Chapter 6: Cristina

            It's me, Cristina again. You know now that we, the Animorphs, visited The Gardens, a zoo and amusement park combined. I now have a beautiful, yet very powerful white tiger morphs. Andrew can become a rhino, Sarah a black jaguar, and Oliver a polar bear. All of us, that's including Jake, Marco, Tobias, Rachel, and Cassie, are going to the Yeerk Pool at the end of the week, a Friday.

            But what the others don't know is that Andrew, Sarah and I met at Oliver's house after the meeting to have our own discussion. But some of us got a little distracted on the way there.............

            "Mmmmmm. I never knew getting lost could be so much fun," I mumbled to Andrew, who at that point had his arms around me and was all over my neck.

            He stopped long enough to say, "Of course it's fun. You're with me, and I'm with you. I couldn't ask for very much more." Then he resumed the task at hand, or should I say, mouth.

            I'll explain: Before we had left school that after noon, Andrew offered me a ride over to Cassie's house. Then he asked to 'get lost' with me, so I readily agreed. And that's what we did, in our own way. Andrew folded down all of the back seats of his car, and the two of us got into the back and just went at each other. We didn't do anything too naughty; we just aren't ready for that. But we have been enjoying ourselves. So anyway, back to where we were......

            "Andrew, this button-up blouse of mine is really bothering me. Do you think you could fix that problem?' I asked him, knowing that he would be most grateful to finally do that,

            "May I really? Don't mind if I do," he replied, moving his hands around to my neck, which is where the buttons started.

            One by one he un-buttoned my shirt. I just lay on my back and enjoyed staring at his sexy bare chest leaning over me. But before he un-buttoned the one that would have begun to show what he wanted to see, he went down to the bottom of my shirt and worked his way up. Then he stopped again.

            "Oh Andrew, come on. You only have three buttons left," I said, giving him my best smile.

            "I know, I'm just saving the best for last," he replied, now continuing from the top.

            Finally, he finished un-buttoning my shirt. He let me sit up so I could take off the shirt. I randomly tossed it somewhere in his car. Then I was back down with Andrew back on top of me.

            "Cristina, I thought that you were more beautiful than an angel before. But now I see just how beautiful you really, truly are," he managed to say, even though his mouth was all over my chest.

            All I could do was run my hands over his smooth bare back. Then an idea came to me. I started to move my hands down his shorts; you know, to drive him insane. I was doing a good job of that too, because his kissing of my chest was non-stop now.

            I was going to go further than that when I heard my watch beep.

            "Andrew?"

            "Mmmm?" he attempted to say.

            "What time is it?"

            Stopping long enough to glance at his watch next to us, he replied, "It just turned 7."

            "Shit! We were sposed to be at Oliver's house two and a half hours ago!"

            Both of us sitting up now, he looked at his watch again: "Damn Cristina! You're right! I guess we were enjoying ourselves a little too much. We better go over there now, so they won't worry any more."

            "Yeah, I think we better do that," I replied, looking around for my shirt.

            Putting on my shirt and buttoning it, I watched Andrew put his shirt back on too. Then we both got back into the front of the car, after putting the back seats back up.

            "Andrew, you don't know just how damn sexy I think you are," I said as I buckled myself in.

            "You're one to talk," he replied, starting the car after looking my in the eyes.

            "Thanks for the fun afternoon Andrew," I said once we were on our way.

            "We could continue after our meting if you'd like," he replied, grinning.

            "I wish I could, but I promised Oliver that I would help him with our Genetics homework afterwards. If you want, you could stay if you need help," I said.

            I'm really good in Genetics. It's my favorite class, next to Chorus. I do so well in there; I always finish my homework before the class is over. So I'm always willing to help those who need my help.

            "That's ok, Cristina. I already finished my homework since you explained it to me in class," he replied, looking kind of disappointed.

            Pulling up in front of Oliver's house, I said to Andrew before we got out of the car, "We can continue some other time soon though."

            Walking up to the front door, Andrew gave me one of his irresistible smiles, which was his way of saying 'Great, I'll be waiting till then.'

            Knocking on the door, we were greeted by Sarah, who was looking rather pissed at the moment.

            "Again, where were the two of you? You're two and a half hours late! Oliver and I have been freaking out wondering where the two of you were!" she yelled as we walked into the house.

            We went into the living room and sat in various chairs near the large t.v. that was showing the 'News at 7.'

            I spoke up this time: "Well Sarah, you know as well as I do that guys will never stop and ask for directions. They never ask passengers either. So Andrew wouldn't listen to me when I said that he had to turn left from Cassie's house. He just kept driving for somewhere around an hour until we reach the middle of nowhere. Finally he turns to me and says 'Cristina, I think we're lost.' So for the next hour and a half, I'm stuck telling him how to get back to civilization and then to Oliver's house. That's how we ended up getting so lost."

