Parallax

Their mouths met again. This kiss was deeper and more insistent. Shari sucked a lungful of air through her nostrils, sharing in the familiar scent of chalk dust and floor wax that solidified this illusion.That's what it was, right? An illusion. A dream. It must be! A sudden rush of helplessness came over Shari. A wave of sudden heat washed over her, flushing her skin, and ebbed as she relaxed in the older woman's arms. "This is what you wanted, wasn't it." Miss Blount softly murmured.

Shari's head rested against the towering woman's arm. Miss Blount kissed her again, softly at first. One kiss became two, then two became more, graduating with intensity that made the diminutive blond beauty cling to her teacher, the object of her desire, as the only thing that remained in this eerie and transient space.

The gym teacher's insistent mouth parted her student's quivering lips, sending electric jolts of sharp sensation up her arms and the back of her neck. Shari's skin prickled when their tongues brushed in silent greeting. Their tips capered and danced while her mind succumbed to a dizzying vortex.

Here, the air around them practically crackled. Shari returned those kisses now, with joyful alacrity. The summoning worked. Miss Blount was real and warm, holding her andkissing her! She never noticed the spell's undoing as the liminal space glitched around them, fading slowly to black, as a deep and dreamless sleep held Shari Keefer in its grip.

*****

And now it was getting towards the end of May. School would soon be over and graduation was right around the corner. Shari did her best to keep her head down and her nose clean in gym class. After finding the birthday card in her locker, she figured she owed her teacher that much. Since January, she'd developed a kind of rapport with Miss Blount. On occasion she'd stop by the Girls' PE office during lunch. Miss Blount had a little free time then, and they'd talk, sometimes in the company of Miss Lusby who joined them.

It was during these visits when Shari discovered this new facet of her gym teacher's personality. They got along very well, and laughed a lot. The ever present dour expression on Miss Blount's face faded, softening the rugged features of her manly face. Once Shari passed the prodigious woman in the hall during passing period. She was at her locker and headed for the stairwell when she looked sideways and saw Miss Blount standing there. In that moment, their eyes met, and Shari could've sworn she saw that frosty gaze melt. The transformation itself was fascinating. It was as if Shari had the power to move mountains. And with that power came desire.

Desire for more. Much more.

Idle Hands are the Devil's Tools...

Stay Busy.

Velma Blount woke up, startled by the sound of a moan erupting from her throat, and surrounded by an all-consuming darkness. Her eyes stirred behind lids sealed shut from hours of sleep. Still groggy, she stretched out, trying to get the blood circulating through her limbs. A slight shift of her legs underneath the blankets made her suddenly aware of the cotton crotch of her underpants jammed and bearing hard against her sex. The pressure when she moved her legs was enough to unleash the floodgates.

And she knew why, oh yes.

Instinct drove the middle aged woman's hand to creep beneath the waistband. Her fingers skated against the rigid flesh of her lower abdomen. The fingertips brushed along the thin little trail of hair from her navel and paused for a second. She sighed audibly when her fingers reached their intended destination.

Alone in the darkness of Velma's bedroom, the veil between earth and untold other realms was thin. And when the veil is at its thinnest, a great labyrinth stretches out, populated with endless reflections and refractions of what was, and what could be. Velma's lips parted to draw a breath, and a contented sigh emanated from them while her fingers ventured through the dense thicket of pubic hair to the sensitive cleft. It began to rain outside. The soft spring shower carried with it an ethereal and otherworldly sigh, echoing her own.

Miss Blount, the gym teacher, followed along the twists and turns of the dream labyrinth and its reflected memories. And here the labyrinth showed her a refraction that led her down the empty second floor hall at Talcott High. She stopped for a second and looked around. A low, ambient drone filled the space, compelling her to keep walking. She did.

And then she stopped.

The Harrier dog mascot froze, mid-stride, as if racing across the wall to the double doors of the main gymnasium. Velma turned and looked behind her. The large space was empty except for the two large trophy cases, shuttered concession window, and a trash can next to the double doors. There was something about the emptiness. Velma knew that something was different; very different. This wasn't the kind of empty the school would be on a holiday, weekend, or even summer vacation. This emptiness was eerie and liminal. It was an emptiness without end.

