Lick 'n Tiff - Chapter Ten - The Virgin Circus
"I'm really looking forward to seeing your school, Tiffany," Dr. Hanson said from behind the steering wheel. "Aren't you, Amber?"
"Absolutely, Daddy!" she agreed happily, smiling at me in the fading light of the setting sun. "I feel like we're practically sisters."
"Well, it's so nice to finally meet you," Mom said as she looked over her shoulder. "Your father talks about you all the time."
"My favorite topic, I'm afraid," Dr. Hanson chuckled.
"I don't believe that," Amber said with a smile for my mom. "His favorite topic is someone else these days."
"Oh!" Mom blushed and gave Dr. Hanson her adoring eyes and I thought she looked ten years younger.
"You guys look great together," Amber sighed as she reached for my hands, giving me a squeeze. "Don't you think so, Tiffany?"
"Yeah," I nodded and that wasn't a lie, I just felt really…distracted. I hadn't expected Amber to be coming along with us to the Virgin Circus.
"You're so nervous," she said softly, leaning close enough to press her firm breasts against me. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," I replied innocently, doing my best to smile as I chanced a look at her beautiful face.
In the front seat of Dr. Hanson's large BMW, he and my mom were talking about the weather of all things. Probably they just wanted to act cool in front of the kids, you know? Like play it down or whatever. But anytime they were together it was totally obvious how they felt about each other.
I wondered if my feelings were so obvious as well. I felt like we were on a first date or something, except I'd never been on any date before in my life, so…Was this a date? Amber wouldn't let go of my hand. She held it in my lap, rubbing her thumb across my skin and squeezing my fingers gently. Why did that feel so good? It was just my hand, you know? It shouldn't have felt like anything, but it did…I just didn't know what or why.
"You look really great," she whispered. "You don't have anything to worry about."
"I know," I said, looking down to avoid her eyes and seeing her fingers entwined with mine.
"You're gonna be the hottest girl in school tonight," Amber giggled, leaning her head even closer, enough so I could feel her strawberry blonde hair against my cheek.
"It's just a fund raiser thing," I told her. "Not like the prom or anything."
"Yeah," she shrugged, breathing the words into my ear, "but everyone's going to see you, Tiff. You're so beautiful."
"Ummm…" I laughed nervously.
"All the other girls will be so jealous," she continued. "The boys are gonna want you so bad."
"I just, um…Oh!" I shivered as I felt the tip of her tongue flick across my ear.
"You're gonna own that school tonight," Amber promised and I had no idea what she meant by that.
"What are you two whispering about back there?" Dr. Hanson wondered with a good natured smile.
"Nothing!" I answered quickly. Too quickly and Mom turned her head to look at me.
"We're just picking out colors, Daddy," Amber said and she liked to play the little girl for him, I'd noticed, but I did the same thing sometimes. Probably all daughters do that.
"Colors?" Mom looked between us with a curious smile.
"For your bridesmaids," Amber grinned at her. "We're thinking pink."
"Oh!" Mom really blushed then and turned around quickly.
"Amber…" her father warned the girl, "be nice."
"Just being practical," she said with a giggle. "Somebody around here has to plan ahead."
Dr. Hanson offered my mom an affectionate smile and let the subject go. He hadn't even proposed to her yet, at least not officially, and they'd only been dating for about a month. But they did seem awfully perfect for each other.
"You're pretty good at that," I whispered, kind of admiring how easily Amber handled her dad. My mom too, for that matter.
"Lots of practice," she whispered back with a scrunch of her nose. "It's true anyway."
"What's true?"
"Pink is our color," she said and stole her very first kiss from my glossy pink lips.
It had only been a quick one, just a peck, but I felt so warm after that kiss, inside and out. We rode the rest of the way in silence, holding hands and listening to our parents talk about trivial things. Our parents. Our color. What did it mean? And Amber was right about one thing, she did feel like a sister to me and I wished very much that she really was…It might have made things so much simpler.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The Virgin Circus wasn't a circus at all, that's just the clever name Carol Hahn had suggested. There'd been about a dozen good suggestions for what to call our little fund raiser and the whole school had voted on the best one. In the end Carol's had won and I'd helped put up the big banner that said, "Welcome to the Virgin Circus!"
