"Sorry, Miss Potter," they chorused, sounding like a couple of
second-graders.
Lauren couldn't resist one more quick glance over at the new boy.
He caught her look and returned it.
Meg hid her face in her book, trying to choke down a giggle. "I'm so
excited!" she whispered. "He's really gorgeous!"
"You're crazy," Lauren muttered, and for one brief moment wished that
she was the crazy one.
The chubby little blonde came on to him like gangbusters. He chose her
over the dark one because he had a strong suspicion the dark one had
nailed every guy in school, and while he was interested in getting
laid, he was not interested in catching a dose of the clap or, even
worse, crabs.
It was easy. As usual. It had something to do with his green eyes.
He could fix them on a girl-just for a moment-and they had this sort of
crazy hypnotic effect.
Jeer! He was allowed to have something, wasn't he? And God had given
him the eyes.
He caught the girl he'd bumped into yesterday watching him from across
the room. She didn't mean to, but he could see she couldn't help
herself. Maybe after he was finished with the blonde he'd go for her,
give her a cheap thrill. Maybe .
Bosewell High was going to be easy compared with some of the inner-city
dumps he'd been forced to attend. This school was strictly small-town,
he could take his pick.
So far he hadn't spotted the beefy guy with the crew cut. The schlump
was probably in a different grade, and that Was good. If he played it
smart perhaps he could avoid him altogether.
Deep down he knew this wasn't possible. Deep down he knew there was
always one dumb asshole who'd go for his throat.
When school got out for the day he planned to return to the drugstore,
find out if Louise had come up with a job for him, and then, if he was
lucky, cadge a meal and hang around until it was time to meet
Blondie.
The teacher noticed him and made him stand up and introduce himself to
the class. Ieez! What a drag! He hated the way they all looked him
over. Why didn't they ask for his rank and serial number while they
were at it?
At lunch break he fell in behind the crowd and drifted down to the
school cafeteria. He bought a cheese sandwich and a Coke, found a
corner table and sat down.
Before long, Crew Cut made his entrance-trailed by an admiring group
busy hanging onto his every word.
Nick ate his sandwich and surveyed the scene. Blondie waved at him
from across the room. She was probably dying to talk to him again, but
had decided to play it cool. Ha! He could even figure out how they
thought.
And then the girl from the hardware store made her entrance, pausing in
the doorway.
He knew she noticed him and half hoped she'd come over, but she
didn't.
And what was this? Crew Cut was on his feet, racing across the room,
putting his arm around her and leading her over to a table.
Shit! She was his girlfriend!
Immediately Nick wondered if she was gettable.
Yeah. Why not? He was always up for a challenge.
"The party's all set," Stock said.
"I know," Lauren replied. "My mother and your mother are like this."
She held up two fingers to show exactly what they were like.
Stock smirked. "My mother likes bossing your mother around."
Lauren took offense. "What do you mean?"
He shrugged. "My mother likes bossing everyone, including me."
Just for a second Lauren felt sorry for him. It must be awful having a
moffier like Daphne, a huge commanding woman with scarlet lips telling
everyone what to do.
"Meg's got a date tonight," she found herself saying, anything to make
conversation.
"With that new guy," she added.
"What new guy?"
"You know, the one that started school today."
"Yeah?" His lack of interest was all too apparent.
She gave up, there was only so much she could do.
Meg arrived at her house an hour before her date, barely able to
conceal her excitement. She rushed up to Lauren's room and made a mad
dash for the mirror. "How do I look?" she demanded, fluffing out her
newly washed hair.
"Horrible," Lauren teased.
"Whaaat?"
"Only kidding."
"Don't do that," Meg wailed. "This is the first decent date I've had
in months."
Lauren sat cross-legged on her bed. "How do you know he's decent?"
Meg was exasperated. "What's the matter with you?"
"What's the matter with me?" she retorted sharply. "Take another look
in the mirror. You're all excited over a guy you don't even know.
He could be a sex maniac, a rapist, anything .
"You're really weird," Meg said, shaking her head. "I mean really."
"Thanks. All compliments gratefully accepted."
"Anybody would think you liked him."
She flushed, and jumped off the bed. "Don't be ridiculous."
"Forget it. I saw him first and he's mine. Anyway, you're engaged, or
had you conveniently forgotten?"
