Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Some Sort of a Hero 4: The Gut Punch By Mannheim Knot

   >>>>>

   MC, mg, supers, tragedy

   >>>>>

   Clay lives a slightly comic nightmare when he has to enlist his
ex-girlfriend, Becky, to help Dynamo and Mindwalker.  Things fall apart.

   Rae helps Clay move on in a healthy way this time.  Clay, still only
thirteen, meets Jamie, a fun-loving girl a year younger than him.  His
fantastic night comes to a screeching halt when tragedy strikes.  "Stinger"
at the very end.

   >>>>>

   THE DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING, 2000 Dynamo and Mindwalker were badly
overmatched.  Their mission seemed beyond either of their capabilities.  So
desperate was their plight that Mindwalker turned to the most ancient and
revered of all sources of aid in times of trouble.  Heroes and the common
man had long called out the one-word of name of this mighty force for good
in the world.  "Mom?" he asked and gave her puppy dog eyes.

   "Clayton," she replied, "what in the hell do I know about making a
superhero costume?  Who made yours, Dinah?"

   "My grandparents used to work in a circus.  Grandpa was a strongman, and
Grandma was the costumer.  So, I convinced Grandma Rosen to make mine," the
Girl Wonder said with a sigh.  "For a long time she was the only one in the
family who knew my secret.  Then, my parents tried to get me into
counseling because I kept sneaking out of the house at night and sometimes
coming downstairs looking a little ragged after a tough fight.  They
figured I was on drugs and running around with a gang.  After that, I had
to tell them."

   "It's pretty convenient that Mom knows I have the ability," Clay said.
"I know you have to be tighter with your secret, because you can't control
the people who find out, but it's even convenient that she knows who you
are, Dinah."

   "And I love not having to lie to a woman I really like," Dinah said and
squeezed Rae's hand.  Rae beamed at her.  "But as for the costume," Dinah
continued, "unfortunately, Grandma can't sew anymore.  Her arthritis is too
severe."

   "I know someone who can sew like crazy," Rae said, "but I'm not sure you
want to have her around Dinah."

   "Oh shit, that's right!  She's creative as hell, too," Clay said and
cast a worried look at Dinah.

   "Let me guess," Dinah said.  "Becky."

   "And she already knows my secret identity," Clay said.

   "Bring her in," Dinah sighed.  "The poor commish is sitting in jail
until you clear him."

   "You sure?" Clay asked.

   "Look, you're going to see her every day at school, Clay.  I can't
exactly start getting jealous over her or I'll drive myself insane.  Lots
of girls have their boyfriend's ex going to school with them, even have
them running in the same circle of friends.  I'll have to deal."

   "You're amazing, Dinah," Clay said and kissed her.

   "She's the Girl Wonder!" Rae exclaimed.

   "Mom, how much of your adoration for my new girlfriend is really about
how much you hated my last one?"

   "Oh, about ninety per cent, honey," Rae laughed.  "But," she said as she
turned back to Dinah, "the other ten per cent of how much I love Dinah is
still worth more than what most moms ever feel for their little boy's
girlfriend."



   Clay heard the knock on the back patio door.  Only Becky ever came in
that way.  It was a shortcut from her house.  He opened the door and let
her in.  "It's only been a couple months, but it seems like a year since I
walked in through this door," she said brightly.  "Carry this for me,
superhero." She handed him a heavy sewing machine and a duffel bag of
supplies.  "Did your mom get the fabric?"

   "Yeah, she went nuts at the store.  We've got tons of it.  She bought
some sequins and stuff like that, but please don't use them."

   "Let me guess, you want solid black?"

   "I thought about it, but if you added in a mask I might look like a
ninja."

   "But Clay, you love ninjas.  You dressed like one for Halloween in
third, fourth and fifth grades." Clay looked at her for a moment, and then
Becky smiled.  "I get it.  Everyone in school knows what you look like as a
ninja," she said, nodding.

   "Besides, I need some color or something.  Dynamo says the reason she
has so much flash in her costume, and wears one that shows off her body so
much is so that people look at the costume and image and spend less time
looking at her face."

   "Yeah, that's about half true," Becky said.  "The other reason is that
she probably knows how damned good she looks in it."

   "Thank you for that, Becky," a sweet voice called from the dining room.

   "Oh my fucking god!" Becky whispered.  "She's here!  You didn't tell me
she's here!  How do I look?"

   "Fantastic, like always, Becks.  There's one more thing you should know
before we go on.  We could be whispering like this in the upstairs bathroom
with the shower running, and Dynamo could still hear us."

   "There's a pretty good chance I could hear you if you were next door in
the upstairs bathroom with the shower running," Dinah called.  "So, please
come in so that I don't have to keep yelling from the other room."

   Becky was actually trembling as Clay led her into the other room. 
"Jesus!" Becky gasped as she entered the dining room.  "I'm sorry, I know
you're Jewish, maybe I shouldn't say Jesus!"

   "Um, Jesus was from our neck of the woods," Dinah said with a laugh.

   "Please ignore that last thing I said.  Hell, I have Jewish friends and
I say Jesus in front of them all the time.  God, now I'm talking about
having Jewish friends like I'm trying not to sound like I don't have a
hang-up about people's religions, and that's not how I usually act."

   "Breathe, Becky," Dinah said with a sweet smile.

   Becky slowed down and took a breath.  "Hello, nice to meet you.  I
always knew you would be really beautiful beneath the mask."

   "Becky, I'm Dinah," the Girl Wonder said, standing and offering her
hand.

   "I'm Becky," she replied and then flushed red.  "You already knew that."

   Dinah was rather used to this sort of reaction, although it had never
happened when she was out of costume before.  "Clayton tells me you are
really creative and good with a needle.  Honestly, I can sew.  I'm good at
physically doing things, but I don't have any artistic flair or style.  My
grandma made my costumes."

   "But you did the Rose yourself, right?"

   "That's my one masterpiece," Dinah said with a sigh.  "Everything else
I've tried looks like crap."

   "Okay, then," Becky said, seeming to feel that she added some value to
the team now, "let's get to work." She set her book bag on the table and
pulled out her sketchbook.  But she blushed red again when she realized
that both of them bore the symbol Becky had put on almost everything for
the past few years, the Dynamo Rose.

   "You draw it better than I do," Dinah said.  "I love the graceful curve
of your petals.  Lots of people copy it.  You improved on it." That brought
out Becky's brightest smile of the day.  Dinah didn't have any trouble
understanding why this girl had been Clayton's first love.  She even began
to understand the very dark place to which losing her had driven him.

   Becky turned to Clay.  "I'm glad we're acting like friends again," she
said softly.

   "Me too, Becks."

   "Clay?" Becky said softly.

   "Yeah?"

   "You're a fucking superhero!" she chirped and then giggled.  After that,
everyone actually did seem ready to work.  Designs were sketched and
discarded for the next hour or so.  Some didn't have a look that Clay could
live with.  Some weren't practical for use in situations where he would
have to move.  A couple required some pretty expensive gear.  Becky had
plenty of ideas, but they all somehow turned out to be near misses.  "I'm
sorry," Clay said.  "This is turning out to be a pain in the ass."

   "No, I'm having a great time," Becky assured him.

   "I just wish we actually had the outfits so we could make him give us a
fashion show," Dinah added.

   "Wait a second," Becky said and fished in her bag.  She pulled out a
school notebook full of drawings.  "I kind of love the idea of designing
outfits.  When we were going out, I used to sit in class and doodle
sketches of Clay with different looks.  Maybe something in here will give
us an idea." She began to flip through pages of drawings.  She had imagined
Clay in all sorts of outfits apparently.  It seemed kind of a normal thing
for a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl to do, though.  What would her
boyfriend look like as a knight?  That sort of thing.  She really did have
an eye for fashion.  A lot of the things she had drawn would look great on
him, but they weren't really crimefighter outfits.

   "Stop!" Dinah called as Becky flipped past a simple drawing of Clay
dressed as a badboy punk in black jeans and a torn t-shirt.

   "That's kind of a normal kid's outfit," Clay said.

   "But look at the hair!" Dinah pointed to it.

   "It's all spikey," Clay said.

   "It would look really hot on you, Clay," Becky explained.

