The Yellow Sundress

Suddenly, through the haze of her arousal, she thought she heard a noise. And even more suddenly the overhead light in the recreation room flicked on. Standing there was her mother with a look of disbelief on her face; that quickly turned to anger.

"Jim, get up, get dressed, and go home!" she barked at him.

"And you, young lady, pick up your clothes and go straight to your room. I'll speak to you in the morning!"

And that had been that. Jim pulled up his pants, grabbed the rest of the tuxedo and made a quick exit, offering only a "See you" as he left. The moment he was gone Sandy's mother stomped out of the room leaving Sandy, clad in just the golden chain that hung around her neck, sitting on the couch with tears streaming down her face.

The following morning had been a nightmare. As soon as her mother was able to send her younger sister Nancy to a friend's house, it started.

Of course they had fought before, especially once when she tried to wear a very brief miniskirt out on a date with Jim, but nothing like this! It started with her sullenly listening to a lecture during which all of her many faults were systematically categorized in excruciating detail. Then the "trifling" matter of her impending, in her mother's view, pregnancy was raised. When she tried to argue that just because she and Jim were doing what they were doing didn't mean they would have gone "all the way", her mother just taunted her, so she retorted back that that she had precautions just in case, and that only made matters worse. The "discussion" then degenerated into a screaming and shouting match, which ended with a hysterical threat to ground her until she was too old and feeble to care about boys or sex. At this point, she had run upstairs in tears to her room and locked the door. But pretty soon she started to feel extremely resentful, and all sorts of angry thoughts were circulating in her head:

"I didn't even have sex with Jim, but the way she is carrying on I might as well have been 'fucking his brains out', as Sherie says!"

"I'm nineteen; does she expect me to act like we live in a convent? I bet she wasn't as pure as the driven snow when she was the same age!"

"She thinks I'm just one step off being barefoot in the snow with a baby in my arms, like some sort of refugee from a Dicken's novel!"

And so on for quite a few hours.

When she had finally reappeared for dinner, the atmosphere in the kitchen was about a chilly as a deep freeze, and even the normally talkative Nancy was afraid to break the silence. When the phone rang a while later her mother answered it curtly, and then passed it over without comment to Sandy, who then heard Jim asking if he could walk over for a few minutes.

The rest of it, Sandy thought as she jumped out of bed to get her shower, was totally predictable. She and Jim went for a number of long walks to discuss their relationship, and while Sandy's mother was polite with him, there were very few words and there was always an unspoken uncomfortable tension when he came by. Plus, Sandy suspected he was still embarrassed that her mother had seen him partly naked, and with an erection! After a few weeks they mutually decided that ending things was the only solution. They both rationalized the decision based on Jim going away to a US college in September, while Sandy would attend university in Canada, so they agreed that, "they should be free to see other people". There was a last lingering kiss; tender, but final.

As Sandy washed her hair she remembered how much she had missed Jim at first. But as the weeks went by she began to accept it, although it made her a little sad. Of course news of the breakup travelled around the school like wildfire, and it wasn't long before she was getting plenty of offers for dates, which she patiently turned down using a script she and Sherie had rehearsed. It just didn't seem like a good idea to bring another boy around when things on the home front were still so frigid.

Sandy stepped out of the shower and used a towel to dry off, and then to wrap herself in. As she stood in front of the mirror, so she could fix her hair with a blow dryer, she heard Nancy knocking at the door:

"Eric just called; he said he'll be here in about 30 minutes."

"Thanks Nancy!" she replied, and then with some sarcasm, "I'm sure you'll entertain him if I need a few extra minutes?"

"Of course," her sister replied in a haughty tone, "just watch me!"

"Oh, don't worry, you need to be watched when my boyfriend is around. Try to behave yourself for once!"

Ha, ha ... very funny!" she heard Nancy say as she marched away.

