Marshmallow

It was a crisp night in Claire and Grace Turner’s backyard. Claire had invited her best friend Amber Anderson over for a final campfire and camping party. Well, it wasn’t really camping, teenage girls need Wi-Fi and an indoor bathroom. Roughing it in the woods was not their style, but they could at least enjoy the trees and be away from the watchful eye of Mr and Mrs. Turner.

Claire and Grace were identical twins. All through high school they wore matching clothes, same hair, same clubs, same everything, but now they were in their freshman year of college they were blooming into their own. Claire had kept the long blonde hair in beachy waves, a very valley girl aesthetic, but Grace had dived headfirst into the arts college and the Artic Fox dye station at Sephora. She sported a short choppy bob in bright pink, purple, and blue hues. The girls were bickering over some Avant Garde show that Grace thought was meaningful and brave, while Claire argued that it looked like a five-year-old went wild with the finger paints as Amber arrived. The red head had her hand behind her neck. She didn’t know what her friends would think about the tag along she was bringing.

“You invited who?” Claire Turner spat out her Mike’s cherry limeade onto the glowing fire.

“Come on Claire. She’s not that bad.” Amber had mentioned the campfire while she was studying with Jenna Smith. “Besides, you’d be taking Poli-Sci again if it wasn’t for her.”

“Amberrrrrr.” Claire let the final consonant stick behind her teeth as she whined. “She is so lame. What if Tyler and the boys come over?”

“It will be fine. She’s actually really nice.” Amber blushed a little, she had been spending more time with Jenna since the whole sleep over debacle and found that even though they had few things in common, she enjoyed spending time with her.

Jenna Smith walked around the side of the house and saw the girls around a small fire pit. She pushed her glasses up her nose and smiled a bright beaming smile to the assembled group.

“Hi Amber!” She waved as she walked the twenty feet to where her new friend stood. Then she glanced over at the Turner twins. “Jeez, thanks for inviting me over. I love campfires. My dad even stopped and let me pick up stuff for s’mores.”

“S’mores.” Claire scoffed as she drank. “Oh my God!”

Grace threw an empty can at her sister. She drank craft ciders now that she was in the graphic design program, but she still called them beer. “I happen to love s’mores Jenna. It’s nice to meet you.”

Amber winced as she saw the excitement flicker out of Jenna’s eyes as she lowered the newly purchased supplies. “Hey. Your eyeshadow looks good. You’ve been using that palette I gave you?”

“Oh yes, I really love it. Thank you.” Jenna smiled again. She was used to girls being cold to her, but it didn’t matter what Claire thought. She just wanted to be around Amber.

Ever since the sleepover, Jenna had found it hard to concentrate on much else. Watching Amber kick and squeal as her mother spanked her made Jenna’s stomach flip. And then being taken over the red head’s lap, feeling her soft thighs on her belly and then the harsh sting of the hairbrush on her own cheeks had been swirling around her brain for weeks. More than once, she had let her fingers wander under the waistband of her pajamas at the thought. It was a feeling she wanted again and had even tried to recreate by giving herself a few well aimed swings with her own brush at home, but the feeling didn’t match. She wanted the glow that only Amber made her feel.

Claire Turner rolled her eyes and sat at the fire and poked the logs with a metal pole. She took another long pull on her Mike’s and pouted for a few minutes. Grace made her way to the kitchen and returned with more drinks and sticks for the s’mores.

“So, what are you studying Jenna?” The more pleasant sister asked as she handed everyone a stick and a brightly colored wine cooler.

“Oh” Jenna looked at the bottle and then at the twins. She took a sip. Harsh coconut and pineapple with a bite. “I’m in in Political Science. Then I’ll have to go to law school.”

“Working for the man huh?” Grace made a cheers motion. “More power to ya, couldn’t be me though.”

Amber smiled. “Jenna is super smart. I’m in English because I have no idea what I wanna do and I already wanna quit!”

“You can get lots of jobs with an English degree.” Jenna touched Amber’s knee without thinking and pulled it back with a flush across her cheeks.

“Oh my god! Do we have to talk about school.” Claire stood up and grabbed another bottle throwing the cap in the fire. “This is so boring. We should do camp stuff. Games. Something.”

Grace stuffed two marshmallows on a stick and stuck them in the fire. “Like what?”

Amber placed a marshmallow on a stick and handed it to Jenna.

“Like never have I ever.” Claire suggested.

“NO!” snapped Amber. She hated that game. Especially since she was usually the first one drunk.

“Okay” Claire glared at her. “What about truth or dare?”

“That could be fun,” smiled Jenna, she was desperate to fit in.

“Great. I’ll go first.” Claire sat down and sandwiched a marshmallow between her cookie and chocolate. “Grace. Truth or dare?”

“Dare!” The rainbow haired girl shouted as she crammed a s’more in her mouth.

