Chapter 4

"Tonight?"

Blair looked over at Jo, who was sitting at the table with her arm held in the air, so that she could be a few extra feet away from the blonde while Blair was on the phone.

"Um, tonight isn't really... No, tomorrow won't be any better. But what about next month? I'll be available then," Blair offered hopefully. "Oh. Well, of course. If your parents insist that you go with them to the Swiss Alps, you can't very well refuse and risk your inheritance... Yes, of course I understand completely... Ciao," Blair said brightly, but as she hung up the phone, her face crumbled into a mask of despair.

"I just refused a date with Conrad Stewart, the Third. The world must be ending," Blair said dejectedly, as she sat down at the table.

"Ah, come on, Blair. I bet when he gets back, you'll be the first girl he calls," Jo tried to soothe her.

"But it's not just him. I've had to cancel every date for the entire month," Blair whined.

"Don't remind me," Jo mumbled.

She'd had to sit through each and every call that Blair had made to let the boys know she wouldn't be able to go out with them as she'd planned. Jo had actually heard some of them crying, even from where she was sitting several feet away, with her and Blair's arms stretched as far as they would go.

"I haven't been out to dinner or a movie for two whole weeks. Do you know what the last movie I saw was? Final Exam," Blair admitted.

"But that's a slasher flick. I thought you hated those kinds of movies," Jo commented.

"I do, but when I get scared, I have the boy right there to protect me," Blair shrugged. "It makes them feel needed," Blair confided.

Jo rolled her eyes.

"Well, if you really wanna go out, I was kinda wantin' ta see Raiders of the Lost Ark. I heard it was right up there with Star Wars," Jo said.

"Well, Harrison Ford is kind of handsome," Blair mused. "But we were going to go see Superman II," Blair hinted.

Jo thought it over. There would still be plenty of action, and she'd liked the first Superman well enough.

"All right. Lets find out what time it's playin', and then we can go," Jo agreed.

They checked the newspaper and found out there was a double feature that would let them see both movies, but they had to hurry to make the first show time of Superman II. They arrived at the theater with only a few minutes to spare, but they still stopped at the refreshment line for soda and popcorn.

Four hours later, they were back outside, having just finished watching Raiders of the Lost Ark, and they headed for Jo's motorcycle.

"I think the best part was when he shot that guy with the sword. He was just so cool about it," Jo said enviously.

"But the ending was appalling. I just can't believe they put the Ark in a storehouse. They could have made millions at an auction. My father would be horrified," Blair declared.

Jo looked at Blair like she was a little touched in the head, but then she shrugged her shoulders. They'd had a good time, and she didn't want to start fighting and mess it up.

They came to Jo's bike, and Jo suddenly stopped when she noticed something was missing.

"Son of a bitch! Someone stole my helmet!" Jo exclaimed.

"What?!" Blair asked in shock.

"My helmet's gone. Look," Jo pointed at the handlebars of her bike.

"But that's illegal," Blair protested.

"No kidding," Jo replied.

Blair rolled her eyes.

"You know what I mean. I can't believe someone would steal it. It was so banged up."

"Thanks," Jo said sarcastically, but Blair ignored the tone.

"Well, what do we do now?"

"We go home. What do you think?"

"But it's not safe," Blair complained.

"Look, if something happens, you'll probably just land on me," Jo reasoned.

She really didn't want to have to call Mrs. Garret to come pick them up if Blair refused to get on her bike without the safety gear.

"You really think so?" Blair perked up.

"Yeah. Now, come on."

Jo climbed on the bike, and Blair retied the string to her right wrist. She swung her leg over the bike and took her position behind Jo. She slid her arm around Jo's waist and waited for the brunette to get them moving.

Jo could feel the tingling sensation begin in her stomach where Blair's hand was laid flat against it, and she tried to shrug it off. She'd felt it that first time she'd ridden with Blair, and she'd felt it earlier that night on the way to the movies. She'd been able to sidetrack herself with the action on the big screen, but now that Blair was touching her again, it was as if the last four hours had never happened. She was right back where she'd started.

Jo turned on the bike and pulled them out into traffic to take them home. The sooner they got back to Eastland, the sooner she could get some space again. But even as Jo's eyes watched the road, most of her concentration was on the body pressed into her back and outer thighs and the arm holding tight to her midriff.

The tomboy wanted to tell herself that she wasn't feeling what she was feeling, but it was no use. She was aroused, and she couldn't blame it on anything other than Blair's close proximity.

Being attracted to a girl wasn't a new thing for Jo. She'd known for a long time that she preferred girls instead of boys, but she knew her family would go ballistic if she ever mentioned the "L" word to them. So, she kept dating boys.

It was the fact that it was Blair that bothered her more than anything else. Blair was a stuck up, self-centered debutante who didn't care about anyone but herself. There was nothing there to be attracted to.

But despite all her protests, her body had a mind of its own. Even her mind betrayed her, and she recalled all the times Blair had been there for her when she'd needed a friend to talk to. Though Blair tended to be a pain in the ass a lot of the time, when it really counted, she was a loyal friend.

Jo mentally smacked herself in the head. She had to stop thinking like this. Blair was way out of her league, not to mention straight. Any romantic encounter she had with Blair would be completely in her head. And it would have to wait another couple weeks until they were back in their regular room where their beds were on the opposite sides of the room rather than right next to each other.

Jo put on some speed to bring them home faster.

In the meantime, Blair couldn't stop thinking about where her left hand was. She could feel the muscles of Jo's stomach flexing, as the girl controlled their balance on the bike and maneuvered them through traffic with confidence. Blair had an overwhelming desire to caress the flesh beneath the thin T-shirt, but she tried hard to ignore it.

