Chapter 3

It was often the custom for Jason, Becky, and friends to pile into a single car and go riding after church on Sunday nights. It wasn't the destination that was important. It was the ride, the time hanging out together. The only differences on this particular Sunday night were that Becky's cousin, Elizabeth, was visiting from Memphis and there was a gorgeous full moon high in the sky. A circle of youths, as usual, gathered in the church parking lot. Vicki, a usual participant, was missing. She had not been around much since her fight with Sarah.

"Where do you want to go tonight?" asked Bubba.

Jason answered, "I have an idea. Let's show Elizabeth the millpond. Ok, Becky? It will be beautiful with the full moon and all."

"Und, zee dark monsters vill be moving about," bellowed Bubba using his best Boris Karloff imitation.

"I don't know. All the girls have on skirts and church shoes-not really beach attire-and it will be really dark out there," Becky responded in her usual sensible manner. "Let's go see the late showing of that new movie, Dr. Strangelove, instead. I heard that it is a great flick."

"Come on Becks, Elizabeth needs to see the millpond before she goes back to the big, bad city. They may have big buildings and Elvis there, but they don't have... tah dah... the romantic millpond," argued Bubba.

"That sounds fun to me," said Elizabeth. In her dark eyes, Jason not only saw beauty, but also mischief. Most all the girls in this town had rosy pink complexions, but Elizabeth had dark, exotic, olive skin. She looked more like some of the exotic girls one might see in New Orleans. Her long, black hair flowed down her back, also unusual for girls in this town who most often sported shorter, teased hair that had been trained on giant rollers. Elizabeth also moved differently than local girls, almost cat-like. Her thin hips wiggled just a little more than the hometown girl's did. She walked more like one of those runway models that appeared on television.

"We want to go too," said Larry, another of Jason and Becky's friends who had just emerged from church with his girlfriend, Kate.

"The more, the merrier," said Jason. "We are there."

"Right on!" shouted Bubba.

"To the Bubba car and the millpond," responded Larry.

All six teens piled into Bubba's '57 Chevy, two comfortably in the front and four not as comfortably in the backseat. Elizabeth ended up sitting practically in Jason's lap, a circumstance to which he did not object in the least. To make room for her, Jason had to put his arm on the back of the seat... inches from Elizabeth's delicate shoulders. To Jason's surprise, Elizabeth snuggled up to him without hesitation and Jason allowed his arm to drop around Elizabeth's shoulders. To his surprise, Elizabeth did not seem to object at all. Her wonderful aroma filled Jason's consciousness.

This is terrific, fantastic, thought Jason. His dick responded in kind.

Larry and Kate occupied the other side of the small seat. They had been dating for a long time, so they settled into each other's space very quickly and easily. Kate wore a very short skirt. Her legs were not as trim and muscular as Becky's but they nonetheless caught Jason's eye. He noted in particular the curvature of her shapely calves.

In the front seat, Becky secretly fumed. Elizabeth should be up here with Bubba, she thought. It was in that telling instant that Becky realized that she was jealous of Elizabeth. It also was in that moment that Becky realized her fondness for Jason had moved to a whole new level. She wanted him to notice her in a brand new way-a romantic, sexual way. And she didn't like Elizabeth, cousin or not, moving in on her territory.

As the carload of teens sped past the city limits sign, Jason used the last available street light to check out the mystifying girl sitting close beside him. Elizabeth obviously was the sophisticated city girl. She dressed more elegantly than his friends, wore more make-up, and seemed to have it all together. Her dark, black hair framed her face in just the right way. Her dark olive complexion was flawless, except for a small mole on the right side of her upper lip. Her lips were just a little more full and prominent that most girls he knew. Whenever she spoke, Jason found himself staring at those pouty lips and that wonderful mole.

Their position in the back seat forced Elizabeth to sit with her legs elevated just a bit. This caused her short black skirt to ride up high on her dark legs. So far, she had made no attempt to pull her skirt back down. Jason breathed in the scent of her hair. He felt that familiar tingle in his groin. A quick glance down her blouse revealed soft, round orbs pushing over the tops of a black bra. Jason watched the little mole dance around on Elizabeth's lip. Without warning, his dick began to become troublesomely stiff.

