From: archer77@flash.net (Christine Francis )

Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative

Subject: LOOK TO THE PAST (Mulder, Nila Perry, pt 1/2)

Date: 24 Oct 1995 17:09:31 GMT





Disclaimer: No copyright infringment intended; not for profit.



LOOK TO THE PAST

By Christine L. Francis



FORWARD:  Nila Perry was amid a vigorous dusting spree, when she

knocked over a stack of books.  One of them, her High School year book,

fell open.  It fell open to the place it had been opened the most;

toward the end of the "M"s, to the page she must have stared at a

million times.  There, in the bottom right hand corner of the left hand

page, was Fox W. Mulder.

*********



  Cute, cute, cute.  Nila Perry was SICK of cute.  Her whole life was

so full of cuteness, she wanted to barf.  "I don't *want* to be

*cute*."  she told her friend Beryl, as they walked home from school. 

It was the Friday before Labor Day Weekend, and it was still warm and

beautiful.  Nila didn't enjoy any of it, though.

  "So what do you want to be?"  Beryl asked, pulling her hair out of

her face.

  "Gorgeous."

  "Oh, well, hey; if yer gonna dream, dream big, right?"

  "I want to look like Angela Karl."

  "So does my brother, but I don't think either of you can pull it

off."

  Nila laughed, in spite of her mood.  "He does NOT!"

  "Secretly.  I mean; he stares at her all the time."

  "They ALL do."  She meant, of course, the despicable species known as

boys.  Nila knew she was too old to still hate boys; she was a

Sophomore in High School, for cryin' out loud.  If only she could meet

one; just ONE, who wasn't a royal jerk.  Actually, she preferred men;

but they all thought she was "cute".

  "Well,"  Beryl shrugged.  "No sense in even thinking about it.  I

mean; even if I donated my breasts to you, you STILL wouldn't measure

up to Angela Karl."

  "The girl is a glandular miracle."  Nila agreed.  "Do you think it

hurts?  You know; carrying all that around all the time?"

  "Doesn't seem to bother Angela."  Beryl put a wicked smile on her

face.  "And if she ever did get tired, I'm sure she wouldn't lack for

volunteers to give her a *hand*, so to speak."

  "You are SO bad!"  Nila giggled in guilty delight.

  "Hey; I'm spending the day in Boston tomorrow.  My parents are

droppin' me off at Quincy Market.  Wanna come?"

  "Man!  I wish I could."  Nila sighed.  "I have to go camping this

weekend, with my parents."

  "Camping?  That's so-"

  "Don't say it!"

  "You can't get out of it?"

  "No way."

  "Rats.  Where are you camping?"

  "The cape.  Dennis.  Can you believe they named a town Dennis?"

  Beryl shrugged.  "I'm sure it could be worse.  Well, have fun."

  "Don't worry, I wont."  Nila paused at her drive way and waved as

Beryl walked on, then turned to face cutesville.



  Gingerbread lattices.  Bric-a-brac.  A white picket fence.  This was

the home of the Perrys.  It was just too cute.  Milton Perry, known as

Milt, did something uncute in a laboratory in Falmouth; but he left

work at wor

k.  Lorna Perry, nicknamed by her husband "Cookie" (Lorna Doones, get

it?), had quit life to raise their precious cute child, Nila.  The bile

rose, whenever her parents introduced themselves:  Milt and Cookie. 

How terminally cute. 

  Nila fled to the uncute sanctuary of her room.  It was a room that

worried Milt and Cookie.  Missing were the Pom-Pons and stuffed animals

and ruffles they thought teenage girls should have.  In their place

were books, 

books, and crap.  Great crap.  Neat crap.  A rubber severed hand from

Halloween, a hand glued model of the USS Enterprise, a non-functioning

bong with silk flowers sticking in it, some tiny crap, and her

centerpiece:  an authentic, framed, limited edition poster from the

movie "Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman".  There was, of course another

poster on the inside of her closet door of Jim Morrison.  Her mother

would plotz, if she ever saw it.  Sometimes Nila would stare into

MoJo's eyes, and it gave her the most deliciously dangerous tingle in

the pit of her stomach...

  "Getting packed, sweetie?"  Cookie Perry stood in the doorway,

meticulously keeping her toes from crossing the threshold.

  "Are we going tonight?"

  "You know we're going in the morning."

  "I'll be ready, mom."

  "Good.  Do you want tater tots with dinner tonight?"

  "Ugh."

  "Well, I guess not."  Cookie sighed.  "Don't lie on the bed in your

skirt, hon; it'll get wrinkled."

  "Ok, mom."  Nila dragged herself up and shucked out of her skirt.

  "Well, for goodness sake!"  Cookie looked around.  "Wait till I close

the door!"

  "There's no one else HERE, mom!"  Nila called as the door closed. 

"Geez!"  Dutifully, she hung up her skirt; giving MoJo a wicked pat on

the way by.



  The next day wasn't absolutely despicable.  They spent a good deal of

time on the beach, and Nila got some good reading in.  She'd chosen

Tolkein; since they were living in the woods.  It made things bearable.

