The First Timers Club

Chapter 8 - Indecent Proposal

The muffled conversation on the other side of Ashley's bedroom door quieted when I knocked. I heard shuffling before Ashley opened it a crack.

"Can we talk?" I asked.

She peeked her head out into the hallway. "Where's my mom?"

"In the den. Can we talk?" I asked again. Ashley grabbed my wrist to yank me inside and shut the door behind us. "I meant outside..."

Kayla, Courtney and Brittney sat on the floor by Ashley's bed with anxious expressions on their faces.

"Dude, where the fuck have you been? What happened? Tell us," Courtney demanded as Ashley plopped down next to her.

"Are you in trouble?" Kayla asked.

"No. No one's in trouble," I assured them, but this only elicited more questions.

"What did she say?" Ashley asked in a low voice. Her puffy, red eyes told me she'd been crying.

My coke-fueled mind raced like a quarter horse on a treadmill, too distracted to answer, and unsure how to even begin. How could I possibly explain it? An animated loop running on the television captured my attention. The splash screen for some kind of roleplaying video game. The graphics looked stunning.

"Dude?" Courtney said.

My eyes darted around Ashley's large bedroom. On top of a white lacquered desk sat a half-finished Lego build. The bottom floor of a multi-story building according to the image on the suitcase-sized box. What was that architectural style called again? Bauhaus?

"Dude."

In the corner of the room, a multitude of hand painted anime figurines and robots of various sizes crowded a tall curio bookcase. One in particular caught my eye. I'm pretty sure I'd seen that robot before.

"Dude! Are you listening?" Courtney asked, snapping her fingers. "Jesus, what's wrong with you? You look like shit."

I'm sure I did. I was coked out of my fucking mind. I felt like a sparrow on crack dancing on a frying pan.

"She didn't say much," I said.

"What do you mean?"

"She asked what we were doing in the pool, and I told her."

This casual revelation brought every girl to her feet. They waved their hands and talked over one another, peppering me with questions.

"What? What are you talking about? Are you kidding? What did you say?"

"Wait, what did you tell her,

exactly

?" Ashley demanded to know.

"The truth."

"What? Why? Why did you tell her?"

"You think I should have lied?" I snapped, gesticulating wildly. "Your mom was standing right there! She saw the whole fucking thing!"

I cursed myself for raising my voice. I was so goddammed wired I could barely hold my shit together.

Ashley paced away with her hands on the back of her head, muttering, "Oh my god, oh my god..."

"Ashley, it's fine" I said, trying to sound reassuring. "She isn't mad. In fact, she seemed kind of relieved."

Ashley spun on her heel. "What do you mean, relieved? Relieved about what?" she asked, quieting her friends.

"Honestly? I think she's happy for you." I don't think Ashley expected me to say that, and she scoffed. "I'm serious," I said. "She even insisted I stay the night and said I'm welcome to hang out tomorrow while your dad's at work."

Ashley's mouth fell open and she stared at me. Courtney sputtered and laughed.

"Holy shit! Are you kidding? Ash, you're so lucky! My mom would've fucking murdered me."

"Bullshit," Ashley said, shaking her head. "There's no way she said that."

"I don't know what to tell you," I said, trying to get myself under control. "She wants to talk to us, though."

Ashley blanched. "When?"

"Now."

"Both of us? Together?"

I sniffed and nodded, then wiped my nose and sniffed again. "Yeah. It's totally cool, though," I said to the other girls. "Everything's cool. We'll be right back, okay? Come on, Ashley. Let's go."

Back in the den, Ashley stood nervously with her hands clasped in front of her and shifted her eyes between me and her mom. I could only imagine how frightfully wired and manic we appeared. Torqued on so much cocaine that we panted and sweated through our clothes. I favored her with a sympathetic smile that probably looked like the wide-eyed grimace of a serial killer. When I gestured for her to take a seat on the Chesterfield, she opted to remain standing.

I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could get a single word out, Erin jumped the gun.

"Ashley, honey, mommy's gotten you the best birthday gift in the whole world."

I glared at her, but she ignored me.

"W-what's going on, mom?" Ashley asked, her eyes shifting nervously, thoroughly baffled by this unexpected turn of events and our bizarre, inexplicable behavior.

I'd only had a few moments to speak with her as we traveled back to the den. I'd tried to explain it to her as best I could and reassure her that everything was going to be okay, but I'm pretty sure I'd made zero sense and probably came off sounding like a raving, coked-out lunatic instead.

