Blinking, you quickly shake your head. “No— no,” you deny. “I don’t want to go yet. We’ve still got plenty of things to talk about. I haven’t even asked you out on a date yet!” Your voice raises shrilly by the end.
Snickering, she waves you down. “Okay, okay.” Her snickering ceases, and she smiles fondly at you. “You want to take me out again?”
You nod eagerly. “I haven’t figured out where I want to take you yet though,” you ramble. “I was thinking we could go to the movies, but we already watched one and there’s nothing very good out yet, and I was going to take you out to the carnival, but it closed down after a new cape took some drugs or something and destroyed some of the rides.” You’d heard about it on the bus’s radio this morning. “And, um. So I was having trouble thinking of places I could take you. Is there anywhere you would like to go this weekend?” You give her an anxious smile.
She smiles, a soft and warm smile. “We don’t have to do something special every time, Taylor,” she reminds you gently. “We could just get some coffee, or some lunch or something. We could, uh, never mind.” She flushes slightly.
“We could what?” you ask curiously.
She blushes heavier, shaking her head. “No, never mind,” she replies. Now you’re really curious, but you can see it’s making her uncomfortable, so you let it drop. “But yes, we could just do something simple if you wanted.”
Hm. You do like simple, although you also have a fascination with the more complex kind of dates. Then again, that can always come later. You’d like to just enjoy some simplicity with her now, you think, before everything becomes more complicated later. “Alright,” you say, smiling at her. “Would you like to go out for lunch with me on the weekend, Amy?”
“Yes.” She matches your smile. “Saturday would suit me better—Mom wants me to go to a fundraiser on Sunday. Is that alright with you?”
You nod eagerly. “Yeah! I can do Saturday. I’ll figure out a place and time and text you on Friday?”
“Sounds good.” She stands up, stretching, and you follow suit. Sitting down for that long tends make the muscles in your back a little sore. “I’ll see you on Saturday, then.”
You make sure to give her a quick hug before she goes, which she returns easily. She’s a little shorter than you, so her arms naturally go under yours, allowing you to pull her in easily as you rest your arms around her shoulders. You quickly peck her on the top of the head, a kiss that’s short and sweet without being too pushy, as the two of you let go; then, steadfastly ignoring the way her gaze burns into your back, you pick up your papers and give her a jaunty wave goodbye.
The doctor seems happy with the paperwork. He scans over them for a moment as you hand the sheaf of papers to him, but doesn’t seem to find any irregularities, because he gives you a small nod. “Thank you, Taylor,” he says, letting out a small groan as he falls back into his chair. “I hope I’ll see you again next week.”
You nod pleasantly at him, but don’t give him a strong affirmation. Next week is school holidays, and you’re not sure if you’ll be coming in during them. Maybe. You’ll keep it in mind.
The bus drive home is as short as usual, affording you plenty of time to reheat the dinner Dad left for you in the fridge and head up to your room. You fall almost immediately into doing your homework, only a slight scowl on your face as you do it. So Mister Gladly didn’t think your essay was as good as Emma’s, huh? Well, screw him. You never even liked World Issues anyway.
You stay up finishing off your homework until nearly ten—a good two and a half hours, maybe a little more—before you crawl into bed, leaving the light on so you could read through this Harry Potter book some more again.
By the time you finally fall asleep, your thoughts are pleasantly fuzzy. Thoughts about wizards in silly hats flash about as you imagine your plans for tomorrow—most likely a busy day, with the holidays approaching. Whatever are you going to do… [Pick three of the following options.]
[] You’ve nearly finished the business textbooks you borrowed from the library a few weeks back. Maybe the school library has something on the topic? They did have a business class up until a couple of years ago. Surely, they’ll still have the textbooks available, just in case they reopen the classes one day?
— Success chance: Cannot be failed.
— General results: Provides the third of the necessary three votes necessary for Taylor to develop the core skillset she needs to run a business. Completion of this task will open further voting options to refine Taylor’s skillset and get her in a workable state.
[] The holidays are approaching soon, and while you finally approached Aisha last week, you only managed to introduce yourself to her. If you want to keep in touch with her over the holidays—which you do, but priorities—you’re going to need to get her number; and to do that, you’re going to need to introduce her to your circle of friends at school, so you don’t come off like a total creeper.
— Success chance: Cannot be failed.
— General results: With some minor help from Taylor’s power, Aisha will agree to move over to Taylor’s table for lunch, providing further opportunities for interactions with her and opening up a broader range of voting options. Additionally, provides one of two necessary votes for Taylor to get Aisha’s number, which will enable voting options with Aisha during the school holidays.
[] The holidays are approaching soon, and there’s one other girl you’d like to spend some time with over the holidays that you can’t already get in contact with easily—Charlotte. And not just because you want to exercise your powers on her some more, although the thought of how far you could get with her if you had whole days with her over the holidays does get you going a little. You’d like to think she could be more to you than just a sex doll, however—and inviting her over to join you and Madison at your table would be a good start.
— Success chance: Cannot be failed.
— General results: With some unnecessary help from Taylor’s power, Charlotte will happily move over and have her lunches with Madison and Taylor for the foreseeable future. Provides further opportunities for interactions with Charlotte, including non-sexual interactions, and opens up a broader range of voting options. Additionally, provides one of two necessary votes for Taylor to get Charlotte’s number, which will enable voting options with Charlotte during the school holidays.
[] Your contact with Sophia has largely been perfunctory to date. You can tell she’s making an effort, but she’s not very good at it. Maybe you could help her out with that? If you spent some time just sitting down and having an actual conversation, even via text, you might be able to encourage her to open up a little.
