A teenage neighbor stopping by

Sam’s face dropped in horror. “Shit!”

Again the voice, obviously female, called out, “Hello! Where are you two? I’m the neighbor! Your uncle said he had relatives around my age visiting? I’m Darla!”

Kyle grabbed Sam by his shirt collar and got in his face, “You asshole! Now what?”

Sam whispered, “Quiet! You’ve got to hide! I’ll get rid of her! Get into the bathroom!”

Kyle shoved Sam, letting his shirt loose, “You’d better! Then you’re going to fix this. Then I’m going to kick your ass!” He stormed into the bathroom.

“Hello?” Darla called again.

Sam looked around the room. He left, closing the door behind him. “Um... up here. Hang on a sec.”. He wanted to get away from the room where Kyle was but to his dismay, Darla appeared from around the corner.

She was cute! Long dark hair, piercing blue eyes, a warm smile on her face! “There you are!” She said. “I hope you don’t mind, your Uncle said it was Ok to let myself in. He thought it may be nice for you to get to know people your age this summer. You must be Sam, right?”

Meanwhile, Kyle had his ear pressed up against the bathroom door. “Shit!” He whispered when he heard the muffled sounds of a conversation just outside of the room. “What am I going to do! Think, Kyle! Think!”

He decided that the best place to hide and stay silent was as far from the door as he could get, which was the shower stall. He tiptoed across the bathroom, got into the shower, and quietly slid the door shut.

“Body scan indicates user Kylie,” MARCI suddenly blared. “Do you wish to take a shower?”

“Be quiet you stupid machine!” Kyle hissed.

“Response unclear,” MARCI again intoned.

Outside, Sam winced when he clearly heard MARCI activate again. What had his stupid brother done now? Was he trying to undo the changes on his own?

“What was that?” Darla asked, peering over Sam’s shoulder? “Is that your brother?”

“Uh...”

Back in the bathroom, MARCI again asked, “Do you wish to take a shower?”

“Shut up!” Kyle hissed loudly.

“In the absence of a clear response I’m going to assume that you wish to begin a cleansing and dressing sequence. Enjoy your shower!”

Arms came out and roughly disrobed Kyle. Within moments, he was again being subjected to the cleansing brushes and floral scents of MARCI’s shower.

Sam heard the water running outside the door and panicked. What was going on in there?

“Look, we’re kinda busy...”

“Sounds like someone’s getting ready. I can wait! It’ll be nice to show you two around and introduce you to people!”

Again, Kyle was dragged out of the bathroom and promptly redressed and restyled in exactly the same outfit as before. Apparently that was his clothing for the day.

Upon hearing the blowers going, Darla said, “Sounds like he’s finishing up getting ready!” She knocked on the door. “Are you decent? Can I come in?”

“No!” Sam said, trying to get himself between Darla and the door, but it was too late. She opened the door slowly and said, “Hi, I’m Darla....”

And there stood Kyle in all his tomboyish teen girl glory, looking aghast.

“Oh! I’m sorry!” Darla said. “I thought...” she peered at the necklace around Kyle’s neck.

She jumped to some conclusions. “You doofus,” she said, playfully smacking Sam’s shoulder. “Now I get why you were acting so weird. You could have just said that you didn’t have a brother, but a sister.

“I thought your uncle said her name was Kyle, and I just assumed it was two guys!” She smiled broadly. “No harm done. And it’s great to meet you Kylie!”

“Uh... same,” Kyle said, mortified.

“It’ll be fun! You seem shy! Not to worry, I’ll get both of you introduced around. And there’s lots to do, too! Your uncle said he didn’t want the two of you messing around inside all summer, so he called me!”

She turned to Sam, “i’ll Introduce you to the guys. They do a lot of team video games, and I’m sure they’d love another player!”

She beamed at Kyle, “And no wallflowers here! My girls are going to love hanging out with you, Kylie! There’s lots of great shopping, and Melissa has this great pool to relax by! Do you have a bikini?

“Anyway, we’re going to have a great time this summer!” Darla said, taking Sam’s and Kyle’s arms in her’s. “C’mon. Let’s get you introduced!”