Sparkle
by Kat
Note II: Just to clear up
some things, let me say the following. I decided to change
around the ages/grades of some of the characters. Grace is a
freshman at the University of Chicago & lives at home still.
Eli is about twenty years old. Here's the lineup for the most
likely other major characters in this fic. Jessie (15), Tad (16)
& Russell's boyfriend Brad (16) are juniors. Katie (18), Sarah (17), & Russell (18) are seniors.
For the most part
of the ride, Katie & Jessie started opening up to each
other. Jessie filled Katie in about the happenings of their little group. She talked of how Tad & Sarah will probably
end up together, the many boyfriends of Russell, their weekend
excursions, etc. Katie couldn't help but smile at the sight of
her new friend. Never did Katie ever think Jessie had almost
been committed for depression. "God, she's so happy. She must
really care about her friends. Maybe J will invite me into her
world & smile when she talks about me the way she does about
them," Katie pondered to herself as she continued the drive to
her house.
When they pulled up into Katie's driveway, Jessie
went bug-eyed. Katie's house resembled the kind of houses you
see on MTV's `Cribs.' It was amazing. The house was extremely
modern & looked very new. Jessie wondered how the house was
ever built without ever seeing it before. The girls got out of
the car & with their bags in tow; they made their way into
the house. The house was very clean in the concept of everything
from the furniture to the artwork to the lights. Of course,
there were still boxes everywhere from the move. But what was
set up, looked like something out of Sharper Image.
Katie
guided Jessie into the kitchen area. Not much was there yet except for the refrigerator, which was shiny silver color & relatively large, especially compared to hers, a microwave, a
stove, an oven, & the cupboards, which was a dark mahogany.
Katie peered into the fridge & revealed a couple of
cokes.
"I hope you like coke, because that seems to be all
we've got. My dad's not a big shopper," Katie said as opened
hers & set one for Jessie on the counter.
As Jessie
picked hers up, she replied, "That's fine with me. I'm not very
picky. Thanks."
From there, the girls went downstairs to what
Jessie assumed was Katie's room. Katie's room was rather large
& roomy. There was a queen size bed in the corner of the
room that was very simple with white sheets & a white
comforter. Next to her bed was a small table with a lamp &
an alarm clock. The room faced the backyard with a glass sliding
door that lead to a little balcony of sorts. In the corner
opposite her bed, were two turntables & a couple boxes of records & other dj-ing equipment, as well as microphone on a
stand & a black electric guitar with a small amp next to it.
Against the wall was a desk with a laptop, a printer/scanner/fax
machine & a stack of paper. On the other side of the room,
by Katie's bed, was a small dresser. And across the room from
the sliding door, was a closet, slightly opened with random
shirts, pants & shoes that Katie had already unpacked.
Scattered throughout the room was the rest of her belongings in
brown boxes. "You'll have to excuse the mess, I stayed home
yesterday to try & unpack everything, but that obviously didn't work too well." Katie went over to her desk & turned
on her laptop & laughed nervously, but quite frankly, she
wasn't sure why. She was beginning to open herself up like a
book instead of being her usual, enigmatic, tenacious self. "You
can sit on the bed if you want or the floor; your choice." Katie
was trying to be warm & welcoming. Jessie took a seat on the
floor, next to a couple of boxes. As she began to get out a few
of her books, she looked over into the boxes. Inside, revealed a
plethora of various cds ranging from Saliva, the Beatles,
Anastasia, Aerosmith, Elvis Costello, John Mayer, to Orgy,
Carole King, etc. In the other box, were various books &
sketchbooks, along with a few rolled up posters that Jessie couldn't quite see what they were.
"Hey, what posters do
you have in there?" Jessie curiously asked. She wanted to learn
as much as she could about this girl.
