Cheater's Stone Reverse Angle Chapter 1 (Patreon)

Photo by Michał Parzuchowski on Unsplash

“Well, I'm here,” Joyce Heckmer announced when she arrived at her cousin's home.  She was spending some time with her cousins in an effort to get away from her hectic job.  Joyce wasn't married and she thought it was nice to just get away and spend time with family.  Joyce was a woman in her late thirties about five foot ten and 125 pounds.  She had short wavy brown hair with bangs as is the case with many women her age.  Joyce considered herself cute but she was being a bit hard on herself not that it mattered.  She had never gotten married. And wasn't particularly looking for a long-term relationship.  Marriage just wasn't that important to her.  She had several boyfriends throughout her life, but nothing very serious by her own design.

Joyce had decided to spend the time with her cousin, Marcia Lyles.  Marcia was the daughter of his mother's sister.  She was a pretty woman about two or three years younger than Joyce.  Marcia had blonde shoulder-length hair with much darker roots which were parted in the middle.  She was five foot five a height that she thought was adequate enough to not need heels on a daily basis.  She was a hard-working person who has had jobs since she was in her early teens but still kept time for her family.  Marcia and Jimmy had been married for eighteen year and they had three children.

Their oldest was a sixteen-year-old girl named Dylan.   Dylan was a thin girl who has about her father's height of five foot eight.  She had dark brown straight shoulder-length hair, it was probably the original color of his mother's if she would let her roots grow out.  Dylan was a typical sixteen-year-old girlie-girl, in that she loved to wear makeup and preferred prettier clothing.  She sometimes wore skinny-jeans and leggings, but most often she was in a skirt with a pretty top.  Her shoulders may have been a little too broad, her breasts were small and her hips were narrow, but she made the most of what she had with makeup and apparel.

Dylan was a nice enough girl, Joyce thought, but she could get moody.  On the times when Joyce offered to help the girl with her schoolwork, or makeup tips, etc. the girl would say she already knew it all and refuse to 'study' with Joyce.  But eventually, the girl would calm down, and once working she would stay on track until they were done.  Joyce was impressed that distractions like phone calls and texts didn't sidetrack the girl once studying had finally begun.

Marcia also had two younger children, Jason and Sofia.  Jason was a rambunctious eleven-year-old and Sofia was a cute four-year-old.  Jason had brown hair like the rest of the family.  It wasn't as dark as Dylan's but it was also much shorter, extending to a couple of inches above his shoulders.  Sofia was the only one in the family whose brown hair was curly.

Joyce who was now a computer programmer had spent several years teaching high school.  Marcia had asked her to help Dylan with a state exam she was taking the next day.  Joyce was happy to help her cousins out especially since they were being so nice to let her stay the entire week.  But when Joyce arrived, Dylan insisted that she already knew all the stuff.

“Look, I am here.  Let me help you,” Joyce implored.

“I don't need your help.  I don't need anyone's help I know it all.”

Joyce had downloaded an old exam from the State's website.  Her plan was to have Dylan take the test and then go over it with her.  But Dylan wasn't having it.  After some intense discussion (shouting) Dylan left the room.

It was about two-thirty and Jimmy who was home with a bad cold went to pick up Jason from school.  Joyce went along since forcing Dylan to work wasn't going to happen.

“So, why aren't you at work?” Joyce asked.

“I have had this cough for weeks now.  I just couldn't breathe.  I went to the doctor instead today.”

“If your sick, don't get me sick.”

“It's not catching.”

“How do you know?”

“The doctor said so.”

“How did you get it?”

“I got it from Jason a few weeks ago.”

“I thought you said it isn't catching.”

“It isn't.”

Jimmy pulled into the school grounds and the two waited for Jason to get out.  It didn't take too long.  Jason got into the back seat.  At the high school, the students only came in for midterms, but for the elementary school where Jason was in the fifth grade, it was a regular day.

“How was your day?” Jimmy asked.

“It was OK, I guess.”

Joyce and Jimmy returned to their discussion of Jimmy's cold and that Joyce didn't want to get it.  While they were discussing it, Jason told them, “I don't know if Mommy told you, but Mommy's doctor said she has something that makes her repeat herself.”

“Repeat herself?” inquired Joyce.

“Yeah, she keeps telling me the same thing over and over.”

“Oh, she does?”

