The Reluctant Sister (Reluctant Series Book 3)

by Melanie Brown

  I’d forgotten about my daiquiri and picked it up. As I was bringing it up, a hand suddenly grabbed my wrist. “What the hell?” I said as I looked up. Diane had a firm grip on my wrist.

  “Don’t drink that, sis!” she said, not taking her eyes from Robert. As I set the drink back down, she said to him, “What was that powder I saw you sprinkle into my sister’s drink?”

  Robert looked shocked and said, “What are you talking about, Diane? We’re just having a friendly chat.”

  Diane suddenly reached for Robert’s jacket pocket and rammed her fingers inside it. Before Robert could react, she pulled out a small packet of some powder.

  “What the hell is this, Bob?” Diane said angrily. She studied the package intently for a moment. “I think this is ketamine.”

  “Keta-who?” I asked, confused.

  “Ketamine. It’s a date rape drug. They talked about this at our campus women’s group meetings,” Diane said. “Our professor friend had some plans for you, Chrissy.”

  Still trying to look smug, Robert said, “You got this all wrong, Diane. Your sister is a little stressed out. I was just trying to help her relax.”

  “Bullshit!” cried Diane. “You were going to rape my sister!” She waved to someone across the room. Susan waved back. Diane motioned for her to come to us.

  Robert’s face took on a stern look as he stepped towards Diane, “Rape is a pretty harsh accusation. If your sister here decided to have sex with me, why should it be rape? Are you now claiming all those times that I fucked you were rape too?”

  “Don’t change the subject, you bastard.” Diane held up the little package and continued, “You didn’t drug me.”

  Robert smirked, “I didn’t have to.”

  Her face turning bright red and clenching her teeth, Diane said, “My cell is dead, but Susan has a cell phone. I’m calling the cops. My sister is only seventeen. Ever hear of statutory rape?”

  Briefly letting surprise show on his face, Robert leaned back in his chair and said, “Well, no rape has occurred. Even if that package contains anything... funny... you’ve handled it so much you’ve obliterated any trace of fingerprints, and of course, when the police get here, they’re going to be asking a lot of questions. Questions like, how did a seventeen year old girl get into a bar and who gave her alcohol? I’ll also mention how I think this accusation was motivated by revenge for me rejecting your sexual advances.”

  Diane was about to explode. Susan arrived next to Diane and asked, “Hey girl. What’s up?” Susan glanced around the three of us with a puzzled expression, “Oh, hi Professor Pierce.”

  Breathing heavy, Diane said, “I need to borrow your cell phone.”

  Robert sat down, stone-faced. He was probably a good poker player. His eyes bored into Diane.

  Susan pulled the phone from her purse and said, “Sure. No problem. What’s going on?”

  “Nothing,” Diane said, seething, “nothing at all. I need to call a cab to take Chrissy and me back to my apartment. I think we’re through with the party.”

  Susan frowned, “So soon? We’ve only been here two hours.” She looked at the way Diane and Robert were staring at each other. She leaned very close to Diane’s ear. I couldn’t hear her, but I saw that she said, “Did he turn you down again?”

  Diane snapped, “Just give me the goddamn phone! Please?”

  Susan took a step back and handed Diane the phone, “Jeesh. I guess so, huh?”

  Professor Pierce called to us as we walked away, “It was nice seeing you again, Diane!”

  * * *

  We rode back to Diane’s apartment in silence. We both just stared out the windows of the cab. I replayed the evening’s events over and over. It didn’t escape my notice that Diane had referred to me as ‘sis’, but mostly I was just beginning to feel sick. Thankfully, the ride wasn’t for very long. Diane paid the driver and in stony silence we walked to her apartment.

  As soon as we entered, I sat down on the couch and as tears began welling up I said, “I am so, so sorry Diane! Looks like I messed up your party.” I started shaking as the evening began to catch up with me.

  Diane spun around and said, “Sorry?! Chris, you came this close to being raped! That asshole!”

  I grunted something that sounded like a laugh as I started to cry and said, “Thanks for coming to my rescue. I guess I’m just stupid, but he wouldn’t have done anything after he saw I wasn’t really a girl, right?”

  “Don’t be so sure. I have a feeling he’d done it anyway. Don’t forget. He might have been so pissed that you fooled him, he might have killed you.” Diane suddenly waved her arms in frustration and practically shouted, “Goddammit Chris! So many things could have gone wrong tonight! If Robert had managed to get you out of the bar and to his home, either way, the truth about you would be out. God only knows what a jerk like that would do with that information. If we’d called the cops, it would have come out who you really are.”

  Diane paced back and forth as she shouted and all I could do was cry as I watched her.

  Diane snapped, “Did you ever bother to consider the cost of your fucking little scam? I was coming less to your rescue and more to our family’s rescue. Not only has it possibly messed up your life, but look what you’ve done to Mom and Dad! Is this why Dad had to go to therapy a few years ago?” She plopped down on the couch, trying not to sit too close to me.

  “Will you please stop it?” I cried. “Please? I said I was sorry. Getting dressed up and going to the party wasn’t my idea, remember? I was going back to the motel.” I was crying so hard my whole body shook.

