Hope’s choice of venue surprised him. It was a trendy café with no scones in sight and was licensed to serve liquor. Hope chose English Breakfast t...ea and no food while Nash ordered a double shot long black coffee and a slice of fruit cake. ‘Tell me about yourself, Nash.’ He replied there was nothing much to tell and set about telling it. The 25-year-old lived with his mother in a modest house in the inner-city, his father lived with his partner — another man — in Nelson. A parental split. “Aww” came the reaction from Alice as she saw us hugging and as I sat back down on the bed she could easily see the bulge under the robe but made no mention of it.“I have an idea” said Alice as if a light bub had lit above her head, “Why don’t you pack your bag tonight so Frank can take it with him and then go over straight from school tomorrow? Which I thought was a great plan and judging by Pip’s reaction she did too as she jumped up looking for her back pack.“Help me up Frank, your washing. She didn’t tell Mom everything last night; I’ll give her the benefit of a doubt. “That depends on why you’re doing it.”Laura rubbed sleepily at one beautiful, green eye. “You seemed stressed, so I thought you’d like feeling more relaxed. I’ll stop, though. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”It did wear off pretty fast. And she said her only other Skill is usable once a month at most ... I ... I really want to believe her. And not just because of her boobs! Alaina snuggled up to the older. Jones had always seemed to be somewhat stern and solemn in the classroom, but my uneasiness was related directly to that book, because she already must know that I was aware of the "dirty" stuff and would surely find out about my own pecadillos (i.e., jacking off) while reading it or so I worried. But, now her demeanor seemed to have changed and she didn't sound threatening at all. Still, in order to get out of there, I agreed to meet her after school. I would figure out how to get out of that.