Fantasy Making of a Starship Captain

Mike and Allyson went back to the passenger section and explained the situation. Or rather, Mike did. Everyone started to panic immediately, yelling things like "WE'RE GOING TO DIE!!!!" and crying and moaning and bitching and wailing, until Mike's voice could suddenly be heard over the din. "QUIET! LISTEN UP!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

Suddenly, it was silent again in the bus.

Mike stared sternly at his fellow students. "You are only going to survive if you stay calm and listen to Allyson and me. Now, for starters, don't put your helmet on until I tell you. You, Nettie, take off your helmet!"

"But the bus is running out of air!" said Nettie Flairs.

"We have to conserve our suit air until we really need it. Now keep your helmets off!"

The air quickly started to get stuffy. The students started to whine. More than once Mike had to yell at a student to keep his helmet off. Finally, an hour or so later, Allyson wearily came over to him. "The air's getting really stuffy, Mike. I don't think we can last much longer." She gasped a little as she spoke.

Mike went forward to check the air gauge. It was down to seven percent.

"All right," said Mike. He felt the air getting stuffy too. It was getting harder and harder to breathe. "Everyone, put on your helmets."

Everyone immediately complied. Mike and Allyson helped students who had trouble putting the snap attachments on.

"Mike, help me, help me, my helmet doesn't stay on!" Shanice cried. She was obviously panicking.

Mike slowly came over to her. "Of course it will. You just have to turn it clockwise to get it to click in." He took her helmet in his hand, and started to rotate it.

"It won't it won't! It's not staying, I don't want to die, Mike-" Click.

"Are you all right now?" Mike asked.

Shanice nodded. "Thank you, Mike."

A few minutes after everyone had their helmets on, Mike went over to Allyson. "We have a new problem."

It was hot, and getting hotter. Not only did the bus provide air, but it kept the temperature cool. They were in direct line of sight of the sun, and would be for days. Ever since the generator failed, the bus had been heating up, rapidly.

Mike went to the airlock. "I'll be right back," he said.

"Where are you going?" Allyson asked. She grabbed his arm.

"I'm just going for a quick look outside," said Mike.

"Mike... I'm scared," said Allyson.

"I am too," said Mike. His gauntleted hand squeezed hers. "Stay here. I'll be right back." He cycled out of the airlock, and before long stood on the face of the Moon.

It was a glorious sight. Mike felt like he could see for miles in every direction. Above him was the Earth. He could see storms swirling over North America. In any other time he would have been captivated by the beauty of it.

But not now. He went around the bus, looking for something. Then he stood at every compass point, north, south, east, and west, and looked again.

Then he returned to the bus.

Allyson was there, anxiously waiting for him once he stepped out of the airlock. "What is it? What did you find?"

"I was looking for shelter. I was hoping the bus itself might provide enough shade for us. It doesn't," said Mike. "But there is an outcropping of rocks, a few hundred feet away. It looks tall enough to shelter us from the sun."

"Mister Fenderson said we were to stay in the bus."

"Allyson, is your suit getting hot?"

"Yes," she said.

"Mine is too. Without power to cool us, this space bus has become an oven. I checked the gauge. It's a hundred thirty degrees inside here."

"Let's vent the remaining atmosphere," said Allyson. "Vacuum has no temperature."

Mike shook his head. "Look at those windows, Allyson. They let light shine directly on us. It's like we're in a frying pan. Vacuum has no temperature, but spacesuits do." He raised his voice. "Everyone, listen up. I found a rock outcropping a few hundred feet away. We can get shade there from the sun."

"Mister Fenderson told us to stay in the bus!" said Mandy Grunwald.

"That was when the oxygenerator was working and the bus could cool us. The situation has changed," said Mike. "We have to take shelter in a place not exposed to the Sun."

"What if we fall through some crumbling soil?" Bernard Tows asked. "What if we cut our suits on some jagged rocks?"

"We'll proceed slowly, moving in a line. I'll go first," said Michael.

"Who put you in charge?" Bernard asked.

"Mister Fenderson did, actually," said Mike cooly.

"You don't know what you're talking about," said Bernard,. "When they come to rescue us, they won't know where to find us. I'm not going to die on the lunar surface." Several students shouted their support.

"Listen to me, everyone, LISTEN!" said Mike. "I am telling you this is your only chance. Follow me, now!" And he turned and headed for the airlock.

