Becoming a LACy

"As you wish" seemed like my best reply.

The next morning I got my key tattoo (it also had a little piece of lace on it). I decided to get it on my shoulder as to keep it semi-hidden.

I finished packing up and headed home.

My mom was excited to see me and wanted a breakdown of how things had gone for me. I shared with her all of the PG-13 stuff that had happened to me during my first semester and she was thrilled. She had been making good friends in our new neighborhood. Most of them were stay-at-home wives or stay-at-home moms. Most of their husbands were tech geeks who worked in the Silicon Valley.

With almost a month before classes started again I fell into a nice routine of getting some much needed rest, some working out, some much needed sun (if you have never had a 'winter' in California you are missing out - 75 degree days with almost no rain.

My mom had taken me around the neighborhood, introducing me to all of her new friends.

There were shockingly few people my age around. It was peaceful and I needed the mental break from school, but the lack of interaction with anyone but my mom was getting to me. On the weekend before Christmas my mom and I were invited to a little neighborhood BBQ/Swim party. Little did I know that 'swim party' in this neck of the woods meant standing around the pool versus swimming in it.

Never one to be shy, I decided to break the ice on getting in the pool and jumped on in. The only other male my age at the party was a decent dude named Craig. I could tell he was waiting for someone else to get in the pool and he joined me. Almost immediately after that, the few remaining kids at the party had jumped in and we were all having a blast. As the oldest in the pool I was keeping an eye on the kids while also having some fun.

I noticed three of my mom's friends giving me the visual once-over at one point. I thought they were just being typical healthy women and having a little fun talking about the neighbor's 19 year old son.

When I got out I grabbed a towel and one of them came up to me and asked "Did I hear correctly, are you a first year at Santa Carrillo?"

"Yep."

"Interesting..." she said with a devilish little grin. She walked back to her gaggle of friends and I could tell that I was the topic of their conversation.

As I was enjoying a burger and some chips I noticed the mom who had walked up to me - Danielle - sitting at a table chatting with my mom. Danielle was a widow like my mom and they had really hit it off.

I walked over to say hi to my mom. Right at that moment, Danielle dropped her napkin. I bent down to pick it up and saw something that rocked my world. Right there on Danielle's ankle was this cute little tattoo - a lock with a piece of lace hanging from it.

My winter break took a decidedly interesting turn in that second. Little did I know at the time, but the tattoo on my shoulder was about to make my winter break very interesting.