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From: "Gina Marie Wylie" <gmwylie98260@hotmail.com>
Subject: {ASSM} Laura Alban Hunt Ch 7 Pool Party Redux {Gina Marie Wylie} (Cons, Ff)
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Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 13:10:02 -0400
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<1st attachment, "Laura Ch 7.doc" begin>

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

	The following is fiction of an adult nature.  If I believed in
setting age limits for things, you'd have to be eighteen to read
this and I'd never have bothered to write it.  IMHO, if you can
read and enjoy, then you're old enough to read and enjoy.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

	All persons here depicted are figments of my imagination and any
resemblance to persons living or dead is strictly a blunder on my
part.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

	Official stuff:  Story codes: teen, Ff, con.

	If stories like this offend you, you will offend ME if you read
further and complain. Copyright 2004, by Gina Marie Wylie.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

	I can be reached at gmwylie98260@hothothotmail.com, at least if
you remove some of the hots.  All comments and reasoned
discussion welcome.

Below is my site on ASSTR:
http://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/Gina_Marie_Wylie/www/

My stories are also posted on StoriesOnline:
http://Storiesonline.net/

And on Electronic Wilderness Publishing:
http:// www.ewpub.org/

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++	

Chapter 7 -- Pool Party Redux

The next morning was warmer than it had been, so I spent some
time making a whole lot of tea and lemonade.  I made a store run
and bought lots of pop, chips and dip.  Linda and Jamie arrived a
little after noon; Jamie got wet, Susan and Linda went to Susan's
room and "talked."

A little after one, the first of Susan and Jamie's friends
started to arrive; Susan was bright-eyed and obviously happy. 
Linda helped me set out chips and stuff.

Nancy arrived and with her was a blonde-haired girl, younger, I
thought than Susan, maybe eleven or twelve.

"Laura, this is Carolyn Gamble."  She turned to the girl. 
"Carolyn, this is my friend, Laura."

"How do you do?" I said with a smile.

"Good," the young girl told me.

Carolyn was wearing a pair of white shorts that came up nearly to
her navel and went down her legs nearly to her knees.  She was
wearing a yellow halter-top, knotted in the front.  Carolyn had
the blondest hair I'd ever seen, that and clear blue eyes staring
out from a very delicate face.

"Aunt Nancy said it would be okay if I came over.  She said that
some of the other girls were going to practice dance routines." 
She smiled at me, a warm, pretty smile that would have warmed the
coldest heart.  I tried hard to keep the warmth I was feeling
located near my heart, instead of lower down.

"Some day, I'm going to be on Star Search," Carolyn said quietly,
with great confidence.

"What's that?" I asked.

Nancy laughed, "Oh, you're in for it now!  Carolyn lives and
breathes that show!"

"Aunt Nancy really isn't my aunt," Carolyn went on.  "She and Mom
have been friends since they were my age."  She paused and then
said, "You really don't know about Star Search?"

"Really," I said, shaking my head.  "I don't watch very much TV.
News now and then, that's about it."

"Oh, it's so cool!"  She started explaining it, and I listened
intently.  Around me, more and more girls kept arriving until
there were nearly as many as there'd been the week before.

Nancy smiled at me over Carolyn's head and I smiled back.  I'd
been Carolyn's age once; I'd had things I'd wanted to do and I'd
gotten to do some of them.  My life hadn't turned out badly, not
badly at all, but I'd certainly not done all the things I'd
wanted to.

"Carolyn is one of my dance students on the side."  Nancy said,
"Denise, Carolyn's mom, is one of the best dancers I ever met. 
Carolyn... on the far side of best."

She waved.  "Carolyn, lift your foot," Nancy asked.

Carolyn did the leg lift, as I'd not done so many years before. 
Carolyn gracefully lifted and pointed it straight into the air;
unlike the girl so many years gone, this time no one was there to
help her balance.  Without further direction Carolyn dropped to a
split, then rolled over on her back, like a snow angel without
the snow.

Instead of staying a snow angel, she pulled her legs up over her
head, both of them, kept rolling, until she was on her stomach,
her legs curling around to rest on her head.  Then she stood up
from that position by planting her feet and pushing herself up,
another amazing move.

"That's... unusual," I said, trying to think of something besides
bizarre and freaky that a human being could bend like Carolyn
could.

