“That asshole that raped her?” Kristen asked.
“Exactly,” I smiled. “Patty told you, but she never told Camille. Camille put some of the pieces together, but Patty never confided in Camille.”
“And that’s all that happened? Camille has learned to trust people?”
“Yes, Kristen,” I said, softly. “After all, you never fell in love with me until I earned your trust.”
Kristen parked in the school lot and turned off the ignition. She sat silently for a minute or so and then finally turned to me and said, “What you’ve said makes sense, Jim. How did you get so smart?”
I blushed at the compliment. “I’m not that smart. I only realized why you started loving me after I was talking with Camille. As I was telling Camille, it occurred to me that it was the same between Patty and me, and you and me. Our friendships were based on trust.”
Warm lips met mine and I received one of Kristen’s erection special kisses. After we broke the kiss, Kristen snickered at me and said, “Try walking with that into school!”
I was disappointed when I got to the school entrance and didn’t see Patty or Camille. Kristen went to her homeroom, which was on the second floor, and for one of the first times during that school year, I found myself alone before home room. It was a strange feeling.
Suddenly, I saw Sherry near the entrance. My smile brightened considerably and I walked toward her.
Sherry noticed me and waited for me to join her. It was close to the start of class, but there were still a couple of minutes.
“Hi, Jim. Is Kristen still in Chicago?”
I shook my head. “Kris already left for homeroom. I thought I’d be out here by myself, but I found you. Can I walk you to class?”
“Certainly,” Sherry answered, her cheeks dimpling as she smiled.
We walked together toward our home rooms, which were a few doors down from each other. I left Sherry at her door, and then headed for my own home room.
At lunch, I found out that both Patty and Camille were both absent from school that day.
Seventh period, and after a run across the school, I was able to get Amy to agree to distract Kristen for a bit before the start of jazz band.
Most of the band agreed to help out with entertainment for Kristen’s party, and I told them that I’d alert them about information as I got it by relaying it through Mr. Proilet.
Everybody in the band noticed Amy and Kristen arrive late. I smiled at the pair, and Amy blushed at me, and silently approached her piano.
We started working on the material that I put together for the Spring Concert.
The next morning, I found Patty and Camille at their customary spot in front of the school. They were talking animatedly with each other.
When they noticed me, Camille came over to me with a determined look in her eyes and kissed me right on the mouth. I kissed back, happy that the kiss wasn’t as passionate as the first one we shared on Wednesday.
Once I broke for air, Patty kissed me the same.
I was quite breathless afterward, and Kristen just shrugged her shoulders and showed her friends what a real kiss was. It made my blood rush into the very organ that Kristen obviously targeted.
Looking up after Kristen’s kiss, I noticed that I was the center of attention of quite a lot of students, many of whom I didn’t know very well. I ended up feeling my face turn red as some good-natured cat calls came our way.
I was able to reach Kristen’s father on Friday by taking some time off from third period music class (with permission) and calling him from the pay phone outside the front office.
A secretary answered, and told me that Kristen’s father was very busy, but when I mentioned that I wanted to talk about Kristen, he came on the line almost immediately.
“Hi, Jim!”
“Hello, Mr. Swift.”
“Call me Daniel, son.”
I winced at the “son” designation. I was still more than a bit surprised at his announcement to my principal that I was his “future son-in-law.”
“Um, Daniel, this isn’t an emergency. If you are busy…”
“I always have time for you. What’s on your mind?”
“I was thinking of planning something for Kristen’s birthday, and wondered if you made any plans and if we could somehow work together…”
“I left most of that to Charley,” Mr. Swift answered, referring to his wife.
“Do you know what she’ll be doing?”
“Why don’t you give her a call?” Mr. Swift suggested. “I think the hall we rented can fit a hundred people or so easily.”
“I didn’t know Kristen’s family was that large!”
“It’s not,” Mr. Swift said. “We do have some friends. I think we were going to have about two dozen…”
“Do you think I could bring some of our friends? I have people in the band who could play a set…”
“That’s a great idea! I think Charley was trying to arrange for a deejay or something.”
“There are kids in my band who can do that. And we play jazz as well as rock and roll, if that’s your preference…”
I heard a hearty laugh on the other end. “We’re not that old, sonny.” There was more laughter and then he added, “That would be thoughtful. Do you know any Henry Mancini? That’s Charley’s favorite.”
“Our band knows ’Pink Panther’ by heart. We could add ’Moon River’ if you want.”
“Whatever you want, Jim.”
“Well, thank you, Mr. Swift… Daniel. I’ll call Mrs. Swift right now.”
“Thank you for calling me, Jim,” Mr. Swift answered. “I think Charley was going to call you tonight about the party. Inviting the jazz band would be a great idea. Where did you ever get that nickname from, anyway?”
This was the first that I realized that Kristen’s parents were at the Christmas concert last month. “It’s a nickname they came up after a recording session I did last year.”
“You have a lot of talent, son,” Mr. Swift said, his voice without any indication that he was just humoring me. “I’ve known many musicians, and I must say that you are quite extraordinary.”
I was at a loss for words. “Um, thank you…”
“I’m not trying to embarrass you, son. Thank you for calling!”
“Thank you, too.”
I hung up, and then got the information that I needed from Mrs. Swift. She seemed quite pleased with the idea of including Kristen’s friends from school as well as the band. I wrote down the basic information on a sheet of paper from my notebook, and got off the phone quickly.
As I headed back past the office, the receptionist smiled at me, giving me a wave. I smiled back and grinned on my way back to my music class.
After the class, I handed Mr. Proilet the information, and he said that he’d pass the information along. I also personally invited Mr. Proilet to the party, and he said that he’d make room in his schedule.
Patty was at lunch during fourth period, and she told Kristen, Sherry, and myself that she and Camille spent the day together, just talking.
It was amazing how much more animated Patty was. She was positively beaming at us, as if a set of flood-gates were suddenly thrown open. I was happy for her, and for Camille. They were always best friends, but never really trusted each other enough to be really open with one another. Having done so, I wondered how my two best friends would change, since change would be inevitable.
I looked longingly at Kristen near the end of lunch, and she raised her eyebrows. There was curiosity in her eyes as to why I seemed so sad when Patty was feeling so bubbly and happy.