Timeless

CHAPTER 28

December 31 st , 1958

I t was the annual New Year’s Eve party hosted by the local Moose Lodge, a lodge built by and for men. Women weren’t allowed there unless invited for a party like this. Cheryl and her family went every year since her father was a member, and this year, they’d told her that she could bring someone with her. Expecting her to invite a boy she liked, Cheryl’s mother was clearly confused when Diana had shown up at their front door, dressed for the party.

They’d been together for three months now, exchanging glances when they thought no one was looking and finding time to sneak away into the sunflower field that no longer had sunflowers in it. At night, most of the time, they could go out there, lie on a blanket, and stare up at the stars while they held on to one another. They could kiss and cuddle and talk of the future they wanted to have together. Soon, they would be high school graduates. In two months, Diana would be eighteen, and one month after that, Cheryl would be, too, which meant that if they needed to run away for any reason, like her father finding out about them and kicking Diana out of the house, they could. It wasn’t the smartest decision, and she was determined not to test her only remaining parent’s love for her by telling him that she was in love with another girl, so she hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

In the back seat of Cheryl’s father’s car, Diana wanted to reach for and hold Cheryl’s hand. She couldn’t because Cheryl’s mother kept turning around to talk to her and ask Diana questions that she hadn’t had the chance to ask yet. Diana didn’t have a ton of free time, so what time she did have, they usually spent out in the field or somewhere else where they could be alone. A few times, after school, Cheryl had also brought Diana home, and they’d spent time on the bed, sharing long kisses and deep thoughts about not only their future but their apparent shared pasts as well. When Cheryl’s mother would arrive home, though, they’d stop and go downstairs so that Diana could head home or to the shop. Cheryl’s mother would usually try to ask her a few questions about her then. She’d answer them but try to get out of some that she just didn’t know the answer to before she’d leave.

Tonight, they had a plan. They’d go to the party, dance like two girls who were just friends, and when the adults weren’t paying any attention to them, they would leave the lodge, cut through the back parking lot, and hurry to the field, where, earlier in the day, Cheryl had placed a picnic basket and a few blankets. They’d wanted to ring in the new year alone together, not in a room full of strangers who would have someone to kiss at midnight, where the two of them couldn’t kiss each other.

“I think we can go,” Cheryl whispered. “My parents are talking to the Sullivans. They usually talk to them for about an hour. Then, it’s the midnight festivities. We can be back by twelve-thirty, and they won’t even know we’ve gone.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to your house? I know it’s not a cold night, but we could have the whole house to ourselves for a few hours,” Diana replied.

“I don’t want to risk it. Everyone knows we come to this party. You know about our neighbor and how nosey she is… If she sees us or notices a light on, she might call the police.”

“Okay. You’re sure we can go now?”

“I’m sure,” Cheryl replied with a smile. “Come on,” she added and nodded toward the door that led out of the main lodge room.

They hurried by the smaller rooms – one where men were sitting around, smoking cigars or pipes, one with all the food, and the main lobby area – before they finally made it outside and into the cool, night air.

“Through the back lot,” Cheryl reminded.

They turned left and then left again at the edge of the building. A few people were outside, milling about, but no one paid them any mind. Then, they were in the darkness, hidden by it, so Diana took Cheryl’s hand and entwined their fingers as they walked on.

“I had an idea,” Cheryl said once they were far enough away so as not to be heard.

“What’s that?”

“Well, you know… We’ve been waiting,” she said.

Diana’s eyes went wide, and she swallowed.

“But we stopped last time because we heard someone, not because we wanted to stop.”

“I know,” Diana replied, recalling the time when she’d been about to unbutton Cheryl’s shirt but stopped because she heard someone in a nearby backyard. “I remember.”

“I’m ready, Diana,” Cheryl professed. “If you are, too, maybe we can have our first time tonight.”

“You really want to? Tonight?”

“Yes,” Cheryl confirmed. “I know we’ve talked about just waiting until we’re both out of our parents’ houses – and we can, if you want; we can wait until June when I’m working at the paper and you’re in school – but that seems so far away. Six months… And we’ve been together for three already. I don’t want to keep waiting.”

