Early mornings

A Chapter by Bea

Mariah arched into the cool touch, shivers running up her spine, her hips bucking. They grinned against her neck, murmuring soft words into her ear, dirty words about owning her completely. The thought of being completely possessed by another made her tremble with desire, and Mariah couldn't help but moan softly, arching her neck and leaning her head back. Flaming red hair spread across her neck and fell into her face, tickling Mariah’s nose as her lover sat up. The light shone off her smooth red hair and milky white skin, highlighting every soft curve and smooth plane. Mariah was in awe of her beauty, stunned into complete silence by this goddess that had chosen her, of everyone. The brunette bit her lip, before succumbing to those teasing fingers dancing across her skin, inching lower and lower. Her fingers fisted in the sheets as her lover slid between her legs, cool fingers resting on Mariah's hips. Her skin was on fire, burning at the slightest touch. 'Ria...' Her lover whispered, pressing tiny little butterfly kisses to Mariah's skin. 'My Ria...'

Mariah Hamilton woke up in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. She pressed a hand to her chest in an attempt to force herself to steady her breathing. This was wrong, these dreams were wrong; this was so, so wrong. It was bad enough that she had been dreaming about that before, but for it to be about another girl. No, no, no. Never again. It was sick and wrong and she would never permit herself to submit to those urges. Besides, her mother would kill her.

Slowly, Mariah sat up, biting her lip. Her brow furrowed slightly as she leant back against the pillows. Would it really be so bad to try it? Just once? The sixteen year old though of what her parents would say, and firmly decided that it would be the worst idea in the world. Pushing those kinds of thoughts out of her head, Mariah glanced at the clock and sighed, closing her hazel eyes. Time to get up. She rolled out of bed, trying to forget her dream as she began to get dressed slowly in her uniform. The grey skirt and white blouse hung shapelessly off her small, slender frame, just the way she liked it. She hated showing off her body the way other girls did. It just didn’t feel right to her. Mariah bit her lip again, her teeth worrying the soft flesh as she pulled on her shoes and ran a brush through her thick, curly hair. She looked in the mirror and sighed at her reflection.

"Hello, Miss Plain Jane. Up for another day of hell, I see." She shook her head, her curls bouncing, before making her way downstairs. She made her way downstairs, carefully erasing her dream from her mind to ensure she didn't let anything slip in front of her parents. That just wouldn’t do.

Sitting down, Mariah greeted her parents with a smile and a "Hello Mum, Dad." Her father merely grunted in response and her mother smiled back, that fake smile she had perfected so well, as she placed a plate of toast in front of Mariah. Looking at the clock again, Mariah scoffed down the toast as fast as she could before jumping up and running out the front door, yelling goodbye as she went.

"I'm going to be so late!" She muttered to herself as she ran down the hill, her bag trailing out behind her.

Mariah skidded to a halt in front of the school gates and took a deep breath, using five spare seconds to compose herself. Quickly, she tied her dark ringlets back into a messy bun and walked through the school gates, into what she had dubbed 'hell on earth'.

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Serena Blake stood at the front gates of school, smoking her first cigarette of the day. She didn't even like them all that much, just the way they made her look. Her skirt hitched high, her red tie slung haphazardly around her neck; shirt untucked with buttons undone and straight red hair falling around her shoulders with effortless perfection, Serena knew she looked amazing. She'd actually gotten up at a decent time for once, having not gone out the night before. She'd been looking after her little sister, though she wasn't about to tell anyone that. Her mum had been ill again and so Rena hadn't been able to go out like she had planned and had had to stay home with Tessa.

Rena smirked to herself as she watched a pretty plain girl in her year leg it in to school, obviously late. So was Rena, for that matter, but she didn't care. She looked over the other girl, wondering where she'd seen her before. Oh yeah, she was in Rena's English class...well, the class she should be in, when she could be bothered to turn up. What was her name again? Melanie, Mary, Mariah...Yeah, that was it, Mariah. She was cute. Rena tilted her head to one side, watching Mariah walk through the gates. Her eyes wandered over Mariah's body, taking it in. Cute was an understatement. But that uniform...Rena shook her head. Who would wear it like that, completely shapeless? That girl had to have some serious issues.

Rena shrugged it off and walked into school after Mariah had disappeared from sight, stubbing out the cigarette with the toe of her shoe. She drummed her pointed, red nails against the strap of her bag as she walked, her hips swaying. As usual, she made it in just as the bell went. Rena calmly strolled into form, her mind still on Mariah, where it remained for the rest of the day.