Nancy sighed.  "I keep telling Carolyn that you have to be
flexible to dance.  I'm not sure what that is, but it's not
dance, but it sure is flexible!"

"Oh pooh!" the young girl said.  She bounded to her feet, did a
pirouette in mid air, hands delicately displayed over her head,
toes pointed elegantly down.  She landed lightly, jumped again,
the other direction.  Very, very pretty.

"There, happy?  Anyone in my dance class can do jumps.  None of
them can pretzelize."

Carolyn wasn't, I thought, unhappy, even if it was clear that her
heart was far more into being a human pretzel than being a
ballerina.

"Sure, Carolyn," Nancy agreed.  "And as you say, anyone in your
ballet class can jump and spin."  Nancy paused for dramatic
effect.  "Of course, none of them jump three feet straight up, do
two spins and land like you were just doing a one eighty."

"Well..." Carolyn shrugged.

I jumped, spun, and managed three quarters of a revolution.  My
landing wasn't very graceful either.  Nancy promptly did a jump,
she got all the way around, but wasn't as high as either Carolyn
or I.

"You're right, Carolyn.  Anyone can jump and spin.  Just none of
us do it as well you do," I told her.

Carolyn took two steps and was on the side of the pool.  She did
a flip up into the air, straightened out and knifed into the
water feet first, seemingly oblivious to the fact she was still
wearing street clothes.

"Her mom needed a time-out," Nancy said with a laugh.  "I hope
you don't mind."

"No, of course not.  What a little bundle of energy!"

"Denise tries, but I don't think the energizer bunny could keep
up with Carolyn."

A bit later Nancy and I went in the pool and swam some laps.  We
were sitting and talking on the edge of the pool when I felt
someone come up behind me.  "Guess who?"  Hands went around my
eyes, and I could feel a warm body behind me.

"Ah, well, it can't be Garfield the cat," I said, trying hard to
fight down the sudden surge of hormones.  Cool it, Laura!  This
is a friend of a friend, and she barely has breasts!  There's
bound to be a lower limit to these things!  Don't go goofy over
an eleven-year-old!

"Why not?" a gruff voice answered behind me.

"Well, he'd have claws and fur.  It can't be Nancy, because I can
see her.  My daughter Susan is over there talking to some of her
friends at the table.  Hmmm...  I wonder.  Maybe Carolyn?"

"Maybe," the gruff voice replied.  "And maybe the Creature from
the Black Lagoon!"

"Probably not," I told her, "he likes to drag his victims
underwater."

I was promptly pushed in, but not so fast I didn't have a chance
to take a breath.  To push me in, though, she had to put her
hands firmly in the middle of my back.  I went with the motion,
very much faster, making a large splash.  Carolyn overbalanced
and fell in too.  I stayed underwater, turned and moved close to
her before I planted a kiss on her belly button, blowing lots of
bubbles and using my tongue and making a fair amount of noise.

Carolyn shrieked with laughter, squirming to get away.  I
surfaced fast, spraying more water.  Carolyn shook the water from
her eyes, laughing.  "You're fun!" she told me.

Nancy came up behind me in the water.  "I've had enough sun for
one day -- any more and I'll have tan lines again."  She nodded
at Carolyn.  "And much more sun and you'll be a crispy critter
yourself."

Nancy hopped out of the pool, started toweling off.  I met
Carolyn's eyes.  "Having a good time?" I asked quietly.

"The best!  Thanks for inviting us."

"It's nice to see so many kids having a good time.  But, I think
we've both had a little too much sun."

"My mom says its a wonder.  After two thousand years of
technology, they can't make sun block stay on in the water."

"No incentive since we can get out and put on our clothes," I
said as got out of the pool myself.

Carolyn came out and we both toweled off.  "I'm going to get some
more tea and soda for everyone," I told Carolyn.  "Would you like
to help?"

She nodded and I led the way inside.  It took a few seconds to
bring out replacements, and then I went back inside to get some
ice.

"I think you're really nice," Carolyn said as I poured more cubes
into the ice bucket.

"You're nice too," I replied, feeling silly; the conversation
sounded like I was Carolyn's age myself.  I hated adults talking
down to me when I was growing up.

Susan and most of her friends were now congregated on the patio,
out of the sun, talking amongst themselves.  Two of them had
their heads together, kissing I thought.