Sandy laughed inwardly. Nancy was only fifteen but she clearly had a little crush on Eric, even though he was a lot older and obviously dating her sister. When Sandy suggested as much to her, she got a visceral denial, but the flush on Nancy's cheeks gave her totally away. Recently, Sandy's mother had broken down, after Eric had taken her out a few times, and invited him to a family backyard barbeque, although Sandy was a mass of anxiety for days before the event. But she needn't have worried about her mother, because it was her vixen of a younger sister who provided all of the family embarrassment; making eyes at Eric, and letting her body "accidently" bump into him at various points in the proceedings. God, she was so obvious! At one point her mother had looked over at Sandy and just rolled her eyes. Sandy just grimaced back, shrugging her shoulders, but it was a bit of an ice breaker after the big fight.

The next night, after Nancy had gone to her room to talk to a girlfriend on the telephone, Sandy's mother took her aside and asked sheepishly if she would talk to Nancy.

"If she behaves like that on a date, heaven only knows!" her mother remarked, shaking her head, "It took you nearly a year to get up to mischief, I give her about three weeks. Plus she's only fifteen, that's a very dangerous age."

Sandy quickly ran down the highlights of Sherie's dating rules and suggested that she might discuss them with Nancy.

"Thanks Sandra; it might help ... It's at times like this that I wish your father hadn't died. Anyway, when you get older and start thinking about a family, try for boys."

A talking to was definitely in order because Sandy knew that Nancy had discovered her secret stash of Cosmopolitans in the basement; because the magazines weren't put back the way she had left them. No doubt she had read all of the sex articles, what fifteen-year-old wouldn't? Nancy was different than Sandy, much more outgoing and adventurous, as well as being very pretty in a different way from her sister. This, combined with a liberal dose of adolescent hormones, was clearly a train wreck waiting to happen. And even if Nancy wouldn't listen to her, it was worth a try just to normalize relations with her mother, especially now that Eric was in the picture.

As she finished with her hair, and started to put on some makeup, she thought about Eric. He had come into the picture quite by accident; but, she thought, after enduring the nuclear winter of mother-daughter relations, and the Sahara Desert of dating, she deserved to get a break!

She had been over at Sherie's that Sunday when phone rang. Sherie answered, and it was clear to Sandy from the tone of the conversation that the new love interest was at the other end of the line. And "love interest" was exactly the way to describe it, because Sherie was talking about this boy in very different terms than Sandy had ever heard before. His name was Christopher and he was going into second year engineering at university and was 20. The phone was only back into its cradle for a split second before Sherie said she needed to change her clothes. When she returned her pony tail was gone, and she had put on a green hair band and matching earrings that accentuated the colour of her eyes, along with a pair of obviously new sandals in place of the run down flip-flops she had been wearing. Gone were the shorts and tank top, replaced by a mini-skirt and a sleeveless blouse, with an unnecessary number of the top buttons left undone, which gave her a very retro-50's/60's kind of look. Of course Sherie could look good in a burlap bag, so in this outfit she was a knockout. Looking at her, Sandy felt like a total frump, so she got up and went into the powder room and applied some lipstick and mascara, and brushed her hair.

About half an hour later, two of Sherie's infamous "Gentlemen Caller's" appeared at the door. Christopher was fairly tall, but not six feet, and slim, with short brown hair, and brown eyes. The new boy, who he introduced as Eric, was shorter, and had darker medium length brown hair and penetrating blue eyes. He wasn't quite as slender as Christopher, and seemed to have an athletic build. As they talked, Sandy couldn't decide which was more interesting; meeting the much discussed Christopher for the first time; watching her friend melt into a little pool of mush every time Christopher referred to he and Sherie as a couple; or his nice looking friend.

As it was a very hot afternoon, and the house was air conditioned, Sherie had invited the group to sit in the den, and produced some soft drinks and chips. During a lively conversation, she learned that Eric was also 20, and was studying economics at the same university as Christopher. When she asked him about his career plans, desperately trying to sound intelligent and thoughtful, he told her that he might try to get into law school, if his marks were good enough. When he turned the tables and asked her about her future, she explained that she was going to study for a Bachelor of Education, and then get a teaching placement if she could. It didn't sound very impressive to Sandy's ears compared to economics and law. But Eric was not only complimentary, but also well informed. He knew that getting a B. Ed. required very good grades, and was a program that was difficult to get accepted into.

