That's What Friends Are For

"Sam?" Jen laughed. "I can see that. She doesn't look like the kind of girl who minds getting her hands dirty. Probably didn't even have to worry about what clothes to wear. She looks like that every"

"Jen." I turned around, putting my back to Sam and speaking lower. "I've told you about that. Why do you always pick on her?"

"Why do you always defend her?"

"Because she's my best friend."

"Men and women can't be best friends. One of them always ends up wanting it to be more."

"Wise for your eighteen years," I told her.

"It's true." She sighed. "You hang with her because she's like a guy, but without the attitude, and she hangs with you because she ... well, she proves my point."

"That again? Come on, Jen. I've told you Sam's just a buddy."

"You see it that way. But anyway, thank you so much for helping me with this, Justin! Earth Day's in the middle of the week, so this Saturday is really the best chance we had to get a lot done."

"No problem." Sensing movement, I looked over my shoulder to see Sam slipping her sneakers back on. "So, what are you doing tonight? My mom is leaving in a few hours."

Sam got up and putting her Red Sox cap on backwards she grabbed her trash bag and headed for another clump of bushes leaving the backpack behind.

"Well, seeing it's going to take a good part of the day up here, we thought we would make the most of it and throw a little party, make a fire, hang out, have some fun."

"Really?" Recalling Rob was there, I felt more than a twinge of unease. "How about I come up?"

"Well ..." Jen paused, and the twinge grew into a twisting sensation in my stomach.

"Well, what?"

"Look, Justin, sometimes I just want to hang out with friends and, you know, not always be with someone."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I said, raising my voice and glancing over at Sam to see if she had noticed, but she was on her knees pulling beer bottles out from underneath the bushes.

"Hey, don't get mad, baby," Jen purred. "I just want to chill with some people I haven't seen in a while, okay?"

"I just figured—"

"Now, tomorrow, on the other hand," she said, giggling, "rumor has it my hot boyfriend is going to have his place all to himself until the next day. Hmmm."

My jealousy was quickly replaced by another twinge, but this one lower than my stomach.

"You know, Justin, you've been so sweet about waiting for me, I think it's time you and I got a lot closer."

"You do?" It wasn't exactly smooth, but I couldn't think about anything but Jen in my bed looking up at me with those big blue eyes, her naked body moving against mine.

"I do, baby. I have some things to do in the morning, but how about I come over around three?"

"Yeah, that sounds great."

"I'll see you then, baby." Jen released a sweet sigh into the phone that caused my cock to throb and added, "I'm going to so make it worth you waiting."

Jen had no idea how long I had really waited. Grinning like an idiot, I said, "I'm sure you'll more than make it up to me."

"Oh, I will, and I have to thank you for your help today, too, so I'll have to find something fun to wear, and come up with a proper way to show my appreciation."

I was hard as a rock from just her talking about coming over and had to adjust my shorts around my aching dick.

"Justin, speaking of your help ... You know there's a little competition going on at school for which team can do the most clean-up this weekend?"

"Yeah."

"Well, seeing you're going to get done so early, would you mind doing that little playground over on Smith Street?"

"Um, well, I was thinking of—" I started.

"Please, baby? I'll be ever so grateful."

"Well, maybe—"

"I'll give you a special treat." She gave that cock-stirring giggle again.

"Treat?" I repeated. Please mean what I think you mean!

"Sure, I figure if you're going to clean for me I should get all dirty for you." She sighed. "I've been thinking about giving you a nice blow job for awhile now, would that be a good reward?"

"I—hell, yeah!" I exclaimed, not caring if I sounded like an excited little kid.

"Yeah, baby, you want to feel these lips before those lips?" Jen laughed. "I do like to suck cock. Hopefully you'll return the favor, you know, a kiss for a kiss."

"That would only be fair," I said, trying to sound more casual.

"I'm all about fair, Justin. But I just called to say hi and see how you were making out. I'll see you tomorrow."

"I look forward to it," I replied. But she had already ended the call.

"Goddamn." I put the phone back on the clip at my hip and forced myself to stand up.

Keeping my back to Sam, I adjusted the bulge in my shorts and turning, I picked up the container covering the remaining sandwich and slipped it into the backpack.