Katie hesitated at
first. "Well, if you want," she began. "I guess you could help
me put them up if you want." She then looked down at Jessie's
books & then back to Jessie. "Studying doesn't sound like much fun to me. I'd rather have fun with you J. Here," Katie
made her way from her desk over towards the bed. Without
explanation or any other word, Katie picked out the posters one
by one & handed them to Jessie. Once all of them were out,
Jessie started opening them to see what the revealed. After
Jessie looked at each poster, the girls would find a place for
it on one of Katie's walls. Of course, when they came down to
the last poster, Katie quickly snatched it out of Jessie's hands
before she could open it.
"Hey, what's wrong Katie?" Jessie
was very confused. What was in that poster that made Katie so
jumpy all of a sudden?
"Oh…umm…it's nothing." Katie drew a
quick breath. Her shoulders slumped & she went & sat
down a corner of the bed, rolled up poster still within her
tightening grip. "I should just be honest with you J. But I
don't want you to freak."
"Why would I freak?"
"I
don't know. You just seem like the kind of person who would freak, that's all."
Jessie was obviously hurt by Katie's
words, & it showed. "I didn't mean it like that J, really.
Here, just look at it." Katie handed the poster over to Jessie.
As Jessie opened it, her eyes slightly grew & then a huge
grin came to her face. Jessie then rolled it back up &
handed it back to Katie.
"Now explain to me why I would freak
out at that again?" Jessie was almost laughing when she
asked.
"You mean, you don't think it's gross or whatever?"
Katie cocked an eyebrow up at Jessie's answer.
"No, I
don't. It's actually kind of cute."
"Oh," was all Katie could
get her mouth to respond.
"Here, let me see it, I've got the
perfect place for it." With the poster & a few tacks in her
hand, she stood on the bed. When she was done, she plopped down
on the bed, practically on Katie, though not on purpose, with
great satisfaction in her work. "There you go."
Katie looked
up & started laughing to herself. "All right. J's either
really tolerant of lesbianism or she IS one. Maybe it's both.
Yeah, right."
"What's so funny Ms. Singer?" Jessie
asked.
"I don't know. I guess just the fact that you put my
poster of two hot girls kissing on my ceiling so when I lay in
bed, I see them." [The poster they're referring to is at
allposters.com & it's called "The Kiss"]
"So, can I
ask you a quick question Katie? You don't have to give me an
answer if you don't want to, because it's really not my place
but…"
"What is it J?"
"What team do you play for?"
Jessie badly wished she would hear the right answer. How
wonderful would it be if Katie really were gay? But what if she
wasn't? Jessie wasn't sure if she could give up her crush on
Katie so quickly.
"J, what do you mean?" Katie knew perfectly
well what Jessie was referring to, but she wanted to learn more
about Jessie's intent of asking. Whether it was just out of
curiosity or something more. Katie desperately wanted it to be
for something more.
"Well…" was all Jessie said as she
shifted her head & eyes towards the ceiling, then back at
Katie.
Hoping to find out Jessie's orientation, stuck up a
few questions of her own. "Before I answer that, answer me
this." She paused, knowing that if she didn't get the answer she
was looking for, she'd just have to deal with it: even if it
broke her heart. "What team do YOU play for?"
Once again
Jessie glanced up towards the ceiling & focused in on the poster, only this time she didn't look back at Katie. "I'm on
their team." Jessie sighed in awe of the girls' connection, even
if they were only posing. It was more than she's ever
had.
Inside, Katie was jumping up & down. "Now that I
know your answer, let me give you mine." Katie, who was then
leaned up against the head board of the bed, then moved in
closer to Jessie, who was sitting Indian style perpendicular to
the length of the bed. She let her left leg drape over the side
of the bed & her right leg wrapped close to Jessie's
backside. Jessie, now becoming more aware of the other girl's
actions, became stiff. Katie then leaned into Jessie, using her
hands to guide Jessie body to turn towards hers. Then, gently
raising her hands up, she cupped Jessie's face & delicately kissed her.
The kiss continued for the next
hour…