Chapter 12

Jim had too much going on to spend a lot of time thinking ahead to his upcoming November visit to the lake – that seemed ages away. For one thing, he had his 16th birthday and had been taking behind-the-wheel driver training.

And there was football. The team was doing well and Jim was having a good year. Opposing quarterbacks quickly learned not to throw the ball to his side of the field. Not that many coaches in the area allowed their quarterbacks to throw the ball very often. Most were disciples of Woody Hayes and his “3 yards and a cloud of dust” offensive philosophy.

Jim went through the condoms Debbie had given him at a fairly steady pace. He’d never been so popular. He hadn’t had a chance with Miss Hunt again, but he knew that he would, sooner or later. She turned out to be a very good teacher and an even better debate coach. Between his homework, Driver’s Ed, football, debate, and the parties the cheerleaders threw almost every weekend, he was a very busy guy.

The football season wound down, and it was one of the best in his school’s history. The lone blemish was a tie with arch rival Rice Lake, but they still managed to win the conference title, Jim was named all conference as a defensive back, and was also selected to the all-area team by the Superior paper.

With the end of the football season, debate meetings increased. Jim had a new partner this year, Sarah Jane Hamilton. She was from England. Her parents had moved to the States just in time for her sophomore year. She was a junior now, and a year ahead of Jim. Sarah had long, thick, auburn hair and a shapely figure, with well developed breasts and hips that begged for love. She had a very sensual mouth – a mouth made for kissing, or sucking cock. She wore glasses and was rather bookish. Jim liked her British accent and some of the slang she used; phrases like “and Bob’s your uncle” or “blow this for a game of soldiers.” She was very smart, and a good debater. They ended up spending a lot of time together, and got along quite well.

One afternoon as they were doing some research in the library Jim decided to ask Sarah out on a date – he hadn’t noticed any boyfriends hanging around

“Hey Sarah,” he whispered since it was the library after all, “would you like to go to the dance with me on Saturday?”

Sarah looked up from the copy of The Congressional Record from which she was making notes.

“Asking me out on a date then are you?”

“Well, yeah, that’s the idea.”

“Fancy getting into my knickers too I shouldn’t wonder,” she said with a sly grin.

“Why, Miss Hamilton, I’m shocked that you would think of such a thing, a well bred young lady like yourself,” Jim said, grinning.

“Run out of cheerleaders have you?”

“No, I haven’t. But, seriously, Sarah, I really like you and I’d like you to go to the dance with me on Saturday. Will you?”

To tell the truth, Sarah’s response flustered Jim a little. This was the first time since he’d come home from Debbie’s place that he’d had to do more than look in a girl’s direction to get them into bed, or into the backseat of a car. Sarah was actually teasing him and being coy. It threw him off his game for a moment.

“Well, all right then, I’ll go, since you put it that way,” she said, after making him wait for what seemed like an eternity.

“Thanks! I’ll pick you up at 7, OK?”

“Fine. Now, let’s get back to work. These note cards aren’t going to magically fill themselves then are they? Here, see what you can make of this speech by Senator Fullbright.”

Jim felt great. He really liked Sarah Jane. The cheerleaders were all about sex – none of them would be classified as a girlfriend. He and Janet had become fuck-buddies, but there was no real relationship there. A senior does NOT go steady with a Sophomore, no matter how many interceptions he gets in a season.

The week flew by. Jim, who had passed his behind the wheel test and who was now in possession of a Wisconsin Drivers License, had managed to get permission from his parents to use the family car, a lime green 1968 Chevrolet Caprice 2-door with a black vinyl top. Its powerful 427 cubic inch V-8 engine ate a lot of gas and also had the potential for generating a lot of speeding tickets – a topic upon which his father had given him a number of very stern and very pointed warnings.

“One speeding ticket and you can start paying for your own car insurance. Got that, young man?”

Jim had promised to be careful. And, as he had always been a responsible person, his father had said OK to his using the car on Saturday night.

Jim showed up at Sarah’s just before 7 and rang the doorbell at 7 on the dot. A man of medium height sporting one of the most enormous handlebar mustaches Jim had ever seen answered the door. He had an erect, military, posture and a slight frown.

“You’ll be Sarah Jane’s young man then, eh?”

“I’m Jim Olsen” Jim said, sticking out his hand in the approved gesture of introduction.

“Robert Hamilton. Glad to meet you. Sarah’s told me about you. Like what I hear so far. Debater, eh? Well, that’s all right then. She’s been going on about what a footballer you are. Can’t seem to get the hang of what you chaps on this side of the pond call football. Seems more like hand ball to me, but, there it is then. Come on in, boy, don’t just stand there. Sarah will be ready in her own time. Women, eh?”

This short speech was delivered in clipped tones as precise as close order drill and clearly understandable at 50 yards. Mr. Hamilton led Jim into the living room and pointed to a chair.

Jim had just sat down when Sarah Jane made her entrance.

“Daddy,” she said, “you haven’t been boring again have you?”

“Don’t know what you mean. Your beau just arrived and I invited him in, that’s all. Boring. Hmph. Now, young man, I want my daughter home by midnight, understand? And no excuses. You American chaps are a little fast for my taste, and I don’t’ want any funny stuff. No hanky panky.”

“Faaaather!”

Mr. Hamilton burst out laughing. “Just giving you a bit of the mickey old chap. Have fun. Don’t get into trouble, and have her back by midnight. There’s a good lad.”

“Yes, sir, Mr. Hamilton. I’ll take good care of your daughter,” Jim said. He offered his arm to Sarah and they escaped into the crisp air of a fall evening.