Chapter 37: You’ve Got to Be Kidding!

December 1980, Milford, Ohio

“How was your trip to Indianapolis?” Debbie asked in the car on Monday morning.

“Pretty good. And very tame, actually. Katt had competition skating every day, so we were in bed early.”

“I bet!” Mary giggled.

“Believe it or not, we were asleep by 10:00pm both Friday and Saturday nights. Katt and I made love once each day. Well, Friday afternoon was pretty wild, but she’d already finished her skating for the day,” I said.

“You mean to tell me that, except for Friday afternoon, you had sex only twice?” Stephanie asked incredulously.

“Katt and I only had sex twice, is what I said,” I said smugly.

“Hmmm, why do I think there’s a good story there, Steve?” Debbie said.

“Because there is!” I replied with a grin. “She invited one of her skater friends. But it wasn’t really a threesome. Katt was kind of different, but I suspect that was the competition. We cuddled a lot on Friday like we usually did, but otherwise, she was skating or working with Johanna. Well, except in the evenings,” I grinned.

“That just doesn’t sound like you and Katt, Big Brother,” Stephanie said.

“As I said, it was probably the stress of the competition, but also on Friday night, I really pushed her to start a relationship with her ice dancing partner. He’s pretty much the only one who can be with her as much as she needs. He’s in love with her, but she always felt that by withholding sex she could control him.”

“What? That’s cruel!” Mary said.

“You have to understand just how driven this girl is,” I replied. “She is focused on skating. I come in a distant second. That’s why I wasn’t surprised at how this weekend went, actually. She needed to have me there, but I could tell her attention was on skating. I’ll see her in December in Columbus, but I’m going to push her really hard to talk to Mikael and for them to be a couple.”

“Like you did with Pete and Melanie, Big Brother?” my sister asked.

“Yep. Exactly. I may suck at having good relationships myself, but I know when two people belong together,” I said lightheartedly.

“Very true on both counts, Big Brother.”

“Yep,” Debbie agreed.

“Exactly,” Mary chimed in.

“Thank you all for your support!” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

“We’re just agreeing with you, Steve,” Mary said with a small laugh.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah! Just wait, Mary Harrison, you’ll get yours!”

“Goody!” she said sexily.

“Not like that, Mary,” I chuckled.

“Oh, poo!” they squealed together, as they broke up laughing.

I just groaned and joined in.

As we pulled into the parking lot at school, Debbie asked, “Are you free tonight, Steve? We missed our play date!”

“Play date?” Mary asked.

“Oops!” Debbie said, covering her mouth. “Uhm, well, Steve and I have had a regular Sunday morning thing where we go to breakfast and then fool around. Please don’t tell anyone!”

“But you guys are dating, what’s the big deal?”

“The play dates are kind of separate. Even if we stop dating, we might keep doing that. But it kind of depends on me.”

“His rule of not touching anyone who is involved seriously with someone else?”

“Yeah. You’ve suffered from that one, Mary,” Debbie said.

“Don’t I know it!” Mary giggled. “Someday, I’m going to get Melanie and we’re going to kidnap him and use and abuse him for a few days!”

“Count me in!” Debbie giggled.

“Nice; if a bunch of guys said that about one of you, they’d be called rapists,” I said quietly.

“Sorry, Steve. You’re right. I shouldn’t have said that,” Mary said softly.

“It’s OK,” I said with a smile. “I know what you meant.”

When we got out of the car, I hugged Stephanie and she walked towards the Junior High. I put my arms around Debbie and Mary and we walked into the High School.

“Can’t you get enough?” Bethany teased when she saw us.

“No!” all three of us said in unison, and everyone laughed.

Later that morning, when I walked into chemistry class, I remembered the date and wondered exactly what Kara was going to say. When I sat down next to her, she smiled.

“It’s December 1st, Steve.”

“I can read a calendar!” I chuckled. “Let’s talk at lunch.”

“In the computer lab?” she asked.

“Yes.”

At lunchtime, I told Bethany that I’d be talking with Kara in the computer lab, and she smirked.

“I wish I could be a fly on the wall!” Bethany exclaimed.

“You know I’ll give you all the details, Sweetheart.”

“I told you that you should stop calling me that.”

“Bethany, do you love me any less than you did two weeks ago?” I said, lowering my voice and looking into her eyes.

“No,” she said softly.

“Do you think I love you any less?”

“No.”

“Then I don’t see the harm, unless you’re saying that we’re never getting back together.”

“Oh no! No! That is not what I want. I want you to get past your problems. Don’t ever think I don’t love you!”

“Then it’s settled, Sweetheart!” I replied, standing up with a bit of smugness in my smile.

Bethany smiled.

I went to meet Kara in the computer lab. We sat down at the central table and started eating.

“Steve, I want you to kiss me again,” she said.

“Are you really sure about this?” I asked.

“It’s just a kiss,” she said.

“No, it’s not just a kiss. Not since that little stunt with the cherries at Graeter’s. You want something entirely different and much more dangerous.”

