Friends with Consequences Ch. 01

All characters in this chapter are eighteen years old and graduating high school.

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She could not help herself. Linda grew up in church, but it just was not the life she wanted. She believed in God. Linda just had visions of her future that didn't involve being a religious girl.

Linda had an awkward friendship growing up. Her parents loved and respected their neighbors. They viewed their neighbors as a wholesome Christian family. Linda's parents especially loved the neighbor's son, Max.

Max was short for Maximillian. Unlike Linda, Max was much more reserved. Although he could be skeptical about religion, Max was committed to some of the more common traditions, because that's just how he grew up.

He was a good kid. The young man took his academics seriously and achieved good grades. Max also stayed quiet and wasn't very outspoken. He wasn't one who desired attention.

Because they were neighbors, and Linda's family liked Max's, they spent a lot of time together growing up. They went to the same schools, the same church, and even decided to go to the same college. Max often provided rides for Linda, since she didn't have a car. He was also forced to tutor her, since she didn't take her academics as seriously as he did.

Max thought Linda was a beautiful girl. However, it was rooted in him to not think about her in a romantic way. Since they grew up together, it was just different for him. He also intended to remain a virgin until he was married and did not see Linda as marriage material.

Linda, on the other hand, was not very attracted to Max. It's not that he was an ugly guy. He just wasn't the bad boy that she fantasized about being with. He was too nice, and she didn't want a goody two shoes. She wanted a guy who could be a jerk. A guy who wasn't afraid to be adventurous. Linda wanted a guy with muscles and attitude.

Though Max and Linda never considered being together, they were always associated with each other. They were from a small town where rumors started quite easily.

The young neighbors were graduating from the same high school. On the final day of class, they carpooled in Max's car, just as they did every other day. Linda had gotten quite used to making him the chauffer.

At lunch, Linda ran into her best friend, Jesse.

"Are you coming tonight?" asked Jesse.

"Of course, I'm coming to your party!" replied Linda.

"Is Max coming?"

"Of course, he is," said Linda. "He hasn't told me he's going, but he's my ride so he has to go."

Jesse laughed at her answer. "You guys are so cute together, but you're so mean to him sometimes."

"I don't think we're cute together," she responded, as she laughed off Jesse's claim.

"Have you ever thought about dating him?" asked Jesse.

"Maybe I thought about it briefly," said Linda. "But he's really not my type."

"I understand," said Jesse. "I think you can do much better."

"Me too," she agreed.

As the bell rang, and the seniors left school for the final time, Linda found Max as she walked to his car.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"I guess so," answered Linda. As they got in the car, Linda stared out the window and sighed.

"Is something wrong?"

"High school just wasn't what I thought it would be," said Linda, staring off into space.

"What do you mean?" Max asked.

"it just wasn't as adventurous as they make it look on TV," she answered. "I thought there would be more drama and relationships. I've never even had a boyfriend!"

Max was confused. He never heard Linda speak like this before. "So, you wanted a boyfriend?" he asked.

"I at least wanted to try it," she responded. "I wanted the adventure. I wanted the drama. School was just too boring. I mean, what if I die and I'm still a virgin?!"

"Why would you want more drama?" asked Max. "Isn't drama bad?"

"It is bad, but I need some kind of excitement," said Linda. "I mean what movie or book do you know of has NO drama? If they had no drama, nobody would watch the movies or read the books."

Max went into deep though before responding with, "Cookbooks don't have drama."

Linda looked at him with confusion. "That's not what I meant," she said, as she rolled her eyes.

"What did you mean earlier?" asked Max, getting back to subject. "Are you afraid of dying a virgin?"

"Well, yeah," said Linda. "Aren't you?"

"I guess so," Max answered. "But I'm a long way from marriage anyways."

Linda looked at Max as if she knew he was lying. "You don't really expect me to believe you're waiting for marriage, do you?"

"Well, yeah," said Max. "Why is that surprising?"

"You're not even that religious," said Linda.

"It's not just a religious thing," said Max. "I just think it would be too weird to have sex with someone and then marry someone else. Don't you think so? I mean, what if my future wife is a virgin who waited for me. Then I have to live with the guilt of not waiting for her. That's not fair to her or me."

