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: August 6, 2008 @ 9:00 p.m.
(following an ALL NEW ' Megan In Charge!')

Story Codes: no sex

By the end of that day a few things had changed.

In all respects, Lisa had never enjoyed a day of school as much as she did that one. For the first time in her life as an outsider, she wasn't so deeply conscious of the fact that she was one. When she looked out at all the people who had once ignored her and ridiculed her for being who she was – for the first time she did not look at them as the cannons to her cannon fodder. She saw peers who were just people and nothing more. But that wasn't because she had summoned up some deep hidden willpower from within herself or read some pretentious philosophical text that had confirmed to her, her own self-worth; it was because of Nicole. And because Nicole was the first person on this Earth, sans the Internet, that she could call a friend. It was frightening and peculiar how well Lisa and Nicole had gotten on since they'd met each other. From a distance they clearly didn't `fit', at least not in terms of the great social hierarchy and structure of your typical American high school. Lisa, no matter how cute, was unmistakably nerdish while on the whole Nicole appeared to be the complete opposite. And yet for some reason they seemed to like each other. Nicole might not have shared all the interests of Lisa, such as philosophy, but unlike everybody else Nicole was aware of at least some of it, and made an attempt to at least engage with Lisa on any topic they knew of mutually. That alone was something Lisa felt thankful for. And she resolved to do the same for Nicole – to find something, anything, that she was interested in and invest some of her own devotion to it. Those were the primary thoughts making rounds in Lisa's brain when she and Nicole were walking home together. School had finished about twenty minutes ago. They left Mr. Stephens Cultural Studies class together, waited for a bus by the stop just outside of school grounds and when it came they rode it all the way down to her street (Nicole had been the daughter of the family that had moved in across the road). This time, not only did Lisa not go to the car park to meet Dani, but also she didn't once think to do so either. Dani didn't seem to be that day but Lisa hadn't really cared, either. Ever since Nicole came into the picture things had been different. Dani didn't dominate every waking thought in her mind and with that pressure off her back, Lisa felt more like her old self again. It was just another thing she had to thank her new friend for. She would do all that she could to repay that debt in the future by being the best friend she could be to Nicole.

As they slowly strode together down the quiet suburbia they both had to call home, Lisa asked, "What kind of things do you like to do in your spare time?"

"Me?"

"Yes," Lisa nodded, smiling. "Of course you. What do you like to do?"

Nicole interlocked her fingers behind her head and paused to think about it. "...Hmm. I suppose just the usual stuff. I like reading romance novels when I wanna relax, I like listening to music when I wanna chill out, and I won't turn down a good movie when one rolls by. Nothing out of the ordinary."

They didn't share many interests. But Lisa was willing to make things work, even if that meant engaging in things that she normally didn't. "Anything else?"

"...I don't... think so," Nicole answered, speculating distantly. "I mean, I used to have this weird thing about taking morning walks though parks, but..."

"That's not weird. You like doing that, right?"

Nicole smirked nostalgically. "Well I used to. It used to clear my head, when things got confusing, back in Utah, you know? But after a while I started taking someone I knew with me, mostly because that... person asked me to. And when we fell out it kind of put me off the whole thing. Too many bad memories."

"...I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's okay."

Lisa thought about that. It was weird. Through all their talking today not once had Lisa considered that Nicole actually might have a history of her own, a few skeletons in her closet. She didn't consider it. Now she did. And now she felt both resentful (someone had been enjoying Nicole before Lisa even knew about her) and pleased (because it didn't matter now that Nicole had moved out to L.A.) from thinking of it. But thinking about that led Lisa to think about other things – like; did Nicole have a romantic history? Was the `person' she was referring to part of it? The blonde didn't want to think of that being a possibility because, deep down, it hadn't escaped her memory that she had been thinking of Nicole during sex with Dani last night. At this point she didn't dare consider making any kind of romantic overture toward her, for more than one reason. She had a friend now and she didn't want to blow, she probably wouldn't have had the courage to tell Nicole anyway, and most of all there was a something in the back of Lisa's head telling her that Nicole was probably straight. She had little in the way of `gaydar' but everything else about Nicole so seemingly perfect, chances were high that had at least one flaw.

