Here We Go Again!

"I'm sorry, but not without a working linear-induction motor and we don't have one," The guy said.

Poor Jenny had started to cry when she found out that the coaster she so badly wanted to ride was having technical difficulties, and now this news would crush her. Since I wished to prevent her from shedding any more tears, I did something I rarely ever do when I am not working; I confronted the men with my so called genius abilities.

"Excuse me Mr. Jolly," I started to say.

"What is it son, are you lost or something," The man asked?

"No sir, but I couldn't help overhearing your discussion and,"

"Eavesdropping isn't a very nice thing to do son, but I am afraid what you heard was true, The G Force is shut down until further notice," He said.

"Actually sir, I think I may have a solution to your problem," I told him.

"And just what might that be," He asked with a chuckle?

"Why don't you switch out the linear-induction motor with the one in the Tackler? It uses the same part number, and is a much less popular ride," I suggested.

"I'm sorry son, but our coasters do not use interchangeable parts," Mr. Jolly explained.

"Actually Walt, in this case the kid is right. I don't know why I didn't think of it before. We could close down the Tackler and have the G Force operational again in about," The engineer was about to say.

"45 minutes," I said finishing his sentence.

"Yes, how did you know that," The guy asked.

"I wrote a report about the mechanics of Roller Coasters for one of my summer college classes," I answered truthfully.

"Sure kid, what are you like 12 years old," The engineer asked?

"Ten actually," I replied.

"Oh, there you are Matt. You really shouldn't wander off like that. I was worried sick," Karen said.

"I'm sorry mam, it won't happen again," I said apologizing.

"Are you this boy's mother," Mr. Jolly asked?

"No, Matt and my daughter are friends, and she invited him to come with us today to help her celebrate. You see today is my daughter's birthday, and she received some tickets to the park from her aunt as a gift," Jenny's mother explained.

"Matt has been telling us that he attends college," Mr. Jolly told her.

"Oh he does during the summer. You see Matt is a child prodigy with anything mechanical. The rest of the time he attends normal classes with my daughter," She explained.

"That's amazing," Mr. Jolly exclaimed!

"Excuse me sir, but shouldn't somebody get working on the rides," I reminded them?

Oh shit, sorry I mean shoot," the engineer said holding his hand to his mouth obviously embarrassed that he had cursed in front of us.

"Don't worry about it man, I hear much rougher language working in my uncle's garage," I told him.

"You work in your uncle's garage too," Mr. Jolly asked?

"Yes, I am a certified general mechanic," I told him.

After getting the ok to switch out the linear-induction motor from Mr. Jolly, Tony, the head engineer I was talking to, had his team begin to disassemble both rides so that they could swap out the parts.

"Would you and your friend please come with me son," Mr. Jolly asked?

"Well sir, Jenny and I really wanted to ride the G Force once it is running again, and we don't really want to lose our spot in line. It is rather a long wait," I explained.

"Don't worry about that son, I will personally see to it that you and your friend get to ride anything you want as much as your heart's desire," Mr. Jolly said.

Jenny, her mother Karen, and I followed Mr. Jolly into a private, employee only section of the park. There he had a member of his staff take down our names and information, before presenting us with an electronic line eliminator device that lets us move to the beginning of any line in the park. This was the deluxe model given only to VIP's; it allowing us to ride any attraction as many times as we wanted for as long as we wished to do so. Mr. Jolly told us that the only stipulation was that we could only take front row seats twice in a row in any half an hour period, as it would be unfair to the other patrons for someone to hog the front row seats indefinitely. Mr. Jolly also indicated that he had a surprise for us when we were ready to turn in our pass that evening.

