Temporal Exploring 101 - Cultural Immersion

II.8 Sparring with Mallory Carmichael

"So here you are. All by yourself." Smiling, Mallory Carmichael walked up to me. "I have been wanting to talk to you."

It was during recess, after fourth period. I had turned around a corner and found this somewhat secluded part of the schoolyard, clear of other students. I had been glad to be alone for once, if only for a few minutes. Now Mallory had found me.

"See, last time I visited my parents, there was something on the news about that Omaha mayor," Mallory told me. "Something about some scandal or other. Omaha, Nebraska. That's the place you come from, isn't it?"

I nodded.

"Anyhow, that guy? What's his name again, your previous mayor?" She looked at me questioningly.

I racked my brain. In preparation for my first temporal transit, I had learned all sorts of facts about Omaha, Nebraska in the 1960s. Anything that our 23rd century historians had been able to come up with. Which was not all that much, really.

"Sorry, I don't remember his name." I smiled disarmingly. "I am not much interested in politics, really."

Mallory raised an eyebrow. "I suppose you're more interested in sports, like the majority of the Americans. You've got lots of successful teams over there in Nebraska, I heard."

What was this all about? It was not like Mallory at all to suddenly take an interest in chatting about my home town.

"Actually, I am not very keen on sports, either," I declared.

"To be honest, neither am I," Mallory agreed. "I had hardly ever heard of Omaha until last year, when that giant new bridge was opened to the public. It was all over the news, at the time. Like, thousands of Omaha citizens stood on the bridge and celebrated. Did you get the chance to participate in that event?"

Damn it, there had been nothing about that in the list of facts that our historians had supplied me with. I had to improvise.

"No, our family was out of town at that time, unfortunately," I told her.

One look at Mallory's face told me that this had been the wrong answer.

"You know what, Hart?" Mallory smiled pleasantly. "I believe that you have never even been to Omaha, Nebraska. I think that for some reason you are not telling us the truth about yourself. Nat insists that you are an utterly reliable friend, and I tend to agree with her on that. So what does that make you, then? A reliable liar?"

I felt my cheeks grow hot. "Um ..."

Mallory took one step forward, which brought her face very close to mine.

"What else are you, Hart? Are you kissable, by any chance?" There was a playful sparkle in her eyes. "Tell me, have you ever kissed another girl?"

Not trusting myself to speak, I shook my head.

Mallory leaned even closer. Close enough for me to smell her shampoo. Her lips touched mine. I opened my mouth, and we kissed. Oddly, it did not feel weird at all. In fact, it felt pretty good.

Mallory appeared to think so too. She continued to kiss me. A long, lingering kiss.

I could hear our classmates chatting and laughing, not far away from us, just around the corner.

"Indeed you are kissable, Hart. Very much so. Excitable, too." I noticed that Mallory was sounding a bit breathless.  "But we knew that already, didn't we?"

She was referring to that incident on the bus, during our school excursion to London a few weeks ago. 

"I bet your knickers are damp again," she whispered.

I felt her finger tips lightly touch my inner thighs, then slip under the hem of my skirt, presumably to check. My breath quickened.

A minute or so passed.

"Now they are," I muttered, making it sound petulant.

Mallory laughed. She took a step backwards, away from me.

"So. You are funny, too. Reliable but not altogether truthful. Kissable, excitable and even funny." She grinned. "You are a bit of a puzzle, Hart. A puzzle I intend to solve."

"Well, I wish you good luck with that," I told her drily.

"You know you could spare both of us a lot of trouble if you just told me your secrets."

Nice try.

I nodded solemnly. "I could tell you, but then I would have to kill you," I deadpanned.

Mallory's pupils widened. She laughed softly. "I see."

I heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Natty and Nancy were coming around the corner. They walked over to us.

"Hey," Natty said. "We were looking for you guys."

"Hart and I have been talking about Omaha a bit," Mallory observed. "It is a fascinating place, wouldn't you say so, Hart?"

Natty raised her eyebrows at that and gave me a questioning look.

I shrugged. "As usual, Carmichael is being curious about lots of things."

Nancy snorted. "I think the word you are looking for is 'nosy'."

Mallory just smiled. "Being nosy is one of my more endearing qualities."

Later that afternoon, Natty and I were each of us reclining on her bed, chilling.

"What was Mallory all about, this morning?" Natty asked. "You know, discussing Omaha with you and all that."

I shrugged. "I am not sure, really. But I think she was trying to prove that my story about coming from Omaha, Nebraska is a lie."

"Oh. I see."

I made a face. "I don't know what's on her agenda really. I mean, why would she even care whether it's true or not?"

"Well, obviously Mallory has taken an interest in you," my roommate replied.

"Is that good or bad?"

"It depends on whether she likes you or hates you." Natty smiled. "Why does it bother you so much, anyhow?"

"I wish I knew. Somehow, Mallory has a knack for throwing me off my guard by doing something utterly unexpected."

Natty raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"For instance, this morning, after accusing me of lying about my background and all, she asked me if I ever had kissed a girl. Then she went and kissed me, just like that."

"Oh my god! She really did that? That's so Mallory."

"Yes, I guess," I told her somewhat distractedly.

I was kind of replaying that kiss in my mind, and what had happened in its aftermath.

"I never kissed another girl," Natty mused. "Did you enjoy kissing her?"

"It was okay. Well, more than okay, actually. Kind of exciting, to be honest."

Natty grinned. "Kind of exciting, huh?"

I realized that my right hand had slipped under my skirt.

"I was like, thinking of something else."

"Uh huh."

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