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Message-ID: <48110asstr$1086343803@assm.asstr-mirror.org>
From: Vulgar Argot <vulgarargotREMOVEALL@CAPSinsidejoke.tv>
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Subject: {ASSM} Princes of Mannsborough, Chapter 12b
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Date: Fri,  4 Jun 2004 06:10:03 -0400
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Followup-To: alt.sex.stories.d

Princes of Mannsborough, Part 12b
by Vulgar Argot
(tags at bottom to avoid spoilerage)

Marigold sat on her front porch, dozing a little as she waited for
Thule's car to appear. She'd made the mistake of coming down late for
breakfast the day after what Holly referred to as a "cooking day."
When she came down to the breakfast table, she immediately recognized
her mistake. Before she could reach for an apple or get her yoghurt
out of the refrigerator, Holly put a plate piled high with scrambled
eggs, biscuits, and a thick slice of ham.

"Mom," she protested. "I can't eat all this first thing in the
morning."

Holly shrugged as she always did at such protests, "Well, eat what you
want. There are so many leftovers, I had to do something with them."

Marigold opened her mouth to say something, but Jonas shot her a
warning look that she recognized. It said, "If I have to eat it, you
have to eat it."

Still, she couldn't resist a short sulk, "You're going to make me
fat."

Holly laughed, "No chance of that. You're the same size you were at
fourteen."

Marigold had eaten everything put in front of her. It wasn't in her
not to. When her father had been alive, he'd instilled in her an
unwillingness to waste food.

"See?" said Holly as her daughter rose from the table. "You must have
been hungrier than you thought."

"I just didn't want to think about what condition it would be in when
it god to the starving children in Africa," Marigold said, echoing a
phrase she'd heard from her birth father more than once. "Now, if
you'll excuse me, I'm going to purge and brush my teeth before Thule
gets here."

Both of her parents looked up, alarmed. Marigold knew she hadn't been
much for making jokes in the last few years, but the looks on their
faces were priceless. She laughed out loud, "Guys, I'm joking. I'm
just going to get my books and wait for Thule on the front porch."

Now, Jonas came out onto the porch where she was dozing. Marigold
looked up at him through slitted eyes. He walked past her, looking up
and down the street, a pensive look on his face. Marigold sat up,
"You're not going to bother Thule about work before school. Are you,
sir?"

Jonas shook his head in the negative without turning to face her. He
fidgeted as if he didn't know what to do with his hands.

Marigold stretched, "Is there something on your mind, sir?"

Jonas paced to the end of the porch and back. Then, he asked, "Are you
happy with Thule, Marigold?"

Marigold pulled her legs underneath herself on the swing so that she
was sitting Indian style, "Yes, sir. I really am."

Jonas leaned against the railing, looking at her as if trying to read
her face, "Are you really happy?" he asked. "Because, if you're
not...if there's some....obstacle to your happiness, you can tell me.
If there's anything you need to get off your...err, anything you want
to talk about...I'm sure we can work it out. You can talk to me."

Marigold felt suddenly cold. Did Jonas know something? Choosing her
words carefully, she said, "I'm really happy, sir. Things were...a
little bit rocky at first. But now, I'm very happy--maybe happier than
I have a right to be...certainly happier than I've ever been."

Jonas's smile was uneven, "Things seem to have progressed very quickly
between you two. Are you sure you're not moving too fast?"

Marigold shook her head, "No. Of course I'm not sure. But, I think I'm
doing the right thing. It feels right."

Jonas said, "I know I'm not your real father, Marigold. But, I've
always tried to do what I thought was best for you. I didn't
always..."

Marigold stood and hugged him. She and Jonas were almost never
physically demonstrative, but it seemed important now, "You did a good
job, sir."

Jonas looked down at her, "I notice the use of the past tense."

"Well," said Marigold. "I am going away to Harvard in a few months."

"I know," said Jonas. "I was going to point out the same thing,
actually. I guess you're all grown up now."

Marigold laughed, "Not even close. But, I think I see a light at the
end of the tunnel."

