Chapter 8

Piak!

"Ow, what the fuck?" I said.

Blinking, I looked up at the face hovering above me. Serena looked so beautiful. Holy shit she's so close that I can feel her breath on my face. Is she trying to kiss me? Oh man, I knew it. Here comes your reward Sir Johnny Lance-alot, you knight in shining armor you...

Piak!

Owwww. Why is she slapping me?

"Johnny? Hei!" Serena called out to me.

"Uhhhh..." I blinked again and turned to glance to my left. I was sitting on the couch. Leo was sitting beside me, looking both worried and sheepish while a standing Jessica glared down at him, her hands on her hips.

"What is wrong with you? He's just a kid!" Jessica was saying.

"I swear, this never happen before," Leo replied.

"What the hell is this stuff?" she asked pointing to the shisha pipe.

"Errr... You know. Just herbs... spices... maybe some hallucinogenic mushrooms..."

"What!"

"Just a little, just a little, I swear! Like just one little mushroom in the whole jar."

"Shit la you! What if he was allergic?" Jessica berated him angrily.

"Nawww. See, he's already coming around. He was just flying high for like five minutes, chill la Jess..." Leo said.

"Johnny? You alright?" Serena asked.

"Kiss me..." I said.

She raised her hand again.

"Whoa! I'm alright, I'm okay, I'm fine!" I quickly said.

Serena let out a sigh of relief and slid down on the seat to my right. "Don't scare me like that Johnny." She said.

"Yea lor," Jessica added. "We've got enough things to worry about." She handed to me Mark's phone.

On the screen was Mark's Whatsapp correspondence with an unidentified number.

Anon: Thanks again for the other day. You really helped me out in a pinch.

Mark: It's not a problem. You're welcome.

Anon: I never really got to know you. Didn't know you were such a nice guy.

Mark: It's really not a big deal.

Anon: Modest too. Do you want to have lunch tomorrow? My treat, as my thanks.

The messages went back and forth spanning several weeks. It was really obvious a bond was emerging from the correspondence.

"So... My brother's a good samaritan?" I said.

Jessica was not amused. "You can't be that naive."

"But you don't even know who the other person is."

"Oh, we have a pretty good idea," Jessica replied.

"Oh, you guys talking about Mark and Cheryl?" Leo asked.

Jessica turned and stared at Leo. "What! How do you know about Cheryl?"

Leo blinked innocently. "Every guy that has ever crossed her path knows about Cheryl."

Jessica rolled her eyes.

"Who's Cheryl?" I asked.

Leo smiled. "Who is the first person to come to your mind when I say long hair, sexy little black dress, cute ass..."

I closed my eyes and immediately saw the Siren girl, swaying her hips and throwing me the barest of come hither looks.

"Ohhhh," I said.

"See," Leo said to Jessica.

"Men..." Jessica sighed.

I glanced over at Serena. She looked really sullen.

"Come on, maybe they're just friends," I said.

"Ah, to be young and innocent," Jessica lamented.

"Well," Leo said. "If it really is Cheryl, then you don't need to worry. Her average relationship only lasts about two to three months."

"How is that supposed to be helpful?" asked Jessica.

"Uhhhh... Well... Uhhhh..."

"God, hopeless la you."

"Johnny, are you sure you're alright?" Serena asked.

"Huh?"

"You've been rubbing your eyes nonstop for the past five minutes."

"Oh, uh, yeah. Just abit itchy."

Itchy wasn't exactly the right word, more like it tingles. But the reason I kept rubbing my eyes was that my vision was a little off. I keep seeing odd distortions. One minute, I see Jessica, cute, petite, and pretty like a flower in her green halter minidress, the next, the region around her neck seemed to get all blurry. When I looked at Leo, it was the same. After a while, the middle of his chest would distort, like looking through heated air over sun-baked asphalt.

"If he goes blind because of this, you better be sure to take responsibility," Jessica said to Leo.

"Oh man, chill la, really no problem one. I've been smoking this for years."

"You sure anot? I think your brain gone case already," Jessica retorted.

I glanced over at Serena. Sure enough, a distortion occurred. I couldn't miss it if I tried. The distortion was on both sides of her head. Namely around her ears. Without thinking, I reached out and touched her ear, my fingers instinctively brushed the back of her earlobe. Serena gasped and pulled away in surprise.

"You see, oh my god, he sot liao!" Jessica said. "She came over to me to get a better look at me. "Hey, snap out of it," she said. I reached out for the distortion on her neck and my fingers instinctively traced her neckline.

"Oh my God, what's wrong with him?" Serena asked.

Both girls glared at Leo who was scratching his head as well. "Uh, well, just give him some air. His head should be clear within an hour or so."

Confused as well as embarrassed, I slowly got to my wobbly feet. "Uh, yeah," I said. "I should return the phone to Mark. You know, in case he gets suspicious."

"I'll come with you," Serena said.

"Uh, maybe you better not," I said. "He's on the dance floor..."

"With Cheryl?" She asked.

I nodded. Then regretted it when I saw her swallow bitterly.

