Clarity of Focus

Penelope was a senior. Brodie a year behind. He knew that as far as she was concerned, he might as well have been invisible. He also knew it was a bad idea, their families sharing a vacation cottage at the shore. If only his parents and her parents hadn’t been best friends since college. So he was stuck without his friends, nothing fun to do, and having to sleep on the living room couch. No privacy. No internet. Nothing.

The first day Penelope and Brodie exchanged nary a word. The second morning their parents shooed them out of the house. At the beach they headed in opposite directions. No question Penelope was hot, Brodie knew. So hot! For all the good it did him. In his fantasies, though, it was a totally different story. Especially after the special powers kicked in. The Clarity of Focus.

On the walk back their paths crossed. Pretending to be coolly disinterested, Brodie strolled past Penelope. Surreptitiously he employed The Clarity of Focus.

Bingo!

What Brodie didn’t realize at the time was that Clarity of Focus is a two-way street.

Tummy Ache

Later that afternoon everyone was going for ice cream. Brodie begged off. “Got kinda a tummy ache,” he said. “Maybe you could bring me something back?”

“Like that’s going to happen,” his mom said.

“What’s your favorite flavor?” Penelope asked. The first words she’d ever spoken to him.

“Um, vanilla I guess,” he mumbled.

“Got yuh,” she said, and she gave him a smile which he couldn’t quite interpret.

As soon as they left, Brodie hustled into Penelope’s room. He wasn’t sure why; he just knew he wanted to, and this might be his only chance. Her bed was made, but not very well. She slept there, he said to himself. Maybe naked. Maybe she even touched herself. Did girls do that? Maybe she even touched herself until she...? Could it be possible she was thinking of him while she did it?

All completely unlikely, he knew, but a moment later he was naked, lying on her bed, erection in hand. He pictured her touching herself. He tried to imagine the sounds of her excitement. He closed his eyes as his own excitement grew. The vision that came to him was Penelope standing at the bedside watching him, that peculiar smile on her face. He didn’t know what it meant, but it didn’t matter. He was about to ... And there she was! Just as he’d envisioned. And he couldn’t stop even if he’d wanted to.