Home From HighSchool

The rain was just beginning to drip down from the sky when Kimberly Sykes sprinted up the driveway to her house. Her rucksack, heavy with schoolbooks, slapped uncomfortably against her back with every step, and her shoulders ached under the weight. Just as the rain started to come down in earnest, Kimberly reached the door and grabbed the handle.

It was locked. 

For a moment she stood there, rattling the heavy outer door in its frame, then gave up the obviously futile task. She felt her pockets, but knew what she would (or rather wouldn’t) find. She had forgotten to bring her keys. 

“Oh, shi-i-it,” she muttered under he breath, drawing the word out to three syllables. In desperation she made a hurried circuit of the house, peering through all the windows, but what she saw only confirmed that her parents were, like they were supposed to, at work, and neither one of them would be home for at least another three hours. 

The rain was falling harder now, and Kimberly could feel the cold September rain soak through her blonde hair. She looked around for somewhere to seek shelter, but there wasn’t any to be found. I’ll catch pneumonia for sure, she thought bitterly. 

Then she noticed movement in the window of the house next door, and a glimmer of hope appeared in the darkness of teenage despair. Maybe Susan will let me stay there until Mum and Dad get home, she thought. Hunching her shoulders to keep the now pouring rain from trickling down her neck, she ran out the gate and down the sidewalk to the gate of the house next door. Now thoroughly soaked, she ran up to the door and pressed the doorbell. 

She was just about to ring the bell again when she heard soft footsteps inside, and then the door was opened. The woman who stood in the doorway was a little taller than Kimberly’s 165 centimetres, with long brown hair hanging loose down her shoulders, soft brown eyes and full lips in a round face. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a yellow knit sweater a size or two too large. She looked about 30 years old, which Kimberly knew was younger than her actual 35. When the woman saw who was standing there, she smiled warmly at Kimberly. 

“Hullo, Kimmie, what are you doing here?” she asked. 

Kimberly smiled pitifully back at her next-door neighbour for the past 8 years. “Hi, Susan. I forgot my key, and Mum and Dad won’t be home for a few hours yet, and…” She waved her hand helplessly at the pouring rain and shrugged. 

“Oh, you poor thing,” Susan smiled at her. “Come in, come in. You’ll catch your death out here.” She stepped aside and all but pulled Kimberly across the threshold. 

“Thanks,” Kimberly sighed with relief. 

“Come on here, and I’ll find you some dry clothes,” Susan said after looking Kimberly over from dripping head to toe. She helped Kimberly off with her soaked jacket, then pulled her along towards the bedroom. 

“What’s going on, Susan?” a woman’s voice asked from Kimberly’s left. She turned her head and saw a woman standing in the doorway to the living room, looking at her with friendly curiosity. 

The woman in the doorway was tall and slender, with long graceful legs. She had short and curly black hair over a high forehead, intelligent blue eyes, an aquiline nose and thin lips. She was dressed in an ankle-length skirt and a fluffy sweater that exposed a thin line of flat, tanned stomach. 

Susan smiled at the woman. “Oh, this is Kimberly. She lives next door,” she explained. “Seems there’s nobody home, and she’s forgotten her key.”

The woman winced in sympathy. “And in this weather, too. Better get her into some dry clothes.”

“I will,” Susan replied. “Why don’t you put the kettle on?” 

“Of course,” the woman said and began to turn away. Then she stopped in mid-motion and turned back to Kimberly. “I’m sorry, where are my manners?” she smiled, and extended her hand towards Kimberly. “My name is Janet Kendrick.”

Kimberly took the proffered hand. “Kimberly Sykes,” she introduced herself. Janet’s grip, she noticed, was firm and warm. 

“Nice to meet you, Kimberly,” Janet said, giving Kimberly’s hand a little squeeze, holding onto it maybe a second longer than courtesy dictated. Kimberly found herself unable to look away from the older woman’s electric blue eyes, and she felt her stomach do a little lurch, as if she was on a roller coaster. Then Janet let go of her hand, and the moment, if not the memory of it, passed. 