I excused myself and exited the room. Shit, that was some crazy shit I just smoked. With so many people in the club, the entire place became quickly distorted in my view. It was like someone slapped a mosaic censor across my eyes. Somehow miraculously, I stumbled my way onto the dance floor.

However, I couldn't find Mark anywhere. Since Mark was nowhere to be seen on the dance floor, I made my way back to the tables. The college people were still hanging around but there was still no sign of Mark. Then I spied Cheryl, the Siren, huddled with her fellow mermaids around their table, looking somewhat scandalized.

Now, I'm a pretty confident guy, but even I'm getting cold feet at the thought of approaching her. She was definitely putting out a don't fuck with me vibe. I took a long deep breath, then waltzed right up to their table and asked, "Hey, you guys seen Mark?"

Her girlfriends were like, what the fuck, how dare you even talk to us. Cheryl just raised her manicured eyebrow at me.

"Are you Mark's friend?" one of her cronies asked.

"I wouldn't say that..." I replied.

But it didn't seem like she was listening. "Your friend is the worst. I mean what the fuck la. What kind of degenerate is he?" I ignored her and glanced around the table. "So I take it none of you seen him? No one? Not a teensy bit? Okay then..."

I was about to leave when Cheryl spoke. "Come here, boy." Whoa. That voice sends tingles up my spine. I circled the table to where Cheryl was. She shifted in her seat to face me. Her incredible legs executed a demure cross. The fabric of her short skirt stretched tautly as she did, flaunting her incredible figure.

She seemed to regard me with curiosity. "Are you looking for your brother?" she asked.

"How did you know he's my brother?"

"I've known him for some time. He tells me a lot about himself."

"I'm sure you'd love to write a book about it, so where is he?"

"How do I put this politely?" Cheryl asked. "He tried to hump me on the dance floor. Literally pushed me down on all fours and tried to mount me." Oh shit. That's right, I activated Mark, didn't I? Damn, I completely forgot. Was this what the vision of Grandpa was about? I'm starting to lose it, touching people's spots willy-nilly without thinking. Still, I didn't know what to expect when I activated Mark, but this... This is just...

"Pfffffftttttt... Buahahahaha." I couldn't hold it. I burst out laughing.

"I'm glad you find it funny," Cheryl said. Her eyes flashed with anger even when her tone was so deceptively calm.

"I'm very sorry about my brother," I said to her. "I'll make sure to spank him when I get home, so if you can just point me to where he is..."

Cheryl smiled a little. Her cold eyes gave it an almost cruel quality. Then she shrugged her perfect swanlike shoulders. "He took off running after we fought him off."

"Riiiight," I said. "Well then, I gotta go muzzle the fella before he embarrasses someone who actually doesn't deserve it. Please excuse me. You ladies keep your chin up and watch your rumps tonight alright?"

I left the statement hanging and mocked a bow. As I did, I saw it. Cheryl's distortion. Smaller than most, emanating from her knee. Somehow, I felt an urge to touch it. But I quickly steeled myself against it. I didn't think she was in the mood to be touched. I sauntered away before my last statement could sink in. Also, it was so that I could not act on my weird impulse. That shit Leo made me smoke really fucked me up worst than I thought. I wonder if I am really going blind.

Back to the matter at hand. Where o where can that brother of mine be? I remembered the night of the reunion dinner when Grandpa pressed my horny button. I remembered how goddamn strong the urge to fuck was. What would I do if my button was pressed right now? I guess I would have to jerk off quickly.

I jogged over to the bathroom. Jeeeeezus. Someone just up and left a row of unconscious drunk people outside the corridor. I could smell puke on them. I turned around the corner at the end of the hallway into the male restroom. More people were lounged inside, right on the bathroom floor. Some were smoking. I walked past the row of toilet stalls. Luckily only one was locked. It was the last one at the end.

I knocked on the door. "Mark?" I called out.

I heard a small whimper from within.

There was a guy slumped lazily against the restroom wall beside the locked stall, smoking a cigarette. Our eyes met. He smiled lecherously at me, glanced over at the locked door, then made a loose fist and did a hammering motion.

I guess I found Mark.

"Mark, what you doing? Dropping a hot load?" I asked.

Heh-heh. Oh, how the tables have turned.

"John?" I heard Mark say hoarsely.

"Ya. Been looking all over for you."

"Uh, I-I need a minute," Mark said.

"You alright?"

"Yeah sure. Holy shit, never better."

He sounded out of breath. LOL. I really shouldn't, but hell, it ain't easy growing up with an obnoxious older brother. There are not many chances I get to fuck with his royal highness, the almighty firstborn son. You might think, hold it, Johnny, this is family we're talking about. Shit can't be that bad. No, it really is. My dad is really old fashioned and he prizes his eldest son most of all. Me? Let's just say, I got a lot of hand-me-downs from my brother. Shit, even my handphone is Mark's old phone.

I felt a mischievous grin split across my face. "Fuck man, you got to cum quick. Shit's getting good out here." I called out to Mark.