"You're not supposed to do that while you're driving," Earl said. Doug's phone was pinging at him, and he couldn't ignore it. Besides, he wasn't really driving, he was stopped at a light.
"It's a Skype request from Twyla Pullens." A car behind them honked, and Doug tossed his phone at Earl. "See what she wants."
Twyla had a freckled face and unruly hair that she held behind her head with a big barrette. She appeared on the screen with tropical birds and jungle foliage around her. Earl was confused. It was Friday morning. She should have been on her way to school just like they were. "Where are you?" he asked.
"I thought I called Doug. Never mind. I'm on the west side commuter." She looked around at the sullen and mostly disheveled riders on the bus. "Oh, I have that background app on." It was an app that only Twyla had. No-one else could even find it. "I guess you see me in Costa Rica. Where are you guys?"
"Almost to school," Doug said, and Earl turned the phone so Twyla could see him. "Why'd you call?"
"Eew. Did you just get out of bed?" Doug gave Twyla a look for an answer and pulled into the Senior parking lot. "Now I'm not sure why I called. Oh, I remember. Do you have some time to get together this morning?"
Doug didn't answer until he stopped his mom's old SUV and turned the engine off. "Sure, I guess. What for?"
"Gotta go," Twyla said, and her picture disappeared.
Doug took his phone back from Earl, dropped it into his back pack, and climbed out. He shielded his eyes from the light of a sunny May morning and looked over the car at Earl. "How well do you know Twyla? I've known her for a long time—like since we were kids—but not very well."
Earl slammed the car door and shrugged. "She let me touch her boobs once, but that's as far as I got."
Doug laughed and angled through the parked cars toward the school while Earl caught up. He shoved Earl's shoulder. "That's as far as you ever get."
"When did you do better? Anyway, she's in with that artsy crowd. I think she's kindof an odd girl."
Underclassmen hurried to their homerooms while Doug and Earl found their lockers. The PA crackled, and then a voice overhead said, "Doug Stanovski and Earl Dahlquist to the cafeteria."
Earl looked over Sheila's head while she rifled the locker next to his. "That's weird."
Sheila slammed her locker and looked up at him. "What's weird?" He didn't answer right away, so she turned and pushed through the crowd without waiting.
Earl watched her leave then remembered Twyla's reaction when she saw him on her phone. He looked at himself in the mirror inside the locker door, rubbed his nose, ran his fingers through his hair, and shrugged. That would do.
A few people were scattered around the cafeteria in groups of two or four, but Doug couldn't see any reason why they should be there until he recognized Twyla sitting with Michelle Thomas. Michelle was prettier than Twyla so Earl was quick to sit down across from her.
Doug sat down facing Twyla. "There was this odd PA announcement that we should come here. Did you do that?"
"A PA announcement? Did it sound like me?" She waved her hand at the room. "You know how it is in here. You can't understand anything on the PA because of the way all the noise bounces around."
Doug straightened his back and studied Twyla. He hadn't looked at her lately. Maybe she wasn't so pretty, but something in the way she moved seemed really sexy. He was suddenly self-conscious and he stuttered. "Why did you call this morning? That was like totally out of the blue."
"Do you have second period free? I need help in the costume room, and for some reason I thought of you. Don't ask why."
"Second period? That's usually Sociology, but you know, it's the last day of classes, and all the work's done. I can get out of almost anything, but I don't have anything to do with Theater, or the Thespians, or anything. Where's the costume room?"
Twyla looked up when the PA popped on. "Michelle Thomas and Twyla Pullens, report to Mrs. Olsen's office."
Michelle looked annoyed. "The one time I can understand the PA in the cafeteria, and it's just to see that biddy."
Twyla pushed herself up from the table. "In the theater, under the stage. Just get there and wander around. You'll find me."
They were walking away and out of earshot when Michelle whispered, "Do you know what you're doing?"
Twyla glanced over her shoulder at the boys. "I don't have a clue. It's all new to me."
* * *
Doug had never been under the stage before. It was a maze. He looked into one door after another, circled without realizing it, and found Twyla in a room full of clothes racks hung with theater costumes. The whole maze was empty but for the two of them.
She smiled at the expression on his face and hung a pirate costume along with other pirate costumes. "Did you get lost?"
