Katie watched intently from a distance as Jessie chatted with a few friends surrounding her. She watched as Tad and Marni continuously laughed at whatever story Jessie was telling them. She watched as Jessie glanced over at her and smiled. Katie smiled back as she leaned against the bookshelf. Her eyes dreamily tore themselves away from Jessie for a moment. As Katie looked around, she saw that Booklovers was filling up quickly. The food was good. The guests were happy. The party was a success. Today was Jessie's sixteenth birthday and Katie wanted to do something special for her. She knew Jessie wasn't a fan of huge parties, but Katie insisted on throwing her a party for such a seminal year in Jessie's life. Judging by the look on Jessie's face, she knew she did the right thing. Katie planned it all: the invitations, the decorations. She even planned out the food to be an all-vegetarian menu. Katie herself was a meat-eater, but she knew how important Jessie's vegetarian diet was to her. She wanted every aspect of the party to be perfect and refused to allow Jessie to lift a finger while planning it. So Jessie just sat back and let Katie do all the work. Katie seemed to thrive off of making her girlfriend happy. After that day Jessie told Katie she loved her, Katie decided to make it her life's work to make Jessie happy. Katie looked back over at Jessie, content with watching her from twenty feet away.
Black and WhiteKatie: "I try. I really do try to look away sometimes. I test myself to see if I can go more than a minute without looking at her. But if she's in my line of sight, I fail miserably."
Katie kept her adoring gaze on Jessie as Judy walked up to her.
"Hey Katie."
Katie snapped out of her spell and turned to face Judy. "Oh, hey Judy."
"Wow. The place looks great," exclaimed Judy as she looked around.
"Well, I try. Thanks again for letting me use your store. I just figured if you guys could have a wedding here, maybe a birthday party wouldn't be out of the question."
"Oh, it's no problem. I was honored that you even asked. And Jake was more than happy to help with the food," said Judy.
Katie smiled and turned her focus back over to Jessie. Judy took notice of this.
"So why aren't you over there with your friends?" asked Judy.
"Oh, I just want to make sure everything runs smoothly. Besides. This is Jessie's day. She's having fun without me. I know…hard to believe, but I guess anything's possible," remarked Katie, in jest.
Judy nodded. "So you really care about her a lot, don't you?"
Katie looked back at Judy. "She's my best friend. Of course I care about her. It's her sixteenth birthday. I don't know if you heard, but it's kind of a big ordeal in the teen world."
Black and WhiteJudy: "She's a smart ass. I like that. She reminds me of someone…"
"Well, I'll keep an eye on everything for you if you want to go talk to Jessie. I don't know if there's really much you can do standing next to a bookshelf," said Judy.
"Oh, there's plenty I can do. Need me to re-shelve anything?" asked Katie.
Before Judy could respond, Jessie came bounding up to Katie. "Hey!"
"Hey Billie!"
"What are you doing over here? You left me to fend for myself among the masses of Upton Sinclair's finest students," said Jessie.
"Finest?"
"Okay…well...just students, then."
Judy decided to chime in before the girls started another one of their infamous, hour-long conversations. "Happy birthday, Jessie. This is a pretty good turnout."
"Well, that's because Katie insisted on inviting half the school."
Katie put her hands up in defense. "Hey, can I help it if I know a lot of people and I'm insanely popular?"
Jessie nudged Katie with her shoulder. "Wow. It just astounds me how in love with yourself you are."
"Yes, I know," replied Katie. "Would you excuse me for a minute? I have to run to the bathroom and admire myself in the mirror for a while. Actually, it may take up to half an hour. I'm THAT stunning." Katie elbowed Jessie back. Both girls started giggling as the play-fighting ensued.
Judy watched this exchange take place.
Black and WhiteJudy smiles and shakes her head: "This girl seriously reminds me of someone. I just can't figure out who."
"Come on," said Katie, as she led Jessie away. "Your party awaits."
Judy watched as the girls walked away arm-in-arm. She found herself smiling for no discernable reason. Just being in the presence of those two made her cheerful. She began to recognize a bond between Jessie and Katie that seemed to be growing stronger every time she saw them. The thought that perhaps it may have been more than just friendship was barely creeping into her mind when it was suddenly interrupted by two arms wrapping around her waist from behind.
"What are you smirking about?" asked Sam.
