Northernlass Quote:
Loved the first kiss! But they didn't even talk about it. Typical! More please.
I thought that they talked about it more than the average. I could of prolonged it, but I'd decided that the soccer game was a good time to have a first kiss. THANKS for the Feedback.
Will's Redemption :
Quote:
Hopefully they won't be "outed" as a couple before they are ready to show themselves as one.
I hadn't thought of having them outed before they were ready, do you think there should be more angst in the story?
The part I am writing has some angst. Oh, and Thank you for your kind words about Meeting Expectations (which I have been referring to ME, forgetting that ME is Mutant Enemy : oops). The comment about my TUMS part was particularly appreciated. I have an ambivalent relationship with whether I want to write Smut or not.
Islev18 : Thanks for the feedback and encouragement to write more. Feedback makes me want to post. So here is more.
Learning to LaughTaranwillow4ever
PG-R for now
Josh etc. owns all of these characters, I just imagine different lives for them. I write because I love to, feedback is my only compensation.
Setting: A Massachusetts College, mid 1980's. Computers are in labs, phones are plugged into the wall, and most college students don't have answering machines. The way that people leave notes for each other are on dry erase boards on dorm doors and/or actual notes & letters.
Note: I think in dialogue. I am trying to add some details to make it more robust, but it is mostly conversation and Willow's brain.
Question: I have been writing this from just Willow's POV, should I include some of Tara's thoughts?
Part Seven-B
The next day, Willow’s class had gotten out early, so she had been able to get to the cafeteria earlier than Tara. She saw Tara enter, look around, smile at her and then get in line for food. Rather than eating, Willow found herself watching Tara as she chose food. Finally, Tara came and sat down.
“Hey,” said Willow as Tara sat down.
“Hi,” responded Tara with her trademark half smile. “How was your class?”
“It was ok. It was a lesson about social learning. He showed the movie about Bobo the clown. I hadn’t realized it, but I had a Bobo clown when I was a kid.”
“Did you let out all of your frustrations on it?”
“I don’t remember. My only clear memory of it was hitting it and it coming back up and hitting me, causing me to fall on my butt. I don’t think I really liked it.”
“Poor little Willow.”
Willow blushed. “How was your class?”
“It was good. We are working with charcoal today. Between that and the pottery, I am going to perpetually have dirty hands.”
This caused Willow to look again at the beautiful long fingers of her,
girlfriend? She could see a smudge of charcoal on the side of her hand closest to the pinky. “Isn’t that the artist’s ID? Paint, charcoal, clay, etc. All us computer/math nerds are known for are pocket protectors and slide rules.”
“Please tell me you don’t ever wear shirts with pocket protectors. I may have to re-think…”
“No pocket protectors, I promise no pocket protectors,” responded Willow with a little more force than necessary. “I must admit, I do actually have a slide rule somewhere in my backpack. We have to occasionally use them.”
“Willow are you talking about slide rules again?” said Leslie as she joined the two girls.
“Tara, this is Leslie.” Willow pointed to her friend. “Leslie, this is Tara.”
“Nice to meet you Tara. I think we might have Sociology together?” Leslie gave a little wave.
“Maybe, it’s a big class and I sit in the back,” commented Tara.
“I sit near the front. It is the only way that I can stay focused,” admitted Leslie.
“That makes sense.” Tara smiled at Willow again.
Just as she was saying this, April and Sue came to their table and sat down.
“Hey guys. Willow did you like the game?”
“Yeah, it was fun to watch. You guys are really good. You all play like the proverbial well-oiled machine.”
“Thanks,” they said together as they sat down and started eating their lunch. After a few minutes, April commented, “So, I noticed that the two of you were sitting pretty close together.”
“It was chilly?” said Tara.
“Yes, a very cold October night,” chirped in Willow.
“So, is that it?” asked Sue, “It has nothing to do with the fact that you are both glowing or that a certain hooded duo was seen leaving the par course late last night.”
“I have no idea what you are talking about,” stated Tara.
“Yeah, sure,” replied Sue. “We could see your smiles can across the cafeteria. It’s like we need sunglasses.”
“Really?” said Willow, starting to feel paranoid.
