Master of Coin

A bit of a more humorous story with this one- hope you enjoy. This week is the setup, with plenty of sex scenes to come. All characters are over 18 years of age. Feedback and criticism is appreciated.

"I'm going to do it."

"Okay."

"Today."

"Today?"

"Definitely. I'm going to ask her today. Actually I'm going to do it

now

."

Mai nodded slowly. "Okay."

I paused. "What?"

My best friend Mai- five foot one in her baggy hoody and long skirt- shifted uncomfortably, her Asian features twisting in discomfort. "Nothing."

I frowned.

(Mai in a nutshell? long dark hair, Asian features peering out from beneath a voluminous hoodie. Nervous eyes, ever darting left or right to seek out instances where she'd managed- entirely in the space of her own head- to

Upset Someone

. A soft voice, hesitancy pushing through every syllable unless she was alone with me in which case she'd become a world expert on anime.)

It said a lot that despite being her friend since grade school she still got nervous giving something approaching a dissenting opinion to me. "Go on," I gently prompted her.

"Um." She looked way and shrugged. "I'll see it when I... see it?"

Sighing, I looked away. "You don't think I'll tell her how I feel."

"Sorry."

"Fine," I said. "Watch me." And I shut my locker and walked down the school hall, doing my best to push my bulky frame through the crowd. Mai followed in my wake like a minnow behind a whale. I pushed through until I saw my target.

Dawn Davis.

(Dawn in a nutshell? Slender and elegant and beautifully, achingly fragile looking. Masses of red hair that seemed to cascade down her shoulder in bright, cheerful waves. Sweetness and smartness and a smile that spoke of a soul that made the world a better place just by existing).

(Why yes, I had a crush on her. What gave it away?)

This was the girl I was going to ask to the Prom.

I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders and tried to ignore the way my gut jiggled as I walked up to her and-

-got tackled from behind.

"Hey there, my nerd!"

I choked and spluttered as a muscular arm wrapped around me from behind. My assailant kept talking, "Didn't think you'd get away from me, did you?"

I pushed away, trying to break the grip; I might as well have tried to shift a boulder, for all the good it did. He held me just long enough to make his point before releasing me. I stumbled back, arms waving like a cartoon as I tried to stop myself from tripping over. There was a wave of giggles behind me as I managed to stabilise myself.

I stared at the asshole who'd done his best to make my life a misery for the last three years.

Oliver Morales sneered at me. "Hey, what's up my nerd? What are you up to?"

(Oliver in a nutshell? Tall and muscular, that sort of muscles to leanness ratio that seems to do

things

to teenage girls. Big brown eyes and olive skin and muscles that gleamed. Handsome features with a smile that pushed just on the edge of arrogant cruelty.)

(The bastard).

I could already hear the giggles rising in volume behind me. "Nothing."

"Oh, come on." He spread two muscular arms wide. "You come over here to see me? Come talk to me?"

The best I could manage was a sullen, "No." He swept his gaze across the crowd and a spotted Dawn. His smile grew wider as he turned back to me.

"Oh, are you here to see Dawn? Hey! Dawn! John wants to talk to you!"

I swallowed as Dawn peered at us, brushing an errant red lock away from her face. "What is it?" She asked.

There was silence as the gathered crowd of students held their breath to watch my unfolding humiliation. I felt heat churn in my gut and prickle my cheeks as I felt the pressure of their eyes on me.

"Nothing, I said. "Nothing." And I turned and walked away before I threw up.

Oliver watched me go as his girlfriend Tracey- blonde, elegant, heartbreakingly beautiful and every bit as sneeringly cruel as he was- appeared to curl up against him. "Look at the fat little shit walk away," she sneered. "What a fucking loser."

I managed not to run.

"That went...better?" murmured Mai as we walked home from school.

"How could that have gone worse?"

"Um. She could have said no." She attempted to bury herself deeper into her hoodie and I relented.

"Okay. Point taken." I sighed. "I just wished I could talk to her."

"Typical male entitlement," muttered Alesha.

Mai and I both turned to eye the third person walking with us.

(Alesha in a nutshell? Dark skin and generous curves that lay just sound of plumpness. Aquiline face and eyes that made you think of judgemental cats. Fuzzy hair pushed into a rough ponytail and a voice that managed to sound forever disappointed in everyone and everything.)

