Lily Duncan, or rather Princess Giant, since she was in costume, was lost in thought

She was thinking about how Charley looked at her lately.

They've been friends ever since her family moved here and he had always been nice to her but lately he seemed even more so.

Now, he had always been kind of clumsy, even though he wanted to be a daredevil, but lately it seemed to be getting worse., especially when he noticed her.

He'd even stare at her and when she looked back blush and pretend to be busy.

Strange how none of the other children seemed to notice, except maybe Mona.

She thought his eyes were glued to her when they went swimming this afternoon.

Thankfully, Mona had brought a bikini and a bathing suit, so she wouldn't feel left out, since she discovered she left hers at home when they arrived here.

To her relief, Mona let her choose first and immediately went for the bathing suit, since she felt much more comfortable in that lately.

They had fun, the water was nice and warm and they decided to come back later and look for the sea serpent Mona swore she saw.

So here they were in full costume.

Charley seemed disappointed to find that, contrary to Mona, she wore socks in her sandals.

She said she found it a bit chilly, and they accepted it.

If they suspected that wasn't the full truth, they didn't show it.

She'd only admit it to herself, but the reality was she was to shy to go without socks in her shoes, even if they were sandals.

Of course, she'd been barefoot lots of times, even wore flip-flops on occasion, but nothing more.

Somehow she couldn't bring herself to do it.

Princess Giant could probably do it, but not plain old Lily Duncan.

When they left their rented room, Charley wore socks in his sandals as well, but that didn't last long.

As soon as they were out of sight, his socks did what he called "a disappearing act"

When Mona asked him why he even wore socks to start with, he said it was much easier this way as his mom tended to be a bit overprotective at times.

She then noticed Charley staring at her again and slowly a mischievous smile appeared on her face as a plan started to form in her head to kill two birds with one stone.

She would finally go barefoot in shoes other then flip-flops and she could tease Charley a bit.

Mona seems to have noticed Charley staring at her again and her grin, because she slowly nodded as to give permission.

She probably didn't know the second reason, as they never seemed to talk about stuff like this, but she was nevertheless thankful for her help.

Lily would have been to shy for this, but not Princess Giant.

She almost felt sorry for poor Charley.

"Ready to go, guys ?"Mona asked as she got up from her seat.

"Just a second, Mona, there's something I want to do first" she replied as she kicked off her low high heels.

The noise of her shoes hitting the floor caught Charley's attention just as she had hoped it would.

She placed her feet next to her on the bench and slowly rolled down her left stocking until it reached her ankle. She noticed Charley's eyes get big and Mona rolling her eyes as she slowly took hold of the hem of her stocking and pulled it down her ankle and instep to her toes. The she kicked it off with her other foot.

She saw Mona trying to hold in her laughter and poor Zapman seemed to have his eyes glued to her again.

She had to admit, she was having more fun then she thought.

She them took the toe of her right stocking in her hand and slowly proceeded to pull it off her foot, making sure Charley noticed as it slid across her ankle and instep.

After both feet were bare, she swung her legs a few times and wiggled her toes a few times before putting her low high heels back on again.

She found she liked the feel of the fabric against her bare soles and decided to do it more often.

She got up, did her best Jessica Rabbit imitation as she walked up to Charley and said in her best Jessica Rabbit voice "How does it look, Zapman ?"

Mona burst double with laughter while poor Charley's face seemed to turn crimson red .

After a few second, he swallowed and tried to compose himself as he uttered "Very funny , guys" and turned his back on her and Mona to walk away.

"I'm sorry, Charley" Princess Giant said "but you've been acting weird around me for a while now and I wanted to tease you a little to bring you out of it."

He turned to face her and she extended her hand to him "No hard feeling ? " she asked

This time, a mischievous smile came to his face as he lunged for her ribs and started tickling them.

Before she fully realized when had happened, she found herself laughing on the floor, unable to get away since he was sitting on her legs still tickling her ribs.

Her upper body could move but not out of reach of his hands.

She even hear Mona shout encouragements like "Get her good, Charley" and "go for her feet, Zapman". "OH NO" She thought" Not that !"

Her shoes must've fallen off when Charley tackled her, because not a minute after Mona said those words she felt fingers scratch against her bare soles making her laugh even louder.

She started trashing about, desperate to get away, but Charley seemed to have good leverage as she wasn't going anywhere.

Then she felt his nails dig in the flesh of her soles making her scream with laughter.

"Mercy" she begged between fits of laughter

"What was that ?" He asked coyly as he paid particular attention to the arch of her left foot.

"MERCY !! PLEASE !!" she shouted howling with laughter.

"But of course" he said getting up off her legs so she could get up as well.

"Now we're even" he said as he slowly helped her to her feet and put her on a seat to catch her breath.

"I'm truly sorry for teasing you, Charley" she said while she put on her low high heels again" but you've got to admit you've been acting weird around me lately"

"That's because I've been feeling weird around you lately" he said blushing "but I still really like you"

"I really like you too, You're cute, funny and friendly. I like hanging out with you" she said trying in vain not to blush.

"Are you two lovebirds going to help me find that sea serpent or not ?" Mona asked jokingly

They both looked at each other and blushed.

"We're coming, Mona" they said almost in unison at which they both laughed.

"Oh, and Princess Giant ?"

"Yes, Zapman. What is it ?"

"You look even more beautiful then usual" he said blushing again

She felt herself blush again and said "Why, thank you. Maybe I should do it more often"

"You definitely should, Lily"

"You'd like that, huh ?"

"Certainly would"