Chapter 3: Love Fulfilled & Lost May,1985

May 1985 Senior Prom

The love between Courtney and Darryl had survived high school, as had their ultimate faith in their destiny together, but it had been a far greater challenge than either of them had anticipated. Darryl's parents had State Department careers that had at one time required frequent trips out of the country, causing him to stay at the lake house. More recently their promotions to administrative jobs had brought them home and eliminated the trips. Now Darryl was only able to come during the summer, and even that took the direct intervention of Grandma and Grandpa Kedrick, who were finally able to get his parents to understand that his relationship with Courtney was far more than a childhood crush.

It helped that Darryl was able to persuade his parents to invite Courtney for Christmas, and they found themselves captivated by the beautiful and talented young lady. So with support of parents and friends, the two were able to keep their love alive, even though they lived their high school years in different worlds. And that was no small challenge in the peer and social pressure- charged world of adolescent America.

The two had made no oath or claim on each other. In fact, they both bent over backwards to encourage each other to date and meet people. They both were popular and enjoyed a full social life. But the word was out that they were available for friendship only. Anyone who thought otherwise was gently but firmly disillusioned. Maybe they never gave anyone a fair chance, or perhaps no one ever measured up. Whatever happened, they remained true to each other. And true to that vision, voiced by Courtney, when, at age eight, she announced she was going to marry Darryl someday.

They had come of age together and were comfortable with their sexuality. One act remained unconsummated; they both were virgins. But they knew that they would be each other's first, in time, just as they would be married, in time. They had decided the Junior-Senior Prom was the perfect occasion. Darryl hadn't been able to come her junior year, so Courtney had decided to skip it rather than go with anyone else. This year Darryl, a straight A student, had arranged to take several exams early in order to attend. He would have to return for graduation, since he was valedictorian, but then he would drive back to have his car at the lake for the summer

As soon as everyone knew he was coming for Courtney's final prom, they all pitched in to make it perfect for her. Grandpa and Grandma Kedrick just happened to plan a trip out of town that weekend and asked Courtney if she would "housesit" for them. Courtney, who had a very honest relationship with her mother, simply went to her and told her what she wanted to do. Her mother, appreciative of her honesty and impressed with their restraint to wait this long, gave her blessing and permission to get birth control pills. They agreed not to share this information with her father, with whom she enjoyed a less open relationship.

Grandma Kedrick, Robyn, and Courtney got the house ready in every way. Grandma insisted that they use their upstairs bedroom with its view of the lake. Courtney tried to refuse, but Grandma wouldn't hear of it. She claimed that young love blessed everyone it touched. She and Grandpa also left a refrigerator well stocked with fruit and cheese and snacks and some champagne.

"Can you think of anything else you'll need?" asked Grandma.

"I can," said Robyn, "but I'm reasonably certain that Darryl will bring it with him."

"Other than that, I can't supply everything," laughed Grandma.

"What was your first time like, Grandma?" asked Courtney.

"Well, it wasn't quite as grand as this, but it was very nice. I had a fine, good-looking young man who loved me, and who has stood the test of time. I also had this lake, and we awoke to the same sun rise you will awaken to. All in all, if was mighty good, and I think your first time will be even better."

"All I got was my parents couch, and a guy who loved me until the following Tuesday, and who thought foreplay was a golf term," said Robyn ruefully.

"And whose fault was that?" asked Grandma. "As I recall, you were so determined to lose your virginity, that you just grabbed the first guy available. And why were you so anxious to lose your cherry all of the sudden?"

"I forget, Grandma."

"Well, I don't, young lady. You had your panties on fire to lose your maidenhead because you were afraid you were going to be the last in your group to lose hers. If that ain't a damn fool reason to make one of the most important choices in a woman's life,. I think you got about what you deserved. Courtney is probably the last girl in your high school to lose her virginity."

"I think I may be the last girl in the state, Grandma."

"And that's my point, does it matter? Is someone giving out a trophy? I don't think when matters, just how and with whom. And you're not settling for a couch and a guy that'll lose your phone number the next day."

