Sidestory:
the Parent Trap - Senshi Style
"MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!" Wilma's voice rang out from across the grocery store, somewhere between pet supplies and sodas.
"Oy...someone get me some Midol....WILMA DON'T SHOUT IN THE GROCERY STORE!"
Wilma popped her head around the cereal aisle and peered at the petite blonde. "Annie hit me with toilet paper."
Jacalyn Verbana rolled her blues eyes in irritation. "My goodness you kids are irritating..."
"But, we love you."
Jacalyn started heading for the pharmacy. "Right, sure..."
"Okay, Rayya. What else do you need to take back with you?"
Rayya paused, dragging the wobbly shopping cart to a reluctant halt, and frowned thoughtfully at her father. "Well, I can always use more Advil." She grinned. "You know the size I need." She released the cart to hold her hands about a foot apart. "The linebacker, extreme weekend warrior, masochist size."
Dennis Veritas shook his head and snagged the cart before it could complete its bid for freedom. "I really worry about those headaches, sweetheart. Maybe we should go and check them out with a doctor again."
"Dad, we've tried that," Rayya replied. "They don't know and they only hit me every so often." She reached up and hugged the taller man. "Don't worry so much!" Releasing him, she started down the aisle again, leaving him to play catch up with the shopping cart. "And I need shampoo, toothpaste, and milk," she continued. Suddenly, she paused at a sound coming from the neighboring aisle. "Huh," she muttered. "That sounds like..." Quickly, she stepped to the end and peeked around the shelving. It was. "Wilma!" she cried out as she stepped into full view at the sight of her friend.
Wilma looked up from complaining to her mother, "RAYYA!"
Jacalyn peered at Wilma like she'd lost her mind, "Who? Wilma, are you sure you're all right? That toilet paper might've really hit you hard..."
Rolling her eyes at her mom, she ran down the aisle to the other girl, "Hey, Rayya, how's it going? I lost you at the dance after that one couples dance."
Jacalyn and Wilma's annoying brother, Andrew, jogged up behind her as she jabbered away. "Um, Wills," Andrew risked the look of death by tapping her on the shoulder, "shouldn't you let her talk, too?"
"And, you should introduce us, sweetie."
Glaring daggers at her brother and smiling at her mom, she turned back to Rayya. "Sorry, I forgot my manners. Rayya, the blonde to my right is my mom, Jacalyn Verbana, and the blonde airhead to my left is my darling brother, Andrew Verbana."
Jacalyn smiled sweetly at Rayya, and finally noticed the dark haired man with her, "Oh, is this your father?"
Rayya giggled infectiously. "I'll just do those comments in order, huh?" she answered. Turning to Wilma, she continued, "I'm just fine, thanks. Came home for the weekend and Dad, wonderful one that he is, offered to buy my groceries." Then she turned again and an inviting smile lit her pretty face as she extended a hand to the blond young man introduced as Andrew. "I don't mind letting her talk away because I do it right back at her." She shook his hand warmly, mischief shining in her violet eyes.
Andrew snorted, "Maybe you should live with her, then..."
"I thought her friend was going to deck us that night at the dance... Oh, pleased to meet you, by the way. I'm Rayya." Then she released his hand and turned to beam expansively at Wilma's mother. "Nice to meet you," she said. Her dark hair swirled in an arc as she suddenly turned and pulled her father forward. "And, yep, this is my dad." Releasing him, she fell back a step and hooked her thumbs into the belt loops of her jeans. "Dad, this is Wilma and her family. I'm sure you remember me mentioning her."
Dennis offered his hand to Jacalyn. "Hello, I'm Dennis." He smiled. "Long-suffering parent of this bundle of energy here."
Jacalyn smiled, "I'm Jacalyn, as Wilma said. I can humor you there, Wilma isn't exactly a day at the beach..."
Wilma glared at Jacalyn good naturedly, then started yakking with Rayya, "So, what's new? Chris couldn't stop raving about your costume, it was great..."
Andrew was currently trying to keep his drool from becoming noticeable.
"Hey, Rayya, my mom's single, does your Dad have any cute friends I could hook her up with?"
Andrew kicked Wilma, then peered at their mom to make sure she hadn't heard. She hadn't.
Rayya chuckled, reaching out to pull Wilma with her as she backed out of hearing range of the parents as she answered loudly, "Well, tell Chris that that costume gets trotted out again this summer for the Faires if he wants to see it again." Then she added, quietly, "Sssh, girl. Parents don't like their kids setting them up, you know. I should know. I tried it once with my dad when we first moved here." She rolled her eyes expressively, including the tag-along Andrew in her very descriptive grimace. No actual words were needed to clarify the result of her matchmaking attempt but she continued nonetheless, "I thought she was a nice lady. Really I did." She shrugged. "How was I to know that she would turn into psycho-bitch after 9 o'clock at night?"