   "True," Dinah agreed, "but it's also way different from the soft way he
normally wears it, and he could spike it up like that in two minutes. 
Plus, if he used a colored spray over it he could make his hair completely
black.  No one will be able to tell what his natural hair color is.  I
almost went with a wig when I started."

   "Thank God you didn't," Becky said, touching Dinah's arm.  "Your hair is
so gorgeous."

   "You are like the nicest person ever, Becky."

   "Girls, the costume still doesn't look right," Clay said.  He was very
uncomfortable having Becky there with Dinah.  He needed both of them, but
he didn't think it would go well at all if Becky figured out that her
twenty-year-old heroine was sleeping with Becky's thirteen-year-old ex.

   "But it's close, Clay," Dinah said.  "Becky, take out the torn t-shirt
and put in a black wife-beater with a crest on it."

   "What's on the crest?" Becky asked as she quickly began to sketch.

   "You're the artist, Becky."

   "Clay?"

   "How about just kind of a cool-looking M?  `Mindwalker' is too long. 
And I can't think of a picture to put there.  A brain would just look
creepy."

   Becky sketched a rhombus with an M that broke out of the borders.  She
didn't have it just overlap them.  It looked like it had shattered them. 
She didn't like it, even though Clay and Dinah thought it was amazing. 
Becky replaced the edges of the rhombus with links of a heavy chain.  The M
was now breaking the links of the chain.  It was simply incredible.  "What
color?" she asked Clay.

   "Blue background, silver-gray chain, bright green letter," he said.

   "Yeah, that'll look good.  And I have something bright green and kind of
shiny in the scrap bag I brought.  Plus, I have enough of it to make the
mask out of the same fabric.  I have an idea for that.  It wraps all the
way around the head in kind of a broad band, but it's open on top so that
his spiked hair style shows."

   "It'll take a stretchy fabric," Dinah said.  Her tone implied that she
was completely on board with Becky's vision.

   "It's an old one-piece swimsuit," Becky explained.

   "Your beautiful green one-piece?  That's scrap now?"

   "I outgrew it, Clay.  It wouldn't have held everything in next year."

   "I always liked that suit," he said.

   "Well, now you'll have some of it," she said brightly.  She said it
almost too brightly.  There was no way that she wouldn't have remembered
that she had worn that suit on the day they gave up their virginities to
one another.  And she was comfortable with Clay wearing it on his face? 
That wasn't the attitude of an angry ex, and it wasn't the attitude of an
ex turned new best friend, either.  Clay could feel Dinah's eyes on him,
too.  He didn't need mind powers to know there was a disaster brewing.  "We
need to complete the kind of punk look, though," Becky continued without
making another comment on the swimsuit.  "We can put like leather cuffs or
something on his wrists.  And we can get him way nastier-looking boots."

   "You are really talented, Becky," Dinah said.  There was a slight strain
in her voice that hadn't been there before.

   "Becky?  When did you draw this?" Clay asked, looking at the original.

   "Oh, I don't know, six months ago or so," she said, once again a little
too brightly.  Her mention of wrist cuffs had led to his noticing the watch
in the original drawing.  He'd had it less than a month.  "You know what?"
she asked rather suddenly.  "I really just need to fit the mask.  You guys
can shop for the rest.  I'll make the logo patch at home tonight, and it
will only take me a little bit to sew it onto the wife-beater."

   "Any chance we could get that done by tomorrow night?" Dinah asked.  "We
really need him to go into the jail and interview someone as soon as
possible.  We think it will free an innocent man."

   "Go to the store and get me the shirt.  Drop it off and I can be done by
morning."

   "You know," Dinah said in a put-on cheery voice, "they've been calling
the wrong one of us the Girl Wonder."

   "You're so sweet," Becky said, laying on more of the overly friendly
tone of the conversation between the two girls.  "It's really nice of you
to be so kind to a girl who's so much younger than you.  I'm actually only
a couple months older than Clay."

   There were a few more pleasantries exchanged as Becky measured the
fabric against Clay's face.  Everything was strained now.  Dinah suspected
Becky was interested in getting Clay back.  Becky suspected there was
something between Dinah and Clay.  Clay now was pretty sure that Becky
still had feelings for him, and he was of course very certain that
something was going on between Dinah and him.  He also knew that all these
things had the potential to explode.  But Becky finished up and left, and
Dinah took Clay to the Mazda so that they could shop for the rest of his
costume.

   "Clay, I hate to tell you this, but you're going to have to use a push
on Becky," Dinah said after a few minutes of awkward silence.

   "I promised her I wouldn't ever do that again."

   "She still loves you."

   "I know," he said quietly.

   "And she suspects something.  That's my fault.  I got weird when I
realized how she felt about you."

   "I probably wasn't any better.  But I'm not going to push Becky and
erase her feelings."

   "Good God, no!  That's not what I'm asking you to do, Clay."

   "Then what are you asking for, Dinah?  Just say it real simply, because
my head is reeling right now."

   "When she figures it out, she's going to hate me, and she probably won't
feel a whole lot friendlier toward you."

   "We reap what we sow, Dinah."

   "Don't quote scripture at me, Mr.  Atheist.  I just allowed a girl who's
going to think she's my romantic rival to see my secret identity.  I only
let her see me without the mask because you and I are going to be spending
a lot of time together and Becky knows your secret.  She'd eventually have
figured out the new blonde was Dynamo, so I let her know my secret.  It was
stupid.  I never saw all this coming."

   "Becky's the most decent person I know, except for maybe my mom.  Becks
wouldn't ever rat you out.  She just doesn't have it in her."

   "You may believe that Clay, and I believed it before, but now....  Look
how bad losing her messed you up for a while.  She's going to feel betrayed
by her hero, and she's going to feel betrayed by you.  Think about what a
teenage girl's life is like.  You really think she's going to get all the
way through high school and college without ever getting drunk or stoned?
It would be way too easy for it to slip now that she is going to have a
reason to hate me."

   "I won't mess with Becky's head, Dinah.  I don't break promises to her.
I did the wrong thing with her in the beginning, but I've grown since then.
And I really and completely love her, so I won't hurt her."

   "You really and completely LOVE her?"

   "Yeah, I do, Dinah.  I always have.  I just thought it was over, so I
moved on with things."

   "You want her back?"

   "I'm not leaving you, Dinah."

   "That's not an answer."

   "Of course I want her back, and I want you, too.  I'm an idiot who fell
in love with two girls."

   "And one of them is giving you her swimsuit to wear on your face.  You
don't think that's just a way to get you to think about how good it would
feel to get next to her body again?"

   "She was not coming onto me, Dinah!"

   "Yes, she was, Clay.  Don't worry, though.  I'm sure every time I look
at it I won't be thinking about how good her clothing looks on your face."

   "Good, then I won't think about how good it looked on my bedroom floor!"
Clay froze.  He really wasn't trying to hurt Dinah, but she had been kind
of making Becky sound like she was throwing herself at him.  Even if she
maybe was, it wasn't something anyone had a right to say bad things about.
Not when it was Becky.  "I'm sorry.  That was just mean," he said.  "It
seemed like you were trying to say bad things about Becks, and I just
lashed out.  It was a horrible thing to say."

   "Just shut up, Clay.  Don't even fucking talk to me." Dinah drove in
silence for a while.  She'd never had a boyfriend to fight with, so she
wasn't sure if he was being really awful or if it just hurt so bad because
that's the way things went in a relationship.  Whatever it was, she hated
it.  And her life was too stressful already, trying to balance college with
the higher calling of being guardian of Lake City.  Plus, she was broke all
the time.  She might have to try to fit a part-time job in there somewhere.
She couldn't handle a severely underage, moody boyfriend who still loved
his ex.  Dinah knew his feelings for her were real, too.  And that only
made things more complicated.  But how did you explain all that to a
thirteen-year-old boy?

   Dinah felt the tears forming in her eyes.  She knew what she had to do.
She fought back the tears.  They weren't doing her any good, and they
wouldn't help Clay, just make him feel guilty.  She was tough enough to do
this, and it had to be done.  "I can't live with all this, Clay.  I am
completely happy that you and I made love, and I'm even glad that we kept
doing it over the last couple days, but it was foolish from the beginning.
You're only thirteen.  I'm a crimefighter, and I keep committing the same
felony over and over.  You belong with Becky."

