Chapter 39: Out With the Old, in With the New

January 1981, Milford, Ohio

On Friday morning, I called Kara as I had promised. We agreed to go out on Saturday evening. After completing my call to Kara, I called Bethany to see if she wanted to have lunch or dinner.

“Both!” she said. “As long as your sister can come with us.”

“Don’t trust yourself alone with me?” I quipped.

“That will be the day, Steve Adams! Just pick me up around 11:00am.”

“See you then!”

I went to find Stephanie and let her know she was going out with Bethany and me today. I waited a bit until Dad was alone before checking with him and, as I’d expected, he was OK with it. So far, I’d managed to avoid any confrontations with my mom and I aimed to keep it that way. I realized that it was only ten weeks before Stephanie and I would be together. I wanted to make sure that my mom had absolutely no reason to object to Stephanie staying home during Spring Break. They’d already booked the trip and Dad had agreed that Stephanie could stay home, but I knew that Mom might try to overrule him, and would probably succeed if she did.

“Squirt,” I said as we drove to Bethany’s house, “do you realize it’s only ten weeks away?”

“Yes! I’m counting the days. Just don’t do anything stupid so that Mom makes me go on the trip.”

“I won’t. Do you really think I’d do anything that would prevent me from making love to you?”

“No, not on purpose. But sometimes you do dumb things. You have to think about everything, Steve. Everything!” she said emphatically.

“I will. I promise.”

We had lunch with Bethany at the deli, then hung out at home until we went to dinner at TGI Friday’s. Bethany carefully avoided any talk about our relationship. When we dropped Bethany at home, I walked her to the door.

“Bethany, when can we talk about us?” I asked.

“Just give it some time, Steve. Do this for me, please?”

“Yes, Sweetheart,” I said.

Bethany gave me a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“I really do love you,” she said as she slipped into the house.

On Saturday morning I answered some letters. The number and frequency of letters had dropped and I was only regularly hearing from Karin, Sofia, Pia, and Tina Hoff. I’d get occasional letters from others, including Tatyana, my Russian friend. She was still in Leningrad because her dad was currently in Moscow. She didn’t know what his next posting would be. I also heard from Trevor, who said he and Maria had both been accepted to UCLA.

As for colleges, at this point, most of my friends had made decisions as to where to go. Beth Pater was going to the University of Illinois to study computers, Bethany was going to the University of Wisconsin, Madison, to study psychology. Larry was going to the University of Cincinnati, enrolling in their pre-med program. Kathy Will was going to Northwestern, studying to be an elementary teacher.

Pam had let me know that she would be at UW Madison, but hadn’t decided for sure what to get her degree in. Elyse was going to the University of Chicago and studying business and economics. Finally, Jennifer and I were going to IIT where she would be in the engineering program and I’d be in computer science. Jennifer wasn’t sure yet which engineering discipline she would study, but was leaning towards either aerospace or electrical engineering.

I checked in my atlas and saw that IIT was about twenty miles from Northwestern and about five miles from the University of Chicago, in the other direction. It would be fairly easy to see Kathy and Elyse. Pam and Bethany would be a little over two hours away in Madison and Beth would be about two hours away in Champaign. Larry and Joyce would be around five hours away in Cincinnati.

Ralph did get into MIT as he had hoped. I had eventually sent in my application and was on the waiting list, but didn’t particularly care because I’d decided to go to IIT with Jennifer and would much rather be with my friends in Chicago than head to Boston. Brent hadn’t made a final decision, but I was pretty sure he’d end up at U of I with Beth. And Mary still had one more year of school.

I was happy that most of my friends would be close enough that we could see each other fairly often. My only real concern was that Stephanie would be five hours away and our ability to see each other would be limited. I could always come home on long weekends and during breaks, but going back home once I left wasn’t ideal. I wondered if Stephanie could visit me in Chicago. If Jennifer and I lived together as we had agreed, that would certainly fit right into Stephanie’s plans!

I considered trying to fly Jennifer in for Spring Break, but that would really take away from the time that Stephanie and I needed to spend together. And given we’d certainly see each other in June to find a place to live in Chicago, the extra few months wouldn’t make all that much difference at this point. The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if Bethany had decided to break up because she thought Jennifer and I would get back together. It made sense, and frankly, I couldn’t blame her.

