Lucy was stressed, more so than ever before.

That was despite her swimming year ending in triumph: she’d won all the New South Wales school individual freestyle awards. And, more importantly for her, alongside Monique, the freestyle relay in record time.

More surprisingly, she wasn’t even troubled by the forthcoming final school examinations, so crucial to getting admitted into her preferred university course. Rather, as part of her school’s year twelve leadership team, she was knee-deep in preparations for the school prom.

Long anticipated, yet that fin de siècle event now loomed as the biggest iceberg to have headed her way. For she just couldn’t bring herself to trigger her long-term plan-B; namely, inviting a presentable but relatively harmless guy.

She had never felt as good about herself as she did when she, albeit unobtrusively, stepped out with Monique. Having an actual girlfriend had become the most achingly real experience of her life.

But being true to herself scared her shitless. She knew her parents’ prejudices. She knew there’d be a debate with the principal about same sex dating. She knew the reactions of friends and acquaintances to the unveiling of her sexuality were bound to be a crapshoot.

Hobson’s choice, really. Worse, she’d boxed herself in by that teenager’s wow of secrecy. She desperately needed a shoulder to lean on. So, for once, she took a ginormous risk.  By text, she’d invited herself to Julie’s place, placing her trust in the one person who nowadays seemed to be half a step ahead of her.

She knew her mention of a private chat would signal Monique as the subject of discussion. Even so, having made herself comfortable in Julie’s bedroom, her facade cracked. She fidgeted and stuttered, unable to meet the other woman’s eye.    

Julie was stunned. The school sports captain, the most self-composed woman she knew, seemed broken. So, she took Lucy’s hand and softly said, “Tell me.”

“The prom.”

“Oh fuck. Monique won’t expect it. You don’t have to. I’ll help, whisper in her ear.”

“That’s sweet of you. I’m positive we could make that work. But I couldn’t live with myself.”

“Really?”

“Dead serious. You’re grinning.”

“I’m just so happy for Monique. Tell me what you fear.”

“My parents’ homophobia for sure. The unknown too; I’ve always catastrophised what could happen when everyone knows.”

“One day you have to show all of us the girl you see in your make-up mirror.”

“Yeah, but I envisaged that being easier at university.”

“As you’ve learnt, I’m a bit ditzy about the pressures of being a lezzie. But I’d have thought coming out was a person, not a place.”

“Exactly right. God, I’ve underestimated you.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“It really is. You’re the only person who’s sliced through my armour.”

“No, that was Monique. I’m just more observant than most.”

Lucy’s smile was a ray of sunshine that cut through her gloominess. “She’s so wonderful.”

Julie laughed, taking Lucy’s hand again. “I know she is. Which is why I’ve fretted about you two fucking this up.”

“Really?”

“You’re so cool and self-controlled. She’s an Easter Island statue when not totally sure. Yet your composure begins to crack in each other’s presence. But you’ve both trained yourself to recover quickly, to remain unnoticed. I worried that self-composure would come to be seen as indifference.”

“You had our backs all along. So, what should I do?”

“The easy bit is just inviting Monique; she’ll adore you asking. But we’ll have to think about how to make this easier for you two.”

“What do you mean?”

“Fucked if I know, yet. But I’m on the case, text me when she’s said yes.”

In the park the next day, as Monique was asked to be Lucy’s prom date, she proved to be her father’s daughter. While her eyebrows were thinner and way more sculptured, they still conveyed the same range of emotions—surprise, shock, delight, and then fear.

Surreptitiously, Lucy took her hand. “We’ll be okay.”

Monique looked down at the fingers entwined with hers. She melted with the unexpected openness of the touch, but still sighed. “I’ll be back at school next year. You’ll have done a runner.”

Her girlfriend nodded. “Even though I’ve screwed up, you don’t have to.”

“I get that in theory. Remove this cup from me, also comes to mind.”

Lucy smirked. “You’re not fated to die on the cross.”

“And you’re sure this isn’t social death?”

The smile fractured. “No, honestly, I’m not sure. But no debating, my evening has to be shared with you, or it’s not worth doing.”

“Oh my God, you’re going to be brave. Then I must too. Yes, yes, and yes again.”

That Sunday evening, Monique’s parents were relaxing before dinner, sipping on an Italian prosecco. She wandered into the kitchen and asked for a glass of bubbles. 

Her father, despite seeing his wife’s censorious raised eyebrow, casually stood and fetched another glass from the cupboard. As he poured the bubbles, he calmly said, “You don’t need alcohol to confide in us.”

Monique swigged a nervous mouthful, then giggled as the bubbles burst up her nose. “Just feeling super awkward.”

Her dad reached out, took her hand. “Don’t ever be someone you aren’t in your own home.”

Her mum added, “It’ll be okay. Tell us, sweetheart.”

“Lucy wants me to be her prom date.”

“You want to go?”

Monique sipped her drink again, felt the tension leech from her shoulders. “I’m so excited, a little scared. Um … I might also want Lucy to sleep in my room afterwards?”

