It was another Friday night in Joe’s basement. The five of us had spent so many similar nights here that the hours had blurred together until whole nights were distilled into anecdotes and stupid stories that were passed between us the way close friends do. They were stories we told over and over again, sort of a way for us to stay connected to the people we had been.
The past was even more important to us now, I guess, because it was the Friday after Thanksgiving freshman year, and it was the first night we were all back together. From elementary school, we had grown up together, gone through high school together, and graduated together, all in the same small town on the eastern side of the Connecticut coastline. For the first time since middle school, we were apart. None of us were even at the same college.
We didn’t have a name for our little group, but I always thought of us as a sort of real-life Breakfast Club. On the outside, none of us should have been friends with the other; we were all so different. But when you grow up as kids together, the ties that bind you together end up being stronger than social groups.
Joe was the brain of the group. Straight As through high school, 4.0 GPA, National Honor Society, valedictorian, yadda yadda yadda. Not that any of us were really slouches, but Joe blew us all out of the water. He had been given a full ride to Cornell, and was double-majoring in astronomy and engineering. He literally wanted to be a rocket scientist.
The hell of it was, Joe didn’t fit the stereotypical image of a nerd. He was tall and skinny, sure, but he was also a handsome guy, with sharp, angular features. Despite his looks, though, he had had a hard time dating in high school. He would go out with girls for a short time, but they would eventually get scared off by his overly analytical thought process and incessant talk about the most obscure topics. At the moment, he was sitting on the couch on my left as we watched a movie. Joe had been one of my best friends since the first day of homeroom in 6th grade.
On the opposite side of me was Amanda. She was the cool kid in the group. Even tonight, a casual Friday night with her four closest friends in the world, she was fashionably dressed in black leggings underneath a knee-length skirt and a tight t-shirt. The outfit did nothing but accent her ample rack and her long, toned legs. Her bright red hair was always impeccably done; I don’t think I had ever seen Amanda look disheveled. Even the morning after prom, when we had all woken up exhausted and hung-over in Joe’s basement, her hair was perfect and her makeup had somehow stayed in place without running or smudging.
Even though she was a princess and she knew it, she was also one of the kindest, sweetest people on the planet. She would go out of her way to help anybody who needed it, whether it was through a church group or the Key Club or just someone she had come across while she was out. I also couldn’t remember a time she had just walked by a homeless person without putting money in their cup. She was studying Management and minoring in Spanish at UConn. She wanted to work for an urban non-profit after college, which was perfect for her.
Tony and Callie were playing ping-pong at the table behind the couch, and they had been going at it for a while. Tony was Amanda’s boyfriend, although they had been members of our group before they had started dating. Tony was probably the second-smartest person in our group, but he had spent most of his time trying to excel on the football field instead of in the classroom, and he had barely graduated in the top third of our class – a failure considering his obviously high level of intelligence. His academics had probably hurt his recruiting chances a little bit, although he had been courted heavily by Big East and ACC schools before deciding to play for Syracuse. Tony had already started three games at fullback for the team, and had played in four more, rushing for four touchdowns. He and Amanda had a flirtatious rivalry due to the relationship between their schools, but it was all in good fun and they were very much in love. When people asked him what he was majoring in, he always told them “football.” He didn’t have much of a life plan yet, but I think like most jocks, he was planning on working in athletics – probably as a trainer or a coach. He was a small running back, just over six feet tall, but he as was wide across as a school bus. His hair flowed past his shoulders, and combined with his bulk, he looked like he could be a bouncer at a grunge club.
Callie was the biggest prankster I had ever met. She was always thinking of ever more creative ways to screw with us. I couldn’t tell you how many times she had scared the shit out of me by popping out of the most unlikely places. She had also spent most of high school thinking of ways to disrupt classes and annoy teachers – but always in a benevolent manner, like if we were taking a test or one of us had under-prepared for a presentation. She was notorious, and I don’t think a student in the building didn’t know her for the stink bombs or false fire alarms by the time we graduated – no small feat considering the senior class alone had over 500 people in it.
Despite her somewhat…criminal nature, she was also very creative and had a knack for writing poems and telling stories. This talent had led her to the creative writing program at UNC in Chapel Hill. I had spent so many nights listening for hours, spellbound, as she read her latest creation to me over the phone. She would call me at all hours of the night, as soon as she finished a story just to read it to me. Even though she woke me up most of the time, I would always listen. Callie and I had been friends since she had moved into the house around the corner from mine in 2nd grade. She was also my best friend in the world, and we knew everything about each other. Over time, I had watched her go through the usual phases of childhood: from the tomboy in overalls who refused to wear skirts or anything pink to the gangly teenager who shot up about six inches in a year.
