by Mia Archer
Right into the pool.
Oops.
Dave landed with a splash and started flailing as soon as he landed.
“What the hell was that?” he shouted.
I walked to the edge and smiled at him. Sweet Lisa was back. For the moment.
“Guess I figured if someone was going to call me a crazy bitch I might as well earn it,” I said.
I left him splashing in the pool. I was pretty sure he left his phone back on the game table. Otherwise that was going to turn into a pretty expensive comment for him. I honestly didn’t understand why they kept inviting him back to their game if this is the way he kept acting. Then again it was their game table. Their dynamic. Their business, not mine.
Even if I had just sort of made it my business by throwing Dave in the pool. I’d be really surprised if he came back here after that little demonstration.
It was dark when I stepped into Kylie’s house. The place looked nice. Obviously someone went to a lot of trouble to make sure the place was kept clean. Then again her dad was a cop. It shouldn’t be too surprising that he liked to keep things orderly.
I realized that I had no idea where I was going. I’d never been in her house before. I walked over to a fireplace and smiled as I saw pictures of Kylie proudly displayed there with a picture that showed her growing up. The smile turned to a grin as I came to some of the pictures that showed her in her old dark and mysterious look from high school. I’d always thought she looked pretty in that outfit, but that was nothing compared to her in the here and now when she’d had a few years to get comfortable with herself and realize that black wasn’t the ultimate fashion statement.
As I made my way around the room I realized I could hear something coming from down a dark hall. What sounded like sniffling. I frowned. If Dave really did make Kylie cry then he deserved everything he got being shoved in that pool. I’d almost felt bad about doing it.
Almost.
I made my way down the hall and the sound got louder. Yeah, that was the sound of someone crying and trying to hide it. I wondered who she was hiding from considering there shouldn’t be anyone in here to hear her in the first place.
I suddenly felt as though I was somehow intruding on her. Maybe she needed some privacy. Maybe she wouldn’t appreciate me barging in on her when she was sobbing.
I stopped at the door and took a deep breath. This could go bad if I barged in and she didn’t want me there, but at the same time there wasn’t a chance I wasn’t going to barge in there. It’s not like I could leave her all alone when she was crying. I felt drawn to her. My heart ached to think that she might be that upset. I had the sudden urge to hold her in my arms and tell her everything would be all right.
I had the urge to hold her in my arms and do a lot more than tell her everything would be all right, but this didn’t seem like the time or the place.
Standing here in the darkness outside her room it didn’t even freak me out all that much that I had that urge to hold her and tell her everything would be all right. I didn’t stop to think about what that might mean for me. What that might mean for me and Kylie.
I’d been in hiding for so long that stepping out into the open and not being terrified at the prospect felt weird. Good, but weird. Nothing for it but to go ahead and do this thing, though. Even if it didn’t affect my dating life, there was a girl in there who needed a shoulder to cry on.
I pushed open the door and held my breath. If there was going to be another explosion then this was the moment when it would hit me, but she didn’t seem to even notice that I was standing here. She sat at the foot of her bed with her back turned to me and it was pretty obvious she was crying from the way her shoulders heaved with every breath.
I hated seeing her like this. At the same time I felt some relief. Stupid Dave had deserved everything he got out there. Maybe telling her all about how I’d shoved him in the pool would be enough to cheer her up.
I took a deep breath and stepped into the room. This might be a bad idea, but I had to do it.
15: Surprises
Kylie:
I hated myself for getting this upset over Dave. I knew I shouldn’t hate myself. If anyone was deserving of my hatred in this moment it was Dave for doing this to me in the first place, but this was a night when a little self-loathing seemed like just the ticket.
I didn’t know how I was going to go back out there and face them. As soon as I got to my room the crying started, and I was having a hell of a time trying to get it under control. No matter how hard I tried the tears kept coming. I was overwhelmed. Dave being his usual dickhead self. Lisa sitting there watching Dave yelling at me. Everything that was going on with Lisa.
It was all too much and every time I thought I was close to getting over the sobs I thought about everything and it hit me again.
Damn it.
At least I managed to make it back to my room before the crying really got going. I’d lose all my credibility with those guys if they saw me letting Dave get to me like this. I tried not to let it show, but it was hard sometimes. It would prove every snide remark Dave had just made about girls not being able to handle a game.
I was really glad Lisa wasn’t here to see this. Talk about embarrassing.
I heard someone behind me. I let out a little scream that stopped the crying for a moment and wheeled around. And I immediately regretted that decision, because of course there was Lisa looking at me with my face all puffy from crying and my makeup probably running.
Damn it!
“I came in to see if you were okay and then I heard crying and I thought…”
Lisa seemed hesitant. Almost like she was worried about something. Did she think I’d be mad at her for coming in here? Then again I had just screamed and jumped when I heard her. I probably looked terrible on top of all that. I needed to reassure her. I patted the bed next to me without really thinking about it.
“It’s okay,” I said, trying to keep the crying under control. “I was just trying to regroup after… all that.”
