Senior Year Memories Ch. 41

"You really know nothing about theatre, don't you?" Olivia asked.

"Not a thing," I admitted, figuring that was the best way to approach her.

"Then I'll predict, and by predict, tell you, how this is almost certainly going to go," Olivia continued, sighing in exasperation. "That she called both of us here at the same time means that Mrs. Harker is likely to want us working together as her 'helpers'. She will have us offer outside perspectives under the auspices of you writing an article and me showing you the ropes, and probably ask us to put out any fires that might pop up, all while I try to rein in my annoyance at being asked to be your babysitter, and you work your charms on as many of the girls of the drama club as you can, because that is your way, and there are plenty of choice pickings here for someone of your... talents, even if I think you'll find the competition stiffer around here than you're used to."

So, my reputation preceded me. This was nothing new. I wasn't expecting this kind of hostility for it... but I guess it wasn't that much of a surprise, either.

"I'll try to keep up, so you don't have to babysit that hard," I said.

"Appreciated," Olivia replied, nodding her head in my direction.

"And... if we're supposed to work together, I want you to know in advance that I also appreciate all of your efforts," I said, really hoping to smooth things over to the best of my abilities. "I truly do. I'm in an unfamiliar land here... I don't know what I'm doing... I'm not even sure I know what exactly I'm supposed to be doing... and I could use a guide."

She looked at me, skeptical. "Only a guide?"

I shrugged, smiling a bit sheepishly. "I mean... I'd prefer a friend, but a guide will suffice."

Olivia continued looking at me, raising a still skeptical, but also vaguely intrigued, eyebrow. "You, Ryan, are a genuine curiosity of the highest order."

Her tone and meaning of this was almost impossible to gauge.

"I'd say I get that a lot... but I don't think I've ever been called quite that before," I admitted. "That's... is that a good thing?"

"It's a thing," Olivia replied, now sounding slightly amused as the first figure got up from the stage and casually strolled in our direction.

The girl was blonde, slender, and athletically lean, dressed in jeans and a black bra that held her rather pert B-cup breasts nicely. Her long hair bounced behind her in a simple ponytail, while she had an utterly carefree, confident look on her cute face that was kind of impressive. She carried her shirt and backpack with a casual shamelessness, looking like she had no intention of putting the shirt on anytime soon, especially once she saw us.

I knew Amy Temple as something of a daredevil, but this was new to me.

"Hey, Liv," she said in passing, tipping her a nod, and a quick wink at me when she saw my reaction.

"Hey, Amy... be careful with... well, whatever you're planning on doing now," Olivia replied.

"You know I'll never make that promise!" Amy shot back as she left the little theater.

Olivia shook her head, muttering to herself, and possibly me. "That girl... I've spent half this year trying to make sure she doesn't get hurt... and hooking up with Micah? Oh, Micah, Micah, motherfucking Micah..."

I knew less of Micah Burke than I knew of Amy, but that was soon to change.

Another figure soon dropped down from the stage, though this one was considerably more put together than Amy had been. He was tall and compactly muscular with wavy, shoulder-length blonde hair, wearing meticulous and certainly expensive clothes that went well with his movie star handsome face. At a glance, you'd think that he might have been a surfer dude who once might have once been preppy, but there was a lack of easygoingness to him that ruined that image quickly. I could tell that there was something to him that was cocky and arrogant and neither of those things in a charming way, even with his big, friendly smile.

I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but something about Micah seemed off to me.

First looking at Olivia, he said, "Ah, sweet Olivia, how long were you waiting and listening and wishing you were there in Amy's place and..."

Then, when he noticed me, his eyes went wide and he said, "You're Ryan Collins? *The* Ryan Collins? Holy... wow, man, can I shake your hand?"

"Uh, sure," I said, offering my hand.

He shook it eagerly, though Olivia, still between the two of us, seemed less than thrilled by this interaction.

"You're an absolute legend, man... give a lot of us something to look forward to. I mean, you're my hero... haven't I said he's my hero before?" Micah said, letting my hand go.

"You say many things," Olivia answered, uncomfortable.

"And I mean them all, except the ones I don't," Micah replied, turning his attention back to me. "Hey, I'd love to buy you a drink and talk shop and compare lists sometime... but I've got lines to rehearse for when I win the spring play's lead and a line of honeys around the block, so can't linger. Let's do lunch!"

