Poison

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters created originally by Chris Angel and are copyrighted to him, any reposting or archiving without written permission is an infringement on the copyright of this series. So in other words You damn well better ask before you steal it.

Feedback: Every author in his or her own way makes it a point to ask for feedback when posting a story, well me I don't usually. But there are several reasons as to why a reader should consider taking the time to give it. The simple fact is that giving some form of feedback is truly the most important thing a reader can do after reading and enjoying a story. Hopefully in the process providing that author with at least one viable reason as to what you liked about the story. This small amount of time spent will no doubt inspire the author to write more and possibly at a quicker pace, knowing that they have a fan base who are waiting on their next works. So thanks for the feedback and please keep it comin.

Summary: From writer/producer Chris Angel comes this intoxicating tale of lesbian lust and...love? Poison.

Original Airdate: November 12, 2008 @ 9:00 p.m.
(following an ALL NEW ' Slash Tv')

Story Codes: no sex

Her speech was as terse and distant as her demeanour. It made Lisa curious a moment, a bit like that moment you first walk past a fishmonger. But it soon passed and very soon she saw that Megan was quite a bit like her; remote, unassuming, tagging along on the coattails of a more animated girl. The only dissimilarity was that Lisa was more shy than languid -- which Megan seemed to be.

Nicole changed the subject. "So... what movie are you guys going to see?"

"Atonement," Jenny answered. "I liked James McAvoy in The Last King of Scotland so I thought I'd be kind of cool for me and Megan to check it out. Is that what you guys are gonna see? Atonement?"

"It's something called I Am Legend." Said Lisa.

Jenny smiled first at her then Nicole. "That Will Smith flick. That's pretty okay. Me and Megan saw it last week I think. It was last week, wasn't it, Megan?"

The sombre sidekick bobbed her head stiffly. "...Yeah."

By that time the line had whittled all the way down to Nicole. The maître d' behind the counter smoothed out his red and white smock and said to her, "May I take your order please?". By now Nicole was somewhat less annoyed so she didn't bother to relate her misgivings about the speed (rather the lack thereof) of his work and simply got down to business.

"Yes you can, cowboy, yes you can." Nicole pointed out one of those sizzling foot-long hotdogs on the grill. Luckily there happened to be two left. "I want one of those jumbo dogs over there please. Put some ketchup and mustard on it as well. Can I also have a box of milk duds and a salt pretzel? Oh and a diet soda... no. You know what? Scratch the soda. You sell shakes, right?"

The attendant scratched his head. "Uh... yeah."

"Okay then. Give me a strawberry one. And for my friend here," Nicole turned around. "What do you want, Lisa?"

She smiled softly. "Just some popcorn maybe. No salt?"

"Sugar?"

"No."

"You want a shake or a soda or something? Wet the whistle?"

She shook her head. "No thank you."

"That's a bit dull, but alright," Nicole turned back to the maître d`. "She wants a plain popcorn, regular sized. And you got my order right? A foot-long with ketchup and mustard, milk duds, salt pretzel and a strawberry milkshake?"

As he rang up the cash register he replied, "I got it, alright? That'll be... $11.67."

Nicole blinked in consternation. "...Twelve bucks? Are you kidding me?"

The attendant rolled his eyes and pointed upward to the overhead whiteboard. It had three rectangular light bulbs inside it which illuminated the black lettering that the items for sale (and their respective prices) were written in. "It's all there in black and white." He said.

Nicole grudgingly reached into her back pocket and pulled out her wallet to pay the money. When it exchanged hands and she got her change, the pimple-faced boy went about his work, picking the foot-long off the grill with a pair of tongs and lodging it in a lengthy bun then pouring two lines (one of ketchup and the other mustard) down the thing. While he busied himself with the rest of their order Nicole turned back to Jenny and Megan. They were now merely two people away from ordering themselves.

"Why's everything in this city so expensive?" Nicole bitched.

Jenny shoved her hands in her pockets. "They don't charge you six bucks for a hotdog in Salt Lake City?"

"Not with a straight face."

Then the boy came back with everything. Nicole handed Lisa her popcorn (then asked her to hold her pretzel and box of milk duds) and took a hold of her foot-long with one hand and her shake with the other. Then Nicole turned to Jenny and Megan.

"We'll catch you guys later, okay?" She said. "Our movie's gonna start soon."

