Chapter 22

7 p.m. Saturday

Ruth nervously tugged her gown over her breasts and looked at herself in the full-length mirror as she struggled to lift the zipper upward.

"That looks amazing!" Regan said as she took over the task for her new friend. "The color is perfect."

Ruth shifted her eyes from her form in the mirror to the young woman standing behind her. Regan didn't appear to be mocking her but Ruth still wasn't certain.

"It's still a little tight," she noted as she ran her hand over her stomach.

"It's perfect," Regan assured her.

"I ... I got this to rub my new body in Jerry's face," Ruth admitted.

Regan giggled at the way Ruth had phrased her statement.

"Not like that!" Ruth said. "I ... I wanted him to see what he'd lost. I was going to have someone e-mail him a photo of what I looked like tonight."

"You should still totally do that if you want," Regan said with a nod. "I'll send him the picture if you give me the address."

"I don't care anymore," Ruth said. "I've totally stopped giving a crap about him. I realized that as we were getting our hair done. I still planned to do it until we sat down for dinner. Then I understood that I really don't care what he thinks. I'm ... I'm happier about things and that's all that counts."

"True," Regan said with a soft smile.

"Do you have anyone like that?" Ruth wondered.

"Like what?" Regan wondered.

"You know, someone from last year or when you were in New York that ignored you or treated you like shit and you want the guy to see you now," Ruth clarified.

Regan sighed and looked away.

"You do!" Ruth said, turning around to look at Regan's face. "Tell me about him! I told you about Jerry."

"It was ... just an infatuation," Regan admitted with a blush. She looked to make sure her mother was otherwise occupied and found Rita sitting in a chair making sure the shoes weren't scuffed.

"And?" Ruth pressed with a smile.

"He was ... everything," Regan admitted. "I was a freshman and he was a senior. He went to our brother school but we interacted with them a lot so I saw him all the time. He had this cool hair and this great style, you know. I swear, when he smiled, his teeth sparkled."

"Maybe he had diamond inlays put in his molars," Ruth said with a giggle.

"He didn't need anything like that!" Regan insisted. "He played sports and I went to all the games. I mean, I wasn't the only girl that lusted after the guy. A bunch of us would go to see the lacrosse team just to watch him. We kept hoping he'd take up swimming but he never did."

Ruth lifted her eyes at the reverence that had crept into Regan's voice.

"He had no idea I was even alive," Regan said, missing Ruth's look. "I was just like the other freshman girls. I did anything I could think of to get him to notice me. He never did. I mean, he spoke to me once and I almost melted but I was a kid. He was dating college girls. His family was big in politics. I think his dad was a lawyer or something and his grandfather sat in the assembly. He was hanging out with girls from Columbia. He wasn't interested in Barrett girls."

Ruth nodded.

"Have you contacted him since ... you've blossomed?" she asked. It wasn't an innocuous question. Ruth was worldly enough to understand that Regan and Andy weren't likely to last in the long term.

"No," Regan said, shaking her head. "I ... he wouldn't know who I was. He's a guy I worshipped from afar. That was probably best. He gave me a lot of help when I first started to ... you know."

"Oh?" Ruth asked. She tended to picture movie stars when she masturbated in her early teens.

"Oh, yeah," Regan said, smiling broadly and blushing at the same time. "Even a few weeks ago he popped into my head while I was in the shower."

"After you met Andy?" Ruth wondered.

Regan came out of her reverie for a moment.

"No," she answered with a smile. "I really haven't given him a thought since I met Andy. Now I have real life experience so I don't need a fantasy."

"I'm sure you still have fantasies," Ruth said with a laugh. Regan blushed deeper. The opening of her sexual horizons had produced a host of ideas that she had never considered.

"Let's just leave my fantasies out of this," she said. "Maybe I'll share them with you once I get over the last hurdle."

Ruth was about to mention that Regan might think about slowing down her quest to lose her virginity but Rita interrupted.