Mike slowly depressurized the Space Bus so they wouldn't have to use the airlock over and over. It didn't matter anymore since the oxygen was long since depleted. As the bus was depressurizing, he went into the cockpit and retrieved one of the emergency kits. Manitou had taken the other one. Once the ship had depressurized, Mike stepped out onto the surface, and waited to see who would follow him.

Allyson was the first one out. Then came Shanice Robinson, then Robert Mindrof, and then... one by one, the other students came. Mike took a deep breath as they all came out, all 34 of them, all except one figure, who was hesitating, still on the bus.

"Bernard, come with us, please," said Allyson. The other students tried to coax him, but he wouldn't come.

Mike got the sense that Bernard wanted to go with them, but was afraid to back down, in front of the others. So he went back into the bus and dragged Bernard out.

"Hey, who do you think you are?" Bernard asked, as he let Mike pull him out of the bus. Bernard didn't resist, and in low gravity it wasn't difficult to pull him.

"We're the Survey Service. We don't leave people behind," said Mike.

Bernard grimaced as Mike let go of his arm. "I still think this is a terrible idea," he said.

"Your objection is noted," said Mike. He slung the emergency kit over one shoulder and went over to the ship and opened a compartment. He came out with a long, three foot transaxle rod.

"What are you going to do with that?" Allyson asked.

Mike didn't answer. "Everyone stay behind me. Form a line," he said, as if he were a teacher in a grade school. He watched as everyone formed a line behind him. "Now, only step where I step. You got it?"

He heard positive replies.

"Good." He started forward. Before each step he would poke with his rod. He avoided the spots where his rod went into the ground more than an inch or two.

By that method he led everyone to the rock outcropping. It was a slow process; the rock outcropping, which Mike thought was no more than two hundred feet away, turned out to be more like five hundred feet. It was difficult to judge distances here on this barren surface without landmarks. It took nearly a half hour to get there. But finally they all got there safely, avoiding two areas of crumbly soil that could have swallowed them up.

Everyone relaxed in the shade of the rocks, as much as anyone could relax in a spacesuit on the face of the Moon. It felt much cooler here, and their suits were able to handle the temperature change better.

"You did it," said Allyson.

"Yes," said Mike.

"You know, maybe I was wrong about you," said Allyson.

"About what?" Mike asked.

"Maybe you are Survey Service material after all," said Allyson.

Mike blushed inside his space suit.

"How long do we have?" Allyson asked.

"Less than four hours of air in our suits. Another hour from our emergency supply.... Say four and a half hours."

"Do you think they'll find us?" Allyson asked. "I mean, Mr. Fenderson and the driver should have gotten to Mare Nubium hours ago, right? We should have seen help arrive long before now."

"That's what got me worried too," said Michael. "They should have called Luna City, or the Survey Service. There's a Survey Service base at Mare Sebelius. They always have two short ranged ships fueled at all times for rescues like this."

"How do you know that?"

Michael looked at her. "It's standard Survey Service procedure."

"But they should have been here by now, right?"

"Right," said Michael.

"So... what do we do?"

"We wait," said Michael.

They waited. Michael was proud of his fellow students. They might be panicking, but at least they had the sense to stay in the shaded zone of the rock outcropping. For his part Mike just looked over at the bus, thinking intense thoughts.

They had less than an hour left of air in their spacesuits when they saw the first search ship. They could see it on the horizon, making a circle far above them.

"Hey! Hey!" they yelled, jumping up and down.

But the ship, far above them, didn't see them. And with the continued sunspot activity, they couldn't communicate with it. They watched helplessly as the search ship seemed to almost fly over them, apparently not noticing them.

"We're over here! Come back, come back!" Shanice yelled, jumping up and down. But the ship passed them by.

Michael left the shelter of the outcropping and started running. At first Allyson thought he was running after the search ship.

"Mike, come back, it's already gone!" Allyson cried over the radio.

Mike gave no answer. He knew, as per standard Survey Service search patterns, that the ship would be searching for them in a spiral, and would return again in moments.

"Mike, you're not looking where you're going, you'll sink into loose soil!" Allyson cried.

There was certainly that danger. But Mike had no time to slowly prod the lunar soil in front of him. He had to get back to the ship, now. As he ran, bouncing up and down in the low gravity, he opened the emergency kit he had taken from the bus. Inside of it was a fully charged blaster.

When Mike was three hundred feet from the ship, he heard Allyson's voice. "Mike, the ship is returning. Come back, come back!"

Mike drew his blaster. He got on his knees, and aimed for the back of the bus.

