"I was?" She asked, her eyes shining.
"Yes. " I nodded. "Can you ever forgive me for tricking you like that?"
"Of course Billy. " She said. "But I still shouldn't have done that. Do you understand how serious this is? I can be arrested for what we did. "
"I'll never tell anyone. " I told her. "I swear. "
She smiled a little, wiping her face. "Fifteen year olds swear lots of things. " She told me. "And they very rarely understand the consequences of breaking those swears. "
"Anita," I said, "I'm not an ordinary fifteen year old. I DO think about consequences. I think about them obsessively. Would you like to hear an example of how I think about them?"
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"While I was over here earlier I was already planning this episode. But I was worried about the possibility of getting you pregnant. I did not want to do that. So I looked in your medicine cabinet to make sure you were on birth control of some type. I was looking for a diaphragm case or birth control pills. Only when I found your pills and assured myself that you were current on them did I decide to come over here tonight. "
"You did that?" She asked, staring at me. Giving me THE LOOK.
"You are currently eight days from your period. " I told her.
"My God. " She said, looking at me with confused respect.
"Does that sound like a typical teenager to you? I like to think things through before I do them, eliminate all of the possible dangers that I can. So what would I have to gain by telling anyone this? A few minutes of celebrity if I told the story, which my friends wouldn't believe anyway, they would only pretend to. That certainly does not balance out the loss of you as a friend. " I leered at her. "A very special friend. "
"Wow. " She whispered, staring at me. "I don't know what to say. This is the most confusing moment of my life. "
"I'm sure it is. " I told her. "But did you enjoy what we did?"
"Well… " She started.
"Did you?" I asked.
"Yes. " She admitted. "Immensely. " She blushed again. "I've laid awake at night masturbating while thinking about YOU. But I never thought for a minute that we'd actually, you know. " She shook her head. "You are a sneaky little bastard, you know that? You played right into one of my fantasies, almost word for word. "
"I'm pretty perceptive they say. " I agreed.
"I'll say. "
"So why don't we mark it down as a pleasant experience for all concerned?" I asked her. "I enjoyed making love to you, you enjoyed making love to me. Both of us had fantasies fulfilled. I will never tell anyone about it. Nobody even knows where I am tonight. What we did will remain secret forever. I promise. "
"Okay. " She nodded, smiling again now. "But we shouldn't do this anymore. " She qualified. "It's still wrong. "
"If you wish. " I agreed sadly.
"I think that would be for the best. "
"All right. " I paused. "But is it still okay for me to baby-sit on Saturday? I'd hate to disappoint Tracy. "
"Oh sure. " She said. "Perfectly all right. "
"Good. " I stood up. "Is it okay if I use your shower before I go home?"
"My shower?"
"Yes. " I nodded. "I wouldn't want to go home smelling like sex. That leads to unwanted questions from parents. "
She looked at me for a moment, shaking her head in amusement. "Very good thinking Billy. " She told me. "You know where it's at. "
"Thanks. " I told her, picking up my clothes.
I made it about ten steps towards her bedroom before her voice called me. I turned to look at her. She was standing up, her robe was flapping loosely, allowing me to see her breasts and her bush again. I felt my penis give a little twitch.
"Maybe I should go with you. " She offered, smiling sexily. "Just to make sure you get nice and clean. "
My dick took a bigger lurch. "By all means. " I answered.
Chapter 3
Take away my inhibitions
Take away my solitude
Fire me up with irresistance
Put me in the mood
Storm the walls around this prison
Leave the inmates, free the guards
Deal me up another future
From some brand new deck of cards
BOB SEGER
The next day at school, nothing terribly eventful happened. I turned in all of my completed homework to some very surprised teachers and, having done that, they began to truly notice me for the first time. They began to call on me in class, seemingly pleased when I supplied them with correct answers to their inquiries. In the classes where I'd already made my new self known, things mellowed out. Mrs. Crookshank asked me occasional questions on various anatomical topics but there was no longer a sense of challenge in them. She stayed confined to the current subject at hand and called on me no more than she did the other favorites in her class. The disinterested students like my former self, she continued to ignore. My history teacher on the other hand, seemed almost afraid of me. She didn't call on me a single time but eyed me nervously whenever she was discussing a controversial topic about the Civil War that was being scaled down into black and white, good and evil for the 'tender young minds' she was instructing. I know she was expecting me to pop up with another mini-lecture to counter hers. But I kept my peace, remaining in my seat quietly, mostly lost in my own thoughts, knowing that there was nothing that she was going to teach ME about history.
That night was Friday night; the night that Mike's parents allowed him to use the car. He told them that we were just going to drive around downtown; cruising he called it. It was, I remembered, the same thing he told them every weekend and every weekend they bought it. What we actually did was drive to a secluded park near the falls where a kegger was being held. For two bucks a head you could drink all the beer you wanted.
The night was brisk, as it always is in Eastern Washington in late February, but the good weather was holding. The stars were out and a full moon hung in the sky, providing scant illumination to the darkened family picnic area.
The atmosphere was festive as we arrived, paid our money, and filled our first plastic cups with Olympia from the tap. Kids ranging in age from fourteen to eighteen were everywhere, lounging near cars, sitting on the picnic tables in groups of three, four, eight. Music blared from at least ten different car stereos and at least five different boom boxes, most of it conflicting with each other.
I took a moment to stare at the falls, watching the white, foamy churning of God knew how many millions of gallons of water rushing over the cliff. I could hear the roar of them even over the car stereos. It wasn't very far from this spot where Tracy had an appointment with destiny. An appointment that I sincerely believed I'd cancelled. I took a drink of beer in her honor and then joined the party.
I drank beer after beer, getting pleasantly buzzed. I took a few hits off of joints or pipes that were passed my way, increasing the buzz to blissful intoxication. I listened to the conversations around me, which, admittedly, were not terribly stimulating. The talk was of rock bands, cars, drug experiences, fights, who was a bitch, who wasn't. It was peppered with unnecessary profanity, particularly the word 'fuck', which was the favored modifier among this age group.
It was less than an hour before a girl named Stephanie found me. She was skinny and bleached blonde, but attractive. She was also a junior and nearly two years older than I was. She chatted with me for few minutes and then brought up the subject that had led her to me.
"I heard you and Debbie got a thing goin'?" She asked, taking a drag off her cigarette. "Is that true?"
"No." I answered. "She's just a friend of mine."
"A friend?" She giggled. "I heard you were more than friends. I heard she threw herself at you over at Raisin's house the other day."