Ghost Hunters ((Closed))

Laid out on the two long tables in all it’s glory were five hard case containers, lids open, and presenting the most magnificent arrays of technical equipment Huck had ever laid eyes on.

Eight IR High Resolution Stationary Cameras, with Wireless DVR & Wireless Hot Spot
Two full spectrum 360º stationary POV Go Pro Wireless Cameras.
Two full spectrum dual function camcorders
Two Flir Thermal Imagers with immediate playback capability.
Three Wide Angle IR & Full Spectrum Lights
Three Digital EMF readers
One K2 EMF Reader
Three Olympus Digital Voice Recorder, USB Compatible
Four LED flashlights, with sensitive on-off capability
One 360º Puck Laser Grid
Six Flexible Mount Systems with Universal Attachments
Seven 100ft Extension Cords, Five 50ft Extension Cords, and 300ft of digital cable with variety of connectors

Put simply, and thanks in no small part to his dad finally investing in his research, Huck had put together the most state-of-the-art set of gear their Ghost Hunting team could have put together. This wasn’t the second hand camcorders that still used DAT files. No longer did they have to borrow the university’s IR and night vision equipment, in hopes they can make it through a weekend at some junky old house without damaging it. No longer was it just up to their ‘feelings’ or ‘recollections’ in order to gather true evidence of the supernatural.

Finally, Huck was going to be part of a real respectable ghost hunting research team, with all the equipment that comes with it.

This has been his passion prior to even coming to school. Always intrigued by the TV shows and the way the seem to expose more and more of the unknown. Luckily he was able to meet up with others that show that same passion. Well, one who shows the same passions. He met Faye in one of those paranormal clubs that dabbled into ghost hunting. She was the only one that took this research seriously. Sure, she approached it more from her own senses, but those senses were reliable enough to be a data point in his collection. She was fun too, though in her own Faye way. They got to spend a lot of time together on these adventures, and getting close to Faye was slowly becoming one of those things that makes this stuff even better.

Before you ask, no ‘getting close’ doesn’t mean they are hooking up. Faye’s his friend, for fuck sake. Yes she’s a girl, but not his girlfriend. Not that he has a girlfriend, but Faye isn’t it - that’s for sure.

Truth is, Huck’s never been good with girls, they’ve seem to think he is weird or nerdy. It’s true really, he’s always been into the supernatural and electronics. It’s easier to talk to the guy at Radio Shack than some Homecoming Queen who only talks about hair and dresses and … whatever else girls talk about .. not that Faye is a Homecoming Queen .. erm, not that she isn’t pretty, it's just that … not that he sees her as … It’s just Faye, and Faye is Faye.

Anyway. It’s not that he’s not that geeky, though. He is kinda tall, with dark hair and brown eyes, and the fact he spends all his time hauling equipment (and his entire diet is nothing by soda and gummy worms) it’s not like he’s frumpy either. Sure he has glasses. Sure his hair is usually a mess. Sure most of his t-shirts are about some sort of science pun.

But that’s all stuff Huck doesn’t care about.

Right now, appraising this plethora of technical wonder, all he wants to do is crack these cases open, and get a new investigation started.

“Where is he?” Faye Dempsey gruffed.

With a crumpled lunch bag in hand, the young student stalked down the hallways on a mission. Her small, lithe frame in contrast to the demanding whirl of energy about her. Hazel eyes quickly scanned each of the rooms, as she searched for Huck. Her fellow cohort in all things paranormal was a creature of habit. If he wasn’t in the library, or in front of the vending machine, he was most likely in one of the many computer labs on campus.

Her worn Chuck’s squeaked softly, as she took the hall with a brisk pace. Her dyed, silver-periwinkle tresses, flowing behind her. A second after passing one of the rooms, she stopped to lean back in a double-take, then smiled as she recognized the form of the very guy she was looking for. Funny, how with as much time as they had been spending together, she could easily recognize him, even with his back turned. Though, his tall, lean build and tussled hair did make things easier.

He must be really into whatever he’s doing, she mused as she slowly padded into the room with a plan of startling him.

