Laughing lightly, Isabella hopped up and bounced into the bathroom all at once. I was grateful for a moment alone to try and clear my thoughts, and was taking a deep breath to calm myself when suddenly I heard an echo in my head. “Can you hear me? Can you?”

All I could do is sit and look dumbfounded all around the empty room. Even with her gone from the room, I was still imagining Isabella’s voice in my head. “Drake? Drake? Do you hear me?” I kept hearing her voice echo in my head, but she was still in the bathroom.

Hesitantly, I muttered out loud, “Umm, I can hear you. I think. Or else I’m going out of my mind,” but all I got back was a short little, “Oh poo!”

A moment later Isabella came walking out of the bathroom and shaking her head. “Sorry,” she said to me. “I really thought that should’ve worked.”

“Umm.. What should’ve worked,” I asked.

“I was trying to talk to you in the party, but it must not have worked. You never answered me.” She looked a little pouty and disappointed as she came back over and sat down on the couch across from me again. Dejectedly, she flopped back across the couch and sprawled out with her arms up over her eyes. “Maybe I’m just tired. I seem to be more exhausted than I thought I was.”

Ogling the position she was in, I tried to comfort her. “Well, you were up all night reading that book. It’s natural that you’re tired. You should probably get some rest.”

She let out a long breath and then reached up and pulled off her glasses. Without even looking, she leaned her arm down beside the couch and nuzzled the glasses under the bottom of the couch itself, and then she draped her arm back across her eyes and forehead. “Can you at least see me,” she asked.

“Umm…” Dang her! This girl doesn’t quit! Once again I was blushing quite warmly. “Yeah. I can see just about everything pretty well.” If she’s going to ask, I guess the least I can do is be honest.

Slowly she moved one arm and leaned her head up to look at me. Then she looked to where I was looking and giggled lightly. “Not that! Well, it’s not that you can’t – I don’t mind really; we are oathbound after all – but what I was wondering is if you can see the little me?”

“Little you?” Now I was really confused.

“You can’t see the little me?” She sounded almost as confused as me now, and started to sit back up on the couch. “Look to your left. The far left. You should be able to see me there. I can see you, anyway.”

Lost and bewildered, I turned my head and looked off to the left of me. I even turned my whole side and shoulder as much as possible to look behind me as much as possible, but I didn’t see anything. When I turned back to face her, Isabella was already sitting back up and giggling at me once again.

“Not like that. Here, let’s try it like this. You like breasts, right?”

“Umm.. Yeah.” I answered honestly.

She pulled her long chrome-silver hair back behind her and then wiggled at me. “Then look at mine.”

“I… I can do that.” I wasn’t going to argue with a request like that! Loving the view, I let my eyes take in every curve, every nuance of her chest. The full roundness, the perfect size to fit in the hand.

As my eyes gravitated towards her exotic white nipples and areola, she giggled and told me, “Good. Now keep your eyes where they are, and look to your left, at the very edge of your peripheral vision. You should see me there.”

It was a difficult request – look for a detail of something to your side, while such perfect bosoms were sitting there in front of you – but after a moment I could see what she was talking about. There, on the far edge of vision, was a small circle with an image of her in it. It was tiny, but perfect – almost like what you’d see if you had your eye to a peephole and she was sitting directly in front of it. A green circle and a blue circle surrounded her picture. “I can see it,” I exclaimed in excitement!

“Well good!” She let her hair fall back down around her and then laid back down on the couch once again. “From what I was reading last night, I came to understand that a true member of your party should always be in your awareness. You should always be able to tell if they’re hurt or tired. I wondered what it meant, but after we joined together I saw it and understood. That little me – I see a little image of you – will always let me know what you’re doing and how you are. I think the green bar is our life, the blue bar is our magic, but I don’t know what the red bar is.”

“Red bar,” I asked?

“Yeah. You’ve got a green, blue, red set of bars around your picture. Don’t you see it?” She didn’t sit back up, but she was looking at me again.

“Nope. I see a green bar and a blue bar around your picture, but no red one. But I can see you.” Actually, I thought this was kind of nice. I could peek at her anytime I wanted, and she wouldn’t even know about it. Of course, in her case, I don’t think she’d care even if she did know about it. Izzy is a strange girl!

Isabella looked to be in thought for a bit longer and then shrugged. “I don’t know what the red bar is on yours, so I guess it doesn’t matter if it’s not on mine either. What disappoints me is that the party chat doesn’t seem to be working.”

“Party chat,” I asked?

