Summer Awakenings

"I wanted to ask you—do you like girls?"

"Yes. Is there some reason you thought I didn't?"

Kelly laughed, and it was her usual, infectious, full-throated laugh, where she threw her head back in glee. Whenever she did that, I couldn't help but admire her long, tanned neck. She was an olive-toned beauty, the woman every man in the neighborhood of this small town admired, flirted with, fantasized about, or all of the above.

I'd watch her son Raymond two days a week, who had become like a surrogate little brother to me from the early days of him coming to my mom's old day care, and I genuinely adored him, but it was still a nice side benefit to get to hang out with Kelly, who was such a classic stunner, you'd have been unsurprised to see her as the leading lady in a romantic film. I'd often thought she slightly resembled Natalie Wood, although her gigantic eyes were a jade green, and her hair was a wavy mop, a very light brunette with some sun-kissed blonde highlights. Her figure was a slim but incredibly toned one, with a flat stomach she loved to show off, smallish breasts, and a very toned butt.

Still, while I had no intentions of putting a move on her since she was significantly older than me and, I figured, way out of my league, I did love these moments with her. Her husband had succumbed to his depression about two years prior and taken his own life, and after that, we had gotten closer, where it became almost a custom for us to chat at her kitchen table after she got back from work and Raymond retreated to his room to play Nintendo or do whatever. I sometimes thought it was almost like having a girlfriend, intimate and friendly at the same time.

"I just...I guess I was confused since I never really see you with a girlfriend," she countered.

"Oh, I've had them. Just nothing really that long lasting or serious," I offered with a shrug.

She got up to go to the fridge, pulled out a bottle of beer, then paused and turned around, pointing and inquiring wordlessly if I wanted one. "Uh, sure..." I slightly stammered.

She grabbed two, twisting off the top and smiling at me as she brought them to the table. "I figured if we were going to have an adult conversation, maybe I should treat you like an adult," and with that, she lifted the bottle and inclined the neck my way.

"Thanks," I said, clinking the neck of my bottle against hers and taking a swig.

"Don't mention it," she replied. "I...I guess I asked because I was thinking I've never heard you mention a girl you really liked, and when I talked to your mom she basically said 'Alex isn't dating until he's older' and just dismissed it."

"You know as well as I do that my mom would put a lojack on me if she thought it was socially acceptable. I don't think she's had a single date since the divorce, and she seems to have a moral or religious objection to anything that's fun. I'm pretty sure that when I wanted to play basketball she thought I was going to be inducted into some kind of gang involving orgies and criminal behavior."

She laughed again, and I took another swig. "True. I love Theresa, but she is wound ridiculously tight."

"So very..." I trailed off. We sat in silent for a few pregnant moments.

"So, does that...does that mean you're not a virgin?" she asked with a mischievous grin.

I felt myself blush, and she giggled at me, although I didn't mind. "Well, um..."

"This stays between us, obviously. You're my friend, and you're technically an adult, so I've no business discussing this with anyone else."

"Hey, more than technically. I could get drafted right now."

"Fine. Fair. But you still didn't answer my question." She stared at me and let the silence build for a moment, giving me a look I knew too well meant that she wasn't going to give up on this one.

"Well, technically, yes, I am."

"Technically?"

"Technically, I've not had sex, but I have done...other stuff."

"Oral?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah, oral a few times."

"Giving or receiving?"

"Well, both. The couple of girls I've been with weren't really ready to do more than that."

"Okay, that's good. I mean, you don't need to rush into anything. But good that you're giving as well. Some guys your age get so selfish sometimes. They want to get off but they don't want to make sure the girl does, too."

"Is the dating pool that small here? Cruising the High School parking lot nowadays?" I joked at her.

"No! I mean, yeah, it is, but I'm not talking about currently, I'm saying when I was your age. Can you really imagine me trolling there?" She tipped back her beer, finished it, and got up to the fridge for a replacement. She looked back at me questioningly, and I nodded an indication that I'd like another. "Last one for you. I don't want you coming home smelling like a brewery to your mom and her calling to complain."

"Don't worry, I'll pop some mints or something. Besides, she'll likely be deep into the TV by this time of night. She pretty much spends all night in front of it after work."