 By dinner, she actually could stand her parents.  She listened to them

chat about mundanities, and answered all their questions miraculously

less-than-sullenly.  Milt and Cookie were delighted.

  After dinner was cleaned up, Nila wanted to go for a walk, but

claimed she was going to the bathroom.  She would go to the bathroom,

eventually.  She just planned to go the long way.  And come back the

long way.  She was wandering along a dirt road, when she heard hushed

voices.

  Crouching in some bayberry bushes, she edged closer to the voices. 

There was a light, which turned out to be a campfire.  Nile was

thinking about the elves in Mirkwood, as she inched closer to see.

  Stupid boy-scouts.  A group of them were sitting around a camp-fire,

listening to a big boy tell a story.  Resting a bit from her fruitless

crawl, Nila listened to the story.  It wasn't too bad.  Actually, it

was surprisingly scary.  The little boys certainly thought so.  When it

was over, she crept back out to the road.

  She was brushing herself off, when a voice said "Did you like the

story?"

  Startled, she looked up and saw the boy.  He was a little taller than

she, and she could just about see his face in the dim light.  He looked

familiar, but she couldn't quite..."It was ok."  she shrugged. 

Suddenly, she realized how dorky she must have looked; scrabbling

around in the dirt.

  "I wouldn't have seen you,"  he explained, "except your necklace

caught the firelight."

  "Oh."  she instinctively tucked the cross she wore inside her shirt. 

"I guess I'm not much of a commando."

  "At least you know what one is."

  She could tell he was smiling.

  "I'm off duty."  he said.  "Want to go for a walk?"

  "Sure."  Nila said, then stopped.  She was a girl, alone at night in

the woods, with a boy who was bigger than she was.  "I mean, sometime."

  "You can trust me.  Boy scout's honor."  he raised his fingers in the

salute.

  "Oh, I know."  she mentally searched for a hand hold.  "I know you,

from school."

  "You do?  You live on the Vineyard?"

  Great, Perry.  Why not just tell him your life story, while you're at

it?  "Yeah."  she admitted, weakly.  "I'm here with my folks."  she

added, for extra protection.  "In fact, they're probably wondering

where I am."

  "Oh.  You're probably right."

  "Well, see ya around."

  "Uh-huh."

  She turned, and was about to go, when he called to her.

  "Hey,"  he said, trying to sound casual.  "You have me at a

disadvantage, you know."

  "Oh?"

  "I mean; you know who I am, and I don't know who you are."

  "Oh, yeah.  Guess so."

  "Uh...that's what's known as a subtle hint.  It's a sign for you to

introduce yourself."

  "I dunno."  she smiled in the dark.  "I kinda like having you at a

disadvantage."

  "Yeah?"  he said, a world of hope in his voice.  "Look;  how ‘bout

you let me walk you back to your campsite?  On the way, I can try and

guess who you are.  If I guess before we get there, I win.  If I don't,

you win."

  "What are the stakes?"

  "Winner's choice."

  "I don't know about that."  she said cautiously; aware of where

teen-age boys' minds ran.

  "I wont pick anything embarrassing or crazy, if you don't."

  She thought about it a little longer.  "Ok."



  "You know me from school," the boy began.  "so that narrows things

down an bit.  School just started, so the freshmen haven't had the

chance to get to know anyone yet.  Therefore, you're not a freshman."

  "Ok, so far."  Nila was still trying to place his face.  Obviously he

wasn't one of the jocks, and popular people just didn't belong to the

boy scouts.

  "If you were a junior or a senior, you wouldn't *admit* to knowing

me, so you must be a sophomore."

  He was a sophomore, Nila thought.  He was probably in one of her

classes.

  "I don't think too many girls notice me,"  he went on, "except for

when I'm standing in their way, so you must be in one of my classes."

  If she recognized his face, he couldn't sit in front of her; or very

far behind.

  "We must sit fairly close, and I don't sit near many girls."

  Oh!  He was that guy with the weird name!  some cute animal or

something...what was it?

  "In fact, I think I have it narrowed down to three."

  Fox!  That's right, Fox something.  Except he hated it, when people

called him Fox.  He told the teacher to call him...Mulder, but the

teacher didn't care.

  "Will you answer one question?"

  "I guess so."  she shrugged.

  "Do you have a friend named Beryl?"

  "Yes."

  "Ah.  You're Nila Perry.  Third period geometry, Mister Filch.  Did I

get it?"

  Nila looked around.  They were still a bit away from her campsite. 

"Yup.  How'd you do it?"

  "I had it narrowed down to you, Beryl, and Karen Nagle.  If you were

Karen, you'd say no; you didn't have a friend named Beryl.  If you were

Beryl, you'd say no; but you'd probably giggle."

  "I don't giggle."

  "Yes you do, I've seen you.  Anyway, when you said yes, you could

only be Nila Perry."

  "Ok, Encyclopedia Brown."  she sighed.  "What do I have to do?"

  "Come by the camp tomorrow, so I can see you in the daylight."

  "Why?  You already know what I look like."

