Dangerous Philanthropy, Part 1

by Nuit du Loup

This one is a little long and has a slow buildup. The second part picks up where the first ends.

Kylara stared pleadingly at the wall clock with ever growing frustration. As her impatience grew, she bounced her left leg up and down on her toes as she waited for her torture session of a math class to finally end. Her ice-blue eyes glared through long blonde strands of hair from her bangs when she placed her chin in her hand and they willed the time to move even just a little bit faster. It was a futile effort or course, but it was one that she made almost every single day at his time without fail. She hated her math class with a passion that grew every time she walked into this room..

"Ky!" a voice hissed beside her. Turning her head to her right she looked at her neighbor. Her close friend Hannah glared at her sternly. "Will you cut that out?" she whispered. "You're just going to get yelled at again."

Kylara sighed but she stilled her leg and looked back toward the front of the room. Mrs. Ruben, the teacher, stalked back and forth at the front of the room as she lectured in non-stop deluge. Ky barely understood a thing the woman was saying. She had long since found out that she absolutely sucked at math, her brain just didn't seem to be wired for it. Being here just made her feel stupid when she knew she wasn't. She got A's and B's in everything else, but math just didn't work for her. So why drag this out?

She'd much rather be outside. A single glance at the window showed exactly how nice of a spring day it was and that sent a deep pang of longing through her heart. She was just glad that after Algebra 2 school was over for the day and she'd be able to head to track practice along with Hannah. She absolutely loved running track. Actually she loved most exercise in general, working out her body just felt so good and she also loved to be outside whenever she possibly could. She was also decent performance-wise, so having to sit through an hour of stuff that she'd never figure out made time drag on with painful slowness when she'd much rather be out there moving her body.

When she glanced at Hannah again, her friend gave her a small encouraging smile. Hannah knew how painful this class was for her. Hannah though had no problem with math; she breezed through it with no difficulties at all. Even now Ky watched in envy as Hannah's hand scrawled smoothly along in her notebook as the teacher spoke.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the jarring blare of the final bell. It was such a sudden intrusion that she almost fell out of her chair.

"Haha," Hannah laughed. "That's four times in two weeks, Kylara. Where do you go when you tune out like that?"

Ky just shrugged as she loaded her stuff into her bag. When she threw it up onto her back Hannah fell in behind her as they exited the room and made their way through the crowd of students as they rushed about on their way to busses or cars. Navigating the stream of humanity was second nature now that she was into the tail end of her freshman year. The number of people dwindled when they ducked down the hall that leads toward the athletic facilities.

When she and Hannah slipped into the women's locker room it was already teeming with girls in various stages of dress. The track team shared the large locker room with the softball team so the number of people changing sometimes made the otherwise spacious room feel crowded. Ky found her locker and with the practiced ease of muscle memory, she quickly spun the combination on the lock until it popped open with a sharp and very familiar, metallic clang. No one looked up at the loud sound; everyone knew which sound each locker made by now and who it belonged to. They we all as familiar with this room as they were their own at home.

Kylara quickly shed her clothes until she stood in just her pale blue panties. Reaching into her locker she pulled out a sports bra and pulled it on over her small, pert breasts. Next came the super-short pair of lycra shorts that hugged her toned legs and butt over which she drew on a pair of regular running shorts. Her shirt, when she slipped it on, hung a little high so that her flat stomach was slightly exposed whenever she moved. Lastly she pulled on her socks and running shoes and then pulled her dirty blonde hair up in a tie. When she was finished she shoved all her school stuff into the locker, grabbed her water bottle, and then went to fill it from the spigot on the water fountain. By the time she was done, so was Hannah and they left the room.

Together they went down to the field and started to warm up with everyone else. The air was that of a typical early spring in southern Michigan. It was nicely warm from the sun, but the soft breeze on their skin reminded them that in this region, winter didn't always want to let go. It felt great. As she stretched out and loosened up, Kylara felt her mood lighten and her stress lessen.

She loved working her body and pushing herself, she just loved they way it made her feel. Hannah only ran track with her during the spring, but Ky was an all seasons kind of girl. She played soccer in the fall, swam during the winter and then ran track in the spring. During the summer she usually ran on her own to keep it up or went to a sports camp. On the team though, she ran mostly short distance sprint events and the hurdles.

A lot of her love for sports started with her general love of being outside. Almost regardless of the weather, she had always preferred to be out in the world when she could. When practice started up in earnest she forgot all about her scholastic troubles. When she ran it was with a smile plastered on her face. She was the type of girl who mainly competed with herself, always trying to eke out just a little more speed to shave of one more tenth or even a hundredth of a second. Today she ran even harder than was probably wise, but it made her feel excited, at least until she missed the last hurdle during a run and nearly fell on her face.

Even as the coached chewed her out, Ky fumed on her own. She hated making stupid mistakes more than anything. And the miss really had been stupid. She had started to feel really tired and her mind had wandered to fixate on what might happen after practice at home. What was so distracting about that was that she had no idea what was supposed to happen today. So the distraction had been pointless and unproductive.

