Outcome

by Kim Pritekel

  "Are you okay? You’re talking like Lazareth, back from the dead."

  "Oh, yeah. I’m fine. Cold and stuck, but fine." I reached a hand down to her.

  "Come on. I think it’s time we went in. The snow is coming down faster, and I can’t get my car out to take either of us to the hospital." Haley grabbed my hand, and I pulled her up with a groan. Finally on her feet, we headed back into the house, both drenched from head to toe.

  "My god, I’m so cold." She stood in the middle of the kitchen, her arms wrapped around herself, teeth chattering.

  "Come on. My mom has a Jacuzzi in her bathroom"

  "Ohhhhhh. Nnnice." She smiled, her teeth still sounding like little jackhammers. We hurried up the stairs, tugging at sopping clothing as we went, leaving a trail to my mother’s bedroom. Finally standing in just our underwear and bras, I got the hot bath started, the jets not far behind.

  "I don’t have a bathing suit for you." I looked at Haley, who was looking longingly into the steaming water.

  "Like I care." She climbed in as she was. I watched, my eyes following her body as a little more of it dipped into the heated depths. You’ve played sports, and have seen other girls undress in front of you before. You have seen other girls undress in front of you before. You have seen other girls undress in front of you before.

  Shaking myself out of my confusing reverie, I also climbed in, dressed only in underwear and bra. The water almost felt as though it was boiling as my cold skin screamed at me. Oh, but what a way to be boiled.

  I sat, holding my breath as I became acclimated. Haley sat across from me, her head back against the blow-up pillow, her eyes closed as a slow, soft moan escaped. I looked at the curve of her long neck, the way it spread into smooth shoulders with very defined clavicles, and just the very top of her cleavage in her bra, which may as well have been see-through because of the water.

  "God, this is bliss." Blue eyes opened and settled on me. "Will your mom mind we’re in here?" I shook my head.

  "I use it all the time." I did everything I could to avoid looking anywhere on Haley that I shouldn’t be. I was so afraid that one of these days she would catch me, or though she had caught me many times, ask me about it. What if she did? I didn’t have an answer for her.

  "Andi?"

  "Yes, Haley?" I had closed my own eyes to enjoy the feel of warmth spreading throughout my entire body. I kept them closed as I waited for her to speak.

  "You know the movie we watched last night?" I smiled.

  "Yes."

  "Would you ever do that?"

  "Die of AIDS? Sure."

  "Nut." I felt water being thrown at me, and I grinned again, but opened my eyes to look at Haley. "I mean, you know, be a lesbian."

  "Well, it hasn’t really been in the career track packet that I created with my school counselor, but sure."

  "I’m serious, Andi."

  "Okay, okay."

  "Would you ever be with a woman?" She looked at me, her hands weaving under the water, making the hot water flow and ebb to me.

  "I guess I’ve never really thought about it." Yeah, what a lie that was. I looked away from her, pretending to play with the water.

  "I have." My eyes shot up to look at her. She was looking over my shoulder, seemingly lost in her own little world.

  "Haley, are you,"

  "Oh, no. I mean, I’m into guys, but it’s not something that I look down on, or anything, you know? I believe in doing what feels good at the time, trying everything. I mean, our differences are the spice of life, right? Why be bland?"

  "Yeah, I guess. I can understand that." I ran a hand through my hair, plastering it all away from my face. "Have you ever done anything with a girl?" Haley shook her head.

  "No."

  "Why not?"

  "Guess the right situation never came along. Would you ever kiss a girl?" I looked at Haley, and saw that she was being honest with me, and just talking, so I may as well be honest with her.

  "Yes."

  "Really?" She smiled. "Would you do anything else?"

  "Like have sex?" She nodded. "I don’t know."

  "Well, I mean, your experience in that wasn’t great with a guy, maybe you’d enjoy it more with a woman. Maybe you should try it someday."

  "Maybe I should." Certainly not the first time the idea had come to mind. And I doubted it would be the last. "What about you? Would you have sex with one?"

  "Well, I’m not sure about a one-on-one sort of thing, but like in a threesome? Oh, yeah."

