Still firing Thomas smiled as the massive ship was starting to shred to pieces. "Shelby!" Derrick was screaming. "Get her the hell out of there!" The...e was a shimmering then a battered and bloody Mara appeared on the deck coughing and gagging. "Med-bay now! Damn it! You are one brave son of a bitch!" Just before she vanished Mara's eyes flickered open. "Please sire, please save Tara. Pleas..." Then she was unconscious again. Zimmel and Ace appeared a few moments later towing an extremely. Myhands were shaking as it took me several attempts to light my cigarette."Oh my God!" Mrs. Estes exclaimed. "Karen, he's smoking!"An argument over my smoking broke out among the three women. I could hearthem, but I wasn't listening. I was thinking about the phone call with mycoach and I was too busy crying over it. Maybe the female hormones wereto blame. I didn't want to play football anymore, anyway. I wanted to beNancy, all day all the time!"Are you okay, Nancy?" my mother asked, noticing my. Cait especially cringed at the thought of wondering if each store clerk and classmate would be cool or get all judgy, or act cool but talk shit behind her back.But with me as their beard, a beard with benefits, we could get away with a lot. When we went to an all-ages show, I could feel the envious looks of the guys as I walked in with the two of them, Megan in a black mini skirt and leather boots with a touch of goth makeup that suited her raven hair and pale skin, Cait in her usual outfit. “No!” She said, but he grabbed her lower right arm, tugging her around. Her feet dug into the ground as she strained to get away from him, shaking her head. “No no no no no! I’m a monster!”Lou ... regretted teaching her that word. A lot. Right now. It hadn’t even been a word she had taken much notice of, during their long exchange of words and definitions. But he grabbed her other hand, holding her tightly.“No! You’re not!” he said, his voice firm.Her eyes closed and she ducked her head.