Then it occurred to Lisa that she was daydreaming. And why? Because the next thing she knew, Nicole was waving a hand in her face. "Hello in there? Earth to Lisa?"

"Huh?"

She pulled a lazy smile. "What were you thinking about?"

"N-nothing," Lisa started blushing again.

"Well `nothing' must be pretty spicy if those cheeks are flaring up like that again. Besides, we're home."

Lisa hadn't even noticed. When she looked across the street she saw her house, with both her Dad's BMW and her Mom's Lexus parked up in the driveway. Lisa shivered a little. It sometimes unnerved her how she could get so caught up in her own head. There were times when she'd walk somewhere, start thinking about something else, and then blow past her destination without even realizing it.

Nevertheless, Lisa turned to Nicole with a smile. "I really enjoyed today."

"You mean at school?" Nicole chuckled sceptically. "I'm a newbie and I already hate the place."

"Well... I know it was bad day for you, especially with that whole Josh Ellis thing, but... for me... it was one of the best school days I've ever had..."

"Come on!"

"No, Nicole, I really mean it," Lisa looked up at the slightly taller girl in earnest. "I usually hate it there... people either ignore me or pick on me and... I've never... I don't really have... a lot of friends, so..." she exhaled, struggling to get out what she was trying to say without sounding like a dork, "Look, what I wanted to say was... I'm really glad that you're my friend..."

Lisa watched Nicole stare at her with an even but questioning stare, slightly nervous, and felt charmed when that stare turned into a tiny, humbled, appreciative smile. "...You are all kinds of adorable, Lisa Whitfield."

Ever a person unable to handle the compliments of others, another bright red blush spread across Lisa's cheeks and she cast her gaze down at the sidewalk that the two of them stood on. Immediately she felt her heart swelling, its beats becoming more rapid. Dani had never made her feel like this. With Dani she always felt... guarded and to a certain extent unwilling. With Nicole she felt, with no better way to describe it, "free". But unfortunately she had to say goodbye. If she were ever late getting home more than twice a week Richard and Daphne would freak out.

Lisa pointed at her house. "I should get going."

"...Oh. Yeah. But before for you go, um..."

"Yes?"

Between her fingers Nicole played with a tress of her long brown hair. It was a habit which in future months, Lisa would learn meant that Nicole was nervous, "Look, this is gonna sound REALLY corny, but... would you like to... come have dinner at my house after school tomorrow? My Dad cooks a mean-"

"I'd love to...!" Lisa blurted out, cutting her off.

They went silent with each a moment before giggling in unison. They didn't need to say a thing more about it. Lisa's smile was now so bright it made her cheeks ache, but reluctantly she said a brief `I'll see you tomorrow' to her new friend before turning around and crossing the street. She looked back over her shoulder, once at the other curb and then once again at her door, by which time Nicole was getting inside. She waved to Lisa just before getting inside. The blonde girl did the same -- but when she got inside, she collapsed against the door with a breathless sigh and a happy, dreaming smile. She had never known anyone like Nicole before. Just being with her made Lisa happy. It was such a sudden, wanton, thing but it was undeniable. Yet such a wonderful feeling, something that Lisa was so alien to, did not last long.

The ringtone of her cell started jingling in her backpack.

Lisa's charming smile faded. Only three people on Earth knew her cell-phone number; her Mom, her Dad, and Dani. And since neither one of her parents ever called her cell (they knew what time she got home so they always called the house if they ever needed to get in touch with her after school) she knew there was only one possible person it could have been. With a sombre ache, Lisa pulled her backpack off of her torso and fished out her cell. With an awkward flick she opened and held it against her face.

"Hello?" she whispered.

"...Lisa," it was Dani. Lisa would have known that ashy voice anywhere. But there was something different this time. The confidence she had come to respect and worship in her spouse was absent somehow. It became clearer when she spoke on. "...Where are you? Are you home yet?"

Lisa's eyes darted from side to side as she probed the dejection in Dani's voice. She wanted to say something, to call it out, but for whatever reason, she didn't. "W-why are you calling me?"