“So, we won’t be needing the traditionally awkward mother and daughter chat about contraception then?”

That moment, giggling with her parents about birth control, felt like a watershed, the first glimpse of the possibility she’d come to feel normal in her skin.  

Lucy, on the other hand, didn’t volunteer a word about her parents’ reaction to being told a girl was her prom date. Instinctively, Monique knew there were times when you just held your girlfriend’s hand.

But her father was blunt when Monique subsequently asked about Lucy coming over early on prom day to do their makeup together. “Of course, sweetheart. Her dad’s been a pain in the arse. Demanded that I forbid you from going. Let’s just say he lost his rag when I point-blank refused.”

“How bad?”

“I’m just praying Lucy didn’t overhear his bullshit.”

Therefore, in the month leading up to prom night, Monique’s home became their oasis. A place where they openly snuggled on the couch, planned Lucy’s approach to the principal, and decided how best to come out to their friends. And most important of all, repeatedly brainstormed what the hell they were going to wear.

Though they discovered that Julie didn’t allow privacy when it came to dress discussions. She, too, was prom-focused, having been invited to Jimmy’s prom the following week. Subsequently, shopping with Julie had made them laugh; it seemed lesbian innuendo came as naturally to her as the well-deserved reputation for straight innuendo she'd earned.    

Having picked up their finished dresses, the three of them decided to relax outside in the spring sunshine. Out of the blue, Julie weirdly said, “I’ve got my own lezzie secret.”

Monique’s brows knotted. “What? Jimmy’s a girl.”

“Idiot. He’s got a cock and knows how to use it.”

Having stared down screams of too much information, Julie added, “I’ve kept your secret; keep this one safe. You know my cousin, Sophie?”

They nodded. Monique only really knew of Sophie’s studious reputation and the titbits Julie had mentioned about past family occasions. But Lucy’s surprised look confirmed she knew much more about the young woman who was both the smartest and the quietest of her year group. “Wow, she’s your cousin? You two are chalk and cheese.”

“Even more than meets the eye. She’s asked Jimmy to take her to the prom.”

Lucy’s brow knotted. “Your boyfriend is taking your cousin to our prom?”

“Yeah. Her sexuality is buried deeper than yours. But you’re taking a girl, so she is determined to be there.”

“If only I’d known.”

“Funnily enough, that’s what she said about you. So, I’ve hatched a plan. Her dad will chauffeur the four of you to the prom. Jimmy will organise the school photographer and a supportive table.”

In the week leading up to the prom, the principal announced next year’s leadership positions at a school assembly. Monique had expected to be the leader of the swim team. But she was gobsmacked when the principal said, “Monique: School Sports Captain.”

Not as shocked, however, as Julie was when announced as a senior prefect. And, for many in the school, the most important prefect of all, the one who kept an eye on student welfare.

As the two of them walked out of the assembly together, they exchanged a knowing glance. For they’d both noticed the self-satisfied smirk on Lucy’s face as the principal made those two announcements.   

That weekend, the two newly minted senior prefects headed to the mall for a spot of pre-Christmas retail therapy. After nabbing new thong bikinis, they decided to treat themselves to Just Juices.

Monique had found vacant seats, and, when Julie returned with their drinks, they relaxed, totally comfortable in their silence. But, eventually, Julie couldn’t help herself. “You’re a better friend now you’re a lezzie.”

“Yeah, I get that. Totally regret my Easter Island statue imitation. Odd thing, though. I don’t think of myself as a lesbian.”

“Seriously. What are you then?”

“Lucy’s girlfriend. Just like you’re Jimmy’s girlfriend.”

Julie’s hand reached across the table, and their fingers entwined. “That’s a cool way of thinking. Being loved up totally suits us.”

“Please, no smart-arse comments.”

“Promise.”

“Without you, I wouldn’t have a girlfriend.”

“Idiot. That’s what besties do, sort that kind of shit out for you.”

On prom night, Sophie’s dad dropped the four of them under the Harbour Bridge; a short walk beside the sea towards the couples who were milling around outside the venue. In the spring sunshine, Sophie’s arm easily, yet misleadingly, slipped through Jimmy’s.

Monique, however, was a bundle of nerves as she reached for Lucy’s clammy hand. Their fingers entwined. The comforting squeeze wasn’t enough to melt their anxiety.  

Jimmy strode up to the door, a force of nature who bro-hugged two mates in sharp suits. Then introduced his friends to Sophie, his date, and to Lucy and her date. Monique heard Lucy’s breath hitch when the guys’ dates, semi-queen bees from her year group, stared ever so coolly at her. She squeezed her girlfriend’s hand even harder.   

Jimmy wasn’t deterred. He indicated to the photographer that the school had hired. “Let’s get a photo of us all. Tall ones at the back, shorties in the front.”

Which is how Lucy found herself standing in the foyer in her cream lace dress beside the three guys in dark suits, the four of them with their arms around the waists of their prom dates. And Monique, whose red dress stood out, naturally snuggled back into her as the photographer said, “Smile.”

