Chapter 12: The Lake, Part I

September 1977

The next day was uneventful, well except for lunch. I told the gang that Jennifer and I needed to talk privately for a bit, but that we’d be back in a couple of minutes. We found some seats at the end of a table right by the wall with nobody close. I had a big grin on my face and said, “OK. I told you mine, you tell me yours.”

She blushed. “Well, as soon as I hung up, I ran to my room. I laid on my bed and slipped my hand into my panties and the other one under my shirt. I wasn’t wearing a bra. I pinched my nipple, and ran my finger up and down my cunny. I was really wet thinking about what you told me and when I rubbed my button I had an orgasm like you wouldn’t believe.”

“Hah. Soon, you’ll be ready for the real thing.”

“No, not yet. I’m not ready and I have to get up the nerve to ask the guy.”

“Your plan is to go up to him and say ‘Would you please take my virginity’?”

“Oh sure, that’s just what I’ll do!”

It sounded like she was joking, but I caught a hint of something else. Maybe I was right about Ted. They had gone out on Sunday afternoon, but just for a burger and fries.

“Well, if you need my help or advice, let me know.”

“Yeah.”

We went back to the table.

Wednesday was Chess Club. A few new people had joined; they were eighth graders. There was one new girl, Mary Harrison. Only Jennifer had returned from the previous year in the female department. Afterwards, we went to Larry’s house and played with his Chess Challenger. Mom picked me up before dinner. This would be the pattern for several weeks, just rotating houses.

Melanie called that evening. We had a nice chat and she invited me to go away with her family for a long weekend at the end of the month. They were borrowing a small house on a lake near Columbus that her mom’s brother owned. She said her mom would call my mom if I wanted to go.

“Sure. I’d love to.”

“Great!” and then she told her mom that I wanted to go.

“What are the sleeping arrangements?” I asked.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Always with the mystery.”

“Yes!” she giggled.

A couple of weeks into the school year, I had my pattern pretty well established. Homework, chess, friends and work on Saturdays. I hadn’t picked up any more envelopes, but otherwise it was pretty much the same. Jennifer came by every Saturday for lunch and a chat.

I didn’t have any sex stuff to tell her, but we talked about relationships, guys, girls, school, chess, and the like. She was quickly becoming my best friend. Larry was a great friend, but is was different with Jennifer. I could tell her anything, including telling her about my upcoming trip with the Spencers.

“Oh God, you’ll have another story, won’t you?”

“Probably!” I said with a slight smirk.

I had noticed some changes in Jennifer. Her body was changing and she was losing some of what I had called ‘baby fat’. Her boobs were getting bigger. Not huge, but bigger than Jennie, Melanie or Birgit. She was turning into a fine looking girl. She had more of a ‘girl next door’ look than classical beauty, but some guy was really in for a treat when she finally let all the pent-up sexual frustration out on him. They might have to call Gage and DeSoto to defibrillate the guy!

Of course, I was exchanging letters with Birgit and planned a call with her. I figured if I called early Saturday morning before work, I’d catch her around noon. She agreed to be home. I dialed the number and heard the ring tone and then her beautiful voice say “«Det är Birgit Andersson.»”.

“«Hej Birgit!»”

“«Hej Steve, älskling»!”

“What’s that mean?”

“Something like lover or sweetheart.”

“I like that!”

“I’m glad!”

We chatted a bit about school. She mentioned Jonas and I asked how that was going.

“It’s OK. We hang out, drink coffee, go dancing, that kind of thing. Before you ask, yes, I’ve kissed him. No I haven’t slept with him. You’re way ahead of me on that account based on what you and Melanie are telling me.”

She laughed when she said that.

“Birgit, those pictures were wild. I almost died when I saw the last two.”

“I thought you would like them. You see now I planned this to happen.”

“Yeah, Melanie and I discussed that.”

“She told me. And maybe she’s right. Maybe I did it to keep you for myself, but with a place holder. I don’t know. But I do know I haven’t felt like I want to have sex with Jonas at this point. Maybe ever.”

“You don’t need it, but you have my permission to screw him silly”

She laughed at that. “Oh, no fair! My own words.”

