Fanfic - More Than Bargained For

[dare2dream28]

Okay guys, here's the latest update! Sorry it took so long, but I had some computer problems the last couple of days because of lightning/thunder. Veggie...I LMAO@ your "sheesh...is d2d a Shania fan?!" comment b/c I was like, "well, I guess that's a 'HELL YES' to posting my updates here then."

Chapter 53 part 2

All awkwardness felt from Yulia’s little affection charade by the tree with the chipmunk was forgotten now that Lena and Yulia only had two more people to go before it was their turn to ride the Volcano.

“Woohooo!! Only two more people to go!! Yes!! I *love* this ride! You blast out at over 70 miles per hour! Can you believe that?!” Lena said excitedly as she clapped her hands together.

Lena noticed that Yulia wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about the ride.

“Hey, are you okay?” Lena asked with concern.

“Yeah it’s just that…well…sometimes I get sick on rollercoasters.” Yulia admitted softly.

Lena’s jaw dropped and a look of utter disappointment and worry crossed her face. “You’re kidding! Noooo! Ugh, Yulia, I am *so* sorry! I should’ve asked before I brought you here. I was just trying to surprise you. We can go somewhere else if you’re going to get sick. We…”

“No, no, it’s okay. We just have to take a break after every few rides. Really, I want to be here with you. We *will* have fun today.” Yulia had to smile at Lena’s concern for her.

Lena’s face brightened up like the sun. “GREAT! I promise I won’t push you too hard today. I’ll make myself take some breaks. Hey look! Our turn! WOOHOO!”

After they strapped themselves in and pulled the head restraint over, Lena strained her neck to look at Yulia before they took off. She noticed that Yulia had a death grip on the handles to the point where her knuckles were turning white.

“Hey…Yulia, it’s alright. Just take a deep breath.” Lena said as she reached over and pried Yulia’s hand off her handle and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Yulia was about to respond, but then the ride shot them off at 70 miles per hour so the only response Lena got was a *very* loud scream from Yulia and the feeling that the circulation in her hand was being cut off from Yulia’s death grip. Lena couldn’t help but laugh at the situation and she even managed a smile when Yulia’s scream turned from one of terror to one of excitement.

“WOOOOOOO!!!! Let’s do another one!” Yulia said with excitement when the ride came to a stop.

“Oh okay, Miss I’m-Not-So-Good-With-Rollercoasters. We’ll do another one.” Lena smirked as Yulia smacked her in the leg.

After an upside-down rollercoaster and a ride on a nasty ship that kept you upside down to the point where you felt your head would explode from all the blood rushing to it, Yulia decided it was time for a break.

“Alright, lunch time!” Yulia said once they got off of “Outer Limits.”

“Already? It’s not even noon yet!” Lena protested. I want to ride some more! More, more!

“Well, it’s noon according to my stomach and that means it’s time to eat so let’s go.” Yulia said as she dragged Lena off to the food court.

“Don’t get too much because I don’t want you to get sick on the rest of the rides, okay?” Lena said as they stood in line.

“Yeah, yeah.”

When they got up to the row of food, Yulia grabbed two slices of pizza, a small salad, and a cookie the size of a dinner plate.

“So what are you getting?” Yulia asked Lena as she grabbed a bottle of water.

Lena’s jaw dropped. “You mean to tell me all of that is for you?!”

“I told you I was hungry. Hey! Let’s try some of those ice-cream dot thingies too!” Yulia went to go grab a cup of ice cream, but was stopped by Lena’s hand.

“Nooo way. You are not going to eat *that* much and then go on more rides. This is more than enough. In fact, we’re going to split this. I’m not about to let you get sick.”

“But--”

“If you get hungry later, then we’ll stop for a snack, okay? I just don’t want you puking everywhere.” Lena took the tray of food from Yulia, grabbed another bottle of water for herself and headed over to pay for their food. Yulia went to hand Lena money for her half, but was gently pushed away.

“No, don’t worry about it. Everything’s on me today. I just want you to have fun.” Lena smiled.

“Awww thanks Lena.” Yulia returned the smile as they headed over to a table in the corner beside a window.

After lunch, Lena thought it would be best to go on some water rides since they didn’t jolt you around as much as the rollercoasters and plus, it allowed for them to cool off.

They were waiting in line for the “Log Flume” ride when Yulia suddenly jumped forward and let out a little yelp.

“Lena!” Yulia said in surprise. She quickly reached behind Lena and gave her a good pinch on the butt.

Lena gasped and looked at Yulia like she’d grown a second head. “Yulia! What was that for?!”

“You just pinched me so I pinched you back!”

“What? I did not!” Lena was completely confused. What is she talking about?!

“You did too!”

“I did *not*!”

“Yes you did! You reached behind me and did this!” Yulia pinched Lena’s butt again.

Lena was about to respond to Yulia, but her eyes narrowed as she heard two guys behind her snickering.

“Did one of you pinch my friend’s butt?” Lena nearly growled.

One of the guys nudged his buddy and gave Lena a cocky smile. “Oops. My hand slipped.”

“Is that so? Well,” Lena reached under the railing with her foot and quickly kicked the guy in the shin, “sorry, but my foot slipped. Guess I should have more control over my body’s actions next time.”

Yulia smiled up at Lena and gave her a quick hug. “I swear you’re like my own personal bodyguard.” Yulia giggled.

I guess I should take that as a compliment? Lena was a little embarrassed by Yulia’s statement, but did her best to shrug it off. “I hate it when guys, or anyone for that matter, feel that they can just touch or grope whoever they want. It’s so disrespectful! It’s times like this when I realize why Shania wrote ‘If You Wanna Touch Her, Ask!’ I think if more people listened to it, we’d be better off.”

Yulia roller her eyes and shook her head. “Only you would relate this to Shania somehow.”

“Of course! What kind of Shania fan would I be if I didn’t?” Lena gave Yulia a cheesy smile.

When they got up to the front of the line, the worker instructed them to get into a log. Each log could seat four people; two in the front, and two in the back. Well, make that it could comfortably sit four *kids*; when adults had to squeeze into the space meant for two people, it was more than just a little cramped. The way the log was set up was that there was only one divider in the middle so that in each section, one person basically sat in the lap of the person behind them. Usually the workers let each adult have their own section, but seeing the line was really long today, the workers had to assign two adults per section. The ride itself was basically a mini-version of Disney’s “Splash Mountain”, but with a log.

“Lena, you mind if I get in the back?” Yulia asked. She had been watching the ride and saw that when the logs went down the big waterfall at the end, it was mostly the people in the middle that got soaked so she opted to sit behind Lena to let her take most of the water.

“Sure. Whatever you want.” Lena answered.

Yulia got in the log first and scooted as far back as she could to give Lena room, but it wasn’t much. When Lena got in, she had the dilemma of sitting up far enough so that she wasn’t practically in Yulia’s lap, but also she had to sit far back enough so that her legs didn’t touch the people in front of her. Yulia noticed that Lena was starting to get uncomfortable with trying to keep her legs away from the people in front of her, so she put her arms around Lena’s waist and pulled Lena backwards into her lap.

Lena’s back became stiff as a board as a wave of heat rushed through her body.

“Relax. I know you don’t like your legs touching those people so just sit back here with me.” Yulia whispered in Lena’s ear.

Yulia smiled as she felt Lena loosen up a little. In truth, Lena was having mixed emotions at the moment. On one hand, she was extremely tense and antsy about the contact, but on the other hand, she found a part of herself enjoying the closeness.

Yulia kept her arms loosely around Lena’s waist throughout the ride, but when they were about to go over the waterfall, her grip tightened as she buried her face into Lena’s shoulder to avoid the wave of water.

As usual, Lena’s heart was beating fast because of the adrenaline rush, but for once the adrenaline was not caused by the ride.

----------

On their way to another ride, Yulia decided she wanted to stop and play a couple of games.

“Ooooo. Lena, I want to win that!” Yulia pointed at a huge blow-up hammer that squeaked whenever you hit something with it.

“You want *that*? What are you going to do with it?”

Yulia broke out into song. “If I had a haaaaammer. I’d hammer in the mooohhhoohhhrrrning. I’d hammer in the eeeeeeeevening. All over this laaaaaaanndd. I’d hammer out danger---”

“AHHH!!! Stop!! How in the heck do you know that song?!?” Lena covered her ears in protest.

“My mom liked it for some reason so it was one of the first songs I learned in English. Now, as far as the hammer, I dunno, I just want it.”

“Suurrrrreee. Why do I get the feeling that I’d be the nail to that hammer?”

Yulia gave Lena an innocent smile. “Now why would I ever hit you with it?”

“Riiiiight. Alright, but if you win it and you hit me with it, be prepared to run.” Lena teased.

The game they had to play was the one where each person had a water gun and the person had to shoot a stream of water at a target, which propelled a little car on a stick. Whoever’s car reached the end first and made the siren go off won a prize.

“Alright, everyone ready? One, two, three GOOOOOOOO!” the announcer yelled.

Yulia was right on target and was currently in the lead of all the other players. Heehee!! Wait til I get that hammer and pound Lena with it! What the—ahhhhh!!!!!!

Lena had turned her water gun on Yulia and was currently spraying her right on the neck.

“AHHH!! LENA! QUIT IT!!” Yulia yelled.

Lena laughed as she saw Yulia desperately try to keep her water gun pointed at the target, but she was soon surprised when she saw Yulia give up and turn the water gun on her, spraying her right in the chest.

“ACK! That’s cold!!” Lena shrieked.

“Yeah, I can tell!” Yulia teased as she pointedly stared at Lena’s chest and pointed at her erect nipples. “*Somebody’s* headlights are on!”

Lena’s face turned red in embarrassment as she put her arms over her chest.

“Ha! That’s what you get for making me lose my hammer.” Yulia joked. “Oh lighten up Lena. It’s all in fun. C’mon, let’s have a rematch, with *no* stray water guns this time.” Yulia playfully gave Lena a punch in the arm before she pulled her back over the booth.

A couple minutes later, Lena victoriously took the offered four-foot blue blow-up hammer.

“Woohoooo!!!! Now can I have it?” Yulia asked eagerly.

“Promise not to hit me with it?”

“Yeah, sure. Uh huh.” Yulia said as she crossed her fingers behind her back.

Riight. I give it two seconds before she nails me with it. Lena thought as she gave Yulia the hammer.

“Thanks!” Yulia said excitedly. “Oh and Lena?”

“Yeah?”

“I crossed my fingers.” Yulia said as she hit Lena on the head with the hammer and took off running.

“You little twirt! I’ll get you!” Lena shouted as she ran after Yulia.

Both girls were giggling at their little game of cat-and-mouse.

