Clique Ch. 01

He was fully on his back now. Tamed already? I felt wistful and laid on him, face to face, running a hand down his cheek, kissing him again. "Do you remember me from when we were kids?" He nodded silently. His complexion was darker now than years ago, but his face was almost unchanged. "Still the same sweet, cute Little Henry Bridge."

I reached for his belt buckle, sinister.

"You should have stolen me from Carlos ages ago," I panted, "and let me suck you off, every. day. since."

I was drawing it out a bit, unbuckling slowly, wanting his sweet agony to last a few moments longer. Bridge caught me with a nasty look that said "no," and moved my hands aside with no effort. He undid his belt, unbuttoned, and unzipped himself, faster than I realized it had even happened, and my breath caught.

His voice was low and had a gravel I'd never heard from him before. "Suck me off every day... You ready to start that now, Trista? Because I'm ready."

I sat up on my knees, admiring him. "You sure are."

His cock, just hovering there, a perfectly vertical pillar in the open air.

Bridge stared right back. I didn't touch it immediately, and it must have been killing him. I held my arms up to the ceiling of the SUV and writhed my long torso at his gaze. I wanted my lean, tan, silky lines to burn into his eyes.

He frantically took his shirt the rest of the way off. He was sublime.

"You were such a little boy. When did you grow up with all these beautiful muscles?" I noticed his body tremble. Was he nervous or was it just how I was torturing him?

I finally let my right hand come down and wrap around his shaft. I pumped him up and down just a bit, ever so slowly.

"This muscle's beautiful too, Bridge. Just not wet enough yet."

I grinned down at him, and he just knew.

But then I caught a glimpse of something outside, through the front windshield. Hailey and Homeschool were sitting there together near the edge of the hole, side by side. Hailey just looked so shaken; so serious. Something was wrong.

"Trista?" Bridge asked.

Then I watched as Hailey suddenly leaned into Homeschool for a kiss! What the hell? Hailey just looked so... passionate. Homeschool, not so much. This was wrong. She wouldn't... she can't... no no no no. Ugh, I couldn't think.

Sure, I'd kissed a girl before, and it was fun. But this didn't look like it was for fun, and this wasn't me!

Okay, I admit I can't exactly explain in words why I got so wound up seeing this happen. It was just wrong, okay? Very very wrong.

"Trista??" Bridge seemed to call again from somewhere distant. I was already throwing on my top and leaving the car.

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I slammed the car door shut loud enough for the two girls to notice. Loud enough to put a stop to this. I hurried over toward them, sorting my clothes back into position, calling, "Hailey! Hailey? Did you just . . .?" Hailey sat there shaking her head, her face in her hands.

Homeschool got up and dusted herself off. "No, Trista, it's okay! We were just talking and I said the wrong thing, like usual. It was my mistake . . . I didn't know she liked girl lips. So, uh, are you ready to go back to school now?"

I ignored Homeschool, my arms folded and brow scrunched, and spoke down at Hailey. "So, what, are you a lesbian now?"

Hailey got up angrily, never looking me in the eye, "No, god, it's no big deal! Let's go. May wants to go, okay? So let's go." She stormed away from me toward the car.

I followed behind her, trying to catch up best I could with my shoes off. "So was it like an experiment? Because it seemed more like you really... Hailey stop, look at me!"

"It was barely a kiss, and you were having sex, you hypocrite! I didn't know you were such a homophobe, Trista." Hailey garumphed, opening the backseat car door.

Bridge, startled, gathered himself up and moved to the driver's seat.

I kept at it, almost crying, "I'm not! But excuse me for wanting my best friend in the world to finally fill me in that she's a lezbo!"

Hailey looked at me, sickened by me, then averted her eyes again. "Well maybe you're not my best friend. You ever think of that?" She might as well have stabbed me.

Everyone piled into the car. Bridge did a double take. "Wait, Hailey, you never told her that you're gay?"

"You told him?"

Hailey looked anywhere but at me, so totally acting like she was angry instead of crying, I could tell.

Hailey muttered bitterly in Bridge's direction, "Turns out, you might be my best friend. Congratulations." She sunk into her seat and sulked. "Besides, I never said I was like a hundred percent gay, okay? I'm not!"

Bridge grinned. "Well you wouldn't do it with me, that's pretty much a hundred percent, right? Ha-ha!"

Hailey and I simultaneously turned on Bridge. "Shut up!"

Homeschool whimpered, "Please, stop yelling."

Bridge nodded. "Hey, she's right. No need to fight here. Everyone calm down."

In his most reasonable voice, he continued, "Now, just one thing before we go. There are three girls here. Is there a chance that any of you here are willing to help me out with this before we get back to school?"

Bridge shifted to the side a little bit, revealing the still fully rigid hard-on sticking up through his open fly, and looked toward each of us one by one.

I looked at him like he was mentally ill. "You can't be serious."

Homeschool shielded her eyes and backed away as far as she could. "Eeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

Hailey folded her arms and looked out her window, "Lezbo, remember?"

Bridge tucked himself uncomfortably back into his pants, put the car into reverse, and shook his head, grumbling, "White girls."

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Bridge unceremoniously dropped us off at school just as the final bell was ringing. The three of us stood there for an awkward few moments, looking at each other.

I frowned. "Hailey, I didn't—"

Hailey just sulked away immediately. "Don't bother."

