Chapter 1

“Barb’s having a birthday party,” Linda said. She always made a big deal about the advantages her 2 years gave her. Some of those advantages were real. The birthday party of her new ‘best friend’ wasn’t.

“Yeah? I know. You’re invited. I’m not. Whoopdeedoo.”

“Wrong, Craig! We’re both invited.”

“And how did this happen? Why do I think it’s something that works for your good, but you’re going to try to sell to me?”

“Well, it more works to Barb’s good. She wants a party of couples, but her little sister has to come. So, you get an invitation to the party and a date.”

“Little sister? How little?”

“She’s not that little. She’s in 8th grade.”

“She’s in junior high. Even though it pains you to admit it, I’m in high school. There’s a difference, as you told me a million times last year.”

“Yeah. But look at the advantages you get. You get to party with juniors. You get a date. You get juniors seeing that you have a date.”

“I have to buy a gift for a stuck-up witch who sneers at me whenever she sees me.” Linda would tell on him if he used the B word. She knew what he meant by ‘witch,’ but she never reported his using it. “I miss 2 good shows on TV.”

“Well, your showing up is really a gift for her. I’ll get you something to give her, but you have to wrap it. Think of it this way; a favor for Barb is a favor for Tom. He’ll see you there, and he’ll know why. You want a Junior boy who will speak to you in the halls, don’t you?”

Finally, he went. He expected them to play spin the bottle, and he had never kissed a girl with enough tits to touch his chest while they were kissing. They didn’t play any games; they just danced. He expected Barb’s little sister to be copy of Barb, a young snot. It wasn’t like that at all. Sandy was nice. She knew he was in high school, and suddenly he was the older and more experienced person.

Sandy could do the twist, but the juniors wanted to hold their dates close, and few of the records could accompany the twist. He could do slow dances, the only advantage of having Linda as a sister, and he tried to get Sandy to dance one with him, but she was nervous around the better dancers. The cookies and Kool-Aid were good, and they mostly sat or stood talking and munching. She asked about high school, and he told her. They had Linda and Barb in common. Not only was her big sister like his big sister, both girls were in both houses enough that Linda had snubbed Sandy just like Barb had snubbed him. Not all their opinions were alike, though.

“I like the way your sister is wearing her hair now,” Sandy said. Linda tried, not very successfully, to ape Mrs. Kennedy in all ways. She would have loved to have the dress budget, but she knew that Dad would never think of it.

“You do?” She had surprised him. “Every girl is wearing her hair like Mrs. Kennedy these days. Even one of my teachers. Linda looks more like her than she does like Jackie.” Well, it was getting time to go. Linda had paid for the present, but she had made it very clear that Larry was going to drive her home and that Craig had to walk home before they started. He hadn’t argued. He had expected to be eager to leave the party early. With Sandy being good company, he was less eager to leave, but he had promised.

Then “Honey Bee” by the Cameron sisters started playing. Sandy started swaying to it. This was a good tune to leave on, and it was especially danceable.

“Come on,” he said to Sandy. “There’s nothing to it. Try dancing to this one. I’ll have to go soon; I promised Linda.”

She got up, and he led her to a place on the floor where there was some space. She knew enough about dancing to get into the right position. When he led off, she tried to follow the steps instead of his lead. Soon, though, she got the idea of following a lead. She wasn’t as bad as she had said she was, and he liked having her in his arms.

“Want to walk me out?” he asked when the tune ended. He made his polite goodbyes to Barb and to Mrs. Jackson. Sandy walked him out of the door.

“This really has been fun,” he told Sandy. “Much more fun than I expected.” She was just standing there. So, he kissed her. She didn’t hold him or anything, but she did kiss him back. He let go before she pushed. “Goodbye, Sandy,” he said. “Thanks for making this a fun evening.” He walked away.

Sandy was a good kid. Still, she was a kid, in junior high while he was in high school. Debbie was his usual date if not his steady. Her parents wouldn’t allow that, and his probably wouldn’t have -- if they had been asked -- either.

Deb was very self-conscious about her tits, though they weren’t big enough to deserve that much thought. She carried her books to hide them when she was in the hall. She bent forward to accept his kiss at the end of every date, moving her chest a long distance from his. They had one parent watching the kiss, and he could understand. He did remember, though, that little Sandy had kissed him back. Deb just stood there and let him kiss her.

