Changes to Come

"Wow," David said as they walked to the parking lot.

"Do you know someone that has a crush on me? Is it someone I know?"

"I'm not saying."

"Tell me, please?" Rachel begged, grabbing David's forearm as they walked to his car.

"I have to get to the radio station. We'll run lines tomorrow."

"It's not necessary. We have back-to-back rehearsals starting tonight, all the way to Wednesday. Did you get a ticket?"

"For both Thursday and Friday shows," replied David, quickly moving to his car.

Arriving at work, he threw himself into the deafening music.

The distraction ended when Chloe suddenly appeared, tapping on the large glass window of the broadcast booth.

He exited, only to have her ask giddily and without preamble, "Are you really crushing on Rachel?"

"I'm going to kill Ryan. Tell me you didn't tell Rachel."

"You and Rachel would make the perfect couple!"

"Christ!"

"Ask her to prom." "What, as friends? Because I can't lie to her like that, pretending my feelings are the same."

"No, tell her how you feel and do it quick because Mitchell and Andrea gave up Rachel and Keith's spot in the limo, so you'll need to make prom plans."

"Slow down, Chloe."

"David, give me one good reason why you two can't be together?" she said, her hands on her hips.

"I'm the guy she can trust. I don't want to lose that. Plus, she's vulnerable after Keith." David paced, hands in his pockets, his head down. He stopped pacing and looked up. "My feelings will pass."

"You're acting like an idiot, David. After Keith, she needs you. Hell, you need each other." With that, Chloe turned and left.

Returning home that Monday evening, David thought about Rachel the entire night—this time without a list. After deep reflection, he realized what he was doing. He was stupid to believe he could suppress what he now felt.

The next day, Tuesday, Rachel was so busy with school and the play that he didn't see her. Every song he played that evening reminded him of her. It got to the point where thoughts of Rachel were constantly shooting around in his head.

After work, David headed to the florist, arriving just before it closed. He picked up a dozen purple orchids and then headed to the Fishers.

Outside the Fisher house, he sent Rachel a text and then headed for their backyard patio. Sitting on the patio steps under the lights, David waited patiently until Rachel walked out in her purple robe and pajama pants. She sat next to him, gently placing her hand on his shoulder.

"David, what's up? I've been at rehearsal all night. I'm exhausted," she said with a yawn. She spied the gift. "Are those for me? Did my admirer ask you to give them to me?"

"Rach, they're from me!"

She smiled. "That explains my favorite flowers! But this play isn't that big a deal." Rachel saw the seriousness in David's eyes and stopped talking. Her stomach tightened. "What's going on?"

He took in a deep breath. "I like you...but not just as a friend anymore."

"What are you saying?" Tightening her robe, she suddenly felt uncomfortable.

"I've always liked you. Now I'm in-like with you."

Rachel stood. "Go home, David. Please, just go!"

She stormed off, leaving the bouquet behind. David sat on the patio longer than he should have before getting his wits together and doing as he was told. Later that night he called her, only to get her voicemail. He left a message explaining that his feelings had just developed over the last few days. Then, he asked her to the prom. With that done, he fell into a deep sleep.

Wednesday drifted by with David being ignored by Rachel, not only in class, but in the halls and the cafeteria. It ripped him to shreds, but he pulled through.

Walking to his car after school, Ryan came up to apologize. "David, I'm sorry, man."

"I'm still pissed at you, but it's not your fault."

"She said no? I'm really sorry, I mean it," Ryan said.

"Kind of," David agreed.

"She'll come around."

Thursday night, David was the first to take a seat in the auditorium. He was soon joined by Rachel's parents, Ryan, Chloe, and other mutual friends. The audience was in awe watching and listening to Rachel's melodic voice. After each soliloquy ended, she received roaring applause.

This was probably the twentieth play David had seen Rachel in, and he had no doubt she had raw talent. The play ended with a final standing ovation. Rachel met her family and friends in the school lobby where she thanked Chloe, Ryan, and others. Then she sent her parents off. With an unreadable face, she asked David to drive her home.

"I got your message, but I think you simply got your wires crossed. You're confused. We've been friends forever, and we're going to be so far from each other for so long. The fear of losing your best friend, the stress of change and everything else got to you. I forgive you... We'll always be friends, David," she declared.

"Forgive me?"

"We can go back to being friends and just pretend this never happened," Rachel said, and David accepted this, though not wanting to.