Yeah. It was pretty special.
"Where's the kissing booth?" Amber teased me and I giggled, feeling…I dunno. Confused.
"It's a catholic school, remember?"
"Too bad," she grinned. "You coulda made a lot of money from me."
That made me blush and I gave Amber kind of a petulant smile, wanting to tease her back. I couldn't imagine her ever paying for a kiss though, not even for charity.
I mean, Amber was just…Amber. She looked kinda really amazing just wearing a pair of red leather hipsters and a black silk blouse, like a short sleeved shirt with only three small buttons to guard her braless breasts. It didn't hide her belly button at all, or her tummy and those incredible abs. The girl had a sexy six pack, you know? She wasn't Ms. Universe or anything, but she could have been one of those girls on TV every morning working out on a beach in Hawaii. Amber had a real body and she liked showing it off.
Throw her strawberry blonde hair and emerald eyes into the mix, along with her upturned nose, bee stung lips, and dimples and freckles, and…Yeah. Amber. But none of that would have been enough to make me like her, you know? A person is more than just a great body and a pretty face, or at least they should be, and I don't think Amber was vain or even impressed with her looks. More like she was just…amused.
"Hey Tiffany!" Jenny found me right away, like she'd been waiting for me to show up. "Wow!"
"Hi…What?" I narrowed my eyes as my friend looked me up and down.
"Nothing," she said and then looked at Amber. "Who's your friend?"
Jenny hated Amber immediately, I could tell, and I braced myself for the worst.
"Oh, um…This is Amber," I said, glancing between the two of them, "and this is my friend, Jenny."
"Hi," Amber said. "Nice shoes."
I looked down at Jen's feet, but she just wore a pair of brown sandals to go with kind of a boring brown dress. Jen was a cute girl, definitely, but she really needed help getting dressed sometimes. Probably because it was just her and four boys at home. Jenny's mom had run off with her gynecologist a few years before. Or maybe her dentist? I could never remember.
"Best friend," Jen told Amber.
"Huh?" Amber tilted her head with a curious smile.
"I'm Tiffany's best friend," she repeated, sorta looking like she wanted to hear Amber try to deny it.
"Well, yeah," I nodded quickly. "That's what I meant."
"Somebody's a little jealous," Amber whispered in my ear.
"We better, uh…Let's go this way," I suggested. "See ya later, Jen."
"Hold on," she stopped me. "Jeremy's here someplace. He's looking for you." Jen shot a catty smile at Amber. "Tiff's going out with my brother, you know."
"Really?" Amber shrugged and looked around like she was bored.
"No, I'm not," I sighed. "Who's in the dunk tank?"
The gymnasium was pretty crowded and we stood near the main doors, but from somewhere on the other side I'd heard a metal clang sorta sound, a big splash, and a loud cheer.
"Monsignor Harden," Jen told me with a grin, forgetting about Amber for a second.
"Oh yeah?" I grinned back at her. "I gotta see that!"
"Hey Tiffany!" and "Hi Tiff!" turned my head and I saw Katie and Sandy standing there.
"Check it out!" Carol sorta squeezed between them and spread her arms. "They made t-shirts!"
She wore a big yellow t-shirt with "Virgin Circus" printed across the front, giggling happily because it had been her idea, like I said.
"What are you all dressed up for?" Sandy asked me and I rolled my eyes.
My friends were checking out Amber as well and wondering who she was, so I made all the introductions and basically felt kind of out of place, you know? Like we were in a zoo, on the wrong side of the bars. Everyone that walked past looked at us, staring at me or blinking at Amber. Men especially, like the fathers of all the girls I went to school with. Some of them sorta bumped into each other and I saw one guy, Erin's dad, get a serious elbow from his wife. Ouch! But he deserved it too. The man was practically drooling on his shoes.