Jenny nodded to them. "Sure. Nice to meet you, Lisa."

"...You too."

She and Nicole then exited the line and left the pair of them behind. Lisa couldn't help but look back at them though. When she did she saw Megan stare hard at Nicole then whisper something into Jenny's ear. Her face twisted into a defensive expression and she said something in reply, whispering back into Megan's ear. Whatever she said it was enough because Megan seemed to calm down at that point; but not before casting a palpably worried glance in Nicole's direction and huddling closer to the taller Jenny. That had Lisa curious. While she and Nicole climbed the stairs to the next floor Lisa called her on it.

"...About Jenny and Megan..."

"What about them?" Said Nicole, obliviously.

Lisa blushed a bit. "Are they... close?"

"I suppose so. Jenny told me that she and Megan have been friends since they were in kindergarten together. You wouldn't think it to look at them because they seem so different. But Megan wasn't lying though. She did come to the tryouts afterschool. She didn't say anything or speak to anyone. She just sat in the bleachers watching Megan dive all over the place."

Lisa pondered that while they found their assigned screening room. They then walked into the darkened room, sparsely seated, with light chatter and laughter emanating from the few dozen people whom had already gathered here. Nicole pointed out two empty seats on the rear row just a few aisles down. They claimed those two seats before anyone else could and sat down on their upholstery quite comfortably. Once Nicole was settled in nicely she

removed her hotdog from its warmed-up cardboard container and took a big luxurious bite out of it.

Lisa's face went bright red when she was watched her do it; Nicole's head tilting back, sylvan mouth wide open and oval-shaped, eyes fluttered shut, brandished pearly whites sinking into bread, pork and its twin dressings. Her baby soft cheeks rolled around repeatedly whilst she chewed. Her throat bobbed when she swallowed it. Then Lisa quaked as Nicole's hot pink tongue lavishly licked around her lips. Nicole brought her hotdog to her mouth again and bit down on the mouth-shaped indentation she'd left behind earlier.

Lisa brought her legs together and urgently looked away.

Fortunately as more people started to fill in the trailers started (which gave Lisa a good enough distraction). By the time it was full the movie was starting. Nicole had finished the hotdog and was now exchanging nibbles on her pretzel with sips from her strawberry milkshake. Lisa tossed a piece of popcorn into her mouth every few seconds. It was partly because she was hungry (she'd skipped lunch knowing that she and Nicole would be going out for a meal after this) and partly because she needed a little something to distract herself from Nicole's unconscious seductiveness. It was one thing to see her in school... but this was outside in the real world. It felt mature somehow, and quite bold. Very much so. Those things made Nicole all the more beautiful and alluring. All the work she'd done to ignore her feelings for Nicole in protest of their friendship seemed so ineffective now. Whilst the opening credits were rolling Lisa hazarded a glance at her friend from the corner of her eye. Her pretty green eyes were fixed on the screen while she absent-mindedly took bites of her pretzel and sips of her milkshake. Nicole being so gorgeous was no secret but it hadn't really dawned on Lisa, until now, how attracted she was to her. She was the only girl Lisa knew of that turned her on as much as Dani had done.

As the movie proceeded and Will Smith's character spent God knows how long talking to himself and his dog, Lisa tried to focus on it. She really tried. In the end it wouldn't take. Her eyes would be on the screen for no more than a minute or so before they drifted off to Nicole again. The Milligan girl on the other hand was pretty focused on it. She'd laugh with the others every time Will's character cracked a funny joke or grimace any time he suffered a setback. All the while Lisa secretly stared at her -- utterly captivated and actively suppressing her desire to simply reach across their shared armrest and caress her. All that will was well mustered because Lisa succeeded in that aim. But before she knew it she'd fallen foul of the treachery of time. Less than two hours later...

...the end credits were rolling.

There was an explosion of chatter from the crowds and banging from their seats as they started to stand. Nicole smiled brightly at Lisa, who was somewhat startled at how swiftly the time had moved on, and asked, "That was pretty cool, right? What d'you think?"

"Uh," Lisa couldn't even remember the dog's name. But she could have told Nicole now many freckles she had on her cute little nose. "Yeah, yeah... it was... it was great."

"Sure was! I love a good movie, you know?" She then stretched out her arms and yawned a little. "So? You hungry? Fancy a bite to eat?"

