Chapter 1: The Meeting

I pulled into Blainesville, Idaho late on a Saturday night. It had been a long grueling drive on the winding mountain road from Stanley, where I had spent the night in a motel. The blizzard that had blown up at noontime had made the trip along the winding mountain road nearly impossible but, being a teenager and having a good 4X4, I didn't have the sense to stop.

I pulled into my new home, about a half mile out of town and wondered at the absence of my father's car. I had been following him and the moving van from Chicago but, with his permission, had taken a detour for a couple of days to do some sightseeing in Montana and Wyoming.

I walked to the front door of my new house and found it unlocked. Inside, on the kitchen table, I found the keys to the house and a note from my father explaining that he had had to leave on a sales trip to New York and would try to return in a few months. The way he worded the note made me pretty sure I would never see him again. Oh well, nothing had changed there. Maybe if Dad had been around more when we lived in Chicago, the tragedy that had forced us to flee wouldn't have happened. The simple fact was that he didn't give a shit about me or anyone else. Never had, never would.

The note went on to explain that he had set up a trust fund that would pay me a generous monthly stipend. I was registered at the local high school and was expected to show up for class Monday morning.

With a sound curse at my dead-beat dad, I got up and looked around. The kitchen at least was well stocked with food. I made myself a mountainous sandwich and toured the rest of the three bedroom house. All our furniture had been moved in. I decided that since I would be the only one living here, I may as well claim the master bedroom for my own. I climbed into the double bed and fell asleep with white line fever.

I decided to walk the half mile from my home on the outskirts of town to school for my first day of classes. Big Mistake. The snow-removal equipment had been working all day and night, leaving the road at the bottom of a canyon of snow ten feet deep. A frigid wind whipped up the canyon, whipping the snow into near white-out conditions. As the tiny snow crystals sand-blasted my face I wondered what had possessed dad to set me up here. Why this god-forsaken hole in the wall town in the middle of nowhere? Calling it a town was giving it too much credit, it was nothing but a couple of bars, a gas station and a store in the middle of the desert. The desert this community was located in was like nothing I had ever seen. For a hundred miles to the east, west and south there was nothing, not a tree, not a blade of grass. The entire central valley of Idaho is covered with a layer of lava hundreds, if not thousands of feet thick. I wondered not just why anybody would live here, but how anybody could.

After a half-dozen steps through that Nordic Hell, I went back to my house and got my truck.

I walked into the school office, was greeted warmly by the principal and she assured me that there was no problem with my enrollment. When I left the office, I looked around and my spirits rose a little. The building was filled with female humans. Warm succulent teen-aged females with pert, bouncing asses, firm proud titties, long luscious legs. I realized that these teen-aged female humans were my new peer group. As I stared around me, I vowed that I would no longer be the loser-geek-social outcast I had been in Chicago. I would be the captain of the football team, the king of the hill, the alpha male. I would dip my wick in every one of these beauties before the year was out. Find 'em, feel 'em, fuck 'em, forget 'em would be my motto. Why not? What could the losers in this small town have that could compete with me? I was sophisticated, I was from the big city.

By sheer force of will, I eradicated all trace of shyness from my mind. After all, what did I have to be shy about. I was the biggest fish in this tiny pond. I walked over to a group of what were obviously the top crowd in the school. The cheerleaders. I said, "Good morning, ladies, allow me to introduce myself..."

The hottest babe in the bunch, a cute little buxom thing with long blond hair and tits that would float a sunken battleship interrupted me, "Oh we know all about you. You're Kevin Greenville, the new kid. My name is Lucy Muffberger, these are..."

She went on to name the half dozen other delectable slabs of girl meat. I didn't bother too much remembering the names, I wouldn't need names when I had my cock buried in their flesh and after that, who cares?

I was brilliant that morning, if I do say so myself. All traces of my old geeky self were banished. I flirted with those girls outrageously and they loved it. The more outrageously bawdy I got with them, the more they giggled and flirted with me right back.

