THE DARK OF THE MOON: JOSETTE'S STORY, Part Five by Christopher Leeson

 

JOSETTE’S STORY, Chapter 5

By Christopher Leeson

Over the next three days, the Josette and Darrell were seen together around the school frequently. At each meeting, Darrell looked and sounded more relaxed. But Josette knew that other people—including Josie's friends—were watching them, too.

 When a couple of girls from the in-crowd cornered her, she had no choice but to talk to them politely, but they only chattered about what the “group” was doing. Being around people who knew Josie so well tied Josette into knots. In contrast, she felt at ease around Darrell.

#

On the fourth day, near the end of school, Josette saw Leah near her locker; Leah smiled oddly. The honey blonde came up wearing a short miniskirt and a sleeveless top. Josette pretended to admire her fashion while getting a good, long look at Leah’s shapely legs.

"Hey Jo, I've been wondering why you've come back from summer vacation as if you turned into a whole different person."

"I find it exhausting to fuss over fashion every day. Really, what’s so important about material things?"

"Who are you and what have you done with Josie?” Leah asked.

The question startled Josette. “What do you mean?”

“Why is fashion suddenly not important to you? Have you had a stroke or something?”

Josette eyed her coolly. “Leah, what specific topic requires discussion?”

Leah wrinkled her nose as if smelling something that she didn’t care for. "We need to talk seriously. You’ve been staying off by yourself lately unless you’re slumming with that nerd, Darrell. The entire school is wondering what’s with you."

“Groups such as ours must be careful to maintain impeccable reputations.”

Josette scowled. "Why can’t I be friends with anyone I want to?"

“Don’t you remember you gave your oath to the group to think and act just like them?”

That used to work; however, we’re maturing. Maybe we’re coming under different rules now.”

Leah looked like she’d been stung by a wasp. “Chill out, Josie! I’m giving you the advice you need to salvage your reputation! Maybe it’s not your fault. Maybe you had a heat stroke last summer! No error is worse than a social misstep. Don’t you see that hanging with the wrong people is going to turn into the wrong person yourself? Have you had a medical checkup lately? Like with a psychiatrist?”

“Leah, that remark is unkind. There’s nothing wrong with me, except I’ve tried to be a kid for too long. Global fashion, parties, and musical tastes don’t add up to much. With Darrell, I’m learning how to play strategic war games. I’m getting pretty good at it!”

Leah looked incredulous. “I hope you’re only going through a phase. If you don’t come up for air, you’re going to be voted out of your social circle, and people will freeze you out!”

“You’re talking about canceling me? Great! Cancellation would be better than dealing with all this bullying!”

Leah blinked in surprise. “You won’t make me angry, Josie. Even if you won’t admit it, I know something is bothering you. This isn’t the real you. I'm still holding out the hope that I’ll soon have my best friend back. When you decide you need help, just say you’re sorry and we can build back better.”

“I might do that,” said Josette, “but don’t rush me. I’m still on vacation.”

Leah, shaking her head, flounced away.

“Damn those snobs!” Josette muttered to herself. “They really are going to cancel me!”

While she didn’t exactly care for the idea of being rejected in scorn, if Josie’s old gang cut her out of the herd, she at least wouldn’t have to listen to their silliness.

Josette had promised to link up with Darrell after school for sodas. She found him waiting for her on the driveway at the parking lot.

Darrell peered at her through narrowed eyes. "Everything ok, Josie? “You have a funny expression.”

“I’m fine. It’s just that Leah said something mean to me.”

“Did she get catty about something?”

“No, but we don’t see eye to eye anymore. I’m almost eighteen, and my outlook is changing. It’s time for me to turn a page, and the gang doesn’t understand that.”

Darrell nodded sympathetically. "Do you still feel like grabbing that soda?"

Josette managed a smile. "Now more than ever!"

At the cafe, Darrell’s stream of jokes soon had her laughing again. Darrell seemed preoccupied. Finally, he asked her, “Maybe we can go to the movies together this weekend?”

Josette didn’t think twice before agreeing, as Loren and Darrell had been to the movies together many times. “Sure, I want us to relate to one another as friends.”

"So do I!" Darrell said quickly. Too quickly.