  "So, you’d have to have a guy there, too?" She shrugged, flicking the surface of the water with her fingers.

  "That’s what I’m most comfortable with. What I know." I nodded.

  "Fair enough. I could see being in a threesome." I stared at a shampoo bottle on the side of the tub for a moment before I looked at Haley again. "So, what would the circumstances have to be? I mean, like you and two strangers, or you and two friends?"

  "Well, I have no problem with having sex with friends. Did I ever tell you about my first time?" I shook my head. "Well, you know who my buddy Tommy is, right?" I looked at her, stunned.

  "Tommy Gauna? Gay guy, Tommy?"

  "Hey, he’s my friend."

  "Well, come on, Haley. The guy is so obvious."

  "Well, anyway, we were sixteen, and decided we both wanted to see what all the fuss was about, so, well, we did it."

  "Oh my god!" I laughed, still stunned, and a bit jealous.

  "Yeah, a detail of my life few know about." She smiled, relaxing a bit more as she slid down in the water so that only her head was above the surface. "So, I guess you can tell I don’t have a problem with having sex with friends. It’s certainly not something I like to make a habit of, though."

  "So, would you do a threesome with strangers?"

  "Hmm." She thought for a moment. "I would prefer to know the woman, that’s for sure." She stopped, then her eyes landed on me. "Like you, for instance." I pointed to myself.

  "Me?"

  "Sure. You’re gorgeous, sweet," her eyes dropped to take in what belonged to me below the water’s surface. "Sexy." I looked at her, stunned all over again. She thought I was gorgeous and sexy? She must be joking. Never mind what she was talking about doing.

  "Well, um, wow. Not sure what to say."

  "You don’t need to say anything. I didn’t say it to get a response from you. I just think you’d be my ideal if I ever decided to try it."

  "Well, can I be honest with you?" To hell with it.

  "Please do."

  "You’d be mine, too." Haley’s face slid into an easy, sensuous smile.

  "Really?" I nodded. "Well see that? We’re perfect for each other." She winked. "And, I don’t know about you, but I’m starting to prune, so, can we get out?"

  "Sure. In the mood for a lesson?" Her face broke out into a huge grin as she nodded.

  "Yes, ma’am, Sunbae Nim."

  I quickly got out of the tub, afraid to hear anymore, and afraid I wouldn’t be able to control myself or my tongue and say something that we’d both regret. I, for certain.

  Changed back into sweats and tanks, we headed to the basement, and my practice mats. Haley had a been a wonderful student, very observant, and willing to try anything. Obviously that willingness extended to far more than I had realized.

  "I figured today we’d start working on more offensive moves for you. So far you’ve done very well in defending yourself, but what about when it comes to your being the aggressor?"

  "Sounds great." Haley smiled as she started doing the stretches I had taught her. Once we were both stretched, Haley took her position, bowing to me, and then we began.

  I taught her how to attack, how to come at me to disarm me, or if it came to it, kill. Haley listened, and was very observant. I was quite impressed, as she managed to nearly get a few good licks on me. I wasn’t keeping my guard up as well as I should have been, I guess not figuring she’d catch on so fast. If she ever continued the teachings, someday she�
��d make a wonderful student.

  In a few of the moves, we had to get awfully close, Haley’s body against mine, her breasts against mine, and there wasn’t much material separating hers from mine. I felt horrible, taking my little guilty pleasures where I could.

  While blocking a punch, I realized she wasn’t paying the attention to it that she should, and I was able to turn the table on her. I grabbed her by the arm, spinning her around, and pinned her against the wall, my arm across her throat.

  She was breathing heavily from both the exertion, and the surprise. Our bodies were less than a hair apart, her breaths matching my own as we stared each other in the eye.

  "I think you missed that loophole," I said, my voice low and throaty from the action.

  "I think you’re right," she said, her voice just as low, but breathy. God, if I could have gotten away with keeping her pinned there all day, I would have. But there was no reason, so I let go.

  Haley rubbed her throat and shook her head.

  "Wow. I never even saw that coming." I took many steps away, needing to physically get some distance away from her. I had never felt anything so intense, needing to touch her, wanting her to touch me. What was this? It couldn’t mean anything.