As I was talking to the girl flesh, I noticed another girl leaning against the wall on the other side of the room, staring at me. She was an ugly girl. Her hair was an unkempt, stringy, mousy brown color. Her skin was a sickly sallow, almost yellow. She wore a hideous brown dress that totally hid her shape from her head to her feet. Her face was hidden behind thick black-framed glasses.

Still, as she stood there staring at me, there was something about her that fascinated me. I wondered what her story was. I caught her eye and smiled at her. She turned and fled.

Several times that day, and every day, I saw the strange ugly girl I had noticed the first morning staring at me from a distance. In my mind I labeled her the ghost-girl. She'd gaze at me with a strange expression on her face that I couldn't decipher. When I looked at her she'd disappear.

I made the first move in my campaign to dip my wick that afternoon after school. I asked Lucy Muffberger out as school was letting out. She snorted in derision saying, "With YOU?"

I said "Sure with me, why not?"

"What the heck," she said, "I don't have anything better to do, I'll let you buy me a burger at Joe's."

We got in my truck and I drove the two blocks to Joe's Diner, the dingy greasy spoon that served as an after school hangout. It was as bad as it looked from the outside. The burgers were greasy and tasteless, the fries were soggy. The school kids had rap music playing on the jukebox loud enough that conversation was almost impossible. Lucy and I sat down in a booth, choked down our burgers and talked. I rapidly realized that I had nothing in common with her. Although undeniably decorative, she was a vapid, air-headed bitch and a vicious gossip. She spent the entire forty-five minutes that we were in the place ripping apart the people that were supposed to be her friends.

I did get some interesting information out of her though. At one point she told me, "I won't be going out with you again, Kevin. I have a boyfriend. I just came with you today because I was bored. He's in jail for some silly thing and I'm waiting for him to get out."

"What's he in jail for?"

"Oh, some stupid bitch claimed he tried to rape her. It's a lie. I know my Biffy would never do anything like that."

After that she returned to telling nasty lies about her best friends. When I couldn't take it any more, I drove her to her house about two miles out of town. I opened the pick-up door for her and walked her to her door. She said in her high pitched annoying voice, "Won't you come in Kevvy? Maybe we can mess around a little."

My little head was screaming, 'Yes, do it! I'll be inside her in five minutes!'

I overruled him with great difficulty. I just couldn't stand to be around this obnoxious creature any longer. I declined her offer graciously but I did want to leave her a little something to remember me by. I pulled her to me and brushed my lips across hers as soft as a butterfly's wings. As she started to respond I increased the pressure. I slowly pushed my tongue between her lips and gently rubbed it along her inner lips and then the back of her teeth and the roof of her mouth. She groaned as our tongues touched and her body relaxed against me. I thrust a leg between hers and ground it into her blue-jean clad crotch. I reached down and grabbed her rump with both hands. I rubbed each globe gently at first and then squeezed and kneaded them with increasing force, grinding her pubis against my leg. After a few minutes she was making soft moaning noises deep in her throat and hanging on to me for support. I broke off the kiss and said cheerily, as I walked away, "Good night, Lucy, it was fun. Maybe we'll do it again some time."

When I got home, my little head was thoroughly pissed at me. Mama thumb and her four daughters had to give him two hours worth of tender loving care before he would lie down and let me sleep. He never did forgive me for what I had done to him that day.

Over the next two weeks, I went out with five more girls from the top of the school's food chain with basically the same results. The were all a bunch of empty headed gossipy twits. My little head was terribly upset with me but I just couldn't bring myself to spend time with these girls. I left each one of them with a knee weakening kiss to remember me by and then left them on their doorstep.

After the last of these disasters, I sat at my desk at home and wondered what was wrong with me. I was sure that I could have had any one of those girls. Why wasn't I able to bring myself to take what I wanted so badly?

After thinking about it for a while, I realized that my priorities were all wrong. I didn't really want to shove my dick into everything that had a hole between its legs. I wanted a girl I could care for. A girl who could be a friend, a companion, a lover. I wanted a girl I could spend the rest of my life with.