They met each other at a paranormal club, which was actually more of a get-together for 1) fans of <insert name of paranormal-themed television show here>, 2) folks that had done a public ghost tour or two during a family vacation, or 3) those that knew of their cousin’s, boss’, aunt’s, best-friend that had been abducted by aliens. In other words, people who weren’t as serious as she was in discovering the truth behind metaphysical activity.

Faye’s childhood was filled with stories of ghosts and spirits that wandered the earth, told by her ever exuberant Irish-Romany grandmother. When her mamó passed, she always felt that she was almost hyper-aware of the other-worldly plane. So, as a teen, she tested her theory the only way she knew how: sneaking into properties with reported hauntings. Sure, she was caught a few times by the po-po, for numerous accounts of trespassing. Nothing she couldn’t talk her way out of, and blame on juvenile delinquency.

So, when the club had decided to do a ghost hunting trip of sorts, she couldn’t help but roll her eyes. But hey, a trip like this would be a hell of a lot more fun than writing class papers. One day, a group of 10 or so, had decided to meet at one of the dilapidated buildings in the city. A location that had reported sightings of ghosts and strange noises. However, not to Faye’s surprise, the trek was short lived. Well, almost. No-show’s had cut down the group to half, then minutes upon entering, the slightest environmental sounds of the building had sent the rest of the group screaming and running. All except one, Huck - who was unfazed, while diligently and strategically placing cameras on the premisis.

The two clashed personalities at first, especially with their vastly different methods to paranormal research. However, it was on this trip, that the two realized that her sixth-sense, intuitive nature complemented his studious, tech-savvy approach (and vice-versa). They’ve been near inseparable since. To the point of where their classmates and teachers believe them to be an “item.” Which couldn’t be farther from the truth. They’re just friends; colleagues pursuing a shared interest, that’s all. She’s fairly certain, anyhow, that unless she came with an LCD screen, with flashing lights and buttons, Huck didn’t even think of her that way. Which was good, because after her last few boyfriends, Faye was taking a much needed hiatus from dating. And so far, she was doing just fine with PornHub and her Lovehoney collection, thank you very much.

Presently, the young student was absolutely teeming with excitement and anticipation. As of late, messing with Huck had become one of her favorite pastimes, and perfect opportunities like this had to be seized. She was practically right behind him, and he still hadn’t turned around yet! Her friend was head and shoulders taller than her, so she went on tiptoe to get close to his ear, before breaking the calm, quiet of the room with her normal tone of voice, “What’cha doin’?”

Faye quickly side-stepped, in case he decided to turn around, swinging. A mischievous grin, played along her lips until she saw it. She blinked a few times, and even circled the opposite side of the table, to get a better look. Laid out, before them, was The Motherload of brand new, high-end gear that captured all of Huck’s attention. “Holy. Shit,” she whispered. The collection was leaps and bounds beyond what they were borrowing from the school’s A/V department. “Is this…is this all yours?” she asked, while simultaneously grabbing one of the GoPro's and examining the weight and feel of it. She pretended to fumble with the camera, and gauged his reaction, before carefully placing it back. All with a smile, of course.

“Aw, no BooBuddy Bear?” she asked jokingly. Faye plopped the paper bag in front of him, and away from the plethora of cameras, lights, and EMF readers. “You weren’t in the cafeteria, so I figured you probably forgot it was lunch time. There’s some pizza in there, and of course, your favorite soda and gummy worms.”

The young woman glanced over the gear once more, before shrugging, then slid into one of the lab's swivel chairs - the momentum sending her into a lazy spiral. She drew one of her knees up to her chest, while the other leg floated, intermittently toeing off the ground to continue the slow spin. “So, when do we get to play?” she asked. The double entendre of her question didn’t strike her until the words left her mouth. Whatever, we’re just friends, Faye thought to herself.

In the short time he has investigated the paranormal, Huck has faced conditions that have made grown men shiver. When the group first formed, it took just the hint of something creepy to cause half the group to make more noise than the cheap recorders they had could handle; yet Huck stood resolute. Even the suggestion of demonics deep in the bowels of stone lined dungeness basements wouldn’t phase Huck.

Yet every frickin’ time Faye snuck up on him, he would yelp.

