"Willow, we all need to say goodbye to Mitchell," laughed Maddie. "Whose idea was it to introduce another beautiful girl into this mess, anyway? You have to let the guy go so the rest of us can say goodbye properly.""I didn't know how strong he feels and how good he smells." admitted Willow to the laughter of her family. "I'm going to love dancing with him. Thanks, Christine."Friday found Melissa Leonard, her daughters, and Mitchell in the living room of the O'Leary residence. Nell had greeted them warmly and after a quick sandwich led them into another room to take their measurements."Here's the thing, girls. My helper, Ann, and I need to get some incredibly detailed measurements from you. The gowns will fit perfectly, but we're also going to start on swim wear soon and that really needs to be made to order to fit the best way possible. That means I'm going to have to ask you girls to strip down to just your underwear. Would you feel more comfortable being measured separately,
Meanwhile, Mitchell was trying to apologize to Nell and Ann. "I'm sorry, ladies. I didn't mean to do that. I'm not some pervert of anything. I'm just...""A hereto male with a healthy libido." laughed Nell. "No need to apologize. I'm flattered that I could manage that reaction from you. We won't say anything to anyone but judging from the way the other ladies fled the room, you may have been busted already. We need to be sure to include a jock or something for you when you pose with a swimsuit and those scantily clad beauties. You could hurt someone with that if you're not careful. Use that power only for good."A few minutes later a red-faced Mitchell joined the Leonard’s in the kitchen. It was obvious that he was nervous and uncertain what to say or do. Maddie came to his rescue."Mitchell, don't be so embarrassed. I just wonder what took you so long. That Nell is a beautiful woman, and that outfit was no accident. She was teasing you, and you succumbed to her charms. You sure ma
By the time Melissa had regained her footing, the two men were on her. The man behind her grabbed her hair and pulled her head back while the other man grabbed a hand full of material and quickly cut it off her with a long knife. Melissa was suddenly naked from the waist up."You need to leave now", commanded Mitchell as he approached the two men. "Just drop the pocketbook and let her go. I won't tell you again."Surprised, the two men dropped Melissa to the ground and turned to face Mitchell. Even as they watched him approach, they scanned the darkness for more people."There's nobody else here, Frank. It's just this one kid. We'd better take the money and get out of here," reasoned the taller of the two."Are you kidding? Look at those tits. That's some prime pussy there and I want a piece of it," declared his partner. "I'll take care of this asshole and then fuck her brains out."The man started at Mitchell with the knife held down low and in front of him. Mitchell watched the
"No, no, I'm not hurt, and I don't need an ambulance. Those two bastards over that bank will. Mitchell smashed the one guy's leg and probably crushed the other one's larynx. They dragged me by my hair from my car. They cut off my clothes and were going to rape me when Mitchell stopped them. The first guy attacked him with a knife. Mitchell brushed the knife aside and then kicked him extremely hard in the knee. I heard the bones break," revealed Melissa."The second man went after Mitchell with his fists and Mitchell just blocked his swing and then slammed him in the throat. He won't be talking anytime soon.".Christine was stunned as she listened to her mother describe the events of the past few minutes. She had been attacked and Mitchell had saved her. He fought with and defeated two men. Then one of the officers returned from the darkness."We need the ambulances pretty quick, Bob. The one guy's leg is bent at a weird angle and he's going into shock. The other guy is making gurgl
"Yeah, Maddie's right. I feel safer when you're around and taking care of Mom, berated by us girls," admitted Hailey as she gave Mitchell a subdued kiss. "Christine's your girlfriend, but we all think the world of you.""I'll walk you to your room," volunteered Christine as she grabbed Mitchell's hand and pulled him out the door. She then led him into his room and closed the door behind them."Kiss me." was all she said as she leaned into his arms. For the first time ever, or so it seemed, they were alone in a room together. Mitchell made the most of Christine's suggestion as he pulled her tight to his chest and kissed her long and hard. They would stop and look at each other for a few seconds and then press their lips together again. “We must get our outfit fitted. So, let’s go."Oh, my is that the same creature that made its appearance this afternoon when Nell was showing you her breasts, while supposedly measuring your inseam? I'm surprised that she didn't try to measure something
Before he could answer, Christine returned to their table in a euphoric mood. "Nick Fallon’s coming to Highland. He's going to stay for a week or so to get the feeling of the town. He wants me to show him around. Can you believe it?"Ashley looked at Mitchell and then shook her head sadly. "Christine, I'm your friend. You know I love you, but you're making an ass of yourself over this second-rate actor. He can't carry Mitchell's jock strap. He's just another pretty boy that's never done anything worthwhile. He pretends to be a hero. Your boyfriend really is a hero. Can you see the difference? This Nick guy is going to pretend to be Mitchell? That makes Mitchell better than him, if you ask me.""I'm not saying that he's better than Mitchell. I'm just saying that he's a famous actor and he's going to be a big star. This is cool stuff. I would think that you'd be happy for me, and not jealous," retorted Christine to her best friend."Come on, Liam. We're leaving. There's not enough room