I slung it over my shoulder and I tried not to let my mind run wild with thoughts of what tomorrow would bring. A blow job before sex would get me off the hook for being quick. I wondered if Jen would swallow or spit, or maybe jack me off on her amazing tits.

I took a deep breath, pushing thoughts of Jen from my mind. I needed to start helping Sam before she started bitching, and do it without an obvious hard-on. My mind already on oral sex, I thought of what Sam had done with the banana and caught myself wondering if she swallowed? The thing about Sam was that if I asked, she would probably answer me, and fairly crudely.

Sam got upset when she was considered one of the guys, but she brought it on herself with the way she dressed and her language. Some of my friends and I had debated whether she was a freak or all talk. Personally, my feeling was she would be a wild ride, but not with just anyone. Sam had been with two guys that I knew of and had dated both for months before putting out.

"Hey! Helping is one thing, but I'm not doing this shit by myself," she called out.

"That what you told your last boyfriend?" I joked. A quick check showed my cock was under control. I turned around in time for her retort.

"Coming from the king of doing it himself?"

"Laugh it up, Sam. You won't be able to make those jokes after tomorrow."

"What do you mean?" She stood up from the bush she was in front of and wiped the dirt from her jeans.

"That was Jen. She's coming over tomorrow afternoon, and she's ready."

"She's always ready," Sam quipped, but she didn't smile. Instead, she turned serious. "You sure she's not messing with you? She promised you last month, too, remember? Then all of a sudden she needed to do something with her parents."

"That was different. She told me after that she was just nervous. Nope, tomorrow is the day, Sam."

"Are you sure you want to with her, Justin? I don't think she's really into you."

"All that matters is I'll be into her." I laughed, walked over to the tree on my right and removed a beer bottle that was stuck in a small hole.

"Cute, that's just the attitude your mother doesn't want you to have."

"Don't give me that crap!" She was getting on my nerves again. "I've been with Jen for six months. She does care and she does want to."

"I'm sure she wants to, Justin. You're a good-looking guy who treats her better than she deserves. But I don't think she cares."

"Of course you don't. You don't like her."

"I don't think you care that much about her either."

"What?"

"You like her, but do you love her? Every time you talk about her, it's about how hot she is, not about how sweet or nice she is. I think you're just getting horny and don't want to wait anymore."

"I care about Jen." I didn't say it with as much force as I should have.

I did like Jen. I really liked her, but did I love her? Did I know what love was? Hell, I was eighteen. 'Really like' was close enough, and I'd been good long enough. Besides, maybe once we slept together it would take us to that next level.

"I don't believe you." Sam picked up a can and tossed it in the bag. Sighing, she walked over to me. "Justin, I know you're tired of me teasing you, and I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Sam." I shrugged. "That's what friends are for. We tease each other, you make virgin cracks, and I make tomboy jokes."

"Yeah, but the thing is I admire you for it. I really do."

"You do?" I raised my eyebrows waiting for the punch line.

"I do. Not so much about the sex, but the fact you made a promise to be a certain type of man, and you are." She put her hand on my forearm. "Forget about tomorrow. She's not the one."

"Oh, come on!" I rolled my eyes. "You know what, Sam? Maybe you're right that I'm not madly in love, but I do like her and we have been together a while and ... Maybe this will bring us closer."

"You should love the person first."

"Did you?" I turned it around on her, "Were you in love with that dink, Jack? Were you in love with Derek?"

"No, but I never promised I would wait and ..." She shook her head. "I ... settled, for both."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"If we're going to talk, I'm getting in the shade."

Sam sat down under the tree I had pulled the bottle from and I joined her, sitting in front of her.

"Don't get me wrong, Justin. There was something there. Jack and Derek were both nice to me, but it wasn't love. But, well, I figured both times, what am I waiting for? A Family Channel romance? Some perfect guy? So I decided to just have some fun. I guess that's what it was because neither worked out."

"So you knew you didn't love them?"

"Right."

"Then what the hell is your problem with me and Jen?" I said, putting my hands out. "You're being a damn hypocrite."

"I ... I guess you're right, but I never planned on it being that special, and at least those guys were serious with me. Jen is using you. It's a game to her. Why tomorrow? What's she doing tonight?"

"She's ... going to stay up at the beach and hang with—"

"Rob. Justin, Jen's fucking around with him."