Her mother had spent the entire last week cleaning their house from top to bottom with a fastidiousness that was bizarre for her mom. That of course meant that Kylara had also been drafted to help. But no matter what she said or asked, her mother wouldn't divulge the reason for the sudden scouring of their home. All she knew, or thought she knew, was that some person was coming today.

She had thought that maybe someone important was coming to their house, but she couldn't think of who it could possibly be. Her grandmother was out because she lived all the way down in Georgia now, her aunt didn't work because she was around all the time and her father definitely wasn't an option. Her mom would rather shoot herself than to do anything at all for the man that had betrayed her and almost ruined their lives

"Ky!"

She jerked her head around to see a sweaty Hannah walking toward her, her short, brown ponytail bobbing with each step. "Just where is that brain of yours at today?"

"Huh?" Kylara asked in confusion.

Hannah jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "The couch has been calling you but you've been standing here staring off into the distance. You better go see what she wants before she takes your head off."

"Thanks," Ky said and promptly jogged over to see what the coach wanted. What she wanted was to yell at her for not paying attention and for getting side-tracked. The frustration of the reprimand safely carried her through the rest of the practice without another incident.

When the team was headed back to the locker room Hannah came up next to her as they walked. "Is something bothering you, Ky?" she asked when she matched paces.

"I wouldn't say that something is bothering me," Kylara answered with a soft sigh. "I'm just…confused, yeah, I'm just confused. My mom's been acting weird for a little while now and then suddenly she wants to clean the house as if we're hosting the President or something. All she's told me is that someone is coming today. She absolutely refuses to say who it is and why they are coming. It's driving me a little nuts."

"Do you think it's about something bad?" Hannah asked in concern.

"Hmmm, I don't think so," Ky answered slowly. "She's been in a good mood. She keeps looking at me like she's got an awesome surprise hidden somewhere that she's dying to show me. But she knows I always hate her surprises."

"There's no important date coming up for your family is there?"

"None that I can think of," Ky mused. "My birthday is a month away; Mom's was three months ago, so I can't think of anything else. Unless Mom's actually planning to celebrate the eighth anniversary of her kicking dad out on his useless ass, but that would be a bit morbid. And the next big holiday is the 4th of July, and that's not exactly a gift giving occasion or a holiday that would make someone visit us."

"No family that might be coming?"

No, I already thought of them. There's no way grandma flew all the way up here and my aunt lives five minutes away, why would her visiting be cause for all this? And Mom hasn't spoken to anyone on dad's side of the family in years; they're all too embarrassed by dad to make any gestures themselves. The only reason we know they still exist is because they send a yearly Christmas card."

Maybe someone from your mom's work?"

"I doubt it," Ky said with a frown. "She's a chemist in a research lab, why would she need to smooze with her boss or something like that? And I think she said most of her co-workers are a bunch of old men."

"Then maybe she found a guy?" Hannah said this with a small smirk.

"A guy?"

"Yes, a guy. Your mom's still pretty good looking you know. Maybe she found someone and wants to introduce you?"

Kylara frowned hard at that suggestion. She didn't think that her mom was seeing anyone. She had been going out a lot lately, but that was always during the day. She was never out at night, even on the weekends. And while Hannah was right about her mom still looking good, Mom had never said anything about finding someone or that she was even looking.

"I just don't know," she said at last. "It just doesn't seem to fit either."

"Then I'm all out of ideas," Hannah laughed as she pulled open the locker room door and held it open for her.

When they entered they found that the softball team had already finished their practice and only a few stragglers were still around. She and Hannah made their way to their lockers and they pulled out their gym bags and stripped all the way down. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that Hannah was starting to fill out now. Her friend, like herself, was on the skinny side, but she saw that Hannah was definitely starting to show some more curves. In her opinion, Hannah looked pretty damn good. Kylara was happy for her friend for having such a good looking body.

Smiling to herself, Kylara grabbed a towel from her bag and made her way to the shower room. These days, most girls didn't stick around to take full showers, and Kylara was no different. She warmed up a shower and after it was comfortable enough she ducked into the spray and just washed off the heavy sweat from her body. Putting on her normal clothes while she was all sweaty just felt gross so she and everyone else just rinsed it all off first, she would take a full, thorough shower later at home. Hannah came in right behind her and did the same.

When they finished they toweled off quickly and got dressed to go home. Instead of putting her school uniform back on, Ky pulled on a pair of loose shorts and a t-shirt. When Hannah was also ready they walked out together to the school's front circle drive. Waiting there was a very familiar, beat-to-shit pick-up truck. Seated in the heavily taped and patched driver's seat, singing along at full volume to his metal CD, was Hannah's older bother Calvin. He kept right on singing even as they climbed into the vehicle. He didn't start the truck until he belted out the last note of the song.

"Hehe, hey girls," he laughed pleasantly as he turned the key in the ignition. "Sorry about that, I was just getting into my music a little bit."

"When aren't you," Hannah laughed and Ky smiled with her. Calvin was always singing or banging away at his drums set or playing his guitar or a combination of the three. He played in a metal band at his college and he always got them tickets or passes to see the group perform. They were pretty good and had a sizable local following. They even won a contest once to play the opening act for a bigger, well known band when their tour came to town. She and Hannah had gotten seats almost right at the stage for it.