"Christine, I've admitted that I'm jealous of what you and Mitchell have. Every girl that knows you two can't help but be envious. That's why I'm trying to keep you from making a huge mistake. If you let go of Mitchell, he'll be snapped up in a New York minute.""That would make you happy, wouldn't it? You can swoop right in and steal him away. You're just waiting for some flimsy reason to go after him. You can't stand playing second fiddle to me. You've always been the pretty one the boys like and seeing me with Mitchell hurts your ego.""Christine, I love you. I love how you and Mitchell are together. I want you to do well and be happy. I'll never be jealous of your success. You're smart and beautiful, but you're making a big mistake here. That's all I'm trying to say. No one can steal Mitchell away from you. You'll have to drive him away, and raving about this ham actor is probably the best way to do it," replied Maddie as she stomped from the room."Christine, your sister has s
Then his phone rang. He saw Maddie's name and quickly answered. "Mitchell, how about we practice our dance routine as long as I'm home and you don't seem to have anything to do? I spoke with Aunt Donna, and she said it was fine with her. It'll be fun."Fifteen minutes later, Mitchell was standing at Donna's door. "Come in. Maddie said you guys have some Time to practice your dance number. Melissa's been filling me in on happenings with you and Christine. It'll work out. She also mentioned how you came through for her big Time the other day. She's your best fan now. It's good to know that we can depend on you when stuff hits the fan." Willow has been beaming this week. She says that you've been talking to her in the halls and being nice. Her friends are very impressed and she's feeling more confident. She insisted on wearing something low cut today. I wouldn't let her go to the mall or anything wearing the top she has on, but I told her that she could wear it when she's practicing h
"If Christine gets cold feet, or her conscience won't let her go through with it, I'd be willing to trade with her, just because that's the kind of friend I am," volunteered Jordan. "Thank you, Jordan. Christine, you're so lucky to have friends like Jordan," stated Melissa sarcastically. "She's willing to take a bullet for you, if the need arises." "Gee, thanks. I don't think I'll need any help, however. I have all the protection necessary, so those 'bullets' will not be hitting the intended target. There's really no need to worry about me. I'll make sure that the gun is empty by morning." "That's how class valedictorians talk these days?" demanded Hailey. "A few months ago, she hadn't ever been on a date and now she's talking about single handedly unloading a dangerous weapon." "I never said anything about using my hands, at least not tonight." laughed Christine, as Hailey was the one to blush this time. "If I may change the subject once again, we're invited to a costume party t
"Look. It's the Eiffel Tower," exclaimed Willow as she pointed out the window of the shuttle van. "Everybody get lots of pictures and we'll share them all when we get home. I have to thank you again, Christine, for making me part of this great adventure. I'm lucky to be your cousin." "You're lucky to be so pretty and shapely. You're lucky to have such understanding parents. You're lucky that Mitchell, for whatever reason, decided to take a chance on me that day at the mall. We're all lucky that Highland won that first football game. I'm lucky I'm not in tears right now because I'm so happy," Christine said. "We're all happy, Sis, but you've got more reason to be happy than the rest of us girls. Tonight, you're going to go to bed a girl and waking up a woman," stated Hailey with genuine happiness for her sister. "Spring Break in Paris with your hunky boyfriend. I don't think it can get much better than that." "It would get better if everyone left my personal life out of their discus
"Are you kidding," shrieked Hailey. "I'm going to Paris on Spring Break. This is way too cool. I can't believe it. I have to go shopping for some new clothes. We should get one of those CD's that teaches you how to speak French in three days. I'm going to call Willow." "Just a minute, Hailey," interrupted her father. "I can't go since we have to work. It's the busy time of year for those of us in accounting. I expect all of you to obey Melissa and Donna without question or dissent. That goes for you, too, Mitchell. You're a very mature young man, but Melissa and Donna are the adults on this trip. I want all of you to have a great time but be safe. Mitchell, I'll rely on you to keep them all safe. You seem to have assumed that duty already. No one wanders off alone and always be sure that Melissa and Donna know where you are. That's my speech on this trip." Later, as Christine was standing on the porch with Mitchell, she mentioned what she knew had to be on his mind. "I made sure tha