"I wish I could do it over," said Robyn.

"Well that's the shame, isn't it. Even in a marriage, you can get a divorce and try again. But screw up losing your virginity, and there's no mulligan, no replays allowed."

"Well, thanks to you guys, I don't have to worry about any of that" said Courtney gratefully. "This is so perfect that to ruin this, I'd probably have to somehow deliberately screw it up myself."

Courtney picked up Darryl at the airport the afternoon before the prom. Every time she saw him, he looked more amazing than the time before. "God, Darryl, it's so great to see you; it's so long between visits that I start to believe I just imagined you."

"And you're so beautiful that even after I see you, I still believe I imagined you."

"Oh, you silver-tongued devil, talk like that could just get you in my pants; in fact, I can pretty well guarantee that you are, as they say, going to get lucky."

"And talk like that, I can pretty well guarantee, will, as they say, make my pants very messy, so maybe we can talk about other things."

"What's the matter, getting excited thinking about it?."

"You're kidding, right? Me excited? Not much! I haven't been able to stand up in public for weeks. My roommates are starting to call me Erection Man"

"We, don't worry, sweetheart; I plan to fix your problem very soon."

"Seriously, Courtney, are you nervous?"

"Nervous, yes, some. Excited, a lot. This is a very big event in a girl's life."

"I know. Are you sure I'm the one you want to be your first?"

"Oh, Darryl, what a silly question. That's the one thing I am completely sure of and I have been for years."

"Ok, but here is something I am very serious about, and I want to say it now, before events start to sweep us along."

"What, Darryl? You sound very serious."

"I am, Courtney. You and I have been planning for this day for a long time. Now the Kedricks and our friends, your Mom and a lot of people have all made an effort to make this day special for us. My concern is that this much effort gives the event a momentum of its own. It makes it hard to stop."

"I'm not sure I follow."

"If for any reason, you were to have second thoughts tonight, any hesitation, you would feel the pressure of letting down or disappointing me and all these people who have worked to make this special. I don't want that to happen. I need you to promise me that if you decide we are going to make love tonight, it will be because, and only because, it's what YOU want to happen, not because I want it to happen or all those other people want it to happen. Can you promise me?"

"I'll try, but sweetheart, things that make you happy will make me happy, too."

But right now, her mind was occupied with somewhat less philosophical issues such as 'will Darryl like my prom dress?" A question of monumental importance to a new generation of young women and their mothers year after year. They will attack the problem with seemingly limitless resources of time, money and imagination. Ironically the supposed beneficiary of all this effort, the date, will view the dress primarily as an obstacle to be overcome.

They arrived at the lake house. They had been there so many times before, but it felt very strange, a bit naughty, and terribly grown up to be staying upstairs in Grandma and Grandpa Kedrick's bedroom. It was an amazing room filled with a lifetime of memories of an adventuresome couple very much in love. There were pictures and shells from the Great Barrier Reef, carvings from the African jungle, pottery from the Navaho nation and pictures of Paw fishing in seemingly every body of water on the planet. And yet for all their travels, their favorite view was from this bedroom window, through which they watched the sun rise almost every morning. The same window through which they watched a little girl kiss a little boy during a sun rise a decade ago, never dreaming that one day, they would lend that boy and girl their bedroom in which to consummate their love.

They took a shower together, which gave them a chance to get physically reconnected. They lovingly washed each other, spending a little extra time on each other's favorite erogenous zones. By the time they had dried each other off with the wonderful fluffy spa towels the Kedricks furnished, they tumbled into bed, both flush with sexual excitement. They had lost any shyness about sex during their year of shared sexual discovery, way back in ninth grade, and in their summers since. They had learned to express their needs clearly and directly.

Courtney reached over and took Darryl's erection in her hand. "And so, sweetheart, now you need to make a choice. Do you want to take a nap to recover from your trip and be rested for tonight? Or do you want to take care of this, and while you're at it, scratch an itch you've created in me?

