"My hair!" Patty said, suddenly horrified.
"Don’t worry," Kristen said softly. "I’ll help you clean it. Let’s get dressed."
Instead of dressing, each girl cleaned the other girl’s face using their hands and licking up the residue. Then they got dressed, Kristen helping Patty make sure that she didn’t get any semen from her hair onto her dress. Of course, watching the two girls go at each other did nothing to ease my rigid erection.
I found a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, and Kristen rolled her eyes at me. "Those slacks weren’t enough. We’re going to have to get him a new wardrobe!"
The two girls left to head for my bathroom as I finished dressing, my erection still being a bit uncomfortable.
As I left my room, the two girls were just leaving the bathroom. I walked downstairs with them. The three of us exchanged pleasantries with everybody, and I once again noticed the usual tension in my mother’s eyes. I wondered how I’d be able to convince her that I wasn’t a nefarious drug dealer (or worse!) without having to resort to using a ticket on her.
When I went outside, I was surprised to see that the girls had taken both of their cars. Normally, I would drive with Kristen, but with today being Patty’s "final performance" with me, I wanted to talk with her — make sure she was still a friend. Kristen reluctantly agreed to let me drive with Patty to school, and I made a mental note to devote extra time to Kristen when we met at lunch.
In Patty’s car, Patty said, "What’s up with your mother?"
I sighed. "Remember when I told you that she thought I was dealing drugs? Well, she’s still a little unconvinced, I think. It’s difficult to explain to her why I’m all of a sudden so popular with older girls."
Patty turned and looked at me, scaring me a bit, since she was driving. "Is she still thinking that?"
"Patty… keep your eyes on the road!" I said. Then I added, "Yes, I’m serious. We’ve talked, but I’m not sure she’s totally convinced. You have to admit that from her point of view, things are pretty weird."
"Yeah, I guess," Patty said.
I got to the point. "Patty… the reason I’m here right now instead of in Kristen’s Camaro is that I really want to make sure that you will continue to be my friend. And Kristen’s."
Patty said, "Of course! But it’s best right now if I cool it with you, Jim. I mean, you have Kristen right now, and I have Toby, if we ever get that far. I’m really happy that my two best friends are so much in love with one another."
"You really consider me your best friend?" I asked.
"Yes. Kristen, too."
I considered this and said, "I’m glad to have you as a friend. I’ll miss our mornings together, but it’s the closeness we had that I want to continue."
As Patty turned into the school parking lot, I saw her shake her head. "You know, Jim. Sometimes, you act like the young kid you are. And then other times, like now, you act like you’re an adult. I like that about you. Most kids your age would miss the sex and wouldn’t give a damn about friendship."
"Well," I said, pondering my true feelings, "I figure with my tickets, I could probably have sex with anybody that I wanted. And I guess I have. I made a royal fuck-up with Kristen, however, and now I know that even with the tickets, there are still consequences for these sorts of things."
Patty had parked the car, and the two of us were just talking now. I had seen Kristen park nearby, and realized that my talk with Patty would soon be over.
Patty said, "Yeah. I guess having the tickets could make you grow up pretty fast. I can still remember that day when I told you that Kristen was a junkie. The look on your face is probably etched forever in my mind. But you’ve come through, and you’re even better than the person that I had originally seen in you."
I moved over toward Patty and kissed her on the cheek. "I’m glad you’ll still be our friend. I’ve found your advice to be very useful in the past, and that’s the important thing to me now."
Patty smiled. "You should go out and tell Kristen you love her. I don’t think you can ever tell her that enough. And if you ever need a friend, I’ll be around."
I was surprised to see Camille at fourth period lunch. I was looking for Patty and Kristen, and saw Camille looking around the lunch room with a serious expression on her face.
"Hi, Camille," I said, smiling. "I didn’t know you had lunch this period!"
"I don’t," Camille answered. "I skipped physics class to find you and Kristen. Patty said you both have lunch this period."
"Where is Patty?" I said, looking around again now that Camille had mentioned her.
Camille frowned. "Patty got called into the office first period. Apparently, her aunt passed away this morning, and her mom wants her to fly out to Newark to be around for the funeral."
I was stunned. I had known that Patty’s aunt wasn’t doing very well, but I still hadn’t expected her to die, and Patty to have to fly off to be with her mother.
I didn’t know what to say in response.
Camille said, "Patty asked me to see if I could be a little closer to you and Kristen; she says that the two of you need a good friend, and now she’s going to be away. I told her that I’d be happy to do so."
That was Patty for you. In the midst of her own family crisis, she still thought about her friends.
Camille had a wicked smile. "So, I guess I get to visit you in the mornings, huh?"
Without thinking, I said, distractedly, "Patty’s not visiting me in the mornings anymore."
I think that Camille was surprised by that, but then she noticed Kristen and excused herself quickly to update her on Patty.
As I stood alone in the lunch room, I wondered if I’d be able to survive being without Patty’s helpful advice. Camille was a nice person, but she and I had never really clicked, and I didn’t know exactly why. Patty always had nice things to say about her, and I knew that Patty was as close to Camille as she was with me and Kristen.
Camille came back with Kristen in tow.
Kristen saw me and hugged me, tears in her eyes. "Camille told me about Patty’s aunt."
Dumbly, I nodded.
Camille watched us, not saying anything for a few moments. As Kristen and I broke off our hug, I saw Camille again, and without thinking, just pulled her into a three way hug with Kristen and me.
The three of us hugged, and then we emerged and went into the cafeteria for our ration of swill that the school district passes off as food.
Camille didn’t get anything from the food line, but sat with us and talked. At first, I was a bit uneasy. I had spoken with Camille in the past, but it was usually just gossip sessions. I just didn’t have the same relationship with Camille that I had with Patty.
But Camille and Kristen seemed to get along nicely. They had similar classes, and soon the two of them were talking about school work.
I wasn’t really listening to the two of them, but instead was fantasizing about the lingerie show that I had witnessed earlier this morning. I wondered if Patty would be wearing her green lingerie when she got off the plane in Newark, and what her poor mother would think.
"Jim? Jim? Is anybody home?"
I looked up at Camille, who had asked the question. "Um… sorry. I was just thinking."
"About what?" Kristen asked.
I blushed, knowing exactly what I was thinking, and didn’t answer Kristen.
Camille noticed my blush and picked up on what I was thinking. "It wouldn’t happen to be pale green, would it? Patty told me about it before class began. I wish I could have seen your expression. Patty said it was priceless!"
I blushed more when I realized that Patty had been talking about me.