Oh no, a lizard!! Lena changed her footing in mid-air to avoid smashing the little lizard that was running under her and in her haste, she tripped over her own feet and slid across the pavement. Owwwwww. At least I didn’t step on the little guy.

Yulia stopped running when she didn’t hear Lena behind her. When she turned around to see where Lena was, she was horrified when she saw blood coming from Lena’s knee.

“LENA!” Yulia rushed back to Lena’s side. “What happened?!”

“I saw a little lizard and I didn’t want to step on him. I tripped when I tried to avoid him. I skinned my knee a little, but it’s okay.” But boy, does it burn!

“Are you sure that’s it? Did you skin your hand? Your elbow? Is there any gravel in your knee? Can you put pressure on it?” Yulia fired off questions as she dropped the hammer and leaned down to grab Lena around the waist to help her stand up.

Lena snickered at Yulia. “You know, every time I get hurt you always fire off questions a mile a minute.”

“I just want to make sure you’re okay.” Yulia said, with a tint of hurt in her voice. Am I being too babyish with her?

Lena detected the hurt in Yulia’s voice and immediately felt bad for what she said, even though she only meant it in fun. “Hey, I appreciate it. Thanks.” Lena smiled at Yulia.

Yulia returned the smile. “C’mon, let’s get you to a bathroom.”

“Wait…don’t forget your precious hammer.” Lena smirked.

Once in the bathroom, Yulia got a couple of wet paper towels and gently dabbed Lena’s knee.

“Are you alright?” Yulia asked, seeing Lena’s eyes squint as she dabbed her knee.

“Just fine.” Oww oww oww oww oww OWW!

“Ooooo. Looks like you got yourself a nice little sore there. You want some band-aids?”

Yulia turned around to see a middle-aged brunette woman with a small book bag.

“Sure! Thanks ma’am.” Yulia said as she took the offered band-aids.

“I have six kids running around with me so I’m like a traveling first-aid kit.” The woman laughed. “Well, hope you feel better.”

“Thank you.” Lena said politely as the nice woman walked out of the bathroom.

“There. All set.” Yulia said as she put the second band-aid on Lena’s knee. “Does it hurt to stand on it?”

Lena took a few light steps as a test. It was a little uncomfortable, but nothing too unbearable. “It’s not that bad actually. Thanks again, Nurse Yulia.”

Yulia smiled. “Anytime. Glad to see that I could once again successfully treat my favorite patient.” Yulia said with a wink.

--------

After waiting for forty-five minutes in line, they were finally about to ride “Drop Zone,” one of the newest rides in the park that Lena had yet to ride. It brought you 170 feet straight up into the air and then shot you back down to earth in less than 4 seconds! Talk about an adrenaline rush! The ride was shaped like a flying saucer with about 60 seats going around in a circle.

Lena and Yulia were buckling themselves in when Lena heard the huge 6 foot 2 inch buff guy beside her start to whimper.

“We’re too high already! WE’RE TOO HIGH ALREADY!!” The guy yelled even though his feet were touching the ground.

Yulia laughed. “I hate to see how he’ll react when we actually go up in the air.”

A teenage boy beside the buff guy decided to taunt him by yelling, “We’re gonna die! We’re gonna DIE! Hey Cindy, I want you to speak at my funeral!”

“I’m going to pound your face in, you little shit!” The buff guy yelled back.

“Oooo, look at the big bad tough guy, so scayahed of the big bad wide. Yeah, like I’m scared of you. Whimp.”

Lena and Yulia looked at each other and giggled at the guys’ little confrontation.

“Here we go!” Lena said excitedly as they began their slow ascent.

As they began to get higher, Lena took in the incredible view of the park, the trees, and the mountains surrounding the area. Then she looked down.

Suddenly, her breathing became very, very heavy and she could feel her heart beating so fast that she swore it was going to leap out of her chest. Panic attack. Panic attack. PANIC ATTACK!

Lena was breathing so hard that Yulia could hear her.

“Lena?” Yulia asked, very concerned. She had never seen or heard Lena react this way.

When she heard no response except the heavy breathing, she quickly took Lena’s hand.

“Lena? Listen to me. Just listen to my voice. Close your eyes and concentrate on squeezing my hand, okay? Can you do that for me?” Yulia sighed with relief when she felt pressure on her hand.

They had come to a stop when they were the full 170 feet up in the air. The suspense alone of when they were going to drop was freaking out a lot of people, especially the buff guy beside Lena. His screaming just made her more nervous.

“Hey, scared guy with a peanut for a dick! Will you SHUT THE HELL UP and act like a MAN ?!” Yulia screamed at the guy. She could tell by the increased pressure on her hand that Lena was growing more panicky.

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!” Everyone screamed when they abruptly were dropped back to the ground at over 60 miles an hour.

While the buff guy was busy kissing the concrete floor, Yulia took Lena’s hand and rushed her to the nearest corner.

“Are you okay? What happened up there? God Lena, you scared me!” Yulia ran her hand over Lena’s forehead and cheeks, checking for a temperature.

“Oh my *God* that was amazing!! Talk about an adrenaline rush!! Let’s do it again!” Lena said enthusiastically.

What the?! “What?! Do it *again*?! Lena, you nearly had a panic attack! Are you crazy?! We are *not* doing that again!!!” Yulia looked at Lena like she had lost her mind.

“Oh c’mon!! I just got a little…surprised, that’s all. Let’s do it again!” Lena went to tug Yulia back to the line, but she was swiftly pulled back.

“No. Lena, you nearly had a *panic attack.* I am *not* and I repeat *not* taking the chance that it will happen again. No. Let’s go on another ride.” Yulia sternly stated.

“But--”

“No. No buts. I’m putting my foot down on this one.”

Lena sighed and slumped her shoulders. “Alright.”

Yulia saw the disappointment on Lena’s face and felt bad, but she stood by her decision. “Lena,” Yulia said softly as she gently placed her hands on Lena’s shoulders and looked her in the eye, “if I had a reaction like that to a ride, would you want me to ride it again?”

“No.” Lena said, defeated.

“Okay then.” Yulia gave Lena’s shoulders a squeeze. “Now, where to next?”

By the time they waited in lines and rode four more rides, it was nearly 9 p.m.

“I am *so* tired. My feet feel like they are about to fall off they hurt so much. Are you ready to call it quits?” Yulia asked as they got off their last ride.

“Yeah. We still have a two hour drive home.”

“Are you going to be okay to drive?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Plus, you can just hit me that your hammer if I start to feel tired.” Lena smirked. “And of course Shania will help me stay awake.”

Yulia rolled her eyes at the Shania comment. “I swear, one of these days I will come up with a situation where you *can’t* relate Shania to it.”

“Oooo, I like challenges that make me pick the Shania encyclopedia part of my brain!” Lena said enthusiastically.

“You know, the sad thing is I believe that.” Yulia playfully pushed Lena as they headed out the park.

----------

They were about a half hour into their drive when Lena heard soft snoring. She glanced over at Yulia and smiled when she saw that she was leaned up against the window, fast asleep.

I hope she had fun today. Lena thought. Just then, Shania’s song called “Whatever You Do! Don’t!” came on the CD player in the jeep.

Deep in Denialville
Tryin’ a’ fight the way I feel
I go jello when you smile
I start blushin’—my head rushin’

*Hmmm. Boy does that sound familiar. Lena thought with a huff. Oi. I don’t know what’s happening with me. She glanced back at Yulia. She is so cute when she’s sleeping. Lena smiled softly, but then her eyes widened at her last thought. Since when do I think she’s cute??*

If you stand too close to me
I might melt down from the heat
If ya’ look my way one more time
I’m gonna go out of my mind

*I sure got hot a lot today, and I know it wasn’t necessarily from the weather. I haven’t felt that way since…well, never.*

Whatever you do…
Don’t even think about it!
Don’t go and get me started!
Don’t you dare drive me crazy!
Don’t’ do that to me baby!

You stop me in my tracks
My heart pumpin’ to the max
I’m such a sucker for your eyes
They permanently paralyze
Whatever you do…

*She does have the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen. They are just *so* blue. They’re even prettier than huskies’ blue eyes. She expresses so much through them. *

(Whatever you do, don’t do that to me)
You got my heart under attack
You give me shivers down my back
D’ya have to walk the way you do?
I get weak just watchin’ you
Whatever you do…

I sure got shivers down my back when she was up against me on the log ride and when she was cleaning my knee. Lena unconsciously ran her fingers along her band-aids. She has always been so caring, so…attentative with me. Lena took another glance at Yulia. It’s so nice. She’s so nice. She’s so sweet.

Lena shook her head to clear her thoughts. Ehhh, I better stop this. Since when do I call people cute and sweet? That’s enough. I’m not about to head down that road of thoughts.

Or maybe you already have and you just don’t want to admit it. A little voice in Lena’s head said.

Shut up! Lena yelled back at the voice.

Admit it girl, you have feelings for that pretty Russian over there. And they’re not just limited to feelings of friendship. The little voice continued.

I thought I told you to shut up! Hey, wait a minute; I’m debating with myself here! That’s it, I’m losing it. And this is precisely why I don’t deal with stupid emotions.

Yeah well, these ‘stupid emotions’ are there so deal with it. The little voice said.

“Stupid conscience. You shut up or I’ll feed you to the gators!” Lena said.

“Huh?” Yulia sleepily mumbled.

Shit, I said that out loud?? “Nothing. Go back to sleep.”

“’kay.” Yulia mumbled as she faced Lena and quickly dozed back off.

As Yulia curled up in her seat, Lena couldn’t stop the grin that was spreading across her face.

Awwww. Ugh! Quit with the mushy thoughts! Lena shook her head to once again clear her thoughts. She quickly glanced at Yulia, taking in the sight of her curled up on the passenger seat, her feet tucked under her as she used her arms as a pillow against the back of the seat.

Lena couldn’t ignore the fuzzy warm feeling she was getting. Do I feel something towards her that’s more than friendship? Ohhh boy. This is not good. Now what am I going to do?

[haku]

Wow, d2d, that's one huge update! Thanks

And sorry about all your computer problems, you seem to have *a lot* of those, lol.


Well, first, woo hoo for the previous chapter! (I know it's at tatu*us but i can't post over there for tecnical reasons at the moment, lol) Yulia got violated by an animal, which means Lena will have to run naked! I'll sure be waiting for that chapter!
(i think a part of Lena wanted to run naked, lol, because Yulia had warned her before of what she would have to do if an animal violated her, and Lena deliberately made that chipmunk violate Yulia)


Now this chapter... Woo, i'm as tired as Yulia, all those rides.
There was a lot of closeness in this chapter, really nice, several cute moments between the two of them. And lol, Lena is getting a lot of heat in her body.


