Chapter 28

Laura was still sitting in the passenger seat of Dana’s car when we got there. She had her knees up against her chest, and the big fluffy white robe wrapped around her as if it were protecting her from the world. She heard us walk up, because her head jerked in our direction and her red rimmed eyes were clearly visible. Her tear-stained cheeks were less so, but once the glow from the moon hit them, they were as obvious as diamonds in a ring—they glinted and glittered in the light.

I knelt by the door and reached out to Laura with my hand, which she took into her own.

“Do you want to talk now?” I asked softly, almost wishing I hadn’t the moment the words left my mouth.

Laura didn’t answer right away, and I replayed the words in my head and wanted to wince at how they sounded.

“I’m sorry,” Laura murmured quietly.

“It’s okay, I just don’t know what happened,” Dana replied right away.

“It ... it’s not your ... fault...” Laura barely managed to say. “You didn’t know.”

It was obvious Laura was struggling but neither Dana nor I pushed her for more, not before she was ready.

“When people umm ... call me beautiful, I remember ... things...” Laura said. Her voice broke more than once, her emotions overriding what she was trying to say. “When someone calls me beau...” Laura caught herself and stopped. “When they call me beautiful, it brings up some uhh, memories of things.”

I didn’t follow what was going on, I didn’t understand it. I wanted to say something, but I knew deep down that was a horrible idea and I looked to Dana for help. What I saw on Dana’s face was not at all what I was expecting.

Dana’s usually sassy, but her beautiful face was anything but right then. She looked horrified and then her hands quickly moved up to cover her mouth.

“What is—”

“Shut up, Josh!” Dana snapped at me, her eyes full of vengeance. Her eyes softened and turned towards Laura. “Did something ... uh, you know...?”

I just sat there, not knowing what was going on or what to do. All I knew was that my girlfriend was incredibly upset, and my friend was furious for reasons I didn’t understand.

I don’t know what happened between Laura and Dana. There weren’t any words spoken, at least not orally but suddenly the two were embracing. Thankfully though when they pulled apart Laura looked to be calmer. That’s what mattered.

“Can you tell us what happened?” Dana asked, her voice soft and gentle.

Laura nodded and once she started, she was like a snowflake rolling down a snowy hill, picking up steam and other flakes as she rolled. By the time it got to the end, the snowflake was the size of a house and it slammed into my chest like a ton of bricks.

“It was because of my uncle; he was the reason my dad is now ... in prison,” Laura explained. “My uncle always said I was beautiful. He did that for as long as I could remember. Then things changed. He would call me beautiful ... and then he would do ... stuff. Until dad caught him.”

The whole story was more than I could take. I don’t know when it happened, but my fists clenched tighter and tighter the longer Laura’s story went on. They got so tight that when I realized what I was doing I tried to open them, but I couldn’t. It was like my hands had locked into fists. There was an anger inside of me that I had never felt before. It burned white hot. It was dangerous. If her father hadn’t killed his little brother, I would have in that moment and no one on this earth could have stopped me.

There was more to the story, details, but I didn’t hear them. My mind was on other things. My chest was already heaving because of sudden adrenaline running through my body. I felt an overwhelming need for violence.

“Josh,” Dana’s voice called out, but I didn’t hear her, too lost in my anger.

“Josh!” Laura’s voice cut through the fog in my mind like a hot knife through butter. “It’s okay, honestly it’s okay.”

“But—”

“I have been going to therapy for years, ever since ... that day.” Laura looked me in the eye. I tried to shy away, suddenly feeling embarrassed, but she didn’t allow it. “It’s just hard to talk about. Some things set me off and it’s hard for me, you know?”

I didn’t respond, I just held her gaze in mine. Her bright, beautiful eyes were soft and comforting.

“Should we go?” Dana asked, her voice quivering but Laura shook her head, a serious look on her face.

“He needs one more model,” Laura said, all the while our eyes locked together. “I can do it. I want to.”

