Vicky woke into darkness.
It should not have been completely dark. There were lights in the basement, even when every light was turned off. The DVD player, for one, always gave off a bit of light. At times, it seemed abnormally bright, when the eye was expecting darkness. So, why was she now...
Ah. She had rolled over in the night, part of Kevin's sleeping bag covering her eyes.
Rolling her body to the left, the familiar scene of her darkened basement came into view. Ceiling. That light with the fan that never worked.
How she felt was not familiar.
There was a slight ache between her legs. A wetness.
She had had sex.
Slowly, she sat up, looking around the room. Kevin and Bobby were fast asleep in their sleeping bags. More on them than in them, really, as the night was warm, even down here, and they all slept in their clothes. Not changing into pajamas was one of the rules, as if the boys saw her undressed, the parental thinking probably went, they'd be unable to control their hormonal urges.
As if such urges needed more than the smile of a loved one to get them going.
Vicky slipped out of her sleeping bag, standing. She wore her t-shirt from the previous day, panties and jeans. Her bra, socks and shoes were somewhere in the pile near the TV. The wetness in her panties shifted, a somewhat uncomfortable feeling. Bare feet moving carefully, she made her way to the stairs.
****
Pulling off her panties while sitting on the toilet, the problem was obvious. While sperm was designed to squirt inward, swimming hard up into her body, quite a few of them were obviously either lazy or cowards as they'd slowly come back out. Vicky grabbed some toilet paper, wiping. She examined herself as she did. Her cherry had vanished some time ago, during a tree climbing adventure when she dropped down onto a branch. There was a redness, though, her body's reaction to its first penetration. She closed her eyes, remembering. They'd do it again. Often. Not all the time, no. And they'd be careful. But a whole new world was now open to them.
Standing and flushing, she regarded her panties. It would be best to not let mom find them in this condition. As she washed her hands, she used the water to rinse them somewhat. These would be tossed in the hamper in her room, and she'd get some fresh ones to wear before going back downstairs. Her mom would be no where the wiser.
Vicky looked at herself in the mirror. Did she look any different? Was there any sign that she was no longer a little girl? That she was a woman, with lovers?
She hoped not.
****
The boys were awake and sitting up as she descended the stairs once again. Each moved apart a bit, in unspoken invitation. Vicky slid down between them, feeling like a Vicky sandwich. This, she thought, must be how Kevin always feels. The two boys put their arms around her, her own slipping behind the two of them.
It felt nice.
Right.
"You OK?" Kevin asked. His voice was soft, concerned. Bobby echoed it, squeezing her. She nodded.
"Yeah. You guys just filled me so much, it was overflowing."
"Is that good or bad?"
"I'm not complaining!" She grinned at each of them, planting a quick kiss on their lips. "I just now know there's going to be some after sex cleanup to do. They don't mention that in sex ed."
Kevin's face suddenly froze. Vicky frowned.
"What is it?"
"Condoms."
"Wha... oh." Sex. Babies. God, she was stupid! And, hadn't her Mom said she wasn't going to have her daughter become the stereotypical pregnant Black teen? She closed her eyes. "Fuck."
"Yeah." They hugged her, tight. She loved them. Whatever happened, she knew they'd be by her side.
"I have to tell Mom," she said, softy. "I can't deal with this alone."
They nodded, understanding it wasn't a slight against them. They weren't women, not even Bobby. Bobby reached over, touching her cheek.
"Want us to go with you?"
"No," she said, shaking her head. "Stay down here. I'll go wake her."
They each gave her a kiss, tender, loving. She almost cried. How could love lead to unhappiness? It wasn't fair! She stood quickly, before she talked herself into not going, before the three of them thought about it some more and convinced themselves they could deal with this on their own. No. They needed Mom. Not the other parents, certainly not her Dad. But, Mom... Mom would understand.
She walked quietly up the stairs, down the hall. Her parent's door was slightly ajar, as they often left it. She paused outside. What could she say? The truth, yes, but how? And how much? Probably all of it. Pain now, to prevent pain later. Wasn't that what Mom had always told her? And Mom knew best. Always.
Slowly, she pushed the door open. Dad was snoring slightly, as he always did. He was a heavy sleeper. Mom, thought, she...
The sheets on the large king sized bed shifted. In the light of the digital clock, Vicky saw her Mother raise her head up. Vicky stayed silent. Her Mom glanced at Dad for a moment, then gently slid across the sheet. Her feet swung off onto the wooden floor, legs bare. All of her was bare, Vicky realized. Mom quickly grabbed a light robe, slipping it on as she walked towards her daughter. Vicky stepped back into the darkened hallway. Her Mother followed her out, tying the sash around her robe before closing the door behind her. The two women regarded each other.