Those cat-eyes were currently narrowed in my direction as she kept talking. "I mean, you have a serious case of Nice Guy syndrome, don't you? I bet you think that just because you think you're nice-"

"John is nice," muttered Mai quietly.

-"that you deserve the girl." She nodded as she walked alongside us.

Mai and I exchanged a look. Alesha lived near us, which meant that for the last few years we had to listen to her daily lectures about male privilege, white privilege, middle class privilege, colonial legacy and the general culpability of the majority of the human race, the male gender and me in particular. She once disappeared for a week; when she came back I'd found out that she'd been arrested for assault during a protest march. Rumour was it was with one of the other protest marchers.

Normally I'd just tune her out but I felt strangely defiant today. "It's not like that. I'm allowed to have a crush, aren't I?"

She shook her head like a priestess delivering wisdom to the masses. "You need to stop assuming that you're entitled to her..."

We'd both stopped listening at that point. Mai asked, "Do you want to come over to my place?"

I mulled it over. "Dad's not back for another week."

"I thought he said Saturday."

"You know. Work." Work meant long nights at work and weekends in the office. Work meant long business trips to Japan and China and Europe and the occasional text messages. It meant a lot of dinners at Mai's house. "I dunno." Her mother had ideas about the two of us, probably involving a lot of grandchildren.

"She'll be making dumplings."

My steps slowed for a moment. "Really?"

There was the faintest twitch of her lips; her version of a smug grin. "See you there?"

"More dumplings?" Mai's mother hovered over me. "You usually eat more!"

I tried to wave her off as another hot fried packets of minced pork were waved in front of my bowl. "I really couldn't."

"He need more." This was from her Uncle Chen- exact familial relationship unknown. He was a big man like me and so I shared something of a kinship with him, despite his somewhat tenuous grasp of English- although given my total lack of knowledge of Chinese I could hardly point fingers.

That was enough for Mai's mom to sweep in with another load. "Here. It needs eating!"

Ten minutes and four dumplings later I managed my escape. I made my way up to Mai's room, where she had already set up for homework. I stopped to check her out for a moment; she was still wearing her volumous hoodie and had just changed into sweat pants. Big, bulky clothes meant to conceal; that was Mai's style. We'd gone swimming once and I had been shocked to see a rather nice tight little body underneath all those clothes.

I sat down on the bed as she turned and pushed her dark hair out of her eyes. "Got away," I said.

"Good." She gave that half-smile that made her look way cuter than she thought she was. "Sticking around? Nearly done with the homework."

"Sure."

We worked on homework together and watched some of her anime. Anime wasn't a big thing for me but Mai loved it; loved to vanish into the stories for hours on end. Afterwards I left. Uncle Chen was sitting on the couch and smiled as I walked down. "You nice boy," he said. "Nice to Mai."

I laughed. Mai had her bad days but I'd never felt like being her friend was any sort of chore. "I like her," I said. "It's not a problem."

"You nice boy," he repeated, as I reached for the front door handle.

Walking from Mai's house to mine was never a fun experience.

My house was larger. Nicer. A big house with big money spent on it. It had a pool and a game room and a jacuzzi. When we'd moved into the house after Dad's promotion I had recognised that it was too big. When Mum had died it became cavernous. When Dad had buried himself into his work, it had become unbearably quiet.

I passed through the living room and up the stairs to my bedroom, stopping off to check the mostly-empty fridge. I sat on the stylish couch and turned on the expensive TV and drank juice that was placed on the fancy coffee-table.

Time, then, to wallow in self pity. Three years of pointed and very specific bullying by our school's most handsome, most accomplished athlete; two years of pining after our school's most beautiful, most kindly girl. I honestly wasn't sure which one of the two situations was worse.

The worst part was that school was ending soon. While the prospect of never seeing Oliver again- he was the sort of guy that was more interested in polishing his muscles than studying, so there was no way he'd be going to college unless a sports scholarship was involved. But Dawn...

I'd never forgive myself if I at least didn't ask. So why couldn't I muster up the courage to do it?

I shifted on the couch and frowned. There was something in the back pocket of my jeans. I pulled it out and held it up.

