A stunned silence fell across the room.

'Oh my God,' said Kevin, 'I hope I didn't slam him too hard.'

'Don't worry – you didn't,' said Ella. 'Mike's had a monkey up his ass for a while – I'm sure you all remember how he was at McDonalds last week.'

'Maybe he thought we were all laughing at him,' said Oscar. 'Just now, I mean. That's not a nice feeling.'

'It's not true, though,' said Jandro.

'Yeah,' said Oscar, 'but it's still not nice to feel that way, even if it's all in your mind.'

'It first started when I told him about my college plans,' said Ella. 'I'm gonna go talk to him – I think he needs to open up about his feelings.'

Ella rose from the sofa and left the room, pulling the door shut behind her.

'So,' said Jandro, 'quick orgy while they're gone, just the four of us?'

'Jandro,' said Kevin, 'I think you need to take a cold shower.'

'I'll help you work off some of that testosterone, Jandro,' said Oscar, rising to his feet, 'if you think you can handle me.'

Jandro jumped up and said, 'Come at me, bro.'


As Michael and Ella came back into the living room, Oscar was in the process of turning Jandro upside down and dumping him on the far side of the string arena.

'Oh, hey,' said Kevin, sounding very pleased that everyone was back together again. 'Listen, Mike, I'm sorry if I really hurt you back there; if it's any consolation, I'm feeling pretty sore myself in several places, especially my butt!'

'Don't worry about that, Kev – I enjoyed the fight, even though I didn't win,' said Michael. 'It really was one of our best ever. It's just that... well, Ella told me what Oscar said, and he was right – I kinda felt like you were all laughing at me afterward.'

'We really weren't, Mike,' said Ella. 'Were we, guys?'

'Definitely not,' said Oscar. 'We were laughing because you both put on such a fantastic show!'

'Yeah,' said Lucy. 'I didn't really want to see Kevin smash your face in, Michael; you were both highly entertaining.'

'That's right,' said Jandro. 'We're your friends, Mike – really, we are!'

'There, you see,' Ella said to him soothingly. 'It was all in your head, babe.'

'I know,' Michael sighed. 'Thank you, guys. I realise I've been a pain in the butt recently – not just tonight – and I want to tell you all why.'

'Good idea,' said Lucy. 'For one thing, it'll take our minds off being horny if we talk instead.'

Michael smiled, and he and Ella took their seats once again. Kevin fetched a fresh batch of paper cups and went around the room giving everyone Sunny Delight. Once they were all settled, Michael began his explanation.

'You're right, Ella,' he said. 'It was when you talked about your plans for next year that I started feeling... well, uncomfortable. It's not just you, either – you all have loads of exciting plans, don't you? They make my plan look boring and stupid!'

'I'm sure that's not true, Mike,' said Kevin.

'You do have a plan, then?' Lucy asked with interest.

'Yeah, I do,' said Michael. 'I applied online this morning.'

'Ooh, intriguing,' said Jandro.

'If you tell us what you've applied for, we can go around the room and discuss why our plans aren't any better than yours,' Oscar suggested. 'Some of them are probably much worse! I mean, I'm still gonna be in school next year! Mr Loser or what, huh?'

'Yeah, go on, Mike,' said Kevin. 'Tell us what you're going to do.'

'I'm joining a construction firm,' said Michael. 'I'm gonna learn on the job and get graded on some stuff, and then after a year I get a certificate to say I've passed – unless I haven't passed – and the company can keep me on if they like me.'

'You mean like an apprenticeship?' said Oscar.

'Yeah, exactly,' said Michael.

'But Mike, that's excellent,' said Kevin. 'You get your qualification at the end, plus you're earning money all the time as you do it! Jeez, that's a really useful and sensible thing to do when you finish school – how could you think there's anything wrong with it?'

'It's perfect for you, Mike,' said Ella. 'Why the hell did you think I'd think you weren't good enough for me just because you were doing that?'

'I thought you might want me to do something more... more academic,' said Michael. 'It's not like I'm becoming a doctor or something, like Lucy.'

'I might not become a doctor,' said Lucy. 'I'm just studying sciences for now.'

