Remote concealed in a rolled-up newspaper set on her lap, she would have seen it as amusing had someone pointed how much she looked like something out of a spy film with the way she was holding it underneath the concrete table. Around her, people of varying ages talked and laughed and went about their business as they enjoyed the second day of summer at Funzo Frank’s, the local arcade, mini-golf, and outdoor pool centre. A few people greeted her, which she was still getting over the surprise of knowing them, as when she'd been Denise Velligranto, she hadn't had many friends. But as Denise Parker, she had a number of them.
For the past couple days, she'd been visiting the same places in search of one person in particular. She knew they frequented them, as she'd followed them for a bit, all in attempt to learn where they hung out. Afterward, she'd waited patiently with the remote, nervous about using in public, unsure how she'd explain it if asked about it. And then, just as she was certain she might not have any luck, she spotted Billy. Being careful not to be seen, which wasn't really hard, as the idiot's attention was always on specific things, like bothering girls with his sexists’ comments or, if he was at the arcade, playing the same cabinets over and over, Denise surreptitiously scanned him using the Chronivac emitter. Returning home afterward, still unused to thinking of the Parkers' place as the home she'd grown up in, she plugged in the remote, uploaded the new profile and set to work.
She of course didn't want to scan Billy right away, but with his and Jon's falling out, he never came around any longer, and as such, Denise was troubled she might not be able to implement what she had in store for him. Guessing the way she was going about it was the best way, she set about crafting a new profile for him. Starting with the timer, she manipulated it so, over the summer months, he'd experience the same thing happening to Jon. Setting the awareness so nobody was aware but her and Billy, she was curious to know how he'd react when he discovered what was happening to him. Next, she set it so the first thing to change was how people perceived him. Satisfied with all of this, knowing exactly the type of girl she'd make him, she set to work ironing out as many details as she could. Finishing with the new profile, she saved it, sent it to the emitter and ready for the next step in her plan, she was confronted by how, once again, it was hard to locate the little dweeboid, as she discovered either he sat at home a lot of the times, or there were places he frequented she didn't know about.
"Hey Denise," a voice suddenly broke into her thoughts, and looking over at the speaker, seeing it was Becky, a friend she'd had before she'd transformed her life, she waved and watched as the teenage girl, going to collect her first cheque of the season, entered the building.
Preoccupied with what she had in store for Billy, she'd almost forgot her afternoon plans of getting together with Becky and a few others. Sighing, thinking Billy wasn’t going to show, she wondered if maybe she ought to try a couple other places before heading home to put away the remote, get a few things, then head over to the mall to meet Julie, Becky, Kristie, and Kate for lunch. Glancing at the outdoor clock mounted above the concession stand, she figured she'd wait about ten more minutes before trying one or two other places. Scanning the crowd, already thick, with most people heading toward the pool, the one person she still didn't see was Billy.
Temperature already in the mid-to-upper sixties, she was thankful for the umbrella, which offered some shade from the Southern California sun. Waiting, she soon decided she'd had enough, and standing, she was about to deposit the remote into her bag, when she saw, leaving the arcade, who she was looking for. Wondering when he'd shown up, figuring it was easy to have missed him with all the people, Denise waited a moment before grabbing her bag. Shouldering it, she made sure the emitter was still concealed before following after Billy.
Unsure how well the device would work in a crowded location, as it'd taken her a couple tries before acquiring the teenager's profile, Denise wanted to make sure when told it to initiate the changes, she wouldn't see the usual error screen. Leaving behind the Funzo Frank’s, she wondered if he planned to take a bus somewhere, as the nearby transit centre looked to be where he was heading. Curious to know why he hadn't taken his bike, as she'd seen him a number of times on one, they came to the city bus depot, then passed it. Leading her a couple more blocks, she slowed as he approached a row of bicycles chained to a bike rack. Figuring he must have parked his here, not caring to know why he had instead of using one of the racks outside the pool entrance, she watched as he glanced at the crowd in a furtive manner before bending over one of the bicycles. Aiming the emitter at him, she waited until she was certain she had a clear shot.
Effect instantaneous, Denise watched as the teenage boy stopped what he was doing and straighten up. His face blanking, almost as if he was having a seizure, Denise didn't wait to stick around to see what would happen next as she removed her backpack, put the remote inside, and headed home, where the first thing she did was collect the Chronivac disk, boot up the computer and delete Billy's profile, certain this was one person who deserved what was coming to them, and, as such, she had no intention of transforming back.