Wilma giggled, and shoved Andrew into the next aisle, "Don't worry, Rayya, my mom's normal. Soo, how to go about this..."
Andrew popped up behind her, "Look, dudes, if ya wanna do this right, you need to get into that conversation over *there*," he pointed to the two oblivious adults, "and drop hints that one, Mom slash your Dad is single, and two, that the two of them are looking."
Wilma nodded, "You’re right..."
"Indeed he is," Rayya smiled. "Though, I have to admit, Dad's not really looking." She shrugged. "But he sure needs to get out more."
Dragging Rayya along behind her, Wilma slunk over to the parents, overhearing bits and pieces of embarrassing info...
"...So, when Rayya was two, we took her to the doctor, and she peed all over him! Hahaha...."
Turning to whisper to her companion, she struggled not to laugh, "Let’s get in there, Ray, and stop 'em before they share any more stories..."
"You'd better believe it," Rayya muttered back with a grin. Embarrassing as the tail end of her dad's little anecdote must have been for her, she seemed unfazed as she crossed to throw her arms around his neck. Lucky for her, during her twenty-one years on Earth, she had somehow managed to unlearn the concept of shame. Piddling stories to virtual strangers were just a test of will, she figured. "Hey, Dad," she crooned sweetly. "I hope you're not boring this nice lady with childhood traumas."
"Oh, no, not at all," Jacalyn covered up a giggle, "He was just telling me about his job as a plumber. Isn't that right, Mr. Veritas?"
"The definite truth," Dennis replied, straight-faced.
Rayya snorted softly. "Yeah, plumbing, right, dad," she giggled. "Bad pun."
Wilma slunk up behind Jacalyn, surprising them all. "Momma, when is it gonna be Dad's turn for holidays?"
Frowning, the concerned mother felt Wilma's forehead, "Wilma, did Andy hit you in the head that hard? Your Dad and I agreed not to send you guys back and forth."
"Oh...yeah...that's riiiight."
Smiling at her bewildered daughter, Jacalyn turned back to Dennis and Rayya. "Sorry about that. Rayya, you are one lovely young woman. You must take after your mother, because your father is so tall."
"Yep," Rayya replied, a bit more subdued at the mention of her mother. "It's all my mom's fault. She was a shorty." She smiled softly and leaned against her dad affectionately. "She did give me these eyes, though, so I forgive her."
Dennis wrapped an arm around his daughter's shoulders and squeezed her to him encouragingly. "She gave you plenty, kiddo," he murmured. "You don't think you get your fashion sense from me, do you?"
Wilma kicked her mom in the leg, whispering, "Don't talk about Rayya's mom, doof."
Nodding, though somewhat bewildered, Jacalyn smiled, "Well, you're a very beautiful girl, Rayya. It's no wonder Andrew was drooling a few minutes ago."
Andrew turned beet red as Wilma held in a burst of giggles unsuccessfully. Jacalyn grinned evilly at her son, then turned back to Dennis, "I know this is a bit rude of me, but perhaps you'd like to go out to dinner sometime? There's a restaurant nearby that's simply lovely."
Wilma nearly fell over at her mother's forwardness -- who was this woman and what had she done with her timid mom?!
Dennis blinked a bit and then slowly smiled. "Well, I," he began.
"He'd love to! Is Saturday afternoon okay for you?"
"Rayya!" Dennis frowned at his enthusiastic daughter. "I can answer for myself, you know."
Rayya grinned mischievously. "Yeah, I know," she replied with a giggle. "But you were taking far too long about it."
"Fine." Dennis sighed in the long-suffering manner familiar to all parents everywhere. However, his dark eyes were shining with amusement at his daughter's ploy to snag him a date with the attractive woman opposite him. He could never stay angry with Rayya for very long, anyway. Turning his attention back to Jacalyn, he asked softly, "Does any of that sound fine to you?"
Wilma grinned. "Great! You two will meet at 2:00, Saturday."
Jacalyn glared at her daughter, then smiled back at Dennis, "Do you have the feeling that we were set up?"
Wilma smiled innocently, then winked at Rayya, "Why, mom, whatever would give you that idea?"
Rayya hopped out of the passenger seat of the dark blue pick-up and ran towards the front door, watchful of catching her platform heels on uneven cracks in the pathway. "I'll just ring, okay, Dad?" she called back.
"I can't believe you talked me into this, Rayya," Dennis muttered as he climbed out of the truck rather more sedately than his daughter.
