A Perfect Match, Every Time
by Varian Milagro
http://varianm.blogspot.com
Chapter 5
The following morning Cassidy wondered if she’d been ripped off. Nothing about her had changed and Olga had refused to tell her when or where she’d meet Quinn, only saying that it would happen soon. During school that day she visited the bathroom in between every class, looking for any change to herself, not knowing what to expect, but hoping for some sign that she hadn’t wasted $1000. That night she was convinced that Olga had taken advantage of her, but was unsure of what to do about it. It wasn’t like she could tell her mom, even if she was currently talking to her.
On Saturday morning, as her mom packed for a weekend camping trip with Ryan, she suddenly didn’t want to be left alone. Her mom was happy that she’d decided to come along, probably seeing it as a sign that her daughter was beginning to forgive her.
As Ryan drove west along I-10, headed toward San Jacinto, Cassidy felt a strange tugging sensation coming from the left side of the car.
“What’s that way?” Cassidy said as she pointed out the window.
“That’s north,” Helen said.
“Ya think?” Cassidy rolled her eyes. “Is there any camping over there?”
“Mt. Baldy is that direction,” Ryan said. “We could go there is you’d like.”
“Yes, please.”
As soon as Ryan took the next exit and started driving north the tugging sensation vanished.
Less than an hour later Ryan was parking the car at the park entrance to Mt. Baldy. They wasted no time loading up their packs and heading off down the trail. The day couldn’t be nicer, sunny, but not too hot, a light breeze carrying the scent of wild flowers mixed with California sycamore. And unlike the last time she’d hiked with her mom and Ryan, Cassidy was able to keep up with their brisk pace.
When they came to the first split in the path, Ryan started down the left path, but Cassidy felt that weird tugging again, coming from the other direction.
“Can we go this way, instead?” Cassidy pointed to the right.
“It’s fine with me.” Ryan smiled as he turned and headed down the path that she’d selected. After a few steps he stopped and motioned for Cassidy to go ahead of him. “Why don’t you lead today? But be mindful of the paths you take. We want to be able to find our way back to the car.”
Cassidy didn’t tire quickly on this hike. An energy surged within her as she hustled along the trail. At every branching she’d feel a tugging that guided her decision on which path to take. Finally, after hiking for several hours, they came to a small stream in the crook of a narrow valley and she knew that they’d arrived.
“Let’s camp here.” Cassidy didn’t know what had led her to this particular spot, but she had a strong feeling that it had something to do with Olga’s matchmaking. The thought that she’d soon be meeting Quinn filled her with a nervous excitement.
It did bother her that, other than being better at hiking, she was just the same as she’d been when she’d left Olga’s two days ago. When her mom had been matched up with Ryan she’d lost at least 20 pounds by the following morning. Would she change at all? Surely Quinn didn’t want her as she was at the moment, looking like she’d just come from church, still wearing one of the dresses that she’d purchased the day she’d met Richmond. She even had the cross he’d bought her hanging from her neck. At least she’d swapped out the sandals for a pair of hiking boots.
A few things had changed back to normal after Richmond broke up with her. She didn’t feel compelled to go to church anymore and she didn’t think her mom was going to burn in hell for sleeping with Ryan. She kept the blonde hair which was a plus and the compulsion to dress like a prude which wasn’t so nice. She’d aslo kept the singing voice and a strong love of karaoke.
Shortly before dinner that night she got her first inkling that Quinn might be nearby. Someone started playing loud rock music, angering both her mom and Ryan. She’d never been a big fan of hard rock in the past, preferring music by Ed Sheeran and Demi Lovato until she’d met Richmond and then it had been a steady diet on acapella groups, particularly Pentatonix. But she liked the song that was currently pissing off her mom. She couldn’t make out the words, but it had a pounding beat and a killer lead guitar riff. Based on her mom’s annoyance alone she figured that Quinn had to be a part of the group making all the noise.
After dinner, while Ryan was making out with her mom, she snuck away. The other group wasn’t that easy to find at first. Their music was echoing off a nearby hill, making it sound like it was coming from everywhere. Eventually she saw the ghostly glow of several camping lanterns and followed that. As she drew nearer she heard voices, some male and some female, followed by the smell of propane mixed with cigarette smoke.
As she hovered at the edge of the campsite, trying to see if Quinn was a part of their group. She counted two women and one guy, all of them around her age, but none of them Quinn. Everyone in the group looked like they’d spent a lot of time being suspended from school. She saw a lot of tattoos, facial piercings and black clothing on both sexes. It was long dark hair for the guy and multicolored hair of varying lengths for the girls. Both of the girls wore heavy makeup, black nail polish and showed plenty of skin.