“No, it’s not like you’d see it if you weren’t looking for it. We just were looking for it. We figured something may have been starting on Sunday. So, Tara, I see that you took our par course suggestion to heart.”
Tara looked at them with a somewhat guilty look. Willow began looking at her sandwich with rapt attention.
Do they realize that they are taking a big chance sitting with me. “Are you sure you want to be seen eating at the same table as me?” asked Willow.
“We are over all that. If people want to speculate, people can speculate. Believe it or not, most people don’t care, and those who do, who wants to hang with them. You are a nice person Willow. You shouldn’t feel like such a pariah,” stated April.
“You can always say that I am helping you with math or computers. I’m kind of infamous for that too.”
“It must really suck to feel like everyone around you needs to justify why they are befriending you.”
“It is, but ask Tara, she’s had two incidents of well meaning ‘friends’ come up to her unbidden to tell her to stay away from me if she wants to maintain her reputation.”
“What reputation would that be?” asked Sue.
“I don’t even know, I guess my reputation as being a straight girl.”
“Never knew you had one of those. I’ve always known you were sort of bendy.” Sue said to Tara.
Tara started to giggle.
That has got to be one of the best sounds, I could listen to it forever, almost as good as that guttural growl she made when we were kissing. “Hey, Earth to Willow, come in Willow. Where did we lose you to?”
Willow came back to the conversation, trying to control her thoughts so that they were not telegraphed.”
“I’m fine. Just thinking about something math related.”
“Yes, I am sure that thinking about Math makes your cheeks pink and your eyes sparkle.”
“Hey, I like math,” commented Willow.
“I think we know something you like more than math,” teased Sue.
“I can’t win. Can I?” Willow retorted. Tara reached under the table and gave Willow’s hand a quick squeeze.
“She’s not so good with the teasing,” stated Tara.
“Oh, she’s in for it then. I swear half of all of our conversations are teasing. You’ll have to translate for her.” Sue said to Tara.
“Gladly,” Tara responded.
***
After lunch, Tara and Willow went to the library. As they were walking in, Willow asked, “So what’s today’s plan?”
“I’ve got to get some books for my Sociology paper.”
“What are you going to do it on?”
“I am not sure. We’ve got a lot of different options.”
“What are you leaning toward?”
“Well, something women centered. Maybe something about matrilineal groups.”
“That sounds interesting. I’ve got a psychology paper due in a few weeks. I am going to write about Bem and her androgyny scale.”
“That sounds interesting too. I don’t think I ever heard of that.”
“It has to do with how stereotypical your behaviors are masculine men to feminine women. People who have behaviors of both are considered androgynous.”
“Oh, is that like the Kinsey Scale?”
“No, that has more to do with sexual preference, while Bem had to do with identity and behavior.”
“Sounds like you already know a bunch about it.”
“Sort of, but I need to find a copy of the original article from
The Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology ”
“I know where those periodicals are located. Follow me.” Tara walked toward the staircase leading down into the bowels of the library.
“I thought that you needed to look for your books?” said Willow as she followed Tara.
“I can look tomorrow when I am working.”
Tara led Willow down to the sub-basement. She showed Willow how the periodicals were shelved, and Willow went looking for her chosen journal. Tara followed her. Once Willow had found the periodical, Tara came behind her and gently pushed her against the stacks. Her mouth finding Willow’s. Willow quickly looked around and saw that they there was no one around. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of Tara’s muscular tongue pushing for entry into her own mouth.
Ok, I have seen this happen in movies, I have read about it in books, and now I understand why. The feeling of risk and excitement made her nerves more enervated.
Tara pulled away. “Sorry, I just had to do that.”
“Nothing to be sorry about,” squeaked Willow. “I was trying to figure out a way to work that into our time too.”
“Really,” Tara blushed.
“Uh, huh. I’ve got to say, that I think I’ve been thinking/reliving the time at the par course a lot over the last 14 hours.”
“Me too.”
“I really like kissing you.”
