“Wake up, Dawson.”
I looked over and saw a sexy senior smiling at me. Beth Anderson was the down-to-earth girl-next-door type who happened to be the head cheerleader this year. She was in tight jeans and a baggy t-shit. Beth had a great body, but she didn’t flaunt it. Her long brown hair was in a ponytail. I put my arm out and she slid up next to me to get a hug. I leaned down and kissed her cheek.
“Hey cutie, how’ve you been?” she asked.
“I’ve been doing well.”
“Where have you been?”
“I was at my uncle’s all summer helping him on his farm.”
“It looks like the fresh air did you some good.”
She ran her hands over my chest and smiled at me. I knew she was teasing me, but we were good friends. Our moms have been best friends since high school and her family had a pool. You would find Greg and me as almost permanent fixtures in their back yard most summers. She couldn’t help but know where I was all summer, but Beth was polite enough to allow me to tell her.
What amazed me was Greg never went out with her. They’d been friends all their lives. The two of them were the same age, and when they were little they were as close as Tami and I were. I think our families had always assumed they would get together, but they had some kind of disagreement when they were freshmen and seemed to drift apart. This was when Greg began his conquest of the hot women at our high school. They remained friends, but gradually Beth and I became better friends. If it weren’t for Tami, I think we may have become best friends.
“So did you like having Greg all to yourself this summer?” I asked.
A flash of disappointment crossed her eyes, but then it was gone.
“No, I never saw him.”
“That’s too bad. You two would make a cute couple.”
That got me a strange look. She just giggled as we walked out to a sunny afternoon. When Beth laughed, it lit up my world. She knew I had a crush on her, but she never teased me about it. It was nice to see her again. The difference between her and Tami was I had no problem thinking of her as a sexual person. Not that Beth dated much or had a reputation.
“How’re you and Tami doing?”
Fair question; the last time we talked, I had told her Tami didn’t want to see me. She knew this hurt me, but she was honest with me. She pointed out Tami had valid reasons for not wanting to be around me. What I liked most about Beth was she was always straight with me. I knew when she said something, she had my best interest at heart. I found she never offended me with what she said, because of that level of trust.
“We really haven’t had a chance to talk. I just got back last week,” I said, as she looked concerned. “Beth, she is, was, I don’t know, my best friend. I’m going to do everything I can to not lose that.”
“She’s been mad at you for a long time. Don’t push it, or you might lose her. Tami needs to see you’re no longer the jerk you were.”
I had a mock look of shock.
“Thanks, Beth.”
“Well, you were a jerk.”
“I know I was. Thanks for caring,” I said, and I meant it.
She was one of the rare people I felt safe telling anything, and it was a two-way street. Her sophomore year she had her heart broken by a senior. She had poured her deepest feelings and insecurities out to me. She never told me exactly what happened, but I was there to listen. I think she just needed to talk, and honestly, I was probably too young to explain the private details to anyways.
“Let me give you one piece of advice,” she said as I paid rapt attention. “You need to really listen to her. Your meltdown affected her more than you know. It was one thing for you to be around and her mad at you. It was another for you to leave. With you here, she at least was able to see you, even though she didn’t want to talk to you. If I remember right, she would text you every now and then. It really hit her hard, you leaving for the summer. When you left, there was zero contact. She was completely cut off from you for the first time in over seven years. Tami needed you.”
“What do you mean?”
She seemed to think about my question.
“That isn’t my story to tell. I’m just telling you that you need to have an open mind when you talk to her. There are major changes about to happen for Tami, and I’m sure she’ll need your support.”
What was going on?
“Okay, I promise to listen.”
She took a deep breath and I could see her pull herself together.
“Okay, it’s time I cheered you up. Why don’t you come over a week from Sunday and go swimming? Bring Tami if you can.”
This weekend was a holiday weekend and I had to work for my dad. I’d really missed Beth. Even though she was three years older than I was, she always treated me like a friend.
“What time?”
“We get back from church around 11:30. Why don’t you come over around noon and I’ll have my mom cook you a nice lunch.”
I smiled. It felt like old times. I needed that.
“It’s a date.”
“Good. I’ll see you then.”
I saw Greg and Cindy as they walked towards us. Greg said something to Cindy and she headed to her car.
“Hey Beth, how are things?”
“Things are good. How come you never came over to see me this summer?”
It was Greg’s turn to squirm, but before he could answer, Beth checked her watch and bolted for the parking lot. She waved at us.
“I forgot. I’m late.”
As we watched her run away, my brother turned to me.
“Hey, do you have any plans this afternoon?”
“Several of us were going to jump online and play Black Ops. I’m supposed to be online in about 45 minutes,” I said as I looked over at my friends.
He looked disappointed.
“Don’t suppose you’d do your big brother a favor, would you?”
I could tell this might pay off if I played my cards right.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“Cindy has to babysit the neighbor kids until their mom gets home. I’m hoping you would stand in for her so we could spend some, ah, quality time together,” he said, and he at least had the decency to blush. “I’d owe you big, just name your price.”
I already owed him big-time and almost just agreed, but something in the back of my mind told me that we needed to get on with our lives, so I played it straight. I knew if I caved right away, I wasn’t going to get a favor back.
“I just can’t think of anything I want right now. Maybe next time I can help you out.”
“Really? Seriously, I’ll do anything, within reason,” Greg said.
Nice save. I could see my big brother was desperate. He must have told his girlfriend he could deliver. Maybe I could use this to my advantage and get something I really wanted. I thought back to yesterday morning and seeing Peggy’s hot body. I knew what I wanted, and my brother had a unique skill I needed to learn. Having a healthy sex life was one of my life goals. This I wanted to get started on ASAP.
“No bullshit, you’ll do me a huge favor?” I asked, and stared at him to let him know I was serious.
It was Greg’s turn to get nervous. He’d never seen me get this intense. He knew I could come up with wild requests. He got a faraway look and I knew I had him. He was thinking about some personal time with Cindy. Hell, I bet he would give his left nut about right now. He looked me in the eye.
“As long as it doesn’t hurt anyone, cost me more than 50 bucks, or mean more than a month’s worth of free rides, then the answer is yes.”
“Well, I’m not sure how long it’ll take, but I want you to teach me something you’re very qualified in.”
Now I was uneasy. If Greg were a jerk, I would never have trusted him, but he never was cruel, so I decided to ask.
“I have a crush on a junior,” I started out slowly and then finished with a rush, “and want your help in learning to be successful with girls so I can ask her out and not blow it.”