Just like Jesus [Zac, Ann]

[JD Paerson]

When he’d thought of the idea originally, it had been kind of a joke. Then, the more he thought about it, the more he liked it. Running on water, he would think. Yeah, I could do it. Be like Jesus or some sort of prophet. Or magician. He smiled.

So he started to plan. He needed time to make sure he could have the right amount of speed necessary, and he researched some of the water skippers and other animals that drifted across the tops of the water. After determining the amount of speed he would need to run across the water, he decided to test it out.

Of course, what was the point of going to all the work of testing it out if no one was there to see it?

JD debated asking some of his friends to come watch, then realized that he didn’t have any friends he considered close enough to bother them with something like this. That was how he came up with the poster idea.

He put up a few posters around the school, advertising the miraculous events to take place. Anyone was welcome to come, he’d said. Maybe it would turn into a party or something. This Saturday, at the lake, come prepared to be amazed. Okay, so he hadn’t added the last part to the poster, but it was implied. It just never looked anything less than corny when it was on the page, so he struck it.

And now he stood by the edge of the lake, wearing his favorite running suit—namely his old pair of running shoes, some sweats and a t-shirt. He’d thrown on a jacket, since it was a little cold out, being the end of February, but he was expecting to do enough exercise not to need too much coverage. He’d arrived a little ahead of schedule and done some warm-up laps around the lake, and now he was waiting for someone to appear so he could get on with the show.

While he waited, he ran slowly in place, trying to keep limber and stay warmer. Finally he heard someone behind him.

“It’d better be a whole troop of people,” he muttered to himself. “I’ve been waiting here long enough—why isn’t everyone here already?”

The idea that his imminent failure wasn’t interesting to everyone never occurred to him. Indeed, he never really considered that he could fail.

[Ann Hudgins]

She'd been walking from her dorm to her regularly scheduled session with Dr. Neville when she came across a poster on the wall. Normally she didn't pay attention to them because she had no business with whatever they were advertising, however this poster tickled a memory of hers and it festered at the back of her mind all day and late into the night.

When the fully memory of the encounter in the student lounge came to her, she giggled faintly. So he really was going to try to run on water. Ann had to see that, and like she had remembered in her promise, she'd go prepared with towels. So she set her mind to going to the little demonstration, with towels, on Saturday.

When that day rolled around, she wrapped up tightly in her coat and hat with a backpack in tow (she also packed water and an ice pack, you know, just in case) and made her journey towards the lake. As much as she was looking forward to seeing someone actually run on water, she hoped a lot of students didn't show up, in case they brought non-meta attention to themselves. Ann was vaguely worried about it, but not worried enough to turn around. When she finally got to the lake, she spotted JD (HA! That was his freakin' name!) warming up, so she made her way over to him.

"Hey JD," she waved a hand slightly in his general direction. Now that she was here, she actually felt pretty goofy, what if he didn't even remember her? It was a possibility--though thanks to a stupid technopath and a rumor blog, everyone had an eye turned in her direction. Even Ann wasn't dense enough to miss all the whispers, feelings of jealously, annoyance, and....a bunch of other weird things. She scratched the back of her head. "I brought towels...." She shrugged up a shoulder to reveal the backpack about her shoulders before she gave him a weak thumbs up.

[Zachary LaRousse]

Zac, by nature, paid no heed to such stuff like this. His ego places himself in such a high pedestal that he tells himself that he has no time and nothing to gain from participating, or even watching, such petty small activities like this one. These are, in his words, “for those good for nothing commoners, peasants and dolts who have nothing worthwhile to do than waste their time for such utter nonsense”. He didn’t even bother reading what was it about – one glance at the poorly photoshopped poster (in his opinion, at least) and he got all that he needed to deem the stint useless and unappealing. And in his opinion, would turn out to be highly unsuccessful. “They’re just wasting paper. And accumulating so much trash,” he mumbled, surprised that in almost every corner he turned, there was a poster for him to supposedly read. What determination really.

