Chapter 2: First Aid

It was a couple of weeks before school was supposed to start, and my friends and I were not looking forward to the end of summer vacation. I rode my bike over to my buddy Jake Lehigh's house, hoping to scare up enough guys for a pickup baseball game. I dropped my bike to the ground, walked up to the front door, and knocked. There was no answer, but as I was walking back down the sidewalk to my bike, I heard some noise from the field behind his house. I walked around to the back and saw Jake's little sister, Kayla, and two of her friends playing around with a soccer ball. Kayla was thirteen, and just learning how to play soccer. She had been on the field when I worked as a referee the previous Saturday, as had her two friends.

I was about to turn around and continue my search when Kayla looked over and saw me. She began waving and calling out to me.

"Sean! Can you help us?"

I sighed, and began walking back to the field. As I was approaching them, I looked again at the three girls. Kayla was about 5'4", slender and athletic, with long blonde hair that reached the middle of her back. Her hair was so pale it was almost white, and she wore it tied back in a ponytail. She was dressed in a loose-fitting tank top and short shorts that looked like they were tight enough to inhibit her circulation. I knew her fairly well, since she was the sister of one of my best friends, but it was like I was seeing her for the first time. Damn, I thought to myself, this isn't the little kid I used to see hanging around.

With her were Jaimie Jacks, who was fourteen, and Jaimie's twelve- year-old sister Tara, who lived next door to the Lehighs. Jaimie was shorter, barely five feet tall, but she had a more grown-up shape to her. Her hips were not boy-slim like Kayla's, and her boobs were much more pronounced. She had dark brown, slightly curly hair, cut just to her shoulders, with thick bangs brushing her eyebrows. Tara was even shorter, but much thinner than her sister. She was just developing and hadn't blossomed to Jaimie's proportions as yet. She had always kept her dark hair cut very short, but was in the process of letting it grow out. It gave her a bit of a wild look. Of the two of them, Tara was the more athletic, having played soccer and other sports since she was in kindergarten.

Kayla was trying to juggle the soccer ball, bouncing it on her knee, and not having much success that I could see. After it bounced away from her one more time, she turned to me and said, "Can you please show me how to do this? Jaimie and I are really having a tough time learning this."

Tara puffed up a little and said, "Yeah, these klutzes can't do anything. We were trying to pass the ball to each other without letting it hit the ground, and Jaimie and Kayla kept on missing it."

"Well," I said to her, "you've been practicing for a lot longer than they have, Tara. Just because they can't pass the ball in the air doesn't mean they can't pass the ball on the ground, does it?"

"No, not really, I guess," she replied. "But juggling skills are still important, according to my coaches."

"Sure," I said. "Juggling is good for your hand-eye coordination. Or should I say foot-eye coordination?" All three girls giggled. "But," I added, "I know lots of really good players who have a tough time juggling. It still comes down to different skills required to juggle compared to running and dribbling and shooting the ball."

At that, I lashed out with my right foot and kicked the ball out of the air as Kayla was attempting to juggle. The ball bounced off my laces, up in the air. I trapped it and dribbled away a few yards. Tara yelped as I kicked out, then ran after me to try to take the ball away. I called out to Kayla to get open, keeping my back between the ball and Tara, and whipped a pass across the field to Kayla as she sprinted past a startled Jaimie. Jaimie ran after her, and the game was on. It was two-v-two keep-away, a common soccer drill among many of the coaches in our area, Kayla and me versus Jaimie and her sister, Tara.

A few minutes into the game, I was about to pass the ball off when I heard Kayla cry out, followed by a thud. We all stopped and looked over to see her rolling over onto her back, holding her leg and grimacing in pain.

"What happened, Kay?" Tara cried out as she ran over to her friend.

"I don't know," she said through gritted teeth. "I think I tripped over a rock and pulled a muscle in my leg."

"Let me see," I said as I ran up to her. Being the oldest, and having taken first aid as part of my referee training, I was naturally going to take charge of the situation. I knelt down beside her and asked her what muscle she hurt.

