Divided Hearts

by Balticbard

Email: balticbard@yahoo.com

Disclaimer; the show Popular, and its characters belong to someone else.....no profit will be made from this story; it is solely for entertainment purposes.

Warning; this story contains adult situations, rape, violence, abuse, foul language.

Dedicated to Aeryn, who's stories inspired me in a lot of ways, and who helped me so much.


chapter 1; Wandering Hands

Mary Cherry was an acceptably attractive girl, with long, blond hair, an hour glass figure, and big, expressive blue eyes. Mary Cherry had been born in the mighty, proud state of Texas, she was wealthy, quite refined, quite nice. Yet, with all of her attributes, Mary Cherry couldn't have the one thing that she most desired; Brooke McQueen's friendship. Brooke was the most popular girl at Kennedy Senior High School. Brooke was tall, beautiful, lanky, with shoulder length blond hair, hazel eyes, and a smile so gentle, so warm, that she could melt pure steel. Brooke was the captain of the cheerleading team, and just happened to be dating Josh, the handsome captain of the football team. Brooke was a definite shoo-in for the role of prom queen of Kennedy High.

Mary Cherry's greatest goal, and dream in her seventeen years of life was to be Brooke McQueen's best, bestest, only, exclusive, confidante, best friend in the whole world. Mary Cherry had a huge crush on Brooke; but of course it wasn't a lesbian crush, it was just one of those romantic friendship crushes like the one that Xena, the Warrior Princess, and her sidekick, Gabrielle had.....but of course those two were just friends.....even though all signs pointed otherwise.....still, the southern bred blond didn't want to examine her feelings for Brooke too deeply. All that Mary Cherry knew, was that she wanted be more than a third wheel in Brooke's life, and not just a tag-along behind Brooke's present best friend, Nicole Julian, who seemed to exclusively own the beautiful cheerleader's heart. All of them were cheerleaders, Nicole, Brooke, and of course Mary Cherry.....but alas, Mary Cherry was the least of all, the thirdwheel.

On this special night, Friday, 13th of March, Brooke had invited Nicole, and Mary Cherry over for a sleep-over, to do girl stuff, like bonding, talking about boyfriends, new fashions. All three of the girls had been sitting in the living room, talking, bonding, when Samantha McPherson, Brooke's reluctant housemate, step-sister, rival, enemy, had come down the stairs from her room, and had quietly greeted them, then cooly informed Brooke that she was spending the night over at a friend's house, that friend in question being of course, Lily Esposito. The three, blond cheerleaders were silent, and held their breaths, until Samantha, a very gorgeous brunette (whom Mary Cherry had secretly admired for her stunning beauty), walked out of the front door, and closed it behind her.

"Good riddance!" Nicole yelled suddenly, for she despised Sam McPherson with all of her heart, "she's gone. Now, we can be in peace."

"Yeah," Brooke said quickly, for she too, detested her step-sister, and was relieved to be rid of her.

"Uh," Mary Cherry replied, not meaning to say anything at all, but really not hating Samantha at all, actually finding the journalist wannabe brunette quite interesting at times, even though it was evident that Sam hated cheerleaders with an incredible depth. If it hadn't been for her all-consuming crush on Brooke, Mary Cherry was absolutely sure that she would have been following Samantha McPherson around like a puppy, "I'm goin upstairs tah use the toilet."

Nicole, and Brooke were talking incessantly, and didn't even notice when Mary Cherry got up, and walked up the stairs. Mary Cherry didn't go to the bathroom, choosing instead to enter Brooke's room stealthily. It seemed that exactly two days before, Mary Cherry had seen Brooke wearing a beautiful, gold, bracelet of Celtic design, and the southerner had fallen in love with it. The idea had hit Mary Cherry that if she could give Brooke a gold ring with the same, exact design of that gorgeous bracelet, then perhaps Brooke would want her.....eh.....want to be her only friend.

Mary Cherry, wildly, quickly rummaged through the drawers of Brooke's bureau, then looked under her mattress, then her nightstand, then her desks' drawers, until she found the object in question; an elaborately decorated, gold, thick, Celtic-style bracelet. Mary Cherry took the bracelet, hid it in her nightshirt's pocket, and left Brooke's room, after hastily straightening out the incredible mess that she had caused.

Mary Cherry went downstairs, smiled at the two girls, Nicole, and Brooke, who were sitting much too close together for the southerner's comfort. Mary Cherry joined her so called friends, and the night passed away slowly, and also without incident.


chapter 2; Discovery, Accusations, and Resentment

Saturday came, and went for Brooke; the girls had come home. The day progressed normally, with only a small argument between Brooke, and her step-sister, Sam. Now, it was Saturday evening, and Brooke McQueen had a date with Josh. Brooke was dressed in her best, deep blue, tight dress, with smokey, light blue eye shadow, deep pink lip gloss, and her hair was drawn back in a French braid. Now, Brooke was desperately looking for her gold bracelet; the item she loved most of all her jewelry, that had been a gift from her now defunct mother, Kelly McQueen.

"Where is my bracelet?" Brooke cried, for Josh was coming to pick her up in just ten minutes, "I'm almost done, but I want to wear it....it goes perfectly with my dress."

Brooke looked through her bureau, and noticed the oddest thing; her clothes were rumpled, as if a hasty hand had gone through them, upsetting the original order that she liked to put her things in. Brooke was an orderly person, nit picky to the extreme in the cleanliness, or orderliness of her room, "someone has been through my things," Brooke was enraged, blinded by one thing, and only one thing, "......its her......HER......."

It was a known fact that Brooke McQueen hated Samantha McPherson with all of her heart, and simply wished her step-sister dead. Brooke, and Sam had known each other since childhood, and had grown up enemies, members of different social groups in high school. Since Sam was the person that Brooke hated most, now her unwilling step-sister, since Sam's mom had fallen in love with Brooke's father, and had moved in with him, bringing Sam with her, the blond cheerleader's heart was filled with rage, resentment, and envy. Sometimes, Brooke envied Sam's obvious ravishing beauty, her exquisite grace, her great intelligence. Brooke envied Sam's freedom to have her own identity, free of public opinion. Deep inside, Brooke harbored almost amorous feelings for Samantha, for the girl fascinated her, beguiled her endlessly. Yet Brooke outwardly hated Sam, for their differences, for their parent's union, for the many years that they had simply repulsed each other, "she came into my room, and stole my bracelet. That's the only explanation!"

Brooke rushed downstairs from her room, racing down stairs, confronting Sam, who at that moment was watching TV in the living room, "you stole my bracelet!"

Samantha McPhereson was placidly watching what she called "nonsense television," or what was an endless stream of commercials, news snippets, and silly situation comedies. Sam's heart shook with shock, when she heard Brooke screaming at her, at the top of her voice. Sam had seen her blond housemate coming down the stairs quickly, but thought nothing of it, "hhhmmm....seems Josh is actually early, so blondie has to rush." But Brooke had stalked up to her quickly, and had yelled at Sam. Sam looked up to see Brooke's face flushed red with rage, her body shaking from her anger, her movements threatening. Sam was speechless for several seconds, then her own anger, and indignity kicked in, as the brunette responded, "I didn't steal your bracelet!"

"YES YOU DID STEAL MY BRACELET!" Brooke's voice was shrill, angry, shaking, "YOU DID IT BEFORE!"

''NO.....I DID NOT STEAL YOUR BRACELET!" Sam replied, in an equally high voice, but not shrill, only defensive, offended, indignant, "that other time was a mistake! I explained that to you, Brooke. Your bracelet looked like one my mom has. That was why I took it, by mistake......I thought that my mom had lent it to you. I apologized to you for doing that, and I promised not to touch your things ever again!"

"I don't believe you!" Brooke yelled instantly, "you're always in my room.....you took my bracelet.....it was my mom's.....it was all that I had left of her!"

"I didn't take your damn bracelet, Brooke McQueen......and as for your mom.....she abandoned you when you were a child.....that is NOT a mother......you always had a FATHER.....even if I never wanted him to marry my mom.....but he's a good man......so don't go glorifying what you never had!"

Brooke was on the verge of tears after hearing Sam's words, and her rage deepened to the point where she brought up her hand, and actually, ACTUALLY slapped her brunette step-sister's pretty face, "how DARE you judge my mom? HOW DARE YOU! You stole my bracelet because you're simply a bitch.....you hate me......you want everything that I have!"

Samantha McPherson stepped back out of Brooke's reach, and brought up her hand to the cheek that the blond had slapped. Sam felt the surface of her pale cheek stinging, and was sure that she had marks on it. Sam stroked her cheek, as she glared at Brooke with utter, pure venom in her dark eyes, "believe me, McQueen......I certainly DON'T want anything of yours!"

The argument between Brooke, and Sam was so unusually violent, that Sam's mother, Jane, rushed out of the kitchen, where she had been washing the dishes from dinner, into the living room, in time to see Brooke slap her daughter, "Brooke!" Jane yelled, "what are you doing?"

"She stole my bracelet!" Brooke exclaimed.

"I didn't steal anything from her, mom.....I swear!" Sam told her mother.

Mike McQueen had heard Brooke scream. He had been upstairs, in bed, having retired early. Now, Mike bounded down the stairs, thinking that his daughter, Brooke had fallen, and was somehow injured, "what is going on here?"

"Mike.....this is getting out of hand!" Jane told her newly arrived husband, "Brooke just slapped Sam."

"Brooke....how could you do that? Sam is your sister!" Mike exclaimed.

"SHE IS NOT MY SISTER!" Brooke exclaimed, "she stole my bracelet.......and she insulted my mom!"

"Still.....that is no reason to resort to physical violence," Mike replied firmly, "besides.....do you have proof that Sam took your bracelet?"

"Well.....no," Brooke faltered, "if she didn't steal my bracelet.....then she has to let me search her room to prove it!"

"Brooke!" Jane exclaimed suddenly, "that is going TOO far! Mike, please do something."

"NO!" Sam said suddenly, "no.....Mike.....mom.....don't interfere......this can be fixed," Sam turned to Brooke, "okay, Brooke.....go ahead.....search my room right now!"

"Are you sure of this, Sam?" Jane asked her usually stoic daughter.

"Yes, mom. I'm sure of this," Sam said quietly, as she went up the stairs, following an angry, very agitated Brooke who went ahead of her.

Brooke burst into Sam McPherson's room, and began to search it. First, Brooke went through Sam's bureau, quickly, opening drawers, scattering their contents, then shutting them again. Then, Brooke lifted the mattress, first peeling away the bedsheets, then looking underneath, noticing Sam's diary, but then ignoring it as she searched.

"Oh.....you forgot my desk, Brooke....."Sam said almost playfully, as she watched from the doorway of her room, as she seemed to frame the very doorframe of the door, as she watched the unwelcome, blond intruder rummage through her things.

Brooke quickly searched Sam's desk, almost throwing things on the floor to look through them, such was her deep need to prove that Sam was the culprit of her bracelet.

"Don't forget the closet, Brookie dear," Sam exclaimed sarcastically.

During the entire episode, Mike, and Jane had followed their daughters up the stairs to Sam's room, and now watched a frantic, angry Brooke searching Sam's room with an almost frightening ferocity, so much that it frightened her father, who complained, "Brooke.....you have gone too far!" Jane, and Mike looked at each other, quite surprised by the coldness that Sam was displaying during the entire episode, "are you alright, Sam,?" Jane asked her daughter.

"I'm fine, mom.....really," Sam replied, with a strange firmness in her voice, with an odd, steely look in her brown eyes.

Brooke searched every inch imaginable of Sam's room, and found no trace of her dead mom's bracelet. Finally, Brooke gave up, now out of breath, and exited her step-sister's room, walking quickly down the hall. Brooke had not found the bracelet, but still she was not convinced, "I still think you stole my bracelet, McPherson," Brooke hissed angrily as she passed Sam, and went down the stairs.

Sam followed Brooke down the stairs, and confronted her, "I didn't take your bracelet, Brooke.....but I swear to you on my father's grave that I will never, NEVER set foot in your room again, even if it was to save your life, and although I still have to share a bathroom with you, I also promise I will not enter it while you are using it. And, Brooke McQueen, I will not speak to you again, nor do I want you to speak to me. Keep your distance from me, and I will do the same to you. To me, Brooke, you are simply dead."

"Fine with me, McPherson," Brooke replied coldly.

