A New Guy in my Life

Ok, well maybe he's not exactly in my life, but he is in the neighborhood, and I really wish he was. Actually maybe I don't, but I wish he could be anyway, like if things were different.

Thing is, he's like way out of my reach for a couple of reasons. One, he's got to be like thirty years old, and two, he's married. Yeah, I know, its awful to be thinking about married men, but I am just thinking. His wife, the rotten bitch, is really nice too. I mean seriously, this guy is gorgeous and nice and everybody loves him. Even my mom said he's cute, and she's pretty picky.

Its kind of funny, how when a new guy moves into the neighborhood, especially during the summer time, the girls start popping out of the woodwork. I saw him first, and I kept my cool, but like by the end of the day when they were moving in, Bitsy and Betsy, they're twin cheerleaders who live a couple of houses down, just happened to come by with a housewarming present.

I hope he saw through those twits, but unfortunately, he may not have. His car was sparkling clean this afternoon, which is a little suspicious since the cheerleaders carwash happened to be today. This is arousing my suspicions. I'm thinking that it just may be that John the Hunk and his innocent wife may be getting taken in by the evil pom pom twins. It could even be a job for the Babe of Bronze.

I may be overreacting, but just to be on the safe side, I've been keeping an extra eye on him with my X-ray vision every once in a while. And, if I can think of a decent excuse, I might even go over and see if there's any subtle signs of brain damage or something. I mean, somebody's got to look out for helpless good looking guys and save them from vicious teenage vixens, right? I'm seriously doing good here, right?

The Pool Party

You know what? Playing lifeguard for a dozen 12-14 year olds wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it might be. Granted it was boring sometimes, and I'm just not going to go into how weird it is to have X-ray vision and be looking at a pool full of mixed sex teenagers, but I've had much worse experiences.

Part of the reason is, I think because I let Lauren talk me into wearing an itsy bitsy little string bikini. When I pulled off my t-shirt, it seemed to instantly like silence the guys, and even though the guys stared even more, they kept their distance. And even after I put it back on, I guess they remembered it, because not a single guy would look me in the eye all night. Every time I even opened my mouth, Ricky would look away, for example, almost like he was scared of me. Not a bad thing when you're supposed to be, like an authority figure and you're half a foot shorter than everyone.

Don't get me wrong, Lauren got more than her share of attention too, but she's much better at dealing with it than I am. Lauren's got a killer body, and unlike mine, which, if you look really closely, doesn't exactly jive with gravity, hers moves with like this awesome natural grace when she wants it. I think she really did like playing with the kids for a little while, but not for that long, because as soon as the food was coming off the grill, she and I were pretty much enmeshed in some pretty serious catching up. Lauren had been off on vacation, and we had a lot of stuff to talk about.

All in all, it was pretty tame, honest. One guy came in with alchohol on his breath, but he behaved and no one ever needed to know that I smelled it from across the yard. And while another guy brought in a bottle of vodka, I spotted it and confiscated it pretty easily. He was so confused over how I spotted it, I think, that he didn't even argue when I took it.

After the party broke up, and Alice's folks got home, they sat down with me and talked too, which was awesome. They told me, like how much of a good example I am for her, and how they really appreciate me. I'm not sure how true it was, but it sure felt good to hear.

I was so pumped up by that, that I let Alice's father walk me home, which was a little weird. When we got to my house, he put his hand on my shoulder and, damn, I almost freaked. It sucks sometimes to have supersenses, and it didn't take X-ray vision to know that his heartbeat was racing and all, like he was getting turned on by me. But you know what, he was cool.

He said, "Daphne, I just wanted to tell you again how grateful we are that you're around. Alice is very lucky to have you and so are we. I want you to know, we think of you like another daughter."

He sort of leaned down, and I thought he was going to do something really bad, but he just kissed me on the forehead. I blabbered something about how cool that was, and how I thought of them as my family too, but words didn't really explain how good I felt about it. It was WAY better than stopping a robbery, or even saving a person from a burning building.

