Summer Ch. 10

Chapter 10 Gwen -- Some girls need an audience

When Sue finally arrived home, somewhat creased and dishevelled after her day at the Christening she found Dave, Jackie and I sprawled out on the sofa and chairs in her living room. We were already well settled and also well into the booze we had brought with us. As Sue walked into the room Jackie looked her up and down and burst out laughing. "Not quite as pristine as when you left here but not too bad I guess. You look as if you've had a good time." Sue pulled her hat off her head and throwing it to one side she fell heavily into a vacant armchair.

"Not bad," she said smiling coyly at her sister, "not bad at all."

Jackie moved over and perched herself on the arm of the chair beside her. "Anyone I know?" she asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. " Oh hell yes," Sue said laughing, "You most certainly do know them. I'll tell you all about it later," she said and Jackie nodded.

"I'll look forward to it."

Dave took a long drink of his beer and forcing a belch which he obviously thought funny he sourly looked Sue up and down. "No," he said, an aggressive edge to his voice, "come on; tell us now. We're all grown up's. Tell us who you've been shagging this time."

Jackie sighed and shook her head, "Dave, you are such an arsehole," she said but Sue sat back and smiled sweetly at him.

"Fuck off Dave," she answered, "who I shag and when I shag them is none of your business." Dave shrugged and standing, he made his way past Jackie to the booze, "Tart," he muttered as he passed and Jackie quickly booted him up the backside, sending him on his way with an undignified stagger.

"Tell me about it later," Jackie said reaching forward to pat Sue on her knee, "let me get you a drink. Now, what would you like" she asked following Dave and picking a bottle off the table. "Looks like we've got beer, beer and ....oh look," she said picking up yet another bottle, "some more beer." She walked over to the sideboard at the back of the room and opened the fold out cocktail bar in the centre of the sideboard. She peered inside, swinging her bum from side to side as she listed the contents, "Then there's some gin, some whisky, some brandy and a bit of something with a label I can't decipher, probably from some holiday or other, some Martini and .... some other bits and bobs. I can't be bothered to go through them all. If you want one of these you'll have to come over and decide for yourself."

Sue pushed herself up and joined her sister, "That's all Dads booze," she said. "He'll kill you if you drink his stuff."

Jackie pulled the cork out of a bottle and sniffed it, screwing her face up at the smell, "He'll never know," she replied casually re-placing the cork and pushing it home. "When did you ever know him drink anything other than beer? This stuff's been in here for years. Smells like it too," she added trying to decipher the label on the bottle with the foul smelling contents. "Go on, push the boat out," she said returned the bottle to the shelf with a grimace.

Sue turned a couple of bottles around and inspected the labels, "Naw," she said, "I think I'll stick to the beer."

Getting up I went a found a cold bottle from the pantry floor and flipped the cap. The bottle opened with a satisfying hiss and I poured some of the contents into a glass for her. "Thanks," she said with a smile and she flopped down the chair again, the glass in one hand and the half empty bottle in the other. As she looked around for somewhere to put the bottle down Dave leaned over and in one movement he flicked the hem of her short dress up to her waist. With a startled cry Sue tried to push her dress back down, spilling some of her beer on the chair and herself. Jackie leapt forward and pushed Dave away but not before we had all seen the flash of blonde pubic hair which told us that Sue was naked beneath her short skirt. Startled she leapt to her feet, "Fucking idiot!" she yelled at him wiping the spilled beer from the armchair. "What the bleeding hell do you think you are doing?"

"I was just checking." he said settling himself back with a self satisfied grin, "and I was right. No knickers. She's been shagging again."

"God but you are pathetic," Jackie said, looking at him sadly, "like a small bloody kid."

Dave shrugged but Sue hadn't finished and she rounded on him angrily, "And so bloody what? You tosser! What if I have been shagging all afternoon, what's it to you? What I do or who I choose to fuck has bugger all to do with you." The sudden vehemence of the outburst took Dave by surprise and he looked cowed for a moment but then he shrugged petulantly and turned his face away, 'slut', he muttered under his breath in an attempt to save face. He had half risen but I grabbed him and pulled him roughly back into his seat and he allowed himself to be pulled back, like the barking dog who suddenly discovers that the defenceless cat he has picked on suddenly has teeth and very sharp claws. "Don't be an arsehole!" I said and he grinned sheepishly at me and shrugged again but wisely kept his mouth shut.

