Poison

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters created originally by Chris Angel and are copyrighted to him, any reposting or archiving without written permission is an infringement on the copyright of this series. So in other words You damn well better ask before you steal it.

Feedback: Every author in his or her own way makes it a point to ask for feedback when posting a story, well me I don't usually. But there are several reasons as to why a reader should consider taking the time to give it. The simple fact is that giving some form of feedback is truly the most important thing a reader can do after reading and enjoying a story. Hopefully in the process providing that author with at least one viable reason as to what you liked about the story. This small amount of time spent will no doubt inspire the author to write more and possibly at a quicker pace, knowing that they have a fan base who are waiting on their next works. So thanks for the feedback and please keep it comin.

Summary: From writer/producer Chris Angel comes this intoxicating tale of lesbian lust and...love? Poison.

Original Airdate: December 3, 2008 @ 9:00 p.m.
(following an ALL NEW ' Slash TV')

Story Codes: no sex

Five days.

Just a short five days later, the following week's Monday, was the day that Dani had finally gotten well enough to return to school. Lisa couldn't say that she was excited, there were, after all, few things in life that she got that way about. But she was feeling as close to it as was humanly possible. Ever since the day she'd first seen Dani so beaten up and bruised, Lisa had been hungering for her to get better and to get out of that horrible situation. Thus far it seemed like both goals were achieved. But that hadn't been all she'd felt. Lisa was so introverted that she thought everything out. From how her lips chapped in cold weather to the way people looked at her shoes. It all dwelled on her mind and she sought to organize all the implications in her private little world. So although Lisa had longed for the moment Dani got better, she couldn't help but wonder how things would be between them if she did.

Dani had become more honest and open since Vino's beating of her. Once she was better, would she revert back to her old self? That callow girl that seemed to want Lisa for nothing other than a periodic fuck? Lisa couldn't help but wonder as the days rolled on. However, when she finally did see Dani again, she was pleased to see that that wasn't the case. And Lisa knew this now because she was currently engaged in what would become something of a tradition for them.

A Monday morning muffin.

When Lisa woke up for school that morning she expected to take the bus alone. Usually she went with Nicole, but she had an early morning practice with Jenny and the other Deltas in preparation for their next big game. Because of that Lisa had to go by herself. But as she completed her morning routine (computer time, feeding Koenig, a bit of awkward coffee with her Father, etc) and stepped out the door, she saw Dani's car parked out in front. its own sat in wait. Dani herself looked great now. Though she still had her ribs bandaged, the bruises to her face had regressed and her cuts were all but healed. There was a glow about her again but the arrogance was gone. All that was left was a quite beautiful girl who'd faced up to herself and come out on top.

When Lisa approached her, Dani offered her a quick stop at a bakery before driving her to school. Normally she dreaded seeing Dani's car parked out front (if not for the tenuous relationship they had back then, then to make sure her parents didn't see) but this time she felt less trepidation. So she accepted the offer and was driven to a quiet little bistro on the corner of an empty shopping plaza just a few blocks away. A 'bakery' that sold both coffee and pastries, with a common area specked with numerous plastic tables occupied by fellow customers. If anything it was more like a cafe. And that was where Lisa and Dani were now.

They stood out somewhat. Two young women, one slightly older than the other, amid a sea of older folks. They were all adults, mid twenties to late forties, affluent and suburban in their angle. Suits and ties and the like, sipping lattes and cappuccinos before cracking open some of L.A.'s finest fawning broadsheets. It was exactly the crowd that Dani had always been so adverse to. The Italian girl seemed to pick up on Lisa's confusion about that because the next thing she said was,

"They make the best double chocolate chip muffins in town."

Lisa couldn't tell if Dani had said that because of her transparency or because she herself felt how out of place they seemed to be here. She wanted to believe it was the latter. But whatever the reason Lisa simply shrugged and broke off a piece of her blueberry muffin.

Dani watched her pop the soft chunk into her mouth with a grin. "That's really cute, you know."

"...What is?"

"The way you pick and nibble at your food. You're like a little bunny or something."

So the blonde blushed. She would never learn how to take a compliment without getting flustered but it felt nice all the same. There were no overarching angles or concerns now, she didn't have to worry if Dani was only saying pleasant things about her to get inside her panties. It was surprising how calm that made Lisa feel about all this. A fortnight ago she would have balked at the idea of sharing time with Danielle Cooper in a public place. Now here they were munching on muffins together in full view of a suburban elite.

Of course, despite how pleasant this all was, she couldn't help but ask, "...How are things at your Mom's...?"

It seemed like Dani hadn't expected that kind of question because the moment she was asked that she paused. But it was a pause followed by a sigh, and a slump of her chin into her palm. "It's... a lot better, I guess. I haven't heard from my Dad in a few days. Once he found out where I was he just stopped calling. But I think I'm holding up there. Mom's been really good to me, and even though I can't stand her boyfriend, he's pretty busy with Molly most of the time."

"Molly?"

"My little sister," Dani explained. "Well, half-sister. He spends most of his time looking after her while Mom's at work during the day. Don't ask me why though. It's West Hollywood. You'd think with all the gay guys up there it wouldn't be so damned hard to find a babysitter."