            Andrew gave me a look that said 'You're a better liar than me.'

            I just smiled back at him, though I made it look like a smile that said 'Guys will never learn.'

            But I could tell that Sarah didn't believe me.

            "Um, Andrew, could you go upstairs and help Oliver with something? It's really important," Sarah said to Andrew.

            "Yeah, I'll go help him. What's it about?"

            "You'll find out soon," she replied as he went upstairs. As soon as she was sure he was out of hearing range, she said to me "Ok. Now tell me what really happened."

            "What are you talking about Sarah? I already told you what happened," I lied, knowing that she had us busted somehow.

            "If you truly did get lost, I don't think that your hair would be as messed up as it is. The same goes for Andrew. Your hair is always perfect, no matter what you do. But it is so screwed up right now. I know that Andrew always spikes his hair, but this time it's even more screwed up than usual," she said quietly to me, to make sure the boys couldn't hear her.

            When she told me this, I rushed to the downstairs bathroom to see if she was lying or if I hadn't noticed the incriminating evidence that said 'Oh yeah, Cristina and Andrew were going at it.' Looking at myself, I saw that she was right; my hair was a mess. I then tried to fix my hair the best I could before Oliver came down.

            Finally I got my hair to look like nothing had happened. Sarah just couldn't stop laughing when I walked beck into the living room.

            "Alright Cristina, now tell me if I'm right: you and Andrew made out for two and a half hours in the back of his car. Right?"

            "Yeah, we did. You caught us," I replied.

            Then I told Sarah the entire story; about us making out, him un-buttoning my shirt, how he didn't have his shirt on, what I was doing with my own hands, and everything like that.

            "Damn! You better not tell Oliver; you know he would become depressed, seeing as how he likes you so much. But of course, Andrew likes you a lot too, as the two of you have proven already," she said to me.

            "I know I can't tell him. And I don't plan to. So please, don't you tell him, ok?" I begged her, not wanting to hurt Oliver or Andrew.

            "I won't tell anyone," she said to me as we heard the boys coming down the stairs.

            "Hey Oliver!" I said as he and Andrew walked into the room.

            I was sitting on the couch, so Oliver came and sat next to me, holding his Genetics textbook with papers already stuffed inside of it.

            "Why all the papers? We haven't taken that many notes yet," I said, looking at him.

            Taking the papers out of his book, he handed them to me: "This is all the information that I could find about that organization called The Sharing."

            Flipping through the papers, I was wondering what he was talking about: "What's 'The Sharing'?"

            "The Sharing is a community group, kind of like the YMCA. But something about it just didn't seem right. So Oliver went online to see what he could find about it," Sarah answered.

            "I didn't really find much about it. To me it seems that 'The Sharing' has secrets that they don't want to have shared except with members," Oliver added.

            "So what's the big deal about it?" Andrew asked as a commercial came over the t.v.

            'Feeling left out and alone? Friends and family abandon you? Or do you just want to be part of something bigger? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then become a member of The Sharing, an organization dedicated to helping everyone live a better life. Join today!'

            Normally that wouldn't be a big deal, unless you saw what we did. The commercial was about to end when it showed the president of the organization: our Hellth coach, a well known Yeerk as we had found out that day.

            "This 'Sharing' thing; it's run by the Yeerks," I said, staring at the t.v. with a blank expression on my face.

            "We know. This commercial comes on every ten minutes. So we've been researching while waiting for the two of you to show up," Oliver said, sounding a little agitated I'm sure because Andrew and I were late.

            "So what are we going to do about it?" I asked, always willing to do something that could be dangerous.

            "We plan on going to visit The Sharing on Wednesday after school. Cristina, you will pretend to want to become a full member. That's how we'll find out what goes on in this so called 'friendly' group," Oliver said to me, causing me to get excited.

            "Oliver will be in the building with her, but he'll be asking other people what they think about The Sharing. You and I Andrew will be waiting here. If they need back-up for some reason, then we will fly over there in less than five minutes, morph back to human, then become our dangerous animals and break in to help. Otherwise, if we all go, they may catch on to us," Sarah said.

            "So are we all in agreement on this?" Oliver asked us.

            "Yes! I most definitely am!" I exclaimed, jumping up from where I was sitting.

            "I'm in too then!" Andrew said, not missing the chance to be with me.

            "Yup, I'll be ready too," Sarah said, also getting up.

            "Great. Now we've settled that, so I'm guessing the rest of you better get home now, since it's getting dark and you know how parents are," Oliver said showing Sarah and Andrew to the door.

            "Yeah. I've still got Math I've gotta get done anyway," Sarah said, walking out the door.