So they took a lunch downtown and then took in the seven o’clock showing. Unfortunately, the movie thumped and thudded. Neither of them liked woke movies. A newly graduated female officer, this film’s protagonist, demonstrated better skills and instincts than the station’s most seasoned officers. The film’s men were either creepy or inept. A series of unlikely events carried the viewers to credits, where the May Sue rookie found a man she could trust—a downtown troublemaker long under the watchful eye of the law.

They each bought candy before leaving the theater, needing to get the film’s bad taste out of their mouths. “One would think that a cop movie would be pretty based,” Darrell apologized.

“Don’t sweat it,” said Josette. “These days, only the classics are worth watching. You know what you’re getting in the older stuff. There are thousands of old films on Roku channels I haven’t watched yet.”

“Maybe we can watch a few together,” Darrell suggested.

“Yeah, maybe. But don’t push events too fast, Darrell. I’m not ready for anything serious.”

“I swear,” he promised without enthusiasm.

Days of classes and activities followed. She was no longer being approached by the group, and she supposed she’d been canceled. She learned of her social expulsion only through the gang’s silence. Even Leah, who had claimed to want to fix things, did not come near her.

Josette shrugged off her social problems. She only wished she had broken with them first. But with so much on her mind, she had stopped obsessing about the next dark moon. But the dark of the moon hadn’t forgotten about her. It slammed into her on the next evening after the movie trip. The next thing she knew, she lay on her mattress, looking at the ceiling.

Sitting up, Josette noticed that Loren’s posters of comic book heroes had returned to the walls. It took only seconds longer to realize that she wasn’t a she anymore. She—he—was Loren again!

Loren let his head fall back, and he exhaled a moan of relief. The spell really had been temporary. The whole time, he feared the instruction sheet was nonsense and lived in fear of being a girl for life.

That didn’t happen.

So, now, what—?


#

Loren fell asleep where he lay and awoke before sunup. He examined himself again, double-checking to see that his restored maleness hadn’t been a dream.

The youth lay there until the sun was almost up, thinking. His girl-experience was sharp in every detail; it was nothing like a dream. He had been hooked into something weird and crazy, but now it seemed to be over.

His life was once more on track.

He had come back from Crazy Land, and it felt good to be able to wear male clothes without looking silly in them. His mother didn’t so much as blink when he walked into the kitchen as a boy. But after a couple of days, Loren realized he was once more tracking through the mire of a very dull world.

At school, Darrell came over and said, “Hi, Loren,” and then continued down the hall. It soon became plain that absolutely no one remembered Josette. Nothing was left of her, except the memories that Loren carried with him.

But in talking to the few friends he had, he had been around as a boy for the whole of the last month. Weird! The next time he was together with Darrell, he asked leading questions, trying to find out whether his best bud remembered doing things with him as Loren over the past month.

He did. Like, they'd gone to that dumb cop movie, and neither of them had liked it.

Maybe he felt a little less bad about being a social failure. When given the chance to be one of the school’s social in-crowd, he had rejected the idea. He had found out that the friends he had in this life were also the friends he wanted in Josette’s life. But why was he a social failure in his life, and Josie had been a social butterfly in hers? He couldn’t think of any way that Josie was better than he was, except that she had an angel face and a killer body.

Maybe the major differences between him and Josie was that Loren knew that his life was empty, and Josie hadn’t figured that out about hers. Outwardly, she was full of life and fun, but Loren could see that her world was nothing but a pillowcase stuffed with feathers. Another difference between them was that Josie’s life was heading for a fall. In contrast, Loren felt like his life had already fallen.

Also, he wondered what Josette might be doing just then in her own world. He wondered what would have happened to him by now if he had stayed in Josette's pantyhose a little longer.

With the new moon drawing nigh, Loren entered a strange state of mind. He caught himself contemplating the fact that, according to the instruction sheet, he could become Josette again and pick up the adventure where it had left off.

But, no, that was crazy! Some mistake or some freak accident could trap him in Girl World forever. If so, what would his life become then?

He thought girls could have fun, like the old song said. But he didn’t like to think about the fate of livers doing the girl thing. It seemed like girls got the best things in life until they got to be about thirty. For a guy, he rarely had anything to boast about until he passed thirty.

