Chapter One

 

Friday, August 7th, 2006:

 

“Hey, Sammy, wait up.”

 

Turning around, Samantha Morgan spotted her best friend and a couple of other friends walking toward her.

 

“Hey guys, what’s up?” Smiling brightly, Sammy propped against her locker to wait for them.

 

“Not much; just can’t believe the summer’s already over. I heard we have a new gym teacher. I can’t wait to see what kind of idiot they have now,” Amy grinned.

 

Sammy rolled her emerald green eyes. She gestured toward the lunchroom, “C’mon, let’s go see if our table’s empty.”

 

Walking in, Sammy groaned when the tall scrawny guy with them tripped over his own shoes. Helping him back up, Sammy shoved him toward the table on the far end of the lunchroom.

 

“God, Davey can’t you stay on your feet for a few seconds? Jesus, Sharon, did your parents forget to teach him how to walk?”

 

Grimacing, Sharon smacked Davey on the back of his head then sat down at the table beside her brother. “I don’t know what the Hell they did to him.”

 

“Where’s Sam? I was hoping to show him my new game,” Davey asked.

 

Dropping her book bag on the table, Sammy sat down. “He’s got a dentist appointment. He was whinin’ like a big baby about it.”

 

Amy snorted, “That boy has always been afraid of any type of doctor. It’s a good thing he’s not female.”

 

The last bell for the classes rang. Sammy groaned, “I’ve got gym class first period. Who in Hell’s idea was that?”

 

They rose and headed off to their classes. Amy joined Sammy, “Don’t feel too bad. I’ve gym class with the new Coach too.”

 

“Me too, I wonder who he is. He also teaches English Lit,” Sammy added.

 

“Yeah I know. I’ve got him for fourth.” Amy held open the gym door for Sammy.

 

“Hey, I’ve got him for fourth too.” Sammy said, heading for the locker room.

 

“I guess this is what we get for avoiding gym like the plague for the past two years.” Amy chuckled, dropping her gym bag on the bench beside the shower stalls.

 

Sammy pulled her shirt over her head, “I really shouldn’t have spent all summer on your dad’s boat. I’ve got sunburn in places it’s not supposed to be.”

 

“That’s what you get for acting like you were at a nudist’s colony.” Amy waved at the other girls coming into the locker room.

 

When the girls finished changing, they headed out into the gym and sat on the bleachers, waiting for their Coaches to come out. Crossing her ankles and stretching her legs out in front of her, Sammy leaned back against the row of bleachers behind her. Tugging at the hem of her short green gym-shorts, Sammy glanced at the corner on the other side where the Coaches normally hung out. Seeing a tall dark-haired woman, Sammy nudged Amy. Leaning her head closer, she said in a low voice.

 

“I’m beginning to think that our new gym coach isn’t a guy. See that woman over there?”

 

Amy looked over then back at Sammy. “Yeah I see her. I guess the school got her because of all the bullshit that they said Coach Martin did.”

 

“Yeah, probably,” Sammy agreed, rubbing at the chill bumps on her legs. She looked up, hearing one of the Coaches calling for their attention. She smiled when she noticed it was her softball mentor, Danni Carsen.

 

“All right girls, calm down. We have a new Coach. I’m sure by now you’ve all heard what happened with Coach Martin.” While she waited for the girls to calm down, she waved the new Coach over.

 

Sammy’s green eyes widened as she got a good look at their new Coach. The woman was gorgeous. Her legs went on forever. Her ice blue eyes were the bluest Sammy had ever seen. Pulling Amy’s head closer, she growled low.

 

“My God, that woman is HOT.”

 

Amy shoved her friend away. “Ah c’mon, you act like you’ve never seen a beautiful... oh my God, you’re right. Shit, man, what I wouldn’t give for her shorts to be a little shorter.”

 

Sammy nodded. Her new favorite pastime was trying to will away the new Coach’s clothes.

 

The whole school already knew about Sammy and Amy’s sexuality, only a few had made a big deal out of it.

 

Sammy was so wrapped up in her new hobby that she almost missed her name being called.

 

Amy elbowed her in the side, her attention snapped back into the here and now.

 

“Huh? Wha...?”

 

Amy rolled her hazel eyes and snorted, “You’re supposed to say ‘here’, ya dumbass.”

 

Shaking her head, Sammy looked up at the gym teachers. Both of them were looking at her in amusement. Blushing, she waved. She looked away quickly when she noticed the new Coach hitch a dark eyebrow in her direction.

 

In a low whisper, Amy asked. “Did you even hear a word she’s said?”

 

Glancing at Amy, her blush deepened, Sammy shook her head.

 

Amy grinned, “Your eye-candy’s Coach Dianne Rainer. She moved here from Gwinnett. She’s apparently Coach Carsen’s cousin. The way you’re acting, I sure as Hell hope that she doesn’t teach sex-ed.”

 

Sammy’s eyes widened in panic and she said, “My God, please no.”

 

“All right, girls, now I need you to separate. One class will stay for gym, and the other will start out in Health. I know quite a few of you haven’t had gym yet, somehow you’ve managed to avoid it.” Coach Carsen said, with a significant look at Sammy and Amy.

 

Amy grinned sheepishly and shrugged her shoulders. “What can I say Coach, you’re harsh enough on the softball field.”

 

Grinning, the Coach called out names for the girls that would be in her class. When she got to the end, she looked at Sammy. “You won’t have me to push you around this time Sammy, guess I’ll have to wait for softball, huh?”

 

Coach Rainer straightened up and flipped through the papers on her clip-board. Coming to the page with her students’ names on it, she looked at the list. At the end she read out the last two names. “Samantha and Amy, you two will also be in my class. We’ll be starting out with Health. If you all would please follow me, we’ll head up to the class room.” Turning, she started up the stairs, the class followed her.

 

Groaning, Sammy stood up. “Oh God, I’m gonna have to deal with my whole name for an entire semester. What did I do to deserve this?”

 

Amy leaned over and put her arm around her shoulders. “You turned into a perv, that’s what.”

 

Sammy shrugged the arm off her shoulders; hanging her head, she followed the rest. In class, everyone took their seats. Sammy shuffled over to sit in the back of the class.

 

Amy followed taking a seat in front of her. “Why are we sitting all the way back here?”

 

Sammy leaned over her friend’s shoulder whispering, “I don’t want her to have any ideas about picking on me. Ya catch my drift?”

 

“Loud and clear, Chick,” Amy whispered back.

 

The coach sat on the edge of her desk, crossing her right leg over her left thigh as she glanced at her clipboard again. “Can anyone tell me where Samuel Morgan is?”

 

Sammy took a deep breath and answered, “Sam should be here by fourth period.”

 

“Thank you, Samantha.” Coach Rainer gave her a warm smile. “All right, I’m going to pass out some forms that need to be turned in tomorrow.” Picking up the papers, she passed them out at the beginning of each row of desks. “In order for you to participate in sex education you will need to make sure the form on the bottom is signed and turned in. That will be the section we begin with, so it needs to be turned in tomorrow.”

 

Going back to her desk, she leaned against it and propped her hands on the edge. “So, does anyone have any questions?”

 

Tugging on a lock of Amy’s hair, Sammy caught her attention. “Ask her what if we don’t turn in the form.”

 

Amy raised her hand.

 

Coach Rainer heard the whispered conversation. “Yes Amy?”

 

“Uhm... what if we don’t turn in the form? What happens then?” Amy asked, shrugging Sammy’s hand off of her back.

 

The coach decided to pick on the girls, “Now, why wouldn’t you turn in your form, Samantha?”

 

Groaning, Sammy slouched down in her chair as the other girls snickered.

 

“Well, are you going to answer my question?” Coach Rainer asked in amusement.

 

Sammy blushed and stuttered. “Well... I... uh don’t really wanna take this class, Ma’am.”

 

“To answer your question, if you don’t turn in your form, you fail this class because sex-ed is a necessary section of this Health class.” Coach Rainer answered, cutting Sammy some slack.

 

Amy snickered, catching the coach’s attention.

 

“For the record, in my class, don’t ask someone else to ask a question for you. It’s childish, and by now, you all should have that out of your system. I want you all to pull out a sheet of paper. Tell me a bit about yourselves, and what you did over the summer.”

 

Sammy slouched further down in her desk. Pulling out her notebook and a pencil, she started the assignment. When she was finished, she put down her pencil and raised her hand.

 

Coach Rainer noticed the small hand. She made her way down the row and squatted down next to Sammy. “What can I do for you?”

 

Looking down into Coach Rainer’s blue eyes, she smiled slightly. “Uhm... what do we do with our paper when we’re done?”

 

Smiling, Coach Rainer stood up. Placing a hand on Sammy’s shoulder, she squeezed lightly and said in a low voice, “Just hold onto it, I’m gonna have you read it out loud when everyone’s done.”

 

“Okay. Thanks.” Sammy leaned over slightly watching the coach’s shapely ass as she made her way up to the front of the room. She straightened up quickly when Coach Rainer turned to lean against the front of her desk. Studying Coach Rainer’s face while she glanced around the room at the other students, Sammy remembered that Amy had said the coach’s name was Dianne. ‘That name definitely suits her, I like it.’ Sammy glanced away when the blue eyes turned in her direction.

 

Dianne noticed that all of the students had put down their pencils, she smiled. “Okay, has everyone finished?”

 

When everyone answered with a, “Yes ma’am,” she went to her chair and sat down.

 

“All right can I get a volunteer to read first?” No one raise a hand. She picked people at random to read their paper. She finally called on Sammy. “All right Samantha, if you would, please?”

 

Sammy stood up and she read hers. “My name’s Samantha Leanne Morgan, but I go by Sammy.” She glanced up at the coach before continuing. “I was born and raised here in Gainesville, and I live with my mother and my twin brother Sam. I’m seventeen years old. I’m president of the student council here at North Hall, I’m a pitcher for our varsity softball team, and I’m on the debate team. I’m also captain of the soccer team. My best friend Amy has lived next door to us my whole life. Over the summer, I hung out with my friends Sharon, her twin brother Davey, Sam and Amy, and we spent most of the summer on Amy’s dad’s boat. We had a lot of fun and on July 4th we took the boat out to the middle of Lake Lanier and shot off fire works. That’s pretty much all we did.” Sitting down, she smacked Amy in the back of the head when she snickered.

 

Raising her eyebrow, Dianne cleared her throat. “All right, Amy, would you care to add to that?”

 

Standing up, Amy snickered again then yelped when Sammy smacked her on the ass. “Yeah, sure, here goes. My name’s Amy Marilyn Grant. I’m seventeen years old. I live with my dad, and I was born here in Gainesville. I’m on the softball team, and I bat left handed. I’m on the debate team and on the student council. Over the summer I hung out with my best friend on my dad’s boat, we had cook-outs, we swam a lot, and whenever we lay out in the sun Sammy spent the time working on her all-over tan.” She snickered at her friend’s moan of embarrassment.

 

Sammy groaned and dropped her head on the desk. She knew she was blushing bright red from the heat in her cheeks.

 

Dianne smirked. “Uh huh, I’m sure you two had fun. If you would all pass your papers up to the front of the rows, I’ll pick them up. You can have the rest of the class to do whatever you want, as long as it’s done quietly.”

 

***

 

“Hey girl, what class are you coming from?” Amy asked as she caught up to her friend on their way to their fourth period class.

 

“Biology, God I hate that teacher.” Sammy replied, ducking into the bathroom.

 

“I hated him too. It’s a good thing I’m good at science.” Amy followed her friend into the bathroom and propped against the counter.

 

“I know what you mean.” Sammy replied, closing the stall door.

 

Amy heard a toilet flush and looked up to see the new coach exit a stall. “Hey Coach, how’s it going?”

 

Washing her hands, Dianne replied. “Hello, Amy. It’s going okay, where’s your shadow?”

 

When Sammy came out, her jaw nearly dropped open. Dianne may have looked hot in her gym clothes, but she looked stunning in the black slacks and light blue button-down collar shirt she now wore. Walking to the sink on slightly shaking legs, she washed her hands.

 

“Hi, Coach Rainer,” Sammy said with a shy smile.

 

“Hey, Samantha,” Dianne replied, drying her hands on a paper towel.

 

Rolling her eyes at the use of her full name, Sammy dried her hands. Tugging on Amy’s shirt sleeve, she looked at the teacher. “We’ll see ya in class, Coach.”

 

Sammy practically dragged her friend out of the bathroom and down the hallway to their class room, stopping right outside the class room, Sammy said in a strained voice. “Goddamn, that woman is fucking HOT!”

 

Amy rolled her eyes and walked into the classroom. Dropping her bag beside a desk in the front row, she sat down. Sammy sat next to Amy and drifted off into her imagination, thinking of what she would like to do to the gorgeous coach.

 

Amy snickered at the dreamy look on Sammy’s face. When Coach Rainer walked into the classroom, Amy decided it might be best to get her friend’s attention back to earth. Pinching Sammy’s side, she laughed out loud when Sammy almost fell out of her desk.