When the conversation finally waned, a board game was proposed by the boys. Sherie was all over this, as she was very competitive and enjoyed games. She quickly produced the Trivial Pursuit box, which made Sandy smile inwardly, because Sherie was "lights out" against almost everyone at this pastime. It was decided that the boys would play against the girls as teams, and Sandy was wondering if Sherie would "go for the jugular", as was her usual practice, or play "dumb" so the boys could win. As it turned out, the boys didn't need any help, they thrashed Sherie and Sandy in a rout that could have made military history. As the boys exchanged a "high-five", Sandy saw the colour go up in Sherie's face.

"Oh Rhett!" Sherie said, mimicking a Southern accent and batting her eyes at Christopher, "You and your friend are just so much smarter than li'l ole me."

At which point she stuck her tongue out at him and made a face, which produced a great deal of laughter all around. Eric diplomatically suggested they try something different, and Hotels was chosen. As they played Sandy was aware that Eric was looking at her quite a bit, and while she liked it, it also made her nervous and excited. Sherie had also spotted this, and when the boys weren't looking, gave her a little wink, which made Sandy flush!

After the boys left for dinner, Sherie and Sandy discussed the afternoon.

"He's going to ask you out, bet on it!" Sherie teased.

"Christopher is very nice," Sandy had volunteered, trying to change the subject.

"Yes, too nice," Sherie said with a glum face.

"How so?"

"We've kissed and everything, but nothing more."

"Maybe he really likes you and doesn't want to you think he's just in it for sex?"

"You know," Sherie said in a low voice, "I think I might be in love with him."

"I noticed," Sandy said laughing, "it's written all over your face!"

For the first time ever, Sandy saw Sherie blush.

"I've never felt like this about anyone ever before," Sherie said ruefully, "it's almost embarrassing. Doesn't he realize that he can do anything he wants to with me? And worse than that, I wish he would!"

"Maybe he's afraid to make the first move, in case he blows his chance with you."

"I just don't know what to do?"

"Tell you what," Sandy offered giggling, an impish thought coming into her mind, "Next time he's over, forget the partly unbuttoned blouse, that's obviously not working. Take off all of your clothes, lie down, and open your legs. I'm certain he'll figure things out!"

"Ha, ha, smarty pants! Very funny! Yeah, he'll figure things out ... like that he's actually dating a degenerate slut!"

That evening, after supper, the phone rang and Sandy rushed to answer it before anyone else could. It was indeed Eric, and even though he sounded a little nervous, he managed to ask her for a date. When she got off the phone her mother, who had been observing her reaction to the call, immediately approached her.

"A boy I take it?"

"Yes, I met him at Sherie's. He asked me out."

"Are you going?"

"Yes ... he's very nice."

"Well that's a switch from the last little while; I thought maybe you had decided to become a nun," her mother said acidly.

"Well this boy is different, he's already finished his first year and he wants to study law!"

"Oh ..." was all her mother could say to this piece of information.

"That shut her up", Sandy had thought to herself. As smart as Jim was, medicine or law probably wasn't in his future.

The first date was a double with Sherie and Christopher. They went to a movie everyone was talking about, and then for something to eat. There was plenty of thoughtful and humourous conversation about the film. Afterwards, Eric had driven everyone home, and when he left Sandy at her front door, he said what a good time he had had, and that he hoped Sandy would go out with him again. Sandy told him she'd like that.

Her mother had clearly been spying out of an upstairs window when Eric first arrived, and the next morning she ventured that he was driving an expensive car.

"His mother's," Sandy explained, "But he's an only child so he can borrow quite often."

Two more dates followed in quick succession, each better than the previous one. She followed Sherie's dating rules to the letter, giving him a sweet little kiss on the lips at the end of the second night, and a more lingering one after the third, but without opening her mouth. Something inside her had just known that he would call again, and he did!