Just after lunch, Debbie C called and told me that Donna had gone into labor the night before and had just delivered a baby boy that she named Marcus. I let Stephanie know, and I made a note to call Donna and arrange to see her sometime in the next couple of weeks. I asked Stephanie to come up with some gift ideas and she suggested something similar to what we had done for Debbie C.

Around 3:00pm I received a call from Debbie V, who asked if I’d come over. I walked down the street and knocked on the door. Debbie came to the door and suggested we take a walk. I knew something was up.

“Steve, Phillip asked me to the Sweetheart Dance at school.”

“So go with him. I’m fine with that. It’s not like I can’t find a date!”

“So true!” Debbie said with a smile.

I could tell, though, that she had something else to say. I just waited. We walked to the end of Overlook before she spoke.

“I think he’s going to ask me to go steady with him,” Debbie said.

“So say ‘yes’ if that’s what you want.”

“You won’t be upset?”

“Upset? No. I’ll miss our ‘play dates’, of course. And I’ve really enjoyed our regular dates. But we both knew this would eventually happen.”

She stopped and pulled me into a hug, “Thanks. I’ll miss it, too.”

“If you still want it, let’s just call tomorrow our last ‘play date’, and you can go steady with Phillip.”

“Thanks,” she said with a smile. “For everything. Tomorrow, I just want to make love one last time. That’s how we should remember it.”

“Anything you want,” I said, releasing her from the hug.

“But, and this is important, don’t forget Tracy’s birthday is January 16th! She wants something for her birthday that only you can give her!” Debbie giggled.

“I’m sure that Phillip wouldn’t mind doing that favor,” I teased.

“NO! I won’t share him!” she exclaimed, frowning in mock anger. “No, Steve, it’s you that she wants.”

“Then tell her to talk to me and we’ll see,” I answered.

We walked back to her house, and I gave her a hug and a soft kiss. She asked me to wait for a moment, then went inside and came back with Tracy.

“Debbie said I should talk to you,” Tracy said, almost in a whisper.

“She said something about you wanted something for your birthday.” I said in a low voice.

“I want you to come to my party and then take my cherry!” she smirked. “I hear from Debbie and Donna that you are VERY good, and the perfect guy to do it with the first time.”

“If that’s what you really want, I’d love to! When is the party?”

“Friday the 16th at 6:00pm. It’ll be the family, plus Debbie C, Stephanie, and a couple of my friends. After dinner, cake, and ice cream, I’ll open my presents and then you can take me upstairs and open me!”

I suppressed shaking my head and rolling my eyes. The sexual openness in the Vaughn household was over the top, even compared to Melanie’s house and most of my Swedish friends.

“I’ll be there. I don’t know if Stephanie can come because of my mom. You can ask her, but I’m pretty sure my mom will say no and my dad won’t override that.”

“That sucks!” Tracy said.

“I know. My mom is nuts. I’m glad I’m moving out as soon as I go to college.”

“Well, my mom is nuts in her own way. She tries to spy on you and Debbie every chance she gets, but Debbie always remembers to lock the door or take you somewhere else.”

“Just make sure you lock your door that Friday!” I chuckled.

I gave her a quick peck on the lips, and was rewarded with a hug and a happy smile.

I headed home to get ready for my date with Kara. I still wasn’t sure how to deal with her, but I knew that the entire situation was going to come to a head soon. I’d put her off, and she was confused, but at some point I felt she’d simply decide to go through with it. I wasn’t sure it was a good idea, and I’d tell her that, but in the end, I knew that Stephanie was right, and that I would do what she asked.

I realized that for the first time because I was with Melanie, I was basically unattached. Yes, I had Tracy and Kara on the horizon, but neither of those were likely to be long term, or even short-term, things. Michelle Bateman was still flirting with me, but if I did anything with her, which was very unlikely, it would be just one time. There was also Krista King from the computer class at the Junior High, and I was sure Kathy Will would be quite happy to go out with me.

I wondered if this was the time to approach Joyce or Elyse. I needed to call them now that it was January. Both situations were different. With Elyse, everything was really on hold because of Jennifer and it looked as if that was how it was going to be, because I didn’t see Elyse playing second-fiddle to Jennifer, ever.

Joyce was complicated. I wondered if we could go back to our dinner dates and simply acknowledge that whatever might happen in the future was so far off that we didn’t need to worry about it. I decided to call both of them on Sunday after Beth and I had our programming time.

