Emilys Crush

This story is the property of the author. You may keep a copy on your computer for personal enjoyment, however if you wish to publish or distribute the story then you must get the permission of the author.

Emily's Crush

Part Two

By Chris

Emily hated that she didn't have a cell phone so that she could still talk to Danielle while she was gone but she knew that there wasn't any reason to fret about it as she couldn't change the way things were. So she went back to her old schedule of working at the Goodwill Store as much as she could and then helping her mother at the hotel when she wasn't working. Danielle had left on a Tuesday and on Friday Emily got a card from her. It only said a few words but it made Emily feel worlds better.

Emily,

You Miss me yet?

I'm having lots of fun...Not!

xxx

Danielle

Emily stuck the card into a side pocket of her purse so that she could look at it when she was missing Danielle. But that card wasn't alone long as every couple of days for the next three weeks she got another card from Danielle. All had short messages but Emily loved each and every one and read them often. The day finally arrived for Danielle to return home but then she had to go away for a week with her mother on a series of functions across the state. Danielle did come by the store to tell her and they talked all the afternoon about the camp and what Emily had been doing but Danielle did say that when she came back on that Friday then she wanted to spend the weekend with her as they both knew that the summer was quickly slipping away from them. Then she would be tied up with cheerleading and Emily would have work at the Goodwill Store when she had free time which meant about every Saturday. Emily went home that night and made sure that it was okay for Danielle to stay over for the weekend and her mother made Emily wait a whole day for her to think it over but the next night as they ate, she gave Emily her okay.

Friday finally came and Emily was getting anxious for Danielle to knock on the door. As suppertime came, Emily got even more worried but then as she and her mother was washing up the dishes, she heard a knock on the door. Emily threw down her wash cloth and was at the door before Bubba could even get halfway out of his seat. Emily opened the door to see a smiling Danielle standing in the doorway holding her overnight bag.

"Guess who?" Danielle said with a laugh.

"Marie Curie?" Emily said with a grin.

"I think she died about a hundred years ago. At least you could have guessed someone rich and famous." Danielle said as she came into the apartment.

"Well she was famous but I doubt that she was ever rich." Emily said and then she accepted Danielle's hug.

"I missed you." Danielle whispered as they hugged.

"I missed you too." Emily replied as the hug ended.

"Well welcome back, we missed having you around here." Chloe said as she came in from the kitchen.

"I missed coming here. I had fun on my trips but I was really glad to come back. And thanks for having me this weekend." Danielle told her.

"We're glad to have you, aren't we Bubba?" Chloe said.

"Oh yes, now we can have another fart making contest." Bubba said with a laugh and he put his hand under his armpit and made a loud farting noise, which Danielle quickly copied.

"Oh no you don't, you too. We'll have none of that this weekend." Chloe was saying but she was laughing at the same time. But then Bubba did it once more and he got a mean stare from Chloe but that only made them all laugh harder, Chloe included. They sat and talked for a little while and then Emily pulled out an old Life board game. It was a simple game but fun to play and Bubba loved the game as he always tried to get as many children as he could as they all paid money at the end of the game. They all talked and laughed as the game went along with none of them except Bubba really trying to win the game. For him, this was a serious game and he took it that way. So everyone was happy in the end when Bubba came out on top and he enjoyed his moment in the sun. Bubba and Chloe then told Emily and Danielle goodnight as they took their leave. Emily and Danielle cleaned up the kitchen and put the game away as Chloe and Bubba took their showers and retired to the bedroom. Emily then let Danielle use to bathroom to change into her sleeping clothes, which was one of her father's long sleeved shirts. He was a big man and with Danielle being so petite, the shirt came down to the tops of her knees.

"I hope that this is okay to wear.' Danielle asked Emily as she came into the living room.

"Yea, that's cool, this is what I wear." Emily said as she held up a long tee shirt that she had gotten from the Goodwill Store.

"Good, I wasn't sure what to bring. I knew that my see through teddy probably wasn't the way to go." Danielle said with a laugh and Emily went to the bathroom with the vision of Danielle in the teddy. She was nervous as it was knowing that she would be sleeping in the same bed as Danielle but the thought of her in something sexy was more than she could take. She ended up having to wash her face with cold water to clear her head. When she came out, she noticed that Danielle was discreetly checking her out as she had done to her when she had come out of the bathroom. She came on into the living room and she went to the couch and with Danielle's help she took the cushions off and then she started to pull the seat up so that it made into a bed.

"I was wondering where you slept." Danielle said as they set up the bed.

"Right here, we can't afford a two bedroom apartment." Emily told her as she gave opened up the sheet and spread it across the bed.

"I think that I would die without my bedroom. It is the only place in the governor's mansion that I can be truly alone." Danielle said and then Emily could see that she wanted to take it back but Emily knew where Danielle was coming from.

"It's okay, this is all I have ever known and they leave me alone once they go to bed. We all try to respect each other privacy here as much as possible. But sometimes you hear some things that you just ignore." Emily said as she hoped that Danielle would catch what she was saying. If not she would learn quickly enough.

"Do you usually go to bed when your mother and Bubba does?"

"Yea, most of the time. There's not much else to do since we don't have a TV. So I go on to bed and then read for a while. After an hour of reading, I'm usually ready to go on to sleep." Emily said as they finished putting the sheets on the bed.

"Do you want to go on to bed or do you want to sit in the kitchen and talk?" Emily asked.

"Let's go on to bed. It has been a long day and I have to admit that I'm more than a little tired." Danielle said as she sat down on the edge of the bed and then slipped under the top sheet as Emily turned out the light in the living room, then she slipped under the sheet. They always left a night light going in the kitchen so there was just enough light for Emily to see Danielle's face and for Danielle to see hers. The couch made out into a double size bed so they had plenty of room but they were still close together, as they turned to face each other.

"So tell me about the camp, what all that you did there." Emily asked Danielle to keep a conversation going.

"We learned some new cheers and tosses but mostly it was about learning to depend on your fellow cheerleaders. I mean, when you get tossed into the air, you are depending on them to catch you before the ground does." Danielle said with a smile.

"I guess that is true. I hadn't thought about it that way before." Emily said.

"Yea, you have to have that trust but that doesn't mean that you have to be best friends with all your team members. I'm the head cheerleader so I have to know all the girls. But my father taught me to always treat the people under me the same. Never have any favorites because if you do then you introduce jealously into the group. So during the football and basketball seasons, I try to spend some time with each of them but never giving anyone more that the other." Danielle said.

"What about Chelsea? You seemed to be close to her during chemistry this past year." Emily asked as she was wondering about her.

"I was, but that was only during that class, which was the time I set aside for her. But if you noticed that once Miss Bell separated us, I didn't talk to her as much to her."

"Yea, I guess you're right." Emily said and then she heard a moan come from the bedroom and she hoped that Danielle didn't hear it. She was also hoping that her mother and Bubba would take the weekend off but she knew that was too much to hope for.

"Did you hear something?" Danielle asked as Emily could see that there wasn't anything wrong with Danielle's hearing.

"No, now tell me about the new cheers that you learned." Emily said quickly as she heard another moan, this one a little louder.

"shhh..." Danielle said and then she added, "Listen a minute."

Emily was quite but she knew what was coming next as she heard it almost every night of her life. She only had to wait another moment when another moan came. It was quite for a moment and then there was a soft moan and that was followed by the bed starting to squeak.

"Are they doing what I think their doing?" Danielle asked.

"Yea, I'm sorry. I should have asked them not to do it tonight." Emily felt so embarrassed and she felt her face going red.

"No, I think it so cool that your mom still does it." Danielle said with a little giggle.

Then the bed started to squeak louder and the moaning came more frequent and this caused Danielle to giggle a little more and Emily couldn't help herself but to giggle with her. She felt so relieved that Danielle wasn't embarrassed or made her feel embarrassed. They both started to giggle more and louder so that they were trying to cover each other's mouths so that Chloe and Bubba wouldn't hear them. Soon the sounds effect came to an end and it got quite.

"I think they're done. It sounded like they were having fun. Do they do it often?" Danielle asked.

"Yea, most every night, I think that it is their one true pleasure in this world." Emily said now more comfortable talking about it.

"That is so cool; I wonder if my parents still do it?" Danielle said.

"Maybe, you never know." Emily said.

"I don't know, I can't see my parents ever doing it, their too uptight." Danielle admitted.

"Hey you're here, so they had to do it at least once." Emily said and then she had to add, "They may be doing it right now, since you're here and won't walk in on them."

"Oh gross, now I'll go to sleep thinking about that." Danielle said with a laugh as she punched Emily on the shoulder. Emily then punched her back and as they started to get into a playful fight, they both heard a moan from Chloe and the bed start to squeak again.

"Oh god, they're doing it again!" Danielle said giggling and she got Emily to start giggling again. Emily came back with," I bet your parents are going again too."

"Shut up!" Danielle said laughing and they soon were both giggling and kidding each other.

But soon the apartment got quite and they all feel asleep. But sometime during the night, Emily woke up and she found that Danielle was lying against her. Emily looked at Danielle's peaceful face and she took her hand and ran them through Danielle's hair. That got a little coo from Danielle as she stirred a bit. Emily stopped for a second for fear of waking Danielle but when she settled back down, Emily went back to stroking her hair until she fell back asleep. When she woke the next morning, she found that Danielle was still against her and that made her feel so good. She wanted to stay there forever but she heard her mother stirring in the kitchen so she slipped from under Danielle and she got out of bed.

When she got there, she gave her mother a kiss on the cheek and then she took over frying up the bacon and the eggs as her mother went to get Bubba up and then both get ready for work. A couple of minutes later, she heard someone come into the kitchen and she looked around to see Danielle yawn as she wiped the sleep from her eyes.

"What time is it?" Danielle said between yawns.

"About a quarter till five; we get up early around here." Emily said with a smile.

"I noticed, now I know why you go to bed early." Danielle said. "Do you need any help?" She added.

"Get the plates and silverware out, if you don't mind." Emily said.

"Sure," Danielle said as she started to get the plates down. Emily couldn't help but to watch as Danielle stretched to get the plates and her shirt rode up her legs. Emily admired the view before she went back to cooking the breakfast.

Her mom soon came back in dressed in her maid outfit and she took over as Emily and Danielle went back to get dressed before Bubba came out. Once they were dressed, Emily gave Bubba the all clear and he came out of the bedroom ready to eat. For a small man, he could put down the food as he ate all of his breakfast and then took a piece of toast to soak up the egg yokes from his and Chloe's plate. By five-thirty, Chloe was ready to go to work as she had to be there by six. Bubba didn't have to be at work for another hour and he could have slept longer but that was something he wouldn't think of, when Chloe got up, he got up. He even did that when Emily was a baby. When Chloe got up to attend to her, Bubba was there to keep her company. Anyway as Chloe got ready to leave, Danielle offered to take her to work so that she wouldn't have to take the city bus system. To Emily's surprise, Chloe took her up on the offer. So Danielle grabbed her purse and keys and the three of them headed out the door. When they got to the hotel, Emily invited Danielle in to see the service area of the high class hotel that she had been in many times. When they got there, Emily noticed that where there should have been at least ten maids, there were only four and the four that were there were all new. About this time, Emily saw the hotel manager come into the room.