Now a few random comments and i'm going to bed because the sun is actually rising here, lol.

Lena reached under the railing with her foot and quickly kicked the guy in the shin

Yeah! Go Lena! Kick his slimy butt-pincher ugly ass! *punch* *crack* *smash* Stupid guy.

Yulia teased as she pointedly stared at Lena’s chest and pointed at her erect nipples.

Ok, lol, like i need that kind of mental image just before going to bed...

Hey, scared guy with a peanut for a dick! Will you SHUT THE HELL UP and act like a MAN ?!

LMAO!!! That's a bit unfair though, men have the right to be scared too, we're being told to express our feelings but when we do we're being told to act like men... that's confusing... Same thing for the "peanut for a dick" comment, when things are going well we're being told that size doesn't matter, but if things get sour suddenly we are not big enough... Girls are cruel.

Ok, enough whining, time to go to bed thinking about Lena's wet breasts and erect nipples.

[Veggie Delite]

“Yeah, I can tell!”

“*Somebody’s* headlights are on!”

poor lena, always gets embaressed


you know we missed you here a lot! so good to read updates here

[dare2dream28]

haku---Awwwwwww. *pats haku on the shoulder* Yes, girls can be cruel at times, but only when men are absolutely annoy the hell out of us (or in Yulia's case, dare to make her 'best-friend' nervous). Some guys call us fat, so we call them on their size. It's a love-hate thing. Oh, and I'm sure you had a wonderful image in your mind just before bed time. I don't think the image after this chapter will be as pleasant. LOL

$in---Well I'm happy to know that you missed me. I won't ever not post here again! And yeah, poor Lena. I swear she'll be a permanent shade of red if Yulia keeps this up. hehe


Chapter 54 (part 1)

It was nearly 11:30 p.m. when Lena pulled into her driveway. Yulia was still fast asleep so Lena decided to bring all their stuff in the house and then wake her up.

“Yuuulia. Yuulia. We’re home.” Lena said softly as she gently shook Yulia’s shoulder.

As usual, Yulia grunted and turned over.

“Yulia, you’re in the car. You need to go in your bed. C’mon.” Lena gently shook Yulia again.

Yulia groaned, turned over back to Lena, and put her arms around Lena’s neck.

“Carry me. Too tired to walk.” Yulia mumbled.

What the heck?! Carry her?? “Yulia, you have to walk. I can’t carry you.”

“Leeeeeeenaaaaaa. Pweeeeaasseee?” Yulia said in a sleepy voice as she nuzzled the space where Lena’s neck met her shoulder.

A wave of shivers went through Lena’s body when Yulia nuzzled her. Oh boy.

“Fine, but I’m not carrying you up the stairs.” Lena picked Yulia up under her knees with one hand and used the other to brace Yulia’s back. Ooof! Good thing you’re so small. Yulia tightened her grip on Lena’s neck and buried her head in Lena’s neck as Lena made their way into the house.

Finally, Lena couldn’t take it anymore. Yulia’s hot breath on her neck was definitely making her get goosebumps.

“Alright Yulia, time to walk.”

Yulia let out a groan of protest and shook her head.

Seeing that Yulia wasn’t going to get down anytime soon, Lena sat down on the foot of the stairs to give her arms a rest. What am I going to do with her? I can’t make it up the stairs with her. We’d both fall. I guess she’ll just have to sleep on the couch.

Lena summoned up her energy and lifted Yulia. She gently placed Yulia on the couch and put a pillow underneath Yulia’s head. Lena quietly went upstairs and returned to the couch with a blanket. As she tucked Yulia in, Lena couldn’t help but smile at how Yulia snuggled up to the back of the couch in her sleep.

“Goodnight.” Lena whispered as she brushed away a stray piece of hair from Yulia’s face.

--------

As Lena lay in her bed, she stared up at the bunk above her. It’s too quiet. Lena had grown accustomed to Yulia’s little sounds while they slept and now, knowing that she wasn’t fast asleep above her made it harder for Lena to doze off into dreamland. I hope she doesn’t freak out when she wakes up. Maybe I should just bring her back up here. Or maybe I’ll go down there and sleep on the sofa. Yeah.

Lena was on her way down the hall when she was startled to see someone coming up the stairs.

“Yulia?” Lena softly called out.

“Yeah.” Yulia said drowsily.

“Everything okay? How come you’re up?”

“Stupid Gabby licked me in the face and took my blanket.” Yulia pouted.

Lena had to hold back her laughter. Gabby was known as the blanket thief in the house, but she didn’t think she would steal it right off of Yulia while she was sleeping.

“What are you doing?” Yulia asked.

“Oh..um…nothing. Just going to get a drink. Want one?” Lena fibbed.

“Nah.” Even in her sleepy state Yulia noticed Lena’s ‘Shania smirk’ at the mention of one of her songs. Yulia rolled her eyes. “I mean, NO, you Shania freak.”

-------

Yulia had a hard time falling asleep since she took the nap on the car ride home. Poor Lena. I hope her knee is feeling better. Oh my gosh! She carried me from the car to the house! How could I not have thought about her knee?! Awww I’ll have to make it up to her tomorrow.

Yulia continued to reflect on their fun day, when she remembered one important piece of information. The chipmunk violated me! Ha! That means Lena has to run naked in the woods! Heehee. Yulia grinned evilly as she looked at the clock. 12:30 a.m. Everyone should be asleep by now.

Yulia silently crept off her bed and sat down on Lena’s.

“Leeeeena. You need to wake up.” Yulia gently shook Lena’s shoulders. After such a long day, Lena was tired so she was sleeping like a log.

Hmmm. She’s out. Wonder if this will wake her up. Yulia softly called out Lena’s name while she tickled her feet. Yulia smiled as she suppressed a laugh when Lena began to twitch and actually kicked the air, just like Rebel does when she tickles his paws. Like owner, like dog. Yulia chuckled quietly.

After a couple seconds of tickling Lena’s feet, Yulia moved up to her stomach and ran her fingers across it. Yulia let out a small yelp in surprise when Lena grabbed her hand, threw it off her stomach, and quickly sat up.

“Yulia?!” Lena gasped and let out a sigh of relief. “Goodness I thought you were a spider crawling up my shirt!”

Yulia snorted. “Since when are you afraid of spiders, Miss Croc Hunter Jr.?”

“Like you wouldn’t freak if you felt something crawling up your shirt in your sleep? Riiight. Anyway, why’d you wake me up? What time is it?” Lena went to look at the clock, but Yulia was blocking her view.

“It’s 12:30 and you need to hurry up. Go in the bathroom, get naked, and come out with a towel.” Yulia stated.

What did she just say?? “Wait a minute…did you just tell me to get naked?” Lena asked, confused. I must still be sleeping.

“Yep. Go get nekked. Time for you to run out in the woods in your birthday suit, you animal charmer you.” Yulia said. Oh I am *so* going to get some good blackmail pictures!

“You can’t be serious.” Lena said in disbelief. She must be out of her mind!

“What? Are you too chicken? You afwaid the big bag animawls gonna getcha in the dark?” Yulia’s voice oozed with challenge. She knew that making it sound like Lena was afraid of something would easily get her to do it, just to prove her wrong.

Lena narrowed her eyes. “No I am not afraid of the animals. Like *I* of all people would be scared by an animal.” Lena huffed. Huh. Think I’m afraid of animals in the dark, does she? I’ll prove her wrong! Then we’ll see who’s afraid!

Ten minutes later Yulia was standing outside with a flashlight and a camera hidden in her pants that Lena didn’t know about, while Lena stood on the edge of the tree line wearing only a towel.

“Okay. On three you have to take off the towel and then run around the woods in a circle around your house.” Yulia instructed. And then when you come out, I’ll shine the flashlight on you and say, ‘cheese’!

“Got it.” Lena responded. Yeah, we’ll see who will be afraid of animals in the dark.

“One, two, three, GO!”

Lena dropped the towel and took off in the woods, holding her arms out in front of her eyes so she didn’t run into any branches. She tried to run just on her tip toes to minimize the chances of her stepping on any sticks or thorns. About half way around the house, Lena stopped and ducked down. Okay. I’ll lure her in the woods and then when she gets close enough, I’ll poke her with a stick and then laugh as she freaks and runs away. Perfect!

Yulia became very alert when she didn’t hear the rustling of Lena running.

“Lena?” Yulia called out cautiously. Where is she? Did she fall?!

“Lena!” Yulia called out again. She started walking towards the last place where she heard Lena running, but stopped when she heard some slight rustling in the bush. There you are! I bet this is a trick! Well, we’ll see who tricks who this time.

Lena stared at Yulia and smiled when she stopped not too far from her. Her smile faded when Yulia started to walk to an area in front of her. What is she doing?

Yulia crept up to the spot where she heard the sound. Alright, time to get some pictures! Yulia readied herself and then suddenly leaped to the spot, flashlight on and camera ready.

“HA! NOW WHO’S LAUGH—AHHHHHHHH!!!” Yulia screamed as she saw a black and white stripped tail lift up and spray the most horrible odor she has ever smelled in her life.

Lena immediately jumped up at Yulia’s scream, but when she heard and smelled the too familiar stench, she couldn’t decide whether to laugh or to cringe.

“LEEENNNAAAAAA!!!!!!!” Yulia yelled. “WHAT IN THE HELL DID THAT THING JUST DO TO ME?!”

Lena ran to get her towel, wrapped it around herself, and then returned to a fuming mad Yulia. Well, she didn’t go within a yard of her, but still, she was as close as she wanted to get to her.

“Yulia, I regret to inform you that you’ve just been sprayed by a skunk.” Lena bit her lip to hold in her laughter as she saw the look of realization, horror, and then rage cross Yulia’s face.

“Lena, OH MY GOSH! Find it, kill it, and make it into a damn hat! THAT’S IT! ANIMALS SUCK! Your freaken North American animals can KISS MY RUSSIAN ASS!”

Yulia stared hard at Lena when she saw the smirk cross Lena’s face.

“Oh, you think this is funny? You think me getting sprayed by a freaken SKUNK is freaken FUNNY?!? WELL, FUNNY THIS, ANIMAL LOVER! AHHHHH!!!”

Lena’s eyes grew to the size of spaceships when she saw that Yulia had taken off running towards her.

Lena turned around and sped off as fast as she could around the house, while Yulia was right on her heels.

“I’m going to freaken rip that towel off you and freaken hit you in the butt with it until it’s as red as your hair and then I’ll smother you in my shirt so you can stink to! This’ll teach you and your damn animals to mess with me!!!!!”

