Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2003 01:11:29 +0100 From: Jan Vincent Subject: The Lisbon Girls - Part One The Lisbon Girls The alternative story to The Virgin Suicides By Jan Vincent Please send all your feedback to: jan123@hotmail.com For other stories written by me, just go to my site at: http://www.sistersinlove.org This is my homage to Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides and Kirsten Dunst. I try to rescue these girls from their dreadful fate. Still, I try to impart the same feelings I experienced while watching this haunting film. This the alternative story that should have been told. So I tell it, here. Enjoy the story and then let me know what you think. -jan ----------------------------- Tim: I have always been a shy boy, who has some difficulty in approaching girls my age. I have also this odd fascination for unreachable girls like the Lisbon sisters, the most popular girls in our school. They are hunted down by the boys of our neighborhood, but because they are so sheltered by their parents they are not allowed to date anyone. If a boy wants to have a conversation with any of these beautiful girls he has to pluck up enough courage to come up to them and make a fool of himself, as they usually do not give a straight answer. They will just tease the poor guy with a snickering look or a wry repartee. The reason why the Lisbon girls are so popular is because they are these four blond teen beauties: Therese, 17 years old; Mary, 16 years old; Bonnie, 15 years old; and Lux, 14 years old. Cecile, their 13-year-old sister, has died recently. Some say it was just a freak accident, but there is this rumor running around she committed suicide. Of these four girls Lux Lisbon is definitely the most attractive one. She is so breathtakingly beautiful that I almost die watching her every time I see her going down the hall toward me. Lux just looks straight ahead, though, ignoring me, munching her chewing gum with the abandon of a smug teenage girl. I became obsessed with her. I don't know what to do about it, but all I do is daydream about this absolutely gorgeous girl. The fact that the Lisbon girls live across the street doesn't help me much. Fortunately I have a telescope and I can watch them if they leave the curtains of their rooms open or if they sneak out of their rooms and go to the roof to talk and smoke. I focus the lens of the telescope and try to read their lips, but I only understand a few words. I can see their boredom, though. Nothing to do but staying home because their folks are these strict, puritanical, old-fashioned prudes. Over time I am able to see their desperation grow, the sadness in their eyes becoming more ominous. They are like canaries in a cage, unable to spread their wings and fly. I wish I could be there in their rooms and hear what they say to each other. I wish Lux would know about my love for her. I could write her a love letter, but I know she would laugh at it and throw it to the garbage without a second thought. ----------------------------- Lux: Today I talked to my sister Bonnie about that boy that keeps staring at me in school, our neighbor Tim Weiner. He's the most awkward boy I know, so awkward that I sometimes feel sorry for him. I also feel sorry for myself, because I hate my life, and my sisters and I are contemplating suicide. It's not like we talk about it. It's more that we know that we've been thinking about it since Cecile did what she did. I know it's an easy way out, but perhaps the only way out. But for now we have Tim as a less depressing subject. "Yes, I know him," she says with a simple nod of her head. "He's cute, but so awkward." Bonnie looks at me and smiles. "Yes, I know. He's just in love with you." I smile back at her and I understand what she means. In spite of our parents' strictness we have tried to rebel. We listen to rock music and we dance to it with each other, whenever we can. We don't have many records anymore, as our mother made me burn them in the fireside of our dining room when I broke curfew. My revenge was to lift myself up to the roof of our porch and smoke. Bonnie is a beautiful girl whom I adore. I know she loves me too, not only because we're sisters, but also because we have the same sense of humor. Bonnie could chat all night if she was allowed to, but that's fine with me as she keeps our boredom at bay. I wonder where she gets that energy, that will to fight, which keeps us from following our sister Cecilia into her deathbed, for now. "I have this crazy idea..." she suddenly whispers. "What kind of idea?" I ask, intrigued. She slides up to me on our paper sheet-strewn floor and tells me all about it. I am a little shocked at first, but then a thrill goes up my spine. We look out of our window and check whether Tim is spying on us with his telescope. It may seem pathetic to shock a 15-year-old boy out of his wits but we don't have anything better to do. And so we wait for him to come home, walk up the stairs of his house and enter his room. One hour later he does just that. In the meantime, our oldest sister Therese has joined us in our room and asks what we are up to. Bonnie and I just burst into laughter and tell her nothing. Therese looks us skeptically and reprovingly. She used to be the most accommodating of my sisters, the most dutiful, responsible daughter in the world. She has