Mitchell lifted his overnight bag and went to Jordan's room and knocked. She quickly opened it with her suitcase in hand and tears running down her cheeks. She stepped into the hall and slammed the door behind her. "Let's get out of here. I watched the news while I was packing. They had a clip of you carrying me half naked, but with my tits blurred out. Then they bleeped the bad parts of my brilliant speech about you bleeping me with your big bleep. I've probably destroyed both our careers and lost Christine's friendship. I hope she doesn't believe that we did anything. I don't know how I'm going to be able to face her." Jordan said. Mitchell had called for a cab to take them to LAX. When he and Jordan entered the lobby from the elevator, several photographers began snapping pictures of them and calling out questions. Mitchell calmly led a teary-eyed Jordan out the door to the waiting cab without making any comment. It was dusk when Mitchell pulled into the Leonard driveway "I can'
"You're right, Sweetheart. This relationship, this love that you two have isn't like anything I've ever seen. You aren't normal or average. Your capacity and ability are exceptional. Don't let me discourage you. I admire and respect your confidence in each other, as well as the Acep love you share. It's very rare and extremely special," Mitchell finished speaking with Christine and went to check on Jordan. She had managed to push the covers down, so she was on her side with her amazing breasts on display. Shaking his head, Mitchell covered her back up and went and stretched out as well as he could on a stuffed chair in the corner.He was awaited some time later by an unfamiliar sound and sat up to listen. Unable to identify it, he stood and walked toward it. He found Jordan huddled in the fetal position on the floor of the bathroom, sobbing uncontrollably. He gently picked her up, carried her back into the room, and sat back down in his chair while Jordan cried and clung to him. Mitc
Mitchell remained silent as he carried Jordan to the door while everyone watched. Before leaving, he gently placed Jordan on a chair, unbuttoned his shirt, took it off, placed it over her, and buttoned it up. More than a few of the watchers noticed the way Mitchell's biceps filled out the sleeves of his undershirt as he easily lifted Jordan and left the suite.By the time the elevator reached the bottom floor, Jordan was making no sense at all. She had her arms wrapped around Mitchell's neck and her head buried in his shoulder. Mitchell turned to his left and exited the hotel through a side door. He crossed the street as quickly as he could, entered his hotel from a side street, and hurried to the elevators. Jordan's room was next to his, but when he reached it, he realized that she didn't have her card key. All she had was a thong and the shirt Mitchell had placed over her nakedness.Mitchell had no choice but to take her to his room. As he kicked the door closed, Jordan began maki
Dwayne called Mitchell later in the day. "You and Jordan are going to perform on your big hit on 'American Singer' on their season finale. That's Thursday and they'll have a huge audience because that's when they name their season winner. The show's supplying two round trip tickets, two hotel rooms, and paying each of you ten grand for the day's work. If you want that directed to the hospital fund, I'll see that it happens. I have it set up for the two of you to fly out to LA Thursday. You'll do the show that night, stay in a good hotel and fly home the next morning.""That sounds great. That show's huge and millions of people watch it, especially the season finale," pointed out Christine when Mitchell told her about Dwayne's call. "You'll promote your song and make money for the hospital fund. I'm not upset about not being included. We're going to be apart a lot in the future, and we have to deal with it. You can bet I'll be watching the show and wishing you and Jordan the best."T
"This campaign has been an unbelievable success, and that's mostly the result of everything you two have done to make this work. We have almost three months left, so we should be able to build the total even higher. It would be great if we had a million dollars by graduation. I know that isn't likely, but it would be a tremendous pleasure to announce that total in front of all the parents. But whatever the total, it'll be a wonderful moment for all of us.""Do you want to tell Ms. Metzger, or shall I?" asked Christine, as she watched for Mitchell to nod at her. "Dwayne Burton called last night. He's roughly edited those TV shows we shot in LA, but ABC has already been pushing very hard to buy them. He told us that the network offered a huge sum. It would guarantee at least a million dollars for the hospital fund. Dwayne told them it wasn't enough. He said we'd agree if ABC would ante up another million just to buy an option to hire us to tape two more shows. If they decide to enforce
"She said her news director heard the rumor that Hardy clashed with us this morning and was escorted from the hotel. The local station was disappointed that it didn't have more coverage of Saturday night. They told Nell that she'd be traveling with us when we went to any significant events from now on. Her interview tomorrow will be replayed, at least in part, on the network's morning show. She's going to meet us at school a little early. She thought it would be a good backdrop while she asked us questions,” Christine stated."She wants Hailey, Jordan, and us to be available for the interview. She's going to ask about that encounter you had with that Chechen, so be ready for that. I'll probably tell her about our invitation to Paris, unless you have an objection, Mitchell.""I'm going to be on TV. What should I wear? What will she ask me? What if I sound stupid? Mom, you have to record it for me," insisted Hailey."Go ahead and tell her about Paris. She'll be excited about that tri