“Are you that sure that you’re right? Do you think you know me that well?”

“Yes, I do. Three months ago, you were insisting that you were going to stay a virgin until you got married. Now you’re playing with fire. I’m sure of what will happen. And I think you are, too.”

“Do you remember I told you about how confused I was? And how the other kids in my youth group are just normal kids for the most part? Why don’t you come and see? Come to the next couple of Sunday evenings. It’s at 7:00pm at the church just down the street from the school.”

“What happens at these youth group meetings?”

“A short Bible teaching and then we just hang out. We play board games and ping-pong, stuff like that, but mostly we just talk. We have outings where we do stuff together, but I want you to meet the other kids and talk to them.”

“This sounds like a covert attempt to convert me,” I chuckled.

“No! That’s not why I’m doing this. You don’t think we’re normal kids. We are. We have the same struggles and desires that every other teenager has. Your church teaches the same stuff about sex, well, except for birth control, as mine does. And look at you.”

I reached over the table and took both of her hands in mine.

“Yes. Look at me. You told me I was disgusting. You called me a sinner. You made it very clear that you wanted nothing to do with me and the things I do. What changed?”

“I got to know you for who you really are. You’re smart and sweet and your friends love you. I like talking to you and I liked going out with you.”

I sighed. “I can’t be your boyfriend. I don’t see us with any future except as friends.”

“Stop worrying about that. Just come to my youth group and meet my friends.”

“OK.”

We finished our lunch and got up to leave the computer lab.

“I’ll take the kiss now, Steve,” Kara said softly.

I stifled a sigh and took her into my arms. Our lips met and parted, and our tongues danced gently with each other. Kara pressed her gorgeous body firmly into mine, hugging me tightly to herself. I felt her nipples harden and press into my chest. I moved my hands from her back to her butt and pulled her tightly to me, my erection pressing into her. Our tongues tangled furiously and then Kara broke the kiss, gasping.

“You were right,” she gasped.

“I know. Trust me, I know.” I said, stroking her hair.

The most beautiful girl in the school, one who had sworn to be a virgin on her wedding night, had just promised to fuck me. I had no idea how to process that, so I just took a deep breath and let it out.

Kara composed herself and said, “Come to my youth group on Sunday.”

I agreed, and we headed back to the lunch room. I sat down with Bethany and Larry and Bethany gave me a look that asked the unspoken question. I rolled my eyes, and Bethany smirked. She and I could communicate the same way Jennifer and I had in the past, which I took as a good sign.

I noticed that Tracey wasn’t in her spot and saw her standing talking to a Senior, Marty Heller. I knew him only from having been in class with him, but he seemed like a nice enough guy. He wasn’t into computers or chess, so I didn’t have much interaction with him, and he was kind of an average student. He was a pretty average looking guy, a bit stocky, but not fat. It dawned on me that he was a lot like Tracey.

That evening, after my appointment with Doctor Mercer and dinner, I went to Debbie’s house, and we had our delayed ‘play date’. When we finished making love, I asked if she’d be interested in going to Melanie’s with me on the 29th. I figured this wasn’t the time to take Bethany because we were just friends.

“That sounds like fun,” Debbie said.

“We don’t wear clothes in the sauna.”

“Cool! It’s just you, me and Melanie, right?”

“No, her fiancé Pete will be there. He’ll be naked as well.”

“Oh. That’s different. Let me think about it, OK?”

I didn’t stay long after we made love because we both had homework to do and we’d see each other on Friday for what had become our regular date.

On Tuesday, I spoke to Tracey at the beginning of lunch and asked her about Marty. She said that she had started talking to him the previous week, and she liked him. They were going to go on a date on Friday. I wished her luck, and we went to sit at our usual table.

I also spoke to Mr. Yockey, our chess coach, who was one of the American Government teachers. He asked if I was interested in going to a student conference in Cincinnati — the International Government Exchange — being held January 23rd to the 25th. Top students from the area High Schools would spend a weekend with government and opposition officials from some Central American countries. I told him I’d love to go, and he gave me some paperwork for my dad to sign. My friend Ralph was going, as was Joe Caldwell.

When I arrived home on Tuesday, I had a letter from IIT saying that I had been accepted. I called Jennifer right away, but she hadn’t come home from school yet. I asked her mom to have her call me when she arrived home. Jennifer called later that evening and I told her about getting accepted to IIT. I let her know I was going to send in my acceptance right away. Jennifer said that she would send hers once she had verified her Boeing scholarship information.

The rest of the week flew by, and Debbie and I went out on Friday and Saturday. We didn’t make love either night, preferring to just spend time together. Of course, Sunday morning was different, and we had our normal ‘play date’. Beth and I ended our programming session a bit early so that I could go to the youth group with Kara.

I arrived at the church a few minutes before 7:00pm and saw several kids walking in a side door of the church. I followed them into the building and was greeted by a guy in his early 20s who introduced himself as Mike, the Youth Pastor for the church. He introduced his wife Sally, a bubbly blonde who was wearing far too much makeup for my taste. I introduced myself and told him that Kara had invited me. He said that she had told him that I might be there.