Nancy and Linda were sitting not far away, talking about plans
for the camp weekend.  I saw Carolyn's eyes were on Susan and her
friends, including the pair who were now definitely kissing.

For a second I saw something in her eyes; not the happy young
girl she'd been a moment before, but sadness and wistful
loneliness.

"Would you show me where the bathroom is?"  Carolyn asked out of
the blue.

I considered just giving her the directions, but the look she
gave me told me she wanted to talk.

I got up and went inside, Carolyn once again leading the way.  We
reached the hall, the bathroom was untenanted.  "Laura, can I ask
you a question?"

"Sure, Carolyn."

"Are you like Mom?  Aunt Nancy?"

I was pretty sure I knew what she meant.  "A week ago, I'd have
said no.  Now..."  I shrugged.  "Yes, I think I am."

I saw her eyes widen, I'd surprised her, I thought.  "A week ago
I was a widow, a woman who'd been happily married for a long time
to a very nice man.  I was sad after he died. I wasn't really
thinking about..." I stopped talking, unsure I wanted to speak my
mind.

"Sex?" Carolyn said helpfully.

"Sex," I agreed.  "Then out of the blue, I saw someone, and it
was..."  I shook my head.  "I was curious; I found I liked being
with her."

"Mom says that girls should be with girls until they get older. 
But that it was a choice, not written in the stars.  There's
nothing wrong, Mom says, about putting off that kind of choice. 
You have to be ready."  She met my eyes.  "I don't know... It's
really frustrating.  How do you know if you're ready?"

"I wasn't, until I was in college," I told her.  "Then it was
with the man I married.  It was nice; we got married, then Susan
came along."  I sighed.  "I wish I'd had another child, maybe
two."

I waved towards the outside.  "Susan... she's made her choice
already."

"Were you mad?" Carolyn asked.

I shook my head.  "No, not even a little.  If she'd taken up with
a boy... maybe.  Too many bad things can happen with boys at her
age."  And yours, but I kept the thought to myself.

"You don't mind me asking all these questions?"

"No, of course not.  I think if I'd had someone, a friend, to ask
questions to, maybe I'd have made the same choices Susan has. 
But I pretty much kept my nose in a book when I was in school.  I
didn't have many friends.  None of them close friends, not close
enough to talk to about things."

"Me too."  Carolyn scrunched her face.  "I hate school.  Most of
the kids... they can't learn two plus two without having to
repeat it ten thousand times."  A short pause. "They think I'm a
freak."  She waved in the direction of the patio.  "They think
I'm a freak."

I decided laughing would be a good way to break the moment, so I
put it on hold.  "Carolyn, you are a very pretty girl, who can do
something very unusual.  Unusual things make some people
uncomfortable."

A pair of girls came in from outside, obviously wanting to use
the bathroom.  It was clear Carolyn still wanted to talk.  I
could hear low conversation coming from the living room, I was
pretty sure Carolyn didn't want to hold this conversation in
public.

"Let's go in here," I said, pointing to my bedroom, "if you want
to talk some more."

She nodded, led the way, sitting down on my bed.  I paused for a
microsecond going through the door.  Leave it open, or close it?
Would closing it be uncomfortable for Carolyn?  I laughed at
myself.  Or because no one will know what goes on with the door
closed?  I closed it, then sat down next to Carolyn.

"Mom says I'm a freak," Carolyn said flat out.  "Aunt Nancy...
she thinks I'm wasting time that I could spend on dancing."

"Sometimes it's easiest to hurt the people closest to you," I
told her.  "We don't mean to, but because we know them, have
known them for a long time, it's easy not to notice when we hurt
their feelings."

Memories flooded back.  "I don't like to wear makeup," I told
her.  "I thought it was stupid, when I was your age.  I watched
my mom spend hours at it, every day.  Sometimes, more than once a
day.  I don't like the taste of lipstick.  I don't like powder;
it gets all over things."  I had a roommate in college who dusted
herself with baby powder after a shower.  For years after that I
had baby powder in everything I owned.

"Mom was furious with me.  'You can't go out in public without
makeup!' she told me.  I told her it was a big waste of time."  I
shrugged, and then laughed.  "So she grounded me."  I shook my
head.  "Since I didn't want to go out anyway, I didn't care.  I
just thought she was dumb."  I waved to the bathroom off my
room.

"You can go in there and you won't find anything.  Some skin
cream, that's about it.  Chap stick."