"Chloe, I need for you to cover floors nine through twenty today. Everyone called in sick today so you have to pick up the slack. We have a lot of guests checking in today go get to it." He ordered in a gruff voice and then he added, "Maybe you can get your kid to help, but get it done!" then he turned to walk away.

Emily could see the anger rise in her mother but she kept her mouth shut. This was the first time that Emily had seen what her mother went through just to put food on their table. She wanted to strangle the hotel manager but she too kept her mouth shut. But the one person there that could say something did.

"Sir, I need to talk to you." Danielle demanded in a very forceful voice that Emily had never heard from her before. This caused the manager to stop in his tracks.

"What do you want kid? I don't have time to talk to some prissy assed girl." The manager said to the governor's daughter.

"I want to talk to you, is what I want! And I think it would be in your interest that you listen to this prissy assed girl." Danielle said to him as Emily and Chloe watched Danielle walk him outside of the door.

"What's she going to say to him? I need this job." Chloe told her daughter.

"I don't know but I know she won't do anything to get you fired." Emily told her mother but she wasn't so sure that she was right. She knew that Danielle was use to getting her way but this was a different world than the one she lived in. Emily helped her mother restock her cart as they waited for Danielle to return which she did about twenty minutes later.

"You don't have to worry about him anymore." Danielle said as she came over to them.

"What did you do child?" Chloe asked her but in a tone that said that she wanted an answer and she wanted the whole answer.

"I just reminded him that he had been using Emily's help without paying her and that I was sure that the labor board would love to know about that. I also mentioned that I knew quite a few labor unions that would love to come in here and unionize this place and I do know that for a fact. I told him that you would never call them but I would. I told him that you were the best maid that he had and that he ought to take care of you. People like you are hard to find and you take care of your good people. I think it was at this point that he remembered where he had seen me before and he changed his demeanor real quick, and he about fell all over himself trying to please me. So we came to an understanding, which is that he paid you for what he owed Emily for her work here and I agreed to help clean today. Danielle said as she handed over some bills to Chloe and Emily could see that there were several hundred dollar bills in her hand.

"So find Emily and me a maid outfit and we'll get to work." Danielle said.

Emily said that her mother was in shock but she recovered quickly as she went to find them a maid outfit to wear.

"We do have just one problem with my plan." Danielle whispered to Emily after Chloe had left.

"What's that?" Emily asked suddenly worried.

"I've never cleaned a thing in my life. We always had maids to do the cleaning. You're going to have to show me what to do." Danielle said.

Emily laughed before she replied, "That's cool, and I'll show you all you need to know. It's not that hard to learn but it's hard work."

"I'm not afraid to work, just as long as I know what I'm doing." Danielle said as Chloe came back with their outfits.

They quickly changed in the bathroom and then Chloe sent them to the top floor with a list of the rooms that they needed to clean. The plan was that they would work their way down as she worked her way up. When they got to the first room, Emily went through the room and she showed Danielle what had to be done to each room. Then Danielle followed Emily around and helped as they cleaned the room. As they went to the next room, they split up the duties with each having about the same amount of things to do. They then went about their way through the rooms on that floor. When that floor was done, they switched duties so that neither would get bored with what they were doing plus Emily didn't want Danielle to get stuck with cleaning toilets all day. The one thing that Emily did help Danielle do when they switched jobs was to make the beds. Danielle wasn't very good at that, plus that gave them something to do together. Around eleven, they took a break and went and found Chloe. They help her finish the room she was working on and then they went down to the break area and they ate lunch. Chloe had brought her lunch but Emily and Danielle had no dinner since they hadn't planned on staying. Danielle was going to go to the hotel restaurant and get lunch for herself and Emily and she told Chloe that she would pay for it but Chloe would have none of that. Emily saw that Danielle was going to argue so before she could she slipped her foot on top of Danielle's foot. She pressed down and when Danielle started to argue, she pressed harder. Danielle looked at her and Emily widened her eyes and thankfully Danielle got the message. She accepted the money from Chloe and ran off to get them a hamburger. They finished the rooms a little before three and the manager let them go on home as he had learned his lesson very well.

"Here is your part of the money that you got from the manager." Chloe told Danielle after they had gotten home. She then pulled two hundred and fifty dollars from her pocket and handed them to Danielle.

"Oh no, that's the money that Emily had earned and didn't get paid for, if anything it's her money but it isn't mine." Danielle told her as she tried to give the money back.

"If it wasn't for you, we would never have gotten any money from him so half of the money is yours." Chloe said as she pushed Danielle's hand back. Emily was afraid that they would start to argue and she knew that no one ever won an argument with her mother; at least she had never won one.

"I tell you what, I'll take fifty for my work today and tomorrow, as that is what I have earned and you take the rest because that is what Emily has earned. And you know even that doesn't make up for all the work she has done over the years." Danielle said as she handed two hundred back to Chloe.

Emily watched as her mother thought this over and to her surprise, she took the money and then she said, "This will go into Emily's college fund as my little girl is going to graduate from college and make something of herself."

"Deal," Danielle said quickly before Chloe could change her mind. "Now I don't know about you two but my feet are killing me. I think that I'll grab something to drink and sit for a few minutes. You two care to join me?"

"I'll join you." Emily said quickly as her feet were hurting a bit too and she could see that Danielle was tired from the first day of real work that she had ever done.

"Me too, Emily make us some tea as I go change, then you two can change." Chloe told them.

"Go on in and sit down, I'll make the tea and bring it into you. It'll take me a few minutes to get it made." Emily told Danielle.

"No I'll help." Danielle told her.

"No, you go sit; I'll be in there in a minute or two."

"You sure?" Danielle asked.

"Yes, now go sit." Emily said as she put her hands on Danielle's shoulders and she turned her around. She then pushed her toward the living room.

Emily slipped her shoes off and she got out the tea bags. She put them into the coffee maker and poured the water in. She then started it dripping and while it did that she got a clean mason jar and put the sugar into it. Once she got it ready, she went into the living room to see how Danielle was. When she got to the door, she saw that Danielle was lying on the couch and her mother was covering her with a sheet. She had to smile as she looked on watching her mother doing what she did best, being a mother.

"I think we wore your friend out today." Her mother said quietly as she came on into the kitchen.

"I have to admit, for an upper class girl, she worked her ass off today." Emily said.

"Watch your mouth; you know I don't allow cussing." Chloe said as she sat down.

"Well she did. " Emily said with a smile.

"Yes she did. She's a good girl isn't she?" Chloe commented.

"The best, she's the best friend that I have ever had. And I do want to thank you for letting me spend so much time with her this summer. I know I haven't helped you as much as I have in the past and I feel bad about that. You work too hard as it is and here I've been having fun and not helping you." Emily told her.

"You've helped me more than enough and you needed to get out more. You need to start to make a life of your own and I know that. Soon you'll be in college and that is all I have ever wanted for you. I just don't want you to end up like me."

"I'll make you proud of me, I promise. Then when I get out, I'm going to support you and Bubba. Then you can work when you want and not because you have to." Emily told her mother.

"No, you take care of yourself. Take your money and spend it on yourself, not on me. That's not why I want you to go to college so that one day you can support me."

"I know that, but that's what I'm going to do and I won't hear any argument. You know I can be just as stubborn as you." Emily said with a smile as she took her mother's hand in her hand.

"I don't deserve a child like you." Chloe said and Emily could almost see tears coming to her eyes.

"It's a mother like you that I don't deserve." Emily said as she got up and came to her mother and hugged her.

Her mother hugged her back tightly for a minute and then she gently pushed Emily away as she said, "Now stop that or we'll both be crying." She then kissed Emily on the cheek.

Emily then went back to her chair and they sat and talked about Emily going to college as her mother loved to hear Emily talk about it. And Emily knew that when she went to college she would be going for both of them. They talked until it was time to cook supper and they let Danielle sleep until Bubba was about to come home. She then let Danielle take a shower before she did. Then they all sat down for supper when Bubba arrived home. That night it was another game of Life before they all retired to bed. Then Emily and Danielle giggle as they listened to her mother and Bubba make love.

"I appreciate what you did for my mother today. You didn't have to go out on a limb like that but you did." Emily told Danielle after the apartment had quieted down.

"He was taking advantage of both you and your mother and that isn't right. I knew things like that happened but I had never actually seen it before. Why does your mother take it? I know that she is very strong and she doesn't put up with crap anywhere else but why does she take it at work. I meant she can get a job anywhere." Danielle said and Emily could see that she was trying to understand but couldn't.

"That's just it; she can't find a job anywhere. I mean she hasn't even been to high school; she dropped out or was forced to after the eighth grade. Almost everywhere want you to have graduated high school or at least have your GED. She has neither, so you see, there isn't many places to find a job." Emily told her.

"But there are programs out there that will help people like her, pay for her education. Why didn't she ever take advantage of those?" Danielle asked.

"You have to remember that she was very young when she had me and she had to get a job, any job. Bubba tries hard but he can't make enough to support her and me. Bubba has a steady job now but that wasn't always so. He used to have to go out and find what he could and he did but it never paid much just like what he does now doesn't pay much but it makes him feel good and he believes that he is supporting us. Mom never let him believe otherwise. He's good to her and that is all she cares about. And when she needed someone the most, he was the one to take her in and not ask for anything in return. So don't you see, she is stuck, at least for now but when I graduate and get a good job, I'm going to support her and Bubba and then make her go back to school likes she wants to. But never mention school to her. She doesn't know I know how much she wants that. It's my education that she cares about."

"I think I see now, but I wish I could help her." Danielle said wishfully.

"You already have silly." Emily said reached out and pulled her in close for a hug. The hug went on for a while as Emily was reluctant to let Danielle go but then they heard the bedroom door open and they separated quickly. But it was just Bubba or her mother going to the bathroom but the moment had passed and they both went on to sleep. Later that night Emily woke up as she felt Danielle getting out of bed. At first she thought that she was just getting up to go to the bathroom but then instead of going there, she went into the kitchen. Emily slipped out of bed and she followed her in. When she got there, she saw that Danielle had the fifty dollars that Chloe had given her and she was going to Chloe's purse.

"It won't work." Emily said and she watched Danielle jump out of her skin.

"Oh shit, you scared me to death."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, but again, it won't work." Emily said smiling.

"What won't work?" Danielle said trying to look innocent.

"Putting the fifty that mom gave you and you got wadded up in your fist back into her purse. She knows down to the cent what she has there and she will know what you did. It will just hurt her feelings." Emily said as she came over to her. "I know what you are doing and I appreciate it but just keep the money, okay."