She also did her best to ignore the throbbing between her legs where she was pressed up against Jo's butt. The vibration of the bike's motor and the intimacy of their position on the bike played havoc with her libido, and she was finding it very difficult to stay still.

Blair knew she was in trouble. She was attracted to Jo, a juvenile delinquent from the Bronx. The fact that Jo was a girl wasn't nearly as much of an issue as it could have been. Blair's family was actually quite liberal when it came to homosexuality, so she wasn't too worried about that aspect. Her father's older sister was a lesbian and had been in a relationship with the same woman for as long as Blair could remember.

Blair had considered the option before, recognizing those feelings within herself, and she'd even talked to her mother about it. They'd discussed bisexuality and the potential to fall in love with the person, rather than their gender, so Blair had been open to the idea from the beginning. She'd just never met any girls she wanted to date before, and boys were so much easier to control anyway. Plus, they paid for everything, which was exactly the way it should be.

But Jo?

No one in Blair's family dated beneath their status without risking a scandal. Her aunt's wife came from a wealthy and highly respected family in upstate New York. If Blair introduced Jo as her girlfriend, her father would go through the roof, and her mother would probably pass out. They'd never be able to accept a blue-collar girl like Jo as a potential suitor for their upper-class daughter. They'd probably think Jo was just after her money.

But Blair knew better. Jo didn't care anything about money. In fact, she was the complete opposite of Blair. She didn't care who you were, just what you did. And Blair knew that was the real reason why her attraction could never be returned, even if Jo were inclined to like girls, which Blair thought was a pretty good possibility, judging from the way the girl dressed and acted.

The real problem was that Blair had always put Jo down because of her rough background. Blair had been raised to believe that wealth and social standing were more important than anything else, but the more time she spent away from them, the more she learned that those were not the best reasons to like or dislike someone.

The perfect example was Jo herself. Even with all the fights, Jo had always been there for her when she'd needed help. Even now, it was Jo that had offered to take her out when she'd been unable to accept the invitation from Conrad, and Blair couldn't think of any other friends who would do that for her.

And Blair had to admit she'd had a much better time than she probably would have had with the stuffy boy. Jo made a great date, even though they'd each paid for their own tickets and refreshments.

As they neared the school, Blair realized she didn't want the ride to end so soon. Though her head told her it was better to end her torture now, her body didn't want to lose the intimacy with Jo's body. She felt comfortable, and the cool breeze was nice after spending so much time in the theater, which had been very warm from so many bodies packed into the small space.

"Hey, Jo?" Blair called out.

Jo turned her head slightly so that her ear was closer to Blair's mouth.

"Yeah?" Jo waited.

"Could we keep riding around for a while longer?" Blair asked hesitantly.

Jo felt her heart skip a beat at the request. She wanted to prolong their contact too, but she wasn't sure how much more she could take. She didn't want to take the chance of inadvertently giving away her feelings. If Blair found out she was attracted to her, the girl would probably tease her about it until the day she died.

"It's pretty late. We should probably go home," Jo apologized.

Blair remembered what time the movie had let out and added another twenty minutes.

"It's only nine-thirty. We don't have to be back until eleven on the weekends, so we have plenty of time," Blair argued.

Jo sighed, though she really wasn't all that upset.

"All right. Where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere," Blair said.

Jo smiled. That was the approach she usually took to riding her bike. It wasn't the destination that mattered, only the journey.

Jo turned off the main road and headed into the more deserted areas on the outskirts of the small town. The roads tended to wind a little more, and she really enjoyed the feeling of flowing down the road. It was almost meditative.

After nearly an hour of driving, Jo started them heading in the direction of home. She was getting tired, and she'd felt Blair sigh and possibly yawn several times. But she wasn't expecting it when she felt Blair's chin rest on her shoulder. The feeling was indescribably warm, and Jo couldn't stop herself from leaning her head to the side to sort of hug Blair's head.

Blair grinned when she felt Jo tilt her head to touch her own. She was sleepy and had just needed to remove some of the strain from her neck. Her eyes had closed against the wind, but now her body was wide awake. She knew Jo's ear was barely an inch from her mouth, and she was having a hard time not moving to kiss it or lick it.

By the time the two sixteen-year-olds were pulling into the parking lot, they were both more aroused than they'd ever been before. Whether it was conscious or not, as Blair removed herself from the bike, her hand slid just under Jo's breast, causing them both to suck in some air in surprise.

Blair felt herself blushing in the darkness and occupied herself with untying the string from her right wrist in order to transfer it to her left. She couldn't believe she'd just copped a feel on her friend. She just prayed Jo hadn't noticed.

Jo kept her eyes fastened on Blair's fingers, as she worked the knot in the pale light of the moon. The feel of Blair's fingers brushing across her ribs and grazing the underside of her left breast had been more than her brain could handle. If she'd had the guts, she would have pulled Blair into a kiss, but as it was, she just followed the girl inside and up to their room.

They immediately shed the string that tied them together and prepared for bed. Jo considered peeking, but she restrained herself. She didn't need any more fuel for the fire that was raging between her legs. And if Blair caught her, she'd have to explain herself, which was the last thing she wanted to do.

Blair was way beyond peeking. She was so lost in her thoughts of undressing Jo in her mind that it never even occurred to her that all she needed to do was turn around to see how close her fantasy was to the reality.

Jo finished buttoning up her pajama top and pulled the covers over her body. She turned on her side to face the wall and waited for Blair to turn off the lights. A minute later, the room went dark, and she could hear Blair getting settled.

Neither of them spoke, as they tried to forget each other's presence and go to sleep.