"You're still hungry after all you ate?"

Nicole winked at her. "Course I am. C'mon, lets go. I don't watch the end credits."

The two of them got up and slid down the row along with some of the other people then marched out with them through the aisle. The girls stepped outside into the lobby where numerous groups huddled together chatting about the movie. Lisa felt the need to relieve herself and told Nicole as much, saying, "I need the bathroom. Wait for me?" and Nicole offered a quick "Sure. I'm right here." to her before she left. Lisa made her way to the women's bathroom and claimed a stall before they were all taken. When she was finished she came back out and went to the basins to wash her hands. Via her reflection she could see that her cheeks were tinted rouge. That meant she had been blushing a lot. Lisa had hoped that she could control that for once but it was one element of her face that always betrayed her. It made her wonder how long she could be friends with Nicole without making her suspect something. She was a smart girl. All Lisa had to do was slip one day and the secret would be out. And the consequences? Thoughts like that kept Lisa in line. She could make this work. She could ride out her crush then find someone else, while still having Nicole as a friend at the end of the day. That rejuvenating thought kept Lisa going.

When she passed a few others by and stepped out of the bathrooms again she searched for Nicole at the spot she'd left her. Nicole was indeed still there. But now she was joined by the two girls that Lisa met earlier, Jenny and Megan. Nicole and Jenny were knee-deep in conversation again while Megan stood behind her 'best friend' with a small but perceptible scowl. She clearly didn't like sharing Jenny with anyone. Lisa almost instantaneously identified with that. But there was something weird about it all too. For a moment she just stopped and focused on Megan -- who stood there sullen and miserable because her favoured person was talking to someone else.

Was that anything like Lisa?

Nicole hadn't really made many friends thus far but that was because she was new. This time next month Lisa expected her to be swimming in them. Who wouldn't like Nicole? But would Lisa be anything like Megan if that happened? Would she be possessively hanging around Nicole like an ongoing oddity with other people wondering what the hell they were doing with each other? Would she too get jealous any time she saw Nicole talking to someone else? It was strange... because when Jenny spoke to Nicole earlier, Lisa felt like that. Like a poorly thought out addition, some kind of eccentric ornament that didn't quite fit the decor of a room. She was seeing the exact same things in Megan and in Lisa's eyes it looked... somewhat pathetic.

What did that mean?

Lisa shivered a little. Something about that creeped her out. It really creeped her out. Because of that she didn't stand around and speculate but rather walked over there to get it out of her head. She immediately greeted both Jenny and Megan, saying, "Hi. How did you two... enjoy your movie?"

"It was brilliant," Jenny commented. "It's got Academy Award all over it."

Nicole nudged her eyebrows. "Hello? Writer's Guild strike?"

"That won't last."

"Wanna bet?" The cheerful Nicole then turned to Lisa. "Anyways, since these guys are done and we're done, I asked if they wanted to come eat with us now. Is that cool?"

Lisa's gut feeling was no. In her heart she declared "This is my time with Nicole and I don't wanna share her!". That was the knee-jerk reaction. But then she recognized how it sounded in her head. And she once again took a look at Megan and how wretched and childish she came off as, watching Jenny talk to someone else with that brooding look of envy. There had never been any inclination toward pride in Lisa... until now. Because for all her indecision and personal weakness the last thing she'd ever want is to be seen as was Nicole's 'unusual friend'. She didn't want to defend herself like that and she sure as hell didn't want people thinking any less of Nicole because they were friends.

Lisa swallowed her heart's misgivings to make way for her head's sensibilities and said, "...That sounds great."

"Awesome!" Nicole said merrily. "Lets bounce."

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

An hour or so later the quartet of Lisa, Nicole, Jenny and Megan were seated around a circular white plastic table (complete with mounted parasol) outside a small but intimate little pizzeria called Mama Giancarlo's. Jenny and Megan shared a large one between the two of them (with ham, mushrooms and green peppers) while Nicole ate a medium-sized one (with sweet corn, pepperoni and red peppers) and Lisa ate a small one (simply with cheese and tomato on it) by themselves. Night had fallen by now and the traffic had slowed down around the high street. It left behind a beautiful quietness that was only pierced by the little chatter between Nicole and Jenny. Around the table they dominated conversation, mostly about the soccer team. Nicole hadn't been introduced to everyone on it yet so Jenny went about informing her of all the little details about each player, their strengths and weakness, who would be playing what spots and who there was to account for in opposing teams once the season got started. Lisa tried to interject every now and again but she found herself unable to account for all the soccer jargon and technicalities. Megan was much the same way... although she didn't even both to join the conversation. She simply sat back and chewed on one of her pizza slices, constantly mute, that status only contradicted when Jenny asked her brief unrelated questions like "Are you cold?" or "Are we going home after this?" or "You want another glass of water?" and so on.