“I really like you kissing me too,” Tara paused, “I really like kissing you too. You are a good kisser.” Tara took Willow’s hands and they stood looking at each other. They heard someone entering the room, they quickly pulled apart and Tara grabbed a journal and began looking at in with rapt attention. Willow took the chosen periodical and went to the Xerox machine and copied the article. Afterwards she put the article in the pile of periodicals to be re-shelved.
“That has got to be one of the most boring tasks of working in the library. Especially around the end of the semester. I once spent 8 hours putting the periodicals back on the shelves. Every time I though that I’d finished, I’d come back and there would be more to do.”
“Sort of your own Sisyphus.”
“Huh?” asked Tara.
“Oh, another Ancient Lit thing. He was the mythological person who had to push a rock up a hill, but every time it got to the top of the hill, it rolled back down.”
“I think I remember that from my freshmen year. We read
Edith Hamilton’s Mythology. ”
“We did too. Just think, Freshman Willow was in Washington, DC and Tara was in…”
“Auburn, NY”
“Where is that?”
“Sort of between Syracuse and Rochester. My Dad works at the Seneca Army Depot. We moved there when he was in the Army. My mom said she wasn’t moving anymore, so he left the Army and got a civilian job there.”
“My parents moved all the time. When I was really little, we moved every year. I went to seven elementary schools, and three Jr. High Schools. Usually we lived in an apartment near university where my mom was lecturing. Fortunately, my mom was at Yale for three of my four years of high school, so we rented a house. That was the most stability I ever had.”
Willow looked at her watch, and then looked at Tara. She looked around to see if anyone was around. It seemed that they were alone again. She brought her mouth close to Tara’s ear. “You know of any good hiding spots down here? We’ve got about 20 more minutes before we have to get to class.” she placed a quick, kiss on Tara’s neck.
Tara took Willow’s hand and brought her over to the microfiche area. There was a small alcove leading to a door. “Nobody ever comes back here. It’s storage space. I asked once what was behind the door. The librarian said that the banners for class reunions were kept there.”
“No worries about that right now.”
“Nope, not needed until May.”
Tara leaned up against the wall, her legs apart. Willow put her feet between Tara’s and pressed her body against Tara’s. Their kisses started chastely, but quickly they opened their mouths and their tongues fought for dominance. Tara’s hands were in Willow’s hair, she felt Tara undo her ponytail and fluff out her hair. Willow’s arms went around Tara’s torso, hugging the slightly larger girl.
It’s like we’re puzzle pieces, we fit together perfectly. .
After a period of time, Tara whispered into Willow’s ear, “I am pretty sure I could stay here for the rest of the day doing this, but we’ve got classes to get to. What time is it?”
Willow looked at her watch. “We’ve got to get going. It’s 2:45. Do you have my hair tie?”
“Yeah, sorry.” Tara handed the black band back to Willow. They started walking to the stairs.
Willow reached back, grabbed her hair and put it back into her signature ponytail.
“Can’t you leave it down?” asked Tara.
“I feel more like student Willow when it’s in a ponytail.”
“Does that mean you feel like girlfriend Willow when it’s not?” said Tara subvocally.
“I guess. Is that what we are, girlfriends?” Willow said equally quietly.
“I think so. That’s the moniker for people who kiss like we were just kissing.”
“I have a girlfriend!” said Willow loud enough for Tara to hear, but no one else.
“Me too.” Said Tara. They exited the library and went their separate ways.
***
After class, Willow went to the computer lab to get started on her newest assignment. She’d had some ideas when she was sitting in class and wanted to strike while the iron was hot. She found herself working in the lab until her stomach began growling. She looked at her watch and saw that she only had about 15 minutes before the cafeteria was closing. She rushed out of the building, running to the cafeteria. Most of the foods bad been put away; however, there was always bread, peanut-butter and jelly out. She grabbed the sandwich fixing, a carton of milk, a pack of cookies and cashed out. She brought the food to her room and began reading her book while she ate her sandwich.
Willow was in the land of dragons and dragon riders when there was a knock on the door.
Willow walked to the door and opened a crack. Nobody had knocked on her door in a long time. She saw brown hair and a blue eye. She opened the door more. Tara walked in and they stood in the small space between the two closets, a sort of dorm entry way.
“Hey.”
“Hey,”
“How was your class?” asked Tara.
