While the Atz Are Asleep

'I can't tell you how much the kids are looking forward to this concert, Mr. Jessop, and how grateful we all are for your work with the band. Ain't that right, Alice?' Hank Katz paused in the middle of garnishing his burger to make the declaration and his wife bobbed her head in agreement.

Alvin Jessop, the novice music teacher and choirmaster, shrugged self-depreciatingly and smiled, 'Please, call me Alvin. And it's a pleasure, Mr. Katz. And knowing the kids are looking forward to this is reward in itself.'

The "kids", seated at the far end of the picnic table, didn't catch the exchange and like all teenagers would have probably just rolled their eyes. It wasn't that they disliked Jessop - on the contrary they were quite fond of him, and were well aware that he had turned their high school band from a rag tag group into reasonably polished student performers - but it would be beneath their dignity to admit anything of the sort. Jenny, the Katz' only daughter and middle child, was seated closest to her parents, but also too distracted to catch their conversation, as she was busy watching to make sure that her brothers were not engaged in any behavior unworthy of an aspiring winner of the State Classical Music Band Competition. Jimmy and Hugh were actually behaving themselves for once, listening attentively as their schoolmate Sean expounded on some obscure history fact. Jenny glanced past the three boys, to check that her best friends Becky and Sharon, and the other remaining band mate, Ricky were not too bored and then let her gaze return to Sean. It was a wonder that Sean, as geeky as he was, could hold her brothers' interest with a story about the Boxer Rebellion; then again, he never ceased to surprise her. A member of the Math, Science and Chess clubs, in addition to helping the band with their AV needs, Sean also seemed to glory in collecting a never ending store of trivia on every possible topic. And yet, Jenny mused, for all the invites on offer, including the fact that he was an immigrant from India and of mixed Indian and Portuguese ancestry ("I don't really know if some Portuguese sailor got frisky with an Indian girl or whether the priests just lined up the Indians and offered us the chance to be live Catholics or very dead Hindus, but either way I ended up with a Western name and water sprinkled on my head when I was baby") he seemed to attract no bullies, his quiet confidence in himself and who he was and his embrace of his geekiness and oddities making him immune to most torment. Just as his interest in his topics was so infectious that even her brothers, just a few music lessons and A-grades away from being considered jocks, were listening raptly.

Perhaps feeling Jenny's gaze, Sean glanced up and smiled briefly at her. Even as he continued to talk to Jimmy and Hugh, his thoughts were consumed with the one topic that seemed to be ever present in his teen mind - Jenny. To say he had a crush on her was like saying Romeo had a slight thing for Juliet or that Tristan had a mild attachment to Isolde. No one, he was sure, had loved a girl the way he loved, worshipped, yearned for Jenny with every fiber of his being, not Thingol for Melian, nor Beren for Luthien; what Anthony had felt for Cleopatra was mere puppy love. He had loved her for years, since had come to live with his uncle and aunt in the town of Hayslope some seven years ago and he found himself in the same school as the Katz children. Jenny, with the bright, dancing brown eyes, and infectious melodious laugh, with the dimple in her cheek when she smiled (which was often) and the small, lithe body. She was the reason he assisted the band, though watching her on the clarinet was a torture worthy of invention by the Marquis de Sade or Torquemada. He would have joined the cheerleading squad just to spend the extra hours with her, but a lack of grace and innate shyness had thwarted that plan.

'You kids done eating?' Hank's voice boomed out, cutting off all other conversation. 'There's more burgers here if you want.' It appeared that everyone had eaten their fill, and were interested in keeping room for Alice's famous bread pudding with chocolate sauce. 'We'll leave around ten in the morning if that's okay with you, Alvin. ('Okay, Simon? Okay Theodore?' murmured Jimmy, under his breath.) It's only a three hour drive so we should be there long before the four o'clock sign in. I told Linc to be here with the van at 9:45.'

'Quite okay, Mr. Katz. That will be just perfect.' In the eyes of the Darbyshire School District and Hayslope High School, Alvin Jessop was in responsible charge of the Musical Meerkats, but the parents of Sean, Becky, Sharon and Ricky knew it was really Hank Katz who would chaperone their kids and that helped them sleep better. The kids and Hank knew that it was really Alice who was in charge, but Alice Katz possessed a rare gift for always making Hank seem strong and dominant even as she ran the house and him with inflexible military discipline.

