Seven minutes.
Friday July 29, 2011
“It’s only been one minute so far,” says Katie quietly, her ghostly face swallowed by the darkness as she shuts her phone. “This is all your fault.”
“My fault!” says Joey Rose in a hoarse whisper. “I was in the club before you were!”
“Like I knew who was in the precious club before they ganged me and stole my underwear,” says Katie. “And Ashley never would have picked me if Margot hadn’t picked you.”
“Well you didn’t have to come tonight,” says Joey Rose.
“Likewise,” says Katie, and Joey Rose says nothing in response. Katie’s face appears again in the bluish light of her phone. “Not even two minutes,” she says.
“What do they expect,” says Joey Rose.
“I don’t know,” says Katie. “Sex, I guess.”
“Sex!” hisses Joey Rose, a rustle in the darkness as she draws back against the coats hanging about them.
“I’m not gonna jump your bones, Joeydoll,” says Katie. “But that is what the club’s about. Always say yes.”
“I’m not asking,” says Joey Rose.
“I know,” says Katie. “I know. I’m not either. Two and a half minutes.”
“So what do we,” says Joey Rose, “what do we do? I mean when we walk out. They’re gonna laugh at us. I say we give ’em something to guess about.”
“What do you mean?”
“I dunno. Like we walk out holding hands with our shirts undone or something. Or our panties in our pockets. Or I give you my panties and you give me yours, except it’s not like they’d know which were mine and which were yours.”
“Don’t say panties,” says Katie. “It’s undignified. And anyway I didn’t wear any.”
“Katiebelle!” gasps Joey Rose.
“What?” says Katie. “I wasn’t gonna let them play any more stupid initiation games.”
“They weren’t,” says Joey Rose. “We’re in. We’re both in.”
“Except they sent us both to the closet together,” says Katie.
“Yeah, well,” says Joey Rose. “But now I’m wondering how far you went with Ashley when you were both in here.”
“How far I went? Sweetiebabe, Ilya is not a quiet girl.”
“You heard that, huh.”
“The neighbors heard that. And she was still quivering when we opened the door.” Both of them lit up now by the phone as Katie flips it open. “Four minutes,” she says. “Over halfway.”
“You really like Ashley, don’t you,” says Joey Rose.
Katie smiles in the light. “You really like Ilya.”
“Yeah,” says Joey Rose, smiling back. “And Margot. And Morgan. And Georgia. And Ms. Ackerman. And even Ashley.”
“Yeah, but Ilya,” says Katie. “You know her mother? Totally hooking up with Ms. Ackerman.”
“No way. Did Ashley tell you that? She is totally putting you on.”
“I saw it,” says Katie.
“No!”
“I even, ah – ”
“Katiebelle!”
“What?” says Katie. “I said yes.” She looks down at the phone. “Five minutes.”
“Katie?”
Katie looks up at Joey Rose and says quite firmly, “Yes.”
“I didn’t ask for anything,” says Joey Rose.
“Doesn’t matter,” says Katie, as Joey Rose leans closer. “Yes. Yes. To whatever it is,” murmuring against Joey Rose’s lips, “yes.”
It’s a brief kiss, a light kiss, an eyes blink shut kiss, and they look at each other a moment in the bluish light of the phone, nose by nose, and then licking her parted lips Joey Rose leans in again and Katie opens her mouth and plunges after her. Coats rustle and jangle on their hangers. Katie opens her eyes wide, pulls back from the kiss with a jerk, her mouth torn between surprise and a smile. “Joey!” she says with half a laugh.
“What?” says Joey Rose. “Now I know you really are going commando.”
“Yeah, but,” says Katie.
“Not yeah but,” says Joey Rose, kissing her again. “Just yes.” Unbuttoning Katie’s blouse.
“Yes,” says Katie.
“In a minute,” says Joey Rose, pushing the blouse from Katie’s shoulders, following it down with kisses, “we’re gonna walk out of the closet and we’re not gonna say anything.”
“Yes,” says Katie, her hands on Joey Rose’s shoulders.
“We’re just gonna walk out to the car hand-in-hand and we’re gonna go home,” says Joey Rose, her hand in the darkness under Katie’s skirt.
“Yes,” says Katie, her eyes closed, her breath sharp.
“And we are gonna do this all night long,” says Joey Rose, as Katie’s hips begin to rock.
“If you, wake up, Mom, and Dad,” says Katie, “I will kill you.”
“Ditto,” says Joey Rose.