The Protagonist System

222 Unexpected Surprises

The next morning at school, I arrived a little early to make up for being almost late the day before. I also didn't try to include Amy this time as I spread out the hugs, cheek kisses, and fist bumps with the popular crowd around them. This did not go unnoticed and Amy herself looked sad. Before the bell rang for us to go to class, I turned to her to speak and she shook her head with a sigh.

I shrugged and walked off. I had better things to do if she was going to completely reject me. I mean, I don't think we're even friends at this point and Vicky looked like she was grinding her teeth as I talked to her clique like I had known them for years. Telepathy for the win!

Classes were getting better as I matched my pace to both the teacher and the students, asking questions during class to make things clearer for the students to understand better. Well, when the teachers allowed it. Some of them were only there for the high paycheck and it showed.

When lunchtime came around, I laughed when I was one of the first students that entered the cafeteria, because there were now six squares of table setups among the many straight tables. One was for the popular kids, one was for the nerds, one was for the jocks, and I was sure a couple of them were just for the hell of it to copy the popular table.

“Lunch is on me!” I declared loudly as the cafeteria's tables started filling up. “One main meal, one side dish, one dessert, and one drink only!” I clarified, in case anyone tried to get smart or be an ass. There were a lot of cheers and a few groans from the nerds, which made me grin at them.

There were only five people in front of me in the line, so I had to keep making an approval signal, like nods and thumbs-up when each of them reached the cash register. When I reached the register, I handed over my credit card and gave the girl a few mental commands to not overcharge me and to stick to my restrictions. She was to also give it back at the end of the period.

“You really are serious?” She asked me and slipped the card into her shirt pocket after swiping it.

“Sure.” I said and nodded at the other workers. “It applies to you and the staff, too.”

“Can we order out instead?” One of them asked.

I thought about it for a moment. “As long as you order individual means and not party packs or anything, unless you're sharing the party packs, then get a couple of those.” I said and then chuckled. “I doubt you're going have any pizza specials delivered before lunch is over, though.”

“You'd be surprised, kid.” An older man said and took out his cell phone. “Hey, Frank. I need three lunch specials stat. One with the works, one meat lovers, and one cheese and pep.” “Uh huh.” He said and held out a hand to the girl and he quietly read out the credit card number.

“Better make it five and both meat lovers.” I said and he changed his order.

“Twenty-five minutes? Sweet. I'll swing by.” The man said and hung up. “Thanks a lot.”

“It's no problem.” I said and picked up my tray. “I'll be over there at the popular table.”

Both he and the cashier laughed. “We know.”

As an afterthought, I pulled out a twenty to hold out to him and he looked confused. “Gas money. I'd be paying that for a delivery tip anyway.”

The man took the money and nodded. “You're all right, kid.”

I nodded and walked over to the popular table and Jessica and Brittany were already there. “You're not getting anything?”

“PIZZA!” They both yelled and laughed.

I chuckled and sat down. “It's meat lovers.” I warned them.

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“We looooove meat.” Brittany said in a sultry voice and Jessica blushed hard.

I was glad I wasn't chewing on anything, because I barked a loud laugh and would have spit it out. Brittany grinned and reached over with a tentative hand to hover it over my french fries. I nodded and turned my tray to make it easier for her and Jessica to pick at them.

“You're the best!” Brittany said and snatched the biggest one, of course.

I cut up the chicken fingers on the second plate into bite-size pieces and both girls let out happy sounds at me making my whole meal into easily eaten finger food. A few minutes later, Jensen, Chelsea, and Clarice showed up with trays of food and sat around us.

“You're insane.” Jensen said and gave me a quick kiss. “You're buying the whole school lunch?”

“If they can get it during the period.” I said and she nodded.

“And he ordered two pizzas.” Brittany said and tossed a piece of chicken finger into her mouth.

“I knew there was a reason you hadn't grabbed a meal yet.” Chelsea said.

“It's meeeat lovvverrrrs.” Brittany purred and every girl at the table blushed and how suggestive it was. She laughed at flustering them so easily and ate another french fry.

It didn't take long for Jessica, Brittany, and myself to eat a meal meant for only one person. Vicky and Amy showed up right after with Dean and the Wards and sat down at the far corner of the popular table's square and it was almost like they didn't care about their secret identities when they weren't wearing their costumes.

Mind you, I didn't care either, because I was strong enough to defend myself and anyone around me. The Wards? Only Aegis, aka Carlos, had redundant biology to keep himself alive from a fatal blow. They barely make a token attempt to not gather together as a group, probably because they were friends both in costume and out.