 

“What the fuck? Why’d ya do that?” Sammy growled, glaring at her friend. She straightened up in the desk when she heard a throat clear.

 

Crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back against the doorframe, Dianne raised a dark, finely sculpted eyebrow at the young blonde. In a husky voice, she chastised the girl.

 

“I think you and I both know that kind of language isn’t allowed at school, Samantha.”

 

Looking sheepishly at the floor, Sammy muttered. “Sorry Coach, I’m just gettin’ used to being back at school.”

 

“I know, that’s why I’m not going to write you up this time,” Dianne stated with a grin.

 

When the bell rang, Dianne shut the door and walked to the front. Writing her name in bold strokes on the board with an Expo marker, she turned around. “All right class, I’m Coach Dianne Rainer; I’ll be your English Literature teacher for the semester.”

 

Searching her desk, she found her clip-board and looked around the room. “When I call your name I want you to either say ‘here’, or raise your hands.” She said this with a significant look at Sammy. She couldn’t help but pick on her and she was glad that Sammy had chose to sit up front, rather than in the back. She didn’t know why. All she could really make sense of was that she felt drawn to her.

 

Sammy groaned and slouched down in the seat. This time when her name was called, she managed to say ‘here’.

 

The teacher was in the middle of explaining what they would be working on for the next week when the door opened and a short, muscular, strawberry-blond, green-eyed guy came in. When he dropped into the seat next to his sister and rubbed his slightly swollen jaw, Sammy snickered at him.

 

Dianne grabbed her clipboard and checked the list of names. “You must be Samuel Morgan.”

 

Sam looked up at her and nodded. “Do you have an excuse for being late?” She asked raising an eyebrow when all he did was nod. “Can I have it?”

 

Sammy raised her hand. When Dianne looked at her, she said. “He had to have a tooth removed; he won’t be able to talk right for a few hours.” Grabbing the written excuse from her brother’s hand, she stood and walked up to the teacher, handing the note to her, she went back to her desk and sat down.

 

Looking at the note, Dianne nodded and tossed it onto her desk. “All right class, I’m going to call your name and I want you to come up here and grab one of the books from the stack over here.” She pointed to three piles beside her. “Remember, these have to be returned at the end of the semester so don’t lose them.”

 

***

 

Sammy was sitting on the bed of her truck in her front yard with Sam, Amy, Sharon, and Davey. They were talking about school and their classes.

 

“I seriously wish that Coach Rainer wasn’t teaching health. The woman is hot as fuckin’ Hell.” Sammy stated, reaching behind her to turn up the CD player as loud as it would go. The song ‘Hot for Teacher’ came on and Sammy groaned. “Whose idea was it to play this song? Someone should be smacked.”

 

Sam snickered. “You’re too funny. Whenever she wasn’t looking you were staring at her like a bitch in heat.”

 

A large black vehicle turned pulled into the driveway of the house beside them, Amy wondered, “Who is that? I didn’t know someone had moved in.”

 

Sammy shrugged looking over at the vehicle, she noticed the model. “Holy shit, that’s a Hummer. That is one fucking kick ass vehicle.”

 

Sharon nodded, “Hell yeah it is.”

 

When the driver stepped out, Sammy shouted. “Oh fuck!”

 

Her yell caught the tall woman’s attention. Turning around, Dianne raised an eyebrow. Waving at the group of teenagers, she shook her head and walked into her house.

 

“Oh, God, why did she move to this neighborhood? What did I do to deserve this?” Sammy groaned pitifully.

 

Everyone laughed.

 

“When did she move here?” Amy asked, looking completely confused.

 

Sam shrugged. “Movers have been coming and going from that place for the past two weeks. You two would’ve known if you’d have been home instead of on the boat all summer.”

 

Sammy fell back in the bed of the truck. “I’m gonna die, I just know it. Someone that fine should NOT be a teacher.”

 

Amy grinned, and tugged on her friend’s long strawberry blonde hair. “C’mon chickie, you’ve got chores ta do.”

 

***

 

Dianne walked into her house and muttered under her breath. “What the Hell was that all about?” Pressing the play button on her answering machine, she began undressing.

 

“Hey Cuz’, I’m gonna come over so I hope you’re not naked, see ya in a bit.” Danni’s voice came over the machine.

 

Snickering quietly, Dianne dropped her pants and picked up her clothes from the floor. Walking back to her bedroom, she dropped them in a pile next to her dresser. When she finished pulling on a pair of faded, low-cut blue jeans and an old army t-shirt, she heard her cousin calling from the living room.

 

“Damn Kody, do you know who your neighbors are?”

 

Rolling her eyes at the use of her first name, Dianne walked into the living room. “Stop calling me that and it depends on which neighbors you mean.” Flopping down onto her over-stuffed leather couch, she stretched out her legs and put her hands behind her head. “Do you mean the foul mouthed brats beside me or do you mean someone else?”

 

“Foul mouthed, what do you mean? Can’t be any worse than us,” Danni said, sitting down next to her taller cousin, ignoring what she’d said about her first name.

 

“Well, I guess you’re right. Not too many people can be worse than us.” Dianne snickered, tucking her legs under.

 

“So how did your first day go? I still can’t believe that you actually left the army.” The stocky brunette kicked her boots off and propped her feet on the coffee table.

 

“It was time, I was getting tired of Iraq and I wanted to come home. I guess my first day went okay. No one gave me too much trouble. Three of my students live across the street from me,” Dianne said, raising an eyebrow.

 

“Oh yeah, I know. What I wouldn’t give for Amy Grant to be over seventeen, or to be her age.” Danni said, wiggling her eyebrows.

 

“Pervert,” Dianne snorted, hitting Danni with a throw pillow.

 

“C’mon, you can’t say that you didn’t see a few students today that made you wish you were younger.” Danni said.

 

“Nope, sorry, can’t say that I did.” Dianne said, trying to ignore her mind flashing to strawberry blonde hair and emerald green eyes. ‘Yeah right Kody Dianne, you know you saw one student in particular. That may be, but I’m not admitting it out loud.’

 

“I think there’s something wrong with your libido then Captain. I can think of at least two of those hotties that make my blood boil and they’re both on my softball team.” Danni said, shaking her head at her cousin.

 

 

Chapter Two

 

Two Weeks Later:

 

“Rise ‘n shine, Short Stuff,” A very cheerful Amy shouted, pulling up the window blinds.

 

“Go ‘way, s’too early ta get up.” Sammy groaned and rolled over, stuffing her pillow over her head

 

“C’mon we’ve gotta get the truck washed, there’s still sand on it from two weeks ago. If we don’t get it off of there, there’s gonna be some nice big rust spots on your beautiful blue truck.” Amy said, putting the last part in a sing-song voice.

 

Sammy sat up and threw the pillow at her friend. “Fine, I’ll rise, but I ain’t shinin’ buddy.”

 

“Get dressed; I’ll be outside waiting for ya.” Amy said, walking out the door.

 

“Remind me again whose idea it was to go boggin’ down at the beach when we were in Florida?” Sammy asked when she finally got outside, wearing cut-off shorts and a white t-shirt trimmed to just below her breasts, showing her smooth abdomen. Her tan showed golden in the bright sunlight.

 

“It was your idea, I didn’t wanna do it.” Amy snorting at the way her friend was dressed. She tugged on Sammy’s long pony-tail. “Go get the hose; I’ve already got soapy water.”

 

The girls washed the truck. Amy squealed when Sammy sprayed her with the hose. Getting out of range, she shouted. “So that’s how it’s gonna be, huh? I’ll get you back, just you wait.”

 

Sammy laughed, turning the hose off and she finally calmed down. “Go ahead; it’s hot as Hell out here.” Tossing the hose to Amy, she squealed and ran through the yard trying to get away from the cold water. When the hose finally stretched too far, the two girls stopped running.

 

Holding her cold wet t-shirt away from her breasts, Sammy grimaced. “I shoulda remembered I wasn’t wearing a bra.” She looked up when she heard a slight chuckle. Her eyes grew wide seeing Dianne and Coach Carsen standing out on the front porch of Dianne’s house.

 

Spinning around, she walked back over to her truck, shaking her finger at her laughing friend. “I’m so gonna get you for that, ya shoulda told me they were standing out there.”

 

Dianne’s eyes were riveted to Sammy and her wet see-through shirt. When Sammy spun around and walked off, she shook her head to clear it of the fog that had overcome her. She muttered under her breath, “God, if a little girl’s tits are making me horny, I need to find a girlfriend.”

 

Danni snorted. “She’s not exactly a little girl, Cuz’.”

 

Shaking her head, Dianne sat on the steps of her house. Her eyes followed Sammy’s well-toned legs and ass.

 

***

 

Two hours later, the two young women were sitting in Sammy’s living room eating pizza and playing video games. Every time Amy would look at Sammy, she’d start chuckling again. She knew the coaches were standing on Coach Rainer’s porch. She just wanted to tease Sammy because of her crush on Coach Rainer.

 

When Sammy heard a knock on the door, she glanced up at Amy. “Who is that? I’m not expecting anyone.”

 

Shrugging, Amy put the game on pause and stood. “I’ll find out.” She walked to the door and opened it. Seeing Dianne standing there she stuttered, “Coach Rainer, what’s up?”

 

Dianne smiled sheepishly, “My phone’s not working and I need to call the phone company. Can I use Samantha’s phone?”

 

“Sure, c’mon in, coach.” Amy stepped away from the door and waved the coach in. She was chuckling inside. She knew Sammy was gonna flip out, she was sitting in the living room in just her briefs and a sports bra, and the phone was right next to her.

 

Amy gestured for Dianne to follow. “So what phone company do you use?” Amy asked over her shoulder.

 

Dianne raised an eyebrow and said, “AT&T. Why?”

 

“I was just wonderin’ ‘cuz we had a lot of problems out of them too, we had to switch to BellSouth because we got tired of it.” Amy said.

 

“Hey dumb ass, did ya get lost?” Sammy shouted from the living room.

 

Dianne chuckled. “Does she always talk like that?”

 

In the living room Amy shrugged, “No Shrimp, I didn’t get lost but you might wanna cover up.”

 

Dianne stopped short. Sammy was sitting on the floor in front of the angled couch in nothing but briefs and a sports bra. Dianne forced herself not to stare. Clearing her throat, she asked in a low voice. “Can I use your phone?”

 

Sammy grabbed a throw-blanket off the back of the couch and covered up. She stuttered, “Yeah, sure go ahead.” She held the cordless phone out with a bare arm.

 

Dianne walked over to where Sammy was sitting and took the phone from her. “Can I sit down?”

 

Sammy nodded, “Yeah.”

 

Dianne sat down on the plush tan velvet couch. Stretching her long, blue-jean clad legs and crossing her ankles, she dialed the phone company.

 

Sammy shot daggers at her smirking friend, mentally promising to kick Amy’s ass after Dianne left. Her attention was drawn from Amy to the long legs beside her. She had the strangest urge to lick them from the foot to Dianne’s center. Wiggling slightly at the dampness forming in her briefs, she forced herself to turn her head back to the TV. Sammy muted the volume then picked up the remote to her PlayStation, she continued playing. Sammy couldn’t believe the woman of her dreams was sitting on the couch in her living room.

 

Sam walked in. Seeing Coach Rainer, he snickered, knowing that his sister had probably been caught in her briefs. She had a bad habit of walking around half-naked. Glancing at Amy, he tilted his head towards his sister with an eyebrow raised. When she smirked, he almost laughed aloud. Crossing the room, he sat down on the other side of his sister and nodded at the coach in greeting. She nodded back.

 

Dianne talked the phone company into coming out to fix her line. She hung up and stretched. Placing her hand on Sammy’s shoulder, she waited until Sammy looked at her. “Thank you for allowing me to use your phone.”

 

Sammy shrugged. She could feel the hand on her bare skin as if it had set her on fire. “You’re welcome.”

 

Dianne squeezed the shoulder under her hand. She placed the phone back on the floor next to Sammy and stood up, “I’ll see you three Monday, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” She grinned, the last part was meant for Sammy. She had caught the dirty looks Sammy had given Amy for allowing her in without a warning.

 

As soon as Dianne was out the front door, Sammy jumped up and stomped over to her friend. “I should smack you into next Tuesday for that. What the Hell were you thinking, letting her in here while I was half-naked?”

 

Amy grinned at Sammy. She thought it was kind of funny. “Just look at it this way, we both know she thinks you’re hot. Her eyes were riveted on you from her first step in here.”

 

That comment stopped Sammy’s tirade. She asked. “Was she really looking at me?” Amy nodded. Her angry flush turned became a full-fledged embarrassed blush and she groaned. Sammy had never really thought she looked all that great. She didn’t think she was bad-looking, she just thought she was cute, despite everyone telling her that she was beautiful.

 

***

 

Dianne had been trying to sleep for three hours without any luck. It was going on one A.M. and her mind kept going back to a certain half-naked green-eyed blonde. She fought the arousal thrumming through her body. If she gave into her desires now, she would not be able to think of Sammy as her student any more. That was the last thing she needed. Dianne rolled over shoving her pillow over her head. After another restless hour, Dianne drifted off, dreaming of Sammy.