relaxed a little since we got permanently grounded when I broke my curfew and got screwed and left alone in the football field by Trip Fontaine, the bastard. Like clockwork we eat dinner at 7 PM. Our mother says grace and we eat. Bonnie sits opposite me and I can see her repress her laughter. We both know the boy is waiting for us at his telescope. We are thrilled by the anticipation. Therese eye us with some disdain, while Mary acts as her usual self, being quiet and patient with our father's fascination for airplanes. After helping Mother with the tidying of the dining room and the kitchen, Bonnie and I run to my room and we peek again through our window. "Is he there?" she whispers. "I think so," I say, although I have some doubts. I can't see him in the darkness of his room. "Anyway, let's go to the roof. I'm dying for a smoke." ----------------------------- Tim: Finally my patience and determination pays off. I see Lux and Bonnie drag themselves up on the windowsill and sit as comfortably as possible on their porch roof. Lux lights a cigarette and for a moment I freeze. She stares into my telescope as though she _knows_ I am in my room, watching her. But that's not possible. I know she can't see me, my room is too dark for her to make out anything. Lux hands her cigarette over to Bonnie and her older sister takes in a deep drag, too. Right then I convince myself I am such a lucky guy. I am the only one able to spy on these wonderful creatures, these blond beauties that I worship so much. For me they are these innocent, pure angels, even though they smoke and there are rumors that Lux and Trip Fontaine have made out in the football field. Still, I love Lux with all my heart. I would do anything she would ask me to do, if only Lux paid attention to me, just once. Lux and Bonnie are giggling now. Again I try to read their lips but it's too dark outside to follow what they were saying. All I know is that Lux makes her sister sit closer to her. Bonnie giggles again, expelling the smoke through her half-closed lips. Their faces come closer as if they were going to share a secret. Their rest their heads on each other's foreheads, their blond hair mingles and then... out of the blue... they kiss... on the lips. I am flabbergasted, completely stunned. I see Lux's slender arm brush Bonnie's hair away from her face and kiss her sister more intently, her eyes closed, as if she does this on a regular basis. I get so carried away that I don't notice that I am increasingly leaning forward, putting all my weight against the tripod. Then something terrible happens. The tripod breaks and the telescope falls heavily on my knee. I scream from pain. I hear some hurried footsteps on the stairs and my brother Andy and my mother enter my room, turning on the light. She asks me what I was doing in the dark. I tell them I have just tripped on my telescope. Andy is smirking at me, because he knows I watch the Lisbon girls with it. ----------------------------- Bonnie: My sister Lux is the most gorgeous girl I know. She is the reason why I didn't put an end to my life yet. My life is already too boring as it is, and without her it would be unbearable. Cecilia's death is taking its toll, on our parents and on us girls. We have a sadder existence now, if that's possible at all. That's why I had this crazy idea, causing this scandal, by kissing Lux so openly in front of an audience. We were not sure we were being watched, but when the lights went on in Tim's bedroom, we knew. Tim had seen everything. My sister Lux just went hysterical with laughter, pulling me back into our room. Mary knocks on our door and comes in. She is curious about our mirth. Mary is also very close to Lux, our baby sister, now that Cecilia is gone. She sits on Lux's bed and grills us with questions that remain unanswered. Mary watch us as though we've gone crazy and, due to the circumstances, we are not far from it. "You really want to know?" Lux asks as soon as her laughter subsides. "Yes, of course I want to know," Mary replies seriously. "Promise you won't tell Mother?" Mary bends her head to the side and twitches her lips. She doesn't say a thing and waits. "All right," Lux says, taking a short-lived mischievous glance at me. She tells about our kiss and Tim's spying. When Lux describes how Tim is caught, we see Mary smile too. At last I see her laugh, and sadly enough I don't remember the last time I saw her do it. When Mary returns to her room, it is already 10 PM. We change to our nightgowns, for our mother is going to make her bed-check soon. She always does this, making sure we are all sleeping in our respective beds. In the darkness of our room I hear Lux laughing. Her jollity is contagious but it soon runs dry. I hear Mother check on our older sisters. She will soon enter our room and do the same. We fake sleep when she does. We hear a satisfied, weary sigh before she shuts the door behind her. ----------------------------- Mary: Lux has always had this crazy streak. We love her for it, though. She can be our youngest sister, except for Cecilia, but she is - very often - our leader. Even Therese lets our sister Lux become the candle that illuminates our path. She is so painfully beautiful, and so intense, and so indescribable. You will have to meet her to see what I mean with these words. "Therese, are you sleeping?" I hear the rustle in Therese's