Chapter 2: Reconnecting, Part I

July 1980, Milford, Ohio

I walked into the house and went to my room to drop my bag. Stephanie came in a minute later.

“Well, at least now I know who Pam is!” she said with a smile.

“How far did you get?”

“November.”

“You haven’t even gotten close to the good stuff yet, Squirt!”

“Well, I did read all the stuff you wrote when that little slut had her abortion.”

“She’s had sex with exactly one guy, me. That hardly makes her a slut.”

“Why are you defending her? Don’t tell me you STILL have a thing for her.”

“No, I don’t still have a thing for her,” I said firmly. “I do understand her better, though.”

“How did things go with Jennifer?” she said, quickly changing the subject.”You look remarkably well for someone who just fucked his girlfriend for the first time in a year!”

“We actually didn’t have all that much sex, given how long we’ve been apart. We had a lot to talk about.”

“Couldn’t that wait until you finished fucking each other silly?”

“No, it couldn’t. Jennifer and her family are moving to Seattle on August 9th.”

“What?!” Stephanie gasped in shock. “No! She can’t! That will ruin everything!”

“No, it won’t ruin anything. If Jennifer and I are meant to be, it’ll work out.”

“But you need her here with you!”

“She told me that there was someone even better suited to help me take care of myself.”

Stephanie was silent for a moment, then softly said, “Me.”

“Yes, you. Jennifer felt that as long as I have you, I’ll be OK. And I think she’s right.”

“You know I’ll help you any way I can. Anything.”

“I know,” I said. “But you have to promise me one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“I don’t want to see you naked until Spring Break. No flashing me. No accidentally being naked around me.”

“Why? It would just be teasing. I’m going to wait for Spring Break before I get you to fuck me every possible way, and I’ll fuck you unconscious.”

“Every possible way?” I chuckled.

“Yes. If you did it with anyone, you’re doing it with me. Do you hear me, Big Brother?” she said, sounding like a drill sergeant giving an order to a new recruit.

“Yes; I hear you.”

“So, why don’t you want to see me?”

“Because I want to burn into my mind the memory of the first time I see you naked on the same day I make love to you for the first time. Is that reason enough?”

She shuddered, and nodded, “OK, Big Bro, for you, no flashing, and no cheap thrills! So what about Jennifer? How will that work?”

“Who knows? We’ll talk on the phone and write letters just as we did for the last year. At some point I’ll probably go visit her, but it’s a long way. Obviously I’d have to fly, so that limits it to school breaks. Maybe I could go during Spring Break.”

“You’ll go in a coffin if you try that one!”

“Then it’s either Christmas or Thanksgiving, I guess, but even Thanksgiving is kind of short to go to Seattle. It’s not cheap to fly, either. I could manage with Pia in another city in Sweden because I could take the train. And Katt lived a relatively short bus ride away from me. Of course, flying to Colorado is almost as bad.”

“You’re going to see the ice dancer?”

“Yes, Katt’s her name. I’ll go after Jennifer leaves for Seattle. I’m sure Mom will have something to say about it, but I really don’t care. How was she last night?”

“I avoided her. She’s on a rampage about you, I’m sure.”

“I think I know why.”

“Oh? You know? Really?”

“Yeah, but you have to keep it to yourself.”

“Of course!”

“I am pretty sure that she had sex with Dad when they first met in Las Vegas, got pregnant, they had to get married, and then she had a miscarriage. If you look at when they married and when I was born and try to fit in a miscarriage and recovery, the timing for getting pregnant before they were married fits.”

“Wow! That would explain everything!”

“And if you think Mom is on a rampage now, think about what would happen if she found your birth control pills.”

“I know. I’ve been very careful.”

I told Stephanie that I needed to make some phone calls. My first one was to Larry and asked him to come by. He told me he’d be over within the hour. Next I called Jennie Sanders, and we talked for about thirty minutes. Everything was great with Kent and they were hoping to start a family soon. I called Joyce, but she was out. Connie took a message and said she’d make sure Joyce called me back. I called Bethany, and I thought my eardrum would break from the squealing that came through the handset.

“Steve! I thought you said next week!”

“I know I did. Want to have lunch tomorrow?”

“Yes! I can drive if you need. I don’t have my own car, but I can borrow my mom’s.”

“Sounds good. Pick me up at 11:00am?”

“OK!”

“I need to be home by 1:00pm, because Beth is bringing my computers.”

“See you tomorrow!”

I made one more call.

“Hi, Elyse. It’s Steve Adams.”

“Steve! You’re home! I’d like to see you.”

“I’d like to see you too. It might be a few weeks, given everything that’s going on. Can you drive? I don’t have my license yet.”