 

***

 

Sammy dropped into a desk at the back of the room in the Health class. In any other class, she would sit up front, but she wasn’t about to do that here. The last thing she wanted was for Dianne to ask her sex questions. She remembered that Amy was out today due to a doctor’s appointment. She hated it when Amy wasn’t there. While she loved her brother and her other friends, but Amy always made her feel better. Without her she was depressed and this class wasn’t helping. Her crush on Dianne wouldn’t go anywhere. She had been upset Saturday night and Sunday. Here she was, sitting in class where she’d have to deal with her feelings while being near the object of her unrequited love. When the bell rang, she slouched down in her seat, hoping like crazy that the coach didn’t question her red-rimmed puffy eyes. She knew she was pouting. Sam hadn’t been able to make her feel better either.

 

Dianne stood up from her chair and closed the door. Glancing around the room, she noticed that Amy was absent. For once, she had a clear view of Sammy. She was concerned seeing the girl’s red-rimmed eyes. “All right class, settle down. Friday your homework for the weekend was a report on safe sex. I’d like for you to take out your paper and keep it on your desk.”

 

Leaning against her desk, she picked up her clipboard. Reading out the names, when she got to Amy, she looked up at Sammy. “Samantha, where’s Amy?”

 

Clearing her throat Sammy answered with her head still down on her desk. “She had a doctor appointment, she won’t be in today.”

 

“Sit up straight Samantha, that doesn’t go in my classroom.” Dianne ordered.

 

Sammy sat up muttering, “Sorry, Ma’am.”

 

“All right, let’s get started. Samuel, what do you think is the best method of safe sex?” Dianne asked, smiling at the groan coming from the young man.

 

“Umm, condoms, ma’am,” Sam said, stating it more like a question.

 

Dianne shook her head, “The chances of catching a disease may be lessened, but they’re still there, and pregnancy can still happen. Samantha, what do you think?”

 

Sammy replied in one word, “Abstinence.”

 

“Good one, not having sex at all is really the best bet. If you have the urge, you’re better off doing it yourself than trying to find a partner. It’s nearly impossible to be completely sure that your partner is completely safe. It’s really impossible if you don’t know him or her.” Sitting on the edge of her desk, she decided to pick on Sammy some more. “How can you prevent rape, Samantha?”

 

Sammy glared at the Coach, “By not going anywhere alone with a guy, or a girl for that matter.”

 

Dianne smirked inwardly at Sammy’s sullen expression. She knew she hated being picked in class. Perversely, that was why Dianne did it. “Good answer Samantha, even guys have to remember that women can over power them, size doesn’t matter in that case. When we start gym class, you’ll see. I’ll be teaching a small section on self-defense. That was one of the reasons I had you all get your parents to sign one of the forms.” The Coach continued asking questions and having the students answer them until it was nearly time to go. As the class went on, Sammy grew more sullen. Dianne thought that it was because Amy wasn’t there, now she wasn’t so sure. Right before the bell rang, she decided that she would have a chat with Sammy.

 

“Samantha, would you please stay after class? I’d like to talk to you for a minute, I’ll write an excuse for you so that you won’t get into trouble with your next teacher.”

 

Sammy groaned and rolled her eyes. “Yes Ma’am.” When the bell rang, Sammy shouldered her book bag and stood up. Making her way to the front, she stopped a few feet away from where Dianne was sitting on the edge of her desk.

 

“Samantha, is anything wrong? You seem down today. Is it because Amy isn’t here?” Dianne asked, watching Sammy not meet her eyes.

 

Sammy shrugged, looking at the floor, “I dunno, I guess it’s just one of those days.”

 

Dianne looked at Sammy a few seconds before making a suggestion. “Maybe you should go talk to one of the school counselors. It might help. I know you don’t feel comfortable talking to me. Is it because I live next door to you?”

 

Shrugging again, Sammy replied, “Ma’am it’s not that, I just don’t really feel comfortable talking about it to anyone.”

 

Dianne nodded. “I guess we all have things that we don’t want to talk about. You’re certainly not exempt from that.” She handed Sammy an excuse for being late, and rubbed Sammy’s shoulder in a comforting gesture. Dianne added, “I hope you know that you can come and talk to me about anything, even after school, you know where I live. I promise that whatever you say, I won’t repeat anything to anyone. That is, unless you’re thinking about hurting yourself or someone else.”

 

Sammy nodded and left for her next class, looking even more despondent than she had before. Dianne shook her head and went to find Danni. She hoped that her cousin could get Sammy to talk. She knew that Danni was close to the girls on her softball team. If anyone could get Sammy to talk, she could. Finding her cousin in the office down in the gym, she sat down in a chair across from Danni.

 

“What’s up, Cuz’, you look worried?” Danni raised an eyebrow at her usually unflappable cousin.

 

“I’m not sure what’s going on, but Samantha Morgan looked really down today. Would you be willing to talk to her, find out what was going on?” Dianne pleaded with her cousin.

 

Danni smiled and said, “Yeah, sure. When do you think I should see her?”

 

“Lunch might be a good time.” Dianne said. She wanted to be able to help her with her problems.

 

***

 

Sammy dropped into a chair next to her brother and pulled out her lunch. She glared at the sandwich as she picked at chips from a little plastic bag.

 

Sam leaned over and snatched a few. “If you’re not gonna eat them then I will.”

 

Shrugging, she pushed her food over to her brother and took the top off her Pepsi.

 

Through the glass door of the teacher’s lounge next to the lunchroom, Danni frowned. ‘Jesus, Kody wasn’t joking when she said that Sammy was depressed. I wonder what that’s all about. No time like the present to have that little talk.’ Danni rose from her seat, went through the door and over to Sammy’s table.

 

Stopping beside Sammy, Danni asked, “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

 

Sammy looked into concerned golden-caramel eyes and nodded. Standing up, she followed Coach Carsen over to the empty teachers’ lounge. Her eyes widened when the coach held open the door and gestured for her to go in. Sitting down, she looked up at the Coach. “What’s up Coach?”

 

Turning a chair around, Danni straddled it then looked at Sammy. “I was just about to ask you the same thing; you look like you’ve lost your best friend. Passing up food is not something I’ve ever seen you do before.”

 

Shrugging, Sammy looked down at the tabletop. Propping her arms on the table, she put her chin down and muttered.

 

“I’ve just got some stuff I’ve gotta deal with s’all.”

 

Danni asked. “Why don’t you talk to me, maybe I can help? I’ve known you for years, and kiddo, you’ve never seemed this upset before.”

 

Sammy closed her eyes and said in a cracking voice, “I’m in love with someone and I know they’ll never love me the same way I love them.” Sammy’s carefully constructed walls broke. Tears poured down her flushed cheeks as she sobbed quietly.

 

Danny watched concerned. “Who is it? You can’t know for sure, have you talked to them?”

 

Sniffling, Sammy stated brokenly. “It’s a teacher, and I know she won’t.”

 

Smiling Danni placed her hand on Sammy’s back and rubbed comfortingly. “Is it Dianne?” When Sammy nodded, Danni hid a smile. She knew how her cousin affected women. Sammy wasn’t exempt from it.

 

When Sammy calmed down, Danni handed her tissues. “Things will get better, you’ll see. I won’t say a word to her. I promise.”

 

Nodding, Sammy blew her nose and stood up. Tossing the tissues in the trash, she turned back to the Coach. “I hope it gets better. I don’t think I can stand feeling like my heart’s breaking in two all the time. Seeing her every day doesn’t help either.”

 

Danni nodded. “I’m sure it doesn’t. Go on, eat something, I’m sure you’ll feel better afterwards.”

 

***

 

Late at night, Sammy sat on the tailgate of her truck with her arms wrapped around her legs, chin propped on her knees. She had wanted to be alone. When Amy had come over Sammy told her that she didn’t feel like hanging out. She knew it was rude, but she knew Amy would give her some slack. She had never acted this way before. Staring out across her yard to the house next door, she closed her eyes as a wave of sadness passed over her. It felt like her heart was ripping in half. She knew she should be in bed but she couldn’t sleep. When she slept, images of Dianne flashed through her dreams. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, Sammy looked up to see her mother standing there.

 

“What’s wrong, Samantha? Shouldn’t you be in bed?” Anna asked, concerned.

 

Shrugging her shoulders, Sammy told her mother everything.

 

When she was done, Anna wrapped her arms around her, “I’m sorry sweetie. I know how much it hurts.”

 

Sammy leaned her head against her mother’s chest, wrapping her arms around her waist. She always missed her mother when she went off on business trips. They were so close, and she knew she could tell her mother anything. She wanted to feel better and talking to her mom always had a calming affect on her.

 

Anna held her until she settled down. “C’mon lil’ bit, off to bed with you.”

 

In the house, Sammy looked toward her room and then at her mom. Without a word, knowing what her daughter wanted, Anna followed her daughter.

 

Curling up on the bed, as Anna held Sammy, she thought. ‘God, I had hoped she wouldn’t have to go through something like this.’ Anna hadn’t been shocked when Sammy had come out to the family two years ago. Like all mothers, she didn’t want her daughter to get her heart broken. Now she just hoped Sammy would get over this heartbreak soon.

 

***

 

Sammy hated Parent Visitation Day. It always made her feel like a child. Knowing that her mother wanted to meet Dianne didn’t make it any better. She knew her mother wouldn’t say anything about her crush, but that didn’t help. Sammy looked up when Anna and Amy came over and sat down at the table.

 

“Hey Amy, where’s your dad?” Sammy asked. She knew Alex Grant hadn’t missed this event in the last two years.

 

“He’s making a call, he’ll be here soon. Remind me again, why do we do this all the time?” Amy asked. “I don’t get it. There’s absolutely nothing exciting about school, so why do our parents want to follow us around all day?”

 

Anna knew Amy hated having her dad come. He always found a way to mortify her. “We do this just to embarrass our kids. It’s what we live for.” Anna stated sarcastically.

 

Amy stood up when the bell rang. She saw her father stuck in the horde of students and parents heading to classes. “I’m gonna go rescue Dad from the horde, I’ll see ya first period, Chickie.”

 

Sammy smiled at a frazzled looking Mr. Grant. The same thing had happened the last time.

 

Anna had on a pair of Sammy’s pants and a black t-shirt with two cherries twinned together. The slogan ‘Cherry Stem Champ’ was at the bottom.

 

Sam caught up to Sammy and their mom, raising an eyebrow at the way Anna was dressed. He had arrived late and knew that his mom would get on his case about it. ‘If only she knew what the Hell that means.’ He thought, snickering.

 

Anna looked at her son. She knew he was tickled at the shirt but she didn’t know why. “Where have you been, young man?”

 

“I got stuck in traffic, too many parents came today.” Sam stated, shrugging his shoulders. He let his mom follow Sammy into their homeroom class before coming after them. They had this class with Coach Rainer and Sammy absolutely hated it. Seeing the woman first thing was a pain in her ass.

 

Sammy dropped into her normal seat.

 

Anna followed suit sitting behind her. “Why back here? You’re usually up front.”

 

Sammy shrugged.

 

Sam answered for her. “Sammy tries to draw less attention when it comes to sex-ed, that’s what we have next. Coach Rainer teaches that too.”

 

Sammy groaned when said woman walked into the classroom with an older man following her. She wondered who he was. He looked exactly like Dianne. Leaning back on her mother’s desk she whispered. “Looks like Coach Rainer dragged her father along.” She tilted her head toward the older man. “All teachers should have to bring a parent too, would even the odds.”

 

Sam snickered and Anna looked at him. “What, I didn’t do nothin’,” He whined.

 

When the late bell rang, Dianne closed the door and sat on the corner of her desk. “All right ladies and gents. I’m Coach Dianne Rainer. I’d like to thank all of you parents for coming. We always enjoy it when the parents are involved in their children’s activities. You may be wondering who this gentleman standing next to me is. Dad, why don’t you introduce yourself?”

 

The older man smiled at his daughter and looked at the class. “I’m Mat Rainer, I raised this six feet of trouble making brat.” He grinned broadly as everyone laughed.

 

Dianne pouted slightly and muttered, “I’m not that much of a trouble maker.” Hearing this made the students crack up again. Clearing her throat, Dianne raised an eyebrow. “Now that we’ve heard from the peanut gallery...” When the group laughed again, Dianne shook her head. “Okay, seriously, let me talk here. I know that some of you parents haven’t done this before. You’re wondering why we do Parent Visitation Day.”

 

Seeing nods of agreement, Dianne continued. “A few years ago parents were complaining about not having any idea of what their kids do during school. This was our answer to that complaint. The parents witness an active demonstration of what their children go through on an average day. Does anyone have any questions?”

 

“What is the point in this time of the day? I know it’s not part of the usual schedule. Both my son and daughter constantly complain about it.” Anna said, smiling at Dianne. She could understand why her daughter was smitten with the tall beauty.

 

Dianne answered, “This is Home Room. We have it three times a week, and it’s designed to inform the students what’s going on each week. On Monday, the kids are notified ahead of time. Wednesday is for a reminder, and Friday is also an ahead of prompt for the following week’s activities. Are there any more questions?”

