by Geonn Cannon
“Oh, hey. You’re still going to be without a car Monday, right?”
“Most likely.”
“I...uh, I could pick you up Monday morning if you’d like.”
“Six-thirty?”
“Sounds good.”
“See you then.” She opened the car door, and the dome light came on, startling them both. April got out, stood on the sidewalk, and then suddenly leaned back into the car. “What am I doing? You were my prom date, for crying out loud.” She hooked her finger under Robin’s chin and turned her head. April brushed her closed lips across Robin’s and pulled back almost before the kiss had started. She smiled playfully and ducked out of the car, shutting the door before Robin could say anything else.
##
“And after that?” Molly said, her voice sounding as if it were coming from the end of a long tunnel.
Robin shrugged. “After that, we dated. Discreetly, of course. No hand-holding, no long walks on the beach. Just casual dinners between friends. Sometimes we’d invite other teachers along to carry on the ruse, but mostly it was just us. And then one night, she kissed me good-night, and I didn’t want to stop.” She folded her hands between her knees and softly added, “So we didn’t.”
“You can spare me the details,” Molly said.
Robin smiled and reached up to toy with her necklace. “We hit it off immediately. But it wasn’t without some speed bumps. In fact, before we even...while we were still just testing the waters, before we went to bed together, April called me. She was frightened.”
##
“Mm–lo?”
“I woke you. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t...”
“No, April, hey.” Robin sat up and ran a hand through her hair, blinking at the alarm clock across the room. “What? Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine. I just couldn’t sleep. I was thinking about you and I thought...well, I got my revised copy of that stupid Stalker Sheet in the mail yesterday.”
Robin smiled. The “Stalker Sheet” was what the teachers called the faculty information sheet. It had their addresses and telephone numbers there for anyone to see. There was a strict rule that it never get to the student body, but the teachers knew better than to underestimate the powers of their kids. Therefore, the majority of information slots said Information Unavailable for addresses, and most of the phone numbers went to pagers or cell phones.
“I’m glad you called,” Robin said. “I was thinking about you, too.”
“Yeah?”
“Mm-hmm. I was thinking about the dinner yesterday. I hated going out with Mitchell and Joel. I wanted it to just be us.”
April sighed. “It was a damn good restaurant to waste on those Algebra geeks.”
“Hey!”
April chuckled. There was a pause and then she said, far more sober, “I just worry. That you’re...that we’d be repeating what happened at your old school. I’m not sure I’m willing to put you in danger like that again. I don’t want to be the reason you have to move again.”
“Love is fear,” Robin said. She was staring up at the ceiling, completely dark but for a strip of yellow where the streetlight got past her curtain. “Fear of rejection or fear of getting hurt again. The biggest hurdle of a relationship is deciding whether you’re going to push past the fear or just...pass it on by. You know?”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t hesitate just because you’re scared of making things hard on me. If you want to go for it? Tell me. And if you don’t, we can just be friends.”
“You’d be okay with that?”
Robin smiled. “Yeah, I’d be okay with that.” It might drive me crazy at first, to be near you and not be able to touch you or smell your hair or make love to you, she thought, but yeah, I could do it. I hope.
April was silent for what seemed like ages. Robin scratched her eyebrow and closed her eyes, wondering it April had fallen asleep at the other end of the line. “I wouldn’t,” she said softly.
“Pardon?” Robin said. She had almost fallen asleep herself.
“I said I wouldn’t. Be okay. Just...being friends with you. I don’t think I could.”
Robin smiled. “Good. Because I was bluffing.”
April laughed on the other end of the phone. She yawned, paused, and then said, “Well, it’s late. I should probably let you go.”
##
Robin stopped speaking and stood up. She walked to the window and leaned against the frame, staring out at the dark street below. She’d told Molly everything she was willing to reveal about April, but her mind couldn’t stop there. She couldn’t stop this memory, couldn’t stop herself from reliving that night. She closed her eyes and remembered how the conversation had really ended.
##
“Well, it’s late. I should probably let you go.”
