Chapter 40: Christmas Break, Part I

December 1978

The last week of school before Christmas break flew by. The only thing of note was someone joined our lunch table. A girl named Sarah Leonard, who had transferred to Milford this year when her family moved from New York because her dad worked for GE and was transferred.

I had seen her around the school, but she appeared to be shy, quiet, and reserved. She was about an inch shorter than me, had long, straight brown hair, and a cute face. She dressed in very loose-fitting clothing, wore little makeup, and had large glasses. She wasn’t in any of my classes and wasn’t involved in chess or computers. She really didn’t say much to me except ‘hello’.

On Tuesday night, we had a YFU orientation at Mrs. Seime’s house. We did some role-playing about adapting to new cultures and had the chance to talk to some students who had been in our destination countries the previous year. I talked to a kid from Moeller High who had been in Sweden. I didn’t get much new from him because Birgit and Petra had pretty much filled me in over time.

We had exams for the 2nd quarter at the end of the week and I was confident that I would bring home straight A’s.

On Friday afternoon, Joyce picked me up and took me to her house for dinner with her family. She was helping her mother cook, and Connie was in the living room with me and her dad. She was flirting up a storm, but keeping it controlled enough that her dad only warned her once.

When Mr. Abbadelli excused himself to use the bathroom, Connie and I were alone. She looked at me with the same kind of look Vickie had — the lioness about to pounce on the helpless zebra. She walked over to me and stood there with her arms crossed.

“I know what you and Joyce did in my bed,” she whispered.

I’d play dumb on this one and hope to stall until someone came into the room.

“Connie, I have no clue what you are talking about.”

“Yes, you do. She told me that you fucked in my bed!”

“Connie, I really have no idea why you think something like that happened.”

Before she could respond, her mom came in to tell us that dinner was almost ready. I walked to the dining room to escape! I needed to talk to Joyce. I’d see if she’d go for a walk afterwards to let her know what Connie had said.

Dinner was as good as it always was at the Abbadelli’s or Grossi’s. Dessert was brownies with a scoop of ice cream. When we finished, Connie had to help with dishes and I suggested to Joyce that we take a walk. She agreed, so we grabbed our coats and headed out. The night air was crisp, and it was in the upper 30s.

“Joyce, your sister is up to something.”

“What did she say to you?”

“When your dad left the room, she confronted me about us having sex in her bed.”

“She what?”

“She said, and I quote, ‘She told me that you fucked in my bed!’”

“That little brat! She is up to something. I’m just afraid she’ll tell my dad. Mom I can deal with because she helped me get the Pill. Dad doesn’t know. He’s not as conservative as grandfather is, but he’s close.”

We walked hand-in-hand around her neighborhood for about ten more minutes before going back inside. Mrs. Abbadelli served us cappuccino when we returned. After we drank it, we went to the living room to be with her parents. Connie kept staring at me the whole time, but I avoided making eye contact.

Around 9:00pm, Joyce took me home. We talked about her little sister and what she might be up to.

“Joyce, she was flirting worse tonight than before, with lots of little innuendos.”

“I know. She has a massive crush on you. The whole thing backfired. I’ll talk to her and see if I can’t get her calmed down.”

“You can tell her I’m not interested in her at all. Tell her we talked about marriage and kids. And remind her what your grandfather said. And stop baiting her!”

“Marriage and kids?” she said with a smirk.

“Yes! We’ve talked about the future. We both know that it IS possible. Your sister doesn’t know I see anyone else, does she?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Good, then just tell her and be done with it! You can easily say she made it up if she says something to your mom or dad. And I’ll back you up!”

We rode the rest of the way in silence.

At home I went to my room to mess around on the Apple a bit and wrote in my journal. It dawned on me that I could probably keep my journal on the computer. Floppy disks would take up a lot less space than the notebook I was using. I’d have to improve my typing to be able to do that, though. I wondered if Stephanie could help by typing in the stuff I’d already written.

The rest of the weekend was quiet, just my usual routine, though Jennifer had to visit relatives on Saturday, so we missed our date. I spent the evening with Stephanie playing pool and watching TV. Sunday was Christmas Eve, so there would be no ‘computer date’ with Beth.

On Sunday morning, Stephanie and I swam and ate breakfast. We hung out in my room for most of the day. She told me that she would help type in the journal into the Apple. She also raised an issue I knew she would, because I was pretty sure she’d read my journal while I was at work.

“Keeping things from me, Big Brother?”

“What are you talking about? Everything goes in the journal!”

“True, but I didn’t even know you were meeting Erin and Cindy.”

“Did I need your permission?”

“No, of course not! But it sounds like you had a lot of fun, though. And you would do it with them again?”

“Yeah. Especially Erin. That was just like I wrote.”

“There is a better one.”

I knew exactly what she meant. I just let the comment go.

“Steph, I got you a gift, but I want to give it to you now.”

