Jade could hear her mother on the phone in the hall tearing a strip from Caitlyn's mother. She knew what it was about; it was the same thing that had got her sent to her room. Sent to her room at eighteen years old, treated like a child. And banned from ever seeing Caitlyn again, although even her mother must have realised that, at her age and with today's countless ways of communicating, the ban was pretty meaningless.
It was just bad luck that led to her mother catching the pair of them masturbating together in her lounge, sitting in opposite chairs with the legs wide open and everything on show, and so engrossed that they didn't hear her come in. It wasn't as if they were touching each other, they were just watching each other do it to themselves, and very erotic it was too.
If truth be told Jade would have happily let Caitlyn play with her and vice-versa, for she had reached an experimental stage where her sexuality could be whatever she wanted it to be, and she was wondering quite seriously about girls. But they'd kept their hands strictly to themselves and she couldn't see what was so bad about a bit of self love in the company your oldest and bestest friend.
She put her ear to the door to see if she could catch what was being said.
'I suppose you don't find anything wrong with it, do you?' Her mother was saying, shouting really. There was a pause for a reply.
'No, I'm not surprised. In fact I expect you encouraged her, especially after what we all know about you.'
Jade listened more closely, intrigued by whatever it was that they all knew.
'No! Absolutely not. I don't know why I let one of my daughters get mixed up with a child of yours in the first place. I should have known she'd get corrupted by the daughter of a dyke.'
Another pause.
'Yes, I did say dyke. Everybody knows that you prefer your own sex, and so it's no surprise that your daughter does too.'
Jade frowned. Caitlyn was not and never had been a lesbian as far as Jade knew. She had never made any approaches to Jade or anyone else for that matter. Jade only wished she had, because she wouldn't have said no and then her mother would really have had something to worry about. Even the magazine that had fuelled their libidos had been one of male pinups and pop stars. But of course that had been conveniently ignored in the maternal quest to place the blame elsewhere.
'Now kindly keep your perverted offspring away from my child.'
Jade heard her mother slam down the phone.
She sat on her bed, thinking about it and reproaching herself for not trying it on with Caitlyn. Because after all, it could hardly have ended worse even if Caitlyn had taken offence at unwanted advances and stormed off. It was, Jade thought, perhaps a shame that it had not been Caitlyn's mother instead of Caitlyn. Things might have gone so much further if what her own mother had said was true.
She sat thinking about Mrs Thorpe, Caitlyn's mother, and wondering if it was true about her. It probably was, she decided, because she's always been very friendly, over friendly now she thought about it, letting her hand rest against her shoulder or slipping an arm briefly around her waist. Not that she had ever come on to her in an obvious way, but then she wouldn't, would she, because that way lay vilification and ostracism by the hypocritical community in which they lived. Jade wondered if she might respond if she, Jade, made the first move. That would be one in the eye for her mother, wouldn't it? But that depended on Mrs Thorpe actually being that way inclined.
If she was, then she could make any girl happy. Just shy of forty, Brenda Thorpe was petite, with a gorgeously trim figure, a blonde page boy hairstyle, glasses, and a mischievous smile that was almost permanently plastered across her elfin features. Jade would have loved it to have been her sitting opposite with her panties around one ankle and her legs wide apart. She could feel herself getting moist again at the idea, and an impulsive revenge-driven decision was made. Before the summer was through, she would have Brenda Thorpe in bed.
The next question was how?
It was not to prove as difficult as Jade expected. She left it a couple of days and, when she knew Caitlyn would be out, she rang her home on the pretext of wanting to apologise for getting her into trouble. It was, of course, her mother she found herself talking to. Would she pass on Jade's apologies for the bother she had landed her in, and would Mrs Thorpe accept an apology for the call her own mother hand made to her. Yes, of course she would tell Caitlyn she'd rung, and she needn't worry about her mother's call because it would take more than that to ruffle her feathers. Caitlyn's mother then went on to make her an offer.
'Look As far as I'm concerned Caitlyn can spend as much time with you as she wants, and what you get up to is your business. You're both old enough to do anything you like. If you want privacy just come round here and let me know to keep out of your way.'
