Chapter 2: Friday (Cont'd)
"Monica! I'm home," I called out, kicking off my boots by our front door which was at the top of some narrow stairs along the side of Mrs. Whiting's house.
"Hi Sam. Good, you can help me with…" Mom was coming out of the short hallway and she froze for a second, "…whoops!"
"Uh!" Josh blinked at her. "Hi Monica."
We both blinked, but Josh especially because all she wore was a tiny silver thong. My mom is really, really pretty, I wasn't kidding about that, and she looked like one of those women in the Playboy magazines we'd discovered in Josh's garage. His dad had like ten of them in a cardboard box and Mom could have been one of the centerfolds easy. She sure was dressed for it right then!
"Sorry!" Mom giggled and she turned around after two or three heartbeats, showing us her perfect butt before disappearing back down the hallway.
"Get a Coke or something," I sorta elbowed my best friend in the ribs, reminding Josh to take a breath before he passed out or something. "I gotta talk to my mom."
"Okay," he nodded quickly and glanced at me, a little guiltily, I thought, and his face was red.
Josh had seen my mom sort of almost naked plenty of times before, since we did hang out together a lot. Like he'd seen her in a bikini every summer, and wrapped up in a towel or braless in a cut-off t-shirt walking around the house, stuff like that. But this time he'd gotten a serious look at her and it was almost kind of funny, except it was a little aggravating too. I mean, it was bad enough the way some of the guys talked about her at school; I really didn't need to hear it from my best friend too. Even if Josh didn't say anything, and he wouldn't, he'd be thinking about her, I knew that much.
"Monica!" I frowned as I caught up with her in the bathroom.
"Oh, Sam. He'll be okay," she smiled at me and she wasn't embarrassed at all. "Come here. I need you to help me color my hair real quick."
"You don't have much time," I said, being kind of petulant and that was wasted on her, believe me.
"I know, but there's a bachelor party tonight," Mom explained. "I want to look good for it. So just get the roots, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. I know how to do it."
"It's by the sink," she said, kneeling near the bathtub, and our shower had one of those detachable nozzles on a hose. "I already mixed it up."
I found the plastic applicator bottle as my mom leaned over the edge of the tub and started getting her hair wet. I helped dye her hair all the time, so this wasn't a big deal. I closed the door too, since that thong didn't hide much at all and with my mom bent over like she was, her bare brown butt was kinda right there if Josh happened to walk by. Not that he would or anything, but you know. I wasn't gonna take any chances and Mom just waved her hand impatiently.
"Hey, um…Monica?" I said, leaning over her and squeezing out hair coloring into her roots.
"Hmmmm?"
"You remember that Parent-Teacher thing I told you about?"
"Last night? Yeah," she agreed from beneath her long wet hair as it hung around her face. "Of course. Why?"
"Oh," I swallowed hard. "Ummm…They gave me a permission slip thing, um…"
"What, for another field trip? Where are you going this time?"
"No, not a field trip. It's for that PTA meeting," I said and I was trying to decide if I really wanted to tell her anything else.
"You need a permission slip for a PTA meeting that's already over?" She was giggling and I was even confusing myself.
"I'm…not really sure what it's for," I lied, massaging her scalp with a pair of thin plastic gloves on my hands.
"Is everything okay at school?" she wondered, making it sound like they'd have a whole PTA meeting just for me or something.
"Yeah," I shrugged and I felt really stupid saying it, but… "Do you think, uh, kids should go to school…naked?"
"What?" Mom giggled. "Go to school naked?"
"Yeah," I said slowly. "Like for a week?"
"Totally naked?"
"Uhhhh…I guess so."
"That would be fun," she laughed and I made a face at her, even though she couldn't see it.
"Monica!"
"What? I'm kidding, Sam!" she told me. "Yeah, I heard something about that."
"You did? Where?" I blinked at her, kinda frozen for a second.
"The school called this afternoon," she kinda shrugged. "That principal of yours…
"They did?"