"Look!" Sue said aggressively, not willing to let it go yet, "you bloody started this; you and your fucking mates, you started it. You two in particular," she said bringing me into the tirade. "You were the ones who first dragged me into the woods and shoved your hands up my skirt; and you did it 'just because you felt like it'. You wanted sex," she shouted at him, her eyes flashing, "you never asked me if I wanted it did you? Not one of you. You just took what you wanted and to hell with the consequences. I had no fucking choice what happened to me so don't you bloody dare to call me names now just because I happened to like what you showed me." Dave looked up and despite her anger Sue burst out laughing at the look on his face. "Yes of course I bloody liked it you dick head! Why the hell did you think I didn't cry 'rape' at the top of my voice?" Dave opened his mouth but thought better of it. "I thought it was fucking fantastic, after that first time I couldn't get enough; and you two should know, you two had enough of me since then didn't you? Or have I been dreaming about all those long walks you took me on? You had my pants off as soon as we were out of sight! I never seemed to have had my clothes on while you two were around."

She looked at Dave again and smiled, smoothing her dress down decorously. "Of course I loved it and I would like to thank you both for showing me what I had been missing. Well now I know what I'm doing and I'm just spreading it around a little, seeing what the world has to offer so to speak." She smiled benignly at Jackie and then glowered at Dave, "So just bloody grow up and leave me alone will you?" Dave dropped his eyes and looked away.

"Bloody pathetic the lot of you," Jackie said contemptuously before looking over at me and adding quickly, "except you of course," to which I shrugged my acceptance.

Taking Dave by the shoulder I turned him around and shoved his beer into his hands, "Just have another drink and shut the hell up will you? What's gotten into you?" Dave just shrugged moodily and took a pull at his beer. Somewhat uneasily we settled back,

"And just for the record," Sue said quietly, "yes, I have had sex this morning and yes, it was bloody fantastic."

Jackie laughed delightedly, "Atta boy girl!" she said and Sue laughed back until she caught my eye and her smile faded slightly. I just shrugged and gave her the best smile I could muster and she looked away as if embarrassed.

We drank steadily through the remainder of the afternoon, the sudden flare-up fading as the afternoon lengthened and an alcohol induced tranquillity slowly infused our small group. As the booze ran down Dave and I went to the shops and bought some more and some mixers for the spirits in the cupboard. "This is getting a bit serious isn't it?" Jackie said, holing up the fresh bottle of tonic we had just bought.

"I thought you girls liked a Gin and Tonic?" I said, "We were just trying to be a bit sociable."

"Oh we do," Sue laughed looking for the bottle of gin, "and you are," she said, "very sociable. Thanks."

As Sue poured herself a drink there was a sudden staccato rapping on the back door and without waiting for an answer the door swung open. In a full fit of giggles, Gwen, an old school friend of Jackie's, staggered into the house. She was followed somewhat sheepishly by Pete Hobson, a school mate of ours. Like Gwen Pete lived on the next street along.

"Hey up Moby!" Dave said, sitting up and looking at him in surprise, "What are you doing here?" Pete smiled sheepishly and nodded at Gwen who was making her way unsteadily to the sofa.

"She wanted to come," he said, "said Jackie had invited her."

"You two together then," Dave asked, "an Item?"

Pete blushed, shrugging his shoulders noncommittally. "Sort of," he answered quietly.

"Why you sly old git!" Dave laughed. "Come on in, sit down and tell us all about it. Want a drink?" Pete nodded before looking around shyly, acknowledging each of us in turn. He sat himself down on the arm of Sue's chair. He was an almost painfully shy character. A nice enough bloke, he played football with us and stood his round at the bar but he did seemed to be under his Mum's thumb a bit and he had a sour and domineering older sister; but he was liked well enough and we were always pleased to see him.

Gwen made her way somewhat unsteadily to sofa and flopped inelegantly down in between Dave and I. "Not staying long," she said somewhat deliberately and slowly, as though words were something new that she was just trying out. She smiled smugly at the end of the sentence, a 'mission accomplished without making a complete fool of myself' kind of smile.

Jackie laughed and stood up to get them a drink. "What have you been drinking?" she asked.