"...I... I really need to see you."

There were thunderbolts with less authoritative strikes. It hit her dead on, Lisa's smooth blue eyes widening with a mixture of surprise and alarm. For the first time since knowing of her, Dani actually sounded vulnerable. It didn't even occur to her to be worried that something might be wrong, the shock was purely in the newly broadcast vulnerability. Lisa was so stunned by it that she actually fell silent for a moment.

"...Lisa? Are you still there?"

The blonde girl swallowed the lump in her throat to answer. "Yes, Dani, I'm still here."

"Can you... can you come see me?"

She weighed the idea in her mind. Truthfully, she didn't want to. It had been weird, but for the first time in weeks, her thoughts hadn't been dominated by Dani every waking moment. She had no idea how much she'd been missing that simple freedom. But whatever reluctance there was that Lisa carried, hearing the normally strident Dani sounding this way made simple compassion well up inside her. She couldn't have stopped it, whether she wanted to or not.

"...Where are you?" she asked.

She heard Dani breathe a sigh of relief on the other end, right before she replied; "I'm... I'm in the car, kinda close by. Are your parents home?"

"No." Lisa didn't even have to check to see if that were true. She knew her Mom would be down at the O'Caplen and Wintermire law firm and her Dad would be at his hospital.

"Okay, I'll uh, I'll come pick you up. I'll see you in a few."

She hung up.

Lisa exhaled and flipped her phone closed. For a few moments she did nothing but stare at her phone, eyes shaking. It soon hit home that something had to be wrong. Dani didn't normally call her up like that, most of the time she merely appeared out of nowhere. And when she did show her face, the first thing she had her mind on was getting into her panties. There was no bravado this time, no lust. It truly threw Lisa for six. Yet for that same reason it didn't take long for Lisa to acclimate. She stood up, slotted her phone away in one of her pockets, then ran upstairs to her bedroom. As soon as she got inside she tossed her back pack onto her bed and withdrew a pen and pad from one of her drawers. She paused a second, breathing out and then wrote down in a beautiful lying cursive,

"Mom + Dad. I have an important assignment to finish and I just remembered that I need a book from the library to do it. I'll probably be reading there for a few hours so don't be worried if I'm not here when you get home. Love Lisa."

She tore the note from the pad and folded it up. It was a barefaced lie and she knew it. She also knew that she had been lying to her parents more often because of her association with Dani; but right now that didn't matter much to her. Even when her pet kitten Koenig came up from under the bed and nuzzled himself against her leg, it was all Lisa could do to give him a dismissive, passing stroke. she merely strode out of her bedroom thereafter and went back downstairs. She then left the note somewhere where her parents were bound to see it; beside the answering machine on the hallway coffee table. After that it was just a six minute waiting game for Dani. That was all it took before she heard the distinctive sound of tyres running up the stone of her driveway. Lisa exhaled to calm herself again and opened the front door. She locked it behind her and walked up to the passenger side of Dani's car. The Italian-American woman reached across the empty seat to open the door for Lisa, and she climbed inside.

There was silence between them when Lisa sat down -- mostly because Dani was always the one to engage her in conversation with regards to these things. But when she cast her eyes away from her lap and at Dani, they widened in surprise to actually see her, or rather what had happened to her. And the silence was broken.

"W-what happened to you?" Lisa questioned.

Dani smiled weakly as Lisa stared aghast at her face -- her hair was tousled, sweaty and rough, there was a small cut across her cheek (which happened to be bleeding), and the bruise that Lisa had noticed before was joined by another just shy of the left corner of her mouth. Lisa instinctively reached out to touch her cheek, but Lisa winced at the caress. It still stung apparently.

"...Easy," whispered Dani.

Lisa's face twisted with confusion. "Were you fighting with someone?"

"Not exactly."

"Then what the hell happened?"

Dani frowned as her hands re-gripped the wheel. "...I fell down my stairs."

Lisa knew without thinking that that was bullshit. Dani wasn't that clumsy of a person, and a line so cliché and obtuse wouldn't wash. But at the same time, Lisa didn't want to push it. Danielle Cooper wasn't normally a secretive person, she was the type of woman who just let it all hang out. This was clearly different and Lisa didn't want to tax her about it. That was the last thing she planned on doing right now. So she slinked back in her seat, withdrawing slightly.