"…kind of a heavy breather," my mom giggled. "I thought it was an obscene phone call at first."
"What did he say?
"Oh, I don't remember, Sam," she tilted her head a a little. "I was half-asleep. He just wanted to know if I was okay with the idea."
"Oh." I sorta frowned. "But would you make me do it?"
"Make you do what? Be sure to get the sides too, okay?"
"Go to school naked!" I reminded her, feeling a vague sense of panic. "You wouldn't make me do that, would you?"
"I don't think they'd let me make you," my mom giggled again and sometimes it was really hard to talk to her.
"I'm serious!"
"Okay. Sorry. Ummmm…No. I wouldn't make you do anything that wasn't good for you."
"Okay," I nodded at that and felt a little better inside.
"But it probably would do you some good," Mom said with another laugh and then I didn't feel better.
What could I expect though? I mean, my mom was an exotic dancer. She was naked at work every night, so it wasn't a big deal for her. Mom didn't think there was anything wrong with people staring at her body. The only reason she'd turned around when she'd seen Josh standing there was to save him some embarrassment. Me too. It hadn't bothered my mom at all and she'd probably tease him about it later, because she was like that. Not in a bad way or anything, but like how a sister might tease her little brother, sorta. Mom couldn't help it sometimes.
I mean, Josh called her Monica too, you know? I called Josh's parents Mr. and Mrs. Evans, but ever since we were little my mom had told Josh to call her by her first name. It hadn't ever bothered me, but Josh had never been fifteen before either and now he was. He was growing up and I knew my mom didn't look the same to him as she did when he was like ten or whatever. Josh was a teenage boy and my mom…Well, she was like ten thousand percent grown woman! It was kinda weird thinking about that stuff and I didn't like it.
"All done? Did you get it all?" Mom was asking me.
"Yeah," I agreed. "I think so. You gotta let it sit for half an hour though and…"
"And I have to go to work," Mom said, gathering her hair and wringing it out in the tub. "Get me a towel, please."
"Here." There was one already waiting for her.
"I'll just rinse it out at the club," Mom told me. "I have to get ready real quick if I'm going to catch my bus."
"Okay," I stood back, leaning against the sink to give my mom some room as she stood up.
"You're going to be okay at Josh's house, right?" She looked at me. "Don't get in any trouble."
"What trouble?" I scrunched up my nose. "We're just going to watch some movies and stuff."
"I know," Mom smiled as she wrapped the towel around her head.
I tried to ignore her big, round, too-perfectly firm boobs, since they were sorta right in my face. My mom wasn't really tall, not short at all either, but with her small waist and thin shoulders, those tits made the rest of her look smaller than she actually was. They weren't huge, just…big, and that made me kinda self-conscious of my own budding breasts and I didn't really want any. I especially didn't want big ones like Mom had and she caught my quick glance down at my own chest, hidden beneath the shirts I wore.
"You're growing up, Sam," Mom told me with a soft smile and a sigh. "Pretty soon…"
"What?" I narrowed my eyes, so dark they were almost black, like hers, and we really did look a lot alike. I was much lighter than she was, since my dad had been a white guy, but I was going to be as pretty as my mom when I grew up. Everybody said so. Maybe. I wasn't too sure about that myself.
"I just mean that one of these days you might have to think twice about spending the night with Josh," Mom said slowly, speaking very cautiously as I stared at her.
"What do you mean?"
"I have to get dressed," she told me, opening the bathroom door and I followed her.
"What's wrong with me sleeping at his house?"
"There's nothing wrong with it…"
"Then why'd you say it?" I asked, feeling my heart going faster and I had some blood pumping, but I didn't want to get upset. I was trying not to.
"Sam," Mom smiled at me as we reached her bedroom. "I didn't say that. You aren't little kids anymore."
"He's my best friend!"
"I know. I know," she nodded. "I like Josh a lot too. He's really great and I'm happy you've got a friend like him, but…"
"But what?" I stood there frowning and my hands were clenched into little fists at my sides.