The night turned out to be more fun than the girls had expected. They ate s’mores and drank a little, just enough to catch a buzz, and set up the tents haphazardly when taking a break.

Jenna giggled and blushed as Grace was dared to run around the yard naked. To which she did with enthusiastic gusto and many whoops.

Amber held the phone as Claire had to confess her crush on a junior lacrosse player. And Claire got her revenge by asking a truth question.

“Okay Amber!” she cawed in a flushed stupor. “How many guys have you screwed this year.”

“In college?” Amber swirled the bottle between her fingers. “Two. Wait. Do blow jobs count? Then three.”

The girls giggled and laughed. Jenna just covered her mouth.

“Alright newbie?” Claire pointed at Jenna. “Same question.”

Jenna paused and looked wide-eyed.

“Hey. You gotta ask truth or dare first.” Retorted Grace as she fell off the log.

Amber touched Jenna’s shoulder sensing some uneasiness. “Its alright. Claire’s just a bitch sometimes.”

“Um” Jenna swallowed. “Dare.”

“Alright. I dare you to tell us how many guys you’ve been with?”

“Oh come on!” sighed Amber.

“None, I haven’t been with anyone.”

“Kissed then.” Claire rolled her eyes as Jenna pulled her legs up. She wanted to shrink a little. This was so embarrassing. “Wait a minute. Shut up! Have you even kissed a guy?”

She didn’t wait for an answer. Claire rolled on her back laughing. “Oh my God! You are so cute!”

Jenna blushed and bit her lip, her cheeks grew a vibrant shade of red. Amber wrinkled her nose. She hated Claire sometimes, she would never grow out of that mean girl role.

“Shut up Claire! Just because you’ll stuck your tongue down anyone with a varsity pin.”

The comeback made Grace spit out her cider and laugh manically. She loved when her sister was put in her place. Claire started bickering back with Grace and Amber slid over to Jenna.

“Ignore her. She’s just jealous I have a new friend.” She slipped a hand on Jenna’s back.

The kitchen door slid open and Mr. Turner yelled from the open door.

“Hey. Its time to turn in. You’ll upset the neighbors.”

Grace and Claire stood up from a tussle that escaped Amber and Jenna’s attention. They began to clean up and get ready for bed.

Amber and Jenna crawled into Amber’s tent. She had a big double sleeping bag and a full throw cover and two pillows. They lay side by side on the sleeping bag.

“Hey.” Amber whispered. “I’m sorry about Claire. She can be a lot sometimes.”

Jenna smiled weakly. “She’s right though. I feel like such a loser.”

Amber pressed her lips together. “Don’t feel that way. Everyone is different. And Claire is nothing special. She forgets I’m the one that taught her how to kiss.”

“You did.” Jenna felt her chest tighten.

“Oh yeah, she was terrible. She tried to swirl her tongue around like a washing machine. It was gross.”

Jenna gave a small giggle. The image made her feel better and optimistic.

“That is funny. I’ve only practiced on my hand.” She felt safe sharing this with Amber.

“I used to do that.” Amber rolled on her side and lifted herself up on one arm. “You’ve really never kissed anyone?”

Jenna looked up at her bright green eyes and nodded. Her own chocolate colored irises barely visible as her pupils dilated.

Amber crooked her head and raised a brow. “Not even with a friend?”

Jenna felt her pulse race. She shook her head delicately. “Ni…no.”

“Would you like to? Practice?” Amber felt the fluttering in her chest. Like a little bird trying to escape. The night Jenna had stayed over she felt the tingles between them. She had been so embarrassed that Jenna saw her punishment, but somehow she knew she wouldn’t go blabbing. When Jenna was asleep she curled around her and felt her nuzzle against her cheek, but in the morning they didn’t talk about it. They hadn’t talked about that night at all.

“Uh huh. Please.” Jenna was surprised by her own voice. She had been thinking about what it would be like to kiss Amber for weeks and here she was offering.

Amber was suddenly nervous as she looked down at the small faced girl below her. Jenna was breathing heavily, trying to be quiet, but her eyes were watery and her cheeks shown like two pale roses in the dark.

“Just relax. I’ll be gentle. We can stop if…”

“No.” Jenna’s hand moved to the red strand of hair behind Amber’s ear. “I…I want to.”

Amber felt Jenna’s fingers push through her hair as she lowered her face to her friend’s. She found the soft parted lips, touch her pillowy pout and pressed softly, enough to make a quiet smacking sound. For a moment, they were still as their bodies were fully joined at the mouth. Both girls had their eyes closed. It was Amber that moved first and slipped her tongue forward to suck on Jenna’s bottom lip. Jenna ran her hands down the other girls spine and felt the giggles and laughter melt away. She was soft, sticky, and sweet. Like a marshmallow.