  "Because;"  he started to back away.  "I don't want to go to school

Tuesday remembering what you look like in the moonlight.  It could be

dangerous."  He turned and sauntered off.

  Nila looked in the sky.  There wasn't a moon yet.  God!  He was such

a goof!  But...a nice goof, sort of.  Smiling to herself, she went back

to her tent.



  "Who was that, hon?"  Cookie asked her daughter.

  "Oh, some boy scout."

  "One of the little boy scouts at the camp over there?"

  "Yeah."  It wasn't exactly a lie.  To her parents, he probably *was*

little.

  "Didn't sound like a boy scout."  Milt grumbled.

  "Go to sleep, Milt."  Cookie said, a smile in her voice.



  Nila knew it was love.

  She didn't know right away.  In fact, they went to the beach and

spent hours there; and she still didn't know.  It was on the way back

to her campsite, that she knew.

  All afternoon, they talked about school and stupid stuff.  On the way

back, she wasn't really even listening to him:  until he said something

like "...just like some Bradbury story."

  "You read Ray Bradbury?"

  "Yeah."  He stopped walking.  "Do you?"

  "Yeah."

  Suddenly, time rushed by.  They discussed Asimov, Heinlein, Frederik

Pohl, Kornbluth, Sprague de Camp; all the guys who lined Nila's shelves

at home.  They started finishing each other's sentences.  They laughed,

they argued, they spanned the universe; all in a few moments.   They

were just starting to discuss movies, when Nila saw her dad watching

them a little too intently.

  "Well,"  she sighed.  "I guess I'd better go."

  "Wow.  I didn't know girls liked that stuff."

  "GIRLS don't."

  "You're not a girl?"

  "I'm a young lady, thank you."

  Mulder gave her his patented crooked smile.  "I see.  I wont forget."

  "See that you don't."  Nila smiled back.

  "Couldn't if I wanted to.  Photographic memory."

  Milt un-subtley cleared his throat.

  "Gotta go."  Nila backed up, smiling.  "See ya around school."

  "Sure." he smiled back again.



  Nila smiled for the rest of the night.



***

  She didn't see him around school, though.  He got to geometry class

late a few times, so they didn't have a chance to talk.  And, for some

reason, she never saw him in the halls.  Several times, she considered

murdering the phone in cold blood.  It might as well be dead; as much

use as she got out of it.

  "Summer romance."  Beryl surmised, on the way home.

  "If only it got that far!"  Nila heaved a weary sigh.  "We didn't

even hold hands."

  "Maybe he's not as smitten as you."

  "Thanks, Ber.  You're helping alot."

  "No, really.  What guy wants to be with a girl who likes science

fiction?  I mean; what are the odds?  Sure, it was fun chatting up

Harrihausen; but that's because he didn't have his buddies around. 

Maybe he wants a regular girl.  Like Laurie Partridge, or something."

  "Please."  Nila said, disgusted.  "He's not like that."

  "Sure."



  But Nila was afraid she might be right.  Until, of course, hope was

re-kindled.



****



  She was at lunch, when Angela Karl came up to her.  Nila's eyes

narrowed, as she wondered if Angela knew her sweater tricks didn't work

on everyone.

  "Hi!"  Angela enthused with a brightness so artificial you could

smell plastic.

  "Hi."  Nila answered, warily.

  "You're Nila, right?  Fifth period, Miss Ballen?"

  "Right."

  Angela rolled her eyes and flipped back her hair.  "God!  School must

be so easy for you; you're really smart, huh?"

  "Depends on who you talk to."  Beryl cracked from the other side of

the table.

  Nila glared at her friend, then turned back.  "What did you want,

Angela?"

  "Huh?  Oh, yeah.  I did want to kinda ask you something."

  "Well?"

  "Uh...You know how we're supposed to see that movie in Mrs. Ballen's

today?"

  "Yes."  Nila sighed.  She was probably going to have to take notes

for this bimbo.

  "Well,"  Angela produced some papers from her notebook.  "I'm

supposed to go to the A.V. room, and get them to bring this stuff up;

but..."

  "You want me to do it for you."  Nila concluded.

  "Would you?  That would be really great."  She made a face.  "Those

guys really creep me out.  I mean; they probably don't bother you so

much, since you're like, one of the smart kids."

  "That being the criterion for membership in the *smart* club."  Beryl

added.

  "Exactly."  Angela nodded, despite the fact she had no idea what

Beryl just said.  "I swear one of those guys was wearing those x-ray

glasses, last time I went there."

  Nila looked at her sideways.  "You know those things aren't real-"

  "-Really legal."  Beryl finished.  "I hear they're banned in

sixty-seven states.  They work, you know."

  Angela's eyes grew wide.  "You're kidding!  Oh, my God!  Those dweebs

saw my underwear?"

  Beryl nodded solemnly.

  A strange look came over Angela's face.  "Wait a minute,"  she nodded

knowingly.  "You're messing with me.  There aren't sixty-seven states. 

There's only sixty; right?"

  Beryl and Nila looked at each other in disbelief.  Without answering,

Nila took the order form from Angela's hands.

  "Don't worry, Angela;  I'll take care of it."