"You're mom's asked me to become you instructor," I said, trying to regain control of the disclosure.

"Trainer," Erin corrected. "I prefer the term 'trainer'."

"Fine. Trainer," I said.

"What kind of trainer?" Ashley asked, suspicious.

I had tried to describe the nature of the arrangement to her earlier, but I'd hemmed and hawed and fumbled my words and lost my train of thought several times. After some reflection, however, I felt sure I'd formulated the perfect introduction to this bizarre and unorthodox arrangement Erin had cooked up. I smiled and opened my mouth to speak.

"A sex trainer," Erin blurted, before I could talk.

Ashley stared at me, horrified, and I held up my hands.

"It's not what you think," I said quickly.

It was exactly what she thought. Before Erin could elaborate, I shot her a hard look and she held up her hand and waved it at me as if to say, "well, go on then."

"Forget about that for a moment," I said, turning back to Ashley. "I want to ask you something first. Do you regret what happened in the pool tonight?"

Ashley looked at her mother, lounging in her satin robe, cocktail in hand, high as fuck. She bit the inside of her cheek, unsure how she should respond. I took her hand, and she moved her eyes back to mine.

"Forget about your mom. Just tell me the truth. Do you regret kissing me?"

She unclenched her jaw and her demeanor relaxed. "No," she said quietly.

I glanced at Erin and then returned my attention to Ashley. "I like you, Ashley. A lot. I think you're an amazing girl and I wasn't kidding earlier when I said I wanted to be your friend. I really do. Do you still want to be my friend too?"

Ashley studied my expression, her face a mask of shifting emotions and thoughts. I tried to convey to her as much earnestness as I could muster. At last, she nodded her head.

"Yes. Very much," she said, and even managed a crooked smile.

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding, then squeezed her hand and smiled back, grateful that we'd gotten at least this far. From the periphery of my vision, I noticed Erin roll her eyes as she took a sip of vodka, but I ignored her and carried on.

"How did you feel about our discussion earlier? In the pool, I mean. When we were talking about sex and stuff. Did you learn anything new or interesting? Anything you didn't know before?"

Despite my admonition, Ashley checked in with her mom again at the mention of the word 'sex' but found nothing to dissuade her from answering truthfully. She silently nodded her head.

"How would you feel if we did that kind of stuff all the time?"

Ashley furrowed her brow, and she briefly shifted her eyes to her mom again. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Exactly what it sounds like. What if I came over to hang out so we could talk about whatever you wanted to talk about? I could teach you more about sex and answer all of your questions and, if you wanted, we could do...other stuff too."

Ashley jerked her head back and whipped it around to stare at her mom. Erin cracked an ice cube between her teeth and shrugged her shoulders.

"That's what he's here for, honey. If you two want to fool around together and get each other off or whatever, it's okay with me," she said, offering me an obvious and self-congratulatory wink.

Ashley pulled her hand away and took a step backward, pressing her palm against her forehead. "I-is this...some kind of joke?" she asked, anger rising in her voice.

I shook my head and held up my hands. "I don't play games and I'm a terrible joke-teller," I said, but she wasn't amused by my attempt at humor, so I pressed on. "Your mom's being serious. She and I talked about what happened, and she's not mad about it. In fact, she's happy for you. Excited, even." When she still looked skeptical, I rushed ahead.

"Look, your mom wants you to be happy, okay? And she asked if I'd be willing to come by and teach you what I know about sex and even practice with you if you wanted. I told her that I'd like that very much if that's what you wanted. So, if that sounds like something you'd like to do, then we can, whenever you want."

Even just saying it, I knew how insane it sounded. Ashley stared at me, disbelieving. Then she looked at her mom, who nodded her head, confirming what I'd just said.

"It's true, honey."

Ashley stood speechless, and I imagined her mind must have been swirling with questions, wondering how and why any of it was happening. Then she looked around the room and stiffened.

"What about dad?" she asked cautiously, finally noticing his conspicuous absence. "What does

he

think about all of this?"

Erin and I exchanged a look and I decided to let her field that one.

"Your dad doesn't know and we need to keep it that way. He wouldn't understand. You know how he is, honey, so overprotective and always treating you like you're daddy's little girl. But you're not a little girl anymore. You're a woman now, and it's time you started acting like one."

Erin's disinhibitions, barely restrained at the best of times, had been completely unleashed tonight, and Ashley's eyes widened as her mother continued speaking.