  I paused to catch my breath before I continued, “For some reason, I thought you’d want a sister.” I paused a moment. Between tears I said, “You know, Diane, I didn’t exactly set out this semester with the goal of becoming a girl. I didn’t set out tonight to ruin your party or... or... get raped by some horny old teacher you used to boink. I... I...” my voice trailed off as I cried. The weight of the events of the evening as well as the weight of things that could have happened was taking its toll.

  Diane seemed to soften as she moved close to me and put her arm around me in a warm hug. She started to tear up as she said, “I’m sorry to have yelled at you. I should have been more forceful when I told my friends no at wanting to dress you up. I have to admit that I wanted to see what you looked like myself!” She let out a very brief laugh then hugged me as we both cried together for a few minutes.

  Diane finally gained some composure and stood up, “Chris... Chrissy. You need to get back to the motel. Go ahead and take a quick shower before you leave and change back to your guy clothes.”

  It was after eleven when I finally arrived at the motel. Mom and Dad were already asleep. I crept around the room as quietly as possible to get ready for bed. After crawling into bed, I shuddered. Why does everything always have to go so disastrously wrong? How can being a girl be both the best and worst thing to ever happen to me?

  Next weekend, when Diane moves back home, things were going to be decidedly different.

  * * *

  Chapter 6

  I could barely drag myself to school Monday morning. The long drive and the all the events of the weekend had tired me out. I was so tired I didn’t even bother with make-up and just wore a sweater and some jeans. My hair was still wet from the shower that morning and it was bone-chilling cold. I’m sure I looked like a complete mess.

  I had just opened my locker when Mandy appeared next to me, “Hey girl! Wow, like, what’s with you today?”

  “I’m just tired,” I sighed.

  “Well, I was just curious about how things went with your sister? Did you tell her about ‘Chrissy’? How did she react?” whispered Mandy as she leaned a little closer to me.

  I rolled my eyes and said, “Oh yes, we told her. She had a cow over it!” I then gave Mandy a quick re-cap of Diane’s friends wanting to dress me up and then the part where we attended the party.

  Her eyes big, Mand
y said, “Wow. I can’t believe that a professor was like, going to try to rape you!” A couple of people in our vicinity glanced over at us.

  I closed my locker, “Hey, pipe down! I don’t want the whole school to know.”

  “Okay, sorry. But still! Wow.” Mandy shook her head.

  We started walking down the hall towards my first class. Mandy said, “Oh, and about last Friday night. I just wanted to say…” We saw Jeff approaching. Mandy nudged me, “Hey, I’ll catch ya later, girl.” She turned down a side hallway.

  Smiling, Jeff walked up to me and gave me a big hug and a quick kiss, “Chrissy! How was your weekend? Did you tell your sister?”

  There was no way I was going to tell Jeff about all the details of the weekend, “The weekend was okay. It was a long drive coming and going. Yes, I told Diane about me. She freaked at first, but I think she’s cool with it now. She even called me ‘sis’ at the bar.”

  Jeff looked at me sideways and asked, “You were at a bar?”

  “Uh, well, sorta.” Rats! “She let me come to her graduation party Saturday night. She snuck me in with her driver’s license. It was really kinda boring though.”

  “I thought you were spending the weekend as a … guy.” Jeff let go of my hand and put his hands in his pockets.

  “Well yeah, I spent the whole weekend in guy mode. Jeff, don’t you trust me?” I stopped in the hall and looked up into his face, trying to read his expression.

  He just looked at me for a moment, and then smiled, “Of course, I trust you. It just bothered me, thinking of you in a bar full of college guys. I… I just don’t want to lose you. That’s all.”

  I smiled and gave Jeff a big hug, “You’re the only guy I want to be with!” I thought, ‘Jeff’s the only guy I can be with’. “Well, this is my class. I’ll talk to you later. OK?”

  “You bet!” he said as he bent down and gave me a kiss.

  * * *

  Walking past the library on my way to my third period class, I noticed Joey wasn’t in his usual spot. I wanted to talk to him about the weekend. Then it dawned on me that Joey wasn’t going to be here this week. He and his family were leaving early to go back to Japan. I felt a little down realizing I wasn’t going to get to talk with Joey for three whole weeks.

  * * *

  At lunch, I sat down next to Mandy at our usual table. Sandy looked up and said, “Hey girls, look what the cat dragged in! You’re a complete disaster! Are you trying to go back to your tomboy look?”

  I shot Sandy a look that should have melted the wall behind her, “Thank you for noticing. I was just really tired this morning and I slept late. I didn’t have time to really fix my hair or anything.”

  Sandy smiled sweetly and said, “Well, partying with the college crowd will do that.”

  A chill shot down my spine, “Wha … what are you talking about?”

  “Even though my brother hasn’t graduated yet, a friend of his graduated this weekend, and she took him to a party Saturday night. He called Sunday and one of the things he told me was about a girl there with the name ‘Chrissy’ who was flirting with every guy there. He said he thought she looked a lot like the girl who ran against me for Homecoming Queen,” Sandy took a bite of her salad.

  “I wasn’t flirting with every guy!” I blurted out.