  "Oh, great!  Thanks a bunch.  Maybe we can go to the mall sometime?"

  "Sure."

  "Here's the hall pass.  Gotta go!"

  "Bye-eee!"  Beryl waved, smiling with maniacal brightness.

  Nila sighed and slumped.  "I take it back.  I don't want to be Angela

Karl.  Lobotomies are too expensive."

  "Hey,"  Beryl whispered.  "When they took out her brains, do you

think they put ‘em..."  she looked down at her chest, then back at

Nila.

  They grinned at each other for a second, then shook their heads

briskly.  "Nah!"



***



  Nila let herself into the A.V. squad room.  It was dark, and the

light didn't work.  Great.  The place seemed deserted.  She should just

leave the request on a desk somewhere, but she couldn't see a desk. 

Carefully, she edged in; jumping when the door slammed shut behind her.

 Suddenly, she thought she heard something.  It sounded like someone

whispering "skirt".  She heard it again, only from another direction;

and again.  She was surrounded with the sibilant hiss of "skirt, skirt,

skirt".

  Knowing that if she couldn't see them, they probably couldn't see

her, she tried to find the whisper with the least bass in it.  Once she

targeted her mark, she eased closer.  Sensing she was near; she shot

out her hand, grabbed a handful of shirt-front, and yanked.  The yowl

that ensued convinced the others to turn the light on.

  Nila was surrounded by the ever-popular A.V. squad, but holding one

of their number poised to receive her raised fist, Nila barked "Don't

mess with me, you clowns!"

  They stared at her as if she wore a fish on her head.  Some shrugged,

some edged toward the door, but some had an oddly transfixed look on

their faces...

  "Cut it out."  a voice from the back ordered.  "She's OK."

  The wave of pocket-protectors parted, revealing Fox Mulder; seated

with his feet on a desk.  "Hi, Nila.  Wanna let go of Herbie, there?"

  Herbie smiled weakly.

  Nila let him go.

  Herbie wondered if he were in love.

  "I just came here to drop off a request."  Nila explained, facing

Mulder.

  Mulder swung his feet to the floor and sat forward.  "Let's see it." 

he reached out, but a bigger boy snatched it from her hand.

  "Oh, too bad."  the bigger boy grieved, despite his grin.  "This

isn't filled out properly.  Declined."  He shoved it back at Nila.

  Mulder slowly got to his feet.  "Let me take a look."

  "I'm the squad leader."  the big boy insisted.  "I have final

authority."

  Mulder smiled.  "Sure; but maybe you weren't looking at it

correctly."  He turned his smile on Nila.  "Dave gets a little crazed

with power, now and then."

  Nila handed Mulder the form, eyeing the big boy suspiciously.

  "Oh, I see."  Mulder nodded, pointing at the form.  "No wonder you

misread it.  This is the *new* form.  You're used to the DE-467.  This

is the DE-582.  An easy mistake to make."  He lowered the form and

raised his eyes to Dave's.  "New things are always taking the place of

old things.  Ya kinda gotta keep up, Dave; or ya get left by the

wayside."

  Dave glared at him, then went off to sulk.

  "Lovely."  Nila muttered.  "A geek power struggle."

  "Not a pretty sight, eh?"  Mulder grinned.

  "So who are you; the rebel forces, destined to depose the existing

monarchy?"

  Mulder smiled and shook his head.  "The things that come out of your

mouth...  You're certainly no Angela Karl."

  Nila made a concentrated effort not to glance at her less than

comparable chest.  "You could say that.  Well, now I know why she

talked me into doing this for her.  You guys terrorize everyone like

this?"

  "Only the women."

  "Ah."  she folded her arms.  "So you're bullies; preying on those you

perceive as weaker than yourselves."

  "No, we-"  He realized suddenly, why she might jump to that

conclusion; because it was mostly true.  He glanced over at Herbie, who

stood in a cluster of squad members and stared at them.  "I'd say some

of our perceptions changed a bit, today."

  "I hope so."  Nila turned to go.

  "Nila?"

  "Yeah?"

  "I'll see ya around."

  "Right."  she said, doubtfully.



  After the door closed, the squad room was abuzz.

  "Geez, Mulder!"  Herbie the freshman enthused.  "You *know* her? 

She's like, Diana the Huntress incarnate, or something."

  "She's OK."  Boyd, known as Reel-Man for his projector expertise,

said.  "Kinda cute.  Not much up top, though."

  "Reel-Man,"  Mulder shook his head.  "You're an animal.  There's more

to a woman than her bra size."

  Mention of the word "bra", brought on the usual giggles.

  "Like what?"  Boyd asked, genuinely puzzled.

  Mulder shook his head, giving up.  "We still on for tonight?"

  "The Dotson place?  You know it.  Bring the equipment.  We'll meet

around eleven-forty-five." 

  "Uh..."  Herbie interjected.  "I don't know if my folks will let me

go."

  The others regarded Herbie with horrified fascination.

  "You didn't TELL them,"  Boyd said.  "Didja, dork?"