   "Dinah, you can't really mean it's over between us just like that?"

   "Yes, Clay.  It's over, just like that."

   "Guess it didn't mean the same thing to you as it did to me, then," he
said in a cold voice.

   "Clay, it was incredible and beautiful and altogether doomed from the
start.  Best we end it now, before the pain gets any worse."

   "Fine.  Take Seventh.  I know a good shop to get the boots and cuffs and
shit like that."

   "Clay...."

   "I'll work with you tomorrow, Dinah.  Then that's it.  I'm not going to
hang out with my ex all the time."

   "Clay, be reasonable."

   "Fuck that!  Just drive, Dinah."

   It was the worst shopping trip of Clay's life, and he had been on a few
pretty horrible ones with Melanie.  There wasn't a store in Lake City that
girl hadn't wanted to check out at least once a month.  That's how he knew
about the leather store on Seventh where they bought the boots, a studded
leather belt and the cuffs.  It really wasn't the sort of place Dinah had
ever shopped.  They picked up the black wife-beater at a discount store. 
Dinah then drove him to Becky's house.  "Thanks," he said as he got out of
the car.  "I can walk home from here." He closed the door and walked away.

   Dinah Rosen drove the car around the corner and out of sight.  She
parked and got her old black hoodie out of the trunk.  After making sure
the coast was clear, she bolted off at full Dynamo speed, ran about fifty
miles out of town, leapt onto the top of an abandoned warehouse, curled up
into the fetal position and bawled her eyes out.  Maybe God had never meant
for her to find true love after all.

   Clay walked up to Becky's house and rang the doorbell.  Her mom
answered. "Oh, Clay!  So nice to see you again!" She leaned in close to
him. "You were always my favorite, you know."

   "Thanks, Mrs.  James.  We're not together, though.  We're just working
on something for school."

   "Oh, of course you're not together," she said with a smile. 
"Interesting how we choose partners for school projects, isn't it, though?"
Clay just smiled.  Maybe he had pushed a little hard when he was getting
Mrs.  James to accept the kids' relationship so that she would put Becky on
the pill.  She showed him into the basement rec room where Becky had set up
her sewing supplies.

   "Hey, Becks!" he called.

   She didn't look up from her sewing.  "Leave the shirt.  I'll bring it to
school tomorrow.  Then I'm done."

   "What?  Why?"

   Becky looked up this time.  She slammed her sewing down onto the table.
"You let me walk into that house and gush and fawn over your new skank just
so I would help you with this stupid costume!"

   "Don't talk about Dinah like that!"

   "She's a twenty-year-old fucking a thirteen-year-old.  If a guy did that
with me, she'd get all high and mighty and beat him up and throw him in
jail!"

   "It wasn't like that, and it's over now anyway.  Once she knew you were
back in the picture, she told me it was over.  She said the whole thing was
doomed from the start anyway.  Hell, she said a lot of the same things
you're saying."

   "Did you make her do it, Clay?  Is that what happens now?  You just take
whatever girl you want?"

   "I was injured and my powers were out of control.  So, the fact that I
had this crush on her took over, and we did it that way at first.  Then, we
decided to try and be boyfriend and girlfriend, but tonight she decided it
was wrong."

   "Well, good for her.  So she only willingly fucked a seventh grade boy a
couple times.  I guess she's my hero again."

   "Becky, she asked me if I still loved you, and I told her yes.  I always
have."

   "That why you spent two months screwing that bitch, Melanie Ryan?"

   "You dated guys during that time, too, Becky."

   "Didn't fuck `em."

   "Hey, you dumped me.  I would have never left you, Becky."

   "Clay, let me be really clear about this.  You are just not who I
thought you were.  There was a while there, up until today, where I thought
maybe you really were just a sweet boy struggling with impossible things.
So, yeah, I let myself fall back in love with you for a little bit.  But
thankfully, you and your old lady reminded me of why being with you is such
a horrible idea.  I'm going to help you with this stupid costume, because I
really do think this city needs people to stop the bad guys.  But after
that, we're done.  I'm not going to worship heroes anymore."

   "Becks, please!"

   "If you leave right now, I still might be able to get this done by
morning.  If you don't, I'm going to stick this needle in your balls!"

   He knew there was nothing he could say that was going to change the way
she felt.  Not unless he did something unforgiveable.  He turned to go. 
"Becks," he said, turning back to her.  "One more thing.  No, two more. 
First, I still love you.  Second, you will never tell anyone who Dynamo
really is."

   "You fucker!  That was a push!" she snapped.  "You promised!"

   "I had to, Becky.  You are so angry right now.  Dinah's a good person. I
know you won't see that for a long time, and I don't want you to make a
mistake in the meantime.  I won't mess with the way you feel about me, or
about her, but I do have to protect her and her family."

   "Leave," she said quietly.  "Just leave."

   Clayton walked home, quietly crying.  So this was his life.  Any good
girl who really seemed to care about him was just going to dump him in the
end.  Unless he pushed them, of course.  That option was starting to make
more and more sense to him all the time.  But he had already realized
something.  Being in a relationship with someone you pushed into it would
be kind of like being alone in the end.

   The only girl who had wanted to stay with him was Melanie, and he had
pretty much hated her until it was time to let her go.  Only then did he
manage to see that she was trying to become a better person.  Still, even
if Melanie became the nicest girl in school he wouldn't love her.  He just
didn't feel that way about her.  When Melanie wasn't fucking, she was kind
of boring.  Dinah, on the other hand, was simply amazing and brave and in
some ways even more of an innocent than even most of the girls Clay's age.
And Becky was clever and creative and genuinely sweet.  Plus, she had
enough salt to get downright feisty with people who hurt her.  That only
made her better in Clay's eyes.  But it didn't matter.  They had both shown
him the door.  Becky had done it twice now.

   Clay wasn't as angry as he thought he'd be.  That was before.  Now... 
he kind of decided he was going to give up on the whole love thing.  Maybe
when he was older or something.  For now, he knew he liked sex, and there
was lots of that available to him.  His bed never had to be empty if he
didn't want it to be.  He would take a break from girls to clear his head.
But after that....  Well, given his yearning for the female form, his bed
probably wasn't going to be empty very often.

   + + + Mindwalker's interview cleared the commissioner.  The other cops
wouldn't have taken the new kid's word for it, but Dynamo assured them that
Mindwalker was a true friend to Lake City, a blessing, an angel.  That
didn't stop whichever cops got little bribes from the press for hot
stories. When Dynamo and Mindwalker left the jail, the press corps was
already assembled and ready to go.  Dynamo had warned her partner, but he
still felt awfully naked in front of the cameras.  He simply deferred all
questions to her.  Until one.  "Dynamo, Claire Renard, new city beat
reporter from The Lake City Ledger."

   "Nice to meet you, Claire."

   "Thanks.  My question: Are we to infer then that Mindwalker is your new
sidekick?"

   "Good God, no!" Dynamo replied with that charming laugh of hers.  "He's
his own man."

   Clayton decided to use the moment to his advantage.  He knew Dinah was
being fair and honest, but he didn't want to be in the public eye like her.
His outfit was a disguise, not a second skin like hers.  "Dynamo's just
being sweet, like always, Claire," he said.  "It's true I'm not really her
sidekick.  I'm not ready to get into the kind of things she gets into. 
She's the real deal.  I'm just a guy who can help out once in a while.  And
as you can probably tell, I'm pretty young.  Dynamo offers me some help and
guidance so I don't make a mess of things.  Maybe someday I'll be a true
hero like her, but for now I'm not even important enough to be called her
sidekick.  She'd rather be protecting the city than babysitting me, and I
think that's where you'd rather have her, too."

   After the impromptu press conference, Dinah cornered him.  "What the
hell was that, Clay?  I was trying to give you the credit you deserve."

   "Don't want credit.  Just want to be left alone."

   "Bullshit, Clay.  You liked doing what we did the other night."

   "Parts of it I REALLY liked."

   "Don't be an ass, Clay.  You loved taking on the bad guys."

