Some Changes in Wade

"But no one will be up here to see it."

"Maybe," she said, still gazing at the flower. Then she turned her head and looked at me. "I went caving with my brother once, and he took me to a place they'd just discovered. It was a room maybe ten-foot square and six feet tall. It was filled with beautiful formations, some pure white and some with different colors. He explained how it had taken hundreds of thousands of years for them to form...and they were still forming, even as we sat there admiring them. I was only the fourth person to ever see them after all those years."

I thought she might be about to cry.

"And there are lots of other places like that that no one has seen...and they'll never be seen. So there's more to it than being seen."

With her face so close and with what she was saying, I couldn't keep from kissing her.

She smiled.

"It's just life and the world we live in. The universe too. How many stars are there that have been born and died without being seen? It's how creation works."

Where had this Diana been hiding? But she was looking at me again.

"People, too," she began. "Sometimes people exist but aren't really seen. And then they're seen for what they really are...and everything changes."

Her words had my heart pumping, and I think I was seeing her in a new way as well. Like the little flower, Diana had been hidden, and even today, I was seeing her anew. The face, those eyes, and that smile. I'd seen them all before, but not the way I was seeing them right now.

"What are you thinking?" She asked.

"Things I've never thought before."

"Care to share?"

"About that little flower and you."

She turned her head, looking at the tiny flower, barely beyond a bud, then looked at me again.

"Go on."

"I don't know, sometimes. I've only known you a little over a week."

"It's been a packed full week, hasn't it?"

"Hard to have gotten much more into it."

"So it was a month squeezed into a week?"

"A pretty good description."

"So, now that you've known me for a month, how am I like this little pinkish-red flower?"

"I've been alive about...two hundred and nineteen months, and I've known you for one--kind of. For me, you're like that flower, beautiful and full of promise, and I want to watch you grow and bloom."

Diana's eyes looked "wet" as she stared at me. "This little flower will need warmth, water, and sunlight to grow. Things from the outside over which it has no control."

"Do you have control over me?" I asked.

I received a long stare. "I don't think it would be good if I controlled you."

"Then I qualify."

I wasn't ready when she launched herself at me, arms around my neck, and we rolled over and over, the dead leaves, left over from autumn, crunching beneath us. Her lips found mind, her tongue probing, small moans escaping her throat as I squeezed her tightly against me.

The sun was bright, the air holding a touch of winter's lingering chill as I clung to the subject of last night's delightful dream. It was like a dream to have her here with me today. I lifted her face from mine and drank in the look of her.

"Do you like to kiss me?"

"Oh, lord, yes. And I love to dream about you too." A small voice inside me said, "oops," particularly knowing Diane as well as I already did.

"Wade, do you dream about me?"

"I did last night," I admitted.

"Tell me."

"Diana, you know what dreams can be, well, like," I stammered.

"I do know," she said, that huge smile on her face. "So tell me. I want to know."

I'm not sure she was ready to know about this dream, but I knew she wouldn't give up.

"We were, um, swimming, and you were in a...bikini." A bit of an overstatement.

"You don't know what I look like in a bikini."

"The dream knew."

"But you don't know if the dream is right."

"I guess."

"You need to know."

"Diana, what..."

She pushed me away and stood. I'm sure my mouth was hanging open as she pulled off her jacket, then the flannel shirt. Diana appeared to be shiver, standing in front of me in her plain white bra. The Levis were on their way down.

Now I was torn. She was shivering, but she was gorgeous, a sight I'd dreamed of seeing, but... I grabbed her and squeezed her against me.

"Diana, you're just more...and to do this here and today... and you're shivering."

"I'm not sure it's all from the cold," she said against my neck.

"You're killing me--I don't know what to do."

A kiss to my neck this time. "Good, then I'm in charge, right?"

"I want you to be warm and not shivering so hard."

"But still, you'd like to see more, wouldn't you?"

I'm an eighteen-year-old male. And I'm holding onto someone who's worked their way into my heart. And there's something happening inside my body that has my temperature rising, despite the cold air around me. Would I like to see more?

"You would, wouldn't you?"

"Diana, what's happening here? This is so...well...different."

"I don't know what's happening...or why. But it is, and cold or not, I want it to happen."