After a minute another man entered the campsite, pulling up his zipper. He was easily six feet tall and looked like he could not only handle himself in a fight, but liked to instigate them as well. She guessed that he was in his early twenties. He sat down next the girl with the purple and black hair. Right next to her, practically on top of her. He slid his arm around her back and she laid her head on his shoulder. Cassidy was filled with a mixture of jealousy and sadness. Quinn obviously already had a girlfriend. Had Olga screwed up? She tried to make out what they were saying, but the portable speaker blaring out rock music was drowning out their voices.
“Hi.”
Cassidy squealed as she leapt into the air. She spun around to see a giant of a man standing behind her.
“Woah. Didn’t mean to scare you.” He let out a bit of a chuckle.
“I...I…” Cassidy didn’t know what to say. The guy stood well over six foot and was built like a football player. His face was marred with acne scars and his nose looked like it had been broken a few times. She took a step backwards, caught her foot on a root and fell into a large bush.
“Are you alright?” The man loomed over her.
“Derek, are you scaring the locals again?” Quinn arrived along with the girl with purple and black hair.
“I just said hello.”
“Well, that’d do it.” Despite being nearly a foot shorter, the girl pushed Derek away from Cassidy.
Holding out his hand Quinn said, “Need some help?”
“I think I’m stuck.” Every movement Cassidy made was accompanied by the sound of ripping fabric.
“Jax, bring a flashlight.” Turning back to Cassidy he said, “I’m Quinn, that’s Desiree and the guy who looks like he could star in his own Frankenstein movie is Derrick.”
“I’m Cassidy. I’m camping with my mom and her boyfriend downstream a little ways.”
She was introduced to Marnie and Jax a few moments later when they arrived with a couple of flashlights. Marnie’s hair was a beautiful mixture of pure white and seafoam blue. Jax was the most normal looking of the group. Give him a haircut and remove a couple of piercings and he’d look like most high school seniors she knew.
Quinn worked at extracting her from the bush, but her dress was horribly caught up in it, the material somehow twisted around each bramble in a way that made it nearly impossible to remove without ripping it to shreds.
“Well, I’ve got some bad news for you,” Quinn said. “We’re not going to be able to save your dress.”
“The good news is that he won’t be able to save that dress,” Marnie said. She and Desiree started laughing.
“Play nice.” Quinn sounded like he was scolding a small child. “Why don’t one of you be useful and get Cassidy a blanket while I cut her loose.” He pulled a wicked knife looking from his leather boot.
Marnie pushed the knife away. “Why don’t you use that to kill Sasquatch if he attacks later. I have a pair of scissors in my purse which will be so much more useful.” Looking at each one of the guys in turn, she said. “In fact, all three of you need to leave. Only girls allowed over here for the next ten minutes.”
Desiree stayed with Cassidy while Marnie went to get a blanket and a pair of scissors.
“I think your dress is pretty, actually,” Desiree said. “I’m sorry I laughed.”
“It’s okay.” Cassidy took a closer look at Desiree’s attire. She wore a pair of skin tight jeans and a studded sports bra. Her belly was a swirl of tattoos around a large black stone covering her belly button.
“Once we free you we’ll wrap you in the blanket and walk with you back to your camp.” A freshly lit cigarette hung from Desiree’s lips. She twisted one of the brambles, trying to break it off.
“Oh, thanks.” Cassidy had always thought that people who smoked looked foolish, throwing away their health like that, but Desiree made it look sexy somehow.
“You don’t sound too excited to get back to your camp.” Desiree let out a squeal and then yanked her hand back.
“Are you alright?”
“Fucking thorns.” She swapped out the cigarette in her mouth for her wounded finger.
“Tell me about it. Still, it’s actually better than hanging around my mom and her boyfriend.”
“You’re welcome to hang out with us. I’ve got some clothes you can borrow, but it’s probably not your style.”
“My mom would freak if she saw me wearing clothes like yours.”
Desiree flinched. “I was just offering. You’re free to wear whatever you want.”
“I would love to see my mom freak.” Cassidy smiled.
Desiree laughed. “You’re going to fit right in. We live to freak parents out.”
The sound of Desiree’s laughter made Cassidy’s heart beat faster.
When Marnie returned she laid a shiny, metallic blanket over Cassidy while she and Desiree worked on removing her from the bush, which turned out to be a good thing since her dress didn’t make it out of the bush in one piece, leaving Cassidy in only her bra and panties. Her back burned whenever the blanket touched it, making her flinch occasionally as the girls led her to a family sized tent.