  Herbie shrugged.  "Of course not.  Even *I* know better than to tell

my parents I want to go ghost chasing at midnight.  I just... My mom

still checks on me, ya know?  At night?"

  The others shook their heads in disgust; some with empathetic

understanding. 



***



===========================================================================



From: archer77@flash.net (Christine Francis )

Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative

Subject: LOOK TO THE PAST (pt 2/2, conclusion)

Date: 24 Oct 1995 17:19:30 GMT





***



  "Toldja."  Beryl shook her head sagely.  "They're all jerks."

  "Maybe not exactly a jerk,"  Nila protested, as they strolled home.

  "Was he with jerks?"

  "Definitely."

  "Did he know they were being jerks?"

  "I...guess."

  "Did he stay with the jerks?"

  "As far as I know."

  "Then, he's a jerk."  Beryl concluded, satisfied to settle the

matter.

  Nila heaved a sigh, confronted with Beryl's flawless logic.  "I had

such hopes."

  "Summer romance."  Beryl shrugged.  "It happens."

  "What romance?  We spoke twice.  That hardly constitutes a romance."

  "Except for the fact that you were ready to have his baby."

  "Be-RYL!"  she shoved her friend.  They giggled for a little while,

then Nila sighed again.  "Still..."

  "Forget it.  What about Todd?"

  "Todd, schmodd.  All he cares about is running for class president."

  "Yeah,"  Beryl shrugged again, "but I'm sure if you tried, there

could be some free meals and one or two pieces of jewelry in it for

you."

  "You, are brutal.  They should lock you up."

  "For what?  Being too realistic?  Face it, Nila;  We can't get what

we want from them, so we might as well take what we can get."

  "Get away from me, you harlot!"  Nila laughed.

  "No, really!"

  "I don't believe you!  You're such a-....oh, my God."  Nila stood

still for a moment, staring down the street.

  Beryl followed her gaze.  "Lemme guess; that's him, right?"

  "Uh-huh."  Nila answered weakly.  "Oh, geez!  What is he doing here?"



  Mulder parked his bike in the street and sat on the curb.  There were

only a few Perrys in the phone book, and he was pretty sure this was

the right one.  A glance up the street confirmed this.  Even at this

distance, he recognized the little plaid skirt with the maddeningly

loose flap on the side, that Nila had worn today.  He knew the skirt

probably wrapped around her a few times, but he was still holding out

hope for a brief flash of white stocking encased thigh.  He pretended

to study his shoes, until she got close enough to say "hi" to.



  "Just go!"  Nila hissed at Beryl, who was making the most of this.

  "I want DETAILS!"  Beryl whispered, and hurried to the other side of

the street.

  Nila closed the remaining space between her an Mulder fairly quickly.

 "Hi."  she said, keeping from sounding too enthusiastic.

  Mulder looked up.  "Hi."  he answered, and stood.  "I wanted to

apologize for today.  I guess you were right; we were being jerks."

  This startled her, until she remembered she'd accused the A.V. squad

of being bullies.  "It wasn't really you; it was the other guys."

  "All that is needed for evil to succeed, is that good men do

nothing."  he quoted. 

  Nila couldn't resist a little smile.  "So you're trying to say you're

a good man?"

  "Sometimes."  he smile back.  "At least, I hope so.  Am I forgiven?"

  "Well, if you're that good, I guess I can forgive you.  How did you

know where I live?"

  "Phone book."

  "Ah."  Nila looked around uncomfortably.

  "So....I guess-"

  "Nila?"  Cookie called from the doorway.  "Who's your friend?"

  Nila was mildly amazed she did not projectile vomit all over the

begonias.  "Someone from school, mom."  she managed to say.

  "Does he have a name?"  Cookie teased; probably very wittily, by her

estimation.

  Nila rolled her eyes.

  "I got it."  Mulder smiled, and tromped up the drive.

  Nila watched miserably, as Mulder introduced himself to her mother. 

They chatted a little, then Cookie invited him in for iced tea.  As

they entered the house, Cookie turned and gave Nila a very approving

smile.  Nila prayed for some natural catastrophe, like an earthquake,

to deliver her.



  She let her mother dominate the conversation, in hopes that Cookie

would eventually wind down and go away; but Cookie had been preparing

for this moment for years.  It was all so...cute.  To Nila's horror,

Cookie even invited Mulder to stay for dinner; which he thankfully

begged off.  

  When, as conversation filler, Mulder mentioned a geometry problem,

Cookie slid into her first parent-teen controversy.  She suggested he

and Nila do their homework together; but where?  It was the seventies;

almost the eighties.  Kids want their privacy.  But kids hadn't changed

so much that they could be trusted completely unsupervised.  And if

only Nila had taken better care of her room!  Finally, Cookie decided

to plunge in and suggest Nila's room, but take Nila aside and stipulate

that the door be left wide open.  There.  Modern, yet responsible. 

Cookie felt vindicated.



  "Wow."  Mulder said in stunned amazement, as he wandered around

Nila's room.  "Your room's pretty cool.  I like this poster."

  "Uh...thanks."  Nila glanced around frantically, making sure no

discarded bras lay in wait on the floor.