"But I don't need it and you all do. I felt bad enough taking it in the first place. What can I do and don't tell me to keep it, I can't." Danielle said and Emily could see the pain in her eyes.

"I think I have an idea, mom needs a new pair of work shoes, and hers is about worn out. Can you meet me at the Good Will store about one Monday?" Emily asked.

"Yea, I'd planned on coming over Monday anyway." Danielle said.

"Good, I get off about one and we'll go shopping for mom a pair of shoes. Then I will tell her that a lady came in with them and she wanted them given away."

"Will she fall for it? And will she try to give them to you?" Danielle asked.

"No she won't but I'll make her keep them anyway. And I have bigger feet so she'll be stuck with them." Emily said with a smile. "Now, let's go back to bed, I'm still sleepy and mom will be up in a few hours.

The next morning when they escorted Chloe into the hotel, the manager was waiting for them but his demeanor was the exact opposite as it was the previous day. Thos time he asked Chloe if her daughter and Danielle could help and that he would pay them well. Emily hated to ask Danielle to help again but she was more than willing to go for it. This morning they had more rooms to clean but Danielle was up to speed so they did each room twice as fast as they did before. They even got done by two and the manager let them all go. They stopped at the apartment to drop Chloe off and to change. Then they took off for the movies and they were going to grab a burger since Chloe gave Danielle another fifty that Danielle gladly accepted this time. Emily could tell that her mother suspected something since Danielle didn't argue this time and she knew she would figure out quickly where the new shoes came from but that was a problem that she would face tomorrow.

They had a fun evening and Emily hated for it to end but Danielle had to get back home that night even though Emily would have loved for her to stay another night. But she knew that they had plenty of time and things were going so well.

Danielle arrived right at one and Emily jumped into her car and they were off to visit all the shoe stores that they could before it came time for Emily to get home. It was at the third store that Emily found the shoes that she knew that her mom would like. She tried on a pair in her size and then she made Danielle try them on and they both agreed that they would be perfect for her so Danielle got two pairs and that took most of the money that she had received from Chloe. But as they were getting ready to check out, something caught Danielle's eyes.

"Come here a minute." Danielle told her as she went toward the men section and specifically to the work boots section.

"Oh no you don't, I'll have my hands full in convincing my mom to take these shoes, and she'll never buy me coming home with a pair of boots for Bubba too." Emily told Danielle.

"But he needs them and he'll feel left out if I get your mom something and not him." Danielle said in a pleading voice.

"He'll get over it eventually. I'm not letting you buy him something too. Besides you have spent all your money on mom." Emily said hoping to convince Danielle that she had gone far enough.

"That's okay; I don't like any of these boots anyway..." Danielle said and Emily thought that she had convinced Danielle not to buy the boots for Bubba but then she added, "I know this boot place that has great boots, let's go there next."

Emily threw up her hands in defeat but on the way to the boot store, she again tried to convince Danielle that enough was enough but as she looked upon the determination on Danielle's face, she knew she was going to lose the argument so she began to think how she was going to convince her mother to take what Danielle was going to give her. She knew that the story about the lady coming into the Goodwill Store and wanting the shoes given away wasn't going to hold any water with her mother so she decided that honestly was the best policy. At least almost complete honestly would have to work. So she told Danielle after they got Bubba his new boots that they would tell her mom that Danielle used the money she earned from cleaning the hotel rooms for the work shoes and work boots. She wasn't about to tell her mom that Danielle used more than a little of her money to get the boots. The trip to the boot store took more time than they had intended and now they didn't have time to cook dinner before her mother and Bubba got home. So Danielle decided that they would stop and get pizza for supper and Emily knew that she would hear about this for days. But she didn't have the heart to say no to Danielle now, like her mother had always said "In for a penny, in for a pound" and she was way past a penny now. They got home with just enough time to put the pizza on the table and get the plates set out.

"What's this?" Chloe said as she entered the kitchen.

"Danielle had some shopping to do and it took longer than we thought it would." She told her mother honestly.

"Yea, I figured with all the food that I have eaten here this summer, it's the least that I could do." Danielle piped in.

Then as her mother came over to give her a kiss on the cheek, Emily whispered into her ear, "Please don't say anything tonight, just go along for me."

Her mother gave her a weird look but she didn't say anything, which Emily took as a good sign. Bubba came in shortly thereafter and Chloe couldn't get Emily alone to find out what was going on.

"Is that pizza I smell?" Bubba hollered from the living room.

"Yes Bubba, Danielle is treating us to dinner tonight." Emily called to him.

"On man that is great, she should do that more often." Bubba said as he entered the kitchen but an icy stare from Chloe stopped him in his tracks.

Emily knew that the evening was about to fall apart and she looked at her mother pleading with her eyes to just let things be and she saw her mother slowly soften and a genuine smile come to her face.

"Yes it is nice but she doesn't have to ever replay us for feeding her, we're always glad to have her eat with her. She's practically family now." Chloe said and she gave Danielle a smile and Emily could see the tension ease from Danielle's face. And then she went over to her and gave her a hug and that made Emily feel better.

After Bubba had washed up they sat down for supper. Danielle had gotten two large pizzas and Bubba almost finished one himself. They all talked and Emily began to feel that the night might work out after all. After the leftover pizza was put up, they all sat in the living room with Chloe in her rocking chair, Danielle and Bubba on the couch and Emily sat on the floor by Danielle's feet. They talked for a few minutes before Emily decided that the time was right and she nudged Danielle on the leg with her shoulder.

"I kind of did something today with the money that I earned from helping you all clean the hotel rooms. I really didn't need anything for myself so I got something you." She said as she looked at Chloe.

"Me?" Chloe asked.

"Yes you." Danielle said as she got up and went to the closet in the living room and pulled a bag out. She took it over to Chloe and gave it to her. "And before you say that you don't need them and I shouldn't have. I have two things to say. First you do need them as I now know what being on your feet all day working is like. And I know that I shouldn't have but I wanted to do it." She said as she handed the bag to Chloe.

Emily watched as her mother pulled the two boxes out and she opened the first one. Emily prayed that her mother had a lot of pride but she hoped that she would swallow her pride for just this once. She then saw her mother smile at Danielle.

"Thank you so much honey." Chloe said as she got up and she hugged Danielle. As she hugged her, Emily saw her glance at her and Emily gave her a big smile. She knew that her mother was doing this for her. Any other time her mother would never accept something that she couldn't pay for.

"Try them on!" Danielle said excitedly.

"Okay, give me a second." Chloe said as she sat back down and Danielle sat down on the floor by her. They all watched as Chloe put the shoes and then she walked around the living room. "Oh these feel good. Thank you honey." Chloe said again and then Danielle jumped up and gave Chloe a hug.

"Now try on the second pair and see if they fit too." Danielle told her.

"Okay but why did you get me two pairs, I can only wear one at a time." Chloe said smiling.

"You wear one pair one day and then the other pair the next day. That way they can air out, plus they will last twice as long." Danielle said. Then she turned to Bubba as she got up and said to Bubba, "And don't think that I left you out."

Emily saw a big smile come to Bubba's face as Danielle went to the closet and pulled the second bag out containing Bubba's boots. She brought them over and set them on Bubba's lap.

"Thank you but I didn't need any shoes; Chloe is the one that needed new shoes. I have been trying to get her to get some for a long time." Bubba said.

"I know but if the mean girl gets new shoes then the nice man at least should get a new pair of boots. Now open the box and try them on." Danielle told him.

He smiled a big toothy grin as he tore into the box and pulled the nice shinny work boots out. He brought them up to his nose and he smelled the leather before he set them down and then he put them on. He walked around and showed Chloe and then Emily his new boots. Both of them told him how nice they looked and that made him proud. He then went to Danielle and gave her a big bear hug and that she saw pleased Danielle to no end.

"Thank you for accepting the shoes from Danielle. She so wanted to do something for you and Bubba." Emily told her mother the next morning as they drank a cup of coffee together.

"I know that she meant well but don't let her do it again. I know that I let my pride get the best of me at times. But that is just how I am. I have worked hard to provide for this family and I hate that I can't give you everything that I like to, and so I get a little hard headed about things for myself."

"I know but mom you give me everything that I need, the rest is just fluff, it doesn't mean anything." Emily told her mother and about this time Bubba came strolling in with his boots on and a pair of jockey shorts. He looked funny but Chloe and Emily didn't laugh as they knew that Bubba was just showing off his boots.

"Maybe a present here and there is good for us." Chloe conceded after breakfast and Bubba had gone back to the bedroom to dress for work.

"It doesn't hurt; you know you don't spend enough for you and Bubba. You should do something for yourself for a change." Emily told her mother.

"Is that the daughter telling her mother what to do?" Chloe asked with her eyebrows arched.

"No, just a daughter making a suggestion to her mother." Emily said smiling.

"Oh I see." Chloe said with a smile on her face.

As the new school year came closer, Danielle had to start spending more time with the other cheerleaders practicing. Since she was the head cheerleader, the coach/teacher allowed her to decide as to when they would practice. Most of the previous head cheerleaders put it up to a vote and that was how Danielle had done it the previous year but this year she decided that they would practice early in the morning. The rest of the cheerleaders were about to revolt on her as they had gotten use to sleeping late in the morning but Danielle used all of her skills as a leader to convince them that it would be much cooler in the mornings and then she added that the football team would be practicing then and that was the clincher. But Danielle wanted to practice in the mornings because that would allow her to go and visit with Emily in the afternoons. And so they went on this way for the last three weeks before school.

"You want me to do what?" Emily asked Danielle when she came by the Goodwill Store the Monday before school was suppose on the following Monday.

"My father is hosting a dinner for the Education directors for all the school districts of the state on Friday night and I've got to go. And I want you to go with me. Please... come with me." Danielle said as she put on her puppy dog look.

"Mom will never let me come and besides I don't have anything to wear." Emily said.

"We'll find you something to wear and how do you know that your mother won't let you come? You haven't asked her yet."

"I don't know..." Emily said as she hesitated for a moment. She had never gone to anything like this and a part of her was scared of going but another part of her wanted to see how her state government worked. She knew that there would be a lot of wheeling and dealing as all the directors would be hitting the governor up for more funds.

"Please come with me, it'll be fun." Danielle told her.

"No it won't, it'll be boring and that is why you want me to go along so bad." Emily said with a laugh.

"Okay, you got me there, it'll be boring but with you there it can be fun." Danielle confessed. "But will you ask your mother?"

"Yea, I'll ask her tonight." Emily told her.

"I'd go with you but I have to stay home tonight." Danielle said as they left the Goodwill Store and went back to Emily's apartment.

