Rebound

At first the whole incident had been understandably awkward. Maddie even briefly considered moving out until they had a talk and mutually decided that their friendship was just too important to throw away for such a silly thing. Besides, it wasn't like it was going to happen again or anything.

And then, of course, it happened again.

And then again

And again.

For about three months Kayley and Maddie fucked damn near every time they got drunk or high or had a couple hours of free time together late at night until Maddie met Jeff and Kayley met Andy. The whole time they consoled themselves with the idea that it was just an experiment and nothing more, but, honestly, they both knew the truth. It was some of the best sex they'd ever had.

But that was then. It had never happened again. Kayley was straight, after all. At least she was pretty sure she was. At worst, just a teensy bit bisexual.

She did still think about it occasionally when she masturbated, but generally only when she was pissed at Andy for being Andy. It was no big deal really.

Even as she felt her nipples harden and her pussy start to moisten as two characters from the show started to kiss and a short, but steamy love scene played out before, and even though that same image and the memories of Maddie were all she thought of as she used her clit stimulator (to give her the orgasm Andy had completely failed to give her), she still believed in her heart of hearts that it was nothing but a thing.

Still, sometimes she wished she could be a dyke, but that was never going to happen so whatever.

It was just a thing. Nothing more.

When Andy came home the next morning to get ready for work, Kayley pretended to still be asleep until he took his shower, changed his clothes and headed off to work. She just didn't have anything to say to him anymore. Somehow she didn't think she ever really would again.

For some reason she briefly thought about calling Maddie, but instead she called her friend Gwen and spent the day with her smoking weed, hiking, bitching about men and catching up until she felt better and went home with a promise to hang out again later that week.

Andy, of course, wasn't home when she got there even though she knew he'd been out of work for over an hour, but somehow she didn't care. In fact, she was kind of glad. Then she took a shower, watched a movie and eventually went to bed.

And that was her weekend. It was hardly amazing that she really looking forward to Monday and the prospect of working again and getting away from home. It was just an extra bonus that she'd be working second shift and Andy would be working first.

Still, she did have some trepidation when she pulled in behind the Short Stop and knocked on the office door. Even Mr. Reyes' big, smiling face was hardly enough to take it all away, but his kind, calming demeanor certainly was a help as he introduced her to his wife, Amelia, who ran register during the day as well doing most of the ordering and whatnot and Clarice, a sour looking, but nonetheless friendly housewife type who was smoking in the backroom when Mr. Reyes, who now insisted on being called "Miguel or Mike, whichever works better," and who apparently also ran the register when she wasn't stocking the cooler and shelves.

Then he introduced her to Sarah and her big, glowing smile. Kayley was instantly put at ease, though she wasn't exactly sure why. Sarah looked to about the same age as Kayley and about the same build, though a tad bit skinnier and athletic judging from her toned arms and the hint of flat belly that showed when she reached up to put her ipod on a shelf in the backroom. Her breasts also looked to be slightly bigger, but her ass was a little flatter in her loose cargo pants that nearly covered a pair of green converse high tops, which went well with her short plum colored hair for some reason.

Kayley's eyes went back to that tight tummy and then those breasts before she realized she was staring. She was quick enough that Mike, the easiest option for her Anglo tongue, didn't notice, but not quite quick enough to avoid a knowing smirk from Sarah that almost caused her to blush. Luckily Sarah seemed fully aware of this possibility and broke her concentration by offering Kayley her hand in greeting.

"So this is the newb, huh?" Sarah said with a sly wink to Kayley as if to let her know she was just playing, and for reasons as yet unknown to Kayley she almost blushed again. Luckily Mike unknowingly saved the day by bringing up the fact that Sarah would be the one training her for the next few days and the person she would likely work with most of the time before continuing her tour of the store.

Not that there was all that much to see. Just the beer cooler, the other cooler, the grocery back stockroom, the liquor back stockroom, the cigarette back stockroom, the "adult room" (which he actually seemed a tad bit embarrassed to show her for some reason), the office with the computer and the closed circuit television system and mess of paperwork and filing cabinets and, finally, the area behind the counter where she ran into Sarah and her knowing smirk again. Kayley met that smirk with a shy smile of her own while Mike prattled on about things she barely heard.