Megan herself seemed to be used to this. Even though it was clear (if only through her body language) that she did not want Nicole and Lisa to be here, she didn't bother questioning it and just sat back to let things play themselves out. Lisa couldn't say she was handling it all as easily. As selfish as it sounded, she wanted Nicole's attention on her right now. That clearly had not materialized. What's worse was how awkward it left things with Megan. Lisa tried to talk to her, to ask her what her interests were, how long she had known Jenny, whether or not she liked the pizza. Megan's responses were brusque and dreary, "Nothing much," and "A long time." or "It's not bad." to name a few. She didn't want to talk and Lisa wasn't long compelled to cajole her into doing so. That made things uncomfortable. Thusly Lisa sat silent as Megan did and listened to whatever it was that Jenny and Nicole were talking about.

"Look," Said Jenny. "We're working a 3-4-3 set up here. Dawn, Marianne and Ashley are normally up front but Marianne dropped out at the last minute so it's up to you. I think you can do it."

Nicole haggled back. "But I'm not a striker, Jenny. I always play midfield, that's how I am."

"You didn't mind shooting in practice."

"That's practice. In a real match, I-"

And so the two went on, back and forth, with Lisa not really getting it and Megan positively indifferent to it. So when Lisa's cell phone went off she was almost glad for it. Jenny and Nicole stopped talking and looked toward her. So the blonde said a quick, "I'll be back in a minute" then went off to answer it. She left the table and turned the corner of Mama Giancarlo's till she was out of earshot in the alleyway. When she took her phone out of her purse and stared at the screen she saw Dani's name flashing on it. Lisa exhaled. She'd resolved to do this tomorrow or even later on, but if Dani insisted on calling her maybe now was the best time to get it over with. So she flipped open her cell and held it to her ear.

"Hello Dani." She said listlessly.

Lisa's eyes narrowed when she heard a man's voice on the other end -- not Dani`s. "Uh, hello, is this Lisa Whitfield?"

Something was off and Lisa quickly became concerned. "Who is this? Where's Dani?"

"Okay, I'll try to explain as best I can. My name's George Prescott, I'm an intern at Headings-Stanley General Hospital," Lisa noted at that moment that that was the hospital her father was the Chief of Medicine at; but kept listening to what this guy had to say. "Last night a young woman called Danielle Cooper was brought into our Accident and Emergency centre and uh... she was pretty severely beaten."

Lisa's blood ran cold. "...Oh God..."

"B-but she's pretty much okay now," The way this guy stumbled over his words it was quite clear that he was just an intern. "Everything's stable and she's breathing. She's suffered through a few bruised ribs but we've given her some antibiotics and she'll probably be discharged in a few hours. The problem is she'll need some help getting home. By law I have to raise her next of kin but I haven't been able to get in touch with either her Mother or her Father. So I've spoken to Danielle and she told me to call you. Do you think it might be possible for you to come down here?"

She answered without thinking. "I-I-I'm on my way."

"That's great. Listen, the address is-" Lisa didn't listen and immediately shut her cell phone. With her heart racing and adrenalin pumping through her veins, the blonde girl shot out of the alleyway and ran down the street without a second thought -- the opposite direction of Mama Giancarlo's. She dashed all the way down to the end of the road and flagged a taxi mid-stride. As soon as it pulled over Lisa yanked open the door, jammed herself inside the back seat and slammed the door closed, yelling, "Take me to Headings-Stanley General Hospital please! Quickly!". The Hispanic driver nodded with a grunt then turned a corner and drove toward it.

Ten minutes later, at the table that she, Jenny and Megan were sitting at; Nicole glanced at Lisa's chair and saw that it was still empty. She stood up and looked around for her but couldn`t see Lisa anywhere. Nicole`s eyes thinned in concern. "...Where's Lisa...?"