Robin rubbed her eyes and said, “Are you sure? We could talk for a while if you wanted to. I mean, I’m already up.”
“What do you want to talk about?”
Robin shrugged and let her free hand explore under the covers. “What are you wearing?”
April laughed. A few seconds later, she said, “Are you serious?”
Robin’s heart was pounding. “Yeah. You don’t have to say anything, I was just...”
“No, it’s okay,” April said softly. “Pink-striped boxer shorts and a T-shirt.”
“Would you take them off if I asked you to?” Her voice was trembling, her hand teasing the elastic of her boxer briefs.
“Yes.”
Robin closed her eyes and pushed her hand into her underwear. “I’m wearing...these tight boxer briefs.” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “I just...slid my hand into them.” She heard fabric brushing together, April apparently getting more comfortable. “Are you getting undressed?” Robin asked.
“Yes.” The voice was weaker now, a little shaky.
“Wish I could see you,” Robin whispered. Her voice was little more than an exhale, the phone pressed tightly against her ear with her free hand.
April moaned. “Are you...touching yourself?” She laughed and said, “I feel like a little kid.”
“Shh,” Robin whispered. “Yes, I’m touching myself.”
“Mm.”
“I wish you were here.”
“Me, too, baby.”
April moaned, and Robin shifted under her blankets. She cupped her sex, using two fingers to gently stroke her wet lips. She gasped into the phone and heard April say, “Oh, Robin...”
“Are you going to come?”
“Yes.”
“Me, too.”
“Mmm...”
“Come for me, April. Come on, you woke me up, the least you can do is come for me.”
April’s laugh turned into a moan and she said, “I’m cah...I’m coming...”
Robin arched her back and pressed her shoulders into the mattress. She brushed her clit and whimpered along with April. After a moment, she shuddered, cupped her hand against herself, and exhaled sharply into the receiver. “April.”
“Robin,” April whispered. She sounded sleepy now, half-conscious.
Robin smiled, sure a deep crimson blush was crossing her cheeks. “Well, that was...really, really nice.”
“Glad you agree,” April said. “I’ve never done anything like that before. Over the phone, I mean.”
“Neither have I.”
April groaned and said, “Well, I’m about to fall asleep on you.”
“I thought only guys did that.”
April laughed. “What can I say? I’m butch.” Robin laughed at that. “Good night, Robin. Sorry for waking you.”
“Hey, for calls like that, you can wake me up any time.”
“Good to know. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Robin blushed and felt a quiver in her stomach at the thought. “Good night, April.”
“Night.”
Robin hung up and held the phone between her breasts as she watched a pair of headlights swim across her bedroom ceiling. S
he bit her lip and put the phone back on the night stand, rolling onto her side. She closed her eyes and dreamt of beautiful English teachers who played Shuffle, Shuffle, Boom and made obscene phone calls in the middle of the night.
Chapter Nine
“Are you okay?” Molly asked. “You haven’t said anything for a while.”
“Fine,” Robin said quietly. She spoke before she realized it was Molly, not her sister, speaking. She blinked at the pale reflection of her face in the window and turned around to face her. Molly was sitting forward in the armchair, her elbows resting on her knees and her hands dangling between them. It was a pose April had adopted so often that the sight caught Robin’s breath in her chest and made her forget reality for a few seconds.
“So you and April were careful,” Molly said softly, unaware of Robin’s inner battle. “Were you living together?”
“For the last two years, yes,” Robin said. She chuckled and said, “April came up with this really Machiavellian plan. She told me to make a big fuss in the faculty lounge about how my place was too small and I wanted to move somewhere bigger. For her part, April made sure the faculty lounge knew she was in the same predicament, but couldn’t afford a bigger place. So another teacher, Albert Redden, suggested we find a place together. Since it was someone else’s idea, it was easy to pass it off as a matter of convenience.”
Molly’s gaze was fixed on a spot of carpet. “My sister was in love,” she said.
Robin walked to the corner of the bed and stood, unsure what she should do.
Molly pushed herself up and said, “I should get out of your hair.”