  Sandy smiled and said, “So, it was you! My brother said you spent a lot of time with one of the professors there.”

  I was getting pissed, “OK, yes, I was there. It’s not like it was a crime or anything.”

  Mandy looked at me funny and said, “Actually, it was a crime.” I shot her a dirty look.

  Exasperated I said, “Whatever! I really don’t owe you…” I looked around the table, “… or any of you, an explanation, but just so you’ll know, that was one of my sister’s professors and he just wanted to chat.”

  Sandy asked, “Does Jeff know you’re such a party-girl?”

  Smugly, I said, “Actually, I did tell Jeff about the party, and that it was at a bar.”

  Sandy looked disappointed, “Yeah, but I bet you didn’t tell him about the chat with the professor.”

  I was about to say I had, but then I realized Sandy would probably ask Jeff about it just to get me into more trouble. So I said, “No. There was nothing to tell.”

  * * *

  “Oh! That Sandy is just so … so … irritating!” I exclaimed to Mandy as we left the lunchroom. “Sometimes, I just want to set her hair on fire or something.”

  “Yeah, me too,” Mandy agreed. “Oh… and about last Friday night. I wanted to tell you how sorry I was for leaving you so fast.” She looked around quickly, then continued in a lowered voice, “I know you like, wanted a goodnight kiss, but like I said, it was like kissing my sister or at least some other girl.”

  I nodded, “I understand. Like right now, I would never in a million years consider kissing you, but Friday, I have to say, as a guy, I really liked it.”

  “But like, you see?” Mandy said, gesturing with her hands. “That’s the whole problem with me. You never really ever seemed like a boy to me.”

  “Well, we might hang out together, but you can relax. I’m never going to ask you on a date again!” I laughed.

  * * *

  The icy wind sliced right through my coat as soon as I stepped out the school’s door to start walking home. Little flakes of snow swirled around in the wind. It was going to be a miserable walk home.

  As I neared the parking lot though, I noticed Jeff’s car was parked. I could see Jeff was inside. He honked his horn a couple of times as I approached to make sure I noticed. He rolled down the passenger side window and called, “Hey babe! Get in; I’ll give you a ride home.” It was an offer I couldn’t refuse.

  As I climbed into his car, I said, “Thanks Jeff! It was going to be an unpleasant walk!”

  “Hey, no problem! That’s why I waited here for you so you wouldn’t have to walk in this stuff.” He paused a moment, just looking at me. Then he said, “I didn’t realize just how much I was going to miss you when you were gone this weekend. Saturday we leave for Arizona for two weeks.”

  “I know! I’ll miss you a lot, too!” I said putting my hand on his. “I was going to spend that whole two weeks in boy mode. That way, maybe my sister can…”

  “Will you stop talking about ‘boy mode’?” Jeff barked suddenly. “Stop reminding me you’re a guy.” He grimaced and turned away from me to look out his window.

  His sudden anger took me by surprise, “Jeff, please. I’m sorry. I won’t mention it again, OK?” I put my hand on his shoulder.

  He turned to look down at his hands for a moment. He then looked at me and ran his hand down my cheek. He said, “So beautiful...” He paused for a few moments before saying, “I love you so much, Chrissy.”

  Before I could say anything, he pulled me close to him and started kissing me hard, and very passionately. I put my arms around his neck and returned his passion. I sucked on his tongue as it entered my mouth. Jeff pulled me tighter against him and started kissing and nibbling down my neck and on my earlobe. A wave of passion shot through me as I began to rub Jeff’s chest and kiss his cheek and neck.

  Jeff’s passion increased as we kissed harder and embraced ever more tightly. My hand slipped to his lap and discovered just how turned on he was. He let out a groan and held my hand there. Jeff’s kisses were hot and furious, and he started to breath hard. I started to massage the very obvious bulge in his pants, and in a breathless voice, Jeff said, “Oh God Chrissy. I love you. I want you so bad.” Then, another passionate kiss.

  “I want you too, Jeff!” I cried. Wave after wave of passion pulsed through me as we kissed. ‘Was I ready for this?’, I wondered. Do I want to do this? Fleeting glimpses of moon drenched grass at Springer Lake popped through my mind along with a nagging feeling of shame. I pushed those images from my mind and decided to throw caution to the wind. I started fumbling with Jeff’s belt buckle as he slid his hand inside my sweater and started k
neading my bra.

  Whack! Whack! I almost jumped out of my skin.

  There was a knuckle rapping on the driver’s side window and a partially muffled voice called, “Hey, you people. We’ll have none of this non-sense on school property!”

  Startled, I looked around, trying to catch my breath. The windows were all fogged over, so I couldn’t see who was outside.

  Jeff, breathing hard and suddenly not sure of what to do, just stared at me for a few seconds with an obvious “what the hell?!” expression on his face. We both tried to regain our composure, and I tried to straighten my hair as Jeff rolled down the window.

  Standing there, scowling, was Ms. Thornapple. She started saying, “If you kids want to do this kind of…” Her eyes widened as she saw who was sitting in the car. After a couple of false starts, she asked, “Mr. Kowalski! Mr. Davis! What are you two doing?!”