Her attack this time elicited the regular girly scream, and a spin away to meet her mischievous eyes. “Getting frickin’ annoying, Faye,” he bitched, before turning back to his cache of technical dreams.

“Is this…is this all yours?”

He tried to ignore her playfulness, and .. well .. weirdness in the moment. But that is something you don’t ignore about Faye.

“I guess you could say that,” he replied. “Dad said I am getting this instead of a Christmas present this year, so I guess you can say he paid for … “ He stopped mid sentence as she nearly dropped the GoPro “Jesus! Faye” he screamed trying to dive for the camera.

In the process, he bumped up against her arm. Something that if it was anyone but Faye would make him react. Hundreds of times, he had to fight that natural instinct to stand up firm, lean away, and just not handle well the contact from a girl, lest they be so repulsed by the touch that they hate him forever and ever. Yet Faye doesn’t seem to notice. On fact, he has over the time they have gotten to know each other allowed him to brush up against more than just her arm. He has, in fact, touched her bottom with his hand at least twice, and felt her breast on his forearm three or four times. Letting him brush up against her was kinda nice usually; but the real problem was when she felt the need to hug him - that pissed him off. He was taller than her, which meant that a front hug caused her to press her tummy into his junk, just below her breasts, like it was right next to them. Of course, he felt her boobs more on his back, when she would jump him and hug him from behind. Once he had to find a place to hide because it gave him a boner after her hugging spree. It pisses him off because of the unfairness of it all. She was a girl, which mean she could just go find any guy to and say she was interested and then they could go somewhere and do stuff. All Huck had was his lonely dorm room, and his laptop that had way too much history links on PornHub. Faye probably never even heard of PornHub - that’s what pissed him off.

“Aw, no BooBuddy Bear?”

“What is this, amature hour?” he shot back. Pulling the GoPro from her hands and placing it back in the foam padded casing. “We are trying to capture scientific evidence of the existence of a world beyond our own. Not try to play ‘Guess what I heard on my Justin Bieber tape’. I know those guys who wear the tight shirts you like use them but ..”

Then his mind got distracted by gummy worms.

He pulled open the bag, noticing now how hungry he had become. It took hours to pull out all this equipment, clean all the cardboard dust, carefully set up the cases and foam outlines, find a spot of each in its own place, and ensure the inventory was secure. Thank goodness Faye remembered his stomach.

As he stuffed his face he looked over to the wild haired girl and listened to her. He found a chair to slouch into and pull pizza stained worms from.

“You know,” he said between worms, “Ricky was telling me that the club got a call about a house in Juniper. It’s vacant, but big, and they guy who is selling it says they get weird stuff happening there.” With a swig of the overly caffeinated soda, he cleared his breath. “I could sell it that you are some medium girl who can ‘make his house clean’.” He accented the last of the comment with quotation like fingers.

“I can set it up for Saturday night, if you got nothing planned.” He stopped and considered what he just said and started stumbling over his next point. “Not suggesting that you don’t have plans for the Saturday night, I mean, it’s not strange for anyone to have plans on a Saturday night like a date.” After a pause he looked away and huffed, “Not saying this is a date either. Just saying, Saturday works for me.”

”….so I guess you can say he paid for…Jesus! Faye”

Annnd, there’s my answer, she mused, as Huck dove to protect his precious camera from the potential fall.
———
Faye wasn’t one to be envious (for too long, anyway) of others, but seeing all of the equipment that Huck’s father bought for him, brought to light the difference between their families’ financial backgrounds. She wasn’t poor, by any means. She came from a hard working middle class family, that sometimes had their struggles with making ends meet, but they always made it work. Her parents definitely didn’t have the coin to drop on a collection like this though. Christmas or otherwise.

As she continued to spin the chair, Faye took a strand of her silvery dyed hair, with faint periwinkle highlights, and began to twirl it between her fingers. Patiently waiting for Huck to take the bait.

"What is this, amateur hour?”

Here we go… Faye kept her back to him, as she schooled her face into one of academic seriousness, and silently mouthed the words she’d heard him proclaim, time and time again. Complete with hand gestures: ”We are trying to capture scientific evidence of the existence of a world beyond our own…”

When Huck’s response steered towards his contempt for one of the paranormal shows she watched, with a pause mid-way, she smiled knowing that he’d started diving into the food.