“It was good. I was one of the only people who did the program right, so I got to teach it to everyone else. I like teaching.”
“I hope I am going to like teaching. I’m taking my first education class next semester.”
“How was your class.”
“I was really glad that I did the reading. Without it, I think I would have been lost.”
They two stood looking at each other. Tara looked at the bed and saw Willow’s book.
“Did I interrupt your reading. I just had this urge to come say ‘hi’ and I followed it.”
“No problem. Do you want to sit down.” Willow gestured to her bed which had several large pillows against the wall, making the bed sort of a couch.
“Sure.” Tara took off her shoes and sat on the bed cross legged. “Are you sure that you are ok with this? Your eyes look kinda spacey.”
“Oh, I am fine with this. Just kind of surprised that you came to visit.”
“Why are you surprised?”
“Well, I figure you’ve got lots of stuff to do, friends to hang out with, etc.”
“But what I wanted to do was come see you.”
“Oh,” she paused, “Cool.”
“Where is your roommate?”
“I don’t know. She’s probably out with her friends.”
Tara moved closer to Willow, their shoulders were almost touching. “Is this ok?”
“Yeah, It’s fine.”
“You look sort of nervous.”
“I’m ok.”
“That thing is happening to your neck again.”
“Really?”
Take deep breaths. Calm yourself down, don’t act like a spaz. “I like being near you, holding your hand…”
“Me too. I mean I liked getting to hold hands with you, not that I like to hold my own hand, can do that anytime, and really what is holding your own hands, kinda wringing your hands, trying to control yourself and your hands.” Willow looked at her hands which were clasping each other.’’
“Can I hold your hand again?”
“Sure, any time.”
“How ‘bout now.”
“Oh sure.” Willow wiped her hand off on her pants and joined Tara’s outstretched hand.
Tara moved so that she was sitting closer to Willow, their hands in between them.
“Do you want to watch TV or something?”
“Sure. If you want to.”
“The TV is Anya’s, but she doesn’t care if I watch it.”
Willow got up and turned the TV on.
“Do you like Cheers?”
“Sure. I don’t watch a lot of TV. Whatever you want to watch.”
“Do you want something to drink. I think we have some soda and juice in the fridge.”
“What kind of juice?”
“Apple, I am pretty sure.” Willow opened the refrigerator door and looked at the bottles. “Yep, Apple.”
“I’ll take one.”
Willow grabbed a root beer and an apple juice and went sat back on the bed. After opening the juice, Tara put her hand between them, and Willow took the hint and took her hand. “Your hands are really soft.”
“Thanks.”
“Yours are nice too.”
“I should probably moisturize more. I don’t think about it. But now that I am holding hands with someone, I guess I should start taking better care of them.” Willow looked at her other hand.
Tara began making little circles with her thumb on Willow’s palm.
“What would your roommate say if she came in here and saw us like this?”
She’d probably introduce herself, and say something nice, but embarrassing.”
“She wouldn’t freak?”
“Definitely not. She knows that I am gay and she knows about us. She told me that she could tell that we’d been kissing last night.”
“How?”
“She said that my lips were puffy and I had the look of someone who’d been kissed.”
“My roommate has no idea. She isn’t one of those people who is very aware that there is anything other than her experience.”
“How did you end up with her?”
“She was friends with one of my friends and needed a roommate. She had a good number, but no one to share it with. I didn’t have anyone who I wanted to room with, so we were placed together.”
“Are you still friends with that group?”
“Not really. She’s another Art History major. We are pretty independent of each other. I don’t bother her; she doesn’t bother me.”
“What do you think will happen if she finds out?”
“I don’t know. I’d like to keep her in the dark as long as possible.”
“Well, I guess that we’ll be spending more time here than there, eh?”
“Definitely.”
Tara and Willow cuddled up and watched Cheers, and then Night Court. As Night Court was ending, Anya came through the door. “Hey Willow, watching TV?” She looked at Willow and Tara cuddled up on Willow’s bed. “OH, sorry did I interrupt something? I’m Anya. Willow’s roommate. Did I interrupt Smoochies?”
“No, Anya we’re fine,” stated Willow.
“Why aren’t you smooching?”