bed. She isn't. "No, I am not. What happened?" "Nothing happened. It's just..." I can feel she is waiting for me to continue, but I don't. I want to tell her about Lux kissing Bonnie, but I don't know how Therese is going to react. Our oldest sister is the most serious of us four. Although I don't believe she would go and tell our parents about what our younger sisters had done, I sense she would get somewhat disturbed by it. It was a prank, I know, but still... "Mary, go on." Therese sits up on her bed and stares at me. I can see her silhouetted figure against the dim light coming from the lamp posts outside. I tell her about Lux and Bonnie and Tim and, to my great surprise, I hear her laugh. "It's so Lux. Our sister is really crazy." "Actually, it was Bonnie's idea." "Bonnie's? Are you sure?" "That's what Lux told me." She becomes silent for a long while until she covers herself with the bed sheets and rests her head against her pillow. "That's surprising," she eventually murmurs. I gather these words are not really meant for me. She was talking to herself. In spite of that I want to ask her why she finds it so surprising. Nonetheless, I remain quiet and wait before slumber comes and whisks me off into dreamland. ----------------------------- Lux: It is again a boring day and the idea of killing myself doesn't look so bad anymore. All we have are a few records that escaped the fire and the trash. Mother has gotten rid of the rest. For all that I don't hate her, although I did hate her when she made me burn our records in the hearth of the dining room. The only thing that's happened and is remotely worth-telling is my kissing Bonnie for laughs. Even Therese was interested in hearing about it as if she could not believe what Mary had told her. I stare out of the window and see Tim's bedroom window closed. I realize he's in school while we are here rotting away, alone in our bedrooms, with nothing to do but wait for a miracle or a rescuer from our fate. Even though our father's a math teacher we are not allowed to go to school anymore. It would be easy for me to blame myself, but I blame Trip Fontaine for it. He made me break the curfew and have sex with him. I could forgive him if he hadn't left me alone in the football field that night. But he did. "Lux?" I turn to see my sister Bonnie writing a postcard to Tim, our would-be savior. "Yes?" "You think he's gonna do what we ask?" "Most probably." "You sure?" "No, but I think he will." "Why?" "Because he broke his telescope when we did it. It must've been an out-of-this-world experience to him." Bonnie snickers at this as she glues a psychedelic-looking butterfly on the postcard. "Well, it surely was an out-of-this-world experience to _me_." "Why?" I ask. Bonnie suddenly stops and looks at me with the most serious expression I have ever seen on her face. "Because it was you, Lux." ----------------------------- Tim: I cannot believe what Andy is telling me. Bonnie and Lux Lisbon wrote me a postcard. The girls told him they had put it in the garbage when he passed by their house. "Are you sure it's for me?" "Yeah, kiddo. I think there's only one Tim Weiner on this street. It seems you made an impression on them. They want you to watch out for a sign tonight... In Morse code." I read the postcard over and over again and still cannot believe that Lux knows that I exist. I scream and jump and sing around my brother. Andy smirks at me but I really don't care. Lux knows about my love for her, I figure, and that's why she wrote me a postcard. Yes! "And do you know any Morse code, bro?" he asks. "No, but I know you do." And so we wait till 11 PM in my room. Andy is not so excited as I am but he's curious. I didn't tell him about Lux kissing Bonnie, though. I didn't want to ruin their reputations. Then suddenly we see a light go on and off in a precise cadence in Lux's bedroom. Andy starts to write dots and dashes on his notebook. I cannot wait to know what they want to tell us. Impatiently I pace my room as the girls keep sending us their message. Finally the light is turned off and does not come back on anymore. "So, what's their message? What do they say?" "Wait, bro. I need to decode it first." He quickly writes on his notebook the translation of the Morse code and then laughs out loud. "What? What's so funny?" "These girls are crazy." "WHY?" I asked, trying to see what he wrote on the notebook. "They ask if you liked their kiss." I grab his notebook and read: "You there, Tim? Hope you are. Give us a sign if you liked our kiss. Bonnie and Lux." ----------------------------- Bonnie: When Lux kissed me, it was definitely an out-of-this-world experience. The excitement of having a potential audience was... unimaginable. It was not our first kiss, though. We had kissed before, out of pity, out of pain. She had just turned 13, three days before my fourteenth birthday. It was way before we got grounded, and Lux had sex with Trip Fontaine. My younger sister was sunbathing on the front lawn, being stared at by men and boys alike, but Lux didn't care. She basked in their attention. She just loved it. However, Mother didn't like it at all. She called her in and reluctantly she left the lawn and went inside. Usually we accepted Mother's tyranny without questioning her, but not that day. Lux was mad at her although she didn't voice it out loud. She just went to her room and