Jennifer's Triad

by Laura Anne Turner

  Being used to Sherinia’s flirtatious behavior, it doesn’t take me by surprise being the target of so much female attention, while Emilia seems to be flabbergasted. On the other hand it’s quite obvious she enjoys the flirting. Her eyes are sparkling, and she looks flushed and heated. Okay, could be from our gig, but still I recognize the signs. Of course Martin joins our banter, and I notice that Robin would love that, too, but Andrea is there as well, and so he doesn’t dare to. They are standing in the corner, talking to Marlon and his girlfriend Sophie.

  Time flies by and soon it’s time for the gig of ‘The Coldhearts’. We watch in awe how they play their set. These girls know how to rock. And Bette is always the leader. She’s a goddess on stage. But in spite of this again and again my eyes return to Nellie behind her drum kit. There are those moments when our eyes meet, and my heart begins to beat a faster rhythm.

  And then towards the end of their set Bette announces a song called ‘Dead End Girl’. It starts slowly, with Bette’s voice soft and insistent…

  ‘Dead End Girl, listen to me, Dead End Girl, you’re not free…’

  And as Bette sings about all the ways that a girl can be trapped, by circumstances, by the people around her, I can see the girls in the audience listen to her, rapt. And when her voice rises and becomes more and more compelling, the song becomes faster and harder, and I’m suddenly chilled by her words, a shiver running down my spine, as she seems to be singing about me, about the girl I once was, Jenny the slut…

  ‘Dead End Girl, get off your back! Dead End Girl, get off your knees!’

  And then her voice becomes urgent and commanding, and the sound matches her, becoming ever louder and forceful, until Bette screams into the microphone,

  ‘Dead End Girl, do you wanna be free? Dead End Girl, get on your feet! Dead End Girl, come with me!’

  When the song ends, there’s a brief silence, and then the girls in the audience erupt, screaming! And I can’t stop screaming with them!

  Next thing I know it’s nearly midnight. We put on our coats and jackets, and go outside to watch the fireworks. It’s a cold and clear night, and I’m glad I have brought my woolen hat. Somebody pours cheap champagne into plastic cups, and distributes them to us. Emilia clutches at my arm, slightly shivering from the cold.

  “Jennifer Meier, I love you. Happy New Year,” she says.

  “I love you, too, Emilia. Happy New Year.”

  Our lips crush together, and we kiss, a sweet, and loving and passionate kiss.

  We wish a happy new year to our friends Marlon and Sophie, and to Robin and Andrea. And then there’s my best friend Martin, an unknown dark-haired girl cuddling into him. He must have picked her up at some point during ‘The Coldhearts’ show, while my attention was focused on their performance.

  “Happy New Year, Blackie,” he says, wrapping his free arm around me, and kissing me on my cheeks. “This is Maria,” he introduces the girl. “Maria, this is Jenny, my best friend. I call her Blackie,” he giggles. “And this is her girlfriend Emilia.”

  “Happy New Year, Maria, nice to meet you,” I say, giving her a hug.

  “Happy New Year, Jenny.”

  And suddenly we’re surrounded by ‘The Coldhearts’. Bette slings her arms around my shoulders, pulling me closer. Her lips touch mine, and involuntarily I close my eyes. I feel the warmth of her body against mine, even though we are wearing thick coats. For a brief moment my old self, Jenny the slut, raises her ugly head, as a wave of desire runs through my body. I remember Sherinia and what she did to me, and I don’t want to be another plaything for a sexy, but heartless girl. Resisting giving in, I’m not parting my lips to let Bette’s tongue slip into my mouth. Instead, I gently push her away. And Bette understands.

  “Happy New Year, Jen,” she says, a smile playing on her blood-red lips.

  “Happy New Year, Bette.”

  She pulls Emilia into an embrace, kissing her cheeks, and wishing her a happy new year. Then Bette puts her arms on Emilia’s and my shoulder, bringing us together in a close circle.

