Aristippus - Ginger's Story

Appendix J - Ginger's Story

I don't need another shithead running my life.

Based on baby pictures and family stories, I was born as bald as a cue ball. Even at one year old, I didn't have even a hint of hair. But despite this ambiguous beginning, my parents named me Ginger. My mom is your classic sundrenched blonde, and my dad is a dark brunette. So, I guess you add those together, and you get a soft reddish-tan. Not strawberry blonde, and not a burgundy-brunette, but Ginger.

My parents couldn't have picked a more perfect name for me, even if they had known all along what color my hair would have turned out to be. And the interesting thing is that, as I became of age, all of my body hair was Ginger, from my eyebrows, to my underarm hair, to my - well, you know.

My parents met while they were both students at the University of Southern California. My mom was pre-law, and my dad was pre-dental. I'm not sure exactly when they met, but I think they had already dated for several years before graduating. But I do know that upon graduation, they moved in together. My mom went to work for an LA law firm, and my dad continued on at USC as a dental student.

And as USC is a private school and is stupid expensive - they don't call it the University of Spoiled Children for nothing. My dad joined the Navy in order for them to pay for his dental school. Of course, that meant he had a six year commitment after graduation. And that explains why I was born in Okinawa, Japan. Upon my dad's completion of dental school, my parents were married, and after completing OCS, my dad's first duty assignment was Hawaii. If my math is correct, that's where I was conceived. And by the time I was born, the family had been transferred to Okinawa.

My younger sister, Natalie, was also born there. However, my dad was out of the Navy, and we had moved back to California for the birth of my baby sister, Heidi. We settled in Pasadena, and that's where I grew up and attended school - all the way from second grade through high school. My mom never did get to go to law school. But she is a paralegal for a large Pasadena law firm. And my dad partnered with several other dentists in the Huntington Memorial Medical Center.

I have to admit, I led a pretty sheltered and upper-middle class life. I was given a car when I turned sixteen. I was active in various school activities, including sports and various academic clubs, and I made pretty good grades. But despite all of that, I was unable to get into UCLA - my dream college. Now I could have gotten into USC. Not because the admission requirements are any lower. But with my parents both being alumni, and that the waiting list is not quite as long due to the high cost. But I just didn't want to go there. I love my parents, but I didn't want to follow that closely in their footsteps. I wanted to blaze my own trail. Even though they were paying for it.

So, after high school graduation, I enrolled at Cal State Los Angeles. It was only eight miles from the house, and that allowed me to continue living at home. You see, I didn't really know what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I knew I wanted to go to college; I just didn't know what I wanted to study. I think I had it too easy growing up. I was never under any pressure to do this or that, and though I was a good student, I spent most of my free time just hanging out with my friends.

One thing I did seem to have an interest in was shopping, and since CSLA didn't offer a degree plan in that, I chose the next best thing - Fashion Merchandising. The first year was your basic freshman college classes. However, by my sophomore year, I was able to start my introductory business and marketing courses. Now, these I found more interesting, and I was actually starting to get interested in a career. I was enjoying school, I worked part-time as a sales clerk for Macy's, and I still lived at home. All was going fine until my cell phone died. I say died; it still lit up. It just wouldn't do anything. I was at school, and I needed help.

"Ricki," I said to my best friend as we were sitting in the Student Union. "Something is wrong with my phone. It just doesn't do anything."

"What's wrong with it," she replied, as she stared aimlessly at her own phone.

"I don't know. It lights up, and I can see all my apps. But it doesn't matter which one I tap - nothing happens." I admit I was somewhat of a technology dork. I used technology every day, but if it didn't work, I'd just ask somebody what to do instead of trying to figure it out myself.

"Do you know Daniel Ross?" Ricki mumbled as she continued to stare at her phone.

I thought for a second, before answering, "No."

"He's a techno-geek," Ricki said, still without looking up. He can fix just about anything."

"How do I find him?" I asked.

"I just texted him," she said, still not looking up from her phone.

Ricki and I had been good friends since tenth grade. And since moving up to CSLA, she was probably my best friend. So, I trusted her. I just wondered how she knew this guy, and I'd never heard of him. But, whatever. If he could fix my phone, then I was good with that.