 

Seeing heads shake negatively, Dianne clapped her hands together. “I’d like the students to introduce their parent or parents.” She began calling out names, when she got to Sammy, she grinned. “Samantha, why don’t you introduce me to your mother? I’d like to meet my neighbor.”

 

Sammy gestured for her mother to stand. “Coach Rainer this is my mother Anna Morgan, mom that’s Coach Rainer.” Sitting down, she grimaced at her mother’s raised eyebrow.

 

Leaning over, Anna whispered. “Why didn’t you tell me that she lives next door to us?”

 

Sammy shrugged, smiling sheepishly.

 

***

 

Dropping into the seat in front of Sammy, Amy turned around, whispering harshly under her breath. “I swear to God, if my dad asks one more question today, I’m gonna commit myself to a nut house.”

 

Sammy chuckled, looking over at Mr. Grant she smiled. “Hey Mr. Grant, how are ya?”

 

“I’m good Sammy, how about you?” The curly red-haired man asked, smiling.

 

“I’m great, Mom hasn’t embarrassed me yet.” Sammy answered, winking at Alex.

 

 

Chapter Three

 

Amy glanced to the front of the room, then back at Sammy. “Who’s the old man up there?”

 

“That’s Mat, Coach Rainer’s dad. It was funny as Hell when he introduced himself. He said he raised six feet of trouble making brat. Everyone cracked up and then she defended herself by saying that she wasn’t that bad.” Sammy said grinning.

 

Amy turned back around in her seat as the coach called for attention.

 

“All right everyone, for those of you who don’t already know, this is my dad, Mat.” Dianne grinned at the snickers from the ones who had been in there earlier. “For those of you who haven’t introduced your parents to me let’s go ahead and get that out of the way.” She quickly went through the names and sat down on the top of her desk, legs folded under her. “If the students would please pull out their assignment from yesterday we’ll get started. If you parents have any questions just raise your hand, I might have an answer for you. The assignment was on AIDS. I wanted a report on the signs of infection and the medication that affected people have to take.”

 

***

 

Sammy showed her mom to her fourth period class and quickly walked to the restroom. When she came back, Sammy heard her mom talking to Dianne. Listening in, Sammy groaned inside at Dianne’s question.

 

“Why does Samantha tries to avoid every question I ask in health class, and when I actually get her to answer she avoids the word ‘sex’ completely?” Dianne leaned back against her desk, arms crossed under her breasts.

 

Anna replied. “Sammy is easily embarrassed. Every time I’ve talked to her about sex, she blushes and stutters. I’ve never even heard her say the word ‘sex’.”

 

Dianne grinned. “I figured that was it, for some reason I have an urge to pick on her about it.”

 

Anna laughed. “Go right ahead Dianne, I certainly don’t mind. God knows, I’ve tried everything I can to get that girl to tell me why it bothers her so much.”

 

Sammy walked into the room glaring at her mother. “What have you two been talking about? I hope it wasn’t me.”

 

Anna grinned at Sammy and asked teasingly, “Who, us? We’d never do something like that sweetie, maybe you’re thinking of your brother.”

 

Sammy saw a sneaky smile on her lips and shook her head. Sitting down, Sammy dropped her head on it. “Please, kill me now.”

 

Sam walked in hearing his sister’s comment. “I would Shrimp, but I don’t think that the school would look nicely upon that, and I might miss ya just a little bit.”

 

Glaring at her brother, Sammy covered her head with her arms, staying that way until she felt nails lightly scratching on her back. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Amy. Leaning back, Sammy whispered. “I’m afraid that I might die, Ma’s being friendly with Coach Rainer.”

 

Amy whispered in Sammy’s ear. “That just might mean that you’ll get more images in your mind of a certain six foot Goddess for your fantasies.”

 

Sammy blushed and turned to look at the Coach. Dianne was sitting on her desk talking with a couple of the parents. Sammy couldn’t help but stare at Dianne’s legs again. They were awesome, long and smooth, with a dark golden tan. Sammy felt like she could stare at Dianne’s legs all day long. She’d never been a leg girl before and couldn’t help but wonder what the Hell was going on. Just looking she could feel her clit twitching and her juices begin to seep out. By the end of the day, she was going to have a wet spot soaking her underwear. She hoped against all hope that it didn’t soak through to her jeans.

 

When the bell rang, Dianne excused herself from the parents. After they made their way to sit beside their kids, she cleared her throat to catch everyone’s attention. “Usually I wouldn’t do this but it’s the end of the day and I’m sure the parents are tired of lectures so I won’t make them sit through hearing about Antigone.” Dianne grinned at the nods of agreements from the parents.

 

Sammy felt like her heart was going to pound out of her chest at that grin, just too endearing.

 

“So instead of all of that, I’m going to give you a free day. As long as you are speaking quietly, you can visit with your friends, or your parents. Do whatever you wish, as long as you stay in the classroom. I’ll be sitting here if you want to talk to me.”

 

Sammy groaned when her mother walked back over to the Coach’s desk. She didn’t know if she could handle her mom and Dianne being friends. If Dianne started coming over to the house she would end up dying of embarrassment. She would also have to start wearing real clothes.

 

***

 

The bell had just rung but Sammy had to stay late. Walking over where Anna and Dianne were, she smiled apologetically at her mom. “Hey, I won’t be home for an hour, I’ve got a Student Council meeting. I’ll see ya when I get home, okay?”

 

Anna grinned, “Yeah sure. Dianne’s invited us over for dinner, what do you think about that?”

 

Sammy blushed and stuttered, looking at the floor. “Uhm... sure that’s fine.”

 

Dianne raised an eyebrow at Sammy. ‘What’s that about?’ “I hope you do come over, my dad brought some fresh bass that he pulled in the other day on his boat. He owns a fish company. We were going to grill it. I could think of nothing better than to have you three come by. You can even invite Amy and Alex if you’d like.” Dianne gestured with her head toward where the two were still waiting for Sammy.

 

“Uhm... That sounds fine. I’ll see you guys later then. Bye.” Sammy quickly said, then walked off toward Amy and Alex.

 

Outside the classroom, Sammy leaned against the wall and sighed.

 

“What’s up?” Amy asked, concerned.

 

“Coach Rainer wants us to come over for a cook-out after the meeting. She said I could invite you and Alex too.” Sammy groaned; she’d be completely miserable.

 

“Is she the teacher you’ve got a crush on?” Alex asked chuckling.

 

Sammy glared at him. She saw absolutely nothing funny about it. “Yes,” she muttered sullenly.

 

Chuckling, Amy put a hand on Sammy’s shoulder and pushed her toward the library where the meeting was to be held. “C’mon, you can worry about your Goddess after we’re done kickin’ ass.”

 

***

 

Sammy walked into her house calling out. “Mom, Sam, is anyone here?” Not hearing a reply, she groaned. The meeting had run a half an hour late and she’d have to trudge all the way over to Dianne’s house. Dropping her bag on the table next to the door she jogged outside and up to Dianne’s porch. Knocking at the door, she heard no reply. Hearing laughter come from around back, she followed the noise.

 

Sammy waved to Dianne’s father standing by the grill. When she walked around to the sun-porch, Sammy’s eyes bugged out. Dianne was wearing a light blue bikini top and a pair of cut-off blue jean shorts that barely covered her rear. Stumbling up the steps, Sammy blinked before she cleared her throat.

 

“Hey ya’ll, sorry I’m late. Council ran a little late.” She dropped into the beach chair that Dianne had slid over with her foot. Nodding her thanks, Sammy sat back and sighed. “The only thing that could make this day any better is a nice cold drink and a hot woman.”

 

Sam snorted and dropped an icy Pepsi bottle in her lap. “I can help ya with the first but the other part you’ll have to fix on your own, Shrimp.”

 

Sammy shook her head, “Wait, I said that out loud?”

 

Danni nodded and sat down across the small round glass table from Sammy as she said, “Yup, ‘fraid so.”

 

Dianne shook her head, “So where’s Amy?”

 

“Ah, her dad dragged her with him and his date for the night to the movies.” Sammy answered before chugging at her Pepsi. She gave a small burped and grinned sheepishly, “Sorry.”

 

“I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen you without her.” Dianne said.

 

Anna replied, “They’re attached at the hip. I’m surprised that Sammy’s not whining about being abandoned the way she did the last time Amy wasn’t able to come over.”

 

Sammy narrowed her eyes at her mother, “I wasn’t whining, I was pouting, there’s a difference.”

 

Sam chuckled, “Hardly, Shrimp, it all sounds the same comin’ from you.”

 

Dianne tsked playfully, “Samantha, seventeen years old and you pout?” Shaking her head, she smiled at Sammy.

 

Sammy groaned and dropped her head back against the lounge chair.

 

Anna raised an eyebrow at her daughter. Looking over at the lounging Coach, she asked, “Why does she let you call her that? She pitched a fit until I stopped calling her ‘Samantha’.”

 

Dianne shrugged, “I wasn’t aware that it bugged her. It would explain the death glares she sends my way.”

 

Sammy looked at Dianne, “I wasn’t aware that you saw those.”

 

Dianne smirked. “I see and hear a lot of things people wish I didn’t. It’s why my CO loved it when I was a Captain in the army.”

 

Sammy raised an eyebrow. An image of the drop-dead gorgeous woman in dress blues popped into her mind and she blushed. Rolling her sweating Pepsi bottle on her forehead, Sammy sighed contentedly. Dropping her hand back down, she put the bottle on the table.

 

When Mat called out that the fish was ready, everyone rose to get a plate. Sammy sat back down and scooted her chair up close to the table. Due to the small size, her leg pressed tight against Dianne’s thigh. She could barely concentrate on eating. Her center was on fire and her blood was boiling with the skin on skin contact. Sammy knew she was flushed, she hoped no one noticed. When she was finished, Sammy sat back in her chair and sighed. The food was good, better than that; she had never thought she would be this close to the object of her fantasies. She was definitely going to need some time alone tonight. She hoped no one came into her room. Glancing over at Dianne, Sammy’s eyes were riveted on the Coach’s breasts. The nipples were hardened and thanks to the tight material of Dianne’s bikini top, Sammy could clearly make out the rigid points taunting her. She groaned and dropped her head back.

 

Dianne looked at Sammy, mistaking the groan for something else, “Are you okay, Sammy?”

 

Caught, Sammy tried not to stutter, “Uh yeah, I’m just stuffed.”

 

Danni raised an eyebrow at Sammy. She knew damn well that wasn’t what had caused the groan. She had tried to convince Dianne to wear a regular shirt, using the excuse that Sam would be there but it didn’t work. Dianne’s nipples were almost always hard, especially when her body got hot. Following Sammy’s gaze, Danni stifled a laugh at Sammy’s gaze frozen on Dianne’s breasts.

 

Sammy glanced away from Dianne’s chest and breathed out. Looking around at the others, she noticed the smirk on Danni’s face. Realizing that the Coach had caught her, Sammy stood up quickly and stretched her arms over her head. “I’m gonna go for a walk, I’ll see ya’ll later.” She said in a rush, quickly walking down the steps and around to the front of the house.

 

Dianne looked at Anna questioningly.

 

Catching the question in Dianne’s eyes, Anna shrugged and grinned, “Teenagers, who knows?”

 

Sam scoffed. “I disagree with that remark, who knows with adults?”

 

***

 

Sammy didn’t get back until after dark. Walking into the house, she saw that the living room light on. Hearing laughter, she walked into the living room over to her mom. “I’m gonna go to bed, I’ll see you tomorrow Mom.”

 

“Okay, honey,” Anna smiled.

 

Sammy went to her bedroom, closing the door she sighed in relief. Stripping her clothes off, she got between the sheets on the queen-sized bed. Immediately, images of Dianne assaulted her mind. She knew she wouldn’t get any sleep unless she released the pent up tension. Rubbing her aching nipples, she groaned low. The contact sent a jolt to her center. She had been wet the entire time she was at Dianne’s house. She’d been hoping that the walk would cool her a bit. It didn’t do a thing for her except to make the frustration unbearable. Her right hand trailed lightly down her stomach, thinking of Dianne’s hand doing this the sensation caused goose bumps to form on her arms.

 

Rubbing her fingers into her wetness, she knew this wouldn’t take long. She pinched and pulled her nipples with her left hand while squeezing lightly on her clit with her middle and index fingers. Sammy felt the spasms build in her pussy, her wetness poured out. Grabbing a pillow, she pressed it over her mouth and screamed. Her release was electric, little shocks ran all through her body. When her body relaxed, Sammy curled onto her side with her hand still between her legs. It wasn’t her hand but Dianne’s. On that thought, she fell asleep.

 

***

 

Sammy’s birthday came a month later. She was ecstatic. Anna allowed her and Sam skip school for the day. That was the only time of the year that she would. This year she was actually going to be home with the twins.

 

Sammy stretched out on the floor next to Sam as they were playing a wrestling game on their new X-Box. Sammy kept winning despite the fact they had been at it all day. Hearing a knock at the door, Sammy craned her head back to look at her mom, “Can you go answer that?”