"Talked you into what? The date or giving me a ride over?" Rayya turned to flash a brilliant smile towards her father. "I promise it's innocent. I just thought I'd hang out a bit with Wilma and all. Maybe take her out to the movies or something. Keep her from tailing you two lovebirds all night."
"Rayya!"
Rayya giggled at the shock and disbelief in his voice. "Oh, relax, Dad," she replied. "It never crossed my mind, well, seriously at least, to follow you guys. I just want you to go and have a good time. Wilma and I will just chill here or something." With those reassuring words, she turned and pressed the doorbell hard.
Wilma bopped down the stairs and opened the door, dusting off her blue T-shirt which read, "I'm a f#$%ing ray of sunshine, ain't I?!" "HI RAYYA! Hi, Mr. Veritas. Mom's gonna be down in a minute, come on in!"
Dennis smiled benevolently at the younger girl. No wonder his Rayya liked her. They were both outstandingly outgoing and quite possibly insane as well. "Hello, Wilma," he replied. "If it's alright with you, I'll just wait by the door here."
Rayya rolled her eyes expressively. "At least wait inside," she giggled. "You don't want to greet the lady all shivery and blue, right?" She turned to Wilma. "And now we?" she prompted.
Dragging Rayya in, Wilma called up the stairs, "MOM! MOVE IT OR LOSE IT, DON'T KEEP YOUR DUDE WAITING!"
Rayya snickered. "Dad's a dude?" she asked in disbelief, reaching back to pull Dennis inside as well.
Suddenly, Wilma went flying as she started leading Rayya into the living room. Andrew stood over her, snickering his head off. Standing and dusting off her blue jeans, Wilma glared at her brother, "Eee... Rayya, you remember Andrew. Andrew, Rayya."
Andrew nodded, "Yeah, I remember. Anyway, I gotta run, I'm meeting some dudes at a club. Later." With that, Andrew was gone.
Rayya waved dramatically at the whirl of air that just recently had held Andrew. "Of course," she cooed elaborately. "How could I not remember the dashing..." She paused theatrically and looked around, violet eyes widening in mock-amazement. "Oh, my. Was it something I said?" She blinked innocently for a second before giggling. "Brothers, huh?"
"Grr...Anyway, whatcha wanna do tonight, eh? Goof off here, go out to eat," Wilma dropped her voice, "spy on the love birds?"
"Um, well, I kind of promised my dad that we wouldn't do that." Rayya paused and twirled a piece of her dark hair around a thin finger meditatively. Suddenly, she smiled. "However, I didn't really promise that we wouldn't even come close. There just so happens to be a cute little collection of shops and snack bars right around where they're going to eat. As long as we don't spy on them..." She dragged out the last word deliberately.
Wilma giggled, "Awesome...geez, I wonder what's taking Mom so long... MOM! THE VERITAS CLAN IS HERE! LET'S GO!"
Jacalyn hurried down the stairs. "I'm coming, I'm coming. Wilma, don't shout in front of the guests..."
Wilma giggled at her mother. She looked absolutely stunning, wearing a simple light blue blouse that brought out the color of her eyes, and a black skirt that reached her knees, which showed off her lovely legs. "Well, I'm ready. Hi, Dennis, How are you?"
"Just fine, thanks." Dennis grinned appreciatively at her. "You look lovely, by the way."
Jacalyn blushed prettily, "Why, thank you. You look wonderful."
Wilma rolled her eyes, "Let's leave them alone for a few minutes. C'mon, I'll show ya around."
Rayya nodded. "Hold on a sec, though." With that, she pulled away from Wilma and skipped towards her father. Grinning mischievously, she hugged him tightly and whispered, "You go have a good time and don't worry about me. I'll crash here or find my own way home." Then she pulled back, straightened his tie (the slightly garish tie she had begged him -not- to wear), and smiled. "Night, you two. Behave!" With a giggle, she spun on her heel and grabbed Wilma's hand, dragging her forcibly into the next room.
Jacalyn smiled, "Well, shall we be going? I like your tie, by the way."
"Of course and thanks." Dennis shot an amused glance at his daughter before offering his arm to Jacalyn. "My truck's right outside." With a smile, he gently led her out the door.
"Awww.... young love," Wilma sighed, watching the two. "I want a boyfriend." Giggling, she turned to Rayya. "I think Andy likes ya. It's so funny, too, because he hasn't had a girlfriend since this one chick back home...."
Rayya grinned. "Now that's flattering," she interrupted gently, her violet eyes sparkling. "He's single then?" At the surprised and horrified look on Wilma's face, she laughed and threw a companionable arm around the younger girl's shoulders. "I'm joking, sweetie," she reassured her. She put on her most serious and earnest expression to help her in that direction and added, "Dating friends' brothers is a very big no no, anyway. It gets messy in a hurry."