   "I loved being with you, Dinah.  Now...  it hurts to be around you, so
I'm out of that," he started to go while he was still able to keep up his
tough guy persona.  But his true nature revealed itself all too soon. 
After two or three steps, he turned back to her and spoke softly.  "Look,
if you ever really need my help, I'll always be there for you."

   "Clay, don't throw your gifts away."

   "They're mine to use as I please, Dinah.  Always have been."

   Dinah didn't want to have this argument again.  She switched topics
while she still had him there.  "So, how'd it go with Becky?"

   "Horrible.  I ended up pushing her to not reveal your secret."

   "Thank you.  I'm sorry you're not going to be able to be with her.  I
know you really do love her."

   "None of your business anymore, Dinah.  You ended that part of our
relationship."

   "Okay.  Fair enough." She played it cool and hoped Clay couldn't sense
how badly it tore her up inside to have left him.  If he did sense it, he
never tipped his hand.  He just said goodbye and left for home.  The thing
was, if he had pressed the issue he would have broken her down.  Even
without using his abilities, Clay could have cracked her resolve.  All the
reasons she'd broken up with him sounded solid in her head, but they felt
paper thin in her heart.  But he didn't try one last time.  He was moving
on, and that meant she should move on as well.

   Dinah had told him in their first conversation, that he couldn't go back
to the way things were before, that time didn't work that way.  Dinah may
have forgotten that.  She at least ignored it.  She pretended things were
going back to normal.  The Girl Wonder headed up to one of her usual
rooftop haunts and stood looking out at the lights of her town.  This was
her life, looking over Lake City, and looking over it while standing alone.

   JANUARY, 2001 "You going out tonight after the ball game?" Rae asked as
she held a different earring up on each side of her head.

   "The green ones, Mom," he said.  "Yeah, I think I'll go over to Courtney
Lanier's party."

   "Good, honey.  You've stayed up in your room moping for long enough. 
Are you sure you're not just saying the green ones because you bought them
for me for Christmas?"

   "They look hot on you, Mom."

   "Good.  Look, Clayton, I have to ask you something.  Brent and I have
been dating for six weeks now.  Given that you understand things between
males and females awfully well for a boy your age--"

   "You can stay at his place if you want, tonight, Mom."

   "Are you sure it wouldn't upset things for you at school if someone we
knew saw me leaving in the morning?"

   "Mom, I kind of cheat where image control is concerned.  Everyone wants
to be like me.  If my mom is caught leaving Mr.  Danes' apartment, pretty
soon all the kids at school will want their moms to sleep with him."

   "You little brat!" she cried and teasingly tossed her hair brush at him.
Then, she sighed heavily.  "You're my best friend, you know."

   "Same here, Mom."

   "I guess as best friend, you should be the first to know.  Brent and I
both kind of realize that we fit together, honey.  We kind of fill in the
gaps in each other's hearts.  And...  I know it's awfully early on...  but
we're having talks about the future, Clay."

   "So, then do I end up calling him Brent, or Dad...  or since he's a
teacher do I have to call him, Mr.  Dad?"

   "It hasn't gone that far...  yet.  But if it ever did, I think that
since he's a teacher you'd have to start calling me Mrs.  Danes, even at
home."

   "I love you, Mrs.  Danes," he said.  "And I like Danes pretty well. 
I'll try really hard not to make his life a complete misery."

   "Thanks, but enough about me, Clay.  You seem like you're getting ready
to get back out there."

   "Yeah, but nothing serious.  I just want to have some fun."

   "Well good.  You know that I used to think...  Clay, clear my head, make
sure there are no pushes in there, okay?" He did as she asked.  "Okay.  I
wanted you to know this is all me.  I didn't know how to handle your powers
at first."

   "I still don't," he said miserably.

   "I get that," she said.  "But Clay, I trust you completely, honey.  You
won't hurt a girl with your powers.  Your sense of decency won't allow you
to do it."

   "I hope so," he said.

   "I know so," she answered.  "And remember the day at the park when you
calmed down the little girl who fell?"

   "Yeah.  She was so scared."

   "And when you and Melanie were all done, you actually helped make her
into a nicer person."

   "Most of that was her, Mom."

   "Still, I've been thinking about the things I've told you about your
powers.  I never realized how much you can cure people and fix things."

   "I've been doing that a little with people lately.  Just small things
that don't really change their personality.  I just try to be a little
helpful."

   "Clay, I never saw the full scope of things you could do.  So, I've
always been a little too concerned about you and girls.  Maybe it's time
you stopped feeling guilty about using your talents to make yourself a
little happier.  You'll leave the girls happy in the end, probably happier
than when you started.  Clayton, cut loose a little."

   "Really?"

   "Clay, you are so hard on yourself sometimes.  No one else has to deal
with the things you do.  Make your own rules.  You're the only one who can.
You'll do fine."

   "Thanks, Mom," he said with a smile.  She always knew how to make him
feel better.

   "Oh, but Clay," she said seriously.  "I'm too young to be a grandma."

   "Message received, Mom."

   She looked at him for a long moment.  "Yeah," she sighed.  "You're
ready." She kissed him on the cheek, intentionally leaving a big lipstick
mark there.  He didn't realize it was there until he looked in the school's
bathroom mirror at halftime of the basketball game.  He laughed.  He'd been
laughing more often lately.

   Yeah, Mom was right.  Clay was ready.  He was more than ready.  He was
actually revved up.  This was the new Clay, he figured at least the third
or fourth new Clay in the last year-and-a-half.  He'd quit trying to keep
up.  But when he looked in the mirror, all he saw was himself, no soul
flashes of other people controlling him.  Well, he did see his mother's
eyes, but they had always been there.  He sighed and decided he was going
to like being the new Clay this time.  So, when he walked into the
post-game house party, he got a beer and then turned on his full charm
effect and scouted for his evening's entertainment.

   "Clay!" one of the twin senior basketball players called to him.  "See
the game tonight?  Twenty-three points, baby!  Two more than my brother!"

   "Yeah, I saw some of that, but Carly Holt was out there with the
cheerleading squad.  I spent more time watching her."

   "That's right, man, you and Mel went splitsville a while ago, huh?"

   "Yeah.  That's done."

   "Wanna know something weird, though?" the tall boy asked and looked
around like he had the world's biggest secret.

   "I live to know weird things, buddy."

   "Well, I've seen her break up with a few guys.  She always just totally
trashes them to anybody who will listen.  But with you, she just gets this
sad look in her eyes and says she wished it could have worked out.  It's
really different for her this time."

   "She's nicer than people give her credit for," Clay said.  "Especially
lately."

   "Yeah, I don't think I heard her call anybody a skank-ho in a month."

   "Tell ya what, buddy.  Why don't you go chat her up a bit?  If I'm
moving on, it's best if Mel does, too."

   "You're cool with that, Clay?  I was kind of working up the balls to ask
you."

   "Yeah, I'm cool with it.  Just like to see her happy.  Give it a shot."
Clay was glad to see the guy walk away and go looking for Melanie, because
for the life of him, he couldn't remember which of the twins it was.  He
wished he'd pushed the guy to just say it.

   "Jimmy McClain!" the basketball player called out to no one in
particular and kept walking into the other room.

   Clay was happy with that.  He could do more and more just by thinking of
it these days.  He'd have to be careful with girls, though.  He might think
he'd like a blowjob and have a girl drop to her knees in the middle of the
room.  It would only work that way if she'd been totally cool with it in
the first place.  It took more effort to get someone to do something they
had a problem with.  Still, he needed to remember to be careful about his
wishes.

   In a matter of a few minutes, three or four of Melanie's girlfriends
came up to Clay and told him how sorry they were to hear about the break-up
and how nice it was to see him back out at one of their parties.  None of
them would be anxious to fuck him so soon afterwards, lest they incur
Melanie's wrath, but each of them touched his arm or gave him a hug.  They
were letting him know the time would come soon enough.  He gave each of
them a little jolt of arousal when they touched him.  He was setting the
table for the smorgasbord of high school hotties he planned to enjoy in
coming weeks.