Kara walked in a minute later. She didn’t hug or kiss me, but I wasn’t surprised by that, given where we were. I sat next to her in a circle of chairs while we waited for the stragglers to come in. I recognized most of the kids from school, though I didn’t know any of them well.

Mike sat down and opened the meeting with some sort of free-form prayer. I was used to structured prayers in the Catholic Church, but this one seemed to bounce all over the place and make all kinds of unrelated requests. Everyone said ‘Amen’ when he finished.

Mike explained, I assumed for my benefit, that he was teaching through the Gospel of Luke and was on Chapter 8. They would read a few verses, he would explain them, and then the group would discuss them. I nodded, and he continued by reading the verses about the lamp on the stand. I had decided to just listen, but I knew there probably wouldn’t be anything controversial with that passage.

Mike talked for about ten minutes, saying what seemed to me to be the most obvious things possible, and then he opened up the discussion. I had to fight to not roll my eyes at some of the simplistic things that were being said. I also took into account what Kara said about the kids in the group. I wondered if they wanted all of their hidden thoughts and actions revealed and how they would stand up to such exposure. I knew from my arguments with my mom that it wasn’t pretty when bright lights were shined on hidden behavior.

After about fifteen minutes, the conversation died down and Mike dismissed the group. I grabbed a Coke from the refreshment table, along with a couple of cookies. Kara introduced me to a couple of people I didn’t know who were Freshmen in college. We sat with four other kids from the group and talked for the rest of the evening. What Kara had told me seemed to be true — they were fairly normal kids with the same kinds of issues, questions, and concerns that my friends and I had.

There were a few questions about my church, but thankfully, the conversation mostly stayed away from religion. A couple of the kids, two Sophomore guys, were fascinated about my trip to Sweden and asked all kinds of questions. I could tell they had questions they wanted to ask but seemed to be afraid to.

“Guys, ask anything you want. You can’t possibly offend me,” I said.

“How were the girls?” one of them asked, blushing.

I suppressed my desire to roll my eyes and simply said, “Friendly,” with a big smile.

Kara rolled HER eyes at that answer, and both guys smirked.

“Guys,” I said, “seriously, that’s not something a guy should ever talk about in detail. Not even about a single kiss, let alone anything else.”

“You have to actually have done something to be able to talk about it,” a girl named Susie giggled.

“You have no room to talk, Susie Bennet!” one of the guys, Josh, said.

I took a good look at Susie and from her facial expression and body language, I was sure that she DID have something to talk about, but was smart enough to not say anything in this group. Whether it was just a kiss or more, I couldn’t be sure, but she wasn’t totally innocent.

“Mike will tell Pastor Kent if we talk about stuff like that and he hears us,” Kara said.

“Who’s Pastor Kent?” I asked.

“He’s the Senior Pastor of the church. He’d have a heart attack if he heard us talking about kissing, let alone anything else,” Josh said.

“Yeah, he’s said in church that you shouldn’t kiss anyone except the person you marry,” Susie added.

“Right up there with no dancing, right?” I asked.

“Yeah, ‘too much temptation’ according to our pastors, including Mike,” Josh said, with finger quotes.

I thought about how I danced with girls like Mary and I had to agree. Dancing that close certainly made me think about sex!

“I can see their point, though I don’t agree with them,” I said, looking over my shoulder to make sure Mike wasn’t in earshot.

“About what? That it causes temptation?” Susie said.

“No, that temptation is strong. Let’s just say I don’t agree with your church or my church on this issue and leave it at that,” I said in a low voice.

“You’ve done it?” Josh asked.

“I can’t answer that Josh,” I said.

At least not here. In other circumstances, I might. I’d let Kara know that and she could tell Josh he could talk to me at school. The last thing I needed to do was get overheard saying anything like that here. That would certainly get back to Kara’s dad and make her life difficult. I did notice a look on Susie’s face that told me that indeed, she had done it. No question about it. Kara was right, at least in her case.

The rest of the evening, the conversation stuck to politics, sports, and school. There were a few more questions about being an exchange student and I promised to get some information to Josh and his friend Tom at school on Monday. At 9:00pm the youth group meeting ended and Mike made sure to tell me I was welcome to come the next week.

In the parking lot, Kara followed me to my car and asked me what I thought.

“They seem like pretty normal kids. They’re seriously repressed, but otherwise normal. There’s one exception, Susie.”

“What about her?”

“For sure she’s not innocent, and probably not a virgin!” I chuckled.

“And how do you know THAT, Steve Adams?”

“By her body language and the looks on her face,” I said with a shrug. “You know how much experience I have. Don’t you think I might be able to tell something like that from clues people give? I may not be right all the time, but in this case, I’m sure.”

Kara smiled, “You are right. She has a boyfriend who doesn’t go to Milford, and they started fooling around a year ago.”

“On the other hand, I’d say Josh has never even kissed a girl. If he wants to talk to me, he can do it at school. I could tell he had questions.”