Lisa frowned at her. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard you say."

"Huh...?"

"You think it's odd that a man might actually want to run a house and raise a child? This isn't the fifties."

Dani grinned, taking a bite out of her chocolate chip muffin. "Easy there, tiger. If he wants to iron my Mom's pantsuits and make cookies for the church bake sale then it's all his. I really couldn't give a crap. I just think it's weird that while my Mom's out there working herself assless, he's curled up on the sofa watching Oprah."

It seemed that there was one thing Dani had inherited from her father and that was a work ethic. She was the kind of woman that always had to be doing something with herself, even if it was a trivial practice. Lisa couldn't say how redeeming that was but it was nice to know that when push came to shove Dani was prepared to work at something, especially if it was something she wanted.

"Maybe that's a good thing," Lisa suggested. "I mean, you don't have a job, do you?"

Dani shook her head. "Not anymore, no. I used to work at a this little boutique in a mall that sold all these tacky French dresses and shitty overpriced perfume. I kind of hated it at the time because everyone there was so damn snooty."

"If you hated it then why did you stay?"

"Why d'you think? The money. Petrol ain't cheap and neither was my car. I had to save up a lot of cash for that baby `cause I wasn't gonna get it from my Dad and I didn't wanna bother my Mom. So I just sort of swallowed my pride and ran with it. Wasn't all that bad though. Wasn't the worst place to pick up a girl."

Lisa stopped for a moment, and, ever the thoughtful one, it suddenly struck her. Dani had a romantic history. It sounded kind of stupid in her head when she thought the thought, most people their age did, even Nicole had a long-term boyfriend. So why was it suddenly hitting her that Dani would have been with girls before they met? It wasn't really that shocking. Danielle Cooper knew her way around the bedroom. You didn't get that way without having some kind of experience beforehand. It was strange in that way... that Lisa felt so surprised at the notion. It made her wonder other things too. Like who these girls were, how far they went with her, how deeply she cared about any of them. Was it anything like what Lisa and Dani had now (or at least where starting to have?). She couldn't tell.

"Hey," Dani waved a crumble-ridden hand in her face. "Are you spacing out again?"

That made the blonde girl snap into focus again. Every time she got into deep thought about something she just lost sight of everything else. And while Lisa made a mental note to work on that, she couldn't help but be a little distracted by what she'd been thinking. It made her terribly self-conscious too. Dani was the only person on earth that she had ever slept with. Encumbering that kind of woeful inexperience, it was hard to imagine someone as outgoing as Dani would even bother with her -- and yet here they were together, sharing the closest thing they'd had to date since knowing each other.

"Lisa?"

Again she had to snap out of it. "Huh?"

"What're you thinking about?" Asked the brunette. "We're not late or anything."

"No, I... uh..." Maybe it didn't matter. The past was the past. Whoever Dani dated in the yesteryears didn't matter anymore. She wasn't with those women now. Though Lisa had to remind herself that she wasn't technically with Dani now either, there was... a connection. It was like a bud in springtime, repressed by a cold winter, that now wanted to blossom and display its pretty pink petals before the world.

Lisa smiled privately, to herself and not to Dani, before tearing off another fragment of her muffin and slipping it between her lips. She chewed. "It's nothing. I was just wondering about... something silly, that's all."

"Okay," Was Dani's only reply, before returning to her own muffin.

Then there was a silence. The only thing heard at their table was what was going on at other tables, their chatting, newspaper rustling, pastry crunching, and the clinks of coffee cups against their saucers. But it wasn't one of those uncomfortable silences two people could begrudge. It was nice. Pleasant. And Lisa often found herself glancing up from her muffin and stealing little glances of Dani as she ate. It was really impossible to describe how beautiful Danielle was. Even the way she ate was cute, in its own way. But when she was caught staring at her Lisa looked away, with a little blush and a tiny smile, like a kid with her hand in the cookie jar. So when Dani started grinning at her she just felt embarrassed enough to change the subject.

"Are you going to do it today?" Lisa asked.

"Do what today?"

"What we talked about last week? You apologizing to Nicole?"

Dani sighed, woofing down the last of her muffin. If it wasn't clear that Dani and Nicole weren't going to get along anytime soon before then it was clear now. But that didn't change the fact that Lisa wanted some of the bad air out of the way, once and for all.

"Dani please, it's important to me."

"That's the only reason I'm doing it." She clarified.

Lisa exhaled. "...Why don't you like her?"

"..."

"...Dani?"

She saw the Italian girl fidget then. Dani looked away whilst clapping the crumbs from her hands. But eventually it came, the reply, in a tone more fragile than Lisa expected. "When... when you broke up with me... you said that you liked her. Do you?"

At first Lisa didn't remember that. So much had happened since then that it kind of escaped her memory. But she did think back to their pseudo-break up. It was the evening Lisa spent with Nicole and her parents. Dani had been drinking at the time. It was the day after that that she and Nicole had gotten into that fight. And Lisa recalled Dani asking her what her feelings were for Nicole i.e. "Do you like her?". She hadn't said anything but that same silence had suggested it. In hindsight Lisa knew that what she was felt was for Nicole was a construction and no more than that. But Dani didn't know that. In fact it didn't even occur to her that Dani was still thinking about it.