Except...

Velma thought she heard a sound like footsteps. The sound was muffled behind the closed double doors, but it was definitely coming from inside the main gym. The towering middle aged woman looked over her shoulder and gasped. The hall she'd walked down to get here had changed. The temperature felt like it had dropped several degrees when she caught a glimpse of that yawning maw of endless black nothing.

Wanting to get away, she turned back around and pushed through the double doors. Thankfully they weren't locked. Velma stumbled through them into the gym, taking in the comforting familiar sight. The polished wood floor reflected bright lights overhead.This is Harrier Country, declared Talcott's blue and white walls and empty mezzanine space. The large scoreboard used for basketball games was in its usual spot high on the wall beside a huge sign with the Talcott fight song. Everything seemed normal; the same as it ever was.

A door opened and closed. This was followed by a few footfalls and the sound of quiet, hitching breaths. Velma held her breath and listened. "Sounds like someone's crying, or trying not to." She muttered softly. The towering gym teacher went to the first of two doors on the left side next to the mezzanine stairs. The girls' locker room door was the first she saw in the short and narrow passage. She passed the locked door to the girls' PE office and the neighboring supply closet as she followed the sounds which had, by now, gotten louder.

"Keefer?"

The small auxiliary gym was at the end of the narrow passage. The doors were open and, right away, she saw another familiar and welcome sight. "Shari..."

A luminous fall of light blond hair hung well past the shoulders of the slim girl facing the far back wall. The hirsute cascade trembled, partially obscuring her face as she struggled to suppress her sobs. Indeed, it was Velma's student, Shari Keefer, dashing at her eyes to wipe her face with a shaking hand. She shook her head, tossing her hair aside, and wiped her face once more. Through errant sobs the girl radiated a breathtaking and unnatural beauty.

Divine.

"What are you doing here alone, Shari?" Velma inquired. "You should be out with your friends or doing homework--" She stopped abruptly when Shari looked at her and their eyes met.

The 19 year old senior's azure gaze never failed to capture Velma's attention. This time was no different. She swallowed hard, admiring the youthful innocence of her features. Shari stood around average height. Her slim frame boasted the soft and feminine curves of a newly blossomed young woman. Full bee-stung lips quivered visibly. The rims of her eyes were a little red and her cheeks were bright pink and still shiny from tears. "Miss Blount, I..." Shari's breath hitched a little. "You won't let me stay, will you?"

Velma, totally confused, approached her student. "What?"

"Graduation's in a couple weeks...and I'll never see you again." Shari blinked and a lone tear raced down her cheek. It stopped at her chin, quivering, and getting larger. Seeing this, Velma's hand went to the girl's chin, gently grasping. "Yes, graduation's almost here. And you'll start college in the fall." She tilted the girl's face upward and did her best to wipe Shari's tear stained cheeks. "But school will start again and..." She sucked in another hitching breath. "You'll forget about me!"

By now, Velma was lost. She barely realized her hand strayed upward, cupping her breasts in turn. The twin A cup swells beneath her shirt tightened, flesh crinkling around the plum tips of her nipples. She put her arms around Shari Keefer, drawing her in for an embrace. The blond beauty's head pressed against her, baring hard against her nearly flat chest. Velma's hand held the back of Shari's head now, practically pushing the sobbing girl's face into her tits. Under any other circumstance, this was wrong. Velma knew this. She'd dedicated her entire life to teaching, coaching, and staying busy.

She'd never dream of taking advantage of a student. But there was something about Shari and all the times they'd spent together. With Shari Keefer, she'd felt a connection. And now she suspected Shari felt it too, as if the two of them were drawn together in this labyrinth of reflections and refraction.Try not to think about it too much, Velma thought.Try not to think about it at all, or you'll make yourself go crazy!

Velma pushed Shari back a little, lifting her head to meet her gaze. "After graduation, you can see me as much as you'd like." She said. "If that's what you want. It's up to you."

She remembered, vaguely, her student's teary eyes, closing, as their mouths made contact. The quiet, ambient drone in the background, was louder now. It surrounded them both while Velma's pulse beat loudly in her ears. An intense thrill lurched from the pit of the butch woman's stomach, throbbing and leaving a swath of gooseflesh down the back of her neck.