"But he's a boy," Mom smiled like it was funny or something. "Don't you think it's about time you guys…you know…"
"About time we…What?" I stared at her and then my eyes got real big. "You mean sex? Monica! No!"
My mom was pulling up a pair of old, faded Levi's and kinda bouncing on her heels as they were really tight around her hips and butt.
"Why not?" she grinned at me. "He's cute! He obviously likes girls. He adores you…I bet he thinks about you every night when he's…"
"Stop!" I covered my ears.
"I just don't know what you're waiting for, Sam," she sighed. "A boy like Josh doesn't stay on the market long."
"He's not my boyfriend, Monica!" I said, keeping my voice down because if Josh heard us I'd be totally humiliated. Him too, probably.
"Well, you know what?" she looked at me, like right into my eyes and she was serious.
"What?" I frowned at her, making sure she knew I wasn't happy at all with what she was saying.
"He should be, Sam." Mom snapped her jeans and zipped them up and I didn't say anything. I just left the bedroom.
"Everything okay?" Josh asked me and he was sitting on the couch watching television while he waited.
"Yeah! I just had to help Mom with her hair," I smiled at him, burying my feelings way down deep. "I'll get some stuff and we'll take off."
He wasn't my boyfriend. Josh was my best friend and that was better. Way better! I'd seen what boyfriends were like. My mom had gone through a lot of them, like a dozen, I bet, and all they ever wanted to do was have sex with her. Oh, yeah, sometimes they liked to hang out and go to a movie, go dancing or whatever, but I knew Mom never trusted those guys. Not really. She didn't talk to them, not like me and Josh talked. We could talk about anything because we were friends. I loved him. I could admit that, at least to myself, but like he was my brother, you know? I never thought about kissing him or anything. Why would I even want to? God!
He was a boy and so was I, sorta. I took care of my mom. I fixed the car and everything. If some work had to be done, I did it. Mom didn't have anybody else to look after her, so I did it. It was like I was the man of the house, you know? Somebody had to be and I looked at my dad's picture on my dresser. It was his fault and I pushed the framed photograph face down so he wouldn't look at me. I got the stuff I'd need for sleeping at Josh's house, a plain t-shirt and a fresh pair of boxers, some clean socks for in the morning. I grabbed my toothbrush and I was ready. Mom saw me, but she didn't say anything and neither did I.
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"I was thinking about tuning up my mom's car on Sunday," I said to Josh's dad as we drove to the Blockbuster movie place. We were riding in the front of his old pickup truck, on the bench seat with me in the middle between him and Josh.
"Oh yeah?" Mr. Evans nodded. "You think you can do it by yourself, Sam?"
"I'm gonna help," Josh said, even though I hadn't mentioned it to him before then, it was just sorta assumed.
"Big job, doing a tune-up," Mr. Evans shrugged. "Maybe I could give you guys a hand."
"I can do it," I said, but I really wouldn't mind if he was there. I'd only helped do it a couple times before, me and Josh learning how from his dad.
"I know," Mr. Evans grinned at me. "Seahawks are playing the Monday night game anyway. I'll just watch you, okay?"
"Okay," I smiled back at him. "Thanks."
"Hey, I love cars," he sighed. "Can't help it."
"Me too," I decided, even though I wasn't really sure if I loved them or not. I wanted to though.
"You're gonna watch the football game with us, right?" Josh asked me and I nodded.
"Course I am," I nodded. "Packers suck!"
"No doubt!" Josh laughed. "Hey! Dad said he was gonna give me the truck when I got my license."
"I said maybe," Mr. Evans chuckled.
"Really? This one?" I grinned at my best friend. "Oh man! I hope I get a car."
"We'll have to wait and see how good his grades are," Mr. Evans told me and I giggled at that as Josh waved his dad away.
"I'm gonna get good grades, Dad," he promised. "You'll see."
"Yeah, we'll see," Josh's dad nodded and I figured he was just about the coolest father in the world. "What movies are you guys going to get?"