He dropped Rachel off and drove home and went to bed. Sleep made him feel better but he was still a little uneasy. Waking up Friday morning, David knew what he had to do. He drove his sister to school, went to class as usual, and talked casually with Rachel, acting as if all was well.

The night of the final show, David was the only one of Rachel's groupies to show up. Her performance, the script she wrote—everything was brilliant as usual. Rachel eventually left the school with David and they walked out together to the parking lot. She appeared to have given David a new, blank slate.

Reaching her Acura, Rachel was about to open her driver's side door when David blocked it. He pressed her against the closed door and leaned in, lowering his head slightly. His hungry fingers gripped her waist as he kissed her soft, tender lips. Her mouth eased open as their noses brushed.

A full thirty seconds passed before David stopped and walked away without a word, leaving Rachel frozen but craving more. Getting into his Volvo and driving away, he turned off his cell.

Rachel stood there panting before getting into her Acura and driving to Chloe's house. They sat on her bed while Rachel recounted the event. Chloe was giddy and eager to hear more, and Rachel admitted she had loved every second.

"Oh my god, you need to let him know," Chloe said.

"I can't do that! He's leaving in a few weeks and then I'm moving across the country. It won't work."

"You can't say David isn't worth the effort. He certainly thinks you're worth it." Rachel blushed as Chloe pressed on. "You two can hang out together at the radio station as your first date. It'll be romantic!" Chloe giggled gleefully.

"At least someone is getting some joy out of this," thought Rachel as she watched her friend's self-congratulatory behavior.

That Saturday morning, most seniors were busy getting ready for prom. David still hadn't turned his cell phone back on. He had the house to himself until the doorbell rang. David gulped when he saw Rachel.

"Hey, about last night—" David began to say to Rachel until she shut him up by pulling him in for a kiss.

Their lips receded and Rachel gave him a single purple orchid.

He smiled at her and she blushed as he asked, "Did you end up picking them back up after I left? I thought you were mad at me that night."

"Yeah, I was mad. A whole lot was happening...at once. It was a bit overwhelming. But they are my favorites."

"Yeah," David said with a smile. "I know the feeling."

"So, I figure most people are going to the prom tonight. Do you want to spend the day together? But you have your work."

David's chest overflowed with the intensity of his feelings. "Forget work," he said, causing Rachel to laugh.

They went to his bedroom and sat watching old 'Simpsons' episodes and cuddled. Rachel felt at ease. She couldn't remember feeling so relaxed and natural around a guy she liked before.

David turned to her. "You didn't say yes or no to my prom invitation."

"You're joking, right?"

"Nope," David retorted.

"It's impossible. I ripped up my ticket and stuffed it in Keith's locker."

David laughed. "Yes or no? It's just eleven right now."

"Oh, just eleven. Hah, yes, of course. I'd love to attend prom, but we can't get tickets now! Besides, we'd need a tux and a limo. I mean, we could use my car. I—"

David kissed Rachel, silencing her, their tongues twisting together. His hands roamed her waist to her soft, braless C-cups under her blouse.

Ten minutes passed before David retracted his tongue. "Go home and get ready. I'll let the station know I won't be in tonight, and I'll fix everything else."

"David, prom is at seven tonight—"

"Trust me. You know I thrive under pressure."

Rachel beamed. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," he reassured her.

Rachel's heart pulsed like a drum. She rolled her body on top of David's as she kissed him in a long, deep goodbye.

"Go," he said, laughing. She giggled and hopped off the bed, skipping from the house to her car.

By noon, David had only accomplished one of the many things needed: readying the unused custom-fitted black tux he'd bought earlier that year for his uncle's Valentine's Day wedding. It would have been his uncle's sixth marriage, except it had been canceled under suspicion of his infidelity.

By one, David had called everyone he knew. No one had spare tickets, not even members of the school staff. Rachel, still reluctant, called asking for an update, and he reassured her that he would handle everything. David decided to turn to his strengths.

At one-thirty, he rushed into the radio station and made an on-air plea. Ten minutes later, his cell phone was buzzing wildly, and by two, he'd picked up two pricey tickets.

By three o'clock, only two hours left before he needed to pick up Rachel, David had purchased what he'd needed at the mall and done everything else he thought he needed to do. Then he remembered the limo. He called everyone: Hayward Limo, Limos Central, and Ray's Sensations on Wheels. Everything was booked.