The first kiss was brief, but the second kiss, and the ones that followed, drove Velma Blount into a frenzy. The frenzy built gradually, becoming more intense, when she felt Shari's lips part. The girl gasped. She was probably trying to breathe, but Velma's tongue got in the way. It stole Shari's breath as the probing tip entered her mouth.

Velma's hand strayed from the back of Shari's neck, feeling along the lovely curve of the girl's back. She broke the kiss now, just long enough for her mouth to plot a trail down from Shari's neck and collarbone to the space just above her breasts. "We're all alone," she whispered. "No one will bother us." The diminutive teen gasped sharply when Velma's large palm closed over her breast. "Do you hear that?" Shari softly wondered.

A steady patter, like rain, brought with it a distant rumble. That rumble made Velma stir in the warm comfort of her bed. She leaned in to kiss Shari again, but the girl was gone. Her eyes were opened for several seconds, straining to focus. "Must've been dreaming." She huffed. With some reluctance, her hand withdrew from the depths of her underpants and she twisted around to look at the alarm clock beside her.

Damn storm. Velma groaned in frustration. She couldn't read the time. It was too dark. But she knew it was early morning. She stretched out, listening to the lull of the rain outside, when the hot, shrill waves of desire coursed through her. Her hands moved along her sides while she stretched again. She was fully awake now, but stopped.Absolutely ridiculous! Shari Keefer is my student! But only for another week or so. The end of the school year was coming fast. So was graduation, and--

Velma sat up now. Another rumble of distant thunder pushed the towering middle aged woman out of bed to the bathroom. Bleary eyed, she used the toilet and brushed her teeth. She returned to the bedroom and switched the bedside lamp on. It was 3:47AM. Velma reached for the shorts she'd tossed on the floor before going to bed last night. From the dresser, she pulled out a fresh t-shirt. She finished getting dressed and sat on the edge of her bed, putting on her socks and shoes. It was times like these when Velma Blount had one thing on her mind. When early morning came and the world still slept, there was one thing Velma always did, rain or shine. She liked to run. Above all, she liked to stay busy.

And running helped her do just that.

The desire to be desired is a feeling like no other...

Except for the feeling of grief and the persistent ache of goodbye that comes with it. The warm summer winds came on the tail end of a late spring storm. For the last few days, it rained off and on. A squall pummeled Thatcher Blake with bullets of large icy raindrops until it petered out just before the first lunch period on Shari Keefer's last day of school. And now the sun shone brightly, bathing part of the second floor hall in a wash of heat and light. An open window somewhere nearby brought the smell of wildflowers, rain, and fresh cut grass.

The end of May came quickly, signaling the final week of classes at Talcott High School. It was also the final week of Shari's senior year. Graduation was two days away now. Shari should've been excited. Her friends were looking forward to it. She tried to sound excited and went along with all the chatter, but deep down she felt sad, almost devastated. The feeling got stronger the closer she got to the gymnasium. Shari drew a deep breath, catching the sharp and verdant smell of the outside. Her eyelids fluttered as the aroma mellowed and she continued her trek down the hall.

Early dismissal emptied Talcott's halls, revealing an eerie liminal space devoid of the usual chaos of students rushing to their lockers or trying to get to their next class on time. Gone were the presence of hall monitors and the occasional teacher dashing from their classroom to the workroom or the teacher's lounge. They probably took advantage of the early dismissal to rush out the door for home as quickly as possible. Shari didn't blame them. Any other day she'd be loudly proclaiming how much she hated school. But now she stood there in the hall clutching a copy of the school yearbook she'd purchased earlier in the day and heaved a ragged sigh.

Shari gathered up her things and entered the main gymnasium, heading straight for the girls' PE office that was near the door to the girls' locker room. She breathed in a hint of a fresh application of floor wax and stale sweat as she walked with purpose in her steps. But suddenly a lump formed in Shari's throat and she felt the first stinging signs of tears in her eyes. This might be the last time she would ever see her favorite teacher, Miss Blount, before graduation.