"Zombies!" Josh and me said at the same time and we'd already decided on that.
"Again?" Mr. Evans sighed and he didn't think much of horror movies; he liked westerns mostly. "I guess it's a good thing I'm going out."
"Tonight? Where ya going, Dad?" Josh asked and we both looked at him because maybe he meant him and Josh's step-mom were going out and that would be weird. They didn't trust us to be alone anymore than my mom did, like we'd burn the house down or something.
"Huh? Oh. A guy I work with is getting married tomorrow," Mr. Evans explained. "So we're having a party for him."
"Cool," Josh nodded but I narrowed my eyes a little at that news.
"Is that like a bachelor party thing?" I wondered and Mr. Evans nodded.
"Yeah, a bachelor party," he said with a grin. "You know, a lot of beer and naked girls jumping out of cakes and…Don't tell your mom about this."
"I won't!" Josh laughed and me with him, but mostly I was thinking that was a lot of coincidence for a Friday night. "Is there really gonna be naked girls?" my best friend wondered, like any fifteen year old boy would.
"Ahhhh…I was just kidding about that," Mr. Evans said, pursing his lips and nodding. "These things are usually pretty boring."
"Really?" I asked him, because he didn't sound too sure about it.
"Yeah," the man smiled at us. "You'll find out someday, when you get a little older."
We grinned at that and I always liked the way Josh's dad treated me like a boy. Sometimes I think he forgot I wasn't, as dumb as that sounds. At least he never treated me any different than he would if I really was a boy, I didn't think. Put it that way. Like talking about naked girls jumping out of cakes, he was just talking like a dad and teasing us with it. He told us dirty jokes sometimes too, not the totally dirty ones, but you know. He'd give us beer sometimes too, like one bottle that me and Josh could share after we got done working on a car or while we watched a football game.
Mr. Evans was just really amazing to me and sometimes I almost felt jealous of Josh, but not really. I knew if I ever needed help, Mr. Evans would be there for me and he had been many times. Like he was going to help me tune-up Mom's car. He didn't have to, but he wanted to just because he liked me. If I ever was going to like a boy? I mean, fall in love with a man and all that stuff? I'd want him to be Mr. Evans and that was a new thought as I sat there next to him in growing darkness. It made me kind of warm inside and my tummy felt kind of itchy all of a sudden, so I decided I'd better not think about that anymore. He was my best friend's dad!
But it was hard not to once it was in my head.
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"I guess your dad must be having fun," I said as Josh and me got some sleeping bags ready on the floor of the living room. That's where we usually slept when I stayed over.
"Yeah, I guess so," Josh agreed. "It's pretty late."
It was well after midnight and we were both getting tired. I started digging into my bag for my clean boxers and t-shirt. Josh was already pulling off his jeans and that was normal. We both slept in our underwear and didn't even think twice about it. His step-mom had already gone to bed and the only lights came from the kitchen and from the television, that old Saving Private Ryan movie on Cinemax, with the sound turned way down low.
I turned around when I took off my pants and boxers, just because I didn't want Josh to see me naked in front. He'd seen me before, plenty of times, just like I'd seen him naked. I'd always been kind of shy about my pussy, even with him, but especially after I'd gotten my first period when I was thirteen. Now that I had pubic hair, I really didn't want him to see me there for some reason. He'd gotten hair before I did and Josh had been shy too at the time. I always pretended not to look, although I had sometimes. Just because I was curious, you know.
Once my clean boxers were on, blue ones with Tony the Tiger on them, I took off my shirts, the same ones I'd been wearing all day. I didn't turn around or anything and I didn't look over my shoulder to see if Josh was looking at me. I just pulled my fresh t-shirt over my head, a plain white one, and then I was okay again. Josh was on top of his sleeping bag in his own gray boxers and white t-shirt, propped up against the sofa and watching the television. He probably hadn't paid me any attention at all while I'd changed clothes five feet away from him. Like, why would he?