'Well, then kids, you should probably hit the beds early tonight. We need you in good voice tomorrow for the competition.' Hank glanced at his watch and then over at his wife, 'It's just past seven, what say we let them hang out in the den till 8.30 and it's curfew by nine.' His announcement was met by a chorus of groans and protests, but with a quick look at her mother, Jenny signaled to her brothers and the rebellion died a quick death. Jenny got up and began to gather the plates, while her brothers headed over to deal with the grill. Sean grabbed a stack of plates and followed Jenny towards the kitchen, marveling at her shapely legs and the cute wiggle of her ass, its curves accentuated by tight denim shorts. As they loaded the dishwasher, Jenny kept glancing back at her brothers as they scrubbed at the grill and whispered to each other and to Sharon who had joined them. 'They're planning something, I know it,' she muttered and Sean laughed.

'Isn't it obvious? They don't want to sleep at nine, anymore than the rest of us do.' He gave her slantwise glance, 'I'm assuming you share our feeling on that point, Jenny Cat?' It was his special name for her, something between the two of them only, and the only faint ray of hope that maybe, someday. Jenny might return his romantic feelings. And hell might freeze over.

'Of course I want to stay up, nine o'clock is ridiculous. But Mom was calling shots on that one and I knew she wasn't going to budge.'

'I have an idea...' Sean hesitated. Jenny shut the dishwasher and looked up expectantly as he trailed off. 'You know how you found the sleeping pills that your grandmother uses when she's here?' Jenny nodded and he continued, 'What if we dosed your parents and the Chipmunk (Jessop's natural nickname) so that they go off to bed early and leave us to stay up for a while?'

Jenny stared at him, incredulous at first but a smile beginning to tug at her mouth, 'But how?'

'You know your Mom will have an "adult's" chocolate sauce with brandy - well, more than we get in the "kid's" tureen. We spike it, and we're certain that only they get it and none of us do.'

'And the brandy will mask the taste!' Jenny almost clapped her hands, 'God! Sean, that's brilliant. Mom's already got everything ready, we'll be responsible for bringing it out so we have all the time in the world.' She threw her arms around him for a quick hug. 'You go out and send Becky and Sharon to help me.' She gave him a warning look 'Don't tell Jimmy or Hugh, they can't keep a secret, especially Hugh!'

***

In the event, things went almost exactly as planned. Within an hour of desert, Hank came out from the family room where he, Alice and Jessop had retired for after-dinner drinks, yawning hugely as he came down into the basement to order them to bed. Forewarned by Jenny, the kids grumbled a little but went up obediently. 'Now, remember. Brush your teeth and get straight to bed. No trying to, uhhhh, sneak out or get back here to your video games!' Hank smothered another huge yawn as he ushered them out and switched off the lights, 'Jessop headed off to bed already and I think your Mom and I will be asleep pretty soon. Beats me, but we're all bushed! Jenny, you're in charge of making sure they all go to bed.'

'You got it, Dad. Oh, Sean will be a few minutes late, he's calling his sister in Mumbai and this is the best time, because of the time difference.'

'Sure, sure. He's an okay kid, he'll not stay up past curfew. Just make sure your brothers get to bed,' Hank yawned again, blissfully oblivious to the agents responsible for his predicament.

So far the plan had worked out perfectly, and everything was set for an epic night of fun. But as with all the best-laid plans, that perfection did not last. Sean had gone onto the roof deck to talk to his sister in privacy but coming back into the room he was sharing with Hugh, he was surprised to find his friend fast asleep in bed and snoring. Ducking into Jimmy's room, he was amazed to find the same scene, with both Ricky and Jimmy dead to the world. The light in the guest room was out, suggesting that Sharon and Becky were either asleep, feigning sleep or decamped - the only light visible was in Jenny's room on the next floor above, and he headed there, hoping to find some answer, heartened by the fact that the door was ajar.

Jenny was in bed, but on top of the covers - she had kicked off her sneakers, her legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles. The jeans shorts and floral top from earlier were gone, replaced by more casual attire, a loose Captain Marvel tee and baggy athletic shorts, though she still wore her ankle socks and a bra strap peeked out at one shoulder, suggesting she wasn't totally ready for bed as yet. She was propped up against a pile of pillows, watching something on her tablet but she put it down and waved him him in at his soft tap, 'Are all the others asleep?'