"I'm sorry," she said, handing me another beer. "Must be a little bit frustrating."

"Sometimes. I just don't think she ever really handled the divorce very well. I'm hoping me going away to college will let her have permission to focus on something else."

"You still going to Berkeley?" she asked.

"Yeah. My scholarship got approved so I'll be on my way end of the summer."

"Mister Valedictorian. So very proud of you."

"Well, it's not official for six more weeks, but I'd really need to blow it badly to not reach it."

"What are you going to do all summer?"

"Well, I'm going to my dad's for a week or two. His brother-in-law has a Honda in his shop that needs some work, and they've promised to buy the parts and help me fix it. So then at least I'll have a car to drive down there. Other than that, not much. I got a part time job with the forest service lined up again, and I'm going to try and bank as much as I can."

"Maybe you could finally find a girlfriend?"

"Maybe. I...I don't know."

"Why so uncertain?"

"Look...I don't have to tell you how small this town is."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," she nodded.

"There's only two types of girls I know from school. Either they're itching to get out, and there isn't anything that'll hold them back, or they want to stay here, get married, and have a litter. I'm not staying here under any circumstances. I want to travel the world and see everything I've never gotten the chance to see. What are my options if I stay?" I said, spreading my arms for emphasis.

"Fisherman. Logger. Mill worker. Prison guard. Manager of the local bank branch," she added with a grin.

"No thanks, I hear the current one is a bit of a bitch," I bantered back.

"Hey, my employees love me, I'll have you know."

"No, your female employees love you. Your male employees are in love with you."

"Maybe, but I'm not responsible for them having a crush. It's not like I walk around flirting and wearing slutty clothes."

"No, you're extremely professional. Probably a big part of why I came to see you for my first account."

She laughed again and added "And I'm sure that's the only reason!" I said nothing in reply, just nodded and inclined my bottle at her slightly, to which she clinked hers again. We finished them with a few more pleasantries and banter, and as I excused myself to leave, she gave me her customary very close hug, along with a kiss on the cheek that always seemed to come dangerously close to the corner of my mouth, and as she pulled away, she grabbed my chin and looked at me, saying "When the hell did you get so handsome?!" I muttered a thank you, quickly adjusting my jeans so my lengthening member wasn't too obvious, and she smirked and told me to get home safe. I was pretty much positive she knew I had a crush on her, and thus enjoyed teasing me a bit, but the truth was, I really didn't mind.

I chuckled, exited the door, walked around her fence, and through the several hundred yards of undeveloped woods to my own back gate. As I entered the house, I called out to my mom, who was was, as I predicted, engrossed in a rerun of Cheers. "I ordered pizza," she indicated, and I thanked her and told her I had to get a paper done.

I grabbed a few slices, and then went into my room and started working on one of my final papers for my American Government class. It took me a few hours, and I came back out just in time to see my mom dozed off in her recliner, with the 11pm news on. I gently shook her awake and sent her off to bed, let the dog out one last time, put the pizza away, and then went back into my room and flopped down on the bed.

We'd moved up to the very northern coast of California when my parents got divorced, and my mom took a job with the local TV station she still had to this day, where they did dramatic pieces on things like the fair and the new Burger King when it opened up. When people used to ask me years later what the best part of Crescent City was, I'd say that we were only about 7 hours from San Francisco on the 101 highway.

The whole town was sleepy, gossipy, and "things to do" basically included drinking, smoking weed, and fucking. I could barely tolerate weed, and wasn't getting laid, so to say I was bored was an understatement. Dad had never moved from L.A., and I craved any time I could get to visit him, mainly because it got me out of here. Periodically, friends who've stayed more connected to the area have told me excited tales about new businesses or whatever that moved in, but in 1994, we barely had dial up internet.

I had grown a bit in the last couple of years of High School to 6'2", and summer construction jobs helped me put on muscle, but while I was well liked, I was never once part of the "cool kids" clique. I thought I was decent looking, it seemed women older than me loved to tell me how good looking I was, and I knew I was possessed of a decent cock, but I seemed to have only sporadic luck with girls my age. I'd pretty much just channeled all of my energy into keeping my grades up so that I could get out, and was hoping college was different.