She stepped away from me and reached behind her, unclasping her bra. It hung loosely from her shoulders as she locked eyes with me, a very intense look on her face. It was up to me now.

As I reached for the straps, she smiled, and when I pulled them off her shoulders, her face turned to a look of anticipation. They weren't huge--I knew that--but they were creamy smooth and flawless as far as I was concerned. The nipples were dark and hard, the areola crinkled from the cold. I knew how to warm them up.

When I took the right nipple into my mouth and sucked hard, my tongue caressing around and around the hard nub, a long moan escaped from the depths of Diana's body. It filled my heart, and I moved to the other breast with a similar result. It was heaven, but I knew that, despite everything, she was still shivering.

I stooped and picked up the bra and shirt and handed them to Diana. She tossed the bra aside and put on the shirt, bending to pull up the Levis. The jacket quickly followed, and I squeezed her to me once more.

Can you fall in love with someone in one week? I'd read of love at first sight. We didn't have that, but...

Diana picked up the bra and stuffed it in her jacket pocket.

"Last Saturday night, when you and I started talking, did you imagine that you'd have...kissed my bare breasts within a week?"

I just looked at her and chuckled, shaking my head. "It's one day over a week," I added. "And the answer is no, I didn't. You're...well, so much different than you were just a week ago. I'm enjoying it, I have to admit."

"I feel so different now that you're in my life. I want to do things, explore things. And I want to do all of it with you."

"Remember this place," I said, "because this summer, I want to come back here and see that little flower and find out how it's doing."

"Deal."

We climbed down from the upper level and headed back toward the car, and just knowing that Diana was braless under that jacket and shirt gave a whole new feeling to walking along and holding her hand.

It wasn't hard to fathom where my mind was on the ride back to my house. And Diana had thoughtfully taken off her jacket when she'd gotten into the car. While there wasn't a lot to see, my imagination took care of filling in the blanks. The two blanks.

Diana had agreed to go shopping with her mother, so she was dropping me off at home, and we wouldn't see each other again until Monday at school.

"Hey, Mom, how are you?" I asked as I came through the front door feeling like I was floating. But the look on my mother's face deflated me quickly. "What's wrong?"

She rolled her eyes and nodded toward Dad.

"Hey, Dad. What's going on?"

"Hey, Wade. Well, nothing much...yet. I'm thinking of moving to Denver."

It would have been nice if he'd at least looked at me when he said that

"Denver? Why would you want to move to Denver?"

" I was at Bruno's, and several of the guys said that Denver was where it's at. Lots of jobs with good pay, you know."

"That's it? Some guys said it's great, and you're ready to go."

"Well, almost."

"If it's so good, how come your buddies aren't heading there."

"Dunno. They got their reasons, I guess. But here's what I've got. I saved vacation, and I've got four weeks, so I think I'll drive out to Denver and see what's up."

"Drive?" I said with a chuckle. "So what's Mom supposed to do, walk to the store and other places?"

I received a frown for that comment. Dad didn't think very far ahead sometimes.

"It's a lot of money, but I guess I'll fly then." He shook his head and mumbled something about a freaking lot of money.

I shrugged and looked at Mom, who wore a defeated expression. She walked to me and whispered.

"I'm not moving to Denver at this stage of my life...and yours."

"I suspect this will blow over, like all of his other schemes. It's not like they're waiting for him in Denver because of his multiple talents.

A half-smile from Mom, who hadn't had an easy life, Dad providing just enough money that we didn't starve. We had the house, and the truck was ten years old. And now he was going to fly to Denver to "see what's up."

I'd gone from floating on air to feeling like I was crawling in the mud. And I certainly wasn't going to move to Denver, even if I had to drop out of school and get a job of some kind. And there was Diana.

Dad just sat there watching the television like everything was, well, normal.

It wasn't.

And it wasn't going to have a chance to be normal until he returned from Denver, having spent lots of our money just to find out his stupid drinking buddies were full of shit, and he wasn't clever enough to see it.