“Yeah.”  Joyce didn't know what Jason had heard at Marcia's doctor's office, but Joyce knew that Mom's telling their kids over and over to do something wasn't any disease.  It was a fact.  Joyce knew this and she didn't have any kids.  Joyce liked kids, that was why she had become a teacher a while back.  But she didn't want to be a parent.  The best thing about kids she thought was that they went home.

When they returned to Marcia's house about half an hour later, Dylan had been working on the test.  But once she saw them, she quit almost immediately.  “I know this stuff already.”  But when Joyce checked the test (it was multiple choice at least the first part) she saw that half the questions were wrong.  Joyce knew she needed her help.  But getting Dylan to do the test and then work on it afterward wasn't going to work.  Joyce decided to go over an old test that Dylan had worked on.  They went over each problem.  Joyce discovered that even though several of the answers were right, Dylan couldn't explain why.  This took about another half an hour before the girl became frustrated again.

In the meantime, Joyce had told Marcia that she wanted wings for dinner and Marcia was going to Buffalo Wild Wings to get them.  Dylan hearing this went into Marcia's car.  She wanted to go, but this wasn't acceptable since she had studying to do.

“Look, let's not get into a shouting match with Dylan,” Joyce suggested.  “Let's take my car and deal with her when we get back.”

Joyce led Marcia to her car and they both got in.  Dylan was sitting in Marcia's car when the two left.

“I don't know what I'm going to do with that girl,” Marcia told Joyce.

“I don't know either, last time, she said she had a headache and couldn't study.  The test is tomorrow and she won't do it today either.  She does know something.  She'll never get a hundred, but if she puts in a little time, she can pass.”

“I've told her a thousand times.”

“Jason said you saw a doctor and that you repeat yourself a lot.”

“He said that?”

“Yeah.”

“I don't know what he is talking about.  I have to repeat myself with him.  He doesn't do what I say.  At night it's tough to get him to bed and in the morning he is never ready for school.  Dylan may have her problems but she is always ready to go to school in the morning.  I have to tell Jason to get dressed, brush his hair, brush his teeth.  I tell him over and over.”

“I don't know what to tell you.  I don't have kids.  I like kids, but actually, I'm glad I'm not a parent.”

“He doesn't understand.  If he did what I tell him the first time, I wouldn't have to repeat myself.”

The conversation continued about her kids, family, work, and many other topics until they returned home.  By that time, Dylan had returned to her test.  She hadn't done many problems, maybe about twenty but a few she had totally skipped, and some others she had narrowed the choices but hadn't arrived at only one answer.

After the wings, Joyce got down to studying with Dylan again.  Dylan wanted to buy some sneakers and Marcia had promised her.  But not until after they had finished studying.  The place was open until nine so as long as they finished at eight she could drive her.  In the two and a half or three hours in between, Joyce helped Dylan.  They looked at the test together.  Dylan would work on the problem and Joyce would guide her to the correct choice and give explanations as necessary.  With Joyce by her side, the time actually flew by.

Marcia was satisfied with Dylan and took her to get the sneakers she wanted.  But before leaving, he suggested that Jason and Joyce play Jenga.  Joyce liked to play games with her younger relatives.  There was a small strategy to Jenga that Jason didn't pick up on.  Joyce knew that if she really tried she could always win the game.  But she didn't play that hard to win although she wasn't a pushover.  Bricks could be moved that made it harder for the next player.  Jason didn't know how to strategize to make it harder for the next player.  You didn't have to remove a whole piece, just move one a little bit off-center.  Maybe when he got older he could, but not yet.

Jason, Joyce, and Jimmy all played.  Four-year-old Sofia sat on Jimmy's lap and help Jimmy pick which brick and thought she was playing, but really wasn't.  Jason won the game.

“Wow, you're really getting good at this,” Joyce enthused.

“Yeah, I have been playing with my babysitter.”

“You think you can win again?”

“Yeah, I can.”

“Then let's bet.”

“Bet what?”

“Well if I win, then you have to stop complaining to your mom when it's bedtime.  You have to do everything you need to do to go to sleep.  Then get in your bed and be asleep at bedtime.  And in the morning, you have to get ready to go to school without being told.”

“OK, what do I get if I win?”

“Anything you want.”

"I want your boobies!"

Joyce looked down at her eleven-year-old nephew.  "What do you want with those?"

Jason looked embarrassed.  "I don't know.  How about if I win, then it's your bedtime instead of mine and all the rest.  What happens if Daddy wins?”

