An elucidating talk with Tessa's little sister (Wyatt POV)

I took Tess home later that night, still buzzing all over from what happened between us.

On the drive, it was quiet. We both had a lot to think about.

I'd ventured helplessly off-script, and there was no going back. I was being reckless, taking risks, but worse than that, it was all paying off. I could tell myself I'd reel it in, that I'd get this under control, but I didn't bother lying to myself.

I'd carefully chartered my plans for the CDs, and schooled my expectations to keep them realistic, to keep them conservative. Yet, within a month of being home, I'd already exceeded my fantasies. Tessa was more beautiful and open than ever, as close to the manifest version of my dream girl as I'd ever seen. We'd taken our friendship to the next level, and done unspeakably beautiful things to each other.

Even if I could use the subliminals to return Tessa to how she was before, I would remember what we'd done, and what we'd done had changed me.

If this is what I could accomplish in a month, where could I be by the end of the summer?

I tried to tamp down on the grandiose visions that answered the question. I could do anything. But the rational part of me still existed, even if it was nearly stunned into silence. One step at a time. I needed to keep my feet on the ground, and my eyes forward. Things would go my way from now on, but I had to keep my wits about me, or it might all slip out from under me.

The higher I climbed, the farther I'd have to fall.

--

I said bye to Tessa inside her house. She sheepishly hugged me goodbye, more out of habit than anything - the embrace was stiff. Despite myself, I felt uncomfortable as well. Years of boundaries developed through our comfortable friendship were now up for negotiation.

"So I'll... see you later, bye," said Tess, ending the hug. Abruptly, in a flash of legs, she spun and fled down the hall to her room.

"Right," I said, wincing to myself after she disappeared.

If I'd known this morning we'd be sleeping together, I'd have prepared a bespoke CD for Tessa to help her with the transition. The CDs I had in my binders all assumed different contexts, however, and were now hopelessly off base. I needed new plans, new programs, and a new vision to tie them all together.

"What the heck was that about?" asked Cassy, materializing out of the aether right beside me.

I almost jumped out of my skin. How much had Tessa's sister seen? Wait - no - calm down, there was nothing to see. Just a hug, and some awkwardness. Cassy had no idea what we'd done together.

"Hey squirt," I said, ruffling her hair like I did when we were kids. "What have you been up to?"

Cassy karate-chopped my hand away from her head. "Quit being weird."

She was dressed in a tank top and a baggy pair of jeans, her brown hair messy from a day spent at home. Ah, summer.

"What's weird is that you'll be going to college in a few months," I said, paying more attention to Cassy than I had in a while. If anything was going to go wrong, it'd be from Tessa's sister reading too much into her changing behavior.

"It's not that weird," said Cassy. "You're the weird one. You're 22. You're basically older than Mom now."

The resemblance between Cassy and Tess had been invisible to me for years, but tonight, I saw it again. Put a pair of glasses on her, and Cassy'd look a little like a tomboy version of her sister from two years ago, before I'd gotten my hands on the subliminals - though Cassy's hair was shorter and wilder, and her complexion sunnier than her sister's.

"Do you go out of your way to insult all your high school friends, or just me?" I teased.

Cassy blushed and looked away. "I'm an equal opportunity insulter."

She'd always been a precocious girl, and got flustered easily, but Cassy didn’t usually blush. I used to babysit for Sarah (Tess and Cassy's mom) back in the day. If something was wrong, maybe I could help. And more importantly, I could check that it wasn't anything related to me and Tess that was bothering her.

“What's got you nervous? Usually it takes more ribbing before your face turns red.”

Cassy's eyes darted briefly to the hallway that led to her sister's room.

Fear spread in my chest. “Is this about Tessa?”

“Sort of,” muttered Cassy.

An anxious lump solidified in my throat. Had Cassy put two and two together? That her sister's new fashion sense coincided with my return to the Lewis household? How could I excuse myself if Cassy accused me, and, more importantly, had she already called the police? I wasn't built for jail, how would I survive?

But Tessa's little sister didn't accuse me. Not right away, anyway.

“Can I ask you something?” she said instead.

I put on my best poker face, but the paint was peeling. “Sure thing," I said, sweat beading on my brow. "Ask away.”

"Not here," said Cassy. "Follow me."

Furtively, she grabbed my hand and dragged me to her room. I took deep breaths, trying not to sweat through my clothes.

Cassy’s room was very messy, with posters of the buff chick from The Mandalorian, the Halo ring, and Snips from Clone Wars adorning the walls."

“Sci-fi fan,” I commented, for lack of anything else to say. “More than you used to be...”