Ghost Hunters vs Ghost Adventures. It was a constant point of banter for the two, and one of the few topics that could reliably get a rise out of her fellow colleague. She quickly learned to use his responses as a gauge on how to deal with him:

If food (gummy worms, specifically) was a worthy enough distraction, he was his usual nerdy, Huck-self - all was good in the world. If his response went beyond a few quips into a full tirade, something was either bothering him or he was in a mood to set that god damn record straight or hell, both. And, in the very rare times that he shrugged, and muttered a single word reply, he was distracted with more than he wanted to let on, and it was best to leave him alone. Sans hugs. For the moment anyhow.

Speaking of hugs…Huck seemed to have a true disdain for physical contact; quite the opposite from Faye. He was the only person that she literally had to steal hugs from (Honestly though, if he didn’t always look so exasperated, she probably wouldn’t mess with him as much. But damn, did he make it easy). Then, the few times that she had rubbed against him (accidental or otherwise), went with no acknowledgement whatsoever. She figured Huck was just way too polite for his own good, but sometimes…Sometimes, she wondered if he was gay. She never saw him with other girls, or even heard him talk about them. Actually, guys too, for that matter. So, maybe he was asexual? Not that there would be anything wrong with that. They were just friends, after all.

Faye finally turned to face him, once he started eating. The hangry-struggle was real with this one.

“You know, Ricky was telling me that the club got a call about a house in Juniper. It’s vacant, but big, and the guy who is selling it says they get weird stuff happening there. I could sell it that you are some medium girl who can ‘make his house clean’.” He accented the last of the comment with quotation like fingers.

The silver-haired girl rolled her eyes, as he used air quotes. “We've been through this before. Bad energy fucks with the environment. Just because your equipment can’t viably measure that, doesn’t disprove it.” Faye stopped herself before she got on her soapbox about energy and vibrations. “See if they’ll let us scan the place and figure out what we’re dealing with first, before a possible house cleansing. If it’s the house I’m thinking of, it’s old as hell - which means history. Worse case scenario, there’s poltergeist or demonic activity…a basic spiritual ceremony isn’t gonna do shit.” She hoped like hell that wasn't the case.

Faye smiled, as Huck started going on about possible Saturday plans at the Juniper house; stumbling over his words, before stressing that it wasn’t a date. He always seemed to make sure that was clear before they went out. So, as always, she did what came naturally.

She goaded him.

The young student continued to turn her chair again, “I dunno, I might have plans.” She let that hang in the air for a second or two, before continuing. “What if I do?” she asked, with her dark brows arched expectantly.

Turn

“Ricky mentioned possibly checking out movie.” A blatant lie.

Turn

“Maybe grab a bite to eat afterwards.” Another lie.

Turn

A wicked smile, played along her lips. “Not a date, of course.” Followed by a half-truth, she said, in a matter-of-fact tone.

Suddenly, Huck wasn’t all that hungry.

“I guess I can move it to next week,” he sighed trying to remain unphased. After watching the girl spin about on the chair, examining and analyzing the way her pinkish locks would sway with each push of a turn, the taste of the gummy worms grew bitter in his lips. He crumpled and rolled the top of the bag up and set it onto the table. “Where’d you get these, the quick mart that still has the same beef jerky on sale from last year?”

Next to the cases of equipment was the stack of inventory and packing slips. He picked them up and flipped through a few pages absently; but didn’t get very far before finally letting his mouth say what his brain wanted him to say.

“You know the time-space, gravitational theory doesn’t hold water. While you can argue that beings can exist in a five-dimensional realm when they can reach forth through multiple time standards in the same location doesn’t mean that this constitutes the manifestation of a residual haunting.”

He wasn’t looking at her as he ranted, just kept closing up each of the cases with increasingly more intensity. He knew it was probably passing over the head of his flighty companion, but it was a beef he had for a long time, and she brought it out of him.

“It doesn’t explain the existence of physical manifestations in combination with visual sightings. For someone to exist in extra dimensional riffs wouldn’t use such rudiment communication through EVPs. They would want one to understand and act.”

