by Amy DeMeritt
Shannon is always cooking and taking care of us. I’ve really enjoyed giving some of that back to her this week when I’ve gotten up with her and made her breakfast. I really like sitting and talking to her and eating breakfast together. I love family meal times, but having some one-on-one time with each of my girls is really special too. It’s nice having that time with her and then having a partial family meal when the others wake up.
Sam stirs next to us and starts to stretch out, causing Madison to wake up and shift so she can stretch her arms and legs. Madison and I watch her with a small smile as she arches her back, sending her bare breasts into the air. She looks like an adorable white cat stretching out like that. Sam falls back down with a sigh and looks at Madison and pulls her down on top of herself, wrapping her arms around her. Madison giggles and playfully bites the side of her neck and Sam pulls her face up to kiss her. After a couple moments, they release each other’s lips smiling and look over at me with cute grins.
Awenasa lifts her head off my chest and Madison and Sam seem to take that as an invitation and they both leap for us. Awenasa is only partially covered by the sheet and blushes beet red and laughs a little as Sam lands on top of her completely nude. Madison tilts my face to look up at her.
“Good morning, beautiful.” Madison smiles really big and bends down to kiss me. She holds me in a deep passionate kiss for several moments, and when she pulls back, my eyes are blurry and I’m left slightly breathless. Madison giggles and I open my eyes. “Morning, baby.”
I smile in a drunken way and look over at Awenasa and Sam. I’m surprised to see them still kissing. Awenasa has given them small short kisses, but this is lasting much longer than any other kiss she’s given one of them. Madison lays her head on my chest and we watch whatever is happening.
Sam’s cheeks are red and I hear her effort to breathe as her arousal is kicking up higher. She’s lying flat on Awenasa, but her thighs start to part and she straddles her lap, digging her hips down against Awenasa. Both of them inhale deeply and Sam glides her hand down off Awenasa’s cheek and palms over her breast, making Awenasa release a small sound. Suddenly, Awenasa pulls back and Sam quickly releases her breast and looks terrified.
“Shit, I’m sorry. I went too far. I know.” Sam starts to move to climb off of her, but Awenasa wraps her arms around Sam and holds her close. “Sam, relax. I’m not upset with you. It was nice. Very nice. But I’m not ready for more than that yet.” Sam smiles and gently kisses her lips. “Ok, thanks for not being upset. I sometimes have a hard time controlling myself.”
Madison and I laugh a little and she looks over at us with an adorable pouty face. We laugh again and Madison moves off of me some and we open our arms to her. She smiles really big, gives Awenasa a kiss on the lips again, and then hops over on top of me. We wrap our arms around her and she releases an adorable purring moan of happiness.
After snuggling and kissing for a little while longer, we decide to get up and start getting ready so we won’t be late for our meeting at the Blue Moon dance studio. We’ve laid around for so long that we don’t have enough time to shower separately, so we take one shower together.
This is a first for Awenasa. She has showered with me a couple times, but not with the rest of them. After Madison washes her hair, she holds the showerhead above each of us, one by one, so we can wash our hair. Then we soap up our bodies and Madison rinses all of us off. Typically, family shower time takes a little longer because we get distracted with caressing, teasing, kissing, and sometimes, sex. But since Awenasa is with us and we’re running out of time, we keep our hands and lips to ourselves.
After drying off, brushing our teeth and hair, we go to the spare bedroom to get dressed for the day. I throw on a pair of royal blue Bermuda shorts and a pale blue tank top with a sunset on it. Each of my girls put on a pair of shorter shorts that I would never wear and adorable tight tank tops that, again, I would never wear, but I absolutely love them on my girls. All of my girls dress more feminine, while I’m more of a tomboy with how I dress.
Since we’re going to get lunch after the meeting at the dance studio, my girls decide to eat a light breakfast of cold cereal and fresh fruit. While they’re eating, I pack my bookbag with the camera, memory cards, legal papers for the event, and a notebook and pen. I don’t know what I’ll need, so I just pack a bunch of stuff to be prepared for anything. The studio is less than two miles from here, but I pack a couple bottles of water in case any of them gets too hot or thirsty. The temperature is supposed to be in the high nineties today.
Shannon has offered almost on a weekly basis for months to allow us to drop her off at work and then we can have the car, but we like walking. We only took her up on the offer a handful of times during the winter months.
Awenasa also prefers to walk places. She rarely drove anywhere when she lived on the reservation because everything was close together and she just preferred to get out and see and experience the world.
My parents original plan when I started college was to help me with a car my second year. They brought it up when we were home, but I just don’t think its necessary right now. Everything we need to get to is within three to four miles. If we need something in a hurry, there’s a pizza shop and a mini-mart across the street.
When we get outside, the no-car decision is reaffirmed. It’s such a beautiful day out. The sky is a bright blue dome with thin white paint brush streaked clouds scattering its surface.
Chapter Eleven
I’m expecting to walk into a class or the tail end of one, but when we walk in the door, the place is empty, except for a woman dancing in the center of the dancefloor. She looks like she’s around Shannon’s and Sara’s age, maybe early to mid-twenties, she has long dirty blonde hair with natural golden highlights, and she’s built very similar to Sam with femininely sculpted long arms and legs, with thicker thighs and she’s a little taller.
