"I see. Yeah. I know Kristen…"
A bit of a pause. "Yeah. Maybe Friday…"
"Yeah, we’ll also see each other in school. You have Mrs. Taylor for English?"
"Third period? Me too!"
"Cool. So, if Friday doesn’t work out…"
"OK, Jackie. It was nice talking…"
Camille hung up the phone, and had a victorious smile on her face. "Jackie can’t meet me at the mall because she’s gonna be there with Kristen and you know how Kristen is about who she hangs out with, right?"
"Kristen will be at the mall?" Patty asked. "What time?"
"Around three. I tried not to sound too interested in Kristen."
"You did great, Camille," I said, and Camille beamed with my praise. "So, now we need to know where they’re meeting…"
"Food court," said Camille. "Near the French fry place."
I was impressed. "Jackie told you all that?"
Camille nodded, and smiled in satisfaction.
I walked over to where Camille was and gave her a kiss. She melted in my arms and kissed me back. It wasn’t a long kiss, nor was it particularly sensual. But it was not the kind of kiss a girl going into twelfth grade would give a boy entering tenth.
Patty saw this and smiled. "Hey, Cammie! Save some for me!"
Patty surprised me by taking my place and kissing Camille. It was a quick kiss, and Patty said, afterward, "Great job, Cammie!"
Wendy looked at me and shrugged, and gave Camille a "good job" kiss as well.
Camille looked at all of us, a bit surprised at the sudden attention, but then smiled. "Thanks, guys. Just wanted to do my part."
I smiled. "You did it well." I looked at my watch, it was 2:30. "Let’s get over to the mall, and see if we can get Kristen before the others show up."
The three girls nodded, and we cleaned up the dishes from the lunch that Wendy had prepared.
Patty got me alone and whispered to me, "Be careful, Jim. I’m giving myself to you willingly. Remember that the other girls are just your friends, and are only your friends right now because of your tickets. That kiss might have confused Cammie before. That’s why I rushed in to help out."
"Thanks," I whispered back. Patty was right, I needed to be more careful with Camille and Wendy. It was nice to be accepted as their friend, but a kiss could be taken as a bit more than friendly, despite the closeness we shared a few nights ago. I didn’t want to louse things up.
We piled into Wendy’s Datsun and headed to the mall. Wendy parked near the food court and we all climbed out of the car.
I was walking toward the mall when Wendy noticed Kristen walking toward the mall a few aisles away. "Look," Wendy said, her voice hushed. "There she is!"
"Cool!" I said, and I changed my direction so it would intersect Kristen’s before she could get into the mall. There were other people around the parking lot, but I hoped that I could get Kristen without attracting undue attention.
"Kristen," I said, reaching into my bag. "Have a ticket!"
Kristen looked confused, but took the ticket. "You have one wish."
"You will obey all my orders that I give you today."
"Your wish is my command."
I grinned. "Stay here for a second and keep quiet."
My three friends had caught up to me. "We’ve got her," I said to them.
"Groovy!" Patty said, looking at Kristen, just standing there. "This is the quietest that I’ve ever seen her!"
Kristen continued standing there, and I could see her fists ball up in anger.
I decided to get some formalities out of the way. "Kristen, you will not attempt to harm me or my friends, nor will you try to get anybody else to do so."
Kristen nodded in compliance, still following her order to be quiet. Her fists relaxed a bit, though.
"Which car is yours?" I asked Kristen. "You may talk only to answer my questions."
Kristen answered, "The Camaro down the aisle here."
I looked in the direction Kristen indicated and saw a bright red Camaro. The car looked even less roomier than Wendy’s Datsun. "OK. We’ll need to take both cars. Wendy, what time does your mother get home?"
"Six or six-thirty."
That would give us about three hours. Probably enough time. "OK. Wendy, take Patty and Camille back to your house. I’ll have Kristen follow you."
Wendy nodded and the three girls went back to Wendy’s Datsun.
I turned to my captive. "Kristen, you will drive carefully and obey all driving laws and follow Wendy’s car to her house."
Kristen nodded, and then turned, raising a finger to me.
"Yes?" I asked.
"May I speak?" Kristen asked.
"You may, but keep your voice normal."
"I have friends that I’m supposed to meet. They’ll miss me…"
I waved her off. "I don’t care about your friends."
"My dad…"
"I’m not interested in your dad, either. Just take me in your car and follow Wendy."
Kristen led me to her car, which was a classic expensive sports car. She opened her door and unlocked my door with the power lock. She started the car, and I noticed that her Camaro was a stick shift. I had only seen Wendy drive a manual transmission before, and I watched Kristen as she expertly used her athletic right foot to manipulate the clutch and the accelerator.
Kristen and I drove around to where the girls were still getting into Wendy’s Datsun. She waited for Wendy to pull out, and then she followed her.
"Excuse me, but how are you doing this?" Kristen asked.
I smiled. "Doing what?" I asked, innocently.
Kristen answered, "I seem to be doing anything you tell me to do. It’s not natural."
"Yeah," I agreed. "Not natural at all." I didn’t elaborate.
Kristen seemed worried. "What are you going to do with me? Rape me?"
I smiled. "I don’t think the girls will condone rape, Kristen."
Kristen shrugged, "Who knows? They’re just a bunch of losers, anyway."
My, my. This girl was due for an attitude adjustment in the worst way. I said, slightly upset at Kristen’s remark, "Those losers as you call them are my friends, Kristen. You’d better remember that."
Kristen turned to me. "You? You’re in… what? Ninth grade? Tenth grade? Only losers hang out with kids like you."
"I’m entering tenth in a couple of weeks," I said, my teeth clenched in anger. "We’ll be going to the same school, Kristen. And I think you’ve done enough talking for now."
We got to Wendy’s house, and Kristen parked next to Wendy’s car in the driveway. Wendy led us all into her house.
I told Kristen to stand in the middle of the living room, and Wendy and the two other girls found themselves some chairs.
"So, Kristen. How are you feeling now?" I asked.
"I’m… I’m a little scared," Kristen admitted.
A little? Well, I knew that I wouldn’t be doing too much today. I had a few hours, so I could afford to be patient. "You told me before that you seem to be doing everything I tell you. Why is that?"
"I… I don’t know," Kristen answered.
"Well, I am going to allow each of these girls to give you an order. I want you to obey them all. Wendy, you go first, since this is your house."
"Jim? You think I could get my camera?" Wendy asked.
My eyes went wide, as did Kristen’s. "Sure, Wendy. We’ll wait for you."
Wendy ran upstairs and quickly returned with a camera. It was one of those Polaroid instant cameras. "Cool!" I said.
Wendy turned to Kristen and said, "Remove your blouse and bra. I want you topless."
Kristen seemed to have expected this. She silently unbuttoned her blouse and dropped it to the floor. She reached behind her and unclasped her bra, and that quickly dropped to the floor also.