“Cheryl, I love you,” Diana said. “I don’t want to keep waiting, either. But I also don’t want to do this just because it’s been three months. I’m not Richard or one of the other boys in school.”

“I know that.” Cheryl chuckled as they made their way into the grass. “And it’s not because of that. It’s that I don’t want to wait another month or two or six. Diana, I want to touch you.”

They arrived at the row of shrubs, and before Diana could process hearing Cheryl say those words, Cheryl walked through and into the field, pulling Diana along with her.

“I brought a few things, mostly things I could sneak out without being noticed, but there’s the picnic basket with some food in it, if you’re hungry. I also managed to pour a little wine from an open bottle my parents had on Christmas to ring in the new year with you. There are several blankets, so we can lie down, cover up, and keep warm,” Cheryl rambled in that way that she did when she was nervous.

“Do you know that today I had a vision of their first time?”

“Who?”

“Bess and Elizabeth. They were teenagers, just like us, when it happened.”

“They were ?”

“And yesterday, I got a flash of Isabella and Maria. Their first time together, specifically.”

“You did?”

Diana took a few steps toward Cheryl and held out her hands. Cheryl took them and looked down.

“She was a princess, and Isabella was her servant.”

“I asked Mrs.Buckingham about her last week, and she told me Princess Maria was a minor Spanish princess who no one remembers. She even had to look her up in one of her books to figure out who I was talking about,” Cheryl said of the school’s librarian. “She asked me why I wanted to know, so I told her I was thinking about writing a history paper on her. You were an actual princess, my beautiful Diana.” She cupped Diana’s cheek. “And I was your servant.”

“I know,” she said, still not believing it. “When they made love for the first time, they thought they’d never get to do it again. Maria was supposed to be married but was able to go to a convent instead. She wouldn’t marry a man, and her father had tried to marry her off a few times already, using her to make deals with other countries.” Diana shook her head.

“You’ve seen them a lot, then? I didn’t know any of this.”

“They talked about it,” Diana explained, leaning into Cheryl’s touch. “Before they made love, Maria told Isabella that the last engagement had fallen through because a German prince wanted to marry someone else. She was telling her father that she was giving herself to God the next day, and they made love that night.” Diana reached for Cheryl’s shirt button. “He let her go, and she’d begged him to let her take someone with her as a reminder of home and for comfort. He let her bring Isabella, who slept on a cot in the small room Maria got as a nun at the convent.” Diana unbuttoned the first two buttons. “I don’t know what happened after that. I haven’t seen it yet. But I know now why I had those visions yesterday and today.”

“You do?” Cheryl’s voice broke.

Diana pulled her shirt apart and took in the soft cups of the bra beneath.

“Because this was meant to happen for us tonight,” she said in a near whisper as she reached for and placed her hand between Cheryl’s breasts.

“We should put a blanket on the ground.”

“I’ll do that. You pull out that wine. We can celebrate a little earlier than midnight.”

Cheryl nodded, and with her shirt open, she knelt down at the basket while Diana began spreading blankets on the ground. She saved two to keep on top of them, protecting them from the cold and from anyone who might happen by, which was unlikely. Then, she sat down and watched Cheryl bring out a small bottle of wine that she’d corked herself.

“Here,” Cheryl said as she held it out.

“Come to bed,” Diana replied, not knowing where that had come from.

Cheryl smiled and moved to the blanket. She sat down next to Diana, who uncorked the wine and passed it back to her.

“You first.”

Cheryl took it from her and tipped the bottle back. Then, she promptly turned and spat it out.

“What’s wrong?”

“It tastes like vinegar.”

“What?”

“Here. You try it. I’ve never had wine before. My parents don’t let me. Is that what it’s supposed to taste like? ”

Diana took a small sip and shook her head.

“No, it’s not. It’s gone bad.” She dumped the wine out.

Cheryl laughed and said, “Sorry. I didn’t know it went bad that fast. It’s always on a shelf forever before people drink it.”

“I think the air has something to do with that. But it’s okay. I don’t need wine, anyway.”