“Are you sure? I mean, really sure?” Dana asked again, giving Laura another chance to back out but Laura didn’t take it. If anything, suddenly Laura looked confident, determined.

That said, Laura started to make her way out of the passenger seat of the car. I felt a pride swell in my chest. It almost faltered at the sound of the Coke cans on the passenger floor, almost, but it didn’t.

Dana and I just stood there watching the swaddled Laura stand in front of us.

“Are we going to do this or not?” Laura asked as if she had been the one waiting for Dana and me to get ready and not the other way around.

“Let’s go!” Dana said excitedly, leading the way back through the tall grass and down to the dock.

“Okay, where do you want me?” Laura asked, the three of us now standing on the at the edge of the dock.

Something clicked in my mind and words started flowing out of me. I described everything I had in mind. I explained that we could take two pictures, although we didn’t have to if Laura didn’t want to. When Laura heard what I had outlined, she was all smiles and excitement. Not ten minutes before, she was telling us her awful story and now, she was about to pose nude, for me and the rest of the world to see.

Laura was still wrapped in the robe, her hands clasping at the edges, holding it closed. I walked away from the dock to find the spot I had marked earlier. It took me a second to find the stick I had planted into the dirt, but I did eventually find it. I grabbed my first camera and turned to look at Laura and what I saw before me was enough to make my heart skip a beat and the breath to catch in my throat.

Laura—naked, perfect Laura—was standing completely exposed at the end of the dock. Laura’s skin seemed to glow in the moonlight. Unlike Jo and even Katie to an extent, Laura’s skin was pale white. Somehow it seemed to almost reflect the soft light high above. She was radiant in more ways than one. I know she didn’t like it, but she was beautiful. Not that I would call her that, but it was the truth.

Dana was there in front of her, obscuring just enough to hide the junction between Laura’s legs, but I could clearly see Laura’s right breast. It was firm, round, with nipples so hard they looked like they had to hurt. Her hair hung over her shoulders, but it wasn’t long enough to cover her chest. I could just make out the flare of her hip. Dana said something to Laura that I couldn’t hear and then moved, turning to carry the robe back towards the edge of the water.

“Dana, come here please,” I called out and Dana hurried over to where I was standing. “Stay here for a second while I get Laura posed, okay?”

“Sure, no problem,” Dana answered and smiled.

I walked up to Laura slowly, keeping my eyes locked on hers. She grinned as she watched me approach her.

“You can look at me, you know,” Laura said quietly.

“I know, I—”

“It’s okay, I want you to.”

Without even thinking about it, my eyes scanned her nude form. Dana in her jersey was sexy, Jo on her lounger was desire personified, Katie in her barn was majestic, but Laura was perfection. Everything about her body was ... just right: her neck, long and slender; her shoulders, slim, but rounded; her breasts, small and pert, but somehow round and full. She, like Jo, was smooth, leaving her slit completely bare. Where it was obvious Jo had shaved, Laura looked like it was her natural look. That wasn’t true, but from here, right now in the night air, it was. Her stomach was flat, her legs and arms were slender but looked long in their build.

She was strong and delicate all at the same time. The tomboyish looks she preferred at school were nothing like what I was seeing right here before my eyes. She was a dream...

“Josh, hello to Josh?” Laura asked, snapping me out of my revelry. My eyes quickly snapped up to meet hers and I felt like I had just got my hand caught in the cookie jar. “We’re running out of time.”

“Shit!” That got Laura laughing, and I am pretty sure I heard Dana giggling from up on the hill.

I hurriedly got Laura in position how I wanted her. What I hoped to capture would take a little work, but it should be fine, as long as Laura didn’t fall into the water. I had her lay on her back on the dock. I wanted her head hanging off the side and her arms outstretched. It was almost perfect, but I needed one more detail.

To read this story you need a Registration + Premier Membership
If you have an account, then please Log In or Register (Why register?)

Support the author's future writing by purchasing this book from Bookapy

Pinhole, First Lessons

Fanlon

$5.99