continued
The next afternoon, I was lounging around in bed in my underwear when Angie called. I was pretty bored, so I was excited to hear her voice on the other end of the receiver.
“Hello?”
“Lacey! Two of my friends from Jersey are coming to visit! Remember the hot one I told you about? Well, I sort of told her you were gorgeous and…she wants to meet you.”
Angie had often told stories about these “friends from Jersey,” but I never believed them. She had a tendency to exaggerate things, especially when she was talking about hot women; and it made it less believable because all the girls she spoke of were supposedly lesbians. I was surprised to hear that they were real people and coming to visit.
“Are you serious? Just how hot is hot?” I still had Jen on my mind and did not see how any other girl could compare.
“Lace… I’m telling you, she’s hot. Anyway, Shannon will be there to get you after she has Zeb get us this beer.”
I decided to take her word for it and spent extra time getting ready that night. So much of my days were filled masturbating in my own bed, thinking of women, and my desire was constantly aching between my thighs. I mean really, I needed to do something about it.
I applied my makeup carefully and purposely chose an extremely low-cut black shirt. I wore a pink shirt under this, trying my best to let my femininity show as much as possible. All the while I was getting ready, I was thinking about Jen. I imagined that I was actually getting ready for her instead of some blind date that Angie had set me up with. The word, ‘desperate,’ crossed my mind when I thought of this nameless girl that I could potentially be involved with, most likely as a one night stand.
Though I was entirely feminine, I always wore men’s cologne. It had a richer scent and could be detected hours after spraying it. I put more on than usual. After all, it could have been my lucky night.
Soon after that, Shannon came to get me in her red pickup truck. As soon as I opened the door, she was already speaking and her eyes were wide.
“Oh. My. God. Lacey.”
I got in the truck and moved the twenty-four pack of beer over to make room for my feet before shutting the door. Shannon looked stressed out.
”What? What is it?”
“That …girl… is so… beautiful,” she stuttered.
“Pfft.. that’s it? Okay. Let’s drive now.”
She turned the music up and I stared out the window while she sang at the top of her lungs. The girls were crazy like that, never letting a moment of silence pass. I thought about Jen’s eyes and I heard Shannon say something when we were almost there, but I completely tuned her out. Jen's eyes were just so damned blue…
I got out and slammed the door. I followed Shannon up the steps to Angie's place. We were about to walk in when she said,
“Where’s the beer? Didn’t you hear me say to bring the beer?”
“Ooh, right…”
“Come on, hurry up, don’t you want to meet Tricia?”
Tricia. I didn’t even like the name. Jen was much simpler. I shrugged at Shannon as she went in and hurried back down the steps. I grabbed the beer, but underestimated its weight. I stumbled a bit and just as I did this, I saw Jen dead-bolting her apartment door right next to the stairs. I stopped right where I was and observed her. Her hair was down this time, a little past shoulder length and I could see some highlights; less simple, but still, so beautiful.
She turned around and grinned as soon as she saw me standing there in the same place holding a twenty-four pack of Coors Light.
“Looks like it’s going to be a loud night again?”
She had a sense of humor and I liked that.
“Maybe, and you’re welcome to join.” I smiled at her and tried to guess her age in my head.
“How long have you lived here?” she asked.
I turned red. “Well, uh, the apartment’s not exactly mine… it’s actually my friend Angie’s, but I spend a lot of time here.”
“I see,” she said. “I thought you looked kind of young. How old are you, anyway?”
I stuttered, “S-sixteen.”
I was going to say seventeen, but I lost the courage at the last minute. As if one year’s difference really mattered.
She got a mischievous look on her face then and she glanced towards a car that was obviously hers.
“Maybe you’d like to join me instead?”
I was confused. “Where are you going?”
“Oh just to run an errand,” she started. “You know, pick a few things up for the night.”
My heart started pounding. I did not want her to know that I was nervous and I definitely didn’t want her to scare her off by coming on to her. I had to act completely normal.
“Sure, I’ll come. Just let me run this beer up and I’ll be right out.”
I walked past her and up the stairs. She turned her head all the way around and I could feel her watching me. My palms were sweaty and dropping the beer was a definite possibility. I opened the door as quietly as I could, just enough to slip the box of beer in. I quickly shut it and sprinted back down the steps. I didn’t want to have to explain myself to Angie or anybody else.