"Mike, what are you doing?"

Mike fired, and felt/saw an energy beam burst out of the tip of the blaster.

But nothing else happened. Mike got up and bounced/ran another hundred feet. He fired again.

Again, nothing happened. If only he had a rifle!

Mike ran closer, this time until he was only fifty feet away. He looked up and saw the search ship above and to the right of him, making another pass. But the spaceship was too high up, and to them he was simply a tiny dot on the surface of the moon; even the space bus was too small to be seen from so high.

And so Mike got on his knees again, and aimed carefully. He was close, too close, but there was no choice. The search ship was starting to head away. He aimed carefully, and fired.

The Space Bus exploded. Naturally, in a vacuum, there was no sound, and no noise. But there was a brilliant flash, one that was impossible to miss.

Mike was smart enough to close his eyes so he wasn't blinded; but the force of the explosion sent him hurtling up into the air (up into the vacuum?), and the last thing he saw was a rock outcropping rushing forward to meet him.

"You are alive."

Mike blinked. Everything was white. He blinked again. He was in a hospital of some sort. He saw Allyson Harshbarger looking at him.

"I... am alive," Mike acknowledged. He rubbed his head. "But I have an aching headache."

"Be glad it wasn't more than that. Your helmet cracked when you hit the rock. We helped sprayed some sealant gel on it to stabilize you until the ship landed," said Allyson.

We. That means it was someone else Allyson didn't want to give credit for. "Thanks for that," said Mike calmly.

"You're welcome."

Allyson looked at Mike with an uncertain look. "How... how did you know?"

"About what?"

"About blowing up the Space Bus?"

"Oh," said Mike. "Well, that was simple enough. We needed a signal, so we could be seen. I knew the bus operated on old fashioned chemical propellant, and that it was highly combustible, even in a vacuum environment. "

"So you blew up the bus to create a distress signal," said Allyson. She shook her head. "I never would have thought of that." She paused. "Without you, we'd have all run out of air before they found us. We'd all be dead."

"Um..." Mike didn't know what to say.

Allyson leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. "Thank you," she said.

Mike's eyebrows were raised. "You're... you're welcome."

It was only later that Mike learned that the bodies of their driver, Clifford Manitou, and their teacher Mister Fenderson were found on the surface of the moon, their oxygen exhausted. They had gotten lost, and from their footprints, had evidently been wandering in circles.

Mike was interviewed by all the major World Government news services. He was treated like a hero. The fact that he was about to enter the Academy in the fall caused his story to generate even more attention.

When he got back to Earth, Sara and Edwin hugged him and told him how proud they were of him. Even Darden was full of praise. "You were incredible, Mike," said Darden. "You kept calm, and you saved them all. I don't know if I could have done that."

Mike was speechless. Darden had never talked to him like that before.

And to top it off, Mike got an award from the Survey Service itself, the "Distinguished Social Citizen Citation", one of the Service's highest awards for a civilian. A Survey Service Captain named Johansen came personally to Mike's home in Cambridge to pin the medal on him, all in front of whirling World Government news holocameras.

Everyone was so proud. Captain Johansen talked with Mike briefly after the ceremony. "Young man, wherever did you get the idea to turn your bus into a signal flare?"

Mike knew he couldn't tell Johansen that he had seen that very maneuver on an episode of Survey Trek. He simply shrugged and said, "It was just an idea I came up with."

"Well, a brilliant one at that," said Johansen. "I'm glad you're joining the Academy. You'll make a fine addition to the service, son," he added, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"See what we've done?" said Ambition, gesturing for Love the Survey Service to look where he was pointing.

They watched as Self-Image looked at himself in the mirror. For the first time he saw a version of Mike who looked confident, with squared shoulders, a gleam in his eye, and his head held high.

"You may think you've won, but you haven't," said Inadequacy, putting an arm on Ambition's shoulder.

Ambition jerked away from his slimy touch. "What do you mean?"

"Just as with anyone, Mike will have ups and downs in his life," said Inadequacy. "Right now he's on an upward trend. Good for him! But bad times can't be far behind."

"You sound like you're looking forward to it," said Ambition.

"Me?" Inadequacy said, pointing a finger at himself. "No, I'm looking out for the boy's best interest. I don't want to see his hopes crushed."

"And the best way to do that, I suppose, is not to have any hopes at all," said Ambition.

"Precisely," said Inadequacy.