But there was one thing that he didn't like about Josette's life. And that thing was the tenseness of her relationship with Darrell.

Loren knew very well that no normal guy could hang close to a hot girl and not think about sex. Even if Josette had liked boys, Darrell was off limits in that department. Romancing his close friend would have been like romancing one's brother! If Darrell pushed too hard, it could ruin their friendship. If Josette hadn't had Darrell, she'd have been up the creek and all alone. But Loren didn't blame his bud for getting hot and bothered around Josette. In Darrell’s shoes, Loren would have felt, and wanted, the same things he did.

But as the days rolled on and the new moon edged closer, Loren couldn’t get the magic oil out of his mind. He tried to fight off the silly—and dangerous—ideas he was having.

But when the hour of the new moon arrived, without making a certain decision to do so, he touched an oiled Q-Tip to his left arm.

#

Josette awoke the next morning. She got out of bed and could once more admire the sexy pajamas she was wearing. When Mrs. Melford called her down for breakfast, she ate breakfast in a semi-daze, saying little. Once at school, Josette’s attitudes and outlooks returned to her. Only, on this second time around, she felt a little more confident and daring.

But Josette had popped back into Josie's hide in the middle of the school week, and so she drove to Westbrook High wearing a short skirt and blouse. As she parked, she saw Darrel approaching. He waved and shouted, "Josette!”

“Hi,” she replied.

"I missed you!" said Darrell.

“Missed me? Did I disappear for a month or something?”

“What are you talking about?"

“When did we last see each other?”

“What’s with you? Don’t you remember giving me a ride home yesterday after school?”

“Oh, yeah! Sorry. You know how it is! Girls always get forgetful during their time of the month!”

“I never heard they did,” Darrell replied.

“We do, but we don’t like to talk about it.”

After school, they took malts together. Darrell kept suggesting things they could do together over the next few days.

Some things she agreed to do. And she did them. Now that she had actually chosen to be a girl for another month, Josette lost her uptight reluctance to show off her sumptuous skin. She started looking at her wardrobe as if she was a co-star on Unhappily Ever After, wearing things that were bright-colored, tight, and short.

But dressing that way made the boys more interested in her. A lot of them started acting squirrelly around her. They seemed to want to speak to her, but got so tongue-tied that she couldn’t understand what they were saying half the time. The worst boys were the pushy ones, always wanting her to take her places. This made her remember how some girls complained they didn't dare go anywhere alone because the boys would come at them like bees came at flowers. That was why girlfriends or a steady boy were a necessity for them.

Her solution was to hang steady with Darrell. That worked out fine, and it was on her suggestion that they went to the beach together on Saturday.

When they hit the sand, Josette attracted many a longing male glance. She was a bikini in public for the first time, though she had tried on every swimsuit Josie had in private. The one she took with her to the beach was a Rio-cut number decorated with a stained-glass-type pattern.

The other girls at the beach were less readable than the boys, and they didn’t smile her way. She was making them jealous, and that made her laugh inside. She especially liked making the hot chicks feel peeved because of the shabby way they had treated Loren!

"Doesn’t all this attention make you uncomfortable?" Darrell asked.

“Do you want me to show less?” she asked him.

“Oh, God, no! The sight of you drives me out of my mind! And I love the feeling!”

“That’s nice, Darrell, but don’t take that feeling to any place crazy. It might hurt our friendship.”

Darrell winced. "It’s hard not to be creepy around you, Josette. My temperature goes up every time I look at you."

Josette regarded him wryly. “I’m nothing special. Look around. Almost every female with sand on her feet is wearing a bikini. Some even have string bikinis on.”

“Since we’ve arrived, I haven’t looked at anybody but you.”

“Don’t get too intense, Darrell. Intensity makes me jumpy.”

“Say now! I’m getting a little confused about what our relationship is.”

“Whatever it is, do you like it?”

“I like parts of it.”

“Don't tell me about the parts that you don’t like. It might be embarrassing.”

“You’re a hard girl to understand.”

“That must be true.”

The two of them started talking about new war game releases under the shade of a beach umbrella, but the more they conversed, the more their unspoken tension mounted.

