Choices & Decisions Ch. 01

"And this was his girlfriend?" Courtney asked, slightly sickened.

"He found out about all of that about a year after they broke up," Ash said. "Sierra was always kind of out there, I mean, she shaved her head, you know? Then she got into Meth and it was over from there."

"Here, put this back," Courtney said.

Clay came home after a difficult day of school and on the practice field to find two beautiful women in his kitchen.

"Hey," Ash smiled and nudged Courtney.

"Hey," Courtney said, putting her arms around Clay and pressing against him, face lifted for a kiss.

"Hey, let me put my books up and..." Clay said, enjoying having her pressed against him.

"See?" Ash said. "Neat freak; anybody else would just drop their books on the couch or table but Nnnoooo! Not him!"

"That's not where they go," Clay smiled, gave Courtney another kiss and left the room.

"And okay, you wanted to see how this is done?" Ash waved Courtney over.

"That is too cool!" Courtney laughed as Ash slowly drizzled the beaten egg whites over the back of a spoon, allowing the egg white to slowly pour into the simmering chicken broth.

"Egg drop soup? Yeah, she's pretty good at that," Clay agreed. "And, let me guess, pineapple stir fry chicken.

"Uh huh, and, it's cold out there, too bad you got that rule about chicken skin and bones and wrappers," Ash smiled

As she got out three plates and three bowls.

They prayed, then ate, with Courtney repeatedly praising the food.

"Well, I got a bunch of homework; got this report on Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter' to do; Mister three point eight nine grade point average over there says it's an indictment of Socialism as a new world order but I say it's just a bunch of people being judgmental ass holes," Ash said and surprised Courtney by leaning over and giving her a quick kiss on her lips. "Thanks for going with me to Babbage's."

"Yeah, sure, it was fun," Courtney agreed.

Clay and Courtney sat on the couch and made out; again Clay proved that Courtney's breasts had not been surgically enhanced but did not try to reach for her crotch. After twenty minutes,

Courtney reluctantly left; she too had school work that needed to be done, and she was sure her mother could use a break from Trevor.

Ash chuckled as Clay loudly announced his return from the dumpster and loudly complained about 'that stupid rule' about chicken bones and skins and wrappers.

"Oh, and Ash?" he asked from the doorway of her room.

"Yes?" she smiled up at him, self-consciously pulling the front of her robe a little more tightly around herself.

"Stay out of my room, huh?" Clay asked.

"I uh, I," she stammered, surprised.

"The closet door was open and I know for a fact I closed it this morning and you always slide it open from left to right and I open it from right to left," he smirked at her stunned expression.

"Oh, bite me," she finally snapped at him, irritated at being caught.

"Where and when?" he asked and went into his room.

A moment later, she came into his room and looked at him as he hunched over his keyboard, typing out his report.

"By the way," she sang out, putting her arms around him from behind. "That Courtney really likes you!"

"Oh yeah?" he sat back so he could look at her.

"Uh huh, all day long, kept talking about you, wanted to know what you like and don't like," she said.

"Told her I don't like bald headed Meth whores?" he asked.

"Yeah, and told her you can't stand clothes on the floor or hair in the sink, and..." Ash said.

"And people looking through my closet?" he asked and her face darkened.

"Oh bite me, Mister Perfect," she said and bit his ear, hard.

"Ow!" he complained and she left his room.

"Good," she sulked and slammed the door of her room shut.

Chapter 4

Clay apologized to Ash again for making her wake up so early but she waved off his apology.

"What? I get to use your car all weekend long?" she smiled as she sleepily looked at Bender, then DeGarde in the pre-dawn light. "You know, I can remember when there were almost no street lights at all out here?"

He parked, gave her hand an affectionate squeeze, then grabbed his duffel bag and got out the car.

"Oooh!" she yelped as the cold November air bit at her.

She watched to make sure he did get into the locker room before slowly inching the seat forward enough for her to reach the pedals. Then she carefully backed out and drove home to their apartment.

"God, you are so ridiculous," Ash smiled as she flicked on the light and glanced in his room.

Clay had made his bed and there were no dirty clothes anywhere in sight.

Ash walked into her room, then turned around and went back into his room, lay down on his bed and stretched out.

At six thirty, she faintly heard her alarm clock go off. She sleepily got out of his bed and staggered into her room to shut off the insistent alarm.

