Otherworldly
[All characters engaging in sexual activity are 18 years or older]
****
It was a sunny and clear morning, the birds were chirping and I had a spring in my step. Being a Saturday and all, I was hoping that I could hang out with Haley, my best friend.
Our mothers had been friends for years, ever since high school, so it was only natural that their kids would hang out, too. Ever since I could remember, I was around the Thomson family. When my Dad passed away, Mom had to work even harder to support us, so she was gone for weeks at a time on business trips and Mrs. Thomson was more than willing to let me stay there for as long as I wanted.
I'll admit that Haley and I were pretty inseparable, even during high school, and we suspected that her parents were hoping that they could get us together, but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon; she was a lesbian. I didn't care, because I thought of her as a family member anyway - the little sister I never had. We would watch horror movie marathons, build impressive LEGO sets, and talk about girls. We even watched a couple porn videos together. She thought it was weird how the guy would just shove his dick into the woman, but I thought it was hot nonetheless...
I had walked down the road to the Thomson residence and knocked on the door. It was a large, three story white house with an impressive backyard. It was even big enough for both a garden and a pool! I knocked like I always do and waited. I knocked again and waited.
Confused, I went around back to the pool and pulled myself up to the top of the fence and looked over. Mrs. Thomson's sister, Stephanie, was lying on one of those beach chairs, safe from the sun's rays via a parasol. She looked asleep with a book on top of her chest. She was wearing black bikini bottoms, which I could barely see under the black beach skirt. An odd choice... She was wearing a sky blue bikini top and her brown hair was as short as she always kept it.
For the longest time, I've had a HUGE crush on Stephanie. In fact, when I was watching those videos with Haley, I was fantasizing that the woman was Stephanie and I was making passionate love to her. I don't know what it was, but when I was around her, my stomach felt like there was a whole tornado of butterflies in there, trying to get out. She had babysat me when I was a little kid, when either Haley or myself was sick and Mrs. Thomson didn't want the other to get sick. She would read me bedtime stories and check under my bed for monsters. She was so kind and beautiful...
I tried several times to get her attention, whispering louder and louder. "Pssst! Pssst! Aunt Stephanie! Pssst!"
She finally began to stir and looked around to see what was making noise. She jumped when she saw me on the fence.
"Oh, Timothy. Don't scare me like that!"
"Sorry Aunt Stephanie," I apologized.
"I keep telling you to just call me Steph... Hang on, I'll let you in." Steph went around the pool and to the fence gate to let me in.
We went back around the pool and I asked, "Is Haley here?"
"Oh, sorry, but sis and Haley had to make a trip two towns over. Something about having to return a sweater..."
"Ah. Maybe I could keep you company until they get back?"
Stephanie got nervous... "No! I... I mean, I'll be OK. Go ahead and watch TV until they get back. I think Sarah made cookies yesterday..."
She knew how harsh she had sounded and looked like she wanted to say something else, but stopped herself and walked back to her chair.
Stephanie has always acted strangely around men. It seemed like she thought every guy had the black death and steered clear of them, no matter how they tried to woo her (well, she got along with Mr. Thomson well enough).
She was obviously unmarried. As far as I'd known she never went on any dates. Haley told me that she overheard her Mom say that 'Aunt Steph' was the 'party girl' of the family, but one day she just stopped. No more parties, no more boyfriends. Steph didn't tell anyone why. She just stuck around and helped raise Sarah's family. She only left the house if she absolutely had to; apparently she worked via Etsy, selling quilts and pillows.
Haley and I had discussed why her aunt acted so strangely. She thought that Aunt Steph was an closeted lesbian (apparently Haley's grandfather was the 'fire and brimstone' type), but I just thought that she became shy...
Steph even became nervous around me, especially when I hit puberty. Other guys I guess I could understand, but me? She practically raised me. I would never hurt her...
Looking downwards, I asked, "Stephanie, do... Do you hate me now?"
She turned around, shocked. "Timothy! Oh no, never! It's... A lot more complicated than that. You wouldn't understand--"
I looked up at her with pleading eyes, "Then please tell me so I can!"