   Clay had finally spotted Carly Holt, and he was on his way over to her
when he felt a wave of frustration wash over him.  It was fairly potent,
and unlike most frustration at these parties, it didn't come from a guy who
had just struck out.  It was a totally feminine vibe.  Clay looked around
and spotted the exasperated girl.  She was sitting by herself in the
corner, but instead of fading into the woodwork, she stood out like a sore
thumb.  She was Clay's age, maybe younger by a year or so.  No one seemed
to want to have anything to do with her.  A few guys were leering at her,
and he could sense the nasty tone of their thoughts.  They'd have made a
move if they could have gotten her alone and away from the public eye, but
they weren't going to let anyone actually see them hitting on a middle
school girl.  Clay was the only one his age that was accepted at these beer
bashes.  Hell, even freshmen were a rarity.

   Clay looked at the girl.  She was thin, and really quite small all over.
He was five-ten these days, and she was probably at least twelve inches
shorter than him.  But she was genuinely cute in every way.  She had red
hair and a few freckles, and when she sighed he caught a flash of brightly
colored braces.  It seemed to Clay like more than half of the truly cute
girls his age had braces.  He'd probably have to count them in school on
Monday.  It would beat the hell out of paying attention in math class. 
Clay shot a final glance at Carly and shrugged.  She'd be around.  The
little redhead wasn't from Saint Joan's.  And she was interesting.  He
wanted to know her story.

   "Hi," he said as he approached her.

   She'd been looking the other way.  She turned to him and looked up. 
"Hi," she said and smiled.  He'd been right about the brightly colored
braces.  The bands on them were almost the same color green as the mask
Becky had made him.

   "You kind of look bored," he said.

   "I was so sure talking my cousin into taking me to a high school party
was a great idea.  I wanted to, you know, see some wild and crazy stuff. 
But mostly, they just drink and the guys hit on the girls."

   "It's early," Clay said.  "They get more stupid as time goes by. 
There's a fifty-fifty chance Derek Tanner from the wrestling team will do
himself great bodily injury trying to do backflips off the couch.  He can
do them sober, but he only weighs about 105 pounds, so he gets drunk really
quick.  Then, his control is totally shot."

   "Speaking of sober...  how the hell did you score a beer?" she asked. 
"The guy by the keg said I was too young."

   "They like me for some reason," he said with a little shrug.  "I kind of
used to date a sophomore girl."

   "A sophomore?  You're what, an eighth grader?"

   "Seventh."

   "Oh my God!  You're only a year older than me, and you went out with a
sophomore girl?  In this crowd?  Wait a minute!  I know who you are!"

   "You do?" For a moment he was afraid she had seen him as Mindwalker and
figured him out.

   "You're Clayton Teller!  You're like a legend at my school!  Oh, I'm
Jamie, by the way."

   "How the hell did I get to be a legend at your school, Jamie?"

   "Well, I go to LC Middle.  We played you in football and you scored like
four touchdowns in the first half of the game.  So, all the guys talked
about how they hated you for a while.  But then, one of them found out that
you were dating his cousin, Melanie."

   "So, they hated me more?" he asked.

   "No, then they all joked about wanting to be you.  You're like some sort
of a hero to them."

   "I'm not a hero, and I don't think anybody really wants to be me," he
said with a laugh.  "Hey, want a beer?  I can get you one."

   "Cool!" she said and offered her hand.  They started toward the keg.  "I
can handle a couple beers, not a lot, but my friend Rachel and I drink beer
from her dad's fridge in the garage all the time.  He acts like he's cool
about it, but I think he really just wants to get me drunk and fuck me."

   Clayton hoped that Jamie would still want to hold his hand after his
last sip of beer came out of his nose.  She had taken him completely off
guard.  "You're kind of awesome," he said when he stopped laughing long
enough to speak.

   "Thanks.  I'll tell you you're awesome after you actually get me a
beer." About sixty seconds later Jamie found herself looking up at Clay and
declaring.  "Okay, you're actually awesome.  And suddenly this party got to
be a lot more fun."

   Clay liked this girl, but he wasn't exactly in the right place to fall
in love, or even decide he was smitten.  He just liked her.  He pushed a
little bit of a horny vibe into her and just waited to see what would
happen.  Jamie flushed red and looked around the room.  She wouldn't look
directly at Clay in the moment.  Her eyes seemed to settle on a couple
sitting on the couch.  The girl was in the guy's lap, and they were making
out.  Jamie pulled Clay to the other end of the couch and sat him down. 
She crawled right into his lap.

   "This is nice," Clay said.

   "I'm just going where the wind blows me," she said.  "That's what I
decided to do tonight.  Just take it as it comes." She looked at him.  It
was clear she was waiting for him to kiss her.  She didn't have to wait
long.  And Clay didn't have to wait long to find her tongue darting into
his mouth.  She was a good little kisser.  That was for sure.  They kissed
for a while, but then Jamie kind of pulled back.  "Clay, I can't do this
anymore," she said with a tinge of sadness in her voice.

   "That's okay, Jamie.  Nothing you don't feel like doing."

   "I always watched the older kids who kind of groped each other and made
out in public.  A little is cool, but too much is kind of gross.  I don't
want to do that."

   "Okay, Jamie."

   "I mean, I really like kissing you and stuff.  I wish we could keep
going, but I just can't do it here in front of everybody."

   "So, you're saying if we found a place where we were alone, we could
keep kissing?"

   "Balls, yes!" she said and stroked his cheek.

   "Wait right here," he said.  "Don't take off on me!"

   "You're like the coolest boy I ever met, Clay.  I'm not going anywhere."
She plunked down into her seat and took a big drink of her beer.

   It took Clay about ten seconds to get Courtney to quietly slip him a key
to one of the locked upstairs bedrooms.  "Don't let anyone know I let you
guys up there, Clay," she whispered.  "Everybody will want to get a room,
and I am not having people fucking in my parents' bed...  again.  Second
door on the left." Clay kissed her on the cheek and pushed a little horny
sensation into her loins.  He was still laying groundwork for future
endeavors.

   He fetched his tiny ginger beauty and led her upstairs, kicking out a
strong "nobody notice us" push to the room as a courtesy to his hostess. 
They arrived at the second door on the left.  "Whose room is this?" Jamie
asked as Clayton let her in.

   "Courtney's big sister, Sarah.  She's at college."

   "Well, thank you, Sarah!" Jamie said as she turned on the fancy stereo
system and a bouncy tune from the local pop station filled the swanky
bedroom.  "Look at this room.  I bet those drapes alone are worth a couple
grand.  And she's got a king-size bed.  I still sleep on a twin."

   "You have a twin?" Clay joked.  "Because, ya know I could get into
that."

   "No, I don't have a twin," she laughed.  "But if Rachel was here she
might try and squeeze in on things.  That horny little bitch is cuh-razy."
Clay made a note of that.  He wasn't going to have Jamie for a girlfriend.
That was not the plan with girls anymore.  But he might just decide to see
her again if things worked out.  And if her friend Rachel was half as fun
as Jamie made her sound....

   As he locked the door from the inside, he gave the whole situation
another mental once-over.  He had pushed Jamie a little bit to make her
horny, but she had done everything willingly, enthusiastically even.  His
powers weren't really doing anything to her that her skin-tight blue jeans
weren't doing to him.  Actually, the jeans were probably doing more.  He
hadn't given her much of a push.  He had taken it easy because she was so
small.  He now realized that was just being silly.  Sure, she was tiny, but
the push wasn't to her body, it was to her brain.  And Jamie was pretty
sharp and strong-willed.  He gave her a little more.

   Jamie turned and faced him with kind of a wide-eyed expression.  "What?"
Clay asked.

   "Nothing," she said softly.  "There's just something about you.  And I
just realized that I'm about to do things I've never done before."

   "You okay with that?"

   "Oh, hell yes!" she said.  "I just...." She thought for a moment and
then took his hand and sat him next to her on the edge of the bed as she
explained.  "I always liked boys and stuff, even when I was little.  For
the last year or so, I've been totally into figuring out what feels good
when I do it.  I'm really starting to get into having a girl's body...  if
that makes any sense to you.  And I kind of want to see what that body can
really do and really feel.  But I decided a long time ago that I wasn't
going to fuck some guy just to do it.  I wanted to wait for a guy that...
well, when I look back years from now I want to be sure why I picked that
particular guy.  I'm never going to doubt why I picked you, Clay."