"Cool!" Carolyn said, laughing.  "I can't imagine you getting
grounded."

"Oh, I imagine if you were to check, you'd find out your mom was
too.  Nancy as well, I bet.  It happens to all of us."

She nodded, her eyes bright.  "I'm not a freak."

"No, you're a very pretty girl, like I said.  I mean, if you
belched or farted in public -- that would be pretty awful.  Just
because you can twist yourself in a pretzel; that's nothing.  If
it's something you like to do, well, exercise never hurt
anyone."

"You're nice," Carolyn murmured.  "I told Mom I wanted to be home
schooled, but she thinks it's important to socialize."  She made
the last word sound almost obscene.  "The kids at school make fun
of me, they tease me.  I can learn without really trying; they
try and try and try.  It's really boring."

"Do you get in trouble?" I asked, curious.

She looked at me like I'd taken leave of my senses.  "No, I just
stand there and take it.  Sometimes I get really angry, then I
think about how dumb they all are... and it goes away."

"Michelangelo spent years sculpting David, one of the greatest
artists of all time, creating one of the most beautiful statues
ever made.  Some bird-brained moron with a sledgehammer could
ruin it in two minutes.  Carolyn, there is no way to avoid all
the little people of the world, but you do have to learn to get
along with them to some degree.  Not all of them are bad."

"I know.  It's just...  I really wish I had someone to talk to."

"You can talk to me, if you want," I told her.  "I like talking
to you."

"We could be friends?" she asked, her eyes bright.

"Sure."

"Best friends?"

"Like I said, sure," I repeated.

"You're really nice," Carolyn told me, "I like you a lot."

"I like you too," I said.

"Mom and Aunt Nancy are best friends," Carolyn said, her eyes on
me.

She was hinting at something I didn't really want to hear.  I'm
attracted to you, Carolyn.  I don't know if that's a good thing
or a bad thing, but it was getting hard to ignore.  "Would you
like to be that kind of friends?"  I asked, my heart suddenly
hammering in my chest.

"Mom and Aunt Nancy do things.  Dad just laughs, he says girl are
girls.  Mom told me once about how girls make love."  She met my
eyes.  "She said it was up to me if I ever wanted to do that.  Do
you want to do sex things with me, Laura?"

"Carolyn, your mom was right about it being up to you.  I would
like to be with you, yes.  But you have to want to be with me."

Her clear blue eyes regarded me.  "I don't have very big boobies
yet.  But I touch myself, and I can make myself come."  A shy
smile.  "I like doing that."

"I did it myself, last night," I told her.

"You're lonely?"  The thought seemed to surprise her.

"Well, I was lonely last night."

"I could rub you, kiss you... make you come?"  Carolyn asked, her
eyes wide.

"Yes," I answered.  "And I'd do the same thing for you."

"Mom told me it's nicer when someone else rubs you; nicer still
when you like them.  And the best when you love them."  She
lifted her chin, defiant.  "I always like the best."

She leaned close, obviously wanting to be kissed.  I leaned
close, brushed her lips with mine, and then pulled back.

"I said it had to be something you wanted," I told her.

"I do," Carolyn replied.

"I'd like to ask a favor, best friend to best friend."

She bobbed her head.

"I want to kiss you one more time.  Then I want you to think
about this for a week.  And I will, too.  We can talk on the
phone, we can visit.  But until a week is over, I don't think we
should do anything more."

"You don't think I'm old enough," she said, a hurt expression on
her face.

"I don't know you that well, Carolyn."  The hurt look deepened. 
"I think you probably are old enough, but it's something too
important to make a mistake about.  Please, let's think about it
for a week."

I leaned close and kissed her, this time with a lot more wattage
in the kiss.  Carolyn was shy and inexperienced, but she learned
fast.  I didn't kiss her long, pulling back.

"Now, we should go back outside.  Carolyn, I promise you, we will
be friends, whether or not we do things like your mom and Nancy.
You can call me, even if it's just homework or you want someone
to talk to."

We got up and went back outside.

The girls had obviously learned that I was now 'cool' and there
was quite a bit of kissing and touching going on.  Linda was
sitting with Susan on a lounge chair, Susan leaning forward,
letting Linda put sun block on her back.  It was quite obvious
Linda was doing a thorough job and Susan was enjoying the
attention immensely.