God, please don't let me get a hard on right now, prayed Jason... to no avail. Jason was jarred back from his revelry when he realized that Elizabeth was talking to him.

"Tell me about this place where we are going," said Elizabeth. Her voice has deep and husky. Her eyes danced. She ran her tongue across her bright white teeth often while speaking. Her tongue came to a sharp point.

"Oh, it is just a place where we hang out. It should be pretty with the moon out and all."

"You will protect me, won't you?" sighed Elizabeth.

Jason thought he heard Becky coughing in the front seat.

"Sure," said Jason.

Another cough broke the silence.

Out of the corner of his eye Jason noted that Larry had nonchalantly put his hand on Kate's bare thigh. He inched his hand up Kate's leg until she stopped him at the bottom of her skirt. Kate took his hand and held it in hers all the while wearing a sly grin.

"Hmm," said Elizabeth quietly. She obviously had noticed Larry's maneuver also. She broke into a broad smile, turned, and winked knowingly at Jason.

Cold sweat popped out all over Jason. Deep down inside he realized that Elizabeth had enjoyed watching Larry's hand on Kate's leg. Would she stop me like that if I touched her, wondered Jason... or not? Would she like it... or would she get really mad?

Becky again broke the awkward silence, "Are you sure it won't be too dark out there to see anything? It's a long drive."

"Have no fear, my dear," said Bubba. "I have flashlights in the trunk, if we need them, and a big Coleman lantern. Be prepared is my motto. I have toilet paper too!"

Everyone laughed.

The full moon reflected directly in the center of the lake. The gentle moonlight was amazingly bright. One could easily move around with out a flashlight.

"This is great! Let's build a camp fire," said Elizabeth. She obviously liked being in this isolated place.

"It is summer," argued Becky, "do we need a fire?"

"We don't need one," said Elizabeth. "We want one!"

"Camp fire? No problem," said Bubba. In a moment, he had gathered more than enough branches and sticks for a nice fire.

"Oops, I'm not sure we have any matches," frowned Bubba.

"I have a lighter," said Elizabeth. She took a cigarette case from her purse and retrieved a lighter from a small pouch on the side.

Jason's eyebrows shot up. Almost no kids except the juvenile delinquents at school smoked in his little town. Certainly no "good" girl would do so. Another city versus country girl difference, he supposed.

Soon the fire was roaring. The heat forced the teens to move back a comfortable distance. The logs crackled and sputtered and the smell of a pinewood fire filled the night air. The teens kicked off their shoes. Bare feet in the cool sand felt great. All gathered in semicircle and seated themselves either on logs or on makeshift pallets-the floor mats from Bubba's car.

Jason ended up on a mat opposite Elizabeth. He started to sit beside her when he realized that the low log on which she sat caused her skirt to rise way up and her legs to part slightly. He quietly thought he would take a chance on getting a view under that little skirt by sitting away from her. The flickering flames illuminated Elizabeth's lovely legs. Jason was almost positive that he could see shiny black panties, but he was not absolutely sure.

In the midst of his musing, Kate found her place and plopped down rather ungracefully on a mat. There was no mistaking her revelation. A broad flash of white panties came into view as she sat down. Quickly she moved to adjust her skirt. In doing so, she lifted her skirt one last time to smooth it and provided yet another fine glimpse of white nylon. Jason looked quickly around to see if his voyeurism might have been detected. To his chagrin, he found Becky looking directly at him with a Mona Lisa-like expression. Jason had no idea what she was thinking.

"I have something to share... if you guys promise not to tell," said Elizabeth. "I think you will like it... a lot! But, you can't tell anyone. Ok?"

Reluctant agreement was expressed by the group.

"Ever had any of this?" Elizabeth produced a large, roll-your-own cigarette from her purse. "It is marijuana. It makes you feel great and it won't hurt you at all."

"Elizabeth, Aunt Bess would kill you if she knew you had that," exclaimed Becky.

"What Mom doesn't know won't hurt her... you have to promise not to rat on me, Rebecca! Promise, cross your heart and hope to die?"

"I won't tell," said Becky, "but I'm not so sure I can smoke. I mean, I don't know how to do it."

"It's easy," said Elizabeth. "I'll show you."