Jade's heart beat faster. Things were going her way.
'I wouldn't mind about you, Mrs Thorpe....'
'Call me Brenda.'
'Oh, right. Well Brenda.' The name sounded strange coming from her lips. 'I wouldn't mind if you walked in on us, but maybe Caitlyn might feel embarrassed, with you being her mother and all.'
Here was a distinct pause before she answered.
'Yes, I can understand that. I'd be embarrassed too, although I wouldn't be if it was just you.'
Jade had the distinct feeling that she was being probed.
'Then maybe if I need a bit of privacy, can I come around on my own?' She said it with a deliberate light-hearted 'I want to be able to deny it' note to her voice.
There was that pause again.
'Yes, of course you can. How much privacy would you need?'
'Not a lot. It's much more exciting with someone else there.' Jade paused to give Brenda the chance to change tack before continuing, her voice taking on a breathless quality from the hopeful pounding of her heart. 'Especially if that someone else is a bit older and more experienced and can show me what to do. I really want to learn a whole lot more.'
The pause this time was much longer, until Jade thought she was about to be warned off. Eventually the reply came.
'Caitlyn is away for the day on Tuesday, if you come around then, I can teach you all you need to know.'
'Oh god, Mrs Thorpe, I was hoping you'd say that.'
'There is a condition.'
'What's that?' Jade asked anxiously.
'For god's sake call me Brenda.'
On Tuesday Jade worked her way steadily up the hill, her bright blue eyes flitting nervously around her. The slope was kind and her long slender legs and eighteen year old body should have sent her bounding up it, but today she was hanging back, unconsciously taking her time and delaying the moment when she would be knocking at Brenda's door, even though she had been through it countless times before. She was late, more than an hour late, all down to her anxious struggle between her head that told her not to go anywhere near the place, and her body that insisted she did.
She had prevaricated and hesitated, unsure if she was doing the right thing, astonished with herself for having revealed her bicurious tendency to her friend's mother but glad she had, all at the same time. Now she was on her way to turn that curiosity into reality, under a strict instruction from Brenda to keep the meeting secret, absolutely secret.
Jade was half the age of her potential partner, but that is how she wanted it. She didn't want to be introduced to girl on girl sex by someone as nervous and inexperienced as herself, she wanted to be taught -- no, instructed, that was a better word -- by an older and more confident woman. Slightly submissive by nature, she had told Brenda that she would do anything she was told to, and that she wanted her partner to do whatever they fancied to her. This was the day when fantasy became reality, and she learned what it was actually like to be with a woman. It had started off as spiting her mother but now she knew it was more than that, it was an inbuilt dream.
Her heart was already beating faster than the slope warranted and her palms already a little damper than she might expect when she came to the house she sought. Her heart leapt and her mouth suddenly went dry, and she stopped dead in the street to gaze at the white painted door that carried it. Behind that door lay the experience she so wanted and yet was so frightened of. Now was the moment of decision. She had come all this way and now she hesitated. What if she didn't like it, what if it repelled her, what if, what if... What if she never tried and never knew? She squared her shoulders, licked her lips, and walked resolutely up to the door, her finger hesitating for several long seconds before stabbing down on the bell-push and announcing her presence.
Brenda answered the door wearing a moss green bathrobe, her short blonde hair looking even more beautiful than Jade remembered against the dark colour. Jade stared, sure that Brenda was already nude beneath the robe and abruptly aware of the reality of what she was doing. She swallowed hard and forced an anxious smile.
'Hi, I'm...' She stammered. 'I'm sorry I'm late.'
Brenda smiled at the nervous way her guest had introduced herself, and nodded in welcome. 'Not a problem, I understand. Come in, Jade, it's nice to see you again. I was worried that you weren't coming.'
She moved back to allow Jade to enter, still surprised, even though they knew each other well, when the much younger girl towered over her by a good nine inches. With her petite frame and waiflike features, Brenda looked for all the world like a real life Tinkerbelle, cute but feisty, whereas Jade, at five-eleven tall, was a gangly beanpole.