   "Geez, that's a really nice thing to say, Jamie." He kissed her and then
decided to pick her up and move her the rest of the way onto the bed.  She
kicked off her shoes and giggled as she snuggled against him.  It felt
strange to him now, being with a girl so young.  Becky had been this age,
and Clay was only a year older now, but he'd always been with older girls
since then.  And even sweet, innocent Becky had been way more developed
than Jamie.  Well, physically at least.  Jamie was quite a bit more open to
letting her body take her wherever it wanted to go.

   "Don't get pissed if I don't know how to do some stuff," Jamie
whispered. "I never got past getting my tits felt up a little."

   "I won't get pissed at you, Jamie.  I really like being with you.  And I
was at the same place you were in sixth grade, just starting out.  I'm
still only a year ahead of you in school."

   Jamie smiled and nodded and pulled him down into a kiss.  He was right
on top of her now.  He covered her tiny frame completely, but she didn't
seem like she minded having the bigger body pressing down on her little
frame.  She actually gave out a sexy little moan.  They kissed some more,
and Jamie became the first to go after an item of clothing.  She pulled his
Saint Joan's sweatshirt off over his head and then trailed her fingers up
and down his spine.  "God, you get me hot, Clay," she whispered.

   Clay opened the two buttons fastening the little sweater she had on over
her white t-shirt.  When she sat up to pull the sweater down off her arms,
she grabbed the t and pulled it over her head.  She wasn't wearing a bra.
She didn't really need one when she had something over the t.  Her breasts
were no more than buds.  The areolae were kind of puffy, but there were
definitely little nipples popping up in the center.  Clay realized that in
Becky he'd had quite a precocious girl.  Most of the girls his age were
built more like Jamie.  Most were taller, maybe, but just as slender and
flat-chested.  What had seemed strange a little bit ago was starting to all
seem normal to him.  Really, weren't Melanie and Dinah the strange partners
for a boy his age?  He realized he was just staring at Jamie, and she was
nervously waiting for some kind of response from him.  "Wow!" he whispered.

   "I'm too flat, right?" she said, sounding miserable.  "You're used to
girls with actual tits."

   "Jamie, your body is gorgeous, and I think your tits are beautiful."

   "You can kiss `em if you want.  Please, Clay.  I want you to."

   Clay didn't make her ask again.  He kissed her breasts and flicked the
nipples with his tongue.  Jamie responded with an unabashedly girly squeal.
Clay loved being with this girl.  She didn't have Melanie's experience, but
she was far more naturally uninhibited than she was.  Everything was just
what it was with Jamie.  There was no agenda behind it, and no reservations
about anything.  Becky and Dinah, on the other hand, had always been a
little unsure of things.  They'd wanted to do them, but they had always had
that "good girl" doubt to them.  There was always a little voice in the
back of their minds that tried to shame them for what they were doing. 
Jamie was simply free.

   It didn't take long for Clay's hand to slide between her legs.  He felt
amazing warmth emanating from the soft folds beneath the denim.  And Jamie
reached her hips toward the hand the second it went there.  She took a few
moments to experience the sensation of a boy's lips against her breasts and
his hand against the front of her jeans.  She wanted to experience all
that, but she had so much else that she had decided she was ready for as
well.  She reached down and opened the button on the front of her jeans. 
Clay thought about reaching his hand into her panties and exploring her
with his fingers.  But that was the way boys did it when they were playing
the game of "how far will this go?" He had a pretty damned good idea how
far it was going to go.  So, he simply took hold of the top of her jeans
and removed them along with her panties.  Jamie's only reaction was to
flutter her legs a little to help him get the skin tight denim off of her.
Clay stood and finished the job.  He turned to drop the jeans on the floor
and was surprised to find that she had followed him right up.  She opened
his belt and the button on his jeans.  Clay kicked out of his shoes as she
lowered his jeans and briefs.

   Jamie looked at his erection for a moment then took it in one hand.  She
was kneeling on the foot of the bed.  The little redhead quickly leaned
down and gave the tip of his cock a kiss.  She pulled back kind of quickly
and then lifted her big green eyes to Clay and smiled.  "Do you mind if I
try?" she asked eagerly.  "I've never done it, and I have braces.  You're
not afraid I'll hurt you are you?"

   "I trust you, Jamie."

   "BIG mistake," she said and grinned.  She flopped down to her belly and
propped herself on her elbows.  She brought her mouth to him and began to
lick and kiss his cock.  "Totally not gross," she said after a few moments
of that.  "I think this thing's kind of cool.  It's kind of thicker than I
thought one would be.  Rachel and I look at them on the internet and stuff,
but I thought they were just big because...  you know, porn stars and
stuff. Yours isn't like that, but I thought it would be skinnier."

   "I'm glad you like it," he groaned as she went back to kissing and
licking.

   "I'm going to try now," she said.  She opened her mouth and took him
into it.  She didn't scrape, but she did have a bit of a hard time taking
too much of him in.  She just sucked lightly at first then tried doing it a
little harder.  Melanie had been a fairly skilled cocksucker from the
start. Becky had learned to do it well, and there was always so much love
there.  Dinah had only tried it a few times in their short affair, but she
was so damned instinctively talented at anything physical that she had
almost instantly become great at it.  Jamie's attempts were clumsy, and a
little strained because her braces didn't let her open her mouth all the
way.  Clay still thought what she was doing was incredible.  It was so
playful, so eager, so happy.  It fit her perfectly.  "I'm sorry, I can't
keep it in there," she said as she pulled off him.  "My jaw is getting
tired.  Let me try something else."

   Jamie scrambled off the foot of the bed and knelt down in front of him.
She began to stroke and jack him with both hands, and she kissed and licked
everywhere.  "Oh, Jamie, that is so fucking good!" Clay groaned.

   "Really?  Cool!" she squealed and continued.  Her curious tongue found
its way down to his balls, and she licked him there and kissed him several
times.  "Hairy," she whispered, "but still really neat." She kept working
her little hands and quick tongue around everywhere.

   "Jamie, I'm gonna cum pretty soon," Clay warned.

   "Awesome!" she said.  "Do it in my face!" Clay could only groan as she
picked up the pace a little bit and then took the tip back into her mouth.
She rolled her tongue around the head, and that sent him over.  The first
jet landed on her tongue, but then she pulled off and let the rest spatter
all over her face.  She was smiling from ear-to-ear the whole time.

   "Oh my God," Clay gasped.

   Jamie swallowed the bit of it on her tongue, made a little face and then
shrugged.  She scraped what she could off of her cheeks and upper lip and
swallowed that as well.  "I saw girls take it on the face in a video," she
explained.  "Rachel has a computer, lucky bitch.  Anyway the girls taking
it in the face kind of turned me on.  It looked like it was gross and fun
at the same time.  I like stuff like that.  But in real life it was way
more awesome, because I made it happen.  If a guy cums it means the girl
really turned him on.  This time the girl was me!"

   "Jamie, you are so fucking hot!"

   "Am I sweet little piece of ass?  My cousin's ex-boyfriend called her
that all the time.  I always kind of wanted to be a sweet little piece of
ass."

   "You are an incredibly sweet little piece of ass," Clay said.  "And you
are also incredibly beautiful right now."

   "Even with the stuff on my face?"

   "That just makes you more beautiful to me."

   "You look really hot, right now, too.  You're breathing hard, and the
look in your eyes is kind of hungry.  What do we do next?"

   "Sit on the edge of the bed," he told her gently.  She sat on the edge
of the bed, and when he knelt and placed a hand on her knee, Jamie opened
her legs right up for him.  Clay was kind of surprised to see that she
didn't have a single hair on her pussy.  And unlike Melanie, who shaved
sometimes to keep things interesting, it was obvious that Jamie had never
had a hair down there to begin with.  Clay froze for a second.  "You're...
you..."

   "I haven't started periods or anything either," she said miserably. 
"But at least that means I won't get knocked up, right?"

   "I don't want to hurt you," he said softly.

