Sunday School Melodies

The basement of the church was a bit cold and drafty and the wind was howling outside as the dozen or so children were led in song by the two women at the front of the room. The weather had kept many of the students away on this stormy Saturday night, and the ones that showed up were singing "He's Got the Whole World In His Hands" with widely varying levels of skill and interest, but that didn't stop the women from performing earnestly.

The tall slender woman leading the vocals had been the teacher for than half of her 49 years, and her plain and placid features matched her stern, no-nonsense approach to the class. Nobody attended the classes because of Victoria Swanson's charm, and while her often toneless vocals weren't usually dreadful for the most part they lacked emotion.

The biggest fan of the Sunday School teacher was her piano player Jill Lombardo, and the way the teenager looked at her mentor while she sang made her admiration quite clear. Jill's piano playing was the perfect fit for Victoria's singing, her strident and often awkward style made her sound like she stopped taking lessons far too early, and in Jill's case that was true when her father deserted her family and money got tight. Her main qualification was that she was the only parishioner willing to spend nights rehearsing and playing without any compensation save the teacher's gratitude for not having to sing a cappella.

Victoria obviously enjoyed the way that her young protege admired her voice, because she had few other fans of her talents in the parish. The congregation was grateful for anyone willing to take on the duties that no one else wanted, and when the church changed the Sunday School to Saturday nights that immediately boosted the attendance because parents could dump their kids off and have a couple hours to themselves,

"You don't mind, do you Jill?" the teacher had asked several years ago, and while the idea of a teenage girl having Saturday nights tied up might have had most kids declining, Jill Lombardo was perfectly happy to do whatever Miss Swanson wanted.

"Yes, I'd love to, especially if it gets more children to attend!" Jill had said excitedly, and so for all her high school years and beyond, the cherubic brunette sat at the piano, playing and sometimes even assisting in the teachings when Victoria permitted..

On this particular night when class finished and Victoria led the students upstairs so their parents could take them home, Jill was shocked when she saw that the snow was really flying and the wind was howling. With no windows downstairs in the classroom clean enough to see out of there was no way to tell that the flurries that had begun when she arrived had turned into what might become a blizzard, and the teen shuddered as she grabbed her coat, dreading the nearly mile walk she had to face.

"You didn't ride your bike, did you dear?" Victoria asked, knowing that was how her piano player often traveled.

"No Miss Swanson. I walked," Jill replied and then shrugged and added, "I need the exercise."

"Well you certainly can't walk home in this," the teacher responded. "Can't you call your mother and have her pick you up?"

"No," Jill answered. "It's Saturday night and she always has - company. Probably already went out. I'll be fine."

"You mean to say she lets you stay home alone?" Victoria said in a shocked tone.

"Sure. I mean, I'll be 20 next month."

"You're - oh my! How time has flown, but that's right," Miss Swanson recalled. "You started accompanying me six years ago this month. Silly me. Regardless, I can't have you walking home in this. Would you consider staying here with me tonight?"

"Really?" the chubby teen chirped happily.

"Mind you, my room is hardly what you would call elegant. Very small and not very furnished actually - nothing like you're probably used to, but if you would like I would love to have you. Nice to have company for once."

"Yes. I would love to," Jill replied happily as she looked out the door at the storm which must have been the answer to a prayer she had made many times over the years.

"Then follow me," Miss Swanson said, and as Jill followed her up the stairs her heart was racing, and not from the climbing of the steps either but for the possibility that their relationship would go beyond that of singer and accompanist.

***

"Be it ever so humble," Victoria declared as she let her young protege into the cramped studio apartment that she had called home for over a decade, and as Jill entered she saw immediately that Miss Swanson hadn't been kidding because it was certainly nothing special. Jill's home might have been larger but was no better, she didn't care about the spartan furnishings, and besides she was going to spend the night here with the woman she loved.

An old TV, a phonograph and a clock radio along with a full bookcase seemed to be the only entertainment, and outside of an overstuffed chair as old as the owner the only other furniture of note was a little kitchen table and a bed. A bed, as in singular, and while it was queen-size there was only one, so unless Jill was going to sleep in the chair that meant only one thing.