Lauren pulled a face. "Would that I could."
"Nice talk," Meg said, adjusting the waistband of her new black skirt
to make it shorter. "How do my legs look?"
"Like legs. What'll I tell your mother if she calls?"
"Tell her I'm in the bathroom. Anyway, she's not likely to."
"It could happen" "You're a big help."
"Call me as soon as you get home. I want a full report."
Meg gave a jaunty wink. "You bet!"
"Hi." Meg felt suddenly shy as she approached Nick. He was leaning
against the wall outside the drugstore, smoking a cigarette.
When he saw her coming he flicked the butt toward the curb with an
elaborate flourish. "Hi," he replied, taking her arm as if they'd been
dating for months. "You look nice."
She giggled nervously. "Thanks."
"I mean it," he replied. "Very nice." He'd scored a free hamburger
off Louise, and a promise from Dave he could work at his brother's gas
station Saturday nights. Things were looking up. Now all he had to do
was get laid and perhaps he could get a good night's sleep, although it
wasn't easy with Harlan and Luke coughing and farting the night away.
"Where are we going?" Meg asked, as he guided her along Main Street.
"Thought we'd catch a movie."
She'd already seen The Poseidon Adventure playing at the Bosewell, but
so what? "Super," she said, eager to please.
Super. Hmm. . . Maybe he should have picked the sure thing with the
black hair, this one was a baby.
When they reached the theater he steered her away from the box
office.
"Buy your ticket, go inside, an' then let me in through the fire escape
door. Like I'm busted, y'know?" He gave her arm an encouraging
squeeze. "Okay?"
Buy her own ticket? Usually on a date the boy paid. Lauren would love
hearing this. Still . . . it made life exciting. "Okay," she
agreed.
He gave her a little shove. "It's easy, you'll see."
She purchased
her ticket and entered the almost empty theater.
Then, when she was sure she wasn't being observed, she raced down the
side aisle to the fire exit, opened the heavy door and let Nick in.
"Yeah!" he said, guiding her to the back row, which was conveniently
empty.
The movie had already started. Putting his arm around her he settled
back to watch. After a few minutes he moved closer. "I knew you and
me would get along soon as I saw you," he said in a low voice.
"It was like . . . y'know . uh . . . special."
"I know," she whispered back, thrilled they were thinking along the
same lines.
"Sometimes these things happen," he said, massaging her back through
her sweater.
"Right," she agreed, beginning to feel rather warm.
"Like it's meant to be or something'," he added, his hand creeping
around to the front, dangerously close to her left breast.
She opened her mouth to agree again and without warning his lips were
on hers, kissing insistently, his tongue probing.
She gasped for breath. This was all happening so fast. The last boy
she'd dated had waited three whole weeks before trying anything.
Now Nick's hand was definitely on her breast and she knew she should
push him away, but at least she could enjoy it for a minute, couldn't
she?
Nick stroked her nipple through her sweater, his thumb and forefinger
moving in circles.
She let out an involuntary groan as he slowly began to push her sweater
up, fumbling in the dark for her bra hook.
"Don't," she managed, realizing she'd better put a stop to this now.
He didn't listen. He was too busy unhooking her bra.
Cupping her left breast he bent his head, licking her nipple with
practiced ease.
She tried to push his head away. "No!" she whispered urgently.
"Yes!" he whispered back.
"Someone will see."
"It's empty in here."
"I don't want you to do this."
"Yes, you do."
And it was true. She did. For a moment she relaxed, giving herself up
to this glorious feeling sweeping over her. Was it so bad to feel so
good?
He hand began to suck her nipple, at the same time reaching for her and
jamming it on his penis-which somehow or other he'd managed to
release.
Oh, God! She'd never touched one before. Oh, dear! There was no way
she should be doing this. Nice girls didn't do this-unless, of course,
they wanted to be labeled easy or a tramp, like Dawn Kovak.
With a sudden burst of resolve she attempted to pull her hand away.
"Hold it," he commanded. "It ain't gonna bite!"
"I can't," she said desperately.
"Yes, you can." He groaned, helping her hand move up and down -faster
. . . faster .
And then it happened. He spurted all over her. Hot, sticky, wet.