“I trust you to do what’s best for you. Let’s just always be honest with each other.”

“Yes, for sure. Honest. I love you so much Steve. I miss you. I think of you all the time.”

“Me too, Birgit. Me too. Somehow, some way, some day, we’re going to get together. I can feel it. I think fate has something grand in store for us.”

“Yes, I feel it too.”

“Well, I’m off to work.”

“OK. Thanks for calling. And have fun in two weeks with Melanie.” she giggled.

Uh oh. They had something planned. It figured.

“I will. And you want to hear all about it in a letter, right?”

“Yes. I love you, Steve Adams.”

“«Jag älskar dig», Birgit Andersson,” I said. I had looked up how to say ‘I love you’ and practiced for two weeks.

“Oh my, that’s awesome! Thanks. «Jag älskar dig, med».”

“«Hej då».”

“«Hej då».”

What did those two schemers have in mind? Having one girl plot against me was difficult enough. With two of them, I didn’t stand a chance. Well, whatever it was, I wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of seeing me surprised. Stoicism was the order of the day. I smiled when I thought about poor Jennifer if I came back with another story like that. She’d run right out and demand Ted take her to bed.

Well, assuming he was the guy. But all the signs were there. They were meeting between classes, etc. She wasn’t talking too much about him, but it was clear from our conversations that sex was on her mind. He seemed the only likely candidate. Of course, she might be hiding some other guy from me, too. Not sure why, but she did keep our conversations away from people outside our immediate circle. That didn’t bother me. If she needed to keep the circles separate, I was fine with that. It’s not like I didn’t have enough going on.

The Sunday before the trip, I went with Larry’s family to see his grandfather. We had a great time. His cousins were there, and were flirting with me more than last time. I flirted right back and every chance I got I tried to say something that had multiple meanings to make them blush. And it was working.

Eventually all of them except Joyce, the fifteen-year-old, gave me a wide berth. She gave back as good as she got. I got called away to play bocce and won more than I lost. Don Joseph told me he was happy with my work and that Andreas would have new things for me to do very soon. I thanked him for trusting me and promised him I’d do a good job. Before I left, I got Joyce’s phone number and promised to call her soon.

The week of the trip, there were three incidents of note. The first one was that Kathy Will actually talked to me. On her own volition. She came up and asked me about an assignment and asked if I could show her how to do one of the geometry problems. Not my strength, but I helped her. I was usually awesome at math, but geometry, especially proofs, threw me for a loop. It looked like B’s in math for the year. Sigh.

Kathy thanked me and scampered off to talk to her cheerleader friends. Now there was a group of hot chicks who had time for nobody except athletes. I liked the short skirts and tight sweaters, but the personalities left me cold. Except for Kathy and another Freshman cheerleader named Bethany Krajick, the football team could have ‘em all at no loss to the world.

The second thing of note was Andreas asking me to work a Tuesday afternoon and evening. I pedaled to the deli - it was slightly closer to our new house, but required biking along a winding, hilly road. Klondyke Hill was infamous for being tough to drive. Mom didn’t want me trying to bike home so she’d pick me up at 8:00pm. I made a couple of deliveries, did the sweeping as usual, then was sent to pick up two envelopes at different addresses.

I collected both of them and was biking back to the shop when I stopped at a light. I pulled out on envelope and noticed it wasn’t sealed as the envelopes usually were. I decided to look, and was shocked - there were at least fifty $100 bills and a slip of paper with some cryptic notes. I quickly decided to seal the envelope. I handed everything over to Andreas but was super nervous. I hoped it didn’t show. Nothing was said before mom picked me up.

The third thing was a call with Joyce. She lived in Loveland, which wasn’t that far away. We had a great chat and I teased her mercilessly. She gave me an opening at one point and I said, “Well, anytime you want to do it, you let me know.”

“I might just do that. If you can handle it.”

She had said it with such self-assurance that I felt comfortable saying, “I can handle anything you can dish out and leave you begging for more.”

She laughed and we said goodbye. There was a teasing note throughout the whole conversation, but there was a hint of seriousness. I’d have to talk to my expert on this one. Melanie would be good counsel.

