Happiest Days

'Yes,' Heather said without hesitation.

'Sometimes,' said Toni, blushing furiously.

'Always,' said Roz.

'Always,' Jacqui agreed.

'I'll make it six out of six then,' Daffy said. 'Over to you, Mads.'

'Two parts to this. Have you ever had sex with a girl? And, if not, do you ever intend to?'

It was Heather's turn to answer first. 'I haven't gone all the way yet,' she said carefully, 'but I'm so very definitely going to.'

Toni's blush hadn't faded. 'Not yet, but probably.'

'Not yet,' said Roz, 'but definitely.'

The other three girls answered similarly, making Heather forget about being careful and grin like a cat from her adopted county. It was strange, wasn't it? They had all lied through their teeth about their escapades with guys and then spoken from the heart about gals.

Or so it seemed.

'My turn,' she began. 'When I told my aunt I was going to an all-girls' school, she said it would turn me into a lesbian. She even said I'd end up with an extra A-level in Cunnilingus. I had to look that up to see what she meant. My question is: Was she right? Has coming here turned us all into lesbians?'

'I don't think there's any danger of me becoming a proper lesbian,' Toni replied cautiously. 'Real, butch lesbians scare me. I might be a bit lipstick, because I find pretty girls attractive. But if I ever do try it, it won't be anything to do with The Manor. It will be to do with me and the way I am.'

'I like guys too much to be a proper lesbian,' said Roz. 'But I could easily be bisexual. And coming here, to this place, has made me grow up quicker. I probably wouldn't be so close to taking the plunge if I hadn't come here. Not that The Manor's changed me; it's just hurried me along.'

'I possibly could become a lesbian.' Jacqui wasn't exactly flushing, although her cheeks were a lot pinker than usual. 'But I'm like Toni and Roz. It's me, not anything they've done to me while I've been here.'

'I think I might be institutionalized,' Daffy said. 'I read somewhere that sixty per cent of women in prison have lesbian relationships. That obviously includes a load of bisexuals stuck for choice, but it has to include masses of straight women too; ones who'd stay straight if they weren't locked up.'

'I've read the same sort of thing,' Roz put in, 'but it's all damned lies and statistics, isn't it? These straight women have one kiss in the showers and some fiddling accountant bangs on another five per cent.'

That set the opinions bouncing around. Daffy fielded them as they came from all directions.

'Maybe so,' she said, 'but I bet sixty per cent isn't so far off the percentage among us older girls. At least it will be by the end of this last school year.'

'Never mind what the actual percentages are, they're enormously higher than the rest of the UK. So it does seem that institutions like schools and prisons foster lesbianism.'

'And that's a bad thing?'

'No, not at all; it's for the good.'

'Maybe it is, in exceptional circumstances.'

'What do you mean by "exceptional"?'

'What do you think?'

'Do you mean lack of choice?'

'Yes and no.'

'So please expand.'

'In prison there simply isn't anyone else to have it off with. Here it really is by choice. We aren't all always confined to our cells, are we?'

'I sometime think I am.'

Madeleine had been listening to the exchanges in silence. Heather suddenly realized the other girl was crying. Mads stood abruptly and, before anyone could say anything, she deliberately barged past Daffy and left.

'Maddy . . .' Daffy called. But too late; she was gone. 'What got into her?'

'I think that she misunderstood what you were saying.' Heather shrugged. 'I think she might have thought you said . . . Well, that you're only so close because you've shared the same room for the last six years.'

'D'oh!' Daffy smacked herself on the forehead.

'Let's take a break,' Jacqui said. She looked at her watch. 'Roz can get snacks, Toni can get pop.'

'What about me?'

'You brought Mary Rose's weed, Hev, so you're fully paid up.' Jacqui could be quite forceful when she wanted to be. She already had her guests on their feet and most of the way out into the corridor.

'Okay then,' she said, 'back here for three, film rolling at five past. That should be long enough for you to kiss and make up, shouldn't it, Daff?'

'It's long enough for some serious grovelling,' Daffy conceded.

Heather was filing out with the others when Jacqui caught her arm, restraining her. Puzzled, she waited in silence until they were alone, watching the door get closed and locked.

'Alone together at last,' said Jacqui, grinning as she spoke.

'What?'

'You heard. I've been wondering how to get you away from your bit of skirt. And now I don't have to wonder anymore, do I?'

Heather didn't seem able not to be kissed. She didn't seem able not to be groped, either. She had always considered Jacqui very attractive and, passionately locked mouth-to-mouth, couldn't think of any reason to revise her judgment.