Before I knew all of what had happened, he jogged out the back of the little theater, leaving Olivia in the dark, sitting in awkward silence.

"Did he just say 'let's do lunch'?" I asked.

Olivia thought this over. "He has dreams of Hollywood."

"Justified?" I asked.

Choosing her words carefully, and certainly trying to determine if she could trust me, she answered, "There is some debate over that matter. *Heated* debate."

"I see," I replied.

Looking behind us to make sure we were well and truly alone, Olivia turned her attention back to me and warned, "Micah will smile and tell you everything you want to hear, all the while holding a dagger behind his back. He is an actor, and he is ambitious. Ever since his eighteenth birthday he has focused some of that ambitious energy on sexual conquest, which not only involves expanding his list, but crushing any obstacles that might get in the way of *any* of his ambitions."

Olivia was saying a lot without saying much of anything, yet I understood her warning clearly.

"That's... that's a lot to take in," I said, before nodding gratefully. "Thank you for your concern, and the advice."

With the faintest hint of a cocky smirk, Olivia replied. "Forget it, Ryan... that's drama club."

***

I had this to say for Olivia: she had Mrs. Harker down to a T. It wasn't long after Amy and Micah had left that the massive-chested drama teacher entered the little theatre like a force of nature and repeated pretty much everything Olivia had told me, about liking outside perspectives, and trusting mine in particular, especially after everything I had done to help make sure the play happened. This bit of info seemed to surprise and intrigue Olivia, but neither I nor Mrs. Harker made the meaning of this clear, leaving it mysterious to my dark, slender classmate.

I doubted that Olivia was one who approved of mysteries, so I understood that this could well be a matter of some concern down the line, especially if Olivia and I were expected to work as closely together as Mrs. Harker seemed to want from us.

But, down the line was down the line, and today was today. Now fully understanding of both my Puma Press and drama club obligations, I made as quick and polite an exit as I could, ran for my bike, and pedaled swiftly for Sarah Kent's house.

It wasn't a short ride from school, but I like to think I made pretty good time. It wasn't too late after school, and when I got to her home, I saw neither Josie's nor Brooke's cars there, so at least I wasn't late, either. I hopped off my bike, wheeling it to the front of the house and rang the doorbell.

Sarah opened the door quickly, almost as if she'd been waiting behind the door for this exact moment.

"You came!" she exclaimed. "I'm so happy you came! I've needed... wait, why don't you come inside so we don't have to talk out here?"

There was something in her tone that was... elusive. It wasn't that her excitement sounded false or anything like that, but it did sound like there was something more that she was hiding from me. Combined with Josie's tone earlier, alarm bells were ringing particularly loudly in my head.

This was especially irksome, as quite simply, Sarah looked absolutely amazing today.

The 5'2" blonde continued to look livelier every time I saw her, a distinct improvement from the shy, withdrawn girl who'd rather hide behind her hoodie than really engage in a conversation with anyone other than her closest friends I'd met earlier this year. Her beautiful face was alive, with a friendly smile, and delighted green eyes behind her horn-rimmed glasses. She wore a light purple dress that had a scooped-down neck showing a hint of cleavage (stopped only by the laces just above her breasts) and flowed to just below her knees, an outfit that was comfortable and airy, practical yet thoroughly feminine. It utterly flattered her tight dancer's body, with her shapely legs, round, firm ass and B-cup breasts (that at a glance I knew weren't constrained by a bra today). Her skin, so pale when I met her in her band geek days, had taken on a very light tan over her time with the cheer squad, a look that she pulled off quite well.

If I weren't so vaguely nervous, I'd have been hard at this sight alone, and ready to ask if she wanted a quickie before the others got here.

Alright, so, I was a little hard, anyway. She was really hot.

"Thanks," I said, wheeling my bike just inside the foyer before bending over to take my shoes and socks off. "Do you know when the others are going to get here?"

"Josie and Brooke?" Sarah said, still not doing an amazing job of hiding her own nerves. "Oh, they're gonna be here in a bit. I asked them to wait a little while first because, I, um, wanted to talk to you for a minute before they got here."