Wait, she thinks *I* had something to do with this?! How was I supposed to know a skunk would be there?! “Yulia, I didn’t do it! I didn’t know a skunk would be there! I swear!” Lena managed to say through breaths of air while she ran around the house.

“Yeah, and you’re not a Shania fan!” Yulia spat back.

Lena had slowed down a bit at the mention of Shania. What’d she say? This allowed Yulia to quickly catch up.

“GOTCH YA!” Yulia yelled as she tackled Lena.

“Yulia, NOOOOOO!!!! ACK! GET OFF!” Lena struggled to get the very smelly Yulia off of her, knowing the smell would rub off and seep into her hair or anything else Yulia touched since the spray was still so fresh.

“Not so funny now, is it, PEPPY LE PUE?!” Yulia placed as much of her own body as possible over Lena’s to rub off as most of the stench as she could. If I gotta smell, then so does she!

“What in the blazes is going on here?!?” Mr. Katina hissed, still in his bathrobe.

“AHHH!” Both girls yelled, completely startled.

“Lena, why are you in a towel?” Mr. Katina looked sternly from Lena lying on the ground in a towel to Yulia, whose body was spread out all over Lena’s at the moment.

Both Yulia and Lena scrambled to stand up. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! Lena nervously thought. How are we going to explain *this*?!

[Veggie Delite]

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! How are we going to explain *this*?!

i'd really like to see that


pwease-pwease update soon *sad puppy eyes*

[teeny]

Originally Posted by Veggie Delite

you know we missed you here a lot! so good to read updates here

Yeah to that.. I read the first many chapters in here only to find out updates moved to tatu . us. Not that I don't like reading in there but my computer converted ' and other signs into a weird serie of signs instead. But I soon mastered knowing that #[&& or so was a ' I was too lazy to see if the problem would be solved with reading in Internet Explorer.
Btw, veggie, you hotlinked the wrong update in the quick link. You missed a part of the chapter before the linked one. But old news so just a heads up.. hehe

Originally Posted by haku

(i think a part of Lena wanted to run naked, lol, because Yulia had warned her before of what she would have to do if an animal violated her, and Lena deliberately made that chipmunk violate Yulia)

Yeah I agree Haku. I think Lena planned it aswell, cos was kinda strange that the peanut found it's way down there if it wasn't planned And even if it hadn't worked Yulia was left on the sofa with the dog (sorry can't remember name ) who was bound to lick her face or steal the blanket.. Running in the woods naked was not really up for discussion at all yay..

[haku]

Originally Posted by dare2dream28

I don't think the image after this chapter will be as pleasant. LOL

LOL, yeah, i was eagerly waiting for the scene with Lena running naked, and i have to admit that it didn't turn out like i had imagined... (Not that i had imagined much, just Lena running... naked... bouncing boobs... flowing red hair... at that point my mind generally stops working, lol)

Anyway... whatever nice image i had in my head at first, addind a skunk and a dad in it is more than enough to ruin everything, lol. Damn animals and dads!

Ok... How do you explain to your dad why you are half naked outside with your exchange student rubbing her body against yours... One of the girls is going to have to think fast.

And finally, i'd say that in my opinion Lena didn't respect her part of the deal, she didn't run naked around the house and Yulia got violated again! So she should have to do it again! But the girls should choose a time when they are alone (or go away near that lake like they did a long time ago) so that they can frolic at their leisure.

Thanks for the update d2d.

Originally Posted by teeny

I think Lena planned it aswell

Absolutely. Lena is starting to have feelings for Yulia and i think she enjoyed the idea of Yulia seeing her naked, i'm sure she was hoping to see Yulia gaping at the sight of her naked body. She was probably dissapointed that Yulia asked her to do that in the middle of the night since Yulia could not see her.

[dare2dream28]

$in---Sorry to keep you from an update for so long, but had computer probs (again! stupid pos computer!) and kept getting called into work. Hopefully these next TWO updates will make up for last week's lack of one.

teeny---Yeah, I noticed that over at tatu*us that all those weird symbols kept popping up. It happened after the site had been hacked & the founders had to save it. I dunno, but it annoys the hell out of me.

haku---The girls sure do have some explaining to do! And LOL@where your mind generally stops working. I'm surprised you got that far thinking about Lena and still manage to function. LOL j/k

So finally, here's an update for you guys!

Chapter 54 part 2

“Lena, why are you in a towel?” Mr. Katina looked sternly from Lena lying on the ground in a towel to Yulia, whose body was spread out all over Lena’s at the moment.

“Ummm…errrrm….that is….” Lena stammered. I can’t tell him the *real* reason!

“Because she was about to get in the shower and…” Yulia began.

“A shower? At 12:30 in the morning?!” Mr. Katina firmly questioned.

“I guess she just felt dirty, I don’t know. She likes to take showers at night. Right, Lena?”

“Umm..right. Yep!” Lena fidgeted with one end of her towel, refusing to look up at her dad.

“Okayyy. And you’re outside because…?” Mr. Katina continued.

“We’re outside because…because I felt like coming outside for some fresh air…” Yulia started to say.

“HA! Now I know you’re lying. Alright girls, I’m not sure *what* you’re up to, but I’ll find out. I’ll be watching.” Mr. Katina stated with a hint of warning in his voice.

“You think we’re lying because I said I wanted some fresh air?? Oh come on, Mr. Katina. Give Lena a little more credit here. She has actually gotten me to like the outdoors…a little…since I’ve been here.” Yulia crossed her arms over her chest.

Lena looked at Yulia with a mild shocked expression. Does she mean that, or is she just saying that to make her story believable?

Mr. Katina raised his eyebrow at Yulia. “Reallllly? Well, that’s a small miracle I’m sure.” If that’s true, then job well done Lena. “Okay then, how do you explain your…position when I came out here?”

Shit! “Well, when I got sprayed by the skunk, I screamed and ran. I guess Lena heard me scream so she started running in my direction and then BOOM we banged into each other.” Yulia quickly replied.

“Shouldn’t you have fallen backwards then?” Mr. Katina questioned. I’ll find out what’s going on.

“Umm…nooo…because…” Yulia stammered and looked to Lena for help.

“Uhh…No because she was so scared that she grabbed onto me, which made me fall on top of her. You know how freaked out she gets outside, Dad, with the dirt and all.”

“Hey! I am not *that* prissyl!” Yulia said in defense, earning a ‘shut the hell up so he’ll believes us’ glare from Lena.

Mr. Katina looked back and forth between the girls. I’ll deal with this later. “Well, I’m going to go get the tent and some sleeping bags because you two are not sleeping in the house smelling like that.”

A few minutes later, Mr. Katina returned from the house.

“Lena, I brought you a nightgown. You girls better be more careful. I *will* be watching.” Mr. Katina warned as he set their stuff down. Let that make them think twice before they try and trick me.

--------------

They were in the tent for less than ten minutes when Lena promptly sat up.

“That’s it! We have the windows unzipped, the door flap open, and the top flaps down and it *still* stinks in here! I’m going outside. I need some fresh air!” Lena huffed as she began to gather up her sleeping bag.

“You’re going outside?? Awww, c’mon Lena! Don’t leave me by myself in here!” Yulia pouted.

“I thought you said that you were beginning to like the outdoors?” Lena questioned. [/i] Let’s see if she really meant it or not.[/i]

“Well…I do…kinda…but only if you’re with me! And you being outside the tent is *not* with me.” Yulia gently grabbed Lena’s arm. “Please?”

Lena sighed. “Yulia, I can’t sleep in here. It’s just way too stuffy. Look, I’ll be right at the opening of the tent so if you get scared, just poke your head outside, okay? There’s no boogey man to worry about. And even if there was, I don’t think he’d get within ten feet of us anyway.”

“Okay.” Yulia said softly.

Lena placed her sleeping bag outside and was just about to fall asleep when she felt something knock all the air out of her.

“OOOOFF!” Lena gasped as Yulia unknowingly placed her hand, as well as all of her weight, on Lena’s stomach.

“What the—Lena?! Geeze, when you said right at the opening of the tent, I didn’t think you meant it literally! I’m sorry! Are you okay?” Yulia asked, concerned.

Lena sat up and coughed a little to get her breath back. “Yeah.” Lena squeaked. “What are you doing?”

“Ohh…well…I decided to come out here and you know, look at the stars or whatever.” Yulia said as she placed her sleeping bag beside Lena’s.

“Uh-huh.” Lena said sarcastically.

“What? I like the stars. You just tell your animal friends to stay away from me tonight.”

“Arrrooooooooooohisssssshiisssssssswhooooowhoooo ocawwwwwwwcawwwwwwww!” Lena smirked at Yulia.

“Smartass.”

“You know it.”

-----------

“Yulia, are you awake?” Lena whispered.

Yulia turned to face Lena. “Yeah. What’s on your mind?”

Lena hesitated a little before finally talking. “Did you mean what you said to my dad? Do you really enjoy the outdoors?”

“Well…it depends. I mean, the animals sure do freak me out when they get a little too…what’s the word…curious with me, but I do enjoy the time I spend with you outside, believe it or not.”

“Really? You wouldn’t rather be shopping or getting your nails done or something?” Lena asked, still unsure.

“Leeeeenaaaaa.” Yulia playfully hit Lena on the shoulder. “Yes, I like doing the girly stuff, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy our little adventures…Strawberry Girl.” Yulia winked at Lena, who blushed at the comment.

Just then Yulia shivered and started to unzip her sleeping bag. She started to unzip Lena’s as well when she was stopped by Lena’s hand.

“What are you doing?” Lena asked.

“I’m cold.” Yulia simply stated.

“Well then, why don’t you zip *up* your sleeping bag and leave mine alone?”

“Nooo. We can use yours to sleep on and then use mine as a blanket, that way I’ll get warmer by our body heat.” Yulia explained as she began to unzip Lena’s bag again.

Body heat?? What?! “Woah, woah, woah. Waaiiiit a minute. Why don’t you just go back into the tent?” Lena suggested. No no nooo. No body heat. *No* body heat!

“Like I said before, you’re outside the tent, so I’ll be outside the tent. Now quit fussing and help me.”

By the time everything was set up, Yulia was only a few inches away from Lena.

Ahhh, *much* better. Yulia thought as she snuggled as close as she dared to Lena.

Too hot. Getting *way* too hot. How am I going to sleep tonight? Lena was nervous as hell sleeping this close to Yulia. Sure, they slept close together before on their camping trip, but now it was different for some reason Lena couldn’t explain. All she knew was that her emotions were running wild. This is going to be a *long* night.

-----------

When Lena’s eyes fluttered open in the morning, she was instantly aware of two things: 1) the horrible smell clouding her nostrils and 2) the extra weight on one side of her body.