   Jamie placed a hand under his chin and made sure his eyes were locked
onto hers.  "You won't, Clay.  I play with stuff, okay?  Nothing ever as
big as what you have there, but little things.  I don't even have a cherry
anymore.  I broke it playing with a toy I swiped from Mom.  But I know I
can take things in there.  Even if it hurts a little tonight, you won't
REALLY hurt me.  I totally want it to be you, and I totally want it to be
tonight.  Don't be scared for me.  This is the coolest thing I've ever
done." She emphasized her point by bringing her heels up onto the bed and
flopping her knees as far out to the side as they could go.

   Clay had never really been the one getting convinced before.  He wasn't
a difficult sale.  Almost as soon as Jamie had finished speaking, his face
was buried in her bare pussy, and his finger was slipping inside of her. 
"God damn," he muttered, "you smell great!"

   "Holy shit, Clay!  It feels incredible.  You know how to do this.  Oh,
that's it.  That's my clitty right there!"

   "I know, baby."

   "You called me baby.  Cool!" After that, she didn't say many words. 
That in itself was kind of a testament to the fact that she was really
getting turned on by his attentions.  Jamie was a bit of a chatterbox, but
in a fun way.  Clay did all his usual tricks, swirls and licks and flicks
of the tongue.  Jamie giggled sometimes and even shrieked at others.  Even
when she didn't talk, she responded to what he was doing.  As he continued,
her sounds got a little deeper, almost throaty.  She panted, then, and
moaned out loud.  She stayed true to her form.  Nothing was held in or held
back.

   Clay had learned how to make this act last for a long time when he
wanted it to be that way.  With Becky and Dinah it had been a form of
loving tribute, pleasing them for as long as he could.  With Melanie, it
had been about making her beg to cum.  With Jamie, Clay took her lead.  He
just let his hands and mouth run free.  It only took a couple minutes until
she grunted, "Gonna cum!" He kept going and pushed her right over the top.
She grabbed his head with both hands and pulled him down into her.  Her
legs clamped down on his ears for a second and then she let them fly open.
She repeated that a few times as everything between her shoulder blades and
heels came off of the bed.  She had arched her back in ecstasy.  "Oh," she
panted at the very end.  "So much more intense when somebody else does it
for you!" She breathed heavily for a bit.  "Can I take your tongue home
with me?" she asked and giggled.

   "I have to say this, Jamie," he said with a laugh.  "You are a very
naughty little girl."

   "Are you gonna spank me?" she teased.  "Cuz you totally could.  I'd let
you do damned near anything right now, Clay." She got serious for a second.
"You don't really want to get rough though, do you?  I'm not very big, so
mean stuff kind of scares me."

   "I like getting rough sometimes," he said, intentionally making it sound
like he was mulling it over.  "But, you know, redheads bruise so easy." He
smiled then, and she smiled back in relief.  "How about we just spoil you
and let you keep being naughty?"

   "Okay!" she chirped.  "What next?"

   "You ready?"

   "Yeah, Clay," she said a little more seriously.  "I'm ready." She
scooted back up so she was right in the middle of the king-sized bed.  Clay
followed her.  "Can I...?" she started to ask and stopped.

   "What, sweetie?"

   "Can I look at it again, one more time before we start?  I want a
picture in my head, you know so I can imagine what it looks like inside
me." She looked at him a little nervously as he cocked his head to think.
"Is that really weird?" she asked.

   "No," he said.  "It's totally cool.  It just kind of struck me that
nobody ever asked me for that before.  It's almost like they didn't really
want to think about it their first time.  Jamie, don't take this as a weird
thing.  I mean it in a really nice way.  I think you were born to be really
good in bed."

   "You think so?" she asked as she sat up and started to hold his cock and
move it a bit so that she could get a good look at all its curves and
features.  "I thought maybe I was just kind of a slut.  I mean...  I think
about sex all the time."

   "I don't really know that much about it, but it seems like there ought
to be a better word for a girl who loves sex and is good at it.  You know,
they call a guy a stud or something that makes him sound good.  Ah!  I got
it!"

   "What?  What am I?" she asked anxiously.

   "You are a little goddess, Jamie.  You are going to totally own guys."

   "Goddess?  Wow!  Clay, you say the coolest things.  And I think this
cock is beautiful." She went back down to the mattress and slowly guided
him to her opening.  "Your goddess awaits!" she cried with a grand gesture.
Then she gave a nervous, girlish little giggle and bit her lower lip.  She
looked into his eyes and nodded.

   Clay pushed forward.  Jamie was a tiny girl, and that was certainly
reflected in her size down here.  She groaned a little as the head made its
way into the first part of her passage.  "You alright?" he asked, pretty
sure that she was.

   "Stop babying me!" she groaned in slight frustration.

   Clay pushed hard and felt her tight passage spread before him.  He was
really stretching her.  That he could tell for certain.  But her body
wasn't fighting him.  It was just adjusting to what was happening.  He
looked into her eyes.  They were closed at first, but then they opened. 
There were tears forming, but she didn't look like she was suffering at
all. Her look was more one of being thrilled to actually be doing this. 
"Such a pretty face," he whispered without ever really thinking about it.
He was just reacting to what he saw.

   "It feels good, Clay," she said softly, but her quiet voice still
carried the joy she was feeling inside.  "I like it." Then, their hips
collided.  She realized he was all the way in.  "I'm glad it was you," she
said and kissed him.

   "Being with you makes me feel happy, Jamie.  And I'm not always happy."

   "Me neither, but I will be if you go ahead, STUD." Apparently, she not
only talked, but also listened to what other people said.  Clay grinned and
then began to cut loose on her.  It wasn't an angry, pounding fuck.  It was
just a free-range romp.  Every move he made seemed to please her, to bring
out a squeal or a moan of pleasure.  And anything she did felt fantastic.
No girl he was ever likely to meet could match Dinah physically, but it
might be a damned long time before he encountered another genuinely free
spirit like Jamie's.  What others brought in skill or passion, she matched
with unbridled joy.

   But Jamie was no slouch physically, either.  Her slender little legs
wrapped instinctively around his haunches, and she was very nimble with her
hips.  Time and again, she brought her hot tight little pussy up at just
the right moment to meet his thrust.  And she was naturally inclined to
explore ways to tilt her hips to let him in as far as he could go, or to
give him as much freedom to move as she possibly could.  Clay couldn't
figure out how to describe it in the moment.  Later she told him, "I just
tried not to let the rest of my body get in the way of my pussy." That was
exactly what she managed to do.  She had no magic or superpower, but she
knew how to make her body work with his.

   She cried out in shock and delight when he rather suddenly gathered her
up in his arms and rolled over to put her on top.  She grinned for a moment
and then started exploring everything she could do from there.  She was as
graceful as she was petite, and she was willing to work hard for her fun.
She actually fucked Clay harder than he'd been fucking her, but that suited
him just fine.  He knew she wasn't going to hurt him, and he had still been
a little bit afraid of pounding her with his full force.  "I'm too light,"
she said at one point.  "Grab my ass and slam me up and down." He did what
his little goddess asked, but even then there was none of the anger and
desperation that had fueled his hard fucks with Melanie.  This was kind of
crazy, but it wasn't brutal for either of them.  "I love fucking!" she
cried as they found a place that let them go fast and deep.

   "Jamie, you are just crazy!" Clay said.  It was followed by what had
started out as a laugh, but ended up as a groan of ecstasy.  She had
suddenly stopped and was circling her pussy around the end of his cock. 
Just as he was getting used to it, she got a surprised look on her face. 
His thumb had accidentally ended up pressing at the bud of her ass.  She
rocked back and took the tip of it inside.

   "That was dumb," she said, grimacing.  "It kind of hurt doing it so
fast. Push it in slow.  And don't you dare ask me if I'm sure." Clay
decided against the thumb.  He slowly pushed a finger into her.  "Nasty,"
she said with a sigh.  "I like it." She slowed down then and let him keep
his finger in her as she gently worked her sex up and down his cock.  "Oh
shit," she said softly.  "Oh shit." She quivered slightly and then went
limp for a second, lowering her body to his as her climax gently washed
through her.  "That one was quiet," she whispered, "but it went so deep
inside me." She lifted her head and looked at him.  "Could you still finish
if we just went gently from here?  I like how it feels when you hold me and
I'm on top."