"Was I smirking?" asked Judy as she allowed herself to be completely enveloped in his arms.
"A little. I'll tell ya, that Katie girl is sure something, isn't she? Earlier, she spent twenty minutes talking to me about impressionism vs. realism in a postmodern world. I almost had to sit down. She nearly blew my mind."
"Uh oh. Should I be jealous?" asked Judy.
"Jealous? Of a seventeen year old girl? I don't think you have anything to worry about," assured Sam. "Although, you could take it as a compliment."
"Why?"
"Because. She's exactly like you," replied Sam.
Judy froze at that exact moment.
Black and WhiteJudy: "THAT'S who she reminds me of. No wonder I like this kid so much."
Instead of leading Jessie back to their friends, Katie weaved through the somewhat crowded café portion of the store. She was having some difficulty getting through everyone who was standing around and began mentally cursing herself for inviting so many people. Once they made their way through, Katie led Jessie into the kitchen. It was much more quiet there and significantly less crowded seeing as how they were the only ones in there. Jessie walked past the counter and observed her birthday cake sitting there.
"It's nice," remarked Jessie.
"Chocolate cake with vanilla butter cream icing."
"My favorite."
"Yeah. Actually, you weren't supposed to see it until later," said Katie.
Jessie walked up to her and put her hands around Katie's waist. "So then why did you bring me in here?"
"I don't know. I just wanted to get away from the—"
Katie stopped talking the moment Jessie's lips crashed against hers. Jessie had been waiting to do this all day. She was thankful to have one moment alone with Katie just so she could kiss her. Katie was enjoying the state of bliss she was in as their tongues mercilessly teased each other. But Jessie prematurely pulled away, leaving Katie starving for more. Katie refused to go without a fight. She pulled Jessie back in and continued kissing her until she realized where they were. Someone could walk in at any moment. And while Katie didn't really care, she didn't want anything to ruin Jessie's day. She managed to finally detach her lips from Jessie's. Jessie leaned back against the counter while Katie was facing her
Once they came down from their euphoric high, Katie pursed her lips while perusing Jessie's face. Her feet nervously shifted under her. "Actually, there's another reason I brought you in here."
"And what's that?" asked Jessie.
Katie leaned forward reached up toward the cabinet above them. Jessie felt her breath grow sharper as Katie's body tenderly pressed up against hers. She knew it was an innocent move, but Katie seemed to be doing it in such a seductive way, Jessie couldn't help but feel slightly aroused. Katie opened the cabinet and pulled something out.
"I got you a little something. I put it here so you wouldn't find it," said Katie.
"Really? I mean, the party was more than enough. You didn't have to get me anything else," protested Jessie.
"Well, I wanted to. It's your birthday and you're…you know…my girlfriend. So…here."
Katie held out a little toy monkey that plays the drums. She wound it up and set it on the counter. It started moving along while beating the drums. Jessie was somewhat perplexed by the gift at first, but leave it to Katie to give such a quirky gift. Jessie smiled sweetly as she watched the monkey continue its trek across the counter while drumming. Katie picked him up and turned him around. He started making his way back towards Jessie.
"I call him Fred," informed Katie. "But you can name him whatever you want."
Jessie laughed. This was one of the many things she loved about Katie. Her creativity and eccentricities always kept Jessie smiling. "Fred is fine. He looks like a Fred. He's adorable."
"Fred has something for you," said Katie, as she leaned over and placed her chin on the counter, focusing solely on the marching monkey.
"Oh really. And what does Fred have?" asked Jessie.
"I don't know. You should ask him. And do it quick, because it's something that seems to be weighing him down," replied Katie.
Jessie looked down at the monkey and saw something shiny hanging from its neck. She picked up Fred and saw that he had a silver, heart-shaped locket around his neck. She took it from him and held it up while putting the monkey back on the counter.
"Wow. Katie, it's beautiful. Thank you so much."
Katie smiled as Jessie admired the necklace.
Black and WhiteKatie: "And THAT'S why I do these things. To keep that smile on her face. It makes everything worth it." She lowers her head. "Okay, okay. I know. I'm gushing now. I'll stop."
Jessie opened it up to see if anything was inside. "It's empty," she observed.
"Well, yeah," replied Katie. "I figured it's your necklace, so you should get to choose what goes in it."