His slight irritation on the matter changed however, when he saw his favorite speedster one day doing something with what seems like another copy of the accursed poster. At first he thought the boy was up to his usual prankster tricks again (though in his opinion, nothing can top the toilet paper one) so he playfully sneaked up behind the boy, in his usual Zachie-grope-here-and-there-because-it’s-DeeDee way, teasing the brunette for his rather large chest once again (he developed a habit over the past few months on teasing JD for supposedly having a bust measurement bigger than an average girl’s). But when he actually took time to look at what JD is doing, he was surprised. He did try to hide his initial shock (as a brilliant idea just came into his head), and even teasing the boy about him not coming because he knows the speedster will fall into the water and just wet himself. When JD left though, he tore the poster off the wall and kept it in his pocket, smirking inwardly and looking forward for that fateful day.

The boy drove to the lake when the day came, thankful that the roads to the lake were still clear and all that. Parking at a spot not far from the lake, Zac came out, properly dressed this time, smirking as he walked towards his favorite speedster with his hands on his pockets.

“That’s because I told them not to come,” he chuckled as he ran behind the boy and gave him a quick bop on the head, “Told you your little idea would fail.” Not that he actually did that though; with the drama that happened in his life a few days back, it’s highly doubtful that he has time to stage a ‘boycott’ for JD (and even if he can, he wouldn’t; too much effort for something so small, he says). He knelt down near the lake side and tried to test the water temperature. “It’s cold,” he shivered, looking at the boy with such teasing eyes, “You sure you still want to do this?”

He’s having so much time teasing JD that, well, he didn’t even notice that a rather familiar lady has joined them as well. This ought to be good.

[/justify]

[JD Paerson]

JD almost flew out of his skin when he heard Zac behind him. "I'm not going to fail," he said stubbornly. "And why, of all people, did you have to be the one person to come?"

Then he heard someone behind him and spun on his heel. The girl knew his name, and she looked familiar, but JD was feeling a little embarrassed about her seeing his outburst and couldn't think well enough to remember her name off the top of his head. After a moment's thought, though, he managed to say something vaguely intelligible.

"Towels, yes, I remember now! Thanks...Ann..." He drew out the name, hoping it was the right one, but he was fairly certain he had gotten it right. "I actually forgot about some of that stuff. Towels and everything. I shouldn't need it, though, but I guess it's better to be prepared."

When Zac spoke up again, JD turned to yell at him. "Of course I'm going through with it! What, you think I'm scared of a little cold or something? And look, I did all the math. There's no way I'm going to fail at this. I won't even get wet, so there's no reason to worry about the water being cold."

Frowning, JD remembered that he had left his backpack at home, which meant that his copy of the New York Times was still inside his bedroom, not available for use to thwap Zac over the head like he deserved.

JD glanced over at Ann. "Apologies about the company it looks like you'll be having. He's something of a pestilence, and I can't seem to get him to stop attaching himself to me like a barnacle."

[Ann Hudgins]

Her eyes widened when Zac came out of seemingly nowhere. She took a few steps back. Separate from their punishments they received for fighting at the dance, they were all told to stay away from each other to avoid further problems. She also just didn't want anything to do with the pig, and from by the way JD acted towards Zac, she figured he didn't much like the selfish boy either. That brought a tiny smile to her face.

"No problem. Said I would bring them.." She smiled a little when he remembered her name, she faintly recalled they both had admitted to not being good at remembering names. It felt nice to be remembered, since it had been quite a while. She jumped a little when he turned to yell at Zac, but she didn't blame him. She'd yell at Zac too if he was being so negative towards something she wanted to do--sure, it was cold, but Zac was an asshat. She shrugged her shoulders when JD apologized about her having to be next to Zac to watch him. In response she shrugged a little. "It could be worse."

Though, honestly, she didn't know exactly how it could be worse. As long as Zac behaved, kept his hands to himself, and didn't make any lewd comments towards Alex, Ann could probably behave herself next to him, for the sake of watching the event she walked all the way out here to watch. If not, she'd make a quick run back to school (or maybe she'd hit up Pilot Ridge in a job search like she had been meaning to do..). She glanced at Zac now, her thoughts considering how nice she was going to be to him to start out with. Maybe if she was nice, he'd mirror that?

She couldn't decide she so kept her mouth shut and shoved her hands deep into her pockets.

[Zachary LaRousse]

After teasing JD for quite a while, Zac happily knelt down beside the lake, absentmindedly poking the surface of the water and enjoying the ripples he’s making like a little kid. He was mighty contented with what he’s doing, and was about to call JD out and tell him that he’s already bored, that no one’s coming really and that he should get on with it, when he heard the other boy say a rather familiar name. He perked up and, to his surprise/delight/dismay, it was indeed her. Ann.