"But what if you meet the perfect girl, and she's already had sex," asked Linda. "Wouldn't you wish you tried it before, so you two would be on an even playing field?"

"I guess that's possible," said Max. "But I'm more afraid of the first scenario. And besides, I think the perfect girl would wait for me."

"Drop the good boy act Max," said Linda, as she rolled her eyes. It wasn't that she didn't believe him. It was more of her being tired of his boring outlooks on love and life.

"It's not an act," said Max.

Linda got serious as she looked Max in the face, though his eyes were still on the road. "So, you're not even curious about sex?" she asked.

A brief moment of silence ensued before Max finally responded. "No."

"You're lying!" Linda exclaimed. She then giggled at Max's persistence on the matter.

"Why don't you believe me?" asked Max. "I just want to save it for marriage."

"I believe that you THINK you want to save it for marriage because you've never been tempted. It's easy to say you don't want something when it's never been offered to you."

"What do you mean?" asked Max.

"I bet when we get to college, you're going to start getting tempted by girls. And then it won't be so easy for you to wait until marriage."

Though he didn't want to admit it, Max was quite intrigued by Linda's response. He had never contemplated this possibility. He didn't have a response. The young boy just stayed quiet until he pulled up to Linda's house.

Linda put her hand on Max's shoulder. "Thanks for always being there to give me a ride," she said, with sincerity.

"No problem," Max responded.

As she exited the car, Linda held the door open to ask one more question. "Hey, Jesse is having a party tonight. Do you want to go?"

"Uh, not really," Max responded. "I'm not really friends with Jesse or her friends."

"You are friends with me," said Linda.

"You're going to be there?" asked Max.

"Of course," said Linda. "She's my best friend. Why wouldn't I go?"

"How did you plan on getting there?" asked Max.

Linda didn't know what to say. She knew that Max caught her. "I...uhh....she was going to pick me up."

"You already told her that I'm giving you a ride, didn't you?" asked Max, with an annoyed face.

Linda giggled, trying to escape Max's accusation. "No, not exactly. I just figured you might want to go, and I could ride with you. If not, I had other options."

"Whatever," said Max, as he rolled his eyes.

"Come on Max," sighed Linda. "You know I always consider what you want. And I knew you would want to go to the party."

"Obviously not."

Linda leaned over towards Max and placed her hand on his lap. "Come on. Please?" she said, as she batted her eyes.

Max was such a push over. He could be pressured into anything Linda wanted him to do. He didn't have the heart to tell her, "No," so he unwillingly agreed, much to Linda's excitement.

"Thank!" exclaimed Linda. "Please pick me up at 7!"

As he parked in his driveway, he pondered to himself, "How does she always pressure me into things I don't want to do? She's not even my girlfriend!"

That evening, Max showed up about fifteen minutes early. He texted Linda, letting her know he arrived.

"I'm still getting ready," she responded. "You can come inside and see my parents."

Despite not wanting to, Max parked his car and walked to the door. After knocking, he was greeted by Linda's parents.

"Congratulations on finishing high school!" said Linda's father.

"Thank you, sir," said Max, as he shook his hand.

Linda's mom then gave Max a hug as she thanked him for always providing her daughter a ride to school.

"No problem, ma'am," said Max.

Linda's parents then asked Max to, "Be careful tonight and make sure Linda gets home safely."

Of course, Max agreed, as he planned on being back early, if possible. Linda's parents then let him in the house so he could wait inside. Once he came in, Linda called for him to come to the restroom. When Max got there, he was stunned to see how pleasant his young neighbor looked.

"You look nice," Max said, as he looked at the young beauty, straightening her long black hair. She stood 5'5, but with her high heels on she was just as tall as Max. Linda was wearing a small black dress, with pink and yellow flower designs all over. To keep a bit of modesty, she wore a pair of black leggings underneath the dress, to not show too much of her upper thigh. "I've never seen you so dressed up," Max admitted.

"There's nobody to impress at school," responded Linda. "You look nice too," she joked. "In your polo and your jeans that you ALWAYS wear. You dress like my dad." She laughed as she poked fun at Max's lack of style. In her mind, Max's appearance matched his personality. He was too boring for her.