"Twice, I think." He put his backpack down by the door. "What do you want me to do?" Doug watched Twyla while he waited for her answer. She wore tight blue jeans and a loose-fitting shirt. Did he see her tits move under the fabric? He couldn't tell, and then she turned away. She seemed a little nervous when she turned back, but she didn't do anything to stop him from looking.
"There's a rack full of dresses over in the corner. We need to hang them back in order on a rack over here. Can you roll them over?" She ducked through the costumes, and disappeared.
Doug found the rack of dresses, but then he had to figure out where Twyla went. He pulled the rack behind him and peered down each aisle until her found her. "What are these for?"
"Those were for 'Cinderella.' You didn't see it, did you? I was the fairy godmother. Hand me the pink dress on the end."
Doug found the dress and handed it over to Twyla. His hand touched hers as she took the hanger, and he rubbed the spot she touched because it seemed to tingle a little. "I didn't see it. I was probably playing some video game instead. Was it good?"
She checked a number pinned to the dress and hung it in its spot. "Of course it was good. Now the next one." She was quiet for a second. "Do you think it's odd that we don't talk more, I mean, as long as we've known each other and all."
Doug handed over the next dress. "We used to spend a lot of time together when you lived next door, but not after you guys moved. Maybe we don't have a lot in common." He grinned at a shared memory. "Except for playing doctor when we were six."
Twyla sidestepped down the aisle to hang the dress. "I don't remember a game or a doctor. I remember being seriously curious, and I remember that you let me find out how different we were. Next."
Doug passed another dress, and another touch tingled on his hand. "'Playing Doctor' is just a figure of speech, but I remember it."
"And have you told Earl about it? Just give me the next two together. I know they go together."
He had both dresses in one hand and passed them over. "I haven't told Earl. It doesn't seem like a thing to talk about."
"Really? I told Micki
all
about it." Twyla looked up with a little grin. "Do you still have that little birthmark on your butt? Give me the last dress."
Doug felt his face redden. He handed her the last dress and watched her put it away. "Those things don't change."
"No? Some things do." She tucked the dress into its spot and turned back to Doug. "What you saw then has changed a lot."
"Well, yeah. Some things change." Doug shifted from one foot to another and watched for signs in Twyla's expression or her body language. "We could do that again, you know. It'd be kind of a refresher."
It sounded so stupid that Doug suddenly regretted saying it. What would she think?
Twyla laughed. It was a nervous laugh, and she seemed to cut it off before its natural end. "We're alone here, but that just seems like trouble. We're too old for that, aren't we?" She stopped and watched Doug's face. "I'll do it if you do it." She twirled her finger to show him what she wanted. "Turn around."
Doug's head was spinning, but he turned around and listened to the sounds behind him while he opened his shirt, and then his belt, and pushed his jeans down. He heard the rustle of fabric, and then Twyla's voice. "You can turn back now."
He waddled around with his jeans around his knees, and stood with both hands over his cock. She waited with one arm across her chest and one hand over the dark patch of her pubic hair.
Twyla looked Doug up and down. "We're both cheating. Count of three? One. Two. Three." They both dropped their hands.
Doug saw a look of disappointment flit across Twyla's face. He would have covered himself again, but he realized that she saw the same expression cross his face. He was pale and skinny. His uncontrolled hard-on gave her a good review, but he wasn't the rugged man she might have hoped for. Her body was soft and a little shapeless. Her breasts weren't small, but they weren't full and round like the nude models he saw online.
Disappointed or not, they were both fascinated. Doug reached for Twyla then hesitated. "Can I touch you?"
Twyla didn't answer at once. Her eyes were on Doug's chest, and she pulled her hand back just before she touched him. "No. We shouldn't. That's enough." She turned away again. "This isn't a good time, and if we started, I wouldn't want to stop."
Doug hurried to pull his jeans up and button his shirt. "Is later a good time? When is a good time?" He stopped with his shirt half closed. "Are you going to tell Micki all about this?"
"Maybe I will." She turned around to face Doug again with her clothes all back in place. "Are you going to tell Earl?"
"That couldn't be good." The bell to end the period interrupted him. "He told me that you let him touch your tits, but then you didn't let me." He tried to squelch the hurt tone in his voice, but it didn't work.
"That was then, and he groped me through my shirt and my bra. It wasn't like this, and he's been trying to do it again ever since. Maybe when he tries again I'll just let him do it and see what he has in mind.
"Don't tell him that. Let him figure it out."
