Jelly Janna 5

Janna woke up with a pounding headache, wincing at the light pouring in through her window. She sat up and groaned, then glanced down. Hope was in her bed, arms wrapped around her, head resting lightly on her stomach. Janna's mouth twitched into a smile as she looked at her friend. But then memories flashed through her head. She had...she had...

Oh god, she had KISSED Hope.

"It...it's not that big a deal," Janna said to herself. It was only a drunken kiss, right? Janna felt her heart dropping into her stomach. How far had she gone? Hope was the only one she could really count on to be there. Had she gone so far that Hope wouldn't feel comfortable around her anymore?

Janna jumped back a bit as Hope stirred against her chest, yawned, and gave her a vulnerable smile. "Hey, good morning Janna."

"Hope, uh. Hey, man. Listen, I'm sorry about last night-"

"Last night?"

"I...uh I don't know if you remember, but....uh.....I kissed you."

"You....kissed ME," Hope said, with a look of wry amusement on her face.

"I'm sorry, I just get really affectionate when I drink wine, I swear I didn't mean-"

"Janna, it's fine," Hope laughed. "It's fine, really."

Janna rubbed the back of her head and laughed in relief. "Okay. Man, woo. I must have been pretty drunk."

Hope mocked pouting. "Oh, so you have to be super drunk to kiss me? I see how it is, Janna."

"Baby don't be that way!"

"No, it's over, Janna. You'll never get to touch these goods again." Hope shook her butt.

"I take what I want," Janna growled, grabbing and squeezing her friend's butt. They both laughed and Janna felt her heart lifting. All the drama lately had her in an emotional mess. She should have never worried about a simple little kiss. She play-groped Hope all the time. Why would she have been worried about a kiss?

Because, said a tiny voice inside Janna, it felt a lot like a serious kiss.

And because, said an even tinier voice, you liked it a lot.

Doesn't Hope's butt feel amazing? said a voice so tiny it was almost microscopic.

Janna stopped groping her friend, laughed, cleared her throat awkwardly, and pushed those thoughts deep down inside. "Hmm. Uh, anyway. I guess I should get dressed."

Hope watched, breath catching in her throat, as Janna slid out of her clothes from last night and opened her drawers to select some fresh ones. She tried not to think about how good Janna looked with just her underwear on and failed. "Um," she said, trying to distract herself, "So, do you have any plans today?"

"Well...I kind of....wanted to pay Star a little visit," Janna said, furrowing her brow, twisting the shirt she had chosen in her hands until her knuckles turned white. "I think I should have a talk with her about...what she lets happen to Marco."

"I think you should probably let yourself cool down before you do that," said Hope. Janna shrugged and fretted indecisively between a few different skirts she had chosen. "Wear that one," Hope suggested, pointing to the shortest skirt. Janna shrugged and Hope blushed furiously as she wiggled into it.

"Maybe you're right. I should give it a few days at least. I dunno, I guess I have nothing to do. Maybe I'll go out in the woods or something."

"Do you...wanna hang out? I sort of don't want to go home."

Janna glanced at Hope. Her downcast eyes, the look of foreboding, her depressed, slouched body posture. "Sure, of course dude. Did you have anything in mind?"

Hope breathed in. Her parents had been fighting more than usual, lately. Her house was a place of long, painful silences and horrific outbursts of anger and twisted hate. And as much as she loved Janna, hanging out with her was getting painful, too. Being with her was a constant battle against the temptation of telling her how she felt. And Hope herself wasn't even sure exactly how she felt. She didn't want to tell Janna anything until she could be reasonably sure she'd respond well. But how do you do that, exactly? How do you suss out if your best friend might be open to that kind of thing?

"I was wondering if you might want to go to that neat little indie theater downtown. We can even sneak some of your mom's wine in there."

Janna tapped her chin. "Hmm...alright. What sort of movies play there?"

Hope smiled timidly. "Oh, I don't know. We'll find something right?"

***************************************************************************************

"Man, all these movies are about lesbians," Janna said, flatly.

Hope shrugged as they looked at the showtimes. "I mean, I dunno. I heard, um...Blue is the Warmest Color? I heard that's pretty good. I just wanted to be somewhere out of the heat, you know? Plus we'll have your mom's wine..."

Janna shrugged and they both approached the counter. A pale-looking girl with bright pink hair in an odd cut smiled at them as they ordered their tickets. "Oh, are you two a couple?"

Before Hope could say anything, Janna wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her in close. "That's right, this here's my sugar momma," she drawled. "Pay her, baby."

Hope blushed furiously as she fumbled for her purse. "Oh, you treat me so good," Janna cooed as she paid for a bucket of popcorn.