"How would you like some hot chocolate?" Miss Swanson asked after turning on the phonograph and cuing up the album on the turntable that the teen recognized as Erik Satie's piano works, and as Jill eagerly said yes she noticed that her mentor's voice was far less strident and cold than it was most of the time. While she was still no Mary Poppins the change was noticeable, as was her less strict attitude towards her.

As Miss Swanson prepared the cocoa on the stove - no microwave visible - Jill followed her over and watched her intently. Victoria had taken off the jacket of her pant suit and the dark blue blouse beneath was very loose, almost billowing as she moved around the stove. Jill wished she could be that thin, and also wished that she wasn't wearing such a bulky sweater because it was warm in this apartment and she had only a bra on underneath.

"Hot in here, isn't it?" Miss Swanson said, almost as if reading her mind, and after Jill nodded the teacher explained. "This old church, bless it, has a heating system that is so primitive that in order to make the basement even halfway warm, the rest of the place has to be made unbearable because there's only one control. After we left the basement I turned it down, but it will take a while for us to notice. I can open the window if you want."

"No, this is okay. It is so pretty looking out the window and seeing it snow."

"Yes, it is," Miss Swanson replied, and as her eyes went down Jill's chunky frame she told her she could feel free to take off her sweater.

"No, I don't have a blouse underneath. Can't," she said with a shrug, because she knew she wasn't attractive and needed to lose about 30 pounds, but the only part of her that anybody ever paid attention to was under the loose fitting cardigan.

"Oh," Victoria nodded, and as she did her eyes went briefly to Jill's chest.

While when men did it that it made Jill's stomach turn, when Miss Swanson did it that was different - and Jill noticed that her teacher did that fairly often. Not in an overly obvious manner and not nearly enough to suit the teen, but when Miss Swanson did her whole body tingled, making Jill wonder whether the stories around town were true. Maybe they were just lies spread by malicious people. Jill had never seen anything out of the ordinary and Victoria had never done anything her.

That meant that maybe Jill's praying wasn't all that effective after all, but when Miss Swanson looked at her that way it made her nipples practically explode, and as they sat at the kitchen table Miss Swanson reached into a bread box and pulled out a surprise.

"This must remain our little secret." Miss Swanson cautioned as she brought a bottle of Peppermint Schnappes and offered to, as she put it. fortify the cocoa, and Jill eagerly accepted the offer.

"This is my way of apologizing for earlier in forgetting how old you are," Victoria explained as she splashed some in each of their mugs. "When you get older you lose track of time and the way it flies. For some reason I've thought of you as a child, as if you had always remained the same runny nosed girl who offered to help me with the class all those years ago."

"That's okay."

"No, I should have known better. After all, you've clearly a woman," Miss Swanson remarked as she patted the girl's hand, and when their skin made contact a little spark from static electricity made them both jump and giggle.

Jill's body tingled from the casual touch, and as the older woman's slender fingers remained on the back of her hand for a moment the teen struggled to keep from hyperventilating.

"I've taken you for granted for a long time," Miss Swanson continued. "Week after week you come and accompany me, put up with my occasional attitude and take it all with a smile. You've deserved better."

"No, you've been wonderful for letting me help you," Jill replied. "I know I'm not much of a piano player."

"You're fine and you try very hard, and that's what matters. It's not like you're playing with a real singer, and when I act like a diva you would have been in your rights to tell me off," Victoria admitted, drawing a response from Jill.

"You're a wonderful singer," Jill protested even though Miss Swanson rolled her eyes at that. "You would be even better with a better accompanist. Like tonight during 'This Little Light Of Mine', I slowed up for some reason and then sped up which made it worse. Sometimes I just find myself sitting there, looking and listening to you instead of paying attention."

"Well, luckily our audience is often too busy throwing spitballs at each other to care," Victoria noted, and that drew a laugh from both of them.

"I don't get to see you laugh much," Jill said and then for some reason blurted out, "You're even prettier when you smile."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Miss Swanson retorted. "I think maybe you've had too much of my fortified cocoa."