"...I thought I did."

"What changed?" Asked the older girl.

"I don't know. I guess I just... I kind of... realized what I was doing, and..."

"Is she straight?"

Though Lisa failed to see what that had to do with anything, she replied, "...I think so. Yes."

Then Dani started chuckling. It was a humorous little chuckle of victory, like she'd just won something, that she cast when she leaned back in her chair. Lisa pouted at it. You needn't be a genius to read the subtext of the laugh. It was as if to say, 'I knew all along'.

"It's not funny." Stated Lisa.

So Dani sobered up a little. "...No. You know what, no it's not. But I'm not gonna lie to you either. I'm glad."

Lisa didn't see it as something anyone could have been 'glad' about at first. In fact if her feelings for Nicole had been more real she imagined she could have come out of it all hurt, like many girls did. There weren't often times when Lisa pondered the situation of other gay girls out there -- she tried not to because she had always been adverse to be being seen as part of a lump sum (just another girl, just another blonde, just another American, etc) but it did make her wonder how other people dealt with the possibility of falling for straight girls. Oh sure, Lisa combed the Net over, looking for angst-ridden Sapphic poetry and fiction, but she'd never spoken to someone who went through it. In that way she wondered why Dani could have been glad about it.

Then of course, she felt a hand press itself over hers. For some reason Lisa had slipped her hand underneath the table and rested it on her knee. What she felt was a stronger hand on hers, gentle stroking it with the thumb. It was Dani's hand. Lisa blushed, smiling at her, but not saying anything. That was why she was glad.

"...What?" Dani said with a shrug. "I can be romantic. Sometimes."

"Dani, I'm... really glad that you're okay with this..." the blonde explained. "About me needing time?"

"I don't mind waiting for you. I just want us to be together, you know?"

Lisa felt her heart gush. But she'd do nothing to suggest it. She couldn't let Dani know how much that pleased her, not just yet. She still had to be sure that embarking on a relationship with her was the right road to go down. "...Yeah. I think I do."

So the morning proceeded. All in all it was one of the first times they had actually sat down and spoken to each other seriously about their lives -- without the horror of Dani's past life hanging over their heads. It was significant for that reason and welcomed in both their hearts because of it. But unfortunately they couldn't sit there and eat muffins all day. Not least because they had school (and Lisa wasn't big on pastries to begin with) just half an hour or so away. So when they were done Lisa and Dani left the bakery for the car park to climb into the car. From there it was just a short drive to Alderson High. As they later turned into school parking Lisa spotted the time. It was quarter to nine. Class was going to start soon. With her hand at the wheel Dani parked just between two other student cars before pulling her keys from the ignition.

"We should do this again sometime," Dani suggested softly. "Just you, me, and a muffin."

Lisa peeked a smile at her. "I'd like that."

"Well it's the best I can do on short notice."

"A muffin's fine with me."

"...Okay," Dani's smile was bright enough to shatter stars. "I guess we better get to class."

Though Lisa was pleased to have Dani back at school it hadn't escaped her notice that the blouse beneath the leather of the Italian girl's jacket was 'ridged' slightly. She still had her rib bandages on. Though she might have been well enough to come back to school she still wasn't a hundred percent. As long as she didn't push herself too hard that needn't be a problem, yet Lisa was still a little concerned. So frowning slightly, she leaned over to tenderly kiss Dani's cheek.

"Take it easy today, okay? Just until you're better."

She shrugged. "Lisa, I feel fine."

"Promise me."

"...Okay. Okay. I won't sign up for any skydiving classes or 10-K runs. Oh shit, this is gonna ruin all my plans. I mean, I was thinking of flying over to Vatican City to punch the Pope. What about the Pope? Can I still punch the Pope?"

Lisa giggled lightly. "No you can't. And you're not as funny as you think you are."

"Yeah, maybe not," She unbuckled her seat belt. "I'll see you later then, yeah?"

"Yes."

Then Lisa unbuckled her own seatbelt, climbed out of the car, and closed the passenger side door behind her. She went straight for her locker then straight for class, once again it was History with Mrs. Swirlin. Nicole came in a little later than she did from her morning practice with the Deltas. Mrs. Swirlin couldn't reprimand her for it though because she had a note from their Coach. She simply took a seat next to Lisa's desk and they got on with the lesson. The hours marched on and one subject warped into the next until it hit its usual fleeting climax at half-noon, lunch hour. Lisa and Nicole went down to the cafeteria together, got in line, waited, and eventually were served by the lunch ladies on hand. Lisa moderated herself on an egg salad sandwich, a carton of milk and an orange. Nicole loaded her tray with chilli fries, chicken fingers and a 'pauper's-worth of garden salad' (Lisa speak for a leaf of lettuce and a slab of tomato) with a can of coke and a thin slice of chocolate cake on the side.

As per usual Lisa wanted to go outside to eat. But then she heard Nicole say, "You wanna bag outside today?"

"...Why?"

"Well," Nicole blushed a little. "There's no special reason or anything. I just think it would be good."

