**************************************************

Peter opened the door to Criscuola's, his family's restaurant. "Come on in and grab a seat. We gotta hurry though...what's everyone want?"

"A Cesar salad," Beth said.

"Pepperoni and cheese, and anchovies," Ace cackled.

"No he doesn't!" Paul snapped, opening his mouth and gagging with his finger poised just inside his mouth.

"Cheese and extra sausage, right Gene?" he looked at his friend.

"And a pitcher of Coke," Ace added.

Gene looked up as if he'd been deep in thought. "Uh right....get extra too...."

"Get fat boy his own pie," Ace cackled. "Or else we'll starve..."

Gene glared at Ace, "Haha. Watch out or I’ll eat your portion too, Space Ace."

"Ack, negatory," he cackled.

"That's what you get for your smart assed mouth, boy," Patty swatted his butt. He yelped and tugged her to the table, and slid into the booth. There is only room for six, so he pulled Patty onto his lap.

Rachel looked at them puzzled. "Since when does Gene eat more than three slices?"

"Since he got..." Ace started, but suddenly he gurgled. While he opened his lips no sound emitted. Paul's warning look and lavender scent gave him the answer. Paul's powers had temporarily taken over his vocal cords.

"Now THAT's an improvement," Corinne joked, hitching a thumb in Ace's direction.

Gene stifled his laugh behind his hand, "You say "fat", Ace and I’ll kill ya. I skipped dinner last night hon. I’m starving."

"Lost your voice?" Paul grinned evilly as Ace held his throat and gasped.

"Cat got your tongue... no wait, that's what I ask Peter..." Beth joked.

Peter shook his head. "Don’t even go there. Ma's right behind the counter. So...two pies, coke and a Caesar salad. Anything else?"

"Um how about a pastrami on rye for the Acer," Paul said, as he released his hold on Ace's voice, and Ace coughed. He looked rather stunned and apologetic.

"Yikes... got a bug in my throat," he coughed, and Paul slugged him on the back and grabbed the water from the table to hand it to him.

"Ugh, doesn't pastrami give you gas?" Corinne asked, and Patty glared at her.

"Spare me," Patty said annoyed. "As if your boyfriend isn't prone to the same curse all men are..."

"What was THAT?" Ace cackled.

"Gaseous emissions?" Paul chuckled. He sat down and pulled Corinne to sit next to him as Patty sat on the other side, and that left only one seat for Gene and Ray. Ace had Patty on his lap while Beth sat on his other side, and Corinne and Paul were sitting opposite. There wasn't much room for the others as Peter went to get the food.

Gene sat down and pulled Rachel onto his lap. Rachel protested mildly at first but then settled down. "What curse Patty?" Gene asked with a grin, daring her to continue. "Don’t you know that men are perfect?" he chuckled.

"Yeah, right," snickered Patty. Beth almost sprayed soda across the aisle at Gene and Ray. At that moment Peter pulled up a chair and set the tray of food down before them. Paul sensed the sexual tension from Ray and Gene and felt his pants tighten. Great, that's ALL he needed now.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Oh boy...there he goes. I'm sorry everyone. Starvation must have made his brain malfunction. Maybe once I get some food into him he'll be functional again."

Gene pulled her close, "I'll give you functional," he leered, kissing her.

Peter sighed. "This is a FAMILY restaurant. PG-13 please..."

Paul muttered under his breath, and Corinne stroked a hand over his thigh under the table. For some reason, she seemed quite turned on to him, and it wasn't helping. He swallowed and shifted in his seat, half applauding himself for his good fortune, and half worrying why it suddenly came on. Was she jealous? He could sense her emotions if he just tuned in, but he was afraid once he opened that door to his sixth sense, it might not shut.

Ace sipped his glass of coke and grabbed a piece of pizza for him and his girl. Gene pulled back. "Ok Pete. I'll behave this time," said Gene. He grabbed a slice of pizza and wolfed it down in four bites, much to Rachel’s amazement.

"Didja eat a black hole, Gene?" Ace cackled.

