Chapter 1: Good Night

Friday Evening

This had been the best day in Janelle's life. She was a senior in High School and there were only two weeks left in the year, so her classes were essentially finished. Her teachers had announced her award for student of the year. She had been handed that award along with her report card, where she had earned all 'A's. Bob, her boyfriend, had showed her an envelope containing two of the golden tickets to the Senior End of Year Prom and then asked her to be his date, hinting that she would win the Prom Queen vote at the dance. It was a Friday and she had great plans for the weekend. And, at the final regular swimming competition of the year, she had won for her High School's team, the Saint Nicholas Golden Bears.

To be truthful, the swim team needed every member -- both boys and girls -- to win the competition, but Janelle was an important part of that team. She was the captain of the girls' team, and she had won every race she had swum that day, including pulling the anchor leg of three 4X relays, so she was an important part of the victory. In point of fact, Janelle had won every race she had entered that year, and the team had won every meet that season, so they would be going as undefeated leaders to the regional competition the next weekend, which would be on Saturday, and her eighteenth birthday, and she had decided that she was going to use the overnight trip to find a safe time for her boyfriend to finally go all the way with her. On her birthday, after the final swim meet of their senior year, they would each lose their virginity to the other, and seal their everlasting love. She had everything planned.

Janelle had even convinced her mom to let her get birth control pills; she said it was to keep her from getting cramps during swim sessions. But they both knew that Janelle would be having sex sometime, probably sometime soon, and they both wanted her as safe and prepared as she could be. They both stayed away from discussing the topic of S.E.X., but they both knew. And Janelle knew her mom loved her, but worried about her growing up too quickly.

After her classes ended that day, she had gone up to the pool enclosure for the competition. As the hosting school, the team members all had to stay and help clean up after the competition. So, by the time she left the school, it was late and the sun had long since set -- it had been a large meet with many schools attending, and since it had started after school ended, it had ended very late. Even in this near-summer solstice time of year, it was completely dark already.

When everything was finally done, she drove her new car from the school parking lot and headed home, taking the shortest, fastest route she knew. The shortcut from St. Nick's High School to her house went through a small finger of the woods, and the large trees' shadows and the lack of street lights made the road very dark. Janelle was not paying much attention to the road; she had driven it many times. Besides, she was thinking about her boyfriend and how he looked in his racing speedo, and how he would look when she took it off, and how he would feel inside her. She thought it would feel very nice.

Janelle was happy, but tired, and was driving home by herself because her parents had given her the new car last night and she had wanted to drive it to school and show off. Usually, she rode with Bob, her boyfriend. Often, they stopped along the way to kiss and touch each other, but tonight she was alone.