As she crossed the hall in her towel, and closed the bedroom door, she was getting more and more excited about the prospect of a "real" kiss with Eric after this date. Something she had been thinking about for several days. She rummaged around in her underwear drawer for the right pair of panties, and then opened the closet to admire the outfit she had specially purchased for the day, a lemon yellow sundress that complemented her raven hair, dark eyes and slightly olive complexion. The straps of the dress were lightly scalloped along the inner edges, and formed a deep "V" neckline that would expose the tiniest bit of cleavage; in behind they plunged deeply downwards, making it backless. The fabric forming the waist band ran horizontally from the direction of the rest of the garment. The skirt flared with some feminine gathers that ended in a hemline well above her knees, and swung gracefully whenever it moved. The lightweight material itself had a pattern of flowers woven into it.

Sandy had loved it the moment she saw it, and loved it even more when she tried it on. Of course the style of the dress meant that you couldn't wear a bra, which Sandy had considered before purchasing it, but while she filled out the bodice nicely, she wasn't all that well endowed, so it wasn't like her breasts would be stretching the material, and showing off the outlines of her nipples, or anything. And besides, she rather liked the idea of having Eric thinking about the fact that she was naked under the top of the dress.

"It should be more than enough to get his attention," she thought to herself with a sly grin.

The only other issue with the dress was that Sandy was certain that in a certain light, you might be able to see through the skirt. But it was already a hot day, and was going to get hotter yet, and the idea of wearing a half slip had little appeal.

"Anyways," she said to herself, "So he might be able to make out the outline of my panties. He's twenty, I'm sure he's seen a woman's underwear before!"

But just in case he could see a bit more than she thought he might be able to, she had elected to wear the same special lacy white ones that she had worn to the prom.

As she put on the sundress, she heard Nancy calling to her from the main floor:

"Sandy ... Eric's here!"

"Coming!"

Sandy did up the straps of her new white wedge-heeled sandals, and then put on the small white earrings she chosen to match them. Rushing a little, she put her lipstick, hair brush, house key, ID and some money in a tiny white straw summer purse and headed down to greet Eric.

She could tell from the moment Eric saw her that the sundress was having the desired effect!

"Hi," she said sweetly.

"Oh ... uh ... hi," he answered, appearing somewhat stunned, and sounding a little tongue-tied.

Since Nancy was watching, she went right up to him and gave him a brief kiss on the lips.

"Shall we go?" she asked, smiling at him and opening the front door.

"You are incredibly beautiful," he said earnestly, his eyes completely riveted on her.

"Thank you," she replied simply, as she took his hand to lead him outside. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Nancy, looking a little downcast. For once in her life, she felt a little sorry for her, and she thought with some sympathy, "Don't worry Nancy, your time is coming very soon!"

When they got outside, she could see that Sherie and Christopher were already in the back seat of the car. She could hardly say "Hi" before Sherie was asking her where she had gotten the sundress. Christopher, gentleman that he was, made a point of telling her how wonderful she looked.

When they arrived at the park where the festival was to be held, they were surprised that there were so few cars and people. After parking the car, they walked towards the outdoor stage, discovering when they got there that the lead musical act had been cancelled.

Eric was all apologies, as he had organized the day, but Sandy and the others wouldn't have any of it, they agreed to do something else.

"So now what?" Sherie asked, more to herself than anyone.

"Tell you what," Eric offered, "I got a very good piece of news this week; my tuition scholarship got renewed. My parents were ecstatic, and my father said I could take all of us to dinner, and he would pay for it. He even offered to spring for a cab so I could have a drink if I wanted to. He gave me the name of an Italian place that's not too far from here. If you like we could there for lunch instead of dinner. What do you think?"

Everyone was happy with this suggestion, so they retraced their steps to the parking lot.

As they strolled along Sandy noticed that both Eric and Christopher were sneaking sidelong glances at her. Suddenly, Sandy heard Sherie whisper in her ear:

"Do you know that you can see through that dress when the sun is behind you?"

Sandy nodded, trying not to blush, but Christopher had noticed Sherie whispering

"What's the secret?"

"Just girl talk," Sherie said evasively.

Sandy decided to confront the obvious.

"She's worried that I don't realize this dress can be a bit transparent from a certain vantage point. I know that, but it was just too hot for slip."

"I didn't see anything," Eric offered gallantly.

"Yes you did," Sandy said with a laugh, "both of you. And don't try to deny it!"