Paul groaned, and Corinne leaned against him heavily. Gene looked up at Paul, offering him a slice of pizza. "You ok Paul? You look a little flushed," he said hiding a grin.

"Shut up," he muttered as Corinne picked up a breadstick and dipped it in cheese sauce. She ate it, and then pushed a piece of pizza before Paul. He let her feed him, and still felt her hand squeezing his thigh. Beth nibbled her salad as Ace tucked away three pieces, and Patty finished the rest.

"Look who's wolfing it down," Corinne teased Gene. He glanced up finishing the last slice of the large pizza in front of him as Rachel had just finished her second piece.

"No kidding," Rachel said, "Anyone else find that mildly disturbing besides me? That was a pretty large pizza..."

"Hey, he's entitled," Paul said quickly. "After all, some of us need a bit extra... for some nocturnal Olympics..."

Corinne raised an eyebrow, and realized he was picking up on her hint. She badly missed him, and was surprised at how bold she was being. What was causing her to lose her inhibitions around him?

"Yep, Gene'll eat ya outta house and home," Ace cackled.

"Nocturnal Olympics? How do you-?" Rachel exclaimed glaring at Paul. She blushed, "Never mind...I don’t want to know..."

Gene laughed, "Nice, doll. You just gave yourself away."

Corinne giggled. Ace snorted his soda, and his narrow chest heaved. It was Patty’s turn to do a spit take. Paul grinned and relaxed as Corinne's hand stole steadily upwards. As he nibbled more pizza, he curled his arm around her shoulder to pull her as close as possible, realizing he should just relax and enjoy. After all, when would they next get to see their girlfriends?

Gene chuckled at Patty's reaction, "What’s wrong Pat? You didn’t think I was celibate did you?" He winced as his comment earned a slap on the shoulder from Rachel.

"Um, you guys are well... from what they say around school," she started, and Beth shot her a look of warning.

"Oh great," Paul thought to himself.

Corinne perked up, eager to hear any dirt, and how it might affect her Paul, "Um what is that again? Is it BAD or good, Pat?"

"Let's just say I have it on good authority..." Pat started. Gene raised his eyebrow.

"Do tell, Pat...what do they say about me?" he asked grinning almost evilly.

Rachel groaned. "What an ego..."

"That you're the king of the Ding-Dongs," Patty smirked.

"Huh?" Ace asked. "What’s that?"

"Um that he likes his food as much or more so then sex," she snickered.

Gene burst out laughing and Rachel choked on her pizza. Gene patted her on the back. "You ok Hon?" She nodded and he tried to stifle his laughter as she hid her face behind her hand.

"And they say something even funnier about you, Paul," said Patty.

"Don't tell me," Corinne sighed.

"What do they say?" Paul asked.

"That you're a..." she trailed off. "You wouldn't wanna know. It's NOT nice... forget I say anything?"

"Artsy fartsy faggot?" Paul asked with a snicker and Pat's jaw dropped.

"How do you know?" she asked.

Peter chuckled nervously, "Ya know. There are so many friggin rumors going around that if you believed em all you'd have issues...I mean what was that one about Gene havin' a snake tongue or somethin'?"

He laughed, "What the hey's that supposed to mean that it’s forked?"

"Oh brother," Ace cackled into his soda glass. "What about that one about me being from another planet? Well ya know, it's true!"

"Yeah, you’re from Jendel, right?" snickered Pat. "My little alien... who got me these blue roses…"

"Ace," Paul shook his head.

"They shouldn't say those things about you, Paul," Corinne grumbled. "You are NOT a fag. You're as straight as they come."

Rachel laughed, trying unsuccessfully to stop blushing about the tongue comment. She knew Gene noticed because he was still chuckling. Paul sensed the mental images both have, and felt a wave of embarrassment and jealousy at the thought of Gene putting that tongue to use.

"What are YOU blushing about Paul?" Gene laughed.

Paul started to whistle "Who's afraid of the big bad wolf..."