Please be Rebel, please be Rebel, please be Rebel. Lena repeated to herself as she turned her head.

Ohhhhh boy. Lena looked over to see that sometime during the early morning hours Yulia had managed to maneuver her head onto Lena’s shoulder while draping her arm across Lena’s stomach.

Lena gulped. She felt like an electric shock was running all through her body and it made her too nervous to move. Okay. Think Lena. How can you move without waking Yulia up?

The creaking of the back door made Lena completely forget about her concern in not disturbing Yulia. She shot up like she’d been stung and jumped as far away from the sleeping bags as possible.

Yulia grumbled when her favorite pillow suddenly disappeared from underneath her.

“What happened?” Yulia mumbled while rubbing her eyes.

“Someone’s coming. Time to get up.” Lena said fretfully. Oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh. What if someone saw us like that?!

“Girls! I left breakfast for you on the porch table because frankly, you stink and I’m not going near you.” Mrs. Katina chuckled. “I’ll be back in a little bit with some stuff to get rid of that horrible smell. Oh and Lena, Rebel’s outside. Be sure to let him in.”

“Thanks, Mom!” Lena yelled across the yard. Just then, Rebel came down the porch steps.

“Rebel! Hey boy! C’mere, Reb!” Lena called enthusiastically to Rebel.

Rebel started to walk over towards Lena, but once he got a whiff of her rather strong new smell, he began to whine and quickly started running far, far away.

“HEY! GET BACK HERE!! REBEL!!!!” Lena yelled with a look of utter disbelief on her face.

Rebel stopped, turned to face Lena, sneezed, and then ran off back to the house.

“Disloyal dog. See if I pay him attention next time he rolls in a dead fish.” Lena grumbled as she pouted.

“You *know* we stink when your own dog won’t go near you. I mean, he eats his own shit and *we* just repulsed *him.*” Yulia commented with a smile.

“Shut up.”

-------------

“Okay girls, I’m back. I bought a skunk remover solution from ‘Petsmart.’ Put the solution onto a cloth before you apply it to your face and don’t get it in your mouth, eyes, or nose.” Mrs. Katina said.

“So we don’t have to use tomato juice?” Lena questioned.

“Nope! I asked around and the people told me that tomato juice just covers up the skunk smell. It has something to do with the chemicals in the skunk spray. Anyway, just apply the solution to your body and let it evaporate; then you can take a shower.”

“One last thing, girls. Do this *outside* because if that smell gets in the house, you will spend the rest of the year cleaning until it’s gone.” Mrs. Katina advised. “I’ll go get your bathing suits.”

They took turns changing in the tent. Lena was extremely hesitant in coming out of the tent as Mrs. Katina had grabbed the one and only bikini Lena owned, which Mrs. Katina had bought in hopes of giving Lena a nudge to not be so afraid of showing off just a little.

I can’t believe this. I can *not* believe she got the freaken bikini!!!! UGH! Lena thought, frustrated.

“Lena, what’s taking so long? Remember, one leg at a time.” Yulia joked. Hearing no response, Yulia took a step forward to the tent. “Don’t make me go in there and pull you out.”

“Alright, alright. But if you say *one* word, I will tie you up, cover you with seed, and leave you at the mercy of the squirrels.” Lena warned.

Lena took a deep breath and ever so slowly emerged from the tent.

WOAH. Yulia just stared at Lena for a moment, taking in the sight of her friend in a navy blue bikini, revealing her smooth stomach, cute freckles, toned legs, and well endowed chest. Yulia shook her head slightly once she noticed Lena was beginning to squirm under her gaze.

“Uhhh…you look…nice.” Yulia said. Nice my ass! She is *hot*.

“Let’s just get this over with, okay?” Lena felt very insecure with the lack of clothing.

“Okay.”

While they each applied the solution to themselves, Yulia couldn’t help but steal glances of Lena. Good God almighty, she has a rockin’ body. These thoughts were not all that new to Yulia, but she had just recently stopped pushing them aside. There is just no denying how beautiful she is, inside *and* out.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Lena questioned warily.

Shit, I’m caught! “Umm…because…because I was going to ask if you could apply this stuff to my back. I can’t reach it.”

Crap! “Ooookay.”

Yulia laid down on her stomach while Lena squirted some of the liquid onto her back.

Ohhh that feels *so* good. Yulia thought as Lena rubbed the solution all over her skin. Time to return the favor.

“Thanks. Okay, now it’s your turn.” Yulia said as she got up.

My turn? Nope. Don’t need a turn. “No, that’s okay. I’ll be fine.” Lena protested.

“I don’t think so! I’ll be damned if you sleep in the room with that awful smell on your back. Lie down and turn over.” Yulia instructed.

Gosh she’s so tense. Yulia thought as she rubbed the solution onto Lena. Feels like she could use a massage. Yulia slowly began to knead Lena’s back.

What is she doing?? Lena’s mind shouted at her to get up and run, but her body was enjoying this too much to move. Against her mind’s orders, Lena’s body began to relax and her shoulders slightly fell to the sides in relief.

“Feel good?” Yulia whispered.

“Mmmm.” Lena felt completely at ease now, former worries forgotten. This feels *soo* nice. Her hands can work some magic. Lena felt so comfortable that she didn’t even hear the creaking of the back door on the porch.

“Girls, how’s it coming along? Can you notice a difference?” Mrs. Katina asked.

Lena’s eyes flew open and her first response was to scoot away, but she was stopped by Yulia’s hands slightly holding her down, a silent signal to stay calm.

“Yeah! I’m putting some on Lena’s back so no one will pass out if they have to walk behind her.” Yulia said.

Mrs. Katina chuckled. “Good idea, Yulia! Thanks for thinking of our senses.”

“No problem!” Yulia yelled back to Mrs. Katina as she went back inside.

“I can’t believe she didn’t freak out. Wow. She didn’t even comment or anything.” Lena said, very surprised as she stared at the back door.

“Why *would* she freak out, Lena? It’s not like I’m going to burn you every time I touch you or something.” Yulia sat back on her heels so she could look Lena in the eyes.

“I know…it’s just, well, I just…I just don’t normally let anyone rub my back or whatever…you know what I’m trying to say. So I’m surprised that she didn’t make a big deal out of it. It didn’t even seem to bother her.”

“Well then, that’s great. Now will you stop acting like you’re going to jump out of your skin every time your mom’s around and I just happen to be closer than, let’s say, I don’t know, a foot from you?” Yulia grinned.

Lena returned Yulia’s sarcastic grin. “Yeah, yeah. I guess so.”

“Good.” Yulia said with a hint of triumph in her voice. Now we’re making some progress.

Chapter 55 (part 1)

The next morning while getting ready for school, Yulia turned to Lena.

“Are you sure you can’t smell anything?” Yulia asked for the tenth time that morning.

“YES, Yulia. For the last time, you don’t smell like a skunk, a rotten egg, or a dead animal. Although if you put on any more of that perfume you’re going to make people get dizzy.” Lena plugged her nose and waved her hand in the air for emphasis.

“Well I’d rather smell like perfume than some spray that came out of a skunk’s ass.”

Despite herself, Lena laughed at Yulia’s comment. “Well, let’s go. We need to leave now so we won’t be late.”

As usual, Lena’s definition of ‘late’ made them arrive at school fifteen minutes before everyone else so once again they were the first in the classroom.

“Good morning, girls!” Miss Jamison said as she entered the classroom. “The day that I beat you here will be the day that it rains cats and dogs, for sure.”

Lena smiled. “So how’s the crow?”

“Oh that thing is too smart for its own good! It figured out how to unlock its cage so at one o’clock this morning it got out and went around tormenting our kittens, the poor things.”

“It’s staying with you? I thought you put it in a rehab place.” Lena questioned.

“Oh…well, my roommate decided that we could take care of it at our place. It’s just easier that way. So, how was your weekend?” Miss Jamison asked.

Lena and Yulia just looked at each other with a knowing glance.

“Let’s just say skunks suck.” Yulia said.

---------

“Hey!” Igor said when Yulia walked into the classroom.

“How was your weekend?” Igor asked once Yulia sat down.

“Don’t ask.” Yulia replied as she brought out her books.

“Sounds like it didn’t go to well. Would it make you smile if I said that this weekend could be a lot better?” Igor said.

“What do you mean?” Yulia asked, confused.

“Yulia, would you go out with me this weekend? I could take you to dinner and movie or something. You know, just have some fun.” Igor suggested.

It wouldn’t hurt just for one night, right? Just to be nice to him. “Well, ummm…I guess so.” Yulia said.

A smile spread from ear to ear across Igor’s face. “Great! I’ll come by your house Friday at 6, okay?”

“Okay.” Yulia responded, lacking the enthusiasm Igor had.

Throughout the rest of class, Yulia could only think about this weekend. Why did I have to be nice? Why couldn’t I have just said ‘no’ to him? Yulia chewed on the lid of her pen. And why can’t I shake this feeling that I’m letting Lena down?

Yulia dreaded the rest of the classes she had that day with Igor and tried her best to will time to speed up.

It was finally the end of the day and she practically rushed out the door to go find Lena at the library. Usually she would wait for Igor to walk with her, but not today.

“Hey, what’s the rush?” Lena asked, noticing Yulia’s quick pace.

“Oh, nothing. Just can’t wait to go home.” Yulia said.

“Bad day in class?” Lena asked. What’s up with her?

“Yeah, you could say that. Anyways, let’s just go.” Yulia said as she led the way out the door.

---------------

“That’s weird. Mom’s home a little early.” Lena said as she pulled into her driveway.

“Maybe she got off work early.” Yulia said as she gathered her stuff and got out of the car.

“Hey Mom. Why are you home?” Lena said when she walked through the door.

“Well gee, nice to see you too, dear.” Mrs. Katina said, earning a snicker from Yulia.

“You know what I mean. Nothing’s wrong, is there?” Lena said.

“No, nothing’s wrong. I just got to come home early because I finished everything at work a little earlier than scheduled. Anyways, I think you’ll be happy to know that you have a special letter on the table for you.”

“I DO?! WOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!!” Lena shrieked in excitement like a little girl and sprinted for the table.

Yulia just looked at Lena like she was a mad woman, and then to Mrs. Katina for explanation.

“It’s her Shania fan club letter.” Mrs. Katina explained and smiled when she saw Yulia roll her eyes.

“Figures. I’m surprised she didn’t rip the envelope to shreds by now.” Yulia said.

“What? And ruin the precious thing? No, she *has* to save each and every one for her scrapbook.” Mrs. Katina said, her voice thick with sarcasm.

“AHHHHHHH!!!! OHHHH MYYY GGAAAAWWWDDDDD!!!!!!! PAPER BAG!! NOW!!! QUICK!!!” Lena screamed as she was on the verge of hyperventilating.

