Lesbian Love: Virgins and Cheerleaders (3 page)

I paused to get my wits together, but what the hell, I’d go redder than ever if I tried to deny it.

“Yes, Alexis Eisenberg, she was real nice to me on the first day at school.”

“I’ll be she was,” Gale said with a grin.

“It wasn’t like that, she was just...” I thought about the golden Alexis, long legged, beautiful, confident, that lovely warm smile, those inviting red lips.

“Sarah, honey, I’ve lost you, you’re wandering. What were you saying?”

I came crashing back to the present. “She was just nice, Gale.”

“And beautiful, I expect, with perfect teeth and skin, long legged, clothes and makeup perfect, hair to die for?” she continued.

“Yes, that’s right,” I breathed, thinking of her.

I was silent for a minute, thinking of her while Gale sat waiting for me to come back to Earth.

“You’re not gay, are you, Sarah?”

My face felt hotter than ever, damnation, why did I always give away my innermost thoughts?

“No, of course not.”

Now it was her turn to be silent. What was on her mind? Then it hit me like a thunderbolt, why hadn’t I thought about it before?

“You’re a lesbian, aren’t you, Gale?”

She nodded, her face serious. “I think so, yes, although I’ve never, well, slept with a woman. But yes, I do prefer to think of women than men.”

Christ, what a life, not knowing whether you really lusted after one gender or another. I was glad I was firmly heterosexual. I was sure of that, at least. But shit, every time I thought of Alexis my thoughts were anything but hetero, they were downright lesbian lustful dyke. But I wasn’t a lesbian, couldn’t be. I liked being with guys, was looking for the right one to partner with and settle down for life. Someone like, who? But the only face I could bring to mind was Alexis. I realized that Gale had got up from behind the reception desk and was standing next to me.

“What was that, Gale?”

“Could you get me a photo of you in your schoolgirl uniform, Sarah?”

“Christ, Gale, what is this, I’m not available, you know.”

“I know that. But what if I was Alexis, what then?”

My thoughts drifted again, then I realized that I could feel her breath on my face, she was only a couple of inches away from me. She swayed towards me and her lips were on mine and she was kissing me, it was warm, sensual, arousing. I felt her hand caressing my tits but I didn’t throw it off, couldn’t. Her kiss lingered, then she pulled back, but her hand stayed where it was, her other hand was behind me, holding me close to her. With a shock I realized my hands were both around her, pulling her towards me. We looked into each other’s eyes. I pulled my hands back, let them slip around her body to push her away, but as they did, I brushed both her tits. Then I gently disengaged. She was the one who was bright red now, standing with a horrified expression on her face.

“Sarah, I’m so sorry, I don’t know what came over me,” she muttered.

“Yeah, that’s ok, Gale. It’s not something I normally do either, you know.”

“Don’t say anything to Morgan,” she pleaded.

I grinned. “Of course not, it’s between us girls. Look, we really mustn’t do this sort of thing, I’m looking for a boyfriend, Gale. I don’t want a lesbian relationship.”

“Unless it’s with Alexis,” she said bitterly.

I shook my head. “It’s not like that, really.” I wasn’t sure if I believed myself when I said it. I’d better start chasing down a boyfriend and break the spell of this girly crush that was growing within me.

Chapter Three

I spent a weekend cleaning my apartment, trying to keep myself busy to clear my mind. On Saturday night I’d even gone out to a singles bar, to try and hitch up with some guy and prove to everyone, especially myself, that the infatuation with Alexis was just that. I spent two hours being chatted up by earnest young men with promising careers in lawyer’s offices, accountancy firms and brokerage houses. Apart from being universally boring, they had one thing in common, they were all totally preoccupied with themselves. When I’d heard the fifth one start to tell me what an ace he was at making deals and beating down the opposition, I’d had enough and I went home. I had to make a huge effort in bed to keep my hand away from my cunt and not masturbate whilst fantasizing about Alexis. Damnit, sweet twenty two and never been fucked. I made it through the night, but it was a close thing. On Monday I dressed in my white blouse, navy panty hose and tartan miniskirt, put on my favorite Lauren jacket, a short, neat zipper jacket that I thought looked pretty good on me. I took extra care with my hair and makeup, I wanted to look my best. After a moment’s reflection I got out my prettiest earrings, small diamond studs that had been a gift and I’d treasured ever since. Then I set out to continue my schoolgirl career.