This was... well, fairly nerve-wracking, and had all my alarms up. "Sure. We doing this in the living room, or-"

"My bedroom?" she suggested, quickly.

Well, even if something secret was going on, at least I might get a little fun out of this first. "Sure."

I followed Sarah, unable to keep my eyes from darting down her swaying ass, to her tight legs and bare feet. I'd had the honor of having been with Sarah a good many times over the course of senior year, and found myself looking forward to more time with her... I wasn't getting anything from her that felt like a warning to stay away, or that she wanted to break off our friendship or anything like that, but... there was something that had me wary.

"Mom's been in a much better mood ever since she got back from her retreat... I assume you had something to do with that?" Sarah asked, her tone slightly teasing.

"Some of it," I admitted. "There was a lot going on there, honestly. I don't know how much of it I can take credit for."

"So modest..." she replied, continuing to force a more jovial tone than she clearly felt. "Well, if you were hoping to ditch study group to screw Mom again, tonight's not the night; she took a shift down at her friend's club, and will be out late."

"Hey, that only happened one time!" I retorted.

"I know, I know, but, you know, teasing you like this, it's fun..." Sarah replied, waving me into her bedroom as we reached the door. "But, seriously, thank you... I'm grateful you can help make her happy. She's been, well, positively glowing ever since just before Valentine's, and I *know* that that's your doing."

I stepped into Sarah's bedroom, a familiar haven that was equal parts girly and geeky, with framed pictures of her in both her marching band and cheerleading outfits, band and movie posters she enjoyed, and plenty of pictures of her with her best friends: Hope, Fatima, Mia and Josie. I'd spent a lot of time in this room, and was pretty familiar with it, dropping my backpack by the door as I hopped over onto Sarah's king-sized bed, stretching out on it in an attempt to relax.

"Well... I try," I answered her.

She sat down a couple feet away from me, crossing her legs and denying me a view up her skirt, yet looking absolutely lovely as she sat there, smiling at me a little awkwardly. There was... a moment of silence between us, as we sat there, looking at one another and trying to figure out just who was going to say what, when.

Sarah broke the stalemate.

"Can I ask you to... I mean, would you sit up? There's something I want to talk about with you, something important, and, I think it'd be easier if we did this face to face?" she said, gripping a teddy bear to her chest tightly, almost as if it was a defensive shield.

This did little to help my anxiety, but I did sit up and turn to face her, trying to look a lot less nervous than I was. "Shoot. I mean... what's on your mind?"

Sarah's smile kept flickering, and she held her teddy bear tighter, before loosening up, slightly. It still seemed like she was having a hard time breathing properly, but it didn't look like her distress was too terrible.

Finally taking a proper breath, she said, "It's... it's been an unexpected year for me. I know it's been for you, too... and I don't mean to make this a contest or anything, but where I am now is not where I ever thought I'd be. I thought that my year would end the way it started with me being just another quiet girl on the marching band who only had four real friends and only ever *really* had sex with them, or the occasional band guy when I got up the nerve for it... I had my dreams, dreams of dancing, of cheerleading, but they were dreams, dreams that couldn't be more than dreams. I could dream them, but when I woke up, everything would be the same. That... that probably sounds familiar to you."

"A little," I acknowledged.

Truthfully, this was a lot more familiar than I wanted to admit in the moment, but she was on a roll, and I didn't want to interrupt her. Nevertheless, to say my year hadn't followed a similar arc would have been a lie.

"But!" Sarah exclaimed, before she quieted down. "But... but... sorry. I'm sorry, this is all so hard to put together."

"It's alright," I said. "Take a breath, relax..."

"I know how to breathe," she replied, smiling nervously. "And relaxing is close to physically impossible right now, so, I think I'll just say what I have to say and put it out there and we'll see..."

"We'll see?" I asked, a million different possibilities swirling through my mind. This was sounding less hazardous a meeting with every passing second, but I won't lie that I was definitely confused.

"Okay, alright..." Sarah continued. "I can... I can do this... and that's what's important, really. There was a lot I couldn't do before this year that I can do now, and I think the common element that kind of ties all of them together has been... you."

Her voice dropped as she looked back down to her teddy bear, having a distinct challenge meeting my gaze.