"You two are so cute," the counter lady smiled at them, as they ran off giggling into the theater.

Barely anyone was in the theater. The seats were large, comfortable, and had a tray you could pull down over your head. Janna pulled out her mom's wine pretty quickly. "Dude, watching this movie is gonna be awkward, I need to have something to help me through it!" she laughed when Hope looked at her.

They laughed and joked through much of the movie, not paying too much attention, really. Janna seemed to be in a really good mood, and her blush from the wine made her very pretty. Hope found that she couldn't take her eyes off her. But then...

"Oh wow, they're getting pretty frisky," Janna laughed at the screen. "Oh....oh wow. Oh my god!"

"Shut up!" shouted a couple down in the front row.

"You shut up!" Janna yelled back. "Look at them go! Holy crap! C'mon!"

"We're trying to watch the movie!"

"You keep it up, buddy, and I'm gonna watch YOUR movie," Janna snapped darkly.

"What?"

"Janna, Janna, sit down," Hope grabbed her friend and pulled her into her seat.

"Haha, oh my gosh, Hope," Janna whispered. "This is like, a porno or something." She bit her thumbnail and watched the screen, bouncing her legs nervously. She was blushing considerably more now than she had been.

"Getting you excited?"

"Shut up, you pervert!" Janna pulled her hat down over her eyes.

"Come on, Janna, this is art. It's all very European."

Janna peeked out from behind her hair and looked at the screen and then blushed deeply again. "Oh, my god, I can't believe you made me watch this." She quickly took a swig from the wine bottle.

Hope felt the wine lighting a fire in her heart, feeling like she was dancing on a razor's edge. "Oh, what, you're practically that handsy with MY butt," she joked.

Janna looked at her, startled, then laughed. "Baby, your butt is different."

Hope took a sip from the wine bottle herself. "Oh, I see," she said, acting wounded. "It's not good enough for you." And then she gasped as Janna reached behind her seat and pinched her. She squirmed and grabbed Janna's hand as her friend giggled mischievously.

"No wonder everyone thinks we're lesbians, you feel me up so much. I guess my butt is just irresistible."

"Let me go," laughed Janna, eyes glittering.

"Nope."

"Hope c'mooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn-"

"Nope. We're holding hands now because you're just getting too frisky on our date." Hope laced her fingers with Janna's.

"I'm going to bite you!" Janna gave her a hungry grin.

"Kinky."

Janna laughed, and then tried to tug Hope's hand to her mouth to deliver a bite, failing miserably.

"You'll never be able to do that. I'm way stronger than you."

Suddenly, Janna's eyes flashed mischievously in the darkness, and in a flash she was out of her chair and tangled with Hope in hers, fangs jumping out of the dark. Hope held on to her hand, laughing as they struggled with each other.

"Hope I'm going to bite you I swear to god-"

And maybe it was the wine, but everything seemed to blend together in a haze of darkness and red velvet seats for a moment, and then, the next thing Hope knew, Janna was sitting on her lap, facing her, with her teeth on her neck.

They both grew quiet, panting for a moment.

"Let go of my hand or I'll bite," Janna said, still half-giggly, hear breath hot on Hope's neck. Hope shivered.

"No."

Janna nipped at her, and Hope suppressed a squeak as a shiver went racing up her spine.

Janna looked up at her friend, smiling down at her, and suddenly a voice inside of her said: KISS HER.

She gasped, as if realizing what she was doing. Hope must have noticed, because she let go of her hand. Janna got up and stumbled back to her seat.

It's okay, she told herself. You're just a little drunk. You just get really affectionate when you're drunk, that's all. Just don't look at her now. Don't look at her, don't look at her-

"Hey. Janna."

Janna peaked over at her friend. Hope was waggling her eyebrows at the lewdness on the movie screen and Janna couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"SHUT UP BACK THERE!"

Janna threw a fistful of popcorn at the front row. "PUT IT BACK IN YOUR PANTS!"

***********************************************************************************************

Janna and Hope strolled from the theater, laughing. The other customers - a greasy looking man who was there alone, and two women who looked a little frustrated - glared at them as they left.

It was already late - almost dinner time, they had woken up very late this morning - so they decided to stop off for some dinner. They went to a nice little taco place and, again, were almost thrown out, because Janna wouldn't stop mocking lines from the movie, complete with loud moans where appropriate.

"And then it was just like....OH! OH BABY, YEAH!" Janna cried, violently smashing two tacos together. Hope was pretty sure that the owner suspected that they were drunk.