A bulb went off in David's head. He called the Regency Hotel, an advertising client of WAZG FM. After minutes of repeated negatives from the pompous manager, suddenly David made progress. With the offer of free advertising on WAZG, he had his limo.

"We can't make a promise on the color. We have one black and one white. It depends on what our paying customers choose," the French-sounding manager stated after David had put in a request for the white one.

Still, David felt like he had won the lottery. Everything had come together until he tried on the custom tux with its satin-peaked lapel and looked in the mirror. It fit snugly and looked great, but his hair was far from great.

His shaggy, medium-length hairstyle appeared wild and unkempt, and there was less than an hour to go before he was due at Rachel's house. He raced to his Volvo and rushed back to the mall where he found the barbershop full. He then re-charted his path and made a beeline for a salon, in which he was seated in a chair in minutes with Katie, the cute hairdresser, handling his thick locks. She recommended a style to which David quickly agreed, attempting to rush things along.

"You've got a bold, sexy face, so a simple classic style with some gel will make you beyond hot," she said.

David wondered if she simply had a flirty personality or if she was really flirting with him.

His ego massaged, he raced from the salon and out through the mall heading toward the exit. By accident, he knocked over a six-foot-something man whom he hadn't noticed. The man fell into the mall's fish pond, dropping a suit bag. David stopped to help the big fellow up only to discover it was Keith Harper, Rachel's ex. Keith was fuming, the tux he'd just rented was scattered throughout the dirty pond.

"Dude, what the fuck? My tux! You did this on purpose!"

"Keith, I'm sorry man. I didn't see you." David tried but failed to hide his amusement.

"You did this for that bitch!" Keith spewed, followed by David's quick fist slamming into his nose, cracking it. Blood streamed down Keith's face as his large body fell. Onlookers stood by capturing video of Goliath being slain.

After calling the ambulance, and without another word or thought, David walked away from the downed body, his ego ever expanding as he left the mall. He pulled into his driveway. The limo wasn't there yet and it was twenty-to-five. After a five-minute shower and a mad dash to dress, he hurried down the stairs and was almost out the door when his dad arrived home.

"Christ, look at you!" Philip said, his face beaming with pride at seeing his only son in a three-piece black tux, bow tie, and white pocket square. David carried a bouquet of roses and a plastic case in which was nestled a corsage.

"Bye, Dad, see you later," David said, rushing out the door.

Philip blocked his son's exit. "Wait. You're going to the prom? I thought you were working tonight! Who are you going with?"

"Rachel," David said, pausing in mid-flight, softening his tone as he stood in the doorway. He looked at his father.

Philip smiled knowingly, and the two stood on the landing smiling at each other for a few more moments before Mr. Grace awkwardly cleared his throat and looked solemnly at David. "Are you going to be safe?"

"I'm not going to be drinking, and we're not driving."

"I know. I saw the limo pull up and told the chauffeur I'd send you out in a few minutes." Mr. Grace stalled, trying to think of how to broach his intended subject, but he didn't need to.

"Wait. You mean sex. Dad, I have to go!"

His dad cleared his throat again as he reluctantly ventured deeper into The Talk. "Prom was my first time."

"Wow, Dad, too much information. One, I'm not a virgin. Two, nothing's going to happen tonight."

"God, if your mother heard that first point of yours, she'd freak. David, do you have condoms?"

"Yes, I have condoms, Dad!"

"Good." Mr. Grace let out the breath he was unaware he'd been holding, his anxiety relieved.

"Dad, I need to go."

"Remember, your mother will kill you if you don't bring back pictures. Okay?"

David finally headed out the door as his dad patted him on the back. David sighed in relief seeing the waxed white stretch limo.

The chauffeur opened the door, and David was getting into the limo when his sister passed by.

"Wow, you look good!" said Victoria.

"Thanks, Vicky."

David sat down in the back of the long limo. The sound of progress hummed around David in the form of this moving chariot. His chiming watch informed him that it was just past five o'clock. Two minutes later, they pulled up at the Fisher house.

David exited the limo, opening the door before the chauffeur had time to leave his seat. He stood for a moment to collect himself and ran his hand over his chic, classic-cut short hair. It was a look he'd keep many moons later—without the gel.

Bouquet and corsage in hand, he marched to the door, but before he could knock, Rachel's parents swung the door open. There stood Mr. Fisher, his arm draped around his wife. She smiled at David while her husband's face was set for a fight.