"You need to do your makeup or you're going to be late," Regan's mother said. Her demeanor gave no indication that she was aware of the conversation in the closet.

"Later," Regan corrected. "We already planned to be the last ones in. I want everyone in the room to see me with Andy and Ruth with Chris."

7:30 p.m. Saturday

Robert, Chris and Andy stood at the bottom of the stairs waiting. They guys had finished dressing in time to permit Robert to tie Andy's tie for him and to give instructions to Chris for the future.

"Come on back out one weekend and we'll work on it," Robert said.

Chris nodded. The thought of returning to the house had once frightened him beyond belief but now he thought he might just take Robert up on the offer. After all, the only other people he knew that could tie a bow tie were the others in the orchestra – and they were just as likely to strangle the upstart with it as teach him the skill.

Rita walked down the stairs first and stopped at the bottom.

"Gentleman, I give you the lovely Miss Ruth DeLancy," she said as she swept her hand in same way the models did on the "Showcase Showdown."

"Wow," Chris said when Ruth glided down the stairs. Ruth wore a deep green sleeveless floor-length gown with a beaded bodice that showed off her cleavage. Her dark hair was in ringlets to her shoulders. Andy couldn't believe Regan had ever described the girl as "pudgy and pimply."

"Wow," Andy repeated when Ruth had reached the bottom stair. Chris had stepped forward with his elbow extended just like he was supposed to. Ruth gave him a smile and a nod before doing the same for Andy and Robert.

"You look fantastic," Chris said. "I am very honored to be your escort tonight."

"Thank you," Ruth said with a blush. "I think you look very handsome. Thank you for agreeing to be my escort."

Rita watched with amusement as the social niceties were observed.

"And, I give you the lovely Miss Regan Riley," she announced. Andy followed Regan's progress down the staircase. Her legs came into view first and her black gown had a slit up the thigh. His mouth dropped open when she descended farther. The midriff was sheer and lacy and the bra-top was simply lacy. It extended into straps that ran over her creamy shoulders.

Andy put the back of his hand to his mouth to make sure he wasn't drooling.

Regan had been unsure of herself when started down the stairs. The dress was daring, she knew that. But what if Andy thought she looked slutty instead of alluring? Then she saw his face and knew her fears had been for nothing. Her natural smile came to her face and she fought the urge to move toward him more quickly. She forced herself to maintain her graceful walk. She saw him put his hands to his lips and her smile broadened.

He hadn't even seen the back – which was non-existent. The material plunged downward until it stopped less than an inch above the curve of her butt.

Andy managed to shake himself out the lurid fantasy that forced its way into his brain and stepped forward to meet Regan.

"You look absolutely lovely," he said. There was no doubting his sincerity.

"You look very dashing in your tuxedo," Regan replied. "I like that shirt better than one with ruffles."

Unlike Ruth, Regan offered up her cheek for kiss – and Andy complied.

"The ruffles would have tickled my boobies when we dance," she whispered as his lips touched her cheek.

"My dear, you are a vision," Robert said. "You both look so beautiful."

Andy was surprised when the man reached up and wiped a tear out of the corner of his eye.

"Well, you all know what's next," he said, his composure returned. "It's time to make sure you can't see how nice all of you look because we're going to blind you for the next six months."

The group laughed at his humor but Andy thought he might be serious when he picked up an actual camera from a stand. Andy had never seen a full-sized camera anywhere except the electronics store and for school pictures. He certainly didn't know anyone who owned one.

"Let's start with the two ladies together," Robert said as he consulted a list he pulled from his pocket.

"Dad!" Regan said.

"It won't take very long, I promise," Robert said.

Regan rolled her eyes but stood beside Ruth for the first of what seemed like a million photos. He had the girls standing together and then by themselves. He shot them facing him and then with their back to him, looking over their shoulder.

Andy just exchanged an incredulous glance with Chris. Both gowns were backless, with Ruth's possibly cut lower than Regan's.