This night, like so many others, I did what I usually did before bed, which was to read a bit, then eventually gave in and started pleasuring myself. I had a couple of nudie mags buried in my closet, but not wanting to get up and dig for them, I gave up and thought of Kelly, which always worked, unlike some of the girls in my class I had a thing for. I flashed back to her in the two piece suit she favored when she sunned herself, and within a few minutes, I was groaning my release into the tissues I had grabbed from my nightstand. I wiped myself down, went to the restroom, peed, and flushed them away before I crashed back into my bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

*Two Weeks Later*

Prom had gone by relatively decently. I'd asked Mary Sue Adams several weeks ago, who was a friend but also a girl I'd occasionally made out with, since we were both not in a relationship at the moment, and we'd actually had a great time. Three days before she'd asked me point blank if I wanted to lose my virginity with her that night, since we were still both in that "technical virgin" category. I'd agreed, and tried to procure a hotel room, but in some weird morality play, the police had cracked down on the four hotels that weekend and no one was renting to anyone younger than 21, which was new. So we just danced, drank bad fruity wine, made out a bit on the dance floor, and danced some more. We literally closed down the party at about 1am.

With us both a bit too drunk to drive, she suggested we just walk it off, since my place and hers were both less than a mile away. We'd brought a change of clothes, so we quickly swapped out of our formal wear, stuck it in the back of her VW Bug, and slowly made our way down the hill, chatting and holding hands. "I had a great time tonight," she said, slightly swaying but still rather alert.

"Me too," I responded. Her house was just in view, and that meant mine was just around the corner. She leaned in and kissed me, slipping in a small amount of tongue. She pulled back a bit.

"I'd invite you in, but my parents are home, and I'm pretty sure my dad wouldn't be cool with it, even though he knows you." I smiled to indicate I understood, her dad was one of those macho 'don't touch my daughters' types who made it a point to remind everyone with a penis that he was a prison guard with a lot of guns. "Could we go to your place?"

"I wish," I replied. "My mom is the lightest sleeper imaginable."

She looked down, furrowing her brow in thought. Suddenly, she broke into a beaming smile and said "You want to take a walk into those woods?"

I nodded vigorously, liking where this was going. She grinned even bigger, grabbed my hand, and pulled me as we began running into the woods. Fortunately, between the residual streetlights and the moon, it wasn't pitch black, and we quickly found a spot to throw down our sweatshirts. We began making out almost immediately, and within a few minutes, I had my hand under her miniskirt, panties pushed to the side as I was lightly toying with her clit.

She began working on my belt, and had her hand down my pants, slowly stroking my shaft. "Put your finger inside me," she groaned huskily, and I obliged, pulling forward just like I'd learned from the Penthouse advice articles. She started to lose concentration on what she was doing, and before too long, I had my head between her legs, eagerly lapping at her clit, trying to get her turned on. I'd discovered this year that I really liked eating pussy, and I wanted to make sure she came just in case I wasn't that great the first time. Within a few minutes, I had her wailing her first release, and she quickly bit down on her sleeve to try and stifle her moans.

I wrapped my arms around her to let her recover, but she quickly kissed me and reached down to manipulate my still turgid cock. "Goddamn," she said simply. I went to kiss her again, unsure what she'd want to do next, and she pulled back slightly and said "Still got those condoms?" I nodded and produced a string of them. "Planning on a big night, were we?" she said with a giggle. I just shrugged, and she quickly tore one open, and sheathed me as she bent down over my rod. "Let me be on top first, so I can control the depth. You're...uh...not small."

I just nodded and put my weight on my hands behind me, as she climbed up into my lap and positioned her entrance over me. She lowered herself down agonizingly slowly, and I clenched my butt in an attempt not to get too excited, but inside I was whooping, because this was finally happening! Whether I ever slept with her again, or what happened tomorrow, I was finally losing my stupid virginity!

After what seemed like an eternity, I felt Mary Sue's pubes touch mine, and she gave me an electric kiss. "Let me set the tempo," she whispered, and she started slowly pistoling up and down. Getting a bit more comfortable, she giggled and pushed me down, and I quickly reached up and grabbed her wonderfully round butt, squeezing and caressing it gently. She hummed appreciatively, then bent down and kissed me, her long blonde hair falling around my face and shutting out the world. We kissed and kept pushing into each other for what felt like an eternity, both lost in the moment.