"You—"

"And I'm sure she will come over tomorrow and fuck you because she does want to, but that's all it would be and your first time will be sloppy seconds and—"

"Why the hell do you care so much?" I yelled at her. "Jesus Christ, Sam, give it a fucking break and just be happy I'm happy!"

"I care because you're too good for that, Justin, and there's better than her out there. If nothing else, girls like Jen are a dime a dozen down the line, but you wanted the first time to be special."

"It will be."

"Then why not wait a little longer? Dump that bitch and—"

"I'm not waiting! Why the hell do you think I can do so much better? Never mind. I'm not starting over and wondering how long it would be with someone else."

"You can do better because you deserve better." Sam looked down at the ground and looked as if she were trying to decide what to say next. A first for her.

Raising her head, she said softly, "Justin, on the outside, you're a hell of a good-looking guy, especially like this." She tousled my thick black hair. "I like your hair like this, not the way you put all that goop in it most of the time. And how many girls tell you how gorgeous those green eyes are?"

I grinned. "Quite a few."

"And you played baseball and football." She put her hand on my arm and squeezed. "You were a skinny little geek when we first met. Now look at you."

I laughed and made a show of flexing my arm. "I do work out."

"And it's pretty obvious, but—"

"You checking me out?"

I meant it as a joke, but Sam blurted out, "Of course not! I ... I don't look at you like that. I was just trying to ... make a point."

She looked away, but not before I noticed she was blushing, which was definitely a first.

"Are you blushing?"

"No! I'm hot!" She removed her hat and wiped her forehead.

"Nah, just cute, remember?" I joked.

"Trust me, Justin, I know I'm not hot." She sounded irritable.

"Hey! I was kidding!"

"But Jen is, and for what it's worth? I never thought you'd be the kind of guy to go for just that."

"I like her for other reasons."

"Yeah, the two big ones hanging out of her shirt. You're different around her, Justin. When you're with me and Jim and the rest of our friends, you're you, and when you're with her, you're ... a conceited jerk."

"I am not!"

"Whatever." Sam stood up. "The point I was getting at was even though you're good-looking and popular, you're a sweet guy, and that's pretty rare at our age. That's the best part about you, and that's why you deserve better. Jen is just a shallow bitch."

"You're more than that and deserve more. Now, I've told you how I feel and you don't really care, but at least I said it. Hope you have fun tomorrow." She grabbed the bag and turned away from me, ending the conversation.

I thought about defending myself, but why bother? Once Sam dug in, nothing changed her mind. She'd made a good point about how I really cared about Jen, but I wasn't about to cancel tomorrow. By her own admission Sam hadn't been gung-ho over the guys she had been with. She was fine with it. Why shouldn't I be?

For the next half hour, we moved about the bushes and trees in silence except for the sounds of bottles and cans clinking together. I felt like an ass. Sam was helping me out and I had treated her like crap. Granted, she had been badgering me, but what else was new?

In my mind, I heard my mother's voice and one of her famous overused lines, 'If it bothers you, it's because the truth hurts.' Mentally telling my mother to shut up, I glanced up from the bushes, relieved to see we had almost reached the end of the small stand of trees that bordered one side of the playground.

"Hey," Sam called out, "looks like I earned that movie after all."

"I told you I was treating for you helping," I told her, glad she had spoken and still wanting to keep up our movie tradition.

"Doesn't matter, I'd win the gross-out anyway."

Turning around, I watched her pick up a stick and poke at something in the grass.

"What is it, something dead?"

"No, but not only pretty gross, but very fitting. Here!"

Sam flicked the stick towards me and something landed at my feet. I looked down to see a condom, an obviously used condom.

"That is nasty! Why is it ironic? Because I'll need some for tomorrow?"

"No, because it's just like you, used."

"Real nice, Sam." I forced myself to not raise my voice. "Why do you keep saying that?"

"Because it's obvious, Justin, and I can see what's right in front of me."

Before I could respond, she released a long sigh. "Too bad you can't see what's right in front of you."

* * * * *

I lay on the couch dozing on and off while the Sox were getting their asses handed to them by the Blue Jays. It was only eight thirty, but after spending hours in the sun cleaning the parks, I was exhausted.