"What is it," her Mom asked, voice tired, but awake. Vicky hung her head.
"The three of us... we..."
Her Mom's eyes widened, hand going to Vicky's chin, raising up her face.
"Did they hurt you, Baby?"
She shook her head, hard, dislodging her Mom's hand.
"No! It was wonderful! But..." She bit her lip. "We didn't use anything. I'm scared. We're scared."
Her Mom sighed. She didn't yell. Didn't curse. Her face didn't fill with anger. She just... sighed. Mom's hands reached out, taking Vicky's shoulders and drawing her daughter in for a hug. Vicky's head found itself between her mom's breasts. They were warm, comforting.
"It's OK," her mother whispered. "They're awake downstairs?" Vicky nodded. "OK. Let's go down and talk."
****
Kevin watched Mrs. Miller as she sat on the floor in front of their sleeping bags. Her legs were crossed, robe strategically placed to cover anything that should not be seen. He had not looked down there as she got down onto the floor, her robe parting a bit, being polite about it. You didn't look at your friend's mom as if she were a sexy woman, even if she was. It just wasn't done.
Mrs. Miller had stayed quiet as the three told her all that had happened in the past week. He had always liked Vicky's mom. That she was like a grown up Vicky had helped, naturally, as how could you not like Vicky. Plus, she had always been the most lenient of the parents. Mr. Miller was strict, but fair. His own parents were sort of in between, not letting you get away with things but giving you room to back up and do the right thing before getting pissed.
Vicky went silent, all eyes on her mother. Mrs. Miller took a deep breath.
"We should have talked, Vicky. It's my fault." She shook her head. "I mean, I knew this was going to happen, eventually, if you three stayed friends like this, so I should have either stepped in or made sure you were ready."
"We should have used condoms," Bobby said. Mrs. Miller looked at him, eyebrow raised.
"Hell yes, you should have used condoms. I'm not excusing you two for that, and, Vicky, you should have said no if there was no birth control. I've raised you better than that."
"I know, Mom," she said, voice miserable. "And we even knew this was going to happen tonight." Kevin pulled her close for a hug. They may be in trouble, but he wasn't going to let her feel like she was alone.
"It's my fault," Bobby said, glumly. "If I hadn't kissed Kevin..."
OK, that was just stupid. Kevin lightly punched his oldest friend's arm.
"Yes. You being gay started this. You're going to have to stop that."
The three broke out laughing. Vicky reached over him, adding her own punch to Bobby's arm. Bobby retaliated, kicking Kevin's leg. His attempt to get at Vicky was blocked by Kevin, the girl sticking her tongue out at him in reply. Kevin almost commented on what she could do with that tongue, before remembering who was in the room. They all seemed to become aware of that as well, quickly calming down and sitting up straight. Kevin looked at Vicky's mom.
"So, what do we do, Mrs. Miller? I can't tell my parents."
"And I am NOT telling mine," Bobby agreed. Kevin this time put his hand on his friend's knee in sympathy, Vicky reaching over to add her hand. Her mom sighed.
"Well, first, no more sex for awhile. I know I can't stop you, or split you up, but let's go slow. Vicky, we're taking you to the doctor Monday. I'll call Gretchen and see if we can get you in. I know your cycle, and you should be OK this time, but we have to discuss options. Boys..." Her expression became firm. "What I don't hear about, I don't care about. Make it into college with Vicky not pregnant, and I'll lobby for the three of you to share an apartment. Deal?"
It was more than a deal.
****
The three walked across the field in their Sunday best.
Church had been odd. Kevin had sat next to his parents, listening to a sermon about God, as the sermons usually were. Once there was one about football, but that turned out to be about God as well. Kevin wasn't sure it was right for a Minister to try and trick them like that. Today, though, it had been the usual reading of a few verses, then attempts to link them to modern life. Sitting there, having committed what had to be a sin, had made him nervous. Not telling his parents had to be an even larger sin. And, of course, Bobby was living a major sin. So was he, if you wanted to be technical about it, but Kevin didn't consider himself gay. No. Which, in a way, made Bobby not gay, as the two only did things with each other, and if Kevin wasn't gay for doing them then the same had to apply to his friend.
Well. That solved one sin.
"Did your mom tell you anything more?" Bobby asked Vicky. She shook her head.
"Nope. Dad was around a lot. I think she said everything last night."
"Are you sorry we did it?"
Vicky stopped, her house just visible up ahead. Kevin and Bobby turned to look at her. She looked beautiful, standing in the tall grass in her white, sleeveless dress. The top of the steeple was poked up over the treetops behind her. Slowly, she shook her head.
"No. I'm not sorry."
"Good," Kevin said. Reaching out, he took her hand. His other hand went to Bobby. Someone might see them, but fuck it. Today... today, he wanted to tell the world they were lovers.