  "You really do read this stuff."  He pulled a book off a shelf.

  "Of course.  Did you think I made it all up?"

  "No, I just-"

  "Girls can't like science fiction?"

  "Well,-"

  "I guess I don't fit your cookie-cutter image of a girl; huh?"

  "I-  Hey,"  he laughed.  "Get off my back.  I just meant it's nice to

meet someone who likes the same stuff I do."

  Nila looked at him with her mouth open, closed it, then smiled. 

"Nice save."

  "I try."  he said, his face slightly red.  He glanced at the open

door.  "Guess we better get down to homework."

  "Sure."  She grabbed her books, and plopped down on one end of the

bed.

  Having nowhere else to sit, Mulder sat beside her on the bed.  It was

really hard to study geometry, when your mind was on biology.



  It started simply enough.  Mulder began asking geometry questions in

a fairly accurate (but still uncomplimentary)  imitation of Mr. Filch.

  At first Nila merely smiled, and gave a short laugh.  But soon, as

Mulder relentlessly lisped,  giggles accumulated and poured out from

behind her hands.  They both kept glancing at the door, trying to keep

quiet enough not to draw attention, because they were both still young

enough to know that parents instinctively know when you're having a

good time; and it is their mission in life to stop good times.

  Teary, and struggling for control, she begged him to stop; but then

she added her own comments, which started it all over.  Nila slid to

the floor, books spilling, and clutched a pillow to her face.  Mulder

slid down beside her, pinching his nose and trying to stifle his own

laughter.  They couldn't even look at each other, without starting all

over again. 

  Nila sifted desperately for a mental image that would sober her up. 

Suddenly, subconsciously inspired by the touch of his leg against hers,

she got a flash image of Mulder prying her hands from her mouth and

kissing her.

  She jumped up and paced; sober as a church mouse.

  "What's wrong?"  Mulder's smile faded.

  "Nothing."  Nila smiled and nodded her head toward the door.

  As intended to, he concluded she meant she thought her mother might

be listening, or might decide to come in and see what was so funny.  He

nodded.  "Ok, back to work."  He flashed one more smile, then set about

organizing the books.



  They managed to finish the homework, and Nila walked him to his bike.

 "We probably got half of them wrong."  she teased.

  "Is it my fault you kept cracking jokes?"

  "Me?!"

  "Then you kept looking at the door.  What did you think your mom was

gonna do; clap us in irons?  Geez; must be hell to be afraid of your

own parents."

  "I'm not afraid of them."  she protested.  "It's not like we were

doing anything."

  "Yeah, you talk a good game; but even now, you're glancing back to

see if she's watching."

  "I am not!"

  "Next, they'll convince you I'm a bad influence on you.  Mocking your

elders!  Horrors!"

  "Shut up."  she grinned.  "You think you influence me?"

  "Nila used to be such a GOOD little girl!"  he teased in a falsetto.

  "Yeah, right."

  "I bet you even eat all your vegetables."

  "If I want to."

  "What a rebel."  He goaded her, with an agenda in mind.  "What's your

favorite food?  Milk and cookies?"

  He couldn't possibly know how much she hated that phrase.  "What

about you?  With your little good boy bike, and your good boy hair cut.

 I bet you even wear Garanimals."

  Smiling back, he looked both ways and leaned in.  "At least I don't

spend every night at home with a book."

  "I go out."  she protested weakly, though the only place she ever

went, was Beryl's house down the street.

  "Yeah?  Where?  Probably somewhere safe, like your friend's house."

  "So what are you trying to say?"  she scoffed.  "You go to bars or

something?"

  He backed off a bit.  "Nah, too tame."

  "You don't go anywhere."

  "Sure I do.  Going somewhere tonight."

  "Where?"

  "You wouldn't like it.  Too scary."

  "Right."  she folded her arms.  "Where?"

  "Haunted house."

  Nila laughed, then saw he was serious, then laughed some more.  "You

believe in that crap?  Lemme guess; the Dotson house."

  "I don't know if I believe it or not.  Thought I'd see for myself,

and make an informed decision."

  "Yeah, well; I think I'll stay a skeptic."

  "Sure.  That's safe."

  "You think I'm afraid?"

  "You're not?"  He was pretty sure he had her right where he wanted

her.

  "It's just an ordinary old house."

  He glanced around, and went in for the kill.  "Wanna put your money

where your mouth is?"

  "Huh?"

  "We're going up there tonight, just before midnight.  Sneak out and

come along."

  "Forget it.  I'm not sneaking out in the middle of the night with

you."

  "Why not; you've done it before."  The coup de gras.  "I bet in

Dennis you told your parents you were going to the bathroom."

  Ouch.  "It's a school night."  Even as it came out, she knew how lame

it sounded.

  Sensing it was time to give the line some slack, Mulder shrugged and

got on his bike.  "Whatever.  See ya around school."

  "Hey, I-...Yeah, ok.  See ya."  Nila gave a short wave, and headed

for the house; deep in thought.