  "What do you say we stop for today?" I ran my hands through my hair, trying to stop them from shaking.

  "Okay. That sounds good. Damn, that was a good move." She walked over to me, putting her hand on my shoulder. "Got any more of those?" She smiled, crooked and meaningful.

  "Ah, no. Not really." I smiled, sweet and innocent, still shaken from the intensity of my previous feelings. Previous, hell, they were still running through me like the blood in my veins, and just as hot.

  "I need a shower." Haley walked over to the wet bar and grabbed a few pieces of paper towel, wiping her face and neck. "Gross."

  "Go ahead. You can use the shower in my mom’s room, I’ll use the one in mine."

  "Will there be enough hot water?" she asked, wiping under her hair on the back of her neck.

  "Oh, yeah. That’s one thing we have; an excellent water heater." I sounded like such an idiot, nearly babbling to hide my unease.

  "Okay. That sounds good. A shower."

  I stood under the spray, letting it fall over me, cleansing not only my body, but my mind, too. This was ridiculous and there was just no way of ever doing anything about this want, for so many reasons. I could never risk losing Haley’s friendship. I’d rather drool in private for the rest of my life, then find release and lose her. Not to mention my family. It would kill me if I ever made my mom ashamed of me. She had done everything she could to make sure Chris and I were happy and well taken care of. She deserves no less from me.

  I shook off all the old feelings and curiosities, deciding that today, right now, this minute, was a new beginning for me and Haley. She was my best friend, and I wanted it to stay that way. Surely she did, too?

  I turned the water off, just as it was about to start getting cold on me. I wondered if Haley had managed to get a hot shower, too. I dried myself off, rubbing my hair vigorously with the towel so it all stood on end, then began to dress in flannel pants and a sports bra. I looked around the bathroom, realizing I had forgotten my sweatshirt in my bedroom. Damnit.

  A burst of cold air blew into the steam-filled bathroom as I stepped into the bedroom, heading toward my dresser.

  "Hey." I turned to see Haley walking into the room, fully dressed in flannel pants and a tank, brushing out her wet, tangled hair. "Nice. New outfit?" She grinned. I looked down at myself, feeling very vulnerable in my half-state of undress. I was so tempted to cover myself with my arms. Yeah, explain that one, Littman.

  "Why, yes. It’s in Eddie Bauer’s summer collections."

  "Hey, if you were the model, I’d buy it." I rolled my eyes and opened my drawer, looking quickly for something to put on. "Yah!" Fingers began to dig into my ribs and sides. I slapped at the hands, but it did nothing, just made my laughter bubble up even worse until I had tears coming down my cheeks. "Uncle!"

  "Why are you shouting ‘uncle’?" Haley asked, her fingers traveling to see where else my ticklish spots were.

  "Isn’t that supposed to make you stop?"

  "Why would it? I don’t much care about your uncle." Okay, so I’d have to stop her myself. I managed to get myself turned around so at least I had some semblance of control. One of my hands tried to peel Haley’s off me while the other tried desperately to find any sort of ticklish spot on her. Nothing seemed to work.

  "Damn, woman! Aren’t you ticklish anywhere?"

  "Only one spot." She said, baring teeth as she moved down to my thighs. Oh no, not my thighs. I tried to grin and bare it, not letting on that I felt like I was being killed slowly. Finally the tickling won over, and I burst out laughing, giving up my fight against her.

  We fell to the floor, and I found my will rekindled when she recoiled from my accidentally brushing my finger along the bottom of her left foot. Could this be the magic key?

  "Ugh! Stop, stop, stop!" Score!

  I dug in to Haley’s feet with all my might, bringing her to tears as she squirmed on the floor, laughing, crying and begging me to stop.

  "Truce?"

  "Yes, yes! God, just please stop." I took my fingers away and sat up, leaning my back against the side of my bed. She took several deep breaths, and finally got herself together, looked at me. "Damn you." I grinned, patting the space next to me. She scooted back until she was next to the bed.

  "What do you say to a PlayStation game?" I looked at her, still panting from the attack. She nodded.

  "You got it."