'He's going to kill me!' David thought to himself.

"Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Fisher," David said, stepping forward to greet the couple he knew so well.

"You're late," Mr. Fisher growled.

"Jonathan! Leave David be. We've known him his whole life! He's just a few minutes late, and Rachel's still upstairs," Mrs. Fisher said, reprimanding her husband. "You look incredibly handsome, David. Especially your hair," she added.

"He knows I'm kidding," Jonathon Fisher said.

David handed the bouquet of roses to Mrs. Fisher. "These are for you."

"Oh, they're lovely! You didn't have to," she said, grinning with pleasure.

"What'd you get for me?" Mr. Fisher asked in a gruff voice.

David simply shook Mr. Fisher's hand. Jonathan Fisher broke out in laughter as he accepted David's handshake. They all stepped inside and Mrs. Fisher went to put her roses in water, returning with a camera.

After a day spent at Chloe's house, the salon, and the manicurist, Rachel came down the stairs in her strapless gown looking like a goddess. Her hair was curled and styled with golden-brown highlights down to the ends where it rested along the shoulders of the gown's gold and white bodice.

The bodice hugged Rachel's waist, enhancing her breasts—much to her father's displeasure. The pure white skirt streamed down from Rachel's waist and flowed over her golden stiletto sandals.

David and Rachel took the words out of each other's mouths. Seeing each other, David and Rachel simultaneously exclaimed, "Wow!"

The prom couple stood by the stairs for a few moments to let Rachel's mom take pictures and reminisce. Mrs. Fisher shed tears as she recalled taking pictures of the pair in the very same spot on Rachel's fifth birthday. She wiped more tears away as David placed a purple corsage around Rachel's wrist.

"It doesn't match her dress. It clashes with everything," Mr. Fisher muttered in a half-whisper to his wife.

"It's Rachel's favorite color!" Mrs. Fisher reminded her husband as she glared, shocked that he didn't know.

Rachel's face shone like the sun as she pinned a purple boutonniere onto David's lapel and looked up at him. They hadn't coordinated colors, but they hadn't needed to. She'd known that purple was David's favorite as well.

The Fishers wished the pair well, with Mrs. Fisher generously providing them with a limitless curfew much to Mr. Fisher's dismay. David held the front door open for Rachel as they left and Rachel almost cried in excitement upon seeing the limo. Mrs. Fisher waved enthusiastically after them, embarrassing her daughter as she walked to the white limo.

"She's so happy," Mrs. Fisher said to her husband.

He nodded, watching his daughter being escorted off, and reflected on how quickly time had passed by. He noticed the young couple's fingers grazing each other's until they united as one, walking toward the limo.

"This reminds me of our wedding day. Remember, honey-bean?" Mrs. Fisher's use of their private nickname for him made Mr. Fisher uneasy.

From the Fisher's house it was on to Chloe's where David stood shooting the breeze with the guys while the girls gathered, giggling, and the parents reminisced. David's eyes never left Rachel's as she stood near and far posing for pictures with her girls. She answered his intense stares with a giddy school-girl smile.

They schmoozed with the group then left for the pre-prom restaurant meal. Just before seven, they headed back on the road in the limo again. Rachel's fingers gripped David's tighter and tighter as the limo neared the Hayward Mansion and the prom.

"I heard what you did," Rachel said with a seductive grin.

David looked at her, perplexed. "I heard he's going to need surgery to repair his nose. I should apologize."

Rachel felt overwhelming bliss brewing below her belly. She shushed David with a soft kiss before playfully nibbling on his lower lip. Fueled by a deep, endless hunger, David locked his lips to hers, their tongues slowly dancing along the other's.

The open partition to the chauffeur was quickly sealed. Rachel pulled up her regal dress and lifted her legs to straddle David's waist. The roar of the road was soon eclipsed by the sweet country strains of Shania Twain's 'From this Moment' echoing through the speakers.

David peeled off her panties as she straddled his waist, then let his hands roam over her bodice. Rachel's nimble fingers pulled down his zipper as he did the same to her dress.

While her dress dangled around her waist, David's erection stood proudly at attention as he put a condom on. His finger made her flower quiver as it progressed past the initial resistance of her pussy muscles. A single finger turned into fingers as Rachel's pussy loosened wetly, begging for more. Feeling her beckoning warmth, David's cock grew harder with his fingers' every forward motion.