  Mulder rode away; a man with a mission.  His mission was to determine

the nature of the creature known as Nila Perry.  Sure, she was a girl;

but he had seen something that had fired his imagination.  He had

gotten his flash of thigh, and something more.  When she had slid to

the floor, he saw a spot of flesh high on her thigh.  At first he

thought she had a hole in her leotards; but reclaiming the image burned

in his photographic memory told him this was wrong.  Just below the

peek of flesh, there was an embroidered band.  Nila Perry didn't wear

leotards or panty hose.  Nila Perry wore real stockings; the kind that

needed one of those garter belt thingies.  This was the kind of concept

that made a young man's mind reel with the possibilities.  Why; a girl

who wore something like that was capable of just about anything, right?

 He was already crazy from the way she laughed at his jokes; this

nearly sent him over the edge.  He wanted to just grab her and...

  And what?  Chastising himself, he realized he had only the faintest

idea of what to do with a woman.  He knew what he *wanted* to do, but

he was reasonably sure it would land him in jail.  He knew one thing

for sure;  he wasn't doing anything if he didn't see her again, and

certainly not unless he could get her alone.  That was why he goaded

her to come out tonight.  They'd go, have a little scare, then on the

way home...  He picked out the place.  If they stood by that bunch of

rhododendrons, where no one could see them; if she let him put his arms

around her;-

  Romantic intentions tend to fly away, when you ram the curb and land

on your ass.



  Nila slowly, thoughtfully, rolled down her stockings.  She'd stopped

wearing panty hose shortly after she'd started; at the age of twelve. 

It was just too expensive to throw out a whole pair each day, because

she couldn't manage to keep from snagging them.  At least with

stockings, she only had to throw out one leg.  Lately, of course, she

managed to get two or even three wears out of them.  With a wink at

Mojo, she pulled back on the garter belt and let go a respectable shot.

 Right in the kisser.



  Dressed in dark sweats, and certain she had lost her mind, Nila eased

the screen off her window.  She left a hair ribbon wedged in the frame,

so she could pull it out again when she got back.  It wasn't very dark,

since the moon was full.  She glanced at her watch.  Plenty of time. 

Carefully, she crept through the shrubs and was on her way.



  Mulder didn't know why he expected her to be wearing a dress or a

skirt, but he was disappointed to see her in sweats; no matter how

practical he had to admit it was.  Even with her hair tucked in a cap,

though, you could still tell she was a girl.

  "Well?"  she whispered.

  "A couple more guys are coming.  One of them has the tape recorder." 

He held up a camera.  "High speed film."

  "To take pictures of your friends, when a cat scares them and they

run away?"

  "Yer such a comedian."

  "How are we getting in?"  she looked around.

  "Basement window."

  "The basement?  Where-  Gee, you *are* brave."

  "What do you mean?"

  "You don't know?"

  "Know what?"

  Nila shuddered and looked away.  "Never mind."

  "Come on; what?  What about the basement?"

  "Well..."  she looked around uncomfortably.  "That's where they found

the bodies."

  "Bodies?  Wha-"  he suddenly caught on.  "Not bad, Perry.  You had me

going, for a minute."

  "Yeah, right."  she gave a weak laugh.  "I was just joking."

  He smiled in the dark. 

  "Mulder!"  a harsh whisper came from around the corner.

  "Gordon?"  Mulder answered.

  "Gordon Pratt, right?"  Nila asked.

  A teutonic wet dream came into view.  Gordon Pratt was so aryan, he

practically sweat Jaegermeister.  Unfortunately for Gordon, he was not

exceptionally bright and he was exceptionally shy.  Every time Gordon

went to a new school, some coach or another wooed him like a potential

bride...then filed for divorce.  The great thing about Gordon Pratt,

though, was he was fiercely loyal.  That, and he was huge.  A better

friend, no geek could hope for.  In fact, among the A.V. squad, Gordon

was the secretary of defense.

  "Who's that?"  Gordon asked, nearing the pair.

  "Gordon, meet Nila Perry."  Mulder did the intros.  "Nila, meet

Gordon Pratt."

  "You're a girl."  Gordon observed astutely.

  "Every day."  Nila returned, and watched in rapt fascination, as it

flew over Gordon's head.

  "Whatcha got, Gord?"  Mulder asked.

  Gordon produced a small (for those days) cassette recorder.  "It has

a built in mike."  he handed it to Mulder.

  "Remote mike's better, for noise reduction."  Nila commented

offhandedly, not noticing both boys turning to stare at her.

  "Yes, well,"  Mulder flashed Gordon a smile, then turned his

attention back to Nila.  "Beggars can't be choosers, right?"

  "Yer gonna do something, do it right."  she shot back.

  They were interrupted by the arrival of the other intrepid ghost

hunters.  Some balked at the idea of letting a girl tag along (except

Herbie, who was years ahead of his peers as far as seeing how this

could be a *good* thing), but Mulder was able to get them to accept

her.  With a backward glance at Nila for effect, he pried the basement

window open and slid in.  The others followed.



  Flashlights covered with red cellophane (to preserve night vision),

they filed up the stairs.

  "How much time?"  Herbie whispered.

