Bethany put the girls to bed. Then she went downstairs to the living room to watch television. She began to feel bored. It was only eight o'clock, and Mrs Boxwell wasn't expected home until ten or later. She sighed. After flipping through the channels, she put down the remote and went into the kitchen. On the counter she found a set of keys. Curious, she wondered what they were all for. Just eighteen, a senior in high school, Bethany considered herself a good student and always the good girl. But tonight she was feeling restless for some reason. Knowing she shouldn't do it, she went to the liquor cabinet and tried each key in turn. Sure enough one of the keys turned the lock. Inside were bottles of tequila, rum, vodka. Excited, she poured a small amount of vodka into a glass and tasted it. It was awful! But then she remembered that adults put something with it: she poured orange juice into it and that made the vodka more tolerable. She returned to the living room and watched TV. Her cellphone rang. She went to her purse to get it. It was her friend Lissy.
"Hey."
"Hey, what's up?"
"Nothing. I'm babysitting tonight."
"Oh, yeah."
"But why don't you come over..." Bethany giggled.
"What?"
"I did something bad."
"What?"
"Just come over."
Lissy was there in ten minutes. Olive-skinned with long black hair, she was part Mexican and Indian. She had been friends with Bethany since they were in grade school together. She came in, smiling her radiant smile that made her so popular in school.
"Well? What is it?"
"I got into Mrs Boxwell's liquor. I know I shouldn't have, but..."
"Nu-uh!"
"So do you want a drink?" Bethany giggled.
Lissy smiled, cheeks dimpling. "All right. Sure."
"Go sit on the couch. I'll make it for you."
Bethany was already feeling tipsy and a little light-headed. But that didn't stop her from mixing another drink for herself. Knowing that Lissy had more experience with drinking than she did, she put an extra amount of vodka in the drink--but she left enough in the bottle that she hoped that Mrs Boxwell wouldn't notice that any was missing.
"Here you go."
"Thanks."
They watched TV and drank. They laughed at a sitcom and then a show on MTV. Then came a show called NEXT about dating, but it had only girls. One girl chose among other girls for her date.
"This is weird."
"She's pretty hot, though."
"Lissy!" Bethany looked at her friend. "Is it true? Lissy is a lezzy?"
"Shut up!"
They punched each other. After watching for a while longer, Lissy took off her sweater.
"This is getting hot," she said.
"This is? What, you or the room?"
Lissy looked at her friend. "Have you even kissed a boy, Bethany?"
"Of course I have!" But Bethany was lying. Her face was red.
"I don't care. I was just wondering..."
They were silent for a long moment. Finally, putting down her empty glass, Lissy spoke again.
"You want to try it?"
"What?"
"You know. Kissing. I could teach you some things."
Bethany felt her heart beat hard. She wanted to kiss her friend, but she was scared. What if people found out? She remembered being very young and seeing girls kiss each other and her friend at the time said ewwwh, it was gross! And ever since then Bethany thought her friend was right. But now that Lissy was on the couch with her, why not? Who would know? Or maybe it was vodka talking...
"Come on. It's just us. Who cares? I'm not a lezzie. And you're not either."
"Yeah..."
"Well?"
Smiling, Lissy leaned in. Bethany could smell her friend's alcoholic breath. Then her lips touched hers. They were soft; the upper lip grazed Bethany's lower lip. The kiss ended.
"That wasn't much. Is that how you're going to kiss David?"
"Shut up! No. Just..."
"Well, come on."
Lissy, becoming more aggressive, leaned in and kissed her friend with her mouth open. Resisting at first, Bethany finally opened her mouth and felt her friend's tongue enter her mouth. She pulled back, feeling dizzy, but Lissy kept at it. Her body was close to Bethany's. Then the kiss ended.
"Mmm. This is good. You're good!"
Bethany blushed. "Thanks."
Lissy kissed her again, and this time Bethany, emboldened by her friend's compliment, put her tongue in her friend's mouth.
"Mmaghph!"
Lissy put a hand on Bethany's arm; then the hand moved to Bethany's breasts. The hand felt them and kneaded them as they continued to kiss. Bethany moaned; she had given up resisting. Everything was feeling too good. And if they happened to do something wrong, well... what did it matter? She was thinking these thoughts as Lissy's hand cupped her right breast when both girls heard a sound. It was a throat being cleared. Someone was in the room!
"What's going on here?"
It was Mrs Boxwell! Home early from her meeting, she stood behind the couch where the girls sat, arms folded. In her late thirties, she had long blonde hair, gold earrings, and a youthful face. But the youth in her face was currently severe and angry.
"Well? Who is this in my house, Bethany?"