The 6:00 alarm went off for the third time. I hit the snooze button — the four hours of sleep I had managed were clearly not sufficient to get out of bed. Five minutes later, I was about to slap the snooze again when I heard a knock at the door.
"Don't hit it again Carrie." My step-mother-kind-of, Kelly giggled from the hall.
I groaned and climbed out of bed. The contract was all over the bed. I gathered it up and put it in my book bag, so I wouldn't forget it. Minutes later, the water was nice and hot, and I let it wake me up. I just stood there for too long, but never long enough in my opinion. Starting with shampoo, I washed myself from the head down.
I suddenly wished I had some moisturizer to put on my skin, like I had done Jill's yesterday. No time for that today though. I went to find the most conservative outfit I could find. Which, honestly, was pretty slutty. The green skirt wasn't too much shorter than the one I wore yesterday, but it was above mid-thigh and would keep me tugging at it all day to be sure I wasn't flashing my butt.
I had a problem. It was Friday morning and I had four pairs of panties, and I had left one pair in Julie's locker last night. And I hadn't done any laundry. Well, I was not going to school without underwear, if I had an option not to. So, I took the three pair I still had and gave each a sniff to see which smelled cleanest. I know, it's gross, but the blue boy shorts were in pretty good shape and I sprayed them with a bit of perfume ... probably a bit more than I should have.
Bra, yes, I wore the red one and it showed right through the pink shirt that was the closest thing to matching the green skirt while not showing of the bra. I shrugged. It was going to take a while to replace everything I lost to Darla.
Shouldering my backpack, I took the steps down to join Kelly for breakfast.
"Good morning Carrie!" Kelly smiled. "Coffee this morning?"
"Yes!" I exclaimed. "Please!"
"You need more sleep Carrie. Seriously, you are going to get circles under your eyes if you don't get eight hours a night." Kelly warned, as she added sugar and creamer to my cup and handed it to me. She was at least wearing panties and a slightly transparent nightshirt this morning. A huge improvement from the open robe yesterday.
I sipped it slowly and then decided to have some breakfast. I fried a couple of eggs and asked Kelly if she wanted any. She didn't, so I just made the two.
"So, what do you do Kelly?" I asked.
"You mean when I'm not being a domestic goddess?" She giggled.
I laughed. "Yeah."
"Just retail stuff Carrie, nothing interesting." She said. "It makes me a little spending money, and it's low effort."
"I'm so glad Julie is coming back tonight. How are things with the two of you?"
"Good. Really good. I think..." I stopped myself, before I divulged too much. I had said a bit too much though, Kelly was looking at me, smiling expectantly. "I think we are going to be incredible some day."
Kelly laughed. "I don't doubt it. I think you are incredible now." She got up and walked towards me.
I turned back to my eggs and focused on them, flipping them with a spatula to provide an excuse for looking away from her, even though they were not quite ready to be flipped.
She stepped right up behind me. I could feel the warmth of her body before her breasts pressed barely against my back. A shiver ran through me and I shifted forward to avoid the contact. She only stepped closer again and I really had nowhere to go.
"Kelly, what are you doing?" I asked in a soft voice. I was terribly uncomfortable, and I wanted her to know it.
"Just watching you cook." Kelly replied, her lips so close to my ear, I could feel her breath.
I could feel her breasts against my back again. I whimpered as quietly as I could.
"You have the cutest butt." Kelly giggled, and she gave my ass a quick squeeze, one hand on each cheek.
I gasped out loud and turned to confront her. The squeeze was fast, and she had already turned and started walking back to the table, before I had gotten my body turned around. "Please don't do that Kelly." I said to her back.
Kelly stopped walking and turned back to face me with a grin on her lips. "What? Squeeze your butt?" Kelly asked incredulously, as if it was ridiculous to be offended.
"Yeah... I... that made me uncomfortable." I said, my face pink with embarrassment at having to say something that should be so obvious.
Kelly shrugged and looked at me like she was confused. "Did it? It's no big deal Carrie. My girlfriends and I do stuff like that all the time. Paying each other compliments. I ..." She stopped talking and sighed. "I'm sorry Carrie, it's a little difficult for me to figure out how to fit into your life. I mean, I'm not old enough to be a maternal figure, so I thought being closer to a friend would be more appropriate."