 

Rolling her eyes, Anna went to the door. She wasn’t surprised to see Dianne there. It was common for them to go over to each other’s home. If Anna wasn’t at Dianne’s, then Dianne was there. The twins had become used to it.

 

Though Dianne had become used to Sammy’s abrupt exits, she still didn’t understand it.

 

“Hey Dianne, what’s going on?”

 

Dianne grinned. “I was just coming by to see you guys.”

 

Smiling brightly, Anna let Dianne come in. “C’mon, the kids are in the living room.”

 

Sammy glanced up from her space on the floor and waved over her head at Dianne. “Hey, kiddo; why weren’t you two at school today? You don’t look sick.”

 

Snickering as she kicked her brother’s ass on the game, Sammy said, “It’s our b-day, we get to stay home every year.”

 

Dianne dropped onto the couch behind Sammy as she asked, “Really, and why’s that?”

 

Anna went to the other end of the couch and sat sideways against the arm, crossing her legs underneath her. She answered for Sammy, who was distracted by smearing her brother’s character on the screen.

 

“When they were little I told them that they could have anything they want on their birthday. On their tenth birthday, the little smart asses said that every year they wanted to play hooky on their birthday.” Shaking her head at Sammy who was doing a sitting up victory dance, she added. “I never expected them to ask for that. It’s fine with me, considering they hardly ever get sick, and they never skip any other time of the year.”

 

Dianne grinned at the little happy dance Sammy was doing. Toeing Sammy with the end of her boot, she waited until she turned around. “How old are you today?”

 

Sammy grinned widely, “We’re eighteen.”

 

“Oh dear God, they can go to bars now.” Dianne said with mock horror.

 

Anna rolled her eyes, “Knowing Sammy, that’s exactly what she’s going to do when Amy turns eighteen.”

 

Sam snickered, while his sister had been busy talking, he had taken the game off of pause and continued playing. When Sammy turned around, she smacked her brother, “You fucker, why’d ya do that?”

 

Dianne shook her head, she’d become accustomed to Sammy’s language, but she couldn’t stop herself from reacting to it. At least Sammy was wearing more clothes around the house.

 

Sammy tossed the remote and stood up to stretch. She’d been sitting in the same position for hours and her body was screaming at her for it. “Anybody want something ta drink, I’m going to the kitchen.”

 

Dianne smiled, distracted by the flexing muscles in Sammy’s legs. “Yeah sure, get me a beer, please.”

 

Sammy grabbed a Pepsi and a Budweiser from the fridge. Back in the living room, she handed the beer to Dianne. Sammy shook her head, “I still don’t know how you drink that horse piss.”

 

Dianne popped off the cap and tossed it at Sammy. She snickered when Sammy caught it in mid-air. “It ain’t horse piss; it’s good. Maybe one day I’ll let you try it.”

 

Shaking her head, Sammy dropped down onto the couch beside Dianne. Propping her arm behind her head, Sammy replied. “I wouldn’t touch that crap if you paid me to, Coach.”

 

Dianne grinned. “Sure you would. Hell, I’d drink that Pepsi if you paid me to, and I haven’t had a pop in years.”

 

As usual when the two got onto this subject, Sammy muttered, “Health freak.”

 

Dianne grinned and mussed up Sammy’s long hair. Dianne chuckled when Sammy ducked away.

 

“Hey, I don’t mess with your ‘do so don’t mess with mine.”

 

“You know, I think it’s time for you to get a hair cut. I don’t think I could stand my hair being that long.” Dianne commented, dropping the strand of blonde hair with which she had been playing.

 

Sammy grinned. She really did love it when Dianne played with her hair. “I have never willingly gone to get my hair cut and I’m not about to start now. I like having it reach my ass.”

 

Rolling her eyes, Dianne decided to change the subject. The last thing she needed was to start thinking about a student’s ass, especially this student’s ass. “What do you guys wanna do for dinner? I’ll treat.”

 

Anna smiled fondly. She loved the younger woman like another daughter. “You don’t have to do that Dianne. I appreciate the gesture but...”

 

Dianne interrupted Anna, “I know I don’t have to, but I want too. Please, it’s my first time around the twins on their birthday. I didn’t have the chance to get them anything, so let me do this small thing, please?” When Anna nodded, Dianne smiled triumphantly.

 

Sammy turned on the couch, pressing her knee against Dianne’s bare thigh below her shorts. “Thanks coach. Sam what do you wanna do? I wanna go to Hooters. Their chicken wings kick ass.”

 

Sam shrugged, “Sounds like a good idea.”

 

Dianne rolled her eyes. “You two are perverts. I’m sure the chicken wings are not why you want to go there.”

 

Sammy snickered, “Sorry Coach, you’re wrong there. I’m not a tit woman, I’m a leg woman.” She wiggled her blonde eyebrows at Dianne.

 

Dianne shook her head. She knew Sammy’s preferences; she often caught Sammy staring at hers. Feeling the heat from Sammy’s leg arousing her, Dianne decided the one way to end the debate. “Anna, where do you wanna go?”

 

Anna shrugged, raising her eyebrow at the two sets of identical hopeful green eyes pleading with her. “I guess Hooters it is. Personally I like their hot wings.”

 

***

 

Dianne snickered at the wide-eyed looks on the twins’ faces when their server came over to the table. The red-haired waitress’ large breasts were barely covered by her cut-off white t-shirt.

 

“What can I get for you four?”

 

After everyone had ordered, Anna smacked Sam on the back of the head to get him to close his mouth. The waitress’ breasts had jiggled as she wrote on her notepad. Gesturing towards Sammy, Anna said to Dianne. “You might wanna get her to do the same. She looks like she may drool.”

 

Reaching over to Sammy, Dianne softly placed her hand under her chin. When the Coach pressed upward, Sammy snapped her jaw shut, causing Dianne to jerk her hand back.

 

“Damn, you could’ve taken my hand off.”

 

Sammy snickered, “That’s what ya get for putting your hand anywhere in the vicinity of my mouth.”

 

Sticking her tongue out, Dianne smirked at the look she received. Her tongue was unusually long. She enjoyed shocking Sammy for doing that in the first place.

 

Sammy shook her head. She couldn’t believe that tongue. It would give her major fantasy material for decades. It reached all the way down to Dianne’s chin. ‘Just give it a tongue ring and it would be perfect. Gaining her senses back she glanced at Dianne out of the corner of her eye. “That was really mature Coach.”

 

Snickering, Sam added, “Ya know, if you got that thing pierced, you’d be able ta get any man or woman you wanted.”

 

Only Anna knew Dianne’s orientation. During one of their private lunches, Dianne had told her that she was a lesbian.

 

When the food came, Anna kept glancing from her daughter to Dianne. It was hilarious the way the two kept picking food from each other’s plate. Normally, Sammy would bite someone’s hand if it went anywhere near her meal. Her daughter had to be in love with Dianne. That was the only way would Sammy allow Dianne to take food from her plate.

 

After dinner, they spotted several teens skating at the edge of the parking lot of the restaurant. Sammy stopped to watch. In a wishful tone, she said, “God, I wish I could learn to roller blade. It looks like so much fun.”

 

A few feet ahead of Sammy, Dianne had heard the wish. ‘I think I know what I’m going to do for your birthday present, kiddo.’

 

***

 

Sammy groaned and rolled over. The constant knocking on her door was getting on her nerves, she’d normally be up at noon, but Dianne had hung out with the family until late last night. When her door opened, she hugged the covers tight around her body ignoring the intruder.

 

Dianne had never been in Sammy’s room before; she thought it was cute. The walls were a light blue, different movie posters hung on the walls. Clouds perched on the baby blue blankets and pillowcases on Sammy’s bed. She stared at the lump in the center of the mattress and snickered. Setting down the large plastic bag, Dianne sat on the bed and said, “Time to get up. The sun’s shining, the birds are singing...” Tickling Sammy’s side, Dianne said in a laughing voice. “I have a belated present for you.”

 

Pulling the covers away from her head, Sammy glared at Dianne’s happy expression. “How can you be so damn perky after the late night we had?”

 

Smirking, Dianne replied. “Coffee, it’s a wonderful thing.”

 

Nodding, Sammy sat up, the covers wrapped around her, “You may want to stand outside the door while I get dressed.”

 

Dianne walked out. Before shutting the door, she tossed over her shoulder. “Lemme know when you’re done before you go anywhere near that bag.”

 

“M’kay, I will,” Sammy replied as the door shut.

 

Dianne stood leaning against the wall, whistling to herself. After a few minutes, she heard Sammy shout.

 

“You can come back in now.”

 

Dianne walked back in and put the bag on the bed next to Sammy. “Go on, open it. I hope you like it. I also have another present for you, but I’m not telling you what it is until you open that one.”

 

 

Chapter Four

 

Quickly pulling the boxes from the large plastic bag, Sammy started tearing the wrapping paper off. When she opened the largest one, she nearly fell over. It was a pair of black and yellow in-line skates. “Oh God, these are kick ass.” She rolled the wheels on the bottom of one with the palm of her hand.

 

Dianne grinned, pleased that Sammy liked the gift. “Open the rest. They go with it.”

 

Sammy opened the next box. It was full of safety gear: kneepads, elbow pads, gloves and such, all covered in little yellow smiley faces on a black background.

 

“I should have known you would make sure I had the safety stuff.” She glanced up in amusement at Dianne. Inside the last box was a black helmet with a single large smiley face on the front. Sammy glanced down, disheartened.

 

Dianne scooted closer to Sammy when her mood changed. “What’s wrong, Samantha?”

 

Sammy muttered too embarrassed to meet Dianne’s eyes, “I don’t know how to skate.”

 

“That’s why I bought this stuff. I was hoping that you might, you know, let me teach you?” What began as a statement ended as a question, suddenly, Dianne was full of self-doubt. Did Sammy dislike her? She always left so abruptly when Dianne came into a room.

 

“God, yes; that would totally rock,” Sammy squealed, throwing her arms around Dianne’s neck and hugging her tightly.

 

Dianne returned the hug then pulled back away from the ecstatic young woman. “When do you want to start? I was thinking maybe after you had lunch?”

 

Sammy nodded quickly, “Sure, that sounds perfect, Coach.”

 

***

 

Two weeks later Sammy had an ear to ear grin. Amy, Sharon, and Davey were sure that she’d lost her mind. They knew about the skating lessons. They couldn’t understand why falling on her ass so much would make her so happy. For the past month Sammy had been telling them that being around the Coach made her miserable. Why was Sammy grinning like a lunatic being alone with her?

 

After school, Sammy ran out to her truck. She couldn’t wait to continue her skating lessons with her dream Goddess. Being near Dianne with others around drove her nuts, but alone with her and in constant contact made her happy. She had to keep a lid on her emotions, so Dianne wouldn’t find out. She wouldn’t be able to handle rejection, though she knew Dianne would be gentle about it. Kindness would make it worse.

 

At the student parking lot, Sammy looked over her shoulder. That afternoon, in the lunchroom, some girls had been calling her a dyke. She didn’t know who they were, but a similar group of girls came over taunting her.

“Hey Dyke, where ya goin’ so fast? Got a hot date with your lezzy bitch?” A tall dark haired girl shouted at Sammy.

Sammy shook her head ignoring their comments. She walked a bit faster toward her truck. Someone shoved her from behind. Falling, Sammy twisted her body so that she landed on her side near the truck’s front right tire.

“Stupid fuckin’ dyke, ya shouldn’t be allowed ta go to school with decent folks like us!”

 

Sammy was sure that the voice she heard belonged to the fat redhead standing next to the tall dark girl.

Several feet kicked at Sammy. She barely had time to cover her head with her arms. Vicious comments fell with each blow. When the beating stopped, Sammy lay trying to catch her breath. She listened to the girls’ feet pounding on the pavement as they ran off victorious.

 

Her back hurt and she had several big bruises. Moving carefully, she felt for anything broken. Not that Sammy knew that much about anatomy but she figured spitting up blood and grinding bones with each breath might be a clue. Coming up with only sore spots, Sammy slowly stood up. Looking into the mirror, Sammy grimaced at her split lip. No one was around. Opening her truck door, she slowly got in. Grabbing some tissues from the dashboard container, Sammy dabbed at the split in the middle of her lip. She knew that would hurt for a couple of weeks. It didn’t look bad enough for stitches. When the bleeding had stopped, Sammy started the truck and drove toward her house.

When Sammy arrived at an empty house she recalled that her mom was on a two-day business trip and Sam was spending the night with Davey and Sharon. Walking to Dianne’s house, Sammy sat on the steps, hoping that Dianne would be home soon. The pain in her back was intense. Sammy didn’t know what to do.

 

***

 

Dianne pulled into her driveway. She had been waiting all day to get home; she loved the time alone with Sammy. Seeing Sammy sitting on the porch, Dianne chuckled. ‘Guess she couldn’t wait either. It’s freezing cold out here and she’s sitting in those thin jeans and a short sleeved shirt.’