Steph looked into my eyes, trying to think. She closed her eyes and breathed very deeply. She muttered something under her breath, but I didn't hear what she said. With an unusual look of determination, she grabbed my arm and we went into the house through the sliding doors. She led me up the both stairs to her room (technically one of the two guest rooms, which this one was adjacent to the storage room). Steph had a large, very plush looking bed, a bureau with a built-in mirror that doubled as her work station, and a chest where she kept her sewing kit and materials. The room also had several boxes stacked onto one another and a collapsible clothes rack that had a multitude of dresses, shirts, and pants hanging from it. There was just a small, circular window, just big enough to allow some light into the room, besides the lamps on her nightstand and bureau.
I was shocked and a bit intimidated. I'd never been inside a girl's room before (Haley's doesn't count) and the thrill was kinda intoxicating.
"Tim," Steph said, getting my attention. She stared off, trying to think of what to say. "I... The thing is..." She gave up and simply grabbed hold of her bottoms and swiftly pulled them down. Even more shocked, I quickly held my hand in front of my face. I desperately wanted to look down, to fulfill my wet dreams, but I had too much respect for Steph to do that...
What the hell is she doing?!
I heard her walk very close to me and I could feel her breath on my neck. I was readily pitching a tent, to say the least.
Steph calmly took my hand away from my face, but I was determined to not see her naked, so I just stared into her deep blue eyes. "Timothy," she said, "do you trust me?"
"Of course!"
"And am I right in believing that I can trust you? That whatever happens in this room, whatever you see, that it stays in this room? Our secret that nobody knows, not my sister and not Haley?"
"I'd like to think that you can, yeah."
"Then... Just don't panic, OK?" Stephanie then walked backwards so that I'd see what she was referring to.
I looked down and saw something that completely perplexed me; where Steph's entrance should've been was a small mass of tentacles. My brows knitted together as I tried to find my own words. I may not have seen a vagina in real life, but I've seen plenty of porn at home, so I was pretty confident in thinking that there was something not quite right.
I looked at Steph, but her head was downcast. "I don't know why this happened, but when I was a senior in high school, this," she gestured to the tentacles, "appeared one day. I was so horrified. I-I had no idea what to do. I was the partier who, well, loved to get it on. I had a new boyfriend almost every month."
She put both hands on her face. "I had to shut myself away. If anyone found out about this, my life would be over. I'd be the freak of the town, they'd call the government or something, and I'd be dead on an operating table because they'd think I was an alien. Fuck, maybe I am an alien!"
I looked down again. "Uh--"
"My vagina is down there, yes, it's just these things have surrounded it, like they replaced the pubes that are supposed to be there. Shit, I can't even tell my own sister about this!"
I saw how vulnerable Steph was feeling. She looked back at me with fear and tears welling in her eyes. She was so worried of how her family would react, feeling like she was turning into a monster. She must've felt so alone...
I had to say something, do something. If I didn't, I'd just be confirming her fears.
I walked up to Steph. I held onto her upper arms. I said, "I love you," and kissed her.
She was so taken aback that she had to step back a couple of steps. "Wha-what did you..."
"I love you, I've always loved you. You are the most kind, gentle, beautiful woman to ever exist and you should never, NEVER think otherwise."
I tried to get closer, but Steph held her hand out to stop me. "I-I thought that--"
"Me and Haley were a thing? Man, if she ever found out that I told you... Haley is gay." Steph's eyes widened.
"In fact," I laughed, "She thought you were gay, too, and wanted to ask you for dating advice..."
"I never knew..."
"Nobody does, except for me and now you. So I guess we both have secrets to keep." I smiled at her.
"You can't."
"What?"
"You can't love me."
"I do."
"I'm old enough to be your mother and...I'M A FREAK!"
"I loved you before today and I love you now."
"You don't know what you're talking about. It's just hormones, you'll get over it--"
"Did that kiss seem like I'll get over it?"
She stared at me with apprehension. "You know how wrong this sounds, right?"
"If this is wrong, then I never want to be right."
Steph actually cracked a smirk, "That was so cliche."
"Cliche, but true."
She just stared at me for a while before she said, "You really mean it, don't you?"
"I've never been more serious than now." I tried to walk closer to Steph and her arm lowered, letting me.
I went for another kiss and this time, Steph kissed me back. It felt like my heart was going to explode from how fast it was pumping. We made out passionately, and soon our tongues were fighting for dominance. Steph began to walk me backwards until the edge of her bed hit the back of my legs and I fell onto it. She swiftly untied her bikini top, which fell right to the floor, along with my jaw.