They were leaning into each other, walking through the park in the setting sun, giggling at each other, when the long shadow fell across their path. Hope felt Janna freeze, tense up. She looked up. There, framed by the light of the setting sun, was Marco, his shadow falling like a void across the grass.

"Oh, hey, Janna, Hope," he said casually. "What's up?"

"Um....nothing," said Janna, pulling away from Hope. "What are you doing?"

Marco shrugged. "Just bored. Star's at some Mewnnian thing this weekend and I didn't have much to do. You guys wanna hang out?"

Janna's eyes turned to Hope, and Hope could see the desire there.

"Actually, I....I gotta get home," said Hope. "Janna can hang out though, right?"

"Sure!" Janna practically jumped.

Marco shrugged, and Hope watched as the two walked away.

"Don't do it," she whispered to herself. "Don't do it, Hope. Don't do it."

But after a small delay, she followed after them, keeping her distance, staying hidden.

***********************************************************************************************

Marco pretty quickly figured out that Janna had been drinking. To her surprise, when she jokingly offered him some, he shrugged and accepted her offer.

"Wow, I never, never thought you'd do something like that," she said, after he took a hearty swig from the bottle.

Marco shrugged again. "I...I dunno. I guess I don't worry about stuff as much as I used to, you know? Life's too short."

Janna punched him.

"What was that for?"

"I don't know."

They strolled, casually talking as the dusk settled in, and fireflies emerged, blinking, twinkling around them like a dance of stars. They talked like old friends, about a dozen different things, about petty personal dramas at school, about their favorite dogs, about life, about what they wanted to study in college, about history, about love.

They settled in by a waterfall, sitting on the grass, passing the wine bottle back and forth between themselves, watching the fireflies flit around them.

"Ugh, man," Marco said, shaking his head. "That wine is hitting me harder than I thought it would."

Janna glanced at the bottle, and then glanced again in surprise. "Well, duh! I've been taking little sips. The bottle's nearly gone, Diaz! You've been taking big man-gulps!"

Marco shrugged sheepishly.

"Have you ever drank before?"

"No...."

Janna laughed and plopped back in the grass, staring up at the stars. "Chalk up another first for me, Diaz. I got your first....drunken...ness."

Marco laughed in reply. Janna glanced over at him, and noticed, in surprise, that he was staring at her legs. Well, she WAS wearing a very short skirt that barely covered her bottom. She felt a fire rising deep in her belly as she felt his eyes traveling up and down her legs, and got an idea.

Marco was babbling, nervously, about something or other. Janna wasn't really listening. She just kept saying "mmm hmmm," and "uh huh," as she slowly, slowly hiked up her skirt, while Marco stared, transfixed, not even comprehending. Finally, she was completely exposed, her skirt up around her waist. "Hey Diaz, like what you see?" she murmured.

Marco stared, and then after a moment realized what was happening, and looked away, blushing furiously. "S-sorry," he mumbled. He was so cute. Janna suddenly felt a pang of guilt, realizing that what he had been talking about was Jackie.

"It....it's okay, Diaz. I was just messing with you. I...just wanted a boy's opinion on my underwear." Janna was vaguely aware of how ridiculous that excuse would sound if they weren't both so drunk. Marco seemed to know as well, because he looked back at her with a wry smile.

"What, for that boy you have a crush on?"

For the first time Janna felt like she couldn't read Diaz. His mysterious smile, his mischievous, twinkling eyes. For the first time, Janna felt utterly unsure about what Diaz was thinking. The fire in her belly that started earlier rose to her chest. Kiss him, a voice said inside her. Kiss him, kiss him, kiss him, KISS HIM.

But Janna didn't even have time to listen to the voice, because Marco kissed her first.

He crashed into her like a wave, and Janna wasn't aware of anything but his lips, and finally not even his lips, nothing but the amazing rush of energy inside of her, the rising feeling in her stomach, the soaring in her heart.

When Marco broke the kiss, she gasped, "It's you, it's you, it's you," and pulled his face back in for another kiss. She felt her legs shaking as his hands traveled down her sides, and she had never felt so alive. The fire rose from her stomach to her heart to her brain, and she was lost in the flame.

Suddenly Marco broke away from her. Janna looked at him, stunned, barely able to think. His face was flush with wine, and he looked furious.

"This....this is wrong," he said.

Janna reached out a shaking hand for him as he got up and backed away awkwardly. Around them, the fireflies swirled furiously.

"Marco," she whispered, and almost hated herself for how pathetic she sounded. But she didn't care. In that moment, she wanted, as she had never wanted before.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I can't...Jackie...I can't do this."

And he melted into the shadows, leaving her alone.

Janna grabbed her beanie, stuffed it in her mouth, and screamed.