Cheryl just stared at her for a moment before she asked, “Will you take your shirt off?”

“Yeah,” she said quickly and unbuttoned her own shirt.

“I…” Cheryl didn’t say anything else as she watched it fall to the blanket behind Diana.

“I don’t wear a bra like you. I don’t really need one, do I?” Diana looked down at her small breasts.

Cheryl lifted her chin then and said, “You’re beautiful. And I love you.”

“Can I…” She pointed to Cheryl’s chest.

“Yes.”

Diana reached around Cheryl’s body and found the clasp on her bra.

“Sorry, it’s… harder than I thought. I don’t have experience with this.”

“Here.” Cheryl reached around her own body. “Easier if I do it.” She unclasped the bra herself, and Diana helped her pull it off.

“Oh,” Diana whispered as Cheryl’s bra landed on the blanket. “Beautiful,” she added.

“Should we lie down now?”

“Maybe we take the rest of our clothes off first? These skirts are… complicated.”

Cheryl chuckled and said, “I wish you could’ve worn a suit tonight.”

“My dad would’ve killed me. Besides, I don’t have one and can’t afford one, either.”

“We’ll get you one when we move to the city one day. You can have a going out suit, and I can stare at you when you wear it. ”

Cheryl undid her belt and stood. It took her a second, but then Diana realized that Cheryl wanted her to help her take the skirt off. So, she knelt in front of her girlfriend and helped remove the skirt, grateful that there were no extra layers tonight. Her underwear was left, but Diana wasn’t sure if Cheryl was ready to take those off yet. Cheryl went to sit down quickly, probably feeling naked and not wanting anyone else to see her, and Diana removed her own skirt. They were only left in their underwear now, so she stared at Cheryl, wondering what they should do next.

“Um…” Cheryl began. “When Maria and Isabella did this, how did they start?”

“Maria asked Isabella’s permission because Maria was a princess, and she didn’t want it to sound like an order.”

“But they loved each other.”

“Yes. But she still did. So, maybe I should?”

“Because you were the princess?” Cheryl smiled at her and moved to lie down on the blanket. “Maybe I was a queen once,” she suggested.

“You’re a queen to me right now,” Diana replied and moved until she was on top of Cheryl. When their breasts pressed together for the first time, and Cheryl gasped, she asked, “Is this okay?”

Cheryl nodded quickly and said, “Yes. This is what I want.”

“And you’re sure you want the rest, too?”

“I love you. Yes, this is what I want.”

“I love you, too. I can’t wait until we can get out of here and have a little apartment where it’s just you and me, and we can do this whenever we want.”

“Me neither,” Cheryl said.

When they made love for the first time, it was awkward at times and beautiful at all times. It took them some time to understand what to do to bring each other pleasure, but when they did, Diana cried. Cheryl cried, too. Then, they just held each other, wishing it could be easier for them to be together. As they dressed to go, they weren’t sure when they’d be able to do this again. Things were busy at the shop for Diana. She was also in the science club now, thanks to Cheryl, and there was a science competition they were preparing for in the spring. Cheryl was in clubs, too, and she had to help her mother around the house. They both had their futures planned independently of the other because they didn’t want the other person to be miserable not getting what they wanted.

Cheryl had a chance to work at a newspaper. The money would be next to nothing, but she’d be learning from the only woman reporter on staff. Her father had made a few calls when Cheryl had told him that she wanted to be a reporter like him. Diana had managed to get into a small nursing program at a college in the city. She’d have to get a job, and they still had to work that part out, but they’d be out of this town, and that was important to both of them.

Cheryl’s parents had agreed to get her a small one-bedroom apartment, and Cheryl had told them that she’d be letting Diana live there, too, at least until Diana could save up to get a place of her own or find a husband, which was what Cheryl’s mother had suggested, of course. Still, they’d agreed that it would be all right for a little while, and Diana couldn’t wait until they had an apartment of their own that they paid for where they wouldn’t be beholden to Cheryl’s parents.

Maybe one day, they’d have a little house together, a backyard, and a dog. If nothing else, though, Diana knew that they would always, always have love.