Firsts (Lesbian Story, Complete)

I

The air prickled with mid-October frost, frigid wind biting at Theodora's flushed cheeks as she trudged down the dreary street. Her thin hood offered minimal protection from the cold. Shivering at a sudden gust of chilly air, she rubbed her chapped hands together, and buried them deep in the cavernous pockets of her coat. A grudging glance down at the now-brown leaves littering the gutter made her thoughts drift back to a simpler time. A warmer time. Theodora grimaced, and huffed out a great plume of steamy breath, uttering a silent curse to the weather.

"Today's the day, Theo!" She jumped with fright as mitted hands clapped down on her shoulders, jarring her from her cynicisms.

"Jesus, Tamra!" She breathed. With a cautious laugh, she realized that her assailant was nothing but her useless lesbian of a girlfriend.

"Oh, I'm so sorry I scared you, Freckles," Tamra cooed, planting a quick peck on Theodora's aptly named cheek as she fell into pace. "I just couldn't wait for you to slow down! I didn't catch a wink last night. Did you?" Slipping an arm around Theodora's shoulders, Tamra drew her in for a hug that the other girl happily leaned into. As they broke the hug, Tamra linked their arms together so that they could more easily walk in step with each other.

"No way. I'm too worked up over this," Theodora said with a stressed chuckle. "I mean, it's not like we go to Saint Anne's, right? What's the worst that could happen?" Theo chuckled again, her eyes wide, and her lips pinched into a tight line. She glanced down at her feet, the salt-stained edges of her boots suddenly looking very interesting. Tamra furrowed her brow at her walking partner, stopping in her tracks. A look of concerned distress contorted her features as she spoke.

"Theodora," she said in a tone much more serious than what was the usual for her, "If you think today might not be the day, we can wait." As she spoke, she extricated her arm from its link to look Theodora in the face.

"No, Tam, I want to do this today. We need to do this today." Theo shook her head as she spoke, honey-colored curls bouncing around her face as her hood fell to her back. She glared back at it momentarily, as though the hood could sense her displeasure, and readjusted it, this time tightening the drawstring a touch more. She kept one of the beaded ropes in hand, worrying it between her thumb and forefinger. Tamra moved to connect their arms once more, waiting for Theodora's slight nod of approval before fully linking them. She smiled, and jostled Theodora playfully before setting off once more.

"Y'know what I think? I think everything'll go just fine. It's not like we haven't been making moon-eyes at each other for months now. All of our friends would have to be morons if they haven't guessed already." This made Theodora laugh, a smile cracking through the worried scowl.

"Yeah, but how are we going to explain this to Kerry? You know that he'll just tell his mom, and that his mom will tell your mom at the PTA meeting." The mention of Kerry had Tamra chuckling in a way that seemed almost diabolical.

"Dearest love of mine, how could you doubt me in this way? You and I both know that Kerry and the rest of his family will be on vacation until the fifteenth, making today about forty-two hours too early for him to be here, non?" With that, Tamra pecked another kiss onto the tip of Theodora's nose, and continued, "No need to worry about silly little 'card-carrying Conservatives' and their mean old parents." Theodora's smile had slowly become a beaming grin over the course of Tamra's monologue. When they had to stop to give way to the traffic light at a busy intersection, she returned the kiss with a quick smooch on the cheek, and said,

"Well, you've just thought of everything, haven't you?"

"Of course I have!" Tamra replied, her cheeks flushing due to more than just the cold. The two continued across the street in a contented silence once the light changed, happy to just enjoy each others quiet company and warmth. They both tried hard to not think about the odds that they might be facing once they arrived at their destination.