Interlude: Claire’s kryptonite

Elsa’s POV

Even though the moment my alarm clock went off was the same as every day, it still felt way too early. Not just because it was a Saturday, but mostly because we had kept talking way too long yesterday evening. Who could blame us? The chance to talk openly about this kind of stuff with other girls that are in a similar relationship did not present itself every day.

Even though all of us had clearly already gone further than just kissing, the things Therese told us, were so racy, I could hardly imagine half the stuff she talked about. But Tina seemed to have absorbed them just fine, and the look she gave me afterward told me that I should expect some of them to come my way.

Just the thought alone made my heart race. I hoped we could spend some time with just the two of us soon...

I had also been surprised by how prude Claire was. When Anna was talking, at the start, she was so embarrassed that she was literally hiding under her sheets. Even though Anna’s stories were all pretty safe to tell, she still reacted like that. So, when we forced her to share a story about her and Anna, she took us completely by surprise. I had expected another safe story, but when she confessed that she had looked up techniques online and practiced them by herself before testing them with Anna, everyone was shocked. Even Anna didn’t seem to have known Claire had done that. All she said with red cheeks was “So that is how you knew how to do all that stuff right from the start.”

Claire had turned as red as a tomato and had answered “Well, I am younger than you. How else was I going to measure up?” I know it’s bad of me but having seen Claire being insecure made me feel a little better. Knowing that she had these kinds of doubts too, made her a lot more human to me than the undefeatable role model she was in my mind. But it was clear that Tina and I had some catching up to do. I wasn’t about to let myself be defeated by Claire in this category too!

I looked at Tina next to me and kissed her good morning, but our kiss immediately evolved into something more sensual. Tina’s tongue slid inside my mouth, and her hands were gliding under my pajamas under the sheets. Her hands gently slid over my ribs, and onto my breasts. While her kisses went down to my neck. My mind started to evaporate. I wanted to continue and see where this would lead us, but we weren’t alone in this room.

When her hands started to move down, I slapped Tina’s wrist and said, “Are you crazy, someone is going to notice.”

“Oh, we noticed all right,” Eve said. The other girls all started giggling. I felt my face turn red and looked at Tina. I wanted to get angry at her, but Tina immediately shut me up at the first sound with another kiss. I pushed Tina off me, pretending to be angry but it was clear she wasn’t buying it. I looked around the room. Therese and Eve had already packed their sleeping gear and in the meantime, Anna and Claire were almost ready too. Had Tina and I been messing around for that long? It felt like just a few minutes. I looked at the alarm clock again, and almost 30 minutes had passed.

“We need to hurry!” I said to Tina. Tina still wasn’t moving, but once I got up, she got out from under the sheets too and started to get ready a bit reluctantly. I got why she was reluctant. I knew I would have to walk around pent up all day too.

While we started taking turns in the bathroom, we went to the breakfast table, where mom started her usual Claire worshipping. It was even worse now that she was actually here. Even though Claire had clearly tried to help me yesterday, everything she said was having the opposite effect.

At one point, Anna gave me a wink that clearly said "I'll help you" before saying “Are you trying to hit on my girlfriend?” with a little anger in her voice. Both Mom and dad looked severely shocked at those words. “I’m pretty sure Miranda did not mean it that way,” Dad said immediately. “I was starting to feel pretty uncomfortable,” Claire added on top of Anna's remark. She instantly caught on clearly getting what Anna was doing.

Mom looked around a little bewildered and said “I-I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable. I would never think of such a thing with someone the age of my daughter. And you are a girl for crying out loud.”

“All of us are going out with girls,” I remarked. “Are you saying you aren’t taking my relationship with Tina seriously?” I then joined in on the attack. I know I should defend my mother, but right now, being unfair to her for just a little bit felt like delivering justice.

“O-Of course I take the two of you seriously. Just the other day I was saying to dad what a beautiful couple the two of you make. Honey tell her.”

Dad nodded. I could see we had them cornered. So, I just hmphed her.

That little episode shut her up alright. I don’t think I will be hearing the name Claire from her mouth anytime soon. Anna had done that masterfully.

After that, the mood at the breakfast was a little ruined, but I did not mind, in fact, I was having a hard time not to start laughing. But I knew that if I did, it would probably just ruin Anna’s brilliant move.