Of course there was a point to this rant, there always was. It just took a while to get there, and didn’t always have the same intention he had hoped.

“Its people who attach themselves to those stupid theories that slow us down from actually finding real evidence to support real theories. Ricky brings that up one more time during the meetings then I am going to have to call him out on that. Tell him Matthew McConaughey movies are no place to develop good investigations.”

He had reached the last case, sitting right next to where the girl in the spinning chair was. Of course he hadn’t made eye contact with her since he finished his dinner, but still ….

“What’s he taking you to see? Something to develop a theory on police brutality starring Paul Blart Mall Cop?”

Faye sighed, as Huck mentioned changing the potential case date. Her classmate, was easily one of the most intelligent guys she knew. Capable of reciting facts and statistics on the fly, as if reference material was right in front of him. However, when it came to social cues, such as, say flirting? God, was he clueless.

The young woman watched him carefully, as she noted Huck’s mood shift from quiet excitement, to something she could only describe as pensive agitation. She knew she was pushing buttons. Poking the bear, and jumping back giggling, to see what kind of reaction she could garner.

It was when Huck set the gummies aside, that she wondered if she pushed a little further than she should have.

“I bought ‘em from the vending machine by the cafeteria. Why?” she reached over the table and grabbed a few of the gummy worms to nibble on for herself. “They taste fine to me,” she mumbled, with a multi-colored worm hanging from her lips. “Besides, don’t these things have a shelf life, of like, forever?”

Her question went unanswered as Huck began placing the equipment away, and set off into one of his seemingly random rants. The tension in the air around him was near palpable, as he closed each case with angered precision.

Just as she was about to start on her own response on residual hauntings, Huck fired off a statement that made her stop mid-spin and glare at him.

”“It’s people who attach themselves to those stupid theories that slow us down from actually finding real evidence to support real theories.”

Faye made a mental note to keep a rein on her temper. Her rational mind reminding herself that her friend was merely reacting to her teasing, but this was a heated topic they clashed on. “Oh, so you think I’m stupid, because I’m one of those people that believes in those stupid theories? They’re called theories for a reason! Because even with all of the technological advances we’ve made,” she paused to make an exaggerated wave across the cases of expensive gear, “the bottom line is, we still don’t know the truth - investigators and mediums alike.”

She knew she should have stopped. Let the rant end there. But years of people discrediting her “gift” got her Irish up, and made its way known through the quick barbs that Faye couldn’t hold back. “But hell, if I’m slowing you down, I’m sure Daddy’s equipment can spit out the pretty flow chart equivalent of me telling you the blatantly obvious. I mean, why personally engage with the environment, or trust the gut instincts of a person, when you have enough tech to document every single variable, right?”

Rolling her eyes, she brought her jean clad legs to rest on the table, and lounged back in her seat. How they ended up at this point of conversation was nearly forgotten. “What’s it matter to you if I go on a date? Is it because of Ricky? Or are you just getting shitty because it interferes with your research?” She shrugged, “You could always pull one of the techies from the group to help you out.” An option that she wouldn’t put past Huck to take, but deep down hoped he wouldn’t. Not that she would ever admit that, especially now.

Huck tried to let it pass. Tried hard to let it all pass. He may be grumpy and mumbly. Normally he wouldn’t let someone thinking that they are smarter than him on anything get up in his grill. Yet he knew better than to stand in the path of Hurricane Faye. And she was already creeping towards a Category 2.

He knew exactly how to handle it.

“I didn’t say you were stupid, I said the theory was stupid.”

Immediately, he knew that wasn’t how to handle it.

“I mean,” he continued without trying to turn around to look at her, “Ricky was the one who said it. He’s the stupid one, not you.”

Knowing the water was already up to his shins, Huck tried to think of the right thing to say. Tried to, at least. This is something you should rehearse before saying, not just say what’s on your mind.

“That is, I know … I mean, your right. We don’t know. But it’s just dumb to think … When you have so much research that can be done, to spend his thoughts on stupid theories … I mean, what good does it do to bring it up at those meetings. When we could be doing other stuff. Instead of wasting our time doing ... I don’t know.”