Two minutes later, there was a knock on the door of the McQueen residence. Brooke ran to answer the door, and found Josh, handsome, blond, and impeccably dressed in a gray suit, waiting with a small bouquet of flowers for her. Brooke rushed to Josh, hugged him as she cried, and then left quickly with him.

Silence reigned amongst the three left behind; Mike, Jane, and Sam.

"Sam....." Mike was extremely embarrassed by Brooke's behavior, "I don't believe that you took my daughter's bracelet.

"I don't blame you for Brooke's actions," Sam said, as she stepped close to her stepfather, and gave him a brief kiss on the cheek, "I never said this, Mike......my father was a very good man......my mom's very lucky.....cause she found someone just like him." Then, Sam simply turned away, and went upstairs.

"Sam.....what are you going to do?" Jane asked her retreating daughter.

"Oh......not much, mom.....I'm just gonna put my stuff in my room, back in the same disorder that it was before," Sam replied with a sad smile.

"I'm worried, Mike...." Jane said quietly to her husband, "this isn't over. Its bad. Sam never shows her emotions. She seemed so cold, so calm when Brooke was searching her room. That isn't natural, Mike. I don't know what she'll do....especially after what she just said to Brooke just now.......how she'll react. It frightens me at times.....but I don't know my own daughter."

"I'm shocked as well, Jane," Mike replied, "I always thought that she hated me for marrying you. But now......"

"That's how she is, Mike.....full of surprises."

"Don't worry, baby," Mike said, as he hugged his wife, "everything will turn out fine."


chapter 3; The Culprit is Discovered

Sunday passed in an unbearable war in the McQueen household, with a tension so thick, that it could be cut with a knife. Brooke was extremely angry with Sam, and didn't hesitate to show it. But now, Brooke's anger over her missing bracelet spilled over into other issues, such as Sam's evident contempt for cheerleaders, and the brunette's scathing remarks about them in her articles published weekly in the high school newspaper. Now, Brooke piled all of her resentment, and hatred for her step-sister onto the missing bracelet issue, and used it as an outlet for all of her rage, tearing into her dark-haired rival with terrible viciousness. But every time, Sam would leave the room when Brooke started an argument, and would simply go upstairs to her room. Sam didn't come down for dinner that evening, and Jane had to take something up to her daughter, while Mike chided his blond daughter.

Monday morning, Brooke awoke from a terrible slumber. The beautiful cheerleader had slept badly, tossing, and turning, dreaming about her lost bracelet, and going from slapping Sam, to actually throttling her. Now, Brooke felt awful, with a headache. Brooke got out of bed, went to the bathroom door, and knocked, "you in there, McPherson?" When there was no reply, Brooke opened her bathroom door, went in, and was relieved that is was empty. Brooke showered quickly, then brushed her teeth, leaving the bathroom in a hurry, hoping to avoid Sam. But Sam never came, nor knocked on the door to use it. Brooke dressed, put on her make-up, and went downstairs, to find her father, Mike, at the table, having breakfast with an unusually silent Jane. Brooke suddenly felt quite embarrassed upon seeing her stepmother, remembering how badly she had treated Sam. But Brooke would not relent in her belief that Sam was capable of the most vicious, lowly acts just to humiliate her, "Jane....." Brooke said hesitantly, "I....."

"I don't want to discuss this with you, Brooke," Jane said curtly, "I like you....I'm even on the verge of loving you.....but you treated Sam with great disrespect. I won't meddle in this affair....I am trying not to. Please.....just don't speak about it right now."

"I know.....I"

"If you want to know, Brooke......Sam isn't here. My daughter has opted to stay with Lily for a few days," Jane replied, as she got up from the table, "so you won't have the displeasure of seeing her." Jane got up from the table, kissed Mike on the cheek, and left the room, to go upstairs to care for their baby daughter, Mackenzie.

"You went too far, Brooke," Mike said, when his wife was gone.

"I'm the injured party here," Brooke exclaimed, "why am I suddenly the villian? You should be on my side....I'm your daughter."

"Here we go again," Mike said, suddenly upset, as he rolled his eyes, "same old issue about you not wanting me to marry Jane......right? Look, Brooke.....just go to school. I don't feel like dealing with your resentment right now."

Brooke said nothing more, as she ate her breakfast in silence, then took her bookbag, left the house, got into her Ford Ranger, and drove to school.

The school day passed slowly for Brooke, who dreaded her mid-period biology class, in which she was forced to sit next to Sam. But today something odd happened; there was no Sam beside her, and that made Brooke feel a great amount of relief, as well as a strange feeling of emptiness which she buried deep within herself, preferring to feel hatred towards Sam, and nothing more.

During the lunch hour, Brooke dragged herself into the cafeteria, and was surprised to see Sam McPherson with her friends, little Latina activist, Lily, constantly depressed, overweight Carmen, and perky, intellectual Harrison. Brooke had seen them together hundreds of times; Lily, Sam, Carmen, and Harrison comprised a closely knit group of friends, but what surprised the blond cheerleader, was that today, they were sitting at a new table, all the way at the other end of the cafeteria, and not at their usual table which was usually only a few feet away from where she, and her own friends sat.

"Brooke!"

Brooke looked up to see her best friend, Nicole Julian, also blond, but shorter in stature, very pretty, with shining eyes, calling to her. Brooke smiled, her heart warmed, "well.....somebody is happy to see me," the cheerleader was now frowning as she glanced at Sam, who was a good distance away, "at least she has the decency to stay away from me.....but it still isn't far away enough!"

"Come on, Brooke....stop staring at Sam!" Nicole chided, because she hated Sam, and had just recently stopped calling her "Spam," out of courtesy to Brooke's new status as the brunette's new step-sister, "Mary Cherry has a surprise for you!"

Brooke rushed over at the sound of Nic's words, "a surprise?" Brooke needed a surprise, and a reason to smile, as her eyes involuntarily wandered back towards Sam, who was quietly talking to her friends, who now, and then turned to look at her, and frown, "that bitch is talking about me.....her loser friends are staring daggers at me....but I don't care. I know that Sam took my bracelet."

Meanwhile, at the other end of the cafeteria;

"So.....run that by me again, Sam," Harrison, dark haired pretty, preppy boy asked, "Brooke slapped you because you bad-mouthed her mom?"

"AND Brooke accused Sam of stealing her bracelet," Lily said quickly.

"Oh of course you would never believe that she is capable of that, right Harrison?" Sam said, with venom in her voice, "oh yeah.....you always had a crush on Brooke......she's your angel, right?"

"Yeah, Harrison," Carmen said, perpetually depressed, perpetually in love with Brooke's boyfriend, the apparently absent for now, Josh, "who's side are you on anyway? Sam is your friend."

"Okay, okay," Harrison threw his hands up in defeat, "I believe Sam......you're my best bud, Sam.....but I mean.....Brooke is the nicest person in that entire popular crowd......the rest of them are all just........disgusting......I just can't imagine that she would do that......she hates you but......"

"Let me guess, Harrison......you're supposed to be MY friend?" Sam said jealously, angrily.

"I said I believed you, Sam......geesh....what a temper!" Harrison exclaimed.

"Just shut up, Harrison," Lily interjected, "go sit with Brooke already? If Sam says she got slapped, then she did. Besides, Sam.....I believe you......you didn't take the bracelet......but who did then?"

"I don't know," Sam replied softly.

Meanwhile, at the very other end of the cafeteria;

"So where is Josh?" Brooke asked, surprised that her boyfriend wasn't there, because he always had lunch with her, and Nic, and Mary Cherry.

"Josh told me to tell you, he has extra practice on the field" Nicole said with a smile, "c'mon sit already, and eat. Besides, Mary Cherry has a gift for you."

"Really?" Brooke was quite surprised, for Mary Cherry wasn't really that close to her, "oh.....how sweet."

"Show her, already," an exasperated Nicole said to a shy, now blushing southern cheerleader.

"It ain't much," Mary Cherry said, as she felt her heart flutter, at the sight of Brooke's gentle smile, "jus sumthin ah saw you usin......you liked it a lot......so I de-ci-ded to borrow it to sorta copy the style tah make ya a ring."

"What?" Brooke was beginning to get a gist of an idea as to what Mary Cherry's vague words meant, and a sudden, cold stab of shame took hold of the blond's heart, as she hoped for, dearer than life, that it wasn't what she thought, "what do you mean, Mary Cherry......what did you borrow from me?"

"The night ya had me ovah fer the sleepovah...." Mary Cherry said timidly, as she produced a cloth covered box, and handed it to Brooke, "ah went up to yer room, and ah searched fer that brace-let ah saw ya wearin once.....ya tol me ya loved it......ah took it....ah took it to mah jeweler so he could copy the style.....ah couldn't tell you ah had done it....then it wouldn't have been ah surprise."

Brooke took the cloth covered box that Mary Cherry had handed her with trembling hands. Slowly, the cheerleader opened the box, to find her missing bracelet inside, along with an elaborately decorated, Celtic-style, gold ring; the ring was decorated in the same exact fashion as her bracelet; the one that she had so fervently accused Sam McPherson of stealing, "oh.....my God......"

"Do ya like it, Brookie?" Mary Cherry asked in a small, childlike voice.

Brooke was still stunned by the sudden discovery of who really had taken her bracelet, but she managed to snap out of her stupor long enough to thank an obviously well-meaning Mary Cherry, "oh....it is so beautiful, Mary Cherry.....thank you so much," and upon saying that, the beautiful Brooke stood up, walked around the table, and hugged a practically drooling, almost fainting Mary Cherry, who was slowly beginning to realize that maybe she really did like girls more than boys after all, especially a girl named Brooke McQueen.

Brooke sat back down in her chair, and looked down at the tray with her food on it, and for the first time in days, she felt a strong urge to simply vomit.

"What's wrong, Brooke," Nicole asked with genuine concern in her voice, "you've suddenly gone deathly pale."

"I did a really terrible thing, Nic," Brooke said quietly, as tears came unbidden to her big, hazel eyes.

"What happened, Brooke?" Nicole asked quickly, "did you break up with Josh?"

"I didn't know that you had taken the bracelet, Mary Cherry," Brooke said to the gentle southerner, "so.....I....I blamed Sam for stealing it.....I got so damn angry......I actually slapped her......."

"Oh....mah goodness!" Mary Cherry exclaimed quickly, "I am so sorry, Brookie, ah didn't mean tah cause you so much trouble!"

"So what, Brooke," Nicole said as she shrugged, "so you gave that big mouth outsider/loser one more reason to hate us.....so what?"

"I......I searched her room....." Brooke said nervously, "I humiliated her in front of my dad, and her mom....."

"Oooohhhh," Nicole said quietly, as she lowered her usually pert gaze, "um......even that is going a lot further than I ever would, Brooke......even for Spam McPherson!"

"What am I going to do?" Brooke asked, suddenly overwhelmed by deep guilt over what she had done to her brunette step-sister.

"Apologize, I guess...."was all that Nicole could say, "even though I wouldn't because I hate her guts......but well that's the only answer that I can give you."

"Oh.....damn," Brooke replied, "I guess I have to......right now......"

"Um.....well we should go," Nicole said quickly, because she didn't want to be present when Sam McPherson exploded, "come on, Mary Cherry......I'll walk you to your next class!"

"Bye-bye, Brookie," a starry-eyed Mary Cherry said, with a soft sigh, and a smile, as Nicole led her away from the lunch table where now Brooke sat alone.

To say that Brooke McQueen hated herself at that moment, was truly an understatement. At that moment, Brooke simply, deeply despised herself, and was very much on the verge of dying of pure shame, as she recalled all the things that she had recently done to her step-sister, Samantha McPherson, "I have to do it.....no matter how much it shames me.....I have to apologize," Brooke said to herself, as she got up from her chair, and walked slowly over to the other end of the cafeteria.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the cafeteria;

"Ohmygod!" Carmen exclaimed, running her words together, as she looked to the other side of the cafeteria, and saw Brooke walking in their direction, "look who's coming this way!"

"Who?" a startled Lily asked loudly?

"Wow," Harrison said admiringly, as his eyes focused on Brooke, as he smiled, as his dark eyes raked up, and down her slender, lanky form, clad in her cheerleading uniform; she was his dream girl, but then his eyes fell on a very angry, seemingly jealous brunette best-friend named Samantha, "uh....yeah.....why is Brooke coming this way?"