"Tough choice, I really need the nap, and I didn't want to do anything very serious with you before tonight to, you know, make it more special, but I don't think I could sleep with this."

"Well, I feel the same way, so I have an idea. It's a little different, but it'll take care of the problem. You game?"

"Sure, I'm in! What's the idea?"

"What do the two of us do when we're horny, and we're not together, like most of the time"

"That's easy, I take matters in my own hand, go out with Rosy Palms and her sisters, Jack off."

"Exactly and I tickle the kitty, fluff the muff, Jill off. Except we usually have to use our imagination or a picture. How about when we have the real thing to look at?"

"You mean we masturbate while looking at each other? We get off, but still save touching for tonight. I think you're a genius, a naughty genius perhaps, but a genius none the less."

They sat facing each other with their legs spread and their knees up. Darryl went very slowly, knowing that it would probably take her longer to reach a climax. Courtney started by massaging each breast and nipple. He noticed that she twisted her own nipples a good bit harder than he would have. That would change next time. She also pulled on them with her fingernails, and he made a note to try that with his teeth. This was turning out to be educational as well as stimulating.

One of her hands now traveled south where it began rubbing the lips and the area where they joined her thighs. Darryl noticed that she was getting very wet, so he began to stroke his erection in earnest. He noticed the approval in her eyes, as though she preferred him as an active participant rather than a voyeur. She entered two fingers into her opening and began to slowly rock them in and out. Her flow of wetness increased until it was beginning to actually run down the crack of her ass and starting to wet the bed. Her breathing was starting to get a bit more strident than her physical exertion would have required.

Darryl's breathing also was becoming harsher, both as a result of his own masturbation, and from watching this incredibly hot tableau unfold in front of him. This was hot! He wondered why they had never thought of this before. He would be damn sure to think of it again.

Courtney was having similar thoughts, as she was getting extremely excited watching Darryl making love to his cock. It was time to move to the next level. She bought her finger directly to her clit skipping her usual teasing around it. She wanted release as soon as possible. The first real contact made her gasp, drawing his attention to the fact that she was now rubbing directly on her clitoris. He knew she was bringing it home now, so he began stroking in earnest. It had all the signs of a race, right down to the gasping breathes of the participants. Whether it was coincidence or instinct or familiarity with each other, their cries of orgasm and the climaxes themselves were as one. And they were looking in each others eyes when the spasms swept their bodies and left them limp and sated. And minutes later they were asleep in each other's arms.

They awoke just in time to get ready for the dance. For the record, Darryl loved her dress, a classic, off-white lace, full-length gown, with a neckline that showed off her lovely figure. And because he was pretty sure he was getting lucky tonight, he didn't view her dress as an obstacle to be overcome, and he really enjoyed the prospect of having such a beautiful woman on his arm. He excused himself and went to the refrigerator to take out a white box he knew would be there. He returned and handed the box to Courtney, who opened it and removed a stunning corsage. Her eyes misted. "Darryl, it's beautiful; it's perfect; it's like it was made for this dress." She threw her arms around his neck, "I love you so much."

"I can't take all the credit; I had inside help."

"I know, it had to be Grandma Kedrick, but I love you for asking her. And by the way. have I mentioned how incredible you look yourself, my dashing young knight?"

Darryl's dad had surprised him by taking him to a shop that made formalwear for the diplomatic corps and had him fitted for a tux. Darryl had a trim athletic build, and dressed in a top quality custom-tailored tuxedo, he was to certainly going to stand out from the other young men dressed in poorly-fitted, well-worn rented outfits. Since for many of her friends, this would be the first time to actually see this mysterious, almost mythical love of her life, Courtney was delighted that he was going to be so strikingly handsome.