He noticed at this point, he had been just spinning the latch on the the last case. Fighting of all fights to not look at her. He turned to go back to the gummi worms, pulling a few more out of the bag and sitting on his own chair. The whole time, keeping his head sunk low, facing the ground or the table, or wherever that didn’t mean making eye contact with her.

“Besides, I kinda need …” he couldn’t quite say it, say that it was her that he needed, but he picked up quickly on the other things to say. “The other guys suck to research with. I’ve got to explain everything twice to Lars. Mike keeps wandering off on his own and making noise. And when I told Preston about the new equipment, all he wanted to do was set it up in a girl’s shower room.”

He waved his hand around, his stream of uncontrolled gushing wandering now, “and you know, your thing. We get more hits when you point us where to go. So I kinda don’t want to without … well, not like I own you. Date whoever. Just that it sucks on these things … unless ..”

With a huff he grabbed one more worm, and looked over at her sheepishly expecting the worst. He offered the closest thing to an apology as he could muster. “SyFy channel at the commons TV tonight, you coming?”

Faye continued to eye Huck as he floundered with his words. Her temper slowly waning with each passing moment that he continued to move about and avoid eye contact. If it were anyone else, she would have continued to press and argue. Instigate more of a fight, and hash things out right here and now. However, her classmate wasn’t one for conflict, and it was hard to stay mad at Huck for too long.

"Besides…I kinda need…”

Her dark brows arched expectantly. Say it. Say you need me. She wasn’t sure why she suddenly wanted to hear those words, but she didn’t question it, as she silently willed her thoughts.

"The other guys suck to research with…"

Faye groaned inwardly, and tipped her head back on the the chair. Slowly spinning away from him, she counted back from 10 while Huck went on to explain why he didn’t want to work with the other guys. It wasn’t exactly what she wanted to hear, but at least he wasn’t going to check out the Juniper house without her. Serious cases were few and far between. At least that’s what she kept reminding herself.

By the time she straightened up and looked towards her friend, most of her temper had ebbed away. Huck was still rambling on, and staring at the ground.

"…and you know, your thing. We get more hits when you point us were to go. So, I kinda don’t want to without…well, not like i own you. Date whoever. Just that it sucks on these things…unless…"

“Unless…what?” she asked. Curiosity dancing behind her eyes.

She should’ve known better than to expect answer, when he grabbed another gummy worm and re-directed his point of conversation, "SyFy channel at the commons TV tonight, you coming?"

The silver-haired girl sighed patiently and smiled, “Yeah, I’ll be there.”

She knew how to pick her battles, and this was one that wasn’t worth pushing. Huck was just being Huck. However, it started to bother her that she was hoping to hear some sort of acknowledgment from him. She never needed it before. So, why now?

Faye stood up and shrugged before her internal musings could go any further. “I’ll see you later then?” she asked, before stretching her arms towrard the ceiling, with a slight back arch that lifted her black shirt. Her midriff exposed for a few brief seconds, as a soft groan escaped.

When she came to, she glanced at the clock and grabbed her bag. “Time flies,” she mused aloud. Reaching over the table, she snagged the bag of gummies, “I’m taking the rest of these,” she said with a smirk, that dared him to argue otherwise.

On her way out, she glanced behind her, smiling, “You’re welcome for the food, by the way.” Stuffing the rest of the worms in her mouth, she let him see the empty bag drift from her hand onto the floor. A grin split her face, as she continued on her way. She knew full well his need for order and cleanliness would force him to pick the bag up, and throw it away in the receptacle only a foot away. No doubt, cursing her name. But hey, what else was new?

Faye did this major stretch, reaching high above her. It's not the first time she did that, of course, and every time she does he does the same two things:

A) Huck makes a full mental picture of Faye’s Breasts. Details to consider include:

B) He feels guilty for all of “A”

To make him feel better about “B”, he picked up the bag and threw it away before locking everything up for the night.

……

A few hours later, Huck was faced with the most upsetting news of the day. The common room is where a single large screen TV is set up in front of a series of donated couches; and usually the TV is set to a given channel that changes from night to night by a routine schedule. SyFy night usually meant either three hours of a well organized ghost hunt by trained professionals (unlike that mess that is on the Travel Channel) or some grossly exaggerated movie where some unlikely events occur simultaneously for ridiculous results (e.g. Sharknado: The Heart of Sharkness).