“I can.”

“Cool. It might be after August 9th, though.”

“Just let me know. I don’t have a boyfriend!”

“Cool!” I said, and we said goodbye.

Larry arrived just then, and we hugged.

“How’s your chess game?” he asked.

“Chess? I haven’t touched a piece since the last time you kicked my ass! I hear your Elo is over 2000 now.”

“It is. You really haven’t played for a year?”

“Really.”

“So, no chess team for you, then.”

“No.”

“Would you be willing to be an official for our meets? Each school has to provide one for every meet. You’re the only one I know who really knows the rules and isn’t on the team.”

“I guess I could do that. How much does it pay?” I joked.

“My undying gratitude,” he laughed. “You know that Mary is team captain, right?”

“Yeah, I was surprised it wasn’t you. And surprised it was a girl, given the makeup of the team.”

“I didn’t want it. And the team has changed. Erin and Cindy will easily make the team, so there are three girls and four guys now. It’s the first time the team will have that many girls.”

“Do you think I could skip the Indian Hill match?”

“You have to do all or nothing. I know why you want to skip and I understand, but you can’t really do that.”

“Fine, I’ll manage. Want to shoot some pool? I also haven’t touched a pool cue in a year.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. No chess, no real swimming, no pool.”

“Computers?”

“Yeah, they had one called an ABC-80; it’s just like the TRS-80. And I jogged or ice skated for my exercise.”

“Cool.”

I got a couple of pool cues while Larry racked the balls and started playing. Dad walked by and greeted Larry.

“Have you made any plans?” Dad asked.

“I’ll see Bethany for lunch tomorrow, then Beth is coming over at 1:00pm, as I said. Jennifer and I will get together on Monday and I’ll see Andreas.”

“Grandfather is looking forward to seeing you,” Larry interjected.

“When’s the next time you’re going?”

“A week from tomorrow. You should come along,” he said, making it clear with his eyes that I had no choice.

“Dad, I’ll be going to see Larry’s grandfather, too. On Monday I’ll call Dave’s Driving School. I found them in the Yellow Pages today. And,” I took a deep breath and let it out, “Jennifer is moving to Seattle in a month. Her dad got a new job with Boeing.”

“Wow! So what about you two?” my dad asked.

“One day at a time. I’ll spend a lot of time with her before they leave on August 9th.”

“OK, Son.”

He walked to the kitchen to get a drink, then back to the office.

“She told you, I guess,” Larry said.

“Yeah. I should be mad at you, but I know she swore you to secrecy.”

“It sucks,” Larry sighed. “She’s my best friend.”

“Tell me about it! By the way, thanks for taking her to Homecoming and Prom. I really appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome. She’s really the only person I could ever go to those things with. We had a great time.”

“It sucks that I can’t take her to Senior Prom now. And we won’t graduate together.”

“Yeah. It does.”

We played several games of pool and by the time we were done, I was reasonably close to my old form. I’d have to practice a lot to get back in real form. Larry joined us for dinner. The food was good because Dad was cooking burgers on the grill. After dinner, Larry kicked my butt at chess and we played a couple of video games.

“What’s this about you going to medical school?” I asked. “You should be studying electronics or computers.”

“Mom wants me to go to medical school. She says she can get me in to a good school with her connections.”

“Jennifer thinks it’s a bad idea and I tend to agree with her. What does your grandfather have to say?”

“I haven’t discussed it with him yet.”

We continued talking while we played and Larry left around 8:30pm. We had agreed he would pick me up at 3:00pm on Sunday for the trip to see his grandfather.

I called Jennifer, and we spoke briefly. I let her know I was heading to bed and would see her on Monday. I went to my room to get ready for bed and noticed Jeff’s stuff still spread all over the bathroom, so I went to tell Dad about it.

“I’ll take care of it. Don’t touch it, OK?”

“Sure. No problem.”

I brushed my teeth, stripped, and collapsed into bed. I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow even though it wasn’t even 9:00pm. I slept soundly and woke at my normal time. I felt pretty good and hoped that was my body getting back into rhythm.

I made my first regular Sunday call to Karin, and we spoke for about ten minutes. For this first call, I kept it light, just that I missed her and was looking forward to her letters, and that I wasn’t fully yet on ‘Milford time’. After we hung up, I put on my bathing suit and went to swim with Stephanie. We ate breakfast together and then sat in beanbag chairs in my room.

“I’m up to January. Did that really happen in East Berlin? Machine guns?”

“Yeah. That was a wrong turn to beat all wrong turns!”

“Reading about you and Karin was really weird. You told me about it, but wow! Did you tell Jennifer about that kiss?”