Just then, a mob of about a half dozen teen boys came over, their flesh darkened by twelve summer weeks out in the sun. Some of them looked buff.

“Say, babe,” one of them called. “Come out into the light and bloom. I’d like you to join our volleyball game?”

Josette looked his way. “Count me out! Me and my man are having a deep conversation here!”

“I bet nothing about his nerd goes deep except his conversation!” said a boy who had a deep tan, but who needed a haircut.

“Hey!” said Darrell, belatedly exerting himself. “If you need an interpreter, the lady has just said she doesn’t want to play volleyball with you!”

One volley ball player looked his way. “With girls, ‘no’ always means ‘maybe.’”

“I wouldn’t bet on that,” said Josette.

One of the beach guys reached out for Josette. “We’ve got some gals on the team. You’ll fit right in. You’ll be our secret weapon. With the best players on the other side all looking at you and not the ball, we’ll waste them!” He reached out to help her stand up.

Josette slapped his hand away.

It was Darrell who got up so he could shove the pushy guy away from his girlfriend. “Why don’t you sand ticks take off?” he asked.

The guy smirked and gave Darrell a shove. He toppled backwards and struck and sand. When he got up, he started throwing punches. Josette had never seen Darrell start a fight before. And he wasn't very good as a brawler.

The teammates crowded up and formed a ring around Darrell. They pushed him back and forth between them. Josette leaped up and started punching, too. One volleyball guy grabbed Josette’s waist and hoisted her, belly down, over his shoulder.

Some others couldn’t resist touching her legs, her sides, and her bikini’d bottom. That’s when Darrell got serious about slugging. Unfortunately, the interlopers smuggled back. Darrell was soon beaten to his knees.

“Cut that rough stuff out!” shouted a mature male voice. “Put that girl down this minute, buddy!”

In answer, Josette was plopped down on her feet. She staggered a few steps and saw that the intervening tough guy was the lifeguard on duty.

“We were just asking her to play volleyball,” a teen said.

The guard looked her way. “Do you want to play volleyball with them, Miss?” the lifeguard asked.

“I told them I didn’t want to,” she answered back.

“That’s it, then,” said the guard. “Get back to your net before I have to boot the pack of you off the beach for the rest of the weekend!”

“Let’s go,” said one of the mob. “Don’t waste time with the little blonde. She’s stuck up!”

A half a minute later, Darrell and Josette were left standing alone. The male half of their duo didn’t look happy.

“Don’t wear such a long face,” Josette urged.

“All I managed to do was to get pushed around.”

“You did your best and that makes me think you’re pretty damned great!”

Darrell sighed. “I never had to defend a lady before.”

“I hope you learned something you can use the next time,” the girl said.

“Hey,” said Darrell, “instead of hanging with these sun-worshipers, why don’t we get together with my war-game group? We always try to meet on Saturday night. You mentioned before that you're interested in war gaming.”

“I am! Just thinking about doing Advanced Third Reich with five different generals makes me hot!”

“Maybe you can take one of the easy armies, like Italy or France?”

“Hell no! I want to driving panzers into Russia!”

“Okay then! Super!” exclaimed Darrell, his eyes brightening.

#

Loren already knew Darrell’s gamer buddies and prepared a treat for them. She knew every war gamer wished they could bring hot girls into their gaming circle. When she drove Darrell to the meeting place, she was wearing a tight tee with shorts that were even tighter.

The gamers welcomed Josette with eyes wide open, falling all over one another with gallantry. Unlike the beach posers, they were scrupulously polite and treated her like a princess. This was the right sort of crowd for Josette. They were all cut from the same cloth, sharing interests in fantasy movies and books. The boys continually stole glances at her chest and her legs, but Josette understood boys too well to be offended.

#

When she drove Darrell home, he wasn’t as usual good-natured self as he usually was after a gaming session. She avoided asking questions before dropping him off, but at the zoo the next day, Darell's frustrations spilled over. "I don’t think that you’re taking our relationship seriously," he blurted.

 

"What? Where is this coming from?"

 

"It's been bothering me for a while."

 

"I do take it seriously,” she defensively replied. “Why don’t you say I’m not?”