Samantha McPherson didn't bother to turn, and look behind her, for she could already tell that Brooke was fast approaching, due to the fact that the brunette journalist could smell the cheerleader's perfume, "well.....I have suddenly lost my apetite," the girl said sadly, "she just wants to humiliate me in public now.....doing it in private wasn't enough for her."

"Can I have your custard, Sam?" Carmen asked anxiously.

"Yes, of course," Sam replied with a small smile, as she handed her dessert to her dear friend.

"Come on, Sam....let's leave," Lily said, as she got up from her seat, and seized her tray, "you don't have to talk to her.

"Um.....I'll talk to her for you, Sam...." Harrison said hopefully.

Stunningly beautiful Samantha McPherson waved Harrison to lean over to her, as she got up from her seat, and leaned over the table towards him. Harrison did as the gorgeous brunette asked, and leaned towards her. Sam simply leaned in enough to him to whisper in his ear, "and to think that I was seriously interested in you, Harrison....sexually.....I was actually thinking of losing my virginity to you....." then, the voluptuous journalist actually bit Harrison's ear, then licked his earlobe lightly with her crimson tongue, "too bad I'll just have to find someone else now."

Harrison's eyes almost popped out of his sockets, and he instantly achieved a huge erection, which made him ashamed, and made Carmen, and Lily giggle. Sam pushed her tray over to Carmen, and smiled, "help yourself, tiger.....you're a growing girl......"

"Thanks, Sam...." Carmen replied, for she adored Samantha with all of her life, because the beautiful brunette never mentioned her obesity.

Harrison was still deeply aroused, flushing, and desperate now, "uh......Sam.....maybe we should talk about that? Maybe in private? Huh? Please?"

"Hah! Later, Harrison," Sam said, as she gathered her books in her slender arms, and prepared to leave the cafeteria with Lily, but a voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Sam?"

Samantha turned, and saw Brooke standing about five feet away from her, which was a good enough distance. Brooke wasn't close to Sam's personal space, or close enough to slap her again, "come to have more fun at my expense, McQueen? Although....why am I asking? I thought we weren't speaking," Sam said coldly, as she began to walk away once more.

"Sam.....please don't go," Brooke said, pleadingly, her tears, her crying already evident in her trembling voice.

"What do you want, Brooke?" Sam asked testily.

"You didn't steal my bracelet.....Mary Cherry borrowed it.....I didn't know.......I accused you wrongly.......Sam.....I'm sorry," Brooke managed to say through the sobs that were now rising slowly from her throat.

"I've made a lot of mistakes, and I'm not perfect, Miss McQueen," Sam said nonchalantly, "but I never would have thought that you would see me as being so low as to steal from you......you really must hate me deeply for that."

"I'm sorry, Sam.....please......" Brooke said, as her vision became blurred by the copious tears now pouring from her eyes.

"Fine," Sam said quietly, calmly, "apology accepted," then the brunette started to leave again.

"At least look at me, Sam," Brooke pleaded.

"What you did to me hurts, Brooke," Sam replied, almost on the verge of tears herself, as she tried to keep her now trembling voice steady, "it hurts deeper than you will ever know. Just stay on your side of the school, and room, and don't speak to me. Let's just keep it that way," and upon saying that, Samantha McPherson simply fled from the cafeteria, so that her friends, and enemy, Brooke, wouldn't see the sudden tears streaming from her dark eyes.

"I'm going too," Lily said, as she ran after Sam.

Brooke finally broke down, as she sat next to Carmen, and began to cry openly. Carmen, moved by the cheerleader's sobs, put her arm around the blond girl, and attempted to console her. Harrison, embarrassed, also left the cafeteria. Only Carmen was left to try, and comfort Brooke.

"What am I going to do now?" Brooke asked amid her sobs, "how do I get Sam to forgive me?"

"I don't know," Carmen said softly, "there is one thing that I do know about Sam.....she holds a grudge for a long time."

"I just want her back," Brooke said softly.

Carmen looked at Brooke strangely, for that was a very odd thing to say about one's enemy. But of course, Carmen didn't know how to reply to that.

Brooke just kept crying on Carmen's shoulder.


chapter 4; Strange Realizations

An extremely embarrassed Brooke McQueen had gone home at the end of the school day, and had confronted her stepmother, "Jane.....mom? Please......will you not be angry with me anymore?"

"I don't know, Brooke," the woman replied, her usually gentle face now awash with a solemn mask, "you hurt Sam deeply......I just can't understand the reason you hate her so much.....why did you target her so cruelly? Is it because you resent me for marrying your father? Am I the reason? Then you should vent on me, not her....."

"No.....Jane......mom.....I don't blame you for anything......in any way," the blond girl replied, with thick tears flowing from her eyes, "its hard to explain......its just something between Sam, and me......I can't explain why I did it......but Sam never stole the bracelet from me.......Mary Cherry took it just to have it copied.....to give me a surprise gift......"

"But you were more than willing to blame Sam, Brooke," Jane said curtly, "if you could have seen the hate in your eyes when you slapped her......"

"Please......mom.....I'm so sorry for what I did......I want to apologize......I want to make it up to Sam......but she won't let me........" Brooke replied, as she started to cry quietly.

Jane McPherson watched Brooke crying for several minutes, then her hardened heart finally broke down, filling with pity for the weeping girl. The woman opened her arms, and took the crying cheerleader into her arms, "what did you expect, Brooke?" Jane said slowly, tenderly, her voice now devoid of its former hardness, "you didn't just humiliate Sam.....you offended her deeply.....you put her integrity in question before her own mother......you degraded her, calling her a thief.....then you rudely invaded her privacy.....you brazenly searched her room......that is what she considers her haven......her world......you attacked her most precious possesions......her honor.......her home," Jane stroked Brooke's golden hair as she spoke, "put yourself in her place.....how would you feel if it was done to you?"

Brooke was sobbing heavily now, unable to speak, such was the depth of her pain, and shame, so that she could only nod, and cling tightly to her stepmother. Finally, Brooke somehow found her voice, and the ability to speak, even though her voice was broken by sobs, "please.....mom......I know I was cruel......I just want to make it up to her......what can I do?"

"Brooke......you've asked the one thing that I can't answer......and I'm Sam's mom.....all that I know is that Sam is a good girl.....she has a kind heart.....but her one fault is that she never forgives.....or at least it takes her a long time to do so. I raised Sam......but I can't look inside her heart......what you did to her will somehow change her, Brooke.....I don't know how. I wish I knew.....I wish that I could help you......but I can't" Jane McPherson was truly surprised, that her very own daughter, whom she had raised, and nurtured could still be an enigma to her, that Sam could hide away her soul's secret from the author of her days, her mother.

Suddenly, the door to the kitchen opened, and Samantha McPherson entered, "mom?" Not seeing her mother in the kitchen, Sam walked into the living room, only to see Jane sitting on the couch, comforting a weeping Brooke McQueen. Sam noticed that the two women had not yet felt her presence yet, so that she watched them for several seconds, as she felt a strange sensation slowly start to rise inside her. Sam looked at her mother with Brooke, and suddenly felt foreign, as if it wasn't her mother anymore, but another one of Brooke's possessions. The strange, new feeling was becoming stronger, as she finally made her presence known, "mom," the brunette girl said slowly, "I'm here," but the word felt strange on her lips, because Brooke also called Jane "mom," so that even that was no longer exclusively hers.

Both Jane McPherson, and Brooke McQueen looked up at the sound of Samantha's voice. Brooke, and Jane broke away from each other quickly, almost feeling guilty at having been caught in such an intimate moment by Sam, "Sammy," Jane said softly, "when did you get in? You're late today."

"I just had some extra homework to do," Sam answered nonchalantly, "I don't feel so good.....may I please be excused from dinner this evening?"

"No, you are not excused, young lady," Jane said firmly, "you will dine with the rest of us as usual. Is that clear, Samantha?"

"Yes, mother," Sam said, her voice neutral, her eyes cold, "may I be excused now?"

"Of course......what are you going to do, Sam?"

"I'll be in my room completing my assignments, mother," Sam replied, unconsciously saying the new word.....mother sounded more appropriate to address a stranger, for now, Brooke had taken even that from her. Sam started to climb the stairs slowly, silently, intent on escaping from Brooke, and Jane.

"Sam.....wait," Brooke said, beseechingly.

Samantha McPherson ignored Brooke, and continued to climb the stairs. Brooke looked at Jane, who looked sadly at the blond girl, shook her head, and walked into the kitchen. Brooke watched Sam's retreating figure, and suddenly ran up the stairs. Sam had already reached the top of the stairs, and was walking down the hall, when she felt a hand grab her arm, and tug at her from behind. Brooke had reached Sam, and was determined to make her step-sister acknowledge her. At that moment, Brooke McQueen was beginning to get angry, her tears were drying, and she had only one thought in her mind; she was determined to make Sam look her straight in the eyes.

"At least have the guts to look at me, McPherson!" Brooke said angrily, as she tugged quickly, violently at her step-sister, making her turn around, "don't run away like a coward!"

Samantha turned, forced to by the superior strength, and the tug of Brooke McQueen's firm hand. Sam stood still, her beautiful face seeming to have been set in stone, as she defiantly looked slightly up, her piercing, brown eyes looking directly into insistent, angry, hazel eyes. Sam said nothing, as she stood quietly, seeming more like a statue than a human being. Samantha was being true to her word; she had nothing to say to Brooke McQueen.

Brooke McQueen's eyes seemed to caress Samantha's face, memorizing the dark-haired girl's features; her fine nose, her big, dark brown eyes, her sculpted cheeks, the locks of thick, brown hair that fell on the girl's pale, alabaster forehead, then down to her full, moist, crimson, stubbornly set lips. Brooke felt a strange stirring inside her, as she gazed at the girl before her, overcome by the brunette's voluptuous, slender body, by the way her long, dark mane fell wildly about her shoulders, and slender neck. Brooke was suddenly, deeply affected, more accurately seized by Sam's delicate, graceful, stunning beauty, that seemed to hit her like an imaginary brick to her blond head. Brooke suddenly lunged forward, impulsively, thus grabbing the beautiful brunette, then wrapping her slender arms around her, and embracing her tightly.

"Let me go," Sam hissed quietly, her seemingly steady voice was filled with anger, with deep hatred.

"Forgive me," Brooke said desperately, her face a mere two inches from Sam's face.

"No."

Suddenly, Brooke McQueen wanted to do many things to Samantha McPherson; slap her, shake her, throttle her.....anything that would force the girl into submission to her. Finally, Brooke did the one thing that her tired heart had long ago wanted to do; she moved forward, and kissed Sam fully on the lips; not in a tender, gentle manner of love, but in a forceful, frenzied way. It was a kiss filled with lust, with deep need, with desperation long born of hidden desire that Brooke gave to Samantha, as the blond literally sucked, and bit the brunette's full lips with her own, almost biting the girl in her passion. Finally, Brooke achieved what she desired; after much insistence, after licking Sam's lips repeatedly, after spilling way too much saliva, the blond forced her tongue into the girl's reluctant mouth, seeking out her tongue, exploring her mouth, then literally licking her lips once more, then licking her chin. Brooke finally had to stop, out of exhaustion, out of the need to breathe, out of the need to speak, "please......" the word from the cheerleader's lips was simple, a desperate plea born from a repentant heart.

"Let. Me. Go."

Brooke had no choice, as she reluctantly loosened her hold on Sam, thus letting the brunette slip quickly out of her arms. Sam stepped back several feet, then brought her hand up to her lips, almost in shock that the blond had done such a thing, but there was no sign of repulsion, or hate in her face, or eyes; just surprise, and resentment. Sam had dropped her books when Brooke seized her, and now bent down quickly, picked them up into her arms in a hasty stack, then she opened the door to her room, and escaped into it, slamming the door behind her.

Brooke McQueen was silent for several seconds; not once in that time did she regret what she had just done, nor did she think of what consequences her actions might bring. Brooke, suddenly feeling very weak, walked the short distance to her own room, opened the door, and went inside. The beautiful cheerleader collapsed on her bed, and began to cry. It was at that moment, that Brooke was finally, brutally honest with herself; now she understood her ongoing hatred, and resentment towards Samantha, and why she had been so cruel to the brunette; it was pent up desire, lust, need.....love for her step-sister. Brooke McQueen, beautiful, blond cheerleader was helplessly in love with Samantha McPherson.