Just then, Thule's car turned the corner onto her street. Jonas said,
"There's your ride. Take care of yourself, Marigold. I'll see you
tonight for dinner?"

Marigold nodded, "Yes, sir. I suspect there will be ham involved
somehow."

Jonas groaned theatrically then kissed Marigold on the head before
letting her go.

                                         -=-
                                         
Marigold noticed a certain restraint in the banter that morning, but
presumed that it was because of Dawn's concern over Thule's attack on
Elliot. When it seemed like no one was talking, Marigold slid a tape
out of her Walkman and held it up. Thule took it out of her hand,
raised an eyebrow at Marigold, then slid it into the car's tape deck.

After about a minute of music, Dawn leaned forward and asked Marigold,
"This is cool. What is it?"

"John Coltrane's 'Giant Steps,'" said Marigold. "It's jazz."

Dawn smiled, "I didn't know you listened to jazz."

"I haven't in a long time," said Marigold. "I used to--before high
school. I've had these old records boxed up in the back of my closet
since we moved into the new house with Jonas. I've been transferring
them to tape and listening to them. This was one of my father's
favorites."

As they walked up from the parking lot, Dawn lagged behind Marigold
and Thule. Thule seemed in a hurry to get to the front steps where
everyone gathered before the homeroom bell rang. Marigold let her pace
slow until it matched Dawn's.

Dawn didn't say anything. When they reached the place where a dirt
path curved off from the road, Dawn started to turn. Marigold asked,
"Where are you going?"

"To the pines," said Dawn. "I just want to say hello to some people."

Marigold shaded her eyes and saw her boyfriend ascending the front
stairs, "I think Thule is holding court today. You should be there.
You are his plucky sidekick after all."

Dawn looked around as if uncertain. Marigold said, "Listen, if you're
worried about what happened with Thule and Elliot last night, I can
honestly say that Elliot deserved it. I can still feel..."

Dawn shook her head, "It's not that."

"Well then," said Marigold. "Let's go join him."

Dawn turned her head, "I promised some people I would see them under
the pines this morning. Listen. When do you have study hall?"

"I've got a couple today," said Marigold. "Third and seventh periods.
Why?"

"I'm up at the autoshop third period," said Dawn. "Could you swing by?
There's something we need to talk about."

"Sure," said Marigold, smiling warmly at her.

"All right," said Dawn. "Listen. I'll be up on the steps in a few
minutes. I just don't want these people to think I blew them off."

Marigold joined Thule on the steps where there was already a cluster
of people gathering around him. She slipped comfortably into his arms
and was welcomed with a kiss.

Thule seemed relaxed and in his element. Marigold was dying to tell
him that she thought Dawn had a crush on her, but didn't want to take
him out of the moment. A few minutes later, Dawn emerged from the
pines. Thule waved to her. Dawn said something to Thule that she
didn't catch. Marigold reached over and tousled Dawn's hair in
welcome.

                                         -=-

It took Marigold a few minutes to arrange a library pass in order to
get herself out of study hall. Strictly speaking, a library pass meant
that she was supposed to go to the library and study, but there was no
system for confirming that people who got them ever went to the
library or not. It was a commonly used loophole for going off campus
during the day.

The autoshop was a separate building, out past the one that held the
newspaper office. By the time Marigold got out there, the period was
nearly half over. Marigold had never been here before. A month ago,
she would have been horrified by the idea that someone would see her
here. For that matter, if she'd known a month ago that Dawn took a
class here, she would already be trying to figure out how to use that
knowledge to elevate her own star by taking down Dawn's.

The garage was primarily the domain of the gearheads, a subclique of
the dregs who had almost zero presence on the Mannsborough social
radar. For the most part, they were vo-tech students, didn't attend
more than one or two regular classes a day, and tended to drive off
campus for lunch.

When she spotted her friend, Dawn was bent over the open hood of a car
tightening a bolt with her fingers and talking to another girl that
Marigold didn't recognize. A boy sat in the front seat of the car
listening. Both of Dawn's companions were younger--freshmen or
sophomores.

When Marigold approached, she thought she heard Dawn say her name, but
couldn't hear her over the low hubbub of the garage. She asked,
"What?"