Good for who? Lisa heaved a sigh but she didn't put up an argument. She couldn't be bothered and to be perfectly honest she didn't want to. She only followed Nicole to one of the side-most tables and sat down when she chose an empty one. Yet when they started eating Lisa noticed that Nicole was a bit distracted. It was only a few minutes later that she realized why. Michael, Megan's adoptive brother, entered the lunch hall. Since Nicole had met him last week she had been enthralled by him, commenting that she could be "the Idina Menzel to his Taye Diggs". He was a senior however, like Dani, which meant that he didn't share any of his classes with her. The only times she got to see him were before school, between classes, at lunch, or after school. That didn't give Nicole many windows. So as soon as she spotted Michael and watched him grab some lunch for himself, she stood up and flagged him down.

"Hey Michael!" She gestured. "Over here!"

He was across the lunchroom at the time. But the loudness and eagerness on Nicole's part carried her whims over the throng of the other kids. When he heard her he looked around for a moment, not really knowing where they were, but eventually found them holed up by their table. Lisa watched him approach them with a toothy, 'what the hell?' kind of smile.

"Hey y'all," Michael said cheerfully. "Megan and Jenny gonna be with you?"

Nicole shook her skull. "No, uh, I think Jenny's still in practice and Megan's with her. Why don't you sit with us until they get here?"

She immediately pulled out the chair next to her and patted its seat. Lisa glanced up at Michael. To look at his face it seemed that he wasn't getting that Nicole was hot for him... he probably assumed Nicole was just being friendly to him in virtue of Megan. But while Lisa didn't know anything about Nicole's interest in Megan she sure as hell could see her interest in her brother. As he sat next to her Nicole turned to him with a brilliantly bright and flagrantly flirtatious smile.

"You know," Nicole began smoothly, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger. "It's so cool that you're so supportive of the Deltas. I mean not a lot of guys out there take soccer seriously, much less, girl's soccer. I think that's really awesome."

Michael shrugged. "Ah, it's no big deal. I mean... Jenny and me go way back, and she's... pretty tight with my sister and all, so I'm just out there doing my thing."

Nicole frowned at the whole 'Jenny and me go way back' thing. "You and Jenny are... close...?"

"Yeah, we're good friends," he clarified. "I think she's the only one besides me who isn't creeped out by the way Megan acts sometimes. But I swear to God, don't tell either of them I said that. They'd kill me."

Little Nicole offered Michael a shrug, that somehow moved her chair closer to his. "I'm not gonna say a word... as long as you come watch us play Ellis-Johnson High next Wednesday?"

"You have a match next Wednesday?" Lisa blinked. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't? Oh well, its next week and all. You're welcome to come too. Megan always does." And so her attentions went back to Michael. Lisa suddenly started to feel like second string material here. It wasn't to say that she at all begrudged Nicole's crush, she didn't, but at the same time she didn't like feeling like a third wheel. Situations like this bugged the hell out of her because they were a subtle reminder of how lonely she often was. And there's nothing quite like acknowledging your own loneliness when not on your own.

Lisa went about picking at her food after that, while Nicole flirted so damn obviously with Michael, and he absorbed it without really 'knowing' it. Neither one of them paid much attention to her as they went about the business that straight people had the luxury of being able to do so freely. But while she ate her egg salad sandwich Lisa found herself unintentionally observing the way Nicole and Michael played off each other. Despite all her brilliances Nicole was a terrible flirt. She wasn't bad at the art, per say, she just lacked finesse -- constantly touching his arm, mimicking his bodily gestures, laughing just a bit too hard at his jokes; at times her smile bordered on saccharine in its intensity. Michael on the other hand just seemed to cling on obliviously with some kind of reserved politeness. It struck Lisa as odd for a moment because even a blind person could see how apparent Nicole's flirtation was. Michael couldn't have been that dense, and upon closer inspection, she figured out that he wasn't. When Lisa looked hard at him, searching out his expressions and bodily nuances, she realized that he just wasn't confident around girls. But in his eyes it was clear that he knew that Nicole was into him -- and also clear that he liked her too (or at the very least was quite attracted to her).

Lisa didn't blame him.

But at the same time she didn't much relish the idea of watching these two playing cat-and-mouse games whilst visually digesting each other. By the time she'd get her reprieve Michael had mellowed out a little which made his 'conversation' with Nicole more loose and by extension, more forthcoming.

"I'm totally crazy about Kubrick movies."

"Me too!" Nicole beamed, chin in her palm. "Isn't it weird how we have so much in common?"

Michael flushed a little. "Well, uh... Megan and I have a little Movie Night that we do every Saturday. I bag some DVDs, she makes popcorn, then we just crash on the couch. I know it doesn't sound much like her thing but it's like a tradition... sort of. Point is, I was thinking of doing a Kubrick marathon this week, you know? Eyes Wide Shut, Spartacus, Full Metal Jacket, The Shining. Jenny's been stopping by these past couple of months so, if you wanna come-"

"I'd love to." She abruptly replied.

"Great. That's great," Lisa saw him turn to her. "Do you wanna come too?"

"...Huh?"

He shrugged. "Lisa was your name, right? We've got room for one more."