Sam threw her books on her bed, then sat down on the floor, with her back supported by the bed behind her. Sam looked around her room, the place where she slept, spent most of her free time writing, listening to music, where she came to muse on her future dreams, where she came to dream. Suddenly it ocurred to Sam, that by letting Brooke go through her room in search of her missing bracelet, she had let the blond desecrate her room. Sam paused at that last thought.....it wasn't "her" room anymore. This room that Samantha McPherson inhabited was just an illusion, it was a lie. This wasn't her room, because it was in Brooke's house, so this was Brooke's room, just as her mom was no longer her mom, now she was Brooke's "mom." Just as in Kennedy High, Sam was now nothing more than a shadow; Brooke was popular, the future prom queen, desired by the boys, envied by the girls, all of them wanting her, but none wanting invisible Samantha McPhersom. No. It was Brooke's "school." Now, Samantha realized that she truly had nothing; NOTHING. Everything belonged to Brooke. So, Sam began to let go of everything; even her deep love for journalism.


chapter 5; Slipping Away Speedily

"Are you insane, Samantha McPherson?" Lily exclaimed loudly, much too much, making heads turn in gym class which she shared with her close friend, Sam.

"No, I am not insane, Lily. I think its a wise decision," Sam replied calmly.

"But you can't just decide to give up wanting to be a journalist.....just like that.....just out of the blue.....its something that you've dreamed about since you were a kid, Sam."

"I just don't have my heart in it anymore, Lil.....I'm just tired."

"What are you going to do then, Sam?"

"Oh.....I might become a teacher......maybe....." Sam had the strangest, far-away look in her eyes, as if she wanted to just vanish into some point of eternity, and the look simply frightened Lily.

"Sam.....what's wrong with you? You've changed.....somehow.......what is going on? Please tell me. I worry about you."

"I know you do, Lily," Sam said with a gentle smile, "that's why I love you the most of all my friends.....well....the few that I have."

"Oh......Sammy......" Lily was so moved by her friend's words, that her heart fluttered, and tears shown in her obsidian eyes.

At the far end of the auditorium where the girls in fifth period gymnastics class practiced, stood Brooke McQueen, with Nicole Julian at her side. Both the taller, and shorter blond were clad in their cheerleading outfits, for it just happened that Samantha McPherson's gym class coincided with Brooke McQueen's cheerleading practice.

"Brooke......"

"Huh?" Brooke was silently watching Sam from across a great distance, noticing how the brunette's blue gym shorts clung to her tiny waist that then flared out into wide hips, and outlined her taut, rounded butt, and how long, and curvaceous the girl's legs were, "did you say something, Nic?"

"Josh isn't going to be around this weekend, Brooke," Nic said absently, not having noticed yet, how her friend's eyes wandered over to where a certain, voluptuous brunette named Sam stood, talking to a friend, "we can.....have some.....quality time together."

It was the biggest secret in the entire existence of the school; Brooke McQueen, and Nicole Julian, blond, sexy, beautiful, seemingly straight, members of the popular crowd, dating football players, cheerleaders, were secret, Sapphic lovers.

"I.....I don't know yet, Nic....." Brooke really wasn't in the mood at that moment, for all that she could think about was her reluctant, stubborn, ravishing step-sister, whom she lusted after desperately. Brooke's eyes were practically nailed to Sam, and her somewhat suggestive, tender gestures towards her friend, Lily.

Meanwhile.....

"You are the only thing that I will never give up, Lily Esposito," Sam whispered softly, as she kissed the little Latina's cheek, then reached up with her pale, slender hand to stroke the side of the blushing girl's face, "the only thing that will always be mine."

"Sammy......" Lily's voice was deep now, somewhat husky, quivering, as she instinctively leaned into Sam's incredibly soft, gentle touch.

Brooke McQueen literally exploded inside, when she saw the way that Lily leaned lovingly into the hand that Sam had put to her cheek. With fierce determination, with incredible speed, the beautiful cheerleader had bounded forth, crossing the distance between her, and the two, secretive brunettes, and was now standing in front of them. With a swift hand, Brooke angrily pushed Lily back away from Sam, "stay away from her," Brooke hissed, as she glared at Lily, who backed away even further.

"HEY!" Sam was literally enraged, by Brooke's rude treatment of her best friend, "you have no right to come here!"

"Are the two of you lovers?" Brooke quietly, desperately asked Sam, with an intense, lustful glare in her eyes, "well.....are you?"

"That is none of your business, McQueen," Sam replied coldly, "go back to your end of the gym, and stay out of mine!"

"Sam.....please.....I'm sorry about everything," Brooke whispered, once again, her voice filled with anxiety, with need, with desperation, "I'm sorry for what I did to you.....but please.......I need you......I want you....."

Samantha McPherson stepped away from the blond cheerleader that was much too close for comfort. The brunette had begun to unravel, and to save her precious composure, her resentment for Brooke, the girl turned quickly away, "too late......too late," she said, as she walked away towards her gym teacher.

Brooke silently watched Sam speaking to the teacher, being able to read the brunette's lips, and the words that they formed; "may I.....be excused....I feel sick." The teacher nodded, and Sam turned, and walked away. Brooke glared angrily at Lily, who had quickly found refuge in a large group of classmates. Brooke looked again to where her step-sister had gone, and a plan formed in her mind. Brooke knew exactly what path Sam was taking, and how to intersect the girl. Brooke quickly rushed out of the gym, passing Mary Cherry on her way out.

"Brookie.....hi," Mary Cherry called sweetly, "can ah come wid you?"

"Later, MC," was Brooke's quick, curt reply.

"Well....that was shur odd," the southern girl said to herself.

"Brooke?" Nic called out after her friend, but the tall blond had simply gone, ignoring her completely.

"What's wrong with Brookie, Nicole?" Mary Cherry asked.

"Must be PMS without the "A" in it.......Samantha again!" Nic replied testily.

Sam was walking slowly along a well known path that led from the auditorium to the girl's locker room. On her way there, Samantha McPherson passed what was known as a series of doors; actually utility closets, one restroom, and what was considered a small room with a cot in it, where the janitor at times spent the night if he had to do repairs at the school. Sam walked by each door, but when she reached the last one; the door to the janitor's ocassional room, the door opened suddenly, a hand reached out, grabbed her, and quickly pulled her in.

Samantha quickly surveyed her surroundings. The girl was inside the janitor's room, and someone was holding her tightly from behind. The room inside was dimly lit, and practically, barely big enough for two people to be in. There was a cot against the wall, with a small night-stand that had a small lamp that lit the room with a very dim light. Now that Sam was aware of her surroundings, she quickly recognized her assailant, "let me go, McQueen."

"No."

Sam began to struggle, then squirm violently, trying to use her elbows as weapons, intending to plunge them into Brooke's ribcage. But the more Sam struggled, and fought, the tighter Brooke's hold on her became, "stop it, Sam....stop fighting.....just give in to me."

"Ne....ver...." Sam managed to say, as she continued to kick, and squirm, trying to pry Brooke's firm grasp off her.

"If you scream, and make a fuss, Sam.....people will come running, and find us here.....together......like this......and you know what they will think.....right?"

"I don't care....I'll tell them the truth!"

"It won't matter, McPherson," Brooke replied huskily, "both of our reputations will be ruined......everyone will think that you're a lesbian......"

"Your popularity......your precious popularity will be gone, Brooke.....so just let me go!"

"I don't care anymore about anything....." Brooke replied, "let everyone think that I'm a lesbian.....but that you are my lover!"

"I would rather die," Sam said slowly, and very angrily, "let me go!"

Brooke McQueen had started to cry, but that still didn't lessen the strength, and power that she weilded over Samantha at that moment, "I can't....." the blond's breathing was ragged, uneven, a sure sign that she was deeply aroused, "Sam.....stop.....fighting me.....I won't let go of you......no matter how much you scream, and kick.....just calm down......just give in to me.....please."

"NO!"

"You have.....no choice," Brooke said huskily.

Samantha McPherson stopped fighting to get out of Brooke McQueen's tight, stubborn grasp. The beautiful brunette calmed down slowly, finally exhausted from her vain attempts at escape, finally convinced that there was no way out for her. Sam let her tired body relax, letting her arms fall to her side, and letting her legs be still, so that now she was completely submissive in Brooke's iron-like grasp.

"I....just can't believe.....how beautiful you are....." Brooke whispered, as she began to kiss Sam's neck, "I just....can't stop looking at you," now, the blond freed one hand from Sam's tiny waist, letting it slowly travel up under her t-shirt, to cup her firm, round breast, "oh.....God......."

Samantha couldn't help but be frightened at the sound of Brooke's moans, at her quick, ragged breathing, denoting her deep arousal, her raw need. Sam was still a virgin, and her step-sister's sounds of passions unnerved her more than the thought that she was with a woman. It wasn't the fact that she was literally being raped by a female.....a lesbian....it was just that this was her first time, and Sam had clearly dreamt of a romantic encounter with a lover, and this was not it, "even this she takes from me," Sam said within herself, "everything belongs to her."

Brooke quickly unclasped Sam's brassiere, and somehow managed to get it off the girl without having to take off her t-shirt. Now, Brooke manouvered the unwilling brunette onto the cot, and made her lie down on it. Brooke quickly straddled Sam, and pinned her down firmly; both of the brunette's arms over her head held down by one of the cheerleader's strong hands. Brooke leaned down, and began to kiss Sam hungrily on the lips, first sucking her full lips, then licking them, then licking the side of her face. Brooke continued to kiss Sam's jawline, then down her slender neck. Finally, Brooke pulled Sam's t-shirt up, and began to fondle the girl's nubile, firm breasts, "oh......Sam......I love you so much," Brooke was now sucking on one of the girl's crimson nipples. Brooke felt her need grow, as she finally let go of Sam's arms, and settled down, covering the brunette, stretching out her limbs. Brooke lifted herself a bit, and slipped one hand in between her, and Sam. The cheerleader's hand slipped down inside Sam's gym shorts, and inside her panties.

"No......Brooke.......don't!"

Brooke McQueen was far beyond listening now, as her mind slipped further back into a primal state of pure lust, and sex, as her fingers dug deeply into the virgin girl's vagina, so deep inside, that the brunette cried out suddenly in pain. Samantha McPherson had just been deflowered by Brooke McQueen. Brooke began to grind into Sam, spreading her thighs far enough to let one of the ravishing brunette's firm thighs between her legs, as she attached herself to it. Brooke had somehow managed to tear her own panties off, and now she was in a pure state of ecstacy, as her bare vagina came into full contact with the smooth, velvety surface of Sam's thigh.

In what seemed strange poetry, Brooke began to babble, making a series of nonsense noises ranging from purring, to cooing, then mewing, then groaning to growling. Brooke kissed her unwilling brunette passionately, as she danced her private dance of desire, feeling her vaginal lips spread, then moisten as her inner folds kissed the surface of Sam's thigh, "I love you.......so much......Sam..........oh.......my God........I love you.......sweetheart......" Brooke tried at times to slow down, as she relished the contact between her vagina, and Sam's skin much more than the temporary orgasm that she would have. Brooke pressed herself down tightly, holding on to Sam for several seconds at a time, as her arms came up, and wrapped themselves around the brunette's shoulders, pulling her up, and closer to the blond, who kissed the girl with wild abandon.

Finally, Brooke reached the highest pinnacle of passion, and she exploded, then slid downward on the descending waves of an intense orgasm that left her trembling. All of Brooke's clumsy fussing, her erotic movements had also aroused her unwilling prisoner, Sam, who also climaxed into an unexpected orgasm.

Brooke lay on top of Sam for several long moments, exhausted, sweaty, and tired. Slowly, Brooke's breathing came back to normal. Samantha started squirming again, and she managed to push Brooke off her. Brooke fell onto the cot, and Sam fell onto the floor.

"Sam.....wait.....please," Brooke said weakly, as she reached out for the girl, for now what she wanted was to just hold her close, to revel in the feel of her warmth, of her plush, young body.

"I have to go," Sam said quickly, "I have to get out of here!"

"No.....please......Sam.....I love you!" Brooke had gotten up from the cot, seeing that Sam was on her feet, and headed for the door. Brooke reached out to grab Sam, but noticed that her fingers were lightly covered with blood, "Sam?"