   "Yeah, baby, I can finish from here." He had been close already.  He
pulled his finger from her ass and just slowly pushed about a dozen more
thrusts deep up inside of her tender body.  Then, he had an orgasm that
seemed to match the moment.  He released a big load into her, but it didn't
rush out like his body was crying for release.  Instead, it just kept
coming out with pulse after pulse.  He could feel it start to run back out
of her until he gradually slowed to a complete stop and just held her in
the way she said she liked.  Jamie's arms clung tightly around his neck and
shoulders, and she buried her face against his collarbone.

   "You're always going to be my first, Clay.  For the rest of my life, you
are going to be my first.  I will never, ever forget how good it was.  And
I will never, ever wonder if I picked the right guy." Happy, carefree Jamie
cried then.  Clay didn't worry for even a second that she was sad.  He
could sense her joy and contentment.

   "Always feel good about this," he said with a bit of a push he figured
she really didn't need.  Still, he wanted to make sure for her.  "And
always know you were fantastic." They crawled under the covers and spent an
hour or so kissing and talking.  Neither one of them mentioned the whole
boyfriend/girlfriend thing.  But both of them were damned sure they had
made a very dear friend.

   Finally, they got up and got dressed and went back downstairs.  Clay
handed her his phone and asked her to punch her number into it.  "Battery's
dead," she said, handing it back to him.  "I'd ask you to put yours in
mine, but I don't have one.  We don't have as much money as Saint Joan's
kids." She turned and rummaged around on Sarah's desk.  "Fucking brand new
orange i-Mac and she didn't even take it to college with her.  Probably has
another one there," Jamie said with a shake of her head.  "Are you rich,
too, Clay?"

   "Not really.  Mom does okay."

   "I'm not quite poor, but these folks have money to burn, don't they?"

   "This crowd does, yeah."

   "Here's what I was looking for!" She grabbed a marker and wrote her
number on his hand.  She added a little heart, of course.  Then she kissed
his palm.  "You don't have to call, but if you want to...."

   "I'll call, Jamie.  This was kind of incredibly, awesomely, cool.  And I
like talking to you." They went back downstairs to the party, holding
hands.

   Jamie's cousin found them as soon as they entered the living room. 
"Shit, Jamer, you scared the hell out of me!  I kind of abandoned you
because I was having this...  thing...  with my ex, and then I couldn't
find you.  I was afraid some creepy older boy was trying to take advantage
or something.  If I'd known you were with Clay, I wouldn't have worried. 
He's like the coolest kid your age...  ever."

   "Balls yes!" Jamie said and giggled.

   "Clay!" a girl's voice whispered from behind him.  He could sense it was
Courtney.  "Melanie, at 2 o'clock and closing fast." Clay slipped Courtney
the key behind his back.

   "Hi, Clay," Mel said.  Jimmy was sort of with her, but he was hanging
back.  "Who's your new friend?"

   "This is Jamie," he said.  He was getting ready to push if Melanie was
about to get nasty.  He'd only directed her to be nicer to people in
general.  That didn't really guarantee the safety of your ex-boyfriend's
new hook-up.

   "She's really cute," Melanie said.  "You two kind of look right
together. Hey, Jimmy, would you be a sweetie and get Jamie a beer?"

   "Sure, Melanie."

   "Party lesson number one for pretty girls," Courtney whispered in
Jamie's ear.  "Don't ever take a beer from a strange guy...  unless it's
Clay."

   "Jimmy's okay, though," Clay said to Jamie.  He'd made sure of that the
second Melanie had sent him.  His look to her let her know that, too.

   "I suppose I deserve that," Melanie said sadly.  "In the old days I
might have been up to something.  I'm turning over a new leaf.  Clay, I
meant it.  You two look right together."

   "I believe you, Mels," he said.

   "For some reason I never could lie to you," she said and chuckled.

   "Your cousin Mikey and his friends said you were pretty, Melanie.  But
they didn't mention how sweet you were," Jamie said as Jimmy handed her a
beer.  "Thanks."

   "And thank you, Jamie.  Well, I'm sure everyone's disappointed that we
didn't get into a fight and just had a really awkward nice moment instead.
I'm gonna go.  Nice seeing you, Clay."

   "You too, Mels." Clayton and Jamie looked at each other, breathed a sigh
of relief and then chuckled.  Clay's chuckle got cut short.  He sensed a
presence he did not expect at a high school party.  Two of them, actually.
"Over here, Dinah!" he whispered so low that even Jamie couldn't hear him.
He'd become able to sense Becky and Rae, but that had taken time.  He'd
been able to do it with Dinah ever since the night he'd first met her. 
That seemed normal somehow.  What didn't seem normal was that along with
Dinah, he was sensing Becky.

   Clay mused on the fact that a waking nightmare seemed to be taking shape
in front of his eyes.  Here he was with his new lover, and all three of his
ex-girlfriends had showed up at roughly the same time.  He almost laughed
at the absurdity of it all.

   His sense of whimsy didn't last long.  He could tell in an instant that
the new arrivals were genuinely upset.  "Why didn't you answer your phone?"
Becky asked.

   "Battery died," he said.  "Jamie, this is Becky and Dinah...  old family
friends."

   "You two look really cute together," Dinah said, trying to be polite. 
She actually meant it, but her mind was elsewhere.  "Clay, I was at the
hospital...  doing my volunteer work.  I saw something you need to know
about.  You need to come with us right away."

   "Is everything okay?" Jamie asked.

   "I'm sure it is," he said.  "I WILL call, Jamie." He held up his hand
and showed her the number she'd written there.  He kissed her goodbye and
then followed the other two girls out to the porch.  There were an
incredible number of feelings bouncing off of him, and some of them were
even stronger than the sensation of Becky wanting to scratch someone's eyes
out as she walked past Melanie.

   "Clay, there's been an accident," Becky said, taking his hand.  "A bad
one."

   "Mom?" Clay asked.

   "I was there working on something else when they brought them in," Dinah
said.  "Rae was with Mr.  Danes, your computer teacher.  They hit a cement
divider, and for some reason they were going over eighty miles an hour."

   "Oh, Clay, it's so horrible," Becky said, pulling him into her arms.

   "Dinah, tell me!" he snapped.

   "Clay, Rae's...." Dinah broke into tears.  "Clay, neither of them made
it."

   Clayton Teller screamed in agony, and every other person at Courtney's
party lapsed into unconsciousness.  The stereo pounded out a bass line as
the beer cups teenagers had dropped emptied their contents into the very
expensive carpet.  Clay slumped against the wall of the screen porch and
curled into a ball.

   Dinah came back around sooner than anyone else.  She looked at her
ex-lover, conscious, but paralyzed with grief.  She checked the partygoers.
They were breathing normally, and they were healthy.  She went back to the
screen porch and picked up the motionless boy and the black-haired beauty
who still loved him, one under each arm.  She carried them to her 1995
Mazda and began driving them to the hospital.

   "How long was I out?" Becky mumbled from the backseat as she came around
and took Clay back into her arms.  He stared straight ahead, too deep in
shock to even realize she was there.

   "About ten minutes," Dinah said softly and flicked on the windshield
wipers.  It had begun to snow in her city.  "It's just before midnight. 
Beginning of a new day pretty soon, I guess."

   "Feels like the end of the world," Becky said.

   Dinah stared straight at the streets, just beginning to shine with
moisture.  Wasn't she supposed to be the one that prevented the end of the
world?  Wasn't that what superheroes did?  She had only ever loved one boy
in her life.  Yes, she had decided that what she felt for Clay really was
love.  But even with that extra motivation, Dynamo hadn't prevented his
world from crumbling to pieces.  And then there was Rae, sweet, gentle Rae.
She was gone.  And she would never, ever know what Dinah had learned at the
hospital.  Dinah had a secret that no one knew about, not even the boy with
the psychic powers.  That's what had brought her to the hospital late at
night to meet with a doctor she trusted to keep a secret.  She had been
going to tell Clay soon, but now....  He might not be ready to hear this
bit of news for a very long time.

   The windshield wipers squeaked.  Becky cried softly.  Clay's breaths
were short.  Dinah could hear all of that.  She could also hear her own
heartbeat, and Becky's, and Clay's...  and one more.