The Long Winter #68
Unseen part two
“I don’t know about this, Sandra.”
They stood at the top of a winding ice tube built into some hills the Institute and University jointly owned outside of town with a bobsled between them. It shined in the dim light of a cloudy Saturday afternoon, its bulbous blue nose polished and clean. Sandra looked back at her with her mischievous smile and laughed.
“After all the adventures we’ve had, you have to know I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I know, but I was reading about this—“
“We’re not Olympic athletes, we won’t be able to build up that much speed.”
“I know, but—“
“Trust me, it’ll be fine. We’re up next. Are you ready?”
Penny gave the starting light, currently red, a helpless glance and nodded at Sandra.
“Okay, come on.”
She helped her thrill-seeking friend push the bobsled out of the shed. It slid easily on the ice. Penny’s feet slipped beneath her and she stayed upright only thanks to her grip on the sled. The light turned green. Sandra grinned back at her and then they pushed the sled to the edge of the first slope and got in as it edged forward.
“This is so slow!” Sandra grunted, rocking back and forth in a vain attempt to create a more urgent forward motion.
“It feels fine to me.”
“You would say that!”
Penny peeked over Sandra's shoulder. The tube stretched into icy oblivion before them, still safely at bay due to their snail's pace. It would not last and Penny cringed behind her friend and squeezed her eyes shut. The sled tipped forward and they went down into that icy oblivion. The slope turned steep and they lurched in the other direction as the curve changed. Penny cried out as the icy wind howled in her helmet. Sandra’s hands were busy ahead of her with the wires steering the sled. The tunnel curved this way and that. Penny’s heart calmed a little on the slight upward straight that slowed them a little, giving Sandra a moment to giggle over her shoulder at the half-Asian girl. And then the bottom fell out once more and Penny screamed. She wrapped he arms around Sandra and pressed against her back, squeezing her eyes shut against the howling wind and blurred scenery.
The sled entered its last curve, a long, steady loop that served to slow them down as they came down to the end of the course. Penny kept her grip on Sandra even as the sled’s vibrations slowed and the wind quieted. The course straightened out and the men at the bottom guided them to a slow, easy stop.
“We’re finished,” Sandra said. Penny did not move. “Hey, Penny? Are you okay?”
“Yes, that was very fun.” Penny’s voice was muffled by Sandra’s sleek winter coat.
“I thought so, too! You want to drive it next time?”
“Next time?” Penny looked up in alarm but her grip on Sandra tightened.
“Come on, let’s go get some hot chocolate and we’ll talk about what we’ll do with the rest of our afternoon.”
“Okay.”
Sandra smiled at her. Penny did not move.
“Do you ladies need some help?” one of the men asked.
“No,” Sandra answered sweetly, then she glanced back at Penny and giggled again. “Well, maybe yes.” She twisted and gently pulled Penny’s arms loose. “Come on babe, take his hand, we’ll go get hot chocolate.”
Penny nodded and looked up. The man above her was crouching, waiting for her to extricate herself from both the sled and Sandra with a bemused smile on his face. He had a few days’ worth of beard on his face and shaggy windswept hair that suited the snow-covered pines around them. Penny lifted a shaking hand away from Sandra and let him pull her gently up to solid ground away from the creaking, slipping sled. Sandra clambored out after her with a laugh and wrapped her arms around Penny.
“That was really great!” she said as they stumbled away from the sled and the men laughing behind them.
“That was way scarier than anything we’ve ever done.”
“That was probably the safest thing we’ve ever done!”
“No way, that sled was out of control!”
“You were out of control! I thought you were going to smother me back there!”
“I still might, if you don’t smother me first!”
“Karma, babe!”
They laughed and Sandra released her as they neared a little building near the parking lot. It was warm inside, finished in a fine dark wood with polished wood floors and a wood bar and wood stools and wood tables with tarnished brass fittings and handles here and there. It smelled wonderfully of cinnamon and peppermint and hickory. They purchased their hot chocolates and Penny smiled at the pretty young girl wearing bunny ears who served them, their hands touching briefly as the bunny passed the hot chocolate to Penny.
“You need to stop trying to flirt with every waitress you see.”
“I wasn’t flirting,” Penny answered, smiling over her shoulder at the bunny-girl and giving her a shy wave. The bunny-girl smiled and waved back and she sat down to see Sandra frowning at her. “What?”
“Nothing.” Sandra sipped her hot chocolate. “How’s Becca?”
“She was mad at me last night.”
“What? Why?”
“She’s jealous of you. She hates we spend so much time together.”