Both Yulia and Mrs. Katina just about had a heart attack at Lena’s explosion.

“OHMYGAWDSHANIA’SCOMINGHEREFORACONCERTANDTHERE ’SCHANCEFORBACKSTAGEPASSESAND…” Lena shot off at a mile a minute.

“HOLD UP!” Yulia yelled as she thrust her hands in the air. “Lena, I know you’re excited and all, but we can’t understand a word you just said. Take a deep breath and talk like a normal person who’s *not* on speed.”

Lena took a dramatic huge breath. “OKAY. Shania…here…CONCERT…chance to win backstage passes…HERE…THIS WEEKEND!!! AAHHHHHHH!!!!! We are *so* camping out this weekend!!!!!!!! OHMYGAWD I can bring my face paint and wear my favorite Shania t-shirt and OH you can borrow one of course and…”

“WOAH! Wait a minute!” Yulia interrupted. “*We* are camping out this weekend? How did *I* get involved in this campout?” Yulia asked.

“Yulia, it’s part of your American experience so you *are* coming with me!”

“What the…SHE’S CANADIAN!!!! How is *that* part of my *American* experience?!” Yulia fired back. I don’t think I could handle being around a large, very scary group of over-crazed Shania fans and come out of that with my sanity!

“Oh hush. We’re going and we will have fun. YAY!!!! BACKSTAGE PASSES, HERE WE COME!!!!” Lena leaped up in the air and clapped her hands together and skipped upstairs to her room, singing the words to “Rock This Country!” during her overly jolly skipping.

Yulia just looked at Mrs. Katina. “Is she always this giddy over Shania concerts?”

Mrs. Katina laughed bitterly. “Ohhh you think *this* is giddy? You haven’t seen anything yet, Yulia. When she gets on her ‘Shania high’ there is *no* bringing her down. Better you than me camping out all night with the Shania fanatics.”

Mrs. Katina smiled at the panicked look that crossed Yulia’s face.

“I do have a tip for you. Keep her on a leash because you turn your back for one second in the land of Shania freaks and she will be *gone*. It’s like Rebel with the rabbits. He follows his nose, Lena follows her Shania sense.” Mrs. Katina laughed, thinking about the times that she went with Lena to some of the Shania conventions.

One time they traveled a few hours to see a Shania concert so they decided to get a hotel. Lena was wearing one of her Shania shirts when another person in the hotel said, “So *that’s* what I heard.”

“What did you hear?” Lena asked, her eyes very alert.

“I heard really loud, muffled music. I think she’s rehear---”

“The stranger didn’t even finish what she was saying. As soon as Lena heard that Shania was rehearsing, she took off like a bat out of hell and I struggled like anything just to keep her in my sight. Didn’t even have a clue where she was going and she *still* found the place! That was our first time being in that city and I’m still amazed that Lena led us right to the arena.” Mrs. Katina laughed as she relived her memories.

As much as Mr. Katina complained about hearing Shania 24/7, Mrs. Katina was grateful for Shania. Shania was the one thing that Lena actually wanted her to be involved with. They would go on mother/daughter ‘Shania adventures’ to concerts around the state and even to neighboring states on the last tour.

“Well, you two have fun tomorrow at wherever you’re going. But be warned; because of this new tidbit of Shania info, Lena will be soaring high as a kite and will be going a million miles an hour so do your best to keep up.” Mrs. Katina smiled.

“Thanks for the warning.” Yulia said.

As Yulia made her way upstairs, she winced as she heard the oh-so-familiar Shania tunes blaring from Lena’s room. Just kill me now. I’m going to have to deal with Shania overdrive for an entire week! I knew I should’ve bought some ear plus when I had the chance.

Yulia stopped and sighed as she opened the door to her and Lena’s room.

“GREAT!!! You’re here! Now we can start plannnniinnngggg!!!” Lena said in a bubbly voice as she ran up to Yulia, took hold of both her hands, and started to swing her around the room.

What the?! “Okay, who are you and what have you done with Lena?”

“Hehehehehehe. Silly! Okay so yeah now we can figure out what we’re going to pack!” Lena suddenly stopped and then whirled around to look at Yulia. Lena rushed right up and got face to face with Yulia.

“Are you ready, Yulia?” Lena said in a low voice. Lena giggled wildly at Yulia’s confused expression.

“I *said* are you READY Yulia?!” Lena said, in a slightly higher pitched tone.

Yulia rolled her eyes, immediately recognizing the tone from the beginning of the Shania “LIVE!” DVD Lena had made her watch so many times.

“LET’S GO YULIA!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” Lena screeched as she took Yulia’s hands again and made them do the do-si-do around the room.

Rebel, hearing the high-pitched wooooing going on, decided to come into the room and investigate. When he heard Lena emit the high-pitched wooo noise again, he sat down, tilted his head up in the air and joined in.

“AARRRROOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!” Rebel yodeled, scaring the living crap out of Yulia and literally scaring the shit out of Mr. Squeaks, who up until then, was happily running along on his exercise wheel.

“Ahhhh!!!!!!!!” Yulia screamed. “THAT’S IT! You and your dog are officially insane!”

“Yeah, but you like us anyway.” Lena grinned at Yulia.

Yulia gave Lena a toothy smile. “Can’t deny that.” Sorry Igor, I have a much better weekend in mind now, even if it does involve the land of the Shania freaks.

[teeny]

awwww.. yay.. updates Thank you so much, dare

I think I just got responsible for late breakfast with my family. Cos I have the car today and I have to go buy the bread. No problem normally since I sat the clock on time and would have made it early.
But clock started and I went and pushed it forward 30 min. Then I hit power just after waking up, and with not one but TWO ( *jumps around room* ) updates I had to read them before doing anything at all.. so now it's 10am and I still have to shower and drive to my brothers place where my parents sleept. Note it's a 30 min drive or so.. wooooooops..

That being said: YAY in first update chapter seems like Yulia might have a few similar thoughts about Lena, but perhaps not at the same level.. for the moment
And Igor will have to wait for sure.. there are nights to be spent in a tent with an extremely happy Lena..

Haku, did you survive bathingsuit incidence? I better go get a cold shower..

[tatu_rocs]

hahaa too cute i think instead of shania twin it should have been amy lee off evanescence!!

[haku]

Originally Posted by teeny

Haku, did you survive bathingsuit incidence?

Barely, Lena in a bikini, that's the next best thing after Lena naked, lol. Plus, she got massaged by Yulia, argh, i got very hot and quite tensed suddenly.
The good thing is that Yulia got a good view (and a good touch) of Lena's hot curvy body (Yulia seems to like boobs ), she's hooked, she won't be able to resist now, lol.

Lena seems to be embarassed by her body though, that saddens me, how can she not realize how hot she is. Has anyone given her a hard time about the way she looks, maybe her own father told her something about her being too girly or something and she's ashamed to have such a womanly figure?
Well, someone needs to tell her that she's majorly hot!


As for Igor, well, he doesn't sound to be an asshole like Zack, but he'll have to find another playground for his teenage boy urges, or he'll just have to date his hand friday night (nothing wrong with that).

[tatu_rocs]

come on wheres an update im dieing here

[Veggie Delite]

yeah... see...?

[dare2dream28]

*storms into thread and gives everyone a big bear hug* Heeeelllllloooooooooo everybody!!!!! It is time that I update this thing, eh??? Heck yeah! But first...I must say some things:

First off, a huge huge huge huge HUGE Shania-concert scream worthy THANK YOU to everyone who posted while I was gone. It means a lot to me that you guys actually kept up with the story for so long. Thanks guys.

I also wanted to let you know that I will be updating at least once a week, since Parrish has agreed to put me on a type of deadline/grading system where I have to write at least a chapter a week or else I get a 'bad grade.' (hey, it's the only way I work well--under pressure ). Anyways, I hope you all are still interested, but if it's been too long, then just let me know.

So without further ado, here, FINALLY is Chapter 55 part 3!!!!

Chapter 55 part 3


Face paint—check. Posters—check. Shania CDs—check. One sleeping bag—check. Paper bag in case hyperventilation occurs—check. Lena was mentally running through her check list as she was driving to the coliseum where the Shania backstage passes contest was going to take place.

“Woooo!! Backstage passes, here we come!” Lena said as she cranked up Shania’s song, “In My Car (I’ll Be The Driver)” from the UP! CD.

“So remind me what we’re doing again? I really didn’t understand your Shania speed talk gibberish the first time you tried to explain the plans for the weekend.” Yulia asked.

“Okay. Here’s the cliffnote version: Arrive at coliseum. Establish camp spot. Meet my Shania friends. Wait for official fan club reps to show up. Participate in contest. WIN contest, and I emphasize WIN the contest. Get backstage passes. Pass out. Come back home. Get it? Got it? Good!”

-------------

As they pulled into the coliseum parking lot, Yulia was surprised to see that there were already ten people forming a line.

“Seriously, Lena. Do these people not have lives? The contest isn’t for another *14* hours and they’re already in line!!!”

“I knew we should’ve left earlier!” Lena complained, causing Yulia to roll her eyes.

As they unloaded the Shania mobile and began walking over to the line, Yulia started to get nervous when she saw a tall, slightly muscular man running full speed at them. Oh my gosh he’s going to rob us! I don’t freaken think so!! He better think twice if he’s going to hurt Lena!

Yulia instantly dropped everything in her hands and pulled out the pepper spray she packed in her purse. “ROB THIS YOU PSYCHO!!” Yulia aimed the pepper spray right in the stranger’s face.

“YULIA!! STOP!!! STOP IT!!!” Lena yelled as she witnessed the man fall to his knees, screaming as the pepper spray savagely stung his eyes.

“That’ll teach him to think about robbing us! Crazy Americans!” Yulia said triumphantly.

“OH MY GOSH, ADAM! Adam are you okay?!?!” Lena rushed to Adam’s side and helped him sit up.

A confused look encompassed Yulia’s face at the sight of Lena helping out the strange man. Suddenly, Yulia’s face transformed from confused to horrified as the name Adam dawned on her. Adam…Adam as in her Shania friend, Adam?? Oh noooooo!

“It burns, it burrrrrrnnnssss! What the hell was *that* for?!?” Adam whined as he rubbed his eyes in pain.

“Don’t do that, it’ll only make it worse! Yulia, get me some water please!” Lena said as she took out a towel from her backpack.

Yulia searched through her book bag and pulled out the bottle of water she packed, quickly handing it to Lena.

“Lena, I’m so sorry! I didn’t know! I thought he was going to rob us!” Yulia said as she watched Lena pour water on Adam’s eyes, washing out the pepper spray.

