A Different Girlfriend, Chapter 1 Intro

by Nuit du Loup

Karen Mayes was one very confused girl. The tall blond 15 year old sophomore of Tomington High School had shown up for class today thinking it would be just like every other school day. Now though she had no idea what to do with herself. She leaned back now against her locker and laid her head back with a dull clunk. Her mind was reeling and she knew exactly who had caused this turmoil inside her. It was all that new girl's fault.

The small Michigan town Karen lived in had decided to redraw its school district lines this year in order to balance out the student load on each of its 2 high schools. As a result Tomington had received an influx of new students who had previously gone to the other more populous school. So today, the first day of the new school year had resulted in a general commotion as people moved around and met each other, boys and girls making new friends and the like.

It was one of these new people that was causing Karen's mind to spin. The girl's name was Emma Marsh. She was a short, probably barely 5 feet tall, girl with slightly Asian features and shoulder length jet black hair. What snagged Karen and kept her embarrassingly entranced when they had met in homeroom were her strange golden eyes. Most of Karen's other friends in the room had simply said Emma's eyes were pretty or some other benign comment. To Karen however those golden yellow cat like eyes held her own eyes in place, she had barely been able to gasp out her name when introductions were being done. Her behavior had drawn strange looks from most of her friends.

They had reason to look at her strangely. They had no idea of the secret that she kept tightly inside. She had known since middle school, when she used to live in Nebraska, that she was a lesbian. She had always found herself crushing on and admiring other girls around her. In 8th grade though she tried acting on her feelings for the first time. The results had been disastrous.

The girl she had approached had looked at her in revulsion. She was glad the school year ended quickly after because rumors had dogged her constantly and kids that age can be pretty cruel to one another. She was even gladder when her father got a better job and moved the family here to southern Michigan. Now only her older sister Michele knew her secret and that was because her sister knew everything about her. They had always been very close. Michele accepted who and what she was.

When homeroom had ended she had quickly made excuses and fled here to her locker to re-center and cool off. She hadn't even realized she'd run here till she stopped panting. Closing her eyes with the cool steel against her spine she thought over the girl in a calmer manner.

Karen realized that she obviously found Emma attractive. The new girl had a slim athletic body and moved with an oddly smooth grace. It had been a while but Karen realized all the signs where there, it was sudden but she knew she was already crushing hard for this new girl.

She had doggedly resisted any kind of relationship last year, kindly rebuffing the few boys that had approached her. She had heard from her friends that a good many of the boys considered her to be fine catch for whoever managed to get her. She hadn't been interested in them at all but she didn't want anyone to realize it so she'd told her friends and they had of coarse spread the news that she was more interested in academics at the moment than having a relationship. Her excellent grades had helped reinforce her reputation and since then she was always nice but not flirtatious to the boys and they left her alone.

Now her plan to make it through high school unscathed was in a dangerous condition. She slammed her hand hard against the locker in frustration that one golden eyed girl could shake her foundation like this. She had no desire to repeat her eighth grade experience here. This school was near Ann Arbor and was considered very liberal and there were a few openly gay couples here who were quietly tolerated but that fear was buried deep inside her.

After a few calming breathes she decided to think things over during lunch. She navigated through the lunch time crowd and made her way to the cafeteria. After grabbing her tray of predictably bland looking school food she looked around for any of her friends. In her haste to avoid Emma she'd been unable to coordinate things with any of them. Suddenly a hand waved in the air at a table. It was Amber, Karen's best friend and the school's gossip sponge. Karen made her way over and plunked down in the empty seat next to the girl.

"So," Amber began with a devilish smile, "I hear you ran out of homeroom, what's up? Finally having boy troubles?"

"Huh? No, nothing like that," Karen replied unsurprised that her friend knew of things already. The girl just had a way of knowing things that went on in this building and around her in general. "I just really had to go to the bathroom; I'd been holding it for a while."

Karen sat there for a moment and knew that Amber thought she was lying. That was another thing about Amber. Karen could rarely ever get a lie by her defenses. For some reason Amber could read her really well. It was one of the main reasons why they were friends. Karen knew she could always rely on Amber to see through her and help her with her troubles. She even thought Amber had figured out she was a lesbian but knew not to bring that up. Now though Amber was giving her one of her knowing smiles and simply nodded and if to accept the lie.

