Chapter 2

By the end of study hall, Kara’s cheeks were flushed and her breaths were taken in short, ragged gasps. There was a small drop of saliva on the engine diagram that Kara quickly wiped away as she tried to calm her breathing. She had no desire to draw any undue attention to herself, especially after the feelings that just coursed through her.

Kara watched longingly as Esmeralda got up and strode out into the hallway, beautiful and carefree, not having the slightest inkling as to the fantasy she had just played a major part in. Kara mentally put Esmeralda at the top of her friend for hire list, and after most of the study hall had cleared, Kara gathered up her book bag.

She left the room trying to think of palindromes that involved the words Kara, Esmeralda, and the delicious image of Esmeralda’s inner thigh that still lingered in her head. By the time school ended Kara had explored many lovely phrases to describe her lust, but so far nothing that read the same forward and backward. But, for Esmeralda she could make an exception.

Julie Zhang ducked under the bleachers and jammed two sticks of gum into her mouth at the same time, chomping with vigor. Last week she would have been lighting up a cigarette, but she was weening herself off. Still, it was a recent enough habit that she still felt the need to hide out under the bleachers.

Julie pulled out her phone and dialed the number for yet another motorcycle repair shop. The story was always the same, the good shops were either too expensive or had a waiting list long enough to put any chance of having her bike fixed well into the summer months. Grandfather had offered to take it to the shop he used, but as far as Julie was concerned they were probably the ones that fucked it up in the first place, and were therefore an absolute last resort.

Julie put her phone away and turned her gaze to the athletic field. The girl’s track team was warming up, which was always a pleasant sight in her book. She watched lean bodies leaning forward, fingers grabbing at toes, pulling first on one side then on the other. When Julie’s gaze happened to fall upon the team captain, who seemed to be having a discussion with an odd little thing not really cut out for running, or any kind of athletics, Julie had a sudden flash.

There was something familiar about the odd little girl. Julie Zhang shrugged off her backpack and rummaged inside. She knew what her mental flash was about as soon as she touched a finger the soft faux fur of the cat ear headband. Julie pulled the headband out to clutch it in her hand. The odd little girl had finished her conversation with the team captain and moved off to sit alone on a nearby bench.

The girl nearly jumped out of her skin.

“Sorry,” Julie continued, “but I thought this might belong to you.” She thrust the headband in the girl’s direction.

The purple headband sparkled as the afternoon sunlight caught the bits of the purple metallic flecks embedded in the plastic.

“I thought I saw you wearing it last week,” Julie offered.

The strange little girl said nothing.

“Look, if it’s not yours I’ll just take it to lost and found.”

“Okay,” Julie said, “If you know who it belongs to, tell ’em I took it to…”

“She speaks.” Julie smiled. The girl still wouldn’t meet her gaze, so Julie decided to sit down on the bench, but far enough away that the girl wouldn’t feel spooked. Julie Zhang was well aware that she cast an imposing shadow.

“My name’s Julie.” She held out the headband one more time. “This is yours isn’t it?”

When the girl didn’t make any move to take the headband, Julie set it on the bench between the two of them. They sat in silence for a while. Neither one looking at the other. Finally Julie watched a slender hand reach out to snatch up the headband.

“Taco cat,” the girl said as she shed the ordinary black plastic headband she was wearing and replaced it with the bedazzled and fake fur accented cat ear headband.

Julie smiled. “Race car,” she said. Julie had played the palindrome game enough times with her mother to know what the girl was going for even if she didn’t feel the lay out the rules before diving in.

“Madam,” the girl said, and the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.

“I win,” Julie said. “That’s not a palindrome unless my name is Arakmi, and I’ve already told you it’s Julie. Arakmi, I’m Kara would totally work though.”

Kara smiled briefly in Julie’s direction.

“Are you going to try out for the team?”

Smile gone, Kara just stared at her lap, shaking her head.

“Me neither. Waiting for the activity bus, then? You probably missed your regular one.”

“Mind if I wait with you?”

She certainly wasn’t much for words, but Julie found her intriguing anyway. Maybe it was the quirkiness with the cat ears and the palindromes. Maybe it was brought on by Julie spending so much time alone at home. Or maybe it was Kara’s diminutive size that brought out some deep-rooted desire in Julie to serve as her protector, a chance to be someone’s knight in shining armor. That was an image that made her smile inside.

Julie briefly pictured herself on horseback, swinging a sword at a fire-breathing dragon—at least until she noticed the dragon was wearing a furry purple cat ear headband. After that Julie had to bite her lip to avoid appearing rude by laughing out loud for no particular reason.

Soon Julie’s mind began to clear itself of feline dragons, and the horse she was riding was replaced by the image of her nineteen eighty-four Harley-Davidson FXST Softail. The pounding of hooves gradually gave way to the unique rhythm of the V-Twin miraculously brought back to life. Julie put her hands behind her head and leaned back to enjoy the warm sun as she thought about her bike actually running.

“She said I was too small,” Kara blurted out.

Julie turned to look at her formerly silent companion, now turned chatty.

“Told me to come back next year after I grew some more.” Kara chuckled lightly. “I’m a senior. I won’t be here next year.”