“Because you never let us talk about important things.”

“Like what?”

“Like, you never said what kind of guy you’d most like to marry?”

“Wow, that’s a subject that’s too heavy for me! I won't be eighteen before next month and I’m living with my mother. I’d like taking a swing at being on my own for a few years before tying myself down with a…a husband.” It was hard for Josette even to pretend to want a husband.

“So, where is our relationship going? Is it even an actual relationship?”

Josette shrugged. Aren’t you having a good time with us dating? But lately you've been looking sour when you should be smiling.”

“I've got a lot on my mind. If we break up, I’m pretty sure I’ll never meet your kind again.”

“’Whoa! Who's talking about breaking up? If we’re really friends, why do we have to break up?”

“If two people aren’t aimed at the same goal post, maybe their relationship doesn’t have a future.”

“I thought I understood guys, but I sure don't understand what you're saying now,” Josette said.

“I don’t think you get how strongly I feel about you, Josette. And the vibes you give off make me think you don’t have any powerful feelings about me.”

“Relationships are evolving things. Don’t you think it’s a little early to be breaking the speed limit? I have strong feelings about you, even if they aren’t romantic. You’re already talking about marriage, but marriage never puts a seal on a relationship. It seems like people can go together for years but suddenly want a divorce a year after they get married. Please, Darrell, don’t rush things.”

“We haven’t even kissed yet.”

“Darrell! What's the big deal about kissing? A kiss can be misunderstood, and misunderstandings can ruin everything.”

“I've been getting the feeling that you're putting me into the 'friend zone.' Girls never treat friend-zone guys seriously.”

“Don’t get mad! If you start hating on me, I’m there's not going to be much left to my life. Why isn’t being friends enough?”

“I’m awfully afraid that you and I don’t want the same thing. Maybe you think we aren’t right for each other.”

Josette gave him a hard look. “If I’m not right for you, who is it you like better?”

“I don’t know anyone else. But you knew that, and you shouldn’t have forced me to say it!”

“Listen to yourself! What do you want from me?”

“We can start with a goodnight kiss,” he suggested.

“That’s nothing! It won't mean anything!”

“It might if it's lips to lips.”

“I hope you’re not thinking of putting your tongue in my mouth.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Get off it! You've never put your tongue into any girl's mouth. Without practice, how do you know you’d be any good at it?”

Darrell reacted wrongly. He shifted and glared toward the monkey cage. “I’m only joking,” Josette said. “But think clearly! We’ve only known each other for less than three months. If you start in a desert, don't you figure it's going to be a long trip to the rain forest?”

Darrell glanced back. “So, what are you saying?”

"I’m not sure. Why are you so adamant about kissing me?”

“Do you seriously not know?” Darrell asked impatiently.

 

“Cross my heart, I don't,” she replied. 

“Stop that! You're making me feel like I’m bullying you.”

“I don't want to call you a bully. I’m just saying we shouldn't change our relationship so soon. A kiss is a big deal and it would change things. Changes are sometimes for the worse. Would you really break up with me over this?” Josette asked.

“Not yet. But I can only wait for so long.”

Frustrated, Josette felt like grabbing and shaking him. Why shouldn't he be satisfied having one of the cutest girls at Westbrook High for a girlfriend? Wasn't he enjoying the prestige that came from hanging with someone as hot as Josette Melford? Why was it that two guys could remain best friends for years, but yet the best guy-girl relationships in the world rarely extended beyond a few weeks?

“You've laid a lot on my platter. I need time to contemplate this," Josette said. "For now, can't we talk about something else? The way we’re going, one of us might say something wrong, and it could be hard to take back.”

“Maybe you’re right. But we need to have a serious discussion soon.”

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Josette. “I’ve got an inkling of an idea,” she said. “It might fix this gnarly little problem we're having. And tell you about it soon, I promise.”

“Whatever you have in store, it has to be big and important. Otherwise, I won't be able to feel that I'm big and important to you,” said Darrell.

“Don’t worry,” Josette replied. “It will be about the biggest thing that's ever happened to you.”

THE END

To continue with the adventures of Josette and Darrell, see “The Dark of the Moon,” already posted here at TFTGS.