Chapter 20

On Thursday, in the afternoon following school, Jennifer and her daughter, Haley, pulled up to the huge home of Dean and Andrea Steadman.

“Wow, Mom!” said Haley in wonder at the magnificence of the place. “This place is awesome! And you know these folks?”

“Well, Mr. Steadman is one of the executives where I work. He does the same level of executive oversight work as my boss, Mr. Pittman,” Jennifer said. She was not quite as awed by the grand expanse of the large house. She had been to Jan and Brad Pittman’s new house a couple of times, and had already done the bug-eyed envious stare at all the large houses in the development during her first time out to Riverside Estates months earlier; so, she could play it reasonably cool this trip.

“Oh! I really do like Mr. and Mrs. Pittman,” Haley gushed. “After all, they gave us the house we are in now, and this car; and...” At the knowing grin from her mother, Haley realized she was babbling.

“And, I guess that I am just stating the obvious; huh, Mom?” Haley asked with embarrassment.

“That’s okay; I still get goosebumps when I think about all the Pittmans have done for us,” Jennifer said with sincerity. “And, now, Jan ... Mrs. Pittman has arranged for Mrs. Steadman to help me out ... and you as well... , “ Haley frowned a bit, as she was still not too clear as to why they were her this afternoon, “ ... with a situation that needs to be addressed; and soon!”

“What... ?” Haley began, but Jennifer simply held up a hand.

“They are going to help us to develop an appropriate method of dealing with that subject that you and I were discussing this past weekend. You remember, when you told me that prom is coming up soon?”

Haley’s eyes widened a bit as she looked silently at her mother for a second. She remembered the discussion days earlier, when she had broached the subject with her mother once again about choosing a boy with whom she might want to lose her virginity; and that using the occasion of the prom would be the perfect occasion; especially with the hotel room reservations that Ginger Whatley’s mom had made for some of the girls on the softball team.

The discussion between Haley and Jennifer had eventually become tense at times and, with neither coming up with a reasoned and agreeable resolution to the situation, Jennifer had told Haley that they would need to table the discussion until after they had cooled down. But Jennifer had assured Haley that they would bring it up again and resolve it once and for all very soon. Haley had not been too happy, but Connor had come home at that point, and she had not wanted her still-a-bit-dorky brother to overhear her and her mother speaking about such a delicate subject.

Now, before Haley could say anything else, Jennifer had already turned into the drive, and held up her hand once again.

“Let’s get inside before you start with any more questions,” Jennifer said. “I have been given the assurance from Jan Pittman and Andrea Steadman that they will be able to answer any questions that you and I might have. And they are connected to some folks who can help us out in ways that are not commonly available to most people in our situation.”

“But...” Haley began, despite Jennifer’s admonition as they climbed out of the car.

“Honey ... just be patient for a few more minutes!” Jennifer insisted gently as they approached the front door.

Almost as soon as Jennifer rang the doorbell, it opened and a beautiful early-twenty-ish woman with light brown hair beamed a smile at both of them.

“Hey! Welcome! I’m April, Andrea’s housekeeper; you must be Jennifer and Haley!” the young woman gushed and shook their hands, evidently very pleased to see the visitors to the Steadman home. “Please, come on in; we are all in the den.”

Haley tried her best to resist giving off the aura of a tourist, but her head kept swiveling around as she took in the size and beauty of the mansion they had entered as she and her mother followed April farther into the interior rooms.

“Hey, come on in!” said a very beautiful twenty-something-looking blonde woman who stood and walked toward them, reaching out to hug Jennifer.

“Andrea,” Jennifer said after the brief hug, “this is my daughter, Haley. Haley, this is Mrs. Steadman.”

“How do you do, Mrs. Steadman,” said Haley formally, extending her hand as she had been trained by her mother for just this type of meeting.

To Haley’s surprise, the blonde woman moved to her and hugged her as she had her mother and said, “Oh, Honey, please call me ‘Andrea’ or ‘Andi’. After all, I am only seventeen; just a little older than you are!”

Haley was floored!

This classy-looking woman who gave off the image of someone many years older than Haley was trying to tell her that she was actually only two years older. AND, somehow, she was already married; AND to an executive at her mom’s place of work! AND, she owned this magnificent house!

“What... ?” said Haley, stopping in embarrassment and now struck speechless.