I handed her a small box. She opened it and took out a necklace with three charms on it, a small heart and two S’s. She smiled and handed it to me to put on her. I draped it around her neck and closed the clasp. She turned and gave me a huge hug.

“Thanks, Steve.”

“You’re welcome, Squirt.”

We had our family dinner and then our Christmas celebration. My gifts were pretty typical — clothes, a couple of books, and most importantly, four boxes of floppy disks. I also got a subscription to Strategy & Tactics, a wargame magazine published by SPI. The family gift was an Atari 2600 video game system. I expected that Jeff would try to hog it for himself. Larry, Jennifer, Joyce, Melanie, and I would exchange gifts at the party, while Becky and I would exchange ours when she visited.

On Christmas Day I went to church with mom, Jeff, and Stephanie, and afterwards the whole family made the trip to my Aunt Mary Lou’s house for the family Christmas. It was uneventful. Stephanie and I spent most of our time hanging out with Vickie, who told me she was looking forward to New Year’s Eve. I told her I was as well. Stephanie just rolled her eyes.

On Tuesday around 11:00am, I got a phone call from Erin Jackson. Her parents were going to be gone after lunch until late that evening, and she wondered if I wanted to come over. It was below freezing, so a bit too cold to ride my bike. Asking Dad for a ride might lead to questions. An idea hit me and I told her I’d call her back.

I dialed Larry’s number and asked him if I could take him up on his offer of rides when I needed them. He said he was free, so I asked if he could pick me up and take me to Erin’s, then come back and take me home around 7:00pm. He agreed. I went to tell Dad I was going out with Larry and would be back after dinner. I knew Larry would cover for me if needed. I called Erin back and told her I’d be there in about twenty minutes.

When Larry dropped me off, she was waiting at the door. We hugged, and she took me to the den where there was a fire going, just like last time. Unlike last time, there was a comforter and pillow on the floor in front of the fireplace.

“I thought we’d do it in front of the fireplace. When we cuddled there and you gave me all those orgasms, I was thinking how much better it would be with your dick than your finger!”

We kissed and quickly removed our clothes. I ran my hands over her small body and dipped my head to suckle her small breast. She took hold of my dick and began gently stroking, and my hand went to her slit, gently rubbing her. It didn’t take long for me to be hard and her to be wet. We quickly got down on the comforter, she under me with her legs spread and my dick at her moist entrance.

I used one hand to guide the head between her labia and gently pushed. She felt as tight as she had been that first time, though I didn’t need as much pressure to bury myself completely in her. We lay there kissing, and she flexed her hips a bit. I couldn’t believe the silky feel, the vise-like tightness or the heat. I began slowly pumping in and out, and she responded by raising her hips to meet me, moaning into my mouth.

The pleasure was intense, and I knew I wouldn’t last long. I began moving slightly faster, and she wrapped her legs around me. I passed the point of no return and pushed hard into her, spraying her with cum. The extra lubrication again meant I could move faster, so I did. We worked up a really good, moderate rhythm, and she was bucking against me, grinding into me with every stroke. She groaned and came, her pussy rippling around me.

“Yessss!” she hissed when her orgasm passed.

I withdrew and moved down to begin tonguing her clit. Every minute or so I’d give a big lick from bottom to top of her pussy, then return my attention to her button. After a few minutes, she arched her back and groaned loudly as another orgasm hit her. I didn’t stop and managed to bring her to a third.

I moved to cuddle her, and we kissed. I held her in my arms and we chatted a bit. I hadn’t really gotten to know her the previous time. In many ways, she reminded me of Mary when I first met her, the only difference being that Erin had been a virgin. She loved chess, was a good student, and seemed to be pretty self-confident. In other words, she was my type. I didn’t feel any specific romantic inclinations or love towards her, though. I wasn’t sure what it was, but for some reason, we didn’t ‘click’ like Jennifer, Joyce, or even Becky. I was actually glad about that, because I didn’t need any more entanglements than I already had.

We made love 3 more times that afternoon and finished with a shower together. I called Larry, who said he could pick me up in twenty minutes. Erin and I sat on the couch and cuddled.

“That was fantastic!” Erin said.

“I thought so, too! It feels so good when I’m inside you!”

“Do you think maybe we could go out on a date sometime?”

A date implied more than just a now-and-again sex partner.

“You know I have a fairly steady girlfriend.”

“I know. I was kind of hoping I could see you more.”

“I can see you once in a while, like today, but I can’t date you at this point.”

“I was afraid you would say that. I knew you had a girlfriend, I just hoped that you liked this so much you would maybe think about me that way.”

Without question, I liked it. But there was no connection. It was like Michelle — as good as the sex was, and it was out of this world, I didn’t have any feelings like I did for Jennifer or Joyce, or even Becky before we broke up.

“Erin, I really, really like you, but I can’t date you.”

She pouted for a moment, then said, “I know. I had to try. If you and Jennifer break up, please call and ask me out!”

I could safely agree to that. There was no way I was breaking up with Jennifer. I could also use Sweden to my advantage.