When summer came, he didn’t see Deb much. Mostly, he ran with the guys. There were lots of basketball courts in the park, and his crowd could generally get a hoop. Occasionally, bigger kids chased them off so that those guys could play on the full court. Most of the time, though, one group got one hoop and the other got the other hoop. He got the ball in a decent share of the times he got one off, but he was neither as tall nor as heavy as some of the others in his grade. That gave him trouble on defense. He was growing, though, and -- while Mom complained about the way he went through clothes -- he was glad.

Back in school, he and Deb dated again, but something was missing. He saw kids who couldn’t get enough of each other’s company, kids who held hands and touched other ways so that teachers were always on their case. Deb didn’t want to be that close, and -- what was more worrisome -- he didn’t want very much to be that close. Sure, he still wanted a feel of her tits, but that was wanting a feel of tits. Holding her hand didn’t give him any particular charge.

Driver’s Ed was given in two two-period sessions. He would have Plane Geometry or Chemistry in conflict with one of those sessions. It didn’t matter now, but it would matter in the fourth marking period after he was sixteen. He figured on dropping one of the courses -- Plane Geometry for choice; it didn’t seem to make sense -- right now. He’d have to take something else that didn’t conflict, and starting at the beginning of the year in that course made sense. He mentioned this to Dad.

“You can’t drop either one. You’re going to go to college, and you’re better at science. You don’t want to take shop or some dropout course.” Dad was making good money without a degree, but Craig had to fulfill Dad’s ambitions.

“But I have to take Driver’s Ed this year. I’m going to be sixteen in March.” The books had Lincoln freeing the slaves, but all his friends agreed that it was really Ford who had done the job.

“You don’t have to take Driver’s Ed. You have the rest of your school time to learn to drive.” Dad kept insisting that he had been a teenager once. The tooth-fairy story was more believable.

“Yeah. Right! So, I have to flunk the course instead of dropping it. Well, I think I could manage that.” That was his weapon. Dad and Mom cared more about his grades than he did.

“I didn’t take Driver’s Ed. Your grandfather taught me. Tell you what, pass all your courses up until then, and I’ll teach you myself. And you won’t have to wait ‘til the fourth marking period. Get your learner’s permit when you turn sixteen, and I’ll start the next Saturday.” That was a deal, and he agreed.

Early in the school year, he again saw the little girl who had kissed him back. He shouldn’t have been surprised, though he was. She’d been a year behind him, and he was now in 10th grade. Sandy -- her name was ‘Sandy.’

“Sandy?” he called. She looked around, but she looked puzzled. And a teacher on hall duty looked at him as though she planned to complain about the noise he’d made. He went up to Sandy before speaking again.

“I’m Craig. Linda’s brother. We met at your sister’s birthday party.”

“Of course.”

“So now, you’re here. Where you heading?”

“Biology, and...” While he was two doors down from English class, biology was taught in the lab, which was down the stairs.

“Yeah. See you around.” And they went their ways. Well, she was a good kid, and he kept his eyes out for her when he was going from History to English. He spoke or waved when he saw her.

Deb was getting to be harder to deal with. She wanted more attention from him, but she seemed to enjoy his attention less. They didn’t get all that much time to talk. Her lunch was the period before his, and they only spoke for a moment before she had to get to class. Also, Deb had to take the bus, and hers was one of the first buses to leave after school. Both of them were limited as to their phone time, and some days Deb had used up her time talking to her girlfriends before he could get her on the phone.

He owed Sandy nothing, and she knew that. She never asked why he didn’t pay her more attention. She might be a little kid, but she was a good little kid. He started going out the Garret Avenue door like she did after school in fair weather. It was a little farther to walk but not all that much. She had some of the teachers he had had last year, and Mrs. Thomas for English. He had Mrs. Thomas this year, too. He could tell her a few things about how those classes operated, and she respected his knowledge.

They took to walking one block south before he turned right. She usually turned left then, but she could have walked straight ‘til she came to her own street.

He’d always been good in math. He’d made 2 A s and 2 B s in his marking periods in Algebra. Plane Geometry threw him for a loop at first. If it didn’t have any numbers in it, why was it a math course? Finally, he started to get the hang of it. Mostly, you were proving 2 triangles congruent. That was mostly the way you did anything else. So, the first thing you needed to know was: what were the triangles that you had to prove congruent? After that, it went easier. He got an A on his 2nd test.

