We did not stay late enough to see Eve return from her date. The next Monday, I arrived at school in time only to discover my first lesson was canceled. So I went to the computer lab.
As I was pounding on the computer, I heard a "Hey Jenn!". It was Eve. She was wearing some Jeans and a T-shirt with the Linux penguin and some inscriptions on. Her hair was flowing in all directions and she was wearing good makeup. She looked great.
"Hi Eve! So how was your date?"
"Heh, Jenn, I'm gonna get you for this… one day… I swear."
"What's wrong?"
"Well, Taylor could not help staring at me the whole time. When we got to the cinema and the movie started he actually hugged me with his arms."
"Using the stretching trick?"
"No."
"So what did you do?"
"I sort of cuddled into him. Then he smelled my hair. So I asked him 'How did it smell?' and he said 'It smels lovely.'. Is he British?"
"No, he's not.", I said.
"That wasn't the worst part. After the movie was over, he told me that I was too good for a Pizza, and instead took me to Loro's."
"Loro's a very nice restaurant. Not too expensive but very nice."
"I know!", she exclaimed, "and we were chatting all this time. And when the meal ended, he insisted on paying for my part of the dinner. You know I have my financial resources."
"Yes, I do."
"Then he escorted me home, and we arrived there, he asked if I wanted a good night kiss. I said 'OK', and we kissed. Well, it turned out to be more than a kiss - we were totally making out."
"And…", I said eagerly.
"I stopped him, said 'Good night, bye, see you at school.' and went inside. Didn't want to push it too far."
"So you're not going to see him again?", I asked her, puzzled.
"Are you kidding? That was my best date of all time. I'll better set up another one."
"Nice, " I said. "It's really nice seeing you two together."
"OK," she said, "I'll better get going. Oh wait… can you come with me, two days from now, and help me shop for new clothes and for things to decorate my room with?"
"Sure,", I said, "why not?"
"Super. And do you mind if I join you and Taylor in your gym workout. 'Sound mind in a sound body'?"
"No problem here. And I think Taylor would love to see you more often."
"Judging by yesterday, I think he actually may. Ta ta!"
"Bye!".
Taylor entered the same room after about 20 minutes. "Hi!", I told him, "How was your date last Friday?".
"It went pretty well."
"That's it?"
"I guess…" he said hesitantly.
I was shocked. "Man, you guys make awful gossipers."
"Oh… Eve was here, wasn't she? And she told you all about it."
"Yep. You smelled her hair and said it smelled lovely…. You bought her dinner at a rather fancy restaurant."
"Yes, it was a wonderful date, I guess. Eve was so great the other night."
"Yeah, she was."
"Thanks for… you know… transforming her and all."
"You're welcome."
When Eve and I got together to go shopping, we went to a clothes shop. "You know, my newfound powers are intoxicating. Three guys hit on me at school since the weekend, including this really cute Football player." she said.
"Hmmm… ", I said.
"Are you ladies alright?", the shop's clerk (Tim, a young and handsome man) approached us.
"Hey Tim! ", I said, "I don't believe you know my friend Eve here."
"Eve Siegel!" she said and extended her hand.
"Tim O'Brian." he said and they shook hands. "OK, I'll be there if you need me…"
Eve followed him with her gaze for a few seconds and then smiled and went back to looking at the clothes.
"Will you stop that?" I whispered to her.
"Stop what?" she said.
"You're totally into him."
"So I'm lusting him a little bit, so what. 'But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.'"
"Well, girlfriend, committing adultery in your heart is perfectly harmless and quite rewarding. And I'm not really raping anyone. I'm tenderly making love to them."
"Listen,", I snapped at her, "Taylor is my best friend, and I swear that if you…"
"I'm crazy about Taylor." she interrupted me.
"What?" I said.
She changed her pose. "I'm crazy about Taylor. Always have been. I promise I wouldn't do anything to hurt him."
"You always have been crazy about Taylor? Why didn't you tell him that?"
"Come on, have you looked at me then? I wasn't his type. He always dated these well-groomed girls, who had some sense not to rebel like I did. Hell, he also dated this incredibly dumb cheerleader once."
"Stacie wasn't dumb!"
"I was being sarcastic! My point is that he was way out of my league."
"Oh", I said and tried to hug her.
"No hug!", she said. "In any case, I'll do my best to make things work between Taylor and I. And even if they don't, we'll remain good friends. The kind of friends who go to movies together, or socialise at LUG meetings, fix dates for each other, etc."
"Good, I'm glad to hear that. Now where were we?"
"Picking clothes." she said, and after a while added. "You know, we should drop by Radio Shack and get some dolls of Tux and Beastie the BSD Daemon. I totally dig these guys. Oh! And a nice Looney Toons poster. I'd hate to pump money into the MPAA's lawsuit machine, but I really like Marvin the Martian."
"Who are you and what have you done to Erisa?"
"Hey, the makeover was your idea, Jennifer. What have you done to Erisa?" and we both laughed.