“So? It’s not like we’re girlfriends.”
“I know, that’s what I told her. But she still was mad at me. I had to get on my hands and knees and grovel for forgiveness, it was totally humiliating or whatever.”
Sandra laughed. “What a sight that must have been.”
“I was very sexy and cute. Then we had—I mean, we made up afterwards.”
Sandra laughed again. “You don’t need to be delicate around me like that. I can handle it. I’ve been watching lesbian porn the last month to prepare myself for these sorts of conversations.”
“What?”
“I’m kidding! My gosh, you are gullible. Seriously though, go ahead and say what you want. It’s exciting to be your friend, and I want you to feel as comfortable around me as I feel around you. I’ve never had a friend like you. I don't mean a friend who's a lesbian, but someone I trust with my life.”
“Why thank you, Sandra. That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me, I’m almost a little embarrassed!”
They giggled together. Then Penny continued.
“It’s exciting to argue with her, because when we make up it’s that much better, that much more passion. It’s a lot different from my high school relationship, or when I went out with Delaney last fall. Becca is really strong, really aggressive, but she, well, I’m not sure how to say it, but it’s like she melts and is really delicate when we’re together together, you know?”
“I can imagine. Not that I am, but I could if I wanted to. I think Maddie and Leah are a little envious of you, though.”
“I don’t know. Maddie’s spending a lot of time with Clark and Bart since she left her mean ex.”
“Good for her. I knew she had the hots for my idiot ex, too. What kind of an idiot goes on vacation and comes back engaged to a super-powered sex fiend?”
“She wasn’t a sex fiend, it was sort of my own fault.”
“Whatever, she was lying to you. If you were any sort of danger that way I’m sure I would have felt it by now. I would definitely not keep being friends with you if you tried to push your wild animal lust on me.”
“I won’t. I know your boundaries, but I guess I get a little touchy-feely sometimes—“
“It’s fine! We’re humans, we’re social animals and, frankly, we need that shit in our lives, I need it! I’m glad you found this Becca of yours, though. She seems to be doing you some good. You’re glowing a lot these days, even though our tans are long-gone.”
“I might be a little in love with her. I’m totally excited about spending the summer with her.”
“Oh, that’s right! Did you two get all the details settled? And your parents are cool with it?”
Penny nodded and pulled out her cell phone and showed Sandra where they would be staying. The lab was in Miami, as promised, and frequently hosted interns from all over the world. Penny showed her the lab’s website and its pictures of wide, clean work spaces and shining metal equipment and the serious-looking men and women who worked there.
“I heard a rumor Nagisa is going to be working there, too, so there will at least be a familiar face with me besides Becca,” Penny said, referring to a shy girl from Japan who occasionally frowned at Penny when she worked with Ash or Leah. Sandra nodded and kept listening.
Then there was the place Becca found to stay. It occupied an upper floor of an apartment and looked out at Miami Beach's white sand. There was a garden-like balcony and a a wide view of the beach just down below. It was not terribly close to the lab, but that did not matter for how beautiful it was. Penny did not understand the finances behind it. Becca merely said that between her internship and Becca’s own work that she should not waste time worrying about it.
“Amazing,” Sandra said, swiping through the images on Penny’s phone. “This looks like it’s going to be a pretty great adventure, too.”
“Do you have plans for the summer yet? Any fancy internships or anything?”
“Actually…” Sandra’s face turned pink and she took another sip of her hot chocolate. “Actually, I’ve been talking to Raoul and Kate.”
“Really?”
“They invited me to stay with them a bit. I told them I’d think about it, that I still have to talk it over with my dad. I’m sure he’ll be fine with it, though.”
“That would be amazing if you could go!”
“Totally amazing. I think I’m in love with Raoul. I think he’s the most perfect man who ever lived. I can’t believe Kate didn’t marry him.”
“Kate likes her freedom.”
“She wanted you to come, too.”
Penny giggled into her own hot chocolate as her cheeks blushed.
“Yes. You love these girls having crushes on you! How’s it feel having your tease of a roommate back?”
“Hah! She’s not a tease—”
“How much of her skin have you seen since she moved back in?”
“Well, that’s besides the point—”
“Hah! She gets off on it! She gets off on seeing you all flustered and embarrassed for her, but we, all three of us, just know that you’re not really all that flustered and embarrassed! You’d do anything to see her naked!”
“I’m not that kind of girl—”
“How about snow-bunny back there at the counter?”