What would she think about me? How would the rest of the group describe me? I guess I was the artsy one of the group. I had been involved in every play from the fall of freshman year to the spring of senior year the school had put on, and a number of productions outside of the school. I had acted, directed, created lighting, sound, props, sets…you name it, I did it. Along the way, I had developed a reputation as being something of a basket case. I think it’s common for creative people to be very emotional, and in my case, my emotions were displayed through my temper. I wasn’t angry all the time, but when I did, I blew my top. I had broken a few doors and walls in my time; too many, but it was something I was always trying to work on. This usually led me to being typecast as the antagonist in most of the plays I did.
Callie was the only person who was able to calm me down, and she was usually the only one who would come to me and talk me down from the precipice I had been perched on. Usually, she pulled me away to a quiet place and let me vent, no matter where we were or what it was that had set me off. Most of our teachers had tolerated it in high school because they knew there were few other options other than to let me progress from frustrated to angry to depressed to utterly despondent. With Callie, I usually stopped at depressed, and it passed quickly. With her encouragement, I had auditioned for, and was accepted to, the Carnegie Mellon University drama program, where I was focusing on acting.
So there were the five of us, hanging out in Joe’s basement like we always had. Things felt different, with high school memories far enough away to be nostalgic, but close enough for us to still be attached to them. We had already started to branch out to other groups of friends at our respective schools, but we had somehow kept our roots in the right place.
“So what do you guys want to do tonight?” Tony asked as he sent back Callie’s serve. “It’s our first weekend back together! We have to do something special.”
“Yeah, but there’s nothing special to do in the middle of nowhere,” huffed Amanda. “Not unless you want to go to another one of Scott Palmer’s parties.” The four of us groaned. The last party that Scott had thrown was the weekend before most of us left for school. It ended with one of us passed out in a neighbor’s hot tub, two of us in the waiting room of the free clinic, and all of us in deep shit with our parents.
“I don’t think any of us want to repeat that experience,” I said. “Besides, it’s going to be the same people doing the same stupid shit they did last year.”
“And it’s not like they’re the only ones,” Callie teased. I flipped her off, and she stuck her tongue out at me, grinning. I didn’t mention that I was in the hot tub, or that I was in it naked with Miranda Roberts, who had a face permanently fixed into a scowl, and a personality to match. We had all done stupid stuff, so most of the others didn’t tease me too much about it, but Callie brought it up whenever she had the chance.
“So what should we do?” asked Joe. “There’s not much worth doing around here in the winter.” This was true. Most of the under-21 entertainment in the area was geared towards warmer months, like the mini-golf course or the swim club in the middle of the woods that we’d hop the fence of and swim in after hours.
We all sat around, silent except for the tapping of the ping-pong ball off of the table and the paddles. All of a sudden, Tony grabbed the ping-pong ball in mid-flight.
“We should go to the city!” he exclaimed, as excited as if he had just discovered a cure for cancer. “There’s tons of stuff to do in New York!”
“Dude, nobody wants to drive down to New York,” I said. By ‘nobody’, I meant ‘me’. I was usually the one who drove us everywhere. Not that I minded, but I didn’t want to drive the two hours it would take to get there.
“Come on, it’ll be great!” he said as he started to grab me up off of the couch. “It’s only seven! We could be in the heart of Manhattan by nine-thirty, ten o’clock at the latest! Then we could party all night!”
“Yeah, but where would we go?” asked Callie. “It’s not like any of us have good fake IDs.” Callie had had one, but it was confiscated at a bar in Chapel Hill two weeks into the school year.
“There are plenty of 18+ clubs in New York,” Tony said. “I went to a few when I visited my sister this summer…”
“Dawnnnn…” Joe and I sighed together. Dawn was Tony’s older sister, and she was HOT. Ever since our balls had dropped, we had teased him mercilessly about it. He took a few playful swings at us. Callie and Amanda both rolled their eyes.
“Seriously. I went to this place with her and a bunch of her friends. I think it’s called the Shadow Room, or something like that. It was insane. Lots of good looking people grinding on each other. Plenty of single guys, Callie,” he said as he winked at her. I was loath to admit it, but comments like that always made me a little jealous. “And Don, there are plenty of girls with lower standards that would be wiling to give you a shot, I’m sure.”
Choosing to ignore that sideswipe, I looked around. Joe and Callie seemed genuinely interested. Amanda had a resigned look on her face, as if to say “I don’t really want to, but I’ll go if you drag me there.” Tony looked at me. “Come on Don, it’s up to you.”