"This won't make me become insane or like go mad and become a serial killer or something, will it?" questioned Larry. "I heard that it might."

Elizabeth chose not to dignify that comment with a response.

A few instructional rounds exhausted the first reefer and Elizabeth supplied a second. The sweet aroma of marijuana mixed with the pine scent from the fire. Various members of the little group coughed their way through the learning process and soon the effects of the pot were apparent to everyone.

"This is good shit," said Jason trying to be cool. His head was spinning like never before. The fire seemed to cast off new and different colors, but Jason noted that he had a difficult time focusing on the phenomenon for very long.

"Smells like leaves burning in your alley," pondered Becky.

"I think I need to dance," said Kate. "Let's all dance!" She hopped up and began swaying to imaginary music. In working her way to standing position, she revealed her white panties again to most of the assembled group.

"I saw her little panties," giggled Bubba. He spoke much louder than he realized.

A look of significant shock came over Kate's face that caused Jason and Bubba to begin laughing uncontrollably.

"So! No big whoop!" said Kate continuing her dance. In sudden defiance, she flipped up the front of her skirt like a can-can dancer and flashed the laughing guys again, this time on purpose. Her white panties appeared orange in the glow of the crackling fire.

"Take that!" Kate sneered. She raised her arms and continued to move her hips like the Shindig dancers on television.

"Wow!" shouted Bubba through his tears of laughter. "I liked that! I liked that a lot!"

"So... let's see your underwear, Bubba," retorted Elizabeth. "Kate showed hers, so you show yours. Turn about is fair play."

"I have never known what "turn about is fair play" really means," remarked Jason to no one in particular. "If you analyze the words, they don't mean..." His words trailed off when he realized that he was talking only to himself.

"No, no, sweet thing," said Bubba, "you just want to have your way with me. God, I hate always being a sex object." Bubba flexed his muscular arms like a body builder posing.

With that the laughter started again. This time Becky joined in. Bubba laughed as well, but refused to let Elizabeth's comment go.

"If you want to see these skivvies, you'll have to work for it," said Bubba. "Too bad we don't have any cards for a little strip poker! I guess it will have to be... let's see... another game... another great test of mental excellence and playing skill like strip poker... ah... like spin the bottle... yeah, spin the bottle is good!"

"Spin the bottle... spin the bottle... spin the bottle!" Kate began to chant, and then she abruptly stopped in mid-dance. "How the fuck do you play "spin the bottle" anyway?"

Larry got the next case of the giggles. Kate's remark set him off. Soon the tears were rolling down his face.

"Kissing or stripping, that's the deal with spin the bottle," said Bubba. "You have to kiss whoever the spin lands on... or you have to take something off."

"Wah-hoo!" shouted Kate.

"Wait, wait, we can't play this, wait," said Becky while desperately trying to clear her head. Everyone looked her way and there was a deadly silence. Suddenly Becky burst into gales of laughter. She plopped down in the soft sand and continued to laugh out loud.

"Oops, saw your panties too, Beck," said Bubba.

"I know," Becky uttered between giggles. "Like 'em, big guy?" she finally asked.

"Not as much as you-know-what," answered Bubba.

"Shhhhhhhh," responded Becky with finger to lip. "Our secret," she said in a stage whisper. Her giggles returned.

"Here's a bottle," announced Larry. He produced an empty Southern Comfort bottle from the nearby bushes.

"Too bad that bottle is not full," said Elizabeth. She winked at Jason. With her wink, an aura seemed to appear around Elizabeth's head and everything seemed to slow down for Jason. The wink seemed to last for minutes. It jarred Jason all the way to his groin. He focused on Elizabeth's thick lips. Finally, Elizabeth noticed and waved her arms like a referee signaling time-out. Her wave broke Jason from his trance.

"Circle up," shouted Bubba. He smoothed out a spot in the dirt and gave the bottle a mighty spin. It landed on Kate.

Kate looked over at Larry who nodded, rolled his eyes, and then covered them with his hands. Given that tacit permission, Kate walked over to Bubba, swinging her hips exaggeratedly all the way. She licked her lips and planted a ferocious kiss complete with a large portion of tongue on Bubba. The crowd burst into wild applause.