— Success chance: 70%
— General results: Increases Sophia’s Affection by 1. Taylor will try and engage Sophia to open up a little more by asking her for jogging tips, and trying to segue smoothly into more casual conversation.
— On a success: Sophia is bored enough during a Wards meeting to occupy herself talking to Taylor. The conversational topic—asking Sophia to explain tennis to her—won’t be the most interesting thing to Sophia, but will open her to the idea of actually conversing with Taylor about things on a conversational basis, encouraging her to see Taylor more kindly.
— On a failure: Sophia is too busy giving her report to Armsmaster to respond to Taylor in a timely manner, discouraging Taylor from trying to pursue the train of thought further.
[] Dad wants to sit down and watch some more of those documentaries with you tomorrow. That’s fine— they’re actually kind of interesting, and it’s good to sit down and do something like that with him. The more time you spend around him, the more you find yourself at ease around him, anyway. You kind of hope you might be able to work up the nerve to ask about that basement soon.
— Success chance: Cannot be failed.
— General results: Taylor will continue to be more comfortable around her father. Taylor will bring up the topic of the basement, and Danny will agree to allow her to move into the basement, as long as she helps him find and rebuild any furniture she wants in it.
Spoiler: Stat Changes
Amy:
+1 Affection
2.12
Spoiler: Winning Votes
[] The holidays are approaching soon, and while you finally approached Aisha last week, you only managed to introduce yourself to her. If you want to keep in touch with her over the holidays—which you do, but priorities—you’re going to need to get her number; and to do that, you’re going to need to introduce her to your circle of friends at school, so you don’t come off like a total creeper.
[] The holidays are approaching soon, and there’s one other girl you’d like to spend some time with over the holidays that you can’t already get in contact with easily—Charlotte. And not just because you want to exercise your powers on her some more, although the thought of how far you could get with her if you had whole days with her over the holidays does get you going a little. You’d like to think she could be more to you than just a sex doll, however—and inviting her over to join you and Madison at your table would be a good start.
[] Dad wants to sit down and watch some more of those documentaries with you tomorrow. That’s fine— they’re actually kind of interesting, and it’s good to sit down and do something like that with him. The more time you spend around him, the more you find yourself at ease around him, anyway. You kind of hope you might be able to work up the nerve to ask about that basement soon. You run a critical eye over your body in the mirror. Your hair is still damp—there’s only so much you can do about that, even using a second towel just for it—but the rest of your body is mostly dry.
It’s been nearly a month since you started jogging at Sophia’s suggestion, and you’re starting to get noticeable results. You’ve never considered yourself to be fat—Dad doesn’t make enough money to buy enough food to make you fat—but you’re well in the process of losing what little bits of fat you had on your body. The slight bulge in your stomach is gone, and your cheeks are thinner than before. Touching your stomach, you can feel tense muscles there—very different to the feeling of Madison’s soft skin. Your legs, too, are beginning to take shape, although you have a long while to go before you can begin comparing yourself to Sophia.
Internally, you frown. You’re going to have to be careful. Putting on some muscle is fine, but you can’t afford to lose too much weight. You’re not far off from being underweight as it stands, and Dad can’t afford to buy more food on a regular basis.
You trace a finger up, from your thigh to your chest. Your frown becomes external as you tilt your head and consider your body. Your chest is still flat, or so close to flat that the difference is negligible—it’s not like you have nothing there, your breasts are just so small that they’re barely worth considering. There are twelve-year-olds out there with bigger chests than you have.
There’s no use in thinking about it. Turning away sharply, you march over to where you’d placed your clothes and begin putting them on, steadfastly ignoring the total lack of a bra amongst the items you’re putting on.
You’re not totally unhappy with your appearance, if you’re being honest; you do like the more toned look your body is taking on. You just wish you could… fill out your frame more, kind of. It’d be nice if you had a few more curves. Your hips are kind of wide, which is nice, and your shoulders are narrow, but you’re very far off from having an hourglass figure or anything like it.
You wish you could see what Madison and Victoria see in it. They seem to appreciate the way you look—in fact, you know they do; you can feel how much they do. But no matter how hard you look, no matter how much you squint and turn your head, you can’t see what they’re seeing in you.
But, oh well. If they’re somehow able to convince themselves that your body is attractive, you’re not going to do anything to dissuade them. That would be silly.
Dad is once again gone by the time you make it back out to the kitchen. He’s left you a full pot of coffee bubbling away in the coffee machine, with the jar of sugar left beside it. You hurry in, popping two slices of bread into the toaster on your way, and set yourself to the task of making some breakfast, trying to set aside the lingering doubts in your mind.
Soon enough, everything is cooked and eaten. You wash the plate you’d put your breakfast on very carefully—apricot jam can get really sticky if you don’t take care to clean it soon after—and quickly wash your hands to get rid of any remaining stickiness before you head off to the bus.
The bus is uncomfortably warm today. You can hear the vehicle’s air conditioning system laboring to cool the air, but all that results is the faint smell of dust and burning rubber permeating through the air. Everyone around you is wrinkling their noses in disgust.
You’re about halfway there when your phone buzzes in your hand when you’re busy replying to a good morning text from Amy. You finish typing the text before you open it, but when you do, you can’t help but frown a little.
It’s from Victoria. ”won’t be able to come over today. sorry”
You hesitate a moment, then quickly fire off a response. “That’s okay.
Is there something wrong? Anything I can help with?”
Her reply is almost instant, sent less than a minute later. “nothings wrong just gotta talk to somebody. see you sunday”
You make a face as you reply in the affirmative before pocketing your phone again. It’s a little bit disappointing, if you’re being honest; you like having your extra time with Victoria on Wednesdays now. But if she needs to do something else, you’ll live with it. If there’s something wrong, you’d like to think she’ll tell you about it on Sunday.
