“People…”
Still no response. “Shuuut uuuuuuup!!!” The whole class jumps and turns around properly in their seats.
“Can you do that? Can you just, for the love of god, keep your mouths shut for one. scientific minute?!” They all look at her in shocked horror, knowing full-well the consequences of Claw’s wrath.
“Since we only have ten minutes today due to your gratuitous half-day, I’m taking this opportunity to assign your next project – ” She is rudely interrupted by collective groans from the audience.. then takes a second to close her eyes and try to compose herself.
“Miss Glass, sir,” Mary Cherry raised her hand, without waiting for an invitation to speak. “Is that steam comin’ out of your ears?”
“If I hear any more of your incessant adolescent whining it’ll be due tomorrow!!” Everyone quickly gains control of themselves. “And yes, in order to confirm your suspicions – I do enjoy dumping projects on you at the last minute… IMMENSELY!” she finishes with a snort of her nose. “Moving on!
“STD week is over my promiscuous little terrors. Sex-education however, is not a topic that requires but one week of your limited attention span. Throughout the course of my project you will be studying what makes young people so sexually uninhibited – more specifically generation, ‘Y did I get pregnant, I’m only 15 years old!’ – and you will turn it in one week from today.”
The ominous announcement is met by silent jaw drops throughout the room.
“You will each have a partner assigned to you to share in your misery, and since I’m not hip enough a teacher to let you pick your own, all ya need to do is glance over to your right to see who the lucky specimen is.”
Mary Cherry looks across the room to Nicole and waves excitedly. “Hi hun!”
“Not that right Cherry, your other right! You will all be working on this project with the person sitting next to you at your lab tables.”
“But – ” Carmen says painfully as she looks over at Emory Dick.
“Aww. I’m sorry Ms. Ferrera…” Ms. Glass begins, feigning sympathy rather mockingly. “…But I don’t time for your, ‘I meant to sit with troublemaker Esposito today but Mr. John beat me to it crap.” she snaps at her vindictively. Carmen shoots a terrified look over to Lily and Harrison, who are clearly as disturbed as she is.
Brooke and Sam look up at each other, acknowledging their impending partnership.
“Figures. Like we ever do anything even remotely based on Chemisty in here.” Sam whispers under her breath to Brooke, and who smiles and rolls her eyes.
“Think about what attracts you to other people,” Ms. Glass continues to the class. “For me, it was a stroll down aisle seven at my neighborhood Target, meandering over to the bulk items, discovering the bleu-cheese dre – ” and with that, the bell rang, causing a mad dash to the front and back exits.
_____________________________________
“What’s up Lily-bean?” Sam asked, approaching her friend outside after school.
“Just waitin’ for my mom,” she responded with an unenthusiastic bite. “Where’s Brooke?”
“She’s making up a vocab quiz. She said she’d be out in a little bit.”
“Well, it’s good to have some company for once,” said Lily. “Hey, what are we doing this weekend, are we going to the dance?”
“I don’t know, do you wanna go?”
“Well, not really but, everyone’s going so..”
“We might as well, right?” Sam finishes her sentence.
“Yup,” an almost exasperated Lily replies.
“You know what sucks about these stupid dances?” Sam asks. “No one really wants to go. The only reason we do is because we don’t wanna be left out of whatever little social ground we’re secretly hoping to attain. And in the end you realize that all you wanted to do was to be with the people who don’t laugh at you when you wake up in the morning looking like Don King fresh off a circuit breaker.”
“You’re so right. I mean, who wants to buy an overpriced dress and experiment with make-up and hair all week, all to spend three more hours at Kennedy than is absolutely necessary?”
“Exactly. I’d rather not have to go a school-supervised function to hang out with my friends where people are going to judge how cool I am by how close up to the front I dance.”
Lily gives an emphatic nod gesturing her agreement. They both sit in silence for a moment.
“So… we’re still gonna go right?” Lily asked.
“Yeah.” Sam sighed, rolling her eyes.
Just then, Brooke pulls up in her car to pick up Sam.
“Well, aren’t you the lucky duck,” Lily comments as Brooke rolls up in a shiny white convertible that really, no teenager deserved to have.