In the beginning of her senior year, Shari really got to know Miss Blount. Since that first week at the end of August, their rapport quickly grew into a genuine friendship. Shari liked the fact they'd sometimes slip notes to each other in the hallway during passing periods. Shari relished the danger in not knowing for sure whether another teacher or fellow student saw them and wondered what they were doing. But even if someone did see them, the notes were (luckily) innocent except for the one or two she received from Miss Blount last week.

One note, in particular, caught Shari a little off guard. In a few sentences, Miss Blount confessed that she will miss having such a "stubborn little angel" in her class. Shari blushed and remembered that particular note which she kept carefully stashed in a small locked jewelry box in the back of her closet at home. She thought it was a little weird and out of character. She wasn't entirely sure if Miss Blount meant anything by it, or if she was simply teasing her. Although Shari was a generally cheerful student, she was also somewhat fragile emotionally. She appreciated the way Miss Blount seemed to understand this when the other teachers she had could care less.

A breeze kissed Shari's skin and her arms prickled with gooseflesh. The verdant late spring smell of cut grass filled the girl's nostrils. She drew another deep breath, recalling, with some fondness, the first time she laid eyes on Miss Blount during her freshman year. She felt fearful and at the same time fascinated with the sight of her teacher. Shari wasn't quite sure how to process those strange new feelings. Was it normal to feel that way about her gym teacher? The other female PE teachers, Miss Lusby and Mrs. Horton, provoked no such feelings. And the male gym teachers, Coach Callahan, Coach Linley, Mr. Mapes and Mr. Johnson, made her feel nothing at all! But there was no doubt that Miss Blount had cast a very powerful spell over Shari. The girl took a sort of perverse pleasure in antagonizing her teacher while at the same time she held aloft a smoldering torch.

At the girls' PE office, Shari peered through the open door. Miss Blount was in there, sitting all alone in the cramped little space, nursing a cup of coffee while she shuffled though some papers she'd fished out of one of the file cabinets behind her. Whether Miss Blount seemed aware that Shari was standing there watching her, or not, was unknown. The girl wanted to walk inside, all smiles, and tell Miss Blount that she hoped to see her at graduation, but she couldn't. There was no one else outside the PE office besides her, but she was a little paranoid that someone might catch her lingering and staring at her soon to be ex teacher.

There was just something about Miss Blount that Shari found intensely attractive. Athletic, aggressive, and masculine looking women held Shari in thrall from a very young age. She had yet to discover what the appeal was, but she always admired Miss Blount from her first day in high school in spite of her predilection for being a pain in the ass--particularly if her classmates were around to watch her being one. Shari admired the strapping gym teacher's unwavering confidence. Miss Blount always had this remarkable knack for intimidating the most difficult students into compliance without breaking a sweat. And Shari loved when Miss Blount paid special attention to her during gym class. Sometimes when they talked, she'd swear she could detect her teacher's softer side when all the other girls in her class were busy talking about boys and shopping.

As Shari stood in the doorway of the girls' PE office, she let loose with a melancholy sigh, loudly announcing her presence. Miss Blount stopped what she was doing and stared straight at the beautiful blond senior, her features stern as ever. The teacher's hair was freshly cut and her bangs were as short and blunt as her temperament. The butch woman's face was weathered and severe; her eyes a soul piercing shade of ice blue.

Shari seriously thought about leaving, but she just stood there, frozen in the doorway clutching her yearbook to her chest. She started to set her yearbook on the floor. Miss Blount never broke her stare. She had this condescending look on her face. It was an all too familiar look that she gave to the girls who disrupted her classes or refused to wear their gym suit or take a shower when class was over. It was the look that caused Shari to admire her teacher so much. She snapped from the threat of any illicit stray thoughts with a shudder. The girl started nervously rooting around inside the contents of her book bag for a pen.

"I'm surprised to see you still here, Shari. I would think you, of all people, couldn't wait to get as far away from here as possible." Miss Blount spoke in a low, domineering voice. "Tomorrow is graduation. I think you should be at home, or spending time with your friends, not sneaking around the halls at school."

Shari looked up and swallowed.I heard her say that before!