Everyone was staring at Mike and whispering about him as he whiled away his last months at Malik Shabazz High School, but now they were talking about him with respect and wonder and they were staring at him with admiration in their eyes. And when some people called him "Captain" now and then, Mike sensed they were doing so in a respectful way. Somehow, improbably, he had become a local hero of sorts.

Girls started to pay more attention to him. Specifically, he noticed that Allyson Harshbarger and her two closest girlfriends, Mandy Grunwald and Gabriella Vensen were constantly staring at him and giggling with each other. What were they saying about him? His curiosity was piqued.

They started talking to him in school. They all seemed to be competing with each other for his attention. Allyson, of course, had talked to him in the past, but Mandy and Gabriella had barely spoken to him in the three and a half years they had been in high school together.

Now all that changed.

Mandy flirted openly with him, telling him how brave and courageous he was. Gabriella told him he was handsome, and that he had adorable eyes. And Allyson... Allyson was actually flirting with him! She smiled at him, but in a new, sexy way, and touched his arm teasingly while she talked to him.

Was it possible that Allyson and her two best friends were all attracted to him?

Gabriella cornered him first. She said that she wanted to thank him for saving her life, and was he available so they could "talk" behind the bleachers after school today?

Mike's heart pounded in his chest as he said yes.

When he met Gaby behind the bleachers, Mike didn't remember doing very much talking. Suddenly her lips were on his, and her body was pressed against him. Gaby had small but firm breasts. She kissed him maniacally, like she couldn't get enough of him.

Part of Mike really didn't understand what was going on. He had said perhaps twenty words to Gaby in his entire life, and 15 of those had been earlier today. And now she was all hot and wild for him. How had this come about?

Mike didn't have time to ask questions as Gaby worked her way under his shirt. She started to fondle his rather flat chest. Mike was always embarrassed that he hadn't developed a muscular chest, but Gaby didn't seem to mind. And then she whispered in his ear, "Do you like it?"

"Yeah," said Mike.

"Then feel me up."

Mike didn't need a second invitation. He tentatively started to feel her through her shirt. He could just feel the outlines of her-

"No, silly. Inside my shirt." Looking annoyed, she took his hand and plunged it under her shirt, and up towards her breasts. Only when his hands were on her breasts, squeezing, did she smile again. "Um, nicer." She said, between kisses.

"Do you like it?" Mike asked anxiously.

"Um hm," said Gaby. "Put your hand under my bra. Feel all of me."

Mike felt like he was living a fantasy. He did as Gaby instructed, and in moments he was feeling her breasts. It was the first time in his life he had touched a woman's breast. Oh, he had once brushed his hand by his Mom, when she was wearing that revealing bathing suit, but that had been purely by accident! And he had felt so embarrassed afterwards....

But there was nothing embarrassing about this. Gaby's small breasts were soft yet firm, like tiny pillows which hadn't been broken in yet. As he fondled them, Gaby saw the effect she was having on him.

"Do you like this, Mikey?"

Mike nodded.

"You'll like them even better after you see them-"

"Gaby?" said a new voice. A deep male voice.

"Oh my God!" said Gaby. She suddenly pulled away from Mike. His hand came sliding out of her shirt, and hers out of his.

Mike turned and saw Allyson Harshbarger standing there with Phil Caruso. Phil was on the football team.

"Gaby, what the fuck?" said Phil, in a really deep voice.

"What's happening?" Mike asked.

"What's happening? You have to ask that, Survey Service hero?" said Phil. "What's happening is you were about to fuck my girlfriend!"

"I... I didn't know," said Mike, suddenly standing up on shaky legs.

Phil walked over to Mike. He had a big barrel chest. He gave Mike an appraising look, staring at his face. "You're the clueless space cadet. I'm sure that's true." He turned to Gaby. "But what's your excuse?"

A moment later, Allyson and Mike watched Phil drag Gaby away by the arm. Both were yelling loudly at each other.

"What just happened here?" Mike asked.

"Phil was looking for Gaby," said Allyson, making an awkward face. "I told him that I thought I saw her near the athletic field. But I didn't know she was with you, Mike." She let her hands roam over his chest. "Please forgive me if I've caused any trouble for you."

"I... it's fine," said Mike. He turned away abruptly. This was all so unsettling. "I have to go." He marched away.

"See you tomorrow in school!" Allyson called after him.

The next day Mandy Grunwald cornered Mike by his locker. "Mike, hi," she said, flashing him a smile.

"Hi," said Mike. Mandy, like Gaby, had barely said three sentences to him in three and a half years. But suddenly she was being quite friendly too.