Max was about to shrug off her insult, as he always did. But before he could say anything, he heard Linda's phone ringing. "Is that your phone?" he asked.

Linda still had the flatiron in her hands, working on her long dark hair. "It's probably Jesse. Can you get my phone for me? It's in my room."

"Sure," said Max as he walked into his neighbor's room. He tried to grab the phone in time, but as soon as he saw the caller ID, he noticed that Jesse had already ended the call. Max was a bit disappointed that he didn't get to it in time, but figured it was no big deal. But as Max looked down at Linda's phone, he noticed the screen changed back to the previous screen she was looking at. Max was shocked to see that her internet browser was left on a porn website, halfway through a video. The young 18-year old boy became incredibly uncomfortable in his own shoes and closed out of the browser as quickly as possible.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!" he thought to himself. "What do I do?" Max was not only anxious about invading Linda's privacy, but also shocked that she actually watches porn. He decided it would be too embarrassing to bring it up, so he just brought Linda her phone like nothing happened.

When he arrived back at the restroom, Linda quickly said, "Took you long enough."

"Sorry," Max responded. "I had a hard time finding your phone."

Linda looked at him with confusion. "It was on my bed, in plain sight."

"Yeah, sorry," Max said, nervously. "I'm so dumb sometimes. Anyways, it was Jesse, just like you said."

The young, long haired brunette decided to think nothing of it. She grabbed the phone and called Jesse back as soon as she was done with her hair. Max, not knowing what to do with himself, nervously walked to the car and sat in silence as he waited for his young neighbor to finish getting ready.

When Linda finally came and got in the car, Max anxiously started driving, not knowing what to say. He knew he should say something, but he didn't know how to start a conversation after his secret discovery.

Suddenly, the nervous boy noticed Linda rustling around in the passenger seat. As he looked over, he saw her pulling down her leggings.

"What are you doing?"

"Don't look!" the young woman demanded. "My parents would never let me out in this short dress. That's why I wore these leggings under. To trick them into thinking it was my actual outfit."

Max nervously looked forward, trying not to catch a glimpse at Linda. "Maybe you should keep them on," he said, as he gulped.

"First you dress like a dad, and now you act like a dad?" Linda asked, as she giggled and poked fun at her young neighbor again. "Look, I had to dress conservatively all throughout high school. I'm going to dress how I want from now on. I look good and I deserve to flaunt it."

"Okay," Max replied, reluctantly. His discomfort was evident, and he was on the verge of sweating.

"I'm finished," said Linda, as she pulled her dress down to cover herself. "You can look now if you want."

Max looked over and noticed Linda's long beautiful legs coming from her short dress. "You don't think it's too revealing?" he asked.

"You're such a prude," she responded. "You don't think I look good?"

"You look nice," Max replied, not knowing how else to respond. The situation was already awkward enough for him. But having discovered the porn on Linda's phone made the car ride even more uncomfortable.

Linda could sense something was wrong with her young neighbor. "What is going on with you today?" she asked, demanding answers.

"What are you talking about?" asked Max, trying to play it off.

"You've been acting strange," she said. "You've been acting weird in the car. You even acted weird at my house. What is your deal?"

Max was too nervous to respond. He could not think of an excuse without letting out what he saw on her phone. So, the young boy just remained silent as he continued to drive.

"You've been acting weird since...." Linda began to investigate out loud. "You've been acting weird since...since...since you handed me my phone."

As sweat drops began to run down Max's forehead, Linda realized that there was something to her accusation. She continued to dig. "Did you go through my phone?!" she asked, almost accusing him of breeching her privacy.

"I didn't!" Max proclaimed.

The young lady could see it written all over Max's face. She quickly went through her phone, wondering what he could have seen. Linda went through her text messages but didn't see anything. She then went through her recent photos and still didn't find anything noteworthy. "What could he possibly have seen?" she thought to herself.

She finally checked her browser and realized the last page she was on. "Ah, shit!" she exclaimed, as she realized the embarrassment that was upon her. The young brunette's face became red as she began accusing Max. "Why did you go through my phone?"

"I didn't go through it!" he tried to explain.

"So, you DID see what was on my phone!" Linda pointed out. "I caught you red handed!"