When Sam and I finished Carson's, she had asked where I was off to. Knowing I was going to hear about it, I told her Jen had asked me to clean up the other playground. Sam gave me a 'what a sap' look, but to my surprise offered to help.

The park was pretty small. Because it was in the middle of a neighborhood, it wasn't the drinking, partying hangout Carson's was and only took us an hour. After that, I treated Sam to a sundae at Dairy Queen and then dropped her off at her house.

Her mother was on the porch and invited me in, but I told her I needed to go home and shower. Fact was, in addition to being hot and tired, Sam's older sister Brenda was there, and she rode me about Jen even harder than Sam did. In fact, since I'd been with Jen, Brenda, whom I'd always gotten along well with, had been downright rude to me most of the time.

I got home just before Bill picked Mom up and was happy to see how excited she was to be going away. She asked for the hundredth time if I was comfortable with her being with Bill and I told her I was thrilled for her.

That was no lie. My father was an asshole who my mother wasted way too many years with, and I was sure a lot of that time was for my sake. Bill was a good guy who seemed to go out of his way to do all the little things for Mom that Dad never did. For the most part he was the opposite of my prick father, which made him okay in my book.

In the span of the half hour we were home together, Mom asked several times if I was seeing Jen. I was pretty sure she suspected I was glad she was going away for reasons other than her happiness. That suspicion was confirmed when Mom hugged me goodbye and said,

"I'm proud of you, Justin. You're only eighteen but more of a man than your father ever was. He was already a dog in heat by your age. I don't know what I was thinking when I married him. But you're not like him, and I'm sure Jen sees that and knows how special you are." She paused and with a sly smile added, "I think you've proved yourself a good man. Maybe it's time you were rewarded for it."

After she left, I did a few things around the house she'd asked me to do to get them out of the way, showered, and threw on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. I figured I would just chill tonight and watch some TV. Lying there, I replayed Mom's words and couldn't help smiling.

I had no doubt that was Mom's green light to go for it, without being awkward about it. Her words had put me in a better mood. Because of my father's bullshit, I had promised Mom that I would be better and hold to values he never had, but she had officially let me off the hook.

Not that I wouldn't have had Jen over tomorrow anyway, but Mom giving me her blessing removed any feelings that I wasn't doing the right thing.

She was right. I had earned it, sitting home whacking off while all my friends had already been getting laid and having fun. Even Sam, the indifferent tomboy who didn't give a rat's ass what she looked like or what people thought of her, had found guys to mess around with.

I frowned at that last thought. It wasn't a good one, especially seeing how good a friend Sam was. I'd never once thought I was better than her or anyone else, but that was what it felt like. It also sounded like something Jen would say when making fun of other people, which she did frequently.

Sam had made that remark today, that I was different around—

I jumped when my cell rang from the coffee table in front of me. Grabbing it, I saw it was Jim, who after Sam was pretty much my closest friend.

"Hey, what's up?" I answered. "You got nothing better to do on a Saturday night besides calling a guy?"

"Hey, Justin." He didn't sound happy. "Hey, man, I need to talk to you."

"What about? I—" I stopped when I heard several people laughing and yelling in the background. "Where are you?"

"I'm at Mackerel Cove in Jamestown."

"Mackerel Cove? Hey, Jen was up there today."

"She still is. That's why I called you."

"What's going on?" I sat up on the couch.

"Look, Justin, this really sucks for me because you know you're my bud, but I'd be an asshole if I didn't say anything."

"About what?" I felt my stomach tighten. "What's going on?"

"Me and Josh ran into Jen and her friends up here when they were cleaning. She said if we helped out we could hang out with them at her uncle's house on the beach, and party. So that's where we are now and ... Justin, you know Rob is up here, right?"

"I ..." I took a deep breath. "Jim, get to the point."

"Point is, Jen was drinking from the time we got to the house at five and she was out of control. Hanging on all the guys, dancing around. Shit, she took her top off at one point."

"Jim, are you fucking with me?" Even though I was pretty sure I knew the answer, I had to ask.

"Justin, we've been friends since fourth grade. You think I'd joke about this?"

"No, I ..." I swallowed hard. "What about Rob?"

"Well, after she pretty much cock teased most of the guys there with some bumping and grinding. She pretty much gave him a damn lap dance, then grabbed a bottle of Captain someone brought, and the two of them went into the house."