Vicky had quite the conflicted look on her face when none of her friends moved from near me to sit near her. Before she could ask them why, several girls from my class joined us just as the man from the kitchen dropped two large pizza boxes beside me.

“Thank you.” I said and he patted me on the back and went back to the kitchen.

“You had pizza delivered? To school? After buying everyone else lunch?” Vicky asked, her voice high pitch and full of disbelief.

“He's not that arrogant.” Jensen said, surprising Vicky, Amy, and the guys around her. “The staff ordered pizzas and he paid for them to have two more added to the order.”

“They're meat lovers, too.” Brittany said and opened one of the boxes. The smell seemed to fill the air around the four tables and a few people had their mouths water. “Oooo, baaaby!”

Jensen had to cover her mouth to stop from spitting out her food as she laughed. “You made that sound so dirty!”

Brittany grinned at her and pulled out a large piece and everyone saw how packed it was with toppings and the cheese was still hot enough that it stretched way out and she had to use a finger to twirl it and snap it off from the rest of the pizza.

“I can eat the rest of this later.” Jensen said and pushed her tray aside and grabbed a piece of pizza for herself.

I took one as well, because I knew the rest were going to be gone in a minute. As if they heard my thoughts, the girls around us exchanged worried looks and then scrambled to grab a piece for themselves. I had a hard time not laughing at them as they chowed down on the delicious pizza and someone was making sounds that really should not be made in a public place.

“Brittany, stop.” Jessica said, her face still bright red.

Brittany let out a girlish giggle and stopped like she asked. She might be a shameless tease; but, she wasn't mean about it. She started talking about Jensen's outfit and that set all the girls off and they all dove into the discussion, as if it was the most important thing in their lives. Since they were teenage girls, it probably was. For today anyway.

Lunch passed by quickly after that and I stopped by the cash register and retrieved my credit card and a copy of the bill. It was about nine thousand dollars and I nodded as I put the card and receipt away.

“You're a really nice guy.” The cashier said and tapped her finger on the bill.

I checked it again and under notes, there was a phone number written in and her name. I gave her a smile as I pocketed the copy and I left the cafeteria to head to my locker to grab my books. The afternoon was going to pass by before I knew it and I didn't really have anything to do afterwards.

I realized then I had a perfect way to waste some time and texted Paige to see if she was free this afternoon and evening. She was, so I sent a text to my mother and let her know I was heading to Paige's for the evening and would be home before bedtime.

*

Paige was almost vibrating as she waited for her talented lover to show up. The door to the studio part had just been installed and she had only done a single sound check when she received his text. With him there, she could have him in the booth and she could do proper checks as he said different phrases.

She also had the thought that maybe she could jokingly ask him if he could sing a little, then maybe have him try playing the various instruments she had delivered, to confirm the sound quality was coming through to the recording equipment properly.

All thoughts of him helping her finish setting up her recording studio fled from her mind when Paige saw Greg standing there with his stylishly cut wavy blonde hair, his bright blue eyes, and his bulging muscles that his t-shirt was barely holding in. She leapt onto him and kissed him soundly, then begged for him to make love to her on her new bed.

An hour later, Paige cuddled her lover and couldn't have been happier if she tried. His clawed hands groomed her hair and she cooed at the wonderful feeling that was just perfect after having sex. He really knew what she wanted, no needed, and he had no problems giving it to her.

“Now that we've gotten the important things out of the way...” Greg said and Paige chuckled as she lightly caressed his chest. “...do you want me to help you set up your studio?”

“In a minute... or fifty.” Paige said and cuddled into his chest with a contended sigh.

Greg kissed the top of her head and held her for as long as she wanted him to.

They eventually had to get up to eat, which Greg provided by bringing out a pizza from nowhere. He told her how he had come to know about the best pizza place in the city and Paige laughed while hearing about the newly discovered group of pizza vultures at Arcadia High. It really was a great pizza.

After a shower, some more fun, and a lot of teasing and innuendo, they dressed and went downstairs to the recording studio. Since Paige was the one with the most experience with the equipment, Greg went into the recording booth and set up the instruments she wanted to test.

“Testing, testing.” Greg said through the intercom.

Paige let out a soft laugh. “I need you to test the microphones, not the intercom.”

“I'm making sure I can call for help when you ravage me in here.” Greg joked and she gave him the middle finger to make him laugh.

“The list of phrases is on the standing piano.” Paige said and pointed.

