Tomboy
Suzana Thompson
Published by Suzana Thompson, 2020.
Copyright 2013 by Suzana Thompson
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 1
My friends were talking about hot girls, and the times when looking at those girls had been a little too hot. They all had a story to share about trying to hide their embarrassing responses in public. We were hanging out at my house and playing video games. My mom worked the night shift at a factory five and sometimes six days a week, so we freely talked about anything and everything.
“What about you, Cam?” Adam asked me before looking embarrassed when he remembered that I was a girl.
My best friend, Kyle, hooted with laughter. “Hers is probably bigger than yours.”
“Shut up,” Adam said. “Anyway, you haven’t shared anything.”
“Just saving the best for last.” Kyle got a look on his face like he was remembering. “One time I hid in the girls locker room and watched the cheerleaders change clothes after practice.”
Knowing him as well as I did, I kept my face expressionless while the others listened with rapt attention to this male fantasy.
“Two of them stayed behind after the other girls left. They started kissing and making out. I wanted to get a better look, so I quietly moved closer. They were so into each other that I took a chance and got even closer. I guess I made a sound, because they saw me standing there watching them. Then they asked if I wanted to join them.”
“You’re full of shit.” Adam looked angry that he had been momentarily taken in by Kyle’s story.
Everyone laughed and said rude things to Kyle. I smiled and stood up to go get a drink out of the kitchen. Hanging out with my friends was one of my favorite things in the world. It had been that way since elementary school, and it hadn’t changed in all these years. We were now in high school, but our bond was as strong as ever. I had always felt more comfortable around guys than girls. They felt comfortable around me too, as evidenced by Adam’s slip. It wasn’t the first time that one of them had forgotten that I’m a girl.
Probably the most girly thing about me was my long hair, but I had it up in a ponytail most of the time. It was an ordinary brown just like my eyes. My body was fit from playing soccer and skateboarding with my friends, but I mostly dressed like a teenage boy. I mean that literally. I bought most of my clothes in the boys department, like the shorts and t-shirt I was wearing now. My mom would shake her head and comment that she didn’t know she had given birth to twin boys. I told her that she had been right to give me a unisex name like Cameron. She had named my twin brother Connor.
He and I were close, but we had our own separate friends. His best friend, Jake, was in the kitchen when I went in to get my drink. He had five brothers and sisters, and he was the oldest child in his family. Like I said, our friends tended to gravitate toward our house for the freedom from parents. I
was used to seeing Jake around at all hours. At this point there was no animosity between us. That was about to change, but I was blissfully unaware of this that Friday evening. I poured myself a glass of my favorite drink, orange juice, and turned around to see him studying me.
“I can’t believe they don’t see it.” His blue eyes held an appraising look.
“See what? Who are they?” I asked before taking a refreshing sip of my juice.
“Your buddies out there. I can’t believe they don’t see you, Cam.” His gaze was still taking me in.
Now I was really confused. “What do you mean? They see me practically every day.”
He smiled in amusement like I had said something funny. “You’re still a kid, aren’t you? That’s okay. I can wait for you to grow up.”
I had just turned seventeen, and I was hardly a kid. What in the world had gotten into him? He had always been an okay guy, but now he was acting decidedly strange. What was that comment about waiting for me to grow up? Whatever was going on with him, I decided that it was none of my concern. Yet I could still feel his eyes on me as I walked out of the kitchen to return to my friends.
I hadn’t always been the only girl in our group. In elementary school there had been several other tomboys that played just as rough as the boys. That had changed in middle school as they suddenly developed crushes on boys and began to wear makeup and dress more girly.
It soon became apparent that they only wanted to be friends with me so they could be near my brother and his friends. By high school I was the only one who had no interest in dating. Connor and Jake, on the other hand, were two of the most popular boys at school.
Connor had the same ordinary brown eyes and brown hair as I did, but girls found him attractive for some reason. Sure, he was in good shape from playing basketball, but I didn’t see why that made him any more appealing than any other guy. Jake, as I already mentioned had blue eyes. They were the kind of blue eyes that people noticed. Not that I paid any more attention to them than I did to anyone else’s eyes.
It’s just that girls at school always talked about his eyes. He also played basketball, but he must have done some kind of weight training too if the muscles in his arms were any indication. The only reason I had noticed his arms was because Kyle had said something about them. I was the only one who knew that Kyle was gay. His boyfriend went to another school, and Kyle had decided that his love life was nobody else’s business. He only told me, his best friend since elementary school.
I was the only one of my friends who had never been on a date or had a crush on anyone. Kyle was waiting to see who would catch my interest, but nobody had so far. I loved being friends with guys, but I had no desire to date them. My parents had divorced when I was little, and I had watched my mom move from one failed relationship to another. My father was an alcoholic, and our visits with him had dwindled as his drinking got worse. Now we were down to talking on the phone from time to time.
