On Tuesday afternoon Emily was sitting in the living room sofa, wearing her light blue pajamas under a white bathrobe and white slippers. She was reading through the pamphlet from Jennifer while listening to TV and eating a late lunch - pizza leftovers from yesterday evening. It was three o'clock and Stephanie would probably be soon back from school. Dad was working the day shift and wouldn't be in until past eight.
After yesterday's success with Jennifer, Emily got the first good night's sleep since before the night at the club. She slept in till noon and felt much better - her headache was all gone.
She was about to finish her lunch, when she heard her cellphone ringing from her room. The phone was on her desk, where she left it when she used it to look up reference pictures for a watercolor landscape. She entered the room and proudly looked at the unfinished painting. She was feeling inspired today.
Checking the phone, she saw it was Sam. Her friend's name brought back the feelings from Saturday night, making Emily sit down at the foot of her bed. She couldn't handle talking to Sam yesterday, but her counseling session gave her enough confidence to try now.
"Hey, Sam," she said after lifting the phone to her left ear.
"Hi Emily, so, uh, where are you? And why don't you return my calls?" she heard Sam say in a confused voice.
"Yeah, I'm home. I was gonna call, but-" Emily started explaining.
"What? Why? Are you sick?" Sam wondered.
"Yeah, sort of. I won't be back for a few more days I guess," Emily said.
"You sure? Say, you don't sound sick," Sam said jokingly, Emily could hear her friend smiling, "Go ahead, cough for me."
Emily coughed in an theatrical, exaggerated way, "There you go. But it's not that kind of sickness anyway."
"What is it then?"
"Well, it's a concussion, I hit my head on the floor, I think."
"My god, Em, you think? What the hell were you doing? When did it happen?"
"On Saturday. I was- it was sort of an accident."
"So? Tell me about it!" Sam pried.
Sam was Emily's best friend, for sure, but what Emily and her sister did was so weird, she was scared to tell even her. Unlike Jennifer, Sam'd label her a freak for sure. So she told Sam all about the events at home, how Stephanie heard her talk to Sam, how she freaked out, accusing her sister of raping her, about Emily's desperate act in the bathroom and the visit to the hospital. All that time, Sam was mostly quiet, not really asking anything, just confirming she heard her friend.
But Sam sounded just as supportive as Emily's counselor. Finally, she admitted, without going into specifics, that she and Stephanie did 'meet' at the club, stressing that it was before they knew who they were with and that before or after, there was no sexual attraction between them. She decided not to mention how good it actually felt, despite everything. Again, Sam was quiet, but supportive. She wasn't the quiet type, but Emily was glad her friend understood.
"I just don't know what to do, Sam," Emily said honestly, now laying back on her bed, with feet still on the ground, "It's so weird around her now. I mean, we were always close, more like friends than sisters, but not in this way."
"Em, I'm sorry I messed up your date. I know it wasn't what you expected."
"Yeah," Emily said with a small laugh, now relaxed, "Definitely not."
"I admit I didn't expect it. Wow, two straight girls doing such stuff..and sisters," Sam said in a far away, contemplating tone, but still making Emily cringe. Finally, Sam added an intriguing word, "Although-"
"What?" Emily was interested.
"You know, this doesn't mean you're lesbian, Em. Women are usually more open to experiences with other women, at least compared to men with other men. I know girls who say they are straight, they even have boyfriends, but still sometimes fool around with other girls. They help each other out, there's nothing to it. You know, a kiss here, a touch there, who cares?" Emily heard Sam say in a tone that indicated it was not a big deal.
"You're so supportive, you sound almost like Jennifer," Emily tried to deflect.
"Jennifer?"
"My, uh, counselor. I sort of had to take therapy after I went to the hospital."
"So good old Sam is as good as a trained counselor, right?"
"Nah, you're way better," Emily joked back.
But a few seconds later, Sam pressed her point, "So, on your date, how far did you guys actually go?"
How was Emily supposed to answer such a question? She suspected even seasoned lesbians would think twice about what the two sisters actually experienced together.
"Um, we, uh," Emily stammered, trying to find the right words. Finally she took a deep breath and dropped the bomb, "All the way."
"My god, Em!" she heard an excited Sam on the other end of the line, "So you actually, you know, you had an orga-"
"Yes!" Emily interrupted her friend, "Just please don't say it Sam. I feel bad enough about it."
"Sorry Em, I just, wow. I didn't expect that," Sam admitted.
"Not helping, Sam," Emily complained.
"Look Em, I admit it sounds as you may have gone a bit further than the usual adventurous girl. But I still think there's nothing bad about it. We all have needs and sex feels good, especially if the other one knows what to do. I think if people understand and trust each other, it just works. Even if you don't think of her in that way."
Sam's words were encouraging, Emily wanted to believe her friend. She was looking up at the white ceiling, thinking about her sexuality. She didn't feel like a lesbian, she just needed the release and liked the pleasure.
She was able to respond to Sam more openly than she planned to.
"I think that's true. Stephanie, well, she did know what to do. Her actions were, like, effective," she said with a smile, then added, "But she's still my sister."
"Yeah, listen, about that," Sam continued after a few seconds, Emily now listening closely, "I think, you said that even though you have the same parents, you didn't know each other until you were in kindergarten, right?"
"Yeah, that's right, but what does that have to do with anything?" Emily asked, confused.
"Because I read that people who know each other in the first years of their lives find each other sexually unattractive. It's called reverse imprinting. Like siblings and stuff."
"So?" Emily asked impatiently. It didn't occur to her to ask why Sam was so educated about this.
"So you probably wouldn't hate sex with Stephanie any more than with other girls. Actually, it may be the opposite."
"The opposite? What, that I'd like it more? That's ridiculous Sam," Emily said, trying to dismiss Sam's uncomfortable theory. It seemed as if Sam knew all about her relationship with Stephanie, even better than Emily.
"Wait Em, if she did it well, I think you would. Even you said she was effective. I'd bet you don't cringe at having sex with Stephanie any more than, say, having sex with me, right?" Sam confronted Emily.