'Why should I expect you to do something academic?' said Ella. 'No offence, Mike, but you've never been an academic kind of guy. This apprenticeship of yours plays to your strengths perfectly – you're really clever with your hands, and you're really strong.'

'Yeah, that's what I figured,' said Michael.

'You figured right,' said Ella. 'It's much better than my college plans, messing around with a ton of useless subjects until I have to decide what to major in, then graduating and desperately trying to think of something to do with it! I'll probably end up staying at McDonalds forever and becoming the restaurant manager!'

'Not that there's anything wrong with that,' said Oscar. 'What the hell am I gonna do after I get back from Mexico? Become a really famous musician? Probably not. Go to college? Probably, but I don't know what the hell I want to study. Jeez, it's really scary when you stop and think about it.'

'All I can think about for now is studying in Nottingham for two years, and Hong Kong for a year in the middle,' said Lucy. 'I'm really excited about it and I'm sure I've made the right choice of what to study, but what the hell am I gonna do when I'm back in the USA, twenty-one and the owner of a totally useless science degree?'

'You'll do something really clever and really wonderful, Luce,' said Kevin. 'I don't think there's any doubt about that.'

'Yeah, well, I sure hope so... and what about Jandro, huh?' said Lucy. 'He's only coming to Nottingham because I'm going, aren't you, Jandro?'

'Well, I do want to do a math degree, and Nottingham has one of the best programmes I found when I did my research,' said Jandro, 'but it's true that I probably wouldn't go to the trouble of leaving the country if I wasn't in it with you, Luce, yeah.'

'You see, Michael,' said Lucy, 'we're both being totally self-indulgent with our plans and not thinking about the future at all! That's exactly the opposite of what you're doing!'

'Yeah, well I... I suppose this is the best thing for me to do, all things considered,' said Michael. 'I guess I made the right choice.'

'Of course you did,' said Ella. 'You found the perfect job and qualification to match your skills and interests, and I'm really, really proud of you.'

Michael beamed, and gave Ella a crushing hug. She smiled and hugged him back.

'How about you, Kev?' said Michael. 'You didn't tell us what you're gonna do.'

'I'm just gonna be killing time until Mexico, I guess,' Kevin shrugged. 'I want to volunteer at the hospital every weekday morning, once school's out of the way, and I'll be picking up a bunch more hours at Tom's Mexican Salsa Hut – Tom says he's sure I'll be ready to take charge of a few shifts by then. I'm also going to be a part-time Ghostbuster, and I have to investigate whether I can apply to the Fire Department to be a paramedic and defer it to January two thousand seven.'

'That's not killing time, Kev,' said Lucy. 'That's doing a whole load of useful stuff!'

'Your plan is definitely more interesting than mine,' said Michael.

'Don't be silly, Mike,' said Kevin, 'it's not a competition – we're all doing what's right for us, and of course it's not all the same kind of thing.'

'It'll be years before we can all meet up again as a group, after next summer,' said Ella. 'That makes me feel kinda sad.'

'Me too,' said Michael.

'Yeah,' said Jandro. 'Who are we gonna have group sex with in the meantime?'

They all laughed and exchanged warm looks.

'We just have to make sure we enjoy the rest of our time together as much as we can,' said Lucy. 'Let's put the Halloween CD back on and have another dance! Ella, I want to dance with you and see how long Michael can keep from touching himself!'

'It won't be very long,' Michael grinned.

'Just before we do that,' said Kevin, 'let's discuss the sleeping arrangements a little. We can spread ourselves out upstairs if you want, but I thought it might be more fun if we bring a load of bedding down and all sleep here in the living room. We can talk for a while, and maybe watch a horror movie – I've prepared a selection of them on VHS.'

'Ooh yeah, let's do that,' said Ella.

'But won't we end up having an orgy?' said Jandro.

'Three separate couples sleeping together in three separate areas of the same room doesn't constitute an orgy,' said Oscar. 'I think we can get away with it, no matter what might happen once the lights go out.'