Jen drove a tiny green Saturn and she looked damn cute in it. I had to smile when I got in.
“I like your car,” I said.
She held her finger up to her lips and said, “Shh…”
The music got louder and I recognized it immediately. I opened my eyes wide and my mouth dropped open.
“You listen to Ani Difranco?!”
She smiled and hummed along with the music while backing out of the parking lot. I didn’t know what to think. For some reason, listening to Ani was an unspoken sign of acceptance. If you listened to Ani, you knew Ani liked girls. I started thinking there was something funny going on. I examined my situation. I was in a car going god knows where with the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, I had just met her the night before and she knew nothing about me, she listened to Ani Difranco… but I didn’t want to get my hopes up. This could have been completely innocent. You must remember that I really believed in innocence, back in those days.
After awhile, she pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned the music down. She turned to face me.
“Now, I have to run in here for just a second, but it won’t take very long, okay?”
I nodded and shrugged. I didn’t care. I’d let her lead me anywhere and I would wait outside all day for her. I hoped she couldn’t already tell.
She left the car on and as soon as she was out of sight, I turned up the music and sang along, so thankful that I was there. I knew my friends would be pissed at me, but it didn’t matter much. Things like this didn’t happen every day.
When I saw her coming out of the house, she was rushing back to the car. I quickly turned the music down.
She apologized. “I’m sorry that took so long, he gets to talking sometimes and there’s no way to shut him up!”
So there was a him. I was disappointed as soon as I heard this. I imagined that he was her boyfriend and he was holding her, taking forever to say goodbye, and that’s what actually took so long. My whole demeanor must have changed because she tilted her head and narrowed her eyes.
“You okay there, girl?”
I looked up and those eyes caught me. I stared into them for a couple seconds before nodding. She grinned.
“Well, you won’t be sad for long.”
I had no idea what she meant, but I didn’t feel like asking either. She turned the music up and drove back in the direction we came from. I expected there to be more errands than just one, but she pulled in parking lot of the apartments and I was disappointed again. I had hoped for more time with her than that, even if we were only listening to music, not saying a word.
When we got out of her car, I headed for the stairs to go to Angie’s, but Jen stopped me.
“Hey! Why don’t you come in here for a minute? I want to show you something.”
“What is it?” I asked. I had no idea what she could possibly have to show me.
She ignored my question and instead motioned for me to follow her. I stood behind her while she unlocked the door and I got a whiff of sweet perfume. I quickly breathed out and inhaled deeper, wanting to take all of her in that I could.
“Mm… you smell good,” I half whispered.
I cleared my throat. The tone of my voice could have completely given me away.
She turned her head around while still fumbling with the key. Her face was inches away from mine, but she looked comfortable.
“I’ve been thinking that about you since you got in my car,” she admitted. “What kind of perfume is that?”
“Oh, uh, it’s actually cologne. It’s called, ‘Desire.’”
She wrinkled her eyebrows and I could have sworn she was being flirtatious, but I still didn’t want to get my hopes up. I saw her eyes flicker down to my lips and back to my eyes as she pushed the door open.
“I see…,” she said.
Her apartment was decorated with tons of posters from various bands and artists. She motioned for me to sit on the couch while she went into the other room. Ani Difranco stared me in dead the face from behind the TV. The posters were really kind of freaky.
“I’ll be right there!” she yelled from behind a closed door.
There were several picture frames sitting on inn tables beside the couch. One picture was of her and a very gay-looking man lying in the grass at the park. I wondered who took the picture. Jen looked beautiful with her blue eyes contrasted against the grass and the sky. For a moment, I wished I had been there.
There was a picture frame shaped as a heart facing down on the table and my curiosity started to get the best of me. I lifted one side of it, but I heard a door open before I could see it. I dropped the frame and it banged against the table. Thankfully, she didn’t say anything. Jen walked back into the room holding a mirror horizontal to the floor. She seemed to be balancing it. She set it down on the table in front of me and I was shocked at what I saw.
There were six lines of white powder next to a rolled up dollar bill being held together by a rubber band. I looked up at her in disbelief. She did not seem like someone who would do cocaine, but she was grinning and her eyes were absolutely wild.