I hesitated for a second, then realized that this was probably the last chance we’d have to do something like this before the new year. I sighed, then nodded my head. “Fine, but you can drive.”
“Awesome! Let’s go!” And with that, we went. Little did any of us know that our group would be irrevocably changed by the time we returned early the next morning.
***
We left Joe’s house in Tony’s aging Taurus, with Amanda in the front seat and Callie squeezed between Joe and I in the back. For some reason, I was hyperaware of Callie’s thigh pressing against mine. Every time she shifted in her seat, I tensed up slightly. I kept anticipating her placing her hand on my knee or her head on my shoulder, although I had absolutely no reason to think she would do such a thing.
The drive to the city took a little under three hours, and as we drove, the five of us kept an almost constant stream of chatter. Most of the conversation focused on the separate lives we had led over the past two months. We talked about classes, professors, roommates, and of course, sex.
“So who’s still got their Streak going?” asked Tony at about the time we drove through New Haven. Callie and I raised our hands. Tony looked at us in the rearview, then spun around in surprise. “No more, Joe? Like, no shit?” Joe nodded. “Nice! Details?”
I should explain. When Tony and Amanda first lost their virginity to each other, it was the middle of baseball season, and Tony’s baseball idol was Joe DiMaggio. Tony first told us about him and Amanda by declaring his streak of “seventeen sexless years was over!” We all laughed at him when he explained it at first, but from that point on, we referred to the quest to lose our virginity as “trying to end the streak.”
“So who is she?” asked Amanda. “You’re still single, right?”
“Yeah, this wasn’t with anybody I dated,” Joe responded. “It was this girl from my dorm that I met at one of the honors orientation meetings. I think she was more interested in me that I was in her.”
“But you still slept with her?” Tony asked, incredulous. We all were. This wasn’t like Joe at all.
“Well, I didn’t find out I wasn’t interested in her until after we hooked up. But, yeah, I guess so…” he mumbled, obviously embarrassed at his out of character actions. “It wasn’t like I set out to be a dick.”
We drove along in silence for a few minutes. Finally, Amanda broke the silence.
“Well, it doesn’t really matter, I guess, as long as you both enjoyed it.” She turned around to face Joe. “So, was it good?”
“I don’t know,” he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in frustration. “It was my first time! How do I know what good is? I don’t have anything to compare it to!”
“Well, did you both get off?” asked Tony.
“Yeah, we both got off,” Joe said a little more calmly. “It wasn’t her first time. She knew exactly what she was doing.”
“That’s all that matters, man,” said Tony sagely.
“How would you know?” Callie said tauntingly. “You’ve only had sex with one person! It’s not like that was anything close to a one-night stand.”
“But it feels good every time.” He glanced over at Amanda. She slapped his arm.
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” Callie huffed. “I don’t like the idea of losing it to someone I don’t know, or don’t care about.” She was actually starting to get riled up.
“Hey!” said Joe defensively. “It wasn’t my first choice either. It just kinda happened.”
“Well, that’s fine for you, Joe, but I hope my first time isn’t like that,” she responded. She was starting to get snippy.
“Is that why you haven’t done it yet?” Tony challenged her point-blank.
“Yes,” she replied simply.
Tony exploded with laughter. “Oh, Callie the virtuous! I’m heartily sorry for having offended thee!”
“You’re such an asshole Tony,” Callie snapped back at him. “Just because all you care about is getting your rocks off doesn’t mean that’s what everyone cares about.” She sat back in her seat and pulled the hood of her sweatshirt over her head before crossing her arms over her chest.
“Oh, come on, you know I’m just kidding with you,” Tony replied. She didn’t reply, staring silently at her chest.
We stayed fairly silent for most of the rest of the way through Connecticut, the conversation not resuming until we neared the New York border. Callie remained quiet for the rest of the ride, only talking when addressed directly, and then only in monosyllables.
I was surprised by her reaction to Joe’s story. Sex was something we had never really talked about, considering how little we knew about it. I had had a fairly average dating life throughout high school, and despite repeated attempts to score, hadn’t yet succeeded. The only time I had even been totally naked with a girl, I couldn’t even remember, I had been so drunk. I knew Callie hadn’t really been interested in anybody, and I always assumed that meant she had little interest in sex. Now, however, I wondered. It was something she had obviously thought about, and the way she spoke, she seemed to want to find somebody. I don’t think the others in the car picked up on it, but I had known her longer than any of them, and I could hear the subtle traces of regret in her voice.