Wilma faked wiping sweat off of her forehead, "Whew, for a minute there, I thought I was going to have to evaluate your sanity level. Anyway, whatcha wanna do?"
"Not sure," Rayya replied. "We could just hang out, I suppose. Rent a movie or something. What do you wanna do?"
Wilma shrugged, "Well, I wanna trail the adults but that’s morally wrong sooo… Hmmm… Let’s rent ‘Bless the Child.’ I heard it’s like a mix of ‘The Omen’ and ‘The Sixth Sense.’"
A crease appeared between Rayya's eyebrows as she considered this option. What the heck was that movie about again and had she seen it yet? Kim Basinger was in it, wasn't she? Or some other blonde? Rayya shook her head, giving up. If she had already seen it, she obviously hadn't been paying too much attention, maybe even doing something else. Might as well give it a go. Finally, she nodded to Wilma. "Sure, sounds fine." Then she grinned. "Maybe I'll pick up a really awful movie like 'Rough Magic' and make you watch that, too... So where in this neighborhood can we get the movies?"
"Y’know, there’s this awesome little movie place. It’s by… Hey, it’s by the restaurant they’re dining at! What a coincidence," Wilma grinned happily. "This place has all of the movies plus a pizza place right next door. Wanna go?"
"It's just bordering breaking the promise I just made. It's devious. It's underhanded. It's sneaky and nosey and we really shouldn't." Rayya paused, her expression solemn. Then she grinned broadly and her eyes lit up mischievously. "I definitely think we should do it."
Grinning and bouncing off the couch, Wilma grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled, "Annie, went to the movie store and pizza place. Be back later. Love ya, Wills." Wilma grabbed her gray jacket and started bouncing out the door, "Well? Let’s go!"
Rayya shrugged to adjust her black leather pea coat, reshouldered her purse, and opened the door gallantly. "After you, milady," she replied with a grin. "Entertainment awaits."
With a sigh, Rayya replaced the videos in the plastic bag. "Two movies," she announced. "Overpriced rentals but what can you do?" A grin lit her face up brightly as she peered through the video store's front window. "We're paying for the view, too, right, Wilma?"
Wilma nodded, giggling. "Hehe, that dude in the park is cute…"
"The thin one? Oh, most definitely." Smiling, Rayya pulled her eyes away from the so-called view and continued, "Now let's see. Shall we do the pizza thing now?"
Wilma nodded, heading out the door. As she headed through the door of the pizza place, with Rayya behind her, she stopped short, "Um, Rayya, don't look now, but... there's our parents."
Jacalyn turned her head towards them but Wilma dove behind a booth, dragging Rayya behind her. "Eee, what're we gonna do? If they catch us here, they'll murder us for sure!"
"I'd say first and foremost we get out of here," Rayya whispered to her friend. "Then we find another place to eat." She raised her head just enough to peek over the back of the booth. "Okay, when I say go, you make a break for the door." She bit her lip, studying the two adults as they chatted animatedly. To be honest, there was nothing that she'd rather do then continue to hide and snoop on them. Her dad looked so happy, like he was genuinely enjoying himself. She knew, however, that that enjoyment would turn to complete dismay and he would end the date if they discovered her and Wilma. With a sigh, she added in an undertone, "Maybe we'd better eat in the park or something to completely avoid them."
"Yeah, let’s go tail that skinny dude, ‘kay?"
Suddenly, Rayya poked Wilma in the shoulder and hissed, "Now!"
Wilma dove out from behind the booth and snuck out the door. "Whew… Saved. Hey, that skinny dude is sitting on a bench… And drawing! Wanna go sneak up on him?"
Rayya nodded with a grin. "Then we'll just have a look over there," she replied lightly. "After that close call, I've suddenly lost my appetite."
Jack frowned as he scratched out an errant line and brushed the eraser dust off his sketchpad. Some days, hands went well and some days they didn't. This was one of the latter sorts of days, he decided. All he wanted was the hand to curve around the swing chain. Was that too much to ask? Suddenly, a pair of shadows fell across his much-labored-over picture and he looked up mildly. "Hey," he muttered, managing to pack an awful lot into one syllable.
Rayya smiled brightly. "Hello, there. My name's Rayya and this is Wilma."
Wilma smiled happily at the dude, "Hi, Mr. Artist Guy! What’s your name? Whatcha drawing?" Plunking down beside him on the bench, Wilma preceded to peek at the sketchpad.
With his customary faint smile, Jack shifted to look at the petite, lavender-haired girl. Finally, he responded simply, "Jack." Then he tilted the pad so she could better see the rough pencil drawing. Glancing up to check that the shapely brunette could see, too, he added, "Girl on a swing." He pointed off towards the playground. "Her, actually."