Daph

Off-topic RPG Plug

As some of you know, Daphne Orgone started out as a college freshman in a decidedly more adult setting, a Yahoo RPG. The Daphne you see here is younger, more innocent and decidedly tamer, and the medium allows for it to be more "personal." The RPG underwent a long hiatus, in large part due to personal problems, and to a lesser extent due to player mix and my own interest in exploring what Daphne's teenage years must have been like here. I have and still am enjoying exploring the younger Daphne.

However, by popular demand, I am going to try giving the Yahoo RPG a restart. Its definitely at least "R" rated, and if you want to play, you will need a yahoo id which says that you are at least 18 years old to play. There's also a no-lurkers policy, which means if you're not going to contribute, don't bother to check it out.

But, if you're interested in interacting with Daphne, or her friends in a different setting, you're welcome to come check it out. If you do apply to join, you'll see fairly quickly that even the slightly older Daphne has a definite need for smarter friends to keep her out of trouble. They don't need to be, and preferably won't all be, "super," but should be well rounded characters who can interact a bit more normally, as well as providing Daphne with guidance, assistance, support, romance, friendship and rivalry. We're probably going to do almost a complete restart of that game, so don't feel like you're too hemmed in by what's happened before. I'd give you more details, but the nature of the group is a lot more collaborative, and I'm really not sure exactly where its going to go.

If you're interested, check it out:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BronzeBabeandFriends/

Dastardly Evil Munchkins are taking over my world

Its not exactly superheroine type stuff, but I had a pretty weird experience this afternoon which I sort of wanted to write about. There's a girl named Alice who lives a couple of doors down, and I babysit sometimes for her and her friends. Its no big deal because I live so close and I've known her like all her life, and for some completely unknown reason, her mom has always trusted me. Unlike some of the other girls in the neighborhood, I guess, I don't bring guys over, and its usually pretty easy, especially during the day, because they have this really cool pool. Honestly, in afternoons at their age, they'd don't really need a babysitter, but since I got my lifeguard training, it makes her mom feel better for me to be around when they swim. Alice's dad likes it too, but that's another story.

So, on a beautiful sunny day, I'm supposed to watch two twelve year old girls for a couple of hours in the afternoon by the pool. No problem. Well, in some ways, it wasn't, but in others, it was no cake walk. First off, I should tell you that Alice is really smart, and we're tight, or as tight as I think we can be, given the age difference and, um, well, my differences. So the thing is, even though I'm like "in charge", its not like I pretend I'm her mom or anything, and sometimes we talk, like about stuff that she's interested in, even though some of it was way over my head when I was her age. Her friend Janet I like too, but I hadn't quite banked on what would happen when the two of them put their heads together.

We were lying in the sun, catching rays and drinking lemonade and talking about all sorts of stuff. With those two, I generally don't say a whole lot and let them talk, and when I need to pipe in, I do. Somehow (and no, it was not me), the topic of boys came up, and a particular 14 year old who both girls seemed to agree was totally hot became the subject of their fascination. He's an nice kid, I think, and although fourteen year old boys are definitely not the sort of people I spend a lot of time with, his big sister is my age, and, given the pathetic things guys that age go through, I sort of liked him. To Alice and Janet though, he was like some sort of major stud, and the two of them were agonizing over him like you wouldn't believe.

Honestly, I was starting to fade out, watching some couple trying to join the mile high club in an airliner overhead, when out of the blue, Alice blurted out.

"Daphne, what's Rick doing right now."

I turned my head, spotted him in his room in the house next door, and without thinking, answered.

"He's watching a basketball game with some other kid."

Neither Alice nor Janet called me on my slip up, exactly, but the way they sat up and looked at me, I felt like I'd been cornered by a couple of prepubescent predators.

"Nice, Daph" Alice said grinning.

Janet, the little bitch, started it.

"You know Daphne, word out on the street is that he's got a major thing for you. And I hear that's why you don't hang with Jennifer anymore, cause he's like after you."

"What?" I said, sitting up. "That's got, like nothing to do with it."