"And that's about it," Mike said finally, "Any questions?"

"Don't worry, Mike," Sarah said while still smirking before Kayley could even managed to answer him. "I'll show her everything she needs to know."

"Well, good," Mike replied, "I'll be in the office finishing up your paperwork and getting you in the system and stuff until 4:30 if you do need to ask me anything. Oh, and just so you know, just keep coming in at three until I figure out exactly how I want to schedule you, okay?"

And that was it. Kayley was now a clerk for all intents and purposes. The first hour or so after that was spent taking turns watching Sarah ring up customer and ring them up herself with Sarah's helpful guidance while Amelia counted cigarettes in the back and Clarice ran the other register and made small talk with Sarah and Amelia about people Kayley didn't know. At 4:15 Clarice vanished into the back room to smoke another cigarette while still talking shit about strangers. Sarah and Amelia humored her while rolling their eyes at some of her more catty comments.

Then 4:30 came and Clarice left. A few minutes later and after one final word of support, Mike and Amelia shuffled out the door leaving Kayley and Sarah essentially alone. Kayley didn't really understand why, but for some reason that made her more than a little nervous.

Of course, there were customers that kept them somewhat busy, but Kayley was quickly learning that the Short Stop was a fairly relaxing place to work. Relative to waiting tables, time might as well have been standing still. There was plenty of time for small talk and Sarah seemed intent on using it to become friends with Kayley and, somewhat despite herself, Kayley was more than eager to oblige.

She quickly learned that she and Sarah had quite a bit in common besides taste in shoes. They shared extremely similar taste in music and movies though Sarah did manage to stump Kayley with some bands and films she mentioned. Kayley had never heard of Television or Richard Hell and the Voidoids. Apparently this was an absolute travesty that Sarah promised to remedy the very next day.

"That old shit is the best," she said with enthusiasm as she preached on about what was apparently a very important topic to her. Kayley couldn't help but feel that enthusiasm herself.

She seemed to feel that way about nearly everything Sarah talked about that night. Even the most mundane work-related nonsense seemed almost musical coming from Sarah's raspy little voice. Kayley even found herself hanging out by the backroom door while Sarah smoked just to keep the conversation going. She almost would've been embarrassed if Sarah didn't do exactly the same thing when Kayley smoked.

It was weird to realize later, but when the night was over Kayley was almost disappointed. Not just because the prospects of doing anything more fun than smoke a joint or pop some pills and diddle herself once she got home were virtually nil or because the odds of getting in a fight with Andy were only equaled by the odds of him being mysteriously absent and unreachable, but because of something deeper she simply refused to label. Even Sarah seemed to feel the same way. She and Kayley actually stood out by their cars for a full half hour just chatting before Sarah's cell phone rang bringing them both back to reality.

Kayley was actually happy for the first time in awhile as she drove home, but as she pulled into the drive and saw that once again Andy was oddly absent, she sank a little bit inside. Oddly, though, it wasn't much as usual. As pissed as she was that the asshole was once again gone without a note or a call or anything, she actually felt something like relief. At least there would be no fight, no meaningless make-up sex, no feeling of self-loathing brought on by some hopeless act of contrition on her part, even though she was never the one in the wrong.

She didn't even think of making her usual pointless call to Andy's (almost certainly turned off) cell phone. She just packed her bong, took a few hits to relax herself before fingering herself to sleep with images of a faceless, plum-haired girl and of Maddie dancing through her head the whole time with zero guilt, but an incredibly intense orgasm as her payoff.

When she woke up she was surprised to find herself more relaxed and generally happy than she had been in awhile. She actually found herself almost excited about going to work. That had never happened before. The fact that it was all because of a girl didn't even bother her at all. Deep down inside a part of her felt there was something wrong with that, but, frankly, the majority of her just didn't care.