"Always sis, always," Calvin chuckled as he put the truck into gear and pulled away from the school's curb. As usual the ride to her house was one long stream of jokes and laughter from Calvin. He was a fun loving kind of guy so he was always good company. He and Hannah ribbed each other a bit too and Ky always got a bit of a kick out of their playful arguing. By they time Calvin pulled into the gravel of her driveway she had completely forgotten what she was worried about.

Her house was way out in the boonies, but so was Hannah's. They were neighbors and lived out on the outskirts of town in an area where almost every house was old and huge. Most had been built well before World War I, and those that had been built after weren't much younger. These houses had been in the families of the people living in them for generations for the most part, hers included. The mortgage had been paid off long ago by her great-grandfather so the house was her mom's outright.

It was a big, sprawling structure that was made of several additions that had been added over many decades to the original structure which had been built by her four times great grandfather. It was also well maintained so there wasn't a flake of paint missing from the wooden shingled walls or a crack in their front walk. It was also set a good distance back from the road so they never heard any traffic at night. Kylara loved it.

Calvin pulled to a stop with the perfection of long habit so that her door lined up almost exactly with the cement walk to her front door. His grin when he put the truck in park showed the pride he took in doing so.

"Thanks again Cal," Kylara said with a hint of remaining laugher from his last anecdote.

"Never a problem, Ky," Calvin laughed jovially. "Our house is the next past yours so it's not like I'm wasting much gas. Are you going to come to our show a week from now, next Friday night?"

Ky looked to Hannah and her friend nodded that she was interested. "Sure, I'll go," she confirmed with a smile. "Where are you playing at?"

"Awesome! We're playing down at that new bar/ music theater thing over on Cross street. We got booked to do their grand opening night. We're the headliners," Cal's excitement was quite visible as he announced the last bit.

"Are we even going to be able to get in for a show like that?" Ky wondered.

"Don't worry about that," Calvin said, laughing again. "I've got that covered already. Will you be bringing that guy of yours though? His name was Jordan or something right?"

That brought an involuntary look of dread to Ky's face. "Cal, no…just, no. I'm not gonna let him ruin a night of fun." Jordan was her current "boyfriend." He had asked her out about a month ago and she'd agreed mostly because she didn't really have anything against him at the time and he'd seemed nice enough. But the problem now was that she still didn't have anything for him either. She didn't know why she hadn't cut him off yet since she hated any time they spent together and she never even liked to let him touch her. He had grown a bit creepy lately.

Cal however just laughed again. "Don't worry about it to much. Just kick him loose if you have to. It'll do a guy like that some good. Have I ever mentioned that I've never really liked him?"

"Yes Cal, like twelve dozen times," Hannah said with a roll of her eyes. "I believe after just meeting him you said something about the size of the pole in his ass. We know how you feel."

"Just making sure," Calvin said, disregarding his sister's dry tone entirely. He gave a wave with his left hand and then shifted the truck back into gear. "See you Monday Kylara!"

"Right, see you guys in a couple," Ky said, smiling and shaking her head at the antics of the pair. She'd known them almost all her life and they still made her laugh.

Walking up her front sidewalk, she took a peek over the hedges that ran along the front of the house and saw her mom's car wasn't there in front of the large garage yet. Pulling her lanyard of keys from her bag, he slid one into the sturdy deadbolt and turned it. When it stuck halfway she gave the door a hard kick like it sometimes needed and the key turned the rest of the way with no problems. When she opened the door she was greeted by a quiet, sunlit home. The only sound came from the gentle hum of the AC unit out back. The calm silence in the house before her mother came home always felt relaxing to her, so she always enjoyed her short lived peace before her mom filled it with her ruckus.

She dropped her school bag off at the base of the stairs near the front door and made her way back through the spacious living room to the well-equipped kitchen. After practice she always felt hungry and today was no exception. After rummaging through the pantry closet for a couple of minutes she opened a box of chocolate chip granola bars, slid two foil wrapped snacks out and quickly pealed one open. Sticking the treat in her mouth, she clamped down on it as she went back and used her free hand to pick her bag back up.

Once in her bedroom she chucked her bag onto her large, queen-sized bed, disrobed down to her skin, and then turned right back around into the upstairs hallway. Going to the next door down from her bedroom she went into her bathroom, all the while continuing to chomp on her snack. After starting her shower up she opened the second bar and munched on it as she waited for the hot water to start flowing up from the water heater. By the time she was done eating the air was beginning to steam up.

She stepped into that blessedly near scalding water and hissed in appreciation when it ran over her heavily worked muscles. For a long while she just soaked like that with her eyes closed in a half sleeping state. Slowly she raised her right hand to the shelf beside her and squirted some soap into it. Still with her eyes closed she slowly washed herself clean and massaged the tension out of her limbs.

She enjoyed this part of her sports too, when she could just relax and work out the stiffness in her muscles under the spray of hot water. She had put in one of those multi-setting heads last year and she always set it on the pulsating spray so that it pummeled her body in the most enjoyable of ways.