It was a coin purse, small and finely made. It looked like it was made with pale silk and tied at the top with a green ribbon. It bulged slightly with the weight of something inside.

I opened it up and drew out a coin.

It was small- no bigger than a quarter- but heavy and gleamed with a dull golden lustre. There was no images or printed marks and the only distinguishing marks were a pair of words stamped neatly into the side of the coin:

GLORIOUS GIRLFRIEND

I stared at the coin in my hand for a long time. I felt the weight of it, I felt the heft of it and I felt...

I felt the potential of it.

The knowledge was just- there, in my head. Like an old memory, like a fact memorised and forgotten and then dredged up into recollection. The coin was different. The coin was potent.

The coin could change things. Give it to the right girl, and...

Just like that, they would become my girlfriend.

I checked the coin purse again. There was nothing else in there.

I held the coin in my hands and thought about a mane of red hair and a sweet, gentle smile.

I didn't sleep much that night. I woke to find the coin sitting atop my bedside table. Sighing, I reached up and picked it up. I felt that same sense of potential thrum through me and something more; a sense of the inevitable.

You will use me

, the coin seemed to whisper as I clasped it in my hands.

You know that you will.

I shuddered and put the coin down.

I showered and dressed and ate breakfast. I did my very best not to think of mysterious coins and what Dawn Davis would look like naked and gazing at me with an expression of utter love.

It didn't work. I was as hard as a rock.

I finished up, walked over to the front door and stopped. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

...I could feel it. Feel the coin upstairs as though I still had it in my hand. And I could feel its anticipation.

Would I really use it? Could I? While Alesha was- well, she was the very definition of too much, she had a point. I thought about how I would feel if someone else gave the coin to Dawn- the idea of someone else just making her their girlfriend through magic coins-

(Magic coins, I thought and nearly giggled, I'm honestly just accepting that I have a magic coin now, shouldn't I be more uncertain? More willing to consider that I'm crazy? But that certainty was just there as though I'd owned the coin bag my entire life).

-how the hell should I even consider going through with it? Wasn't this rape, in a way? Taking away her choice? Would I use it and then she'd turn to me with loving eyes and I'd feel the awful pressure of guilt hit me, would it take something I'd ached for all these years and poison it?

Could I really use the coin?

I decided then and there. I didn't want- didn't need the coin, no matter what magical bullshit it could bring to improve my life. I would leave it at home that day and get rid of it later after school.

Okay

, I thought later.

So I brought the coin with me. But that didn't mean that I had to

use

it.

I met Mai by the lockers. She nodded beneath her hoodie. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Just- had a really weird experience last night. Um... hey, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"If you could make Ben your boyfriend- just, like, cast a spell or give him a charm or something and poof, he'd be your boyfriend and take you to the Prom- would you?"

We both turned to spy Ben Redbook- dark skinned and tall and with an easy smile- laughing with his friends. Mai looked away and buried herself deeper into her hoodie. "...maybe?"

"Maybe?"

"Um. There was a strong hint of red cheeks underneath her hoodie. "If, I dunno...I knew he'd be happy?"

There was a pause as I considered this information. "Okay."

"Why?" There was just a hint of eagerness in her voice.

"No reason,"

"Okay. Only...if that stuff was real then Emma would have half the school worshipping her." We both turned to consider Emma- plump Emma in her dark clothes and darker fingernails and pentagram necklace, who eyed us suspiciously over a black void of eyeliner. "Um, so it's probably not."

I reached into my pocket and felt the edges of the coin, felt its anticipation build. "Yeah," I said. "Probably not."

Classes came and went. I pretended to listen while arguments and counter-arguments danced around in my head.

Could I really go through with it? Would I be taking away her choice, forcing something unnatural on her? Would the magic fail at some time, leaving her furious with me? Would the magic even work at all?

(

Yes,

the coin seemed to whisper at that last question.

Yes.

)

Would it turn out that we weren't suited for each other after all and I'd be stuck with a girl I didn't like and had to take care of? Was I doing something irreparably terrible?

Would either of us care if it worked?

Lunchtime came and all that had happened was that I was more confused, more nervous and even more horny. I ate lunch, only half-listening to Mai's mumbled conversation and Alesha's occasional snipes in my direction.