"Leave me alone," Sam said, crying, as sobs slowly began to form in her throat.

"Sam.....why didn't you tell me.......you were a virgin?"

Sam managed to open the door to the janitor's room, and then she ran out, almost seeming to fly, as she quickly straightened out her clothes. Sam disappeared into the girl's locker room, and Brooke was left behind, feeling even more miserable than when she had accused the girl of stealing her dead mother's bracelet.

"Oh....God....." Brooke sputtered, "oh.....God," Brooke wanted to hit herself somehow, to dig her fingernails into her eyes to leave them nothing more than bleeding, empty sockets, to tear all of her thick, silky, blond hair out of her scalp in her fists, "oh......my.....God," Brooke was sobbing now, heavily as she looked down at her bloodstained fingers. Brooke cried for a good, ten minutes, until she calmed down. Then, Brooke left the janitor's room as discreetly as possible, going in search of Samantha, into the girl's locker room. The girl's locker room was filled with girls from Sam's gym class, but Sam was gone. Brooke didn't even bother to shower, and change, as she took her purse from her locker, her keys from inside her purse, and then went to find her car, then drive home.

When Brooke got home, she found what seemed to be a crisis going on; Mike, her dad, and Jane, her step-mom were in the kitchen arguing, pleading, even scolding, and in between their voices, the blond could hear Sam's low voice.

"Mike.....mom.....I just need some time off.....its not like I want to go away forever!"

"But why, Sam?" Mike asked, "is it something your mom, and I have done? Is it me?"

"No....Mike.....honest......you're nothing but a huge teddy bear......its not you."

"Please, Sammy," Jane interjected, her voice desperate, "what is happening with you? Why do you want to leave us?"

"I.....I....." Sam had started to cry.

"We're a family, Sam," Mike said softly, "we may not be perfect.....but we are a family.....and we love you."

"I don't belong here anymore......I just don't........"

"What makes you think that, Sammy?" Jane was insistent now, "is someone at school bothering you?"

"Is it a boy?" Mike asked.

"Its not anyone.....its just me....." Sam said quietly, "I just want to spend some time with uncle George, and my cousins, Brad, and Susie."

"Something is wrong, Samantha, and I want you to tell me what it is!" Jane almost screamed.

"Mom.....please....."

"Stop it.....Jane.....calm down......that won't work...." Mike said, trying to appease his angry wife, "Sam.....we love you......to me you are like a second daughter, not born from my body, but from my heart.....I love you like my own.....like Brooke.....but....I don't want you to go.....if we let you go for a little while only.....will that be enough for you.....enough time to feel better about whatever is bothering you?

"No....Mike.....we can't let her go.....its the middle of the school year......."

"I have good grades, mom.....I'm ahead of my assignments......I can always make up anything that I miss."

"Oh....alright.....we'll give you just one month to visit with George.....then we want you back here.....is that understood, young lady?" Mike McQueen asked firmly.

"Yes....I guess.....yes, Mike it is," Sam's voice sounded appeased.

Jane said nothing, but what could be heard was her crying.

"Aaawww....mom.....don't cry.....please," Sam said soothingly.

"I just don't understand why, Sam? Why is it always like this? You always have some mystery going on inside your head, and you won't let me in!" Jane complained, "you would rather go to a stranger than come to me!"

Brooke felt something like a sharp dagger stabbing her heart; Sam was going away.....her Sammy was leaving....her Sammy.....HER Sammy, "oh.....no." Brooke said nothing as she silently went upstairs, not wanting to see Mike or Jane at that moment. Brooke went to the bathroom that she shared with Sam, and freshened up, hastily washing the blood off her hand, "what am I going to do now? How will I win back Sam's confidence?" Brooke buried her fists in her hair, and almost pulled, but stopped; hysterics would get her no where, "I have to talk to her.....to explain." Now, Brooke left the bathroom, walked down the hall, then went downstairs to face her dad, Jane, and.....Sam.

"I already talked to uncle George," Sam said enthusiastically, "he said it would be fine with him for me to visit."

"You went behind my back again, Sam," Jane said angrily, "I don't like this affair one bit."

"Please mom, just this once.....let me go," Sam pleaded, "I promise not to shut you out again.....but please let me go for a while?"

Jane was exhausted from so much arguing, and in the end, she had no choice but to agree, "fine.....fine," she said with a dark finality. Mike hugged his wife, and held her close. Sam hugged both her mother, and Mike, and kissed each one of them on the cheek.

"Yeah.....sure.....but nobody bothered to ask me how I feel about it!"

Everyone turned to see Brooke standing in the middle of the living room, and she was crying, "so....what am I....a big zero around here? I don't get to say anything in this matter?"

Samantha McPherson turned to face Brooke, and her dark eyes were filled with resentment, with anger, "stay out of this, Brooke. Go back to your Barbie the cheerleader world, and stay out of my affairs!"

"I thought that I was part of this family, and that we decided things together," Brooke said chidingly. Brooke didn't want to comment on Sam's Barbie comment, even though it hurt her deeply, but the blond realized that she had done far too much harm to the girl.

"Yes....that is true, Brooke.....you are a part of this family.....and your opinion is important," Mike said quietly.

Samantha panicked, she could feel that her plan to leave for a while was starting to unravel, "shut up, Brooke, she said gravely, threateningly, "shut....up......"

"No.....Sam," Jane exclaimed, "Brooke has a right to decide as well," Jane sighed, "what do you think, Brooke?"

"I don't want Sam to go....." Brooke swallowed, then spoke again, "this is your home, Sam.....this is where you belong.......I'm so sorry that I hurt you, that I accused you of stealing my bracelet.....I'm sorry that I slapped you.....and searched your room......I've done nothing but offend you, humiliate, and degrade you. All that I want is a chance for us to start over. Please Sam....."

"Oh.....this is too much.....yeah.....sure.....start over.....hah!" Sam exclaimed, "you've always thought that I was inferior to you, McQueen. Everything around here is yours, and this is your world.....I'm just in the way!"

"So that was it all the time, Sam?" Jane asked, jumping into the conversation, "this is all really about your issues with Brooke!"

"Thanks for ruining everything for me, McQueen," Sam growled angrily.

"Sam.....I think that you should give Brooke a chance," Jane countered, "the two of you should talk, and straighten things out."

"I'd rather go to the devil!" Sam exclaimed, as she ran out the front door.

"SAMANTHA McPHERSON.....COME BACK HERE!" Jane yelled angrily as she pursued her daughter, "that disrespectful little bitch!"

Mike McQueen grabbed his wife, "let her go, Jane.....let her cool off.....Sam will be back when she is feeling better."

Brooke went upstairs slowly, then down the hall. Strangely enough, Brooke didn't go into her own room. Instead, the beautiful blond entered Sam's room quietly, shut the door behind her, and then simply lay down on her step-sister's plush, warm bed. Brooke took Sam's pillow, and hugged it tightly, inhaling Sam's scent that still lingered on the surface, "I love you, Sam.....I love you.....I am head over heels, madly, desperately, helplessly in love with you," then, simply, Brooke McQueen started crying, then sobbing.


chapter 6; Seeking Solace in Night's Bare Arms

Samantha McPherson fled as if all the demons of hell were pursuing her. San had always been a good runner, and she ran at least three miles every early dawn before going to school. Running was Sam's second great passion in life, right behind her great love for journalism. Right now, it seemed to the girl that running was all that she had left.

"Everything......she's taken everything.....my single hope for a beautiful first time of love......she's taken my mom......mom defends her over me......even my friends like her!"

The Evening was quickly descending into night, but still the girl kept running, to ease the desperation that flooded her young heart.

"Damn......why does Lily have to live so far away?"

Lily. LILY. Lily. LILY. Lily......

Lily Esposito was Samantha's one constant, her hope, her salvation. Lily was Sam's refuge from the storm of her life. Lily was the one thing Sam had, that Brooke would never be able to take away from her.

Even Carmen likes Brooke.....I saw Carmen hugging Brooke two days ago in the cafeteria, when Brooke came to apologize about her damn bracelet."

Sam just kept running, fleeing from herself, from the memory of Brooke's anger, and from Brooke's lust.

"Harrison....."

Harrison, and Samantha had grown up together. Through the course of their lives, both Sam, and Harrison had alternated between being friends, or enemies, until finally the two had settled into a comfortable, close bond of friendship that had recently been disturbed by two things; Harrison's obvious crush on Brooke McQueen, and Sam's newly awakened sexual attraction towards him.

Stunningly beautiful Samantha McPherson's stubborn heart was not easily won over or touched by any young man. It could easily be interpreted that Samantha really didn't like boys at all, and that she seemed more inclined towards girls, as indicated by her overwhelming devotion to Lily.

"Harrison....."

Perky, pretty boy, baby-faced, constantly smiling, dimple-cheeked, with thick, wavy, dark-brown hair, with glowing, constantly mischievous eyes, Harrison had uniquely, unbelievably, unwittingly managed to conquer Samantha's reticent heart. Harrison had managed to arouse the usually stoic brunette into a constant state of lust for him. Sam had experienced crushes on both boys, and girls during the course of her brief life, but these last two were the deepest, most intense, most permanent that she had ever known; her deep desire for Harrison, and her tender love for Lily.

"Harrison likes Brooke.....he wants her......he dreams about her......and she doesn't even care if he lives or dies.....I'm the one who wants him......but he doesn't want me.....he prefers Brooke McQueen!"

It seemed to the beautiful brunette, that Brooke was everywhere. There was no part of Sam's existence that Brooke had not invaded. Brooke was in almost all of Sam's classes. Brooke lived in the same house that Sam did. Brooke's life was inexorably, forever intertwined with Sam's. It almost seemed as if Sam, and Brooke were married; two, mighty forces moving unwillingly towards each other, crashing into each other until both became one, single entity.

"No. Never."

Sam wanted to deny the thoughts that had come to her head; that Brooke didn't own just the house, the parents, the school, her friends.....her time....but that in time, Brooke would own her very heart, and soul.

Sam heard a car honking its horn, and a voice calling her, "hey.....Sam!"

Samantha turned around to see Harrison parking his blue Toyota close to the sidewalk where she stood. Sam was in a bad mood, and simply kept walking, "go away, Harrison.....go find Brooke!"

"Sam....." Harrison said quickly, "you really are jealous?"

"What do you think, dufus?" Sam said with sarcasm, "she's all you talk about nowadays.....all you think about. Nothing else, no one else exists for you."

Harrison quickly got out of his car, and pursued his best friend, grabbing her gently by the arm, making her stop walking, then making her turn towards him, "I didn't know how you felt about me, Sam......we've only always been just buddies."

"How could you tell how I felt, Harrison? Your brain is only simply surrounded by a thick fog named Brooke.....and you never let me get a word in edgewise when you're talking about her," Sam replied jealously.

"Sam....." Harrison said huskily, as he drew the girl into his arms, "do you love me?"

"I don't know.....I just think of you all the time......I just like looking at you.....sort of what you do with Brooke," Sam said quietly.

Harrison got closer to Sam, until his face joined her own, beautiful countenance in a slow, gentle, steady kiss that lasted for several long moments. When Harrison finally broke the kiss, he looked at Samantha with eyes filled with wonder, "oh....wow....." he whispered, as the lingering trace of her soft, full lips against his own, thin ones brought pleasure to his heart. "come on, Sam," the young man said as he took her by the hand, and pulled her towards his car.

"What?"

"Well.....I can't just leave you walking alone out here, and well.....I want to take you some place where we can.....keep investigating this," Harrison replied.

Sam let herself be led along, as Harrison opened the passenger door of his car, and waited for her to get in. Sam got into Harrison's car, and he quickly got into the driver's side of his Toyota, turned on the engine, and got the car back onto the road.

Harrison drove out of the town; it was about a half hour when he finally stopped driving, and pulled into a series of small hills topped off with, and surrounded by a thick forest, interspersed with dusty paths that were difficult for a car to move on. Sam already knew what this place was, for she had often heard it mentioned in many conversations; it was called "Kissing Hills," and it was where everyone went for making out, petting, and sex.....in that order. Harrison parked his car under a huge tree, then turned, and looked expectantly at Sam.

