Part 2 (1/2)

Frank and I had become good friends almost immediately. I knew him from Driscoll. Like me, he wasn't an honors student and the fact that we both came from single-parent homes, weren't filthy rich, and both liked tinkering with c.r.a.p bonded us.

Frank's dad was a cop who worked a side job doing carpentry. Frank used his dad's equipment to fiddle around, making chairs and other furniture. He blew me away with his talent but he downplayed everything. ”Get off my d.i.c.k, Rivers, it's just a table,” he'd snap in his smart-a.s.s way, even though I knew he was proud and recognized the artisan quality of his work.

On Sunday mornings I'd help him haul his pieces to craft festivals around the area. He was making a decent buck, too. People who trolled these markets were usually upscale. They'd smile, all giddy as they handed over their cash, recognizing that they were getting a steal.

It was cold that Friday night, one of our last games of the regular season. Still, I was set on going to the bonfire down by the lake. I'd rather freeze my a.s.s off than be snared in Taylor's web. Maybe because I looked older people a.s.sumed that I was experienced, but nothing could be further from the truth.

My encounters were limited to heated make-out sessions with my friend, Andie, from my old school. Andie was beautiful, funny, a really talented artist and a fellow dyslexic. We were each other's first kiss in ninth grade. I was thrilled to have a girl to kiss and some soft, bare skin to touch. We never rounded more than second base. I didn't push her and she hadn't offered more than that, so Taylor's advances seemed like jumping from the sandbox into the strip club.

Vince, Mike, Frank and I piled out of Will's brand-new, s.h.i.+ny truck. I was beginning to really like Will and some of the others, but man, all these boys were f.u.c.king spoiled. A truck like this with a big cab and flatbed was wasted on Will. The boy was never hauling payload, that's for sure.

We made our way towards the party with people stopping me, Mike and Will to slap our backs and yell their congratulations on another win. I'll admit, it felt really good. To be recognized and told you were good at something felt great, but it was still a somewhat alien experience for me.

There had to be two hundred kids there, mostly juniors and seniors. Spence Davies, my new BFF who was coming around because my interceptions at cornerback made his job easy, waved me over. Just then, Samantha Cavanaugh all but plastered her t.i.ts up against Will, whispering in his ear. I was happy to leave them to it. As I walked over to Spence and a few other seniors, I looked in the direction Samantha had walked over from. Carolyn and a few of her friends were there, nursing their beers. Drew was there too, leaning into Carolyn as he spoke to her. She looked up at him, smiling shyly.

Drew had made good on his promise, asking Carolyn out the night after her parents had treated ten of her girlfriends to a Broadway play and nice dinner in Manhattan, limo transportation included, naturally.

Vanessa had heard about Carolyn's mellow, understated Sweet Sixteen celebration and had tallied up what this small gathering had probably cost, which was way more than a month's salary for someone like my father. It burned Vanessa more than it burned me-the have and the have-not nature of this town. I was resigned to it, whereas Vanessa was resentful.

As I stood there bulls.h.i.+tting with Spence and a few of his buddies, who slinks up next to me and wraps her arm around my waist but Taylor. ”Taylor,” Spence greeted, eyeing her from toes to t.i.ts. He never once made eye contact with her.

”What's up, Spencer? Long time, no see,” she answered, drawing her words out in a way that pretty much oozed s.e.x.

”Well,” he faked a hurt expression, ”I don't seem to be on your guest list anymore, Taylor. You found someone new? I thought we were going steady,” he teased.

”Well you were my first, Spence, so you'll always be special to me,” she teased right back.

This kind of advanced flirting was foreign to me. I stood there, mute. Taylor turned her body in closer towards me then, almost to the point where I could feel her crotch pressed up against the side of my thigh. ”I do have a new friend, though. You are coming tonight, right, Jeremy?”

”Uh, I don't know what I'm doing yet.”

She put her hand inside my jacket and rubbed her nails across my chest as she said, ”I'm heading back there now with Lara and Kim. Don't disappoint me.”

She slowly drew her hand out and licked her lips before walking away. She was too much, a caricature of how you pictured the fast, easy girl at every high school. As she walked away, Spence raised his eyebrows. ”Please tell me you're not contemplating turning that down.”

I shrugged. ”Don't think I'm that interested in going where so many have gone before, you know?”

Spence nodded. ”Yeah, I don't think I'd stick my d.i.c.k in that either...but a b.l.o.w.j.o.b? Best one I've ever had,” he said, looking at me as he drained his beer.

Drew joined us and zeroed in on me, smiling. ”Heard you're heading to Taylor's tonight, Jeremy.”

”Who'd you hear that from?”

”Right from Taylor's very own talented mouth.” He must have sensed my unease. As Drew patted my back, he said, ”I can relate. I was s.h.i.+tting a brick the first time she invited me over. I was a babe in the woods.”

Spence smirked. ”And now you're a man of the world, Drew? Popped Carolyn's cherry already?”

”Shut the f.u.c.k up, Spence.” He wasn't angry, though.

Spence smiled. ”No, Carolyn's a girl you take your time with. She's,” he rolled his eyes, ”special.”

Drew shrugged his shoulders. ”She is.”