Nancy was sitting at a table with three girls, all talking
intently about a new dance routine.  Older girls, I thought.

Jaime was sitting on the edge of the pool at the shallow end,
looking around her at what was going on, a big grin on her face.

I felt a stir next to me and I saw a wicked grin on Carolyn's
face.  With a slither I could never duplicate, actually probably
very few people could duplicate, she was lying on her back on the
concrete of the pool deck.  With an odd move that reminded me of
a World War I tank, she 'rolled' off the edge.  Like the tiger in
Calvan and Hobbes, I thought.

I looked down in the clear water of the pool, slightly surprised
by how few ripples Carolyn had made as she went into the water. 
I saw her stop at the bottom, then scissor kick like a frog,
zipping through the water.  A second she came up, about six
inches from Jaime's feet, splashing Jaime when she did.

"Hi!" I heard Carolyn say.

I could hear Jaime laugh.  "Gosh!  You're like a bullet
underwater!"

The two of them were soon locked in earnest conversation about
swimming underwater; a few seconds later they were seeing who
could swim the furthest underwater.  Carolyn won hands down.  She
was faster and could hold her breath much longer than Jamie. 
Still, I was pleased that Carolyn was talking to someone else.

Nancy came over to me.  "It's good to see Carolyn having a good
time.  I don't know what you said to her, but that's about the
first time I've ever seen her talking with one of the other
girls."

I shook my head.  "I just offered to be her friend.  Maybe it's
like a snowball rolling downhill; once you make one picking up
another is easier."

Nancy was, I realized, a little nervous.  At first I'd thought it
was because I'd gone off with Carolyn and when I came back I'd
told her that Carolyn and I were going to be friends.  I should
have known that wasn't an issue.

"Laura..."  I looked at her when she spoke.

"The other night was nice, I liked it," she said quietly, looking
at me intently.

I smiled.  "But you have other commitments."

"Well, a lot of promises, anyway.  We tend to save up our
commitments for the really important things."  She stopped and
shook her head.

"I'm sorry that came out the way it did Laura, you are important.
 High concept commitments."

"I understood what you were trying to say," I told her.  "It's
okay.  I've been with someone different every day for the better
part of a week, I need some time to think."

"Some people aren't happy being loved and left."

"You're here, aren't you?"  I grinned at her.  "I was the one who
left, as you'll recall."

"And you're okay with this?  All of this?"  Her eyes flicked to
where Linda was unabashedly rubbing Susan's breasts.

"I meant what I said about wanting to help the girls avoid the
mistakes I made.  I don't want to be an ogre mom, standing over
my daughter and shouting at her.  I am calm, quiet, collected.  I
want to give them the best advice I know to give."

"When I was just starting down the path to where I am now," Nancy
explained, "Coach took me into her office and had me read the
syllabus for PE.  That's what they were supposed to be teaching
us.  It was a very long list, covering a lot of territory."

I nodded.

"'How is it,' Coach told me, 'that I'm expected to teach my girls
all these things, but not the one thing that dominates their
thinking for a decade or more?  And if I do teach anything about
that, it's supposed to be sterile and impersonal, lacking soul
and not from the heart.  Making love is sharing one's soul, but
in that sharing, your soul isn't diminished in the least; you can
lose your soul, but it's by hatred and black deeds, not loving
and sharing your love.'"

Nancy sighed.  "I didn't have an answer to her then; I don't have
an answer for that question now.  I just try to do what I think
is good for the girls."

"I understand," I told her.

Did I?  I asked myself, looking at Carolyn.  I was offering to
teach a preteen girl the ways of love.  Wouldn't it be better to
wait until she was a little older?  A lot older?  It was a little
like an electric shock.  I swayed.  What had been the one thing
Linda and Nancy had both stressed?  It had to be the girl's
decision.

Carolyn and Jamie stood up, headed for the house.  Bathroom run,
I suspected.  Next to me, Nancy chuckled.  "Sic transit, gloria
mundi."

"Here today, gone tomorrow," I agreed.  "Was I that obvious?" I
was a little nervous.

"No.  Carolyn was that obvious."  She smiled at me.  "You did a
good thing, Laura.  Don't worry about it."

"I was a little obvious too," I thought to myself, if I hadn't
been, Nancy wouldn't have said that last phrase.