There were no words as Sam gave into the pull that she felt in her now trembling heart, as the girl leaned towards Harrison, and he leaned towards her. The two friends met in the middle, their lips joining, this time in a heated, frenzied kiss, where the first had been gentle, and tentative. Harrison cupped Sam's face with his hands, and gently pulled himself closer to her, as he parted his mouth even more, and his excited tongue licked her lower lip, signaling his desire to taste her own. Samantha parted her full lips, which the boy excitedly licked with his tongue several times, before he finally entered her, exploring the warm recesses of her mouth with his frenzied tongue, while his hands, now trembling, moved up, and down her arms, and shoulders.

Samantha gently pushed Harrison back, and smiled as he looked back at her in surprise, "Sam?" Sam began to undo the buttons on her shirt, slowly, teasingly, as Harrison watched her with evident lust in his dark eyes. Harrison felt his core begin to throb, as feelings of deep desire rose within him that traveled out through his body, sending pleasure through his limbs, but intensifying in his lower abdomen, as he felt his penis begin to throb, then slowly stiffen, "Sam....."

Harrison would never have believed that his usually playful, still stoic best friend could transform from the every day Sam that she always was, the way that he always saw her, always smiling at his antics, always talking excitedly about something that she had written, or sometimes giggling with Carmen, and Lily over some boy, into what his eyes beheld now.

Harrison's dark eyes beheld in wonder, the soft, sensual smile that slowly dawned upon Sam's full, ruby lips, that spread out into a playful grin that showed a small hint of her even, pearly white teeth, as her eyes seemed to darken from a deep brown, into a shade that seemed deeper than darkest night, indicating her deep arousal, as her pale hands finally undid the last button on her shirt, and she let his trembling hands pull it down her arms, then gently pull it off her, leaving her full, round, firm breasts bare to his eyes. Harrison's fingers began to caress Samantha's ruby nipples, which hardened instantly under his touch, which began to wander lower, to the waist of her tight jeans. The boy's long, slender fingers quickly unfastened the girl's pants, then lowered her zipper, then dipped inside, feeling the unbelievably soft skin of her abdomen. Harrison saw Sam throw her head back slightly, as she moaned in the most sensual way, making him attack her suddenly, kissing her in a frenzied manner. The boy stopped for a moment, and the girl looked at him, slightly annoyed that he had removed his hands from her, "wait....I....." Harrison reached out to his steering wheel, touched an almost hidden button, and the back of the front seat fell backwards, instantly converting into, "a make-shift couch....ain't it neat, Sam?" The girl didn't reply, as she simply leaned forward, and literally pulled Harrison's t-shirt off, and pushed him backwards, as she leaned over him, and just began to suck on his nipples, "OH....WOW!" Harrison yelled, not expecting Sam's sudden agressiveness. Harrison was suddenly filled with a desperate rush, a deep stupor that blinded him, as he pulled Sam down to him, and into his arms. Manly hands became tangled in the girl's wild, thick, brown hair, as she succumbed to his force, as Harrison settled Sam beside him, and roughly pulled down her jeans, almost tearing them off her. Finally Sam was naked in his arms, and Harrison took a moment to clear the fog in his head, to admire her beauty; she was absolutely stunning, and the word still fell short. Samantha McPherson's skin was pale, unblemished, and the softest, smoothest thing that he had ever touched. Sam's slender, firm body was a series of voluptuos curves that seemed to merge into his own body, as he lay down upon her. Harrison gasped as his bare skin met hers, for it was a sensation that surpassed all of his dreams. His hands kept gently massaging her full breasts, so firm, yet soft, and pliant in his fingers. The girl's body was like a finely tuned instrument that responded to his as yet untrained hands, as Harrison stroked, and caressed her. Never in all of his wildest dreams, which were usually filled with Brooke McQueen, would Harrison's adolescent mind ever have concieved such a beguiling vision as the one he now gazed upon; the startling, enrapting beauty that was Samantha McPherson.

Finally, Harrison surrendered to his dark arousal, his desperate, rushing male need, as he pulled his jeans, and boxers down, exposing his now swollen, reddened, hardened, erect penis, which he quickly inserted into the soft folds of the girl's vagina.

Sam bit her lip as Harrison entered her, as his probing shaft parted the still tender flesh of her inner vagina, recently deflowered by Brooke McQueen. Sam had not expected the boy's member to be so big, but she relaxed, and lay back, submitting to him, to his forceful thrusting, as he covered her completely with his firm body. Sam was in his arms for two reasons; the first was that she truly had desired Harrison for a long time now, and the second was that she needed to forget Brooke, her lingering touch, the feel of her blond hair on Sam's skin, the feel of her warm, long, slender, lanky body on top of her. Brooke, her insistent touch, her bold advances, her lustful, jealous ways had begun to slowly invade Sam's mind, and heart, and the girl desperately wanted to exorsize the blond from her memory. Now, Sam slowly let herself fall into Harrison's now steady rhythm, as her own body began to respond, her arousal deepening, as the tender flesh of her vagina began to tingle slightly.

Harrison was close to coming, for he could feel the pressure building up within his loins, as he thrust in, and out of Sam. Harrison was so close, that he lost track of time, of reality itself, as he threw his head back, and his lips parted, saying an unexpected name, and commiting an act that he would regret for the rest of his manly life, "oh.....Brooke.......oh....."

"You.....BASTARD!" Sam cried, as she forcefully pushed Harrison off her, and she squirmed, then got up. Sam grabbed her jeans, and slipped them back on, forgeting her panties which had disappeared out the car window. Then Sam quickly put her shirt back on.

"Sam....I'm sorry....SAM...." Harrison cried, as tears rushed from his eyes, as he came suddenly, but his heart drowned in deep shame, "I'm sorry.....I didn't mean to.....please....." Harrison desperately reached out to the now crying girl, but she batted away his hands.

"How could you?" Sam was sobbing, as she shrank into the other end of the car, trying to get as far away as possible from the person that she had once considered her closest friend, and the first boy who had truly made her dream of passion, and desire, "how.....could you?"

"No.....NO....WAIT.....DON'T GO!" Harrison cried, as he watched the now sobbing Samantha McPherson open the door of his car, and slip out, "Sam.....please......" Harrison tried to reach for her, but the girl slapped him in the face.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?"

Nicole Julian had been in the midst of pure pleasure, and had almost scaled her third orgasm, when cries, and what seemed a heated argument simply made her self-made heaven vanish. Angrily, Nicole had exited her pricey BMW, and had walked the short distance to scold, and verbally degrade the persons responsible for interrupting one of her favorite sports; a small, private, sexual orgy. Now, Nicole stood, expecting to keep yelling, when she was stunned to see who was responsible for the crying, and arguing, "Spam? What are you doing here.......Harrison?" But there was no reply now, as the two, Harrison, and Sam stood silent.

"Okay....okay....what is going on, Samantha?" Nicole asked in a more civil tone, as she noticed that her usually verbal enemy was overcome with sobs, as she turned with the intention of running from the scene, leaving behind a blubbering, flushing Harrison, "okay.....loser.....what did you do to her?"

"Nothing, Nic," Harrison said quickly, "just go away. This isn't any of your business. Sam, and I can handle this.....can't we, Sammy?"

"Oh no you don't, Harrison!" Nicole threatened, as she moved closer, and pushed the young man back into his car, as he tried to pull Sam back in with him, "you don't touch her again.....I don't know what you did.....but rape isn't my favorite food platter!"

"I didn't try to rape her!" Harrison exclaimed indignantly, "go away Nicole!"

Nicole Julian rolled her blue eyes, as she put her arms around Samantha McPherson, "go play with your love toy by yourself, loser," she said to Harrison, as the short blond led the crying brunette away, back towards her own BMW, "I swear, Spam.....you are such a baby.....I'm taking you home right now."

"No.....please.....don't....Lily's," was all that Sam could say amid her sobs.

"You want to go to Lily?"

"Yes," was all that Sam could reply.

"Okay....alright," Nicole felt her heart soften for a minute, as her hand came up to caress Sam's cheek, "stop crying, Samantha.....its over," then Nicole led the crying girl to her car, "okay guys, its time to go home," and upon her saying that, two heads came up, and peeked out of the car windows; Mary Cherry, and a handsome, black football jock named George.

Nicole sat a sniffling Samantha McPherson in the back seat with a more than pleased Mary Cherry, while she got in front with a smiling George, started the engine of her BMW, and drove off.

"You gonna be awlright, Sa-man-tha?" Mary Cherry asked, as she sat close to the silent brunette, and hugged her.

"Yeah," Sam said briefly.

"What happened to you, Spam?" Nicole asked, as she drove, "did that loser try to rape you?"

"No.....not really....." came Sam's reply.

"What did he do to ya tah make you cry so much, Sam?" the southern blond asked sympathetically.

"He called out Brooke's name," Sam said quickly, simply.

Nicole Julian started laughing, as she drove down the road back into town, then took the street that led to Lily's house, "oh.....he really is a loser.....oh how I love gossip.....that jerk won't ever get a date as long as he goes to Kennedy now!" Nicole smiled as she contemplated how to mentally castrate Harrison.

Nicole dropped Samantha in front of Lily's house, but not before the beguiling brunette recieved a brief kiss on the cheek, and a healthy southern hug from a now thrilled, overly amorous blond cheerleader named Mary Cherry who was going to have a crush on someone other than Brooke McQueen.

Sam knocked on the door to Lily's house, and the girl came to the door, "Sam.....what happened to you?" Lily pulled Sam inside, and sat her down on the couch in the living room, "Mami.....ven.....rapido," the Latina said to her mother, indicating that the woman should come quickly, "Sam?"

"Sam.....please.....are you hurt?"

"No....."

"Calm down.....I'll call your mom, okay?"

"No.....let me stay here for a while....please, Lil.....with you."

"Que pasa?" Lily's mom had come from the kitchen, "Samantha? You okay? Que pasa?"

"She's okay, mami...." Lily gently told her mother, "I'll take her to my room, okay? Sammy wants to stay for a little while.....is it okay?"

"Si.....esta bien," Lily's mom said quietly, "but call her mom later." Lily's mom went back into the kitchen.

Lily Esposito led Sam from the small living room, down a short passage to a dark door, and into a dark room, "my room is a mess," the girl said nonchalantly, as she turned the light in her room on, "don't look, okay?"

Sam actually started to laugh lightly at her friend's teasing words, and her sobs calmed down considerably, though she was still crying. Lily was pleased to see Sam smile.

It was as simple as day; Lily loved Sam with all of her gentle heart, and she somehow knew in her mind that her feelings weren't one-sided. Lily somehow knew that the girl of her dreams, Samantha McPherson, the most beautiful creature that she had ever seen, loved her in return. Now, Lily took a trembling Sam into her arms, and the both of them sat down on her rumpled bed, "please, Sammy.....don't cry.....tell me what happened."

"Harrison....and....I....we.....he called out Brooke's name!"

"Oh.....my God," Lily exclaimed, "what an all-time jerk! How could he call out Brooke's name when he had the most gorgeous girl in Kennedy High in his arms?"

"Flaterer," Sam whispered, as she leaned into her friend's warm, gentle embrace.

"Do you want me to have sex with Harrison, then call out your name, Sammy?"

Samantha McPherson started to laugh, which overwhelmed her tears, and made her sobs die away, "Lily....thank you."

Sam, and Lily were silent for a while. Sam realized that what she did with Harrison had been a mistake, maybe even just an experiment, as she gazed into Lily's smiling, gentle face, and into her warm, tender eyes. It didn't take long for Samantha to bring up her slender hand, and start to stroke the side of Lily's face, which made the little Latina lean into her touch.

"Sam.....I love you.....I always have," Lily whispered, "but I should be angry with you for what you did tonight!"

"Why?"

"You should have come to me, Sammy......yours is the only name that I could ever call out!"

"Oh....Lily......"

Lily gently pushed Sam back onto her bed, and did exactly what her heart had yearned to do for a long time; she lay on top of Sam for a few moments, relishing the feel of the girl underneath her. Then, very gently, like a velvet breeze, Lily began to kiss Samantha, lightly licking the girl's full lips with her delicate tongue, until the heavenly lips parted, and she went inside. Lily thought that she would die of pleasure, at the feel of Sam's warm tongue dancing erotically with her own, and the feel of Sam's incredibly soft lips on her own, "Oh....I love you....Sam....I've dreamed of you for so long."