Their entrance at the prom drew every eye in the house. There is no doubt that they were the most attractive couple there. The pure simple lines and delicate lace of her gown perfectly set off Courtney's classic figure and beauty. Darryl's athletic frame, rugged good looks, and open, friendly smile, wrapped in a tailor-made tux, had female heads turning and hearts beating throughout the room. Courtney had never really had much opportunity to dance with him in years, so she wasn't sure, but he seemed confident. His confidence was based on months of lessons and practice with his mother. If there is one thing a career diplomat's wife knew, it was how to dance, and if her son's happiness centered on a prom, he, too, would know how to dance. With his natural athleticism, Darryl proved an apt student. So when he stepped on the dance floor with Courtney, it was with the confidence of many hours of training. Courtney was stunned; not only could he dance, but, as far as she could tell, he could have taught dancing. They danced and danced, slow dance and fast dance; they danced until the principal stopped the band.

"As promised, we have some very special entertainment tonight, I know she's a favorite of yours, as she's a favorite of mine. You'd better enjoy her for free now, because I predict in a few years, if you want to hear her, you'll have to pay for her records, or one of those new CDs that my wife wants me to change to. She's the greatest talent to come out of any student body I've ever been principal of, and she's kept a perfect A average the whole time. I know we're all proud to welcome Courtney Archer to the stage." Darryl turned in surprise, but she had already gone to take her place at the microphone. The huge ovation overwhelmed him; he knew she was talented, but he had no idea how popular she was in her own community. He felt cheated of those years they were apart.

"Your girlfriend's gotten bigger in this music thing than you knew, huh?"

Darryl turned his head; it was his cousin Robyn. "Oh hi, Robyn, good to see you. And yes, you're right; I didn't really know, and I should have."

"Don't beat yourself up, cuz, it's tough to carry on a long-distance, part-time relationship. You miss some things. I think you guys really do a great job all considered."

"Yeah, but now I wonder if that's enough."

"Don't do this, Darryl; tonight's the night for love, not for doubts."

"Maybe we need to deal with the doubts first."

"Darryl, listen to me, if you try to get it perfect, it never happens. You guys have something very special. Just love each other tonight. You have a lifetime to work out the details. If you don't you'll regret it, I promise you, you'll regret it."

The conversation stopped, as did every movement in the hall. Everyone listened, as the most captivating voice imaginable rang out through the room. It was a voice filled with hope and love and feeling. It was a voice that had that special ability, possessed by only a few great singers, to reach out and touch every heart in the room, and make them feel she was singing just for them. Darryl knew nothing about music, but he was absolutely sure that the principal was right. In a few years, everybody in this place would be lining up to buy her recordings. The question was whether he would be waiting in line with them.

When her concert was over, the ovation seemed to go on forever. She was mobbed getting off the stage, so Darryl decided to stay where he was, so she could find him. A very distinguished gray-haired lady came over to him. "You must be the handsome Darryl I've heard so much about. I'm Sarah Purdy, her music teacher. I suppose we must be equally proud of Courtney."

"I'm very pleased to meet you, Ms. Purdy, and congratulations on your skills as a teacher. Tell me, is she as good as I think she is?"

"Forgive me for correcting you, but it's a teacher's habit. First, you're not a student here, so please call me Sarah. Second, I'm afraid it's not my skills as a teacher, though I try. Courtney is an incredible natural talent. There is not much I could teach her. Lastly, I have no way of judging how good you think she is. If you think she could become best female vocalist and songwriter in the country, then I'd say you're about right,"

"Wow, that good!"

"Potentially that good; that's a very different thing."

"What makes the difference?"

"Training, and that's why I'm talking to you."

"Talking to me? Why?"

"With her grades, Courtney could go to almost any school in the country. With her musical talent, she should be going to Juilliard or another top music and arts school. She is only interested in going to school with you. I don't think anyone but you can change her mind."

"I will get her to change."

"Listen Darryl, I know it's asking a lot possibly jeopardize your relationship for her future."

"No, Sarah, you don't understand. I won't have her making decisions based on my needs, not on hers, I will get her to change, I promise."

This was not exactly the reaction she was expecting. "Well, thank you for listening, Darryl; I know you both will do the right thing. Good night."