  "Just a few minutes."  Mulder answered.  "We should get set up on the

first and second floor stair landings."

  "It's the staircase?"  Nila asked, meaning that was the site of the

haunting.

  "So the rumor goes."

  Reel Man started up the stairs.  "I'll take the top."  he said. 

"Nila; you want the bottom?"

  The ensuing snickers dispelled the creeps, but got out of hand when

Nila answered "That would depend on what you want me to do with it."

  Any girl who was that quick with a come-back, was worthy of the noble

clan A.V.



  They waited a few hours, but got nothing.  Finally, they decided to

give up.

  "Maybe it only works during certain phases of the moon."  Herbie

suggested.   "Or just on Halloween."

  "Or just in people's heads."  Reel Man scoffed.

  "Or-"  Nila stopped in her tracks, staring up the stairs.  Her hand

flailed in empty air, reaching for Mulder.  When she hit him, he turned

to see what she wanted; and froze.

  There, on the stairs, was a dark spot.  It was darker than anything

else around.  It wasn't just a shadow, and it was moving.

  Cold air chilled their faces.

  The stairs creaked.

  "Ruh...ruh...ruh..."  Herbie stuttered.

  Mulder quickly snapped three pictures.

  The dark spot suddenly grew.

  "RUN!"  Nila shouted, threw an arm around Mulder and yanked him

toward the front door, where the others ware already struggling with

the locks.  Something slammed into her, causing her to shove Mulder

forward just as the door opened.  They all tumbled onto the front

porch, but it didn't slow them down by much.  Not a single one of them

stopped running, until they were several blocks away.  Then they split

up, without a word.



  By the big shrub Mulder had planned to use for romance, he examined

Nila's back.  Her sweatshirt was shredded.  He lifted it, ignoring the

slashed bra straps, and stared at the four bleeding welts.

  "It got me."  Nila swallowed hard.  "God, Mulder; what was that?"

  "I can't be sure."  He measured the space between the slashes against

the spread of his own fingers.  Whatever this thing was, it's hands

were huge.  "We need more sophisticated equipment."

  "I'm not going back there.  And you're crazy, if you go." 

  He pulled her sweatshirt back down.  Somehow, this wasn't how he'd

imagined he'd first see under her shirt.  "Aren't you curious?  Don't

you want to know what that thing was?"

  "What if we just can't know?"  She turned to face him.  "I mean; I

wonder what it would be like to be on fire, or jump off a cliff, or

drown.  I don't want first hand experience, though."

  "It's not the same thing."

  "How do you know that?  It might be exactly the same thing."

  He avoided her eyes.  It was his fault she was hurt, and it was his

fault if she were mad at him.  "You could be right.  I just...

sometimes I just want to *know*; you know?"

  She didn't answer.  He stayed long enough to be sure she got back in

her house, then miserably dragged himself home.



  Milt sighed in disgust and sickening apprehension.  True, the bundle

of flowers he'd found on the front stoop that morning lit his daughters

face like nothing he'd ever seen before; but that was just it.  She

wasn't daddy's girl any more.  Some pasty-faced little weasel was

muscling in on his territory, and he didn't like it.



  "So what're ya gonna do?"  Beryl asked as they walked to school.

  "Dunno."  Nila walked a little stiffly, trying not to open the

scratches on her back.

  "Drop him."  Beryl said flatly.  "He was more worried about his

precious ghost, than you.  You don't need that."

  "I don't think he wasn't worried about me, or concerned about me. 

He's just... curious."

  "You know what it did to the cat."

  Nila shifted her books to the other arm.  "I'm not gonna completely

ditch him.  I think I'll hang back and see what develops."

  "That's useless."  Beryl shook her head.  "You'll just end up

torturing yourself.  Either go in it, or get out of it."

  "I'd rather see what he's gonna do next.  You gotta admit; the

flowers were a nice touch."

  "There are nicer touches."

  "Shut up!"  Nila giggled, shoved her friend, then winced.

  "Hurts?"

  "Could be worse."

  "Don't worry."  Beryl grumped.  "Hang around Mulder enough, and it

will be."



*****



  Nila closed the year book and placed it back on the shelf.  She

guessed Beryl was right, it did eventually get worse; but it got a lot

better, too.

  Her phone rang, and she brushed herself off as she went to answer it.

 "Yes?"

  "Hey, deep blue."  Mulder's light growl tickled her ear.  "What say I

drive down for the weekend?  I can stop by Blockbuster and pick up a

few movies."

  "Sounds major.  Think Skinner'll let us make popcorn?"

  "He will if you don't tell him.  He's sitting on a review board, so

he'd staying up here this weekend."

  "You mean we'd be alone?  Unsupervised?"

  "Cut it out, yer makin' me hot.  Should I bring oil?"

  "For the popcorn."  Nila said, dryly.  "What kind of movies did you

have in mind?"

  "They just got in "Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman"."

  "The Darryl Hannah one?  No thanks."

  "Original version."

  "Oh yeah?"  Nila smiled to herself.  "Ok, I'll bite."

  "I'm counting on it."

  ***click***