Friday seemed to drag. Classes didn’t have anything interesting. Jennifer teased me at every chance about what she called my ‘sex-filled weekend’ and Larry even got into the act. Susan wasn’t there that day, so they could freely tease me at lunch.

I sighed and said to nobody in particular, “With friends like these...”

It was just good natured teasing all-around. At the end of lunch, I told Jennifer to watch out or I’d tell her nothing about the weekend. She slapped my shoulder.

“You wouldn’t be that mean!”

“Try me!” I grinned.

“Maybe I will,” she said with a hint of pique.

She stuck her tongue out at me.

Without thinking, I gave my usual response to girls who did that - “Don’t stick it out unless you’re going to use it.”

Jennifer just smiled at me, gently slapped my arm and walked away.

The final bell rang after what seemed like an eternity. It might have been the fact that I was already imagining what Melanie had in store, and my imagination was creating a fairly visible problem that I had to hide. Ah, the perils of my life! I tried really hard to focus on class, but I couldn’t. I tried to will my erection away, but that just made it worse. I suffered.

When I got up, I made sure to hold a notebook in front of me to hide my ‘problem’, went to my locker stowed my books, grabbed my overnight bag, and made sure I put in my copy of Othello. I had learned a phrase I planned to use on Melanie as soon as we were in the car with her parents.

I walked up to the High School to meet her. We walked the short distance to her house, I threw my bag in the back of the station wagon, and we went inside. As soon as we were in the door and it was shut, she grabbed me and gave me a searing kiss.

“I’ve been waiting all month for that,” she said.

“Well, it’s your decision to wait.”

“I know. The anticipation is awesome, but the reality is out of this world.”

We both laughed at that. I was pretty sure she needed as much release as I did. Our hands were getting workouts but that just wasn’t the same for either of us. Her dad got home shortly after we arrived, having taken a few hours extra off. He used the facilities, made sure everything was in the car, and we were off.

About five minutes up I-275 on our way to I-71, I said loud enough for everyone to hear “Melanie, do you have any plans you want to share? Perhaps making the beast with two backs the entire two and a half days.”

Her dad laughed so hard I thought he might crash, but he managed to keep control of the car. I actually saw a tear roll down his face. Melanie’s mom was laughing almost as hard. Melanie, on the other hand, was beating on my shoulder with a fist.

“Just for that, you can’t have me today.”

She stuck her tongue out.

“Don’t stick that out unless you plan to use it.”

“Not on you today buster, that’s for sure after that comment!” she said giggling the whole time.

“Somebody is in trouble!” her dad chuckled.

“I’d hate to be you!” her mom snickered.

Uh oh. Oh well, being tortured by Melanie wasn’t the worst thing in the world. I’d take my medicine if I had to. It was one day. She’d give in before the end of the weekend. I was absolutely sure of that!

The rest of the drive was calm by comparison. Melanie relented enough to at least hold my hand. I tried to sneak a kiss but she just pulled away and turned her head. Sigh. Maybe she was serious. Oh well. But she was smiling one of those ‘cat that ate the canary’ smiles. She had something up her sleeve, I was sure. But at least she was holding my hand. The four of us talked about school, Birgit, current events, the Reds season, and other stuff.

We arrived at the house and pulled into the driveway. It was a ranch style and I saw what looked like a second building behind it. We hopped out of the car and Melanie and I grabbed our stuff. She got keys from her mom and led me around the ranch to the building out back. She called it the ‘Mother-in-Law Cottage’. Basically, it was a very small detached guest house. The main house only had one bedroom and a sleeper sofa which wouldn’t allow for any privacy. I was getting comfortable about how open her family was, but I didn’t think I could go for having sex out in the open in the living room when they were around. And I didn’t think she’d really do that anyway. Nudity was one thing. Sex was another. Even for her.

She opened the door saying, “Open some windows, it’ll be musty in here.”

The cottage had a small kitchenette, an area with a couple of easy chairs and sofa facing a television and a king-size bed. The sofa appeared to be a sleeper. Nice and cozy. This would almost be like being married. I could dig it.

