Young Exploration Part 1

The smell of freshly mowed grass assaulted Kacey’s nose as her knuckles rapped on the screen door to her best friend Samantha’s back door. It was early summer, school was just out a few days ago, and better than that, Kacey had just turned sixteen on her last birthday, about six months prior. She felt tingly and alive, and was ready to explore her first summer as a real teenager. There was an undercurrent of excitement flowing through her. This summer was going to be special, she knew. She didn’t know how, or why, exactly, but she knew. There was no doubt in her young mind.

“Who is it, Sam?” asked an older, feminine voice from inside the house. Kacey recognized the voice of Sam’s mother, Mrs. Jennifer Thomas, and smiled. Mrs. Thomas liked her, and was always nice to her whenever she came over to Sam’s house. She and Kacey’s own mother were best friends, much like she and Sam were.

Sam peeked out the window from the back room, and saw a long, flowing river of black hair, tan skin and amazing brown eyes that she envied so much. A smile lit across her lips as she recognized instantly her best friend. Kacey was about six months younger than her, since she turned seventeen last month, but those six months didn’t diminish their friendship any.

“It’s Kacey, Mom,” Sam called, racing back into the kitchen, where her mother sat, cutting up vegetables for a soup she was making. Sam’s face was alight with excitement. She always got worked up at the prospect of being able to play with Kacey, especially if they went swimming in Kacey’s huge pool. Summers were the best, living next door to Kacey. “She might want to go swimming. Can I go, Mom? Please?”

Mrs. Thomas laughed and put the knife down, looking up at her daughter. “Well, aren’t you even going to invite her in? Or are you going to make her stand out there in this unbearable heat while you guess about what she wants?” she asked, shaking her head in amusement. Sam let herself get too excited about what might happen sometimes, and today was no exception.

Sam’s fair complexion turned scarlet and she covered her mouth with her hand. “Oops!” she exclaimed, already diving towards the utility room and the back door. “I forgot all about that!” She slipped and nearly fell when her foot hit a pair of panties lying on the floor next to the dryer that had apparently fallen out of the basket, but caught herself just in time. Her hand turned the knob and she pulled the door open. “Hey, Kacey, come on in.”

The sun during the summer, even the early summer, in the south, where it was particularly humid as well, was blistering. Today was no exception to that rule. Kacey was thankful her skin was naturally somewhat tan anyway, otherwise she might have burned and blistered by now, she thought. The slight breeze that blew by billowed out the tummy of her loose tee shirt that she wore, over a pair of faded denim cutoffs. Her long, tanned, toned legs stretched down to a pair of flip flops, where her bare feet were barely contained by two feeble looking straps.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Sam was inviting her in. The rush of air conditioning struck her face like a gentle caress, and she smiled. She knew that Sam had gotten all excited, and had forgotten to open the door. It happened sometimes. Kacey didn’t mind. She was guilty of the same thing, on occasion, herself, she knew. The two best friends were nigh inseparable, especially during the summer. It’d been that way since they were really little.

Kacey gratefully stepped into the house with her excited best friend, and closed the door behind her as they both walked from the utility room into the kitchen and dining area, where Mrs. Thomas sat. The cool air helped to rid her skin of the light sheen of sweat she’d built up in the few minutes that she’d stood at the door. The Thomas household was very nice, and inviting, tastefully decorated without being ostentatious. Kacey always enjoyed looking at the pretty things Mrs. Thomas adorned their house with. She knew that her mother and “Aunt Jen,” as Mrs. Thomas insisted that Kacey call her, swapped ideas back and forth, and frequently went on expeditions to find new and unusual trinkets to dress up their houses with.

Mrs. Thomas stopped what she was doing and looked up at the two young girls, standing side by side, and grinning fit to make the Cheshire Cat blush with embarrassment. They were so much alike in so many ways, but so very different in others. They were both tall for their ages, a little over five feet tall, or so. Both were somewhat slender and athletic in build, and of course, both girls were devastatingly beautiful, at least in her eyes. The similarities in appearance ended there, though.

Where Kacey’s skin was a golden tan color, very light and the envy of every bikini clad female from age twelve to sixty that frequented the pools, spas, and health clubs around town, Sam’s skin was like polished ivory. She could tan very beautifully, but invariably, that golden sheen would peel from her skin, revealing the milky, ivory skin underneath. Instead of a black river of shiny hair, like Kacey’s, Sam’s hair was a soft sandy blonde. There were places that caught the light and reflected like highly polished gold, and it was stunning to the eye, but she was definitely not a bleach blonde by any means. Sam’s eyes were a dark emerald green, where Kacey’s where a deep, chocolate brown, so dark as to almost be black.