“By default,” Sam replied, smiling. “I’ll see ya later babe.”
“Bye,” called Lily as she waved back at Brooke in the car.
_____________________________________
“Does she need a ride?” Brooke asked as Sam got in.
“Oh no, thanks. Her mom gets out of work at 3:15 so she’s always a little late getting to school.”
“Oh.. well, I guess it’s better than riding the big yellow bird all the way home.”
“That it is,” Sam laughed.
They waved to Lily and then pulled out of the parking lot, heading home.
“Brooke, what are we listening to?” Sam asked, reaching for the radio. Brooke’s hand stopped her before she could get to it, though.
“Ah ah aah – what are doing, I love this CD.”
Sam gives Brooke a wide-eyed grin but is clearly defeated, so she picks up her Case Logic and flips through her collection.
“Let’s see here. Dave Matthews Band.. Jewel.. Vertical Horiz – You have the Pocahontas soundtrack?!”
“What.. there’s a song – ” Sam cuts her off.
“At the end of the CD right?”
“If I Never Knew You?”
“Oh my god, I love that song!”
“You do?” Brooke asks enthusiastically.
“Yes!”
“Oh my god!”
“I can’t believe they didn’t play it more often when the movie came out.”
“I know! It’s such a pretty song,” Brooke said as she pulled up to a stoplight.
“Wow. That’s so cool…” Sam said, shaking her head with a smile on her face. “Umm, speaking of music… are you going to the dance on Saturday?”
“Unfortunately.”
Sam purposefully clears her throat. “Willll Nicole be picking you up on her broomstick?”
Brooke rolls her eyes at Sam, though is eventually unable to conceal a smile. Sam sighs and turns her head, facing the cheerleader.
“Why do you hang around with her Brooke? Trust me, that girl will drop her bullshit facade the second she can bypass her pathetic dependancy on your social status. Just, squash the backstabbing wench before she does something really horrible.”
“Liiiike, sleep with my boyfriend?” Brooke quipped.
“Yeah, exactly.. like sleep with your boyfriend. You need to find someone a little less willing to destroy you to take on second-in-command at Kennedy.”
“Well… I don’t want a second-in-command,” Brooke stared pensively out her window, pausing a few moments.
“I want a best friend.”
Brooke saw Sam look up at her with sympathetic eyes, who then turned her head away and nodded acknowledgingly. Brooke mustered a half-smile, choosing to swallow the pain for right now, and then continued to drive on home.
_____________________________________
The girls congregate in Brooke’s room in order to begin working on their paper. They are both situated on opposite ends of the bed, facing each other indian-style.
“I hate to say this but, I totally zoned in class. Do you have any idea what we’re supposed to do?”
“Not a clue. It’s hard to get any real information out of that class in between all the cruel diatribes and residual teen-angst Ms. Glass dishes out. But, you know what I say? When all else fails, read the directions,” Sam answers.
Brooke sighs and rolls her eyes with a smile on her face. “Right.”
She pulls out the instruction sheet they were given and proceeds to read from the paper:
“‘Compose a five-page essay on teenage sexual behavior, paying special attention to such topics as.. what kinds of traits or qualities are generally deemed attractive to the average young adult.. what types of interactions occur between adolescents, and where do we stand in the fight against promoting sexual promiscuity. Contrary to popular belief, you will need to research your topic and test the subject matter on your own. Have a… Safe, Day.’” Brooke finishes and shows Sam a ‘Smiley’ face condom wrapper on the page.
“Oh no she didn’t,” said Sam.
“Oh but she did.”
They both laugh.
“I swear, that woman has no shame.”
Sam widenes her eyes and nods in agreement.
“So, why don’t we get started,” Brooke suggested, as Sam took out her tape recorder.
“Okay, here’s what I thought we could do. I’m gonna tape the two of us talking to each other.. we can ask each other questions, blah blah blah – just like a normal conversation. This way, we can say how we feel without any interruptions, like if we had to take down notes or whatever – and then we can go back to the tape later and write the paper from there.”
“Sounds good to me. All hail the journalist and her handy-dandy tape-recorder.” Brooke replied, to which Sam let out a laugh.
“’Kay, do you wanna go first or should I?” Sam asked.