Homeschool steadied herself, little fists clenched at her sides, and faced me down, with all the authority of an angry butterfly. "Trista Dory . . . I . . . I don't like how you talked to Hailey . . . and, and I think you might be um, a bad influence on me, and uh, I still don't think that they really let us skip fourth like that. And . . . and that's all I can think of!"

She turned around and began to flit away. I reached out with a hand to catch her before she left, but missed. "Homeschool!"

"And don't call me Homeschool!" She was gone.

Across the parking lot, Carlos and Sofia were getting into his car. They both looked over toward me. I must have stared back with hope in my eyes. Carlos just glanced down at his shoes grimly, got in the car, and didn't look back. Sofia, however, had this wide smile, and waved goofily before they drove off.

Crap, now I didn't even have a ride.

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I waited on the front steps of the school, chin on my hands, for Dad to finish with some extracurricular nerd thing he signed up to sponsor. What a fucking terrible terrible day.

A shadow fell over me from behind.

"Hi, Trista!" I looked up to see a big dumb grin. Paulie sat down on the steps.

As if I hadn't endured enough already. "Hey," I sighed.

"So Trista, thanks for earlier. You know, for not laughing at me."

I scrunched my brow. I had no idea what he was talking about.

"Everyone else laughed when I fell over at lunch."

I shook my head. What a moron. "Oh. That. You're . . . welcome."

"Hey, so, just a minute ago, the machine gave me a Diet Coke by mistake so then I bought another regular one so now I have two Cokes."

"Fascinating."

"I mean, do you want one?"

Actually, I did. Damn it.

I held my hand out to the side and Paulie happily handed me the Diet. Heh, maybe he should be the one drinking the Diet.

I opened the can and drank. I sneered. "Don't think this means we're going steady or anything, okay?"

Paulie laughed. "You're Carlos' girlfriend! We're just friends."

Ugh, that did it. I shouted, "We're not!"

I looked over at Paulie. He was gobsmacked. I stood up, ready to leave him there.

But looking down at him for the second time today, I felt a little switch go off in my head. I sighed, resigned, sat back down closer to him, gave him a fond nudge, and said, "What I meant was, we're not just friends... for today, I think you're my best friend. Okay?"

We clinked our soda cans together.

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Chapter 1 Postscript:

Hailey's Kiss

May and I sat side by side at the hole's edge, our feet dangling out over an abyss. It was safe enough; our upper bodies were situated on the other side of the guard rail as we passed the rest of the joint back and forth. I intentionally ignored any noise or motion coming from the SUV ever since Trista and Bridge got in. The River Hole's steady hum made it easy.

I usually would have preferred the quiet, but the pot was making me talk. I was trying to explain things to May, trying to warn her. "It's just that I like you, May, and I don't want her to take over your life completely. And she will, you know."

May looked anxious and happy. "Oh, I like you too, Hailey. I think you're the prettiest girl in school," she sing-songed. "Like a princess."

This was not the topic I'd been talking about— at all. I was completely taken aback. "Wait, what? Me? No I'm not; don't say that."

"But you are, I promise! I'll bet everyone thinks so. Everyone should."

Oh shit, what has this weed done to her?

"Stop, May. You and Trista are the tall, leggy --"

"I love it when you smile, you have the most lovely smile. I always hope I say something funny enough when I'm around you because you don't smile all the time like me and Paulie. I've looked up jokes from a book in the library!"

May then began to cough. I gently pat her on the back and took the joint from her.

I realized. "Oh my god, so that's what all those jokes were about last week?"

"Yes."

I laughed. "May, those were god awful."

May stared openly at my face, so pleased. Then, softly: "Oh, there's the smile."

I looked back at May in wonder. Fuck, I was so embarrassed. I covered my mouth to hide my smile, to try to stop May's wonderful, satisfied gaze.

I don't really know what happened. My ears and neck felt like they were burning. My eyes were somehow full and heavy, and in front of me was this soft, pale, pretty young girl, just there. Looking at me. No, not just looking, that wasn't what it was. She was waiting for me. She expected me.

But the only real word rattling around in all my thoughts? Finally. Finally.

I summoned my nerve and suddenly leaned forward into May's shiny lips. I closed my eyes and savored the feeling, and held there long enough for the electrical impulses to run through me up, then down, then up again, long enough to memorize the flavor of May's cherry gloss, until I slowly (so slowly) realized that something was wrong.

May hadn't pulled back, but she also hadn't kissed back. At all.

I opened my eyes. The fingertips of my left hand were tickling May's jawline. I didn't remember doing that. May had the sweetest, warmest smile on those lips, all wet with my kiss, her cheeks were flushed red and spotty, but her eyes were sad.

May squeaked, "No thank you."

"Wh... what?"

"Hailey, you're wonderful and beautiful and perfect and I love you, but I don't want to kiss you."

"Oh. Oh nooo." Mortified.

"I mean, not the same way I want to kiss a man. I do want to kiss you a little, see?"

May planted a tiny peck on my lips. Oh heaven, not anywhere nearly enough.

"But not the other way. You know: the real way," she said conspiratorially.

"Oh god." I dropped my forehead onto the railing several times, covering my face with my hands. "I'm so so sorry." Thunk, thunk, thunk.

I heard a car door slam. Trista was storming.

"Hailey! Hailey? Did you just...?"

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Next, Chapter 2: The Liar

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Thank you! -Sketch