Julia Kelly met me by the lockers where she was putting her stuff away. She looked neat, smart, in control, there sure wasn’t any doubt that she would work hard and get good grades. Although blacks made up a majority in Jackson life was pretty stacked against them in the U.S., we railed about the unfairness and discrimination in other countries, about the treatment of women in Afghanistan, but couldn’t seem to resolve our own problems. She’d probably get a decent job, I reflected, and then wind up with someone like one of those guys who I’d met on Saturday night in the singles bar. But this was older person mentality, like I was her big sister. I switched into schoolgirl mode as she spoke to me.

“You coming to Mr. Newman’s class, Sarah?”

“Sure thing, hang on one second and I’ll be with you.”

I dumped my bag in the locker and took out what I’d need for the lesson.

“Hey, Sarah, how’s it going?” a voice said behind me. I didn’t need to turn to know who it was. I told myself to keep calm and neutral. Then I turned around.

“Hi, Alexis, fine, thanks. You have a good weekend?”

Then she smiled and I was lost, my knees felt week, even my tits burned as I remembered her hand there during the shower.

“Yep, great time. I wanted to talk to you about the cheerleading team.”

I half noticed Julia’s look of disgust as she walked away, then I listened to Alexis.

“We were hoping you’d try out with us this afternoon, Sarah.”

“Yes, I’d like that, I’ll be there. Have you got a dress I can wear?”

She smiled that lovely, resolve melting smile again. “Sure we have, honey, don’t worry about it, just bring yourself and we’ll take care of the rest. I told you I’d look after you, didn’t I?”

I nodded, I couldn’t speak.

“Ok then,” she went on. “Let’s go to old Newman’s class, it’s on some other crappy American author. Jesus, he wouldn’t know good English it if came and kicked him in the ass.”

We linked arms and walked along the corridor, chatting like old friends. Yet every time she wanted to make a point, she touched me, just above my breasts, far enough away to be polite, but near enough to remind me of the potent, sexual aura that surrounded her and swamped me. She smelt good, too, a magical blend of musky, young woman scent, French perfume and that unique odor of expensive clothes that have just been laundered. It all added up to a heady mixture, certainly it was for me, anyway.

We reached the classroom and I sat next to Julia. She gave me a cold glance and looked down to her book.

“Hey, Julia, she just wanted to talk about the cheerleading team, don’t beat up on me, I didn’t mean to be rude. I’m sorry, truly. Give me a break, will you?”

She looked up slowly and then she nodded. “Yeah, ok, forget it. Are you alright on what we’re looking at today?”

Like six or seven years ago, I thought, and I got straight A’s back then. “I’ve looked at the books over the weekend, I think I’m fine. How was your weekend?”

She talked happily about visiting her aunt in New Orleans. As it happened I loved New Orleans, the bit that hadn’t been washed away by Hurricane Katrina and I encouraged Julia to promise to talk to me about the city later. The last thing I needed was to make any enemies. I was pretty curious about her though. “Julia, you don’t seem to like Alexis or the other cheerleaders, why is that?”

She scowled. “You’ll find out when you join them, they’re a bunch of fucking dykes.”

“But they seem pretty normal to me.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Bunch of stuck up bitches, they think they’re too good for everyone else in this school.”

So they’d turned her down for the cheerleading squad, there was no other explanation. Was it racial, but no, although they were all white, the six core members, there were others on the squad who were black and one girl was Chinese or Korean. So what was it? Then I understood, of course, she wasn’t pretty enough. It was a shame, but maybe she should do something about it if it bothered her. Most girls, and Julia was no exception, could look more beautiful if they really wanted to and made the effort. Grant Newman came into the class and the conversations died away and we got down to some work.