Which is probably why we never heard the noise. As she lifted up off of me, I felt the flashlight hit both of our faces, followed by a voice saying "What the hell?!" What happened next was a jumbled blur. She quickly got up off of me, barking "Run!" at me as she took off like a bolt. I tried to get up, stumbled a bit due to my pants being around my ankles, and by the time I had pulled my pants up enough to run, the light had gotten a bit closer. I shielded my face and was taking my first stride when I heard a female voice call out "Alex?!" Knowing I was caught, I stopped and turned, and was rather surprised to see Kelly with Rowdy, her little dachshund, on a leash.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, then quickly gave me a dismissive wave as she realized how silly the question was. "Never mind. Come with me," she commanded in her best mom voice, and as I automatically began to follow her, she quickly interjected and said "You should grab the rest of your clothes. I'm sure your lady friend will want her sweater back, too." I quickly balled all our stuff up, then followed her, partially relieved that she was leading me back towards her house. Still, I wondered if there was any way I was going to talk my way out of this one. By the time we'd reached the door, I realized there was no way I could come up with any good story, and decided to just be honest.

We got in the door, and she pointed at me and said "You're covered in mud, stay here and take your shoes off. I'm going to take care of a couple of things real quick." I glanced down as I pulled my sneakers off and realized she was right, I was filthy. She marched off and came back with a towel and a pair of baggy gym shorts. "You can take a shower and wear these while I wash your clothes. I'm going to make a quick phone call."

"Who are you going to..." I trailed off as she strode into the kitchen, and I heard her pick up the handset and hit speed dial. "Hi Theresa, it's Kelly." My heart sank. "Yes, look, I'm sorry to wake you up, everything's fine...no, really, it's fine." She came into the living room with her cordless handset, looking right at me and pressing her finger over her lips to indicate to me that I should be quiet.

"No, I've got Alex at my house right now. He's fine. Listen, something happened with his prom date. I ran into them on the block as he was trying to drive her home. I guess she had a bit too much to drink and he pulled over because she was going to be sick, and she threw up on her car and him...yeah, I know...I was walking the dog and I saw her car and him trying to help her...No, he got her home safe to her mom. Pretty sure he hasn't been drinking tonight. We parked her car and she's home sleeping it off...yeah, teenagers, ya know...no, anyway, I'm letting him wash his clothes here and I'll probably just let him crash in the spare bedroom tonight...no don't worry about it...oh, that's right, I forgot about your trip! When do you leave again?...No, it's no problem, I'll keep half an eye on him and make sure he doesn't get into any trouble...yeah, just come by in the morning before you take off...it's fine, Raymond is at his grandparents, remember?...listen, I just wanted you to know he was safe in case you work up and he wasn't there...will do...yeah, he's a good kid for sure..." and she paused to smile and wink at me.

I breathed an internal sigh of relief. "No, not at all, don't mention it. I'll have him do some chores for me or something...you got it. Love you, talk soon." She disconnected the call, and smiled at me. "Did you think I was going to get you in trouble or something?"

"I didn't know what to think," I replied, honestly.

"Well, it's okay. You do need a shower, though, so go into the bathroom and clean up. We can talk more when you get out." And with that, she gave me a sweet peck on the cheek, and indicated I should go toward the bathroom. I trudged in, turned on the water, and quickly began shucking my clothes. As I took off my clothes, I saw the condom still hanging off of my dick, so I roughly yanked it off and threw it in the toilet. I heard a knock, so I quickly covered myself with the towel and answered the door.

"Yeah?"

"Hand me your clothes, please."

I nodded at her and quickly gathered them, handing them over. She paused as she turned to go and said "Don't flush that, it'll be bad for my septic tank. Just throw it in the trash, you can take it out later." I nodded again, shut the door, did as I was told, and then got in the shower. My brain was spinning as I lathered off, I was upset and a tick angry, because having my first time interrupted so unceremoniously was really messing me up. At least I could be grateful, though, if it had been literally anyone else to catch us, it could have been really, really bad. I got out, dried off, threw the shorts on, and went out to the kitchen, where I saw her waiting at the table in her robe with a couple of glasses and a bottle of liquor.