I drove over to Kara’s house to pick her up, and when I rang the bell, her dad came to the door and invited me in. It really didn’t surprise me, given he was sizing me up as son-in-law material. I knew that from his perspective, the only reason to date someone was to decide if you were going to marry them and once you decided you weren’t, then you moved on, though that wasn’t supposed to happen. The usual result, in his mind, was dating leading directly to marriage. That thought made me wonder what Kara had said to him about me.

“So, Steve,” Mr. Blanchard began, “you’ve been to a few youth group meetings. Maybe you would like to come to church with us some Sunday.”

I had to answer that request carefully. I absolutely did not want to go to church with them because listening to 45-minute sermons during a 90-minute service was not my idea of a fun way to spend Sunday morning. The ‘play dates’ I had with Debbie were WAY more interesting and preferable to that! I also did not want him to decide that his little girl couldn’t go out with me. I had to walk a tightrope.

“I’ll consider it, Mr. Blanchard. I’m really kind of struggling with the Catholic Church and some of its teachings. That’s why I don’t go very often. I’m not quite sure exactly where I am on all the theology. Right now, I’m just reading the Bible and trying to work things out. Kara’s been pretty helpful in that area.”

“You really should come to church,” he said. “The messages on Sunday morning might help you understand better. We do a lot of stuff for the kids, too, beyond just the youth group.”

“I’m sure, Sir. But also, remember, I’ll be heading to college this fall and I’m probably moving to Chicago in August, so it doesn’t make a lot of sense to join a new church here at this point.”

“You don’t have to join, Son. Just think about it.”

“Yes, Sir, I will.”

He nodded approval. I had dodged that bullet as best I could and managed to satisfy Mr. Blanchard for now. I knew that in the long-run, it wouldn’t work. In six months, I would probably be in Chicago, and Kara and I would probably either have done it or stopped seeing each other, or more likely, both, by then.

Kara came down the stairs dressed in faded blue jeans and a pink fuzzy sweater. She kissed me on the cheek and then grabbed her Winter coat. We said goodbye to her dad and as usual he reminded us that her curfew was 10:00pm and I promised to have her home before then. We got into the car and I pulled out of the driveway.

“I was thinking we’d go to an Italian place over on Beechmont, if that’s OK,” I said. “Otherwise, I know of a Chinese place close to there as well.”

“Italian is fine.”

“Your dad was giving me the third degree about church. I’m curious about what you’ve told him about me and about us.”

“Just that you’re sweet, you treat me nicely, you are a perfect gentleman, and I like you a lot.”

I chuckled, “Perfect gentleman?”

“Yes. You haven’t made one move to do anything with me without me encouraging you or asking you to do it. You hold doors, you speak deferentially to adults, you don’t swear, at least in front of me, and you pay for everything when we go out.”

“I suppose all of that is true. It kind of leaves out things he might not appreciate. No, things that not only would he not appreciate, but which would mean that he would never let you speak to me again!”

“I am hardly going to tell my dad about that stuff!” she giggled.

“I know, but when you describe me the way you do, it makes me seem like a saint.”

“No, you’re a sinner, Steve. But I heard that sinners are much more fun!” she teased.

“Yes, Billy Joel did say that in Only the Good Die Young, didn’t he?”

“Yes, but you don’t run with a dangerous crowd,” Kara countered. “In fact, if there’s a group of kids in school who are more ‘goody two shoes’ than your group, I don’t know who it is, well, besides my group, I suppose. Sure, you have sex with all the girls, but otherwise? You all are model citizens! You all make good grades, you’re all going to college, and you’re all involved in stuff at school. You’re a lab assistant for both Miss Barkhurst and the computer lab. Brent and Ralph are on the It’s Academic team. You and Beth have a computer company. Kathy and Bethany are cheerleaders. The only thing you guys do that anyone could think is wrong is have sex!”

“I guess all of that is true. But that last one is a pretty big one for some people.” I said gently as I turned on to I-275.

“I know that! Remember, most of my friends weren’t allowed in Sex Ed class! By the way, your book has made you super popular with the guys at our table. They’re extremely grateful. And a few of the girls are, too. It’s also made all of them very curious — even more than they were before.”

“If this gets back to any of the parents, I’m a dead man,” I laughed. “And you’ll never be able to see me again!”

“None of the kids are going to tell their parents. They need the information. It was stupid of their parents to keep them out of Sex-Ed. Do you know that two girls in my church got pregnant about three years ago and basically were clueless about everything until it was too late?!”