Mandy very quickly indicated that she was interested in him, and wondered if Mike was available tonight?

Tonight?

Maybe to watch the stars on Librarian Hill?

To watch the stars on Librarian Hill?

Once again, Mike felt like he was living a fantasy. In the second time in two days, a gorgeous girl was throwing herself at him. He couldn't believe his luck. He found himself stammering, "Sure, Mandy."

"Pick me up at 8. See you," she said, smiling as she walked away, swaying her hips.

"Yeah..." said Mike, not realizing there was drool coming out of his mouth.

"Mike."

Mike turned about. Shanice was standing there. Had she seen him talking to...? Of course, she must have. Mike wiped the corner of his mouth self consciously. "Shanice," he said, giving a nervous smile.

"Mike I... I wanted to talk to you," said Shanice.

"About what?" said Mike, once again aware of all eyes on him. Why did girls insist on talking to him in the very public hallways?

"To... apologize," said Shanice.

"Apologize? For, for what?" Mike stammered.

"You know," she said, looking up at him with dark eyes. Her slightly African American bosom had only gotten more prominent over the past three and a half years. It pointed amorously in his direction. "Your... diary."

"Oh. That. From a year ago, when we last talked, you mean."

"Yeah," said Shanice, looking embarrassed. "Listen, I... I maybe overreacted. I mean, any other girl would have been flattered by what you said-"

I want to suck your big black tits and make you SCREAM!

"But, you're not any other girl, Shanice," said Mike, smiling at her a bit nervously.

"Oh, it's so nice of you to say that," she said, petting her thick black hair self consciously. Being somewhat African American, she had curly black hair, but she had straightened it, like many white girls did. It looked simply gorgeous and sparkled in the energy efficient hallway lights. She smiled at him, and he smiled back. She forced herself to go on. "I just... I just want us to be friends again."

"Of course," said Mike. "Definitely."

Shanice smiled. She seemed to be struggling to say something else. "And maybe... maybe we could... get together sometime?"

Was Shanice asking him out on a date?

"We should ask her out! This is the chance of a lifetime!" said Lust.

"No!" said Be Cautious. "We have a date with Mandy tonight!"

"So? We can schedule a date with Shanice tomorrow. We can go out on a date with a different girl each night!" Lust chortled.

"No, you fool, listen!" said Be Cautious. "What happens if Mandy finds out we have a date with Shanice tomorrow?"

"Uhhhh......"

"She may cancel! And she's going to let us take her to Librarian's Hill! Do you really want to put that at risk?"

"Yeah, that would be great," said Mike. "We should get together... sometime."

Shanice smiled. Her smile slowly wilted in stages, after two seconds had passed, then more at the five second mark, and then it disappeared entirely after ten seconds, when she saw that Mike wasn't going to ask her out. She nodded and said, "I'd like that," and turned away.

Mike felt other eyes on him, especially female eyes. What was going on here?

Ten hours later, Mike was sucking on Mandy Grunwald's tits in his air car which was precariously parked at the lookout point on Librarian Hill.

It wasn't entirely unexpected. Mandy was just as eager and aggressive as Gaby had been the day before. Perhaps even more so. After they had been kissing for a few moments, Mandy took off her own shirt. She wasn't wearing a bra underneath. Her breasts were larger than Gaby's and fuller, rounder. As Michael felt their wonderful dimensions Mandy kissed him furiously and whispered in his ear. "Suck them, my darling. Suck my tits and make me scream."

Instead of embarrassing him, her words only drove him to further ardor, and he started sucking on her nipples. To his great delight, Mandy arched her back outwards and moaned. "Ohhh... Oh Mike... you are going to be the best fuck ever... I can simply tell...."

And then bright headlights shined on them for a moment, and another air car pulled up next to them. The door opened and they heard a new voice, a deep voice. "Mandy? Is that you? What the FUCK is going on here?"

Mike stopped sucking on Mandy's nipples. He looked out the window of his car, and saw Randall Travis. Randall, like Phil Caruso, was also on the school football team. Randall opened the door to the back seat, and yanked Mike out by the arm. "What do you think you're doing, little man?" he roared.

"Randall, don't hurt him!" Mandy yelled, as she slid out of the back seat, with her shirt in her hand to cover her bare chest.

"I'm not going to hurt the little man, I'm just going to tenderize him a bit," said Randall. And he aimed a punch at Mike's chest.