"I didn't go through your phone!" he argued. "I tried to grab your phone before it stopped ringing. Once the call stopped, the screen went back to whatever you were looking at last. Your phone automatically went back to that porn site that you must have been watching earlier."

"You shouldn't have been looking at my phone," she responded. "I just asked you to bring it to me, not look at the screen."

Curiosity got the best of Max. "What were you doing watching porn?" he asked.

Linda was red in the face with embarrassment. She felt that Max was judging her, so she got defensive. "What do you mean?" she snapped.

"Why would you watch porn?" Max asked, again.

"Why does anyone watch porn?" she asked. "I was just curious, I guess. Don't you watch porn too?"

Max quickly declined. "No, of course not."

Linda rolled her eyes and snapped. "Max!" she yelled. "Don't even try to lie about watching porn! First you try to say you never think about sex before marriage. Now you try to say you don't even watch porn?"

"I don't," he quickly responded.

She could tell Max was nervous, but no matter how hard she pressed him, he would not admit it. "Max, I've known you since we were kids. I know when you're lying and telling the truth."

"I'm not lying!" Max exclaimed.

Linda rolled her eyes once again, before shrugging off Max's persistent stance. Then she asked, "Do you think it's bad that I watch porn?"

"I...uh....I....I just didn't know girls watch porn."

Linda took a deep breath before responding. "I guess I do it to help me get off."

Max was now blushing uncontrollably. He did not mean for the conversation to ever get this uncomfortable. His heart raced, but he did not know what to say.

As they pulled up to Jesse's house, Linda looked over to Max and asked, "Don't you use porn to masturbate?"

"I don't masturbate," said Max, bloodshot red.

"Are you lying to me?" asked Linda.

"No," responded Max. "I've never masturbated. It just feels too awkward and weird."

For the first time during the car ride, Linda believed something Max said. However, she was not ready to concede to all of his statements. "I believe you," she said. "But I don't believe you are completely innocent either. I think you watch porn. And I think if you were tempted with sex, it would be a much harder choice than you think."

Max sat there in silence, contemplating Linda's statements. He could not bring himself to confirm nor deny any of her accusations. Before he could say another word, Linda asked, "For example, if I wanted to have sex with you, would you be able to say no?"

"Have sex with you?" he asked, shockingly. "I uhh..."

"Let me be clear," Linda said, interrupting Max. "I would never want to have sex with you. But if I wanted to, you wouldn't be able to reject me."

Although Linda made it clear that it was just a hypothetical, Max almost felt that the option was actually on the table. He was nervous, never facing a woman before who talked about sex.

"No...I'm waiting till marriage," he finally responded. "Remember?"

Though Linda knew it was just a hypothetical, she felt offended and rejected. "I don't believe you Max!" she shouted. As the young brunette opened the door, she looked at the young boy and said, "Don't act like you could reject me if I wanted to have sex. You and I both know that you would have sex with me in a heartbeat, if I let you." She then slammed the car door, before heading into Jesse's house.

Max was left in silence, pondering his own thoughts. "Why did she get so mad? Could I really reject her? Would she really want to have sex with me?" The young boy snapped out of it, deciding that the whole thing was preposterous. "Women are just crazy," he said to himself, before finally leaving the car and heading into the party.

Once inside, the two went their separate ways. Max found some of his guy friends and Linda found some of her girl friends, including Jesse.

Alex, one of Max's friends, noticed them walk in together. "So, are you two together?" he asked.

"Linda and me?" asked Max, with a surprised face. "No. She's just my neighbor."

"She looks really good today," said Alex, as he checked Linda out.

"Yeah," Max quietly responded. He took a second to fully appreciate Linda's beauty for the first time. She looked so good in her little dress. Max never had the chance to appreciate her curves. It was also the first time he saw Linda show off so much skin.

"If you're not going to date her, do you think I have a shot?" asked Alex.

"I don't think she's interested," Max responded, staring at Linda.

"You don't think she's interested in you, or me?" his friend attempted to get him to clarify.

Max continued to stare at his pretty childhood friend. "Yes."

"Wait, what?" asked the confused Alex.

Suddenly, Max noticed the girls beginning to pour shots. He quickly walked over to Linda after he noticed Jesse handing her a shot glass. "Hey, what are you doing?" he asked.