Chapter 1

I pulled up in front of Tina’s house to find her outside playing a little one on one basketball with her younger brother Mark. I waited in the car a few more minutes for Melissa Ferrick’s “Drive” to end before I got out and joined her and Mark in the driveway. It bothered me at times, that I couldn’t run up to her and just hug her and kiss her like so many “straight” couples could, especially around the halls of the High School. Tina……nope, she wouldn’t have it. She was so far in the closet that even if it were emptied out, she would find a spot to blend in and not be seen. It made it hard at times, but I did what I had to do so we could be together…closet or not. As I walked up the driveway, Tina hadn’t been paying much attention as she bounced the ball and began walking backwards right into me. I grabbed hold of her hips.

“Whoa…..careful” I said, which caused her to take a step forward, forcing my hands to slip away from her hips.

“Hey …Baa....Bette” Tina had almost slipped and called me Baby. Now that would have made for an interesting moment in front of her brother.

“Hi Tee”

“Bette, my sister is such a girl” Mark said before taking a shot.

“I know” I replied in total agreement as I checked out her ass while she got herself into position to take a shot herself.

“She hates to lose” Mark complained.

“I know that too”

“I need to get going Mark….tell Mom I’ll be at the library” Tina tossed the basketball to Mark.

“You tell her”

“Don’t be a jerk, just tell her” Tina said as she reached behind her head
and removed the elastic band that was holding her hair back.

As we got into the car, Tina reached over and slid her hand on my leg.

“This sucks sometimes” I said a bit disgruntled.

I didn’t have to explain what was bothering me, Tina had known my feelings about us having to censor everything we did in school, at her home, and in the general public.

“Babe, I know…I’m sorry…..my parents would completely freak out if they knew I was with a woman”

“Tee….don’t you think at some point you need to tell them? How will you stay in the closet all your life?”

Tina shrugged. She came from an Irish Catholic family, whose father made some rather inappropriate comments at times about people’s sexuality, race, and even religious beliefs. It had always been very clear how bigoted her family was.

“Bette….we have talked about this so many times. You knew that when we started to date, that I could never be out. I just can’t……why can’t you try harder to get that?”

“I do get that. I just think that you might one day feel bad you never did come out, that’s all”

“I can’t think beyond Graduation next month, let alone coming out. If I live far away from them, they won’t know anything about my life except what I tell them. I don’t want to talk about it. I just want to grab something to eat at The Planet.”

“Okay” was about all I could say.

I remembered quite well being where Tina is now. It was only a year ago I came out to my parents, and it wasn’t the most pleasant experience. My Dad was a real jackass about it, but my Mom was fairly cool. I had read on some of the Lesbian message boards, that it can get harder as you get older because you end up letting society drive those fears further and further into your psyche. I hated to see Tina ever getting to that point. I also thought often about how we would ever be able to really have a family and stuff. We had talked about it a few times, and were hoping to get into the same College together, or at the worse have a small commute to one another. I guess she was right, we had plenty of years ahead of us to figure it all out.

“What was up with Jill today?” I looked over at Tina, when she asked the question. She had turned down the visor to look at herself in the mirror.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“She was a complete bitch to Shane in the Girls Room”

“What about?” I said as I reached for the button to lower the radio.

“She was pissed because Shane wouldn’t give her a cigarette”

“But she doesn’t smoke does she?”

“No…she doesn’t. Shane caught her smoking in the Girls Room once…they had a fight over it and she ended up not seeing Shane that night when they were suppose to go to the movies”

“Damn…she needs to dump that chick”

“No kidding. So…..the Basketball Team is going to go out Friday night”  Tina said nonchalantly.

“Friday? This Friday?”

“Yep”

“Are you going with them?”

“I don’t know…I really was hoping to be with you. Aren’t your parents going away this weekend?”

“Yes….I was planning on us making the most of it actually”

Tina slid her hand to my inner thigh as she turned to face me.

“I was too…..god I hate having to schedule sex”

I felt Tina’s hand dip further down as she squeezed my crotch. I hadn’t realized the light turned red up ahead, as my mind was obviously brought somewhere else.

*** HONK ****

I hit the brakes and stopped before I went through the light.

“Jesus Tee”

“Baby you need to pay attention when you’re driving” Tina said with a smile as her index finger touched my nose.

“God you……you are just bad” I said as I broke into laughter.

“You know it” Tina said turning so her back was against the seat again. “Do you have any gum?”

“Yeah, in the glove compartment”

We pulled up in front of the Planet and found an available space in the first row.

“Looks like Alice is here. Is Dana coming?”

“I doubt it, she has Tennis practice this afternoon” Tina said as she got out of the car and pulled at the bottom of her jersey which was about a half inch above her pierced belly button. The hip huggers she was wearing fit her body like a glove, and boy did she have one hell of a hot one.

I slipped my hand around her waist as we walked into the Planet. This was the one place she felt comfortable to be “out” in public. In school, there were a few faculty members that knew her father pretty well. They golfed together every now and then, and she was extremely careful to be distant in that arena.

“Hey Tina…over here” Alice shouted from the table in the back.

“Hey Al…..what’s that you’re drinking?

“Razzberry Fizzle”

“Let me try” Tina took a sip of Alice’s drink. “Mmmmm…it’s good”

I sat down next to Tina, wishing Friday was here. After her spontaneous grip on my crotch in the car, I was already juiced up wanting nothing more than to have sex.

“What’s up with you Porter? You look like you’re having a bad day”

“I’m fine” I said as Tina looked over at me.

“What’s wrong baby?”

“Nothing……I’m good….really” I tried hard not to show how sexually frustrated I was feeling. It had been over a week since Tina and I had sex, and I was so ready for her. I started to wonder if we could have gotten away with a quickie in the ladies room.