Dawn looked up. She was wearing goggles, "Oh. Hi, Marigold. I didn't
see you there."

"Oh," said Marigold. "I thought I heard you say my name."

Dawn thought about it, then laughed, "No. I said 'manifold.'" She
turned to the girl standing next to her, "Jess, I need to talk to
Marigold for a few minutes. Can you two take over here?"

Jess nodded. Dawn took off her protective eyewear and said, "Let's go
somewhere we can talk."

Marigold nodded and followed Dawn out of the building. Dawn had
apparently changed into blue jeans and a t-shirt used exclusively for
autoshop. Both were liberally smeared with grease old and new. Outside
of the garage, Dawn led Marigold up a path that led away from the
campus proper into the woods.

"So," Marigold asked. "What's on your mind?"

Dawn pointed to a glacial irregular, "There's a gentle path on the far
side of that rock. It's a good place to talk."

Marigold followed, finding the top of the rock to be surprisingly
smooth and clean. She settled down and asked again, "So, what did you
want to talk about?"

Dawn looked out into the distance. Marigold followed her eyes. From up
on the rock, they could see the whole campus laid out beneath them.
Involuntarily, she said, "Wow. Neat."

Dawn grinned, "I like it up here. It's a good spot to get away from
the school."

Marigold could tell that Dawn was happy not to have to tackle whatever
she wanted to talk about right away. She debated doing something overt
to convince Dawn that it was okay to express her feelings, but found
the idea too intimidating. So, she just waited.

When Dawn spoke, it wasn't at all what Marigold expected. She asked,
"You know this whole blackmail thing Thule pulled on you?"

Marigold nodded, "Yes. I seem to recall something about that."

"Do you think he would do it to anyone else?" Dawn asked.

Marigold sighed and nodded, "Yeah. I'm pretty sure he's going to. So,
if you see him with..."

"Do you think he would do it to me?" Dawn asked.

"What?" asked Marigold. "No. I can't imagine...Why would he do it to
you?"

"Well," said Dawn. "I haven't exactly been blameless. I am one of
Brianne's handmaidens as he put it. And, I turned down dates from guys
in the autoshop before...mostly because they're clueless, but also
because I didn't want to deal with the backlash of being a cheerleader
dating a gearhead. And..."

Marigold finally got over her shock enough to laugh. When she was able
to stop laughing enough to speak, she said, "Oh, sweety. Is that what
this is about? Listen, when we talked, I didn't tell you the whole
story. Well, I told you as much of the story as I knew, but I didn't
know the half of it." Her face got serious, "What I did, what Thule
got revenge on me for...was really awful. I...I'm not ready to say
that I deserve what I got, but I understand why he did it."

Dawn's eyes widened, "What did you do?"

Marigold lowered her head, "Dawn, I don't know if you would want to be
my friend if I told you what I did. Let's just say that whatever
venial sins you have on your soul, they're not going to incur Thule's
wrath. You would need to do something really awful like me or
Brianne?"

"Is that who he's going to blackmail next?" asked Dawn. "Brianne?"

Marigold grimaced and put her hand to her face, "I shouldn't have said
that. Dawn, you can't tell anyone I said that."

"All right," agreed Dawn. "But, is it?"

Marigold nodded, "Thule told me that in the strictest confidence and I
just let it slip out."

"I'll keep your secret," said Dawn. "No matter what."

Marigold nodded, "Thank you." Picking up a pebble off the boulder
beneath her, she flung it out into the woods, "So, what made you think
Thule might blackmail you?"

"A desperate desire not to take responsibility for my own actions,"
said Dawn. "I should have known better."

"Why?" asked Marigold. "What did you do?"

Dawn took a deep breath, "I kissed Thule this morning."

Before she could help herself, Marigold shot Dawn a look of pure
outrage.

"I didn't mean to," said Dawn quickly. "And I'll never do it again. I
was just so grateful that he was going to protect me that I..." She
took a breath, "And, I was thinking that, if Thule can blackmail you
and end up with you falling in love with him, maybe he could make a
girl kiss him and think she'd done it of her own free will." She
looked to Marigold for a reaction, "I guess not. Huh?"