The feel, and touch of Lily Esposito were gentle, as compared to Harrison's forceful, vibrant, male presence. Lily was like a soft, lingering breeze, and Harrison was like a throbbing, spiral wave of sudden energy. To Sam, Lily was her haven, and she simply loved the girl whom she now took in her loving arms, and in whom she found infinitely more pleasure than in Harrison.

Lily gently undid Sam's shirt, then followed that by undoing, and unzipping the girl's jeans, and pulling them down to her ankles. Lily began to fondle Sam's ample breasts, gasping in wonder, as she measured their weight, as she cupped them with her small, delicate hands. Lily had straddled Sam, and now she stripped off her own tank top, and let Sam's pale hands touch, and caress her small breasts. Lily's skin was soft, and a light bronze tone. Lily was shorter than Sam, slender, yet voluptuous. Lily leaned down, and began to kiss Sam again, slowly, with passion, and tenderness. Lily was deeply in love, and she wanted to show Sam the depth of her feelings in every gesture, every look. Lily had long dreamt of being in Sam's arms, and now that it was happening, it made her giddy with joy, with desire, as she lifted herself up, and pulled off her shorts. Now a naked, trembling Lily lay down on top of Sam, and covered the both of them with one of her bedsheets. The two girls began to move in a slow, gentle rhythm against each other, as they kissed slowly, and their hands explored, and caressed each other's bodies. The once gentle rhythm began to turn frenzied, deepening as their sighs expanded, and their kissing became more passionate. Finally, after about ten minutes of soft grinding, Sam, and Lily climaxed, both of them reaching their peak together. Then, the beautiful pair lay silent, still kissing gently, in the afterglow of their spontaneous lovemaking.

"Sammy...." Lily's low, velvety voice called out, as she kissed Sam with tender desire.

"Get off her."

Lily, and Sam were startled out of their private revelry of love, out of each other by a sudden, foreign voice that broke their shared dream of pleasure. The girls looked up to see a very angry, tearful Brooke McQueen standing in the doorway of Lily's room. Brooke moved into the room, slowly walking in, her face flushed, her eyes glaring, "get off her.....now," Brooke's voice was trembling, but contained, and low.

Lily, and Sam reluctantly disengaged from each other; Lily covered herself up with the bedsheet, as she reached for her clothes, and Sam sat up, and tried to straighten her disheveled clothes.

Brooke moved to the bed quickly, and knelt in front of Sam. With trembling hands, Brooke buttoned up a shocked Samantha McPherson's shirt, then helped pull up the girl's jeans, zipping them up. Then, gently, almost reverently, Brooke ran her fingers through Sam's wild, disheveled hair, and gently straightened the girls clothes out, "Nicole called me," Brooke said in a tear-filled voice, "mom was worried.....sick with fear about you....." Brooke cupped Sam's face, "Nic told me about Harrison," the blond's elegant fingers caressed Samantha's beautiful face, "Dad came with me to pick you up.....mom is with Mackenzie at home," Brooke took a silent, still Sam into her arms, and held her close, hugging her with love, with desire, as she leaned in, and whispered in the girl's ear, "I love you, Sammy......more than anyone ever will.....more than Lily or Harrison......maybe even more than mom loves you.....and no matter what I just saw, and who you were with tonight.....you belong to me, Samantha McPherson." Then, Brooke, slightly taller, stronger, and dominant, led a distraught brunette Sam out of Lily's room, slowly, and said quietly to the little Latina, "Sam belongs to me, Esposito......remember that next time you think about putting one of your little paws on her......or I'll break every bone in your body." Brooke led Sam out of Lily's room.

Lily Esposito was born, and raised in the United States of America, but still, deep within, her flesh, her soul were Latina, Puertorican to the very core, and in that hidden, Latino language, and heart, when Lily looked at Brooke, and the way she handled Sam, the little Latina didn't see a tall, slender, lanky, beautiful, blond cheerleader, she saw instead a desperate, angry, jealous, possessive, lovesick, dominating......man. Lily didn't see a lovestruck lesbian when she looked at Brooke......she saw a lovesick man clinging to his......wife.

Lily was left behind, lying alone on her bed. Now, the pretty Lily realized the depth, and distance of Brooke McQueen's words, and her warning, as she understood that they were true; Samantha belonged to the cheerleader, no matter if the beautiful brunette loved her back or not. Simple as that, direct, and straight to the core; Brooke had claimed, and labled Sam as her own, her lover, her wife, and it didn't matter if the girl loved her back or not. It was then that Lily began to cry heavily, for she knew that Sam would never be in her arms again, and would never belong to her. Lily was destined to pine away for Samantha, at least until fate brought another lover to her broken heart.


chapter 7; Trapping a Winged Fleeing Bird

As Brooke McQueen led her trembling, silent brunette, Samantha McPherson out of Lily's room, her mind raced back to memories as old as a few months before, and as recent as just a few hours ago. Brooke recalled that after a very angry, stubborn Sam had run out of their house that very evening, she had climbed upstairs, and had taken refuge in her reluctant step-sister's room instead of her own.

Brooke had never told, and would never tell Sam, but for a very long time before their fight over the blond's bracelet, in the earlier phases of their strained relationship, despite their frequent fights, Brooke always found the brunette's room warm, comforting, inviting, a haven much more appealing than her own room. When Sam was away, staying over at Lily or Carmen's house, spending a few days with either of them, or on a school field trip, Brooke would leave her room, move to Sam's room, and sleep in her bed. Unbeknownst to Sam McPherson, Brooke had already searched her room a million times before the bracelet incident. Brooke had memorized Sam's room by heart, and in doing so, she knew a lot of Sam's personal habits. Brooke knew with surprising accuracy where Sam kept her underwear, how she folded her clothes, and what brand of perfume she wore. Brooke knew Sam's exact weight at all times, her exact height down to the last centimeter, her shoe size, her bra size, her clothing size. Brooke could even predict with amazing accuracy what clothes, and colors Sam would wear each school day. Brooke had gone even further, and had surprisingly, successfully managed to break into Sam's computer. Brooke had somehow found all of Sam's secret passwords, and had opened, then read every one of Sam's files. Brooke knew Sam's internet habits; what sites the girl like to visit, what types of fanfiction she loved to read, who her internet friends were, even that the brunette had flair for writing fiction herself.

Every time that Sam was absent, Brooke would turn down dates with her boyfriend, Josh, and refuse to go anywhere with Nicole, or Mary Cherry. Mike, and Jane found the beautiful blond girl's behavior odd, almost labeling her a manic depressive. Josh would find Brooke's behavior frustrating, because she would shut him completely out of her life. Nicole would just get angry, and jealous at Brooke's withdrawal, thinking that perhaps the girl had found a new, secret female lover to stroke her lesbian side. But the entire world, its realities, its opinions would disappear for Brooke, whenever she shut herself up in Sam's room, to explore the brunette's private world.

From the very first time that Brooke saw her, Sam became an instant enigma to her, a source of constant fascination, and irritation. Brooke found herself constantly attracted to Sam, as well as constantly angry with her.

The final barrier of Sam's private world came down, when Brooke found the girl's personal diary, and read it. Brooke McQueen read Sam's diary several times, and through it, the blond was finally able to understand the ravishing brunette's stoic, often bizarre code of conduct. It could be said, that Brooke knew Samantha better than her own mother.

The medium sized, leather bound diary of Samantha McPherson opened up a strange, unique world to Brooke, which she entered eagerly into, and reveled in, for it revealed to her the brunette's very soul. Brooke read about Sam's deep sadness over the death of her father, about her insecurities over her mother, Jane's marriage to Mike McQueen. Brooke read about herself in Sam's diary; the girl's personal account of their difficult relationship, their frequent fights. Brooke read about Sam's romantic encounters with boys, and surprisingly, with some girls. Brooke learned about Sam's deep, growing sexual attraction towards her friend, Harrison, and about her affection, mingled with pity towards obese, self-deprecating Carmen. Brooke was delighted, and surprised to learn that Sam had even begun to experience the first sparks of romantic feelings towards her, which greatly fueled the blond's already deep, amorous feelings for her beautiful step-sister. But what finally broke the cheerleader's heart, was that she discovered that Samantha McPherson had fallen deeply in love with her best friend, Lily Esposito.

"Why couldn't Sammy fall in love with me?" Brooke would cry to herself every night, as she lay in her own bed, "she was starting to love me, but that little bitch, Lily got in the way," Brooke would repeat the same words every night, over, and over like a mantra, until she fell asleep, "Sammy's mine.....she belongs to me.....my Sammy.....my Sammy."

The only detail that Sam's diary never told Brooke, was that the brunette was still a virgin.

Eventually, Brooke stopped crying herself to sleep, and buried all of her amorous feelings, and thoughts for Sam in the darkest, most distant part of her soul. Then Brooke convinced herself that she despised her step-sister with all of her heart. Brooke began to treat Samantha harshly, viciously, even cruelly at times. That in turn caused Sam to respond defensively, even agressively to the cheerleader's cold, harsh treatment of her. Samantha McPherson came to hate, and resent Brooke intensely, until the brunette came to hate all cheerleaders in general. Brooke verbally attacked Sam whenever she could, humiliating her when possible. Sam could only respond to the blond's attacks, until the girl had no other emotions for Brooke, but utter, deep hatred.

"Thank you for taking care of Sam, Mrs. Esposito," Brooke said, as she led Sam into the living room, where Lily's mom stood smiling, nodding, and Mike waited for the two girls. Brooke had her arm protectively around Sam's shoulders, and held the girl close to her side, as if the brunette were a great treasure.

"De nada," Mrs. Esposito replied with a smile, "goodnight Brooke, Sammy, Mr. McQueen."

"Thanks, Mrs. Esposito," Mike answered. Then, Mike held out his arms, as Brooke momentarily released Sam, who went to him, and hugged him tightly, "Sam, I should be angry with you.....your mom, and I were worried."

"I'm sorry, Mike," Sam said quietly, as tears streamed from her dark eyes, "I promise I won't ever do that again....I don't think you're going to let me go see uncle George now?"

"Nope. You are grounded for a very long time, Samantha," Mike said sternly.

"I'm okay with that," Sam replied with a watery smile.

Brooke was smiling internally, for she had just grounded herself for a very long time also, planning to spend every single second with the girl of her dreams, Samantha McPherson.

"Now," Mike said with a smile, "we are going home."

"Home," Sam replied quietly.

When Mike released Sam, Brooke immediately took the girl back into her arms, holding her possessively, and leading her out of the Esposito household, to where Mike had parked his car, "dad....could Sam, and I ride in the back seat, please?"

"Sure."

Mike McQueen got behind the steering wheel of his car, and turned on the engine of his car. As he was starting to drive onto the road, Mike casually looked into the rearview mirror, and saw his two daughters sitting together in the back seat of his car. But Mike saw something which amazed him, aroused him slightly, and also froze his soul for a moment in shock, then realization; the girls seemed like two lovers. At least, it seemed plain as day to Mike's blue eyes, that it was his daughter, Brooke, who was the dominant one, and instigator of such, Sapphic conduct, for Sam was quiet, very still, and seemingly ashamed, lowering her gaze, then looking up, and noticing that he was looking at her in the mirror.

The world seemed to fade away for Brooke, as she tightened her arm around Sam's shoulders, and drew the girl nearer to her, so that there was no space between their bodies. Brooke nuzzled Sam's slender neck with her nose, then briefly kissed the brunette's blushing cheek, "will you listen to me now, Sammy?" the blond whispered into the trembling brunette's ear, "will you let me make things right? Will you give me a chance?"

"Yes," Sam replied softly, for she was tired of fighting with the blond, and running from her.

"First of all, Sammy.....I'm sorry for the way I treated you days ago.....for blaming you for stealing my bracelet.....and even though I have no excuse for what I did.....there was a reason for my cruel behavior towards you."

"This I really do have to hear," Sam said with a hint of sarcasm in her tired voice.

"I was enraged, and insanely jealous because you had fallen in love with Lily, and not with me," Brooke said quietly, "and I couldn't stand the idea that you would never want me.....that you would belong to her."

"How did you find that out?" Sam asked, as she looked at Brooke with suspicious eyes.

"Oh.....um.....I guess I could see it in the way you looked at Lily," Brooke said with a smile, "you looked at her with such tenderness......and when you looked at me, it was usually with murder in mind."

"Well, Brooke.....you gave me every reason to hate you deeply."