“Yeah. When I was in the other room, I was trying to talk to you by the party chat, but it never seemed to work. I asked you several times if you could hear me, but you never replied. I’ll try and sort it out later, after I’m more rested. I really don’t know what went wrong.”

She sounded disappointed, but I was shocked. “Then, that really was you I heard in my head?”

“Huh?” She sat bolt up straight on the couch and turned to stare at me.

“Saying something like ‘Drake, do you hear me? Do you hear me?’”

Isabella let out a little squeak and jumped over and pulled my head directly between her breasts and hugged me tight. The feeling was divine, but I was having a little trouble breathing as she clung to me and hopped up and down. “It did work! It did work! It did! It did!”

And then she suddenly pushed me back away from her and I thankfully plopped back in the chair and took a deep breath. “Why didn’t you answer me,” she pouted and stomped her tiny foot on the ground while putting her arms on her hips.

She really can be quite adorable at times. Well, when she isn’t trying to smother me to death, I suppose.

“Two reasons,” I answered honestly. “One, I didn’t know that it was you talking to me. I thought I was just hearing things or going crazy. You should’ve told me what you were going to do.”

“Sorry,” she apologized and sat back down on the couch. Once again she pulled her legs back up underneath her and sat cross-legged while looking at me.

“Second,” I continued on, “I don’t have a clue how to talk back with party talk. I didn’t even know there was a picture of you until you helped me notice it a moment ago. Exactly how do I talk to you like that?

“Oh!” She turned a little paler again. With anyone else, I’d think that’d be a sign of fear or sickness, but ever since that book changed her hair and other parts, it appears that’s how she blushes. Most people turn red when they blush; she turns whiter, and she was a pale white right now. “I’m sorry! I didn’t even think of that either. See, I really am tired…”

I shrugged, “It’s no biggie. But, could you tell me now how to do it?”

“Sure!” She giggled lightly once again. “It’s simple. Just glance over at my picture, think my name, and then send me a thought. You don’t even have to speak out loud for it to work.”

My eyes got wide! This was even more amazing than I ever would’ve imagined! I thought we’d keep a few notepads and pencils to pass notes to each other when we needed to maintain silence for something, but this was much, much, much, much, much better!!

Quickly I practiced looking at the image of her at the far corner of my vision and I tried to send her a thought. I tried several times, but her expression never changed from that hopeful expectation that she was wearing. Sadly, I shook my head and let her know, “Apparently I lack the skill or talent to use it. I can’t get you to hear me at all.”

“Oh.” She sounded really disappointed. “Were you trying with my game name?” Her lower lip pooched out and quivered. She looked almost like she was going to cry.

“Oathbound StarChilde, Can you hear me?” I sent her a thought this time, using her game name instead, and her face instantly brightened up!

With another squeal of excitement, she flung herself at me and I found myself once again struggling for breath between her breasts. “I do! I do! It works! It works!”

I enjoyed the moment as long as I could without passing out from lack of air – I need more CON! – and then I finally pushed her back so I could breathe again. “Yes. Yes. Yes.” Trying to hold onto her as she was bouncing was quite difficult to do! Trying to get her to calm down was even more difficult! “It works. We’ll practice it more later.”

Finally, she quit hopping and was just kind of raising herself up onto her tippy toes and back down. “Calm yourself down. Get some sleep. You stayed up all night, and you need to rest. If you get sick from overdoing it, there’s no doctor’s or anyone who can care for you right not. Sleep now.”

Slowly, she nodded at me and then she yawned.

“And thank you,” I told her sincerely. “Because of your hard work last night, we can party up, keep each other safe, and talk to each other anytime we want to now.” She smiled lightly at me, and I repeated once more, “Thank you, and I really mean that.”

Finally she sat back down on the couch and looked over at me before asking, “Can you do one thing for me then,?”

“What’s that?”

“Can you hold me while I go to sleep? I didn’t rest well at all when I was here all alone.”

Smiling, I sat down on the edge of the couch beside her and patted my lap. “Sure. But only until you go to sleep. I’ve got to try and take advantage of the light to get my skills up, you know.”

Yawning, she laid down and nuzzled her head into my lap. Be calm, Little Bud!! Now’s not the time for you to stand up and get in the way. She truly needed to sleep, so I gently stroked her hair and hummed a lullaby that my mother used to hum to me for her.

She really was an amazing girl. She claimed she was happy that I was the one who came through the door, but I think she had it backwards. I’m the one who’s really happy that she was the person on the other side of it when I opened it…