sat on her bed still in her two-piece bathing suit. She was pouting, unhappy, almost in tears. But Lux is a proud girl and she kept her eyes dry -- not a tear sprang forth in her beautiful grayish blue eyes. Silently I sat next to her because I totally understood her pain. She was my sister, after all. Her parents were my parents, too. "I don't think I'm going to live long," she said with a shaky voice. "Why do you say that?" "It's just how I feel." There was nothing else to say. We hugged each other. I felt her growing breasts against mine. I have always liked to cuddle her, hold her in my arms. She is so huggable, so pretty, almost like a doll. And that day I felt the same about her. "I wish I could make you feel better," I said. "Thanks, Bonnie, you're too sweet." She then began to kiss my cheeks, my eyes and then my mouth. I was not shocked by it, because I needed that tenderness, too. It was then that I broke up and cried. ----------------------------- Andy: I have never paid attention to those girls. I just thought they were these nasty prudes who like to tease boys just for the hell of it. I am still convinced that they are just a bunch of prissy, untouchable flowers... and I hate that kind of girls. But then again... their message left me curious. Bonnie and Lux are preparing something for tonight and my brother Tim has invited all his friends to watch: Parkie Denton, Paul Baldino and David Barker. Needless to say that all of his buddies accepted the invitation. The Lisbon girls seem to strike a chord in all males of our neighborhood. And the evening comes and I feel the bubbling agitation in my brother's bedroom. What are they doing? It is already twelve past eleven and still no sign of them. I start to wonder whether I misread their message in Morse code. But then David commands everybody to shut up. Two female silhouettes rise from Lux's bedroom window and sit on the roof. Again they light up a cigarette and smoke alternately. I can see only their shapes as they are too far away to see who they are. "Is it Bonnie and Lux?" I ask. "Yes," replies an excited Parkie, who is hogging the telescope. "So, what are they doing?" asks Paul. "They're smoking." "Move over," David says, pushing Parkie to the side. "I want to see it." And then all of a sudden he exclaims, "Whoa!" "What?" everybody wants to know. "They're kissing each other." Everybody takes turns on the telescope and the reactions are mixed. While Parkie and David are really turned on by the Lisbon girls' kiss, Paul is thoroughly disgusted with it. My brother Tim remains silent, perhaps more disappointed than really disgusted. I can see he has a crush on Lux, that's not a secret anymore. But Lux and Bonnie are asking for it, exposing themselves like that... My brother Tim and his buddies agree this is their secret and no one but us should know what's happened on the roof of Mr. and Mrs. Lisbon's porch. ----------------------------- Therese: I am appalled when Mary tells me that Bonnie and Lux have kissed on the roof, _again_. I go to their room and she trails along behind me with a concerned look on her face. "Lux, Bonnie, you have to stop it. That's not funny anymore." "Why do we have to stop?" Lux asks me with defiance, straightening herself up on her bed. Next to her sits Bonnie, who eyes us with amusement. "Because Andy and Tim may talk. And you know how boys are... And is it true that you sent them a message?" "Yes, that's true," Lux agreed with a nod, half-smiling, sending a gleeful glance at Bonnie. "And what did you tell them?" "We told them what we were going to do," Bonnie replied, doubling up with laughter. Lux holds Bonnie's head, giggling as well. "You've gone crazy," I say. "Perhaps," Lux says, abruptly acquiring a serious expression. "But why are you so afraid? Even if they tell, what can happen to us? Be grounded again?" Nobody speaks for a moment. I see what she means, but still their kissing on the roof does not make sense. "Why?" I dare ask. "Why do you do that?" "Because it feels nice," Bonnie says. Her head rests on Lux's lap now. Lux smiles contentedly at Bonnie. "Because Lux is a very good kisser. She has these lips... sweet and warm... and full of flavor." Lux laughs at this. "You never told me that." "Well, I'm telling you now." Wordlessly we see Bonnie slip her arms around Lux's neck, raising herself to a sitting position on Lux's lap. Then Bonnie and Lux lose themselves in a long kiss, her mouths open, Bonnie's cheeks becoming flushed. We hear Lux moan, her excitement becoming undeniably visible. I look at Mary and she just shrugs. I don't know what to do, and apparently neither does Mary. ----------------------------- Mary: I am in my room now, trying to sleep. I thought Therese would be disturbed by what she saw today in Bonnie's and Lux's room, but it seems as though I am the one who got most affected by it. I can hear Therese sleep, her breathing quiet and with a peaceful rhythm. I don't know why I feel so turned on and at the same time so horrified by it. It was one thing to kiss for a laugh but it was a total different thing to kiss because "it feels nice." I wonder whether Bonnie and Lux are still kissing in their room... I wonder how far they will go with it. It was odd to see that our baby sister could get so excited by kissing Bonnie and that Bonnie could get into kissing our sister Lux so much. I know that