"That's why I want the two of you to spend as much time together as you can," she continued. "I want you to feel free to be naked together and to enjoy each other's bodies any way you like. That way, you can learn everything you need to know about how to please a man sexually and keep him happy. And who knows? If you're lucky, maybe he'll give you some tips on how to get a little pleasure for yourself, too."

For fuck's sake, Erin.

Ashley gaped at her mother and choked, but I couldn't tell if she'd held back laughter or tears. Her eyes slowly shifted to mine, searching for something coherent and logical to latch on to. With great effort, I managed to maintain a stoic, neutral demeanor and remain silent. I'd told her what she needed to know. Now, she needed to decide for herself.

Finding no help from me, Ashley shook her head and turned to leave. "This is just too weird. I can't have this conversation right now," she muttered as she headed for the door.

Erin jumped to her feet. "Ashley Marie!" she yelled. Ashley froze and even I flinched. "Get over here. Now."

Ashley turned and obediently shuffled back. Her obsequious behavior shocked me until I remembered I'd reacted almost exactly the same way when I tried to leave earlier.

Ashley stood in front of her mother, and I half expected Erin to rain down fire and brimstone, but much to my surprise, and Ashley's too, I think, Erin opened her arms to take her daughter into her embrace. Disoriented and disarmed, Ashley tentatively reciprocated before finally sinking into her mother's bosom. A beautiful moment that I hadn't expected.

When the two parted, Erin smiled warmly at her daughter and proceeded to take a giant, steaming shit right on top of it.

"Listen to me, Ashley. I didn't raise my daughter to be a fucking loser, okay? I raised you and Chelsea to be winners, and that's what you're going to be. Do you understand me?"

Ashley gasped and shook her head, not believing what she'd just heard. "Y-you think I'm a loser?"

Erin scoffed and tsked condescendingly. "Well, of course you are, honey."

"Mom!"

"Have you ever had a boyfriend? No. Do you ever get invited to parties? No. Do you have any popular friends. Fuck no. For chrissakes, Ashley, you told me you didn't want to go to prom. To prom!"

Ashley stood helpless, devastated by her mother's tirade. She tried to turn away, but Erin caught her by the wrist and held her firmly. She wasn't done.

"Aren't you tired of being alone, Ashley? Don't you want a boyfriend?" The question caused Ashley to pause, and Erin pressed her advantage. "Don't you want to know what it's like to be kissed by a man?"

Ashley turned to look at me, but Erin grabbed her chin and turned it back.

"Don't you want to get fucked by a real cock, and not that tiny little vibrator you think I don't know you've got hidden in your dresser?"

"Erin, that's enough!" I shouted.

I'd tried to hold my tongue, but I couldn't any longer. She'd gone too far. Erin glared at me, but she didn't carry on. Even she, it seemed, knew when she'd crossed a line. She let go of Ashley and waved at her dismissively.

"Go on, then. Get out."

Ashley turned and ran for the door with tears streaming down her face. Erin called after her as she disappeared down the hallway.

"Go back to your loser friends and cry your little eyes out!" Then she looked at me and smirked maliciously. "If you don't want my gift, maybe I'll just take it for myself."

Chapter 9 - A Night Visitor

I dropped my backpack next to the guest room bed and set my phone and a glass of water on the nightstand. Then I peeled off my sweaty clothes, dropped face-first onto the mattress, and burrowed my way under the covers. As I cozied my head into the pillow, preparing for sleep, I reflected that I should probably take a shower, but I was too damned tired for that. Sleep first. I could shower in the morning.

Despite the bone-crushing exhaustion I felt, sleep refused to come. I closed my eyes and fought to keep them shut, but thoughts and images and questions invariably forced them back open. The events of the evening turned over in my mind, each memory layered on top of the other until it all became an unsettling maelstrom of sights and sounds.

Kissing Courtney, grinding against Ashley in the pool, Erin's perfect tits, snorting coke, my cock in Erin's ass, the devil's bargain that I'd made with her, and the way she'd torn Ashley to pieces.

I wouldn't sleep. Not yet anyway. I found the television remote on the nightstand and turned it on. Maybe a movie would keep my mind occupied long enough to let me fall asleep. I found something vaguely familiar on a pay channel and turned the volume down low, eventually falling into a twilight trance that was neither sleep nor wakefulness, but a satisfactory purgatory in between.

A soft knock at the door roused me.