She hesitated, then, almost embarrassed, said, "My... thigh muscle, I think."

I held her leg at her knee with both hands and tried to straighten out her leg. She grimaced with pain, still holding on to her upper thigh. She could bend her leg without any discomfort in her knee, for which we were all grateful, though we could see that she was in some pain from her pull.

"Can you stand?" I asked.

"I don't know, but I'll try," she replied. I held out my hands for her to grab, while Jaimie and Tara each grabbed an arm to help her to her feet.

"Oof!" She nearly collapsed against me when she tried to put some weight on her leg. I grabbed her around her waist and held her up.

"Here, Kayla, just hold onto me. I'll help you into the house," I said.

"You're going to have to help me walk," she said to me as she leaned against me. "I hope I'm not too heavy," she added.

"A little pipsqueak like you?" I teased her. "C'mon, squirt, I've got you."

I moved over to her bad side, grabbed her around her waist, and helped guide her as she hobbled toward her house. Because we had been running around, we were both a little sweaty. My grip kept on slipping on my hand at her waist, and she would slowly slide down a little at a time. The first time it happened, my hand just naturally found a convenient spot to grip, until it suddenly occurred to me that I was holding onto her small breast. I stopped, flustered, and readjusted my hold on her. My mind was aswirl with conflicting feelings. This is Kayla, after all, the kid sister of my pal Jake. What am I doing copping a feel? And by the way, why don't I feel a bra on her? Uh-oh, what if she notices? What will she say? Will she tell Jake what I did while she was helpless? Christ, what a dilemma. I wanted to help, but I didn't want to get into trouble here.

But then I felt her slip down again, and when she did, her breast slid once again right into my palm. I stopped again, pretending I was getting tired, and readjusted my hold on her once more. After I did, I thought I heard - or felt - her giggle softly. I could have been mistaken, though.

We made our way into their family room, and I set her down on the couch. I tucked some pillows behind her so she could sit up more comfortably. I went into the kitchen and got big glasses of water for both of us.

"Where is everybody?" I asked her.

"Dad's at work, Mom and Jake went shopping for school clothes," she said. "Sean? Could you please massage this leg for me?"

She looked so hurt and vulnerable lying there. How could I refuse? I knelt down by her and started gently massaging her leg just above her knee. Her shorts were very tight, and they ended just an inch or so from the junction of her legs. Her skin was incredibly soft and smooth, and the big thigh muscles under the skin were pliant.

"Ooohh, that feels good," she sighed. "Go a little higher, please?" Her head was back against the pillow, and her eyes were closed. I worked my way up her leg, from her knee up to mid-thigh.

"Where does it hurt the most, Kayla?" I asked.

"Up higher. I don't think it's a bad pull. I think I might just have cramped up. Do me a favor, Sean? In the upstairs bathroom, the one off the hall, there is a bottle of liniment. Could you go up and get it, and rub it into my leg for me?"

"Sure thing," I said. I ran up the stairs to the bathroom, and rummaged around in the closet until I found the liniment. I also grabbed a couple of towels and washcloths. I soaked one washcloth in cold water, and carried everything downstairs.

As I came back into the room, Kayla was sitting up, taking off her shoes and socks. Her loose tank top gapped at her arms, and I could clearly see her breast and her slightly swollen nipple as she untied her shoe. She looked up at me and smiled, causing me to blush and quickly look away. She got both shoes and socks off her feet, then settled back, taking her hair out of her ponytail and giving her head a small shake. I couldn't help but notice how her boobs pushed out her top like two small volcanic cinder cones. Her nipples were quite noticeable, accentuating the absence of her bra. The sight of this very pretty, very young, blonde girl lying there began to have its effect on me. I could feel the heat of my blood rushing to my crotch, causing me to stiffen. I quickly knelt back down, dropping my supplies on the floor beside me. I handed her the damp washcloth, and she gratefully wiped off her face and the back of her neck.