CHAPTER 24: Bra or Panties?

    Naomi has just slipped on a new pair of panties and slammed her locker shut and is about to return to work when someone says “GOT A LITTLE TOO EXCITED?”

    Naomi gasps. Still under her toes, I can’t see who it is. She sounds maybe a little older than Naomi. I don’t recognize the voice. She laughs.

    “DON’T WORRY, I’M JUST TEASING. WHERE DO YOU KEEP HIM? BRA OR PANTIES?”

    There’s a moment of silence.

    “OH, HE’S ONE OF THOSE?” the voice says, and chuckles. “NICE OF YOU TO INDULGE HIM. THE FOOT MODELS FEEL NICE, BUT I PREFER TO KEEP MY LITTLE GUYS CLOSER, WHERE THEY CAN DO THEIR JOB ALL THE TIME, IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.”

    Naomi laughs a little nervously.

    “I LIKE HIM DOWN THERE,” Naomi says, “HE WORKS JUST FINE FOR ME.”

    “AH, I SEE. WELL ENJOY. AND DON’T WORRY, NOBODY IS GOING TO TELL REBEKAH. SHE CAN’T STAND THE THINGS.”

    I hear click of heels walking away, and Naomi sighs.

    “I’M BLUSHING,” she mumbles.

Chapter 25: Down

    “ARE YOU OKAY ALPHA? YOU LOOK A LITTLE... DOWN.”

    I feel a little down. My relationship with Naomi has gotten so comfortable, I found my mind has finally turned to other things. Things from the past.

    Last night I was thinking about Beta and Zero when to my own surprise, I started crying. Everything just seemed to build up inside me all at once, all the memories I had been repressing and all the possibilities I hadn’t dared to consider just bubbled up and I didn’t try to stop them this time. I just let them gush out and I bawled into my pillow for a bit. I felt a little better after that release, but I couldn’t get back to sleep. I just kept thinking about everything that might have happened.

    I run my hand my through my hair and sigh. I’m sitting in my bed on the desk as she reads a magazine in her bed.

    “Do you ever see any more... little guys like me at the restaurant? Or little women?”

    She thinks for a moment, staring into the distance.

    “NO. I DON’T THINK SO, SORRY.”

    “Oh. Okay,” I say.

    “WHY? ARE YOU LONELY?” she says, concerned.

    “Well. No not really. I just... I had friends there. Before.”

    “OH MY GOD, I’M SO SORRY. OF COURSE YOU DID. GOD, I’M SO STUPID. THAT MUST BE HARD. DO YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT?”

    Not really. But when I start to tell her that Beta and Zero might have escaped, I somehow end up telling her my life story. My exceptionally short life story that is, starting back in the lab with Keyla. I don’t know how long I talk for, but she stares wide eyed at me the whole time. When I’m done she just sits there with her mouth open.

    “OH MY GOD,” she whispers. “WOW.”

    I lay on my back and stare at the ceiling. I feel kind of empty, but in a good way maybe. Like I let something off my chest that’s been dragging me down and I didn’t even know it. I take a deep breath and exhale slowly.