"Really…"
"Yup."
"So, if I put a picture of little Fred in here, you wouldn't be offended?" asked Jessie.
"Well, I guess I would be slightly offended that you would choose a monkey over me. Besides, it wouldn't make much sense to a picture of anyone but the two of us in there."
"Why?"
"Look at the back," said Katie.
Jessie turned the locket over and read the simple inscription. "K B?"
"Billie. I didn't want to make it too obvious in case someone reads it or something. Was that stupid?"
"No. It's perfect," remarked Jessie.
"Here. Let me put it on you." Katie took the locket and went behind Jessie to put it on. Katie opened the clasp and brought her hands around to Jessie's delicate neck. Jessie pulled her hair out of the way as Katie's fingers grazed the curves of Jessie's neck. She clasped the necklace, but allowed her hands to linger on Jessie's skin. Jessie let her hair fall back in place as she felt chills run up and down her spine. Katie simply could not resist the lure of Jessie's skin. She pushed aside Jessie's hair and started kissing the back of Jessie's neck. Jessie leaned her head to the side as Katie slowly moved the kisses to the other side of Jessie's neck. Her lips were leaving a trail all the way to Jessie's shoulder. Katie gently tugged at the collar of Jessie's shirt and moved it down further, exposing more skin. Katie was growing deliriously amorous. Her lips were on overdrive, hungrily absorbing the taste of Jessie's skin. Katie was overdosing on Jessie. This girl was the only kind of drug that Katie would ever allow to be injected into her veins. And the increasingly rapturous moans coming from Jessie was proof that she felt the exact same way.
Jessie's hands reached behind her and gripped Katie's hips, pulling them closer together. She could feel Katie's warm stomach against her back. Katie's breathing was growing heavier by the minute. Jessie moved her hands up and down from Katie's hips to her legs as she took pleasure in feeling the taller girl's lips moving slowly down her shoulder. Katie moved her hands down Jessie's arms and placed her hands on top of Jessie's hands. She interlocked their fingers and brought their hands up to wrap around Jessie's stomach.
"Oh my God," Jessie muttered under her breath. But Katie heard it. She knew exactly what kind of pleasure she was bringing Jessie.
Katie gently turned Jessie around and brought her hand up to Jessie's face. Through her ragged breath, she managed to choke out the words she wanted to say. "I'm so in love with you, Jessie. You don't even know."
Jessie nodded. "Yeah, I do know."
Jessie pulled Katie in for another desired kiss. As her lips traced the softness of Katie's lips, Jessie couldn't fight her urge anymore. She pushed Katie back up against the counter. Unfortunately, she forgot about their little friend who was knocked to the floor by this sudden movement. Jessie and Katie pulled away from each other and looked down.
"Oh no. Poor Fred!" exclaimed Katie. They looked back at each other and after a moment of silence, they both busted out laughing. Jessie picked up the monkey and put him back on the counter.
"I guess I need to be more careful next time," said Jessie. Katie smiled and leaned in to kiss Jessie one more time. Before she could reach her destination, the kitchen door abruptly swung open, startling the girls as they stepped back and put some distance between each other. They looked over to see Lily walking in.
"Oh, there you are. We were wondering where you guys went," said Lily.
Jessie struggled to find an excuse. "Oh yeah. Sorry. Katie just wanted to check on the cake. You know…to make sure it was...good."
Black and WhiteJessie rolls her eyes: "Smooth. Real smooth. I should really leave the excuses to Katie."
Lily nodded, questioningly. "Okay. Well, I actually came in here to get the cake. Are you ready for it?"
"Ready for everyone to gather around me and sing in my honor? No, not really. But I'll get through it, I suppose."
"Well, maybe you could at least fake it. Come on," said Lily, as she grabbed for the cake.
"Oh, let me get that for you, Mrs. Sammler," said Katie, as she picked up the cake. Katie had noticed how big Lily was getting. She was pretty far along in the pregnancy and looked like she was ready to give birth at any moment, so Katie wanted to help her out in any way she could.
"Thanks Katie. I'll see you two out there," said Lily as she walked out.
With her free hand, Katie picked up the monkey and handed it to Jessie. "Happy birthday, Jess."
Jessie blushed as she nervously played with the locket around her neck.
To be continued…..