When a knock came at Peter's door late in the afternoon, he hoped it would be Mary Jane, unable to wait until their next date for a go at him. His hopes weren't dashed, but they definitely went for a loop. It was Mary Jane, but she had another woman with her, so young that Peter wondered if she'd had to take a remedial class at high school or something and this was her lab partner.
"Hiya, Pete," Mary Jane greeted him cheerfully, barreling into his pad as if he'd ordered out for her. "You remember my cous Kristy? She heard about the pictures you took of me and she wanted to model for you too."
"Is that right?" Peter asked, looking at the slip of a girl, who didn't have Mary Jane's confidence and hadn't barged in with her. Instead, she nervously waved at Peter. He stepped out of the way and ushered her inside.
She cocked her head to look at him as she passed by, like a small bird watching for a movement in the grass. She didn't have Mary Jane's statuesque height or curvaceous proportions, but she had MJ's arresting prettiness in a sort of egg-wrapped way, like morning dew, like a dark cloud before rain, like the first sizzle of red before sunrise.
She was going to be a heartbreaker, but for now, she was a bird of freckles and puffy pigtails. A dainty, delicate bird that perched wherever she ended up, her straight nose and sharp chin twitching around at whatever caught her attention, her eyes smiling under coke-bottle glasses and her lips closed slightly to leave a little diamond of teeth between the middle of her upper lip and the middle of her lower lip.
It was adorable, but Peter could see it being much more—though maybe that was just him knowing from his experience with MJ what all that cuteness would develop into.
"I didn't know I photographed you so well last time," Peter continued. "But I guess I handled you so incredibly that now you think I can take on two girls."
"That's it exactly, Peter," Mary Jane lilted right back, her teasing eyes batting their lashes. "Since both of us know what we're doing, I thought we could add a virgin to the mix. Kristy's never modeled before. I figure I'll show her how to look good and you, oh, remember to take the lens cap off."
"I'm glad you trust me with the important jobs."
"I trust you," Kristy announced. "Mary Jane told me all about what great hands she was in with you. I can't wait to find out about your hands for myself!"
Peter was speechless at Kristy's brazenness. Surely she couldn't mean what she said—and couldn't be so innocent that she didn't realize her own innuendo. He wondered how such a pretty girl, capable of such aggression, could still be a virgin. But of course, that was another double meaning, this time coming from Mary Jane.
They were both playing a game and Peter had no idea what it was, but the stirring in his loins overpowered any misgivings about playing. He knew that while MJ's cousin was certainly off-limits, the lust she inspired would no doubt be put to good use... once Mary Jane had had her fun teasing him with this supposed modeling session, of course.
"Okay then," Peter said, playing along. "Let's start with Kristy and I'll see if I can keep it up with Mary Jane."
A few minutes later, Peter was setting up his lights to photograph the teenager. She said she was only a few months shy of turning nineteen, but her naturally petite body and girlish hairdo could've let her pass for younger.
Peter thought about snapping her with some childish accessories like a lollipop or teddy bear. That might be pushing the gag too far, though. Something told him that Kristy liked to think of herself as just as womanly as Mary Jane—hence why she was modelling right alongside her elder.
"Have you developed my pictures?" Mary Jane asked Peter, supervising how he was lighting her cousin.
Peter pointed into the other room and Mary Jane slunk off to get them, returning at an excited dash.