Greg let the intercom button go and walked over to the piano. He sat down and looked at the list where the sheet music was usually held and nodded. There was a microphone on a swivel mount stand and he checked that it was plugged in and flicked the little on switch.

“Testing, testing. One, two, three.” Greg said and Paige gave him a thumbs-up gesture. “Okay, let's see.” He read the first line in his head and nodded, then cleared his throat. “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.”

The intercom clicked. “A bit slower and closer to the microphone. I missed a couple of pees.”

“You should get your kidneys checked.” Greg joked and then winced as Paige send a feedback whine through the intercom. “Right, sorry. Serious time now.”

Paige gave him another thumbs-up gesture.

Greg leaned forward slightly and spoke again. “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.”

Paige held up two fingers and he nodded and repeated the line again. Another thumbs-up and he moved on to the next tongue twister on the list of phrases. He had to repeat a few of the different lines as Paige worked to adjust the settings to catch everything he said.

Greg went to the next microphone and checked that one as well, going through the phrases again. There were only three microphones, so he was done fairly quickly and they were all working perfectly.

“All right, that's done. Great work, Greg!” Paige praised him.

“It was no big deal.” Greg denied. “A trained monkey could have done it. Oo-oo-oo-ee-ee!”

Paige laughed and shook her fist at him. “Don't you dare throw your poop at the window to prove it!”

Greg laughed, too. “The room's already monkey-proof, so that's not necessary.”

“Good.” Paige said and then schooled her face. “I need a few different samples of your voice, just to make sure everything is working right. I have your talking voice, your monotone voice, and your laughing voice.” She paused for a second and took a breath. “How about you try your singing voice?”

Greg shrugged. “Do you have any preferences on chirping style or should I just wing it?”

“Hardy-har-har.” Paige said and rolled her eyes. “Try something soft and we can go from there.”

Greg nodded and went over to the instruments. He picked up an acoustic guitar and went back to the main microphone and sat on the stool. He positioned the third microphone to point at the center of the guitar and tilted the main one to point at his mouth.

Paige barely stopped herself from asking what he was doing, because he moved like he knew what he was doing and wasn't just playing up an act to fool around with a guitar he probably never played before. Her eyes widened at what he did next.

Greg strummed the guitar a few times, shook his head slightly, and plucked each string individually and tightened or loosened the tuning pegs to get the right sounds. He strummed it again and nodded at it sounding right and took a deep breath, let it out, and started strumming as he sang.

“Some days, it don't come easy. Some days, it don't come hard. Some days, it don't come at all and these are the days that never end.” Greg sang with an angelic voice.

Paige was frozen stiff and all of the well groomed feathers on her head were now fluffed out.

“Some nights, you're breathing fire. Some nights, you're just carved in ice. Some nights you're like nothing I've ever seen before or will again.” Greg continued to sing and strummed the guitar. “Maybe I'm crazy; but, it's crazy and it's true. I know you can save me, no one else can save me now but you.”

Paige started trembling and she had to pull her hands away from the console so she wouldn't ruin the absolutely perfect recording she was getting of a song she had never heard before.

Greg started to strum the guitar hard. “As long as the wheels are turning. As long as the fires are burning. As long as your prayers are coming true, you better believe it.” He slowed the strumming to a soft prattle. “I would do anything for love, I know it's true and that's a fact. I would do anything for love, and there'll never be no turning back... but, I'll never do it better than I do it with you, so long, soo looong.”

Paige felt like her heart was soaring as she listened to him sing his heart out, professing undying love for her, and she couldn't help but think he was bearing his soul to her. Her nipples hardened, she grew wet down there, and her insides squirmed with need as her own feelings of love surged forth and wanted him to hear her bare her soul, too.

*

I had to change some of the lyrics and cut a lot of it out, since I couldn't sing the accompanying female part. I'd have to write them out and see if Paige would do them to give my own deep voice a great counter. Maybe make it a special edition or something, because it was a long song if you included all the extra lyrics.

“No, I woon't doooo thaaaaat.” I sang as I finished strumming the guitar and plucked the last few notes. I waited for a few seconds, just in case it was needed for a clean sound cut, then I carefully put the guitar down. Why? Because the door of the booth opened and an extremely horny Bad Canary rushed in and tackled me to the floor.

I never had the chance to use the intercom to call for help as Paige ravaged me, just as I had joked about before. I may have also slightly underestimated just how much Paige was going to enjoy finding out that I was a singer like her and could play the guitar, too.