Chapter 1 - Small Steps to Higher Education
Slamming her locker, Sam looked at the test in her hand. A big red D- graced the top of the page. She scowled at the test before balling it up and tossing it away, wanting to be rid of the patronizing grade. The paper collided with her best friend's shoulder, who let out a small shout of surprise. Panicking, Sam rushed over to Carly, apologizing.
"I'm so sorry, Carls! I wasn't looking where I was throwing. Are you okay?" She said in a rush of breath. The blonde didn't want her best friend to be mad at her on top of a bad grade.
"I'm fine. I was just a little surprise." Looking down at the ball of paper, Carly frowned. "Why are you angrily throwing paper?"
"Er, no reason," Sam said, stooping to retrieve the projectile. Only, she was about a half a second too slow as Carly scooped the paper from her reach. "Hey! Don't look at that!"
Ignoring her friend, the brunette opened the paper and exhaled loudly at the sight of the D-. She looked up accusingly at her best friend, who gave her a meek smile before gulping. "AGAIN? SAM! You can't keep failing tests! You're going to get left behind at this rate!" Carly shouted, shaking the test around in her dismay."We won't graduate together if you keep this up!"
"It's no bigs. I'll figure something out..." Sam shrugged, trying to keep the gesture as nonchalant as possible. She hated when Carly was mad at her. Something inside her always felt torn to pieces when the brunette was angry with her.
"No! You're going to fix this now by starting to study more. That means no more slacking, sleeping on your books, raiding my fringe, or trying to chuck your textbooks into the incinerator!"
"You have to admit, that was a funny idea though," Sam half-joked.
With a glare from her friend, Sam got the point right away that Carly was not in agreement with her. Ditching the jokes, Sam let herself feed off of some of the anger her friend was exuding. God knows there was enough of it to share.
"Besides, you know how much I hate studying! I can't keep my concentration on the mumbo-jumbo for more then a minute!"
Carly's face faltered for a moment as she tried to think of a comeback, any kind of plan that would work to make her friend study. Her mouth tweaked into an odd smile as a thought came to mind. It was a stretch, but she'd seen how Sam looked at her before. There was something harboring in her tomboy friend that she was going to have to exploit to get her point across and of course, help her friend.
If she gains a little something extra out of it, then all the better.
"Carly? What in the world are you thinking?" Sam asked uneasily as she shivered at her friend's odd smile and the way she was looking at her.
"I have an idea."
***
"Explain to me again what the blindfold has to do with studying?" The blonde asked as she groped her hands out blindly in front of her. Carly walked beside her, guiding her with an arm around her waist. The brunette sighed and rolled her eyes as she explained for the hundredth time that it was a secret.
"Secrets are all well and good, but I'm hungry and unless the secret is food, I don't really care all too much for it."
"Sam, can't you think of something other then food for more then five minutes?" Carly asked as she guided her friend into her bedroom and helped sit her at the desk.
"I did, once, but my life flashed before my eyes and I figured it was a bad idea."
The brunette laughed as she undid the knot of the blindfold, pulling it off her friend's eyes. "Surprise!" She chirped happily, waving her hand at her desk.
"You're joking, right?"
On the desk laid a history textbook, notebook, pen, pencil, and a sharpener. Sam stared at the items with a feeling of unease as she realized what her 'surprise secret' was - a tutoring session with Carly. It was like Freddie offering to teach her about computers - appreciated, but she could care less for it. She turned to announce her feelings for the whole idea, only to have her mouth drop open as Carly grabbed her face and forced her into a awkward kiss. The awkwardness being that Sam's mouth was wide open, so Carly was mostly just kissing her top lip at first. Without skipping a beat, Carly used one hand to clamp Sam's mouth closed and kissed her properly on the lips this time.
"I'm going to help you study," the brunette said, pulling away as suddenly as she had latched onto her.
"What? How?" Sam asked dumbly, totally confused and caught off-guard by the moment.
"I'm going to use a reward system. Every fifteen minutes I'm going to either take off an article of clothing or kiss you - my choice. In an hour, I'm going to quiz you on what you've read and if you get it all right...," Carly brought her lips to Sam's ear, making the blonde brush, "I'm going to give you a very special surprise."