Except that Mike's chest was not there. Mike, who had learned to watch for punches years ago, simply moved aside. Randall's fist slammed into the side window of Mike's car. The window shattered, and Randall screamed, as pieces of glass were now embedded in his hand.

"Randall!" Mandy screamed. "You're hurt!"

Randall screamed in pain. "I have to get you to the emergency room!" Mandy bundled him off in the car he came in, and they drove off.

"What just happened here?" Mike said, as he stood alone on Librarian Hill. Only the crickets answered.

"I heard what happened yesterday," said Allyson. "Are you all right, Mike?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Mike. "Can you tell me what's going on here?"

"I can try," said Allyson. "They all want you, Mike."

"They... do?"

"It's the Moon hero thing. You've become, shall we say... a desirable commodity," said Allyson, licking her lips. "Very desirable."

"Gaby and Mandy were attracted to me...."

"You did save their lives on the Moon, Mike. Mine too," she said, putting her hand over his. She looked up at him with dark eyes. "Gaby and Mandy have boyfriends, Mike. But do you want to know a secret?"

"What?" Mike asked.

"I don't have a boyfriend," said Allyson. She smiled coyly at him. "But I wouldn't mind having one." And she started to rub his hand vigorously.

"Any one in particular?" Mike asked, starting to become excited.

"Maybe someone you know," said Allyson, smiling again. She whispered in his ear. "Why don't we get together at my house tonight?"

"Your house?" Mike said, as if the concept of Allyson living in a house were new to him.

"She wants to fuck you! Allyson wants to fuck you blind! Do it, do it!" said Lust.

"This makes absolutely no sense," said Be Cautious. "Allyson has been our competitor from day one."

"We bonded together during the test, remember?" said Perception. "And then on the Moon, we got even closer. She's changed. She wants us."

"I don't trust her!" said Be Cautious.

"This could be our only chance to be with a girl," said Inadequacy. "Remember the stain of what Sister Audra did to us?

"But we're a hero now."

"Today we are. This week we are. Who knows what we will be next week?"

"Sure, I'd love to," said Mike, blushing as he realized he had just said the word 'love'. "But... are... will your parents be home?"

Allyson grinned, making Mike feel even more uncomfortable. "No, they'll be out at a concert. It will just be you and me, loverboy," she said.

Loverboy.

Mike turned a deeper shade of crimson, and he suddenly felt the need to hold his Pad in front of his pants.

Allyson pretended not to notice, which only made Mike even more self conscious. "Eight o'clock, Mike," she asked.

"Uh... yeah," said Mike.

She touched his elbow and smiled again at him. He felt a wild burst of electricity up and down his arm. He barely managed to keep standing as she walked away, smiling back at him, and then he reddened as he realized he had lowered his pad. He hastily faced his locker and readjusted his trousers.

Shanice came over to his table at lunchtime. "What are you doing with Allyson?" she hissed, leaning forward in her low cut shirt. Mike was treated to the sight of her creamy slightly black breasts. He tried to look away but couldn't. "I... uh...."

"Don't trust her, Mike! She's a mean girl!" said Shanice.

"I... uh..."

Shanice sucked her lips in, shook her head, and was gone.

Allyson Harshbarger lived in a large mansion on Bubble Hill, the most exclusive neighborhood of Cambridge. As Mike drove into the circular driveway and past the bubbling fountain in the middle he felt a wave of inadequacy.

She wants me here. She invited me, he kept telling himself.

But when he went to the door, he was greeted with surprise.

An older version of Allyson, a blonde woman in her 40's, answered the door. Allyson's mother.

"Hello," she said, looking confused. "Are you here for a delivery? Deliveries are only made through the servant's entrance."

"He's here for me, Mom," said Allyson, opening the door wider. "This is my friend Mike. Michael Taylor."

"Michael Taylor?" Mrs. Harshbarger looked confused for a moment. "You mean, that Michael Taylor? The boy who you said-"

"That's the one, Mom," said Allyson, giving her mother a warning look.

"Oh," said Mrs. Harshbarger.

Mike watched as confusion played over her face.

"Well, uh, come in, uh... Mike," said Mrs. Harshbarger, looking a bit embarrassed.

And then, if that wasn't embarrassing enough, Mike met Allyson's father. Roger Harshbarger was a tall man with a very square jaw. As he shook Mike's hand he gave him a withering look, which made Mike feel unworthy to be in his presence.

And then Allyson brought him up to her bedroom and closed the door. The minute the door was closed, she kissed him passionately.​