'Okay, well the blow-up mattress is on its side in the dining room, so maybe Mike and Ella want to deal with that,' said Kevin. 'I've got my quilt and two other quilts waiting in the home office, so me and Oscar will get those ready. Jandro and Lucy, could you go up to the linen closet by the attic door and fetch down some pillows and blankets? You know the one, don't you? It's all the way at the top of the stairs, on the left.'

'Yeah, no problem,' said Jandro.

'What movie should we watch?' said Michael.

'Do you have Night of the Living Dead?' said Ella. 'I mean the original, obviously.'

'Please, no zombie movies,' said Jandro. 'Have you got Candyman, Kev?'

'Ooh yeah, I haven't seen that one for ages,' said Oscar.

'Yes, I'm sure it's in the pile somewhere,' said Kevin. 'We'll make a final decision later, after we've gotten the bedding set up.'

'We're gonna have another dance first though, right?' said Lucy.

'Right,' said Kevin. 'I'll put the CD on.'

'Come on then, Luce,' said Ella, 'let's show the boys some real moves!'


As Jandro fought to get the door of the linen closet open, Lucy stared at him with a thoughtful expression on her face.

'Jandro,' she said, 'I don't ever want there to be any awkwardness or secrets between us.'

'Neither do I, Luce,' he replied, his attention still focused on the door.

'Right, so that's why I'm gonna tell you what I'm about to tell you,' said Lucy. 'I didn't like the way you and Ella were flirting with each other earlier – it made me feel kinda jealous.'

'Oh! I'm sorry, Luce,' said Jandro, turning to face her. 'That really didn't mean anything. You said it yourself – the costumes were to blame. Besides, Ella doesn't even think of me as a real boy – you heard what she said just before Kevin and Michael did their WWF impression!'

Lucy laughed, nodded slightly and then looked at the floor.

'I know you noticed Ella's fun bags when we first arrived,' she said quietly.

'Yeah, I noticed them – we all noticed them!' said Jandro. 'But believe me, Luce, the only fun bags I want to have fun with are yours.'

'I've never thought of mine as fun bags,' said Lucy, giving him a wry smile. 'More like fun mounds.'

'However you want to think of them, they're definitely fun!' Jandro grinned. 'I don't care about Ella's boobs – yours are the only boobs I want anything to do with, ever!'

'I'm very glad to hear that,' said Lucy, 'because let's face it, Jandro, you are somewhat of a suckler, aren't you?'

'Only on you,' Jandro said firmly. 'I love you, Lucy – I've always loved you, ever since the seventh grade. Don't you know that?'

'Yeah, I do know that,' said Lucy. 'And I love you too, Jandro.'

'Great!' said Jandro. 'Wait a second – is this why you were so quick to challenge Ella on the subject of uterus superiority?'

'Well... kind of, yeah,' Lucy admitted. 'I kinda thought Ella was acting like she was the only person in the gang with working female parts, and I just wanted to remind everyone that she's not!'

'Hey, you don't need to remind me of that,' Jandro assured her. 'Were you also trying to prove that you're just as much a woman as she is when you decided to strut your girly stuff with her on the dancefloor?'

'Not exactly,' said Lucy, smiling wryly again. 'Anyway, we didn't do very much – we just gyrated together... and straddled each other's legs a little... and squeezed each other a tiny bit.'

'Well, I thought it was really hot!' Jandro grinned. 'I mean, I thought you were really hot, Luce. But then that's nothing new, 'cause I always think that.'

Lucy smiled, and snaked her arms around Jandro's waist. He hugged her tightly in return.

'Luce, you know what you were saying to Michael about Nottingham?' said Jandro.

'Yeah,' said Lucy.

'You... you don't think of me as some kind of an annoying hanger-on who you don't really want coming with you, right?'

'Oh, no! No, no, no, no, no, of course not! I love that we're gonna have this adventure together, Jandro. I just hope you really want to do it as much as I want to.'

'I do, and I'll tell you the three reasons why,' said Jandro. 'One – I want to do a math degree, and Nottingham has one that I think sounds really good. Two – I want to travel, and see some interesting parts of the world. Three – I want to be with you. Pretty good reasons, huh?'

'The best,' said Lucy.

'You're the best,' said Jandro.


Kevin and Oscar were each shaking a duvet cover onto a duvet.