Dawn's babbling had given Marigold a few seconds to get over her
initial outrage and compose her thoughts. She'd already accepted that
she and Thule weren't going to be exclusive any time soon. In truth,
she didn't want them to be. The previous weekend had made Marigold
realize a lot of things about herself, foremost among them that there
was a whole world of things out there that she'd closed herself off
from and might enjoy. She knew that, if she went from being Elliot's
girlfriend to Thule's girlfriend to Thule's wife, she would be left
wondering what she'd missed out on. Besides, she'd already braced
herself to the idea of Thule with Brianne or Ioke or June Kane or one
of the other half dozen or so socially important girls at Mannsborough
High. Compared to that, the image of Dawn kissing him brought up only
a twinge of jealousy.

With a mental effort, Marigold took that jealousy and compressed it
down to a tiny point until she couldn't feel it anymore. She looked at
Dawn, whose face was ashen, waiting for Marigold's verdict. The desire
to comfort and reassure her friend flared up. So, she gave Dawn a
broad smile and asked, "Was it any good?"

"What?" asked Dawn. "The kiss? No. Um...I mean no. It was really
quick, more like a peck than a kiss really."

Marigold looked out over the school instead of at Dawn, "Next time,
you should take your time. He's a really good kisser."

Dawn's eyes seemed ready to pop out of her head, "Next time? Marigold,
there's not going to be a next time. Like I said, it was a
spur-of-the-moment thing. I would never deliberately kiss your
boyfriend. And, even if I did, he's totally in love with you. He would
never..."

"A minute ago..." said Marigold, "you thought he might be willing to
trick you into kissing him. I don't think either one of us knows what
Thule will never do."

Dawn didn't seem to have an answer for that, so Marigold went on,
"When I was with Elliot, I thought I was ready to settle down. Now, I
know that I'm not. If I'm going to be with Thule, it can be exclusive
or it can be forever, but it can't be both. I'm going to have to share
him with someone. There are far worse choices than you."

Dawn shook her head, "I couldn't do that to you."

Marigold frowned, "Are you attracted to Thule?"

"No," said Dawn immediately, sounding shocked.

Marigold was about to reassure Dawn, but noticed that the other girl
wanted to say more. She'd noticed that, when Thule wanted to draw her
out, he just remained silent until she spoke to break the awkward
silence. Letting her eyes fall to the rock they were sitting on, she
pretended to be looking for pebbles to throw.

"I mean, he's attractive," said Dawn. "But, he's..."

Marigold could barely contain her desire to interject. Keeping her
head down, she bit her lip.

"I would never move in on a friend's boyfriend," said Dawn
emphatically.

"That's too bad," said Marigold. "I could use an ally in this."

Dawn's eyes widened, "You would consider me an ally?"

Marigold nodded, "If you promised me you wouldn't try to take him away
from me. Yes."

"I would never," said Dawn. "But, this is ridiculous. Thule's
completely dedicated to you. I can see how much he loves you."

Marigold found a pebble and flung it off into the woods, "And I love
him. But, he's only my third boyfriend ever. And, he's made me realize
that you miss a lot if you make your life too regimented too soon. I
love Thule. I've been with him a month and I can already see myself
married to him. But, I spent too many years clutching the idea of
going off to college, marrying Elliot, going to medical school, and
having children--all in a row. Now, I don't know what I want. But, I
do know that, if I had gotten what I thought I wanted, I would have
ended up miserable."

Dawn looked at Marigold, waiting for her to continue. Marigold
wondered if it was deliberate, but was unable to resist continuing,
"Right now, if I consider the idea of going straight to marrying Thule
without experiencing life, I want to run away and do the first stupid
thing I could find that would make him reject me. Next year, Thule and
I are going to college. He'll probably meet a thousand women who have
more in common with him than I do. If I give him the ultimatum that
it's them or me while I'm figuring out what I want out of life, we're
never going to last." Marigold stopped speaking, afraid she would
become audibly emotional if she didn't.