“I’ll go.” Brooke clears her throat and modestly asks her question as if it were word for word from the sheet. “Sam, what kind of traits or qualities do you deem attractive in other people.”
Sam laughs at the absurdity of the question – not necessarily in the general sense, but the fact that it was coming from a school-oriented project. “Ummm, I guess I like guys who are smart… and gentle.. and sweet. Someone who’ll make me laugh at the end of a crappy week.. or keep me from falling asleep at night when I need to finish an article – ”
“Whoa,” Brooke interrupts with a smile on her face.
Sam lets out a small laugh at her own oblivious choice of words, then continues, smiling. “No I mean… a guy who would stay on the phone with me until 2 am on a school night, just so I can make my Friday morning deadline. Not that I’m saying that’s absolutely what I’m looking for – just someone who’s sweet enough to do that. You know?”
Brooke nods her head with a grin on her face. “Hm hmm. What else?”
“Well intelligence is definitely something I’m looking for. I don’t mean we have to like exchange lifelong philosophies on a daily basis or anything. Just, someone who really makes me think, you know? Who will tell me when I’m missing a factoid or when my head’s too clouded to see the big picture.”
“Someone who’ll disagree with you without being judgmental.”
“Exactly… I mean, I love a guy I can have fun with, but it’s nice to be able to be with someone who’s not afraid to throw something back at you, you know?
“Anyway, I’ll stop babbling now,” she finished, slightly embarrassed. Brooke cuts her off.
“No, Sam,” she said, reaching her hand out towards the brunette. She was all the way across the bed but Brooke felt the need to reach out anyway. “I wanna hear everything.” Sam stops a little, slightly surprised at Brooke’s inquiry.
“Umm, okay,” she practically choked out. She had to admit though, Brooke’s interest was somewhat flattering.
“I guess.. I guess my dream date would be.. a nice dinner for two at an outdoor restaurant, with standing candles all around. Then we’d go for a moonlit walk, just holding hands and talking to each other. You know, when you have a conversation with someone and it’s like, you can feel them? Like you can feel the other person?" Brooke nodded intently.
“That’s what the perfect date is for me.. those moments. The ones that I’ll remember for the rest of my life…” Sam catches Brooke smiling at her and then laughs a little nervously.
“Anyway, enough about me, it’s your turn – what do you look for in a guy?”
Brooke pauses a moment and drops her shoulders in thought.
“Well, I know it sounds cheesy but… I want to be with someone who will look at me in the morning after an, ‘I’m too tired to wash my face’ night and not see me any different than he did the night before, you know? Because wether I’m all decked out in Vera Wang, or I’m wearing raccoon eyes and a bedhead, it won’t make the slightest bit of difference to him because he’ll love me for me.” She pauses slightly. “And that’s all I really care about.”
A year ago, Sam would have killed over and died had she heard this coming from the standard by which all Kennedy students were forced to live up to. But now, as they’d finally joined the ranks of those people who do call themselves ‘friends,’ she couldn’t help but to be mysteriously captivated by Brooke’s admission. She stared blankly at the blonde for a moment, her eyes fluttering with confusion.. it wasn’t that she expected her answer to be superficial, it’s just that she didn’t expect it to be so…deep. Brooke blushed at Sam’s expression and averted her eyes, nervously placing her hair behind her ears the way she always does when she’s embarrassed.
“Ah – um, okay, that was really…” Brooke cuts her off.
“Corny? Yeah break out the cheese and crackers, thanks.”
“No, I was going to say..” The first word that came to Sam’s mind was ‘beautiful.’ But something inside of her snapped and ordered her not to use it. “Un-cheesy.”
Brooke lets out a nervous laugh again and then makes a motion to wisp her hair behind her ears, only to discover it was already there from the first time. Sam had this look in her eyes she’d never seen before and it absolutely turned her inside out, although she had no idea why. Tiny pricklies jumped all over her body, and the only conclusion, the only logical conclusion, was that Sam was making her feel that way. ‘I mean, Brooke.. do you see anyone else in the room?’ she thought to herself. She found herself panicking internally, wondering incredulously why Sam was doing this to her, inadverdantly as she was.