 

Dianne got out of the Hummer and went toward Sammy. Apparently Sammy was sleeping, Dianne walked quietly. When she got within a few feet of Sammy, Dianne noticed the split lip. Squatting down, Dianne shook Sammy’s shoulder, she heard a low grunt.

 

When Sammy’s eyes locked on hers, Dianne asked quietly, “Hey, what happened here?” Her thumb lightly caressed Sammy’s bottom lip.

Sammy grimaced, “Some punks attacked me in the school parking lot. I don’t know who the Hell they were. They were gone by the time I was able to move.”

Shaking her head, Dianne bit back her anger, “Is that the only place that you’re hurt?”

 

Sammy stood up, trying to hide the flinching of her aching muscles. “Pretty much; there’re just a few small bruises.”

Nodding, Dianne stood. “How about I put something on that split lip. I’ll report this to the principle, and then we’ll see if you feel like skating.”

Shrugging, Sammy nodded, “Sounds like a plan to me.”

Inside the house, Dianne had Sammy sit on the couch while she got the first-aid kit.

Sammy rotated her head on her shoulders and placed her face in her hands. She muttered under her breath, “God, I hope I manage to stay off my ass today. It’ll hurt like Hell if I fall.”

A few minutes later Dianne came back into the living room and squatted in front of Sammy. Opening the first-aid kit, she pulled out some cleaning solution and a butterfly strip. “This will hurt a little bit.” When Sammy nodded, Dianne cleaned and dressed the wound.

When she’d finished, Dianne picked up the phone and dialed the principle’s office. “Hey, Cassie, this is Dianne Rainer. I need to speak to Mark…”

Sammy listened as Dianne talked to the secretary then the principal. They spoke for several minutes then Dianne hung up.

 

Dianne looked at Sammy and sighed, “Principle Johnson is going to report it to the police. They should come by to talk to you soon. For now though, do you still feel up to skating?”

 

When Sammy nodded, Dianne got up from the floor and put on her own skates. She got Sammy’s from the corner of her living room and helped her put them on. Dianne knew that she’d have to help Sammy down the stairs in the skates, but Dianne always enjoyed the close contact even though she knew Sammy was hurting.

 

Sammy had managed to stay on her feet for several minutes. Dianne was about to clap for her success when Sammy suddenly fell flat on her back.

 

Hearing the anguished cry, Dianne quickly skated over to Sammy and dropped to her knees. Dianne saw the tears from her tightly closed eyes, the pained look, and her rapid breathing.

 

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

 

Sammy forced her eyes to open. Her chest felt so tight from the pain and she couldn’t speak so she just shook her head.

 

Dianne picked up Sammy and made her way as quickly as she could to the house. When they got to the porch, she whispered.

 

“I need you to get the door, Sweetie.”

 

After Sammy opened the door, Dianne carried her in and shut the door with her hip. Laying Sammy down on the couch, Dianne kicked off her own skates then pulled Sammy’s off. When Sammy’s breathing became normal, she asked. “Samantha, I’ll ask you one more time. Are you hurt anywhere other than your lip?”

 

Sammy nodded reluctantly, pressing her back further into the sofa. The movement caused more tears to come.

 

“Turn over. I want to get a look at these so-called little bruises.” Dianne sat on the edge of the couch and helped Sammy roll over onto her stomach. Pulling the black dirt-covered t-shirt up, Dianne hissed at the sight.

 

“Jesus, Sammy, these aren’t small, it’s one gigantic bruise! I’ll get something to put on it, be back in a minute.”

 

Sammy had her shirt off when Dianne returned. The bruise covered the middle of Sammy’s back. Dianne sat and opened the jar of Tiger Balm that she’d brought in.

 

Sammy felt the warm pressure of Dianne’s thigh against her side and sighed inwardly. When a hand covered with a cool substance touched her back, Sammy jumped.

 

“Are you all right?” Dianne asked.

 

Sammy nodded and cleared her throat. “Yeah I’m fine, that was just kinda cold.” Sammy let the sensations from Dianne’s hands go through her body. ‘Mmm, God this feels so good. How I wish that she would put those hands somewhere else.’ Sammy thought, trying to bite back the moan that wanted to escape. When Dianne’s hands suddenly disappeared, she knew that Dianne had heard her.

 

Dianne stood up slowly. She knew that Sammy’s relief wasn’t due to the balm. “Samantha, if you see blood in your urine, I want you to get to the hospital. You could have kidney damage.” She sighed and said softly, “You need to put your shirt back on and we need to talk.”

 

Sammy nodded. Grabbing her shirt from the arm of the couch, she quickly turned away. She pulled the shirt her shirt over her head and bent down to grab her shoes and groaned. She slowly stood back up as she tried to breath through the pain.

 

Dianne went to Sammy and helped her sit down then slipped the shoes on and tied them for her. Dianne tried to get Sammy to meet her eyes but Sammy looked anywhere but at her. “Sammy, we need to talk about this.”

 

Shaking her head, Sammy stood and stepped around Dianne, turning her back to her again. “There’s nothing to talk about. I’m dealing with it.” She clenched her jaw, trying to will the tears away.

 

Dianne tried again, “Sammy, I don’t feel like talking to your back.”

 

Sammy turned around, realizing that Dianne wasn’t going to just drop it.

 

When she had Sammy’s attention, Dianne continued. “It’s not healthy. There can’t be anything between us. You’re too young; you’re one of my students. You know what happened to Coach Martin. He was caught having an affair with one of his students and lost his job. Would you want that to happen to me?” When Sammy shook her head, Dianne smiled, “I didn’t think you would. One day you’ll find someone who can fall madly in love with you. I love you like a sister, but I couldn’t fall for you. It’s impossible.”

 

“Can I go now?” Sammy asked in a tear-choked voice.

 

Dianne had hoped that Sammy would understand, but the way she was reacting, things would never be the same. Dianne nodded. “Go ahead, but please don’t let this stop us from being friends.”

 

Sammy left without a word.

 

Dianne sat on the couch with a frustrated sigh. She felt like a piece of her was missing and she knew why. She cared so much for Sammy, but they could never be in a relationship. ‘She deserves someone her own age, not old soldier. God, why can’t she just understand that?’

 

***

 

Slamming her bedroom door, Sammy flopped onto her bed and let the tears come. She was eternally grateful that her family wasn’t home. If they had been, she wouldn’t get time alone. She had thought that she had accepted that she and Dianne would never be together but apparently she hadn’t. It hurt worse now than the month before when she had tried to face the facts. She cried until she fell asleep.

 

***

 

Amy let herself into Sammy’s house. Years before, they had given each other keys. This was the first time she had needed hers. She wondered why Sammy hadn’t answered the phone. She always had before, even if she was in the bathroom. Entering Sammy’s bedroom, Amy took in the messy clothes, and then looked at her friend.

 

Sammy was curled up in the center of the bed, her arms wrapped around herself. Tear stains were on her face and an ugly reddish-purple bruise stood out against her light tan skin. The split in her lip had bled slightly around the butterfly strip. Lying down beside her friend, Amy snuggled against her front, holding Sammy as closely as she could without hurting her. Amy didn’t mean to, but she fell asleep.

 

***

 

Sammy woke up wrapped in Amy’s comforting embrace. Amy’s arms were low around her waist, not touching the bruise on her back. Tightening her hold around Amy’s waist, Sammy felt the tears come again thinking of yesterday. She sobbed into Amy’s chest feeling her arms tighten around her. Amy had always been easy to wake up, and Sammy was grateful for that. She was also grateful that Amy never said anything until her physical comfort was no longer needed. She didn’t think she’d be able to talk right now. She just hurt too much, all over and inside.

 

Amy felt her friend’s sobs and tightened her hold on Sammy. ‘What the Hell has happened to you, Little One? Between now and yesterday someone’s done something to this gentle soul and I’m gonna kick their ass when I find out what and who. I swear to that.’ When Sammy had cried her self out, Amy went into the kitchen. She hoped Sammy would eat. Sammy had not eaten the last time she was this depressed.

 

The last time Sammy was this down was when she realized her feelings for Coach Rainer couldn’t be returned. ‘Did that bitch do this to Sammy, the bruises and everything? God, she better not. I’ll not only kick her ass, I’ll get her fired too.’ Amy fixed some Mexican pasta, hoping that the spicy favorite would wake up Sammy’s appetite.

 

Sammy woke up and smelled the comfort food she loved so much. She knew Amy was still there. She hoped that Sam would stay at Davey’s for awhile. She needed to talk to someone and her brother just wouldn’t understand. Walking into the kitchen, Sammy couldn’t even muster a smile for Amy. Dropping into a chair at the table, she turned her red-rimmed eyes in Amy’s direction.

 

The pain radiating from Sammy floored Amy. She’d never seen her so hurt before. It broke her heart. Setting a plate down on the table, Amy sat down. Seeing Sammy staring wistfully at her, Amy decided to humor her. Patting her lap, Amy wasn’t surprised when Sammy quickly curled up on her. Pulling the plate over toward them, Amy spun the pasta around the fork and offered it to Sammy. They went on like this until the plate was empty. Rubbing the full abdomen under her hand, Amy whispered into Sammy’s ear. “Are you ready to talk, hon?”

 

Standing, Sammy nodded. Holding her hand out to Amy, she said in a voice hoarse from sobbing. “Let’s go in the living room, we’ll be more comfy.”

 

Amy sat on the couch with her legs underneath then helped Sammy settle on her lap again. Minutes went by. Amy had begun to think that Sammy wasn’t going to talk when she finally cleared her throat.

 

“I was attacked outside the school yesterday, I don’t know who it was that did it ‘cause I’ve only seen ‘em a few times around school. That’s where the split lip and the big bruise came from. When I got home, I went over waiting for Coach Rainer to get in. She cleaned the split and that was it. I thought it was just a few small bruises and I told her as much. We went on with the skating lessons until fell and I yelled. I could hardly move or breathe it hurt so much. She carried me into her house and made me show her my back. She told me what it looked like and got some stuff to put on it. When she started rubbing the cream in, it just felt so good.” Her voice broke.

 

Amy gave her time to calm down.

 

When Sammy settled down, she shook her head in self-deprecation. Sniffling, she continued, “I tried to hold the moan in, but I just couldn’t. I gave myself away and now she knows. She didn’t flip out or nothin’. She just made it completely clear that we could never have a chance. I thought I could face it, but I guess not. God, I’m such an idiot.” Sammy shook her head and sobbed. Burying her face in her friend’s neck she wrapped her arms around Amy’s shoulders.

 

Amy rocked them back and forth. She whispered, “You’re not an idiot. It’s just a lot harder on a person when they hear what they’re already afraid of said aloud. You can’t blame yourself.” Kissing the top of Sammy’s head, Amy held her until she sobbed herself to sleep again. Laying Sammy down, Amy startled when the doorbell rang.

 

Answering the door, Amy almost slammed it shut when she saw Coach Rainer standing with Coach Carsen. Hoping not to awaken Sammy, Amy stepped outside closing the door softly behind her.

 

“What do you two want? Shouldn’t you be trying to figure out who the fuck did this shit to her?”

Danni was startled at Amy’s harshness, she wasn’t the enemy here. Stuttering slightly, Danni answered. “We’ve all ready spoken to the security guards and reported it to the principal. We were just wondering if Sammy was all right.”

Amy leaned back against the door. She glared at Coach Rainer then turned her attention back to Coach Carsen. “Gee, what do you think, Coach? How would you be?”

Danni groaned, “Please don’t be this way, we just want to know if Sammy’s all right.”

Amy decided to be serious, “Fine, she’s hurting physically and emotionally. She can’t move without pain. In the past fifteen hours, she’s cried herself to sleep a total of three times. I had to hold her and feed her like a baby just to get her to eat. Does that answer your question?”

“Fuck. I just told her the damned truth. We could never be together. She’s too young for me.” Dianne said, pleadingly with Amy.

 Deciding to cut Dianne some slack, Amy’s tone softened. “I know that, you know that, we all know that. Put yourself in the place of someone who has never been in love before. No one can control who they fall for. Hell, I’m almost convinced that she was in love with you from the first moment that she saw you in the gym. She can’t help it. The only way she’ll get over it is being away from you. That won’t be happening any time soon. I just hope that it doesn’t take that long. I don’t think starving herself is a good idea.”

Dianne nodded, glancing at Danni. She had called Danni early that morning when she couldn’t sleep.

 

Danni had arrived shortly after. Danni had tried telling her cousin that coming over here so soon after yesterday wasn’t a good idea.

 

Dianne’s shoulders slumped, Danni had been right. Dianne felt worse than she had that morning. “I guess you’re right, she doesn’t need me hanging around. I’m just a reminder of her broken heart.”

Seeing Dianne’s tears, Amy felt bad for both of them. “Hey, it’s not like either of you can do anything about it. She can’t change her age, and you need your job.” Amy shrugged, “Maybe one day you two will be able to get your friendship back. Right now, she’s hurting all over. She’ll get through it, eventually. I need to get back in there. Hopefully when she wakes up, she’ll be ready to eat again. I’ll see ya tomorrow, but I can’t guarantee that she’ll be in school. She looks like Hell. Do you think that you could keep me in the loop on when they catch the assholes that did this to her?”