Dawn didn't speak for a long while. Finally, she said, "This really
isn't the conversation I expected to have this morning."

Marigold laughed, "Me neither. I thought you wanted to tell me you had
a crush on me."

"I..." Dawn flushed bright red.

Marigold had said it without much forethought. Now, she giggled, "You
do have a crush on me. Don't you?"

Dawn lowered her head into her hands, "I wonder if there's any room
under this rock for me to hide."

Marigold laughed and hugged her in relief and affection, "Thank you. I
think you just made my day."

Dawn took a deep breath, "I mean, I already have a girlfriend. But, if
I didn't and you had any interest in girls..."

Marigold knew she should let Dawn digest one thing at a time so she
didn't risk scaring her new friend off. But, she was gripped by an
irresistibly mischievous urge. She grinned at Dawn, "When I said I
don't know what I want out of life, I meant that I really don't know
what I want out of life. Nothing is out of the question."

Marigold had never seen someone so surprised that their mouth actually
fell open and stayed that way before. Dawn obviously wanted to ask a
question, but Marigold wasn't sure she had any answers yet. Leaning
forward, she kissed Dawn on the cheek, just far enough back that her
lips touched the line of Dawn's jaw a half inch away from the ear.

"I have to go," said Marigold. "I don't want to be late for fourth
period. And you need to get back to motorshop."

She rose, walked down the path, and turned as she reached the edge of
the woods. When she turned back around, Dawn looked like she still
hadn't moved. With a giggle, Marigold turned and bounced away,
inordinately pleased with herself.

                                        -=-
                                        
Marigold mulled over the conversation more at her leisure. She knew
she'd made a fairly momentous decision quickly, but Dawn had taken her
by surprise.

At the end of the school day, she decided to do something else
drastic. Walking down the front steps of the school, she kept going,
down through the lowest social ranks, across the faculty parking lot,
ducked her head under a low-hanging bough, and stepped into the
cavelike environment that was known as the Pines.

This was somewhere else she'd never been at Mannsborough High. Even
though it was less than a hundred yards from where she often waited
for the homeroom bell, she would never have thought of coming here.
This was where the true undesirables congregated. People who had few
or no friends, took part in no activities, or were actively tormented
by the more popular students spent their time under the huge pine
trees that marked the border between faculty parking and the practice
fields.

When Marigold was a freshman, the administration of Mannsborough High
had suggested cutting down the pine trees because they were commonly
used by students to stay on campus but be out of the view of
administrators and teachers. There had been a huge negative backlash
from the alumnae. Apparently, the trees were associated with some
school tradition.

So, they continued to be a refuge for the students who weren't popular
enough to stand on the main steps. Marigold was nervous about coming
out here. She wondered how many of the students here she'd been
deliberately cruel to. She knew that it was enough that stepping
behind the heavy wall of needles and hearing the rest of the school
fade away made her nervous.

For all the anger people must feel towards her, no one approached her.
She got a few sullen and suspicious looks, but most people just seemed
to ignore her. She wandered around, trying to spot the face she was
looking for. After a circuit and a half, she spotted the girl by her
trademark green velvet skirt, wavy red hair, and silver jewelry,
relaxing, talking to friends, and smoking. As she walked towards them,
Marigold called out, "Deirdre."

One of Deirdre's friends turned, saw Marigold, said, "Shit. Narc!" and
bolted. A couple others followed. Marigold looked after them, puzzled.
Deirdre looked after them, amused.

When she looked back at Marigold, she grinned. Marigold had forgotten
about Deirdre's smiles. They split the girl's face from side to side
expressing a natural ebullience that Marigold was glad to see hadn't
been extinguished by her exile early freshman year. She called out,
"Marigold, sweetie. What are you doing out here?"

Marigold raised her hands, "Not narking. I didn't mean to make your
friends run off."

Deirdre waved a hand, "Don't worry about it. The weed makes them
paranoid, particularly smoking it this close to the school."

Marigold laughed, "I'll say. They shot out of here like a couple of
rabbits at a shotgun blast."