"I didn't... I didn't do anything but give you a little push in the direction you already wanted to go. Everything you did, everything you accomplished, that's all you. Your awesome year... that's all yours," I said, smiling.

"Maybe some of it was, but I wouldn't have known who to contact... you put me together with Kaitlyn... I couldn't have done that..." Sarah said. "But you made it possible, and now... now I'm leading the kind of year I think I always wanted. I'm on the cheer squad. I'm making all kinds of new friends. I'm having fun, and feeling alive, and... well, I can never thank you enough for that."

I reached over to her, taking her hand in mine. "Your friendship is all the thanks I need."

Gently, she squeezed my hand back, looking up at me timidly. "I think... I think I might want more than friendship with you."

My heart beat more rapidly as this situation felt altogether familiar, and strangely welcome.

"Ryan..." Sarah said, taking a breath. "I think I love you. I think I have for a really long time, and I haven't known what to do with that, but I wanted to... *needed* to say it now, so... yeah. I love you. And maybe I'm crazy, but, I think you might love me too. And not just friend love, but, like, 'in love' love. I mean I could be wrong... but I don't think I am."

I gulped, certainly nervous at this development, but also feeling a certain thrill that I couldn't deny either. Sarah had been one of my dearest friends over the course of this year, and I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a deep, distinct connection between the two of us. I had tried to tell myself over and over that it was just one of those things that happens between people who've had as much sex as the two of us had had (and we had had a *lot* of sex), but there was something deeper than that. A spark of energy between us, a certain kinship because at the end of the day, we really did understand each other more than just about anyone here. I looked forward to seeing Sarah every time the opportunity came up, and nothing thrilled me quite like making this once shy girl smile in that way that lit up her entire face.

"Is that, uh, stunned silence a good thing, or a not good thing?" Sarah said, chuckling nervously. "Because I just opened my heart to you and now you're staring off into space and it's got me a little frightened."

Crap, my internal monologue had happened in real time again.

I shook my head to straighten out my thoughts. "Fuck, I'm sorry, please, please don't be scared! Sarah... I love you too!"

"Yeah?" she asked, her face brightening in that way that made my heart swell.

"Oh, god, yes! I have... fuck, for a while!" I said.

Relief flooded her voice as she laughed, throwing her teddy bear at me. "Then why didn't you fucking tell me!"

"Well, I've been a little busy, and still trying to sort out all my feelings about everything, and about Josie and Brooke and... fuck... do they know?" I asked.

Sarah and Josie went back a long way, and I know that Sarah and Brooke had become quite good friends on the cheer squad, but the fact that my two girlfriends didn't come to mind immediately while we were making our emotional pleas to one another felt like a distinct oversight.

Sarah grabbed her teddy bear back from me and placed a calming hand on my wrist. "Relax... I've actually had some long talks with both of them about this..."

"You have?" I asked, feeling relief again.

"Yes... I'm sorry you're the last one to know, but... yeah," she replied.

"Good talks?" I asked.

Sarah smiled broadly and nodded. "Uh huh. Josie and me... well, we already loved each other, and this is, uh, kind of a different way for it to develop, and one we're willing to explore... and Brooke, she's like the coolest person I know, and so much fun, and we have so much fun together, and I adore her and... we've talked. We've all talked. They're willing to bring me into this weird and crazy group thing the three of you have. I have their votes, but yours matters, too-"

I made my vote clear when I closed the distance between the two of us, grabbing her teddy bear and tossing it aside as I pinned Sarah down to her bed, kissing her deeply. She moaned against my lips, wrapping her arms around me as we made out.

"This is... god... this is amazing... and what I want..." Sarah panted between kisses. "But can we stop for, like, a second? I need to text Brooke and Josie, let them know how this went, so they can come over..."

I didn't want to stop kissing Sarah, not after we'd just gotten started, but, that seemed practical. "Okay."

I climbed off of her, watching her sit up as she grabbed her phone off the nightstand and fired off a quick text.

She explained. "I said I wanted some time with you first, so, it's not like they'll be on their way here right away... those two are probably getting it on over at Brooke's anyway... so, we'll have some time..."

"Uh huh..." I said, tugging at the laces at the front of her dress, undoing the bow at the top and revealing more cleavage.