I did some real soul-searching that night. What kind of a girl did I want? What qualities were I looking for? Beauty wasn't all that important. Especially not the shallow beauty of the girls I had been going out with. Their beauty depended on silicon, support garments and makeup. In ten years, they would probably look like their mothers--a bunch of fat ugly shrews if I ever saw one. No, personality was far more important. I wanted someone who was kind, gentle and funny. Someone who would lift her friends up, elevate them to a higher level rather than drag them through the muck like the alpha pack did. Above all, I wanted someone who was intelligent.

I thought I knew just the girl. Her name was Lisa Holbrooke. She was a strange girl. She didn't seem to have any friends and she only came to school two days every week. On the days she came to school, she worked alone in one of the school's laboratories. Although she didn't have the striking beauty of Lucy Muffberger and her ilk, she was by no means a dog. She was actually quite pretty in a nerdish, librarian kind of way. She was of medium height and build. It was hard to tell what her body looked like because she aways dressed for comfort and utility instead of for looks. She had shoulder length, dark brown hair and gray eyes.

The next day I saw her in school, I walked up to her and asked if she'd like to go out with me some time. Her answer was not entirely friendly. "What happened, you run out of bimbos in this school? Now you want to try out a geek?"

I decided a little humor was in order. I said, "Lisa, have you ever heard the saying that a man only has enough blood in his body to service one head at a time?"

She cracked a smile and chuckled. Encouraged, I went on. "There's more truth to that statement than I like to admit. Last night, you might say I came to my senses. I don't like those girls, that's why I only went out with them once. You on the other hand fascinate me. I'd like to get to know you, find out what you're doing in that lab all day. What do you say? Today's Friday. How about a little dinner and dancing in Arco?"

Arco was the closest town that was big enough to have a decent restaurant. It was seventy-five miles away. Lisa said, "All right. Why don't you pick me up about five. Do you know where I live?"

She went on to explain that she lived on a ranch about thirty mile out of town. Luckily it was in the right direction. When I knocked on her door and she answered it, I gasped. She had on a long white dress that displayed her form perfectly. And what a form. All the parts were there, perfectly proportioned. I said, "You sure do clean up nicely, Lisa. You're utterly lovely."

She gave me a quick smile and said, "You're not bad yourself."

I took her arm and walked her out to my pickup. I opened the door and helped her in. On the way into town, we talked. I quickly realized that she was the smartest person I had ever met. She was so smart it was almost scary. The reason she only came to school two days a week was because she was taking advanced classes in computer science and theoretical physics. Besides being brilliant, she was also rich. She had donated a considerable amount of lab equipment to the school in exchange for the right to use it whenever she wanted to.

She was nervous and ill at ease at first, but when she realized that I wasn't daunted by her brains or after her money, she began to relax and enjoy herself. We had a fine, romantic candlelit dinner and then stumbled around on the dance floor--neither one of us could dance worth a damn, but we enjoyed it nevertheless. After the long drive home, I walked her to her door, gave her a lingering kiss on her cheek and left. We were both looking forward to our next date.

We saw each other every day for two weeks. We quickly became close friends. I liked her a lot and I think she liked me just as much, but it quickly became clear to both of us that romance between us was not in the cards. When we kissed, there was no fire, no passion, no chemistry. We decided to just stay friends. Even to this day, I consider her the best friend I ever had.

After Lisa and I decided to remain friends, I decided that there weren't any girls in the small school I was really interested in. I already had enough credits to get my diploma. I decided to finish out the school year and then move on.

There was a mystery that was still puzzling me, though. It was the strange ugly girl that I had first seen on my first day of school when I was flirting with the bimbos. It seemed that everyplace I went, she was hiding in a corner, staring at me. Anytime I'd try to make eye contact with her, she'd disappear. In my mind, I dubbed her the ghost-girl.

One day, while Lisa and I were eating lunch together and asked about her. Lisa said, "Her name is Julianna Norton. She used to be my best friend. Her story is quite tragic, but I don't really want to tell you about it. You know, Kevin, I think you ought to ask her out."

I asked, "Why would I want to do that? And more to the point, how can I? Every time I look at her, she runs away."

Lisa asked, "What do you think about her?"

I answered, "I don't really know. There's something about her that just fascinates me. I feel strangely drawn to her, but there doesn't seem to be anything I can do about it."