I hugged Mom and went to my room, my phone in my hand.

is there any way I can see you

what's wrong

long story

will pick you up in 10

at the corner

I needed to get out of the house. What would I really do if Dad said we were moving to Denver? It would totally screw up my life. I stomped along the sidewalk, trying to decide if I was disappointed, frustrated, or angry. Probably all of those. At the corner, I leaned against the light pole, kicking it absentmindedly as I waited.

I saw the Honda when it was a block away. It pulled up to where I was waiting, Mrs. Kelly was driving, and Diana was in the back seat, motioning for me to get in.

"I won't listen if you want to talk now. Or we can park, and I'll take a walk."

Diana grabbed hold of my hand as I debated. I decided that Diana would probably share with her mother, so why not let her listen?

"It may not be that big a deal, and you might as well listen too." I tried to smile, but Diana looked nervous.

"You two don't know my dad, but, well, he gets a half-baked idea and doesn't think about anything or anyone else." I looked at Diana. "A couple of his drinking buddies told him Denver is a great place with lots of high-paying jobs. So he's talking about moving there."

Mom looked surprised, while Diana had a skeptical look.

"Are you serious?" Diana said.

"Yes...and no. He's had crazy ideas before, but nothing ever came of them. He's taking four weeks of vacation to "look around."

I was enjoying Diana's squeezing of my hand, but I was watching her mother's changing expressions. I knew a little about their family, and I guessed she couldn't imagine something like I was describing. I wondered what she might be thinking of saying. She finally looked at Diana and nodded.

"Wade, I just know that the young lady sitting beside you, who has never been interested in boys, is suddenly interested...in one particular boy. Based on her good judgment, Mason and I will do whatever we can to help out." She smiled and looked at Diana. "Honey, we've been seeing Wade every day, and you guys have been together enough that I expect you've kissed at least once. I'll turn my back. I'm sure he'd feel better if you..."

"Mom," she said, blushing. But, once her mother turned her back, I got the kiss, and it somehow made me feel much better.

Having given Diana enough time to give me my kiss, Mrs. Kelly pulled to the curb, then turned and looked at me again.

"Wade, the last thing I want is for you to think I'm nosy and poking into something that doesn't concern me, but..." she paused, looked at Diana, and chuckled nervously. "But, we have an interest in you and your family. So, don't hesitate to call on us, okay?"

"I appreciate that so much, Mrs. Kelly. I don't know what we might need, but I'll remember."

◇-◇-◇-◇

"You still pay all the bills, don't you, Mom?"

"You know your dad never wanted to be bothered with details."

"So, is his pay auto-deposit?"

"Yep, first thing every Friday."

"Make sure you get hold of it as quickly as you can."

"Don't worry; your father has no idea how to do anything electronically, and he didn't take any checks with him. He just has the money he took with him."

I hugged my mother, who seemed surprisingly unaffected by what was going on.

"Thanks for your concern, Wade, but I've been through things like this before, although not quite this extreme. I'll be surprised if he's gone a week. I doubt if they're paying big bucks in Denver for what your father can do. He's a janitor and maintenance man, and he's always made enough to take care of us, but he was always content with that. He had chances to take courses to, you know, improve and advance, but he never could be bothered." She sighed.

I hugged her again. I was lucky to have a mother like this one. I had never realized all the things that were happening in the background of my life. That life had always been smooth and seemingly problem-free. I knew Dad wasn't like lots of other dads since I saw them at the games where their sons were playing. It bothered me a little, I guess, but I'd never known anything different, so it seemed to be "normal."

But now, I had people who would be coming to the games--coming especially to see me play. Basketball was nearly over, and I didn't know what would happen with Diana playing softball. I could hardly wait.

◇-◇-◇-◇

Dad was back in four days complaining that his drinking buddies "didn't know what the hell they were talking about." There seemed to be similar jobs to his in Denver, but they paid similarly as well. Jobs that paid more required more than Dad could provide.

The only good thing that resulted from the little trip...well, the two good things actually were the conversation with Mrs. Kelly and Diana getting to ride in the truck. Actually, I think I forgot the most important thing--Mom and Diana got to see each other again, and they hit it off perfectly.