Their bodies were both athletic, but where Kacey’s form was highly toned and developed from her avid, and almost incessant, swimming, Sam’s body was developed in other ways. She participated in school softball, and gymnastics, and was planning on trying out for cheerleader when she hit high school. Kacey was also a gifted dancer, even at her age, and was trying to help Sam get ready by teaching her to dance, so her coordination would be more on time when tryouts came along.

Then, of course, there were the differences that age and build brought to each girl as well. Kacey hadn’t developed overtly as much as many other girls had between the ages of eleven and thirteen. Kacey’s breasts were small, an A cup, poking out behind her loose fitting tee shirt. Sam, on the other hand, had developed a bit more. Of course, she was a few months older, as well. Her breasts were fuller than Kacey’s, moving up to the next cup size, a B cup, if just barely. The line of her bust was prominent enough behind her own tee shirt that her parents silently endorsed her decision to wear loose fitting shirts as much as she wanted to. Her body was a little curvier than Kacey’s was. Of course, Sam was a little over an inch taller than Kacey, and outweighed her by about ten pounds.

Either way, both of the teenage girls standing before Mrs. Thomas were strikingly beautiful. There was no denying that fact. They were growing up, and growing into extremely beautiful girls, who would be turning boys’ heads quite rapidly. Mrs. Thomas sighed the sigh that all parents sigh when they realize that despite their wishes, time and Mother Nature prevail when it comes to gracing their daughter, or those girls that they consider like their daughter, with feminine charms. Much as she might like to, she knew she couldn’t halt that process. She was just grateful that both girls were smart, and hopefully paid attention to the talks that their parents gave them so they wouldn’t find themselves in the woeful position that so many teenage girls found themselves in someday.

Snapping herself out of her reverie, Mrs. Thomas smiled, and got up, heading for the refrigerator. “Hello, Kacey,” she said with genuine warmth, pulling two frosty Cokes from the refrigerator and handing them to the two girls, who accepted them gladly. “How are you today? Is Cathy doing well?” Cathy, of course, was Kacey’s mother, and Mrs. Thomas’ best friend, much as Sam was Kacey’s best friend. She didn’t need to ask how Kacey’s father was doing, since she saw him every morning as he headed off to work, and they’d often chat a few minutes while he was gathering his things. Occasionally, she’d see and talk to Cathy, but not every morning. She was usually busy seeing to whatever emergency it was that Kacey’s older sister, Liz, was having that morning, Mrs. Thomas knew.

Kacey took a long pull off the Coke that she’d been given, and was relieved that it brought moisture back to her mouth. The sun had been murder, the few minutes she’d been standing in it. Swallowing it, finally, she answered, “Mom’s doing good, Aunt Jen. She had a little bit of a tiff with Liz this morning, but you know how Liz is. That’ll blow over before lunch.”

Elizabeth Callahan, or Liz, was Kacey’s older sister. She was nineteen, nearly twenty, and was as headstrong a teenage girl as any that had ever lived. She frequently lamented the fact that her parents, particularly her mother, seemed determined to treat her like a child, by her reckoning, and often this would lead to little bursts of temper, or a prodigious amount of sulking, pouting or similar behavior for a little while. However, Kacey’s family were very close, and they couldn’t stand for one of the others to be upset with them for too long, especially Liz, so invariably, a truce would be called, and before long, Liz and whoever would end up hugging, with Liz crying, wailing, and apologizing, swearing to be better or more understanding, or whatever the situation called for.

Then, the next day, it would start over as if the day before had never happened. It wasn’t the most pleasant of circumstances for Kacey to have to bear witness to, sometimes, she knew, but it’s just how Liz was. No matter how hormonal or out of control Liz seemed, she genuinely loved her family, and tried her best to make it right, even if she steered it wrong twenty four hours later, once again. She didn’t know how her parents endured Liz’s behavior sometimes, except through the sheer power of love for their older daughter.

Mrs. Thomas nodded with a rueful smile, and sipped from the Coke that she’d been drinking on occasionally, before the girls came in. “I suppose so,” she sighed, knowing in her own mind how rough such instances were on her best friend. “I’m hoping Liz grows out of that before too long. I’m also hoping that neither one of you two starts acting like that. Liz has some troubles, we all know that. But whether it’s just being nearly eighteen, or a result of something else, I hope you two never have to live through it yourselves.”