We parked the car at New Rochelle and took the MTA the rest of the way in to the city. By this time, Callie had taken off her hood and was talking with us again, although there was a fire in her look I couldn’t quite place. Tony led the four of us to the right subway at Grand Central, and we arrived downtown around 10:30. After fifteen or so minutes of wandering, we found the place Tony was looking for. It was a huge building in the middle of the block, with a neon sign that spelled out “MIDNIGHT LOUNGE” over the entrance. It was so bright, it lit up the sidewalk and the surrounding buildings as if it were day. There was a long line leading to a big bouncer guarding the door, marking some hands with an “x” and affixing wristbands to others. We got in without a problem, the “x” mark on our hands a signal that the bartender couldn’t serve us alcohol.
We crossed the threshold of the door, shedding our sweaters as we went to the coat check-in. The entrance to the club itself was covered by a black curtain, but as people walked through, you could see the bright lights bisecting the darkened room, people melded to each other and moving in time to the deafening thud-thud-thud of the bass. Finally, our coats stored, we walked through the curtain.
“What did I tell you guys about this place?” yelled Tony as we took the scene in. The room was about the size of a gymnasium, and it was packed. The crowd thinned out as one moved further back from the stage the DJ was set up on, but up in front, all we could see was a wildly gyrating mass of bodies. Amanda, energized by the crowd, grabbed Tony’s hand and started working her way into the middle of the dance floor. Tony followed obediently, and they disappeared from view, with only an occasional glimpse of their heads revealing their location. Joe, Callie and I all looked at each other for a moment, wondering what to do. Joe was the first to move. Shrugging his shoulders, he headed towards the large group of dancing bodies, hoping to stay close to Tony and Amanda. However, he was immediately intercepted by a petite dark-haired girl who grabbed his wrist and danced seductively in his direction. Grinning, he started moving with her in the same direction Tony and Amanda had gone. Soon, we lost sight of him, as well.
Callie and I stood there awkwardly for a moment. I wondered if she was even interested in dancing after the argument she had had in the car, but that question was quickly answered as she moved closer to me. Bringing her lips to my ear, she shouted “Fuck it! Let’s dance!” Her early moodiness was gone; she seemed more eager to be here. I nodded, and we belatedly followed the others into the crowd.
***
I had forgotten how much I enjoyed dancing. I was awful at it, but with my friends around, it didn’t seem to matter too much. Tony and Amanda initially stayed close to each other, as did Callie and I. Joe had a constant stream of hot girls coming up to him, so he started out dancing with them. We all traded off time on the dance floor, with the three guys dancing with the two girls. I was always amazed that Amanda and Tony were both secure enough with each other to not feel jealous when we switched partners, but they had always been that way. Besides, I liked dancing with Amanda. She wasn’t above dancing dirtily with any of us, and she kept grinding her tight ass against me as she moved around me. I couldn’t help but get a little aroused. These were my best friends, but I’m only human.
Every time Callie left the dance floor, I kept one eye on her, only to make sure she wasn’t accosted by some drunk asshole as she rested. At one point not soon after we arrived, her and Tony were talking while Joe and I sandwiched Amanda. I rotated the three of us so I could see them over Amanda and Joe’s shoulders. They were talking into each other’s ears, alternating as they spoke. I think Tony was apologizing, because they talked for a while. Before Tony rejoined us on the dance floor, they hugged. That was a good sign. Soon after, Callie came back up to me and pulled me close. She looked much more relaxed and confident, so I assumed her and Tony had a good talk, although I had no idea how with all the noise in the hall.
I will admit, it was nice to feel her body pressed close to mine, her arms encircled around me. My hands stayed at her waist, my fingers rubbing along the rough material of her jeans as we ground against each other. Of course, I had noticed that Callie was an attractive girl before, but I had never really thought of her in a sexual way at all before. Maybe it was the conversation from the car running through the head, but all I could think about was what it would be like to do this with her in private, feeling her naked skin against mine, to kiss her lips…
Abruptly, I tripped over my own feet, nearly falling on top of her. She grinned up at me as she put her hands on my chest and propped me back up. I shook the dirty thoughts I was having out of my mind. If she had ever wanted me in that way, it would have happened a long time ago.
Eventually, Joe, Amanda, and Tony all left our little circle, either to get a drink or to go to the bathroom or just to sit down. I was getting kind of tired, having been dancing almost non-stop since we had arrived, but every time I made a move to leave the dance floor, Callie pouted at me and pulled me back into her. The first time, she pulled my head to hers and shouted into my ear: “I don’t want to dance by myself! Too many creepers here!” I looked around. There were a lot of sketchy looking guys around us, the ultra-muscled, supergelled dudes who paced the room like sharks searching for a meal. “Keep me safe!” she demanded, and I acquiesced. Somebody had to look out for her.