As her body continued to relax, Kylara felt a very familiar desire begin to creep into her. Slowly, her soapy hands began to move in a different way. One traveled up and over her firm belly to land on her right breast. The other went a bit more south until it slid over her lower lips. Ky let out a low, shuddering sigh as a rush of pleasure shivered through her body.

Sometimes, and much more often of late, Kylara found herself getting aroused during her post-practice showers. And now, like every time before she let her hands take care if the pleasant task of relieving her body of those desires.

With practiced familiarity, her lower hand played with her slit with a light touch while her upper one pinched hard on a rapidly hardening nipple. The pleasure and almost pain of that made her pussy wet with more than water. When she felt her hot fluids on her fingers she finally place two fingers onto her little clit and rubbed them in a tight circle. After a few moments of this she felt that moment arriving, so she closed her eyes and let out a long, low breathe as an orgasm quivered through her nerves..

Now completely sated in almost every way, Ky felt sleepiness overtake her as it usually did on a day like this. Getting out of the shower, she grabbed a big fluffy towel off a stack of them and began to dry herself off while looking at herself in the mirror. She smiled at what she saw.

In it was a young, skinny, teenage girl with shoulder length blonde hair that hung down straight. Her slightly tanned body was slim but her breasts were more than budding now and they sat like small cones on her chest, each capped by a pink nipple. Her legs were lithe and toned and with a small turn she saw a nicely firm butt. Wrinkling her nose as she laughed to herself silently, Ky continued to dry herself.

She knew she wasn't model beautiful, but she did like the way she looked. She was like both her mother and grandmother who were both slim. She didn't mind that as both women still looked very good for their ages and she hoped that she would get even a tiny share of that heritage when she reached the same.

When she was finally dry and she had brushed her hair out a bit, she chucked her used towel into the hamper she kept just for them and opened the door. She was still naked so when the A/C cooled air in the hall rushed into the hot bathroom, her body broke out in a rash of goose bumps. Ky shivered at the sudden temperature change and rubbed her arms to dispel the feeling.

Preoccupied by thoughts about how nice sleeping in her warm would feel, she stepped out into the hallway. She was just turning toward her room when she heard a sharp intake of breathe coming from the direction of the stairwell behind her. Turning at the sound, she began to say, "Mom? What are you—" her mouth closed with and audible click and her eyes bulged. There, standing at the top landing, was a girl, and not any girl that she had ever met before.

All Kylara could do was stare into the stunned brown eyes of the other girl for a long few seconds. Then she heard another set of thumps coming up the wooden steps.

"Cassie?" Her mother's voice called out in a friendly manner. "What are you?"

She cut off as her head cleared the wall and saw the two girls staring at each other and Kylara's nude state. Seeing her mom snapped Ky out of her mind fog. "Shit!" she hissed out and then she sprang into her room and slammed the door hard behind her. As soon as it was closed she slammed back against it and heaved out a huge breathe and panted as the embarrassment set in fully. She looked down and she flushed even more as she realized that her nipples were still rock hard and that her pussy lips were still a little wet from the lingering effects of her time in the shower. There was no way that girl hadn't seen that. Right?

"Honey?" her mom called from the other side of the door.

Kylara heard the knob start to turn but her hand whipped down like a striking snake and flicked the lock. She let out a soft sigh of relief when she heard the knob click.

"Come on, Kylara, its not that bad," Mom said in that everything's-just-peachy voice that always grated on her nerves. "It's not like you aren't both girls."

"Alright?" Ky snapped, her embarrassment switching over into anger. "If you think that than you stand there naked! And who the hell is she anyway?"

"She is a guest," her mom said, her voice also dropping in warning. "So watch your mouth and be more polite. Now put some clothes on and come down to the kitchen while Cassie puts her things in her room.

Cassie? Her room?! Kylara thought incredulously. "What on are you talking about Mom? What room?"

"If you'll get dressed and come out here I'll explain," her mom said in growing annoyance. She heard Mom turn, apparently to address the other girl. She spoke low so Ky knew she wasn't supposed to hear it but she did.

"Cassie, I'm sorry about my daughter. She's usually much better behaved than this; I don't know what her problem is. She must just be in a mood or something. Just go on down to the end of the hall there and it's the last room on the left." Ky heard a mumbled return and then a set of feet walking down the hall. Then her mom said in a louder voice, "I don't hear you getting dressed!"

Rolling her eyes, she stepped away and further into her room, not deigning to give her mom a reply. For the most part, she and her mom got along well, but they had never really been close. She didn't know why that was, but that was the way things were. Most days they got along fine and conversed normally, but there were days were they just rubbed each other the wrong way. Like today apparently. It always bugged her that she couldn't be closer to her mom, but neither of them seemed to be able to do anything to bridge the gap.

As she reigned in her temper and guarded her tongue, Ky crossed to her dresser and began pulling out clean clothes. She slipped on a pair of comfortable athletic shorts over a pair of cotton panties and then pulled on a shirt that was a little tight on her. When she realized she'd forgotten to but on a bra and reached for a drawer to get one, she stopped and snorted to herself. It wasn't as if her mom or the strange girl hadn't already seen her breasts in all their tiny glory.