"Tiffany! Hi!" Jeremy found me and I kinda groaned inwardly, but managed to smile at him.
"Hey Jeremy," I nodded as my friends kind of faded into the background the way shy girls do around boys they like. You know, giggling and whispering and trying to get his attention without begging for it, but he only had eyes for me.
"Hi," he repeated and I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah," I said. "Hi."
Amber laughed lightly and Jeremy glanced at her, but that was all. A college coed, a really hot one standing two feet away from him, and Jeremy didn't even blink? He just stared at me and I think that was the very second I started to believe that maybe he really did love me.
"I was hoping you'd be here," he said. "I wanted to ask if we were still on for tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" I narrowed my eyes at him and Amber cleared her throat. "Oh! Jeremy, this is my friend, Amber."
"Hi there," Amber said, giving Jeremy a teasing finger wave.
"Hi," he smiled politely, but he didn't even check out her tits! He just smiled quickly and then looked at me. "Yeah. We're going ice skating, right?"
"Ice skating? Oh! Um…" I giggled nervously. "I remember we talked about it, but…I don't think I can make it tomorrow, Jeremy."
"After lunch," he said in a gentle, cajoling voice. "Come on. It'll be fun, I promise. I'll pick you up, okay?"
"Pick up who?" Josh Hawkins slapped his younger brother on the back. "Hey! Tiffany?"
He looked at me like he'd never seen a girl a before, but I'd been to their house plenty of times with Jenny. I'd grown up living two blocks away from them and Josh was a senior, eighteen years old and pretty much one of the hottest guys around. All three of the Hawkins brothers were seriously cute and that included the youngest, Jared, who appeared right on cue.
"What's going on?" he smiled at us, especially at Amber. She'd grabbed Josh's attention as well and I didn't mind.
"Who's your friend, Tiff?" Josh wondered, doing the man thing and standing as straight as he could, shoulders back, stomach in, you know. Except Josh had a pretty tight body anyway and didn't need to pose at all. All three of them were built pretty solid, actually.
I made introductions…again, but at least I could avoid Jeremy's interest for the moment. Sandy and Katie were trying to get Jared's attention and Carol kept making happy faces at Josh, and Jen was in love with Jeremy…None of my friends were really happy with Amber, I didn't think, or with me for bringing her, and I figured I'd hear about it first thing Monday morning.
"What's your major?" Josh wondered after I told them that Amber attended the university.
"Pre-med," she told him. "Veterinary medicine."
"Oh yeah?" Jeremy nodded. "Tiffany's gonna be a vet too. Right?"
"I hope so," I said, giving him a funny look. "Who told you that?"
"My sister," he shrugged. "Did you make up with your dog yet?"
"Uhhh…" I giggled and his brothers grinned at me, doubtless because Jeremy had told them about how we'd met the other evening.
"Licorice?" Amber looked at me, wanting in on the joke.
"He's still in the doghouse," I told the guys, giving Amber a shrug like I'd explain later.
We made more small talk and Josh kept trying to make his interest in Amber obvious, but she wasn't buying it. The girl remained polite and smiled a lot, laughed at all the right moments, but poor Josh wasn't her type and it made me wonder exactly what Amber's type might be. Was she a total lesbian? Except I knew she had a dog and more than that, I knew she loved him much the same way I loved Lick. And she knew that I knew, that had been obvious from the way she'd greeted Licorice that very morning in her dad's office.
Having a dog for a boyfriend didn't make her not gay though, just like my relationship with Lick didn't mean I wasn't a lesbian. Plainly I was still a little freaked out, the way I'd been all day long. I didn't want to be a lesbian! I'm serious, I didn't want to have sex with Amber, Sister Agatha, or any other girl…except maybe my mom, but that was different. I loved her. And yet, why did I feel so completely drawn to the girl? To Amber. Why had I touched her and kissed her? Licked her skin and kissed her pussy through those ridiculous shorts? If I didn't want to be a lesbian, then why did I act like one?
That kinda thinking will get you nowhere fast, believe me!