We lost the first game of the tournament by fifteen points, so there was no chance for a last-second shot. Life slipped back into the routine at home, except that I was gone a lot more, spending as much time as possible with Diana and with her family as well. They were so different from my parents. Actually, it was my father that was so different--Mother closely matched Mrs. Kelly. Diana's parents laughed when they told us that, should both Diana and I have a game on the same day, one of them would go to each game.

I had met Diana at the party just five weeks ago, but I was feeling more and more a part of their family with each passing day. Plus, just being with Diana was...was...I couldn't imagine not having that.

I'd seen Diana practicing softball one time, but our practice schedules collided, so we were usually practicing at the same time at opposite ends of the high school campus. But today, Saturday, she had her first game, and I didn't have one, so I sat with the Kellys to watch her play.

By the third inning, my eyes were wide. I thought I was a good baseball player, but, relatively speaking, Diana was much better than I was. Every move she made was smooth, easy, and natural. It was fastpitch, and the other team's pitcher was good, with a vicious rise-ball. But Diana was better, getting two hits and flying out to deep left field, missing a home run by about four feet. She played center field, and there was a reason for that. She could run. Her two stolen bases attested to that.

We won 3-2, and Diana had a big smile when she met us after the game.

"You didn't tell me you were that good," I teased.

"I don't go two for three every game," she answered, looking a tiny bit embarrassed.

"If you did, Oklahoma and UCLA would be camped on your front porch."

"That's not going to happen," she said with a laugh.

"Too bad. A free education would be nice," Mr. Kelly said, nudging Diana.

"I've been accepted at Ohio State and Otterbein, and I plan on going to one of them, depending on whether or not I want to play volleyball and softball."

Both Kelly parents nodded their approval. I knew that they were such a close family that both Oklahoma and UCLA were off the table before they were ever on the table.

"Since we're on the subject, sort of, I have an appointment next week with Mrs. O'Neil."

The Kellys looked puzzled.

"She's the guidance counselor at school. Wade's going to talk to her about college possibilities."

"Very nice," Mason Kelly said. "And since both Blaine and I drove today, Diane, you're welcome to the Honda if you and Wade would like to celebrate the win."

I glanced at Diana, and the look on her face clearly told me her answer.

"I don't have my key thingy with me," she said.

Her mother obliged, and with a pair of goodbyes, we headed for the car, Diana still excited by the win and the success she'd had as well.

Once in the car, I received a smile and a kiss.

"So, what do you want to do, Miss two for three? Not to mention two stolen bases."

"We have two or three hours of light, sooo let's have a picnic."

"Huh?" was the best I could come up with.

"We'll stop at the market--they have picnic baskets made up, and we'll go to the park."

"Sounds like fun, but I only have a few bucks on me."

"Wade, just because we're dating doesn't mean you have to support me. I have money too, and sometimes I get to treat you too."

When I began a moderate protest, her hand reached across to shush me, but instead, it received a kiss.

It wasn't the first time the subject of money had been broached. I had worked last summer instead of playing American Legion baseball, and I had saved three-thousand dollars, so I had money for dating. But Diana wanted to contribute, and she told me I was old-fashioned and conservative. Plus, I knew her dad was the General Manager of Acron Manufacturing and made lots of money. I'd relented a week or so ago.

We stopped and picked up a delicious-looking assortment of picnic supplies. We stopped by her house to grab a blanket, and there was no one there.

She came back to the car, tossed the blanket in the back seat, and climbed in.

"They love to go out to dinner. I bet they're ordering steaks about now."

Steaks. Sounded good to me. The few times I'd had steak, it was good. I looked at Diana, whose eyebrows were raised.

"Tell," she said, her usual response when she caught me being a little pensive.

"Just thinking about steak," I admitted.

In a moment, her face brightened. "When's your nineteenth birthday again?"

"Three weeks or so. Why?"

Diana smiled. "Just wondered," she answered with a wink.

Something special was going to happen...and I was already anxious.

It was another five minutes to the park, and I just looked at Diana as she drove. And each time I'd do that, I was once more dumbfounded that this sweet, attractive, and athletic young lady wanted to be with me. Going through the first three years of high school, there were no girls who wanted to be with me. At least none who acted like they did. Senior year had started the same way, and then I had let Mia talk me into going to that party. I'd thought it was a big mistake until I heard that voice say, "Hi, Wade."