Danielle told her about the dinner and what all would happen there as Danielle helped Emily start supper. She then left shortly before Chloe came home. Emily then waited until supper was done and they were all sitting in the living room. She put the dinner in as an educational opportunity for her. It took her most of the night to convince her mother to let her go but in the end, her mother gave in but she kept the ten thirty curfew in play. Once she had made the decision to let her go, Chloe went and got a dress that she had in her closet and brought it out for Emily to wear. It was a long white dress and it was the only dress that Chloe owned and while it was very pretty it was also about ten years out of date. Emily, not being a fashion hound, loved the dress and she gladly accepted it. She knew that there was a pair of white shoes at the Goodwill Store that she could get to wear with it. The rest of the week went slowly as she didn't get to see Danielle very much as Danielle's mother had her doing things with her when she wasn't practicing cheerleading. But she was able stop by for a few minutes each day after her practice was done to talk and of course, the first day she stopped by was to see if Emily could go with her and when she found out that she was being allowed to go, Danielle gave her a big hug.

"That is a pretty dress." Emily told Danielle as she stood by Danielle's bathroom door as Danielle was applying some makeup. Danielle had on a mid thigh length red dress that made her breasts seem just a little larger than they actually were and it flared out at the waist.

"Your dress is pretty too." Danielle told her as she turned to face her.

"Thank you; it's my mother's dress." Emily said as she smiled but she knew that Danielle's dress was beautiful and it was in style.

"You know, I have a dress that would really look pretty on you." Danielle said as she went to her closet and she rummaged around to find it. "Here it is." Danielle said as she pulled out a light blue version of the same dress she had on.

"That dress is pretty but I would feel more comfortable in what I have on." Emily told her.

"Well, we have time, at least try it on and see what you think." Danielle said as she handed her the dress and pushed her into the bathroom and she stepped out to let her change.

As Emily was taking her dress off, Danielle opened the door and she threw in a pair of shoes, "Put these on too, they go with the dress." And then she shut the door before Emily could say anything back.

So Emily finished pulling her dress off and she slipped on Danielle's dress. She looked at herself in the full length mirror and she had to admit that she did look cute in it. She slipped on the shoes and she opened the door to the bathroom. The first thing that she heard was Danielle whistling at her.

"Now who is that foxy babe that I'm looking at?" Danielle said as she let out another whistle. Emily felt her face go red but she felt her heart burst with pride as no one had ever accused her of being foxy.

"Come here and let me zip you up." Danielle told her and Emily walked over to her. She felt Danielle's hands on her back and then she felt her zipping her up. This sent a shiver up her spine but then any touch from Danielle did that to her.

"Now sit down here at my vanity and let me put up your hair." Danielle told her and she did. She watched as Danielle pulled out a couple of clips and she put Emily's hair up and she couldn't believe the difference that made to her looks. Danielle wanted to put a little make up on her eyes but Emily stopped her there. Danielle fussed over her a bit more and then she looked at the clock on her vanity and declared that they were late. Emily wanted to change back into her own dress but she found that she was being pulled out of the bedroom before she could protest.

When they got down to the reception hall, Danielle took her place in the receiving line and she noticed that Danielle got a look from her mother and then she saw her fussing at Danielle. Emily had been in that position with her mother fussing at her so she smiled a Danielle, who gave her a "oh well" look. Emily stood back and watched it all go on and on. The dinner was suppose to start at eight but with each director taking the opportunity to talk to the governor, the last director from the smallest county did not get to greet the governor unto after eight-thirty. Danielle came to her then and escorted her to the head table where Danielle's parents were waiting. Emily was hoping that she and Danielle could sneak away after the receiving line was done but that wasn't to be the case. Danielle first reintroduced her to her mother and her father. She had not really gotten to talk to them when she had met them that day at the Goodwill Store and she found that hey both were nice but Emily could tell that Danielle's father was busy politicking tonight but Danielle's mother turned out to be very nice and she took the time to talk to her. After the dinner was over, the speeches began and they were still going on at ten.

Emily pulled on Danielle's sleeve and she whispered into her ear, "Danielle, it's ten. I've got to get home."

"I know but we can't leave now. The speeches should be over in just a minute. Then we'll get out of here."

Emily began to get more and more nervous as each minute passed. At ten after ten, she again pulled on Danielle's sleeve and told her, "I'm going to go and catch a bus home. I'm going to be late as it is."

"No don't do that. We'll go in just a minute. I don't want you to be taking a bus this late at night. I'll tell your mother that the dinner went over. I'm sure that she will understand." Danielle told her but Emily knew her mother and she knew that she wouldn't understand.

Emily didn't know what to do. She didn't want to embarrass Danielle by getting up and walking out during her father's speech but she knew how mad her mother would be. The ten-thirty rule was one rule that you didn't break in her house. She looked at her watch and she knew that she was already late and then she looked at Danielle who was watching her father speak. She was going to upset someone and she didn't want to do that. She knew that she either wait it out and hope that she could explain things to her mother or make Danielle take her home and embarrass her in front of her family. Danielle had been so good to her and her family this summer and she had become so close to her that she just couldn't upset her or embarrass her. She just hoped that her mother's punishment wouldn't be too bad and that she could explain things to her. So she decided to just sit back and wait but as each minute passed her stomach became more and more upset. Danielle's father didn't stop talking until a little after eleven and then there was another five minutes of applause.

"Can we go now?" Emily asked Danielle.

"Yea, let me tell mom." Danielle said as she went to her mother and told her that she was taking Emily home. They both then rushed out of the hall and Danielle ran up to her room to get her purse as Emily waited for her at the bottom of the stairs. When Danielle got back down the stairs, they rushed to her car only to find it blocked in by all the cars.

"Oh god, mom is going to kill me!" Emily cried out and she felt the tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Oh Emily, it's not that bad, you're just a little late and you have a good reason." Danielle told her.

"Danielle, you just don't understand my mom. When she says to be home by ten-thirty, she means ten-thirty and not ten thirty-one. The reason your late really doesn't matter. You just don't understand." Emily told her and she now even closer to tears.

"Oh god, you're serious aren't you. I'm sorry but don't worry, I fix it, I promise." Danielle said as she came to Emily and hugged her tightly.

Emily let Danielle hug her but she knew that she was the only one that could fix this and she had no clue how to do that.

"But we're blocked in and it will be hours before we can get out. I should have taken the bus, maybe they are still running." Emily said as they separated.

"No I'll get you home. Come with me." Danielle said as she started running toward the side of the house.

"Where are you going?" Emily said as she started after her.

"We're taking my father's old truck. Now come on and I'll get you home in no time." Danielle called back to her.

Emily was out of breath by the time she caught up with Danielle who was in the process of getting into the truck. By the time Emily got inside the truck, Danielle had it started and she hit the gas, knocking Emily into the back of her seat. Danielle took the curves of the service road as fast as she dared and she had them out on the road in no time but they were still a ways away from Emily's apartment. Emily was trying to get Danielle to understand that it was better for her to face her mother alone but Danielle kept saying that she was the one that made Emily late and she had to take the responsibility. Emily tried to tell her that didn't matter; she was the one who chose to stay so in the end, it was her that was responsible. It was almost midnight when they got to her apartment and Emily made one last attempt to get Danielle to go on home and let her face her mother alone but Danielle wouldn't budge on that and even started toward the building as Emily was standing there talking. So she just gave up and decided that maybe it would be good for Danielle to see what she was talking about. When she got to her door, Emily took a deep breath and then she put the key into the door and opened it. The first thing she saw was her mother sitting in her rocker and she knew that she was up shit creek without a paddle.

"Where the hell have you been? I been waiting and worrying about you!" Her mother hollered at her.

Emily started to say something but then she saw her mother's eyes go wide and her face turned a deep red color. Emily was almost afraid that her mother was having a heart attack as she was staring at her with a pained look. Emily happened to look down and she knew why her mother was so mad.

"And just where the fuck is my dress? Are you too good to wear it now? You go to the governor's party and now you're just too good for us now." Her mother said as she jumped up from her chair.

"No mother, it's not like that, just let me explain, please." Emily said.

"Shut your fucking mouth, I don't want to hear it!" Her mother said.

"Chloe, let me explain, this is all my fault. I'm the one that made her late and I'm the one that got her to try on that dr..." Danielle started to say but Emily's mother stopped her.

"I don't want to hear another word from you young lady. You have done enough damaged to my family as it is. You had best just get out of this house and don't you ever come back. You're no longer welcome here." Chloe told her.

"But please let me explain, it's not Emily's fault, it's mine." Danielle said but Emily could see that her mother had Danielle as scared as she was.

"Not another word from you, you hear me! Emily, take that dress off and give it to Danielle and then you get out of here and don't you come back. You hear me, never come back and don't ever go near my daughter again! Get that dress off now Emily or I'll come over there and tear it off you!"

Emily quickly reached back and pulled the zipper down and pulled the dress off and she slipped her shoes off. Emily was so embarrassed as she went over to Danielle in her old cotton bra and her thread bare white cotton panties but she could see that Danielle was just as embarrassed. "Just go on home, please." Emily whispered to Danielle as she handed her the dress. Danielle took the dress and Emily could see the tears in Danielle's eyes but Danielle took the dress and she left Emily alone to face her mother.

"Now stay right there young lady!" her mother yelled at her and Emily did just that. She knew what was coming next and no amount of talking was going to stop it so she just kept her mouth shut. Emily watched as her mother came back into the living room with one of Bubba's belts. Her mother came over and grabbed her by the arm and pulled her across the back of the couch. The next thing she felt was the belt landing on her almost bare ass. It stung like hell and it kept on stinging as the belt kept raining down on her butt and thighs. Emily was soon crying hard but she didn't try to stop her mother. She knew she had done wrong and she had to take her punishment but her mother had never whipped her this hard and for this long. Finally her mother quit and left her there crying. Emily didn't bother making her bed up, she just curled up on the couch and cried herself to sleep.

The next morning she heard her mother get up and she sat up and moaned as her ass was still sore. She got on up and put her sleep shirt on. She then went into the kitchen hoping to talk to her mother and explain what had happened the previous night.

"I want to talk to you about last..." Emily started to say but her mother stopped her in mid sentence.

"I don't want to hear it this morning or any other time. And remember what I told you last night about seeing or talking to that girl again. But you had better get my dress back today. Now get breakfast started, Bubba and I have to get to work. Some of us have to earn some money around here to help this family survive unlike some who have pissed their summer away doing nothing." Her mother barked at her and then she stomped out of the kitchen to get dressed.

Emily stood there speechless, she didn't know what had happened to her mother but she had never acted this way before. And she was the one that wanted her to enjoy herself this summer. And then she couldn't see or talk to Danielle but she had to get the dress back today. Emily wanted to scream but instead she went to the fridge and got the eggs and bacon out. When Bubba came in he talked to her and she felt like he was on her side but when her mother came in, she told him to be quite and to eat. Her mother didn't say another word to her that morning and Emily was almost glad to see her go. She had some free time before she had to go to work at the Goodwill Store so she straightened up the house. Then she headed to work. When she got there she found Danielle waiting for her.