 

Dianne nodded. “Yeah, we’ll keep you informed. I hope that they catch the fuckers soon.” Dianne turned to grab something off of the porch railing. She turned back holding out the jar of Tiger Balm. “Here, I used this on her back. Maybe she’ll let you put it on her?” Dianne asked. She didn’t know if Sammy would accept anything from her.

 

Amy nodded and started to turn back to the door, over her shoulder she said. “Thanks, you two, take care.”

 

***

 

Sammy trudged into the classroom. She’d been out the day before and wasn’t too sure if she should stay out any longer. She had five more absent days, but if she got sick further along in the year, she would need the time. When her mother had asked what had happened, Sammy had told her about the attack then left the room. She let Amy tell Anna about the break with Dianne. If she talked or heard about it she would start crying again and her voice hoarse enough from sobbing. She’d done more of that when the police had come by the house early yesterday morning questioning her about the attack. Going to her usual seat, Sammy saw that Dianne had replaced the desk with a small blue soft-backed chair and a small wooden table.

 

Sammy muttered. “Damn woman just won’t leave me alone.” Sitting down gingerly, Sammy appreciated the effort, ‘Well if she has to, I guess this isn’t a bad way to do it.’

 

Dianne waited until the bell rang before entering the classroom. She had put the chair and table there, knowing that Sammy would still be in pain. She tried to concentrate on teaching the class but her eyes kept straying to Sammy the entire hour. She knew not to try to talk to Sammy, but it was getting to her. She could barely sleep or eat and the strain was showing.

 

***

 

A Week Later:

 

At the knock on her open office door, Dianne looked up from her grade book. Her expression dimmed seeing two grim faced police officers and the high school’s principle. She stood and waved them in.

 

“How can I help you, officers?”

 

The older officer nodded and entered the office behind the principle with the younger cop following.

 

“I’m Officer Barkley and this is my partner, Officer Carter. We’re here about the incident with your student, Samantha Morgan?”

 

Dianne nodded, “I’ve all ready been questioned, Officer Barkley. Is there anything else I can do?”

 

Principle Mark Johnson interrupted, “The police have apprehended the culprits, but they wanted to speak to you and Samantha again. Samantha should be here in a moment.”

 

Dianne nodded and looked over at the doorway as a soft knock sounded. Seeing Samantha, Dianne gestured for her to come in.

 

“These officers would like to speak to us, Samantha. Have a seat.”

 

Sammy sighed and entered the room, closing the door behind her. Without taking a seat, she asked, “What? Wasn’t my original statement enough?”

 

Officer Barkley cleared his throat, his expression filled with understanding. “Yes, it was very helpful. We’ve apprehended the girls, and we thought that we’d let you know so that you could identify them in a line-up. With that, we shouldn’t need much more for a conviction. I don’t even believe that there will be a need for you to show up at the sentencing.”

 

Sammy’s sigh was one of relief. She smiled thinly, “When should I be there?”

 

***

 

After two weeks of the silent treatment and short, sullen answers, Dianne was tired. At the end of fourth period, she decided to call a truce.

 

“Samantha, would you please stay after class?”

 

Sammy glanced up, waiting for everyone to file out of the room, she noticed Amy waiting outside in the hall. She smiled gratefully at her friend. The smile quickly vanished when Dianne closed the classroom door. Letting Dianne walk around her, Sammy turned her back to the door giving Dianne a bored look.

 

Dianne fidgeted under Sammy’s gaze. She looked away as she asked, “How did things go with the line-up last week?”

 

Sammy rolled her eyes, “It went fine. The police said that they would call me if they needed anything else. That isn’t why you asked me to stay, so out with it.”

 

“I was just hoping that you might have calmed down enough to talk about this problem rationally, Sammy. You can drop the attitude.” Dianne stated, tired of the battle.

 

Sammy shrugged, “There’s absolutely nothing that I have to talk to you about, Coach Rainer. Not a single damned thing.”

 

Dianne grimaced at the full use of her title. Sammy hadn’t called her by anything but Coach since they’d become friends. Sammy was still hurt and she didn’t know what to say. Glancing to the floor as she sat on the edge of her desk, Dianne asked, “What can I say that will help us get our friendship back? I don’t know what to do.”

 

Sammy shrugged, letting her self be logical for a moment. “If we do become friends again, things will be strained. You’ll be uncomfortable with the way we interact, and I’ll be uncomfortable staying within the boundaries that you’ll undoubtedly set. Neither of us would be able to stand it. It would be like walking on eggshells, Coach. We both know it would be best for us to forget any of these past few weeks outside of our professional relationship. I can’t be your friend, there’s too many ‘ifs’.” Sammy finished and left the classroom.

 

Dianne sat on her desk with her head in her hands. “God, I really fucked this one up, didn’t I?” She asked the empty room.

 

 

Chapter Five

 

Two Months Later:

 

Things had become even more strained between the two women. Both were sleeping fitfully and eating was nearly impossible. The difference was that Sammy pretended to be happy so that people would stop asking her if she was all right. This had been going on for eight weeks. She knew it was getting to Dianne, the weariness showed in her eyes.

 

Dianne also fought with her libido, she hadn’t the urge to throw someone down and fuck them since she had been in the Army. When gym class began the month before, she had the urge to do just that to Sammy. She had three reasons not to now. One, Sammy was too young. Two, she was a student. The most important one in Dianne’s mind was the hardest, literally and figuratively. She didn’t think that someone as inexperienced as Sammy would be able to handle the animal that she used to be.

 

Dianne was also tired of turning down Anna’s suggestions for get-togethers. She had always enjoyed spending time with Sammy’s mother. She knew that Anna liked it too. She wondered if Anna knew about the problems between them, and if she did, what she thought about it.

 

Picking up the phone, she dialed Anna’s number hoping she would answer instead of Sammy. Dianne was relieved when Anna picked up. “Hey Anna, I was wondering if you would like to come over for lunch, just you and me?”

 

Anna had been hoping that Dianne would want to get together soon. “Sure. What’s going on? Is something wrong?”

 

Chuckling humorlessly, Dianne replied. “If you can tell me what’s not wrong then I’ll give you a million bucks.”

 

Anna groaned. She knew that Sammy was depressed. She now knew that the distance between Sammy and Dianne weighed equally between the two women. “I’ll be over in a little bit. Start cooking, woman.”

 

Hanging up the phone, Dianne smiled. Something was finally going right in her life. Maybe with Anna’s help, she might be able to fix things between herself and Sammy. Hurrying into the kitchen she pulled the food out of the oven that she’d pre-heated before she had talked herself into calling Anna. Hearing the anticipated knock at the door, she called out.

 

“C’mon in, I’m in the kitchen.”

 

Anna let herself in, seeing Dianne’s slumped shoulders, she smiled in sympathy. When Dianne turned in her direction, she frowned. Dark circles showed under Dianne’s eyes, and she’d lost weight. Opening her arms, Anna gestured for Dianne to come over. When Dianne dropped into her arms and wept, Anna soothed her just as she did Sammy over the past two months.

 

Dianne tried to speak between sobs, “I...I j-just miss... her s-so much. She w-won’t even har-hardly ta-talk to m-me un-unless s-she has t-to.” She sniffled, hardly believing that she was crying like a baby.

 

Rubbing Dianne’s back with one hand, Anna smoothed the hair away from Dianne’s face. “I know. I wish I could help you two. I really do.”

 

Straightening up, Dianne rubbed at her face angrily. “God, I can’t believe I’m crying like this. I haven’t cried this much since Ma died.” Glancing at Anna she asked in a low voice. “Is Sammy really as happy as she’s been acting?”

 

Anna shook her head and contemplated her answer. Sitting down at the table, she decided that she to tell Dianne the truth. “She pretends she’s happy, but at night I hear her crying in her room. I hold her until we both fall asleep. In the mornings, she acts like none of it happened and goes on with her day. I think she’s just doing it to make us stop asking her if she’s okay. I’m out of ideas. Hell, even Sam can’t help her and he’s usually good at distracting her.”

 

Dianne put the food on the table and pulled out a couple of beers. “God, I’m not even hungry now.”

 

Anna shook a finger at Dianne. “You may not feel hungry but you’re going to eat. You’re too damn tall to be losing weight like you have.”

 

Dianne smiled wryly, “That’s what I miss about Ma. She was always on me about eating and everything else.”

 

***

 

Sammy flopped down onto her bed. She knew that her mom was at Dianne’s house. She wished like crazy that she was there with them but she knew things would be uncomfortable between her and the Coach. She felt bad that she was the cause of Dianne turning down lunches with Anna. She was desperate. She would take anything Dianne offered, whether it was friendship or something else.

 

***

 

Sammy rolled onto her back and did sit-ups as Dianne counted them out. Wiggling her hips, she smirked when the silky material of her short gym-shorts slid against her bare ass. She’d decided to drive Dianne to distraction until the woman gave in and made love to her. She didn’t care if that was all she got; she just had to have her. It was driving her nuts.

 

Dianne walked down the rows of students, when she got to a girl a few feet away from Sammy, she glanced over. Her eyes grew wide looking up Sammy’s shorts and not seeing underwear. Quickly forcing her gaze back to the student beside her, Dianne finished walking through the rows. Walking past Sammy, Dianne tried to think of anything but Sammy’s smoothly shaved pussy. Remembering what the class should do next, she cleared her throat. “All right class, turn over and do your push-ups.”

 

Sammy held a feral grin. She’d seen the wide-eyed look on Dianne’s face. She knew exactly what the gorgeous woman had seen. She turned over onto her hands and knees, waiting for Dianne to give the order to start. She felt the shorts pull further into her ass cheeks and she chuckled inwardly.

 

“All right, start. 1... 2... 3...” Dianne counted. Her eyes riveted to Sammy’s ass. The silky green shorts were riding up her crack. Dianne’s pulse sped up seeing the bottoms of her firm rear cheeks. Angry at herself, Dianne shook her head and walked around to the other side.

 

***

 

For the past week, Amy had figured out what her sneaky little blonde friend was up to. Sammy was trying to seduce Coach Rainer. Catching up to Sammy in the parking lot, Amy smirked. “Hey, Little Imp, what are you thinking?”

 

Glancing at Amy to her right, Sammy smiled innocently. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. What exactly am I supposed to be thinking?”

 

“You and I both know what. You’ve been wearing skimpy clothes all week and it has to do with a certain six foot Goddess.” Amy stated, tugging at the sleeve of Sammy’s low-neck shirt that revealed the tops of her breasts.

 

“I am not doing anything. I’ve just decided to flaunt what I’ve got. I’m eighteen and no one can say a damn thing,” Sammy stated, opening the door to her truck.

 

“Okay, fine; don’t tell me what you’re up to. But please gimme a ride home,” Amy whined.

 

Nodding, Sammy hopped into the truck. She knew Amy would figure it out but she wasn’t ready to share her little secret. Cranking up the truck, she blasted the song ‘Hot for Teacher’ and shouted to the wind. “Buckle up baby, I’M GONNA TAKE YOU FOR A RIDE!”

 

***

 

Saturday November, 25th:

 

On Amy’s birthday, the gang had decided to celebrate on her father’s boat without supervision. Amy, Sammy, Sam, Sharon, and Davey were all three sheets to the wind. They had gotten into the liquor cabinet and pulled out several bottles of wine earlier in the evening. Sammy stood up on wobbly legs and raised her glass. “Here’s a toast ta next year, bein’ without tha ‘rents,” she slurred.

 

A round of ‘here, here’ came from the other four wasted teens.

 

Stumbling backwards Sammy nearly slipped, barely catching her self.

 

Sam stated the obvious. “You’re completely ripped.”

 

Amy snorted and threw a cork at him. “That’s all of us.”

 

Dizzy, Sammy stumbled toward her seat. This time when she slipped, she didn’t catch herself. Her head hit the deck, making an audible cracking noise. The sound of the wine glass breaking silenced the group.

 

Amy stared at Sammy, focusing slowly. “Hey Sammy girl, that’s not the best place ta go ta sleep, ya know.” Not getting a reply, Amy stood up quickly, her head spun. Dropping to her knees, she crawled over to Sammy. Seeing a small puddle of blood forming under her friend’s head, Amy was stone-cold sober. She tried to wake Sammy up, panicking slightly before forcing herself to calm down. That would be dangerous for both of them. Standing up, she noticed that the other three were sobering up. Pointing to Sam, Amy ordered. “Get a towel from the bathroom; she needs something to stop the bleeding. The rest of you sit down, I’m taking us back to the docks.”

 

When they pulled into the dock at the marina, Sam had Sharon apply pressure to his sister’s head wound. He put the bumpers over then jumped to the dock and tied the boat down. Climbing back up, he’d damn himself to Hell before he’d let the others carry his sister in her injured state. Picking Sammy up, he began a slow descent to the dock. On the ground, he adjusted Sammy so that she lay more comfortable. He was glad that Sharon had come up with the idea of tying a shirt around Sammy’s head to hold the towel.