Ash wondered why Courtney had not spent the night; the previous evening Courtney and Clay had gone into his bedroom for a very heavy make out session. At one point, Ash had pressed her eye against the door jamb where there was a small gap between the actual jamb and the small strip of wood that the door rested against. What she was able to see from the dim lighting of Clay's bedside lamp, Clay was completely nude, Courtney had her top and her bra off and Clay was easing Courtney's jeans off.

Courtney must have said something because Clay turned off the bedside lamp a moment later.

Disappointed that her voyeuristic streak would go unsatisfied, Ash had quietly slunk back into her bedroom, lay down on her bed, and eased her long nightgown up her slim legs.

Courtney was a moaner. And a talker. Ash lay in her bed and masturbated, listening to Courtney as Courtney moaned and encouraged Clay through her pleasure.

She almost squealed when Clay's bedroom door suddenly opened up and both Courtney and Clay exited the bedroom together. Stifling the scream, Ash quickly pushed her nightgown down, pulled her comforter over herself and wiped her fingers clean.

Now, the apartment was empty and Ash quickly ate her breakfast of tropical fruit salad as quickly as she could so she could get out of their apartment. She loved driving Clay's large car; it was more comfortable than her tiny Geo Metro, everything from the heater to the power windows worked, and the accelerator and brakes were much more responsive than in her own car. The only think she hated about Clay's car was parking the beast. She just really never could tell if she was too close or not close enough to the parking bumpers.

In World Economics, Ash sat with Courtney and Courtney agreed to spend the night.

"Oh, wear a hat; it's 'Hat Friday,'" Ash said as the instructor called an end to the class and reminded them that their mid-term exams counted for thirty five percent of their grade.

"What? A hat?" Courtney smiled, crinkling up her nose in confusion.

"Yeah, we're going over to Sarah and April's and I don't know why, but we just decided it was Hat Friday' and we've been doing it ever since," Ash smiled as she dashed away to her French Literature class.

Helen Vanderkin smiled when Courtney informed her that she would be spending the night with Ashley Melancon that night.

"Uh huh, and it's just a coincidence that this Ashley Melancon is Mister Clay Verdot's roommate, huh?" Helen accused.

"Nuh uh, it's not like that, Momma!" Courtney protested. "Clay's out of town; they're playing, I think, somewhere in Texas or something! You can check!"

"And you've been out every night this week; you're school work needs to come first," Helen reminded her daughter. "Being in love's all fun and fine and dandy, but you fail one class, just one class and you know what happens to your grants."

Courtney promised to devote Saturday and Sunday to her studying, grabbed an old 'Kimble Academy' ball cap and left the house.

"Hey!" Ash cheerfully greeted Courtney, then frowned.

"That's not a hat, that's a cap," she said.

Courtney couldn't help but stare at the frumpy 'old lady' hat that Ash wore. And yet, the hat matched perfectly with the dress that Ash was wearing. She was even wearing pearls to go with the outfit.

"Come on, let's see," Ash said, pulling Courtney into her room.

She opened her closet, looked at the four hat boxes she had on the upper shelf, looked again at the black sweater and snug jeans that Courtney was wearing and shook her head no.

"He'll hate me, but..." Ash said, dug her cell phone out and rapidly tapped out a text message and sent it.

"Come on," she giggled and pulled Courtney into Clay's bedroom.

She slid the door of his closet open and reflected that Clay was right, she did slide it open from left to right.

"Perfect," she declared, pulling out an old black fedora with a white hat band and plopped it on Courtney's head.

"He dressed up like a gangster oh God, about three or four Halloweens ago," Ash said and made sure to close his closet again.

"Love it," Courtney said, smiling at her reflection in the mirrored door of the closet.

"Yeah, it looks good on you," Ash agreed and looked at her cell phone as Clay's response came through, telling her to stay out of his room.

"Too late," she replied, hit 'send' then grabbed her overnight bag off the couch, pulling Courtney to the door

"Hello?" Ash answered her phone.

"Damn it, Ash, when I get home, you and I are going to have a little talk, you hear?" Clay snapped.

"But Courtney needed a hat; it's 'Hat Friday' and all she had was..." Ash giggled into the telephone.

"Ash, it's my room; I don't give a damn what..." Clay said.

"Hi, Sweetheart, it all right I borrow a hat, pretty please?" Courtney asked in a little girl voice. "I'll be your best friend for..."

"Tell Ash she is in big trouble," Clay snapped and hung up.

"He hung up on me!" Courtney said, surprised.

"He's pretty mad; he really dates when I go in his room," Ash said, dropped her phone into her purse, and put a hand on her hat. "Ready?"