Corinne blinked at him, missing the joke.

"Oh nothing," he snickered.

"Ooh Gene what a big tongue you have..." Ace said in a falsetto voice, grasping at his chest dramatically.

Peter raised an eyebrow. "I missed that one," he laughed.

Corinne giggled. "Good one, Paul." To this statement of praise, Paul grinned.

"The better to EAT her with," Gene quipped motioning at Rachel.

"Oh boy...." she snickered, hiding her face behind her hand. Her face was now a shade of red equal to Gene’s shirt.

"Eat her out here and now," Ace cackled. "Since yer outta pizza..."

"Shut up Ace," Pat muttered with embarrassment at his big mouth.

"You'd love that show wouldn’t you Space Ace?" Gene grinned. "Hey I could probably charge ya admission."

Rachel turned a bright shade of red and glared at Gene. She whacked him on the shoulder, saying, "You keep it up your not gonna get ANYTHING, Gene."

"I want candy," Ace sang loudly. "But I ain’t got none HANDY..."

"Ace zip it," Pat groaned as she clapped her hand over his mouth.

"Ace, go play in a black hole," Paul snickered.

"He just might..." Corinne giggled. "Don't encourage him or Patty will get ticked!"

"He'd have too much fun with that..." Gene laughed.

"Go superglue yerself to a rocket, will ya?" Beth taunted Ace, flicking water from her soda at him. "And give me a report on the latest planetary alignments so I can finish your charts…"

"Does NOT compute… Astrology is non-scientific… Astronomy is where it's at…"

"Excuse me like, but astrology IS still a respected discipline… it's helped humanity for thousands of years…" Beth said with an edge of ice in her voice. Peter let loose a low growl in his throat, and Ace shot back a "what?" look.

"Settle down kids," Gene held up his hand. "It's too early for this crap…"

Peter shook his head and glanced at the clock. "Oh crap. Uh guys? We’re late!"

"Uh oh..." said Paul.

"Time dilation," Ace said. "Einstein was right!"

"Yes he was," nodded Pat as she climbed off his lap and he pulled her to him for a kiss. On his lips she tasted the sweetness of his coke.

"This sucks. I hate rushing...damnit," Gene muttered, pushing Rachel to her feet and standing up.

"Yep, you do, don'tcha mister speed," Paul smirked. Corinne blushed in response.

"But that was my pet name for you," she trailed off. Abashed, Paul realized he’d read her mind.

"Whoops," he apologized. "Good guess."

"Mr. Speed? I believe you’re the master of quickies Paul," Gene shot back.

"Don't forget it," he said as he grabbed Corinne and tugged her by the hand toward the bathroom. "Excuse me a minute folks..."

Corinne shrieked," Paul... you bad boy..."

"Give him five minutes and he's done," Gene cracked.

Rachel punched him in the arm. "That is so rude."

Gene shook his head. "All right...sorry..." he said, still laughing.

Paul opened the door, and then shoved Corinne into the unisex bathroom. He slammed and locked the door behind them.

"Paul, damnit! I am NOT vouching for you again!" Gene yelled. "Get out here. I was teasing."

"God is she going to..." trailed off Beth as she looked at Peter in alarm. Everyone glanced at each other in confusion as they waited.

"Too late," Ace cackled. He flipped back his sleeve to reveal his watch. Grinning, he tapped it, while Gene shook his head and swore in Hungarian.

Five minutes later, they emerged with grins on their faces. Ace said loudly, "Four and a half minutes. A goddamn world record..."

Gene glared at him, "You didn’t really did you? Tell me you’re pullin' my leg...."

"I don't kiss and tell," he said as Corinne licked her lips.

"Wouldn't you like to know," she winked as she slid her arm through his. Paul looked decidedly relieved.

Gene shuddered, "No not really." He turned towards Rachel. "Come on...I don’t want to be later than I already am."

Peter laughed. "He's just pissed because he didn’t get any." He mock whispered to Paul.

"Let’s let them go," said Ace as he tugged Pat along with him. Beth and Peter shrugged.