'Can I ask you something?' said Oscar.

'Of course,' said Kevin.

'Why did you get Jandro to help you with your Incredible Hulk getup? You could've asked me. I mean, it could've been fun.'

'I wanted you to be surprised when I made my entrance. Also, I wanted you to be impressed... and if I'm totally honest, I wanted you to be turned on as well.'

'You succeeded on all three counts,' Oscar grinned.

'Anyway,' Kevin pointed out, 'you got Danny to help you with yours.'

'Oh yeah,' Oscar laughed, 'so I did. But we didn't wax each other!'

'You can help me get my make-up off tomorrow if you want,' said Kevin.

'Yeah,' said Oscar, 'I do want.'


The final haunting chords of the Candyman theme tune petered out, and Kevin turned off the VCR.

'Jesus,' said Lucy, 'I'm really freaked out now.'

'What's the matter, Lucy?' Jandro whispered, poking her in the ribs. 'Scared of something?'

'Stop it!' Lucy squeaked, giving Jandro an almighty slap across the chest.

'Let's get a mirror and try calling the Candyman!' said Michael.

'No, let's not,' said Kevin. 'He might just show up, and we don't want to have to deal with that! I think we should go to sleep instead.'

'Aren't we gonna mess around for a while first?' said Oscar. 'In our own corners, I mean – not all in a big pile.'

'We're definitely gonna mess around for a while over here,' said Michael, 'aren't we, Ella?'

'Yes, I suppose we might as well,' said Ella, 'now that we've come this far.'

'I need to do something to take my mind off that movie,' said Lucy.

'I'm glad to hear it,' said Jandro.

'Like I said before,' said Oscar, 'it's not really an orgy – just a kind of shared experience.'

'Well,' said Kevin, 'if you put it like that...'


Early the next morning the Rivera house became a hive of activity, mostly involving people running up and down the stairs between the kitchen and the bathroom. Just as Oscar was about to enter the kitchen, he noticed that Lucy and Ella were standing at the sink, popping pills from a blister pack and preparing to swallow them with water. He hung back in the hallway, mooching awkwardly about while they talked.

'I knew it'd be a good idea to bring these things,' said Lucy, after she had swallowed her pill.

'Thank goodness you did,' said Ella. 'Do you want me to pay you back for this?'

'Don't be silly,' said Lucy. 'It's a gift from me to you.'

Ella smiled, and swallowed her pill. She looked at the packet as Lucy returned it to her overnight bag, noticing that three of the blisters were empty while three remained full.

'You already took one before today,' Ella remarked.

'Yes,' said Lucy. 'Last night was me and Jandro's second time. Well, our second session, I guess.'

'Oh, cool,' said Ella.

Lucy adopted a thoughtful expression for a moment and then asked, 'Do you know how many times you and Michael are up to?'

'We're at about ten,' said Ella. 'I did keep count at first, but it gets kinda difficult after a while. I'll always remember the first two times, though... because they were very different experiences... and they were about two years apart. I tell you, Luce, you did the right thing to wait 'til you were totally ready – you can't take it back once you've done it.'

'I'm sorry, Ella,' said Lucy. 'I didn't mean to rake up bad memories for you.'

'It's not exactly a bad memory,' Ella said, shrugging. 'But I do wish I'd thought a little more, and listened to my secret heart instead of my overexcited head. I really started to question my relationship with Michael after it happened, but I'm totally in a good place about the whole thing now – when it comes right down to it, I love the great big putz and that's all there is to it.'

'It's obvious he feels the same way,' said Lucy.

'I'm glad I can talk to you about this stuff, Luce – there's really no one else I'd rather do it with,' said Ella. 'I wish we'd done it more, while we had the chance.'

'We'll have regular update chats from now until the end of the summer,' said Lucy. 'And it seems like we'll have plenty to talk about!'

'I'm sorry if you thought I was flirting with Jandro last night,' said Ella. 'I saw you giving me an evil look after I implied that he might get to have me later on – I really didn't mean it.'

'That's okay,' said Lucy. 'I was just being silly.'