Lisa sat down and I was suddenly painfully aware of her presence next to me. I could smell her perfume, something I almost recognized. I thought I could feel the warmth radiating off her body. I looked over and she was smiling, but she still seemed unsure. Hardly surprising since I was sitting next to her blubbering.
“Sorry,” I said. “I guess I shouldn’t let Dave get to me that much. You think I’d be used to it after dealing with him for so many years.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Lisa said. “The jerk tried hitting on me all the way over here tonight. I don’t know how you’ve dealt with it for the past few years.”
“Yeah, well, as much as I hate to say this, you sort of get used to it after awhile.”
“Really? How do you get used to something like that?”
I wiped a final tear from my eye. It was funny, but sitting here talking to Lisa was enough to take my mind off of everything that just happened with Dave. Sure a lot of that had to do with the even more complicated thing in my life sitting down next to me and driving me crazy with distraction, but it was a pleasant distraction compared to Dave’s assholeish distraction.
“I don’t know how to explain it,” I said, thinking back to the past several years. “I guess it’s like that old thing about the boiling frog.”
Lisa raised an eyebrow and looked just a little disgusted. Okay then. Maybe talking about boiling amphibians alive wasn’t the best thing to bring up around a girl I had the hots for.
“A frog in boiling water? What are you talking about?”
“You know. Put a frog in boiling water and it jumps out. Put it in water and set it to a boil slowly and it sits there and, you know…”
Yeah. Totally terrible thing to bring up with Lisa, but it was too late. I’d already said it and she’d already asked. Why did I have to be such a bundle of awkwardness all the time?
“Oh. So it was like that with you and Dave?”
“Yup. He’s a
jerk, but he doesn’t have big blowups like tonight very often. When you’re around it every week it just becomes the way he acts. You get used to it. Honestly I didn’t think much of it until you showed up with a fresh set of eyes and helped me realize how ridiculous he really was.”
Lisa laughed. “He is a little over the top, isn’t he? He really didn’t like it when I shoved him in the pool.”
Now it was my turn to look at her like she was the crazy one, and she didn’t have to bring up a single moderately cruel cooking method. “You what?”
Lisa blushed and looked away. What she said next came out barely above a whisper. “He was sort of being a jerk talking about you with Travis and Arnold and then he sort of insulted me and then I sort of maybe pushed him in your pool? Just a little?”
I snorted out a laugh. “I can’t believe you did that!”
“Well believe it,” she said. “He wasn’t happy about it either, but I bet he’s on his best behavior after this!”
“For a little while,” I said. “This has all happened before. Someone calls him out on his bullshit and he’s good for a couple of weeks and then he’s right back to his old self.”
“You could always kick him out of the game,” Lisa said.
“I suppose I could,” I said. “But that’s more drama than I’m equipped to deal with right now.”
Lisa wrapped an arm around me and pulled me close in a hug. I panicked for a moment. This was setting off all sorts of danger alarms in me. This was getting too close. This was making me feel things that I’d tried to deny for too long. Feeling her against me made me realize just how wrong that denial was.
It felt so darn nice. Lisa was so soft. Not like some of the guys I’d been with. Well there was at least one guy who felt soft, but that was because he’d packed on a little extra weight at the gaming table and that relationship didn’t last long anyways. I’d never felt the spark with any guys whether they were soft or ripped, and I’d been with the full spectrum at this point chasing something that I never quite found with anyone who had a penis.
Lisa, though, was different. She was soft in a different way. In a good way. Plus I figured I’d had such a bad night that maybe I deserved this just a little. Maybe it wouldn’t be the end of the world if I let out a little contented sigh and rested my head against her shoulder for just a little while.
“I know you’re feeling down, but you really did do a great job tonight,” Lisa said, one of her fingers starting to trail along my shoulder which sent a tiny shiver running through me.
“You think?”
“Yup. I would’ve had a hard time not punching him out if he talked to me the way he talked to you tonight,” she said.
“Technically you did sort of assault him. I mean shoving him in a pool isn’t exactly a punch, but…”
“Yeah,” Lisa giggled. Her fingers continued tracing a circle in a motion that didn’t seem very friendly at all. That felt like the sort of thing you’d do with someone who was more than a friend. Or was that simply wishful thinking on my part?
I just didn’t know. It was all so confusing. I was so excited by being this close to Lisa that I wasn’t thinking straight. Literally. As always when I started thinking this way my mind went back to all the times my traitorous body had hinted that maybe I was into girls just a little. A lingering glance in a locker room. Catching a glimpse of some sorority Barbie in tight yoga pants walking down the sidewalk on campus.
I always told myself those incidents were just my mind playing tricks on me, but Lisa pressing up against me like this and her fingers dancing along my shoulder were no trick.
I shivered. What else could I do? Lisa seemed to notice that shiver. I felt her shift slightly next to me. I turned to look at her and realized just how close we were.