Finally, I could tell she was starting to fatigue as well. I tapped her shoulder and made a gesture with my thumb, pointing towards the back of the hall. She nodded, but as we started to push our way through the throng of people, the DJ switched songs, putting on some sensual half time tune. She squeezed my shoulder, putting up a finger as if to say “one more song!” Inwardly, I sighed, but it stopped in my throat as our hips made contact.
Somehow, I was able to move more easily to the slower song; I was more comfortable with the slightly relaxed tempo. I pulled her tighter to me, feeling her small breasts pushing into my chest. She put her chin on my shoulder, and I rested my cheek against her hair. I breathed in, smelling her shampoo mixed with her sweat. It was by turns both natural and scented, and at that moment, all I wanted to do was run my fingers through her hair. She turned around, pressing her back into me, lifting a hand up and grabbing onto the back of my neck. There wasn’t a point from our upper bodies to our thighs that we weren’t touching. She moved sensually against me, and all I could do was follow along.
She turned back around as the song was coming to an end, keeping her arm around my neck. My hands again drifted to the small of her back, my fingertips lightly rubbing against the very top of the curves of her ass. She leaned back and looked into my eyes.
At that moment, I felt something pass between us. It was something different, different from anything I had felt in the eleven years we had known each other. All I could feel was her breath and the pulse of my heartbeat, the blood rushing through my body to where my fingertips made contact with her skin. I wondered if she felt it, too.
Then she pulled me into her and kissed me.
Time stopped. I was paralyzed. I was so astonished I couldn’t do anything; I made no move to pull away from her, nor did I make any move to kiss her back. It only lasted for a few seconds, but it could have been hours before I felt her start to pull away. She rubbed the back of my neck before dropping her hand down. Of course, at that moment, the song ended, and she turned and walked off the dance floor.
I was still so surprised I remained frozen in place until someone jostled into me from behind. Turning, I saw some big guy glaring at me. I didn’t even react, I just started moving and tried to spot my friends.
When I found them, I could tell they had seen everything. They weren’t talking, and they were just staring in my direction. Callie was nowhere to be found. Joe pointed at me, and the look on his face said “What the hell was that?” I shrugged my shoulders, shook my head, and kept walking past them towards the bathroom. I needed to get away from the pounding music and splash some cold water on my face.
***
By two, all of us were finally spent. Well, they were, in any case. I spent most of the time after Callie had kissed me sitting against the wall, avoiding her and questions from the others.
What just happened? Why had she kissed me? What did it mean? More importantly, I wanted to know what that electric feeling between the two of us right before she kissed me was all about.
We were all too tired to carry on any kind of conversation as we stumbled out of the club and back towards the subway station. At least that was what I told myself. I wasn’t quite sure how to address the huge metaphorical elephant in front of us, and I could tell nobody else could, either.
Our route out of the city was a mirror-image to the one we had taken in. Nothing of note happened from Grand Central to getting to Joe’s car. We pulled away from the parking lot in the same seats as we were in when we had arrived. I stared out the window as we got on the highway, the lights of the buildings around us blurring as we passed by. All of the questions I had asked myself in the club were still swirling around in my head.
I glanced back into the car. Amanda and Tony were silently holding hands on the armrest in between them. Joe was passed out against the passenger side window, and Callie seemed to have fallen asleep with her head against the seat back. I looked over again at Joe and decided that was probably the best idea, even though I didn’t think I would be able to sleep. Callie’s was still pressed against me, and it did nothing but add to my distress. I sighed, shifting slightly to rest my head against the window. I felt Callie push back subtly at me, her shoulder leaning into me. Even though her head was still against the seat, it felt like she was resting on me, as if I was holding her up.
Lightly at first, almost so lightly I couldn’t tell if I was imagining it, I felt Callie’s fingers brush against mine. Once, twice, three times, they flicked against my hand, until I could tell she was deliberately trying to make contact with me. Her index finger lingered on mine, making a hooking motion. Her other fingers followed. Without even thinking, my fingers curled back, squeezing gently. She wiggled her body against mine as I squeezed. We drifted off like that, with our fingers locked together, until we arrived back at Joe’s house.
***
I woke up around ten the next day, and the first coherent feeling I had was of loss. I felt inexplicably sad. Then I remembered what happened last night. The drive down to New York. The squabble between Callie and Tony. The club. Callie’s lips on mine and our fingers laced together on the car ride back home. It was all I could think about as I went through my morning routine. As I ate my cereal, I saw her face. When I brushed my teeth, I felt her hand in mine. I stood in the shower, and I smelt her hair. By the time I finished, I had realized what was bugging me; why I felt so gloomy.