The conversation moved onto other topics, onto other girls then, but my thoughts were stuck on Carolyn. She had not acknowledged me once since I'd been at Westerly. To be fair, we didn't share any cla.s.ses; she was in all honors and advanced placement. The one time I did pa.s.s her in the hallway and our eyes met, I didn't get the feeling that she even remembered me. Just as well, I guess. I didn't need her remembering the learning disabled, hot tempered delinquent that I'd been.

She may not have noticed me but I, on the other hand, was pretty much actively stalking her. I'd see her sitting in the library, I'd notice her in the cafeteria, I'd lurk in the gymnasium doorway when her volleyball team was playing.

Carolyn had changed. She was tall, slim but curvy, with long brown hair that hung half-way down her back. I won't lie, I'm a guy and my eyes lingered on the way her t.i.ts and a.s.s filled out her skimpy volleyball uniform. But when I'd spy her laughing with her friends or smiling at someone, it kind of felt like my heart was breaking just a little bit. That same feeling I'd had in sixth grade-of wanting something so badly and knowing I'd never have it.

Drew b.u.mped my shoulder. ”I'm off,” he said, nodding his head in the direction of Carolyn and her friends. ”I'll be thinking of you tonight when I go home with a set of blue b.a.l.l.s.”

Well, I did not go home with blue b.a.l.l.s. Drew's comment snapped me back to reality. Made me realize how futile crus.h.i.+ng on Carolyn was. Instead, I made my way home late that night after getting an education in life.

Taylor was not what I expected. She was surprisingly...sweet. You couldn't fool girls like her. She knew inside of ten minutes that she was dealing with a virgin and that made her even hotter for me. How can I describe it besides saying that she took care of me?

She took it slowly that first night. It was like she was the guy, asking for my unspoken consent when she looked up at me before unb.u.t.toning the fly on my jeans. I tried to take control on a few occasions but she would gently turn the tables on me, easing me onto my back, kissing me and whispering encouraging words in my ear as she urged me on, instructing me as I did things to her.

That night was the start of a month-long romance. It was a romance on my part, at least. I was in awe of Taylor, whipped by the first girl that had ever given it up to me.

In English Lit we were still working our way through D.H. Lawrence. Now we were on Lady Chatterley's Lover. I pictured Taylor's face when I read about Connie, while I was Oliver-the hired hand with the rich, privileged girl. One line stood out when I thought about us because I knew, even in my l.u.s.t-induced infatuation, that I was definitely not her only one. To paraphrase my new pal, Lawrence: The b.i.t.c.h-G.o.ddess...was trailed by thousands of gasping dogs with lolling tongues.

Taylor and I didn't act like girlfriend and boyfriend in public. That wasn't my choice but I quickly understood that Taylor didn't operate like that. I would have held her hand, taken her out, defended her when other guys leered at her or made crude comments...all that. But Taylor didn't seem to need or want that. She liked the world on her terms. If she wanted you then she'd plop into your lap when you were hanging out with your friends and she'd make it obvious. Otherwise, she'd wave, blow a kiss and keep on going when she saw me pa.s.sing in the halls at school.

After a month of feeling like I was, in fact, a gasping dog, it got old. Like every guy who'd gone before me, I resigned myself to the fact that she was probably already with someone else. I saw it for what it was, got my kicks a few more times and braced myself for the pain I felt when I saw her pus.h.i.+ng up against some new guy. I acted like I didn't give a s.h.i.+t-that she was just a lay and nothing more-but it hurt.

Samantha had her arms wrapped tight around Will's middle as they walked over towards us. He looked amused while she looked smitten. ”Let's all go back to my house. My parents are away,” she added that last part looking up at Will, smiling coyly.

A few people, Drew included, accepted the invite but Will shook his head. ”Can't. Anna has friends over. I need to head back to check on them.”

She rested her head against his chest and squeezed tighter. ”You are such a good big brother, Will.”

I'm sorry, but she was nauseating.

”Uh, thanks,” he said, easing himself away from her. ”But you all go. I'll catch up with you tomorrow.” He looked down at Samantha and gave her a half-hearted smile before turning to walk towards the field where all the cars were parked. I noticed, and so did Samantha, that he quickened his step to catch up with Tori Williams. I saw him place a hand on her shoulder and he smiled, beamed really, when she turned to talk to him.

”Tori is the fakest b.i.t.c.h on the planet.”

”Excuse me?” Erica challenged her, shocked. ”Tori is not, in any way, shape or form, a b.i.t.c.h. She's, like, one of the nicest girls in our cla.s.s, Samantha. What's the matter with you?”

”I don't know,” Drew said, nodding his head in their direction. ”Tori acts like she and Will are just friends but I think she gets off on leading him around by his di-,” he stopped himself and continued, ”manhood.”

I laughed inwardly. It's true that I didn't care much for foul language but I thought it was funny that Drew considered me so innocent that he needed to watch his words around me.

”So,” he went on, ”your house, Samantha?”

”Sorry, Drew, I'm not feeling it anymore,” Samantha said absently. She looked lost in thought for a minute before her expression changed and she said, smirking, ”Did you see Taylor all but do the deed with Jeremy in full public view?”

Drew pretended to look at his watch. ”I predict that Jeremy is getting the Taylor Special right at this very moment.”

Erica asked, disgusted, ”Why do guys go for her?”