Nancy smiled, pitched her voice low.  "Carolyn is insatiably
curious.  She's come to both her mom and me for pointers about
self-gratification.  Don't worry."

After a bit, I went inside and brought out another jug of tea,
another pitcher of lemonade.  And if I saw Carolyn and Jamie
kissing in the hall, well, what of it?  It had never been my
intention to be Carolyn's only friend.

I laughed at myself.  And what does best mean, Linda?

One of the older girls who had been talking with Nancy appeared.
"Can I give you a hand with that, Mrs. Hunt?"

"Sure," I told her, "but only if you call me Laura."

"Thanks, Laura."  We carried the stuff out; for a few seconds we
were quite popular.

"I'm Jackie Licht," the girl told me.

I glanced at her.  She was a well-built young woman, dark eyes
and dark brown hair, about five seven and maybe 120 pounds.

"I don't suppose I could ask you a personal question?" she went
on.

I looked at her, but I didn't feel the interest I had looking at
Gail or Carolyn.  Of course, I told myself, I'd undoubtedly seen
Gail a few times before I noticed her.  "Sure."

"In private?"

I shrugged and led the way back into the house.  Carolyn and
Jamie were still kissing in the hall.  Going into my bedroom and
closing the door would be a bad idea, I thought.  Going into
Susan's and closing the door would be a little less bad, but not
much.  I waved down the hall to the living room and we went in
and I led the way to the couch.

"Oh, I can't sit on your couch!" Jackie exclaimed, "I've been in
the pool."

"It's okay if you get it wet," I told her.

She shook her head.  "The bleach in the pool... it'll like eat
holes in the fabric."

I blinked; well, I'd seen all those warnings on the side of the
pool chemical boxes.  I grimaced, so much to learn!

"I don't mind standing."  She paused, and then asked an odd
question.  "Laura, how big is your house?"

"It's 4300 square feet," I told her.  "Four bedrooms, a family
room, a very nice, very large kitchen."

"I like your kitchen," Jackie said, nodding down the hall.  "I
dream, sometimes, about having parties with lots of people over.
Cooking for them..."  She met my eyes.  "My sister says I'm a
throwback to the 50's, Harriet to some guy's Ozzie."

I nodded, not entirely sure where she wanted to go with the
conversation.  Something must have showed on my face, because
Jackie said, "I'm straight, Laura."

That made me smile and she went on.  "Yeah, I know, hard to
believe, among all these hard-core gays.

"I'm the token straight they keep around to say 'we're not all
like that.'"  She looked at me.  "The reason they trust me is
because my older sister isn't like me at all.  Sherrie is in
college, a freshman this year."  She paused, met my eyes.  "Linda
says you're cool.  Coach says you're cool about all of this."

"I was told it wasn't a good topic of conversation."

She laughed.  "Oh yeah, right!  It's just not a topic of
discussion if anyone else is around or could overhear.  These are
some of the biggest gossips in the world."  She pointed to my
cell phone sitting next to my portable phone.  "They've read up
on spies and espionage, surveillance.  James Bond, 007 and all of
that.  They don't talk about anything on the phone, not even
regular phones.  Only in person.  Not in letters, just face to
face.  And of course, they sure spend a lot of time getting in
that face to face time."

"You were talking about your sister," I reminded her;
uncomfortable with where the conversation had gone.

I was surprised when Jackie smiled.  "I like you.  If I was like
that, I'd probably like you a lot, but I'm not.  Don't go getting
your hopes up."

"Actually, I hadn't," I told her.  "Meanwhile, we were talking
about your sister."

"You and she are a lot alike," Jackie explained.

"Sherrie just got into mega-trouble.  Mom came home sick from
work on Monday.  Sherrie and a friend were relaxing."  She
sighed.  "They were really relaxed."

"I understand."

"Mom and Dad are Mormons; they don't know it, but I'm a lapsed
Mormon, so is Sherrie.  If we told them, we'd have nothing but
shit for months and months as they, and everybody at the stake,
did a full court press to 'save us.'"  She put air quotes around
the last two words.

"They made Sherrie move out.  I was wondering if you'd consider
renting her a room."

"Renting?" I asked, knowing that it wouldn't matter if I charged
or not.