"Course, it could be Jennifer's fed up with you, you know."

"What ?" I said sitting up. "What are you talking about?"

"Its OK, Daphne" Alice replied and then turned to Janet. "Don't pick on her Janet. She can't help it."

OK, from here on out, I'm just not going to go through the whole conversation word for word. Recounting it is humiliating for me, and honestly, I don't remember half of the specifics of what was said, because I was way out of my league, completely on the defensive and being subtly manipulated by the two of them. Even though they never said it exactly, I could tell that they knew I sometimes saw things other people couldn't, and they used that, together with my insecurities, to prep me. That last part I figured out later. I swear, its like they were softening me up, getting ready to pounce. Mostly, Janet was attacking and Alice was playing the good cop sort of thing, but really, it was way more subtle, and I swear, impossible to resist.

By the time they got to it, I was utterly and completely defenseless. They'd never quite said it, but it was like they'd made me sure they knew that I was a complete fraud, and that they could destroy me if they wanted, but that they wouldn't, because they were so nice. It galls me to just think about it, but honestly, they had me ready to do anything for them. And true to form, what they asked for, it wasn't like it was so horrible sounding or awful that I would have woken up to what they were doing. No, they just made it sound like a favor I could do for them that wouldn't do any harm, and if I did it, maybe just maybe, they'd still like me in spite of all my faults.

Little stinkers. I'm now going to spend my Saturday night babysitting not just for Janet and Alice, but for half the kids in the neighborhood. "A little pool party, and Mom and Dad said fine," they said. Only they knew damn well that the "older" guys would come if I was supposed to be the lifeguard. Older meaning older than them, but still three years younger than me. It may sound ridiculous to you, but trust me, I got superhearing and X-ray vision. I know some of what the guys in my neighborhood think about me in a swimsuit, and I even know ... well, never mind. That's gross, ok, but the point is, I'm not imagining it and I'm not some snooty conceited bitch either. NOBODY really wants that kind of attention from guys that age, but unfortunately, I'd sort of grown up with them, and there wasn't much I could do about it now.

Its not THAT big of a deal, like one Friday night, but still, I feel like I've been pimped out by two twelve year old girls. I swear, I think they think they own me.

And yeah, it gets worse. I got duped, right, manipulated by a couple of kids into luring over guys who probably didn't even know that they existed and are going to spend the whole time staring at me, when they're not . But what's really worse was, that in order to satisfy Alice's parents that it was safe, I was going to have to recruit a friend to help me.

When I told Lauren, she ripped me a new one before making me practically beg her to do it with me. And yes, when she demanded to know how I got talked into it, she made me go through it ALL. Lauren's the best friend I've got, I think, though, and she didn't rub it in too much. Still, I am sort of glad that she's going to have to sit through that thing too. And you know what, I don't think that Lauren even OWNS a one piece suit. If I'm gonna have to spend an evening getting stared at by horny fourteen year old guys who're too embarassed to get out of the water, at least I'm not going to be the only one.

Pondering Morality, sort of

I've been thinking a whole lot about some heavy stuff since that problem down in New Orleans, and I thought I'd just work through some of it here, in case any of y0u guys have any thoughts. Some of you have already tried to help me out, but I'm afraid that sort of begs the question.

I don't think I'm going to turn myself into the New Orleans Police. Ive been thinking a lot about it, but honestly, much as I'd like to say, hey, I'm subject to the law too, I think that that would be a cop out. It'd be so easy to say, hey, I'm just a kid, and I need someone to tell me what to do and even punish me when I messed up, but seriously, who would I trust to tell me what to do an all.

Let's face it, it sounds awful, but the law wasn't designed for someone like me, and I don't think its a good idea if I used that as an excuse. Like, if I let myself be arrested and thrown in jail, what good is that gonna do? I suppose you could say I'd learn my lesson, but I don't know how much worse it could be than me staying awake thinking about the guy's family and all. Its not like I could get executed or anything. And if I'm in jail, I'm not out righting wrongs, or even practicing to do that. More people might die, and what's the point?

