Nineteen, junior college cheerleader, pretty, blonde, athletic -- and sexually frustrated? It drove Jenny crazy. She'd had sex with half a dozen boys in the last five years, and could probably make it an even dozen inside of two weeks if she put her mind to it. But that wasn't what her mind was on. Jenny was tormented by her desire to have sex with a woman -- a desire she'd had absolutely no luck acting on.
She had decided to go on to college half to get an associate's degree and half to work up the courage and find the opportunity to satisfy her bi-curiosity. Even at a commuter school, she thought, there would be parties, sexual risk-taking, even, somewhere -- her dream come true -- a girl just like her, a lesbian virgin, aching to try a girl but too intimidated to work up the courage to approach a hard core dyke.
She'd meet this girl of her dreams -- her name would be Penny, Jenny and Penny -- they'd become close friends, share everything. They'd each feign surprise that the other was curious, and decide that the safe zone of their friendship was the best place to see if they liked another girl as much as they thought they would. No reason to get hurt, they'd never hurt each other in a million billion years, so why not? They'd start off hugging, caressing, her hands on Penny's ass. Then Penny would make the first move, kissing her ear. She'd inhale the scent of her hair and her knees would buckle. They'd kiss softly, then harder, licking each other's tongues and sucking each other's full lips. They'd feel each other up, grind each other's crotches together -- they would have agreed at the outset to stop as soon as either one was uncomfortable, but that time would never come. They'd rip clothes in their haste to get them off, then luxuriate in each other's naked bodies. Well, bras and panties, at first, then naked. Penny would be so wet, her panties would be damp. One hand massaging Penny's nipple under her bra while Penny massaged her ass and sucked her neck. The other hand tucking itself under Penny's damp panties, feeling the hotness of her mound, the slickness of her labia, the nub of her clit. Then...
But it never happened. Maybe with "Penny" she'd made the perfect the enemy of the good, but she just didn't have the courage to approach anyone if she wasn't sure they would be, well, willing, and wasn't attracted to anyone who would obviously be willing. She wondered -- she was taking a Psych 101 class -- if she really wanted to have sex with a woman at all, or if her sabotaging herself meant that she really just wanted to anticipate it. For the rest of her life? She couldn't bear the thought. But there was nothing she could do.
One particularly frustrating day, Jenny had chatted up a fellow cheerleader, they'd had lunch together. Jenny was sure she'd acted completely weird. She'd tried too hard, been too obvious about trying to draw out her friend's latent lesbian desires. They weren't there. Jenny would be surprised if her friend would so much as look at her again, she'd come off so pervy. A small, dark cloud hovered over her head as she returned home.
She dropped her keys and books on the table noisily, and stomped up the stairs to the bathroom, the cloud following her. As she walked in to the bathroom her mother, Melanie, was walking in, too, from the door that led to the master bedroom. She looked flustered. "Oh-- hi, honey," she forced, brightly as possible, as she hurriedly shut the door to the bedroom behind her. Jenny mumbled something, it wouldn't be the kind of day it was if her mom said, oh, sorry honey, did you need to use the bathroom? and gone back in the bedroom. She turned around huffily and left for the downstairs bathroom.
Melanie's heart was racing and she sat down on the toilet. She'd been to the neighborhood sex toy party weeks ago, brought home a treasure trove, for some reason, but had never tried anything, till today. She yelled at herself for getting started on an afternoon she knew Jenny would be home after lunch. Composing herself, she went back into the bedroom to put everything away.
Downstairs -- two levels, in their split-level house -- Jenny had turned on the computer, ready -- really ready -- for an AOL chat room. She double clicked and heard the "hwonk" that said the cable Internet connection was down. It wouldn't be the day it was otherwise, she thought. She actually brightened, it had become comical how bad her day was becoming. And after all, if the worst day of her life involved not being able to coax a fellow cheerleader into revealing and acting on her long-suppressed bi-curiosity, the Internet being down and having to use the half bath downstairs, things were ok.