"Jeer!" he groaned again. "Ohhh . . . jeer!"
"My skirt!" Meg wailed, horrified. "You've done it all over my new
skirt!"
He leaned his head back, closed his eyes and took a deep satisfied
breath.
Welcome to Bosewell. It had been one helluva day.
Nick made the long trudge home thinking about Blondie. Nice tits.
Too shy. Not for him. Jerk-off action was for boys Harlan's age.
Who was he kidding? Once in a while a jerk-off was better than
nothing, and he knew if he'd tried to screw her she'd have bolted. As
it was, she was hysterical about her stupid skirt. What was it with
girls and clothes?
Best not to see that one again, he thought. Better to invest in a box
of rubbers and give the dark-haired one a chance.
Girls, they were all the same. Easy. And he never cared if he saw any
of them again. Once the sex was over he felt an emptiness, a void.
When he got back to the trailer the two boys were sitting on their pile
of blankets flicking through well-thumbed comic books.
"What's up?" he asked cheerfully, taking off his jacket.
"What's up with you?" Harlan retorted.
"Nothin' much." He nodded over at Luke. "How come he never speaks?"
"He jest don't," Harlan replied, suddenly sullen.
"Somethin' happen to him?" Nick asked, stripping off the rest of his
clothes.
"Not your business."
"I'm only asking' cause I thought I might help."
"Not your business," Harlan repeated fiercely.
Nick shrugged and settled himself down on his lumpy mattress, trying to
find a comfortable spot. "No farting tonight," he said sternly,
staring menacingly at the two boys.
Harlan stood up, pulled down his shorts, bent his rear end in Nick's
direction and let one rip.
"Aw, goddamnit!" Nick wrinkled his nose in disgust. "If I wasn't so
beat I'd slap your skinny butt halfway across this trailer park."
Harlan burped. Luke laughed. At least he could do that.
Nick closed his eyes, and for some unknown reason began thinking about
the other girl, old Crew Cut's girlfriend. No, he told himself
sternly, mustn't look for trouble. The truth is they're all the same
in the dark, and he'd never met a girl who could give him anything more
than a hard-on.
In the morning he followed the two boys into the main trailer hoping to
cadge breakfast. Aretha Mae handed out stale slices of bread smeared
with congealed bacon fat. He grabbed one.
Primo snored loudly, sprawled across the rumpled bed.
Aretha Mae looked tired, her eyes sunken, her mouth pinched into a thin
line. She clapped her hands together. "Out," she told the two younger
boys. "Get movin' or you be late." She turned to Nick. "How bout I
pay your bus fare the rest of the week. After that you be on your
own.
"Don't worry, I got a part-time job," he said quickly. "I'm workin'
down at the gas station Saturday nights."
She was impressed that he didn't take after his idle father. "That's
good," she said, wiping her hands on an old cloth. "That's real
good."
He nodded. "Yeah."
Meg was late for class. She slipped into her seat and shuffled a few
books around, attempting to look industrious.
"You didn't call," Lauren hissed. "I don't appreciate that kind of
behavior when I'm supposed to be your alibi."
"I had more important things to worry about," Meg hissed back.
"Like what?"
"Like a ruined skirt."
Mr. Lucas coughcd meaningfully and glared across the room at them.
Lauren returned her attention to her books. She'd had a miserable
morning listening to her parents carry on about her engagement party.
They were turning into a couple of social-climbing phomes right before
her eyes-discussing what to wear, who would be there, how they should
act.
"Today I'm going shopping for a new outfit," Jane had declared
enthusiastically. "And Lauren, dear, wel buy you a pretty new dress
too."
Lauren hated the word "pretty," it conjured up visions of pale pink
ruffles. "I don't need a new dress," she'd said.
"What nonsense! We go shopping after school today. Bring Meg."
She'd been unable to wriggle out of it. This engagement thing was
getting out of hand.
As soon as Mr. Lucas signaled freedom she grabbed Meg. "Well?" she
asked breathlessly.
Meg shook her curls. "You were right. He's a sex maniac.
"He is?"
"Oh, yes."
"Really?"
"I'm not lying."
"What happened?"
"He's crazy about me.
"I'm sure. But what did you do?"
Meg sighed, ready to tell her story. Before she could, Nick put in his