After grabbing her cell phone, her constant companion, she cracked the door and looked out into the long upstairs hallway. When she saw it was clear, she slipped out and walked quietly to the stairs and descended them, making sure to skip over the one that creaked. At the bottom she peaked around the corner and saw her mom was alone in the kitchen where she was putting the tea kettle on the gas stove. Ky glanced at the small kitchen table and noticed that there were three large mugs on it.

Ky's mom looked like a less athletic and older version of herself. She was turning forty-two shortly but she had an overabundance of energy and drive. Like Ky, she was always in motion. It always wierded Kylara out a bit when she thought of her energetic mom as being a real brainiac, but that was the way Mom was. The intelligence part was what sometimes strained their relationship.

Her mom, while not a genius was a very, very, intelligent woman; at least when it came to things like math, chemistry and things like that. Ky however was definitely not. Sometimes when she brought a math test home and Mom would see the mediocre score, she would try to hide a look of disappointment. She knew Mom wanted her to be smart like she was, but she wasn't. And sometimes Mom just couldn't seem to grasp that.

Now Ky walked over toward the kitchen, fully expecting an argument. She wasn't disappointed.

"I'm quite disappointed in you, Ky," Mom said when she turned at the sound of her footsteps on the polished wood floor of the kitchen. "How could you speak like that when we had a guest standing right there?"

"Well sorry, next time I'll be happy and overjoyed when some stranger sees me naked," Kylara quipped.

"I don't see what the big deal is,' Mom huffed. "You change everyday in front of a dozen girls at practice. How is this any different?"

"Because I know all of them and trust them," Kylara returned.

"Then its fine," Mom said, smiling now. "Soon you'll know Cassie even better and trust her too. Then you won't even care about what just happened."

Kylara had a nagging suspicion of where this conversation was going. "And why am I going to be getting to know her so well?"

"Well, you see, that's a bit of a story," Mom said and Kylara saw a light of nervousness in her eyes. "But the short of it is, she is going to be living here."

"What?!" Ky barked. "Why is some stranger that we've never met going to be living here?"

"That's not entirely true, I've met her several times and she seems like a nice girl. And don't shout she'll hear you."

"I shouted because this is freaking weird!" Ky said incredulously. "How can I not be surprised when you spring this? How long have you known that she was coming here?"

"Ummm, about a month," Mom answered. "I didn't tell you because you'd just make a fuss about it like you're doing now. I knew you'd just argue and moan until nothing happened."

The kettle startle to whistle so Mom stopped the conversation for a moment to take it off the heat. Taking tea bags from a box on the counter, she put one in two of the cups. After pouring hot water into those same cups Mom gestured at the table and Ky sighed as she crossed the kitchen and took her usual seat on the far side. Mom sat across from her and for a moment they were silent as they both used a spoon to stir some sugar into their drinks from a canister on the table.

After a moment Ky looked up at her mom again. "Mom, I've been worrying about what you had planned today and who might be coming, but this is just nuts. Who the hell is that girl and why is she going to be living with us?!"

"That girl," Mom said in tone that said she getting close to her breaking point, "has a name. It's Cassandra Mellodrin, but she prefers to be called Cassie. You'll address her that way."

Ky heard the command in Mom's voice and she knew they were on the verge of a world class argument. But then, since she was seated so that she faced back toward the stares now, she saw the girl in question slowly come around the corner from the stairs. The girl saw her watching and she stopped halfway across the living room.

Now that she had a better look at her, without all that embarrassment to distract her, she saw that the girl was extremely pretty. She looked to be about the same age as Ky was and was probably only a couple inches shorter in height. She had a deep caramel skin tone and her hair was dark black and it hung down straight except where it was tucked behind her small, delicate looking ears. She wore a casual pair of jeans and a long sleeve shirt. Ky saw that she was also very curvy, not fat at all, but very feminine. The girl's almond eyes looked into hers and she saw that they were filled to overflowing with emotions, most of them sad ones.

Kylara stared into those eyes for a long minute before looking back at her mother who had no idea the girl was there yet. "Who is this Cassie," Ky said in a much calmer voice, her eyes flicking to the silently watching girl's again. "And why is she going to be living here?"

"Well, you know how I'm close friends with Anna Rollins?" Ky nodded that she did know that. Anna Rollins and her mom had been friends for years. This was just her mom stalling for time as she organized her thoughts "Well, she works for the state now and she started to tell me some interesting things about how she helps homeless or parentless children. "

Ky, again, had a good idea where this was headed.

"Then, about five weeks ago, she had to call and cancel a dinner we had planned to have together. A home for teenage girls had caught fire and Anna and the people she worked for were scrambling to find places for the displaced girls to live. Over the next week they eventually found homes for most of them, but the newest resident of that home, Cassie, was still left without. She had only lived there a whole two months before the fire happened and left her homeless again."

Mom's face took on a dark, angry cast again. But Kylara knew that this time it definitely wasn't directed at her.