It helped that Sarah was simply fascinating. She was funny, smart and artistic and she always seemed to have something interesting to say about damned near anything, but not in a pompous way. She didn't just offer an unsolicited opinion for the sake of being opinionated. She only did it when it fit the conversation or when Kayley asked her.

Over the next few weeks Kayley and Sarah discovered they shared a lot of similar interests besides shoes and music. They were both devout potheads as well as users of other drugs. This news was especially exciting to Sarah since Kayley made it obvious that she had connections that Sarah simply didn't (which Kayley found simply amazing), but not for long as that information led to something even more intriguing about Sarah.

"Seriously?" Kayley had asked somewhat flabbergasted.

"Seriously," Sarah had come back quickly and with the appropriate dramatic touch, "I haven't been able to score steadily since I broke up with my girlfriend and moved back in with my mom."

"Girlfriend?" Kayley had responded almost too quickly resulting in a weird look from Sarah that almost made her blush with embarrassment when she realized how it sounded, "Sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I just didn't know you were gay."

"Well, I'm not," Sarah came back, and then corrected herself . "Well, not really anyway. I had a girlfriend, but that doesn't mean I'm gay or anything. You're not going to get all weird and stuff now, are you?"

"No, it just caught me off guard. Besides I'd be a total hypocrite if I freaked out on you for that."

"Really?" Sarah had responded raising her eyebrow before following it up with "How interesting."

"Oh, shut up," Kayley had replied feeling the heat rise to her cheeks as she scanned the store to make sure they were alone, "Don't tell anyone I said that. My boyfriend doesn't even know."

"Okay, okay," Sarah replied still smiling "but on one condition: you tell me all about this weekend."

Kayley agreed gladly before realizing that there was a good chance she'd just been hit on. Briefly she thought of reneging or at least getting a clarification, but something more powerful inside her completely put the brakes on that idea. Also, there was a customer. In fact, there were several as a game was letting out at the high school down the road. They were swamped for the next hour and any ideas of further conversation along those lines were buried under the necessity of getting her job done, but after that everything gained a whole new edge with Sarah.

Sex, which had already been touched upon, of course, now took on a more central role in their conversations. That's how Sarah learned the true depths of Kayley's problems and where Kayley finally found a good sounding board for her disgust with Andy. Sarah was extremely concerned with Kayley's need to make herself come the majority of the time.

"Why the hell are you even with him if all he does treat you like crap and can't even make you come?" Sarah had asked while stocked she cigarettes and Kayley rang up the sale of an apparently oblivious older man who just smiled at her vacantly while checking out her breasts. She frowned at him disapprovingly and waited for him to leave before answering.

"You really wanna know?"

"Well, yeah," Sarah came back in her usual smartass tone, "I asked, didn't I?"

"Because I need the rent money," Kayley replied weakly almost ashamed of her answer.

"Are you serious?" Sarah responded with incredulousness, "Girl, if all you need is a roommate talk to me."

"Yeah, well it's a one bedroom, so..."

"So? I live with my Mom. I'd pay for half of everything just to ride your couch."

"Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously. Do you have any idea how hard is to pick someone up and take them to my Mom's house? She doesn't even know I'm bi and she still won't let me even have another girl stay the night."

"So? Go to their house."

"Easy for you to say. You live in your own apartment. Most of the girls I hook up with still live with their parents, too."

"What makes you think if I let you crash on my couch I'd any cooler than your mom with letting you bring girls over?"

"Oh, I think I could convince you."

"Oh really?"

"You have no idea how convincing I can be..."

And that was how a lot of their conversations went from then on for the next two weeks. It was scary, but not because Kayley was creeped out by the flirtation. Hardly. In fact, it was because she was anything but creeped out by it all that scared Kayley. She was actually more than a little intrigued by the idea.

She did end up cancelling on Sarah that weekend though. Andy, the human roller coaster, was going through a very nice up phase and, yes, despite her better judgment she decided to give him another chance. The sex was still sub-par, but at least he seemed to be trying again.