I bit my lip. She looked a bit hurt, but she needed to know my girlfriends and I did not go around grabbing each other's ass. She needed to understand touching me was inappropriate. I was at a bit of a loss that she didn't understand without me saying it.
She saw the expression on my face and before I could elaborate, she started to press her own position. "Carrie, I like you. I can tell you are a good kid, but you are definitely confused, while experimenting with sex. There is nothing wrong with that. You are eighteen, you are, by all definitions of the word, an adult. I'm not saying this to presume some kind of debt you owe me, but I have been advocating for your freedom from the time you moved in here."
"Your dad was ready to pull the plug on everything this week. The job, the dating, even transferring you to a closer school to get you away from whatever you are into. I went out on a limb to argue your case for you. I'm not trying to buy your friendship, but I hope you understand, I am your friend in this. It's only October. You have a whole year left of school and to get to know your Dad again. I want that for him. If he pulls you out of school in your senior year, I know you will rebel, and he will miss the opportunity before you go away to college next fall."
"He thinks he can control things better by breaking you away from everyone, with the exception of Julie, who he knows from when you were little. But, how often will you see each other, if he has you coming straight home from the local high school?" Kelly asked.
"I ..." I flipped the eggs once more and didn't face her, as I took in what she was saying. "Thank you, Kelly." I managed. "I just, have a lot on my mind today. I do appreciate him. I really do. I am used to being trusted, perhaps a little too used to it. Mom didn't really set down much in the way of rules, we just sort of had our routines. This is all a big change."
The eggs were done, I flipped them onto a plate and turned towards the table. Kelly was seated at the table and grnd at me.
"I know it is Carrie. So, please, let me help a little where I can. Open up to me a little, so I know what you are into, and whether I should be telling him to give you some space. It would be really bad for me if I end up being wrong to tell him he should relax, and he should really be worried." Kelly said. "I promise you I won't tell him anything, you can be honest with me. But, if you keep lying to me, I'm going to have to start agreeing with him. Maybe you need to be pulled out of your current environment."
That sounded like a threat to me. I sighed. "Kelly, listen, I do appreciate what you've done. I didn't realize Dad was still thinking on those lines." I sat down next to her and she placed a hand on my thigh. I flinched, and she giggled at the reaction. She gave my thigh a reassuring squeeze. She was turned to face me, her eyes focused on my face. In spite of my discomfort, I allowed her hand to stay where it was.
"Okay, let me ask you a question." If it got her off my back, maybe I could get her advice without being too specific. "If my body reacts, like gets excited, by things it shouldn't be excited by, should I listen to my body or my mind?"
Kelly giggled. "You mean, like me squeezing your butt?" She squeezed my thigh again, and I thought she moved it up a little. "Or squeezing your thigh right now?"
"Something like that." I said in a deep exhale of breath.
"You should let me know it is uncomfortable to you, like you did." She laughed softly and took her hand away from my thigh. "I'm not saying I will stop. I'm a very physical person. But, I do appreciate your honesty and don't want you to feel uncomfortable with me."
"Now, let me ask you something. Before you discovered your homosexual tendencies, if Julie had squeezed your ass or your breasts, or kissed you on the lips, would it have been an issue for your friendship?" Kelly followed, watching my reactions.
I thought a moment. "I suppose not. I mean, we did those things briefly, just playing around. I suppose now I realize that I like her, it makes it different. We will probably never be able to do that again without it meaning something different."
"So, does that mean you feel sexually attracted to me?" Kelly pressed, the smile widening on her face.
"No!" I exclaimed immediately. Then noticing her raised eyebrow and the smile didn't fade, I realized, perhaps I protested too much. "I mean, you are very attractive Kelly, but no. It's not like that."
"Good." Kelly answered. "Finish your breakfast and go to school. I need to shower and dress for work." She leaned in and kissed my lips! A soft, quick peck, but she did it and exited the kitchen before I could protest. My mouth hung open as I watched her walking to her room.
Shaking my head to clear the thoughts that ran through it, I quickly ate my eggs and drank my coffee and put everything in the dishwasher. I made for the door to escape this... oddness.