Whatever romantic feelings I might have had for Callie had been suppressed almost as soon as puberty hit. The tendency to be attracted to one another was very strong, just because of the closeness we shared from growing up together. It would have been easy enough to succumb to that temptation and get involved with her. But somewhere deep down, I knew that it would have been impossible to sustain a relationship for the rest of our lives, and living without her altogether would have been too sad for me to even think about. So of course, as soon as we got to Joe’s last night, I went straight to my car and left, without even the most perfunctory goodbye.
But last night’s kiss awakened in me feelings I thought I had locked away a long time ago. It took me most of the morning and early afternoon to finally admit it to myself: I loved her. It was a despondent kind of love, though, because I knew nothing could ever come of it. Even if we could stay together the rest of our lives, the obstacles in front of us were too great. We went to schools a thousand miles away from each other, and after college was too far away to even think about planning. These feelings and thoughts had been inside me for a long time. Her kiss only opened the door to the room I had been hiding them in.
Even though I had sorted out my feelings, I still felt awful. I couldn’t think of any way to get rid of my mood other than to talk to her, so I threw on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt and left the house, walking around the corner to hers. I let myself in through the gate along the sidewalk, and walked to her back door, where I usually went in. On the steps to the breezeway, though, I faltered. My hand grasped the door handle, but I couldn’t bring myself to open the door.
Why are you so scared? I asked myself. She’s your best friend. You can say anything to her.
Even break her heart? another voice in my head responded. Of course, I had no reason to believe that what I planned on telling her would break her heart, but the voice spoke before I realized it.
I took a deep breath, let it out, and opened the door. Walked up to the door leading to the kitchen. In the two steps it took for me to cross the breezeway, the volume of my heart pounding in my chest amplified until it was the only thing I heard. I knocked on her door in time to the thudding of my pulse and waited. I heard footsteps in the hall, and I exhaled, not realizing I had been holding my breath until that moment.
She came to open the door. Even though I tried to restrain myself, I couldn’t help but let my eyes run down her body before looking back up at her. She must’ve spent most of her day the same way I had. She was wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, and her dirty blonde hair was tossed messily on top of her head, almost as an afterthought. I still thought she looked gorgeous.
“Oh…hi,” she said unenthusiastically. “I didn’t know you were coming over.”
“I was just walking by…I wanted to stop in and say hi to your mom while I’m home.” Wow. That was lame. Good thing I didn’t do improv.
“She’s out right now. She went to visit my aunt in Providence, or something, I think.” We both stood in the doorway awkwardly for a moment, waiting to see who was going to make the next move. “Well, you can come in if you want.” That was a first. She had never had to invite me into her house before. She moved out of the way, and I walked past her into the kitchen. We both leaned against the counter, not quite looking at each other.
“You know when she’ll be back?” I asked, trying to keep up pretenses.
“No, but I don’t think it’ll be until late tonight.” She sighed. “I wish you had called to let me know you were coming over. I would’ve cleaned up a little bit or something.”
“Come on, Callie, when have I ever called you before stopping by?” There was an almost unbearable amount of tension between us, yet I couldn’t think of anything to say to break it. For all the thoughts that had been running through my head all day, my mind was suddenly blank.
“Look, you came by to talk about last night, right?” she asked. Finally, it was out in the open. “You probably want to know why I kissed you and…”
“Well, yeah. It took me by surprise,” I said, finally looking her in the eyes. She had a soft, sad look on her face, but for the life of me, I couldn’t read what she was thinking.
“Really? You never thought about what it would be like to kiss me before?” Her voice had taken on a sarcastic, mocking edge. She knew I couldn’t answer yes to that.
“Of course I have,” I responded lamely. “But I always thought it…you…me…would be impossible. I mean, why now? Why last night?”
“Well, why shouldn’t it be possible?” she exploded. “You’re my best friend! You’re the only guy I’ve ever allowed to get close, like, ever! You think that I’ve gone my entire life without being the least bit attracted to you?” I didn’t respond; I had no words to counter hers. She sat down on the couch and put her head in her hands, pulled her hair back. “I don’t know. The conversation with Tony in the car just really fired me up. I started to think that even if we couldn’t be together, I could still want you right now.”
It took a few seconds before what she was insinuating dawned on me. “You’re talking about sex?” I asked, suddenly much more nervous than I had been before I had knocked on her door. Eyes downcast, she nodded.