"Well the others will be coming shortly, all four of us managed to get the same lunch block this year," Amber said with a happy grin. "Oh speaking of the girls, there they are."

Karen felt her anxiety disappear as she saw her other two friends Liz and Ashley making there way over. She felt a grin push her earlier concerns out of her head as she and Amber both raised a hand in greeting. Liz and Ashley were constant companions; they may as well be sisters as far as anyone in this school was concerned, despite the clear difference in their appearances.

Liz was a bit of a huskier girl with long brown hair but her bubbly happy disposition had her firmly on a lot of guys list of people to date. Ashley though was a beauty. She had a nice caramel skin tone from her black father and Italian mother that went fabulous with her dark hair and small perky noise. Her slim runner's body was the envy of many. Unfortunately for all her admirers she was very firmly committed to her boyfriend Steven who was on the baseball team. Amber always joked that she and Karen, the blondes of the group, had to balance things out.

Karen was so caught up in the joyful reunion of friends that she had failed to notice that there had been a third person with Liz and Ashley. She would have kept on not noticing except that when Liz and Ashley sat down the girl had remained standing which immediately drew her eyes. When she saw the girl her mind stopped and remained blank for several heartbeats. It was her, Her with a capital H. When her mind resumed working she saw that Emma was looking at her too. The girl had a calm expressionless face but Karen saw the interest in those eyes as they looked her over.

"Oh!" Ashley exclaimed from her seat as she saw Karen and Emma looking at one another. "I'm really sorry I forgot. Girls this is Emma, she was just standing around looking confused so I invited her to eat with us. Why are you staring Karen do you know her?"

"W…we," Karen began stuttering embarrassingly. Reining in her flustered thoughts she firmly gathered herself. "We've met. She's in my homeroom."

Karen thought that might have been a mistake to mention it when she saw Amber give her a considering look. Karen gave her a friendly "shut up" glare.

"Yeah, we're both in Mrs. Dowell's class for homeroom." Emma said finally speaking. Karen found that she liked the clear crystal cheerfulness of the girl's voice, a thought which she quashed firmly when she realized she'd had it and almost missed what Emma said next. "I thought I had done something to anger you since you didn't say anything earlier and then you ran out."

This comment of course drew all eyes to Karen, all of them questioning.

"I just had to go to the bathroom really bad and I was uncomfortable because of that," Karen said defensively. Then turning to look at Emma. "I wasn't angry with you, not at all. "

Emma smiled looking relieved at this and when Karen saw it she knew she was doomed. She knew deep inside that she had been completely sunk. She couldn't believe it, but one girl had just completely invaded her thoughts and that beautiful kind smile had just clinched it. Karen wanted to moan and slam her face to the table but there was no way she was gonna do that with everyone here, especially not in front of Emma herself. To distract herself she decided to get to know the new girl. Before she could speak though the girl had rounded the table and her voice caught as the girl sat next to her smiling again.

"You don't mind do you"? She asked pleasantly, there was more than a hint of hopefulness in it as well.

"N… No…uh…not at all." Karen got out weakly.

Karen saw the weird looks she was getting from Liz and Ashley and the knowing one she was getting from Amber and tried to get a hold of herself.

"Hey Emma, are you gonna play any sports at this school?" Karen asked, this time without any mumbling thank God.

"Yep!" Emma said nodding enthusiastically. "I'm joining the swim team; I was doing pretty well at the other school last year."

"That's great Emma!" Amber said with a smile and a look at Karen. "You'll already have a friend on the team too since Karen's also on it"

"Wow, that's awesome!" Emma said excitedly. She then grabbed Karen's left and hand clasped it between her own. "I'm glad I'll already know someone. I was kind of nervous about that before."

Again Karen felt speechless with the overwhelming cheerfulness coming from the girl. That and the fact that she wasn't really used to physical displays of friendship like this. The hands holding her own felt warm and wonderful and despite denials to herself, she wanted it to continue.

"Uh...Yeah," Karen coughed, pretending to clear her voice. "I look forward to seeing you at the first practice tomorrow. All the girls are pretty friendly so you'll fit right in. This is only my second year too."

