can be scary." She said to Brittany.

The girl nodded so fast her face became a blur.  “Cl-cl-climbing can be d-d-dangerous."  She looked down at the little fuzzy thing cuddled to her breast.  “He’s not scary though.” She nuzzled his ears and they rotated like little RADAR antennas.

Kimi turned her attention back to Nat.

“Yeah, I have a guardian, no parents.  The good old U.S. of A doesn't generally allow minors to live without them.”

“Yea!  Danger! That's the fun of it.” Stitch wiggled onto his back, exposing his belly which Brittany promptly scratched like she would a cat.  “Why be safe all the time? I don't know about you but I don't like padded rooms.”

“Um . . . your Guardian like us?” Nat said.

“Well,” Kimi sighed.  “He was possessed by a demon, but mostly he's like us.  Just eight feet tall with a prehensile tail and fangs.

Stitch batted at Brittany’s hand just like a kitten.

Nat’s eyes widened.  "Demon?"

Jessy shrugged.  “Death Maiden is a half demon.”  She said it like it was the most common thing in the world.

“Well,” Kimi drawled.  “He hasn’t been RECENTLY.  He’s not fun to live around THEN.”

“Padded rooms safe though. Can't hurt yourself but n-n-not a way t-t-to live. I can swim...s-s-sort of. I can climb..sort off.."  Brittany rocked Stitch.

"Nikki is cool" Kimi assured them.

“Demons, half-demon, angel . . . elves . . . talking blue koalas . . .good grief.”  Nat sighed.

Brittany shifted her attention from blue plushie to Kimi.

"Demons aren't th-th-that nice. Elves are n-n-nice. Long-lived too."

“Now me,”  Kimi said with personal emphasis.  “I'm just a mutant, but I've lived with an elf, a medieval princess and a psiborg.”

Jessy shrank back, moving herself out of the conversation.

“Cyborg?”  Nat said.

No, a PSIborg.”  Kimi said.

Brittany was all ears, fascinated by the newcomers experiences.

“That was actually his name too but he didn’t stick around too long, just came by to visit.

Nat shook his head.  “And I just surf the Silverstrand.”

“When’s the PARTY?” Stitch chirped.

“Surf the Silverstrand?” Kimi cocked her head.

“One of the beaches in San Diego . . . “ Nat replied.

Brittany shrugged, bouncing Stitch up and down.  “Not s-sure. J-j-essy didn't s-say."

“Umm . . . what's your powers Kimi?  Nat tried to imagine her on fire or something.

“Shape-shifter,” she replied.

Stitch was instantly standing on Brittany’s arm, leaning toward Kimi.  “You CAN?!?  What can you turn into?!?”

Nat whispered.  “Cool!”

Brittany blinked rapidly.  “A sh-sh-shapesh-sh-shifter?? What can y-y-you turn into?"

Kimi grinned. "A few animals, a dinosaur. I seem to pick them up as I go along."

“Dinosaur?” Nat said then whispered. "Wow"

The girl shook her head.

“Yeah, if you have a choice about it, don't go to the Savage Land"

“Cool!”  Stitch said, almost drooling.  “T-Rex? Or just Raptors?”

“Just a raptor.”

Brittany nodded, "I can move very fast . . ."  There was a blur of motion and everything in the common room was put away, the tables dusted and the pillows fluffed.

Nat muttered.  "Speed demon, shape-shifters, earth merging . . . "

"Like Quicksilver!”  That’s COOL, Brittany!”  Kimi looked up at Nat.  “What're your powers Nat?"

He shrugged “I'm strong."

“Trust me,  that can come in handy."  She said then smiled at him.  "And you are tall."

               “Yeah, real handsomely tall,” Jessy interjected.

“Not handsome, lankly and pale,” Stitch snapped.

“He is not Stitch.” Jessy objected.  “He is tall and handsome.  ‘Course you are blue and adorable!”

“Do you have a lot of talking animals around here, Jessy?”  Nat asked.

“Stitch is a student not an animal,” she replied.  “You should be careful who you are calling names, Nat.”

“Yea, I'm in tenth grade!” Stitch said proudly.

“Did I call Stitch an animal?”  He said, innocently.

“You might wanna note.  Nicky is afraid of Stitch.” She said.  “He stole all his left shoes and backed up the toilet in his bedroom.”

“Would I do a thing like that?” The little blue guy said, imitating Nat’s tone.

Kimi’s head swiveled as if she were watching a ping pong tournament.

Brittany leaned down to her bundle of fuzz and whispered “Did y-y-you really do th-th-that?"

Stitch nodded solemnly and then rubbed his head against her chest.  “Forgive me?”

Brittany giggled then scolded softly, "Y-y-you really sh-sh-shouldn't. Even if it IS funny."

“Ok, I won't . . . “ Stitch said with a straight face.  “Want a shoe?”

Both Kimi and Brittany laughed.

“Sing me a lullaby,” Stitch demanded, falling back into Brittany’s arms.

               The girl giggled then in a soft quiet voice began to sing.  Only Jessy recognized the song as an elvish lullaby her father used to sing and she smiled.  Stitch, however, slowly drifted off to sleep.

               Nat whispered to Kimi.  “Tall isn't all it's cracked up to be . . . you bang your head on everything and people are scared of you.”

               “I’m not scared of you,” Kimi said.  “And being short isn't either.”

Stitch opened one eye and said  “Short is GREAT.  I bet you wish you were CUTE and FLUFFY!”

Brittany, the shortest in the room save Stitch, giggled at the blue creature.

“Fur would be nice . . . ‘specially ssssssoft blue fur!”  Then he giggled as Brittany tickled his belly.

“Stitch, you aren’t SHORT, you are TINY!” Kimi said.

Brittany glanced at Jessy, sitting back in the corner.  "We sh-sh-should find out wh-wh-what Jessy has planned for her b-b-birthday."

“I asked mom to get a few groups to play at my party,” Jessy said.  “And have all the school come and get some of the people I met to attend and lots of food and pop  and a kissing booth.”

Brittany made a face. “Kissing YUCK!!  Only the older students liked THAT sort of thing!”

Stitch grinned from ear to ear.

“Yeah . . . I am older,” Jessy reminded Brittany.

Nat sat back down in his chair and picked up the laptop.

“Want to go to town?” said Stitch.  “I know of this great abandoned lot in the warehouse district.”