The tent was tall enough that Cassidy could almost stand up in it and it looked large enough to sleep six people comfortably. Sleeping bags, backpacks and discarded articles of clothing littered the floor. After sweeping everything into the corners, Desiree set a small cap chair in the middle of the tent while Marnie strategically placed several battery powered lanterns about the tent.
“Let’s look at your back,” Desiree said once the tent flap had been zipped tight.
Cassidy dropped the blanket and then resisted the urge to try and cover herself with her arms. She hated undressing in front of other people, even if they were girls.
“It doesn’t look too bad, mostly just scrapes. I have some Neosporin that will take some of the sting away.” Marnie dug around in a small, leather bag.
“So, what’s the deal with you and your mom?” Desiree sat on a sleeping bag with her back against the tent wall, casually smoking her cigarette.
“She slept my boyfriend.” Cassidy sat down on a small camp chair sitting in the middle of the tent.
“What a bitch,” Marnie said as she produced a small plastic tube from her bag.
Desiree narrowed her eyes. “Does the name Olga mean anything to you?”
Marnie leaned forward, looking over Cassidy’s shoulder and into her face.
Cassidy felt like she’d been cornered by two dangerous predators. “Yes, but I didn’t know that he already had a girlfriend. I’ll go back and pick someone else. You can have Quinn all to yourself”
Marnie burst out laughing. “I told you that it wasn’t normal being so affectionate with him.”
It was Desiree’s turn to go red in the face. “He’s not my boyfriend; he’s my brother. So is Jax.” Glaring at Marnie she said, “My family likes to hug a lot, big deal.”
“Oh,” was all Cassidy could think to say.
“I saw the way Quinn was looking at you,” Marnie squirted some ointment on her hand and then applied it gently to the scrapes on Cassidy’s back, making her wince. “He’s into you.”
“Yeah, he’s definitely into you. That dress you showed up in was perfect,” Desiree said. “Quinn has a thing for seeing good girls go bad.” She took a long drag before continuing. “You are a good girl, right?”
“You’re joking, right?” Marnie laughed. “Just look at her.”
Desiree ignored Marnie as she moved in closer to Cassidy. “You ever smoke or drink?”
“No.” Cassidy shifted in her seat.
“Ever touch a cock?” Desiree knelt next to Cassidy, the cigarette smoke making her head swim.
“Um...no.”
“Ever kiss a boy?” Marnie said.
“Yes.” Cassidy said, her face growing warm.
“Ever kiss a girl?” Desiree ran her hand up Cassidy’s thigh.
“Yes.” Cassidy tried not to tremble at Desiree’s touch. “We were playing truth or dare.”
“You liked it, didn’t you?” Desiree’s long fingernails grazed Cassidy’s inner thigh.
Cassidy’s stomach felt like it was crawling up her throat. Part of her wanted to slap Desiree’s hand away, but another part of her wanted to grab it and press it against the fire that was building between her legs.
“The real question is are you ready for a bad girl makeover?” Marnie said, seemingly oblivious to what Desiree’s presence was doing to their guest.
“Um, I guess.” She cast a glance at the tent door, wondering how she could talk herself out of her current situation. Sure, she wanted to get back at her mom, but she feared what these these women had planned for her. She should have listened to Olga and picked someone sensible.
“Good.” Marnie pulled the ribbon from Cassidy’s hair. “You don’t mind if I give you a little trim, do you?”
Desiree held up a black Sharpie. “I bet your mom would hate it if I gave you a fake tattoo.”
“She even hates it when people write numbers on their hands.” Cassidy concentrated on her breathing, trying to keep her arousal at bay. Desiree’s hand had never left her leg. It was currently tracing delicate circles on the top of her leg. An invisible force pulled at her legs, trying to open them like a flower in bloom; it was all she could do to keep them closed. The whole thing was making her stomach do somersaults. Damn Richmond and his fucking homophobia!
“So, tell me about your mom. What’s her thing? What would really piss her off? Is she overly religious or anything?” Desiree removed the Sharpie’s cap with her teeth and then spat it to the side.
“Not anymore. She used to be a Christian, but now she’s more of an undecided theist.”
“What the fuck is a theist?” Marnie grabbed a handful of Cassidy’s hair as she lined up a pair of scissors.
“You know those bumper stickers that spell out “coexist” using religious symbols? That’s kind of my mom at the moment. She believes in kind of everything.”
“Okay. I think I can work with that.” Desiree grabbed Cassidy’s hand, turning it palm up. “Hold your arm like that.”
“What are you going to do?” Cassidy wanted to back away, but Marnie held a large pair of scissors near her neck.