The rest of lunch passed similarly as the 4 friends and Emma got to know each other. Karen also found herself giving in a little and enjoying being next to the golden eyed girl. By the time lunch was done the group of friends numbered 5 as Emma's vibrant cheerfulness fit right in with the rest of the group. Karen also began to enjoy Emma touching her whenever she addressed her; she even stopped flinching when contact was made.

When they all went their separate ways for class again Karen actually found herself missing the girl. Now though with the girl not sitting right next to her she could think a little clearer again. She realized she'd let her growing feelings for the girl she'd barely just met cloud her mind. As she made her way to class she reaffirmed her commitment to herself not to rock the boat and let her emotions about this girl affect her high school life. They would be friends and that's it.

At the end of the day she was exiting the school building to walk to the bus stop when she saw Amber and Emma talking on the sidewalk. She felt a felt a quick hot flash of jealousy and then stomped hard on that before it could rise.

I am not interested in this girl! She thought furiously to herself as she approached her two friends.

"Hey'ya!" Amber said loudly when she saw Karen approaching. "I was waiting for ya. Emma volunteered to keep me company till you got here."

Again those flames of jealousy tried to grown, hotter this time. Again she suppressed it. There was no basis for it.

"Hey Amber, some one's got to keep you in line." Turning to Emma she continued. "Hope she didn't talk your ear off or spill any of the terrible gossip she's picked up."

"Nah, just talking while I waited for my ride" Emma responded happily. She always seamed happy. "It's much better than standing around by myself and Amber happened to be conveniently waiting for you so I borrowed her for a bit."

As she was talking a black sedan pulled up alongside the sidewalk and honked. Emma looked over and smiled. "My mom's here to pick me up so I'll see you guys tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to practice with you tomorrow too Karen"

Karen felt a different kind of warmth this time as Emma got into the car and took off. It had been a while since she'd felt that other than when she sometimes looked at porn on her computer at home. Now she found herself day dreaming a little of what Emma would look like in the school's racing suit.

A harrumph from her left reminded her that Amber was still there and had caught her spacing out.

"Hmmm" Amber said with a small smile. "How you walk home with me today?"

They had usually walked home together on nice days last year since they lived close by each other and their homes were only a couple miles from the school. The walk was mostly through subdivision style neighborhoods so traffic was never a problem.

"Sure," she responded. "Walking sounds good."

For a while they just talked about the usual on the way home. TV shows, teachers and of coarse Amber was always willing to poke fun at Karen's choice in music. She insisted that girls now days did not listen to European metal bands. About halfway however Amber shifted topics abruptly.

"So Karen, are you gonna tell me what was going on with you today?"

"What'dya mean?" Karen replied clearly trying to avoid the subject. Amber though had other ideas.

"I'm talking about your weirdness. All day you've bean acting odd and I'm thinking it has to do with Emma"

Karen said nothing.

"Hmmm seems I'm right. You like her don't you?"

Despite knowing that Amber probably knew she was into girls the directness now still stunned her. She stopped walking and looked right at Amber who also stopped with her.

"Yeah, I know you like girls and I've never said anything before because you seemed to want to avoid the issue. Now though I'm just trying to be your friend. They way you've been acting today has already sparked a dozen rumors that you've finally fallen for some guy."

"Wait, what? I was that obvious!" Karen said in a rising panic. She'd really hoped no one had paid attention to her today.

"Oh yeah," Amber said dryly. "I was approached by no less than three different boys who saw your behavior in classes and at lunch and want to know who finally got you. Obviously I told them nothing but people will certainly catch on if they see a repeat show of what you and Emma did during lunch."

Karen stood silent not knowing what to do or say.

"You really like this girl don't you?" Amber repeated.

"Yeah," Karen breathed out quietly. "Yeah I do."

"So what are you gonna do about it?" "Amber said matching her friend's lower volume. "You already seemed to have gotten her interested in you."

"Huh, what do you mean?" She felt the fear quivering in her throat.

"That little conversation between Emma and me that you seemed so worried about earlier was about you"

"What do you mean about me?" Karen said. "And I wasn't worried about it."

"Liar," Amber said with gentle smile. "She was asking all about who you were and stuff. She seemed to want to know everything about you. Oh she tried to be surreptitious about it at first but I wheedled her into telling me clearly what she wanted to know. It seems you certainly caught her attention, she definitely made it a point to sit next to you at lunch and then she was clinging to you every chance she got."

"What do I do" Karen said breathlessly.