“You thought I was going to *rob* you?! What the…why?? Did you not see the *Shania* shirt I’m wearing??” Adam practically snarled at Yulia.

“If I would’ve seen the Shania shirt then I would’ve sprayed you even more. You looked like one of those zombies from that ’28 days later’ movie running straight at us like that!” Yulia snapped back. “I said I was sorry! I didn’t know!”

Lena couldn’t help but laugh at the situation. “Alright guys, it was an accident. Let it go. Anyways, the bloodshot red eyes compliment your complexion, Adam. You should thank Yulia.” Lena snickered.

“Really?” Adam instantly brightened up at the pseudo-compliment from Lena.

Lena rolled her eyes as she helped pull Adam up to his feet. “Well, I guess I should introduce you two. Yulia, this is Adam, one of my good Shania buddies. Adam, this is Yulia, my best-friend. She’s visiting with my family for a year from Russia.”

Yulia smiled wildly inside as Lena introduced her as her best-friend, but kept a cool face. “Well Adam, I’m sorry to have left such a bad first impression, but hey, you can’t blame me for getting paranoid when I saw a guy as tall and muscular as you running straight at me.”

“I wasn’t running towards *you*.” Adam glared at Yulia for a split second before softening his eyes towards Lena, giving her a big smile. “It’s so great to see you again!” Adam gave Lena a huge bear hug and much to Yulia’s surprise, Lena returned it equally as enthusiastic.

“Almost everyone from the gang is here.” Adam said, smiling as they walked over to the line.

“Lena!!” The group of Shania fans shouted as each of them made their way over to give Lena a hug.

Wow…this is definitely *not* the Lena I’m used to. Yulia thought as she watched with awe at how Lena was so freely exchanging hugs with these people.

“Yulia, come here. Let me introduce you.” Lena put her arm around Yulia’s shoulder. “Everyone, this is Yulia, my best-friend. She’s a Shania fan in training from Russia.” Lena gave a toothy smile to Yulia and then turned to her friends.

“Can I shake your hand, or will I get pepper spray in my eyes?” Al, a middle aged man joked. “Nah, but really, we’re glad you’re here, Yulia. We always welcome newcomers into the group!”

“Thank you.” Yulia smiled. The fact that Lena still had her arm around her shoulder did not escape her attention. Affection in public! I could get used to this.

-------

By the time everyone had exchanged greetings and got reacquainted with each other, it was nightfall.

“Feels like it’s going to get a bit chilly tonight.” Lena said as she felt a small shiver down her body.

“I’ll keep you warm.” Adam said with a wink.

“Now Adam, you know that your girlfriend wouldn’t appreciate that. I mean, you know how easily Bailey gets jealous.” Lena said with a smirk.

“Bailey? I don’t think my *cat* counts as a girlfriend.”

“Cats are worse to deal with! And plus, you have cat smell on you. God forbid Rebel smells *cat* on me when I go home. He’ll think I’m a traitor!”

“Ahhh, Rebel. I’ll always just be the ‘other male’ in your life, eh?” Adam slumped, faking hurt.

“Sorry, man.” Lena smiled at Adam, silently acknowledging their long-running game of slight flirting mixed with excuses to why they’d never date each other. “Alright, well I’ll go get the sleeping bags from the car. Be back in a minute.”

When Yulia saw Lena walking back towards the line, she raised her eyebrow when she saw her carrying only one sleeping bag. I could’ve sworn she packed two.

“I only found one. I guess I forgot to pack yours while I was on my ‘Shania high’.” Lena said with a mischievous glint in her eye.

“Who’s up for some Shania trivia??” Anna, Al’s wife, suggested.

As the group sat down in the form of a circle, Yulia was surprised when Lena invited her to sit in between her legs so she could wrap the sleeping bag around them.

“I know it’s getting cold so I figured you could use the heat.” Lena said as she secured the sleeping bag around herself and Yulia.

Yulia smiled up at Lena before snuggling back into the front of Lena’s body. I could *definitely* get used to this.

After about an hour of trivia, Lena was dually impressed with Yulia’s numerous right answers. She really has been studying those Shania note cards I made for her. Wow. It meant a lot to Lena that Yulia actually took the time to learn about Shania’s past even though she knew Yulia really wasn’t all that interested. At that realization, Lena unconsciously gave Yulia a small squeeze, causing Yulia to look up.

“What’s that for?” Yulia questioned.

“Oh, just for being a great friend that’s willing to put up with my fanaticism.” Lena smiled.

“Hey, if I can put up with all your horny animal friends, then I can surely handle your crazy hyperness.” Yulia smiled back at Lena and returned the small squeeze. As Yulia nestled back to her comfortable position against Lena’s front, she took a minute to acknowledge that for the first time in public, Lena seemed to let down most of her walls and show her true self. At that moment, Yulia stopped trying to fight the pleasant sensation of Lena’s body surrounding hers and thought, maybe the land of the Shania freaks isn’t so bad after all.

[XSpex]

New chapter!!!
First of all it's great you are back, hope you have been good all this time
I started reading and immediately could remember what this fiction was about. I really like what you write, very sweet, funny and cute situations.



Thank you for updating. Also thanks to Parrish for making you write again

[Veggie Delite]

is this real? is dare back?! somebody pinch me



i have an exam in an hour so i can't read the update now

*huggles dare*

i can't fucking believe you're back

[Joha84]

I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!!!!
When I had finally lost all hopes of reading an update of this fantastic fanfic, I found this wonderful surprise!!!!!!

THANK YOU DARE2DREAM28!!! Thank you for not giving up!!!

I'm so waiting to read the next update

[Veggie Delite]

tsk..tsk... to forget the sleeping bag just like that...

[Uhaku]

heeeeeeey, u updated again! and i just had the time to finish catching up with all the chapters i missed! thanks for continuing this!

[dare2dream28]

Hey guys! Thanks for all the great welcome backs! It's good to be writing again!

[b]xSpex[b]--Thank you for the compliment. I'm glad to know you enjoyed the update!

Veggie Delite--What a welcome! *pinch* Hey, you asked for it. hehe

Joha84--Thank *you* for continuing to read this after so long! I really appreciate it!

uhaku--Thanks for still keeping up with this old thing! I'm going to post a reply in your Irish thread (AWESOME story btw. )


Chapter 53 part 4

Around four a.m. Yulia felt something gently shake her. “Nooooooo. Rebel, go pee on the floor.”

Lena muffled a laugh at Yulia’s reaction. Rebel had woken both of them up on more than one occasion with his slight whimpering when he had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Lena gently shook Yulia again, but was only met with an aggravated moan.

Yulia went to turn over on what she thought was her bed, but she quickly realized something was odd when she grabbed what felt like part of an arm. What the hell… Yulia slowly moved her hand up the object she thought was an arm and stopped when she felt a mass of thick, curly hair. Ohhh, heh heh. That’s right, I fell asleep on Lena. Well, no rush to get up. Yulia smiled and snuggled into Lena’s neck.

Lena’s heart began to flutter the instant Yulia’s hand went on the move. Woah. This is too much. “You know, the last time I checked, one of my skills to put on a résumé was not that of a personal pillow. Time to get up, snoring beauty.”

“I did *not* snore. And besides, I’m too comfortable. You *do* offer a lot of… cushion.” Yulia smiled as she felt more than saw Lena develop a blush.

“Well, umm…it’s time to get up. More people are here now. Miss Jamison and her roommate arrived while you were sleeping.”

“Did you get any sleep?” Yulia reluctantly pushed the sleeping bag away as she began to stretch.

“I got a little half hour cat nap in, yeah.” Lena said as she stretched her own muscles for the first time since Yulia had fallen asleep while leaning against her. Ohh, finally! What relief!

Yulia quickly jerked her heard towards Lena. “What?! You only slept for a half hour?? How are you going to stay awake for the rest of the day?? What if you fall flat on your face because you’re so tired and then bust your head open on the pavement?! Then what am I going to tell your mom?? ‘Sorry, Mrs. Katina, but your daughter was too doped up on the thought of winning backstage passes to get any sleep so her big, comfy chest finally caused her to topple over, not being awake enough to fight gravity?!?’”

Lena’s jaw fell open as she stared at Yulia with wide eyes and for the second time in less than five minutes, a deep blush made its way up her neck and onto her face.

“Umm, first of all, I never sleep when I camp out for Shania stuff and second of all..yeahhh..I’m…just..gonna…go…over…the re now. Yeahhhh.” Lena gave Yulia a questionable look as she slowly crept over towards some of her Shania friends. Note to self: Never *ever* wake Yulia up from a deep sleep prematurely again for fear of being verbally attacked with insane gibberish.

“Crazy Shania people. No wonder they always seem like they’re on crack—they’re sleep deprived!” Yulia mumbled as she followed Lena.

“Hey girls! This is my roommate, Dana. Dana, these are two of my best students.” Miss Jamison proudly introduced.

“It’s nice to have finally met you. We’ve heard good things about you.” Lena said as she extended her hand to the blonde haired, green eyed woman who was about the same height as herself.

“I’m so glad you’re here! You can save me from all the Shania madness that’s surrounding us.” Yulia said with a smile and a wink as she shook Dana’s hand.

“Shhh, Yulia. I’ve been around this crowd before. You don’t want to make their ‘anti-Shania’ censors go off. I’ve heard urban legends about what they do.” Dana winked back, causing Lena & Miss Jamison to both roll their eyes.

“Anyways, did you two have a fun night?” Miss Jamison asked.

“Heck yeah! I am still the running champ of ‘guess that Shania song.’” Lena boasted proudly.

“I’m sorry to have missed it! We were running a little late because our crow decided to make the toilet his new hiding place for all his toys.”

Lena was about to respond to how cute that was, but her eye quickly caught the attention of a familiar face.

“Oh my gosh, it’s Tracy!!! Tracy’s here!!!!” Lena said excitedly as she slightly jumped up and down.

“Oh my gosh, where???” Miss Jamison said just as eagerly.

“Who is Tracy?” Yulia asked, confused.

“She’s like Shania’s communicator to the fans when she can’t be present herself!!! She’s also the president of the fan club. A damn good one at that!” Lena quickly explained. “C’mon and lets go see what she has to say!!” Lena grabbed Yulia’s hand and practically dragged her to where a crowd of fans was already beginning to form around Tracy.