"Oh, uh... I don't know, I..." In all honestly Lisa hadn't expected an invitation, nor would she have believed it if she had been told one was impending. It probably wasn't even on Nicole's agenda to invite her (what with her being so consumed by her newest crush) but Michael was clearly a gracious man, if a little gauche. But the choice was elementary in that there really was only one choice -- to say yes. It didn't escape her grasp that it might be somewhat awkward for her. Jenny and Megan were likely to be pretty preoccupied with each other (like always) and Nicole was sure to be devoting most of her time to charming (or seducing, depending on your view of her outrageously bad flirtations) Michael. But deeper than that was a will to find something, a union, a lack of distance, something to strike away her loneliness. Up until the whole Dani situation she'd considered solitude her lot in life. But there were people around her now that she liked, and for some reason seem to like (or at least tolerate) her. What was the point of keeping them at arm's length?

"Sure." Lisa offered.

Nicole blinked with confusion. "Are you sure, Lisa? I thought you weren't into movies?"

Now she remembered (and regretted) admitting to Nicole that wasn't big on movies over the phone a few days back. And although she wasn't sure if Nicole said that because she actually found it weird or rather because she wanted as much of her fixation to herself as possible, Lisa didn't argue the point. She merely said, "I don't mind trying something new," and left it at that.

So for the first time since Michael's arrival she turned her attentions from him to Lisa. And she wasn't smiling. The brunette rolled her eyes and nodded succinctly in his direction, then off toward the door. But when it became clear to her though that Lisa didn't get what she was trying to convey, Nicole piped up, "Hey you know what? I think I just remembered something."

"What'd you remember?" Asked Michael.

"Jenny loaned me a book for Art class last week. I was supposed to give it back to her this morning but I totally lost track of time during soccer practice." Then Nicole gave Lisa an overly-bright smile. "Could you go give it to her for me, Lisa? I'll totally owe you one."

She could have gone to the O'Reilly Factor website to order one of those 'Don't Block the Shot' bumper stickers before stamping it on her forehead and still it'd have been more subtle than that was. How many more ways could you tell someone you wanted them out of the way without telling them you wanted them out of the way? People tended to learn new things about Nicole everyday, and the newest thing Lisa had learned about her was that Miss Milligan didn't play around when she was hot for a guy. Even if that meant, in so many words, telling your friend to beat it.

Lisa heaved a sigh. She would have been a little peeved about this if not for Nicole's past break-up with Ryan. If anyone deserved to be happy right now it was her. More to the fact, Lisa still didn't want to be a third wheel here. As she stood up Nicole dragged a textbook out of her bag and slid it across the table to her. Lisa snatched up the Impressionist tome to slip it into her own bag.

"Thanks, Lisa," Nicole said with a wink. "I'll make it up to you."

Both Lisa's expression and her thoughts pretty much said 'whatever' to that. Nevertheless she wasn't going to hang around, especially not in the cafeteria, a place she unequivocally loathed. The blonde slinked her bag onto her shoulders, said her goodbyes (with Nicole briefly mentioning that Jenny should be out on the soccer field with some of the Deltas for their lunchtime practice) then left. She took her tray with her and was sure to dump what little she didn't eat in one of the lunch bins before booking it. Only as she turned to the door did she look back at the table. They looked even more blatant at a distance, with Michael nattering on about something and a charmed Nicole hanging off his every word. Lisa simply rolled her eyes and left them to it. She headed straight for the rear of the school after leaving the 'mess hall', crossing the courtyard and traversing three departments until she got to soccer field behind the Art department. Just as Nicole said, some of the Deltas were there, dressed in gym class shorts and socks, but there was no Jenny. She saw that Megan wasn't there either when she looked at the empty bleachers.

So Lisa walked up to one of the other girls and asked, "Have you seen Jenny?"

"You want Jenny?" quipped the girl. "I think she said she was hungry or something so she went to the lockers to get changed just a minute ago. She's probably still in there if you wanna see her."

"Thank you." Lisa said to the girl as she turned on her heels and headed for the gyms. They were just a short distance from the field and most of the doors were unlocked. She took her hand to one of the bars to pull the door open before slinking in, in search of Jenny. In an adjacent side door were the locker rooms. Lisa entered them but they (at first) appeared empty, with only a few school bags tucked in open lockers and clothes folded over wooden benches. Then strangely enough she heard something odd. It sounded at first like crying. It came from a conjoined room, and when Lisa peered their to see what was going on, she saw that room was in fact a unit of tiled shower compartments. Water had been left running in one of the stalls but no one was in it. But the patter of the water didn't drown out the sound of the sob, it being as blunt as it was. And as Lisa stole closer to the source she noted that it wasn't crying at all. It was protracted moaning.

Sheer curiosity made her peer around the corner of the stall she was standing by. But what she saw held her transfixed in the most illicit way -- what she saw was Jenny and Megan; kissing each other with damn near animalistic fury.

Lisa's eyes widened into saucers. Whatever she expected to see this certainly wasn't it. An entirely amorous Jenny had the meeker Megan pushed up against the wet white tiles of the wall whilst her smooth lips battered those of the Asian girl. At the moment the blouse Megan was wearing had been rolled up to her chest and arms, freeing the slight bounce of her bosom to the sight. The faint copper of her rubbery nipples were utterly swollen into stiffness and stood prominent from small milk chocolate-y aureoles. Those same breasts coursed up and down as Jenny ground against her, with the thigh of her left leg pushed deep between Megan's hips. They writhed together as they kissed, enraptured by total arousal, so enraptured that they failed to see a astonished Lisa metres across from them.