Completely unaware of the way she was looking at her, Sam choose to ignore Brooke’s sudden apprehension, chalking it up to just one of those moments. Her heart was beating a mile a minute but she sure as hell wasn’t going to let Brooke know about it.
“Is courtship overrated, d’you think?” Sam asked after what seemed like an eternity between her and her thoughts.
“To some degree I think it is, yeah,” Brooke responded, forcing herself to focus.. damnit we have a paper to do. “Kids today are becoming more and more irreverant towards sex and I just think it’s so sad. It’s like it’s losing its luster in a way.. which is so upsetting because sex is not something we should just pass off or lose sight of ..it’s sacred and beautiful and it should always be treated that way.”
‘Does she know I’m staring at her?’ Sam wondered. ‘I mean I know she knows I’m looking at her but… does she know that I’m like *looking at her* looking at her??’
“Yeah I know what you mean.” she replied. “I mean, we think we know what we’re doing at that age. But it’s not until we get older that we realize just how different our perspective is and how we’ve really changed. But, you know, I guess you can’t teach experience.”
Ugh, this is so stupid. It’s just Brooke – would you stop…
“We’re really missing the romance.”
“What?” Brooke shot up, and then quickly realized she was talking about the paper. Damnit Sam…
“I mean when you think about it, it’s like romance is almost non-existent these days, you know? Where’s the love?” Sam ends with a corny quip. Brooke laughs, if only to do something physical about the internal turmoil that was festering inside.
At this point, forcing her eyes away from Sam was just not an option anymore. Up until now she’d dutifully averted her gaze in the hopes that the impulse would eventually pass, but her inner libido just wouldn’t have it anymore. Yielding to the temptation, she allowed her eyes to wander all over the curvature of Sam’s body, stopping at the opening in her shirt where a good portion of her chest had been exposed, teasing her mercilessly. ‘Why am I doing this?’ she chided herself. ‘I’ve seen middle-aged businessmen with more self-control than this.’ But rather quickly the answer seemed to present itself, especially in the physical sense. ‘Oh god.’
Brooke both cursed and thanked the indians for their choice in seating, the nature of which had caused Sam to lean over and reveal much more of herself than Brooke had expected to see.
“Brooke?”
“Huh?” Brooke ripped her eyes away from Sam’s body and looked up at her.
“’Something wrong?”
“No, sorry… what di – what did you say?”
“I asked you about your dream date.”
“Oh,” Brooke let out a relieved laugh, although she wasn’t sure why… she didn’t feel so relieved.
“My perfect date, would be on the beach.. lying out on a blanket, hand-in-hand.. watching the waves stroll up the shoreline, kind of dancing there for a moment, and then falling backwards into the ocean.. I mean god, what could be more romantic than a starlit sky as your ceiling and an ocean as far you can see? The greatest paintings in the world couldn’t even do justice to how gorgeous it is.”
Upon hearing this, Sam came so hard, sensing in an instant the dampness between her legs. It was so explosive that when she came back to herself, her eyes searched aimlessly around her, checking to see if Brooke had noticed something strange.
All of sudden Brooke let out a laugh. “Listen to me. You must think I’m a total idiot.”
“No,” Sam shook her head.
“I mean you’re the writer and here I am trying to be poetic – and I end up making a complete fool out of myself.“ Despite continuing to laugh at herself, Sam noticed a bit of vulnerability that crept into her voice. This side of Brooke had always gotten to Sam in ways she could never explain. Even in the darkest moments of their relationship, Sam would always have a soft spot for Brooke’s inner sensitivity. Sometimes it drove her nuts. And sometimes, it was just, well.. sexy.
“That’s so cute,” Sam replied before she could stop herself. Geezus, what the hell was that for?
On a regular night, Brooke would have just shrugged it off (even though it was Sam who said it – they’d gotten to be better friends over the last year, but still), but given the intimacy of the moment, she couldn’t help herself from responding.
“Oh really,” she said audaciously.
“Yeah, well, don’t flatter yourself. I was talking about the beach.”
“Ouch.”
As much as she tried to make it sound like she was just joking, the hurt was quite evident on Brooke’s face as she suddenly became intensely quiet. God, why am I upset.. I don’t want Sam to think I’m cute.