He even bought her flowers just like when they had first started dating. It was something. At least it was a lot better than what he had been doing over the last couple of months. Hell, he even rubbed her feet for three nights straight.

Kayley was simply amazed, but there was a still a sinking feeling in her heart that just wouldn't go away. She just couldn't shake the feeling that this, like all of Andy's other attempts to be a good boyfriend, was doomed to failure.

She also had an even darker feeling that deep down, in her heart of hearts, she wanted him to fail. Maybe it was because she was just plain sick of waiting for the other shoe to drop. Maybe it was because she was just sick of wondering.

Or maybe, just maybe, she was secretly sick of being with men. It wasn't the first time she'd had those feelings. The alcohol, after all, wasn't the reason she'd slept with Maddie. It just been the catalyst, the spark that helped ignite that brief, but brightly burning, flame.

Even during that brief semi-relationship with Maddie there had been something special there. Even though had both agreed after awhile that it was just friendly sex, nothing serious, there was always something more just under the surface

Kayley had never really admitted it to herself at the time, but up until the moment Maddie hooked up with Jeff, Kayley had never been happier with another person in her entire life.

For the brief period after the shock wore off from the weirdness of their first experience together and the sex became just a natural progression in their relationship, everything was simply perfect. They were everything a couple was supposed to be. Kayley didn't even think about guys anymore. Being with Maddie had been all she wanted, but apparently Maddie had been on a different page.

Of course, that was probably why her relationship with Andy had started out so passionately, but had fizzled so quickly until it became the boring exercise in slow betrayal it was now. Andy had been her rebound.

It made so much sense when looked at in that light.

Still, Kayley wasn't quite willing to accept all that even now, but as she continued to enjoy being around Sarah and their casual flirtation and while she and Andy continued to make weak attempts at maintaining their relationship at home, she had admit she was more than tempted. In fact, she actively encouraged Sarah by gleefully returning her attentions though a little more subtly.

She was constantly making little comments about Sarah's appearance, such as how cute her shoes were or how her hair looked sexy with the little emo barrettes she liked to wear. She also often found excuses to touch Sarah whenever possible without it being crass. A light caress of her arm when Sarah passed behind her to grab something. A light hand on Sarah's back or shoulders when she had to reach above her for a pack of cigarettes for a customer. When she saw Sarah had a tattoo on her belly just above her waist she couldn't resist touching it as if to feel the texture, but they both knew why she was really doing it.

Hell, even some of the customers noticed. It was hard not to. Two cute girls flirting with each other was the beginning of most guys' most illogical sexual fantasy. Every girl knew that. Not that knowledge helped Kayley stop blushing when she noticed the look in certain people's eyes and she suddenly realized they could see right through her intentions. The fact that Sarah generally found those occurrences extremely hilarious didn't ease the embarrassment at all.

But, while working with Sarah was quickly looking like the beginning of something Kayley had never admitted to herself that she wanted more than anything, her whole life was quickly becoming pure torture. Especially when Andy stopped by to say "Hi."

Sarah always tried her best to be nice, but it was hard for her. Every time he left she would find some way to jokingly mock him. Kayley laughed every time. She knew she shouldn't, but she just couldn't help it. She knew it wasn't going to last. It was over. They both knew it. Hell, she was pretty sure Andy knew it as well. They were just going through the motions

Then Andy had to go and make the decision easy for her by doing what she knew he'd do all along: He disappeared. Not only that, he managed to make it worse by disappearing right after visiting her at work and promising, not once, but multiple times, to be home and up when she got out of work.

As it turned out he may have been up, but he was most definitely not home. When she got inside she found a vaguely written note about having to go in to work for some guy. It would have been a great excuse since Kayley knew there was never anyone around to answer the phone in the office for the night shift.

Except for one little thing: the night before the asshole had told her the factory he worked at had just laid off the entire night shift because there weren't enough orders. He'd actually gone on and on about it while she'd been trying to watch a movie. She'd actually had to punch him in the arm to get him to shut up about it. Bitching about work was an annoying habit he had when he was tired and stoned.