“Hello?”
“Lacey! Two of my friends from Jersey are coming to visit! Remember the hot one I told you about? Well, I sort of told her you were gorgeous and…she wants to meet you.”
Angie had often told stories about these “friends from Jersey,” but I never believed them. She had a tendency to exaggerate things, especially when she was talking about hot women; and it made it less believable because all the girls she spoke of were supposedly lesbians. I was surprised to hear that they were real people and coming to visit.
“Are you serious? Just how hot is hot?” I still had Jen on my mind and did not see how any other girl could compare.
“Lace… I’m telling you, she’s hot. Anyway, Shannon will be there to get you after she has Zeb get us this beer.”
I decided to take her word for it and spent extra time getting ready that night. So much of my days were filled masturbating in my own bed, thinking of women, and my desire was constantly aching between my thighs. I mean really, I needed to do something about it.
I applied my makeup carefully and purposely chose an extremely low-cut black shirt. I wore a pink shirt under this, trying my best to let my femininity show as much as possible. All the while I was getting ready, I was thinking about Jen. I imagined that I was actually getting ready for her instead of some blind date that Angie had set me up with. The word, ‘desperate,’ crossed my mind when I thought of this nameless girl that I could potentially be involved with, most likely as a one night stand.
Though I was entirely feminine, I always wore men’s cologne. It had a richer scent and could be detected hours after spraying it. I put more on than usual. After all, it could have been my lucky night.
Soon after that, Shannon came to get me in her red pickup truck. As soon as I opened the door, she was already speaking and her eyes were wide.
“Oh. My. God. Lacey.”
I got in the truck and moved the twenty-four pack of beer over to make room for my feet before shutting the door. Shannon looked stressed out.
”What? What is it?”
“That …girl… is so… beautiful,” she stuttered.
“Pfft.. that’s it? Okay. Let’s drive now.”
She turned the music up and I stared out the window while she sang at the top of her lungs. The girls were crazy like that, never letting a moment of silence pass. I thought about Jen’s eyes and I heard Shannon say something when we were almost there, but I completely tuned her out. Jen's eyes were just so damned blue…
I got out and slammed the door. I followed Shannon up the steps to Angie's place. We were about to walk in when she said,
“Where’s the beer? Didn’t you hear me say to bring the beer?”
“Ooh, right…”
“Come on, hurry up, don’t you want to meet Tricia?”
Tricia. I didn’t even like the name. Jen was much simpler. I shrugged at Shannon as she went in and hurried back down the steps. I grabbed the beer, but underestimated its weight. I stumbled a bit and just as I did this, I saw Jen dead-bolting her apartment door right next to the stairs. I stopped right where I was and observed her. Her hair was down this time, a little past shoulder length and I could see some highlights; less simple, but still, so beautiful.
She turned around and grinned as soon as she saw me standing there in the same place holding a twenty-four pack of Coors Light.
“Looks like it’s going to be a loud night again?”
She had a sense of humor and I liked that.
“Maybe, and you’re welcome to join.” I smiled at her and tried to guess her age in my head.
“How long have you lived here?” she asked.
I turned red. “Well, uh, the apartment’s not exactly mine… it’s actually my friend Angie’s, but I spend a lot of time here.”
“I see,” she said. “I thought you looked kind of young. How old are you, anyway?”
I stuttered, “S-sixteen.”
I was going to say seventeen, but I lost the courage at the last minute. As if one year’s difference really mattered.
She got a mischievous look on her face then and she glanced towards a car that was obviously hers.
“Maybe you’d like to join me instead?”
I was confused. “Where are you going?”
“Oh just to run an errand,” she started. “You know, pick a few things up for the night.”
My heart started pounding. I did not want her to know that I was nervous and I definitely didn’t want her to scare her off by coming on to her. I had to act completely normal.
“Sure, I’ll come. Just let me run this beer up and I’ll be right out.”
I walked past her and up the stairs. She turned her head all the way around and I could feel her watching me. My palms were sweaty and dropping the beer was a definite possibility. I opened the door as quietly as I could, just enough to slip the box of beer in. I quickly shut it and sprinted back down the steps. I didn’t want to have to explain myself to Angie or anybody else.