Romantic relationships seemed like they weren’t worth the trouble. They made it look so great in the movies, but real life didn’t work that way. I had seen a lot of heartbreak around me, and it baffled me as to why people still kept trying to find true love.
“It’s such a high when you’re with that person,” Kyle told me. “Just wait until your hormones kick in. You’ll see.” He had spotted Jake then. “Oh, hot damn! How can you have that delicious piece of eye candy practically living with you and not be drooling over him every day? Just look at his arms for one thing.”
I surreptitiously glanced at Jake’s arms. “He does look strong.”
“Strong?” Kyle asked in disbelief. “He looks freaking hot! If only he wasn’t straight...” He had trailed off dreamily.
I hoped that my hormones would never kick in if it meant I could avoid being obsessed with someone’s body parts. I sure didn’t want to drool over anyone. Kyle had said that it was a high, but I didn’t need to be high that way. I got a rush when I was playing sports, and I had a warm and fuzzy feeling when I was with my family or friends. I was perfectly content with that.
After my friends went home that night when Jake had
that strange conversation with me, I took a nice long shower. My room was right across the hall from the bathroom, so I always walked the few steps wrapped in a towel after my showers. It had never been a problem until that night. When I opened the bathroom door, Jake was leaning against the wall beside my room.
“Oh, sorry I took so long. It’s all yours now.” Even as I spoke, I wondered why I was apologizing. There was another bathroom downstairs.
He was studying me again, but his gaze was more intense than it had been in the kitchen earlier that evening. “You can’t be walking around like that. You might not know that you’re a girl, but any guy who sees you like this will never forget it. You could even give Kyle a hard on in that towel.”
I looked at him in alarm. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He flashed a smile. “Don’t worry. His secret’s safe with me. I’ve seen you guys checking me out.”
“I was not checking you out,” I said in indignation.
“Whatever you need to tell yourself, Cam. What I’m worried about now is how clueless you are about walking around practically naked. Your buddies might get the wrong idea if they see you like this.” He gestured toward my body. “You can’t keep doing this.”
Now I was getting really annoyed. Who did he think he was? “I can do whatever I want. This is my house. If you don’t like it, you can leave.”
His smile was different now. It seemed—dangerous. That didn’t even make any sense. How could a smile be dangerous? He pushed off from the wall and stepped closer. “The problem is that I do like it. Remember what you guys were talking about before? About how a guy’s body reacts to a hot girl? Do you see how much I like it?”
My eyes followed his hand down to where he indicated. I had seen him many times in just boxer shorts, but I hadn’t ever noticed that reaction before. What an annoying thing to have to deal with, I thought. “Boy, I’m glad I’m not a guy.”
His blue eyes traveled down the length of me one more time. “Me too, Cam. Me too.” Then he walked away without even bothering to use the bathroom.
Chapter 2
“Wait, rewind.” Kyle interrupted my story about Jake trying to order me around last night. “He told you that you’re hot.”
I shrugged. “I guess, but the point is that he’s trying to tell me what to do in my own house.”
“No, Cam, the point is that he thinks you’re hot. How can you be so blasé about that?”
I popped another potato chip into my mouth. “I don’t care what he thinks. I’ll walk around here any way I damn well please.”
Kyle’s dirty mind was in direct contrast to his innocent-looking face. He looked positively angelic with his clear blue eyes and blond hair. “I second that. Next time accidentally drop your towel and bend over to pick it up.”
“Kyle!” I protested with a laugh.
“Sorry, but I’ll never have him so I have to live vicariously through you.”
I became distracted by the porno movie we were watching on my computer. It had, of course, been Kyle’s idea. We were stuffing our faces with potato chips and critiquing the performances. It had some kind of flimsy plot about a model who got into all kinds of erotic situations. To Kyle’s delight, she had a ridiculous line that she kept using. It seemed to be her catchphrase, and we were keeping track of the number of times she said it.
“Oh, look at that. She’s getting onto the bed with her high heels on,” I commented. “You know they’re going to snag on the sheets.”
“I don’t hear him complaining.” He smiled at me. “That’s probably the most girly thing I’ve ever heard you say.”
“There’s no reason to ruin perfectly good sheets. Hmm, do all girls shave their privates like that?” I crunched on more potato chips.
“How should I know?” Kyle asked.
“Oh, right.” I said. “Well, it’s bad enough having to shave our legs and underarms. Guys are lucky in that department.”
“At least you can cover those parts up if you don’t feel like shaving. We have to take care of our faces every day.” He looked at me curiously. “Is any of this stuff turning you on?”
“Not really. It’s basically all body parts. Real movies are sexier, because the characters are exciting.” He had hit upon something that was troubling me. “I heard some girls at school talking about me. They think I’m gay.”
“Those bitches,” he said in mock outrage.