When we finally left the house, I finally let it burst. I was laughing so hard. The other girls were staring at me like I had gone insane, but for me, this was the release of something that had been going on for years. Who would have ever thought this could be solved so easily? Well, I doubt it would have had the same effect if it weren’t Anna and Claire who had done it. When my laughing fit was finally over, I embraced Tina and kissed her. I felt like I was ready to take on the world.

“Care to let me join in on why you are so happy?” She said a bit confused. In her defense, I reacted more than fifteen minutes after the fact, so my behavior must have come over weird.

I grabbed Tina’s arm, nuzzled my arm against hers, and said “It’s a secret.”

While we were getting closer to the school, my nerves started kicking in. Today was going to be our debut as idols. Even the queen was coming to watch us.

When we arrived at the school, I could see that a lot of teachers and students were already working hard to prepare their stands for the festival.

It made me even more determined. Yuri blooms had to be the climax of this festival. After all, we worked so hard for it.

We went immediately to the gym hall where Ms. Stick walked immediately toward us and angrily said “You are late! We said 9 AM yesterday!” Oh darn. We had clearly missed that. She had probably said that while we were practicing for our own performance.

“Almost an hour late, whatever am I going to do with you? Hurry up to Thea, she is making last-minute changes to the costumes.”

Ms. Stick seemed really nervous about the play. With all the stress of my idol debut, the play felt more like an uncomfortable itch.

When we arrived backstage, I was amazed at what I saw. The whole thing was turned into a dressing and make up studio. In the middle stood Thea giving orders. I noticed a lot of women working here that I had never seen before. They must be Thea's crew.

When she saw us, she walked straight toward Anna, greeted her first with a kiss, and said “As you can see, I delivered as promised. A professional studio for the play and the debut of Yuri Blooms. No cost or effort was spared.”

Claire looked a bit shocked at the sight and said, “Isn’t this overkill for a school festival?”

“Are you kidding? This is amazing!” I replied. I mean we were getting treated like real bigshot celebrities before a show. “This is exactly what I always dreamed it would be like to be an idol,” Therese said.

“Yes, this is like a dream!” Eve said.

I looked at Tina and she was looking around in amazement. It was clear she was overjoyed too.

“Don’t be such a party pooper, Claire. Your girlfriend just gave you an amazing surprise. You should be grateful!” Claire looked a bit taken by my words and answered dejectedly, “I did not mean to sound ungrateful. Just…”

Did I just win one over Claire? Oh, I could get used to that. I just wanted to help Anna, to return the favor of helping to deal with my mom’s Claire obsession, but this was a nice benefit.

It seemed Claire really was weak when it came to things concerning Anna. Anna was Claire's kryptonite so to speak. I decided to make note of that fact and exploit it at any given chance. This day just kept on getting better and better.

While Thea was shouting orders to her staff, three girls were attending me for my dress and make-up for the play. I looked around and noticed that Valerie was being dolled up to be an extremely elegant beauty. She would be perfect as Juliette. I would never have thought that tomboy prince could be that girly if she wanted. It no longer was just the change in her act, now she looked like a completely different person altogether.

Mia on the other hand was being turned into more of a flamboyant and mischievous tomboy. I could see how that contrast would make you want to root for them. I noticed many of Valerie’s fan club whispering and taking glances at Mia like they were scheming something. But seeing the look in their eyes, it did not seem like they were planning something bad. It seemed more like quite a few of Valerie’s fans were changing ships.

Fien seemed really nervous and was spouting something about a yuri manga that ended with a Romeo and Juliette play to Maura, who was listening calmly while admiring her girlfriend, who was being turned slowly but surely into a real Casanova. The nervous quick-talking Fien was doing absolutely did not suit the way she looked. To be honest, it was quite funny to behold.

They had already finished preparing Elodie, and Gazette was taking pictures in a corner they had prepared for that purpose. Thea was often giving them orders Thea on what shots she certainly wanted. I could see how serious Gazette was taking photography. I wouldn’t be surprised if she went pro one day.

In this electric atmosphere, time kept ticking and the time for the play to start was getting closer, and after that, it would finally be the time for Yuri Blooms' idol debut. I was nervous but in a positive way. I felt like the stage was calling to us, to take our rightful place in the spotlights.