“Um, we were watching TV.”
“Isn’t smooching better than watching TV? Don’t you like to kiss Willow, Tara?”
Tara was dumbstruck for a moment, but then stated, “I definitely like to kiss Willow. We just didn’t want to get into anything seeing we had no idea when you would be back.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” stated Anya. “We’ll have to figure out some sort of code. Knock three times, wait a few minutes, then come in. I want Willow to be getting her smooching on.”
“Anya, do you think you could say smooching more times. I don’t think Tara figured that it was your preferred moniker for kissing,” stated Willow.
“Smooching, smooching, smooching,” answered Anya.
Tara got up from the bed, put on her shoes, and leaned over and kissed Willow on the lips. “Bye sweetie. Sweet Dreams.”
“Bye. Will you be ok walking home alone?”
“I am pretty sure I can do that. I’ve been walking around campus on my own for the more than the last year. The way from this dorm to mine is well lit, and I walk with my keys between my fingers.”
“Ok. See you tomorrow?”
“Sure. You have class and work, right?”
“Yep. You don’t have class.”
“Nope, no Friday classes for Tara. But I have some Art projects to do. How about you come by the pottery studio when you are finished with work. We can hang out until I have to go to work.”
“That sounds like a good plan. Goodnight. Call me when you get to your room. Just let it ring twice, and I’ll know you are home safely.”
“Ok. Goodnight.” Tara walked out of the room.
Willow picked up her book and waited until the two rings occurred. She then grabbed her night clothes, and shower bucket to take a shower before bed.
***
Willow got out of work and went to the Visual Arts side of the building. She looked through the window of several rooms until she found the one where her blue-eyed girlfriend was working on a pottery wheel. She was dressed in blue sweats and a grey sweatshirt. There were streaks of clay on the front of her pants and the bottom of her shirt. The Bangles “All Over the Place” was blasting out of the radio and Willow could tell that Tara was working intently. Willow went to the radio and turned down the volume in an effort for Tara to be aware of her presence, but not scare the girl.
Tara turned off the wheel and turned to Willow.
“Hey, sweetie. Is it 12 already?”
“After that actually. It is almost 1. Work went late. We have to build several more risers in preparation for the glee club concert. It’s easy work but takes a while.”
“I guess I got in the zone,” said Tara as she wiped her clay covered hands on her sweats.
“What are you making?” Willow looked at the object on the wheel.
“We are supposed to be making a series of useful but artistic items. I am working on making a set of pitchers for my family. I figure they will be good Christmas presents too. I’ve got a bunch of aunts and uncles.”
“That seems good. I tried to make a useful computer program for my mom using BASIC when I was in high school. It didn’t work that well, and she didn’t really appreciate it.”
“My mom is really good at appreciating the things that my siblings and I make for her,” commented Tara proudly. She then looked over at Willow and said, “Sorry, not to rub it in.”
“No problem, I am glad that you have good comments about your parents. It’s what I wish for everyone.”
Willow watched as Tara went around cleaning up after herself.
I am falling hard for this girl.Once she was done, Tara said, “I need to go change, and then I thought we could grab somethings from the cafeteria and go down to a park and have a picnic.”
“That sounds good,” replied Willow.
“I’d invite you to just come with me, but who knows whose going to be in my room…”
“I understand, it is way too early to deal with the possible ramifications of anyone meeting me,” said Willow, trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice.
“It’s not really that sweetie… It’s just complicated. I want to yell to the rafters that I’ve met the most wonderful girl, but I also don’t want my roommate to find out through someone else. I feel liked I need to be the one to tell her.”
“Listen, Tara, I understand. It’s ok. I will go to the cafeteria, grab some food. You join me, and then we can get going.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Tara and Willow exited the classroom, walked out of the building and Tara headed to her dorm, while Willow went to the cafeteria.
***
Willow grabbed a combination of foods and then went to an empty table and began doing her Geometry homework. She was just in the middle of a difficult problem when she saw Sue and April coming toward the table. She moved her work and made room for the two to sit down.
“Hey. Good to see you again,” said Willow.
“Yeah, you too. Where’s Tara?”
“She had to go to her dorm and change out of her pottery clothes.”