Tonight, it was a show about vampires and werewolves and … their girlfriends.

Worse, the room was filled by an assortment of nerds and channel watchers. So much so that only two places remained in the room, both on the same couch … the same small couch, the one that you have to squeeze up against the other in order to sit proper.

Faye hadn’t arrived yet.

She said she was going to come.

If she hadn’t Huck would have bolted out of there and did something, anything, other than sit around that room watching the undead make out with … their girlfriends.

She said she was coming though.

Them hanging out in the commons room is, to Huck at least, as close to dating Faye as she probably would ever let him do. Not that she would probably let him call it a date either.

But if she did ever want to consider it a date, he darn well wasn’t going to stand her up for it.

He settled into the couch, tried to make as much space as possible, even though she hadn’t appeared yet, and did his best to relax.

Just as he did, the vampire and the werewolf started kissing … their girlfriends.

Faye arrived fashionably late (per usual) to the dimly lit commons room for SyFy night. It wasn’t her fault that she took a nap without setting an alarm, and insisted on heating popcorn first - the bag of buttery goodness, currently cradled in one of her arms. She had changed from her clothes earlier, now wearing a jean mini skirt, grey tank top and light purple flannel, that hung comfortably loose on her small frame. Familiar faces smiled and waved her over as she scanned the room for Huck. It only took her seconds to recognize his form, huddled at one end of a loveseat. Alone.

She made her way over to him. Weaving between couches, bean bags, and out stretched legs. Faye was only a few yards away, when her shoe caught on one of the cinema display cables, which caused her to mis-step. Luckily, she was able to catch her footing, but she ended up dropping the bag of popcorn in the process. Thankfully, it was still closed, and nothing was lost.

“Ugh, so clumsy sometimes…” she muttered to herself. Turning around, she bent over to pick up the bag. Her skirt riding up a few inches as she did so.

Faye smiled sheepishly, as she closed the distance between herself and her fellow classmate. “Aw, did you save this seat for me?” she asked coquettishly, while she sidled up next to Huck. She crossed her legs, as she got comfortable, and began to pull the tabs of the popcorn bag. The young student, let out a sigh of content, as salted butter wafted into the air. After grabbing a handful, she motioned the bag onto Huck’s lap. “Popcorn?” she asked, while chewing a few kernels. Glancing at the screen, she leaned in closer to whisper, “What are we watching? I miss anything good?”

Faye was wearing white panties. Likely cotton. Likely cotton panties which she probably doesn’t run with her whites since they didn’t seem to be a brilliant white like one would see with a good use of bleach. Yet they were clearly the right size for her body the way they molded tightly to her …. Her … And they were clearly white.

After she picked up her popcorn, Huck bent over slightly in the chair to hide the effect the glimpse of Faye’s panties were having on him. When she bent down to pick up the bag and that skirt rose up, it was all he could do to keep his eyes in his head. Surely he wasn’t the only one, a room full of nerds were drawn like horny moths to a white cotton flame.

His ‘growing’ situation was not helped by the way she asked if he saved her the seat. At this rate if she tried to hug him and pressed her boob into him, he’d have a mess to clean up.

Grabbing at the popcorn, something or anything to take his mind off of those panties, he replied to her finally. “It’s that show that sounds like a bad sitcom. You know … they make a vampire and a werewolf live together. But when a ghost moves in with them the funny starts happening.”

One of the jerks that always seems to come to these things then piped up from a couch behind them. “You’re stupid Huck. You make that same joke every week.”

Huck turned around to look at the heckler. “You get past level 23 on HellRinger yet, Josh? I don’t think so.”

Josh rolled his eyes, “That game is stupid,” and went back to watching the show. In Nerddom, Huck won that round.