If Geometry was hard to understand, Deb was impossible. One Friday, she wasn’t anywhere he could see in the lunch room when he got there. He waited by the door until a teacher in the hall started to walk over to him. When he went in, she still wasn’t anywhere to be seen. He decided to try to get to her after school. He went out her entrance, and she was there, but she was talking to Barry. He hadn’t known that Barry rode a bus. Indeed, when Barry finally broke off, he went back into the hallway instead of toward a bus.

“Deb!” She was walking toward her bus, even though she had seen him. He ran to catch up with her.

“I don’t want to miss my ride.” She didn’t need to worry. The driver wasn’t even by the door.

“Well, what have I done”

“Nothing. That’s just it.”

“Are we going to the dance in a week?” He hadn’t asked her yet, and her mom thought asking late was impolite. Maybe, they could talk at the dance.

“I am. I don’t know about you. Barry just asked me.”

“But what am I going to do?” She was his date. It might not be the hottest romance in the class, but it was their romance.

“I don’t know, and I don’t care. Wash your hair.” That was silly, he had a crew cut, and he washed it every time he took a shower. “Ask that bratty 9th-grader you’re always hanging around with, you’re as much a baby as she is.” The last sentence was said while she was climbing into the bus.

He fumed while he went through the school and out his entrance. The air was cold, but he felt hot most of the way home. Okay, he wasn’t the coolest kid in the 10th grade, but Barry! Deb had dumped him for Barry. The guy had pimples on his pimples, and he was lucky to even hit the rim. And what was Craig going to do without Deb?

Well, despite her nasty way of saying it, she’d suggested Sandy. Sandy might be young, but she was nice -- one hell of a lot nicer than Deb was. Besides, Debbie had been demanding, and he didn’t think Sandy would be. Still ... He thought until he heard Linda come in the door. He caught her on the way to her room.

“You know Barb’s phone number?”

“Yeah. She doesn’t need you bothering her.”

“Well, I thought I might call her sister, Sandy.”

“Jeez! You’ve really stopped pretending. When I got you a date with Sandy, you complained that she was too young for a big, grown-up, high-school student like you. Now, you want to talk to her. You’re admitting that you’re a baby just like her.”

“Well, in case you hadn’t noticed, Sandy is in high school now. And, I did go to Barb’s party and dance with her, and that was a favor to you. So, what does it cost you to tell me?” Linda told him. Even so, he spent another ten minutes working up his nerve. Inviting a freshman was no big sweat; getting turned down by one would be. Well, Sandy had always been nice. He didn’t think she would be impolite turning him down. Still, they would both know. So, it turned out, would Barb. She answered the phone.

“Barb? This is Craig, Linda’s brother. May I speak to Sandy, please?” There was a click of the phone being set on something.

“Sandy! For you. Keep it short. I’m expecting a call from Mary.” This was far away, but quite loud. A minute later, he heard Sandy’s voice.

“Hi.”

“Hi, Sandy, this is Craig Schmidt.”

“Oh! Hi Craig.” She sounded happy to hear from him.

“You know there is a sock hop a week from tonight?”

“Yeah?”

“Would you like to go with me?”

“Oh, Craig, that would be great ... I mean yes.” Well, he didn’t think she’d meant no. So, that was settled. That night, at dinner, he got Dad to agree to drive them.

“What time?” Dad asked.

“Well, the dance starts at 7:00. 6:45? That should do it.”

“Um? Is this your first date with this girl?”

“Sort of.” After all, he’d been her date for her sister’s birthday party.

“Well, I expect any guy taking out Linda for the first time to talk with me first. So, we should expect to leave earlier.”

“Well, she didn’t say.”

“She another 10th grader, right?”

“9th.”

“He’s robbing the cradle,” said Linda.

“Well, expect to talk with her father.” Dad was ignoring Linda. Craig wished he could ignore Linda, too, but it never worked for him.

Sunday, though, the news was much worse. Sandy called him. Linda wasn’t the only one thinking that he was robbing the cradle. Sandy’s parents wouldn’t let her go with him. And her mom had been so nice at the birthday party, too. Well, at least they weren’t saying anything about him. They wouldn’t let her date until she was fifteen.

“Will you be at the dance?” he asked. Suddenly, it was important that he dance with Sandy.