She hasn’t noticed us, even though her music’s not very loud. It’s a medium-slow tempo song and the dance is very expressive and romantic and looks ballroom dance worthy. She’s really good. Amazing actually.
“Why does it look jerky at certain spots?” Sam whispers in my ear and I look over and smile. “It’s meant to be a couple’s dance.” Sam smiles and nudges me. “Then get out there.”
I smile and shrug a shoulder. I take my bookbag off and hand it to her and then take my shoes and socks off, since the solo dancer is currently barefoot.
As I start walking across the dancefloor, the woman spins and smiles as she finally notices me.
“Need a partner?”
Her smile widens as she takes a step and spins a few times till she’s in front of me and places her hands on my shoulders. Without instruction or warning, she picks up her routine. I pay close attention to her shoulders, hips, feet, and eyes to follow her.
She has really pretty honey caramel eyes that seem to glow. She’s beautiful with a soft kind oval face and a bright white smile. She’s wearing a pair of black mid-calf leggings with an oversized tee shirt that’s hanging off one shoulder.
After a couple minutes, I start to pick up on how her body moves just before certain techniques and I can anticipate the next move so I can offer better support and actually add my side of the dance so it’s not just her dancing around my body.
She presses in close to my left hip, raises her left leg and hooks it behind my right knee, across my body. I surprise her by dipping her with her back nearly folded in half backwards, rotate her from my left hip, making her leg press against my back, and then I pull her back up on my right hip, so she’s flat against my chest. Her face is within inches of mine when we finish and she smiles really big.
“I’m very impressed. You’ve had no real formal training, yet you can dance at that level coming in off the street without seeing the routine. I’m Jaime Monroe, by the way. I sure hope you’re Kayla Johann, because if not, you are a hell of an imposter and I’m going to be in a big predicament when she walks in
that door.” I laugh hard and release her. “Yes, I’m Kayla. It’s nice to meet you. That was a beautiful dance. Is it for something specific, or just for the love of dancing?” She smiles and turns to walk over to the stereo to turn the music off. “It was supposed to be for a state ballroom dance competition, but my partner bailed on me just before you got here. I guess you could say I was just having a last farewell to the dance before you got here.”
“Why did your partner back out?” She smiles and waves it off. “He received a better offer. He’s headed to Nashville for a two-month long project that will pay half his year’s salary, so I can’t complain. He deserves it. The state competition is small change compared to that.”
“I’m sorry. That’s an amazing dance. Can’t you find another partner?” She smiles broadly and laughs a little. “Are you offering?” My cheeks blush and I nervously rub the back of my neck before looking back at my girls. “When is it? I’ll be out of town all of August for two jobs in California.”
“It’s the second Friday in July. Sign-in is at noon and the event lasts through the evening.”
“Are they ok with same sex dance couples?”
“Yes. I’ve actually never found a female lead to pair with before now, but I’ve seen same sex couples at these before. It’s rare though.”
“Ok, hang on a second.”
I look back at my girls and wave them over. They take their shoes off, and as they join us, Jaime smiles and extends her hand to each of them, and they introduce themselves.
“One’s missing.”
“Shannon’s at work. So, can you give them the details for this competition? All of my decisions go through them.”
She smiles and all of my girls look at me with affection and pride. Jaime explains everything to them and actually gives a lot more detail than she gave me. She explains how the rounds work and that there’s a cash prize for the top three places and that she’d split the winnings evenly with me if we place in the top three. When she says what the cash prizes are, my jaw drops. The top prize is five thousand dollars.
Sara has done a lot of dance competitions, but cash prizes of this amount aren’t that common. The money we’ll make from doing the R&B dance video will be the most she’s ever made from a competition.
After Jaime finishes explaining, Madison turns to me and asks, “Will it interfere with rehearsals with the dance squad for the music video for Giz Anderson?”
“You’re doing a music video with Giz Anderson too?”
“Yeah, the week before we start work on the video for Sid Malone.”
“I know you’re just starting out and this is probably really exciting, but you need to be careful taking too many big projects all at once. Burn out is a real thing and it happens to all of us. I’d really like you to be my dance partner, but I don’t want you to take on too much at once.”
“The competition is in about three weeks, so how many rehearsals would we need to have before then?”
“Well, we need to prepare two dances, one to qualify with and one for the finals if we make it passed the qualifying round. We’d probably need at least three days a week for a couple hours each rehearsal.”
“Ok, hang on. Let me text my sister about the other dance rehearsals.”
“Sure, take your time. Do any of you need a drink or anything?” We shake our heads and politely decline and she smiles. “Ok, if you want to sit, there’s a lounge just through that doorway.” She points to the back of the dancefloor and then starts to walk towards the front of the studio. “I’ll give you some time to talk things out. I’ll be back in a little bit.”
We just take a seat on the dancefloor and they smile at me. I laugh a little and rub the back of my neck.
