It was Marci Jensen's 18th birthday, and to look at her you'd have thought that here was a girl who had it all. The beautiful high school senior was tall, slender, blonde, & popular with boys & girls alike. It seems it had always been that way, for as long as anyone could remember. And so it was no surprise when, on the day after her high school graduation, Marci hosted a birthday party at her house and invited her entire class.
Marci's family was fairly wealthy, and they had a huge backyard with an enormous swimming pool situated in it. And, as hers wasn't a particularly large high school, there was room for all 73 graduating seniors to mingle about. The only thing that could possibly have spoiled the day for Marci was seeing her boyfriend Brad kissing Valerie Burleson in the kitchen. It wasn't so much that Marci loved him (she didn't), as much as was this public display of his infidelity. Marci was more angry than hurt, but she couldn't exactly leave in a huff as it was her own house and her own party.
Two of her cheerleader friends, Claire & Caitlyn, attempted to comfort her, but they both did a terrible job. Claire suggested Marci kiss her brother Chuck to get back at Brad, but Marci had no desire to do that. She viewed creepy Chuck as being even worse than Brad, although she didn't say so to Claire. Meanwhile, Caitlyn chided Marci for not having allowed Brad to have sex with her, reminding her that she'd said all along that this would cause him to look elsewhere. Caitlyn was convinced that the only way to keep a jock-boyfriend from straying was to give into his sexual demands. And she'd had three jock-boyfriends, so she knew what she was talking about.
Instead of listening to more of this bad advice, Marci escaped from her friends and retreated into the house, finding refuge in her father's den where she might be alone. Except that she wasn't alone, not even in there. Cora Billingsley had arrived beforehand, and was reclining on the small couch against the wall, quietly paging through a book about lighthouses.
Cora was not one of Marci's inner circle of friends. Cora was a larger girl, taller than even Marci, and she had fairly short dark hair. Marci had always thought she looked a bit butchy, like she belonged with the Goth kids, except that she didn't hang out with them, either. Cora was more of a loner. All that Marci really knew about the girl was that her dad had been a cop who was shot & killed one night, several years back, trying to arrest the driver of a stolen automobile, and that her mother now worked as a regional sales representative for a big corporation, and so was often out of town. Cora pretty much took care of herself.
At first she wanted to ask the other girl to leave the room, but before she could say anything Cora looked at her and asked with real sincerity in her voice: "What's wrong, Marci?"
And, just like that Marci's eyes began filling with tears. Cora instinctively got up and gently put her arms around the pretty blonde, sitting her down beside her on the couch, with Marci then having a good cry. It was probably the best thing Cora could have done, as Marci's anger immediately melted away. Instead of preaching at her, Cora listened patiently as Marci unburdened herself. When she was finished, Cora looked at her sympathetically before offering her a tissue with which to dry her eyes.
"What a bastard," is all she said, in reference to Marci's unfaithful boyfriend. It was enough. Both girls sat together in silence for a while before Marci decided it was time to return to the backyard and face her party guests.
"Thank you for listening, Cora," she said, smiling. "I appreciate you."
Cora followed her outside, more as moral support than anything else. She eyed Brad with hostility when he eventually tried to approach, and he thought better of making a scene as he knew Cora wasn't the kind of girl who would back down if challenged. The rest of the party continued without incident.
"What are you doing hanging around her?" Cassie Andrews later whispered to Marci when they were alone together. "Don't you know she's a lesbian?"
Marci didn't know that, but she wasn't about to let it affect her judgement. She asked Cassie where she got her information, and the other girl's answer was hardly ironclad evidence.
"My sister's boss is a dyke, and she told Sue that she saw Cora Billingsley at a lesbian bar, having a beer!"
"Well, thanks for that bit of information, Cassie," Marci responded. "But I don't ignore people just because of something your sister heard."
Still, the seed was now planted in the back of her mind, and suddenly Marci was curious. And not curious in a bad way, either. Cora certainly did look the part, and Marci found herself imagining the larger girl actually kissing her. She had seen images of lesbians before on the internet and in films, mostly showing identical-looking pretty girls (like herself) kissing one another, but she'd always thought they appeared porny & fake. She wondered what it would be like seeing a pretty cheerleader (like herself) being kissed by a more butchy-looking girl (like Cora!)
As her guests took their leave later on in the early evening, Marci declined several invitations by her girlfriends to do something together the next day, saying she needed some 'rest' - basically sitting back and do nothing. But as she said good-bye to Cora, she quietly invited her to come over the very next day.
"And bring your bathing suit. We can sit out by the pool together!"
Cora appeared to like the idea. "What time?" she asked.
"How's one o'clock?"
"I'll be there!"
Marci wasn't entirely sure why she'd invited the other girl back, but she was happy she had, and even happier that Cora had accepted.
The next day dawned sunny and bright, and Marci made her plans. Deep down, she found herself wondering if Cora might really be a lesbian, and if so, what was she prepared to do about it? Marci had never entertained even the idea of seducing another girl, but as she pondered it she was convinced she would almost certainly succeed if she tried. After all, she was young & beautiful, with shoulder-length shining blonde hair, and a swimsuit model's body, complete with long slender legs and a tight little butt that she was especially proud of. The boys had always admired her. Why not another girl?
Fortunately, her parents were leaving at noon the next day to visit Aunt Lucy across town. They had invited Marci to join them, but she'd declined, saying she had plans of her own, which was certainly true. After her folks left the house, she went into her room and put on her tiniest, sexiest bikini, the little red one with the thong bottoms that she'd never allowed her mother to even know that she'd purchased. As she gazed at her body in the full-length mirror on her bathroom door, she was pleased with the gorgeous leggy beach blonde staring back at her. When she heard the doorbell ring at around one, she quickly put on one of her father's dress shirts over the swimsuit. It was an excellent look for the girl, showing off her long legs while still serving as a covering of sorts.
When she answered the door, Cora was standing there, wearing black sweatpants and a dark blue tank top. She looked around as if expecting to see other girls. There were none. Marci invited her inside.
"It's just you & me," she explained, as if reading the other girl's thoughts. "I thought we could just lounge around by the pool and talk and listen to music."
"Yeah, that's cool," Cora responded, before then staring at Marci. "You look hot!"
"Thank you," the pretty blonde responded, inwardly thinking: "wait until she sees what I have on underneath this shirt," while actually saying: "Can I get you something to drink?"