"Why did you call me?" she asked simplistically.

"...I just wanted to see you," there was a softness in Dani's voice now that Lisa had never known before. "You're... you're the only good thing I've got in my life right now."

The blood rushed to Lisa's cheeks. She clammed up like she always did, whenever Lisa had approached her suggestively. it didn't escape her that this was a little different. Not once before had Dani ever spoken to her like that, so tenderly (or at least as tenderly as someone like Dani could be). It was, truthfully told, endearing. Lisa bit her lower lip, cursing the heat in her cheeks, feeling Dani stare at her warmly. She felt a tugging in her heart. On the one hand she was concerned about what had happened to Dani and on the other, she actually felt charmed at the quiet sweetness she was now seeing in her. It was odd and frank in that way; and she knew that Dani always meant what she said.

"Come for a drive with me, yeah?" The older girl asked with a shrug. "It's won't be long."

Lisa pondered for a moment, then smiled a gentle smile at her. Dani returned that smile briefly before turning the keys in the ignition and bringing her car's engine to life. They backed out of the drive way and then drove off out into the suburban block Lisa called home. Before long they were cruising around an unknown but high street at the high afternoon. Lisa sat patiently all the while, stealing little glances at Dani before exchanging them with an elongated stare out of the window. But after a while she paid more attention to that cut across Dani's cheek. It was still bleeding. She didn't speak up until they approached a shopping arcade across the street.

"Lets stop here." Lisa asked.

Dani replied without looking. "Why? What's the big deal?"

"Your face," she replied. "Come on, just pull over."

The brunette exhaled and kept out an eye for parking. There was an mostly empty side road she spotted and so she turned into it, parking by the tail-end of an inert SUV. Lisa unbuckled her seat belt and climbed out of the car saying 'back in a few minutes'. The door slammed behind her and she crossed the street to the shopping arcade she had spotted earlier. Lisa soon found what she was looking for -- a drug store. When she entered it she perused all the aisles and shelves until she found the things she was looking for. Those things were a packet of painkillers, a roll of band-aids, a small jar of disinfectant and some cotton pads. It all came up to $13.50, which she paid to the teller, and then left. When Lisa crossed the street and returned to the car, a quarter of an hour, she sat down to see Dani with a milkshake in one hand, a cheeseburger in the other, and two soggy bags of McDonalds sitting tight on the dashboard.

Lisa closed the door. "Where'd you get all that from?"

With her mouth full, she couldn't speak, so she merely pointed with her hamburger hand to the right window. Sure enough, across the street was a small McDonalds branch. Lisa rolled her eyes and set the makeshift `medical kit' she had bought down on her lap. "Are you that hungry?"

"...I got some for you too," Answered Dani after she swallowed.

"Why don't we just clean you up instead, okay?"

Dani's reply was to say nothing; she only finished the cheeseburger in her hand and washed it down with the strawberry flavourings of her milkshake. So Lisa didn't wait to be given permission. She reached into the bag, opened the pack of cotton pads and took out one. Then she unscrewed the cap of the disinfectant bottle and doused the cotton pad with it. It might have been fair to warn her first but, since she didn't see fit to take care of herself, Lisa didn't bother to tell Dani anything. When she pressed the wet cotton pad against the small gash, Dani yelped and hissed like a scalded child.

"Shit...!" She seethed. "What the hell, Lisa?!"

The younger girl held the cotton pad in place regardless, letting it work its twofold job of cleaning the cut and soaking up some of the blood. Dani grit her teeth and bore the pain, if only to keep her shake from spilling over. And when she settled down Lisa withdrew the pad, threw it into the bag, and then tore open a band-aid. With a touch as soft as that of a mother or a nurse, she pressed the bandage against her cut and sealed up the light blood flow. Dani watched Lisa the whole time as she did it. The corn-haired girl had a lovely expression on her face at the time, a serene mix of seriousness and concern. That look alone had a calming resonance with Dani.

"There," Lisa said in accomplishment. "That's better."