In Susan’s bedroom the curvy brunette dug through a closet and came out with some dry clothes for Kimberly: a pair of grey sweatpants, some socks and a T-shirt. “Don’t just stand there shivering,” she admonished Kimberly. “Get out of those wet clothes before you catch a cold.”

Kimberly, her teeth chattering, was grateful to comply. She stripped off her damp sweater and soaked jeans, then her socks, which were leaving damp footprints on the laminated wood floor. Wearing nothing but her panties and bra, she accepted the clothes Susan was handing her. 

Kimberly felt a little self-conscious, standing in front of Susan in her underwear, but she shrugged it off. She couldn’t very well ask the woman to leave her own bedroom; besides, Susan had known her since she was eight, and had surely seen her dressed in less than this. And it wasn’t as though she had anything to be ashamed off. Her body had filled out nicely over the past couple of years, and while she would never have breasts the size of Susan’s, her arse was round and firm. When she wore tight jeans (which she did most of the time) few boys failed to turn around and look at her when she walked by. Straightening her back a little, Kimberly pulled on the borrowed clothes, not noticing the appraising glances Susan was sending her way. 

As soon as she had put on the clothes, Kimberly realised that these garments could not possibly belong to Susan. The T-shirt reached well down to Kimberly’s hips, but fit snugly over her chest; if Susan had worn it, it would have torn as soon as she took a deep breath. Also, the sweatpants were too long, bunching slightly over her ankles. She wondered momentarily whose clothes she was wearing; they would most likely not have fit a man, and as far as Kimberly knew, Susan had no female relatives that ever stayed long enough to warrant leaving a set of clothes.

“Come along, Kimmie, let’s get you something hot to drink,” Susan said, and all thoughts of mysterious garments vanished from Kimberly’s mind at the thought of a hot cup of tea. Feeling much better, she followed Susan into the living room. 

In the living room Kimberly sat on the couch, while Susan curled up in an easy chair. From the adjacent kitchen came sounds of a kettle boiling and Janet rummaging in a cupboard for tea mugs. 

“So, how are things with you?” Susan asked, a little lamely. 

“Fine, I guess,” Kimberly shrugged. 

“The boys giving you any trouble?” Susan inquired, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. 

“Nah, not really,” she replied. “They’re just going on about the motorcycles and cars they’re going to get, and what football club is the best, and who’s throwing a party next week. You know.”

“Sounds like teenage boys haven’t changed much,” Janet said dryly, entering from the kitchen with a tray in her hands where a teapot and several mugs balanced delicately. She placed the tray on the table and sat down next to Kimberly on the couch. Susan leaned forwards and picked up the pot, pouring a full mug and handing it to Kimberly. She held it in both hands, feeling the warmth permeate her cold fingers, and smiled contently. The two older women poured tea for themselves. 

For a little while longer they sat there and chatted amiably. Outside the rain fell in sheets, and Kimberly felt profoundly grateful about sitting in a warm, dry living room with a mug of hot tea. She felt relaxed and at ease, and twisted her shoulders a little, working out the kinks from the cold and her heavy rucksack. 

“Are you all right?” Susan asked. 

“Sure,” replied Kimberly. “It’s just, my shoulders are a little sore. That thing is heavy,” she indicated with a nod towards the hall, where she’d dropped her rucksack. 

“Here, turn around and let me see,” said Janet, putting down her mug and turning towards Kimberly on the couch next to her. 

“It’s nothing, really,” Kimberly protested. 

“Let her have a look,” advised Susan. “She knows what she’s doing.”

With the slightly exasperated ‘don’t fuss’ expression that teenage girls do so well on her face, Kimberly twisted on the couch, pulling one leg up under her and turning her back on Janet. Moments later Janet’s hands came to rest on her shoulders, strong fingers gently kneading her sore muscles. 

It felt a little awkward at first, but it soon became clear that Janet did indeed know what she was doing. Her fingers pressed and rubbed on exactly the right spots, and soon the ache in Kimberly’s shoulders was replaced by a pleasant warmth. Kimberly found herself relaxing under the tall woman’s ministrations. 