  “Listen, guys. I like you a lot, the both of you, and I was wondering if you wanted to join us for a nice little after-show party later. I’m sure my heavy metal bitches would love that,” she says with a grin, tilting her head in the direction of the other ‘Coldhearts’. Looking over Bette’s shoulder I see them standing close by, with Ina and Caro making out, while pretty Nellie looks slightly lost, being surrounded by a bunch of fan girls.

  “We all live together,” Bette continues, “but we all have own bedrooms. We rented an old house in the country. It’s a lot cheaper, and we can be as loud as we wanna be.” She giggles. “So what about the two of you? Want to join our little private party later?” She looks expectantly at Emilia, and then at me. “We don’t do drugs by the way, if that’s your concern. We smoke a little weed every now and then, that’s all. And drink booze of course. We have plenty of it at home.”

  I know what Bette’s invitation means. She’s asking us to go home with ‘The Coldhearts’, and to have sex with one or two or even all of them. And part of me wants to. The part of me, that’s still Jenny the slut. But I’ve changed. I don’t want to fuck someone I hardly know, someone who doesn’t love me. Yet, I leave the decision to Emilia. Looking at her, I’ll let her make the decision. If she wants to go, I’ll join her.

  Emilia looks into my eyes for a long moment, and then she clears her throat, before she turns to Bette. “It’s really good of you to ask, Bette! Many thanks for the invitation. But I think we should go back with the guys in our band. We came here together, and we should leave together. Maybe we can see you guys some other time?”

  Bette looks back at her for a moment, before her lips curl up to a broad grin. “I understand, Emilia. Jenny and Emi, young love, huh? You guys are so cute. Never mind, I’m not mad at you. In fact, I kind of envy you.” She laughs and slaps our shoulders. “It was fun meeting you. See you around, guys.” She turns, joining Nellie and the group of fan girls.

  I look at Emilia, and when her face lights up with her beautiful smile, my pulse quickens, and there are butterflies in my stomach when we kiss passionately.

  +++

  “I’m glad you said no,” I whisper into Emilia’s ear.

  It’s still dark in Emilia’s apartment in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day. We are cuddling in her foldout bed, sweating and still panting from making love, almost ready to fall asleep.

  “To Bette?” Emilia asks.

  “Yes, to Bette’s invitation.”

  “Well, I guess you know as well as I do what she wanted of us.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Yeah, she wanted to fuck us. She wanted to have a threesome, or foursome, or some kind of orgy!” She shakes her head in disbelief, and turns to gaze deeply into my eyes. “I don’t want that, Jen. You’re all I want.”

  My eyes fill with tears. “Oh God, Emilia! You’re incredible! I love you so much!”

  I kiss her tenderly, and turn around on my side of the bed. But sleep still escapes me, as I replay the events of the evening on my inner screen. It had been very late or rather early until we got home. We watched the second ‘Coldhearts’ show, before we played our second gig, because after midnight the bands played in reverse starting order. This meant that Bette and her ‘heavy metal bitches’ got to go home long before us. Anyway, I was surprised they even said goodbye to us before our second show began.

  Bette had her arm around the waist of a very young-looking girl with purple hair. With a lopsided smile she kissed my cheek. Putting her lips close to my ear, she murmured, “too bad you and Emilia didn’t want to come, Jen. It would have been lots of fun. Maybe some other time?”

  I couldn’t say anything. I could only shiver.

  Then ‘The Coldhearts’ started to leave, with the purple-haired girl leaving with them, carrying Bette’s guitar case. Ina and Caro walked hand-in-hand, each of them carrying their guitar or bass in their free hand. Eventually, pretty
Nellie walked up to me, air kissing me to say goodbye. It made me shiver again.

  “It was great meeting you, Jenny! I’d love to see you again soon,” she said. She was the only ‘Coldheart’ who seemed to have left the venue alone in spite of the groupies I had seen around her at midnight.

  CHAPTER 4 – A BITTERSWEET BREAKUP

  It’s a couple of days into the New Year, and the Christmas break is over. I have finally decided to go see what it’s like to be a college student. Emilia is a college student herself, so she’s very happy about my decision, and she quickly made up her mind to show me around her university’s campus. First thing she took me to a lecture on ‘Late Nineteenth Century English Literature’. I was very impressed, not just by the lecture, but also by the whole atmosphere at the university, and by the incredible number of students…especially the many, many girls!