"Maybe he will soon," Paul whispered back.

"Where? At the school? You're kiddin' right?" Peter shook his head.

Paul only grinned and whispered, "Watch and learn, grasshopper... what do you smell on him?"

"I dunno...I try to keep from sniffin' people in public."

"He's going to do it somehow; I can read it in his mind..." Paul whispered.

Ace blinked and hissed, sensing the telltale EM flux of Paul’s psi probes. He nudged Paul, saying in his mind, ~*"It's not polite to snoop, Paulie... you know better..."~

"Sorry, I can't help it," Paul looked guilty. "He can't keep his dirty mind to himself since he..."

"What was that?" Corinne asked, and Paul realized he'd spoken aloud.

"Who's got a dirty mind?" Patty asked with a chuckle. "You Paulie?"

Waving his hand Ace hissed, "Ix-nay, ix nay!"

"Excuse me?" Corinne asked, and Paul shrunk down into the booth, hiding his eyes behind one hand.

"Um, just thinking out loud… about Gene here… how he's giving Rachel that bedroom look," he said awkwardly.

"What can't you help… you're NOT a mind reader," Beth asked, blinking at the awkward looks the guys were exchanging. Guilt wrote itself over all their features. She may be a hippie holdover, but she wasn't as out there as they thought.

"Another holdover from our campaign," Gene said quickly, not missing a beat. "Paul, get your head outta your butt and join us in the REAL world… as miserable as it can sometimes get… it DOES have its… compensations."

"It does, doesn't it?" Rachel chuckled and shivered as Gene's hand slid up and down her thigh, under the table. His brown eyes twinkled lasciviously, almost like a cobra staking out its prey. Was it her imagination or did they seem inhumanly intense, as if staring into her base human desires? Under her she felt hard muscular thighs, and shivered with delight. Why had she never noticed how toned his legs were? They were long and sexy enough, but it seemed they had changed.

Peter laughed, his thoughts invading the mental conversation, ~*"Since what? Tell me... I wanna know...."~

~*"Since the locker room,"~ Paul's thoughts echoed into Peter's brain. ~*"The other day..."~

~*"Locker room? Him and Ray? DAMN..."~ he thought back

~*"Mmm hmm,"~ Paul telepathed, a smile spreading across his shapely face.

~*"SO ... ya think he's gonna skip class or not? I bet he is,"~ Peter grinned.

~*"I hope that he's got an alibi,"~ Paul broadcasted mentally as he walked Corinne out the door after Ace and Patty.

***

Gene and Rachel already outpaced them all by twenty yards. His girlfriend seemed eager to put as much distance between them and their friends as possible, for a very obvious reason. He smelled the hormones surging, and couldn’t help but go with the flow. Considering all he'd gone through in the last twenty-four hours, time with his girl was a nice treat.

"What class do you have next?" he asked, wrapping an arm around her waist.

She grinned, "Gym..."

"Hmmm....I have a free period...I wonder..."

"Why don't you let me see you more clearly, sweetheart?" she purred under her breath. They approached the school building and start walking in. Peter opened the door for Beth, and then the others walked in.

"Damn...at least let's get inside the building Hon," Gene whispered. She smiled and tugged him around to the back entrance by the gym. Opening the door she urged him through, and then closed the door behind them, glancing around.

"Which locker room? Class started 10 minutes ago...they're outside....we're clear..." Gene asked.

"Wherever it's nearest," she whispered. She felt the inrush of desire, and wondered why she felt such intensity around Gene lately. There was an animalistic magnetism to him that wasn't there before. Sure he was appealing cute in a nerdy sort of way, like herself, but this was far more intriguing. Almost like something out of one of her trashy pulp novels or a horror movie.

Gene grinned holding open the door to the ladies locker room, "The ladies room it is."

She nodded her approval and walked through, pulling him after her. Ray could hardly stand to wait another minute while she glanced warily around hoping she won't lose her nerve.