Both girls nodded their assurance that they wouldn’t succumb to whatever it was that held Liz in its grip. Kacey knew that Liz had been a very popular girl all her school career. She was beautiful, smart, witty, and fun, the kind of girl everybody liked to be around. She still was, although things were different now. A couple of years before, something had changed. All Kacey knew was that she’d asked to go to some kind of party, and her parents had said no, that she was too young, especially to be out unsupervised that late. Liz, in an unprecedented act, defied her parents, and sneaked out of the house, and went to the party, anyway.

She’d come back home, sneaking back in through the window, at nearly dawn. She woke Kacey, and told her how incredible the night had been, and that she’d grown up over the past several hours. She was now a woman, and someday Kacey would understand. Liz had seemed almost euphoric, and it had confused her then. She wasn’t sure what Liz meant by it all. After some more talking through that following week, Liz had confided in her that she’d had sex for the first time that night, and other details, that simultaneously fascinated, scared and revolted Kacey. However, Kacey’s parents never knew that Liz had sneaked out, or just weren’t mentioning it around Kacey.

In any event, Liz seemed on top of the world for a couple of weeks. Then the time came, that fateful weekend, and another request to go to a party much like the one two weeks before. This time, Liz promised that the party would be chaperoned, and even gave names and numbers. Mr. and Mrs. Callahan agreed, reluctantly, and off Liz went to this second party. Kacey remembered going to bed with Liz still not home, and waking up to the sounds of quiet crying. She tried to console her older sister, but Liz wouldn’t tell her what was wrong. Her parents apparently didn’t know about this either, because after Liz had finally fallen asleep, fully dressed in different clothes than the ones she had left for the party wearing, they made no mention of it when Liz finally came downstairs.

Kacey hadn’t known what to make of things. She knew something had upset her, and she figured, most likely, the guy that she’d had such a wonderful sexual exploration with two weeks before had broken up with her to do the same with some other girl. Liz was smart, but even smart people could be fooled or tricked. Liz remained despondent for long days after that, and one night, almost a week after, Kacey accidentally discovered some of the results of what had happened. She’d been cleaning hers and Liz’s room, when she discovered something under Liz’s bed.

Pulling it out, she realized it was the pretty outfit that Liz had worn to the party that night, the same outfit she hadn’t been wearing when she found Liz crying, huddled on her bed. Only now, the outfit wasn’t so pretty. It was filthy, like it’d been dragged through a flower bed or something, and it was torn. Holding it up to her own chest, she could see that it was so badly torn that it was little more than rags now. If Liz had been wearing this, her breasts, her privates, everything would have been exposed. The cold swell of fear rose in her stomach towards her throat, and she suddenly ran for the bathroom, where Liz was getting ready to take a shower.

The door had been closed, but that hadn’t stopped Kacey. Their parents weren’t home; they were out shopping for dinner for that evening, leaving the two girls at home for a couple of hours. She burst in the bathroom door, where her older sister was standing naked, in front of the mirror, with her face buried in her hands, crying. She jumped and uncovered her face when the door exploded open, and stared at Kacey with swollen, red, tear filled eyes.

Kacey’s eyes, meanwhile, had wandered everywhere over her sister’s body, with her mouth dropped open in horror and shock. Her arms had what looked suspiciously like bruises left from gripping fingers, as well as bruises and burns from what looked like rope. Her breasts were bruised, and even cut with small cuts here and there. Her hips and ass were covered in hand sized bruises, and the unmistakable welts from a thick, heavy leather belt. The tangle of pubic hair on her mons was half missing, and the area where the missing hair had been was red and swollen, like it’d been ripped out instead of cut off. The rest of her body, which she’d kept covered all this time, was also wreathed in similar style bruises and cuts.

Kacey had opened her mouth to ask what had happened, but before she could, Liz had grabbed her in a tight hug, and slid to the floor, speaking unintelligibly for several minutes, her words twisted by sobs. Finally, after a long time of gentle coaxing and reassurance, Liz finally calmed down enough to tell her what had happened. She told her little sister about the brutal beating and gang rape she’d endured. Kacey listened, swallowing hard, and felt the cold, icy block of fear lodging itself deep in her stomach.

When it was finally over, Liz told her that she should be careful in who she dealt with and who she was around.