“Hi Ann. What brings you here?” he said, waving his arms as if nothing serious has happened between them. While he still feels a little bitterness and anger towards her and the Dwarf (Dopey has the bulk of his resentment however), he did tell himself that he won’t act like a defeated guy. He quickly caught himself, hiding whatever feelings of jealousy, resentment and hatred that she might associate with her boyfriend with bounds and bounds of ego. He didn’t like people snooping on him, digitally, telepathicly and empathicly, so should she try to sort him out, he’d make sure she’d gag with all the pride he’ll try to put on her system.

He simply scoffed at the two’s towel conversation, walking towards JD’s side and slinging an arm over his shoulder (thank goodness the speedster didn’t have his newspaper with him; Zac’s head is actually becoming more and more sore as he continues with it). “I didn’t know you knew this big fella. Please don’t tell me he’s just one of those guys you lead on and on then suddenly dump for some loser,” he chuckled darkly, rolling his eyes as he tried to think of a ‘milder’ insult, “I mean, guy who fits you better.” Nope, he’s not jealous, not jealous at all.

“You can do math DeeDee? Sh*t. You sure are doomed to fail,” he said out of the blue, veering away from the rather sensitive topic. He’s made his point, no need to elaborate on it even further, at least for now. “I brought some change of clothes though, ‘cause I’m such a good friend like that. We don’t want you going home wet in this breezy weather, don’t we?”

“So Dee, are you going to start walking on water now, or do you need some sort of ritual juju before you start?”

[JD Paerson]

"Ann's here because she wants to see the show, Zac. Don't be rude. Not everyone thinks your word is the end-all and be-all of the world." JD was not the most observant of individuals, and he didn't sense that there was any added tension in the air.

As he finished stretching the final time and stood up, he felt Zac wrap his arm almost possessively around him. He raised his eyebrows at Zac's comments--even he could tell that there was something more going on here than what met the eye, but he wasn't sure he wanted to get into it.

"Ann is a friend," he said gruffly. "I met her a little while back, and she's the one who gave me the idea for this." He wasn't sure if he should say anything else, but he figured that with Zac, it was better safe than sorry. "You had better be good or I'm going to dunk you in the lake, give your keys to her so she can have the car, and run home without telling anyone where I left you." Not that he would ever actually do this, but he was feeling a bit sore about the fact that no one else had turned up, and he decided to take it out on the one person there he felt might deserve some of this.

"Yeah, I can do math, numbskull. Unlike others in the class. Thanks for the clothes, though, I guess..." He felt a little embarrassed now about shouting at Zac so much. In all honesty, the kid was the only guy who JD could almost consider to be a real friend, and he didn't necessarily deserve all of this animosity. Besides, JD suspected that Zac was acting incredibly rude because of something he was trying to cover up.

He did take a few deep breaths as he looked at the two of them, then at the water. "Yeah, I'm going to run on water now. If you guys want to make it look more mystical I suppose you could chant or something. Just give me a bit to get a head start."

He went back into the forest a bit, up to the line that he drew a few hundred yards back. This was the point he needed to start from to get up enough speed. After a couple more moments to prepare himself for the next step, he started running.

As the water approached, he sensed rather than saw his small audience that he raced past. Almost before he knew it, he was in the lake. Actually, he wasn't in the lake...he was on the lake, running across the top of the water.

At this moment, he felt a surge of happiness. He was actually doing it! He was actually running on water, and it could be done! He wanted to jump in the air, to do a celebratory dance, but he had enough presence of mind to realize that this would destroy his momentum and he wouldn't be able to keep himself supported--he'd fall in. Instead, he aimed for the buoy at the center of the lake so he could take a breather. He was getting a bit tired, and it was hard to keep from tripping over all the ripples and small wind-made waves across the lake.

When he reached the buoy, he looked back at Zac and Ann. "I did it!" he shouted. "I made it across! Wahoo!" He whooped with victory and laughed as loudly as he could, just because he had finally managed to do something right.

[Ann Hudgins]

He had actually been nice. She didn't taste any burning hatred towards her or anger, or whatever from him behind his civil greeting, and for that she could only be relieved. She smiled a bit and waved as he had, and was about to tell him she had known JD when JD stepped in and spoke before she could. She was slightly surprised/impressed that Zac was being nice...