Drawing attention to her room’s decor deeply embarrassed Cassy. She blurted her question out, loudly, to change the topic. “Did Tessa sleep with you?”

Oh no. She knew. “What? No way, that's crazy,” I said unconvincingly, my heart beating faster than a hummingbird's. “I never touched her. She doesn’t like me like that.”

Cassy's brow furrowed. “Why not?”

Out of everything Cassy could have said, "Why not?" wasn't on my radar. I floundered for a second before I cottoned on to the new thread of the conversation.

“Uh… I’m not sure,” I said, cautiously. “Maybe because we’ve been friends for so long.”

“You do want to have sex with her, though, right?” asked Cass, her tone accusing. “She’s super pretty, 'specially since she cut her hair.”

“I mean…” Something about Cassy's sudden interest in my sex life gave me deja vu, but I couldn't quite put it into words why. I proceeded with care. “Yes," I said slowly. "I'd have sex with Tessa if I could.”

Cassy expected this reply. She simply folded her arms and nodded. “Then Tess’s stupid," she declared. "If I had a friend like you, I’d let you be my boyfriend if you wanted,” said Cass. “ I haven’t kissed anybody yet, but being able to do stuff... like that... with a friend? Seems like it’d be really, I don’t know, just really special. Y’know?”

“Yeah, for real,” I said. I pretended that I totally got where she was coming from, but now I knew why this was so familiar. Coincidentally, I shared a similar conversation with Tessa just earlier this evening. “Say, Cassy. You haven’t by chance been listening to any of the black CDs I lent to Tessa... have you?”

Cassy guiltily ducked her head and gave the smallest of shrugs. “Maybe a little," she confessed. "Don’t tell Tessa. She hates me going in her room, but I kept hearing the music through the wall, and the songs kept getting stuck in my head so…”

She gave me a conspiratorial look, went to her dresser, and from beneath a pile of folded shirts in the top drawer, pulled CD #4 out. "I borrow this one sometimes,” she said, spinning the CD on her index finger. “I listen to it pretty much every day. I've never heard music like this before, it's really cool."

I stared. "Cassy, do you have any key phrases for me?"

Cassy frowned at the question, not quite understanding what I meant. She answered anyway. "I want to have sex." She caught herself and covered her mouth. "I don't know why I said that."

CD #4. Tess's sexual preparation CD.

Sex is fascinating. Thinking about sex excites you. You want to be sexually active. You're ready to have sex.

That’s why Cassy was grilling me about Tess. Not because she was suspicious, but because of the CD.

You can always talk to Wyatt about your sex life. Wyatt is a valuable source of sexual advice.

That's where Cassy's sudden interest in sex came from, and why she was talking to me about it instead of exploring the subject in private on the internet like a normal teenager.

None of my plans for the CDs addressed Cassy as anything more than a potential point of failure. She was just Tessa's kid sister. A sweet girl. The kid I used to babysit. But I'd been so focused on Tessa that I barely acknowledged that if the subliminals worked on her, they'd probably work on anyone else, too.

I'd finally accepted the potency of my subliminal technique, and now Cassy was showing off a black CD hooked on her finger. It was one hell of a reminder that, technically, there was nothing stopping me from making CDs for Cassy too. Unbidden, all sorts of ideas popped up in my head for Cassy. Her resemblance to Tess only encouraged them. She was just as cute as her sister.

Which was crazier? That I'd never thought of Cassy that way before, or that it suddenly felt so natural, so intriguing, to do so now?

Cassy misread my wonderment. “I know, you made this CD for Tessa, not me. I shouldn’t have taken it.”

My hand dropped on Cassy’s shoulder, silencing her apology. “I think it’s great you’re getting into new kinds of music." At once, I felt both great relief and vastly empowerment. “How about this? If you give that CD back to Tessa, I'll make a copy you can keep."

Cassy lit up, excited that she was getting her own CD, and excited that one of her sister's cool college friends was actually paying attention to her for once. "Oh, sweet. Yeah, I'll give it back. I guess I could've just asked you in the first place instead of stealing it."

I leaned into the 'cool older friend' role. "I'll even burn a special mix CD, just for you."

“Awesome, really?” Despite trying to play it cool, Cassy sounded excited.

I nodded. "Sure. I'll do it tonight. I owe your sister a new CD anyway. But don't tell Tess. It'll be our little secret.”

Cassy really liked the sound of that, having her own little secret with me. We made it official with a pinky swear.

I headed out, and Tessa's sister saw me out of the house.

"See you soon," she called after me at the door, a little bashful, but with a secretive smile.

I waved back, and returned home filled with new energy, direction, and purpose.

I had a lot of work to do before tomorrow.