One thing she was right about was that they were inclined to lesbian behavior, but no, it wasn’t really true that they were lesbians. They obviously played lesbian games, but so did lots of other girls at school and afterwards they lived normal heterosexual lives, I guess it was the same for homosexuality with boys. She was bitter, that was all. I speculated on how I could use that to my advantage as the investigation proceeded. After lunch we had a games lesson and I let Julia persuade me to play netball with her. Coach Cooper was in the changing room picking the teams and as I changed into my netball skirt I heard her call my name to be on the same team as Julia. I stuck close to her during the game and fed her a couple of passes, I reckoned it would be useful to get her as an ally. It was even just possible that she knew people who were mixed up in the drug thing and Katie Ginsberg’s murder. I felt a bit like a Judas, I was about to join the cheerleaders and might need to investigate them too, but I had a job to do. Alexis and the squad were practicing at the other end of the field and when we went in they were still out there, I felt a little disappointed that I wouldn’t be sharing their shower again.

I was talking to Julia, enjoying the warm water streaming down over my body when I heard several loud voices joking and laughing. Then Alexis, Emily and Lisa came into the shower and stood under the spray. Alexis smiled at me. “Hi, Sarah, you had a good game?”

“Yeah, good one, didn’t score though.”

She shrugged and walked over to Julia. “Hi, Julia, how’s it all going?”

Julia gave her a cold look and stared straight through her. To my astonishment the head cheerleader closed with her and leaning forward, planted a kiss on her lips, a strong, passionate kiss that must have shocked the other girl. She wriggled to get out of it, but Emily and Lisa stood either side of her and held her arms. Alexis held the kiss and reached down with her hand to feel Julia’s cunt, I was mesmerized. She felt around her labia, I could swear she pushed a finger inside and then broke off, smiling.

“Did you enjoy that, babe? Was it enough to satisfy you or did you want more?”

Julia was shaking with rage and emotion. “I’ll fucking ruin you for that, Alexis. You scum dyke bitch, my dad’s lawyers will nail your white ass to a cross.”

“Really? Nail me for what, Julia, I don’t think anything happened. Emily, Lisa, you see anything happen?” They shook their heads. “See, you’re imagining things. Sarah, you see anything happen?”

Oh Alexis, you know I could never say anything to hurt you. I shook my head and left the shower. Behind me, I heard her continue taunting Julia. “See, nothing happened. Tell me who your dad works for, Julia and my dad’ll get him fired.”

“Fuck you, you dyke bitch,” Julia snapped back.

This was not my fight. I toweled off and got dressed. It was time to get out of here and go home, fast. As I walked through the corridors I saw a pair of UPS men carrying large packages into the chemistry department. Nothing unusual about that of course, but Matt Phillips, the chemistry department head looked furtively around the door as they carried their boxes into his room, then he closed the door and ducked back inside. I walked casually along and opened the door and looked inside. It was some kind of a store room, the men were putting the boxes down next to sacks of chemicals of some kind, Matt Phillips was supervising them. Behind him was another door that was guarded with a key code lock, normal for schools these days, but the door seemed to be made of steel with a peephole set three quarters of the way up. I’d seen a photo of that kind of a door once before, when Morgan showed me photos of a bust he’d taken part in on a city drug den. At that moment Phillips looked up and saw me. He rushed over.

“Can I help you?”

“Well, yeah, I’m looking for the school medical center, I guess this isn’t it.”

He relaxed a little. “It most certainly isn’t, you need to go to the end of the corridor, turn left and you’ll find it halfway down.”

“Thanks,” I said, giving him a flirty wave. “Be seeing you.”

“Yeah, no sweat.”

I walked down the corridor, as I turned the corner I was aware that he was still watching me, checking that I was going in the right direction.

As I sat on the bus going home I felt much more optimistic. What I’d seen suggested a possible location for the drug laboratory, certainly the teacher’s behavior was very odd. It was my first break in the case, when I got home I phoned Morgan, he’d want to know about this so that he could chase down the history of this guy. He was upbeat.

“It sounds like a solid lead, Sarah, that’s good news. Anything else?”

“Nothing, boss, no.”

“That’s ok. Gale wants to know how you got on with the cheerleader squad, have you had your first session yet?”

I laughed. “Tell her no, it was netball today, nothing too exciting, just sweaty girls in netball skirts running around a pitch.”

He cleared his throat. “Yeah, I see. I’ll let her know. Good work, keep it up.”

I put the phone down and decided to have a soak in a hot tub. I think unconsciously my mind was guiding me, I’d already taken a shower and didn’t need another, but I poured bubble bath into the water and sank gratefully into the warm, inviting water.