"I'm so sorry." Danielle said as she ran up to her and hugged her tightly. Even though she wasn't supposed to be talking to Danielle, she needed her this morning more than she ever had so she hugged her back and she felt the tears begin to flow.

"I'm so sorry." Danielle kept saying to her and Emily could tell that Danielle was crying too. She forced her tears to stop flowing and she pulled back from Danielle.

"Don't be sorry, it's not your fault." Emily told her as she wiped a tear from Danielle's cheek.

"Yes it is, you wanted to leave and I kept you there. And then I stayed outside of your door and I heard what your mom did to you. And I didn't do anything. I should have broken the door down and stopped her but I didn't. I just stood there like a fool. Oh god, I didn't realize what would happen. I have to do something to fix this." Danielle told her.

"No, let me fix it, just be my friend okay?" Emily told her.

"Okay but what can I do to help you." Danielle asked.

"Just listen to me and let me talk this out." Emily told her.

"Okay, let's go inside and talk. I can help you work." Danielle said.

"Good, oh did you bring my dress with you?" Emily asked as they went inside the building.

"Yea, it's in my car." Danielle told her.

"Good, I was supposed to get it back but I wasn't supposed to talk to you or see you to do that." Emily said.

"How the hell were you supposed to do that?" Danielle asked.

"Beats the hell out of me," Emily told her and then she told her about how the morning went and how strange her mother was acting. They talked all morning as Emily worked with Danielle's help. She did feel better by the time she got off but the thought of facing her mother that afternoon made her stomach churn. She refused Danielle's offer of a ride home. She didn't want anyone to see her with Danielle, if she could help it.

Emily had the wash done by the time that her mother got home and she was hoping that her mother would be in a better mood but if anything, her mood was even worse. She criticized how the clothes were folded and she said that the whites weren't white enough. Then as she cooked dinner, her mother came in and told her what she was doing wrong there too. Emily wanted to tell her mother to do it herself then but she knew better than that. She was so thankful with Bubba came home as that meant that she had someone to talk to that wouldn't have something bad to say about whatever she was doing. And Bubba came through for her as he was as nice as he could be to her and she just wanted to hug him for doing that.

Sunday was a little better of a day as she got to spend most of the day with Bubba as he didn't have to work on Sundays. She talked to him about her mother but he didn't have a clue as to why her mother was acting the way that she was. But he was going to try to find out what was wrong and she knew that was all that he could do but she didn't expect much from him. But she didn't know then just how much she was under estimating him.

Monday morning couldn't come soon enough for Emily and she got out of the apartment as soon as she could and she rushed to school. When she got there, she found Danielle waiting for her as the bottom of the steps leading into the school. She rushed up to her and hugged her not caring who saw and she was glad that Danielle was willing to hug her back. She told Danielle all about the rest of her weekend and how her mother was on her all the time. She told her it was like she could no longer do anything right. They talked until it was time to go to class. Danielle could only get there early a couple of days that week but any time that Danielle could give her, she was grateful for as her mother wasn't easing off of her.

The next two weeks went that way as her mother was on her constantly from the time she got home until they all went to bed. Then on Tuesday of the third week, Emily brought home a test that she got a ninety-five on and her mother just told her that she should have gotten a hundred. Then at the end of the week she brought home a test in which she got a hundred and her mother told her that she needed to talk to her teacher about extra credit so that she could get her grade up higher. Emily just looked at her mother like she was crazy; she wanted to scream at her that you couldn't get any higher than a fucking hundred. But her mother's look stopped her from saying anything.

That night she went to sleep crying. She had always loved her mother to death but she was slowly growing to hate her and she hated feeling that way. The next day she went to work at the Goodwill Store but Danielle couldn't get away to see her and them meant that it would be Monday at the earliest before she could see her. She was also afraid that she would lose Danielle as whenever they were together all she talked about was how bad her mother was treating her. She knew she couldn't do that forever without losing Danielle's friendship.

The next two weeks went on the same way and Emily was reduced to crying herself to sleep every night, when she could sleep. She was mostly just crying and tossing and turning in her bed. She even stopped pulling out the bed and she just slept on the couch. It was just easier to do that and she didn't have the energy to make up her bed anyway. She had long since lost her appetite and thus she had lost about ten pounds that she didn't really need to lose. All her jeans were loose on her but she was afraid to buy new ones at the Goodwill Store for fear that her mother would say that she was wasting her money.

Then came the Thursday from hell, which was a little over a month after this had all started. Her mother must have had a hard day at work as when she came home, she was on Emily's back and she rode her hard. No matter what Emily did, her mother would bitch at her for doing it wrong. By this time, Emily was beaten and she just stood there and took it. She did notice that Bubba was getting angry while this all went on but he didn't come to her aid and that made Emily lose all hope. And to make it worse, she had not been able to talk to Danielle all week as Emily's mother had kept her at the apartment until she just had time to catch the bus and get to school as it started. She just knew that Danielle was wondering what had happened to her and she feared that Danielle would just give up on them. She waited until her mother and Bubba went to bed before she laid down. She curled up on the couch and started to cry but this time once the tears started, they came full force. Before she knew it she was sobbing uncontrollably and she couldn't stop. Her body just convulsed with each sob.

This went on for a few minutes when somewhere in her mind she heard angry voices. She thought that it was her mother yelling at her and that made the crying worse. She couldn't stop it even if she wanted to. Then she felt a hand on her side and a kind voice calling to her and she thought that it had to be Bubba. But then she felt someone's arms hugging her and she felt hair on her arm and then a head laying there. Her mind began to clear and she realized that it was her mother holding her and the words that her mother was finally sinking into her head.

"Oh god, what have I done to you baby. Please stop crying and talk to me. Please baby, I'm so sorry. Oh god what have I done..." her mother kept saying over and over again. And Emily could feel her mother's tears on her arms.

The words and the tears made their way into her soul and she slowly was able to bring her own crying under control. "Why do you hate me so much?" Emily spit out and the anger that she felt for her mother came spilling out in her voice.

"Oh baby, I don't hate you. I don't" her mother replied as she lifted her head off of Emily's arm but she kept her arms around her.

Emily pushed her mother's arms away from her and she turned over so that she could see her mother's eyes and face. She saw the tears running down her face and she could see the sorrow in her mother's facial expression but that didn't stop her from replying to her mother with the anger that she was feeling, "Then why have you been treating me like shit since I came home late from Danielle's father dinner. I come home late once in my fucking life and you act like I some demon child now. You worn my ass out, wasn't that more than enough punishment for being late?"

"That wasn't why I was treating you so bad." Her mother said as she put her face into her hands and Emily could tell that she was ashamed. It was then that her mother burst out in tears and she cried out, "Oh god, I am the mean mother, Bubba was right. I'm no mother at all. I'm so sorry Emily, I'm really am and I don't know how to explain it to you."

Emily wanted to continue to hate her mother but she couldn't. She had loved her to much for too long to stop now. But that didn't take the anger she was feeling away. A part of her wanted to really let her mother have it while she was down but the better part of her won out and she just said, "Try."

Her mother looked up and they looked into each other's eyes and they both measured the sincerity of the other. Emily still felt so much anger but she was willing to let her mother talk but it had to be tonight. She couldn't go on like this for another day.

"Let's talk in the kitchen so that Bubba can get some sleep." Her mother said as she slowly got up. Her mother looked more like she was sixty than her thirty years, Emily thought as she watched her mother get up and walk into the kitchen. But as Emily go up she also felt more than twice her own age. When she got into the kitchen, her mother had turned on the coffee pot and the water had begun to drain into the pot. Emily then knew that they were in for a long night. Her mother stood there with her back to Emily as the coffee made. She could tell that her mother was crying and Emily wanted to go to her but she couldn't, she couldn't comfort her mother until this was resolved. So she sat there in silence as she watched her mother's shoulders shake as she cried. Emily's own eyes began to tear up and as much as she didn't want to cry, she did all the same. She then got up and went to the living room and got a box of tissues. She set them down but not before she handed her mother a couple, who took them and said in a soft tone, "Thanks." They both blew their noses as they waited for the coffee to finish making. When the coffee was done, Emily's mother made them both a cup and she sat down in her chair at the square table. Emily was sitting just to the right side of her so that they were close but still could look into each other's eyes.

"I'm not sure where to start. I know that I have done you wrong and I guess I know the reason but..." her mother started to say but then she stopped and it was like she didn't know what to say next.

"Just tell me what I did that was so wrong. I just don't understand. I mean when I came home that night, I saw you look at me and it was like you changed into a different person. I just want my old mom back; tell me where she went so that I can go get her."

"I want her back too, I really do." She said.

"Well at least we agree on one thing, that is a starting point. So tell me what happened. I know I was late and I can explain all of that if you let me." Emily said.

"There's no need to, I know that it had to be a good reason for you to be late. But that wasn't what made me angry and what scared be so much."

"Then why were you angry and what scared you?" Emily asked.

"I think I was more scared than angry."

"Scared of what mother, you're talking but you not telling me anything. Talk to me; tell me what happened to you. I really want to know." Emily told her.

"I was scared of losing you. I saw you in the fancy dress and you looked so beautiful. You looked just like Danielle and I could see you leaving me and never coming back. I could see you running off and never looking back." She said and then she began to cry softly again.

"Mother, why would you think such a thing? Didn't you ever listen to me when I talked about going off to college and stuff? I always said that I would never leave here for good. You and Bubba are my family, my only family and that I'll never forget. I love you mama and I always will. I will always be your daughter and you will always be my mother."

"I love you too baby. I started loving you from the time that I first felt you in my belly." She said and she started to cry again and this time Emily reached out to her and they hugged.

"But why were you so hard on me. I have to tell you that I was just getting to the point that I knew that I had to get out of here. You were driving me away." Emily asked as she had to know the answer to that question before she could forgive her mother.

"I don't know. It was like once I started down that road, I couldn't stop. Maybe it was a little of my own mother coming out of me and I swore that I would never let that happen but I did. I was scared of losing you and yet by being so mean, I was doing just that. I was angry at Danielle for taking you away from me but I was the one that encouraged you to be friends with her. Maybe I was angry with me for doing that and I know I was angry with myself for treating you so bad and I took that anger out on you. I can't explain it to you but that is the way it is."

"I think I know what you are saying. Sometimes I get angry for being so poor but then you or Bubba will do something to make me realize that being poor isn't so bad. And seeing how Danielle has to live with everyone looking at everything she and her family does, makes me glad that I'm so poor that no one notices me. So even though Danielle are friends, I still like our lives and not hers. You see, you were never even close to losing me. No matter where I go, I will be with you. A girl always needs her mother, don't you know that?" Emily said as a smile came to her face for the first time in a very long time.