'Jandro's not my type, you know,' said Ella. 'Obviously I love all four of those boys in varying ways, but if we're talking strictly sexually, Michael is my type, Kevin is my type, Oscar is tall enough to be my type but he could do with a little more meat on him, and Jandro's not my type.'

'He's definitely mine,' said Lucy. 'I think I'm getting addicted to him.'

'I'm sure you are!' said Ella. 'He's a real goer, isn't he?'

'He's almost literally a perpetual motion machine,' Lucy giggled.

'I really enjoyed dancing with you,' said Ella. 'It was a lot of fun – I have to admit, I found the experience more than a little titillating.'

'Neither of us can've been even half so titillated as Michael was,' Lucy giggled. 'But yeah, it was a lot of fun. Plus I was really happy to feel close to you again, Ella, even if it was just in a crude, physical sense. You're the only real girl-friend I've ever had, you know.'

'Me too,' said Ella, reaching out to cup Lucy's cheek. 'You, I mean. I'm really gonna miss you when you go to England, Luce. I'm gonna miss us all being together as a gang, sure... but I'm gonna miss you in particular.'

'I'm gonna miss you too, Ella.'

The girls moved in for a close and heartfelt embrace.

'You remember when I told you I love all four of those boys in varying ways?' said Ella.

'Yeah,' said Lucy. 'It wasn't very long ago.'

'You know I love you in a very special way as well, right?'

'Yeah, I do; and I love you too.'

Oscar watched the girls holding each other until his eavesdropping was interrupted by Jandro coming up behind him and slapping him on the shoulder.

'What's going on, bro?' Jandro said exuberantly, propelling Oscar into the kitchen as he spoke. 'Oh, cool – the girls are getting up close and personal again!'

'That is definitely the best position for two scantily-clad sex kittens to be in,' said Michael, appearing in the doorway behind Jandro with a huge grin on his face. 'If you girls were planning on going all the way with each other right here in Kev's kitchen, don't let us stop you!'

Lucy and Ella drew apart and rinsed out the drinking vessels they had used.

'Boys,' Ella remarked to Lucy.

'Boorish,' Lucy replied.


Three loud honks sounded from the street outside. Lucy ran to the front window to take a look.

'John's here,' she announced.

'I guess he must've been to the gas station this morning,' Jandro remarked.

'Who wants a ride?' Lucy asked. 'He's only got room for four, and that's if three of us squash up uncomfortably close on the back seat.'

'Leave me here,' said Oscar. 'I'll help with the rest of the cleaning up.'

'You ride shotgun, Mike,' said Ella. 'You're the biggest.'

'Okay,' said Michael.

Kevin went to open the front door, and his guests trooped past him on their way to John's car. Lucy stopped to give Kevin a warm hug and a kiss on the left cheek, Jandro just gave him a warm hug, Ella gave him a quicker hug and kissed him on the right cheek, then Michael shook his hand and clapped him on the shoulder, whereupon Kevin clapped Michael on the shoulder in return.

'Kev, would you mind putting my cardboard dragon parts in your recycling dumpster?' Lucy called over her shoulder. 'I don't think I'll be needing them anymore.'

'Sure thing,' Kevin called back. 'See ya.'

Kevin closed the door, and turned to find Oscar standing right behind him.

'So,' said Oscar, 'what do you want to do now?'

'Take out all the trash and then put all the bedding back in the right place,' said Kevin.

'Great,' said Oscar, 'I'll help you with that. Then what?'

'I'd better take a shower and see how much of this greenness I can get off my body.'

'Great – I'll help you with that too!'

'Okay,' Kevin laughed. 'Can you get the trash bags from the living room to start with?'

'Sure,' said Oscar, then he adopted a ruminative expression for a few seconds. 'Do you think I could do with a little more meat on me?'

'No way!' said Kevin. 'If you had that, I might not be able to do this!'

He grabbed Oscar by both shoulders and slammed him up against the wall, then kissed him.

'You know I can escape from this anytime I want to,' Oscar said when they drew apart, 'with my advanced karate skills.'

'Go ahead, then.'

'I don't want to.'

'We really should get on with the cleaning up,' said Kevin, 'then we can do something more fun.'

'Okay,' said Oscar. 'I'll go get that trash.'