"I'm sorry, Sam......don't you like me at least a little bit?" Brooke asked teasingly, as she took Sam's hand with her own free hand, and held it fondly, as she laced her fingers with Sam's.

"Maybe.....a little, McQueen." Sam was actually starting to smile.

"Second...." Brooke continued to say, "I happen to think that Harrison is the stupidest guy on the entire planet, and I am so glad that I never had sex with him."

"Why?"

"Because I would have screamed out your name instead of his, Sammy."

"Oh," Sam replied, as her smile widened, and she shyly looked down at her lap.

"You are the most beautiful girl that I have ever seen, McPherson, and I intend to show you just how much I love you.....and need you.....I intend to enjoy your charms to the extreme when I make love to you," Brooke whispered huskily into the girl's ear, sending shivers of pleasure through the brunette's body.

"No....wait....I...."

"That's the final thing I have to tell you about, Sammy."

"What do you mean, Brooke?"

"I know that you are still in love with Lily, Sam.....but I meant what I said to you in Lily's room.....you belong to me. I am never letting you go. I intend to spend my entire life making you happy; all eighty years of it. I intend to marry you, Sammy."

"Wha.....?" Sam's dark eyes nearly popped out of her beautiful head, at the sound of Brooke's words, "you're actually PROPOSING to me?"

"I did take your virginity, Samantha.....I intend to make you an honorable woman."

"That is so fifties cliche, Brooke. We're teenagers. We can't get married yet. Besides, at our age.....no one picks out a lifetime partner."

"I already did, Sammy.....I picked you.....for my wife. Besides.....since I took your virginity, that means that you already belong to me."

"You are such a neanderthal, Brooke McQueen!" Sam was angry again.

"I'll show you how much when I get you into bed, McPherson!"

Samantha didn't reply verbally, but simply had the grace to blush, and look down at her, and Brooke's intertwined fingers.

"I love you, Sammy."

"Home!" Mike exclaimed, embarrassed at what he was seeing in the rearview mirror; at the lust in his daughter's eyes for his step-daughter, confusion as to what to do about it, and concern as to how Jane would react, and finally, a bit of relief, for if his Brooke was to share her life with anyone, who better than someone he knew well.....homosexuality wasn't so extreme, as he remembered his own days of sexual experimentation in college, "let's go in girls!"

"Mike parked his car in front of the McQueen residence, and got out. Brooke got out, and helped Sam get out of the back seat of Mike's car.

The front door of the house suddenly flew open, Jane ran out, and hugged Sam tightly, "DON'T ever do that again, Samantha.....or I will personally tear out all of your hair," Jane said as she cried, and held on to her older daughter.

"I'm so sorry mommie...." Sam replied, tearing up once more, "I know that I'm grounded......I deserve it.....I won't ever run away like that......I promise."

"Let's go in guys," Mike exclaimed as he hugged Jane, and led her into the house.

"Let's go up to my room, Sammy," Brooke whispered to her brunette, as she threw an arm around the girl's shoulders once more, "I haven't apologized properly yet."

"But you already did, Brooke.....on the way here."

"Verbal apologies aren't enough in this case, Sam......"

"What do you mean, Brooke?"

"Just go upstairs with me.....okay, Sammy?"

"Whatever.....okay......I suppose, Brooke."

"Good."


chapter 8; Making Up Is Hard to Do

"Where are you two going?" Jane asked, when she saw Brooke leading Sam upstairs by the hand.

"Sam, and I still have some issues to settle, mom," Brooke said gravely, "the two of us are going to have a very long talk."

Jane smiled at Brooke's words, as a sense of relief filled her heart, for she was deeply worried that Samantha's troubled relationship with Brooke would drive the girl to even more dangerous acts, than just running away from home. A stab of jealousy followed the relief Jane felt in her heart, as she felt left out of her role as Sam's protector, and guardian, which seemed to have been upstaged by Brooke. It was Jane's opinion, Brooke who seemed to be raising Sam instead of her. Jane sighed, her mother's heart weighing heavily.

"Let her go, Jane."

Jane turned to see Mike standing close by, watching her watching Brooke, and Sam,"let Sam go, Jane....she has her own destiny to follow now."

"She's my little girl," Jane said with tears in her eyes.

"Mackenzie is our little girl," Mike replied gently, "she's the one that needs us, because she is a baby. Sam, and Brooke are women now.....they can take care of each other."

"Sam isn't strong inside," Jane said, "despite her outward strength.....I can't just let her go, Mike."

"I let go of Brooke tonight, Jane.....because I finally realized that she has found her destiny. I have to step back, and let Brooke run her own life.....with her own lover."

"I don't understand, Mike."

"Let go of Sam, Jane. She belongs to Brooke."

Brooke McQueen was fully aware, that even though Samantha seemed tame in her arms at the moment, the girl was still a potential volcanic eruption waiting to happen. Brooke knew that Sam's apparent submissiveness towards her was just tentative, because beneath the surface of the brunette's psyche there were still many demons that had to be exorsized out of her before she truly forgave the cheerleader.

"Why are we going to your room, Brooke?" Sam asked quietly, uneasily.

"I know....I know, Sam.....when you got angry with me.....you said that you would never step foot in my room again.....I still remember.......but you did say you'd give me a second chance?"

"Um......yeah...."

"Its something we have to do, Sam.....we have to reconstruct events in reverse, Sam....to start over."

"Huh? Run that mouthful by me again!" Sam exclaimed.

Brooke grinned as she gently pushed her beautiful step-sister against the wallof the hallway. Brooke leaned into Sam, and began to kiss her fervently. Sam sighed, and stayed calm, not fighting the gorgeous blond. Brooke nearly went mad with joy, when she noticed that Samantha was now accepting her bold, sexual advances. But Brooke reluctantly stopped, when she remembered what had to be done, "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," she whispered huskily into her brunette's small ear.

"What do you mean, Brooke?"

"You are going to search my room, Sammy."

"No. I have no reason to."

"Yes, you do, Sam."

"Oh? Why should I search your room, McQueen?"

"Well.....I found your diary.....and I hid it in my room, McPherson!"

For a moment, Sam was very still, so much, that Brooke thought that the girl had gone to sleep. Then, her fury rising, Samantha's brows became knit, furrowed into a dark cloud in the midst of her alabaster forehead. Then, it came, what Brooke had expected; the girl's eruption.

"You.....bitch.....you.....you.....read it.....didn't you?"

"Yes, I did, Sammy," Brooke said quietly.

"Why? What have I done to you, Brooke? Why do you always have to humiliate me so?" Samantha was crying now, struggling desperately to get away from Brooke, who had pinned her to the wall, "you've invaded my mind, and soul.....is there nothing that you will leave of me to be free? You've taken everything from me.....everything is yours.....this house.....the school.....my virginity......why?"

Brooke opened the door of her room, and pulled Sam in, who had begun to protest, "no....LET ME GO! I don't want to go into your room!"

"Yes....its all true, Sammy.....everything you've said is completely true....I did take everything of yours!"

Although Sam still struggled against a physically stronger, agressive Brooke, the blond's words amazed her, "why.....why do you want what is mine? I have nothing now."

"I want everything you have, because what I have is empty, Samantha McPherson. My popularity.....my friends.....my opinions......even the silly dufus I have for a boyfriend......it is all empty. All of it is an image.....a facade.....things expected of me......handed to me, ordered from others.....but none of it is real."

"It still doesn't make sense!" Sam yelled, as she still tried in vain to extricate Brooke's arms from around her voluptuous, firm body. But Sam lacked her former anger, her vicious hatred of Brooke, who was now firmly entrenched in her as yet reluctant heart.

"Everything that you are, Sammy.....the way that you act.....think.....the way you speak, and the things you say....your style of dressing.....your opinions......its all real....all individual.....all of it is you.....and I want you......and all of the things that comprise your person, and your life......I want you, need you to feel like normal person. I need you, Sammy. I don't just love you. I need you to be complete."

"If you found my diary......"

"I found it long ago, Sammy.......everytime that you went out for a few days......I would go into your room.....running from my own......because my room is empty......just like my world......so I slept in your bed......I....."

"You went through my things?"

"Yes, Sammy. Many times."

"Oh......my.....God," Sam slumped in Brooke's arms, sobbing as she did, "how could......you....rape me.....this way?"

Brooke McQueen had begun to cry, as she held her trembling brunette tightly in her slender arms, "no.....Sammy......please don't say that......I did it because I need you......I'm so lonely in here.......this room is a cage......I'm empty, and alone here......when I went into your room.....I was in your world......I felt safe.....complete."

"Why do you want my life, Brooke? I'm so inferior to you....."

Brooke's eyes nearly popped out of her blond head at the words from her lover's lips, "so that's it?" now Brooke understood Sam a lot more, and why the girl had despised cheerleaders with such intensity; it wasn't just Brooke, but all popular symbols. Sam's hatred for Brooke wasn't just based on the harsh way Brooke had treated her, but also on the girl's low self-esteem, on self hatred.

"NO!" Brooke exclaimed, as she held Sam a little away from her, and shook the girl gently, making Samantha come somewhat to her senses, "Never, Sammy!" Brooke said with such force, that she shocked the girl in her arms, "how could you be inferior to me? You are the one constant in my life. Its because of you that I'm able to get out of bed each day. You are the most wonderful person that I have ever known, despite our arguments.....I admire you deeply, Sam."

Sam seemed surprised by Brooke's praise, and her sobs died down considerably, so that she was able to look at the beautiful cheerleader, and for the first time, genuinely like her, "I don't know why you do.....but thank you, Brooke."

"Now do you understand why all those bad things happened between us, Sammy.....why I was so mean to you.....?

"Yes. I do now."

"Do you believe me, when I say that I'm deeply, desperately in love with you.....Sam.....so much that I'll die if you leave me......that even though I know you'll probably always have feelings for Lily deep inside your heart.....that I can't let you go......ever, Sammy?"

Samantha McPherson said nothing, but simply nodded in reply to the beautiful cheerleader's words.

"Do you still need to search my room, Sammy?"

"No, Brooke.....not now, or ever."

"Sammy......please.....forgive me?"

"Yes.....Brooke.....I forgive you."

Now, for the first time in many days, Brooke McQueen felt truly happy, free, as if a great weight had been lifted from her, so that she literally began to sob, weeping like a small child. Now, it was Samantha, who held Brooke, and cooed in her ear, and comforted her. But when Brooke was able to, she reached under her mattress, to extricate a dark-covered book. Then, the lanky blond got to her feet, and helped Sam get up. Brooke led Samantha out of her room, down the hall, to Sam's room, which both girls entered. Brooke pushed her ravishing brunette onto her bed, then lay down beside her.

"So you're giving me back my diary, Brooke?"

"Well.....I sorta lied to you, Sam....."

"Oh.....brother....."

"I did find your diary, and I read it.....but.....I never took it from your room.....what I'm giving you now is MY diary."

"Are you expecting me to read it, Brooke?"

"Yes."

"NO!"

"I wrote you love poems, Sammy."

"Well.....now I will read it."

Brooke smiled as she sat up, and proceeded to take Sam's shoes off, then her own, and toss them onto the floor.

"What are you up to now, McQueen?"

"Oh.....just finishing up something, McPherson."

"What do you mean?"

"Tomorrow I'm breaking up with Josh, Sammy.......and with.....Nicole."

"You....and.....and.....Nicole?"

"My Sammy is jealous," Brooke said, as she laughed lightly. Brooke was extremely happy, because now she had everything that she wanted in one single person; Sam.

"Um.....well......yes.....I...."

"I love you, Sammy......I don't need anyone else. You are the only lover that I want for the rest of my life."

"I know, Brooke. So.....what are you finishing up?"

"Remember the janitor's room, Sammy?"

Samantha remembered, and simply blushed furiously, "yes."

"You left too soon, Sam......I wanted to hold you so desperately......that's what I want to do now.....can I hold you, Sammy......please?"

"Yes, Brooke.....I want that too."

A smiling, giddy Brooke pulled her gorgeous brunette into her arms, then pulled the covers over the both of them, then turned off the lamp beside the bed. Brooke reveled in the soft, warm, plushness of Sam's body, as the girl simply sank into her embrace, and quickly fell into a deep slumber.

"I love you so much, Sammy."

"I love you too, Brooke," Sam replied sleepily.

Brooke smiled, as tears of joy slid down her pale cheeks.


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