Or maybe she was just weak and defenceless.

Whatever; the kiss was good, as was all the groping.

And Good Grief! Was Jacqui launching a panty raid?

Part of Heather's brain panicked. A larger part was grateful she'd recently shaved. Last thing she wanted was to seem hairy and out-of-touch.

Talking about touching . . .

Maybe three minutes of direct attention and she fiercely came.

'Both of us this time,' said Jacqui, briefly breaking their kiss. Do me while I do you.

Still powerless to resist, Heather complied. And now her timing was less pathetic. Unless Jacqui was feigning it, they climaxed as one.

And it was hard, loud and glorious beyond belief.

Then the beautiful blonde was laughing throatily. 'We've twenty minutes left. And your studies in A-level interests intrigue me. Do you want to lick my magic button?'

Heather instinctively knew what she meant and reflexively flinched. 'I don't know if I dare.'

Jacqui laughed some more.

'No worries,' she said, 'In that case I'll lick yours . . .'

Chapter Four

(Wednesday 30th September 1998)

Overlook Mountain was in reality a medium-sized, flat-topped hill at the edge of the school grounds. It was quite a hike to get to the top but remained popular with students for several reasons. It was so far off the beaten track that teachers hardly ever went there, for one. And anyone on the little plateau was invisible from below, for another. That made it popular for topless sunbathing and perfect for anything illicit. Smoking; drinking . . . you name it, it had happened on Overlook. Also, as an added attraction, it had a bird's-eye view into the grounds of the boys' school next door.

'This is where I saw them from,' said Mary Rose. 'They were down there to the left, by that big oak tree. Helena must have gone over the wall to meet him.' The self-proclaimed redhead chuckled. 'I've never seen anyone having it off against an oak tree before. And must be good; she had him twice.'

'No sign of her today,' Heather said drearily.

'She's probably still getting splinters out of her bum. They were really going at it. I'm surprised the bark hasn't been stripped off. You know, like a bear's been scratching his back.'

Heather glanced up at the sun. It was the fifth glorious day in a row. Last week's monsoon had been consigned to the history books. Today the grass wasn't only just dry enough to sit on; it was dry enough to use to start a fire.

'I want to have it off against an oak tree,' Mary Rose continued. 'It's gone to the top of my wish-list. I wonder how Helena set it up.'

'Mare, I've something to tell you.'

'Let me guess. We're alone together, at last?'

Ouch, that hit a nerve!

'No,' said Heather, 'not that. It's . . .'

'Shush. Whatever it is, it can wait.' Mary Rose's eyes were full of the usual mischief. 'Let's take advantage of each other while we can.'

*****

Heather decided to keep her secret a little longer, passively letting herself be shoved onto her back. Her resistance zero . . . as per just always. She didn't even think about objecting when deft fingers unfastened her school shirt and bra. Nor did she complain when caresses were replaced with kisses. It felt good. Mary Rose had caressed her boobs before (and so now had Jacqui, of course) but no-one had ever kissed them.

Or licked and nibbled them.

Her whole body rejoiced. It was as if molten pleasure was trickling through her.

Didn't I once let the boy next door nibble my nipples?

Or was that only in one of my wilder dreams?

Heather shuddered with delight. Her nipples were large to start with. When she was aroused they got very, very big. Right now they were bigger than ever. And hard! They were so hard they hurt, but in the most wonderful way.

Bugger the boy next door, this was for real.

This was utterly colossal.

I never suspected it would be so nice. Much more and I'll erupt!

Mary Rose must have known. She squeezed one of Heather's breasts and rubbed briskly at the other, licking and nibbling all the while. Suddenly the molten pleasure was concentrated in Heather's sex. The build-up of heat there was quick and enormous. She could only hold back a few moments before she orgasmed ferociously.

Good grief, how could that possibly be possible!

Mare really does have all the tricks of a witch!

Then, breathless and still enormously excited, it was Heather's turn. She had unfastened the top two of the other girl's buttons before she realized something else was on the agenda.

'It'll be half term soon. This might be our last chance for a while.' Mary Rose took Heather's hand and pulled it towards the forbidden territory of her knickers. Well, the until-ever-so-recently forbidden territory of her knickers.

Okay, Heather thought, making a beeline for Mary Rose's magic button.

But that wasn't what she wanted.

'No,' she said, pulling and guiding.

For a long moment they stared at each other, Heather so, so conscious of her friend's desire.

'Half term's a pain,' Mary Rose said softly. 'Please.'