  “And now I’m going to show you the English department’s library,” Emilia said as we left the lecture hall.

  I was pretty impressed by that too. I had no idea the university’s English department had a library of its own. Then Emilia had to attend a seminar, and I wasn’t allowed to go with her. So I decided to go to the cafeteria and get myself a cup of coffee.

  I sat down at one of the many tables. It wasn’t particularly crowded at this time in the afternoon, so when the girl with the familiar Alice Cullen hairdo appears, I couldn’t miss her. When our eyes meet, she’s struggling for a moment to remember where she’d seen me before. Of course it’s Nellie, the pretty brunette who played drums for ‘The Coldhearts’.

  To my surprise I feel a familiar flutter in my stomach when she walks right up to me, a smile playing around her lips. While she comes closer I’m checking her out. She looks different here, in the cold neon lights of the cafeteria. Gone is the biblical appearance of ‘The Coldhearts’ drummer. She’s wearing faded blue jeans, and simple black winter boots. Only her black sweatshirt shows the band name and logo in bright pink letters.

  “Hi Nellie, what a surprise meeting you here,” I say with a grin. Why the hell am I blushing?

  “Oh hi! You’re Jenny, right? I remember you from the New Year’s Eve gig,” she says, her brown eyes sparkling. “You play bass.”

  “That’s right. Why don’t you sit down?” I ask, pointing at the empty chairs at my table.

  “I have a couple of minutes before my seminar starts,” she states, sitting down next to me.

  “I didn’t know you were studying here,” I say.

  “I’m majoring in German literature, and history is my minor. I’m planning to become a high school teacher. And what are you doing here?”

  “In fact I haven’t decided on anything yet. I graduated from high school last year, and took a break to decide what I wanted to do. But I’m actually interested in history, too. That’s one of the reasons I’m here today.”

  “Awesome. If you have questions about studying history you can ask me anytime. I guess you know you need to have a fairly good command of English, French, and Latin to study history.”

  “Yeah, that’s what the History Department’s website said. English and French are no problem, but I’m afraid Latin could be an issue.”

  “No need to worry, there are special Latin classes for historians.”

  “I know. I saw that on the website of the History Department, too.”

  There’s a momentary silence. I look at Nellie, and notice how she’s secretly checking me out. Again I feel those familiar butterflies in my stomach. I can’t help and smile at her. She’s so different from badgirl Bette.

  “How do you get along with your studies and being a band member of ‘The Coldhearts’?” I ask remembering what my Dad and Sabrina told me.

  “Oh that,” Nellie answers with a smile. “It can be stressful at times, you know, we’re playing one or two gigs nearly every week, but we make good money. It’s a nice addition to the Federal education grant I get. So, I don’t need a day job, and I can focus on being a student.”

  “Oh I see. That sounds great.”

  “It’s absolutely amazing. I love being a member of ‘The Coldhearts’. We’re more than just a band. We are a family. And like I said you can ask me if you have any questions. I can give you my phone number, if you like.”

  Without waiting for my reply she grabs my phone from the table, and enters her number. “By the way, if you want to watch another one of our gigs, we’re performing at the ‘Rock Club’ here in this city next week. I think it’s in a week from now, on a Saturday night. You’re of course invited. And you can bring your girlfriend or somebody else if you like. Call me if you’re interested, and I’ll make sure two tickets will be reserved for you.”

  “Oh, that’s so sweet of you! Thank you so much, Nellie.” Getting up from my chair I pull her into my arms for a quick hug. I feel the warmth of her body against me, and notice the fragrance she uses. She smells oh so good. It’s no wonder my butterflies are in overdrive mode.

  “It’s okay, Jenny. Just call me.” Then she seems to think better of it. “Would you mind giving me your number as well? You can never know.” Her smile seems to be a bit shy.

  “Oh, sure, Nellie.” I take my phone from my pocket, and send her a brief text message. “Now you’ve got my number too.”