Courtney made sure her overnight bag was on her shoulder securely, put a hand on Clay's hat, and yelped as they stepped into the arctic chill.

"Come on; Sarah and April live in Two B," Ash said and scurried to the second building in the complex.

"Fair warning," Ash warned once they were between buildings one and two and the wind was no longer whipping at them. "Sarah and April are, well, they're together and uh, well, they're not very discrete about it; you're not going to have a problem with that, huh?"

"Um, okay," Courtney said. "Um, no, not really."

Ash again put her hand on her hat and pushed open the wooden gate that separated the walkway from the parking lot and from Highway 52.

"Hey!" April Adams, a slender blonde smiled when she opened the door of Apartment Two B.

April was dressed in white silk blouse, black trousers, and on top of her head, she wore a black stovepipe hat. Her pale face was made all the more pale by the bright red lipstick she wore.

"Oh, you got your hair cut!" Ash said.

With a smile, April twirled around so that Ash could see that the hair now just reached the top of her shoulders.

"That is so cute on you!" Ash praised.

"Hey," Sarah Juarez, a short Latin woman greeted them as she came out of the bedroom.

Like Ash, Sarah wore an elegant dress, and had a small hat and veil on her head. Her long black hair hung loose, reaching to the small of her back.

"Y'all, this is my friend, oh! Oh! She's also Clay's girlfriend!" Ash made the introductions.

"Well, I'm Sarah," Sarah smiled warmly, shaking Courtney's hand. "Sarah Juarez; oh! And I'm also Ash's boss but I bet she left that part out, huh?"

"And I'm April," April smiled, also shaking Courtney's hand.

"We're having prime rib tonight; that good with you?" Sarah asked, indicating the kitchen.

"Oh, with that cauliflower puree?" Ash asked.

"Of course," Sarah smiled.

"Y'all want something to drink?" April asked, indicating the counter, which had a few bottles.

"Red wine if you have it," Ash asked.

"Same," Courtney agreed, following Ashley's lead.

"About twenty more minutes," Sarah informed them and took a seat.

After Ash took a sip of the wine and nodded in approval, Courtney did the same.

"So, you're Clay's girlfriend?" April asked, sipping a tumbler of iced water.

"Yeah, will I guess, I mean, we been dating like what? About a week, well since Saturday," Courtney said.

"So? How is he?" Sarah asked, leaning forward.

"He's good; he's out of town with the football team; they're in..." Courtney said, not comprehending.

"No, she means, is he a good fuck?" April asked.

"April!" Sarah gasped, dark features becoming darker.

"Well?" April asked, sitting on a bar stool. "That is what you meant, right?"

"That is what I meant, but do you have to be so crude about it?" Sarah asked.

The prime rib was fork tender; Courtney and April proved it by rarely using their knife. Ash and Sarah made use of the cutlery, but all agreed, the meal was excellent.

Courtney found that the presence of food did not stymie their interest in Clay, or sex. She was surprised to fine, that, even though they were lesbians, April and Sarah had both had quite a bit of sexual experience with members of the opposite sex. Another surprise was how little Ash contributed to the conversation; Ash had many questions though.

"One day, one day I'll do a prime rib that good, you hear?" Ash finally said, pushing her empty plate away.

"In your dreams, Melancon, in your dreams," Sarah smugly preened.

"Uh huh, and maybe one day you'll do a pulled pork as good as she does," April commented to Sarah.

"Or a rack of ribs," Ash agreed.

"Oh, whatever, that's just barbeque," Sarah sniffed.

"Oh, whatever, bitch!" Ash laughed.

April drank iced water, but Sarah, Courtney, and Ash polished off two bottles of red wine, sitting in the living room and swapping stories and laughing.

"Well, its bed time for me," Sarah finally said, slurring slightly.

"So we can take these hats off?" Courtney asked.

Take the... Well, that's all I plan to sleep in," April smiled.

"Uh huh," Ash said, pulling her overnight bag out from the side of the couch. "Well, I brought my new pajamas; I'm afraid I'd get too cold with just my hat on."

"You got that lavender one?" Courtney asked. "I brought my white one."

"Uh huh," Ash said and she and Courtney went into the bathroom to change.

"They're sweet," Courtney said as she stripped out of her clothes.

"Yeah, they are," Ash agreed. "I mean, Sarah acts like she's all mad at April all the time, but she'd do anything for her."

Both Ash and Courtney noticed that the other trimmed their pubic hair to a neat little patch that just covered the slit.

Ash slipped her short robe on, checked herself in the mirror and smiled at Courtney.