There was no way she could be refused. Not by a two-timing rat of a best friend.

Besides, it'll be another new adventure.

The video actresses seemed to take great care in making their partners wet. With Mare there was no need; she was absolutely sopping already. Heather explored her thoroughly (delicately and very, very patiently), wishing things were different so she could see as well as feel.

Never mind seeing, I want to taste.

Mare's fanny was lots more interesting than a merely theoretical willy; it was far superior in every way. The urge to take time and torment was immense.

Make her wait.

Somehow Heather resisted and traced a line along Mary Rose's swollen, pouting labia before so very gently slipping a couple of fingers inside her, producing a heartfelt groan.

Oh my word, she's like an oven in there!

After pausing a moment to take in the baking hotness Heather began to move, using a rhythm she used on herself, one reserved for special occasions and based on Rose Royce's Car Wash.

"Hey, get your car washed today."

"Come on and give us a play."

'Yes,' Mare moaned, 'Oh, yes, Hev. Yes! Don't stop . . . don't stop ever.'

Mare was twisting and pulling at her beautiful auburn hair as it spilled over the grass. As Heather continued to stare down at her she gave back a small smile then closed her eyes and turned her head to one side. 'Yes,' she said, her mouth moving in profile. 'Oh yes, Hev.'

Mare's free arm had wrapped itself around Heather's waist. She let out another moan and began to gyrate the bottom half of her body in a way that covered everything from up and down, left to right and in and out. Heather took this as further evidence of the girl's vast experience. She was even more impressed when she realized Mare had fallen in time with her beat. Very tentatively, she speeded up; within a second Mare was matching her again.

'I'm going to cum soon,' she purred. 'My God, Hev, this is so good.'

Heather could hear a liquid squelching in time with the steady rhythm of her fingers and abruptly became aware Mare had switched to pure in and out. And speeded up again? Good grief, so she had. It was a struggle to keep pace. Her arm . . . not just her fingers or hand or wrist, her whole arm . . . felt as if it was about to drop off.

'Oh yes Hev! Jesus, Hev, yes, yes, yes!'

Mare bucked, writhed and wriggled like the raunchiest actress in the most explicit sex video ever made. Her orgasm seemed to go on for hours, finally ending in a tiny scream.

'Incredible,' she gasped. 'Honestly, Hev, you're a natural. You just played me like the world's best Stradivarius.' She laughed. 'Best fiddle I've ever had, come to that.'

Heather was waving her arm in the air, trying to get some life back into it. Giving in, she curled up and hugged herself.

'I think I overdid it,' she said ruefully.

'Speak for yourself, darling. I think you got it cock-on.'

'My arm's in agony.'

'And I'm in raptures. Here . . . let me rub it better.'

They lay together in the sunshine, cuddling, intimately caressing and occasionally kissing, until the sound of approaching voices sent them hastily rearranging their clothes.

Chapter Five

'You look as good as gold,' Mary Rose whispered as two other girls made it to the hilltop. 'You'd pass any uniform inspection.'

'It's not the uniform inspection I'd fail,' said Heather, trying not to giggle.

The newcomers were also from the upper sixth but not part of their immediate circle. They glared at them a while before sitting on the grass, making sure they were as far away from them as possible.

'Time we went.' Mary Rose jumped up and pulled Heather to her feet. When they were well out of earshot she said, 'I know those two. They'll be at it already. And they won't settle for a few kisses like us. They do the lot.'

'We settled for kisses?'

'Don't pick at straws. You know what I mean.'

Heather mused a moment. 'How do you know?'

'I've seen them on Overlook before, doing sixty-nine and all sorts. It's interesting to watch. We can sneak back up and have a bit of a gander, if you want.'

'No!' Heather was horrified to find the idea so attractive. 'We can't snoop. What they do together is private.'

'No it's not. Not if they do it where anyone can see them.'

'What if someone had been spying on us?'

'Nothing, that's what, I'm not ashamed. Besides, we don't have the choice, do we? Those two will probably share a room. If they need privacy they've got it just like that.' Mary Rose clicked her fingers. 'If you ask me, they want people to watch. Fucking au naturel turns them on.'

'Well I'm not watching. It would be perverted.'

'No it wouldn't. It would be clean, healthy adult fun. And I should know. I'm a sex addict, but not a perverted one.'

Remorse came crashing down on Heather. 'I must be a sex addict,' she said miserably. 'And I'm a perverted one at that. I just couldn't stop myself, Mare. I'm so sorry.'

They'd reached the bottom of the hill. 'Sorry for what?'