****
A dozen paces later, the three released each other's hands. That was enough flaunting.
****
Nitya sat out on the lounge chair, reading.
She had never heard of Ann McCaffery until the other day. Well, that wasn't quite true. She had seen the name on the bookshelf, both at the library and in the book store. It just hadn't registered, or stuck. None of her favorite authors were in the 'M's, so there was no accidentally picking up of one of her books and looking at it. Kevin, though, had mentioned her, as an example an old science fiction writer with lots of female characters. So, she was giving the first book a try.
With luck, that wasn't too stalker-ish.
Nitya made friends easily. The first year here had been good, a gaggle of classmates adopting her as one of their own almost from the first day she entered the school. And, she liked them. But, the popular crowd wasn't really who she was. She considered herself more the quiet type, intellectual. Not that her friends weren't! God, no! That was a stereotype she'd defend them against all day, even for two days! They were smart, but just applied it to different areas. Well, apart from Tiffany. She was NOT smart. Not dumb, either, but definitely not smart.
Kevin was smart.
She had known that from the few classes she shared with him. In English, especially. Sitting in the back, she had watched him stand and read Shakespeare, or something he had written. She had seen the books he had with him, science fiction books that she herself had enjoyed. That was the one bad thing about iPads, like hers. You could not tell what book someone was reading. Which, naturally, could be good, if you were reading a stupid book like that Window Shades of Gray one or whatever it was. Not that she read stuff like that. No. Of course not. And neither did Kevin.
He also was very, very, cute.
Putting her iPad down in her lap, Nitya reached over for her lemonade. The ice was mostly melted, but Mom made it stronger so it didn't taste watered down when that happened. Mom always thought ahead like that. Dad, too. She wished they had the summer off, like she did. You'd think, since they worked at the university, they would, but, no. The research kept going year round. They were here now, though, for the weekend, and even though they were inside and she was out here, she still felt better knowing they were around.
And, of course, they both had Wednesday off so they all could go to Darien Lake.
God, she hoped he could go. Nitya could picture it, the two of them walking among the rides. Maybe... holding hands. She blushed. Her friends, with boyfriends, talked about lots of stuff, but Nitya thought holding hands was the best. She had done it with a boy down in Georgia, last year, but he had turned out to be an idiot. And a jerk. And a two timing asshole.
Kevin was none of those.
Her body suddenly shivered. Looking up, she saw a cloud pass over the sun. Stupid cloud. How dare it come between her and the nice, warm sun. It seemed to be moving fast, though. If she just waited... ah, yes. It was now past, the sun once again free to shine down on her skin with its warmth.
It felt so good...
Her phone rang.
Nitya reached over to pick it up. She didn't recognize the number, or the ringtone. She had her phone set up to have a different song for everyone in her address book. When she got Kevin's number Friday night, when he called, she had spent an hour afterwards agonizing over what song to give him.
She had finally settled on "The Love Shack", for now.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Nitya."
It was Kevin. She closed her eyes. Kevin. She rubbed her bare shoulders down into the lounge cushion, like settling down into her bed. The phone pressed harder against her ear.
"Hi Kevin!"
"Hi," he said, laughing. "Or did I already cover that?"
"Oh, you can say it again, if you want!" Her face couldn't help but smile.
"That's good! Having a fun Sunday?"
"Naw, just reading."
"That's cool. We're just home from an exciting morning at Church."
"Home with your parents?"
"Oh, no, they're still there, doing the after service coffee and such. We came home to Vicky's house early."
We. The three of them. Kevin was calling her... while he was at another girl's house. While he was WITH that other girl, her sitting next to him, with no adults around.
And he did not seem to think anything of it.
"So. What do your husband and wife think of you going to Darien Lake with me?" She hoped she didn't sound at all bitter. She wasn't. No. He had explained how close the three of them were. That, well, she would be dealing with all of them, or none of them. Still...
"Actually, they're wondering if they can come along."
Come along. Vicky coming along on HER date with Kevin! Who the hell WAS this boy, to think any girl would agree to that?
"You're kidding!"
"Nope! Actually, are you free this evening?"
"What?" That just came out. Nitya shook her head. "Sorry. Wait. What?"
"If you're free, maybe about 7-ish, we can get together and talk. Maybe at the sled run at the park?"
"Sled run?"
"The thing that looks like a huge slide."
Oh. That's what that thing was. She had wondered, but never bothered to ask her friends what, exactly, it was. It made sense. The girls had considered themselves too old to go out sledding, so hadn't gone to the park that winter, Nitya's first up north. She got the feeling Kevin and his friends had no such worries about being too old for fun.
"Umm... I think so."
"Good! I think we have a lot to talk about."
That, she thought, was quite an understatement.