Jenna glanced out the diner’s window and diddled nervously with her phone. No messages from Cassie, no missed calls. But she was ten minutes late.

She took another sip of her soda then dug the course list out of her backpack. She was still reeling a bit from her rejection by Oberlin, but the local state university had a nationally recognized music program and offered her a full all-expenses scholarship. This meant being near to home – and near to Cassie.

Cassie had been her piano teacher in high school, and also tutored her, becoming a friend and trusted advisor. Staying nearby meant she could continue her studies both at school and privately.

Having Cassie around, now that she was out of high school, would have other benefits as well.

Meanwhile, nearby, Cassie hung up from a call with a student’s parents and glanced at the clock. 5:10 PM, she was ten minutes late. The diner was just a block from her house. She texted Jenna and bolted out the door.

It was predicted to be a warm night with heavy summer rains, the kind that flooded local roads and made driving treacherous. Such storms usually prompted Jenna to sleep in Cassie’s guest room rather than brave the floods.

The first drops of rain were just falling when she pushed through the diner’s doors. Jenna sat in a booth at the far end of the diner. She wore a light T-shirt and jeans.

When Cassie approached, Jenna rose and they embraced. Jenna’s tutor was about thirty and wore her jet black hair in a pony tail. Her blue top showed substantial cleavage dappled with drying raindrops. Her gray tights were similar spattered.

They ordered a sandwich to split, and a large plate of french fries.

“Back from beach week. Ready to get back to work?” Cassie asked.

“I met with my counselor this afternoon,” Jenna said. “We laid out a possible course strategy, I wanted to talk to you and my mom before I finalized anything.” She dug the list out of her bag and was about to hand it across the table to Cassie, when the older woman moved to sit next to her in the booth. Their thighs pressed together.

Cassie was so close. Their legs were touching. A shot of adrenaline went through Jenna.

That the two of them had feelings for each other had become obvious by the time Jenna was a junior. Jenna’s mother, Anne, had figured it out pretty quickly.

Anne was no puritan. When she was in her twenties she had a five-year relationship with another woman, and always identified as bisexual even after her marriage to Jenna’s late father. Her innate radar immediately picked up on the connection between her daughter and her piano tutor. She put her foot down. Jenna needed to have a childhood. Sometimes that meant having crushes. When Jenna was out of high school and legal, if they still had feelings, then they could pursue them. But until then, friendship could blossom, music lessons could continue, but there was to be no romantic or sexual relationship between Cassie and Jenna.

Cassie was grateful for the rules removing any temptation. Taking liberties with Jenna could have put her career at risk. Jenna took it hard initially, but complied.

Cassie also sensed Anne would have liked to be the one putting the moves on her. But Anne was a class act, and let her daughter chart her own course within the boundaries she laid out.

During Jenna’s junior and senior years she was over Cassie’s house a lot for tutoring and lessons, often even sleeping in Cassie’s guest room when they were hard at work. Everything had been on the level. The trust between all three had grown implicitly.

Now, with Jenna’s graduation, everyone – Cassie, Jenna, Anne – knew the rules had changed. The restrictions were gone.

Jenna spoke up. “Here’s what the counselor said . . .” She pointed to a course on the sheet with her finger, turning slightly and leaning in to Cassie. Jenna made sure the hard little dart of her nipple pressed firmly into Cassie’s arm through the thin fabric of her T-shirt, under which she went braless. Her breath caressed Cassie’s cheek and neck as she spoke.

This was the first time she and Cassie had been alone together since graduation. The day after the ceremony, she and a half-dozen other kids had gone to the beach for a week. She had just gotten back the day before.

Jenna’s thought was interrupted by the simultaneous squealing of every cell phone in the diner. Flash Flood Warning. The sky had opened up a torrential downpour. The local roads would be shut down. If she was going home tonight, it would be the long way around. A 40 minute drive instead of a fifteen minute drive.

*If* she went home tonight…

Before she could put the phone down, another text came through. This one from her mother, Anne.

“Roads look bad. You’re over at Cassie’s right? You should probably spend the night. You know, sleep in her guest room, LOL.”

Wow…the barriers were definitely down…

She heard Cassie stifle a giggle and realized that the other woman had seen the text.

Another lurid text came in, this from one of Jenna’s best friends.