Of course Jenny was ecstatic to be getting the royal treatment on her birthday outing. They had the G Force operational again within the hour. Personally, I think I could have done it faster, but I decided not to mention that fact to anyone, as I had bragged enough for one day. Jenny made a beeline to the G Force, and as I expected she wanted to ride in the front row. The young lady sitting next to me was contagiously happy as the joy she was experiencing emulated off her body and onto mine leaving us both with matching grins. I had pointed out to Jenny earlier where high speed cameras would snap your picture during the rides climax, and then try and sell you the photos later. Of course, I used a different word other than climax while giving my explanation. Jenny surprised me when we came to this point, instead of waving into the camera she leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek forever sealing that moment in time where my heart and hers bonded into a perfect union. I fell in love with Jenny that day, and when the ride was over I went over and purchased each of us a copy of that photograph.

Since I didn't get Jenny anything for her birthday, because I wasn't aware of when it was, I made a point of buying her various mementoes of our day together. I wanted my friend to have a day she would never forget, and I think I was achieving that very goal. Jenny's mom could never afford to waste money on things like giant stuffed animals and overpriced amusement park food. I made pretty good money working for my uncle and I couldn't think of a better use for it than making Jenny happy. At one point Jenny's mom pulled me aside and said I was going overboard with my spending. After explaining to her my reasoning for it I received a second kiss on the cheek from a beautiful woman that day, this time from her mother.

Mr. Jolly was not lying when he said he had a surprise for us when we turned in the VIP device at the end of our visit. He had upgraded our one day tickets into season passes, allowing us to come back any time during the year for free. We were all tired from our antics at the park, but no one more so than Jenny. It had been an emotional day for her, she fell asleep snuggling up against me on our way home.

From that day on, my friendship with Jenny intensified. I took to calling her Jen, which was something she wouldn't let anyone else get away with, but seemed to prefer it from me. More of my free time was spent with either me over at her house or Jen here at mine. Although I would never say it out loud, Jen's mom was a much better cook than my own. I ate several meals at her place and thoroughly enjoyed each of them. Since I knew that Jen's mom didn't make much money, I would do odd jobs while I was visiting her and fix anything mechanical they had broken. I figured, I more than made up for what I ate, as I must have saved her thousands of dollars in repair cost throughout the years.

When I was fifteen I talked my parents into allowing me to buy a car. I wouldn't be able to drive it for a whole another year, but this way I could work on fixing it up in anticipation of that glorious moment. I had Jen help, or really in all honesty watch me rebuild the vehicle, while I showered her with dreams of what the two of us could do together once we had our own set of wheels.

As we made the transition into high school Jen developed from a cute little girl into a stunningly beautiful young woman. It was then that she started attracting the attention of some of the assholes that had previously shunned her. Although she did seem to enjoy this new found attention, Jen never encouraged any of their behavior in my presence, and we spoke often about how she was still troubled by the way these guys used to treat her. There were a few heads that turned my way as well, though I suspect that had more to do with my shiny newly rebuilt thunderbird, than it did with my physical attributes. If truth be known, I did develop some well-defined muscles while dealing with heavy equipment at the shop, but I never thought my body was anything special. I always felt that any special attention I received was due to the fact that I was one of the few freshmen to have their own car.

As I grew older life seemed to just get busier, as I was trying to balance my time between high school, working in my uncles shop, my college classes in the summer, and of course Jen. We somehow managed to maintain our relationship even though I never seemed to have the amount of free time that most of my peers enjoyed. Jen knew that I was working towards a future that I hoped someday to share with her.

During my junior year, I ended up selling off my Thunderbird, for a nice profit, and replaced it with a used Ferrari that needed some work. Jen wasn't too thrilled about me having to devote so much time into rebuilding its engine, but the envious looks she received when I drove her to school at the start of our senior year made the effort I put into restoring this beautiful hunk of automotive machinery all seem like a worthy undertaking.

Aside from my lack of free time the only real subject Jen and I constantly disagreed upon was sex. Being a normal horny teenager, I was ready to experience pleasures of the flesh, while Jen had this vision of waiting until prom night. I argued that we had essentially been going together for over eight years, and other kids our age were already doing the deed that weren't half as serious about one another as Jen and I. She explained that her mother, grandmother, and even her great grandmother had all lost their virginities on the night of their senior prom and she was determined to continue the tradition. I suggested that we could do other things that would leave her virginity intact, but the most she would agree upon is letting me fondle her breast through her cloths. As you can imagine, I had quite the case of blue balls most of the time.