The blonde nodded dumbly in understanding. Though, truth be told, she really didn't understand what was happening. Her brain had locked down when Carly had kissed her, but her hormones had jumped into high gear, almost screaming excitedly as they realized what was happening. Sam held her hand to her chest, feeling her heart beating rapidly and finally understanding what had happened and what was to transpire. Her feelings for Carly had become more then 'friendly' over the last few years as she watched the other girl blossom more and more into a woman. At seventeen, Carly was nicely filled out. It was almost impossible NOT to notice and NOT feel anything but... hunger. The kind of hunger Sam felt when she saw a bucket of chicken - which was pretty intense.
"Sam, you okay?" Carly asked, her voice concerned as she waited for Sam to say something, anything.
Snapping out of her shock, Sam nodded, a goofy grin playing at her lips. "Yeah, I'm okay." Looking at the items on the desk, she gestured at them. "Should, um, I get started?"
Carly pulled up a chair next to her friend, purposely allowing her knee to press against Sam's. "Yep," she smiled earnestly, "Start on page 289."
Quietly, Sam opened the book to the page that Carly had been so nice to point out for her and began to read. She only read three paragraphs before her mind drifted off in boredom and she groaned. This was going to be impossible, she figured as she took hold of the pencil and tapped it against the top of the page as she started in on the fourth paragraph. Thirty seconds later, her eyes were trained on the pencil. Carly's hand was suddenly on her arm, stopping her from tapping the pencil with a gentle brush of fingers against her arm. The blonde shivered and got the message, chucking the pencil and scowling in concentration.
The first fifteen minutes proved to be tedious as her mind kept wandering from what she was reading. Facts floated in and out as she tried to keep focus, but studying had never been her strong point, obviously. Eventually, Carly's hand glided against her cheek and tugged at her chin, pulled Sam away from the book. Relief flooded her for the small break as Carly smiled at her.
"The first fifteen minutes are up and I did promise a reward..." She looked at her friend thoughtfully for a minute. Sam licked her lips, eager and unsure all at once. Finally Carly nodded to herself and stood up, grabbing the hem of her shirt and pulling it over head. The blonde had seen her friend in a bra before, but this was first time she was allowed to properly ogle the bare skin and small rise and fall of covered breasts as Carly breathed. She wanted to reach out and touch it, find out if it was really as smooth and soft as it looked, but Carly was already sitting down, blushing, and Sam knew she would have to get back to work. With a final long glance at the bare skin, she scowled at the history book as she picked up where she had left off.
***
Exactly an hour later, Carly had rewarded Sam with a removed shirt, pants, socks, and one kiss. Sam had found the reading easier the more clothes her friend removed, even though she felt fidgety and realized she'd been nibbling on the inside of her lips for the last ten minutes straight. Carly took the book, glancing approvingly at the pages Sam had read and placed the book in her lap. She was embarrassed at being so close to naked in front of her friend, but at the same time she was aroused by the way Sam devoured her with nothing more then her eyes. It was exciting and a great idea, but now was the true test as to whether this plan was a bust or not.
She asked Sam a series of questions about what she'd read, having read and studied everything already. One after the other, to both their surprises, Sam got each question right, only stumbling a few times, but recovering quickly with the right answer. In the end, the brunette was wholeheartedly surprised and proud of her friend's progress. It seemed this had been a perfect idea.
"So...?" Sam said quietly, looking away.
"Only one more question," Carly said, setting the book on the desk. The blonde watched curiously as Carly stood and grabbed her hand. With a tug, Sam was on her feet, stumbling slightly in her anticipation. Together, they crossed to the bed, sitting side by side, inches apart. With an awkward grin, Carly held Sam's hands.
"Are you ready for the special surprise?" The taller girl asked.
"I think so...?"
Carly smiled.
"Then here it is - Tomorrow you have a big test."
"What big test?" Sam asked, lost in her friend's scent and near nudity.
"The big history test tomorrow in school. You didn't think I was tutoring you with some random subject, did you?"
The blonde's face fell as she finally realized what was being said to her. "No way."
Nodding, Carly quirked an eyebrow at her friend. "Way."
With a sigh of defeat, the tomboy threw herself back on the bed. "Great. Another test to fail."
She was surprised by her friend straddling her lap and bending over her until their noses touched. "I'm sure you'll ace it. I think I know a fool proof way to assure it."
"Oh?"
The taller girl blushed brighter then she had all day. "If you pass it, I'll touch you anywhere you want."