"People were being so cruel to that poor girl," Mom continued. "With things how they are now days, no one wanted the trouble of taking in a teenage Arab girl." Mom huffed and glared. "And she not Arab anyways, her family was from Iran and she's of Persian decent, there's a difference!"

Ky glanced back toward Cassie. The girl was standing there and she looked to be incredibly uncomfortable with listening in to the conversation, she looked like she wanted to slink away and disappear. Cassie looked at her again and she saw the pleading look on her face as she bit the lower of her slightly plump lips.

"Well, after that Anna and I were talking while we ate lunch one day and we tried to think of ideas of what to do for the girl," Mom continued, not noticing anything still. "I know it's not my job and all, but I felt concerned for the girl. No one should be without a home. But then it smacked me right in the face! We have this huge house with a ton of bedrooms and bathrooms, but only the two of us living in it. Not to mention all the rest of the property. We have oodles of empty space that's just been sitting here."

"So you volunteered our house?" Kylara reasoned.

"And why not?" Mom asked with a gentle smile. "She's a very nice girl and only a half a year younger than you. Without a mortgage I make enough money to support a dozen teenage girls, so just one more won't strain us financially. And it's just a nice thing to do. She's been through a lot. Before the fire happened, her only living family in this country died in a horrific car accident that left her on her own as a ward of the state. So I wanted to help her out. I knew you'd just raise a fuss about the hassle and I know how much you like having the place to yourself most days, so I didn't say anything until it was already set and approved. I planned to get home before you got back from practice and introduce you two in a better way than how it actually happened, that was just bad luck."

Ky snorted in wry amusement at that. She didn't see how the timing could have been much worse. Cassie had seen her nude and still very much aroused from her fun in the shower. The only thing that could possibly be worse would have been having Cassie walk in during the middle of the act or while she was on the toilet or something.

Cassie still had that pleading look on her face, but now she was clenching her hands nervously on her pant legs. Kylara didn't know why Cassie seemed to want her approval so badly. It was her mom's house so it wasn't as if her opinion actually counted. The deed was already accomplished and Kylara didn't have any power to overturn it. But the girl was still giving her that look and it was seriously tugging at something in her heart. And Cassie really did look nice enough and she was kind of cute looking too.

Taking a deep breath and then letting it out with the last vestiges of her anger, she looked back at Mom. "Okay, I get why you did it, but fuck Mom! Ky said, now in exasperation. "Meeting her that way was just…Gah! Whatever!"

Mom grinned, knowing she'd won the argument somehow with Kylara in a better mood. "So you'll be fine with Cassie living here?"

Ky downed the remainder of her tea and let out a small sigh. "I'll tell ya what Mom; I'm exhausted from practice and now all this crap, and since I don't have any chores that need done, I'm going to go up to bed. Tomorrow you can re-introduce her to me properly and as long as she doesn't say anything about me being naked I'll be nice to her. Deal?"

"I think we can do that," Mom said, pleased with how things were turning out. Then as Ky was walking out of the kitchen she called out without looking behind her to follow Ky from the room. "But maybe I should do something about that language of yours first?"

Ky, now two paces in front of a very visibly nervous Cassie, smiled and called out, "Why? She's going to find out how I am anyways so why hide the rough stuff from her?"

She heard Mom bark out a laugh so she grinned and continued walking. As she passed Cassie she reached out and clapped a hand to the girls shoulder and whispered, "See you in the morning," before continuing on and back up to her room.

When she got there she locked the door, and then walked over to her bed where she dropped into it and then turned over onto her back. She hadn't bothered to turn a light on earlier so the room was only lit by the ever dwindling evening light. It cast her room into sharp shadows framed by flame-like orange light that came in from the sunset. She had always liked having her room on this side of the house where she got to see the sunset every night if she wanted to. And the view of the property they owned behind the house was always nice. But right then she was too tired mentally and physically to get up enjoy it.

She closed her eyes and after a few moments she heard her mom and Cassie talking softly as they passed by her room. She did wonder what the conversation was about, but she had already made her decision to deal with things in the morning and she was going to stick with it.

Remembering the warm covers beneath her, Kylara squirmed and moved and pulled until she was under them. Then, almost as soon as she was comfortable, her eyes got heavy and she slipped into sleep.

****** When morning came, wakefulness was a slow climb for Kylara. She was a terrible morning person and sometimes, but not today, it took several attempts for her to wake up enough not to slip back in. Today though, her eyes slowly slid open until she was staring up at her white ceiling. Despite being awake, she simply stared upwards, unmoving, for many unknowable minutes.

Eventually she recognized what had awoken her. Drifting through the air was the scent of burnt bacon. That smell confused her for a few brain clogged moments until she remembered that that smell meant that her mother had tried to cook breakfast. That thought got her brain juices flowing a little bit more rapidly. Then she thought about why her mom would try such a silly thing.

She was just about ready to turn over and go back to sleep when she did remember why her mom might try her hand at cooking breakfast. It just popped right into her head. Cassie. Mom was trying to impress the girl. That brought an amused smile to her face for a moment before a yawn ruined it. She didn't doubt that Mom was probably downstairs making the food as inedible as possible before calling them. But then she got a surprise when she heard something at her door.