“You’re not bothering me.”
“Still.”
They walked to the door, and Robin held it open for her. She held up her hand so Molly wouldn’t just dart out into the hallway. “I want to apologize for earlier. I said some awful things about you. I had no right.”
“No. But...it was all true. April had someone like you in her life for three years...someone she was crazy about...and I didn’t know a thing about you. I don’t think it was your fault she kept quiet.”
“Even if she was pissed off at you, you were still a big part of her life. You were the mysterious sister.”
Molly nodded. “Well. It’s a pleasure to have met you, Robin. I’m glad April had someone like you in her life.”
Robin took Molly’s hand, squeezed, and then instinctively pulled her into a hug. Molly rested her head on Robin’s shoulder and closed her eyes, her hands on Robin’s shoulders. She realized she was crying and swept a hand at her eyes before taking a step back.
As Molly retreated, her hair brushed Robin’s cheek. The slight touch was enough to cause a Pavlovian response in Robin. Without thinking, she turned her head and kissed the curve of Molly’s cheek. Molly turned her head and found her lips parting against Robin’s. Their breath mingled before Molly closed her mouth and gently sucked on Robin’s bottom lip. Nothing could have convinced Robin more that it was her lover in her arms; it was a patented April move.
Robin moaned slightly and pushed the door closed. The click as the latch caught should have been enough to bring them both back to reality. Molly barely had time to think -- “What are we doing? -- before Robin moved her hands to the back of her head. Molly put her hands on Robin’s hips and hooked her fingers in the belt loops of her trousers. They half-waltzed each other to the bed, Robin taking the lead and then letting Molly take over.
Robin pulled back and put her fingers into Molly’s hair. Their eyes locked as she undid the tight bun. Molly’s breath caught as her hair fell free around her shoulders, over her face. Robin put a trembling hand against Molly’s cheek and kissed her. “Oh, my love,” Robin whispered, her lips trembling against Molly’s skin. “It’s you, it’s you.”
Molly bumped against the mattress, and Robin broke the kiss. She kissed the familiar chin, let her tongue explore the hollow of her throat, and nipped at the collarbone through her blouse. She continued down Molly’s body, kissing here and there, tasting her skin, and sucking through the material of her clothes. Robin sat on the edge of the bed, legs spread wide to invite Molly in, and wrapped her arms around Molly’s waist. She splayed her fingers in the small of Molly’s back and pulled her closer. Molly moaned and curled her fingers into claws in Robin’s short, ink-black hair.
Robin kissed Molly through her shirt and let her hands dip down to the curve of Molly’s ass. Molly leaned back and closed her eyes, undoing the buttons on her blouse. Robin looked up at her, green eyes, dark with passion and nearly overflowing with tears. Molly shed her blouse, leaving her in a black bra trimmed with cream-colored lace. Robin’s eyes dipped to the underwear before they returned to her face.
How can I do this? Molly wondered. But she couldn’t stop herself. She cupped Robin’s face in her hands and bent down to kiss her again. Her tongue slipped out and touched Robin’s, and they both moaned. Robin’s fingers tightened on Molly’s waist and pulled her closer. Molly put one knee up on the mattress between Robin’s spread legs and pushed her backward. Robin obediently fell back, spreading her arms out to either side as she fell.
Molly wasted no time crawling onto her, her hands planted on the mattress on either side of Robin’s head, her knees digging in next to her waist. She sat just above the waistband of Robin’s pants as her hands went to the throat of her blouse. Robin watched, trying to control her breathing as she was slowly stripped. Molly’s fingers sometimes brushed the flesh she was exposing, and each contact was electric.
Robin pushed herself up with her elbows and helped Molly strip the blouse off of her. She kissed the curve where Molly’s neck became her shoulder, her wrists caught in the cuffs of her shirt, and she inhaled the strange and familiar scent. Molly ceased trying to get Robin’s hands free and instead grabbed her hand and squeezed, her flesh hot against Robin’s. Molly pulled back far enough to kiss Robin again, hungrily assaulting her lips as her free hand fought with the clasp of Robin’s bra.