Blue eyes stared in shock at brown, shy ones as Sam tried to remember how to make words come out of her mouth. "That's... That's pretty... Good."
Nodding, Carly grinned and kissed the blonde before pulling away reluctantly and getting dressed.
"Good luck on your test tomorrow, Sam," she laughed as Sam shot up from the bed and gawked at the brunette.
"You suck big time. On so many levels!" The blonde growled.
Carly blew a kiss at her friend. "You won't be complaining tomorrow about my sucking."
Sam banged her head against the nearest wall, grumbling darkly to herself.
***
Freddie tilted his head when he saw Carly in the hallways of school the next day. Something seemed different about her. Something he couldn't quite place and with a sense of urgency he approached her, eyeing her carefully. Confused by the boy's actions, Carly waved her hand to catch his attention.
"What?" She asked feeling a little uncomfortable by his staring.
"Something's different about you," he paused, then it dawned on him. "You have a bruise on your cheek! What happened? Who did this to you? Point me in their direction so I can put them in their place!"
Touching her cheek, having forgot about the bruise, she smiled at her friend.
"Oh this? This is nothing. I was helping Spencer this morning with his latest project -"
"The Bun-Bun Man?"
"Yeah, that. Anyway, his fingers were slippery from the glaze -"
"What kind of glaze?"
"The sugary kind. Do you want to know how I got the bruise or not?"
Freddie blushed. "Sorry. Go on."
"Spencer's fingers were slippery from the SUGARY glaze and he went to ask me something, turning suddenly, and sent the handle of a screwdriver into my cheek."
"Ouch," the boy said, wincing. "At least it wasn't the other end."
"Yeah, but it's cool. I'm all right, though Spencer has been texting me apologies all day about it." Carly said with a sigh. She loved her brother, but he was too much to handle sometimes.
Just then, Sam rounded the corner of the lockers and stood before her two friends, her facial expression bleak. The brunette's stomach dropped at the look. "Sam! Don't tell me you failed the test!"
Without a word, the blond handed over her test paper. In red ink, a large B graced the top of the paper, making Carly laugh out loud in relief. She looked up to see blue eyes shiny brightly at her and something in the pit of her stomach sensed danger.
"Sam -" The words were cut off as the shorter teen pounced on her, slamming her against the lockers. Soft lips pressed an appreciative kiss to Carly's lips as the girl was dazed by the collision. Next to them, Freddie gawked in horror at the sight.
"Carls! I did it! I passed the test! And it's all thanks to you!" Another kiss to her lips.
"I knew you had it in you." Was the breathy reply when the brunette could breath again.
"Hey, is that a bruise?" Sam asked, the tone of her voice changing dramatically from overly happy to dangerous. "Who did this to you?"
"It was an accident. I was helping Spencer with something this morning and got hit with the handle of a screwdriver. I'm fine though."
Sam touched Carly's cheek lightly before kissing it gently. "I'm glad you're okay."
Regaining his lost senses and rubbing his eyes feverishly, Freddie cleared his throat to catch the pair's attention. "What's this all about?"
"I helped Sam study and she's thanking me," Carly said, blushing and managing to peel herself off the locker she'd been pressed against.
"Oh, I haven't properly thanked you yet," Sam whispered to Carly with a wink.
"Carly, can I ask you something?" The boy asked in a low voice, seeming distant suddenly.
"What is it, Freddie?"
"Can you help me study?"
The next second he laid unconscious on the floor, Sam standing over him with a raised fist. Panicking and dropping to her knees to check on Freddie, Carly shot the blonde a surprised look.
"What was that for?" She cried.
"Just thought I make it perfectly clear who you were with is all." Sam smiled as she dropped her fist.
"So now we're dating?" The brunette asked, pausing in her revival attempts.
"Well, you still owe me a special reward for passing the test. I figure it might escalate from there."
"You know, if I didn't already love you, I'd be almost disgusted with you."
"So you don't want to date then?"
"Of course I do! Just don't abuse Freddie because of it!"
With a smirk, the blonde nodded. "Okay, but only because you asked so cutely."
"I wasn't trying to be cute," Carly said, shaking Freddie again. "I think you gave him a concussion."
Kneeling beside the brunette, Sam placed a kiss on her cheek, the one with the bruise. "You don't have to try to be cute."
Carly blushed as she wondered what she was getting herself into.