And smile the two of them did. For this simply felt right. When Jimmy added an extra email address to the list of where the photos would be sent. Monique and Lucy exchanged a knowing glance. Julie, in social media influencer mode, was bound to be a force to be reckoned with.  

They ate awkwardly, aware that the conversation was stilted. God knows how, but Jimmy and Sophie had some banter sorted. That helped, and finally the side eye from the girls in Lucy’s year group started to lessen. It wasn’t easy, but hadn’t ended up being the disaster of Monique and Lucy’s nighttime imaginings.

Then the band started, and dancing was another matter altogether. Swaying together, their lithe bodies moved with athletic confidence, and their dresses swirled. They were watched, most likely the most watched couple at the prom. But their world had narrowed and their eyes were girlfriend focused. They moved for each other, melted for each other, and suddenly no one else mattered.

Then, when they walked back to their table hand in hand, the smile on Sophie’s face felt like a benediction.

Jimmy opened the car door outside Monique’s house and walked them, one on each of his arms, to the door. Monique hugged him. “Thanks for everything, you and Julie.”

“No social media. Give my girlfriend space; she’s busy torching online negativity. It’s really going to be alright in the morning.”

They felt so grown-up and trusted in the house. Monique’s parents had gone to bed, leaving them with a note that hoped they had a wonderful time and invited Lucy to treat the place as a second home. A postscript had been added that made them smile; Monique’s parents expected to return from grocery shopping around eleven and would see them if they were awake.

Then, in their bedroom, having carefully helped each other out of their dresses, they delighted in hanging them side-by-side in Monique’s wardrobe.

Lucy was gobsmacked, unable to drag her surprised eyes from the freshly shaved pussy peeking through her girlfriend’s semi-transparent lace thong.

Monique grinned. “For you. I knew you’d like it.”

“So sexy. I can’t wait to enjoy you.”

“You do and you will. But not tonight; this has been tougher on you than me. You’ve been heroic, so you get to enjoy. No debate.”

“Oh my God, so bossy, darling.”

Monique had thought long and hard about how Lucy’s special evening should end. She wanted every caress and every kiss to show Lucy that Monique’s Easter Island reserve had been permanently fractured. She craved making Lucy understand she was all in on being the best girlfriend ever.

So, when her mouth delicately landed on her girlfriend’s dewy folds, she melted as Lucy’s sigh echoed off the walls. "Oh my God; yes."

Monique gazed up, her lips glistening. “Has anyone told you, you taste divine?”

“You do realise you’re the only one who has tasted me.”

Monique’s heart fluttered; she hadn’t expected that answer. With her determination turbocharged, her thumbs gently spread the outer lips of her girlfriend’s dewy pussy. Exactly copying how Lucy had previously pleased her, Monique slowly dragged her tongue up through the sticky folds.

Having savoured the bitter taste, she carefully flicked her tongue across the clit peeking from its hood. Looked up, her eyes ever so sultry, she whispered, “You’ve been so brave coming out for me. I’m going to worship you until you scream. Repeatedly, I’m not stopping until you finally whimper, ‘enough.’”

Lucy’s eyes widened; behind the Easter Island reserve lurked someone even more magical than she’d imagined. She sighed and watched enthralled as her girlfriend’s licks and kisses wandered all over her increasingly aroused pussy. And Monique’s giggle was so adorable when she heard the little squelches that resulted from her sucks.

For the first time, Lucy’s control had been totally fractured. She let go, gave herself to her girlfriend, and embraced the intensity of her physical reaction. She whimpered repeatedly, little catlike meows of pleasure. She moved her knees even wider and silently begged for more.

But all that did was slow Monique’s tongue. Unhurried and oh so soft; the control in those teasing touches took Lucy’s breath away.

After what seemed like an eternity, Monique’s tongue swirled straight up Lucy’s pussy in a single maddeningly slow, agonising lick, lighter over her opening, somehow even more so over her clit.

Then, with her flat tongue extended, Monique focused; she lapped Lucy’s clit like a kitten takes milk.  Lucy’s eyes closed, her head lolled back on the pillow, and she softly whimpered Monique’s name. Again, and again.

A deep sigh escaped when the lapping became even faster and firmer. Lucy felt the orgasm brewing and tensed, spooked by the fear of being heard. Then she relaxed, knowing she was safe, and rejoiced in not giving into that fear anymore.

Lucy’s fingers curled and gripped the sheet as she submitted her sex to the relentless licking and teasing. Totally lost in a carnal fog, emotionally committed, nothing else mattered.

With Monique, she could take flight. At last.

Her body started trembling. Her hips rose and pressed her sex hard against Monique’s mouth. Her clit spasmed. The school sports captain cum gush flooded the smirking face of her successor.

Eventually, loved up and orgasmed out, they snuggled together; Monique’s breasts crushed against Lucy’s back. Her arm went around her girlfriend; a hand cupped her breast and kneaded it.

She rejoiced in Lucy’s whimper. For this was who she was.

Lucy understood. Not yet anxiety-free, but she was ever so proud of herself.

Never had they been more excited. For they had each other to share their futures with.

The end.