“Alright all you Shania fans and friends, here’s the deal. There are two, yes two sets of backstage passes that we’ll be playing for today.” Tracy momentarily paused to wait for all the gasps and noise of people breathing into their hyperventilating bags to quiet down. “There will be one contest for the actual fan club members and then a separate contest for the friends of the members. First off, each section (fans and friends) will break up into 5 groups. We’re going to be playing Shania pictionary where a designated person will draw pictures describing Shania’s songs or aspects of her life and the players have one guess to write down on a piece of paper to hold up for judging once the round is over. The person with the most points in each group will play the other winners of the groups for the final round to see who wins the backstage passes. At the end of the day, there will be four people walking away with backstage passes to the upcoming Shania concert. Now, are you ready Shania fans? Let’s go! WOO!”

As everyone readied to go to their designated areas, Lena quickly grabbed Yulia’s hand and turned her around to face her.

“Yulia, I appreciate you coming with me, but I just want to let you know that it’s okay if you don’t win. I mean, I have no doubt in my mind that you’ll do great, but just know that if you don’t win, I won’t hate you or anything. Believe it or not, I *do* value some things more than Shania.” Lena slightly smiled.

“Thanks, Lena. That means a lot.” Yulia returned the smile and gave Lena’s hand a squeeze before turning to walk towards the ‘friends’ designated section.

Please let me win, please let me win, please let me win. Yulia muttered in her head over and over again.I *have* to win! Lena would be so proud of me if I did. The look on her face would be priceless. Then again, if I *did* win, I’d probably have to rush her to the emergency room. Yulia giggled at the thought.

A wave of nervousness hit Yulia as her group sat down and prepared their papers for the contest. Ahh! I’m having brain farts! What’s the title of Shania’s album?? Down? Right? Left? UP!!! That’s it, Up! Whew! Ohhh man.

“Okay, ya’ll ready for the first one?” Carrie, one of the record label representatives asked of her group. “Alright, here I go!” Carrie drew a bumble bee on the big easel of paper and proceeded to draw a big ‘no’ on top of it. Then she drew a dunce cap beside it.

No bee. Okay. No bee. What the hell song is that from?! And what is that hat? Dunce?? Ummm…wait!! Stupid! No bee stupid…Don’t be stupid!!!! I got it! YES! Yulia hurriedly scribbled down the title “Don’t Be Stupid” onto her pad of paper. After 15 more seconds Carrie asked for everyone to hold up their pads of paper and to Yulia’s disappointment, everyone in her group passed the first song.

For the next song, Yulia furrowed her brow as she saw a picture of a rocket being drawn on the easel followed by a picture of a car. Could it be “In My Car (I’ll Be The Driver?)” Wait, no that doesn’t have a rocket in it. Yulia concentrated intensely as leopard print was being drawn. As soon as she saw the leopard pattern, the song clicked in her head. That’s it! It’s that song Lena does that sexy shimmy of hers to! Ohhh what’s the name?? That don’t…That don’t impress me much! Hooyeah! I am good!

Meanwhile, Lena was having a field day. She loved it when her encyclopedia of Shania knowledge was tested. She smiled as she watched two very different sized dogs being drawn with an arrow going from both of them and then uniting to point to a medium sized dog. Mutt. Shania’s husband. They’ve *got* to be kidding to make it this easy!

An hour later, Yulia was on the edge of her seat as points were being tallied. Oh please oh please oh please let me advance!

“And the person to advance from our group is…” Carrie paused for dramatic affect.

I swear if you don’t call the name in one second I’ll shove a piece of grass in your eye! Yulia’s nervousness was definitely getting to her.

“Yulia Volkova!”

“WOOO!!! HOO YEAH!” Yulia jumped from her chair and did a ‘raise the roof’ dance. Time to kick some Shania trivia butt!

Back at the ‘fans’ competition, to no surprise Lena was one of the fans that was picked to advance to the next round. The only bad thing was that both Adam and Miss Jamison were her opponents in the finals round. Oy. Talk about some hard ass competition.

Lena was relieved that on the first drawing of the finals round she could easily pick out the kid-size stick figures and connect it to Kids Café, the charity organization that Shania actively supports to feed hungry kids across North America.

The next drawing was a bit more difficult since it was a drawing of a chain saw, a group of trees, a number 4, and a man stick figure. Luckily Lena figured out that it stood for the time Shania was the ‘foreman,’ or leader of her parents’ forest replanting company they started just before they were killed in a car accident. Lena glanced around as she heard a couple of aggravated grunts and was surprised to see that Miss Jamison was one of the people that made that disappointing noise. Wow, I can’t believe she didn’t get that! Now it’s just down to me and Adam! Oh boy.

Lena’s nerves were on edge, but quickly calmed down when she saw a picture of a swiss cheese being drawn. Oh they’ve *got* to be kidding me! It’s Switzerland…*way* too easy! Lena’s brows furrowed when she saw that some kind of land form was being drawn next to the cheese, which oddly looked like it had part of Mississippi in it. Shit. Oh shit. It could be either Switzerland or Swiss Miss (one of Shania’s nicknames). Oh crap oh crap oh crap! What do I put??? What?!?! It *is* land so maybe it’s supposed to be like ‘swiss land’ which is like ‘Switzerland’. Lena began to feverishly chew her nails as she pondered what to put. Ahh! Only 7 seconds left!! What do I pick?!?! Ahh!!! Switzerland, it has to be Switzerland!!!!

“Lena, Adam, lets see your final guesses.” Tracy said as she watched Adam and Lena hold up their pieces of papers. Her face faltered just a tad when she saw what an answer was to one of the papers.

“Lena, I really hate to say this, but answer was ‘Swiss Miss,’ which means Adam is the winner.” Tracy gave Lena a sympathetic look as Lena’s head fell into her lap and her shoulder slumped over so much that she almost touched the ground.

No no no no no!! Stupid, stupid, stupid!! Why did I pick that?!?! Whyyyyyyyyyy???? Lena felt like she could cry or scream at the moment. She’d do both if there weren’t so many people around. She quickly regained composure and looked over at Adam.

“Congratulations, my friend. It looks like you’ll be able to finally get that hug you’ve been waiting for for the past seven years.” Lena forced a smile.

“Lena, I’m so sorry. I feel so bad for you not winning. I know how much you’ve wanted this for so long. Tell you what, I can take you with me instead! I’m sure Bill won’t mind.” Adam insisted.

“Don’t be silly, Adam! Bill came to the contest with you and I’m sure he’d kick your ass if you took away his one chance to meet ‘the most beautiful chick on earth’ as he likes to say. Besides, you should be overjoyed! This is a once in a lifetime thing, man! Celebrate!” Lena forced another smile, although she was yearning to rip the passes out of Adam’s hand and run with them. I hope Yulia did better than I did today.

-----

Yulia was so fidgety waiting for the final challenge that it looked like she either had jumping beans in her pants or she really *really* had to pee. It was down to just Yulia and another ‘friend’ for the prize so the pressure to win was on.

Okay, that’s weird…why the hell are they drawing a picture of the Russian flag? What the hell does Shania have to do with Russia?? Yulia stared oddly at the easel as she chewed on the end of her marker. Think. Russia…Shania…Russia…cold...Canada is cold. No wait, we’ve already had Canada as an answer. Hmm. Russia…is in Asia. Asia. Why does that sound familiar? Aaaaasia. Aaaassssiiiaaaa. ASIA!!! AS IN EJA, SHANIA’S SON EJA!!!!! OMG!!!! I GOT IT!!! I GOT IT!!!!! Lena *so* owes me for this if I win!!! OMG I GOT IT!!!! Yulia grinned like a clown on crack as she looked over at her opponent’s frustrated ridden face. You’re going *down*!!

“Okay gals, let’s see your answers.” Carrie smiled brightly when she saw that Yulia had indeed put “Eja” down on her paper.

“Congratulations, Yulia. Lena will be proud.”

“WOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!!! HOOOO YEAH!!! THAT’S RIGHT!! UH HUH, UH HUH! I LOVE RUSSIA!!” Yulia jumped sky high and imitated Lena’s ‘Shania shimmy’ as she did the funky arm dance in a small circle. “Lena is gonna freaken have a class 10 heart attack, faint, and then piss her pants when she finds out about this!!!! Ohhhh she is going to owe me *big* time! WOOOO!!!!!!!!” Yulia continued to do chicken dance as she celebrated.

In Yulia’s moment of excitement, she suddenly came to a dead stop. Wait a second, this would be an awesome surprise birthday present for Lena next month! Ooooo that would rock her world!

“Dana! I have to ask you a *huge* favor. Will you keep the backstage passes and pretend like you won them so I can give them to Lena later? I want it to be a surprise? Just make sure Miss Jamison doesn’t see them because I’d have to have to use a crowbar to pry them out of her hands.”

“Alright, but if Eilleen (Miss Jamison) *does* find them and then gets her hopes up just to be shot down, I’m going to release my crow on you.” Dana said as she quickly hid the backstage passes in her shirt.

“Awesome!!! Thank you so much!” Yulia started to skip back to the central meeting place of the ‘fans’ and ‘friends’ groups, but she had to remind herself to act defeated. Yulia’s heart fell when she saw the look on Lena’s face as she slowly made her way over. Goodness, it looks as if one of her animals died or something. Poor Lena. I can’t believe she lost! Awww, maybe I should tell her to cheer her up. Yulia thought about telling Lena for a second, and then thought better of it. She’ll be ecstatic if she finds out on her birthday.

“I’m guessing it didn’t go so well?” Yulia said softly as she approached Lena.

“No.” Lena whispered. “How did it go for you?” Lena glanced up with a shimmer of hope in her eyes.

Yulia quickly glanced at the ground and mumbled a “no” in return. She looked up just in time to see the defeated look on Lena’s face return.

“It’s okay. I know you did your best.” Lena said softly.

Argh! I want to tell her so bad! Anything to make her smile again. Yulia thought as she desperately tried to fight the urge to tell Lena that she actually *did* win the backstage passes. Yulia stepped forward and gave Lena a hug. “It’s okay, you’ll get to meet her one day.” Yulia was surprised to feel just how strongly Lena briefly clutched onto her before letting go.

“Yeah, you’re right. I mean yeah, there’s no way she’ll be able to miss me at the concert. I’m going to be a walking glow stick by the time I’m done decorating myself!” Lena said, already starting to feel better as she was rebuilding her confidence in meeting Shania.

“Oh yeah. Who won in your group?” Lena asked Yulia.

“Ohhhh..ummm…don’t say anything, but Dana actually won the passes! She’s going to save it as a surprise for Miss Jamison.” Yulia had to bite the corner of her mouth to stop herself from spilling the beans.

“Oh that’s so freaken awesome!! Miss Jamison is going to flip! Wow! If only I were that lucky!” Lena said excitedly. Yulia had to bite the corner of her mouth to stop herself from spilling the beans. Oh you will. Just wait. You just wait. You’ll be so excited that everyone in America will be able to hear you scream. I’ll make sure you’ll have a birthday that you’ll never forget!