Deirdre nodded, "Sometimes, the Jesus freaks come out here to try and
gang save people. There was an ugly scene last year when they started
writing down names of who was smoking out here and gave it to the
principal." Finally, she looked suspiciously at Marigold, "You're not
here to save anybody. Are you?"

"Actually," said Marigold. "I came out here to talk to you. I know we
haven't spoken much since you stopped coming to church. But, I was
wondering if I could ask you something."

"Shoot," said Deirdre.

"Well," said Marigold, lowering her voice. "This summer, your mother
came to church very upset. She said you were...well, doing a lot of
things she didn't approve of. She made a scene and asked people to
pray that you would find your way back to Christ."

Deirdre scowled, "I thought you said you weren't here to save me. I
don't need this shit, Marigold. I live my life on..."

"Hold on," said Marigold a little sharply. "I'm not here to save you
or judge you or anything. I just wanted to ask you something. I swear.
This isn't a trick. I just need some advice."

"All right," said Deirdre suspiciously, clearly not following.

"I'm sure your mother had the story mostly wrong," said Marigold.
"But, I think I got the gist. Listen, if any of this gets too weird or
personal, just tell me to stop being nosey and I'll try to figure
things out for myself."

Deirdre's grin came out again, tinged with a hint of defiance now, "My
life is an open book. What's on your mind?"

Marigold took a deep breath, "Your mother said you were living with
two guys and sleeping with both of them. Is that true?"

Deirdre nodded, "Part of the truth. Did she mention I was living there
because she and Saint Dad threw me out on my seventeenth birthday?"

"No," said Marigold. "She neglected to mention that. So, if that's
part of the truth, what's the whole truth?"

Another suspicious look, "You really want to know? If it's just to
gossip about me, it's not worth the effort. Plenty of people already
know."

Marigold nodded, "I really want to know."

Deirdre said, "I moved in with my boyfriend Jack, who has an apartment
in Argent. The apartment's over the shop where Jack works as a
glassblower. The people who own the shop live in a house on the other
side of the parking lot. Their names are Nick and Gina. My mother
found out I was dating all three of them and threw a shit fit."

"You were?" asked Marigold. "You're not anymore?"

"Oh, no," said Deirdre. "I still am. But, things have gotten more
complicated since then. Nick and Gina both have girlfriends of their
own that they don't see very often because they live out in Salinas.
And..." She grinned sheepishly, "I could probably explain it better
with a diagram."

Marigold raised her hands, "That won't be necessary."

"So," asked Deirdre. "What advice can I give you?"

"I'm not sure," asked Marigold. "I'm just trying to figure some things
out in my own head. Are you happy with this arrangement?"

Deirdre nodded, "Most of the time. There are problems, but what
relationship is perfect?"

Marigold mulled this over, then asked, "What would you do if, for
example, Jack wanted to marry Gina instead of you?"

Deirdre laughed, "I would kick his ass. And, so would Nick, seeing as
how he's Gina's husband."

Marigold's jaw fell open. Deirdre laughed, "Ah. That's the Marigold I
remember. I was starting to wonder if the pod people had gotten you
when you didn't get that deer-in-headlights look earlier."

"I'll get back to you on the whole pod people thing," said Marigold.
"I'm still not entirely sure about that one myself. But, if there is a
body snatcher attached to my spine, she's a little surprised by this
too. Gina and Nick are married and they know about all the rest of
you?"

Deirdre nodded, "And they're totally in love with each other. They
just don't see sex and love as closely linked. Before you ask any more
questions, let me ask you one. Do you and Elliot do everything
together?"

Marigold shook her head. Before she could say more, Deirdre went on,
"Right. You two do what you do. When you're not doing things as a
couple, he goes and plays football with other people. You go and work
at the hospital with other people. You both have friends that you
enjoy spending time with. I just don't see why intimacy is the only
thing that we're supposed to designate a single person we're allowed
to do it with and everyone else is off limits."

"So," asked Marigold, not entirely agreeing with the point, but not
wanting the conversation to turn into a debate, "how do you keep from
getting jealous when you know that Jack is with Gina?"