She took her shoes off and padded up to the kitchen, where she drank a glass of water. Then she padded upstairs to find out if her mom knew the cable was down. She walked into her parents' bedroom and said, "Mom, did --"
Melanie gasped and torqued her front side away from the door, fumbling with something in her hand. "Mom, what --" Jenny saw a huge vibrating dildo, a bottle of edible lotion, something else that could only be a clit massager and a big strap-on lying on the bed. She didn't register any of it, just gaped, mouth open -- and then started to laugh! Melanie was more mortified than before. Finally succeeding in snapping her jeans, she turned, thought better of it, and turned away again. "Jennifer, please!" she croaked.
Jenny held her hand up to her mouth, smiling broadly. "I'm so sorry, Mom," she said. Re-orienting herself to the absurdity of it, she tried to break the tension. "Nice toys. From your party a while ago?"
Melanie was bright pink and still couldn't decide whether to face her daughter or hide. "Yes," she said dolefully. "I still don't know if I got my money's worth!" Jenny laughed, and Melanie relaxed a little. Jenny was 19, for crying out loud, not 12. It's not as though this extremely awkward moment was going to lead to The Talk before she was ready, or was going to scar her for lilfe.
Jenny sat down on the bed, still trying to connect the idea of her mother to the idea of the sex toys scattered on her bed. She picked up the vibrating dildo. "My goodness!" she said.
"Jennifer, don't touch that," Melanie moaned.
"Mom, I'm sorry. It's not like this is going to be any less embarrassing for either one of us if I run out the door and downstairs." Melanie laughed despite herself. "And out the front door and down the street to the Harrises'," Jenny chided. "Or farther, as far away as possible!" Melanie wrinkled her nose in a fake sneer.
Jenny examined the dildo, wondering how to balance being a, well, woman, and being her Mom's daughter in this particular situation. She couldn't figure out how, so she put the dildo back down. She stood up. "I really am sorry. I shouldn't be barging in here without knocking, or letting you know I was there."
"No, honey, I'm sorry," Melanie said, trying to look natural while gathering the toys into a pile. Some needed to be... cleaned up, but she didn't want to do that with her daughter standing there. "I knew you were coming home, and I certainly knew you were home after you came up to the bathroom."
The strap-on registered in Jenny's brain. Before even thinking about what she was saying or who she was talking to, she said, "you use that one on another girl, you know."
"I know," her mom said matter-of-factly, and Jenny felt like she'd been smacked in the forehead by an invisible hand. For her part, Melanie's embarrassment was interrupted by her wondering what would make her daughter point that out, of all things. She picked the box the toys were kept in off the floor on the other side of the bed.
Her daughter had always had boyfriends, sometimes more than one at a time, but that hadn't been the case recently. The working theory was that college was an adjustment, and while it couldn't be difficult to meet people, it might be difficult to choose the right people in a place that big. The remark about the strap-on made Melanie wonder, though. She hated that her mind was racing instead of keeping cool and in control.
Her internal edit function compromised by the kinds of thoughts involving strap-ons one shouldn't have in one's parents' bedroom, Jenny said, just as matter-of-factly, "I completely understand getting carried away. The Internet's down, and I was all set to hit a chat room."
Melanie's eyes rotated in daughter's direction while she absentmindedly replaced the toys in their box. "I wouldn't say I got 'carried away,'" she said. "You usually get on the computer first thing when you get home, how was I supposed to know the Internet was down. What kind of chat room?" she asked, facing Jenny.
Jenny ignored the question. "Do you know how to use i-- those things?" she asked.
Melanie, who had been lightening up, started turning redder again. "They demonstrated -- well, explained how to use them -- at the party, but I hadn't even had them out till today," she replied.
"Here, let me see," Jenny said, reaching for the box. She pulled it toward her and, through superhuman effort, resisted pulling the strap-on out first. "Well, this," she said, brandishing the vibrating dildo, "is fairly self explanatory."
"Yes, it is," Melanie said warily. Jenny was acting strangely, and she wanted to get to the bottom of it.
"This," Jenny said, picking up the clit massager, "this you would probably only use if you were by yourself."
"Well, exactly who am I supposed to use any of this with? Your father?" Jenny knew the idea was ridiculous.
"I don't know," Jenny said, flustered. "Why buy them? This--" she hadn't seen the much smaller, penis-shaped vibrator before now. This must have been what her mother was playing with when she walked in, she thought, her breath catching. "This is more or less like that other thing..."
"No, it's not," Melanie said frankly, eyes on her daughter.