Then he asked a question she bristled at. She does not lead anyone on! She didn't even know how! She glared at Zac and nodded as JD specified friend. They were friends, well they'd just hung out that one time, and then during the snowball fight but that didn't really count. Just friends. Zac was just being hateful, she knew it, but sheesh. She didn't do what he said she did! She didn't! She huffed and stepped back a little and watched as Zac teased JD almost as much as he used to tease her. She didn't miss it, that was for certain. She looked sympathetically at JD and shook her head a little. It was Zac, he was just going to act like that.

"Good luck!" She clapped as he went back into the woods and she shifted where she stood. She was a little sad no one else showed up, because it was pretty freakin' cool to see someone run on water, but it was their loss. She cheered as JD, in a flash, ran passed them and out on the water. He did it! It was so awesome. She cheered and jumped and clapped when he reached the buoy, proud of him for accomplishing it, and happy he didn't fall into the freezing cold water.

[Zachary LaRousse]

JD boldly taking Ann’s side without even batting an eyelash was somewhat expected, but it doesn’t mean it made Zac any less irritated. He knew that despite DeeDee’s somewhat gruff and snob-ish exterior, the boy’s got his heart in the right place (and that he just wants to be cuddled and hugged, something Zac does every so often just to irk the speedster). Which, unfortunately for the Prince, often puts him at odds with the guy. As Zac said once, DeeDee might be a bit of a jerk at times, but Zac’s douche-ness and asshole-extraordinaire-ity is just too much for the boy to process.

Surprisingly enough though, the mimic decided to leave it at that. He was planning on making another snarky comeback, but (finally!) he let reason rule over him and decided just to stay silent. He was, after all, playing the part of a guy who’s moved on. If he makes another comment about it, then Ann makes another and then it’s high school drama all over again. It just won’t stop. While Zac would like for Ann to know that he’s right in every which way, there’s seems to be no chance of him changing her mind anyway, so why bother anymore. And besides, he went here to see DeeDee succeedfail. So instead he settled into giving JD another tight squeeze and ruffled his hair, leaving both of them with an (in his eyes) ominous wink, saying, “You tell yourself that.”

“I do hope you trip!” laughed Zac as JD ran back to the woods. While he would want his friend teddy bear to succeed, an image of JD tumbling on the surface of the lake like a rock thrown to skip across the said body of water because of his momentum seemed a bit more interesting. Blame cartoons for such a morbid idea.

When the speedster started and sped past him like a blur however, he couldn’t help but feel awestruck. He’s seen JD turn his speed up a couple of times, but this was just beyond anything he’s seen. And when he started zooming across the lake, it was just wonderful. He would agree on Ann on this one (should he have read her mind); those who ignored JD’s invitation lost half of their lives.

He joined JD’s celebration when the boy started shouting across the lake. He even hooted and whistled, like an excited and ever-so-loyal fan. After a while however, he saw something odd about what JD just did. “So how are you planning on getting back, lover boy?” he shouted back.

Something tells him it’s a good thing he brought a change of clothes, just for kicks.

[JD Paerson]

"So how are you planning on getting back, lover boy?"

JD paused when he heard Zac faintly call out across the lake. He had stopped mid-holler, fist still raised in the air, but as he thought about the question, the grin on his face slowly faded.

He'd never thought far enough to try to figure out how he would get back.

It was at this moment that he had to acknowledge to himself that although he never said it, never even thought about it, he had expected himself to fail. He'd never thought he'd get far enough to have to worry about this side of the business.

Slowly, his hand dropped. He clung to the buoy with both hands, turned, and slowly banged his head repeatedly against it. "Stupid," he muttered, "stupid, stupid, to not try to think about getting back...and now they're watching, and Zac is never going to let me down..."

On thinking about Zac, JD turned to look at the beach again. "Hey, guys?" He debated yelling at Zac, threatening him not to tell anyone about this ever, but there would be time for that after trying to convince these guys to rescue him.

"Could you, uh, could you guys go get a boat or something?"

And then, the statement he'd never wanted to actually admit about himself:

"I can't...I can't swim." The last part of this was more of a mumble, and surely couldn't have been heard from the beach. He was forced to repeat it. "I can't swim, okay? Yeah, laugh at the guy who tried to run on water without even knowing how to swim."