Dani smiled at her again. "...Thanks."

"It's okay..."

"I meant it, you know," she assured. "You're great. You're so great..."

Just as Lisa parted her lips to speak, Dani leaned across and kissed her... hard. Her lashes flickered with blinks, her throat billowing a startled whimper that dissolved into a drawn out sigh of surrender. Her senses were bombarded once again with so many sensations; the silky feel of Dani's soft lips, the strawberry taste left lingering on them from the milkshake, the honey-like smell of Dani's lithe body and the distinctive croon of her aggressive moans. It all had Lisa melted with warmth into an immobile state as her body reciprocated instinctively to the kiss. Her clear blue eyes slipped shut just as Dani blindly slotted her shake into one of her ride's cup holders. The two tilted their heads either side of themselves. Their mouths opened and deepened this kiss, Dani's lengthy tongue forcing its way past Lisa's lips. The grade-A student sobbed aloud, though the sound was muffled. It was when she felt one of Dani's strong hands slide up her thigh that alarm bells rang.

Lisa quickly held the hand at her thigh down with one of her own and pressed her free hand up against Dani's shoulder to break the kiss. They drew apart in gasps, chests heaving, cheeks flushed. Dani searched out her lover's eyes. "What's the matter?"

For a moment there, Lisa had forgotten where she was. "We're in public...! We shouldn't...!"

"Heh, heh, heh..." At that, Dani sniggered a little, returning to her old self a little. The idea of them being ogled by some horny frat guy or busted by a burly cop actually amused her. She knew that Lisa wouldn't have liked the idea one bit though. "Okay. I can wait. How about tomorrow?"

Then something weird happened.

The very second that Dani asked her about possibly meeting up with each other tomorrow, a stomping thought burst its way back into her brain -- Nicole. With the way Dani sounded over the phone and everything, it'd kind of escaped her mind that she was going to be eating dinner with Nicole and her family tomorrow. She still wanted to do that, even more so now, and her lips curled into a faint smile because of it. But then, weirdly, Lisa felt a small but palpable pang of guilt. She didn't know why or what for, she just felt... guilty, somehow; like there was some wrong that had been done or that was about to be done. It was hard to analyse.

Dani reached up and ran her hands through Lisa's delicate blonde hair. "Well? Would that be okay?"

"...Um..." Suddenly things felt awkward again. "...I can't tomorrow, Dani..."

"Why not?"

"...I'm... sort of meeting a friend for dinner," she answered, somewhat sheepishly.

Dani frowned almost crossly. "...Friend? You don't have any friends."

It was a fair point. She didn't have any friends, at least not up until this morning, and she Lisa knew that fact as plain as day. And yet hearing it blurted out into the open like that, for it to be said so frankly, so matter-of-factly, it actually seemed kind of offensive. As usual though, Lisa didn't voice her problems, instead she justified the query.

"...She's new in town. She just moved here from Salt Lake City and everything, we... just sort of ran into each other a couple of times and we started talking. She's my friend."

Dani leaned back into the driver's seat without a word, staring straight ahead at the SUV that had its big ass parked right up in front of her car bonnet. She didn't so much as utter a word. Lisa stared at her. But inside she was questioning things. What was she trying to put across here? Nicole was a friend -- she didn't need to justify having a friend to anyone, including Dani. Yet she couldn't help but wonder as any intelligent person would have -- if she thought of Nicole as 'just a friend' why did she even feel the need to explain it away? After all... she had pictured Nicole's face the last time Dani made love to her...

Lisa found herself chewing her lip for Dani`s response.

"...That's," Dani's glower darkened, hands still on the wheel. " That's fine. Go have dinner with your `friend'."

"...Dani..."

Her fingers twisted at the keys in the ignition. "...Why don't I just drop you off back at your place."

Things went quiet again just as the engine roared to life. Lisa, though she felt like she should say something, merely sat in the passenger seat, the bag of disinfectant and band-aids still in her lap. Whatever she wanted to say, she couldn't put it into words and she probably wouldn't of found the courage to say it even if she could. And so she let that sleeping dog lie where it may.

Naturally, the ride home was spent in silence.