I'm by no means certain of my reasoning here, and there's something about all this that makes me sick to my stomach, but sometimes I think that may just be a necessary evil to having superpowers. With great power comes great responsibility, right? Well, I know I'm dodging a lot of responsiblity at the moment by not spending all my time trying to save people and all, but I don't think I can do it forever, and don't want to make it any worse.

The other thing is, if I come out now, I'm not sure how it might affect things with Tweedlee and Tweedledum's agency. I'm still waiting for a call back from them, and they might not appreciate me making the headlines and all. I think I'm just going to try and stay "stealth" for awhile.

Oh.. by the way. Some of you guys may have seen the little link to Skye and Franck on the right there. I'm going to try and meet up with her, 'cause, well, in addition to wanting to meet her (and Franck too, but I'm gonna restrain myself), I'm figuring that it might be a good thing to have someone a little bit older and more mature (she definitely seems more mature anyways) who can relate to some of my issues. I just hope she doesn't find me, like hopelessly adolescent and annoying. Wish me luck.

Daph

I screwed up

No, I'm not talking about losing my clothes or my cell phone or my keys, although I did pretty screw up a really nice t-shirt. Nope, this time I really messed up, and on top of that, I'm in a little bit of pain at the moment, so I hope you'll bear with me while I tell you about it.

Tonight, I was feeling, well, bored and useless, so I went down to New Orleans to try and see if I couldn't give the National Guard a hand reeling in the crime problem down there. Let me tell you, it was really depressing seeing some of those neighborhoods like totally messed up. Other parts were pretty much ok, but, even at night, I got a feeling like the place is really not the same. Not that I'd seen it before, but I saw the news and all.

Anyways, I found myself a cute little national guard guy and talked him up, finding out like where all those shootings were and stuff, and then I went to check it out. I was there for like ten minutes or so, talking with some of the people (yeah there are like real people down there, moms and kids, and all) before I heard gunfire. I flew over a couple of blocks and got there just in time for like a firefight, I guess you call it. There were like two sets of guys shooting at each other across the street, like hiding behind cars and stuff.

I landed and disarmed two of them, but one of their buddies (I'm pretty sure he was on the same side 'cause he was so close) shot me, right in the left boob. Now, let me be right up front, it didn't bleed or anything, but it hurt like the dickens, and I got a little red mark that still stings. No biggie, really, although it didn't seem like that at the time. At the time, I was really pissed and I grabbed the guy too hard, I think. Bastard started choking on me, like I had crushed his windpipe or something.

So here I am, trying to like do a traychiometry or something on him (I saw that on ER), when two cops pull up in a silver cadillac escalade, yelling at me and stuff. Soon as the cops showed up, the fight stopped, and the guy I'd grabbed was like dying, so I grabbed one cop and told him to call an ambulance before I took the other cop by the back of his shirt and brought him over to the guy laying there. For awhile, I thought he'd make it, but when the paramedics finally made it, they said it was too late.

Man, I'm pissed at myself. Not only did I not stop the fight in time (two other guys got shot and one died), but I basically killed a guy just cause he couldn't aim straight 'cause of my boobs. I mean, I swear, if he'd shot me anywhere else, I really doubt I'd have reacted like that. I've been shot in the stomach before, and it hurt, but not like that.

Damn, you know the worst part? I'm sitting here rubbing this little red spot, and there's not a damn thing I can do about the pain except wait. None of those numbing creams do shit for me, and I took like a half dozen Ibuprofen and it didn't do diddly.

I know, I'm a frigging wimp, whining about a little bitty welt that will be good as new in a couple of hours, but I'm not used to pain. And besides, that's not what really hurts. What hurts is I messed up. Superman never accidentally kills people and neither does Wonderwoman. Heck, even Buffy doesn't accidentally stake humans, and she's almost as goofy as I am sometimes.

I feel like such a dork. I'd get drunk, only, it'd wear off so fast it wouldn't be worth it.

Damn, what a night. I want to go to bed and never wake up.

Daph