"Are you awake?" came a husky voice from the other side of the door.

"Yeah."

"Can I come in?"

The door opened and Courtney slipped into the dark room, shutting it behind her. I propped myself up on my elbow and rubbed my bleary eyes.

"I saw the light under the door and heard the TV," she said quietly. She stood near the foot of the bed, silhouetted by the bright glow of the television.

"Is everything okay?" I asked.

"I was going to ask you the same thing," she said, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. She'd put on her bedtime clothes. A cami tank top and a pair of panties.

"What do you mean?" I asked, but she didn't answer right away. Instead, she turned her head to watch the movie. I noticed she held her phone. I put my hand on hers, and she turned to face me.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked.

She slid her hand away and glanced at the screen to check something before putting her phone in her lap.

"I'm worried about Ash," she said.

"Why? What's wrong?"

The television backlit Courtney's head, obscuring her features in shadow. I couldn't see the concerned expression on her face, but I heard it in her voice.

"She was crying when she came back, but she wouldn't tell us why. What happened with her mom? What did you guys talk about?"

I couldn't tell her. Not if Ashley had chosen to keep it to herself. So, I deflected.

"I already told you."

"Not really, no. You didn't," she insisted.

"Are you still worried about getting in trouble?" I asked, trying to redirect her questions. "Don't be. Ashley's mom isn't going to say anything."

"Did something happen when you went in there with her? The first time, I mean?" she asked pointedly, and my pulse quickened. Had they heard something? A moan? A scream? I couldn't remember if we'd been loud. It seemed so long ago now, and I was so fucked up.

"Like what?" I asked, trying to keep my voice cool.

Courtney looked down at her lap. I sat up and rested my arms on my knees.

"I don't know," she said at last. She turned her body to face me, and I could finally see the concern on her face. "Something just doesn't feel right. This isn't like Mrs. Mitchell at all. She's never been this understanding about anything. Especially when it comes to Ash."

I didn't know how to respond to that. She was right, of course, but I couldn't tell her that. Not yet anyway. Not until Ashley and I had had a chance to talk alone, and definitely not before I got the situation back under control. Until then, it seemed simpler to keep the truth to myself.

"You know her better than I do," I said with a shrug. "But that's what she said."

Courtney frowned. Her concerns wouldn't be so easily allayed. "Does any of it make sense to you?" she challenged. "I mean, no offense, guy, but you're old enough to be our dad."

"Wow. Thanks for that," I said, affecting a wounded tone. It had the intended effect, and it was Courtney's turn to put her hand on mine.

"No, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant you're a lot old...er. But you look good for your age. Like,

really

good. Trust me. I just meant, why would Mrs. Mitchell be fine with someone like you hanging out with her daughter, you know? It just feels, I don't know...a little creepy."

"So, I'm old

and

creepy."

"I didn't say that," she sputtered and quickly back peddled. "I'm talking about the situation. I'm not saying you're a perv or anything like that."

"Ah. So, I'm an old, creepy perv. Got it."

She slapped my arm and said, "Stop it, okay? I said you're

not

a perv. I mean, maybe you are. Who knows, right? Not that I'd care if you were. I mean, I'm totally into pervy shit too." She paused then, as if catching herself, and took a deep breath. "All I'm saying is, don't you think her attitude about it is at least a

little

bit strange?"

I chuckled and said, "I don't know. Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"Yeah, maybe. Okay, yes, the situation

is

a little unusual. I'll admit that. But I can't say that Erin's attitude about it is all that weird. Not for her, at least. I don't know about you, but I've heard that woman say some shit that you don't normally hear coming out of a soccer mom's mouth, you know what I'm saying?"

Courtney hesitated and then nodded her head. She knew exactly what I was talking about.

"Also, she and Clay have a pretty fucked up relationship to begin with. So, maybe for them, this all makes some kind of sense. I'm not really in a position to judge. One thing I do know for certain, though, is that Erin loves Ashley in her own way and wants what's best for her. Shouldn't that be a good thing?"

Courtney looked off to the side and nodded, almost imperceptibly and somewhat grudgingly. She didn't seem completely convinced, but she didn't have a good argument to refute what I'd said.

"Plus, I don't think she sees me as an old, creepy perv the way you do."

Courtney's mouth came open and she gasped. Then she smirked and slapped me across the face. Not hard, but hard enough to make a loud noise. I feigned shock and she chortled and covered her mouth.