“The thing is, maybe I am. I mean, since I haven’t been attracted to anyone. It’s a possibility, right?” I spoke seriously, because I really wanted answers from him.
“You’re attracted to Brad Pitt. Remember, you said he’s hot after we watched World War Z. Plus, you’ve had crushes on other actors too. You’ve never said anything about having a crush on an actress.”
I thought about it. “That’s true, but maybe that’s just social conditioning.” Another idea occurred to me. “Or maybe I’m asexual.”
“No, you’re not.” He immediately shot down that line of thinking. “You’re just a late bloomer.”
I poked him in the chest. “You just don’t want to give up on me hooking up with Jake.”
“Somebody’s got to live the dream,” he said solemnly.
“Pervert,” I laughed. Then I batted my eyelashes at him. “Could you please go get me some more juice?”
“Oh. I, uh, finished the last of it.” He cringed in preparation for my reaction.
“You drank all my juice?” I whined. “I thought you were my friend.”
“Shush and watch the movie. I’m trying to corrupt you.”
“Or distract me from what you did.” I pretended to be put out.
He stuffed his mouth full of chips so he wouldn’t have to answer. I rolled my eyes and turned back to the screen. The adult actors were getting pretty loud as they went at it. Suddenly, we heard someone fling open my bedroom door and turned to see Jake storm in followed by Connor. Jake stopped short when he saw us.
“What happened?” I mumbled through a mouthful of chips.
“Want some?” Kyle’s mouth was also full of chips as he held out the bag toward Jake and my brother.
“See? I told you she wasn’t having sex,” Connor said.
Jake walked over to see what we were watching. Kyle again offered him some chips, but he declined. Connor grabbed a handful and began munching on them.
“We’re out of orange juice,” I said.
“She had two glasses,” Kyle hurried to tell Connor.
“He had three glasses.” I stuck my tongue out at Kyle.
“What happened to your leg?” Jake asked me.
“Skateboarding accident. Kyle took care of it,” I added grudgingly.
“Now you remember my good deeds. Shouldn’t your hero get unlimited juice?”
“Hero?” I sniffed. “Ha! You bandaged a scrape.”
“You should have heard her scream like a girl when I put disinfectant on it,” Kyle confided to them.
I gave him the evil eye. “I did not!”
“I had to promise her porn to get her to hold still,” he said, lying outrageously. “Of course, she wouldn’t get hurt if she didn’t try to keep up with Jason.”
Jason was the best skateboarder in our group. He was cool about it, but my competitive nature sometimes made me try to top him. It wasn’t the first time I’d gotten hurt trying to outdo him.
“You’re lucky you didn’t break your arm like last time,” Connor chided me. It was Jake, however, that looked displeased with me.
“How do you want me?” The actress in the porno said her line again.
“Five!” Kyle and I cried out in unison and high-fived each other.
Jake looked from me to Kyle and shook his head. “At least you can’t get hurt watching porno movies.”
“Actually, one time,” Kyle began some ridiculous tall tale before I kicked him with my good leg.
“I don’t even wanna know,” Connor said as he started to leave the room.
; Jake glanced back at me one last time before he walked out, shutting the door behind him.
Kyle waited until he thought they were gone. “Did you see how he came charging in here when he thought you were having sex? And then he was all concerned about your leg. He’s got it bad for you, Cam.”
“Will you give it up already? I’m not hooking up with him just to make you happy.” I clicked the porno movie off.
“Hey! I was watching that,” he protested.
“No, you were just about to drive me to the store for more juice.” I started shutting down my computer.
“You could have sex with Jake, but all you can think about is juice,” Kyle grumbled.
Nothing changed until about a month later when Kyle and his boyfriend broke up. He took it very hard, and after days of moping and even missing a day of school, I decided that he needed me there and told him that I was sleeping over. Mom wouldn’t even know that I was gone, because she was working until early morning and wouldn’t be up until later in the day. I would be home by then. Connor and I always covered for each other, no questions asked. It was a Friday night, so I didn’t have to get up for school.
Despite all my efforts, Kyle remained inconsolable. I had never seen him this way, and I realized that his feelings for his boyfriend ran much deeper than he had ever let on. Here was more proof to me that romantic relationships always ended in heartbreak. Only two hours into our evening, he got a phone call from his ex-boyfriend, who wanted to talk to him in person.
“I’m sorry, Cam,” Kyle apologized, but he looked more hopeful than I had seen him since his breakup. “I can drop you off at home on the way to his house.”
“I understand. Absolutely, go and talk to him. I hope you guys work it out.” I gave him a hug.
“Thanks, Cam. You’re the best.” He hugged me back with all the unspoken affection that was between us.
Kyle drove me home and promised to call me tomorrow. I noted that Jake’s car was parked in our driveway as well as Connor’s. This surprised me since my brother had mentioned having a date tonight. Nobody was in the living room when I entered the house. I decided to take my shower first and then relax on the couch watching TV.
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