"Yeah, our real dad told us he'd pay for college, including an
apartment and an inexpensive car.  Our stepfather is..."  She
shook her head, "Well, he's a doctor like Dad, but he works for
the County Health Department and makes just a little.  Dad makes
good money as a doctor, and better money investing.  Both Sherrie
and I would go live with him, but the court awarded custody to
Mom.  It would be a nasty fight to get that changed, so I'm
stuck.  Sherrie's nineteen; she can live where she pleases.

"Please," she pleaded, "would you help my sister?"

"Tell her to come over sometime today or tomorrow, and I'll talk
to her.  I wouldn't rent out a room to Mother Teresa unless I met
her first."

That was, I knew, my father talking.  He'd owned quite a bit of
property, mostly rental homes.

I could see that I'd offended Jackie, and I reached out and
touched her hand.  "I didn't mean that as harsh as it sounded,
okay?"

She shrugged my hand off.  "I'm really not like that."

"I apologize.  For the way I spoke and for touching you.  I
didn't mean anything by it."

Her eyes met mine and for a moment we stared at each other.  "I'm
new at all of this," I added, knowing it was lame even as the
words came out.

"I heard about your husband, I'm sorr..."  I gripped her hand
firmly.

"And now you are offending me.  Drop the subject."  I let go of
her hand before she could respond.

"I guess we're pushing each other's buttons," Jackie said with a
sigh, then laughed.  "Just not those buttons."

"Not those," I agreed.  "I tell you true, Jackie, one thing I was
thinking about when I came in here with you was that there were a
couple of people behind me I wouldn't mind being with.  But no
one in front of me."

I resisted the impulse to touch her; it would have been a
harmless touch from my point of view, but I'd already had a sharp
lesson as to the limits of my point of view.  "I would like to
talk to your sister before I say whether or not I'd rent her a
room.  I have a daughter, I have responsibilities.  Do you
understand?"

"Yeah, I was wrong.  Sorr..."  This time she stopped herself. 
"You don't like that word."

"That and sympathy; they got very old, very fast.  A major button
push now."

She opened her mouth, and then shut it, her eyes focused on
something inside herself, I thought.  "I need to learn a new way
to talk.  I think I use that word too much."

"As a polite word indicating, 'oops, I made a little mistake,'
it's not bad.  As a token or expression of sympathy; it's not
something I like."

"You're different from the others," Jackie said softly. 
"Different than the other sisters.  They look at us with a
predatory gleam in their eye.  Yeah, they take no for an answer,
but some of them are patient and think in much longer terms than
kids my age."

"The sisters?"

She shook her head.  "You'll find out, next weekend."

"And will you be there?"

"Sure, I'm a cheerleader after all."

"And what do you honestly think of what goes on?"

She shook her head.  "I can tell people what I like and don't
like.  I don't have a right to tell them what they should like
and not like.  In truth, I have a cousin my age who goes to
Central High in Phoenix.  She talks about what their Cheer squad
is like; they smoke, they do drugs, they drink, they get falling
down drunk.  A couple graduated pregnant last year.  One of them
has AIDS.  Our girls aren't like that at all.  There are no
drugs, no alcohol, no smokes allowed.  You can't even go out on
the front steps of someone's house at a party and smoke.

"The other girls on the squad tolerate me.  I learned to say no
to them back in 7th grade.  It's one habit I'm in no hurry to
break."  She grinned, "And the squad keeps you motivated if
you're into guys."

I nodded and again my father spoke through me.  "Good habits keep
you from making bad mistakes."

"I'll tell Sherrie to stop by.  Thanks, Laura."  The last was
appended almost as an afterthought.  A respectful afterthought.

We went back into the hall; Jamie and Carolyn had progressed to
where Jamie was running her hands over Carolyn's very small
breasts.

Carolyn seemed to see me for the first time.  Her face fell, she
blushed.

I smiled at her.  "It's nice to make friends, isn't it Carolyn?"
She nodded, but kept on blushing.

Carolyn looked around, as if she wasn't sure where she was.  Then
her eyes fixed on Jackie.  "Are you and Jackie friends too?"
Carolyn asked.

I smiled.  "Carolyn, there are all kinds of friends.  I just met
Jackie, so we're still working on becoming friends.  Do you
understand?"

Carolyn nodded, and Jackie and I went on.

"That was nice, what you did for Carolyn," Jackie said to me.

I shrugged.  "Think what you want, but I see that as a higher
goal than personal gratification."