During the kiss, their clutch turned into almost a brawl. Robin struggled to free her hands from her blouse while Molly tore at Robin’s bra clasp. Robin gasped when her hand came free and, at the same moment, Molly managed to get the clasp open. She pressed her hand against the smooth expanse of Robin’s back and pulled her close. She pulled back and ran her tongue along Robin’s bottom lip.
Robin leaned her head back and looked into Molly’s eyes. Brilliant and green, her eyebrows carrying the same intrigued tilt as April’s. She was dead perfect, absolutely identical in every tiny way and it was almost painful how much she wanted this lovely, lovely lie. “Molly,” she whispered.
“Shh,” Molly admonished. She let her eyes wander Robin’s naked body. She brought her hand up, catching herself just before she put her hand on a dark, ugly splotch on Robin’s left shoulder. It was a bruise, just beginning to turn yellow at the edges. It stretched from the curve of Robin’s neck to just shy of her shoulder. Robin reached up and covered the bruise with her own hand, looking at Molly with a plea in her eyes to just forget she’d seen it. “How did that happen?”
“It doesn’t matter right now,” Robin whispered. Her voice was a plea when she said, “Kiss me.”
Molly kissed Robin’s lips and reached behind her back to undo her own bra. Her fingers found the familiar clasp easily, and she undid it with one swift flick of the fingers. She leaned back, held her arms together, and let the material fall away from her body. Robin lowered her lust-glazed eyes, her lower lip hanging open slightly as she took in Molly’s breasts. She brought both hands up, holding them, running her thumbs over the hard tips and then lowered her head like a supplicant to take one hard nipple into her mouth.
Molly rolled her head back and laced her fingers behind Robin’s head. They were both trembling, her skin hot and flushed. She felt her skin rising with goosebumps as Robin swept her tongue over the captive bud. As Robin explored her chest by licking, sucking, and applying tiny bites to the tanned flesh, Molly moved one hand
down. She scraped her fingernails over Robin’s throat as she passed and then smoothed her hand around one of Robin’s breasts. She felt the nipple harden against her palm and began to lift her hips in a gentle rhythm, rocking herself against Robin’s stomach.
“God, I want you,” Molly gasped.
Robin abandoned Molly’s breasts with one final lick and scooted higher onto the bed. She reached down to undo her pants. Molly did the same, taking the time to relish the sight of Robin’s naked chest. Her skin was dark all over, no tan lines -- and how she pulled that little trick off in Montana, she’d like to know -- and her nipples were only slightly darker than the flesh around them. The only real blemish was that dark shape on her shoulder, that mysterious bruise shaped like the state of Indiana.
Robin lifted her hips, hooked her thumbs in her underwear, and yanked both cotton and denim down with one deft shove. The pyramid Molly’s legs made was in the way, so she shifted to one side and helped Robin shed them. The pants fell to the floor with a quiet thump, and Molly pushed her pants down to join them.
April never shaved, Robin thought, looking at the thin patch of hair between Molly’s legs. She obviously trimmed it regularly, whether she had a lover or not. They stayed like that, Robin flat on her back and Molly towering over her, and drank in the sight of each other. Molly was taking stock of her latest lover’s body, the curves and the dimples and way her flesh quaked when she took a particularly deep breath. She knew, however, that Robin was doing something different; Robin was looking at her naked body and seeing April. Categorizing the differences, the incongruities.
Molly moved between Robin’s legs and pressed tight against the crux of her legs. She pressed her hands hard against the apple-print of the quilt and thrust herself forward.
Molly grunted, Robin moaned and threw her head back. Molly bowed her head and licked Robin’s neck, stopping at her earlobe and gently biting. She rocked her hips steadily against Robin, feeling how wet she was, feeling the rebar-strong thighs on either side of her tense and relax with each forward thrust. Robin ran her hands over Molly’s back and tightened them on her shoulders, holding on for dear life as Molly thrust harder, harder, until both of them were panting quietly.