Rayya bent down to study the sketch. "Oh, it’s lovely," she beamed as she brought a finger up to trace a line on the paper. "Like she’s just about to push off the ground. Don’t you think so, Wilma?"
Wilma glanced up at Rayya, "Yeps... Hey, Mr. Jack guy, how old are you? I'm 16."
Meanwhile, Priscilla, Justin, and her family had driven down for the day, and Justin and she were enjoying the scenery of the park. "Aaaaaah... getting away from home for once is awesome," Priscilla stretched her arms up over her head, mentally adding, "Getting away from Aeneas is even better."
Justin nodded, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "Yep... What should we do for lunch? I'm getting hungry."
"I dunno," Priscilla shrugged, "Let's ask those people over there by the bench." Justin looked to where Priscilla was pointing and sure enough, she was pointing at Jack, Rayya, and Wilma. "Erm," Priscilla poked Rayya in the arm, "Hallo... Could you tell us where a good place to eat is, please?"
Rayya pulled her surprised gaze from Wilma and turned to smile at the new face. Quickly, she banished the puzzlement created by Wilma's abrupt questioning and odd glance and focused on the question asked. "Well, there's a good pizza place over there, I'm told." She pointed back to the restaurant that she and Wilma had so recently vacated. "And I think there's a few snack stands on the other side of the park," she added. "They change, though, according to the season so I can't swear as to what you'd find." She smiled, friendly as anything. "It might be better if you gave me a more specific idea."
Justin grinned, "Well, with Priscilla here, it better be a place she can remember or else we’ll never be able to get there…"
Glaring at Justin, Priscilla adjusted her baseball cap. "Well, we’re just heading for some lunch is all."
Rayya nodded. "Then I suggest the pizza place." She pointed again with an infectious grin. "You can hardly go wrong with pizza." She turned to Wilma for confirmation, asking, "You figure that’s the best, Wils?"
"Yep, yep! Especially the pizza from Roanoke," Wilma grinned, "S’always yummy."
Priscilla nodded, "Thanks. I’m Priscilla, by the way, and this doofus here is Justin."
Rayya extended her hand. "I'm Rayya and this is Wilma." She motioned to her friend. Then she nudged the newly met Jack, causing him to look back up from his sketching. He cocked his head, an eyebrow raised as if asking "what now?" She giggled. "And this is Jack who we just met ourselves."
Wilma grinned, wrapping an arm around Jack's shoulders and giving him a playful hug, "Isn't he a great conversationalist?"
Priscilla snickered, "Oh, yes. Simply marvelous."
Justin offered Priscilla an arm, "Shall we?"
Priscilla grinned, taking his arm, "We shall. Nice meeting you three..." With that, they sauntered off.
Squinting slightly into the slowly setting sun, Jack watched the two strangers walk away. He had gotten a definite tingle of recognition from one of them. Which one, he had no idea. No big deal since nothing happened. He’d just mention it to Jace when he saw her next. He looked up at the two girls still hovering around him and suddenly realized that the younger one still had an arm draped over his shoulders… And the buzz was still humming in the back of his head. Politely, he lifted and dropped his shoulders, edging the girl’s arm off him, and asked, "So it’s Wilma, right?"
Wilma nodded cheerfully, "Yep, that's me. My family calls me Wills, though..." Making a face, she tried to ignore the biting hunger in her stomach and the buzzing in her head... Eh, she'd just have to talk to Perdix, later. "So, what to do? Raaaaayya?"
Rayya shrugged, reaching up to brush her soft hair from her eyes. Her hand hovered over her eyes for a second, though, as if she was shading her gaze from the sun. It was hard to tell but she was either getting a migraine or there was another senshi nearby. Refocusing on Wilma and her question, she decided to ignore the sensation. "Well, there are other places around to get a bite and I’m pretty hungry so…" She grinned brightly at Jack and Wilma. "How’s about we head over to that café?" she asked, pointing across the park. With a wink, she added, "Why don’t you join us, Jack?"
Wilma smiled happily, "Yah, Jack. It'd be fun, plus, the food in the cafe is simply delicious... C'mon!" Hopping off the bench, Wilma looked from Rayya to Jack expectantly.
Jack hesitated, studying his sketchpad for a minute. He barely knew these two but there was something about them. Something very nearly infectious. Familiar, too. Finally, he closed the pad and looked up at the girls, his deep green eyes connecting with brown and violet ones. "Okay, then," he said with a shrug. "You talked me into it."
With a happy laugh, Rayya reached down to grab the knapsack resting by his feet. "Excellent!" she beamed. "I'll just get this for you then and we're off." She spun on her heel and started across the park swiftly, fully expecting the other two to keep up.