“Why aren’t you eating?”
“We’re going to take our food to go and then go to a park that Tara knows.”
“That sounds like fun. We’ve got practice. Are you guys going to be at our game tomorrow? It’s at BC.”
“I don’t know. We’ve not talked about it. But I wouldn’t be surprised. It seems that Tara really likes watching it.”
“And you like watching Tara,” said April quietly.
Willow blanched and then blushed. “Yep, yes I do.”
“You’ve got it bad. You’re not going to hurt our friend, are you? She’s got a tender heart.”
“I don’t plan on hurting her. I really like her a lot.”
“She seems to like you too.”
The three girls kept talking until Tara joined them. Tara was dressed in a pair of well-worn blue jeans and a sky blue shirt that called out the blue of her eyes and accentuated her assets. Willow struggled with not staring.
“Hey guys. What are you up to today?” Tara said to the soccer players.
“We’ve got practice, and then we’ve got some plans to hang out.”
“Sounds good. You’ve got a game tomorrow right?”
“Yep, BC 2:00, are you coming?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t talked to Willow about it yet.”
“Well, we told Willow and she seemed ok with it.”
Tara looked at Willow, who nodded affirmatively.
“Ok. We’ll probably take the bus to Boston. I am low on gas. Is that ok with you Willow?”
“Sure. Sounds like fun. Little did I know that if I became a soccer fan, I’d have so many things to do.”
“It can keep you busy, especially if you play. I’ve got to spend most of tonight studying,” commented April. “I’ve got an exam in Calculus and I don’t really understand a lot of it.”
“Calculus? I could help you. I’ve been told that I am really good at explaining math. Instead of babysitting when I was in high school, I tutored kids in Math. We could meet tonight and I could try to help you.” said Willow.
“Are you asking my girlfriend out on a study date?” asked Sue.
“Um…no…” stammered Willow.
“Just kidding. You really don’t get teasing very well do you. Sorry, how ‘bout we meet at the library tonight, and you can help April, while I do some research. I know your favorite library worker will be there,” suggested Sue.
Willow blushed again and nodded affirmatively. “Meet you in the Science section at 6:30?”
“Ok,” Responded April.
Tara looked at the food on Willow’s tray and noticed that she’d grabbed similar food to Wednesday, but added an orange and chips, rather than cookies and a banana. She’d done the opposite. It was clear that they both were trying to make sure that they had the foods that the other liked. “Lets put this food in my bag and get going, ok?”
“Sure,” said Willow, helping the girl pack the food into the bag.
“Have fun you guys,” commented Sue as the two of them left.
As they exited the building, Willow said, “We don’t have to go anywhere if you don’t have the gas. We could just stay on campus and have our picnic.”
“No, a park picnic is my first attempt at courting my girl. I’ve always thought picnics were sort of romantic. I wish I hadn’t needed you to provide half the food, but that’s how my dining plan works.”
“It is still romantic.” Willow looked at the beautiful girl walking next to her and for the 100th time wondered what she had done to be so lucky that this girl liked her.
They walked to Tara’s car and got in. Willow saw Tara look around, and then felt her hands on her face. Soft, smooth lips were on hers. “There is more of that to come later.” Tara said after moving back to the seat and starting the car.
I could definitely get used to that “You are really daring.”
“There wasn’t anyone around. It was worth the risk.”
Willow smiled and blushed. “I’m glad you are a risk taker. I am not, I will try to be a little more daring. If that’s what you want.”
“I don’t want you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. I just really like kissing you, so as I said. It is worth the risk.”
“Really?”
“Really what?”
“You think I am a good kisser?”
“Yeah, don’t you?”
“Um, not really. I’ve not kissed a lot of people, and I was given the feedback that I wasn’t that good by one of the few people who I did kiss.”
“Seriously, someone told you that you weren’t good at it?”
“Yes. Made me very self-conscious.”
“Well, I don’t think that that person knew what they were talking about. You are great. But if you want to practice. I’m all up for it.”
“It won’t be an imposition on you?”
“Nope.”
“Well, you know, practice does make perfect.” Willow put her hand on Tara’s leg, and Tara joined their fingers together.
