After only a few months of dating, I was falling for Frank, and I wasn’t getting any younger. Lately, I've been flirting with the idea of becoming Mrs. Frank. He’d been the perfect gentleman, and I was genuinely happy. He’d shown me nothing but kindness, gentleness, and respect. I didn’t care about our age difference. I loved him, and that was all that mattered.

 

Jada and I had both agreed, it was time to let the girls’ trips go and move into the next phase of our lives.

 

Next year, we had planned our first friends and family cruise. Jada’s mom, Frank, the kids, my sister Mary, Dr. Rose and her lovely daughter Blessing, and, oh yeah, I even invited the other Jessica. We were all going somewhere to have a blast. But that was next year. This year, Jada and I were having one last rodeo.

 

My cell rang. It was Jada.

 

“Don’t fuss, I’m almost there. I’m nervous, I’ve never done anything this crazy before,” Jada confessed, which was a surprise, because she’s usually the more adventurous one.

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“Girl, hurry up! I need you on this one. The process was going to take like four hours or more.”

 

That brought me to where I am now, standing outside a young artist’s private studio bathroom, completely nude, covering my single breast with one arm and my lower half with the other. This was our final girls’ trip and I was keeping a secret from Frank. And I wasn't sure I could go through with this,

I am a cyborg. I am a cyborg,

 

When I told Jada about the plan, she said I was out of my mind and that this would be our wildest, most unfiltered trip to date.

 

But I wasn’t the same woman anymore. I was confident. I didn’t care if people saw my scars. I didn’t care about my weight or my soft belly. The only thing I felt… was guilt. Because another man, someone who wasn’t Frank, was about to see me naked. But there was no backing out now. I was going through with it.

 

I threw on my hat and tied a trench coat around my body before stepping out. It was silly, because the first thing the young artist, whom I’d met online, said in a French accent was, “Take it off.”

 

This was the first time we’d broken our own rule. For years, this trip had been just for me and Jada. We stayed in the same room, and we never told a soul what taboo things might’ve gone down. But Jada let me break our long-standing pact, just this once, because this trip was special.

 

I brought Frank with us.

 

I explained the most important rule to him: No matter what you see, no matter what happens, you can never tell a soul.

 

He was alone in my hotel room. Jada had to get a separate one this time. Walking back through the hotel lobby was the most I’d ever been stared at. I thought I drew attention when I was first scarred, but that was nothing compared to this.

 

After five hours of prep, I now stood outside my room, wearing a hat pulled low and a trench coat tightly tied shut. A large carry bag rested on my shoulder. I suddenly felt vulnerable. Would Frank like my surprise? Would he think it was weird?

 

I tapped softly on the door, almost thinking he didn’t hear me, until he said, “Coming.”

 

That made me even more nervous. Had I made a big mistake?

 

I clutched the coat tighter, closing the small gap in front. Frank opened the door, and his face immediately turned the same shade of blue I’d been painted.

 

I walked in without saying a word and headed straight for the bedroom. Frank looked puzzled, curiously following. Then I dropped the coat and the bag. They hit the floor.

 

In the bedroom mirror, I saw my reflection.

 

My entire body was painted blue. My eyes were fully blacked out. The headpiece and facial makeup were an exact replica of Nebula. The artist I hired had done an incredible job. Frank’s mouth dropped open as he eye-goggled his very own size-12 Nebula.

 

I walked over and kissed him.

 

Frank looked like he didn’t know what to do. “Dr. Thront-”

 

I pressed my hand gently over his mouth. “From now on, it’s just Jessica. Jessica and Frank, okay?”

 

I tried to remember that line from Endgame and did my best Nebula impression.

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“I was not always like this.”

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Wow. How I’ve grown. I was free enough now to joke about my own body.

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I took Frank’s hand and placed it on my scarred chest.

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“You can touch me. It’s waterproof. I’m told it’ll take seventy-two hours to completely wear off.”

 

“Wait right here,” I said, “I have another surprise for you.”

 

I unzipped the bag and pulled out a silver platter with little treats I had prepared.

 

“Zog-nut, anyone? Or perhaps you’d prefer a Yaro-root?”

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Frank started warming up to the roleplay.

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“I’ll have a Yaro-root. But what if it’s not ripe?”

 

I smiled and replied, “Don’t worry. If it’s not, I have other things for you to taste.”

 

I snuggled up beside him and rubbed his arm for comfort.

 

“It’s alright. You deserve this. Just remember the rules.”

 

“What happens here… stays here, right?”

 

I poked him in the belly button.

 

“There you go, big papai.”

 

As I got out of bed to break one more rule, I set up the old camcorder on its stand and hit record.

 

Just then, a loud knock on the door. Right on cue.

 

“Who’s there?” I asked.

 

A voice answered, “It’s your sister, Gamora.”

 

Frank looked terrified. His knees started shaking as the door swung open, revealing green spray-painted skin and black-and-red hair extensions.

 

We recorded it all on an old VHS tape.

 

Afterward, I placed a label on it that read:

 

Cringe, Awkwardness and Embarrassment: Vol. 2 – LOL!

 

The End… until the next Volume!