"I don't," said Deirdre. "I get jealous. But, I also get jealous when
he's hanging out with Nick and I want attention even though there's no
sexual contact between them. If I were Elliot's girlfriend, it would
make no difference to me whether he was out playing football with,
say, Randy Vandevoort or fucking him."

Marigold let out an involuntary giggle. When Deirdre gave her a
questioning look, she giggled again. Then, she started laughing.

"What's so funny?" asked Deirdre.

Marigold shook her head, fighting to regain her composure, "Nothing.
I'm sorry. I just...got the visual. Incidentally, I'm not seeing
Elliot anymore."

"Oh?" asked Deirdre. "You two were together forever. What happened?"

Marigold waved a hand, "Not worth talking about. It was over a long
time ago. I was just too blinkered to recognize it."

"So, who are you with now?"

"Thule Roemer," said Marigold. Even saying his name gave her a little
frisson of pleasure.

"Really?" asked Deirdre. "Is Thule poly?"

"Is he what?" asked Marigold.

"Polyamorous," said Deirdre.

Marigold considered the word and its roots, "He's never given any
indication that he is."

"So, then," asked Deirdre. "What's all this about?"

Marigold gave Deirdre a wan smile, knowing that the other girl would
figure it out in a moment if she didn't answer. Mannsborough High
School had given her a strong aversion to talking about her personal
life. To direct Deirdre's speculation, she said, "I'm just kicking
around a few options in my head for once we head off to college.
Thanks for the advice."

Deirdre furrowed her brow, "I don't remember giving any advice."

Marigold smiled more broadly, "Well, your non-advice was very helpful.
Thank you."

"Any time," said Deirdre. "Hey. Don't be a stranger."

Marigold paused as she was turning to go, "Good idea. If you're not
busy, why don't you come sit with us at lunch tomorrow?"

Deirdre looked doubtful, "Nothing against you, Gold. But, I don't
think..."

Marigold laughed, "I don't sit with Brianne and that crowd any more. I
sit with Thule and his friends. They're probably out on the steps now.
You should come meet them."

                                        -=-
                                        
Marigold had been right in her guess that Thule's friends would be on
the front steps. Thule had asked Marigold to meet him on the front
steps. As she approached, Marigold saw that he was talking to Dawn
about something, seemingly oblivious to the cloud of people who had
gathered around him. Interestingly, to the casual observer, they
seemed equally oblivious to his presence, as if they had just randomly
formed an even circle with him at the center.

Leading Deirdre in through the crowd, Marigold wrapped her arms around
Thule's neck and kissed him as passionately as her sense of decency
allowed. Then, she said, "Thule, this is Deirdre. She lives like four
houses away from me."

Thule nodded and smiled at Deirdre, "I know you. We had a couple of
classes together last year--art and English III."

Deirdre smiled, "Good memory. I don't think we actually spoke,
though."

"We probably spoke once or twice," said Thule. "But, you sat on the
other side of the room with Zbortnik and Ehud whatsisname."

The way Deirdre's smile widened told Marigold that Thule had gotten
the details right. Marigold wondered how he did it. She couldn't even
remember who sat on the other side of the room in English class this
year.

Marigold asked, "Thule, is there any chance I can entice you to stay
and help me with the newspaper today? I've been neglecting all of my
after-school activities this week. I would hate to have Harvard change
their mind because I started slacking on the extracurriculars at the
end."

"Actually," said Thule. "I was hoping to tempt you away from your
duties one more day with the promise of gifts."

Marigold pouted, "Every year, the seniors abandon the newspaper as
soon as they get their college acceptance letters. That means that
every year, the new group comes in and has to figure everything out
all over again. I want to at least guarantee a smooth handoff before I
give up the reins. What sort of gifts?"

"I want to get you a cell phone. And, I need to replace mine. Plus,
Dawn needs one."

"I already have a cell phone," said Marigold.

"Oh, yeah?" asked Thule. "What's the number?"

Marigold shrugged, "I don't know. I never carry it."

"Start," said Thule, kissing her again. "Now that you're getting all
frisky, you need a leash. Besides, I might need to get a hold of you
quickly soon or vice versa."