"So, um…Are we on for tomorrow, Tiff?" Jeremy asked me, pulling my head out of the clouds and I nodded.
I nodded?
"Great!" He smiled hugely and nodded as well. "I'll pick you up about one, okay?"
"Uh…" Did I just agree? "What's that?"
"One o'clock," Jeremy repeated, fixing his warm brown eyes on mine and they wouldn't let me change my mind.
"Yeah," I said, forcing myself to smile. "Okay."
"Do you skate, Amber?" Josh asked, but she was looking the other way and I thought he was finally taking the hint.
She had to be a lesbian, I figured. So what did that make me?
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Amber held my hand as we weaved our way through the crowd. I wasn't sure how that had happened, but I told myself it didn't really mean anything. Girls hold hands all the time.
We tried popping some balloons with darts, played a little wheel of fortune for donated cupcakes, and let Father Zinc try and guess our weight. He had to guess within three pounds and he was pretty good at it too. The way he looked up at the ceiling, I thought maybe he was cheating though. I mean, God probably likes priests as much as anyone else, right? And it was for charity, so…
He'd guessed ninety-nine for me and according to the scale, I weighed ninety-eight and a half. That had kinda freaked me out, but in a good way and I just grinned at him. He missed Amber though, guessing her at a hundred seventeen.
"One hundred and…twenty-one exactly," Mrs. Primrose announced, since it was her bathroom scale and she was the official weigher person. "We have a winner!"
A lot of people clapped for Amber, a lot of men I should say, and I think they'd been making their own mental guesses as to what she might weigh. They'd been guessing about me too, I figured, and any pretty girl who happened to play. I didn't care though, it had been kind of fun and Amber had won a blue giraffe for fooling Father Zinc. A stuffed one, and not very big or anything, but it was pretty cute anyway.
"I'm gonna name it Tiffany," she told me after we stopped to get a couple glasses of red punch.
"Yeah right!" I laughed at her. "Hey! Hold on…Over here…"
We found the booth that had been set up to sell all the school junk, like the t-shirt Carol had been wearing, and the other kind that just said "Virgin Mary Academy" with the school emblem on the back. There were buttons and bumper stickers and stationary, stuff like that, you know. School stuff.
"I want to get you something," I said, feeling a little shy about it, but I was serious too. I mean, it was my school and everything and Amber was sorta my guest, so…
"Okay," she smiled at me and I felt my heart kinda flutter. I just wanted to give her something.
"Tiffany?" Sister Judith had been selling a key chain to someone and now she stared at me. "I hardly recognize you."
"Uh, hi Sister Judith," I said with a contrite smile. She had a way of making me feel guilty for some reason, even if I hadn't done anything at all.
"You look like one of those people on MTV," she said and Sister Judith must have been about a hundred years old.
"I do?" I giggled nervously and Amber wasn't helping.
"She watches MTV?" my friend said under breath and I bumped her with my hip.
"Um, thanks," I said, looking down at myself. "I just thought I'd wear something a little…"
"You shouldn't thank me for that, Tiffany," Sister Judith said and she wasn't smiling at all. "Does your mother know you dress like that?"
"Can I get one of these t-shirts?" Amber asked sweetly.
I just stood there kind of burning with humiliation. But what did I expect from a nun anyway? At least she hadn't called me a slut to my face, but I got the point anyway…so maybe she did.
"A pink one," Amber pointed. "Small size, yeah…"
"Small?" Sister Judith narrowed her eyes. "For you? I think a medium…"
"No," Amber shook her head. "I want a really tight one. The smaller the better."
"Hmph," the nun frowned, but she pulled out a size small t-shirt and Amber held it to her body.
"What do you think?" she asked me with a grin.
"No way!" I laughed. Even if Amber got it over her tits, which were serious C-cups and not shy at all, that's all the shirt could hope to cover.
"Yeah way!" Amber sighed happily. "I'll get one for you mom too."
"What?" I gasped and rolled my eyes.