“Well, you know what I meant,” Sam responded with a laugh as soon as she saw Brooke’s subdued body language. She didn’t mean to hurt the girl. It was just a joke to – No, I’m not covering anything up. I have nothing to cover up.’ Sam disputed in her head. Somewhere in the middle of all these thoughts, Brooke had said it was okay, although Sam didn’t really hear it. It was like a distant mumbling, the kind you only experience in your dreams.
“Um, you know, it’s funny. All the time we’ve known each other, I don’t think we’ve ever had a night where we just sat and talked, you know?”
“Yeah because we’ve always been like this,” Brooke quipped, crossing her first two fingers and holding them up sarcastically.
“I know but I’m just saying, you know… now that we are.. it’s.. nice.”
Brooke playfully rolls her eyes and smiles at Sam. “Alright kiss-up. You didn’t hurt my feelings. And you don’t need to brown-nose your way through the rest of the night.”
“I don’t?” Sam responded, just as playfully.
“Nooo.”
If Brooke didn’t know any better, or hell, if she was with a guy, she would’ve thought this was flirting. And to be honest, she kinda liked it, though she had no idea why. Sooo, there was no reason to stop, right?
“And if you bat those ‘big, brown, bambi eyes’ at me one more time you’re gonna eat this pillow.”
“What was that?” Sam responded, batting her eyes repeatedly and purposefully.
The blonde picks up a small, decorative pillow from her bed and throws it at Sam, who catches it hysterically laughing.
“And don’t think I missed that little homage to our days spent bad-mouthing each other and arguing over who’s sink is who’s,” says Sam, to which Brooke puts her hair behind her ears again.
“It’s just proof.”
“Of what?” Brooke asked, slightly confused.
“Proof that we have matured enough to step over our petty differences and not only accept the fact that we’re living together.. but, we’ve grown to accept each other.”
“Sam,” Brooke starts seriously. “Your mother gives me a hundred bucks every week…” At that, Sam takes the pillow next to her and throws it back at Brooke who’s laughing hysterically. “Just.. to be.. nice to you,” she finishes, practically crying.
When the laughter dies down, Brooke looks down for a second and then continues. “No, but I know what you’re saying. It’s.. nice.”
“I’m sorry, but this is just not working,” Sam announced abruptly as she gathered herself together and stood away from the bed. Brooke stared at her, thoroughly confused and slightly panicked at the thought of Sam leaving. Walking over to the side of the bed opposite Brooke, the brunette plopped down next to her and let out a huge “ahhhhh.
“So much better.” Brooke gulped and shifted uneasily next to Sam. She was petrified at their sudden closeness but at the same time, ridiculously excited.. well, perhaps she was petrified because she was so excited. In any event, this definitely called for a shifting of her body. She continued to look at Sam confused however. “I need something to lean against, my back is killing me.”
“Wuss.”
“Princess.”
“Whatever. Like I care where you park.”
“Good cuz I didn’t ask.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
“Whatever.”
“Good.”
The entire banter goes back and forth in a mock serious tone, before they finish and burst out laughing.
“You know what’s so weird?” Brooke started, more seriously. “I probably have more fun with you than any of my other friends.”
“B – but what about Nicole?” Sam forced herself to spit out. She had no idea why, but the thought of Brooke having a better time with her than Nicole was positively… lovely.
“You said it yourself Sam. She’s not the friend I thought she was. And now I just have to, I guess, surround myself with the people who really do care about me.”
Sam nodded her head.
“Including you.”
The brunette looked up at her, touched. The sentimental moment disregarded any witty comeback she would’ve made about Brooke’s endearing assumption.
“Well, there’s a moment for ya,” Sam began, slightly running away from it but at the same time, holding onto it with all she had. “Mark it down on the Brooke and Sam event calendar. March 10th, 2001. Peace offering made by Brooke McQueen.”
Brooke slides down on her side so that she’s facing Sam, an action which Sam had no choice but to mirror, getting up from her stomach and turning to face her.