"That's good to know. I know that I have a lot to do to earn your love and respect again but I want to do that. I want to start over." She said as she put her hand on Emily's.

"You don't have to earn my love and respect, you have always had that but I do want us to talk again." Emily told her and she turned her hand over and she grasped her mother's hands in hers.

"Well I still have to make up for all that I have done. Then once I finish with you then I can start with Bubba. Maybe then he will stop calling me the "mean mother." "The Mean Girl" I could handle but the "mean mother" was too much. Plus I want him back in the bed and not sleeping on the floor. I miss him almost as much as I missed you. But don't you dare tell him that." She said with a smile.

"Too late, you done told me as least you're going to tell me right." Emily told her mother.

"Yea, we got all night and I want to tell you everything. And maybe you can tell me everything too like we have always done." Her mother asked more than said.

"I would like that but we may need more than one pot of coffee." Emily said as she finished her cup.

"I can always make more." She said as she got up and fixed them both a fresh cup.

When she sat down she started to talk about that night that Emily came home, about how she could see that Emily had grown up on her. It was like one day she was a baby and now she was an adult. That was when she started to get scared and then she saw her in Danielle's dress and she even more scared. Then the next day she still felt the anger in her, anger that maybe she had inside her all her life and only now it had an outlet and Emily was the outlet. Then that night, Bubba moved to the floor because of the way she had treated Emily. Then about a week later Bubba told her that she was no longer the mean girl but was the mean mother. She told Emily that it hurt her feelings to be called that and she became angry at Bubba too. But she also knew that she was wrong in what she was doing. Then came this night when Bubba went to the bathroom and he heard you crying. She told Emily that he came back into the bedroom and practically dragged her out of the bed and into the living room. He then said to her, "This is your fault. Stop it now or I will take our girl out of here and you will never see either one of us again!"

Emily then knew where those angry voices came from; it was Bubba laying down the law to her mother. She knew that Bubba had come through for her in the end. He loved her mother to death but he wasn't going to let her be hurt any more.

Her mother then went on to say that it was then that her heart broke and she realized just what she had done. She said that she knew that Bubba was right; she had become the "mean mother." She also knew that she would do anything to make it up to both Emily and Bubba. When she had finished, Emily told her mother all about that night and how she ended up wearing Danielle's dress. She also told her that she tried to leave on time but she couldn't embarrass Danielle and her father.

They both then took a bathroom break and when they came back, they sat down and began to talk. They talked about Emily and her going to college and how Emily would help her and Bubba when she got her degree and started to earn some money. Then her mother did something that she had never done before, she began to talk about her childhood and she told Emily about her real father. He was a kid that came from a rich family and all he was after was a little pussy and once her got that from her mother, he had no use for her anymore. Then came the baby and there was no way that his family would ever admit that he had gotten a poor girl pregnant. Emily knew that her mother had a hard life but now she understood her better and she could see why she would get angry when she saw Emily getting close to a rich and powerful family. And when she came home dressed like them, then that would make her angry for all types of reasons. They talked and talked but this time the talk was much deeper and more adult. They talked until they heard Bubba's alarm go off and her mother got up to put a fresh pot of coffee on. When he finally came into the kitchen, she had a cup of coffee ready for him.

"You fixed this?" Bubba asked Chloe as he reached for his coffee.

"Yes, I believe so." Chloe said.

Bubba looked at Emily and she nodded her head yes. "Good! You going to stop treating her so bad?"

"Yes, I'm sorry for what I did and I think that Emily has accepted my apologies. We have it fixed now." She told him.

"Then she has no curfews anymore." He stated more than asked.

"We haven't talked about that and I still think that she needs a curfew." She replied.

"Emily's a good girl, she knows when it's time to come home and she my girl too and I say that there is no more need for a curfew." Bubba said as he stood up straight and Emily could tell that he wasn't going to give in on this.

Emily started to say something, as after all that she had been through, she didn't want to see them fight over her but then she looked at her mother and she could see her starting to cave in so she kept her mouth shut.

"No curfew but I have to know where she is going, I'm still her mother." Chloe said giving a lot and taking back only a little.

Bubba again looked at Emily and she nodded yes again. So he said, "Now I want you two to spend the day together. You stay home from work and you stay home from school. You all need to spend the day together."

They both started to protest but he just stood there and they both decided that a day off from work and school wasn't such a bad idea after all.

"Now that is settled how about Danielle, she's allowed back here?"

"Yes, anytime she wants." Her mother said.

"Then invite her over for tonight, I miss seeing her around here." Bubba said.

"But if I stay home from school, I won't see her and besides she has a football game tonight." Emily told him.

"Then we'll go to the ball game tonight and invite her." He declared as he took his first sip of his coffee and then he went back to the bedroom to get ready for work.

"I've never seen him like that before." Emily declared when he had left.

"Oh he can be forceful when he wants to, he just rather keep quite but he loves you dearly and you couldn't ask for a better father." Her mother said.

"Oh I know and I love him too."

"You know, the way that just went, I would swear that you two had this all planned." Her mother said and at first, Emily thought that she was being serious but then she saw her mother smiling.

"Who us? We would never gang up on you." Emily said and then she laughed.

Her mother laughed with her and then she replied with, "You two have been ganging up on me since the minute that you were born."

"But you wouldn't have it any other way would you?" Emily asked seriously.

"No, you both are the two people that I love in this world. But now that we both suddenly have the day off, what are we going to do." Her mother asked.

"I don't know about you but I would love a couple of hours sleep. I'm about worn out." Emily told her mother.

"That sounds good to me, I could use some sleep. As soon as Bubba leaves, let's sneak off to my bed." She replied.

"Cool," Emily said as she got up and stretched her sore muscles.

Her mother went next door to borrow a phone to call into work, something that she had never done before. She came back in about the time that Bubba was ready to leave. He came to Emily and gave her a big hug and kissed her cheek. He then went to her mother and there was a moment of hesitation but then he opened his arms and her mother fell into them. Emily slipped out of the kitchen as she knew that they had some making up to do and she knew that they could use the privacy. She went to their bedroom and she saw Bubba's blankets and pillow on the floor. She picked them up and she folded the quilt. She then slipped under the covers and she thought about all that she and her mother had talked about and she felt good for the first time in a month. They still had some healing to do but they had a good start. She then felt her eyelids getting heavy and she started to fall asleep but not before she felt her mother slipping into the bed and she felt her mother wrapping her arms around her. She felt a motherly kiss on her forehead and then she fell asleep.

They woke up about noon and got dressed. They decided that since it was a warm day, they would go down to the city park. That way they could walk and talk but before they got there, they stopped at a burger joint and ordered something to eat. For the first time in a month, Emily was hungry and she practically wolfed down her food. Her mother then went and bought her another burger and made her eat it too. By the time she was done with it, she felt stuffed but it felt good to want to eat again. From there it was a short walk to the park and Emily asked her mother more about her childhood and then she began to talk about Danielle. She told her mother about how much she liked having Danielle as a friend but she stopped short of telling her that she was in love with her. She wasn't quite ready to share that with her mother and besides she didn't know how Danielle felt about her. And she knew that Danielle had a boyfriend but then again, she never seemed to be seeing him. That was something that she wanted to ask Danielle about but it was one of those things that she didn't want to know that it was serious. She figured that was something that was better off not knowing at this point.

They got home with just enough time to cook supper together and they had it ready when Bubba got home. He gave them both a kiss and Emily noticed that the kiss that he gave her mother was a lot more intimate than they had been. They then sat down and had a quick dinner. Once supper was eaten, Bubba ran and took a shower as Emily and her mother got their coats. She then pulled some bills from her stash of rainy day money and they were off. They caught the city bus to the high school and they got their tickets. Emily looked around for Danielle but she couldn't see her as they went to the stands and they found a seat near the center of the field. They sat there as both football teams warmed up and the stands slowly filled in. They sat and talked about the game but since none of them had ever seen a football game before, they didn't know what they were seeing. Bubba was the first to notice Danielle and he quickly pointed her out to Emily and her mother. They all stood to get her attention but about that time, the announcer asked for everyone to stand for the national anthem. So Danielle failed to see them and after that the football team came running out onto the field and her attention was focused on them. The football game soon started and everyone watched the game except for those three who kept their eyes glued on Danielle. But Danielle was busy cheering and when she looked into the crowd, there was no way for her to see them, as they looked like everyone else waving their arms but in this case they were waving their hands at her and not for the team. Emily had decided at halftime she would try to go down to the front roll and get her attention.

Then came the end of the first quarter and all the cheerleaders started to throw small footballs into the stands. Danielle came on over and she ended up standing down in front of them. She had a football and threw it as hard as she could, it came flying up into the stands and Emily jumped up and snatched it from the air. When she looked down onto the field where Danielle was standing, she saw that Danielle had finally seen that it was her. Everyone was hollering for Danielle to throw a football to them so Emily didn't try to holler at Danielle, so instead she pointed down to her mother and Bubba. She then pointed to Danielle and back at herself and Danielle got the message as she nodded her head "yes." Emily sat back down but she could see the confusion in Danielle's eyes. She kept an eye on her the rest of the half and she could see Danielle glance up at her from time to time and she saw the confusion in her eyes. The half finally ended up with the team up by a touchdown but it was a tight game. Emily watched as Danielle talked to the other cheerleaders for a minute or two, then she turned and came up into the stands and she made her way up to them. Emily could feel her stomach start to churn inside of her. She didn't know how Danielle would react when she got there or how what she would say to her mother. Emily had told Danielle everything that her mother had done to her and she knew that Danielle was very angry with her and had more than once threatened to come over and straighten her mother out. When she got there, Emily stood up and she hugged Danielle tightly.

"Is everything okay?" Danielle whispered into her ear.

"Yes." Emily said as they parted.

"Hello Ms Cook," Danielle said coldly to Chloe.

"Hello Danielle," Chloe said as Danielle stepped in front of her and she hugged Bubba.

"Hello Bubba, have you come up with any good stories lately? I have missed hearing them." Danielle said and she made sure the Chloe heard every word that she said.

Emily almost wanted to snicker at how cold Danielle was treating her mother but she didn't want this to get out of hand so she quickly spoke up, "We would all like for you to come over and stay the night with us soon." Emily said and she emphasized the word "all" so that Danielle knew that her mother also wanted her to come over.

"Yes, can you come tonight?" Bubba asked eagerly.

"I'll have to ask my mother but I may be able to do that. That is if I'm welcome back again." Danielle asked.

Emily started to say something to keep things on an even keel but her mother spoke up before she could say anything.

"Danielle, you're welcome at our house anytime and I'd love to be able to talk to you. I'd like a chance to ask for your forgiveness for anything that I may have done wrong. I've done that with Emily and for the most part Bubba and I'd like for you to give me a second chance as they have done." She told her.