"It's your choice Karen." Amber said. "I don't think anyone will make a big deal out of it. I know you been hiding your being a lesbian and something must have happened to trigger that fear but I don't think people in our school will hate you or mock you for it."

"What about my family?" Karen asked. "What do I tell my parents? My dad was raised Lutheran. And I don't even know about my mom."

"Talk to them. Raise the subject obliquely. Switch to a TV show with a gay character and see what their reaction is. Since you left her out I'm assuming your sister knows already, see what she thinks. She is older than you by a couple years so she might have a different perspective than you."

Karen simply nodded. All of this was coming at her so fast.

"Let's get moving or we'll never get home." Karen said to Amber.

Amber just followed her friend letting her think things over.

When they got to Karen's house Amber hugged her friend and spoke into her ear. "Just think about it. I can see you really seem captivated by this girl. Maybe she is the one for you and maybe not, but me, Liz and Ashley will support whatever you choose."

"They know too?

Amber separated from Karen and looked at her. "Not yet they don't but I do know they're both pretty open minded. Plus I had Liz with me in Chem. and she was certainly interested in what went on with you at lunch."

Karen sighed and turned to enter her house, a typical Midwest ranch style house with two floors. "I'll think on it Amber, and thanks for talking to me about this, though I could have done with some warning that you knew everything already."

"Sorry, I can't ruin my reputation like that." Amber said with a laugh then turned and headed down the sidewalk toward her own home a little further down the street.

Karen, after locking the quiet house back up behind her made her way upstairs to her room. After throwing her bag in a corner and kicked her shoes off she threw herself onto her bed with her shoulder length blond hair forming a sunny halo. She turned over face down and drifted off for a while. She never went into a deep sleep, more of a light nap, and her mind was busy thinking things over. She didn't even realize she'd been napping till a rap on her doorframe woke her and announce that her sister Michele was home,

Michele went to a local community college to get her gen. ed. Classes out of the way cheaper before she transferred to a University next year. She was almost always home when Karen was since she liked early classes.

"Hard day already Karen? You only just started" Michele joked with a smile.

Karen couldn't help but smile back at her sister despite her inner turmoil. Michele could always lift her spirits somehow. They fought like sisters everywhere sometimes but they were always ready to help or talk to the other.

"Actually it was a pretty rough day sis, I got found out it seems."

"Found out. You mean about that, I'm guessing." Michele said with a frown. She knew all about Karen's disastrous episode in 8th grade and what that had done when they moved here. "By whom?"

"Well it seems Amber has know for a while, I already suspected that, but today she told me because of another girl."

"Another girl?" Michele asked curiously.

"Yep," said Karen and the launched into a full explanation of her day.

"Wow." That was all Michele said when Karen ran down. "You certainly did have a big first day of school. And you want to hear my thoughts on the matter?"

"Yeah, I didn't want to have to deal with this but it seems I can't do that. One way or another I need to do something about this. ?

"Well, I think you should just get to know the girl more. Since your both gonna be on the swim team together it'll be a good opportunity to do just that." Suddenly Michele had a devilish grin on her face. "I just thought of another bonus to being on the team with her."

"What?" Amber said warily, scenting the bait in her sister's statement.

"You get to see her naked of coarse!" Michele said bursting into a fit of giggles at the red faced splutters coming from Karen.

"I hadn't even thought about that!" Karen moaned. "Thanks a lot. Now I'm not gonna be able to not think about it."

"You're perfectly welcome; we sisters have a responsibility to our younger siblings"

"So what about mom and dad," Karen asked trying to move things away from a naked Emma. The thought caused her face to redden again.

"Well I don't think mom will care one way or the other, she's told me she works with a lesbian couple at the office and she seemed happy for them. Dad though might be a problem. He's always been conservative, hell; he still thinks you're calmly going along with his ban on you dating any boys till you're 16. Plus you happen to be in the role of cute younger daughter and he's always been rather protective of you. "

Michele smiled at her still blushing sister. "Just take things slow, what Amber said was probably true; she's usually pretty spot on about the goings on of the school. Just make sure you introduce me to her if you decide to go out with her, I have a sisterly role to play that must not be denied."

Karen laughed at the last and decided Michele and Amber were both probably right. She would take things slowly and if a relationship was at all possible maybe it would be a good thing to feel things out now.