"Oh yeah! Let me have another one just like this and, um…" she looked around. "A bumper sticker! That one!"
"A bumper sticker?"
"For my dad," Amber smiled at me. "This is awesome. What do you want?"
"Me? I'm supposed to be getting something for you, remember?"
"Snow globes?" She clapped her hands with happy surprise. "You guys got snow globes? Can I see one?"
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"I don't think Sister Judith liked us very much," I said with a giggle some ten minutes later.
We were sitting beneath my locker, on the floor in one of the deserted hallways upstairs. The gymnasium had been too crowded and too warm, and too uncomfortable with everyone watching us. I'd never felt like that before. Being stared at. I didn't really think I liked it very much, but Amber hadn't even seemed to notice. Or more likely she was just used to it.
I was probably about as pretty as she'd been at my age, although I had a hard time imagining Amber as anything but what she was – a nineteen year old college girl. She was more outgoing though, more comfortable being around people and at the center of their attention, or so it seemed to me. I didn't really know her that well yet. I'm just saying we were a lot alike in some ways, but different in others too.
"I can't believe you bought me a snow globe."
I gave it a small shake, watching as the snow swirled around the manger and the dozen tiny figures gathered outside it. The Nativity scene…with snow. That seemed kinda funny for some reason.
"You don't already have one, do you?" Amber asked me and I shook my head with a giggle. "Cool."
"Yeah," I agreed. "It is cool. Thanks."
We sat there in silence for a minute and I couldn't think of anything to say. I mean, I knew what I wanted to say, but not how to say it. I liked sitting with her though. Amber didn't really frighten me or anything, I just…Amber's fingernails were scratching lightly along my left thigh and I had my knees up, so my skirt had fallen down to my hips. I kept my thighs together, but I knew she could see just a hint of my panties. I wanted to move and cover myself up, but I didn't want her to think I was shy or nervous. And she kept looking at me and touching my leg and…
"Hey, um…" I cleared my throat softly, glancing around the deserted hallway. It was sorta dark too, not totally, but dim with the light coming from the stairwells.
"Hmmm?" she sighed softly, watching my eyes and smiling.
"You know I'm not really, uh…gay. Right?"
"So?" She giggled and I hadn't expected that answer. It sorta froze me for a second, like I couldn't think of what to say.
Amber turned towards me and her hand slid over my thigh and then between them. I let her push my legs apart as I held my breath, licking my lips and staring into her shining eyes. I knew what was coming. I could feel it in the tingling of my tummy, on my skin and in my hair. My entire body felt tense and I didn't even breathe as she leaned into me, finding my lips with hers.
I reached for her, holding that silly snow globe with one hand and finding her shoulder with the other. I spread my legs even wider as I felt her fingers caressing my panty covered sex. Amber's tongue slipped into my mouth and I felt so completely helpless as it touched mine. This was a real kiss and my heart felt ready to burst as the girl seemed to fill me up inside. The warmth of her, the pure joy of being with her. She was the first person besides my mom that I fell in love with and I wanted to cry for some reason.
We kissed for a long time, but I couldn't say how long. Until my lips felt swollen and bruised and my panties were damp with my arousal. Amber hadn't tried to take them off me, even though I wouldn't have stopped her. She hadn't even tried to pull them aside to find my naked sex with her fingers. She'd just touched me through the cotton, petting my pussy while we made out and for some reason that seemed even better. Like that self-control meant something special, that kissing was more important than sex, and not even the kissing…Just being together.
"We should probably go back downstairs," Amber whispered as she stroked my hair, pulling my long bangs out of my eyes.
"Yeah," I sighed, taking a deep breath and nodding. "They're singing now."
We could hear the choir, their voices seeming to float through the floor and echo off the walls. It was a lonely, haunting sound, I thought. Like something forgotten. Not really a sound at all, but just a memory that lingered in the dark after everything else had gone away.
"I love you."
The words were barely spoken and I couldn't even be sure I'd actually said them, but I had. If Amber had heard me, she pretended otherwise and I was grateful for that. I didn't want anyone to know.