'Last Wednesday, when you were cramming for German . . .'

'Your little fling with Jacqui, you mean?'

Heather had been expecting surprise and contempt, not a cheerful grin.

'How do you know?'

'I know everything, remember?' Mary Rose chuckled. 'You were locked away with her for at least an hour. Then you canoodled throughout the film. And you held hands. Nothing escapes me. I'm the All-Seeing-Eye.'

Heather had to laugh. 'You never let on.'

'I didn't see the need.'

'And you don't mind?'

'No I don't. I'm actually quite proud of you. Jacqui plays hard to get.'

'She got me, not the other way around. That's why I feel guilty. I was so easy.'

Mary Rose put her hands on Heather's shoulders and rubbed noses, slowly and thoroughly. 'Don't call yourself easy for giving in to your urges,' she said. 'Men give in to theirs all the time. Nobody calls them easy. Why should it be any different when a girl gives in to the same urge?'

'It's not that. Not that at all. I wanted to stay faithful to you.'

'Are you saying you did more than just kiss and canoodle?'

Now that was a question!

'No, of course we didn't,' Heather fibbed, 'but kissing's bad enough, isn't it?'

'That's sweet.' Mary Rose kissed her nose this time. 'We need to talk about being faithful anyway. Half term really is almost upon us. We should set rules. Agree what's allowed when we're apart, that sort of thing.'

'I agree,' said Heather. 'I won't even look at anyone else.'

'Whoa! Not so hasty. We've got to allow each other some leeway. Two weeks apart is an awful long time.'

'I know it is. I'll be counting off the minutes.'

'That's even sweeter. But totally impractical.'

Mary Rose had that glint in her eye . . . the one that never failed to thrill her innocent friend.

Well, her once-upon-a-time innocent friend.

'Okay,' Heather said as steadily as she could. 'What do you suggest, Miss Practical?'

'I suggest no girls but open season on guys.'

Heather snorted. Mare had obviously mapped this out in advance.

'I'm going to regret asking, but what's included in "open season"?'

'Everything you can think of.'

Heather shook her head. 'How did I just know you'd say that?'

'So you're up for it?'

'Sort of; I'm just not so sure about the lack of girls . . .'

Chapter Six

(Sunday 4th October 1998)

'Anne Bronte?' Tanya didn't look at all convinced.

'I'm deeply involved with The Tenant of Wildfell Hall,' Heather explained patiently. 'It's getting quite racy. You'll have to go to without me.'

'It's about three hundred years old,' her roommate countered. 'And it's not even on the syllabus.'

'It's a hundred and fifty years old. It's essential background reading. And you never know; it might come up in some exam or other.'

'And it's racy?'

'Well no, not particularly. But the heroine doesn't half make a stand. Not that I blame her. It really was a man's world in those days. Everything she had belonged to her husband, even all of the money she earned for herself. Come to that, she belonged to her husband. She was classed as chattel.'

Tanya made a face. 'We always go to chapel together on Sunday mornings.'

'True,' said Heather, 'apart from every second week, when you're far too busy cramming for your latest emergency.'

'It's better when you come with me.'

'Oh Tanny, get yourself off. You'll be late. And I want to get back to those windswept moors. They remind me of home.'

Tanya shrugged, grumbled and finally left. Heather gave her five minutes before she tossed the paperback onto her table, glad to drop the pretence. The novel that shocked Victorian England wasn't really top of her agenda today. In fact it wasn't anywhere near. She had got all she knew about "Helen Graham" from the blurb on the back cover.

Fibbing made her uneasy though, especially on a day of worship.

Am I misusing God, she wondered as she made her way through the maze of passageways, am I using Him as an alibi?

Well, needs must. Whenever else will I get opportunity?

Heather arrived at her destination and tried the handle. It was locked, as per expected. She took a furtive glance up and down the corridor. There was nobody in sight so she stealthily knocked.

'Oh,' said Jacqui, answering the door in her dressing gown, showing off yard after yard of luscious bare leg. 'It's you.'

'Can I come in?'

Jacqui had her own furtive glance up and down the corridor before stepping aside.

'So you're back,' she said, locking up behind them. 'How did the hockey trial go?'

'I qualified with top marks. So I'm here to celebrate.'

'Celebrate?' Jacqui raised an eyebrow. 'How do you propose to do that?'

Heather responded by grabbing her and mashing their mouths together, not giving the tall and oh so delicious blonde anywhere to retreat to. Not that she seemed to want to retreat. No, she just stood there, back firm against the door and took it.