It was her father's idea to name her that, since his last name was Day. Back then, it was a cutesy thing to do, though in the beginning Holly wasn't too sure about that. Eventually, however, she liked it as it always reminded her of better days and a happier way of life.
Holly and I had been best friends ever since grade school. With reddish brown hair that fell way past her shoulders, green eyes and a picture perfect figure that had the boys drooling, it was in a way comical to know, a secret back then, she had no interest in them, none whatsoever, even though I wasn't to learn this for a while yet.
I was a little chubbier then too, though that was partially due to the fact that I developed fairly early on, so my breasts seemed to fill out overnight, and with the insecurity that went along with that, having "tits" when no one else really seemed to, caused me to eat a little more than I should have. I got a lot of teasing about my size, but realized a year or so later, it was more jealousy because I had boobs, and most of the other girls growing up with me didn't. The only one who never teased me, and who befriended me of course, was Holly.
The fact that she lived just a couple of doors down made it easy for us to spend a lot of time together as well. And being an only child, my mother all but adopted Holly and welcomed her at our home as much as Holly's mother welcomed me at theirs, especially that first year of High School when everything seemed to happen at once. When Holly's father left her mother for another woman, and when I first learned the truth about who my best friend in the world truly was.
By now of course I had shed all of those chubby little girl pounds and had filled out most of my five foot nine inch frame. One of the advantages of that of course at the time, was that I was taller than most of the boys in my class, and held it over them to some degree for the torturing teases a lot of them had forced me to endure growing up through grade-school. Not that I was a knock-out or anything like that, Holly was the real beauty, but cute enough to receive a great deal of attention, though I still attributed a lot of that to my larger than average sized breasts. I had grown out my dark auburn hair, trying to emulate Holly's I suppose, though it wasn't quite as long as hers, but we had spent many hours brushing one another's hair together, and which in a strange sort of way, is what brought me onto the path of sexual discovery and the long hidden secret about my friend.
The big thing was, we had finally graduated from high school and with summer vacation finally at hand, Holly and I looked forward to spending a lot more time together, especially the sleep-overs which both of our families welcomed, primarily because they knew where we always were for one thing, and for another, neither of us was involved with boys at the time, not that we didn't get a lot of attention from them, we both did. But with Holly shrugging them off like water on a duck's back, I tended to follow along doing the same.
We had spent a good part of the evening brushing one another's hair as we often did, having first slipped into our PJ's, which for me usually consisted of a short baby-doll nightie of one sort or another. Holly had always worn simpler things to bed, such as a loose fitting white tee shirt, and plain cotton white panties. And it was of course no big deal dressing, or undressing in front of one another either. After all, I had seen her naked in the showers at school for a couple of years now, just as she had seen me. We'd watched one another develop, change, even on occasion commenting on those changes, and several times doing laughable, childish comparisons of one another. I was in the process of slipping into one of my night gowns as Holly sat at her dressing table, already wearing her favorite nightly attire when she spoke, stopping me in stride.
"You really do have beautiful breasts," she told me. Like I said, she'd commented on them before, we both had. But I'd never heard her call them beautiful before.
"Thank you," I said feeling a little silly, then slipped into the top I had brought along preparing to button it up. "No don't, let me look at you for a moment," Holly said surprising me once again. I don't know why that flustered me, or why it suddenly felt different as she stood and walked over. But in the next instant she stood cupping my breasts in her hands, and then kissed me.
For a moment, I didn't know what the hell to do, so I simply stood there kissing her back, letting her feel up my boobs with my mind racing a hundred miles an hour. Seconds later she broke off the kiss and immediately apologized.
"No reason for you to do that Holly!" I told her, a strange sort of excitement pulsating through my entire body. I certainly wasn't shocked by it either, not really. I knew a few of the other girls in school had kissed other girls, and many of them having done so long before we just had. A natural normal things for many women to do growing up, expressing curiosity, and romancing, or fantasizing about those first grown up kisses that would come later on, though most girls were using one another to practice on prior to that happening.
"Yes there is," she told me sitting back down in her seat. "There's something you need to know Mandy, something I've never told you about."
I knew she was being serious, she was wearing that serious expression on her face she always wore when it really was serious, like the time she had told me about her father's leaving, and then a year later when she informed me how her mother was dating another man, and how much she hated the guy already, primarily because of the way he looked at Holly whenever her mother wasn't around.
"So what? Tell me," I urged her now sitting down on the corner of the bed across from her. I didn't even realize, nor consider it really, that I still hadn't finished doing up the top of my nightgown. My full breasts continued to sit there in full view, my nipples actually hardened by the quick gentle caress of Holly's hands.