“Hey, hey; don’t get all uptight on me, Honey,” said Andrea to Haley as she led the girl and her mother farther into the den. Seated there when they had arrived, and now rising to stand, were a smiling Jan Pittman and a nicely-dressed and smiling teen maybe a year or two older than Haley.

Andrea continued, “I believe that you both know Jan Pittman.” Both Jennifer and Haley looked over at their smiling benefactor, returned her warm smile, and accepted Jan’s greeting, along with a hug and kiss on the cheek for each of them.

“And you have already met my good friend and housekeeper, April,” Andrea said, reaching out to hug the woman who had met them at the front door. Both of them nodded to April, while Haley wondered at the appropriateness of this blatant act of physical and friendly casual contact Andrea was exerting toward her employee, as she tried to contemplate the reference to April as a ‘good friend’ as well as housekeeper.

“Now, please allow me to introduce my good friend, and a classmate of mine at Middlebury College, Deirdre Rivers; or Dee.”

The lovely brown-haired college student had already stood; and now she came over to offer her hand, saying, “I already met you at Mom and Mo Daddy’s wedding last spring, Miz Crandall; and it is a pleasure to see you again. And, Haley, I am very glad to make your acquaintance as well.”

Neither Jennifer nor Haley made any comments about the soft southern vowels in Dee’s speech patterns. They simply smiled and shook her hand, each in turn.

Andrea said, “Dee and I became friends at Middlebury because of our mutual association early on in our freshman year with a ... well ... a somewhat unique social organization. And that association is what led us to be such good friends and confidants.” Seeing Haley indicate that she had heard and understood, Andrea continued.

“Jennifer, why don’t you and Jan join April and me in the kitchen for some coffee? Haley, I am sure that you and Dee might feel more comfortable speaking to each other out on the back patio, while I keep your mother entertained for a while.” Turning again to Dee, Andrea said, “Is that okay with you, Dee, Honey?”

“Yeah, Andi,” Dee answered, extending a hand in a gesture toward the French doors leading out the back patio and beginning to move in that direction. “I think that might be best.”

Haley looked at her mother – still not too certain as to what all the mystery was about with this Middlebury College student, Dee Rivers, and with Mrs. Andrea Steadman – Andi?

Jennifer, though still not one-hundred-percent sure about all of this, felt that she needed to give this a try, at least. She sent an encouraging smile in her daughter’s direction and nodded. Haley took a deep breath and walked outside, following beside and slightly behind Dee.

“Okay,” Dee said, once they had reached the patio furniture beside the Steadmans’ in-ground pool; definitely a sign of wealth, due to the blasting that would have been involved with digging out the hole for such a pool in the solid rock layer beginning just inches below the topsoil layer in most of this part of Vermont, and causing others simply to have above-ground pools and raised pool deck platforms.

“So, tell me what you really want to accomplish with all this,” Dee continued.

Haley, now irritated, frowned at the very pretty brown-haired college coed and said, “Hey! I don’t really know why my mom brought me out here today to introduce all of you folks into my ... situation! I don’t know why we are here at this ... this mansion; and I have no real idea why everyone seems to believe that I need to talk with some girl from college that I haven’t known for longer than five minutes about something that is very personal between my mom and me. I mean...”

Suddenly, Haley was overcome with the emotional weight of everything, and she turned away to attempt to hide the tears of embarrassment and frustration that had welled up in her eyes.

Dee grabbed her gently but quickly before Haley could hurry back inside and escape the coming conversation.

“Hey, Sugah,” Dee said softly to Haley as she hugged her gently and turned her back around to face her. “I was right where you were just about three years ago. And I know just about eggs-ZACK-lee how y’all feel raht now. We are going to talk about sex here. So, let’s us girls just sit and talk a bit; and then we will see about what to do next. Whaddaya say?”

Haley began to calm a bit, impressed that Dee sounded firm and confident, yet sincere; even if Haley’s unfamiliarity with hearing Dee’s soft North Carolina accent here in Vermont also amused the younger teen just a tiny bit, causing her to smile slightly, despite her overall unease.

After a brief amount of small talk, Dee finally got Haley to open up on the subject at hand, if somewhat tentatively at first. Then, for the next hour, Haley and Dee discussed Haley’s desire to lose her virginity – and soon!