(Precisely why she decided to sit with us from time to time was a mystery neither one of us was able to solve).

It all got decided when I saw Dawn walking past with her friends. She was smiling that soft, warm smile of hers that didn't have a hint of cruelty in it. I tracked her movements and reached into my pocket and touched the coin and I knew...

I knew what I had to do.

I got up and marched over to Dawn. I took the coin out traced my fingers around the edges.

I wasn't going to use it, I realised. I was going to ask her to the Prom normally, ask her out honestly and if she said no- well, I was going to have to deal with it. It was a funny thing but having the coin- knowing that I could

make

her love me if I wanted to- it gave me the courage to ask her out normally, as though knowing that there was a version of reality where she could be mine was enough.

I walked right up to her and coughed. She looked up at me, that sweet smile of hers on her face and I said, "Hi. Look. I've been meaning to ask you-"

"My nerd!" I turned to see Oliver bearing down on me. I clutched the coin as he rushed up to me. "You still trying this? Awww, you still haven't talked to her yet?"

I briefly wondered if I could get my hands on a FUCK OFF FOREVER coin. "Oliver-"

"What?"

He leaned into my personal space, muscles crowding me out, pushing me back, but whatever insane courage the coin had given me hadn't run its course. "Go

away

, Oliver. For once in your life leave me the fuck alone."

He loomed over me. His smile twitched before fading entirely.

Then he hit me hard enough to send me sprawling.

"Fuck you," he muttered, and I was shocked at the raw, naked

hate

in his voice. "Fuck you." He turned to walk away as Tracey rushed up to place an arm on his shoulder, glaring at me as though I was the bad guy. Then he stopped and looked down. He picked something off the floor.

I looked on with horror as he stared at the GLORIOUS GIRLFRIEND coin. Then he smiled and pocketed it. "See you later Nerd," he said and then walked off, leaving his confused girlfriend behind.

I thought I had been nervous before.

Boy, was I wrong.

The rest of the day passed in an awful blur of sheer, awful terror. Oliver had the coin- Oliver, the cruel, vicious bastard who had spent the last three years making my life a living hell. Oliver, who was already handsome enough, popular enough that he could just take any girl he wanted.

I sat through my classes and thought about my options about getting the coin back. I came up with nothing. I wasn't strong enough to take it and trying to negotiate or plead for it back would just make him aware of how badly I needed it. And who would he use it on? Alesha? Mai?

Dawn?

It would be just like him, wouldn't it? To use the coin on her just to spite me? I thought of Dawn smiling that warm adoring smile I'd pictured on her face so many times- smiling at Oliver as he sneered and wrapped his arms around her. I thought of her naked and kneeling in front of him...

I rushed out of the classroom, muttering something about being sick. I made it to the toilet in time.

Mai wasn't on the bus home.

It was a pain, not to be able to talk about it with her- even if I hadn't the faintest idea what to say. So I trudged in silence, my gut churning anew.

"What is it?" I turned to see Alesha eyeing me. "You look like shit."

"It's nothing."

"Seriously. What is it?" She drew a little closer to me and smirked. "It's not about your girlfriend, is it?"

"It's none of your business," I retorted. "Why do you care, anyway? You'd just find a way to blame me for it like aways." Ignoring that it might all well be my fault.

Her steps slowed and her jaw tightened. "You're a fucking asshole," she muttered and swept past me to turn down a side street.

I watched her storm away, feeling nothing but tired.

I got home, threw down my bag and sank into the couch with a resounding sigh. I'd done it. I'd been given a miracle- an impossible gift, delivered to me entirely by chance, by blind perfect luck- and not only failed to use it but had made my life worse. I groaned and considered once again precisely how to un-fuck myself from this mess. Maybe if I snuck into his house? I hadn't the faintest idea where he even lived. What about-

There was a knock at the door. I hauled myself off the couch and walked over. I opened it.

I stopped and stared at my visitor.

Tall and gorgeous, with short curly black hair and olive skin. Gleaming muscles, curvy body and a seductive smile.

"Hey there, My Nerd," said Olivia as she leaned against my doorframe, "ready for some snu-snu?"