Jen drove a tiny green Saturn and she looked damn cute in it. I had to smile when I got in.
“I like your car,” I said.
She held her finger up to her lips and said, “Shh…”
The music got louder and I recognized it immediately. I opened my eyes wide and my mouth dropped open.
“You listen to Ani Difranco?!”
She smiled and hummed along with the music while backing out of the parking lot. I didn’t know what to think. For some reason, listening to Ani was an unspoken sign of acceptance. If you listened to Ani, you knew Ani liked girls. I started thinking there was something funny going on. I examined my situation. I was in a car going god knows where with the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, I had just met her the night before and she knew nothing about me, she listened to Ani Difranco… but I didn’t want to get my hopes up. This could have been completely innocent. You must remember that I really believed in innocence, back in those days.
After awhile, she pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned the music down. She turned to face me.
“Now, I have to run in here for just a second, but it won’t take very long, okay?”
I nodded and shrugged. I didn’t care. I’d let her lead me anywhere and I would wait outside all day for her. I hoped she couldn’t already tell.
She left the car on and as soon as she was out of sight, I turned up the music and sang along, so thankful that I was there. I knew my friends would be pissed at me, but it didn’t matter much. Things like this didn’t happen every day.
When I saw her coming out of the house, she was rushing back to the car. I quickly turned the music down.
She apologized. “I’m sorry that took so long, he gets to talking sometimes and there’s no way to shut him up!”
So there was a him. I was disappointed as soon as I heard this. I imagined that he was her boyfriend and he was holding her, taking forever to say goodbye, and that’s what actually took so long. My whole demeanor must have changed because she tilted her head and narrowed her eyes.
“You okay there, girl?”
I looked up and those eyes caught me. I stared into them for a couple seconds before nodding. She grinned.
“Well, you won’t be sad for long.”
I had no idea what she meant, but I didn’t feel like asking either. She turned the music up and drove back in the direction we came from. I expected there to be more errands than just one, but she pulled in parking lot of the apartments and I was disappointed again. I had hoped for more time with her than that, even if we were only listening to music, not saying a word.
When we got out of her car, I headed for the stairs to go to Angie’s, but Jen stopped me.
“Hey! Why don’t you come in here for a minute? I want to show you something.”
“What is it?” I asked. I had no idea what she could possibly have to show me.
She ignored my question and instead motioned for me to follow her. I stood behind her while she unlocked the door and I got a whiff of sweet perfume. I quickly breathed out and inhaled deeper, wanting to take all of her in that I could.
“Mm… you smell good,” I half whispered.
I cleared my throat. The tone of my voice could have completely given me away.
She turned her head around while still fumbling with the key. Her face was inches away from mine, but she looked comfortable.
“I’ve been thinking that about you since you got in my car,” she admitted. “What kind of perfume is that?”
“Oh, uh, it’s actually cologne. It’s called, ‘Desire.’”
She wrinkled her eyebrows and I could have sworn she was being flirtatious, but I still didn’t want to get my hopes up. I saw her eyes flicker down to my lips and back to my eyes as she pushed the door open.
“I see…,” she said.
Her apartment was decorated with tons of posters from various bands and artists. She motioned for me to sit on the couch while she went into the other room. Ani Difranco stared me in dead the face from behind the TV. The posters were really kind of freaky.
“I’ll be right there!” she yelled from behind a closed door.
There were several picture frames sitting on inn tables beside the couch. One picture was of her and a very gay-looking man lying in the grass at the park. I wondered who took the picture. Jen looked beautiful with her blue eyes contrasted against the grass and the sky. For a moment, I wished I had been there.
There was a picture frame shaped as a heart facing down on the table and my curiosity started to get the best of me. I lifted one side of it, but I heard a door open before I could see it. I dropped the frame and it banged against the table. Thankfully, she didn’t say anything. Jen walked back into the room holding a mirror horizontal to the floor. She seemed to be balancing it. She set it down on the table in front of me and I was shocked at what I saw.
There were six lines of white powder next to a rolled up dollar bill being held together by a rubber band. I looked up at her in disbelief. She did not seem like someone who would do cocaine, but she was grinning and her eyes were absolutely wild.