            "I've got stuff to do around the house believe it or not," Andrew said, rolling his eyes as he too walked out.

            As I stood in the doorway waving goodbye to them, I heard Oliver say, "I'm taking my book upstairs. I need to use my computer for something, so meet me up there when they leave."

            Somehow Sarah knew that Oliver couldn't hear her next comment, but that I could.

            "So Andrew......did you have fun making out with Cristina for two and a half hours?"

            "Yeah, but we made out longer than that. We made out before going over to Cassie's for the meeting. I can't believe how beautiful Cristina's..........how the hell did you know?!?!?!?!"

            "Check your hair next time. I don't think you noticed that her hair was a mess when the two of you got here. But she fixed it......"

            That was all I could hear as Andrew got into his car and drove off while Sarah walked home. After I closed the door, I went up the stairs to find Oliver. He was in his room.

            He lives by himself, yet he uses only one room for himself, and of course it's the largest room. All of the other rooms are used as guest rooms, like for when I stay the night to finish a project. But anyway............

            I walked into his room and found him lying on his stomach on his bed, reading through his Genetics book. I climbed up onto his bed and lay next to him, while starting to re-read the chapter over DNA.

            "So, where would you like to begin with this?" I asked, pulling out the worksheet that was our homework.

            Looking up into my eyes, he replied, "Right where it begins to talk about DNA markers and how they are used to identify people."

            "Ok, no problem. Do you understand the part about gel electrophoresis?" I asked, entering another area of expertise of mine.

            "Um.........no, I don't. Could you help me with that too?"

            "Oh sure! Not a problem. Let's start with the DNA markers first, that makes it all easier," I replied to his question.

            Thirty minutes later, I had helped him finish his homework. So we were just laying there on his bed, talking about whatever random stuff popped into our heads. It was quite fun.

            "WINDEX!!" I yelled, causing us both to laugh so hard we cried.

            Finally we got our laughing under control. Then we sat up and faced each other.

            "You know what Oliver?"

            "Hm?"

            "Today was a great day, for a Monday I mean."

            "Really? I could make it be even better."

            "How could you make this day any better Oliver?" I asked, not quite sure what he was talking about.

            That would be when I found out what he meant: He took his shirt off right in front of me. I didn't know what to say. I mean come on! For the second time today, one of my absolute best friends took his shirt of in front of me. And may I mention just how damn sexy Oliver looked right then and there? I was about ready to pass out.

            That's when Oliver shoved me down onto his bed and said, "Does this make your day even better than it already was?"

            "Well, pretty close to that yeah," I replied, staring up into those deep brown eyes.

            "How's this then?" he asked just before he kissed me.

            Ok, so it was a lot more than a kiss. I mean, my tongue was in his mouth! I too got carried away: I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him down onto me. Then we finally had to stop to breathe.

            "Why stop now Oliver?" I asked as he sat up and looked down at me.

            "Well, I can tell that you don't like the shirt you're wearing," he replied as he began to un-button it.

            "Is today my guys-find-me-to-be-irresistible-and-we-can't-keep-our-shirts-on day or something? I swear it is," I thought to myself.

            "You CAN read minds Oliver," I said, "you can take care of that problem if you wish."

            "I just did," he said as he finished the last button.

            Then, as I did earlier, I sat up long enough to toss my shirt somewhere in the room.

            "That's much better," I said as Oliver pushed me back down.

            As soon as I was back down, he too started to kiss my chest; everywhere. So I resumed what I had started earlier in the day: I ran my hands over his bare back and then down towards his shorts. But I didn't have to stop this time. I was about to get really naughty when the phone rang.

            "Damn our luck!" Oliver shouted as he answered the phone next to the bed. "Hello?"

            "Is Cristina at your house Oliver?"

            "Yes she is. We just finished going over my homework. She was just about to leave. Alright, goodnight."

            "Who was that?" I asked after he had hung up the phone.

            "Your mom. She wanted to know why you weren't home yet because it's almost 10."

            "Ahhhh, spoils my fun," I said, getting off the bed and putting my shirt on.

            Putting his shirt back on, he buttoned mine for me while he was kissing my neck.

            "Sorry to disturb you Oliver, but I guess I have to get going now," I said, unfortunately having to pull away from him.

            "Yeah, I know. Sorry about that. So I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

            "Of course. Goodnight Oliver," I said as I walked out his front door.

            "Goodnight.........my angel on Earth."

            Reaching my room, I didn't even bother to change my clothes. I just jumped onto my bed and lie there on my back; thinking.

            "Wow. I made out with two guys in one day. How much better does it get! Only Oliver doesn't know that I made out with Andrew, I don't think. And Andrew doesn't know that I made out with Oliver. Wow. Now what the freakin hell do I do?" I asked myself as I drifted off.