Wilma grinned happily, "That's cool, Jack. Now, let's hope we can keep up with Rayya..." Tossing an inviting look over her shoulder to him, she put all of those laps at volleyball practice into work as she jogged after Rayya.
Ten minutes later, the three were seated at a cozy table in the corner of the cafe. Water was on the table and the menus were being thoroughly scanned. Peeking over her own menu, Rayya studied the dark haired boy that she and Wilma had snagged. Very cute but a bit unsettling at the same time. Maybe it was that he was so very quiet. After agreeing to accompany them to the cafe, he had promptly clammed up, nodding and smiling faintly as she and Wilma had chattered. It was nearly driving her nuts. Finally, she couldn't take it. "So, Jack, are you from around here?" she asked sweetly.
Jack blinked up at her from his menu. "Um, kinda," he responded softly. "I was born here but we moved around a lot, growing up."
Wilma smiled, "That's cool. But, I bet it was hard leaving your friends and stuff...did you go anywhere exciting?" Something about this guy was bugging the fashinkers out of Wilma. It was as if she had known him sometime before this. Maybe she'd met him in California?
Jack shrugged. "Depends on your definition of interesting," he replied mildly. "South Carolina, New York, and Rhode Island." He folded his menu back up and set it down with a faint smile. "Not bad places, I guess."
Wilma's shoulders slumped. Darn it, he was *not* helping her...she started trying to send mental messages to him, *talk, darn you, taaaaaalk!* Wilma bit her lip to keep from screaming. This was driving her absolutely bonkers. "I'm from California, originally. Did you ever go there?" Bwaha... Maybe that would be the answer to this irritating feeling in the back of her head.
Rayya almost giggled out loud at the look of complete consternation on her friend's face. Wilma was obviously getting quite frustrated with Mr. Wordy. She began to open her mouth in order to help the conversation along but that's when Jack chose to become gregarious. Well, what they were to soon learn was gregarious for him.
"Nope, never been in California," Jack replied with a shrug.
"I'd love to go there sometime, though. Seems neat. Lots to see and no
snow."
Wilma nearly died. This guy was like the eighth wonder of the world. She had to
stifle a giggle as she thought of it. 'Come see Jack, The Wordless Wonder!'
Shaking her head, and limiting herself to a small smile, she decided to just
come right out with what was bugging her. "It's so weird but...I feel like
I've met you before this. It's been driving me nuts this whole time."
Jack shrugged, the ever-present faint smile on his face quirking more. "You know, it's the same here," he agreed. "Feel like I should know both of you but I can't remember where or when."
"Or how," Rayya added with a nod. "It's been bothering me, too." Suddenly, she grinned. "But that happened with Wilma, too, and a ton of other people before her. That eerie feeling of don't I know you. I think it's got something to do with collective memory, you know?"
Jack raised an eyebrow. "Collective memory, huh? Okay, then." He turned to Wilma and offered a thin, artist's hand to her. "Here's to collective memory. Pleased to meet you both again."
Wilma grinned and took his hand. "Pleased you meet you, too." Automatically, a jolt of... something went through her head. Blinking a couple times and smiling away, she simply took a few sips of her soda, and leaned her head on her hand. "Hey, have you guys ever heard of true flame soul mates?"
Rayya nodded enthusiastically. "Of course," she replied. "It’s part of that love at first sight theory, right?" Her eyes lit with a dreamy mist, obviously the effect of one too many romance novels.
"First sight? True flame?" Jack blinked slowly and then shook his head. "Nope, not familiar."
"Well... They're people who've been lovers or married, or whatever in a past life, and died, of course. Then, when they meet up again in this life, they actually begin to remember things from the past life. When they first meet, though, all they get are bits and pieces of memories, and stuff. Weird, huh?"
"Like I said, collective memory and reincarnation." Rayya pulled her glass towards her and took a quick sip, eyes twinkling over the rim.
Jack shook his head. "Never read anything about that. Sounds interesting, though." Absent-mindedly, he rubbed at the fingers of his right hand. They were still tingling at that momentary contact with Wilma. Felt like he’d been hit with a hefty bolt of static cling.
Wilma grinned, "It’s pretty interesting. According to the books I’ve read, if you’ve even known someone in a past life, you get a feeling of déjà vu from speaking to them or even get shocked lightly by touching them. It’s pretty neat."
Perfectly deadpan, Jack answered, "Shocking."
Rayya stuck her tongue out at him. "That was the worst pun I've ever heard," she giggled. "I knew I liked you for some reason."
"I'm honored." Jack inclined his head gallantly and then focused on Wilma again. She was the one that he was getting the -really- strong vibe from. "So there's info out there on that stuff?"
Smiling, Wilma wrapped an arm around his shoulders and squeezed him a bit, before leaning back onto her hand, "It's a really awesome subject. You should check some books out on it."