Haley approached the whole issue of her initial foray into sexual intercourse from a mechanical perspective – she just wanted it over and done. Dee smiled and nodded her understanding of Haley’s frustration and impatience with getting past what the younger girl perceived to be a hurdle in her life; that of finally ‘doing the deed.’

“Haley,” Dee said in response, “I have one thing that I want you to remember before I make any sort of recommendation to you about how to handle this particular situation. Okay?”

Haley nodded and was about to say something, but she held her tongue as Dee took a breath to continue.

“Okay,” Dee said, “first of all, I want you to remember this phrase for me – ‘Take the long view.’ Now, say that for me.”

Haley rolled her eyes and parroted, “Take the long view.”

Dee smiled at the dubious look that Haley was giving her and continued. “What I mean by that is that sex, specifically full intercourse, changes things; a lot of things; physically, emotionally, and socially.”

For the next few minutes, Haley listened as Dee spoke of the types of changes that she meant by that statement. First, there was the physical change that resulted in the permanent loss of her hymen during the initial penetration; and the possible associated embarrassment that some girls felt with the resultant bleeding. Along with that sometimes came panic by the guy at seeing the girl bleed, and attempts to keep blood from getting on clothing or other surfaces in the proximity of the act – such as a parent’s car seat. This could definitely put a damper on the beauty of the moment that the couple expected during their joining.

Then there was the physical response from the guy. “A guy, during HIS first time,” said Dee, “more often than not ejaculates really early, causing him embarrassment in his initial sexual performance, and, once again, getting bodily fluid residue on clothing or other surfaces that could be embarrassing later.

“And don’t forget the physical repercussions of sexually transmitted disease. Keep this in mind if you plan to do it without protection with a guy who is not a virgin himself, but turns out to be a player. That type of guy is not particularly careful where he has stuck that thing, before or later,” Dee said, causing both of the girls to giggle, with Haley doing so nervously.

“And then, there is, of course, the physical possibility of pregnancy...” Dee began, but she stopped as she saw Haley make a startled move and raise her hand.

“Not going to happen!” Haley said emphatically. “After all, that’s how I got here in the first place. My mom got pregnant from her first time AND her second time by not being well-prepared. And, primarily because of that, I have been on the shot for almost two years now.”

Dee nodded and said, “That is all well and good, but remember that the shot is only ninety-nine percent effective – NOT one-hundred. So, you always have to be aware of where you are in your cycle whenever you consider having sex.

“So, you can see that your own physical well-being, and that of the boy, can be affected by all of this for the rest of your lives, if you are not careful,” Dee concluded. “That’s one aspect of what I mean when I say, ‘Take the long view.’”

“But, there is also the sentimental view,” Dee said with a shallow smile. “For the rest of your life, you will never forget the first guy you fucked.” Haley tried to repress her surprise at Dee’s blatant use of the EFF-word, as the older girl continued.

“That is also one more reason to take the long view of things into account before doing this. I sure wish I had; my recollection of my first time with a guy will always be one of the more humorous tales that I tell any grandchildren that I may be blessed to have; but only when they get old enough.” Here, she chuckled. Haley smiled politely, completely missing the reference to the term, ‘with a guy.’

Dee went on to talk with Haley about the emotional side of sex, from the anticipation, to the preparation, and on to the wonderful surge during the act. “And, don’t forget the emotions of the aftermath,” she said at last.

Haley frowned at this, and Dee went on. “If you have the time afterward, and if the guy is really a considerate lover – UN-like my asshole first guy, you will need to cuddle for a while and just hold each other. This is true, if simply out of respect for each other, and for generating good memories for later. But this will also allow your brain to experience the secretion of the hormone called oxytocin. In fact, they actually refer to it as the ‘cuddle hormone.’

“And the downside to this is that oxytocin can also cause feelings of deep euphoria that could lead you or the guy to believe that this was more than just a one-night stand, or what may be simply the prelude to a couple of repeats before you leave high school. You might mistakenly believe this to be,” here Dee did the finger-quotes-in-the-air thing, “true luvvv!” saying the last with a sarcastic tone in her voice.

“Honey,” Dee said when Haley stopped her brief snicker, “too many girls – and actually more guys than girls – misread the feelings after the first time as just that – true love; when, in fact, that kind of commitment is not really there; especially during high school years.

“And, from that misreading of the meaning of the moment, they get themselves into feelings and even relationships that they are not really ready for and that can prove to be disastrous later. That’s another example of not taking the long view emotionally.”