Gwen smiled. "Gin and tonic; all afternoon," she said largely to the audience and smoothed the front of her skirt down over her long nylon clad legs. Jackie caught my eye and smiled. "I'm not stopping long," Gwen said again and then corrected herself, "sorry, we are not stopping long," indicating vaguely towards Peter to include him in the statement and to demonstrate that they were indeed now connected; "because I've got to get my Dad up at six." She looked around to make sure we were all listening before continuing with her alcohol fuelled explanation. The next bit came out in a bit of rush and we all leaned forward to stay with her to the end, "He's been on nights and he's playing darts tonight so he needs someone to get him up." She paused before pointing slowly and dramatically at her own chest, "Me!" she said and giggled.

Jackie looked at Peter who shrugged. "We went to the pub," he said, trying to explain Gwen's obvious difficulties, "we met up with some of the gang and it turned into a bit of a session."

"Shame on me." Gwen said shaking her head and she giggled.

Jackie laughed, "Maybe she needs a coffee more than another drink."

"Gin and tonic please!" Gwen demanded loudly and held her hand up for the drink. Jackie finished pouring and handed the glass to her. She handed a beer to Peter who nodded then all eyes returned to Gwen who had settled back and propped the drink on her tummy. She dipped a finger into the glass and stirred it around before putting the finger into her mouth and sucking on it.

Dave leaned over and said in a stage whisper, "I can think of something better than your finger to suck on if that's what you want to do. I'll even dip it into your drink first."

Gwen looked at him somewhat vacantly for a moment until the penny dropped and she burst out laughing. "Cheeky bugger!" she added pushing him away with her elbow. "I'm a nice girl I am. Nice girls don't do things like that." Dave dipped his finger into her drink and put it in his own mouth, leering at her as he sucked on it suggestively.

"So this was a date then was it?" Jackie said, ignoring Dave and settling herself on the floor at Gwen's feet.

Gwen craned her neck and looked at Jackie over the top of her drink. "What do you mean?"

"All this," Jackie said, tugging at the hem of Gwen's chequered black and white mini-skirt, "and matching short sleeved top!" Jackie fingered one of the line of small white and black chequered buttons that ran all the way down the front. "This is your Sunday best isn't it? Your party outfit. Out on a date with Pete then were you? Looks like you were pulling out all the stops." Pete looked embarrassed and shrugged.

Gwen glanced across at him and smiled. "Might be," she said taking a good sip of her drink.

"Lucky man," Jackie said smoothing the front of Gwen's skirt with her hand.

"I'll say he is," Gwen responded giggling.

"And you've had your hair done!" Jackie added, "Really giving him the works! He must be important," she said looking at Pete again who this time looked down blushing to the tips of his ears. Gwen ran a hand through her thick, red, wavy hair, throwing coy, semi-embarrassed glances at Pete. "It looks really good." Jackie said.

"Do you think so?" Gwen asked, raising a hand to pat her hair, her insecurity showing in the gesture. We all knew that Gwen's mane of flowing red hair was her crowning glory but the girls also knew that at the same time it was the bane of her life. No matter how hard she tried she could never manage to get it into one of the straight pageboy styles that were now becoming all the fashion. No matter what she did she always ended up with the same glorious deep red waves and she hated it.

Gwen took another drink and pulled a face, "Wow," she said, "that's strong!"

"Is it too strong?" Jackie asked and leaned forward to take it from her but Gwen held onto the glass with both hands.

"Oh no," she said. "That wasn't a complaint. This is fine thanks, I'll stick with this one, honest." Jackie laughed and shrugged at Peter who smiled and looked away. He obviously had no objection to Gwen continuing to drink. Like all inexperienced young men he probably figured that his chances of 'getting somewhere' with her later increased proportionately with the amount of alcohol she consumed; and under normal circumstances he would probably have been right.

So Gwen took a long drink and slowly sank down into the sofa while we all sat around talking and drinking as the light started to fade into one of those long, warm, summer evenings. The drinks were replenished frequently we all began to mellow, shoes coming off, shirts unbuttoned a little more, relaxing as the booze and the warmth dulled our senses.

Suddenly, out of the blue, Jackie leaned over and tapped Sue on her knee, "That scar's never gone has it?" she asked.

Sue leaned forward and brushed distractedly at the offending knee, she shrugged and sat back, "Not disfiguring, I'll live."

Perched on the arm of her chair Pete leaned forward to look. "I can't see anything," he offered, ever the gallant.

"He's trying to look up your skirt!" Dave offered dryly and Peter sat back embarrassed. "I was not," he stammered.