Instead they only deepened their intimacy. The grasp Jenny had of Megan's throat, a throat she held so carefully as it bobbed with mouth contractions, slipped. One of her hands descended the slink of her lover's body only to seize Megan's left mound. Megan consequently broke the kiss with a quiver, eyes locked shut, and moaned her approval with sultry elegance. Jenny's fingers took to her breast not unlike a sculptor, who moulded and kneaded a downy material to a finality with enamoured poise and artful composition. The goalkeeper knew full well how to manipulate Megan with her tits. A caress here, a squeeze there, perhaps even a pinch of her distended nipple -- all to provide electric shocks of indubitable pleasure to her girl, to make her writhe in ways only she could provoke. And her recompense? Blissful sobs that folded into Jenny's ears like a hummingbird's chirps; creating in her a sense of pride about her lavish labours.

It seemed though that if she couldn't kiss Megan's lips then she had to kiss her throat. It was swan-like it its appearance and displayed a pearly velvetiness that Jenny took her lips, tongue and teeth to. Licks became kisses and kisses became bites, all the while Jenny's hand continued groping at Megan's left tit, whilst her thigh stroked back and forth up the smaller girl's crotch. Megan's expression was positively angelic; her thin eyebrows had arched up, her dusky olive cheeks were flushed, eyes had clamped closed, sylvan mouth opened. All that, along with the way her sweat dripped down the contours of her face in glossy diamond droplets, gave Megan all the mesmerising beauty of a cherubim within that single instance in time. Jenny noticed the loveliness of that expression as she pulled away from the girl's neck, a neck now slick with her spittle, destined to flower with hickeys over the coming hours. Megan finally opened her eyes then. They stared hard at each other, displaying something in that instance, something that said that this was more than a cheap, reckless quickie. That `something' was love. They loved each other.

"Jenny..." the shorter girl whimpered. Not so suddenly she unwound her arms from around the taller girl`s neck and took one of Jenny`s own. Megan brought that hand to her lips to kiss its fingertips, an act that made Jenny sigh delicately. "Jenny, please..."

"It hasn't been that long..." Said the goalkeeper, her voice low from the weight of her breaths.

"Yes it has..." Protested Megan. "Please..."

How could she be refused? Jenny let Megan pull her hand down. The three of them watched that hand descend and disappear below the waistband of the Asian girl's jeans and when it found its rightful place the reaction was instantaneous. Megan juddered with a heavy, rasping gasp that dwarfed the intensity of her previous moans by a sizeable margin. Her thin arms grappled Jenny's body to her own as her feet arched on the floor just as the taller girl put all of her weight behind the thrust of her fingers, and as a result, Megan's form moved with hers. In time they established a heavy rhythm in which they ground together, Megan's back repeatedly slapping the wall, while Jenny leaned into her neck again to consume that smooth skin just once more. Megan's breathing grew more and more ragged, more laboured, more intense, until that illusive crescendo was reached. The most powerful moan of all burst forth, a harmonious and thunderous song collapsing into a breathless, heaving sigh. She rode out her orgasm to its very last, hanging onto Jenny as best she could, savouring every little bit of it, whilst Jenny's hand remained lodged firmly in her pants. To see its bulge there you could imagine no better place for it.

"I love you," Jenny murmured, between the kisses of Megan's neck. "I love you so much..."

A stunned and now flushed (very flushed) Lisa staggered away from the scene, completely forgetting about giving Jenny the book. The blonde girl stepped out of the lockers, out of the gyms, then leaned up against the wall in a vain attempt to catch her breath. What the HELL just happened?

**********

Lisa was left shaken and stirred after what she'd seen in the locker rooms that afternoon. It actually made her think about a lot. For one thing, seeing Megan and Jenny like that really felt like the sum of a query, like the crowning piece had been placed on a reasonably difficult puzzle. Suddenly all that she knew of those two girls made sense. Their closeness, the way the were always with each other, how tactile they seemed to be with each other, never really made sense. Now it did. The fact that someone as normal as Jenny was so close with someone as distant and morose as Megan now made sense. The idea of Megan coming to all Jenny's soccer matches just to watch her play, even when she didn't like the sport, now made sense. They were a couple.

At first Lisa couldn't help but mentally reprimand them for being stupid enough to do something like that in a public area, and in SCHOOL of all places. There was no excuse for doing something that thoughtless. Of course she blushed with embarrassment and guilt when she recalled Dani fucking her in her car a while back, but that was different. That was done in an empty car park. Even the times Dani kissed her in public were paltry in comparison to what Jenny and Megan did. But when she got past that in her thinking Lisa suddenly started thinking and seeing this in a new light. There was another gay couple in Alderson High.

It was the kind of thing you often wondered about when you were a sexual minority in high school. If other people were feeling what you were feeling, thinking what you were thinking, aching with the same aches. You might just bump into a crowd of trendies and hear them debate who was hotter, Brad Pitt or Matt Damon, and just think, in less profane terms; "who the fuck really gave a shit?". You might think, ever so privately, was there someone amongst them that wasn't buying into it? Was there someone amongst them that wasn't thinking about chest hair or six-packs or (God forbid) a penis? That was the secret dream of all high school closet-huggers; to accidentally stumble upon another closet-hugger. Because of that Lisa could not help but feel somewhat... excited. Sapphic existence wasn't her burden alone -- there were others she now knew of that had the same albatross. It was like being stranded on a desert island only to find someone else had managed to survive the plane crash.

