It had been a long day at school. Two tests, three quizzes, and more homework than Erika had ever laid her eyes upon. Closing her bedroom door, she flopped onto her bed to bury her face into the pillow as she groaned. This time though, it wasn’t because she was simply being moody again like her mother always liked to harp on her about. Rather, despite her exhaustion, there was something else today on her mind bothering her. Something that had to do with her body, and her bits down there that she wasn’t supposed to show anyone she didn’t trust. Except the doctor of course, and her mother at the end of every month.

Groaning, Erika turned around. At school, some of the other girls had been giggling about boys as usual. Typical rumor mill, like who was kissing who and such. Like most of the times, though, the longer the conversation went on, the more it began to drift towards the topics that the pastor at her church had always warned her not to think about. Things like drugs, and sex, and alcohol, and then as if they knew exactly how uncomfortable the entire thing was making her, when was the last time they had all tried to touch themselves. It was only just her fingers, was it? Had she ever tried to use anything else? Like, maybe a marker or a pen perhaps? Or maybe even a cucumber or a hotdog? Ashley from the next class over said that she had even tried to put a sharpie in her butt once and claimed that it felt pretty good. Then again, she used tampons instead of pads like the rest of them, so maybe it was just because she had more experience.

For a moment, Erika tried to think of what her mother would have to say about the topic. It probably wouldn’t end up pretty well.

"Erika, sweetie, nice girls don't do that!" she had exclaimed a long time ago when she had first tried to ask, "It's dirty and wrong. And besides, you’re just eighteen. Just focus on your studies for now, alright?"

Then, with a very suspicious look, it had been over to the bathroom together to take off all her clothes so that her mother could see for herself that there really was nothing wrong with her. Including with that tiny little bump at the top of her slit that tingled every time she happened to think naughty thoughts. And thinking back to the event, the entire thing had been one of the weirdest things she had ever had to do.

“Not here,” said her mother, her finger circling around the tiny little point, “No matter what anyone tells you, never try to touch yourself down here.”

“But why?” asked Erika.

Her mother pressed down against the spot she was pointing to again, and for some reason it was hard to stop her hips from wanting to move.

“Because girls who ignore the rules and play with themselves eventually go mad,” she said, “They get addicted, and then they just can’t stop. And then, when it gets time for them to get married, they find out that maybe they don’t love their husbands as much as they thought they did.”

She looked up at her, her face all serious, and Erika very wisely chose to keep her mouth shut about the fact that maybe this was the reason why Dad had left. Even as she was told to turn around and bend over the edge of the bathroom counter. And then lift her butt up into the air, and then spread her legs apart, and then wait there patiently like that while her mother reached over for the lotion to spend the next fifteen minutes or so putting her finger in and out of her anus to see if her privates would get wet.

Slichk, slichk, slichk, the noise would go, and gritting her teeth against the feeling, Erika would stare at her reflection in the mirror along with the slight curve of her shoulders and her back, the miniature ridges of her spine standing out against the smoothness of her skin as it trailed down to her rear. Complete as well with the sight of her mother’s hand sticking out from in between her cheeks, and even as she felt her bits down there start to quiver as if shaking and her nipples grew hard for some reason on her chest, the only thing she could really do was to sit there and wait for it to end.

Slichk, slichk, slichk…

Slichk, slichk…

Slichk.

It didn’t happen every day of course, but whenever it did, it always left her feeling weirdly frustrated and funny. Like there was some sort of swollen ache left over inside of her that she couldn’t quite reach. She would blink, and her mother would sigh, shifting her legs apart even further as she reached down again to spread her open. Then, another tiny poke at the forbidden little nub, and then reaching over for a tissue she would begin to clean her up.

“Have you learned your lesson now?” she would ask.

“Yes, mom,” said Erika, still not quite understanding exactly what this was supposed to be about.

“Not going to try and flick your dirty little bean like the rest of the girls out there now, are you?” said her mother.

“No, mom,” said Erika truthfully, “I promise I won’t.”

The tissue dabbed at her privates again, pressing up one last time against her folds, and reaching over to help her pull her panties back up with a smile, her mother would lead her back over to her room. Then, tucking the covers up over her chest, she would lean in to give her a goodnight kiss before turning off the lights and waving to her from out in the hall. Past that came the usual dreams of standing in her classroom at school, fully naked and bent over the edge of her desk while the teacher stood behind her to spank her, and as she sobbed and pleaded with him to go slower, the rest of her friends would look on and laugh.

Having to talk to them the following day afterwards was never fun. Nor was having to go through the entire thing all over again whenever her mother thought she needed to at the end of every month, and when combined with the tingling feeling that seemed to settle down in her stomach nowadays whenever one of the boys she liked looked over at her in class, it was like there was a constant pressure building up inside her that she couldn’t quite place.

“Like, I get it,” she mumbled, “But why does it always have to be down there?”

Pushing the memories aside, Erika sighed as she turned around again to sprawl out against the covers. She was tired from school today, dead tired, and the last thing she wanted to do was to think about such thoughts. Despite that though, her mind seemed unable to stop. Almost like a runner faced with the last stretch of the track that ran up to the finishing line, and between the stress of her increasing workload and the thoughts of having to eventually start applying for college, it was a bit like trying to shove a genie back into his bottle.

Like, surely there wasn’t any harm in being curious about her own body, was there? Even though she knew it was evil and wrong. Private parts were made to be covered up like that for a reason after all, and if showing someone something as simple as her underwear made her feel embarrassed, then why did she think that she could do the same with the rest of her body? It was gross. Simple as. Like going over the boundary of something she knew she couldn’t, or lying about what she had gotten on her tests.

All the same, though, lying there in bed like that, no matter how hard she tried to resist, the thought still tempted her. Not helping at all was the weirdness of the ache again as it slowly started to swell up. Like there was an entire bag of marbles stuffed up between her legs, and the slightest push would cause something to come bursting out of her. The only problem was that it was against the rules.

Erika clenched her fists as she took in a deep breath. Just once couldn’t hurt, could it? Nobody would have to know. Just one little touch to find out. Hesitantly, almost against her will, she slid a hand beneath the waistband of her pajama as she swallowed on a dry throat. Her fingers roamed across the softness of her skin, tracing over the outer edges of her panties along with the shallow curve on either side as they moved in towards the center, and then just as she thought she could feel the beginnings of something hot…

A knock sounded out against the door, and she jumped up as she quickly pulled her hand away, her heart racing like a hammer.

"Erika, dinner's ready!" her mother’s voice called out.

"Be right there!" said Erika automatically.

An awkward moment passed, and as the footsteps outside trailed out back down the stairs, she let out a deep breath that she didn’t know she had been holding. That was close. Just another couple more seconds or so and she might have been caught. The same burning heat rose up inside her again, flowing through her veins like something sticky and uncomfortable and wet, and she shivered against the missing sensation. Like there was something empty inside of her that needed to be filled, and she tried everything she could to push the thought from her mind before she was tempted to reach down again with her fingers.

Dinner first, she decided, shaking her head, and then she could deal with whatever problems she had afterwards when she had the time. Climbing to her feet, she slowly made her way towards the door and down the hall. The smell of something cooking in the oven drifted up to her, and doing her best to smile, she tried not to notice the way that her panties were ever so slightly damp.

It was just sweat, that’s all, she thought.

Just as the thought crossed her mind though, the fabric rubbed up against the tiny little bump at the top of her slit, and desperately she tried to force herself to ignore the feeling of static between her legs. The ache moved another fraction of an inch deeper inside of her, swelling up like a balloon, and already she could tell that whatever dreams she was going to have today, she was not going to like it one bit at all.