She gave me a glance, then went and sat back down with Nancy and
the others again.

Eventually people said goodbye.  There was, this time, a little
clean up, but it was still a lot less than I would have
expected.

Susan pitched in willingly to help, but she was quiet; eventually
she excused herself and went to her room.  I stood on the pool
deck, enjoying the warm air, watching the waves and ripples in
the pool.  Odd, I thought, I'd have expected them to die down
quicker.

---------------------------

Monday afternoon, right after Susan had gotten home from school,
there was a knock on the door.

"Hi," the girl standing there said, "I'm Jackie's sister,
Sherrie."

"Come in, Sherrie."

She was, I thought, certainly Jackie's sister.  She looked older,
but other than that they could have been twins.

"My parents have kicked me out.  Right now I'm sleeping on a
couch at a friend's, but that isn't going to work out.  So I'm
looking for a room to rent."

"You go to college?"

"Scottsdale CC."  She waved at the door.  "About eight miles
south, on 101.  The traffic's not bad this far north.  I'm doing
well, and if I do well next year, I'll be able to go to ASU after
that."

I looked at her, realized that Sherrie had even more in common
with Jackie than I'd first thought.  She was cute, cheerleader
perky... and I was completely disinterested.

Sherrie said softly.  "I spent four years in Cheer, Laura.  In
seventh grade Ann and I started fooling around.  By eighth grade
we were inseparable.  Morning, noon... and night.  I suppose
six-plus years of having a relationship without my parents
figuring it out was as much as I could hope for."

I made up my mind.  "My house payment is $1345 a month," I told
her, "One bedroom, a share of the utilities, call it $250 a
month, you can either fix your own food, or chip in on the food
budget."

"I don't quite follow your math," she said curiously.

"I'm a relatively wealthy woman," I replied.  "I could pay you
that much to stay here and it wouldn't mean a thing.  It wouldn't
do you much good, though.  So, more than a token, less than the
farm."

"Thanks, I'll take it.  When can I move in?"

"Whenever.  Today, tomorrow.  That's up to you.  I have a spare
key; my daughter Susan has a key also."

I could see there was something else, I remembered Jackie's
attitude.  "Sherrie."  She looked at me.  "This is a simple
arrangement, it entitles you to a room, to the use of the pool,
the family room, laundry, kitchen, whatever.  Except for an
obligation to clean up any messes you make outside your room,
there are no other obligations.  Not to me, not to anyone."  I
smiled at her, "And I won't make an issue of your room, so long
as it's clutter and not dirt."

"I understand.  Jackie said you might surprise me.  She was
right, you're nice."

"I would hope everyone one is," I told her.

"Some are, some are nice but have their own agendas.  That's none
of my business; I have my own and appreciate people not sticking
their nose into mine."

"If you want, you can make a duplicate key and give it to your
friend."

Sherrie smiled.  "Her parents haven't figured out things yet, and
are, if anything, more clueless than mine.  She isn't likely to
be spending the night anytime soon, that and she doesn't have a
guilt-ridden sugar daddy who feels that he let his daughters down
when he moved out."

"Your parents didn't rat her out?"  I was surprised.

"My parents think Ann is a slut, that it was Ann who seduced me.
They consider Ann's parents to be decadent and evil for allowing
their daughter to be like that.  They would never dream of saying
a word to them, for fear decadence is contagious."

"I had a husband, Sherrie, so I'm used to living with someone
else in the house.  I have a daughter, Susan.  I think we're
going to get along just fine."

She nodded, thanked me.  I went and fetched the key, and Sherrie
left.

Susan came out of her room and looked at me with an amused gleam
in her eyes.  "That's kind of cool.  A big sister, without the
baggage."

Later, after Sherrie's fourth trip with stuff, Susan laughed and
said "A big sister with lots of baggage."  We both laughed.

It was very easy to work Sherrie into our life.  She was up early
most days, swam as soon as Susan or I were up and about, then she
fixed breakfast, usually just a bowl of dry cereal.  She had
various classes, various days; she spent quite a bit of time
studying.  On Wednesday afternoon, she brought her friend, Ann,
over.

Ann Stuart is tall and thin, a little hyper; light brown hair and
light blue eyes.  After her introduction and a few polite words,
the two of them vanished into Sherrie's room, and they didn't
emerge until dinnertime.

<1st attachment end>


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