Lisa reached up and wiped a tear from my eye. Smiled. So close. Her lips were so close. So inviting. And there was the maddening way her finger moved back and forth across my body. All it would take was leaning forward just a little bit and then we’d…
It was as though my body was taking cues from my mind without really thinking about it. Before my conscious mind had a chance to put a stop to this ridiculousness I’d leaned forward and my lips brushed Lisa’s. I knew you were supposed to keep your eyes closed when you kissed someone, but I was so curious about how she’d react that I kept them open.
Her eyes went wide with surprise, but she didn’t pull away. This was madness, but I kept right at it. I put an arm around her and pulled her closer. Her eyes closed and she let out a sigh as our lips came together again. This time I opened mine ever so slightly and my tongue danced across her lips until they opened and I felt her tongue flick against mine.
It was a perfect moment. Then reality came crashing down.
I pulled away from her. What was I doing? Kissing another girl? Kissing Lisa? I was acting no better than that stupid horndog Dave who invited her out here. It struck me that the reason I was upset wasn’t that I’d kissed another girl so much as I was worried she might take it the wrong way.
I guess that was a rousing endorsement of where my sexuality really went.
“Oh shit Lisa,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me…”
Lisa smiled. Reached out and placed her hand on mine. “Don’t feel bad. I mean I was the one who was hinting but I wasn’t sure if…”
“Hinting?”
Lisa grinned. “Well yeah. I mean I don’t know what’s going on here, but it seems like we have a thing going and I’ve denied this for so long but damn it this feels so right with you…”
I grinned right back at her and almost laughed at the echo of my own thoughts. I felt lightheaded. I felt on top of the world. We had a thing here? She thought we had a thing going? She’d tried to deny it but now she wasn’t trying anymore?
Talk about a familiar line. I could jump for joy! I wanted to go out to the pool, flip Dave the bird, and tell him to suck it.
I didn’t do any of those things, of course. No, I was more preoccupied with what was going on here with Lisa. Besides, Dave would probably think that was an invitation.
“So you liked that? I’ve gotta admit this is all sort of confusing for me,” I said. “I mean yeah I’ve sort of always felt the same way but I never…”
It occurred to me that it was really kind of stupid to try and hide something like that for so long. It’s not like I thought my parents would freak out. I certainly didn’t have some religious objection like my imaginary sky friend was going to burn me for eternity because I was into the same sex.
So what was the problem? My own stupidity, mostly. I blushed when I thought of what I’d been missing out on for so very long.
“I think I really liked it,” she replied. She bit her lip. “Maybe we could try that again?”
That sounded just fine to me! It seemed fate and the universe had other plans though. Once more I heard someone coming, only thankfully this time I heard them down the hall because they were making enough noise to wake the dead.
Lisa and I looked at each other for a moment and then we were disentangling. It was pure torture pulling away from her when we’d been so close, but it had to be done. This might be something crazy happening between the two of us, but there was an unspoken agreement that it was just the two of us. I don’t think either of us was ready to get any of the guys involved.
I certainly didn’t want Dave to have any idea what was going on. That was another blowup waiting to happen that I wasn’t equipped to deal with.
Thankfully it was Travis who stuck his head into my room. He looked at the two of us sitting on opposite ends of the bed completely innocent-like as though nothing odd was going on at all and raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything. If he had any suspicions he was keeping them to himself.
Smart boy.
“So Dave just left,” he said. “I think game night might be off for tonight.”
I sighed. In a way that was a relief. There was too much happening to
night and I needed time to process everything. Better that I had a night to gather my thoughts. I looked at Lisa and grinned.
“Did you bring your bathing suit?”
“You know it!”
I looked back to Travis and grinned. His eyes were bugging out as he realized what I was getting at. From the way he glanced at Lisa it seemed the idea of seeing her in a bikini was just fine with him. It was something that was just fine with me, too, even if I wasn’t going to let on how much I wanted to see that.
“How about we spend the rest of the night swimming and then I’ll roll a new character or something for next weekend?” I said. “I guess I can play and be the DM until we get Lisa up to speed on the game.”
“Sounds fucking great to me!” Travis said, his eyes running up and down Lisa. I felt a stab of jealousy, but a smile from her was enough to remind me that she seemed to only be interested in me. Which was a good thing. It would’ve been awkward if I tried clawing Travis’s eyes out because I was suddenly jealous of him.
“Right, well why don’t you head out to the pool house and get changed?” Lisa said, still facing away from him. She winked at me. “I think us ladies need some privacy while we get ready.”
It was funny. This evening had gone to shit, and yet because it went to shit it was quickly turning into one of the best nights of my life. Travis had barely left the door before I pounced on Lisa and picked up right where we’d left off. My only regret was that we couldn’t be in here for too long or the guys would start to suspect something.
Not that it was much of a problem. We had the entire summer to explore this brand new thing, after all.
16: Sorta Date
Lisa:
I stepped into the movie theater and looked around. The place was completely empty. I don’t know who out in Hollywood thought it would be a good idea to let Rob Schneider headline another movie, but it made for the perfect opportunity for a clandestine rendezvous so I wasn’t going to knock it too much.