“Me too,” Julie said. “A senior that is. I don’t think anybody thinks I need to grow any more.”

Kara gave a little snort of a laugh and then hid her face from view. That was the end of the conversation. Kara ran off as soon as she saw the activity bus pull up—didn’t even say goodbye.

Julie gave a little wave that Kara didn’t see, gathered up her backpack, and set off for home on foot. The sun was dipping very close to the horizon by the time she opened the front door. Not that it mattered much since mother and father were both away on business and the house was eerily silent.

For once, Julie almost missed being at school. Kara the cat girl was actually kind of fun when she wasn’t being all shy and awkward.

That evening when Kara’s mother called her down to dinner, Kara did not feel inclined to mention her meeting with Julie Zhang. In her mind, there was no particular reason to mention it. Julie was just another one of a hundred faces she had encountered that day.

Kara spent dinnertime giving the shortest possible answers to Mother’s inquiries about her day while at the same time dreaming about Esmeralda Sanchez.

“How was English class today?”

Even though the captain of the girl’s track team had declined her offer to be a friend for hire, Kara still held the image of Esmeralda’s long, lean body in her mind.

“Are you participating in class discussions?”

Kara thought back to her glimpse of the smooth skin of Esmeralda’s thigh from earlier in the day.

“I know it’s tough kiddo, but class participation is ten percent of your grade.”

Kara’s mind turned to her after school meeting with the track team captain—the way Esmeralda looked at her when Kara suggested that she’d like to hire her as a friend. People in Japan do it all the time. Kara was sure of it. Nobody looks at them funny.

“I picked up a slice of cheesecake from the bakery.” Mother smiled. Mother always smiled when she spoke of decadent desserts. “Would you like to split it with me?”

“Okay.” Kara watched Mother go into the kitchen.

Mom was alright, but what Kara really wanted was to be splitting a cheesecake with Esmeralda. That’s what friends do, right? Have dinner? Split desserts? Esmeralda would maneuver her fork to break off a small chunk of cheesecake and then smile as she held it less than an inch away from Kara’s mouth. No words need be spoken, Kara would simply lean forward and open her mouth.

Esmeralda was careful, but of course a little of the luscious dessert would end up gracing the corner Kara’s mouth anyway. Kara would grin while Esmeralda promised her that it really and truly was an accident. Esmeralda would still be trying to convince Kara while her finger swooped in to push the last bit of cheesecake over Kara’s lips. Esmeralda’s finger tasted even better than the cheesecake.

Later in the evening, after dinner had been cleaned up, and she and Mother had said their good-nights, Kara stood in her darkened room thinking about Esmeralda. She shed her sleep shirt and panties, leaving them on the floor next to her bed, close enough to reach in case she got cold in the middle of the night. She stood beside her bed, wearing nothing but the cat ear headband.

Kara ran her hands slowly over her stomach and up the shallow rise of her chest, imagining it was Esmeralda. Kara reached up and pinched her left nipple. She let go and then did it again hard, twisting a little, just like all those private messages from fellow Pet Life subscribers suggested it should be done. Kara pinched and twisted until she began to feel lightheaded and then stopped. Her nipple throbbed and she could feel the heat from the increased blood flow. She switched hands and pinched at the right side.

Kara imagined Esmeralda behind her the entire time, the steady exhale of her breath warming Kara’s shoulder. In Kara’s mind it was Esmeralda’s fingers that held her nipple in a vice-like grip, twisting and pulling. Kara let out a soft little moan as she arched her back and surrendered herself to Esmeralda’s touch.

Kara fantasized that it was Esmeralda who bid her to lie down on her stomach as she slipped between the sheets of her bed.

“Yes, Esmeralda,” Kara whispered into her pillow, as she shifted her hips and imagined the weight of another body pressing down on her from above.

Kara tried to decide if Esmeralda would want to claim her pussy first, or her ass. From her brief time on Pet Life, Kara had learned that it could be either, or both.

“Whichever you want, Esmeralda,” Kara whispered. “Tonight I’m yours.”

Kara reached down between her thighs and teased herself apart. It was not difficult. She was amazingly swollen and wet from the nipple twisting a moment ago. It always happened that way. Combined with the earlier memories of Esmeralda’s long, lean legs that she held since this morning’s study hall Kara was already beginning to twitch.

Kara ground her hips into her own hand as she imagined Esmeralda filling her from behind with a strap-on that seemed almost impossible in its length and its girth. But somehow Kara took it all. She took it all and wanted more.

Kara relished the feeling of fullness that Esmeralda provided as she lay pressed on top of her, thrusting deep. The dildo was massive compared to Kara’s small frame, but there was no pain, only the warmth of Esmeralda’s skin on hers, the light sheen of perspiration between them, and the wonderful fullness.

“Mmm,” Kara moaned into her pillow. She maneuvered her hand so that she could slip a single finger inside. Kara imagined it was something much thicker and attached to Esmeralda’s gorgeous body.

“Oh God, yes,” Kara mumbled as she pressed her finger deeper and at the same time ground into the mattress underneath her. With her free hand, Kara pawed at her chest. She was not particularly gentle, as she did not think that Esmeralda would be either.