  She smiles happily. “Thanks, Jenny.” She checks her watch. “Oh my God! I gotta go! See you.”

  “See you, Nellie.”

  I watch her as she leaves towards the lecture hall, my eyes fixed on how her firm round butt moves. I’m surprised how nice and cute the drummer of ‘The Coldhearts’ is.

  Refusing to think about my intense reactions to Nellie, I leave the cafeteria, and make my way to the history department. If I’m lucky I’ll get to talk to a member of the department student association. As it turns out, I’m lucky enough to get to talk to a guy named Florian. Obviously, he’s very happy that somebody is interested in talking to him about his subject. After answering some of my questions, he jumps from his chair, asking me to follow him. He’s totally enthusiastic, as he shows me around, telling me things about the departmental library, and giving me a few useful tips.

  “I’d be really happy to see you here as a student next semester, Jenny,” Florian says. “If you have any questions, just drop by. My colleagues and I are happy to help.”

  “That’s very kind of you, Florian,” I answer, shaking hands with him.

  Leaving the history department I’m very pleased about my day at Uni so far, and I make my way back to the cafeteria to meet up with Emilia again. I spot her immediately. She’s sitting at a table, having a coffee. Next to her is a good-looking guy with a trendy undercut hairdo, talking to her without a break. Emilia looks slightly annoyed, but the corners of her mouth shoot up as soon as she sees me, and her eyes are sparkling. Her companion stops talking to her, checking me out.

  “Hi sweetheart,” Emilia says with a grin. “Jenny, this is Philip. Philip, this is Jenny, my girlfriend.”

  I watch in amusement as Philip’s face falls. After a few seconds he recovers, and does his best to smile politely. “Hi Jenny! It’s nice to meet you.” Getting up from his chair, he turns to leave. “I guess I’ll see you around, Emilia.”

  “Yep, see you around, Philip,” Emilia says, her eyes twinkling, looking as if she’s trying not to giggle.

  “What was that, Emi?” I say, and start giggling myself.

  “That? That was Philip hitting on me, I think,” Emilia says, giggling, too. “I suppose you being my girlfriend did it for him.”

  “Shall we go?”

  “Yes, of course, let’s go home, sweetheart.”

  We leave the cafeteria, heading for the bus stop at the other end of the campus. It’s cold outside, and I shiver, pulling my scarf closer around my neck. I loop my arm under Emilia’s.

  “How was your seminar?” I ask her.

  “Not too bad. Next week it’s my turn to present my paper. How was your day? Did you meet that guy at the history department?”

>   “Yes, I did. He was incredibly enthusiastic, but it was interesting. Why didn’t you tell me that Nellie is here, too?” I ask after a pause.

  “Nellie? You mean Nellie from ‘The Coldhearts’? I’ve seen her around once in a while, in the cafeteria, or in the hallway. Why do you ask?” Emilia looks at me.

  “Oh, I met her at the cafeteria this afternoon. I wasn’t aware that she’s here at Uni, too. She studies German literature, and history. She was able to answer a couple of my questions regarding studying history. Besides, she invited us to their next gig, by the way. Would you like to go? It’s Saturday in a week from now.”

  “Don’t know yet, Jen. We watched their gig on New Year’s Eve, it was only just two or three weeks ago, and I don’t believe their show will be much different.”

  “Well, okay. Maybe we can decide next week,” I say, doing my best not to make a sour face.

  +++

  “Hi Blackie, how are things?” Martin says cheerfully. I can literally see him smile as we talk on the phone. “I haven’t heard from you for a while. Want me to pick you and Emilia up for our band rehearsal later?”

  “Hey Martin! Yeah, it would be great if you could come and get us.”

  “Okay, I will pick you two up at 5.30pm. Is that okay?”

  I look at the clock on my nightstand. It’s 4.30pm, and Emilia isn’t back from Uni yet.

  “I hope so, Emi’s not home yet, but I expect her to get here any minute.”

  “Okay. I guess we all know she’s rarely punctual. By the way, I hope you don’t mind Maria comes with us?”