“If that happens, I definitely will. Remember, I’ll be away for a year, too, so even if that were to happen, I’d be gone for a long time.”

“When you come back, if you and Jennifer aren’t together, call me!”

It sounded like she wouldn’t call me for sex again. And although I loved the feel of her, I didn’t want her to develop any attachments. I figured she already had some, and that was the thing Jennie had warned me about.

“I will,” I said.

I kissed her goodbye and Larry drove me home. I grabbed a snack from the fridge and went to my room to work on the computer. Stephanie came in and just sat on a beanbag chair and read. It was nice being close together like that.

Wednesday was Becky’s visit. Her dad dropped her off around 10:00am and would pick her up around 10:00pm that evening. My mom was very unhappy that I was seeing her. I suspected it was because she had called Becky’s parents at some point and explained that they were horrible parents to let their daughter have sex with me. I suspected the van Hoeks would not take kindly to the kind of dressing-down she liked to give.

She had tried to talk to Melanie’s mom several times but Mrs. Spencer simply refused to discuss it, saying that it was between Melanie and me, and besides, it was over. I suspected she had also called Mrs. Block, but I never heard anything from Jennifer’s parents or Jennifer about that.

Becky and I started off by swimming, then played pool for a bit. It didn’t really surprise me that Stephanie more or less avoided us. I was pretty sure she didn’t approve of Becky. I’d ask her later about that. Becky tried to get me to tell her my plans, but I deflected her questions. I did tell her we’d be going out for lunch, though.

I had arranged with Dad to drop us in Milford. I told him that we’d eat lunch, go to a movie, go skating, have dinner and ice cream, and call him when we were ready to be picked up. I figured that we’d have lunch, head to the apartment, then have dinner and ice cream. Around 11:30pm, Dad came and asked if we were ready to go and I said yes.

Dad dropped us at Wendy’s and when we had our order, we sat down to eat.

“Steve, I want to be with you!”

“You are, Becky. You’re with me right now!”

“No, Silly, I mean like BE with you!”

I gave her a quizzical look.

“You know what I mean,” she hissed, “I want to fuck!”

I was going to play this for all I could.

“Here? I think they’ll call the police!”

She made a frustrated sound and went back to eating. When she finished her meal, she tried again.

“Seriously, are we going to be able to do it?”

“Do what?” I smirked.

“Argh! You are so frustrating. You know very well what I mean — screw, fuck, make love, whatever you want to call it.”

“Oh, that. Yeah, well, I guess.”

“You guess?! You guess?!”

“Fine, if I have to.”

“Argh! Stop! You’re driving me crazy with the teasing.”

Which, of course, was the point.

“So, Becky, movie first or skating first?”

“No!! Screwing first! You said you would figure something out!”

“I already know how to do it. Doesn’t take much to figure that out.”

She wadded up her napkin and threw it at me, crossed her arms, and just stared at me. I finished my last couple of fries and slowly finished my drink. She was getting more and more frustrated by the second. I tossed the trash in the can and returned the trays. I walked out of Wendy’s and she followed me.

“Let’s just take a walk first, that will give you time to decide on skating or a movie.”

“What?!”

“You heard me. Come on.”

She wouldn’t take my hand, but she did walk with me. I took a round-about route to the apartment so that the walk took just under fifteen minutes instead of less than five. Becky was positively seething by the time we got to the street where the apartment building was. We walked up to the door, and I took out my key.

“Where are we going?”

“To my boss’s apartment.”

“Why? I thought it was just us two today. Let’s just go to the movies, then.”

“I didn’t say we were visiting my boss, just that this is his apartment.”

She didn’t respond, and we walked up the stairs. I opened the door and let her in.

“Oh! You DID figure something out!” she squealed.

“Of course, Becky, do you think I would have let you down?”

She turned around and smacked me as hard as she could on my upper arm.

“You spent all morning teasing me! That was not nice!”

“But it was fun!”

“I’ll show you fun, Mister!”

She launched herself at me and began trying to take off my clothes. I stopped her.

“Slow down. Let’s talk, please.”

“Talk? I want you in me now! I thought that’s what this was about!”

“I agreed to see you. I didn’t promise sex now. I said I would do it in June.”

“But I want it! Don’t you know my body aches for yours?”

“I know,” I said. “But we need to talk about us.”

“Were you serious about a possible future with me?”

“It’s one of many possibilities, Becky. It’s something I need to explore, but you know I can’t commit to you now, and maybe not ever. I’ll be gone for a year, and who knows how things will be when I get back.”

“I love you a lot! I miss you.”

“I love you too, and I also miss you! But there’s so much going on, so many things to consider. I can’t commit to you the way you want.”

“I know. I want it to be different, but I know it can’t be.”

“Have you dated? Seen anyone else?”

“No. Most guys think I’m a bitch. I’ve started being nice, but I have that reputation that I haven’t been able to shake. And even if I could, I don’t want to date. You know who I want and what I think.”