Ten minutes later, he met us at the Student Union, and five minutes after that, my phone was working fine. "What did you do?" I asked, somewhat embarrassed that I couldn't have figured that out for myself.

"I just rebooted it," he said, rather nonchalantly. "You got anything else that needs fixing?"

Actually, I did. Plus, Daniel was a lot cuter than I had expected. So, I didn't mind getting to know him a little better. I reached into my backpack and pulled out my laptop. "It takes forever to boot up, and sometimes it takes several tries," I said as I handed it to him. "And when it does finally come on, it is just so slow. I don't know what's wrong with it."

Daniel popped it open and waited while it tried to boot up. After several minutes, when it had not fully loaded, he snapped it closed, and said, "I can fix it, but I need my black bag. Can you leave it with me?"

I trusted him, as Ricki clearly knew him. But I needed my laptop, and I didn't really know this guy, so I said, "I need it for class today; where is your black bag?"

Oh, it's at my apartment. Ten minutes from here," Daniel said casually. "You want to follow me? It will only take twenty minutes to fix it."

I looked over at Ricki, who now was at least looking at us and not her phone. "What do you think?" I said, looking directly at Ricki as if to ask for her permission.

"Sure," she said. "He's a techno genius."

"I mean, do you want to go with us? Over to his apartment," I said, a little flustered that she didn't take the hint that I didn't want to go alone. I'm sure there was nothing to worry about. But she knew this guy, and I didn't. Besides, I had a class in less than two hours, and I didn't want to be stuck at some dude's apartment that I didn't even know.

She looked at me, a little surprised that I felt that I needed a chaperone just to get my computer fixed. But after pausing for a second or two, she said, "Sure, let's go."

My car was the closest, and it was less than a ten minute drive to his place. It was built as your typical Southern California garden apartment. But time had not been good to it, and it looked pretty dumpy. We quickly hiked up the outside stairs to the second floor, and moments later, we were in his apartment. If I felt the outside of the units were a dump, you should have seen the inside. It didn't smell bad, but that was about the only saving grace. There were clothes, shoes, dirty dishes, and just general trash strewn everywhere. And his room looked like an electronic lab that had exploded after being hit by a train or something. I have no idea how he found anything.

But, he knew precisely where his black bag was. Grabbing the bag, he headed for the dining table and after pushing dirty plates and bowls out of the way, sat down with my laptop. "I think there are drinks in the fridge if you want anything," he said, as he quickly went to work on my computer. Ricki nodded, and walking over to the refrigerator, grabbed three bottles of cold water. She never said anything. She just handed them out as I stood there, hoping and praying that I hadn't made a mistake trusting this guy with my laptop.

To my surprise, twenty minutes later, he turned to me and said, "Here, it should work better now." He turned the computer to face me and pressed the power button. Within seconds, it lit up, and within less than a minute, it had fully loaded and was ready to use.

"Wow," I said. "What did you do?"

"I cleared off a bunch of old dead files, cleaned up your start-up sequence, and updated your operating system," he said casually.

"Thank you," I said as I reached to pick it up off the table. "What do I owe you?"

"Oh, jeez, nothing," he said with a chuckle. "It was nothing. It was actually easier than I expected."

"Well, thank you, Daniel," I said, almost apologetically. "I'm sure I owe you something."

He waved me off with a 'don't worry about it' gesture and went back to packing up his little black bag.

"Okay," I said as I slipped it back into my backpack. "Can I give you a ride back to campus?"

"No, I'm good. I take the bus to school in the mornings. So, thanks for the ride home," Daniel said as Ricki and I stood at the door. I paused for a moment, thinking that he might say something else. But when he didn't, Ricki and I just walked out.

On the drive back to the CSLA campus, I said to Ricki, "I still think I owe him something. I mean, if I'd taken it to a shop or to anyone else, they would have at least charged me a hundred bucks. Don't you think?"

"Buy him lunch," Ricki said. And with that, she emailed me his contact information.

After my two o'clock class, I texted Daniel, 'Thank you again for fixing my computer. Can I at least buy you lunch tomorrow?'

Ten minutes later, he texted back, 'OK, Baja Cali Fish Tacos on Valley. 11:30'

'Great - see you there,' I texted back.