"Hey, Wilma!"
Wilma glanced up, and grinned, "Hi, Chris!" The dark haired boy sauntered up to the table. "Guys, this is my friend Chris. Chris, this is Rayya and the ever-silent one is Jack... Chris and I go to school together."
Rayya stood and gave Chris an impulsive one-armed hug. "I know Chris," she reminded Wilma gently. "He was the pirate to your punk chick that night at the dance. He sent me hunting you down, remember?" She beamed sweetly at Chris. "So how are you doing?"
Chris grinned, "Pretty good. Just surviving through Wilma’s klutz attacks. How are you doing, Rayya?"
Wilma sighed happily and sipped her drink. Yeehee, my friends like each other, she thought, beaming on the inside. Glancing at Jack, she waited a few moments before entering the conversation to see his response to Chris -- and, of course, Chris’ response to Jack.
"Oh, I’m just peachy," Rayya smiled. "Working on keeping out of trouble. Tormenting the innocent." Chuckling, she motioned towards Jack. "Like our new friend Jack here."
Jack nodded. "Hey. Nice to meet you."
Chris glared at Jack for a moment before replying curtly, "Hi. How’s it going?"
Wilma frowned. Uh-oh, Chris did not like Jack. Why not? He was funny. A little anti-social but funny. Wilma smiled, "Jack’s a great artist."
Chris nodded, "I’m sure he is."
"Nah, not that good," Jack cut in modestly, shaking his head. "I doodle a bit."
Rayya grinned. "Well, you doodle pretty damn well," she corrected him. Then she turned back to Chris. "Would you like to join us?"
Chris shook his head, "Nah, I just came over because I saw Wilma and wanted to say hi. I have to get back home before my mom throws a fit. See ya, Rayya. Bye, Wilma." With a short wave, Chris turned and left, grumbling about artists and stealing girls.
Wilma smacked her forehead with her hand. "Oy vey. I’m going to have to deal with him when we get back to school. Sorry about that, guys."
Rayya laughed. "I think someone’s jealous!" she declared, eyes sparkling mischievously.
"Yeah, right," Wilma smirked, "of what? I’m not his girlfriend or anything."
"If you say so," Rayya replied. She shook her head. "No matter what, though, it was pretty rude to not say bye to Jack here." Affectionately, she reached out and patted his forearm.
Jack shrugged. "It’s not a big deal, really."
Wilma made a face, "Yeah, it is. He should've at least said good-bye to you. Anyway, let's forget about it. Since we've managed to fill up our stomachs, what should we do now?"
"Hmm, well, we could always participate in more sparkling conversation, you know." Rayya dug in her purse for her portion of the meal. Finding only a twenty, she shrugged and tossed it down to cover the $15 and change bill. "My treat," she announced.
"No, I can't let you do that." Jack continued to reach for his wallet, a set look on his face.
Rayya held his hand to the table and shook her head. "Nope, I said it's my treat," she said firmly. "Anyway, things to do next... How about if we..." Suddenly, Rayya trailed off, her eyes fixed outside the restaurant. Then she reached out and jabbed Wilma. "Oops, Wills, hon, we gotta get going." She pointed out the nearest window. "Parents at twelve o'clock."
Wilma squealed, "Oh, fun! Can we follow them? Pleeease? They look so cute!"
Indeed they did. Jacalyn had her arm looped through Dennis’ and they were chatting away blissfully.
Sighing, Wilma watched the two. "They look so happy! Methinks the getting them together scheme was wonderful."
Rayya nodded. "Methinks so, too. However," she stood and shouldered her purse. "I think they’re heading back to your place and can you imagine it if we’re not there when they get back?"
Wilma made a face, "Oh, yeah." Shrugging, she stood and grabbed her purse. "Sorry to eat and run, Jack. It was nice meeting you, though."
"Pleasure’s all mine, ya know." Jack stood up and grabbed his knapsack with one hand. "Maybe I’ll see you two around."
She gave his hand a quick squeeze and grinned before making her run out the door. Rayya hugged Jack quickly and impulsively. "You can count on it, Jack," she replied with a smile. "Keep doing that lovely art!" With that, she turned and followed closely in Wilma’s footsteps.
Skidding to a halt outside the Verbana’s door, Rayya gripped the doorjamb and panted. "Record time, huh, Wills?" She lifted a foot and grimaced down at her platform shoes. "Wish I had know about it ahead of time," she added ruefully.
Wilma gasped her agreement, and opened the door, flopping down inside the hallway, "I'm starting to be glad that my coach makes me run laps..." Pulling herself up, she slunk into the kitchen, and poured out two glasses of water, "Hold your hands above your head. It raises the muscles in your rib cage and makes it easier to breath."