She said, "That girl is my best friend, up until a few weeks ago, she was my only friend. She needs help and she needs it badly. I think you just might be the one that can get through to her. And don't let the way she looks put you off. There is more to her than meets the eye. I think you two have a lot to offer each other. Let me go try to talk to her."

Before I could answer, she got up and walked to a table across the room where the ghost-girl was eating alone. Lisa sat down and the two of them talked intently for several minutes. Suddenly, the ghost-girl leapt to her feet and went running out of the room, sobbing bitterly.

Lisa came back to my table and sat down. She said, "She loves you, Kevin. She loves you desperately and, after what she's been through, it terrifies her."

"Did she tell you that?"

"No, but I know her very well. I could see it in her eyes. You love her too, you know. I think that's the reason it didn't work out between the two of us."

"That's ridic..." I suddenly ground to a halt. I suddenly realized that Lisa just might be right. I couldn't deny that that girl fascinated me. I felt an almost irresistible force drawing me to her.

Lisa said, "You see? I'm right, aren't I?"

I said, "Lisa, I don't know. But I think I have to find out. I'll ask her out this afternoon after school."

I saw the ghost-girl again in my last period class. She was sitting in a back corner of the room with her head down.

Instead of taking my usual seat in the front of class, I sat in the back row where I could watch her surreptitiously.

I barely heard a word the teacher spoke in that class; I couldn't take my eyes off Julie. It was obvious that she had been crying from the streaks in heavily packed makeup. Her hair was ratty and a mousy brown color and her thick black framed glasses gave her a forbidding look. Her shapeless, plain dress gave no hint of the fine form underneath. Her expression was both hostile and tragic at the same time. As I watched her, I realized that there was something about her. She had a sublime beauty that she could not hide no matter how hard she tried.

She knew I was watching her. Every few minutes she turned to me but I quickly turned away so she wouldn't catch me. I'd tried to pay attention to class, or at least pretend to, but then I'd feel her eyes on me. I'd turn to look at her just to see her turning away quickly.

We played that barnyard game all through that long hour. Finally, near the end of class, we happened to turn to each other at the same instant. I quickly became lost in her deep, sky blue eyes and couldn't look away. After a long stare, her lips turned up and she gave me a smile. That smile transformed her into the most stunningly beautiful creature I had ever seen in my life. It lit up her face like the sun and everything else became dark. It burned its way into my soul and I was never able to get it out, not that I tried. Suddenly, she tore eyes away from mine, burst into tears, and fled out of the classroom, two minutes before the bell signaled the end of class.

I waited for her outside the building, hoping she hadn't left yet. When I saw her come out the door, she was walking in a daze, with a ghastly blank look on her face.

When I saw her coming I walked up to her cheerfully and said, "Julie, could I talk to you?"

Her glazed look disappeared to become one of outright hostility. She said, with a voice that could freeze helium, "And what, Mr. Greenville could you possibly have to say to me?"

This was the last thing I had expected after that smile she gave me in class. I stammered on though, "I-I w-w-was w-wondering if you m-might like t-to g-go out with me s-sometime."

"Why, pray tell, do you think I'd do that. Don't you think I've noticed you. Don't you think I've seen you go out with a different girl every night. Every slut and bimbo the school has to offer. You take them out, have your way with them and them dump them like a hot potato. Have you finished with them now and you've decided to take on the basket cases? I have news for you Mr. Greenville," she made the name sound like a curse. "I wouldn't go out with your God damned, worthless philandering ass if you were the last God damned son of a bitch on the face of the God damned planet."

As she was talking, I saw tears starting to form in her eyes. I forced down the anger her attack on me had roused and said very gently, "Miss, Norton, forget about those other girls. They are nothing. Less than nothing. There's not one of them who, if their brains were dynamite, could get up enough power to blow a small fart. You on the other hand are different. There's a depth to you, and a sublime beauty that you can't hide no matter how hard you try. I want to get to know you, Miss Norton... Julie. I think, by the way I've seen you looking at me, that you want to get to know me too. Won't you try? Won't you let me try?"