I told Ricki, and she teased that it sounded like a date. It wasn't a date; I was just thanking him for fixing my computer. Besides, I still thought he was pretty cute. He didn't look like your typical computer nerd at all. No horn-rimmed glasses, no pocket liner, and no high-water pants. Just a normal looking guy and someone I felt I wouldn't mind getting to know better. The only drawback to this guy was his crappy apartment. But maybe there was an explanation for that. And besides, perhaps I could help him clean it up - or at least get it under control.

Lunch the next day went great. Daniel was funny, smart, and very sweet. He even tried to split the check, but I insisted on paying, as I had promised to do. That night he texted me, 'Would you like to see a movie on Saturday?' I called him back to say yes. And we talked for about thirty minutes. I still thought he was cute, and besides, I wasn't dating anyone else. But I wasn't ready to introduce him to my parents, so we agreed to just meet each other there.

I honestly have no idea what the movie was. Almost immediately, we became much more interested in each other than whatever was on the screen. Once we had settled in, with popcorn and overpriced drinks, Daniel put his arm around me, and it wasn't ten minutes before we were kissing. I soon had my hand on his leg, and as soon as he started nibbling on my ear, my hand just involuntarily moved up to his crotch. The more he nibbled, the harder I rubbed and pressed against that unmistakable swelling in his pants. After maybe ten or fifteen minutes of kissing, nibbling, and my rubbing - suddenly something happened! I mean happened in his pants. I had accidentally gotten him off. He had creamed his jeans - except that they weren't really jeans, they were cargo pocket shorts.

"Oh my God," I exclaimed as I immediately withdrew my hand. Daniel was wheezing and gasping for breath, while trying his damnedest to be as quiet as possible. But it was all I could do to keep from laughing. "Daniel," I whispered, trying not to draw attention to us. "Are you okay? I mean, I'm so sorry. I didn't know - I swear. I'm so sorry." I don't know who was more embarrassed, Daniel or me. But it certainly was a first date to remember.

I didn't hear back from Daniel for four or five days. But that Thursday, he texted me, 'Hey Ginger, would you like to go see a band this weekend? They are friends of mine.'

Absolutely no mention of our embarrassing movie date. So, I assumed we were past that, and Daniel was ready to move on. After a minute or two of thought, I texted back, 'Sure, I'd love to.'

I had no idea who this band was or where they were playing. But if Daniel was ready to let bygones be bygones, then so was I. We agreed that he would pick me up at my house and that I could quickly introduce him to my parents. He actually agreed to that and seemed positive about it. I was a little surprised, but pleased at the same time. Daniel and I had only known each other for about two weeks, and I had never mentioned him to my folks. So, I realized that I needed to start laying a little groundwork.

I told them about how I'd met Daniel at school and how he'd fixed my computer for free. And I quickly mentioned how we'd met for lunch and a movie last weekend. They thought all of that sounded fine and luckily, never said a thing about why I hadn't mentioned anything about the movie earlier. In fact, what they wanted to hear more about was his computer skills.

When Daniel picked me up on Saturday, both mom and dad greeted him warmly with high-tech questions about their own businesses. I was pleased that they were so welcoming to him, but I was a little nervous too, so I cut them off as quickly and politely as possible and rushed to Daniel's car. I might add that the reason Daniel doesn't take his car to school, is that the parking there sucks. They force you to buy a Parking Sticker. But all that gets you is a privilege to hunt for a space. They sell twice as many stickers as there are spaces. So, it's just a big rip-off.

These friends of his were playing at a club over in the East Hollywood area. It was really just a bar, but it was exposure, as every band has to start somewhere. I was only nineteen, and I think at the time, Daniel was still underage also. But he managed to get himself a beer, then after passing it to me, went back and got another one for himself. The band really wasn't all that bad. In fact, I liked them. But it was so damn loud that there was no way to carry-on any kind of conversation. Luckily, we only stayed about two hours, and after several beers, we headed up into the Hollywood Hills for a bit of necking.