"Ummm…K…Kylara," said a sweet but hesitant voice that Ky didn't recognize. It was a little deep, but distinctly female and for some reason it sent an odd shiver up her spine. "Breakfast is ready if you'd like some." She heard the voice almost try and say something more, but the owner padded back down the hall without saying it.

As she again lay in silence, Ky mused on whether or not Mom had made Cassie help her in an effort to butter Ky up and maker her like the girl. She didn't think her mom would try something like that, but then again she hadn't expected her mom to bring home another girl to live with them either. So who knows where that brain of hers was going now?

Yawning again, she finally sat up and kicked her legs out over edge of the bed. Standing, she changed out of the clothes she'd slept in and into another pair of shorts and a shirt. After brushing her bed mussed hair into order she slipped her phone into her pocket and exited the bedroom. Once she was heading down the stairs the smell of cooking food grew and her mouth watered.

The downstairs was warmly illuminated by the sun coming in through the many windows around the living room and the kitchen. She found her mom with her back to her as she stood at the stove. She was humming some random tune and holding a spatula as she looked down at a cluster of pans and skillets that all gave off delicious sizzles and pops. Kylara didn't see Cassie so she frowned. Her question was answered when Cassie came walking through the other doorway that led into the rarely used dinning room. Once Cassie saw her she stopped and stared nervously.

"Cassie? Why'd you stop? Oh! Ky, I see you're finally awake," Mom said.

"Well, how can I stay asleep when I smell you burning breakfast," Ky sent back with a smirk.

"Hey!" Mom barked with a small smile as she held up the spatula like a scepter. "I'll have you know that I only burned two slices of bacon."

"Ky glanced at the watching Cassie and smiled bigger. "And how much of that vast improvement in your skills came from our guest?"

"Well…maybe a little," Mom admitted. "But the pancakes I did entirely on my own."

"Then congratulations," Ky laughed. Across the room Ky watched as for the first time, Cassie smiled. The small change did wonders for the already pretty girl's face. It seemed to brighten up everything.

Curious now, Ky walked through the kitchen, slipped around Cassie and peeked into the dinning room. The room had been designed to accommodate the much larger family of its original builders. It still had the huge original table from back then that could seat almost thirty if you sat close and it had high ceilings and six tall windows three to a side. On that huge and polished wooden table was a breakfast fit to feed twice their number set around three place settings.

"Mom!" Ky said in shock. "How much food do you think we can eat?"

"Okay, so I got a little carried away," Mom answered with laugh.

"A little?" Kylara looked toward Cassie. "Hope your hungry."

"Uhm… I am hungry," Cassie said, still with that small smile. A tinge of a blush showed on her cheeks. "I haven't eaten since lunch yesterday, so I can eat a lot."

"Cassie!" Mom exclaimed in surprise. "You should have told me last night, I would have made you something."

"Oh no," Cassie said, waving her small hands in front of her. "After what I caused, there's no way I could have asked for something."

This time Ky beat her mother. "Cassie, you didn't do anything. It was my mom's fault. You were just an innocent bystander."

"You weren't exactly faultless either Kylara," Mom smirked. "Now both of you go sit down, I'll bring the last of the food out in a second."

Going back into the dinning room, Ky sat on one side of the table and Cassie sat herself across from her. That left the end seat for Mom. Ky poured herself some grape juice from the carton on the table and then passed it to Cassie who smiled at her in thanks. For Ky's part, she felt oddly warmed by Cassie's smiles. She hadn't seen many of them yet, but they seemed to do something to her.

"Here we go!" Mom crowed when she came in and set two platters of food on the table. Looking at the spread Ky marveled at the sight. There were hash browns, two kinds of eggs, pancakes, biscuits and jelly, a tray of banana nut muffins and a plate of bacon. She thought she might have to run for a week to burn off the calories she was about to consume. Mom seated herself and also poured herself some juice. "Now we can eat!"

Smiling at her mother's enthusiasm this morning, Ky began spooning up portions for herself onto her plate. The other two did the same until each had decent sized servings on their plates. Cassie blushed when Kylara raised an eyebrow at the amount the girl had taken.

"I told you I was hungry," she said in embarrassment.

"Heh, so I see," Ky chuckled. She stabbed a clump of scrambled eggs with her fork and popped it into her mouth. "So is this introduction time Mom?"

"Yes," Mom grinned after she swallowed the food she'd been chewing. "People are usually in a better mood when they've been fed so I thought that having a nice breakfast would be a good way to introduce you two to each other."

"You mean you thought I might still be grumpy and in a mood to renege on what I said last night?" Ky laughed outright at her Mom's guilty look. "I was right." She smiled across the table to Cassie and smiled. "Sorry about last night, I was being a bit of a grump. I don't really deal with surprises well and Mom bringing you here and how it happened kind of pissed me off. It was nothing against you though."

"It's alright," Cassie said, sounding more relieved than Kylara thought the situation warranted. "I didn't mean to walk in on you like that."