“You know, you can be such a fucking idiot sometimes! Why do you think I never got serious with any guys in high school? Do you think it’s normal for me to stay up until two in the morning talking to a boy almost every night – after seeing him at school all day? And now it’s too late. I can see it in your face…you’re disgusted with me. You didn’t…you didn’t even say goodbye last night.” Her eyes were watering up. Stunned, I sat down next to her on the couch. How could I have missed all those signs? I was an absolute moron. Now, instead of thinking about how fragile and unlikely high school romances were, I could only think of how badly I had blown it. We could have had years to be together, even before we left town. But thanks to my shortsightedness and apparent stupidity, I had thrown that chance away forever.
“Callie…” I started. “I’m not disgusted with you at all. I just…I had no idea you felt this way. I’m…”
She was sniffling now. “If you had known, would you have done anything about it?”
“You mean last night or four years ago?”
She didn’t respond, and I didn’t answer. Instead, I leaned towards her and put my arms around her shoulders. She leaned her head into my chest. I could feel tears intermittently falling through my shirt. She circled her arms around me, clinging to me like a child. We sat that way for a while, me rubbing my hands across her shoulder as she slowly gained her composure.
Eventually, when her breathing had become more even, she pulled her head away and looked up at me. I didn’t even realize I had been inhaling the scent of her skin until I pulled my nose from her hair.
“Were you trying to get me to sleep with you last night?” I asked.
“Well…not necessarily,” she answered warily. “I was just…well, like I said, that conversation totally fired me up. In more ways than one.”
Again, it took me a little while before I realized what she was implying. “Oh…” I paused. “So…are you still…umm…’fired up?'”
“You jerk!” she laughed against her will, pushing away from me. Laughing too, I grabbed her wrists and pulled her back to me. Her face was inches from mine. We stopped giggling as we both noticed the position we were in. “I was just…I don’t know. Ready,” she whispered, looking back down. “Like, really ready. I’ve been ready to end my streak with you since we were sixteen.”
I let go of her wrists and brought my hands to her face. Held both her cheeks. Lifted her face to mine.
Then I kissed her.
It took her by surprise; her eyes widened before they closed and she sank into me. Our bodies melted together, and I started to fall back on the couch, pulling her lips with me. I felt her start to pull away, and my eyes opened. Standing up, she took my hand and helped me up from my reclined position on the couch.
“What?” I asked as she tugged me further into the house.
“My room,” she answered, looking back at me with the most seductive bedroom eyes I’d ever seen. “If we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it right.”
***
Callie’s room was small; just big enough for a twin bed, a desk, and a dresser. The shades were drawn, and the room was dark. It was clean, save for the large pile of clothes on the bed.
“Laundry,” she said as she moved it off the bed. “Like I said, I would have cleaned up if I had known you were coming over. Don’t worry, it’s clean,” she quickly added.
After she moved the laundry to the floor, she turned to face me. We stood there for a moment, not sure who was going to make the first move. This time, I took the initiative, reaching out and pulling her in for another kiss. Our lips met, tenderly at first. I felt her mouth part and her tongue snaked out, flicking at my lips. I opened mine as well, and the instant our tongues touched, something inside me broke loose. My hands started roaming down her body, pulling up her shirt until I felt the smooth skin of her lower back. My hands continued their journey downward until they were cupping her ample bottom. She moaned into my mouth and started pulling my sweatshirt over my head. We broke off the kiss and she took a step back from me, my sweatshirt pulled half up over my body.
“You first,” she said softly, pointing at my clothes. I quickly pulled my sweatshirt and my t-shirt over my head, baring my chest. She ran her hands along my torso, exploring my body from my shoulders to the top of my jeans. A tremor passed through me at the feather-light touch of her hands. She went for my belt, and had my pants undone in short order. I kicked off my shoes and helped her pull my pants down off of my legs. Stepping out of them, clad only in my boxers, I could feel my penis hanging heavily against my leg. I wasn’t hard, but I was well on my way, and I looked down to see a noticeable bulge straining to break through.
“Now you,” I said, my hands returning to the hem of her shirt, lifting it up. The silken skin of her stomach came into view, rising up and down from the deep breaths she took. She put her hands up, and I pulled the shirt over her head. Her generous breasts caught in the t-shirt momentarily, then fell back down, swinging invitingly. As she pulled the shirt off the rest of the way, my hands unconsciously reached out to cup them. I could feel her press her chest into my touch as I rubbed her nipples, a small sigh escaping from her lips.