 

The ride to the hospital was so quiet that they could have heard a pin drop. Arriving at North East Georgia Medical, Sam handed Sammy to Amy so that he could get out, then he took her back in his arms. “One of you needs to call an adult, I don’t care who, just do it.” He made sure his sister was secure then walked through the Emergency Room doors. As soon as the desk nurse saw them, she called for a gurney. When the medical personnel came out with one, Sam gently laid her down on it. He followed them through the ER doors as a nurse asked him questions.

 

“What are her injuries, Sir?”

 

“Uhm... we were on a friend’s boat and she slipped and hit her head. She’s been out cold since it happened.” Sam croaked through his dry throat.

 

“What’s your relation to her?” Another nurse asked.

 

“I’m her twin brother, Ma’am,” Sam answered.

 

***

 

Amy walked up to the front desk and caught the desk attendant’s attention. “I need to use a phone to call some family members about the young blonde that was just carried in here.”

 

The woman pointed to a phone in the corner. “That phone calls out of the hospital, just dial 9 first.”

 

Nodding, Amy walked over and plopped down. Running her shaking hands through her hair, she groaned. Who could she call? The only adult she really wanted to tell was Coach Carsen. Knowing who she would automatically call, Amy started to reconsider her options. Shaking her head she picked up the phone.

 

After several rings, Amy heard a sleepy voice croak out, “Hello?” She also heard the sounds of rustling sheets and a throat being cleared.

 

“Hey, Coach Carsen, this is Amy Grant, I’m kinda in a jam here and I need your help,” Amy said.

 

Hearing the stress in the young woman’s voice, Danni sat up and turned on the lamp next to her bed. “What’s wrong Amy?”

 

Amy groaned, “There was an accident, we’re at the hospital. Sammy’s been taken into the ER. I don’t know what to do.”

 

As soon as Danni heard the word accident, she began getting dressed. “Don’t worry, Amy, everything will be fine. At which hospital are you?”

 

“North East Georgia, but please don’t call our parents.” Amy tapped her fingernails nervously on the chair arm.

 

“Don’t think about that right now, just hope that nothing’s wrong with Sammy.” Danni hung up, quickly pulling her shirt over her head and zipping and buttoning her fly. Picking the phone up from where she’d dropped it onto the bed, she dialed Dianne. When Dianne answered, Danni didn’t mince words.

 

Before Dianne even had the word “hello” out of her mouth, Danni quickly informed her. “Get to North East Georgia Medical. Amy said Sammy’s been in an accident, she’s in the ER.” Hanging up the phone, Danni hurried out of her house.

 

Dianne hung up, quickly dressed, and grabbed her keys. She was out the door and on her way in less than three minutes. She couldn’t let her thoughts get to her. The emergency training she had in the army helped her stay focused. Twenty minutes later, she pulled into a space at the hospital. Seeing Danni walking just ahead of her, she caught up to her cousin. Quickening her pace, Dianne stormed into the ER admittance area. Spotting Amy and two other familiar teens huddled together in a corner, she went over. Her blue eyes were cold.

 

In a low even tone, she asked, “What happened?”

 

Amy shook, Dianne’s look frightened her. After she’d gotten off the phone with Coach Carsen, she broke down. She had digested what the Coach had said. Sammy’s health was more important than the consequences.

 

Seeing Amy couldn’t reply, Sharon answered for her. “We were fooling around on the boat and Sammy slipped and fell. She cracked her head open on the deck.” Sharon’s voice quavered. Davey looked completely lost. The poor boy’s pupils were huge. Dianne and Danni could tell he was drunk.

 

Nostrils flaring, Dianne ground her teeth and looked around the waiting room. Growling she asked. “Where the Hell is Samuel?”

 

Amy recovered enough sense to answer, “He went back there with her. I don’t know what’s going on.” She shook her head, muttering the last part under her breath.

 

Seeing Amy in shock, Danni placed a hand on Dianne’s shoulder. When angry eyes turned in her direction, Danni said, “Why don’t you go find a nurse to harass, the poor girl is freaking out.”

 

Dianne nodded. She knew she was being harsh, but the whole situation had her afraid, especially since it involved Sammy. She couldn’t handle losing the girl when their friendship was on such rocky ground. Walking up to the front desk, she introduced herself.

 

“I’m Dianne Rainer; my best friend is on a business trip. I was keeping an eye on her daughter and son for her. The girl was brought in about forty minutes ago. Has anyone filled out the forms on her?”

 

Checking the computer, the woman answered in a concerned tone. “No, how old is she?

 

“Samantha Morgan is eighteen, and still in high school. I’m one of her teachers. Dianne had just told two white lies but she didn’t want any one to bother Anna unless it was necessary.

 

Nodding, the woman handed Dianne a clipboard with forms on it. “If you could fill that out, I’ll have a Doctor come and show you to the E.R. okay?”

 

Dianne nodded briskly and walked back over to the kids. Sitting down, she quickly filling out the papers with what she recalled from Sammy’s P.E. physical. When she heard the nurse call her name, Dianne glanced up and finished what she could of the forms. Walking over to the counter, Dianne handed the clipboard to the nurse and greeted the doctor.

 

“All right, Ms. Rainer, if you’ll follow me, I’ll bring you to the girl. I haven’t been able to get that boy to leave her the entire time.” He shook his head scowling.

 

“Well, with all due respect, sir, the boy is her twin brother. You should just be glad that the curly-haired blonde out in the waiting room didn’t faint from shock, otherwise you’d have to deal with two of them,” Dianne said. She hated cocky people, especially cocky doctors.

 

The doctor nodded and showed her to the cubicle where Sammy lay while they waited on her test results. The doctor was forgotten when Dianne laid eyes on Sammy. She looked so frail with all the different wires hooked up to her. The only sounds in the room were the beeping of the EKG monitor and the click of the IV drip.

 

Seeing the shaved area on Sammy’s head, Dianne smiled. Looking at Sam, Dianne couldn’t help but comment, “She is gonna flip when she wakes up and sees her new ‘do’.”

 

Sam gave Dianne a weak smile, “Ain’t that the truth.”

 

“The others are kind of in shock; can you tell me what happened?” Dianne asked, sitting down on the chair next to the bed.

 

Sam grimaced, “We were stupid. We got loaded and were clowning around. Sammy tripped and fell. At first, we thought she had just passed out but when Amy went over to her and moved her hair, we could all see the blood. It was horrible.” Shaking his head, he mentally cursed their stupidity.

 

Dianne frowned. She never would have thought they’d do something so reckless. She knew their mother would have a few words for them when they went home. She reached through the rails on the roll bar and rubbed a small hand with her thumb. Pulling her hand back, she smiled at Sammy. Sammy whimpered and reached out. Even in her sleep, she could feel Dianne’s presence like a soothing blanket.

 

When Dianne put her hand back on Sammy’s, she calmed down and wrapped her fingers around Dianne’s.

 

Sam grinned. “Even when she’s sleeping she’s a pleasure hound.”

 

Dianne chuckled. When they had been skating Sammy had constantly grabbed for her hand and held tight. Rubbing her thumb on the back of Sammy’s hand, Dianne glanced up as the doctor cleared his throat.

 

“We’ve got the results back on her CT-scan. The only damage was a seven centimeter shallow wound on her scalp and a one and a half centimeter hair-line fracture on her skull. Blood tests show an elevated alcohol level but no drugs. All other components are within normal levels. There’s no edema and no clots. We’ve already stitched up the wound, now we’re waiting for her to wake up.”

 

Dianne asked, “Why not just use an ammonia capsule?”

 

“We prefer for patients with slight concussions to wake up on their own. If she hasn’t done so in half an hour, there’s something further wrong with her and we’ll do more tests.” The doctor answered. “If that’s all, I’ll be on my way.”

 

Dianne nodded. Turning her attention back to Sammy, she felt a light tug on her hand. She leaned over to hear Sammy whispering.

 

“Tell that doctor that he’s a horse’s ass.”

 

Dianne snickered. She caught the doctor’s attention before he could get out the door. “She’s awake, sir.”

 

Sammy grinned sheepishly. She had been pretending to sleep for a few minutes just to enjoy the feeling of Dianne’s calloused thumb on her hand. Opening her eyes, Sammy quickly squeezed them shut. The brightly lit room hurt her eyes.

 

Clearing his throat, the doctor asked Sammy, “How are you feeling?”

 

Wondering if all doctors asked such stupid questions, Sammy replied, “I’ve got jack hammers in my head and this hard bed is hurting my ass. Does that answer your question?”

 

The cocky doctor blinked a few times before croaking. “Yes, I guess it does. Would you open your eyes so that I can check the pupil’s reaction timing?”

 

Opening her eyes, Sammy glared at the doctor. Feeling her hand squeezed, Sammy grinned. She knew if she looked at Dianne that Dianne’s eyes would be narrowed in her way of telling Sammy to behave.

 

After the examination, the doctor informed them that a nurse would be in to remove the IV once it was finished. Sammy would be free to go. He quickly left the room, leaving Sammy, Dianne, and Sam in an uncomfortable silence.

 

Removing her hand from Dianne’s, Sammy fidgeted. She was nervous, knowing that Dianne probably had forced one of her friends to tell her what had happened. She wanted Dianne to leave her alone. She didn’t want to be in the same room with her.

 

Dianne cleared her throat, “Samantha, I’m not going to get into the stupid things you kids did tonight, but I will be telling your mother when we get to the house. Just be prepared for an angry reaction. I’m fairly sure that we went over the dangers of drinking alcohol in health class. Drinking age is twenty-one, even in this town.”

 

Sammy nodded. Dianne would say something like that. The silence fell over them once again, continuing for the next twenty minutes until the IV was finished.

 

A male nurse entered the room. Smiling at Sammy, he asked. “Are you ready to get out of here?”

 

After the nurse had unattached the EKG monitor wires from Sammy and then removed the IV from her hand, Sammy asked. “Where are my clothes?”

 

The nurse smiled apologetically, “Your pants are in the cabinet next to you but you’ll have to wear a scrub shirt. We had to cut yours off.”

 

The nurse handed the release forms to Sammy and left. Dianne could feel the distance grow between her and Sammy again. It felt like a knife had sliced through her heart and stayed there. Nodding her head at Sam, Dianne stood. “I’m going to go call Anna. I’ll see you two in a few minutes.”

 

***

 

Letting them in the house, Sammy shuffled her feet into the living room. She could see the light of the television glowing. They had all been quiet on the ride home. Dianne had informed them that she’d talked to Anna and told her that she would be bringing the twins home soon. Amy had driven Sammy’s truck back with Sharon and Davey.

 

As soon as she heard dragging feet, Anna stood up and flipped on the light in the living room. When she noticed the bandage wrapped around Sammy’s head, she groaned.

 

“What did you two do this time?”

 

Sammy looked sheepishly at the floor.

 

Sam looked anywhere but at their irate mother.

 

Rolling her eyes at the two teens, Dianne answered for them. “They were drunk and messing around on that boat. Sammy slipped and cracked her head. It’s just a hairline fracture with twenty some-odd stitches. She needs to go back to get them removed in a week. I’m going home.”

 

After Dianne had left, Anna shook her head. “I’m not even gonna bother with a lecture, but know this, I WON’T be leaving you two without supervision anymore. If that kind of stunt could happen on the boat, then I don’t even want to think of what you could do at home. You better hope Dianne will do it, because I don’t think you want Alex watching you. You know how he is.”

 

Sammy nodded. “I understand Mom. Can I go to bed now, my head hurts?” She whined.

 

“Yeah, but just remember what I said.” Anna replied, steamed at their stupidity.

 

***

 

Wednesday December 20th, 2006:

 

Anna knocked on Dianne’s door. Hearing the usual yell to come in, she walked in following the sound of clanging dishes. Raising her eyebrow at the mess on the table, Anna smirked.

 

“Cleaning out your rat’s nest?”

 

Rolling her eyes, Dianne turned around to face Anna. “Something like that, what’s up?”

 

Anna shook her head. “I have to go on a business trip. I’ve tried every way possible to get out of it but the boss is being a real prick. Could you keep an eye on the twins for me? I won’t be back until the twenty-ninth.”

 

Raising an eyebrow, Dianne answered, “I guess. I was just going to stick around and try to stay out of trouble so I guess I can keep them out of trouble at the same time.”

 

***

 

Sammy dropped onto the couch and groaned. Their mother had been gone for four days and she was annoyed. Dianne was constantly coming over to check up on them. Sammy had figured that Dianne might drop by once or twice a day but no, she just had to come in and out at odd intervals. If they weren’t in the front room, Dianne would search for them. Dianne couldn’t have known that Sammy was about a second away from an orgasm the last time she’d knocked on Sammy’s bedroom door. Sammy was pissed off to no end. She hadn’t been able to get back in the mood after Dianne had made her eat dinner. After being around Dianne so much during the day, Sammy needed to find a way to release the tension. She felt like she was going to explode. She had given serious consideration to finding her brother’s old pellet gun, lining up some empty beer bottles at the end of the driveway and blowing away the stress.

 

 

 

Continued