Danielle looked first at Emily and then at Bubba and when they both nodded their heads "yes", she responded with, "I'll call my mom but I'm sure that she'll let me. Just meet me at the gate after the game."

She then hugged Emily and she whispered, "You sure it's cool?"

"Yea, it's cool, give her a chance, do it for me okay?" Emily whispered back.

"For you, I'll do anything." Danielle said as she gave Emily a squeeze and then she had to run off as the second half was about to begin.

Emily was finally was able to relax and enjoy the game but she still kept an eye on Danielle. Mainly because she was so interested in her and she didn't have a clue as to what was going on in the game anyway. To her it was a bunch of boys running around and hitting each other. The fact that Danielle's boyfriend was on the field didn't help any. Every time that he got hit, she almost wanted to cheer. But then she thought about what would happen if he really did get hurt, then maybe Danielle would stay with him and not come home with her and her family. She then decided that it would be better if he didn't get hurt. The game was tight until the very end when Danielle's boyfriend threw a long pass that one of the players caught for a touchdown. That play ended the game and all the plays hosted Danielle's boyfriend on their shoulders and carried him off the field. Emily watched as Danielle went over to him with the other cheerleaders. By this time he was back on his feet and she saw them talking. Then she saw them hug but there was something about the way that they hugged that struck her as being odd. But it wasn't something that she could put her finger on. Emily, Bubba, and her mother waited for a few minutes as the crowd thinned and then they made her way down the stands and on to the front gate. They had to wait for a few minutes then Danielle appeared dressed in jeans and carrying a little bag.

"You all wouldn't be waiting for anyone would you?" Danielle said as she came up to them. She smiled deeply at Emily and Bubba but when she turned to Chloe, her look was much colder. She knew that her mother didn't like to be treated this way but she hoped that she and Danielle would work things out.

"Naw, we're just waiting for our driver to bring our car around." Emily said with a snotty voice.

"Oh, he called and said that his car broke down, so he sent me." Danielle quipped back.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to make do, but the car company will be hearing about this when we get home." Emily said as she pouted and put her hands on her hips but then she started to laugh and Danielle laughed with her. They all then headed for Danielle's car with Danielle and Emily going arm in arm and Chloe and Bubba following close behind. When they got there, Emily and her mother squeezed into the back seat and Bubba took the passenger seat. Then on the way home, Bubba talked all the way about how much fun he had watching the game. He was like a little kid and Emily leaned over and whispered into her mother's ear, "You know, we need to do this more often."

"We will, I promise." Her mother whispered back as she took Emily's hand in hers. Emily squeezed her mother's hand and she realized that maybe all this was worth it. It seemed like they were growing closer as a family and doing things that they had never done before.

"If you two don't mind, I'd like to talk to Danielle for a minute in private." Chloe said as they all gathered in the living room after taking turns visiting the bathroom.

"Sure," Emily said as she looked at Danielle to make sure that she was cool with it and she saw that Danielle was more than ready to talk to Chloe. Emily started toward Danielle to tell her to take it easy but Danielle had already moved toward the kitchen and Chloe was following close behind. As her mother went into the kitchen, she closed the door behind her, keeping Emily behind.

"What do we do now?" Emily said as she turned to Bubba.

"I don't know about you but I'm going to listen in." Bubba said with a shy grin on his face. He then tiptoed toward the door and placed her ear to it. He motioned for Emily to join him and she was shaking her head no but after a minute or two she couldn't stand it and she crept up beside of Bubba and stuck her ear to the door.

She couldn't hear every word but she could hear her mother talking and she was explaining her side of things that had happened the past month or so. Emily was glad to hear that Danielle was listening and not being combative. Her mother talked for a while and then she heard Danielle talking and she was talking about the night of her father's dinner and how it was her fault and not Emily's fault. She said that the wrong person was punished, that she was the only one that was at fault. But then Chloe argued that Emily was still wrong about being late but the rest of it was her fault and not either Danielle or Emily's fault. They talked for a while about this and Emily wanted to burst in and tell them to get past this point and get on with it. But they seemed to want to argue for a while longer before they decided to agree to disagree. They talked more about Emily and Danielle being friends and her mother said that she hoped that Danielle didn't hold what she had done wrong against Emily and Danielle said that she didn't. Emily was her friend and always would be. Chloe talked about wanting to see Danielle around again and that she did miss seeing her. And she added that she knew that Bubba and Emily missed her but she made sure that Danielle knew that she did miss her too. They talked for a while longer but about nothing important and Emily was hoping that they would finish already but then she heard Danielle bringing up getting a cell phone for Emily so that they could talk and that she could just add a line to her phone and it wouldn't cost much.

"You're getting a phone!" Bubba said enthusiastically and much louder than he meant too.

"Shhhh..." Emily said to him as she put her hand over Bubba's mouth.

"I haven't agreed to that yet." Chloe said loudly. "You all may as well come on in. You can hear a lot better than by putting your ear to the door."

Bubba shrugged his shoulders as he opened the door and he pushed Emily on into the door.

"Sorry about that." Bubba said as they came on into the kitchen.

"I could see your feet under the door so I know that you heard everything that we were talking about." Chloe told the two spies.

"Well not quite everything, it was kind of hard to hear, you all weren't talking loud enough." Emily said smiling but she could feel that her face was red from being caught spying.

"I'll try to remember to talk louder the next time I don't want anyone to hear what I'm saying." Chloe said with a smile.

"Enough about that lets get back to Emily's phone." Bubba told her.

"Like I said, I haven't made a decision about that yet. Danielle just sprung that on me. I believe that she was about to try to convince me why we need a phone that we have thus far done just fine without all these years." Chloe said as she looked at Danielle with a look that seemed to say, "Go ahead and do the impossible, I dare you."

But Danielle had never found anything in her life that she had found was impossible so she quickly launched into her argument. "With this phone, then I would be able to talk to Emily and her, me. There will always be times when I have to go away with my parents and we have no way of talking. You all don't have a computer so we can't talk that way. This is our only way to talk and I miss her so much when we can't talk. This last month has been hell for me, not being able to talk to her. She has become my best friend and I need her and I believe that she feels the same way. Plus, if you ever need to call someone, then you can use her phone."

"I see and just how much would this cost us?" Chloe asked.

"Noth..." Nothing was what Danielle started to say but then she saw the look on Chloe's face and she quickly changed her tactics. "I can add her to my phone for less than ten dollars." She said but she didn't add that she would have to change her plan and that would cost extra. I can even add a phone for you for ten dollars."

"And how much would the phones cost? I know that you have to buy your own phones." Chloe said.

"They can cost a lot if you get something fancy but I know you both don't want that. I can get you both a simple phone for free. It won't be fancy or anything, just a basic phone." Danielle told her.

"And each time we make a call, it cost us right. And if I know you two, once Emily gets a phone, she will be talking to you all the time." Chloe said.

"Well, when we talk to each other, it cost nothing and on week nights and weekends it doesn't cost anything to call anybody. We will have a bunch of weekday minutes to use before they cost us anything. And I know you won't use it much during the day and neither will Emily. She will be talking mostly to you and me and that costs us nothing." Danielle said.

Chloe sat back and she thought for a minute and Emily could see that she was weakening. Emily knew after all that had happen this past month, her mother was wanting to make up for things, but she wasn't going to do anything unless there was a good reason to do so. Emily decided that maybe she needed to add the finishing touches to the argument.

"Mom, you and Bubba have saved every penny you could for me to go to college on. But it's time that you did something for yourself and for us. I know that there have been many times that I have wanted to ask you something but you were at work or at home and I couldn't get a hold of you. And I know that you can say the same thing. Do this for me and for us, please." Emily said.

"What do you think Bubba?" Chloe asked Bubba and Emily knew what he would say.

"I think we should do this for Emily. She has never asked for anything before. Plus now that you have done away with her curfew but are making her tell you where she is, well now she can. You can still keep up with her and not worry." Bubba said and Emily was surprised how well thought out his argument was. But then Bubba was slow in his learning ability but he wasn't stupid.

"It's only ten dollars a month for each phone right; you're not lying to me are you?" Chloe asked Danielle as she tried to stare her down.

"No, I'm not and I won't lie to you. I can add two lines to my phone for ten each and get your phones for free." Danielle told Chloe never breaking eye contact. She was honest in what she was saying but she didn't offer anything about having to get a different plan.

Chloe looked at each of the sets of eyes that were bearing down on her and she knew that she was out numbered. Emily had her fingers crossed as her mother thought about it all. She made them all wait her out before she finally made her decision.

"Okay I give up, I can't bear having three people mad at me. You all can go get us phones tomorrow."

Emily screamed as she ran to her mother and hugged her tight thanking her and kissing her cheek. Bubba then came over and pulled her up from her chair and gave her a big hug and a sloppy kiss, which she protested but not too much. Then it was Danielle's turn and Emily wondered just what she would do. So she watched as Danielle came up to Chloe slowly and Chloe held out her arms. Emily knew this was more about the talk that they had just had and not about the phones. Danielle only hesitated a second before she went into Chloe's arms and she let Chloe hug her. Danielle immediately hugged her back.

"Does this mean that I'm forgiven?" Chloe asked as they separated.

"Yes and I'm sorry about the dress thing. I understand things a little better now. And I admit that I'm not sure that I would have reacted any differently. You all have been so tight net for so long and then have someone come in change everything around. That would scare me too. So yea, I forgive you. And thanks for the phones, I do appreciate that too." Danielle said as she came back toward Chloe and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

This act almost made Emily cry as she was so relieved that her world was back to spinning properly. She had her mother back and Danielle was still her friend.

But then her mother had to have the last words as she said, "You know that was sneaky bringing up the phones when you knew I couldn't say no."

"Hey my father always told me to strike while the iron is hot so I did." Danielle said with a smile as she hugged Chloe one more time.

"Well, I don't know about you all but I'm getting tired. I think that I'll head to bed and leave you two to catch up. Since I know that you haven't talked in a month." Her mother said as she gave Emily a wink. Then she said to Bubba, "You coming to bed with me?"

"Yes," Bubba said and Emily knew that her mother was asking more than just if he was tired and ready to sleep. She wanted to know if he was going to sleep with her tonight and not on the floor beside of the bed. And Emily knew that he was going to sleep with her and that there would be noises coming from the bedroom again.

'I don't know about you but I'm kind of tired too. You want to go to bed and talk there?" Danielle asked with a slight smile on her face.

"Yea, that sounds good. Did you bring something to sleep in?" Emily asked.

"No, I didn't want to stop at my house to get anything. I didn't want to take a chance of your mother changing her mind. I figured that I could wear something of yours." Danielle said.

"No problem, I'll get you one of Bubba's shirts to wear tonight and tomorrow I find you something to wear." She said as she went into the living room and she pulled a shirt out of her dresser for Danielle to wear.