She offered me a choice of sides of the bed. I chose the left side as I was facing the bed, which was near the window and away from the door. She plopped down on the other side. I laid down next to her.

“Oh no, you don’t. You are in a penalty right now.”

I sighed theatrically. She was milking this for everything she could. I pouted.

She laughed, “OK. You may have one kiss.”

I jumped at the chance. A hot French kiss that lasted about fifteen seconds before she pushed me away and said, “Now, be a good boy.”

“Yes, Melanie.”

We unpacked and then went up to the house. There was the bedroom, den, kitchen and a small dining area. The lake was about seventy-five yards away and you could see it through the sparse trees. This looked like it was going to be a fun, relaxing weekend. Well, at least when she got done torturing me! We sat on the couch while her parents finished putting the food away and unpacking their own stuff. Dinner was in a couple of hours so Melanie suggested we take a walk around the lake.

We left the house hand-in-hand and walked down to the lake. Her resolve to punish me was slipping, I thought, because she dropped my hand and slipped her arm around my waist. I reciprocated and we walked slowly around the lake. As we were alone, I asked her about my conversation with Joyce. I gave her as neutral of a description as I was able.

Melanie asked some questions which I answered as best I could, then she said, “Well, the only way to find out is to go out with her. Ask her over to swim. Go for a walk in the woods. Just have your towels around your necks so you’ll have something to lie on if you get lucky. And make damn sure you take a couple of condoms. Just put them in the change pocket of your swimsuit before you go for your walk.”

“A couple of condoms?”

“You can only do it once with each condom. You have to use a new one every time. If she’s really going to be as wild as it seems, you’ll want to be prepared.”

We walked a bit more and she continued “Remember, I’m OK with this and so is Birgit. Do what you want to do, but make sure you feel good about it. And that you can handle the consequences. If you think she’s looking for love, you better stop. Unless you’re ready to give up on Birgit. And me.”

“No way! I’m not looking for that kind of relationship. If it happens, we’ll talk about it first. But I’m only fourteen. I think I found the love of my life. I’m not going to blow it now.”

“Good boy.”

“Thanks,” I said with more than a touch of sarcasm.

She laughed, “Let’s just see what you think at the end of the weekend, shall we?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh, you’ll see.”

I wondered if she somehow could use a Star Trek beam transporter and bring Birgit here, but that was science fiction. That was too bad, as it would solve all my problems!

It was getting close to dinner so she led us back to the house. We stepped inside and her mom said dinner was almost ready, but it might be a bit before we ate. I noticed seven places set at the table and whispered to Melanie ‘seven places?’ She just smiled and told me to be a good boy and wait.

“Yes, Melanie,” I replied, once again sarcastically.

She giggled again; it was obvious she was enjoying this. Then I remembered she had been planning for a couple of weeks. I was doomed. I sighed and resigned myself to my fate. Of course, I suspected I would really, really enjoy my fate, but there’s always room for doubt. Well, most of the time, anyway.

About fifteen minutes later I heard a car pull up outside the house, a series of door slams, and people walking up the front walk. I wasn’t going to give Melanie the satisfaction of any reaction. I had an inkling of what might be coming, but I steeled myself to not react. Just slow breaths and calm thoughts. Melanie got up and ran to the door. I heard multiple girlish giggles and the rustling of clothes as people hugged. I just sat on the couch facing away from the door. I didn’t move a muscle except to breathe and blink.

I felt Melanie’s stare from across the room. I wasn’t looking to see, but I’m sure it was there. Her mom greeted everyone and I heard three female voices return the greeting. Melanie brought them in front of me and introduced them. I stood up to greet them.

The three were Mrs. Spencers’ sister-in-law, Meredith Parker, and her twin daughters, Michelle and Elizabeth, three stunning blondes. Beautiful blue eyes. Long hair. Long legs. Modest breasts. They were, I thought, probably about fifteen. I managed to remain stoic. No reaction at all.

When the introductions were finished, I simply said hello in a calm, polite voice and shook their hands. The blondes looked at each other and Melanie, and looked confused. I could see out of the corner of my eye that Melanie was fuming, but figured that was the same as I was doing - acting.