“I think so. I don’t want to ask just now. I’ve been pushing too hard on this one.” Which sounded like she wanted to dance with him, too. Maybe, though, she only wanted a date.

“Well, that might be for the best.” Really, he wanted to be Sandy’s friend, not necessarily her boyfriend. She was a good kid, but she was still a kid. So, he went stag to the sock hop. Sandy, however, did show up.

“You made it,” he said. They talked for a bit, and a fast song came on. He led her out to the dance floor, and she moved well. The song after that was Honey Bee.

“You can do this one,” he said. She’d danced it already in his arms. “Want to try?” She not only tried; she succeeded. She danced better than she had, but that wasn’t all that had changed. When he held her against him, he felt two soft pressures against his chest. Her tits were even smaller than Deb’s, but she didn’t mind his chest touching them.

They took a break and drank some punch. She was a good dancer, and he told her so. He talked with some of the guys, and then danced with a couple of classmates, neither of them a friend of Deb’s. He came back to Sandy for the last dance. It was Blue Velvet. As he didn’t have a date, he’d told Dad that he could walk home.

He sometimes spoke with Sandy when he saw her in school, sometimes just waved. She was cool and didn’t come over to bug him when he waved. The girls outside Deb’s circle had decided he wasn’t that awful; he danced with several at the next sock hop. He talked with the guys, too, but that isn’t why you came to dances. He saw Sandy toward the middle of the evening and had a dance with her. Then he talked with her for a bit. He came back for the last dance.

He began treating Sandy as his almost-date at the sock hops. For one thing, the girls thought that most of the guys who came stag were losers. When he could talk or dance with Sandy any time he wanted, he didn’t look like he’d come stag. For another, she was nice to be with. He danced the first dance or the first two dances, got her some punch, danced the last dance with her. Some of the guys teased him about robbing the cradle, but she was obviously a nice girl.

All the guys wanted to cop a feel, but the girls who would let you exacted dates to the dances as their price. (So did the girls who would put out, if you believed some of the guys. But Craig didn’t believe any of the stories his classmates told about scoring. He wasn’t even sure about the seniors.) Dating a nice girl meant that you weren’t getting any of that, but it meant that you weren’t buying anything, either.

Once, he saw Sandy dancing with Charlie Delray. He felt a twinge at seeing that and thought about warning her. Delray was a sleaze. He’d seen him on the basketball court, although he was a 9th grader. He was all mouth and no moves -- a foul mouth, too. What he felt wasn’t jealousy. Sandy was his friend, and he felt protective of her, almost brotherly.

Then Sandy invited him to her birthday party. She’d told him that she couldn’t date until she was fifteen, and this was her fifteenth birthday. Linda was some help in selecting the gift, a charm bracelet. Aside from Barb and her Tom, everyone else who was there when he got there on Friday night was in the 9th grade. Sandy was busy the whole time, too busy to talk with him much, and he really didn’t know anybody else except Barb. Barb only wanted to talk with Tom, and he didn’t want to talk with her either. He did get to dance with Sandy, though, and he also danced with two other freshmen. Neither was any fun; they threw themselves around in the dances, but didn’t seem to be dancing with him. He spent most of his time when she wasn’t available for dances watching her enjoy herself. He stayed to the end, and Sandy walked him out.

“I had a great time.” Oddly enough, it was true. Watching her be the center of attention was fun for him. When he reached to kiss her, she came into his arms. This kiss was grand, and he felt her press against him -- felt her press her tits against him. “I owe you fourteen more,” he said, but she stepped back. It didn’t feel like rejection. Indeed, it felt like she had enjoyed the kiss. Anyway, he was getting a hardon, and he didn’t want her to notice it.

“So,” he asked, “you’re fifteen now. Will your mom and dad let you go on dates?”

“They ought to,” she answered. “Still, I haven’t asked them.” Well, no. She had to get the party out of the way first.

“Well, you know how to get their agreement. Asking too soon might not be the best way.”

He went out her exit that Monday, and she was still happy. She didn’t tell him whether she was allowed to date now, and he didn’t ask her for one. Really, did he want her for a girlfriend? He wanted her for a friend -- he had her for a friend -- and she was a girl. Well, he also wanted more of those kisses. He wanted to feel those tits with something more than his chest, although he didn’t know when he could. He didn’t want another buddy; he had enough buddies. He seemed to want her for a girlfriend.