She then let Danielle use the bathroom first to change and freshen up. Once she was done, Emily followed her in and she changed out of her clothes and into her shirt. When she came back out, Danielle helped her to pull the couch out and they made out the bed as they talked about going and getting the phones the next day. Danielle was telling her what type of phone she was going to get her. Emily would normally have argued about getting anything fancy but this time she just let Danielle talk. It was just fun to talk about something fun for a change. Danielle's shirt was a little shorter than hers and every time she bent over which was often the back would ride up and she got a good look at her legs and cute little butt. More than once she had to ask Danielle what she had said and she hoped that Danielle didn't notice how distracted she got at times. Then when she bent over to put the pillows down, Emily go a long look down the front of her shirt and she could see Danielle's breasts with her mauve colored nipples. This made her want to reach out and touch those beautiful breasts but she kept her hands to herself. Once the bed was made, Emily went and turned off all the lights except for the one in the kitchen that they always kept on. As she made her way back into the living room, she could feel her heart pounding and she felt like something was going to happen tonight that would change her life.

She got to the bed and she slipped under the covers, moving over beside of Danielle, who had turned onto her side and was facing her. The room was so quiet that Emily could hear both of their breathing. Emily wanted to say something but nothing was coming to mind, and she felt the tension begin to rise between then when she heard a low moan coming from the bedroom. Then a louder one came and she heard Danielle start to giggle. This broke the tension and Emily started to giggle herself. They both got into a giggling fit as they listened to Bubba and her mother in the bedroom. They both giggled for a moment then Emily saw Danielle's face turn serious and just as her mother let out a moan, so did Danielle. Then every time she heard a moan, Danielle would moan too and Emily giggled but then Danielle started to get louder with her moans.

"Shhh... they'll hear you." Emily said trying to get Danielle to be quite but then she heard a loud moan from the bedroom and then Danielle started to mimic it in length and loudness.

"Hush girl!" Emily told her but she kept going giving her a wicked grin.

The moaning then stopped for a moment in the bedroom but that didn't stop Danielle who started to let out another fake moan and Emily clamped her hand over Danielle's mouth to stop her.

"Damn you! Mom will come in here and see what we're doing." Emily said to her as she kept her hand clamped on Danielle's mouth.

Danielle then put her hand on Emily's wrist and she pulled Emily's hand away from her mouth. "Maybe we should be the ones going to see what they are up to." She said as she started to get out of the bed.

"Don't you dare!" Emily said as she suddenly got scared that Danielle would really do just that. She pulled Danielle back down in the bed and she slipped her torso over Danielle's to keep her from getting up. She then found herself looking straight into Danielle's deep blue eyes and Danielle's eyes were boring into hers. Neither of them moved as they just stared at each other. Emily felt her heart start to race and she could feel Danielle's heart beating just as fast. She could feel Danielle's breasts pressing into her breasts. Emily's heart then took control of her body as she lowered her head down. She closed her eyes just as her lips touched Danielle's soft lips. Emily felt like her heart was about to burst as the kiss lingered on for a moment more and then she lifted her head up and it hit her what she had just done.

"Oh god, I'm sorry." Emily said as she rolled off of Danielle and she lay on her back afraid to look at Danielle for fear of what she would see.

"I'm not sorry. I've wanted to do that since that day after chemistry class when you read me the riot act. I knew then that you were the girl that I had been looking for." Danielle said as she moved over and she lay down on top of Emily.

Danielle leaned down and kissed Emily lightly on the lips. "I was just wasn't sure about how you felt but I guess that I know now." And then she lowered her head and Emily accepted her lips. She put her hand to the back of Danielle's head and she held her in place as they kissed. She opened her mouth a little and she felt Danielle open hers and their kissing became more passionate. Emily heard a moan come from Danielle and this time it was a real one. This kiss lasted for what seemed like forever but finally they had to catch their breaths. Danielle started to kiss her again but Emily pushed her back.

"What's wrong?" Danielle asked and Emily could see the concern in her eyes.

"I need to ask you something." Emily said and she so wanted not to ask this question but she had to at this point.

"What about... what's his name... your boyfriend?" Emily said suddenly drawing a blank on his name.

"Oh he's not my real boyfriend, he's my pretend boyfriend." Danielle said. And then she started to kiss Emily again but again she pushed her back.

"Pretend boyfriend?" Emily asked.

"Do you want to talk or kiss?" Danielle asked.

"Both," Emily said as she pulled Danielle back down for another long kiss. This time they both opened their mouths and the kissing became real passionate with them both moaning. But then the kiss ended and Emily pushed Danielle up as she waited for her answer.

"I trust you with this because I know that you will never tell anyone what I am going to tell you. I made a promise to Jeb that I would never tell anyone but I'm going to tell you." She said.

"You know you can trust me with anything." Emily said.

"I do. It was during out freshman year that I happened to see something that I wasn't meant to see. I had stayed after cheerleading practice to do some tumbling exercises. Anyway once I had taken a shower and gotten dressed, I left the locker room and was going to my car. But as I went past the boy's locker room, I heard a noise like someone was moaning. I thought one of the football players may have fallen and gotten hurt so being the bold person that I am, I marched on into the boy's locker room to investigate. What did I see but Jeb and the starting full back naked as the day they were born and kissing like fools. I let out a yelp and they froze like deer caught in a car's headlights. Jeb then started to beg me not to tell anyone and after I had recovered from seeing them like that I came up with a plan. He needed a girlfriend as a cover and I knew that having a boyfriend wouldn't hurt as I already knew that I was a lesbian but I wasn't ready to come out at that point. So we made a deal, we would become boyfriend and girlfriend but with no real benefits, in other words, no sex and no kissing. And we agreed that we would tell everyone that we were holding off having sex until marriage. That worked for both of us as it saved our reputation and it would keep us from having to tell lies about what we did together. We've actually never had a date. He would sometimes pick me up and then drop me someplace and then he would go visit his boyfriend. In fact, the nights that I was spending here, we told our friends that we had gone out. So far, everyone has bought it, even you I guess, but I figured that you would have figured it out by now."

"Well I did and I didn't. I knew that something was strange about your relationship with him but I never guessed that Jeb was gay like us. And I knew that I was gay for a long time like you. In fact, I've had a crush on you since I first saw you our freshman year." Emily confessed to her.

"Oh god girl, why didn't you say something long ago? We've wasted all this time." Danielle said.

"I don't know, I think that it has worked out just right in the end." She said as she curled her hand back around the back of Danielle's neck and she pulled her back down for a kiss.

They began to kiss and this time they didn't stop to talk between kisses, they went right back to kissing. Danielle was the first one to open her mouth and Emily felt Danielle's tongue come into her mouth. She let out a muffled moan as she felt Danielle's tongue move around inside of her mouth. After a moment's hesitation, Emily lifted her tongue and she began to caress Danielle's tongue. This brought a moan from Danielle. Emily kept one hand to the back of Danielle's neck but the other she moved to Danielle's back. She ran her fingers along Danielle's spine and then she moved it to the shoulders and finally down to her lower back. By this time Emily had moved her tongue into Danielle's mouth and she felt Danielle begin to suck on it. Emily felt her pussy start to get really wet and she opened her legs up so the Danielle's pussy was now pressed firmly against her own pussy. She could feel the wetness that was coming from Danielle's panties and she knew that Danielle was just as excited as she was. Emily brought her knees up and that changed the position of her pussy and the pressure of Danielle's pussy against hers felt even better.

Danielle then began to slide her hips up and down slightly as she moved her mouth to Emily's neck and she began to kiss her there. Emily let out a slight moan and she started to move her hips against Danielle's hips. They both moved slowly for a while just enjoying the feeling that they were giving each other. Emily had masturbated a few times before but this was so much better. She moved her hand to Danielle's panty clad ass and she could feel the firm buttocks as Danielle tensed and relaxed them as she moved. Emily used her hands to grasp Danielle's left butt cheek and she squeezed it. Danielle lifted her lips from Emily's neck where she was kissing her to moan and Emily quickly moved her lips to Danielle's neck and she began to kiss and suck on her neck. This only caused Danielle to moan more. If Emily had been capable to thinking, she would have realized that they were making a lot of noise but her passions had complete control over her. She kissed and nibbled on Danielle's earlobes, then Danielle brought her mouth down to Emily's lips and they began to kiss again. Emily felt like her pussy was leaking juices like an open facet. She moved her other hand down to Danielle's ass and she grasped Danielle's right cheek with it. She squeezed both cheeks and she pushed Danielle's ass down. The both picked up the speed of their hips and Emily felt like she was going to cum at any moment. She urged Danielle's on and she had to stop kissing her so that she could breath. Her breaths were coming fast and shallow and so was Danielle's. They both moaned and groaned as their orgasms approached. Emily then felt her orgasm hit and she lifted her hips and cried out. She felt like her whole body was being carried away to some distant place where only she and Danielle existed. She felt Danielle drive her hips down hard and she heard Danielle cry out her name into her ear. Emily curled her legs around Danielle's hips and she held on as she rode out the waves of her orgasm.

"Oh fuck, I've never felt anything like that before." Emily said breathlessly.

"Me either, I never knew that I could cum that hard. God that was great." Danielle said as she lowered her head and kissed Emily softly on the lips.

"I don't want to ever be without you again. I missed you to god damn much." Emily said as she felt a tear go down her face and she began to cry but this time she cried because she felt so wonderful.

"Shhh baby, don't cry. I'm never going anywhere without you." Danielle said but she could feel Danielle's tears hitting her face and she knew that Danielle was crying for the same reason she was. She just wasn't quite sure what that reason was, she just knew that it felt good to cry and it felt even better knowing that Danielle was crying with her. They cried and kissed for a while longer before Danielle laid her head down on her shoulder and Danielle fell asleep. Emily laid there loving the feel of Danielle's weight pressing down on her. She used one hand to caress Danielle's back and the other she used to comb her fingers through her hair. Emily wanted to stay up all night just so that she could enjoy this moment but sleep eventually overtook her.

That morning, she woke up when she heard her mother moving around in the kitchen. Danielle had moved off of her during the night but Danielle's arms were still wrapped around her. She kissed Danielle on the lips and she slipped out from under her. She went first and got some clothes and she went to the bathroom and peed. She then cleaned the girlcum off her pussy and then she changed into clean clothes. She then went on into the kitchen to help her mother fix breakfast.

"Morning sweetheart, did you sleep well last night?" Her mother asked her but she had this strange smile on her face and Emily wondered what was going on.

"Yea I did, how about yourself?" Emily said as she came over and gave her mother a kiss on the cheek.

"Oh I was just about to fall asleep when I heard these strange noises coming from the living room." Her mother said.

Emily had started to turn away but that statement stopped her in her tracks. Her heart stopped as she prayed that her mother didn't do what she already knew that she had done.

End of Part Two

To be continued...

Please let me know what you think of my story. I welcome all comments good or bad. You can email me at numlfl@hotmail.com