"No one's here Hon," he breathed into her ear as he pulled her against him. He traced kisses down her neck hungrily and then to her mouth.

"You're too damn tall," she muttered standing on tiptoes.

"Did you eat your wheaties?" she asked as she rubbed his chest and her eyes widen at how flat his stomach is.

"Something like that..." he muttered. "But we have to hurry."

"C'mere," she whispered as she reached up for him and he caught her lips in another kiss. His tongue teased her lips apart and she felt the desire tingle over her body. Up and down her shoulderblades he ran his fingertips, clutching her close.

Pulling back for breath, he noticed her expression, "What?"

"You seem more... defined," she said softly. "You been working out? That could explain your appetite... like the jocks..."

"Mmm-hmmm. Yeah. Started lifting weights. Running. Stuff like that. But I prefer other exercise…"

"Such as..." she whispered as she started to stroke his cheek and slid her arms around his waist. He snickered at the feel of her hands reaching down to glide over his back. Standing on tiptoes she strained to reach his lips this time. Weird, because he definitely seemed taller than she last recalled. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hoisted her up against him and the lockers.

"I don't know..." he muttered next to her ear. "Something involving me and you...plenty of movement."

His lips trailed down her neck to the top of her shirt and his hands went up underneath it. Gasping at his touch Rachel moaned slightly. As she felt his body press to hers it felt unusually warm. He smelled of musk and sweat, which only served to increase her hunger. She smoothed her hands over his chest with pleasant surprise. Strangely he had become buff, almost overnight. After all, he required no visible effort or strain to draw her up into his arms so her face was before his.

Gene sighed as she touched him. "We do need to hurry... sorry to rush..."

"I missed you," she whispered. While she stroked his powerful back she asked herself what WAS he doing to transform from 17 stone weakling to bodybuilder, and more importantly, why bother?

"Missed you too...I'll come keep you company tonight...or try. No promises though," he told her leaning back up to kiss her.

"I'll take what I can get," she panted and then pressed her lips to his. Wrapping her leg around his waist Rachel buried her fingers in his hair while reaching down between them with her other hand. His tongue teased her lips apart, and hot breath surged into her mouth. The kiss grew in intensity as he increased the pressure of his lips against hers.

Sensing her hesitation, Gene whispered, "You ok? You seem.... surprised... If you want to stop I will...."

"Don't stop Gene, please," she pleaded. "I need you... you're making me crazy... if we don't do something soon..."

Soon their clothes were scattered all over the floor, and there was nothing between them except shyness. Gene reached down and pulled something out of his pocket before he reached for her again. Ray knew he always thought ahead, and was grateful for it, which was unusual for a teenaged guy nowadays. Most didn’t even worry about such formalities.

"Want to do the honors?" Gene joked, handing something to her.

"Ready when you are," she whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Grabbing her hips Gene hoisted her back up, pressing her back into the lockers.

"This isn't gonna be graceful sweetheart. We don't have a lot of time," he panted, kissing her neck. As the minutes passed and the kisses increased in intensity, Gene's panting grew heavier and heavier. He leaned against her heavily as they made love. He muffled his groan against her shoulder when they had reached that place together. Overcome, she held him close as she bit down on his neck inadvertently.

" Save that for later," Gene teased. He didn’t want to stop what they were doing, but he knew they had to get out of here quickly.

"Incredible," she whispered as she returned his kiss.

"Definitely..." he answered helping her sit on the bench and handing her clothing to her. As they dressed, she admired him with a sudden shyness and sense of awe. She had just slipped her foot into her shoes, while Gene leaned over and tugged his boots on, when they heard laughter echoing.

"Oh no," she whispered, stumbling to her feet to take Gene's hand. Not bothering to ask her if she wanted him to, Gene grabbed her up and carried her out. Her breath rushed out in her surprised gasp and Gene bolted out of the locker room exit. His boots pounded the glossy wax floor before he finally set her down.

"Close call," he said, not even breaking a sweat.

"We'd better get to class," Rachel agreed, and they exited as quickly as they could.