But Lisa hadn't stamped her ass on a goldmine. She knew that because it wasn't really about her. It was about Jenny and Megan. They probably didn't want anyone else involved in their business. You couldn't blame them for that. She herself had no delusions about whispering her relationship with Dani, not even to Nicole, not yet. How would she even tell Jenny and Megan that she knew their secret? "Hey girls, I was passing by the lockers one day and I accidentally caught the pair of you offloading on each other. Wanna hang?". It was ridiculous. At best she'd sound like a voyeur and at worst (if she mentioned Dani) she'd sound like a swinger. She didn't even know how to react the next time she saw them and it soon dawned on Lisa that she couldn't say anything to them or anyone else about what she'd seen. It was nobody else's business nor was it her own -- the least she could do was kept it to herself for now.

Lisa spent all the lessons after lunch thinking about that. By the time the last lesson of the day, Cultural Studies with Mr. Stephens, was rolling along to its end, it was still the dominant thought in her head. Then the bell rang. Nicole (who was beside her) and everyone else started to gather their things together to leave. Lisa followed suit of course. Then when she and Nicole walked to the door, Mr. Stephens called out to the blonde;

"Lisa? Can I speak to you for a moment?"

Both girls halted but couldn't say what it was about it, automatically wondering if Lisa were in trouble. She was never in trouble. In fact not once in Lisa's life could she recall being given as little as detention. But when they came up to the pine wood of his desk it was clear that she wasn't in trouble, if the smile on his face said anything about it.

"Mr. Stephens?" She uttered tentatively.

"Do you remember that Existentialism report you turned in?" He said that as he brandished a folder Lisa silently realized was her own. She actually didn't remember it, but with all the things that had been going on in her life, her schoolwork was at best a distraction.

"Did I screw up...?" Questioned Lisa.

Mr. Stephens shook his head. "Not at all. It was fine. Problem is, you ended up mixing some kind of... story of yours with it."

At that point he shuffled out a second sleeve from underneath that folder with his thumb. Lisa flushed and Nicole gazed at the offending narrative when the teacher pushed the work into the blonde's hands.

"I hope you don't mind but I ended up reading it," he admitted with a sheepish smile. "I thought it was an essay but by the time I realized it wasn't I was hooked."

If embarrassment was something you could die from then Lisa surely would have dropped cold right there and then. How stupid could she have been to mix up her stories with her schoolwork? Before anything though she was quick to check what story it was. It was something she'd written a few months ago, a flowery novella called The Endlessness of her Chaos; a story set in Paris during the French Revolution, written in the form of a series of letters exchanged between a middle-aged woman called Amelia (whose husband had been dragged into the army by the levee en masse) and her childhood friend (whose own husband had been imprisoned on suspicion of being a counter-revolutionary). There was nothing lesbian or lesbian-tinged in it, thank God, just a recycling of certain feelings of animosity Lisa had at America right now. The idea of Amelia's husband being forced to fight was a reference to the way she felt about the Iraq War, just as the false accusation of the friend's husband was Lisa's attack on what she perceived of today's discriminatory Republican patriotism.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Stephens," Lisa muttered softly. "I really didn't mean to do that..."

The older one smiled. "Don't be sorry, Lisa. That story was amazing."

"Huh?"

"I'm serious. The characterisation, the exposition, the cunning way you manipulated that plot twist, you know the one about the cousin who died of cholera? I thought that was excellent. And you certainly have a beautiful manner of writing. A bit florid, maybe, and I'd certainly tone down on the adjectives a bit, but... I was really impressed."

Nicole gave her a smile and a nudge. "Wow, Lisa."

"It... it was nothing. I'm still not very good." She blushed.

"That piece begs to differ, Kiddo," Mr. Stephens said, grinning. "In fact... I had a little brainstorm when I finished it. Feel free to think about it, but... have you considered joining Miss Gilbertson's Creative Writing class? I think it's the perfect place for you."

This was all coming out of nowhere so she couldn't really come up with an answer on the spot. She was discomfited enough just knowing that Mr. Stephens had read her work. So her response to his suggestion was in fact reflective of that reality; "I'll uh... I'll have to think about it."

"Oh. Okay, well, you go ahead and think about it, and if you do decide to join her class, I guarantee she'd be over the moon to have you there."

Lisa pondered the idea of joining this creative writing class on her way out. But once they stepped out into the corridor Nicole snatched up the copy of The Endlessness of her Chaos and flicked nosily through its pages. Then the second Lisa tried to take it back Nicole pulled it further from her.

"Uh huh!" Said the girl from Utah. "You can't get it back until I read it!"

Lisa pouted. "Nicole!"

"Look, if this is as good as Mr. Stephens says it is then I've gotta read it. You might get a book deal one day, blow up, and suddenly I'll have to pay to read your stuff. Gimme a freebie."