She spoke, though still gazing towards me, her eyes obviously locked onto my breasts though for a moment longer, the reason behind that still hadn't struck home, until she looked up into my eyes and then told me.
I was at first shocked. Back then, gays and lesbians really were in the closet, I mean you never really heard anything about them, and you certainly didn't openly see anything. The fact that Holly had come straight out and told me that she found girls/women attractive, and that she wasn't attracted at all towards men, still had me struggling to accept it. As I sat there listening to her, listening to all the years of pain she had struggled with her feelings, her hidden secrets, I began to see a side of Holly I had never known before, and finally, clearly had come to understand. Even having said that, I still wasn't sure how I felt about it personally. I knew that I was indeed attracted to men, a few of them anyway, but more importantly, had never really entertained thoughts or fantasies towards women. Until now.
#
As it turned out however, Holly's revelation to me came during the worst week of my entire life. Less than a few days later, she and I both learned that her mother had agreed to marry the guy that Holly absolutely despised, and worse, that her mother was pregnant. In addition to that, her soon to be stepfather had taken a new job in California, and had announced to Holly that they would soon be moving. Holly begged, even pleaded with her mother to at least spend some additional time with me. My parents had even agreed to let her do that, as there was plenty of room. All to no avail however, as both Holly's mother and soon to be stepfather were adamant about her moving with them. Holly's only consolation being that she had always wanted to see California.
We spent that last night together at my place. A night I wouldn't soon forget, and would spend the next year alone thinking about many a time.
#
A year later I had taken on a job at a local bar, and though we had continued to correspond, even talk on the phone several times, it just wasn't the same. We missed one another certainly, but I could tell that Holly was becoming withdrawn and even more depressed. Then one evening I received a phone call from her.
"Holly!" I said with delight when I realized it was her. "What's up, how've you been?" She was half laughing, half crying.
"I'm coming home Mandy," she told me. "I'm finally coming home!"
"What? What happened? What do you mean? What are you talking about?" I stammered into the phone. She laughed again trying to get me to shut up.
"If you'd quit talking for a moment, I'll tell you." Then she did.
I knew from previous conversations with her over the phone that she truly hated her new stepfather, and with good reason, which she now had confirmed with me as she spoke. She had told me before that whenever she had found herself alone with him, how he was always leering at her, making suggestive or totally inappropriate comments about her body, how she dressed, and that she was nothing but a slutty little cock-teaser. She had laughed at that, for little did he ever really know. But then one night less than a month ago, he had come home late from work, actually late from the bar as Holly new the truth of it to be. Her mother now admitting to having reservations about marrying him, though doing so because of the pregnancy and feeling like Holly's little sister had needed a father. A decision she would come to regret. Holly had heard her stepfather come home, pretending sleep of course as she heard him climb the stairs towards their rooms. Most often, he would simply turn and head down the hall in the opposite direction, but every once in a while, he would stop, quietly open her door and peek in towards her. Holly had once asked for a lock to be placed on her bedroom door to ensure her privacy, but he had forbidden it, using some flimsy excuse of needing to get into her room in the event of some stupid emergency. She hated that, hated when he would stand there in the doorway looking towards her in the darkness for several long moments before finally closing the door, leaving. Holly would be holding her breath, fearful of what she thought him capable of doing. This night, he had come up the stairs, and as Holly had feared, stopped, opening her door. But this time, he came into her room, closing the door behind him. He had walked over towards her bed, though Holly had tucked herself deeply beneath the covers. And though she couldn't see him, she could hear him. She heard as he unzipped his fly, heard as he began masturbating himself while standing over her, mumbling to himself about her constantly teasing him with her supple little body, her cute perky tits, and her near perfect ass that she was always showing off beneath her too short, short-shorts. Had it not been for the light in her bedroom suddenly coming on, the shriek of her mother's own voice yelling at him to get out of her daughter's bedroom, Holly wasn't sure what just might have happened otherwise. To her immediate relief of course, they had kicked him out and were coming home again. Holly's mother had already arranged to get her old job back as a hairdresser, and her Uncle had already managed to find them a new place to stay. They wouldn't exactly be living a few doors down as they once had of course, but they would only be living a few miles away.
"Oh Holly! I mean I'm sorry that all that happened!" I told her, meaning it. But I was also elated that I would soon be seeing my very best friend in the whole wide world once again. "When? How soon will you be here?" I asked.
"Well, mom did say I could come earlier and stay with you for a few days, provided it was alright with your folks," she said hopefully.