“What?” Sam leans forward and kisses my lips. “I hope Sara agrees that you should do this. I want to see you in a tuxedo.” I laugh a little and run my fingers through my hair. “I could wear a tux anytime, baby. I don’t have to be in a dance competition.”
Sam smiles and looks me up and down like she wants to tackle me. I look at Madison and Awenasa and ask them if they’re ok with me doing this and they agree they want me to do it. I pull my phone out and send a text to Shannon and Sara to get their opinions. I go into greater detail on how this opportunity came up in my text to Shannon so she doesn’t feel like she’s left out of the decision making.
Shannon: Hey, sweetie. I’ve seen those ballroom competitions before. It would be amazing to see you dancing at that level. I know you have the skill, but between this, the music video, and the choreography event for the studio, you’ll be dancing almost all day, every day. Is that a good idea before flying out to California?
Me: I’ll have two weeks before we leave to focus only on the music video and I’ll make sure I take lots of sloth time with my babies in those two weeks.
Shannon: I just laughed really hard. Ok, sweetie, I’m on board. I have to get back to work, but thanks for letting me know and asking for my input. I love you.
Me: I love you too, baby. Thanks for being so wonderful and supportive.
“Shannon’s ok with it. I haven’t heard from…” my phone vibrates and I quickly look down. “Oh, that’s her now.”
Sara: I’m glad you’re taking dancing seriously and not just doing the gigs the squad gets. I think it’s a good idea. Ballroom dancing is hard shit and you’ll learn some really good techniques and disciplines doing this. I’m with Keira and Symone right now discussing plans for the first video session for the Giz video. Are you free tomorrow afternoon?
Me: Yeah, that should work.
Sara: Hey, its Symone. I stole Sara’s phone. Who’s this girl that’s going to be dancing with my partner?
Me: Hey, Symone. She’s the instructor at the school I’m doing a choreography class with.
Sara (Symone): What’s her name?
Me: Why?
Sara (Symone): I want to look her up.
Me: Are you being creepy?
Sara (Symone): She must be hot. Fucking bitch better not get any ideas. What’s her name? Never mind. I’ll just look up the school and find her that way.
Me: You are being a whole new level of crazy right now. Her name is Jaime Monroe. She looks like she’s your age, but I haven’t asked.
Sara (Symone): Thanks, baby. You must like my craziness if you just relented and gave me her name.
Me: Ok, reel it back in. Put Sara back on.
Sara (Symone): No, I’m not done talking to you. Hold on. I’m looking her up.
I roll my eyes and look up at my girls.
“Symone snatched Sara’s phone and she’s being weird.” Sam reaches forward and takes my phone and reads through the texts. She actually smiles. “Symone’s going to shit when she looks her up. You should tell her she’s gay.” I laugh and she hands me my phone back. “You’re a brat trying to stir up trouble.”
Sara (Symone): I know this girl! She’s originally from Delaware – I wonder how she ended up out there? Anyway, we were dancers together in a production of the Lion King in Philly about three years ago. How do you attract all the fucking hot lesbian dancers? I don’t like this idea. I don’t want you dancing with her.
I laugh hard and show my girls my phone. They laugh and Madison says, “Wow, that’s really weird that she’s from so close to home. You didn’t already know that?”
“No, I didn’t look her up like Symone did and she never mentioned it.”
Me: I’m with four gorgeous women and you get jealous of a stranger that doesn’t have any more chance than you do to get in my pants?
Sara (Symone): You seriously just put her on equal ground with me? Who’s hotter? Her or me?
Me: I thought you were going to accept just being my friend?
Sara (Symone): I am, but a friend can still tell a friend how hot they are.
I groan and Sam reaches over and takes my phone to look at it. She laughs a little and starts typing on my phone. Before hitting send, she hands me the phone back to read and approve the m
essage. I smile and send the text.
Me: As your friend, you are definitely hotter, but your extra hotness doesn’t get you any closer to anything happening between us so you don’t need to be jealous of Jaime.
Sara (Symone): Who snatched your phone? There’s no fucking way you just admitted that you think I’m hot – even though I know you do.
I laugh really hard and show them my phone. Sam laughs and looks very proud of herself.
Me: My golden baby, and your arch nemesis paid you the compliment, so you should feel extremely honored.
Sara (Symone): “golden baby” – oh my god. You are too fucking cute. Tell that pretty kitty I said thank you. I’m keeping your number by the way. I’m done using Sara’s phone. I’ll text you from mine later.
Sara: Ok, I need to clean my phone and my text thread of Symone’s lust and jealousy. Tell Jaime you’re in. We’ll work around both schedules to make this happen. Make sure you give yourself at least one day completely off from dancing in the middle of the week.
Me: Ok, talk to you later.
“Symone told me to tell the ‘pretty kitty’ thank you for the compliment.” Sam smiles and laughs a little. “Sara thinks I should do it and said they’d work around the rehearsal schedule to do the rehearsals for the music video.”
Before they can respond, Jaime starts walking back across the dancefloor with a tablet and a bottle of water.
“Are you married to that floor or can we relocate?” I laugh a little and we stand up. “Sure, lead the way.”