Obediently, Rayya lifted her arms as she tailed Wilma, her breathing almost immediately slowing. She closed her eyes and sighed then, leaning back against the kitchen wall. "But the important thing is we beat them home. Let's just grab the movie, pop it in, and pretend like we know what's going on in the plot, right?" She grinned, her eyes popping open. "And maybe they'll let their guards down enough to say how the night went."
Wilma nodded and began her way slowly to the living room until she heard their parents coming up the front walk. Then she ran into the living room, tripped over the carpet, and toppled head over heels in front of the TV. Instead of pausing and whining about how klutzy she was, she popped the video in and fast-forwarded to about the middle of the movie. "Whew," Wilma got up and collapsed onto a recliner, "That… Was fun…"
Rayya joined her at a slightly more leisurely pace, having liberated two cans of soda from the refrigerator first. With a smile, she settled onto the couch and handed one of the cans to Wilma. "Don’t look too eager," she cautioned. "We want to play it cool."
Wilma took the soda and downed half of it. "Me? Eager? Never."
Just as she was saying that, Dennis and Jacalyn came waltzing in… Literally. Jacalyn laughed, only stopping when she realized they had an audience of two now. "Oh, hi, kids. Did you have fun?"
Rayya beamed at the two adults. "A real blast, Ms. Verbana," she answered sweetly. "And thank you for teaching my dad to dance finally. He's been useless at it for years." She giggled and reclined further into the couch cushions.
"Hey, I was good enough to dance with when you were just a little brat," Dennis mock-growled at his daughter.
Jacalyn chuckled. "It’s no problem. He dances fine when he isn’t stepping on your toes."
Wilma giggled. "Poor Mr. Veritas. Everyone is ganging up on him." Just then, Dan came flying down the stairs like there was no tomorrow and smacked into Dennis’ legs. Wilma wound up falling off the couch laughing.
"Including your dog," Dennis laughed good-naturedly as he bent to pet the dim-bulbed dog.
Rayya reached down and hauled Wilma back on the couch with a smile. "I guess so," she replied. "So you both had fun then?"
Jacalyn nodded, "I had a wonderful time. Now, if you two will excuse us..."
Wilma stared at her mother for a few minutes, trying to figure out what she wanted. Then, after Jacalyn nodded towards the kitchen, Wilma got up and had to practically drag Rayya to the kitchen. "Well, *some* people had a fun time on the date," Wilma giggled.
Rayya laughed, submitting to the shift in scenery docilely, and called back over her shoulder, "And some people had a curfew for years before they could kick others out!" Stumbling into the kitchen after Wilma, she leaned against a counter and grinned hugely. "This has been an unqualified success," she announced.
Wilma grinned, "Yep! I'm glad that they can be happy. Now, maybe Mom will stop ordering pizza for dinner...."
"Oh, definitely," Rayya agreed. "You’ll be ordering your own pizza from now on since she’ll be out cruising with my dad." She giggled, inexplicably tickled by the picture in her mind.
Making a face, Wilma peeked through the kitchen door to see what she could see....
Leading Dennis to the door, Jacalyn smiled, "I had a really great time tonight..."
"Likewise." Dennis smiled and Jacalyn suddenly realized where Rayya got her own brilliantly warm smile. Then he scuffed his boot across the carpet slightly, shifted from foot to foot, and then added, "And I’d like to do it again if you want to."
Jacalyn nodded. "Love to," she beamed up at him. "You have the number."
Dennis cut a shallow bow. "I’ll be sure to use it. Guess I’d better grab my kid and run then," he finished reluctantly. "It’s getting kinda late and I’m on call tomorrow." Jacalyn nodded in agreement and he turned to call towards the kitchen, "Rayya, honey! Time to go home."
Rayya poked her head out, a huge grin threatening to split her face, Wilma hovering behind her. "Yes, daddy?" she cooed innocently.
"Say goodbye to Wilma and Ms. Verbana. We’ve got to get going now."
"Yeppers." Rayya spun and hugged Wilma impulsively. "See you later, hon! I’m off to get the scoop from my dad on the hot date."
"Rayya…" Dennis sighed, a faint color tingeing his ears in embarrassment. "Well, I’ll talk to you later, Jacalyn. Thank you again." With a final nervous smile, he disappeared out the front door and down the walk, dragging his grinning daughter with him.
Jacalyn stood for a moment longer, watching the two. Then she turned to her own grinning daughter. "What?" she asked.
Giggling, Wilma finally released the song that had been building up in her for the past ten minutes. "Mom and Dennis, sittin’ in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" That, however, was as far as she got before Jacalyn chased her upstairs into sanctuary. Ah, dating…