This is a fictional story written by a real teen. It is about being a lesbian in high school and dealing with being attracted to someone in a different clique.

The Head Cheerleader

Knocking her alarm clock off the night stand Leah Mason rolled herself out of bed. Her clothes already laid out from the night before. Camo pants and a black muscle shirt. She loved to show off her muscles since not many girls at Temple High have them. Also it was a way for her to show off her tattoo. Her tattoo was of a rainbow flag with Carpi Diem printed on the inside. Leah got dressed, sprayed her cologne, and went downstairs for breakfast. Mr. Mason was at the table reading Temple View News and Mrs. Mason was making a list for the Butler to do.

"Good Morning Leah." They said as she walked into the Kitchen.

"Good Morning mom and dad."

Mrs. Mason noticed the shirt that she had on first. Her face scrunched up.

"Leah go change your shirt. You should be more lady like."

"Well mom news flash I may be a lady but I'm a butch. Come on hello lesbian."

"Don't get that tone with me young lady."

Leah ignored her mom. She grabbed an apple kissed her dad on the cheek and grabbed her car keys off their hook. Making her way to the six car garage as she began to eat the apple.The best thing about having rich parents was you got what ever you wanted. Her dad came in.

"Don't forget to feed the horses."

"Yes dad I know."

"Try not to get into any trouble at school. I don't need another call at the office."

"Yes sir I'll do my best."

Leah hopped into the black corvette. Feeling it's leather anterior. The big solid oak garage doors opened up. She started the car and pulled out heading to Sarah's house to pick her up for school. Moments later she pulled up in front of Sarah's house and honked the horn. While she waited she put the rag top down and grabbed her black baseball hat from the backseat. She put it on as Sarah appeared at the front door.

"Come on Sarah let's go."

"I'm coming." She said as she bounced down the stairs.

She waved bye to her mom and quickly got into the car. Leah pulled out and began to head towards Temple High. The sun beat down on her already tanned body. Sarah hummed along to the song on the radio. Switching the radio off Leah nudged Sarah in the side.

"What?"

"Did you ask Mark out yet?"

"No I didn't."

"Why not what are you waiting for?"

"For you to turn straight."

"Ain't gonna happen."

"I know so back off. I'll get to it."

Leah pulled into a parking space at the bottom of the hill. Shutting off the engine she put the rag top back up. They both got out.

"Go ahead Sarah. I'll be up in a few. I got to take care of something."

"Hurry up so your not late again."

"I got 15 minutes."

"OK well I warned you."

Sarah bounced up the hill as her blond pony tail bounced along with her. Leah grabbed the Pennzoil from the trunk. She popped the hood and was adding some in when she noticed the shadow that came up behind her. She twisted the cap back on and turned to see that Nicole Meadows the head cheerleader was standing there.

"Nice car."

"Thanks."

Leah tried to push away the thoughts she was having about Nicole. The tension she felt was so unbearable that she turned away. She got into the car and just sat there. Then Nicole got in and made herself comfortable. Nicole's black hair tied up in a bun. Her tight blue jeans revealed her slim figure. Leah swallowed what could she possibly want. She never talked to be before why all of sudden now Leah thought.

"Can I help you?"

"Nope it's all good."

"Why are you in my car then?"

"I wanted to see what the inside looked like."

"Happy now?"

"Yes."

The silence enveloped them with welcoming arms. Leah stared at the wheel. Until Nicole broke the silence.

"We should get going."

"Yeah your right. I can't be late again."

They both got out of the car. Nicole headed up the hill as Leah followed behind. Nicole's ass was perfect in those jeans. Leah was wondering if she was wearing a thong or not. Leah pushed it away. Just as soon as they topped the hill the bell rang.

"Fuck! I'm late again."

Nicole just waltzed right on into school as if it was nothing for her. She waited for Leah in the Loop which was where everyone gathered before school.

"Don't worry I'll help you out."

"Thanks but you don't have to."

"Well I want to."

They both walked into Mr. Brown's office. He stood up as soon as they entered.

"Ms. Mason your late again. What is that the tenth time this week? Do I need to make a phone call again?"

"Mr. Brown Leah was with me. We were talking about practice try outs for cheer-leading. I was trying to get her to join. She said no so I asked if she would mind helping to decorate for prom."