"I know," Ky said, feeling her face redden at the memory. "So forget about it. I'll introduce myself the right way. I'm Kylara, but you can also just shorten it to Ky if you want. I'm fifteen and a freshman at South Roadford High School. You'll learn pretty quick that I'm pretty energetic and a huge sports buff. And I mean playing them, not watching them. I also really like the outdoors. And…uhm…I don't what else to tell you. Your turn."

"Oh! Well…uhm," Cassie looked like she was suddenly nervous at being put in the spotlight. "I'm Cassie, but you already know that, and uh, I just turned fifteen last month. I think I'm supposed to be going to the same school as you on Monday.

"Yep, enrollment is already taken care off," Mom interjected.

"What do you like to do?" Ky asked.

"Well, I like to draw and paint on my computer," Cassie said, this time with a very pronounced blush. "I think I'm pretty good. At least people have said they like some of the things I've done."

"You're an artist," Ky said, her interest perking up. "I suck at drawing but I've always liked looking at art. Can you show me some?"

"Yeah, I can, well once I get my computer hooked back up again," Cassie said with more confidence, apparently relieved that Kylara liked her hobby.

The rest of breakfast passed this way and Ky found that she liked Cassie's easy going demeanor. The girl seemed to have a much softer personality than either Kylara or her mom. Once she got to talking she was a very warm kind of person and when she finally laughed Ky felt an odd stirring in her heart. By the time they were all full Ky had already decided that she liked the girl.

Setting her fork down, Mom looked at the two of them and grinned. "See, I knew you two would get along. So Ky, why don't you show her around today. I know you still have your usual chores, but you should bring her along."

"And what'll you be doing?" Ky asked.

"I'll wash the dishes and then head out to take care of a few last legal things about Cassie moving with us.

"So I can stay?!" Cassie in tone of wonderment.

"There was never a doubt that you would be," Kylara laughed. "Mom just didn't want me to be a total bitch to you. I think it was a done deal weeks ago if I know her. But you!" Ky said, pointing at her mom. "Who the hell are you?!"

Cassie blinked at Ky's sudden change in tone and was obviously confused as to why Mom simply grinned. "Is something wrong?" she asked tentatively.

"Yeah!" Ky barked. "She's made me wash the dishes ever since I was old enough to hold the sponge in my tiny little hand. Her volunteering to do it now is just…weird!"

"I don't know what she's talking about," Mom said, unable to hide her smile.

"Whatever," Ky laughed. She stood up and took her plate and glass into the kitchen and set it alongside the sink to be washed. Cassie followed in behind her and did the same. As she did so Ky checked to see how Cassie was dressed. Again she was wearing a pair of dark jeans and a long sleeved shirt. Today though the jeans were a little tight and when Cassie bent over to pick up a piece of food that fell of her plate, she felt an oddly stirring desire to touch Cassie. Shaking her head to shrug that thought away, she addressed the girl.

"Cassie, you might want to change your clothes before we go out."

"My clothes?" Cassie said, looking down at herself. "Why?"

"Because we'll be outside all day, you'll be getting all hot and sweaty. In those clothes you'll roast. Do you have shorts and short sleeved shirts? You'll also want them to be as light as possible."

"I do, I just don't wear them very often. My mother, before she died, never liked me to show much skin. So I've gotten into the habit of dressing this way," Cassie said with a thoughtful frown.

"I think you look great," Ky blurted out. "You look good like you are; it's just that it'll get really uncomfortable."

"Okay, just give me five minutes to change," Cassie said with a smile and a small blush from Ky's compliment. Then she hurried upstairs to do as she said. It actually took ten minutes and the sound of boxes being moved, but soon Cassie came thumping back downstairs. Ky, who had waited for her in the living room, felt her eyes try to pop out of her face at the sight coming toward her. "Is this alright?" Cassie asked as she approached with a slightly excited smile.

"This," was an outfit that made Ky's mind go blank for a second. She didn't understand why, but Cassie looked freaking amazing to her and she actually felt herself get a little wet. Cassie was wearing pair of black, flimsy athletic shorts that had to be a size to small for her nicely rounded behind. Her top was a pink spaghetti strap thing that showed a lot of Cassie's brown skin and seemed to emphasize her nicely sized breasts that sat with youthful firmness on her chest. The only sound that came out of Kylara's mouth was a very soft, "Well Fuck!" that was said much to low for Cassie to catch.

"Is something wrong with this?" Cassie said in growing worry as pink bloomed on her cheeks. "I couldn't find anything else without digging through boxes."

"No, fuck no! There's definitely nothing wrong with that," Kylara said a little to quickly. She felt confused and her heart was beating really quickly. "You look amazing actually. But I thought you just said your mom didn't like you to show off a lot of skin?"

If anything Cassie face got redder. "Actually, this is something a usually wear to bed, not something I wear in public."

"Well, like I said, it looks awesome," Ky said. Inside her mind was running around trying to figure out what the hell Cassie was doing to her. "Are you ready to go?"

"Sure, but where are we going?"

"Not far, I'm just going to take you out back and show you around our property," Ky said, this time with a proud smile. "You'll love it!"