"Sorry, guess I shouldn't have said that," Jill answered sheepishly. "My mother always says that she thinks the only reason I open my mouth is so that I can stick my foot in it. Got a gift for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time."

"Not at all, it was a very sweet thing to say. I'm not used to having nice things said about me so I don't know how to react," Victoria said as she patted the chubby girl's hand again. "Now you? What is a pretty girl doing in a drafty basement on Saturday nights instead of going out with boys and the like?"

"Not much interested in that sort of thing," Jill replied, and as the soft piano solo ended the silence was deafening until the record player's arm went over and back onto the disc.

Jill's eyes were focused on Miss Swanson's hand on hers, and she noticed that her long sleeve had ridden up a bit, exposing her wrist. Jill knew that Miss Swanson always wore clothes with long sleeves, even in the summer, and the teen suspected that she might be self-conscious about having hairy arms, if her furry wrists were any indication of what was farther up.

"Hope you don't mind the same record playing. Too lazy to get up and change it," Miss Swanson explained as Gymnopedie No. 1 began again.

"No, I love this," Jill said. "I play this song a lot - try to that is."

"I'd like to hear that."

"I don't know. You might not recognize it," Jill noted but Victoria was insistent.

"Maybe some week you can play it for our kids. Give them a little culture," Miss Swanson said. "How about some more cocoa?"

"Fortified?" Jill giggled.

"Absolutely," she countered while heating up the milk again. "You still work at Family Dollar?"

"Yeah. I guess I'm up for Assistant Manager," Jill explained.

"Good for you."

"It's only a few dollars extra a week, but it's better than nothing and around here there's not all that many jobs these days."

"I know. This area was never prosperous even in good times," Miss Swanson said before changing the subject. "What ever happened to that boy - tall with blonde hair? He used to come to class and stare at you. Was he a boyfriend?"

"Lord no. He gave me the creeps. That was - gee - a couple of years ago? I forgot all about him. I can't believe you remember that, or even that you noticed him. One night he started talking to me and I told him I wasn't interested. Then he moved me against the wall and started to -" Jill explained and then hesitated before taking a deep breath and finishing. "He started to squeeze my breasts though my clothes and tried to get me to go outside so he could - you know. Luckily he heard you making noise back in the hall so he stopped. Never came back."

"Oh. I'm so sorry. That's horrible. I didn't know. I wish you had told me," Victoria responded with a grimace as she served up the cocoa, and as they sipped the warm beverage and looked out the window the older woman noted, "It's getting worse out there. Shouldn't you call your mother and tell her you're okay?"

"Later," Jill said, knowing that she wouldn't bother and realizing her absence wouldn't be noticed anyway. "I'm having too much fun right now to bother."

***

"Getting ready for bed," Jill mumbled to herself as she washed her hands in the bathroom and tried to get up the nerve to undress.

The teen dried her hands, peeled off her jeans and then pulled off her sweater before looking at herself in the mirror, making a face and cursing herself for still not losing the 30 pounds that might make her somewhat attractive. Her thighs were like a football player's and her waist was thick, with the little belly that rested above the elastic of her panties making her wince.

The prospect of standing like this in front of Miss Swanson, who probably had a model's body, for as long as it would take to scramble under the covers took much of the anticipation from seeing her teacher in her nighttime attire. Jill took a brush from the sink and ran it through her shoulder length hair, wishing she could afford to get it styled or something, and when she raised her arms she sniffed the little wisp of hair and was glad she didn't smell but she could use some refreshing.

Being as quiet as possible Jill peeked in the medicine cabinet to see if there was any deodorant she could use but found nothing. She cursed herself for her uncanny ability to make a bad impression, and with Miss Swanson of all people, especially when it seemed like maybe - just possibly - there was something between them, and not in Jill's fertile imagination for once.

And what if Miss Swanson did like her in that way? She knew nothing about what to really do with a woman, her only experience being a while back with the neighbor lady who was lonely because her husband was in jail, and that consisted mostly of her getting pawed by the lady on the pretense of teaching her how to do a breast exam. Jill realized that she didn't even know how to kiss, really kiss, never even messing around with anybody because she had been saving herself. Saving herself for the woman out in the apartment, perhaps for this very moment.