I had been enrolled in junior college courses from the ripe old age of eight, so I had no problem getting larger universities to transfer in my credits. Since Jen and I wanted to attend the same school, we sat down and applied for scholarships from UCLA, our first choice, and the local university, Florida State, here in Florida. Although Jen was an excellent student she didn't quite fair as well as I did when it came to scholarship offers. She ended up not getting an offer from UCLA, but got a full ride from Florida State. I had offers from both schools, and although I'd already decided on attending Florida State, to be with Jen, I still hadn't got around to turning down California.

Senior prom was quickly approaching and I was ready to make it the best, most romantic night of our lives. My tux was rented, my car was tuned up to perfection, and our hotel room was booked. I even planned on giving Jen my great grandmother's engagement ring as a symbol of my undying commitment to her. Everything was going perfectly, until Ford Motor Company requested a meeting with me in Atlanta to discuss some patents that I had sent them earlier in the year. While taking one of my summer classes, I had dreamed up the idea for a more efficient pollution control device that would not only leave cleaner fuel emissions, but would nearly double the average horse power that vehicles were able to achieve from the devices in use at that time. Since my invention adhered more towards the design Ford was using, I sent them copies of my patents in hopes of striking a deal. It seemed that they were finally ready to talk. They wanted to fly me to Atlanta to meet with their top engineers and the vice president of operations for the entire US branch of the corporation. This was an opportunity that I could not afford to pass up.

The only fly in the ointment, was that they wanted to schedule the meeting the day before our senior prom. I knew Jen would be devastated if I were forced to miss one of the most monumental nights of our life, and attending the prom would probably be a fun event as well. It took some wheeling and dealing, but I managed to secure airline transportation which afforded me the time I needed in Atlanta to complete my talks with Ford representatives and assuring that I would be back in town early enough to go out with Jen.

Since I knew very little about contractual law, my dad suggested that I meet up with an old friend of his from college, who practiced in Atlanta and specialized in that very field. Mr. Carson insisted on tagging along with me to protect my interest, and I was sure glad he did. The guys from Ford were noticeable unhappy that I had brought an attorney to our meeting. The first thing they did was try to downplay my work, suggesting that I overestimated my findings. They should have known better than to try and pull that shit on someone with my mechanical background. I knew the facts and figures I sent them were if anything understated, and I proceeded to tear them apart by proving so. Their next course of action was to try to lowball me with a lousy contract. This is where Mr. Carson's expertise came into play. We bartered for hours, each side threatening to leave multiple times. In the end, we hashed out an agreement that we could all live with. I left with a $750,000 check in my pocket, Mr. Carson's fees covered, and future royalty payments for every vehicle equipped with my new pollution control device. I also had a guaranteed position in the engineering department of Ford's Florida branch pending completion of my Master's degree. Mr. Carson even worked it out where I could keep a portion of the royalties of anything I helped develop while working there in the future.

Life couldn't have been any sweeter. I had just deposited three quarters of a million dollars into my bank account, there was a five figure salaried position waiting for me upon completion of my Master's degree, I had a full ride scholarship from a very prestigious university, and best of all I would be losing my virginity in a few short hours to the girl who sometime in the very near future I intended to make my wife. I was on top of the world, and quite frankly that should have been my first clue that disaster was about to strike.

I was at the airport anxiously awaiting the arrival of the plane that would be taking me back to Florida, and into the arms of my soon to be lover. The only problem was the damn thing never showed up. Seems it experienced some technical difficulties at its previous location, and was grounded indefinitely until the problems could be resolved. Trying to book another flight was useless, as due to the late arrival of the cancellation announcement all seats were previously filled. With a heavy heart I dialed Jen's number to relay the bad news. To say she was upset would be the understatement of the century. She had reservations about me flying out this close to prom to begin with. I had assured her that everything would work out fine, and now I was going back on my word, and ruining her chances of continuing her family tradition. I tried to explain that this was an unforeseeable circumstance, and it wasn't really my fault, yet she started crying and hung up on me before I got a chance to tell her of my plan to rent a car and drive back home myself. I tried calling her back, but she turned off her ringer on her cell phone, and all I got was her voicemail.