As he was going to return back to the show himself, Huck noticed he did something that he didn’t intend, and made him nearly freak out. When he turned back, he turned into Faye. His chest stretching the grey cotton t-shirt pressed unwittingly into Faye. It was body contact, nearly full front-on-side body contact. He could feel the heat of her body against the more insistent heat of his. It wouldn’t have taken much movement out of her, and he could be laying right on top of her. Minus those wonderful wonderful white panties, and they could be having sex. Real sex.

Whatever started wilting in the exchange of popcorn and the talk of vampires & werewolves and … their girlfriends … was now finding it’s life again.

He tried to shift back quickly to sit and grumbled, “sorry, this couch is really small.”

Faye’s breath caught as Huck unwittingly pressed into her. The heat of their bodies commingling upon contact. Typically, these brief and awkward physical encounters with her nerdy friend were usually no big deal. This time though, something was different.

Maybe it was the dark warmth of the room, and thorough make-out scene being displayed that compounded on the fact that she hadn’t been laid in over six months. Maybe it was the fact that if she shifted her body just so, their bodies would press flush against each other, with only a few layers of clothing between them. Maybe…

“Sorry, this couch is really small,” Huck grumbled, as he drew away. Which wasn’t very far, considering.

The silver-haired girl, shrugged and smiled as she watched the screen. Typical Huck-reaction. She must be really getting desperate if she was considering anything with a guy that showed more interest in tech than people. Faye made a mental note to get re-acquainted with a few of her toys later that evening. A nice, long session would do her good.

“Good thing neither of has has cooties, right?” she asked teasingly. Just as she said that, Faye absentmindedly reached for the popcorn…and missed her mark. Her hand landing directly on his crotch! Which was…hard? Her fingers had curled ever-so-slightly around him, before her brain could frantically send the message to quickly retract her hand.

Shit.

A flush of heat & embarrassment tinged her face as she kept her eyes glued on the screen. Faye visibly swallowed before she stuttered softly, “S-sorry about that…” The awkward tension between them hung in the air, like a live wire. Jesus, how the hell did she miss the popcorn? She mentally grasped at straws as she tried to figure out what to do or say next. “Umm, so…did you get a chance to find out anything more about the Juniper house?”

Shit.

She knew he had a boner now.

Shit!

If his face wasn’t red before, it was full on now.

Huck’s ears were ringing from somewhere between the embarrassment of her touch, and the how utterly close he came to going off in his pants. Faye touched him where he always dreamed of her touching him, where he dreamed any girl especially Faye would touch him. Yet not now, and not in the place, and not at this time. He was mortified, and gutted.

He turned in his seat away from her some, crossed his arms, and really got ready for all the comments and hatred she would shower on him. She must be completely disgusted of him, must think he is some pervert. Now more than ever, it was over between them. Not only will she never be friends with him, she will be so angry in wanton display that she will tell everyone she knows and he will be friendless forever.

“S-sorry about that…”

That was it? That was the barrage she was going to lay into him? A ‘sorry about that’? Or is she just saving it for later. Slowly he turned to look at her, and … well … she didn’t exactly seem like she was going to punch him. Maybe a little embarrassed too, but surely not like she was going to haul off and kick his ass. Yet.

Maybe it was an accident. Maybe she didn’t even notice what she was holding onto. Maybe his worst fears were true - that the stories that his seven-and-one-quarter was not above average; and it was so small that she didn’t even notice it. Because she is pretty, Faye surely would be more of expert on size then him. That’s probably what she meant by saying sorry, that’s surely what it was.

Huck’s mind was going full speed over the possibilities. He needed a change of subject. Something. Maybe.

“Umm, so…did you get a chance to find out anything more about the Juniper house?”

That a girl.

“Umm, yeah,” he stuttered. “We can go in on Saturday night. The guy who is selling it … I talked to him and … umm. Yeah. He’s got that fake furniture stuff in there, but noone lives there. We just got to clean up afterwords.”

He looked up at the TV to try to not look at her anymore. That didn’t help. The werewolf was making out with … his girlfriend.

“It maybe just us though. The guys said they are having a D&D allnighter.”

“And Huck wasn’t invited,” Josh piped up behind him.

“SHUT IT, Shartgargler,” Huck fired back angrily. He then looked back at Faye, thinking their conversation earlier, “that is if you didn’t make other plans. Or if you invite Ricky.”