"OK Ms. Meadows I let Ms. Mason slide this time. I don't want to see you in her again."

"Yes Mr. Brown."

"I will make sure Leah stays out of here."

"Get onto class you two."

Wiping her forehead Leah thanked Nicole as they got out into the hallway.

"Hey it's no problem."

"Did you mean what you said in there about prom?"

"Yeah I was getting to that. Would you help? I know your talented in the art department."

"Sure I guess I could. After all it looks like I have no choice."

"Thanks a bunch. So have you thought about asking someone yet to prom?"

"I got someone in mind but I don't know if she would be interested. We come from two different cliques."

"You know it never hurts to ask."

"She probably already has someone to go with and I really don't know much about her. Have you got anyone to go with?"

"No. I am waiting for someone to ask me."

"Well..."

"What? Why did you stop?"

"Ah never mind."

They walked into Mrs. Berkley's English class. That was close Leah thought. I was going to ask her then and there. I knew I couldn't do it. At least not yet. Sarah looked at them. Leah sat in her seat and Nicole sat down behind her. Leah swallowed hard.

"Alright class I am going to pass back the tests you took on A Brave New World. I am pleased with someone of you and as for the others nothing has changed which doesn't surprise me any."

Leah waited patiently for her test. I studied all night. I hope I got a decent grade she thought. The test got placed in front of her. A D plus. Great I am going to be grounded again she thought. Nicole got hers back. An A plus as always. Leah tucked her paper in her binder and sat through English waiting for the bell to ring. She wanted to get out of this place.

Content Source: The Head Cheerleader - Bukisa.com

Teens and Friendships

How "good" your parenting is often does not have the biggest role in your child's choice to experiment with drugs. There are many reasons that kids choose to try drugs and lack of time with their parents, lack of communication, and lack of information is not always the reason. Those three factors do often come into play but just because you've spent a lot of quality time with your kids and speak to them about everything under the sun does not make them immune.

This is from an article that I wrote and published on Bukisa (read all of it here).

I think it is important for parents to come to realize and accept that they are no longer the center of their children's universe. In fact, you might not even be on their Top Ten list. No matter how much you love them, how much attention you give them, or how much time you spend with them, there are simply other factors that play a huge role in their lives.

Friendships are one of the biggest influencing factors in teens lives. My daughter comes home and hits the computer, turning on her Facebook account right away. Then she picks up the phone. Sound familiar? She's only been away from her friends for about 10-15 minutes but she feels a need to be constantly connected to them. Why?

I'm not the only one asking this question. Wayne Parker asks the same question in his article, What Friendship Means to Your Teen. He discusses things like changing patterns and social status and give some great ideas for letting your teen have the independence they crave yet keeping them close.

Basically, your teen is changing and becoming the adult that they will be in a very short time. They are learning about themselves and how they relate to the world - where they fit in. They know where they fit with you. You're their parents and you love them (or let's hope that is what they think). Now they need to figure out what other people think about them and whether or not they are happy with that or if they want to change it.

The bottom line is that your teen is changing and learning about themselves and they are going to look outside their home for answers.

A couple of good articles to further your reading:

• Teen Growth and Development - 11-14 years - outlines physical, sociological, and intellectual changes your teen will go through and some tips to help you get through it, too. The thing I've implemented the most in the past couple years? Talk about it! Don't keep it to yourself because then you really are alone but once you start talking you'll find out that you aren't alone at all and you can have a great support team. I talk about my daughter's drug issues fairly often and I'm glad I have because if I hadn't my friend would never have suspected her son of smoking pot. Because she knew I was having issues with it though, she thought to check up on him when things didn't seem right and now her 12 year old son is getting the attention he needs (and yes, it does start that early!).
• Ten Things Your Teen Son Won't Tell You...But He Did Tell Me - great article about teen boys. I'm just getting into this one so I haven't had a huge amount of experience with it yet. I think I'll be referring back to this one!

How have your teens been influenced by friendships? Do they talk to you about it? Do you have other ways of finding out about it? How do you feel about "snooping"? Do you take advantage of tools that are available on the Internet to read messages, check out their Facebook profile?

I'd like to hear what you have to say about teens and friendships so leave a comment!