“Well.. here’s your chance to make history. You can write it any way you want.” Brooke unintentionally gazed longingly into Sam’s eyes, a facial expression that did not go unnoticed by her bedside companion. “Just uh, remember something,” she continued in a raspy voice. “That history has feelings, and aspiring writers especially.. they don’t get to do rewrites.”
Sam laughs nervously at this and attempts to brush her hair out of her face, only to hit a roadblock at Brooke’s chest on the way up.
“Oh my god I am so sorry!” Sam covered her mouth with her eyes wide-open. Brooke laughed at the tiny mishap and assured the brunette that it was alright. “No, no it’s not okay. I totally did not mean – I didn’t, I mean I didn’t – I didn’t mean to touch you… like, anywhere. God, I’m such, an idiot. It’s like who’s on first, what’s on second? Yup, it’s my hand!” she finished, absolutely mortified.
“Are you done?” Brooke continued, wiping the strand of hair that Sam had almost gotten to.
Sam froze. Her body tensed up – she couldn’t feel a thing. Brooke was touching her and it felt absolutely terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. For a moment, she just stared right back at her with her eyes wide open.
The moment was just too much for Brooke to pass by. She’d spent the entire conversation focused on Sam, watching her every move – mezmerized by the graciousness and beauty she seemed to convey so effortlessly. And after much deliberation in her head, she finally admitted it to herself… she was attracted to her. Maybe not all along…but today – most certainly today, Sam had stirred something inside of her that no one else ever had. The afternoon up until this point had consisted of only two things: Sam, and what she was going to do about Sam. And now, here she was, right in front of her with the opportunity dangling before her eyes.
Brooke glided her hand all the way down Sam’s cheek where her lips were soon to follow. She then traced the outline of her lips with her thumb while the other fingers gently held the side of her face. Sam closed her eyes and felt the warmth of Brooke’s hand caressing her features; her soft skin dancing over her own. When she was finished tracing her lips, Brooke’s index finger lightly smoothed over the end of her nose, at which point Sam opened her eyes, meeting Brooke’s passionate gaze with her own.
“We can’t do this.” Sam breathed out.
“I know,” Brooke replied, smiling.
“What about our paper?”
“Screw it.”
“What about what this mean – “
“I don’t care.”
“But – “
“Sammy.”
They stared at one another, the consequences of what they were about to do lingering quite vividly in their minds.
Brooke decided however, that she didn’t know what the word ‘consequences’ meant. And if she did, she told it to go fuck off. Because right now, all she wanted to do was to be with the one person she couldn’t stop herself from thinking about morning, noon and night.. the one person she could truly relate to. She brought her lips up towards the brunette’s face and whispered into her ear..
“Kiss me Sam.”
Her words set off a fire inside of the brunette that had long been waiting for ignition, tearing away every single inhibition she ever had about acting on her physical desires.
Brooke pulled away slightly, and as she did, Sam turned her head to the side and crushed her lips against Brooke’s. She then pulled her in closer and wrapped her leg around the other side of the girl, climbing on top of her. She continued a sensual exploration of Brooke’s mouth, causing Brooke to whimper into her parted lips. Increasingly, the pace quickened, practically ravaging each other with their mouths and hands.
When they needed air, they pulled away and stared deep into each other’s eyes.. and then went at it again, insatiably exploring every inch of the other’s mouth and lips.
Finally, Sam was the first to speak.
“Hm, yeah, question.. is the door locked?”
“ ’Course. One of the perks of being a teenager… making an issue about the invasion of privacy.”
“Fabulous.”
“I think so,” Brooke smiled, planting continuous kisses on Sam’s lips.
“Do have any idea how beautiful you are to me?” she said, running her fingers through Sam’s hair. Sam bit her lip and shook her head.
Brooke only sighed and wrapped her arms around Sam, as if not a single syllable could exemplify how she felt when Sam eyes met her own. With her head resting on Brooke’s chest, Sam drew her even closer, as if there wasn’t already limited space between them.
“Hey Brooke?”
“Yeah?”
“We might, wanna erase that tape.”
Brooke smiled and brought Sam’s lips to hers, slowly and passionately. The kiss grew deeper with Brooke wrapping her arms around her even tighter, then rolling Sam over on the bed.
“I hope so.”
End of Part 1...
Part 2