“I guess then the bet is off.  But if I beat you, then you must go to bed on time like your mom wants you to.”

“And if I win, then you have the early bedtime.”

“Okay.”

Jimmy wasn't paying attention.  He was mostly entertaining Sofia.

“It's a bet,” Joyce agreed.  She wasn't going to lose.  Besides a bet like that didn't count for her, she was an adult.

“OK, wait right here.”  Jason then ran to get something.

“What is that?”

“It's a Cheater's Stone.  It makes sure you can't cheat.”

“How does it do that?”

“Well both you and I hold it together.  Like this...”  Joyce and Jason held the stone in between both their hands.  “OK, now with the other hand you lock pinkies like a 'Pinkie Swear.'”  The two did as he said.  “Then you both say, 'I BET!'”  Which they both did.

“OK, that did it.  Once you use the stone once, the stone will keep track of all your bets.  You don't have to do all this again.”

“Good, that was quite an ordeal.”

“The stone makes sure you have to follow through on all your bets.”  Joyce didn't know how Jason got the stone nor that the stone was magical enough to make sure that all bets had to be paid no matter how ridiculous they may have been.  The stone would make it possible.

The game started, after a few moves, Jason saw his dog Rusty and called out to him.  When the dog came over, he bumped Joyce's backside ever so slightly.  But it was at the wrong moment and the Jenga pieces came tumbling down.  Joyce had lost.

“You lose, you lose!!!” Jason shouted joyously.

“Hey, no fair.”

“I don't care, I won.”

“I want a rematch.”

“Double or nothing?”

“OK, it's a bet.”

The next game started and it didn't go as fast as the first, Joyce was being careful.  Plus the dog was locked outside on the porch.  Before the game was over, Marcia had returned home with Dylan.  The bet had influenced her (and everyone else) without them knowing it ever took place.

“OK, Joyce your bedtime is soon, you have to get ready.”

“But, the game'll be over in a minute.  Let us finish.”

"OK, but just this once."

Joyce didn't realize that the dog had been let in when Marcia entered the house.  The bounding dog didn't bump into Joyce this time, but the commotion startled her and the whole Jenga structure fell to the ground again.

“OK, it's over now.  You know what to do.  Do it now.”  Joyce did know what to do.  Jason's entire bedtime ritual she now knew.  She wanted to resist, but she had to leave the game.  Joyce couldn't help herself.  The Cheater's Stone forced her to follow Jason's routine to the letter.

Joyce went up to Jason's room and took out his Space Jam pajamas and a pair of underoos.  She didn't want to, but she couldn't help herself.  She didn't know how she could fit into either of them.  Then she went into the bathroom and took off her clothes.  She put her used clothing in the hamper.  Then turned on the shower and stepped in.  She washed and conditioned her hair and washed all over her body.  Then she left the shower and dried herself off.  She wrapped the semi-wet towel around her waist, like Jason was supposed to, and then brushed her teeth.  Standing in front of the sink, she brushed her teeth for a full two minutes like Jason was expected.  It didn't matter that she never took that long to brush. She then pulled on her underoos.   They were very tight.  There was getting them up her legs was tough enough, but pulled them over her hips was near impossible.  Somehow she did it though.  There was a distinct camel-toe in her undies.  It was almost painful.  The pajamas were easier.  Pajamas are made to be loose on those who wear them.  This pajama was tighter than it was supposed to be, especially across her chest but she could get it on.

Once she was done, she headed towards Jason's bed.  She couldn't help herself.  She found a glass of water waiting for her on the nightstand.  She dutifully drank it.  Marcia came to tuck her in.  Then she gave her, Jason's stuffed rabbit and she put it under her arm.  Finally, she picked out a bedtime story and started to read to her.  Before it was done, Joyce had fallen asleep.

Jason knew that he had the double of nothing win.  He would decide what he won later.  He stayed up as late as he wanted just like Aunt Joyce (well technically she was her cousin, but he called her Aunt Joyce) would have.

When he was tired, he went to bed but found that Aunt Joyce's clothing wouldn't fit him.  With his winning bet, he said, “I want our clothes to fit.”  All of the clothes in the suitcase and everything else resized for his thin body.  The same happened to the clothes that Joyce was wearing, the underoos stretched to a size that would accommodate her along with the pajamas and everything else in Jason's closets and drawers.

go to Chapter 2