I got down next to him, sitting just about shoulder to shoulder with a big bowl half-full of popcorn between us. We'd made a lot of it and Josh's step-mom had complained, but not too much. Mrs. Evans was okay and I liked her, but she was a lot different than my mom was and that's the only real comparison I had. Josh's step-mom was like Mrs. Cleaver or something, you know? Like she just cleaned her house all day and worried about feeding her family and did laundry and…I don't know. She was a real wife and that was the big difference between Josh's mom and mine, probably. Sometimes I thought me and my mom were roommates as much as mother and daughter.
"Wanna watch something else?" I asked Josh and he knew I didn't like war movies very much.
"Whatever," he shrugged, putting the popcorn on the sofa. "I'm gonna fall asleep anyway."
"Me too," I said, leaning over him because the remote was by his feet. "It just makes me think about my dad."
"Yeah," Josh nodded and it was suddenly a little darker as I turned off the television. There was some yellow light coming from the kitchen, but not much.
"Your dad's really cool," I said needlessly, because I'd said it like a million times before.
"He's okay," Josh said, but he really had no idea. Nobody could know how lucky they were, except someone else who wasn't lucky at all.
"My dad woulda been cool too," I thought out loud.
"Yeah."
We were quiet after that and we settled onto our sleeping bags and got comfortable. It was warm enough that we didn't want to get inside them and we just lay there facing each other on our sides. Josh was looking at me and I was looking back at him. My eyes had adjusted to the dark and I could see him clearly and he had a small smile on his face.
"What?" I asked.
"I'm just thinking about that naked in school thing."
"Oh."
"My mom wasn't too sure," Josh said. "But dad told her it would be good for me."
"He did?"
"Yeah," Josh sighed. "He said he wished he was back in high school now."
"He said that?" I giggled.
"He keeps askin' me when I'm gonna get a real girlfriend."
"Oh." I thought about that for a minute. "Wait. What's a 'real' girlfriend mean?"
"I dunno. That's just what he asks me sometimes."
"Huh." We both knew he was talking about me, but I didn't know what it meant. I wasn't any kind of girlfriend.
"Did you talk to your mom?"
"Kinda," I bit my lip. "First she said I didn't have to do it if I didn't want to…"
"Yeah?"
"…but then she said it would be good for me," I sighed. "She's so weird."
"Your mom's cool," Josh decided and then gave me a grin. "I just can't believe she's your mom sometimes."
"Yeah," I giggled and stuck my tongue out. "She's like my sister, huh?"
"Kinda," Josh agreed. "She doesn't look like a mom, that's for sure!"
"Shut-up!" I rolled my eyes. "She thought it was funny."
"She did?"
"Yeah," I said. "She likes you."
"She does?" Josh smiled, but I wasn't telling him anything new, he was just teasing me.
"My mom said that you should…"
"What?"
"Nothing," I shook my head and I'd almost told him about my mom thinking Josh should be my boyfriend. I sure wasn't gonna tell Josh she wanted him to have sex with me though!
"I should what?" he insisted with a grin, probably thinking I was teasing him back.
"Nothing!" I giggled and I shouldn't have done that, but it was kind of funny seeing him so interested. "What do you care what my mom said?"
"You better tell me, Sam." Josh was moving and I knew what was coming. "I'll make you!"
"You better not!" I tried grabbing his hands with mine and I was always ticklish.
I'd always been ticklish and like any other boys growing up, we'd wrestled plenty of times and Josh always cheated that way. Not so much now that we were older, but when we were little? Yeah, we'd played like this all the time and Josh was bigger now and stronger, and maybe we'd missed this game more than we realized. I wasn't minding it, I'll say that much. I just wished I was bigger than him for a change.
"I thought you were gonna sleep!" I protested.
"Tell me!" He was forcing his hands to my ribs and I was trying to fight him, already laughing because just the idea of being tickled is ticklish sometimes.
"Josh! Stop! No!" I squirmed and we were wrestling then, with Josh using his larger body to cover mine as I tried to roll away.