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It was the end of the day, and Mariah was stressed beyond belief. She had homework to do and then she had to go home and deal with her parents, who would just pile on the pressure about her grades and her behaviour - like it wasn't perfect already. Slamming her locker door shut, the dark haired girl picked up her bag from the floor and walked out of school, her head down and her eyes on the floor, looking up every once in a while to make sure she didn't walk into anyone. Quietly, nervously, Mariah walked out of school amongst the rest of the crowd and turned left, up the hill, while the majority of others turned right, towards the high street, the bus stops, and the poorer part of town. Only a handful of people went the same way as her, and Mariah talked to none of them. They all wore designer clothes and had the latest gadgets, and Mariah had none of that. Not because she couldn't afford it, but because she didn't want it. She just didn't like all those ostentatious, material things. They weren't for her, not one little bit. She wasn't showy, attention seeking or confident. She liked to stay in the background, where people didn't notice her.

Mariah slowly trudged up the hill, dreading going home. Her father wouldn't be home from work yet, but her housewife mother would still be there, and that was never good. It was always worst when it was just Mariah and her mum. Sighing as she reached their house, smaller than the other surrounding it, Mariah unlocked the blue front door and let herself into the house.

"Hey Mum, I'm home," She called out, before walking up the stairs to her bedroom. She ditched her bag on the chair by her desk and flopped onto her bed, waiting for an answer from her mother. There was none, which meant her mum was either on the phone or in the bath, or both. Mariah let out a sigh of relief and toed off her shoes, stretching out on the bed. Now was her time to think about the dream. A small smile toyed on her lips as she recalled it, letting the sensations wash over her. This was the only time she allowed herself to just remember her dreams and enjoy them, without worrying about her parents or other people.

This time, however, there was something in the back of Mariah's mind. She had recognised the girl in the dream, she was sure of it. That red hair was so distinctive, there was no way Mariah hadn't seen her before. The face, however...Mariah couldn't clearly remember the girl's face, which meant she had no way of knowing who she was. She sighed and flopped back against the pillows, grabbing her iPod with one hand, the other draped lazily across her stomach. She put one earbud in and pressed play, not caring what sing it was. Thankfully it was something soft and sweet to relax her a little.

Mariah hummed along idly, closing her eyes. She had so much to do tonight, but right now she needed these few brief moments of peace before her mother called for her. It wasn’t long before she began to doze, her mind still on her dream from the night before.

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Rena’s journey home was a little different to Mariah’s. The red head had strutted out of school, confidence and sex appeal rolling off her in waves, and made her way down the high street with the majority of school. Then, she had turned down an alley and walked through the back streets to her dilapidated house in one of the poorest parts of town. It was only here that Rena let the mask drop and relaxed a little, as no one here went to her school, or really knew her all that well. No one from her school ever came here; and Rena had no intentions of that ever changing. This was where she lived, and she sure as hell wasn't proud of it, so there was no way she was going to tell people that this was where she lived. Sighing, Rena unlocked her front door and ditched her bag by the stairs, calling out to her mum that she was home.

Rena walked through the house to the living room, where her seven year old sister, Tessa, was sitting doing her homework. Rena smiled and dropped a kiss to the younger girl's forehead, before frowning slightly.

"Tessa sweetheart, where's Mum?" Tessa merely shrugged in reply and pushed her homework away from her, grabbing a piece of paper and starting to draw. Rena sighed; Tessa was so damn quiet sometimes...just like that girl Mariah. Rena turned around and walked upstairs, knowing Tessa would be okay for now, and entered her bedroom, where she flopped onto her bed.

Rena closed her eyes and smiled, thinking about Mariah. She sure was a pretty thing. Rena hummed softly to herself, wondering what it was that made Mariah so quiet and shy. She hadn’t even noticed Rena’s inability to keep her eyes off the brown haired girl all day. She hadn’t seemed to notice much, in fact. She was so quiet and shy…Rena was sure that Mariah was barely noticed by the people around her.

Rena smirked to herself; she was going to change that. She wanted to know why Mariah was so quiet and shy, and she wanted to draw the girl out of her shell, little by little. In truth, she just wanted to get to know the girl, figure out what made her tick " and find out why she had never noticed Mariah before. God knows she should have done; Rena though Mariah was absolutely stunning.

Rena hummed softly to herself, her eyes still closed. The red head let out a slight yawn and rolled over to lie on her side, curling up slightly. It was only mid afternoon, but she was so tired lately. Having been up late looking after Tessa really had a knock on affect. Slowly, Rena dozed off, her mind still filled with thoughts of Mariah.

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And so, the two girls whose lives had never crossed before, fell asleep dreaming of each other, ready for another day.

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