We sat down to dinner, Melanie and I next to each other, the three blondes on the other side of the table and Mr. And Mrs. Spencer at the ends. Melanie kicked me hard in the shins under the table. No reaction. I thought she was going to burst a blood vessel. I was really enjoying this.

I didn’t usually get to her, but for once I appeared to have found the upper hand, and I wasn’t going to let go. Two could play at this game. Meredith explained that her husband Tom would be coming up in the morning. They were going to use the sleep sofa. I immediately figured out where the twins were sleeping. Melanie you devil! Was I thinking right? Yeah, knowing her, probably.

The food was awesome - just a simple stew. But it was filling and great tasting. In listening to the conversation, I got the drift that Mrs. Spencer was sending me signals that said that Meredith was OK with whatever the girls did. Just comments like how mature they seemed and how independent they had become, and so on. Meredith talked about their good decision making. They blushed a bit.

I, on the other hand, ate my dinner, sopped up the extra gravy with some bread and gave calm, polite answers when spoken to. If looks could kill, I think I’d have been killed a thousand times. I was loving it; Melanie was not. Payback might be a bitch, but I had figured out that she had told these girls tales about me, and I wasn’t living up to my billing. Even better. If I kept Melanie off-balance, I could keep this going.

We finished dinner, including apple pie for dessert. The three blondes offered to do the cleanup and Mrs. Spencer suggested that Melanie and I go sit by the lake and they’d all join us later. We grabbed some folding lawn chairs and headed out. We were barely out the door when Melanie growled “You bastard.”

I laughed so hard I thought I was going to pass out. I didn’t say anything by way of answer. We unfolded our chairs by the lake and sat down.

“What is going on?” she asked, sounding exasperated.

“Oh, just a bit of payback, my dear. Unless I miss my guess, you talked me up as some kind of sex god with a fantastic personality and wit and charm to boot.”

I could tell by her eyes that I had hit that nail on the head. “Do you think your cousins are doubting you? Think that you might have led them on? Might have exaggerated a bit?”

She growled again, “You bastard!” but there was mirth in her eyes.

“I learned from the best!”

Now she finally laughed. “OK. You got me. You win.”

I smiled. “Thank you, Melanie. But why don’t you fill me in on your plan. Maybe we can have some fun at the twins’ expense.”

She giggled “Oh, I’d like that.”

She pulled something out of her pocket and handed it to me. Birgit’s handwriting. What were these two cooking up now? I unfolded the paper and read:

«Käre Steve»,

Every day I miss you more and more, but every day I am more convinced that fate has something special in store for us. I keep thinking about the future. About what might happen. I know nothing is certain, but there are some things I need to tell you. Good things.

I’ve thought a lot about when (yes when) we are together. I don’t think I could share you at that point. I want you all to myself. But that’s in the future. I want you to have a good time. Do all those things guys want to do. Get it out of your system. Because when you make a commitment to me in the future, it’s exclusive. And for life. Tell Melanie I won’t share with her. :-) What I am saying, älskling, is that Melanie has some plans for you. I approve. She talked to me. Just go with it. Of course, only do what you want to do.

I have a promise for you. When we’re together, I will do anything with you that you want. But you have to commit to me completely and totally. It may be years in the future, so for now, have fun. Enjoy yourself. And tell me everything.

I love you with all my heart.

-Birgit.

I folded the letter and put it in my pocket. Melanie looked at me and saw tears in my eyes. I was so moved by Birgit’s letter. Damn. That girl had it bad. But so did I. I knew she was right. And I didn’t want to share her, either. But that was in the future. In the here and now I was fourteen. And Melanie apparently had plans for me. I looked at her with a face that asked a thousand questions.

She considered for a moment and then spoke, “I read her note. She told me I was supposed to. And we talked on the phone. She’s deadly serious. She wants you to experience anything and everything you can handle. Get it all out of your system, so to speak. When she’s yours, she’s yours exclusively. She reminded me that you both agreed that if you fell in love, you’d tell the other one right away. Don’t forget that. You and I won’t last forever. First of all, neither of us would do that to Birgit. We have too much love for her. If you end up with Birgit, you and I are done. No option.”