“No.”

“Do you think Karin might be the one?”

“I have no idea who it is,” I said carefully. “What I said to Jennifer is that at this point all I’m doing is ruling girls out, not trying to determine who it is. I know it’s not Becky, Kellie, Donna, or Debbie C.”

“You’re damn right it’s not Becky!” Stephanie said fiercely. “It’s Jennifer, and you better remember that!”

“I know that’s who you think it is. But it might not be. And that’s really an issue for a few years from now when I’m close to being done with college.”

“Is Katt ruled out?”

“Keep reading and we’ll talk about her when you catch up.”

“I did find one really interesting thing there.”

“And that is?”

“That I’m the key to your future.”

“You skipped around a bit then,” I chuckled. “You are the key, Stephanie. Until you and I make love, I can’t know if I love Jennifer because she’s Jennifer, or because she’s a surrogate for you. It’s just like Karin and Birgit. First, I have to be with you, then when I kiss Jennifer again, I’ll know if I still feel the real connection she and I have.”

“So, do you think we have a connection?”

“Keep reading.”

Bethany showed up on time, driving her mom’s car. We went to Frisch’s and were seated in the same booth as the previous time we were there.

“How are things with you?” I asked.

“Pretty good. No boyfriend, though I dated a few different guys while you were gone. Only one of them got to kiss me goodnight, and then only once. It always starts out OK, but then after a few dates, I decide they aren’t worth seeing any more.”

“The guy for you is out there!”

“Oh, I know it! That’s one thing I’m very sure of. What about you?”

“Still keeping my options open.”

“What about Jennifer? Aren’t you guys going to go steady this year?”

“No. We aren’t.”

“So you won’t be exclusive with her?” she said hopefully.

“No. She’s moving to Seattle in less than a month.”

“What?!” Bethany gasped in surprise. “She never told me!”

“She didn’t tell me until Friday, even though she’s known since March.”

“Wow! So what will you guys do?”

“Take it one day at a time. That’s all we can do.”

“Well, that really changes things,” Bethany said brightly.

“It does.”

“And Melanie is leaving too, right?”

“Yeah. She’ll only be at OSU so I can see her from time to time, but you know she and Pete are engaged, right?”

“Oh yeah! That picture made the yearbook supplement! Things will be really different for you without those two here all the time for you. I know you really depended on them. The lunch table will be quite different.”

“I know. I don’t think my Senior year is going to be as good as it might have been.”

“I think it’ll be fine if you want it to,” she said. “So tell me, what classes are you taking this year?”

“Chemistry, physics, English, government, Spanish, and my math class is Analysis.”

“Spanish? Did you take it in Sweden?”

“I considered it, but it would have been introductory and it would have been strange trying to take that class in Swedish. I’m really rusty now that I haven’t used it all year. I’m supposed to be in the Spanish Literature class, but I don’t know for sure if I can handle it.”

“Take German with me instead! I’m sure Mr. Grathwohl will let you switch. The German Club is WAY more fun that the Spanish club. There’s even going to be a ski trip over Christmas!”

“You’re taking German? What happened to French?”

“I got my two years I need for college and I decided it would be cool to take another language. Isn’t Swedish related to German?”

“Yes, but it’s very different. You might have a point, though. I’ll have to think about it.”

“We could study together if you did.”

“I’ll think about it. So what was this thing you wanted to do with me?” I smirked.

“You know damn well what it is!” she said with a nervous giggle. “I have an itch that needs scratching and you’re the only one that I’m even remotely interested in having scratch it!”

“I’d be happy to oblige,” I chuckled. “But I don’t know for sure if I can use the apartment until I speak with Andreas. I’ll do that tomorrow.”

“There’s always my bed!”

“Yeah, right. As if your parents are going to allow that!”

“They both work.”

“And Ed?”

“I think we might find something to distract him!”

“My sister?”

“Right the first time!”

“OK. We’ll figure it out. I can do you that favor.”

“That? As in once?”

“One step at a time. I’m going to spend a lot of time with Jennifer before she leaves. After that, we’ll talk. But I have to warn you that I’m not looking for a committed relationship with anyone.”

She nodded, and then suggested, “How about lunch on Wednesday? Stephanie could invite Ed to swim.”

“I’ll talk to her and my dad!”

We finished eating and Bethany took me home so I could be there when Beth Pater arrived with my computers.

Beth arrived right at 1:00pm and after a quick hug, she, Stephanie and I carried the boxes with my computers in them to my room. Beth and I hooked them up and made sure everything was working. We chatted while we were working.

“Steve, we have at least six schools that want us to run computer dating for them. We might even be able to get one or two more.”

Chapter 3 »