Now here is where it got trickier. Daniel's car, of course, had a center console, so in order to make out while still in the car, it was somewhat of an act of contortion. I was wearing a mini-skirt, and Daniel's hands almost immediately went for my upper leg. And it probably wasn't two minutes before Daniel was running his fingers up and down my crotch. I had never let a boy get his hand inside my panties. But after our experience at the movie, I figured it was about time.

As we continued to kiss and make out in general, Daniel first tried to get his fingers under the waistband of my lacy briefs. But the waistband of my skirt simply made it too tight. So, he resorted to rubbing me through the taught fabric of my undies. I think he was assuming that since I had been able to get him off through his pants at the movie, then he could probably do the same for me. And he tried. He tried hard for about fifteen minutes, and I was getting wetter and wetter. But it was just so uncomfortable in his car that we finally gave up.

As we were heading back toward home, I laid my hand on his leg and asked, "What about your place?"

He sighed, and said sadly, "My roommate is there."

Well, that explained why there were two twin beds in his one-bedroom apartment. He'd never mentioned a roommate before. But it did make sense. I just had him drop me off at home, and I thanked him for a wonderful evening. My parents and Heidi had already gone to bed. And Natalie must have still been out on a date. She was a senior in high school, and to be honest, probably led a little more adventurist life than I did when I was her age.

So, after my almost got there experience with Daniel, and me just imagining what Natalie was probably up to. I went straight to my room, locked the door, stripped naked, and lying flat on my back, fingered myself to a mind-blowing orgasm. I couldn't help it. I was so worked up, and so horny, that if Daniel couldn't get me off, I would just have to take matters into my own hands.

As I was lying there, gasping, and wheezing the way Daniel had been in the movie theater, it occurred to me that I should thank Daniel for the wonderful evening. I grabbed my phone and held it between my legs. Then pointing it at my soggy she-cave, I snapped a photo. Holding the screen up so I could see it, I studied the picture. I had never taken a porno picture of myself before. And I liked it. It showed how wet I was, with my juices running down into my butt crack. Luckily, it didn't expose my face. But besides my soaking wet Short & Curly Gingers, it showed my tight tummy and just the bottoms of my teen boobies. And in a moment of sexual delirium, I texted it to Daniel. 'You missed the best part' was all I added.

It wasn't sixty seconds later, he texted back, 'I'm on my way over.'

'No, no, no,' I immediately texted him. 'My parents are home, and my little sister.'

There was no immediate response, so after a minute or two, I texted him, 'Lose your roommate.'

He didn't text me back. So, after four or five minutes, I clicked off my light, rolled over onto my belly, and drifted off to sleep, dreaming about what it would be like to finally lose my virginity.

Daniel never texted me the following Sunday. But at school on Monday, he couldn't wait to find me on campus. Catching up with me as I was walking to class, he quickly kissed me on the lips, and breathlessly said, "The roommate is gone."

"What do you mean - gone," I said.

"Gone; I told him to move out," Daniel explained with a big smile.

"Well, how did you do that?" I asked.

"Oh, he was just my cousin. And besides, he was a slob, and I'm glad to get rid of him."

Trying to think on my feet, I said, "Well, is he actually gone, as in right now?"

"Oh - well, he hasn't moved his crap out yet, but he will before the end of the week. The first of the month is Thursday, and I told him he would have to be out," Daniel clarified.

A huge smile filled my face. I kissed Daniel on the cheek and said, "Let me know when he's out, and I'll come over and help you clean up." Daniel beamed with excitement, and I walked on to class. Over the next three days, we either had lunch together, or at least chatted on the phone every day. Then on Thursday morning, he was waiting for me as I walked from the student parking lot.

"He's gone," Daniel said as soon as I was within earshot.

"Great," I said. "When can I come over to help you get organized?"

"Well," he said. "You see, I need to work more hours to pay the full rent. But how about Saturday morning?"

"Great," I said. "I'll bring cleaning supplies and breakfast burritos."

It was a date, and when I showed up Saturday morning as agreed, the place was already a lot tidier. But as I had promised, I brought all kinds of stuff to clean his apartment with, and together, we really sanitized the place up nicely. We had eaten the breakfast burritos, as well as the two coffees I had brought, so around one o'clock, as we stood admiring our work, I said, "How about going out for lunch?"