'Yes!' Sean plopped down on the bed beside her, trying hard to keep his gaze averted from her long smooth legs.

Jenny giggled as she sat up, crossing her legs, 'Remember how often you'd be in here, playing Call of Duty or working on homework? We haven't hung out in here for at least a couple of years.'

'Yeah, I guess,' Sean laid back staring up at ceiling that was painted in a map of Middle Earth - First Age, of course. To himself he added, 'since you developed breasts'. Besides which, her brothers, especially Jimmy, would have instantly noted his infatuation and made his life miserable; in their eyes, Jenny was too good for her geeky friends and they tormented and mercilessly teased anyone who dared ask her out. Except for jocks, who would not allow themselves to be bullied away from such a prize. Sean knew that he was a geek, through and through and for all their friendship, neither Jimmy nor Hugh would ever let him date Jenny. Not that he would have cared; if Jenny was interested, he would have faced two hundred mocking brothers. But since that was all moot, he preferred to keep his hopeless love to himself than face the slings and arrows of outrageous mockery for nothing. Aloud he asked, 'So what happened to the rest of the guys? They were all wide awake when I went out to talk to Mad, when I get back it's like a reverse Rip van Winkle!'

Oddly, Jenny blushed a little and stared down at her hands, 'Um...that may have partly been my doing. Okay, to be technical, all my ...uh...doing. I was so pleased with the trick that we played on Chipmunk and my parents, I, uh, spiked their night cocoa and sent them all to the Land of Nod!'

'You?' Sean sat back up, staring at her bewildered, 'But why?'

'Well, there's two reasons,' Jenny looked a little embarrassed and still found something deeply interesting in her hands, 'For one, I knew that with Dad and Mom out for the count, I'd never get Jimmy and Hugh to quit at a reasonable hour, they and Sharon would try and sit up all night and feel like shit tomorrow. Which would be bad for the concert and would definitely alert Mom.'

'Oh, yeah, you're probably right. We have that feud going with Will Brown on CoD and we'd probably be up all night killing him. Or we still have to master the last dungeon of Kara on heroic...' he trailed off guiltily.

Jenny looked at him with mock severity, 'You see? You are in the same mad class as them.'

Sean looked abashed, 'Fine, fine! But you didn't spike my cocoa, did you? You handed it to me some time back, it should have affected me by now if I was on tranquilizers.'

'No, I didn't spike yours, or mine,' admitted Jenny. 'With the rest of them asleep, you would be a lot more tractable. And there's my second reason.' Her voice was very low, and she was staring very pointedly at the tips of her fingers, avoiding all eye contact with Sean. 'If I drugged you with opioids, you'd be too sleepy to join in on my plan for tonight. And believe me, I need you to join in.' She took a deep breath and added in a rush, 'You see, I plan to fuck your brains out tonight! And I really, really need you to be fully awake and actively participating.'

'Say what!' Sean grabbed her shoulder and twisted her around to face him, but she found something irresistible about the center of his chest. He had to tilt her chin up with his right hand to make her meet his gaze, 'Jenny Cat, look at me! Did I hear you right? Did I understand you right?'

Jenny, now that she had cast her die and said the most important part, was much calmer and a mischievous smile curled her lips as she answered, 'I hope so, I definitely don't want to make love to a deaf guy tonight. And I've fucked a moron before, tonight I want someone who can understand words of more than two syllables.' She took pity on her friend, who was staring at her with a comically bewildered expression on his face and explained, 'Listen, idiot! I've been trying to show you for months that I want you to ask me out and you're too damn shy to act. I broke up with DeAndre because of you, and you made no move. I refused to go out with Raul and Jas because of you and I don't think you even realized. I've been dressing for you all year and you never notice. We-ll, maybe a part of you notices, because I felt your "interest" when I hugged you in the kitchen. But you never make a move, so I decided to take action on my own. I mean, one of us had to if we were going to leave the frickin' friendzone behind, and it clearly wasn't going to be you.'

Sean fought the feeling that a part of his skull had lifted off and was drifting away with most of its contents leaving him curiously lightheaded. He shook his head, trying to clear his confused brain and wondered if perhaps Jenny had in fact spiked his cocoa with tranquilizers and that this was all just a dream. After all, things like this didn't happen, did they? His eyes focussed on Jenny's face and he realized that behind the smile, there was fear lurking in her eyes. She was nervous; Jenny - beautiful, gorgeous, confident and popular - was scared of his reaction, that he might reject her offer, reject her, that she might have put herself out there and get shot down. That realization calmed him, helping him forget his own doubts in his wish to reassure her and he reached for her hands, engulfing them in his own, 'Oh my God, Jenny Cat. I love you so much, I want you...'