“Feels good, doesn’t it?” asked Susan with a smile. 

“Um, yes, it does,” replied Kimberly. It really did feel good, and the massage and the hot tea was making Kimberly feel pleasantly relaxed and warm. She leaned back a little. 

“That’s better,” Janet murmured approvingly behind her. “Just relax.” Her fingers momentarily left Kimberly’s shoulders and travelled up along her neck, rubbing out the knots in the muscles along her spine. Her hands were warm and strong, and her fingers felt good against Kimberly’s neck. Then her hands moved higher up, along her jaw and up to her head, where her forefingers rubbed Kimberly’s temples and her thumbs eased the tense muscles in her jaw. It wasn’t exactly a shoulder massage anymore, but it felt very good, so Kimberly didn’t comment. Her face and neck tingled with a warm buzz. Janet’s fingertips trailed along her face and neck as she moved her hands back to Kimberly’s shoulders and resumed kneading them. 

Susan smiled at Kimberly, before looking past her at Janet. Kimberly saw Susan’s eyes widen slightly, probably in response to something in Janet’s face. Kimberly wondered what it might have been; Susan’s look had been one of quickly concealed shock.

“So, how do you two know each other?” Kimberly asked of Susan, more to break the silence than because it mattered. 

Susan’s reaction was one she certainly hadn’t been prepared for. The curvy brunette had just taken a sip of her tea, and she made a gagging noise, her eyes bulging as she looked at Kimberly. A faint blush spread across her cheeks. 

For just a moment Kimberly didn’t get it. Then it all clicked in her head: the clothes she was wearing that obviously weren’t Susan’s, Janet’s familiarity with Susan’s kitchen, and the lack of boyfriends at Susan’s place. Oh my God, they’re lovers! she thought in sudden shock. They were going to… do it, before I came! She felt her face go warm, and knew that she’d just turned an unflattering shade of crimson. 

“I think Kimberly has us figured out,” Janet laughed easily behind her. Her fingers had never stopped kneading her shoulders, and Kimberly was suddenly extremely aware of the other woman’s hands on her. “Do we make you nervous, Kim?”

“No, of course not,” Kimberly replied. In truth, she was a little uncomfortable, but admitting it would have been so uncool. 

“That’s good,” purred Janet. Her hands were rubbing Kimberly’s shoulders gently. 

“You seem surprised,” said Susan. “Hadn’t you guessed?” 

“No, I… I hadn’t thought about it, I suppose,” replied Kimberly. “Not that it’s any of my business,” she added hastily. 

“That’s an enlightened attitude,” said Janet. She tugged on Kimberly’s shoulders, and the blonde girl, not expecting it, overbalanced and suddenly found herself half lying back on the couch, leaning against Janet. One of the slender brunette’s arms snaked over her shoulder and across the top of her chest to grab the opposite shoulder in a gentle embrace. “Are you still not nervous?” she teased. Kimberly could feel the woman’s warm breath on the side of her neck as she spoke. 

“Are you comfortable, Kimmie?” asked Susan as she leaned forward in her chair, placing one hand on Kimberly’s knee. 

“Uh,” Kimberly began, but had to swallow; her throat suddenly seemed very dry. “Sure, I’m… fine,” she said. 

“It’s a start,” whispered Janet. Kimberly felt something warm and moist against the side of her neck, and realised that the woman was kissing her. Janet’s lips trailed softly across the sensitive skin. Kimberly’s pulse was racing. 

Susan got completely out of her armchair, standing up and leaning over Kimberly with her hand still on her knee. Her face came closer, her big brown eyes hypnotic. Kimberly felt unable to turn away as her neighbour leaned in to kiss her. 

Susan cupped Kimberly’s left cheek in her right hand, putting one knee on the couch next to the girl for support. When she realised the blonde wasn’t going to turn away, she smiled warmly, then placed a soft, light kiss on the girl’s lips.