Marigold nodded, understanding what was unsaid as much as what was
said. She snuggled into Thule's arms, "I'll start carrying it tonight
so that I can be at your beck and call. Can you swing by after you
pick up the phones and get me at the newspaper office?"

Thule shrugged, "Or, I could stick around today if you want to go
tomorrow. I can live without a cell phone for a day."

Marigold laughed, "No, you can't. You're already twitchy. Besides, I'm
volunteering at the hospital tomorrow after school." She reached up
and pushed aside a bang that had fallen in Dawn's eyes, "You two have
fun. Come and get me when you're finished."

Thule nodded, "All right. We won't be too long."

"Take your time," said Marigold. "I'll be lucky to get out by six."

When Thule turned to gather his things, Dawn shot Marigold a querulous
look. Marigold smiled and inclined her head slightly. Dawn shrugged at
Marigold and, after a moment, smiled back.

"Come on, Big Daddy," said Dawn in a truly awful attempt at a Southern
accent. "You can get me a leash, too. But, I want a sparkly one."

Marigold chuckled, "I've got to get to the newspaper office. Next
year's editor is probably waiting for me."

As she turned, Marigold saw Deirdre, putatively in conversation with
one of the sword nerds. Whatever the young man was talking about, he
must have thought she was deeply fascinated because Deirdre's eyes
were on Marigold and wide with surprise."

                                        -=-
                                        
When Marigold got to the newspaper office, the new editor still wasn't
there. The staff was sparse, only a half-dozen people working, all of
whom she knew were doing the newspaper for class credit.

While she waited, she opened a browser and googled on "polyamorous."
For a word she'd never heard an hour ago, there was a ton of
information on it. Marigold became so engrossed in her reading that
she didn't even notice that Brianne was in the office until the head
cheerleader was standing over her desk, smiling at her.

"What are you reading?"

Marigold task switched quickly, "Just some last-minute research. I
didn't expect to see you here today, Brianne."

Brianne's smiled got wider. Brianne's smiles always meant trouble. She
said, "I figured I would be here to write filler if we need it--for my
clips file."

Marigold looked over Brianne's shoulder, "What's Ian doing here? You
know it's staff only on layout days."

"Usually," said Brianne, almost purring. "But, you did say we would
need all the help we could get for this issue. Didn't you?"

Marigold looked over to where Ian was sitting. He was stretched out on
one of the office's couches, clearly not doing any work. She debated
telling Brianne that he would have to work if he was here, but figured
they could get the newspaper out faster if he stayed out of the way.

"All right," she said irritably. "Why don't you give me five inches on
the repairs they're doing to Hans Vandevoort Memorial Stadium for the
graduation? Keep it factual. All the research is in the system
already."

Brianne said "sure" and practically bounced off to one of the other
desks.

Marigold frowned behind Brianne's back. The head cheerleader was
downright bouncy. That could only mean that someone Brianne disliked
was about to have a bad day.

Glancing up again at Ian, Marigold saw him watching her. He didn't
bother to look away until she made eye contact. Even then, he did it
with a derisive snort.

Fighting to keep her hands from trembling, Marigold dialed the number
for Thule's cell phone. The call went straight to voice mail without
ringing. As if nothing were wrong, Marigold said, "Hi, Thule. The new
editor stood me up. So, I'll probably be done long before six. Any
time you want to swing back, that would be great. There are a lot of
people doing paste-up. Brianne even brought Ian. I'm not sure how long
other people are going to be here, but the three of us could probably
get things done all alone." She emphasized the last two words
slightly, "Still, if you could get here soon, that would be great."

Hanging up the phone, she checked the clock on her computer. It was
four thirty. She thought there was enough work to keep staff in the
office for another two and a half hours. Still, six o'clock couldn't
come soon enough.

Princes of Mannsborough, Part 12b
by Vulgar Argot
(MF, rom, nosex)

--Vulgar Argot
  http://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/VulgarArgot/www
--
"Vulgarity begins when imagination succumbs to the explicit."
  --Doris Day

-- 
Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights
reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
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