Finally, Jill opened the door and rejoined her hostess who had already shed her slacks and was unbuttoning her blouse as the teen entered, and the teen crossed her arms over her bra-clad chest as she entered the room.

"You aren't cold, are you Jill? I thought it was still quite warm in here," Miss Swanson noted as she peeled off her blouse without a trace of the self consciousness her guest had, and the teen noticed that Miss Swanson's forearms were indeed covered with long downy hair up to her elbows.

"No Miss Swanson," Jill answered, getting another reminder that there was no need for her to be so formal, and although Jill tried not to look she was stunned at how very slender Victoria was but even more eye opening were her teacher's panties, more specifically the way that her pubic hair peeked out from under the elastic of the very modestly cut undies and pushed out against their front panel.

"To tell you the truth, I've looked around for something you could wear to bed but we're built so differently," Victoria shrugged. "Frankly, I usually sleep in the nude anyway."

"Another shock to your system, I take it," Miss Swanson said with smile. "First the fortified cocoa and now me prancing around here nearly naked."

"No, I mean that's great."

"Not for somebody who had the kind of body I have - the kind that made inventing clothes necessary," Victoria kidded. "So if you want to go au naturale. I'll join you. After all, it's just us girls, and your brassiere? The straps are cutting into your shoulders so badly. I think you've outgrown this. Here, let me help you off with that."

Before Jill could react Miss Swanson was behind her as they stood in front of the little dresser's mirror, and when Jill looked up she saw Miss Swanson standing behind her watching her reaction as she struggled to undo the clasps in back. When they finally came open the bra practically exploded off the teen as her large breasts lurched down to her waist, and Jill heard her teacher's breath catch as she looked at the reflection.

"Oh my," Miss Swanson whispered after she pulled the bra straps off Jill's round shoulders, and as she ran her hands slowly up and down Jill's arms she continued. "Obviously no matter how much you've tried to hide it, I was aware you were a well developed young lady, but I had no idea how much so."

"Fat," Jill whispered back, trying to will the older woman's hands over to hold her breasts, but it didn't happen.

"Nonsense. You're a positively lovely woman," Miss Swanson said as she stepped back and slipped her own bra off, and after casting it aside noted, "Not nearly so dramatic an appearance I'm afraid."

Jill tried not to stare as her teacher pulled her panties down her very long legs but her eyes went back to Miss Swanson's breasts, which were practically non-existent. Her bust was just a couple of very modest swells with tiny boyish nipples. Jill took off her own panties, revealing a spray of pubic hair which was nothing like the wild heart-shaped bush overflowing between her mentor's legs, and after straightening up Jill looked everywhere but at her teacher until she straightened up and her eyes returned to the woman's chest.

"I did turn off the phonograph at last, Is something wrong?" Victoria asked when she saw where the girl's attention was, breaking Jill out of her trance, and when the teen shook her head no the older woman smiled and commented, "You've never seen a woman built like me before I'll bet."

"I..."

"Here," Miss Swanson said as she took Jill's wrists and brought the girl's hands up to her chest, pressing her palms against her breast buds. "Feel how flat I am? Much like a boy."

"No, you're..." Jill mumbled as her shaking hands felt the woman's nipples harden.

"It's okay, I've long since passed the point of being embarrassed about it," Victoria sighed as she let go of Jill's wrists and was pleased when the girl didn't drop her hands. "Although there were times when I was much younger that I would have done anything to be built like you."

"Not that great," Jill replied as her trembling hands remained on Miss Swanson's chest. "I hate the staring I get from men, and stuff like from that kid downstairs."

"Is that why you always wear loose fitting clothing?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"I understand completely. After all I mask my shortcomings with loose fitting clothing, but seeing how you're built? Most girls your age in this era would flaunt assets such as your," Miss Swanson opined. "Have you ever - none of my business - ever been with a man?"

"Me, no," Jill admitted. "Unless you count having my father watch me bathe and get dressed and undressed."

"Omigod. I'm sorry."