“She looks like she’s 16—”
“Old enough to get banged. Older than you look, too!” Sandra cackled good-naturedly and Penny sighed and rolled her eyes. “If you tell me you don’t know anyone who lost their virginity then or earlier I’d know you were lying to me. Or fucking oblivious!” Sandra laughed again. Penny stared back glumly.
“I don’t want to see her naked. Or my roommate.”
“But if they offer who are you to turn them down?”
“Exactly.” Penny picked her hot chocolate up to take a sip, but her expression turned consternated and she set it down and looked back up at Sandra. “Do you think I’m a slut?”
“What? What kind of question is that?”
“Well, you know my history. I mean, it’s not like I’m hiding anything, but, well, Maddie said… Maddie said her ex called me a slut. And he called me a slut to my face every time he saw me. Am I?”
Sandra looked down at her hot chocolate, turning the mug in a circle.
“Aw, you think I am, too—”
“I do not!” Sandra’s head shot up. “I don’t. I swear!”
“Well, why are you like, just sitting there thinking of a nice way to call me a slut?”
“I’m not, but it’s just, well—”
“Yes. I am a slut.” Penny sighed into her mug. Her eyes teared up. “That’s why every time I smile at a girl you make fun of me.”
“Aw, that’s not true.”
“When we ate with Clark when he came back at that one place, and in the dining hall, and just now with snow-bunny over there. I’m just being nice…”
“And it’s great you’re nice. I don’t think you’re a slut. I just don’t have a lot of experience myself. I’ve only been with Clark, and my boyfriend before him, well, it was all just heavy petting until I caught him with my so-called friend.”
“If you call me “experienced” it just means the same thing as slut.”
“I would not call you that just because there’s a discrepancy in the number of our past encounters. It’s a weird thing to think about, you know? I mean, how can you be a slut? I know you’ve been with other people before this Becca you’re with now, but how many times has it been outside of a relationship? Zero? And you know, if you go by the classic straight-person definition of sex, you’ve only done it one fucking time. Oral or fingering, I don’t know, it doesn’t seem like a home run to me. It seems like third base. Like foreplay.”
“So I’m not a slut.”
“I could never in a million years think of you like that.”
“Even though lesbian sex is still sex.”
“If it feels like sex…”
Penny smiled and sipped her hot chocolate.
“I guess since I classify my hazing as rape I should classify your same-sex encounters as sex.”
“Neh!”
They giggled together.
“Anyway.” Sandra hefted her mug. “Let’s finish and get our skis and head up to the hill. We can still get a few runs in before Harvey has to run us back.”
“Okay. I’m almost ready. I like the skis better than the sleds.”
“Skis are way more dangerous.”
“I guess. But at least I feel like I can control myself on them. The sled, it’s just in that tube and it goes how it wants.”
“I was steering!”
“It was a tube! There was nowhere to steer!”
“Hmp. Fine. I’ll just have to invite Leah with me next time I want to bobsled. Or maybe your Gwen would want to come.”
“Whatever! She’s not “My” Gwen!”
“You’re the only one I know on a first-name basis with her professor at our very formal, conservative-as-all-heck Institute.”
“We’re not! Well, maybe we are, but that's because we’ve known each other since I was born, she’s changed my diapers.”
“So you’ve said.”
“She’s a family friend.”
“Of course.”
“Whatever.” Penny crossed her arms and pouted cartoonishly. “I call her Professor Fairchild in class.”
“And Gwen at night.”
Penny's cheeks flamed red and she could not maintain eye contact with Sandra.
“Holy shit!” Sandra leaned forward. “You totally do have the hots for her! You’re about to move in with Becca this summer, but you have the hots for your own professor!”
“I do not!”
“That explains the surfing together, and the meals. Leah noticed you’ve missed lunch and dinner every Friday for the past few weeks. Now you’re marked in her plans as unavailable then due to your dates with your Gwen!”
“Oh, jeez. Just because we’re friends doesn’t mean…” Penny took a deep breath and let out a short, exasperated sigh and then scowled at Sandra. “I do not have the hots for my professor. She’s old enough to be my mom.”
Sandra smiled at her and took a long, slow drink from her hot chocolate. She smacked her lips and set it back down on the table, empty.
“Whatever. I do not have the hots for Professor Fairchild. I definitely don't. Not even a little. Totally not at all.”
“Methinks thou dost protest too much.”
“I do not!”
“Okay, if you say so!”
“I don’t!”
“Okay!”
Penny and Sandra laughed on their way out the door. Penny paused one last time to smile at the bunny-girl (who smiled back, of course), and then followed Sandra back to the sled, laughing the entire way.