I brought my knees up and my feet, trying to push him that way. Not kicking, not really, just looking for leverage because I was on my back. My hands slid up his arms and I was pushing at Josh's shoulders as his fingers found my ribs and he started digging into them. I was squealing with laughter and I hated that! I couldn't stop and he wasn't letting me go. He lifted his right leg and somehow got it over mine so I could feel the soft hair on Josh's legs rubbing against my smooth thighs.
"What did she say, Sam?" Josh grinned at me as he straddled my body, putting his butt down on my hips and thighs as I wriggled around.
"Noooo!" I gasped and kicked my legs uselessly, twisting my body this way and that.
He had me pinned down and the sleeping bags were all messed up around us. I couldn't breathe and I felt hot all over. My skin was suddenly damp with sweat. Josh was going to make me cry, that's what always happened when I laughed too much. I could feel my eyes getting moist as his hands went up my sides. My underarms were the worst and he knew it. I felt his hands on my chest, on my smallish breasts. His palms were there, pressing down on my flesh and I was only barely aware of the ache beneath my nipples. I couldn't concentrate on anything; all the sensations just added up and overwhelmed me.
His fingers were digging into my armpits and I couldn't make a sound. My mouth was open and my eyes were shut and he was still asking me what my mom had said when he finally stopped. I gasped for air, really crying as I filled my lungs and could finally let the tension go. Josh was still sitting on me and his hands were on my shoulders. Like on the tops of my smallish tits and I felt that pressure warm and kinda welcome. He wasn't doing anything, not like squeezing me, but we both knew where he was touching me.
I opened my eyes and it was quiet again and dark, but I could see him. I could see his eyes and he was looking down at me, smiling, and I smiled back. I couldn't help it. For just a second I wondered what it would be like to to do this with his dad. Like if Mr. Evans wanted to wrestle and push me down and get on top of me and…
"I'm still not telling," I giggled weakly and my hands were pushing against his chest.
"You're not gonna?" Josh asked and I shook my head slowly.
"Nope." I whispered, biting my bottom lip. "I don't care what you do to me…"
"You don't care?" he was whispering too.
"…I won't ever tell you now."
Josh was leaning over me, letting his body fall against the weak resistance of my hands and I could feel his heart going fast beneath his t-shirt. Beating as fast as mine, I thought, even though he was just sitting there looking down at me. Josh was getting closer and he bent his arms at the elbows, taking his weight on them as his stomach found mine. There was something else too, something stiff and awkward trapped between us and I licked my lips nervously.
His thick brown hair was almost in my face and I wasn't really sure what he was doing. I was helpless. I'd never felt that way with Josh, but now I did. I couldn't get away, no matter what he did to me, I'd have to let him. I didn't know why he wasn't getting off me or why I didn't tell him to get up. My cheeks were wet, but my eyes were clear and I remember looking at his lips because they were so close to mine. One more second was all he needed.
"What's going on down there?" Josh's step-mom asked from the top of the stairs and she was coming down to check on us. Josh moved quickly then.
"Nothing, Mom," Josh answered, rolling off me and onto his back.
"What was all that noise a minute ago?" Mrs. Evans paused halfway down, looking at us over the banister. She sounded suspicious and more than a little annoyed that we'd woken her up.
"We were just, um…" Josh frowned.
"We were watching TV and I pushed the wrong button," I said. "Sorry, Mrs. Evans."
"You two go to sleep now," she told us. "It's too late for that."
"Okay, Mom," Josh answered. "Sorry."
"Troublemaker!" I whispered once she was back upstairs. "That's what you get."
"Me?" Josh looked offended as we fixed our sleeping bags. "You started it."
"I did not!" I said and then dipped my head and lowered my voice. "I was just talking. You started it!"
"I just asked a question," Josh retorted. "You're the one who brought it up."
"So?" I asked him and we grinned at each other.
"Goodnight, Sam."
"Goodnight, Josh." I giggled and rolled over to face the other way and I fell asleep trying not to think about what we'd almost done and especially about what it might mean.