  * * *

  The sun would be going down soon, which made the house that much colder. The snow had let up quite a bit, and I figured it would stop all together by tonight.

  "How the hell do you beat this guy?" Haley asked, staring at the screen that had YOU LOSE across it.

  "Very carefully."

  "Yeah, thanks for the tip. Come on, stud. Let’s see you beat him." She tossed the controller to me, and I grinned.

  "Gladly." I hit start, and began on the same level of Mortal Kombat where Haley had been. I began to chew on my lower lip as the bad guy came on the screen, and I thought of what strategy I planned to use.

  I had played this game so many times, and had already beaten it once, so there was a serious disadvantage for Haley. She sat beside me, watching with wide-eyed excitement as I brought the guy to his knees.

  "That was so cool!" She looked at me, a whole new respect in her eyes. "How did you do that?"

  "Hours and hours of practice." I admitted.

  "Want to play against each other?" I looked at her.

  "Are you nuts?"

  "Yeah, pretty much. But, we should do it like this, since you have had hours and hours of practice, and I’ve had a half hour of play total, the best of three. But here’s the thing; you have to win all three, and I only have to win one game."

  "Okay. What do we win?" She shrugged.

  "I don’t know. Guess that’s up to the winner."

  "Works for me."

  "Game on. Oh, but wait."

  "What?"

  "I need my Linda."

  "Oh, lord." Haley jumped up and grabbed one of her Linda Eder CDs, and stuck it in the stereo.

  "Much better."

  The game started, and it was obvious who was going to win this one. Feeling cocky, I decided to show off a little, blowing her guy out of the water.

  "Damnit, Andi!"

  "Temper, temper." I set my controller down and looked at her.

  "That’s only one. You have two more to go."

  "You got it."

  Two games, and bloody defeats later, I looked at my opponent again. "Pay up."

  "Okay, okay. What do you want?"

  "Hmm." I put my finger to my chin, tapping as I looked around as I tried to decide what to have her do. Then I thought about the brownies my mom had made yesterday. "Hold that thought." I stood, and quickly ran u
pstairs, bringing a plate of the treats back down with me.

  "Oh, yum." Haley smiled, rubbing her hands together.

  "Yeah, you’ll say yum. You, my dear, have to shove three of these squares into your mouth, and eat them. They all have to go down. Got it?" She looked at the brownies, then at me.

  "Simple." She grabbed one, easily stuffed it inside her mouth, grabbed another. That one took a bit more thought to shove in. I chuckled as her cheeks bulged like a chipmunk.

  "One more." She sighed, grabbing a third, and, using some pretty impressive ingenuity, got it in there with the other two. For a second I felt bad, as she looked like she would puke them all up, her eyes bulging, trying not to gag. I smiled as I watched her try to slowly but efficiently chew enough to be able to get some of it down.

  Finally, all three were swallowed. Haley opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue to show me. I clapped.

  "Very impressive. Shall we continue?"

  "You got it. I’m going to get you for that."

  "Just try it."

  You played hard, Andi. You played hard. No matter how many times I told myself that, I still couldn’t believe Haley had beat me. At my own damn game!

  I looked at her, waiting to see what horrific task she’d have me perform. She looked at me, chewing on her lip as she decided.

  "Okay. Follow me. Oh, and lose the shirt." She stood and headed for the stairs. I looked down at myself, brows drawn in dread and confusion.

  Haley stood at the garage door, her finger on the electric opener.

  "What are you doing?" I asked, looking out into the front yard, which was a light blue from all the snow, and the falling sun.

  "It’s not a matter of what I’m doing, but what you’ll be doing. Soon." I stripped my shirt off, immediately starting to shiver. "Okay. You have to run out to the street and back."

  "Like this!?"

  "Yup. Like that." She looked down at me, then to my face and smiled. I took several deep breaths, trying to get myself ready, and praying that my nipples would not freeze into rocks and fall off.

  I ran into the garage, and hopped over the snow wall, and made my way through the freezing snow, made somewhat hard by the rapid drop in temperature, so it was easier to run along the top couple layers of it. I screamed as I hit what was normally the curb, and turned to head back. I was so damn cold I could cry.