Ann had towels, Zac had a change of clothes--which brought up the question of when he'd had an opportunity to get some of JD's clothes, or were they his own and he expected JD to be able to fit into them?--so it could've been worse. He tried to console himself with these thoughts, but it didn't help much.

"Please let there be a boat," he muttered to himself. "Please let there be a boat, please, please."

[Ann Hudgins]

Holy crap, she realized, he couldn't get back by running. He didn't have a head start like he did on land. Shit.

He couldn't swim.

Shit.

It was waaay to cold to swim and get him, and neither one of them were lifeguards (Ann would never allow Zac to swim out on his own to get him, should he do such a selfless thing (Ha!)). She looked around, a boat would be the best thing, but this was a lake and those things weren't just floating around for emergencies like this. Ideally there would be a marina or boat dock somewhere around here, but they didn't exactly have time to find it, get a boat, navigate the lake and find him. The wind out there would be really cold. The buoy would be really cold, and he might fall in and drown without anyone knowing.

She started to have a mini panic attack until her eyes landed on a log a couple hundred feet away. It was rather thick and large, best part was it was floating. She glanced sideways at Zac. "Well we have to go get him." She began by stating the obvious then moved towards the log she had seen, "I think if we road the log we could get to him...." It sounded so stupid as she said it, but it was their best bet to get to him quickly and without them getting completely wet. Yes, their legs and butts could be wet and they would survive it.

"Unless you have a better idea." If he could pull a boat out of his back pocket, that would be great, but she didn't hold her breath for it.

(Sorry of the bad quality, and the lateness!)

[Zachary LaRousse]

He can’t be serious, can he?

“Oh fuck me,” Zac shouted back to JD, the tone of his voice surprisingly nonchalant and his face devoid of emotion. His hands crossed in front of his chest, shaking his head in a disapproving manner. Normally he’d be grinning like a Cheshire cat right now with a smirk so demeaning that JD would probably kill him if he saw it. But apparently, he can’t. Instead his eyes narrowed down even further (as if the boy would see the change from the middle of the lake) as if scrutinizing the boy, waiting for JD to suddenly laugh at Ann’s apparent panic and concern for him.

But it didn’t come. Nope. No loud laugh or loud newspaper thwack to tell you how foolish you have been to fool for his prank. Instead what he saw was a teenage boy clinging on a buoy a bit tightly, banging his head while muttering something unintelligible, probably cursing himself for being so darn stupid. It was only then did Zac decide that JD was actually being serious this time. And that he should probably do something if to save the poor boy.

Zac was actually halfway through the buttons of his jacket – he’s already told himself by then that he’d have to swim across the cold lake to get the speedster – when he heard Ann say something about a log. While he did see the log idly floating near them, it took him a few more seconds to understand what she’s saying. “That might actually work,” he said, flashing an actual smile at Ann’s direction, tapping into an orca for the much needed cold protection as he stripped down to his boxers (no need getting all his clothes wet if he can help it, right?) and waded along the lake shore to grab the log.

Initially he was against the whole idea of Ann coming to help (he didn’t really didn’t help in rescuing JD anyway, aside from the obvious extra weight he must push) but the girl was persistent. In the end he just went along with it, putting the log near the shore so the empath could position herself properly before setting off towards the middle of the lake. “Hold on properly,” he muttered as he pushed the log from behind, “Don’t think I’ll save you from drowning if you fall.”

His smirk emerged when they finally got near the buoy, saying, “You do know I won’t let you hear the end of this when we get back on shore, right?”

ooc:
I iz sorry for the general crappiness and lateness. D;.
- Jam

[JD Paerson]

It seemed like he had been there for an hour while his fingers turned to ice and water splashed up on all the little waves to soak his lower half. He didn't wear a watch, though, so he couldn't be sure how long it had actually been. He was also aware that he rarely had a decent sense of how time was passing, since he sometimes wasn't even connected to time as it worked for other people. Besides all that, he remembered that if you're waiting for something it generally feels longer than it actually is. Especially if you are in water that is almost frozen.

He tried to wait patiently while the other two stood there and started looking for a way across. When Ann grabbed the log, JD groaned. But, then again, there wasn't really anything else to use, and it was better than waiting for someone else to get here with a better rescue boat. He watched the slow progress of the log in the river as they pushed it across to him.