They drove about 15 minutes to a state park. Tara parked, and then went to the back of her car and grabbed one of the blankets that they had used at the soccer game. Willow carried the food, while Tara carried the blanket. They found a nice grassy plot under a tree and put the blanket down. It was near a play structure, but there were no children there. Willow pulled out the food and began arranging it on the blanket.
“So, what do we have today? Two Turkey sandwiches, some mayo, chips, chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal cookies, and orange, a banana, and two bottles of apple juice. It’s weird that we tend to pick almost the same food as the other.”
“Great minds think alike. I guess.”
They each chose a sandwich and shared the chips and cookies. Several times they reached for the same chip and giggled as their fingers touched.
Tara asked, “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure,” replied Willow.
“What is your favorite color?”
“Blue, yours?”
“Green. Favorite Food?”
“Cookies, yours?”
“Pizza. What flavor cookies?”
“Anything but anise flavored, Pizza?”
“I like Pepperoni, but now that I know you don’t eat pork, I’ll probably be more fond of cheese or vegetarian.”
“Olives?”
“Yuck, Green Peppers?”
“They are ok?”
“Mushrooms?”
“Like them a lot.”
“So mushroom and cheese pizza?”
“That is my favorite.”
“IF you had to chose only one cookie you could eat, what would it be?”
“Oatmeal. I really like chocolate chip, but sometimes the chocolate gives me heartburn. Oatmeal always tastes good.”
“With or without raisins?”
“Either, you?”
“With. I like almost all dried fruit. Ever had oatmeal with dried apples in it?”
“No. You?”
“Yeah, my mom has made them. She likes to make cookies for us to have when we get home from school.”
“Seriously, your mom makes cookies, and has snacks for you when you get home from school. My mother never even thought of doing anything like that. I’d come home and was on my own until my parents usually came home about 7pm. We rarely ate dinner as a family.”
“Oh, my parents insisted that we all eat dinner together as often as possible. The only excuse to not be at dinner was an activity, and then there would always be a plate waiting for you when you got home.”
“It sounds like you had a ‘typical’ childhood. Mom who stayed home and cooked. Dad who came home for dinner.”
“Yeah, it was pretty good. I am lucky.”
“My parents were gone a lot. That is why I am probably so independent and self-sufficient. I am used to fending for myself. As I said before, my mom didn’t really enjoy taking care of me, and I was aware of that, so I tried hard not to need to be taken care of.”
“It sounds like your childhood was lonely.”
“Sort of. I always had my books and school. That kept me busy.” Willow began rubbing her neck, a headache starting to form.
“You ok?”
“Yeah, I am fine. Just getting a little bit of a headache.”
“Come over here and put your head on my lap. My mom used to rub my head when I was getting a headache. It sometimes prevented it.”
Willow moved over and put her head on Tara’s lap. Tara pushed Willow’s eyes closed, and lightly rubbed her forehead and head.
this feels so good. Willow focused on the sensations going through her head and body. She felt Tara’s body move and again felt soft lips against her forehead.
“Better?”
“Yeah. Thanks.” Willow opened her eyes and saw that there were kids on the playground and parents sitting on the benches.
“I guess we are not alone anymore.”
“Nope. Ready to leave?”
“Sure.”
Willow and Tara walked back to the car and returned to campus. When they got back, Willow asked, “Do you want to come up to my dorm?” asked Willow.
“Um, sure. What time is it? I’ve got to get to work at 6.”
“It’s 4:30. We can hang until 5-5:15, then got to dinner and then the library. Do you need to go back to your dorm to get anything?”
“No. I’m good.”
Tara and Willow walked to Willow’s dorm. “Do you want to have me go in first and go up the stairs, and then you can walk down the hall and go up the other stairs, so nobody notices you’re with me?” asked Willow.
“Seriously Willow, all this cloak and dagger stuff. Why do you care?” said Tara sounding a little annoyed. “I don’t care what people say.”
“I just don’t want things to be made hard for you.”
“Willow, what has happened to you before that it makes you so worried?”
“I’ll tell you when we get inside,” responded Willow as she opened the dorm door and walked up the stairs to her floor.”