"Nicole, I really don't think I'm comfortable-"

It was all smiles and jokes until Lisa's attention rolled past Nicole's shoulder. When she noticed Lisa's distraction her own smile faded and she turned around to see what was so interesting. However the brunette's face twisted into one of irritation when she saw the focus. It was Dani, standing just a short ways behind the pair. All three girls fell silent for a moment, ignoring the movements and loudness of the kids around them in that hallway. Nicole didn't stay quiet for very long though.

"What the hell do you want?" She barked.

Dani puffed out breath a second, as if to calm herself. She stole a fleeting glance from Lisa, who knew full well what this was about (and who also knew that it was long overdue). The bad blood had to stop. Dani swallowed down the last of her pride on this matter and said solemnly, "I'm not looking for a fight."

"Then what are you looking for?"

"I, uh..." It took a moment for her to get the words out, but in time... "I wanted to apologize for... what I said about your Dad a while back. That was a really shitty thing to do. I was going through a rough patch and I took it out on you and... it wasn't right. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."

Nicole was visibly taken aback. She clearly didn't see that one coming. Lisa on the other hand couldn't have been prouder. By looking at Dani she could see that the Italian girl wasn't completely comfortable doing this, but she did it anyway, only because she wanted to make Lisa happy. That really made a world of difference to her. And Lisa had to admit that it was not the worst thing in the world to see `tough tits' Dani chasten herself every once in a while.

Dani extended to Nicole her hand. "How about it?"

There was still some reluctance on Nicole's part. You couldn't blame her. The last time these two had come face to face they had tried to tear strips out of each other. But she did end up shaking that hand. Dani and Nicole locked eyes as they shook, conveying something to each other that Lisa couldn't quite read at that point. She'd one day realize just what that look meant -- that the only reason either of them tried to bury the hatchet was because it was important to Lisa -- and for no other reason. What Lisa did know was that these two still didn't like one and other very much. But it was going to be a personal quest of hers to get them to warm to each other.

"Lisa," Nicole began. "I've gotta run. I'm supposed to meet my Mom later on. Are you okay here?"

"I'm fine. You go. Have fun."

"Okay. I'll catch you later then," Nicole tersely glanced at Dani. "Seeya."

The older one just gave her a nod. Then the Milligan girl went about her business and calmly everyone forgot that she still had Lisa's story in her hand. But that was probably the furthest thing from Lisa's mind right now. All she could do was smile appreciatively at Dani, a smile so strong she could barely begin to wipe it off her face. The fact that Dani had done this was so much of a relief to Lisa but in more than one way. Now she didn't have to walk on hot coals every time Dani and Nicole ran into each other. Better still, she learned that Dani was prepared to listen to her, to give something back, to make an effort for their burgeoning relationship. Part of the problem before was that it felt like Dani wasn't hearing her or wasn't even willing to. That wasn't the case anymore.

So she did the first thing it occurred to her to do. She compelled Dani to follow her to the thankfully empty toilets down the corridor. They got into the first empty stall they came across and locked its door. Once they were safe Lisa clasped Dani by the softness of her cheeks, leaned up on her tip-toes and swiftly pressed their lips together. Maybe she was somewhat influenced by what she'd seen of Jenny and Megan, maybe it was because she was so damn proud of Dani, maybe it was because things seemed to be getting better in her life; she couldn't say -- but it was at once the most passionate kiss Lisa had ever initiated. It was made all the more luxurious when she heard Dani whimper with longing frailty, something she hadn't heard from her in while. As they kissed Dani's hands automatically found themselves at Lisa's waist to be poised on both hips and they remained like that for many a blissful moment, until the one where a now breathless Lisa finally pulled back.

"Wow," Dani whispered, with near Valley Girl dizziness.

Lisa beamed, wrapping her arms around Dani's neck. "Thank you so much, Dani."

Yep. Things were finally heading in the right direction.

***********

Afterthoughts

* Hey all. Sorry this one took so long. Future updates won't take as long to put out.

* I recognize that the Megan/Jenny sex scene was kind of short but I felt it necessary to make it so; the longer it went on the more Lisa would have come off looking like some kind of hyper-voyeuristic peeping tom. The couple in and of itself isn't a big part of the story, but the way other characters will eventually react to it is, so at the moment I see them as more of a plot device then anything else. But if anybody wants me to expand upon their relationship and go into more detail about them, I'd have no qualms in doing so.

* I have to note that this is also the first chapter of My Girl Is My Poison that ended on an entirely happy note. But will things stay this way? I guess you'll just have to keep reading future chapters to find out! ^_^

Stevie wrote this:
this has been an excellent story.The only question I have and Maybe I missed it somewher was how Dani and Lisa got together in the first place.thanks

Justin wrote this:
I loved this chapter. I don't think you need to change a thing about the sex scene. It was as long as it should have been and was beautifully descrived. Keep up the good work.

Jackie wrote this:
LOVE IT! "Poison" is my new favorite story of yours! I really like how simple (for lack of a better word) this storyline is. It's a nice change of pace from your other stories that have a multitude of relationships to focus on. I like being able to just focus on the progression of one couple. Dani and Lisa are so cute together, and I think it's interesting how you've changed Lisa's perspective over time. Can't wait for next week's episode!