Dealing with the car rental company was another fun filled experience I would have preferred to have avoided. Even though I had a perfect driving record, and a major credit card, the assholes questioned me at every turn due to my age, and the fact that I had planned to travel so far with their precious vehicle. Hell you would think I was trying to rent a Rolls Royce instead of a Toyota Camry for all the crap they put me through. I was finally on the road by 10:30 A.M., and by my calculations I should arrive back home just barely in time to get changed and go pickup Gen for the prom. That was when my tire had blowout. I was able to steer the car safely away from traffic, but when I looked in the trunk for a spare, all I found was a donut. I knew it would not be safe to travel as far as I was planning to go on a sub quality tire, so after changing it I reluctantly turned the car around and headed back to the rental facility for an exchange.

After arguing with the son of a bitch behind the counter, and then his immediate supervisor, I was finally given a replacement vehicle and 45 minutes later I was once again headed towards home. The delay in my departure time caused me to be stuck in Atlanta's noon rush hour traffic, which pushed back my ETA by over two hours. An accident tie up involving a jackknifed semi and truck taking cows to the slaughter house delayed me even further. By the time I finally made it back into town, the prom had already let out, and most of the people were in the process of leaving. By sheer luck I spotted Jen's mother's car in the school lot and figured she had borrowed it to attend the dance by herself. Finding an empty spot with a clear view of her vehicle, I decided to park and wait for her to come out, in hopes of at least being able to salvage some aspect of our special evening. When the lot was all but cleared out I came to the conclusion that Jen must have hitched a ride to one of the after prom parties with one of her friends. Although I didn't like the fact of her partying without me, I knew that trying to track her down would be a difficult task to accomplish. Since I was tired from driving all day I decided to recline the seat back and take a short nap while I waited for Jen to return. I figured the noise of the vehicle dropping her off would wake me up, and I knew her mom would need her car back by tomorrow, so I didn't suspect that she'd be out too late.

The sound of a car door slamming woke me up sometime in the wee hours of the morning, and I looked up to see Jen stepping out of the passenger side of a vehicle owned by Kyle Wilson. Kyle was known as the school hound. The guy actually kept a queen size air mattress and a battery operated pump in the bed of his pickup truck. He told his parents it was for camping, but he told us guys that it was cheaper than having to rent a motel room. I believed the latter.

Jen's clothes looked like they had been slept in, but I quickly discovered that wasn't the case when Tim climbed in the bed of his truck and came back with what looked like a very sheer pair of black panties, which he reluctantly handed back to Jen. I saw her bend down and step into them before they briefly kissed and went their separate ways. The word crushed didn't even begin to describe what I was feeling as I was now almost certain that Jen had given virginity to some other guy. The fact that she chose the school sex hound to fornicate with, made her betrayal hurt all the more. I was always taught that a man had to be tough and to suck it up, but in all honesty I cried that night knowing that things between Jenifer and I would never again be the same.

After I had swapped out the rental car for my own, I arrived back home around 5:00 A.M. and crashed. I had a fitful night's sleep as images of Jen and Tony's physical encounter haunted my dreams turning them into vivid nightmares from which there was seemingly no escape, neither in my cognizant state nor my subconscious one. It was after 1:00 P.M. the next afternoon before I finally managed to crawl out of bed. Even though I had literally slept for hours I got very little rest. I checked my missed messages only to see that Jenifer had been trying to contact me for the last three hours. I definitely had no desire to talk to her. After relieving myself in the bathroom, I made my way down stairs to try and get something in my empty stomach. I felt physically ill after witnessing Jenifer's betrayal, so food was completely out of the question. At this point, it was a gamble if I could manage to keep down a lousy cup of coffee.