When they were finally up next to the buoy, he peeled his arms away. His fingertips stuck briefly to the cold metal, but he ripped them away without any noise. He was too cold to feel much of anything, anyway.

"I know," JD said to Zac. He was shivering, and the sound of his teeth chattering almost drowned out the sound of any words. "You should know that I'm renewing my subscription to The New York Times." He managed to get out a shaky grin. "That being said, I guess I kind of deserve it, huh?"

He turned to Ann. "Thanks for thinking of the log. And thanks for being willing to come out. Even for someone who's not exactly that smart."

JD could barely hold onto the log as he headed toward shore, but he tried to kick the way he saw the other two doing. He wasn't sure he was doing much good, though, especially since his legs tended to jerk due to cold and habit--he was used to going much faster than this. Eventually he stopped trying to push and just let himself be towed in, clinging to the wood and shivering violently.

"Is it really this cold," he asked as they made it to shore and he tottered up onto the beach. "Or am I freaking out for other reasons?" True, he'd been incredibly nervous, and a bit terrified, too, which added to the shivering. But at this point, more than anything else, he was grateful that he'd had some friends who were able and willing to help him out, in spite of him being such a moron.

"Towel?" he asked quietly. "And clothes, I guess. Could you guys turn around for a minute?"

[Ann Hudgins]

Ann hated the cold. She hated that she had to get in the water, but she wasn't about to just stand there while Zac paddled out into the water to save someone who couldn't swim. It was too far and she didn't trust him, at all. She had to go. She slid out of her shoes and took off her jacket. It was so cold, but she needed to be able to have something to wrap herself in when she got back to the shore. She didn't sit at the head of the log like Zac had suggested, but slid into the water and pushed the log with him.

She knew if she sat on the log, she'd freeze from the combination of the wind and the water, at least in the water she could use her muscles to keep herself a bit warm. When they reached the buoy, she was too cold to enter anything into the conversation, she was just focusing on keeping hold of the log and staying alive. God it was cold. She nodded faintly when JD thanked her for thinking of the log.

Her lips were blue by the time they made it back to the water and she sloshed her way over to her backpack and pulled out towels--she was so glad she brought more than one--and handed on to JD and Zac. When he asked for them to turn around, she did so, and started to dry herself off. She was shaking so hard someone several yards away could see she was freezing, and she probably couldn't talk if she tried. She wanted to jump into a fire, to get warm. She hated the cold.

[Zachary LaRousse]

Fortunately the trip back to the shore wasn’t exactly a long one, as Zac didn’t know how much longer he could take seeing JD so terrified and, well, utterly hopeless. As far as he knew, JD’s always been the annoyingly resourceful one, the smartass that’s always sure that his methods are right. Blame that super speedy brain of his really. Zac initially detests JD’s powers because of it (as he beats Zac in class without much effort during their freshman years), and while he’s still jealous of the boy’s enhanced mental capacity, he’s grown to like it really.

When they finally reached dry land, Zac quickly turned to his discarded clothes pile and grab his keys. It was a good thing his ability gave him some cold protection, else he’d be shivering like his two companions and would probably have a hard time thinking straight too. He promptly opened his car, started the engine and grabbed a black duffel bag from the back seat. “You think I can borrow a towel too Ann?” he asked, no trace of that previous snarky-ness evident in his voice. Despite being such a jerk, he does know how to show gratitude to whom it is due. “Thanks by the way. For helping me grab that stupid boy from the middle of the lake,” he said as he sent a teasing glare towards the still shivering boy. “Sorry I don’t have any change of clothes for you Ann, but I’ve already started the heater in the car. You can wait there while I help JD change his clothes.” He gave Ann a reassuring wink before adding, “Don’t worry, I can control my urges around the boy.”

“Catch,” he said as he threw JD his clump of clothes. He has this strange urge to hug the boy and tell him it’s all right, but that would be far too soft of a gesture to give JD, much less show Ann. “Hopefully the clothes fit Dee. I didn’t have a chance to sneak into your room and grab some of your stuff.” After all, JD is a bit taller than him. Curse genetics really. He grabbed the towel he borrowed from Ann, spread it as wide as he can, and used it as a barrier between JD and Ann. “There. Happy now? And you don’t have to worry about Ann taking a peek; I already told her it’s nothing to ogle about anyway.”