Jenny's face cleared as she read the desire in his eyes that mirrored her own, her fears vanishing and she knew what she had to do. She cut him off sharply, 'You know nothing, Sean! You're a babbling idiot and you talk too much - it's time for action!' she announced and leaned forward to kiss him full on the lips.

For a moment, Sean was caught by surprise, but he reacted enthusiastically after barely a moment's delay. Their lips met gently, tentatively, learning the shape and feel of the other. They pulled back for a moment, looking into each other's eyes in interrogation and satisfied to see that their lust was, if anything, increased and by mutual, unspoken consent swooped together again. Jenny's arms came up linking around Sean's neck and pulling him to her. As their mouths met, she parted her lips, thrusting her tongue against his still closed lips, demanding entry in no uncertain terms. Sean was startled but caught on quickly, allowing his more experienced friend to set the pace. He felt Jenny's tongue slip into his mouth, exploring, thrusting playfully against his own tongue. Good as the first kiss had been, he realized that it was nothing compared to version 2.0!

All too soon, the kiss ended and Jenny pulled back, 'This is kind of uncomfortable, I'm all twisted up to reach you properly.'

'Same here,' Sean admitted ruefully. There was a lot of Jenny he wanted to explore, and most of it was out of reach.

'Stand up!' Jenny ordered promptly. As soon as Sean complied, she scooted forward on the bed and rose to a kneeling position, putting them at the perfect height for another bout of tongue wrestling. This time, Jenny's fingers caressed the nape of his neck, tangling in his hair, as Sean got bolder and got more actively involved in kissing her. His own arms linked around her slim body, pulling her against him. Excitement, lust, desire coursed through him and his hands caressed her back, following the curve of her spine till they reached the swell of her hips. Throwing caution to the wind, he continued his exploration past her hips and on to her fabulous ass. He'd always admired Jenny's taut butt, and was delighted to find that the reality fully matched expectations, firm and warm in his hands even through the athletic shorts she was wearing. He cupped the globes of her ass and pulled her firmly against him. Jenny moaned in his mouth as her body moulded to his and she felt the proof of his arousal pressed up between them. She rotated her hips gently, rubbing her self against the crotch of his jeans and eliciting a groan of mixed desire and longing from him.

She pulled back again, swooped in to brush his lips in a quick caress before moving back enough to lift his tee shirt up and pulling his arms up to whip it fully off him. Triumphantly tossing it away, Jenny ran her hands over his body, stoking his biceps and flicking her fingers across his nipples. Sean gasped, and then gasped again as she bent her head and took his right nipple into her mouth. She rolled it between her teeth and sucked gently, sending unexpected waves of pleasure coursing through his body. Straightening up, Jenny linked her hands around his neck again. 'That's so you know what you have to do with my tits,' she told him.

'I know what to do with tits, I have watched porn you know!' retorted Sean.

'Psh! This is real, not jacking off to some make-believe. And you'd better worship my tits properly, they're fantastic.'

Sean had no doubts on that head, he could have retorted, but he felt the conversation has lasted long enough and promptly kissed her. This time, he was a lot more confident, thrusting his tongue between her lips and boldly exploring her mouth. His hands almost automatically moved to her ass, but instead of simply cupping her cheeks, he lifted the tail of her tee and slid his hands into her shorts. There was an instant discovery - the silky feel of her panties and the warmth of her skin directly against his own was even better than anything he'd experienced before and Jenny moaned in desire as his fingers kneaded her ass and pulled her even harder against his erect cock. Inexperienced as Sean was, he'd seen enough porn and imagined this very scene vividly and often enough to know exactly what he wanted. He hooked his fingers in the waistband of her shorts and drew them down, over the swell of her hips, revealing her ass in all it's glory. Alas, his angle and the fact that their mouths were locked in contact meant he could see nothing that he had uncovered, though he would indubitably salivated at the sight of Jenny's taut buttocks encased in bright scarlet panties, the color contrasting as well with her creamy skin as his own chocolate tone did.