Lux is good looking, but... she is our sister. Our baby sister! I sit on my bed and go to the bathroom. I pee and then wash my hands and my face. It is an oppressive, warm night, and I keep wondering. I step into the passageway again and almost involuntarily I walk as silently as I can up to the doorway of my sisters' room. I listen and hear no sound. Because our rooms do not have a lock I could easily open the door and sneak in. But do I dare to? "Mary?" I jump from fear and with my heart beating like crazy I turn to see Mother coming from her room. "Yes, Mother?" "What are you doing in front of your sisters' room?" "I-- I--" "Honey, what happened?" "Nothing happened, it's just... I went to the bathroom and got lost. I was too sleepy... Exhausted, actually." "Honey... Just go back to your bed." I nod and obey. To my horror I hear her check Lux's and Bonnie's room. After a excruciating moment I hear Mother shut the door and return to her bed. I heave a sigh of relief. It seems as if our sisters were sound asleep and that my imagination was playing tricks on me. Again I shut my eyes and try to get some sleep. ----------------------------- Tim: It's been two weeks now that the Lisbon girls are grounded. They are not even allowed to go to school. Mr. Lisbon is behaving strangely these days. He stops and starts to talk to plants as if they were real people. The principal has asked about his daughters and Mr. Lisbon does not know how and what to answer. Andy and I wait for the girls to come to the roof but only Lux shows up to smoke sporadically. This time she doesn't even look in my direction. She remains there, smoking, with her thoughts very far away. I wonder what she's thinking about. I would give anything to know that. But I don't. And that's so frustrating. I get mad at my brother Andy, who doesn't stop teasing me about Lux. ----------------------------- Lux: I still think about the day Trip fucked me in the football field. He was okay and I don't regret that I am not a virgin anymore. He was a good kisser and I liked to kiss him in our prom evening. Yet, I like Bonnie's so much more. It was the first time that someone told me my kisses were "full of flavor." And those words are so Bonnie. Bonnie excites me and makes me do things with her that I never thought I would do with another girl. I like to touch her and feel her breasts against mine. My nipples are very sensitive and I know she knows that. I love her glowing face when she kisses me, I love the way she is willing to kiss me forever and ever, no need to rush anywhere, no need to score and then split, as if nothing has happened between us. I want to make love to her. I want her to make love to me, in a proper way, in a way that we both like. She's again busy with another postcard to the Weiner brothers. I sit on her bed and stare at her. At first she does not notice it, but after a while she looks up and smiles. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she asks. "I was wondering if you're ready with it." "Almost. Why?" "Because I wanted to kiss you again." Her smile becomes a grin. "Lux. You..." "I... What?" "You are amazing." "Am I? Why?" She does not answer me. She just brushes the postcard aside and on her knees she slips her hands around my neck, her hand tipping up my head until our mouths meet in a scorching kiss. I pull her down and she rolls and falls on the bed, her back against the covers, her legs on my lap. I slide beside her and we look into each other's eyes. We both see we want this -- so much! I feel her desire as much as she feels mine. I kiss her again and, as I do this, I cover her body with mine. Her legs are around my waist when she sighs, deeply. ----------------------------- Bonnie: How can I describe this? Lux is just amazing. She makes me feel things I never felt. She makes me want things I never thought they existed. I just died and went to heaven when she kissed my neck and bit me there. She was so excited and so was I. I could feel it when her panties touched my thighs. She was wet there, so recognizably wet. And was I wet! I brought my hand to my pubes but she would not allow me to masturbate. "Wait, Sis," she told me. "Be patient." She unbuttoned my shirt as I did my best to be patient. Her hands made my shoulders bare, then she looked at me, with her most languid look, as if she was in love with me. I melted so completely and felt a jolt of electricity dashing down my spine and hitting my femaleness in the right spot. I moaned and she smiled. I made her kiss me again as her hands touched my ribs and my stomach. "Lux?" I dared say. "Yes?" "I love you." She smiled again and she said, "I love _you_." We continued to make love to one another. I got so worked up with her flaxen hair on my face, with her scent in my nostrils, with her soft skin under my fingertips. The pleasure in me was running like a river. I wanted to moan but I knew I could not. Then suddenly the door of our room swung open and I almost screamed, making Lux roll over off of me. Therese and Mary were at the doorway with the most shocked expression. Lux and I were too scared to say anything and our older sisters were too bewildered to move. In a most agonizing moment I tried to speak but I was unable to. Finally, after a few aborted attempts, I managed to say, "Just shut door. Don't stay there, or... Mother... will see us." (to be continued)