"Go on, have a look." Dave offered largely with a wave of his hand, "It's not an exclusive club," he continued before Jackie hit him over his knee with the flat of her hand. Sue laughed, drink softened and lay back in her chair.

Holding the front of her dress down she pulled up the side to expose her naked flank as high as her hips. "Look," she said, "no scars." Peter's eyes popped and he almost fell off his chair. Like most of the men of his year Sue had been the unknowing source of many of his nocturnal masturbations and the sudden flash of fantasy skin was enough to throw him. Still laughing Sue pulled her dress back down and put her tongue out at Dave.

Everyone laughed except Gwen who just sat looking a little confused, the drink slowing her down. "I've got a scar," she said suddenly and all eyes turned towards her.

"Where?" I asked and she turned her face to me.

"My appendix," she ventured eagerly, "I had it out about two years ago."

"I've seen it," Jackie said almost dismissively, "it's nearly gone."

"It's still a scar; and you can still see it." Gwen said smugly. She suddenly liked being the in the limelight and she didn't want to release centre stage quickly.

"Prove it," Jackie said, still on the floor at Gwen's knee.

"What do you mean?" Gwen asked cautiously, sensing the loaded question and suddenly realising that she was somehow moving onto dangerous ground.

"Prove that you can still see it." Dave said taking up the challenge, "Go on. Show us."

"Not likely," Gwen said holding her glass out to Jackie for another drink.

Jackie took it off her and got up, "Same again?" she asked and Gwen nodded. We watched Jackie refill it in anticipatory silence. "Go on," Jackie said handing the drink back and settling herself at Gwen's feet again, sitting between her legs and resting her chin on her hands on Gwen's knee. Gwen looked down into Jackie's placidly smiling face and giggled.

"Go on what?" Gwen asked.

"Go on and show us the scar." Jackie repeated.

"It's an appendix scar," Gwen said by way of explanation, almost whispering, "I can't show you here!"

Dave and I leaned in conspiratorially, one on either side. "Go on," Dave said, his voice quietly cajoling, "show us, we won't tell anyone we've seen it." Gwen turned her face to him and he smiled back at her reassuringly, "Go on, we only want to have a look at your scar. Go on, show us."

Gwen looked around, her eyes wide and slightly unfocussed, everyone was watching her. Peter smiled at her noncommittally. "It's private," she said at last.

"I've seen it," Jackie said quietly.

"And so have I." Sue added.

"There you go then, most of us here have already seen it," Dave whispered quietly. "Go on," Jackie joined in, "don't be a spoilsport. Show the rest us your scar."

Gwen licked her suddenly dry lips and looked at Dave. "I'm not a prude you know," she said, standing on the edge of the precipice, feeling the wind blow.

"I know you're not," he said and he slowly hooked his finger under the bottom of the loose top of her suit and pulled it up an inch or so, exposing a little of her bare midriff. Gwen laughed uncomfortably and pulled the hem back down, holding it there with her free hand.

Jackie looked up at her, her head still resting on her hands on Gwen's knee, "Go on then," she encouraged quietly, "let's see your scar. What harm can there be? We've already said that no one will tell." Irresolute and unsure Gwen looked down at Jackie and then around the rest of us, she was obviously struggling with the whole concept of the scar and its intimate location. We all nodded solemnly, sympathetically, silently endorsing the fact that no one would tell; all trying to keep our faces straight.

She looked at Peter for support and following our lead, not sure where this was leading but happy to see any part of Gwen that Gwen was willing to show him, he nodded his encouragement, "Go on Gwen," he said, "show us, I've never seen it." We all turn to stare at him. "We've only been going out about a fortnight," he said in explanation, turning bright red, "not really seen anything of her yet!"

Gwen still looked unconvinced until, sitting between her legs, Jackie stopped further discussion by reaching forward and gently pushing the bottom of Gwen's skirt higher up her thighs. The sudden silence was deafening. We all leaned forward almost as one, taking in Gwen's long shapely legs, which looked even longer encased in her sheer white tights. Taken by surprise Gwen looked at Jackie and then slowly down at her own long nylon clad legs.

"Nice legs," Dave offered, breaking the silence, "you kept them quiet didn't you?"

"You've never looked." Gwen responded ruefully, staring at her legs stretching out below her bunched up skirt. Dave smiled, he had always known that Gwen had a crush on him but he had never taken it seriously.