I knelt down in front of her and started to undo the knot in the string holding her sweatpants up. I inched them down her legs, her pink and yellow panties coming into view, covering her mound. With her pants around her knees and her legs trapped together, I kissed the center of the triangle of fabric that disappeared between her thighs. For the first time in my life, the powerful, sweet scent of a woman’s arousal drifted into my nostrils. It was sensual, divine. Heaven. As she stepped out of her pants, I kissed my way a little lower. I could feel her panties dampening near her slit.
“That’s enough,” she growled, grasping me under my armpits and pulling me back to a standing position. We kissed again, attacking each other with our mouths as we shuffled towards the bed. Her knees knocked against the mattress, and she fell back, releasing me from her arms and breaking the kiss. She giggled as she bounced back against the bed, her jiggling breasts drawing my gaze. I shamelessly ogled her, and she giggled again. “Come here,” she said, flinging her panties to the side. I obligingly crawled in between her parted legs as she scooted her behind up towards the headboard. She reached into my underwear and pulled my cock out, stroking it, teasing it to hardness. I sat up on my knees and pulled my boxers off. “Like you said, if we’re going to do it, we should do it right,” I said as I lowered myself back between her thighs. She grabbed me by the back of the neck, pulling herself up while simultaneously pulling me down to her, kissing me until we fell back against the mattress. Involuntarily, I bucked my hips, and all of a sudden, the head of my cock was against the warm wetness of her pussy. Her eyes shot wide open and she gasped into my mouth between parted lips.
“Be gentle,” she whispered. Our faces were inches apart. I just nodded, never moving my gaze from hers. My hardness pressed into the tight wetness of her virginity. I pushed a little harder, and suddenly, I was through. Her breath caught and she squeaked out a moan, her hands clutching tight against my back. “Ohmygod,” she gasped. “Just stay there…stay inside of me.”
“I don’t know if you realize how hard that is for me to do,” I panted, using every last bit of control to keep from pulling out and thrusting back inside of her. My mouth planted a warm, wet kiss on her shoulder, and my teeth nipped lightly at her skin. She bucked underneath me, driving me as deep into her body as I could possibly go.
“Oh, FUCK!” she fairly screamed, her lips finding my earlobe and tugging on it, pulling with her teeth. I shuddered and, without meaning to, pulled back and slammed myself back into her. “Jesus, Don, do that again.” Releasing all pretense of control, I began humping her in earnest.
The only sounds in her tiny bedroom were our ragged breaths and the squeak of her mattress as our bodies collided over and over again. She ran her hands all over me, clutching my ass and pulling me into her, fingertips gliding softly across my back and to my shoulders, fingernails digging into my hair and rubbing my scalp, pulling me down into a passionate kiss. All of a sudden, she pushed me away and a scream came out, only to get stuck in her throat. Her lips formed a silent O, and I could feel every muscle in her body lock up.
“Oooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh!” She let out a long, loud moan as her already tight pussy spasmed around my cock. The sensation of her clamping down around me sent my brain into overdrive, and I redoubled my efforts to fuck her straight into the floor. My hips jackhammered into her, and she let me ride her through her orgasm, her legs wrapping around my hips and her arms wrapping around my neck, pulling me down so that her lips were against my ear. Her tongue snaked out to lick my ear as she whispered. “You made me come so hard. Keep going baby.”
“I have no intention of -oh! stopping,” I said, my words coming out in twos and threes. Shortly, I could feel the head of my cock growing overly sensitive as I neared my climax. “Callie, ohhh! I’m…I’m going to come.”
“I’m on the pill,” she replied. “Go ahead and come. Come inside me. I want to feel you inside me.” The thought of spilling my seed inside her, filling her with my jizz, was enough to send me over the edge. With a groan, I thrust deeply into her one last time before pouring forth, shooting my cum deep inside her. Finally, I collapsed on top of her, our gloriously sweaty bodies finally having found release.
We lay there for a long while, my cock slowly deflating inside her. Finally, I slid my flaccid cock out of her, rolling over to lay next to her on the bed. She rolled with me, her head resting on my chest. My hand found hers, and our fingers gripped each other as we lay together, enjoying the afterglow.
Without raising her head, she mumbled into my chest. “Looks like our streaks are finally over.” I chuckled and ran my free hand through her blond tresses.
A warbling sound came from the pocket of my jeans, still laying on the floor. My cell phone. With a sigh, I stretched down to the floor and fished it out of my pocket. TONY CELL was on the display. I picked up. “Hey.”
“Dude, what was up with last night?” he asked. “You talk to Callie?”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yeah, we talked…”
Tony must have caught my voice subtly trailing off. “You hit that didn’t you? You son of a bitch! Did you end your streaks?” I could hear him continuing on as I laughed and hung up the phone, turning back to the girl in my arms.