“I’m going to draw something special on you body with the express purpose of pissing the hell out of your mom.”
“She’s an amazing artist,” Marnie said as she sliced off a huge chunk of Cassidy’s hair. “She did all of my tattoos.”
Cassidy was sure that she was going to puke at any moment. Why did she have to go through a bad girl makeover? Why didn’t she change for Quinn magically like her mom did for Ryan. Life was so unfair. Her inner voice tried to convince her to run out of the tent and back to the comfort of her mother’s arms. The voice might have won out, except then she remember her dress tangled up in the bushes, which reminded her of what her mom had done with Richmond and then she was totally okay the girls were doing to her. She closed her eyes and tried not to squirm. It wasn’t easy between Marnie hacking off handfuls of her hair and Desiree tickling her forearm with the Sharpie.
Desiree was about halfway finished with whatever she was drawing when Marnie stopped chopping at her hair. While she dug around in her backpack for some hair supplies Cassidy felt her head with her free hand. Half of her hair was gone and all on one side of her head.
“No touching,” Marnie said, looking up from her bag. “You’re going to make Desiree mess up.”
Cassidy let her hand fall to her side. What she wouldn’t give for a large mirror on the tent wall at the moment. Not knowing exactly what Marnie had done to her hair or what Desiree was drawing in her arm was killing her.
Desiree finished up on Cassidy’s arm before Marnie had completed work on her hair, so she went to work on her face. Neither one of them would let her look at her arm, telling her that it was a surprise. Once Marnie was satisfied with Cassidy’s new hairdo, she went in search of clothing for her to wear.
“How do you feel about having your bellybutton pierced?” Marnie asked when she returned with an armful of clothes. “It would go well with the black mesh top I picked out for you.”
“Um…”
“It will only hurt a little bit.” Marnie dropped the clothes at Cassidy’s feet and then went in search of a needle.
Desiree cupped Cassidy’s chin, lifting her face until their eyes were locked together. “Quinn will love it and your mom will hate it. I think you’ll hot with one, personally.”
“Okay,” Cassidy said. If Desiree had asked her to run naked up Mt. Baldy she’d have found it hard to say no.
Once Desiree finished working on her face, she came around to her side and held her hand while Marnie readied a long curved needle, drowning it in rubbing alcohol and then lining it up with the top of belly button.
“Try not to flinch, okay?”
“Funnel all the pain into my hand, the worse it hurts, the harder you squeeze.”
The pain was sudden and sharp, reminding her of the time she’d stepped on a nail in her backyard, but not as severe. All she’d got for that pain was a trip to the doctor’s office for a tetanus shot. At least this time she got some cool body jewelry.
That she wasn’t freaked out more about her bad girl makeover made her wonder if some of Olga’s matchmaking magic was at work after all. It’d also to help explain why the girl’s secondhand smoke wasn’t bothering her more.
Before she dressed they finally let her look at what Desiree had drawn on her arm. It was just like a “Coexist” bumper sticker, except it spelled “Fiction”. Desiree also confiscated Cassidy’s silver cross, replacing it with a choker made of moonstone and hemp along with several leather bracelets.
The black leather pants that Marnie picked out were a bit of a squeeze, but a few forceful tugs got them past her hips. The blouse hid her boobs, but nothing else. Besides a built in bra the rest of it was a fine black mesh, leaving both the fake tattoo and very real belly button piercing on display for all to see. To this they added a pair of high heeled ankle boots wrapped in a silver chain.
When Marnie offered Cassidy a hand mirror to see the final result, Desiree took it away from her. “You’ll see everything you need on Quinn’s face.”
“You’re so weird sometimes.” Marnie snatched the mirror back and then handed it to Cassidy.
Cassidy gaped at her reflection. The hair on one side of her head had been cut down to less than an inch while the rest fell down the other side of her face in a blonde wave. Between that, the heavy makeup Desiree had put on her face, and the provocative clothing, she looked like one of the girls at school who routinely cut class to go smoke behind the maintenance shed.
Marnie exited the tent a minute later to gather the guys for Cassidy’s unveiling. As soon as the tent flap fell back into place Desiree slid her arm around Cassidy’s waist. The girls stared at each other for a moment, Cassidy trembling slightly in Desiree’s arms.
In a near whisper Desiree said, “If you get bored with my brother, let me know. I’ll make sure you’re never bored again.”
Richmond’s influence in regard to homosexuality seemed to be waning. At the moment being with Desiree seemed like a greatest idea to Cassidy. If she hadn’t heard Quinn’s voice outside of the tent, Cassidy might have kissed her, but the rest of the world suddenly vanished from her mind, leaving only him.