"That really is so cute on you," Ash praised.

"Oh, hey, um, where are we sleeping anyway?" Courtney asked as she too pulled on her robe.

"Love it!" Sarah praised as she and April finished pulling the sofa bed out.

Ash promenaded around for the two girls.

"Sarah, can I..." April asked.

"Maybe. We'll see," Sarah said.

Sarah gave Ash a quick little kiss; April did as well. Sarah looked at Courtney.

Courtney gave Sarah a quick little, lip to lip kiss, and then kissed April as well.

"Yeah, it's a sofa bed, but you'd never know it; I mean, it is sooo comfortable," Ash said, turning off the overhead light, which left only the bathroom light to illuminate the living room.

"Plus that," she confessed as she lay her robe over the arm of the sofa. "It's also more comfortable than sleeping in that big old apartment all by myself."

"But you wouldn't have to sleep there by yourself anymore," Courtney said, laying her robe over the other arm of the sofa. "You got me."

"Oh!" Ash said and gave Courtney a tight squeeze, then kissed her on her lips.

They lay in the bed; it must have been the wine because Courtney barely turned over, then was sound asleep.

Six fifteen was far too early but Sarah had filled the coffee pot the evening before and forgotten to put the timer to seven thirty for Saturday.

Courtney came to consciousness as the smells of coffee brewing filled the small living room. She gasped as she realized what that soft feeling was in her hand; somehow in the night, she had wiggled her way up against Ash. Her breasts were pressed firmly into Ash's back, her left arm was over Ash's middle, and her hand was resting firmly against Ash's belly, underneath the waistband of Ash's tap pants. For the briefest of seconds, she felt Ash's pubic hair just under her fingertips.

"Mm," Ash murmured sleepily as Courtney yanked her hand away.

Courtney realized, it wasn't just the smells of coffee and the odd sensation of touching another person that had woken her; her bladder was about to burst.

She wiggled out of the bed and dashed to the bathroom.

When she got out, Ash smiled, gave her a quick kiss, and then entered the small bathroom.

Courtney pulled on the robe; she had not realized it before, but her nipples were visible through the sheer material of the sleep wear. When Ash came out of the bathroom, Courtney could see that Ash's nipples and pubic hair were also visible through the material of her sleepwear.

"That really is cute on you," Ash smiled as she pulled on her own robe.

"Hey, put this..." Ash said and plopped Clay's hat on Courtney's head.

"Ash!" Courtney protested when Ash took her picture with her cell phone.

"It's for Clay," Ash confided, putting her finger over her lips. "Shh! April and Sarah are still sleeping!"

She padded into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, nodded in satisfaction and began making their breakfast.

"God, did I forget the timer thingy again?" Sarah half moaned, then shut the door to the bathroom.

"Hey," Courtney said and Ash looked over her shoulder.

Her mouth opened in shock as Courtney took her picture with her own cell phone.

"Delete mine, or I'll show yours to Clay too," Courtney threatened.

"Oh, you bitch!" Ash laughed.

"Come on, Sarah, hurry up!" April whined, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Courtney looked away in embarrassment; April was nude.

"Hey, April?" Ash called out.

"Yeah?" April said, turning around.

"Smile," Ash said and took April's photograph with her cell phone.

Sarah opened the door at that moment; April's need to urinate won out over her need to protest the photograph and she dashed into the bathroom.

"When did she get nipple rings?" Ash asked as she began separating the eggs into four plates.

"Last week; three hundred dollars, you believe that?" Sarah complained as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

April's relief was evident as she staggered into the kitchen.

"April!" Sarah snapped.

"What?" April asked.

"Uh, company? Go put some clothes on!" Sarah ordered.

"Fine, whatever," April said, smiled a little smile to herself.

April returned, wearing a tee shirt that barely reached the bottom of her buttocks. Sarah pursed her lips but said nothing.

"Ash was asking about your nipple rings," Sarah commented as she put Courtney's cup of coffee at the table where Courtney had sat the previous evening.

"Oh? You didn't say nothing about my belly button? April asked, lifting the hem of the tee shirt, again showing Ash and Courtney that she was hairless from the neck down. "Or my little clittie one?"

"April!" Sarah warned and April again smiled her little smile but pulled the hem of her tee shirt down.

Breakfast over, the four girls restored the living room and Ash and Courtney simply pulled last night's clothing on over their sleepwear.

"Thanks; guys, love y'all," Ash said, giving April and Sarah quick little kisses.

"Be back tonight?" Sarah asked. "I mean, Clay don't get back until..."